Author Archives: Admin108

Photos from Vallabh Vidyanagar Rathayatra 2015 and other events of Iskcon Baroda
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Hare Krishna! In Memory of Kanai Thakur
Phalini Devi Dasi: Kanai Thakur dasa was beloved by all the devotees, and a siksha guru for many. He was so popular that if someone would mention his name in a crowd, immediately there would be smiles on all the faces of those who heard his name, and even laughter would bubble up from inside their hearts. Kanaiji was so Krsna conscious and so blissful that his enthusiasm for pure Krsna consciousness was infectious. From my own personal experience with Kanai Thakur, there is one quality I admired in him, and that was his chastity. Although he would generously give Krsna conscious advice to both men and women, toward us women he was always aloof and respectful, addressing us affectionately as “Maaaataaaa.”
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Harinama in Vienna, Austria’s capital (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “For one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one’s heart completely.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12).
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Hare Krishna! Ramananda Samvada: The Perfect Conversation
Satyaraja Dasa: Everyone likes to converse with loved ones. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sitting back and spending time with like-minded souls, sharing thoughts, ideas, and intimate feelings. In spiritual life, too, there is nothing quite like conversation – a back-and-forth that deepens one’s knowledge of transcendence and increases the possibility of spiritual loving exchanges. Because dialogue is a fundamental form of communication and interaction, numerous texts from antiquity have used conversational structure as a literary device to convey deep truths. Religious works such as the Bible, Buddhist sutras, and Confucian texts partake of this method, and in philosophy Plato’s use of dialogue is particularly well known.
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Netrotsava: Festival for the Eyes (6 min video)
‘Netrotsava’ – Festival for the Eyes, originally celebrated at Puri, Jagannath Temple in India is a sacred ritual performed before the Rath Yatra the Grand Festival of Chariots. To know more about this enchanting festival watch this beautiful video by HG Mathura Vasi Mataji.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/5lUwrU

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Gundas (thugs) attacked a temple at the sacred birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates Vasudeva Datta and Mukunda Datta in Chittagong, Bangladesh in the middle of the night on July 8th, brutally injuring the ISKCON devotees who were staying there.
ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner for Bangladesh, Bhakti Purusottama Swami, sets the record straight. “This is not an attack by Muslims or terrorists,” he says. “The land of Vasudeva and Mukunda Datta’s birthplace was donated by the landlord to ISKCON. ISKCON devotees were staying there and doing puja. Land mafia wants this land, so they sent some gundas who attacked our devotee in the middle of the night.“ “The misunderstanding about this temple attack shows how careful we must be about forwarding or exaggerating things we pick up online,” adds ISKCON’s Communications Minister Anuttama Das. “In this age of instant communications, its easy to get the facts wrong, and inflame passions between people and communities.
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Meet the devotees of ISKCON Berkeley, California, US (10 min video)
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Vaishnava wedding in Poland mesmerizes the public as it introduces them into the Vedic culture (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday we held a wedding at our festival in the port town of Mrzezyno. With the Baltic Sea as a backdrop, Stanislav and Zlata from Moldova took their vows in a colorful ceremony attended by over 3,000 people. Srila Prabhupada writes in the Caitanya Caritamrta: “A devotee is always thinking of how to better serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and how to broadcast His name, fame and qualities throughout the world.” [ Madhya, 11.89 purport ] The wedding served as a perfect introduction to Vedic culture. The large crowd was mesmerized by the wedding as evidenced by their loud applause at each and every step of the ceremony. Another victory in Srila Prabhupada’s cultural conquest of the world!
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Hare Krishna! Money, Krishna, and Us
Vishakha Devi Dasi: How we value, acquire, use, and relate to money reflects our inner state of being. Krishna determines how much money each of us receives. It may appear accidental that one person is born into wealth and another into poverty, or that one person goes from rags to riches and another doesn’t, but Krishna’s law of karma destines these things. Srila Prabhupada says, “Everyone is thinking, ‘If I become greedy, I shall get more.’ That is not possible. You cannot get a farthing more than what you are destined.” (Lecture, October 3, 1973) And he writes, “It is not possible that simply by endeavors to accumulate more money a person will be able to do so, otherwise almost everyone would be on the same level of wealth. In reality everyone is earning and acquiring according to his predestined karma.”
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Hare Krishna! The Creation and Dissolution of the Material World
Urmila Devi Dasi: Beyond the material sky, further than we can see with our eyes and beyond the universe, there is an unlimited span of spiritual sky generally known as the brahmajyoti. W… Read more ›

