By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi

ISKCON Sacramento recently held a Devotee Care Course from September 13th to 15th, 2024, facilitated by Radha Gopinath Das and Damodar Das. The event, which was attended by 15 participants, was designed to deepen their understanding of the role of devotee care in sustaining a loving and vibrant spiritual community.

Throughout the three-day course, the facilitators explored key insights into what it truly means to care for others within the ISKCON community. Pa

What a pleasure it is to hear from an expert on the early days of the Hare Krishna movement as it took hold in the U.S.’s west coast in the summer of love, 1967. Guru Das has come to grace us with his presence and making us feel present in those olden golden times. He was a former civil rights activist but became a radical in the Vaishnav tradition under the watchful guard of the spiritual master, Prabhupada. 

Guru Das, who is now in his 80’s was an instant hit with our youth.

Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) – Canto 2: The Cosmic Manifestation – SB 2.9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version

Frustration gives way to illumination during one extraordinary night in the life of a prostitute.

While prostitutes are often depicted negatively in traditional literature, some religious texts depict them positively as testimonies to the transformational potency of divine grace. Thus, in the Gospel is found a story of a prostitute (considered by some to be Mary Magdalene) who was redeemed by Jesus. In Gaudiya Vaishnava literature such as the Chaitanya Charitamrita comes the story of the saint

By His Divine Grace Srila A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada

sri bhagavan uvaca
abhayam sattva-samsuddhir
jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih
danam damas ca yajnas ca
svadhyayas tapa arjavam

ahimsa satyam akrodhas
tyagah santir apaisunam
daya bhutesv aloluptvam
mardavam hrir acapalam

tejah ksama dhrtih saucam
adroho natimanita
bhavanti sampadam daivim
abhijatasya bharata

Srila Prabhupada: The first thing is that bhagavan uvaca. These things required for purification. Sattva-samsuddhih. The human life is meant for sat

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय आठ भगवत्प्राप्ति

वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव दानेषु यत्पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम् ।

अत्येति तत्सर्वमिदं विदित्वा योगी परं स्थानमुपैति चाद्यम् ।। 28 ।।

वेदेषु– वेदाध्ययन में;यज्ञेषु– यज्ञ सम्पन्न करने में;तपःसु– विभिन्न प्रकार की तपस्याएँ करने में;च– भी;एव– निश्चय ही;दानेषु– दान देने में;यत्– जो;पुण्य-फलम्– पुण्यकर्म का फल;प्रदिष्टम्– सूचित;अत्येति– लाँघ जाता है;तत् सर्वम्– वे सब;इदम्– यह;विदित्वा– जानकर;योगी– योगी;परम्– परम;स्थानम्– धाम को;उपैति– प्राप्त करता है

“Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanarada district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanarada province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi. In the city of Udupi is a place called Pajaka-ksetra, where Madhvacarya took his birth in a Sivalli-brahmana dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhatta, in the year 1040 Sakabda (A.D. 1119). According to some, he was born in the year 1160

Madhvacharya was born into a Brahmana family in the coastal town of Udupi, South India. His early life was marked by extraordinary events and displays of divine power, such as turning tamarind seeds into coins and defeating a snake demon with a touch of his toe.

His exceptional intellect and insatiable thirst for knowledge led him to embark on a spiritual journey at the age of twelve when he accepted sannyasa, a renounced way of life. Madhvacharya traveled extensively across India, seeking wisdo

I am very grateful to be with all of you, thank you for being here. Bhakti Vinod Thakur has written that the difficulties endured in his service to the Lord, for the pleasure of the Lord, is his greatest happiness.

“Material life is when we put the flickering pleasures and securities of the mind and the senses in the center of our lives, our decisions, our aspirations, our goals are according. Spiritual life or true bhakti is when we put the pleasures of God or Krishna in the center of our lif

Lord Vishnu imparted the knowledge of reaching Him to four great personalities – Lakshmi Devi, Lord Shiva, Sri Brahma, and the four kumara. These four personalities imparted the knowledge to four great devotees who started the four Sampradayas. Lakshmi to Ramanujacharya – Sri Sampradaya, Shiva to Vishnuswami – Rudra Sampradaya, Brahma to Madhvacharya – Brahma sampradaya and the four Kumaras to Nimbarka – Kumara Sambradaya.

