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How The Deity Reciprocates With His Devotee.
Raghunandan’s work is to serve Krishna. He has no interest in anything other than serving Krishna. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.15.131)
From his early childhood, Raghunandan Thakur would feed the family’s Gopinath Deity laddus.
Uddhava Das has written a song in which this lila is described: Mukunda Das lived in the village of Shrikhanda, where his household Deity was named Gopinath. One day he had to go somewhere for work and he called Raghunandan to do the service. He said, “In this house we worship Krishna, so I want you to be sure to give Him something to eat.” and then he left.
Raghunandan did as his father had ordered and made the offering to the Deity. Raghunandan was just a child and in his simplicity, he said to Gopinath, “Eat! Eat!” Krishna is controlled by love, and so He did as the child told Him and ate everything on the plate without leaving a grain of rice.
When Mukunda Das returned, he asked the boy to bring him the Prasad from the offering he had made. The child answered, “Father, He ate everything and left no remnants.” Mukunda was astonished at his child’s wonderful words that he asked him again on another occasion to make an offering.
This time after he left the house, he returned and hid to watch what his son would do.
Raghunandan joyfully placed a laddu in Krishna’s hand and said in a commanding voice, “Eat! Eat!”. When Krishna had eaten half of the laddu, Raghunandan saw Mukunda Das in the doorway. Mukunda saw that Krishna did not take another bite and that the half-eaten laddu remained in His hand.
This caused him to be filled with love. He embraced his child and, as tears of joy rained from his eyes, spoke to him in a broken voice.
To this day, fortunate people come to Shrikhanda to see the half-eaten laddu in Gopinath’s hand. Raghunandan is not different from Cupid himself, says Uddhava Das with great feeling.
[All the mahantas] felt fascinated to see the Gopinath Deity whom Raghunandan had fed laddus. (Bhakti-ratnakara 9.525)

The post Daily Darshan: April 22nd, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

By Ravindra Svarupa dasa

During my initial encounter with Krishna consciousness, I was puzzled, and then troubled, by the absence of any consideration of “rights”—human rights, civil rights—in the social teachings of Shrila Prabhupada, who took great pains to elucidate an ideal “Vedic society.” It seemed to me that rights ought to be a central concern of this or any other social ideal.

Moreover, the social order he extolled as exemplary—indeed as divinely ordained—was unapologetically hierarchical. All the more need for rights, I thought. Isn’t respect for rights the greatest safeguard against the abuse of power?

My typical American education had glorified the eighteenth century discovery of “the rights of man” as a supreme achievement of Enlightenment thinking. To that revolutionary historical breakthrough we owed that bold assertion in our “Declaration of Independence” every school child was made to memorize: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The polity promoted in Bhagavatam could hardly be more different from that advocated by the so-called Enlightenment. One of its foremost ideologues, the philosopher Denis Diderot, said: “Mankind will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” Bhagavatam, in contrast, teaches that a society lead by priests and kings best facilitates human freedom.

Bhagavatam at once challenged my received ideas. It would require me to unlearn a great deal—the consensual reality I had unquestionably accepted with uncritical faith. Reposing my faith in Bhagavatam, on the other hand, could hardly be uncritical. And so came my misgiving concerning rights.

As it happened, my first readings of Bhagavatam were confined to the second canto, which, in 1969 and 70, ISKCON Press published serially, chapter by chapter, in thin paperbacks. The volumes of the first canto, published in India and trunked to America by Prabhupada himself, were long sold out. Only after I moved into the Philadelphia ashram, in January of 71, was I able to read the temple’s copy of the first canto. I discovered a crudely bound work, printed on cheap paper, each page bristling with typos. It was written in Prabhupada’s idiomatic, “babu English,” yet his distinctive voice—not yet editorially planed and sanded like the second canto—spoke out all the more powerfully.

