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Last Sunday marked the return of the annual Krishna Balarama chariot festival (Rath Yatra) in Ludhiana – a thriving business city 250 km from India’s capital -New Delhi. One of the biggest Ratha Yatra festivals in the ISKCON world, the event attracted hundreds of thousands of devotees as they pulled the chariots amidst the prayerful chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra. 

The Honourable Chief Minister of the Punjab state, Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi, presided as the chief guest. This was a sign

By Sunanda Das

Celebrating 5 Anniversaries in 1 Festival

The TOVP Team is pleased to announce the upcoming, all-auspicious Radha Madhava Golden Jubilee Festival from March 2 – 5, 2022. This will be a festival to beat all festivals, commemorating the anniversary of five important years in the history of ISKCON.

• 50th Anniversary of Chota Radha Madhava’s Installation
• 50th Anniversary of the ISKCON Mayapur Gaur Purnima Festival
• 50th Anniversary of Prabhupada Laying the TOVP Cornerstone
• 50th Anniver

It is winter solstice this very day

Nights now shorten, nature does portray

While days lengthen through months May

And June and weeks pass away

It’s an annual turning point

A seasonal juncture, a seasonal joint

A slot in time set not to disappoint

Rather an insertion to bless, to anoint

It’s merely a half year’s completion

Yet some curse this very harsh season

Could it be nature’s way of treason?

Why the harsh cold? Is there a reason?

As the North pole tilts away from the sun

We can learn

I may not be the only devotee who wondered what to do with leftover rice prasadam. For years, I have been in a quandary—should it be refrigerated and then served cold the next day?; or should it be refrigerated and reheated the next day?; or something else?
I finally decided to put the question to our revered Godsister Sri Yamuna devi dasi, the queen of prasadam cooking. Her answer is below:

As you know, Srila Prabhupada instructed his personal cooks to prepare his rice last in his lunch meal, i

By Giriraj Swami

Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple Yamuna-devi dasi passed away on Saphala-ekadasi.

There is so much to be said about Srimati Yamuna-devi dasi.

In October of 1970 I was one of a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from America going to join him in India. On the way, we stopped in Brussels, and it was there, in an apartment, that I first met Yamuna-devi—and Malati and Syamasundara (I had met Gurudas before that, in Boston). Upon entering, I could immediately feel their intens

2020. It’s been a rough year. Brutal for some. Revelatory for others, especially that the leaders in the Kali-yuga (the age of quarrel 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 now 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 better than himself. Yudhist

“The secret of success in Krishna Consciousness is to render service to Krishna to the best of our capacity. There is no other alternative to this. The more we render service therefore, the more we are able to advance.

Regarding your feeling yourself as unqualified, whatever you can do, then do it, but you should try your best for Krishna. This is important. Ultimately everything is depending on Lord Krishna. You just have to always remember this.”

(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 27, 1969)

“Do yo

Stephen was with the Canadian Forces some years back and so I thought to ask him to accompany me on the Sunday night walk, brisk and cold so it was. I thought he was tough enough to accept the cold. He accepted the offer. I also thought, “I’ll get to know him more.” He has that commanding officer’s voice. He used it as we carefully ambled along avoiding black ice on the road’s surface. He carries a good conversation. At one point I requested, “I hope you don’t mind but I spend some time chanting

Devananda Pandita lived in Nabadwipa-dhama, in the section known as Kuliya, or Koladwipa (near where the present-day Sri Caitanya Saraswata Math of Srila Sridhara Maharaja is now located). Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used him to manifest the glories of Srimad-Bhagavatam to the world.  Devananda Pandita was highly renowned for his expertise in considering the sayings of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Many people used to go and study the Srimad-Bhagavatam under him. 

