Planet ISKCON

Sarvatma das lead sweet kirtan and Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 12.5.

“A person in Krishna consciousness, engaged in devotional service, simply by the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, simply by offering regulative obeisances unto the Deity, simply by hearing the glories of the Lord, and simply by eating the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Lord, realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. There is no doubt that the impersonalists are unnecessarily taking a troublesome path with the risk of not realizing the Absolute Truth at the ultimate end. But the personalist, without any risk, trouble, or difficulty, approaches the Supreme Personality directly. A similar passage appears in Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is stated there that if one ultimately has to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead (this surrendering process is called bhakti), but instead takes the trouble to understand what is Brahman and what is not Brahman and spends his whole life in that way, the result is simply troublesome. Therefore it is advised here that one should not take up this troublesome path of self-realization, because there is uncertainty in the ultimate result.”

—Bhagavad-gita 12.5 purport

First kirtan by Sarvatma das
Second kirtan by Sarvatma das
Bhagavad-gita 12.5 talk by Giriraj Swami

Iskcon Munich, Germany organised a four days Maha Harinam for World Peace in cooperation with a group of 28 Russian devotees. The program inculded ecstatic Sankirtan in different parts of Munich City with transcendental singing & dancing, sweets distribution, stage singing, book distribution & so on. These Russian devotees are a part of Youth Bus Tour who already performed several Kirtans in different parts of Europe & now they bring the Hari Nama to different cities of Germany. Read more ›

SB 4.12.14, Dhruva Maharaja’s Ruling of Planet Earth, Helsinki, Finland.mp3

The post Conversation with Sunday program guests in Timisoara on June 29th. appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Narada Cotarelo: The Ladies Sanga program, which has been going on for 4 years, is held in the Radha Krishna Temple in London, Soho Street. It is advertised as "An Informal Presentation of Krishna Consciousness" and so attracts newcomers and curious ladies. Because of this wonderful preaching program, some ladies have even become devotees. The program consists of kirtan, japa, Bhagavad-gita reading and discussion, and ending with prasadam. Read more ›

The post July 27th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. SB 6.3.31 Read more ›

There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles, and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia. But when Your Lordship's holy name is chanted, everything becomes faultless. SB 8.23.16 Read more ›

One glance at the palanquin of Their Lordships Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda induces the immediate desire to all hearts to bow down to the lowest ground possible with full love and surrender to the sweet Lordships. Unimaginably beautiful, alive and mesmerizing, this time around in Kuala Lumpur, the Lordships graced the land of Kampung Tasik Permai in city of Ampang on 19th July 2014, through Harinama Sankirtana organized by Sri Jagannatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur (SJMKL). This would be the 7th Harinam the temple has organized this year successfully, bringing joy to many many people and touching their lives in special ways. Read more ›

Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. SB 12.3.52 Read more ›

HG Jahnadwip Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty on 2014-07-25, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 05 19 23

Srila Prabhupada Shares How He is Always “Thinking of” and “Anxious to See” New Vrindaban – November 1968.

From a series of letters written by Srila Prabhupada outlining his vision for New Vrindaban.

Thanks to Vanipedia for the source material.

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November 18, 1968

My Dear Kirtanananda,

Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your short note along with Hayagriva’s letter. I am so glad to receive your note because I was a little restless for not receiving your letters since a few days. I have written already to Hayagriva about New Vrndaban how I am thinking of this place. And let us jointly endeavor for fulfilling this purpose. Yes, this climate of California, especially Los Angeles is very nice. I am always anxious to go and see the Govardhan hills in New Vrindaban and I hope Krishna will fulfill my desire as soon as possible.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

“Any way do not disturb them or any one about their personal affairs but give every one the chance of joining us in Kirtana that will pave the path of Krishna Consciousness. You are intelligent enough and I hope you will understand me right."

Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita 27 April, 1967

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This talk is a part of the "Fascinating Mahabharata Characters" series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Answer Podcast

Lecture Podcast

"A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Krsna conscious process of chanting the maha-mantra Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."