It was here I encountered a text that resolved all my worry about rights. In the fourth verse of chapter twelve, I read about the exemplary King Yudhisthira, who cared for all of thoses born in his kingdom. Prabhupada comments:

Herein the word ‘Prajah‘ is significant. The etymological import of the word is that which is born. On the earth there are many species of life from the aquatics up to the perfect human beings and all are known as ‘Prajas. . . . . As such the Praja is used in a broader sense than it is now used. The King is meant for all living beings namely the aquatics, plants, trees, the reptiles, the birds, the animals and the man. Every one of them is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord (B. G. 14/4), and the King being the representative of the Supreme Lord, he is duty-bound to give proper protection to every one of them. It is not like the presidents and dictators of the demoralised system of administration where the lower animals are given no protection while the higher animals are given so called protection. But this is a great science which can be learnt only by one who has learnt the science of Krishna as already refered to above by us.

The king, as God’s representative, is “duty-bound to give proper protection to every one of them.” I gave some thought to this idea: The king is the head of state, the government. And all living beings, even the animals, are citizens. This means that they have (as we would put it today) civil rights. And the government must guarantee those rights.

In 1971, the idea of animal rights was “way out there,” a notion of the lunatic fringe. Yet this highly radical extension of civil rights to animals was contained within Prabhupada’s exposition of monarchism—a most conservative political philosophy, to say the least. Bhagavatam was destroying the standard conservative-liberal typology.

From that moment I understood that modern, enlightened “rights” were no innovation; they had somehow been implicit in the entirely old fashioned, conservative, pre-enlightenment idea of duty.

A few years later, browsing a used book store,  I happened to pick up a volume by the French theologian Simone Weil. I’d learned about this extraordinary person—”a modern saint”—in a graduate religion course, and I was curious to know more.

The book, translated from the French as The Need for Roots, opens on the first page with a brilliant and penetrating discussion about rights and obligations (or duties); it grealy helped me to understand Prabhupada’s Bhagavatam.

Simone Weil begins:

The notion of obligations comes before that of rights, which is subordinate and relative to the former. A right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to the obligation to which is corresponds, the effective exercise of a right springing not from the individual who possesses it, but from other men who consider themselves as being under a certain obligation toward him. Recognition of an obligation makes it effectual. An obligation which goes unrecognized by anybody loses none of the full force of its existence. A right which goes unrecognized by anybody is not worth very much.

To say that a king like Yudhisthira has duties or obligations toward the living being in his realm is another way of asserting that those subjects have rights. But Weil asserts here that it is better to think in terms of obligations than of rights. Why? Because the idea of rights is subordinate to and depends upon the idea of an obligation. I may assert that I have some right, but that recognition becomes effective only if some others recognize that they have obligations toward me. So it is better to be concerned with obligations.

Moreover, an obligation remains in force even if it is unacknowledged. An unrecognized right by itself has no force. It gains force only when the corresponding obligation is recognized.

Weil continues her analysis, showing that the difference between rights and duties is simply a difference of point of view:

It makes nonsense to say that men have, on the one hand, rights, and on the other hand, obligations. Such words only express differences in point of view. The actual relationship between the two is as between object and subject. A man, considered in isolation, only has duties, among which are certain duties toward himself. Other men, seen from his point of view, only have rights. He, in his turn, has rights, when seen from the point of view of other men, who recognize that they have obligations toward him. A man left alone in the universe would have no rights whatever, but he would have obligations.

Imagine, for instance, the relationship between a good master and a good servant in Vedic culture, or, for that matter, in medieval Europe. There will be no talk of rights; there are no labor unions, no social security system. Still, just as the servant has duties toward his master, the master has obligations toward the servant. The master, having received years of faithful service, knows he is obliged to care for his servant in sickness, in the infirmity of old age, in death. The servant has, in effect,  all the rights promised by modern “cradle to grave socialism.” But in this case, both master and servant know their obligations, and neither has to ask for his rights.

Weil goes on to point out an important difference between obligations and rights. The former are absolute, or unconditioned, and the latter relative and conditioned:

The notion of rights, being of an objective order, is inseparable from the notions of existence and reality. This becomes apparent when the obligation descends to the realm of fact; consequently, it always involves to a certain extent the taking into account of actual given states and particular situations. Rights are always found to be related to certain conditions. Obligations alone remain independent of conditions. They belong to a realm situated above all conditions, because it is situated above this world.

