So my sister bluntly expressed to Srila Prabhupada that she wanted to leave. She told him that “When you are here, everything is fine; but when you leave, everything becomes harder to deal with, especially the men, and I don’t want to do it.” I looked at Srila Prabhupada, whose eyes glistened with tears of love. I was also crying—we all were. With a combination of deep love and gravity, he said: Please do not leave. We have the best philosophy. You will not find a better philosophy in this world. There is nothing like the knowledge that we have in Krishna Consciousnes...

Saranagati is the chief symptom of a devotee. Saranagati should be complete. The symptoms of it are there. One should have firm faith, drdah visvas, that “avasya raksibe krsna”, Krishna will protect me. If you have no faith, you cannot achieve the goal; asraddhadanah purusah… says the Gita: You’ll have to come back in this mortal world. The Vedic siddhanta is that everything is based on firm faith, sastriya sraddha. Saranagati, unconditional surrender, is the life of the devotee, through which the most difficult to achieve krsna-prema is obtained, by the mercy of the magnanimous Gau...

The title is meant to call attention to the fact that this question assumes the either/or fallacy. Pusta Krishna: He said that morning "What can we do, Prabhupada?" He said, "What can we do? If we do not compromise, we will make enemies." Prabhupada: No, you'll not compromise; at the same time, you'll not make enemies. That is tactics. If you make enemies, then what is your tactics? You must speak the truth; at the same time he'll not be displeased (Morning walk, 6/11/1974).

At the second annual Rathayatra in Wheeling, West Virginia – New Vrindaban’s neighboring city – on July 8th, over two-and-a-half thousand locals delighted in Lord Jagannath’s parade. When interviewed they said they loved the energy, prasadam, trying out japa meditation, and the family-friendly activities. Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliot spoke at the event, saying he was honored New Vrindaban had chosen Wheeling for the Festival and praising the diversity it brought to the community; Congresswoman Erikka Storch thanked devotees for sharing their culture and tradition. ...

His Grace Udayananda Prabhu recalls Srila Prabhupada’s final days: “One day Prabhupada said, ‘I’ve given you this big ISKCON movement. If you can, please expand it.’ He said, ‘At least maintain it. Don’t let this decrease.’ Then he said, ‘Please cooperate,’ as he said so many times before. And then Prabhupada started to cry. Everyone in the room started crying. That was probably the most painful moment of my life, to see Prabhupada cry. So we have this movement. It’s Prabhupada’s movement. We have the good, we have the bad, and we have...

I dread the thought of leaving this world with anything less than shouting the Holy Names - or, at least, having someone doing that to me. I cannot allow myself to think that 70 is old, or limiting, or time to wind down - not when Srila Prabhupada showed that it was a benchmark to pick up the pace like a runner sprinting to the finish. Retirement is a dirty word in my personal dictionary; it spells boredom, inertness, and doldrums.

Krishna-kripa dasa is known for his blissful engagement traversing the planet singing the glories of the Holy Name. But three decades ago he began what may appear to be a very different kind service with the Bhaktivedanta Institute: In 1988 he visited the San Diego branch and offered to engage his BA in Computer Science from Brown University, in its scientific preaching mission. The San Diego BI team – Sadaputa, Drutakarma, and Madhavendra Puri Prabhus – invited him in. He soon became a dedicated assistant of Sadaputa Prabhu, working hand-in-hand with him as he publ...

Srila Prabhupada says in his purport that mode of goodness is better than the others because in this mode one is able to see all the things in their right perspective and hence it gives chance to develop devotional service to Godhead. So if one wants to develop this Love for Godhead and become eternally blissful he has to work in order to maintain this mode of goodness and eventually transcend this. Modes of passion and ignorance are not conducive qualities for developing devotional service and hence they should be completely avoided. Just like in order to become a Masters of Science one...

The compassion exhibited by Parikshit Maharaj is indeed exemplary. Although he had a few days to live, still he interrupted Sukadev Gosvami, after hearing the discussion of people suffering in various types of hell. Overcome with compassion, he asked Sukadev Goswami the way how these people could be relieved from these suffering conditions. Now to what extent and in what way, a sadhaka can imbibe the spirit of Parikshit Maharaj is important to note.

