Planet ISKCON

This phenomenal world or material world in which we are placed is complete in itself because the twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, according to Sankhya philosophy, are completely adjusted to produce complete resources which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. There is nothing extraneous, nor is there anything needed. (A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) An understanding of God’s relationship with the world is essential for an informed response to contemporary scientific worldviews. Although there is copious literature dealing with this subject by Christian theologians, very little has been done from a Hindu perspective, with its different metaphysics. We will look at how Christian thinkers have dealt with the subject of non-physical influence and intervention in the world, and then what Hinduism has to offer the discussion. I hope to show that the theistic Sankhya of the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam) offers a rich metaphysics and conception of the self to enhance two divergent Christian theologies of nature. Continue reading "God and Science: Christian and Vaisnava Perspectives
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Vedic village in the mountains of the Caucasus. Reconstruction of the Temple (31 min video)
Amazing result of the loving cooperation of bhaktas, bhaktins and children who join their forces, skills and talents and offer a beautiful temple to Sri Sri Gaura-Ntai.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/QkM2MO

The names of Krishna are the repository of all happiness and the greatest wealth. If we chant properly, we will not experience material miseries, but we may experience what the materialist might mistake as misery: the spiritual joy of intense separation from Krishna. Since that joy comes from proper chanting, we might wonder how we can chant with attention and concentration, even if we are not yet pure devotees of Krishna. How can we control the mind? How can we keep ourselves from thinking of a million and one other things besides Krishna’s names? Chanting properly takes practice, and the first point is to approach the practice positively. When we approach the holy names negatively, we often think more about what we should not be doing rather than what we should be doing. It is said, “You can’t do a don’t.” So, instead of thinking: “Now I have to control my mind and not think of other things,” we can think, “Now I will concentrate on Krishna’s names, which are identical to Krishna. By concentrating on Krishna’s names, Krishna will give me full intelligence, and I will love Him more and more.” Continue reading "Finding the Nectar in Krishna’s Names
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Today we’re marking the life of a great saint in our tradition who lived 500 years ago. He was the son of a Sri Vaishnava brahmana, Venkata Bhatta, and was born in a village near the famous temple town of Sri Rangam.

It may be safe to say that deterioration of the global natural environment is today no longer a contested issue. All nations acknowledge pollution, salination, deforestation, desertification, depletion of the ozone layer, the prevalence of toxic waste dumps, and more, as tangible, problematic issues. What remains a contested issue, however, is the exact factors that underpin this ruining of the Earth’s splendor. Factors labeled as root causes include meat-eating, industrialization, economic instability, and ignorance of sustainable and energy-efficient agricultural practices. With such an array of opinions as to why the Earth’s good health has waned, it is easy to see why society struggles to pinpoint the best approaches to environmental care. As a Hare Krishna devotee, and as an environmentalist since my childhood, I decided to investigate the underlying causes of such degradation from the perspective of the Vedas. When the opportunity to do a research Ph.D. through the University of Tasmania in Australia became available, I decided to employ the concept of the three modes of material nature to investigate the quality of consciousness of environmental scientists. Continue reading "Global Environmental Management and the Vedic Triguna
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The post Preparing our hearts for the Hungarian book-distributors’ Mayapura-Vraja parikrama appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

A Rabbi was once asked to describe the difference between heaven and hell. By a wave of the hand he manifested a vision of hell; a group of hungry, emaciated men sitting at the dining table eagerly awaiting their lunch. The bowls of soup appeared. Problem was, their hands were shaped like unusually long spoons – as they attempted to eat they just couldn’t get the food into their mouth. It was agony! Nobody could eat. The rabbi then waved his other arm and manifested a vision of heaven. Interestingly, it was the same dinner table, the same cuisine and the same long spoon-shaped arms. In heaven, however, everyone seemed happy and healthy. As they began their meal, the secret was revealed. In heaven, everyone utilised their long spoons to feed the person opposite, and they were being fed in return. Perfect cooperation! He had graphically revealed the lesson: selflessness versus selfishness – that’s the difference between heaven and hell. In the urban jungle, survival of the fittest is the name of the game. Our happiness is often founded upon the exploitation, mistreatment and detriment of others. If we are winning, it usually means someone else is losing. Spiritual communities of bygone ages, however, were based upon diametrically opposed ideals. Cooperation, respect and genuine concern for others were the cardinal principles underpinning social intercourse. Sharing, after all, is caring. Wisdom teachers explain how one can decipher the degradation of such community: first you will have to buy food, then you will have to buy water, then you will have to buy air! Previously, these commodities were freely exchanged amongst everyone. Nowadays people make a small fortune from them. Selflessness even makes sense on a practical level. If every person in a community of 50 people is thinking about themselves, then everyone has one person looking after them. If we selflessly focus on others, however, then everyone has 49 caretakers! It may sound idealistic and utopian, but it really does work – for individual relationships, families, organisations and entire communities. The depth and quality of any interaction is based on the degree of selflessness employed. Until we change the ‘me’ to the ‘we,’ genuine relationships, inner fulfilment and deep spiritual experience will remain elusive. At every moment we are challenged to chip away at miserly selfishness, and become kind, open-hearted and generous souls.
Watch the video here: https://goo.gl/kw3m57

