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The Vedic contribution to one of the central debates in Western philosophy.

Sam Surya goes to his city’s orphanage one day and makes a large donation. Elsewhere in town, Andy Andhakara robs a bank. What led these two to make such drastically different choices? Was it their own volition, or the force of some other factor? In other words, were their actions predetermined, or did Sam and Andy have free will?

These questions concern one of the pivotal debates in Western philosophy. Are human beings

Local vendors participate and new bins get installed at Hulor Ghat, one of the adopted spots.

Mayapur Clean and Green, led by Murari Mohini Devi Dasi, has recently introduced a new strategy for protecting Mayapur from environmental challenges. This strategy encourages individuals and organizations to adopt specific areas of the Dham. This initiative seeks to generate funds for cleaning activities and secure regular sponsorships for essential equipment, ensuring the sustained upkeep of Mayapur.

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Over the past decade, New Vrindaban has grown rapidly, with a 36% increase in residents each year. To meet this demand, the community has built 10 new apartments and 5 cabins, bringing the temple’s total to 48 apartments. Additionally, 50 plots of land are being developed for devotees to buy and build homes. The growing number of young families in the community has created a need for enhanced support in fostering a Krishna-conscious lifestyle for children and parents.

Recently, ISKCON News inter

Since 2009, our ISKCON Girls’ Forum team in Amravati has been frequenting the Dr Narendra Bhiwapurkar Blind School, engaging the students in kirtan and other spiritual activities. On these occasions, I always had the feeling that the children should be reading Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is to enlighten their lives. But where to get a Braile Bhagavad-gita was the big question.

For the full story by Jayabhadra Devi Dasi, visit the ISKCON Padayatra website for this and other inspiring n

ISKCON Bhagavata Mahavidyalaya (IBMV) is offering a 27-hour Diploma in Bhagavad-gita course, divided into 18 sessions of 1.5 hours each. Scheduled from February 1 to February 21, 2025, the classes will be held Monday through Saturday, from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM IST. The course will be conducted by Premasindhu Gauranga Das who is the Director of Administration at IBMV.

The program welcomes individuals ages 15 and above, regardless of their prior knowledge. It offers an in-depth exploration of the Bh

From Back to Godhead

Fulfilling our duty as parents requires taking care of our children’s spiritual needs.

As the mother of ten children, I am often asked, “How do you fulfill your family responsibilities and still make progress in spiritual life? When do you find the time to serve God?”

“It’s a matter of vision,” I reply. “I realize that I can serve God by caring for my children and husband with love and respect.”

Being a mother and wife is my duty, and I don’t distinguish it from my service

“Whom are we worshiping in the temple? This query of mine was unanswered till I reached ISKCON.”

I was born and brought up in a Hindu family in Delhi, and we used to go to various temples and offer prayers before the gods. Two questions, however, always tickled my mind: Why do we worship so many gods, and who is the real God? As I never got answers to my questions, I considered all the gods equal, and in my teenage years all religions and faiths became one for me. Be it Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhi

The self has an unlimited capacity to sense, being sat-cit-ananda. These sensations are limited or defined by the body being inhabited. For example, the human body senses light energies across a spectrum that we interpret as red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. Above violet in energy, is ultraviolet, which is not detected by the human eye. Similarly, energies below this light spectrum include infra-red, which again is not visually sensed. Yet we know that these energies are there, because

Excerpt from a lecture by HH Radhanath Swami

“Srila Prabhupada stressed the urgency to surrender to Krishna. Every line of his books, every sentence of his tapes, you would hear him urgently, just pleading with you and me, to take Krishna Consciousness seriously. Death, tragedy can come at any moment. And the greatest tragedy is that our faith is stolen away by maya and her various representatives which can come in many forms. There is no comfortable position when we are secure in material exis

The Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC) is delighted to announce the South Asia editions of two significant academic works on Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism by Radhika Ramana Dasa (Dr. Ravi M. Gupta): Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Philosophy: Tradition, Reason and Devotion and Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Vedanta of Jiva Goswami.

Both books, published by Routledge—a globally acclaimed academic publisher renowned for its contributions to the humanities and social sciences—now have South Asian editions brought out by BRC in collab

Devotees from around the world gathered for a Celebration Sanga on January 26th to mark the distribution of over 4.5 million copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

The call, hosted by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) and Global Book Distribution Minister Vaisesika Das, revealed inspiring reports from around the globe, each offered to Srila Prabhupada. The theme of the 2024 campaign was entitled “Make Earth Smart Again.” Vaisesika Dasa noted it is based on the words of Srila Prabh

On January 25th, the Indian Government’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced the 2025 recipients of the annual Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian honors bestowed by India’s President. ISKCON leader and prolific author Sri Nandanandana Dasa (Stephen Knapp) was one of the notable recipients in the Padma Shri category for his outstanding and distinguished service in the field of Literature and Education.

A disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Sri Nandanandana has

A Vaishnava does not want to criticize anyone. For example, in Vrindavan, there was one very, very exalted Vaishnava.

One day, there was a mahotsava, a festival. Many people were invited. This person noticed that one Vaishnava was not there, so he questioned what happened to him.

Somebody said that he has done this and that, so we did not invite him. This very senior Vaishnava got up and started to walk to the door. When asked why he was leaving, he said, “For such a small little fault you have

Krishna is self-satisfied and does not need anything, but out of His mercy He will accept our offerings of love and devotion.

Krishna’s supreme opulence surpasses all description and comparison. Millions of goddesses of fortune serve Him in the spiritual realm. He is the supreme controller, the ultimate refuge, and the proprietor of everything. Yet, because of His love for His devotees, the all-powerful Lord accepts their loving offerings.

Krishna consciousness helps us recognize and reestablis

The purpose of this paper is to both establish the importance of the seva of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books as well as understanding the essence of the message in Prabhupada’s books which is the performance of devotional service, regardless of one’s role or place in society.

Firstly I would like to present my own personal reading resume: I have read the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta five times, the five-volume set of the unedited letters of Srila Prabhupada three times, the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is

Doves, deer, turkey vulture, and then there are sandhill cranes.  One crane couple hung around the grounds.  They are inseparable at the Veda Foundation.  At one point, they got super excited to see one of their kind soaring in the sky.  I can’t describe the noise they make, but it’s positive.

Purnachandra, the person maintaining the grounds and operations in general, conducted a maha-yajna in honour of Narasingha, the lion avatar.  Sunday is the day for that.  Remarkable about this outdoor yajn