Planet ISKCON

By Dr. Baladeva Dasa It is a pleasure to announce the release of the Syamananda-satakam, composed by Sri Rasikananda Murari and adorned with a beautiful commentary by Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana. This is the tenth of the latter’s works published under the “Baladeva Vidyabhusana Project.” In this poem consisting of a hundred verses (satakam), Sri Rasikananda
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Health Update of H.H. Jayapataka Swami Camp: ISKCON Ahmedabad, 25th Jan 2024. Hare Krishna! Dear disciples and well-wishers of H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Guru Maharaja! Srila Guru Maharaja recently traveled to Ahmedabad from Kolkata for attending Bureau meetings, right after returning from Agartala.
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Srila Prabhupada once explained the festival this way: “Krishna was just a toy in the hands of the Gopis, so one day the Gopis decided that we shall decorate Him. Pusya abhisheka means a ceremony to decorate the deity profusely with flowers, ornaments, cloths. After there should be lavish feasting and a procession through the streets, so that all the citizens should see how beautiful Krishna appears.”

In the spiritual world the Gopis decorate Krishna and Balaram with feathers, fruits, leaves and flowers. Amongst their many gardens in Pushpavan near Kusum Sarovar, every day, just before noon, Srimati Radharani collects flowers from that garden to make beautiful garlands to offer to Krishna when He meets her at Radha Kunda.

. Diwali night Bhajan by PM Rishi Sunak & family at Southampton Mandir . गर्व से कहो हम हिंदू है। pic.twitter.com/2Zx6oVpHQQ — Minni Razdan (@mini_razdan10) November 14, 2023
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In 2017, during the Padayatra march in the Czech Republic, I was hit by a car with two other devotees. The driver of the car had an epileptic seizure and drove at full speed into our ten-member harinama group. She only stopped when she hit a gas station, in the place where cars are pumped
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The TOVP Communications Department is pleased to provide a page on the TOVP website dedicated to the promotion of the ISKCON Mayapur City.

Based on the Mayapur Master Plan brochure, Sri Chaitanya Cultural World Heritage Center, this page provides some insights into the current status and future plans of the World Headquarters of the Hare Krishna Movement in Sridham Mayapur, West Bengal, India. The ISKCON Mayapur City is the fulfillment of the vision of ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada wherein a spiritual civilization dedicated to the principles of Vaishnavism and sanatan dharma can flourish and proper in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.

Visit the ISKCON Mayapur City page to read more.

For more information on Srila Prabhupada’s instructions for ISKCON Mayapur, read the flipbook Srila Prabhupada on Mayapur which is available to view, download and share.

 

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In Vraja there was a dancer named Candrahasa who was very expert in the tasting of rasa. In Chaitanya-lila, he became Jagadisa Pandit who also took great pleasure in dancing for the Lord.
(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 143)

Jagadisa Pandit is considered to be simultaneously both Nityananda-shakha and Chaitanya-shakha, a branch both of Chaitanya as well as Nityananda in the desire tree of devotion. He was born in the town of Gauhati (Pragjyotishpur) in modern Assam. 

His father’s name was Kamalaksha Bhatta. Both of his parents were devotees of Vishnu. When they died, he came with his wife Duhkhini and his brother Hiranya to Mayapur on the shores of the Ganga where they built a home near that of Jagannath Mishra. Jagadisa Pandit became Jagannath Mishra’s very close friend.

Jagadisa and his wife Duhkhini had the same kind of parental affection for the little Nimai as Jagannath and Sachi themselves. Duhkhini was like a mother to Nimai and even sometimes acted as his wet-nurse. Nimai, the son of Sachi, is none other than the son of Yashoda, the supreme Lord Krishna incarnate. It is not possible for anyone but an eternal associate of the Lord to have the good fortune to treat him like a son in this way.

Just as Mahaprabhu was conquered by the devotion of Jagadisa Pandit, so too was his dearest companion Nityananda Prabhu who considered him to be one of his own intimate associates. Nityananda Prabhu was Jagadisa’s life and soul. Jagadisa was present in Panihati for the Chira-dadhi Mahotsava.

Putrada Ekadasi falls on the 11th lunar day of the fortnight of the waxing moon in the Vedic month of Pausha (December/January). This day is also known as Pausha Putrada Ekadashi, to differentiate it from the other Putrada Ekadashi in the month of Shravana (July/August), which is also called Shravana Putrada Ekadasi.

