There is not a drop of fresh Yamuna water at Vrindavan
Recently, a high court in India declared the Yamuna river a living entity, bestowing on her the same legal rights as a person. Many shared the news on social media, excited about this seemingly major move towards cleaning up the heavily polluted river, once called “dead” by the United Nations.
But a closer look shows that the development, while a nice gesture, won’t actually achieve much.
“This status was only given by a court in the Nor
Sudarshana Gayatri
Om sudarshanaya vidmahe mahajvalaya dhimahi
tano chakrah prachodayat
As is our annual custom, Nrsimha Caturdasi will be observed in Sridhama Mayapur as a three day festival from May 7th – 9th. The first day will be celebrated with a huge procession throughout the ISKCON Mayapur property and on the second day we will be performing a three hour long Maha Sudarshana Homa before the Deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva. The third day is observed as Nrsimha Caturdasi. We would like to offe
In spiritual life there is always the transcendental dimension – the dimension of auspiciousness, of purification, of eternal benefit and of getting more and more mercy of Krsna. Sometimes we like the material side in spiritual life more – the temple, a festival, the cheese in the subji or devotees who are our friends and at other times we may find spiritual life to be a big austerity. Sometimes we may like to chant and at other times, it is a struggle but whatever it may be, the spiritual di
Ramai Swami:
Joan Fielder, also known as “Jamuna” by the devotees, had been visiting New Gokula farm on and off for around twenty years.
In the last few years she was a regular at the Bhakti tree in Newcastle where she loved to talk to the devotees, listen to kirtan and have nice prasadam.
At a recent Friday evening program, after listening to the kirtan and sitting to take her meal, she had an attack and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Unfortunately, Jamuna, who was 87, passed away while
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC member
A mighty congratulation to the BBC South Asian dance winner, Shyam Dattani. Shyam has spent much of his life at Iskcon’s Bhaktivedanta Manor in UK.
The finalists in this category showcase two of the most popular classical Indian dance styles - Kathak and Bhatanatyam. Judging them is a panel of three of the UK’s top dance experts: the choreographer, performer and academic, Chitra Sundaram; performer, teacher and leading exponent of Kathak dance, Kajal Sharma; and general adjudicator - judging
On the eve of Sri Ramnavami (5th April), Advaitacharya Das took Sannyasa from H.H.Bhakti Gaurav Narayana Maharaja in ISKCON Bhubaneshwar. His new name is Bhakti Prana Gopinath Swami.
Srila Prabhupada: SB 2.5.9 purport: It is usual for the devotees to become very enthusiastic whenever they are questioned concerning the Almighty Personality of Godhead. That is the sign of a pure devotee of the Lord. Such discourses on the transcendental activities of the Lord purify the atmosphere in which such discussions are held, and the devotees thus become enlivened while answering such questions. It is purifying both for the questioners and for one who answers the questions. The pure d
The local Mayor and Mayoress of Hertsmere with The Ramayan cast, members of the Bhaktivedanta Players drama group.
It was fitting that on the hottest day of the year so far Bhaktivedanta Manor celebrated Ramanavami, the birthday of Lord Ram, who was born in the sun dynasty, several millennia ago.
This year, the auspicious festival was celebrated on Sunday 9th April and the Manor played host to a number of dignitaries, including first citizen, Counsellor Peter Rutledge, the Mayor of Hertsme
Shyamasundar Das, Mukunda Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Ramai Swami and Malati Devi Dasi share their memories of ISKCON's early days
“Transcendental Journey: Hare Krishna Celebrates 50 Years,” an historic variety stage production put on by Australian devotees for ISKCON 50, is now available on Youtube and for pre-order on DVD.
The film is a nearly two-hour presentation that cuts together the best bits from the show’s matinee and evening performances at the famous Sydney Opera House on August
Indradyumna Swami provided inspiration for the festival and will be one of the main chanters this year
Polish your whompers and get your dancing shoes ready. From April 14th to 17th this year, Australia is introducing its first large-scale annual kirtan festival, the Sacred Sound Kirtan Retreat.
