From Back to Godhead
Presence of joy is higher than absence of sorrow.
I was zooming along a beautiful tree-lined highway when I slammed on the brakes. Screeeech! Thud! Generally, when you run over a squirrel scampering across the road just a little too late for you to stop, you get a sinking feeling. Unless you’re stone-hearted, the next few minutes are not joyful. The guilt of having taken a life lingers until it’s replaced by more important things. But this time I was not gripped by remo
When is a person Krsna Consciousness enough to preach? Srila Prabhupada encouraged us to preach immediately, regardless of our degree of realization. By preaching we cement our understanding. Hearing is the first step in devotional service, and the second step is chanting. Either privately or Congregationally. Preaching really means teaching.
It is commonly accepted that by teaching others your own understanding becomes enhanced. They also say your retention levels increase when you pass on to
How Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundar and Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Manifested in Jaipur With the Help of Sitala devi dasi
By Sridevi Dasi
Sitala devi dasi, a resident of Mayapur Dham, had been ordering deities for ISKCON since 1975. Many temples around the world have used her services to obtain their deities. In the 1990’s the devotees of New Raman Reti asked her to order deities in India for our Temple. “It took a while for consensus to be reached among devotees here as to who should be the Lords
From Back to Godhead
Nowadays everyone knows what yoga is. Or do they?
In the West yoga is more popular than ever.
“It’s at the top of its game,” says Dan Gurlitz, general manager of Koch Vision, whose distribution of Yoga Zone DVDs and videos is a “serious seven-figure business.” According to Kimberly Leonard, writing in US News & Word Report, “During the last decade the number of Americans who report practicing yoga has nearly doubled to 21 million.” Other Western countries follow close
Our day started off with a trek along East River, running along New Glasgow, which happens to be a piece of the Great Trail. Ravi, Mahadev, Annapurna and I found ourselves at the downtown farmer’s market, and, like all such pooling of people, they are the most thoughtful folks around; anywhere. There we met Camilla, whom I’ve known for a good twelve years, and is a bhakti enthusiast. I also met with a local woman who came to our book launch at the library back in May, where she purchased The Sa
Krsna is full with six kinds of opulences. So this is the opulence of Krsna’s beauty. Krsna wants everyone…we are offering obeisances to Krsna with awe and veneration. But nobody comes here to Krsna with a rope: “Krsna, You are an offender. I shall bind You.” Nobody comes.
That is another one of the prerogatives of the most perfect devotee. Yes. Krsna wants that. This privilege is especially given to Yasodamayi, because she’s such an advanced devotee that she has got the right to chastise the S
* It is This Sankirtana Which is the Life and Soul of Our Movement *
The quotes from Srila Prabhupada presented here are in chronological order to give a little feel for the evolution of sankirtana and preaching in our Krishna consciousness movement. We can see how wonderfully Srila Prabhupada encouraged his devotees in their preaching efforts going from street chanting and free pamphlet distribution to book printing and distribution as our most important activity. Hare Krishna!
As Much Chantin
By Satish Babu (Sucisrava Das)
Administration Department
Bhaktivedanta Gurukula & International School
November 5
The New Temple opened its doors on November 5th and devotees came and were inspired by its beauty. The first Morning Bhagav
Yesterday was the last day of our yatra. On the request of devotees we have come to this place. It is a very unknown part of Vrindavana this particular temple. It is not to be found in any of the parikrama books. We only are aware of these deities Sri Sri Radha Gopijanavallabha. The mercy They have personally bestowed upon myself.
Yesterday devotees had a vote, by democratic process; conclusion was we come here today.
We understand Krishna by the grace of Krishna’s devotees. We cannot approach
Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! (chorus)…Hare Krishna. I’m Sacinandana Swami and am every excited to be here with all of you. Hare Krishna… yes now since Malika Mala has arrived, we all feel complete. Before Malika Mala arrived it felt as if one kidney was missing. Ha ha.. But now we are complete. Hare Krishna.
I wanted to ask you before I start:
Were you successful in practicing what you were discussing at the end of this morning program?
