Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Sacred Sound Kirtan Retreat (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Video coverage of the blissful Sacred Sound Kirtan Retreat at New Govardhan in Australia. Devotees came from all over the country to chant and dance together in one of ISKCON’s largest communities nestled in the beautiful green rolling hills of New South Wales.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/P52ZLw

Bharat’s Cultural Conquest: New Short Film on Srila Prabhupada (7 min video)
– New FULL HD film on Srila Prabhupada
– Launch on Pune Youth Festival 2016 in front of 20000 Youth.
– Film by ISKCON Pune, in Association with Hare Krishna Media
– Film made by Hare Krishna Media
– English Language
– 7 Mins.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/1xq9vr

March 27. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: One is Free to Regard His Talks As He Likes.
Although his audience may be momentarily enamored by what appears to be a description of Indian social customs, a careful listener can grasp the greater context of Prabhupada’s speech: everyone must accept a spiritual master. It’s a heavy topic for a casual audience. What is the need of taking a spiritual master? Isn’t this just for India? But he says, “Everyone should have a spiritual master.” What is a spiritual master, anyway? Maybe he means that accepting a spiritual master is just another cultural item from Hinduism, like the sacred thread, or the part in a woman’s hair, or the widow’s dress. The audience can easily regard the discussion as a kind of cultural exposition, just as one comfortably watches a film about the living habits of people in a foreign land, although one has no intention of adapting those habits as one’s own. The Swami is wearing one of those threads on his body, but that’s for Hindus, and it doesn’t mean that Americans should wear them. But these Hindu beliefs are interesting.
Actually, Prabhupada has no motive but to present the Absolute Truth as he has heard it in disciplic succession. But if anyone in that railroad car-shaped room were to ask himself, “Should I surrender to a spiritual master?” he would be confronted by the existential presence of a genuine guru. One is free to regard his talk as one likes.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Harinama in Philippines (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One is understood to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Person…

Evening Program on Holi : 24-03-2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: To the sincere devotee, this ocean of maya is easily crossed by the cool breeze of Krishna’s Grace. This is our business, to submit to Krishna’s desire to have us back with Him in the eternal sky of Krishna Loka. Letter to Syamasundara, November 24, 1968.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/yxxzSz

Gaura Purnima Festival 2016 in Iskcon Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Because you have given your life to…

Vanifun Crossword Puzzles.
We hope you enjoy solving these online interactive crossword puzzles which are made from phrases and words (English and Sanskrit) as used by Srila Prabhupada.
The goal of these puzzles is to expand your English and Sanskrit vocabulary and to come closer to Srila Prabhupada’s teachings by using the Vaniquotes website to find the answer to the clues.
This puzzle is made up of words and phrases (English and Sanskrit) used by Srila Prabhupada. (Some English words have American spelling.)
Click on the first clue to highlight where to type your answer in the crossword and start typing from the yellow square.
Solve it online here: http://goo.gl/ABu3W6

The so-called husbands, political leaders and guardians.
There are many people all over the world—indeed, throughout the universe—who claim for some time that they are husbands, political leaders or guardians, but in due course of time the Supreme Lord desires their removal from their posts, and their careers are immediately finished. Therefore those who are actually learned and advanced in spiritual life do not accept any leader, husband or maintainer other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Sacred Sound Kirtan Retreat – Day 2 – 26 March 2016, Australia
(Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Sri Caitanya Mahapr…

Revival of Regular Harinama at New Govardhana, Australia.
In a nutshell, if devotees love Hari Nama and want to please Srila Prabhupada by sharing Lord Caitanya’s mercy, a sojourn on New Govardhana farm in Australia may be just what they have been looking for. Due to the many social changes that ISKCON has undergone over the decades, and the fact that there are much fewer temple devotees than there were in the past, these days most temples don’t have the man-power to hold all-day Hari Nama sankirtan parties, every day of the week. Garuda Das is determined to change this, at least here at New Govardhana. With his small but dedicated kirtan party visiting cities, towns, villages and festivals throughout northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland, local devotees are becoming inspired and the lives of thousands of people who encounter them are being transformed, as they associate with Krishna, appearing as His holy names, and receive Srila Prabhupada’s books. Everyone is welcome to take part, and to experience the fun and magic of this very wonderful sankirtan party.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/v2P9CE

