“According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one’s relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God.… All living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are duty-bound to serve Him.”

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93669

About Radhika Raman Das
Radhika Ramana Das, also known as Dr. Ravi M. Gupta, is a notable Vaishnava scholar. Presently, he is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College. He received his doctorate from Oxford University on the topic of Jiva Goswami’s Vedanta,and has a Post Doctoral Fellowship from Linacre College.He grew up in Boise Idaho where his academic accomplishments were docume

From a talk by Srila Prabhupada on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 25.29, January 21, 1967, San Francisco.

The laws of nature are so strict that if you have to suffer, nobody can check it. That is realized by Prahlada Maharaja. There are so many evidences. Balasya neha saranam pitarau. (SB 7.9.19) [“My Lord Nrsimhadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept,

Frustration gives way to illumination during one extraordinary night in the life of a prostitute.

While prostitutes are often depicted negatively in traditional literature, some religious texts depict them positively as testimonies to the transformational potency of divine grace. Thus, in the Gospel is found a story of a prostitute (considered by some to be Mary Magdalene) who was redeemed by Jesus. In Gaudiya Vaishnava literature such as the Chaitanya Charitamrita comes the story of the saint

By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader

Taking a detour from our route padayatra reached Jasdan, a municipality town in the Rajkot district, the home of Mahavishnu Maharaja disciple Ganshyam dasa. When Ganshyam and his wife had darshan of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar in Belgaon, Maharashtra, he prayed to Their Lordships for blessings so that he could become a good grihastha devotee. He had served in padayatra for six months and also in Vraja-mandal Parikrama where he received the blessings of R

This class on Srimad Bhagavatam 8.22.24 is given by HG Kalakantha Prabhu on Tuesday, January 26th, 2021, at Bhakti Center.
The crux of the issue is this: Will I serve the Lord with whatever money He has allotted to me, or will I use it to try to please myself. My consciousness, and not on the amount of money I have, determines my decision. Prabhupada explains: “Materialism does not mean that one has to possess so many things. The actual fact is one may be a perfect transcendentalist or spiritua

From Back to Godhead

How we value, acquire, use, and relate to money reflects our inner state of being.

Sri Sukadeva Goswami said, “Money does not stay in one place. It passes from one hand to another. Ultimately no one can enjoy money, and it remains the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.24) Money is God’s energy. He created it, He owns it, and He controls it: “Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord

ISKCON Ujjain celebrated the 15th anniversary of its temple inauguration on 25th February 2021, Nityananda Trayodasi, the day of the divine appearance of Lord Nityananda.

On 10th February 2006, the beautiful temple of Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan ji, Krishna Balarama and Gaura Nitai was inaugurated in the auspicious presence of many GBCs, sannyasis and senior devotees of ISKCON. HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja had constructed this beautiful marble temple in a very short time of 9 mo

Many years ago a great Krishna Bhakti teacher, Bhakti Tirtha Swami, penned the following 4 principles of community building:

1. Treat everyone you encounter as if the success or failure of your spiritual life depends on the quality of your interactions with them.

2. Think of the person you love the most and aspire to treat everyone with that same quality of love.

3. View all conflicts as your own fault first.

4. Realize that people in your present environment might very well be the people with

By Gauranga Darshan Das (Gaura Purnima Special)

Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gīta that He descends in every yuga as an incarnation for three purposes: to protect the righteous, to punish the mischievous, and to establishes dharma. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended in the current age of Kali as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Śrī Gaurānga. In this incarnation, the Lord appears in the form of a devotee to teach how to perform loving devotional service (bhakti) unto Him.

