Earth Day
Giriraj Swami

Today being Earth Day, I thought of a prayer that resonated with me in my youth: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord.” (Psalm 24:1–5)

Later, when I met Srila Prabhupada, I came across a verse spoken by the Lord Himself, Krishna, which confirmed and expanded the same principle: “A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.29)

How, then, should we deal with the earth and its resources? “Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.” (Isopanisad 1)

Thus one should be happy and satisfied in Krishna (God) consciousness.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

 

 

 

South African Children Complete First-ever Bala Bhagavatam Course
→ ISKCON News

Ratnalekha Devi Dasi, a devotee from South Africa, has successfully organized a Bala Bhagavatam Level One course for children as offered by the Mayapur Institute. The course, which started in August 2022 and ended on January 22, 2023, was initially designed for children in India. However, Mataji approached the Mayapur Institute to allow South African […]

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Toddler Book Distributor Inspires Many in the French Yatra
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A toddler devotee is taking the French yatra by storm with her extraordinary will to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. Sangita, the two-year-old daughter of New Mayapur’s temple presidents Locanananda Das and Gandharvika Rai Devi Dasi and granddaughter of Paris temple president Gaudamandala Das, accompanies her parents every week on Harinam Sankirtan. She shares Prabhupada’s books […]

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PBS Series Profiles Krishna Temple in Utah as a “Must See” Stop on Historic Highway
→ ISKCON News

PBS Television has developed a new travel series highlighting the “must-see” locations along Utah’s Heritage Highway, which stretches over 500 miles from the state’s northern border with Idaho to its southern border with Arizona. One of the iconic stops on the historic route is the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, UT. Liz […]

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Devotee Receives the Highest Civilian Honor from the President of Nepal
→ ISKCON News

On April 14th, 2023, HG Patri Das was honored by the President of Nepal, Ram Chandra Poudel, with the prestigious Suprabal Janashree Medal, the highest civilian award granted in the country. The award recognized his significant spiritual contribution to Nepal by uplifting the people’s consciousness and serving them for over two decades. Patri Das has […]

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Food For Life Vrindavan Enriching Thousands of Lives
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FFLV bids farewell to 12th grade graduates Food For Life Vrindavan (FFLV), a nonprofit organization and school, was formed 30 years ago by the founders to educate young girls in and around Vrindavan, India. It provides free education, skill training, and medical assistance to around 1,500 girls. The organization also provides free meal programs and […]

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New Krishna House Ashram Opens at ISKCON Dallas
→ ISKCON News

Following the successful formula developed at Krishna House in Gainesville, devotees recently opened the Krishna House Dallas Ashram in collaboration with the long-established Dallas community. ISKCON Dallas has been hoping to open an ashram for several years. An amazing facility opened across the street from Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji temple to facilitate this new initiative. […]

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ISKCON Tirupati’s Mega Youth Festival
→ ISKCON News

Youth from around South India, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala gathered for three days to mark the celebration of “Parivartan,” a mega youth festival organized by ISKCON Tirupati.  “It was a massive festival for three days with boarding facility provided by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), hosted in Mahati Auditorium in Tirupati with […]

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26th Annual Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue Held in Washington DC
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Amidst Potomac, Maryland’s cherry tree blossoms and spring flowers, religious scholars and spiritual practitioners gathered for the 26th Annual Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue on March 14-15th. Attendees include priests, pastors, professors from both the Protestant and Catholic traditions, and leaders and scholars from the Vaishnava tradition. Its founders, Anuttama Dasa, and Rukmini Devi Dasi, hosted the event […]

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Akshaya-tritiya
Giriraj Swami

The day known as Akshaya-tritiya occurs on the third day (tritiya) of the waxing moon in the month of Vaisakha. Every second of this blessed day is completely auspicious, and so there is no consideration of any one muhurta, time period, being better than another. Akshaya means “inexhaustible”; anything a person undertakes on the day of Akshaya-tritiya is bound to succeed, especially the performance of devotional activities, which guarantees inexhaustible benefit.

It is said that Akshaya-tritiya is the day when Treta-yuga began and the river Ganges descended to earth. Also, the festival known as Candana-yatra starts on Akshaya-tritiya.

