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Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana was born in the early part of the 18th century (1720-1790) in a village near Remuna, Balasore District of Orissa. Even though he was the son of a ‘vaishya’ (farmer), in his youth he received a very thorough education in ‘Sanskrit’, rhetoric, logic and Vaishnava scripture.

He accepted ‘sannyasa’ into the ‘Madhwa-sampradaya’ at a very young age, and stayed at Jagannatha Puri. He became a renowned scholar and travelled around India to all the holy places.

During his tra

From Back to Godhead

In many places in his books Srila Prabhupada describes the wonders of prasadam, food prepared with devotion and offered to Krishna. Prabhupada discusses such merits of prasadam as how it effectively immunizes one against the contamination of the material nature, how it frees one from becoming a ghost after death, and even how it is considered ecstatic nectar from the lips of Lord Krishna. In the Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 4.93, purport) Srila Prabhupada writes:

Th

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,

Our consciousness is a very important factor. The most important factor in anything we do is our consciousness. And if we have material consciousness we will suffer, for sure. And if we have vaisnava consciousness we will be able to assimilate and digest different situations.

It may be one of those situations like walking through fire; and when you come out the other side you’ll be a new person. Many times with think if we walk through fire we will just get burned to ashes. And sometimes Krishn

Today, on Father’s Day, some devotees thought of me and wrote to me. I thought of Srila Prabhupada and a letter he wrote to a disciple: “You have accepted me as father, so I have also accepted you as my dear and real son. Relationship of father and son on spiritual platform is real and eternal; on the material platform such relationship is ephemeral and temporary. Although I cannot give you anything as father, still I can pray to Krishna for your more and more advancement in Krishna consciousne

By Giriraja Swami

Srila Prabhupada expressed his appreciation for his father in his dedication to his book Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “To My Father, Gour Mohan De (1849-1930) A pure devotee of Krsna, who raised me as a Krsna conscious child from the beginning of my life. In my boyhood ages he instructed me how to play the mrdanga. He gave me Radha-Krsna vigraha to worship, and he gave me Jagannatha ratha to duly observe the festival as my childhood play. He was kind to me, and I

When I was 21, a close college friend of mine died. Suddenly, just like that. And I felt like someone had cut the phone line and I could never speak to her again. It was over and I was shaken to the core.

That event, among others, made me rethink life. What are we all doing here, where are we going, and what really matters? It propelled me to continue my search, not exactly sure what I was looking for, but certainly something better than what was presenting itself before me.

This week again, whe

In the following article Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur describes Krishna consciousness as the only genuine reform process. He says that anyone who takes shelter of any other process to reform society is in need of reform themselves.

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

The world stands in no need of any reformer. The world has a very competent person for guiding its minutest happenings. The person who determines that there is scope for reform of the world, himself stands

This handbook and accompanying curriculum, which are to be used enjointly, have been compiled under the direct order of the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. Their contents are based wholely on the inspiration, guidance and wisdom of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder acarya of ISKCON. This humble attempt has been made in the service of any aspiring devotee and future disciple of the authorised ISKCON Acaryas. We pray to Srila Pr

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

“The devotee dive-bomb.”

On different occasions Srila Prabhupada spoke about sleep. When I first became his servant, he called me into his room after he had taken a short nap following lunch. This was at the Dallas temple when Srila Prabhupada visited the gurukula facility. He asked me if I had taken rest after eating my lunch. I said no. This was not something that was done at that time.

“I am an old man,” he said. “I cannot sleep very long at one time, so I take a nap after lunch.”

I had been

By Atma Tattva Das, 

The Reddit community r/ISKCON has reopened under a new moderation team, marking the return of one of the few online discussion forums dedicated specifically to the teachings of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and its Founder-Acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Announced in recent weeks, the reopening comes as more devotees seek spiritual association through digital platforms such as Reddit, Discord, WhatsApp, Zoom, and o

After hearing so many complaints from so many devotees, Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of all the devotees. Practically all the devotees in the temple came into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and he listened very sympathetically to what every devotee had to say, and he was really concerned and wanted to improve things.

At one stage the GBC for India protested: “Srila Prabhupada, my only intention was to execute Your Divine Grace’s will.” And Prabhupada replied a little sarcastically, “Is it My Div

Keepers Of The Flame: Although this expression is most often used by our Christian brothers and sisters, I totally relate to its exclamation in relationship to what or who I am, or at least, aspire to be: A Keeper of the Flame of Bhakti, or A Keeper of the Flame of Spirituality. Personally, I see this as a responsibility for all followers of Shri Chaitanya and those who represent him. I visualize a flame burning brightly in my heart, or raising a torch in my hand to dispel darkness. To me, this

Answers by HH Romapada Swami Maharaja

Question: I live in a devotee community and often feel that I don’t know how to associate with others. I love them and try to serve them but all too often I just don’t feel emotionally safe in their association. I don’t feel free to be open in case they hurt me and thus I am wasting my life constantly holding back (defending like a kicked dog). I am desperate for some clarification on this point.

I am a very sensitive person, partly because I have ill healt

The Science of Repetition.

To see that article properly formatted click here

Srila Prabhupada encouraged repetition of the sastra as a principle of disciplic succession and at the same time he condemned it as artificial and unscientific. Let’s examine the two positions with quotes from him.
The importance of repeating the words and instruction of Krishna of the disciplic sucession is repeated time and time again by Srila Prabhupada. He said, “We simply repeat the words and the instruction given