Author Archives: Dandavats

Sri Krishna Rasa Yatra
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Hare KrishnaBy MCO Staff

On the full moon night in the autumn season, during Krishna’s eighth year, He enacted His Rasa-lila pastimes with the beautiful young gopis of Vraja. This sweet pastime is celebrated every year by the devotees of Lord Krishna on the Rasa Purnima day, which is also the last day of the Kartik month. In Bengal, many people celebrate this day by going on pilgrimage to holy places. On this day, almost two-hundred thousand pilgrims come to Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir to take part in all the festivities.

A Special Diwali Retreat near Wellington, NZ
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhusudanan das

It was the month of Damodar. Even more memorably, it was Diwali day. One could not have asked for a better timing for devotees to pack their bags and head to the Riverslea retreat at Otaki, near Wellington city in New Zealand. The bi-annual retreats have become a regular phenomenon among the Journey of Self Discovery group members in the city. It was their “mini yatra” – the spiritual respite that helped them recharge their devotion and embed themselves deeper into Krishna Consciousness. But it was something more subtle that made this event very special. Something which wasn’t evident until the end.

ISKCON Pakistan Diwali Gala Festival
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON Pakistan Team

By the mercy of Lord Sri Sri Radha Krishna, Sita Ram Lachman Hanuman and Srila Prabhupada the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Pakistan and Managing Committee, celebrated “ISKCON Diwali Gala Festival”. Below topics were covered during 2 Days Program in Karachi – Scientific understanding of Bhagavad Gita by our guest speakers HG Shyamanada Krishna Prabhu from Australia and HG Shyama Chandra Prabhu from Dubai. – Sankirtan and Hawan Yagya for Peace in Pakistan – Documentrary on life of ISKCON Founder Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktiVedanata Swami Srila Prabhupada. – Deep Dhan offering on occasion of auspicious Month of Karthik. – Tablo on pastimes of Lord Krishna presented by children. – Performance of Sheema Kermani on Saint Meera Bhai’s Bhajan – Distribution of Bhagavad Gita and Chanting Beads (Maala) among 2,000 people. – Delicious full feast of Krishna Maha-Prasadham distributed among 2,000 People for 2 days.

Lessons learned from my service with Iskcon Prison Ministry
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Hare KrishnaBy Govindanandini Dasi

In 2012, I was casually looking at Dandavats.com when, for the first time in my life, I came across the words “ISKCON Prison Ministry”. I felt curious to know what it was all about. I began to read their article, appealing the readers to become volunteers to correspond with prison inmates and send them Srila Prabhupada’s books! I was instantly attracted to the concept of Prison Ministry and to their appeal. I was attracted because I could see in it a great opportunity for a genuine service, a selfless service, and also a humbling one.

Let No One Go Hungry
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Hare KrishnaBy MCO staff

Srila Prabhupada continually stressed the importance of prasadam distribution in ISKCON Mayapur, and he instructed that no one within a ten mile radius of Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir should go hungry. Following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Food for Life Mayapur has been endeavoring for many years to fulfill this goal. Hundreds of thousands of visitors and pilgrims are fed prasadam by Food for Life Mayapur, as well as villagers in the surrounding areas. This video showcases the endeavors of ISKCON Mayapur’s Food for Life program, and demonstrates how they perform this wonderful service.

Diwali Fireworks Launch the Nainika Allergy Safety Campaign:  Making Temples Safe for Allergy Sufferers
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Mohan Das

As thousands gathered for the Diwali fireworks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the temple leaders and a host of community and political leaders, took to the stage to launch the Nainika Tikoo Memorial Trust’s allergy awareness campaign for places of worship. The gathered crowd listened with baited breath as Lakshmi Kaul and Vinod Tikoo spoke of the tragic loss of their beloved 9-year-old daughter, Nainika, who lost her life in May due to a massive allergic reaction. As Lakshmi described her pain at turning off of the ventilator that kept Nainika alive, her tear filled grief was shared by all present. 

Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day
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Hare Krishna “So at the time of death… Of course, those who are devotees, their position is different. People may say, “The devotee is also dying, and the nondevotee, sinful man, is also dying. What is the difference?” So there is much difference. The example is given: just like a cat catching a rat in his mouth and at the same time carrying his cubs in the mouth. Superficially, we can see that the same mouth is being used, but one is feeling comfortable being carried by the mother, and another is feeling the death knell. Similarly, at the time of death, the devotee’s feeling that they are being transferred to Vaikuntha, whereas the ordinary sinful man is feeling that the Yamaraja, the dutas, the constables of Yamaraja are dragging him to the hellish condition of life.

ISKCON New Vrindaban Takes Steps to Rebuild Local Relationships
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhava Smullen

At the second annual Rathayatra in Wheeling, West Virginia – New Vrindaban’s neighboring city – on July 8th, over two-and-a-half thousand locals delighted in Lord Jagannath’s parade. When interviewed they said they loved the energy, prasadam, trying out japa meditation, and the family-friendly activities. Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliot spoke at the event, saying he was honored New Vrindaban had chosen Wheeling for the Festival and praising the diversity it brought to the community; Congresswoman Erikka Storch thanked devotees for sharing their culture and tradition. Meanwhile two local TV stations previewed and covered the event along with four local newspapers, including a glowing front page article.

