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By Vraj Patel 

“The Hunger Free Zone” is a non-profit organization of ISKCON Baltimore with a mission to distribute prasadam to the community at large. With its own food truck, devotee volunteers go out every day, except Sunday, to distribute free vegan prasadam to the people of Baltimore City. Since its inception three years ago, the Hunger Free Zone has distributed over 167,600 free vegan meals.

Grateful recipients note that the food is delicious and shared freely with all. “I’ve partaken of t

By Atma Tattva Das

Devotion and drive have shaped Gauranga Das’s commitment in the classroom and success in the boxing ring. His professional journey has also included a broad range of experiences serving others, each contributing to his development as a person and a devotee.

A central pillar in Gauranga’s life is his deep devotion to Lord Rama, who is the embodiment of virtues such as righteousness, courage, and compassion. “My faith in Lord Rama inspires me every day,” he shared, explaining ho

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय पन्द्रह पुरुषोत्तम योग

निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः ।
द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञै-र्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥ 5 ॥

निः-रहित;मान-झूठी प्रतिष्ठा;मोहाः-तथा मोह;जित-जीता गया;सङ्ग-संगति की;दोषाः-त्रुटियाँ;अध्यात्म-आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान में;नित्याः-शाश्वतता में;विनिवृत्तः-विलग;कामाः-काम से;द्वन्द्वैः-द्वैत से;विमुक्ताः-मुक्त;सुख-दुःख-सुख तथा दुख;संज्ञैः-नामक;गच्छन्ति-प्राप्त करते हैं;अमूढाः-मोहरहित;पदम्-पद,स्थान को;अव्ययम्-शाश्

Dear Devotees,
 
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
 
The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society will begin in February 2025. Following the ISKCON GBC Society’s Rules of Order, the GBC Secretariat requests proposals, duly sponsored by two GBC members, to be submitted by December 31, 2024. Note that no proposals will be entertained after this date.
 
Please follow the format for GBC Proposals, found as a fillable PDF here:
https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-cont

From Back to Godhead

For a long time scientists have been asking, 
What’s going on? And some of them 
have tried to find out, 
What’s behind it all?

Sir Isaac Newton once made a remarkable model of the solar system. Thanks to a clever hand-cranking mechanism, all of the tiny spinning globes orbited a small “sun.”

On entering Newton’s study, one of his colleagues, a materialist, couldn’t help noticing the model. He was flabbergasted.

“Dr. Newton,” the man stared, “who made this wonderful cont

By Nandini Devi Dasi 

As most ISKCON readers know, Saranagati Village was evacuated on the evening of July 17th, 2024. During our three-week absence, some devotees lost their homes, and others lost their wood sheds, outbuildings, storage structures, and equipment like chainsaws, the community plow, and sander.

We are not able to get insurance as we are an off-grid community, and so we have to cover the costs of cleanup and rebuilding. The government helped with our basic needs while we were eva

Bhakti Center NYC celebrated its seventh annual Diwali Festival on November 1st, attended by over 1,000 people. The popular evening event included kirtan, food stalls, dance, drama, and children’s activities like henna and face painting.

Several well-known publications, like the Gothamist, list the Bhakti Center as the number one place to celebrate Diwali in the city. Local print and television media covered the event, most notably CBS New York, which broadcast a live report from the event. You

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय चौदह प्रकृति के तीन गुण

ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च ।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ।। 27 ।।

ब्रह्मणः- निराकार ब्रह्मज्योति का;हि- निश्चय ही;प्रतिष्ठा- आश्रय;अहम्- मैं हूँ;अमृतस्य- अमर्त्य का;अव्ययस्य- अविनाशी का;च- भी;शाश्वतस्य- शाश्वत का;च- तथा;धर्मस्य- स्वाभाविक स्थिति (स्वरूप) का;सुखस्य- सुख का;एकान्तिकस्य- चरम, अन्तिम,च- भी।

भावार्थ : और मैं ही उस निराकार ब्रह्म का आश्रय हूँ, जो अमर्त्य, अविनाशी तथा शाश्वत है और चरम सुख का स्

By Yudhisthira Dasa  

This article aims to open the door to an emotionally and spiritually healthier attitude toward our ongoing journey of self-realization. This approach stands in stark contrast to the sectarian and fear-based renunciation that many of us in the first and second generation of ISKCON have experienced, albeit generally with no detrimental intent. After all, we took birth in human bodies for a purpose, not to deny it, but to see our human experience as an opportunity to learn bet

By Ananda Tirtha Das

The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society will begin in February 2025. Following the ISKCON GBC Society’s Rules of Order, the GBC Secretariat requests proposals, duly sponsored by two GBC members, to be submitted by December 31, 2024. Please note that no proposals will be entertained after this date.

To submit a proposal, please use the fillable .pdf here. Once completed, the proposal should be emailed here.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/gbc-releases-proposal

You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.

Yamuna: From the very beginning of our programs in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada became known as one “who is startling India with kirtan.” Our kirtans were full of so much excitement they were so thrilling that we were like one throbbing heartbeat, the heartbeat of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission of Krishna Consciousness.

It is difficult to describe how much potency we felt in the

Paramahamsa Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji Maharaj was born into a vaishya family on the banks of the Padma River in Bagayan village in Faridpur district in what is now Bangladesh. His given name was Vamsi Das. He was born sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. He is important to us because he was the diksha guru of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada. Vamsi Das’s parents had him married at an early age according to the custom of the time, but he always remained detache

By Giriraj Swami

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a great devotee - a maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. He had lived for many years in Vrindavan, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krishna, eating by begging alms, and sleeping under trees. Later, after Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered Lord Chaitanya’s birthplace in Mayapur, Srila Jagannatha da

SRILA GAURA-KISORA DASA BABAJI 

RENUNCIATION PERSONIFIED

Srila Gaura-Kisora dasa Babaji is the spiritual master of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He was born in a vaisya family in a small village beside Padma River in Bangladesh. Following his father, he earned his livelihood by selling grains. He was devotionally inclined from childhood and spent many hours singing bhajans and hearing Krishna-katha. He was married very young but when his wife died in 1849, he immediately left home and went

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय चौदह प्रकृति के तीन गुण

मां च योSव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ।। 26 ।।

माम्- मेरी;च- भी;यः- जो व्यक्ति;अव्यभिचारेण- बिना विचलित हुए;भक्ति-योगेन- भक्ति से;सेवते- सेवा करता है;सः- वह;गुणान्- प्रकृति के गुणों को;समतीत्य- लाँघ कर;एतान्- इन सब;ब्रह्म-भूयाय- ब्रह्म पद तक ऊपर उठा हुआ;कल्पते- हो जाता है।

भावार्थ : जो समस्त परिस्थितियों में अविचलित भाव से पूर्ण भक्ति में प्रवृत्त होता है, वह तुरन्त ही प्रकृति के गुणों को

Hare Krishna PAMHO

I am 16 years old and i have started following KC for about 6ish months. I regularly chant my 16 round, read prabhupada's books, perform deity worship and wear kanthi. However for the past month i've fallen back into my lustful ways, I can't control myself when it comes to masterbation. Please help Hare Krishna