(This is a photo of Srila Prabhupada’s sister, Pishima, if you watch the video clip below yu will see her cooling the deities with a peacock fan in the opening shots of the first Calcutta Ratha-yatra in 1972. This clip is 5m:20s long.
LINK: http://www.iskconkolkata.com/kolkata-rath-yatra/previous-rath-yatras/ )
“Knowing that it was Dhrtarastra who had sent the invitation, Yudhisthira felt obliged to go. He had vowed never to refuse his elders' orders. Even
Jai Uttal chants during a concert on the banks of the Ganga
Jai Uttal, one of today’s best-loved and most popular kirtan artists, has released his latest album Roots Rock Rama! with Mantralogy, an ISKCON devotee-run record company that has also worked with The Mayapuris, Jahnavi Harrison, Gaura Vani and more.
Roots Rock Rama!, an epic double-album, features drumming by Mayapuri Visvambhar Sheth and was co-produced by Gaura Vani.
“I met Gaura about eight years ago at the first ‘Chant 4 Change
Saw this nice post in my mailbox this morning courtesy of my friend Padmapani Prabhu over at Prabhupada Connect and thought we would share it with all of you. The photo is by Mathuranath Prabhu I believe.
Finding a Genuine Guru
Excerpted from Science of Self Realization Chapter 2
Reporter: Have you ever had people come to you who had previously been involved with a fake
guru?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, there are many.
Reporter: Were their spiritual lives in any way spoiled by the fakegurus?
Radha Fournier demonstrates to the children how to water the garden beds. On the sides you can see the back wall lined with black water pipes, and the south facing slope made out of glass to trap solar heat
Govardhana Academy, located at the Saranagati Farm Community in British Columbia (BC), Canada, recently participated in their third year of the BC Green Games - a province wide competition to promote sustainability in schools.
The students filmed a video to display the results of their p
“Swami Bhaktivedanta came to the USA and went swiftly to the archetype spiritual neighborhood, the New York Lower East Side, and installed intact an ancient, perfectly preserved piece of street India." (Allen Ginsberg)
Various leadership responsibilities, whether manager, mother or mentor, offer us the privileged opportunity in assisting people to excel. Though the most rewarding role in life, they all come with a good dose of frustration and annoyance. How many times has your sincere and in
Srila Prabhupada was the best spiritual master. What better spiritual master could one possibly think of!? He was the best but still many of his disciples were not successful in following their vows because everyone has his own destiny in his hands. The spiritual master can only help us. As Prabhupada said, “When the plane is on the ground then there are a lot of people around the plane – putting fuel, checking the tyres and so many things are going on. Ground staff are everywhere! But once the
“I liked Prabhupada’s humbleness. I always liked his humility and his simplicity The servant of the servant of the servant is really what it is, you know. None of us are God—just His servants. He just made me feel so comfortable. I always felt very relaxed with him, and I felt more like a friend. I felt that he was a good friend. Even though he was at the time seventy-nine years old, working practically all through the night, day after day, with very little sleep, he still didn’t come through
“Reading the books (scriptures) will purify the intelligence” -Srila Prabhupada in a letter to to Kirtiraja - Bombay 11 January, 1976.
At Mayapur Institute, we train our students to develop taste for reading scriptures regularly.
(Vidyananda Prabhu took this photo of me in 1976 at the Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindaban when I got initiated. I had completely forgotten I asked him to take a photo of me when Srila Prabhupada handed me my beads. I was stunned with appreciation two years later when he finally gave it to me at some festival when our paths crossed again at an unplanned time! )
“Actually, one should undergo severe austerities and penances only to achieve spiritual happiness. I
Srila Prabhupada officiates a wedding
ISKCON’s Congregational Development Ministry, based in Mayapur, India, has launched a new online marriage counseling service that draws from Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
With the divorce rate in many countries at over fifty per cent, the search is on for the key to stable and successful relationships.
According to the two consultants at new website Bhaktimarriages.com – psychotherapist and Vedic astrologer Sri Radha Govinda Dasi and writer and astrolog
The 8th of April, 2017, marked the day when over 15,000 youths from across the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, got the chance to get inspired by spiritual wisdom in a grand event entitled as ‘Xpressions 2017’ in ISKCON Kanpur. Emphasizing on ‘De-addiction’ and ‘Value Empowerment’ within youth, ‘Xpressions 2017’ was an effort by a team of ISKCON devotees to bring the youth closer to their roots, re-introducing them to the rich cultural heritage they have inherited, focusing on the need for a posi
Once a man was chased by an elephant in a forest. Seeing no respite, he climbed a tree but he slipped, was about to fall before he could hold on to a branch. He looked up and found that the elephant is waiting to devour him and two rats, one black and one white, were slowly nibbling the branch he was hanging on to. He understood that very soon the branch would fall to the ground.
As the man looked down, he discovered that there were many snakes. Suddenly a drop of honey fell on his face. He
This is another fine compilation of quotes, in chronological order, put together by Prabhupada Connection, this time Srila Prabhupada blessing and praising George Harrison.
“When Bhaktivedanta Manor was donated, Srila Prabhupada said of George, ‘Because he has given shelter to Krishna by providing this temple, Krishna will surely provide shelter for him.’ Just before Srila Prabhupada left this world in 1977, he removed the ring on his right hand and said to the disciples around him, ‘This is f
The Currents of Life, Part 1 and 2 (reposted from April 16th, 2013)
Part 1: Have you noticed the invisible currents of life? My experience currently, (using this as an excuse for my not writing for a few weeks), and upon reflection on past events, is that sometimes it is apparent that I seem to be swept along, lifted up as it were, beyond my will into the air of destiny, on some already decided course, which it is best if I accept, and not fight. I have come to see that our free will and power
Episode 3: Finding My Way
(The first photo shows how Jagannatha's chariot was intended to look in the 1976 parade before there were concerns about the central telescope being adequately strong enough to withstand wind forces. (See Jayananda Story for Details))
“I am very glad to note your eagerness for expanding your service. This attitude is very nice and it is required of the devotee at every stage.” - Letter to: Dinesh -- Los Angeles 1 August, 1970
“Now you have everything, respect, phil
Download PDF - Feb - April 2017
(Vrinda Sheth (right) and her mother Annapurna Dasi with their book Shadows of the Sun Dynasty)
Two ISKCON authors have won in their categories at the Independent Book Publishers Benjamin Franklin Awards this year, which received nearly 1,400 entries published during the 2016 calendar year.
Over 150 librarians, booksellers, and design and editorial experts judged the books submitted.
Radhanath Swami’s “The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti, A Contemporary Guide to Yoga’s Ancient Wis
The Bhagavad Gita: Our social studies text books tell us that it is the holy book of Hindus. Should one read the scripture as a religious book then.. that would be a little odd because the Gita predates organized religion itself. It was written 500 years before Jesus Christ. A thousand years before Muhammad-the prophet and over 2000 years before Hinduism itself was a thing. Reading it as a book of religion also does not quite explain its consistent sustained appeal over 2 millennia not just amon
Episode 2: Improvements Requested
Prabhupada: “Everyone engaged in some particular department, he must improve and... Then things will go on nice(ly). - Room Conversation - April 22, 1977, Bombay
Prabhupada: “Expert means whatever he is doing, he must do it very nicely That's all. Suppose you are sweeping this room. You can do it very nicely, to your best knowledge. That is expert. The people will say, "Oh, you have very nicely done." Any work you do, do it very nicely. That is expert. Don't d
Human life is meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead - (Bhagavad Gita, 4.1. Purport). At Mayapur Institute, we impart this spiritual knowledge through our various courses.
