Visvarupa-mahotsava marks the occasion on which Lord Chaitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. And on the same date some four hundred and fifty years later, our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, also accepted sannyasa.
According to Vedic literatures, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come in the present age in the role of a devotee. In the previous age, Lord Krishna came in His original feature and spoke the Bhag
By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada
Hare Krishna Dandavat Pranam. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
There are different opinions regarding Sri Visvarupa Mahotsava. It’s the day when Sri Visvarupa (elder brother of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) accepted sannyasa at the age of 16 from Sripada Krsna Bharati in Kasi (Varanasi) in 1491 and accepted the name Sri Sankararanya (Sri Sri Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidana & Acarya Folio), OR, it’s the day he departed from this world in Pandharpur on the banks of the Bhima River by entering the Deity of Sri
Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.13) states, “If on the full moon day of the month of Bhadra one places Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.” As explained in the purport, “One should place Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne because it is the king of all literature. On the full-moon day of the month of Bhadra, the sun, which is compared to this king of literatures, is present in the constellation Leo and looks as if raised u
The acceptance of sannyasa was a significant turning point in the life of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In this video, learn about Srila Prabhupada's acceptance of the renounced order of life, his dedication to the instructions of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur.
Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=119627
By the EuroGBC
This paper aims to present the contribution of Bhaktivinoda Thakur to the establishment and development of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). It regards his personal life as the role model for the practitioners of Vaisnavism, and it considers his input in expanding preaching techniques, both innovative and traditional ones.
Bhaktivinoda Thakur: role model for ISKCON members
Being born in a non-Vaisnava family, educated in Christian and Westernized Hindu
Today marks the anniversary of the birth—the appearance—of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness.” To honor the occasion, I would like to share a short piece I wrote about Srila Bhaktivinoda and Srila Prabhupada. We pray for their continued guidance and mercy.
“Dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who initiated the teachings of Lord Chaitanya in the Western world (McGill Universi
By Gauravani dasa
1. He is known by many names, the most common ones being Vamana (the little dwarf), Trivikrama (he who has taken three step; the giant form), and Upendra (Indra’s younger brother);
2. In every planetary system the denizens worship a particular visnu-tattva as their sole Lord (Plaksadvipa, Surya-Narayana; Brahmaloka; Maha-purusa; Maharloka; Yajna-purusa, et cetera) and in the heavenly planets, the demigods worship Lord Visnu in His plenary portion: the four-armed Vamana;
3. Wh
Lord Vamanadeva
The Dwarf Incarnation of Supreme Lord
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Sri Ulagalantha Perumal Temple
At Kanchipuram
Vamana avatar, an extraordinary astonishing incarnation of Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as the son of Kasyapa Muni and Aditi to regain the universe for His devotees- the demigods from the great King Bali who had ruled over the entire universe.
He appeared as Lord Vamana, a brahmana dwarf and tricked Bali Maharaja by asking for three steps of land. When Bali agreed to offer Lord three
Vāmana Dvādaśī is the appearance day of Lord Vāmanadeva, who appeared in the form of a small brāhmaṇa boy and entered into the remarkable pastime of accepting charity from Mahārāja Bali, the grandson of Prahlāda Mahārāja.
Bali Mahārāja, who was the grandson of Prahlāda Mahārāja and a powerful king of the Daitya dynasty, worshipped Lord Viṣṇu. Through his strength and determination, he was able to defeat Indra and became the ruler of the entire universe. Seeing that the demigods had lost their
Lord Vāmanadeva appeared in this world from the womb of Aditi completely equipped with conchshell, disc, club and lotus. His bodily hue was blackish, and He was dressed in yellow garments. Lord Viṣṇu appeared at an auspicious moment on Śravaṇa-dvādaśī when the Abhijit star had arisen.
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has a sac-cid-ānanda body, appeared as the son of Kaśyapa and Aditi, both of His parents were very astonished. After His appearance, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf
We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Eight, Chapter Twenty-two: “Bali Maharaja Surrenders His Life.” We begin with the chapter summary:
“The summary of this twenty-second chapter is as follows. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was pleased by the behavior of Bali Maharaja. Thus the Lord placed him on the planet Sutala, and there, after bestowing benedictions upon him, the Lord agreed to become his doorman.
“Bali Maharaja was extremely truthful. Being unable to keep his promise, he was ve
Sri Yudhishthira Maharaja asked of Lord Sri Krishna, "What is the name of that Ekadasi that occurs during the light fortnight (shukla paksha) of the month of Bhadrapada (August-September "Hrishikesha mase") ? Who is the worshipable Deity for this Ekadasi, and what merit does one attain in observing it? Kindly reveal all of this to me my Lord."
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna addressed His devoted Yudhishthira as follows, "This Ekadasii, Oh Yudhishthira, is called Vamana Ekada
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,
On the auspicious occasion of the appearance day of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami at ISKCON Juhu, the Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) entered into a strategic partnership with leadership consultancy VMentor.ai and frontline learning platform Sarathi.ai to develop programs applying India’s ancient knowledge traditions to contemporary business and leadership challenges.
The event was attended by Gauranga Das, Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Ms. Sheeba Rudra, and Dr
By Atma Tattva Das,
As noted in an ISKCON News article in August the Origins 60th Anniversary Gala held by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness on July 31, 2026, at The Glasshouse in Manhattan. Roughly 500 guests attended the event, organized around the theme “Celebrating the Past, Envisioning the Future” to mark six decades since His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded ISKCON in New York in 1966.
The Gala opened a three-day Origins weekend, July 31 to August
By Sankirtana Das (ACBSP)
There is a saying, “Think globally, act locally.” And that’s what Srila Prabhupada did when he began his mission in 1966 on NYC’s Lower East Side. In those days, the counterculture—young people dissatisfied with a war-driven, materialistic society—gravitated to New York and to Haight-Asbury in San Francisco. These were the first two places where the Hare Krishna Movement took root in the West.
During the early years of the movement, many young people were willing to
By Atma Tattva Das,
For the past few days, “Glorious Holy Name,” by Mahatma Das and Ananda Monet, has been on repeat. Somewhere between listening, humming along, and returning to it again, a question began to take shape: what does it mean to be Krishna consciously creative? As a creative myself, I often consider how spiritual practice informs expression. This song offered an answer through its unmistakable absorption in the subject it celebrates.
Released on August 28, 2026, by Radha Krishna Re
For years I had hosted guests to Toronto by taking them to one of the better urban locations. That meant taking them for a walk through some of the green space in one of the many ravines — the Brick Works. Once we pulled out of that natural comfort we came upon Chorley Park and then the beautiful residential area of Rosedale.
There at the edge of the park stood a sweet elderly white-haired woman. She stopped her walking as soon as she saw the three of us saffron-clad monks ambling along. She
By Rupali Chadha, MD
Over the years I have been approached by many a devotee in distress. Though I grew up in ISKCON and have been slowly cultivating my own Krishna consciousness, I am very much a neophyte. I was blessed by Krishna’s will in that I became a physician. I went forward to specialize in general and forensic psychiatric medicine. It is for this reason, I am often approached by devotees when their emotional life becomes overwhelming. Often they are told to chant better rounds or seek
In each of its twelve cantos, Srimad-Bhagavatam, the “flawless ripened fruit of all Vedic scriptures,” tells of miracles and mysticism, of the esoteric and extraterrestrial. We hear a cow, bull, elephant, monkey, and bird speaking deep philosophy. We learn of the four-headed creator who sits atop a lotus flower, of a magnificent aerial mansion, and of a five-year-old who pushes down half the earth with his toe and makes demigods suffocate. We learn of people giving birth to tens of thousands of
