Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Srila Prabhupada’s disciple HG Vidarbha-Kanya Devi Dasi left her body yesterday, November 8. She was initiated in 1970 in Philadelphia! In the photo, she is in a green sari holding her son Nimai Chandra! She was previously married to Vrndavan Chandra! He has asked for the devotee’s prayers for her!
Request for prayers for the ISKCON Gangasagar temple where a severe cyclonic storm has reached now. 11 devotees and 40 workers are there for upcoming temple construction work. Your intense prayer can save many lives of Sagar Island, West Bengal, India.
An Indian health ministry official said the city's pollution monitors did not have enough digits to accurately record pollution levels, which he called a "disaster".
The landmark effort is the first time a Bhakti Sastri degree has been offered in French on such a worldwide scale. With twenty-nine countries where French is the official language, it’s an important step.
Visitors can book a full experience, walking through the elaborate recreation of Vrindavan, as devotee guides take them back 5,000 years ago to the pastimes of Lord Krishna described in the Vedic scriptures.
Harinama - The Topmost Yoga! (Album of photos)
Amazing Kirtan Experience at Yoga Festival in Necochea, Argentina!
Day 8 circles around Vrindavan. Blessed is the land of Vraja, where the creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, dwells in the form of a mountain range in Varsana, to have the dust of the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha-Krsna’s lotus feet on the head: where the maintainer, Lord Visnu, has assumed the forms of Govardhana and Visnu-parvata: where the moon-crested Lord Siva has taken up residence as Nandisvara Hill in Nandagrama: and where Sri Uddhava, the best of Hari’s servants, lives as a blade of grass, a small shrub or a creeper on the bank of Kusuma-sarovara.
If you cannot see the videos below visit our youtube channel. Dont forget to subscribe!
Photos by Svasti-Gopinatha, Tamala Krsna, Gauravani, Padmanabha, Zoltan, Gopali, Tamala Krsna, Tattva Darsana and others
The article " Day 8 – Braja Parikrama 2019 " was published on KKSBlog.
The Bhaktivedanta Research Centre in Kolkata was happy to welcome HG Ananga Mohan Prabhu from the ISKCON Kolkata Temple at the library. He was fascinated to see the rare collection of the library especially the handwritten songbook of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He was notified about the recent projects in which he showed great interest. Overall he was very satisfied to see the progress of the BRC
New Temple Construction In Mauritius (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna’s Lila in Vrndavana is prakata or manifest Lila, and the same is going on eternally in the spiritual realm, which is known as aprakata or nonmanifest. Krishna’s planet and Krishna’s pastimes are going on eternally, and the same is manifested before the conditioned souls at certain intervals, once in one day of Brahma, exactly as the sun is visible for 12 hours once a 24 hour cycle of and night. When the sun is visible it is called prakata, and when the sun is not visible that is called aprakata or unmanifested. Non-manifested therefore does not mean there is no existence, but the terms are used in relation to the visibility or nonvisibility to the limited conditioned souls. Letter to Shyamasundara, May 14, 1970.
Bhisma-panchaka is five days dedicated to Bhismadev, The son of mother Ganga and his father King Shantanu-Bhismah santanavo birah. He is the Grandfather of Pandavas, descendant of Great king Bharata in Kuru dynasty .The period falls in the last 5 days of the month Kartik,the resounding 5 days of chaturmasya. It is said to commemorate […]
The post The Passing Away of Bhismadeva-Bhisma Panchaka appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Being a leader does not always mean leading from the front, it means being part of the team. It means working together through all the obstacles and focusing on the common goal. In ISKCON that goal is service to Guru and Krishna. This is a uniting factor that keeps our society strong, through the tough and the easy. 