20.000 policeman to ensure a peaceful Rathayatra in Baroda, tomorrow (Album with photos)
Other newspaper articles that have come out before the Rathayatra festival in Baroda.
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Bhakta Jason Starkey from Dallas, Texas, enthusiastically expresses his reasons for donating to the TOVP and why everyone should. (2 min video)
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Srila Prabhupada’s devotion.
One is often devoted to one’s family, country, occupation, charity or a social justice, yet hardly any relationship in the material world is free from some degree of selfishness. Our loyalty and fidelity remain intact as long as we receive something in return, be it attention, adulation, care, physical closeness, or financial and moral support. As soon as these wane, then the relationship wanes too. Srila Prabhupada explained that the so-called affection for family, society, country, or even approaching God for the fulfilment of one’s material desires, consists of different phases of sense gratification. Desire and action cannot be negated but when this desire is changed for the satisfaction and selfless service of the Lord, it is called devotional service. The devotee (one who is devoted) serves God as God desires. The life of Srila Prabhupada epitomises pure devotion to the Supreme Lord. The process that he taught and exemplified is known as bhakti yoga − the science of pure love of God.
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Hare Krishna! CHAD (Chapter a Day) Kids in Seattle Pledge a Silver Coin ($11,000) for TOVP
On Sunday, July 5th, at the last TOVP presentation of the North American Tour, the CHAD (Chapter a Day) kids group of the Seattle, Washington temple dove into the ecstasy of the fundraising frenzy and pledged $11,000 (Silver Gratitude Coin) for the TOVP. This is a wonderful example of young Vaishnavas learning how to sacrifice and offer the fruits of their work to the service of the Lord, even before they have the fruits to offer. May they be blessed with Lord Nityananda’s mercy.
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Brilliant promo video for the Goloka Fest (4 min video)
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A 1936 poetic offering of Srila Prabhupada’s discovered in the British Museum Library.
Several times Srila Prabhupada mentioned to Yamuna and others that the Adore Ye All poem again prompted his Guru Maharaja to request Srila Prabhupada to preach in the English-speaking countries. After hearing the poem, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta told his editors to “publish anything he [Srila Prabhupada] writes.” He also commented that “Here is someone who will be able to defeat the impersonalists.”
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Harinama in Turin, Italy (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental mission is to distribute love of Godhead to everyone. Anyone who accepts God as the Supreme can take to the process of chanting Hare Krishna and become a lover of God. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 4.41 Purport)
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Hare Krishna! Gundica-marjana
Giriraja Swami: After throwing out all the debris, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates cleaned the temple a second time, looking for finer grains of sand and dust that they might have missed. Then they thoroughly washed the temple. With hundreds of devotees throwing hundreds of pots of water, they cleansed the ceiling, the walls, the floor, and everything else. Sri Caitanya Himself personally washed the sitting place of Lord Jagannatha with His own two hands. Even then, Lord Caitanya was concerned that dust would again come into the temple, and so He had His devotees clean the area outside the temple as well—throw water outside the temple, so no new dust would come in.
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Srila Prabhupada: “Ultimately, we must all fly our own airplane.”
Srutakirti dasa: “ I am still trying to find my way back to the airport”
…Finally, in apparent disgust, Srila Prabhupada said, “All right, you just chant your sixteen rounds, follow the four regulative principles and do any damn thing you want.” That is how this rare room conversation ended. Our most magnanimous leader gave them permission to serve him in whatever capacity they could. Again it was evident that Srila Prabhupada considered us all volunteers in his transcendental army. It is up to us to decide how quickly we want to get the mercy and make advancement by serving our spiritual master according to his desires. Daily, we choose what, and how much, we are willing to do in the service of our Guru Maharaja. Once in his quarters in New Dwaraka, Srila Prabhupada said, “Ultimately, we must all fly our own airplane.” Srila Prabhupada, I am still trying to find my way back to the airport. Without you in front of me it is very difficult to find my way. You have given us all the tools necessary to engage in devotional service, but I do not think I will ever be qualified to fly my own plane back to Krishna.
