All Posts (36816)

Sort by

A Monk by Bhaktimarga Swami

image2.jpeg


A monk from the Orient, China, I suppose, excitedly and hurriedly ran to me with a gift.  It was a gamsha, a short lower garment for sleeping in, or to be used as a towel after bathing.  He doesn't know me very well, but he extended himself for that devotional touch.
 
"What is your name?"  I asked him.
 
"My name is ??? Swami," he answered, with a name that was the length of the Ganges.
 
"Is there a short form to that?"
 
"Haridasa," he replied.
 
"Thanks.  I can handle a three syllable wor
Read more…

Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 16.9

TEXT 9
etam drstim avastabhya
nastatmano 'lpa-buddhayah
prabhavanty ugra-karmanah
ksayaya jagato 'hitah
SYNONYMS
etam—thus; drstim—vision; avastabhya—accepting; nasta—lost; atmanah—self; alpa-buddhayah—less intelligent; prabhavanti—flourish; ugra-karmanah—in painful activities; ksayaya—for destruction; jagatah—of the world; ahitah—unbeneficial.
TRANSLATION
Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to de
Read more…
Comments: 0

2515282750?profile=original

Srimad Bhagavatam 9.16.10-19
HH Radhanath Swami Maharaja
Mayapur Dham 12.03.2019

trih-sapta-krtvah prthivim
krtva nihksatriyam prabhuh
samanta-pañcake cakre
sonitodan hradan nava (SB 9.19)

Translations by Srila Prabhupada (9.16.10-19)

“Once when Paraśurāma left the āśrama for the forest with Vasumān and his other brothers, the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna took the opportunity to approach Jamadagni’s residence to seek vengeance for their grudge.
The sons of Kārtavīryārjuna were determined to commit s

Read more…

2515282890?profile=original

By Nitya Kishore dasi

“Jaya Jaya Sri Caitanya Jaya Nityananda, Jaya Advaita Chandra Jaya Gaura bhakta vrinda!

In the Parikrama 4th day we covered Rtudvipa and Jahnudvipa, processes arcana and vandanam respectively. Rtudvipa is where the house of the learned Vidya Vanaspati is situated and Jahnudvipa is the island where the sage Jahnu muni was living, once Bhismadeva came to visit him.

So, we can’t describe the happiness of the devotees to visit such sacred places! Champahati (or the market of j

Read more…

2515282812?profile=original

By Nitya Kishore dasi

Gauranga!! Nityananda!!!

The last 2 days of Parikrama have been such an unforgettable experience for all the pilgrims. In the second day we visited Godrumadvipa, the island where kirtan is the process. This is where Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gave comments on the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta and wrote all his songs.
We were in Surabhi kunj where Sri Nityananda prabhu started His first Namahatta and from that very place the incredible mercy of Lord Nityananda crossed the whole w

Read more…

Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2019: Day 1

2515282798?profile=original

2515282958?profile=original

All glories to Sri Navadvipa Dhama, the birth place of Harinama sankirtan!

Sri Caitaya Mahaprabhu said: “This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon.” Kali Yuga it is an hopeless age in all respects, chanting the Holy Name is the only means to achieve even material happiness!
HH Gaura Govinda Maharaj once said: “the Holy Name will give you everything…everything and in the end the Holy Name will give you Krsna Prema

Read more…
Lifestyle
 
By Madhava Smullen

A new textbook for schools in the Telegu language, entitled “Bhagavad-gita for Complete Success in Life,” has been written by an ISKCON devotee and published by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the organization that manages the famous Venkateswara temple. 

Author Vaishnavanghri Sevaka Das, a scientist in the polymer industry who translates Prabhupada’s books into Telegu in his spare time, feels that this collaboration would be very much appreciated by Srila Prabhup

Read more…
Events

Mayapur, India, March 7, 3:45 PM – Following a break for lunch, members of the GBC reconvened for the afternoon session of the day’s 2019 GBC Annual General Meeting. 

The first topic up for discussion was ISKCON’s Radha-Govinda Temple in Brooklyn, NY. The last few years have seen conflict over the managerial authority of the temple, prompted by an earlier proposed sale of the property.

The co-GBCs of the New York temple, Radhanath Swami and Devamrita Swami, assisted by Vaisesika Dasa and templ

Read more…

A Hundred of Us by Bhaktimarga Swami

image3.jpeg

There were a hundred of us, mostly monks, men and women.  We stood in a circle, and the exercise was to take some steps forward or backward, depending on the answer to the question given.
 
The facilitator, Vraj Bihari, asked, "How many of you are in the category of seventy years of age and above?" About a dozen took three steps forward. 
 
"How many of you are between sixty and seventy?"  That included a much larger percentage.  
 
