Author Archives: Dandavats

By Braja Vilas das

On this most auspicious occasion of the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, we at the TOVP would like to extend our best wishes to all of you. We hope that on this day everyone can receive Her blessings, which are needed to attract Lord Krishna’s mercy. Srila Prabhupada wrote the song ‘Krishna Tava Punya Habe Bhai’ in his Jaladuta diary, where he explained: “O, brothers! The Supreme Lord Krishna will bestow virtue upon you — but He will do this only when Srimati Radharani first becomes pleased with you. This I surely declare to you.” From the very beginning of his preaching in 1966, Srila Prabhupada told us that Radharani is the best devotee of Krishna because She loves Him the most. He told us not to approach Krishna directly, but that if we prayed to Radharani, she could recommend us to Krishna, and then Krishna would be obliged to give us His shelter. This is the secret behind the power of the Maha-mantra.

By Madhava Smullen

Devotees at ISKCON New Vrindaban, West Virginia are in the midst of major renovations on Srila Prabhupada’s Palace. And they’re launching a campaign to help them continue restoring the renowned Smriti Samadhi, or memorial shrine to ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya, to its full glory. The effort is a labor of love, just as it was when devotees first started building the Palace in 1973, intending it as a residence for their guru, who expressed a strong desire to retire there and translate his books. “Regarding New Vrindaban I was very happy when I was there,” he wrote to them in 1974. “I am expecting very soon to go there and live in my proposed palace at least for some time.” When Prabhupada passed away in 1977, the Palace – which opened to the public in 1979 – became a monument to his astounding achievements and gifts he gave to the world; a place where he resides in spirit through his instructions; and a major attraction for pilgrims and tourists.

By Radharani Devi Dasi

Lord Brahma told Vrishabhanu that this girl was the origin of the goddess Lakshmi and that he should take great care of Her. Lord Brahma then placed the baby girl in the arms of Vrishabhanu who became overjoyed, and after taking permission from Lord Brahma, returned to his home. Seeing the beautiful baby girl shining like millions of autumnal moons, mother Kirtida was overcome with joy and immediately arranged for all kinds of religious rites to be performed and donated thousands of cows to the brahmanas. At that time baby Radhika was placed in a gem-studded cradle and gently rocked back and forth by all the little girls of the village. Day by day Her luster increased just like the digits of the moon. Within a short while it was observed that the baby girl made no noise and had not yet opened Her eyes. Vrishabhanu and his wife feared that their baby girl was perhaps blind from birth and also dumb. At that time, Srila Narada Muni visited the home of Vrishabhanu and informed him that regardless of the girl’s apparent blindness, they should continue with the birth celebrations. Vrishabhanu therefore made elaborate arrangements for a lavish birth celebration and sent out invitations to all the residents of Ravala and Gokula and especially to his dear friend Nanda Maharaja and his family.

By Srila Rupa Goswami He who reads this confidential prayer, which bears the title Ananda-candrika (The Moonlight of Bliss), and which is beautiful with ten names of the queen of Vrndavana, becomes free of all troubles and decorated with great good for…

By Roisin Henderson

NESTLED among the many islands of the Erne is the pretty, wooded isle of Inish Rath, home to possibly Fermanagh’s smallest religious community. For the past 30 years, members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known to most simply as the Hare Krishnas, have called the island home. Since 1986, this group has been ever changing, attracting members from all over Ireland and far beyond. While there are currently only 12 full time residents at the settlement – which is made up of gardens, children’s play areas, grazing ground for cattle, allotments for growing food, a school, open fields, woodland walks, and, its the centre, a large Victorian house that hosts stunning altars to Lord Krishna – that number often grows up to 20, and often includes families and children.