Yes? Was it working? 50 -50?
Please keep on trying. Some tim
Leaving the body or death and souls further journey is one of the most enquired and interesting topics for almost all the living entities in this world. We have learnt that many people have researched and are still researching the secret of soul travelling after death. The common questions asked are: What happens immediately after death? Where does the soul go? What is the destiny of the soul? Etc.,
There are many theories and explanation on the journey of the soul. The journey of the s
The ultimate goal of Vedic principle is to understand the eternal relationship with the supreme lord Sri Krishna, as stated in Bhagavad gita: Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedhyah’ The lord says the purpose of Vedas is to know him. Our Vedic system facilitates multi-level worship gods. The demigods are empowered administrators of material affairs, who are innumerable assistants in different parts of the body of the supreme personality of godhead.
The pleasure and displeasure of human bein
Hare Krishna,
As we progress in Krishna Consciousness it is important to check whether our train is going on the right track. And ours is a special train that runs on three parallel tracks- sādhu śāstra and guru!
Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura states that one has to ascertain the right path for his activities by following in the footsteps of great saintly persons and books of knowledge under the guidance of a spiritual master (sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya). A saintly person is one
Ambarish and I took to the Chain of Lakes trail from Timberlea; a former rail and now trail path, when we came up with an idea. This particular trail connects with another one, which connects with several homeowners from our Krishna community. We are looking at relatively new subdivisions here and everyone is more or less dependent on the automobile. However, with a little bit of map exploration one could simply connect the dots and voila, now you have a new way of seeing each household on spec
Srila Prabhupada would be found reading his own books. Someone asked, “Srila Prabhupada, you are reading your own books?” Prabhupada said, “I did not write these books, Krsna dictated these books. These books are pure and transcendental, descending from the spiritual world. The knowledge in these books is absolutely perfect.” Where in the world do you find that? We have advertisements everywhere – advertisements in our faces, trying to convince us that we need this and that to make us happy. It
2020-21 It’s been a rough time. Brutal for some. Revelatory for others, especially that the leaders in the Kali-yuga (this age of quarrel, greed, and hypocrisy) are pretend leaders. There is no proper training on how to be a leader. This pretending has been going on for quite some time, and in recent years it has only become more evident.
In Mahabharata, the teacher, Dronacarya, sent the two prime candidates for leadership into the city to perform a task. Duryodhana is sent to find someone bet
Prabhupāda:
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Bs. 5.29)
So we are worshiping Govindam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original person. So this sound, govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi, is reaching Him. He is hearing. You cannot say that He is not hearing. Can you say? No.
Especially in this scientific age, when television, radio messages are broadcast thousands an
Prabhupāda: When death will come, nobody can check. Death is God. When Kṛṣṇa desires that “This man should be killed now,” or “He must die now,” nobody can check. Rākhe kṛṣṇa mare ke mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṇa desires to kill somebody, nobody can give him protection— no power. And if He wants to save somebody, nobody can kill him. This is Kṛṣṇa’s protection.
Therefore this big, big commander-in-chief Dronācārya and Bhīṣmadeva, Karṇa, they were very, very big, powerful commanders. Arjuna was
At our weekly leaders meeting we always open up with a reading over Zoom. Today, it was my turn to read. I chose a passage from a letter our guru, Prabhupada, wrote in 1974 to his student/disciple, Sukadev, regarding devotee care. This is the heart of the letter, dated April 5th:
“First of all, there is no question of a devotee being ostracized because he has become ill, nor do I think this is being widely practiced. Who has been ostracized? One of the symptoms of a devotee is that he is kind,
By Giriraj Swami
On October 3, 1974, in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.23, Queen Kunti’s prayer:
yatha hrsikesa khalena devaki
kamsena ruddhaticiram sucarpita
vimocitaham ca sahatmaja vibho
tvayaiva nathena muhur vipad-ganat
“O Hrsikesa, the master of the senses and the Lord of lords, You have released Your Mother Devaki, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kamsa, and myself and my children from a series of constant dangers.” (SB 1.8.23)
And