Who are these Hare Krishna anyway? (3 min video)
Public sharing their feelings about the most remarkable people of the 21st century :)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/kvAhfc

Occupations For Women – Krishna’s Society and Current Culture
(video) Presented by Navakishori Dasi
Historical Changes in Society that changed how men and women work. Conditioning and Mindsets. Solutions- What’s a woman to do?
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/chtt5P

Fifteen teenaged youth, aged 13 to 18 and hailing from Australia, New Zealand and Bali, were inspired in Krishna consciousness as they traveled across Australia during their summer holidays this January. But they also deeply moved and inspired other devotees with their devotion everywhere they went. The tour, which ran from January 9^th to 27^th – summer in Australia – was chaperoned by second generation devotees. 

Reaching Out to Perlavaripalem Village.
On January 8, 2016, the Yatra bus reached the lively village around 4.30 pm, welcomed by excited children. They had been waiting for our arrival because they had been hearing announcements about the program from last two days and were thus aware of some program that was to take place there. Madhava and Gopi, two young men, had helped us meticulously organize the program in their village. A small team of devotees left for gram sankirtan through dusty streets while other devotees got involved in setting up the stage for the upcoming program at the village sarpanch office.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/CEpMBY

In this video Iksvaku das explains the purpose of :The Gita Program" and how it can benefit every ISKCON center and devotees engaged in presenting Krishna-consciousness to facilitate and encourage newcomers in their understanding of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. 

A video by Ulises Guerrero and "The Vedic Way". (www.thevedicway.org)

The Radhadesh Mellows Kirtan Festival takes place from 29-31 January. Amongst many other well-known kirtan leaders, Kadamba Kanana Swami will also be participating. His time slot on Friday is at 4pm and on Saturday at 3:45pm; GMT +1. Watch live on www.mayapur.tv

krsna’s Mathura & Dwaraka Pastimes Session 1( Ujjain@29.12.2015 )

January 29. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Krishna’s Great Orator. Srila Prabhupada was a dramatic orator, a real communicator. He communicated on Krishna’s behalf as the medium for Krishna’s love to the conditioned souls who had not yet developed their desire to go back to Krishna. His voice was tempered and his points balanced, yet his lectures were powerful. They were quite different from his ordinary speech. His lectures were full of feeling – strong, loud reprimands of the non devotee, and soft, loving expressions of bhakti. His voice rose and fell in sonorous tones. “You cannot understand Krishna with these blunt senses,” he said, and his voice keyed, both to his audience and to his own sense of delivering the message. He spoke from the heart. He spoke to wake us up. Prabhupada lectured mainly from the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita. He didn’t title his lectures, and they didn’t have a specific subject, other than a commentary on a particular verse he was speaking on. He took advantage of the wealth of material in the Vedic scriptures and taught us to lecture. Prabhupada had to lecture frequently, but he had such a great command of the Vedic scriptures that he was free to speak on a wide variety of topics within the realm of Krishna consciousness. We should try to follow his example.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=4

Krishna’s Great Orator

The post Daily Darshan : January 29th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post Gita 09.06 – Krishna limits not our freedom but the scope of our freedom appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Over the last month I’ve been busy on community group visits as always I allow the group’s to decide what subject they would like me to cover; this time around most wanted me to explain what the understanding of Jesus Christ is.

Thankfully there is many quotes from Srila Prabhupada and it also gave me the opportunity to speak about the importance of Guru, and how we celebrate the appearance day of our own spiritual masters.

As always a small powerpoint presentation although it takes some time to develop the question that really gets the discussion and thought’s of those listening challenged. During school visits I normally get them to talk about their pets before introducing cow protection; it is effective and from what the teachers tell me gets the discussion and debate going long after I have left.

This time my thought’s was to get them talking about their own birthday’s and what they like about them, the discussion is soon flowing; them I ask them about how they would feel if you found out that people were celebrating their birthday but they we not invited or visited.

It’s a sad growing fact that Christmas has become overly commercialized and the celebration of a great saintly life is sidelined for over indulgence in food and expensive presents whilst failing to acknowledge of visiting the church to pay homage to Lord Jesus Christ.

It is sad that when asking how many visited church, sang Christmas Carols and gave charity to the needy most just looked puzzled. Some said how they used to go. It’s odd that so much effort is made to celebrate one day with little realization or understanding of the amazing life and sacrifice of such a great soul.

However it did make me appreciate more the vaysa puja offering we make on the appearance day of our wonderful Guru Maharaja, writing a wonderful homage, offering arati, making and sharing prasadam.

Then we have Krishna Janmashtami; the temple becomes a hive of activity for many this will be the only time they visit, but still they come. Charity is given to the temple and so much chanting, dancing, sharing prasadam; the association is much like Sri Krishna unlimited.