The sense of obligation is expressed in English by the verbal formula “ought to.” In Sanskrit, there is a special verbal form, called vidhi-lin, that conveys injunctions, that is to say, what was enjoined or directed by Vedic authority. Weil understands that obligations are unconditional. They derive from a transcendent realm.

She continues:

The men of 1789 did not recognize the existence of such a realm. All they recognized was one on the human plane. That is why they started off with the idea of rights. But at the same time they wanted to postulate absolute principles. This contradiction caused them to tumble into a confusion of language and ideas which is largely responsible for the present political and social confusion. The realm of what is eternal, universal, unconditioned is other than the one conditioned by facts, and different ideas hold sway there, ones which are related to the most secret recesses of the human soul.

“The men of 1789” are the architects of the French Revolution. Since they rejected divine injunctions, they had to forgo talk of duties or obligations. They could adduce only the cognate “rights.” Those they could simply assert, without grounding or foundation. Yet, as Weil has pointed out, “rights” by themselves are impotent. To be effective, they require someone else to accept the corresponding obligations.

It is a commonplace in philosophy that it is not possible to derive an “ought” from an “is.” They are two different realms. “Ought” requires an authority. Ultimately, I will argue, an absolute one.  For a person becomes an authority only by being authorized by another. Hence there emerges a sequence of authorizing agents that can only end—where? If the chain has an anchor, a foundation, it ends with the unique self-authorizing authorizer of all others. In other words, God.

Or, of course, with a god-surrogate, an imitator. Your idol du jour.

In the Bhagavatam, the kshatriya kings are guided by the brahmanas, those who are able to know transcendence and who have the skill to apply that knowledge correctly to concete affairs.  In such a society, people are trained from childhood in a culture of obligation.

The results may surprise us.

If we search though Bhagavatam for statements of the obligations of a king, for instance, we discover a citizenry with far more rights that most of us have today.

For example, Prabhupada writes in the purport to Bhagavatam 4.17.12

It is the duty of the king to see that everyone in the social orders—brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra—is fully employed in the state. Just as it is the duty of the brahmanas to elect a proper king, it is the duty of the king to see that all the varnas—brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra—are fully engaged in their respective occupational duties. It is here indicated that although the people were allowed to perform their duties, they were still unemployed. . . . . When the people are perplexed in this way, they should approach the head of government, and the president or king should take immediate action to mitigate the distress of the people.

In other words, everyone has a right to full employment. If people cannot find work, then the state is obliged to arrange for their employment.

Bhagavatam (1.14.41, purport) speaks of the rights of those who are weak, diseased, or old or otherwise helpless:

The brahmanas, who are always engaged in researching knowledge for the society’s welfare work, both materially and spiritually, deserve the protection of the king in all respects. Similarly, the children of the state, the cow, the diseased person, the woman and the old man specifically require the protection of the state or a kshatriya king. If such living beings do not get protection by the kshatriya, or the royal order, or by the state, it is certainly shameful for the kshatriya or the state.

Bhagavatam recognizes (5.15.7, purport) even a universal right to happiness:

As a representative of the Supreme Lord, the king had the duty to protect the citizens in a perfect way so that they would not be anxious for food and protection and so that they would be jubilant.

Of course, governments today do not represent the Lord, nor are the citizens jubilant.

In the eighteenth century, Europe was completing the turn from a God-centered to a human-centered world view. With the triumph of humanism, obligations lost their force, and talk of rights began.

After so many years of humanism, we still hear that the most basic of human rights—food, clothing, shelter, physical security, health—go scandalously unfulfilled in most places in the world.

And the rights of the mute, nonhuman populace are only beginning to be acknowledged.

Yet, for all the handwringing over rights, there is precious little action.  Simone Weil put her finger on the problem: “A right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to the obligation to which is corresponds.”

Thus, to be effective in bringing about full social justice to human and animals alike we must return to the culture of obligations. Shrila Prabhupada’s presentation of Bhagavatam is intended to effect that return.

We should now recognize that the only way to go forward is by going back. We progress by returning.

You are 10 years old.

