Author Archives: Dandavats.com

A Drop In The Ocean (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Srila Prabhupada said that by tasting one drop of the salty ocean o…

Sri Rama-Navami booklet by Gour-Govinda Swami.
Srila Prabhupada: Nobody can be stronger than God, nobody can be wiser than God, nobody can be more beautiful than God, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Lord Ramacandra exhibited the qua…

April 11. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Word Spreads.
News of the Swami’s move to the Bowery loft spread, mostly by word of mouth at the Paradox restaurant, and people began to come by in the evening to chant with him. The musical kirtanas were especially popular on the Bowery, since the Swami’s new congregation consisted mostly of local musicians and artists who responded more to the transcendental music than to the philosophy. Every morning he would hold a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam attended by David Allen, Robert Nelson and another boy, and occasionally he would teach cooking to whoever was interested. He was usually available for personal talks with any inquiring visitors, or with his new roommate.
Although Prabhupada and David each had a designated living area in the large loft, the entire place soon became dominated by Prabhupada’s preaching activities. Prabhupada and David got on well together and, at first, Prabhupada considered David an aspiring disciple.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

Hare Krishna Festivals UK – York Harinam – 9th April 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In the Padma Purana, Krishna says, mad-bhakta yatra gayanti tatra tisthami narada: “O Narada, I am present wherever My devotees are chanting.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 17.132 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/GUg5fa

Alphonso Mangos!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: I have one short story. It is a story I made up myself but I think it is quite nice. Once, there was a group of people who lived in an oasis in the desert. In this oasis, they had their enjoyment, they had their variety of things – camel milk, dates and some bananas; or bananas and dates and camel milk; or camel milk with bananas and dates; dried bananas; camel milkshake – but that was it. So they were milking their varieties and this oasis was known as the “Oasis of sense gratification”.

Aerial photos of the Iskcon Ujjain Temple (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Ointment is applied to the eyes for clear visi…

ISKCON Auckland NZ: Friday night Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting Hare Krishna one fixes his mind alw…

Baba Madhava Das Festival at Vrinda Kunda (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On Friday, we observed the disappearance festival of Baba Madhava Das who gave Vrinda Kunda to ISKCON. We had wonderful katha, kirtan, artika, fed all of the Sadhus of Nandagram, and had feast for all the devotees and villagers. Relish Vittalrukmini’s photos!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/77fcZo

Transformation through Books.
Today one devotee shared with us about his meeting with two Russian devotee couples in Srirangam. Those Russian devotees were earnestly looking out for the place where Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet are being worshiped in Srirangam. After taking them to that place, this devotee inquired those Russian devotees as to how they came to know about Krishna consciousness. One of that Russian prabhuji was earlier working as a butcher in a slaughterhouse. Somehow some merciful Vaishnava had been doing book distribution even outside the slaughterhouses in Russia. Some people who were working in those slaughter houses got those books. But later they tore the pages as they could not understand English.
That day after tiring hours of work in the slaughter house, this Russian prabhuji, with his clothes tainted with the blood of the animals he had slaughtered, came and sat down to rest for sometime. By Krishna’s arrangement, he saw the torn pages of Srila Prabhupada’s “Science of Self-Realisation” book. He picked up that page and studied its contents. The subject matter in that page attracted him so much that he asked the people around about further details. The people who had torn that book told him, that there were some Asian people who had given them these books, but since it was in English, they had torn it. Those people also told him that these book distributors could be found down the street, singing some song. Immediately this Prabhu went to that place and met the devotees. He spoke with them for nearly 6 hours and then there was a complete transformation in his life. Realising the gravity of the sinful activity involved in killing animals, this Prabhu not only gave up his job on that day, but he also went and shared the details of the contents which he had read and heard from the devotees to his wife and another couple who were their friends. That was the beginning of their spiritual journey and over a period of time, both the couples dedicated their life to serving the cows and spreading the message of Srila Prabhupada.
This real life incident is a real eye-opener on how powerful even a page of Srila Prabhupada’s book is. If studying a single page of Srila Prabhupada’s book can bring such a great transformation in the life of a butcher, then what to speak of all the volumes of wonderful writings he has left for us. Indeed the books of His Divine Grace are brhad mrdanga and the sankirtan of book distribution can drive away all anarthas and bring a very great revolution in this world. Srila Prabhupada with great humility always mentions how he has full faith on the verse 1.5.18 of Srimad Bhagavatam wherein Narada Muni says: “On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.”
Placing his faith in Srimad Bhagavatam and his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada has literally poured his heart out in his books and continues to live in his writings. So for our own benefit and for the benefit of the whole world, we should study, practise and propagate his books to the best of our ability.
Transcendental Book Distribution ki Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!
Sudarshana Devi dasi