On one occasion a young lady who was attending sat and I could see a tear in her eye, being a little concerned I took the opportunity to talk to her over the prasadam cake I had taken. She explained how during my presentation he realised she had neglected her own baptism, not even visiting Lord Jesus Christ home on his main day of celebration. What impressed her more was the wonderful quotes from our own founder Acharia Srila Prabhupada, she realized that he and those who were his followers had a greater understanding of her own spiritual teacher Jesus Christ.

What was so nice, she took a book and is looking at learning much more.

However it did give me one great realization, that unless we have a true understanding of the position of our own spiritual masters and that of God, Sri Krishna then no matter how powerful the message is it will be lost in translation, and what should be a wonderful celebration becomes an opportunity to become more ingrained in materialistic life in a frenzy of uncontrolled gluttony.

A video by Paul Tuffery.

Ahmedabad Holds 5-Day Padayatra for ISKCON’s 50th!
Between March 2014 and the end of 2016 – ISKCON’s 50th anniversary year – the Padayatra Worldwide Ministry is aiming to hold 50 padayatras, a kind of journey on foot accompanied by kirtan. The first one in 2016 was a five-day affair held in the Indian state of Gujarat. Between January 15th and 19th, devotees walked from the ISKCON temple in Ahmedabad to Dakor, a Vaishnava pilgrimage site known for its grand temple of Ranchod Rai (a form of Lord Krishna).
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/G3Lflv

The second Radha Krishna Camp took place in Nova Gokula, Pindamonhangaba, Brazil between the 5th to the 12th of January, and was attended by over 40 devotees between 12 and 16 years of age looking for new friends, fun and experience of an ideal spiritual life.

So today we’re marking the life of a great saint in our tradition who lived 500 years ago. He was the son of a Sri Vaishnava brahmana, Venkata Bhatta, and was born in a village near the famous temple town of Sri Rangam, on the banks of the Kaveri River.

Born around 1500 AD, he was 11 years old when Sri Chaitanya ‘the great master’ came and stayed with his family for the four months of the rainy season. His father served Chaitanya meals and washed his feet out of profound respect for his guest.

During his time with them, Sri Chaitanya told them about love for the Supreme in the form of Radha-Krishna. Venkata Bhatta and his family listened with affection, as did the brothers Trimalla and Prabodhananda. Chaitanya asked the young Gopala to come and meet him in Vrindavan when he could.

When he was 30 years old and his parents had departed, Gopala Bhatta came to live in the Vrindavan region with the two brothers, Rupa and Sanatana, who treated him like a family member. Chaitanya was very pleased to hear that, 19 years later, Gopala had come to Vrindavan. He sent him his wooden sitting place and some of his garments, which the young man was overjoyed to receive.

Sadly, only four years later, Chaitanya himself was to depart and Gopala was deeply saddened. One night he had a dream of Chaitanya who told him that if wanted his darshan he should go to Nepal. Once there, Gopala Bhatta took bath in the cold Kali-Gandaki river whereupon some small black, round stones came into his water pot. Placing them back in the water three times he decided that these Vishnu stones, or shaligram shila, actually wished to come with him. So he took 12 of them with him back to Vrindavan.

On the day of Narasimha Chaturdasi a rich man came to Vrindavan and gave the sadhus cloth and jewellery for their deities. Gopala spread these items before his shilas and prayed that he might have a Lord to whom these items could be offered.

The next morning, after his bath, he saw that the largest stone had changed shape, manifesting as a form of child Krishna with flute-playing hands raised and feet gracefully crossed.

In 1542 Gopala Bhatta opened the temple for his lord Radha Ramana and to this day worship has continued at a very high standard. The continuity of archana has been accomplished by a line of family descendants. Although Gopala had no sons, and his disciple Gopinatha never married, Gopinatha’s brother Damodara had three sons: Harinatha, Mathuranatha and Harirama. From them came the priestly and family line which exists in its 18th generation today.

Gopala Bhatta was asked by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to help Rupa and Sanatana write books, so he took to the task seriously. His contribution was immense. His speciality was the culture of service and worship of the temple image, and the rules and rituals of daily life of the Vaishnavas.

He wrote a treatise on temple worship based upon the ancient Pancharatra procedures he’d witnessed in his youth. It was titled the Laghu Hari Bhakti Vilasa. Later. Sanatana expanded it and kindly put Gopala’s name to it, although Gopala only claimed that he wrote the introduction. This book was the Hari Bhakti Vilasa, and from this, some sections of the later book by Rupa Goswami, the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, were formed.

For those with children, Vedic culture has all manner of ceremonies for the various life stages. These involve various rituals and fire sacrifices and are known as samskaras. Although most of them invoke the blessings of the gods, Gopala Bhatta wrote a new treatise on samskaras that worshipped only Vishnu. Indeed the first section of the book goes into great detail as to why only Vishnu is to be worshipped. This book is known as the Sat Kriya Sar Dipika.

One of Gopala Bhatta’s disciples was Srinivasa Acarya, who famously formed the first party of book distributors and preachers along with Narottama and Shyamananda.