Just as Europe has Radhadesh Mellows in Belgium, Asia has the Mayapur Kirtan Mela in India, and North America has the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in North Carolina, organizers hope to make Sacred Sound the
Jaya Chaitanya Das at the BBT book booth at the conference
The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was present at the American College and Research Library Conference in Baltimore, Maryland from March 22nd to 25th this year, with its own booth.
Representing the BBT was Jaya Chaitanya Das, 30, a former hip-hop artist who has been ISKCON’s number one book distributor in the U.S. for the past two years, and is always working hard on inventive new strategies.
“The Conference was attended by over three tho
Some of the graduates
At the recent GBC Meetings in Sridham Mayapur, the ISKCON Governing Body (GBC) College was pleased to present 32 graduates from the GBC College to the assembly of GBC members. As Rupanuga Das (President of the GBC College) called out the names of the graduates, Romapada Swami handed them their graduation certificates, Bhakti Charu Swami gave them a pavitra (in the colours of the GBC College and offered to Lord Nrsimhadev) and Gopal Bhatta DAs gave them a GBC College
We have added another 200 lectures by Giriraj Swami to his radio station bringing the total to over 400 talks! Listen on girirajswami.com or tunein.com or install the TuneIn app on your mobile device. You can listen to lectures 24/7 and find other Krishna conscious radio stations too.
Download this playlist file and open Giriraj Swami’s radio station in your favorite media player (iTunes, Windows Media Player, VLC etc.).
If you have a website, copy and paste the following HTML code to embed a s
Govardhana Farms from Canada (the whole family: cows and humans) is relocating to the ISKCON New Vrindaban Farm Community in the USA.
We would like to invite you to attend the goodbye party for the cows and oxen. This will be the last opportunity for all of our Canadian supporters to see the herd while they are still here in Canada.
In the future, everyone is more than welcome to come visit the herd in their new home in the USA.
During this two-hour event, you will get an opportunity to feed
Yesterday, the Mayapur Academy and Villa Vrindavan have the official opening ceremony for the Villa Vrindavan Academy! The Villa Vrindavan Academy is the first regional campus of the Mayapur Academy allowing interested students the opportunity to study the art and science in deity worship without having to travel all the way to India. Many thanks to ISKCON Deity Worship Minstry zonal representative for Italy Manohara prabhu and Mayapur Academy staff member Visakha mataji for leading the ventur
We must always take shelter of our spiritual master. This is very important. We must take shelter again and again otherwise we will have no strength. Without taking shelter, we will not be able to succeed in spiritual life, we will struggle. We will not be able to maintain our vows or we will not be able to even take vows in the first place. Taking shelter is crucial, it keeps us on the cutting edge of spiritual life otherwise Krsna consciousness cannot take us very far and then it becomes a so
From the ISKCON GBC – Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting – February 2017
313: Global Duties & Responsibilities of the Governing Body Commission
[ISKCON Law]
Whereas the GBC wishes to formalize the understanding of its global services to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness;
Whereas it is important that duties and responsibilities be clarified at all levels of the Society;
Whereas the GBC wishes to produce a legacy document for the instruction and training of future GBC members
We are very happy to announce that the first ever Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra Rathyatra held in Gwalior City, Madhya Pradesh, India on March 26th 2017 was a raging success by the mercy of the Vaisnavas, Srila Prabhupada and their Lordships. With the blessings of HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj & HG Mahaman Prabhuji, there was an overwhelming response from the pious residents of Gwalior city, most of whom often visit Vrindavan regularly and perform Govardhan Parikrama. All credit goe
I.THE CHALLENGE TO MARRIAGE AND FAMILY TODAY
The Witherspoon Institute
Marriage – considered as a legally sanctioned union of one man and one woman – plays a vital role in preserving the common good and promoting the welfare of children. In virtually every known human society, the institution of marriage provides order and meaning to adult sexual relationships and, more fundamentally, furnishes the ideal context for the bearing and rearing of the young. The health of marriage is particularly i
