अध्याय उन्तीस -- नारद तथा प्राचीनबर्हि के मध्य वार्तालाप

1-5 राजा प्राचीनबर्हि ने उत्तर दिया: हे प्रभु, हम आपके कहे गये राजा पुरञ्जन के रुपक आख्यान (अन्योक्ति) का सारांश पूर्ण रूप से नहीं समझ सके। वास्तव में जो आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान में निपुण हैं, वे तो समझ सकते हैं, किन्तु हम जैसे सकाम कर्मों में अत्यधिक लिप्त पुरुषों के लिए आपके आख्यान का तात्पर्य समझ पाना अत्यन्त कठिन है। नारद मुनि ने कहा – तुम जानो कि पुरञ्जन रूपी जीव अपने कर्म के अनुसार विभिन्न रूपों में देहान्तर करता रहता है, जो एक, दो, तीन, चा

By Giriraj Swami

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him very well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work.

 We are all here by the mercy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There’s a line through whi

A new day was just about to come,

And a new year lapsed when the cold made us numb.

We rough and ready were all bundled up,

We held back conserved energy like a young pup.

In anticipation, which was so very high,

Our drum mallet beats began entering the sky,

At location—Old City Hall—with its new face,

Still on Queen’s Street at its usual place.

Everyone was appareled in holiday cheer,

For an annual rite set for the New Year.

Hope was triggered for a better tomorrow,

Putting behind any of yester

अध्याय अट्ठाईस – अगले जन्म में पुरञ्जन को स्त्री-योनि की प्राप्ति (4.28)

1 नारद मुनि ने आगे कहा: हे राजा प्राचीनबर्हिषत, तत्पश्चात यवनराज साक्षात भय, प्रज्वार, काल-कन्या तथा अपने सैनिकों सहित सारे संसार में विचरने लगा।

2 एक बार भयानक सैनिकों ने पुरञ्जन-नगरी पर बड़े वेग से आक्रमण किया। यद्यपि यह नगरी भोग की सारी सामग्री से परिपूर्ण थी, किन्तु इसकी रखवाली एक बूढ़ा सर्प कर रहा था।

3 धीरे-धीरे कालकन्या ने घातक सैनिकों की सहायता से पुरञ्जन की नगरी के समस्त वासियों पर आक्रमण कर दिया और उन्हें सभी प्रकार

By Madhava Smullen

Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entireity of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.

The idea was originated by Loka Saranga Das and moderated by Madhu Pandit Das, while Priya-kirti Das advertised the livestream. The reading, conducted via Zoom and broadcast on Youtube, was also inspired by Vaisesika Das’s Live to Give Campaign.

More than thirty devotees read from th

अध्याय सत्ताईस – राजा पुरञ्जन की नगरी पर चण्डवेग का धावा और कालकन्या का चरित्र (4.27)

1 महर्षि नारद ने आगे कहा: हे राजन, अनेक प्रकार से अपने पति को मोहित करके अपने वश में करती हुई राजा पुरञ्जन की पत्नी उसे सारा आनन्द प्रदान करने लगी और उसके साथ विषयी जीवन व्यतीत करने लगी।

2 रानी ने स्नान किया और शुभ वस्त्रों तथा आभूषणों से अपने को सुसज्जित किया। भोजन करने तथा परम संतुष्ट होने के बाद वह राजा के पास आई। उस अत्यन्त सुसज्जित तथा आकर्षक मुख वाली को देखकर राजा ने उसका तन्मयता से अभिनन्दन किया।

3 रानी प

अध्याय छब्बीस – राजा पुरञ्जन का आखेट के लिए जाना और रानी का क्रुद्ध होना (4.26)

1-3 नारद मुनि ने आगे कहा: हे राजन, एक बार राजा पुरञ्जन ने अपना विशाल धनुष लिया और सोने का कवच धारण करके तरकस में असंख्य तीर भरकर वह अपने ग्यारह सेनापतियों के साथ अपने रथ पर बैठ गया, जिसे पाँच तेज घोड़े खींच रहे थे और पञ्चप्रस्थ नामक वन में गया। उसने अपने साथ उस रथ में दो विस्फोटक तीर ले लिये। यह रथ दो पहियों तथा एक घूमते हुए धुरे पर स्थित था। रथ पर तीन ध्वजाएँ, एक लगाम, एक सारथी, एक बैठने का स्थान, दो काठी (जुए), पाँच

I would like to express a happy new year to all the readers and also say that we should not be so torn by the social circumstances of these days. This is the play of the mundane world. There is always some agitation.

At noon I had lunch with one of our ashram residents, Uttamananda. He brought up a topic that is indeed upsetting. As he is driving through the day he sees how the big chain box stores are permitted to be open for business. However, “The small persons doors are required to be shut d

Dear ISKCON Leaders and Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

It is with great enthusiasm that we present to you our latest Quarterly Journal.

This issue is special for two reasons. Firstly, it has been published during a very special Sankirtan season in ISKCON. A time when there is much focus on book distribution. However, there are innumerable methods to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books during this time. Traditionally it started with taking advant

अध्याय पच्चीस - राजा पुरञ्जन के गुणों का वर्णन (4.25)

1 महर्षि मैत्रेय ने विदुर से आगे कहा: हे विदुर, शिवजी ने इस प्रकार से राजा बर्हिषत के पुत्रों को उपदेश दिया। राजकुमारों ने भी शिवजी की अगाध भक्ति के साथ श्रद्धापूर्वक पूजा की। अन्त में वे राजकुमारों की दृष्टि से ओझल हो गये।

2 सभी प्रचेतागण दस हजार वर्षों तक जल के भीतर खड़े रहकर शिवजी द्वारा दिये गये स्तोत्र का जप करते रहे।

3 जब राजकुमार जल के भीतर कठिन तपस्या कर रहे थे तो उनके पिता विभिन्न प्रकार के सकाम कर्म सम्पन्न करने में रत थे। उसी समय सम

We at the GBC-Strategic Planning Team have one motivation: To serve you.

