Planet ISKCON

A kshatriya never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a kshatriya is challenged by somebody, that “I want to fight with you,” oh, he cannot refuse. This is kshatriya spirit. He cannot say that “I am now busy.” Suppose somebody comes to you, that “I want to fight with you.” You may say, “What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are in the temple.” But a kshatriya cannot deny that. A kshatriya at once must accept. “Oh, yes. Come on.” And the weapon should be, if he has no sword or weapon, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is kshatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They shall rule over. Continue reading "Rama Navami Appearance day of Lord Sri Ramacandra
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ISKCON Auckland NZ: Friday night Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting Hare Krishna one fixes his mind always on the Supreme Lord. One example often given is that of the caterpillar that thinks of becoming a butterfly and so is transformed into a butterfly in the same life. Similarly, if we constantly think of Krishna, it is certain that at the end of our lives we shall have the same bodily constitution as Krishna. (Bhagavad-gita, 8.8 Purport)
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Baba Madhava Das Festival at Vrinda Kunda (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On Friday, we observed the disappearance festival of Baba Madhava Das who gave Vrinda Kunda to ISKCON. We had wonderful katha, kirtan, artika, fed all of the Sadhus of Nandagram, and had feast for all the devotees and villagers. Relish Vittalrukmini’s photos!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/77fcZo

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Transformation through Books.
Today one devotee shared with us about his meeting with two Russian devotee couples in Srirangam. Those Russian devotees were earnestly looking out for the place where Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet are being worshiped in Srirangam. After taking them to that place, this devotee inquired those Russian devotees as to how they came to know about Krishna consciousness. One of that Russian prabhuji was earlier working as a butcher in a slaughterhouse. Somehow some merciful Vaishnava had been doing book distribution even outside the slaughterhouses in Russia. Some people who were working in those slaughter houses got those books. But later they tore the pages as they could not understand English.
That day after tiring hours of work in the slaughter house, this Russian prabhuji, with his clothes tainted with the blood of the animals he had slaughtered, came and sat down to rest for sometime. By Krishna’s arrangement, he saw the torn pages of Srila Prabhupada’s “Science of Self-Realisation” book. He picked up that page and studied its contents. The subject matter in that page attracted him so much that he asked the people around about further details. The people who had torn that book told him, that there were some Asian people who had given them these books, but since it was in English, they had torn it. Those people also told him that these book distributors could be found down the street, singing some song. Immediately this Prabhu went to that place and met the devotees. He spoke with them for nearly 6 hours and then there was a complete transformation in his life. Realising the gravity of the sinful activity involved in killing animals, this Prabhu not only gave up his job on that day, but he also went and shared the details of the contents which he had read and heard from the devotees to his wife and another couple who were their friends. That was the beginning of their spiritual journey and over a period of time, both the couples dedicated their life to serving the cows and spreading the message of Srila Prabhupada.
This real life incident is a real eye-opener on how powerful even a page of Srila Prabhupada’s book is. If studying a single page of Srila Prabhupada’s book can bring such a great transformation in the life of a butcher, then what to speak of all the volumes of wonderful writings he has left for us. Indeed the books of His Divine Grace are brhad mrdanga and the sankirtan of book distribution can drive away all anarthas and bring a very great revolution in this world. Srila Prabhupada with great humility always mentions how he has full faith on the verse 1.5.18 of Srimad Bhagavatam wherein Narada Muni says: “On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.”
Placing his faith in Srimad Bhagavatam and his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada has literally poured his heart out in his books and continues to live in his writings. So for our own benefit and for the benefit of the whole world, we should study, practise and propagate his books to the best of our ability.
Transcendental Book Distribution ki Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!
Sudarshana Devi dasi

A New Frontier (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Our first few days in China were spent getting to know the people and culture of this country. We also held programs with local devotees in Beijing. My conclusion is that Lord Caitanya’s formula for sharing Krsna consciousness; namely chanting, dancing and feasting, is very suitable for the people here. We look forward to the next 18 days of our journey through the Land of the Great Red Dragon.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/kGCu4I

