Websites from the ISKCON Universe
This detox diet has been around for almost 50 years. It's effectivity in breaking down toxins in the body while contributing to short term weight loss has made it a popular option for a spring detox.
He’s already retold the epic spiritual classics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. His are among the bestselling English editions, with 60,000 and 100,000 in print respectively, and have garnered ebullient praise from the media, academia and general public alike. And now Krishna Dharma has retold the work closest to his heart in “Brilliant as the Sun: A Summary of Srimad Bhagavatam, the Complete Science of God.”
On May 13th, Nrsimha-caturdasi, the Bhaktivedanta Archives offers two new releases: the VedaBase 2014 update and the original audio of Śrīla Prabhupāda for 1975.
Five hours on the Ganges with japa meditation, lila smaranam, kirtan! deep dan, prasadam, and fireworks! Read more › 
Ahmedabad, Nov 30 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today released the Gujarati version of the book 'The Journey Home', an autobiography of Radhanath Swami Maharaj, at a function held here. Read more › Yesterday in Rajapur a wonderful boat festival was held for the pleasure of Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva & Subhadra devi. The small deities or vijaya vigraha of Their Lordships had a boat ride in the lake in front of Simantini temple and gave darshan to the devotees. The boat was sparkling like made out of […]
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Yadunath das's comedy act at Kulimela 2006 at New Vrndavan.
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"Join us at the Krishna Village – it’s been designed with you in mind: All year round we have a community of 30-40 beautiful people: WWOOFers, backpackers and spiritual seekers. Enjoy kirtan and philosophy classes in the morning, bonfires in the evening and in between, days filled with music, creative expression and abundant spiritual opportunities. If you prefer smoothies over alcohol, fresh air over cigarettes and fresh fruit over meat, then the Krishna Village is for you! " Read more › 
Nearly 50 years after Srila Prabhupada journeyed from India to America to bring the new teachings of Krishna to a generation of Western burnouts, Hare Krishnas have moved out of the airports, into the streets, and into the cubicle right next to yours.
Like “What did Srila Prabhupada mean when he said there would an ISKCON in the spiritual world” and “Why did you say women worshipping Radha-Damodara would contaminate Them?”
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Leaders of faith communities across Europe have gathered in Geneva to consider the role of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.
Please view the following galleries: Darshan Gold Dress Yajna Procession Adivas Abhishek We have now posted many amazing photos of the Nrisimha Caturdasi festivities, including 170 pictures of the abhisek. The extremely elaborate Sudarshan yajna was performed the previous day this year being well planned out and conducted by our Gurukula boys, headed by HH Bhakti Vidya […]
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More excitement at the TOVP as the third ring of the main dome begins installation. It is expected to take five weeks for completion.
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The new Gold Dress for Narasimhadeva, the Procession, the Yajna! Read more › HG Jagat Palana Prabhu – SB 10.64.30-44 – 02.05.2014
GOD’S ANGER
Reflections on the Installation of Lord Nrsimhadeva in New Vrindaban.
From the Brijabasi Spirit, June 1986.
by Gadadhara dasa
A million years ago, in a previous era, the universe was controlled by the terrible demon, Hiranyakasipu. His five year old son, Prahlada, was a great devotee of the Lord and was always instructing his classmates on the science of Krsna consciousness.
Hiranyakasipu couldn’t tolerate his saintly son, so he tried to kill him in so many ways, although failing again and again. Finally, Lord Krishna personally appeared as Nrsimhadeva, to protect His small devotee, Prahlada, and kill Hiranyakasipu by tearing him apart.
“I offer my obeisances to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja, and whose nails are like chisels on the stone-like chest of the demon Hiranyakasipu.”
1986 began in a most auspicious way in New Vrindaban. Lord Nrsimhadeva, the half-man, half-lion incarnation of Lord Krishna, decided to appear at our annual New Year Sankirtan Festival, held the first week in January. By His causeless mercy, He appeared as a seven-foot tall, coal-black Deity, with piercing red eyes, accompanied by his five year old eternal associate, Prahlada Maharaja.
