Author Archives: Dandavats.com

December 31. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
It may be said that as we get attached to Prabhupada, there is a tendency to weaken in other relationships, especially material ones. If family ties are material, then they tend to weaken. The more you become Prabhupada’s disciple, the less you become interested in other things that are not connected to Krishna. You also develop friendships with those who are Prabhupada’s followers.
In my case, I did not know of Krishna except for the painting on the cover of Prabhavananda Swami’s Bhagavad-gita. I thought He was some mythical figure. But by meeting Swamiji on the Lower East Side, I began to know of my relationship with Krishna, starting with hearing about Him. And that has grown to the stage where I now identify Krishna as God, the God whom I understood in my childhood, the Supreme Being, the Creator, the God of religion and so on. As you make further progress, you begin to understand Krishna as Krishna. He becomes part of yourself, just as Prabhupada does. Even if you neglect the attachment, He is still there and He acts from His side, and that is a wonderful thing.
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Super dynamic and happy kirtan! (4 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: This is the ecstatic kirtan that concluded our Festival of Cha…

China Art Museum Exhibits MOSA’s Sacred Art Collection.
Asia’s largest museum, the China Art Museum in Shanghai, has dedicated its entire tenth floor to Forms of Devotion, a collection of sacred art from Belgium’s Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA). The exhibit, which opened on November 6th and is on display until February 21st 2016, is part of the “Celebrating India in Shanghai” program put on by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival. It is drawing over 30,000 visitors daily. It features 430 works of art from some of India and the world’s most prominent visual artists. All are inspired by religious, cultural and social visions of India, and rendered in the spirit of devotion and the betterment of humanity.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/HHXYhn

Iskcon Tribal Care Initiative – This is Us (17 min video)
“ISKCON Tribal Care Initiative” is an initiative of the International society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to care for the tribal people in India. At this stage the initiative is focusing on Northeast and East India states. ISKCON Tribal Care will extend care in five different areas: Spiritual care Emotional care Educational care Healthcare Social care.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Vo0eLu

Harinama in Moscow, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one chants the holy name of God-Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-eventually he will see Krishna’s form, realize Krishna’s qualities, and remember Krishna’s pastimes. That is the effect of the pure chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. (A Second Chance, 16)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/lDUh9B

December 30. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
I like to converse with Srila Prabhupada. I pray to him, along with Krishna. I say their names; I go through Prabhupada to Krishna. The talking is also a form of heart-to-heart talk. I speak, and then I listen to them. Again they are together. Krishna speaks directly in the Bhagavad-gita. He says, “One who understands Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages in My full devotional service.” And after Lord Krishna speaks, Prabhupada elaborates and explains to me what Sri Krishna means. After hearing from them, I speak some more to my masters. I tell them what I am trying to do, where I am at. I ask for help. I express my thanks to them and feel my loving connection to them. I think that this kind of communication is far more important than too much thinking about Prabhupada (rather than being with him.) After all, I am not an academic of Srila Prabhupada. I am a devotee. Conversing with Srila Prabhupada is a form of meditation that can be done on a daily basis. As we face new predicaments, there is always new need to express ourselves to our guides. I try not to speak only at a pragmatic need, but to enter a loving exchange. I accompany my prayers with action. At the end of the day, I give thanks for the service connection that I have enjoyed during the day and the ways in which Prabhupada and Krishna came and touched me – as well as the ways that I failed them.
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Radhanath Swami: Gratitude is a divine virtue that is so important that other divine virtues could not exist without it. Spirituality grows like seeds within our heart. The goodness of our lifestyle protects that seed. Our spiritual practice of chant…

VIHE Vrindavan – 2015 Govardhan retreat (Album with 106 photos)
VIHE: Vrindavan Institute for Higher Studies.
Srila Prabh…

Hidden Treasures (10 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: This final video of our Kartika parikrama 2015 consists of highlights of the many places in Sri Vrindavan dhama that we visited. No doubt all devotees who participated hold memories of that month very dear to their hearts. We are grateful to Ananta Vrindavan dasa for capturing the special moments of the parikrama on video. No doubt so are the many Vaisnavas around the world who eagerly followed our sacred journey around Vrindavan through his work. We invite all such devotees to join our parikrama next year! Sastra speaks unequivocally about the importance of visiting the places of Lord Krsna’s pastimes:
“Certainly no means of perfection is superior to the worship of Sriman Madan Gopala’s lotus feet. That worship yields results far beyond what one could expect. It should be performed mainly through nama-sankirtana, along with reverence and affection for the many places of Sri Gopala’s pastimes, places which one should regularly visit.”
[ Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Volume Two, Chapter One, Texts 104 – 105 ]
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/xr3Ohn

