From Back to Godhead
By Ganashraya Nitai Das
On Sunday, September 29th, Nottingham’s Market Square witnessed its first-ever Rathayatra festival. Around 1,500 people gathered to take part in this joyous celebration, during which Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra came to bless the city. The chariot, brought from London by Parasuram Das, was beautifully decorated by devotees from ISKCON Nottingham Nama-hatta and Leicester.
The festival began with welcoming speeches and a graceful Odissi dance performed
By Alumni of the Italian Gurukula
At the temple, finally back home!
It had been more than 30 years since the alumni of the Italian Gurukula had met together in Villa Vrindavana. By our great fortune, thirty years later, the mysterious plans orchestrated by Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Vrajasundara, brought us back home on a journey of healing, love and forgiveness.
It was an overwhelming experience! We finally had the opportunity to return to our childhood home with our new families. Smiling de
Who or what is God? In our modern world, when we observe the amount of energy consumed by all of the other topics that fill our lives, this question is given almost no consideration or thought whatsoever. As such, we are burdened with so many frivolous misconceptions of God, the Supreme.
For the most part, this lack of attention to the true nature of God is due to the misconception that we cannot know God. Although there is certainly truth in thinking that total knowledge of the Infinite is not
From Back to Godhead
Why Krishna’s holy names are the greatest treasure.
Some people fantasize about accumulating immense wealth and dream of what they would buy if they only had enough. To them, happiness hovers elusively on the other side of that new car, that big house, that diamond necklace.
While many of us will say, “Money can’t buy happiness,” do we really believe it? If not money, what is the solution to our hankerings? What is the greatest treasure that will bring true happiness? And h
From Back to Godhead
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 Prime Cause of
By Atma Tattva Das
As the month of Kartika approaches, devotees of Krishna around the world are gearing up for one of the most spiritually potent times in the Vaishnava calendar. Taking place during October and November, this month is revered as the holiest of the year, and it offers a unique opportunity for spiritual advancement. From candlelit offerings to vows of austerity, Kartika is a time when devotees focus their hearts on Lord Krishna, specifically in His childhood form as Damodara, who
Kartik and offering lamps are synonymous. While you must be offering at your home, even at the local Temple but then there is a unique advantage of offering lamps in the holy Dham of Sri Mayapur in the auspicious month of Kartik, so why would one want to miss this cumulative spiritual benefit?
Let’s make the most of our Kartik !! There are nine options for offering lamps for you. pick the frequency and category that suits you the most from the array of these.
Kartika is the best and most glorio
SRI MURARI GUPTA’S HOUSE
AT “SRI ANTARDVIPA” ISLAND OF SRI NAVADVIPA-MAYAPUR DHAM
"Murari Gupta, the twenty-first branch of the tree of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. was a storehouse of love of Godhead. His great humility and meekness melted the heart of Lord Caitanya." - Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi Lila 10.49
INTIMATE ASSOCIATE, INTIMATE PASTIMES
Sri Murari Gupta was a very intimate associate whose pastimes with Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu were steeped in the loving bond of their eternal relations
Sri Murari Gupta Thakur
“An expert physician by the name Murari Gupta could cure people of their disease of material existence. Along with so many other Vaisnavas, Advaita Acarya, Sen Sivananda, Jagannath Misra, Nilambar Cakravarti, he also appeared in Sylhet. [C. B. Adi 2.35] Srivas Pandit, Candrasekhara Acarya and Sri Murari Gupta Thakur were all from Srihatta. Murari Gupta came from there to live in Navadwip, near the home of Jagannath Misra. He was a few years older than Caitanya Mahaprabh
By Atma Tattva Das
On a freezing September 21st, 2024, the ISKCON Lenasia Rathayatra Festival reached a highly significant and noteworthy achievement that marks a pivotal moment in its journey—its 25th anniversary.
What began as a small community event has grown into a large celebration, gathering devotees from across South Africa and the world to participate in the vibrant and sacred procession of Lord Jagannatha in the southwest of the Johannesburg Central Business District.
One of the key fi
There we sat, the three of us, on those comfy outdoor Muskoka chairs, waiting, for a fourth member, Partha, of today’s strolling crew. Vrndavan, Nityananda and I were committed to a loop walk which included a stretch of the Trans Canada Trail. Our waiting location on Main Street was quite central to the numerous murals on building walls of the iconic Group of Seven artwork. As a team of experts in “Impressionistic” work of nature scenes defined the art of Canadian mastery. Check out the work of
Today is the auspicious disappearance day of three great acharyas in the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradaya: Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, and Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. We shall read about Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami from Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Thirteen: “Pastimes with Jagadananda Pandita and Raghunatha Bhatta.”
TEXT 89
etha tapana-misra-putra raghunatha-bhattacarya
prabhure de
In around 1503 AD, Raghunath Bhattacharya appeared as the son of Tapana Mishra, a dear devotee of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who hailed from the village of Ramapura on the banks of the Padma River in East Bengal.
Mahaprabhu first met Tapana Mishra when he went to East Bengal during his career as a teacher of Sanskrit. Tapana Mishra had studied many scriptures but was still bewildered about the purpose of life and what to do to attain it. He had a dream in which he was instructed by a Brahmin to go
By Sri Radha Govinda Dasi
ISKCON Community Life, a division of the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry, recognized the outstanding contributions to devotee care of three very special individuals by giving them the following awards:
Trailblazer in Community Wellness Award – Rambhoru Devi (ACBSP)
Director/Founder & Training Supervisor, Karuna Care Association. After 26 years of international pioneer outreach work (while raising two sons), Rambhoru Devi completed her B.A. in Religious Stud
The Hindu Mandirs Empowerment Council (formerly known as the Hindu Mandirs Executive Conference) held its annual gathering of North American Hindu Leaders representing all the various Hindu Mandirs and Organizations across the region. ISKCON leaders were among the presenters at the September 27th to 29th, 2024 conference, held in Raleigh, North Carolina.
HMEC is the largest annual conference of its kind, welcoming hundreds of past and present executives, community leaders, and scholars of Mandi
Once every fortnight Vaishnavas all over the world observe a day for cutting down on dietary extravagance. In fact it is a total abstinence of grain. No pizza ! No pasta ! No rice or roti !
Those of us who wandered off to Gir Farms where people come to cuddle cows took advantage of what the fields have to offer at this time of year. Guru Das and I were chewing on raw okra with no pesticides. Peppers were also on the menu, again raw and delicious. Gir Farms owners, Vishal and Yasomati, also tu
Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to reside on the bank of Sri Radha-kunda. At the time Radha-kunda was just a small pond of water, and therefore sometimes Raghunatha would meditate on enlarging the kund. Then he would chastise himself for desiring something which would require a large amount of money.
Around this time one very wealthy Seth underwent great austerity by walking to Badarikasrama in the Himalayas. Arriving there he very reverently worshiped Sri Badrinarayana and offered much wealth at H
By Atma Tattva Das
Sanga, service, and spiritual adventure awaited devotee youth in the sunny environment of San Diego. The inaugural West Coast summer retreat for The Sanga Initiative (TSI) saw 45 attendees from 24 cities across seven states join together at ISKCON San Diego for an immersive and energizing spiritual experience. A dedicated team of organizers led by Abhirama Thakura Das, Braja Priya Devi Dasi, Kapiduach, and Sruthi worked diligently to organize this experience for West Coast you