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Pujari-Portrait: Dhira Krsna dasa, disciple of H.H. Bhakti Caru Swami.
In which place are you serving? Since when?
Radhadesh, Belgium. I joined the temple full time in April 1992.
Since when are you serving the Deities and how did you get attracted to that seva?
I received second initiation in October 1994 and since then started doing Deity Worship in Radhadesh. I started dressing the Gaura Nitai Deities which are now in Amsterdam and at that time They were hosted in Radhadesh because there were no devotees in Amsterdam who could take care of Them. That was in the years 1995-1996. Soon I also learned to cook for the Deities and found this to be a very sattvic service, which matches perfectly with my personality.
What inspires you the most in your seva to the Deities?
What inspires me is that through this service we are able to directly serve the Lord, as if we were serving Him in the spiritual world. Deity Worship is the Lord’s Mercy upon his devotee. The contact with the Deity is like seeing Krsna in front of you and attending to His desires. Krsna likes to eat opulent, so we cook delicious dishes for Him, He likes to be dressed in beautiful clothes and wear ornaments, and we can dress Him personally, like His servants in Gokula Vrndavan. As pujaris we often get those dreams where we are in anxiety, we may be late in dressing and the curtains have to open right now! Or everything is a mess on the altar and we have to clean up quickly before the darshan time. Those dreams generally happen in reality as well, only the dreams exaggerate the situation. Pujaris relish every minute they are on the altar serving Krsna.
Did you have personal experiences with the Deities which you would like to share? I have had some very nice dreams where I saw Lord Jagannatha. One dream Lord Jagannatha had His altar very high up in a skyscraper, with a huge kitchen next to it and the altar looked like a big stage as in a theater, with the curtains and all. Another dream I saw Lord Jagannatha sitting in a row of sannyasis (yes, he is Jagannatha Swami!) and He had a knife and fork in His hands and He was looking at me with a mood like: “When is My Prasadam coming?”. I also have been so lucky to take Lord Jagannatha on His Ratha Yatra almost every time we had a Ratha Yatra in the Benelux since 1999 when His pujari at that time went to do other things. I think of all the Deities, Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama and Lady Subhadra are my favorite Ones.
What kind of advice would you give to a young devotee to get attracted to Deity Worship?
It’s a natural process. I would say, come and do some service for the Deities, even if you are not second intitiated yet, or still a Bhakta or Bhaktin, you can do some service as a pujari helper washing paraphernalia or doing some maha-prasadam transfers. If it is a service that matches to you, you can’t avoid becoming attracted. In fact, one of my first services during the bhakta program was doing the last transfer in the evening. Obviously hard to avoid the temptation of taking some maha prasadam afterwards, but it is hard to wake up the next morning then for mangala arati! Nevertheless new bhaktas should eat a lot of maha prasadam, it’s a good way to survive the attacks of Maya.

100,000 Wishes from China Offered to Vrindavan Wish Tree.
Over 100,000 wishes gathered on Mandali Mendrilla’s sculpture dress “Mandala of Desires”, were offered to a genuine Wish Tree in Vrindavan, UP, India.
An intimate gathering of enthusiasts met under the tree at Kaliya Ghat in Vrindavan, and offered over 100 000 desires gathered on the interactive sculpture dress called “Mandala of Desires” (Blue Lotus Wish Tree) that was on display at the China Art Museum in Shanghai, from December 2015 to February 21. 2016, as part of the exhibition called “Forms of Devotion”, organized by the Belgian MOSA museum and Teamwork from India, and curated by Sushma K. Bahl and Archana Sapra.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/E9wLXO

Hare Krishna. PAMHO. AGTSP.

As the office continues to expand, Waikiki Daily Harinam (WDH) is pleased to announce an exciting service opportunity at our Hawaii headquarters.

There is a newly-formed position of Harinam Director, to be jointly held by two responsible persons. In the spirit of bringing more devotees to the island, applications are now being accepted.

Distinctions will not be made on the basis of race, gender or country of origin.

