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By Hari Narayana Das

On December 2014, the United Nations accepted the proposal submitted by 177 countries including Indonesia to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day. This has popularized Yoga as another word for holistic living, health and prosperity.

This year June 21 was celebrated as the first International Yoga day. People from all walks of life came out to participate in the celebration: India, the US, Beijing, Paris, Manila, Seoul, Bangkok, Taipei and of course, Indonesia. Indo

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1.4

TEXT 4
atra sura mahesv-asa
bhimarjuna-sama yudhi
yuyudhano viratas ca
drupadas ca maha-rathah
SYNONYMS
atra—here; śūrāḥ—heroes; maheṣvāsāḥ—mighty bowmen; bhīma-arjuna—Bhīma and Arjuna; samāḥ—equal; yudhi—in the fight; yuyudhānaḥ—Yuyudhāna; virāṭaḥ—Virāṭa; ca—also; drupadaḥ—Drupada; ca—also;mahārathaḥ—great fighter.
TRANSLATION
Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhīma and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa and Drupada.
PURPORT
Even though Dhṛṣṭady
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Intensive Sanskrit Course Aug 2015

For Preachers, Teachers & Translators First Semester: Aug 20 – Nov 10, 2015 

• The course covers 800 most essential sutras (grammatical rules) from Sri Hari-namamrita-vyakarana, Srila Jiva Gosvami’s complete Sanskrit grammar, and includes training in reading and understanding Sanskrit commentaries. 
• By the end of the course students will be able to directly read and understand the Sanskrit commentaries on Srimad-Bhagavatam and several works of prominent Vaisnava acaryas. They will learn to rea

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2515019100?profile=originalLecture on Sarvabhaumas Devotion Manifests as Aspiraton for Total Absorption by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu on Jul 2015 

(His Grace Caitanya Charan Prabhu is a monk and spiritual teacher in the time honored tradition of bhakti yoga. He is a editor of Back to Godhead, which is the official international magazine of the Hare Krishna movement.)

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Feeling Complete with the Holy Name

2515019215?profile=originalLecture on Feeling Complete with the Holy Name by HH Romapada Swami in 04 Jul 2015 at Chicago

(Romapada Swami‘s first encounter with Krishna consciousness came in Buffalo, in the shape of a lecture at the State University of New York in 1969. The lecturer was His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The following year, Romapada Swami joined the movement in Boston and was initiated in 1971.)

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There are Demons Everywhere

2515019146?profile=originalLecture on There are Demons Everywhere by HH Bir Krishna Goswami on 16 Jun 2015 at New Goloka

(Bir Krishna Goswami spent his childhood in Long Island, New York. As an academically gifted student at North Western University, he began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. Impressed by Srila Prabhupada's scholarship and saintliness Bir Krishna Swami became a member of the Krishna conscious community in Gainesville, Florida in 1971.)

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Learn How to be Good

2515019254?profile=originalLecture on Learn How to be Good by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 02 Jun 2015 at Sri Lanka (Tamil Translation)

(His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. )

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The Ideal Guru and Renunciation


Since renunciation is a criterion for a genuine guru, then what about yogis who remain alone in silent meditation, seeking to stay pure by avoiding all material contact? Are they the ideal gurus?

 

No—because such withdrawal from the mass of people does not help those who are suffering without God consciousness.

 

One of the greatest God-realized guru

 

Everything should be used to serve God. By not withdrawing from the world. but rather by using worldly things (including money, cars, pub
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Qualities of a Real Guru


A genuine guru must not only speak the truth; he must also live it. In other words, his character must be perfect and his behavior exemplary.

 
In the West we commonly see that a professor or philosopher achieves renown on the basis of his teachings alone, regardless of his personal life. But in Vedic society, if a man is a drunkard or in some other way violates the ideal principles he teaches, then he is considered not a teacher but a cheater. 

 

According to the Bhagavad Gita a real guru,
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Choosing To Forgive

 

Choosing To Forgive

By Mahatma Das

Last year I forgave four devotees who were responsible for causing great pain and frustration in my life. Actually I didn’t forgive them of my own accord. I was asked to forgive them – for my own benefit. First I focused on the ways these people hurt me. Then I was asked to look at them in a different light; to consider that they were just doing the best they could in the particular situation they were in. Next, I was asked if I would be willing to forgive t

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1.3

TEXT 3
pasyaitam pandu-putranam
acarya mahatim camum
vyudham drupada-putrena
tava sisyena dhimata
SYNONYMS
paśya—behold; etām—this; pāṇḍu-putrāṇām—of the sons of Pāṇḍu; ācārya—O teacher; mahatīm—great; camūm—military force; vyuḍham—arranged;drupada-putreṇa—by the son of Drupada; tava—your; śiṣyeṇa—disciple;dhīmatā—very intelligent.
TRANSLATION
O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pāṇḍu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.
PURPORT
Duryodhana, a great diploma
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Kumbh Mela Nasik 2015 Details