Today is the appearance day of Sri Madhvacharya. Madhvacharya (acarya me

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten: “The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra.”

TEXT 20

te ’nikapa raghupater abhipatya sarve
dvandvam varutham ibha-patti-rathasva-yodhaih
jaghnur drumair giri-gadesubhir angadadyah
sitabhimarsa-hata-mangala-ravanesan

TRANSLATION

Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses, and chariots of the enemy and hurled against them big trees, mountain peaks, clubs, and arrows. Thus the soldi

The festival of Dussehra, also known as Vijaya dashmi, is one of the fascinating festivals of India and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm. According to the great scripture, the Ramayana, Lord Rama performed chandi-puja (holy prayer). This was carried out in order to invoke the blessings of Durga for the killing of Ravana, the ten-headed demon king of Sri Lanka who had abducted Sita, wife of Lord Rama.

Durga divulged the secret to Rama on how he could slay the great Ravana. Hence upon vanqui

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय आठ भगवत्प्राप्ति

आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोSर्जुन ।

मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥ 16 ॥

आ-ब्रह्म-भुवनात्– ब्रह्मलोक तक;लोकाः– सारे लोक;पुनः– फिर;आवर्तिनः– लौटने वाले;अर्जुन– हे अर्जुन;माम्– मुझको;उपेत्य– पाकर;तु– लेकिन;कौन्तेय– हे कुन्तीपुत्र;पुनःजन्म– पुनर्जन्म;न– कभी नहीं;विद्यते– होता है।

भावार्थ : इस जगत् में सर्वोच्च लोक से लेकर निम्नतम सारे लोक दुखों के घर हैं, जहाँ जन्म तथा मरण का चक्कर लगा रहता है। किन्तु हे कुन्तीपुत्र! जो मे

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय आठ भगवत्प्राप्ति

मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दु:खालयमशाश्वतम् ।

नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ।। 15 ।।

माम्– मुझको;उपेत्य– प्राप्त करके;पुनः– फिर;जन्म– जन्म;दुःख-आलयम्– दुखों के स्थान को;अशाश्वतम्– क्षणिक;न– कभी नहीं;आप्नुवन्ति– प्राप्त करते हैं;महा-आत्मानः– महान पुरुष;संसिद्धिम्– सिद्धि को;परमाम्– परं;गताः– प्राप्त हुए।

भावार्थ : मुझे प्राप्त करके महापुरुष, जो भक्तियोगी हैं, कभी भी दुखों से पूर्ण इस अनित्य जगत् में नहीं लौटते, क्योंकि उन्हें परम स

By Jagdish Shyam Das

The ISKCON Youth Forum (IYF) Gaya, hosted its grand annual Youth Festival, “VIPLAVA – Glories of Vedic India,” on September 15, 2024, at Gaya, Bihar. Over 1,000 enthusiastic young devotee participants from across Bihar gathered for this transformative experience.

IYF has spent the last decade empowering young minds through seminars, festivals, and personal development initiatives. Its mission is to inspire the next generation to tap into their inner potential, cultivate serv

By Nandita Mehta

ISKCON’s Congregation Development Ministry is continually working to help temples and devotee communities grow and flourish by providing various preaching programs, such as Bhakti Vriksha, programs for children, and more. They also want to highlight the success stories from communities and events worldwide that would inspire devotees.

In this article, they highlight the expanding devotees’ service in the Whitefield area of Bangalore, which has grown into a large congregation of

भगवद्गीता यथारूप 108 महत्त्वपूर्ण श्लोक

अध्याय आठ भगवत्प्राप्ति

अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः ।

तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः ।। 14 ।।

अनन्य-चेताः– अविचलित मन से;सततम्– सदैव;यः– जो;माम्– मुझ (कृष्ण) को;स्मरति– स्मरण करता है;नित्यशः– नियमित रूप से;तस्य– उस;अहम्– मैं हूँ;सु-लभः– सुलभ, सरलता से प्राप्य;पार्थ– हे पृथापुत्र;नित्य– नियमित रूप से;युक्तस्य– लगे हुए;योगिनः– भक्त के लिए।

भावार्थ : हे अर्जुन! जो अनन्य भाव से निरन्तर मेरा स्मरण करता है उसके लिए मैं सुलभ हूँ, क्योंकि वह मेरी भ