By Vrndavanlila Devi Dasi (Dr Vrinda Baxi)
Despite this fast changing world where promiscuity encouraged by the hedonist approach to life is overtaking almost everywhere, India still preserves its age old veneration towards celibacy. The vast majority of girls and boys still remain celebate till their marriage and even post-marriage lead a regulated life. Of course in cities, this ‘conservative’ species are on the brink of extinction, and even when preserved, generally make the person a butt of
Remembering Not to Forget: But if its amnesia you want, Krishna will give it to you
By Satyaraja Dasa
It’s funny how if you give Krishna, God, an inch, he gives you a mile. I remember in my earliest days as a devotee, I had left the movement for some time. I was home, watching TV with my family. All of a sudden, right on the screen there was an ad for the television station with a photo of New York City streets. There he was, my Godbrother Bhaktivinoda, with a close-up of the Channel Two logo b
By Sacinandana Swami
You must know that there is bhakti with nectar and bhakti without nectar. Bhakti without nectar means that we do not obtain a taste from our spiritual practices that is higher than the taste created by material things like smartphone apps, movies and all the other ‘maya’ our town has to offer. Thus, it is very important that we perform bhakti with taste.
In other words, we need to know how we can relish the five processes of bhakti and avoid boredom. This is much like drawi
By Saroj Kumar Panda
Original article
Submitted by Amogha das
Sri Jagannath is the Lord of the Universe. His Kitchen is considered as the largest and the biggest Kitchen in the world. It is situated south-east direction of the outer compound of Srimandir. The length of the Kitchen is 150 feet, breadth is 100 feet and height is about 20 feet. It consists of 32 rooms with 250 earthen ovens within these. Around 600cooks(Suaras) and 400 assistants serve here everyday for preparing Lord’s food.
The
From Sydney we made our way to the wonderful devotee farm community of New Govardhana. We were welcomed by the small community with open arms and bright spirits.
We were told by several devotees not to expect any big fundraising results as this is a small farm community, so we were happy to just come and bring the Lord’s mercy and blessings and inspire the devotees with details of the TOVP progress. However, nothing could be further from the truth. On November 20th, after the Lord’s abhisheka a
In the midst of the lush, green Grihasta Para housing area of ISKCON Mayapur the Sri Mayapur International School is situated. The school campus features an idyllic combination of brick buildings, pathways, and tree-filled grounds, and those living nearby can often hear the children at play, performing kirtan, or practicing mridanga.
The Sri Mayapur International School, one of the educational institutes of ISKCON Mayapur, has been educating the children of Mayapur since it was founded in 1988
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
We must chant our sixteen rounds early in the morning and not spread it throughout the day. This is the spirit! There is a big difference when we chant in the morning because throughout the day when we try to chant then we are distracted and interrupted, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna… (the phone rings) Yes, I see. Okay, I will call back later! Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna…” And like that, throughout the day we can get caught up in 101 things while chanting our rounds and it can get v
On the 21st of November we arrived in Brisbane, Australia from New Govardhana and immediately began preparing for the evening TOVP event. Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Sitari were nicely displayed in the temple and, as usual, we had an arati and abhisheka for Them accompanied by ecstatic kirtan.
