So this is one of the two verses which are used in the beginning of Caitanya-caritamrta by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami to introduce us to Advaita Acarya. The chapter then goes on to explain how Advaita Acarya is the second branch of the tree of Caitanya Mahaprabhu - the first branch of course being Lord Nityananda and the main trunk being Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Vasanta Pancami marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated in a great splendor. Many types of bright yellow flowers were offered to the Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. Following in the footsteps of the Vrajvasis, Krsna’s lotusform was painted with special designs and a special arati was performed for the Lorsdships. Srimati Radharani & Astasakhis appeared as blossoming flowers wearing glowing yellow garments and bright yellow flowers

As the new year approaches, the newspapers and different magazines get flooded with columns on the forecast for the coming year for people born under different star influences or star signs. Everybody seems to be reading it with great interest. The mysticism of the unknown and desire to explore it is very fascinating indeed

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established ISKCON when it consisted of one rented storefront in New York City. He wrote purposes for his new society—to teach spiritual knowledge, consciousness of our existence as a soul part of the Supreme Godhead Krishna, and a simpler natural way of life

Devotee serving at Sahyadri Sri Krishna Balarama Ksetra (SSKBK) in South Karnataka, the rural base for the ISKCON Daiva Varmasrama Ministry (IDVM) conducted the long awaited opening at their new goshala today, January 24, 2012, naming it SAHYADRI SURABHI GOSHALA

ISKCON Ujjain is the 1st temple in Ujjain city to have full-time LIVE broadcast of all its temple programs from the time it opens to the time it closes. It was all put together in just a matter of few months and successfully launched on November 22, 2011- Also the 1st temple to be fully Solar Powered in Ujjain!

At the end of 2010, the Toronto Sankirtan Team set an ambitious goal to distribute a minimum of 35,000 books during 2011. This seemed like a tall task given that it was more than three times the number of books distributed in the whole of 2009! But as Srila Prabhupada emphatically said, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.”

After much anticipation, Mayapur Chandra's headed by H.G. Naru Gopal prabhu reached Damodardesh on December 27th to welcome in the New Year with a 10 day Mayapur Kirtan festival. The days were packed with daily music classes for the local youth

Have any of us ever thought that high living is possible within a spiritual domain like Iskcon? There is such a thing as rising high, and living high, but not in the way that some of our corporate methods of management might teach us. Improper use of such management will lead to low living. Is this really possible among devotees who have high spiritual aspirations?

A new temple complex dedicated to Sri Lakshmi Narasimha is coming up in a half acre complex in the eastern part of Bangalore. This project is dedicated to Srila Prabhupada and is being promoted and built by followers of Srila Prabhupada

ISKCON Nellore organized its first Lord Jagannath Rathayatra on the 21st Jan 2012, which was very successful. Srila Prabhupada visited Nellore from Jan 3-8th in the year 1976 and personally installed the foundation stone there. By the blessings of Srila Prabhupada and all the Vaishnavas, His Holiness Sukhadev Maharaj has built a nice temple in Nellore

Earlier this month “Exploring the Bhagavad gita: Philosophy, Structure and Meaning,” a new book written by ISKCON Academy of Arts and Sciences member Dr. Ithamar Theodor, and released by leading academic publisher Ashgate, was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011

Primary School students from Sri Mayapur International School recently went on parikrama with H.H Bhakti Purushottam Maharaja. They visited Surabhi Kunja, Bhaktivinod Thakur's house, Hamsa Vahan, Nainasaranya and Puskar tirtha. As they went to each holy place their kirtan attracted the attention of the local residents who followed the procession and joined in the chanting

For around a Month, this 25 Brahmacharis of Iskcon Chowpatty went out in 3 sankirtan buses to distribute Srila Prabhupad books in december all around India. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupad they were able to distribute this december around 100 thousand (1 Lakh) literatures of which 28,800 are mahabig books

A unique second festival will be held alongside the world-famous Mayapur Festival this year in West Bengal, India. On behalf of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission, the GBC’s Strategic Planning Team will organize the first International Leadership Sanga (ILS) from February 10th to 17th

