Author Archives: Dandavats.com

The Position of Dhruvaloka.
Understanding Dhruvaloka – By His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Dhruvalo…

London At It’s Very Best! (5 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: George Harrison’s gift of Bhaktivedanta Manor to the Hare Krishna Movement in 1973 has proven invaluable throughout the years. The success of the Manor reached a crescendo last weekend with a visit from the Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron. We felt fortunate to attend the festivities. We also visited ISKCON’s Radha Krishna Temple in downtown London. With Krishna in the center, and bright sunny weather throughout our visit, London was truly at it’s very best.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/imwIPN

Pandava-nirjala Ekadasi.
Giriraj Swami: Ekadasi is one of the regular celebrations in the Vaisnava calendar. It is observed eleven days after the full moon and eleven days after the new moon of every month. Even in the thirteenth, or leap month, call…

June 16. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Cooking in the Kitchen.
The kitchen was stocked with standard Indian spices: fresh chillies, fresh ginger root, whole cumin seeds, turmeric, and asafoetida. Keith mastered the basic cooking techniques and passed them on to Chuck, who became his assistant. Some of the other boys would stand at the doorway of the narrow kitchenette to watch Keith, as one thick, pancake-like chapati after another blew up like an inflated football over the open flame and then took its place in the steaming rack.
While the fine basmati rice boiled to a moist, fluffy-white finish and the sabji simmered, the noon cooking would climax with “the chaunce.” Keith prepared the chaunce exactly as Swamiji had shown him. Over the flame he set a small metal cup, half-filled with clarified butter, and then put in cumin seeds. When the seeds turned almost black, he added chillies, and as the chillies blackened, a choking smoke would begin to pour from the cup. Now the chaunce was ready. With his cook’s tongs, Keith lifted the cup, its boiling, crackling mixture fuming like a sorcerer’s kettle, and brought it to the edge of the pot of boiling dal. He opened the tight cover slightly, dumped the boiling chaunce into the dal with a flick of his wrist, and immediately replaced the lid … POW! The meeting of the chaunce and dal created an explosion, which was then greeted by cheers from the doorway, signifying that the cooking was now complete. This final operation was so volatile that it once blew the top of the pot to the ceiling with a loud smash, causing minor burns to Keith’s hand. Some of the neighbors complained of acrid, penetrating fumes. But the devotees loved it.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

Harinama with Book Distribution.
Karuna Dharini dasi: Some time ago I tried distributing books at UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles). Before long I was dreading my encounters with the kids there — they were so smart, so quick, so elite, and so uninterested in taking Srila Prabhupada’s books. I wouldn’t go back there again. They are like great yogis in that their attention on their education is unwavering. Their textbooks probably contain information that they personally formulated in their last life. My mother graduated from UCLA, and because I didn’t she was never very pleased with me. (Very recently, old age and disease have softened her beautiful heart and she can chant a little.)
Recently I and two other matajis were doing harinama at UCLA with harmonium and kartals. I didn’t want to go, but they talked me into it. The girls’ voices sounded very good — in tune, accompanied by nice instruments. The girls sounded like true angels, and some of the UCLA students were distracted from their academic trance by the fine singing and playing. We also passed out halavah.
I put up my book table, and it was another sankirtan miracle! I spoke to two biology majors — one guy, one girl — who each took the new “Origins” magazine the North American BBT has reprinted (thanks to Ramesvara Prabhu), and they gave quite generously. One elderly professor of engineering took a Gita for $10. He said he wanted to read it next year when he retires.
One young man was very thrilled to see the “Bhagavad-gita As It Is.” He said had his own Gita, by another author. He quoted from it several times. When he said, “One’s self can be one’s own worst enemy or one’s own best friend,” I took the opportunity to show him the proper translation of the verse in the Sixth Chapter of “As It Is.” He bought Prabhupada’s immediately.
Then there was a student who takes all his courses on line but was checking in at the UCLA campus for the day. He is a traveling entrepreneur who wants to get his degree while he flies around doing business in every major city of the world. I showed him the ISKCN addresses at the back of the Gita. He loved the sound of the harinama. He listened for a whole hour! He plans to visit our temples in India.
Harinama and university preaching go very well together. Often students who have muscial skills sit down with the harinama and pick up the instruments, and they’re fascinated. Often they can play and sing quite well. I would like to please urge all Vaisnava youth and anyone who else does excellent harinama to please take it where it will be very well received. Take it to the universities. Inside temples is fine, but the tastiest nectar has not yet been tasted by you!
Thank you,
Your Servant,
Karuna Dharini dasi

New York Rathayatra 2016 (Album with photos)
The Chariot Festival of Lord Jagannatha (Ratha Yatra), the Lord of the Universe, has been performed at the spiritual seaside resort of Puri, India for more than two thousand years. Since 1976, this attractive, beautiful, and bliss inspiring annual Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival has been celebrated by the Hare Krishna devotees on New York’s Fifth Avenue, the heart of New York City. This Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival is performed in a mood of love and devotion and invokes auspiciousness for universal peace, harmony, and good will for all of God’s children.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hcZfKU

Krishna SLC Temple Groundbreaking Celebration.
Schedule of Events: Groundbreaking Ceremony 10 am
Cultural Dance and Music…

