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Bhadra Campaign (A Part of the GoMatsya Project)
brought to you by The North American Sankirtan Leaders Team
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated “If on the full moon day of the month of Bhadra one places Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.” The purport further elaborates that “One should place Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne because it is the king of all literature.”
This year Bhadra Purnima arrives on September 5th in North
America, and we are very happy to announce the launch of the
Bhadra Campaign - an opportunity for mass distribution of the most revered Srimad-Bhagavatam. Anyone who participates in this campaign will receive:
1. The great gift of going Back to Godhead
2. Special prayers on their behalf on Bhadra Purnima
3. A golden throne on which to keep the Srimad-Bhagavatam
4. A subscription to Bhakti Pulse (a regular 3-minute audio about SB)
5. Their name inscribed on the Global Preservation Wall
There are three ways in which one can become a part of the
campaign – as an:
1. Advocate - Serve the Srimad-Bhagavatam by purchasing at least one set
2. Distributor - Get a set and refer at least one advocate
3. Organizer – Get a set and enroll at least three advocates
Our goal this Bhadra is to enroll at least 108 advocates in North
America. Please join today. Serve the Srimad-Bhagavatam and share the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Give it to your friends, and encourage them to distribute and enroll others. Give the ultimate gift this Bhadra Purnima!
This campaign is a part of the global GoMatsya initiative:
“Preservation through Mass Distribution and
Education.” www.GoMatsya.com
For More information please contact:
North American Sankirtan
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Please accept my best wishes on the auspicious occasion of Sri Krishna Janmastami. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and to Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna
“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.”
Krishna Janmastami is a special opportunity for us to hear about, meditate on, and appreciate the transcendental nature of Lord Krishna’s appearance and activities.
Two days before Janmastami in 1976, at Hare Krishna Land Juhu, Bombay, the devotees were preparing a performance of a drama: The Appearance of Lord Krishna. We had made a stage in the area of the darsana mandapa in the new temple and set out rows of chairs amid the construction work and scaffolding. Srila Prabhupada had heard that the devotees were rehearsing, and he wanted to see the play before departing for Hyderabad. Jagat Purusa was the organizer and was playing Kamsa; Ananga-manjari was playing Devaki; Bhaya Hari was playing Vasudeva; and Achyutananda, plucking the strings of a tambura (representing a vina), was playing Narada Muni. The first act ended with King Kamsa rolling on the floor in madness at the impending appearance of the Lord.
Prabhupada enjoyed the performance and applauded enthusiastically, and as was common at the end of ISKCON dramas, the performance concluded with the devotees and the audience chanting Hare Krishna together in kirtan. At that point Prabhupada left for the airport. Seeing him go, devotees jumped down from the stage and began to chase after him.
Although Prabhupada’s car had left first, some devotees managed to arrive at the airport before him. When he stepped out onto the curb, he found Ananga-manjari and Aditya dasi there, shouting “Jaya Prabhupada! Jaya Prabhupada!” Ananga-manjari was still in costume as Devaki, in an ornate wedding sari, her makeup now smeared by tears shed at the thought that this might be the last time she would see Prabhupada. Prabhupada smiled broadly as the women offered their obeisances, and, as they jumped up and down in bliss, he proceeded into the airport.
“Prabhupada stood there for the longest time,” Ananga Manjari later recalled, “leaning on his cane and smiling at me, practically laughing. When he had moved on, Aditya said, ‘Did you see how he looked at you and smiled at you?’ And I thought, ‘This is the perfection of my life: I entertained him!’ ”
Two days later, in Hyderabad, Prabhupada asked Saurabha, “What news from Bombay?”
“The festival was a great success.” Saurabha replied. “For the last two days, approximately twenty thousand people must have come. The place was packed. People were everywhere. They were sitting everywhere, even on the balconies and in the scaffolding. It was so crowded.”
