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A Pilgrim’s Day in Sridhama Mayapur

The day begins early for visitors to Sridhama Mayapur. They wake many hours before the sun rises, anytime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., to bathe and prepare to go to the early morning mangalarati. At the temple, the pilgrims get in line and wait to enter the temple. Sometimes, the lines can reach up to 400 or 500 meters!

After mangalarati is finished, the devotees in the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir disperse to various places to chant their japa or do service. Th

Srila Prabhupada’s ingenuity!
Ramesvara das: What Srila Prabhupada did was so ingenious, it has to be appreciated from a historical point of view. No one in modern history has ever made philosophy books popular for the mass market. So what Prabhupada did was a stroke of genius and he should be described as…this should be understood to be part of Prabhupada’s genius in knowing how to popularize Krsna consciousness. That he combined the world’s deepest philosophy with paintings. And the paintings

George Harrison placed a Hare Krishna sticker on the headstock of Eric Clapton’s famous guitar—the red Gibson ES-335 that he played throughout his career until auctioning it for charity to benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a residential-care facility dedicated to the treatment of drug and alcohol dependency and addiction.

“‘I think this is the star of the show,’ Clapton said prior to the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Auction at Christie’s, where it sold for $847,500. Even though the guitar was

During my school days in the 1960s, it wasn’t difficult to see that the modern education system was a kind of slaughterhouse for the mind and intellect, a place where individuals were reduced to packaged goods to be consumed by an exploitative society. At age fourteen I decided to become an artist/naturalist, which meant spending lots of time absent from school but present in my local library, and exploring riverbanks, shorelines,

God is our supreme father, and one of His energies, nature, is our mother. A mother nourishes her child with the milk from her body, and she also sees to the overall development of her child by imparting proper culture and education. Similarly Mother Nature cares for her innumerable children by providing grains, fruits, flowers, and medicinal herbs, and she showers her motherly affection on us by giving inva

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View this email in your browser Есть ли рост в вашей духовной жизни? Для того, чтобы маленькое семечко проросло и превратилось в плодоносящее дерево необходимо преодолеть большой путь. Семя, оказавшись в дикой природе, может не прорасти, если оно попадет на каменистую почву вместо плодородной. Чтобы оно проросло и превратилось в росток, необходимы определенные условия. Ему может быть слишком мало или слишком много воды, недостаточно солнечного света, температура м

Lecture given in Vrindavan, India, November 12, 1976

To attain bhakti, or pure devotional service to the Lord, one must come to the point of desiring nothing else.

matto ’py anantat paratah parasmat
svargapavargadhipater na kinchit
yesham kim u syad itarena tesham
akinchananam mayi bhakti-bhajam

[Lord Rshabhadeva said:] “I am fully opulent, almighty, and superior to Lord Brahma and Indra, the king of the heavenly planets. I am also the bestower of all happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom

There has been an attempt to explain the origins of such languages as Sanskrit, Greek and Roman for many years. This is because there has been a recognition of many similarities between them, but the exact original language which they have derived from has never been identified. So they say that it is now extinct, but they call it the Proto-Indo-European Language (PIE). This has now given way to the groupings of many other languages that are now included in what has become the “family” of 439 l

Balabhadra Das: The photo of Srila Prabhupada eating Sugar cane was taken in the first preaching center in Hawaii in an area named Kaaawa in March of 1969. It was Srila Prabhupada’s first visit to Hawaii and Govinda Dasi had arranged many preaching programs. We had borrowed Vamanadadev’s car and driven Srila Prabhupada into town(Honolulu) to KPOI radio station where Srila Prabhupada was going to be interviewed and talk about the chanting of Hare Krsna. Goursundar drove and Govinda dasi sat in t

In a bid to make the inauguration ceremony of Tehatta sub-divisional court building in Nadia district auspicious, the devotees of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Mayapur were invited by Hon’ble District Judge Smt. Rai Chatterjee on 1st of September 2018. The function was attended by top notch dignitaries from legal field, government ministers and administrative machinery. The guests included Hon’ble Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Sri Jyotirmay Bhattacharya, Zonal Judge Hon

The Greatest Friend of Everyone

Birbal, the favourite minister of Emperor Akbar, was an uncommon man of sound common sense. Many were the scintillating conversations the two had together; time seemed to fly when Akbar was in his company.

One day Akbar said to Birbal, “I marvel at some of the fantastic beliefs that you Hindus hold. You believe that the Lord comes to this earth in the garb of a human being – what an absurd notion this is!”

“What is so absurd about it, sire?” asked Birbal. “The Cr

Dearest Srila Prabhupada: Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you!

Today we are celebrating my favorite day of the year: the day of your advent within this material world 122 years ago. In a moment of intimacy you once shared with one of my godbrothers the reason for your appearance. You were sitting in the quarantine hall at Bombay airport after arriving from Africa. Immigration officials had denied you entry because your servant had forgotten your yellow fever vaccination card.

"Dear members of ISKCON!
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to the Previous Acharyas! All glories to the divine appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna!

I have been asked to speak a few words on the occasion of Lord Krishna’s appearance day; Krishna Janmastami. Just now some of you are distributing books, some are taking care of the Deities, some are chanting, some are cooking, in all different parts of the world. As members of ISKCON, we are all parts o

Cancer is becoming a more and more common disease, also amongst devotees. Infact, it is becoming one of the main causes leading to death. Dealing now with this diagnose for the second time inspires me to try and share some little insights, hoping that it might help others who will be facing a similar situation.

As a rule, this diagnose of cancer is the most horrifying news to people, leading to utter bewilderment, depression and devastation. However, a devotee can nicely turn such material cala

Srila Prabhupada considered publishing books about Krishna his life's mission. Amidst managing an international society, he would rise early and spend several hours each morning translating sacred texts from Sanskrit or Bengali into English with elaborate purports, carefully combining the commentaries of previous masters with his own realizations. To name a few: Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the definitive teachings of Lord Krishna. Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), the history of Krishna's incarn