Hare Krishna At The Bhakti Center | New York City (2 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: There is only one guru—Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So those who simply repeat His words, they also become guru. But of course a guru never thinks himself as being God. He only thinks of himself as the servant of the servant of the servant. Letter to Mr. & Mrs. Bhatia, November 23, 1075.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/g5N8dV

March 26. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: “Don’t Turn Your Attention, Just Hear”
Outside the closed windows of the Room 307, the late winter night had fallen. Prabhupada’s words are punctuated with the muted sounds of car horns and occasional sirens from the street, and sometimes the startling chords of a lonely fog horn on the Hudson. Although bare, the room is warm. Prabhupada is speaking on the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita.
Now Arjuna is perplexed. He is perplexed about whether to fight or not to fight. After seeing in front of him his relatives, with whom he was to fight, he was perplexed. And there was some argument with Krishna.
Now here is a point: Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead….
Prabhupada’s voice is earnest, persuading. Sometimes his speech becomes high-pitched and breaks with urgency. His cultured British diction bears a heavy, Bengali accent.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Sacred Sounds (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Today was the first day of the Sacred Sounds Festival at New Govardhana i…

Toronto’s Hare Krishna Temple – Festival Report – Gaura Purnima 2016 (Album with photos)
Picutres by Sahil Srivastava and Subhadra devi dasi
On a rainy, full moon Tuesday evening in March, devotees from Toronto’s Hare Krishna community gathered to celebrate the advent of one of the most merciful forms of Lord Krishna – Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! A packed temple, filled with reveling devotees exploded with colours, kirtan and the aroma of a delectable vegetarian feast.
The evening began with kirtan (musical chanting) and continued with a class by Krsnadas Kaviraj das wherein he lovingly expounded on the appearance of Chaitanya over 500 years ago. He then weaved a beautiful picture of a famous pastime (story) of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wherein He danced through the Jarikanda Forest, singing and dancing and the animals accompanied Him in the chanting and dancing as well.
In seamless fashion, the next part of the program featured a parade of smiling children dancing their way into the Temple Hall, both costumed and face-painted as tigers, monkeys, rabbits, butterflies and foxes. They were led by an actor playing the role of Chaitanya amidst joyful kirtan. Once glance at the audience was enough to prove that all hearts were melted instantaneously as the smiling children reenacted this most glorious story of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!
As the costumed-kids settled in, the grand abhisheka took over. The abhisheka was a special “bathing ceremony” wherein small Deities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda were lovingly bathed in various items like yogurt, milk, honey and more! The walls resounded with kirtan as colourful lights illuminated the Temple Hall.
A final kirtan (arati) was followed by a giant feast served for anyone and everyone! Spiritually contented, the community of devotees made their way home with memories of a very special evening dancing in the forest of their minds!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/6W5kjF

“The way to get kids nowadays into the Mahabharata is to turn it into a game!”
Imagine if you could fight as the great warrior Arjuna, launching an attack with your Gandiva bow? And imagine if your friend, taking on the role of Karna, could counter-attack with his own bow, Vijay?
Now you both can!
Learn how to do this here: http://goo.gl/qW11Uj

Is the past a good place to learn from?
Devotees and religious people in general are sometimes under the impression that now they are special and will be protected from difficulties or intense problems or suffering having tasted a new joy and fulfillment in dedication to serve God and others. While there are many places which say that those who have dedicated their lives for spiritual advancement have their suffering reduced, we never the less still have to deal with our physical body and mind, and what the Vedas refer to as current Age of Kali, which is full quarrel, hypocrisy, garbage, and an exploitative mentality. We also read how great devotees suffer in their service and from just living in the world. Do we really want to avoid problems, or are problems the answer to a mediocre, or ho-hum life?
I heard Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, the father of positive thinking, and prolific author, speak about someone who came to him complaining about all his problems and difficulties, which he thought were ruining his peace and distracting him from a Godly life. So Rev Peale, heard him out, and told him he knew a place where the residents had no problems at all, and asked him if he would like to visit them, to which he received an enthusiastic “Of course.” They got into Norman’s car and drove in silence for 20 minutes and then pulled into a long driveway. Getting out of the car they began to walk, and the Reverend pointed to all the tombstones, and told his amazed friend, “These people have no material problems. Material problems are a sign of life. If I have no problems I pray to God, ‘Don’t you trust me? Please give me some good problems that I can solve for your glory.”
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/IlOvHx

