An appreciation of the extraordinarily devoted life of Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple Yamuna Devi Dasi (1942–2011). Joan: Little did I know what kind of wedding it would be. All I knew was that they had received the names Mukunda and Janaki from a swami. When I saw the Swami he was sitting beside the window in his front room, bathed in sunlight, distributing prasada to the devotees who were sitting around him. Mukunda introduced me, and Swamiji offered me some prasada. Because I was a devotee of macrobiotics, this prasada was...

Perhaps one of the more endearing images in the Bhagavad-gita is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, driving the chariot of His friend, the warrior Arjuna. When we accept the notion of God as a person then we can begin to ask, What does he do? How does he interact with us, and especially how does he interact with his pure devotees, such as Arjuna? Krishna chooses to be the chariot driver of Arjuna in the Battle of Kurukshetra where the Bhagavad-gita was spoken. This role of charioteer gives us much insight into Krishna as a person. He enjoys ...

The Vedas therefore enjoin that this is the first and most important lesson. “Now you have a human life you must inquire into the absolute.” Ask the big questions. Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I go when I die? At least we should dedicate some of our time to seriously investigating these areas of major importance. But what school does that? Rather we are encouraged to work very hard to improve our material living conditions. Get a better job. Earn more money. Live in a nice house wi...

In the West this is the holiday season, with Christmas and Hanukkah both coming up. As Srila Prabhupada explained, the Lord comes to this world to enlighten people with transcendental knowledge. Sometimes He comes personally, and sometimes He sends His son or His prophet or His representative, but they all come with the same message. They may speak in different languages according to the circumstances and the audience, but the essence of the message is the same: God is great; we are but small parts and parcels of God, meant to serve Him with love; we have come from God and are meant t...

If we were to distill the Bhagavad-gita to one word, it would surely be, “Krishna.” If we were to distill the Bhagavad-gita to eighteen sentences, one per chapter, it might read like this: Before a just and vital battle, recognizing beloved relatives and mentors among his opponents, the great warrior Arjuna tells his friend Krishna that he will not fight.

"Sharing that's the heart of Christmas!" chimes Better Homes and Gardens. "To celebrate, people share traditions from gift-giving to party-going with family, friends, and acquaintances too. And food plays a special part in these yuletide activities. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the aroma of the festive bird and baked goods wafting through the kitchen! … Once the sharing begins, and you've sampled our treats, you'll realize that fellowship and food go hand in hand in making your holidays memorable."

I was walking down Rideau Street in the city of Ottawa some time during the summer of 1973. Although I had still not found what I really wanted in life, I was somewhat relieved that I had been able to walk out of the expected social pressures of modern day society

ISKCON Communications Director and Governing Body Chairman Anuttama dasa offered his thoughts on lessons Vaishnavas can gain from the Christmas season during a Sunday Feast lecture at the Washington DC Temple. Is there something to gain from contemplating the sacrifices of Lord Jesus Christ...and plastic reindeer?

Radhanath Maharaja has requested that my godsisters and I speak something. Last night, after we left the transcendental program and before I took rest, I was thinking how incongruous it was—you know, I have been a devotee for thirty-odd years, and it’s quite rare that I am asked to speak. In fact, it’s extremely unusual, so I am not practiced at it. And as I told you yesterday, I rarely spoke when Srila Prabhupada was here. He asked various disciples to speak, but I told him clearly that I wasn’t comfortab...

Holy town of Udupi is famous for its most revered Sri Krishna Udupi Temple. Udupi is said to have attained the status of Vaikuntha, because the Lord Krishna came here from Dwarka and stayed here in response to the desire of His pure devotee Sri Madhvacarya. This temple was founded by Sri Madhvacarya (A.D. 1238–1317), one of the greatest Vaishnava saints and proponent of Dvaita philosophy of Vedanta. Near Udupi there is a small village Pajaka Ksetra, which is the birthplace of Madhvacarya. This area of India is sometimes called Parasurama Ksetra.

Have you ever had a long-cherished desire and plan to do something special for Krishna? Have you ever felt He’s finally given you the nod of approval, picked you up, sat you on His magic carpet and flown you through all time and space barriers and boundaries and allowed you to do just what you wanted to do, just for Him? This pretty much sums up the advent of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.....

(On December 9th, 2021 (Odan Shasti), disciples and servants of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 84th vyasa all over the world. On this occasion we are pleased to share below excerpts from his lecture’s question/answer session. The excerpts from chapter ‘Prayers’ are adapted from the book “Sripada in Switzerland – Lectures, conversations and instructions of His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami in Switzerland published by BI, Kolkata.)

The Ramayana features an emotionally and intellectually riveting conversation about the interplay of destiny and human initiative. This conversation occurred at one of the epic's defining moments: the moment when Rama, about to be crowned prince regent, was instead sentenced to forest exile for fourteen years. While Rama gracefully accepted the exile as the will of destiny, His faithful younger brother Lakshmana was outraged by the injustice and called for rebellion. Rama calmly responded that He considered His exile the will of de...

This is the age of the internet. People are spending more and more time online. They are emailing, socializing, chatting, downloading, uploading, sight-seeing, blogging. And of course, they are searching. In fact to perform all the previous tasks, one needs the help of a search engine like Google. Google is so famous today for helping people find something on the internet that it is almost synonymous with a search-engine.

"We have to thank George because this would never have happened if he hadn't agreed to donate this property." George was an honored guest, but he wasn't expected to say anything. But before he spoke, Olivia stood up and said, "I am deeply touched by what I've heard and seen tonight, and I feel impelled to say that George has got true friends here, and I feel happy for him. And I feel happy that I didn't miss the opportunity to witness this amazing gathering." Shyamasundar and Mukunda presented George with a little Prabhupada murti with a Prabhupada hat and glasses and a b...