Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Cow Protection in Gurukula Education (4 min.video)
Bhakta Priya Dāsa explains the importance of cow protection and how students of Bhaktivedanta Academy are being educated in taking care of cows.
By TOVP staff In 1971, as a young devotee in Calcutta, Giriraja Swami approached Srila Prabhupada, “I have been trying to understand what your desire is, and two things seem to please you the most: distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” Prabhupada’s face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled, saying: “Yes, you have understood… If you all build this temple, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.” Continue reading "TOVP 2018 Achievements Overview
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2018 was a landmark year for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium both in terms of construction achievements and fundraising. And the entire TOVP Team is grateful to all the devotees worldwide without whom this would not have been possible. As our motto states, we are “Raising Lord Caitanya’s Temple by the hands of every devotee.” With only three years left to its scheduled completion and Grand Opening we call on all ISKCON devotees to keep their focus on this project and continue to support our efforts for this collective offering to Srila Prabhupada in 2022.
Below is a list of our major achievements for 2018.
2019 promises to also be a very event-filled year. While ongoing finishing work on the temple continues, several new fundraising campaigns will be rolled out such as the Pillars of Devotion campaign to sponsor the 108 pillars in the temple, the Guru Parampara Deities campaign to sponsor the acharya murtis, the #Giving TOVP Matching Fundraiser in May, the TOVP Ambassador Rewards Program to enlist devotees to help fundraise and also receive transcendental rewards, and more. Our fundraising goal for the year is $10 million.
Please remember, this is not just another temple project. 2022 is the Grand Opening of Srila Prabhupada’s cherished and greatest preaching project in the world and the new home of our beloved Deities Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Sri Nrsimha at the World Headquarters of ISKCON, on the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON Mayapur. This is spiritual history in the making, and all of us shall take the credit for this accomplishment which will far outlive us, as millions of people pass through the doors of the TOVP for generations into the future.
In 1971, as a young devotee in Calcutta, Giriraja Swami approached Srila Prabhupada, “I have been trying to understand what your desire is, and two things seem to please you the most: distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” Prabhupada’s face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled, saying: “Yes, you have understood… If you all build this temple, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”
We again thank each and every one of you for your support and sacrifice in the yajna fire of building the TOVP. We wish you a very happy, Krishna conscious year ahead and a blissful Gaur Purnima on this 532nd Gaurabda celebration of the appearance of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
TOVP MISSION 22 MARATHON KI JAYA!!! THINK 22, TOVP NOW!
Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
Phone App at: http://tovp.org/news/announcements/new-tovp-phone-app-goes-live/
Mailing List at: https://goo.gl/forms/ojJ2WcUUuqWh8bXt1
Support us at: www.tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities
The post TOVP 2018 Achievements Overview appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium has 108 pillars within it, appropriately named the Pillars of Devotion. Of these, the first ten located inside the main entrance are called the Sravanam Pillars and will be clad with sandstone embellishments custom made in Jaipur to give them their beautiful detail. The remaining temple pillars will all be marvelously clad in decorative marble.
There are also many other pillars throughout the temple external structure along the parikrama path and these will be clad with sandstone. Pictured here are a few of the parikrama path pillars and the sandstone pieces that will be used, to give you an idea of their enormous size and exquisite detail and beauty.
Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
Phone App at: http://tovp.org/news/announcements/new-tovp-phone-app-goes-live/
Mailing List at: https://goo.gl/forms/ojJ2WcUUuqWh8bXt1
Support us at: www.tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities
The post Pillar Work Progress appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Posted by Daily readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books on Thursday, January 24, 2019
Surfers Paradise, a suburb of the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. A vivid blue sky reflects in glass skyscrapers rising behind a beach of golden sand. Sparkling turquoise waves crash as cool young people ride the crest on their surfboards.