“The press and the television people came?” Gopal Krishna asked. “Every year the television comes. They televised this?”
“The film news,” Saurabha answered, “for the abhiseka ceremony, which lasted about an hour, up till one o’clock. And everyone remained. There were thousands of people. They were just everywhere.”
Ten days thereafter, I was with Prabhupada for a morning walk in Delhi, and I informed him that there was a lot of enthusiasm for Krishna consciousness in Bombay. “Just due to this Janmastami,” I said, “we made about fifteen or twenty life patron members. They just keep coming, saying, ‘I visited your festival.’ Then they arrange other programs for us and become patron members. And newspaper people also are starting . . .”
“Giving some coverage,” Prabhupada said.
“Good coverage,” I confirmed. “The Free Press Journal wants to make a two-page feature with pictures all about our activities.”
So Krishna Janmastami is an occasion for us not only to deepen our own appreciation of Krishna consciousness but also to share the benefits of Krishna consciousness with others—by Srila Prabhupada and Lord Sri Krishna’s grace.
We wish you all success.
Hare Krishna.
Your aspiring servant,
Giriraj Swami
The post Janmastami Night outfit Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Mother Kulangana has passed from this world.
From Polish origin, Kulangana devi dasi spent her childhood in Warsaw and along with her family, she escaped of being arrested by the Nazis during World War II.
“We were arrested by the Gestapo and we had to leave our house with our luggage. There were so many of us all walking in a long line. So many children too. There was a train nearby and people were getting on. They said that the train was going to a big prison camp. My father had brought one cow with him, and when the leader of the Gestapo saw that my father was a farmer he told him: “Oh, you are a farmer you are already producting something valuable for the soldiers you can go and so we were not put on the train.
When she came to Krishna consciousness she said that she had seen the real face of the material world and another type of life. Her service for Krishna still revolved around cows and milk. She was well known for making the most delicious – and probably the biggest – milk sweets in the Hare Krishna movement. She used the fresh milk from the manor’s cows and lovingly cooked it for several hours to make sandesh, burfi, rubric and pera of all different kinds. She headed a team of ladies that decorated them with delicate paintings and messages to Krishna, and offer them every morning to the Deities and she liked nothing better than distribute them to devotees afterwards.
Today, on the eve of Janmastami, Mother Kulangana, Srila Prabhupada’s great devotee, passed away at 6:45 in her room at Bhaktivedanta Manor, surrounded by loving devotees chanting the holy names of Krishna. My letter to her:
My dear Mother Kulangana,
Srila Prabhupada said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad—happy because the Vaishnava has gone to serve Krishna, and sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association—and that is how I feel now.
Mother Kulangana, you were so many things to so many people: You were a mother, friend, support, mentor, guide, coach, cheerleader—a servant. We will miss your personal presence in our lives here.
But we are happy that you will be serving Srila Prabhupada and his masters in an even better way and in an even better place. Tamal Krishna Goswami used to say, “Krishna will bring Mother Kulangana back to Godhead just so He can have her sweets.” And there you will be again, boiling milk and preparing delicacies to offer to Their Lordships.
Wherever you are, please think of us, who are serving here in your separation. Please cast your merciful glance upon us, and please appeal to Srila Prabhupada and his lords to mold us and bring us to them—and to you—so that again we can all engage happily in their service together.
Hare Krishna.
Your eternal aspiring servant,
Giriraj Swami
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Sri Mayapur Dham Celebrates the Appearance of Lord Krishna!
Tens of thousands of devotees and pilgrims gather in Sri Mayapur Dham every year to celebrate the auspicious appearance day of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, who is worshipped in ISKCON Mayapur as Sri Madhava. Between fifty and sixty thousand pilgrims come from all over India to participate in the grand Janmastami festival, and as a result, the Mayapur guesthouses are usually fully booked two months in advance. Many pilgrims end up setting up camp outside, not to be deterred from attending this festival and taking the darshan of Sri Madhava on His appearance day.