The latest issue of Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu e-magazine was just released.
KK Bindu #377 includes: “The Necessity of Initiation”, A first time translation of a rare commentary from Caitanya-caritamrta.
This edition includes: * NEVER A SUDRA – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks about the position of devotees. * THE NECESSITY OF INITIATION – A first time translation done especially for this issue, of Virachandra Goswami’s (the son of Lord Nityananda) commentary on Caitanya-caritamrta, madhya 15.110. * HAPPY AS A MATERIALIST – A fresh translation from Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati’s Vrindavan-mahimamrtam (9.84). It can be downloaded here: https://archive.org/details/bindu377

Devotees make Harinama even more attractive with “self-effulgent” garlands! (Album with photos)
Govindas Sydney street sankirtana. Vivid light festival day.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mvfFsy

An Evening with the Lord on Boat – Iskcon Kolkata (Album with photos)
On 12th June, 2016, the Well-Wisher Department of ISKCON…

June 15. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Lunch With Swamiji.
At noon the front room became a dining hall and in the evenings a place of intimate worship. Prabhupada kept the room, with its twelve-foot-square hardwood parquet floor, clean and bare; the solitary coffee table against the wall between the two courtyard windows was the only furniture. Daily at noon a dozen men were now taking lunch here with him. The meal was cooked by Keith, who spent the whole morning in the kitchen.
At first Keith had cooked only for the Swami. He had mastered the art of cooking dal, rice, and sabji in the Swami’s three-tiered boiler, and usually there had been enough for one or two guests as well. But soon more guests had begun to gather, and Prabhupada told Keith to increase the quantity (abandoning the small three-tiered cooker) until he was cooking for a dozen hungry men. The boarders, Raphael and Don, though not so interested in the Swami’s talk, would arrive punctually each day for prasadam, usually with a friend or two who had wandered into the storefront. Steve would drop by from his job at the welfare office. The Mott Street group would come. And there were others.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

Harinama in Munich,Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in p…

Srutakirti Prabhu, a disciple and former personal servant of Srila Prabhupada, recounts Prabhupada’s practical instructions regarding chanting rounds.“It was easy to understand that Srila Prabhupada enjoyed chanting japa. He always stress…

A young monk and transcendental teamwork.
Damodara Krsna dasa: Here is some nectar about traveling book distribution in New Zealand.
I was in Hastings-in-Taranaki, around 6 or 7 in the evening. There were only a few people walking on the street, and one of them was an elderly lady. I approached her. When I said I was a monk, to my surprise she became very delighted and took in her hand the soft Gita I was presenting. After less than a minute of my telling her about the Gita, she said “Can I buy this book?” I said yes, and she gave $10 and sincerely said, “You have just made a young boy very happy.”
I asked her, “Who is he?” and the lady replied, “He’s my grandson. It is his eleventh birthday and he wants to be a monk.”
I thought, “Wow, an eleven-year-old boy who wants to be a monk gets a ‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is’ from his grandmother for a birthday present. Nice.”
Another day, I and two other devotees (Sriman Krishna Prabhu and Bhakta Chi, a practicing medical doctor) visited two small towns called Hawera- and Stratford-in-Taranaki. Two went to one place, and one to the other.
On the second day I was in Stratford and stopped a lady. She was very favorable. The day before she had gotten an “Easy Journey to Other Planets” from Bhakta Chi and read the whole book that night. So she happily gave $20 and took a Bhagavad Gita. That is what I call teamwork. I took her details and plan to get in touch.
The same day in Stratford I approached a lady with children and told her I was a monk. She asked, “Are you from Cambridge?” (Cambridge is a small town outside Hamilton.) I told her I wasn’t, but after speaking to her for awhile I learned that six years ago in Cambridge she’d met Mahavana Prabhu, a devotee who now runs a Brahmacari ashram in Wellington, and had had such a positive impression of him and the prasadam he gave her that she now happily gave me $20 and took a Bhagavad Gita.
My realization is that book distribution is really a team effort, especially in a small place like New Zealand. Each devotee is responsible for leaving every person they meet with a good impression. A person may not get a book from the first devotee they meet, but because they are left with a good impression, the next devotee they meet can distribute a book to them.
Your Servant,
Damodara Krsna dasa

