When Radhanath Swami and his friends asked the border guard the way to Istanbul, the guard pointed to a lonely country road. It stretched out into the darkness of the hilly, fertile country of Eastern Thrace. As they walked, Radhanath Swami saw for the first time the minaret of a stone mosque. The mosque’s dome and spires fascinated him and he was thrilled to see a place of God. There was no traffic on the road and Istanbul was still 150 miles away. What now? As they stood wondering how they wou

One last evening in Kandahar, while in a dim crowded tea stall, Radhanath Swami squatted on the floor with the locals. Suddenly everyone’s attention focused on a blind boy who stumbled in carrying a rustic wooden instrument with a single string nailed across it. He was perhaps sixteen years old, and like the others, wore soiled rags that loosely covered his emaciated body.

Radhanath Swami’s heart quaked—nothing covered his blinded, disfigured eyes. Despite his extreme poverty, he smiled radiantly

22nd annual Siliguri Ratha Yatra - 2011

Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obesiences. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
On Sunday, July 3, 2011,ISKCON Siliguri observed the twenty second annual Rathayatra Festival.

Mahaprabhu's mood at Ratha-yatra

At the beginning of the Ratha-yatra Festival, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offers a prayer to Jagannatha-deva, not to His form as Lord Jagannatha or Vasudeva-Krsna, but to His form as Vrajendra-nandana Sri Krsna:

jayati jana-nivaso devaki-janma-vado
yadu-vara-parisat svair dorbhir asyann adharmam
sthira-cara-vrjina-ghnah su-smita-sri-mukhena
vraja-pura-vanitanam vardhayan kama-devam
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.90.48)

["Sri Krsna is He who is known as jana-nivasa, the ultimate reso

GUNDICA MANDIRA MARJANA

[Dear Readers,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.
July 1, 2011 is the commemoration of Gundica Mandira Marjana, the cleaning of the Gundica Temple. Please accept this lecture excerpted from Srila Narayana’s Maharaja’s book, The Origin of Ratha-yatra. 
Your aspiring servants,
The hari-katha team]

We should know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is one without a second. He is the same God for the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and a

Ghee Lamps in a Bag and the Lord in My Hands

Volume 11, Chapter 14
Feb 27, 2011

HH Indradyumna Swami Maharaj

In India I am always on the lookout for interesting puja items, so the other day in Jaipur, I visited the antique shop of Mr. Sharma, an old friend. As I walked in he greeted me and we sat down to talk.

“Do you have anything interesting for me?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ve kept aside a few small items you can use for puja.”

“Great!” I said.

As Mr. Sharma looked through the desk drawers for t

If shravanam is so important for a devotee and it is a primary requirement how about people who are deaf? How can such people benefit in their spiritual process? In what language do they communicate for spiritual upliftment? Do we have any program in place for such souls in Iskcon?

Signs Unto Krishna

 

When Dayal Gauranga Dasa first began visiting ISKCON’s Bhaktivedanta Manor near London, England, in 1980, he found that it was difficult for him to participate in temple activities and to connect wit

When we sincerely try to chant the Holy Name, the agents and subordinates of the illusory energy of the Lord try to create problems and obstacles in our spiritual progress. But even after facing the toughest of problems—a completely surrendered devotee of Supreme Lord Shri Krishna is not the least bit bothered or the least bit affected. In fact, all these hurdles propel their devotion and devotional fame to greater heights. The Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes and the actual source of all

सब काल ईश की प्यारी, जय एकादशी तुम्हारी

सकल तिथिन की तुम हो रानी, वेद पुराण सबै बखानी

ब्रह्म रूप हो तुम निर्वाणी, दायक हो फल चारी

जय एकादशी तुम्हारी

उत्पन्ना, मोक्षदा स्वरूपा, सफला और पुत्रदा रूपा

नाम षडतिला परम अनूपा, जया नाम अघहारी

जय एकादशी तुम्हारी

विजया आमल की कहलाये, पाप मोचनी पाप नसावै

तू प्रमा पद्मा हो जावे, आवागमन विदारी

जय एकादशी तुम्हारी

बरूथनी है तेरो नामा, तथा मोहिनी अपरा श्यामा

सकल कामना कारी

जय एकादशी तुम्हारी

तू ही योगिनी, तू हरि शयनी, तथा पवित्रा पातक वहनी,

व्रत कर नारी सकल फल पावे, अजा नाम अ