Author Archives: Dandavats.com

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
Find them here: https://goo.gl/zTPj90

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

‘What to Pray for at Govardhana’

Tamal Krishna Goswami: “This Braj is in prakad and aprakad, prakad means manifest and aprakad unmanifest. So, we cannot see the Braj without getting the eyes to see Braj, and Giriraj Govardhana has the power to bless us to be able to see. We can pray that ‘You have seen everything, you have arranged everything, all of the pastimes happened on your own slope, on your lap.’ Just like if a child is sitting on the lap, you can see very nicely that child. So Krishna and Krishna’s associates, they’re performing their activities right on the lap of Giriraj Govardhana, he has seen everything. So we ask him to bless us with the vision to be able to see in the same way.
At the same time we also want another blessing, and that is the blessing which actually preceeds…comes first. ‘Please give us the blessing to somehow be pleasing to our spiritual master,’ because without pleasing the devotee guru, how can one expect to please Krishna. So what is that service or activity which gives pleasure to guru? It is to help the guru in his service to his guru. And what is the guru’s or the guru parampara’s service? To reclaim the fallen conditioned souls. So the first prayer we can also make here is ‘Give me some compassion my dear Giriraj Govardhana, give me some determination, give me the qualities by which I can assist my spiritual master and the other devotees of the Lord in the mission of spreading Krishna conciousness. At the same time give me that purity of heart by which one day I will qualify to be able to absorb myself in constantly remembering Your transcendental pastimes.’
This is the goal of our Krishna conciousness movement, to always remember Krishna, never forgetting Krishna.”

TOVP: Our Thanks To The Canadian Yatra Devotees (Album with photos)
Jananivas, Ambarisa, Svaha and Braja Vilas prabhus, along with the entire TOVP Team would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness Bhaktimarg Swami, the Canadia…

Parikrama at Radha Kunda – Kusum Sarovara, Karttika 2016 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Come on our parikrama of all the…Read More…

The Book Might make him a Celibate Monk…
Today I was in Sydney central I stopped this young Chinese couple saying, “We’re stopping all the good looking couples today and showing these books on meditation,” They laughed and stopped happily. The guy said, “Oh meditation? My golf teacher said that he plays good golf because he meditates daily and he highly recommends it.”
The boy was into it right away. The girl wasn’t into it but ended up she was the one who had the money so I was praying to Krishna to help. The guy asked her if she could give me a donation. She looked at me and said, “I will pay for the book if you promise me that this book will change him.” I said, “It will surely change him,’ and asked, what’s wrong with him anyways?” She said, “Oh he looks at too many girls, I want him to become loyal to me.” and she gave the donation. As I put the donation in my pocket I said, “I don’t know about the book making him loyal to you, but it might make him a celibate monk.” They both laughed and she said, “That’s even better.” And they walked away happily with Srila Prabhupada’s book “THE SCIENCE OF SELF REALIZATION”.
Your Servant
Shastra krit Das.

Lord Jagannath Shobha Yatra at Budh Vihar of North West Delhi district in Delhi by ISKCON Rohini Delhi’s devotees (6 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: If you get one thousand of rupees, ten rupees is already there. If you get Krishna, you get all perfection. Hrishikesh, May 15, 1977.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/yh5WGt

The Summer tour 2016 of the Harinama Yatra Nitai Gauranga group (20 min video)
It is unbelievable how much joy the public chanting and dancing of the devotees is generating. It is also surprising to see the degree of participation from the public, especially in these western countries known for their generally mistrusting and introvert populations. This is a compilation of the highlights of their Harinamas in different cities of the west. It won’t miss putting a smile on your face 🙂
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/nvTD3D

Badrinath in Vrindavan (5 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: It is said that all holy places in India exist in their original forms in Sri Vrindavan Dhama. The other day we visited Badrinath (Badrikasrama) a two-hour drive from Vrindavan town through the countryside. As we approached Badrinath we were surprised to see a small mountain range. Upon arriving we discussed a number of Krsna’s pastimes that took place there, as well as the glories of Gangotri, Yamunortri, Kedarnath and other sacred places that can be found in Vrindavan’s Badrinath. The beauty of the surrounding area was stunning.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/1C6HsF

Splendid Vrindavan during Kartik (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Just work in such a way that God may see you.” This is the Krishna consciousness movement. Everyone is busy to see God. Of course, it is not so easy to see God. But a devotee is not busy to see God, but he wants God to see him. Bombay, May 12, 1974.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QXswfJ

Prabhupada said, “Simply by circumambulating Krishna and Balarama, no more traversing up and down in the material universe.”

