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Early Prabhupada-disciple Brahmananda Das has left his body in the holy Vrindavan Dhama. A short video of his funeral by Vrindavan Experience.
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The main dome is almost completed and we are now getting ready to start the Kalash! To carry out the Kalash work, the height of the tower crane must be increased; from the now existing level of 278 feet (85 meters) to 380 feet ( 116 meters).
In order to secure the stability of the crane at such height, guy rope anchoring work has to be done. Anchoring work consist of installing a tensioned guy rope from a RCC foundation spot to the crane. 4 RCC foundation spots have been completed and the installation of guy rope has started.
This work will be successfully complete in another 15 days and we will then begin the Kalash work!
The post Anchoring the Tower Crane appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Here are videos which were made by Adikarta Prabhu who is from the Czech Republic. One is a long recording of the Kingsday Harinama and the other from an outdoor kirtan that took place at Radhadesh on Saturday evening (23 April). More videos can be found by clicking here.
Videos
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View on YouTube.
On 9th June morning, devotees at ISKCON Mayapur celebrated disappearance day of HH Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj. The celebration took place at Maharaj’s samadhi. The event started off with glorification of Maharaj by his disciples and other senior devotees. Around 12 noon, Maharaj was offered many varieties of bhoga such and puspanjali. Next, Maharaj was offered […]
The post Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj’s disappearance appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Atlanta Ratha Yatra & Panihati Festival 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Kirtan means sometimes chanting with music, and sometimes speaking. Both of them are kirtan. Kirtayati iti kirtanam. Whenever we glorify the Lord, that is called kirtan. The Srimad-Bhagavatam reading is also kirtan. (Janmastami, Montreal, August 16, 1968)
See them here: https://goo.gl/xaMXGz
Vaisnava Taxi Drivers in New Orleans Pledge Half-a-Million Dollars to TOVP
After the presentation devotees were requested by Radha Jivana to offer their pledges and, one by one, devotees began to sponsor Silver Gratitude Coins for $11,000. There was no end to the pledges. They simply kept coming in until the number of pledged Silver Coins reached 40, more than at any temple previously visited! Along with some Radha Madhava, Pancha Tattva, and Nrsimha Bricks, and Square Foot pledges, the total pledges reached an astounding $460,000 that evening. The ecstatic group of devotees then broke into a half-hour long kirtan, after which prasadam was served.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/9xnGXp
The post A glimpse into Radha-Syama’s renovation festival appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Kiwi tastes a golden nugget. It's delicious. Script, direction, animation: Andreas Hykade
Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:
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The post Daily Darshan – June 9th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Hello officer, I seem to be lost.
We seem to have something of a fascination for time machines, if the success of Dr Who, Back to the Future, and numerous other such shows are anything to go by. H.G.Wells started it all off many years ago, and maybe when we do finally work out how to do it, someone could pop back and tell him how well his book, ‘The Time Machine’, is still doing.
Wells sent a man one million years into the future, but if I had a time machine I think I would rather go backwards and change a few things. I would start by seeking out my former self to warn me about some ill-considered decisions I was about to make, and their painful consequences. Mind you, I probably wouldn’t listen. As Alice in Wonderland said, ‘I give myself very good advice, but I very rarely follow it.’
In any event I find going back in time a highly improbable scenario. ‘The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor piety nor wit shall lure it back to change one word,’ Omar Khayyam wrote, and I agree. I really don’t think we will ever make a time machine of the Dr Who variety, but I do think there is a spiritual way we can go through time.
In the Krishna scriptures time is described as being a fierce form of God. ‘I am all-devouring time,’ Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘come to annihilate the worlds’. Oppenheimer, who invented the nuclear bomb, famously quoted this verse when he saw his terrible invention tested, foreseeing it destroying the world. Let’s hope he was wrong.
One way or another, though, all powerful time will eventually destroy us, along with whatever we own. However, in the Gita, Krishna goes on to say that we are timeless beings and that only our material forms are subject to time. We are said to be mere observers of this changing world, completely apart and different from it. Therefore Krishna says that we need only realise this truth and we will have effectively travelled right through time and reached eternity. I think that beats the Tardis.
Hare Krishna! Panihatti Cida Dahi Festival At Sri Jagannath Mandir
The Panihati Cidadahi festival is a yearly celebration of the pastimes of Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami and Lord Nityananda Prabhu. This astonishing pastime took place on the banks of the Ganges at Panihati Dham, which is just north of Calcutta. The festival remembers how the Lord mercifully reciprocated with His devotees by arranging, through Nityananda Prabhu and Raghunatha dasa, to provide an ecstatic feast of yoghurt and chipped rice, along with various other nectar foodstuffs.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17816
HG Hari Lila Prabhu at ISKCON Mayapur on 2015-06-10, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 06.09.33
By Madhava Smullen
Six hundred devotees from all over North America may have attended the 15th anniversary of the Festival of Inspiration at New Vrindaban, West Virginia over the May Mother’s Day Weekend.