Gopala Bhatta Goswami lived for some 45 years in Vrindavan and his legacy lives on today in the form of ISKCON’s temple ritual and ceremony, it’s publications and its daily Vaishnava sadacara.

When Sri Chaitanya was in Sri Rangam, he fashioned vigraha of Jagannatha Swami, or Lord Krishna as he had seen him in Puri. These three small images are still worshipped today, just over the road from the home of the present day descendants of Venkata Bhatta. The Sri Radha Ramana temple is well known in Vrindavan and can be visited daily, and especially for evening darshan. The original cloth of Chaitanya can be viewed on one day every year.

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj gave wonderful class on Srimad Bhagavad Gita on 19th January 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. You can download Audio here  

The post Bhagavad Gita class by HH Bhakti Charu Maharaj in Melbourne, Autralia appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

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Radhastami in Timesoara.

The post The real reason for Krsna’s and Radha’s appearance appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Between March 2014 and the end of 2016 – ISKCON’s 50^th anniversary year – the Padayatra Worldwide Ministry is aiming to hold 50 padayatras, a kind of journey on foot accompanied by kirtan. The first one in 2016 was a five-day affair held in the Indian state of Gujarat. Between January 15^th and 19^th, devotees walked from the ISKCON temple in Ahmedabad to Dakor.

Friends of Caitanya Lila Holt, 30-year-old US national, who died after allegedly choking on mud in a paddy field last week, have started an online campaign on the social media seeking justice for the former US soldier. The #JusticeforCaitanya campaign started on Facebook, alleges that Caitanya, a member of the ISKCON was "murdered by a lynch mob and the police in Goa."

Where is the question of free will?
Question: We say that Krsna is all knowing and He knows past, present and future. And not a blade of grass move without His sanction. So where is our free will coming? We say the living entities has free will to surrender to Krsna or to Maya but Krsna is all knowing then He must know how each living entities going to use their free will. So Krsna already knows the entire depth of every living being. He knows when the person goes Back to Godhead, when he become purified from material desires, how many billions of life times it will take. He must know all these things if He knows everything. So therefore He already knows so therefore it’s predestined. Everything is going to happen so where is free will coming?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: He knows every question you are going to ask for in the rest of your life. And He knows that you will not understand the answer. But still He will not interfere. Krsna is better than you. Krsna is the supreme.
Krsna knows everything in the past about everyone. Krsna knows everything in the future about everyone and everything and Krsna knows all things in the present there is nothing unknown to Krsna but Krsna’s greatness is that He can know everything without in any way interfering with your minute independence. He knows when you will surrender to Him and go Back to Godhead but He knows when you will make the right choice to do so. And He will give opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to gradually purify you and He knows when you will accept it and when you reject it. But it is in your hands to accept it. We should not justify that Krsna is the doer so why should I try because until make up your mind to really try with your heart and soul you will never make any spiritual progress.
Krsna is Avijna Swarat. Avijna means who knows everything and as His part and parcel you know something. Swarat means He is completely independent. As part and parcel you have minute independence that means at every movement you have the free choice to either accept Krsna or Maya at every movement and surrender is a movement to movement process. At the present movement I will accept Krsna and you have to continue for the rest of your life at every present movement to accept Krsna i.e. your free choice and i.e. how we will make spiritual advancement. He knows when you accept or reject. But He is so powerful and so wonderful that He can know without in any way interfering with your freewill. We were singing the song by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur about Lord Nityananda Prabhu how He opened up the market place for the Holy Name and He was whole sale distributing the Holy Name of Krsna and through the Holy Name He was whole sale distributing love of God the ultimate desire of every soul and He was begging the only price you have to pay is your faith. But you have to use your free will to be willing to pay that price of your faith to accept it.
Hari Bol…

A visit to Govardhan Eco Village (Album with photos)
We visited the most marvelous place, Govardhan Eco Village, HH Radhanatha Swami’s project north of Mumbai. Beautiful peaceful forests, replicas of the seven Gosvami Temples, beautiful cows, organic gardens, and amazing Temple!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/n281Fx

Hare Krishna dear Jayapataka Swami,

Please accept our obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

It is a letter from the Russian team of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium construction project.

We are grateful to you for engaging us in fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s personal desire – construction of the magnificent Temple of the Golden Age! Please accept our efforts as an offering.

For 2015, we collected and transferred to a bank account in Mayapur over USD 160,000. This money was collected by many different ways. Particularly, we invited donors to pay for square feet and bricks. They paid for 300 square feet, 37 Nrisimhadeva bricks, 54 Mahaprabhu bricks, 12 Radha-Madhava bricks and one silver coin. We hold talks about the New Temple at many big festivals, did promotions on the Internet, as well as presentations in different cities.

We are asking for your blessings to be able to collect at least double the amount we did this year, in 2016 for Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure.

Thank you for bestowing upon us such a mercy to participate in this way in the New Temple construction.

