Just as Gaṅgā is the greatest of all rivers, Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa is greatest among all Purāṇas. When we worship Mother Gaṅgā the reservoir of holy water, we take palm full water from the river and with devotion we put it back into the river. Similarly this humble attempt of writing on the topic of Bhāgavata Purāṇa is done even though this Purāṇa is the reservoir of everything. It is like taking any paraphernalia for worshiping the supreme Lord which originates and belongs to Him and offerin
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By Chaitanya Charan Das
Traditions across the world have stories similar to the Western classic about Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. In such stories, the same person acts sometimes like a principled, selfless benefactor and sometimes like an opportunistic, self-centered malefactor.
And similar is our own story too. What makes us behave like this? Our mind, or more precisely, the way we respond to our mind. Our mind reacts impulsively to external perceptions and internal recollections; it becomes infatua
TEXT 10
utkramantam sthitam vapi
bhunjanam va gunanvitam
vimudha nanupasyanti
pasyanti jnana-caksusah
bhunjanam va gunanvitam
vimudha nanupasyanti
pasyanti jnana-caksusah
SYNONYMS
utkramantam—quitting the body; sthitam—situated in the body; vapi—either; bhunjanam—enjoying; va—or; guna-anvitam—under the spell of the modes of material nature; vimudhah—foolish persons; na—never; anupasyanti—can see; pasyanti—one can see; jnana-caksusah—one who has the eyes of knowledge.
TRANSLATION
The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand
SRIMAN NARAYANA, SRI LAKSHMI AMMA (DAYA DEVI) AND THE HOLIEST OF HOLY WORKS OF THE REVERENTIAL AZHWARS ( MYSTIC SAINTS ) OF THE SOUTH OF INDIA. ( Part 4 / 21)
SriLakshmi Amma, Daya devi (an ocean of compassion) ( Part 4 of 21 )
Hare Krishna Matajis and Prabhujis,
Have just come back after a short pilgrimage, seeking the most divine darshan of our most beloved Lakshmi amma at Kolhapur , and Sri Rukhmini amma, Sri Satya Bhama amma, Sri Radha amma, Sri Lakshmi amma , Sri Govi
From Back to Godhead
By Drutakarma Dasa
Revealing the Land of Krsna
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s visit to Vrndavana opened the doors to the spiritual world for all humanity.
Among the sacred cities of the world, Vrndavana is probably the least well known. Yet this small town in northern India ranks with Rome, Jerusalem, and Mecca as a center of worship. It was in Vrndavana that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, displayed His transcendental pastimes during His appearance on this plane
By Purushottam Nitai Das
To control the elephant is humanly impossible. So as soon as the baby elephant is born, the elephant trainer ties him with a rope to a pole. Initially the baby elephant tries his best to break the rope but because of his tender body he fails. The newly born elephant tries again and again but every time he fails. The baby elephant gets convinced that he is not strong enough to break it. He accepts it to be his destiny and continues to be tied. And even when he grows up a
By Khonika Gope-Kumar
[Translated and abridged from the Bengali Book “Gauda Mandal Parikrama: The Holy Tirthas in Bangladesh” by Patita Uddharan Das Brahmacari. Publisher: Hare Krishna Publications, ISKCON Swamibag]
A lot of Bengali devotees lament that even though A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada instructed a number of his senior disciples to preach in Bangladesh, he personally never visited Bangladesh. However, devotees would be happy to know that Prabhupada’s Guru, Srila Bhakti Sidd
The Canadian Health Food Guide was recently re-released and it's been a cause of controversy over the fact that it weighs heavily on plant-based food and goes lean on the meat. Yes, the meat and dairy industries aren't too pleased over it, yet it's a great victory for those who live by the more veg lifestyle——sattvic,as we say, or, in the mode of goodness. https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/food-guide-snapshot/
I know that some of my colleagues won't be too thrilled about the challenge to cow's
TEXT 9
srotram caksuh sparsanam ca
rasanam ghranam eva ca
adhisthaya manas cayam
visayan upasevate
rasanam ghranam eva ca
adhisthaya manas cayam
visayan upasevate
SYNONYMS
srotram—ears; caksuh—eyes; sparsanam—touch; ca—also; rasanam—tongue; ghranam—smelling power; eva—also; ca—and; adhisthaya—being situated; manah—mind; ca—also; ayam—this; visayan—sense objects; upasevate—enjoys.
TRANSLATION
The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particu
By Madri Dasi
Nestled in the wooded hilltops of the Appalachian Foothills, New Vrindaban is a favorite destination for thousands of pilgrims every year. Varsana Swami’s new photo book is an invitation to realize and enter its deeper, magical dimensions of Sri Dhama. It offers a tangible glimpse of this enchanted realm, not easily seen with the naked eye.