Srila Prabhupada: In 1936, just on the 13th, December, I wrote him one letter. Not 13th. I think by the beginning of December, 1936, I wrote one letter to Guru Maharaja. I knew he was little kind upon me, so I wrote that “Guru Maharaja, you hav…

Interview of a Hare Krishna monk on a national TV in Africa (14 min video)
Mahat Tattva Dasa: This is a recording of my appeara…

Women and Self Worth: A Bhakti Perspective (video)
What determines your self worth? Your high paying job, your car, the value o…

December 29. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.
Srila Prabhupada – The Strength Within Us. In order to stay in touch with Prabhupada, we can’t be dead. We have to be active and reciprocate. However, there are some things that Prabhupada instigates himself. There is spiritual strength, a faithfulness that I feel, which I know is from Prabhupada – it is almost like a growth of some kind, and it has its own existence and its own strength. According to sastra, this is the bhakti-lata, the devotional creeper. It is Prabhupada being with us in an important way.
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Recipe – Eggless Plum Cake (9 min video)
Each person has their own list of ‘must have’ foods for Christmas. The most common among all is this Fruit Cake; that wonderful combination of nuts and dried fruits with barely enough cake batter to hold it all together. If you have ever made a Fruit Cake you know that what really sets this cake apart is how we repeatedly feed the cake, over time.
It is jammed with raisins, currants, dried cranberries, dried figs and prunes, dried apricots, and candied fruit and peel (candied fruit is preserved fruit that has been dipped several times in a concentrated sugar syrup). Nuts are also included as is ground almonds.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/jsGWT8

Harinama and book distribution in Tel Aviv, Israel (Album with photos)
Even in Tel Aviv there is a cold winter but the devotees…

Book distributers during the December marathon (Album with photos)
Simply by watching these heroic devotees approaching the condintioned souls and benedicting them with the gift of one or more of Srila Prabhupada’s books is purifying!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/LsLhvZ

Living what you believe (video)
Mahatma prabhu is giving practical instructions about how to apply your knowledge in every day life. Because just having understood something without actually applying it doesn’t produce complete benefit.

TOVP: Progress on the chatris (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: We are working in such a way that we may cover many areas of t…

The potency of Prasadam…
In one lecture Prabhupada talked about prasadam, and afterwards one of the devotees asked, “Prabhupada, is it true that if you take prasadam even once you’re guaranteed a human birth?” Prabhupada said, “Yes,” and all the “devotees said, “Hooray!” We were thinking, “Wow, we’ve got it made. We’ve got a human birth coming, and that’s all we have to think about.” But Prabhupada became grave and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then he said, “But there are some species of monkeys that are considered human.” We all had to think about that for a while and get serious.”
Excerpt From: Siddhanta das. “Memories: Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint Vol 4.” iBooks.

December 28. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
The Swami was fearless. He was convinced that his message was relevant and had to be spoken. It was his show; he was in control, but he had to protect himself, especially in the beginning. It was not that the devotees were completely ready to be on his side, so he had to control the whole thing and say, “Don’t disturb, don’t disturb.” He depended on Krishna as he went on speaking the difficult-to-understand philosophy – concepts of Bhagavad-gita and the assertion that Krishna is God. He just went right ahead without watering it down in the least. You couldn’t understand it all, but you stayed and listened to him. You caught a word here and there: “Caitanya, Krishna.” Missed a word here and there. We did not understand very much of it.
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Choosing between being a society ISKCON and being a group of theologists (video). By Sivarama Swami.Read More…

UK Marathon results: All records smashed!!! 131,340 transcendental books distributed!!!
Sutapa das: We concluded the counting of scores yesterday evening. More to come in, but we have to stop somewhere. Nikhil prabhu and myself went to Srila Prabhupada’s darshan room to offer him the final results. In that transcendental tirtha, Mahaprabhu’s commander-in-cheif looked effulgent and absorbed, ever exuding the purity and potency which drives this movement forward. As Prabhupada glanced over each devotee’s name, I prayed for compassion, conviction and creativity. Aside from serving this preaching mission, I thought, what else is worthy of our energies? This is the family business – the best job in the world – and many devotees experienced that in the last month.
This marathon, as an offering to Their Lordships and Srila Prabhupada in this 50th anniversary year, over 500 devotees together distributed… 131,340 transcendental books!
A historic effort indeed – all targets smashed. Thanks for taking part, giving your heart, and making it a resounding success. Anticipating more transcendental adventures in 2016.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! ! !

