From Back to Godhead
In a former age, God’s empowered incarnation employed extreme measures to deal with an extreme situation.
Sectarian and political disputes are common not only today but occurred even during the time of Sri Parashurama, an empowered incarnation of the Supreme Lord who appeared several ages before Lord Ramachandra, millions of years ago. The kings at that time, proud of their strength and fighting for absolute power, revolted against the spiritually advanced sages, who gen
“Regarding Jhulan Yatra Ceremony, during these five days the Deities’ clothing should be changed every day, and there should be nice prasadam distribution and sankirtana as far as possible. If you are able to do it, a nice throne may be constructed on which the Deities can be placed. This throne may be swung gently during kirtana. That will be very good, and surely the Deities will enjoy the function.”
– Letter to Jayapataka, Los Angeles, 1 August 1969
For the last 33 years, an enthusiastic gro
Gunagrahi das Maharaja Health Update.
** Important health report of ss Gunagrahi Maharaja *** Hare Krishna devotees please accept my obeisances, all the glories to Srila Prabhupada I hope you are very well. As everyone knows Maharaja was doing during these last 8 months, a very austere Ayurvedic treatment which consisted mainly in the taking of liquid mercury and 10 liters of water per day and in which, every 15 days, we would check with the doctor the Maharaja’s health and to renew his medici
“It wasn’t you had to think, ‘Oh, can I have a mango?'”
Srutakirti dasa, November 1973, ISKCON Bombay, Juhu Beach
One evening Srila Prabhupada called me into his room.
“This evening you can make me some puffed rice and peanuts,” he said. “It will fill me, but it is not heavy. What I ate last night made it difficult for me to get up and do my translating work. With puffed rice there is no indigestion.”
I left his room and began to prepare the puffed rice and peanuts. He told me to serve it with
This time of the year is most eagerly awaited by all devotees as it is filled with constant festivals such as Balarama Jayanti, Janmastami, Radhastami and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja celebration. In Mayapur we take these festivals very seriously, being that it is the World Headquarters for ISKCON and the janmasthan of our beloved Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
This is also a unique time for us to make a special TOVP fundraising seva appeal to all devotees worldwide, as these auspicious occasi
Death is a 100% certainty. How are we going to face it? If it comes when we least expect it, this is what makes death so mystifying, yet it is often kept away at a distance within the mind. People know they will die, but how they die is the unknown fascination. Will it hurt? Some people wish to die in their sleep. Whichever way it comes, death is the life stalker, a phenomenon no genius can stop.
News stories are abuzz with incidents of death. It is not a coincidence that death happens everywhe
From the moment that the living entity is born, he has a desire to enjoy. With cute smiles and cries of discomfort, the cute little baby forces his parents to dote on him. From the moment a conditioned entity is born, he believes that this world is meant for worshiping him. His awakening years start when he grows and is no longer little and adorable. Having left childhood behind, worship becomes more difficult to acquire. The living entity has limited experience and a poor fund of knowledge. Mu
Devotees visiting the Holy Dhama do so with the hope of utilizing their time to diligently endeavor to attain their most noble aspirations.
In planning your trip to India, there are a few things to consider to ensure the blissful accomplishment of immense spiritual advancement, while maintaining both physical and mental well-being.
Spiritual Considerations
To get the benefits of advanced association, attend mangal arotik, parikramas, and classes.
“One who … takes bath in the waters of the holy
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
It is said the test of a man’s greatness is to measure the long-term impact of his life and teachings—to see if his legacy continues to inspire and guide others after his passing from the world.
It has been more than forty years since you physically left this world, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and fifty-plus yea
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The cost of printing and distributing this year’s Tributes book has been made possible by a donation from His Holiness Subhag Swami, His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami, and a devotee in Africa, who wishes
to remain anonymous.
The Tributes Team
Every member of the Tributes team (listed below) has offered their time and service on a voluntary basis.
