Planet ISKCON

Mystical Vrindavan - Prahlada Kunda (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday we traveled through the countryside of Vrindavan on dusty roads to the village of Phalain, where we took darshan of Prahlada-kunda. Prahlada-kunda is said to be the home of the great devotee Prahlada Maharaja and the place where the Holika-dahan festival - a precursor to the famous festival of throwing of colors - is celebrated. Every year, during the full moon night in the month of Phalguna, the Vrajavasis celebrate the death of Hiranyakasipu’s evil sister, Holika at Prahlada- kunda. When Hiranyaksipu was unsuccessful in trying to kill his son Prahalda Maharaja, he approached Lord Siva and asked for the ultimate weapon of destruction: the fire that Siva employs to destroy the cosmic manifestation. With that benediction Hiranyakasipu built a huge funeral pyre and put his sister Holika on top of it, with Prahlad in her lap to make sure he didn’t escape. Holika had a benediction from Lord Brahma that she could never be burned by fire. When Hiranyakasipu lit the fire it burned for a long time. But in the end, Prahlada was seen blissfully chanting the holy names and Holika was burned to ashes. The acaryas say that her offense to a pure devotee, Prahlad Maharaja, nullified the benediction of Brahma. The Vrajavasis, honoring the sraddha, or deep faith of Prahlada Maharaja, burn an effigy of Holika each year to celebrate the pastime. Prahlada Maharaja lives eternally on Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Vaikuntha planet, but Krsna remembered Prahlada every year when He was present in Vrindavan by celebrating His devotee’s strong faith in divine protection at the festival at Prahlada-kunda.

Rishabh Verma: This Rama Navami, devotees must remind themselves of the promise of the Lord and with faith in his nature and words, demonstrate the principle of fearlessness in their lives by wholeheartedly engaging in devotional service. By demonstrating this principle in their lives, devotees will be able to glorify the Lord and also grant this gift of fearlessness to others who still live in a fearful state of material existence.

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 March 2019, Durban, South Africa, Lotus Park Nama Hatta)  

In the introduction to the Srimad Bhagavatam, Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes a very famous verse (SB 1.5.11):

tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api
nāmāny anantasya yaśo ‘ńkitāni yat
śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ

This is the verse that speaks about viplavo, a revolution, so that attracts me because I like the revolutionary spirit, the spirit of making changes, something dynamic. Prabhupada is pointing out it is the discussion of Krsna that would bring about the change.

It means wherever there are devotees who are chanting the names of God, that can bring about a revolution in a misdirected and misguided civilization. Where slokas of Krsna will be discussed, that is where there will be a change. And such verses are heard and sung by men who are thoroughly honest, even if imperfectly composed.

Some devotees have identified this verse as a verse which predicts Srila Prabhupada’s mission because it says that through Srimad Bhagavatam in particular the world will change. And Prabhupada brought the Bhagavatam to the western world, not the Gita. The trunks that he brought with him on the Jaladuta contained sets of Bhagavatams. He sold 1 set to the captain of the Jaladuta, and of course, later he sold other sets.

He was going to give a lecture in Pennsylvania when a man came and sat next to him and they had a discussion. It was a nice conversation and when it was time for Prabhupada to speak, he asked the man to look after his box of books. After the lecture Prabhupada asked him to open the box and hold the books up. Prabhupada explained what those books were, and then said that anyone who wanted books could go to the man and give him the money. 

Prabhupada just engaged him, and in this, he put the Bhagavatam into practice by engaging someone in devotional service. It was not just a dry lecture but a real lecture. Before this person knew it he was engaged in devotional service. That was Prabhupada’s tendency – to somehow or the other engage everyone in devotional service. 

The article " A Revolutionary Spirit " was published on KKSBlog.

Harinam Sankirtan in Bali, Indonesia (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The name Krishna and the Personality of Godhead Krish...