This is the first Ekadasi of the year 2024. It is an auspicious start for the rest of the year, and we encourage devotees reading this to kindly consider donating on this day to help open Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Wing from February 29 – March 2, 2024. Please go to th Give To Nrsimha Fundraiser page on the TOVP website and select one of several new and unique seva opportunity options.

  NOTE: Putrada Ekadasi is observed on Sunday, January 21st worldwide. Please refer to your local calendar through www.vaisnavacalendar.info.

  View, download and share the TOVP 2024 Calendar​.

 

The Glories of Putrada Ekadasi

From the Bhavishya Purana

The pious and saintly Yudhisthira Maharaj said to Lord Krishna, “Oh Lord, You have so nicely explained to us the wonderful glories of the Saphala Ekadasi which occurs during the dark fortnight (Krishna paksha) of the month of Pausha (December – January). Now please be merciful to me and explain the details of the Ekadasi that occurs in the light fortnight (Shukla or Gaura paksha) of this month. What is its name, and what Deity is to be worshiped on that sacred day? Oh Purushottama, Oh Hrishikesha, please also tell me how You can be pleased on this day?

Lord Sri Krishna replied, “Oh saintly king, for the benefit of all humanity I shall now tell you how to observe fasting on the Pausha-shukla Ekadasi. As previously explained, everyone should observe the rules and regulations of the Ekadasi vrata, to the very best of their ability. This injunction also applies to the Ekadasi named Putrada, which destroys all sins and elevates one to the spiritual abode. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Narayana, the original personality, is the worshipable Deity of the Ekadasi, and for His faithful devotees He happily fulfills all desires and awards full perfection. Thus among all the animate and inanimate beings in the three worlds, there is no better personality than Lord Narayana.

“Oh King, now I shall narrate to you the history of Putrada Ekadasi, which removes all kinds of sins and makes one famous and learned. There was once a kingdom named Bhadravati, which was ruled by King Suketuman. His queen was the famous Shaibya. Because he had no son, he spent a long time in anxiety, thinking, ‘If I have no son, who will carry on my dynasty?’ In this way the king meditated in a religious attitude for a very long time, thinking, ‘Where should I go? What should I do? How can I get a pious son (putra)?

“In this way King Suketuman could find no happiness anywhere in his kingdom, even in his own palace, and soon he was spending more and more time inside his wife’s palace, gloomily thinking only of how he could get a son. Thus both King Suketuman and Queen Shaibya were in great distress. Even when they offered tarpana (oblations of water to their forefathers), their mutual misery made them think that it was as undrinkable as boiling water. They thus thought they would have no descendants to offer tarpana to them when they died and would become lost souls (ghosts).

“The king and queen were especially upset to learn that their forefathers were worried that soon there would be no one to offer them tarpana also. After learning of their forefather’s unhappiness, the king and queen became more and more miserable, and neither ministers, nor friends, nor even loved ones could cheer them up. To the king, his elephants and horses and infantry were no solace, and at last he became practically inert and helpless.

“The king thought to himself, ‘It is said that without a son, marriage is wasted. Indeed, for a family man with no son, both his heart and his splendid house remain vacant and miserable. Bereft of a son, a man cannot liquidate the debts that he owes his forefathers, the demigods (devas) and to other human beings. Therefore every married man should endeavor to beget a son; thus he will become famous within this world and at last attain the auspicious celestial realms. A son is proof of the pious activities a man performed in his past one hundred lifetimes, and such a person achieves a long duration of life in this world, along with good health and great wealth. Possessing sons and grandsons in this lifetime proves that one has worshiped Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the past. The great blessing of sons, wealth, and sharp intelligence can be achieved only by worshiping the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. That is my opinion.’

“Thinking thus, the king had no peace. He remained in anxiety day and night, from morning to evening, and from the time he lay down to sleep at night until the sun rose in the morning, his dreams were equally full of great anxiety. Suffering such constant anxiety and apprehension, King Suketuman decided to end his misery by committing suicide. But he realized that suicide throws a person into hellish conditions of rebirth, and so he abandoned that idea. Seeing that he was gradually destroying himself by his all-consuming anxiety over the lack of a son, the king at last mounted his horse and left for the dense forest alone. No one, not even the priests and brahmins of the palace, knew where he had gone.

