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MAHARASHTRA, INDIA: MALEGAON DEVOTEES ORGANIZE A ONE DAY…
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MAHARASHTRA, INDIA: MALEGAON DEVOTEES ORGANIZE A ONE DAY PADAYATRA, THUS TAKING 270 DEVOTEES OUT OF THIS WORLD
March 14, 2018
By Caitanya Jivan Dasa and Vitthala Dasa
The devotees of Malegaon nama-hatta center, under the guidance of Caitanya Jivan prabhu, Vitthala Prabhu and Vraja Prem Prabhu organized a first-ever one-day padayatra on February 11, 2018. Malegaon is village located in Muktainagar Taluka in the Jalgaon District.
Inspiration
Devotees got their inspiration from the one-day padayatra organized the previous December by nearby ISKCON Jalgaon. Ram Govinda Maharaja, who participated in that walk, urged us to do the same in Malegaon.
The Goal of Padayatra
The main goal of our padayatra was to make people aware of the importance of harinama and inspire them to take it up (Kali yuga kewalnamaaadhara). It was also to fulfill our Guru Maharaja’s desire to follow in the footsteps of the All India Padayatra by having walks in every village in India. And we wanted to distribute lots of books.

Preparations

Preparations started 15 days in advance under the guidance of the Jalgaon devotees. Sri Sri Gaura Nitai of Nasik BACE had taken their seats on the cart, ready to travel, with their cart drivers eager to serve Them. The devotees had decorated the cart and oxen with beautiful flowers and leaves.

Padayatra Day

About 270 devotees from nearby villages (Bodwad, Nimkhedi, Muktai Nagar, Jalgaon, Malegaon, Medhoda and Faizpur) assembled a the main square of Malegaon village where we had a small inaugural arati ceremony for Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, seeking their blessings for our first venture on the road. From there we walked towards Nimkhedi Jagannath Kutir. What made this padayatra special was that not only men and women were enthusiastically participating, but also many young children, jumping and dancing all the way, encouraging the adults. Onlookers were surprised to see children so happily chanting and walking; they would fold hands and pay obeisances to Their Lordships and the vaisnavas. The devotees of Nimkhedi welcomed us when we reached their village; they appreciated that we were walking on the day of Vijaya Ekadasi for the pleasure of Guru and Gauranga. After honoring some fruit prasadam and resting for some time we moved towards our destination, covering a total of about 17 kms. As we reached the Old Muktai Nagar temple at Prabhupada Niwas,Vraja Prema prabhu spoke about the glories of padayatra and how it had brought all of us together. Dhanvantari prabhu had sponsored the delicious feast that ended that blissful day, during which we distributed about 200 books.

Realizations

At the end of the day the varkaris (devotees of Lord Vitthala) shared their realizations:

– We felt like we were in the Dindi (the Padayatra of Lord Vitthala’s devotees).

– The deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were very beautiful and this padayatra helped us remember our dear Lord Vitthala of Pandharpur.

– Padayatra filled us with enthusiasm and love for the holy names.

Acknowledgements

This padayatra was not a one man show but a joint venture of the devotees from Malegaon and Nimkhedi. It would have been impossible without the help and support of the following devotees:

Cart driving –Suryavanshi Ram prabhu, Vitthal prabhu

Kirtan singing – Aniket prabhu, Sagar prabhu, Chetan prabhu

Prasadam – Pundarikash prabhu, Umesh prabhu

Water seva – Ganesh prabhu, Malegaon devotees

Book distribution –Vitthal prabhu, Baliram prabhu and others.

Concluding words

The pleasure we derived during this padayatra was truly out of this world, and we realized why Guru Maharaja insists so much for us to organize more padayatras. We are eager to arrange many such padayatras in the near future.

More photos: https://goo.gl/dLMHMG

Arabic books from the souks of Algiers to the elegant boulevards…
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Arabic books from the souks of Algiers to the elegant boulevards de Paris (Album with photos)
Soon after setting up our BBT FEME booth recently in Mayapur, our Middle East panel draws in the crowds with Premadhan Prabhu, our Arabic translation co-ordinator from Lebanon (on the left), Rasamandala Prabhu (our well-wisher from Morocco), and finally Gaura Bhakta Prabhu from Algeria, who blissfully distributes the Arabic books from the souks of Algiers to the elegant boulevards de Paris…
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9FjPGC

