Blog

Lord Caitanya’s magnanimous desire was to bless the whole world with His infinite mercy by displaying His most sublime lila of tasting and widely distributing the supreme fruit of love of God, Krishna prema. He thus desired to engage all willing souls to help Him distribute His sublime gifts everywhere. To fulfill his divine desire, Lord Nityananda Mahajan became the chief distributor of this transcendental harvest of pure love through the chanting of the nectarean Holy Names of Lord Krishna, t

In the section below, I have shown in italics, the relevant portions for our discussion on Conflicting roles of Sati:

It is said, “Satī was very much anxious to see her relatives at her father’s house, but at the same time she was afraid of Lord Śiva’s warning. Her mind unsettled, she moved in and out of the room as a swing moves this way and that.” [SB 4.4.1]

Satī felt very sorry at being forbidden to go see her relatives at her father’s house, and due to affection for them, tears fell from he

“Bhaktivedanta Swami in a Historical and Philosophical Context” is a one-day workshop to be held on September 6, 2023, at the prestigious Stockholm University (S.U.). Located in the vibrant Swedish capital, S.U. is a renowned public research university recognized for its academic excellence and diverse disciplines. 

The workshop is part of a collaborative effort of Stockholm University’s Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies, Utah State University’s Department of Hist

Bhaktivinoda Thakur boldly proclaims, ‘sad-anga saranagati hoibe janhara,’ one who follows these six paths of surrender strictly, the result is ‘tahara prarthana sune sri nanda-kumara’. Krsna will respond to our prayer. Why is this so? Because Bhakti is cit-tattva. Devotional service, the Lord and His devotees do not belong to this material world but are of another.

Cit means cognition. The spiritual world is cit jagat; a realm full of perception. You will pray and get the response. In this m

From Back to Godhead

The desire to be soul-conscious inspires a move to a soul-compatible place.

“The soul [jivatma] is unborn, eternal, immortal, and primeval. It does not die when the body dies.” (Bhagavad-gita 2.20)

I first heard details about jivatmathe soulin 1971 during my maiden overseas trip. I was reuniting with my then-boyfriend (later husband) John in India, and to me, a born and bred atheist, jivatma was a quaint irrelevant idea.

An idea, however, can be like a seed: it can germinat

By Bhaktivinoda Thakura 

Questions about INATTENTIVE CHANTING and answers by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura from his books:
Q. What is the main impediment blocking one from developing attachment for chanting?
A. If one gives up all the offenses in chanting, but remains inattentive, he can never develop attachment for chanting. (Sajjana Tosani 11/1)
Q. What are the various definitions of inattention while chanting?
A. O Lord! All anarthas are produced when we do not pay attention to our chanting. Th

As a teenager coming of age in the 1960s, I was preoccupied with spirituality. I had become disinterested in the mainstream religion of my forbears, and I was passionately looking for a path that spoke directly to me as an individual.

I didn’t want some amorphous, otherworldly transcendence, either — this I knew for certain. Nor did I want mere political activism, which many in my day tied to spirituality in a rather tepid, tenuous way. Instead, I wanted something that truly nurtured my inner w

Hare Krishna,

I am sharing below the transcript of a lecture by Srila Prabhupada where he mentions how anyone can see God! He reveals that we have Television in our heart!

Sila Prabhupada: So we are worshiping Govindam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original person. So this sound, govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi, is reaching Him. He is hearing. You cannot say that He is not hearing. Can you say? No. Especially in this scientific age, when television, radio messages are broadcast

We have entered the auspicious Purusottama-adhika-masa (extra month), which is considered three times more powerful than Kartik. One year, Srila Prabhupada was in Juhu during Purusottama-adhika-masa, and Dr. C. P. Patel, Srila Prabhupada’s regular companion on his morning walks on Juhu Beach, prevailed upon him to take bath in the sea. In an article published in Back to Godhead, Dr. Patel wrote:

“Every third year an extra month is inserted into the lunar calendar to bring it into line with the s

Sripada Hridayananda Babaji Maharaja was born in Radha-kunda and has been a pujari for 78 years. He lives next to the Radha-Damodar Temple. When, at the beginning of an interview, Babaji Maharaja was asked if he knew Srila Prabhupada, he began to cry. He said, “Never have I seen anyone do sadhana as he did. I have lived all my life in Vraja, and I have never seen anyone like him. Prabhupada did many arduous things. He worked very hard there at the Radha-Damodar Temple. At that time it was auste

Krsna is full with six kinds of opulences. So this is the opulence of Krsna’s beauty. Krsna wants everyone…we are offering obeisances to Krsna with awe and veneration. But nobody comes here to Krsna with a rope: “Krsna, You are an offender. I shall bind You.” Nobody comes.

