By Gour Govinda Swami Still, after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, a black period was there. Who fulfilled Mahaprabhu’s prediction? Bhaktivinode Thakur started. Because India was blindly following the West, he thought that the books and teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu should be presented in English‚ and that this science should be taught in the Western world.
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- 12 Jan 2017
By Candrabhaga Devi DasiOn December 20, 2016 an international group of around 35 devotees (12 matajis, rest prabhus) left Sri Mayapur Dham from Srila Prabhupada's Bhajan Kutir for a seven day, 80 km padayatra to Katwa tirtha. Katwa is the place where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had taken sannyasa. Along the way the yatra passed other tirthas including Nrsimhapalli where Lord Nrsimhadeva had washed His nails after the battle with Hiranyakasipu. Krsnapada the ox, on his first walk out of Mayapur lead the party through Krishnanagar, Baluka, Kanainagar, Navadvip, Srirampur, Kalikatala, Agradvip, a...
- 12 Jan 2017
By Ratirupa Jahnava Devi DasiThe 25th Annual Jagannath Rath Yatra Mahotsava of ISKCON, Coimbatore and " ISKCON 50" Golden Jubilee celebrations was flagged off on 6th January 2017 in a grand function at Sri Annapoorna Auditorium at R.S.Puram. The occasion was graced by the presence of several dignitaries and VIPs like Sri. Srinivasan, Chairman, Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar Hotels, Dr. K.G.Bhaktavatsalam, Chairman , KG Hospital, senior ISKCON sannyasis and GBC like HH Jayapataka Swami, HH Bhakti Vinoda swami ( Zonal Secretary,Western TamilNadu and Kerala) and international devotees. On t...
- 11 Jan 2017
By bhaktin AnyaEvery day thousands of people from all over India come to Vrindavan. Especially over the last few years the number has been increasing very rapidly. I was surprised to see that the people didn’t know much about the extreme sanctity and transcendental value of the place they were in. In this way I had a nice opportunity to speak about Vrindavan. I used to say: “Do you know that you are very fortunate? Do you know why? It is because you are in the spiritual capital of all the three worlds. Everyone who comes to Vrindavan gets special benefit.” Like this I was addressing e...
- 11 Jan 2017
By Giriraj DasHG Bhurijana Prabhu, in a recent class, shared an interesting pastime during a program in Japan, when Srila Prabhupada, did not let a mayavadi sanyasi speak for too long, starting a impromptu Kirtan in the middle of his speech, much to the bewilderment of the audience. Srila Prabhupada, later, shared with his disciples that he could tolerate the mayavadi sanyasi for some time but when he started speaking that Supreme Lord has no form, no senses, can not talk and so on, then Prabhupada could not tolerate it any more! HG Bhurijan Prabhu said that such is the love Srila Prabhupad...
- 10 Jan 2017
By Bhakta Dr. Chetan HazareeIn Jagannath Puri, the annually organized Ratha-yatra engages thousands of artisans (for cart making), priests, and general populace in the service of the Lord. The king of the region is also engaged in actually sweeping the road on which the most merciful Lord rides on the chariot. Globalizing the exclusive and confidential ways, in which Srimati Radharani herself implored their Lordships Sri Krishna, Sri Balarama and Subhadra Maharani to come to Vrindavan, and then Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced in front of the Chariot and cleansed the Gundicha temple, Sril...
- 10 Jan 2017
By Dusyanta dasaRecently on TV in Wales a famous BBC, Welsh news reporter decided to do something about his burgeoning weight. He wanted to lose weight, become healthier and enjoy more energy. But like us all he was faced with the same wall of contradictions of diets to follow to achieve his goal. Nowadays the UK governments advice for a healthy diet is to eat a good balance of foods and carbohydrates but with little saturated fats. The fats in this instance represent meat and dairy fats. And the carbohydrates represent Breads, Pastas, Potatoes and Sugars.
...- 10 Jan 2017
By Indradyumna SwamiThe captain eventually announced that we were approaching Irkutsk but would have to circle the airport until some fog had dispersed. Some time later the two stewardesses approached me. "The captain is asking you to pray to God for all of us," one of them said. "We are running out of fuel," said the other, "and we can't circle the airport much longer." They stood waiting. "Well," said one of them, "are you going to pray?" I hesitated. Then I joined my palms, closed my eyes, and said a short prayer. When I finished, they left to tell the captain. Suddenly the plane v...
