Author Archives: Dandavats

More Australians putting their faith in Hinduism
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Hare KrishnaBy Krati Garg

Garlands have been pinned to the wheels of the chariot and curries seasoned to perfection for prasadam (a religious offering), while Krishna’s idol is adorned with jewels for public viewing. The occasion is Rath Yatra, or Chariot Festival, organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Held annually to emulate a similar large-scale Rath Yatra at Puri, in India, the festival attracts thousands of Australians to see the Hindu God Krishna — or Jaggannath (Lord of the Universe) — step out of the sanctum of his temple in Albert Park onto the streets of Melbourne for his darshan (viewing). This year, a record 25,000 people took part in the yatra at St Kilda’s Catani Gardens, reflecting Hinduism’s rising popularity in Australia, which is expected to be confirmed in the latest Census as the nation’s fastest growing religion.

Rover Pipeline, LLC Reaches Agreement with Hare Krishna Community
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Hare KrishnaBy Tate Blanchard

Protests took place Thursday and may have paid for those wanting to protect sacred grounds. The case had just wrapped up before 5 P.M. involving the Rover Pipeline in Federal Court according to an attorney for Rover Pipeline, LLC, William Wilmoth with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. There were a number of parties in attendance in Federal Court with concerns about where the Pipeline would be located as it makes its way through the Ohio Valley. Wilmoth said, the last group to be addressed in the last minutes was the Hare Krishna group and Rover had agreed to re-engineer and re-located their plans for the pipeline in a way that will not interfere with the Krishna sacred grounds. That is something Wilmoth said his clients take very seriously and they never want to disrupt any grounds that are sacred to anyone.

Vanipedia is celebrating 10 years in the service of the devotee community worldwide
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Hare KrishnaBy Visnu Murti dasa

In the ecstatic mission to bring Srila Prabhupada teachings to the forefront; our volunteers have frequently connected with me to express their realizations & breakthroughs in their spiritual lives while performing their services for Vanipedia.  It is their experiences and insights that have actively nurtured our convictions in driving Vanipedia’s growth through the years. We wish to thank them for their inspired contribution for the advancement of Srila Prabhupada’s vani on the internet on such a grand scale.

From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir – Srimad Bhagavatam class, February 22, 2017
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Hare KrishnaBy Devamrita Swami

Remember, right before Prabhupada’s departure he said something very extraordinary, because devotees were concerned, they have the big concern, how they would know what to do after Prabhupada’s disappearance in this world. I’ll speak in the context of what previous speakers have informed you that during our sanyasi GBC guru Sanga, so many senior Vaishnavas brought up the point that reading Srila Prabhupada’s book. How we get tremendous renaissance when reading Prabhupada’s books. So, if you recall right before Prabhupada’s departure, the devotees asked, they went in anxiety totally justified how do we know what to do, how do we know how to make the right decisions after your departure. Srila Prabhupada. And he responded very interesting, very interestingly he said come together read my books and discuss them everything will become clear and how to proceed in the future? So we should remember that. Try it because at first our material intelligence will tell us, Look I have got many practical consideration, logistical considerations strategic consideration to make. Just get in together with Vaishnavas, opening Prabhupada’s books, reading them and discussing them, the way forward is with all my practicalities in the material world, they all will become clear, we should try it. We need a renaissance in this approach, then we can evaluate the results. Let’s take this instruction of Srila Prabhupada deeply into our hearts.

Rathyatra in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic
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Hare KrishnaBy Dhaniya devi dasi

The Dominican Republic proved itself to be not only a hotbed of enthusiastic, powerful local devotees, but also a wonderful place for preaching. The people are inquisitive, receptive and looking for an opportunity to learn more about God consciousness. Latin America is brimming with chances to spread the Holy Names and any and all services are welcome from any devotees looking to participate in next year’s festival.

Time for a Revolution
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By Bhakti Vikasa Swami

If you really want to see iskcon a lot stronger than it is at present, and if you are ready to take part in a grassroots revolution, here is a program for you. It is non-political and non-controversial, easy to implement, and with negligible cost, yet it will benefit the whole society of devotees worldwide. The program is that all members of the Krsna consciousness movement should read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Of course, many devotees are already reading Prabhupada’s books, but still, far too many are not. Numerous devotees who have been initiated for ten years or more, and are even brahmana-initiated, have not read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and apparently have never thought of doing so.