“In that forest, which was filled with deer and birds and other animals, King Suketuman wandered aimlessly, noting all the different kinds of trees and shrubs, such as the fig, bel fruit, date palm, jackfruit, bakula, saptaparna, tinduka, and tilaka, as well as the shala, tala, tamala, sarala, hingota, arjuna, labhera, baheda, sallaki, karonda, patala, khaira, shaka and palasha trees. All were beautifully decorated with fruits and flowers. He saw deer, tigers, wild boar, lions, monkeys, snakes, huge bull elephants, cow elephants with their calves, and four-tusked elephants with their mates close by. There were cows, jackals, rabbits, leopards, and hippopotamuses. Beholding all these animals accompanied by their mates and offspring, the king remembered his own menagerie, especially his palace elephants, and became so sad that he absent mindedly wandered into their very midst.

“Suddenly the king heard a jackal howl in the distance. Startled, he began wandering about, looking around in all directions. Soon it was midday, and the king started to tire. He was tormented by hunger and thirst also. He thought, ‘What sinful deed could I possibly have done so that I am now forced to suffer like this, with my throat parched and burning, and my stomach empty and rumbling? I have pleased the devas (demigods) with numerous fire sacrifices and abundant devotional worship. I have given many gifts and delicious sweets in charity to all the worthy brahmins too. And I have taken care of my subjects as though they were my very own children. Why then am I suffering so? What unknown sins have come to bear fruit and torment me in this dreadful way?’

“Absorbed in these thoughts, King Suketuman struggled forward, and eventually, due to his pious credits, he came upon a beautiful lotus bearing pond that resembled the famous Lake Manasarova. It was filled with aquatics, including crocodiles and many varieties of fish, and graced with varieties of lilies and lotuses. The beautiful lotuses had opened to the Sun, and swans, cranes and ducks swam happily in its waters. Nearby were many attractive ashramas where there resided many saints and sages who could fulfill the desires of anyone. Indeed, they wished everyone well. When the king saw all this, his right arm and right eye began to quiver, a sakuna sign (for a male) that something auspicious was about to happen.

“As the king dismounted his horse and stood before the sages, who sat on the shore of the pond, he saw that they were chanting the holy names of God on japa beads. The king paid his obeisances and, joining his palms, addressed them with glorified praises. Observing the respect the king offered them, the sages said, ‘We are very pleased with you, Oh king. Kindly tell us why you have come here. What is on your mind? Please inform us what is your heart’s desire.’

“The king replied, ‘Oh great sages, who are you? What are your names, surely your presence reveals that you are auspicious saints? Why have you come to this beautiful place? Please tell me everything.’ “The sages replied, ‘Oh king, we are known as the ten Vishvadevas (the sons of Vishva: Vasu, Satya, Kratu, Daksha, Kala, Kama, Dhriti, Pururava, Madrava and Kuru). We have come here to this very lively pond to bathe. The month of Magha (Madhava mas) will soon be here in five days (from the Magh nakshatra), and today is the famous Putrada Ekadasi. One who desires a son should strictly observe this particular Ekadasi.’

“The king said, ‘I have tried so hard to have son. If you great sages are pleased with me, kindly grant me the boon of having a good son.’ ‘The very meaning of Putrada,’ the sages replied, ‘is “giver of a putra, pious son.” So please observe a complete fast on this Ekadasi day. If you do so, then by our blessing and by the mercy of Lord Sri Keshava invested in us – surely you will obtain a son.’

“On the advice of the Vishvadevas, the king observed the auspicious fast day of Putrada Ekadasi according to the established rules and regulations, and on the Dvadasi, after breaking his fast, he paid obeisances again and again to all of them.

“Soon after Suketuman returned to his palace and united with his queen. Queen Shaibya immediately became pregnant, and exactly as the Vishvadevas had predicted, a bright-faced, beautiful son was born to them. In due course of time, he became famous as a heroic prince, and the king gladly pleased his noble son by making him his successor. The son of Suketuman took care of his subjects very conscientiously, just as if they were his own children.

“In conclusion, Oh Yudhisthira, one who wishes to fulfill his desires should strictly observe Putrada Ekadasi. While on this planet, one who strictly observes this Ekadasi will surely obtain a son, and after death he will achieve liberation. Anyone who even reads or hears the glories of Putrada Ekadasi obtains the merit earned by performing a horse sacrifice. It is to benefit all humanity that I have explained all this to you.”

