Author Archives: Dandavats

By Dr. Ausra Maldeikiene When I’m really happy, I cry: happiness is somewhere deep in the throat and it is excited by hope and light-carrying tears. The next time I was crying was on Vilnius Street when I first saw the dancing people of the Krishna con…

By Chaitanya Charana Dasa

After teaching a university seminar, I was asked questions I had myself raised when I first encountered the philosophy of Krishna consciousness: “Why is the Vedic philosophy so pessimistic? When the world offers both pleasures and pains, why does the Bhagavad-gita call the world a place of misery?” Over my decade and a half of practicing and sharing Krishna consciousness, I have been preparing and refining the answer to these questions. Here’s my short four-point answer: • The Bhagavad-gita is not pessimistic, but realistic; the reality is that the pleasure-pain balance of the world is tilted heavily toward the pain side. • Even if we still consider the Gita philosophy pessimistic, that pessimism is only initial, not final. In its conclusion, the Gita offers a supremely optimistic message. • Even the best worldly optimism pales and fails in front of the longing of our heart, a longing fulfilled only by the vision of reality offered by the Gita. • The Gita doesn’t teach us to reject this world for the spiritual world, but to harmonize this world with the spiritual world.

By Taru Das

“And when the spiritual master sees the devotees are taking bhagavat prasadam, he is satisfied” – Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur. If there is any other instruction which the devotees of New Vrindaban have taken up more seriously than the one above, I have yet to run across it. In their undaunted endeavors to obtain bhagavat prasadam, devotees have crossed over the difficult ocean of contraptions, locks, chains and booby traps grouped together under the heading of maha cabinets. According to Webster, a maha cabinet is “any device or container, usually a box, a safe, cupboard, or so forth, which is used to preserve maha prasad, i.e., to protect it from being stolen, hidden or ingested from the time of its being lawfully distributed.” A little further on down, mention is made of the fact that as of the present, there are no fool-proof models available.

In Bangalore, we had an excellent time. Almost daily we had house programs and Ratha Yatras with good support from the congregation devotees who collected donations for padayatra. Anadi Jagannatha Dasa sponsored a projector for us, saying “It would be great if wherever you go you could show people videos of Padayatra, Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON. Let people know about ISKCON!.”

Giriraj dasa: If you want to stay in Krsna Consciousness you will have to develop firm faith in Guru and Sastra. Therefore, you must study my books very scrutinizingly, follow the four regulative principles very strictly and chant 16 rounds daily avoiding the ten offenses. Don’t take this movement as something cheap.

By Vijaya Dasa Things are looking really good in the world. Last year, we again increased the book distribution worldwide, and now for the first time we received book scores from Havana. You read that right: Havana, Cuba. Not only did the Havana devote…

By Bhakti Charu Swami Veda Foundation is a public charitable trust whose mission is to spread the glories of Sri Krishna Chaitanya based headquarters in Deland, South Orlando, FL, USA. Veda Foundation is a public charitable trust whose mission is the w…

ISKCON Mayapur: In 1968, Gordon John Erdman was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in Montreal, Canada, and given the name Jayapataka dasa. The name Jayapataka is translated as “victory flag,” and has proved to be truly befitting of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, who has ceaselessly championed the cause of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu undeterred by any kind of challenges.

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Ramachandra’s Appearance Day Lecture, December 27, 1966 New York. When Lord Ramachandra appeared, He made a bridge between India and Ceylon. There is no history in the world that one has made bridge over the ocean, Indian Ocean. And how the bridge was made? Not in the present, modern way, that making concrete on the ground and then pillars and then… No. The stones were floating. The Ramachandra assistants, all the monkeys, what kind of engineers are they? They could bring, order, “Bring some stone.” They had very good health. What is that? Gorilla. So they brought big, big stones, and they began to float. Now, one may inquire or may question, “How stone can float?” Why stone cannot float? If this big, big lump of matter, earthly planet and other planets, they are floating in the air, why the stone cannot float? If God likes, it will float. That is God desire. It is God’s plan.

By Srila Vyasadeva This Tenth Chapter describes how Lord Ramacandra appeared in the dynasty of Maharaja Khatvanga. It also describes the Lord’s activities, telling how He killed Ravana and returned to Ayodhya, the capital of His kingdom. The son of Ma…

Amala Bhakta Swami: Yesterday, one of the devotees here asked me, after he had achieved some personal victory, whether he had to give ALL the credit for the victory to Krishna or whether he could keep a little of the credit for himself.Read More…

Lectures about Lord Ramacandra’s appearance day given in ISKCON Naperville, 21, 22 and 23 of March 2018. We can see the affects of the Ramayana tradition in many countries who have adapted their own form of the Ramayana and worship of Lord Rama, especi…

By Hari Narayana Das In the evening the parade of ogoh-ogoh was opened by the local authority and the one by one the people passed their ogoh-ogoh in front of the stage. Lord Jagannath chariot was pulled by devotees on the last line and people actually…

Hare Krishna, dear friends, devotees, family folks and all other wonderful persons in my life. I humbly request your prayers on behalf of my daughter Saraswati, who many may recall due to her intimate pastimes with Srila Prabhupada. She is undergoing chemo & radiation for colon cancer. Prognosis is seems good although it went a bit far before being detected. Thank you. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Bhaktin Dovilė: She was encouraged to win the competition by her spiritual master HG Sankarshan das Adhikari, who instructed her that Krishna Consciousness should be spread in all possible ways.