From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir – Srimad Bhagavatam class, February 23, 2017
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Hare KrishnaBy Jayapataka Swami

What other avatar thinks how to deliver all the souls? I mean they come into universe, they kill the demons but actually, to think how to get every man, woman and child, how to get everybody all people Krishna Conscious. Where is the other incarnation that have so much mercy. Even as 24 years, he was a grahasta he thought logicians, argumentative students mayavadis, all these people are somehow avoiding me, avoiding my mercy so there he took sanyas. And with that he got all the others. In fact, he went to Banaras, there Kasi Misra and Chandrasekar, Chandrasekar was considered like a sudra. They ate Prasad at the house of Kasi Misra but they stayed at the house of Chandrasekar. But they both approached him. But they couldn’t tolerate hearing all the mayavadi sanyasi criticising Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya, on the way back stopped at Banaras. And then he devised a plan, to liberate the sanyasis. So, a brahmana came and invited for prasadam, he said I have invited all the sanyasis of Banaras. I know that you don’t come, you don’t mix with other sanyasi, but I am begging you, just have mercy on me please come. So, Lord Caitanya agreed. He went and he saw all the mayavadi sanyasis were there, he went by the doorway and washed his feet he offered his obeisance and sat down by the dirty foot water in front of all the brahmanas.

What’s the higher consciousness? How to awaken that Consciousness?
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Hare KrishnaBy Radhanath Swami

Life is a journey. A quest of fulfillment, for seeking pleasure. Some people find that pleasure in wealth, in glory, or other material comforts of life. We are all seeking happiness, but it is within ourselves. If the fish swam deeper in life, it won’t have been bothered by the hawk. But it swam just around life. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna says: A person who has peace within, who is self-realized in consciousness is very deep, like an ocean. The deeper you go in the ocean, the calmer it becomes. The more it becomes unaffected by the storms swirling on the surface .so, one who goes deeper realizes the self. Bhagavad-Gita tells what it to be above it is. Bhagavad-Gita explains different levels of realizations.

ISKCON NA Farm Conference
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhava Smullen

New Vrindaban is set to host the second annual ISKCON North America Farm Conference from October 13th to 15th this year. The GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture, which organized conferences on simple living in four continents last year, is behind the event. The conference, themed “Back to the Basics,” will be facilitated by ECO-Vrindaban and ISKCON New Vrindaban.

Iskcon devotees completed a total of 64 Padayatras for ISKCON50
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Hare KrishnaBy Padayatra Worldwide

In 2016 ISKCON celebrated its 50th anniversary. Every ISKCON leader, member, project and zone was immediately inspired to jump into action. All festivals were geared at glorifying ISKCON and ISKCON’s Founder Acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. We at the Padayatra Ministry gave serious thought as to how we could celebrate this auspicious event. So we pledged to organise fifty Padayatras during this Golden Jubilee Anniversary year. We appealed to everybody far and wide. The response was so overwhelming that we surpassed our own expectations. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the organisers and participants who assisted us in making this offering to ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada possible.

Gaura Purnima Festival begins
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Hare KrishnaBy Gopijana vallab das

With the hoisting of Garuda flag , in a colorful ceremony at Lotus park, HH Bhakti Charu Swami, GBC chairman, announced the official start of Gaura Purnima 2017 festival. As the Garuda flag started raising with divine chanting of Gurukulis & harinam, thousands of colorful flower petals showered all over the devotees with sweet bliss. Assembled Sanyasis broke coconuts as an auspicious way to begin the festival, infront of hundreds of cherring devotees. For the upcoming 21 days, festivities are lined up one after another, beginning from Kirtan Mela and for the next five days, kirtan rasa from Mayapur shall inundate the whole world. HH Gopala Krishna Goswami mentioned that Mayapur Gaura Purnima festival is the mother of all festivals. By coming to Mayapur during the festival, one can recharge his spiritual batteries in the wonderful sanga and go back to their home countries to preach with great vigor to distribute the mercy of Mayapur.