One day Srivasa Pandita went to hear the Srima

From New Raman Reti’s Temple President, HG Mukhya Devi Dasi (Alachua)

No one could have imagined the many changes to our lives that the COVID virus pandemic brought in 2020. But there was always the feeling that 2021 would have us back to ‘normal’, the way it always had been.
Instead, we are seeing a new normal, new ways of coming together, more online seminars, classes and kirtans. Online reading groups and study groups, getting to know devotees around the world through their talks, reflections

By Radhakunda dasa

ISKCON Noida recently held its fifth eighteen-day padayatra to Vrindavan under the leadership of Noida temple president Vamsidhar dasa. The first padayatra was in 2016, ISKCON’s golden jubilee year, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it had to be cancelled in 2020. However, by the mercy of our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, we were successful this year. Padayatra began on October 3 from the ISKCON Noida temple as a large group of devotees and congregation members set off o

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) joins the world in mourning and
paying tribute to a prolific religious leader and human rights icon, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
We offer our condolences to the Tutu family and to the entire South African nation.
In the year 1986 Archbishop Desmond Tutu became the first black Archbishop of Cape Town
and later, after 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela spent his first night of freedom in his
residence that showed the important position he h

By Karuna Mayi Shankla and Jahnavi Shankla

In the summer of 2021, two cousins Kana (age 8) and Meera (age 14), got Vaisesika Prabhu’s inspiring book Our Family Business. Meera says, “Reading Our Family Business made me and my cousin Kana filled with excitement to distribute books.”  Kana said that after reading the book it made him realize that life isn’t just about maintaining our existence (eating, sleeping, playing), but about using our life to share Lord Krishna’s blessings with others.

Read

I’ve been in touch with Neil who’s a sculptor from Ontario and who forwarded me some pics of his new wood sculpting assignment. This is a project we’ve been speaking about since the summer last. The pics show the select maple wood he’s going to use for rendering two pieces – one of a flute-playing life-size Krishna and another of a Radha who will pose with a blessing from the hand, also life-size.

These two exciting pieces will adorn the future project for Huntsville. Neil is most excited about

“Krishna is very kind, and He is giving the full remunerations to His sincere servants. We should always remember that Krishna is always grateful to His devotees. If some ordinary man gives sufficient remuneration to a worker, why Krishna will not give sufficient remuneration to His servants? But we should always remember that whatever Krishna gives us, that never becomes ours. It is Krishna’s. The more we receive from Krishna, the more we engage the remunerations in the service of Krishna. That

THE EXPRESSION "Krsna consciousness" indicates a life of progressing spiritual awareness that prepares one to enter the eternal association of Krsna (God) even before the death of the body. Devotional service to Krsna (bhakti-yoga) is a practical life of rendering service to God under the guidance of the Vedic scriptures and a personal spiritual master. When the spiritual master is bona fide, the results of such spiritual service are complete detachment from the alternating pains and pleasures o

The Mission

That is wanted, that all of you will take upon yourselves the responsibility of preaching widely everywhere the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By that responsible commitment to your spiritual master, that is your qualification for getting Krsna’s blessing upon you. And only in this way will you be able to make your spiritual progress rapidly.

(Letter 29th December, 1972)

Therefore if we want to please Kṛṣṇa, we have to take this risk. Kṛṣṇa, guru. My spiritual master took this

Loma Hoffman, a Back to Godhead reader, wrote, "I was intrigued to read in the last issue that there existed a woman spiritual master in the Vaisnava tradition, named Srimati Gangamata." But Lorna complained that Srila Prabhupada omits mention of women in his writings. She quoted a sample:

" 'We can know God, however, because He has communicated with men …,' " and added. "Has Lord Krsna not communicated also with countless women and children?"

"I would join your movement tomorrow," Loma continue

We’re already the willing servants of our families, our countries even our dogs.
Why do we hate to be told we’re the servants of God?
“Maharaja Pariksit attained the highest perfection, shelter at Lord Krsna ’s lotus feet. simply by hearing about Lord Visnu. Sukadeva Goswami attained perfection simply by reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam. Prahlada Maharaja attained perfection by remembering the Lord. The goddess of fortune attained perfection by massaging the transcendental legs of Maha-Visnu. Maharaja