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Sri Radha-Madhava Elephant Procession

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Saturdays around 5:00 pm in Mayapur… Magical moments of Sri Radha-Madhava Elephant Procession.

Mystical sounds could be heard by every single living entity anywhere near ISKCON Mayapur campus. Very intense thundering of large drums beating to the rhythm of two elephant’s hearts, was the best way to bring back to mind some very sweet pastimes of our dear Lord Krsna in Dwarka.
Every Saturday evening, Sri Radha Madhava leave their altar carried by one of our leading Pujari, HG Jananivas prabhu and

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Amazing Pastime of Lord Narasimhadeva!

Hare Krishna,

My name is Andharupa dasi initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1975 at Miami Florida. I was asked to tell my story of my cure from Hepatitis C.

The summer of 2004 His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja visited New Ramana reti temple in Alachua Florida. I approached Maharaja and asked him for his blessings for my departure from this world. My illness: Hepatitis C of 3rd stage fibrosis of the liver. I was undergoing medical treatment for a duration of 48 weeks with only 45% chance to be cured

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By Sunanda Das

On Monday, November 26th the TOVP Management Team held their all important end of the year meeting in Sridham Mayapur headed by TOVP Chairman, His Grace Ambarisa prabhu who flew to India especially for this occasion. Devotees from various departments of the TOVP attended as well as our representatives from Cushman and Wakefield, the world-renowned Project Management Consultancy now working closely with us to complete the TOVP by 2022.

The focus of the meeting was to officially in

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Keynote Speech

Men’s Retreat    New Vrindaban, October 6, 2018 (to listen, click here)

Presented by Professor Burke Rochford

The telling of history is almost always a narrative about men. When historians dig out historical documents as they seek to reconstruct and analyze history, it is inevitably a project that tells us far more about men than about women or children. Due to men’s power and position historically, the documents historians find are typically the product of men and written from t

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Dear Devotees,

I have been serving at Bhaktivedanta Manor for almost four decades now. Over those years I embraced whatever services were given to me. As you may know my health remains a challenge, it all came very unexpected and now it is taking most of my time and energy. As such I now have to resign as Temple President and Trustee of the temple. I ask for your prayers and whatever blessings I may have, I give them all with a humble generosity for the future.

I wish to thank you from the bott

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Book Distribution done by 500 devotees during the annual Kartik Yatra with His Holiness Romapada Swami at Purushottam Kshetra Sri Jagannath Puri Dham from October 26th to Nov 4th 2018.

This year Maharaja expressed his desire that all yatra participants should engage in Book Distribution and that made this yatra even more special. Special slots were scheduled for Book Distribution, 15 groups each consisting of 30 devotees were formed for logistic purposes and devotees from four continents, speak

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 14.2

TEXT 2
idam jnanam upasritya
mama sadharmyam agatah
sarge 'pi nopajayante
pralaye na vyathanti ca
SYNONYMS
idam—this; jnanam—knowledge; upasritya—taking shelter of; mama—My; sadharmyam—nature; agatah—attain; sarge api—even in the creation; na—never; upajayante—comes in; pralaye—in the annihilation; na—nor; vyathanti—disturbed; ca—also.
TRANSLATION
By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time o
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Vrindavan Braj Parikrama – Day 9

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By Kadamba Kanana Swami
 
Written by Rukmini devi dasi
 

Sri Giriraj stretches out before us as if in an early morning yawn, so close we could reach out and touch Him. Kadambavan, a path of the softest sands cushions our feet. Oh feet, sink deep in the holy dust of Govardhan and let it rise up and purify your existence. We walk against the flow of the pilgrims, a quirk of the buses that spew us out somewhere in Vraj and leave us scrambling to find our location. But all is auspicious with the a

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Vrindavan Braj Parikrama – Day 8

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By Kadamba Kanana Swami

Written by Candrasekhara das

Most of us on the parikrama are from the West and accustomed to different comforts. Whilst Vrindavan offers its inconveniences, we must remember that Vrindavan is home and that home is nowhere else. We carry this important meditation by Kadamba Kanana Swami from Day 7 into Day 8.