TUESDAY JUNE 14th – Disappearance of Baladeva Vidyabusana
Baladeva Vidyabhusana, The Gaudiya Vedantist.
“The Gaudiyas should not worship Radha and Krsna together,” the Ramanandis told him.“Radha and Krsna are not married. There is no precedent for Their being worshiped together! Sita and Rama are together, and Laksmi and Narayana, because they are married. But Radha and Krsna are not married.”
Now the Ramanandis were escalating the quarrel. They not only criticised the Gaudiyas’ lineage but also found fault with the Gaudiya method of worship.
The Ramanandis demanded that Radha be removed from the main altar and be placed in another room, to be worshiped separately.
Jai Singh sent word to the mahantas (religious authorities) of the Gaudiya temples. “You must prepare a response to the criticisms voiced by the Ramanandis of Galta Valley. I am sympathetic to your philosophy and practice, but your response must be adequate to silence the Ramanandi panditas, or I shall be forced to separate Radharani from Krsna.”
The mahantas of the four major Gaudiya temples of Amber submitted their response in writing.
They explained that Rupa, Sanatana, and Jiva Gosvamis shared the same opinion about Radha and Krsna:
They could be worshiped either as married (svakiya rasa) or unmarried (parakiya rasa), since both these pastimes (lila) are eternal.
Worship of Krsna in either lila is adequate to establish a devotee’s eternal relationship with the Supreme.
The Ramanandis rejected these arguments. Fighting for their religious and political power, they again approached Jai Singh.
Because Radha and Krsna were not married, the Ramanandis complained, worshiping Them together condoned Their questionable relationship.
The Ramanandis also criticised the Gaudiyas for worshiping Krsna without first worshiping Narayana.
To appease the Ramanandis, Jai Singh told them he would ask the Gaudiyas to place the Deity of Radharani in a separate room.
He would also ask them to explain their breach of Vaisnava etiquette in neglecting Narayana worship, and he would ask them to prove their link with the Madhva sampradaya.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/1lMCzi

Failing To Succeed.
Mahatma das: There is No Failure on the Spiritual Platform. Spiritual success means to please Krsna and guru, and can sometimes have nothing to do with measurable external results. Since devotional service is absolute, you can even successfully serve Krsna in your mind.
In the Nectar of Devotion there is a story of a devotee who wanted to offer sweet rice (khir) to his Deities, but couldn’t afford the ingredients. So he cooked the sweet rice in his mind. While in this meditation he touched the sweet rice and actually burnt his finger. Even though he only offered it in his mind, Krsna appreciated and accepted that offering.
I suggest that you visualize what kind of devotee you would like to be and what kind of service you would like to render. That is also devotional service. Don’t you think Krsna will be pleased if you think how you can be a better devotee and offer Him better service – even if you can’t realize those goals right away?
Just the fact that you make a goal to be a better devotee or do a particular service is itself devotional service. And, if we always think about doing something there’s a good chance we will do it someday.
Prabhupada thought about preaching in the west for 42 years before he was able and ready to do it. Show Your Heart to Krsna Making goals reveals your heart and desires to Krsna.
The acaryas pray, “When oh when will that day be mine…” in the mood of hankering for a level of Krsna consciousness they presently don’t have. So having clear devotional goals expresses the hankering of your heart to Krsna. And since we are not pure devotees, we can express simple desires, like praying “when oh when will that day be mine when I think of Krsna once and awhile at work.”
Later on you can worry about praying for the day when you will be running along the Yamuna half mad in ecstatic love. Also, research has shown that you are more likely to follow through on a goal if you write it down. Try it.
Even if you think you can’t achieve the goal or won’t follow through, write it down anyway. You’ll be surprised at what happens. I once wrote down some goals and then forgot about them. But a week or so later I found myself pursuing some of those goals even though I hadn’t reviewed my list. So, for example, if you want to wake up an hour earlier every day, just write that goal on a piece of paper and see what happens.
Often, the process of writing down a goal puts that goal into your subconscious and then you start acting on it.
A Devotee Can’t Fail.
Because devotional service is absolute, the effort is spiritual and perfect despite the outcome. Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master would appreciate a devotee if he sold even one magazine for a few paisa (cents). Prabhupada said there is no question of success or failure in devotional service because our position is like a soldier who has a duty to fight. We simple do our duty. Therefore, the only failure is to not make the effort.
Read more: https://goo.gl/8QtbDU

Bhakti Day Retreat at Bhaktivedanta Manor (Album with photos)
Thank you to everyone who came this weekend to our day retreat at Bhaktivedanta Manor (Saturday 11th June 2016).
Here are some photos from the first half of the day where we had a vegetarian lunch, a tour through the gardens, took the Bhagavad Gita walk, a talk on Srila Prabhupada and the origins of kirtan in the west (this year is the 50th anniversary!), a visit to see the cows, seminars and Mantra Meditation Q&A, followed by free time to wander before kirtan in the evening.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/BM8dZj

A really well made 3D animation, promo of the Rathayatra of ISKCON Myanmar (1 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Guru and Krishna are…

June 14. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada Talks of His Childhood.
He talked of his childhood at the turn of the century, when street lamps were gas-lit, and carriages and horse-drawn trams were the only vehicles on Calcutta’s dusty streets. These talks charmed the boys even more than the transcendental philosophy of Bhagavad-gita and drew them affectionately to him. He told about his father, Gour Mohan De, a pure Vaisnava. His father had been a cloth merchant, and his family had been intimately related with the aristocratic Mulliks of Calcutta. The Mulliks had a deity of Krishna, and Prabhupada’s father had given him a deity to worship as a child. He used to imitate the worship of the Govinda deity in the Mulliks’ temple. As a boy, he had held his own Ratha-yatra festivals each year, imitating in miniature the gigantic festival at Jagannatha Puri, and his father’s friends used to jest: “Oh, the Ratha-yatra ceremony is going on at your home, and you do not invite us? What is this?” His father would reply, “This is a child’s play, that’s all.” But the neighbors said, “Oh, child’s play? You are avoiding us by saying it’s for children?”
Prabhupada fondly remembered his father, who had never wanted him to be a worldly man, who had given him lessons in mrdanga, and who had prayed to visiting sadhus that one day the boy would grow up to be a devotee of Radharani.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

Kirtan Preaching program in Mayapur (Album with photos)
Amazing photos from our Kirtan preaching program which happened yesterd…

From the recent visit of the British Prime Minister to Bhaktivedanta Manor.
The Prime Minister commented on the positive atmosphere he felt, and after recounting Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West remarked that not only was ISKCON celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, but that he would also be celebrating his own 50th birthday this year.