Over 250 devotees attended the program and sat in rapt attention as Jananivas, Ambarisa, Svaha and Vraja Vilas prabhus talked about the TOVP and the importance of the project for the
Bhagavad Gita As It Is (18.66)
By Saranga Thakur das
Following in the footsteps of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, who was challenged by a local government authority to preach Bhagavad Gita to the inmates of Tihar prision in Delhi in 1962 and turn them into ideal characters, Madan Mohan das, ACBSP and Saranga Thakur das, ACBSP have been carrying on a lively program at the Raiford State prison. The program was pioneered by Krsna Kesava das, Kaliyaphani das and Akuti devi dasi, five years ago, and has carried on continuousl
By Gauranga Das
In the 20th century, people were completely intoxicated with material progress, growth and modernisation. In that, the 2 gruesome World Wars had inflicted lot of pain and suffering in the world. Along with external warfare, the countries also faced internal socio-economic and political pressures in the form of unemployment, poverty, economic depression, etc. People in general had become selfish and insensitive which led to rebellious attitude in the air, especially amongst the y
Lecture by His Holiness Radhanath Swami
Advent of Kali Yuga
The universe is divided in regard to time. Satyayuga, the golden age religiosity and prosperity. Treat yuga- where ¾ of the population remain God conscious. Dvapar yuga in which in the beginning half is God conscious and gradually dwindles until it intersects the kali yuga. At the beginning of the age of kali not more than 1/4th of the population follow any religious principles and gradually it becomes greater and greater in degradatio
From Back to Godhead
By Upendra Dasa
Sri Brahma-samhita is one of the oldest Vedic scriptures, and it is accepted by Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu (an incarnation of Krsna Himself who appeared 484 years ago) as the essence of Vaisnava (Krsna conscious) philosophy. The first verse of the Fifth Chapter of Sri Brahma-samhita reads: “Krsna, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
Srila Prabhupada emphasised book distribution and that emphasis will never go away no matter what we do! There was a time when book distribution was THE EMPHASIS of the Hare Krsna movement and there was only a small percentage of devotees who were not part of it. But as time went on, book distribution at one point become a peripheral program – a side program and it lessened as a mainstream focus.
Now in recent years, we see a resurgence of book distribution worldwide, as
By Chaitanya Charan Das
"We need trustworthy others who can look at things objectively."
Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others. – Ellen DeGeneres
When we want to know how we look, we need a mirror. Similarly, when we want to understand ourselves better, we need an appropriate mirror. One such mirror is others who know us well.
Of course, just anyone who knows us well can’t act as a useful mirror – they need to be intelligent and benevolent
By Abhirama Das
On the 5th of November ISKCON Turin, Italy, celebrated the opening of a new Temple situated near the city’s downtown.
In the previous months, in the old center some neighbors regularly disturbed the programs in many different ways, devotees could not have kirtans, and there were other obstacles that discouraged guests from visiting the temple.
Finally Temple President Prabhu Das suggeested the community to find another place in which they could properly glorify Sri Krishna lo
By Madhava Smullen
Srila Prabhupada disciple and popular Venezuelan musician Havi Das (Ilan Chester) delivered a deep and powerful Krishna conscious message while receiving a Latin Grammy award recently.
The speech and its message of substance, amidst more typical award acceptance fare, was well received by the audience.
Havi was being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a special awards event in the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas, during the 18th annual Latin Grammys on November 15
After successful organization of the Bhagavad Gita contest for school children in 2014-15, wherein more than 3,000 students participated, Shikshashtakam Das (Chief, ISKCON Nashik, Maharastra, India), immediately had a thought to do it for the teachers next time.
This year, a team of devotees made a booklet based on the Bhagavad Gita As It Is in just two months, in order to facilitate teachers in their study. It consisted of selected topics from all the eighteen chapters of Bhagavad Gita, import
“At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward, a winter covering should be given to Lord Jagannatha.” - Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila16.79, purport
Once, Srila Pundarika Vidyanidhi and Srila Svarupa Damodara came to Jagannatha Puri and saw the festival of odana-sasthi. On this day, the Lord is offered new cloth, and from that day forth, the Lord should be offered winter clothing. This cloth that was offe
By Madhava Smullen
On October 15th the Mayapur Institute of ISKCON opened its first classroom kutir, or hut, which creates the perfect atmosphere for study of the Vedic scriptures.
Built with natural, environmentally-friendly local materials like bamboo, bricks and thatch, the kutir makes students feel like they have stepped back in time to learn with the sages of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
But the hut doesn’t eschew modern facilities either – electricity inside provides power for ceiling fans and