Bhaktivedanta Manor: Letting the cows out!
Our herd spent the winter months in the shelter of the barns, but the warmer weather means that it’s time to let them out.
Please join us on Sunday 21st April to watch the cows stretch their legs and feel the green grass beneath their hooves as they joyfully run onto the fields! This will be a fun occasion for all of the family

[Bhagavatam class at Hawaii, USA]

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[Talk at San Jose, USA]

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The post “Do demons exist?” and lessons from Kabandha – Ramayana wisdom appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Sydney, Australia]

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The post Thinking about thinking – how our thoughts can harm us or help us appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Bhagavatam class on 1.11.21 at ISKCON, Sydney, Australia]

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The post How to become more personal in our dealings appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Talk at ISKCON Silicon Valley, San Jose, USA]

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The post Gita applied Chapter 2 – The Gita separates the soul from the body and harmonizes both too appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Talk at Hawaii, USA]

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The post Self-discipline or self-discovery – Charting our inner journey appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Talk at ISKCON, Hawaii, USA]

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The post How to avoid jumping to conclusions – DAS acronym appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Audio File
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 (Right-click to download)

Approximately 160 visitors from China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan recently came to Mayapur with His Holiness Giridhari Swami on pilgrimage. They came in two groups – the first group, of about 40 people, visited in late December of 2018, and the second group, of about 120 people, came in late January of 2019. […]

The post Visitors from East and Southeast Asia Initiated in Mayapur! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

How the soul, false ego, intelligence and mind interact with each other?
Chaitanya Charan das: The soul is spiritual. The mind, intelligence and false ego are all part of the subtle body. In general, they are differentiated, based on function rather than structure. The gross elements namely the earth, water, fire, air and ether can be differentiated in terms of structure because they are made of different things. However, the subtle elements, as described in the third canto of the Bhagavatam, in the chapter titled, ‘Fundamental principles of material nature’, are differentiated in terms of their functions. In this regard, we can take the example of a computer. In a computer system, there is a hardware, software and then the user. The hardware is a physical structure that we can perceive with our eyes. The software is an interface between the user and the hardware. The software itself can be of different types – (i) the operating system (ii) the pre-installed apps inherent to the device (iii) the user installed apps. Using this as a rough example, we can say that basic software with which the soul exists in the world, is the ego. Then there is the intermediate software which is used for accessing and functioning. Intermediate software are the pre-installed apps that come with the device. These are like intelligence. Finally, the user installed apps are like the mind.

The Lord and His incarnations (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam class by H.H. Kadamba Kanana Swami at ISKCON Vrindavan, Apr 3, 2019

We are all the eternal servants of Krishna (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by Bhima Prabhu at ISKCON Juhu.

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Tolerating material miseries (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Narayani Mataji at ISKCON Los Angeles.

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Surrendering to Krishna (video)
Lecture by HG Anuttama prabhu at ISKCON PHILADELPHIA

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Mysteries of Sound - HH Bhanu Swami (video)
Srila Prabhupada: The process of chanting the holy name of the Lord is always superbly effective, but it is especially effective in this age of Kali. All the great authorities of bhakti-yoga recommend the devotional process beginning with the chanting of the holy name of Krishna (tan-nama-grahanadibhih). (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.1.21 Purport)
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This episode, I’m going solo talking about boiling the milk. The basic concept here is the importance of taking care of devotees and training them. Looking after the devotees we have rather than just going out and making new devotees. Some of the key points I talk about: 8:32 What does boiling the milk mean? […]

The post 26 – Boiling the Milk appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.

Answer Podcast

The post Is parents wanting their children to become Krishna conscious a sign of dependence, independence or interdependence? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Dhritarastra speaks these first words of the Bhagavad-gita, and while speaking this, it is significant that the first content of the Gita is dharma. As will be later revealed, the Bhagavad-gita is a book about dharma. It is primarily a question about the right course of action. The specific question that Arjuna asks is, “prichami tvam dharma samudha cetaha, I ask you about dharma because my consciousness is bewildered at this stage. Please guide me.” Prior to using this words Krishna, Arjuna has used the word dharma repeatedly in the first chapter of the Bhagavat-gita. He has talked about Kula dharma, and how that has to be protected. The word dharma will come repeatedly in Gita, and if we consider the Gita as a part of the Mahabharat, then the Mahabharat is also a search for Dharma. It is trying to explain what is dharma and how one can know what is dharma. In the Mahabharat, even the demons did not want to openly violate dharma at least initially, because they know that dharma has power, and they want to use that power for their own purposes.

