By Giriraj Swami and Sri Prahlada dasa
In honor of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing the poem he wrote on the ship Jaladuta as he arrived in the Boston harbor.
Song [translation]:
1: My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.
2: But I guess You have some business here. Otherwise, why would You bring me to such a terrible place?
3: Most of the population here is covered
Srila Prabhupada: More one reads Bhagavad-gita the more he gets the appetite to read and understand it, and each time he gets new enlightenment. That is the nature of the transcendental message. Similarly, we find that transcendental happiness in the Śrimad-Bhagavatam. The more we hear and chant the glories of the Lord, the more we become happy.
SB 3.25.2, Translation and Purport: Śaunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Lord Himself. No one is more worshipable or more mature
By Tirtha Pavana das
Sochi, Moscow, summer 2017. GBC College steps out of India. It is the first time ever when GBC College was held outside of India, this time in Sochi, in the south of Russia. The Regional secretaries and the next generation of future leaders came together from all over Russia as well as some neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Belorussia and Turkmenistan to get inspiration and experience from the current GBC members and other senior devotees.
The residential involved
In Racitambara’s great desire to find the absolute truth, she traveled throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States studying different religions. Finally, she gave herself fully to God, knowing He would surely help her.
Racitambara Devi Dasi: I was 22 and it was November 17, 1972 when I left home with only the clothes on my back and the prayer, “Please, God, help me find You.” After about two hours of praying and walking in Vancouver, Canada, I was standing on the corner of Georgia and Gra
There comes a time, sometimes regularly, where we may feel, Oh, Krishna. I can’t do this anymore. This ‘this’ will be different for everyone. It happened to Arjuna in the Gita – he wanted to give up, not to fight, and go off to the forest to be alone. He did not want to deal with people and life’s problems. He told Krishna: I’m not fighting, I can’t do it, I can’t see the point, better if I don’t act and move to the side.
If it can happen to Arjuna, who had everything going for him, including
By Bhakti Charu Swami
A Vaishnava does not want to criticize anyone. For example, in Vrindavan, there was one very, very exalted Vaishnava.
One day, there was a mahotsava, a festival. Many people were invited. This person noticed that one Vaishnava was not there, so he questioned what happened to him.
Somebody said that he has done this and that, so we did not invite him. This very senior Vaishnava got up and started to walk to the door. When asked why he was leaving, he said, “For such a smal
Real independence means complete faith in the mercy of the Lord without dependence on the condition of matter.
Srimad bhagavatam, srila prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada highlighted the importance of actual independence in our life. We need to have faith on our Sri Krishna. We have to practice our spiritual duties sincerely. We must give priority to the spread of iskcon either through writing, lecture, video presentation etc. We need to be aware of the divine teachings by regularly reading the iskcon li
Krishna can change anything, therefore we worship Him as the greatest Scientist. If a man knows swimming, he can stay up. So if a man has this much power, what to speak of God. So we see that Ramachandra has the art how to make stones float. It is a question of knowing the art. Art means the display of intellectual energy. Everywhere we can see intelligence in everything. So the lord knows the art of everything, so He can change anything, we cannot.
Letter to Rupanuga, May 03, 1972.
Srila Prabhupa
A pure devotee has no demand from the lord. His only concern is to serve the lord sincerely and seriously and he is not at all concerned about what will happen in the future.
Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.9.29
Krishna consciousness teaches the devotee to pray Sri Krishna from the bottom of the heart. The heart becomes pure after chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra for some time. A scientific study of the brain done by the researchers have revealed that it helps us be steady and cool in this fast changing worl
So many people are suffering for want of a good leader throughout the whole world. (MORNING TALK,APRIL 25, 1977, BOMBAY).
A leader is important for every country. Without the leader, the life of a common man will not improve. We need to work on our leadership skills. We can definitely learn from youtube. We can get a large number of Spiritual leaders of Iskcon and get the guidance of Srila Prabhupada from youtube.com. We will come to know how to spread the Krishna consciousness among the millions
By Sacinandana Swami
One may ask why Indra was so angry? There are 1000s of Indra yajnas all over the world. No one in the Svarga has ever seen him so angry. Though he has 1000 eyes he was blinded and could not see Krsna. The intoxication that blinded him was not wine or honey, but false ego.
The moment you are proud, you lose your vision.
Humility grants perception of reality.
In the words of the Bhagavatam, “the earth appears spinning due to one’s spinning his eyes around” – that happens due
By: Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on Sept. 1, 2017
Teacher Mani Manjari Dasi (front right) guides children in summer activities in the Little Avanti classroom
As part of the efforts to revitalize New Vrajamandala, a beautiful 300-hectare farm near Guadalajara, Spain, devotees are set to open a primary school affiliated with the renowned Avanti Foundation in the UK on January 8th, 2018.
New community president Yadunandana Swami, who formerly served as principal in Belgium’s Bhaktivedanta C
Sept. 7, 2017, Lisbon, Portugal.
World Holy Name Week starts on Sept. 9th and culminates on Sept. 17.
“Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston, USA, and I began my celebration of World Holy Name Week early by a series of Harinam events in Boston. Even after the long flight today from Boston, USA, I felt fresh and inspired in the sea breeze of the port city of Lisbon, Portugal. The locals and tourists were blissfully smiling, waving, dancing, taking selfies with us and chanting along with us in the
We are now calling for nominations for the ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for 2017. The IEEA recognizes the sincere service of devotees who have dedicated their lives to the mission of Srila Prabhupada within Europe. These awards are to encourage such exemplary devotees and also to inspire all other devotees by their example.
*IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NOMINATIONS*
1. Nominations can be made by anyone but the nomination should be endorsed by a temple president or an authority who is eq
Deity forms of Sri Sri Radha Krishna came to us this month - gifts from a kind pujari in Radha Kunda. Gandharvika Giridhari are their names. To celebrate Janmastami, we worshipped them with an abhiseka bath, kirtan and arati. Then we fed 120 Radha Kunda widows a sumptuous feast and gave gifts of clothing, sweets, and laksmi to them and to our workers. We were grateful for Tulsi Mataji’s service to our ladies during her visit to Radha Kunda. Thanks also to you, our sponsors who made this festiva
Paramatma: God as the Source of Inspiration and Insight.
By the late Dr. T.D. Singh.
According to Vedanta [summative Vedic techings], the Supreme Lord expands and accompanies each and every living entity in order to guide his/her activities. This is seen in the form of inspiration or a sudden flash of insight experienced by scientists at the time of discovery, and by poets and artists in different circumstances.
Let us consider the example of a spaceship. We make these spaceships and send th