Harinama at Coolangatta, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia – 23 October 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “It is the nature of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra that anyone who chants it immediately develops his loving ecstasy for Krishna. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.83)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/nXBtqS

Dressing up for Diwali: BBC Leicester (2 min audio)
Kiran runs a saree shop in Leicester and Chaitanya is a devotee of Hare Krishna.
Please listen in to the clip from BBC Leicester as part of Radio 2’s Faith in the World Week. Caitanya Cintamani was invited to discuss the concept of dressing up for Diwali with a prominent businesswoman on Leicester’s Golden Mile.
Listen to it here: https://goo.gl/9rryhn

Gopala Campu by Jiva Goswami.
The Gopala Campu is one of the all time classic texts in the library of the Gaudiya Vaisnava. The Gopala Campu, literally “the story of Gopala,” gives descriptions of pastimes of Lord Krsna. As this format is a Campu, a mix between praises, songs, and virudavalis (free-form poetic forms without real adherence to meter of the song), there is text, and at appropriate places, a song will be sung. Within the main text, there are two campus, namely purva (Volume 1) and the uttara (Volume 2). There are nineteen songs found from the Gopala Campu. Each of these songs are found in Volume 2 or the Uttara Campu. As these songs just appear in middle of texts, the listing here will strictly be based on alphabetical order of the first words. For actual placement of the songs in the original texts, please click on the song. The official name will point out where in the text the song is found.
Read more: https://goo.gl/i88zNF

BAHULASHTAMI RADHA KUNDA 23/10/2016 (Album with photos)
APPEARANCE OF RADHA KUNDA
Nectar of Instruction, Text 9
The holy place known as Mathura is spiritually superior to Vaikuntha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to Mathura-Puri is the transcendental forest of Vrindavana because of Krishna’s rasa-lila pastimes. And superior to the forest of Vrindavana is Govardhana Hill, for it was raised by the divine hand of Sri Krishna and was the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the superexcellent Sri Radha-kunda stands supreme, for it is overflooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula, Sri Krishna. Where, then, is that intelligent person who is unwilling to serve this divine Radha-kunda, which is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?
Purport
The spiritual world is three fourths of the total creation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it is the most exalted region. The spiritual world is naturally superior to the material world; however, Mathura and the adjoining areas, although appearing in the material world, are considered superior to the spiritual world because the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself appeared at Mathura. The interior forests of Vrndavana are considered superior to Mathura because of the presence of the twelve forests (dvadasa-vana), such as Talavana, Madhuvana and Bahulavana, which are famous for the various pastimes of the Lord. Thus the interior Vrndavana forest is considered superior to Mathura, but superior to these forests is the divine Govardhana Hill because Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill like an umbrella, raising it with His lotuslike beautiful hand to protect His associates, the denizens of Vraja, from the torrential rains sent by the angry Indra, King of the demigods. It is also at Govardhana Hill that Krishna tends the cows with His cowherd friends, and there also He had His rendezvous with His most beloved Sri Radha and engaged in loving pastimes with Her. Radha-kunda, at the foot of Govardhana, is superior to all because it is there that love of Krishna overflows. Advanced devotees prefer to reside at Radha-kunda because this place is the site of many memories of the eternal loving affairs between Krishna and Radharani (rati-vilasa).
In Caitanya-caritamrta (CC Madhya) it is stated that when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu first visited the area of Vrajabhumi, He could not at first find the location of Radha-kunda. This means that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was actually searching for the exact location of Radha-kunda. Finally He found the holy spot, and there was a small pond there. He took His bath in that small pond and told His devotees that the actual Radha-kunda was situated there. Later the pond was excavated by Lord Caitanya’s devotees, headed first by the six Gosvamis, such as Rupa and Raghunatha dasa. Presently there is a large lake known as Radha-kunda there. Srila Rupa Gosvami has given much stress to Radha-kunda because of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s desire to find it. Who, then, would give up Radha-kunda and try to reside elsewhere? No person with transcendental intelligence would do so. The importance of Radha-kunda, however, cannot be realized by other Vaisnava sampradayas, nor can persons uninterested in the devotional service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu understand the spiritual importance and divine nature of Radha-kunda. Thus Radha-kunda is mainly worshiped by the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, the followers of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada by whose causeless mercy we have all come to know the glories of Sri Radha-Kunda!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sr8YnA