We started this present service of communicating with the ISKCON world out of concern for how our devotees were dealing with the Coronavirus. We were convinced that the best approach to the virus was to “err on the side of caution” and encourage devotees to take precautions. In many places in Srila Prabhupada’s books there are descriptions of how rare and special devotees are. We didn’t want to see any of our devotees unnec

We felt so delighted to see many young children and teenagers were offering ghee lamps to the Lord. For many, they have achieved exalted piety by the unknowing performance of pure devotional service, without spiritual knowledge (ajñata-sukriti). We prayed that by associating with a devotee of Krishna, the seed of bhakti would sprout one day.

Devotee and congregation members reached out to different spots in Hong Kong (Kowloon area) and shared the blessings of offering ghee lamps in the month of

Auspiciousness is the most sought-after element of human society today given the fact that we are compelled to carry a large baggage of the pandemic. Though the beginning of the end is in sight now . What better way to repose our faith into Spirituality than dedicating our time, energy and emotions in chanting the names of The Lord, while saying good bye to the year which we all would perhaps like to erase from the book of our life.

Scriptures say problem may be material but solution is always s

अध्याय चौबीस – शिवजी द्वारा की गई स्तुति का गान (4.24)

1-10 मैत्रेय ऋषि ने आगे कहा: महाराज पृथु का सबसे बड़ा पुत्र विजिताश्व, जिसकी ख्याति अपने पिता की ही तरह थी, राजा बना और उसने अपने छोटे भाइयों को पृथ्वी की विभिन्न दिशाओं पर राज्य करने का अधिकार सौंप दिया, क्योंकि वह अपने भाइयों को अत्यधिक चाहता था। महाराज विजिताश्व ने संसार का पूर्वी भाग अपने भाई हर्यक्ष को, दक्षिणी भाग धूम्रकेश को, पश्चिमी भाग वृक को तथा उत्तरी भाग द्रविण को प्रदान किया। पूर्वकाल में महाराज विजिताश्व ने स्वर्ग के राजा इन्द्र

Brahmananda Puris’s sudden and unexpected departure from this world affected me very deeply and as I’m sure it has affected all of you as well who are participating in this broadcast. Brahmananda’s qualities were very broad, very deep. As a person, as an individual, as a leader or even as a supporter of projects that had meaning to him, he was in many ways unsurpassed.
For me I saw that his devotion to the Mayapur Project, by which he assisted in the purchase of enormous amounts of land there, a

ISKCON Mayapur presents New Year Shubharambha – Auspicious Beginning…

In order to invoke auspiciousness to begin the year 2021 & leaving behind a difficult year 2020 ISKCON Sri Dham Mayapur invites world wide devotees to take part in our  special  New Year’s Shubharambha program, which includes:

•    Special Narasimha Puja
•    Narasimha Homa
•    Feeding the cows
•    Vaishnava Seva
•    Ganga Puja
•    Kirtan

You can all participate in this auspicious beginning by donating only Rs.2000 by whi

I really prefer to get my vitamin D by catching some sun when I go for my daily stepping. But what if the full day is ridden by clouds like it often is these days? By the time my calls and Zooms are completed it’s dark. The daylight is over. Although it is normally an intense time during Christmas, with the current virus lockdown all is a “silent night." Even the natural world appeared still. Not a raccoon’s scratchy claws against a tree’s bark would be heard. To fill the ether within earshot I

By Vaisesika Dasa

We humans have very short lives. Measured by geological time, our lifespans are not even a nanosecond. Nonetheless, the bhakti scriptures say that this brief period is enough for anyone to attain spiritual perfection. What’s more, they reprove as irresponsible and miserly those who do not utilize their lives to attain such perfection. Having so much at stake with so little time may seem daunting!
To inspire us Sukadeva Goswami tells us in Srimad-Bhagavatam the story of Maharaj

अपने जीवन की अन्तिम अवस्था में तपस्या हेतु वन में गए हुए राजा पृथु ने भगवान के चरणकमलों का ध्यान करते हुए अपने भौतिक शरीर को त्याग दिया। साथ आयी हुई रानी अर्चि भी अपने पतिदेव के चरणों का ध्यान करते हुए अग्नि में जलकर सती हो गयीं। देवताओं ने उनकी प्रशंसा में पुष्पवृष्टि की।   श्रीमद भागवतम 4.23.18-26 श्रील प्रभुपाद

अध्याय तेईस – महाराज पृथु का भगवदधाम गमन (4.23)

1-3 अपने जीवन की अन्तिम अवस्था में, जब महाराज पृथु ने देखा कि मैं वृद्ध हो चला हूँ तो उस महापुरुष ने, जो संसार का राजा था, अपने द्वारा सं

It’s been another one of those weeks wherein caring for our severely autistic/mentally daughter has very nearly eclipsed all other activities. Again. Same as every minute of every day. For years on end. In order that we might truly learn and grow deeper with sincere affection from the difficult experience which the Supreme Lord has sent as mercy to reform us from all selfish considerations. Or complaint (tat te nukumpam…) about the severe circumstance we must necessarily endure. As each endless