The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the fountainhead of all incarnations. Lord Balarama is His second body. They are both one and the same identity. They differ only in form.
Balarama is the first bodily expansion of Krishna, and He assists in Lord Krishna’s transcendental pastimes. He is the source of the entire spiritual world and is the adi-guru, the original spiritual master.
He assumes five other forms to serve Lord Krishna. He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord Krishna, and
Poetical pundits describe his unique skin colour
One that's diametrically the opposite to Krishna, his brother
It's the hue of a full white autumn cloud
Whereas his male sibling's is dark and loud
Balarama is no small person, he has power
Bala implies he will definitely not cower
To any superhuman challenges such as lifting planets
To compare, Krishna merely hoisted up a hill of granite
Both heroes take to such grandiose robust scales
And both impress us with dances in the forest with females
A
To complete our spiritual journey we need strength – much spiritual strength – so that we can act upon our higher convictions. But how and where do we find this strength?
The answer is we need to go to the Lord Himself! He is the reservoir of everything, including infallible spiritual strength, the “acyuta balah”. The aspect of Lord Krishna who is particularly responsible in granting spiritual strength is Lord Balarama, who acts in the pastime of Lord Krishna as His beautiful older brother.
Lor
Gargamuni said: This child, the son of Rohini, will give all happiness to His relatives and friends by His transcendental qualities. Therefore He will be known as Rama. And because He will manifest extraordinary bodily strength, He will also be known as Bala. Moreover, because He unites two families—Vasudeva’s family and the family of Nanda Maharaja—He will be known as Sankarnana.
sri-garga uvaca
ayam hi rohini-putro
ramayan suhrdo gunaih
akhyasyate rama iti
baladhikyad balam viduh
yadunam aprt
APPEARANCE
Sri Baladeva is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. He is equal in supremacy to the Supreme Godhead, yet wherever Krishna appears, Sri Baladeva appears as Krishna’s brother, sometimes elder, sometimes younger. In his vaibhava-prakasa feature, Lord Krishna manifests Himself as Balarama. The Balarama feature is as good as Krishna Himself, the only difference being that the bodily hue of Krishna is dark and that of Balarama is fair. These two Lords, Krishna and Balarama, are e
Sometimes people ask who is Lord Balarama? And the answer is that He is the brother of Lord Krishna. However, He does many things besides that.
How we understand this is to first recognize that, according to Vedic scripture such as the Srimad Bhagavata Purana, it is described that Lord Krishna is the primeval Lord, the original Personality of Godhead, so He can expand Himself into unlimited forms with all potencies. They are no different from Him, but may exhibit differences in form and functio
“O Kesava! O Lord of the Universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of Lord Balarama, the wielder of the plow! All glories to You! On Your brilliant white body You wear garments the color of a fresh blue rain cloud. These garments are the color of the River Yamuna, who feels great fear due to the striking of Your plowshare.”
“All glories to Rama-ghata, where Lord Balarama performed His rasa dance. All glories to Lord Balarama, the son of Rohini. All glories, all glories to the residents o
Krsna and His brother Balarama passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age of pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their fifth-year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krsna and Balarama traversed Vrndavana, purifying the land with Their footprints.
Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krsna herded the cows and played on His flute thr
Lord Balarama is the eternal companion of Sri Krishna. He came as Lakshmana with Rama and later as Nityananda Prabhu with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is the original spiritual master, and anyone desiring to make spiritual progress must first get the mercy of Lord Balarama. Directly we can’t approach Krishna, only through Balarama we can approach supreme lord Krishna. Spiritual master represents the true representation of Balarama. Thus, by following the instructions of spiritual master and by ple
This Indian event about brother and sister loving affection and commitment to care for each other - materially and spiritually.
On this day, sisters tie a rakhi, a colorful bracelet made of silk thread, on the wrist of their brothers to protect them against evil influences. Sisters pray for long life of their brothers and ask God to bless them with His blessings.
Brothers in turn, give them best gifts and promise to care and help them life long.
