Some time back I was offered a gift - Caitanya Caritamrta, a multi-volume set of books which cradle eternal knowledge in biography format... the biography and philosophy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu who lived from 1486 to 1533 as a Vaisnava Saint; He founded the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. Because of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Russell Brand chants the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra in 2017; Because of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, food is distributed for free every Sunday at temples around the United States of America (a program created by one of Caitanya Mahapra...

In Srimad-Bhagavatam culture, there is not such a breakdown between prosaic reality and poetic metaphor. Actual reality is far more enchanted and magical and strange than our modern scientific, mechanistic, deracinated conception. Things that we think of as concepts -- like fear, love, intelligence, decay and so on -- are actually living beings who can interact with other, similar beings. The universe is full of demons, demigods, ghosts, goblins, sages, yogis, siddhas, gandharvas, caranas, apsaras, humans, animals, plants, and all kinds of mystical beings....

Sam Surya goes to his city’s orphanage one day and makes a large donation. Elsewhere in town, Andy Andhakara robs a bank. What led these two to make such drastically different choices? Was it their own volition, or the force of some other factor? In other words, were their actions predetermined, or did Sam and Andy have free will? These questions concern one of the pivotal debates in Western philosophy. Are human beings destined to follow a set course? Are we like children on an amusement ...

According to the shastra, the way to counteract the very deeply strong tendency for possessiveness in the grihastha life is to giving charity to the Vaishnavas and the brahmans, to the mission of the guru. According to the shastra, the first fifty percent you have give it to your guru’s mission. And then whatever else you have, maintain, that is the ideal standard. You never be possessive if you do that, because the first priority with whatever you get goes to Guru and Krishna. You cannot do fifty percent; you should aspire to come as c...

I was born and brought up in a Hindu family in Delhi, and we used to go to various temples and offer prayers before the gods. Two questions, however, always tickled my mind: Why do we worship so many gods, and who is the real God? As I never got answers to my questions, I considered all the gods equal, and in my teenage years all religions and faiths became one for me. Be it Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, or Christianity, all pointed towards one God. ...

To spread Krishna’s teaching abroad required someone who was both an exemplar of the Bhakti tradition yet flexible enough to adapt its teachings to a world governed by science and technology. Abhay had that balance: a devotee raised in strict Vaishanva fashion yet also educated in chemistry and economics, a person with his feet on the ground and his heart surrendered to God. He had no pretenses about being sent by Krishna, but his determination to do what his guru h...

So today, appearance day of Lord Nrisimhadeva. Lord Nrisimhadeva appeared on this Nrisimha Caturdasi on account of His devotee, Prahlada. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, abhyutthanam adharmasya [Bg. 4.7]. Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca dushkritam, sambhavami yuge yuge [Bg. 4.8]. The Lord appears with two purposes. Paritranaya sadhunam: just to give protection and rescue the devotees, and to kill the demons, vinasaya ca dushkritam. So Prahlada Maharaja, five-years-old boy, his only fault was th...

One day whilst in Malaysia I received a phone call. The lady speaking had a strong accent so I couldn't understand her, but she mentioned my wife's name and said "heart attack."

Being labeled Lord Nrsimhadeva’s pujari in Mayapur, I have been asked to recount some stories in connection with Him, but unlike the sastras (scriptures), these “lilas” (pastimes) have no authority except for the testimony of the devotees who told them. In most cases there were no other witnesses. Although I am generally quite skeptical when it comes to accepting other people’s mystical experiences as truth, just too many things started happening recently, not to sit up and take notice.

It was appearing like a flower garland on the chest of Nrsimhadeva. It seems as if a lion had killed an elephant. So many of Hiranyakasipu’s soldiers came out to fight against the Lord, but the Lord, with His sharp nails, tore them apart and all were killed. There are many descriptions. “Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mouth and mane were sprinkled with drops of blood, and His fierce eyes, full of anger, were impossible to look at. Licking the edge of His mouth with His tongue, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nrsimhadeva, decorated with a garland of intestines taken from ...

The magic of the Deities' loving reciprocation in this unique abode is wonderful. One time we bought a crystal necklace with large pendant for Lord Nrsimhadev, but never saw Him wear it. My wife prayed to Him "Please let me know what I could buy for You that You will like to wear." The next day when she came to see Him, the merciful Lord was wearing the crystal necklace

“My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (SB 1.8.26)

This is for all of our preachers in the Far East. May it give them more preaching information to use in their location to help convince people of their connection with Vedic culture. Bharatvarsha’s beginnings go back to a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results or influence that is seen today around the world, in the main, were not achieved by military expeditions or conquest, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching, and thereby all the more permanent. This is especially the case when it is generally seen that people who are forced to change cultures ...

This handbook and accompanying curriculum, which are to be used enjointly, have been compiled under the direct order of the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. Their contents are based wholely on the inspiration, guidance and wisdom of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder acarya of ISKCON. This humble attempt has been made in the service of any aspiring devotee and future disciple of the authorised ISKCON Acaryas. We pray to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Srila Rupa Gosvami that this work may be ...

“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” (Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.41) Even though I wasn’t born in India, I’d like to take Lord Chaitanya’s instruction to heart. I’m an Indian-American in touch with Srila Prabhupada’s philosophy, so I feel well equipped with both cultures.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura indicates that rather than trying to separate conditioned souls by materialistic distinctions, one should bring them together to chant the holy names of the Lord and propagate the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya. A nondevotee, or even an envious third-class devotee, is not interested in uniting people on the platform of love of Godhead. Instead he unnecessarily separates them by emphasizing material distinctions like “communi...

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...

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 invaluable lessons, guiding us on the journey of life.

In terms of our personalities and abilities, no two of us are alike. Why should we be? And why would anyone want us to be? Variety, Srila Prabhupada tells us, is the mother of enjoyment. Whatever our personality, whatever our talents, Prabhupada wants us to use them in Krishna's service. Yet when we learn from Prabhupada's teachings that women are to be chaste, tolerant, shy, and subservient, it may seem that while men have variegated personalities, women's personaliti...

My wife showed an equal disinterest in religious matters. Although she would attend religious functions held in her village, her main purpose was to entertain herself with some singing and dancing that's all. But one day, in 2008, she met an ISKCON devotee who hailed from our village. This devotee was trying to establish Krishna consciousness here, and my wife was very much influenced by him. She immediately adopted the devotional principles whole heartedly and repeatedly urged me to ta...

Like a beautiful palace with a closed door the dhama also requires a key to grant us entrance. This is chanting the Name. According to Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura it is chanting the Holy Name with loving affection