Author Archives: Dandavats

By Vaisesika Dasa Spiritual Gardener is someone who first of all cultivates the garden of his own heart. He plants the right seeds, waters them nicely, and also takes out all the unwanted weeds. He also helps others to do the same. The creeper of dev…

By HH Jayapataka Swami “Make Homes Into Centers” Congregational development is an untapped field that presents new opportunities for all kinds of preachers,. It incorporates a systematic method for contacting and cultivating new devotees and engaging t…

By Varsana Swami The efforts, austerities, and practices involved with the acceptance as a disciple do not end with initiation. Rather they begin, in a formal sense, at that point. Whatever outer challenges or inner demons we have, will be overcome by…

By Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir 1) Who is a guest? The Sanskrit word atithi means ‘not scheduled’. An ‘unscheduled’ or unexpected guest is considered a representative of the Supreme Lord, since his arriving unannounced is just what the Lord might do t…

By Braja Vilas das

This is our second visit to South Africa and the tour took us to Durban, Capetown, Johannesburg and Botswana, as well as some smaller cities. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, support, cooperation, attentiveness and generosity of the South African Yatra leaders and general devotees, especially considering this was our second visit. We received pledges well over $2 million, matching the amount pledged on our first tour two years ago. The overall feeling was one of deep commitment to the project and unity of purpose. As reported by Swarupa Damodar prabhu, the Regional Secretary of Durban: *“The TOVP team made such exciting and inspiring presentations and although about $1m was ‘liberated’ from the Durban yatra, everyone, including the managers and devotees were so blissful.

By Mukunda Goswami

The Conch Blows its Horn! Is it time to party? The number five is flyin’ high in the sky over the Vaisnava world these days: Lord Krishna’s appearance (5000 years ago), Lord Caitanya’s ‘birth’ (500 years back) and ISKCON’s beginning (50 years ago). And lo and behold, October 2016 marks The Conch’s fifth birthday anniversary. The Conch newsletter (New Govardhana’s only) began in 2011 at the prompting of Karunika devi dasi. It was initially slated to be only four pages long, but the faction for a lengthier publication won the day, and hence an eight-page monthly newsletter was born. Replete with photographs and newsy articles, the glossy pages gave readers a glimpse into New Govardhana happenings. The Conch smelled good, felt good, could be read in a favourite chair away from computer screens and became instantly accepted as a welcome addition to the community. Monthly hand deliveries to New Govardhana and Murwillumbah resident devotees enhanced readability and endeared the project to many. Hi-5 to The Conch!

By Muralimohan Das

The Padayatra was arranged between ISKCON temple and the famous Jamalpur Jagannath Temple, which is about 10 km away. Sharp at 8.00 am, we started from our ISKCON temple with more than 150 devotees and many more joined on the way. The atmosphere was cloudy, but no rain, so we felt it’s Krsna’s mercy; otherwise we generally have very hot days even during the rainy season. Eventually, it started raining very heavily in the evening, after the completion of the Padayatra. The yatra went on very smoothly and reached in time, as decided, and we served breakfast to the Padayatris in Parimal garden (a well-known public garden). Here at Parimal garden, hundreds of people come for jogging in the morning and this being a Sunday, the crowd was also more than the regular days. Here we had very ecstatic Kirtan all the way in the garden; some of them joined us in Kirtan too. After breakfast Prasadam we continued walking. We halted at every 4 roads for few minutes, with the Kirtan resounding all around. We distributed around 67 Bhagavad Gita and 45 small books for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.

By Paramatma dasa

Last Saturday, on September 24, history was created when ISKCON of Suriname held its first Ratha-yatra festival in the capital City of Paramaribo, with the Lord Jagannath cart parading through one of the busiest streets in the city. The festival was organised as part of ISKCON Suriname’s main 50th anniversary initiative. The procession began at 5:00 pm sharp with the ribbon cutting done by the Raghoebier family, who, over a decade ago, had kindly provided the facility in Paramaribo that ISKCON utilises. The parade was consecrated by offering and breaking dried coconuts, then as the cart began to move there was uproarious cracking of fireworks. The cart started moving from Lallarookh Square and ended at the front lawn of the ISKCON Centre at 459 Kwattaweg. The arrival of the Ratha-yatra cart at the temple was followed by a grand religious and cultural program featuring a drama of Lord Jagannath’s appearance, devotional music, exhibitions and discussions on Vedic spirituality—and a free vegetarian feast. The stage program lasted for full three hours.

By Mahatma Das When devotees look at their obstacles to advancement in Krsna consciousness, they sometimes doubt whether they will ever be able to overcome all of them. It is easy to become discouraged and thus feel it may not even be worth praying to …

By Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir

How to receive guests on Sunday: After the announcements are made it very important to focus on newcomers and later one can deal with regular visitors and congregational devotees. Following points should be considered while dealing with newcomers. 1. TEMPLE – PAMPHLET Giving daily pamphlets while giving Welcome pamphlets, explain about Temple timings, Sunday program timings Invite them graciously to attend our programs. Do not insist them if they are not interested. Just encourage them While dealing with them, one should try to fan the spark of interest within them. Daily temple schedule. Sunday festival (GAUR-ARATI, KIRTAN, PRAVACHAN, PRASADAM.) Deities. Festivals (Vaishnav Calendar.) Various Congregational Programs. Gurukul/Orphanage Audio CDs, VCDs, MP3 CDs, Audio tapes/books library. (Refer the topic ‘important documents’ at the end of this manual for ‘Temple pamphlet’.)

