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By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapada
Lecture given in Vrindavan, India, November 12, 1976

To attain bhakti, or pure devotional service to the Lord, one must come to the point of desiring nothing else.

matto ’py anantat paratah parasmat
svargapavargadhipater na kinchit
yesham kim u syad itarena tesham
akinchananam mayi bhakti-bhajam

[Lord Rshabhadeva said:] “I am fully opulent, almighty, and superior to Lord Brahma and Indra, the king of the heavenly planets. I am also the b

Some years ago, George Harrison was already giving the world the gift of spiritual inspiration through his music when he donated the Bhaktivedanta Manor to Srila Prabhupada.

My sweet Lord . . .

I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord,
but it takes so long, my Lord.

George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord,” his first solo single, in America in November 1970. Internationally, sales soon exceeded five million copies.

The biographer Simon Leng calls the rele

Let us say we won a general election. A majority vote sweeps us into power. All state resources are at our disposal. There will still be a democratic opposition in place, but they will want to see how we give all citizens of the land a Vedic alternative. Where do we start?

Sometimes devotees in their exuberance will say, “We’re going to take over the entire world.” Lord Chaitanya’s prediction has to materialise, but the sombre realities of actualising Vedic models of civilisation with VAD in mi

Question: You gave an example of Vyasadeva, who compiled the Vedic literatures and Narada Muni said it was all useless because it didn’t have a connection to the Supreme Lord, so is there any use of propagating Ayurveda, Yoga and things like that, to attract people or better we should represent pure devotional service?
His Holiness Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami: We should always represent pure devotional service. There’s no question about that. We’re not here to teach people how to make money. We

“If we connect with Krishna, then we are illuminated.”

“Actually Krsna is the original Supreme Being, original spirit soul. We are
simply minute part and parcel of Krsna. Exactly the same example: just like
the fire and the small sparks. You can see. This fireworks is going on. The
fire is there, and there are small sparks. So long the fire and the small
sparks are together, they are illumination. Similarly, if we connect with
Krsna, then we are illuminated.” [Srila Prabhupada Bombay, November

Bilvamangala Thakura was a wealthy south Indian Brahmin and belonged to a cultured family. But he got attracted to a prostitute named Cintamani. The attraction soon became attachment. And as it happens when we get attached to worldly enjoyment we lose our intelligence and subsequently our dignity. The fire of lust was so intense that he was not at all moved when his father died; in fact standing near the pyre of his father he was engrossed in the thought of Cintamani. The body of his dead fathe

If you have read or heard even a small sampling of the vast Vedic literature, you have come upon the name of Narada. He is a great bhakta (devotee) of the Supreme Lord Narayana, or Krsna. Etymologically analyzed, nara means of Narayana or the Lord (Krsna), and da means deliverer. Narada is the deliverer of the Lord and the Lord’s message. Of course there are countless preachers, gurus, evangelists, mendicants and religious representatives traveling all throughout this planet, but Narada Muni is

In the ashram we arrange a reading on the memories of our founder/teacher Srila Prabhupada. Croatian-born Vallabha Hari was reading and, with English not being his first language, he came upon the word “seasoned.” He asked, “What does this mean?” So, I explained that it means experienced, mature.

Then I got to thinking that the word seasoned is such an appropriate word. The dictionary describes it as an adjective noun, “You can use seasoned to describe a person who has a lot of experience of som

This is her writing from back in the eighties:

http://www.backtogodhead.in/three-days-in-nicaragua-by-lavangalatika-devi-dasi/

This is something I compiled:

Here in Los Angeles we are remembering the unique book distribution of Lavangalatika devi dasi, ACBS, that inspired everyone. She would regularly access areas of the world that no distributor had considered yet. I used to think of her as a secret agent. Now she has accessed the spiritual world. She just recently left us to go to Krishna.

A

December 22 is National Mathematics Day, which is the birth anniversary of Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujam.

That Ramanujam had a humble yet extraordinary beginning in his career is evident from his letter to G. H. Hardy, his guide and mentor in Cambridge:

Dear Sir, I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust office at Madras on a salary of only Rs. 20/- per annum. I have had no university education but I have undergone the ordinary sch

Video: Clcik here

Erin Centre Trail had a surface of slush on it but that didn’t discourage this walking monk. The trail is flat and the area is peaceful. Only when it approaches the open fields do I hear the call of the coyote community. Of course, at this predawn hour, they clear their throats, causing a howling and marking the time.