What’s Death to an Atheist? Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking…
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What’s Death to an Atheist?
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking did not believe there was a need to invoke God for there to be a spontaneous creation of the universe. In his words, “Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in.”
In a 2011 interview with The Guardian newspaper, Mr. Hawking was asked, “What, if anything, do you fear about death?”
He responded, “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”
As spontaneous chance may have it, the computer of a genius brain we have come to know as Stephen Hawking stopped working last night. He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge, aged 76.
Mr. Hawking claimed to be an atheist and did not believe in an immaterial, intangible God, yet he had to contend with the tangible reality of death.
Krishna famously states in the Bhagavad-gita, 10.34, mrityuh sarva-haras caham, “I am all-devouring death,” who takes away everything in the end.
In a speech at the Olympia Theater in Paris, 1971, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, explained:
“If one does not see God, then, Krishna says, ‘I am death, cruel death, who takes away everything from everyone.’ The conclusion is that everyone sees God at every moment, but the atheist class, they do not accept that he is seeing God. .. The atheist can see God at his last stage as death, whereas the devotee sees God by his devotional service at every moment and every step of his life.”
In a letter to a disciple, Srila Prabhupada elaborates:
“So the atheist is a hypocrite himself when he says that he does not believe in God. He has to believe in God in the form of Death. A criminal hypocritically says that he does not believe in the Government, but a civil citizen abides by the law of the Government. The Government is present therefore both for the criminal and for the law abiding citizen. To the criminal the Government is present as force of law and order, putting the criminal in the prison house and giving the civil citizen all facilities for a peaceful life. ..“
“This appearance of God as Death before the atheist is also the kindness of the Lord. Both God’s killing and protection are the same because He is Absolute, but His mercy is shown to the atheist by killing and His mercy is shown to the theist by protecting; so both are seeing God in different features. This is the practical demonstration of the presence of God.”
This line of theistic reasoning, undoubtedly, would not have convinced the materialistic intellect of Stephen Hawking, who regarded death as no more than the sum of his brain’s neurons ceasing to fire.
Be that as it may, as fellow human beings, we wish Stephen Hawking well, whether (as he would have believed) he’s now just a particle of cosmic dust, or whether (as we believe) he’s an eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of Krishna, on a grand journey, transmigrating to another body, evolving through various stages of consciousness.

GAURA PURNIMA Celebration at Istanbul, Turkey (3 min…
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GAURA PURNIMA Celebration at Istanbul, Turkey (3 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: It is very difficult to push on this movement, but still we have to do it. And this is the highest yoga. If you push on this movement of Krsna consciousness, then you’ll be performing the highest type of yoga. Don’t be misled by so-called yogas. This is yoga. Yoga means cooperation, cooperation with the Supreme. From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 7.1 – March 17, 1968, San Francisco

IWM Digital Awards 2018 (Album of photos) Gaur Gopal Das felt…
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IWM Digital Awards 2018 (Album of photos)
Gaur Gopal Das felt humbled and grateful to receive “The Best Spiritual/Motivational Show On The Web” Award 2018 at the IWM Digital Awards.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/SpbV1H

Janmanalaya Prabhu, Interview (7 min video)
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Janmanalaya Prabhu, Interview (7 min video)
A devotee artist in Almviks gård, Sweden.
Srila Prabhupada: A musician, because one has got a good attachment for music, he tries to perform it very perfectly. So love is the basis. Similarly, when you…

Sweeden Shastra Dana report January – February 2018. Mukunda…
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Sweeden Shastra Dana report January – February 2018.
Mukunda Das: We have distributed:
510 Beyond Birth and Death
15 Perfect Questions Perfect Answers
5 A Master’s Management
5 Bhagavad-gita
3 The Unknown India
From August 2009 – February 2018 we have distributed over 20,100 books.
Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation – August 22, 1976, Hyderabad: “To be quickly recognized by Krsna, this is the short-cut process. He never says those who are sitting in a secluded place meditating or chanting, doing nothing. He never says that “They are My very dear devotees.” But those who are preaching – na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me [Bg. 18.69]. Just like government takes more care for the soldiers, especially when there is fighting. They are giving life for the state. So their comfort–first consideration. In the warfield, enough supplies. Anything the soldiers require. Enough supplies.”
Special thanks to the following devotees for supporting the book distribution: HH Smita Krishna Swami, Sri Jayadeva das, Ella & Sune Hellström, Aja das & Pancavati dd, Magnus Hedström, Sten Bergil, Jayesh das, Muktarama das, Mikael Forian, Radha Priya dasi, Mikael Johansson, Robert Åkerman, Cathryn Claesson, Astasiddhi dd, Yogindra das, Bahulashva das, Bh Anders, Bh Filip, Madan Sri