Bhagavad Gita 8.14 Purport

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 June 2014, Stockholm Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.14)

What do we do in Vrindavan, when we visit there, to get more of Krsna’s mercy? Hearing, chanting and service are the key elements. Hearing, chanting, remembering and serving Krsna in some way or other. When we are in Vrindavan, our main business is to chant and to hear about Krsna; that is the main thing in the holy dham. Hearing chanting, remembering and service as we do here (away from Vrindavan), but the only difference there is that it is easier there, because the environment is so transcendental and the culture is so transcendental.

Imagine if Vrindavan was only a forest, a dry hot forest, it would be more difficult for us. But all these temples are there, all these holy places are there. These temples and the holy places are all culture. All these devotees are there, ‘Radhe, Radhe,’ all this culture of worshiping Krsna. You see, in the end, there is a lot of energy from Vrindavan that actually comes from the culture, then underneath is the dham. So the same as here, hearing, chanting, remembering and serving Krsna; but in Vrindavan it is more powerful!

 

 

 

1972 July 26 : "You are engaged in Krishna's preaching work, therefore you are being specially favored. Know it for certain that Krishna will give you all facility according to the sincerity of your attempt to spread Krishna Consciousness on the battlefield of preaching work."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1975 July 26: "I wish to translate Valmiki Ramayana exactly in the way I have done Srimad-Bhagavatam. When I return to India I am very much eager to see your book on Lord Ramacandra translated into English."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 July 26: "Now you are in ripe old age, so you can accept vanaprastha life. So keeping your wife with you as assistant you now retire from family life and accept vanaprastha and fully engage in translating the Vedic literature."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 July 26: "Now I wish to establish some temple of Sita Ram. Of course it depends on the mercy of Lord Ramacandra. Therefore I am requesting you to join our movement completely retired from family life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

HG Sridama Prabhu at ISKCON Mayapur on 2014-07-26, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 05 19 24

Hinduism is the second-largest practiced religion in Arizona, according to the U.S. Religious Congregations & Membership Study from 2010. The study only took a count of people who are members of a church or organized body within a faith, so some people who might consider themselves to be of a certain religion were not counted if they do not attend services regularly. Read more ›

Lecture Podcast

The post To cast off the crippling nature of material conditioning one requires an unceasing desire for renunciation appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

On the 19th July 2014, more than 500 devotees took part in the Jaganatha Ratha Yatra festival organized by New Vrindaban, USA. The Narada Purana (uttara kanda 52.12) describes the conversation between Lord Narayana and Lakshmi devi about Purushottama kshetra (Jagannath Puri), pratimam tatra tam drstva svayam devena nirmitam anayasena vai yanti bhavanam me tato narau “A person who sees the Deities there built by the Lord Himself will easily find the path to reach My abode.” Anyone who sees the Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra during their Ratha yatra procession will be quickly rid of his miseries and is bound to reach Vaikuntha-loka, the eternal, spiritual world where anxiety does not exist. Rathe ca vamanam drstva punar janma na vidyate. “Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot, one makes advancement for stopping the repetition of birth and death.” “Similarly, Krishna and Balarama and Their sister Subhadra, They also came in royal fashion, with so many soldiers, and so many…, just like king. So these residents of Vrindavana, they met Krishna, and especially the gopis, they saw Krishna, and they lamented that “Krishna, You are here, we are also here, but the place is different. We are not in Vrindavana.” So there is a long story how they lamented and how Krishna pacified them. This is a feeling of separation, how the inhabitants of Vrindavana felt separation from Krishna. So this… When Krishna came on chariot, that is called Ratha-yatra. This is the history of Ratha-yatra. So any pastimes made by Krishna, that is observed in ceremonial form by the devotees. So that is Ratha-yatra.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Seattle, October 18th 1968) Read more ›

My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom. SB 12.3.51 krite yad dhyayato vishnum tretayam yajato makhaih dvapare paricaryayam kalau tad dhari-kirtanat Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. SB 12.3.52 Read more ›

The post July 26th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the Aryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and fulfilled everything required. SB 3.33.7 Read more ›

INTERVIEW ABOUT OX CULTURE WITH VARSANA SWAMI

Lilasuka dasi (L): Haribol Varsana Maharaj. Can you please give us some background information about why you would want to bring back ox power to New Vrindaban?

