Author Archives: Dandavats

By Shyama Krishna dasa and Vraja Vihari dasa

There are many ways to study the Bhagavad-gita. Recently, devotees have considered the Gita from the point of view of what essential values/principles Krishna teaches in this sacred book. They chose six key points: 1. Dharma (right action) 2. Sama Darshana (equal vision) 3. amanitva (humility) 4. iccha (choice/desire) 5. Ahimsa (without cruelty) 6. Priti (affection)

By Vani Devi Dasi

Four years ago I got a phone call at three in the morning. Minutes later I couldn’t control my tears and the only thing I knew to do was to take shelter of Panca Tattva. Standing in front of their Lordships in a daze the tears came again as I felt your absence. My heart hurt, my heart still hurts. Your love for Krsna, Prabhupada, and all of us met no bounds, and a moment with you was like a hundred as time stood still and I couldn’t take my eyes from you. Your love was real, your spiritual vision was real, your taste for the holy name was real, your Bhakti was real, your loyalty to Prabhupada was real, and sitting at your feet experiencing all this I couldn’t move, completely overwhelmed. But Aunty, four years later and I feel your absence less and less because my memories of you are ever strong. Whatever glimpses of taste you gave me burn ever encouraging in my heart, glimpses of a goal I one day desire to reach. I feel you present in my japa and kirtan. I feel you present in my relationship with my spiritual master, as your instructions guided me and your presence with Gurudev and I during those special moments completed my spiritual family.

By Vrajendranandan Das

Recently, we had a big networking opportunity as ISKCON was officially invited to attend the birth day celebration event of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, who turned 81 on Dec 11th, 2015. The august gathering witnessed presence of many matteraties, including the Prime Minister and other dignitaries from far flung areas of the country. .As a gesture of mercy and blessing, we gave Mahaprasad of Shri Shri Radhaparth Sarthi and Pushp Guchcha of Lord Narshimha deva to the president which he warmly received and reciprocated with delight and appreciation. For ISKCON, he has been supportive and largely appreciative of our initiatives. Occasions such as these help us mark our presence amongst those who matter. And by Srila Prabhupada’s grace we get recognized as a peaceful organization focused on spreading the Holy name.

By Sivarama Swami Krsi goraksya vanijya. Krsi means ploughing or agriculture and goraksya, cow protection. These are the staples of society, this is what people live on. All living entities subsist on grains. So the ksatriyas may direct and instruct pe…

By Shubha Vilas Das In the Ramayana, Rama was chasing the golden deer and realizing that it was a demon in disguise, He shot it down. The demon died calling out to Sita and Lakshmana mimicking the voice of Rama. Sita panicked while Lakshmana remained c…

By Saradiya dasi As I cleaned Srila Prabhupada’s rooms, I noticed the clothesline in the kitchen was still there, but not much else, except my memories and the sense of his presence. Then, unexpectedly, I saw a small Indian print on the counter. Pickin…

By Bhakti Raghava Swami

To invoke global auspiciousness and increased awareness about the need to protect Mother Cow and to gradually introduce the culture of Cow Care in our daily lives, we would like to invite all ISKCON Temples and ISKCON Centers to perform a special Go-Puja to Mother Surabhi on January 1, 2016, in addition to perform Harinam. In order to carry this mood during the Golden Jubilee year of 2016, I would like to further submit the following 3 proposals to ISKCON Leaders and ISKCON Temples within our Society: 1. That on January first of every year we all perform a Go-Puja. 2. That all temples perform a Monthly Go-Puja on every Purnima day. 3. That all ISKCON centers offer only pure milk (ahimsa) from protected cows to the presiding Deities in our respective temples/centers.

Samita Sarkar: When I say I’m vegetarian, a common reaction from some religious people is, “But didn’t God put animals on Earth for us to eat?”

By Iskcon Mayapur

If you had served as a resident devotee at an ISKCON temple for five years during any period of time in your life, even if you are not a residential devotee now, still you can avail this facility. ISKCON Mayapur appreciates your dedicated service to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON by bestowing you the honor of residing at Mayapur for 15 days free stay in a year at Vamsi Bhavan guest house and providing you 7 days free prasadam (see note below). Guided tour service to holy places around Navadvipa is also available. This facility is not available during Gaura Purnima festival period for a month. These facilities are available to all the visiting foreign devotees (except from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka).

