Just turn the pages of the history of India and you will come across the life stories of scores of eminent men and women who had all the means to enjoy their material life, but they willingly gave it up to pursue their spiritual goals. They weren’t satisfied just to satisfy the demands of their mind, senses and body. Animals do the same thing. Their conscience would constantly nudge them to look something which was not material and not ephemeral. They were searching for happiness which was not
Once, the late Madhudvisa Prabhu asked Srila Prabhupada, “What pleases you the most? Book distribution pleases you. Deity worship pleases you. What really pleases you?”
Srila Prabhupada replied, “By struggling for Krishna…,” that was pleasing. This was related to us by HH Giriraja Maharaja.
Many things pleased Srila Prabhupada, like doing book distribution, looking after our children, doing deity worship and so on, but to “struggle” for Krishna has a wider concern, because it affects each and e
6th February, Varaha Dvadasi, will be 17 years since the opening of our Vrinda Kunda Temple! To celebrate, we will do special parikramas to the Holy Places of Braja with buses leaving every morning from Krishna Balarama Mandir and returning for lunch. The program will culminate on Sunday 16 February with our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan Procession with the ladies carrying waterpots with coconuts on their heads.
Plan your trip to Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival by coming to Vrindava
Bhaktivedanta Vidyapeet Research Centre (BVRC) in affiliation with the Mumbai University recently conducted a Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Diploma Course. The course was delivered by renowned speaker, Gauranga Das, the Director of BVRC. He gave inspiring and empowering series of lectures on Sri Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, amounting up to 100+ hours of discourses. More than 120 keen participants from across the globe attended all the course modules which consisted of three sessions,
By Giriraj Swami
We have again reached December, that most auspicious time of year when the book-distribution marathon takes place. In honor of the occasion, I quote two verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam that embody the devotee’s mood in distributing Krishna consciousness.
naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaranyas
tvad-virya-gayana-mahamrta-magna-cittah
soce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyartha-
maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan
“O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material
From the beginning of Prabhupada’s preaching in New York he spoke about the development of an international society, but his new followers couldn’t imagine Krsna consciousness going beyond the walls of the little storefront on 26 Second Avenue.
Fortunately Prabhupada didn’t share their vision. He had such a deep faith in Lord Caitanya’s prediction and the instructions of his Guru Maharaja that he said the Krsna consciousness would someday go down in history for changing the world in its darkest
The United Nations' (UN) Universal Children's Day, which was established in 1954, is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. On this day, the newly established ‘King of Braj’ a music band consisting of Hungarian devotees — musicians, teachers, social activists, marketing specialists from Eger and Budapest — in collaboration with Krishna- sympathizer and well-known hip-hop and reggae artists released its firs album entitl
By Giriraj Swami
Today is Odana-sasthi, the date on which Lord Jagannatha is given a winter shawl. One year, when Lord Chaitanya and His associates celebrated this festival in Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi, who is Vrsabhanu Maharaja, Srimati Radharani’s father, in krsna-lila, received some special mercy. His experience is instructive for us all.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward,
By Chaitanya Charan Das
We all worry sometime or the other. And to some extent, worrying is just natural and unavoidable because so many things that are important for us are not in our control.
Still, if we consider the amount of mental time we spend on worrying, we will recognize that it is enormous – and enormously unproductive, in fact counterproductive.
While there are no quick fixes to the problem of excessive worrying, still we can progress towards a solution by appreciating that the sam
The Utsav Deities of Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, and Srila Prabhupada were recently taken on a tour of the nearly completed Shree Krishna Haveli next to the UK’s Bhaktivedanta Manor on November 12th.
Fifty temple devotees joined the procession with kirtan. Along the way, Their Lordships and the devotees received a description of each section of the Haveli.
Traditionally, a Haveli is a small palacial building with a courtyard, generally associated with
Guest: What is the highest devotion, the highest bhakti, please?
Srila Prabhupada: To love Krishna. If you become expert how to love Krishna… The idea of loving is not unknown to you. You love somebody. You love your wife. You love your children. You love your country. You love your society. There are so many loving aspect. But when you love Krishna, then your life is perfect. That we have to…
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma samprasidati
(Srimad-Bhag
This write-up is not intended as a criticism of the preaching efforts of any particular devotees. I am sure that all devotees involved in preaching to scientists and scholars are doing their best to promulgate the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness. However, there are certain general issues that are of great importance. Inevitably, the discussion of these general issues involves illustrations taken from the preaching work of particular individuals. I hope that these individuals will forgive me f
Bhaktivedanta Manor organized a special dinner at the Avanti House Secondary School, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON’s establishment in the UK. The main invitees were disciples of Srila Prabhupada and other key senior devotees, and it was a great opportunity for the younger generations to serve, join in Srila Prabhupada Guru-Puja and listen to the memories of first generation of ISKCON devotees.
Speakers included Shyamasundar das, Gurudas, Malati dasi, Dhananjay
