Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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[Congregation program at Washington DC, USA]

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Srimad Bhagavatam Class 11.8.12 by Jayadvaita Swami at ISKCON Chowpatty on 6th Apr 2018 (video)

Harinama in Tel Aviv, Israel 7 April 2018 (6 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: I have given this example many times. Just like a king and a bug is sitting on the same throne. The bug is biting and the king is ruling. It is not that because the bug is there on the throne, he is king, or the king is sitting with the bug, he is bug. Why this difference? Difference of consciousness. The king knows his duty. He is working in his duty; therefore he’s king. And the bug knows his business, to bite; therefore he’s bug. But sitting on the same place. But because due to different consciousness, one is bug, one is king. So if you take to Krsna consciousness and if you remain in Krsna consciousness, you don’t belong to this world. You are no more bug, you are king. Change this consciousness. Even apparently you may seem to remain with the bug, you are no more bug. Is it clear? From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.46-62 – Los Angeles, December 16, 1968

Bhagavad-gita - Here It Is! (20 min video)
Wherein scriptural rules assist our growth if attachment may hinder our self-realiza...

Beauty is for Krishna’s enjoyment - Guna Manjari Devi Dasi (15 min video)
Her profession is making women beauty. So, she is explaining why women need to be attractive and how to connect it with Krishna Consciousness.

“Be Happy When Others Are Glorified” by HG Mahatma Prabhu - (5 min video)
Mark Twain said, “It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to not deserve them and have them.” Sometimes we do something praiseworthy but receive no praise. And it may happen that others less deserving of praise receive it. We should not be unhappy. As devotees, we are not looking for praise.

Hare Krishna Festivals UK: Welwyn Garden City Harinam - Sat 7th April (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The whole world is v...

Every year for Nrsimha Caturdasi in Mayapur we celebrate the Lord’s appearance with a grand three day festival. The first day is celebrated with a huge procession throughout the ISKCON Mayapur property and on the second day we perform a three hour long Maha Sudarshana Homa before the Deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva. The third day is observed as Nrsimha Caturdasi. We would like to offer you an opportunity to personally benefit from the Sudarshana Yajna by participating in the offering as explained below.

The Sudarshana Yajna is a very special one. Sudarshana, the divine discus of Lord Vishnu, is invoked along with Lord Nrsimha for the attainment of success in a particular undertaking and for protection from negative forces. It is a type of exorcism that removes evil elements and other troublesome astral entities as well as counteracts curses and spells.

The homa is accomplished with a fire yajna, offerings of Tulasi leaves to the Lord, and recitation of the Purusha Sukta, and the Sudarshana yantra, a copper disc with special sacred symbols is bathed 108 times with the Sudarshana mantras for empowerment and then offered darpan (bath water) from the purified water of kalashes. As usual, this year’s yajna consisting of over 10,000 various offerings will be performed by 9 saintly Mayapur gurukula Brahmin boys.

This year the TOVP Team is again assisting to help coordinate the entire event and we invite all devotees to participate as part of a worldwide Harinama Yajna for the protection and success of the TOVP project and for their personal protection also. To participate we request that you make a vrata (vow) to chant a specific number of extra daily rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra between now and April 26th (India time) for this purpose. Email us at *protected email* either before you start the vrata or when you complete it on April 26th (India time) with your name, gotra (if any), and the number of rounds you intend to chant per day or have completed by the deadline. Your name will be chanted as part of the offering infused into the water of the bathing kalashes, and then recited again during the darpan (yantra bathing) by the Brahmins performing the yajna.

Last year over 21,000 rounds were chanted in the Harinama Yajna by devotees worldwide and this year we would like to double that number. Besides chanting extra rounds yourself, become a TOVP Ambassador and tell all your devotees friends to do the same by forwarding this email to them. Let’s all work together to make this the best Nrsimha Caturdasi/Harinama Yajna yet so together we can serve Lord Nrsimha to the best of our capacity.

Last year’s Nrsimha Caturdasi also initiated the commencement of the mounting of the Kalashes onto the TOVP domes and the grand installation of the Chakras soon thereafter. This year’s festival initiates the beginning of MISSION 22, the four year marathon to complete the TOVP by 2022. Please pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva and Sudarshana Chakra for Their full protection in the completion of this divine project.

Prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva by Shani (Saturn)

Shani said:

By the mercy of the dust of Your lotus feet which destroy a multitude of sins, grant infinite auspiciousness to Your devotee who always worships Your lotus feet with devotion. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your lotus feet are worshipped by Goddess Lakṣmī, even though She is fickle by nature (cancala) and by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva whose feet are worthy of worship with devotion. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By contemplating or meditating upon Your appearance, which is expounded in the Vedas extensively, the best of the saints are liberated from the three-fold miseries and from all misfortunes. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By the word of His devotee named Prahlāda, Lord Hari, who is generous and kind, appeared from a pillar and by placing Hiraṇyakaśipu on His thighs split open his stomach with His nails. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

You protected your own devotee Prahlāda from a raging fire, the deep ocean, from falling from a tall mountain peak, poison, a mad elephant and the fangs of poisonous serpents. You are omnipresent and supremely generous. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose great form is devoid of imperfections, the best of the saints attained liberation from the ocean of materialistic attachments and obtained unmitigated salvation. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose form is fearsome, all peace, happiness and prosperity can be obtained, all sins can be obliterated, the fear arising from evil spirits, fevers and unfavorable planetary positions can be removed, O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your transcendental fame is sung gloriously in all the divine assemblies of Śiva, Brahmā and Indra etc. and whose power is steadfast in wiping out all impurities, O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

On listening to the heartfelt prayer composed by Śanideva in the assembly of Lord Brahmā, Lord Hari who is ever compassionate to His devotees, spoke to Śanideva as follows.

Śrī Nṛsiṁha said:

O Śani, I am pleased with your devotion. Whatever you desire that will benefit the world, ask for that kind of boon and I will grant it.

Śrī Śanideva replied:

O Lord Nṛsiṁha, O reservoir of compassion, please be kind to me. O Lord of all gods, let my week-day (Saturday) be Your favorite day. O Purifier of all the worlds, may You fulfill the desires of all those who listen to or read this great prayer to You composed by me.”

Śrī Nṛsiṁha said:

O Śani, let it be so! By virtue of My being the universal protector (Rakṣobhuvana), I fulfill the desires of all My devotees. Please listen to My words let there be no fear of the twelfth and eighth birth positions (and implicitly any unfavorable birth positions) and consequent troubles from you for anyone who reads or listens to this prayer to Me composed by you.

Then Śanideva replied to Lord Narahari that he would follow the Lord’s instructions. Then the joyful saints and sages present there (in Brahma’s assembly) responded with cries of, ‘jaya, jaya!’”.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa told Dharmarāja, “Whoever listens to or recites this conversation between Śanideva and Lord Nṛsiṁha in the form of this prayer of devotion will definitely have all desires fulfilled and will always rejoice.”

Thus ends the prayers offered to the universal protector Śrī Nṛsiṁha by the great soul Śani.

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Answer Podcast

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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Tokyo Sunday Feast Kirtan with Havi Prabhu (34 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: As the gopis and Krsna danced together, a very blissful musical sound was produced from the tinkling of their bells, ornaments and bangles. It appeared that Krsna was a greenish sapphire locket in the midst of a golden necklace decorated with valuable stones. While Krsna and the gopis danced, they displayed extraordinary bodily features. The movements of their legs, their placing their hands on one another, the movements of their eyebrows, their smiling, the movements of the breasts of the gopis and their clothes, their earrings, their cheeks, their hair with flowers – as they sang and danced these combined to appear like clouds, thunder, snow and lightning. Krsna’s bodily features appeared just like a group of clouds, the gopis’ songs were like thunder, their beauty appeared to be just like lightning in the sky, and the drops of perspiration visible on their faces appeared like falling snow. In this way, the gopis and Krsna fully engaged in dancing. >>> Ref. VedaBase => KB 33: Description of the Rasa Dance
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/oTSZiH

HH Romapada Swami in this Krishna Talk, the broad topic of the Devatas (Demigods) and their relationship with Bhagavan (God) is explored.

When we are good at something, we can easily spot others’ weaknesses in that area. For example, if we are good at language, our attention automatically zooms to others’ grammatical shortcomings.
Still, when people have an ability deficiency – they are tone-deaf – we learn to live with it. But when they have a behavioral deficiency – they are forgetful, untidy or unpunctual – we often find that intolerable. We feel that they could easily improve if they would just try.