Respected
Prabhujis/Matajis,
Please
Accept My Humble ObesiancesAll
Glories To Srila PrabhupadaAll
Glories To Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga


On behalf of Western India Divisional Council, we are extremely happy to invite you all for Kumbh mela 2015

at Nasik. Following information may facilitate your arrival at Nasik Kumbh mela festival:-

bannerNasik2.jpg
1. ISKCON organised programs and facilities at Nasik Kumb mela 2015 will start from 25th August 2015, and it will be continued till 20th September 2015. 

2. Main da

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Rath Yatra in Kisumu – Kenya






By Dwarka Vasini Devi Dasi

The Lake shore city of Kenya –Kisumu, celebrated its annual Rath Yatra on the 18th of July, coinciding with the Puri Rath Yatra, and IDD- UL-FTR. Taking advantage of the auspicious date, the Kisumu devotees organized the festival in less than a week.

127 devotees travelled from the capital city Nairobi covering a total distance of approx.355kms to participate in the event. Kisumu devotees are known for their hospitality and very delicious Prasadam that was served

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By Rohininandana dasa

Woke up again with barely any hearing (my Ménière fluctuating), so had to skip as usual the SB-lecture here in rural Almviks gard, ISKCON farming community, by Hari Sauri Prabhu (during our yearly Bhakti Sangam festival) which I was planning to attend. Therefore also no audible chanting today, had to rely on mind-chanting, which I am far, far from perfection yet.

Was serving the cows and devotees in the morning, hay to the cows, breakfast prasadam to the devotees.

Asked th

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Guru - The Disciplic Succession Link


An important criterion for a guru is that he himself must be a disciple of a bonafide spiritual master—one who is part of a succession of spiritual masters coming from Lord Krishna Himself.

 

A guru’s teachings are genuine only when he has received his knowledge by this process of disciplic succession, because one who is not part of a genuine disciplic chain can have no access to the Vedic knowledge. So we must comprehend the importance of disciplic succession in determining the credibility o
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Guru-Disciple Relationship


Since we are all servants of the Supreme Lord, a bona fide guru must be a devotee of the Supreme Lord and teach others how to become His devotees. In fact, unless the guru is a devotee of Lord Krishna, he cannot understand transcendental knowledge—what to speak of imparting it to others.

 

An ideal example of a qualified recipient of transcendental knowledge is Arjuna, whom Lord Krishna empowered to understand the Bhagavad-gita because of his devotional attitude.
 

Krishna explains in the f
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Hare Rama or Hare Ramo?





By Devaki Devi Dasi

Ukraine is certainly one of the most dynamic preaching fields in this world. Over the last fifteen years I have been giving the yatra of Kharkov a lot of attention – we have so many sincere and sweet devotees here, who deserve all the care and encouragement they can get.
Even though Kharkov is in the very East of Ukraine – only 180 km’s away from the war zone and 60 km’s from the Russian border, nevertheless life here is basically going on as usual. The only noticable ef

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My Sources of Inspiration

By Prema Vilasa Dasa

A doctor in residency finds that the key to fulfilling the great American dream is not what he expected.

My alarm goes off at six thirty. It’s Sunday morning. I take a shower, put on my dhoti, kurta, and tilaka, and after chanting the Gayatri mantra drive to the temple, just a few blocks away.

The devotees are chanting the Brahma-samhita when I arrive. I join them until it’s time to cook Krishna’s breakfast, a service I have done for nine years now. I make split mung dal,

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By Jaganmohini devi dasi

(The following article meant for URI (United Religions Initiative) community was circulated in their forum by the author few days back. There were Id greetings exchanged within URI community, at that time she felt let them know little bit about Rath Yatra too)

 

The festive seasons have begun in India.

On Saturday, June 18th, 2015, while our Muslim brotherhood around the world were celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with great joy and splendour, the devotees of Lord Jagannath from

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By Chaitanya Charana Dasa

When the Lord of the universe rides His chariot along city streets throughout the world, beneath the colorful spectacle lie profound devotional truths.

This year, some of us will see on a street in our city a grand procession known as the Jagannatha Rathayatra, the annual “chariot festival” of Lord Jagannatha (Krishna) that dates back centuries, even millennia. In its earlier days the Jagannatha Rathayatra, which originates in Jagannatha Puri, Odisha, was mostly for th

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