But every single one this reporter spoke to described it as having an intimate, comfortable family mood.
“We were just like good friends spending quality time with each other in a holy place,” says participant Purnamasi Dasi, who hails from Toronto. “And with so many Prabhupada disciples there, there was this powerful sense that Prabhupada is the spiritual father of all of us, and we were just there to be part of his family.”
Launched in 2000, Festival of Inspiration kicked off the “spiritual retreat holiday” template that is so common throughout ISKCON today, and with its packed roster of seminars on a broad range of topics, it remains one of the most popular and unique.
Each day of the three-day festival, from May 8th to 10th, began with the traditional temple morning program including a special hour-and-a-half long Srimad-Bhagavatam class by three distinguished speakers.
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa and Jayadvaita Swami gave scholarly and incisive talks on Friday and Saturday, while Urmila Dasi’s Mother’s Day class connected every stage of a mother’s life to Krishna.
“For example, she said that Krishna nourishes and sustains us, giving us food, water and air even though we don’t recognize He’s there, just like the baby in the mother’s womb,” says participant Haripriya Dasi, a second generation devotee. “It was incredible. It made me realize how every aspect of our lives can be connected to Krishna.”
Each day then continued with four sessions of seminars, each session containing two to three concurrent seminars that partipants could choose from, for a total of sixteen.
ISKCON Communication Minister Anuttama Dasa’s Appreciating Vaishnavas: The First Step in Devotee Care was one standout.
“At one point he had us all stand up, approach each other with folded hands and express our appreciation for each other’s good qualities,” says Haripriya. “It was life changing.”
Elsewhere Varshana Swami’s “Ox Power, Dharma and the Golden Age” on getting closer to nature and the simple life was all the more inspiring because the New Vrindaban resident lives what he preaches. Jayadvaita Swami’s “Anything Goes: Questions and Answers About Krishna Consciousness” made short work of any doubt or query.
And Deena Bandhu’s Braja Lila seminar took devotees through the holy places of Vrindavana, India – followed by a Friday evening “Govardhana Parikrama” in which he physically led everyone on a tour of recreated holy places from Lord Krishna’s pastimes along with his delightfully told stories.
Other seminars included “Krishna Yoga: Be Fit to Serve Krishna” by Gauranataraj Dasa; “Improving Vaishnava Relationships” by Kalakantha Dasa; “Gaudiya Vaishnavism: The Perfect Balance of Head and Heart” by Dravida Dasa; “Prabhupada is With Us” by Gurudas, and more.
On Saturday evening, no less than fifty Srila Prabhupada disciples gathered in ISKCON New Vrindaban’s temple room – decorated with strings of balloons for the Festival’s 15th anniversary – to share their memories of their beloved guru.
The guest of honor was Sally Agarwal, the lady who sponsored Srila Prabhupada’s passage to America along with her husband Gopal and took him into her home in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Sweet, heartfelt, loving and effortlessly funny, her talk was described by many as the high point of the Festival. She spoke honestly about how at first she was afraid to have him stay in her house; how he took “about seven baths a day;” and then how she cried when he left because she was afraid for him as he ventured into New York alone.
“But I guess he did alright,” she said, guesturing around at the palacial temple room.
Other devotees like Malati Dasi, Gurudas, Jayadvaita Swami, Bhaktimarga Swami, Navayogendra Swami, Agnideva Dasa, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, Sudamani Dasi, Chintamani Dasi, Gopalasyapriya Dasi, Jayasri Dasi and many more all then shared their memories of Prabhupada – commenting on how merciful, forgiving, and personal he was with each devotee; how he understood their hearts and gave them what they needed.
Throughout all these seminars, a Kids’ Camp run by longtime New Vrindaban teacher Lilasuka Dasi and ISKCON New Vrindaban Board member Ananga Manjari Dasi engaged kids aged 4 to 15 so that their parents could freely attend the program.
“With kirtan, storytelling, facepainting, and arts and crafts, they had a great time!” says Festival coordinator Gauranga Prasad Dasa.
Meanwhile three sumptuous prasadam meals a day kept energy levels up and devotees feeling cared for. Served in a giant white tent on New Vrindaban’s bright green lawns, and honored at picnic tables against a backdrop of rolling hills, they were prepared by skilled devotional chefs like Shanka Das, Brihat Kirtan Das, and Radha Dasi.