By Sandeep S Thakkar

The world holy name week (WHNW-16) was celebrated globally from 28th Jul – 14th Aug 2016. Devotees in Singapore at the Gauranga Centre, played their part of spreading the glories of holy name by doing harinaam sankirtan. Indeed, the holy name week had a rousing start as devotees were led by a senior kirtaniya to an ecstatic round of kirtan. In Singapore owing to a hectic work schedule, devotees decided to dedicate their evenings after work to engage in the service of the holy name sankirtan for over ten days. In what is the 50th year of incorporation of our society it was just apt that the devotees were able to account for over 50+ hours of harinaam sankirtan during the 2016 WHNW celebrations. This included 3 days of intense 12 hour harinaam sankirtans apart from the daily two and half hours of kirtan that was done on weekday evenings.

By Anuradha Devi Dasi

The evening of Friday, 2nd September saw Durban come out to celebrate ISKCON 50 in grand style through a VIP gala dinner. The event was organised as a special joint effort between the two Durban temples, Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple of Understanding in Chatsworth and New Jagannath Puri Temple in Phoenix. The guest list comprised of close to five hundred of Durban’s elite – professionals, businessmen, academics, government members, media and artists– all especially invited to the evening to join His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami in reliving and celebrating the journey of Srila Prabhupada and his ISKCON over the last five decades. The programme began with a musical rendition of Srila Prabhupada’s poem, “Markine Bhagavat Dharma”, which he wrote aboard the Jaladuta on arrival in Boston Harbour. The bhajan was sung by ISKCON Durban youth, and the English translation, together with poignant images of Srila Prabhupada was projected on two large screens on either side of the stage. His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami then moved the crowd with the story of ISKCON, touching on Prabhupada’ s early days, his authentic roots, his challenges, his deep faith and his incredible successes. Maharaja’s presentation was followed by a screening of the “Joy of Devotion”.

By BB Govinda Swami His Grace Radha Damodara Prabhu succumbed to cancer last evening. He was surrounded by Vaisnavas chanting the Lord’s holy names. He was a pioneer, extremely humble, and it was always a pleasure to have moments of his association. He…

By Ravindra Svarupa dasa

I regard this article as a supplement to my book, Srila Prabhupada: Founder-Acarya of ISKCON. It expands upon discussions relating the importance of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, especially in light of the philosophical and spiritual significance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s parent temple, Sri Caitanya Matha, in Mayapur. As I write, the resplendent Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, its central dome now towering 350 feet above the alluvial soil of Sridhama Mayapur, continues to reveal its form, within and without. This temple, when complete, will realize a key component of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, vital to the fulfillment of the mission of its Founder-Acarya: to construct Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement as the efficacious vessel for delivering humanity worldwide from the rising floods of the spiritual, mental, and physical calamities of our times. By this undertaking, Srila Prabhupada continued his revival of the interrupted mission of his Guru Maharaja, and he has left us with all directions and facilities to complete it. Through us, Srila Prabhupada continues his work. The temple taking shape at Mayapur is central to that task.

By Urmila Devi Dasi

The happiness of bhakti is very hard to understand. Generally in the world we take “happiness” as being satisfaction for our body, mind, or both: pleasure of the senses, pleasing thoughts, pleasing emotions, pleasing relationships. Those who are intelligent enough to understand that we are different from body and mind seek a very different kind of happiness: liberation. In the happiness of liberation, peace and freedom are key. There is a sense of balance, detachment, and expansive bliss beyond anything the body and mind have to offer. But the great teachers of bhakti–divine loving service–tell us not to seek either of those two types of happiness. They say that desires for those types of happinesses are like witches or ghosts who make us forget the real essence of life.