We begin Day 8 with an hour-long drive from bustling Vrindavan to the clear sky-ed Brahmanda ghat. Being more rural, Brahmanda ghat is serene, peaceful and calming t

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Verse number: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.8.23

Date: 01 Dec 2018

Speaker: HH Chandramouli Swami

taṁ tvāṁ ahaṁ jñāna-ghanaṁ svabhāva-
pradhvasta-māyā-guṇa-bheda-mohaiḥ
sanandanādyair munibhir vibhāvyaṁ
kathaṁ vimūḍhaḥ paribhāvayāmi 

Translation:

O my Lord, sages freed from the influence of the three modes of material nature — sages such as the four Kumāras [Sanat, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanātana] — are able to think of You, who are concentrated knowledge. But how can an ignorant person like me think
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By Sacinandana Swami

We are discussing the road of sharanagati – taking shelter, which leads us to Lord Krishna.
Our third step is goptritve-varanam or accepting the Lord as one’s sole maintainer.
On His way through South India Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sang: 
“Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna pahi mam
O Lord Krishna! Maintain me. “
Now, seeing the Lord as one’s maintainer requires faith. Bhaktivinoda Thakur sings a song which creates such faith. He says:
“O youthful prince of Vraj

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 14.1

TEXT 1
sri-bhagavan uvaca
param bhuyah pravaksyami
jnananam jnanam uttamam
yaj jnatva munayah sarve
param siddhim ito gatah
SYNONYMS
sri bhagavan uvaca—the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; param—transcendental; bhuyah—again; pravaksyami—I shall speak; jnananam—of all knowledge; jnanam—knowledge; uttamam—the supreme; yat—which; jnatva—knowing; munayah—the sages; sarve—all; param—transcendental; siddhim—perfection; itah—from this world; gatah—attain.
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: Again I shall dec
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By Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam4.8.6.

“Dhruva Maharaja was pleasing to everyone. He was pleasing to his brother, who was the threat to his kingdom; to his father; even to his step-mother, who was so mean to him. Srila Prabhupada was like that too. He spoke about the art of criticizing. He quoted a Sanskrit sloka, that instead of saying, ‘The tree is dead and dry,’ one should say, ‘The beautiful tree that is so full of luxuriant foliage and produces so many f

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By Gauranga Darshan Das

“The enchanting beauty of Krishna’s form and character is the source of relish and refuge for all.”

Eyes Naturally Look For Beauty

The Supreme Lord Krsna is always joyful and so is the living entity, His part and parcel. Every person is naturally characterized by his pleasure seeking propensity, anandamayo ‘bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). In one’s attempts to peruse pleasure in this world, most people try to bring their senses in contact with enjoyable sense objects. Thu

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The Magic Of Gratitude

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By Sacinandana Swami

The sanksrit word for gratitude is krtajna – which translates literally as “knowing what has been done.”

Krishna’s gratefulness

Krishna is aware of any service done for Him – whether it is recognized as important like constructing a big temple, which is visited by millions, or whether it goes unnoticed like the chanting of His Names in the secrecy of the early morning hours. He knows it all and He feels obliged to those who are mindful of Him.

For example, Krishna was grate

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 13.35

TEXT 35
ksetra-ksetrajnayor evam
antaram jnana-caksusa
bhuta-prakrti-moksam ca
ye vidur yanti te param
SYNONYMS
ksetra—body; ksetrajnayoh—of the proprietor of the body; evam—that; antaram—difference; jnana-caksusa—by vision of knowledge; bhuta—living entity; prakrti—material nature; moksam—liberation; ca—also; ye—one who; viduh—knows; yanti—approaches; te—they; param—Supreme.
TRANSLATION
One who knowingly sees this difference between the body and the owner of the body and can understand the process of l
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 Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare||

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare||

 

Bhakti Sanga Japa group aims to “Krishnaize” - spiritualize every moment of our day. 

 

Each day begins early in the morning with congregational chanting - japa, followed by Srimad Bhagavatam class, usually given by senior devotees. For members that are busy in the morning, there is yet another mid-morning chanting session followed by a class on Chaitanya Charitamrta. There are several thematic sessio

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The Best Days of Our Lives

By Praghosa Dasa

I recently heard a somewhat humorous exchange between two devotees. The first devotee in a mood of perhaps legitimate grumpiness said;

“I have given the best years of my life to ISKCON” [therefore surely ISKCON owes me]

The second devotee replied;

“Well if you’ve given your best years then you might as well give the rest of your years!”

This exchange is interesting for a number of reasons, not least because of the two apparent conflicting positions taken by the devotees quoted

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Events

By Madhava Smullen

ISKCON Communications Director Anuttama Das attended the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in Denver, Colorado from November 17thto 20th, as a representative of the Hare Krishna Movement. 

Representatives of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust also participated with a booth at the event, which promotes the study of religion from an academic perspective.

Both ISKCON Communications and the BBT have attended the AAR Annual Meeting for the past quarter of a cen

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Events

The devotees of ISKCON-London are known for their special yearly anniversary event festivities and this year was no exception with what can only be described as a spiritually uplifting theatre production that left the audience at the edge of their seats - entertained throughout.

As this year's celebration was during the most holy month of Kartik, the theme "Two Fingers Too Short?" was inspired by the Damodara pastime of Lord Krishna and Mother Yashoda, where Lord Krishna is tied by the rope of

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