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Hare Krishna! Hope Against Hope
Srila Prabhupada: The different groups of atheist thinkers have different kinds of plans in the brain and they are exhibited in different patterns of godlessness. One set of atheistic nation thinks on it in a different way and all of them clash at a point of overlapping circles caused by the ‘Daiva’ way. This is so because none of these thoughts of different groups is beyond the range of direct perception of the material sense without any spiritual knowledge. Therefore the quality of such different thought is always the same but the varieties are presented in multi-colourful attraction for the foolish mass of people. We have already discussed this point at length in our article ‘All Compact in Thought’. The mass of people are themselves blind to see everything in their true perspective and they are now made to follow similar blind leaders under various political arrangement. They are made to follow either of the above multi-colourful ideals sure to be failure in the long run and therefore they are made to hope against hope in a practical way.
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Hare Krishna! Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s commentary on the story of Ekalavya.
In his book of essays, entitled Upakhyane Upadesa, “Instructions in Stories” (Gaudiya Mission 1936), Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gives the following commentary on the story of Ekalavya: The translation from the original Bengali is by H.H. Bhakti-caru Svami. To many people, Ekalavya’s devotion to his guru is ideal, but there is a special consideration…What was Ekalavya’s fault? That should be considered. Wearing the mask of guru-bhakti (devotion to the guru), Ekalavya actually revolted against his guru. Whether his guru was actually considering him to be disqualified by birth in a low-class family, or was simply testing him– for whatever reason–when his gurudeva refused to teach him the art of Dhanur Veda, it was Ekalavya’s duty to accept the instruction of his spiritual master.
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Birmingham Rathayatra
The 15th Anniversary of the Birmingham Rathayatra Festival 2015 promises to be a spectacular event with a City Centre procession and festival, incorporating all the exoticness, vitality and colour that is India.
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Hare Krishna! Sense Gratification: An Essay in Pathology Part 2
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa: The wise know well that this world is itself a disaster area. We fools of time are loath to hear this. We are “in denial.” As the Bhagavatam says of us, pashyann api na pashyati,” although we have seen, we still don’t see. Our blindness is willful. We make ourselves stupid in order to be happy: Yet ah! why should they know their fate? Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies. Thought would destroy their paradise. No more;—where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise.
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Hare Krishna! Food for Life: in Theory and Practice
One objection to Food for Life frequently encountered from devotees and non-devotees alike, is that the programme is simply an attempt to win public favour. We are not really interested in helping people but are trying to manipulate public opinion by performing a high profile charitable service. For devotees, this objection is also rooted in the doubt that, as a spiritual organisation, ISKCON should not be concerned with mundane welfare work and, of course, we should certainly not be trying to manipulate people’s minds by doing something we don’t really believe in ourselves. The purpose of this paper therefore, is to answer this objection and to establish Food for Life as a programme deserving as much credibility as both hari-nama and book distribution. It is divided into two sections: the philosophical basis of the programme from Srila Prabhupada’s writings, and some practical aspects and benefits of Food for Life.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18446

