Author Archives: Dandavats

Hare Krishna. My name is Sarasvati and I am 13 years old. Padayatra is a wonderful festival and experience. Service on padayatra is unlimited – from difficult managing to sweeping. My primary service at padayatra is to dance Bharat natyam every evenin…

By Kesava Krsna Dasa “Therefore every one of you should become pure devotee, first-class devotee. First-class devotee is that… In this age it has been made very easy. Simply keep yourself cleansed, not to indulge in the four principles, prohibition…

By ELM staff The first presentation and discussion was on the subject of ISKCON membership. In ISKCON we have been a little befuddled and challenged for sometime regarding how to categorise membership. Should it be something for the people to aspire to…

By Bhakta David The other inmates do not bother me anymore as I have a decent reputation here about the way I am. My willingness to help others without strings attached (as is the norm in prison), has endeared me to many. Being an instructor and mentor…

Shaunaka Rishi Das, an Irish-born Vaishnava and Director of the Oxford Centre of Hindu Studies, spent many years caring for his wife Keshava, who had chronic fatigue syndrome. In her mid-50s and suffering from depression, Keshava took her own life, wi…

By Karnamrita Das Though we are social creatures that need interaction with others in good spiritual association, the importance of being alone with one’s thoughts or taking the time to reflect on life is crucial. Some people aren’t comfortable being a…

New Govardhana is leading a way of alternative living: simple living, higher thinking. Everyday here in New Govardhana is fresh and vibrant. We have opportunities every day to serve the Lord and His devotees. Srila Prabhupada said the purpose of life …

During the Labor day weekend of 2018, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were preparing for our Annual Ratha Yatra festival. ISKCON of Harrisburg, formerly Institute of Higher Understanding (IOHU), will be…

By Mina The UK yatras were out in full force for the World Holy Name Festival (17 – 24th September) this year. The week kicked off with Kirtan Fest in Leicester, where the holy names were chanted throughout the weekend. This year’s festival was made e…

What makes this celebration special is that it was arranged solely and wholly by a local Bhakti Vriksha group (Berks Bhakti Yoga), part of ISKCON HarrisburgRead More…

Swami B.A. Ashrama: “Writing,” Laurence Sterne has his hero Tristram Shandy write, “is but another name for conversation.” Read More…

About 90 devotees, leaders from the European Yatras, are currently meeting in New Vraja Dhama, Hungary, for discussing plans about improving their Krishna conscious preaching missions in their respective countries.
Several subject matters are being d…

Who is Srimati Radharani – Radhasthami Festival with HH Sacinandana Swami and HH Krishna Kshetra Swami in ISKCON Ljubljana, SloveniaRead More…

By Sri Ramadasa We are unabashedly ecstatic to announce that the Bhadra Campaign has launched in India with a resounding success this year! The full moon of good fortune rose on Bhadra Purnima, which was on 24-25 September 2018, *with 4485 sets of Srim…

By Vijaya Dasa An interesting thing happened in the USA: Paramesvara Prabhu distributed 280 Arabic books in August. That’s about ten Arabic books a day. Amazing! Another interesting score is one that Lord Krsna will be especially pleased by: the No. 2…

By Iskcon Mayapur Although brahmachari devotees have to undergo different types of austerity, tolerance and risk, this ashrama is very simple with less material problems. It’s easy to get spiritual bliss and finally go back home back to Godhead in this…

Photos of a recent event in London: On Friday 21st September, Sivarama Swami opened up about his life as a Monk in an interview with filmmaker Ravinol Chambers at Bridewell Hall. It was a great evening which finished off with Mantra-meditation and a d…

Harinama Sankirtana in Union Square park Wednesday September 26th (Album of photos) Srila Prabhupada: One must engage his tongue in the service of the holy name. Our Krishna consciousness movement is based on this principle. We try to engage all the m…

New Prasadam outlet at Isodyan guest house opened today in Mayapur.
For only Rs.100, a grand lunch prasad with a menu of 12 items will be served at the new AC prasadam hall at the ground floor of Isodyan bhavan . At the inaugural function today with …

Radhanath Swami: Yoga is often misunderstood as merely breath control, asanas or exercises; for some it is about practising some rules and regulations based on morality and for others it is cultivation of scriputral knowledge. But the real purpose of …

Mayapur Academy: The Deity Dressing Unit in Hindi has started this week. Students first learned the theories of art as well as the importance of not scratching the deities head, not even a practice head. The students were asked to first pin pieces of …

