By Madhava Smullen
The Yamuna Boat Festival on March 30th captured the sweetness of serving Sri Sri Radha Krishna in Vrindavan.
The celebrations began at 5pm, with an enthusiastic kirtan procession from ISKCON’s Krishna Balaram Mandir to Sringar Vat temple, on the banks of the Yamuna river.
In Sanskrit, sringar means decoration, while vat means banyan tree. Sringar Vat is known as the banyan tree where Lord Krishna decorates Srimati Radharani.
According to the temple’s website, the spot sho
All are invited to a first-of-its-kind Krishna Homeschool Convention, to be held at ISKCON Chicago on Saturday, July 13th and Sunday, July 14th!
For the first time in a decade, homeschooling-pioneer Aruddha devi dasi will be presenting a seminar with both her illustrious sons, Radhika Raman das and Gopal Hari das. However, the unique feature of this convention will be multiple panelists and presenters with experience in homeschooling. Topics to be discussed will include
By Sacinandana Swami
There are two elements that have to come together for a healthy and responsible relationship between guru and disciple. The first element is that the disciple needs to be free of the motive to improve him- or herself materially by this relationship. The second element is spiritual good fortune.
The first element presupposes a sense of exhaustion with material illusions. The disciple needs to understand: “I need solutions to overcome material illusions. I understand that I c
A new initiative by ISKCON’s Harmony Collective in Ypsilanti, Michigan, dubbed “Each One Carry One,” asks devotees to commit to carrying Srila Prabhupada’s books and prasadam for distribution everywhere they go.
“People would talk about the early days of ISKCON in a nostalgic way, and I thought, what can we do to recreate that magic?” says Harmony Collective director Deva Madhava Das.
“The principle of Prabhupada’s time was that everybody had the hope – even the expectati
By Achyut Gopal Das
A few days back, I had to come from our Vasco center to our Panjim center. I took, three different vehicles to reach the destination. From the Vasco center, my friend dropped me to the Verna bus stop in a brand new, high end, air conditioned car. From there I took a crowded, government Kadamba bus to Panjim. The contrast of the previous ride in the comfortable car to this one was distance apart. At the Panjim bus stand, I was picked up by another colleague of mine in our old
In America, some companies offer rebate coupons. This means that after a person has purchased the particular product, he is mailed a check, of say twenty percent of what he had paid, or is sent some other offer. But whatever price one pays in the market of the holy name, he receives a rebate of many, many times that amount.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is describing the supreme bargain. In this material world we give our love and faith to people, but they can hardly
ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Hari, Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon which spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all liv
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lecture given in Hyderabad, December 17, 1976
The most learned members of society should show others by example how to live peacefully and become Krishna conscious.
saktah karmany avidvamso
yatha kurvanti bharata
kuryad vidvams tathasaktash
chikirshur loka-sangraham
“As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.”—Bh
He is 102 Years Old. Born on Nov 16th, 1912 & Initiated in 1932 & has been Chanting Regularly for 82 Years.
His Beads As Smooth As Glass…
His Beads First Glimpse of His special beads…
He was Engaged in World War II & then Joined Police Afterwards, Retired in 1969…
In Spite of His Advanced Age, His Memory & Intelligence are Sharp…
This is His House in Cuttack, India.
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
When Madhavendra Puri was roaming the planet he never met anyone who had the same depth of love for Krsna that he had. It is amazing that the love of God which later was taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had already manifested two generations earlier in Madhavendra Puri. Madhavendra Puri was anticipating the sankirtana movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and experiencing the greatest ecstasy.
Madhavendra Puri met many people (so it is described in the Caitanya-bhagavata
Congregational Preaching
By His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami
Congregational preaching means Krsna consciousness for the grihastha ashram. Because many people who are involved in family life cannot directly live in the temples, we need a program to offer Krsna consciousness to those people. Since householders are the majority of the population, congregational preaching is one of the first priorities of our movement. We should develop different ways to engage people in chanting the holy name, in r
By Sri Harinaam Das
One of the highlights of this year’s festivities in Mayapur during the month of March was the annual program of the Institute for Spiritual Culture. This year the overall theme was “The Glories of Our Mothers”, bringing attention to the importance of the seven mothers which Krishna has given us. The guest speakers were HH Krishna Kshetra Maharaja, HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja, HH Bhakti Rasamrita Maharaja, Her Grace Rukmini Devi Dasi and Her Grace Prabhupada-priya Devi Das
Bullock cart ride is always a welcome service in Mayapur! Pilgrims relish taking a ride in bullock cart -as we see guests are always busy taking selfies and pictures with bullock cart. During Gaura Purnima, a new bullock cart seva is inaugurated by HH Lokanath Swami, when Maharaj drove the cart pesonally. See in this video our new attractions in Mayapur - Taraka and Paraka- two bulls pulling the new cart. Video of Bullock cart inauguration!
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
The waves hitting the Jaladuta were overwhelmingly powerful, and as Prabhupada was rocked about on the Atlantic ocean by the intense waves and wind, he was becoming very ill. Prabhupada had a heart attack. Then he prayed to Krsna , and he saw Krsna.
Krsna was rowing the boat and said, “Do not worry, everything will be fine.”
Then the ocean became very calm, very peaceful. Later the captain said, “Swamiji, you must come with us again, because never before did we have su
By Keshava Murari das
Arjuna and Krishna preparing for battle “The emblem of Hanuman on the flag of Arjuna is another sign of victory because Hanuman cooperated with Lord Rama in the battle between Rama and Ravana, and Lord Rama emerged victorious. Now both Rama and Hanuman were present on the chariot of Arjuna to help him. Lord Krishna is Rama Himself, and wherever Lord Rama is, His eternal servitor Hanuman and His eternal consort Sita, the goddess of fortune, are present. Therefore, Arjuna ha
By Achyut Gopal Das
I once heard a very interesting quote which said - "The distance between the problem and the solution is the distance between the knees and the ground." It means that - when we are hit by a problem that seems too overwhelming, we need to hit the ground and offer our earnest prayer to God. This is called "Knee mail" - it is more faster and efficiently than email.
You see, many problems can't be solved by us - they are too big for us but definitely not too big for God. When we
From Back to Godhead
By Sureswara Dasa
Bir Krishna the calf loves coconut fudge, and Sita the teamstress knows it. Her pockets bulge with the sweet as she and Bir walk to the training ring. Today the calf will learn his first call: “Get up!”
The earth is soft from the recent rain. Sita carries a lash and leads Bir with a rope tied to a blue halter. The calf bounds through a cluster of gnats, then slows as they come to the ring. What’s this?
The gate opens, and Bir walks in to explore. He treads
By Madhava Smullen
Today there is a proliferation of different kirtan festivals all over the ISKCON world. But Germany’s Kirtan Simha is unique: a mystical experience centered around the Lord’s half-man, half-lion avatar Narasimhadeva.
Taking place in the Bavarian Black Forests of South Germany, at the Simhachalam farm community, this year’s five-day festival will run from May 15th to 19th.
Around 600 devotees from all over Europe – Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Czech Repu
