Govinda Ghosh was one of the three brothers Govinda, Vasudev and Madhav, who were all dear associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. According to Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (188), Sri Govinda Ghosh is a sakhi named Kalavati in Goloka Vrindavan, who beautifully sings songs composed by Srimati Vishakha Sakhi.
Govinda Ghosh, in Mahaprabhu’s lila as well, was a celebrated singer with melodious voice. He, along with his brothers, was present in the kirtans at Srivas Angan, in the ki
On encountering Hare Krsna devotees chanting on the street, people respond with every reaction from amusement to anger. Few understand what the chanting is all about. To many, it seems a frivolity, often inspiring the remark “Get a job!”
But there’s nothing frivolous about chanting the names of God. Srila Prabhupada had great faith in the transformative power of chanting. He told us that simply by chanting Hare Krsna we would become self-realized. He spoke from experience and on the basis of th
The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon.
BG 5.29, Purport: The conditioned souls within the clutches of the illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gītā. The greatest peace formul
The following reports have been sent to ISKCON News by the Share Your Care Team
1: Vraja Jivana Das and Yamuna Jivani Devi Dasi live in Oleshki in the Kherson region, which is presently blockaded and under Russian occupation. Currently, it is not possible to go in or out of the city and no humanitarian aid is allowed in. Due to this, stores ran out of provisions and have been empty for a couple of days now. The devotees are very grateful for the financial support that was gi
I belong to the road, at least the trail. That was the mood and spirit of our troupe that returned from the weekend Festival of India roadshow. We were reflecting on the fabulous time, grateful that we could be part of the journey. How can one ever repay the good opportunity given to us by the Supreme.
I sometimes wonder what or where I would be if not for those considerate monks I met, fifty years ago, on Elm St. in Sudbury. They changed my life, gave it purpose, principles and procedures. The
On a trip to Hawkes Bay, NZ, as part of our Every Town and Village project (ETV), I was at a book table at the Hastings Warehouse. A mature lady walked straight over and began looking at the books. She then spontaneously grabbed japa beads and asked the price. She wanted four strings of beads.
She said that she used to do a lot of meditation and wanted to get back into it. I encouraged her to also take books, as they will help her deepen the quality of her meditation and learn more about the cu
When Tota Gopinatha Dasa arrives at the Chilliwack Community Services building driving a shiny black Harley Davidson motorcycle, the loud rumbling pouring out of the polished silver tailpipes turns every head in the parking lot. At first sight, the long hair tied back into a ponytail and the big belt buckle might suggest that another biker from the halfway house has arrived for an appointment with his parole officer. But when he walks in and takes his seat behind the supervisor’s desk, you noti
Lord Krsna has innumerable expansions. As far as Krsna Himself is concerned, there are six opulences which are always present knowledge, wealth, fame, strength, beauty and renunciation. He has these opulences in totality, whereas created beings have them in part only.
Knowledge
In the world there have been men who have been considered very rich in knowledge Socrates, Plato, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, Francis Bacon, Da Vinci, Einstein, etc. History has afforded us innumerable geniuses whose thou
The Melbourne ISKCON devotees living in the western suburbs of Melbourne Australia have for years participated in the annual local Hindu Holi festival in which they have incorporated a mini Ratha Yatra parade.
Many hundreds of people from the culturally diverse community attended the festival and the devotees engaged them all in the festivities.
With the cooperation of the festival management, the devotees were able to distribute books and prasadam (sanctified food), and much more.
The highligh
If we are honest, then we must admit that we are not perfect.
If we are honest, then we must admit that we are not perfect. And if we are not perfect, then we must admit that we have some faults. Maybe we can write down some of our faults. Three days later, we are still not finished writing! So, the more honest we become about our own limitations and shortcomings, the more humility sets within us naturally.
