By Kesava Krsna Dasa
There are those who feel that all of their hard work, and endless hours spent in serving Iskcon, benefits either the immediate temple authorities, the temple presidents, the gurus or the GBC. Then with ordinary vision think, “why should I serve those who are prone to the four human defects?”
Some of us may have sustained a lasting injury or health problem, due to carrying heavy book bags for years, or pushing ourselves beyond what our bodies are normally capable of. Some de
Saksi Gopala Temple is a very important temple located almost midway between Jagannatha Puri Dhama and Bhubaneswar, in a town called Saksi-gopala, about 20 km west of Jagannatha Puri Dhama. The Saksi-gopala Deity here, being 5000 years old, is an exceptionally special one. It is said that Vajranabha, Lord Sri Krishna’s great-grandson, installed two Gopala Deities in Vraja Mandala namely Saksi-gopala and Madana Gopala (Madana Mohana). The Saksi-gopala Deity is the life-size Gopala Deity who w
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!
This morning in Sri Mayapur Dham devotees celebrated the flat lifting for the start of Gaura Purnima festival month.
As a special offering to Srila Prabhupada to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON, 50 National flags were put up in the park and 50 lamps were offered. Then as the flags reached the top of their poles, thousands of colorful flower petals came down from the sky showering all devotes present, with sweet Bliss. Beautiful sanayasis broke coconut as an auspicious way to officially
The design for the overall TOVP Master Plan has been created by one of our Russian architects, Rangavati dasi, who has been with the TOVP since 2013.
We are trying to create the most aesthetic and colorful gardens in India for the pleasure of the Lord.
By clicking on an icon number, you will get a glimpse of how magnificent the surrounding TOVP gardens will look. There are currently 2 sections available: Vegetation and Outdoor furniture.
Here is the link for the masterplan: http://masterpla
One of the most commonly used spices worldwide is ginger. Known in Hindi as adrak, ginger has been used in India since before 200 B.C. Ginger decreases Vata and Kapha doshas and increases Pitta. In Ayurveda, the health benefits of ginger are vast.
Dry ginger has a bitter and pungent rasa (initial taste); it is heating. Its vipak or post digestive effect is pungent. Fresh ginger has a pungent rasa. Its virya or energetic effect is heating; and its vipak is sweet. Ginger’s botanical name
"Jagannath", "Baladeva and "Subadra" getting a special prize for their costume in Krishna-valley
It is an age-old custom in Europe that in every February, people say goodbye to the cold and dark winter and welcome spring in a celebratory way, singing, dancing, and dressed up in colorful costumes.
The students of Krishna-valley and the Budapest Gurukula’s nursery schools did not want to miss out on the fun all their fellow nursery schoolers enjoy during this season, so with the help of the
Seminar: Sri Tattva Sandarbha – The Life of Jiva Goswami – Romapada Swami.
HH Romapada Swami Maharaja is a disciple of ISKCON Founder Acarya His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He was first introduced to this movement of Krsna consciousness when he was a college student more than 37 years ago. He has accepted renounced order of life- sannyasa, and preaches the message of true devotion by traveling all over the United States of America, Canada, the Caribbean, India, and many ot
“Welcome home!” Mahavan dasa, a Russian disciple, greeted me as I came out of New Delhi’s slick new airport terminal, tired after my flight from Bangalore. Mahavan is my secretary when I travel in India. A brahmachari in his thirties, he wears saffron, shaves his head, and stuffs his bag with the latest gadgets—cell phones, iPads, ear buds, chargers.
“We’re not home yet,” I said. “I wish we were, but Vrindavan is still a good three hours away.”
