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“Balarama is considered the original spiritual master because he performs the two functions of the spiritual master. One is that He serves Krishna, and the other is that He gives knowledge of Krishna. In His desire to serve Krishna He wants to serve Krishna in every possible way. In terms of rasa, or transcendental mellow, or relationship, sometimes Balarama is in the mood of servitude (dasya). He also serves Krishna in sakhya-rasa, in the mood of an equal. And because He is elder to Krishna, H

Perhaps one of our gifts to Krishna on His birthday this year could be a promise to get to know Him better. There are many ways to do this, reading being one of the easiest and most enjoyable, yet often days, maybe weeks go by without a piece of sacred literature touching our hands.

That’s truly a loss, for sacred reading soothes the wild mind, sharpens the intelligence, and nurtures our true self, the soul. Reading about Krishna also helps ‘all that is troublesome to the heart’ to be ‘almost co

To start to tell the story of Vrajabhumi we must introduce Sergio, a typical playboy of the seventies. He worked with Law and was a partygoer in Rio nightlife. His penthouse in Copacabana, one of the richest neighborhoods of Rio, was a place for parties, where people swapped the day for the night. Almost suddenly, however, his life would change. After reading the book Beyond Birth and Death, written by Srila Prabhupada, founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the

Question: Karma applies only in this realm – only in this material world, right? Or does it also apply to the soul in the non material world?

My reply:
Karma is cause and effect as a result of work.

We exist on one side of the kāraṇa ocean (the ocean of causality). Ours is the side where a lack in the soul motivates work (karma) which sets cause and effect in motion. The other side of the ocean of causality, the “non-material realm” or the “spiritual world” as we often call it, is “Vaikuṇṭha” –

One barrier to acceptance of interactionist models for mind/body dualism is a shortage of conceptual resources. Turning to the ancient Sanskrit writings of India, we find in the Bhagavata Purana of India the allegory of the City of Nine Gates, which provides a complex model from mind/body dualism. This model, rich in imagery, allows one to account for such varied phenomena as phantom limbs, out of body experiences, past life memories, traveling clairvoyance, and perception of qualia.

Is there a

Beauty of Nitai 
Sri Caitanya Mangala Madhya Khanda 
Chapter 4 “The Beauty of Nitai” 
Lord Gauranga met Nityananda Raya in the home of Nandanacarya. Nityananda’s beautiful golden-colored body had a slightly reddish hue. Glistening ornaments adorned His enchanting form. Bright yellow cloth carressed His hips. A yelloe turban the color of a golden campaka flower, decorated His head. As He walked, His anklebells chimed sweetly “Jhuni, Jhuni, Jhuni”. 
His eyes were wide and long like a deer. He rem

About 140 devotees from Spain, Portugal, Holland, the UK and Russia bonded in calling out to Lord Krishna during the third annual Holy Name Festival in Spain this summer.

The festival ran from August 11th 14th in Srila Prabhupada’s Gardens at the New Vrajamandala farm.

Devotees arrived on Thursday to a welcoming address and an evening kirtan in an elegant white tent in the Gardens, as the newly renovated elephant fountain trickled pleasantly in the background.

With Srila Prabhupada’s murti and

It was a truly uplifting and festive time for ISKCON of Los Angeles from August 4th to 7th recently, with celebrations for both the 40th anniversary of the city’s Rathayatra festival, and the 50th anniversary of ISKCON in full swing.

The ISKCON of LA property looked fresh and beautiful for the festival, with temple president Svavasa Das and his brother Naikatma Das completing an ambitious renovation project just in time.

All the windows were replaced and the temple, Govinda’s buffet and kitchen

The Gaudiya Vaishnava siddhanta is unique like no other in the sense it highlights the aspect of divine love that is experienced in separation from the beloved. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is Krishna in the mood of Radha exhibited this specific aspect of prema or love. In India worship of Krishna or Vishnu is a universal concept. In fact, it is said that once the entire planet earth worshipped Krishna or Vishnu. So worship of Vishnu or Krishna is not anything new. However, Mahaprabhu intr

Dear Devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

On the auspicious occasion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami and the appearance
day of Srila Prabhupada, we wish to humbly offer this special edition
"Deliverance of Putana" at Their lotus feet.

