Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Walking Monk travels Highway 30. A Hare Krishna monk known as…
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Walking Monk travels Highway 30.
A Hare Krishna monk known as the Walking Monk, Bhaktimarga Swami has been crossing Nebraska by walking Highway 30 and Thursday arrived in Sidney.
Swami hopes to encourage people towards “an enhanced walking culture.”
“That means, basically, getting out of the house or the office and doing what our bodies are designed for,” he said. “It means greeting the elements and working your machinery, and also going for some reflective downtime, taking some time to process the things that are going on in your life.”
People, Swami said, need to “exhale a little bit.”

“There’s a lot of inhalation, but little exhalation,” he said. “Walking allows that to happen.”

Swami has done many pilgrimages. A native of Ontario, he has crossed Canada from coast to coast four times. He has also walked Ireland and Israel, Guyana, Trinidad, and the Fiji Islands.

Last year, Swami started in New York and has been making the walk to San Francisco. He resumed his travel in Seward, heading toward Wyoming in 20 miles segments.

Highway 30, Swami said, offers both a linear route and a sense of history, as it’s the first highway built across the country.

“It’s also the trail for a lot of migrants who were going for the gold rush,” he said, “and I believe the Mormons had also come from the east and gone to the west to settle where they are in Utah.”

The undertaking of a pilgrimage is an ancient practice, valued by many traditions and peoples.

“It doesn’t matter what strain you come from,” Swami said, “whether it’s a European one or an Eastern one, or a Native one, there seems to be a portion of people’s lives where they would actually go, on an individual basis or as a group, for personal healing, go for a downsized kind of vacation, and go to a destination that means something to the individuals.”

Swami has gained much from his pilgrimages.

“It doesn’t cease to amaze me when I’m walking these vast tracks of land,” he said. “It’s awe inspiring and it’s a very humbling experience. It’s like stepping into infinity, endless fields and beautiful rolling hills and the sky is definitely to no limit. That’s your constitutional position, as our Guru used to put it, to feel small but to do big. It’s taking a humble position and being ready to serve.”

He added, “Walking puts you into that service frame of mind.”

Traveling Nebraska, Swami’s interactions with others have been rarely hostile, sometimes curious and mostly kind.

“A lot of people offer that gesture of a wave. An officer pulled over yesterday. Before he even asked me a question he went to his trunk and gave me two bottles of water,” he said. “That type of kindness is there.”

Painting Deities with Srila PrabhupadaYamuna Devi: “One…
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Painting Deities with Srila Prabhupada
Yamuna Devi: “One day Srila Prabhupada asked me to paint a set of Radha-Krishna Deities that he was sending to Hamburg to have installed. When I informed him I was not an artist and didn’t feel I could do it, he said that he would show me what to do. So he told me to find a special black, white and red paint, and that evening we sat Them on his small desk and Srila Prabhupada personally painted the Deities and instructed me at the same time. I sat in front of him, and as time seemed to disappear, the lovely forms of the Lords slowly became manifest through the painting. After we were finished, I immediately went to my room and wrote what he had explained. He said that the painting of Radha and Krishna Deities is called Anga-Raga. Anga means ‘body’ and Raga means ‘painting of.’ So Radharani holds her fingers in a mudra. Mudras can also be used by the Spiritual Master when he is preaching, and different mudras have special meanings. And Srila Prabhupada held up his fingers just as Srimati Radharani’s were—with forefinger and thumb together. Srila Prabhupada often used that ‘mudra’ when he made a specific point.”

Harinama on a stormy winter’s night in Auckland, New…
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Harinama on a stormy winter’s night in Auckland, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he considers himself a servant of the holy name and in this spirit distributes the holy name to the world. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.16 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/xgkGsZ

Glastonbury Rathayatra, UK – 28th May 2017 (Album with photos)…
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Glastonbury Rathayatra, UK – 28th May 2017 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The names of the Lord and the Lord are non-different. So Lord Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to “always chant the names of Lord Krishna” are the same instruction. (Bhagavad-gita, Introduction)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/yI1gHv

The recordings of the “Holy Name Festival 2017…
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The recordings of the “Holy Name Festival 2017 Videos”
Srila Prabhupada: When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert. (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 4.71 purport, Vidagdha-Madhava 1.12)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4QA0sP