Let’s look at some of the meanings of the word dharma which will be relevant over here for us. One meaning could be that: we normally translate dharma as religion which is actually an over-simplification of the point of distortion. That is because the word religion has acquired certain connotations in terms of certain rules given by someone, but that’s not all that this is about. The Bhagavatam uses the word dharma, and there are multiple understandings to it. But definitely it is not the understanding that it is just some religion that some people are following. At a fundamental level dharma comes from the root “dhri”, which means to sustain. So, “dharma” is that which “sustains” or “maintains, or that which enables things to be what they are, and ensures that things stay in their position. This would imply that when we discuss dharma – If at all it can be translated, we could call it as a “sacred law” or the “innate order” of things. So, dhrama is the innate order of things within the universe which human beings are meant to harmonize with, and also it is the innate order in the universe which society and government has to harmonize with through its laws and customs. It is also the innate harmony of our own beings by which we can be who we are or who we are meant to be. Thus, we can be who we essentially are. Such harmony is what we are all seeking in this world, and we need to try our best to achieve it, because ultimately – many people for example, nowadays, in the age of individualism, say, “Be who you are. Don’t try to imitate others, don’t force yourselves to become like something else. Don’t become a xerox copy of someone else.” Sometimes such individualism can become obnoxious and Narcism, and it can become self-obsessive, self-destructive and socially destructive. But that is not what we are talking about. The Bhagavad-gita is a work of poetry. As the very name suggests, it is addressed as Gita or song, and as a song it has its poetic features. So, among its many poetic features, is the feature of it having significant ways of stating things. The fact that the first word used in the Bhagavad-gita is dharma is very significant about what its content is going to be. Of course, dharma is a part of the compound dharma-ksetra. In that sense, it is referring specifically to Dhritarastra’s concerned whether this war which is happening on the dharma-ksetra, Kuruksetra, will affect the dharmic party (the Pandavas) positively, and if it will affect his side negatively. But beyond such concerns which are contextual, lets herein focus on the universal theme of the Gita, and that universal theme is that everyone of us needs to harmonize with our essential core. And that subject of harmony with ourselves, the world, the nature of reality, and with the ultimate reality are the essential issues that the Bhagavad-gita deals with. And we too need to deal with these essential issues. And the best way to engage with such issues is by letting our engagement be stimulated and guided by the Bhagavad-gita’s engagement with these issues.

When we want to explore a subject, there is no need to reinvent the wheel and start everything from the scratch. There are many in the past who have probed the questions that we have probed, and by connecting with them excessively, we can learn so much. And the Bhagavad-gita is not just any random ancient thought. It is a thought of the supreme person. And thus, it has profound significance. As the Bhagavad-gita will unfold, we will see how it takes us through the nuance understandings of dharma, to the supreme understanding of dharma, and then ultimately to the loving harmony with our eternal Lord.

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The post Gita 01.01 The Gita’s first word dharma conveys its essential, universal theme appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

TOVP: 5-meter base relief panels for the 4 corner walls of the temple room (Album of photos)
Sadbhuja Das: Please, take a look...

Will God be understood by science in the future?
The word “science” originally meant knowledge i.e. to know. When Newton postulated the law of gravity he did not call himself a scientist, he was considered as a natural philosopher. The word “scientist” is an eighteenth-century invention. The word “science” is used in a specific sense today. In science, we look for explanations of natural phenomena. Science has its own limitations when it comes to explaining natural phenomenon. The idea that science will be able to understand God in future is far-fetched. What to speak of understanding God, science cannot understand the origin of even our own emotions. Science may find that some emotions are associated with a specific part of the brain, but science cannot tell, for example, how do these emotions originate in a brain.

Is Krishna Really Merciful to Me?
HH Sacinandana Swami: Devotees often ask me, “If Krsna is really merciful towards His devotees, why do so many devotees seem to experience misery? I hear in all these lectures that Krsna is so merciful but I don’t experience it – I just had an accident!” Others tell me: “A good friend distanced himself from me,” or “This great devotee is dying from cancer, so how can we make a general statement that Krsna is merciful to His devotees? Maybe He is merciful to Srila Prabhupada, but not to me or those I know…” I would like to address this doubt… Krsna’s mercy towards souls like us – and even for the greatest souls – is that He removes the obstacles we face when we worship Him. However, often we hold on to things that are actually dangerous. For instance, recently a relative of mine, a professor, left his body because of his addiction to alcohol. We used to tell him that drinking is very bad for his liver and that he would soon die if he continues. But he was too attached to the thing that eventually killed him. Often we are no better than this and in these times Krsna’s mercy takes away such obstacles to our devotional service. Out of ignorance we may not find this pleasant but in the long run it is beneficial for us.

