Author Archives: Dandavats

By Kamala Sundari devi dasi

All of the followers of Srila Prabhupada for generations to come to adhere to the guidance, association and serve the mission of His Divine Grace, while deepening one’s individual connection and relationship with and recognizing him as the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON and our primary Siksha Guru for all time. Always celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja as a grand event is the essential way to assure that this Vision is the present and future reality of the movement of our beloved Srila Prabhupada.

By Anuttama Dasa

It is said the test of a man’s greatness is to measure the long-term impact of his life and teachings—to see if his legacy continues to inspire and guide others after his passing from the world. Here are a few examples of the millions of Vaiṣṇavas who are carrying the Seven Purposes of your ISKCON Mission forward, proving that the life, teachings, and legacy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda continue to bring positive changes in the world.

By Iskcon Ministry of Communications 16th August, 2018: The International Sodety for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) joins the country in mourning and paying tribute to one of India’s most iconic leaders, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. We offer our condol…

I would like to finish the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium along with the devotees, see the Navadvīpa parikrama expand, see the unification of the Caitanya disciplic succession, and see the distribution of your transcendental literature increase exponentially.

By Madhava Smullen ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada visited New Vrindaban four times, giving the devotees there his association and dispensing practical advice for simple living that remains invaluable not only to New Vrindaban, but to all ISKCO…

By Times of India

KOLKATA: Want to watch little Krishna slay giant Kalia snake in the Yamuna? Want to steal butter or go cow grazing with him? If all goes well, visitors to Nadia’s Mayapur, will be able to do all this and much more in a Disneyland like massive park that’s being planned as the centre of a tourism hub of international standards just outside the Iskcon temple premises. The project will be done in collaboration with the state government, because none other than CM Mamata Banerjee had personally requested the religious order to do so during her visit to Mayapur in February.

By Chandan Yatra Das

Agnigarh, in the city of Tezpur, which lies north of Brahmaputra river, at a distance of 198 km (via Nagaon) and 181 km (via Mangaldoi) from Guwahati, is connected to Lord Krishna, Banasura and Lord Siva’s pastime. This is the place where Lord Krishna and Lord Siva had a great fight, and Lord Krishna cut off Banasura’s thousand arms. The name ‘Tezpur’ is derived from the Sanskrit words ‘teza’ (meaning blood) and ‘pura’ (meaning town or city). The original name of this place was ‘Sonitapura’ (“sonit” in Sanskrit also means blood). There was so much bloodshed that the place was stained red. This led to the name of the place becoming Tezpur. Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10 chapters 62 & 63 mentions: The meeting of Aniruddha and Usa, which caused a great fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Siva, is very mysterious and interesting.

Parasuram das: Everybody has heard how wonderful the New York Rathayatra Festival is, with the giant carts rolling down 5th Avenue, but what about the original York? Yesterday the ancient streets of York resounded with the transcendental vibrations o…

We have just been informed by Dr. Rela that the liver transplant has been successful and is working well. The Kidney transplant is about to start.
Read More…

By Rathish das The Basis of Civilisation, Vedic Culture is based on respect and this respect is expressed through specific codes of conduct or etiquette. In this section, we will go a little more in detail about the principles and practices of Vaisnava…

By Shauna Many people ask why would an enemy of God get such a reward? And this leads to the main point of this essay- hatred and deep love are rewarded by God because they are emotions that cause the brain to constantly think of Him. In the same way t…

By Narada Muni My dear King, those who stay at home as householders must act to earn their livelihood, and instead of trying to enjoy the results of their work themselves, they should offer these results to Krishna, Vasudeva. How to satisfy Vasudeva in…

JPS Media: HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj will undergo a Kidney and liver transplant a few hours from now. Maharaj has been at Chennai for a while now and has been advised to go through the transplant surgeryRead More…

By Bhakti-lata Devi Dasi I felt disillusioned by the whole show of this world. Nothing seemed attractive. I didn’t care much for anything anymore. I started reading some semi-spiritual books that served to tantalize me but were not nearly potent enough…