Daily Harinam Sankirtan in Hong Kong, China (Album with…
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Daily Harinam Sankirtan in Hong Kong, China (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/CnVMRf

Harinama in Argentina (Album with photos) Palermo Soho vibró al…
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Harinama in Argentina (Album with photos)
Palermo Soho vibró al compás del Maha Mantra. Viernes 9 de Marzo.
Srila Prabhupada: In the sastras it is said that if a person only once chants the holy name and completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord, the Lord immediately considers him His ward and is always inclined to give him protection. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.49 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4SZaB1

Preaching program at ISKCON Singapore (Album with photos) Bhakti…
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Preaching program at ISKCON Singapore (Album with photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: Last night we participated in the main weekly program at ISKCON Singapore. Srila Prabhupada’s movement has been active there for many years, and there are some very senior devotees such as Sudarsana prabhu, Bala Krishna prabhu and others, who have been devotees for more than 30 years. It was a nice program, and I was happy to see the devotees after being away for one year.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/iNZVV7

Update on Brajavilas Prabhu after his car crash. (Album of…
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Update on Brajavilas Prabhu after his car crash. (Album of photos)
A Xray revealed he has a hairline fracture just near his spine, so now he has to have complete rest for one month, to allow the fracture to heal. He’s pictured here at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mumbai.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qr7HAA

Harinama at Byron Bay – 04 March 2018 (Album of photos) Srila…
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Harinama at Byron Bay – 04 March 2018 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Authorities who are learned scholars and sages have carefully ascertained that one should atone for the heaviest sins by undergoing a heavy process of atonement and one should atone for lighter sins by undergoing lighter atonement. Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, however, vanquishes all the effects of sinful activities, regardless of whether heavy or light.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.16)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Khkzrb

Remembering Sridhar Maharaja (Album with photos)
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Remembering Sridhar Maharaja (Album with photos)
Dharmatma Das: He was a dear friend and wonderful inspiration. A true lover and servant of Srila Prabhupada.Read More…(This post has been viewed 756 times so far)

Gaura Purnima 2018 – New Raman Reti (Album with photos) Srila…
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Gaura Purnima 2018 – New Raman Reti (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” If one practices chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, he is naturally expected to chant Hare Krishna when he meets with some accident. Even without such practice, however, if one somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord (Hare Krishna) when he meets with an accident and dies, he will be saved from hellish life after death. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/a87zGA

New Delhi’s District Judges Receive Guidance from Bhagavad-gita…
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New Delhi’s District Judges Receive Guidance from Bhagavad-gita As It Is (Album with photos and videos)
Srila Prabhupada once stated,’Someday the judges will be wearing tilak.’ Well in the present day we do have a step towards just that. Every Wednesday Ramanroop Prabhu, Iskcon New Delhi’s minister for foreign affairs has a home program at alternating judges homes. These judges act from within mediation services to life and death sentencing for criminals, all the while catering to political prisoners on all levels.
They participated with a Tulasi, Gaura Arotik, Nrsimhadeva Puja, kirtan, bhajans(several Judges were quite accomplished harmonium players, one senior most magistrate played the khol), and reading 3 verses and purports from Bhagavad-gita. One Brajabasi judge from Mathura led the chanting of one round of japa, and got so absorbed that we actually chanted around 3 rounds.
Even there was so much excitement in the chanting that they were singing along with the lead singer as well as the refrain.
The Gita reading was shared with quite exacting questions being raised almost as though we were in a courtroom! It was delightful that the sharpest governmental minds were refining and bathing their minds in this original law book of the Lord.

Prasadam became a highlight and after the meal some of our public servants who stayed to the end partook in a group picture.

Jokingly I quipped,’Here is where material law meets spiritual law.’ Everyone laughed…I guess tilak in the courtroom is next…
Find them here: https://goo.gl/1zmMgZ

More than 20 Million Views for Sivarama Swami’s “vlogs”
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More than 20 Million Views for Sivarama Swamis “vlogs”
A series of video blogs, or “vlogs,” featuring ISKCON guru Sivarama Swami giving a Krishna conscious perspective on current issues, have racked up over 20 million views on Facebook. Devotees behind the project see it as a way forward for outreach in the Hare Krishna Movement.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/PHq1jF

When George Harrison visited Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan (9 min video)
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When George Harrison visited Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan (9 min video)
The story of George Harrison visiting Prabhupada House…Read More…(This post has been viewed 2642 times so far)

