He was the author of Shri Gita Govinda, which is mentioned by Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami in the Chaitanya Charitamrita as follows (CC ML 2/11): “Day and night, in the company of Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya, Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to hear with great ecstasy the songs of Vidyapati and Chandidas, as well as a drama composed by Ramananda Raya.

When a family adheres to a spiritual program and cooperates to manage the household, the burden of stress and frustration is lightened. A disciplined devotional routine creates a more gentle flow to family life and an atmosphere where Krsna consciousness can flourish. We should regulate our play, rest, exercise, and worship in a way that will help us develop our attitude of service toward guru and Krsna. Although following a sadhana program as strictly at home as one would in a temple may be a challenge, we can stick to a modified program. Your schedule may prevent you f...

Krishna can see everything inside our heart. Even though we may be listening Hari Katha, it is plainly obvious to Krishna whether we do so out of eagerness or an obligation. So we should ask ourselves, “Are we relishing Krishna Consciousness?” When we chant more do we feel like chanting more? Does our absorption in hearing Hari Katha give rise to such profoundness that we forget to take Prasadam? If yes, then we are advancing spiritually, without any doubt. If it is one’s genuine experience that “Yes. I am relishing Hari Katha, topics about Hari,” then that is the higher taste.

You need to use your body, sit properly or dance. Then you need to pronounce the mahamantra. You need to focus your mind. No inattention. Prabhupada said just try to listen to yourself chant sincerely. And you need to think of Krishna, whose name your chant. Yes, you need to bind, it’s called sambandha to Krishna. And you need to bring the mood of longing, O Krishna, I miss you! If you chant without thinking of Krishna, like most people do, you’ll only have sha...

Well, this was Prabhupada’s, Bhaktivedanta Swami’s formula for action. He always said... If you’ve ever read Bhagavad-gita, on the battlefield where Arjuna is asking Krishna, the Supreme Person, “What should I do?” Krishna gives him the blueprint for action, that our actions should be for God and to aim for the highest thing, the best thing, the most powerful thing you can do for Him in your service. So that’s the theme.

In other words, the influence of false ego in this world is so powerful that it is extremely difficult to overcome. In fact the hindrance in the path of devotional life is nothing but false ego. Therefore as long as false ego remains, it is difficult to make progress on the path of devotional life - in the path of bhakti yoga. It is always easy from this conception for everybody to blame others and think himself or herself to be right and the other person to be wrong. This tendency becomes very prominent. We have to realise that the progress in devotional l...

The most extraordinary story ever told, who actually is Srila Prabhupada? His message & mission is the most crucial & critical message for humankind in the history of the world, Srila Prabhupada seemed to know that he would have temples filled up with devotees. He would look out and say: “I am not a poor man, I am rich. There are temples and books, they are existing, they are there, just time is separating us from them.”

Ishopanishad teaches us that we should be very careful. We don't say that you shouldn't advance in material education. You can advance, but at the same time, become Krishna conscious. That is our propaganda. We don't say that you shouldn't manufacture cars or machines. But we say, "All right, you have manufactured this machine. Employ it in Krishna's service." That is our proposal. We don't say to stop it. We don't say that you cannot have any sex life. But...

Mistakes why we make them and how we can rectify them? To err is human … " so goes the saying. Safely we can add three more details to the list: tendency to fall under illusion, cheating propensity and imperfect senses. A conditioned soul is bound by these imperfections, but in this article I will focus on the tendency to commit mistakes. All of us make mistakes. Srila Prabhupada says that to make a mistake is not wrong, but to make a mistake and not learn from it, that is wrong.

Two months later, on Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa-puja day - 9 September 1966 - Srila Prabhupada held the first initiations in ISKCON. Michael Grant became Mukunda Dasa and Jan became Janaki Dasi, Srila Prabhupada's first woman initiate and one of three ISKCON trustees. Three days later, Prabhupada performed a marriage ceremony for them. In those early years, Prabhupada established a personal, warm rapport with each of his disciples and nurtured them in spiritual life. This was true of both men and women.