By Padmapani Das

We started from Port Said today at about 1 p.m. The Port Said city is nice. It has long narrow neat and clean roads with lofty buildings. The city is not at all congested. While passing the rear point of Suez towards Mediterranean sea, the city is clearly seen. But it is a small city with some industrial factories. Although in the desert in the city all varieties of vegetables available. There is also a Marine drive like Bombay Chowpatty beach. I could see a good park in the city. (Port Said is known as “Egypt’s Forgotten Treasure”) It’s interesting to note that Srila Prabhupada wrote the following in his diary: “The Port Said city is nice. It has long narrow neat and clean roads with lofty buildings. The city is not at all congested. While passing the rear point of Suez towards Mediterranean sea, the city is clearly seen. But it is a small city with some industrial factories. Although in the desert in the city all varieties of vegetables available. There is also a Marine drive like Bombay Chowpatty beach. I could see a good park in the city.” Here is some historical information to confirm the words of Krishna’s pure devotee: “Port Said was where Western ideas of urban space met the East. Port Said was planned to become a city, laid out on a checkerboard pattern with wide, straight streets intersecting at right angles. Port Said’s streets were lit by gaslight in 1876, and by 1891, only nine years after New York, Port Said had electricity. Its rigid geometry was in marked contrast to traditional Middle Eastern cities, with narrow and winding medieval alleys. Egypt’s Viceroy Ismail was impressed, and sought to emulate the European model by reconstructing parts of Cairo in belle époque style.” Egypt was the first country in which Srila Prabhupada set foot outside of India. He stopped in Port Said on September 2, 1965 and visited the town with the captain of the Jaladuta steamship. Prabhupada said he liked it. As I was based in Cairo from 1978 to 1983, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Port Said in 1979 as a pilgrimage to this historic city. Walking around the docks where the big freighters stopped to gather supplies en route to their worldly destinations provided me with a rare chance to solemnly meditate on Srila Prabhupada’s divine mission. Who could imagine the great spiritual significance of such a journey by one lone passenger on an Indian steamship bound for New York? It was the beginning of the worldwide Hare Krishna revolution. While in Port Said I did some research to find out the exact place where Srila Prabhupada and Captain Pandiya would have disembarked in 1965. I took a photo of that place (see below). I’ve also included some relevant information regarding the spiritual significance of Port Said in Srila Prabhupada’s lila. Needless to say, visiting that important city was a milestone in my life and a trip I’ll never forget. “To cross the Atlantic Ocean took ten days. This great sea is usually full of storms and fog and is very disturbing. But by the mercy of Krishna, there was no disturbance. The captain of the ship, the main officer, told me, ‘This kind of quiet Atlantic I have never seen in my life.’ I told them that this is only by Krishna’s mercy, nothing else. After the troublesome storm in the Arabian Sea, I knew that if I had had to face a storm like that again, I would die.

By Tom Zillich

“I went through a lot of pain, physical,” Swami admitted. “The biggest challenge of all is walking on an angle – it’s like walking on a beach. But nevertheless, everything else compensated for that (pain), including meeting fantastic people, meeting characters, being confronted by black bears, grizzlies, whatnot, and finally I became an addict, I like it, gotta do it again.” His first coast-to-coast walk was documented in “The Longest Road,” a 2003 National Film Board of Canada movie about the Trans-Canada Highway.

By Sri Narayana Rsi O Narada, after going a short distance they saw the beautiful asrama of Radha, who is the queen of the rasa dance, the queen of the demigods, the best of the gopis, and She who to Lord Krsna is more dear than life, a beautiful, beau…

By Brahma-vaivarta Purana Listen and I will tell you of Lord Hari’s descent as a cowherd boy. His arrival in Gokula, and Radha’s descent as gopi. Listen and I will tell you in detail what before you heard me tell only briefly in the story of Sankhacu…

By Bhurijana Dasa If the desire to serve Krishna is present, we will always be able to do some service, even if it is of a different kind. We always have something to offer others, regardless of the externals of our circumstances. If you wish to always…

By Acarya Dasa

Sankirtana is the heart of padayatra. Wherever we walk, whenever we enter a village or conduct house programs we chant the holy names with every soul in attendance dancing along with us. It’s not a surprise to us since we are traveling with sankirtana eka pitaro, the father of sankirtana Himself, Lord Caitanya. Lokanath Swami said, “Celebrating the ‘World Holy Name’ festival is like celebrating the victory of the holy names all over the world param vijayate sri- krishna sankirtanam [1]. The world is on fire, let us chant more and extinguish the fire of this material existence. So, propagate the holy names.” We took these words to heart and held different programs during these two weeks of ‘World Holy Name’ celebrations.

