Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Parikrama in transcendental Varsana (Album 154 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: On the final day of our Kartika parikrama we visited Varsana, the home of Srimati Radharani when she was a young girl. We spent hours traversing the beautiful area, sometimes stopping to have kirtan and katha. All along the way we prayed for service to the Divine Couple.
http://goo.gl/1OVvNm
Mother Sita & her son, Ishaan
On August 5, 2014, Mother Sita (daughter of Malati) gave birth to her first calf, a bull who was given the name Ishaan. Shortly after his birth Ishaan was blessed with the association of H.H. Radhanatha Swami. What an auspicious start to life! Ishaan was born with an under bite which is a perfect match for his rather goofy personality.
Ishaan’s super cute under bite to match his spunky personality
Ishaan is a rambunctious little fellow who is always ready to play. He could care less about the mood or size of his playmate, he will challenge anyone for a run around the pasture. He’s not playing around when it comes to drinking milk — so much so that he will try to extract milk from any object he can get his mouth on, be it animate or inanimate.
Ishaan blissfully absorbed in his favorite pastime
A favorite pastime of Ishaan is to suck on the collar of his Mother, in hopes of getting a different flavor of milk. So far his attempts have been unsuccessful in finding new sources of milk.
Ishaan(right), Balarama (left)
Balarama in samadhi
On September 9, 2014, Mother Manjari gave birth to a white bull calf who was given the name Balaram. Balaram is a rather shy & peaceful guy. He spends his days peacefully resisting Ishan’s attempts to engage in frivolous activities. He’s too much of a sage to pass his days like that. Nonetheless, when it comes to milking time, he’s not shy to find his mom.
Manjari, daughter of Tulasi, mom of Balarama
Manjari is very much attached to Balaram & will call out for him throughout the day & night checking in on his welfare. While in pasture with Balaram, Manjari would call out for the rest of the herd to see what they were up to. Either with her son, or with the rest of the ladies, she always wants to be in the loop with what’s happening in both places.
Both Ishaan & Balaram are sons of Dharma, the resident bull in New Vrindaban. Everyone is invited & encouraged to come meet the latest additions to the herd during milking times at 7am or 6:30pm daily.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 September 2014, Pretoria, South Africa, House Program)
There are many stories to tell of Brahmananda. In the early days, Brahmananda became Prabhupada’s trusted representative. His nature was that he was completely surrendered to Prabhupada’s desire. Whatever Prabhupada would say, he would do it. I think if any quality is outstanding in his character, it is loyalty. He is the most loyal servant you can imagine, completely loyal to Prabhupada. Whatever Prabhupada said, “Okay, that is what we are going to do, whatever it is.” That is not so easy and that is not so often found in anyone. That is why Brahmananda got this unique position of being so close to Prabhupada.
In fact, of all the devotees in the early days, Brahmananda was the leader. Prabhupada chose him as the leader. When they were saying that we should select a treasurer, we should select a secretary and a president, then Brahmananda said, “Satsvarupa would make a good secretary.” Gargamuni, his nickname was Garga-money, so he was the obvious person for the treasurer. Prabhupada said, “You should be the president.” That was it and from that day on, Brahmananda was in charge of everything and it was quite amazing.
First of all, Prabhupada had this Bhagavad-gita manuscript which he wanted published. It was very difficult to do so but he told Brahmananda, “Just get it published.” Easier said than done, you know. Get it published? How? Well anyway, there was one man who worked for the Macmillan publishing company who had put in an order through the mail. So, Brahmananda decided to do some follow up and go there hoping to get some connection but it turned out the man was just working in the accounts department and had nothing to do with publishing. So, it did not look good at all.
Just then, the chief editor came into the office of the accountant and Brahmananda saw this opportunity. He said to the man, “Here, I have a Bhagavad-gita by A.C. Bhakivedanta Swami Prabhupada and I would like to offer the manuscript to you for publication.”
The man said, “A Bhagavad-gita? A Bhagavad-gita!? We just finished a series of spiritual topics and we need a Bhagavad-gita to complete it! I will take it.”
That was it! Macmillan, a big company, was publishing Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita. That was Brahmananda. Prabhupada was very eager to carry on with book publication.
Eventually they got to Japan and got some cheap prices. The Krsna book was meant to be printed there. Brahmananda was negotiating with the printers and telling them how to do and so on… But it was not ready when Brahmananda had to leave, he had go back, catch his flight. Although they promised it would be ready, it was not ready. So he was very disappointed and he knew that Prabhupada would be really disappointed. As he was going up the steps of the plane, suddenly this limousine, this large limousine just pulled up onto the tarmac and drove right up to the plane and all the executives of Dai Nippon printing company came out. Brahmananda saw all these people he had been working with and he went down the staircase. They just brought out this box and they gave it to him.
Brahmananda went on the plane and he just ripped open the box and took out a silver copy of the Krsna book and the man next to him asked, “What is that?”
He said, “That is a book, it is about Krsna. It is published by my spiritual master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and it is been sponsored by George Harrison.”
The man said, “How much is it?”
“$20.”
The man said, “Okay, I will take it.” (laughing). He bought the book!
So when Brahamanda came to America, he felt a little bit embarrassed to give Prabhupada this box that was ripped open and Prabhupada said, “How many books are there?”
He said, “Twenty-four, Srila Prabhupada. There were twenty-five but now there are twenty-four.”
Prabhupada said, “Oh.”
He said, “Yes, I sold one book on the plane.”
Prabhupada said, “That is very nice.” Then Prabhupada had a copy in his hands and said, “All these other ones can be sold also.” He looked at his copy and he said, “This one can be sold also.”