Swindon Festival - 5th April 2018, Phoenix Theatre UK (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The prayers of Narottama dasa Thakura. This sound is above the material platform. It is directly from the spiritual platform. And there is no need of understanding the language. It is just like a thunderburst. Everyone can hear the sound of thunder–there is no misunderstanding. Similarly, these songs are above the material platform, and they crack like thunder within your heart. From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta
Find them here: https://goo.gl/GTY8fB

[Talk at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia USA]

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Back in the USSR (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: From the green-forested paradise of New Govardhan, Australia in late summer; to the blossoming cherry trees in Tokyo, Japan in spring; we now find ourselves in the freezing cold winter of Vladivostok, in far eastern Russia. But our hearts are warm with love for the local devotees who built an amazing temple just off the main port and who do harinam samkirtan 365 days a year without exception. All glories to these devotees carrying on Srila Prabhupada’s mission in this far-off corner of the world!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/PvvSpn

Her Grace Padyavali devi dasi passes away.
Her Grace Padyavali devi dasi, a dedicated spiritual warrior, and disciple of Srila Prabhupada left her body on Thursday April 5, 2018
During her last remaining years, Padyavali’s health had deteriorated due to Parkinson’s disease.
She was a fully dedicated disciple of Srila Prabhupada and his ISKCON mission. She was a preacher, book distributor, manager, temple president, sankirtan leader and performed a host of other devotional services. Her door and heart were always open to anyone and everyone.
She passed away at the auspicious time 4:55 am in the presence of devotees, surrounded by pictures of Radha Madan Mohan & Srila Prabhupada. A tape of Srila Prabhupada chanting japa was also continuously playing.

Padyavali is now free from the uncomfortable bodily condition she had to endure and we are confident she has gone to be with His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna!

The great logical philosopher Jayatirtha wrote in his book of logic, the Tattvasankhyana Tika: “The independent principle is that which does not depend on any other for its own nature and existence, self-awareness or for becoming an object of knowledge to the selves and for the free and unfettered exercise of its own powers” The philosophical enquiries of the Indian philosophers led them into an area of knowledge which today we would term Theology, the study of theos or God. Although theology is considered today to be a separate discipline from philosophy, one more interested in sectarian religious dogma than scientific examination of the truth, the ancient Indian philosophers saw no such hard distinction. They simply saw that their line of enquiry into the ultimate reality led them to the very reasonable conclusion that there existed an independent reality that had unlimited awareness and volition, and the infinitesimal consciousness of the limitless number of individuals was somehow connected and given sustenance by this one entity. Continue reading "For the love of wisdom
→ Dandavats"

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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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I recently visited our New Gokula farm and although there has been a severe drought in the area for last few months, finally a good downpour of rain came.

As you can see from the pictures, Radha Gokulananda’s cows and bullocks are happily munching on fresh green pasture.

aśanaṁ me vasanaṁ me jāyā me bandhu-vargo me
iti me me kurvāṇaṁ kāla-vṛko hanti puruṣājam

aśanam — this food; me — mine; vasanam — this cloth; me — mine; jāyā — this spouse; me — mine; bandhu-vargaḥ — these relatives; me — mine; iti — thus; me me kurvāṇam — while uttering the sounds ‘me’, ‘me’; kāla-vṛkaḥ — the fox of time; hanti — slaughters; puruṣājam — the goat-like attached soul.

“This food is mine; this cloth is mine; this spouse is mine; these relatives are mine.” Thus, the goat-like conditioned soul keeps uttering “Mine! Mine!” while the wolf of time pounces on it and devours it.”

Suppose a person driving a car to a shopping mall becomes infatuated with dreams of buying various things. If they become so infatuated that they don’t even notice that their car is headed towards a cliff with a deadly fall, they will soon meet with a disastrous end.

Similar is our fate when we become obsessed with worldly possessions. We can’t see the reality that our life-span is finite and is being depleted with every passing moment. While we live thus blinded, death suddenly comes upon us as a fearsome predator and dispossesses us of everything. A goat is often used to depict those unintelligently obsessed with small things while being oblivious to big dangers.

The Bhagavad-gita (16.13-15) outlines how the possessive mentality can make people ungodly, even demonic. We may not stoop to demonic actions, still the mentality of wanting more and more is obsessive and spiritually destructive – it deadens us to our spiritual potential and perpetuates our distressful worldly existence. What to speak of infatuation with future possessions, even infatuation with our present possessions can consume our consciousness. In fact, anything we possess can possess us. Just as a ghost may possess a person, driving them to act self-destructively, so too can our possessions infatuate us, making us act self-destructively.