Rolling in Govardhana’s dust (Album of photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: Today we did a partial Govardhana parikrama. We are going to do the whole parikrama over 4 days, so as to absorb as much of the lilas and moods as possible. Today we went from our place in Govardhana town, through Annakuta Ksetra, stopping at the Balarama temple in Anniyor village, then at the Gopala Prakata Sthali, visiting the Radha Govinda temple at Govindakunda, and then to a special private place for katha and darshan of the hill, overlooking the kunda.
Find them here: http://bit.ly/2WTV4ji
By Yogesvara Gopinath das After Maharaja’s talk Papa Yedeva gave a talk and surprisingly he quoted few verses of Bhagavad-gita in his speech. He spoke on eating habits for human beings and offering to Krishna. He confirmed the supremacy of Lord Krishna also. Towards the end of his speech, he mentioned that he is building a Church in the outskirt of the city and planning to keep a deity of Lord Krishna also so African people can be introduced to Krishna Consciousness. This seems to be a big milestone as at the moment practically there is no presence of Krishna Consciousness in the country. Continue reading "Congo gets Lord Damodar’s mercy on Diwali day!!
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Extraordinary Beauty (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: This photo album shows the extraordinary beauty of Kishori-kunda where Srimati Radharani would take Her bath each morning while living at Yavat with Her ‘husband’ Abhimanyu. Many wonderful pastimes have taken place there, including King Kamsa turning into a Vraja-gopi upon touching the sacred water of the lake one day! There are also photos of our visit to Ter Kadamaba, where Krsna herded the cows 5,000 years ago and where Rupa Goswami wrote Upadesamrita 500 years ago.
Find them here: http://bit.ly/2pUUSUN
Kartik inspirations 2019 (audio)
Thoughts and realizations for spiritual advancement during Kartik by HH Sacinandana Swami from Vrindavan.
Sadbhuja Das: Hare Krishna everyone!
Please have a look at this short video clip of a progress report of some exterior works, located at the front entrance at the temple. This is quite a monumental piece of embellishment, which I think you all will find very interesting.
A Kartik vow fulfilled!
HG Vaisesika Das: Fulfilled our Kartik vow today at Govardhan by completing our group reading of Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead; as well as Srimad Bhagavatam 8th and 9th Cantos. Hare Krishna!
A Kartik vow fulfilled!
HG Vaisesika Das: Fulfilled our Kartik vow today at Govardhan by completing our group reading of Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead; as well as Srimad Bhagavatam 8th and 9th Cantos. Hare Krishna!
HG Pippalai das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada left his body.
Jaya Gouranga Das: My Godbrother Pippalai das left his body Wednesday, November 6, 2019.
Like Earth Day and other International events, #GivingTuesday is a worldwide occasion to encourage people at least one day a year to be charitable to causes they support. It takes place the first Tuesday after the observance of Thanksgiving in the U.S. and this year falls on December 3. Last year, on short notice, was the first time we attempted to take advantage of this event in the U.S., and our efforts yielded over $50,000. This year we are going worldwide with this fundraiser and our goal is to double that figure by raising $108,000 for the Grand Opening of the Pujari Floor on February 13, 2020.
On this International Day of Giving please give generously to complete the Deities’ Pujari Floor and complete this monumental project by 2022. There will be several options to make donations from different parts of the world on the website page. You can sponsor an altar brick, a Square Foot or just make a general donation. If you have an outstanding balance on your previously made pledge you can also use this opportunity to make a payment. No amount is too small and we are grateful for your support.
DONATIONS TO THE TOVP FOUNDATION IN THE U.S. ON FACEBOOK WILL BE MATCHED DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR!!! Read more on the link below.
Please become a TOVP Ambassador and tell all your devotee family and friends to also participate in the TOVP #GivingTuesday International Fundraiser to open the Pujari Floor in 2020 and complete the TOVP by 2022.
Use the link below for more information. The donation portal is now open in case you wish to donate before December 3. Thank you for your support.
