Author Archives: Dandavats

Grand Opening Ceremony of the New U.S. TOVP Office
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Hare KrishnaBy the TOVP

On Thursday, April 14th, in conjunction with the auspicious appearance day of Lord Ramachandra, the new U.S. TOVP office celebrated its Grand Opening in Gainesville, Florida. The new office is located in a house donated exclusively for TOVP use by Ambarisa prabhu and will serve as the communications and fundraising headquarters. The celebration also coincides with the formation of the new U.S. non-profit, TOVP Foundation Inc., whose Chairman is Sesa das, also the newly appointed Chairman of the GBC. The function was attended by several local senior devotees including Sesa das, Alachua Temple President, Mukhya devi dasi, Kirtiraja das, Ramanya das, and several others, along with Ambarisa and Svaha prabhus and TOVP Director of Development and Fundraising, Vraja Vilas das, who came all the way from Mayapur to help organize the opening of the new office.

Forces of light and forces of darkness in the Bible and the Vedas
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By Matsyavatara Dasa

The biblical tradition tells about angels and demons existing before the world, before the creation of man. These two sets of archetypes (the archetype of light represented by the angels headed by Michael, and the archetype of darkness represented by the demons headed by Lucifer) come in direct conflict and immediately engage in a cosmic war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The Bible explains that Lucifer (literally his name means “the bearer of light”) was originally created by God as the most glorious of angels: he was a protecting cherub and God awarded him with goods and beauty. But Lucifer proudly aspired to become similar to God, and the pride and corruption of his heart led him to his fall as Satan, a Hebrew term meaning “the opponent”. Once humans are created, the furious battles between the titanic forces which represent the good and the titanic forces which represent the evil, is already running. As the myth reports, these two different energetic fields have their cosmic value and have always been present in the human psyche. Let’s translate in modern psychological terms the ancient language of myth and its symbols: angels are the luminous archetypes of the good and demons the dark archetypes of the evil, but both represent functions of the personality.

Parasurama and the Virgin Mary
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Hare KrishnaBy Govinda dasa

Parasurama Prabhu, who runs the Food For All centre in London, grew up in Ireland at a time when it was considered very strange to be anything other than a Catholic. In fact, he never met anyone from a different religion until he was eighteen, when he met a protestant. The story of how he joined the Hare Krishnas is interesting. In 1983, when he was eighteen, he seriously prayed to the Virgin Mary to reveal to him the absolute truth. Being a lay missionary for many years, he repeated a verse from the Bible: “Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? ” Romans 7:24 While praying this way, something extraordinary happened; the statue of the Virgin Mary lit up the room with her effulgence. Parasurama felt both shock and hope at that moment. The next day while walking down Grafton Street in Dublin, he received a copy of Chant and be Happy from a devotee. He knew there was a connection, it was the answer to his prayer.

Celebrate ISKCON 50th Anniversary With Padayatra
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Hare KrishnaBy Gaurangi Devi Dasi

Throughout 2016 ISKCON will celebrate its 50 years since its incorporation on July 13, 1966. The Padayatra Worldwide Ministry started to work on taken place, 10 are planned and 14 remain to be done. Each different padayatra in the same country is counted as one, unless they are continuous or annual walks. This system allows us to honour the several padayatras taking place in India and other large countries. Most of the following suggestions are based on the contents of the International Briefing Pack produced by the ISKCON50 international team. We invite all of you to carefully view the entire ISKCON50 International briefing pack posted on the Padayatra website in 2 formats, Word and Adobe Reader. This will greatly help you to plan and organise all your Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Update From The Padayatra Ministry Coordinator
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Hare KrishnaBy Gaurangi Dasi

The 2016 Padayatra Newsletter is very attractive and innovative. Lokanath Swami liked it so much that he was thinking of printing an extra 1000 copies. Most were distributed here is Mayapur during the ILS (ISKCON Leadership Sanga) and the festival. It is not feasible to mail one to every temple, but I tried to make sure that most temples got one, provided I met representatives from that country. In any case you can download this issue, and previous ones, from the padayatra website (padayatra.com). Besides padayatra news, how to 50ize your padayatra and many special stories, there are also articles about the art of walking and teh best shoes to wear, the different kinds of walks you can do (Every temple can easily do a week-end padayatra), photos of dozens of carts and palenquins, a padayatra survey for the public, a padayatra poster for children to color, and articles about ecology and respecting the environnement. All very practical and down to earth information!

