Author Archives: Dandavats

By 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

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 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

By Abhijit Tolley Suppose for a moment this stone has life. It still has all the characteristics of a stone, but now it knows it exists. No matter how many trucks choose to run over it, it feels no pain. It is, after all, just a stone. And, just as bef…

By Sri Nandanandana Das The childless Dasharatha was advised by his family priest Vashishtha to perform a fire sacrifice ceremony to seek the blessings of God for children. Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, decided to manifest himself as the eldes…

By Vamsi Vihari Dasa According to the Bhagavad-gita (15.1), this material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. All varieties of this world exist in the spiritual world in its original pure form. If this material w…

By Radhanath Swami The Lord’s descent from His transcendental abode is already explained in the 6th verse. One who can understand the truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he ret…

By 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.

By Karandhara Dasa From this, we can understand that consciousness merely reflects the experience of whatever it is directed towards, just as the space capsule reflects information from wherever it is directed. If you walk into a store, you can purchas…

By Vishakha Devi Dasi Srila Prabhupada writes, “Whatever is taken from the earth—either from the mines, from the surface of the globe, or from the atmosphere—should always be considered the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and should be u…

By Vishakha Devi Dasi How we value, acquire, use, and relate to money reflects our inner state of being. Krishna determines how much money each of us receives. It may appear accidental that one person is born into wealth and another into poverty, or th…

By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada So ideal state means the king must be very responsible. There are many instances. Just like Yudhisthira Maharaja, who was a pious king. In Bengali there is a proverb rajar dose raja nasto dose grihastha bhra…

By Ramacandra das The incarnations of Godhead are as numerous as the waves of the sea, yet Krsna, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of them all. Just as from one original candle we may light many other candles equal in potency,…

By Chaitanya Charan das One of the primary values that it conveys – selfless sacrifice – is especially relevant in our present times that are characterized by obsessive selfishness. Contemporary culture largely glamorizes the “me” paradigm, which impel…

NA ISKCON Medical Professionals Retreat Team: All ISKCON medical/health care professionals in North America are cordially invited to the second annual retreat being held at the Gita Nagari Farm from September 22nd (Thursday) to September 25th (Sunday)

By Satyananda Dasa ISKCON devotees commonly use the phrase, “Going back home, back to Godhead.”Have you ever thought about what this means when a traveler is anxious to return home? Home is where our family is, where there are people who love us, who t…

By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada Every living being is ambitious to have the topmost level of enjoyment in the material world and yet he is always unhappy here. This unhappiness is present in all the above mentioned planets in spite of long …

By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada A kshatriya never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a kshatriya is challenged by somebody, that “I want to fight with you,” oh, he cannot refuse. This is kshatriya spirit. He cannot …

By Giriraj Swami Lord Ramacandra was the eldest son of Maharaja Dasaratha, and He was loved by all of the citizens in the state. According to the Vedic system, when one reaches a certain age he retires from worldly duties and responsibilities and devot…

Krsna Sundari dd: We are looking for a full-time pujari to join our team serving Sri Sri Radha Madhava.

By Nila Kamal das

Often referred to as ‘DevBhumi’ or the ‘Land of the Demigods’; Dharamsallah plays host to serene beauty seldom found in the corners of the globe. Throughout the year this small city of 50,000 is flooded with tourists looking to enjoy the fine view of the snowcapped Himalayas and the cool mountain weather. Located in Himachal Pradesh in the district of Kangra, Dharamsallah is home to the world renowned noble laureate and ‘living God’ Dalai Lama. Given that the literal translation of Dharamsallah is ‘Place of Religion’, it is no surprise that the residents here are by nature pious and religious.

By Sri Nandanandana dasa When it comes to the Ramayana and the history of Lord Rama, there have been numerous authors who have accepted the Ramayana as a history of ancient events. For example, the first Governor General of India, Sri Rajaji, wrote on …

By Giriraj Swami We, as conditioned souls, tend toward impersonalism. Every conditioned soul has two conditioned tendencies: one is toward sense gratification, and the other is toward impersonalism. So we carry impersonal conceptions with us even when …

By Chandan Yatra Das

Jambavan also known as Jambavantha, is an eternal servant of Lord Ramacandra. He was the King of the Bears (Riksharaj). He helped Lord Ramacandra find His wife Srimati Sita devi and fight Her abductor, Ravana. He was instrumental in making realize Hanuman his immense capabilities and encouraged him to jump across the ocean to search for Sita in Lanka. Jambavan was present at the churning of the ocean, and circled Lord Vamana seven times in a brief time when Lord was acquiring the three worlds from Bali Maharaj. In his previous life, he was the King of the Himalayas who had incarnated as a bear in order to serve Lord Ramacandra. He had received a boon from Lord Ramacandra that he would have a long life, be handsome and would have the strength of ten million lions.