Lord Jagannath’s cart in Puri is getting ready! (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Our relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is eternal. Nitya-siddha Krishna-prema. The pure souls are eternally in love with Krishna. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one revives his original relationship with God and thus becomes so happy that he does not want anything material. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.7.39 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/M6Osby

After 9 months of courses at ISKCON Leicester from the 60 students, 15 remained. Completing the Explore, Gita Life and Bhakti Life they are the latest members of Prabhupada’s family all who have now taken up the chanting of the Holy names and following the regulative principles.
200 gallons of blood is what Bhaktisiddhanta said. I have finally realised what this means.
In September we enroll even more students with the hope of leading as many more souls to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya as we can.
Consistency is what’s needed then let the Lord work his magic.
Great group effort and I am sure Prabhupada is happy with everyone. Kiran Tailor Sachi-Tanaya Das jay
Ps. thanks to Gurudas and Sutapa for coming and doing a session for the new sanga of graduates.

Saving a life!
Caitanya Candra Dasa: I was distributing SrilaPrabhupada’s books in the same spot in Gothenburg, Sweden for the whole month of the 2016 Prabhupada Marathon, except for one half-hour of the last day, when, for some reason, I decided to try the other side of the walkway. There I stopped a well-dressed man, aged 36. I told him who we are and what our books are about and said that these books help with everyday problems like stress and depression.
He looked at me with a shocked look, and then he told me, “Believe me or not, but I am just on the way to go and kill myself by jumping off a bridge. I have had enough. I just can’t take it anymore. I want to end it all. But I see this as a divine intervention that you have stopped me. I believe in karma, so somehow it is our fate to meet, and to meet right now.”
It turned that the man, Sun, has three children, a well-paid job, and a good relationship with his wife. But on weekends (this was a Saturday), he goes crazy and drinks and takes drugs and is therefore a bad husband and father. And he’s had enough of that.
We spoke for about forty minutes, and I explained to him the benefits of chanting and finding inner contentment and unlocking the happiness within. We spoke about his kids, and he began to feel enlivened. He basically found hope by our meeting and getting a Chant and be Happy. He clutched the book like someone holding a lifeline and mentioned over and over again that this is no coincidence that we met and this was a life-changing event. He then gave a nice donation and left.
As he was leaving I asked him, “You’re not going to jump off the bridge?”
“No, I’m going to go and read this book. You just changed my life.”
Sadly, I was unable to get his contact info. Somehow, Krishna guided me to go on the other side of the walkway for that short time to meet him. Right after that meeting I went back to my old spot and continued.
Your aspiring servant,
Caitanya Candra Dasa
Hungary

NYC Ratha Yatra Parade (Album with photos)
Bhismadeva Dasa: Yesterday the 40th annual Ratha Yatra parade was celebrated in New York with great pomp. Ecstatic chanting and dancing for miles was lead in front of each of the Lord’s three chariots.
Syamali and I we’re overwhelmed with gratitude to all the devotees who helped to coordinate and carry on this blissfull offering.
In addition, we got to visit the first temple of the Hare Krishna movement, The Bhakti Center, and the “Hare Krishna Tree” that our founder-acarya first started chanting under in Tompkins Square Park. 🙂
It was a very enlivenning pilgrimage and reunion with dear friends.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Jfmz6W

June 13. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Summer.
The summer of 1966 moved along, and Prabhupada kept good health. For him these were happy days. New Yorkers complained of the summer heat waves, but this caused no inconvenience to one accustomed to the 100-degree-plus temperatures of Vrindavana’s blazing summers. “It is like India,” he said, as he went without a shirt, seeming relaxed and at home. He had thought that in America he would have to subsist on boiled potatoes (otherwise there would be nothing but meat), but here he was happily eating the same rice, dal and capatis, and cooking on the same three-stacked cooker as in India. Work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam had also gone on regularly since he had moved into the Second Avenue apartment. And now Krishna was bringing these sincere young men who were cooking, typing, hearing him regularly, chanting Hare Krishna, and asking for more.
Prabhupada was still a solitary preacher, free to stay or go, writing his books in his own intimate relationship with Krishna – quite independent of the boys in the storefront. But now he had taken the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as his spiritual child. The inquiring young men, some of whom had already been chanting steadily for over a month, were like stumbling spiritual infants, and he felt responsible for guiding them. They were beginning to consider him their spiritual master, trusting him to lead them into spiritual life. Although they were unable to immediately follow the multifarious rules that brahmanas and Vaisnavas in India followed, he was hopeful. According to Rupa Gosvami the most important principle was that one should “somehow or other” become Krishna conscious. People should chant Hare Krishna and render devotional service. They should engage whatever they had in the service of Krishna. And Prabhupada was exercising this basic principle of Krishna consciousness to the furthest limit the history of Vaisnavism had ever seen.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