By Deva Madhava das

‘You were on Mayapur TV…!’ ‘What’s that Mata?’ I was calling one of our congregation members to coordinate her contribution to our first major infrastructure purchase, a restaurant fridge… which was being gotten rid of cheap by a local Indian store that was closing down. ‘Yes, yes, Mayapur TV. I watch the LA Temple Bhagavatam class every morning and today the devotee speaking mentioned your center!’ ‘Oh, well that’s exciting. Do you happen to know the reason?’ I wondered out loud. ‘Oh Yes, he was making the wonderful point that Mahaprabhu has said His Holy Name will be spread to every town and village… so he asked all the devotees if they’d heard of an ‘Ypsilanti’ Michigan. Of course no one had, and then he happily declared that Srila Prabhupada now has a temple in Ypsilanti Michigan… That’s you!’ For a moment I wasn’t sure whether to be inspired or insulted, but given the circumstances I took it as an auspicious sign that settlement of the yatra into our new home was pleasing news to Vaisnavas near and far, however humble a space and place it might be situated in.

By Abhaya Mudra Dasi

In popular historical accounts the word democracy was first used in ancient Greece denoting a contemporary system of governing. In ancient Athens the word democracy was a compound term which could be broken into two parts: demos meaning people and kratein to rule. This ideal of governing inspires us even today. Democracy echoes the ancient ideals of equality and freedom into the modern governing systems. Some authors like John Keane (author of Life and Death of Democracy) think that democracy has much older origins. He traces the meaning of the word democracy back to the Mycenaean period which preceded the rule of Greece in the Mediterranean region. There the word demos (a person) is slightly changed to be pronounced damos. John Keane discovered the word demos in the Sumerian language as well where it is pronounced dunu meaning ‘inhabitants of a designated region.’ In the ancient world the many of the different languages enjoyed a greater connection to one another than they do today. That is due to the fact that they all kept close phonetic link to their unifying origin, the prototypic Sanskrit. In Sanskrit or devanagari (lit. “language spoken in the cities of the demigods”) dham means “place.” Dhamu means “one who hails from a particular region.” Kratu implies intellectual ability. It becomes apparent that in ancient time dhemokrat meant to employ the thinking ability of every man and utilize it for the welfare of the total society.

By Sita Rama das

Democratization is an attempt to counteract the tyranny of powerful men by transferring power to the people. It tries to make all people equal but it leads to the degradation of all the people, by all the people. Vedic Society does not try to equalize material power; it is designed to facilitate, in all people, the realization that we are equal on the spiritual level. ISKCON wants to be a society which counteracts the degradation of people in modern democracy in order to facilitate spiritual realization. But there are possible pitfalls when trying to reestablish the Vedic model. We analyze this with the help of the scholar, Alexis DeTocqueville, who came to America, from France, in the early 1800’s. In his book, Democracy in America, he contrasted American Democracy with French Aristocracy. He gives a brilliant description of how democracy narrows our consciousness to the small world of our own sense pleasure.

By Sri Bhakti Das

Hare Krishna dear vaisnavas, please accept my humble obeisances!!! This program was held at the juvenile prison (3 Alamos) in Santiago- Chile. It consists of 4 sessions in 4 different days with yoga, vegetarian cooking, music, philosophy. Children cooked, offered and took prasad. They received books of Srila Prabhupada, chanted the Maha Mantra and danced. They also saw a video of Vrindavan Parikrama. They were sincerely happy and were very receptive.

By Mayapur Sasi dasa

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of November. 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

By Sankirtana Das

500 years ago Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the religious leader of the Bhakti Movement, implored us to be as tolerant as the tree which patiently endures the rain and cold and heat. Another time, Caitanya declared to his followers “take the fruits from the Tree of Devotion and give them away freely to all people, in all directions, all over the world. Do not consider who is fit or unfit, let people take these fruits (being the names of God) and become free from old age and death.” Symbols of spirituality and peace from whatever tradition can surely be revered by all.

