From Back to Godhead
Vaishnava acts of compassion are valuable even when apparently not on the level of transcendence.
Pure Vaishnavas care deeply. They feel the suffering of others in the core of their hearts. Their greatest compassionate wish is to lead others away from their suffering once and for all – by helping them go back home, back to Godhead. Until people reconnect with Lord Krishna and hear how to lead their lives in His service, they will never achieve true happiness, free from suf
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 July 2012, Modra, Slovakia, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1)
All throughout history, people have tried to impress other people. Some men have been wearing high hats. Some ladies have been wearing high heels. In so many ways, people have tried to impress each other, generation after generation. Are we any different? It is the same thing again and again – this one has a beautiful T-shirt, that one a far-out tattoo, this one has very tight clothes, and so on. We are trying to i
How do we maintain self-confidence, yet feel ourselves a fool before our spiritual master? How can we be confident and simultaneously feel unqualified to serve Krishna? Aren’t self-confident people somewhat proud or arrogant?
We are ordinary people engaged in an extraordinary process, a process that will make us extraordinary. Thus, our confidence lies not in ourselves, but in the power of the process of bhakti.
With Krishna’s divine power and intelligence guiding us, we know we will succeed. I
By Purushottam Nitai Das
Arjuna had never been defeated in any battle. But today standing between the armies of Kaurava and Pandavas he was not even able to hold his famous Gandiva bow with which he had conquered the mightiest of the warriors. He was in total panic, his body was quivering and he said to Krishna that it is better for me to beg and live than fight this war. In fact he was unable to decide what is righteous and unrighteous behavior. He understood that his expertise in archery and
The sound of Krsna’s flute was heard by Lord Brahma and then, the sound of that flute came out of the mouth of Lord Brahma through the Gayatri Mantra. So through the Gayatri Mantra we can hear Krsna’s flute. This makes second initiation a little more exciting. It is not only about being a brahmana. It is not only about the mode of goodness but you also hear the Gayatri Mantra which was what came out of Brahma’s mouth after hearing Krsna’s flute. It is said that the Gayatri Mantra is like the so
From Back to Godhead
By Drutakarma Dasa
Revealing the Land of Krsna
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s visit to Vrndavana opened the doors to the spiritual world for all humanity.
Among the sacred cities of the world, Vrndavana is probably the least well known. Yet this small town in northern India ranks with Rome, Jerusalem, and Mecca as a center of worship. It was in Vrndavana that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, displayed His transcendental pastimes during His appearance on this plane
By Purushottam Nitai Das
To control the elephant is humanly impossible. So as soon as the baby elephant is born, the elephant trainer ties him with a rope to a pole. Initially the baby elephant tries his best to break the rope but because of his tender body he fails. The newly born elephant tries again and again but every time he fails. The baby elephant gets convinced that he is not strong enough to break it. He accepts it to be his destiny and continues to be tied. And even when he grows up a
By Khonika Gope-Kumar
[Translated and abridged from the Bengali Book “Gauda Mandal Parikrama: The Holy Tirthas in Bangladesh” by Patita Uddharan Das Brahmacari. Publisher: Hare Krishna Publications, ISKCON Swamibag]
A lot of Bengali devotees lament that even though A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada instructed a number of his senior disciples to preach in Bangladesh, he personally never visited Bangladesh. However, devotees would be happy to know that Prabhupada’s Guru, Srila Bhakti Sidd
Nestled in the wooded hilltops of the Appalachian Foothills, New Vrindaban is a favorite destination for thousands of pilgrims every year. Varsana Swami’s new photo book is an invitation to realize and enter its deeper, magical dimensions of Sri Dhama. It offers a tangible glimpse of this enchanted realm, not easily seen with the naked eye.
Imbibing Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Varsana Swami has been carving out landscapes throughout New Vrindaban since 1972. His heart is
At the ISKCON North American Temple Presidents’ Meeting this January, one of the major points of focus was Integrating the Next Generation Youth, with practical steps taken to involve the next generation in ISKCON temples at all levels.
ISKCON Youth Minister Manorama Das called the move “encouraging” and said he felt happy that prioritization was finally being given to this topic.