"How many of you came to Krishna Consciousness before 1970?"  
Read more…

Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 16.8

TEXT 8
asatyam apratistham te
jagad ahur anisvaram
aparaspara-sambhutam
kim anyat kama-haitukam
SYNONYMS
asatyam—unreal; apratistham—without foundation; te—they; jagat—the cosmic manifestation; ahuh—is said; anisvaram—with no controller; aparaspara—by mutual lust; sambhutam—caused; kim anyat—there is no other cause; kama-haitukam—it is due to lust only.
TRANSLATION
They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire, and has n
Read more…
Comments: 0

Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 16.7

TEXT 7
pravrttim ca nivrttim ca
jana na vidur asurah
na saucam napi cacaro
na satyam tesu vidyate
SYNONYMS
pravrttim—proper action; ca—also; nivrttim—improper action; ca—and; janah—persons; na—never; viduh—know; asurah—in demoniac quality; na—never; saucam—cleanliness; na—nor; api—also; ca—and; acarah—behavior; na—never; satyam—truth; tesu—in them; vidyate—there is.
TRANSLATION
Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor t
Read more…
Comments: 0

f4s14TA.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x

Subject: TOVP
Mayapur Dhama

HH Gopala Krishna Maharaja speaks:

Hare Krishna!
In 2014-15 we had a program similar to this. Several senior devotees got together and spoke about the glories of the Mayapur Project and the need for all of us to participate in this project. So I suggested to Vraja Vilas the other day why don’t we have a similar program now.

So the purpose of the program today is to increase the awareness and the importance of all of us participating to complete the TOVP project in ti

Read more…
Events

Mayapur, India, March 7, 12:15 PM - The morning session of the 2019 GBC Annual General Meeting continued with an hour-and-a-half presentation on the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, or BBT. The BBT was established by ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada in 1972 to publish Krishna conscious literature, and is the world's largest publisher of classic Vaishnava texts and contemporary works on the philosophy, theology, and culture of bhakti-yoga. 

Vaisesika Dasa made the presentation on behalf of th

Read more…
Events

Mayapur, India, March 7, 10:00 AM –The 2019 GBC Annual General Meeting is in session in Sridhama Mayapur. The ISKCON Governing Body Commission, or GBC as it is commonly known, gathers here every year at ISKCON’s world headquarters in West Bengal. Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya,established the GBC as the ultimate managing authority for his movement. At present, the GBC body is comprised of 37 members who are each responsible for overseeing the management and spiritual standards of I

Read more…

A real prayer comes deep from within!

2515282736?profile=original

By Sacinandana Swami

The following prayers, which Srila Prabhupada described as “the sum and substance of devotional life [v. 24]”, are spoken by the demon Vrtrasura – to Indra’s great astonishment – in the middle of his fight for life or death with the king of the demigods (Indra):

“O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, may I again be able to be a servant of Your eternal servants who find shelter only at Your lotus feet. O Lord of my life, may I again become their servant so that my min

Read more…
Comments: 0

By Caitanyacandra das

The Independent online news reports that this weekend (24th of February) the animated cartoon Peppa Pig has attained 10 years of being broadcast for the entertainment of young children. The Independentmentions that Peppa Pig is being shown in 180 countries and has been translated into 40 languages. One might ask why does the show has so much success among little children. Basically because the episodes use children´s ordinary interests as main topics and show children natu

Read more…

By Devaki Devi Dasi

In February, the leaders of the Sri Mayapur International School had requested me to spend quality time with their pupils aged 11 to 18. We had decided to first welcome the boys with a group of teachers for two days to Nityananda’s abode, and then a bus-load of girls and their teachers. What a wonderful excursion!
Our children are very special, and they start chanting in japa and kirtan already at a very young age. If we can inspire them to develop good chanting habits from

Read more…

Events

By Madhava Smullen

ISKCON’s flagship center, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur, West Bengal is slated to open “on or around Gaura Purnima 2022,” according to tovp.org’s Sunanda Das, who adds that the GBC has not yet officially approved a specific date.

Construction on the 520,000-square-foot temple is now in the final phase after decades of development and nearly ten years of work onsite. 

The project officially started on September 21st, 2009 with the clearing of the construction

Read more…
Events

By Anuttama Dasa

Mayapura, India—Nearly eighty top ISKCON leaders from around the world met at the society’s global headquarters in West Bengal for three full days, March 4-6, to discuss opportunities and challenges in expanding the ISKCON movement. 

The meeting was the third “Sanga of Gurus, GBCs, and Sannyasis,” or SGGS (sanga means association or meeting; sannyasi is a renunciate). Prior meetings were held in 2015 and 2017.

The meetings were held at the ISKCON Mayapura community, home of

Read more…

2515083412?profile=original

By Chaitanya Charan das

Question: Doesn’t renunciation indicate an absence of the will to keep fighting amidst frustration?

Short Answer: Not necessarily. Renunciation can also be a sign of realization; it can indicate the presence of the insight that there is more to life than fighting futilely for perishable material pleasures.

Detailed Answer:

Firstly, we need to recognize that the material eye and the spiritual eye don’t see alike, as the Bhagavad-gita (2.69) confirms.

For material

Read more…