By Shyamasundara Dasa: For hundreds, perhaps thousands of years the island that is currently known as “Sri Lanka” has traditionally been identified as the “Lanka” of the Ramayana. But is this really the case? Does the Ramayana support this tradition? R…

By Giriraj Das Whatever position one may have, if he is fully conversant with the science of Krsna, Krsna consciousness, he can become a bona fide spiritual master, initiator, a teacher of this science. In other words one can become a bona fide spiritu…

By Romapada Das

Over 20000 students attended a mega youth festival organized by ISKCON Pune on 20th March to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON. The event, which was attended by principles of various colleges, political leaders from the youth community, the education commissioner of Pune and several other VIPs, was widely covered by several newspapers and broadcast on Indian’s national TV channel, Doordarshan. The theme of the event was ‘Drishti – Bharat leads the world’ and showcased India’s real spiritual wealth by means of which the country has the capacity to lead the entire world

26 2nd Avenue Team: Between now and July 1, you and your fellow Godsisters and Godbrothers around the world have a chance to safeguard the Mecca of Krishna Consciousness in the West.

By Niscala Dasi There are many things which we aspire for and even worship, which have no intrinsic value. They have value inasmuch as they are attached to values, and thus can serve perverted or promoting aims. Thus, though they have no value, they ha…

By Giriraj Swami If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God–for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the very ability to eat and drink and breathe, to think and feel and will, and to walk, talk, and sense–we will fe…

By Brahmananda Dasa Krsna consciousness provides the enlightenment by which to understand who one is, what the world is, and who God is. One achieves this consciousness by performing various scientific spiritual disciplines recommended by great authori…

By Cintamani Dhama Devi Dasi I know that if I really want to help my children, I have to help them become conscious of Krishna. To do that, I too have to become Krishna conscious. After all, you can’t give what you don’t have. Children are sensitive to…

By Bhakti Charu Swami

Difficulties deepen our realization & purifies our heart so that we serve Srila Prabhupada in a better way. In this material world, it is so easy to do wrong thing but it is so difficult to do right thing. Due to forgetfulness of Krishna,all problems of the world are coming about. The Basis of all difficulties: lust, anger, envy, pride, greed & illusion. Difficulties coming from Karma will give us samskaras which will further impel us to perform sinful acts, but difficulties coming from Krishna will purify us.

By Shyamasundara Dasa The name of King Kulasekhara Alvar is well known to the followers of Srila Prabhupada. His Divine Grace used to relish with great ecstasy the Mukunda Mala Stotra written by this great saintly king. This stotra is commonly known in…

By Shyamasundara Dasa The following history from the Valmiki Ramaya is full of import for anyone who wants to be a guru, GBC, temple president or leader in ISKCON or any spiritual institution. “Sri Rama said to Laksmana who was seated there and who was…

By Jivan Mukta Dasa When a family adheres to a spiritual program and cooperates to manage the household, the burden of stress and frustration is lightened. A disciplined devotional routine creates a more gentle flow to family life and an atmosphere whe…

By Urmila Devi Dasi

I look back on my life as a small child. Each morning my father would rise by 5:00 A.M. and wake me soon afterwards. Or did I wake spontaneously just to be with him? I would play in his office in our home while he showered. When I was very young we would play together, each of us with a doll. His doll told me stories of his life and taught me lessons of ethics and morality. As I got older, the play became a time to talk of the important things in our lives. My father squeezed fresh orange juice, made our breakfast, and forged our friendship. He made the early morning a time of peace, beauty, love, friendship, and understanding. Mentally traveling forward, I remember sitting in a temple president’s office so many years later. “I’d like to live here and dedicate myself to serving Krsna.” “We wake up early in the morning,” he says. “Very early. Can you do that?” I smile. “I’ve done that all my life.”

By Sridhara Swami Sex is the highest material pleasure, and love of God is the highest spiritual pleasure. For some people it’s disheartening to learn that they have to make a choice. The real thing to understand is that the pleasure of sex life has a …

By Madhavendu das Srimati Radhika’s kunda is as precious to Krishna as Sri Radhika Herself, and, above all gopis, Sri Radha is Krishna’s most beloved. Her divine Kunda is described by great sages as similarly dear to Krishna. Once Srila Prabhupada gav…