Krishna Wisdom: Making a Difference in the World (2 min…
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Krishna Wisdom: Making a Difference in the World (2 min video)
Balaram Nityananda: Honoured to be working with our Temple President at Bhaktivedanta Manor Srutidharma Prabhu as he encourages devotees to help fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire by taking part in outreach activities aimed at local people completely new to Bhakti, through www.krishnawisdom.com
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/QIGVEp

The Telangana, South India Padayatra On The Road Again. Vishnu…
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The Telangana, South India Padayatra On The Road Again.
Vishnu Swamy Dasa: The state of Telangana is located in south India. It is the twelfth largest state in India with an area of 112,077 square kilometres (43,273 square miles) and a population of 35,193,978. Its major cities include Hyderabad, Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Nalgonda. The first Telangana padayatra started on December 6th 2012 and was completed on November 1st 2015. The padayatra travelled approximately 4500 kilometres to all 10 districts in Telangana and visited 500 villages and towns there. Our small team of devotees decided to do another padayatra in Telangana. We set off on January 22nd 2017 and have covered 500 kilometres and visited 60 villages thus far.

Our daily routine on padayatra starts with mangal arati at 5 am, Guru-puja and Bhagavatam class from 7 am and prasadam at 9:30 am. We generally travel from one village to the next after mangal arati or in the evenings according to the weather conditions. We usually have supper prasadam at 5 pm and then sankirtana with our Gaura Nitai chariot from 6 to 9 pm. When people give us donations we give them a book in return. Many people also give us donations of rice and flowers and other things.

We originally started with four padayatris: another devotee named Vishnu Swamy Das, Srinivasa Sevananda Dasa, Ramanuja Dasa and myself. Ramanuja Dasa had to leave after a month so there are just the three of us of now. We travelled to the area of Narsampeta in the Warangal district from April 7th to April 13th. While there we stayed at the ‘Narsampeta Orphanage’.

The “Hare Krishna!” movie’s premier in Sedona…
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The “Hare Krishna!” movie’s premier in Sedona sold out.
Visakha Dasi: Front page of Sedona’s local paper Kudos – Verde Valley Newspaper featuring Prabhupada! We are in town all week, our premiere is sold out but due to popular demand there is a second screening on Sunday 4th at 10.20am at the Sedona Performing Arts Centre, buy tickets through our website harekrishnathefilm.com

Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple. Kripamoya das: Sri…
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Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple.
Kripamoya das: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu begins his teaching to Sanatana Goswami by explaining that the soul wanders the universe, life after life, and then in one special life, by the grace of Krishna and the guru, he begins the journey of bhakti.
When Srila Rupa Goswami wrote about the sixty-four elements of bhakti, the first five on the list are related to the guru and disciple; and when Sanatana Goswami wrote his Hari Bhakti Vilasa along with his friend Gopala Bhatta Goswami, the first two of twenty chapters in the manual explain the guru and disciple relationship. This is a brief extract of his quotations from several scriptures.
“The human body is a ship, the guru is the captain, the instructions of God are the favourable winds.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20.17
“Any person who desires happiness must seek a guru and take shelter of him. The qualification of the guru is that he has realised the conclusions of scripture and is able to convince others.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21
“One should approach a guru who is in full knowledge of me as I am, who is peaceful, and who by spiritual elevation is non-different from me.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.5
“To learn about transcendence one must approach the guru with wood in his hands for the fire sacrifice. The symptom of such a guru is that he is expert in the Vedas and therefore he constantly engages in the service of God.” – Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12
“The disciple should be free from false prestige, active, never lazy, and should give up all proprietorship. He should have feelings of friendship towards the guru, and should not become bewildered or deviated. The disciple should always desire advancement in spiritual understanding, should not not envy anyone and always avoid useless conversation.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.6
“The guru and disciple should reside together for at least a year, testing each other before they decide to enter into a guru-disciple relationship. They should examine each other to find out their nature, character and compatibility.” Mantra Muktavalli
“A disciple must endeavour with his life, wealth and work for the favoured projects of the acarya and serve him with body, mind and words. In this way the disciple attains the highest spiritual good.” – Vishnu Smriti
“When a person obtains the mercy of his guru, he receives the Vaishnava mantra from him. By constantly chanting the mantra he inherits unimaginable opulence and ultimately the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Those who have performed immense pious deeds and austerities over many hundreds of years chant this mantra and thus are able to deliver the entire world.” – Agama Shastra
“When a person who has been properly chanting the Vaishnava mantra constantly for a long time glances on anyone, that person is instantly freed from the worst type of fear and anguish.” – Vishnu Purana

THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with…
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THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: The Southernmost tip of India!
We reached Kanyakumari on March 29th, also known as Kanniyakumari and formerly referred to as Cape Comorin. It is located in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and situated at the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent at the confluence of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. These bodies of water are the final destination of most of India’s holy rivers such as the Ganges and the Yamuna. The nearest town, Nagercoil, serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kanyakumari district and is twenty-two kilometers away. Kanyakumari is less than a three hour drive from Trivandrum.

A special place for Vaishnavas

dakṣiṇaṁ tatra kanyākhyāṁ
durgāṁ devīṁ dadarśa saḥ

Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.79

Kanyakumari is a significant place for all devotees. It is mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10, Chapter 79, in verses 16 to17 that Lord Balarama visited Kanyakumari on pilgrimage. It states that He went to the shore of the southern ocean, where He saw Goddess Durga in her form as Kanya-kumari.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited there during His South India tour.

kanyā-kumārī tāhāṅ kaila daraśana

Translation: “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Kanyakumari. Lord Caitanya took His bath at the holy confluence of three oceans” (CC Madhya 9.223).

Other great souls have also visited this place. On his way to America, Srila Prabhupada sailed through here on the Jaladuta. However, the main reason why we, as Vaisnavas should visit Kanayakumari is because Lord Caitanya visited there. Wherever the Lord went that place was transformed into Vrindavana. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami explained that what Lord Caitanya didn’t give in Navadvipa, He gave in South India. During that time many people in Navadvipa were very materialistic and ritualistic but in South India people were simple, and they opened their hearts to receive the Lord’s mercy and thus attained perfection.

The All India Padayatra’s experience in South India

We stayed at the Vivekananda ashram in Kanyakumari for three days. While there we visited the sea shore, Lady of Ransom Church, Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Sunrise Point and Sunset Point and performed sankirtana along the way. We went to the temple of mother Kanyakumari as well and took darsana of her foot prints. Mother Kanyakumari is a great Vaishnavi, she is always chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. When Lord Caitanya visited Kanyakumari, He gave her darsana. She becomes very happy when Vaishnavas come to take darsana and so we all prayed to her to give us unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna. All the padayatris took bath at the same place that Lord Balaram and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu took bath at too.

During the sankirtana we met many pilgrims from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bengal all of whom joined us in loudly chanting the mahamantra. It was a great pleasure being in Kanyakumari –as padayatris we travel all over India from North, to South, to East and West all by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who gives us the strength to walk.
Photos and videos: https://goo.gl/L2rvEH

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk. Krishna-kripa Das: I share…
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Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk.
Krishna-kripa Das: I share some fascinating material on Hare Krishna devotees surviving the war in the former Yugoslavia by Vrsabha Prabhu of Croatia.
Vrsabha Prabhu: Material opulence can never give us satisfaction. There was one beautiful opera singer who was very fat and voluntarily ate a tape worm, hoping that would help her become more shapely. It worked, but unfortunately the worm did not leave enough to nourish her, and she ultimately died. Other people who were rich and famous, not being satisfied, turned to drugs and ruined their lives. So many examples are there, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monoe, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, etc.

Many people received Srila Prabhupada’s books in Yugoslavia, but most did not take them seriously. When the war began, however, people began to take the books off the shelves and read them.

Sarajevo is a city in valley, and Serbian soldiers surrounded it. Only a one-kilometer tunnel the residents had dug could take people out of the city. One man, who read the books and heard there were devotees in Sarajevo, wanted to go inside the city. No one could believe it. He did and found the devotees and became one.

The UN donated two truck loads of ingredients to devotees distributing food in Sarajevo.

The devotees in Sarajevo were so enthusiastic to hear about Krishna, they would walk across the city at the risk of being shot by Serbian snipers, either coming or going to the Sunday feast. One invalid devotee had a friend who would bring him and his wheelchair, one at a time, down 14 flights of stairs and push him 7 kilometers to the Sunday feast.