His Grace Govinda Sevaka Prabhu Passed Away
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Hare KrishnaBy Satyananda Krishna Das

HG came in contact with one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciple HG Gopal Prabhu and started practising Krishna Consciousness while associating with Srila Prabhupada’s early soldiers in Malaysia. His Grace started his preaching during his younger days from 1960’s where he formed his own troop of Sankirtan Devotees and conducted congregational chanting frequently in nearby premises.HG got the opportunity to met Srila Prabhupada during Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Malaysia in the year of. By the force of his family HG got married with Leeleswary Devi Dasi (Leelawathy) and while maintaining his family life he lost contact with devotees due to career relocation.

Gundica Marjana, on a large scale . . .
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Hare KrishnaBy Ajita dasa

A series of earth works have recently been completed at New Govardhana. By this venture the main lake, ‘Manasi Ganga’, has been cleaned and land reclaimed behind the Retreat Centre and the old dairy. Manasi Ganga was excavated in the early 80’s during Ramai Swami’s management. The lake was then used for various water sports and festivals. It gradually became infested by a highly invasive lily called Nymphanea Mexicana. One characteristic of this lily is the strong smell emanating from the roots, resembling sewerage. Though the water quality remained safe throughout the decade, the time had come to undertake the huge task of emptying out the 60 million litres and scooping out the sludge. This task was time sensitive, requiring immediate attention just before the rainy season. To siphon the water 60 metres of 150 millimetre pipes were installed. Priming such a voluminous pipe was a challenge. On the third attempt the outflow reached three million litres per day. Unfortunately a storm ripped the pipe system before the end of the pumping. Unable to re-prime the system, a 1.5 ton pump was used with the farm excavator and placed near the edge of the remaining water.

Gold Coast, Australia, Multi-Faith Community Dinner
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Hare KrishnaBy Radharani Priya devi dasi

Local ISKCON devotees attended the second annual “Gold Coast Multi-Faith Community Dinner”. The event was hosted by the Queensland Police force at St Anna’s Greek Orthodox Church on the Gold Coast. It was an evening to ‘share a meal and build a community.’ About 200 guests attended, including dignitaries from Queensland’s police force – local Superintendents, Inspectors, Officers, Police Chaplains, as well as the leaders and representatives of all faith groups here on the Gold Coast. Some of the faiths included Bahai, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Hare Krishna, multiple Christian denominations and many more. Representatives and Professors from both Griffith and Bond Universities attended “Natya Shakti” Oddisi dancers from New Govardhana, Krishna Bhakti and Vrinda Gleeson, performed as part of the evening’s entertainment. The ladies were warmly welcomed and very much appreciated by all.

Conviction
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By Ravindra Svarupa dasa

In modern times, disbelief has so far entered into the essence of our existence, that both faithlessness and faith have become fundamentally two varieties of faithlessness. During Montaigne’s time, religious wars of unbearable cruelty rent Europe. The absolute certainty of the raging antagonists began to taint conviction itself with bad odor. But Montaigne saw deeper. He descried the doubleness within the very certitude of the religious partisans. He recognized their zeal as a kind of cover up, overcompensation for a hidden, an unacknowledged, lack of faith: “We do not believe what we believe.”

Asha Leaves for greener pastures
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Hare KrishnaBy ISCOWP

She went down in the north pasture. There was no shade there and it was hot. All the cows gathered around her, licking her and pushing her in an effort to get her up. She tried to but her front legs would not support her which never happened before. We waited to see if she would gain strength and get up but she didn’t. We then decided to get her up with a cow sling with the hope her legs would revive once they were free. Her legs were lifeless. We then moved her, by use of the cow sling, to a shady place. She wishes to live. Please give us the strength to care for her until she decides to visit the Surabhi cows in Vaikuntha loka. Please guide her on her journey.