By Sanjay Krsnacandra das

Phase 1: Make a list of 10-15 very close people from your CoI contact, with whom you can freely talk. Call 3-5 people from that list daily. The list will be exhausted in 3-4 days. Phase 2: By now, you would have gained some confidence. Now increase the CoI list to be as exhaustive as possible. Do NOT discriminate or speculate if the person would be interested or not. Just list people whom you know. Call fixed number of people every day in the descending order of your comfort level. If some are not interested you may ask for references whom you can contact. This can create good leads. Phase 3: Identify the leaders in CoI contacts: Like chairman/secretary/president of any business, philanthropic, religious organizations, housing society, clubs, etc. Seek their guidance to increase Gita distribution within their circle of influence. They can give referrals, table space or stage time in their events, etc.

By Nrsimhananda das

We are requesting all producers/directors: submit entries by sending a link to your uploaded production: nrs@itvproductions.net Questions may also be sent to that address. Deadline is January 22nd. Include your name, address, telephone, Skype name, and any other relevant information regarding your entry. Please be brief and write in English. All entries are required to be in English or have English subtitles. Additional files/dvd’s will be requested as needed. A panel of judges who have professional experience will select the winners. The 2006 Festival awarded more than $6000 in prizes. The amounts, if any, this year are unknown at this time. The best five in each category will be featured via clips at the event. They will also be screened prior to the ceremony at the samadhi auditorium over a number of evenings.

By Chandan Yatra Das

Sri Alarnath Temple is a very important temple of Visnu near Jagannatha Puri (23 km) at Brahmagiri, Orissa. Lord Alarnath is the representative of Lord Jagannatha at Puri. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at this temple during anavasara, the two-week period after Snana-yatra when Lord Jagannatha rests in seclusion before the annual Rathayatra (chariot festival) in Jagannatha Puri. Lord Caitanya couldn’t bear staying in Puri without seeing His beloved Lord, and at Alarnath He would reveal the highest spiritual emotions, pining in ecstatic separation. While doing the Temple’s Parikrama, one can take darshan of the incredible prema-sila (stone slab) of Lord Caitanya, on the right side of the temple when entering the main gate from the road. This stone slab bears impressions from Lord Caitanya’s body. When Lord Caitanya first lay in full obeisance before Lord Alarnath, the stone beneath Lord Caitanya melted from His ecstatic touch.

By TKG Academy

Krishna Priya grew up as a Hare Krsna devotee in the ISKCON New Vrindaban farm community in West Virginia. Her parents were initiated by Srila Prabhupada and are both very talented and artistic. I first met Krishna Priya in 2003, while she was studying for her B.A. in English and later her M.Ed. in Secondary English Education at the University of Florida in Gainesville. We were roommates, sharing the old trailer at the Vaisnava Academy for Girls, from which she has graduated a few years prior. Krishna Priya was immersed in her studies and eventually became a very competent and successful teacher. She went on to marry Navin Shyam Prabhu and together they moved to California, where she was a Fellow of the Institute on the Teaching of Composition and Literature at the University of California, Irvine.

By Romapada Swami

In some instances, scriptures are deliberately filled with apparent double-talk. A typical example is the language of the Upanishads: e.g., “The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.” (Isopanishad Mantra 5) Such contradictory statements are provided to indicate His inconceivable, transcendental nature. He walks, but His walking is nothing like the walking within this mundane realm. So, thanks to these paradoxes, we are induced to reconsider and reform the deep-rooted material conceptions in our mind when contemplating the Supreme Absolute Truth. It is not necessarily that all such contradictions are purposefully presented by the scriptures in order to get us to contemplate. It is just the nature of Absolute Truth, which appears to us to be contradictory when we try to capture it within the limited vocabulary of language or within the limited framework of our material mind and intelligence. But by patient and repeated aural reception of the whole message, and by receiving clarification from a realized soul, such contradictions become resolved.

