Srila Kaviraja Goswami writes (Chaitanya Charitamrta-lila Adi 11:37.) that Kaliya Krishna Dasa Thakura was one of the principle devotees of Nityananda Prabhu. He knew nothing other than the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu.

According to Srila Kavi Karnapura’s Gaura-Ganodesha-Dipika (text 132.), he was one of the 12 gopals in Vrindavana, and in the pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavana was known as Labhanga, one of Krishna’s cowherd boy friends. Here he is refered to as Kalah Krsnadasa or Kalakrsnadasa.

On the twelfth day of the dark moon in the month of Caitra, Sri Kaliya Krishna Dasa Thakura disappeared from this world. This is not the same Kaliya Krishna dasa who accompanied Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to South India. At present, Kaliya Krishnadas’s descendents live in different holy places in Bengal.

His birthplace is in the Bardhaman (Burdwan) district of West Bengal within a short distance from the Railway station at Katwa, at the village called Akai Hatta. This village is situated on the old king’s road between Nabadwipa and Katwa. Akai Hatta is a very small village.

Hare Krishna training center graduation 2019.
The Hare Krishna Training center celebrated its 9th annual graduation ceremony on 20th November in Nairobi, Kenya.

I learned how to offer at a young age. When I didn’t want to carry the freshly ironed clothes upstairs my mother would cheerfully say, “Offer it up!”. There was no choice about having to do it but she was suggesting where I put my mind in the process. She was teaching me to offer this small activity to God. Those three words stayed with me, and when I was later introduced to Krishna consciousness, the same concept from my childhood appeared to me in Krishna’s teachings. What does it mean to offer? With the clothing, it meant that I did something I didn’t want to do for someone else. I turned this unwelcome activity into a gesture of goodwill. I took the time that I’d rather be doing something else, and gave it away or offered it up. Continue reading "Offer it Up
→ Dandavats"

A visit to Yavat, Ter Kadamba, Asheshavan and Vrinda Kunda (Album of photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: On the 17th we went to Yavat, Ter Kadamba, Asheshavan and Vrinda Kunda. They are all in the vicinity of Nandagram. Yavat is the very mysterious place of Jatila, Kutila and Abhimanyu. Ter Kadamba is the place of Srila Rupa Goswami, and Asheshavan the place of Lord Siva in the mood of desiring Krishna’s mercy. Vrinda Kunda, of course, is the home of Vrinda devi, who is planning out so many aspects of the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

HG Mekhala devi dasi ACBSP has passed away.
In Memoriam.
HG Kurma Das: My Godsister from Australia Mekhala devi dasi has passed away.

Deity Kitchen and Other Facilities Special Fundraising Dinner for Iskcon Melbourne (video)

Annual Procession for Mahaprabhu’s Arrival in Vrindavan (2019) (Album of photos)
Just over 500 years ago Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu arrived in Vrindavan on Karttika Purnima. Every year from Amiya Nimai Mandir a grand procession is taken out with the picture of Sriman Mahaprabhu which goes around Vrindavan. Also please take Karttika Purnima darshan of Sri Radharaman and Sri Radha Gopinathji where the temples are decorated beyond words.

In this short video clip Savyasachi prabhu introduces and explains a cost effective and efficient method of creating molds by the use of a silicone spray gun. With this method thousands of molded ornamental pieces will be created for use on the TOVP.

The post Economic Silicone Mold Making appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

This year during month of Kartika in Vrindavan, Braja Vilasa prabhu, TOVP Director of Development and Fundraising, spoke before 8,000+ devotees at the annual Kartik Mandal program, inspiring them with the importance of this historic and magnificent project.

The post Braja Vilasa Prabhu Speaks at the 2019 Kartik Mandal in Vrindavan appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

We are pleased to announce the official release of the new and improved TOVP App on the Android and Apple platforms. While certain aspects are still being refined and new features added, this App far exceeds the capabilities and functions of the previous one.

The App was created by His Grace Sriman Aniruddha Chandra prabhu and the tech staff for his India based company, RadRap Enterprises. It is designed to serve as a TOVP news resource as well as an additional portal for donors to make donations to the TOVP.

 A very special and unique feature of the App is the Share Your Bhakti program. Through this feature you can earn Bhakti Points in your App wallet by referring other devotees to make donations through the App. The first time they make a donation you receive points in your Bhakti Wallet which you can eventually redeem for various pujas done in your name to Lord Nrsimha, Pancha Tattva and Radha Madhava in Mayapur.

To download the App go to either Google Play or the Apple store and search for TOVP. Or you can use the following link:

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
View us 360° at: www.tovp360.org
News & Texts at: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed at: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Buy from us at: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
Support us at: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities/

The post New Improved TOVP App Launched appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

When I first met Akincana Krishna dasa Babaji, I didn’t know what to say. I simply offered my respects and said, “Srila Akincana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja ki jaya!”

Maharaja saw that I had a tape recorder in my hands, and without my having to say anything, he closed his eyes and started tapping his hands together and sang his mangala-carana before singing Sri Krishna Chaitanya. When he started singing the Hare Krishna mantra, it was like going into another world. He was chanting so beautifully, and it was like each syllable was drenched in bhava and prema.