April 10. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Loft.
The loft was a fourth-flight walk-up, and the only entrance, usually heavily bolted, was a door in the rear at the west end. From the outside, this door opened into a hallway that was only lit by a red EXIT light over the door. The hallway led to the right a few steps and into the open area. If a guest entered during the kirtana or lecture, he would see the Swami about thirty feet from the entrance seated on his dais. On other evenings, the whole loft would be dark but for the glow of the red EXIT light in the little hallway and a soft illumination radiating from the other side of the partition where Prabhupada was working.
Prabhupada lived on the Bowery, sitting under a small light, while hundreds of derelicts also sat under hundreds of naked lights on the same city block. He had no more fixed income than the derelicts, or any greater security of a fixed residence, yet his consciousness was different. He was translating Srimad-Bhagavatam into English, speaking to the world through his Bhaktivedanta purports; his duty, whether on the fourteenth floor of a Riverside Drive apartment or in the corner of a Bowery loft, was to establish Krishna consciousness as the prime necessity for all humanity. He went on with his translating and with his constant vision of a Krishna temple in New York City. Because his consciousness was absorbed in Krishna’s universal mission, he did not depend on his surroundings for shelter. Home for him was not a matter of bricks and wood, but of taking shelter of Krishna in every circumstance. As Prabhupada had said to his friends uptown, “Everywhere is my home.” Without Krishna’s shelter, the whole world would become a desolate place.
Often he would refer to a scriptural statement that people live in three different modes: goodness, passion and ignorance. Life in the forest is in the mode of goodness, life in the city is in passion, and life in a degraded place like a liquor shop, a brothel, or the Bowery, is in the mode of ignorance. But to live in the temple of Vishnu is to live in the spiritual world, Vaikuntha, which is transcendental to all material worlds.
And this Bowery loft where Prabhupada was holding his meetings and performing kirtana was also transcendental. When he was behind the partition working in his corner before the open pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam, that room was as good as his room back at the Radha-Damodara Temple in Vrindavana.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

On Saturday 23rd April, Bath Spa University will be hosting a conference to mark the first fifty years of the Hare Krishna Movement, also known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). One of the movement’s leading gurus, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, will be in attendance and there will be an opportunity to experience […]

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 March 2016, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Q&A: Goodness, Passion and Ignorance)

I have one short story. It is a story I made up myself but I think it is quite nice. Once, there was a group of people who lived in an oasis in the desert. In this oasis, they had their enjoyment, they had their variety of things – camel milk, dates and some bananas; or bananas and dates and camel milk; or camel milk with bananas and dates; dried bananas; camel milkshake – but that was it. So they were milking their varieties and this oasis was known as the “Oasis of Sense Gratification”.

One day a stranger came in and he brought a whole philosophy with him about a green land which is somewhere else. As proof, he brought these fruits that no one had ever tasted – alphonso mangos… you know, delicious and sweet!

People were all excited and sure enough, one day the stranger said, “So, is anybody interested in going to the green land?”
Well, some people said, “Yeah.”
Others said, “Ah, you know, these things come from another oasis; there is no green land. Do not let him pull the wool over your eyes. He is after your money!”

But people went. They went into that dry desert because when you want to go from an oasis to a green land, you have to go through a dry desert first. So they went through the dry desert where there was no more sense gratification – the desert of austerity where the hot sun of lust was burning on their heads.

Some people went crazy and just ran off into the desert, they just could not take it! Others went back. But a few stayed and they got to the next oasis which was the oasis of the mode of goodness. In that oasis of the mode of goodness, people did not want material life. No alcohol and all those horrible sinful activities! Oh, no! They were enjoying spiritual life there in the oasis of goodness.