Gaura Purnima Festival in Iskcon San Diego (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna says that his devotee is never vanquished. Therefore all the disciples practicing Krishna consciousness should obediently follow the regulative principles and remain fixed in chanting the holy name of the Lord. Then there need be no fear. Otherwise, one’s position is very dangerous, especially in this Kali-yuga. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.1.58 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4SqSfT

Bhaktivedanta Manor: 50 hours of kirtan!
This weekend Srila Prabhupada’s grandchildren celebrate 50 years of ISKCON with 50 hours of kirtan at Bhaktivedanta manor… Will be streamed on Mayapur TV as well

Sacred Sound Kirtan Retreat ISKCON New Govardhana – Sri Sri Radha Govardhanadhari, Australia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhup…

March 25. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Letter to Sumati Morarji.
Prabhupada expressed his optimism about his situation in a letter to Sumati Morarji:
I was very much encouraged when you wrote to say, “I feel that you should stay there until you fully recover from your illness, and return only after you have completed your mission.” I think these lines dictated to you are the words of Lord Bala Krishna expressed through your goodness.
You will be pleased to know that I have improved my health back to normal, and my missionary work is nicely progressing. I hope my project to start a temple of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna will be realized by the grace of the Lord.
Since I came to New York from Butler, Pennsylvania, I have rented the above room at seventy dollars per month, and I am delivering lectures on the Bhagwat-gitaand Sriman-Bhagwatam, accompanied by sankirtana. And the American ladies and gentlemen come to hear me. You will be surprised to know that they do not understand the language of sankirtana, yet they hear with attention. The movement which I have started here is completely new to them, because Americans are generally acquainted with the Indian yoga gymnastics as performed by some Indian yogis here. They have never heard of the bhakti cult, of the science of Krishna before, and still they are hearing me. This is a great success for me.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Even Google is into Holi!
If you click on the following link and place your pointer or cursor on the word Google you will see t…

Gaur Purnima Abhishek at ISKCON Mira Road (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is described as maha-v…

ISKCON Salem Gaura Purnima festival (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, we gradually d…

All glories…
Let’s show our gratitude to the devotees who were worshipping the deities when we visited the temple, for those who were keeping it very clean and burning incense, let’s show our gratitude for those who cooked that delicious prasada that we put in our mouths for the first time.
Let’s show our gratitude to those who gave us Srila Prabhupada’s ‘transformational’ books.
Society means people together working with a purpose, and that is ISKCON; our home.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Hare Krsna!

Amritsari Aaloo kulchas (non dairy)
Try out this spicy and soft Potato filling bread, famous in Dhabas and restaurants. The spi…

Srila Prabhupada: Please continue to try and convince the world leaders who are in Washington D.C. about our Krishna Consciousness program.
A letter of Srila Prabhupada: November 12, 1970
My Dear Damodara,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 4th October, 1970 and I’ve noted the contents with much pleasure.
I am glad to see that you are working in the universities. They are a good field for spreading our Krishna Consciousness activities. Try and get all our books accepted in the college libraries and classroom courses. That will be our real success. Dr. Cenkner is correct in saying that Sankaracarya’s belief is personal. Actually he is a covered personalist. He became impersonalist just to drive away Buddhism. All of India was Buddhist voidism. So, although a personalist, he had to keep pace with voidism by expounding impersonalism. There is very little difference between impersonalism and voidism, but because he had to bring Buddhists back to the Vedic cultural form, he adopted impersonalism. From the Padma Purāṇa, it is learned that Sankaracarya is Lord Siva, and who can be a greater devotee than Lord Siva? Lord Siva is considered to be the foremost Vaisnava.
*Please continue to try and convince the world leaders who are in Washington D.C. about our Krishna Consciousness program. Why don’t you approach the Congressmen and Representatives and inform them of the work that our men are doing within their states and cities. If they are favorably impressed with our work, they may be able to give us government land and property and so many other facilities which we can utilize to aid all of the population.* I think so many men will be glad to receive our books, so please utilize this opportunity. Simply it requires determination and imagination. Maybe you can get the Indian Ambassador and his wife to hold a meeting at which many important men can be invited. If he and his wife are favorably impressed, certainly they can hold a nice meeting one evening. At that meeting you can speak and explain what our movement is and show slides and movies. Make a book table and display all of our books. Never mind if they also like to read from Ramakrishna. If you give them our KRSNA book to read, very soon all other tastes will go away.
Please offer my blessings to all the other Prabhus in Washington. Hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Gaura Purnima festivities in Amsterdam, Holland (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Sometimes it is very risky to give great …

