Author Archives: Dandavats

By Parvati devi dasi This November 30th, our Vrndavan Krishna Balarama Mandir celebrated its 18th Annual Recitation of the Sanskrit verses of the Gita Mahatmya and the entire Bhagavad Gita in the temple courtyard. It was a wonderful Community Event a…

By Giriraj Swami

This is parampara. Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami and all the Gosvamis wrote books for the enlightenment of the general populace, and that instruction and practice came down through parampara to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who wrote many books and instructed his disciples to write books. And Srila Prabhupada faithfully followed those instructions and also wrote many books. In fact, it is inconceivable that anyone could write so many books in such a short time. Srila Prabhupada came to America in 1965, and from the very beginning in New York City he was selling his books. Years later, when devotees were doing research about Prabhupada’s life, they went to some bookstores where he had sold his books, and the shopkeepers remembered, “Oh yes, a very nice Indian gentleman came, and he would always give us samosas.” He would give them samosas when he went to sell them his books.

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Those who are eating animals are animals; they are not human beings. Although they have the form of a human being, they are not considered human beings. When a person is civilized, cultured, then…

By Giriraj Swami Following Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Prabhupada is explaining that because devotees are living in the material world, they also have activities that they must perform in relation to material existence, in relation to society, st…

By Shyama Mohini devi dasi At the annual meeting of the global BBT in June, HH Jayadvaita Swami resigned as a trustee of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Since 1988, he has served as a trustee of the original BBT Trust, or as a director of the BBT Intern…

His Grace Gaurgopal Das on his maiden trip to Singapore, no less than mesmerized the audience at RELC International Hotel, who were attending an event organized by Artha Forum.Read More…

By Mayapur Sasi dasa For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following results of book distribution for the month of October 2017 from the whole planet. World Totals, Monthly Congregation and Weekend Warriors, Monthly Continents, …

Included are several new articles. Three are from the current TOVP Tour in Australasia and the other two are general updates, but particularly the new video update produced by Prananatha prabhu is very inspiring. Things just keep getting more ecstatic…

By Saranga Thakur das

200 inmates on death row will get to see the movie “Hare Krishna! the mantra, the movement and the Swami that started it all”. At first the Chaplain seemed reluctant to allow us to show the movie, but with a letter from Yadubara and the years of goodwill we’ve developed, he agreed. His staff have offered advertising and technical help including spreading our posters around to all the buildings and even allowing the movie to be shown to the 200 guys on death row. And excitement is building around the showing of the movie. One of the students was concerned that the posters aren’t up yet so he made some of his own, just to make sure it was sufficiently advertised.

By Gauranga Das

In India, the movie was officially launched in Delhi on the 12th November 2017 by the Vice President of India, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu. Dr. Bibek Debroy, one of world’s well known economist and Indologist, executive members of India’s planning commission (NITI Aayog) and Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council participated as the guest of honour. This film is going to be released all over India in PVR cinemas starting from 15th December 2017 onwards and is an opportunity to spread Srila Prabhupada’s life and his glorious teachings, his profound work and ISKCON’s mission to each and every house and person of India. We request all ISKCON devotees to inspire their family members, relatives and friends to go and watch this movie by pre-booking the tickets online in their nearby theatre through the link provided in this post.

This is the story of eight calves rescued by ISCOWP members. View them back in 2014 when they were first rescued and now in 2017 after living 3 years in a protected environment at ISCOWP Cow Sanctuary in FloridaRead More…

The Latin American Division of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust launched a few days ago a campaign to collect funds and send books to Puerto Rico. The devotees there want to participate in the December Marathon, but due to the devastation caused in the tem…

By Radheshyam Dasa What should a Sadhaka do while encountering Conflicting roles? Sati faced a tug of war between her desires to go to father’s house V/S Fear of disobeying Lord Siva her husband. Her desire got better off and that impelled her to go …

By Purushottam Nitai Das

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura met with opposition when he had taken his disciples for braj mandal parikrama because many temple priests of Vrindavan were of the opinion that he should not have given brahminical threads to those who were not born in a brahmana family. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave reference of various scriptures and proved that one should be considered a brahmana not by birth but by qualities. He quoted verse from Srimad Bhagavatam wherein sage Narada tells Yudhisthir that even if one is born in the family of a sudra but acts like a brahmana he should be accepted as a brahmana and if one is born in the family of a brahmana but acts like a sudra then he should be considered a sudra. “If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.” S.B. 7.11.35. If anyone is living as per the guidelines of the scriptures, is chanting the holy names of the Lord with love and sincerely following the four regulative principles of no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication and no licit sex should be considered a saintly person and he is fit to become a guru. Chaitanya Mahaprabh says “It does not matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic wisdom], or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life – if he is a master in the science of Krsna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master.”

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.