Worse than being alone is to be with a person who doesn’t like you; too many people have experienced the anguish and chaos caused by an incompatible marriage. Such travesties are systematically avoided in Vaishnava culture because, besides training and restraint in behaviour prior to marriage, all care is taken in matchmaking: “Formerly, boys and girls of similar dispositions were married; the similar natures of the boy and girl were united in order to make them happy.” (SB 3.21.15) “The centra
blog (44)
By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada
Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) – Canto 2: The Cosmic Manifestation – SB 2.9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version
Verse – 33
aham evasam evagre
nanyad yat sad-asat param
pascad aham yad etac ca
yo ’vasisyeta so ’smy aham
Synonyms: aham — I, the Personality of Godhead; eva — certainly; asam — existed; eva — only; agre — before the creation;na — never; anyat — anything else; yat — all those; sat — the effect; asat — the cause; param — the supreme;
By Dr. J. Chakrabarty, Florida State University
The concept of evolution of species, generally attributed to Charles Darwin, actually had its origin thousands of years ago in ancient India, and formed the basis of the illuminating philosophy of the Vedas. Since Darwin lived at a time when the profundity of the Indian wisdom already made an indelible impression on the minds of the western savants, it is hard to imagine how Darwin could possibly have escaped the compelling influence of the Indian
Excerpt from the Bhagavad-Gita As it Is 7.7:
Chapter 7: Knowledge of the Absolute
TEXT 7
mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva
SYNONYMS
mattah—beyond Myself; parataram—superior; na—not; anyat—anything else; kincit—something; asti—there is;dhananjaya—O conquerer of wealth;mayi—in Me; sarvam—all that be; idam—which we see; protam—strung; sutre—on a thread; mani-ganah—pearls; iva—likened.
TRANSLATION
O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no T
The King of Knowledge by Srila Prabhupada came to me at a pivotal time. I got the book without wanting it. My friend wanted to share it with me after he perused it. I had no idea – I was “book distributed!”
I was skeptical but on my friend’s recommendation, I studied the book for at least a month. The King of Knowledge held ample flawless arguments. At the time I was busy trying recklessly to fill my life with mind altering substances and such. The “mind altering substances and such” did not f
What is the point of happiness if it doesn’t last forever? What is the key to everlasting happiness? Srimad Bhagavatam, the ripened fruit of Vedic knowledge, offers us a solution: “Any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation.” The guru gives knowledge of real happiness. Since the founding of ISKCON fifty years ago, over 75 000 disciples have been initiated within ISKCON, beginning their spiritual journey to eternal
Narada Muni the great acharya has previously explained to Maharaja Yudhisthira, the story of Prahlada Maharaja who is the perfect example of devotional service. Prahlada Maharaja remained faithful to the words of his spiritual master even in the face of the most impossible difficulties.
Depending on a power beyond his own, the mercy of Krsna, he crossed all obstacles. The Lord himself incarnated with a form that will attract all people’s hearts for all time just to show his love. At the conclus
Marshall and I took to a second chunk of the Great Trail, beginning at Bowring Park and going west. Nice place, really, with water cascading. This morning, I took to some analysis of the trail along Waterford River and wanted to express my feelings.
Dear Great Trail,
You are not so ‘great’ as you may think you are. In fact, because you are rendering many services to others, you appear to be meek, and humble. You are bearing the weight of my roamers pounding on you daily. The feet of humans,
Some people say that the greatest enjoyment in the material world is sex. Well, we can also say that greater than that is to be free from such desires. If you do not have the desire, then it saves a lot of trouble! You know, then you do not have to worry about Saturday nights. You do not have to buy flowers. You do not have to spend a lot of money in bars and all these things. There are so many things you do not have to do if you do not have sex desire. You do not have to spend a fortune on all
Devotion means attention to details." - Radhanath Swami
As I was having my breakfast at our ISKCON-run restaurant at Vrindavan, I saw one lady chef cut a piece of cake, neatly place it on the center of the plate and wipe the excess cake markings very meticulously with a tissue paper. It was then served to the customer with a knife and fork. I very much appreciated the devotion this lady put in her job. No wonder, why people spend so much extra money in going to high-quality restaurants which
As I was having my breakfast at our ISKCON-run restaurant at Vrindavan, I saw one lady chef cut a piece of cake, neatly place it on the center of the plate and wipe the excess cake markings very meticulously with a tissue paper. It was then served to the customer with a knife and fork. I very much appreciated the devotion this lady put in her job. No wonder, why people spend so much extra money in going to high-quality restaurants which
A six hour bus ride on Megabus brought Nicolas and I (and seventy-nine other passengers) to downtown Montreal. I mentioned to him that we could relax and let the bus empty out before we exit. "We don't need to be part of the stampede," I suggested.