- 8 Jan 2017
By Kesava Krsna DasaAs a world body, how do the members of Iskcon – the devotees – deal with truth telling or the revelation of sensitive information in a vaisnava way, among themselves? Some believe there should be no restrictions while others urge caution due to aparadha. Is there a balanced way? It normally takes a trustworthy official statement to put a matter to rest. In between the official statement and an incidental cause for emotion and betrayal, our vaisnava approach to how knowledge or information should be revealed, is tested. If the brahminical quality of truth rules in all of our...
- 7 Jan 2017
By Daamodara Dhananjaya DasJust imagine, we are on one of the most happening streets of a modern and a rich city like Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on the New Year’s Eve at 11.00 pm, while the whole country is eagerly waiting for the clock to cross its 12. There’s so much rush that it is barely possible even to move and everyone is singing and dancing, on some extrinsic song of a C grade Hindi movie, at the top of their voices and wearing weird masks, projecting their true demoniac qualities within and above all, they are SEVERELY INTOXICATED. And in such an environment if we suddenly see a group ...
- 6 Jan 2017
By Subhananda Hari DasGo-puja was performed for global auspiciousness in Mumbai under the auspices of ‘Om Sri Surabhi Campaign’ on 1st January 2017 at Madhav Baug Goshala, located in Lakshmi Narayan Temple compound. Located in the heart of South Mumbai, the Goshala not only provided us a break from busy city life but more importantly provided us an opportunity to serve Mother Cow and worship her. The Gir cows of the Goshala were very nicely taken care by Mr. Mahesh Yadav and family, who kindly allowed us to perform the ceremony. The program started with the Harinam, followed by Tulasi...
- 6 Jan 2017
By Bhakti-lata DasiBhakta Joseph Galesburg: Hare Krsna Mother Bhakti-Lata, I would like to first thank you for all you have done for me. The books, magazines, encouraging words, the opportunity to correspond with Ram Tulasi dasa – everything. You have been so very helpful to me, and I cannot thank you enough. I am truly and forever blessed for having met you, and am eternally in your debt. I am doing my best to keep my thoughts, words, and actions functioning solely for our blessed Lord. I am chanting (stronger every day), studying Srila Prabhupada’s books, and ever seeking ways t...
- 6 Jan 2017
By Indradyumna SwamiSamskaras are Vedic purificatory ceremonies for advancing in spiritual life. One of them is vivaha-samskara, the wedding rite. Our spiritual master said that in this material world a boy naturally desires a girl and a girl naturally desires a boy, and they come together in holy matrimony to make it sacred, and they advance in material prosperity and spiritual prosperity together. I think that is a nice definition of love: “to be concerned about the needs of your beloved.”
...- 5 Jan 2017
By Radha Mohan DasA hugely successful event was organised by the Bhaktivedanta Manor community members to welcome in the New Year in both a devotional and entertaining way. The evening, held at the Navnat Centre in West London, including engaging kirtans led by Abhiseka das and Manohar das. Later Kripa Moya das joyfully led the chanting up until midnight . Earlier there was also a hilarious pantomime "Bindurella" and a play about Srila Prabhupada by the Bhaktivedanta Players as well as a dance by Shyam Jatanni. The hugely successful event was organised by many devotees, including Alpesh P...
- 5 Jan 2017
By Ajay Kamalakaran The Russian Krishnaite said he respected the right of the Orthodox priest to have an opinion but felt the young man was misguided. “We have absolutely no political agenda of any kind. Even if we had 100,000 followers in Russia, could we possibly topple a government in a country of 140 million?” Das agreed that there were many followers from Western countries but insisted that these people merely sought salvation from the “vicious cycle of karma.” He said his guru told him about how some Western intelligence agents “penetrated the ranks of the movement,” but added that t...
