Planet ISKCON

Message from Houston Iskcon devotees in regards with the floods.
“Dear Friends, We at the Hare Krishna Temple & Govinda’s Restaurant would like to reach out to area residents to offer anyone who needs food to come to our restaurant at 1320 W 34th St, Houston, 77018 starting tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for take out lunches.
We are not prepared with take out containers since we didn’t envision the degree of damage, so we request people to PLEASE bring their containers for a fresh hot meal. We’re planning on serving 200 people and can expand our services as the need arises.
We pray you & your loved ones are safely protected. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.
- In gratitude, Hansa Medley M.D.
Director of Outreach, Hare Krishna Temple
Govinda’s Restaurant, 713 979 769

“I went to your country with a mission and you all good souls were sent by Krishna to me.” – Srila Prabhupada One of the great souls sent by Krishna to Srila Prabhupada is His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja, who has been serving Srila Prabhupada as a selfless worker for almost five decades. In 1968, […]

The post 47th Sannyasa Anniversary of HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Ratha Yatra in Budapest, Hungary’s capital (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Others, who are not devotees, may think, “How can people devote so much time simply to talks of God?” The chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is simply the repetition of three words, Hare, Krishna, Rama, but still, devotees can go on chanting this Hare Krishna mantra twenty-four hours a day without feeling fatigued. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.13.1Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/vUV6N7

Please find below the beautiful tribute by HH Bhakti Charu Maharaja to Her Grace Mother Kulangana during her memorial service last Saturday, 19th August 2017, at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Mother Kulangana was a very senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada and had spent the last 27 years of her life serving Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Please find the transcription of the lecture below: Srila Prabhupada was a very special personality, who was sent by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to fulfill His prediction. We can see from Srila Prabhupada’s life and…

The post Tribute to Mother Kulangana appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

(Adapted from Srila Prabhupada’s talk on Radhastami, 1971.)

We pray to Radharani because She is the pleasure potency of Krishna. Krishna means “all-attractive,” but Radharani is so great that She attracts Krishna.

So we should try to understand what is Srimati Radharani’s position and offer our obeisances to Her.

tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye

Our business is “Radharani, You are so dear to Krishna. You are the daughter of King Vrishabhanu, and You are so dear to Krishna. So we offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”

Radharani is hari-priya, very dear to Krishna. So if we approach Krishna through Radharani, through the mercy of Radharani, then it becomes very easy. If Radharani recommends that “This devotee is very nice,” then Krishna immediately accepts, however fool I may be.

Therefore in Vrindavan you’ll find all the devotees chanting Radharani’s name more than Krishna’s. Wherever you go, you’ll find the devotees addressing, “Jaya Radhe.” You’ll find, still, in Vrindavan. They are glorifying Radharani. They’re more interested in worshiping Radharani. Because however fallen I may be, if some way or other I can please Radharani, then it is very easy for me to understand Krishna.

If you go by the speculative process to understand Krishna, it will take many, many lives. But if you take to devotional service and just try to please Radharani, Krishna will be gotten very easily. Because Radharani can deliver Krishna. She is such a great devotee, the emblem of maha-bhagavata. Even Krishna cannot understand what is Radharani’s quality. Even Krishna, although He says vedaham samatitani, “I know everything,” still, He fails to understand Radharani. Radharani is so great.

In order to understand Radharani, Krishna accepted the position of Radharani. Krishna wanted to understand the potency of Radharani. Krishna thought, “I am full—I am complete in every respect—but still, I want to understand Radharani.” This propensity obliged Krishna to accept the propensities of Radharani, to understand Krishna, Himself. . . . When Krishna wanted to understand Himself, He took the tendency of Srimati Radharani—and that is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

There was a time in 1976 when you were being driven from Heathrow airport to Bhaktivedanta Manor. The M25 did not exist at that time, so you were moving along the road towards the village of Denham. We young men were excitedly following you in our yellow Ford parcel van. The windows were open and we were singing kirtan at the tops of our youthful voices. Guru and happy disciples on the A 412.

