Author Archives: Dandavats

By Radhanath Swami A devotee has given his whole life to serve this mission, and then he becomes very sick. He needs help. He lays sick on the floor “I can’t do my service.” And we say, “You are in maya. You are not the body.” “Thank you. Philosophical…

By Bhaktimarga Swami Another verse from the Bhagavad-gita confirms the notion of chatting on spiritual topics. Such activity brings about the greatest joy. If we talk of practical matters we may get bored. If we talk of purely mundane matters that ar…

By Urmila Devi Dasi Surrender to the Supreme Whole is not an abnegation of will but a willful decision to “respond rightly to the dancing of Krishna” rather than dance independently, as Prabhupada writes in Krishna, Chapter 33. He also says that the wh…

By Mahatma Das

A devotee asked Prabhupada for help, saying that he was not able to follow the four rules. Prabhupada looked sternly at him and said, “If you do not follow the regulative principles, then no one can help you’.” Following the practices of Krsna consciousness is the platform from which help comes. It is not that we attract mercy by virtue of the fact that we are so fallen that we can’t follow or don’t try to follow. To think this way only perpetuates the problem. Devotees feel in great need of mercy, not because they are having difficulty following principles or vows, but because they don’t feel they are spiritually advanced and thus need help.

By Indradyumna Swami If the opulence or knowledge of many millions of universes were clustered together, they would hardly equal a small fragment of the glory of Krsna’s holy name. Krsna’s holy name is my life. It is the goal of my life. It is the mean…

By Bhakti Prabhava Swami Srila Prabhupada recommends that we prepare ourselves for death by training our minds to constantly remember the Lord and His holy names. We should become capable of continuously remembering the Lord, even amidst the disturbanc…

By Chaitanya Charan das Frustration gives way to illumination during one extraordinary night in the life of a prostitute. While prostitutes are often depicted negatively in traditional literature, some religious texts depict them positively as testimo…

By Antaryami das In the Dallas temple, before the devotees and the Deities in early 1983, H.H. Tamal Krsna Goswami read out a letter from Srila Prabhupada: “My dear Tamal, the temple is likened to a military training camp where persons come and are tra…

By Kesava Krsna dasa

Albert Einstein had the insight to observe that two things were infinite: [1] Human stupidity and [2] The cosmos. But he wasn’t too sure about the second one.. There was one sagely looking fellow, a Mr. Darwin, who when analyzing the complexities of an eye, saw the absurdity of his own evolution theory, but has to his credit, convinced of the subsequent need to institutionalize his theory in school text books worldwide. When our children go to school to be indoctrinated with the thesis that we are just walking mechanistic soul-less bags of chemicals, which yell ouch! when its c-fibers are firing, being mere units of stardust hurtling mindlessly through outer space for no reason whatsoever, except through the velocity of the fateful detonation at the beginning of time, a nasty trend is set.

By Gokulananda das Through their inspired and enlightening writings, the world can now drink deeply at the inexhaustible fountain of truth of Gaura-vani, His perfect theistic revelations. Although amply confirmed in many Vedic scriptures, His divinity …

By Caitanya Visnu Das

On 5th January 2016, The ISKCON Dar Es Salaam, centre was opened by HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. A Yagna and Abhishek were performed to please their Lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. The ceremonies were performed by H.G Seva Atula Das, H.G Radhadyuti Das and H.G Caitanya Visnu Das. Local devotees had travelled from Nairobi to perform Kirtan at the festivals. H.G Umapatti describes the scene” The people of Dar are very simple; most people live in the city. They respect a lot. Very easy to preach. With 50% population being followers of the Muslim tradition and the other 50% Christians still there is so much support, even when we go Harinam they chant and dance.”

