Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Becoming a disciple of His Divine Grace.
Krishna Kirtan Devi dasi, at 15, an active Christian, first met the devotees in a public park in Paris called Jardin du Luxembourg in July 1972. She thought they were Buddhist monks and was impressed by them, although she didn’t know anything about them. The devotees told her things like, “Disciple means discipline” and “If you want fraternity and equality, join this movement!” Then it started to rain, so she cut short the conversation and left.

Diwali Celebrations at the Victorian Parliament House of Melbourne (Album with photos)
ISKCON Melbourne, as well as other Hind…Read More…

Govardhan Puja 2016 at ISKCON Ujjain (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Supreme Lord, Krsna, He’s maintaining everyone: yoga-ksemam vahamy aham [Bg. 9.22]. And He’ll not maintain a person who has fully surrendered to Him? No. How it can be. Suppose a gentleman is maintaining so many other children. And he does not maintain his own children? Surely he does. Therefore our principle should be we should not think about our personal maintenance. We should dedicate our life for Krsna, and Krsna will take care. That should be the principle. Don’t be harassed, thinking always “How I shall be maintained?” That is not the problem. Maintenance is no problem. Real problem is “How we shall be fully surrendered to Krsna?” That is wanted. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.2.5 – New York, March 5, 1975
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Krishna Lifts the Govardhan Hill.
Once in the beautiful land of Vraja,
For Lord Indra they wanted to do a puja
Begging to Indra to supply them rain
So that in time they can harvest their grain
Seeing this Krishna was not happy,

Read More…(T…

A Unique Experience in Sri Dham Mayapur!
I am Kruti Beesam. I work as a proofreader for a reputed software firm company in Hyderabad. I have Cerebral Palsy, which confines me to a wheelchair and makes me dependent on physical assistance even for my basic day-to-day needs. At the age of 13 years my disability gave me an opportunity to meet Dr. Laxma Reddy, a physio at a clinic in Hyderabad. Later, due to my condition, he agreed to pay home visits.
Dr Laxma was a simple person who knew his job well and was very friendly with his patients. With his help, my condition improved to an extent. With time, I started observing some changes in Dr Reddy. He started speaking more and more about God. To him, Krishna is the only God. One day, he came in saffron robes and told us that he had joined the Hare Krishna movement and left physiotherapy for good.
I could not understand how a person could leave everything behind and simply live to serve God. I had only seen that in movies. Dr Laxma was now Rama Lakshman das.
He shifted to a place called Mayapur in West Bengal, a holy place greatly revered by the followers of the Chaitanya tradition from which the modern Hare Krishna movement originated.
Rama Lakshman Prabhu now visited us whenever he came to our city and helped us to understand a little bit about the Bhagavad-Gita. My confusion about his decision slowly turned to admiration, and I found myself wanting to lead a life similar to that which he had opted for.
My limitations don’t allow me to do everything that I’d like to but I hope I will be able to do so someday.
In school, I dreaded maths. My mom tried various methods to improve my performance in the subject. Rama Lakshman Prabhu promised that he would take me to Mayapur if I passed the exam with a good score.
The promise of such an incentive motivated me to put all my efforts into the upcoming exam.
To my great delight, I passed! My family and I consider it nothing less than a miracle that I got through the exam. He saved me from failing into arrears that could have brought my confidence down.
But due to the difficulties associated with travelling and various other reasons, we didn’t get a chance to visit any place for years.
Eight years later, when we finally got an opportunity to go to Mayapur, I had an overwhelming experience. It is a beautiful place where the purity of nature is well-preserved. It was as if I was reading a beautiful description in a book or watching a good movie –the greenery, the cows, and the simplicity of the place are things that we cannot find in the din and bustle of cities like Hyderabad.
In Mayapur, I witnessed the perfect implementation of the concept of simple living and high thinking. We stayed there only for three days but had the opportunity to participate in the karthika festival, which was so wonderful that it was nothing like anything I had ever seen.When I saw the Deities in the temple for the first time, I had tears in my eyes. I wondered if I was the only one in that state of mind. Later, I was told that a friend who had accompanied us also had the same experience. She said that it was as if the Lord had appeared there just to allow us to have a glimpse of Him. I used to think that this is an experience of people who completely dedicate their lives to Krishna; but I after the tear-inducing profound experience my friend and I have had, I think that any devotee who sees the Lord with a pure heart also experiences similar feelings.
I had already started feeling the magic of Mayapur. I saw that people from different faiths had come together to celebrate Krishna. It is amazing to see how Sri Sri Radha Madhava attracts and inspires people from every part of the world to come to Mayapur and take shelter at Their lotus feet. Two pious souls who have been so attracted are Indulekha mataji and Vishnurata prabhu. They are from Russia and Indonesia respectively and are now living in Sridham Mayapur. Along with Rama Lakshman prabhu, they took us around to many places and narrated pastimes of the Lord associated with each place. Among other places, I also had the opportunity to visit and offer my prayers to the holy Ganges. It is said that the river washes away all our sins. I felt the purity of the river when I went there. I had only seen the Ganges on TV. I never thought that I would be touching the holy water. This has been possible because of all the people who came with me. I thank all of them from the bottom of my heart. As a part of preserving and promoting Indian culture, both Vishnurata prabhu and Indulekha mataji were dressed traditionally. And they willingly performed the rituals of the traditional Hindu society. For instance, Indulekha mataji insisted on serving us all lunch before sitting down herself to eat. None of them would eat without making an offering to the Lord first. It was strange to see people from different corners of the world reminding us of the customs and traditions that we have forgotten.
I also met Chaitanya, who was also a devotee of the Lord like so many others in Mayapur. But there’s something special about him. What makes him special is his enthusiasm to celebrate life despite his disability. His unshakable faith in Krishna surprised me. As we spoke, he motivated me to chant more rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra and gave me a couple of books that can further inspire me. It was amazing to realize the fact that God has blessed these people by allowing them to live in Mayapur and offer their services to Him. It felt like I was in a different world altogether. Neither the travel fatigue nor the humid weather could affect me while I meditated on the Lord in that beautiful heaven called Sri Dham Mayapur. I hope I get another chance to have that experience of beauty.
Hare Krishna!

