How to Become a Devotee
(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)
Recently I was listening to a wonderful lecture on Srimad Bhagavad gita verse 9.34, by our beloved Guru Maharaja and I would like to share the transcendental messages for the benefit of all the readers.
Srimad Bhagavad gita 9.34:
man-manaa bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaaji maam namaskuru
maam evaisyasi yuktvaivam
aatmaanam mat-paraayanah
"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, o
So kalpa-taru means whatever you want you can get from that tree. Because everything is spiritual. For example, he can give you... Just like you are a spiritual being, I am also a spiritual being. If I say, "Bring me a glass of water." You'll bring. "Give me some fruit." You'll give me. "Bring this." You'll bring. Because you are spirit soul, you can supply me whatever I want. This is the spiritual idea.
So when there is no material obstacles, then the spiritual world can be utilized for any pur
So, as I said in my previous day blog, that since, it was almost 2 AM, Kanai Thakur Prabhu announced that it was not compulsory for us to attend the morning Mangal aarti but how can we be in that place and dare miss a Mangal aarti? Most of us were there in the temple hall. J
The first look at Radha Madhav was magnificent. I could bet, all of us fell in love with them. Now, that is what I would call as love in first sight. :)
The Mangal Aarti would start with Radha Madhav and Panchtattva simultaneo
Hare Krishna!!
Pamho!!
2nd day of the yatra and I understood the effect of association.
Normally, when you have a long train journey you definitely don’t find anyone getting up early in morning by 4 and start worshiping or chanting. I have seen people sleeping and just lying down for hours and hours till their stop is arrived or in day time… max, you see is people talking to each other and sometimes leading to good friendship. But, what a beautiful atmosphere was there around me when few devotees s
Hare Krishna!!
Pamho!!
So, after the Mayapur yatra is over and resting for 2 days, let me again start with Mayapur yatra in my memory from Day 1 and in the course, transcript all the lectures which we heard.
To start with, there were most devotees who travelled in Azad Hind Express and some in Duronto Express and few in flights as well. We all met in Mayapur directly. Let me not skip the wonderful train journey which seemed tiring to non-devotees and blissful to us. The train (Azad Hind) was schedu
A unique second festival will be held alongside the world-famous Mayapur Festival this year in West Bengal, India. On behalf of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission, the GBC’s Strategic Planning Team will organize the first International Leadership Sanga (ILS) from February 10th to 17th.
The festival is the GBC’s attempt to reach out to ‘middle tier’ leaders all over ISKCON unsung heroes working hard on the ground to keep their temple going day to day. At ILS, they will see the big picture (that IS
Aditya Hridayam, or Aditya Hrdaya, is a hymn dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun God) in Valmiki Ramayana. It has 31 verses and is found in the 107th chapter of Yuddha Kanda of Ramayan. It was narrated to Lord Rama by Sage Agastya to energize him in the battle against Ravana.
1.
Thatho yudha parisrantham samare chinthaya sthitham,
Ravanam chagratho drushtwa yudhaya samupasthitham.
2.
Daivathischa samagamya drushtu mabhya gatho ranam,
Upagamyabraveed ramam Agasthyo Bhagawan rishi.
3.
Rama rama maha baho sr
Being Devoid Of Krishna Is Danger
(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)
In the fifteenth chapter of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we find that Arjuna comes back from Dwaraka after hearing the news of the departure of Lord Krishna to His eternal abode and seeing the unprecedented dejection of Arjuna, Maharaja Yudhistira asks him about the reason for his grief. At that time, Arjuna with strong feeling of separation from Krishna, speaks a number of verses remember
Showing great compassion for all living entities Lord Krishna’s lila avatar and literary incarnation Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa composed the authentic historical treatise known throughout creation as the Mahabharata. The eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita are found in the Bhisma-parva, chapters 25 to 42 of the Mahabharata and they are the exact words that Lord Krishna spoke in Sanskrit on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, India over five thousand years ago in 3137 B.C. The proof that the Maha
Pearls of Wisdom
(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)
It has been our greatest good fortune that our beloved spiritual master H.H. Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja was here in Abudhabi from 29th of November to 3rd December, immersing all of us in transcendental bliss with his nectarean instructions. We have very limited capacity to even collect the pearls of wisdom that were flowing from his lotus mouth. Whatever we could assimilate, according to our limited c
CONCLUSION:
Purusha Sukta teaches us to have respect for the world, life, and Dharma (law and order), which are essentially the basic sustaining elements of a society. We see here unity in apparent diversity, because this world is nothing but a projection of the Purusha. Seen this way, every life form, every spot of earth, every mountain, every river becomes holy. When we look at a mountain or a setting Sun and say ah, that is a participation in the divinity. There is no saying NO to WORLD or L
In 1972, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada sent two young devotees to South Africa to set up the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). It was decided that Rsi Kumar Swami and Ksudhi Das Brahmacari would be the first ISKCON devotees to travel to South Africa and establish Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement. Ksudhi Das is currently in South Africa for a short visit and is staying at the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple of Understanding in Chatsworth, Durban. H
So if you go on the ordinary way, from the karma platform to jnana platform, from jnana platform to yoga platform, but ultimately you have to come to the bhakti platform. If you do not come to the bhakti platform, then there is no question of liberation.