By Singha Bhatta Das The annual Bhakti Sangam Festival is surely the most amazing event on this planet, with so many Maharajas and preachers sharing their realizations in seminars, and the evenings are spent in most sublime kirtans. Each seminar block …

Anadi Radha dasi: On September 9th, ISKCON New Vrindaban is planning exuberant festivities for the auspicious appearance day of Srimati Radharani.Read More…

By Sacinandana Swami Srila Prabhupada taught us how to please Lord Krishna by taking full shelter of Srimati Radharani: “Anyone who comes before Radharani to serve Krsna, oh, She becomes so pleased, ´Oh, here is a devotee of Krsna!´ She immediately re…

By Gauranga Das

ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village a 100 acre sustainable farming community and retreat center, based near Mumbai, India received the 2016 Green Apple Awards for Built Environment & Architectural Heritage Award for it’s Green Building initiatives from the Green Organization, UK, at a special ceremony on Monday August 8, 2016 at The Crystal, London Docklands – regarded as the most sustainable events venue in the UK. Radha Mohan Prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta Manor, on behalf of ISKCON GEV, received this award from the hands of Dr. Paula Owen, Chief Fun Officer of Eco Action Games. During that same ceremony GEV was also honored as the International Green World Ambassadors. This recognition comes as a result of the environmental success of their GEV SYMBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT MODEL Project which won a Green Apple Environment Award, presented at Westminster Palace in November last year. As a result of that success, they are having their winning paper published in The Green Book, the world’s only annual work of reference on environmental best practice that is distributed to environment professionals, universities and libraries around the world by The Green Organisation.

By Sunanda das

Anish Bikmal is a 15 year old ISKCON Vaisnava who attends South Forsythe High School near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. as a 10th grade student. He plans to pursue studies in Neuroscience and Psychology. His father and mother, Subal Sakha das and Amrta Gaurangi devi dasi, are from Hyderabad, India and moved to America in 1999, work in the IT field, and are initiated disciples of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami. In 2014 Anish and his older brother, Anirudh, co-founded an educational website called Motivate and Inspire Inc. ‘To motivate & inspire students by giving quality academic help while raising funds to serve those in need’. Through this site they have already donated hundreds of dollars to various ISKCON projects such as Foof For Life, Govardhan Eco Village and Bhaktivedanta Hospice. Recently, Anish won 1st Place in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National competition receiving an award of $1,000. While visiting Mayapur with his family Anish decided that the best use of that prize money was to donate it to the TOVP. His service attitude is an inspiration and example for all ISKCON devotees and especially the younger generation. Certainly Srila Prabhupada and Mahaprabhu are pleased and will give Anish and his family all blessings and mercy.

By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Knowledge about Srimati Radharani, Her relationship with Krishna, Her relationships with Her sakhis and gopi manjaris is expanded throughout the confidential literatures of Gaudiya Vaisnavism. In recent years these books are …

By Emma Wynne Taking part in last week’s celebrations were Jagattarini Dasi and Bhurijana Dasa. The pair joined the movement at the height of the counter culture of the late-1960s. “We were young and those were hippy days,” Ms Dasi said. Prior to be…

By Bhakti Anugraha Janardana Swami Just as you have already understood the benefits of this Krsna Consciousness Movement, try to realize and assimilate it more and more and distribute it to the suffering humanity. Our movement is the greatest gift to t…

By Giriraj Swami The good news is that in this age of Kali, Sri Krsna came in the mood of Srimati Radharani. And as we read in the purport, Srimati Radharani is the tenderhearted feminine counterpart of Krsna. In The Nectar of Devotion also, Srila Prab…

By Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu

Embedded with various flowers here and there, tied together using jewelled strings; decorated with lines of deeply fragrant jasmines; having a spherical arrangement of jewels hanging at the back from [three] lines of excellent jewels — 0 Radhe! When will I see the excellent dhammilla hairstyle created by the hands of Sri Hari himself? Rasa-kulya Commentary: The term dhammilla means, “Hair tied together in a topknot.” This term indicates that Radha’s hair had been intricately tied in various ways. Previously [in the preceding verse], a hairstyle named kabara was described. The dhammilla style of tying hair is different from the kabara. Connoisseurs expert in conjugal mellows know the details of this hairstyle.

