Author Archives: Dandavats

By Subal Shyam Das and Jaganmohini Devi Dasi​

This year (2017), on Nov. 24th, Friday, disciples, servants and well-wishers of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 80th Vyasa-puja. On this most auspicious occasion, for the pleasure of all Vaishnava community, we recall one of his vital contributions to the BI-scientific mission which was visible since the inception of Bhaktivedanta Institute by the blessings of Srila Prabhupada. Today we would like to emphasize on this aspect, namely, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaj’s unique approach of first class dialogue in dealing with scholarly community. He adopted this even while he was preparing and arranging the first international congress on ‘Life comes from Life’ before Srila Prabhupada’s departure in 1977 at Vrindavan and Srila Prabhupada was indeed very pleased with it.

By Hemarupa Caitanya Das Determination is vital either in material or spiritual life. This determination exhibits a devotee’s hankering and sincere desire for attainment of the perfectional stage of devotional service. Lord Brahma, the original first l…

By Anand Caitanya das

Every year the Aqua Foundation Group organizes the World Aqua Congress (WAC) on a theme related to environment and invites excerpts of papers from speakers from all over India. During the XI World Aqua Congress, this year, ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) was awarded with the prestigious Aqua Excellence Award in the category of ‘Green Housing – Social Sector’. Jadu Thakur Das, Head – CSR, GEV received this award from Dr. Vandana Shiva, the famous author, activist, pioneer and Scientific Advisor. The Award Ceremony was conducted during the Inaugural Session of XI World Aqua Congress, cantered on the theme of ‘Water & Environment’’ on the 9th November 2017 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The conference was attended by various corporate heads, Government authorities, university professors, NGOs etc.

By MCO staff

The devotees rent an auditorium and many devotees from ISKCON Mayapur come to participate in the program. They perform dances, musical presentations, and dramas, and senior devotees speak. There is also kirtan and prasadam distribution. During the month of Kartik, the Bhakti Vriksha Department conducts Damodara Programs, in which attendees hear about Damodara lila and offer lamps. In 2016, the Damodara Programs were so successful that the Mayapur Bhakti Vriksha Department engaged over 100,000 people in offering lamps to the Lord. All of these programs are very effective for attracting the local people to become a part of Mayapur’s Bhakti Vriksha.

By Bhakta Mukesh

HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu’s First Visit to Wellington. HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu needs no introduction. From Australia to America he has given talks on spiritual subjects at universities like Princeton and Cambridge and companies like Intel and Microsoft. This time, it was New Zealand’s fortune to welcome this spiritual scholar of ISKCON’s leading intellectual body to the capital city of Wellington. The highlight of this visit was his intriguing seminars to the Wellington’s Journey of Self Discovery (JOSD) and Bhakti Sastri students and the wider Vaishnava community.

By Radheyshyam Dasa SP writes : “When the Lord came, He was pleased with everyone; therefore it is stated here, krtsna-prasada-sumukham. The Lord knew that even the offensive doormen were His pure devotees, although by chance they committed an offense …

By Hari Narayana Das Our ever grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, the GBCs of Indonesia, for their support and guidance to always look for new avenues for sankirtan. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for his i…

By Visnupriya devi dasi Krishna’s peace formula was presented in the form of a song called “The Peace Formula,” which was written and sung by ISKCON devotee, Sankarshan Das Adhikari. It’s interesting to note that Sankarshan Prabhu is joined on the chor…

By Admin Havi das (Ilan Chester), a disciple of Srila Prabhupada received recently a Grammy Award in Las Vegas for his extraordinary musical career as a musician, singer and composer. Millions of people attended or watched the ceremony while Havi das t…

By Amarendra Das

While in Gainesville, Gayatri convinced countless students and young people to join Krishna consciousness. Simultaneously, she made more true friends than I can ever recount. However, it was after we moved to the Los Angeles in July, 1982, that Gayatri’s true character fully blossomed. In addition to the hundreds of friends that Gayatri had made in Gainesville and all over the world, including and especially Srila Prabhupada’s sister, Pishima (who often referred to Gayatri as her “daughter”) she made hundreds of new friends on the West Coast, and developed a special bond with devotee children. She was also the “Inventor” of the modern version of Gauranga Potatoes, and is famous for the renowned “4:00 offering” that she would cook everyday for Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai when the Gainesville Temple was located on Depot Avenue.

By Radhanath Swami When you advance in Krishna Consciousness, it is more difficult to tolerate being honored than to tolerate being dishonored. The world will appreciate you if you give time to Maya and devotees will appreciate you if you give time t…

Vaishnava etiquette tells us that we should never answer back, especially to a husband or any other superior. As men take to the perverted means to establish their superiority through gross physical violence, in the same way we women try to establish …

By Yudhistir Govinda Das The Vice President of India, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, inaugurated ISKCON’s East West Cultural Festival in New Delhi yesterday. The event also saw the Indian premiere of the film Hare Krishna! directed by Yadubara Prabhu. Dr. Bibek …

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was most obedient, towards His Mother, His seniors and the wise counsel of all others, young and old. With this obedience, the Lord did not have it all His way. If He desired something and His superiors decided against it – with kind pleading of course – He would abide by that. Lord Chaitanya would seek permission and blessings before doing many things. How does this type of obedience feature within our lives and ISKCON? One thing was certain for Lord Chaitanya; all those He sought permission and blessings from, were pure, perfected Vaishnavas. He had comfort in that. His desire to go to Vrndavana for instance, could be put off or delayed, because He knew it was done out of love and affection of His devotees. The Lord’s faith and trust in them ensured happy Vaishnava dealings. Cooperation was a natural way of life. This is easy when surrounded by loving devotees. How can we transfer this into ISKCON?