Prahlada is standing with folded hands in front of His Lord, who is seated on a magnificent golden throne. In one hand Nrsimhadeva has a conch and in another a chakra (discus). At the end of His powerful fingers are gleaming, golden fingernails. His black and gold mane, like an effulgence, frames His glowing red eyes and fierce snout,where two downward curving white fangs protrude. A jeweled helmet of gold adorns his head.
Thinking back to the first time I saw Lord Nrsimhadeva, I remember Him vividly in a painting on the wall of the Radha Krishna temple in New York, during my first visit there. It was a frightening scene to behold.
I could almost hear His thunderous roaring as He placed the demon-king Hiranyakasipu on His lap and disemboweled him. Blood was flying everywhere. Bhakta Prahlada was calmly looking on with tears of love and devotion in his eyes.
I stopped myself from gawking, pulling myself away to ask a nearby devotee what all this meant. His answer satisfied me then and still satisfies me: “This is Lord Nrsimhadeva” he said. “He is God’s anger personified, and He’s proving to the world that the Lord protects His devotees.”
Soma das, New Vrindaban’s sculptor, had previously been requested to carve a Prahlada-Nrsimha murti. Soma became inspired with the project and soon carved out of clay a beautiful form. With the help of Kumara das and the mold shop crew, a mold was made and the casting went very smoothly.
“When Lord Nrsimhadeva wants to appear, no one can stop Him,”
Sampat Kumar Bhattacharya, a priest for the famous Tirupati temple of Balaji in South India, was consulted from beginning to end on many details of the Lord, and the Silpa Sastra and other Vedic texts were carefully referenced.
Most people can’t understand that the form of the Lord is not a concoction of anyone’s imagination; authorized descriptions can be found in the revealed scriptures. At the request of the Lord’s pure devotees, Krishna agrees to personally manifest as the arca-vigraha incarnation.
A golden altar and throne were cast in the mold shop and were placed to the right of Sri Sri Radha-Vrindaban Chandra’s altar. The Sankirtan Festival was ecstatic. Three days of chanting, dancing, feasting, plays, videos, initiations and other festivities pushed us all forward into new realms of transcendental bliss.
The ceremonies inaugurating the appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva were organized and overseen by Gaura Kesava Prabhu, who previously installed the great Nrsimhadeva Deity in Germany. The festivities began with Gaura Kesava explaining the meaning behind all the rituals, followed by a fire yajna and a bathing ceremony. After the yajna, all the devotees had an opportunity to bathe the Lord and His devotee, Prahlada.
That evening, there was one of New Vrindaban’s memorable three-hour kirtanas. The giant kirtana hall was packed with people. The lights were dimmed. Mounds of rice with candle wicks were placed on the floor, creating as aisle of ghee lamps. Young maidens carrying auspicious items were presented before the closed curtain.
Then at about 9:00 p.m., the curtains opened and Lord Nrsimhadeva, resplendent with garlands, a jeweled golden crown and golden ornaments, accompanied by Prahlada Maharaja, also fully decorated and effulgent, blessed us with His darsan.
The Lord’s beautiful red lotus eyes will bring great pleasure to the devotees and strike fear into the hearts of the demons.
“God’s personified anger…protecting His devotees…” I flashed back. Lord Nrsimha’s visage seemed peaceful and calm at this point. It seemed that Prahlada Maharaja, a five year old boy, alone was able to keep the Supreme Personality of Godhead from standing up and shaking the whole universe with His unearthly roar. I could appreciate Prahlada more than ever before, and how Krishna can be controlled only by the love of His devotee.
Now some time has passed since the New Year appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva and Prahlada Maharaja. Our temple activities are more exciting and glorious than ever. The Gurukula boys perform all the morning arotiks to Lord Nrsimhadeva. It’s a great thrill to see young boys worshiping the most powerful personality in all of creation.
I’m looking forward to seeing the amazed look on the faces of the thousands of visitors this season when they first see the transcendental form of Lord Nrsimhadeva. I hope someone will ask me who He is. Then I will have the chance to tell them, “He is God’s anger personified.”
