All Posts (36106)

Sort by

ISKCON and the USA

By Samapriya devi dasi

As the United States of America was established by its founding fathers, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krnsa Consciousness and therefore he is its Founder-Acharya. His goal was to establish a society by which to bring people of the world to Krsna.

In the beginning days of America the pioneers had to depend upon their own determination, strength and faith, to establish themselves in “the new world”. They saw this land as a place of opportunity wher

Read more…

By Suhrit Krishna Das

ARISE with R.I.S.E!!! (Rupanuga Institute of Spiritual Education)

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada, Gaura Nitai, Sri Jagannath, Baldev and Shubhadra and Sri Sri Radha Giridhari.

On the auspicious evening of Narsimha Chaturdashi, many devotees in their best Vaishnava attire coming to the temple didn’t know what best was in store for them during the coming weekend. RISE was determined to conduct, with the help of Sri Sri RadhaGiridhari’s mercy, a divine opportunity for souls

Read more…

2515249600?profile=original

This book was written by Priti Vardhana dasa, a disciple of His Holiness Bhaktividya Purna Swami.

Priti Vardhana dasa has been serving in the Gurukula for the past 20 years. In preparation for writing this book, Priti Vardhana dasa studied the Srimad-Bhagavatam and writings of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhakura for 3 years. Through this in depth study and his 20 years of experience in raising children in Gurukula this book has manifested.

Defeating Vatsasura is a guidebook written to help caregi

Read more…

2515140140?profile=original

From the moment we are born we are knowledge-seekers. We want to know where we can find food, shelter, love, and happiness. We want information to help us avoid pain, suffering, and loss. We spend our lives building on that knowledge, adding information gained by study and experience.

Perhaps in earlier times society was more inclined to seek knowledge of truth. Today it seems we are after happiness, more than truth or no matter what the truth. And of course, the search for the self is generall

Read more…

2515192391?profile=original

Pure devotees of the Lord are only interested in satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.2). They are not concerned with the material world because they appreciate that in the material world, everything is only temporary and therefore any relationship that we have with the material energy, will not endure and therefore it will be painful.

Whatever we have, we become attached to and then it will disintegrate in the course o

Read more…
Comments: 0

We are for Krsna

2515192432?profile=original

In one of the early Back to Godhead magazines, there was a cover with a butcher slaughtering an animal and Prabhupada asked, “Why did you put this? Why did you put this?”

The editor said, “Well, aren’t we against meat-eating?”

Prabhupada said, “We are not against anything. We are for Krsna!”

So our business is to be for Krsna, not just against this or against that. For Krsna, means to do what is pleasing to Krsna. In one lecture, Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes, Krsna said patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toy

Read more…
Comments: 1

2515249481?profile=original

Gaur Gopal Das delivered a keynote speech at first ever BRICS Alliance Business Forum on 21st of May, 2018. The talk was attended by an audience of around 400 from over 37 nationalities.
The BRICS Alliance Business Forum is a focused initiative that primarily brings together Multinationals, Large, MSMEs, SMEs and Start-ups across economic sectors. It provides them a platform to extend their business and network across BRICS Countries and Partner countries through strategic partnerships and coll

Read more…

Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 11.21

TEXT 21
ami hi tvam sura-sangha visanti
kecid bhitah pranjalayo grnanti
svastity uktva maharsi-siddha-sanghah
stuvanti tvam stutibhih puskalabhih
SYNONYMS
ami—all those; hi—certainly; tvam—unto You; sura-sanghah—groups of demigods; visanti—entering; kecit—some of them; bhitah—out of fear; pranjalayah—with folded hands; grnanti—offering prayers unto; svasti—all peace; iti—thus; uktva—speaking like that; maharsi—great sages; siddha-sanghah—perfect sages; stuvanti—singing hymns; tvam—unto You; stutibhih—
Read more…
Comments: 0

2515192597?profile=original

The Srimad Bhagavatam gives us full descriptions of Krsna’s appearance, of Krsna’s character and of his activities. It is in this way, by absorption in the Bhagavatam that we get everything, everything to know who Krsna is. First, it describes how of all the incarnations, Krsna is the Supreme Lord, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28). Then finally in the tenth canto, it gets into detail. In this way, by reading, we can gradually understand and begin to a

Read more…
Comments: 1

2515249418?profile=original

ISKCON was officially recognized and registered in the Soviet Union on May 20, 1988, ending years of persecution of the Hare Krishna devotees by the Communist regime.

On May 17, 2018, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his congratulatory message for the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of ISKCON in Russia, which is presented in full below:

"I am delighted to know that the Moscow Society for Krishna Consciousness is celebrating the 30th year of its registration in Russia.

Many socio-spiri

Read more…

2515249371?profile=original

Dear Devotee,
Please accept my humble obeisances.