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 October, 2017. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 I…

By Admin

“Those in Vraja-maṇḍala bitten by a snake, killed by animals, killed by fire, water or any unnatural cause become residents of my own planet.” (Skanda-purāṇam, Mārgaśīrṣa-māhātmya, Chapter 17, Verse 50) Govinda Swami: Yesterday we lost an effulgent young Vaisnavi here in Vrindavan. Braja Vallabhi, a disciple of HH Indradyumna Swami, passed from this world to Radhe Shyam’s world, in a traffic accident near Radha Kund, Govaradhan. She was ever bright, decorated with a beautiful smile, always devoted to her guru, vaisnavas, and a real lover of Radha Raman. She was just 23 years of age. Now she will be a much younger girl, an ever fresh Kishori in Vrindavan, to serve Sri Radha as She serves her Ramana.

By the GBC-Brooklyn Temple Sale Committee

ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission has appointed a new GBC authority for the Greater New York Area. At the GBC Midterm Meeting in Ujjain (U.P.), India on Oct. 9, the GBC Body added Radhanath Maharaja, Devamrita Maharaja and Vaisesika Prabhu as co-GBC members for the Greater New York Area. The new GBC team intends to help stop the pending sale of the Radha Govinda temple in Brooklyn, prevent the temple from being pulled out of ISKCON, and give new life to the Krishna consciousness movement in New York. Further discussions about ISKCON in the Greater New York Area are expected in February at the GBC’s annual general meeting in Mayapur.

By Prahladananda Swami

This seventh issue of the Sannyasa Newsletter includes a variety of information about sannyasa and sannyasis, ancient and modern. In this issue, Srila Prabhupada explains the practical side of how an ISKCON sannyasi should engage his energies in diverse services in Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement, while Kripamoya Prabhu’s article gives us a history of the various aspects of etiquette and austerity that classical sannyasis in the varnashrama system were expected to follow. Ekalavya Prabhu’s article tells us something about the present organization of the Sannyasa Ministry and then we are also told about the services and qualities of one of ISKCON’s senior sannyasis, Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja.

By Gopal Bhatta Das

The overarching theme of the ILS 2018 will be “keep the wheels moving” an expression Srila Prabhupada took from the Indian Railway. He noted, “it is the business of every employee, whether a train driver, a fireman or a clerk in the office, to do their bit so that the wheels never stop. If the wheels stop, business stops.” He wanted our ISKCON movement to keep the wheels moving and thus provide an opportunity for people all over the world to receive the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

By Chandan Yatra Das

Southern Mathura (Daksina-mathura), presently known as Madurai, is situated on the banks of the Vaigai River and is one of South India’s great temple towns. Madurai is synonymous with the celebrated Meenakshi Temple. On the day the city was to be named, as Lord Siva blessed the land and its people, divine nectar (Madhu) was showered on the city from Lord Siva’s matted locks. This city was henceforth known as Madhurapuri. During His South India tour in 1510 AD, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Madurai twice, once while going to Rameswaram after meeting the brahmana Ramdasa Vipra, who was a staunch devotee of Lord Ramacandra. The next time was on the way back from Rameswaram with a copy of the Kurma Purana scripture, which had a verse stating that Ravana had kidnapped an illusory Sita, and that the real Sita was safely hidden by Agnideva. Lord Caitanya personally gave this copy to Ramdasa Vipra to dispel his doubts about mother Sita’s kidnapping.

By Giriraj Swami Such is the influence of holy places. They can elevate one’s consciousness, even the consciousness of one habituated to low thoughts. And people who go to holy places—Mayapur, Vrindavan, Jagannath Puri—can immediately feel the differen…

By Vrndavanlila Devi Dasi

There have been several recorded occasions when Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples to plant and grow different food items for the Lord, sometimes flowers, vegetables and other times fruits according to the situation. Something similar was experienced by the devotees in Secunderabad too. One of the aims of ISKCON is to teach and thus also lead by example “a simpler and more natural way of life.” This does not imply that immediately one has to pack up one’s luggage for a life on the farm. But definitely one can begin making preparations for that while being in the city. One step in the direction is to do urban farming. One can grow one’s own food in whatever limited way one can.

By Byron Kyle Have you ever been on a road trip and knew where your destination was but didn’t know exactly how to get there? You switched on Google maps and got directions but closer to your destination, you felt you knew a better way and ignored the …

As much as possible try to increase our preaching programs by using all the mass media which are available. We are modern day Vaisnavas and we must preach vigorously using all the means availableRead More…

By Svaha Devi Dasi

HG Vaisesika Prabhu has written about book distribution in “Our Family Business.” Closely connected to it, or inseparable from it, is the manifestation of the TOVP as funds from book distribution around the world directly contribute to the TOVP every year. These two heartfelt desires of Srila Prabhupada are intimately connected. This becomes even more evident in the following account from HH Giriraja Swami: In 1971, as a young devotee in Calcutta, I approached Srila Prabhupada. “I have been trying to understand what your desire is. And two things seem to please you most: distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” Prabhupada’s face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled. “Yes, you have understood.”

By Sadbhuja Das I would like to present our quarterly report of the different construction activities of the TOVP. We have now commenced the super structures on the main dome. In this video you can see the devotees and the workers are lifting the supe…

By Radheshyam Dasa The Vaikuntha residents while travelling in their Airplanes condemn the fragrance of Madhavi flowers in ponds, which indicates that they don’t care for insignificant sense gratification in comparison to the joy they derive in Lord’s …

“I am most pleased especially to hear that you are distributing many books. Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” Letter to Giriraja — Bombay 28 December, 1971

By 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.

Nrsimhananda das: If I took anything seriously from Srila Prabhupada, it was japa.Read More…

By 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.

By 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.

By 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.