Pearls of Wisdom - "May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other's welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Sri Krishna, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him. – Prahlad Maharaj offering prayers to Lord Nrsimhadev, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.9
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By Shyamasundar Das
Our Haight Street apartment in San Francisco was constructed after the great earthquake of 1906. There was an old iron fireplace with a mantel in the front room. On the mantel we kept our little doo-dads and sacred objects, like our gods-eye, a couple of photos of the Swami, and some shells and pretty rocks. One day in mid-February, 1967, I noticed a brightly painted wooden figurine there. It was about three inches high.
“What’s this, Malati?”
“I, uh, I got it the other day
TEXT 17
sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmano viduh
ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
te 'ho-ratra-vido janah
ahar yad brahmano viduh
ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
te 'ho-ratra-vido janah
SYNONYMS
sahasra—thousand; yuga—millenniums; prayantam—including; ahah—day; yat—that; brahmanah—of Brahma; viduh—know it; ratrim—night; yuga—millenniums; sahasra-antam—similarly, at the end of one thousand; te—that; ahah-ratra—day and night; vidah—understand; janah—people.
TRANSLATION
By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahma's one day. And such also is the duration
Episode 11: Malaria!
(This is how the Nivaquine tablets I purchased from the local pharmacy were packaged in India. They spared me from the severe pain caused by the reoccurring malaria attacks that I fell victim to on several occasions when I wore my body down too much.)
“Canakya Pandita has advised that fire and disease and debt, don't neglect. You must clear.” - Audio Transcript, “The Nectar of Devotion” - January 28, 1973, Calcutta
The days crept closer to Friday July 7th, and on Wednesd
For twelve days, from April 21st – May 2nd, Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari led the TOVP Fundraising Team consisting of Jananivas and Vraja Vilas prabhus on a multi-city tour of Malaysia. The results were astonishing and unprecedented for a relatively small country like Malaysia. Over $2 million U.S. in pledges was raised!!!
This was the second tour to Malaysia. The first tour in 2013 was the kick-starter for our major TOVP world fundraising efforts, but we only offered
By Nitaisundara dasa
In the 1960s, literary and media critic Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “global village” to describe the extension of people’s frames of reference and sense of responsibility beyond their immediate surroundings, or “village.” This growing sense of connectedness, McLuhan proposed, is the natural result of a world in which electronics enable our senses (at least the senses of sight and hearing—for now) to immediately experience that which is taking place across the globe,
“Is my Krishna consciousness completely dependent on the mercy of the spiritual master and Krishna, or do Ihave something to do with it?”
By Atmananda dasa, ACBSP 2017
Krishna says, “Surrender unto Me…”, and that may sound very simple and clear. However, there are many possible layers of realization of that instruction, as well as various possible applications.
Some say that our surrender, and advancement in Krishna consciousness, depend wholly on the mercy of the spiritual master and Kri
By Gauranga Das
ISKCON’s Govardhan Eco Village (GEV, http://www.ecovillage.org.in) won Smart Cities India Award in the “Smart Village Award” category for being a sustainability project in Wada district of Maharashtra. On behalf of Govardhan Eco Village, Nimai Lila Das, Chief Sustainability Officer went to receive the Award. The Smart Cities India Award ceremony took place in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India on May 12, 2017. Over a hundred entries were received at the second edition of the award
We are extremely happy to announce the launch of a new website, www.tovp360.org, which offers a virtual tour through the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, one of the largest temples in the world.
The virtual-reality panoramas in this site will show you every nook and corner of the magnificent temple. From 24 different places, you can see all around you and look both above and below to get a feel of this sacred space. Walk in and around the temple, from the temple rooms up to the roofs and domes
Dear devotees,
We have the pleasure of inviting you for a very special festival. A festival in which sravanam, hearing, will be the main focus. This hearing will not only be directly from the Srimad Bhagavatam, the ripe fruit of all vedic literature but also from that spoken by highly realized souls. Taking time out to just sit down and listen carefully to the transcendental glories of Lord Krsna will inspire and strengthen our spiritual journey. With the hope of serving the vaisnava community u
Please find below photos from Nrsimhadeva Caturdasi 2017 in London.