Agtsp!

Please find attached audio links to two lectures delivered by HH Bhakti Madhurya Govinda Swami Maharaja.

Recording 1 –
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qgDuk9X7wsfahAo5QJDbxUnQhnks6QmG
This is a very extraordinary explanation of the 1st verse of the Siksashtakam teaching of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Recording 2 –
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vvLSUDH-Q8vvRvKX4W7rQjb9MxOtstTt
This is a wonderful explanation of the 1st Mantra of the bo

Read more…

Visitors from Isreal

2515249386?profile=original

My disciple Rohini-nandana Dasa, from Israel, who has helped tremendously with my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, and his devoted wife, Vrinda Devi Dasi, a wonderful disciple of Bhurijana Prabhu (she took the picture), have come to spend eight days with us in Carpinteria. We are truly relishing their association, and look forward to more of it whenever time and circumstances—and Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy—allow. They and other devotees are rendering invaluable s

Read more…

By Anuradha Imseng

On Thursday, 17 May 2018, a second VIP event was held at ISKCON New Vrindaban to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary with dignitaries, supporters, friends, and local and worldwide devotees. It was an opportunity to thank the guests for their unrelenting support during New Vrindaban’s fifty-year journey.

The pre-event began with a tour of Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, the breathtaking memorial shrine (Smriti Samadhi) of Srila Prabhupada, while the lady guests were treated to h

Read more…

2515249403?profile=original

Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya

narayanam namaskrutya
naram caiva narottamam
devim sarasvatim vyasam
tato jayam udirayet

nashta prayeshu abhadreshu
nityam bhagavata sevaya
bhagavathi uttama shloke
bhaktir bhavati naishtiki


Before reciting Bhagavatam, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead Narayana, unto Nara Narayana Rsi - the supermost human being, unto Mother Saraswati - the goddess of learning and un

Read more…

Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 11.20

TEXT 20
dyav a-prthivyor idam antaram hi
vyaptam tvayaikena disas ca sarvah
drstvadbhutam rupam ugram tavedam
loka-trayam pravyathitam mahatman
SYNONYMS
dyau—in outer space; aprthivyoh—of the earth; idam—this; antaram—in between; hi—certainly; vyaptam—pervaded; tvaya—by You; ekena—by one; disah—directions; ca—and; sarvah—all; drstva—by seeing; adbhutam—wonderful; rupam—form; ugram—terrible; tava—Your; idam—this; loka—planetary system; trayam—three; pravyathitam—perturbed; mahatman—O great one.
TRANSLAT
Read more…
Comments: 0

2515193509?profile=original

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 May 2012, Sydney, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.11.14)

I remember when the Australian devotees used to come to Vrindavan. I used to be in charge of allocating rooms in the ashram. For the Australian brahmacaris, I used to give them a whole room for themselves which was pretty good and they had somewhere to sleep. In India, basically you have a room with a cement floor and they said to me, “Is this our room? Where is the carpet? It’s just a bare floor! But okay, let’s

Read more…
Comments: 0

Super-human by Kadamba Kanana Swami

2515249401?profile=original

It is extremely nice to explore Krsna because he is a personality who constantly moves between being very human-like and also very super-human. It is the human element however that brings him close to us because we can recognise ourselves in Krsna and his experiences. And yet, his solutions are sometimes very super-human in nature which is purely amazing. So in this way we become close to Krsna – the Supreme Personality.

Krsna’s all-pervading universal form is described in the eleventh chapter

Read more…

Qualities of a Devotee

2515249338?profile=original

By Giriraj Swami

In a talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.13, on May 30, 1972, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada spoke about the qualities of a devotee, and I was struck by the following:

A devotee is sympathetic and friendly. “Sympathetic. We should be very much sympathetic. If some of our fellow men fall sick, we must take care of them, give help to them. Because after all, we have got this body; sometimes we may fall sick. So, we should be sympathetic. And friendly. Everyone’s friend. As Krishna is

Read more…

Kirtan: Are there rules?

By Rasananda das

“How any spiritual activity should be done is understood from three sources: saintly persons, standard scriptures and the spiritual master”. (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.4, purport)

Proper sankirtan – a phrase used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in his Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam and by Lord Caitanya Himself – means certain tunes, certain instruments, a certain musical style, certain dress and certain kinds of dancing by the members of the chanting party. In Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sank

Read more…

2515249416?profile=original

Habit can be terribly powerful. When people get caught in some bad habits such as smoking or drinking, they find quitting those habits almost impossible – it appears that habits have a power bigger than theirs.

The key in dealing with habits is understanding that even if habits can’t be rejected, they can be replaced. Whatever habits we have, they serve some need. To the extent we cultivate a positive habit that fulfills the need fulfilled by a negative habit, to that extent freeing ourselves f

Read more…