Imbibing Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Varsana Swami has been carving out landscapes throughout New Vrindaban since 1972. His heart is
By Madhava Smullen
At the ISKCON North American Temple Presidents’ Meeting this January, one of the major points of focus was Integrating the Next Generation Youth, with practical steps taken to involve the next generation in ISKCON temples at all levels.
ISKCON Youth Minister Manorama Das called the move “encouraging” and said he felt happy that prioritization was finally being given to this topic.
Around thirty-five temple presidents, GBCs and support office leaders gathered for the Meetin
By Muralimohan dasa
Continuing the successful model of doing a one-day padayatra every month, the ISKCON Ahmedabad devotees celebrated this year’s first padayatra on January 13. Padayatra began at 8am at the Boot-Bhavani temple with forty-five devotees, Srila Prabhupada, and the beautifully dressed Sri Sri Nimai-Nitai and headed for upmarket Bakeri City in Vejalpur, where the devotees performed sankirtan and distributed Bhagavad-gitas to the neighbourhood’s well-informed residents. Magnetized
There are many devotees in Wellington serving in various capacities, such as Devamrta Maharaja’s disciples doing harinama, book distribution and running the Bhakti Lounge
Ambarish Maharaja is a leader of namahatta and bhakti vrksa programs. Every Friday he has a namahatta program in a hall at Lower Hutt. I was able to attend the Bhakti Vrksa at his home on Saturday afternoon.
By Shyama Darshani dasi
Stepping out of the bus, the salty ocean air hit me in a wave. Tampa Bay was host to the Gasparilla Pirate Festival this January afternoon. Every way I looked I saw red and black. Young and old were all dressed in costume. Amidst this crowd was the Lord of the pirates – Jagannath Swami on His chariot!
Lord Jagannath’s devotees were no less dressed up. Eighty youth from ISKCON Alachua wore bright, vibrant, colored-coordinated outfits with Harinam chaddars draped over thei
Govardhana is enchanting… and simultaneously educational. At every turn there is a lesson to learn. While pacing the peaceful perimeter path yesterday, a street vendor suddenly announced: “Monkey seva! Monkey seva!” It was an invitation to feed the mischief-making monkeys that had congregated. “Monkey seva is my thing” I thought, “I’ve been feeding this monkey-like mind for lifetimes!” Some nuts for our furry friends today, but the inner monkey has to diet. Walking a little further we encounter
By Chaitanya Charan Das
Suppose we accidentally take a drink that acts like poison for us in our particular health condition. As soon as we realize what we are doing, we will immediately stop drinking it and take some antidote.
When we gain spiritual knowledge, we understand that sensual indulgence acts like poison, even if it tastes initially like nectar (Bhagavad-gita 18.38). Despite understanding this, we still succumb to sensuality because our conditions or conditionings highlight the initi
By Sacinandana Swami
When we start our devotional practices it is possible to keep them up for a while out of a sense of duty. For a while it is possible to practice devotional service mechanically out of a sense of “I have to do this.” But in the end we are not machines! We cannot practice for a long time, if we only do it mechanically, and not experience the taste of it. We can only continue steadily if we get a genuine taste for it – the sweet and relishable taste of bhakti.
You must know t
“Bhagavad Gita As It Is – Thai and other books by Srila Prabhupada ordered/bought (50 plus) and soon to be in display for sale/distribution in Dev Mandir (biggest Hindu temple in Bkk. Thailand)”
We have had good relations with the Dev Mandir (biggest Hindu temple in Bangkok) located in Sausincha since the beginning. The annual Jagannath rath-yatra in Bangkok which is generally held on the adjacent Sunday of the Jagannath rath-yatra in Puri ends in the Dev Mandir in Bkk. The temple authorities
By Byron Kyle
Have you ever been on a road trip and knew where your destination was but didn’t know exactly how to get there? You switched on Google maps and got directions but closer to your destination, you felt you knew a better way and ignored the GPS only to get lost and ultimately added thirty minutes to your trip.
I find spiritual life to be much the same. We naturally want to be controllers in our in lives. We sometimes ignore instructions and do things our own way. When we do this we h
TEXT 8
sariram yad avapnoti
yac capy utkramatisvarah
grhitvaitani samyati
vayur gandhan ivasayat
yac capy utkramatisvarah
grhitvaitani samyati
vayur gandhan ivasayat
SYNONYMS
sariram—body; yat—as much as; avapnoti—gets; yat—that which; ca—also; api—virtually; utkramati—gives up; isvarah—the lord of the body; grhitva—taking; etani—all these; samyati—goes away; vayuh—air; gandhan—smell; iva—like; asayat—from the flower.
TRANSLATION
The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.
PURPORT
Her
