Sri Gaura Purnima 2015 at ISKCON New Talavan Farm Community, 3149 Carriere, MS, USA

Sent by Lajjadevi Rasaraj

Vanipedia to Translate Prabhupada’s Gita Introduction into 108 Languages

As we near ISKCON’s 50^th anniversary in 2016, we can look forward to celebrating many specific special dates in the society’s history.

On February 19^th and 20^th 1966, for example, ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada spoke an introduction to his Bhagavad-gita As It Is over the space of two lectures.

Now, volunteers for Vanipedia.org, the dynamic online encyclopedia of Srila Prabhupada’s words (vani) are planning to co

Sanyasa Graduates

By Prahladananda Swami

On 5 March 2015, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja awarded sannyasa to His Grace Ganga Narayan Prabhu. His sannyasa name is His Holiness Bhakti Prema Swami.

On 21 February 2015, His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja awarded sannyasa to His Grace Ananda Caitanya Prabhu. His sannyasa name is His Holiness Bhakti Swarupa Caitanya Swami.

On 21 February 2015, His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja awarded sannyasa to His Grace Dhirasanta Prabhu. His sannya

I also met 2 men who were from Iran. I presumed that they would reject the Bhagavad Gita, however, they were so interested in meditation and yoga. “This is Really Cool.” They explained their interests and methods of meditation and had a pleasant conversation with me. They then gave me a handsome donation of $20.00. This proved to me that everyone is really a soul, beyond all doubt. The message of Bhagavad Gita is not for only one race or ethnicity. It is was spoken by the Lord for the soul purp

Laws of Nature

What is reincarnation?

The soul is eternal but the body is temporary. Thus when the body is finished (death), the soul must continue to exist in another body.

If a person kills and soon after dies himself. How can he be punished unless he takes birth again? If a sinner is sent to hell forever then how can God be merciful unless he is given another chance?

Once you had the body of a baby and now an adult. The baby body is gone but you still exist. This is reincarnation, changing bo

GBC College for Leadership Development, Day Two at Govardhana Ecovillage in Outskirt of Mumbai

GBC College, Day Two: Up Close and Personal with Giriraj Maharaja and Bhakti Charu Maharaja

Just to clarify: The GBC College for Leadership Development isn’t specifically or exclusively designed to groom future GBCs. The intention of the GBC is to assist in creating better leaders; devotees who can deeply imbibe Srila Prabhupada’s mood and instructions and who can give shelter to devotees and help the

GBC College, Day One

The GBC College for Leadership Development started its first day of its first year of operations today, 8 March 2015, at the Govardhana Ecovillag on the outskirts of Mumbai.

The College has been formally established by GBC resolution last month, February 2015, with the following words:

Whereas Srila Prabhupada repeatedly indicated the need for training qualified leaders:

“There is need for intelligent young men to train them up as future leaders and preachers to go all ove

TEXT 18

satkara-mana-pujartham 
tapo dambhena caiva yat 
kriyate tad iha proktam 
rajasam calam adhruvam

SYNONYMS

sat-kara--respect; mana--honor; puja-artham--for worship; tapah--austerity; dambhena--pride; ca--also; eva--certainly; yat--which is;kriyate--performed; tat--that; iha--in this world; proktam--is said;rajasam--in the mode of passion; calam--flickering; adhruvam--temporary.

TRANSLATION

Those ostentatious penances and austerities which are performed in order to gain respect, honor and reverenc

Hare Krishna.
8th March, 2015. Gurgaon

Since last many days I am trying to analyse why I feel hollow from inside as if some part of me as has gone missing. And I have developed a strange longing for Krishna and hearing about Krishna, I try my best to suppress it and hide it but it won’t go. I shared with Shyamsundar Prabhu some days back that I feel that a strange churning is happening inside my heart but the churning feels like churning of a very viscous fluid (like a very thick honey) which is

TEXT 17

sraddhaya paraya taptam 
tapas tat tri-vidham naraih 
aphalakanksibhir yuktaih 
sattvikam paricaksate

SYNONYMS

sraddhaya--with faith; paraya--transcendental; taptam--execution;tapah--austerity; tat--that; tri-vidham--three kinds; naraih--by men;aphala-akanksibhih--without desires for fruits; yuktaih--engaged;sattvikam--in the mode of goodness; paricaksate--is called.