Watch the full lecture below or on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/
Vallabha and I headed for Sault Ste. Marie’s waterfront, which has a trail starting from the Sleep Inn Motel where we rested and dreamed for the night. The trail along the St. Mary’s River is not detectible. You cannot see it for the snow banks, but we tried anyway and so we sank into the white stuff, which was hard on the surface but soft underneath. I sank first, knee-deep. He began to come to my rescue but he sank all the same. It was a good laugh.
I continued on my own down the main street.
Back to Godhead has inevitably undergone changes over its sixty-year history. When Srila Prabhupada’s disciples took up the service of producing the magazine, he gave them general guidelines and left most of the details up to them. Occasionally he would give specific instructions. One of those, which BTG editors have held sacrosanct ever since, was that each issue should contain an excerpt from the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Once, when some disciples expressed concern that the spiritual content of BTG
In the spirit of Srila Prabhupada Marathon, here is a story from some thirty years ago in Russia, as told by Gautama Rishi Prabhu.
You know how Sanskrit names sometimes sound funny in our languages? So this Gautama Rishi went on sankirtana with a friend called Akula Das. Akula means "shark" in Russian. Not "sounds like" but literally means shark. For our English speakers, internet says that Akula class attack submarines make lion’s share of Soviet/Russia’s nuclear submarine force. "Akula" is to
It often happens that people just give a nice donation but do not take a book. Someone will say, “I like what you are doing, but I think that you should give the book to someone who really needs it.” But THEY REALLY need it, too! So I was wondering how to give someone the book at this point in the conversation …
Recently, I met an atheist in Paris. He doesn’t like religion and God.
So I told him, “No problem. I think that you can take this small book instead: “Science and Consciousness.” It is
If you are a budding lawyer, seasoned attorney, solicitor, barrister, or paralegal we invite you to join our community of devotee attorneys.
The ISKCON Law Department has over 100 devotee attorneys around the world. We hold a sangha every fortnight (two weeks) to introduce international legal talents which will inspire and enthuse you. These devotees are serving their respective temples whilst pursuing and continuing their careers. We also hold annual international conferences.
If you would li
A POWERFUL NARASIMHA PUJA to invoke blessings of the Divine Protector
Join us on April 3, 2022 for 3 Pujas:
Puja 1: Ahobhilam (India) 6:30pm IST
Puja 2: Simhachalam (Germany) 8pm CET
Puja 3: New Vrindaban (USA) 8pm EDT
Pray for Ukraine and the world invoke auspiciousness receive blessings
Hosts:
@sacinandanaswamiofficial and @thegodofyoga
Esteemed Guests:
@radhanathswami @krishnadasmusic @eddiestern @krishnakshetraswami_official @madhavanaidoo @govindagirl_acyutagopi @cambridgeuniversity
With t
I will share a story about the fructification of sankirtan. We never know what will happen. Even distributing a small book can turn into something amazing.
Two Maori boys, cousins, showed up at the Bhakti Lounge shaved-up with sikhas and tilak. Where did they come from? Who were they? None of us knew.
We found out that they had received “Chant and Be Happy” from a sister who had bought it at the New World mall in Papakura. They read the book and felt convinced that they have to give up “animal
The world is searching for a perfect book, a book that contains all you need to know. May be the key to this search lies in the pages of the Mahabharata . Vyasadeva boldly states the glory of this great text: What you will find here you may find elsewhere, but what you don’t find here, you will never find anywhere.” Mahabharata is called an itihasa, or history. Indeed, being the history of a great country like India, it teaches us life lessons – what one should and shouldn’t emulate.
When amb
Recently while speaking to my eight-year-old cousin, I asked her what prayers they recite in their morning assembly. She sang many prayers, one of which was a Christian nursery rhyme that I found interesting. It said:
God’s Love is so wonderful,
So high you can’t get over it,
So deep you can’t get under it,
So wide you can’t get around it,
Oh! Wonderful love!
This song mentions three characteristics of God’s love. Let us discuss each of them separately.
“So high you can’t get over it”: Our exis