Carrying Forth Our Inherited Legacy
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Communication Office

His Grace Udayananda Prabhu recalls Srila Prabhupada’s final days: “One day Prabhupada said, ‘I’ve given you this big ISKCON movement. If you can, please expand it.’ He said, ‘At least maintain it. Don’t let this decrease.’ Then he said, ‘Please cooperate,’ as he said so many times before. And then Prabhupada started to cry. Everyone in the room started crying. That was probably the most painful moment of my life, to see Prabhupada cry. So we have this movement. It’s Prabhupada’s movement. We have the good, we have the bad, and we have the ugly. But we just have to be determined to never leave the ISKCON movement. We just have to always try to push it forward. If there’s a problem, push it forward. Because when you leave ISKCON, you make Prabhupada cry. So let’s make Prabhupada happy and push on Krishna consciousness to every town and village”.

Shared Statement of the GBC Body & HH Hridayananda Das Goswami
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Hare KrishnaBy the GBC Corresponding Secretary

On October 15th and 16th, HH Hridayananda Das Goswami and HG Brahma Tirtha Prabhu met with the GBC Body and a special subcommittee to discuss some mutual philosophical concerns and Krishna West. The committee members included the GBC Executive Committee–Bhakti Charu Swami, Madhu Sevita Das & Bhaktivaibhava Swami–as well as Sivarama Swami, Radhanath Swami, Guru Prasad Swami, Prahladananda Swami, Badrinarayan Swami, Bir Krishna Das Goswami and Praghosa Das.

Second GBC College Residential 2017 Completed
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Hare KrishnaBy GBC College Staff

Within the scenic, spiritually surcharged Govardhana Ecovillage outside of Mumbai, India, some two dozen participants from various parts of the world attended the Zonal Supervisor Course’s second and last residential session. We enjoyed the company of leaders from India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Italy, Hungary, Latvia/Lithuania and Kenya, including four sannyasis – desirous to improve their skill-set to better serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission. The course was also graced by the teaching of two GBC members.

Krishna-kripa remembers Sadaputa
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Hare KrishnaBy Prishni devi dasi

Krishna-kripa dasa is known for his blissful engagement traversing the planet singing the glories of the Holy Name. But three decades ago he began what may appear to be a very different kind service with the Bhaktivedanta Institute: In 1988 he visited the San Diego branch and offered to engage his BA in Computer Science from Brown University, in its scientific preaching mission. The San Diego BI team – Sadaputa, Drutakarma, and Madhavendra Puri Prabhus – invited him in. He soon became a dedicated assistant of Sadaputa Prabhu, working hand-in-hand with him as he published many of his 9 books and dozens of articles on a wide range of topics dealing with science and the Vedic tradition.

Exploring the Bhagavad gita; Philosophy, Structure and Meaning
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Hare KrishnaBy Ishvara Krishna Das

I would like this work to be considered a contribution not only to the study of the Bhagavad Gita, but to the emerging field of Comparative Theology, as once the structures of great theological works could be articulated, these could be compared, contrasted and grouped together, thereby offering a unified sense of pluralistic spirituality which may serve as an alternative to materialism. Originally, Greek philosophy was inseparable from Greek religion, and only gradually was it articulated as a universal philosophy. Similarly, this work may further a slight step in this direction, in that it emphasizes the Bhagavad Gita’s philosophical nature, relevant also in a non-Hindu context. Examining many of the available academic editions, one realizes that they offer an introduction followed by a verse translation; the present edition joins the few editions which render the text divided into sections, and add a commentary; I hope that this approach proves to be useful. Let me conclude by quoting the Bhagavad Gita itself: “This is a royal science, a royal mystery, the supreme purifier, experienced directly, it conforms to dharma, pleasant to act upon and eternal.”

ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage receives the IGBC Green Village Platinum Ratings
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Hare KrishnaBy Anand Caitanya das

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has established Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), with a vision to enable sustainable built-environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in sustainable built-environment by 2025. With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq.ft of green footprint in the country in the year 2001, today over 4,205 IGBC green building projects, amounting to over 4.61 Billion sq.ft are adopting IGBC green building rating systems. This in turn has enabled India become one of the top 5 countries in the world in terms of largest registered green building footprint. The Green Building Congress 2017 was the 15th annual flagship event of IGBC and is the largest event on green buildings in Asia. Over 3000 participants attended this event with over 150 leading National and International experts shared their thoughts and perspectives on sustainable built environment.  The Congress also hosted World GBC Board Meeting and Annual Members Meet. The event attracted participation from several countries including Singapore, Srilanka, Hong Kong, Australia, China, UK and USA. Shri Gauranga Das was also one of the master speakers of the conference and shared about the Sustainability Initiatives at Govardhan Ecovillage.