Author Archives: Dandavats

By Mayapur.tv A beautiful ceremony, attended by thousands of vaishnavas from the international community of Iskcon and from more than 1 million viewers through the TV stations which broadcast the Mayapur.tv’s live transmissions, was concluded successfu…

By Romapada Das

Over 100 new people committed to chanting at least one round of the Hare Krishna mahamantra everyday at a week-long Bhagavata Saptah discourse from 9th January to 15th January in Surat. Almost 1500 devotees thronged to hear the discourse based on the story of Prahalada Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam, delivered by Chandra Govinda Das, an eminent exponent of Srimad Bhagavatam, who is a disciple of His Holiness Radha Govinda Swami. “The lectures started with melodious kirtan and bhajans every day,” said Ramanatha Das, one of the organizers of the discourse. “People listened to the story of Prahlada Maharaja and the glories of Lord Narsainghadev with rapt attention. We also served a sumptuous vegetarian prasadam dinner every day after the discourse.”

By Bhakti Rasamrita Swami Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was the president acarya and also the founder Acharya of the gaudia mutt. In the gauida magazine it was described that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta is the instrument and the counterpart for th…

By Bhakti Chaitanya Swami

The GBC meetings continued today with an amazing two hour presentation on book distribution from Vaisheshika prabhu, one of the main leaders of the resurgence of the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books around the world. All the GBC members were deeply affected by his sincerity and heart felt commitment to this most essential program of His Divine Grace. The enthusiasm generated in the room was quite overwhelming, and many of the members, who previously had done a lot of book distribution, spoke of their experiences and desires to see it come to the same levels it was at in the time of Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence.

By Subhasish Chaudhuri Ambarish Das, better known as Alfred Ford, said on Monday that a gold-plated stainless steel giant wheel or chakra would be installed on the top of the massive dome of the under-construction Temple of Vedic Planetarium on Wednesd…

By Devakinandan Das

King Pṛthu is herein compared to the earthly planet as far as his tolerance is concerned. Although the earth is always trampled upon by men and animals, it still gives food to them by producing grains, fruits and vegetables. As an ideal king, Mahārāja Pṛthu is compared to the earthly planet, for even though some citizens might violate the rules and regulations of the state, he would still be tolerant and maintain them with fruits and grains. In other words, it is the duty of the king to look after the comforts of the citizens, even at the cost of his own personal convenience. This is not the case, however, in Kali-yuga, for in Kali-yuga the kings and heads of state enjoy life at the cost of taxes exacted from the citizens. Such unfair taxation makes the people dishonest, and the people try to hide their income in so many ways. Eventually the state will not be able to collect taxes and consequently will not be able to meet its huge military and administrative expenses. Everything will collapse, and there will be chaos and disturbance all over the state.

By Mayapur.tv The video recordings of the main events of the two first days of International Iskcon Leadership Sanga which is taking place in Mayapur these days. You won’t believe how much Iskcon has grown up!Read More…

By Giriraj das

“Therefore sometimes, when people say in India, ‘Swamiji, you have done wonderful.’ And yes, I do not know. I’m not a magician. But, so far I am confident that I did not adulterate the words of Krishna. That’s all. That’s my credit. I did not like to take the position of Krishna. I remained a servant of Krishna, and I spoke what Krishna said. That’s all. This is my secret. So everyone can do that. There is nothing magic. The magic will act as soon as you become a pure devotee of Krishna. The magic will be done by Krishna, not by me or you. He will do it. ” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Los Angeles, May 19, 1972)

By Bhakti Rasamrita Swami His instructions, his organization, his strategies, his priorities and his disciples. Teaching by example and by words. How did he correct his disciples? Are all these relevant today in Srila Prabhupada’s Iskcon? Is Iskcon ful…

By Bhakti Chaitanya Swami Yesterday the GBC meetings started. The Organizational Development made various presentations to the GBC Body of items for streamlining the functions of the Body, and making the Body’s activities more effective for spreading S…

By Press Trust of IndiaWith a month left for ‘Gour Purnima’, the biggest festival for the Gaudiya Vaishnavs of Mayapur, devotees from across the world are arriving at the global headquarters of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) t…

By Vijaya Dasa There were some pretty close transcendental competitions in 2017. Pune took third place in Asia, ahead of Punjabi Bagh (New Delhi) by only 87 book points. The Auckland Loft beat Sydney-North by only 111 points. For years and years, the A…