In the Madhva-sampradaya Akshaya-tritiya is celebrated as the day of the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Parasurama. In the Sri Krishna Mutt monastery a special festival takes place during which the akshaya-patra, the marvelous pot gifted by the sun-god to Draupadi, is worshipped. Srimati Draupadi was given the benediction that her pot would provide unlimited food at each meal, until she herself ate from it. It appears that the pot came under the custody of Sri Madhvacharya, and on Akshaya-tritiya it is worshipped and prasada is lavishly distributed throughout the day.

An interesting incident took place on Akshaya-tritiya in Nandagrama, where Sri Krishna enjoyed His childhood pastimes with Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda. When Nanda Maharaja established his residence in Nandagrama, he excavated a large lake, then known as Nanda Sarovara. Nanda Maharaja, his family members, and all the Vraja-vasis used to bathe in that lake. And it is said that while Nanda Maharaja and his family bathed at one end of the lake, Vrsabhanu Maharaja would occasionally come and bathe with his family at the other end. According to local tradition, Srimati Radharani and Krishna used to swim underwater to the middle of the lake and engage in pastimes.

One day, little Krishna noticed that instead of cooking the usual meal of rice, dal, sabji, and chapatis, Mother Yasoda was making all kinds of fried preparations with dal, noodles, and flour. When He asked her why she was cooking those things, she replied that Nanda Maharaja was going on a pilgrimage the next day and that the fried things she was cooking would last for several days without spoiling.

Krishna then asked where His father was going, and Mother Yasoda replied that he was going to Prayaga. Little Krishna went to Nanda Maharaja and asked him where Prayaga was and why he was going there. Nanda Maharaja explained that Prayaga was the sacred place where the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Sarasvati met and flowed together and that to take bath there was most auspicious.

The next morning was Akshaya-tritiya, the perfect day to start on a long journey. As usual, Nanda Maharaja got up early and went to take bath in his lake. When he got there, he saw a man he had never seen before—an imposing, regal person—rolling in the dust and laughing loudly. Every now and then he would get up and dive into Nanda Sarovara, and then again he would come out and roll in the dust and laugh, and again bathe in the lake.

Nanda Maharaja approached the kingly man and asked, “Maharaja, who are you?”

“Baba, I’m Prayaga,” the man replied.

“Prayaga? I don’t know anyone in Nandagrama with that name.”

“No. No. I’m not from here. I’m Prayaga Raja, the king of all the holy places!”

“And why have you come here today, Maharaja?”

“Baba, all year long people come and bathe in my waters and leave their sins there. So, every year, on Akshaya-tritiya, I come here, roll in the dust of Vraja, and bathe in this sarovara, because this dust and this lake have the potency to purify one from all sins.”

Nanda Maharaja was amazed. Suddenly he noticed that on the other side of the lake were many beautiful ladies in silk saris embroidered with gold and silver threads. They were also bathing in the lake. Approaching them respectfully, Nanda Maharaja asked who they were.

One lady replied, “Baba, I’m Ganga.” Another said, “I’m Sarasvati.” And yet another said, “I’m Godavari.” They all responded with the names of different holy rivers: Kurujangala, Kaveri, Narmada, Brahmaputra, Mahananda . . .

Then Nanda Maharaja asked, “And why have you come here today? I’ve never seen you before.” The ladies explained that all year long people put their sins into their waters and that every year on the Akshaya-tritiya day they came to Vraja to roll in its dust, bathe in the sarovara, and become purified (pavana).

After taking his bath, Nanda Maharaja went back up the hill to his residence. By that time, little Krishna was awake. Coming before His father, He asked, “Baba, are you going now?” “No, Lala. I’m not going.” “Why, Baba?” “Because today, all the places where I wanted to go came to take bath in our lake and become purified. So why should I take the trouble to go to them when they all came here?”

From that day, Nanda Sarovara became known as Pavana Sarovara.

Mayapur-Vrindavan Gurukula Inquiry Report
→ ISKCON News

The following is a letter accompanying today’s release of the “Review of Safeguarding and Child Protection in ISKCON Mayapur and Vrindavan schools” Report Dear Devotees, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. In pursuance of our commitment to dealing robustly with child protection, in December 2022, the GBC Body authorized an independent review of the governance and […]

The post Mayapur-Vrindavan Gurukula Inquiry Report appeared first on ISKCON News.