Your servants from Russian & CIS ToVP team

MUMBAI: Empowering the young with a new level of spirituality will be one of the foremost missions of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), as it gears up to celebrate its fifty years. Iskcon, also known as the Hare Krishna movement, has expanded widely since it was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda in New York City in 1966.

Although Mumbai is home to three temples, Juhu, Girgaum and Mira Road and the under-construction temple at Kharghar, a mammoth rath yatra is being planned so that all devotees can culminate at one place. Also, preparations are rife as a three-day spiritual and cultural festival is scheduled to be held on February 5, 6 and 7.

“There will be a Lord Jagannath rath yatra from Lokhandwala to Juhu on February 5 which will be followed by two days of spiritual discourses, cultural and musical programs,” explained Shri Sura Das, national convener of the celebration committee.

Alfred Ford, heir to the Ford empire, and his wife Sharmila will share the dais with a number of dignitaries that include CM Devendra Fadnavis, actor-MP Hema Malini, artistes Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Anup Jalota, Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, and industrialists Ajay Piramal and Ashok Hinduja, philanthropist Rajashree Birla and cardiologist Dr B K Goyal.

Iskcon will also launch an Android phone app Krsna that will enable users to view darshans, chants, music and hear chapters from the Bhagwad Gita. “Spirituality has to be taken to another level and given what the world has come to, it is delightful to see the young interested in it and keen to understand,” Das said.

The golden jubilee celebrations have been planned over the year and will end with an event at the DY Patil Sports Stadium in Nerul, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to grace.

At present, completing the Kharghar temple is foremost for Iskcon. “Almost 75% has been completed but there has been a slight dip in funding. We are hopeful of sailing through,” Das said. The temple is an elaborate structure—a replica of 12 villages of Vrindavan and is spread over 9 acres.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Iskcon-turns-50-three-day-spiritual-fest-from-Feb-5/articleshow/50748757.cms

Dear devotees, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Šrila Prabhupada!

I’d like to use this opportunity to warmly recommend to you Madhucchanda prabhu’s unique offer that could lead to a new, highly efficient and effective way to embark many new people to Krishna consciousness. I have known Madhucchanda prabhu for more than ten years. Therefore, I can vouch that he is a very sincere devotee, well versed in Vaishnava philosophy (as presented by Šrila Prabhupada) and very enthusiastic to share KC with as many people as possible. Originally from Macedonia, living in Croatia, he and his good wife Acyuta-priya devi dasi are trying to reach creative and broad-minded ISKCON leaders who would recognise sincerity and importance of their offer. Please read the following text written by Madhucchanda prabhu and watch his short video presentation (5,30 minutes). His contact details are displayed at the end of the video presentation. Also, please share this information with all devotees who would be interested in introducing this outstanding Bhagavatam exposition to their Vaishnava communities and the broad public.

Your servant, Vrsabha das

Dear devotees and temple leaders,

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Purpose of this text is offering for performance of a very unique preaching project.

It is a project created to support Srila Prabhupada’s and Iskcon’s mission to present Srimad Bhagavatam to the world.

This has been done through organizing Bhagavatam festivals or popularly known to the Hindu community as performance of Bhagavat – saptaha.

Through our presentation and lectures people would get many valuable spiritual lessons and inspiration for development of there spiritual life.

People and devotees will get chance to connect to divine realm of bhakti through hearing the stories from Srimad Bhagavatam and chanting of holy names of Krishna.

This Bhagavatam festivals can be also part of celebration in your local temple in honour of 50 years of Iskcon.
We all know how Srimad Bhagavatam was important to Srila Prabhupada. His all life was dedicated to translation of this divine scripture and giving it to the world.

Our program has been designed to benefit your local temple and community and is performed by Ojasvi das ( bhajan singer ) and Madhucchanda das ( katha speaker ) from Croatia.

If you would like to know more how such event and spiritual festival can be organize in your local temple or community please feel free to contact us through our contacts bellow.

More detailed description of our project below and in the video link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUzZSNc2nUM

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

YS. Madhucchanda das

Madhucchanda das ( Croatia )ISKCON – International society
for Krishna consciousness
Mob: 00385 91 791 2805
Skype: madu108
Email: bhagavatam.katha@gmail.com
Web: www.bhagavatam-katha.com
Facebook page: Krishna story – every day
Youtube: Krishna story – every day by Madhucchanda day

Subject: Preaching project – performance of Bhagavatam festivals ( Bhagavatam – saptaha )

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

The purpose of this text and offering is a special preaching project – the performance of Bhagavatam festivals or popularly known as the performance of Bhagavatam – saptaha.