I would like this work to be considered a contribution not only to the study of the Bhagavad Gita, but to the emerging field of Comparative Theology, as once the structures of great theological works could be articulated, these could be compared, contrasted and grouped together, thereby offering a unified sense of pluralistic spirituality which may serve as an alternative to materialism. Originally, Greek philosophy was inseparable from Greek religion, and only gradually was it articulated as a universal philosophy. Similarly, this work may further a slight step in th...

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad-Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Shuka Muni. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls." Srimad-Bhagavatam is the galitam phalam, or ripened fruit, of all Vedic knowledge. It is exactly like amrita, for by hearing its recitation we can cross beyond birth and death. The Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the various incarnations of Lord Hari, and in the process of these des...

Mature practitioners in the Hare Krishna tradition choose to accept vows of purity. Individuals or couples solemnly vow to avoid intoxicants, illicit sex, meat eating and gambling, and to chant 16 rounds of the maha-mantra daily. To preserve these holy vows that are taken before the Deity, before the fire and before the Vaishnavas are the most important practices in spiritual life. Caring for one another in a marriage means protecting these principles in each other's lives by our example and by our words. Yet, if the husband or the wife is not following these principles, we...

"In the course of time, the transcendental news of Krsna's pastimes in Vrndavana, was almost lost. To enunciate explicitly those transcendental pastimes, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, at Prayaga, empowered Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatana Goswami with the nectar of His mercy to carry out this work in Vrndavana. From the very beginning Rupa Goswami was deeply attracted by the transcendental qualities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus he was permanently relieved from family life. Srila Rupa Goswami and his younger brother Vallabha were blessed by Sri Caita...

We never experienced anything else in Prabhupada’s presence other than his burning desire to give Krishna, and that’s what captured our hearts, and that’s what makes us want to make this life successful by doing something to make Prabhupada smile. And if some day we can become so blessed to be able to do that which he wants us to do, then that’s the only reason why we live in this world. There is nothing else.

“Even though it lasts for only a brief moment, the human form of life is very rare and valuable. In the same way, the brief month of Kartik is also very rare and valuable.” – Kartika Mahatmya by Srila Sanatana Goswami. H.G. Vaisesika Prabhu has selected Chapter 9 for Kartik 2017! Make a vow to recite Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 9 every day from 6 Oct 2017 to 3 Nov 2017.

My dear servants, please bring to me only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy name and qualities of Krsna, whose hearts do not remember the lotus feet of Krsna even once, and whose heads do not bow down even once before Lord Krsna. Send me those who do not perform their duties toward Visnu, which are the only duties in human life. Please bring me all such fools and rascals.

Rama-tirtha-sarovara, a very important site of the great sage Valmiki’s ashram is in Amritsar. Valmiki wrote Ramayana here. Mother Sita spent her period of exile at this place in Valmiki ashram, after Lord Ramacandra banished Sita, His wife and eternal consort, during His later earthly pastimes. Pregnant and alone, Sita sought shelter at the ashram of Valmiki, where she soon gave birth to Lava and Kusha, sons of Lord Ramacandra at this ashram. Lava and Kusha spent their childhood here at Valmiki’s ashram. During Ashvamedha Yajna by Lord Ramacandra, Lava and Kusha ca...

The American people have demonstrated by their election of Donald J. Trump into the office of president that the greatest significator for success in our modern age is wealth. As the popular saying goes, “Money makes the world go round.” In this way, the deluding potency of the Supreme Lord lulls souls into a false sense of security, thinking that their material assets guarantee perpetual comfort and happiness. However, sastra warns against cultivating such a worldly mentality, as it disables us from taking shelter of the Lord's mercy.

We all want to know who we really are, what role we are meant to play in God’s plan, what contribution we are meant to make to God’s work. And, by God’s grace, we may get a sense of our calling, what we are meant to do in His service. But even then, we may shrink from what we know is our duty, shirk what we know is our responsibility. We may fear the challenges ahead and retreat into what we imagine will be a safer, more comfortable place. We always have that choice--to face God and the mission he ordains for us, or to flee from Him, and in doing do, depart from our true self. E...

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura explains, “Durgā is the presiding deity of this entire material universe. She is ten-armed, representing the tenfold fruitive activities. She rides on the lion, representing her heroic prowess. She tramples down Mahiṣasura, representing the subduer of vices. She is the mother of two sons, Karttikeya and Gaṇesa, representing beauty and success. She is placed between Lakshmi and Sarasvati, representing mundane opulence and mundane knowledge. She is armed with the twenty weapons, representing the various pious activities e...