We pray that this issue brings some pleasure to the devotees of Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

NBS # 43 Features:-

1) Deliverance Of Putana
Srila Sukadeva Goswami

2)Understanding The D

One time I used the word “dogmatic” and a young boy asked me what does “dogmatic” mean? Interestingly, I did not have a convincing answer. This made me think a little bit. The dictionary definition is “a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true”. From a cultural perspective, any phenomenon that does not have supportive evidence can be deemed dogmatic. By both accounts, one may argue that the tenets of Krishna consciousness is dogmatic. Because it is laid

BBT press release

The “annotated scans” for Chapter Nine of Bhagavad-gita As It Is are now online atwww.BBTedit.com/changes.

The scans for this chapter are the latest in a series that shows all the revisions done for the transliterations, word meanings, and purports of the second edition. Nearly every revision also has a note explaining why it was done, along with an image from the BBT’s oldest manuscripts, allowing you to verify the history for yourself.

Jayadvaita Swami did his revisions for t

Bold and Beautiful, TOVP
An emblem of Srila Prabhupada’s boldness.

Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) when he was 70 years old and spread it throughout the world in the next 12 years. He obviously had numerous attractive qualities, both as a person and as a leader. One that continues to amaze, inspire, and guide his followers was his sensational boldness. Srila Prabhupada's boldness changed the course of world history.

When Prabhupada started

On this day (13th August), 50 years ago, an unassuming mendicant stepped onto a cargo ship with practically nothing, and set off for America. It was a humble but historic beginning.

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

You were the local sadhu, the unassuming resident of Vrindavana, humbly residing at your simple but tranquil quarters at Radha Damodara Temple. Then you journeyed to the godforsaken Bowery and lived alongside buzzing acidheads, bearded bohemians, ruined alcoholics and disillusioned dropouts.

Congratulations to Vrinda devi Sheth and her mother Annapurna Johannson, illustrator, on the launch of their first book in the trilogy, Sita’s Fire. The first book, Shadows of the Sun Dynasty, is now available for sale through Amazon.com or with the publisher. The mother-daughter team have pushed their individual crafts to their limits to invite every reader into this magical world.

There will be a launch party here in Gainesville on Saturday, August 27, 2016. For details about the mantra and d

We all like a good story. It makes our day, inspires our heart, and we experience a gamut of emotions. When it comes to Krishna’s birth story He doesn’t disappoint. In Sanskrit, stories about God are called Lila. This is to remind us that His stories are not of the world, although sometimes taking place in the world.
There are many reasons Krishna comes here, and they converge, layer upon layer, story upon story, to create ”Lila”. For his birth Lila, Janmastami, we’ll pick up the action in the

For most of the Croatian people (or as they call themselves, Hrvati) when it comes to defining their origins and tracing their ancient roots they turn towards the land of Iran and Persia. According to academia the name Hrvatcomes from Hrovat which comes from the Slavic Horvat which originates from the Indo/Slavic Harvat and which is ultimately traced to Persia and the name Harahvaiti.

Harahvaiti however, is the corrupted name of Sarasvati, the great Vedic Goddess, the Mother of Sanskrit, the gr

The Jhulan yatra festival celebrates Radha and Krishna’s pastime of sitting on a swing. Deities are brought out and given a swing to sit on and in temples around the world devotees wait patiently in a queue and take turns  swing Their Lordships.

The Hari-bhakti-vilasa mentions the swing festival saying the devotees should please Radha and Krishna by applying sandalwood on their body, fanning then with chamara, decorating them with jeweled necklaces, offering palatable foodstuffs, and bringing t

THE Hare Krishnas don’t need an excuse to party. Joyful celebration is a sacred feature of their devotional practices, ordained by the Supreme Lord Krishna thousands of years ago in the Bhagavad-Gita.

But it was the society’s 50th birthday recently – and that calls for a special shindig.

The community in Murwillumbah rose to the occasion, with 1800 guests, a hand-pulled chariot, dancing, feasting, chanting and music, the performers projected onto a giant screen befitting a jam-packed rock conce