Glorious Rathayatra in New York (Album with photos)
Ratha Yatra, June 11th, down 5th Ave to Washington Square park.
Srila Prabhupada: In the Padyavali there is a statement by some devotees: “We shall not care for any outsiders. If they should deride us, we shall still not care for them. We shall simply enjoy the transcendental mellow of chanting Hare Krishna, and thus we shall roll on the ground and dance ecstatically. In this way we shall eternally enjoy transcendental bliss.” (Nectar of Devotion, 27)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/2vrxrW

Ratha Yatra Festival in Munich, Germany (Album with photos)
Shower of mercy during Ratha Yatra Festival in Munich,Germany!
Srila Prabhupada: In the Adi Purana Krishna tells Arjuna: “Anyone who is engaged in chanting My transcendental name must be considered to be always associating with Me. And I may tell you frankly that for such a devotee I become easily purchased.” (Nectar of Devotion, 12)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mvGC89

Profound Knowledge Made Someone a Book Distributor!
Vijaya dasa: We have a nice farm in southeast Germany called Simhacalam. Lord Nrsimhadeva is the presiding deity. While taking prasada there, I asked a book distributor, Advaita Simha Dasa, how he came to Krsna.
Advaita Simha said, “Gaur Mohan approached me, and I gave a donation for a Science of Self Realization. At first I thought it was a cult, so I just wanted to hear what they have to say. But after reading a few chapters I realized that this is very profound knowledge. A year later I was looking for more books by Srila Prabhupada in a bookstore. I was with a friend in the shopping area, and somehow we got separated. He then called me to ask where I was. I told him the bookstore; I said was looking for another one of those books like the one the monk had given me a year ago, but the store didn’t have any.
My friend said, ‘Well, if you go outside the bookstore you’ll see a monk there. Maybe he has what you’re looking for.’ I went out, and the same devotee that gave me the Science of Self Realization, Gaur Moha Prabhu, was there. I asked him whether he had more books by Srila Prabhupada.
He had the Bhagavad-gita, so I gave a donation for that. He told me that there would be a talk on the Gita that evening and invited me. I went, and it was nice. Eventually I visited the temple and joined ISKCON. Now I’m also a book distributor.” The devotee that gave me the books was Gaur Mohan Prbhu.

A dog offers his obeisances to the Harinama party and then joins the chanting in his own language (3 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: This chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower states of consciousness-namely sensual, mental and intellectual. There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration, without any previous qualification, and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it. >>> Ref. VedaBase => CD 2-5 (05:17 Min.) Purport to Hare Krsna Mantra
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7HpZHn

Happiness and Ourselves.
THE WALKING MONK – Bhaktimarga Swami: This is my last full day in Canada, on a break-of-sorts, before I depart for America to reconvene the US Walk. It does get exciting knowing I’ll be on the road again. It’s when I’m on that road, that I’m the happiest and when I get the best rest. Yes, I had to say that insomnia hit again – now that I’m not in full regimen. I’m sure if a survey is done, you will find a good amount of people are not happy due to many reasons, one of them being economics- or lack of it. But many folks are unhappy with too much wealth, too!
I did do some research about happiness. It was interesting to find some stats about happiness. For instance, an article from a UK paper, The Huffington Post, maintained by author, Kathyrn Snowdon, found that religious people from all different faiths are happier than those who have ‘no religion.’ Of all the faiths in the UK, Hindus are the happiest, scoring well above the average and just under the demographic of people who consider themselves to be ‘in very good health’ according to data compiled by the Office for National Statistics.
Christians of all denominations were the second happiest, followed by Sikhs and Buddhists.
In a TED Talk with Matt Killingsworth, it was revealed that if you want to be happier then you ‘stay in the moment.’
Gallup had interviewed more than a million Americans since 2008, enough to map out happiness. And no surprise; on a state-wide level, Hawaii heads the top ten. But this isn’t about good weather, because Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, and Colorado are next. No southern state made the list.
Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, never conducted a survey on the topic of happiness, but he had proved that those who gave up bad habits and took to chanting became quite satisfied.
“Chant and be happy!” he used to say.
May the Source be with you!

The publication Suddha-Nama Bhajan by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami is now available as a book and for online reading.
Suddha-N…

June 12. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Summer.
The summer of 1966 moved along, and Prabhupada kept good health. For him these were happy days. New Yorkers complained of the summer heat waves, but this caused no inconvenience to one accustomed to the 100-degree-plus temperatures of Vrindavana’s blazing summers. “It is like India,” he said, as he went without a shirt, seeming relaxed and at home. He had thought that in America he would have to subsist on boiled potatoes (otherwise there would be nothing but meat), but here he was happily eating the same rice, dal and capatis, and cooking on the same three-stacked cooker as in India. Work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam had also gone on regularly since he had moved into the Second Avenue apartment. And now Krishna was bringing these sincere young men who were cooking, typing, hearing him regularly, chanting Hare Krishna, and asking for more.
Prabhupada was still a solitary preacher, free to stay or go, writing his books in his own intimate relationship with Krishna – quite independent of the boys in the storefront. But now he had taken the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as his spiritual child. The inquiring young men, some of whom had already been chanting steadily for over a month, were like stumbling spiritual infants, and he felt responsible for guiding them. They were beginning to consider him their spiritual master, trusting him to lead them into spiritual life. Although they were unable to immediately follow the multifarious rules that brahmanas and Vaisnavas in India followed, he was hopeful. According to Rupa Gosvami the most important principle was that one should “somehow or other” become Krishna conscious. People should chant Hare Krishna and render devotional service. They should engage whatever they had in the service of Krishna. And Prabhupada was exercising this basic principle of Krishna consciousness to the furthest limit the history of Vaisnavism had ever seen.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9

