Animal Sacrifice Banned at Nepal’s Gadhimai Festival, Half a Million Animals Saved
New Delhi—In a move that will spare the lives of millions of animals over coming years, animal sacrifice has been cancelled indefinitely at Nepal’s Gadhimai festival, the world’s biggest animal sacrifice event held every five years for around 265 years. The decision announced by the Gadhimai Temple Trust follows rigorous negotiations and campaigning by Animal Welfare Network Nepal and Humane Society International/India.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/3NDE76

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Please Join us in prayers for Surabhi prabhu, beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada and the devotee architect of Vrindavan and Juhu Temples. At this time, he has come to Vrindavan to leave this world, as he lost the battle with cancer. Went to see him this morning, he was unconscious and the devotees were doing kirtan. Just for the service of building two of Srila Prabhupada’s favorite temples, he is assured the highest destination!

Hare Krishna! “God”?
Ravindra Svarupa dasa: What the punctuation in the title indicates: Quotation marks: Draping the word God in quotation marks indicates that we are first concerned with the signifier, not the signified. (Compare these two sentences: I am interested in God. I am interested in “God.”) Question mark: The mark of interrogation backstopping “God” points us next to questions concerning the concept or idea of God. What does it mean? Aren’t there many different meanings? Isn’t the meaning often vague or ambiguous?
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18692

Hare Krishna Athlete!
Professional soccer player Devala Dasa reveals his t-shirt glorifying Lord Krishna after his team Bayamon wins the Puerto Rico Soccer League championship vs Athletico San Juan!

Warming up for the maha Sankirtana Yajna! (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Two hundred thousand young people have already arrived for the Woodstock Festival, which begins in two days. Taking advantage of the big crowd we went on harinama with 250 devotees. A number of them distributed invitations to our Krsna’s Village of Peace. Many people danced with us in ecstasy, relishing the sweet nectar of Krsna’s holy names. A number of them followed us back to our village where we had more kirtan. After prasadam we had even more kirtan well into the night! Kirtan is our life and soul and an intricate part of the great Woodstock Festival.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/yop0cT

Bread Baking Class-basic techniques and healty options (Album with photos)
Pizza Effect, Poland - Summer’s Course.
Our groups’ approach to learning to cook is all about being relaxed and having fun together: some conversation, some laughs, some photos , some more fun, and a lot of cooking in between!
See them here: https://goo.gl/VV0K2u

Hare Krishna! WSN June 2015 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
June was a very good month for book distribution worldwide. Summer months are generally good for us book distributors. The sunny weather puts people in a relatively nicer and happier mood. The highest increase in June was by the temple in Monterrey, Mexico. Something inspired them to do a lot of book distribution. They had a 610% increase, distributed over 1,800 books, and did 2,024 book points, which makes Monterrey the No. 1 temple in all of Central and South America. Congratulations, Monterrey book distributors! Nairobi also had a good month with a 366% increase, over 1,300 books distributed, and 1,832 book points.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18688

Preaching program with Radhanath Swami @ Golden Bridge Yoga (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra without offences, all of one’s sinful actions are surely atoned for immediately, but one should not commit such deeds again, for that is an offence. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.16.14 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/czJslP

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Today our ranks swelled to 730 devotees as buses arrived from all over Europe. We held an istagosti where the many services connected to our preaching work at Woodstock were divided up. It’s an exciting time as we begin one of ISKCON’s biggest and most influential festival programs. But as great as it all is, [...]

रात्रान्तेत्रस्तवृन्दे रितबहुबिरवैर् बोधितौकीरसारी
पद्यैर्हृद्यैरहृद्यैर् अपिसुखशयनाद् उत्तितौतौसखीभिः
दृष्टौहृष्टौतदात्वो दितरतिललितौ कक्खतीगीःसशऩ्कौ
राधाकृष्णौ सतृष्णाव् अपिनजनजधाम्न्याप्ततल्पौ स्मरामि

rātrānte trasta vṛnde / rita bahubi ravair / bodhitau kīra sārī
padyair hṛdyair ahṛdyair / api sukha śayanāt / utthitau tau sakhībhiḥ
dṛṣṭau hṛṣṭau tadātvo/dita rati lalitau / kakkhatī gīḥ saśaṅkau
rādhā-kṛṣṇau satṛṣṇav / api nija nija dhām / nyāpta talpau smarāmi

