Author Archives: Dandavats

By Mayapur Communication

Srila Prabhupada said that to honor festivals such as Rama Navami and Vamana Dvadasi, a small boy could play the part of Krishna’s incarnation and the devotees could worship him accordingly. So every year in ISKCON Mayapur, a young gurukula boy takes on the role of Lord Vamanadeva. At midday on Sri Vamana Dvadasi, the curtains of the altar are drawn back to reveal that Lord Vamanadeva has appeared. A young brahmachari boy stands on the altar, dressed in a saffron dhoti and deerskin, and wearing a flower garland. He carries a chatram, or umbrella, in one hand and a kamandalu, or waterpot, in the other.

Position of Radha Krishna’s Worship, Krishna’s Devotion for His Devotees, the Divine Appearance of Srimati Radharani and moreRead More…

Just before the annual Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur in 1986, Campakalata Devi, along with three other sakhis, was installed and joined Sri Sri Radha Madhava on the altar.Read More…

KITCHEN MANAGER service opportunity at ISKCON Bhaktivedanta ManorRead More…

HH Sacinandana Swami invites everyone to “Mantra Party” in Lithuania on the 23-24th of September.

By Gour Govinda Swami “The love of Radhika is My teacher, and I am Her dancing pupil. Her prema makes Me dance various novel dances.”(Cc, Adi-lila 4.121-124) “You will find three topics in radha-prema. Radha-prema is so powerful that it makes Krsna, …

By Madhava Smullen

Themed “Back to the Basics,” the aim of the conference is not only to discuss the big picture end result; but also to provide practical first steps and a support network for those who feel inspired to carry out Prabhupada’s instructions on simple living, yet lack the experience or knowledge. ECO-V General Manager Ranaka Das, who has served at New Vrindaban for over forty years, will give participants a tour of the cow protection facilities along with a history of New Vrindaban’s cow protection program – the first in the Western World.

By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada Dear Swami, Your philosophy states that the soul or Self is eternal, and that God, the Supreme Self, is also eternal. If this is so, then how is God to be considered the Creator ? Sincerely, Mary Welch. …

By ISKCON YOUTH FORUM Delhi

Udgaar is a youth festival organized by ISKCON Youth Forum, Delhi at regular intervals for inspiring the youths to develop the natural goodness of the heart and persuade them to share it with others. The festival witnessed participation of more than 500 youths from different nook and corner of Delhi-NCR. The festival was presided by many dignitaries like R.P. Singh, BJP national secretary, Gopal Krishna Aggrawal, BJP Spokesperson and others. The festival started with video show and melodious kirtans by devotees which mesmerized the youths assembled. After this exuberant and spiritually enlivening opening, the chief guests performed the Lamp-lightening ceremony in accordance with the Vedic aphorism “Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamya”. This was followed by a seminar on the topic” Transcendental Transformers” by HG Amogha Lila Pr, Vice President ISKCON Dwarka and visiting faculty in IIM Ahamdabad and IIT Patna. He spell bound the youths present with his pragmatic and logical presentation of Krishna Consciousness. The seminar was followed by events like drama, rock show and sumptuous prasadam which helped the audience to relish the variety of Krishna Consciousness in a most pleasing and palatable manner.

By Vijaya das For the month of july, in the Large Temple category, the temple that had the biggest increase, percentage wise, over last year was Ujjain, with 2,740 book points. Krsna and Balarama attended gurukula not far from there. But the highest sc…

By Vaisesika Dasa Our congratulations to you for the extraordinary work you are doing to inundate the world with Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental literatures. Lord Krishna’s topmost devotees, the Gopis, glorify your service: The nectar of Your words …

By Vaishnava Das

On Sunday, August 27th, a beautiful sunny day in New York City, congregation members of the ISKCON Brooklyn Hare Krishna temple and other sangas gathered in Tompkins Square Park for a Community Picnic. The day started off with HH Chandrasekhar Swami leading an upbeat kirtan in the north end of the park. The mrdanga, karatalas and chanting could be heard from outside the park, even from the south side- even though a large Jazz festival was getting ready for their afternoon program, and we had no amplification! A large group of devotees had already gathered and were chanting when HH Bhakti Charu Swami and HG Hansarupa das arrived, and the kirtan’s momentum picked up.

