Saturdays around 5:00 pm in Mayapur… Magical moments of Sri Radha-Madhava Elephant Procession.
Mystical sounds could be heard by every single living entity anywhere near ISKCON Mayapur campus. Very intense thundering of large drums beating to the rhythm of two elephant’s hearts, was the best way to bring back to mind some very sweet pastimes of our dear Lord Krsna in Dwarka.
Every Saturday evening, Sri Radha Madhava leave their altar carried by one of our leading Pujari, HG Jananivas prabhu and
By Sunanda Das
On Monday, November 26th the TOVP Management Team held their all important end of the year meeting in Sridham Mayapur headed by TOVP Chairman, His Grace Ambarisa prabhu who flew to India especially for this occasion. Devotees from various departments of the TOVP attended as well as our representatives from Cushman and Wakefield, the world-renowned Project Management Consultancy now working closely with us to complete the TOVP by 2022.
The focus of the meeting was to officially in
The telling of history is almost always a narrative about men. When historians dig out historical documents as they seek to reconstruct and analyze history, it is inevitably a project that tells us far more about men than about women or children. Due to men’s power and position historically, the documents historians find are typically the product of men and written from t
Dear Devotees,
I have been serving at Bhaktivedanta Manor for almost four decades now. Over those years I embraced whatever services were given to me. As you may know my health remains a challenge, it all came very unexpected and now it is taking most of my time and energy. As such I now have to resign as Temple President and Trustee of the temple. I ask for your prayers and whatever blessings I may have, I give them all with a humble generosity for the future.
I wish to thank you from the bott
Book Distribution done by 500 devotees during the annual Kartik Yatra with His Holiness Romapada Swami at Purushottam Kshetra Sri Jagannath Puri Dham from October 26th to Nov 4th 2018.
This year Maharaja expressed his desire that all yatra participants should engage in Book Distribution and that made this yatra even more special. Special slots were scheduled for Book Distribution, 15 groups each consisting of 30 devotees were formed for logistic purposes and devotees from four continents, speak
Verse number: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.8.23
Date: 01 Dec 2018
Speaker: HH Chandramouli Swami
taṁ tvāṁ ahaṁ jñāna-ghanaṁ svabhāva-
pradhvasta-māyā-guṇa-bheda-mohaiḥ
sanandanādyair munibhir vibhāvyaṁ
kathaṁ vimūḍhaḥ paribhāvayāmi
Translation:
Sri Giriraj stretches out before us as if in an early morning yawn, so close we could reach out and touch Him. Kadambavan, a path of the softest sands cushions our feet. Oh feet, sink deep in the holy dust of Govardhan and let it rise up and purify your existence. We walk against the flow of the pilgrims, a quirk of the buses that spew us out somewhere in Vraj and leave us scrambling to find our location. But all is auspicious with the a
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
Most of us on the parikrama are from the West and accustomed to different comforts. Whilst Vrindavan offers its inconveniences, we must remember that Vrindavan is home and that home is nowhere else. We carry this important meditation by Kadamba Kanana Swami from Day 7 into Day 8.
We begin Day 8 with an hour-long drive from bustling Vrindavan to the clear sky-ed Brahmanda ghat. Being more rural, Brahmanda ghat is serene, peaceful and calming t
By Giriraj Swami
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam4.8.6.
“Dhruva Maharaja was pleasing to everyone. He was pleasing to his brother, who was the threat to his kingdom; to his father; even to his step-mother, who was so mean to him. Srila Prabhupada was like that too. He spoke about the art of criticizing. He quoted a Sanskrit sloka, that instead of saying, ‘The tree is dead and dry,’ one should say, ‘The beautiful tree that is so full of luxuriant foliage and produces so many f
“The enchanting beauty of Krishna’s form and character is the source of relish and refuge for all.”
The Supreme Lord Krsna is always joyful and so is the living entity, His part and parcel. Every person is naturally characterized by his pleasure seeking propensity, anandamayo ‘bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). In one’s attempts to peruse pleasure in this world, most people try to bring their senses in contact with enjoyable sense objects. Thu
By Sacinandana Swami
The sanksrit word for gratitude is krtajna – which translates literally as “knowing what has been done.”
