Words of a Perfect Master

by Mahamuni Dasa
In the early days of ISKCON, not many books were available, and so we used to distribute Back To Godhead magazines. I was one of the top book distributors, distributing one to two hundred BTG's a day. I would carry a large stack of BTG's in my left arm, and hit the streets, approaching people. However, my motive was material. Since I had a heavy load on my arms, I thought the sooner I could get rid of them, the better it would be. So I would aggressivel

Bhagavata-Sastri Course

Dear devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We are happy to announce that the Sixth Bhagavata Sastri course at Srimad-Bhagavatam Vidyapitham is now open for admission.

Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust's Sanskrit school is now located in Sri Vrindavan after the departure of H.G Gopiparanadhana Prabhu. The school is still going strong under the guidance of senior devotees and is inviting applicants for join

What is that material world? Material world means forgetting Krsna. Krsna is covered. Krsna is there, Krsna is andantara-stha-paramanu, but they have no Krsna consciousness. Whole world, you analyze, there is no Krsna consciousness, there is no (indistinct). Rather they are declining, "There is no God." "God is dead." "I am God." "You are..." Because they have no information, no information of, that is material world. That is the difference between material world and spiritual world. Spiritual w

Mystery of Nrsimhadev's Missing Jewels,
                                                                        by Amogha das.
How could they reappear?

One day whilst in Malaysia I received a phone call. The lady speaking had a strong accent so I couldn't understand her, but she mentioned my wife's name and said "heart attack." I was shocked and kept asking her "Did my wife have a heart attack!?" Finally after some confusion, I could understand that she was from a store named Heart Attack wh

SRILA PRABHUPADA appeared in this world just a day after the celebration of Lord Krsna's appearance day. We followers of Srila Prabhupada's see this as a sign of his intimate relationship with the Lord. The Vedic literature teaches us that because a spiritual master such as Srila Prabhupada is the Lord's most confidential servant, we must honor him as much as we honor the Supreme Lord Himself. We are therefore honoring Srila Prabhupada throughout his Centennial Year and especially on the 100th a

Parama Ekadasi

Sri Yudhishthira Maharaja said, "Oh Supreme Lord, what is the name and character of that Ekadashi that occurs during the dark fortnight (krishna paksha) of the extra, leap year month of Purushottama.

Also, Oh master of all the universes, what is the process for observing it properly?
Kindly narrate all of this to me?"

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, replied, "Oh Yudhishthira, this meritorious day is called Parama Ekadasi.
It bestows the great benediction of an

These are the nine different processes of bhakti-yoga, of which the most important thing is sravanam, hearing. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh. And about whom? About Visnu, not for anyone else. That is sravanam kirtanam visnoh. Everything bhakti means devotional service, loving devotional service, for Visnu or Krsna. That is not any other service. That is not bhakti. Bhakti, the word, can be used only in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It cannot be... If you say, "I am desa-bhakta

Preserving the Vani of Srila Prabhupada

by Madhava Smullen

On February 2, 1966, before he founded ISKCON or initiated any Western disciples, Srila Prabhupada purchased a reel-to-reel tape recorder and brought it back to his apartment on New York’s West 72nd street. At $54.02, it cost almost as much as his rent for a month, but it was an invaluable investment; for as he sat down to record his “Introduction toGeetopanisad,” he was leaving us his legacy The Bhaktivedanta Archives.

More than ten years

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Narada Muni

Sometimes a saintly person is misunderstood bygrhasthas(householders), especially when he instructs their young sons to accept Krishna consciousness. Generally a grhastha thinks that unless one enters grhastha life he cannot properly enter the renounced order. If a young man immediately adopts the path of the renounced order in accordance with the instructions of Nārada or a member of his disciplic succession

Spiritual Life Is Difficult, but Material Life Is Impossible

by Madhumangala Dasa (South Africa)

One Sunday in Dar es Salaam, Bhakta Deepak suggested we go visit a friend of his who was a top executive at Pepsi Cola. "Maybe we could interest him in Prabhupada's books," Deepak said. "I preached to him before, but had no luck. Maybe you'll do better."

When we arrived the executive invited us into his apartment as Deepak introduced me to him and his wife and daughter. When he mentioned that he was f

So we are planning, one after another, various plans to be very happy in this material world. But they will not make us happy -- that's a fact -- because this place is certified by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as duhkhalayam asasvatam: [Bg. 8.15] "This is a place for misery." This material world is a place for misery. This body is meant for suffering miseries, and the land is meant for suffering miseries. That we do not understand. But we are placed in a miserable condition all round. That

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupad

In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca Recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young rep

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupad

The husband and wife gifted themselves a new car for their first wedding anniversary. They drove downtown, watched a movie, and finally returned home. They didn't have the garage facility. So the car was parked in the street. To their utter shock, when they woke up the next morning, the car was missing. The car was stolen. First car, first wedding anniversary gift, and they had enjoyed the car for just a day. The wife cou

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupad

“Asatī means a woman who has become a prostitute. A prostitute has no reputation for good womanly qualities. Similarly, the tongue, which is given to the human being for chanting the Vedic hymns, will be considered a prostitute if it is engaged in the matter of chanting some mundane nonsense.” [SB 2.3.20-21]

Our spiritual life begins from the tongue (Jihvādau). Atah śrī-krishna-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaih, sevonmuk

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Madana, or Cupid means sex attraction and Krishna is called Madana-mohana. One can neglect even sex attraction if one is attracted to Krishna. Madana is attracting in this material world – everyone is attracted by sex life. The whole material world exists on sex life. This is the fact. Yan maithunādi-grhamedhi-suhkham hi tuccham. Here, the so-called happiness – is maithuna, or sex. Here happiness begins from sexual inte