New Vrindaban 24 Hour Kirtan (Kartik 2016) (Album with 113 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: …transcendental pleasure means feeling of pleasure through Krsna. Just like the gopis and Krsna. Gopis, when they saw Krsna is pleased, they became happy, and Krsna, when He saw that the gopis are happy, He become happier. Again the gopis sees that Krsna is happier, they, again they become more happy. In this way, there is competition of happiness. The gopis sees Krsna happier; they feel happiness, and Krsna sees gopis happier; Krsna feels happiness. This word is described in the Caitanya-caritamrta: dui lagi hura huri. This is spiritual competition. >>> Ref. VedaBase => The Nectar of Devotion – Vrndavana, November 3, 1972
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ECO-Vrindaban Offers Opportunity for New Maintenance Person.
ECO-Vrindaban (ECO-V) which strives to fulfill Srila Prabhupadas mandates for simple living and cow-protection at New Vrindaban in West Virginia, USA is on the lookout for a new constructi…

Harinama in Jax today. (Album with photos)
Jacksonville, FL, United States – Thousands of people heard the Holy Name and many…Read More…

Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu’s latest issue.
* DAMODARA VRATA – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks about some devotional activities for the month of kartika.
* DIVINE DEEDS OF DAMODARA – Some comments from Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja about the pastime of Krishna being tied to the wooden grinding mortar.
* BINDING THE BOUNDLESS – A fresh translation done for this issue of of an excerpt from Srila Jiva Goswami’s Bhakti-sandarbha.
* BLIND, DEAF, AND DUMB IN VRINDAVAN – Another fresh translation from Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati’s Vrindavan-mahimamrtam.
This issue can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu386