A New Frontier (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Our first few days in China were spent getting to know the people and culture of this country. We also held programs with local devotees in Beijing. My conclusion is that Lord Caitanya’s formula for sharing Krsna consciousness; namely chanting, dancing and feasting, is very suitable for the people here. We look forward to the next 18 days of our journey through the Land of the Great Red Dragon.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/kGCu4I

April 10. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Loft.
The loft was a fourth-flight walk-up, and the only entrance, usually heavily bolted, was a door in the rear at the west end. From the outside, this door opened into a hallway that was only lit by a red EXIT light over the door. The hallway led to the right a few steps and into the open area. If a guest entered during the kirtana or lecture, he would see the Swami about thirty feet from the entrance seated on his dais. On other evenings, the whole loft would be dark but for the glow of the red EXIT light in the little hallway and a soft illumination radiating from the other side of the partition where Prabhupada was working.
Prabhupada lived on the Bowery, sitting under a small light, while hundreds of derelicts also sat under hundreds of naked lights on the same city block. He had no more fixed income than the derelicts, or any greater security of a fixed residence, yet his consciousness was different. He was translating Srimad-Bhagavatam into English, speaking to the world through his Bhaktivedanta purports; his duty, whether on the fourteenth floor of a Riverside Drive apartment or in the corner of a Bowery loft, was to establish Krishna consciousness as the prime necessity for all humanity. He went on with his translating and with his constant vision of a Krishna temple in New York City. Because his consciousness was absorbed in Krishna’s universal mission, he did not depend on his surroundings for shelter. Home for him was not a matter of bricks and wood, but of taking shelter of Krishna in every circumstance. As Prabhupada had said to his friends uptown, “Everywhere is my home.” Without Krishna’s shelter, the whole world would become a desolate place.
Often he would refer to a scriptural statement that people live in three different modes: goodness, passion and ignorance. Life in the forest is in the mode of goodness, life in the city is in passion, and life in a degraded place like a liquor shop, a brothel, or the Bowery, is in the mode of ignorance. But to live in the temple of Vishnu is to live in the spiritual world, Vaikuntha, which is transcendental to all material worlds.
And this Bowery loft where Prabhupada was holding his meetings and performing kirtana was also transcendental. When he was behind the partition working in his corner before the open pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam, that room was as good as his room back at the Radha-Damodara Temple in Vrindavana.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

New TOVP Phone App Goes Live!
Everything can be used in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even modern technol…

Harinama and book distribution in Tel Aviv, Israel (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: To be chanting the holy name of Your L…

ISKCON Auckland NZ: Kirtana program with Madhava (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra without offenses, one increases his love for Krishna. As stated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, preme pum-artho mahan: one’s main concern should be to increase one’s attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to increase one’s love for Him. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.3.24 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/2nJ7LE

A Flow Of Nectar in China (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Our first few days in China have been packed with programs. Once again I am amazed how kirtan melts the hearts of people everywhere, regardless of what country they are from. Here in Beijing our guests, most of whom are coming for the first time, listen attentively and chant and dance in ecstasy. And Srila Prabhupada’s books are flowing out like nectar.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/M1ofdd

Vaishnava Film Awards! (13 min video)
Please enjoy watching the first part of the ceremony that took part in Mayapur. There are…

April 9. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Bowery Loft.
94 Bowery was a narrow, four-storey building. It had long ago been painted grey and bore the usual facing of a massive, black fire escape. A well-worn black double door, its glass panels reinforced with chicken wire, opened on to the street. The sign above the door read: “A.I.R. 3rd and 4th”, indicating that artists in residence occupied those floors. Harvey Cohen’s loft on the top floor of 94 Bowery was an open space, almost 100 feet long (from west to east) and twenty-five feet wide. It received a good amount of sunlight on the east, the Bowery side, and it also had windows at the west end, as well as a skylight. The exposed rafters of the ceiling were twelve feet above the floor.
Harvey Cohen had used the loft as an art studio and racks for paintings still lined the walls. A kitchen and shower were partitioned off in the northwest corner and a room divider stood about fifteen feet in the Bowery side windows. This divider did not run from wall to wall, but was open at both ends and was several feet short of the ceiling.
It was behind this partition that Prabhupada had his personal living area. A bed and a few chairs stood near the window and Prabhupada’s typewriter sat on his metal trunk next to a small table that held his stacks of Bhagavatam manuscripts. His dhotis hung drying on a clothesline.
On the other side of the partition was a dais, about ten feet wide and five feet deep, on which Prabhupada sat during his kirtanas and lectures. The dais faced west toward the loft’s large open space – open, that is, except for a couple of rugs and an old-fashioned, solid wood table, and, on an easel, Harvey’s painting of Lord Caitanya dancing with His associates.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