As long as we are infected by the possessive mentality, our consciousness stays caught in the external things that we fantasize about getting or worry about losing. Thus, our obsession with possession of externals causes us to lose our most fundamental inner possession: our own consciousness. External possessiveness leaves us internally dispossessed.

When we detach ourselves from obsession with possessing things, we become possessors of our own souls – the Gita (02.46) refers to such people as “atmavan,” which translates literally as “possessors of their souls.” Our soul – its essential energy of consciousness – comes in our control so that we can intelligently choose where to invest it.

Most spiritual paths ask us to give up the possessive mentality. Devotional spirituality, however, is so inclusive that it channels even the possessive mentality. Bhakti wisdom explains that we are souls, who are eternal parts of Krishna (Gita 15.07). He is the all-attractive whole, and we are meant to delight eternally in pure spiritual love for him.

Love naturally means that the lovers possess each other; their consciousness stays absorbed in their object of love.

Of course, love is first and foremost about giving oneself. When we give our consciousness to Krishna, he enters through our consciousness to occupy center-stage in our heart. The Gita (09.29) states that those thus devoted reside in Krishna, and he resides in them. Those who attain such spiritual absorption realize that no gain can ever supersede this gain; they don’t let any loss, however grave, distract them from this gain (06.22). In being absorbed in Krishna, they gain him and thus gain everything, for he embodies in full the attractiveness of everything that is worth possessing (10.41).

While we may be far away from such realization, we can progress towards it by offering our consciousness to Krishna through the practice of bhakti-yoga. Moreover, bhakti wisdom redefines our relationship with our possessions – we see our role as trusteeship, not ownership. We responsibly take care of our obligations and relations, but in a mood of service to our Lord to whom everything, including we ourselves, belong.

Working in this devotional service mood raises our vision above time’s relentless advance to Krishna’s tireless grace in our lives, in the many opportunities he provides us to connect with him. When we gratefully accept his grace, he ultimately delivers us out of the material world that is within the domain of time to his eternal ecstatic abode that is forever beyond the clutches of time.

(I am grateful to my friend and scholar, Hari Parshad Prabhu, for providing me this verse to write about)

The post From possessions that dispossess to the possession that delivers appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 November 2017, Mayapur, India, Nectar of Devotion Seminar)

“The places in the eighty-four square mile district of Mathura are so beautifully situated on the banks of the River Yamuna, that anyone who goes there will never want to return to this material world.” (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13, Page 111). It is interesting how Srila Prabhupada said the words, “…will never want to return to this material world…” It shows that Prabhupada is truly situated in the spiritual world, unlike us, who are not similarly positioned even when we are present in the holy dhamas.

For instance, when Prabhupada was in Mayapur after the Gaura Purnima festival, there were some kal baisakhi storms, which are these violent thunderstorms that take place in India. These storms are so powerful that they can completely blow over strong trees and the rain falls horizontally instead of vertically. While this was happening, Prabhupada was sitting in his room with the doors open and the wind just blasting through his room. Some of the devotees came running to his room to close the windows. However, Prabhupada simply said, “Mayapur has such amazing Vaikuntha breezes!” So this is what Prabhupada saw, and such a vision of the dhamas is what we should aspire for!

The article " Such a vision " was published on KKSBlog.

[Talk at Hindu Temple, Delaware]

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Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G.Deenabandhu Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan, 03.04.2018 (video)

Conscious Leadership at the Houses of Parliament, UK.
Radhanath Swami was invited to speak on the subject of ‘Conscious Leadership’ at the Houses of Parliament last month. The event was sponsored by Shailesh Vara MP and attended by representatives of all Parties, including the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Faith and Society, Mr. Stephen Timms MP. Radhanath Swami’s presentation was preceded by a more intimate meeting in Shailesh Vara MP’s office, which also included Lord Dholakia, Baroness Warsi, Seema Malhotra MP, Oliver Dowden MP and the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on faith and communities, Mr Jonanthan Hellewell.

Deputy Lord Lieutenant Vinay Tanna, the Head of Communications Operations at Bhaktivedanta Manor, has been duly appointed as one of the Deputy Lord Lieutenants of Hertfordshire. Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, Mr. Robert Voss, first met Vinay during his visit to the Manor’s Janmashtami festival last year, and felt he was “perfect for the role” and recommended him to the Secretary of State. Mr. Robert Voss represents the Queen at various events throughout Hertfordshire. The function of the Deputy Lieutenant is to attend any function on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant, whenever the need arises.