Author Archives: Dandavats

By Bhakti Chaitanya Swami

Srila Prabhupada: In 1936, just on the 13th, December, I wrote him one letter. Not 13th. I think by the beginning of December, 1936, I wrote one letter to Guru Maharaja. I knew he was little kind upon me, so I wrote that “Guru Maharaja, you have got many disciples. I am also one of them. But they are doing direct service to you. Some of them are brahmacaris, some of them sannyasis, but I am a householder. I cannot…” Of course, I was giving sometimes some monetary help, but I could not give any direct service, so I asked him that “If there is any particular service I can do for you?” So that letter was replied in 13th December, dated 13th December, from Puri. And he passed away on the 31st December. Just a fortnight before. So the reply was the same as he wanted me to do this preaching work in 1922, when I first met him, that “You try to preach whatever you have learned from me to the English-knowing people in English. That will do good to you and to the people to whom you shall preach. That is my instruction.” From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada’s Appearance Day – Los Angeles, February 7, 1969

Madhav Charan das: To kick off the World Holy Name Week, ISKCON of Houston is delighted to announce the launch of Kirtan Fest 2017 this upcoming Labor Day weekendRead More…

By TOVP staff

We are pleased and excited to announce the wonderful success of the first TOVP fundraising tour of 2017 in Gujarat, India. Pledges were in excess of $1.5 million and we left with the overwhelming feeling that Lord Nityananda is Himself in charge of this historic project and is blessing us. On January 28th, under the shelter of Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimha’s Sitari, the TOVP Team consisting of Jananivas prabhu, Ambarisa prabhu, Mother Svaha and Braja Vilas prabhu made their way to Gujarat for a nine day tour of the cities of Vallabh Vidyanagar, Baroda, Surat and Ahmedabad, organized by His Grace Yasomatinandana prabhu. We held programs at all the major temples as well as with private groups of business people, speaking simply and plainly the glories of this project. We didn’t know what to expect considering the uncertain financial situation in India.

By Bhanu Swami HH Bhanu Swami Maharaja is one of the senior disciples of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He holds a BA Degree in Oriental fine ar…

By Vaisesika Das

It is mentioned that a doctor will not let the last vestige of the disease stay within the body of the person, so Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna are vigilant to weed out the last vestiges in the devotee and the devotee is cooperating the hard way is to drag one’s legs. The easy way is we call VLCs, the Voluntary Life Changers. We see it coming, we see there is an opportunity so rather than wait until it’s done to you so you are forced to surrender.

By Mahatma das

If a case of illicit sex between a man and an unmarried woman were brought before Prabhupada, he never blamed the woman. He said it is the man’s fault because the man is supposed to be strong and intelligent, and that a woman naturally and innocently follows a man. A man’s role is to protect and provide. Protection and exploitation are opposites. So if a woman went along with a man’s sexual aggression, Prabhupada wouldn’t blame her.

By Narahari das Drona hung a wooden bird from a tree and asked each prince to shoot at the bird’s eye. First the eldest prince, Yudhishthira, was asked to try. When he aimed at the bird, Drona asked him, “what do you see in front of you?” Yudhisthira a…

By Kalakantha dasa

We can turn to Krishna in any circumstance and be completely satisfied. We may understand this theoretically, but it may take a lifetime to fully live on this platform. We need to be ideal in our behavior and have integrity to represent Srila Prabhupada. Association and practice can help us in this. To say “I will only do my propensity” or for me to completely deny my propensity are both unsustainable. Do not tell the students they must give up this or that. Invite them to add chanting and prasadam to their college experience. If they do that, they will get some realization and will progress spiritually. Even when face to face with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Prahlada Maharaja did not forget his guru. Srila Prabhupada said choosing a guru is more important than choosing a spouse. Srila Prabhupada said that the siksa and diksa gurus are equal and identical manifestations of Krishna. The diksa guru is a single person who gives the mantra, gives a spiritual name, frees one from his karma, and takes responsibility of delivering the disciple, in addition to giving instruction.

