From the Gita, 11.42, “Thinking of You as my friend, I have rashly addressed You ‘O Krishna,’ ‘O Yadava,’ O my friend,’ not knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonoured You many times, jesting as we relaxed, lay on the same bed, or sat or ate together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. O infallible one, please excuse me for all those offenses.”
Before I went off on my evening trek today, the Gita Chat group on Thur
Statement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness on Ukraine
ISKCON Ministry of Communications
February 25, 2022
As members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), we offer our prayers for all persons who are victims of the evolving situation in Ukraine. We earnestly pray that no more innocent people may suffer and that peace will soon return to that region.
We are especially heartbroken that thousands of devotees of Lord Krishna are living in the areas i
By Anuttama Dasa
Special Report: Devotees in Ukraine Continue On Despite Fears, Instability
February 25, 2022 3 PM EST
Members of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) were given a report by leaders aware of the Ukrainian situation earlier today. What follows are selected highlights of that report, with additional information provided by other devotees familiar with the current circumstances.
Thousands of devotees of Lord Krishna live in Ukraine, and they worship at approximately twenty ISKCON c
A group of us were talking about addictions. We all know of people or are self-confessing victims of addiction, which can range from hoarding of things to substance-taking, pornography-gazing, to sex addition, cell-phone usage, coffee consumption, etc. The range is broad and broadening more with the advances of materialism and enhancement of Kali yuga pleasures.
I opine that with the lowering of spirituality in one’s life, the tendency to grab for things over God simply increases. Once you bri
From Kapila Dev Das:
How much knowledge do we actually need in order to serve the mission of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? What if we are complete fools – can we still act as divine instruments?
For some years, I was managing a theatre company in South Africa called “The Bhaktivedanta Players” We would perform all the standard ISKCON plays, like “The Touchstone”, A-Class prisoner, C-Class prisoner” “Boatman, Boatman”. Then we started getting into more serious theatrical productions like serious por
Shri Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) one of the most renowned and influential personalities of India, stayed in ISKCON Ujjain campus for 3 days from 19th February to 21st February. RSS organized their 2 days meetings in the temple’s auditorium. A total of 170 RSS men including their leaders, volunteers and security guards stayed in the temple’s Guest House and Apartments.
Shri Mohan Bhagwat had the darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madanmohan ji on the 20th morning and ga
From Back to Godhead
By Mayapur-shashi Dasa
Reflections on an article written by Srila Prabhupada in 1956 and on how we as Vaishnavas should think of Lord Buddha today.
In the May 5, 1956, issue of Back to Godhead, Srila Prabhupada published his article “Lord Buddha: The Emblem of Theism.” The opening paragraph informs us of the transcendental poet Sri Jayadeva Acharya’s worship of Lord Buddha. Srila Prabhupada then quotes the poet’s Sanskrit prayer to the ten incarnations of the Personal
Argentina devotees approached me for a Zoom call on the topic, “Personal Journey,” so I delivered what I could about my early days of contact with monks while I was at college. I was a fine arts student but more than eager to be a student of life in becoming more acquainted with who I really am and what is my purpose. I felt, at the time, that it was rather futile to just “follow the herd” and then end up dying. I was looking for human depth, so those five brahmacaris (monks) got me going.
The
I love the Gita chats that have become part of my covid reality. Regular groups are hosted from Florida, Cleveland, Halifax, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Mississauga, Hamilton, Toronto, Mauritius, Niagara Falls, and Buenos Aires. And it looked like South Africa was on the list, but I’m not so sure now. I can’t forget Ottawa.
While I conduct these chats, I like to keep them as such, keeping them interactive as much as possible. I want to hear from the participants. Similarly, I also want to listen in o
At this wintry time it makes absolute sense to communicate with those whom you share the same roof. With our resident monks we shared Vedic wisdom. Hara Kumar, who in some ways is my senior, delivered this morning’s class on being like an ocean. The ocean receives plentiful water in the form of flowing rivers, yet it remains grave. In a similar way HK explained that desires may flow into our mental lake, however, one must stay level-headed in thought and action.
With recent new residents, Mahad
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapada
Lecture given on Nov. 17, 1966, in New York City
From the Bhagavad-gita we learn about the spiritual world and the means to go there.
mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam ashashvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
“After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.” Bhagavad-gita 8.15
Krishna says
HARE KRISHNA,
I am recently moved to doha, please if any devotee in DOHA, please reply,
or please share ekasdashi calender for Doha
YS.
Mahavira Deva Dass..
If you have read or heard even a small sampling of the vast Vedic literature, you have come upon the name of Narada, who is depicted on the back cover of this issue of Back to Godhead. 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 repr
By HG Srutakirti Prabhu
HG Madhusudana Prabhu (ACBSP) left his body around 1pm today, February 18, at home in San Diego, Calif surrounded by loving devotees chanting the Holy Names of Krsna. Prabhupada was chanting too day and night in his room.
He was one of Srila Prabhupada’s earliest disciples. an exemplary devotee, husband and father. He was known for his gentle nature in preaching and seeing the best of everyone.
He was always very kind to me and a pleasure to be with. A true Vaisnava that
By Sunanda Das
What is known as the ‘bhajan kutir’ in ISKCON Mayapur is the first structure built on the property. It was also the original ‘temple’, functioning as chota Radha Madhava’s first place of worship when They arrived in Mayapur in 1972. An entire day is dedicated to this ‘temple’ during the Radha Madhava Golden Jubilee Festival from March 2 – 5, the 50th Anniversary of that arrival.
The kutir was built by Acyutananda Swami in 1971 on the order of Srila Prabhupada, who personally inst
Take part in this historic inauguration of the reborn Bhaktivinode Asana at #1 Ultadanga Road in Kolkata.
100 years ago this year, on the roof of the building, the seed of ISKCON was planted in the heart of Srila Prabhupada by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.
ISKCON Kolkata acquired this historic property and has completely restored it as it was then.
Join us for a live broadcast of the inauguration on February 21st and be inspired by the power of the humble start of what is now a global
Srila Prabhupada stated that -“Learning from the life of Ajamila, we should vow with determination to do what is necessary to follow this path.” So vows are an important means to fix oneself more in the process of devotional service. These vows are interesting because in the vows, we are promising to behave on a level that is higher than what we would naturally do if we would act without any control. In that case, we would act on the lower platform. The vows are therefore tapas – austerity. H
On July 29, 1971, Srila Prabhupada was interviewed on television at the University of Gainesville in Florida (which His Divine Grace described as “a remote corner of the world, thousands of miles from the birthplace of Lord Caitanya”). At one point, Srila Prabhupada was asked the following question:
Interviewer: How would I recognize a true follower of the Krishna consciousness movement by his behavior? What would his traits be? What would his outward expressions be?
Srila Prabhupada: He’d be a
“Hey,” said the rather bubbly guy, tall, middle-aged, jovial. “I haven’t seen you guys for a while. When I was a kid and we saw you bald and white fellows my dad would say, ‘They’re crazy.’Anyways, here I am now picking up a take-out dinner, seeing you guys again after all these years. We used to live one street over...”
Our new friend was amiable and talkative (in a most positive way). He kept Srikant and I very busy listening and we kept quite happy for his being there. He was a character, fo