Assuming the emotions of a

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktisiddhānta-sarasvatīti nāmine

śrī-vārṣabhānavī-devī-dayitāya kṛpābdhaye
kṛṣṇa-sambandha-vijñāna-dāyine prabhave namaḥ

mādhuryojjvala-premāḍhya-śrī-rūpānuga-bhaktida
śrī-gaura-karuṇā-śakti-vigrahāya namo ‘stu te

namas te gaura-vāṇī-śrī-mūrtaye dīna-tāriṇe
rūpānuga-viruddhāpasiddhānta-dhvānta-hāriṇe

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His

By Giriraj Swami

Today is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada’s appearance day. We have heard about His Divine Grace already. Today is also the disappearance day of HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja. He left on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day.

I remember the first time we celebrated Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s appearance day. I was a new devotee in Boston temple in early 1970, and Srila Prabhupada instructed us how to observe the appearance day of the spiritual m

1. We are put to test and trial in this world. Only those who attend the kirtana of the devotees can succeed.

2. Every spot on earth where discourses on God are held is a place of pilgrimage.

3. Possession of objects not related to Krsna is our main malady.

4. Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst enemies.

5. As dalliance with the body in luxury increases, so wanes the spirit of service of the Lord.

6. Those favored by God find their paths set by thorns.

7. There is no pe

While studying about Madhavendra Puri I came across these gems.
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that there are 5 primary counter examples we should learn from Ramachandra Puri:
(1)Faultfinding, especially finding fault in Vishnu and the Vaishnavas, is extremely detrimental to one’s spiritual advancement. A devotional practitioner should look at his own faults rather than at others’. By correcting his own faults, he will be able to make some advancement.

(2)All the disciples who take initi

1. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s instructions in Sikastakam, “param vijayate Sri-Krishna -Sankirtanam” is the only motto of the Gaudiya math.
2. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna is the only enjoyer. Everyone and everything else is the object of his enjoyment.
3. Anyone who does not serve Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is ignorant and a killer himself.
4. To learn to tolerate is one of the most important responsibilities of those living in the math.
5. Rupanuga devotees offe

I am overjoyed to hear that your enthusiasm for chanting is increasing. As our contaminations are removed by chanting, the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes will be revealed to us in the holy name. There is no point in making a separate effort to artificially remember the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes. The Lord and His name are one and the same. This will be understood clearly when the coverings in your heart are removed.

By chanting without offenses you will personally realize that a

He is indeed by far
The mercy avatar
For he bore the blood
During the love flood

As companion to Gaur
Life was less is more
Distributing a wealth
For everyone’s health

Committed to the name
And establishing its fame
He went door to door
In the effort to explore

He went with Haridas
Many gains, no loss
With interesting reception
Prepared for any rejection

Jagai/Madai, there in queue
The loud obnoxious two
Met more than their match
When Nitai did dispatch

They swayed, they fell
Totally drunk as h

By Madhava Smullen 

In mid-March, the ISKCON Communications Journal (ICJ) is set to publish its first issue after a fifteen-year hiatus, under the guidance of Mahaprabhu Dasa, Director of ISKCON Communications Europe. The Journal is edited by Tattvavit Dasa and Rupa Sanatana Dasa.

 ICJ was known for addressing many important topics and issues, including challenges and crises that ISKCON faced. Articles were written by scholars from both within and outside of ISKCON.

The ISKCON Communications Jo

“Slowing Down in a Fast-Paced World” was the theme chosen for the Mauritian Zoom crowd. I started off with everyone doing a boogie snap of the finger and singing Simon and Garfunkel’s first stanza to 59th Street Bridge song, “Slow down you move too fast/you’ve gotta make the morning last…”

Arjuna slowed down. To process. To listen. Only then to pick up due to the empowering words of Krishna. Further still, to go in high gear; into the battle of Kuruksetra. For us ordinary folks it appears that a

As an institution representative of Krsna and the parampara, we have the duty and obligation to be an example of responsibility and caring concern for everyone. Thus, in the present context of the coronavirus pandemic, we must strictly take all recommended precautions and strictly follow all official indications.

Krsna must see that we are doing everything that we can and not that we are irresponsibly leaving everything to Him. «God helps those who help themselves.» While endeavoring thus, we