Rupeshgauranga Dasa: So many times we have heard from friends, colleagues or from many others saying I felt in love with her/him or saying I have given my heart to her/him etc.Read More…

By Shaunaka Rsi dasa A lecture, given in Iskcon DC, Potomac. What is Iskcon’s position in relation to the democratic system of government? Is it true that the brahmanas adopt anarchy, ksatriyas adopt monarchy, vaisyas apply capitalism and sudras follo…

By Malati Devi Dasi Of course, Srila Prabhupada did something wonderful that no other previous acharya had done, and that is he actually brought life to the words of Lord Caitanya who said that His names will be chanted in every town and village. Prior…

By Brahmananda dasa In 1971 Prabhupada was having big public programs in India, and one evening an Arya Samajist challenged Prabhupada. He said, “Oh, Swamiji, you have come to India with your western chelas, but we know all these things. This is our cu…

By Kripamoya Dasa Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa simply to reach out to those who would only take His messages seriously if He did so. The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan were known as the greatest philosophers, and yet they took the time and tro…

By Abhay das

n February 7th, Bhaimi Ekadasi, Srila Prabhupada disciple Gopinatha Acarya Prabhu disappeared at New Govardhan Farm in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, where he had cared for Krishna’s land, cows and bulls for decades. Well known in the seventies and early eighties for his dedication to book distribution, he later became one of our movements great teachers of simple living and high thinking. I stayed on New Govardhan for a number of years and was fortunate to have had his association. I wanted to share some of my experiences of this great soul. There are many others who knew him better than I and hopefully they will come forward with more remembrances. Gopinath Acarya Prabhu had the personal association of Srila Prabhupada during his visits to Australia, and his angelic countenance (He joined ISKCON in 1973 at the tender age of 16) can be seen next to His Divine Grace in photographs and on film, often offering a camara.

By Yamuna Devi One morning, soon after our arrival at Kailash Seksaria’s home, Srila Prabhupada called on a male devotee to chant the new melody of Gurvastakam. After two lines of the prayer, he asked him to stop and then requested another devotee to c…

By Babhru das

Essential to Bhaktivinoda’s revolutionary view was the understanding that Lord Chaitanya was not exaggerating when He said that His name would be sung in every town and village around the world. Bhaktivinoda wrote in his monthly journal Sajjana-tosani, “Sriman Mahaprabhu did not descend with His associates to deliver a certain number of human beings in the land of India, but rather His purpose was to deliver and uplift all living beings in all countries of the world by practicing the eternal religion of all souls.” He quoted a verse from Chaitanya-bhagavata in which the Lord predicted, “My name will be preached in all the countries and towns that exist throughout the world.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura then expressed his heart’s desire: “There are many kinds of religion in the world, and among all of them the highest development of religion is the congregational chanting of the Supreme Lord’s divine names. Of this there is no doubt. Alas! When will that day come when greatly fortunate souls in countries such as England, France, Russia, Prussia, and America will take up banners, kettle drums, mådaìgas and karatalas and thus cause the ecstatic waves of Harinama-kirtana and the singing of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Holy Name to rise in the streets of their towns and cities? O when will that day come, when pure and transcendental Vaisnava-prema will be the only religion of all souls and all tiny sectarian religions will meet in the unlimited and universal religion of Vaisnavism as rivers merge into the great ocean? O when will that day come?”

Giriraj dasa: This is the potency and the result of regularly, and carefully, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Rupeshgauranga Dasa: Although it’s a book of inspiration hardly anyone of us are interested now a days in opening it to see what’s written in it.Read More…

By Bhakti Gauravani Goswami Srila Prabhupada spoke about this in 1977. This is exactly 40 years ago in Bhubaneshwar, right? He spoke about Varaha’s appearance. He said “Ramadi murti su kala niyamena.” Krishna, the original adi pursua, is taking various…

By Yogeshvara Dasa As visitors to India travel north by car from Kolkata, the landscape gradually shifts from urban sprawl to pastoral farmland. High-rise housing and industrial construction sites give way to a flat horizon of villages and rice paddies…

By Srutadeva das The kirtana was uproarious as Prabhupada entered the airport with the devotees. He was leaving New York after their first, wonderful Ratha-yatra (July 1976). The kirtana grew more intense as he went through the security check. Hari Sau…

By Sri Radharamana dasa If money is the means, then what is the goal? Over 2,300 people around the world tuned in Live where 200 selected local industrialists and leaders gathered in the heart of Cape Town to hear from an ISKCON Swami and celebrity ban…

By Vijaya Dasa After losing the No. 1 position to Mayapur for a couple of years, New Delhi again is the No. 1 temple worldwide, with 1,050,559 book points in 2016. There is always a close transcendental competition between Russia and the USA. Well, in…

By BVV Narasimha Swami In the Caitanya Bhagavata there is a description how one day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had been hearing the glories of Lord Varaha. And while He was relishing the mood of Lord Varaha, He came to the home of Murari Gupta. And at t…