Using tradition for preaching – Bhagavatam saptaha is an important part of the Hindu
religion

We all know that performing Bhagvatam saptaha is a part of the Hindu tradition. Every Hindu
knows that by hearing Bhagavatam katha will get many blessings. By organizing such events
people can be influenced and engaged in the 5 most powerful methods of bhakti as given by Rupa
Goswami:

 Hearing and chanting the Holy Names ( Nama – sankirtan )
 Listening to the Srimad Bhagavatam, ( Bhagavatam – sravana )
 Service to deities( Murti – seva )
 Association with devotees ( Sadhu – sanga )
 Living in the holy dhama by hearing Krishnas lilas performed there. ( Dhama – vasa )

Preaching project in Iskcon

Many devotees and Iskcon Gurus such as Lokanath Goswami and Radha Govinda Swami are
preaching this way in India and it has had great effects. People are encouraged after katha to take Srimad Bhagavatam sets to their homes and to study. In this way devotees distribute many books. So this project has proved to be highly successful.

Srila Prabhupada opinion on Bhagavatam saptaha

At the beginning, Srila Prabhupada was not so enthusiastic about Bhagavatam saptaha. We find
some quotes in Srimad Bhagavatam where he is strongly condemning modern professional
bhagavatam speakers who do this only for money. These speakers are usually materially motivated
and contaminated with mayavadi philosophy. Therefore they are not able to give people any real benefit from hearing about Krishna. But when Srila Prabhupada saw how so many people were going to such events he said to some of his disciples: Why we do not organize such events and
explain to people what is real philosophy!
Preaching opportunity

Organizing bhagavatam saptaha is a great preaching opportunity for your local ISKCON temple and
it can bring many benefits such as:

 People can connect more with ISKCON temple
 People are encouraged to take part in temple activities
 We can distribute Srila Prabhupada books
 Everyone gets the association of devotees
 People are encouraged to contribute to the temple with donations

Structure of our unique katha presentation consist of:

Our way of presentation of bhagavatam saptaha is a unique in the world. It’s done throug the
performance of many different tools and media connected to Bhagavatam such as:

 Singing Bhagavatam shlokas
 Narrating stories
 Magic tricks
 Explanation of verses according to previous acaryas and our own experience
 Bhajans
 Slide show presentation
 Videos about katha performed
 Videos from holy places
 Diferent sound effects conected to naration of katha
 Drama
 Bharat natyam dance

Partners in organizing Bhagavatam katha

Such bhakti events can be organized in ISKCON temples or in cooperation with local Hindu
communities and organizations , Hindu embassies and important people in the community who can
be sponsors of such bhakti festivals. In the west, Bhagavatam saptahas are not so often organized, so they could be nice way to attract many people to Krishna. When katha is organized I prefer the
presence of ISKCON devotees, who should have there tables, whereby they can sell Srila Prabhupada books, paraphernalia, prasadam, etc.

Bhagavatam katha can be performed at places such us:

 Iskcon Temples  Hindu temples
 Auditoriums
 Community centers
 Pandals
 Private houses
 Spiritual festivals
 Yoga studios
List of Bhagavatam katha subject matters that we perform ( from 1st to 12th canto )

 Narada Muni katha
 Maharaj Parikshit katha
 Kunti stuti – Maharani kunti ki prathana
 Bhisma stuti – Pitamaha Bishma  Varāha deva katha
 Kapila Devahuti samvad
 Dakṣa yagja
 Bhakta Dhruva katha – Charita katha
 Pṛthu Maharaj katha
 Purañjana katha
 Pracetās katha
 Ṛṣabhadeva katha
 Maharaja Bharata Katha
 Ajamila katha
 Vṛtrāsura katha
 Citraketu katha
 Bhakta Prahlāda katha – Prahlada charita
 Gajendra Moksha katha
 Samudra Mantan katha  Bali Maharaja katha
 Matsya avatara katha
 Ambarish carita katha
 Rama Lila katha
 Paraśurāma katha
 Yayati gita katha
 24 gurus
 Uddhava gita
 Markandeya rishi charita  Dashavatara katha
 Sampurna Bhagavat Katha
 Srimad Bhagavatam Mahatmya

List of subject of Bhagavatam kathas that we perform ( from 10th canto )

 Krishna janma lila
 Krishna bala lila
 Putana vadha
 Damodar lila
 Brahma vimohana lila
 Kaliya mardan
 Gopi gita
 Rasa lila
 Rasa panca adyaya
 Venu gita
 Govardhana lila
 Gopi vastra harana lila
 Akrura Milan
 Mathura Lila
 Dwaraka Lila
 Kurukshetra Lila

We also perform seminars and lectures on difertent subjects such as:

 The art of storytelling  Vraja – Land of God
 5 limbs of Bhakti
 Death – gate to immortality  64 qualitis of krishna
 Enemies of the soul
 6 steps to real love
 Journey of Gop Kumar
 Shikshastaka
 The temple of the hearth
 My relationship to Krishna
 Smaranam
 The art of transformation
 Seing Krishna everywhere
 The power of blessings
 Emotions – essense of soul
 Hospitality in Vedic culture
 Vandanam – underszanding hearth of Krishna
 Kirtan – singing for conection

(Subject-matter of katha to be performed is chosen by you or left to our inspiration)

Bhagavatam katha for children:

Children are the future of human society. Creating samskaras or spiritual impression in their minds should be started early, from childhood.