By Ravindra-svarupa dasa

Harold S. Kushner, a Massachusetts rabbi’s best-selling book proposes a radical solution to the problem of evil. Does it work? Kushner is still hostile. Because God did not satisfy his demands, Kushner must think of Him as ineffectual and weak. Kushner once thought of God as a parent who always gratifies our desires. But now Kushner views Him as needing our forgiveness—for having failed as a parent: “Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect, even when He has let you down and disappointed you by permitting bad luck and sickness and cruelty in His world, and permitting some of those things to happen to you? Can you learn to love and forgive Him despite His limitations … as you once learned to forgive and love your parents even though they were not as wise, as strong, or as perfect as you needed them to be?”

New Vrindaban will celebrate Mother’s Day weekend in our Jubilee year (2018) with a new format

The  scans  for  this  chapter  are  the  latest  in  a  series  that  shows  all  the  revisions  done  for  the transliterations,  word  meanings,  and  purports  of  the  second  edition.

By the Lines of Authority committee Please find below the final, official version of the GBC Understanding ISKCON’s Lines of Authority paper. This final version has taken into consideration all comments received in Mayapur and thereafter. The release o…

By Shilpy Malhotra Here is my little contribution on preparing & offering food to Krishna with love & devotion. I have developed all these recipes with special care & effort. I believe it will be of great help to everyone to learn & coo…

By Sacinandana Swami Like a beautiful palace with a closed door the dhama also requires a key to grant us entrance. This is chanting the Name. According to Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura it is chanting the Holy Name with loving affectionRead More…

By Karnamrita dasa On any path there will always be ups and downs, and we have to remain steady in difficulties, reverses and success—any of which could deviate us. Krishna consciousness is all about developing and deepening of faith—from beginning to …

By Bhaktivinoda Thakura What are the various definitions of inattention while chanting? A. O Lord! All anarthas are produced when we do not pay attention to our chanting. The exalted devotees have defined inattention as indifference, laziness, and res…

By Govinda Swami According to many pure devotees, nama-sankirtan is not only the best means of devotional service but the final perfection itself. Of course, prema is the final goal of bhakti, but nama-sankirtan so quickly and infallibly leads to prema…

By Nitya Kishor Devi Dasi ISKCON Mayapur welcomes all of you to the most auspicious of the events!. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur says: By performing Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama the whole world will be liberated! In this way, with so much faith, the…

By Amara Team

The ISKCON Amara service is a new service to be launched on the 12th of May 2018 as a National Service in the UK under the direction of the GBC National Office. The service will be launched through a free seminar for the ISKCON community which will seek to demystify end of life choices in medical care, cremation as well as legal & financial planning. It will also cover service requirements and support systems. The seminar will take place at ISKCON Leicester.

By Iskcondesiretree ISKCON Desire Tree started a 24 x7 dedicated Television channel only for ISKCON devotees. Currently we are reaching more 30 million people in 15 countries via various OTT, Linear TV and Smart Boxes. Also very soon we will be starti…

Mrgaksi dasi: Dear Devotees, Here’s a gift for Lord Nityananda’s appearance day. It can be used for Sunday schools or Gurukula’s, for performance or for future reference.Read More…(This post has been viewed 7988 times so far)

By Mukhya devi dasi

Several of us met to create a much needed communication tool, an online Temple President-only forum that would allow us to throw out questions and get feedback from other TPs who might be experiencing similar situations. It’ll be a place to share best practices, warnings on dubious characters traveling temple to temple; request part time help; and create a support office where we can look for group pricing on things we all need for our temples like insurance, travel and other purchases. We’ll share pdfs for preaching and outreach and general info.  All Coming Soon!

By ISKCON Surat Communications

Over 1000 young people from three premiere educational institutions of Surat heard Radheshyam Das, President of ISKCON Pune, speak about various spiritual topics on 22nd January. Radheshyam Das, who is one of ISKCON’s pioneering youth outreach leaders, spoke on subjects such as: building bonds of trust, awakening leadership abilities, and true freedom.