IS VEDIC SHASTRA OUTDATED ?
Are Vedic texts or shastra antiquated and irrelevant, incompatible with modern life ? Is shastra weakened by the influence of time ?

BHAKTI-YOGA & COWS
A) SAMBANDHA JNANA & cow protection:
goṣvan ga yavasadina (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.11.43)
I can be worshiped within the cows by offerings of grass and other suitable grains and paraphernalia for the pleasure and health of the cows,
(How can this be called as being related to Sambandha-jnana? Because, “Bhakti-yoga that is performed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Vasudeva brings about detachment from all things unrelated to Him and gives rise to pure knowledge that is free from any motive for liberation and directed exclusively towards the attainment of Him” Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.7)
B) ABHIDHEYA & cow protection:
(I) Gomata – a partner in Vaidhi-sadhana-bhakti:
(a) 10th principle of Vaidhi-sadhana-bhakti (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu,1.2.110_:
aṣvattha tulasi dhatri go bhumis sura vaiṣṇavaḥ
pujitaḥ praṇataḥ dhyataḥ kṣapayanti nṛṇam agham
In the Skanda Puraṇa it is directed that a devotee should offer water to the tulasi plant and Amalaka trees. He should offer respect to the cows and to the brahmaṇas and should serve the Vaiṣṇavas by offering them respectful obeisances and meditating upon them. All of these processes will help the devotee to diminish the reactions to his past sinful activities.
(b) Srimad Bhagavatam, Go-seva:
uktam bhagavatam nityam kṛtam ca hari cintanam
tulasi poṣaṇam caiva dhenunam sevanam samam
Reciting Srimad Bhagavatam daily, remembering Lord Hari constantly, nourishing the tulasi plant, protecting and caring for the cows, are all equally beneficial (because these acts are pleasing to Kṛṣṇa) (Bhagavata mahatmya, verse 40).
© Daivi-sampat qualitites imbibed due to association of mother cow
dhairyam
dhṛtisca santisca puṣṭirvṛddhiḥ tathaiva ca
smrtirmedha tatha lajja vapuḥ kirtistathaiva ca
vidya santirmatiscaiva santatiḥ parama tatha
yatra gavastatra lakṣmiḥ sankhyadharmasca sasvataḥ
(Varaha Puraṇa, 206.34-35)
By associating with the cows, by serving the cows and by consuming milk and milk products, it is said that one will be endowed with fearlessness, tolerance, peacefulness, strength, sharp memory, intelligence, shyness to act irreligiously, humility, health, fame, knowledge and progeny. Wherever there are cows, there is all prosperity and eternal spiritual knowledge.
(d) Dasyam (of sadhana bhakti) and cow protection:
karma svabhavikam bhadram (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu, 1.2.185)
To follow svabhava-karma (Daiva varṇasrama dharma) for pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. Varṇa-samanya-dharma (common dharma for all is ‘cow protection’ and ‘growing food’ (meaning, not for trade but for self-sufficiency. Trade is exclusive domain of mercantile class)
kṛṣistu sarva varṇanam
samanyo dharma ucyate
kṛṣrbhṛtiḥ pasupalyam sarveṣam
na niṣidhyate
Agriculture and cow protection are common duty for all the varNAs and they are not prohibited for anyone (Vṛddha Harita Smṛti)
(II) Gomata – a partner in Raganuga sadhana bhakti
tat-prapty-utkaṅṭayam ekadaṣi-janmaṣṭi-karttika-vrata-bhoga-tyagadini tapo-rupaṇi tathasvattha-tulasy-adi-sammananadini tad-bhavanukulany eva
The observance of Ekadasi, Janmaṣṭami, Kartikka vrata as well as the renunciation of sense pleasures and other austerities, offering respect to tulasi, the banyan tree, cows etc.; all of these activities executed with eagerness for attaining one’s most cherishable relationship with the Desired Object, because they are helpful and favourably disposed towards the attainment of this bhava are called bhavanukula sadhana (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu Bindu, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarthi Ṭhakura)
A devotee may be desiring to associate with the Personality of Godhead as His cowherd friend. He will want to serve the Lord by assisting Him in controlling the cows in the pasturing ground. This may appear to be a desire to enjoy the company of the Lord, but actually it is spontaneous love, serving Him by assisting in managing the transcendental cows (Srila Prabhupada, Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 15)
(III) Gomata – a partner in Bhava-bhakti
Impetus (Uddipana) – “Uddipana-vibhava to bhava bhakti
ye kṛṣṇas smarayanti te uddipana vibhava
