Lord Nityananda - The epitome of Compassion. So Lord Nityananda, he was in the sublime mood. Although he was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he took the most humble position in order to satisfy Lord Gaurasundara. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was Patitapavana Avatara. That means He came especially to claim the most fallen and sinful of all living beings. And there is nothing that satisfies Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu more than distributing love of god to another. Therefore lord Nityananda, he would go on both banks of the Ganges and he would ap...

Chaitanya Bhagavata gives us special insight into the transcendental psychology of Nityananda Prabhu. When he heard about the fallen condition of Jagai-Madhai, his eyes lit up with not just compassion but also ambition – the ambition to glorify Lord Chaitanya in a way that would be remembered for all time to come: “These two people are so contaminated that on seeing them pious people feel impelled to bathe in the Ganges to purify themselves. If these sinners can become so pure that people on seein...

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna makes it clear that we have free will. We are not incapable, helpless pawns. After instructing Arjuna He says, “Deliberate on this fully and then do what you wish to do.” (Gita 18.63) As adults, each one of us has some ability to decide how we want to act; we have some self-mastery and personal power, and therefore we are responsible for our actions. Yet, at the same time and perhaps surprisingly, the scriptural view is that those of us who are not strong devotees of Krishna are victims – victims of Krishna’s illusory energy. We are adversely affect...

The ‘Sumadhva Vijaya’ is an exemplary biographical work by Sri Narayana Panditacharya belonging to the Madhva sampradaya. It presents the glorious life and teachings of Sripad Madhvacharya in the form of verses spread across 16 sargas or parts. In the 14^th sarga, that describes the manner in which Sripad Madhvacharya would perform deity worship, verse 37 speaks about how he would adorn Lord Narayana with the eight kinds of ‘bhava pushpa’ or flowers of emotions.

Material life is when we put the flickering pleasures and securities of the mind and the senses in the center of our lives, our decisions, our aspirations, our goals are according. Spiritual life or true bhakti is when we put the pleasures of God or Krishna in the center of our life— what pleases Krishna, all of our decisions, our aspirations are orchestrated accordingly.

Advaita Acarya’s father and mother disappeared when he was very young. Feeling very distressed he went on pilgrimage visiting many, many holy places. When He came back, some of His relatives requested Him to marry. Therefore, at the request of the relatives He was willing to marry. At that time one very pious orthodox brahmana was living there whose name was Nrsimha Vaduri. He had two daughters; their names were Sri and Sita. They were both very beautiful and Advaita Acarya married both of them. Thus Advaita Acarya had two wives; Sri ...

At Shantipur, amidst the groves of beautiful mango trees is the house of Sri Advaita Acarya. Shantipur is 1 hour from Sri Mayapur Dhama and lies just off of the main road to Kolkata in Ranaghat area. It is here in Santipur that Advaita Acarya made the vow to make Lord Krishna advent to this world in Kali-yuga as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver us fallen souls by taking up the chanting of Lord Krishna's name and to spread pure unalloyed devotion. The deity of Sri Madan Gopal and the saligrama-sila that Advaita Acarya worshipped to invoke the advent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu are there...

In Krishna Consciousness we hear many viewpoints about spreading the movement of Lord Caitanya. In reality there is not one fixed way to attract a conditioned living entity. A conditioned living entity who has achieved a rare benediction of having a human body has a unique existence and is driven by a unique desire and a unique fear. Preaching strategies differ from person to person and community to community. We need to understand the culture of a place and a counter-culture. The identification of culture and counter-culture help us to identify a right preaching approach. ...