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Help BRC Fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s Divine Vision
For: Bhaktivedanata Research Centre (BRC)
Kolkata, WB, India
Organizer: HG Hari Sauri Prabhu, BRC Co-Director, Mahalakshmi dasi, Membership Coordinator
In 1972, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada visited the son of Bhaktivinoda Thakura , Lalita Prasad Thakur in Birnagar, their ancestral home. It became known after that visit that many invaluable Gaudiya Vaisnava manuscripts were being kept there. Srila Prabhupada ordered his disciples Acyutananda and Yadubara Prabhus to take up this service very seriously. In a letter dated June 12, 1972, He wrote:
“These items are very, very priceless and are a great treasure house of Vaisnava lore, so be very careful in the matter and take all precautions to guard them.”
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World’s new Sankirtan Leader revealed 🙂 (1 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/aquurX

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Beautiful Houston Ratha-yatra with three small carts! Read more ›

Translated Letter from Srila Prabhupada to Lalita Prasad Thakur (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s son) National Hotel, Red park, Moscow, Russia 21st June, 1971. My dear uncle Prabhupada Lalita Prasad Thakur, Kindly accept my humble obeisance to your lotus feet. At present I am staying at the above mentioned hotel in Moscow, Room No. 356. With me there are two American disciples. Here the preaching subject will be 1. Vedic Conception of Communism, 2. Knowledge derived from authoritative tradition, 3. Scientific classless society. Now with your blessing in this severely atheistic country the teachings of Sriman Mahaprabhu will be preached. Here many local and foreigner girls and boys have visited. I advise them to do the Bhajana of the Lord. A few boys of this place have become very much impressed after listening to our Harinama. They want to join us. But the laws of this country are so tough that they cannot go against them. Here discussions are going on to meet many reputable professors and there will be the arrangement of lecture in the Indian Embassy. You bless me. From here I will go to Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London etc. This is the first time I came to Moscow. If you want to write to me, send it to this address—3764 Watseka Avenue. Yours affectionately, Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami (from Bhaktivedanta Research Centre’s Birnagar Collection)

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Hare Krishna! Agriculture minister of India visits ISKCON Nairobi
Shriman Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundaria, the Indian minister for Agriculture who is on a special mission to Kenya, visited ISKCON Nairobi on the 12th July 2015. The minister was received… Read more ›

This is US (23 min video)
This is US a documentary on Tribal people living in the remote areas who are an indispensable part of Indian population. More than 426 tribal groups inhabit in India, The realistic description of their pathetic life, deprived of all facilities like education, health care is highly touching and make one wonder, do such people really exist in the 21st century?
Realizing the challenge of overall development, & to fulfill the desire of Srila Prabhupada to build a house where the whole world can live in peace, Iskcon Tribal Care Initiative has taken a step to break their vicious circle by different developmental initiatives and intervention.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/loYWvE

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Returning to the spiritual world
Kadamba Kanana Swami: Sarupa chants into Krsna’s ear and Krsna comes back to his senses, he embraces Sarup says, “Come! You take prasadam with me!” And they go to take prasadam in the house of Nanda Maharaj who is already waiting. Radharani has cooked all these delicious sweets and actually, it turns out that Sarupa is a family member. He is related to Srimati Radharani, in the family of Sridham. Sarupa is sitting next to Krsna, then some sweets are placed on Krsna’s plate and Krsna tastes them and makes a face; horrible! Everyone is shocked, what is this? Yasoda is looking at Radharani, “What did you do? What did you make here? Are you poisoning my child?” Krsna says, “These are inedible!” He takes the sweets and throws them on Sarupa’s plate and says, “Here, you taste them since it is your family that has produced them.” And Sarupa tastes the greatest nectar, he has not tasted such nectar ever, amazing! So in this way he returns back to Godhead; he is not just suddenly back. No, Krsna welcomes him back personally. It is a very personal thing, going back to Godhead. It is also very personal thing when we leave; it hurts Krsna very much. So like this, yes indeed, the relationship is very personal.
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Hare Krishna! The History Of Our Vaishnava Heritage
Bhakti Caru Swami: What Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave is the highest. It is not a sentimental claim, but the verdict of the scriptures. Also, when we want to analyze it and verify it, then we get to see that this is the highest spiritual achievement. A part of it we discussed yesterday, that who is the greatest devotee, what is the highest form of devotion? Narada Muni is very systematically experiencing that. Sanatana Goswami is describing Narada Muni’s search for the greatest devotee. We are seeing the gradual elevation of one’s devotional profoundity. Today we will be discussing the second part of Brhad Bhagavatamrta. The second part of Brhad Bhagavatmrita is actually describing a devotee’s journey back to Godhead. The story begins with a cowherd boy named Gopakumara. Gopakumar is born in Govardhana in a family of Vaishyas, a cowherd family.
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Srila Prabhupada’s compassion.
Feelings of pity and sorrow are evoked when we see the sufferings of our fellow man. Our attempts to alleviate that distress by acts of charity are certainly regarded as noble acts of benevolence, and there have been many people who have made selfless sacrifices for the poor, infirm and marginalised. The world would definitely be a better place if more people were benevolent, concerned, kind, and empathetic – qualities collectively appreciated as compassion. Depending on one’s premise however, compassion can be understood in different ways. Srila Prabhupada enlightened us about our real identity – that “I am not this body, but a spirit soul”. On this level of insight, compassion has a much deeper significance. Srila Prabhupada taught and lived by this premise. He stated: Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realisation… No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress – the gross material body. As an enlightened soul, Srila Prabhupada felt pain at the distress of others and wanted to relieve their suffering. He explained that compassion for the material body alone does not provide a lasting solution. He saw the suffering of the living entity as a symptom of a deeper problem – the misidentification of the real person (the soul) with the temporary material body. As long as the spirit soul identified with this body, it would have to repeatedly endure birth after birth and the concomitant suffering typical of material existence.
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Putin says he’d prefer start yoga with spiritual practices.
At a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the Russian president promised to try to practice yoga to the best of his abilities. “Yoga is something I’ve never done so far but it can’t help being attractive. I’ll see what my condition permits me to do proceeding from the level of my physical fitness,” Putin said. “When you look at real yogis, it seems no one can attain this kind of perfection and the thought stops you.”.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/RuZNCT

