ISKCON Mayapur Introduces New “Festival of Bliss”


Beginning this year, organizers at ISKCON’s headquarters in Mayapur, India, are establishing an annual early summer festival dubbed “Festival of Bliss.”

The growing spiritual city is already host to ISKCON’s biggest international event, the world-famous Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival, which runs for two weeks every spring during February/March.

However leaders say that there can never be too many festivals. “In the spiritual world, festivals are tak

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 2 Text 37
pibanti ye bhagavata atmanah satam
kathamrtam sravana-putesu sambhrtam
punanti te visaya-vidusitasayam
vrajanti tac-carana-saroruhantikam

pibanti -- who drink; ye -- those; bhagavatah -- of the Personality of Godhead; atmanah -- of the most dear; satam -- of devotees; katha-amrtam -- the nectar of the messages; sravana-putesu -- within the earholes; sambhrtam -- fully filled; punanti -- purify; te -- their; visaya -- material enjoyment; vidusita-asayam --

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 2 Text 36
tasmat sarvatmana rajan
harih sarvatra sarvada
srotavyah kirtitavyas ca
smartavyo bhagavan nrnam

tasmat -- therefore; sarva -- all; atmana -- soul; rajan -- O King; harih -- the Lord; sarvatra -- everywhere; sarvada -- always; srotavyah -- must be heard; kirtitavyah -- glorified; ca -- also; smartavyah -- be remembered; bhagavan -- the Personality of Godhead; nrnam -- by the human being.

TRANSLATION

O King, it is therefore essential that every human being h

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 2 Text 35
bhagavan sarva-bhutesu
laksitah svatmana harih
drsyair buddhy-adibhir drasta
laksanair anumapakaih

bhagavan -- the Personality of Godhead; sarva -- all; bhutesu -- in the living entities; laksitah -- is visible; sva-atmana -- along with the self; harih -- the Lord; drsyaih -- by what is seen; buddhi-adibhih -- by intelligence; drasta -- one who sees; laksanaih -- by different signs; anumapakaih -- by hypothesis.

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead Lord S

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 2 Text 34
bhagavan brahma kartsnyena
trir anviksya manisaya
tad adhyavasyat kuta-stho
ratir atman yato bhavet

bhagavan -- the great personality Brahma; brahma -- the Vedas; kartsnyena -- by summarization; trih -- three times; anviksya -- scrutinizingly examined; manisaya -- with scholarly attention; tat -- that; adhyavasyat -- ascertained it; kuta-sthah -- with concentration of the mind; ratih -- attraction; atman (atmani)-unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sr

Then and Now: My Past and Present Lives

Sometimes devotees ask about my life before meeting Srila Prabhupada, but I don't like to tell them. There are so many conditioned souls wandering in the universe, and there is no value in hearing about one more. For those who really want to know my previous life history, here it is: I was a dog. I still am a dog, but now I am Srila Prabhupada's dog. His mercy is all I am made of.

A practical example of varna-sankara is the hippies. No caste, no creed, neith

THE HOLY NAME IS ALWAYS PURE

His Divine GraceA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The ten kinds of offenses should be considered. In the beginning, when one is initiated into the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra, there are naturally many offenses. Therefore the devotee should very carefully try to avoid these offenses and chant purely. This does not mean that the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra is sometimes pure and sometimes impure. Rather, the chanter is impure due to material contamination. He

My Memories of Srila Prabhupada

The last darsana I had of Srila Prabhupada was in October, 1977, just one month before he left. I had been with the BBT Library Party, which was just winding up its activities in India. We were in Allahabad, when Yagna Prabhu, the party leader, suddenly said, "Let's go and take darsana of Srila Prabhupada." So we drove the whole day and arrived in the early evening in Vrndavana. I was surprised how easy it was to go into Srila Prabhupada's room. There were quite a

My Memories of Srila Prabhupada

Next Srila Prabhupada gave me a sheet with the words of the mantra and told me to repeat after him word by word. I was quite proud about my supposed ability in Sanskrit pronunciation, but Srila Prabhupada corrected me on almost every word. On some words he had to correct me two or three times. But after going through one or two mantras Srila Prabhupada stopped trying to rectify my pronunciation. He seemed to think that I was a hopeless case, and just let me go on w

Ekli Gher Lai Madhuban Mein Shyam Tene Kaisi Thani Re

श्य़ामराधे कोई ना कहता,

कहते राधेश्य़ाम

जन्म जन्म के भाग जगा दे,

ईक राधा का नाम ।

राधा के बिना श्य़ाम है आधा,

कहते राधेश्य़ाम ।

बोलो राधे-राधे राधे-राधे

राधे-राधे श्य़ाम ।।

वर्य़्थ पड़ा माला बिन मोती,

वर्य़्थ बिना दीपक के ज्य़ोति

चंदा बिना चाँदनी कैसी,

सूरज बिना धूप ना होती ।

बिन राधा के कहाँ है पूरा,

नटनागर का नाम

बोलो राधे-राधे राधे-राधे

राधे-राधे श्य़ाम ।।

साथ है जैसे जल की धारा

साथ है जैसे नदी किनारा

साथ है जैसे नील गगन के

सूरज चंदा तारा तारा ।

वैसे

JAYA SIYA RAMA!!

HEARTS FILLED WITH BOUNDLESS JOY,

JUST SING JAYA SIYA RAM!

MAYA'S TRICKS ARE JUST A PLOY,

TO MAKE US LOSE OUR CALM.

SO SING JAYA SIYA RAM! JAYA SIYA RAM!

JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY SIYA RAM!

LORD RAM HAS COME TO SAVE US ALL

FROM THE EVIL RAVAN'S FORCE

NOW MAYA'S RULE IS GOING TO FALL,

HOLY NAME IS THE ONLY RECOURSE.

SO SING JAY SIYA RAM , JAY SIYA RAM

JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY SIYA RAM!!

O MEN, O WOMEN OF PURE HEARTS,

RAISE YOUR HANDS, AND SING ALONG!

JAY SIYA RAM, JAY JAY SIYA RAM

JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY SIYA