The following is an excerpt from Purnacandra Goswami’s “Unspoken Obstacles on the Path to Bhakti”
Thrown from the Horse
Have you ever experienced an emotion rearing its head and throwing you? I was thrown off a horse at the age of twelve. I was winded and desperately gasped for air.
My riding teacher told me, “Get back on and try again.”
I could hardly breathe and thought, “No way!”
He continued with firm conviction, “If you don’t get back on now, you’ll never ride a horse again.”
Sensing the w
अध्याय तैंतालीस - कृष्ण द्वारा कुवलयापीड हाथी का वध (10.43)
1 श्रील शुकदेव गोस्वामी ने कहा: हे परन्तप, नित्य शौच कर्मों से निवृत्त होकर जब कृष्ण तथा बलराम ने अखाड़े (रंगशाला) में बजने वाली ध्वनि सुनी तो वे वहाँ यह देखने गये कि क्या हो रहा है।
2 जब भगवान कृष्ण अखाड़े के प्रवेशद्वार पर पहुँचे तो उन्होंने देखा कि कुवलयापीड नामक हाथी अपने महावत की उत्प्रेरणा से उनका रास्ता रोक रहा है।
3 भगवान कृष्ण ने अपना फेंटा कसकर तथा अपने घुँघराले बालों को पीछे बाँधकर महावत से बादलों जैसी गम्भीर गर्जना में ये शब्द
*अपने भक्तों के प्रेम एवं करुणा के माध्यम से ही भगवान श्रीकृष्ण इस संसार में हमारे हृदय परिवर्तन के लिए प्रकट होते हैं।*
*ll परमपूज्य राधानाथ स्वामी महाराज ll*
It is through the love, the compassion of His devotees that Krishna manifests in this world to transform our hearts.
ll Quote by His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj ll
It happens frequently enough — poor Wi-Fi reception. Every Thursday I conduct a class hosted by a sweet couple in Florida. Practically every week, over the course of my call, which is actually a Bhagavad-Gita class, I get disconnected and end up disappointing both those on the call and myself. This is a managerial problem that must be solved. The class unfortunately had to terminate, so far as my delivery was concerned. However, two people on the call, Murari Gupta from Florida and Gaurachandra
अध्याय बयालीस - यज्ञ के धनुष का टूटना (10-42)
1 श्रील शुकदेव गोस्वामी ने कहा: जब भगवान माधव राजमार्ग पर जा रहे थे तो उन्होंने एक युवा कुबड़ी स्त्री को देखा जिसका मुख आकर्षक था और वह सुगन्धित लेपों का थाल लिए हुए जा रही थी। प्रेमानन्द दाता ने हँसकर उससे इस प्रकार पूछा।
2 भगवान कृष्ण ने कहा: हे सुन्दरी तुम कौन हो? ओह, लेप! हे सुन्दरी, यह किसके लिए है? हमें सच-सच बता दो। हम दोनों को अपना कोई उत्तम लेप दो तो तुम्हें शीघ्र ही महान वर प्राप्त होगा।
3 दासी ने उत्तर दिया: हे सुन्दर, मैं राजा कंस की दासी
*इस संसार में जो कठिनाइयाँ है, वे आत्म-साक्षात्कार के साथ नहीं जाएँगी, लेकिन भक्ति हमें अत्यंत गहन स्तर की अनुभूति से सुसज्ज करेगी।*
*ll परमपूज्य राधानाथ स्वामी महाराज ll*
Difficulties in this world will not go with self-realization, but devotion will equip us with a deeper level of perception.
ll Quote by His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj ll
By surrendering to a pure devotee, we are actually experiencing freedom. The pure devotee sets us free from our lower nature, the lower nature that we have due to our foolishness. Somehow or other, we got entangled in this lower nature and we know that we do not need it, but we still have it.
Take for example, uncontrolled anger! When people get angry, they often break things and it is a lot of damage which they have to pay for. They worked really hard for those things, but then they also break
Today my beloved disciple Balai Dasi, from Kinross, South Africa, passed away, due to Covid. She was a kind, generous, hospitable, staunch devotee—a mother to many—and she will be sorely missed. Please join me in praying for her auspicious onward spiritual journey.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
By Jayarama Das
From Back to Godhead
Navayauvana: What is your background as an artist?
Jayarama: I can say that my painting started off with music, because as a child I studied music more than I studied art. I spent most of my time practicing and playing the piano. When I reached sixteen or seventeen I started to become more interested in visual arts, and I began drawing quite a bit. Then I went to study drawing at Washington University, In St. Louis, at the school of fine arts there. I studie
It was our fourth time together. You may have heard of Vande Arts, an arts initiative driven to create a camaraderie among bhakti artists. Well, you might say that this next reincarnation of that direction is called BhaktiArt Hub S.O.S. Shaping Our Soul is a piece of our vision statement.
