Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: “Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the Holy Name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 4.71)
One might ask, “Then why do we hear so many lectures on the Bhagavatam in our movement. Why don’t we simply sing and dance instead of listening to so many explanations?” The answer is: the other eight process
krishna (70)
Translation (SB 11.10.17)
Although the performer of fruitive activities desires perpetual happiness, it is clearly observed that materialistic workers are often unhappy and only occasionally satisfied, thus proving that they are not independent or in control of their destiny. When a person is always under the superior control of another, how can he expect any valuable results from his own fruitive actions?
Purport
Although materialistic persons reject Kṛṣṇa consciousness and instead pursue t
Excerpt from the lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami
Baltics Winter Festival, January 17, 2014
The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given on January 17, 2014, at the Baltics Winter Festival – Chanting with Feeling
Today I wanted to read and speak from a few quotes about the Holy Name. Some of them I have read recently and found a lot of significance to them, not only to myself but those with whom I shared them. A lot of times the devotees struggle to make their
“So far your question regarding women, I have always accepted the service of women without any discrimination” (Letter to: Gurudasa — Los Angeles 26 May, 1972)
In terms of our personalities and abilities, no two of us are alike. Why should we be? And why would anyone want us to be? Variety, Srila Prabhupada tells us, is the mother of enjoyment. Whatever our personality, whatever our talents, Prabhupada wants us to use them in Krishna’s service.
Yet when we learn from Prabhupada’s teachings th
As aspiring devotees, many a times, we feel alone, sometimes even helpless. We, however, forget that Krishna as Supersoul is always with us. Due to our ignorance and dull consciousness we may not be able to see Krishna’s hand in our journey towards Him but He is very much with us. We may not be able to appreciate and value how Krishna, as Supersoul sitting in our heart, is inspiring us to progress towards Him at every stage in our Krishna consciousness journey. Supersoul plays a very important
After hearing so many complaints from so many devotees, Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of all the devotees. Practically all the devotees in the temple came into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and he listened very sympathetically to what every devotee had to say, and he was really concerned and wanted to improve things.
At one stage the GBC for India protested: “Srila Prabhupada, my only intention was to execute Your Divine Grace’s will.” And Prabhupada replied a little sarcastically, “Is it My Div
In America motherhood is considered old-fashioned. People are ashamed to be mothers. Women are taught to be professionals. Child care is given to other professionals, and thus children miss out on the love of a mother and have so many psychological difficulties. In America, 68% of couples get divorced. Of the parents of my friends I grew up with, my mother and father are the only couple that stayed together.
There is a need for ideal mothers, ideal fathers, ideal brahmacaris, ideal sannyasis, e
Devotees often ask me, “If Krsna is really merciful towards His devotees, why do so many devotees seem to experience misery? I hear in all these lectures that Krsna is so merciful but I don’t experience it – I just had an accident!” Others tell me: “A good friend distanced himself from me,” or “This great devotee is dying from cancer, so how can we make a general statement that Krsna is merciful to His devotees? Maybe He is merciful to Srila Prabhupada, but not to me or those I know…” I would l
God is one. Moreover, according to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that one God is Krishna, the cowherd boy of Vrindavan, who chooses to expand Himself unlimitedly still remain the same one Supreme Person, just to increase His own pleasure. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28) designates this original Godhead as svayam bhagavān: Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has three primary energies. The first is antarańga–śakti, or the internal potency. The second is known as taṭastha–śakti, th
Srila Prabhupada says that Narada is a great personality and he was so pleased by the devotional attitude of Dhruva, that he could have just given him everything. He could have given Dhruva exactly what he wanted. Why didn’t he do it? [a devotee replies that it was because he wanted Dhruva to surrender to Krishna]. Yes, essentially that’s correct. He wanted him to follow the correct path, he wanted him to engage in devotional service.
You see, and this helps us to develop our perspective about
In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa describes four kinds of pious men (su-kṛtinaḥ) begin to render devotional service unto Him – the distressed (ārto), the desirer of wealth (arthārthī), the inquisitive,( jijñāsuḥ), and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute (jñānī)’
catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ su-kṛtino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha (BG 7.16)
Dhruva Mahārāja was arthārthī Bhakta- desirous of wealth. He wanted a kingdom bigger than his grandfather Lord Brahmā. W
Srila Prabhupada letter to Rayarama, Oct. 22, 1971
My Dear Rayarama,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 11th October 1971 and have noted the contents. I welcome you for your coming back to our society and you are feeling very nicely the association of devotees.
Srila Rupa Goswami has described that devotional service can be advanced by six processes. Perhaps you know them. They are as follows: enthusiasm, patience, conviction, following the regulative principle
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Pradyumna: (leads chanting)
sanjaya uvaca
dantva tu pandavanikam
vyudham duryodhanas tada
acharyam upasangamya
raja vacanam abravit
[Gita 1.2]
Translation: “Sanjaya said: O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words:”
Srila Prabhupada
Prabhupada: Dhatarantra inquired from Sanjaya, kim akurvata: “After my sons and my brother’s sons assembled to
Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s instructions come to the aid of those of us who shudder at the mention of the word “surrender.”
Growing up, my older brother and I would sometimes get into physical fights. I can’t remember what we would fight about, but a few times a month when my parents weren’t home we would end up in a skirmish. He would often bend my arm behind my back, telling me to surrender by saying “uncle.” I would scream and push and stomp until the pain would become unbearable. Then I would ye
One year on Gita Jayanti, the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, I heard a talk in which Srila Prabhupada spoke about the perfection of reading the Gita.
“When Lord Chaitanya was traveling in South India, in a big temple, Ranganatha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brahmana was reading Bhagavad-gita. And people were joking with him, ‘Oh, Mr. Brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?’ Because they were neighbors, they knew that this brahmana was illit
This year, Gita Jayanti, the anniversary of Lord Sri Krishna’s speaking the Bhagavad-Gita to Sri Arjuna, falls on December 17th.
For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one
From Back to Godhead
Krishna is always engaged in sport, and when we try to imitate Him, we lose.
When the 2017 Super Bowl game, the summit of American professional football, was held in Houston, a devotee convinced me and a few others to try to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books at a huge pregame event downtown. Venturing into the passionate, teeming crowd, we sold a few books, but not so many. This experience reinforced what was already obvious: mundane sport certainly has a powerful allure.
Guest: What is the highest devotion, the highest bhakti, please?
Srila Prabhupada: To love Krishna. If you become expert how to love Krishna… The idea of loving is not unknown to you. You love somebody. You love your wife. You love your children. You love your country. You love your society. There are so many loving aspect. But when you love Krishna, then your life is perfect. That we have to…
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma samprasidati
(Srimad-Bhag
By Vaishnava Das
From CHANT AND BE HAPPY – THE POWER OF MANTRA MEDITATION
It’s a scene that has been repeated countless times on the thoroughfares of cities throughout the Western world-from Hollywood Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in America, to London’s Oxford Street and the Champs Elysees in Paris. There, in the midst of traffic, shops, restaurants, and movie theaters, people suddenly find themselves confronted by a group of young persons singing and dancing to the beat of cylindrical drums and
In his talk on the Bhagavad-gita 9.20–22, on December 7, 1966, in New York, Srila Prabhupada stated:
“The Lord says a very nice thing. What is that?
ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham
[Gita 9.22]
[But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.] Here the Lord gives assurance that ‘Those who are unflinching and cent percent devoted in the transce