Varsana Maharaj (V) : First of all, I base my priorities on Srila Prabhupada’s most emphasized instructions for New Vrindaban, which come under two guidelines:

1. Agriculture and cow protection
2. A Place of Pilgrimage

Unfortunately, today, our concept of cow protection has become one-sided – matriarchal – because we’ve forgotten to recognize that cows come in two genders.

This can really be a dangerous platform because to see the cow simply as a provider of milk can lead to a hellish mentality. The cow is NOT primarily a milk machine, that is something just meant for our enjoyment and potentially our exploitation.

Instead, when we see her as mother, we want to protect her and then the nurturing aspect of the cow in the form of milk naturally flows as a healthy consequence.

Srila Prabhupada once asked the devotees on a walk ‘If I say ‘This is my cow, what does it mean? It means that she is my mother and I must protect her, and as a consequence I receive milk, but milk is not the sole purpose of the cow.”

L: I like your statement, “Cows come in two genders.” Such a simple truth.

V: Yes, and the bull is the father, “Dharma”, representing universal law and order.

That’s the other half of the reality. These archetypes of the bull and cow in society are so important. They represent a complete balance in society of the father and mother – bull and cow. These archetypes of bull and cow are crucial in terms of community, as well as cultural & traditional identity.

In traditional agrarian society, the bull provided power, without which the society was not able to function. So, if you use the bull (as the ox) for your source of power, then you will naturally get cows, and then milk will surely flow.

The spiritual analogy is that, just like the bull prepares the soil for seeds, chanting the Holy Name prepares our hearts for the seed of bhakti, of devotion – bhakti lata bija.

The other half of the analogy is that the cow is mother, and Bhumi represents the earth.

L: What about tractors? Do they have any place in this culture?

V: It’s fine to use tractors where animal power is not enough, but we need to be sure that the use of the tractor, called the “killer of the bull” by Srila Prabhupada, doesn’t replace the bull or kill our bhakti culture.

When the bull and the cow have their proper roles, THEY protect US, although we call it “cow protection”. It’s reciprocal protection.

We’ve lost sight of the importance of our roots, so we’re implementing the ox program to put things back in order, as dharma, which represents universal order.

It is necessary in society to have healthy relationships complete with father and mother figures, where we are nourished by the male and nurtured by the female.

When there is respect for the father and for the mother, then the children develop into healthy adults to raise healthy children of their own. Then there can be prosperity in terms of Krsna consciousness.

L: You used to work with animal teams here in New Vrindaban, correct, Maharaj?

V: Yes. In the past, everything was done with animal power – oxen, mules, and draft horses. When I was a child, the tractor hadn’t yet completely replaced animal power. We worked mostly with horses back then. When I was only small, about eight years old, tractors were beginning to become popular. At that time, I went door to door on a campaign to warn all the neighboring farmers against the use of tractors.

Eventually, when tractors became very popular, the farmers with their tractors began producing more than ever before. So then the Dept of Agriculture, for certain economic reasons, paid the farmers more money NOT to grow their crops than they would have earned from their harvest, so they stopped growing. This disrupted the economics and eventually the farms went out of production.

This is how the tractor ended small farm agriculture.

Big agri business took over with its use of pesticides, and basically put the small farmer out of business.

L: I’ve heard that Srila Prabhupada said that farm machinery will create unemployment. Can you explain that?

V: Yes. When Srila Prabhupada objected to machines, saying “this will create unemployment” he didn’t mean it in the usual terms of society, where people are out of jobs and can’t make money. However, he meant it more in terms of people coming together for the healthy social dynamics of agriculture. Planting and harvest time are festivities where families and neighbors work together!!!

They used to celebrate because, after harvest, there is a natural impulse to take the new bounty to the altar and offer it to God.

Or even in terms of economics, when your wealth is grains and land, the natural impulse is to take it to the altar in gratitude.

With paper currency and credit cards, the impulse is not always to take it to the altar!