Radha Kunda Seva: February 2018 Photos and Updates (Album of…
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Radha Kunda Seva: February 2018 Photos and Updates (Album of photos)
It is such a relief and a joy to see pristinely clean kundas and rubbish-free landscapes at the foot of Govardhan as we do parikrama! The cleaning at Apsara, Navala, and Dananivartan Kundas and the surrounding areas is now at the point of daily maintenance, and just as in Radha Kunda town, our crews visit and clean these areas daily. Our ladies in Radha Kunda were treated to extra feasts this month, thanks to Krishna Priya from Australia (pictured serving one of the feasts). They were delighted! Some of you have been asking, and we realized that we are long overdue for an update on our kitchen project. As many of you know, we partnered with Food for Life Vrindavan to do the construction. First, we built a temple, and the plan was to follow that up with a kitchen. Our endeavors came to a halt when, in December of 2016, the government came through Govardhan bulldozing thousands of structures on either side of the Parikrama Marg eventually demolishing the front courtyard area of our temple. To date, they have yet to grant us permission to build a kitchen. The land is officially zoned as a “green zone” and it has become clear that it simply cannot be used for a kitchen and school as we had originally intended. It is mostly a personal blow as we used our own personal savings to purchase the land back in 2009. We are currently in talks with some people who are running a goshala who might be willing to exchange land with us so we can build someplace else and they can use our land as a goshala. Ultimately, the good news is that with your blessings and support, in spite of our cramped rented facility in Radha Kunda, we have been able to maintain feeding at least 80 ladies there day after day, month after month for years. And so, the service continues. Thank you for being a part of the team! Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com. Your servants, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, Sri Arjuna dasa, Urmila Devi Dasi, and Mayapurcandra dasa.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/L8kyFY

International Women’s Day. Let us remember the great women from…
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International Women’s Day.
Let us remember the great women from the Great Indian History.
Queen Kunti was the wife of King Pandu and mother of five illustrious sons known as the Pandavas. Kunti was gifted with beauty and character; she rejoiced in dharma and was great in her vows. She also possessed an unusual benediction that she could invoke any demigod and by him obtain progeny. Soon her husband died of a curse and Madri, another wife of Pandu gave her up life. Thus five Pandavas were left in the care of Kunti. She struggled a lot and raised the Pandavas in spite of the hurdles by Duryodhana and his relatives.
Kunti was Lord Krishna’s aunt (He had incarnated as the son of her brother Vasudeva), yet despite this conventional tie with the Lord, she fully understood His exalted and divine identity. She knew full well that He had descended from His abode in the spiritual world to rid the earth of demoniac military powers and reestablish righteousness. Just before the great war, Krishna had revealed all this to her son Arjuna in words immortalized in the Bhagavad-gita.
After Mahabharata War, just before Krishna was about to leave Hastinapura, Kunti prayed to Krishna not to leave. Kunti’s words—the simple and illuminating outpourings of the soul of a great and saintly woman devotee—reveal both the deepest transcendental emotions of the heart and the most profound philosophical and theological penetrations of the intellect. Her words are words of glorification impelled by a divine love steeped in wisdom.

Where Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati chanted one billion holy…
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Where Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati chanted one billion holy names (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: One Billion Holy Names!
Yesterday I returned to Mayapura from Africa. Bright and early this morning I and several devotees went on parikrama beginning from Yogapith, where Lord Caitanya appeared. Walking through villages, fields, and forests we visited the bhajan-kutir of Jayadeva Goswami, the Madan Gopal temple and a large banyan tree where Mahaprabhu gave darshan to Nimbarka Acarya. But my favorite place of all was where Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati chanted one billion names of Krsna on his japa beads before starting his preaching mission. As we chanted japa there I prayed for “nama-ruci” – a genuine taste for chanting the holy names. I also prayed for more service in delivering the holy names to others, as I know such service gives great pleasure to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and my own beloved spiritual master, Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/v7YvFA

Bangladesh Safari 2018 (Album of photos) 110 devotees from over…
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Bangladesh Safari 2018 (Album of photos)
110 devotees from over 25 countries visited the Holy Place of Satkhira near the border.
Everyone was welcomed and happily dance with a wonderful reception. Later on we all held a wonderful program for the local people who came.
We will be spending this coming weekend at the Vaishnava Convention in Rupa & Sanatam Dham, with various sannyasis like Lokanath Maharaja and others. We are expecting an attendance of more than 3000 devotees!!
We are blessed by the wonderful association and classes by HH Bhakti Nityananda Swami and HH Bhakti Narasimha Swami !!
Listening to the early pastimes of Haridas Thakur in His Birthplace and in Satkhira with the prostitute who then became initiated as Hare Krsna Dasi.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QyqVbe