Govardhan Hill! (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Parikrama around Govardhan Hill is always a favorite activity during the month of Kartika for devotees of Lord Krsna. Chanting softly on our japa beads our group of 400 devotees relished every step of the 24-kilometer walk. Ananta Vrindavan dasa kindly captured our experience through the eye of his camera for the benefit of those who weren’t there.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/G4qeiM

Offering to Srinathji Prabhu by HH Radhanath Swami and HH Niranjan Swami at Iskcon Chowpatty – Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple (Album with photos)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Remembering Srinathji Prabhu – an intellectual, non-patronizing patron of intellectuals
My first striking encounter with Srinathji Prabhu highlighted his extraordinary attention to specifics. About a decade ago, when I was a fledgling author, I would feel encouraged whenever anyone appreciated my writings. Once after a Pune yatra, while everyone was taking prasadam and preparing to depart, I happened to meet Srinatjji Prabhu. And he spontaneously started appreciating my writings; he mentioned several articles by their titles and went into specific details of an article that had described how I came to Krishna consciousness. I was doubly astounded firstly because I was a little-known brahmachari and secondly because that story had appeared in BTG at least two years ago. And yet here he was, immediately remembering its specifics in just a chance encounter with me.
Over the years and my several encounters with Srinathji Prabhu, one image of him that has crystalized within me is that of an intellectual patron of intellectuals. He supported several of our movement’s authors, enabling them to focus on research and writing without having to worry about pecuniary considerations.
But he was not just a patron of intellectuals – he was an intellectual himself; he read widely and took intellectual responsibility for the tradition he had chosen to practice. He noticed that the version of the Hare Krishna mahamantra we chanted was different from its version chanted in the broader Hindu culture, which began with Hare Rama, not Hare Krishna. So, he embarked on an extensive research into manuscripts to support our tradition’s rendition of the mahamantra. After much searching, he finally found in a remote, little-known library the manuscript of the Kali-Santarana Upanishad that contained the mahamantra starting with Hare Krishna – and he published a book with that manuscript. His meticulous attention to detail during this manuscript research paralleled, if not superseded, that of a careful scholar.
He was a patron for not just intellectuals but also for many of our movement’s most important projects. And yet he wasn’t patronizing towards anyone – he maintained a humility that was inspiring and disarming.
His significance extends far beyond life. Over the last decade, I have been studying and contemplating ISKCON history. And I feel that Srinathji Prabhu represented the rich flowering of the bhakti tradition in modern India and particularly in ISKCON, India.
He embodied the dream success chart for most Indians. He achieved extraordinary academic success, earning degrees from both England – which was the cherished educational destination for pre-Independence Indians – and from the USA, which is the cherished educational destination for post-Independence Indians. And he went on to achieve remarkable success not just as a white collar executive but also as a business magnate, pioneering several technological innovations in India in his companies.
Through all this dazzling success, he maintained his piety and bhakti, which he had acquired from his parents, both of whom were Vaishnavas – his mother from the Vallabha sampradaya and father from the Ramanuja sampradaya.
Even after having this combination of material prosperity and religious piety, it’s telling that he found spiritual fulfillment in the teachings of bhakti as expounded by Srila Prabhupada.
During Srila Prabhupada’s manifest presence, a remarkable number of wealthy and influential Indians were attracted by his purity and potency. And several of them became important supporters of our movement. But somehow after Srila Prabhupada’s departure, they couldn’t take the step forward from being patrons to becoming practitioners.
Srinathji Prabhu was prominent among the very few who took that step forward – and he could do so primarily because he was able to see Srila Prabhupada’s enduring presence in his dedicated disciples. He treasured the personal association of Srila Prabhupada that he had got. But he also saw that Srila Prabhupada lived on through his followers; and he committed himself to serving His Divine Grace through them and with them.
For most of us, second-generation devotees in ISKCON, who have never had the personal association of Srila Prabhupada, our ability to appreciate him depends largely on our ability to see him in his dedicated followers. In this, Srinathji Prabhu set an example for all of us.
Through him, the bhakti culture flourished within its Indian motherland. And through remembering him, I pray that bhakti may flourish in my heart.
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Today’s program at Sri Vrinda-kunda, Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the easiest process of meditation in this age. As soon as one chants the Hare Krishna mantra, he sees the forms of Krishna, Rama and Their energies, and that is the perfect stage of trance. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.53 Purport)
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Shri Radhakund on Bahulashtami NightRead More…