L: Maharaj can you please speak a bit about what else Srila Prabhupada taught regarding a society based on agriculture and the cow and bull?

V: I was amazed from the start that, although Srila Prabhupada didn’t grow up on a farm, he still had such a deep grasp and respect for how that kind of natural society works and how it facilitates spiritual life.

Srila Prabhupada always had a deep concern for how New Vrindaban would utilize the bulls and oxen. He used to acknowledge that if you can’t keep up the production of food with only the animals, then it’s fine to use tractors to make up the difference, but never to replace the oxen.

Further, if society has proper relationship with the bull and the cow, it means we’re in resonance with dharma (universal law and order) and bhumi (earth culture) and that facilitates the message and mercy of Godhead to resonate within us in the form of the Holy Name.

Thus, the ox program is essential to the survival of our spiritual culture. Srila Prabhupada said, “Brahminical culture is impossible without cow protection.”

Working with animals, one has to exhibit some humility, or they generally won’t co-operate! The tractor, on the other hand, can be an extension of the operator’s ego!

L: Do you have enough manpower to do this?

V: Daivata, one of the original pioneers of New Vrindaban, is back!!! He was a teamster in the days. He drove a team and can now be part of the training team.

I would truly like to see the remnants of agriculture as it was before tractors took over rekindled before our generation is gone at least in a small way. No-one may “get it” after that with this modern society so removed from nature.

It takes someone with experience to pull this off. And I’ve received all green lights so far from the management.

L: I noticed some old equipment outside. What is all that?

V: That’s the old bobsled. We’re gathering up any pieces of old equipment and refurbishing them. I have 3 different sizes of ox yokes to accommodate the growing teams.

We’ve put a new deck on the old covered wagon. We also have a bobsled we’re refurbishing with hardened steel runners for longevity.

We used to cut the timber, load it on the bobsled, bind it down with chains in big high stacks, then roll it on the flatbed truck, take it to the mill, bring it back and build the barn!

L: Maharaj is there anything else you’d like to say?

V: Dharma has only one leg left – truthfulness – it’s a shaky leg at best, and our campaign is meant to put him back in the field with all four legs firmly on the ground.

I’m not ambitious about anything big. Just something simple, manageable, sustainable, and effective that will rekindle the sense of this lifestyle before it dies with those who lived it.

 

Indradyumna Swami: Krsna's devotees are preparing for one of ISKCON's biggest yajna's in it's history: Krsna's Village of Peace at the 20th annual Woodstock Festival in Poland. Over 700,000 people are expected. 700 devotees from 14 different countries are arriving and helping to set up Krsna's Village. We plan endless kirtans, spiritual discourses, daily Ratha Yatras through the masses and a goal to distribute 130,000 full plates of prasadam. Big preaching at it's best just days away! Read more ›

Krsna’s devotees are preparing for one of ISKCON’s biggest yajna’s in it’s history: Krsna’s Village of Peace at the 20th annual Woodstock Festival in Poland. Over 700,000 people are expected. 700 devotees from 14 different countries are arriving and helping to set up Krsna’s Village. We plan endless kirtans, spiritual discourses, daily Ratha Yatras through [...]

People in general always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior. A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes. Lord Caitanya said that a teacher should behave properly before he begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called acarya, or the ideal teacher. Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of sastra (scripture) to teach the common man.

(Srila Prabhupada, Bhagvad Gita-As It Is, 3.21 Purport)

Listen audio...

This talk is a part of the "Fascinating Mahabharata Characters" series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

It's the only way we can go back home to Godhead....as much as we don't want to chant and on occasion loathe this essential practise.
Srila Prabhupada has told us to chant 16 attentive rounds and follow the 4 regulative principles and guaranteed this is enough for us to join Krsna in the spiritual world.

SELF CARE Save yourself, save others. This is our Krsna consciousness movement. First of all save yourself; then try to save others. Or both things can go on simultaneously. The same example. If you want to save somebody who's drowning you must know that I may not be washed away. I have to remain strong; then I can save him. Conversation on Roof -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura The secondary