Author Archives: Dandavats

Planting the Seed of Devotion
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON desire tree network

With growing Krishna consciousness all over the world ISKCON has been instrumental in bringing many souls under the shelter of Lord Sri Krishna with its Philosophy, Kirtans, Prasadam, etc., however the villages and tribes located in remote areas remain unaware of the good fortune in Kaliyuga. An initiative was taken by devotees from ISKCON Pune and with dedicated efforts and Krishna’s mercy a new preaching centre ”Bhagavad Darshan Prachar Kendra” was established in Bodhan village, Telangana. It was inaugurated with great pomp on 10th June 2017. Bhakta Manjunath accompanied by two grihastha devotees were invited for the inauguration. Inaugural activities included basic Krishna conscious introduction which further covered the concepts of 4 regulative principles as followed in ISKCON, importance of chanting holy name and community building. This continued for 9 days till 19th June 2017. Nagar Sankirtanas flooded the areas of Pegadapally, Yedapally, Hunsa, Achanpally and Pothangal with the nectarine holy name.

Sri Krishna Reaches Out on Janmashtami
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON Wellington

Bhakti is ahaituky apratihatā. It can neither be achieved through mundane efforts nor be terminated by any mundane cause (SB 1.2.6). But bhakti can be obtained and nurtured in the association of Lord’s devotees. It can be ignited and spread through the association of Vaishnavas. It was this knowledge, faith and desire to spread the love for Godhead that spurred the outreach Janmashtami program for the greater Wellington urban region. This year, devotees from Wellington’s Journey of Self Discovery (JOSD) group under the guidance of HG Ambarish Maharaj Das and HG Anang Manjari Devi Dasi, chose to celebrate the advent of Lord Sri Krishna with the community in Upper Hutt city. 

Ujjain Yatra Sri Avantika Dhama
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Hare KrishnaBy Chandan Yatra Das

Ujjain is an ancient holy city on the bank of the Kshipra River, today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Ujjain is the place where Lord Krishna, along with Balarama and Sudama, received education from Maharishi Sandipani. Ujjain is one of the four sites in India that host the Kumbh Mela (also called the Simhastha Mela), once in 12 years. On the occasion of Simhastha Kumbh Mela the divinity and spiritual aroma of Ujjain meets its highest peak when millions of pilgrims take dips and worship sacred River Kshipra. The Garuda Purana enumerates seven sacred cities (Sapta Moksha Puri) as giver of Moksha (Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kasi, Kanchi, Avantika, Dwarka); Ujjain or Avantika is one among these seven sacred cities. Lord Ramacandra along with Sita-devi and Laxmana also came to Ujjain. Lord Ramacandra performed the ‘Pind-dan’ ceremony for His father Dasaratha at the Ram Ghat on the bank of Kshipra river, which is the famous holy site of Kumbh Mela.

How to separate personality from humility? Can a strong person be humble?
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma das

Can a person with low self-esteem be spiritually advanced? Can a person with healthy self-esteem not be spiritually advanced? Is there an absolute correlation between the two? Yes, to the first two questions. But if one has low self-esteem, it can be an impediment because of the need to pull others down. Of course, high self-esteem doesn’t guarantee spiritual advancement, but generally such persons have an easier time confronting and dealing with their faults. I find that many of the devotee’s problems come from not loving themselves, that is they neglect their sadhana because they don’t care enough about themselves to be strict. Also, they may offend devotees, not always because of spiritual weakness, but because of negative psychological factors.

Srila Prabhupada’s granddaughter Smriti “Baby” Warrier
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Hare KrishnaBy Giriraj Swami

My Vyasa-puja Offering to Srila Prabhupada. Last month your spiritual granddaughter Smriti “Baby” Warrier (now Sravana Dasi) lost her son in a tragic accident at the railroad. When I wrote to offer my condolences, I was wonderstruck by her reply: “Thank you for your kind blessings and prayers for our son Nrsimha Guru. Due to the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we are all blessed with our journey in Krishna consciousness. In such a situation all we can see is Krishna’s hand and how He orchestrated the whole incident. Though it is the most horrific thing I have experienced, I am at peace, as I see the Lord in it. “Twenty-two years ago Srimati Radharani put two beautiful Vaishnavas in my lap, and now She has asked for one back. I can only be thankful for those twenty-two years with him. I am proud that he was strong on his devotional path. He had just finished his Disciples Course and gotten his recommendation letter and was chanting a chapter of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. The morning of the accident he had been chanting his japa, so by Srila Prabhupada’s grace he was in good consciousness. I am proud of all his accomplishments, and now that his karma here is over, he has progressed to serving Srila Prabhupada elsewhere.”

Mother Kulangana: a Life and Legacy of Devotion
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Mohan Das

Mother Kulangana was always known as a kind and gentle soul with a nature as sweet as her service. She will be missed by so many – the majority of the community cannot even recall a time when she was not present in their lives. Although she leaves this world behind, her legacy lives on. And in every soft mangal arati sweet the devotees of Bhaktivedanta Manor offer to Sri Sri Radha Gokulanada, there will reside the memory of Mother Kulangana’s soft and sweet devotion. Mother Kulangana’s life will remain an inspiration for generations to come. Her dedication to Srila Prabhupada set the highest example. Day and night she read Srila Prabhupada’s books and listened to his lectures. In her departure she only wanted to listen to his chanting. She taught us how to overcome adversity, how to become absorbed in devotional service, how to maintain complete chastity and enthusiasm in our spirituality, and most of all, how to dedicate one’s mind, body and words in the service of the Lord.