Anyway, the stranger came and said, “This oasis of goodness is not good enough.”
People said, “Oh no, it is good enough for me. I am very happy here. I do not want anything else. We have a nice spiritual life and we are happy with it.”
“No,” the stranger said. “Now you have to go back into the desert.”
“Back into the desert? Are you out of your mind? It is comfy here.”
“No, back into the desert. But this time you go to help people who are out there in the desert.”

Then those who did that, they saw that the landscape was changing and gradually it was turning more and more green and those who dedicated their lives to giving others the fruits of transcendental knowledge, they reached the green land at the end! Anyway, this is a story which illustrates a little bit about our relationship with the three modes of material nature.

New TOVP Phone App Goes Live!
Everything can be used in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even modern technology. The TOVP Team happily announces the creation and roll-out of the new TOVP phone App, now available for Androids and iPhone.
With the aim of keeping devotees informed about the progress of the TOVP literally right at their fingertips, the new free TOVP App gives everyone access to features such as news updates, links to the website, photos, Youtube Channel and Facebook Page, TOVP social wall, and even a donation link. Future links will include the up-and-coming TOVP online store.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/gjxqVl

Harinama and book distribution in Tel Aviv, Israel (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and fulfilled everything required. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport)
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ISKCON Auckland NZ: Kirtana program with Madhava (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra without offenses, one increases his love for Krishna. As stated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, preme pum-artho mahan: one’s main concern should be to increase one’s attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to increase one’s love for Him. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.3.24 Purport)
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​Home program at Singapore

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Lord Ramacandra was the eldest son of Maharaja Dasaratha, and He was loved by all of the citizens in the state. According to the Vedic system, when one reaches a certain age he retires from worldly duties and responsibilities and devotes himself fully to God consciousness, or Krsna consciousness. Maharaja Dasaratha wanted to retire as king and install his son, Ramacandra, as his successor. But on the eve of Rama's coronation, because of some past events, Maharaja Dasaratha was obliged to ask Him to go into the forest in exile, to fulfill a promise that the king had made. And Lord Ramacandra, as the ideal son, immediately accepted His father's order without hesitation or lamentation. Still, everyone in the kingdom loved Rama so much that they wanted to accompany Him into the forest, but Lord Rama replied, "No, if you all come into the forest with me, what will happen to the kingdom? You all must remain in Ayodhya." Rama's brother Laksmana, however, was so attached to Him that he couldn't bear being separated from the Lord, and the Lord agreed that he could come with Him. Similarly, the Lord's wife, Sita, wanted to follow her husband into the forest and serve Him in His difficult position, and Lord Rama agreed for her to accompany Him. Then, while they were in the forest, a very powerful demon, Ravana, kidnapped Sita and abducted her to his kingdom called Lanka. Continue reading "Rama-navami
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Krsna Sundari dd: We are looking for a full-time pujari to join our team serving Sri Sri Radha Madhava.

Experience is preferred but we will consider a trainee if you are enthusiastic, clean, tidy & punctual. You need to be an E.C. citizen, second-initiated & have a recommendation from a temple president or GBC. We need a minimum commitment of six months.

We can offer you your own room, Wi-Fi & cover expenses. Other terms & conditions are negotiable.
The temple is a grade two listed building set in an acre of gardens.

For further information contact Krsna Sundari dasi at pujaribelfast@gmail.com

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A Flow Of Nectar in China (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Our first few days in China have been packed with programs. Once again I am amazed how kirtan melts the hearts of people everywhere, regardless of what country they are from. Here in Beijing our guests, most of whom are coming for the first time, listen attentively and chant and dance in ecstasy. And Srila Prabhupada’s books are flowing out like nectar.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/M1ofdd

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Vaishnava Film Awards! (13 min video)
Please enjoy watching the first part of the ceremony that took part in Mayapur. There are clips of the winner videos and their creators such as Lauris Brr, Ananta Vrindavan, Tamal Krishna Das, Vijay Radhika.
Also special thanks to Nrsmhananda (iTV) and Vasudeva (BhakTV) Prabhus for organizing the ceremony! And of course Alena Filatova and Katia Kuzmina for assisting at the ceremony itself.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/xcwuEH

By Nila Kamal das

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

For more photos please go to the link: https://picasaweb.google.com/110438247584390173216/JagannathaMakesHisAppearanceInTheLandOfTheDemigods

Local devotee Bhakta Abhinandan, under the guidance of His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaj, planned a grand Ratha Yatra festival on the 8th of April 2016 for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath.