Editorial and Production Advisor Jayādvaita Swami
Production Manager Pradyumna Dāsa
Submission Managers Harṣarāṇī Devī Dāsi & Rosie
By Giriraj Swami
TEXT 62
sadhavo hrdayam mahyam
sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
mad-anyat te na jananti
naham tebhyo manag api
SYNONYMS
sadhavah—the saints; hrdayam—heart; mahyam—My; sadhunam—of the saints; hrdayam—the heart; tu—indeed; aham—I; mat—than Me; anyat—other; te—they; na—not; jananti—know; na—nor; aham—I; tebhyah—than them; manak—slightly; api—even.
TRANSLATION
“Saints are My heart, and only I am t
Sadbhuja Das: A column writer from the Telegraph (Indian Newspaper) came to interview me, did a colorful article on the ToVP.
Newspapers here in India love to do articles on the ToVP.
The Telegraph is an English newspaper that is in all the major cities in India, this article was in all of them!
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By Sudeshna Banerjee.
Mayapur: A gigantic blue dome is all that visitors to Nadia’s Mayapur have been seeing of the temple under construction for the past seven years. Last February, a gold-plated c
There are a few ISKCON old-timers, relics of the ’60’s—including me—who feel that Dylan was sort of planted into the wonderland of that era’s counter culture by a guiding hand of destiny. Much of his influence was positive in directing the young people away from a stone-like social order that was on the verge of self-destruction with the Viet Nam War in full swing and a giant Cold War overhead. His anti-establishment message has led us to consider that at least a few of his songs were at least
The last time George associated with a large group of devotees was when he and his wife, Olivia, visited the Manor in the summer of 1997. We had invited him to a celebratory dinner a few days after we got permission to build the new approach road.
This dinner was held shortly after we had another amazing fundraising dinner called “Prabhupada’s Dream”, during which guests and patron members of the Manor were invited to raise funds to buy the land for the approach road. That evening the target wa
After the success of last year’s Chariot Festival, the anticipation of celebrating yet another successful festival was running high. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) chapter in Saint Louis, Missouri was excitingly preparing for celebrating The Chariot Festival for the fourth year in a row. This year the organizers and volunteers had worked day and night for months to pull off this festival, wanting to make it the best one yet!. They had meticulously prepared for eve
On July 21-22, Yekaterinburg ISKCON hosted a landmark event – a conference of Russian Vaishnavas with scientific qualifications. The forum brought together scientists and scholars from dozens of cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Tyumen and Novosibirsk.
This gathering of Vaishnava scholars was initiated by two Russian spiritual leaders – Chaitanya Chandra Charan Prabhu and Bhakti Vijnana Gosvami – whose long-standing desi
Although 52 years have passed since the founding of ISKCON, the society is still growing.
In 1965 Srila Prabhupada left the city then called Calcutta on a merchant steamer bound for New York. Only his son, Vrindavan Chandra De, was present to see him off. At age 60, Srila Prabhupada was carrying out the order of his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. The directive was to spread the glories of Lord Krishna to the English-speaking world. Srila Prabhupada had no friends or acquainta
One hundred and eleven floors up, head bent over his desk, his GPBLe (Gross Physical Body, luxury edition) was stalled. His secretary had a suggestion.
“I know just what to do for you,” Punya said. “Let’s go check out that singing group, street level. You promised you would try it with me one of these days…”
Top Floor Soul could not deny it, he felt diverted. He had bought all the latest features, Many Branched Intelligence, the fastest version of Master Mind, and a downloaded Ambition Ego. How
A photo of Phalguni Radhika dasi during her wedding ceremony to Deva Madhava das.
Based on an interview with Felicity O’rourke
(Excerpt from “Mysteries of the Ancient Vedic Empire”)
If we do a comparative study, we can recognize numerous aspects of the Vedic culture, Krishna consciousness, in many of the Native American traditions. In order to show this, I conducted an interview with Felicity O’rourke who is a member of the Anishnaabi Native American tribe. She is now a practicing Vaishnava and
Nowadays the great innovations of medical and scientific science can maintain patients alive, even those that in the past were given no hope to survive. These innovations can prolong the patient’s existence artificially even knowing that they will never regain acceptable health and life conditions. This situation is commonly called over-medication. The definition of cerebral death, since the end of the sixties has allowed for the development of transplant surgery. Before that time, the extracti