Not So Vegetarian! Vegetarians Beware!
Madhavananda das: Processed fast food is very popular in the world today, and even devotees often take bread, chips and other items. You may be aware that many of those products are not healthy, but what some people don’t know is that many of them are also not vegetarian.
Even if you read the label, it can be misleading. For example, “natural flavors” can often refer to non-veg items. Such ingredients are very common in processed food today. An article last year on CNN reported:
“In the Environmental Working Group’s Food Scores database of over 80,000 foods, “natural flavor” is the fourth most common ingredient listed on labels. The only ingredients that outrank it: salt, water and sugar.“
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/IMG96W

Kartik 2016: Visiting Sri Sri Radha-Raman (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krsna consciousness, or bhakti, devotional service, means to develop attachment for Krsna and in the same proportion develop detachment for material sense gratification. Two things cannot go on. Just like here is a glass containing water. If you want to put milk in this glass, then you have to throw away the water. If you think that “I shall keep half water, half milk,” that can be done, but both of them becomes diluted or polluted. If you want to keep milk, then you have to throw out the water, and if you want to keep water, then you cannot keep milk. Similarly, bhakti paresanubhavah. This is the test. If you become Krsna conscious, if you are improving in spiritual life, proportionately you’ll be detached from materialistic way of life. That is the test. Simply thinking that “I am meditating so much, I am making very good advance,” is not. You have to test. The test is that your… Improvement of spiritual life means that you become detached to the materialistic way of life. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.40-45 – Los Angeles, December 13, 1968
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TOVP Booth in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada visited the TOVP Booth at Shree Shree Krishna Balarama Temple – I…Read More…

The City Of Victory (Album with 222 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Jaipur translates as the “City of Victory.” The planned city was built for the protection of Sri Sri Radha Govinda, the beloved deities of Srila Rupa Goswami. Each day thousands upon thousands of people take darshan of Radha Govinda. It is an overwhelming experience to see their devotion for the deities. Our parikrama party visited Radha Govinda twice a day during our stay in Jaipur. We also visited the temples of Radha Damodar, Radha Vinod and Radha Gopinath. For us Jaipur was a like a hidden Vrindavan.
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Harinamas and preaching programs in Cochabamba, Bolivia (Album with photos)
This was another special day in our traveling tour. For the first time we flew to another city for Harinam with a return ticket for the same day in the evening. The devotees in Cochabamba arranged for us a whole day’s program. From the airport we drove directly to an interview at the main Bolivian Television channel’s studio. They said approx. 1 million people watch it. Then after a short breakfast we went for Harinam in the city, by the university. After that the Holy Name took us up a mountain to get Jesus darshan. ‘Cochabamba’ they said ‘has the biggest statue of Jesus in the world, even bigger than Brazil’. Then we returned down from mountain for another Harinam, we took a short stop for dinner, chanted Damodarastakam kirtan and then left quickly for the Airport.by the mercy of the Holy Name everything is possible…..
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Kartik inspirations 2016 – October 29.
Sacinandana Swami: As I am going through my Kartik-vrata, by Krishna‘s mercy certain things become alive in my heart. These days I am reflecting deeply about how I can think of Krishna. Thinking about His qualities, lotus feet and so many other things is a wonderful aid we are provided with. Everything here in this universe is bright because of Krishna‘s effulgence. Everything beyond this universe is illuminated by the rays emanating from Krishna‘s body. Also in Vrindavan everything is illuminated by of Krishna‘s effulgence . This world is covered by a dark layer of ignorance (avidya), which is covered with dark layers arround the shell of the universe – so while we are here it‘s very appropriate to think about Krishna, who is extremely effulgent and the source of all other effulgence. This was how Akrura, who we talked about yesterday, thought of Krishna as he was traveling on his chariot to Vrindavan. In his mind he thought: »Simply by the effulgence of Krishna‘s toenails many souls in the past have transcended the insurmountable darkness of material existence.« Thinking about the circle of light which forms around each particular nail on Krishna‘s lotus feet, is a great way to become free from inner darkness. Krishna‘s toenails are compared with effulgent moons that are surrounded by an orb, or a circle of light. Let us meditate about Krishna being supremely effulgent and the inner darkness that gives us so many problems will easily disperse. Hare Krishna.
Read more: https://goo.gl/tlSlDn