Not Always Rosy!
Bhaktimarga Swami: I had met Jaya Vijay at a festival in the Berkley area some years ago and had marvelled at his working efforts. He was a padayatra (pilgrim) leader for 10 years from 1986 to 1996. He is indeed inspiring. I wanted to include him in this blog about the purifying nature of walking. An article appeared in the recent issue of Padayatra Worldwide:
“When you watch a Padayatra India slideshow everything seems rosy, but in fact, it was very difficult. Walking the highways in India is no place for a lady or gentleman. Some of the truck drivers are very rough – sometimes they go off the road or hit the oxen. We got malaria and dysentery. When the devotees get ill, it’s difficult to recover and keep moving at the same time. They have to stay on the tractor. They don’t have a private room. Maybe once or twice a month we might get a private room. Usually we stayed in open schools, where there was no privacy at all. People watched you when you took your bath or passed stool. Sadhu means “open book” – it is another definition of a sadhu – there is nothing to hide. You have to learn to sit down on your mat and be in your own mental world and do your own thing. Sometimes it’s hard to do it because you’re tired and you have people looking at you, laughing at you, joking about you. It’s a place to learn tolerance; it is not a joke. I have seen many devotees blow it or hit each other, not out of contempt but because they’d just had enough. I have seen lots of sannyasis go crazy with the kids. It is very difficult. Some devotees got injured. There were broken wrists and ankles, one devotee was hit by a truck, and another from Finland died when he fell under the tractor in South India. Sometimes we present the rosy side of padayatra, but to pick the roses there are many thorns, and sometimes you get pricked. It’s not a piece of cake. In the long run it’s very purifying – the most purifying program in our whole ISKCON society.”
(The Most Purifying Programs, by Jaya Vijaya dasa, Padayatra Newsletter, 2016)

Become eager for mercy!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: In the beginning of our spiritual life, we come with lots of enthusiasm. Then, after some time, we lose that initial fire and we come into a realm of struggling with all the high standards of Krsna consciousness. We do not feel the same inspiration that we had in the beginning. Then, what do we do? At that point, what can we do?
Srila Prabhupada explains that one must chant in a mood of a helpless child. So, when we become helpless, when we realize, ‘Actually, I am not a great devotee, I am struggling, it is not easy! It is very challenging, maybe too challenging!’ Then, all we have left is to look for mercy, as much mercy as possible, because it is mercy that can change us. On our own strength, we are lacking, we do not have the determination and conviction to just act on the level of pure devotion even after hearing all the good instructions. Then, all that is left for us to do is to look for as much mercy as possible. Because, through that mercy, we will change and we will get a desire!
It is not difficult to be a pure devotee if we would want to be, the problem is that we do not want to be. We are holding onto our material conditioning and therefore we do not get nourishment from devotional service. But, by mercy, we can go beyond! Therefore, with time, as we are realizing more and more how much we are falling short in being pure devotees, more and more, we become eager for mercy. That mercy is available in so many ways: in service, in hearing from the vaisnavas, in prasadam, in giving donations – in so many opportunities and so many forms. One has to be eager to look for it, to take it and to look for opportunities.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/qFGIkO

Devotee Author Aims Bhagavatam-Inspired Novel at Western Audience.
With his first novel, “The Yoga Zapper,” ISKCON devotee Hari Mohan Das (Mohan Ashtakala) has blended exciting fantasy storytelling with themes from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, including the prophesied appearance of Kalki Avatar at the end of Kali Yuga. He hopes to entertain and educate a diverse Western audience with this potent mix, published by mid-sized Canadian publisher Books We Love. Mohan has all the requisite background for a mystical novel like this. As a child, he grew up in North India against the backdrop of the Himalayas. “My uncle was an officer with the Indian Forestry Service, and we lived close to the jungle,” he says. “I remember hearing tigers at night, and I had a pet deer. I had so many adventures! So a lot of the descriptions and authentic feel of India in my novel come from those experiences.” Mohan later moved to Canada with his parents, and as an adult joined ISKCON, receiving initiation as a brahmana priest from Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Swami. He has studied Vaishnava scriptures and their stories in depth, and presented at interfaith and diversity conferences at various churches and schools.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/Zw8Eoy

