Author Archives: Dandavats

By Anya Kultyshkina

Kerala is the most materially educated state in India. Almost all local people know English. That is why even those devotees who do not know the local languages of India can go there and preach Krsna consciousness. There is a need to bring Krsna consciousness to this area, because although the people are materially educated, spiritual knowledge is lacking. Because of contact with Europeans, first with Vasco Da Gama in the 15thcentury and later with the British dominion, many Christian churches were established there and I met Christians at every step. It was almost impossible to make them aware of what kind of heavy sin they were committing by killing animals for their food. They consider that God created animals for their enjoyment and their churches fully endorse such philosophy. But even among the Christian people, I met some who were quite intelligent and open to dialogue. They were interested in Bhagavad Gita As It Is and they even were taking the books.

By Sundar Nitai das

When we approached Paul in his office two weeks earlier to present our humble request for translation of one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, we were anxious and excited, but Paul’s genuine warm personality drove the anxiety away. Our excitement remained. Paul advised us to send our work to him and we sent him the Maha mantra and its explanation. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. The Lord further predicted that the chanting of His names will spread in all towns and villages of world.

By Sacinandana Swami

The Govardhana Retreat has been going on since 2000 – the first with only thirty students under the trees surrounding Giriraja (we still remember having to crawl under a barbed wire fence to get to our spot!), the most recent with almost a thousand students, now at a rented ashram. As the number of students has grown, so too has our desire to serve this ever-expanding community of devotees by building our own centre at Govardhana, along with our awareness that we needed our own place to house and host the devotees, and to give them a quiet place to actually retreat from the busy-ness of their lives. For us, the bhumi-puja was a monumental event, like a first mango flower finally blossoming on a tree planted twelve long years earlier. We have been patient. We originally procured land near Govardhana Hill in 2004, and added three more small pieces over the next eight years. Finally, two years ago, we added a large two-and-a-half-bigha plot, making the final size of the plot for the Centre five acres. Finally, we had enough land to allow our centre to be uncramped, unbuilt-up, and to possess the natural and simple ambiance we desired.

By Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi The Mayavadi sannyasis asked, “You belong to our Sankara-sampradaya and live in our village, Benares. Why then do You not associate with us? . . . You look as brilliant as if You were Narayana Himself. Will You kindly explai…

By Caitanya Carana Dasa Material desires are like parasites because they almost always subvert, even sabotage, our best interests. When they divert us from our goals, they are the sources of distraction, as explained above. And when they themselves bec…

By Urmila Devi Dasi “You’ve broken your probation three times,” the stern judge said. He leaned forward on the desk and glared at the man in shackles and bright orange prison clothes. “You’ve had to go to a drug-rehabilitation program. Each time you st…

By Prof. Keith Ward Can a scholar be a true believer? Can a believer be a good scholar? Two parts of a problem that has exercised many in the West since at least the Enlightenment. Prof. Keith Ward, Regius Professor Emeritus of Divinity at the Universi…

By Bhagavan Das

Among the activities carried out in the holy atmosphere of Nova Gokula, there was a lot of contact with nature: a visit to the stables, work in the garden and bathing in the river were some opportunities provided for participants for enjoying the simple life, away from the artificiality and pollution in urban environment. Vaikuntha Murti, Secretary for the Youth of ISKCON Brazil and Subhadra’s husband, says: “The visit to the goshala was surprising because many of them had little contact with nature, and although we had gone there just to observe, almost all of them asked to milk a cow and gave their best to achieve it, contrary to my expectations”.

Loka-guru Das: We are devotees from 6 years and we complete the holistic approach of the health system by adding bhakti yoga in a outreach/loft preaching way

By Gour Govinda Swami Advaita Acarya’s father and mother disappeared when he was very young. Feeling very distressed he went on pilgrimage visiting many, many holy places. When He came back, some of His relatives requested Him to marry. Therefore, at t…

Jagannath Swami dasa: We are looking for pujaris/cooks to serve the Deities here in Berkeley temple. The Deities here include Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra who were installed by Srila Prabhupada in 1967.