In Search of Relief – Vraja Vihari Das (audio)
Karl Marx is famous for saying, “God is the Opium of the masses”. Is there truth to Marx’s statement? What does the Bhagavad-gita say in this regards? We will discuss these questions and look at the key difference between seeking relief via spiritual pursuits and pursuing a true, intimate relationship with the Absolute Truth.
Listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/iskconofdc/in-search-of-relief-vraja-vihari-das?in=iskconofdc/sets/sunday-open-house-talks

King Of The Mountains (8 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Parikrama around Govardhan Hill during the month of Kartika in Vrindavan, India is a favorite devotional activity for devotees of Lord Krsna. Chanting softly on our prayer beads our group of 400 devotees relished every step of the 24 kilometer walk. Ananta Vrindavan dasa’s outstanding footage captured the bliss of the pilgrimage.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/sHqHDT

Once, this Azerbaijan devotee, Garuda Vahana Das and I were at the University of Utah, where practically everyone is fixed up in Mormonism, and we approached a student reading outside on a bench.
Garuda: (Russian accent) Excuse me, I have book for you, about Yoga, you know, meditation.
Student: That sounds great, but I think I’m okay.

The Stars and Us.
In a recent conversation, I heard about a persons struggle with life, and having the it never rains but it pours experience. What did I do to deserve this? he mused.
Something, I replied.
That was almost as painful for him to hear …

Veda London Diwali Event (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: …a devotee does not attach much importance to the pains and trouble pertaining to the body because he knows perfectly well that he is not the material body. He does not identify with the body; therefore he is freed from the conception of false ego and is equipoised in happiness and distress. He is tolerant, and he is satisfied with whatever comes by the grace of the Supreme Lord. He does not endeavor much to achieve something with great difficulty; therefore he is always joyful. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 12.13, Bg 12.14, Bg 12.13-14
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Jaipur 2016: Morning program at Gupta braj. (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Although not having fully realized Krsna, pe…Read More…

Humorous and fictitious devotee character “Yama Niyama Dasa Brahmachari” impersonated by Ekendra Das ACBSP, has this Christmas message for you (5 min video)
Hare Krishna. People are now telling me, “Oh, Yama Niyama Dasa Brahmachari, you must not be doing so well in the polls! I do not hear about you on the Fox News or the CNN! Karmi Broadcasting System is devoting precious air time to other rascals only!”
To which I reply, of course we may not be so popular with General Public, but who cares for the General Public? We are servant of Lord. They are all simply servant of tongue, belly, and genital, so if we are trying to serve them, who are we actually serving? You can do the math you are so smart.
Our campaign will go on regardless of rascal public opinion. Therefore, today I will helpfully remind you that Christmas season is already here, if we are to judge by amount of shiny plastic reindeer noses already being stocked on shelves. One very nice devotee has taken great pains to produce one video explaining our views on the Christmas, at least the way it is misunderstood everywhere now. I’m sure you will like.
And of course you will want to start thinking about filling up stockings of Friends and Family with suitable gifts, so our Christmas CD, “Christmas Is…Not On Vaishnava Calendar” is always available on You Are In Maya dot com. Go there now; wasting time is a sin.
Meanwhile, Yamaraja (who is Coming To Town, as the old song goes) will be preparing to visit all the rascals to put coal in their stocking. Hot Coals. While their feet are still in the stockings.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/6vQCpu

Kartik Navadvipa Parikrama (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya is Lord Krsna. His body is always decorated wit…Read More…

Hare Krishna in Tiraspol (1 min video)
Commentator: Last place I would expect to see this. Tiraspol is the capital of de facto …Read More…