Namamrita Program by Bhakti Brihat Bhagavatam Maharaj at Sri Mayapur International School (Album with photos)
During the first…

The Municipal Government of Stockholm city: Save the only Hindu temple and oldest vegetarian restaurant in Stockholm!
This Spiritual Centre is run by ISKCON, the world´s largest international Hindu institution based on the ancient Vedic scriptures. It contains a temple, shop and vegetarian restaurant, and has existed in Stockholm city for over 34 years. Over the years it has developed to become an established cultural institution.
The Centre is yearly visited by up till 100 000 people of
different categories: worshippers, spiritual seekers, teachers and students (for study visits), vegetarians/vegans, Hindus, global Indians etc. The visitors are benefitted by the variety of facilities and activities the Centre offers: worship, conduction of religious rituals such as marriage ceremonies, spiritual initiation etc, courses in spiritual philosophy, devotional yoga, mantra meditation, Indian music and dance, theatre, vegetarian cooking, ayurvedic health care, as well as festivals, vegetarian karma free freshly cooked meals, a shop offering a variety of products that harmonize with a holistic healthy spiritual culture.
The continued existence of the Centre is now in danger since the landlord, a property company owned by the Municipality of Stockholm, has cancelled the renting contract with no offer of proper compensation. If this will not change, the whole Centre will be forced to close down its activities. Many people have expressed that it will be a great loss if this will happen.
It is reasonable to claim that a municipal property company has a special responsibility to take into consideration the public benefit this Centre offers the population of Stockholm city.
Sign the petition online here: https://goo.gl/g61lkf

Sri Harinam Sankirtan in Sydney (Album with photos)
One amazing incident happened!!! When we were standing in front of Microsoft Office near Pitt Street Mall and chanting, the boss of the Microsoft came and very nicely said, we love your song and appreciate, if you could kindly please move will be nice as we are doing some presentation and it’s very loud sound and we can’t present. He continued we love to give some donation. Then he open his wallet and took out $200 and gave it to Harinam Sankirtan team. We all got so excited that just doing Kirtan people have appreciated so much and donated good sum also. Our team have decided to use that fund for buying our new sound system for Harinam. We have posted some some photos from yesterday, please have a look. Since its night and we’re moving so quality is not that great. See you all next week Thursday.
Thanks to everyone who came forward to make this Harinam a great success this week. Compared to last week which was our first week when 12 devotees came this week we had around 20 devotees attending Harinam with 2 kids. Every one took turns for leading kirtan. As we went along many people appreciated clapped and joined us for chanting. Few books and temple invitation cards got distributed. Haribol !!!!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/JO2CUU

Remembering Aindra prabhu – program in Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one somehow or other chants the holy nam…

Mahabharata event at University of Cincinnati (Album with photos)
Andy Fraenkel: It was a great pleasure for my wife and me to …

The devotees from the Govinda restaurant and Patisserie of Benesov, Czech Republic organize home delivery of their prasadam!
Srila Prabhupada: You said that your job is maya, but you must know that maya is illusion. As soon as there is absence of Krishna Consciousness—that is maya. But you are working just to help and push Krishna’s interest; therefore, it is not maya. Anything used in Krishna Consciousness is real renouncement. Letter to Jayagovinda, February 3, 1970
For more information: https://goo.gl/ddGXDJ

April 8. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Harvey Offers Prabhupada His Studio on the Bowery.
Prabhupada had lost his spirit for living in Room 307. What would prevent the janitor from stealing again? Harvey Cohen and Bill Epstein had invited him to relocate downtown and had assured him of a more interested following among the young people there. It had been an attractive proposal, and he began to reconsider it. Then Harvey offered Prabhupada his studio on the Bowery.
Harvey had been working as a commercial artist for a Madison Avenue advertising firm when a recently acquired inheritance spurred him to move into a loft on the Bowery to pursue his own career as a painter. But he was becoming disillusioned with New York. A group of acquaintances addicted to heroin had been coming around taking advantage of his generosity, and his loft had recently been burglarized. He decided to leave the City and go to California, but before leaving he offered the loft for Prabhupada to share with David Allen.
David Allen had heard that Harvey Cohen was moving to San Francisco if he could sublet his loft. Harvey hadn’t known David very long, but on the night before Harvey A.I.R. was supposed to leave, he coincidentally met David three different times in three different places on the Lower East Side. Harvey took this as a sign that he should rent the loft to David, but he specifically stipulated that the Swami should move in.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