Refers to all those things which stimulate remembrance of Sri Kṛṣṇa such as His dress and ornaments, the spring season, the bank of the Yamuna, forest groves, cows, peacocks, and so on.” (Srila Visvanatha Cakravarthi Ṭhakura, Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu Bindu)
C) PRAYOJANA & cow protection:
(IV) Gomata – a partner in Prema-bhakti
Santa-rasa and cows:
(a) Impetus for santa-rasa and cows:
parvata-saila-kananadi-vasi-jana-san
ga-siddha-ksetradayaḥ uddipana-vibhavaḥ
To live in pure and natural atmosphere devoid of crowded congestion of cities. Such places are known as vivikta-desa full of trees and natural surroundings (just like forests of Vrindavan).
(Of with course cows in such peaceful living. After all, that is how great rṣis lived in the past).
Cows gave pleasure to Sri Kṛṣṇa in Santa-rasa (Hence worthy of our service):
The land, the grass, the trees, the plants, fruits, or the cows in the transcendental world are supposed to be situated in the santa-rasa. As spiritual beings, they are all conscious of Kṛṣṇa, but they prefer to appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s greatness remaining as they are (Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Rupanuga, 12 Mar, 1968).
(b) Impetus for Dasya-rasa and cows:
Reverential affection to see Kṛṣṇa as a cowherd boy:
“When will that glorious day in my life come when it will be possible for me to go to the bank of the Yamuna and see Lord Kṛṣṇa playing there as a cowherd boy?”
© Impetus (Vibhava) and Anubhava in Sakhya-rasa and cows:
“ Kṛṣṇa going into the forest to tend the cows” is an impetus for saakhya-rasa.
vrndaraṇye samastat surabhiṇi surabhivṛndarakṣavihari (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu, 3.3.66)
Anubhava symptom in sakhya-rasa and cows:
puras tairyatrikam
tasya gavaṁ sambhalanakriyaḥ
“Helping Kṛṣṇa herd His cows” (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu, 3.3.95)
(d) Vatsalya-rasa and cows
According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Ṭhakura the cows loved Lord Kṛṣṇa in vatsalya-rasa, or the love of parents for a child, because the cows were always supplying milk to Kṛṣṇa.
Impetus for vatsalya-rasa and cows/calves:
vatsarakṣa vrajarbhyeṇa (Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu, 3.4.32)
Kṛṣṇa protecting and herding calves in the forests, is an impetus for Vatsalya-rasa.
(e) Impetus for Madhurya rasa and cows:
The impetuses of conjugal love are Kṛṣṇa and His very dear consorts, such as Radharaṇi and Her immediate associates (who are all gopis, or cowherd women).
“Dear Kṛṣṇa, what woman in all the three worlds wouldn’t deviate from religious behavior when bewildered by the sweet, drawn-out melody of Your flute? Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Indeed, even the cows, birds, trees and deer manifest the ecstatic symptom of bodily hair standing on end when they see Your beautiful form.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.29.40)
“When one gopi perfectly imitated how Kṛṣṇa would call the cows who had wandered far away, how He would play His flute and how He would engage in various sports, the others congratulated her with exclamations of “Well done! Well done!” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.30.18)
“Your lotus feet destroy the past sins of all embodied souls who surrender to them. Those feet follow after the cows in the pastures and are the eternal abode of the goddess of fortune. Since You once put those feet on the hoods of the great serpent Kaliya, please place them upon our breasts and tear away the lust in our hearts”. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.31.7)
“Dear master, dear lover, when You leave the cowherd village to herd the cows, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.31.11)
D) Tending cows – natural occupation of Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndavana
cintamaṇi-prakara-sadmaṣu kalpavṛkṣa-
lakṣavṛteṣu surabhir abhipalayantam
lakṣmi-sahasra-ṣata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-puruṣam tam aham bhajami
“Lord Kṛṣṇa is situated in a spiritual abode made of transcendental gems. In that abode he is surrounded by millions of desire fulfilling trees (kalpa-vṛkṣa), and he takes pleasure in tending the divine cows. He is always being served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of devotees. To that Supreme Lord, who is always trying to satisfy the senses of the cows, and who is the original person, I offer my worship.”
Brahma-samhita
Of course not touching about Karma-kanda, Jsana-kanda and cows.
Bharat Chandra Dasa, Date: 7/06/2016

