By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON New Vrindaban Communications
ECO-Vrindaban and ISKCON New Vrindaban are extending an invitation to every Hare Krishna temple and farm in North America to attend the 2017 Annual North American ISKCON Farm Conference from October 13th to 15th.
The Conference will be hosted at INV in West Virginia, and is organized Kalakantha Das, the GBC Minister for Agriculture and Cow Protection, along with volunteers from several farm communities.
“We also want to invite not just
Chalayasi vikramaṇe balim adbhuta-vāmana
pada-nakha-nīra-janita-jana-pāvana
keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare
“O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a dwarf-brahmana! All glories to You! O wonderful dwarf, by Your massive steps You deceive King Bali, and by the Ganges water that has emanated from the nails of your lotus feet, You deliver all living beings within this world.”
On Sri Vamana Dvadasi, the appearance day of Lord Vamanadeva, devotees ar
By Radhanath Swami
The Appearance of Lord Vamana
“Bali Maharaj, very intelligent personality. He was the son of Virochana, grandson of Prahlad, great grandson of Hiranyakashipu, great grand-nephew of Hiranyaksha. A very mixed up type of family heritage!”
So he performed yajna to please his guru Shukracharya, and his guru-maharaj was very pleased with him. In fact he arranged for the descendents of Bhrigu Muni to come to perform this yajna. And his disposition, his good qualities, was so pleasin
Kripamoya Das
Lord Vamanadeva appeared within this world from the womb of Aditi, the mother of the gods. He appeared at midday on the shravan-dvadasi, the 12th day of the lunar month of Shravan when the moon is waxing.
There are many lessons for Vaishnavas to learn from the narration of His activities, as found in the 8th canto, 18th chapter of the Bhagavat Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam). Amongst the lessons are these:
1. That God comes to this world in many forms; not just once, in one form, or
(Adapted from Srila Prabhupada’s talk on Radhastami, 1971.)
We pray to Radharani because She is the pleasure potency of Krishna. Krishna means “all-attractive,” but Radharani is so great that She attracts Krishna.
So we should try to understand what is Srimati Radharani’s position and offer our obeisances to Her.
tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye
Our business is “Radharani, You are so dear to Krishna. You are the daughter of King Vrishabhanu, a
By Sacinandana Swami
Dear devotees, I wish you a most fulfilling Radhastami where the blessings of Divine love are abundantly showered upon you and everyone else who aspires for it.
Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami ecstatically raises his voice in glorification of Srimati Radharani:
“If one asks about the origin of love of Krishna the answer is that the origin is Srimati Radharani alone.
If one asks: ‘Who is the most dear friend of Krishna?’
The answer again is: ‘Srimati Radharani alone.’
She is abl
A Talk by Giriraj Swami August 30, 2009 San Diego
For the most auspicious celebration of Sri Radhastami, we shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three: “Pure Devotional Service.”
TEXT 23
jivan chavo bhagavatanghri-renum na jatu martyo ‘bhilabheta yas tu sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyah svasan chavo yas tu na veda gandham
TRANSLATION
The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
[August 30, 1968, Montreal, Canada]
Now today is our Radhastami ceremony. So, so far Radharani, Radharani, today is the birthday of Srimati Radharani. Radharani is the pleasure potency of Krsna. Krsna is the Supreme Brahman. Just try to understand. Krsna is the Supreme Brahman. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan. So when param brahma wants to enjoy… that enjoying spirit is there in the param brahma. Otherwise we cannot have t
The Puranas relate a story concerning the divine appearance of Shrimati Radharani as follows. One day, Vrishabhanu Maharaja, who was living at Ravel at that time, went to the bank of Yamuna at around noon to take a midday bath.
As he approached the bank of the Yamuna, he saw a golden lotus flower floating on the water and shining brightly like a thousand suns. Vrishabhanu immediately waded into the river and when he came near to the golden lotus flower, he beheld the most beautiful and radiant
Radharani’s 3 baths, 7 places, 8 pets, 8 yogapithas, 16 & 10 Names
Radhika’s Three Baths:
Karunyamrta – the nectar of grace
Tarunyamrta – The nectar of youth
Lavanyamrta – the nectar of beauty
Seven moonbeam-like Meeting Places of Radha & Krsna
1) Vrindavan (on the bank of the Yamuna river under a huge desire-tree)
2) Yavat (in the woods behind Radha’s palace there)
3) Radha-kunda (on the bank of Radha’s lake)
4) Govardhana Hill (upon the top of the hill)
5) Barshana (near the palace of Radha’s
By Dravida dasa
Sri Radhikastaka
from the Govinda-lilamrta, by Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja
Her gold complexion steals the pride of golden lotus tinged with red.
