From Back to Godhead
Why hearing is the first and most important of the nine kinds of devotional service to the Lord.
When I first read that hearing is the most important of the nine kinds of devotional service, I was confused. I was twenty-one at the time and had been hearing all day every day for my whole life. What was so special about hearing? Then I read that the “hearing” prescribed wasn’t meant for mundane topics but for the activities and qualities of Krishna and His devotees. This hea
From Back to Godhead
After years searching and struggling, she finally found the right place to develop the natural connection she felt with God.
It was the third day in the hospital. The IV was still in my right arm. As I gazed through the window, a few leaves, colored yellow and red by the season, fell from a nearby tree. It was a beautiful fall day in Montreal, I was twenty, and I was trapped in here. How did it come to this?
I was raised in a middle-class, French Canadian, Catholic family
From Back to Godhead
A look at Lord Caitanya’s “Eight Instructions” and their relevance to japa, the individual practice of chanting Hare Krishna.
A friend once told me this analogy about spiritual life: a flock of geese share strength by flying in a V formation, but if one goose goes down, the others can’t help. Similarly, though seekers of enlightenment help each other, success ultimately depends on personal effortand the kindness of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna.
Krishna’s kindness appears i
It’s still early morning, the sun is starting to rise over the horizon, and it’s reddish—it reminds me of Srimati Radharani’s tilak upon Her beautiful broad forehead. And the glowing of the sun, the rays that it casts everywhere, paint the village nearby and the field in front of me a golden color.
There are flowers everywhere, and those flowers are growing in tall grass, knee-high grass, which sways to one side and then another. It’s like the way the Brijbasi’s sway under the winds of their pr
HOUSTON, TX — On Saturday, October 3rd, 75 devotees gathered with joyful enthusiasm in Houston, to celebrate the 61st anniversary of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s historic arrival in the United States. Organized by the Houston Harinam Sankirtan group as part of their weekly street chanting program, the landmark occasion took to the local waters on a riverboat in League City, Texas echoing the momentous 1965 Jaladuta voyage that brought the teachings of Lord Chaitanya to
By Atma Tattva Das,
A screening of Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami Who Started It All drew approximately 250 people to Suncoast CineCentre in Durban, South Africa, in September. Hosted by ISKCON Durban as part of the movement’s 60th-anniversary commemorations, the in-person event attracted an audience largely new to ISKCON, according to project leader Smita Krsna Das, with responses indicating greater appreciation of Founder-Acharya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
In this inspiring session from the "Books are the Basis" festival, Dr. Mishra is joined by senior ISKCON leader and GBC, His Grace Dvarakananda Prabhu. Together, they discuss the vital role of Srila Prabhupada's books in securing the future of ISKCON, nurturing the younger generation, and grounding devotional service in deep philosophical understanding.
Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=119709
By Atma Tattva Das,
On November 3, 2027, the fiftieth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, copper plates micro-engraved with names will be carried to his Samadhi Mandir in Vrindavan, an offering, not a database entry, that organizers plan to repeat every year after. Each name belongs to someone who registered their ISKCON membership before that date.
The offering is part of the 60-50 observance marking ISKCON’s 60th anniversary alongside Srila Prabhupada’s 50th Tirobhava anniversary
Markine Bhagavata-dharma – Boro Kripa Koile Krishna – by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
Most of us glorify Srila Prabhupad daily by reciting ‘namaste Saraswate deve Gaura vani pracarine, nirvisesa suyawadi paschatya desh tarine’….paschatya desh tarine means deliverer of Western Countries.
Forty Six years ago, on Sep 17th 1965, Srila Prabhupad arrived in USA to preach the timeless message of Krsna Consciousness to Western World. He wanted to start with USA. He stepp
I will begin by reading a couple of exchanges with Srila Prabhupada about his coming to America. Once, Srila Prabhupada was asked, “Your godbrothers who came to the West went to England and Germany. Why did you choose to come to America?” And he replied, “They went and came back to India without accomplishing anything. So I thought, ‘If I am going to fail, at least let me fail in a different place.’ ”
And on a morning walk in Los Angeles, a disciple said to Prabhupada, “When you came to the Wes
Srila Prabhupada arrived in the United States on September 17th, 1965, reaching Boston’s Commonwealth Pier aboard the cargo ship Jaladuta. He left Calcutta (Kolkata), India, on August 13, 1965, at 69 years old.
The 35-day sea voyage was difficult. He suffered severe sea-sickness and two heart attacks while crossing the ocean. He traveled with practically nothing—about 40 rupees (roughly seven dollars), a box of dry cereal, a suitcase, an umbrella, and several translated volumes of the Srimad-Bha
By Giriraj Swami and Sri Prahlada dasa
To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta when he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965.
Poem [translation]:
1: My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.
2: But I guess You have some business here. Otherwise, why would You brin
My journey to Krishna consciousness began in 2019 when my family and I first traveled 150 kilometres from Sydney to visit New Gokula Farm in a little town called Millfield. We first came to the farm as non-devotees, simply exploring what we had been told by an acquaintance was a “Hindu temple.” The temple is situated on a 500-acre farm with the most mesmerising Deities of Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda.
Gradually, we became regular visitors. Then COVID-19 suddenly hit, travel stopped, and with it our
By Atma Tattva Das,
ISKCON Croatia is rebuilding congregational participation and extending public outreach during the movement’s 60th-anniversary year. In an interview with ISKCON News, communications representatives Govindananda Das and Ishvara Puri Das described how recent in-person programs in Zagreb reflect a wider effort to connect decades of book distribution with sustained community involvement.
Priorities include sharing volunteer responsibilities, welcoming newcomers, and strengthenin
In this talk of Srila Prabhupada Meditations, HH Krishna Kshetra Swami shares memories, anecdotes, and reflections on Srila Prabhupada, including his years in Vrindavan, the preparation of the first volumes of the Srimad Bhagavatam, and his determination to bring Krishna consciousness to the West.
Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=119674
By Ishvara Chandra Das
Śrīla Prabhupāda established the culture of theistic exhibitions in ISKCON with his foundational diorama museum, the First American Transcendental Exhibition (F.A.T.E.), also known as the Diorama Museum of Bhagavad-gītā or the Bhagavad-gītā Museum, which opened in 1977 in the New Dvārakā Dhāma community in Los Angeles. Diorama art depicting the philosophy and narratives of the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta has since become a staple in ISKCON’s v
By Atma Tattva Das,
Four ISKCON communities across Gautengi Province, South Africa, brought their Srila Prabhupada murtis together at The Glen Primary School in Menlyn on September 5 for a joint observance of Srila Prabhupada’s 130th Vyasa Puja and ISKCON’s 60th anniversary year. The in-person gathering, attended by an estimated 300 to 400 devotees, represented a critical stride forward in regional cooperation built around what organizers described as “unity, but not uniformity.”
For Chaitanya
Today is Visvarupa-mahotsava, the date on which Lord Caitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, tooksannyasa, 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 scripture, Lord Caitanya is Krsna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come in the present age in the role of a devotee. In the previous age, Lord Krsna came in His original feature and spoke the Bhagavad-gita
