From the very beginning, the body was given by father and mother. In the childhood, as the father and mother say, “Sit down here, eat this, don’t go there,” everything is controlled by the father and mother, and originally given by the father and mother. So how we can claim, “This is my body”? From the very beginning. Then, somebody else maintains you. Suppose you are working in an office, in a factory. So actually that body belongs to him, the maintainer. In this way, up to the point of death,
All Posts (35967)
Sort by
A second Vivek, who owns and runs Karma Café, took me to a Burrito restaurant in Saskatoon, which is now a commercial chain in the province. It is a father and son business which arranged to accommodate my vegetarian needs. During the lunch, I sat and chatted for an hour with this dynamic duo who happen to be Gujaratis from Surat, India. I was impressed by their efforts to promote the plant-based diet (for the most part). The ahimsa concept is very firmly held onto by these gentlemen.
By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader
This year is a special year: All-India Padayatra was at Srila Prabhupada’s office in Juhu Beach, Mumbai, for the World Holy Name Week which began on September 17. Just as every year, the padayatris celebrated the occasion with enthusiasm but being in Juhu meant that at every step we were reminded of Srila Prabhupada.
On an overcast September 16 we left Kharghar and walked towards Koparkhed, dancing and singing in the rain along with a few local devote
By Manorama das
Peter Leggieri, the editor-owner of “The East Village Other” (EVO), wrote the “Save Earth Now” article about the Hare Krishna movement in 1966 under the pen name Irving Shushnick. Here’s an excerpt from the EVO website where he mentions how that article came to be.
“I was the anonymous Other, the one editor-owner unknown to the public. I did not party. I did not schmooze with the literati or seek publicity. I had no time for such things. I worked seven days a week, 20 hours a d
By Lalitanatha dasa
For the past 13 years ISKCON’s Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture (IMCPA) has organized a European conference for ISKCON farmers and anyone interested in agriculture and cow protection. The idea is to create networks and unite everyone towards Srila Prabhupada’s goals for cow protection and simple living. This year, 2019, the conference was hosted at the Krishna Dvur community in the Czech Republic between the 30th of August and the 1st of September. The participant
By Madhava Smullen
Srila Prabhupada’s Palace is one of ISKCON’s most impressive achievements. Built by young, inexperienced devotees who trained themselves in construction and artisanal skills, it began in 1973 as a simple residence for Prabhupada. The devotees’ love for their guru, however, saw it become more and more elaborate.
Srila Prabhupada reciprocated, constantly encouraging the team and asking for reports on their progress. “I am expecting very soon to go there and live in my propos
I heard a beautiful talk by Srila Prabhupada, Los Angeles, January 5, 1974, on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.8, which says, “Living beings who are under [Yamaraja’s] grip should take advantage by hearing the deathless nectar in the form of this narration of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.” And Srila Prabhupada glorified Srimad-Bhagavatam and the importance of book distribution:
“This is the Bhagavata. There is no comparison. There is no literature throughout the universe like Srimad-Bhagavata
TEXT 57
cetasa sarva-karmani
mayi sannyasya mat-parah
buddhi-yogam upasritya
mac-cittah satatam bhava
mayi sannyasya mat-parah
buddhi-yogam upasritya
mac-cittah satatam bhava
SYNONYMS
cetasa—by intelligence; sarva-karmani—all kinds of activities; mayi—unto Me; sannyasya—giving up; mat-parah—My protection; buddhi-yogam—devotional activities; upasritya—taking shelter of; mat-cittah—consciousness; satatam—twenty-four hours a day; bhava—just become.
TRANSLATION
In all activities just depend upon Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully consc
TEXT 56
sarva-karmany api sada
kurvano mad-vyapasrayah
mat-prasadad avapnoti
sasvatam padam avyayam
kurvano mad-vyapasrayah
mat-prasadad avapnoti
sasvatam padam avyayam
SYNONYMS
sarva—all; karmani—activities; api—although; sada—always; kurvanah—performing; mat—under My; vyapasrayah—protection; mat—My; prasadat—mercy; avapnoti—achieves; sasvatam—eternal; padam—abode; avyayam——imperishable.
TRANSLATION
Though engaged in all kinds of activities, My devotee, under My protection, reaches the eternal and imperishable abode by My grace.
