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At 7.30pm on 14 November 1977, surrounded by devotees chanting at his bedside at the Krsna-Balarama temple in Vrndavana, Srila Prabhupada left this mortal world. While living, he had taught his disciples many lessons. Now he was teaching his final lesson: how to depart.

The New Zealand devotees heard the grim tidings from some of Tusta Krsna's men while on harinama in Auckland. The devastating news reached Australia shortly after the last visiting devotees had left New Govard

Monday, 14 November 1977 - Vrndavana, India

New Govardhana residents were joined by about 40 devotees from Melbourne, Sydney and the travelling sankirtana parties for a two-day celebration of Govardhana-puja. The event had been advertised widely by a poster announcing Festival of the Cows.

A small marquee tent was set up next to the single white house near the river, the only residential building on the property. Devotees and guests, chanting Hare Krsna, followed the sin

Hari-sauri returned to Melbourne, and called a meeting with all the Australian leaders on the last day of October 1977. He gave them a detailed report on Srila Prabhupada's condition. They discussed the possibility of the devotees from Australia spending some time with Srila Prabhupada -- this was certainly his desire. But it seemed it would be irresponsible if devotees all left their services at once. Nevertheless, although the temple programs -- especially Deity

Hari-sauri was not alone in leaving Vrndavana. Many other GBCs, considering that Srila Prabhupada may now live an indefinite amount of time, made the difficult decision to return to their urgent and pressing engagements overseas. They felt, rightly or wrongly, that ISKCON's preaching, management and Deity worship responsibilities could not continue without their personal presence.

Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: I remember how, as I drove in the taxi to Delhi with

Hari-sauri's month-long stay was over. Although he did not want to leave, many pressing engagements needed attention in Australia, especially negotiations in Sydney for the new temple. He decided he would return to Vrndavana again in another month.

He entered Prabhupada's quiet, darkened room in the evening, approached Srila Prabhupada lying on the bed, and gently touched his arm.

"Who is it?" Prabhupada asked.

"It's Hari-sauri," he answered. "Prabhupada, I have t

The news that Srila Prabhupada had decided to live spread quickly through the ISKCON world. Especially in Vrndavana, the devotees became more light-hearted and thankful. One afternoon, later in the month, Hari-sauri came into Prabhupada's room with good news. "I was in Delhi yesterday, Srila Prabhupada. I spoke to one of the temple presidents in Australia, and he gave me a very encouraging report. He said that all the Indian Gitas that we got just recently are almost complet

October 1977 - Vrndavana, India

Srila Prabhupada had become increasingly in favour of departing from the world. He had eaten no solid food for months, and now he was not drinking. Yet, to the devotees, the thought of Prabhupada leaving was unbearable. They tried their best to be philosophical. One devotee compared Srila Prabhupada's departure to an ambassador in a foreign land who, although having many affairs to conduct, is ultimately called back. Another felt that since Sril

Although Srila Prabhupada now had a permanent secretary -- Tamal Krsna Goswami -- he still wanted to have his GBC men regularly associating with him for a month at a time. Hari-sauri had arranged to be with Srila Prabhupada for the month of October. On the last day of September 1977, Hari-sauri arrived in Bombay.

Before he entered Prabhupada's room however, Tamal Krsna warned him. "Prabhupada's changed a lot since you last saw him because he's not eating any solids now." As Hari-sauri e

One day, Madhudvisa, now married and living in Hawaii, arrived in Vrndavana. He entered Prabhupada's cool, dark quarters and bowed his freshly-shaven head to the ground. Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed surrounded by a few disciples. The air was filled with frankincense smoke billowing from a clay pot. Syamananda was sitting on the floor near Prabhupada's feet, gently fanned the glowing coals, simultaneously driving away the insects and freshening the room with an earthy, but

Due to his poor health, Srila Prabhupada was unable to personally answer all his mail. Consequently, he had authorised his secretary, Tamal Krsna Goswami, to do so on his behalf. Since the replies were filled with direct quotes from Prabhupada, they were almost as valuable as a personal letter from His Divine Grace.

On 10 August, Hari-sauri received a response to his recent update sent to Srila Prabhupada. The letter quickly found its way onto temple noticeboards aroun

New Govardhana continued to flourish. Devotees regularly picked fresh vegetables and herbs from their burgeoning garden. Plans were afoot to plant an orchard. By August, the dairy herd had increased to 14 cows -- some of them pedigree Jerseys. Several calves, including two bullocks, had recently been born. A neighbour had volunteered to train the bullocks to work as soon as they were old enough, and a cow shed was almost completed.

Hari-sauri sent a full report o

As the clear blue skies of Vrndavana turned hazy, a reminder of the approaching monsoons, Srila Prabhupada experienced some hope of recovery. Although his morning walks were a thing of the past, Srila Prabhupada revived his morning drives along Bhaktivedanta Swami Road. In early June, he also started coming down daily to see the Deities, a regular event recently curtailed due to his illness. Srila Prabhupada would sit gravely on his rocking chair, gazing at Krsna-Balarama, as the

Devotees Pray for Peace

IPOH: As the world was busy celebrating Christmas, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) of Ipoh was praying for world peace.

About 70 devotees of the Hare Krishna movement took part in a parade here recently to spread the message of peace and to promote racial harmony. Some of the devotees were from England, Australia and Russia.

The devotees, dressed in colourful traditional Indian costumes, sang and danced in the streets, following the Sri Jagannath

Real guru is he who instructs what Krsna has said. It is not that you maufacture your teaching. No. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There is no need of manufacturing. The instruction is already there. You have simply to say, "This is this." That's all. Is it very difficult task? Father said, "This is microphone." A child can say that "Father said this is microphone." He becomes guru. Where is the difficulty? The authority, father, has said, "This is microphone." A child only can say, "This is micro

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. 

Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back. 

The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. 

 "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?"

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

(1)  Never think or speak negatively about yourself.
 
(2)  Meditate on your God-given strengths and learn to encourage yourself, for much of the time nobody else will.
 
(3)  Don't compare yourself to anybody else.  So don't settle for being a copy.
 
(4)  Focus on your potential, not on your limitations.  
 
(5)  Have the courage to be different.  Be a God pleaser, not a people pleaser.

(6)  Learn to handle criticism.  Let it d

Therefore to create a first-class man, it requires great endeavor. It is not that you go to a school, colleges, and learn and smoke and do all nonsense, and you become elevated. It is a fourth-class, fifth-class... The modern educational system is producing not only fourth... Fourth class is also gentle, fifth-class, sixth-class. Fifth-class, sixth-class... The education means... What is the education? What is the symptom of education? That is described by Canakya Pandita, matrvat para-daresu. T

When he climbed the 1^st step he started thinking about the 100^th step. When he reached the 2^nd step he looked back and then looked up again worrying about the 100^th step. At the 3^rd step he started sweating, at the 4^th panting and while climbing 6^th he lost his balance and fell down. Throughout the ordeal his coach kept on encouraging him and warning him. He encouraged him to climb up and warned him not to worry about the 100^th step. He kept shouting - Don’t look back or worry about the 100^th st

An ode to Kali Yuga on the special occasion of the “New Year” 2013

Hey Kali, be happy,

A number changes,

In a calendar,

Seconds tick away,

In a clock,

People drink,

Loose control.

People dance,

Loose control.

Whatever you do,

MUST loose control !

Hey Kali, be happy !

Loose control, is what you want !

Everyone says,

Happy New Year !

Everyone knows,

There is nothing new,

Everyone knows,

There is no happy thing,

Still,

Everyone says,

Happy New Year !

Keep the illusion going folks !

Keep the show going, as they say !

Hey Ka