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As you come up the main staircase of the TOVP towards the temple room you will be greeted by two gigantic elephant sculptures standing side by side in front of an immense, 30’ tall, four column entranceway pillar.
There are two such pillars, each with two accompanying elephants and four interconnected columns. The elephant, hasti in Sanskrit, symbolizes wealth, strength, wisdom and royalty, and characterize the Vedic standard of abundance, along with cows.
Pictured here are the TOVP elephant sculptures in their current state of progress.
[See image gallery at tovp.org]
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The post Elephant Sculptures for the TOVP Main Entrance appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Sunday, September 29, 2019
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23.
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Sunday, September 29, 2019
Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Bhagavad-gita 9.14
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Saturday, September 28, 2019
Kartik Navadwip Mandal Parikrama organized by the Mayapur Chandras is a small and intimate gathering of devotees travelling to various holy places hearing and chanting about the glories of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Their associates. The transcendental Sankirtan Movement is an everlasting phenomenon; Mayapur Chandras is simply here to facilitate. Going on Kartik Nabadwip […]
The post Kartik Nabadwip Mandal Parikrama appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Today I heard a nice talk by Srila Prabhupada in which he said, “A devotee is not afraid of dying”—and explained why:
Here in the material world, padam padam vipadam. At every step there is vipada; there is danger. So don’t think that “She is dying” or “He is dying, and I shall not die.” Everyone will have to die. At every step, there is danger of dying. It is not that . . . Everyone has to die. So before that death we must become fully Krishna conscious so that ante narayana-smrtih. [“The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.” (SB 2.1.6)]
The end will come today or tomorrow or day after tomorrow. Nobody here will live. But the success is if we can remember Narayana at the end of life. That is success. Ante narayana-smrtih. We should practice that. Don’t bother about that “I shall die tomorrow. You are dying today, so I am better than you.” Nobody here will live. Everyone will die, and we must be prepared for death. And the devotee has no fear of dying, because if he is completely surrendered to Krishna, then he is going back to Him. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti. [“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Gita 4.9)] Simply by surrendering to Krishna.
And what is that surrendering? Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru, mam evaisyasi asamsayah [Gita 18.68]. Without any doubt. He is giving assurance. Four things only. Always think of Krishna. Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam. Anyone can do it. Everyone can offer Krishna patram puspam phalam toyam. [“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Gita 9.26)]
Everyone can hear from Krishna what is Krishna. Where is the difficulty? The difficulty is that we want enjoyment in this material world. That is the difficulty. Therefore it is recommended that akincananam mayi bhakti-bhajam. For a devotee there is no problem. He is not attracted by liberation or by Svargaloka or by yogic perfection. He is not at all interested. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami—sakali ‘asanta’. They cannot get santi, because they want something. For bhukti, the karmis are working so hard. They want some material profit or go to the Svargaloka to enjoy more. This is bhukti. And for mukti, they are also undergoing severe austerities, penance, tapasya, for becoming one. Kaivalya sukha. Kevaladvaita. They are also working. And the yogis, they also work very hard. Yoga practice is not so easy. Dhyana, dharana, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, samadhi. It requires. . . And especially in this age it is not so easy. It was easier in the Satya-yuga. Krte yad dhyayato visnum. [“Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Visnu, 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 Krsna maha-mantra.” (SB 12.3.52)]
Samadhi was possible. Now it is not possible. Our bhakti-yoga is so easy, simply man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru—very simple thing. So we should take to bhakti, devotional service, and reject everything. Niskincana. That will make your life successful.
—Srila Prabhupada, talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.25, November 12, 1976, Vrindavan
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 8 April 2019, Amritsar, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.37)
Krsna’s beauty is not only external. His beauty is not only in His form and in His lotus eyes and so on, the beauty is in His very nature. Krsna is very noble. Our Krsna is extremely kind. When Draupadi was in the assembly of the Kurus and Shakuni was carrying out his tricks with the dice and cheating, the Pandavas lost everything. Even Yudhistira himself was totally lost. He lost all his brothers, then he lost himself and then he wagered Draupadi. So Draupadi was saying that it was not a proper bet because Yudhistira, at that point, had already lost himself. But no one in the assembly cared about Draupadi’s declaration that this bet was illegitimate. Dushashan still came and tried to pull out her sari, in an attempt to expose her in public since she was now considered to be a slave. Despite holding onto her sari, what could she possibly do in comparison to Dushashan’s powerful arms? So instead, she just threw her arms in the air and cried, “Hey Govinda!” It was in this moment that Draupadi had totally surrendered to Krsna and so in return, the more sari that Dushashan pulled out, the more sari Krsna supplied. There was unlimited cloth, so much so, that the entire assembly hall filled up with this cloth.