There is one Croatian devotee Madhavananda who was captured by the Serbians, who put him to work in a death camp. He refused to eat meat, and said, “You can kill me but I will not eat meat.” They needed him to dig ditches, so they gave him vegetarian food. He would preach Bhagavad-gita to people in the camp, whether they were Croatians or Muslims. Serbian army people noticed that the people who heard his preaching were easier to control, so they told him to give classes twice a day and gave him an office to prepare for them. Previously before being captured, he had organized a gurukula in one city because the men were engaged in the war and the city was filled with women and children who were unengaged. He taught them verses and bhajanas and the chanting of Hare Krishna. Even so many years later, he still gets messages on Facebook or by email from kids who were there, thanking him for taking care of them.

One woman who came to Hare Krishna in Sarvejo during the war, considered, “When I was chanting Hare Krishna in a mood of helplessness and praying to God, I was in bliss, I complete forgot about my identification with the material body. That was best time of my life.”

One person who later became a devotee but was an atheist at the time, when he saw a line of Serbian tanks approaching him, addressed the Lord, “Dear God, if you really exist, get me out of this situation.” Dark clouds appeared, lightning struck his machine gun, which exploded and blew off his boots and left him unconscious. He was moved off the battlefield and was saved. Many of his friends were killed.

Sometimes war causes people to take shelter of God. Many people in Bosnia, and also in Croatia, became devotees because of the war. Not a single devotee in Bosnia died or was injured.

Just one virus, so small you cannot see it, can reduce a body builder, who has worked out for years, to a skin-and-bones guy like me.

God does not need money from us. He is the richest person in the world.

God demands us to give up only that which is not good for us anyway, sinful activities.

Comments by Bhakti Rasa Prabhu:

One of the consequences of misusing of our independence is that we come to this world. You can say “if things are so nice in the spiritual world, how could anyone one leave?” but by eliminating the possibility of one leaving, you eliminate their free will.

It is comforting to reflect, “Our karma is temporary, but we are eternal and Krishna is eternal.”

Comment by Caitanya Vallabha Prabhu: Suppose after 45 years of marriage to your wife, you find out the only the reason she married you was someone put a gun to her head, how would you feel? In the same way, Krishna is looking for freely given love.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/rKxqvI

Holy Cow! Another early morning at the Krishna Village. Walking…
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Holy Cow!
Another early morning at the Krishna Village. Walking towards the paddock amidst the dew and early morning light, a group of around twenty cows becomes visible, calves and their mothers huddled around the milking shed. A mixture of black and white friesians and light brown and white Indian gyrs, they are waiting patiently to be herded after the daily 5am milking, an activity that can be joined by any Krishna Village guest who wishes to attend.
Claire, one of their main custodians, explains how despite being vegan she drinks this milk because it is ‘ahimsa’ milk – obtained in a non violent way. Unlike the cows at mainstream dairies, these cows are milked by hand, leaving them with more than enough milk for their calves, who are free to stay with their mothers from birth. Visible most times of day in the paddocks eating grass or frolicking with their friends, the cows are an integral part of the Krishna Farm, considered sacred by Hare Krishnas and loved by everyone in the community.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/IPkfXo

A hiphop track about the power of malas and Tulasi! (2 min…
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A hiphop track about the power of malas and Tulasi! (2 min video)
Gauranga Simha: the lyrics as requested:
There’s power in this string of sacred beads that I carry
they help me understand the kind of person that I can be
by steady meditation realize that I am free … realize that I am me you are you and I worship the sun and the moon as the eyes of the most high witness the beauty of the soul and almost cry choose the light every time and let the ghost die
chant the mantra get high and let my soul fly
Lord is in my heart so you know he’s always close by
These beads give me guidance beads give me hope
when the world gets dark these beads help me cope
wanna wash away your karma these beads are the soap
you can string them on silver string them on rope
these beads keep me high I don’t need no dope
I keep my malas real close to me just the way a lover supposed to be
they’re way more than beads on a string you see and the highest of the high is Tulasi Maharani
now mala thats a fact meditate activate love attract wear a mala round your neck to keep love in tact raise your malas in the air we on a love attack let the people of the world know love is back
let the people of the world know god is black, blue, yellow, green and sometimes white when you get to know the truth then the sun shines bright when my hearts’ in the lyrics then I rhyme tight and lead the people of the world to the sublime light
I can reach up touch the stars when I speak up spit fake nonsense boy you can’t keep up I’m a hurricane you’re a storm in a teacup
I don’t watch that material accumulation I’m all about that spiritual illumination check my progress everyday when I’m in meditation every second celebrate coz life’s a celebration use my mala to accelerate my elevation through the school of transcendental higher education
These beads give me guidance beads give me hope
when the world gets dark these beads help me cope
wanna wash away your karma these beads are the soap
you can string them on silver string them on rope
these beads keep me high I don’t need no dope…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/skKoRs

