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
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
Sweet reminiscence of Janmashtami and Radhastami in Mayapur
“Today we are observing the Sri Krishna Janmashtami adhivas because lord Krishna Janmashtami is one of the most holy days in the universe. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita My birth and My work is transcendental. We will offer about 26 sacred items to the deities. We will offer that with various prayers. We have here the gurukula students who will chant the mantras and different pujaris, brahmanas a
By Nilachala Caitanya Dasa
Here is the yatra going on at Vrindavan. 1000 Nepali devotees yatra with HG Patri Prabhu at Vrindavan. Yatra Stories. Wonderful Kirtan and Katha. It’s super thrilling! Special Address and warm welcome to Nepali Devotees from Member of Parliament (Mathura), Smt. Hema Malini ji. We are really honored by your loving reciprocation and devotees of Nepal will always remember this special day.
By Felipe Araujo
James Edwards was 16 and partying at Lollapalooza when a Hare Krishna devotee handed him a book called Easy Journeys to Other Planets.
Intrigued by its descriptions of meditation and yoga and how our spirits can transcend our material body, he says the encounter made an impression on him as a teenager. Looking back, he recalls that he felt he had found a kind of truth. “This is what I have been looking for,” he thought.
Edwards, who is now known as Jai Nitai Dasa, became a vege
Sacred texts lie at the very heart of human history, where they are much more than pieces of paper bound between covers. Sacred texts are dynamic literary creations that possess incredible beauty and power, which can be applied for a variety of purposes. The Bhagavad-gītā, for example, has been recited orally for generations, published in hundreds of editions, translated into dozens of languages, performed on stage, painted on canvas, debated in courtrooms, employed in daily worship
In response to my last blog ‘Turning distress into an opportunity‘, I received a few calls from devotees on taking shelter of Krishna in times of distress. In all the calls the crux was the same- Should we trouble Krishna with our material problems? Shouldn’t bhakti should be practiced without any motivation. My response was- of course bhakti should not be motivated, which means we practice bhakti for no other purpose than to please Krishna. But when faced with challenges in our lives then whos
Krsna’s beauty is not only external. His beauty is not only in His form and in His lotus eyes and so on, the beauty is in His very nature. Krsna is very noble. Our Krsna is extremely kind. When Draupadi was in the assembly of the Kurus and Shakuni was carrying out his tricks with the dice and cheating, the Pandavas lost everything. Even Yudhistira himself was totally lost. He lost all his brothers, then he lost himself and then he wagered Draupadi. So Draupadi was saying that it was not a prope
"The main thing is to keep the main thing as the main thing."
Ghaṭṭakuṭīprabhāta nyāyaḥ (toll-collector's booth)
One night a traveler was traversing a road on which was a toll point. Because he was niggardly-minded, he wanted to escape the tax payment by making detour. Thus he walked throughout the whole night. At dawn, to his great astonishment, he arrived right before the eyes of toll-collector, and to his won displeasure he had to pay the toll.
This is another appropriate illustrative story of mechanism of karma. A materialistic-minded people are naturall
By Brahma-vaivarta Purana
Chapter Two
Sridama-Radha-kalaha-varnana
Description of the Quarrel Between Sridama and Radha
1-2 On whose request did Krsna come to the surface of the earth, what the Lord did before He returned to His own abode, how He removed the earth’s burden, and how He killed the demons, of all these I will, carefully thinking of what happened, tell you the story.
3 Listen and I will tell you of Lord Hari’s descent as a cowherd boy. His arrival in Gokula, and Radha’s descent as
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam
“Duties [dharma] executed by men, regardless of occupation, are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Supreme Lord.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.8)
In human society there is always some kind of religious institution. One’s religion is called dharma, faith. Dharma, precisely, is one’s constitutional and fun
By Acarya Dasa, All India Padayatra leader
On October 2nd we were making our way from Virar to Govardhana Eco village, Wada. The distance is about 18 kms. After walking about 10 kms we were searching for place to honour prasada. As it was a highway there was no locality or school where we could have stopped for prasada. Finally we stopped near a small river. After prasada we again started walking and Vitthaal, our padayatra ox was walking behind the ratha. One padayatri was holding his rein. B
By Madhava Smullen
ISKCON New Vrindaban has published a booklet, entitled “New Vrindaban’s Guide to Who’s Who & What’s What” that takes visitors on a self-led tour of the temple and explains devotee life and beliefs. Initial feedback from pilgrims and tourists has been very positive, with some suggesting other ISKCON centers should develop a similar guide.
“We have mostly Indian preachers, and noticed that there was a disconnect, due to cultural differences, between them and our Western gues