Book Distribution in the Heart of Johannesburg
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Loka Manohara Giridhari Das sharing Krishna consciousness  Meet Loka Manohara Giridhari Das, a devotee who finds great joy in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books a few years after discovering them with his family. Today, he is a seasoned book distributor working in Johannesburg’s central business district, an area often associated with high crime rates. When asked […]

The post Book Distribution in the Heart of Johannesburg appeared first on ISKCON News.

Mayapur-Vrindavan Gurukula Inquiry Report
→ Dandavats

Dear Devotees, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. In pursuance of our commitment to dealing robustly with child protection, in December 2022, the GBC Body authorized an independent review of the governance and leadership in the Mayapur and Vrindavan gurukulas. The report was submitted to us in February, and since then,
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Akshaya Tritiya
→ Ramai Swami

Akshaya Tritiya, is also known as Akti or Akha Teej. It falls on the third tithi (lunar day) of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the month of Vaisakha. n Sanskrit, the word akshaya means “never decreasing” in the sense of “prosperity, hope, joy, success”, while tritiya means “third phase of the moon”.

The festival is related the presentation of the Akshaya Patra to Draupadi by Krishna during the visit of numerous sages, including the sage Durvasa. During their exile in the forest, the Pandava princes were famished due to the lack of food, and their wife Draupadi was pained by this because she could not extend the customary hospitality to their guests. Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, prayed to Surya, who gave him this bowl, which would remain full till Draupadi served all of their guests. During Durvasa’s visit, Krishna made this bowl invincible for Draupadi so that the magical bowl called Akshaya Patra would always remain full with food of their choice, even as to satiate the whole universe if required.

On this day, Sudama visited his childhood friend Krishna in Dwarka when he received unlimited wealth as a boon. The sage Vyasa began reciting the epic Mahabharata to Ganesha on Akshaya Tritiya. It is believed to be the birthday of Parasurama. The river Ganges descended to earth on this day.

Akshaya Tritiya and the TOVP Give To Nrsimha 36 Day 3X Matching Fundraiser
- TOVP.org

Akshaya Tritiya is one of the most important days in the Vedic calendar. It is the appearance day of Lord Parasurama, and also the day that the Ganges descended to the earth. Most devotees know it as the beginning of Candana-yatra, but actually many of Lord Krishna’s other pastimes also took place on this day, specifically those which highlight Krishna’s generous and intimate reciprocation with his devotees.

The very word Akshaya means “that which never diminishes”. Any service or charity one performs on this day will be paid back many times over. On this day, Sudama gave the Lord a tiny portion of chipped rice and was rewarded with untold opulence. Draupadi was protected by Krishna twice on this day, once when He provided her an unlimited sari at the dice game in return for a tiny piece of cloth, and later, when she needed to provide food for Durvasa muni, the Lord took a single grain from her pot and satisfied the hunger of all the sages.

“If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord; one becomes a gainer by millions of times.”

Krsna Book Ch. 81, The Brahmana Sudama Blessed by Lord Krishna

Traditionally, this is the best day for starting important endeavors. Vyasadeva and Ganesa chose this day to start writing the great epic Mahabharata, for example, and every year construction of the huge Ratha carts in Puri also starts on this day.

This year’s Akshaya Tritiya (April 22 – U.S. / April 23 – India) is part of the Give to Nrsimha 36 Day 3X Matching Fundraiser to raise funds for the completion and opening of Lord Nrsimha’s temple wing in the TOVP in October this year, Ambarisa prabhu is triple matching all donations during this campaign. That means he will give $3 for every dollar donated!

Take advantage of this all-auspicious day and give a General Donation of any amount, make a Pledge Payment, sponsor a Nrsimha Brick inscribed with your name and placed under the Lord’s altar, or sponsor one of the other options available. Your donation will be triple matched. Go to the Give To Nrsimha 36 Day 3X Matching Fundraiser page on the website today and help open Lord Nrsimhadeva’s temple.

A Miracle in the Making ~ Home of Our Divine Protector

 

 

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