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From Bhagavad-gita As It Is, purport 13.8-12: “False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature it is said, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of “I am” is ego, but when the sense of “I am” is applied to this false body it

For many devotees in our movement, Krsna is anything but a friend. They do not dare to think in this direction. Some feel it is sahajiyaism, or taking things too lightly, while others think, “He is so far away and inaccessible. A friend is someone I can call with my smartphone or write a whatsapp to. Krsna is a friend? Is this just a swami-hype? How can we relate to this?” My dear devotees, you can only find peace in your life if you become aware that:

Krsna is your best friend and there are de

[Questions & Answers from Srimad Bhagavatam Class, ISKCON Ujjain, Jan 17, 2015] Question: Why is there so much suffering in India, so much deprivation?

HH Bhakti Charu Swami: Good point. Now tell me are they following Krishna? Are those people who are suffering, accepting Krishna? Especially India is the land of dharma (Dharma Kshetra). In the land of dharma when one acts in a sinful way, the reaction of the sin is multiplied by thousands of times. Similarly on the Dharma Kshetra, if someone

Hare Krishna

This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BBT did not print a Vyasa Puja book. But we did prepare one that is available in pdf format. Please download from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BuMNtvuBKoTtSP_uTuE9k1rNqrZtzJ0O/view?usp=sharing.

Your servant,

Dravida dasa

HAPPIEST OF HAPPY SRI KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI.

IN DIVINE CONVERSATION WITH LORD SRI KRISHNA

On the most auspicious occasion of our Sri Krishna Janmashtami

OUR LORD SRI GOVINDA’S ETERNAL SEARCH.

Sri Vaishnava bhaktha (SVB) :   Jai Sri Krishna ! Jai Sri Nandagopala ! Jai Sri Murali Manohara ! Jai Sri Sriman Narayanaya .  Countless obeisance to your most exalted self , LORD, MASTER, CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF ALL THE UNIVERSES.  HAIL HAIL !  RESPECTFUL  SALUTATIONS!  OUR  ROYAL MOST HIGHNESS.  HAPPIEST

Janmastami is about focusing on the lotus feet of Krsna, about meditating on Krsna, thinking about Him, reading about Him and just getting totally absorbed in the thoughts of Krsna. This is the purpose of Janmastami, to somehow or other be completely absorbed in Krsna. In some temples, the Krsna book is being read the whole day on Janmastami. So in this way, devotees can go in and out of this room and hear about pastimes of Krsna all day, and it is a nice thing to do for Janmastami. Many devotee

The Greater Toronto Area has entered into its third phase of lifting restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. At Gage Park in Brampton, Stephen Philips and I could see how the public there was taking advantage of trees, grass, benches, flowers and the gazebo. I remember that gazebo. At eighteen years of age, a friend, Ron Casier, and I hitchhiked from Chatham, a good 300 kilometres through country roads, for an experience, and reached as far east as this gazebo. We took a nap at the shelter. It

भेदभाव

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
श्रुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः । 18 ।

विद्या– शिक्षण;विनय– तथा विनम्रता से;सम्पन्ने– युक्त;ब्राह्मणे– ब्राह्मण में;गवि– गाय में;हस्तिनि– हाथी में;शुनि– कुत्ते में;च– तथा;एव– निश्चय ही;श्वपाके- कुत्ताभक्षी (चाण्डाल) में;च– क्रमशः;पण्डिताः– ज्ञानी;सम-दर्शिनः– समान दृष्टि से देखने वाले।

भावार्थ विनम्र साधुपुरुष अपने वास्तविक ज्ञान के कारण एक विद्वान् तथा विनीत ब्राह्मण गाय, हाथी, कुत्ता तथा चाण्डाल को समान दृष्टि (समभाव) से देखते हैं।

तात्पर्य:

List of monthly donors/subscribers:

Sponsors For July 2020

हरे कृष्ण महामन्त्र ही एकमात्र आश्रय

प्रस्तुति ललितमाधव दास द्वारा

श्राद्धदेव या वैवस्वत मनु महाराज इक्ष्वाकु के पिता थे। पहले वे सन्तानहीन थे, किन्तु वशिष्ठ मुनि की कृपा से उन्होंने मित्र तथा वरुण को प्रसन्न करने के लिए एक यज्ञ किया। यद्यपि वैवस्त मनु पुत्ररत्न चाहते थे, किन्तु उनकी पत्नी की इच्छानुसार उन्हें इला नामक पुत्री प्राप्त हुई। अतएव वैवस्त मनु पुत्री- प्राप्ति से संतुष्ट नहीं थे। वैवस्वत मनु महाराज ने अपने गुरु वशिष्ठ मुनि से इस प्रकार कहा:-

भगवन् किमिदं जातं कर्म वो ब्रह्मवादिनाम्।

विर्य

Dear ISKCON Leader
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

In June 2020, the GBC SPT – Strategic Planning Support unit published a Temple Re-opening Guide and a decision-making Toolkit to support you in your efforts to re-open your temple.

You will find attached, additional materials we have developed to assist you in facilitating the safe re-opening of your temple to the public:

• The Safe Re-opening Handbook is a comprehensive handbook for use by all. It is recomm

भ्रम क्या है

व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे।
तदेकं वद निश्र्चित्य येन श्रेयोSहमाप्नुयाम् ।2।

व्यामिश्रेण– अनेकार्थक;इव– मानो;वाक्येन– शब्दों से;बुद्धिम्– बुद्धि;मोहयसि– मोह रहे हो;इव– मानो;मे– मेरी;तत्– अतः;एकम्– एकमात्र;वाद– कहिये;निश्र्चित्य– निश्चय करके;येन– जिससे;श्रेयः– वास्तविक लाभ;अहम्– मैं;आप्नुयाम्– पा सकूँ।

भावार्थ आपके व्यामिश्रित (अनेकार्थक) उपदेशों से मेरी बुद्धि मोहित हो गई है। अतः कृपा करके निश्चयपूर्वक मुझे बतायें कि इनमें से मेरे लिए सर्वाधिक श्रेयस्कर क्या होगा?

तात्पर्

I feel blessed to have the privilege to connect with you as a Trustee and Director at the Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC), Kolkata.  We are very grateful to you for the valuable support you have extended to the BRC over years. 

Since its inception in 2009 the co-founders at BRC, HG Hari-sauri Prabhu and HG Pranava Prabhu, had put strenuous efforts towards making BRC a rich library with a collection of thousands of rare books, journals and manuscripts from our glorious tradition. They contin

I was ambling along, beyond The Annex, through the common neighbourhood, when I received a call from my assistant, Krishna Chandra.

“You have a zoom class, Maharaj!” He said on behalf of someone hosting.

“Oh, that is my total stupidity.” I’m routinely walking at this hour but tonight was special. I was to give a Gita class based on chapter nine, verse three, about faith.  “I forgot. Is it too late?”

Thus I answered my own question. I can still try it. I’m 38 minutes late. “Send me the zoom link.

Let’s face it – trying to become a devotee in this faithless, fast, and quarrelsome age is very, very tough. If the mind is not making life difficult for us, it will be the neighbors, some authority figure, our bodies or our family. Actually, the list is endless. How to keep faith and focus in a world so obviously made for distraction?!

The real challenges come in our daily dealings in life. The philosophy sounds fine in the class atmosphere, but often we lose sight of it when dealing with the