The ideal candidates include:
1. A pair of traveling male devotees,
2. A properly married couple, or
3. A pair of traveling female devotees

Please submit your applications to our human resources director at:
Dailyharinam@gmail.com

Include the following attachments:
1. Letter of recommendation from a senior devotee,
2. Summary of immigration status
(visa, green card or citizen)
3. Short bio and recent photo

DISCLAIMER: The WDH office requires a commitment of no less than 6 months. Serious inquiries only. The Harinam Directors will be afforded a shared master bedroom (with 2 beds), 3 sumptuous Prasadam meals daily and free public transit. More to follow. Please visit our Facebook page for additional information.

Thank you. AGTSP

-Waikiki Daily Harinam Office

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By Nrsimha Kavaca dasa

Some may consider that in this age the pancaratra is not so relevant and that it is sufficient to simply focus on the chanting of the Lord's holy name. Some misunderstand the appropriate mood of temple worship in ISKCON temples. This is manifest in different ways. How the deities are dressed, the mood of worship, or our interpretation of our relationship with the Lord, the way we interact with the deities, how strictly we follow the worship process and the rules and regulations of deity worship, etc. Yet Srila Prabhupada clearly explains in his purports that for this age of Kali, "Without the help of such codes [of the pancaratra], one cannot approach the Lord..." and "[the pancaratra is the] prescribed purificatory process suitable to the age and time." Continue reading "Pancaratrika-vidhi versus Bhagavad-vidhi
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Today many devotees are celebrating the appearance of Sri Hanuman, the eternal servant of Lord Ramachandra. On this occasion, I remember a beautiful explanation Srila Prabhupada gave on the significance of Hanuman being on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot—and the mood of the Vaishnava:

“Just as nowadays every nation has different types of flags, so Arjuna also had his flag on the chariot . . . The flag was on the top of his chariot, and it was marked with Hanuman, Vajrangaji, who fought for Lord Ramachandra. Arjuna is fighting for Krishna. So, he is following the footsteps of Vajrangaji. Vaishnavism is like that. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. The Vaishnava should follow his previous mahajana, authority. That is Vaishnavism. We don’t manufacture ideas. We simply accept the behavior or the activities of previous acharyas. There is no difficulty.

“In the fighting principle, Arjuna is fighting for Krishna, and he is following the previous fighting acharya, Hanumanji. Therefore he has depicted his flag with Hanuman, that ‘Hanumanji, Vajrangaji, kindly help me.’ This is Vaishnavism. ‘I have come here to fight for Lord Krishna. You also fought for the Lord. Kindly help me.’ This is the idea, kapi-dhvajah. So in any activities of the Vaishnava, they should always pray to the previous acharya, ‘Kindly help me.’ Vaishnava is always thinking himself helpless, and begging help from the previous acharya.

“Just like in Caitanya-caritamrta, you will find the author, at the end of every chapter:

sri rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa
caitanya-caritamrta kahe krsnadasa

In every line he is thinking of Rupa-Raghunatha, previous acharyas. ‘Let me surrender to the Gosvamis and they will help me how to write.’ You cannot write. That is not possible.

“So this is Vaisnava’s policy. Vaisnava thakura, tomara kukkura, baliya janaha more. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung, ‘My dear Vaishnava Thakura, just accept me as your dog. As the dog works by the indication of the master . . .’ He will give his life. Dog has a good qualification. However strong a dog may be, when the master orders, he will give his life. This is dog—faithful, so faithful to the master. So Bhaktivinoda Thakura is praying, Vaisnava thakura, tomara kukkura, baliya janaha more: ‘My dear Vaisnava Thakura.’ Vaisnava thakura means guru. ‘Kindly accept me as your dog.’ And he describes—I forget the exact language—that ‘I will always try to protect you. As a dog keeps watch, so I will watch so nobody will come to disturb you. And whatever little prasada you’ll give me, I’ll be satisfied.’ That is dog’s qualification. The master is eating, but the dog will never come unless the master gives a little morsel. He is satisfied. He is satisfied.

“So this is Vaishnavism, to follow the previous acarya. This is Vaishnavism.”