Maharaj along with devotees from various countries gathered in Dharamsallah a week before the date of the Ratha in order to get everyone into the spirit of the festival and to advertise the event. Devotees visited the main monastery of Dalai Lama to invite him to the RathaYatra as a guest of honour but unfortunately he was travelling and would return a few days after the festival had finished.There was daily harinam sankirtan, book distribution and flyer distribution to let others know about the event.After returning and taking some rest, devotees would attend the evening program starting at 5pm, which included kirtan and bhajans, Jagannath Katha given by various speakers and ecstatic Gaura arati.

“It doesn’t matter if you can or cannot establish a temple there, but if you can introduce the Rathayatra, surely it will be a great success. So try to execute this will as far as possible.”Letter to Yamuna, 27th May 1969

The day before the festival, an interactive seminar was held at ITI College Dharamsallah. The principal, although Sikh was very receptive to the devotees, to the extent of inviting the devotees to the college whenever present in Dharamsallah. After a lengthy question and answer session, 450 cups of delicious sweet rice mahaprasad were distributed to the students. Devotees came back from the program enthused for tomorrow’s big event.

“Try to recruit some of the intelligent class of students to take up this KrsnaConciousness philosophy and study it carefully.”

On the morning of the festival, a Yajna was performed to invoke auspiciousness and the mercy of Lord Jagannath. Maharaj then gave a short speech on the importance of Ratha Yatra. At 10am Their Lordships were brought to the local Laxmi Narayan temple, the starting point of the parade. As Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra mounted Their’ chariot, kirtan reached new heights and all were floating in an ocean of bliss. The district counselor took out some time from duties to attend the program. After he offered a short arati ceremony to Jagannath, Maharaj presented him with some of Srila Prabhupada’s books as a token of gratitude. The chariot was elegantly adorned with fragrant flowers which captivated the attention of the onlookers. Beautiful rangoli designs made by our team of enthusiastic matajis added a special flavor to the spiritual scene. Coconuts were smashed to the ground in the midst of conch shells being blown in order to remove any inauspiciousness and impediments in the course of the event. Finally Their Lordships started travelling through the streets of Dharamsallah whilst all looked on with wonder and delight. Maharaj was extremely enthusiastic throughout the festival; after leading a short but sweet kirtan, he started personally distributing books to the public. The Lord’s chariot stopped at various shops and accepted fruits and sweets from the owners which were later distributed to the public.Many people came out their houses to lovingly receive the Lord and offer an arati ceremony. There was fired up kirtan throughout the duration of the festival with both matajis and prabhus dancing ecstatically. This enthused the book distributors to give out more books.

As the chariot reached its final destination an Arati ceremony was performed to Their Lordships and a concluding speech was delivered by Maharaj. A sumptuous feast was served to all who came and participated in the event. A grand total of 460 books were distributed including 108 maha big books.

“Make the Rathayatra festival very great success. This will be a great introduction in your city and people will appreciate it.”Letter to Shyamasundara, 4th May 1967

Devotees were very much overjoyed when they found that the RathaYatra made the front page of the local newspaper.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Subhag Swami Maharaj for taking time out his busy schedule to attend this event and inspiring all the devotees in Jagannath’s service. We thank those devotees who came from different places such as: Australia, Spain,France, Italy, Indonesia, England, Armenia, Bangladesh and across India to attend the festival. We offer our heartfelt gratitude to Bhakta Abhinandan and his dedicated family. Their hard work and perseverance allowed the program to run smoothly. We pray to Srila Prabhupada that we can hold this festival for the years to come, thus becoming instruments in the Lord’s hands being engaged in spreading the message of Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement.