By Mathuresha Dasa Time does not have characteristics the way earth and the other elements do and is not interdependent as the other elements are. Many commentators hold forth on this point of properties, or propertylessness. Gosvami Giridhara-lala wri…

Excitement is ramping up for “MAN-tra,” ISKCON’s first ever Men’s Retreat, to be held in New Vrindaban, West Virginia from October 5th to 7th. Headlined by guru Bhaktimarga Swami, kirtaniya Gaura Vani, and comedian Yadunath Das, the event is subtitled “Being a KC Guy in the 21st Century,” and is gathering hype as the place to be this fall. The idea formed while ISKCON Communications Director Anuttama Das was accompanying Bhaktimarga Swami on his most recent walk across the United States.

By Nila-kamala dasa

On the 11th August 2018, devotees in Medan, Indonesia held a grand Ratha Yatra festival for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath and His pure devotee Srila Prabhupada, under the expert guidance and leadership of HG Maniram das. The devotees in Medan were expecting the arrival of HH Subhag Swami on the day of the event but unfortunately due to Maharaj’s health it was not possible. At 5pm guests started to arrive and at 5 30pm evening arati was performed to the Lord. Following this, Their’ Lordships were carried to the exquisitely beautiful chariot. HG Maniram das then addressed all the devotees and guests present and distinguished guests such as police officers and leaders of the Hindu Parishad spoke. Next a recorded speech by HH Subhag Swami was played to everyone present. Maharaj spoke of the significance of the Ratha Yatra festival and the importance of a service attitude toward the Lord.

By Dayananda DasaAlex said that he didn’t want to offend me, but he had noticed that many people who see the Hare Krishna chanting groups don’t understand what we’re doing. He asked, “How is that welfare, if they don’t understand?” I explained that t…

By Indra Krishna Dasa I think of Lord Krishna’s answer to Brahma prayers: “O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.”…

By Dvarakarani Devi dasi The link is for the slideshow of the preparations, the parade and festival (147 HR photos). Please turn your volume up and relish the sounds of the Sri Jagannathastakam. (Note: the sound will begin after the second slide). A…

By Chaitanya Charana Dasa Our society fosters neither love nor fear of God, but glamorizes godless, selfish materialism instead. Consequently nowadays many people are extremely selfish in their relationship with God. They don’t give even a few moments …

By Devika Rao“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” (Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.41) Even though I wasn’t born in India, I’d like to t…

By Janardana Dasa

I joined The Hare Krishna movement in 1982 and have been chanting Hare Krishna regularly since about 1983. I have been more and less steady throughout the years. But never has it been as intense as it has been in these past months of incarceration.  It is said in the sastras that when you are put in adverse situations, all of a sudden, you can really call out to the Lord. Srimati Kunti Devi prayed, “I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.” 

By Candramauli Swami It is explained in the fifth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam in the fourteenth chapter – it is called the forest of material enjoyment. What is the enjoyment. Enjoyment in the forest is simply a hard struggle. Therefore according to how…

By Abhinanda dasa & Prishni devi dasi

On July 21-22, Yekaterinburg ISKCON hosted a landmark event – a conference of Russian Vaishnavas with scientific qualifications. The forum brought together scientists and scholars from dozens of cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Tyumen and Novosibirsk.
This gathering of Vaishnava scholars was initiated by two Russian spiritual leaders – Chaitanya Chandra Charan Prabhu and Bhakti Vijnana Gosvami – whose long-standing desire to implement Srila Prabhupada’s vision for organizing scientific activities in Krishna Consciousness was finally fulfilled. A scientist from the United States, Murali Gopal, PhD Physics, helped to realize the plan by joining the Yekaterinburg conference as a representative of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies. He offered a seminar on cosmology, as presented in the Srimad Bhagavatam and elucidated by the talented mathematician Sadaputa Prabhu in his pioneering work, Mysteries of the Sacred Universe. Murali Gopala also reported on the current stage of development of the Bhaktivedanta Institute in the United States and abroad.