By Nitya Bhgavata-sevaya Because of the special attention She received from Krishna, that gopi thought Herself to be the most fortunate woman. She told Krishna that She could walk no further and that He would have to carry Her on His shoulders. Hearing…

By Radhanath Swami To release the dormant love within our heart is only possible by the grace of the Lords Hladini Shakti, his pleasure potency Srimati Radharani, She holds the key that can unlock the deepest mysteries of the soul. But it is natural th…

By Jagadish Shyam Das

It was first time Janmastami was celebrated at Gaya Gandhi Maidan. More than 10,000 people attended the festival, from 5 PM to night 2 AM. Prasadam was distributed profusely to all the attendants. Hg Rambhadra Prabhu, (Director, IYF- Bihar & Jharkhand) delivered a lecture. He highlighted Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead quoting from scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. A drama entitled ‘Advent of Lord Krishna’ was performed. It was followed by aarti, abhishek etc. 136 ekadasi bhoga was offered to Lord though it was planned to offer 108. District Magistrate Gaya- Mr. Kumar Ravi, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Operation Gaya- Manoj Yadav were the guests of honor. There was a significant support provided by Mr Ramchandra Yadav, Director of Sri Krishna Janmastami Mahotsav Committee, in organisation of the festival.

By His Divine Grace Srila A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada Audio file and transcription of a lecture Srila Prabhupada gave on September 18, 1969 in London, on the occasion of the appearance anniversary of Srimati Radharani. Srila Prabhupada: The Lord, the Supre…

By Krishna das

65 000 guests gathered to celebrate 25th Sri Krishna janmasthami at ISKCON Salem. Celebration started early morning 4.30 am and went ‘till 2 am in the morning next day. Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai alankara was “Kalpa-Vrksa”, surrounded by 108 delicious offerings made by devotees. The darshan queue was way out on the main road. HG Hari-pada Prabhu and HG Phalini Mataji were the chief guests. They lead most ecstatic kirtans, and Prabhuji gave inspiring lectures much appreciated by locals. Program consisted of eight lectures, eight hours bhajans, two dramas (at noon and at evening performed by Srila Prabhupada Theatres from Chennai) and maha-abhishek. The 50 years of ISKCON’s glories and achievements were showed at the 24x 12 feet LED screen continuously throughout the event. 5 lakhs worth of Srila Prabhupada’s books were distributed and of course free prasadam throughout the day: Chole subji, Vegetable rice, Dal, Naan, Puri, Aloo Bonda, Kesari and Boondi were distributed to 65 thousand visitors. Srila Prabhupadas Vyasa puja was also celebrated in great manner and thousands participated in hearing Srila Prabhupada’s glories. After the abhishek followed pushpanjali and arati. The celebration ended with feast prasadam coming right from Sri Ranganatha Swami temple.

By ISKCON Delhi This year on Janmastami day, ISKCON – Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir received 5 lakh devotees. The temple was decorated using flowers from India and elsewhere along with several Jhakis depicting the pastimes of the Lord. The temple…

By Indradyumna Swami For years we have taken pride in doing our summer festival in Kolobrzeg, one of the biggest and most popular tourist destinations along the Baltic Sea coast in Poland. There was a time when we had to fight for permission to hold o…

By Arya Devi Dasi

The weekend’s events started on Friday night with Bhakti Film Fest and a patron’s dinner. The highlight of the weekend was a theatrical, musical, and multimedia performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House with 800 people attending two performances. In attendance were Rachael Kohn from ABC Radio’s Spirit of Things program, the New South Wales Indian Consul General, as well as representatives from Multicultural New South Wales, the Hindu Council of Australia, and the Catholic Church. Numerous dignitaries sent their best wishes, including: the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore; New South Wales Premier, Mike Baird; Australia’s Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten; and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

There is one publication issued by the Watch Tower called, “Mankind’s Search For God.” In this book, they probe all the major world religions and thought systems with a view to guide the readers to the “True God”.