Preaching program at Intel Headquarters, Santa Clara, California.
The microprocessor giant Intel Corporation invited Radhanath Swami to speak at their headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The event was organized and coordinated by the Intel India Association.
Speaking on the topic ‘Growing Through Adversity”, Radhanath Swami began the talk by quoting Winston Churchill, “Success means going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” He then narrated the story of Sindhutai Sapkal, a woman he had met who runs many orphanages around India and has nurtured over 1000 orphans. A village woman, she had been married at age ten to a 32-year-old man. When she was nine months pregnant, he beat her senseless and abandoned her, leaving her for dead. When she recovered, Sapkal was deeply depressed. Just as she was about to commit suicide, however, she spotted an orphan and took him under her wing. She had found her calling in life. She began an orphanage, and gradually opened much more, becoming a world-famous philanthropist. She won around 270 national and international awards. Her former husband, now eighty and having lost everything he had, came to her for shelter, and with no resentment, she took him in as her ‘oldest child.’

We have many choices in life, Radhanath Swami explained. But the best way to positively affect society is to use our lives to give love to others, find love within and transform ourselves, and ultimately love God.

He shared that Sapkal had told him, “My life was a path of thorns, but I made friends with those thorns.”

Quoting the Bhagavad-gita, Radhanath Swami said true fulfillment in life comes from within us. “When we don’t have internal fulfillment, nothing external can satisfy us,” he added. Swami stressed on building a strong internal foundation, which can withstand tumultuous storms in our life.

“A meaningful life is what we give not what we get, ” he said. Elucidating this further, he explained how the roots of red wood trees, which have lifespans of thousands of years, move horizontally, and intertwine with the roots of other redwoods and thus gain stability. As human our roots are our hearts.

Sriram Govindarajan, Hardware Design Engineer at Intel Corporation said “ After hearing the talk, I felt at ease to deal with situations around me. The key takeaway for me was having a strong connect with your inner self, makes you realize what is important in life and focus on them rather than the petty disturbances that are usually not in our control. Instead of regretting about things that we lack in life we could give to people who are less fortunate than we are.”

Unique living beings.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: Vedic culture says that nature will respond according to the behaviour of people. The behaviour of nature is directly related to the behaviour of people on the planet. This is something that I never thought of before coming to Krsna consciousness, it had never occurred to me. And the reason for this correlation is because nature has a divine origin – behind nature is the Supreme Lord and everything in this world is going on under the control of the Supreme Lord. As the Bhagavad-gita explains, ‘Not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Lord’.

It is not that he is personally involved with every aspect of it, no, these things are simply going on by his will, by his desire. He does not need to sit in the control room and make sure that nature takes its course but still, nature is acting according to a divine plan. One does not exclude the other.

It is not that we are not in this world… we are! It is not that spiritual life means that we do not deal with this world. Of course, we deal with this world – we live in this world and we have to take care of it but it is not the all and everything.

In most traditions, whether we are looking at a more Asian traditions where Hinduism became predominant…. or even Far East Asia where Buddhist tradition is more prevalent, whatever it maybe, we find that in all these kinds of traditions, the human form of life is recognized to be in a unique position amongst all other forms of life! The human form of life stands out in that sense. In the human form of life one is held responsible for one’s actions. This is a common understanding.

TOVP: Artisan Work in the Inner Staircase (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: We have commenced the ornamentation of the main inn…Read More…

Life in the temple of Donetsk, Russia and distribution of prasadam, October 26, 2016 (Album with photos)
Once Hari-sauri, for his second volume of his diary, he wrote to a Professor Tom Hopkins, who is a very good friend of ISKCON, been following ISKCON since the mid-‘60s and has very good feelings. So he asked him to write a foreword to his second volume, and this was over the phone. I think Hari-sauri was in Alachua, and Tom Hopkins was…he’s a professor of the Sanskrit Department somewhere, I can’t remember the university. Anyway, Tom Hopkins just laughed and laughed over the phone. He said, “You know, the Christians have a few books about Jesus, and the Muslims have some books about Mohammad. But you Hare Krishnas, you have a book for every day in the life of Srila Prabhupada.” (Sridhara Swami)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tzJAib