In the Vedanta-sutra it is said that sabda liberates us. When we say Hare Krishna, all the potency of Godhead is there. It is like being in the presence of the Lord, like reading all the Vedas, like seeing the spiritual world, like hearing all of Krishna’s pastimes, like understanding the philosophy if you know how to connect with the sound. That is the challenge: connecting with the sabda. because with any kind of relationship there has to be more than transmission; there has to be reception. If the other person isn’t receiving, then the relationship is not working. I...

From the scriptures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, we are aware of the histories of pure devotees who have shown us the way of total surrender to Lord Krishna. When Duhsasana tried to disrobe Draupadi, she held on to her sari with her own strength. She wanted to save herself from disgrace in the assembly. Only when her full endeavor could not help her anymore did she lift both hands and surrender to Krishna, begging Him to save her. That was her expression of total surrender. The scriptures also give the surrendering histories of devotees such as Bal...

Anyone who is a bona fide preacher of the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must be respectful to the real devotees of Lord Caitanya; one should not be envious, considering one preacher to be very great and another to be very lowly. This is a material distinction and has no place on the platform of spiritual activities. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, therefore, offers equal respect to all the preachers of the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are compared to the branches of the tree.

“A Vaisnava does not take birth under the jurisdiction of karmic law. His birth and disappearance are transcendental. The wise have declared that the servants of Visnu are eternally engaged in the liberated service of the Lord and hence are free from the laws of material nature.” (Padma Purana, quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, 10.113) Srila Jiva Gosvami was the youngest but most prolific writer among the Gosvamis. He wrote an astounding half million Sanskrit verses (about 25 books). When...

Another story fabricated to defame Srila Jiva Gosvami states that when Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami showed him the newly-completed manuscript of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Jiva Gosvami thought that it would hamper his reputation as a big scholar and therefore threw it in a well. Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was greatly shocked, according to this story, and he died immediately. Fortunately a copy of the manuscript of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta had been kept by a person named Mukunda, and therefore later it was possible to publish the book. This story is another ignominious example of bla...

The great sage Narada Muni while advising his disciple, the great Vyasa Maharaja says, "Learned circles have positively concluded that the infallible purpose of the advancement of knowledge, namely austerities, study of the Vedas, sacrifice, chanting of hymns and charity, culminates in the transcendental descriptions of the Lord, who is defined in choice poetry." This means even a field like pure mathematics should be used to make others aware about the greatness of God.

Etymologically analyzed, nara means of Narayana or the Lord (Krsna), and da means deliverer. Narada is the deliverer of the Lord and the Lord’s message. Of course there are countless preachers, gurus, evangelists, mendicants and religious representatives traveling all throughout this planet, but Narada Muni is eminently distinguished. His pupils include the greatest devotees. Also, he is not restricted to one planet, but has the facility to travel to any part of the universe without the aid of a spaceship. Most importantly, Narada teaches the topmost process of God realization�...

I learned how to offer at a young age. When I didn’t want to carry the freshly ironed clothes upstairs my mother would cheerfully say, “Offer it up!”. There was no choice about having to do it but she was suggesting where I put my mind in the process. She was teaching me to offer this small activity to God. Those three words stayed with me, and when I was later introduced to Krishna consciousness, the same concept from my childhood appeared to me in Krishna’s teachings. Wha...

Maybe you are one of the millions of people who question whether education should be student-centered or teacher-centered. Perhaps, you have gone a step further, and are among the thousands who promote the idea that education should be knowledge-centered. If you are really rare, perhaps you sense that education is perfected when it becomes relationship-centered. Even if you find yourself among this particular crowd, to say you know the actual central purpose of education would still be a hard case to make.

As we settle into the rhythm of the New Year here are some pocket meditations to carry with us every day. These small reminders can bring quality to our lives and thus help us feel more alive. As the Joseph Campbell quote goes - “I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” For those practicing bhakti, that means being alive to our relationship with Krishna and others. It’s all about relationship. Nothing mystical in these meditations, but things that can surely, when applied to the prac...