Sri Sri Corastakam.
(The song about the Thief)
This song by Sri Bilvamangala Thakura expresses the sweet relationship between the devotee and Krsna, who purifies His devotee. It also highlights the special potency of Krsna’s holy name. (1) I offer my obeisances to that foremost of thieves – who is famous in Vraja as the butter-thief and who steals the gopis’ clothes, and who, for those who take shelter of Him, steals the sins which have accrued over many lifetimes. (2) I offer my obeisances to the foremost of thieves – who steals Srimati Radhika’s heart, who steals the dark luster of a fresh raincloud, and who steals all the sins and sufferings of those who take shelter of His feet. (3) He turns His surrendered devotees into paupers and wandering homeless beggars – Aho! Such a fearsome thief has never been seen or heard of in all the three worlds. (4) Mere utterance of His name purges one of a mountain of sins – such an astonishingly wonderful thief I have never seen or heard of anywhere!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 August 2018, Vrindavan, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.1.19)

The personal concept of the universe is very important. It is a devotional universe. Yes, there are demons in the upper regions of the universe and also in these regions. Demons are everywhere. As long as we take shelter we do not need to worry. Someone came to me in anxiety and said, “I have to talk to you very urgently. There is a conspiracy from the reptilians – from the abode of the nagas.” 

We have read in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the nagas are residing on the planetary systems below our planet. There is no religion there, but they have a higher standard of material advancement than we have here. They are the ones who fly around in UFOs and do other such things. Whatever fears we may have about these things only come to the foreground when there is sinfulness. When there is sin on our planet then fear of such beings coming from the lower planetary systems, arise. Fear of ghosts and other such creatures become relevant.

When there is piety then we are protected – we are turning to the Supreme Lord for protection. Bhagavatam is presenting how the Manus and various other personalities who are involved in the administration of the universe, are basically offering us a shelter. So we can just be peaceful instead of being in anxiety. In the modern world there is so much fear; we feel that natural disasters can occur at any time, and diseases can wipe out an entire population. The climate can get hotter and in India it gets even more hot, and the marble will melt. What will we do? 

But the ancestors were not worried. They were simply worshipping and they felt protected. This is how we are meant to live, by worshipping the superiors and giving them due respect. We give due respect to the Manus and in return we become free from anxiety because we know that we are in safe hands. Therefore we understand that the purpose of the entire universe is simply to worship Krsna and that all these superior personalities are worshipping Krsna.  Thus we will also take our natural place of worshipping Krsna, depending on Krsna and serving Krsna. In this way our life will become perfect     

The article " A Devotional Universe " was published on KKSBlog.

Question: How can bhakti wisdom help us to become more forgiving?
Answer by Chaitanya Charan das: By helping us see that we are meant to become like our Lord because we are his parts. Just as he has forgiven us, we should forgive others.

The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, the world’s leading Centre for Hindu Studies, celebrated its 20 years at the House of Lords at the River Room, hosted by Lord Dholakia. Lord Dholakia informed the audience of the value of OCHS which is a seat of academic studies with scholars and research capabilities. He highlighted the need to create a bridge between the Mandirs who support Hindu activities and the OCHS which enables knowledge building. He remarked about the poor representation of Hindus in the Parliament. There was a need for authentic independent representation of Hindu values in the British society. Continue reading "OCHS celebrates its 20th anniversary at the House of Lords
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This article is not to glorify the material relationship I shared with my father or how he struggled in his life for his family or for that matter even his service to Srila Prabhupada (he would have never liked that) but I wrote this to share with you that this process of Krsna Consciousness works. It works even with the most down-trodden and sinful people like me. Continue reading "“Overcoming Death through Mercy – A tale of a Silent Book Distributor”
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Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcriber: Dr Suresh Gupta

Edited by: Sharan Shetty

Question: Why can some people readily accept Krishna’s supremacy, and some can’t?