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Hare Krishna Festival in the Baltic sea. On The Shore Of The Ocean Of Love (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: “O friend of the world! O Ocean of love! The populace has become full of deceit and bereft of knowledge. O my master! Kindly give them shelter at Your lotus feet, for the holy name, uplifter of the fallen, has become manifest from You.” [ Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Susloka Satakam, verse 21 ]
See them here: https://goo.gl/s3l8bN

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Harinama in New York (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In any condition, a man can live in a small cottage, plant a tulasi tree, water it in the morning, offer it prayers, and continuously chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Thus one can make vigor… Read more ›

Hare Krishna! Sri Ksetra Puri Parikrama 2015
We are happy to invite devotees from around the world to perform the most auspicious Sri Ksetra Parikrama. This year the parikrama day falls on 11th November. On this day, devotees will circumambulate the en… Read more ›

Hare Krishna! Gudur Rathayatra 2015
Gudur is a town in the Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh, located around 140 kilometers North of one of India’s largest cities, Chennai, on National Highway 5. It is well known for large natural deposits of the mineral “mica” in and around the town. The town is also important due to the Railway station, a very large junction station connecting Chennai to Vijayawada, and from there to North, West, and Eastern India. Nellore district is also famous for the local varieties of rice that have been grown there for millenia. Gudur is just 40 kilometers South of Nellore, the district headquarters, where ISKCON sannyasi Sukhadev Swami has established a temple of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev and Subhadradevi, as well as a large ashram. Sukhadev Swami, originally from Andhra Pradesh, was a practicing medical doctor in the United States. He became frustrated with his material circumstances, returned to India and joined ISKCON at Bombay back during 1983-84.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18431

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Hare Krishna! The history of the Balaram Mrdangas – Part II
Manu priya continued to produce the Balaram mrdanga’s until March 1, 1992. On that day he finished making eight large and four small mrdangas. I was cooking the Sunday feast for the LA temple that day, I still do. After cooking I would usually bring some prasadam over to Manu’s apartment and take with a couple devotee friends and my wife Isanah dd. This time Manu was not there, I asked our friend and neighbor Jiva Carana dasa if he knew where Manu was, he said that Manu asked him to go to the store with him but Jiva was busy so he didn’t go. I came back an hour later and Manu was still not there. I went to look for him in case his car broke down or something. I went to the closest grocery store and saw his car parked by the door. As I was walking to the door of the store I saw his crutches in the passenger seat. I went over to the car and Manu priya was slumped over and his body cold, He was gone. He had made drums for the world wide devotee community until his last breath.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18428

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Montreal Ratha Yatra Kirtana 2015 (2 min video)
With Bhaktimarga Swami.
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