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I first see him just after crossing the Bowery at Houston Street. As he passes before the iron-mesh fence of a playground, I distinctly glimpse the aura of saintliness. I watch him through the rushing traffic and stumbling derelicts.

He strolls almost jauntily down the sidewalk. He is an old man whom age has never touched. Aloof from the people and bustle about him, he walks proudly, independently, his hand in a cloth beadbag. He wears the saffron robes of a sannyasi, and on his feet are quaint

In the Bhagavad-gita (7.14) Lord Krishna refers to maya, the deluding material energy, as mama maya: “My maya.” We Vaishnavas accept His word on this, with profound philosophical implications.

The chief philosophical opponents of Vaishnavas are the Mayavadis, or impersonalists, who posit ultimate reality as one homogeneous impersonal energy, with no second thing: All the unique entities we perceive, whether things or living beings, are merely mirages. Variety and individual identity are illusion

If, in our marriage, we focus on what we need and negate the needs of our partner, the relationship can’t last. If we give up who we are to please our partner, we may suffocate and become frustrated, resentful and depressed. One who is self-controlled doesn’t need to lord it over another, and neither does that person need to be overpowered by another. Marriage is a balance between satisfying our self and satisfying our partner. It means maintaining an awareness of the other person and their desi

Academic knowledge provides information of the world, but spiritual knowledge awards us eternal liberation

One of my friends in college was known for his immense general knowledge. He knew the names of all recent Hollywood and Bollywood movies, the actors, directors, and producers of each movie, and the winners of Oscar and Filmfare awards from every year. In sports, he knew the winners of each Grand Slam tennis tournament from every year as well as similar information about football and cricket

atmaupamyena sarvatra
samam pasyati yo ‘rjuna
sukham va yadi va duhkham
sa yogi paramo matah

TRANSLATION
He is a perfect yogi who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress, O Arjuna!

PURPORT
One who is Krsna conscious is a perfect yogi; he is aware of everyone’s happiness and distress by dint of his own personal experience. The cause of the distress of a living entity is forgetfulness of his relationship with God. And the cau

(From an old letter)

INDIAN/AMERICAN/HARE KRISHNA

I am a devotee of Krishna and have been one for the past seven years. I am also of Indian origin, and my story is a typical one.

I have been living in North America since I was nine years old. My parents came here to complete their higher education, and upon completion of their doctorates, they decided to settle down in this, their adopted country. As the family grew, came careers, households, mortgages, etc. Along with this material, success cam

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 January 2015, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.23)

Misers hold on to whatever wealth they have and do not want to share, and the result is they are being deprived. So here we are in Europe, we brought wealth from all over the world. We got it by hook or Captain Cook, somehow or other, we brought it in. Here it is and now we are sitting on it. But gradually, it is running out. London is still going strong but if you go a bit North, people are poor! It

Each single verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam tastes like transcendental condensed milk of a Surabhi cow mixed with kesar, simply delicious and a nectar most satisfying to even conditioned souls (although it is meant to be tasted by paramhansas – liberated souls).  No wonder that, along with Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the specific scripture meant for kali-yuga.

I am sharing another transcendental verse and its nectarean purport by Srila Prabhupada, for the pleasure of devotees, describing caus

Through bhakti-yoga we can finally reunite with the person we’ve wanted all along.

The Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, discusses dhyana-yoga, or meditative yoga. Texts 13-14 say: “One should hold one’s body, neck, and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.”

Srila Prabhupada’s purport to these

A look at what the Srimad-Bhagavatam has to say about time, a concept that has challenged philosophers for centuries.

Time is a little difficult to define. Philosophers and theologians have tried for at least twenty-five centuries. Albert Einstein remarked, in the midst of slightly more esoteric statements regarding physics, that time was what his wristwatch measured. St. Augustine said that he knew what time was as long as no one asked him to explain it. And sounding a note of frustration in

ON DAYS SET ASIDE FOR SELLING Back to Godhead magazine, he packed copies in a cloth sack and boarded the morning train to Delhi. With nowhere to stay in Delhi he had to return to Vrindavan by evening, which gave him only a few hours of daylight. Sales were minimal and he did not always collect enough to cover costs. Some days, he made appointments with wealthy men to request support. A few responded with token donations for his cause. He befriended an Ayurvedic doctor who promised assistance. On

In 1999, for ISKCON TV, Shyamasundar Prabhu recorded a series of experiences he had with George Harrison and with Srila Prabhupada:

“Srila Prabhupada treated George Harrison like an old, old friend. I spent some time with George this summer. . . . [He] has reached a very high level of spiritual development, I am happy to say. He chants Hare Krishna every day. And he is totally serene, as he has accepted life as it is. He has actually achieved a much higher level of self-realization than I can

Srivasa Thakura, one of the members of the Pancha-tattva, lived in Navadvipa-dhama in Mayapur, near the residence of Jagannatha Mishra and Sacidevi, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Later, when Lord Chaitanya began His sankirtana movement in Navadvipa-dhama, He and His other most confidential associates would meet at Srivasa-angana, the home of Srivasa Thakura, and have kirtan throughout the night. The kirtans at Srivasa-angana were ecstatic, and only the most intimate devotees of Sri Ch

Varahadeva’s Appearance Day

Sri Varaha deva mahatosav ki

Let us begin by considering the philosophical truth of Krishna’s incarnations, so that way we will get the perspective on His descent to this material world.

Srila Prabhupada spoke about this in 1977. This is exactly 40 years ago in Bhubaneshwar, right? He spoke about Varaha’s appearance. He said “Ramadi murti su kala niyamena.” Krishna, the original adi pursua, is taking various forms. Ramadi murtisu, especially three Ramas, Parasuram

So today is the transcendental appearance day of Lord Varaha. We have got the regular Bhagavatam verse on the board from Prthu Maharaj’s going back to Godhead. However we are not going to read that this morning. We are going to talk about Lord Varahadev instead because it is an interesting narrative.

There are different incarnations or appearances of Lord Varahadev. Previously the white boar incarnation has been described. The one that is in the Bhagavatam as we receive it is the story about the

Today, Makara Sankranti, is the anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple in Juhu, Bombay—after many years of intense struggle by Srila Prabhupada and his devotees.

And Makara Sankranti is significant for other momentous events as well. The auspicious day of Makara Sankranti, which falls in the Krishna paksha of Magha mas, this year the month of January, marks the sun’s entering the zodiac sign of Capricorn, or Makara. Although in ancient times all Sankrantis were obs

The first time I met Yamuna devi, my life changed forever.
I was in Saranagati for the Christmas holidays in 2000 having a reunion with my closest childhood friends. We were all in our early twenties, and having recently finished our university education and started work, we spent our time together recalling our childhood activities. One day we decided to have kirtan, but in a rather irreverent way, mocking the showy, elaborate vocal and instrument style we had all absorbed growing up in ISKCON

A life that allows us to reunite with mother earth and offer her products to Krishna favors our spiritual growth.

Srila Prabhupada writes, “Whatever is taken from the earth—either from the mines, from the surface of the globe, or from the atmosphere—should always be considered the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and should be used for Yajna, Lord Vishnu. As soon as the process of yajna [sacrifice] is stopped, the earth will withhold all productions—vegetables, trees, plants, fruit