After about twenty minutes, he stopped. He looked at me and said, “I would like to tell you something.”

“What is that?” I said.

He said, “I am an old man, and I’ve had a lot of experience in this world. From my experience, I can honestly tell you that there has never been a greater acharya than your spiritual master [Srila A.  C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada].”

When he said that, I was stunned, because he was a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Then he looked up and he said, “There has never been an acharya in history who has performed miracles like your spiritual master.”

He paused and looked at me and asked, “Do you know why?”

I couldn’t speak.

“Because in history there was never a greater servant of Sri Krishna’s holy name than your spiritual master, because your spiritual master had so much absolute understanding of Sri Krishna’s holy name and so much absolute faith in Sri Krishna’s holy name that he personally carried Sri Krishna’s holy name through the length and the breadth of the world. Therefore, he is the greatest acharya who has ever existed.”

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

—B. B. Govinda Swami

The second annual Diwali celebration at the Bhakti Center in New York City not only drew around 350 festivalgoers including 200 new guests, but was also covered by the CBS News New York television station.

CBS2's Valerie Castro reports.

Twenty-five devotees from all over the US and Canada began a Zonal Supervisor Training program, run by the GBC College for Leadership Development, to learn how to become top leaders in ISKCON recently.

The Governor personally helped carry the 50lb box of Srimad-Bhagavatams to be placed in his Mansion. His wife, First Lady of Florida Casey DeSantis, appreciated the gift of a garland offered to Srila Prabhupada on his Vyasa Puja Ceremony at the ISKCON Alachua temple.

Nimbakacharya was the principal teacher—acharya—in the Kumara sampradaya, one of the four main lines of Vaisnava teachers and disciples. He appeared in South India, in Mungera-patana.

His Vedanta-sutra commentary—Parijata-saurabha-bhasya—establishes the doctrine that the Absolute Truth includes both oneness and variety (known as Dwaitadwaita-vada). He preached Krsna Consciousness about 300 years before the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Several years ago whilst sat in class the mataji who was a Srila Prabhupada disciple stated class by saying how her own Guru Maharaja in his purport had got it wrong and then presented her reasons why.

Forward to today and on several occasions I’ve been asked if I could comment on if Srila Prabhupada is perfect which is always one question I try to avoid given the complexities of the answer. It’s one that is dependent on the individuals understanding and also the definition of perfection and how do you present this.

The last class I gave which was a while ago I mentioned how if we want to find faults in any devotee it is there, we are after all individuals in a material body which makes us all imperfect. so the notion of not finding fault is inaccurate and this is why over the years ISKCON and devotees have had pages and journals written on the imperfections and summary as to why both shouldn’t be followed.

Indeed Srila Prabhupada has many such controversies from family life and the age his wife was when they were married. The comments on women and rape to others that can be read as racist. So the definition of perfect could be seen as misplaced, as with all of us imperfections can be found.

So why follow?

At the end of the class the mataji presented I was left wondering if this small purport in her mind is inaccurate then how much more could be seen as accurate. After all if the writer is imperfect then surely the purports are imperfect this could be seen as a natural conclusion and tested could be seen as accurate.

However this doesn’t take into account that actually each one of us are indeed imperfect and also impose our own understanding and perceptions, indeed I felt that the mataji did what many of us do when giving class present our own version of what we feel is being said. Analogy if words and sentences is indeed subjective to the reader and we are all products of upbringing and the environment and society we are raised in.

Srila Prabhupada was a product of being raised in India in a particular generation and this can be seen in some of the purports and life choices. But we miss the real understanding of perfection; Sri Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada was absorbed in love of Krishna and took the words of his own Guru Maharaja seriously, but took this in my opinion one stage further. Instead of writing and presenting love of Krishna in English but then came to the west to give this directly to those who were open to listen. Many themselves despite their own imperfections took this seriously and have gone about carrying on the mission Srila Prabhupada stated in giving love of Krishna, and yes it is easy to find fault this I can 100% guarantee.

But reflect on the undertaking Srila Prabhupada wrote, instructed and guided he gave all he could to spread the love he had for Krishna to each and every individual he met, and we can absorb ourselves constantly in this not only in written format but by the fact many classes were recorded on either tape or super8.

Perfection in Imperfection

We are like Srila Prabhupada in a material body and under the influence one way or another by material nature, the more we become absorbed in love of Krishna the less material nature influences us but it will never be 0% until one returns to the spiritual world.

So we become full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls

Understanding that faults will be there, we are products of so many influences that can bring us into conflict of misunderstanding. But each is perfect in as much as the devotee’s are trying their best to become absorbed in love of krishna, each at various levels from full absorbed to well maybe a few minutes each day.

All is good.

And few will be as absorbed in love of Krishna and love of the fallen conditioned souls as Srila Prabhupada so in conclusion our founder acharia in this definition is perfect if we accept love of Krishna is the perfection of life.