Around thirty-five temple presidents, GBCs and support office leaders gathered for the Meetin
There are many devotees in Wellington serving in various capacities, such as Devamrta Maharaja’s disciples doing harinama, book distribution and running the Bhakti Lounge
Ambarish Maharaja is a leader of namahatta and bhakti vrksa programs. Every Friday he has a namahatta program in a hall at Lower Hutt. I was able to attend the Bhakti Vrksa at his home on Saturday afternoon.
By Muralimohan dasa
Continuing the successful model of doing a one-day padayatra every month, the ISKCON Ahmedabad devotees celebrated this year’s first padayatra on January 13. Padayatra began at 8am at the Boot-Bhavani temple with forty-five devotees, Srila Prabhupada, and the beautifully dressed Sri Sri Nimai-Nitai and headed for upmarket Bakeri City in Vejalpur, where the devotees performed sankirtan and distributed Bhagavad-gitas to the neighbourhood’s well-informed residents. Magnetized
By Shyama Darshani dasi
Stepping out of the bus, the salty ocean air hit me in a wave. Tampa Bay was host to the Gasparilla Pirate Festival this January afternoon. Every way I looked I saw red and black. Young and old were all dressed in costume. Amidst this crowd was the Lord of the pirates – Jagannath Swami on His chariot!
Lord Jagannath’s devotees were no less dressed up. Eighty youth from ISKCON Alachua wore bright, vibrant, colored-coordinated outfits with Harinam chaddars draped over thei
Govardhana is enchanting… and simultaneously educational. At every turn there is a lesson to learn. While pacing the peaceful perimeter path yesterday, a street vendor suddenly announced: “Monkey seva! Monkey seva!” It was an invitation to feed the mischief-making monkeys that had congregated. “Monkey seva is my thing” I thought, “I’ve been feeding this monkey-like mind for lifetimes!” Some nuts for our furry friends today, but the inner monkey has to diet. Walking a little further we encounter
By Chaitanya Charan Das
Suppose we accidentally take a drink that acts like poison for us in our particular health condition. As soon as we realize what we are doing, we will immediately stop drinking it and take some antidote.
When we gain spiritual knowledge, we understand that sensual indulgence acts like poison, even if it tastes initially like nectar (Bhagavad-gita 18.38). Despite understanding this, we still succumb to sensuality because our conditions or conditionings highlight the initi
By Sacinandana Swami
When we start our devotional practices it is possible to keep them up for a while out of a sense of duty. For a while it is possible to practice devotional service mechanically out of a sense of “I have to do this.” But in the end we are not machines! We cannot practice for a long time, if we only do it mechanically, and not experience the taste of it. We can only continue steadily if we get a genuine taste for it – the sweet and relishable taste of bhakti.
You must know t
“Bhagavad Gita As It Is – Thai and other books by Srila Prabhupada ordered/bought (50 plus) and soon to be in display for sale/distribution in Dev Mandir (biggest Hindu temple in Bkk. Thailand)”
We have had good relations with the Dev Mandir (biggest Hindu temple in Bangkok) located in Sausincha since the beginning. The annual Jagannath rath-yatra in Bangkok which is generally held on the adjacent Sunday of the Jagannath rath-yatra in Puri ends in the Dev Mandir in Bkk. The temple authorities
By Byron Kyle
Have you ever been on a road trip and knew where your destination was but didn’t know exactly how to get there? You switched on Google maps and got directions but closer to your destination, you felt you knew a better way and ignored the GPS only to get lost and ultimately added thirty minutes to your trip.
I find spiritual life to be much the same. We naturally want to be controllers in our in lives. We sometimes ignore instructions and do things our own way. When we do this we h
Over eighty ISKCON youth and next generation devotees participated in the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates in Tampa, Florida on January 26th, bringing Lord Jagannath and the Hare Krishna Mantra to an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 revelers.
This was devotees’ second year participating in the parade, which is part of the massive Gasparilla Pirate Festival with a host of events themed around the legend of mythical Spanish Pirate José Gaspar.
The effort was organized by Bhadra Das