Through Zoom our group of a few, for starters, is comprised of Gaura Vani, the bhajan singer, a sweet couple from San Antonio, Texas by the names Bhagavan Narada and Naradi, Govinda Gopal from Jersey City, Par
अध्याय इकतालीस - कृष्ण तथा बलराम का मथुरा में प्रवेश (10.41)
1 श्रील शुकदेव गोस्वामी ने कहा: अभी अक्रूर स्तुति कर ही रहे थे कि भगवान कृष्ण ने अपना वह रूप जिसे उन्होंने जल के भीतर प्रकट किया था, उसी तरह छिपा लिया जिस तरह कोई नट अपना खेल समाप्त कर देता है।
2 जब अक्रूर ने उस दृश्य को अन्तर्धान होते देखा तो वे जल के बाहर आ गये और उन्होंने जल्दी जल्दी अपने विविध अनुष्ठान-कर्म सम्पन्न किये। तत्पश्चात वे विस्मित होकर अपने रथ पर लौट आये।
3 भगवान कृष्ण ने अक्रूर से पूछा: क्या आपने पृथ्वी पर, या आकाश में य
The divine counterpart of Sri Krishna is known as Sri Radha. Together, according to the ancient Vaishnava tradition, this dual-gendered divinity is God-male and female dimensions of the Absolute Truth. Sri Radha is the complete energy, and Sri Krishna is the complete energetic source. They are nondifferent from each other, just as musk and its scent are forever merged, or as fire and heat are inseparable.
Radha and Krishna are one, yet They have assumed two separate forms to enjoy loving pastim
I managed to keep a proper social distance from moose, bear and cougar while in the north country for the day. My companion, Jivan Mukta, and I escaped from the big city for a three-hour venture to a marvelous 200-acre property he just purchased, near Algonquin Park, for a potential yoga retreat site. En route we did witness a mishap. A young moose did get killed by a motorist. Sad news, but this is a reality when the world of modernity comes face to face with the natural world.
But back to ple
Prabhupada explains that ISKCON is a branch of the Caitanya Tree, of that wish-fulfilling desire tree. So, in this way, it is described how the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is flowing and expanding, expanding through the vaisnavas to the whole universe. This process of harinama sankirtana is a personal process. It is a process about individual devotees taking up devotional service. And as such, that devotional service, which is performed by each and every devotee, then goes from one devotee
I wanna what is the Vahan of Sri Krishna
अध्याय चालीस - अक्रूर द्वारा स्तुति (10.40)
1 श्री अक्रूर ने कहा: हे समस्त कारणों के कारण, आदि तथा अव्यय महापुरुष नारायण, मैं आपको नमस्कार करता हूँ। आपकी नाभि से उत्पन्न कमल के कोष से ब्रह्मा प्रकट हुए हैं और उनसे यह ब्रह्माण्ड अस्तित्व में आया है।
2 पृथ्वी, जल, अग्नि, वायु, आकाश एवं इसका स्रोत तथा मिथ्या अहंकार, महत-तत्त्व, समस्त भौतिक प्रकृति और उसका उद्गम तथा भगवान का पुरुष अंश, मन, इन्द्रियाँ, इन्द्रिय विषय तथा इन्द्रियों के अधिष्ठाता देवता ( ये सब विराट जगत के कारण ) आपके दिव्य शरीर से उत्पन
Pain and Empathy,
Are like twins joined at birth.
Those who suffer silently,
Reach , run and rescue.
For they have been and seen,
Their hearts glow with love,
For the lone and the lost.
In them, their own images embossed.
No matter how trifle it may seem,
Other’s problems, pains and pinch,
They console , care and counsel,
Yes ! It’s a great benediction.
To suffer, search and then sing,
To the tunes of bliss.
The spotless soul sparkles,
Empathy gently engulfs pain.
Shines like an emerald.
It’s ete
Anger , Anguish and Abusive words.
ARE THEY JUSTIFIED?
Each one of us , would always like to be politically correct, prim and proper. Ever eager to hide ourselves in the garb of gentleness and goodness for others to appreciate and applaud.
What one fine day or at few opportune moments, we let go of our guard and for the rightest cause, hurl abusive words and let loose the torrential gates of anger and anguish ? That too in front of an audience.
SHOULD WE FEEL GUILTY OUR IMAGE HAS TAKEN A BEATING?
There were times when the mainstream media lumped us ‘Hare Krishna’s’ with the weird mix of pseudo religions and charlatan led cults, whose existence caused consternation among the establishment and parents alike. When out on book distribution, we would often be confronted with, “Are you sure you are not one of those dangerous David Koresh Heavens Gate suicide pact lunatics?” In many ways we had to plead our case as legitimate followers of the Vaisnava path, without being the glassy-eyed brainwa
It was another one of those interfaith sessions I participated in with attendees from Chicago, Atlanta and Toronto. Mostly Christians were present. Basically, it was a Korean-based organization, Christian by nature, who regularly have such events. Oh, how I wish I could be physically interacting with these folks as they do appear to be people of good quality and intent. Of course, there’s always the fear of fanaticism, which can arise from any denomination.
Our topic was to do with the differen