Krishna’s gratefulness
Krishna is aware of any service done for Him – whether it is recognized as important like constructing a big temple, which is visited by millions, or whether it goes unnoticed like the chanting of His Names in the secrecy of the early morning hours. He knows it all and He feels obliged to those who are mindful of Him.
For example, Krishna was grate
By Praghosa Dasa
I recently heard a somewhat humorous exchange between two devotees. The first devotee in a mood of perhaps legitimate grumpiness said;
“I have given the best years of my life to ISKCON” [therefore surely ISKCON owes me]
The second devotee replied;
“Well if you’ve given your best years then you might as well give the rest of your years!”
This exchange is interesting for a number of reasons, not least because of the two apparent conflicting positions taken by the devotees quoted
By Madhava Smullen
ISKCON Communications Director Anuttama Das attended the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in Denver, Colorado from November 17thto 20th, as a representative of the Hare Krishna Movement.
Representatives of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust also participated with a booth at the event, which promotes the study of religion from an academic perspective.
Both ISKCON Communications and the BBT have attended the AAR Annual Meeting for the past quarter of a cen
The devotees of ISKCON-London are known for their special yearly anniversary event festivities and this year was no exception with what can only be described as a spiritually uplifting theatre production that left the audience at the edge of their seats - entertained throughout.
As this year's celebration was during the most holy month of Kartik, the theme "Two Fingers Too Short?" was inspired by the Damodara pastime of Lord Krishna and Mother Yashoda, where Lord Krishna is tied by the rope of
By Giriraj Swami
Srila Prabhupada personally wrote me, “Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” The December marathon is a special opportunity to increase the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and the parampara by distributing books about Krishna consciousness. So, I encourage you all to increase their pleasure—and your own—by distributing as many books as possible. As Srila Prabhupada said in Los Angeles, “So, I took up this from [Guru Maharaja’s] mouth, that he is very fond of b
By Giriraj Swami
In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada explains the reasons for Sri Krishna Chaitanya’s appearance. Lord Krishna, in His pastimes, was unable to experience the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love for Him, the wonderful qualities in Krishna that She relishes through Her love, and the indescribable happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love. Thus, Lord Krishna, assuming the guise of a devotee, adopted the mood and complexion of Srimati Radharani and desce
By Candramauli Swami
History of Kirtan in ISKCON for a ELM project.
Doing research into how kirtan has evolved in our society from the very beginning, with styles, instruments, singing, arrangements in and outside of temples, street sankirtan etc. Starting with Srila Prabhupada in the early days in NYC and up to the present.
By Ishvara Krishna Das (Dr Ithamar Theodor)
Department of Religion and Spirituality, Zefat Academic College, Safed 1320610, Israel
Abstract: This paper is engaged with the topic of reincarnation in the Bhagavad gītā, better termed “rebirth”. It first looks into the epistemological aspects of rebirth, and highlights the type of knowledge or terminology underlying the vision of rebirth, as opposed to a different type of knowledge that is not suitable for this purpose, and which leads to a differe
Answer by Niranjana Swami
[Question]: Managers have to deal with some unpleasant things like problems and financial crisis or whatever, and then if they get more in to spiritual life, they are generally losing inspiration for dealing with these things. Why is it happening? It’s one way or the other way—why is it happening like that? Devotees in general, they don’t feel inspired to take up responsibility to be involved in all these external engagements. Why is it so diffucult to find people who
By HH Sivarama Swami
Krsi goraksya vanijya. Krsi means ploughing or agriculture and goraksya, cow protection. These are the staples of society, this is what people live on. All living entities subsist on grains. So the ksatriyas may direct and instruct people, the brahmanas may perform their yajnas, but if they don’t eat then giving shelter or instruction is not going to work.
That eating is therefore the most essential aspect of life and this is why the vaisyas and their assistants, the sudr
