We live in a fool’s paradise when we think that money is the ambrosia for all our material sufferings. Rarely we are content with our accumulated wealth. “I want more is the common call”. Money is considered to be the gateway to name and fame, power and position. And in the quest to accumulate paper currency we compromise with our health and do not feel necessary to nurture relationships with our near and dear ones. Yes, money can empower us to buy material things of this mortal world. But money has severe limitations. Money c...

Generally, people are not educated in this confidential knowledge; they are educated in external knowledge. As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the ...

“In Vrndavana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord Krsna. Srimati Radharani is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Radharani is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Krsna, the Lord at once accepts the devotee's admittance into His association. T...

In the early 1960s, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement, was a simple Swami living in the village of Vrindavan, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Vrindavan, the land where five thousand years ago Lord Krishna grew up tending cows, is one of the most revered places in India and is central to practitioners of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Prabhupada’s life there was peaceful – retired from family life, he stayed in a spartan room in the Radha...

A gentleman who is involved in education in ISKCON, and for whom ISKCON functions as his religious institution was bemused when he made the decision to send his daughter for university studies. Some well meaning friends commented that going to the university was morally and religiously evil or contaminating. He asked us if we could write a little about this. As we began to discuss the topic a little we found that it is a common theme amongst many people who have ...

Hare Krsna Respected Devotees, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please find enclosed the 5th Issue, 3rd Volume for this year, of ISKCON Ministry of Education’s quarterly journal, Viplavah. We hope this edition will be useful and interesting to you in many ways. We look forward to being in touch with you. Please let us know if you would like to participate in educational projects facilitated by the ministry or would like to...

My dear godbrother and friend, Giriraja Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am not usually without words but glorifying you is challenging because there is so much to say and so little time to say it!  I could talk for hours about your extraordinary qualities as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, as well as reminiscing about our 30-year friendship which is one of the deepest and most satisfying in my life.

Mitrasena prabhu interviews Gunagrahi Goswami. Interesting facts from Iskcon's and older devotees' history. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes from the adventurous life of early Iskcon. Maharaj narrates how he first became devotee, his further involvement in the Krishna consciousness movement and also the beginning of many other devotees' devotional life like BB Govinda Swami, Mahatma prabhu, Prahladananda Swami and many others. A pleasant exchange by an unassuming, humbl...

The day begins early for visitors to Sridhama Mayapur. They wake many hours before the sun rises, anytime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., to bathe and prepare to go to the early morning mangalarati. At the temple, the pilgrims get in line and wait to enter the temple. Sometimes, the lines can reach up to 400 or 500 meters! After mangalarati is finished, the devotees in the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir disperse to various places to chant their japa or do service. The pilgrims are encouraged to stay in the temple and are engaged in chanting a round of japa by an enthusiastic ...

ISKCON's Governing Body Commissioner Anuttama Das speaking at the World Hindu Congress in Chicago, USA. On behalf of ISKCON he received the recognition by the World Hindu Congress for taking the message of Gita worldwide and introducing it to the ethnic community of the countries. The audience comprising of Head of States, Business leaders, Scholars, Celebrities along 2500 delegates from 60 countries appreciated the legacy of Srila Prabhupada.

“Victory! Victory! Victory! I behold something wonderful! All the inauspiciousness of the living entities is destroyed. No one is going to hell. Yamaraja has no more work to do and the effects of Kali-yuga have ceased to exist. This is because all over the world an increasing number of Lord Visnu’s devotees are singing His names while dancing and playing musical instruments.” [ Divya-prabandha, Tiruvaymoli 5.2.1 by Nammalvar, one of the twelve great Vaisnava ...

How is it possible that in the face of encroaching materialism and a culture of sense gratification, a process which preaches the reverse is spreading? How is it possible that as problems and suffering increase exponentially on the global scale, transcendental happiness is also increasing? How is it possible that in the darkest age of Kali-yuga, the most ecstatic process of bhakti-yoga is spreading? How is it possible that millions of books preaching the essence of l...