Sri Radha – The Giver Of Never Enough
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Hare KrishnaBy Kesava Krsna Dasa

“You (Sri Krishna) are the playful king of Goloka and She is Your playful companion. When You are the king of Vaikuntha, She, the daughter of Vrsabhanu, is Goddess Lakshmi. When in this world You are Ramachandra, She is Janaka’s daughter Sita. When You are Lord Hari, She is Kamala. When You are Yajna-avatara, She is Sri Daksina, the best of wives. When You are Nrsimha, She is Rama. When You are Nara’s friend Narayana Rsi, She becomes Goddess Santi and follows You like a shadow. When You are Brahman, She is Prakrti. When You are Time, the wise know She is Pradhana. When You are the Mahat-tattva, from which the universes have sprouted, Radha is the potency Maya, filled with the three modes. When You become the four things in the heart [heart, mind, intelligence, and false ego], She becomes the power of understanding something from a hint. When You become the universal form, which includes everything, She becomes the earth”.

Manokwari, West Papua, sees the first Jagannatha Ratha Yatra
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Hare KrishnaBy Harinarayana Das

Day of art and culture of West Papua, Pebruary 6, 2017 was celebrated by cultural parades from all ethnic groups who live in that area. Arts and culture serves as an adequate medium to unite the people. Language in form of arts and culture is universal which everybody can understand. The varied colours of arts and culture makes the world a beautiful place. The cultural parade in Manokwari, capital city of West Papua, attracted many visitors. This also attracted devotees to take the opportunity to spread the glories of Lord Krishna in the land of Papua. The ratha yatra team worked with the Manokwari Hindu Parisad and participated in the cultural parade, pulling Lord Jagannath’s chariot on Ratha Yatra.

Radha Gopinath of Govinda Ghosh
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Hare KrishnaBy Nila Kamal das

On the 20th of February 2017, HH Subhag Swami Maharaj and a group of fifty enthusiastic devotees travelled to Govinda Ghosh’s residence in Agradwip. Govinda Ghosh was a close associate of Mahaprabhu as were his two brothers: Madhava and Vasudeva. The official Navadvip Mandala parikrama starts on the 28th of February, thus Maharaj decided to get us mentally prepared. The Ekadasi after Gour Purnima is the disappearance day of Sri Govinda Ghosh. On this occasion, thousands and thousands of pilgrims travel to Agradwip and visit the samadhi mandir of Govinda Ghosh and his beloved deities; Radha Gopinath. At this sacred place, Maharaj narrated two sweet pastimes of Govinda Ghosh.

Madhavas- The devotional Rock Band
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Hare KrishnaBy Premanjana Das

Our bass guitarist Naam Bhakti Devi Dasi (Namrata Sobti) had an inclination towards Krishna and by chance she once went to the ISKCON temple in Chandigarh. Gradually, she developed a lot of faith in Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and started telling the same to rest of the band members. So, one by one each one of us started going to the temple. The band leader Nirdosh Sobti (now Nav Kishore Nimai Das) was the ‘toughest nut to crack’, so it took a bit of time for him to join others. Other band members knew that if he would build up faith in Krishna Consciousness then he would contribute a lot in the sphere of sankirtan music as he was the only one in the band who was gifted with loads of talent and was teaching other members the basics of music at the same time. He was one the best guitar players in entire North India at that time and later went to become of the best lead guitarist in India.

Chanting 16 rounds Hare Krishna must give result if properly executed
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Hare KrishnaBy Nitai Candra das

“That place, time and condition one must resort to which are favorable for mental concentration. He should resort to that place only, seize that hour only, place himself in that condition only, see those comforts only, which are favorable to securing serenity of mind. For by time, place, etc., there is no peculiarity said to be wrought in meditation, but all inquiry about time, place, etc is meant for making the mind serene.’’

From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir – Srimad Bhagavatam class, February 20, 2017
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Hare KrishnaBy Badrinarayan Swami

HH Badrinarayan Swami has been a member of ISKCON since 1970. He began associating with members of the Hare Krishna movement while still at school and joined the Laguna Beach (California) temple in his eighteenth year. A year later, he took initiation from Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles. Again at an early age, Badrinarayan Swami became a temple president—first at Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1973 to 1977, and then in San Diego from 1978 to 1995. His commitment to the GBC is lengthy, spanning twenty-four years, and he genuinely appreciates his peers as wonderful, kind, intelligent, powerful and humble members of that body, who take on the weight of service and responsibility for the whole society. Remarkably, Badrinarayan Swami has maintained his home base at ISKCON San Diego for the last three decades, which has added to the stability and continuity of the community.