The TOVP International #GivingTuesday Fundraiser
The post The TOVP #GivingTuesday International Fundraiser 2019 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
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Answer Podcast
The post How can we heal from the loss of a loved one? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
By Krishna Ksetra Swami This open access book provides both a broad perspective and a focused examination of cow care as a subject of widespread ethical concern in India, and increasingly in other parts of the world. In the face of what has persisted as a highly charged political issue over cow protection in India, intellectual space must be made to bring the wealth of Indian traditional ethical discourse to bear on the realities of current human-animal relationships, particularly those of humans with cows. Dharma, yoga, and bhakti paradigms serve as starting points for bringing Hindu—particularly Vaishnava Hindu—animal ethics into conversation with contemporary Western animal ethics. The author argues that a culture of bhakti—the inclusive, empathetic practice of spirituality centered in Krishna as the beloved cowherd of Vraja—can complement recently developed ethics-of-care thinking to create a solid basis for sustaining all kinds of cow care communities. Continue reading "Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics – New book available for free download
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namo gaura-kisoraya sakshad-vairagya-murtaye
vipralambha-rasambhode padambujaya te namah
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja (the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati), who is renunciation personified. He is always merged in a feeling of separation and intense love of Krishna.”
In 1849, Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji left grihasta life after the death of his wife. He moved to Vrindavana and took initiation from Sri Bhagavata Dasa Babaji, a disciple of Sri Jagannatha Dasa, Babaji. For over thirty years Gaura Kisora Dasa stayed in Vrindavana performing bhajana
Babaji felt inspired by the Divine Couple to see Sri Navadvipa Dhama. He visited all the lila sthanas of Lord Gauranga in Gaura Mandala.
On 19 November 1915, Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja joined the eternal blissful pastime of Gandharvika Giridhari. His beloved disciple, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, established his samadhi on the banks of Sri Caitanya Matha’s Radha-Kunda, near Lord Caitanya’s Yogapitha in Sridhama Mayapur.
Day 7 takes us to Anjanoka, the village of Indulekha, and to Sanket. At Sanket, midway between Varsana and Nandagram, the midnight or nighttime pastimes between Krishna and the gopis take place. When Krishna would go into the fields to herd the cows and Radharani would go to pick flowers, sometimes they would meet here. It is said that in this area Radha and Krishna would be swung on a swing.
If you cannot see the videos below visit our youtube channel. Dont forget to subscribe!
Photos by Svasti-Gopinatha, Tamala Krsna, Gauravani, Padmanabha, Zoltan, Gopali, Tamala Krsna and others
The article " Day 7 – Braja Parikrama 2019 " was published on KKSBlog.
ISKCON Leicester is hosting Leicester’s (UK) first Inter Faith Film Festival to coincide with Inter Faith Week 2019 between 11-15 November 2019. The screenings will be at the Presentation Suite, of the City Hall from 6pm till 9pm each day.
A New Book by Bhakti Dhira Damodara Swami discusses the following important topics: Who is a Guru? Why do I need a Living Guru? Why am I not satisfied in my relationship with my Guru? How to internalize the sacred Guru-disciple relationship?
Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a great devotee—a maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. Earlier, he lived for many years in Vrindavan, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krishna, begging alms, and sleeping under trees. Later, after Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered Lord Chaitanya’s birthplace in Mayapur, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, the siksa-guru of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and parama-guru of Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, instructed Gaurakisora to move to Navadvipa-dhama.
There Gaurakisora resided on the banks of the Ganges and practiced devotional service with intense devotion and renunciation. Because materialistic men would come and disturb him with their desires for mundane blessings (asirvada), the babaji began to stay by a municipal lavatory, where the filth and obnoxious smells would discourage unwanted visitors. There he would chant in peace—in ecstasy. He would beg alms and cook in discarded clay pots, or eat parched rice with green chilies, or just ingest Ganges mud. Sometimes he would collect the discarded cloth from the crematorium, wash it in Ganges water, and use it to cover himself. His only desire was to be absorbed in the mellow of the holy name—in Krishna consciousness.
