The Sadhu Sanga Festival is taking place this week on the Black Sea coast in southern Russia. But infinitely more beautiful is the sea of 6,500 devotees chanting and dancing in great ecstacy here. Today myself and Bada Haridas are departing for Mongolia. It is difficult to leave this historic event and the association of so many loving devotees!

The Seed Verses of Bhagavad Gita (Bg 10.8-11) The word seed suggests that it has the potential to grow into something bigger then itself. The verses that are accepted as the “Seed” verses of the Gita do exactly that. They are also sometime referred to as the Catur-Sloka because there are just four (Catur) seed verses (Slokas). The 700 verses of Bhagavad Gita are generally accepted as the summary study of the entire body of Vedic knowledge. Yet within the Gita these “Seed verses” ...

Today is Srila Prabhupada's divine appearance day. Here is my offering to him: In Los Angeles in 1968, on the disappearance day of your guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, you explained your commission: “Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja . . . underwent very severe penances for starting this worldwide movement. That was his mission. In 1896, Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted to introduce this Krsna consciousness movement by sending the book Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His L...

For Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja this year, I wish to tell you about his dear friend and staunch devotee Mr. P. L. Sethi. May this story inspire you in Srila Prabhupada’s service—in Krsna consciousness. Mr. Sethi replied, “No. Why should we stop?” Mr. Mhatre threatened, “Well, you can build it up, but I will come in the night with fifty gundas [hooligans] and break it down.” And Mr. Sethi turned to his son, who was by his side, and said, “Brij Mohan, bring my revolver and my rifle.” Then Mr. Sethi ...

The residents of Kurukshetra, the Kurukshetra Development Board and all of us are grateful to the ISKCON Society that you have performed this task here- this temple, this Institution which will be a very great Memorial, a very great Landmark, a very big project that will make a mark for Kurukshetra in this whole world. Through this Project, Kurukshetra’s name will appear on the map of the Whole World. You might have seen several temples, but this is one where both God and his Devotee are there....

Chackra is a strategic weapon which allows the military phalanx to break into the inner section of the enemy's army where the King or prince of the opposing army would be located. These wheels or chackras were protecting the marks men (precision archers) from the arrows of opposing army. When the marks-man got in the range of 100 meters from the King or prince, he was in the proper distance to shoot. The chackras were all around the marks-man to deflect the arrows aimed at marks-man while he was ap...

In July, the biggest increase percentage-wise in the Large Temple category was Bhaktivedanta Manor's score, an increase of 222%. It's nice to note the Manor's steady increase. I'm sure that Srila Prabhupada is pleased with the Manor devotees. The Manor was the last place he visited in the West, and many European devotees went there at that time to get his association and give him their good results in book distribution. Another surprise is that the No. 1 temple in the world is in the Small Temple ca...

The goal of our educational system is to inspire our children to become devotees of Krsna, while living in this world like perfect, responsible ladies and gentlemen. We see such example in the life of Radhika Raman Prabhu, who, along with his younger brother, was homeschooled by his mother, Aruddha Mataji. Their story is a success story and thus we invited them to share it with us. Their seminar was inspiring and gave us a sense of recommitting ourselves to the standards established by Srila Prabhup...

When I saw the recent article, posting the drama “Swamiji At Sea,” I remembered a script I had written back in 1985 of Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West. The unique thing is that this play below can easily be performed anywhere as Reader’s Theater, with script in hand. It requires a minimum of three actors: one to play Prabhupada; another male actor to play - Godbrother, Choksi, Bhattacarya and Capt Pandia; also a female actor to play Narrator, Mrs Moraji, Mrs Naga, Reporter and Mrs P...

This paper was the ISKCON keynote address at an Inter-faith conference hosted by our communications group in the UK and devotees in Bhaktivedanta Manor. Twenty Christians and twenty ISKCON members took part in the exchange, which was described by Rev. Michael Barnes SJ as, "one of those rare occasions when head and heart seemed somehow to be united.... I was left wondering why it is that Catholics and Vaishnava Hindus get on so well together." Ranchor's paper was very well received and the sincere ...

He was the easiest guest I have had in my life, because when I couldn’t spend time with him he chanted, and I knew he was perfectly happy. When I couldn’t talk to him, he chanted. He was so easy, though, because I knew he was never bored. I never felt any pressure or tension about having him. He was so easy that when I had to take care of the children he would just chant. It was so great. When I had to do things, he would just be happy chanting. He was a very good guest. When the people would...

At her initiation ceremony yesterday, Rose Forkash received the name Rajani-priya dasi. Rajani is a name of Durga, an expansion of Srimati Radharani, who is the divine, universal mother. Rajani was also the name of Srila Prabhupada’s mother. Priya means “dear” or “dear to,” and dasi means “servant” or “servant of.” During the ceremony, Rtadhvaja Swami, Niranjana Swami, and especially Indradyumna Swami encouraged Rajani-priya via Skype with words of appreciation, affection, and ...

For those of you who read the previous IPM NEWS, you will remember that inmate bhakta, Richard Chase—affectionately nicknamed “Krishna Kirtan”by Sarva-drik prabhu—was very well situated in a prison in Petersburg, Virginia where he had started what became a very successful and popular Hare Krishna program at the chapel library. Last year, however, he was transferred to a prison in Lisbon, Ohio where the chaplains were quite inimical toward Krishna Consciousness and who prevented him from ...

Lord Chaitanya predicted that the glories of the Holy Names of the Mahamantra would take place in every town and village throughout the world. This energy was reflected in the person of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur who wrote of the Bhagawat and sent a copy of this book to Canada around the time of our Srila Prabhupad's appearance. The great carrier of that mercy was illuminated by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad. He gave the order to Abhay Charan De, later known as His Divine...