My life took an apical turn when I stumbled across the Hare Krishnas. Being born in India I had some knowledge of “Krishna” but I was like most Indians are - conscious of Krishna but not Krishna Conscious. Being just “conscious of Krishna” didn’t mollify my thirst for happiness. When I was introduced to the programs conducted by the Hare Krishnas near our college campus new hope dawned upon me. What mesmerized me the most in these programs was the chanting of the mystical mantra…

Sages and saints meditate for thousands of years to get a glimpse of that land. In that glorious land of Goloka Vrindavan Gopa Kumara’s heart attained supreme satisfaction. He wanted to see Krishna and so began searching Krishna. He saw the brajvasis, the most exalted devotees, and inquired from them about Krishna. But they were so absorbed in Krishna that they were not able to say a word. One elderly man who was overwhelmed with emotions in broken words showed him the palace of Gopa King, Nanda.

Shukratal is a tiny holy town about 2-3 hours (72 km) from Haridwar on the banks of Ganges River in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Srila Sukadeva Goswami spoke sacred Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) to Maharaja Pariksit (the grandson of Arjuna and son of Abhimanyu), under a banyan tree 5000 years ago. Here at a place called Sri Sukadeva Temple, there is a gigantic 5100 year old Banyan tree, also known as Akshaya Vat Vriksha, underneath where Sukadeva Goswami, Maharaja Pariksit and 80,000 sages sat for 7 days continuously hearing Bhagavatam narration. The branches of this ...

“Can you please speak to my relatives,” a doctor friend requested me after a Sunday feast program in our temple. “Their youngest son died in an accident recently, and they are much traumatized.” I agreed and went to meet the family in a corridor outside the temple hall. The father told me how the son had gone to a picnic with his friends and had drowned in a river. He was just eighteen. I listened sympathetically, and when they asked questions I offered an...

What to speak of being envious of the Vaisnavas, if one causes pain to ordinary living entities he is considered a fallen low-class person. Even after worshiping Lord Visnu, if a person gives trouble to other living entities, his worship becomes fruitless. Such a person suffers unlimited miseries. If a person is knowingly or unknowingly envious of a Vaisnava who is engaged in the nonduplicitous service of Lord Hari, his degradation is inevitable. Of this there is no doubt. Apart from this, if e...

Krishna Conscious family life is consistent with the teachings and example of Srila Prabhupada, which must be applied with consideration of time, place and circumstance. In the field of grihastha life, one should take into account the local culture with-out compromising Srila Prabhupada's teachings. One should not attempt to simply transpose practices from one culture to another without understanding the principles and values. underpinning them.

The Brahma-vaivarta Purana describes a beautiful story of a brahmana in South India who wanted to offer sweet rice (khir) to his Deities but couldn’t afford the ingredients. So he decided to offer the sweet mentally. In deep meditation, he collected all the ingredients and cooked it. After the preparation was ready, he wanted to cool it down before he offered it to Krishna. After a while he touched his finger to see if the sweet rice had cooled down. It was still hot, and to his surprise his fing...

In the beginning, when my Guru Maharaja ordered me, I thought it that 'I shall first of all become very rich man; then I shall preach.' (laughs) So I was doing very nice in business. In the business circle, I got very good name, and with whom I was dealing business, they were very satisfied. But Krishna made so trick that He broke everything, and He obliged me to take sannyasa. So that is Hari. So that I had to come to your country with only seven dollars.