That is another one of the prerogatives of the most perfect devotee. Yes. Krsna wants that. This privilege is especially given to Yasodamayi, because she’s such an advanced devotee that she has got the right to chastise the S

ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) was incorporated in New York City, in the State of New York in the US, on 13 July 1966, around 53 years ago. This first incorporation of ISKCON was executed at Srila Prabhupada’s behest – then known to his followers only as ‘Swamiji’ and to others as A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

The lawyer under whose aegis the fledgling movement was officially instituted was Mr Steven Goldsmith, an attendee at Srila Prabhupada’s Second Avenue lectures.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a peaceful fraternal movement incorporated in 1966 in New York by its founder Acharya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and it is aimed at teaching a simple way of living in harmony with nature and to achieve the ultimate goal of human life. “We shall call our society ISKCON.” Prabhupada playfully coined first the acronym, although many alternative names were proposed by his close associates. The principal place

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has potential as a peaceful extra-governmental force for this kind of change, nationally and internationally. In 1966, Srila Prabhupada included in ISKCON’s articles of incorporation a far-reaching statement of the movement’s purposes. Among them: “To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.”

Srila Prabhupada did not, however, recommend high-pressure lobbying. Instead, he emphasized the

from Back To Godhead Magazine #15-05, 1980 - a brief history of the incorporation of ISKCON

by Satsvarupa Dasa Gosvami

July 11, 1966. 26 Second Avenue, New York City: A few sympathetic, interested people gather in a small downtown storefront to help an Indian swami’s mission by adding their signature to a legal document.

Today, ISKCON has branches all over the world. Millions of lives have been transformed by the Hare Krishna mantra and the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita—thanks to the vision

By Thomas Haribol

The Prabhupada Memories project is not only nearing a significant milestone of nearly 100 DVDs totaling 450+ interviews of direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada, but it is also reaching thousands of new listeners thanks to the power of social media. The Memories project now has a social media team producing eye-catching short posts across several social media platforms. Most recently, the Prabhupada Memories YouTube channel quadrupled its subscribers in just a few weeks (now ov

Many joyful adventures took place daily while traveling with Srila Prabhupada. So much nectar flowed from the regulated activities of personally serving our glorious Gurudeva. Who could imagine anything more wonderful than cooking, massaging and tending to the needs of His Divine Grace, except for being present when His Divine Grace exhibited ecstatic symptoms? It was the rarest of treasures. These exceptional events invariably took place while Srila Prabhupada sat on his Vyasasana in the templ

As devotees, we talk a lot about getting free from the material energy, free from the influence of maya, free from our attachments to material sense pleasures and their objects.

Why do we want to do that? What would be the reason?

Sometimes it can be confusing. It may seem like we’re taking all this too seriously, when really it’s all Krishna’s creation and life in this world can have so many pleasures to offer us.

Here is an example that perhaps will illustrate the reasons.

Suppose you are in

Radhanath Swami: “I was in Vrindavan in 1971, and I was among five or six other people sitting around Srila Prabhupada. He wasn’t my guru then; he was just one of the saints I was coming to visit. And Srila Prabhupada was in Vrindavan for a few days. Somebody asked him, ‘Are you the guru for the whole world?’ He didn’t say anything. I was really very excited with anticipation—what is he going to say? Most people would say, ‘Yes.’ And after he paused for a few minutes, he looked down to the grou

It was absolutely great to see Marcel again after about four decades. He hails from London, Ontario, and became involved with the mission of Prabhupada back in ’74 when he and a group of his buddies joined our ashram when we were located in cabbage town of Toronto. There was Henry and Cindy, Rick, Robert, all from the London, St. Mary’s area. Not all of the group stayed with Krishna. It is hard to say what paths they took, and it is very apparent that they lost track of each other. They all had