(Talk by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Bhagavad-gita 1.20, July 17, 1973, London)

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April 22. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: In the back of the loft I noticed a little curtain – an Indian madras type of curtain – and so I decided to peer into that area. I looked in and there was Swami Bhaktivedanta sitting there cross-legged in saffron garments, with the markings on his forehead and nose and his hand in the bead bag. Even though he looked like the real thing, he seemed more approachable and I said, “Hello,” and he looked up. I said, “Swami Bhaktivedanta?” and he said, “Yes.” I said, “I am Howard Smith.” I was expecting to sit down, so I said, “Excuse me, I have to take off my shoes,” and he said, “Why do you want to take off your shoes?” I said, “I don’t know – I saw all the shoes out there.” And he said, “I didn’t ask you to take your shoes off.” I said, “What are all those people out there doing?” and he said, “I don’t know. And they don’t know what they’re doing. I am trying to teach them and they seem to be misunderstanding me. They are very confused people.”
Then we sat and talked and I liked him a lot right away. I mean, I’d met a lot of other swamis and I didn’t like them too much. I don’t think it’s fair to lump them all together and say, “Those swamis in India.” He was very, very basic, and that’s what I seemed to like about him. He not only made me feel at ease, but he seemed very open and honest – like he asked my advice on things. He was very new in the country.
I thought his ideas stood a good chance of taking hold because he seemed so practical. His head didn’t seem to be in the clouds. He wasn’t talking mysticism every third word. I guess that is where his soul was at, but that isn’t where his normal, conversational consciousness was at.
Then he told me that several people had told him that the Voice would be a very good place to be written up, and that basically it would reach the kind of people who already perhaps had a leaning or interest in what he was preaching. I said I thought he was correct. He asked me if I had read any books or knew anything about Indian culture. I said no, I didn’t really. We talked a little and he explained to me that he had these books in English that he had already translated in India. He handed those to me and said, “If you want more background, you can read these.”
It was obvious to me that I was not talking to some fellow who had just decided that he had seen God and was going to tell people about it. He seemed to be an educated man, much more so than myself. I liked his humbleness. I just plain liked the guy.
He explained everything I wanted to know – the significance of what he was wearing, the mark on his forehead, the bead bag. I liked all his explanations. Everything was very practical. Then he talked about temples all over the world and he said, “Well, we have a long way to go. But I am very patient.”
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Village Voice Reporter

It was an action packed weekend as the Beijing devotees opened their new temple, we did an initiation ceremony and then held kirtan at the famous Great Wall of China. Historic times for Krsna consciousness in the Land of the Great Red Dragon. Srila Prabhupada, we are your servants. We will go anywhere in the [...]

An intimate gathering of enthusiasts met under the tree at Kaliya Ghat in Vrindavan, and offered over 100 000 desires gathered on the interactive sculpture dress called “Mandala of Desires” (Blue Lotus Wish Tree) that was on display at the China Art Museum in Shanghai, from December 2015 to February 21. 2016, as part of the exhibition called “Forms of Devotion”, organized by the Belgian MOSA museum and Teamwork from India, and curated by Sushma K. Bahl and Archana Sapra.  

Monks in Manhattan started out as a screenplay and went through a number of incarnations as such. In the final year or two before his departure, Jnanagamya Dasa he turned the screenplay into an entertaining novel. Very few novels have been produced by contemporary members of the Hare Krishna devotee community, and certainly none with the ambition, scope, humor, and philosophical depth of this one.

Harinama and book distribution in Sydney (Album with photos)
Sri Harinam Sankirtan Nectar 21-04-16
This evening was filled with yet another wave of ecstatic Harinam Sankirtan. We had around 22 devotees including 2 kids who attended the Harinam. Thanks once again to everyone who came forward to support the harinaam and also a big welcome to a few new families who were attending the weekly harinaam for the very first time.
We would like to encourage the entire ISKCON Sydney congregation to please come and attend Harinam according to your time and ability at least once a week, fortnight, every 3 weeks or on a monthly basis. By participating in spreading the holy name you will for sure please Srila Prabhupada and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.
Thanks to Book distribution team Sriman Nrsimha Prabhu, Radha Vinod Prabhu, Dhira Lalita Prabhu and Bhakta Kirtan.
Amazing day for book distribution tonight:
Bhagavad Gita HB-2
Bhagavan Gita SB-3
Chant and be happy-3
Perfection of Yoga-1
Srimad bhagavatam-1
Science of self realisation-1
The most amazing part of the night was that Kirtan Prabhu distributed books for the first time today and he distributed a Gita and Srimad bhagavatam. And the finale was that while we were walking towards the station Kirtan spoke to a girl from the vegan society and she ended up getting 3 books. Srila Prabhupada transcendental book distribution ki jai.
See you all next Thursday 6.30 pm Town Hall.
Sri Harinam Sankirtan ki jaya !!!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/VugCin