The ISKCON-London Radha Krishna Temple was joined by devotees from
Bhaktivedanta Manor for maha harinama sankirtan around our usual
Saturday night route.
Slideshow (please turn on sound):
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/nrsimhadeva_caturdasi_2017/slideshow
Gallery:
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/nrsimhadeva_caturdasi_2017
For twelve days, from April 21st – May 2nd, Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari led the TOVP Fundraising Team consisting of Jananivas and Vraja Vilas prabhus on a multi-city tour of Malaysia. The results were astonishing and unprecedented for a relatively small country like Malaysia. Over $2 million U.S. in pledges was raised!!!
This was the second tour to Malaysia. The first tour in 2013 was the kick-starter for our major TOVP world fundraising efforts, but we only offered
Lord Nrsimhadev is the personification of soft-heartedness. He is particularly the manifestation of the Lord of soft-heartedness. Why did he become roaring mad? Out of his deep affection for Prahlad… Out of deep affection for his devotee. So actually the external thing is his anger but the real thing is his deep love for his devotee. For me, this is an important point in my relationship with Nrsimhadev that he appeared due to soft-heartedness.
Lord Nrsimhadev is vigna vinasa – the destroyer of all the obstacles on the devotional path. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written these two books – the Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, which describes to us the parikrama of Sri Dham Mayapur and then he wrote the Navadvipa-Bhava-Taranga which is a book that visits the same places as in the Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya but this time, Srila Bhaktivinoda is not describing the place and what the place is dedicated to, this time he describes the inner experi
12-year-old Revati (left) and friends carry a sign showing Hare Krishnas' support for Mother Earth
Members of the D.C. Supersonic Kirtan group and devotees from the ISKCON temple in Washington D.C. joined together to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra at the Peoples Climate March on April 29th. They also shared a spiritual environmental message from the Sri Isopanisad.
Over 200,000 people participated in the march, including indigenous peoples, environmentalists and climate activists, scient
Nrsimhadeva tells Prahlada, “When a devotee looks at Me without hesitation and speaks to Me affectionately, My pleasure grows with every new moment. Although I am eternally free from all limitations, such behavior binds Me with ropes of love. Although I am unconquerable, My devotees can conquer Me. And although I am subject to no one’s control, I become their subordinate subject. I belong only to him who has shown his love for Me by giving up all affection for family and possessions, and such
Display panels in the exhibition Light of the Bhagavata. In the foreground is the cover of the last edition of the book in Portuguese.
Many works of art with sacred themes have been painted under the inspiration of ISKCON-founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. These paintings were originally intended to illustrate books by Prabhupada, author of many original writings and translations, and were also meant to decorate temples and houses of devotees of Krishna.
The world, however, moves
A few years ago Guru Mahārāj insisted, “For Vyāsa-pūjā, I don’t care about balloons – I want meaningful decoration, full of quotes.” Though I wasn’t involved in décor, his words remained in my mind as unfulfilled instruction. For the 2017 Vyāsa-pūjā, the décor team began the transformation of the hall by placing Caitanya-caritāmṛta quotes on the walls and creating a beautiful Desire Tree of Devotion, as described in Caitanya Caritamrita.
Guru Mahārāj appreciated our endeavours. “Thank you for
If you want to become self-realized and achieve the love of Krishna, you must know how to control lust. The biggest difficulty in the path of self-realization is the uncontrolled mind and senses. Lust and material desires destroy knowledge and penances of a person so you need to control your mind and eradicate lust to achieve a higher spiritual taste. It takes time hard work, dedication. This article will guide you on how to overcome lust.
WHAT CAUSES LUST?
Like the other organs in the body, rep
This year's communications conference will take place in sunny, peaceful Villa Vrindvana, Italy
Forty communications staff will meet in Villa Vrindavana, Italy from May 13th to 16th for the European ISKCON Communications Conference. The conference will tackle several issues that are very relevant to ISKCON today.
ISKCON Communications is an organization that builds relationships with groups outside of ISKCON – such as politicians and world leaders, leaders of other religious groups, and the