Ratha Yatra at Cooly Rocks, Australia, 11 June 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we simply place ourselves at the l…

HH Radhanath Swami gifted his latest book “The Journey Within” to UK Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron yesterday at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, near London.

Prime Minister David Cameron at Bhaktivedanta Manor (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: The Prime Minister of England, Mr. David Cameron, was ISKCON’s special guest yesterday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a large new complex on the property. He began his talk to a prestigious crowd of dignitaries and devotees with a resounding, “Hare Krishna!“ and went on to congratulate ISKCON by praising Srila Prabhupada on his creation of a “global mission.” It was a great milestone in the history of the British Yatra.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/zMSN94

Chant, chant, chant! Harinama in Sydney, Australia (Album with photos)
The 14th consecutive Harinama! 14 nights of pure nectar…

The Story of Dasati.
Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami: I recently heard a story about a guru and disciple relationship. The Guru was Ramanuja Acarya and he had one disciple his name was Dasati. This Dasati, after Ramanuja, he was probably the greatest scholar in the whole world. He was really a wonderful-wonderful vaisnava. And he knew, he really-really knew the Vedas nicely. So one day he went to Ramanuja Acarya and he said: “Guru Maharaja, I would like for you to explain me Krishna’s final statement in the Bhagavad Gita.” That statement is:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
Krishna says we should abandon everything that we have and surrender to Him. So he said: “Guru Maharaja, please explain to me all the internal and esoteric meanings of this verse.”
And Ramanuja said: “Actually, I’m not qualified to describe this. But I know in one village there is this very old saint, and he knows so much, go there and serve him”. So Dasati followed Ramanuja’s instructions, he went there and he found this very old and saintly sadhu in the village. And he served him so faithfully. He did everything for the sadhu.
And finally one day that saintly sadhu looked at Dasati and said: “Maharaja, you’ve been serving me so nicely! What can I do for you?” So he said “Please explain to me all the meanings of this verse from Bhagavad Gita”. And that sadhu looked up and said “For me to even say something to you would be totally foolish, you know so much more than myself, therefore all that I can say is go back and serve Ramanuja”. So he went back to the place where Ramanuja was.
Just at that time one lady from a far village came to see Ramanuja. She was from a brahman family. And she had just gotten married into a family and she said: “Ramanuja, these people that I married into their family, they treat me like a slave. They expect me to cook all the food, wash all the pots, and wash all the clothes, and keep the house clean and the worst thing is that the well is at least 3 kilometrs from the house. And they expect me to go and collect the water also. It’s too much for me. And they always abuse me and they speak badly to me and I just don’t know what to do”.
Ramanuja said “Well, it’s easy. You need to get a servant to carry the water and do the cooking.”
Just at that time Dasati arrived, and Ramanuja said “He can go with you as a servant, he can carry the water and do the cooking”. And without saying anything Dasati just went with that lady.
And every day he started doing all the cooking, carrying all the water, cleaning everything, and the people in the house would abuse him and they didn’t even know that next after Ramanuja he was the greatest scholar in the whole world.
That went on for about 8 months. And then one day one great-great scholar came to that town and he was giving a lecture on Bhagavad Gita. And this scholar he was a horrible impersonalist. And he was saying such things in his lectures like “God has no form”, “God has no senses”, “God is only unmanifested Brahman”. And everybody from the [indistinct] went to hear this lecture. And Dasati was given permission by the family to go and listen. And Dasati was becoming crazy listening to this impersonalist speak.
So finally the man finished his lecture and Dasati said: “Sir, you have said that God is impersonal. But actually this is foolishness.” This man looked at Dasati “If you know is correct then you establish the truth”. Dasati immediately stood up and very elaborately established how Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to all the Vedic understandings.
And all the people of the town were looking at this person and they were saying “Who is this?” and the man on the platform was saying “You’re just a water-carrier! You’re just the cook! What do you know about Veda? What do you know about the truth?”
And Dasati spoke – everyone was amazed. And the man came off his platform and on the spot he surrendered to the feet of Dasati. And Dasati went back to the house to cook and collect water.
Then finally the word got out that this was Dasati. And Dasati had defeated that great Mayavadi and people went to Ramanuja and they told him how Dasati had defeated this Mayavadi. But what Dasati was doing was just He was carrying water and cooking for some karmis. And he was happy doing that.
They said “Maybe we should bring Dasati back to You”. At that point Ramanuja said “No-no, I will go to Dasati”. And so he went there and Dasati saw his Guru Maharaja come and he was in so much ecstasy, he fell down and embraced the lotus feet of his spiritual master. And he [Ramanuja Acarya] said “Now let us go back to Sri Rangam”. And there on the way he walked alone with Dasati, he said:
Now I will explain to you the meaning of verse 18.66 from Bhagavad Gita, because you have shown that truly you are a prideless person. You have shown that you are not attached to the concept of being the greatest scholar in the world.
You have shown that you are not attached to the concept of being such a great sanyasi. You have shown that you are not attached to the concept of being a temple president. You have shown that you are not attached to the concept of being a GBC. You have shown that you are not attached to the concept of being the best harmonium player. Or the best camera person. You see. You have shown that you are not attached to all these things.
“You have shown that you are just attached to following the instructions that you receive from Your spiritual master. Therefore you are qualified to understand Bhagavad Gita.”
So this is the natural relationship between a disciple and the spiritual master.
A disciple should follow the instructions of the spiritual master. Very happily, just like Dasati, who could go carry water and cook. You see. It was very easy for him to do. You see.
So we should look at ourselves – are these things easy for us to do? To chant 16 rounds. To follow 4 principles. To read Prabhupada’s books. To conduct our affairs in just the way affairs are conducted in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. You see. To dress the way that we dress in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Some people can’t even dress properly. See. To eat the way we’re supposed to eat, to eat Krishna prasadam.
So basically a disciple means one who follows. And remember the example of Dasati. He would follow so much that even though he was the greatest-greatest of all Vedic scholars he could just go and carry water for karmis.
Initiation talk from “Lectures 2007-2008” [00:00:00-00:16:57]
Sri Vrindavan Dham farm, Kazakhstan