By Giriraj Swami Sri Gopala Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of Sri Rangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. In the year 1433 Sakabda (A.D. 1511), when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Caturmasya at the house of Venkata Bhatta, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Gopala Bhatta also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyasi Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Both the father and the mother of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Continue reading "Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s Appearance Day
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For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day I thought to read a verse and purport about him from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, “The Branches of the Caitanya Tree”:
TEXT 105
sri gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama
rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana
TRANSLATION
Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
Sri Gopala Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of Sri Rangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. In the year 1433 Sakabda (A.D. 1511), when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Caturmasya at the house of Venkata Bhatta, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Gopala Bhatta also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyasi Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Both the father and the mother of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They allowed Gopala Bhatta Gosvami to go to Vrndavana, and they gave up their lives thinking of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Lord Caitanya was later informed that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had gone to Vrndavana and met Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, He was very pleased, and He advised Sri Rupa and Sanatana to accept Gopala Bhatta Gosvami as their younger brother and take care of him. Sri Sanatana Gosvami, out of his great affection for Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, compiled the Vaisnava smrti named Hari-bhakti-vilasa and published it under his name. Under the instruction of Srila Rupa and Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami installed one of the seven principal deities of Vrndavana, the Radha-ramana deity. The sevaits (priests) of the Radha-ramana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya.
COMMENT
Actually, one of the families entrusted with the Deity service at the Radha-ramana Mandir has a history of relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Visvambhara Gosvami’s father or grandfather had relations with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the family maintained relations with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and then Visvambhara Gosvami had very friendly relations with Srila Prabhupada. And he spoke very nicely about Srila Prabhupada. Now Visvambhara Gosvami’s son Padmanabha Gosvami is also very favorable to ISKCON. In fact, ISKCON devotees often honor prasada at his home at the Radha-ramana Mandir. I also took prasada there with His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, and Padmanabha Gosvami showed us a letter that Srila Prabhupada had written to his father, Visvambhara Gosvami, about how all Vaishnavas should cooperate. So, not only does the Radha-ramana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya, but at least some of the sevaits have had close relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
PURPORT (concluded)
When Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami took permission from all the Vaisnavas before writing Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami also gave him his blessings, but he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has mentioned Gopala Bhatta Gosvami only very cautiously in one or two passages of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Srila Jiva Gosvami has written in the beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, “A devotee from southern India who was born of a brahmana family and was a very intimate friend of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. Therefore I, a tiny living entity known as jiva, am trying to assort the events of the book chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvacarya, Sridhara Svami, Ramanujacarya, and other senior Vaisnavas in the disciplic succession.” In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by Srila Jiva Gosvami. Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami compiled a book called Sat-kriya-sara-dipika, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, wrote a foreword to the Sat-sandarbha and a commentary on the Krsna-karnamrta, and installed the Radharamana Deity in Vrndavana. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (184) it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Krsna was Ananga-manjari. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guna-manjari. Srinivasa Acarya and Gopinatha Pujari were two of his disciples.
COMMENT
Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami ki jaya!
One story about Gopala Bhatta Gosvami is that on the eve of Nrsimha-caturdasi all the other Gosvamis and Vaishnavas in Vrindavan were preparing to worship their Deities and hold festivals. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had only a salagrama-sila; he didn’t have a Deity with arms and legs and a body that he could dress and decorate. So, he was feeling deprived of the opportunity to serve like the other devotees who had Deities they could serve in these ways. And out of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s strong desire, a salagrama-sila became manifest in the form of Radha-ramana. Radha-ramana is considered the most beautiful Deity of Krishna. He is the one original Deity of the Gosvamis that has remained in Vrindavan, while the others had to be taken elsewhere for fear of the Muslim invaders. And near the temple of Radha-ramana in Vrindavan is the samadhi of Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami.
Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s uncle and siksa-guru was Prabodhananda Sarasvati. His samadhi is also located in Vrindavan, just off the parikrama path near Kaliya-ghata, which is quite near our Krishna-Balaram Mandir. So, often when we go on parikrama down the path near the Yamuna, we visit Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s samadhi and bhajana-kutira. And then we proceed to Srila Sanatana Gosvami’s samadhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami was the most senior of the Gosvamis and was also a close associate and instructor of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. In fact, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami worked with Sanatana Gosvami to produce the great treatise Hari-bhakti-vilasa.
I feel that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami has been especially merciful to me on two occasions. On one, I visited his bhajana-kutira at Sanketa, a place between Nandagrama and Varsana where Radha and Krishna used to meet and sometimes perform rasa-lila. Gopala Bhatta would sit and chant underground in a deep cavern, accessible only through a long, narrow passage. At the end of the passage was a somewhat roomier place where Gopala Bhatta used to chant, now marked as his bhajana-sthala. I remember going there with Tamal Krishna Goswami and others on a very hot day and struggling to crawl through the passage to the bhajana-sthala. It was very difficult, but when I finally reached there, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was very merciful. He allowed me to chant with a glimpse of taste. And after all the devotees emerged from the cavern, I stole back in. I crawled back to Gopala Bhatta’s lotus feet, and I sat there chanting. I will never forget his mercy to me there, and I pray that he will enable me to chant with relish and love.