Yadukula: As Delhi went under a spell of monsoon this July, Yadukula hosted it’s annual cultural evening- Manthan 2018- on the 29th of July. This event was conducted with immense enthusiasm and excitement by young practitioner devotees – most of whom …

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada That is the difference between a devata, or godly person, and an asura, or atheist. Because the asura thinks he will live forever, he prepares big, big plans for material comforts. That is asuric…

By Vishakha Devi Dasi True love is not casual but is an act of will that requires the lover’s concentration on and commitment to the beloved (in Sanskrit called asakta-manah — “mind attached”). In other words, love is about my beloved’s—and not my own—…

By Syam Mohini Devi Dasi

After the success of last year’s Chariot Festival, the anticipation of celebrating yet another successful festival was running high.  The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) chapter in Saint Louis, Missouri was excitingly preparing for celebrating The Chariot Festival for the fourth year in a row. This year the organizers and volunteers had worked day and night for months to pull off this festival, wanting to make it the best one yet!. They had meticulously prepared for everything and were expecting a smooth sailing festival. But, the weather had other plans.

We visited Shirdhon, a small village in the Kavathe Mahankal Talukain Sangli District, located 35 kms East of Sangli District’s headquarters. On getting the news of padayatra’s arrival the local devotees had called for a meeting and planned up everything. All the villagers came together to serve Their Lordships and decorated the road with rangoli designs and flowers. It was amazing to see their cooperation. As we reached, the matajis arrived with big pots of water, washed the hoofs of our oxen and performed arati of the Lord. We were all honored by beautiful garlands. The devotees had displayed about fifteen posters welcoming the padayatra at various places in the village.

By Sacinandana SwamiThe devotees suggested to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that He lead them in kirtana, and this is what He did. He started the sankirtana movement, which gave expression to His motto: “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?” In Sri Chaitanya-cha…

By Radhanath SwamiSometimes impersonalists chant the holy name of Krishna. Sometimes people who are too much aspiring for material enjoyment approach the holy name. But Krishna doesn’t properly reveal himself to people who don’t have the proper devotio…

By Satyaraja DasaThe process of Krishna consciousness is practical dharana, or spiritual concentration. By seeing paintings of Krishna, we use our sense of sight for God; by chanting and hearing we engage the tongue and the ear; by offering incense to …

Ramesvara das: Scenes from the 42nd LA Rathayatra Festival in Venice Beach on Sunday, August 5, 2018. Tens of thousands attended and tens of thousands lined the Santa Monica streets and Venice Beach’s Ocean Walk to see the procession. The Deities looked more beautiful than ever and bestowed unlimited transcendental mercy to devotees and non-devotees alike. The chanting resounded throughout the City and Beach and everyone experienced the ecstasy of hearing the Holy Names

Devotees in Yangon, Myanmar have been distributing prasadam to those in needs in the local area since the last 20 years. They distribute prasad to local schools and communities twice a week.
On Sunday 5th August HH Subhag Swami graced the Food for L…

By Sarvabhauma Dasa Why are sports so popular? According to Vaishnava teachings, everything here, including the sporting propensity, is an imperfect or distorted reflection of the original, blissful activities of all-attractive Lord Sri Krishna, the Su…

By Badrinarayan Swami “Both the Vaishnava theists and the materialists each present their own set of amazing stories. The choice is . . . which set of amazing stories to believe.” It is the grand conceit of the materialistic worldview that “man is the…

By Satyaraja Dasa Is Krishna consciousness polytheistic? A discussion of panchopasana provides a clear answer that also helps us understand all religions. At first blush, Vaishnavism may seem polytheistic, given the various gods associated with the Ve…

Karnamrita Das: To make spiritual progress we must be introspective enough to understand our strengths and weaknesses, as well as where we are now, and what the goal is (so we can remain fixed on it). There is a time to hear and chant about Krishna, a…

By Mukunda Goswami Although 52 years have passed since the founding of ISKCON, the society is still growing. In 1965 Srila Prabhupada left the city then called Calcutta on a merchant steamer bound for New York. Only his son, Vrindavan Chandra De, was …