Then we realised that there should be a kirtan for you as you entered the Manor gates. That meant that we should arrive before you and assemble there to welcome you. But we couldn’t do that without overtaking. And how could we overtake our spiritual master? That didn’t seem right.

There then followed, as was common in those days, a small doubt about the details of guru-disciple etiquette. Could we jump over our spiritual master, albeit in a post office van?

Well, although the Chaitanya Caritamrita had been published the year before, none of us had read the one set we had at the temple, so we were not yet conversant with the incident of Govinda Das and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Govinda would massage the legs of Lord Chaitanya after lunch every day, but on this one occasion he would have to step over his Lord to do so. He was in a quandary. How could he possibly do that? Vaishnava etiquette dictates that one should always adopt a position of deference with one’s seniors, and one should never step over the body of another devotee, and especially a senior one, and what to speak of a sannyasi, and particularly the Lord Himself when He appears as one. And yet Govinda wanted to offer his service.

So he spread a cloth and stepped. Afterwards he simply remained in the room. Later, when he awoke, the Lord asked him why he had not gone to take his meal, Govinda Das explained that it would have meant stepping over Him. Asked how then, had he entered the room, he responded that he had stepped over his Lord for service, but could not do so for his own stomach.

Well, these fine points of Vaishnava etiquette, these niceties of theological discussion, were way beyond us at that moment, but we just felt uncomfortable about ‘overtaking Srila Prabhupada.’ But we did want to reach the Manor before he did. So we compromised. Being on a dual carriageway we drew up alongside our spiritual master, singing and stabbing the air like orange-clad lunatics, glorifying our eternal spiritual master whom we had taken as our life and soul, and travelling with him, through time and space, for a few precious seconds, at sixty miles an hour.

Seated in the back of the car, Srila Prabhupada turned to look at us, heard our noisy kirtan and saw the looks on our faces. He smiled and lifted his arm in greeting. We all manically waved. It was a precious moment of exchange, captured forever in our minds.

And so we then overtook our spiritual master on the A 412, just outside Denham, and talked about it all the way back. I’m still talking about it now. May we always travel with you, Srila Prabhupada. May we always walk behind you, faithfully listening to your voice, yet may we sometimes, but only ever for service, overtake you in order to glorify you more.

Your grateful servant on the road, Kripamoya Das

After removing the scaffolding from the West Wing Planetarium Dome these photos reveal the amazing golden beauty of the titanium nitrate Kalash and the solid stainless steel, gold-plated Chakra recently installed. One can only imagine what will be the effect of seeing the huge Kalash and Chakra when mounted upon the Main Dome of the TOVP.

The second Chakra is scheduled for installation for February 7th onto Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Dome. Keep your eyes and ears open for a special once-in-a-lifetime seva opportunity in this regard which we will be unfolding within a short time.

The post Kalash/Chakra Photos appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

The post Daily Darshan: August28,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

After the positive response to the physical book and the request of many readers for a digital version, we have now made the ebook now available at the following links:

Demystifying reincarnation ebook on amazon.in

Demystifying reincarnation ebook on amazon.com

The post Demystifying Reincarnation is now available as an ebook appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Denver, USA]

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The post Understanding consciousness and its four levels – Jagruti, Svapna, Sushupti and Turya appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Chaitanya Charitamrita class on Madhya 8.70 at ISKCON, Denver, USA]

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The post From Love Universal to Bhakti Confidential – Gaudiya Vaishnavism Glories 3 – PEAR acronym for becoming a rasika appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