By Premanjana Das

Program consisted of an elephant procession, “Reliving Prabhupada at Boston(Performance by Gauranga Band)” , “Bigwig in conversation with Srila Prabhupada(Puppet Show)”, Govindam Prayers(Yoga Acrobatics by students from blind school) and Prabhupada Katha by his three senior disciples: HG Pancagauda Pr, HG Hamsrupa Pr & HG RadhaKunda Mj. The program began by carrying the deity of Srila Prabhupada on a decorated elephant accompanied by hundreds of devotees who were joyfully chanting and dancing in a procession from temple to the nearby venue. The stage program was initiated by suitable invocation, lamp lighting and a short address by HG Rukmini Krishna Das(Temple Co-President). Many devotees were mesmerized when students from a blind school put up a Yoga Acrobatics show on different pastimes of Lord Krishna. Gauranaga Rock Band sang the poem composed by Srila Prabhupada on Jalduta a day before arriving at Boston.

By Gour Govinda Swami One may be compassionate to fulfill his own selfish desire. One may be compassionate to some and not compassionate to others. He has raga and dvesa, liking and disliking. He is not equal to one and all. He cannot be. Unless one se…

By Bhurijana dasa One fundamental requirement for active listening is the capacity to suspend the judging-propensity. Resist the temptation to immediately offer words of advice or throw out pat preachy lines. The general rule is to not advice unless yo…

By Govinda Das Three things are unbearable: the eyes of the snake, the eyes of the Rishi, and the eyes of the afflicted. -Bhishmadeva – Shanti Parva (Mahabharata) A compilation of relishable testimonies from various devotees about what it felt when Sri…

By Atmattatva das According to our consciousness at the time of death we receive a suitable body. What we remember at the time of death is not just a matter of the momentary thought that occurs. What we have done throughout our entire life will natural…

By Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir Srila Prabhupada saw lady walking near airport with child in arms and allowed the lady to enter first, opened the door and allowed her to go first. Mayapur festival 1975 Srila Prabhupada’s guru puja. Thousands of discip…

By Subhag Swami We should be eager, very eager. As Srila Prabhupada beautifully wrote in a poem, ‘When will that day come when I will be rolling on the ground with Krsna and playing with Him? When will that day come when I am very eager to join with Ma…

By Sri Namamrta As a snake-bitten man is brought back to consciousness by the chanting of certain mantras, so one in the unconscious state of material life can be revived by hearing the maha-mantra: In the Garuda Purana the stress on hearing is express…

By Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir

Every guest coming to the temple is warmly welcomed with folded palms and cordially received. Since our movement is a preaching mission, in the International Society for Krishna consciousness (ISKCON), the proper reception of guests is very important. As followers of Srila Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON, we should consider any guest in the temple to be his guest. Proper reception of a guest can make a difference between a person coming once to the temple and never returning, or becoming a regular visitor & ultimately becoming a devotee of Krishna. Therefore each and every guest should be dealt with great care and hospitality. Their names and addresses should be collected. They should be sent some gift and relevant information about the temple.

By Rasamandala dasa However, right from the start, there were a couple of notable challenges. Firstly we were assumed, and required, to represent one of the principle world religions, namely Hinduism. This raised pertinent, and sometimes controversial,…

By Daamodara Dhananjaya Das

Today, one of the best avenues to reach out, not just to the masses, but also to the upper most class of people, is through the Press or the Print Media (Newspapers) and the Electronic Media (TV News & Entertainment Channels and Radio Channels). Reading newspapers and watching TV News Channels, is now one of the preeminent necessities of life. These days apparently oxygen seems to be of the secondary importance, as compared to the need of the Media. So much so that the preachers too, in order to keep up with the pace, sometimes are forced to surrender to this bewitching incarnation of Mayadevi. Hence, at ISKCON Ahmedabad, somewhere around 2007, we too decided to cultivate our relationship with the Media, so as to spread the Holy Name to each and every dwelling, where Mayadevi has her encroachment through them.

