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Today is the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the Personality of Godhead who is the first expansion of Lord Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead. As Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7):

yada yada hi dharmasya
  glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
  tadatmanam srjamy aham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.” Lord Krishna says, srjamy aham: “I manifest

अध्याय उन्तीस – भक्तियोग (11.29)

1 श्री उद्धव ने कहा: हे भगवान अच्युत, मुझे भय है कि आपके द्वारा वर्णित योग-विधि उस व्यक्ति के लिए अत्यन्त कठिन है, जो अपने मन को वश में नहीं रख सकता । इसलिए आप सरल शब्दों में यह बतायें कि कोई व्यक्ति किस तरह इसे अधिक आसानी से सम्पन्न कर सकता है।

2 हे कमलनयन भगवान, सामान्यतया जो योगीजन मन को स्थिर करने का प्रयास करते हैं, उन्हें समाधि की दशा पूर्ण कर पाने की अपनी अक्षमता के कारण, निराशा का अनुभव करना पड़ता है। इस तरह वे मन को अपने वश में लाने के प्रयास में उकता जाते

WOOOAHHH! That’s it!” I said when I came across the German word sehnsucht (ZEN-zookt). “That sums it all up!”

Sehnsucht means “longing,” “yearning,” or even “craving,” but it also carries implications of “intensely missing,” as when pining for something as if one’s life depended on it. The word hearkens to the need a person feels when addicted to hard drugs, an addiction so intense one’s entire being calls out for it.

The word also indicates the feeling that one’s life is unfinished or imperfec

By Kalyana Giriraja das

On August 10, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Julia Kloeckner chose the ISKCON Bhakti Retreat Center Goloka Dhama in southern Germany as the start of a tour with e-bikes in her ongoing election campaign. The minister is running for the federal elections on September 26, 2021, and Goloka Dhama in the small village of Abentheuer is part of her election district.

Source: https://iskconnews.org/federal-minister-julia-kloeckner-visits-goloka-dhama-germany,7956/

Just one day to go before Balaram Jayanti festival, we beseech you to take full advantage of these opportunities to render service at the Lotus feet of Balaramji!

My third visit for Physio on my left knee went well. Adam, the trainer for today was pleased. According to him there’s still work to be done even though I walked in crutch free. After the visit I walked towards home and was feeling so much appreciation for a medical system that really does care for the individual. That’s how I feel about Adam and Kathy from the week before and also Kevin on the first visit.

And, I guess, I’ll give all the thank-you’s I can when the physician confronts my right

Real shelter means to be sheltered from the mind, which is always disturbed; from the senses, which push us mercilessly; and from the emptiness and the loneliness.

What does real shelter mean? Does it mean to take shelter from the material sufferings, shelter from the dangers of the material world? That is not real shelter. Real shelter means to be sheltered from our mind which is always disturbed. Real shelter also means to be sheltered from the senses which push us mercilessly. Whatever we

अध्याय  अट्ठाईस -- ज्ञानयोग (11.28)

1 भगवान ने कहा: प्रकृति तथा भोक्ता आत्मा परम सत्य पर आश्रित हैं। अतः मनुष्य को किसी अन्य व्यक्ति के स्वभाव तथा कर्मों की न तो प्रशंसा न ही आलोचना करनी चाहिए।

2 जो भी व्यक्ति दूसरों के गुणों तथा आचरण की प्रशंसा करता है या आलोचना करता है, वह मायामय द्वैतों में फँसने के कारण – उत्तमोत्तम हित से शीघ्र विपथ हो जाएगा।

3 जिस तरह देहधारी आत्मा की इन्द्रियाँ स्वप्न देखने के भ्रम या मृत्यु जैसी गहरी निद्रावस्था के द्वारा परास्त हो जाती हैं, उसी तरह भौतिक द्वन्द्व का अनुभ

By Sakhi Rangadevi Devi Dasi

The birthplace of Srila Prabhupada at Tollygunge, Kolkata, is now under the ownership of ISKCON. After toiling for several decades, the devotees of ISKCON Kolkata have achieved something commendable to make as an offering to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada on his 125th birth anniversary: August 31st, 2021. A live-streamed festival will take place on that day and all are encouraged to watch and participate.

On the 11th of August, Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata, R

How can we study nonmaterial aspects of reality when we’re living in a world of matter? Modern mechanistic science rests on the premise that reality is ultimately reducible to a simple set of mathematical equations. Such a view fails to account for two important aspects of reality: consciousness, and complex biological form. Here, in the first of a series of articles excerpted from the conclusion of the book, Sadaputa describes how an alternative, nonmechanistic model can be verified through th

Chris from Hamilton had come. “I’m dropping off some kids, including my son, at Wonderland and that gives me some time at the temple. I’m up for service.”