rā

trān

te

tra

sta

vṛn

de

ri

ta

ba

hu

bi

ra

vair

bo

dhi

tau

kī

ra

sā

rī

pad

yair

hṛd

yair

a

hṛd

yair

a

pi

su

kha

śa

ya

nāt

ut

thi

tau

tau

sa

khī

bhīḥ

dṛṣ

ṭau

hṛṣ

ṭau

ta

āt

vo

di

ta

ra

to

la

li

tau

kak

kha

tī

gīḥ

sa

śaṇ

kau

rā

dhā

kṛṣ

ṇau

sa

tṛṣ

nāv

a

pi

ni

ja

ni

ja

dhām

nyā

pta

tal

pau

sma

rā

mī

As the night comes to an end and dawn approaches, Vṛnda hurridly awakens them with the songs of many love-bird parrots.

The birds recite poems to help them arise from their pleasure-bed; some poems are dear to their heart, and also some are not. The girlfriends witness it all and participate.

When they finally rise from their graceful romantic dalliances, they are shocked to see the dawn and hear the words of Rādhā’s favorite monkey, Kakkhatī.

Although they still thirst for one another, Rādhā and Krishna return to their own rightful beds in their own abodes.

I meditate on this.

---

The reason some songs are “not dear to the heart” is that the parrots must remind Rādhā and Krishna that they have to get out of bed and leave one another. The fearful words that Kakkhatī exclaims to Rādhā are something along the lines of “Your mother in law might be coming down the path right now, searching for you!”

It is a very magical, fantasiac, wonderful scene – with all the forest animals awakening Rādhā and Krishna.

The sakhīs watch while the animals waken Rādhā-Krishna. They they begin to participate, once the couple has arisen. Eventually they also express pleasant and unpleasant poems to help the couple separate and return home.

– Vraja Kishor

VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: govinda-lilamrta, Krishna, krishna lila, Radha Krishna, Radharani, Vraja-lila

Sonu and Manisha are from the Punjab in India and have been living in Australia for the last 5 years. They have a little baby called Hargun who is also called Vrnda.

The Articles

Article 1: Hare (Rādhā)

Article 2: Krishna

Articles 3 & 4: Repeat Articles 1 and 2.

Articles 5 & 6: Repeat Article 2, twice.

Articles 7 & 8: Repeat Article 1, twice.

Article 9: Hare – as in Article 1.

Article 10: Rāma – Rādhā’s lover.

Articles 11 & 12: Repeat Articles 9 and 10.

Articles 13 & 14: Repeat Article 10, twice.

Articles 15 & 16: Repeat Article 9, twice.

Article 17: We, the bhaktas, shall treat the above 16 Articles as ends in and of themselves, not as means to any other end. We shall therefore set aside or best time, energy, and concentration to cultivate these Articles. These Articles are not encumbrances or obligations to complete, nor are they tools to serve our illusion-intrinsic exhibitionism.

Article 18: In our personal practice of these Articles, nāma-japa, we shall sit firmly, and work diligently against addictions to self-centered thoughts which keep the mind loud, occluding true personal relationship with the 16 Articles.

Article 19: In our communal practice of these Articles, nāma-saṁkīrtan, we shall decorate the Articles with exquisite melodies and delicate rhythms, to fully express the inner bhāva trying to dawn within our hearts, not to occlude it with the loudness of ego that makes an exhibition of skill or “advancement.” We shall take our time, explore the articles fully and slowly, and allow the energy to peak when natural.

Article 20: There shall be no further articles. Though there may be amendments to support them.

---

The Amendments

First Amendment: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Second Amendment: Explanations of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam by realized Gauḍīyas. Especially:

• Śrī Jīva’s Ṣad-sandarbha
• Śrī Viśvanātha’s Sārārtha-darśinī
• Swāmī Prabhupāda’s purports

Third Amendment: Expansions of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Especially

• Expansion of Bhāgavatam’s sambandha-tattva – like Śrī Sanātana’s Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, and Śrī Vyāsa’s Bhagavad-Gītā
• Expansions of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s abhidheya-tattva – like Śrī Rūpa’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
• Expansions of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s prayojana-tattva – especially Śrī Kavirāja’s Govinda-līlāmṛta, Śrī Bīlvamaṅgala’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, and Śrī Jayadeva’s Gītā-govinda.