Any laypersons reading this book could easily think this is an impartial and balanced analysis, but make no mistake, it is pleasantly biased in favour of the ‘Biblical’ observation that the world is 6,000 years old, and all religions, including Hinduism, spread out from the cesspool of Babylonian times.

As we would suspect, the references to Srila Prabhupada are found in the chapter entitled, “Hinduism – a search for liberation”. While it is pleasing to acknowledge he is cited as a major authority on ‘Hinduism”, sadly his, and Lord Chaitanya’s message get enmeshed in the tangled web of whatever Hinduism is supposed to be. They are mashed together with the tantrics, impersonalists, and demigod worshippers, sharing equal status with them.

By Chaitanya Charan Das Srila Prabhupada manifested both the literary vigor of Vyasadeva and the itinerant vigor of Vyasadeva’s spiritual master, Narada Muni. Srila Prabhupada wrote prolifically and profoundly, thus doing in English what Vyasadeva did …

By Vijaya Dasa Usually the Bali temple is barely noticed in the world of book distribution, but in July something happened, I don’t know what, and the temple had its best month in history, with 15,064 book points: an 849% increase. The devotees there a…

By Sunita Sohrabji

Several thousand Indian Americans, along with other devotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, gathered together here Aug. 14 to celebrate the 50th annual Ratha Yatra. “I have come every year since 1994,” Mohini Raj, bearing several garlands of marigolds which she offered to Sri Jagannatha, told India-West. The elderly woman brought her young grandchildren along this year, to clap, sing and dance at the joyous festival. “This reminds me of the festivals I would go to in India,” she said. Four colorful carriages – bearing replicas of Srila Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness; Lord Jagannatha; Nityananda Prabhu and his devotee Nitai Guaranga; and Sri Baladeva and Sri Subhadra Devi – were pulled by devotees, who wound their way down a mile-long path in the park. The red-and-gold chariots and sparkling outfits of the revelers cast a spell of sunshine onto the fog-driven morning. The Ratha Yatra is a centuries-old festival, originating in Puri, Odisha. Devotees of Sri Jagannath – the Lord of the Universe – traditionally pull him in his current form as Krishna, back to Vrindavan.

By Sadhubhusan Das

Including Manipur ISKCON in the worldwide celebration of 50 Golden years of ISKCON, the Youth Forum of ISKCON Manipur organized ‘The Achintya Youth Festival 2016’, from 21st to 24th August 2016 at the temple premises and was completed successfully. A festivity replete with cultural programs, musical performances, debate, quizzies, interesting competitions, interaction with distinguished professors, social workers and celebrities, martial arts presentationa, kirtans, prizes and to complete it all…extraordinary mahaprasad for all….altogether made the event memorable. As a prelude to the festival a photography competition was held during the ratha yatra festival with a theme ‘ratha yatra in Manipur’, jointly organized with the Manipur Photography Club. An open essay competition on the topic ‘Spirituality is the Ultimate Solution to All Material Problems’, and a painting competition on the theme ‘Krishna Lila’, for classes 6th to 12th was also organized on 14th August 2016 with an attendance of more than two hundred students. The first prize for the essay competition went to Kavita Kancahan Ningthoujam of DM College of Arts and for painting competition, Telen Khaidem of DAV Public School bagged the first prize. A state level open debating competition was also held on 21st August 2016 on the subject ‘Communal Harmony is Possible Only through Interfaith Dialogue’, which was presided over by Dr. I. Ibohalbi Singh, MLA leader of opposition; A. Mubi Singh, President, Editors’ Guild and His Holiness Bhaktivyasa Tirtha Swami, ISKCON Guru and Sannyasi. The first prize for the debate was awarded to Mr. Misban Hanif of Modern College. It was very interesting that students from all different faiths came and took part in the events which in itself served the purpose of the festival…’going forward together as one community, promote open mindedness and creative thinking, and generate an awareness to be successful in life both materially as well as spiritually.’ The famous Gaura Lila of Manipur was also enacted in the evening to the pleasure of all.