Following this instruction of Prahlad Maharaj, we have created a program to present Srimad
Bhagavatam to kids in a very unique way and, at the same time, very easy for them to understand.

Usually children are often seen as a disturbing element during katha due to an insufficient program for engaging them. But we want to give children a feeling that they are cared for.

Programs for kids can be performed during the katha in a separate room. This program can be performed at the weekend when children are free from school and other obligations.
Magic show

 Magic show illustrating stories from the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Aratik

 Each child learns to offer incense, lamp, flower. After aratik, kirtan is sung by the children.

Search for Sita

 Children become monkeys (imitating), get balloon swords, face-painting of their faces,
children make a bridge to cross the ocean.

Games

There are different spiritual games which we perform with kids such as:

Demons in Vrindavana, imitating animals of Vraja, imitating activities of different avatars, churning the ocean of milk, steps to Vaikuntha, imitating Krishna’s games as a child, Hanuman hops.

Following the example of Krishna and his great devotees:

In all the games, children follow the example of how Krishna plays with his cowherd friends in the
forest of Vrindavana. It is said that Krishna would play all possible games in creation with his friends…

In the past great devotees of Lord Krishna have also played as children in a bhakti way.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam, we find how many great devotees of Krishna such as Uddhava and
Maharaja Parikshit started their lives playing not as ordinary children but playing with
dolls of Krishna, performing deity worship and performing spiritual festivals even as children. As a result of this early bhakti samskaras being implanted into their minds, they became great saints and devotees.

Extra programs:

We also have wonderful spiritual programs for schools and other child organizations where with our
program we cover different important topics for community such as nonviolence, spirituality, child education, healthy life style etc. By organizing such programs where we can have our presentations you can also have the activities of your organization promoted.

Western people doing Bhagavatam saptaha

We ( Madhucchanda das and Ojasvi das ) are one of the few western born people who perform Bhagavatam saptaha in the world. In these modern times when people are going away from their own Vedic tradition and culture, our presence is very encouraging. We are western devotees born
into a Christian religion and culture but we have accepted the Vedic culture and religion as our life
and soul, and have spent many years in India. To every Indian and Hindu, this should be an example
and inspiration to search for gems of spiritual wealth in their own religion and culture. Srila
Prabhupada addressed his western born devotees as white dancing elephants. In this way we can
attract people back to their original Vedic way of life and at the same time connect them to the organization of Iskcon.
Profile of the katha speaker – Madhucchanda das

Birth and childhood

Madhucchanda das is born in ancient land of Macedonia. (a country where many famous
personalities such as mother Teresa and Alexander the Great were born). As a child he was not really interested in playing normally as other children did. He was on spiritual search. He was
dreaming of traveling to India Born into the Christian Orthodox religion he tried to find answers to life’s questions such as: Who is God? Who am I? Is life eternal? Is there life after death? But he
could not find the answers. So he turned his studies to other world religions but nowhere was his thirst satisfied.

Srimad Bhagavatam

At the age of 16 he come across the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad- Gita and they would
become his life’s guidance. They were the answers to all his questions. His thirst for God and bhakti had finally been fullfiled. So, at the age of 16, he started learning and studying Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita.

Study and life in India

He traveled in India where he lived for many years and studied under many saints and pandits. He
studied subjects on the Indian culture such as sanskrit, yoga, jyotish and finally Srimad
Bhagavatam. He traveled across India where he visited hundreds of holy places, met many sadhus and also spread glory of Bhagavatam Dharma.
Finally he arrived at the Holy Sri Vrindava Dham, the place of Krishnas eternal pastimes. His heart
became so very attracted to Vraja that he didnt wanted to go anywhere else in the world. In his search for Krishna, he wandered all over the holy places of Vraja Mandala parikrama.

Iskcon and his Guru

His Search brought him to the Hare Krishna movement, formally known as The International
Society for Krishna Consciousness ( Iskcon ) and its founder-acarya Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada. He became an Iskcon member. By divine arrangement and guidance he came
to meet his divine guru His Holines Srila Sacinandana Swami who has given him many valuable spiritual instructions. From Sacinandana Swami he received diksha initiation and in this way he
become a member of a glorious guru – sisya parampara known as Brahma – Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya .

Exceptional story teller

He is very much dedicated to telling stories about Krishna in very unique way. At his kathas you
can listen to thousands of stories which illustrate spiritual points and teachings of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Present life

At the present time he is based in Croatia where he lives with his wife and his son Manu. His work
and service has taken him all over world to many countries such as Austria, Greece, Japan,
Malaysia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Germany, Croatia and in many of these places he has lectured on the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Profile of Katha bhajan singer – Ojasvi das

Ojasvi was born in 1975 and from childhood was very attracted with music and its aspect by which it describes intimacy of the soul, but until war in Bosnia that was just a unnoticed thing.
These circumstances in its own way provoked it to come to surface.
By studying ancient Vedas during this time his experience of this phenomena was directed
practically to singing of traditional Indian style of music.
By the end of the war he left for India( Bengal, Delhi, Vrndavan ) to come in touch with original
dimension of this expression of the heart.
In the next 20 years he studied and explored different depths of singing, especially kirtan style.
He started travelling to many countries sharing the experiences of deepest needs of the heart
through kirtan and psychology of understanding the needs which every living entity has, in order to awake understanding of Self, Godand the connection between them (yoga).
He is a bhajan singer who with his bhajans take an audience to another spiritual dimension. He is
the only western singer who can so nicely sing even traditional Vrijavasi and Hindi bhajans.