Jagannath Swami ki Jay

Ratha Yatra Mahotsava ki Jay

Srila Prabhupada ki Jay

When it comes to the Ramayana and the history of Lord Rama, there have been numerous authors who have accepted the Ramayana as a history of ancient events. For example, the first Governor General of India, Sri Rajaji, wrote on the Ramayana and called it a history, as also did the English Indologist Sir William Jones. Various other western authors have made a study of the culture and history of the Ramayana, such as Philip Lutgendorf in his book Rama's Story in Shiva's City, California University and others. Continue reading "Lord Rama: Fact or Fiction
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Everything can be used in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even modern technology. The TOVP Team happily announces the creation and roll-out of the new TOVP phone App, now available for Androids and iPhone.

With the aim of keeping devotees informed about the progress of the TOVP literally right at their fingertips, the new free TOVP App gives everyone access to features such as news updates, links to the website, photos, Youtube Channel and Facebook Page, TOVP social wall, and even a donation link. Future links will include the up-and-coming TOVP online store.

Please share this announcement with other devotees so everyone can have immediate access to information and updates about the most important spiritual project in this material universe.

The TOVP Team

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We, as conditioned souls, tend toward impersonalism. Every conditioned soul has two conditioned tendencies: one is toward sense gratification, and the other is toward impersonalism. So we carry impersonal conceptions with us even when we come to devotional service, and our impersonal conceptions may influence us to deal in impersonal ways even though we know in theory that we all are eternal persons and that Krsna is the supreme eternal person. Still, in practice we may tend to act in impersonal ways, because we may still have impersonal ideas that devotees should not feel sorrow or anger—or any “negative” emotion. And we may try to avoid responsibility for how our behavior affects other devotees by saying, “Prabhu, why are you getting upset? You shouldn’t get upset.” Although there may be truth to the notion that under certain circumstances a devotee should not become upset, we also should not act in such a way as to upset the prabhu. “Prabhu” means “master.” We are meant to see each other as masters and ourselves as servants. So we shouldn’t say, “Now, Prabhu, don’t get upset.” One wouldn’t tell one’s master not to get upset. Rather, we should say, “Oh, I am so sorry, my dear master. I am sorry that I made a mistake. I am sorry that I upset you. Please forgive me. Please rectify me.” That is the meaning of prabhu. Continue reading "The Personality of Lord Rama
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April 9. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: The Bowery Loft.
94 Bowery was a narrow, four-storey building. It had long ago been painted grey and bore the usual facing of a massive, black fire escape. A well-worn black double door, its glass panels reinforced with chicken wire, opened on to the street. The sign above the door read: “A.I.R. 3rd and 4th”, indicating that artists in residence occupied those floors. Harvey Cohen’s loft on the top floor of 94 Bowery was an open space, almost 100 feet long (from west to east) and twenty-five feet wide. It received a good amount of sunlight on the east, the Bowery side, and it also had windows at the west end, as well as a skylight. The exposed rafters of the ceiling were twelve feet above the floor.
Harvey Cohen had used the loft as an art studio and racks for paintings still lined the walls. A kitchen and shower were partitioned off in the northwest corner and a room divider stood about fifteen feet in the Bowery side windows. This divider did not run from wall to wall, but was open at both ends and was several feet short of the ceiling.
It was behind this partition that Prabhupada had his personal living area. A bed and a few chairs stood near the window and Prabhupada’s typewriter sat on his metal trunk next to a small table that held his stacks of Bhagavatam manuscripts. His dhotis hung drying on a clothesline.
On the other side of the partition was a dais, about ten feet wide and five feet deep, on which Prabhupada sat during his kirtanas and lectures. The dais faced west toward the loft’s large open space – open, that is, except for a couple of rugs and an old-fashioned, solid wood table, and, on an easel, Harvey’s painting of Lord Caitanya dancing with His associates.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=7

The Bowery Loft