When a butterfly sneezes in Africa, there is a hurricane in Caribbean Sea. This is true not just of stock markets but even in the real world that we live in. It brings out how fragile our systems are. A fall in subprime sector in the US melted down scores of sectors and economies across the globe; many big companies closed down, giant financial organizations turned paupers and sold out

In 1972, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada sent two young devotees to South Africa to set up the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). It was decided that Rsi Kumar Swami and Ksudhi Das Brahmacari would be the first ISKCON devotees to travel to South Africa and establish Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement

As the Gaura Purnima Festivities are approaching, this means more and more devotees will be making Mayapur their destination. As we all know, the mode of transportation that many people prefer to take to reach Mayapur from Kolkata is a car. So devotees may be wondering where is the best place that they can book their transportation

The North American Temple Presidents Meetings convened last week in our Dallas temple. This is the annual opportunity for tp's in the US and Canada to connect with the NA GBC and with each other, to get informed of what the GBC are working on, hear about successful programs, share information and get informed about national programs

The kitchen clean up took place after a prasadam feast hosted by ISKCON devotees in Israel on Saturday night, January 14, 2012. The program presented Krishna consciousness to prominent members of the Druze community at a banquet hall on Mt. Carmel, Israel

The BBT would like to sincerely thank everyone who responded to our invitation to give us your thoughts on the proposed third edition of Teachings of Lord Caitanya. We received about thirty-five comments and some good advice on how to handle presenting the third edition. The majority of devotees who wrote support the third edition, while others offered some cautions

Next month will be 9 years since we opened our Vrinda Kunda Temple! To celebrate we will do special parikramas to the Holy Places of Braja. The program will culminate with our famous Kalash Yatra, an ecstatic Sankirtan procession with the ladies carrying water pots with coconuts on their heads. Programs will be going on from 4-19 Feb with the main parikrama days between 8 and 19

What is the best way to relate to other people? What is the secret to success? How can we make others do whatever we wish them to do? This may sound like advertising for some success book, the kind which never really answer our question but only promote the sales of its author. But in this exposé we are going to give it all out to the reader. Those who know the secret of love can be successful preachers. They can have successful relationships with one another and can know the pleasure of being liked

The Honorable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago accompanied by Foreign Minister, Surujrattan Rambachan and ministers of her cabinet visited ISKCON Juhu on 13th January 2012 and took darshan of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radharasabihariji, Sri Sri Gaur Nitaiji and Sri Sri Sita Ram Laxman Hanumanji. Also accompanying them was famous cricketer Brian Lara

The 2012 North American Governing Body and Temple President meetings opened on January 13, in Dallas, Texas, with more than sixty leaders from across the US and Canada in attendance. During the meeting it was noted, in a somber tone, that the Youth Fund, i.e. the funds required to settle the child abuse lawsuit that was filed in 2000 against some NA ISKCON temples, has been successfully fulfilled

Krishna was also named “Gopal” because of his service to the cows. Krishna would take the cows in the forests and would even milk cows while staying in Braj. He treated cows with utmost care. When he would play flute cows would stop eating and start crying. As Krishna went to Mathura cows would not even eat, they were deeply saddened by krishna’s absence

The incident will always be fresh in my mind. I had been a practicing devotee for ten years, eight of which were in the sacred holy land of Sri Dham Mayapur in India. Little did I know that Krishna would be sending me the test of my life, the test of chanting His holy names

On 10th January at the conclusion of our 40-day marathon HH Indradyumna Swami and HH Veda Vyasa Priya Swami presented the devotees who were engaged in book distribution with gifts, garlands and mahaprasadam as a token of appreciation for their valuable service

Soon after I joined iskcon, in England in 1975, I got the association of Prabhavisnu Dasa, who was the unofficial leader of the brahmacaris and respected by all. Although he was soft-spoken, his devotional qualities and leadership abilities endeared him to others. He was special

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Prabhavisnu Prabhu recently resigned from his ISKCON services as initiating guru and GBC member and has given up his sannyasa vows

To my dear disciples and any other devotees who may be interested, Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupad! By now most of you will have gotten the news about my situation and perhaps read the general letter that I sent out to ISKCON devotees.