He has traveled all over the world and has performed his bhajans at kathas and bhakti festivals in
places such as Germany, Belgium, UK, Slovenia, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Estonia, Malaysia, Serbia, Croatia, India, Delhi, Vrindavan, Mayapur.

With his beautiful bhajans, he accompanies the kathas performed by Madhucchanda das.

Steps for organizing Bhagavatam katha:

Once you have decided to invite us to perform Bhagavatam saptaha at an event you are organizing, there are few things to be managed for the successful realization of the project.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Send us the katha registration form that is on our web page: www.bhagavatam-katha.com and give us a more detailed view about the organization of the katha.

2. We will send you a reply within 7 days.

3. If you like we can provide you with materials for katha invitation in electronic format so you can print or share information on your web page, facebook or any other media.

4. Finally katha is to be performed for the pleasure and benefit of all!

Previously he had been staying in the Holy Dhama of Vrindavan for approximately six months and prior to that was living in Jagannatha Puri. On January 25, 2016, he fell unconscious and devotees brought him to the Rama Krishna Mission Hospital where he was refused admission due to his critical medical condition. He was then brought to the Bhaktivedanta Hospice while still in a coma. He was suffering from epilepsy.

For the past few months, Janaradan Prabhu had been living at the ISKCON Vrindavan temple. In his final days and hours at the Bhaktivedanta Hospice, Janaradan Prabhu received comfort care while devotees read Bhagavad-gita As It Is at his bedside, chanted the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and played Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental bhajans. He passed away peacefully in the at the Bhaktivedanta Hospice during the auspicious hour of 2:30 a.m. while hearing the chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna.

All glories to Janaradan Prabhu!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Pearl Festival Sankirtana at Silicon Valley.
Vaisesika das: While finishing my book, Our Family Business, I noted how meticulously the publishers looked for and closed unintended gaps within the text during their final edits. Most of these gaps were tiny and invisible to the untrained eye. Nonetheless, in a book with hundreds of pages, closing these gaps significantly reduces the overall page count of the book, (a plus for any publisher). Similarly, with the efficiency of expert editors, bhakti yogis attentively search for and close gaps of idle time in their daily lives. In the course of a lifetime, such vigilant bhakti yogis stockpile extra hours, days, and even years, which they invest in the journey back to the spiritual world. Om Tat Sat
To read the entire article click here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/296932669/ISV-Sankirtana-MSF-Dec-PearlFestival

Pushya Abishek in Mayapur: Millions and trillions of flower petals alling from the sky!
In an over crowded temple , Mayapur Chandra started the evening program with a very sweet kirtan which set the peaceful mood… Radha Madhava all dressed in a breath taking flower outfit complete with flower jewelry, were proudly standing on their altar surrounded by the beautiful Gopis. Their Lordship seemed to be overlooking the crowd bestowing blessings on all the devotees gathered to glorify the Lord of their heart. It was such a touching moment to see HH Jayapataka Maharaj appear on the altar platform to participate in the abishek. My heart melted at the sight of his lotus feet…Such a great amazing soul… A few minutes later, gracefully, Radha Krsna came to take place on their specially made full flower altar ready to allow their devotees to perform puspa abhisek for them. For some time, it seemed like everyone had stopped breathing and time had stopped, it felt like a dream, unbelievable… Then, abishek started, wow….colorful flower petals falling from all sides, then all white… it was suddenly snowing in Sri Mayapur Dham, gorgeous, so beautiful! Yellow, red, orange, pink, even green…what a sight, how close we all feel to the Lord in those very special moments he so mercifully allows us to share with him. Sometimes, sweet Radharani was so covered in flower petal, it was scary , I thought “please someone save her, she needs to breath…” Thank God for the pujari who had the service of saving Radharani… Millions and trillions of flower petals were falling from the sky, obviously the Demi Gods got involved in this evening’s abishek, how can so many flower petals fall everywhere at the same time? Devotee eyes didn’t move fast enough to look at both Radha Madhava and Lord Nrsimhadeva who also got a puspa Abishek! Now that really proves that this whole celebration is not from this world. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it started snowing on Our Large Deities… no more words……….. i can only look now, with a few tears blocking the view… After some time, ecstasy took over the crowd, showers of Maha flower petal were somehow or other thrown from the altar and soon were covering the entire temple room, no one was spared, all were covered in spiritual …bliss. I don’t think anyone present will ever forget that incredible evening in Sri Dham Mayapur. Sri Mayapur Dham Ki Jay!
You can see all the high-resolution photos here: http://goo.gl/Q2LwIc