By Parvati devi dasi

The results speak for themselves-ever-increasing. They need more volunteers to cover the time after 7 pm. So many people; so few preachers to meet them. Some individual devotees make their own hours and take groups on tours of the Samadhi, the diorama, Prabhupada’s House and the temple, or just pick a spot and preach to people coming in, like DEVANANDA PANDIT DAS, who continually takes out tours around Vrndavan/Braj, and Char Dham, among other places. That man has a variety of other preaching projects including Vedic special cooking classes using clay pots and cow dung as fuel. One of our Free Temple Tours ladies, VRNDAVANI DASI, meets people in the evenings coming for Samadhi darshan and gets them all to chant Hare Krishna-and they are so happy someone took the trouble to welcome them personally, beaming with smiles. Free brochures in Hindi and English are handed out to all.

By Keshav Murari Das

A Program was organized at Smt.Santosh Ahlawat’s (MP) Home which was attended by two more Member of Parliament Mrs Riti Pathak and Smt Anju bala and many others. The program which consisted of Kirtan, 30 minute talk followed by Ques Ans for another 30 min was very well received by the participants. The VIPs there received Srila Prabhupada books, Prasad and asked various questions on the philosophy. There were enthusiastic to host similar programs in future as well. It gave us good opportunity to interact with some leaders and share some elements of Krsna Consciousness with them.

Jaya Govinda Dasa: Bhakta Dustin, a Hare Krishna devotee, was given the honour of singing the National Anthem to open the first holiday caucus dinner of the recently elected Canadian liberal government.

By Madhava Smullen

A group of preschool children, along with their devotee parents and grandparents, bustled excitedly into Gopal’s Garden Homeschool Co-Op for their graduation party on November 5th. The event had ISKCON New Vrindaban president Jaya Krsna Das calling the Co-Op “community building at its best.” Gopal’s Garden was established in New Vrindaban, West Virginia – Srila Prabhupada’s first farm community — in 2007 by Ruci Dasi. It runs to eighth grade, and teaches thirteen students in total. Its preschool, which cares for eight children aged three to five, was an individual effort launched this April by New Vrindaban residents and parents Sundari Dasi and Mercy. “We decided to do it as soon as my son Sanjaya and Sundari’s daughter Bhumi were the right age, so that they could be together, and play and learn with other children in the community,” says Mercy, who was born and raised in New Vrindaban and wants to pursue a career in teaching.

By Urmila Devi Dasi Celibacy trains adolescents for self-restraint, whether they stay single or get married. It develops their inner strength, self-control, and good character. It also fosters good health and a fine memory. Without celibacy we can ne…

By Dayal Mora das

Someway before the village came into view the banana throwing pastimes would begin in earnest as Para and Arjuna launched an untold number of yellow torpedoes into the sea of village children scrambling and diving, fighting and seemingly having the time of their lives in a frenzy of banana catching mayhem. Somehow the children would usually have advanced warning that we were coming and run out of the village to meet us on the road literally sprinting like anything to be amongst the first to get those bananas and books. The same scene would be repeated in every village and we never tired from seeing the explosion of enthusiasm that these blessed children displayed at the prospect of receiving Thakurji’s mercy in the form of these bananas. It was incredible to see day after day how just like an army of untiring monkeys these children competed with great tenacity, and at the risk of life and limb (seemingly) they each pocketed one, two, three or more bananas.

By Mahatma Das

The Soul is Made of Faith. In this article I use the word belief as “a feeling of certainty about what something means.” I discuss how this feeling of certainty affects the way you look at things, and the way you look at things affects your actions. Therefore, in this sense things are less the way they are and more the way we are. Belief is fundamental to consciousness. In Chapter 17 verse 3 of the Gita, Krsna says the atma is made of faith. If someone doesn’t believe that the atma is made of faith, it just means they have faith (they believe) that the atma is not made of faith. Since that is also a belief, it proves that the atma is made of faith. What Do You Believe? If you ever find it difficult to keep your vows and promises or commit to something new, it’s possible you have beliefs that are preventing you from being more committed. If you believe something is difficult to do or if you believe something is possible to achieve, you are usually right, not necessarily because that’s true, but because of the way you think about it (or the way you think about yourself).