To prepare the minds and hearts of the devotees of Mayapur for Janmastami day, the devotees are absorbed in Krishna-katha every morning during Srimad Bhagavatam class for the week leading up to Janmastami. The day before Janmastami, an auspicious Adhivas ceremony takes place in order to invoke auspiciousness for the festival to follow.
On Janmastami day, Sri Sri Radha Madhava and all the deities of Mayapur are offered a new dress, and Their altars and the temple are elaborately decorated. Many of the devotees of Mayapur write sweet ‘birthday cards’ for Sri Madhava, and present thoughtful gifts to Him, which are placed at His lotus feet and remain there until the end of the day.
Lord Krishna, during His manifest pastimes, set the example for everyone by perfectly performing the duties of an ordinary human being. Thus, Sri Krishna received all the requisite samskaras of Vedic society, and in Mayapur, all these samskara ceremonies are performed for Sri Madhava on Janmastami day. A young child is selected to represent Madhava, and a qualified husband and wife to represent Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda, who perform the samskaras for Sri Madhava according to Srila Rupa Goswami’s Sri Krishna Janma Tithi Vidhi, a book that describes in intricate detail how to perform the proper worship of Sri Madhava on His appearance day.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Sri Madhava is brought down from the altar and seated on a beautifully decorated throne, and is given a wonderful reception. Priests then start a yajna and perform all of Krishna’s samskaras. They begin with the Jata Karma ceremony, in which Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda perform a fire yajna for their newly born son and pray for His protection. After that, they perform the Niskramanam ceremony, which is performed when Sri Madhava is taken out of the house for the first time, followed by the name giving ceremony, the hair cutting ceremony, and the piercing of Lord Krishna’s ears. Sri Nanda Maharaja goes for a pilgrimage, and upon his return, out of affection he smells his son’s head, which is called Putra Murdhabhighranam. Thereafter, the Vidyarambha ceremony is performed to inaugurate the starting of Sri Madhava’s education. His Grace Jananivasa Prabhu represents Garga Muni, who teaches Sri Madhava to write His first words, and then grants Sri Madhava Vedic initiation and gives Him the sacred thread in the Upanayanam ceremony. Once Sri Madhava receives His sacred thread, He goes out to beg dakshina for His guru, and all the assembled devotees gather around Him and give donations.
Throughout the day, ecstatic kirtan is performed for Sri Madhava, leading up to His grand Maha Abhisek ceremony, which takes place at 10 pm and continues until midnight.
For His abhisek, Sri Madhava along with Srimati Radhika comes down from the altar, and They are opulently welcomed and are then bathed with numerous items. They are bathed with Panca-gavya – the five sacred items from a cow – and are then bathed with milk, yogurt, ghee, honey and sugar water, which are known as the five nectars. They are also bathed with seasonal and colourful juices, from fruits such as mangoes, grapes, pomegranates, oranges, watermelons, and papayas. Water scented with saffron, rose, aguru, musk and kusha grass is also used to bathe Their Lordships, and fragrant flower waters made with flowers such as rose, bakul, lotus, jasmine, and gandharaj. Radha Madhava are also bathed in coconut water and are given two kinds of showers: Sarva Aushadi and Maha Aushadi, which use natural medicinal and herbal substances to bathe the Lord. After being bathed in these various substances, sandalwood paste is applied and then washed off of Radha Madhava’s forms with a steady shower of pure Ganga water.
Once the Lord’s elaborate abhisek is completed, Their Lordships are dried, and They are then showered in flower petals before They return to the altar to be dressed in fresh clothes.
The devotees of the community, with much love and devotion, cook over 400 preparations to offer to Sri Sri Radha Madhava for Their grand bhoga offering. Once Their Lordships have honoured the preparations offered to Them, the altar opens and Sri Sri Radha Madhava give a breathtaking darshan in Their new night outfit, and at midnight a Maha Arati is performed while all of the assembled devotees engage in an ecstatic kirtan.