Stars of this world are mortal beings, they are infinitesimal. Their name and fame stays with them for a limited period of time. In fact Krishna is the original superstar because he has all beauty, all strength, all intelligence, all wealth, all renunciation and all fame. No one other than the Supreme Lord can possess all these qualities in totality. And along with this the Lord has the most important quality and i.e. he is Bhakta Vatsal i.e. he is very kind, very magnanimous, very loving...

For the last 33 years, an enthusiastic group of ISKCON Youth has worked together each year for an entire month before the annual Jhulan Yatra festival in Mayapur. In order to prepare for the festivities, these dedicated servants of Sri Sri Radha Madhava work day and night to ensure that the Divine Couple and Their associates will be well served during the 5 day festival. The Jhulan Yatra team turn a dense forest of weeds and overgrown trees and plants into a magnific...

The Indian State of Haryana witnessed the grand opening of it’s first Iskcon temple. Fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s desire of twelve Temples in Delhi NCR His Holiness Gopal Krsna Goswami Maharaja ji has taken the target exceedingly beyond that. Under his guidance has come up a Majestic, Regal, Grand Palace Temple in Bahadhurgarh; a busy town of Haryana.

In the purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.4.12, Srila Prabhupada nicely explains the art of fanning the spark of good qualities in another person. Here, Sati speaks to her father Daksha after he insulted her husband Lord Shiva. Before she quits her body in a blazing fire, she instructs her father as follows: "Twice-born Daksha, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Shiva, however, not only finds no faults with others' qualities, but if som...

All of the followers of Srila Prabhupada for generations to come to adhere to the guidance, association and serve the mission of His Divine Grace, while deepening one’s individual connection and relationship with and recognizing him as the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON and our primary Siksha Guru for all time. Always celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja as a grand event is the essential way to assure that this Vision is the present and future reality of...

It is said the test of a man’s greatness is to measure the long-term impact of his life and teachings—to see if his legacy continues to inspire and guide others after his passing from the world. Here are a few examples of the millions of Vaiṣṇavas who are carrying the Seven Purposes of your ISKCON Mission forward, proving that the life, teachings, and legacy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda continue to bring positive changes in the world...

Agnigarh, in the city of Tezpur, which lies north of Brahmaputra river, at a distance of 198 km (via Nagaon) and 181 km (via Mangaldoi) from Guwahati, is connected to Lord Krishna, Banasura and Lord Siva’s pastime. This is the place where Lord Krishna and Lord Siva had a great fight, and Lord Krishna cut off Banasura’s thousand arms. The name ‘Tezpur’ is derived from the Sanskrit words 'teza' (meaning blood) and 'pura' (meaning town or city). The original na...

Although 52 years have passed since the founding of ISKCON, the society is still growing. In 1965 Srila Prabhupada left the city then called Calcutta on a merchant steamer bound for New York. Only his son, Vrindavan Chandra De, was present to see him off. At age 60, Srila Prabhupada was carrying out the order of his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. The directive was to spread the glories of Lord Krishna to the English-speaking world. Srila Prabhupada...

The all merciful Lord Sri Gaur Hari, as He travelled from village to village throughout the south of India, continued to distribute love of Godhead wherever He went. Hearing the nectarean names of Hari from His lotus mouth, thousands and thousands men and women felt relief from the blazing fire of material existence. Various wretched, miserable and fallen souls lives were completely rejuvenated and thus they became virtuous and happy. While causing rains of love of God to fall anywhere and everywhere, without consideration of time or place, Sri Gaurasundor came to the ancie...

Use of fossil fuel can be described by the Vedic term “ughra karma” or greatly destructive work; but changing to other forms of energy does not address the real problem. Human beings will continue to be a major burden to the Earth until we acknowledge that we are not the owners of the Sun, wind, water or atoms; these are produced and owned by God, and any energy we derive from them must be used for His pleasure. However great the population may be, we are not a burden to the Earth when we use energy in Krishna’s service. But we cannot avoid adverse react...