The most awaited festival of Sri Sri Jagannath, Baldeva Subhdra Rath Yatra in Vrindavan will be celebrating on 25th Oct 2017Read More…

Sri Janmastami is celebrated with much grandeur all over the world, because it is the birthday celebration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.Read More…

This year’s Janmashtami festival was a grand five-day long celebration (Aug 12th -16th) at ISKCON Coimbatore.Read More…

Srimati Visakha is the foremost gopi, along with Lalita devi, among the eight principle sakhis, or girlfriends, of Srimati Radhika. Visakha’s father is Pavana, her mother is Sudaksina and her husband is Vahika.Read More…

The conference, themed “The 10th Anniversary -Back to Basics,” will be facilitated by New Vraja Dhama also known as Krishna Valley.

By Krishna Dharma Dasa

This question has probably caused more people to lose their faith than anything else. Why does God sit peacefully in his cloud or wherever, feet up and smoking his pipe, while we suffer all kinds of grim miseries down here on earth? The best answers we can usually manage are: a) He can’t do anything about it, b) He is mean and nasty, or c) He is not there at all. Obviously these three conclusions mean our faith is gone or as good as gone. So are there any other answers? In my short book “Why Me?”, I explore this question. Mainly based upon the Bhagavad-gita, I try to find an answer that leaves us believing in a good and indeed almighty God (who doesn’t smoke a pipe:). I also look at a number of other traditions and secular philosophies to see what they have to say on the matter.

By Shaunaka Rsi DasSunday Open House Talk at ISKCON of DC. The six Bhagavad-gita values. What is the relevance of our tradition. How can we include the teachings of the gita in modern day life. Millions of people actually practice the gita every day. S…

Walking across America, Bhaktimarga has been attacked by wasps, birds, and even a grizzly. But this walking monk laughs about his bouts with nature and promotes walking with a purpose.Read More…

By Bhaktin Diksha

“We would like to see this develop as a marathon,” says HH Lokanath Swami. “We want everyone’s participation. From GBCs to ABCs, everybody must be a part of this endeavour which glorifies the Holy Name and glorifies Srila Prabhupada – the one who shared this gift with the world at large.” This year also marks the centurial anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the USA. Therefore, this year’s theme is called ‘Srila Prabhupada’s gift to the world’. For this event, the team has invited coordinators from all the temples and centres across the world to hold programs like japa marathons, harinams, seminars on the Holy Name and Nagar Sankirtans.

By Yogesvara Das The hero of India’s epic Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, is at a crossroad. He is intelligent, well-intending, and overwhelmed by a dilemma we all might recognize: the apparent incompatibility of worldly responsibilities and other-worldly aspir…

By Satyaraja Dasa When you’re actually on the platform of love of God, you understand your relationship with God: “I am part and parcel of God – and this dog is also part and parcel of God. And so is every other living entity.” Then you’ll extend your …

Iskcon Mayapur: Lalita devi’s favourite instrument is the vina, and her favourite tune is raga Bhairava-kalingada. She specialises in serving tambula, betel nut to the Divine Couple. She can be seen offering a chamara whisk to Sri Sri Radha Madhava on…

By Balaram Nityananda Das At the beginning of this year, I found out that one of my close friends, JD (a.k.a Janakinath) got diagnosed with cancer. When I spent time living as a monk, he gave me a lot of support and guidance, as he is and has been a mo…

By Chaitanya Charan Das It was 3.45 am at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. I was at the guestroom of the ISKCON temple, waiting for the ride that would take me to the airport for my flight to Panama. Shanta Vigraha P, the devotee who had coordinated…

By 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.

By 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. 

By 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.

By Gour Govinda Swami It is the causeless mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga that I came here to meet you all, I am very happy at such causeless mercy of Guru and Gauranga. Unless one gets such mercy, how can one cross over this dreadful ocean of mater…

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 July 2017. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Indiv…

By 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.

By Jagabandhu das Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada perfectly exemplified flawless devotion of the highest order, yet many are his severe cautions and stern admonishments against the impatient and impetuous impudence of those exceeding…

By Lokanath Swami Srila Prabhupada, you mercifully employed me as one of your office boys in this mission to spread Krishna consciousness. It is for this reason that Bombay has special significance for me. It was my spiritual birthplace.I was conceive…

By Vaishnava das It was a beautiful sunny New York afternoon, with a slight cooling breeze and the familiar scent of incense wafting out the front door of the 26 2nd Ave storefront, the birthplace of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness …

By 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.”

By the ISKCON Deity Worship MinistryThe Vaisnava sampradayas mark significant samskaras with various functions and strive to establish in the minds and hearts of all involved the nature of the living entity as an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. In…

By His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Because of my state of complete foolishness and paucity of pious activities, although the Lord offered me His personal service, I wanted material name, fame and prosperity. The conclusion is that…

By Srutadeva Das The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them.Read More…