On the other occasion, the last time I visited Vrindavan, in Kartik of 1999, shortly before my surgery, I visited Gopala Bhatta’s samadhi near the Radha-ramana Mandir. We arrived just after raja-bhoga–arati, and the pujari was closing the doors to the samadhi-mandira. But he was kind enough to open the doors for us, to allow us darshan of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. He gave us some flowers and caranamrta, and invited us to stay for prasada. Thus our small party, along with some local sadhus, honored Gopala Bhatta Prabhu’s maha–maha-prasadam with great relish, and we even stayed to take a little rest before, filled with bliss, we continued on our way. So, Gopal Bhatta Gosvami is very kind.
Years later, when some of my disciples from Bombay went to Vrindavan on pilgrimage, they visited the samadhi. They told the pujaris about me, how my health no longer allowed me to visit Vraja, and asked for some prasada for me. And one of the pujaris kindly gave them a piece of cloth from the samadhi. It is very special. Now, twice a year, once on his appearance day and once on his disappearance day, we bring it out and touch it. So now we shall pass it around and touch it to our heads and to our hearts—and pray to Gopala Bhatta Gosvami for his sublime mercy.
Thank you.
Hare Krishna.
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, July 31, 2002, Carpinteria, California]
Promotional Video for *Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective* by Giriraj Swami (2 min.video)
It is with sadness of the devotee community at Bhaktivadanta Manor to hear of the departure of Smita Mataji from the material body.
An inspirational personality who put service and her love of the devotees foremost in her life, assisting the volunteers who helped out in the bakery and Janmashtami festivals.
Who would look at treatments for devotees who were suffering both physically and spiritually, I feel blessed to have met and enjoyed her association and instruction.
It’s such devotees I personally take to heart and will miss
Hare Krishna
Abhishek Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohanji at Goverdhan Eco Village Wada Mumbai. the exact replica of Sri Sri Radha Madan Moha...
11th in the U.S for 2018 (Album with photos)
Mohanasini Lightfoot: You know how you get that happy, satisfied feeling when you’ve done something you know is right? Well, multiply that a million fold to feel the bliss of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books! PLEASE click on the pics to see what these fortunate souls think!
Book totals for this album ending January 22, 2019: 9 Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers, 25 Perfection of Yoga, 25 Chant and Be Happy, 143 Higher Taste Cookbooks, 4 Science of Self Realization, 96 original softbound Bhagavad Gitas, 12 original hardbound Bhagavad Gitas, and 3 Srimad Bhagavatams Total: 317 books
Totals for 2018: 8142 books, 11th in the U.S
Find them here:https://goo.gl/azFtE4
Kirtan Mellows (15 min. video)
Srila Prabhupada: The devotee can constantly think of the object of worship, the Supreme Lord, in any of His features—Narayana, Krishna, Rama, etc. – by chanting Hare Krishna. This practice will purify him, and at the end of his life, due to his constant chanting, he will be transferred to the kingdom of
God. (Bhagavad-Gita 8.8 Purport)
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National Festival in Iskcon Bolivia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting Krishna’s names, one will be transferred to the supreme planet, Krishnaloka, without a doubt. (Bhagavad-gita 8.7)
Find them here:https://goo.gl/JUKM8T
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05 April 2010, Durban, South Africa, Lecture at Ratha Yatra)
There are many people all over the world who are adhering to some religion and are worshiping God! They speak about intimacy and about getting close. One day, I was preparing a seminar on the topic of prayer so I had researched different things on prayer. I looked on the internet to see if I could find something general on prayer and I found a quote by one Christian priest who said, “Whenever I pray, I realize how far away I am from God…”
When I read that, I was thinking that we don’t have that! Whenever we pray, we feel very close to Krsna! All of us, although we are not very great devotees and although we do not have much love for Krsna, we do not feel so far away. Krsna is here! When we dance in front of the Lord, we know he is right here. So this is Krsna consciousness; it is immediately very intimate! A very intimate relationship with Krsna!