Into the Mouth of The Red Dragon (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: This afternoon myself and a team of 14 devotees arrive…

Post-modern Perspectives on the Guru-disciple Relationship.
Kripamoya Das: Despite the success of Vaishnavism as a worldwide phenomenon, there are yet some persistent difficulties faced by converts in understanding and implementing the ancient guru-disciple tradition. Partial understandings of source texts combined with highly selective use of quotes has only served to exacerbate the divisions of thought. This is particularly true of the writings on the delicate subject of guru-disciple.
This is probably as much as can be expected considering the prevailing climate. Whether we term it ‘post-modernism’ or not, the current intellectual and philosophical climate in the industrialised world has contributed to a particular perspective on the Vedas and the guru-disciple culture which is at its heart. The post-modern paradigm has several elements which may be helpful to the spirituality required to fully understanding the guru-disciple relationship. Conversely, it has some that directly militate against it:
1. Relational rather than hierarchical – Post-modern people are suspicious of the mainstream in any area of life and much prefer flat or networked organisations to hierarchies. Post-moderns want to humanise the world and are drawn to marginalised people; they are relationship centred. They give a higher priority to building a relationship than maintaining a building or structure. This view of the world probably helped to create the Hare Krishna movement back in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, as the role of the guru in the Hare Krishna movement has become augmented with organisational position and corollary power, there have been more complaints about the ‘position of guru’ being used to preserve the ‘institutional hierarchy.’ As the movement has gone from the social fringes to a more ‘mainstream’ position, the post-modern observers have re-categorized it from a ‘spiritual movement’ to a ‘religious institution.’ Although there is only a difference in size and complexity, that is enough for some to regard the guru-disciple relationship as an instrument of a religious hierarchy – and to react against it.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/jnOXgn

Letting out of the Cows!
Each spring, the Bhaktivedanta Manor’s New Gokul farm goes through the “letting out of the cows” ritual, whereby the cows and bulls are overjoyed to be let out again in the fields after being kept sheltered inside for the winter. Everyone laughs and cheers as the herd race across the fields, jumping and moo-ing in happiness. A truly delightful and entertaining experience for both cows and humans alike!
When: Sunday 10th April at 9.45am
Where: At New Gokul (The Manor’s farm – UK)

The King’s Finger.
Once upon a time, there lived a king. The king was very kind and ruled his people very well. One day he accidentally cut his finger. The king cried aloud and his minister who was a devotee of Krishna came running and saw that the king has cut his finger.
The minister tying a cloth to the king’s finger said, “Dear king, don’t worry, whatever happen it’s is the mercy of Krishna. So be happy and thank your luck and thank Krishna”
The king got very angry and said, “What nonsense you are talking. The blood is coming out. I am crying in pain. You say this is the mercy of Krishna. You are a big fool. I will throw you in jail”. Shouting thus, the king got his minister thrown in jail. The minister smiled and said aloud, “Whatever happened is the mercy of Krishna! Thank you Krishna!”
But one fine morning the fat king went alone for hunting in the forest. There were no guards no ministers with him. He soon lost his way in the forest and landed in an enemy’s tribal kingdom.
Suddenly the tribal king and his soldiers rounded up the king and tied him to a tree. The tribal soldiers then drank and danced around the king and shouted, “Let this king be sacrificed to our Kali”. Shouting thus, they all prepared the king for the big sacrifice to Kali devi.
The king was sad as there was no minister with him to advise how to escape. He was weeping with tears running down his eyes.
The tribal king and the priest came to inspect the king and saw that the king had a bandage on his finger.
The priest then said to the tribal king, “Sir, this king has already cut his finger and the blood has already come out of him. But for our Kali we need fresh blood and a whole body without any cuts. Therefore, this king is unfit to be sacrificed and let him go back to his people.” The tribal king agreed and set the king free.
The king got back to his kingdom and related the story to his minister who was in jail. The minister then smiled and said, “See I told you that whatever happens is the mercy of Krishna and is for our own good !
On that day, you cut your finger it saved your life ! And when you put me in jail it also saved my life !” The minister said smiling.
The king was surprised and asked, “How’s that !”
The minister replied, “See, wherever you go I have to be with you. But on that day I was in jail. So I did not come with you. If I had come with you, the tribal king would have sacrificed me because my body was whole and there were not cuts on me. This way I too was saved !
You cutting your finger and me going to jail both happened to our own good! That is what I believed. And this is the moral philosophy that everyone should believe… “whatever happens, happens for our own good and it is the mercy of Krishna !”
If we strongly believe in this moral philosophy we will really stop worrying and make our lives happier and happier… forever and ever ! Putting our lifes in hands of Krishna is the most secure way to live our life.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Cows Protection Purifies The Heart (3 min video)
A short announcement by the Harinama Mandir community.
Srila Prabhupada: …