Festivities in the highest capital City on this planet: La Paz in Bolivia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada how to attain perfection after Srila Prabhupada’s departure, Srila Prabhupada replied, “When you chant harinama purely, then the sun of love of Godhead will rise in your heart. You will then see everything clearly, as when the sun rises in the morning sky. You’ll see Krsna and you’ll see yourself and I will be there and will instruct you. Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-puja book 2008 p. 47.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/wHZas3

Jaipur 2016 (Album with photos)
Walking through the streets of Jaipur on our way to see the beautiful Sri Sri Radha- Gopinath….Read More…

Trick or Sweetball: How Vaishnavas Celebrate Halloween.
“I think we need to find the right balance,” says GBC Communications Minister Anuttama Das. “As a grandparent, I’ve seen with my three grandchildren that having fun is such an important part of their youthful lives. So when we learn how to Krishna-ize ordinary holidays, it helps our kids grow up not feeling that they’ve missed anything by being devotees. Instead, they feel that by being devotees, they get to do everything that everybody else does, with the added pleasure and excitement Krishna conscious culture brings.”
All around North America and other countries where Halloween is celebrated, ISKCON devotees are doing just that – putting creative spins on the popular holiday to Krishna-ize it.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/dtbKMw

Anand Utsav at Patna.
On 23rd October ISKCON Congregation Forum Patna conducted Anand Utsav (Festival of Joy) at Boring Road, Patna. More than 300 people attended the festival. Hg Jagdish Shyam Das(President, ISKCON Gaya) delivered a lecture on “Need of Inner Engineering”. He highlighted the need of connection to self and Divinity should be the highest priority. All the people enjoyed the aarti and Kartik deep dan(lamp offering) to Lord Damodar. Program finished with the distribution of delicious prasadam. About 50 Srila Prabhupada books were distributed.

National TV Channel in Cochabamba, Bolivia, ATB – News, interviewed HH Maha-Vishnu Swami, the Harinama Ruci and local representative…Read More…

Deliverance of Shakatasura and Trnavarta.
A special Edition on the auspicious occasion of Sri Damodara Month.
Nityam Bhag…Read More…

Srila Prabhupada’s Attractive Beauty

Satsvarupa das Goswami: Sri Krishna is “handsomeness and waves of nectar of handsomeness.” (Brhad-Bhagavatamrta). But Srila Prabhupada was seventy or eighty years old. We were all young men, so why were we attracted to this “old man”? (Srila Prabhupada used to say, “I’m an old man, I may die at any moment.” And, “I am a poor foreigner. Why are they after me?”) He had the attractive features of a sage. The way he sat, the shape of his head, the gestures of his hands. He was from the East, like Gautama Buddha. He sat on the floor or on the ground, and whatever furniture he had was at a low center of gravity, no chairs. The aura and look in his eyes was from another world. You can’t describe it, his shining eyes. His eyes signaled, “You can look in my eyes but you will not be able to understand my love of Krishna, but that’s what’s there.” He was childlike also, very sweet but very strong. You couldn’t come before him like a rogue and a rascal and still approach him. You had to accept that he was an elderly person, a guru, and you must be respectful to him, and then things could happen. Then you could begin to perceive his actual beauty; he would relax and allow himself to be taken care of by you and exchange with you.

We were certainly not turned off by the fact that he was an elderly person. We weren’t looking for youth. We knew where our youthful smart-aleckness had gotten us—into trouble and suffering. There was no question of sexual attraction, or as men sometimes do, squaring off with aggressiveness: “Can you beat me up? Can I beat him up?” With Srila Prabhupada, it was freedom from all that because he was the guru, he was old, and he knew so many things that you didn’t know.