By ISKCON Perth This year marks the 50 th anniversary of the incorporation of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York by our dear Srila Prabhupada. As a special offering to His Divine Grace, the ISKCON Perth Temple with…

By Chaitanya Charan das During my visit to Central New Jersey, Govinda Prabhu and I spoke at Princeton University on the topic of “Tragic Hero? Lessons from the life of the Mahabharata character Karna.” Addressing the Karna-Duryodhana friendship, I spo…

By Yamuna-devi dasiRadhanath Maharaja has requested that my godsisters and I speak something. Last night, after we left the transcendental program and before I took rest, I was thinking how incongruous it was—you know, I have been a devotee for thirty-…

By Bhakti Rasamrita Swami “In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyasa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man…

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

It can sometimes be tough being an intellectual in Iskcon. The tendency to keep one foot in the empirical camp and the other in the devotional arena can cause incompatibilities of faith, especially when continuing to grapple with “oddities” like elephant sized mangoes, airborne mountains, talking hyenas and bodily exuded cosmic bubbles. Almost everything is interesting for an intellectual. How things work, or don’t. Statistics and comparisons, complex and more complicated, beyond comprehension and ridiculously out of bounds, all can pose challenges when faced with the “simplicity” of Krishna consciousness. And more so when fantastic and marvellous Vedic accounts remains fabulously beyond belief. Does “simple living” dull down our inquiring spirit to the point of unquestioning obedient acceptance of everything taught to us? Will “high thinking” allow us free reign to explore that which confounds the greatest material thinkers? “Prove that God exists,” Srila Prabhupada would say. This seems the most certain way of engaging a lively intellect. How many sprightly and bouncy intellectual devotees are convinced of this, especially when having to explain in terms of elephants and swans that do inter-planetary travel, and other faith shaking concepts?

By Girish Sarin Each single verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam tastes like transcendental condensed milk of a Surabhi cow mixed with kesar, simply delicious and a nectar most satisfying to even conditioned souls (although it is meant to be tasted by paramhansa…

By Niranjana Swami What to speak of being envious of the Vaisnavas, if one causes pain to ordinary living entities he is considered a fallen low-class person. Even after worshiping Lord Visnu, if a person gives trouble to other living entities, his wor…

By Romapada Das The Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a message sent on 16th September, praised ISKCON for its ’50 years of glorious achievements and service to humanity’. He praised ISKCON for the dissemination of what he called the ‘glorious Vedic wi…

By Varsana Swami Srimati lifted up Her skirt and stepped into the water and looked down to wash Her hands. And then, when She saw Her reflection in the water, She was overcome by its beauty. She was seized by this feeling “maybe I should be Gopal’s con…

Vivasvan das: In our sadness, we are feeling separation from Vrndavana Das, as Prabhu 67th (ACBSP) passed away from this mortal world.Read More…

By Sri Chaitanya Chandra Das Bhismadeva, great devotee, warrior & philosopher says about time- The wind carries a huge cloud from one place to another swiftly, silently and steadily. Similarly time is energy of Lord which carries everyone imperce…

By Bhakta Bhusan

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Gaikhangam inaugurated Sri Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebration 2016 at ISKCON Manipur Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra Manimandir as Chief Guest, Commerce and Industries Minister Govindas Konthoujam, Social welfare and cooperation Minister, Kumari A.K. Mirabai and His Holiness Bhaktivyasa Tirtha Swami as president. After the ministers had ‘darshan’ of Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra, they were explained the posters given in iskcon50.org by His Grace Barnamali Das and His grace Radhamohan Das. A four day Achintya youth festival was organised in commemoration of 50 years of ISKCON and Sri Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebration 2016 from 21st to 24th August. The inaugural function was presided by Dr. I.Ibohalbi Singh, member of Legislative Assembly and leader of opposition. As a prelude to the commemoration of the 50 years of ISKCON, Rath yatra Photography contest was organised during rath Yatra 2016 along with Manipur Photography Club. Nandotsava and Srila Prabhupada Vyasa puja was also observed and about 1100 devotees were served sumptuous Prasad of 9 different dishes.

By Ananda Vrndavanesvari Devi Dasi From the moment we are born we are knowledge-seekers. We want to know where we can find food, shelter, love, and happiness. We want information to help us avoid pain, suffering, and loss. We spend our lives building o…

By Bhurijana dasa According to the Bhagavad-gita, one’s activities can either be in goodness, passion, or ignorance. There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from these three modes bo…

By Hari Narayana Das We would like to take this opportunity to thank HH Bhakti Raghava Swami for his blessings and encouragement which were so essential for the devotees. Our ever grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, …

By Mahatma DasIn the early days of the movement a devotee explained Sigmund Freud’s theory to Prabhupada that everything one does is motivated by sex. The devotee disagreed and said he felt people are primarily motivated by a spiritual yearning. …

By Varsana Swami The Palace of Gold is the first samadhi of Srila Prabhupada in the world, although originally it was not intended to be his samadhi. The devotees had intended to construct a simple residence in a peaceful, undisturbed environment where…

By Parvati devi dasi Srila Prabhupada is sitting in Samadhi in Vrndavan in the most beautiful Mandir –out of this world. Most of us think, “Oh, it’s finally built, and that’s the end of it”. But, as everything else in this world, it still has to be m…

By Padmanabha Dasa During the padayatra, people would often ask us about Srila Prabhupada. They wanted to know why he was sitting and not saying anything, and others wanted to know if they could touch his feet. We took this as a good opportunity to ex…