Iskcon 50: Message from the EO (Executive officer – appointed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh) of the TTD = Tirumala Tirupati Devastaanams - the managing authority for the Tirupati “Balaji” (Srila Prabhupada told us – I visited Tirumala with him during April 1974 - for a brief 3 day visit - that “Balaji” means “Baal Krishna”, that is Lord Krishna’s childhood [baal] form.) temple - India’s most visited and wealthiest Hindu temple, congratulating ISKCON on ISKCON’s 50th anniversary.
Ti...

The glories of prasadam distribution (1 min video)
You won’t believe how many people are waiting in a looooong line to get a plate of prasadam!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/767Iz8

A Durga Puja Pandal in West Bengal resembling Temple of Vedic Planetaurium

Shastra Dana report for Sweden; August - September 2016.
Mukunda dasa: We distributed:
150 “Beyond Birth and Death”
60 "Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers”
8 Bhagavad-gitas
5 Krishna books
3 Srimad Bhagavatams
Panca-Tattva’s Shastra Dana program has now existed for seven years.
From August 2009 to September 2016 we have distributed approximately 17,000 books.
Srila Prabhupada wrote to Cyavana das on the 26th of December 1971: ”Distribution of books and magazines is our mos...

A wonderful service towards introducing Srila Prabhupada into schools (3 min video)
On the occasion of the appearance day of Srila Prabhupada and also celebrating 50 years of ISKCON’s Golden jubilee the youth initiative of ISKCON Pune GYST (Gita Youth Society for Transformation) distributed fruit sweets in 15 government schools of Pune.
Total 20,000 students got the sweets. Each student was given a card along with the sweets which contained the brief introduction of Srila Prabhupada and short summary of his teachings. Each school also receive...

Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
Bhakti Charu Swami: “Time and time again I am coming back to this point because it has become quite a common practice in India to present somebody as God or present oneself as God. We can see that those people didn’t even read Bhagavad-gita, and even if they did read, they didn’t understand Bhagavad-gita. The extent of their understanding of Bhagavad-gita is karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana. [Bg 2.47] “You work like a donkey and don’t worry about the results. Give the results to me”, ...

What is actual independence?
Niranjana Swami: Everybody really likes to be independent. It’s one of the characteristics of being in the material world is that we like our independence. We don’t want anybody telling us what to do. We don’t want to become completely dependent upon anybody, because to become completely dependent upon somebody in the material world is a sign of misfortune. As soon as you become completely dependent upon somebody then you are obliged, you have to do so many things - things that you don’t want to do, ...

The bond of friendship.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: I think that the only thing that can really bond us together is friendship. Just common acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Lord will bring us together from time to time – we will come together at the temple and festivals – but friendship will take us so much further. Because it is in friendship, in real friendship that we are going to stimulate each other so much more than by just being colleagues!
I have often given this example of how we can be together like colleagues. We are all devotees...

Donor Appreciation Day 2016 (Album with photos)
Govardhana Farms & Iskcon Govinda’s Herd: This past Saturday we organized a donor appreciation day for our special donors. It was a day especially for them to have fun with the cows and bulls. We arranged many different activities from feeding the cows and bulls treats, to lunch prasadam in the barn of course, a go-puja and kirtan. It was lots of fun. We really wanted to show our appreciation to our donors who support us and, in fact, keep our project “alive”. We wouldn’t be ab...

Harinama in Gorky Central Park (Moscow, Russia) (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the Age of Kali, there is no religious principle except chanting Krishna’s name. It has been ascertained from all the scriptures that Krishna’s holy name is the essence of all mantras. (Renunciation Through Wisdom, 5.1 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/aTYvUM

TOVP: Side Dome Kalashes update,
Sadbhuja Das: We have successfully installed the Kalash Dome frames on both of the small side ......

Bhagavad-gita’s commentary about contemporary issues
Urmila Devi Dasi: So, yeah, I’m a US citizen, so, yeah, I watched some highlights of the presidential debate and read/watched some commentary. Here’s Krishna’s commentary, from Bhagavad-gita:
Bg 16.4; 7-18 - “Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance-these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature. Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them. T...

Saturday Harinama Sankirtan Nectar in Cabramatta City, Sydney, Australia (Album with photos)
...

Yama Niyama das Brahmacari weights on the presidential elections (1 min video)
One of the deepest anarthas (dirty things in the heart) is to think that we can make this material world a better place by rearranging matter, whether by voting for a certain politician, political activism (as opposed to spiritual activism), arranging committees, commission, and councils, or taking some kind of self-help seminar. This is a clip from Yama Niyama das brahmacari (Ekendra das’s character) in a comedy bit performed at the Festival of Inspiration 2016.
Wa...

George Harrison on Chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra (1 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: It is the special mercy of the Supreme Lord that as soon as He knows that one is glorifying His name, fame and attributes, He personally helps cleanse the dirt from one’s heart. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12 Purport).
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/PhBHJG

Preaching program for children in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.17).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hS9653

This baby, Hari das, starts crying every time his father stops chanting the mahamantra :-)
Caitanya Bhagavatam Childhood Pastim......

Amazing Mexico City Harinam, Mexico (Album with photos)
Mexico City is for sure one of the best places for Harinam Sankirtan in the world. Culturally the people are very open minded and they readily join in chanting and dancing and easily take books without any inhibitions. Even death personified is ready to join in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan mission.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Rb59ZN

Old maps depicting Mayapur discovered (Album with photos)
Bhaktivedanta Research Centre: These maps were found within Sundaranand Vidyabinode collection. These images show a government map of Burdwan and Nadia districts from 1917-18, the year that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took sannyasa and began his preaching through the Gaudiya Matha.
Present day Mayapur in those days was called “Miapur bil” and was simply rice paddies.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/H5hrcl

Harinama at Byron Bay, Australia - 02 October 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: While dying, Ajamila chanted the holy......

Rathayatra in Witbank, South Africa (Album with photos)
Bhakti Caitanya Swami: We had a wonderful Rathayatra on Sunday in Witb......

This article has significance for all Russian preachers, but especially for foreigners preaching in Russia: The first known victims of Russia’s new anti-evangelism laws have been convicted and fined, according to the Forum 18 news service.
Two individuals, one a US citizen and one Ghanaian, have been heavily fined.
On October the 2nd one of them also lost the appeal against his conviction for evangelising.
An earlier case brought against a Hare Krishna devotee resulted in the acquittal of the accused, Vadim Sibiryev.
To read the entir...

Preaching program in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Keep your health in good condition and work very hard ......

Legendary rapper KRS-One expresses his appreciation for Krsna prasada (6 min video)
KRS-One, the award winning Hip Hop artist, who rose to international fame in the mid 90’s, made a visit to ISKCON Leicester today (Sunday 2nd October), while he was in the City for a show.
In a completely surprise visit, KRS-One, expressed his appreciation for prasada, telling the devotees that he used to receive prasada as a homeless youth in New York. “You never know who you are feeding…I was one of them,” he said.
After taking darshan ...