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Pausha-shukla Ekadasi, or Putrada Ekadasi, from the Bhavishya Purana of Veda Vyasadeva.

This article has been used courtesy of ISKCON Desire Tree

 

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Praghosa dasa: The first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf visited our Karuna Bhavan temple yesterday. He was garlanded with the Deities Maha garlands and was pleased to receive Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita.
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From: SNS.Ravindranath:

is association of devotees relates to mind or personal association is required?

How can a person who is not in access with devotees can cope with this situation

 

Transcription
Question: Is personal association of devotees essential?

Answer: Personal association of devotees is extremely beneficial and largely essential for our spiritual advancement. This is because we are largely influenced by our surroundings and the desires of those people who are in our surroundings. Therefore, if we do not have devotee association, that means we have the association of non-devotees. Such association will often create non-devotional desires within us. Some of these desires will be non-devotional while some of them may even be anti-devotional. These are desires for indulgences that directly contradict the principles of devotional service.

Essentially, the purpose and the principle of association is the reception of devotional desires. Association is not just physical proximity, but is the receptivity to devotional desires. For example, when we visit a centre or a temple and associate with devotees and see how they are happy in their practise of devotional service and chanting the holy names, serving the Lord and doing various other services, all of this inspires us to also act similarly.

The power of inspiration and the association of devotees to instill within us similar devotional desires is almost irreplaceable. As far as possible, we need to orient our life in a way that we can at least have some association of devotees every week. If we can stay in a centre or near a centre or if we can stay with friends who are also practising devotional service, then we can have daily association. However, if that is not possible, then at least once a week we can go to some nearby centre or temple. Even if it is a little far away, the time and the energy spent is well worth it, because that association will surcharge us. The more we are inspired, the lesser the internal struggle and battle in bhakti.

When we are not inspired to chant Hare Krishna, then even if we have to chant a few rounds, they become a big burden. Therefore, we cannot evade difficulty when we are practising bhakti. If we take the trouble to associate with devotees and become inspired in that association, that will save us the trouble or at least decrease the trouble of battling with the mind, because we will be inspired and enthused.

If we are in a situation where associating with devotees even once a week is difficult, then we have to see what we need to change in our schedule so that we can have regular association. Krishna has given us 168 hours per week. We can at least arrange our life in such a way that we can give 2-3 hours to Him, to associate with His devotees. Even then, if it is not possible physically, then we can make a program to associate with devotees by calling them, by having email exchanges with them, maybe attending some classes on Skype or some podcasts, especially where there can be interactions so that we can ask questions and get clarifications.

Most important is that we show Krishna that whenever there is association available, we grab that association. This way, in the future, even when association is not available, Krishna will see that sincerity and still keep guiding us. However, if we have the opportunity for association but we let our mind create excuses and justifications for not taking that association, and Krishna sees we are not really interested in making spiritual advancement, then we will find that the inspiration is disappearing. Therefore, to give association is Krishna’s greatest blessing and to take association is our greatest responsibility.

When Krishna offers us the blessings, we need to make it our responsibility to receive that blessing and to enrich ourselves with that blessing. In this way, either by daily or weekly or at some frequency, when we physically associate with devotees, and also at some frequency, staying in touch with devotees in an interactive, personal way, either through phone calls, emails, skypes or podcasts or whatever, we can keep ourselves spiritually enlivened. Thank you.

End of transcription.

From: P shah

Does becoming tolerant mean succumbing in situations where people try to be manipulative with you?