Answer: There are three broad categories of people when it comes to practicing religion: (i) nominal religionists (ii) emotional religionists (iii) rational and emotional religionists.
Nominal religionists are the ones who worship a particular devata because they are born in a particular family or due to a particular situation. There is a religious instinct which is present in everyone and that religious instinct gets expressed according to circumstances. For nominal religionists, that religious instinct neither has an intellectual foundation nor a strong emotional connection, mainly because it is circumstantial. However, later if such people get an intellectual conviction or some emotional experience, then such people are quite open to change. For them religious instinct was there but was circumstantially directed towards a particular devata. There was no personal investment of their own consciousness in that particular object. If they hear the scriptural explanation of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition about how Krishna is God, how Krishna is the source of all gods, then they accept it.

People approach religion for different reasons. Some come due to a sense of cultural belonging. They experience a feeling of connection when they perform aarti with others, see people dress in a traditional way, watch them execute acts of devotion which they have seen their ancestors do. Some may go just to connect with others socially. There are also psychological factors since some people visit a temple simply because they feel good.

The other extreme is where people have a very strong emotional connect with a particular form of worship like worshipping a demigod, or some baba etc. If such people are told that Krishna is God, it shakes the very basis of their connection because they are very much emotionally invested. It is only when they also connect emotionally with some devotee or with something within Krishna bhakti that they may be inspired to change.

A third category is of those who have both emotional and rational connection. Such people are not only emotionally connected with the particular form of worship, but they also have a rational philosophical understanding about it. In such cases, if somebody rationally presents the philosophy to them, they may take it up and change what they are doing. In such cases, the preacher should be sensitive enough and should not hurt them emotionally by blaspheming their present belief or practice.

Srila Prabhupada used to approach people by appreciating them no matter at what stage they were and would connect them to the process of Krishna bhakti. The gap between their present belief and Krishna consciousness can be bridged if our presentation does not strongly challenge their existing belief. Generally, nobody from a broad Hindu tradition will object to that Krishna is God. However, the difficulty arises when they are unable to fathom the higher philosophy about Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all the demigods being subordinate to him. That is why, in general it is best not to focus on those aspects, at least initially.

Generally, when people are completely nominal in their early religious practice they may change easily. When people are completely emotional, it is almost impossible to change. If people are somewhat rational and emotional, then it is best to start with the rational aspect. We can talk about existence of soul, reincarnation, about the need to gain knowledge from the Vedas and progressively its practical application in specific scenarios of life. If presentation is not rational, they may become irritated. When we have to take people from where they are to the next level, then we may have to carefully point out the dos and don’ts. Most importantly, give reasons for that. If somebody is rational, it is quite likely that over a period of time, they will come closer to Krishna.

End of transcription.

The post Why can some people readily accept Krishna’s supremacy and some can’t? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/05/bhakti-correlate-raising-energy-higher-chakras-vedic-wisdom//

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/05/will-god-understood-science-future-science-modern//

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/06/soul-mind-intelligence-false-ego-interact//

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/07/can-bhakti-wisdom-help-us-become-forgiving//

The post Uploaded transcriptions on April 5th 2019 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

“The residents of Vrindavan, including Srimati Radharani, decided to go to Kurukshetra to see Krishna. Krishna—or Jagannatha, His sister Subhadra and brother Balarama went from Dwaraka to Kurukshetra on a chariot. When they got to Kurukshetra the residents of Vrindavan met them and they were filled with ecstatic love to see Krishna again after a long separation. But, Srimati Radharani felt that She could not enjoy serving Krishna the same way at Kurukshetra as She did in Vrindavan. This was because in Kurukshetra Krishna was dressed as a royal prince, there was the clatter of chariots, there were horses and elephants, whereas Vrindavan is a very sweet pastoral place. So Radharani’s mood was. ‘I am the same Radharani and you are the same Krishna but We cannot relish our time together in this opulent kingdom of Kurukshetra so please come back to Vrindavan.’ The eternal spiritual mood of the devotees while pulling the chariot with the ropes is that they are bringing Krishna back to Vrindavan.”

Ratha-yatra Evening