Author Archives: Dandavats

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…

By Murali Vadhana Govinda Dasa

A small padayatra was held in Malaysia on August 14th. It was organized by ISKCON Teluk (Mayapur Baru) and commemorated ‘World Holy Name Week’ and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. Srila Prabhupada visited the town of Teluk Intan located in the Hilir Perak district of Malaysia in 1970. He also visited the Mariamman Temple here. Now, years later it was decided that this temple would be the starting point of the commemorative padayatra. The padayatra was set to take place at 5:30 pm. There were around 50 devotees gathered at the Mariamman Temple. We also carried a murti i of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We had organized some media coverage from a local newspaper, ‘Tamil Malar.’ They were meant to cover the event from the beginning but unfortunately, because they had arrived late, it didn’t work out. They did, however; agree to publish the event later after we had completed the walk.

By Madhava Smullen

The festival is a revival of the historical Prabhupada Festivals that began in the West Virginia rural community with the opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979, and continued through to the mid 1980s. Lavish affairs, they saw devotees from around the world come together to serve Srila Prabhupada with processions, abishekhas and gift-giving, as well as 24-hour kirtans, dramas, sumptuous feasts, and elaborate fireworks displays. This year’s festival aims to not only bring back that tradition, but also to reconnect with previous residents who assisted in the gradual development of New Vrindaban; revive a spirit of giving special attention to Srila Prabhupada; and awaken the team spirit and sweet, sincere mood of service that the early devotees had for him.

By Mahakarta das

Honourable Mano Ganesan – Minster of National Coexistence Dialogue and Official Languages, attended the Sri Krishna Janmastami celebration at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. He was offered Golden shawl, Prasadam and Garland. He gave a memento in honour of Srila Prabhupada for the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON.

By Mayapur Sasi dasa During August, in the Large Temples category, Ujjain had the highest increase, 113%, with 10,082 book points. In the middle of India in August it’s hot. So devotees doing the austerity of book distribution in Ujjain’s heat get some…

By Subhangi Devi Dasi Every year over 100,000 people line the streets of Towoomba in Queensland Australia for the Grand Floral Street Parade. This year on the 17th Sept Iskcon Bhakti Centre Gold Coast participated with our Rathyatra cart. Jaganath, S…

By Advaita Acarya Dasa Protecting the cows: If we accept the cow as our mother, she deserves our veneration and love. And we should protect her from all dangers. In Vedic times it was the duty of everyone, especially kings, to protect the cows at all c…

By Jnana Dasa Implicit in current theories of evolution are two basic assumptions: first, that the myriad living forms have come into being exclusively by chance and the action of natural laws; and second, that consciousness and all life processes are …

By Ananda Vrndavanesvari Devi Dasi Just as a very good sweet will have something hidden inside of it, or a company will have the inner group of key people, the Gita has a core made up of four verses. These are called the Catur Sloki (catur = four, and …

By Sacinandana Swami As Krsna displays His attractive three-fold bending form, His left side stretches up broad and straight, without showing the three lines on His belly. His right heel is raised, and His left foot appears to be kissing the earth. His…

By Mahatma Das

In the early days, Prabhupada asked devotees how they wanted to serve Krsna. Usually they would say something like, “Whatever you want, Srila Prabhupada.” And he would respond, “No, I want to know what you want to do for Krsna. Prabhupada was doing what he taught his managers to do: challenge devotees to find out what they are most inspired to do for Krsna. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung Our life’s purpose should not necessarily be chosen because of what others expect of us. Often what others expect is the very thing we are least motivated to do. We shouldn’t choose our mission to impress others; neither should we do it to take advantage of others. And we shouldn’t choose it because someone else is doing it. Sometimes you may have goals that are in contradiction to one another. For example, you may want to be a professor but don’t want to spend the time and effort to get a PhD. You may want to play in the Philharmonic orchestra but don’t want to spend much time learning music and practicing your instrument. This is what happens when you make goals that are not connected to your life mission. In this state you’re likely to take one step forward and one backward, and you often get in your own way. To accomplish such things you may need continual outside direction. Strong motivation isn’t going to be there when your goals are not inspiring.