Bhakti Immersion at Govardhan Eco-Village
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Hare KrishnaBy radhanathswami.com

Over one hundred participants from five yoga and kirtan groups joined for the Bhakti Immersion Retreat held at Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) from January 25 to January 29, 2016. In the words of Vishvambhar Sheth, who headed one of the groups, the retreat consisted of “Bhakti teachings, yoga asana classes, Ayurveda and of course dancing and chanting!” Another group leader John Smritic shared on social media a picture of Radhanath Swami addressing the participants of the retreat (John included) and texted his experience, “360° mountain surround, golden setting sun, warm Indian countryside air… A talk on the very essence of Bhakti Yoga and Bhakti philosophy. The satsang gave way to ecstatic kirtan as day turned dusk turned the most transcendental starlight sky I have ever seen. Humbled, honored and grateful beyond words.” Yoga teacher Gopi Kinnicut posted a similar picture on the internet and added, “What a heart filled evening!”

ISKCON Kolkata’s musical venture ‘Krishna Sudha Ras’ wins “BEST DEVOTIONAL ALBUM” of the year at GIMA Awards 2016
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Hare KrishnaBy Patita Pavana Dasa

The album contains 10 songs, all of them are either Vaishnava Bhajans or the Hare Krishna maha mantra tracks except for one which is composed to glorify Srila Prabhupada. The track was named as “Tribute to Srila Prabhupada”, since the album is a memorial to the historic Jaladuta Yatra. The album is targeted mainly towards the main stream music market and for those listeners who are not much familiar towards ISKCON. It features 6 singers and 6 music directors, most of them are highly rated professionals like Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan, SP Balasubrahmaniyam, Rickey Kej (Grammy Award 2014 Winner), Bikram Ghosh, Akriti Kakkar to name a few. The album was jointly produced by ISKCON and STRUMM, one of the leading production house in the Devotional music industry. Patita Pavana Das(CFA) and Chakradhari Das(IIT Graduate) were involved in this project.

Ramayana Sites in Sri Lanka
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Hare KrishnaBy Sri Nandanandana dasa

Sri Lanka is the proud custodian of more than 50 Ramayana sites from the place of Sita Devi’s captivity to the battlefields where vast armies clashed, to the groves of exotic herbs dropped by Hanuman, to the ultimate theater of war where Lord Rama slew Ravana, the ten-headed demon-king. People living in the areas where great events took place remember to this day the connection of their soil to the great epic. An oath taken at the spot where Sita Devi undertook “Agni Pariksha” is still considered valid in village courts or grama sabhas. The color of the soil of the ancient battlefield is still red today, and is still surrounded by lighter colored earth. One of the airports of Ravana, torched by Hanuman when he came looking for Sita Devi, still has a scorched-earth look. A patch of darker soil surrounded by brown earth. Exotic alpine Himalayan species are found suddenly amidst tropical Sri Lankan vegetation, the legacy of Hanuman’s heroic voyage carrying a mountain with life-restoring herbs.

Sannyasa Ministry Request
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakti Prabhava Swami

To expand ISKCON’s preaching mission Srila Prabhupada created sannyasis. Thus the Ministry for Sannyasa Service has established a website to provide information about potential sannyasis to the ISKCON community and to get feedback in order to help in the candidate’s training. On this page is the personal data and the devotional history of the Present sannyasa candidates. If you know any of these candidates and would like to express something positive or negative pertaining to their candidacy to the Sannyasa Committee, please send us your comments via e-mail to our secretary

NASN March 2016 – North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Sasi dasa

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of March. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Individuals, Monthly Top 5, Cumulative Countries, Cumulative Temples, Cumulative Top 100 Individuals, Cumulative Top 5

The Modern Day Legacy of Lord Rama
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Hare KrishnaBy Sesa Dasa

Here are three questions for you to ponder, dear reader: First, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Second, what do a highway billboard, a small town storefront, and the Greek philosopher Aristotle have in common? And third, what do either of these questions have to do with Lord Rama? The ancient Sanskrit epic Ramayana describes the life of Ramachandra, the incarnation of God whose advent in this world is celebrated each spring by Hindus and followers of Vedic culture worldwide. The work contains 24,000 verses and is considered to be the original Sanskrit poem. However, the Ramayana is not simply an epic tale; because it describes the activities of the Personality of Godhead, it is a complete guide to God-realization.