Gaura Purnima celebrations in Vrindavan (5 min video)
Govinda Swami: Radhe Shyam’s Boat Festival This Afternoon At Krishna Balaram Mandir!
Srila Prabhupada: Haridasa Thakura was born in a Mohammedan family. From the very beginning of his life he was never trained in the karma-kanda system, but because he was always chanting the holy name of the Lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted him as namacarya, the authority in chanting the holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.9.4 Purport)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/mc1TDu

Tanauan Batangas Harinam Sankirtan (Album with photos)
Giridhari Swami: We just came back from a beautiful harinama led by Maha Vishnu Goswami Maharaja and five members of the Harinama Ruci sankirtana group. I have been on thousands of harinams over the last 40+ years, but this one was amongst the best. Beyond the 40 local devotees, 10 devotees, visiting from China took part in their first harinama. Even more amazing is that, this was their first exposure to the serious practice of Krishna consciousness. They danced and chanted blissfully for over two hours! Lord Chaitanya’s process is truly intoxicating to anyone who deeply drinks the ambrosia of harinama. Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/jPSA4H

March 24. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: A Source of New Life.
Moving out of the yoga studio into the small office downstairs gave Prabhupada what he was looking for – his own place – but not even euphemistically could that place be called a temple. His name was on the door; anyone seeking him there could find him. Who would come there? By its opulence and beauty, a temple was supposed to attract people. But Room 307 was just the opposite: it was bare poverty. Even a person interested in spiritual topics would find it uncomfortable to sit on the rugless floor of the room shaped like a narrow railroad car.
One of Dr. Mishra’s students had donated a reel-to-reel tape recorder and Prabhupada recorded some of his solitary bhajanas, which he sang to his own accompaniment on hand cymbals. He also recorded a long, philosophical essay, Introduction to Gitopanisad. “Even if no one attends,” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had told him, “you can go on chanting to the four walls.” But since he was now free to speak his message in the new situation God had provided, he decided to lecture three evenings a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) to whoever would come.
His first audiences consisted mainly of people who had heard about him, or met him, at Dr. Mishra’s yoga studio. And despite the poverty of his room, the meetings became a source of new life to him.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

Ecstatic celebration of Gaurapurnima Festival in Vraja Eco Village in Philippines (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The ho…

A devotee, professional photographer, loses his heart in Vrindavan and finds it back in Mayapur! He publishes 206 high-resolution ph…

Gaura-Purnima celebrations in Iskcon Los Angeles (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The great liberated souls and incarnatio…

Appreciating The Unparalleled Mercy Of Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu On His Appearance Day!
For me, on appearances day of …Read More…

