Websites from the ISKCON Universe
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) 
by Dhayalan Raj HG Patri Das prabhu visited our temple and has activities with ISKCON temple leaders frm Ipoh,Seberang Perai BCC (Penang) Please view the following galleries: Darshan Sri Nityananda Abhishek Evening Lecture by HH Jayapataka Swami Last week we celebrated the auspicious day of Nityananda’s Appearance here in Sri Mayapur Dham. Hundreds of devotees gathered in the temple hall to hear various speakers glorify Sri Nityananda. Once the Glorification were finished everyone gathered around the Pancha-tattva Altar to witness the […]
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Please view the following galleries: Varaha Dvadasi Abhishek The Mayapur residents recently celebrated Varaha Dvadasi in a humble and sweet way. Everyone gathered for an abhishek, followed by pushpanjali and arati. Below is a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada on Varaha Dvadasi Prabhupāda: Today, Varāha-dvādaśī, appearance of Kṛṣṇa’s taking the incarnation of Varāha, boar… Keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa […]
The post Appearance of Lord Varaha appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Bob Wilkinson, an independant WV film maker, put together this 5 minute video about Srila Prabhupada’s Palace. It includes commentary about the history of the Palace and New Vrindaban by Soma dasa, Param Dhama dasi and Sankirtan dasa.
Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Nityananda Trayodasi Abhishek 2014 (Iskcon Vrindavan)
[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-63 Translation.]
Was Karna superior to Arjuna because he alone conquered the world for Duryodhana, whereas the four Pandavas together conquered the world for Yudhisthira?
Let’s first look at the incidents in question. When the Pandavas were in exile, Karna conquered all the kings of the world and with the tributes from them helped Duryodhana perform a great sacrifice called the Vaishnava sacrifice, somewhat similar to the Rajasuya sacrifice that Yudhisthira had performed earlier. For that sacrifice, Yudhisthira had sent four brothers to conquer the four directions.
Do these two incidents demonstrate Karna’s superiority? No, because Bhima during his eastward conquest had come to Anga and defeated its ruler. Guess who? Karna, no less. So if Bhima whose archery skills were not as good as Arjuna’s defeated Karna, how can Karna be considered better than Arjuna?
Was Arjuna alone capable of the world conquest that Karna had done? Actually, Arjuna was capable of much more than that, as can be inferred from two incidents.
If Arjuna was capable of single-handedly conquering the world on Yudhisthira’s behalf, then why didn’t he do so? Because all four younger brothers wanted to assist their eldest brother and Arjuna didn’t want to deprive them of that opportunity.
Was Karna the second best archer after Arjuna?
No, because at least two other archers defeated him.
1. Abhimanyu: On the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, when Abhimanyu penetrated into the Chakra-vyuha and wrecked havoc among the Kaurava forces, he overcame Karna twice, causing him to swoon and retreat. Karna realized that he couldn’t even match Abhimanyu, leave alone overcome him. So he prompted Duryodhana to ask Drona how the prince could be defeated.
2. Bhima: The second Pandava more than matched Karna.
As mentioned earlier, Bhima defeated Karna during his eastward conquest before the Rajasuya yajna.
During the Kurukshetra war, Bhima and Karna fought several times. On the fourteenth day, when Arjuna had taken a vow to kill Jayadratha before sunset, Karna tried to check Arjuna. To help Arjuna progress undistracted, Bhima challenged Karna and kept him engaged while Arjuna closed in on Jayadratha, Bhima matched Karna.
On the sixteenth day, Bhima held back Karna, who had been appointed the Kauravas’ commander, and then attacked Dushasana. In front of Karna’s eyes, Bhima killed Dushasana. Seeing Bhima’s power and anger, the horrified Karna dropped his bow. Similarly, in front of Karna’s eyes, Bhima also killed several other Kaurava brothers as well as Karna’s son and brother, and Karna could do nothing to stop him.
Karna did overcome Bhima once in a battle with bows and arrows, and mocked him by touching him with his bow and calling him a fat glutton. At that time, Bhima challenged Karna to a wrestling match, but Karna refused. Bhima had the power to pound Karna to death with his bare fists, but remembering Arjuna’s vow to kill Karna, Bhima desisted and left the arena. So the same event that is often seen as Karna honoring his promise to Kunti to not kill any of her sons other than Arjuna could be seen as Bhima honoring Arjuna’s vow. Overall, the results of the Bhima-Karna confrontation remain in Bhima’s favor.
So, Karna was no doubt a great archer, but he was one among many, not one above many, as was Arjuna.
Was Karna not unfairly weakened by Indra, Arjuna’s father, who schemed to take away his kavacha and kundala by coming in the guise of a brahmana asking for charity?
And how did this swap affect Karna’s fortune? His kavacha had not saved him from defeat earlier. And it may well not have saved him on the fourteenth night when Ghatotkacha was on a rampage, threatening to kill him and destroy the Kaurava forces. The Shakti weapon killed Ghatotkacha and saved Karna’s life. So in the swap Karna lost something that hadn’t saved him from defeat and got something that actually saved him from death.
Was the swap such a big loss for Karna? You decide.
Was Karna not a great hero, powerful, virtuous and charitable?
Yes, he had his good qualities. He was not a black character, but he doesn’t have to be made whiter than what he was.
After all, it was Karna who suggested that Draupadi be dragged into the assembly, who came up with the obnoxious idea of disrobing her publically, who called her a prostitute. It was Karna who suggested to Duryodhana the ill-advised plan of flaunting their wealth in front of the exiled Pandavas – the plan that came to grief due to the Gandharvas. It was Karna whose repeated bragging of his prowess that made Duryodhana foolhardy enough to challenge the Pandavas to an open war. It was Karna who killed Abhimanyu ruthlessly along with five other warriors, having been the first to instigate Duryodhana that some such extreme measure was necessary to bring down the young prince. It was Karna who, in response to Shalya’s sledging, foul-mouthed the women of Madras (Shalya’s kingdom), calling them unspeakable names.