By Julia Djeke

I wasn’t sure if I was ready to admit that I was lonely. I couldn’t use the word “suffering” because that’s reserved for the “real” sufferers like the homeless, orphans, and abandoned veterans—so I found prettier, more poetic ways to describe my sadness. But something happened that night that I did not expect: I started to remember the feeling of community. I realized that a separation had occurred, quite unconsciously, between my communing self and the isolated person I had become. I had chosen to abandon people because New York City had abandoned me—and by making that choice, I divorced myself from the chaotic mess of human beings.

By Ganapati Govind Das

ISKCON Of CT has been around for more than 35 years and during that time, the small congregation has been using a small house in East Hartford as a Temple. The presiding Deities are Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi, along with Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. The congregation has been actively distributing books for many years, but the year 2015 brought a dramatic change in the history of ISKCON CT.

By Jananivas Dasa Our proposition is to the Ramanujacarya followers because they are very, very strong, especially in South India they are prominent, purifying all of the world actually. It is mentioned in the Bhagavatam that when pure devotees appear …

By Romapada Das

Over 700 students of the LPD School in Surat received copies of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is at an event organized by ISKCON Surat on 18th January. The programme organized by Ramlila Das, a youth preacher in Surat, included skits, prayers, kirtana and a lecture by His Holiness Bhaktiprem Swami. Bhaktiprem Swami described how the Gita was the essence of all the Upanishads, and engaged the students in a question-answer session that was lively and interactive. “Our school is centred around total personality development, in addition to academic learning,” said Vijay Patel, the Principal of the school. “Students are taught the wisdom of our ancient Vedic culture in a manner that can be applied to their daily lives. That is why we were pleased to partner with ISKCON in distributing copies of the Bhagavad-gita to all our senior students.” During the kirtana that followed, most of the students participated in the singing and dancing in an enthusiastic manner.

By Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu Das

In the preface to Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Beatle Guitarist and songwriter George Harrison wrote, “All you need is love (Krishna)”. I am glad that he specified what he meant by love. The Hare Krishna movement took roots in the Western World, by the grace of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada, during a time of free love, which he came not to stop, but to redirect. He gave us the Nectar of Devotion, where he explained how “Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna.”

By Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami In other words, the influence of false ego in this world is so powerful that it is extremely difficult to overcome. In fact the hindrance in the path of devotional life is nothing but false ego. Therefore as long as fal…

Today we met Shri Sambit Patra, National Spokesperson of BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party), ruling party of India at his resident to gift him newly launched book, Sri Jagannath Puri.Read More…

By Bhakti V. V. Narasimha Swami So this is one of the two verses which are used in the beginning of Caitanya-caritamrta by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami to introduce us to Advaita Acarya. The chapter then goes on to explain how Advaita Acarya is the seco…

By Vaishnava Das

On 20th Jan 2018, Gaur Gopal Das was awarded ‘Yuva Adhyatmik Guru Puraskar,’ Youth Spiritual GURU Award by Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad(Indian Student Parliament), for remarkable contributions in guiding the youth by helping them to awaken their inner potential through the path of spirituality, at MIT World Peace University, Pune. Thanks to Shri Vishwanathji Karad (@vishwanathdkarad) Founder and Executive President MIT WPU,MIT group of institutions, and Shri Rahulji Karad Founder and convener BCS, Executive President MIT WPU, for this honor.

By Indradyumna Swami Yesterday was the first day of spring in Vrindavan. Traditionally the deities in all the temples are dressed in yellow. Many Vraja-vasis alsowear yellow. Throughout the day I took a small group of devotees to all the main temples f…

By Mary Pratt

Byron Bay is hippie central through and through and so of course the Krishna Village Eco-Yoga Community would be based nearby. About an hour’s drive away, you’ll go from the breezy beaches or Byron to being nestled in rolling hills and lush greenery, with thick grass and fresh water creeks. This is Eungella, a town in New South Wales with a peaceful, back-to-nature vibe that’ll transform even the most plugged-in of urbanites, given enough time. Since one of my mantras is #lovelife, I thought, why not pay a visit to Krishna Village to get a taste of their joyous and mindful approach to life? Maybe they could help my brain stop whirring at top speed and get me to unplug and relax!

By Anuttama Das Today’s (22-1-2018) SB class in Mayapur. We should respect, honor and appreciate each other’s service and never minimize or belittle anyone’s contribution in our collective endeavor to glorify Krishna and bring others to His lotus feet…