“Well, let’s get there quickly,” he said. “The c
(This article was written in 1956 by Sri Navinacandra Cakravarti, a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. There are many stories of Ekadasi in the Puranas, but most explain the material benefits and blessings one gets from observing Ekadasi. This article, based on the conversation between Srila Vyasadeva and Jaimini Rishi, gives the real spiritual reason for following the vow of Ekadasi as emphasized by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and later by
Jet airways is not a “budget” carrier. Having run a successful travel business for almost two decades, we come across clients asking – “Is it safe to fly with them?” This is a type of question that comes up when someone is inclined to choose to fly with a “cheap” airlines. Almost always, our answer to such questions has been – “Nothing is safe in this world”! We also tell them how in the past many reputed airlines flights have crashed killing all passengers or having sudden technical glitches s
As we were driving through West Bengal, I spotted a newly built house, with two words painted in large black letters across the entry portico – God Gift (written as spelled :). I imagined how every day the family would get this message as they arrived home and could not help but smile.
It also reminded me of a quote posted at one of the seminars at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga last week – Interrupt anxiety with gratitude. Anxiety is a given in most of our lives. It seeps in all over the place, i
This is one of my favorite songs in the Vaisnava Songbook. This morning it became my meditation.
Vṛndāvana
by Narottama das Thakura
Vrndavan is a transcendental beautiful place. It is the spiritual sky, where everything is made of touchstone, which fulfills all desires. All the temples there are bedcked with costly jewels, In that far distant place is the River Yamuna, which is full of lotus flowers, In the midst of that throng of lotus flowers there is a golden boat, appearing like another big
Recently, the office wing of the temple building and the apartment building II went through roof transformations. Yoder Amish Roofing Company began replacing the temple’s office wing roofing on Monday, February 29th, 2016 and replaced the apartment building II roofing on Tuesday, March 1st, 2016.
The crew of about 8-10 men stripped old shingles, laid new plywood, added top quality synthetic underlayment and finished with a layer of lifetime duration shingles onto the temple roof.
The new offic
This Sacred Sound retreat provides the opportunity to step out of the complexity of modern life and immerse oneself in the transcendental and uplifting world of Kirtan.
Set in the beautiful surrounds of Mount Warning, Sacred Sound offers hours of maha-mantra Kirtan with some of the best Kirtan artists in the world, inspirational sadhu sanga, sumptuous meals and a restorative time for sadhana.
When:
Easter Long Weekend
Friday 25th – Monday 28th March 2016
Where:
New Govardhana Farm – 525 Tyalgum
Reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 chapter 19 ‘The Appearance of Sukadeva Goswami’, Text 12
sukhopavistesv atha tesu bhuyah krta-pranamah sva-cikirsitam yat vijñapayam asa vivikta-ceta upasthito ’gre ’bhigrhita-panih
Translation: “After all the rsis and others had seated themselves comfortably, the King, humbly standing before them with folded hands, told them of his decision to fast until death.”
Hare Krishna! It is an honour and privilege to have the opportunity to speak somethin
tasmin kute ’hite naste krtta-mule vanas-patau vitapa iva susyanti visnu-prana divaukasah (SB 7.1.9)
Translation: “When the root of a tree is cut and the tree falls down, its branches and twigs automatically dry up. Similarly, when I have killed this diplomatic Visnu, the demigods, for whom Lord Visnu is the life and soul, will lose the source of their life and wither away.”
tavad yata bhuvam yuyam brahma-ksatra-samedhitam sudayadhvam tapo-yajña- svadhyaya-vrata-daninah (SB 7.1.10)
Trans
I’m back at home base – the holy town of Vrindavana. Here we periodically return to reassess, refine and refresh. This spiritual hub, almost inconspicuously, helps one shed the illusory layers of lamentation and hankering, reminding us of the real business in life. In 1958, while residing as a lone, penniless mendicant in this remote town, Srila Prabhupada wrote a beautiful poem. “In this mood,” he said, “I am getting many realisations.”
Krishna has shown me the naked form of material nature,
Devotees in Moscow are focusing on staying connected to Srila Prabhupada and his vision as they celebrate ISKCON’s 50th and look toward the next 50 years.
They began their 2016 as they mean to go on, with the second annual “Our Prabhupada” festival. The first, in December 2014, saw Suresvara Das speaking about Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya.
At this year’s festival from January 15th to 20th at the ISKCON Moscow temple, hundreds of devotees learned about Srila Prabhupada as a perso
