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Born in a dynasty of Vaishnavas, Raghunatha Dasa Goswami was the only son of a wealthy land owner. As a boy, he received Haridasa Thakura’s association and blessings. At fifteen he met Lord Chaitanya. By the mercy of Lord Nityananda he renounced a beautiful wife and an opulent family.

He ran to Jagannatha Puri to intimately serve Shri Gaura Raya and his siksha guru Svarupa Damodara Goswami for sixteen years. Lord Gauranga gave His personal Govardhana Shila and gunja mala to Raghunatha Dasa Goswa

Some years ago, George Harrison was already giving the world the gift of spiritual inspiration through his music when he donated the Bhaktivedanta Manor to Srila Prabhupada.

My sweet Lord . . .

I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord,
but it takes so long, my Lord.

George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord,” his first solo single, in America in November 1970. Internationally, sales soon exceeded five million copies.

The biographer Simon Leng calls the rele

By Hema Jagannatha Das

On New Year’s Day 2026, approximately 400 devotees gathered at ISKCON Plainfield, NJ, to honor a traditional Sri Jagannath Puri–style Maha Prasad buffet featuring 15 courses.

Organized by ISKCON of Central New Jersey (ICNJ), the annual New Year Sri Jagannath Puri–style buffet has been held for nearly a decade. Even during the COVID year, ICNJ volunteers continued the tradition by preparing and distributing 10+ course Jagannath Puri–style takeaway meals for hundreds of devo

A disciple of Shri Madhavendra Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi was Shri Gadadhara Pandit’s guru, and an intimate friend of Svarupa Damodara.

Pundarika Vidyanidhi had other names-Shri Vidyanidhi, Acaryanidhi, Bhaktyanidhi, and Premanidhi (given by Lord Chaitanya). “Simply by hearing his name,” said Shri Gaura, “the whole world becomes purified.”

Premanidhi’s pure devotion caused Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to sometimes cry profusely and call out loudly, “Bop, (father) Pundarika! Pundarika is My father,

This session introduces a teaching presentation on applying the elements and principles of art to deity worship, especially dressing Radha-Krishna, with a focus on Krishna’s turban. The presenter explains that the material comes from training at the Mayapur Academy, a pajari school, and was compiled by Krishna Kanta, a senior priest who dresses Lord Chaitanya daily. Learning these principles helped the speaker better understand why certain deity dressings look harmonious or distracting, and how

Her Grace Gopimata dasi grew up in the midwestern US. In 1977 she traveled to London where she met Srila Prabhupada.

She stayed for ten years in the ashrams there, mostly doing sankirtan. She also served as a pujari and cook as well as performing with the Vaikuntha Players. Later, she married His Grace Ankottha Das and moved back to the U.S. where she and her husband raised 3 sons.

Her Grace Gopimata has been teaching Yoga for over 30 years in Kansas and created the “Yoga with Heart” teacher tr

I felt insulted that he didn’t want my money. I grabbed the book from his hand, threw the book in my briefcase, and walked away quickly, without even so much as a look to say thank you. I’ll read that book, I thought, to find all the faults, and show any shaven-headed fellows next time I met them, that they are just wasting their time with all this religious mumbo jumbo. That if they really want to succeed in life, I could show them how.

——-

I often look back upon that kind soul, unknown to me,

The Manor plays host to book distributors from across the UK and Ireland as we celebrate the National Sankirtan Festival.
It’s a chance to appreciate their efforts in sharing spiritual knowledge, the answer to all of life’s problems, in the form of Srila Prabhupada’s books throughout the year and particularly during the month of December.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117098

Position Paper – ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry Position statement Regular daily deity worship in ISKCON centers must be carried out without interruption during an eclipse. If there are concerns regarding local public sentiment that may be caused by continuing the deity worship, the temple may be closed to the public while privately maintaining the scheduled daily worship of the deities.

By Atma Tattva Das, 

Kamita Kamau, known online as Kamita_Kirtan, is a Nairobi-based Krishna-conscious content creator, musician, grihastha, and entrepreneur whose work documents both his inner spiritual life and the outward expression of Krishna consciousness in contemporary African society. His journey into bhakti began in 2020, during a period of personal searching and questioning. Like many young people of his generation, Bhakta Kamita was seeking meaning beyond career ambition or social ide

By Mahabhagavat Das SDA

In Toronto’s brutal winter, Srila Prabhupada transforms the cold into spiritual gold by encouraging remarkable Sankirtan efforts, exceeding a total of 110 outings in 2025 against all odds for one humble warrior. Battling frigid temperatures and indifferent crowds, Srila Prabhupada tirelessly inspires diverse audiences, from skeptical Sikhs to curious Muslims. Each cold encounter becomes a lesson in humility to the Sankirtan warriors, the transient nature of recognition, a

ISKCON’s Ministry for Book Distribution is inviting devotees and communities worldwide to submit nominations for the 2025 Book Distribution Awards, recognizing outstanding leadership, innovation, creativity, and resilience in the global sankirtan movement.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/global-call-for-nominations-to-honor-sankirtan-excellence-and-innovation/

By Priyagovind Das

As the sun transitioned into Capricorn for Makar Sankranti on January 14, 2026, Ayodhya Dham was transformed into a sea of devotion. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, fresh from their holy bath at the Magh Mela in Prayagraj, arrived at the feet of Lord Ram. To honor this sacred arrival, ISKCON Ayodhya scaled its Food for Life initiative, distributing over 100,000 free prasadam meals.

This massive humanitarian effort is rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita: “The

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit our Adelaide temple again where the presiding deities of Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara are amongst my favorite deities in ISKCON.

The new temple room was beautiful and many devotees and visitors attended. A team worked to prepare Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra cart for the upcoming Australia Day parade on January 26th.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/adelaide-temple-visit/

From Back to Godhead

Understanding the levels of instruction in the Bhagavad-gita can help us comprehend the overall unity of Lord Krishna’s message.

The Bhagavad-gita is no doubt a major spiritual treatise and one of the world’s greatest classics. Understanding that a hierarchical concept of reality characterizes the Gita can help us see coherence of the Gita’s message.

The Bhagavad-gita speaks on two major levels of reality and a third, intermediate, one. We can use the Sanskrit words dharma