By Vikramini devi dasi Looking at the ruins of what we’ve been calling until recently Western civilization, I can say that the mankind is illogical and irrational. Led by misguided and selfish leaders, people themselves planned and led their existence …

By Mahatma Das 1. When taking over a position, department, project, preaching center, temple, etc., to immediately begin making drastic changes. 2. To play favorites or to speak against or criticize certain sections of devotees. 3. To do or say anyt…

By Vaishnava Das It’s a scene that has been repeated countless times on the thoroughfares of cities throughout the Western world-from Hollywood Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in America, to London’s Oxford Street and the Champs Elysees in Paris. There, in…

David: Bhakti Centre is a unique project, inspired by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who wanted to open a Youth Hostel in London to distribute Hari Katha.Read More…

By Nrsimha Kavaca dasa

Mayapur Academy has had great success over the past 10 years, yet it is not always easy for devotees to be away from their service or home for four months. To address this challenge faced by some devotees, ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry is now bringing Mayapur Academy to the world of ISKCON for the first time. This April, ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry, partnering with ISKCON Villa Vrindavan, will expand its offerings by conducting a 12-week training program at beautiful Villa Vrindavan. Villa Vrindavan will become a regional campus of the Mayapur Academy and offer course units in temple worship, brahminical culture & ethics, deity dressing, cooking for the deity, temple festivals (including maha abhisek), jewellry making, and a course in caring for and worshiping Tulasi devi. This will be the first time that devotees will be able to receive comparable training outside of Mayapur, and we encourage all interested devotees to participate.

By Kesava Swami I recently connected with a childhood friend who also became a monk. As you can imagine, we had lots to talk about, and lots in common. In his tradition, one of the monastic vows is to never touch money; and if he does, even by accident…

By Karnamrita Das

Srila Prabhupada has compared chanting the holy name to making ghee. In ghee making, we boil butter, and must work to skim off the “impurities” or milk solids which rise to the surface. Then we will be able to create clarified butter, or ghee, which has so many medicinal properties and uses. This is an interesting analogy which can help us in our daily spiritual practice. We can think of our spiritual practices, like chanting the holy name, as the cleansing fire, that is meant to burn up the impurities or material contaminations. If we expect to go anywhere spiritually we have to keep turning on the fire of purification through the nine processes of bhakti, especially hearing and chanting, so we can remember who we actually are as sparks of Divinity imbued with the serving nature, beyond material changeable designations.

By Urmila Devi Dasi

Our life is full of anguish when others unjustly blame us… we feel offended and angry, and feel a strong urge to defend ourselves. Is there another way, a way to freedom? “For it is in this way that you will begin to gain freedom; soon you will not care if they speak ill or well of you; it will seem like someone else’s business. It will be as if two persons are talking in your presence and you are quite uninterested in what they are saying because you are not actually being addressed by them. So here: it becomes such a habit with us not to reply that it seems as if they are not addressing us at all. This may seem impossible to those of us who are very sensitive and not capable of great mortification. It is indeed difficult at first, but I know that, with the Lord’s help, the gradual attainment of this freedom, and of renunciation and self-detachment, is quite possible.”

His Grace Bhajahari Prabhu, disciple of Srila Prabhupada, left his body in the morning of 21st January 2017. Fittingly it was a Saturday, so an extra large harinama sankirtan party took to the streets of London that evening in his memory.Read More…

By Indradyumna Swami I inched forward to hear better and was stunned when the tallest monk told the crowd about Krsna and the spiritual world. I learned later that what he was speaking is found in the ancient Vedic scripture Brahma-samhita: Krsna is t…

By Dina Dayala dasa Speaking about Jiva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the present-day most influential Gaudiya-Vaisnava organisation, ISKCON, said: “The Vaisnavas are by far the greatest philosophers in the world, and the greatest a…

By Yudhisthir Govinda Das

New Delhi – 21st January, 2017: ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) won a prestigious United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Award for India on 18th January in Madrid, leading over 55 countries in the category of ‘Innovation in Non-Governmental Organizations’. The UNWTO awards are recognized as one of the world’s most coveted awards in the global tourism sector. The 13th edition of this award saw 139 applications from 55 countries. Govardhan Eco Village, spread over 70 acres in Wada near Mumbai is the first Indian NGO to win a UNWTO Award. It was recognized for its ground-breaking work in using eco-tourism to reduce poverty and provide sustainable livelihoods in one of the most backward tribal regions of India.