1st initiation
Gál Tamás
Grantha-rāja Dāsa – servant of the king of scriptures, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
Ṛṣikā Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the best of female ṛṣis
Tobak Tamara
Vraja-renu Devī Dāsī – servant of the sacred dust of Vraja
Fil Paonessa
Nīla-gopāla Dāsa – servant of the blue cowherd boy, Kṛṣṇa
Madarász Gábor
Gopāladeva Dāsa – servant of Kṛṣṇa, the protector of the cows
Énekes Ági
Ānanda-līlā Devī Dāsī – servant of the blissful pastimes of Rādha-Śyāmasundara
Szabó Csaba
Candraśekhara Dāsa – servant of Kṛṣṇa, the crown of the moons
Pesti Amina
Amogha-līlā Devī Dāsī – servant of the unfailing pastimes of Rādha-Śyamasundara
Pesti Lora
Paṇḍitā Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the greatest scholar
Pesti Alina
Abhilāsa Devī Dāsī – servant of the intense desire for anything transcendental, specially sādhu-saṅga

2nd initiates
Ādi Puruṣa Dāsa
Taraṅginī Devī Dāsī
Sanātanī Devī Dāsī
Śakti-mati Devī Dāsī
Daivi-śakti Devī Dāsī
Tejaśrī Devī Dāsī