So think about this very deep point. Krsna says that He never forgets His devotee. We keep forgetting everything, and the one thing I especially forget is my passwords. In fact I put all my passwords in one place which is protected by a password, and then I forget that password too. But Krsna does not forget. Krsna says that whenever He remembers how Draupadi surrendered, His appreciation for her increases, and then He remembers her surrender again and again. This way, Krsna’s appreciation is increasing eternally.
So this is the nature of Krsna and this is the nature of devotional service. Krsna is appreciating His devotees more and more and more, regardless of what service His devotees render. That is Krsna. So if you think about how beautiful Krsna’s nature is, we can see that it is amazing!
The article " Krsna’s beautiful nature " was published on KKSBlog.
HH Giriraj Swami at Chandra prabhu’s home
Posted by ISKCON Columbus on Friday, September 27, 2019
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22.
“Engagement in such worship of the Deity, under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master, will greatly help the householders to purify their very existence and make rapid progress in spiritual knowledge. Simple theoretical book knowledge is not sufficient for a neophyte devotee. Book knowledge is theoretical, whereas the arcana process is practical. Spiritual knowledge must be developed by a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge, and that is the guaranteed way for attainment of spiritual perfection.” — Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22 purport.
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Deity Welcoming (Right click to download)
Now that the building is manifest into its glorious form, several intriguing deliberations are stemming up.
Balancing the building mass and volume with balustrades (decorative railing supports) has been one of the exercises on the drawing board. We are undertaking some mock-ups of appropriate size and proportions to determine their aesthetic feasibility. Please read on – the design meditations as they progress…
Click here to see it in your browser or download a copy to your desktop for offline reading.
The post TOVP Architecture Department Report, September 2019 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Over four million people around the globe walked out of their schools and workplaces on Friday September 20th to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The protests were organized by young people led by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg. The campaign has seen students walk out of their schools on Fridays to demand their political leaders take urgent action to address climate change.
“I am happy to hear that you continued to chant despite so many doubts and skepticism. That is the process. Even there may be doubts and skepticism, but if one continues the chanting process, the doubts will all disappear, and real knowledge will be revealed by the grace of Krishna. The example is given of the jaundice patient. He is suffering from disease, and when given sugar candy, which is the cure, he finds it very bitter and distasteful. But that does not mean the sugar candy is not sweet and delicious; it is simply due to his diseased condition that it seems bitter. In order to be cured from his disease, he must take the medicine of sugar candy, despite the apparently bitter taste, and as he becomes cured, the real sweet taste of the candy is gradually revealed. Similarly, we are diseased, and only if we take to this chanting process may we be cured. Maya may put so many doubts and worthless arguments into our minds, but if we continue the chanting, the curing process will go on, never mind the doubts, and gradually we will get a taste of that sweet nectar of Krishna nama-sankirtana. That is the process. And you may explain it to all your friends, so they may understand the nature of their doubts and skepticism, and be benefited.”
—Srila Prabhupada, letter to Terry and associates, March 22, 1968
Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
(This article is provided courtesy of ISKCON Medchal)
Don’t miss the once in a lifetime opportunity to personally bathe the Padukas (footwear) of Lord Nityananda Prabhu and the Chatari of Lord Narasimhadeva from Mayapur and be blessed with pure devotion.
ISKCON Medchal and Secunderabad invites you to join us in the divine presence of HG Ambarisa Prabhu (A disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Chairman of TOVP and Great Grandson of Henry Ford of Ford Motors) and HG Brajavilas Prabhu (Director of Development for TOVP) to celebrate the manifestation of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) in Mayapur which will fulfill the prophecy of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Date : 13th October 2019 (Sunday)
Time : 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Venue : ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir, St. John’s Road, Secunderabad
Followed by sumptuous feast prasadam for everyone.
Don’t miss this for anything! Be there! Be Blessed!
The post GOOD NEWS for devotees of Twin City appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Srila Prabhupada: There is a nice story. You'll appreciate it. In India, especially in Bengal, there are many rivers. The land is full of rivers. Because it is on the bank of the Bay of Bengal, all rivers are falling. Therefore Bengal, the land of, especially the East Bengal, is full of rivers. One student of technology was going home, and he was on the boat.
On my way to speaking at Ohio State University (OSU) last night, I visited Hitchcock Hall, where Srila Prabhupada and Allen Ginsberg had presented a program. And I reread the account of the event in BTG, which began, “On the night of May 12, 1969, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and poet Allen Ginsberg filled a campus auditorium at Ohio State University in Columbus to twice its capacity. About two thousand students flooded the stage and aisles, and soon after His Divine Grace led the chanting, students jumped from their seats, crowded the stage, and danced and chanted ecstatically to a mantra most of them had never heard before. His Divine Grace jumped up and down on the dais and threw flowers from his garland at the students, who scrambled for them and then joined arms to dance. Continue reading "Pilgrimage to Hitchcock Hall
→ Dandavats"
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Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Bhagavad-gita 3.13.