By the Sastric Advisory Committee One argument for a beardless deity of Advaita Acarya is that we should follow Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Certainly we should follow the previous acaryas. Sometimes, as in the case of Maharaja Priyavrata, …

By Giriraj Swami Advaita Acarya, although Visnu Himself, was in the mood of a Vaisnava. As a Vaisnava, He felt compassion for the fallen conditioned souls who were suffering without Krsna consciousness. Although previously Navadvipa had been a great ce…

By Praghosa Dasa “A pure Vaisnava should be very careful to engage in his specific duty without criticizing others. This is the safest position. Otherwise, if one tends to criticize others, he may commit the great offence of criticizing a Vaisnava” I…

By Sivarama Swami Suddha-bhakti-cintamani deals with the subject of steadiness from several different perspectives. What does real steadiness mean? nasta-prayesv abhadresu nityam bhagavata-sevaya: “nasta-prayesu,” when almost all the inauspicious thing…

Bhakta Dmitry: 50% from this is going to be donated to finishing the construction of our beloved New Navadvipa Mandir (Kiev, Ukraine)

By Gour Govinda Swami When Mahaprabhu left home, His servant Isana Thakura took care of Sacimata and Vishnupriya. Vamsivadana Thakura who was very dear to Mahaprabhu also always stayed with Vishnupriya and Sacimata. He received so much krpa, mercy, fro…

By Madhumati Pushkarini Srila Prabhupada tamed our ‘ritual conditioned’ Indian minds. Here we learn how our activities are not aimed at gaining piety or good merit but only bhakthi, Krishna bhakthi or devotional service towards the Lord. Coming from a…

By Gandhari Devi Dasi We are seeing that now more Iskcon centers are celebrating Holi with burning of Holika and throwing the colored dye festival. So there are some points to be mentioned about these celebrations. I was requested by a senior mataji to…

By Jatayu dasa I made all my own decisions, I was my own man, but I was also unhappy. I wanted to break away completely from the material world. I wanted God in my life. I want to try it, I thought. But what if I failed? What will I have to give up? I …

By Gunacuda dasi

Hrimati dasi: As a mother of two alumni students of the SMIS school, I must say that Sri Mayapur international School is an ISKCON school that works. The school gives the students am opportunity to fully develop their own individual skills, while growing up in an Krishna Counscious environment without sacrificing and still enjoying their childhood. After completing their education at SMIS, one of my boys has become a full time Sankirtan Bramachari, while his twin brother is studying medicine at a State University in the USA. I must say that SMIS has brought out the best in my twin boys.

By Samba Das

The Bhaktivedanta Academy Gurukula In Mayapur is already around 90% self sufficient in food production. Now with the development of the Varnasrama College we aim to teach self sufficiency in other areas of life. Our first project is to work with the boys to create a timber frame house based on a vernacular found across South East Asia. Why Timber Frame? Back in the 70’s and 80’s many trees were planted in Mayapur to be used as cash crops. One of the species, that thrives in frequently flooded river valleys was Eucalyptus Camaldulensis, known in Australia as “Red River Gum”. I discovered that this tree was the one that the early Australian settlers used to build their houses.

By Mathura Lilesvari Devi Dasi

Thaipusam is a festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. The festival commemorates the occasion when Mother Parvati gave Lord Skanda a Vel “spear” so he could vanquish the daityasura Soorapadman. Thaipusam is a public holiday in Malaysia. Thousands of Hindus gather every year at various temples nationwide to celebrate Thaipusam. ISKCON Malaysia has stamped our presence at these temples every year since the late 80s. In Kuala Lumpur the festival is celebrated in a grand manner at Batu Caves which is likened to Palani Malai in Tamil Nadu.

By Jagat Vira das

From the Mission Statement for Devotee Care: “We strive to care for the spiritual, emotional, physical and social well being of the devotees in order to be enthused to expand Srila Prabhupada’s mission.” From this mission statement one of the primary aims – is “we aim to provide care that includes personal attention to both devotees’ spiritual and material lives.” This is one of the important aims, which facilitates every devotee in feeling cared about and inspired by their respective community, and never left being alone without the care of other devotees. Whether you live close to the temple, far away or you just attend the festivals, it is important to feel a part of a loving and welcoming Vaisnava community.

By Chaitanya Charan das

Maharaja has won the hearts of thousands, if not millions, all over the world because of his capacity to connect at the level of the heart with people. That is not a skill we get genetically or learn by some self-help training. We can form heart-to-heart connections with others only when we have genuine respect and concern for them. And Maharaja has always had that in abundance, even from his pre-devotional days. I remembered an incident during his spiritual search. A sadhu had served spicy khichadi to Maharaja (then Richard Slavin). Although the chili in it was burning him from within, he not only finished all of that khichadi but also accepted a second helping when offered – just to not hurt the feelings of that sadhu.

By Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi Lost Soul was homeless. He rarely spoke, but He listened to Crip. Crip was Lost Soul’s close friend. The nights were long and there was always fear or danger on the streets. “Got your back,” Crip said. He made plans for surv…

By Radha Mohan das

His Holiness Sivarama Swami has begun a long-term project to build a template for social structure in the ISKCON farm community in Hungary, based on the ancient varnasrama system.During a two part seminar on the subject delivered at the Manor, Maharaja described in no uncertain terms about how Srila Prabhupada had wanted the development of varnasrama, the backbone of a practical society that complements the process of devotional service.

By Radhanath Swami Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Raghunath Das Goswami that he who simply chases after the satisfaction of his tongue, his belly and his genitals cannot attain Krishna. Bhakti Vinoda has said that tongue is the most ferocious and unco…

By Purushottam Nitai Das

At the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna put aside his weapons and with tears in his eyes looked at Krishna expecting compassion. But in return he got chastisement. Tears of sorrow did not impress Krishna but rather it displeased him. If a child refuses to appear in an exam then his mother won’t be sympathetic although her child may give several reasons for not giving the exam. Mother being the best well -wisher of her child knows how important exam is for her child’s career. Krishna being the best friend of Arjuna expected him to exhibit exemplary qualities befitting a great personality. Tears of lamentation, moroseness and reluctance to do once ordained duty isn’t appreciated by Krishna. These are the qualities of people in mode of ignorance. And devotees are expected to come to mode of goodness which is characterised by enthusiasm, hard work, patience and perseverance. Off course devotees of the Lord do their duties keeping Lord in the centre so they rise above goodness.

Priyavrata das: Food for Life Global is requesting donations to buy a mobile kitchen for our affiliate in Serbia to distribute more than 60,000 vegan meals over the next 6 months to feed refugees seeking asylum in Serbia.

By Gauragopala dasa I remember the amazing story of a boy who went into an old Cathedral in Melbourne on February 18th 1972 to desperately pray to God within his own heart and within the Church for guidance and direction, crying out within, ‘Oh my Lord…

By Sajjanasraya dasa

An Istha ghosti is a wonderful opportunity to understand the hearts of the devotee. We express our feelings, and give suggestions to improve our divine service and to increase our sense of belonging in our devotional community. The essence of everything is serving and doing things for Krishna with love, attention, care, respect, concentration and helping others to know their best friend. If people are ready to listen we can tell them directly about Him. Those who aren’t ready to hear directly about Krishna will be influenced by kindness of the devotees. Our outreach to others can take many forms.

By Suhotra Swami Sometimes devotees they find themselves in some situation, which they think is hopeless. They are struggling, struggling, struggling and they seem to make no progress and then they start to think: “Oh, what is the use.” And then they w…

By Kaviraja Shanti Prakash Das There were three poor men who always desired great riches. One day a special delivery man handed to each poor man an envelope and informed each man, that within the envelope is a great fortune. The first poor man did no…

By Radhanath Swami According to the shastra, the way to counteract the very deeply strong tendency for possessiveness in the grihastha life is to giving charity to the Vaishnavas and the brahmans, to the mission of the guru. According to the shastra, t…

Ruchika Srivastava: “In the journey of life, allurements breeze in Choice is given to us, we refrain or entertain Pursuit of happiness in the wrong terrain, Make results uncertain, for a person lamebrain.

By Jaya Sada Gosai Dasa

On the 26th of January this year, ISCKON Adelaide celebrated its 3rd annual Rath Yatra. Lord Jagannath took to the streets as a part of the Australia Day Parade, His rath being designated as one of the floats. But, true to form, He stole the show yet again. With His huge, delighted eyes and inimitable smile, the Lord of the Universe appeared to be in rollicking good cheer. He was primed for an afternoon of wanton mercy distribution and thousands of unsuspecting onlookers reaped the full benefit. Amongst the vibrant parade participants, Lord Jagannath in His opulent and fetching regalia called for undivided attention. Veda Vyasa Prabhu and Yashoda Sakhi Mataji brought their decades of altar experience to bear. With consummate skill and artistry, they dressed the Lord of all lords in the manner of a true king. Regardless, the merciful Jagannath ensured that He was not the only reason His “float” turned the most heads. Around 50 devotees in their Vaishnava best took part in pulling the chariot through Adelaide’s streets.

By Suvyakta Narasimha Dasa And then it happened. As I looked on, I saw two trucks, one behind the other, speeding at about 60 to 80 kilometers per hour along the highway. Unseen to me – and probably to the truck driver too – was an autorickshaw, just …

By Nandarani Devi Dasi

In ISKCON Sri Lanka, the Gita program was initiated last year. The program started with a short advert on newspaper and 25 people enrolled for the program. This program consists of 12 classes and was conducted on basis of 2 classes per week. The participants of the program were interested in the content and on the matters discussed in the class. At completion of the program all the participants were tested on their knowledge on Gita. Further certificate of completion of the program was issued to 15 participants who attended all the classes of the program and showed their full commitment towards the program