- 3 Jan 2017
By Bhakta Jorge Camara In 1967, Srila Prabhupada wrote to his disciple: “Be careful about your health first. This information is not only for you but all my noble sons. I am an old man. I may live or die it does not matter. But you must live for long time to push on this Krishna Consciousness movement.” Since time immemorial, human societies have championed Mother Nature’s therapeutic splendor as a reliable and sacred source of healthcare. Whether one is a spiritual dilettante or a vigorous meditator, it is important to be aware of the various health issues sprouting up during this iron age of...
- 3 Jan 2017
By Mayapur Sasi dasaFor the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following results of book distribution for the month of November 2016 from the whole planet. World Totals, Monthly Congregation and Weekend Warriors, Monthly Continents, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Size, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Continent, Monthly Top Teams and Individuals, Monthly All Countries, Monthly All Temples, Monthly All Prabhupada Disciples, Cumulative Top Ten Countries, Cumulative Top Ten Temples, Cumulative Top 50 Individuals Worldwide
...- 2 Jan 2017
By Paramadayala Nityananda DasFirst, devotees need to understand there is no way to manipulate natural resources for sense gratification without being a burden to the Earth. Srila Prabhupada wrote: According to Vedic understanding, men are transformed into thieves when they plan economic development for sense gratification (SB 4, 18.7) The earth became overburdened due to dharma-glani, or irregular discharge of the Lord's desire. The Lord appeared on the earth to curb the increase in miscreants, and not the increase in population, as is wrongly put forward by the mundane economist (SB 3.3....
- 2 Jan 2017
By Subhag SwamiHis Holiness Vrajendra nandan Swami went to England from Malaysia to study Engineering. He was living in Birmingham at a YMCA. He met ISKCON members there while they were distributing Srila Prabhupada literatures. He was induced to take the books, he liked the books and finally he took the books. He was studying there and he started coming gradually to the Birmingham temple at Hemsworth where he again met the devotees and he took more books. From then on also took the devotees to the Universities, local colleges and Indians to distribute Srila Prabhupada books and literat...
- 2 Jan 2017
By Vrsabhanu dasaBhaktivedanta Manor is situated in the countryside 15 or so miles from London. The Hare Krishna devotees have been there since 1973. This is the first in a series of three films about this devotional community.
...- 2 Jan 2017
By Janananda GoswamiHH Bhaktivrajendranandana Maharaja was born in Malaysia. He came to the UK to study where he joined ISKCON in 1971 in Birmingham. He was around 33 years old at the time of joining. Subhag, now swami, was his inspiration at that time and remained so throughout his life. He then moved to Bury Place temple in early 1972 and served selflessly there for several years - he was known as the simple hard working, surrendered brahmacari who would never miss anything. He received initiation in July 1972 from Srila Prabhupada on Trafalgar Square, receiving the name Vrajendra Kumar. ...
- 1 Jan 2017
By Madhuha DasIn 2014 Prahlada, now Panca Tattva dasa, started designing an exhibit to replace the Gita exhibit Festival of India has been using for many years. Of course nothing was wrong with the original exhibit that was being used, it is just after 12 or 15 years the exhibit needed to be replaced. Lord Krishna's words and Srila Prabhupada's purports are Guaranteed Perfect for Everyone for the next 10,000 years. Unlike Srila Prabhupada's transcendental purports, and Lord Krishna's sublime and eternal words spoken to Arjuna in the Gita, the Panels used to build Festival of India's exhibit...
- 1 Jan 2017
By Titiksu dasaIt was the longest 50th Event, lasting 366 days and potentially involving every member of ISKCON on a personal and collective level. Its aim was simply to provide the opportunity for every devotee to make an offering to Srila Prabhupada in ISKCONs 50th year, of distributing 50 BBT books. On behalf of the 5050 Campaign Committee, I would like to thank all those devotees who took part in the Campaign and hope they remain inspired to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books always. If you have any news or stories from the Campaign in your area, please share with us via PAMHO, the ...
- 1 Jan 2017
By Deena Bandhu DasPlease join us in prayers for my dear friend and Godbrother, HH Bhakti Vrajendra Nandan Maharaja, President of ISKCON Malaysia, who just left his body this morning in Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Kuala Lampur. He has been suffering from very ill health for a long time now. Previously, he had been the Temple Commander in Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir, Vrindavan. Maharaja did extensive preaching in Malaysia and will be sorely missed.
...- 30 Dec 2016