Gaurakisora was a siksa disciple and intimate friend of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Thakura arranged a bhajana-kutira for him on the same property as Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house in Godruma-dvipa. When the time came for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to take diksa, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura advised him to approach Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the father of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and his first instructor in the spiritual science, but the etiquette was that one would not take diksa from one’s biological father. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sent him to Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was highly literate. By the age of seven, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad-gita and could even explain its verses. He had a photographic memory, and in school he read all the books in the entire library. Just by reading them once, he could remember every word, and so the library purchased new books just for him. By the age of twenty-five, he had written numerous articles and published one book, Surya-siddhanta, for which he was awarded the title “Siddhanta Sarasvati.” So he was highly educated and literate, and Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja was hardly educated or literate at all.
The first time Siddhanta Sarasvati approached Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, the babaji refused to accept him. He didn’t directly say no, but he said, “I will ask Mahaprabhu.” When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned and told his father what had happened, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura encouraged him to persevere: “You must go back and beg him with all humility and earnestness to accept you.” So he went back, and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji again refused, saying, “Oh, I forgot to ask Mahaprabhu. I am so sorry.” When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned home, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was most upset. He knew that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a pure devotee, a maha-bhagavata, and he urged Siddhanta Sarasvati to persist. So he again instructed his son to beg Gaurakisora for his mercy, and he added, “If you fail this time, don’t bother to come back home.”
So Siddhanta Sarasvati left the house and went to the Ganges. He felt so hopeless, he thought he might as well just drown himself in the river. Just then, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja appeared; he knew what was in his future disciple’s heart. Siddhanta Sarasvati just threw himself at the lotus feet of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji in abject humility and complete surrender. Finally, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji accepted him. Siddhanta Sarasvati had shown that he was free from any tinge of false pride, that he was so learned and literate and his guru was uneducated.
Srila Prabhupada remarked that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was illiterate and could not even sign his name, yet he became the spiritual master of Sarasvati Thakura, the best scholar of his time. And thus he proved the statement of the Vedas:
yasya deve para bhaktir
yatha-deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)
Although Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was hardly educated or literate, learned scholars and public servants would approach him with their questions on Srimad-Bhagavatam and other shastras, and with his realized knowledge he would answer their questions to their full satisfaction. Sometimes devotees would read various scriptures for him and he would comment on them from his deep spiritual realization.
Still, out of his great humility Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja refused to accept any disciples, and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura proved to be the only exception.
Gaurakisora dasa Babaji enjoined Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta, which he considered “a bastion of Kali-yuga.” So Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati remained in Mayapur. In 1905 he took a vow to chant the Hare Krishna mantra a billion times. Residing in a grass hut near the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya, he chanted the Hare Krishna mantra day and night. He cooked rice once a day in an earthen pot (or just parched the rice in the sun) and ate nothing more. He slept on the ground, and when the rainwater leaked through his grass ceiling, he sat beneath an umbrella, chanting. Locked in a small room, he chanted japa day and night, day after day, month after month, year after year. Finally, when he had completed his quota, he felt that he was ready to come out and preach. And to preach he went to Calcutta.
In a talk at the Ardha-kumbha-mela in Allahabad, Srila Prabhupada raised the point that Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji had instructed Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta but that everyone knows he went to Calcutta. So, Srila Prabhupada questioned whether Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had disobeyed the orders of his spiritual master. “No!” Srila Prabhupada declared. “He was never in Calcutta; he was always in Vaikuntha!”
So, we pray to Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji:
namo gaura-kisoraya
saksad-vairagya-murtaye
vipralambha-rasambodhe
padambhujaya te namah
He is saksad-vairagya-murtaye, the personification of renunciation (vairagya); and vipralambha-rasambodhe, always merged in the ocean of the mellow of separation from Krishna (vipralambha-rasa). Padambhujaya te namah: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto his lotus feet.”
