Despite many challenges, the intrepid devotees in this remote city 5,700 land miles from Moscow built a suitable temple to worship the Lord. The city of Vladivostok (“Ruler of the East”) is situated in the far east of Russia, a few hundred kilometers north of China. The region was long under Chinese rule, but Russia acquired it through the Treaty of Beijing in 1860. In time Russians migrated from the western part of the country, and it is now an important port serving the eastern regi...

I share many powerful insights from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and his books. I include excerpts from Satsvarupa dasa Goswami’s Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name. I transmit some nice realizations from Janananda Goswami, speaking at 26 Second Avenue in New York City on the fiftieth anniversary of the first Tompkins Square Park harinama, October 9, 2016, and also some cool insights from his godbrother, Mahavirya Prabhu, also speaking at that occasion. I share a nice point from a lec...

Gadeigiri is a beautiful village situated amidst the tranquil solitude of rural Orissa (less than two-hour drive from Cuttack and nearly three hours from Jagannatha Puri Dhama), surrounded by lotus-filled ponds and green paddy fields. Gadeigiri has a most interesting history. The village is named after its founder, Gadai Giri, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who hailed from Midnapore in Bengal, some 300 years ago. This village is extremely special as Lord Gopal Jiu came here espec...

By enacting His intimate pastimes, Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, evokes deep primeval emotions in the hearts of the sleeping souls. Generally, when the Lord displays His pastimes in the material world the mood is one of separation. This mood of separation is very important for the conditioned living entities who are dwelling in this material world. Not only they have forgotten their eternal identities as Shri Krishna’s servants but they have fallen into the mode of unrealistic feelings. All...

On this day in 1966, Srila Prabhupada's Diary records: "Back to Godhead published again today." On the same day, it records that Gargamuni Dasa was initiated. Gargamuni Prabhu's account of the beginning of the magazine at 26 Second Avenue is presented in this week's keynote article. His story is a unique personal glimpse into the mood and happenings of the time. For an insight into writing for Back to Godhead, we are presenting an article by Chaitanya Carana Prabhu entitled "Writing for Krishn...

Srila Prabhupada has expressed his fond dream for BTG: “As I have told you several times, I am awaiting for the day when this paper will take the shape of Life magazine or similar other magazines in the matter of its popularity.” (Letter dated June 1968) The popularity of BTG depends on many factors: for example, the reach and appeal of our movement; the magnitude of the efforts to distribute BTG; the format, feel, and cost of the issues. But the most important factor, the factor I can influence, is its core content—the qualit...

Srila Prabhupada sat in the front passenger seat, and we all sat in the back. Shyamsundar read Mondokini’s letter aloud, and when Srila Prabhupada heard that she was ready to depart for Russia and marry this young man, his joy knew no bounds! "While this letter was being read, I snapped two pictures of Prabhupada. He was smiling the biggest smile I had ever seen! He was so overjoyed to hear her reply! To him, this was the beginning of the conquest of the demonic atheism that had invaded the lan...