Sacred Ground
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Hare KrishnaBy Indradyumna Swami

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s exposition was divided into two sections, spiritual and secular, with items collected from every part of India, and the whole extravaganza covering more than one square mile. The secular division demonstrated miscellaneous departments of human endeavour, medical, educational, agricultural, arts and crafts, cattle and livestock, child welfare, athletics, and amusements. Several provincial governments sent materials to be displayed. Other attractions were performances of athletic feats such as gymnastics, wrestling, boxing, sword and stick play, and jujitsu. There were musical competitions, dramas, film shows, a circus, and in the words of the Harmonist, ‘other varieties of innocent amusements.’ Prizes, medals, and certificates were awarded to deserving exhibitors and performers.

Look Up To The Strugglers
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Hare KrishnaBy Kesava Krsna Dasa

Once, the late Madhudvisa Prabhu asked Srila Prabhupada, “What pleases you the most? Book distribution pleases you. Deity worship pleases you. What really pleases you?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “By struggling for Krishna…,” that was pleasing. This was related to us by HH Giriraja Maharaja. Many things pleased Srila Prabhupada, like doing book distribution, looking after our children, doing deity worship and so on, but to “struggle” for Krishna has a wider concern, because it affects each and every one of us. We all have our own personal Kurukshetra battles to contend with as we practice Krishna consciousness.

Honouring the Crest Jewel of All Gurus
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Communication

Due to the enthusiasm of the devotees of the Mayapur community, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja celebration has grown over the years, and has now become a six day festival. Many departments of Mayapur join together to host glorifications of Srila Prabhupada on different days. These festivals are so sweet and personal; they keep the devotees constantly absorbed in gratitude for Srila Prabhupada, and allow them to express that gratitude to him.

New Govardhana Kirtana News
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Hare KrishnaBy Jhulan devi dasi

I remember watching a kirtana festival some years ago. I saw a devotee wearing a t-shirt with the wording: ‘This is what we do,’ which was quite impressive. Actually, chanting the holy name in congregation is indeed what Hare Krishna devotees are supposed to do. Now different kirtana events are happening more and more at New Govardhana. Did you know that there is kirtana every night at the temple? Feel free to come to the temple at 7pm for a lively kirtana. Resident brahmachari Suratanatha dasa says, “Bhakta Mark and I used to have kirtana after evening prasadam at the temple. It was Shyamamrita mataji who encouraged us to do so more often. So we started to sing every night in the temple room and more people became involved. Now we have regular devotee attendance. “Kirtana is great for the community because everyone can easily get together through chanting. We want to keep this happening,” he says.

The 16Th Annual Padayatra In Slovenia
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Hare KrishnaBy Aradhikā Radha dasi and Gaurangi dasi

Padayatra is one of the biggest preaching programs of the year in Slovenia. For the past fourteen years Slovenian devotees have been organising a walk every summer. By walking in different sections each year they have covered the entire country, which is not a difficult task since Slovenia is a small coutry of 2 million people (less than 1/6 of Moscow’s population) with a superficy of 20 000 square kms, the size of Costa Rica or Macedonia, and 1/32 the superficy of France.

Canadian Family’s Journey in Simple Living Takes Them to New Vrindaban
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhava Smullen

Neither Filippo Paonessa nor his wife-to-be Sukhayanti Dasi had any previous experience in cow protection or agriculture when they met at the Toronto ISKCON temple. But they found that they were both inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s words on simple living and shared a desire to follow them practically. Sukhayanti had grown up in Israel and traveled the world in her twenties, meeting devotees at a Rainbow Gathering in Germany in 2005. Attracted by their authenticity, she visited the farm temple of Simhachalam in the Bavarian forest and decided she wanted to join ISKCON.

Maharashtra TOVP Tour an Amazing Success
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Hare KrishnaBy Sunanda Das

15 days, 11 temples and $1 million U.S. in pledges! This was the amazing result of the first tour to the small temples of the Maharashtra region of Western India. Inspired by the amazing success of his recent Vyasa Puja TOVP fundraising event which also raised $1 million U.S., His Holiness Lokanath Maharaja, Chairman of the Western India District Council, personally orchestrated the recent first leg of the Maharashtra tour, calling temple leaders on the phone every day and creating a transcendental competition to give more to the TOVP. Every single devotee enthusiastically responded to this ‘Call to Action’. Even devotees who had given at his Vyasa Puja celebration upgraded their pledges, being overwhelmed by the ecstatic mood of the competition and festival of kirtan and abhisheka for Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimha’s Sitari.

Devotees celebrate with Festival of Chariots in San Francisco
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Hare KrishnaBy Tara Duggan

Troupes of neon-vested Segway riders and strolling tourist families exploring Golden Gate Park on Sunday made way for an especially vibrant interruption: the Festival of Chariots, an annual Hindu parade and celebration with roots going back millennia in India. Held since 1967 in San Francisco, the festival drew hundreds of smiling worshipers who helped pull three large chariots along John F. Kennedy Drive that carried likenesses of Lord Jagannath — who to many Hindus is known as Lord of the Universe or Krishna — his brother, Lord Baladeva, and his sister, Subhadra. Men knelt to touch their forehead to the ground and women in jewel-toned saris danced with the procession. The large wooden carts were painted with elephants and swans, draped with garlands of carnations, and capped by tall red tents meant to resemble temples. “This is a way to bring the lord outside and into the park,” said Haladhara Rupa of Dublin, who wore a traditional purple-blue kurta, or long shirt, and billowing white dhoti pants over bright green running shoes. “You can bring the lord in a joyous way.”