I was grateful to Dharma and Manasi Ganga, whose home is a minute’s walk from the south end of the trail. My two-day stay was pleasant. It ended at noon when Dha

IGF preacher at ISKCON Amravati Padayatra is the best way to preach. It includes book and prasadam distribution and it also increases the enthusiasm of those who participate. By the mercy of our spiritual master, Lokanath Maharaja, I am always meditating on how we can organize a padayatra in any village. One day in Amravati’s Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadhish temple Meghashyam dasa and I met Bhakta Ramjivan from Malegaon village. I asked him, “Can we come to your village and have a padayatra?” He imme

Each morning Srila Prabhuupada would take a walk to the nearby Swanzy Beachpark and walk briskly back and forth on the grassy expanse that was about the size of a football field. It was right by the ocean and bordered by rock walls, with a beautiful view of miles of bright blue Pacific Ocean. The beach itself is a bit rocky there, so we would walk on the grassy areas just above the beach.
Walking to Swanzy Beachpark
Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would sit resting on the low rock walls, chanting. He

Have you ever seen this little sentence on your phone: “Searching for network?” I remember looking at that one day and thinking how the mind is always searching for a network, too. Especially when traveling, I look at the phone and it’s going back and forth: “Where’s the network? I need a network!” It wants to hook up to some network somewhere. 

If I don’t take charge of which network my phone connects to–if I just walk out the door–my phone will hook on to somebody else’s network. And for some

The amazing energies of the Lord and their expansions. Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Daivi Shakti Mataji.

TRANSLATION
After speaking to Kaṁsa in this way, the goddess Durgā, Yogamāyā, appeared in different places, such as Vārāṇasī, and became celebrated by different names, such as Annapūrṇā, Durgā, Kālī and Bhadrā.

PURPORT
The goddess Durgā is celebrated in Calcutta as Kālī, in Bombay as Mumbādevī, in Vārāṇasī as Annapūrṇā, in Cuttack as Bhadrakālī and in Ahmedabad as Bhadrā. Thus in different

By Jayananda Das

Krishna Dharma’s latest book, Brilliant as the Sun, A retelling of the Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 6, Divine Protection,has been released and is now available on Amazon and all platforms.

Krishna Dharma, along with his wife Chintamani Dhama Dasi, put their combined expertise into retelling Vedic scriptures into a succinct format that gives it a less intimidating feeling and makes it more accessible to a wide range of audiences. It is also a perfect format for those who are familiar

When someone uses the word “boxing,” as in Boxing Day, it refers to the day after Christmas when shoppers go bananas over deals on sale. But in the more popular context, it’s a sport. I did a little research on the aggressive punching history of boxing.

The Egyptians were at the game about 3000 B.C. Greeks and Romans took it up. Boxing appears in the Greek epic “The Iliad.” Commonly, leather straps were tied around the wrist to the knuckle. Romans added metal strapping. In about 400 AD, the game

Tulasi is a plant most sacred to Krishna. Tulasi, also known as ‘holy basil’ is auspicious in all respects. She is a pure and great devotee of the Lord, and most dear to Lord Krishna. It is stated in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana that Tulasi, in her last birth was Vrinda devi married to an asura (a person with demonic qualities) named Jalandhar. To gain victory over Jalandhar, Lord Vishnu had persuaded Vrinda devi to give up devotion towards her husband. After being pleased with her, Lord Vishnu bl

During one Ratha-yatra in New York where both Prabhupada and Jayananda attended, I hired a professional film crew to document the entire event. It was a random thing I did just so I could take it back with me to India and show everyone there. In India we had a portable briefcase projector called a Fairchild that was ideal for viewing. It would pop open and people could watch movies right on their desk or we could flip the lens and reflect it on a large sheet for the villagers.
When I did return

Srila Locana Dasa Thakura appeared in this world in 1520 A.D., thirty-four years after the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Locana Dasa wrote a biography on Lord Caitanya, entitled Sri Caitanya Mangala, and he wrote many devotional songs.

Sri Locana dasa Thakura took birth in a family of Rarhiya physicians who resided in the village of Kogram, within the Mahakumar (Katna) district of Barddhaman. His guru was Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura.

His father’s name was Sri Kamalakara dasa and his mot