Prabhupada wanted us to understand that we shouldn’t think, “Now I am very big, I can take over my spiritual master’s position.”
Dina Bandhu: Around 1970, we drove from Boulder to L.A. and were present when Prabhupada started playing the tape of the Govindam prayers. Although it’s taken for granted now, before that time we didn’t play that tape of Yamuna singing.
But on the second or third day that we were there, Prabhupada came into the temple, the tape was put on, and he paid his obeisances. He took some charanamrita and then sat down on the vyasasana, all the while singing along with the tape.
Suddenly we saw tears gliding down Prabhupada’s cheeks. We all felt unqualified to be in his presence. When Prabhupada experienced ecstatic symptoms, you just wanted to lift up one of those linoleum tiles and crawl under it, thinking, “I don’t belong here.”
Then suddenly Prabhupada sniffed, wiped his face, and started chanting the Isopanishad mantras that he was teaching us at the time. He had a deep, rich voice that reminded me of a sea captain.
Every day we would start from the beginning and chant all the verses we knew, and then he would teach us the next verse.
Whenever I came to L.A. I would sit at the foot of Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana in the temple room. One day Prabhupada sat down on his vyasasana, looking rather concerned.
He pointed toward me but I didn’t know what was wrong. I looked down thinking maybe my dhoti was open but it wasn’t. I looked back up. Prabhupada nodded his head as if to say, “Everything is okay.”
My hands were resting on my knees, and I froze in that position thinking, “Now everything is all right. Whatever was wrong is all right now.” I sat there while Prabhupada lectured but in the middle of the lecture, Prabhupada got disturbed again.
I was wobbling my knee. Prabhupada stopped speaking, pointed at me, and said, “Don’t do that.” I stopped doing it.
On a morning walk in Vrindavan, Prabhupada was preaching heavily against abortion and birth control. He gave the example that,
“If I have rented an apartment and you stop me from living in it, that is illegal. Or if I am living in an apartment and you come and kick me out, that is also illegal. You will be arrested. Similarly, that soul has rented that womb which is his apartment, and if you prevent him from staying there it is illegal. He’s inside and you kick him out—that is illegal.”
He explained how those who commit abortion will go from womb to womb and will never see the light of day. He was so heavy.
On the way back, Prabhupada was a little quiet. Then one Indian man said, “I read today in the newspaper that Guru Maharaj Ji’s mother said that Guru Maharaj Ji is a bogus fellow. She’s denounced him.”
Prabhupada and everyone else laughed. We walked a few more steps and the Indian man said, “Yes, practically she has finished him.” Prabhupada stopped, dug his cane into the street, looked at all of us and said, “She should have finished him in the womb.”
Prabhupada explained that a mouse went to a yogi and complained that a cat was bothering him. The yogi said, “What do you want?”
The mouse said, “I want to become a cat, and then the cat won’t bother me.” The yogi waved his hand and the mouse became a cat.
Later the cat (who was previously the mouse) went back to the yogi. The yogi said, “Now, what’s the matter? You want something?”
The cat said, “Now a dog is bothering me. I want to become a dog.” The yogi said, “All right, become a dog.” So the cat became a dog.
After a while he came back to the yogi, who said, “Do you want something?” The dog said, “Yes, now a tiger is bothering me. I want to become a tiger.”
The yogi said, “All right, become a tiger.” When the dog became a tiger, he looked at the yogi with longing eyes. The yogi said, “Oh, do you want to eat me?” The tiger shook his head “yes.”
The yogi said, “punar mushika bhava,” which means, “again become a mouse.” The tiger immediately transformed into a mouse. When we heard this we all burst out laughing, but Prabhupada meant it to be serious, and later we understood what the story meant.
Prabhupada was telling us that if we become puffed up and fail to realize that Prabhupada is actually the power behind us, then we would fall back to our former position.
Prabhupada wanted us to understand that we shouldn’t think, “Now I am very big, I can take over my spiritual master’s position.” After he told that story, Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Try to understand. Don’t laugh.”
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das

Inspiration from two Drunkards! (6 min video)
They say if you find gold even in the filthy place you should take it.
Let’s see why even Yamaraja was in tension because of two drunkards and how everyone became jubilant at last 🙂
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/5XI56a

Gaura Purnima celebrations at Iskcon of Silicon Valley! Ecstatic Kirtan lead by Vaisesika Dasa Prabhu and amazing prasadam! Haribol!!
Srila Prabhupada: The sound of the spiritual world is nectarean and eternal, whereas the sound of the material world is hackneyed and subject to end. The sound of the Holy Name – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare – everlastingly increases the enthusiasm of the chanter. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.21.22 Purport)

Gaura Purnima at New Raman Reti, Alachua, Florida (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The demigods are pleased when sacrific…

March 23. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Free to Preach.
Room 307 at 72nd Street was never meant for use as a residence or ashram or lecture hall. It was only a small, narrow office without furniture or a telephone. Its door held a large pane of frosted glass, the kind common in all offices; above the door was a glass-paneled transom. Prabhupada placed his blankets on the floor before his metal foot locker, which now became a makeshift desk where he wrote. He slept on the floor. There were no facilities here for cooking, or even for bathing, so daily he had to walk to Dr. Mishra’s apartment.
When he had lived in Room 501 at Dr. Mishra’s yoga ashram, Dr. Mishra had financed his needs. But now Prabhupada was on his own, and whatever he could raise by selling his books, he would have to use for his daily maintenance and for the monthly rent of seventy-two dollars. He noted that for a little powdered chili, the West End Superette charged twenty-five cents, ten times what he would have paid in India. He had no guaranteed income, his expenses had increased and his physical comforts had reduced. But at least he had his own place. Now he was free to preach as he liked.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6

New Sannyasi for Iskcon.
Halayudha Prabhu recently took sannyasa from HH Radha Govinda Maharaja. This was the first-time a sann…