By Mary Pratt

The phrase I often use in my consulting work is “I hear the words but do not see the behaviour”. That phrase would be absolutely obliterated here because they do exactly as they say. They are rooted in simplicity and never veer from it, staying steadfast in their values. I think more than a few companies would do well to take a page out of the Hare Krishna book because too often a business’s values are blurred with little adherence to them! We had a chance to engage with a local (non-Hare Krishna) couple who visit the temple on a weekly basis with their young child to embrace the food and ambiance. This led me to realise something. Coming from a corporate background where companies are paying thousands to find out how to engage people, it was really interesting speaking to the Hare Krishnas and learning about their beliefs and takes on life and people.

By Radha Mohan Das George Harrison Concert. Soul Expressions Christmas Party. The P.M’s Faith Advisor. Student Explore Science of Spirituality. Children’s Mitzvah Day. The Chief Rabbi. Bulgarian TV. DEVI raises funds for MacMillan Cancer. A Truly Multi…

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 December 2016. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 I…

By Bhurijana dasa Most devotees’ lives and views on devotional service change as their ashram changes. When several devotees pass through ashram changes at approximately the same time-or even if one respected devotee within a temple changes his ashram-…

By Somesh Kumar I first came to know about ISKCON in Pune at around 1998. My sister informed me about the ISKCON temple on the Janmashtami day. First time when I saw the temple structure from outside I felt that it’s not a traditional temple which is …

By His Divine Grace ACBS Srila Prabhupada In September 1969. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya (spiritual master) of the Hare Krsna movement, arrived as a house guest at Tittenhurst Park, the beautiful eighty-acre British estate owned…

By Ramchandra Das In computer parlance a program is defined as a set of step by step instructions given to get the desired output. Usually, even though the program is written perfectly, since the computer just does what is being told in the program, it…

By Kadamba Kanana Swami “Mathura-vasa to reside at Mathura or Vrndavana.” So we must become a resident of Vrndavana. We must realize that Vrndavana is our home. Now you are in Czech republic and I am in New Govardhana, Australia. But part of us is alw…

By Mahatma Das

1. Preaching without trying to understand people’s needs and interests 2. Continuing to speak without determining if people are understanding or accepting what you are saying 3. Not paying attention when people talk 4. Interrupting people when they talk 5. Not letting people talk 6. Speaking in a dogmatic way rather than making a logical and scientific presentation 7. Introducing or speaking elaborately on a very elevated subject that people may not be able to understand 8. Introducing or getting stuck on controversial topics 9. Compromising the truth to speak palatably 10. Not compromising the truth, yet not speaking in a way to get people to accept 11. Not giving enough preliminary explanation on a subject 12. Not relating the subject to people’s practical lives

By Shii and Nel The only thing I knew about the Krishna religion was that it was Indian, duh, and that composers such as Ravi Shankar and George Harrison (being a fan of the Beatles, he was my main role model of my interest in Krishna) made beautiful…

By Bhakti Caru Swami ISKCON is a spiritual organization personally established by Srila Prabhupada. We must take care that it doesn’t become material. Anything (husband-wife relationship, Deity worship, even prasadam) can turn material by one’s conscio…

By Radhanath Swami Narada Muni the great acharya has previously explained to Maharaja Yudhisthira, the story of Prahlada Maharaja who is the perfect example of devotional service. Prahlada Maharaja remained faithful to the words of his spiritual mas…

By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami The arduous sea voyage from Calcutta to Boston was finally over. The lone passenger aboard the cargo ship Jaladuta, a seventy-year-old Indian holy man, had been given free passage by the owner of the Scindia Steamship Company…

By Sivarama Swami I first met my spiritual master on March 6th 1975 in Dallas Texas. Srila Prabhupada had just been in South America and had toured the Southern United States. I was on travelling book distribution with a sankirtan party and had straye…

By Dravida dasa

*Absolutely no offerings will be accepted after April 15, 2017.* Offerings must be in English. Please restrict the length to a maximum of 3,000 words. Please omit all diacritics on words that can be found in the VedaBase. It’s easier for us to put them in. If you quote a verse from outside the VedaBase or compose original Sanskrit, please include diacritics. Do not “recycle” an offering — no offerings from previous years will be accepted. The Vyasa-puja book is meant for glorifying Srila Prabhupada, not venting grievances. The BBT reserves the right to reject an offering it deems inappropriate or to ask for a rewrite. When writing an offering on behalf of a temple or other unit, please try to write in such a way that the other devotees in your unit can also identify with the offering. Who may write an offering?