Fourth Amendment: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta

Signed,
the only active memember of this
Individual Search for Krishna Consciousness,

Vraja Kishor dās
VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: ISKCON, Krishna

 

 

Topic
Part 1 (August 11th) and Part 2 (August 16th)
Beyond Frustrated Love to Bhakti, the Yoga of Ultimate Connection

 

 

Topic
Part 1 (August 11th) and Part 2 (August 16th)
Beyond Frustrated Love to Bhakti, the Yoga of Ultimate Connection

The Lord is so kind to us that He can be present before us personally in the form of transcendental sound, but unfortunately we have no taste for hearing and glorifying the Lord's name and activities. We have already discussed developing a taste for hearing and chanting the holy sound. It is done through the medium of service to the pure devotee of the Lord.

SB 1.2.17 purport

Padayatra in Russia 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Compared to the ocean of transcendental bliss that one tastes by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, the pleasure derived fromimpersonal Brahman realization is like the shallow water in canal.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.97)
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Prasadam distribution program in Poland (Album with photos)
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Sommercamp Simhachalam, Germany Ratha Yatra 2015 (Album with photos)
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Preaching program in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “In Dvapara-yuga one could satisfy Krishna or Visnu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pancaratriki system, but in the Age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name.” (Narayana-samhita)
See them here: https://goo.gl/NPRD30

Dasyam, sakhyam and atma-nivedanam. (English/Turkish)

The post Istanbul lecture on Bhakti-yoga (Part 2) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Harinama in Moscow (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “My dear lord, what kind of mantra you given have Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this maha-mantra!” (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.81)
See them here: https://goo.gl/GwJZYG

Detroit ISKCON celebrated its 30^th Annual Rathyatra on Sunday July 19^th with its largest attendance ever – an estimated 10,000 visitors. There were many highlights of the day, including grand opening ceremonies, amazing kirtan by Gaura Mani, Gopal and others, five hours of captivating stage entertainment, jammed packed Kidz Zone featuring Vedic crafts, live cooking demos and so much more. 

Hare Krishna! ISKCON Community Pays Tribute to Former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam appreciated the services rendered by ISKCON such as Bhagavad Gita Book distribution, Promoting people to become Vegetarian and ISKCON’s Food for Life Mid-day meal program. Further he also inaugurated Bhaktivedanta Hospital for Heart Center which is part of ISKCON activities. On behalf of the entire ISKCON Community we would like pay tribute for the former President of India. It is a great loss for India.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18685

Hare Krishna! The one who startled India with kirtan
One morning, soon after our arrival at Kailash Seksaria’s home, Srila Prabhupada called on a male devotee to chant the new melody of Gurvastakam. After two lines of the prayer, he asked him to stop and then requested another devotee to continue. The same thing happened, and he asked another devotee to chant, with the same result. Then he asked me to lead the prayer, and he did not stop me. So later, I asked him why he had done that, and he replied: Learn to listen. You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18682

The Restless Mind - How can we control it (5 min video)
Our mind is restless and fickle in nature. It is turbulent in its actions and tenacious in its selections. It is extremely difficult to control because it is strongly bound to desire for habituated sense gratification.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/wVLpNA

The post Daily Darshan – July 28th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Rathayatra in the City of a Hundred Spires (Prague) (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: To chant the holy name of Krishna one does not need to speculate on the philosophical aspects of the science of God, for one automatically becomes ecstatic and without consideration immediately chants, dances, laughs, cries and sings just like a madman. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.79 Purport)
See them here: https://goo.gl/YsyLtf

Hare Krishna! A special home preaching program in Camarillo, California
One main area that was discussed was the need to better ourselves in three “S” areas- sanga (association), sadhana (devotional practice) and sadachara (character). The speaker quoted- “If one loses money, nothing is lost. If one loses health, something is lost but if one loses character, everything is lost.” The topic of hatred and religious intolerance rampant in the world today was also touched upon and the speaker enunciated beautifully how greed is leading to proprietorship of things that don’t belong to us in the first place. He specifically talked about the ‘simple living, high thinking’ model which is much needed in today’s society. Focusing on students, he encouraged them to think deeper since they would be the leaders of the future and to follow a path based on compassion and care was of prime necessity.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18679

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730 strong “transcendental army” gathers at the field for an epic battle! (5 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Today our ranks swelled to 730 devotees as buses arrived from all over Europe. We held an istagosti where the many services connected to our preaching work at Woodstock were divided up. It’s an exciting time as we begin one of ISKCON’s biggest and most influential programs. But as great as it all is, we remember and keep close you our hearts, the fact that we are simply instruments in the hands of Srila Prabhupada and our previous acaryas. Narottam! Srinivas! Syamananda! Please send us your blessings too! You are our heroes in spreading Mahaprabhu’s samkirtan movement!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/MNhMhO