Giridhari Swami: My dear Devotees,
I want to share with you my 2017 Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada. As I mentioned in this offering, Giriraja Govardhana gave me some special mercy with which to glorify His Divine Grace. My realization was that Srila Prabhupada’s service mirrors the service of Sri Giriraja Govardhana. I pray you will feel the same.
Hare Krishna.
The Greatest Devotee of Lord Hari
My dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
In late February I had the great privilege of residing in Vraja, near Govardhana, for just under two weeks. Govardhana’s powerful and sweet spiritual atmosphere supported deeper hearing and chanting, association with dear godbrothers, and deeper meditation on you and my service to you.
One morning while on Govardhana parikrama, I recalled a verse very dear to your heart:
hantayam adrir abala hari-dasa-varyo
yad rama-krsna-carana-sparasa-pramodah
manam tanoti saha-go-ganayos tayor yat
paniya-suyavasa-kandara-kandamulaih
“Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Krsna and Balarama, along with Their calves, cows, and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities—water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers, and vegetables. In this way, the hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.18)
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami reveals that this verse was spoken by Srimati Radharani Herself – a very significant fact, considering that She is Krsna’s feminine counterpart, His own pleasure potency (hladini-sakti). Indeed, Her love for Krsna is so great that even Krsna Himself cannot fully comprehend it. Therefore He comes as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu just to understand the depth of Radharani’s love for Him. Still, She says that Govardhana is hari-dasa-varya, the greatest devotee of Lord Hari.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains in detail what makes Govardhana the greatest of all servants. He says that Govardhana’s hard rocks become as soft as warm putty to cushion Lord Krsna’s lotus feet and to preserve their auspicious impressions. Feeling the touch of the Lord’s lotus feet, Govardhana displays symptoms of ecstasy. He perspires in the form of melting stones, his hairs stand on end as erect grass and creepers, and tears flow from His eyes as gushing waterfalls. Govardhana’s waterfalls offer cool, fragrant water for Krsna and Balarama to drink and use for washing Their feet and mouths. The Hill provides liquid refreshments such as honey, mango juice, and pilu juice to quench Their thirst; abundant durva grass for making ritualistic hand wash (arghya); soft and delicious grasses to nourish the cows and enable them to produce abundant sweet milk; many caves to provide ideal places for Krsna and His associates to stay, no matter how hot, cold, or wet the weather may be; soft edible roots; jewels to decorate the body; flat rocks for sitting; and mirrors in the form of highly polished stones. Thus Govardhana is a completely selfless servant, one who only gives and never takes. He has only Krsna’s interest in mind – never His own.
As my parikrama and meditation on this verse continued, a very strong realization came to me. Like Sri Govardhana, Srila Prabhupada, you too were a completely selfless servant. That’s what made you extraordinary. You accepted all challenges and austerities to fulfill the instructions of your spiritual master. From beginning to end, your journey was never easy. But you overcame obstacle after obstacle to establish your spiritual master’s mission.
Your teachings, whether in the form of your books, letters, recorded words, or actions, melted your followers’ stonelike hearts, which were filled with impersonalism and voidism, and made their softened hearts into a cushioned place upon which Krsna could rest His tender lotus feet, just as Sri Govardhana did with His puttylike stones.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, study your books daily so that the purification process continues uninterrupted. If we fail to do this, the dust of impure desires will accumulate and again encase our hearts in stone.
As Krsna did with Sri Govardhana, He also touched you with His lotus feet – and you savored that ecstasy. As a true Vaisnava acarya, you generally kept that ecstasy to yourself. But sometimes it just could not be contained. On numerous occasions, as you called out the name of your Lord, your external senses became inert, your hairs stood on end, and tears filled your eyes. Krsna answered your call. Saturated with such love for Krsna, you were able to uplift the most fallen and also give them a small taste of that love.
It is absolutely essential as well that we, your faithful followers, connect others with you and your teachings so that they too can experience the sweet taste of pure devotional service.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered Krsna and Balarama cool fragrant water from the waterfall of your devotion. And you continue to do so as you worship Their Lordships in the form of the many Deities you established around the world. Daily They receive not only honey, mango juice, and pilu juice to quench Their thirst but also six offerings of opulent foods cooked with loving devotion, all for Their Lordships pleasure and satisfaction. Beyond delicious food offerings, you also arranged for Them to be massaged with fragrant oils and pastes just prior to Their morning bath, dressing, and arati. Finally, you had Them serenaded with the sweet chanting of the holy name throughout the day.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, maintain the standard of Deity worship you established, for our own purification and to attract the hearts and minds of the conditioned souls burning in the desert of material existence.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered sweet, succulent grasses to nourish the cows and enable them to produce abundant milk. This you did by establishing sustainable rural communities as part of your varsnarama blueprint to re-spiritualize materialistic society.
Again, it is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, follow your instructions to establish varsnarama through these rural communities. The world needs to see working models of a sane, sustainable way of life, with cow protection and livelihoods that work in harmony with nature rather than against her.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered the caves of your many temples to shelter the Lord and His devotees. These temples are like oases in the midst of Kali’s desert that provide opulent halls for holding public kirtanas, discourses, and honoring succulent prasadam. Neither the fire of passion nor the frigid cold of ignorance can penetrate these sanctuaries, provided we remain sincere sadhakas and preachers.
It is also absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, maintain your temples for the exact purpose for which you established them—to practice, taste, and distribute Krsna consciousness. If we follow your instructions to practice serious sadhana, we will certainly relish the taste of devotional service, and that taste will create a burning desire within us to distribute Krsna consciousness to others.
Like Sri Govardhana, who offers abundant durva grass used for making religious offerings of arghya, you offered your books as the main instruments for pushing forward Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement. Today, throughout the world, many dedicated sankirtana men and women are dancing to the beat of your brhat-mrdanga; and by their tireless efforts millions are being introduced to Krsna consciousness through your books.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, continue flooding the world with the books you labored so hard to write and publish, for only the brilliant light of your books will dissipate the thick darkness of Kali-yuga’s ignorance.
Like Sri Govardhana, who sheltered the vraja-vasis from the torrential rains and thunderbolts of Lord Indra’s wrath, you established ISKCON to shelter the world’s devotees from the horrors of Kali. And much like Sri Krsna, who proclaimed that He and Govardhana are one, you declared that ISKCON is your transcendental body and thus nondifferent from you.
Sri Prabhupada, it is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, at least maintain but better expand your glorious ISKCON. If we don’t expand your Society around the world, what hope is there for mankind? You once told us, “The Krsna consciousness movement will go down in history as having saved mankind in its darkest hour.” (Conversation, London, 1973)
On this auspicious day of your Vyasa-puja, we fervently pray to you for guidance, purity, protection, and empowerment so that we may assist you in making this prophecy of yours come true. We beg that just as Sri Govardhana offered His full blessings and mercy to the inhabitants of Vraja, you will bestow your full blessings and mercy upon us, your faithful followers.
Begging to remain your humble servant,
Giridhari Swami