And this is indeed one of the higher thoughts Srila Prabhupada spoke about seeing each devotee as perfect, for each individual is as we are trying to love Sri Krishna whilst dealing with our mind and imperfections brought about by being in a material body.

Written by Rukmiṇī Devī Dāsī

A God Who Dances – Rādhā Gopīnātha

 śrīmān rāsa-rasārambhī
 vaṁśīvaṭa-taṭa-sthitaḥ
 karṣan veṇu-svanair gopīr
 gopī-nāthaḥ śriye ’stu naḥ

“Śrī Śrīla Gopīnātha, who originated the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, stands on the shore in Vaṁśīvaṭa and attracts the attention of the cowherd damsels with the sound of His celebrated flute. May they all confer upon us their benediction.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 1.17)

“The reason we have come here is not for a far-out experience but we are at the very core of the teachings of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta which is the essence of our spiritual life. You can understand that I have planned this parikramā this year with these three Deities (Madana-mohana, Govindajī and Gopīnātha) at the centre. Lord Caitanya has arranged for these three Deities to appear in this world in order to flood it with mercy… In the Rādhā Gopīnātha temple, that flood of love has been stored.”

On our last night in Jaipur we found ourselves at the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā Gopīnātha. His round cheeks looks like they’re each hiding a large Jaipur laḍḍu. His skirt flares out as if in mid-twirl. He is the Lord of Dance and He knows it. How to speak to the Lord of Dance other than through song? The vibey kīrtana lasted almost two hours and flowed into Dāmodarāṣṭaka. We got the unique opportunity to offer our Kārttika lamp to Gopīnātha and stayed till the last darśana.

 gopīnāth, mama nivedana śuno
 viṣayī durjana, sadā kāma-rata,
 kichu nāhi mora guṇa
 gopīnāth, āmāra bharasā tumi
 tomāra caraṇe, loinu śaraṇa,
 tomāra kińkora āmi

“O Gopīnātha, Lord of the gopīs, please hear my request. I am a wicked materialist, always addicted to worldly desires, and no good qualities do I possess. O Gopīnātha, You are my only hope, and therefore I have taken shelter at Your lotus feet. I am now Your eternal servant.” (Song of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura)

Śrī Śrī Rādhā Gopīnātha are the Deities of Madhu Paṇḍita. To one side of the temple room, encased in glass, is a jacket and hat made of tulasī beads that belongs to Madhu Paṇḍita. He was definitely an individual with style and devotion. Rādhā Gopīnātha represent prayojana-tattva, or pure love of God, of which Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is the ācārya.
“One of the things I want to achieve in this parikramā is to deepen our relationship with the Gosvāmīs. The Gosvāmīs have prayed for the Lord to appear in these Deities and asked Them to shower Their mercy on the world.”

It also happened to be Gopāṣṭamī, so we braved the smoky streets, found some cows and bulls in a gośālā in the middle of the city, and tried to feed them gur (jaggery). A cow tried to swallow Mahārāja’s whole hand, evidently finding him sweeter. Within our stay, we also managed to sneak in darśanas of Jīva Gosvāmī’s Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara and Lokanātha Gosvāmī’s Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda.

On our last day, just as we were about to board, the bus demon struck again and we were delayed at the hotel for another five hours. The delay afforded us more kīrtana and kathā in the palace courtyard with special “balcony seats” on the upper levels and near the fountain. The exchange was both deep and casual with devotees free to ask questions. One phrase that comes to mind which is helpful to remember… “Even if I don’t answer your emails, I’ll still take you back to Godhead, by Prabhupāda’s mercy.”

Mahārāja waited until the last bus boarded before He got on, ensuring that no one was left behind. It would still be a long drive to Vṛndāvana in which he would happily absorb himself in The Nectar of Devotion. And as for Gopīnātha, it is a chapter to be continued. Possibly at Vaṁśīvaṭa? Or maybe a thread to be picked up on all the parikramās to follow.

May Śrī Śrī Madana-mohana, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda and Śrī Śrī Rādhā Gopīnātha bless the teams of devotees that helped plan and execute the Jaipur parikramā, opening the flood gates to this special mercy.

The article " Jaipur Adventures – part 3 – Braja Parikrama 2019 " was published on KKSBlog.

Deep In The Desert of Rajasthan. A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

This morning I watched the sunrise and marveled. What a blessing to see it and experience awe. It should be a daily tonic - to stand and soak it in, this moment of majestic movement. One could call it living yoga, feeling deeply connected to the source of light, and life, for this small world.

The more we help others overcome worldly illusions by equipping them with spiritual insights and practices, the more we become spiritually absorbed ourselves and go beyond worldly illusions.

Rasa Purnima marks the first of Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s weekly elephant processions in Mayapur. During this festival, Their Lordships come out of the temple and go on a procession around the Mayapur campus on the back of an elephant.

A special message from Vrindavan Dham (9 min. video)
“Vrindavan Dham calls us to give up our false world which is based on the ego, and it invites us to enter the world where Krishna is the center.”

Mayuri's first full feature recording of the bhajan "Sundara Bala" (the Beautiful Boy), produced by Rajeev Kumar.

A video by the Madhavas Rock Band.