BBT to Release Books in Native American and Catalonian Languages.
As an offering to Srila Prabhupada during ISKCON’s 50th anniversary year, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is set to publish some of his books in two languages – Catalan and Quechua – for the first time ever. Catalan is spoken by around 9 million people in Catalonia, a region of Northeastern Spain and adjoining parts of France; as well as in Valencia, the Balearic Isles, and Andorra. Hanuman Das, trustee for the Spanish and Latin American BBT, grew up speaking Catalan. He explains that because Castilian – the language most of us know as Spanish – was declared Spain’s only official language while the country was under a dictatorship until 1975, speakers of other languages such as Catalan have a strong patriotism about their region and language.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/AiET2F

Fortunate People (4 min video)
Public sharing their feelings about the Hare Krishna mantra and the devotees!
Key quotes from this video: “To share this beautiful vibration with the streets that Hare Krishnas do everyday is beautiful service to the humanity.”
‘Walking passed them I can’t stop smiling. They are pure joy!”
‘It has attracted deep-thinking people of higher minds.
There must, must be something in its message!”
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/pQ1c02

New large brass horns for Mayapur’s elephant procession! (20 min video)
The Jayapataka Swami Archives based here in Sri Dhama Mayapur, received a wooden crate shipped in right before Christmas. We gathered around to open it and to our surprise there were 2 large brass horns. Shyama Rasika dasa said that Maharaj had ordered these 2 brass horns to be used during Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s elephant procession. So yesterday I took a video of the elephant parade. They can be nicely seen at the 18 minute mark on the video.

Air India goes vegetarian from January 1, no tea or coffee either!
Come January 1, loss-making government-run Air India will not serve non-vegetarian food to its economy class passengers on flights upto 90 minutes duration. The national carrier has also decided to strike off both tea and coffee from its lunch and dinner menu. As of now, Air India serves sandwich (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian) and cake on its flights, which are up to 90 minutes of duration, which will be discontinued from January 1, 2016, replaced with “all vegetarian” hot meal, an airline circular said. “It has been decided to provide all Indian vegetarian hot meals in economy class on all domestic sector flights between 61 and 90 minutes duration from January 1, 2016.” the circular issued late last week said.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/EYmXpX

December 27. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: My Prabhupada. Everyone has their own Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada is an objective reality. And yet, we don’t want to be told by someone, “This is exactly how you must feel about him, and this is what he wants from you.” No, we want our own understanding of Prabhupada, because we have to surrender our own free will to him. Therefore, dear Prabhupada, let me call you, “My Prabhupada.” I don’t mean “pet Prabhupada” or “illusory Prabhupada.” You, Srila Prabhupada, are the master, and you will tell me what to do. And yet I call you “My Prabhupada” because you touched my heart in the beginning and you continue to do so. When a devotee says, “My spiritual master, Prabhupada,” that cry has to come from the self. It cannot be programmed into you by another person. Others may help by giving us Prabhupada’s books and telling us about him, but ultimately, with our own hands, we have to reach out and hold on to his mercy.
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Bhagavat Katha in Pune by HH Lokanath Swami (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: My dear boys and girls, you are working so hard for broadcasting the glories of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet and thus my Guru Maharaja will be so pleased upon you. Certainly my Guru Maharaja will bestow His blessings thousand times more than me and that is my satisfaction. All Glories to the assembled devotees. Letter of April 15, 1973.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/EiNu9j

Visit to an ancient Siva Temple (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: The other day myself and Badahari prabhu visited an anci…

Preaching program at Budapest, Hungary. Swan Ball (Ball Vedic freshmen) 2015 (Album with 203 HR photos)
Our students this year…