That was the mood of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja: he was always merged in that nectarean ocean of devotion in separation, and he had no care for his body or for anything material—just hari-nama.
He wrote a beautiful song that is completely in the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. It is said that of the Six Gosvamis, Raghunatha dasa was the most attached to the service of Srimati Radharani—that he had the most intense desire to serve Srimati Radharani—and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji wrote a beautiful song completely in that mood. He begins with a refrain: kotai go premamayi, radhe radhe, radhe radhe—“Where is Radha, so full of love? Radhe, Radhe, Radhe, Radhe!” Then he proceeds to express the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in separation from Radharani, desiring and aspiring for Her service.
When Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja left this world, there was some dispute over what would happen to his body. His samadhi would, of course, become an important place of pilgrimage, and some of the heads of the local Vaishnava centers saw this as an opportunity to raise money—for their mathas and even for their own sense gratification. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati ran to the site, but when he arrived, some of the local babajis objected: “You are not a sannyasi; how can you give samadhi to such an exalted and renounced personality?” But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati responded forcefully: “I am the only disciple of Babaji Maharaja, and although I have not accepted sannyasa, I am a celibate brahmachari, not secretly addicted to abominable habits or involved with illicit activities. Who among you can say that in the last year he had no sex or illicit contact with a woman? Please step forward.” Everyone was silent. Then he challenged, “Who has refrained for the last six months?” Everyone was silent. Next, “For the last three months?” Again, silence. “For the last one month?” Silence. “The last three days?” Still silence. They had been exposed and humbled. Not one of the babajis was fit to even touch the transcendental form of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and one by one they walked away.
But even then there remained some question about how to handle the body, which was still lying on the ground. Out of his great humility Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja had instructed that when he departed, his body should be dragged through the streets of Navadvipa so that it would be bathed in the dust from the feet of the Vaishnavas who had walked the holy ground of the dhama. So some of the townspeople proposed to take the body and drag it through the streets of Navadvipa. Such fools! Such rascals! But Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura stopped them. “Although we are fools and offenders,” he said, “still we can try to understand the true meaning of Babaji Maharaja’s humble request. After the departure of Thakura Haridasa, Lord Chaitanya Himself took the spiritually blissful body of the Thakura on His lap and danced. Following the divine example of Mahaprabhu, let us also bear Babaji Maharaja’s blissful body on our own heads.”
So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati took charge of the body and placed it in samadhi on the western side of the Ganges, across from Mayapur. In time, the course of the Ganges changed and its waters threatened the area of the samadhi. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta brought the samadhi to Mayapur, to his matha. There he had created a replica of Vrindavan, with tamala trees and kadamba trees, with Syama-kunda and Radha-kunda, and with a small Govardhana Hill made of govardhana-silas. Most appropriately, he placed the new samadhi by the side of Radha-kunda, and that is where the transcendental remains of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji still rest today. One can go there and pray to him and feel his presence and get his mercy.
Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja is an ocean of mercy (all pure Vaishnavas are). I pray that he will help me to chant the holy name, to chant with taste. When I prayed to him earlier—and this may just be my speculation—I imagined that he said, “You must give up your offenses.” Then I was thinking, “What offenses? What offenses?” And then I imagined that he answered, “You must chant with attention.”
Of course, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura does state that inattentive chanting is the root of all other offenses and that, conversely, attentive chanting will destroy all the other offenses. “But how do I do that?” I asked. And the answer came: “You must try. You just have to make the effort.” And I suppose that is always the process—that we make our honest effort and depend on the mercy of the acharyas and Krishna.
In my case, however, my chanting sometimes becomes such a routine that I do not even make the effort to hear every word or every mantra. I just do it. I just go through the motions. So I guess that is my challenge, my special order—to chant with attention.