By Adiguru dasa In Krishna Consciousness we hear many viewpoints about spreading the movement of Lord Caitanya. In reality there is not one fixed way to attract a conditioned living entity. A conditioned living entity who has achieved a rare benedictio…

By Krishna-kripa das

Audrey, a new resident of Krishna House, whose spiritual search culminated in Krishna consciousness, knew many alternative people from Orlando, where she grew up. Some of them were organizers of the Zen Awakening Festival, and thus she was able to secure a place for us to perform for two hours on one of the stages at the festival. We took a van full of devotees. We found the stage was not set up with microphones and amplifiers, so we put out our blankets and chanted in front of it. We decided to do a harinama throughout the site so many people would hear the holy name and some might be attracted to chant with us

By Yamuna Devi Right then and there, I decided that I wanted to feel what they were feeling. It was the real thing—everything I had heard and read about chanting while growing up as a devotee, yet which evaded me as if it were a myth—here it was as cle…

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

Sometimes devotees think that by working hard for Krishna, on the order of the spiritual master, even if there is some neglect of personal sadhana, hearing and chanting, success in spiritual life is assured come what may. Is this empty optimism? Or does the order of the spiritual master supersede all other considerations? It is tempting to assure oneself that being engaged in all nine angas of Bhakti to lesser or greater degrees trying to please the guru, the assiduous, intense performance of service can counter and make up the deficit of personal neglect. ‘I am being engaged so much, in fact, I have little time to complete my rounds. But Krishna is merciful. He understands my situation.’ The ‘work now, samadhi later’ ethic can be misunderstood. If working hard now in genuine practical service, furthering the cause of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is pleasing to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga, then surely the merciful Lord will overlook these shortfalls ‘ or will He? There were times when the merciful Srila Prabhupada was aware of these problems with some of his GBC men. After all, by continuous engagement in devotional service, we are assured thus: ‘Therefore, one has to work in Krishna consciousness to satisfy Krishna or Vishnu; and while performing such activities one is in a liberated stage.’ (BG 5.1 purport)

By Satyaraja Dasa Honesty and truthfulness, then, are two essential elements of humility. They manifest as one’s ability to honestly assess oneself, to recognize and admit one’s own faults and defects as a conditioned jiva, and to admit the truth of on…

By Keshav

On Friday, December 4, 2015, members of the ISKCON Toronto Temple Council were invited to attend an official “Meet-and-Greet” with the Toronto Police. Aimed at bringing together members of the Toronto Police with leaders from the South and West Asian communities, the event was held at the beautiful headquarters of the Toronto Police, located at 40 College Street, right in the heart of downtown Toronto. The event saw close to 100 attendees from all different communities and organizations. The highlight was the attendance of Police Chief Mark Saunders. He addressed the crowd with a nice speech about how the Toronto Police deeply value the contributions of community leaders. There were also speeches and presentations from other groups and community leaders. The host then invited any attendees to come forward and introduce themselves and their organization. We had a chance to introduce our temple, what we do and the ways that we serve the community at large!

By Nanda Priya Nivedita Devi Dasi

Like the rest of the city, ISKCON Chennai is also waking out of the shock and reaching out to the people with nourishment, medical aid and personal needs. ISKCON Chennai volunteers are tirelessly trying to help all the affected places. Over 6000 plates of Prasadam are being distributed everyday. Besides distributing in public shelter houses, the volunteers are moving even into streets still knee deep in water and giving the Prasad door to door. A total of 30,000 plates of Prasadam have been distributed. We want to expand that to more areas in Chennai adding items like water, bed sheets, mosquito repellents, new clothes, tooth paste, brush etc.

By Dharma-setu das Shortly after getting married my wife and I visited my grandmother. She was 82 years old at the time and had been married for over 50 fifty years, my grandfather had passed away around 10 years previously. One evening our conversatio…

By Vaisesika Das

All wondrous phenomena showing power, beauty, grandeur or sublimity, either in the material world or in spiritual, are but partial manifestations of Krsna’s divine energies and opulence. He is the supreme cause of all causes & the essence of everything living or non living. Anything extraordinarily opulent, beautiful and glorious should be considered as a fragmental manifestation of Krsna’s splendor. All things are existing due to Krsna’s entering into them as supersoul. Krsna is supreme object of worship. The Bhagavad Gita has long been a source of inspiration and guidance for the world. In this class we will explore how to adopt the spiritual habits from this great book and how they will transform your life and bring you wisdom, happiness, and fearlessness.