As long as we are in the world, there will be competition. Even if we choose not to compete, people will compete against you. With this competitive mentality, we enter the environment of devotees and perform services like preaching, kirtan etc. Some do well and some do not. Those who do well, if they have this competitive pride, they will feel proud and those devotees who do not do well, if they have the same pride, they feel inferior and less worthy (viz. inferiority complex).

How to get over this sense of inferiority complex?

1. We should not first compare ourselves with other devotees.
2. Other devotees who do well in their services, we feel happy for them that Krishna has empowered them to do so much and in that way we honor them.
3. But when other devotees compare, we take that comparison as an inspiration to reach our best but not in a competitive way to do better than the other.
4. In all of this, we try to do our best and appreciate that Krishna has given me the ability to do even this small service. 
5. Ultimately, Krishna is attracted to a devotee who wants to serve the great and not want to be great himself. Since Krishna is the greatest great, we want to serve Him and serve His great devotees.

Vanity Karma, a new book by ISKCON guru Jayadvaita Swami, has been presented with the 2016 Benjamin Franklin gold award by the Independent Book Publishers Association. Published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, it won best book of the year in the category of “religion.” The award was presented on April 8^th at in Salt Lake City, Utah. The book, subtitled “Ecclesiastes, the Bhagavad-gita, and the Search for the Meaning of Life,” explores two profound wisdom texts – one a book from the Old Testament of the Bible, the other Lord Krishna’s words to Arjuna.

Over 2,000 people from the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe are expected to attend the 17^th annual 24-Hour Kirtan in Birmingham, England from Saturday April 30^th to Sunday May 1^st. Today,  it’s a huge bank holiday weekend draw. But back when the event – the oldest 24-Hour-Kirtan Festival in the Western world – began in 1999, attendance was muchsmaller. It all started with a group of Pandava Sena teenage youth, fans of the year-around 24-Hour Kirtan program in Vrindavan, India.

For the first time ever, two women initiated into the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya published a popular book that emphasizes the bhakti tenets in two of the world’s most revered yoga texts: the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras. Last month, Krishna Kanta Dasi (Catehrine Ghosh) and Braja Sevaki Dasi (Braja Sorensen) released Yoga in the Gita: Krishna and Patanjali—The Bhakti Dimension, with Golden Dragonfly Press.

Our health has a crucial influence on a quality of our daily life and efficiency in our devotional service. The reality however is that devotees are often deprived of a proper and consistent healthcare due to either lack of resources or proper knowledge.

Padayatra Newsletter 2016.
Reports from different countries
50 padayatras for ISKCON’s 50th birthday
History of Padayatra
Inspiration from Srila Prabhupada
Various quotes and letters
Padayatra Hall of Fame
Padayatra manual
Photo gallery
Videos and films
Audio
Schedules and Contacts
To download the pdf document click here: http://www.padayatra.com/padayatra-newsletter-2016/

The Conch - Newsletter of New Govardhana Hare Krishna Community - April Issue.
EDITORIAL ADVISOR – H.H. Mukunda Goswami
GRAPHIC DESIGN & LAYOUT – Urvasi devi dasi
PHOTOGRAPHY - Urvasi devi dasi and Trevor Gore
EDITORIAL BOARD
Damodara Pandit dasa
Govardhana Seva dasa
Krishna Rupa devi dasi (ACBSP)
Mandakini devi dasi
To download the pdf document click here: http://goo.gl/q9zt0O

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