The article " Is God far away? " was published on KKSBlog.
Sri Mayapur Goshala is a happy home for Sri Radha-Madhava’s Cows. Situated in the ISKCON campus, Mayapur Goshala serves to give the best of care in terms of fodder, shelter, medication, cleanliness and an opportunity to serve the cows! Watch in this video Mayapur Goshala’s Care for Cows! Become a Mayapur Goshala Sevak today!
The post Happy Home for Krishna’s Cows-Video appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Ramacandra Kaviraja, the son of Sri Ciranjiva Sena (eternal associate of Lord Caitanya), appeared in Sri Khanda. “Ramacandra Kaviraja was especially earnest, beautiful, intelligent, energetic, and enthusiastic,” said one biographer.
Although married, Ramacandra and his wife, Ratanala, had no material attachments. They stayed fully engaged in the loving service of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They had no children.
With steadfast devotion he served his spiritual master, Srinivasa Acharya. In Vrindavan, Sri Jiva Goswami gave him the title, kaviraja, “king of poets.”
In the form of Karna manjari, he serves Srimati Radharani in Vraja lila. His samadhi is in Dhira Samira Kunja next to Srinivasa Acharya.
Srimad Bhagavatam Verse: 9.11.18-19 Date: 23 Jan 2019 Speaker: HH Subhag Swami Text 18: After mother Sītā entered the earth, Lord Rāmacandra observed complete celibacy and performed an uninterrupted Agnihotra-yajña for thirteen thousand years. Translation 19: After completing the sacrifice, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍakāraṇya, placed those […]
The post Srimad Bhagavatam :HH Subhag Swami appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Giriraj Swami gave the keynote presentation on his book Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective at the Bhaktivedanta Medical Retreat in Houston.
Live from Bhaktivedanta Medical Retreat in Houston, where Giriraj Swami is giving the keynote presentation on his book Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective.
Posted by Anish Pillai on Saturday, January 19, 2019
Death and Dying From the Vedic Perspective – Keynote Presentation
By Mina Sharma A new logo to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON UK has today been unveiled by the organisational team.Designed by Anantacarya Das, the striking logo encompasses the colours of the Union Jack and features a map of the UK in the background.Speaking today, Praghosa Dasa, UK GBC Chairman said:“The 50th anniversary is an historic milestone for ISKCON UK, where we lookback at the incredible story of how our first temple and deities were established in London, to today where the movement is thriving and going onto bigger and better things.“This logo is an important symbol for us as a UK yatra, bringing together all the wonderful work each of our centres do and will continue to do for the next fifty years and beyond.”. Continue reading "New logo to commemorate ISKCON UK’s 50th anniversary unveiled
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By Krishna Bhagavan dasa In recent months RVC has added many new preaching programs including "Bhakti Vriksha" - a weekly program for congregation and temple members, First Friday Art gallery event in downtown Kansas City, and monday evening drum circles at a local park. RVC has taken up as its top priority to upgrade and update: many of the temple and bhakta ashram facilities, kitchen, prasadam*dining* room, basement hall, and other needs and requirements of the devotees. During 2018 the temple installed a completely new roof, installed a new AC system, updated the restrooms, and fixed other maintenance issues. At RVC, we are making our best efforts to make the "bhakta program" more enlivening, comfortable, and fulfilling.” Continue reading "Reflections on the Bhakta Program for 2018 at Rupanuaga Vedic College, Kansas City, USA
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By Bhakti-latā Dasi Sending and receiving a letter to an inmate is just as exhilarating and rewarding: connecting one-on-one with a receptive soul, even more so one who is suffering and conscious of his/her suffering and seeking help, is the most rewarding activity I have ever experienced. Given that I have in my possession the key that will unlock their prison, the knowledge that will end all their suffering, it follows naturally that it is my duty—and privilege—to make sure that as many inmates as possible get hold of it too. Continue reading "CHRISTMAS ALL YEAR LONG
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When we practice bhakti, we often expect to become freed from problems. And if that expectation is not met, we become disheartened.
When the category 4 Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017, the U.S. territory’s only ISKCON temple, in Gurabo, was almost completely destroyed. For nearly a year after, devotees did not have electricity or running water, and groceries and gas were hard to come by.
Adult Education At The Temple