Devotees often raise the question of chanting with quality. When on a morning walk a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “How can we chant with quality?” His Divine Grace replied, “The quality will come. For now just chant as a matter of duty; chant your sixteen rounds. When the quality comes, there will be no force. You will have taste, and spontaneously you will desire, ‘Why sixteen rounds? Why not sixteen thousand rounds?’ Rupa Gosvami desired, ‘How shall I chant with one tongue and hear with two ears? Had I billions of tongues and trillions of ears, then I could enjoy it.’ ”
Srila Prabhupada said that quality means asakti, attachment, and that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed that quality: “Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me: ‘Oh, I do not see Govinda. The whole world is vacant.’ Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me. This is quality.” When one feels viraha-bhava, when one feels separation from Radha and Krishna, one is chanting with quality.
Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji is an ocean of mercy, and we pray for his grace.
Hare Krishna.
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji’s disappearance day, November 22, 2004, Dallas]
A video by MysticLands.
Guardian India correspondent Michael Safi takes a journey along the Yamuna river. Stretching 855 miles (1,375km) across the north of the country, at its source in the Himalayas its water is crystal clear.
Mansarovar, Bhandirvan & Belvan Parikrama (1 Nov, 2019) (Album of photos)
Vrindavan is a very mystical place where Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna perform various pastimes which are beyond our mental perception. When we visited Mansarovar, we were amazed to witness a whole Sarovar that was made by Sri Radha’s tears when she was upset on Krishna. A beautiful Radha Shila is worshiped in that place and we could witness an actual kunja where various pastimes go on. Then when we visited Bhandirvan, we got amazed to know the secret marriage pastime of Radha and Krishna where Lord Brahma was the priest. Krishna even dug a big well from his flute after He killed a demon Vatsasura. Then we arrived in Belvan to take darshan of Mother Laxmi who’s also meditating on Lord Krishna in Vraj. Finally on our return we took a boat on Yamuna and experience the calmness of nature. Please come along with us.
The Governor of Florida, Mr. Ron DeSantis, gets Srila Prabhupada’s books (Album of photos)
Nandini Kishori Nisha: I placed Srimad Bhagavatam at Governor of Florida Mr. Ron DeSantis’s home today! He is a graduate of Yale and Harvard! He is a humble person and kept his promise of hosting first-ever Diwali. The Governor personally helped me carry 50 lb Srimad Bhagavatam box! His wife Casey is a sweetheart. She loved the garland that was offered to Srila Prabhupada on his Vyas Puja ceremony! They are expecting her third child soon. They loved Kosa Ely’s Jaguar book and has placed it in their Children’s nursery/library along with Bhagavad Gita As It Is. It was a great celebration! More than 200 guests from all over Florida (from Jacksonville to Miami and from Tampa to Panama City) attended the event. We took a few sweets, and they were gone in a few minutes.
Mukhya devi dasi: Tuesday, November 5, 2019, there was a Panel Discussion with the Bhaktivedanta Institute devotees in the Temple room at 7:00 PM. They gave us an overview of what the BI is working on right now, and they took our questions, everything we always wanted to know about the integration of science and Krishna consciousness.
Tamohara dasa: Many of you are aware of the recent increase in “active shooter” events in many different places and venues. Unfortunately, places of worship have not been immune from these attacks, which have recently occurred in churches, and synagogues. While the chances of such an attack in any one particular location are remote, it is better to be properly prepared for anything, including attacks, natural disasters, or any emergency situation.
A Blessed Day (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday our parikrama group visited the pastime place ( Lilasthan) of Brahma Vimohana Lila. In that pastime Lord Balarama steals all of Krsna’s cowherd boys and cows. The sacred ground was deep in the Vrindavan countryside providing a wonderful atmosphere for Krsna katha and kirtan. It was a blessed day for all 350 devotees!
“O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” —Bhagavad-gita 2.14
In Los Angeles, on November 29, 1968, speaking on this verse, Srila Prabhupada said, “Now the question is that ‘Yes, I understand that my grandfather is spirit soul and this body is material. Still, by nature I’ll be unhappy if my grandfather is killed and my teacher is killed. I’ll be unhappy.’ So, Krishna is instructing Arjuna that this kind of distress, in this world, you cannot avoid. These are necessary distresses.
