By Giriraj Swami
Today we are celebrating the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, who descended in the age of Kali in the role of a devotee. He appeared on what we now call Gaura-purnima, in the evening of the full moon day in the month of Phalguna. At the time, there was a lunar eclipse, and as was the tradition, as recommended in scripture, Hindus immersed themselves in the Ganges and chanted the holy names. Eclipses are considered inauspicious,
Today we continue our celebration of the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna who descended in the age of Kali in the role of a devotee. He appeared on what we now call Gaura-purnima, in the evening of the full-moon day in the month of Phalguna. At the time, there was a lunar eclipse, and as was the tradition, as was recommended in scripture, Hindus immersed themselves in the Ganges and chanted the holy names. Eclipses are considered inauspicious, a
Holi or the festival of colors is celebrated about ten days after the spring festival. A delightful visual, this festival combines the gaiety of a carnival and the devotional flavour of a religious festival with the singing of amorous songs as unbridled expressions of youth. This is the time when both feelings and colours run riot. Braj seems to be the only place where one comes across a variety of forms in which the festival of Holi is celebrated. The following account records in brief some of
A young devotee named Bhakta Kevin, serving at the Los Angeles New Dvaraka temple, has broken multiple book distribution records enthusiastically distributing stacks of Srila Prabhupada’s books newly translated into the Farsi language. As soon as the new books arrived at the BBT warehouse from the port of Los Angeles, Bhakta Kevin immediately made beautiful, ribbon-tied stacks of them, which were named the “Four Kumara Stacks.” He drove straight to a local area called “Little Persia” and proce
Navadvip Mandala Parikrama Adhivas 2024!
“Wandering in Navadvipa is the best of all opulence, the best of all religious principles, the best of all kinds of worship, the best of all perfections, the best of all glories, and the best of all oceans of sweetness.”
Sri Navadwipa Dham, crafted by Srimati Radharani as her divine offering to Krishna, and it became the abode of all holy places upon Lord Krishna’s request. Navadwipa Dham, synonymous with Vrindavan, stands as the merciful land, Audharya
Like many others, I had a misconception that the 7 subterranean planets mentioned in the scriptures are actually hellish planets meant for punishing the sinners. Hell no! (no pun intended)
The seven subterranean planets, i.e. those are below the earthly plane (not to be confused with the earthly globe) known as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala and Pātāla (SB 5.24.7) are, in fact, more opulent than the Heavenly planets!!! In those subterranean heavens, known as bila-svarga,
“The word ‘envy’ is applied in many places and is used in connection to various things – envy of another’s good fortune, being disturbed at seeing the wealth of others, displeasure and jealousy etc. are some of the various examples. Wherever the word ‘matsarya’ (envy) has been explained in the Vaisnava scriptures, it is fully understood that its influence is the competitor of divine love (prema).
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
“The path described in the Bhagavatam is
ISKCON belongs to the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya (denomination or tradition), a monotheistic tradition within Vedic or Hindu culture. Hindu culture is vast, and the term encompasses numerous theologies, philosophies religious traditions and spiritual cultures. Thus, dialogue with Hindu traditions has been difficult for many seeking such dialogue. There are no official representatives of Hinduism, as the term Hinduism does not imply a single spiritual tradition. This statement therefore is repr
Hare Krishna
Dear Devotees
We have Script and Audio recording available for the Drama Bhakta Pundalik in Marathi
If anybody want to perform in Local satsang program or temple then they can use it
Audio Link - Click here
Script - Bhuvaikunth Natika
My dear Vidura, I have summarily explained the causes of devastation. One who hears this description three times attains piety and washes the sinful contamination from his soul.
SB 4.12.48, Translation and Purport:
The great sage Maitreya reco
Bhakta Dasa, Communications and Interfaith Director for ISKCON Australia and Australasia recently had his reflection entitled, “How a schoolyard bully set me on my spiritual path” published in the opinion section of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and considered to be the most widely read. You can read his full article here. Please note, access to the article may be restricted or limited depending on your country.
Sour
Over the years I’ve come across various articles, statements and websites which have been critical or even downright offensive towards Srila Prabhupada. As a disciple — or should I say an aspiring disciple since being a true disciple is no easy thing — I find these writings to be intolerable and I’ll tell you why.
At great personal inconvenience, Srila Prabhupada left the peaceful and holy village of Vrindavan at the advanced age of 69 (almost 70) to travel by steamship across the Atlantic Ocea
We often get questions about surrender, like “how can we surrender”. Recently I was reading one old BTG, 2001, and found a nice practical statement from Srila Prabhupada. If we search “surrender” on the vedabase we find 7445 hits, so we know it is an important topic. And we all know the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami mä suca
TRANSLATION
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall de
Hare Krsna Devotees,
I am looking for the Sastric reference for the Varnashram Dharam to be followed.
One of the key reference I am currently looking for is " What should be the Age difference between Man and Woman for merriage and Why its so?
All Glories to beloved Srila Prabhu Pad and all discipales.
Hare Krsna,
I think we've all had the experience. Someone comes to mind that you've known and you haven't seen or heard of them for years and shortly after his/her image pops up mentally, they suddenly appear physically.
That was the case of Udayananda, tall, healthy looking and extroverted boy from Detroit. There he was, much older than when I last saw him, in the session of the morning called tulasi puja, when we worship or honour the sacred green.
I invited him to our japa, meditative walk after a bi
The degree to which you are able to turn to Krsna while chanting reveals the depth of your relationship with Him and how healthy you are spiritually. If you are unhealthy, you simply cannot turn to Krsna. Your mind will dislike the idea of chanting. It will be very rebellious and everything but Krsna will appear in your mind at that time. Every relationship starts with giving attention, and your relationship with Krsna is no exception. Therefore, you must learn how to chant with attention. It i
Although narcissism is a broad subject, it is marked by an exaggerated self-importance and perceived superiority, abnormal levels of selfishness and entitlement, and extreme self-centeredness. Generally speaking, a narcissist is a person who thinks too highly of themselves and continuously feeds on the egotistic admiration from others, typically rooted in unresolved and exaggerated feelings of inferiority and shame. As a result, they often manipulate and exploit others to fuel their delusions a
This is for all of our preachers in the Far East. May it give them more preaching information to use in their location to help convince people of their connection with Vedic culture.
Bharatvarsha’s beginnings go back to a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results or influence that is seen today around the world, in the main, were not achieved by military expeditions or conquest, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching, and thereby all the more permanent. This is esp