The Rakhi event importance reflects in Mahabhara
Emergency Notice
Published by ISKCON Nepal | Coverage: International News & Updates
The spiritual community of ISKCON Nepal has issued an urgent public and official appeal after losing contact with a group of 17 international devotees currently on a pilgrimage trip to the sacred alpine lake of Gosainkunda.
The missing pilgrims originate from three countries: the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Ireland. Due to
Iskcon Nepal: Our hearts are with the people of Nepal as they face one of the most devastating tragedies in recent years. Catastrophic flash floods have swept through the Himalayan valleys, leaving widespread destruction in their wake. Homes, bridges, roads, and entire communities have been washed away, while many families have lost loved ones and countless people have been displaced.
As rescue teams continue searching for the missing and bringing aid to isolated villages, we remember that every
By Sankirtana Das
For over 40 years, I’ve offered presentations on the Krishna Consciousness tradition and philosophy in college classrooms. I became friends with many of the professors, and they repeatedly invited me back to the campus every year or two. Then, about 20 years ago, some of the professors started commenting that new students didn’t quite meet the standards of an academic environment. It seemed that students were pushed ahead even without the required skills, and even when they r
By Atma Tattva Das,
An hour’s drive from Bloemfontein, in South Africa’s rural Free State, Brhat Mrdanga Das and his family are working to build Living Sanctuary, a farming and cow-protection project they hope will grow into a residential Krishna-conscious community.
As of early August 2026, the family’s herd numbers four cows and a calf, three of which are being milked; ghee production is being scaled up for the first time; and the household reports it has come close to feeding itself from rou
In less than 100 kilometres north of Toronto you have this town of 25,000 residents in the heart of potato country. Alliston happens to be the “spud” capital of the province of Ontario. With its rich sandy loam soil it easily becomes a hub for agricultural activities and this is what gets celebrated.
This very green area became obvious to Nityananda, Aaryan and I as we coasted along the flat-to-slight rolling terrain. Thank God we got out of the Friday night jammed traffic on Highway 400. We
Who is Lord Balarama?
Lord Balarama is an expansion of Lord Krishna glorified in the Vedic Puranas and Itihasas. Krishna is the spiritually manifest Supreme Person, whose internal spiritual energy is the all-pervading Brahman. He is glorified as Narayana, Vasudeva, Mahavishnu, Hari, Vishnu, and many other names. Shiva and Brahma are said to be His qualitative expansions. He is the Supreme Lord, the Lord of all universes. Everything emanates from Him and dissolves back in Him. He is the cause of
Today is the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the Personality of Godhead who is the first expansion of Lord Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead. Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.”
Krishna says, srjamy aham: “I manifest Myself
“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔣 ℜ𝔬𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔦 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔖𝔞ṅ𝔨𝔞𝔯ṣ𝔞ṇ𝔞 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔪𝔟 𝔬𝔣 𝔇𝔢𝔳𝔞𝔨𝔦 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔪𝔟 𝔬𝔣 ℜ𝔬𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔦. ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 ℜā𝔪𝔞 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔣 ℌ𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔥𝔞𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔊𝔬𝔨𝔲𝔩𝔞, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔞𝔰 𝔅𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔟𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔯𝔞 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔣 ℌ𝔦𝔰 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔭𝔥𝔶𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥.” 𝔖𝔅 10:2:13
“He is sarva-drk, or the overseer of all the actions of the internal and external potencies, and He is also described as upadrasta, the supreme advisor. Because he is the supreme advisor, He is above all the demigods who merely follow the direction of the supreme advisor.” -KB, Deliverance of Lord Siva (p.308)
The Witness Bird
(Note to reader: This article is in the first person, written by a pigeon)
A girl and her parents came to my home, tasty Delhi Donuts. After tasting they threw it to us, a
Last Friday evening, we experienced a truly unforgettable harinam through the heart of Skopje, Macedonia. As we wound our way through the busy city streets, chanting and dancing, local people and tourists alike joined us along the way, adding to the joyful atmosphere. Throughout the evening, we distributed invitations to our “Soul Culture Fest,” which was to take place the following night. The warmth and receptivity of the people in Macedonia is one of the country’s most outstanding features, an