Debriefing the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe Workshop. Raga…
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Debriefing the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe Workshop.
Raga devi dasi : It’s my pleasure to offer this account of the “Unravelling the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe” workshop sponsored by the Krishna Institute and the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville held at the Alachua Learning Academy on the May 21-22. It included an all-star cast: Janmastami das did a stellar job of organizing the program, bringing in guest speakers His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami (by internet), Brahmatirtha das in person, and key presenter, Murli Gopal das, who came in from the NYC Bhakti Center, toting an excellent PowerPoint presentation and many large charts and exhibits mounted around the room. Nandini Kishori devi dasi and her friendly helper, Vegavati devi dasi, facilitated online participation.

We began with the premise that the Srimad Bhagavatam’s Fifth Canto can be bewildering, and were quite relieved when Murli Gopal prabhu announced that we were welcome to consider our own appreciation of the information presented and need not conform to a definitive consensus. He cleverly avoided over-thinking complex topics by including two entertaining small group sessions exploring the 5th Canto’s cosmography. Throughout the workshop he presented fascinating Vaishnava pastimes involving this cosmography. We went to the Santa Fe College Planetarium to view “Passport to the Universe,” narrated by Academy Award winner Tom Hanks. It offered a dazzling tour of the modern scientific conception of the cosmos, which Murali Gopal prabhu skillfully contrasted to the Vedic version analyzed in the book Mysteries of the Sacred Universe by Sadaputa das (PhD in Mathematics from Cornell). Following in his footsteps, Murli Gopal prabhu has studied both science (Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio University) and Sanskrit (Columbia University), as well as Vedic cosmography and astronomy (and he has a 5th degree black belt in Karate!) He brought these impressive credentials to his well-organized talks, along with his deep loving respect for Sadaputa prabhu, plus a humorous, progressive outlook that allowed him to blend cartoons illustrating central concepts along with fascinating sophisticated graphics. The 48 participants (along with 20 more interacting online) appeared to be extremely satisfied with the spectacular presentations. Rucira devi dasi seemed to sum up the prevailing mood with her comment “I have no words to say how grateful I am to acquire this new knowledge.”

Harinama in Barnaul, Russia, 27.05.17 (Album with photos) Srila…
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Harinama in Barnaul, Russia, 27.05.17 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” If one practices chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, he is naturally expected to chant Hare Krishna when he meets with some accident. Even without such practice, however, if one somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord (Hare Krishna) when he meets with an accident and dies, he will be saved from hellish life after death. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/i7JeAx

Haifa, Israel, Beach Sankirtan (Album with photos) Srila…
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Haifa, Israel, Beach Sankirtan (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: It is the special mercy of the Supreme Lord that as soon as He knows that one is glorifying His name, fame and attributes, He personally helps cleanse the dirt from one’s heart. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12 Purport).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/jUCknO

Holy Name Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Album with…
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Holy Name Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.17).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/gKb9rx

Harinam sankirtan & book distribution at Twin Tower Car free…
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Harinam sankirtan & book distribution at Twin Tower Car free day Sunday Morning Market. Iskcon Jembrana Bali Indonesia. (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).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ALfv9u

Sunday Kirtan, Accra, Ghana, West Africa (Album with photos)…
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Sunday Kirtan, Accra, Ghana, West Africa (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger. Devotional service, which begins with chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if one falls down, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord. This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.1.63 Purport).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/w3JgOs