Transcription

Question by P. Shaha: Does becoming tolerant mean succumbing to situations where people try to be manipulative with you? 
Answer : Not at all. Tolerance does not mean that we allow others to trample on us. Tolerance essentially means that we don’t allow others to have undesirable effects on us.
You can read the article in the site – The Power of Humility and Tolerance (https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/01/the-power-of-humility-and-tolerance/). Srila Prabhupada explains that one’s greatness has to be estimated by the ability to tolerate provoking situations. That means, when somebody comes and agitates us, at that time, if we blow up, then we may blow up the relationship, we may blow up our cool, and we may blow up the opportunity to get the particular work or service done.
Now, it doesn’t mean that blowing up is wrong. But tolerance enables us to choose the right response under specific situations. Like, if we are driving a vehicle and somebody cuts us in front of the road, then some people just start seething with rage and swearing, and they get high blood pressure although the person who has cut their way has gone long away. So, at such times, tolerance can help us to not get affected by the inevitable inconveniences that we experience in life. If we are working on a computer and the power just shuts down, or the computer temporarily breaks down, tolerance means that we will not let ourselves be affected by this.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we just sit passively. We also have to be active to see how the power can be restored, how the computer can be brought back to functionality. So, the essence of tolerance is not passivity. If we are merely passive, then we will be exploited, manipulated by others. But the essence of tolerance is to choose the appropriate response. That can range anywhere from activity to passivity and in between. So, in some cases, tolerance may require that we respond assertively. If in our workplace, our work is getting delayed because somebody else is being irresponsible and not completing their part of the work in time then we being tolerant doesn’t mean that we just passively let the complacency to continue and then bear the brunt of the criticism for the delayed output. We have to be assertive. We may have to tell the necessary authorities and make sure that it gets done.
So, tolerance may involve activity sometimes. But as I said, tolerance may also involve passivity sometime. If somebody just cut ahead of us and goes away, then it is better to be cool and not get agitated.
So essentially, tolerance is not about the external response, but it is about the motivation for that response. The tolerant person knows what is important, what is less important and what is unimportant in life. And in order to focus on that which is important, the person knows how to put aside that which is unimportant or less important.
Thus, tolerance enables us to prioritize what should get our attention. Just like, even in normal sense, if we are sitting in a place which is very hot, but if we are focused on a particular work, we know it is important and are absorbed in doing it, then we can tolerate the heat. But if we have nothing very interesting or important to do and we are sitting around trying to kill time then we will start feeling the room is very hot, it becomes intolerable. We want a fan, we want an AC, we start cursing the room. Why? Because there is nothing more important to attract and absorb our minds.
So, the essence of tolerance is to recognize what is most important in our life and to not let less important or unimportant things distract us from that which is important. And for that which is important, we don’t have to be passive. We have to be assertive.
We have to do the needful to ensure that what is important to us is done. But for that which is unimportant for us, we need not bother. Bhagavad Gita (02.14), for example, uses the word tolerance in the sense –
Oh Arjuna, tolerate the non-permanent appearance and disappearance of happiness and distress just as we tolerate the appearance and disappearance of seasons.
So, Krishna is indicating over here that just as the seasons are inevitable and they will change and they will to some extent affect us by their changing conditions, but a wise person will neglect that and focus on what is important for him or her. So, similarly, he says that Arjuna, you are feeling unhappy right now, you are feeling sad or miserable but neglect these feelings and focus on what is important for you. Do your duty as a lawmaker, as a member of the royal family to protect the innocent from the demoniac, the ungodly.
So, Krishna’s urging Arjuna to be tolerant didn’t mean that Krishna told Arjuna that let Duryodhana and the Kauravas trample on you and do all kinds of injustices to you and you just sit passively and tolerate. No, Krishna told Arjuna that as your duty and as a member of the administrative class or the royal class, it is for you to protect your citizens and for that you need to ensure that the administration is in the right hand. What is important for you, you have to be assertive about it.
But while being assertive about it, you may not like doing particular activities, you may not like fighting with those with whom you had loving relationships, but neglect that, tolerate those feelings because they are temporary. The call of duty is far more important. So, similarly with us, we have to understand what is more important and in order to give our time and energy and attention for that which is important, we need to have the ability of tolerance so that we can neglect and put aside that which is unimportant, which can also suck away our time and energy if we don’t have the ability of tolerance.
Thus, the essence of tolerance is careful prioritization and focus on the important things based on our prioritization. Thank you.

End of transcription.

The TOVP Communications Department is pleased to present our newest online flipbook, Visions of the TOVP. This inspiring 88-page book is viewable, downloadable and shareable.

The book is a collection of the best images of the TOVP from 2018 to date by five talented photographers, including Thakur Saranga das, the official TOVP photographer. We hope these images will deeply inspire the viewers and awaken further appreciation of the historic importance of this monumental project, and its significance in the re-spiritualization of humanity for generations to come.

Click the link below and prepare to be astounded.

Visions of the TOVP Flipbook

 

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Humans are hardwired for stories. Ancient epics, first oral and later written, have long shaped individuals, cultures, and civilizations. Truly great stories preserve the values, beliefs, and identities of societies, transmit wisdom and moral lessons, and inspire our art and music.  Growing up in the West, I was shaped by stories and characters from the […]

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