They were all sold and Prabhupada was very, very pleased. So Brahmananda was a very close and intimate representative of Srila Prabhupada and practically like his son in so many ways, so close.
Recently, Arjuna Krishna Das and Ram Lakshman Das took a month-long tour of seven farm communities across India to report on and unite them all. Both devotees represent ISKCON Daiva Varnashram Ministry, which promotes the development of spiritual eco-communities in India. Their travels took them first to ISKCON Juhu’s satellite farm project Nilachal Dham.
We live in an age that that cherishes equality of opportunity for all and celebrates the breaking down of barriers such as race. Intriguingly, a similar egalitarian spirit is enshrined in the Bhagavad-gita written millennia ago.
For many years, health researchers have been interested in the potential of copper to help stem the spread of dangerous infections.
A chronic lack of sleep not only affects your work, your relationships, and your enjoyment of life, it also wreaks havoc with your immune system.
he Krishna Kidz Camp has grown from 25 kids to over 100 as word spreads about the fun and exciting immersion into Krishna-consciousness during this four-day camp. The camp is filled with energy and excitement as these wonderful children begin to experience the spiritual bliss of learning about Lord Krishna.
With temperatures expected to fall below freezing in less than two weeks, getting the new shelter for Ukrainian devotee refugees up in double-quick time is more urgent than ever. The ten-room shelter, which is going up just outside of Kiev, will include a communal kitchen and a sawdust-fueled boiler for cost-effective heating and hot water. The property will also have four wells for water and septic.
The Seattle ISKCON temple is a happening place. When someone enters on a Friday or Saturday, it feels like a Sunday feast. The classrooms are filled with teachers presenting a successful seminar called Discover Yourself, a crash course on the Bhagavad Gita that wets their appetite to delve deeper into the ancient wisdom of Lord Krishna. In the main temple hall there is a Bhagavad-gita class for curious visitors.
“Prasadarians” is a prime example of just how powerful Facebook can be when used in the right way. Started by Mexican devotee Mahattama Dasi in 2012 when she was in remission from cancer and looking for a service she could do from home, it immediately exploded into a hugely popular group of 7,000 members, all sharing beautiful photos of food offerings (prasadam) to their Deities, along with recipes and stories.
The post Candramauli Swami’s talk on Srimad-Bhavatam at a public program in Coimbatore 6th November appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
The post Sivarama Swami’s talk on Srimad-Bhavatam at a public program in Coimbatore 6th November appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
How our determination to attain Krsna, our performance of sadhana and our vows should be as fixed as lines in stone.
The post From the Kanya-kumaris we can learn appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Amazing aerial view of Govardhana and Radhakunda (Album 71 photos) By Prananatha Das and his flying “drone”
http://goo.gl/5c5zOz
October 2014 Photos and Updates from the wonderful Radhakunda Seva team (Album 66 photos)
Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com. Your servants, Mayapurcandra dasa, Campakalata Devi dasi, and Padmavati Devi dasi
http://goo.gl/PVuaWg.
Preaching in Athens, Greece (Album 6 photos)
From the recent visit of Kavicandra Swami
http://goo.gl/kek8MW
Circumambulating Govardhan (Album 158 photos)
Indradyumna Swami: As the auspicious month of Kartika drew to a close, our parikrama party choose to circumambulate sacred Govardhan Hill one more time. We knew well that Giriraja is very merciful to those who pray for eternal residence in Sri Vrindavan dhama.
http://goo.gl/q5aAsq
Nigerian Devotees on High Sea, chanting.
Nigerian Devotees embark on a two hours journey in a high sea to a popular and oil rich town called Bonny Island, for Sankirtan and Harinam. They were invited by a Barrister Devotee, Tilaka Das. It was an interesting journey despite the fact that some devotees were scared due to the heavy waves on the sea. So many people were made devotees as they were so excited on seeing devotees dancing and singing strange songs they have not seen or heard before. And lots of Srila Prabhupada books were distributed.
Lessons in beauty, crowd control and cleanliness for TOVP :-)
Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi (Album 47 photos)
http://goo.gl/d2VVo7
Hare Krishna Kirtan at Iskcon Mira road by Mahabhuja Prabhu
The festival of Jagaddhatri puja has been celebrated for the last 300 years in Bengal. Generally, Jagaddhatri is considered another name of Durga. In Sanskrit, Bengali, and Assamese the word ‘Jagaddhatri’ literally means ‘Holder (dhatri) of the World (Jagat)’.
In Bengal it is popularly believed that Maharaja Krishna Chandra of Nadia started Jagaddhatri Puja. Around 1750 Maharaj had a dream of Durga Devi who asked him to observe a festival in her honor. From that day the King and his followers started celebrating the festival in Chandranagar, but eventually it was moved to Krishnanagar. Every year the festival organizers choose a different famous architectural monument from which to model the temple for Jagaddhatri, and build it from bamboo, cloth and flowers. This year they chose the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium as a significant monument of art and recreated its shape, making a beautiful temple for Jagaddhatri.
The TOVP is having a great impact on the local Bengalis. Soon it will have an impact on the whole world.
The post TOVP Design Used in Jagaddhatri Puja appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
From Anuj Agarwal P
As far as I know Srila Prabhupada readily accepted milk from all breeds of cows. But, some spiritual teachers say only indigenous indian cow breeds are go-mata. Foreign breeds are from Raksasas. Is this correct? If so should we not rear and drink milk of foreign breeds?
From Dipin Preet Singh Bhangoo