Such a wholesome attitude, is what I thought as I expressed the nature of helpfulness to our maintenance guy from Croatia, Vallabha Hari. Help is always needed around the ashram and the temple. So, Chris came to pitch in, with cleaning mostly. We appreciate his spirit.

The mind is at ease when all is clean and orderly and the spirit is right.

अध्याय सत्ताईस – देवपूजा विषयक श्रीकृष्ण के आदेश (11.27)

1 श्री उद्धव ने कहा : हे प्रभु, हे भक्तों के स्वामी, कृपा करके मुझे आपके अर्चाविग्रह रूप में पूजा की नियत विधि बतायें। अर्चाविग्रह की पूजा करने वाले भक्तों की क्या योग्यताएँ होती हैं? ऐसी पूजा किस आधार पर तय की जाती है? तथा पूजा की विशिष्ट विधि क्या है?

2 सारे मुनि बारम्बार घोषित करते हैं कि ऐसी पूजा से मनुष्य जीवन का बड़े-से-बड़ा सम्भव लाभ मिलता है। नारद मुनि, महान व्यासदेव तथा मेरे गुरु बृहस्पति का यही मत है।

3-4 हे वदान्य प्रभु, अर्चाविग्र

Essay by Annette Murphy

“What I have found to be truly valuable to me was sitting and listening to my senior godsisters tell me of their personal history and past times with Srila Prabhupada. Their stories always revealed his kind and fatherly demenor. His light hearted humor, his endearing personal guidance, how he motivated them to fully utilize and develop their natural talents and abilities in service to Krishna.”i

In the preface to A Bond of love: Srila Prabhupada and his Daughters, Her G

Ones intelligence is often measured by an IQ test which indicates a good material intelligence. Now for devotees there is a fun way to check ones own DQ. With this we can do an occasional self analysis to check our progress in Krishna consciousness.  It is a visual tool that can identify where some improvement may be required and encourage development in that particular part of our devotional life. 

Click here & download : https://www.mediafire.com/download/v5g8zdcsihqon7s

By Ravi Ramgoolam 

"For most of us, the idea of winter means cozy nights, warm blankets & a cup of hot chocolate near the fire, but for those on the streets the drop in temperature becomes a fight for survival," said Svetadvip Das, the main representative of ISKCON Port Elizabeth's Food for Life project. 

The ISKCON Port Elizabeth, South Africa, congregation, and Food for Life team moved hearts with the Blanket Drive Initiative. The initiative consists of donating blankets to poor people in the

British Columbia is on fire, so is Greece. I have a formula for decent weather — three consecutive days of sunshine and then the fourth, a good rain shower. The wish is fairly futile because nature in the end does what it wants. Weather is the turbulent, unsteady thrill of nature where elements unite and collide. If you walk vast tracts of land you’ll certainly experience these freaks of nature. There is adventure in it.

In any event, three days of brightness did come our way in central Canada

अध्याय छब्बीस – ऐल गीत (11.26)

1 भगवान ने कहा: मानव-जीवन मेरा साक्षात्कार करने का अवसर प्रदान करता है। मेरी प्रेमाभक्ति में स्थित होकर, मनुष्य मुझे प्राप्त कर सकता है, जो समस्त आनन्द का आगार तथा प्रत्येक जीव के हृदय में वास करनेवाला परमात्मा स्वरूप है।

2 दिव्य ज्ञान में स्थिर व्यक्ति प्रकृति के गुणों के फलों से अपनी झूठी पहचान त्यागकर, बद्ध जीवन से मुक्त हो जाता है। इन फलों को मात्र मोह समझकर उन्हीं के बीच निरन्तर रहते हुए भी वह प्रकृति के गुणों में फँसने से अपने को बचाता है। चूँकि गुण तथा उनके फ

Srila Prabhupada introduced the Krishna consciousness movement in the western world keeping in mind the time, place and circumstances. Srila Prabhupada was an expert preacher. He perfectly knew how to preach depending on the time, place and circumstances. This video shows glimpses of the extraordinary success that has originated from Srila Prabhupada’s extraordinary preaching and outreach strategies.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=91906

Back to Godhead

The place Srila Prabhupada called his "Western world headquarters" remains a vital oasis of Krishna consciousness.

Part One: Some History

Starting off in Midcity LA, 1968

ISKCON’s new center in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, was getting a good turnout. It was “the summer of love,” 1967, when idealistic youth gathering in the Haight to seek peace, justice, and alternative lifestyles often became overwhelmed by the area's crime, pimps, and drug dealers. Srila Prabhupada’s discip

By Madhava Smullen

ISKCON temples all over the world are being invited to reach out to their local private and public schools to ask them to register students for the Value Education Olympiad 2021.

This year, the popular Olympiad, started by ISKCON in India, will be held online and will focus on environmental themes due to the current urgency around climate change. Using a series of study guides, seminars and workshops from August 1st to September 26th, followed by an exam on October 17th, the