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By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lecture given in New York City on May 22, 1973.
Krishna’s greatest devotees are simple village girls who love Him without caring for His Godhood.

lalita-gati-vilasa-valguhasa-
pranaya-nirikshana-kalpitorumanah
kritam anukritavatya unmadandhah
prakritim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvah
“Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Sri Krishna, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhama [the gopis]. The damsels imitated the characte

"We can remember Krishna in every moment. We can remember Krishna while taking a glass of water because the taste of water is Krishna. We can remember Krishna as soon as we see the sunlight in the morning, because the sunlight is a reflection of Krishna's Bodily Effulgence. Similarly, as soon as we see moonlight in the evening we remember Krishna because moonlight is also reflection of sunlight. Similarly, when we hear any sound we can remember Krishna because sound is Krishna, and the most per

The sun is always shining, always existing, but we can’t always see it—it’s dark half the time. There's night and day. The sun does rise on schedule, though, so we’re not condemned to live without sunlight. You can predict when it will rise.

Krishna is the same way. He always exists. He also has a regular schedule for appearing in this world, which is mentioned in the Vedas.

Just as biological life depends on sunlight, our existence depends on the Absolute Truth, Who is ultimately a Person, the

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

The cows are as important as the citizens. Just as the human citizens should be given all kinds of protection. So the cows also should be given full protection. Srila Prabhupada did not make distinctions between Indian cows (Desi) and western cows.



Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=88094

An old brahmin priest lived in a holy place, at an ashram, with his seven disciples. There they worshipped some very old and famous Deities of Radha and Krishna. Many people would come to see these Deities and make donations for Their worship.

The guru, however, was growing weak due to old age. He knew it was time to soon leave his body, but did not feel confident to hand over to his disciples the entire service of these Deities.

One day a pilgrim donated a large ruby to the Deities.

I think it

Just from a logical deduction perspective, Sri Krsna has to be the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, one without a second. There is no one in the history of the universe that can compare to Him, in transcendental beauty, paraphernalia, qualities, pastimes etc.

(The following are names of some of His exquisite paraphernalia; His milk bucket, His signet ring, His earrings and locket, even His scissors.)

(from Srila Rupa Goswami’s Radha-Krishna-ganoddesha-dipika)

Vasanta Panchami

The festival of Vasant Panchami is celebrated on fifth day of Shukla Paksha of Magh Mas. This is the first day of spring in India (Northern Hemisphere). On this day one should celebrate the coming of spring to Vrndavana by offering Krishna many types of leaves and flowers, and fresh shoots of sprouting grasses. Things that symbolize life and new growth.

On this day Sri Mayapur community devotees decorates the altar of Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Prahlad Narasimhadev

“The supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.”

The above quote is referenced from mantra five of the text Sri Isopanisad. How may we analyze this mantra?

There are three aspects of God (the Absolute) — brahman, paramatma, and bhagavan. The first aspect or feature a God is a depersonalize feature of the Absolute. It would be hard to explain this feature which is defined as an all-pervasive pres

A Dubai commuter, stuck in traffic, muses on how modern inventions have failed to improve the quality of our lives and have added to our distress.

It’s 7:00 P.M., and I’ve been driving for more than an hour. As I head home from work along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, I’m caught in the usual evening traffic jam. Like the car ahead of me, my car starts, stops, and starts again. While my car moves slowly, my mind races. I do mental mathematics with the number on the car plate in front of me. The tr

By Giriraj Swami

“Now these Christmas holidays have begun in your country. Throughout the whole month of December you’ll observe nice festivities. Why? It began with God consciousness. Jesus Christ came to give you God consciousness, and in relation to him these festivities are going on. It may have degraded into another form, but the beginning was God consciousness. Now we may have lost it. But people cannot be happy without reviving God consciousness. It may be named differently—‘Krishna cons

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 more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)

The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in an

By Giriraj Swami 

On October 28, 1972, in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17:

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
  punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
  vidhunoti suhrt satam

“Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous w

As conditioned souls, our deepest problem is that we have forgotten our relationship with the Supreme Lord, and we are engrossed in thinking of material activities. In order to transfer our thinking power back to Krishna, we have received the Holy Name and the Vedic literature.

A basic piece of the Vedic literature is Bhagavad-gita. It was spoken at the beginning of Kali-yuga, 5000 years ago, and it addresses the specific situation of the modern man. In Kali-yuga, people are short-lived, their e

suklastami karttike tu
smrta gopastami budhaih
tad-dinad vasudevo ‘bhud
gopah purvam tu vatsapah

“The eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Kartik is known by authorities as Gopastami. From that day, Lord Vasudeva served as a cowherd, whereas previously He had tended the calves.”
-Srimad Bhagavatam 10.15.1, translation

Many important pastimes take place on Gopastami. One pastime takes place on this day a few years after Krishna first started tending the cows. On this day, Jat

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

From Back to Godhead

By Cintamani Dhama Devi Dasi

“ONE WHO CANNOT deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother, or a worshipable demigod” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18).

As a parent I often wonder if I am up to the task. After all, full engagement in devotional service is the only way to become free from the cycle of birth and death. Prahlada Maharaja instructs us in nine methods of devotional service: “Hearin

Radhashtami has been regarded as the holiday for Hindu. It remembers the Radhika’s birth anniversary. She has been regarded as the Goddess Mahalakshmi in certain scriptures of India. She has been regarded as the hladini shakti of Sri Krishna. She has been respected as a shakti by the scriptures of Vaishnav community. On a particular day, she had risen from lotus flower in the form of lover-consort of Sri Krishna.

There is a celebration by the Krishna devotees. She is celebrated significantly at h

Where in the world is love to be found? That love which has been glorified throughout the millennium – in songs, in poetry, in words, in exchanges between partners – that love, where is it to be found in this world? Where is that love in comparison to the degree of love that is found in the residents of Vrndavana? And where is that love found amongst the residents of Vrndavana? That love that completely and entirely takes over all existence, that love which rules the Supreme, where is that love

As Radhastami is approaching, we are beginning to think about Srimati Radharani whose pure devotion is unrivaled. No one can display as much love for Krsna as Radharani does and no can serve Krsna in the way She can. Therefore, we aspire to be dasanudasanudasa – we aspire to be the servant of the servant of the servant of the gopis who are the servants of Srimati Radharani, and in this way, we approach this upcoming Radhastami in the mood of devotional service.

Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur write