Author Archives: Dandavats

By Padmapani das

For those of us old enough to remember, these recent events may conjure up memories of the Great Northeast Blackout in 1965. As a resident of Canada, I remember it well. Although quite young at the time, I distinctly recall the sense of fear and vulnerability that arose in my heart. I realized for the first time that our civilization wasn’t as strong and secure as we had been led to believe. “At 5:27 p.m., November 9, 1965, the entire Northeast area of the United States and large parts of Canada went dark. From Buffalo to the eastern border of New Hampshire and from New York City to Ontario, a massive power outage struck without warning. Trains were stuck between subway stops. People were trapped in elevators. Failed traffic signals stopped traffic dead. And, at the height of the Cold War, many thought Armageddon had arrived. One pilot flying over a darkened New York City stated, ‘I thought, another Pearl Harbor!’

By Kesava Krsna dasa Have we ever embellished a telling of a lie with an assortment of trivial details to disguise the actual truth? Have we ever pretended to be someone we never were, by exuding a persona larger than ourselves? Are there any angels am…

By Urmila Devi Dasi The individuality of the self is a central teaching in Vaisnava philosophy, but what is our practical understanding of this term? Individuality is present in all living beings on both a material and a spiritual level. This article t…

By Iskcon Chennai

Flooded With a population of 4.6 million affected due to floods caused by heavy rainfall, the city of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu has been declared a National disaster zone by the Indian Government. With no power, food or water supply, life in Chennai has become close to impossible. ISKCON Chennai has suffered immensely. Devotees have been shifted out of the temple with three devotees left in the temple campus to serve the presiding Radha Krishna deities. Temple vehicles, the Sankirtan shop, Govinda’s have incurred huge loses. Prayer is the need of the hour for the devotees and other people living at Chennai. ISKCON Chennai is engaged in supplying daily meals to more 1500 flood displaced families sheltered in government schools. We want to expand that to more areas in Chennai and items like water, bedsheets etc ISKCON Chennai TEMPLE has suffered heavy damages in the current flood situation. Estimated losses to the temple are in the range of 25 million to 30 million rupees. We request devotees to come forward & help for the same.

By Ekanatha Dasa

The Bhaktivedanta Archives is pleased to offer two new releases: the VedaBase™ 2015.1 update and the original unedited audio of Śrīla Prabhupada for the year 1972. While we at the Bhaktivedanta Archives make every endeavor to release an accurate rendering of Srila Prabhupada’s legacy, we also know that when dealing with numerous poorly recorded, unlabeled and miss-labeled audio recordings there are in fact major challenges. Based on the above we apologize for any inaccuracies that may have resulted through our endeavors under these unique circumstances. We sincerely encourage anyone to submit verifiable corrections. We thank you for your support and understanding in this matter. Bhaktivedanta Archives Staff

By Nirmala Krishna Das

Bhaktivedanta Gurukula & International School has been ranked 13th all over India in the “Boys Residential School” category and rated No.1 in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the same category by the Education world, India school rankings 2015. For the past seven years Education World has been publishing the annual Education World India School Rankings with C fore — the well-known Delhi-based market research and opinion polls agency. It rates and ranks over 800 of India’s most high-profile schools on 14 parameters — academic reputation, faculty competence, leadership quality, sports education, Safety & Hygiene, Co-Curricular Education etc. The awards ceremony was held on September 26th 2015 at Vivanta Taj, New Delhi We wish the staff of BGIS and students for this great success and continue in our service to provide value education to prepare fine citizens of the world, men of character & competence, who can lead and inspire others.

By Vrajendranandan Das

Dr Hamid Ansari, the Honorable Vice President of India paid floral tributes to Dr Rajendra Prasad the First President of India on the occasion of his 131st Birth Anniversary at the Parliament Annexe New Delhi on 3rd December 2015. This function organized by the Rajendra Chintan Samiti and the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). We were also a part of the function. This was a really great opportunity for us (ISKCON) to meet and build relationships with the many important personalities present on the occasion. Dr Yoganand Shashtri Minister in the former Delhi Government, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal Chief Whip BJP and Member of Parliament, Shri Ramakant Goswami Minister in the former Delhi Government and many other VVIP guests from different walks of life graced the function. Shri R K Sharma and Vijay Shankar Chaturvedi Vice president Rajendra Chintan Samiti warmly welcomed the Honorable Vice President of India and all the other guests.

By the TOVP

After a lot of work and research, the production of the GRC has finally started in our temporary workshop. As the new workshop is almost ready, we will be able to make the total of 1.2 ton of jersey here in house. Here we can also see immense wood mold. This is the mold to create the Kalash bracket. 15 feet (4.5M) tall, brackets like this will support the Kalash and Chakra that are standing at the very top of the main dome. Also: Message from Radha Jivana, International Fundraising Director

By Sri Nandanandana dasa When describing the length of the yugas or ages, and which yuga we are in and how far along we are in it, there is sometimes confusion about how to calculate them. Some people think we are already in the next Satya-yuga, known…

By radhanathswami.com

Radhanath Swami shared the message that it is imperative in business to earn with integrity and spend with compassion. He said that as a child raised in United States he saw so much wealth and luxury. “But all these technologies, power and road systems, seemed so shallow to so many people in my generation. Because greed can never satisfy the heart.” He further explained that poverty in society is simply an extension of the inner poverty of the human heart. “When there is a poverty of compassion, poverty in society manifest, and when there is wealth within the hearts our leaders, there is prosperity emotionally, physically and spiritually,” he said. Radhanath Swami cited the example of Yankees baseball Manager Joe Torre. Under his leadership, the Yankees were the most successful team ever winning many titles. But none of this fame and honor were particularly meaningful to him. Due to his difficult childhood and the abuses from his alcoholic father, he would go out and hit the ball hard to take his stress out. But after he retired he started working with ghetto schools to help children from abusive homes. Radhanath Swami quoted Mr. Torre as saying, “When I see those children who went through what I went through – lost confused and alone, and then I see them smile and I see that they feel loved, that is meaningful. Not the money, not the awards.”

By Hari Narayana das

Bandung is a small island in Indonesia. The annual ‘Light Festival’ commemorates the anniversary of Bandung city. This year the festival fell on the 8^th of November. The festival includes a parade throughout the island with a variety of acts and performances. Many departments under Bandung’s Government participated. Taking advantage of this golden opportunity, devotees organized a grand Ratha Yatra festival and joined the parade. They were granted permission from the Government. Srila Prabhupada was always pushing forward this festival. “I am so much satisfied with your successful performance of Ratha-yatra festival and I am awaiting to see similar festivals in all our other center.” (Letter to Gurudasa, 16th July 1968) The theme of the festival this year was ‘Animalia’. All participants were requested to decorate their cars with a variety of animals. It seemed that the Lord was helping out, as the Ratha was already bedecked with two elegant white horses.

By Phalini Devi Dasi

Because the Petersburg Facility does not allow prasadam distribution, the inmates bought candies and after offering them to Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, happily distributed them to all. Many of the men had requested to have their pictures taken with us. Unfortunately, the photographer arrived late, so many participants had already left before the camera was able to capture them. After much picture-taking with those who were still present, we said our good-byes, feeling very grateful to Lord Caitanya and the Guru-parampara for engaging us in prison preaching.

Rsiraja Das: The issue of interest is whether a soul “falls down” into matter. There is often confusion around this topic, which, in my view, rests upon a misunderstanding about the nature of knowledge about our past.

Samita Sarkar: If I ever doubted whether or not a vegetarian diet was sufficient, all of my doubts flew out of the window last month when I went on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan, India.

By Bhakti Niskama Shanta

The archaeological record is very limited and its analysis has been contentious. Hence, molecular biologists have shifted their attention to molecular dating techniques. Recently on April 2013, the prestigious Cell Press Journal Current Biology published an article (Fu et al. 2013) entitled “A Revised Timescale for Human Evolution Based on Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes”. This paper has twenty authors and they are researchers from the world’s top institutes like Max Planck Institute, Harvard, etc. Respected authors of this paper have emphatically accepted that the fossil record is inadequate and unreliable. These statements clearly substantiate that now biologists are agreeing that fossil records do not provide any significant evidence at all for conventional evolution theory. Despite the well-recorded fact of the continual grand propaganda of Darwinism based on fossil evidence for more than 150 years, in recent times biologists are surprisingly coming up with such statements, based on their confidence that evolution can be explained purely by the genealogical/genomic record provided by modern molecular biology.

By Govinda prema das

The students are very inspired by the teaching of the Vedic culture, the graduation ceremony was attended by HH Bhakti Narasimha Swami , HG Umapati prabhu, HG Manasi Ganga mataji and other senior devotees. We also established a training centre which enables the students to come and live in a contemporary ashram, where they pay a minimum rent.Every morning and evening the students attend a sanga class and a japa meditation workshop. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada in 6months 30 students have become vegetarians, chant, dress up in vaishnava attire and do service in the temple. May the vaishnava community bestow their mercy upon us so that we may remain fixed in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

By Mina Sharma

David Cameron also met and shook hands the children from Krishna Avanti, a flagship Conservative free school, and sat with them in the VIP area, which was an unforgettable moment for them. Srutidharma Das spoke to Narendra Modi in Gujarati about ISKCON’s 50th anniversary next year, for which he offered heartfelt congratulations. Modi also spoke about his visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2005. Upon meeting Srutidharma Das, David Cameron said “We meet again!” as Prabhu had only recited Diwali prayers at No 10 few days earlier. He also commented on the mangal arati sweets which were given as a gift to the Prime Minister and Mrs Cameron, who had worn a sari for the occasion, which his children enjoyed immensely. HG Srutidharma Das said: “We were absolutely delighted to be part of this historic event – it was a milestone for the UK and India, and ISKCON were right at the very heart of it.”

By Radha Bhakti devi dasi

As you may have heard, we are creating a display at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga in Mayapur, taking place on February 24 – March 2, 2016. The display will feature highlights of the centres around the world from the last 50 years. It will consist of photos and text showcasing different yatras’ temples, programs, and devotees. In particular, devotees have submitted such things as: – When their temple was built – When deities were installed – When Srila Prabhupada visited – Significant successful programs and when they were launched – Devotees who contributed to the community and who have since passed away – And more

By Kumari Sherreitt

It’s a momentous year for ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) all over the world for it is 50 years since Founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada came to West and started the movement, and especially in its ever-growing community in the UK. ISKCON-London Radha-Krishna temple, was the UK’s first temple, and has just celebrated its 46th anniversary of the Deities Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara’s installation. Although the Deities were first installed at another location, they soon after (in the late 1970’s) moved to the present location at 10 Soho Street, right off the hustle of famous Oxford street, in central London. Special guests of the evening, held in a large hall in central London, were three of the six pioneers of ISKCON in the UK: Gurudas das, Malati devi dasi, and Syamasundarda who spok, a little about the past of ISKCON, a little about the present, and most poignantly, to make a plea for commitment to the youth towards the future of the movement.

By Yasoda devi dasi

The bus drove everyone to the temple area. The teachers had sent me a document of 18 questions prior to the day of the excursion. I answered these as a group, as it is a requirement that the students were to discuss and record the answers for an assignment that they will complete back at school after their visit to us. The questions are quite varied and some of the topics include Hare Krsna key beliefs, sense of identity, lifestyle features, history and the like. It was now time for the midday arati. This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to experience first hand what they had come here to learn about. I had asked permission from the gurukula, if the secondary students would be present at the arati. Anjali led a very powerful kirtana, with most students assisting with playing instruments. The students from Kadina were dancing enthusiastically.

By Madhavendra Puri dasa

“I have been thinking of Mukunda Goswami constantly and praying for him intensely” said Giriraja Swami. Mukunda Goswami’s brother, Tom Grant (an established jazz musician), also asked for prayers on the night of Maharaja’s first surgery, pulling together thousands of correspondents in prayerful thoughts. Niranjana Swami posted: “Please continue with prayers for Mukunda Goswami and as much as possible have kirtanas for him.” Devotees organised kirtanas in New Govardhana, and Krsna Ksetra Swami organised kirtanas in Radhadesh, Belgium, and there were many more around the globe dedicated to Maharaja. “We pray to Radha Madhava that your operation is successful and you give your association again” said Jayapataka Swami, and Lokanatha Swami organised 1,500 devotees on Vraja-mandala parikrama to pray for Mukunda Goswami’s protection and recovery. Many devotees sent prayers and praise including some very senior leaders. Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Bhakti Caru Swami, Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Laksmimoni Mataji, Malati Mataji, Radhanath Swami, Ramai Swami, Ravindra Swarupa Prabhu, Sivaram Swami, and many other godbrothers, godsisters and wellwishers all sent heartfelt messages. Maharaja is spending some weeks in Murwillumbah Rehabilitation Ward before being discharged.

By Basu Ghosh Das

After years of struggles of various types, including having to overcome a number of legal hurdles, ISKCON has inaugurated the beginning of a grand project at Jagannath Puri by performing the bhumi puja and installation of Ananta Shesha on the 18 acre ISKCON project land in a grand ceremony that was attended by thousands of devotees who participate in an annual three day Puri Parikrama (circumambulation of Jagannath Puri) organized by Bhakti Purushottam Swami, ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner for much of Eastern India, including his native Odhisha (formerly “Orissa”). Seven to eight thousand devotees, mainly from Bengal and Orissa, but also from other parts of India and abroad attended this years Puri Parikrama. Teachers and students of the Bhaktivedanta Academy at Sridham Mayapur performed the bhumi puja rituals. Headed by the Academy Dean Pritivardhana Das, the boys performed homas to satisfy Lord Jagannath. Later on Krishna Chaitanya Das assisted Lokanath Swami in the installation of the Deity of Ananta Shesha, the expansion of Lord Vishnu who is the supporting power holding up the universe, in the ground where the foundation of the Radha Krishna temple will be constructed.

By Romapada Swami

Keeping Krishna in the center doesn’t mean we have no relationships with others; rather, we then have the proper perspective of our spiritual relationship with all beings. In the last several decades, after having made the state secular, carefully keeping any mention of God out of educational institutions and relegating religion to a sort of personal hobby or an unofficial non-governmental Social Welfare agency, there has been no dearth of researches and reform movements and humanitarian efforts targeting the upliftment of others, seeking in various ways to help people. Thousands of good-willed social scientists, educators & psychologists are all trying their very best to come up with improved methods for character education for children, and so on. For all that effort, the world should be becoming increasingly more peaceful, people becoming increasingly courteous and loving and accommodating of each other etc – but any objective and discerning onlooker can see that the trend is in the reverse, with crime, fraud and social unrest on the rise every day; even neighbors think twice to trust each other and so on.

By Manu Shah

How does one balance the material world with the spiritual world? I can only speak for myself. I have to put my spiritual life first. In order for me to do that I have to put in the time, early in the day. I’m always up by 3 or 4 in the morning doing my meditation. My wife and I are up early and we do our japa, our offerings. We try to get centred early in the morning and then everything else comes after that. If I can’t go to the temple, then I watch the arati on the Internet. I take care of the deities in the house, make an offering to the guru, read the scriptures. If I put all those activities in the beginning of the day, then the rest of the day kind of just flows

By Urmila Devi Dasi

National holidays, and even religious festivals such as Christmas, are often occasions for diving into intoxication, illicit sex, and materialistic life in general. If we wish to raise our children to be absorbed only in thoughts of Lord Krishna, how should we treat these secular holidays? One approach is, as far as possible, to ignore them. We can tell our children that although the preparations they see around them—sometimes for weeks before the holiday—are certainly attractive, we are interested only in celebrating the Lord’s glories. Children can be satisfied and happy without getting into mundane festivities, especially if their year is full with one exciting devotional festival after another. Adults often think, however, that because their children will hanker for what glitters all around them, the children must have at least a little of the outside celebration in order not to feel resentful or deprived. Our children should grow up convinced that the happiness of Krishna’s devotees surpasses all the happiness of the material world—even a party.

By Nrsimha Krsna das

We don’t have chance to do public sankirtan here in Turkey yet, however we use every chance to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. Our Srila Prabhupada Marathon started with an exhibition called Natura Festiva. We attended this prestigious Exhibition from 26 to 29 Nov which was held in Istanbul. We had a stand there for 4 days. I must admit that it was the best preaching activity for us in public. The exhibition was opening from 11:00 and lasting till 19:00 every day. We had a 4,50 sqm stand which we decorated with our books and other preaching materials. The best part of this event for our small yatra to see many of our devotees getting different services and involving in direct preaching with Turkish public. In 4 days we sold 63 Srila Prabhupada books, distributed prasadam, got almost 200 e-mails from visitors and thousands of people got darshan of Srila Prabhupada and Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. There was a lot of interest to our stand. Devotees were shining in the exhibition area.

By Samapriya devi dasi

Small children are completely dependent upon their mother’s care, who is always attentive to their every need, in every way, all the time. Many children of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples were obliged to make a great sacrifice when they were very young. These children were asked to give up there mother’s constant loving care, for the benefit of the suffering conditioned souls in the world. Their mother’s were soldiers in Lord Caitanya’s army. Some were book distributors on the front lines of a great war against the material energy. Others were part of the intricate network that fueled, supported, and maintained the desire of Srila Prabhupada, to flood the earth with transcendental knowledge in the form of his books. Srila Prabhpada was the orchestrator of the greatest Brihat Mrdanga ever sounded. It’s tumultuous calls awakened the fortunate, to the opportunity of perfecting their lives.

By Indradyumna Swami There was a prolonged silence, and I sensed something was wrong. Finally, his voice choked with emotion, he replied, “Mom passed away last night.” I was stunned. “What happened?” I asked. “I talked to Mom only last night!” “I …

By Gregory Recently, I was thinking and reading about Vrindavan. I thought about how it would be to go to Vrindavan. How does it happen? How would I do it? To learn, I checked and researched. I found the ISKCON Vrindavan website. I saw Visit Vrindava…

By Anand caitanya dasa

Every year the Aqua Foundation groups organizes the World Aqua Congress on a specific theme related to environment and invites abstract of papers from speakers all around the country. The IX world Aqua Congress was centered on the theme of reviving traditional water and environment conservation techniques. GEV’s abstract on the paper “Integrated Water Conservation and Protection Schemes for Rural Location” was accepted for the Conference. Following the award ceremony GEV was invited to present that paper to the various delegates present there. The conference was attended by various corporate heads, Government authorities, university professors, NGOs etc. The “Aqua Excellence Awards” are the highest awards given by Aqua Foundation to its members, stakeholders and contributors in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the field of water, environment, energy, earth sciences, atmospheric sciences, planetary sciences, pollution control and sustainability solutions.

ISV CHAD Team: We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all our CHAD members who took up Kartik 2015 CHAD challenge. Now is the time to report your performance.

By Isvara Krishna Dasa The Bhagavad-gita is no doubt a major spiritual treatise and one of the world’s greatest classics. Understanding that a hierarchical concept of reality characterizes the Gita can help us see coherence of the Gita’s message. The …

By Satyaraja Dasa The seventeenth-century mathematician/philosopher Blaise Pascal formulated a pragmatic argument for justifying belief in God. Which is worth the risk of error, Pascal questioned, belief or non-belief? It is wise, he said, to “wager” o…

By Rasa Purusha Dasa At the junction of two ages, amidst two immense armies arrayed on the battlefield at Kurukshetra, Arjuna scans his foes and becomes confused. When Krishna expounds eternal dharma to enlighten him, Arjuna addresses Krishna as pavitr…

By Urmila devi dasi

Throughout most of the world, religious organizations have primary and secondary schools where students can gain knowledge and experience of their tradition in the context of academic learning. Whereas in some countries nearly all schools are religiously based, it is far more the norm in most nations for various religious denominations to have schools side by side with secular educational institutions. Some countries, such as New Zealand and the Netherlands, offer a wide range of support, including financial, to religious schools. In most nations with secular governments, however, a religious school is a private enterprise that exists primarily due to the dedication of staff and parents.

By radhanathswami.com

With the bright lights from the London skyline seeping into the ninth floor room at EY, one of the “big four” international professional services firms, Radhanath Swami gave spoke at their Diwali cultural showcase, “Life Beyond Borders”. As is tradition, he began with the chanting of ancient mantras, which created a mood of serenity. Regardless of background, when the Swami folds his hands, and bursts the pin-drop silence with his elongated “Aum,” you sense that something special is about to happen. Yeohan Kim, an actor with MTV, thought the same: “I heard about the Swami and his incredible story through Russell Brand and he didn’t disappoint. His words were refreshing and were like nuggets of wisdom.”

By Mahatma Das

What follows are the main principles I teach in my marriage workshop entitled Sacred Union, The laws of relationship. Following these principles can help a bad marriage become good, a good marriage become better, and turn around a marriage that seems doomed to fail. I, and many others, have found these principles extremely valuable in creating a good marriage. Please put these principles into practice in your marriage and share them with as many people as possible. These principles are common sense, yet both profound and extremely effective, and they can be successfully used by anyone.

Gunacuda Dasi: We have an immediate vacancy for a suitably qualified teacher for our lovely class of eighteen 9 and 10 year old students.

By Madhava Smullen

“My parents had eight kids, so we didn’t really go out to eat – my mother just cooked constantly to feed us all,” she says. “So being around it all the time, I started cooking myself when I was a little kid. I baked my first brownies at the age of seven.” But with all that good old-fashioned home cooking, Dharmakala never tasted anything quite like the Sunday Feast at the Hare Krishna temple in Ocean City, Maryland, in 1972 – “It was totally out of this world,” she says. And it was this that would lead to her cooking for Lord Krishna, and becoming synonymous with New Vrindaban’s celebrated history of prasadam baking.