By H.D.G. Srila Prabhupada
The Honorable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago accompanied by Foreign Minister, Surujrattan Rambachan and ministers of her cabinet visited ISKCON Juhu on 13th January 2012 and took darshan of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radharasabihariji, Sri Sri Gaur Nitaiji and Sri Sri Sita Ram Laxman Hanumanji. Also accompanying them was famous cricketer Brian Lara.
Gopal Krishna Goswami, GBC for ISKCON Juhu, met with her and informed her about the outstanding achievements of Srila Pra
Life Begins From Cleanliness
(Compiled from notes on lectures of H. H. Mahavishnu Goswami)
The following is a transcription of a lecture given by our spiritual master HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja on 2008-12-10 in Shree Shree Radha-NeelMadhav dham, Rajkot. Maharaja was explaining the following verse from shastras.
sukhasya duhkhasya na kopi daataa / paro dadaati iti kubuddhir eshaa
puraa krtam karma sadaiva bhujyate / dehin kvacin nistara yat tvayaa krtam
“No one is the cause fo
“If you go to the spiritual planet, Vaikuëöhaloka or Goloka Våndävana, then you haven’t got to return. That is eternal.” Tyaktvä dehaà punar janma naiti mäm eti [Bg. 4.9]. Mäm eti. If you go to Kåñëa, then your complete success is...
mäm upetya punar janma
duùkhälayam açäçvatam
näpnuvanti mahätmänaù
saàsiddhià paramäà gatäù
[Bg. 8.15]
Saàsiddhim, that is the highest perfection, paramam. Therefore we should try, we should endeavor, for that purpose, how to go back to home, back to Godhead.
So si
viñayä vinivartante
nirähärasya dehinaù
rasa-varjaà raso ’py asya
paraà dåñövä nivartate
SYNONYMS
viñayäù—objects for sense enjoyment; vinivartante—are practiced to be refrained from; nirähärasya—by negative restrictions; dehinaù—for the embodied; rasa-varjam—giving up the taste; rasaù—sense of enjoyment; api—although there is; asya—his; param—far superior things; dåñövä—by experiencing; nivartate—he ceases from.
TRANSLATION
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the tast
viñayä vinivartante
nirähärasya dehinaù
rasa-varjaà raso ’py asya
paraà dåñövä nivartate
SYNONYMS
viñayäù—objects for sense enjoyment; vinivartante—are practiced to be refrained from; nirähärasya—by negative restrictions; dehinaù—for the embodied; rasa-varjam—giving up the taste; rasaù—sense of enjoyment; api—although there is; asya—his; param—far superior things; dåñövä—by experiencing; nivartate—he ceases from.
TRANSLATION
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the tast
Tuesday, 2 July 1974
Vaikunthanatha went to Prabhupada's room early in the morning to return a dictation tape. He quietly opened the door and peered inside.
Vaikunthanatha: Srila Prabhupada was wrapped in a chaddar, sitting on his rocking chair, chanting softly on his beads. I was startled. Prabhupada was in a very, very profound state of meditation and appeared effulgent. I decided not to enter, and quietly closed the door.
I suddenly realised my fortune to have witnessed
Satsvarupa Goswami: I recall Prabhupada's power as a preacher and self-realised devotee; and I remember the amazing fact that Prabhupada was constantly speaking Krsna conscious realisations -- as he sat down for lunch, as he spoke to devotees in his room, or even as he went to sleep at night. His flow of devotional arguments shows that Prabhupada's thoughts were deeply-felt convictions, and at the same time they were the exact conclusions of the scriptures.
We also didn't
