ISKCON’s Ministry for Book Distribution is inviting devotees and communities worldwide to submit nominations for the 2025 Book Distribution Awards, recognizing outstanding leadership, innovation, creativity, and resilience in the global sankirtan movement.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/global-call-for-nominations-to-honor-sankirtan-excellence-and-innovation/

By Priyagovind Das

As the sun transitioned into Capricorn for Makar Sankranti on January 14, 2026, Ayodhya Dham was transformed into a sea of devotion. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, fresh from their holy bath at the Magh Mela in Prayagraj, arrived at the feet of Lord Ram. To honor this sacred arrival, ISKCON Ayodhya scaled its Food for Life initiative, distributing over 100,000 free prasadam meals.

This massive humanitarian effort is rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita: “The

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit our Adelaide temple again where the presiding deities of Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara are amongst my favorite deities in ISKCON.

The new temple room was beautiful and many devotees and visitors attended. A team worked to prepare Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra cart for the upcoming Australia Day parade on January 26th.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/adelaide-temple-visit/

From Back to Godhead

Understanding the levels of instruction in the Bhagavad-gita can help us comprehend the overall unity of Lord Krishna’s message.

The Bhagavad-gita is no doubt a major spiritual treatise and one of the world’s greatest classics. Understanding that a hierarchical concept of reality characterizes the Gita can help us see coherence of the Gita’s message.

The Bhagavad-gita speaks on two major levels of reality and a third, intermediate, one. We can use the Sanskrit words dharma

In spite of the fact that everything comes from the Supreme Being, He is still aloof from it all. He does not disengage Himself from His eternal pleasure pastimes with His devotees in the spiritual realm. So, in the process of creating the material worlds, the Supreme expands Himself into various forms, which are His plenary parts. Krishna is the primeval Lord, the original Personality of Godhead, so He can expand Himself into unlimited forms with all potencies. They are no different from Him,

ISKCON Visakhapatnam was honoured to host the Pan-India ISKCON Leaders’ Summit from January 5th to 11th. Set against the serene backdrop of the beautiful seafront, overlooking the Bay of Bengal, where the gentle waves kiss the shore and the morning sun bathes the horizon in golden light, the summit created a spiritually uplifting atmosphere for reflection, discussion, and fellowship. The week-long summit brought together esteemed leaders, including Lokanath Swami, Bhanu Swami, Bhakti Rasamrita S

By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,

Students from Our Little Vaishnavas school in Mayapur recently hosted their annual children’s market day, turning classroom lessons into real-world business experience. Through small booths and creative projects, the children practiced entrepreneurship while embracing Srila Prabhupada’s vision of self sustenance, learning teamwork, responsibility, and practical life skills along the way.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/young-entrepreneurs-bring-prabhupadas

Q.
Dear Bada Haridas,
I led my first kirtan yesterday evening! I was wondering what is the role of the kirtan leader? I know that practically speaking they are playing an instrument and singing the mantra for the group to repeat, but what is their job spiritually?

I felt a little bit nervous to take on the task at first and was wondering if you could share some of your wisdom in that regard. Hare Krishna!

A.
Glad to hear you are leading kirtan. Thank you for asking such a nice question and for

Freedom from painful impediments

In Kingdom of God, there is no hunger, thirst, birth and death, old age, disease, etc. Thus without these sufferings that draw our consciousness in the material world, keeping us absorbed in sorting out problems of life in material world, one can simply focus on service to Supreme Lord without any impediments.

Freedom from material desire

The Vaikuntha residents while travelling in their Airplanes condemn the fragrance of Madhavi flowers in ponds, which indicate

A story from

Krishna,

the Supreme Personality of Godhead

by His Divine

Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The King of Vidarbha, Maharaja Bhismaka, had five sons and a young daughter known as Rukmini. Many saintly persons used to visit the King’s palace, and from them Rukmini obtained information about Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by hearing about the opulences of Krishna, she desired to surrender herself to His lotus feet and become His wife. All the rela

In 1973, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), arranged for several of his disciples to go to Mayapura, West Bengal, to study the traditional art of putul (dollmaking). These unfired clay figures are composed of raw materials gathered from the riverbank of the Ganges, traditionally created for holiday festival worship and then submerged back into the Ganges at the end of the season.

Inspired by his guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānt

By Lila-sakti Devi Dasi, 

On November 30th, 2025, the ISKCON New Goloka community in Hillsborough, North Carolina, joyfully gathered at the site of our new temple foundation to mark a significant milestone in the ongoing expansion of our sacred space. The moment reflected our commitment to better serve our loving congregation, to welcome all sincere spiritual seekers, and to expand our outreach operations in the mood, mission, and service of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhu

In the last thirty or forty years, the rapid pace of technological progress has been dazzling. I still remember my first desk-sized computer, with its massive 20 megabytes of storage, its MS-DOS operating system with the old C: prompt, and the modems that emitted a kind of high-pitched banshee wailing. Ah, those were the days. Now, the phone in my pocket is a thousand times more powerful, and my laptop can handle tasks unimaginable back then. With AI, it seems the sky is the limit. Soon, we’ll a

Discovering Spiritual Knowledge

Recently I was in New York attending an initiation ceremony. As I watched the new devotees, young and old, take their vows, I reflected on my own beginnings.

Over 35 years ago I sat before the fire and took the same vows. I am grateful to still be practicing. Later that day I heard a talk which shared 4 reasons why devotees sometimes give up the process of Krishna consciousness, the one they once started so enthusiastically. Turning them into positives, here are 4 things, if we do them well, th