Preaching program in the University of Cincinnati (Album with photos)
The University event was sponsored by the UC Bhakti Yoga …

What a vow!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: Let us for a moment concentrate and meditate on Madhavendra Puri and his vow. His vow was basically not to make any arrangement for anything to eat. Why such a vow? That vow was not followed by him in the mood of austerity, it was not, “From now, let me do some extraordinary austerity. I will not a make any arrangements for anything to eat.”
No, that was not it. If you think of it, all problems start with eating. It’s because we have to eat that we have to work and then you need to cook, and so on, and before you know it, it’s a huge entanglement. It takes away time – time away from the essential activity, and that was what was mood of Madhavendra Puri who did not want to take away any time from glorifying Krsna. He did not want to, for one moment, just stop his chanting. So, therefore he was not going to bother with anything else. He just let it go, he renounced it, he said, “I will leave it up to Krsna and I will only chant.”
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/mz71pX

April 7. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Discussing Plans to Return to India.
Prabhupada had told Joseph Foerster, the Scindia ticket agent, that he would be returning to India in a couple of months. That was seven months ago. Now for the first time since his arrival, Prabhupada had returned to the Scindia office in Brooklyn. He talked about the theft to Mr. Foerster who responded with, “Welcome to the club,” and told Prabhupada about the recent theft of his own automobile. Such things, he explained, were not unusual for New York City. He told Prabhupada of the dangers of the City and how to avoid thefts and muggings. Prabhupada listened, shaking his head. He told Mr. Foerster that American young people were misguided and confused. He discussed his plans for returning to India and showed Mr. Foerster one of his Bhagavatams.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

TKG Academy Science Video (4 min video)
Take a look at how TKG Academy students explore Science every day! Listen to their discoveries in Krishna’s magical creation.
TKG Academy (Dallas, TX) is the first Gurukula school established in the Western world by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna consciousness.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/djPvAM

Iskcon Nepal: Brief Emergency Relief Report (Album with photos)
Food for Life Nepal was quick to respond to this massive earthquake that devastated the region.
• Volunteers started serving hot meals from the very first day.
• Over 200,000 meals served for 2 months.
• 2600 blankets distributed.
• Rescue Health Camp Organized in dozens of affected places.
• 47 Temporary shelters built with collaboration with Lumanti.
• Food Materials Distributed to More than 10,000 victims.
• Clothes or tents were distributed to more than1000 victims.
• We reached out to Nuwakot, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Sakhu, Dharmasthali, Dhading, Gorkha etc.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/SaM3cf

Harinama in Arbat Street (mainly referred to in English as the Arbat, is a pedestrian street about one kilometer long in the histori…

Snana-yatra 2016 Festival (Album with photos)
Snana-yatra festival at New Govardhana, San Diego. April 3, 2016
Srila Prabhupada: One cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind. One must engage one’s mind fully in Krishna. Only then will there remain no other engagements to agitate the mind. (Bhagavad-gita 6.34, purport).
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Radha Kunda Seva – March 2016 Photos and Updates (Album with photos)
March was a quiet, uneventful month of steady seva. Cleaning and prasadam distribution every single day.
We could tell you about all the developments we’re waiting for because… well, because it’s India, but we won’t bore you with all that. I think you know anyway. Kitchen! We’re waiting to build our kitchen!
Only, we’re not waiting and twiddling our thumbs. Thanks to your ongoing support, we get to keep serving and serving.
Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com.
Your servants, Mayapurcandra dasa, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, and Urmila Devi Dasi.
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