Srila Prabhupada explains: “Sita is Lakṣmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant to be worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramachandra. A materialistic man like Ravaṇa does…

Mantra Caitanya das & Hema Mukhi devi dasi: A handful of the lucky souls who got Srila Prabhupada’s association at the University of Kent today.

By Khonika Gope-Kumar Being Krishna Himself, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Rasaraj, the Supreme Enjoyer of rasa and the emporium of all rasas. With His devotees, He relished different rasas, including “hasya” rasa, one of the seven indirect mellows. Part…

By Vaisesika Dasa The presentation about book distribution done during the first day of the GBC meetings in Mayapur. Amazing facts and figures. What other organizations do for their book printing and distribution, be dissatisfied, book distribution mea…

BBT Marketing, Communications and Innovations Department: Explaining the 4.34 Edit in Bhagavad-gita As It Is.Read More…

By Urmila Devi Dasi Schedule: Each festival can be the focus for a five-day week, with a concentration each day on one of the five most potent items of devotional service as related to that festival. This program is flexible and can be used in other wa…

Las Vegas is known all over the world as “Sin city”. But even the “Sin city” the abode of maya cannot escape the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. every town and village is meant to be spiritualized by the abundance of the chanting of the holy names.

By GBC College Staff Russian-speaking ISKCON leaders from all over the country (and beyond) assembled in Moscow, in January 2018, for continuing their Zonal Supervisor course, an offering of the GBC College for Leadership Development. The group, which…

By the SAC GBC approved Sastric Advisory Committee’s Paper on Rama-navami Fasting. In this paper, we present research on the length and type of fasting for Rāma-navamī from sādhu, śāstra and guru. We also examine related items such as the concept of co…

ISKCON Mayapur: Srila Prabhupada once remarked, “The two brothers Pankajanghri and Jananivasa – there is no comparison. Everyone should know there is no complaint.”

Nabhinandan Das:Saturday 17 March: We were visiting the glorious ISKCON Ahmedabad temple today and it so happened that 120 year 4 children from a local school (Anand Niketan school) also visited the temple, with their teachers at the same time.Read Mo…

By Mayapur Sasi dasa For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of February 2018. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 I…

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada To love means to be concerned for the other person’s benefit. That is real love. I love you for your benefit; you love me for my benefit. If I so-called love you for my benefit, that is lust. In …

By Acarya Dasa Koramangala is a small preaching center. In big temple celebrations usually we do not get any seva -we have to be mostly guests- so this time we were delighted to get the opportunity to serve.. Expecting a huge number of people, the devo…

Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar Gaudham, is a well known Vaishnav temple of Lord Krishna and Radharani in the form of Radha Shyamsundar, and a spiritual-cultural campus in Ahmedabad, India.Read More…

Krishna Dharma: I and my good wife Cintamani-dhama have embarked upon a retelling of the Srimad Bhagavatam, entitled ‘Brilliant as the Sun’, attempting to dramatize and simplify the text to the best of our limited ability.

By ISKCON Mayapur

The opulent outfits offered to the Deities are all designed, stitched, and embroidered by a team of 28 local devotees who work year-round to create the Lord’s beautiful clothing. Resident devotees also hand make most of the jewelry worn by the Mayapur Deities. Approximately 35 devotees are engaged in caring for the Deities’ paraphernalia rooms and paraphernalia. These devotees clean, polish, organize, and in other ways ensure that the Lord’s belongings are maintained nicely.

By Visnuswami Dasa Community members are providing accommodations for devotees and supplying grass for the oxen, contrary to my expectations. I thought that getting accommodations and grass would have been difficult in the cities but by Caitanya MahaPr…

By Satyaraja Dasa In general, people like gold. It represents wealth and success. A golden age refers to an era of goodness and plenty, acknowledged in Greek, Roman, and Indian cultures. If you have everything, you were born with a golden spoon in your…

By Gauri das

Over the next weeks and months, Sruti Dharma will undergo both radiotherapy and chemotherapy supported by a host of holistic treatments. He has a superb team of health care professionals who are evaluating further treatments available outside of the UK. During this time of treatment he requires to rest and recuperate. He is at home with family and still very much keeping up with temple matters and the construction plans for the Shree Krishna Haveli community facility. The family is grateful for the unprecedented support from the community, and they remain optimistic. We ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy at this time.

By Taru Das You see, the horrible truth to the matter is that every devotee is a potential maha thief. It is hard to trust anyone, save and except the self-realized souls, to be alone in the same room with maha prasadam. That is why the maha cabinet is…

Kishore Badal, chairman of the Hindu Coordinating Council (HCC) of Gauteng , South Africa, forwarded an invitation to ISKCON to participate in their 26th Shivratri Walk. Various temples in Johannesburg were also invited to participate in the…