Ethics is the basic principle of purification. Unless one…knows what is moral and what is immoral… Of course, in this material world everything is immoral, but still we have to distinguish good and bad. That is called regulative principle. Simply by following the regulative principle, if he does not reach the ultimate goal of spiritual life, so that is also not wanted. The real aim is to come to the spiritual platform and become free from the influence of these laws of material nature.
Dialectic Spiritualism: A Vedic View of Western Philosophy(Prabhupada Books, 1985), conversation about Socrates
bhaj ity eṣa vai dhatuḥ sevayaṁ parikirtitaḥ
tasmat seva budhaiḥ prokta bhaktiḥ sadhana-bhuyasi
“Bhaj as a root is used to convey ‘service.’ Therefore, the wise explain that engaging in the Lord’s service is the way of bhakti.”
Garuda Purana (Purva-khanda 231.3)
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 9 March 2014, Sydney, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.6.11)
I have some cartoons. This cartoon shows, first picture – a child, you know, baby just born and the caption says, “Too young.” Next picture shows a couple in love, hand-in-hand, full moon behind them, “Too much in love.” Next picture shows a family, a few kids, you know, bags with groceries. He has got a phone, a computer, a drill and a screwdriver. I mean, they have six arms; they are, “Too busy.” Next picture, an old man; death, “Too old.” Last picture has cross on the grave, “Too late.”
So at every stage of life, we have an excuse. We always have an excuse. So, now you can say, “I always thought chanting Hare Krsna was very difficult and now I have the perfect excuse – children! So happy that I have children because I don’t have to chant Hare Krsna anymore. It is a relief, right, because now I have very good arguments not to chant.”
No, chanting must be done under any condition of life and no material difficulty can ever be accepted as a valid excuse for not chanting.
Yeah, you know, “Why didn’t you chant your rounds today?”
“I broke my leg.”
“That is not a valid excuse. You could have chanted in the hospital.”
“Yes, but I was unconscious.”
“Well, then you should have started chanting when you regained consciousness.”
So we don’t accept any excuse when it comes to chanting. Sorry! That is the first point and that’s how we have to deal with ourselves. You have to take charge of yourself with intelligence as if you are another person, looking at yourself. Here you are, your intelligence; it is as if another person looking at your and then you see yourself coming with excuses.
“I’m too busy.”
“Sorry, that’s not an excuse.”
Make time. You manage to make time when you really want it. Mmm… for your favourite TV program. So yes, with our intelligence, we must take charge and make arrangements – make time to chant. And chant with a plan. Don’t just let chanting happen.
“I have to chant sixteen rounds. I’m really trying, I’m trying. But I’m so busy, I’m so busy. You can’t believe how busy I am, I just cannot do it. I just don’t have the time. I try and try, every day I try. Don’t have the time.”
Uh, uh. Get time management! You have a time management problem. Yes, you are chanting without a plan. How do you think you will get it done without a plan? You have to have a plan. You have to build chanting into your day. Say, “I’ll chant here, I’ll chant there, and I need so much time for sixteen rounds. So many rounds here, so many rounds there.” That is how it is done!
You know, I also have a plan to chant today because I just arrived in Australia. I’m sort of still dizzy and disoriented and looking at like, “Where am I?” Seems to be Sydney and there are three programs today. Three programs. So, I have to chant some rounds on the drive back… I have to make sure that I don’t fall asleep and that the driver is not going to try to reveal his heart to me while driving (laughing). So, make a plan for spiritual life and it will go well.
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.18.9 during the morning program.
“The mercy of Lord Nrsimhadeva is manifest in different ways: There are internal demons and external demons, and He is fully competent and inclined to vanquish both. As preachers we face both internal and external demons, and being sincere in our service we are quite distressed by the internal demons—not just because they disturb our consciousness in our own bhajana, or worship, but because they also interfere with our ability to help others. So we take shelter of Krishna consciousness. Prahlada is actually praying that people think of Krishna, for the power of thinking of Krishna is immeasurable. As stated in the last paragraph of the purport, ’If the Krishna consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Krishna everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krishna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others.’ (SB 5.18.9 purport)”
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