The woman sitting in front of us was of the same spirit. She also waited, and hearing a piece of our conversation said, "I work for an airlines as a flight attendant and I can tell you this, because I'm not in uniform, the biggest agitation is when
Just like we have our mother who gives birth to our material body, to whom we owe our body, we also have our Eternal Mother to whom we owe our very soul. In different religions, She is called and addressed by different names. In Vedic culture, She is addressed as Sita, Lakshmi or Radha - the consort of our Supreme Father. She is our Mother God, our Mother Supreme. The scriptures abundantly and extensively glorify This Supreme Mother - Her love, Her compassion and Her grace for all of us. A mo
People have so many, so many practical questions for me. Someone comes and asks, “Shall I get married?” I have one answer to that question. The answer is, “Yes!”
And then, if you come to me and say, “Shall I not get married?” I have one answer to that question as well and the answer is, “Yes!”
“Shall I go to university?” Yes!
“Shall I not go to university?” Yes!
“Shall I start a business?” Yes!
“Shall I just, you know, live very simple?” Yes!
It is all good and it does not matter. It is all “y
On 1st September, morning one of our very senior devotee from our Goa congregation, H.G. Gopanand Prabhu left his body. His life has been a glorious one, fully dedicated to practicing the principles of Krishna consciousness. Sitting near his body and chanting the Holynames in this final journey of his, I was wondering about the mystery of life. His body was appearing as if deep in sleep but this is such a sleep that one doesn't wake up from. What kind of mysterious life has God made! The body
The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic texts that deal with Ganesha.
Lord Ganesh is known as the son of the Shiva and Parvati, and is the god of luck and of “opening the way.” That is why many people pray to Ganesh before starting a new project, in order to proceed with as few obstacles as possible.
Ganesha became the Lord (Isha) of all existing beings (Gana
From Back to Godhead
Though conceived of in various ways, ultimately the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person who shares intimate loving exchanges with the best of His devotees.
By Srila Jiva Goswami
Here we present an excerpt from the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust edition of Srila Jiva Goswami’s Sri Tattva-sandarbha. Jiva Goswami was one of the famed Six Goswamis, leading contemporary followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Tattva-sandarbha is the first of six sandarbhas (treatises) explaining the ph
I met a man who lives in Prescott and works for the carnival. Gaura, the driver, decided to pull over the van for a catch-up nap. We were in Morrisburg, along the St. Lawrence River, when I met this friendly man who used to play the role of a clown in circuses and carnivals.
"Do you know what's the difference between a circus and a carnival?" he asked.
"No!"
"In the circus they keep the animals in the cages. In the carnival, they run the rides," he said with a chuckle. He then got cu
It was something I had never seen before. One calf was peeing. It was a bull calf. A second calf came right to his underside and began drinking with great relish the pure liquid coming out. Perhaps to calf Number Two it must have been like a smoothie. Incidentally, a third calf was looking on. All three were nestled together.
Vishal and Yasomati, a dynamic husband and wife team, had both been telling Gaura and I—their visitors to the farm—that the cows and bulls have a different way of u
I awoke to the sound of young coyotes howling in the morning. To me it was a good sign that wildlife was comfortable in the suburbs of such a sprawling place as Mississauga. David, Vivasvan, and Adisvar from Michigan, and I spent the night at the home of an outstanding couple, Dharma and Manasi. From there we went to meet Fernando and Victor for an additional stretch on the Bruce Trail. We anticipated a mere eight kilometres, which under normal circumstances, could take three hours on a usua
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." - Aristotle
Consider this. Every successful person was once considered crazy by the world because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. In fact one symptom that you are going to be successful is when people start calling you crazy. Let's look at a few examples to prove the point.
Consider this. Every successful person was once considered crazy by the world because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. In fact one symptom that you are going to be successful is when people start calling you crazy. Let's look at a few examples to prove the point.
SUCCESS MADNESS
- When the Wright brothers announced to the world that they were going to make a flying