Srila Prabhupada kept spelling everything out: He was a representative of Krishna, and Krishna is there in His name, Krishna is there in so many ways, and we can serve Krishna and go to Krishna. Aside from Srila Prabhupada, nobody was going to tell you about Krishna —that Krishna is God and that Krishna is a cowherd boy. Krishna was so “far out” we couldn’t believe it, but every time we went in front of Srila Prabhupada, we had to believe it. He kept up the reality of Krishna. And in the books that he gave out—there was Krishna. He made such a powerful presentation that you said, “Let’s go up and hear the Swami talk about Krishna.” You would come to him with your concoctions, “What about this? And what about that?” But Srila Prabhupada would bring it right back to Krishna and you would accept it. And so, gradually in his presence, hearing about Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and devotional service to Krishna, you started becoming Krishna-ized and you realized that Srila Prabhupada had knowledge and influence to do this to people—to create faith in them, for Krishna. But you had to go back regularly to him and get it charged up.

He had unshakeable faith in Krishna, and he could see Krishna. We sometimes imagined how he saw Krishna. We couldn’t quite understand it. When did he talk with Him, in sleep? Srila Prabhupada would say, “Yes, you can talk with Krishna, but He only talks with intimate persons.” We may not have known exactly how, but we did know that we were attracted to him because he had such conviction about Krishna. I remember once in that room he said, “People can talk philosophy about Krishna, but what is their realization?” Then I realized that’s what he’s got—full realization of Krishna. Exactly how he realized, we didn’t know, but we had faith that he was experiencing a huge amount that we were not.

Those who were not his disciples thought he was pretty much like everybody else: an old man with Hindu knowledge, probably the same motives and drives as everybody else. But we disciples believed in him and sensed that his perception of everything was very different from ours. He was in touch with Krishna, and fascinating, attractive and lovable. We could sense his mystic potency. Even Allen Ginsberg saw it: “I would disagree with him and even suspect ego exchanges, but no matter how much I disagreed, I was always glad to be with him because of the aura of sweetness due to his complete dedication.” Nicely put. Even he, although not a disciple, when coming into Srila Prabhupada’s presence, was able to see, “Here is a man who is totally dedicated and in love with Krishna.” That made Srila Prabhupada beautiful; although he appeared to be an old man, he was beautiful because of his love for Krishna.

Parikrama at Vrinda Kunda (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Vrinda Devi helps Purnamasi plan and orchestrates Radha and Krsna’s daily pastimes in Vrindavan. Our parikrama party had the good fortune to visit her Kunda ( pond ) and discuss her glories and chant her holy names in that beautiful and sanctified place.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/MQhGIs

Month of Damodara in Iskcon Mumbai (Album with photos)
Ramai Swami: Every night at our ISKCON Juhu temple during Karttika month, thousands of people offer lamps to Their Lordships. It is said in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa: O tiger of sages, a person who d…

Govinda’s Vegetarian and Vegan Taco Truck.
Devotee artist: After Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate Mike Pence said in a speech that we had to stop illegal entry into the country otherwise ‘we’ll have taco trucks on every corner’, a Los Angeles curator invited me to participate in a new art exhibit called ‘A Taco Truck on Every Corner’, the theme being, of course, taco trucks.
Remembering Srila Prabhupada’s directions, I dovetailed my abilities with the show’s theme and created a piece called ‘Govinda’s Vegetarian and Vegan Taco Truck’.
It turned out to be a popular art piece in both the show and on social media.

Beautiful morning program in Jaipur’s famous Govinda dev temple (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: We can begin to experience this bliss by following the prescribed methods of devotional service. When we see the deity we can gradually realize how Krsna is smiling, playing on His flute, and enjoying the company of Srimati Radharani. Then we also have to hear about Krsna. These two processes will increase in such a way that we will automatically become great devotees, anicchato me gatim anvim prayunkte. This is actually a scientific method. It is not imagination.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/TAe3gg

Successful preaching program in Bologna, Italy (Album with photos)
The event took place recently at Bologna’s Hotel Tower with the participation of more than 450 persons. They remained so pleased by the presentation of HH Radhanath Swami that, in the end, they offered a standing ovation, applauding for an incredibly long time!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ezSeGh