Srimati lifted up Her skirt and stepped into the water and looked down to wash Her hands. And then, when She saw Her reflection in the water, She was overcome by its beauty. She was seized by this feeling “maybe I should be Gopal’s constant companion and never ever have to leave His side?” And then She began to wash her hands and the waters turned golden and the waves spread out in all directions, hitting the banks and rippling back – forming a beautiful pattern of evolving rasa. And as t...

Usually a strong difference of perception and opinion will lead to conflict, harsh words, hostility and alienation. But in the transcendental world of relationship and rasa things are very different. There IS a winner, but because of the nature of the hearts involved, the outcome is blissful and relishable for both the winner and the loser. And Their love for each other increases! Such are the ways of transcendental love.

Arjuna had never been defeated in any battle. But today standing between the armies of Kaurava and Pandavas he was not even able to hold his famous Gandiva bow with which he had conquered the mightiest of the warriors. He was in total panic, his body was quivering and he said to Krishna that it is better for me to beg and live than fight this war. In fact he was unable to decide what is righteous and unrighteous behavior. He understood that his expertise in arch...

Just as Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Srimad Bhagavata Purana is greatest among all Puranas. When we worship Mother Ganga the reservoir of holy water, we take palm full water from the river and with devotion we put it back into the river. Similarly this humble attempt of writing on the topic of Bhagavata Purana is done even though this Purana is the reservoir of everything. It is like taking any paraphernalia for worshiping the supreme Lord which originates and belongs to Him and offering back to Him with love and devotion. From this reservoir I am taking bits and peace and rep...

Sending and receiving a letter to an inmate is just as exhilarating and rewarding: connecting one-on-one with a receptive soul, even more so one who is suffering and conscious of his/her suffering and seeking help, is the most rewarding activity I have ever experienced. Given that I have in my possession the key that will unlock their prison, the knowledge that will end all their suffering, it follows naturally that it is my duty—and privilege—to make sure that as many inmates as possible get hold of it too.

Why is that thousands of these Orthodox monks can chant day and night non-stop but we can't? Now that many of our devotees are retired from active duties and call themselves vanaprasthas perhaps it's time for our society to start talking about increasing the number of our daily rounds. Not compulsory, of course, but for those who can it could be encouraged. Another important aspect is that in Orthodox Christianity following preceptors is the only way of spiritual progre...

"Do we have to give up technology and return to village life?" We don't have to give up technology, but we do have to give up the illusion that technology can make us happy. If we are diseased, we don't have to give up the painkiller, only the illusion that the painkiller can cure our disease. We have to adopt the cure of spirituality for attaining real happiness. And since technology pervades our modern world, we can use the Vedic principle of yukta-vairagya, devotional renunciation: Wi...

As the United Airlines jet descended on the San Francisco Bay area, Srila Prabhupada turned to his disciple Ranacora and said, "The buildings look like matchboxes. Just imagine how it looks from Krsna's viewpoint." Srila Prabhupada was seventy-one years old, and this had been his first air trip. Ranacora, nineteen and dressed in a suit and tie, was supposed to be Srila Prabhupada's secretary. He was a new disciple but had raised some money and had asked to fly to San Francisco with Prabhupada. During the trip Srila Prabhupada had spoken little. He had been chanting: "Ha...

Today, January 14, Makara-sankranti, marks the anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple and cultural complex in Juhu, Bombay. Two days after the opening, The New York Times ran an article on the front page of its second section, with the headline “Hare Krishna Sect Displays Vitality At Its New $2 Million Temple in India”: “JUHU, India, Jan. 15—Several hundred members of the Hare Krishna sect, chanting and singing and clapping, opened a $2 million temple and cultural center here this weekend in a colorful festival of devotion. “To ...

A few months back I had the good fortune to get association of a senior Vaishanava. During the lecture one line that really touched my heart was the advice that we should daily pray to Prabhupada to ‘make me an instrument of your compassion in this very life time’. It was seemingly a simple statement but it touched my heart and I started following it since then. Just by praying like this daily to Srila Prabhupada had some effect on my dull consciousness, inspired me to some act and brought newer realisations. I searched for this topic and found some very inspiring statem...

We all have attachments in this material world. The secret of success is to dovetail these attachments to Krishna. This is easy said, than done. However, if you have access to a mature devotee, then the doors of detachment will start to open into the garden of Bhakti. We have five senses which are controlled by the mind, anyone of these senses can be captured by the illusory nature we live in. When one goes through a phase of addiction, it is a way to escape from the realities of life. We can see in the UK that binge drinking is a major problem for the local council...