PURPORT
The word mad-vyapasrayah means u
In the Gaudiya way of bhakti, you offer everything to Krsna, the good, the bad – your life. You share everything with someone you are close to, the barriers are low, close friends are intimate. In bhakti this is called mamata, a strong sense of ownership, or relation to the Lord, that “He is mine and I’m His”. This type of love can be attained by two types of devotional service, as it is stated by Narada Muni in Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta: “One develops that love by practicing the devotional servi
Unless we are on a total media fast, we have likely heard of the notion of tidying our home with the KonMari method of asking the question of our belongings – ‘does this spark joy for me?’. If not, we thank it for being in our life and bid it farewell.
What’s powerful about this is the experience of personalism. When we are more conscious about the things in our life and how they affect us, we value them more and treat them better. This will spill out into how we treat ‘living things’ – the ali
By Gopi Ramana Dasa
The Radhadesh CPT has been invited by the International Child Protection Office for a 3 days Child Protection Training in the beautiful Villagio Hare Krishna Temple near Bergamo, Italy. The Child Protection training was held on the 5th and 6th of October. The last day was reserved for Review Panel Member Training (RPM). We had about 15 attendees participating from Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Ireland and Belgium.
The Radhadesh Team are new to this service role and are ver
Ghaṭapradīpā nyāyaḥ (lamp in a pot)
A light of the lamp is confined by the boundaries of the pot walls.
Light is often compered to knowledge, because as light dispels gross darkness, transcendental knowledge dispels darkness of ignorance. We have a certain knowledge, however small or big it is, of which we are very proud of. The iron rule is that our egoistic identification with our temporal material ability – ahaṅkāra, and temporal material status – abhimāna, creates an insurmountable wall bounda
Beginning from Chaturthi till Vijay Dashami or Dusherra as popularly known in India, spread over almost a week, Durga Puja celebrations are the biggest and most glamorous festival of Eastern India, especially West Bengal. The Durga Puja festival has become more of an expression of art, extravagance, than performing rituals.
To add to the glitz, fun and frolic mood of the people, over the years it is in vogue that celebrities and political leaders inaugurate Durga Puja at various places i
Towards the end of the rainy season during the months of August-September-October, the water levels of Ganga increases, filling up all the low lands around the banks. This swelling of the river is caused by excessive rain from up north and the release of large quantities of water from barrages.
Due to the recently released large quantities of water from barrages, Ganga has swollen covering all low lands and is flowing by the Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Marg road.
On the release of insurmountab
Tourists visit Bali for various reasons - Balinese culture, hospitality, natural beauty, etc. But there are few reason why devotees should consider visiting Bali. Bali is a predominantly Hindu state in the largest Muslim country in the world. Centuries back this was a Hindu country but got invaded by Muslims and thus the locals were converted. However, Bali which was the epicenter of Hinduism has some how maintained their culture in spite of all the onslaught of time. There are more than thousa
TEXT 55
bhaktya mam abhijanati
yavan yas casmi tattvatah
tato mam tattvato jnatva
visate tad-anantaram
yavan yas casmi tattvatah
tato mam tattvato jnatva
visate tad-anantaram
SYNONYMS
bhaktya—by pure devotional service; mam—Me; abhijanati—one can know; yavan—as much as; yah ca asmi—as I am; tattvatah—in truth; tatah—thereafter; mam—Me; tattvatah—by truth; jnatva—knowing; visate—enters; tat—thereafter; anantaram—after
TRANSLATION
One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such
By Radhanath Swami
I wish to offer my gratitude to everyone who has so kindly assembled today on this auspicious occasion of Dussehra. Today all over the world there are millions and millions of people celebrating this day. But like most spiritual occasions not so many know why? It is a characteristic of kali yuga that even very sacred things are perceived very superficially. Often times religious festivals of all religions are more of an opportunity for some sort of social entertainment than f
By Caitanya Caran Das
The basic storyline of Ramayana is very similar to that of a typical movie.
Both feature a hero, a heroine and a villain; both depict the villain lusting for the heroine; both delineate an exciting confrontation between the hero and the villain, culminating in the destruction of the villain and re-union of the hero and the heroine. However, there is one vital difference in the movie, the hero, the heroine and the villain are all actually villains.
Many people think of a vi
I heard a wonderful talk by Srila Prabhupada in which he spoke of love and service, that love must be accompanied by, or expressed through, service. He said, “Real love, engaged in the service of the Lord—then our life is successful. If you sacrifice your life for serving Krishna, you will always remember Krishna. You are taking so much trouble, going place to place to give one book to somebody. Why? Because you love Krishna, and you are thinking, ‘If this gentleman takes one book, never mind s
