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

But there is no culture. There is no attention. Therefore the whole world is in chaotic condition. But if we accept the Vedic civilization which is in nutshell -- everything is there in the Bhagavad-gita -- then the whole world will be Vaikuntha. You haven't got to go in the Vaikuntha. Here you'll have Vaikuntha. And next life will be Vaikuntha. Janma karma ca divyam me yo janati tattvatah. Krsna is giving the civilization, Vedic civilization. And if we thoroughly understand it, then we are fit

The International Kirtan Festival Mumbai

Friday 15th February

Bhajan Sandya & Adhivaas: 3pm - 8pm

(Dinner Prasad at 8pm)

Saturday 16th February

Kirtan: 8am - 10pm

Opening Ceremony Speech By HH Radhanath Swami at 8am

(Breakfast: 7:00am, Lunch: 1pm, Dinner: 7pm)

Sunday 17th February

Kirtan: 8am - 10pm

(Breakfast: 7:00am, Lunch: 1pm, Dinner: 7pm)

Venue:
Bhaktivedanta Mission School
Shastri Nagar
Off Link Road
Near Laxmi Industrial Estate
Andheri (W)
400 056
The following sanyassi’s and senior devotees will be pa

Nature’s ecological balance is so perfect that the scientists get bewildered. Scientists often envision the idea of manufacturing symbiotic factories i.e. the factories which will support each other. For e.g. if there are two factories then the waste product of factory ‘A’ becomes the raw material for factory ‘B’ and the waste product of factory ‘B’ becomes the raw material for factory ‘A’. If this is achieved then it will revolutionize the world. The factory would generate almost 100% profit as

Grandmother, Mother, and Daughter Get Mercy

I was outside the Govinda's at New Dwarka (Los Angeles), thinking about how I was unable to go out to distribute books. That's when I saw a girl sitting not far away from me. I started to chat with her. Quickly our conversation moved to the topic of chanting, and I showed her how to chant on beads. We decided to meet a little later during the day. We tried kirtan, and she started to express how over the years she'd met sankirtan devotees and collected l