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The Passing of Arca Vigraha Devi Dasi
by Daivi Sakti Devi Dasi

Arca Vigraha Devi Dasi joined ISKCON in 1985. She was a successful artist who was disillusioned with material life and wanted an alternative. For a long time she searched for the truth, and she was finally satisfied when she met Srila Prabhupada’s devotees in South Africa.

She discussed philosophy with them and considered how to dovetail her art career in Krishna’s service. Thus she began working on a series of charcoal drawings whi

By Vijaya Prabhu

One Muslim boy was reluctant to take a book from me because it was from outside his tradition. I saw him another day, and he said, “I had this dream the Bhagavad-gita came to me glowing.” I again encouraged him to get the book, and after repeated attempts, he finally accepted it.

This knowledge can pull people out of the modes of material nature.

We are still tinged, but we have come a long way.

We are not distributing paper and ink but jewels.

I tell the people, “You cannot pu

The loving service of the Lord in ISKCON Vrindavan is being carried out by the dedicated devotees living within the temple compound, while simultaneously taking full precautions such as social distancing, hygiene and so forth. In order to celebrate the auspicious festival of Chandan Yatra, the devotees had started grinding Chandan well in advance, and, the day before the festival, other Vaishnavas artistically prepared gorgeous flower ornaments for the deities. On Akshaya Tritiya, the Lords we

My dear friend, the scent of Kṛṣṇa’s body enchants the entire world. It especially enters the nostrils of women and remains seated there. Thus it captures them and forcibly brings them to Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa’s eyes, navel and face, hands and feet are like eight lotus flowers on His body. From those eight lotuses emanates a fragrance like a mixture of camphor and lotus. That is the scent associated with His body.

When sandalwood pulp is mixed with aguru, kuṅkuma, musk and camphor and spread on Kṛṣṇa’s

Mother Arca-vigraha left this world in Vrindavan in 1994 on Jahnu-saptami, which is Wednesday, April 29, in America, and Thursday, April 30, in India. 

In her last days, Mother Arca-vigraha gave me the inspiration and vision to establish the Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan. She had been a prominent artist in South Africa, and she built a house in Vrindavan, in Raman Reti, near the Krishna-Balaram Mandir, to serve as a residence and art studio whenever she visited India. But not long thereaft

The Divine Love Trip, is a deeply thoughtful saga of the devotional life and realizations of Samapriya devi dasi. In this book, she chronicles her spiritual journey through biography, poetry, prayers, realizations, scripture, and the words and pastimes of Srila Prabhupada. These many highly literate and very readable forms of spiritual expression are interwoven expertly as she reveals both her outward activities and her inner spiritual life from first meeting devotees, to her mature realization

In 1976 Hansadutta Swami had come to India with two German busses filled with mostly German and European devotees. I was a new sannyasi and Srila Prabhupada arranged for me to join Hansadutta Swami’s World Travelling Sankirtana Party.

We traveled together all over North India for nearly 5 months holding festivals, performing street Sankirtana and distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. Srila Prabhupada was very pleased. We developed a strong bond of friendship and we became buddies. He was one o

Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport of SB.3.25.25 the importance of devotee association. He explains that devotees should give up the association of materialistic persons and seek the association of devotees; he describes that to understand the pastimes of the Lord, to see the Lord as a person with personal activities and to offer devotional service one should have devotee association. Srila Prabhupada states that devotee association means association with the Lord.

It is relevant for devo

March 21, 2020

Invitation to Participate

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble pranams. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

This is to inform you of a Vaishnava community writing project in which you are invited to participate. In brief, it is about sharing your thoughts, reflections, and inspirations on the basis of some portion of the Second Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, by writing (a maximum of 1200 words).

One very powerful way of fixing one’s attention on shastra is to read with the aim of responding-in

What is namahatta other than the marketplace of the holy name?

Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote this book where he explains that this marketplace of the holy name  is widely available and it can be purchased for the price of one’s faith.

He said there are those who are looking after the marketplace, those who are supplying the marketplace, and there are personalities who look after different marketplaces and sometimes come to supply that marketplace with fresh inspiration. 

Then he describes that he

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.19 while on a Zoom conference with devotees in Spain.

“Through parental care, through remedies for different kinds of disease, and through means of protection on the water, in the air and on land, there is always an endeavor for relief from various kinds of suffering in the material world, but none of them are guaranteed measures for protection. They may be beneficial temporarily, but they afford no permanent benefit. Despite the presence

Akshaya Tritiya in essence is the day of Receiving – the day to receive unlimited spiritual benefit by giving, expecially offering charity on Akshaya Tritiya is considered very virtuous . Scriptures proclaim that offering oblations to forefathers, taking bath in holy river, offering anna dana, sastra dana brings one more auspiciousness than given on any other day. As Navadvipa dham Mahatmya declares that any spiritual activity performed in Navadvip dham earns one 1000 times more benefit than of

What is the use of a temple if there is no prasadam distribution?” Prasadam distribution on a large scale must be resumed. Such a temple where there is no such distribution has no value, I agree.

Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Tamala Krsna — Los Angeles 11 January, 1974

“The arrogance of the wicked increases on studying scripture, which is actually meant to remove arrogance, just as the darkness owls experience increases with the rising of the sun, which is actually meant to remove darkness.”

— Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāram, ku-paṇḍita-nindā, Verse 11.

To properly perceive even ordinary reality, we need humility. While driving along a road, if we become overconfident, thinking that we know the way, we may become neglectful and get jolted by newly-formed potholes

Today is the appearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandit.

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the internal potencies of the Lord, of whom Sri Gadadhara Prabhu is the foremost.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 1.41)

On this most auspicious appearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita, we had abhisheka, arthi & pushpanjali to Sri Gadadhara. HG Jananivas Prabhu spoke on the glories of Sri Gadadhara Pandita.

View our Daily darshan gallery here for pictures of today’s special darshan !

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