Her fragrance mocks the scent of lotus bloom with saffron powder spread.
Her skill in satisfying Sri Hari is perfect and complete . . .
May Radhika bestow on me the service of Her lotus feet.
Her wondrous silken garments shame the splendor rubies can display.
She is a blooming garden where the bee of Krishna loves to play.
By Sri Nandanandana Das
Srimati Radharani is the Supreme Goddess. She is most always seen with Lord Krishna. It is described that She is the Chief Associate and devotee of Lord Krishna, and topmost of all Goddesses. Her name means the She is the most excellent worshiper of Lord Krishna. However, She is also an expansion of the Lord’s energy. Since She is also an extension of Krishna, She is the feminine aspect of God. Thus, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, God is both male and female. They a
Sesa Dasa: Although I was born the eldest son to a career US Army officer who served during two wars, and attended a well known military academy with over two centuries of tradition, I never really understood all the pomp and circumstance evoked by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That is until now.
The theory is explained on Wikipedia: “The anonymity of the entombed soldier is key to the symbolism of the monument: since his or her identity is unknown, it could theoretically be the tomb of anyo
Acarya Dasa: Our pada-yatra party reached Kannur city on August 7th. Kannur, also known as Cannanore, is located in the district of Kannur and is the administrative headquarters of the area.
Nitai Gaurasundar calls Mr. Haradev from Muscat: It had been raining for the past few days and getting accommodation was a little difficult at times. So, before traveling to Kannur I called a good friend of pāda-yātrā, Mr. Haradev. This was his hometown; I was hoping he could help us. Mr. Haradev currently
HH Lokanath Swami Mahraj, a GBC member and the head of the World Holy Name Week, urges devotees across the globe to participate in the event which is two weeks away.
The World Holy Name Week, to be held between the 9th and the 17th of September 2017, was an initiative taken by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) in 1996. Since then the event has become an important festival in ISKCON’s calendar.
“We would like to see this develop as a marathon,” says HH Lokanath Swami. “We want everyone’s parti
Some devotees are concerned that Iskcon’s overall preaching has gone ‘soft,’ thus compromising true standards. They say we must be more ‘Strong’, ‘heavy’ and ‘bold.’ Sentiments of “See how Srila Prabhupada flayed those mayavadis… and how he blasted that individual… and oh how he smashed that perception…” add excitement to the cause. Let us examine what it really takes to be ‘heavy.’
There is excitement in reading of Lord Chaitanya’s conversion of Sri Prakasananda Sarasvati and his many follower
Dear Swami Bhaktivedanta,
I’ve read that your Krishna Consciousness is a non-sectarian science of the soul. How is it, then, that you follow some particular concept of God Krishna rather than a more universal concept, such as the One, or the All-Pervading Light? I like your movement very much, but I do feel this to be a clear contradiction in your philosophy. Yours truly,
Owen Darcy
My dear Mr. Darcy,
Thank you for your interest, and for your question also. I assure you that Krishna is not a co
From Back to Godhead
The unseen merciful hand of Lord Krsna helps a determined young science student become one of Srila Prabhupada’s first Indian disciples.
I was born in Aravade, a small village in the Indian state of Maharashtra that differs little from more than seven hundred thousand others in India. After I graduated from high school, my family sent me to Bombay to study chemistry in college. But my college career was not to be.
In the year 1971, in late March, something happened to preve
Radhanath Swami spoke recently at the home of Damodar Reddy, an entrepreneur and Founder of Sutisoft Inc., on the topic “Conscious Entrepreneurship – Deepening the Human Connection” as part of an event organized by Artha Forum. Artha Forum is a platform dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, professionals and business leaders and bringing to them the relevance of ” Earn with Integrity, Spend With Compassion”. The event was attended by approximately 80 guests, including executives from Apple, Go
Paul Davies: SCIENCE, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term “doubting Thomas” well illustrates the difference. In science, a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, whereas in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue.
The problem with this neat separation into “non-overlapping magisteria,” as Stephen Jay Gould described science a