“In India and other parts of the Eastern countries, just like Arabia, during summertime, the temperature is 135. You cannot imagine 135. In India we have experienced such temperature. I have experienced up to 118 degrees. Not always—unusually. But 110 degrees is usual during summertime . . . The scorching heat, you cannot go out on the street. But still, one has to go to office, one has to go to work. There are some cases of heat stroke. Still, nobody can stop his duty.
“ ‘Similarly, even if you think that by discharging your duty as a warrior, as a kshatriya, your grandfather will be killed . . . Of course, there is no cause of lamentation; he’ll get another, new body. But even if you think, if your bodily concept is so strong, if you are sorry, you have to tolerate, just like one has to tolerate extreme heat and extreme cold.’ There is no cause of crying, ‘Oh, there is extreme heat, extreme heat.’ What you’ll do? That is nature’s law. Extreme heat—everyone is cooking. Nobody says, ‘Oh, today is extreme heat. I cannot cook.’ No. Everybody is cooking, although there is suffering. Similarly, there is extreme cold, but everyone is taking bath in the Ganges. Nobody says, ‘Oh, I’ll not take bath.’
“So duty has to be done. There may be some suffering, temporary. . . .
“You have to do your own duty—but [for the] result, depend on Krishna. This is Krishna conscious. You don’t be sorry if there is failure; you don’t be too much jubilant if there is success. Everything is done by Krishna. This is the attitude of Krishna consciousness. They have to do their own duty, never mind whether it is suffering or happiness. It doesn’t matter.”
Thus, as Lord Krishna says later in the Bhagavad-gita (2.27), “In the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.”
I pray for such determination.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
Answer Podcast
The post Should we control our desires or should we follow our curiosity? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Day 6 leads us to Yavat and Vrindakund. Yavat is the village of Abhimanyu, his mother Jatila and sister Kutila. This place is very much glorified by Shrila Rupa and Sanatan Goswami because this place facilitates the “Parakiya Rasa” or the mellow of paramour love in the loving pastimes of Shri Shri Radha and Krishna. There is a Radha Krishna temple in this village called the Radha Kanta Temple. This village is 3 Km northeast of Nandagaon.
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Photos by Svasti-Gopinatha, Tamala Krsna, Gauravani, Padmanabha, Zoltan, Gopali, Tamala Krsna and others
The article " Day 6 – Braja Parikrama 2019 " was published on KKSBlog.
When Srila Prabhupada was thrashed by a bull.
From 1960-65 HDGSP would wander these lanes at Chippiwada, Delhi performing His service of publishing His 3-volumes of SB-purchasing paper, checking the book-binder, proof-reading at the printer, etc. One day HDGSP was thrashed by a bull. HDGSP relates this lila—[see the sign ISKCON where HDGSP resided] “In the beginning, it appears to be very bitter. When I took sannyasa, when I was living alone, I was feeling very bitter. I, sometimes I was thinking, "Whether I have done wrong by accepting?” So when I was publishing this Back to Godhead from Delhi, one day one bull thrashed me, and I fell down on the footpath and I got severe injury. I was alone. So I was thinking, “What is this?” So I had many days of very tribulations, but it was all meant for good.
So don’t be afraid of tribulations. Go forward. Krsna will give you protection. That is Krsna’s promise in the Bhagavad-gita. [Bg 9.31]
[He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.]
The original ISKCON “ CONSTITUTION OF ASSOCIATION ” prepared by HDGSP and signed by Himself as acharya and co-signed by Rayama-Mukunda-Ravindra Swarup and Jagganath. Notice that all of the statements expounded by HDGSP became realized by HDGSP’s Supreme Purity and Spiritual Power and Knowlege.
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Utpanna Ekadasi