On 18th Septembar 2018 H.G. Adi Purush Prabhu took Sannyasa at ISKCON Ujjain Temple from H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. His new Sannyasa name is: Bhakti Dayita Adi Purush Swami.Read More…

Decades ago, HH Indradyumna Swami met HH Vishnujana Swami and other devotees for the first time in his life right at the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. That started his spiritual journey. Many of us have heard of the famous ‘Silver…

Giridhari Swami: Devotees from Hong Kong, China and the Philippines came together at Vraja Eco Village to glorify Srila Prabhupada through their spoken offerings and song. Some devotees wrote offerings in advance, while others spoke extemporaneously. …

We are now calling for nominations for the 10 available ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for 2018. The IEEA recognizes the sincere service of devotees who have dedicated their lives to the mission of Srila Prabhupada within Europe. These awards …

By Premanjana Das If you sit down and write some article on Krsna, that means you have to concentrate on Krsna’s activities or Krsna’s devotees’ activities, and that very process will purify your heart. Therefore we always recommend to our students tha…

By Akruranatha Dasa From time to time we hear that a certain devotee is “mature”. We know it is a positive thing, but what does it really mean? How can we become the kind of devotee that others will call “mature”? What is the evidence regarding “mat…

By Indradyumna Swami

My dear godbrother and friend, Giriraja Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am not usually without words but glorifying you is challenging because there is so much to say and so little time to say it!  I could talk for hours about your extraordinary qualities as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, as well as reminiscing about our 30-year friendship which is one of the deepest and most satisfying in my life.

It is deeply sad that we have lost a great general in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission. He was an inspirational leader and took on great responsibility on behalf of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

By Danavir Goswami Gunagrahi Maharaja gave everything he had to Srila Prabhupada. He served ISKCON continuously for forty-nine years. He was a master at engaging people in Krishna consciousness. He made friends quickly and for life. He was largely res…

As a Part of ‘Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebrations’ on the final day September 7th, ISKCON Guntur has conducted a Youth Awareness Rally on the theme ‘Say No To Bad Habits-Save The Youth’ which is organized by ISKCON Youth Forum Guntur.Read More…

By Administrator Mitrasena prabhu interviews Gunagrahi Goswami. Interesting facts from Iskcon’s and older devotees’ history. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes from the adventurous life of early Iskcon. Maharaj narrates how he first became devotee, his f…

By Giriraj SwamiIn 1969, when I was a student of psychology at Brandeis University, I met my spiritual teacher, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1970, after studying with him for a year and a half, I accompanied him to India. And in 1977,…

Before Srila Vyasadeva recorded the Vedas, fixing them in a written medium, they were passed down in spoken form. An oral culture of transmission relies on an aural culture of reception; that is, the message has to be heard and comprehended in order to be useful. Srimad­Bhagavatam tells us that Vyasadeva wrote down the Vedas because people’s aural skills were diminishing. He wanted to preserve the texts’ content and make it available to all those who would lose “their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance” that is Kali­yuga. Continuing in that tradition, the BBT is publishing its content, Srila Prabhupada’s works, in print, audio, ebook, and app formats, each as potent as the last in making accessible to one audience or another Prabhupada’s thoughts and mood and the devotional ecstasies he called his purports. The only difference between all these formats is how they are encoded.

The outreach program was conducted by the Journey of Self Discovery Trust at Epuni hall in Lower Hutt city in Wellington. The community hall was packed to the hilt with more than 350 participants, with registrations closing in less than two days due t…

There is now an improved, online database of BBT art (paintings, photo­ graphs, and drawings). More than 8,000 images have already been uploaded, and we are gradually adding more images, plus keywords and other metadata, so that the images become eminently searchable.

By Iskcon Mayapur The day begins early for visitors to Sridhama Mayapur. They wake many hours before the sun rises, anytime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., to bathe and prepare to go to the early morning mangalarati. At the temple, the pilgrims get in line…

By AdministratorISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner Anuttama Das speaking at the World Hindu Congress in Chicago, USA.
On behalf of ISKCON he received the recognition by the World Hindu Congress for taking the message of Gita worldwide and introducin…

By Govinda Swami HH Gunagrahi Goswami Maharaja, my very oldest devotee friend, the munificent kind soul who made me a devotee, passed away this morning just before 4 AM this morning. He was surrounded by loving godbrothers and devotees, singing the ho…

Eric Clapton: It was an amazing experience to be listening to it in the condition we were in. They had begun to explore Indian mysticism, perhaps as a result of George’s influence and at some point the chanting of ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Kr…