Tribal preaching to remote places of India (Album with 258 photos) Bhakti Purusottama Swami and his team of devotees travel to far away lands, 15 KM distance by walk, to reach tribal population and bring Lord Chaitanya’s movement to them also!
Amazing photos! Find them here: https://goo.gl/wHjYAU

Preaching program with Danavir Goswami (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By performing congregational chanting of the Hare …

Bondi Beach Harinama Party, Sydney Australia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Let there be all victory for the chanting of…

December 26. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Why Meditate on Prabhupada?
My reply to this is that cultivation of memories of Prabhupada and continuing our attachment to him is connected to learning the knowledge and carrying out the mission. Many of us accept this knowledge and believe in it only because he said so. For some of us, our “bottom line” of faith and realization is “Prabhupada says.” “Prabhupada says that Krishna is God. Prabhupada says that Bhagavad-gita is the best scripture, so read it.” Of course everything doesn’t just end with a dogmatic “Prabhupada says.” Once you actually hear about Krishna from him and read Bhagavad-gita As It Is, you get realization. But it rests on that foundation, that Prabhupada said so. Thus the Siksastakum verse declares, “The sankirtana movement is the life of all knowledge.” Because of him, the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita becomes alive. It was Sanskrit, or mythology, or academic study, but now it comes alive. So it is essential for all the devotees in the Krishna consciousness movement to receive the knowledge through Prabhupada in parampara. Therefore, why should they not want to relish hearing about him, and become attached to him as a person, and understand better how he was a teacher?
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=3

Iskcon Alachua, Florida. Sunday Feast and Festival Committee’s
first meeting.
Mukhya devi dasi: The new Sunday Feast and Festival Committee had their first meeting last week. It was decided the first order of business was prasadam, and everything related to it. Here are some of the discussion items to look for in 2016:
Four feast serve-out lines to decrease your time getting through the line.
A new improved larger Annadhan Board next to a new Volunteer Service Board on the back wall of the Temple room.
Devotees will be calling all families requesting they take one Sunday a year as their family’s day to help with the Sunday feast, either cutting -up, cleaning inside the kitchen or outside after the serve out.
Sakshigopal das is committing to having 30 feasts sponsored in 2016. We’ll be encouraging the community members to get the benefits of distributing prasadam the other 22 weeks. Families can join together on the same day to make it possible. Even individual items can be sponsored.
We will be holding another round of Quantity Cooking Classes to enliven devotees in the fine art of cooking in Radharani’s Kitchen
We will be meeting again soon to look at many other aspects of improving the Sunday Feast experience.

Govindas Asrama. (Album with photos)
Ramai Swami: Govindas asrama in Sydney has three kirtan and prasadam programs a week. The area is not very big but somehow 50-60 people squeeze in to participate in an ecstatic evening.
The crowd is mostly westerners with some coming from other parts of the world. At one recent program everyone heard about Gita Jayanti – Lord Krsna’s speaking Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna 5000 years ago.
Find them here: http://goo.gl/nW1AH8

ISKCON Durban Goes Green.
“The temple itself has 521 bulbs. As of 1st November ALL temple bulbs are either energy savers or LED bulbs, including the florescent tubes” ISKCON Durban temple is undergoing major restoration for the 30th anniversary next October. Not only are they restoring the temple to its original beauty, but they are making marked improvements. One in particular—that is both admirable and intimidating-;is their Go Green campaign. This campaign is the brainchild of Vibhu Caitanya Das, Durban Temple President.

“First Time 5-SMIS” Art Show (Album with photos)
Sri Mayapur International School’s students exhibit their paintings.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ViqAJr

UK December Marathon: Counting up… (Album with photos)
The 100k effort ended yesterday. Today is the day of rest. With yesterday’s street scores we have reached 97,000… but fear not… there are many scores still to come in… its looking very positive. Final scores will be announced on Sunday.
Its amazing… how these books travel to every corner of the country, touching people’s hearts and changing their life… whether they realise it or not. This is the family business, the best job in the world. Bowing down to all the book distributors who went out this marathon – we could only capture some of you on camera… for the rest, Krishna definitely saw you All glories to your service!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9nr2iT

Hope For The Best! (Album with photos)
Iskcon’s Food For Life Nepal begin to feed one more new school, Shree Jaya Bhadrakali Lower Secondary School.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/OJbIqS