By Chandan Yatra Das “EKACHAKRA”: “EKA” means one and “CHAKRA” means wheel; this place is named “Ekachakra” because this is the place where the chariot-wheel fell, which Lord Sri Krishna took to kill Bhismadeva on the Battle of Kurukshetra. Ekachakra i…

By Akruranatha Dasa In Srimad-Bhagavatam culture, there is not such a breakdown between prosaic reality and poetic metaphor. Actual reality is far more enchanted and magical and strange than our modern scientific, mechanistic, deracinated conception. T…

By Gaur Govinda Swami How long will you sleep in the lap of the ugly witch Maya? How long? You have already slept for such a long time, lakhs and lakhs of lives. Do you want to sleep in the lap of the ugly witch Maya? Mahaprabhu is your only well-wish…

By Mahatma Das The husband as the guru of the wife is an interesting topic. Some men operate under the paradigm that since I am the guru of my wife, she is duty-bound to do anything I ask of her. I am not saying it is not the duty of the wife to submis…

By Krishna-kripa Das

“This idea of love in relation to the Supreme Person can be compared with the ‘universal love’ mentioned in many UFO communications. These communications often define the ultimate One as an impersonal energy or force. Yet love is something having to do with persons. If the One is impersonal in nature, then how can love have a truly universal role? Note that this problem does not come up in modern scientific theories. According to modern science, love is simply a recent outgrowth of hominid evolution in Africa, and it has nothing to do with ultimate causes. But if the personal quality of love is a fundamental feature of nature, then it is natural to ask how this could be. If there is a Transcendental Person behind the universe, then the answer is that the universe was crafted according to the loving intentions of that person.”

By The Times of India Ahmedabad: Alfred Brush Ford and his wife Sharmila organized a fundraiser at Iskcon temple on Saturday evening for the ambitious Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir (Temple of the Vedic Planetarium). Ford had started his Gujarat travel…

By Urmila Devi Dasi What are the principles that make the difference in whether or not children take up Krishna consciousness? Here are four powerful and effective keys regardless of where your children go to school, where you live, or what your family…

By Andrew Hallum I was repeatedly asked, “What was Jim like in school?” Well, you know, that was quite a few years ago. I had even forgotten, or just not given a thought to the fact that Jim and I lived in the same cabin in summer camp. I forgot that u…

By His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada This is a very important verse. The modern scientists, philosophers, they say that after finishing this body, we no more exist, finished, everything finished. This is not new. In olden times also t…

By Matsyavatar das

Normality and illness only exist in the illusionary vision of man. In reality, there is only the immense path of spiritual evolution, characterized by vicissitudes, incidents, stages, progresses, stasis, deviations, falls and imprisonments. Certain incidents are isolated and classified by medicine and psychology as “illness”. Then medicine and psychology study them under an unconscious perspective and do not take under account the evolution context in which they are inserted. These sciences can still obtain respectable, considerable and useful short-term results, but these are only limited to the symptoms. They can also have a certain prevention capability, however the entity and means of their cure and prevention cannot go beyond to reach the substance. This is because they are not contextualized into reality and into the process of spiritual evolution, which are mostly invisible even though they are sometimes remotely perceivable.

By Sri Nandanandana dasa In spite of what a person who is suffering depression may think, it is actually very easy to overcome depression from a spiritual point of view. It is not at all as difficult as one imagines. And this is a major issue, since it…

By Karnamrita Das and Arcana siddhi Devi Dasi Chanting the holy name and engaging in Bhakti-yoga (Krishna consciousness or devotional service) is the ultimate process of purification and healing in our tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The process of c…

By Kesava Krsna Dasa We all practice sadhana-bhakti, and to achieve perfection in it by taking another happy birth enables a Vaisnava/i to associate with and obtain blessings from those eternally liberated souls forever serving with the Lord. In this …

By Dusantya Das

Like so many things, both Economy and Cow Protection can exist in the Mode of Ignorance, the Mode of Passion and the Mode of Goodness. And although the Economic models can be perceived easily through the different modes of Nature, its way more difficult to differentiate Cow Protection within the different modes of Nature. It’s only been within the last 20 years or so that Cow Protection has taken on any kind of form. That it is not just a bunch of cows hanging around a field with red hands all over them and old Maha garlands hanging dishevelled on their horns. At least, on some Cow Protection projects it has been realised there are models to follow, albeit within the two lower modes of nature.

By Kalakanta Das A recent presentation in Bhaktivedanta Manor about Iskcon Gainesville’s, (Florida, USA) successful program of bringing in new devotees. Focusing on recruiting, preparing the proper environment, tolerate breaking secondary rules and cor…