Breakfasts had a choice of Granola with yoghurt and fruit, or kichari or upma with chutney, along with chai. Lunch included koftas, samosas, puris, halava and healthier options like mint rice, cucumber raita, and green bean and brussel sprout subji, along with mango lassi. And dinner featured options like bread, corn soup, lasagna, apple crepes and tea or hot milk.
During the evenings, devotees socialized or attended kirtans with such kirtan legends as Agnideva Dasa, Havi Dasa, and Karanamrita Dasi.
On Sunday morning, after Urmila Dasi’s Mother’s Day themed Bhagavatam class, devotees surprised her with a huge five by three foot Mother’s Day cake for her 60th birthday. Hundreds of devotees chanted “Happy birthday” in unison to the accompaniment of Ekalavya Dasa’s trumpet – just one of the many delightful moments of Festival of Inspiration’s 15th anniversary.
After a short day of seminars, devotees rushed to grab seats in the Community Hall for the festival’s grande finale of spiritual entertainment at 12:30pm. First off, Bhaktimarga Swami’s play “Blue Mystic,” about Lord Krishna’s childhood pastimes killing demons in Vrindavana, gripped the audience. The cast of a dozen actors and puppeteers delivered knockout performances, expressive dance, and giant demons including a moving Aghasura with fearsome glowing red eyes.
Professional New York comic Yadhunath Das with Krishna Das and Bhaktin Megan followed with several pieces. In one skit, cops grilled a criminal in ISKCON vernacular, pushing him to finally admit, “I did it! I was the one who wasn’t sitting properly!” In another, Yadunath recited a poem about someone who is inspired to chant by eating prasadam in the zany poetry style of Dr. Seuss. And in another, he switched tacks to deliver an extremely moving monologue about devotee care that moved many to tears.
Everyone then tucked into a feast that had to be tasted to be believed, with rice, dahl, eggplant subji, matar paneer, puris, kachoris, pineapple chutney, gulabjamuns, mango sweet rice, and strawberry lemonade.
“The prasadam was excellent, the entertainment was first class, and it was just wonderful meeting with all the devotees at Festival of Inspiration,” said Urmila Dasi after attending.
“That’s the beauty of the festival – that you get to meet old friends and make new ones,” added early ISKCON pioneer Gurudas. “It had a wonderfully intimate feeling. Because our spiritual family really is a wonderful family.”
Hare Krishna! Tribute To Brahmananda Prabhu
All glories to Brahmananda prabhu, who was one of a kind. There will never be another devotee exactly the same as Brahmananda. He was unique. Even when I joined the movement in 1968, when there were only about 150 or so disciples of Srila Prabhupada world-wide, Brahmananda was already an icon in the fledgling ISKCON, which was destined to grow into the mighty movement that it is today. Estimates are that there are between six and seven million followers of ISKCON today, counting those who come only for taking Prasad from time to time, coming only for big festivals, Rathayatras, etc, or just dropping in to a temple occasionally, the proverbial “fringies”.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17813
H.G Brahmananda Prabhu - Back to Godhead (Album with photos)
Procession through the streets of Vrindavan and Cremation Ceremony at the Yamuna
See them here: https://goo.gl/iZcFZd
Brahmananda Prabhu, first devotee to arrive in Brazil (8 min video)
Chanting in the airport…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/H8XBYh
Altar Renovation Festival (7 min video)
Radha Syamasundara’s Altar renovation, Krishna Valley, Hungary
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/B2JL5O
Cremation ceremony of HG Brahmananda prabhu at Keshi Ghat (Album with photos)
See them here: https://goo.gl/aXFY7i
The post Fresh flowers appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
The post My remembrances from 1975 to 2015 of our recently departed H.G. Brahmananda Prabhu appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
How do I even begin to describe my last day with my dear Godbrother, most dear friend, and like a brother, our dear Brahmananda Das prabhu. Because so many devotees have messaged me for details and I can’t sleep. I will fumble with some words and try. Its midnight in Vrndavana, just returned from the all night Kirtan for Brahmananda prabhu and need to be back at 6:30am.
Gargamuni prabhu called me early this morning to come quickly as our dear Brahmananda pr had become dizzy and had a bad fall. When I quickly arrived, he was lying on the floor with a big gash on his head and blood on the floor but breathing and coherent. I called Dharmatma prabhu and Saranga Thakura prabhu to get at least 7 men from the Temple to come right away to pick him up. After I cleaned him up, and we swept up the glass that had broken from the tv he smashed into, we then began to discuss should he go into Hospice for some iv and stabilization. The last week he had been quite ill with a respiratory infection as I reported earlier for your prayers; actually just the other day. That seems like ages ago.