TRANSLATION

This threefold austerity, practiced by men whose aim is not to benefit themselves materially but to please the Supreme

Why are Women in today’s India not Safe

By Purushottam Kumar

In India the recent surge in rape cases has shaken the conscience of every right-thinking Indian. People were outraged when, in December 2012, a young girl was gang-raped in Delhi and later died. A similarly horrific incident occurred in August 2013 in Mumbai when a woman photojournalist was gang-raped. After the episode in Delhi there were widespread protests and demand for tougher rape laws, but there continue to be incidents noneth

TEXT 16

manah-prasadah saumyatvam 
maunam atma-vinigrahah 
bhava-samsuddhir ity etat 
tapo manasam ucyate

SYNONYMS

manah-prasadah--satisfaction of the mind; saumyatvam--without duplicity towards others; maunam--gravity; atma--self; vinigrahah--control; bhava--nature; samsuddhih--purification; iti--thus; etat--that is; tapah--austerity; manasam--of the mind; ucyate--is said to be.

TRANSLATION

And serenity, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purity of thought are the austerities of the mind.

PURPORT

To m

Global Sustainability Award to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj for Govardhan Eco Village

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj was conferred Global Sustainability Award for his Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) on World CSR Day at the 4th Enhanced Edition of the Global CSR Excellence and Leadership Awards recently held in Mumbai. also GEV Received Platinum Award from SKOCH Group for Water Conservation and provisionally certified with Five Star rating under GRIHA, the Indigenous Rating System for Green Buildings in Ind

I’ll tell one verse from Caitanya Caritamrta but this verse if quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam. As all of you know Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu He has not written any books upon His teachings except Siksastakam. So but He has by His discussions with different personalities, the five most important discussions took place, it is between Caitanya Mahaprabhu-Srila Rupa Goswami; Caitanya Mahaprabhu-Sanatana Goswami; Caitanya Mahaprabhu-Raya Ramananda; Caitanya Mahaprabhu-Prakasananda Sarasvati; and Caitan

Hare Krishna.
6th March, 2015. Gurgaon

Kindly accept my good wishes for Gaur Purnima and Holi.

I had the good fortune, or some sukriti, to be able to attend the sanyasa diksha of HG Ganganarayan Prabhuji, who is now HH Bhakti Prema Swami, at Ujjain yesterday. He is the first disciple of HH Bhakti Charu Swami to get sanyasa diksha. I took darshan of guru maharaj, that too on Gaur Purnima day, and association of so many senior vaishnavas and then saw an exceptionally qualified devotee & disciple bec

Rajan Jani prabhu, an ISKCON devotee from Kenya Africa, donates for a Golden Gratitude Coin ($108,000 U.S.) and promises another $400,000 before the finish of the project. He has been a great supporter of many ISKCON projects and now feels the ISKCON Mayapur temple is a crown that will decorate the body of ISKCON for the coming years. His message to the world is everyone should feel blessed to participate in building this temple. He has also encouraged his son to donate a large amount of money

In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6 Chapter 1 the order carriers of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, come to take Ajāmila but Viṣṇudūtas prevent them. Yamadūtas argue that Ajāmila lived a very sinful life and has not undergone any atonement. Therefore he needs to be punished for his sinful actions. In Chapter 2, specifically from verse 1 through 20, Viṣṇudūtas explain how Ajāmila had already undergone atonement not only for sins of the current birth but for those of millions of his past lives as

Coloring India - ISKCON Chowpatty celebrated Holi festival in a grand way

6th March 2015 

This festival of colors, Holi, is being celebrated all over India since ancient times.  And celebration for devotees means another chance to offer a service to Radha Krishna. Thus at Radha Gopinath temple we play this festival with dry natural colors and colored water by smearing them at our Radha Gopijanavallabha Deities.

At Radha Gopinath temple we celebrate this festival the very next day of Gaur Poor

Sannyasa Waiting List By HH Prahladananda Swami

As on 1 March, 2015, the following are the candidates for sannyasa along with their respective waiting periods:
Adi Purusa Das (GGS) (Bhubaneswar) 1 year
Adwaitacharya Das (GGS) (Bhubaneswar) 2 years
Agnideva Das (ACBSP) (Caribbean) 2 years with conditions
Akincana Das (BSDS) (Odisha) 2 years
Amala Bhakta Das (ACBSP) (Los Angeles) this year with conditions
Ambarish Das (GKG) (Russian Federation) 1 year
Ananda Caitanya Das (BCAIS) (Baltics/Russia/