So, though he had his virtues, he doesn’t need to be unnecessarily romanticized.
Srila Prabhupada said, “utsava priya manavaha, people like festivals. We are inherently attracted to festivals because every day in the Spiritual World is a festival, every step is a dance and every word is a song.”
Modern agricultural science considers soil in terms of chemicals. A better way to see the soil is in terms of energy. Energy flows between the earth’s two poles.
The various mineral compounds in the soil allow this energy to flow in different amounts. If you get too much mineralization you can have [...]
Krishna Fest tour across Gujarat Read more › The post Appearance of Sri Nityananda – Abhishek appeared first on Mayapur.com.
We should preach about Krishna for Krishna, not for any person within this material world. We should hear and preach about the Supreme Person, the transcendental Personality of Godhead. That is the duty of a liberated soul.
- Srila Prabhupada, Beyond Illusion and Doubt : 4 - Origen
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What is this wonderful thing? I don’t know. The crowns of the Vedas lovingly glorify it. Krsna eternally serves it. It is the source of the sweetest nectar of love. Is it a creation of the most wonderful nectar of intense bliss, or is it the purifying land of Vrndavana.
[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-62 Translation.]
Please click here for more photos
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Bhagavatam class in Coimbatore (Feb 10)
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Below, the head of the Art Department, Drdha Vrata das answers frequently asked questions.
My crew and I have been given the task of making the artwork being designed for ToVP. This means, after the designs are finalized either for deities, dioramas or architectural elements, we get it done in the required materials, size and finish.
Primarily, we have been working on creating the Guru-Parampara deities, which will be included on the altar line-up, along with Sri Panchattatvas and Sri Radha-Madhava-Astasakhis. The deities of 15 Acharyas from the 6 Goswamis down to Srila Prabhupada, will all be life-size and cast in Bronze.
Our process has been to begin with the clay model of each of the Acharyas, using photo references for the contemporary Acharyas or custom designed drawings, if no photos are available.
Once, we get the required finish in clay, we prepare molds from which we cast our fiber-glass resin prototypes. Once we have all the fiber-glass models ready, we will approach the metal casting foundries to have them cast in bronze.
Up till now, 9 of the acharyas have been made in fiber-glass. We are now starting with the clay models of the Six Goswamis. The drawing of Gopala Bhatta Goswami has been approved and will be the first to start.
Well, for instance with Six Goswamis, time and effort has particularly been given to identify and depict in drawing form their appearances before proceeding to sculpting. To ensure authenticity, guidance has been taken from senior devotees such as Jananivas Prabhu.
Considerations include:
Another example is with the Srila Prabhupada murti; Jananivas prabhu envisioned the Srila Prabhupada murti with a smiling face, rather than the usual grave look on most other murtis. The idea is that Srila Prabhupada should look very pleased by seeing his desire to build ToVP manifest.
We also work on architectural elements, be it full scale column mock-ups or small scale models with design details.
Now we are working on a 30:1 model of the temple Kailash, which will top Parvata Muni prabhu’s temple model.
We start by making the basic shape to scale in plaster of paris, and then we proceed to carve the lotus petals and other design details which cover it. This will give everyone an idea of the way it will look with designs, colors and shape on a small scale.
As I was running in and out of the kitchen I saw our now-departed god-brother and great cook Vibhu Caitanya Prabhu. I asked him to prepare kacoris for Srila Prabhupada's offering. He sweetly smiled and agreed.
But in the chaos of that kitchen .. lugloo was an impossibility.
The kitchen storeroom was managed by our Japanese god-brother Sri Charana Prabhu.
As he was running to join the procession, he called out, "Ayodhyapati, "here are the keys to the storeroom .. take whatever you want."
That's quite a dangerous thing to say when I am cooking :-) Read more › 
Srila Prabhupada desired that ISKCON devotees come to Sridhama Mayapur to just chant. One former Governing Body Commissioner (GBC) recalls, “One time, during the annual Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur, Prabhupada called his GBC men to his room. With his leaders gathered before him, Prabhupada stated that all the devotees in the world should come to Mayapur and constantly have kirtana. He was very blissful as he told them of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s statement that he had searched the fourteen worlds but found nothing of value except the chanting of the holy names. Prabhupada said that this was Mayapur’s purpose, to come and chant. “We may have problems in different parts of the world, but they will go away if we simply come together and chant. Lord Caitanya always chanted and we could do it also. We now had a big building in Mayapur, so everyone could come and live there and simply chant.” Read more › 
Appearance Day of Lord Nityananda (Sri Nityananda Trayodasi) festival was celebrated at Iskcon,Ludhiana on Feb.12,2014 with great enthusiasm. The festival starts at 11AM with abhishek of Lord Nityananda. Prabhu ji from ISKCON, Chandigarh gave lecture on the past life of Lord Nityananda. Chhapan Bhoga was offered to Their Lordship. A large number of congregations attend this grand festival. After aarti, prashadam was distributed to the people. Read more › 
The event was created by ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) to provide leaders with a forum where they could share best practices and learn from each other. Each day of the ILS will begin early at 4:30am with the full traditional ISKCON morning worship program, and then breakfast.
This will be followed by an hour-long plenary session, which all attendees will gather at. The session’s focus will be different each day, but the topic will always be one of universal interest. Read more › 