Hospice said he should go into ICU in another hospital and so we called Gopal Krsna Maharaj, who had ironically called the night before. He said his Dr disciple would come from Delhi to assess, which he did, but in the meantime Brahmananda was in so much breathing distress. We kept chanting, praying, discussing and giving Brahmananda some pani, juice, the oxygen mask, and some comfort. We had secured an oxygen tank the day before but it didnt seem like it was helping. He could not lie down to sleep but had to sit in his famous chair for any relief. I was against taking him on the long ambulance ride to Delhi and plus Brahmananda had just told me 3 days ago,”I want to always stay in Vrndavana.” But in a situation like that, where your most beloved brother and dearmost to Prabhupada is struggling to breathe, its very difficult to know the right thing to do.
We were all praying to Srila Prabhupada and Krsna to reveal what we should do. Dharmatma, Saranga Thakura, the Dr, Gargamuni and me were just trying to give him some relief in various ways..but he just kept asking for pani and struggling to breathe. We had Prabhupada bhajan playing as we called the ambulance, but there was one mishap after another. I had been sitting near Brahmananda on the floor,massaging his feet, reporting to him what was happening and telling him Prabhupada is here and he will guide us. Gargamuni sat on the bed and we kept looking at each other quietly, preparing for whatever Prabhupada and Krsna were going to do.
While he was gasping for air, and after a series of things going wrong with arrangements for the hospital, suddenly Brahmananda prabhu just left his body, sitting in his chair. Gargamuni prabhu, his dear brother, was the only one at that moment in the room. I was in the doorway talking to the Dr and the other devotees were also speaking about what to do in the hallway, without Brahmananada having to be disturbed so he could just listen to Prabhupada. His foot went out and made the oxygen tank crash on the floor, which seemed to tell everyone in the 3 worlds as the sound could be heard for a long ways; so many workers came running to help us lift him and place him nicely on a mattress.
We had to wait for the police to come and see the body before we could clean and dress him in clean cloth, altho we got to apply tilak on his forehead and Prabhupada’s name across his chest in tilak. Streams of devotees came for hours as we were taking care of all the legalities, which were also numerous and miraculous. The lady at the American Embassy who I had developed a relationship with, allowed me to talk to her at her home on a Sunday night which she said was highly irregular, but after speaking to her superior, she called the SSP which was so helpful. They had wanted to do postmortem, seeing the bump on his head from the fall. But Prabhupada and Krsna kept intervening all along the way, making special arrangements for Their dear Brahamananda prabhu.
Gopal Krsna Maharaj rushed from Delhi to have last darshan of Brahmananda prabhu and led a short Kirtan for him.
We are all in shock, tears are flowing and the Holy Names of Krsna fill the air. A beautiful bullock cart is being decorated and as Saci Gaurasundara Dasa reported, we will take him for Samadhi darshan, Vrndavana Procession and then Yamuna. Many devotees will post photos and observations. Of course, Brahmananda Das prabhu is already resting at Prabhupada’s lotus feet right now and eternally…Please send your love and prayers for Gargamuni prabhu.
Your Servant,
Ravi
The post SRS: This is from Mahadevi Mataji – an account of Brahmananda Prabhu’s last moments appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Harinama in the village of Karlštejn Castle (a large Gothic castle founded 1348 AD by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemia.) Czech Republic (Album with photos)
See them here: https://goo.gl/q4yZf8
Hare Krishna! How the Hare Krsna Movement Came to Africa
Brahmananda Dasa: The story of how the Hare Krsna movement came to Africa starts in 1971 in the United States. I was in Tallahassee, Florida, teaching an experimental course in Krsna consciousness at the state university, when I received a letter from my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, instructing me to go immediately to West Pakistan for preaching work. I had very little money, and I knew the trip to Pakistan would be long and arduous. However, a disciple takes his spiritual master’s order as his very life and soul, and I was determined that nothing would stop me.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17810
Happiness on 2nd Avenue (8 min video)
A young Brahmananda dasa brahmacari ready to spread peace and happiness to the people of New York!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/6T5c5O
Hare Krishna! Excerpts About Brahmananda Prabhu From Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita Ch. 19 Planting The Seed
Bruce Scharf had just graduated from New York University and was applying for a job. One day an exroommate told him about the Swami he had visited down on Second Avenue. “They sing there,” his friend said, “and they have this far-out thing where they have some dancing. And Allen Ginsberg was there.” The Swami was difficult to understand, his friend explained, and besides that, his followers recorded his talks on a tape recorder. “Why should he have a big tape recorder? That’s not very spiritual.” But Bruce became interested.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17806
Answer Podcast:
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Answer Podcast:
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