Once the deities retire for the night, an anukalpa feast is served to everyone, and the blissful day of festivities comes to an end.
All glories to Sri Krishna Janmastami!
Your servants,
Mayapur Communication
Tulsi Gabbard: Janmashtami Message 2017 (3 min video)
When someone has a birthday we try to please the person whose birthday we’re celebrating. Maybe we buy them some presents or bake them a cake, we try to do something for them that will make them happy. Likewise, on this very wonderful day of celebrating Lord Shri Krishna’s appearance, we should consider what we can do that would be most pleasing to Him.
The Supreme Lord is the owner and controller of everything, there’s nothing that He is lacking. He doesn’t need anything from us but there’s one thing that He wants from us: our love! This is the one thing that we have to offer that makes Krishna very happy! Our love can only be offered as an expression of free will. Love can’t be taken or forced, that’s not the nature of love. Five thousand years ago Lord Krishna appeared on this planet in His original form. He came for many reasons. He came so that we could come to know of the absolute reality of His existence, He came to display His wonderful pastimes and loving exchanges with His devotees.
He came to speak the Bhagavad-gita which is His personal and direct instructions to each of us and as we hear about Shri Krishna and His wonderful pastimes and become more attracted to Him something wonderful happens. The love that we begin to experience for the Supreme Lord attracts Him to us and He begins to reveal Himself to us more and more! This is the ultimate truth that Shri Krishna reveals to us in the Bhagavad Gita.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Fdee6T
Srila Prabhupada gave the first Krishna deity in ISKCON to the temple in Washington DC. Sri Sri Radha Madana-Mohana were moved to a bigger temple situated on 12 acres of beautiful forested land in Potomac prior to Srila Prabhupada's visit in 1976. The building where Srila Prabhupada stayed for a whole week has been nicely preserved by the devotees. During his visit Srila Prabhupada met with scientist disciples from Bhaktivedanta Institute. They accompanied him on several morning walks in idyllic settings along the Potomac river. Devotees in the community organise various kinds of outreach programmes and the annual vaisnava festivals attract thousands of people. Continue reading "ISKCON of DC – a vibrant community of devotees
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Here is a BIG catch up on recordings of kirtans and classes by Kadamba Kanana Swami from July, thanks to Sesa Das.
Download ALL (2.9 GB) Very BIG file!! It will take the time to download – please be patient.
To download the individual classes, right-click on the link and “save target as”.
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Today in Sri Mayapur Dham, Tungavidya Sakhi gave her special appearance day Darshan, adorned with nice garlands, flower crown, ornaments & special decorations. Lalita, Visakha, Citra, Campakalata, Tungavidya, Indulekha, Rangadevi and Sudevi are the parama-prestha-sakhis. These eight gopis are chief amongst all the gopis. The exalted qualities of Tungavidya are described in Sri Sri Radha-Krishna […]
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Where Vaishnava temples exist, festivities begin before dawn and extend all day until midnight, the exact moment of the anniversary of Krishna’s appearance. Events include kirtan, singing the Lord’s name along with other devotees; and japa, private, more intimate prayer. Some devotees cook a feast of over one hundred dishes, while others perform drama and dance. Some clothe and decorate the deity of Krishna while others string enormous flower garlands and other decorations for the temple. Incense burns, scriptures are read, and all but the young and the infirm fast all day. The deities are also bathed with a variety of auspicious liquids in a kind of ablution ceremony called abhisheka. Sometimes taking over two hours, this is performed with great pomp. Continue reading "How to Celebrate Janmashtami
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41st Los Angeles Ratha-yatra Slideshow.
On August 6th, 2017, the 41st Los Angeles Ratha-Yatra, with Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi, each on their own chariot, came out from the Temple to spread Their Mercy to thousands of conditioned souls.
This year, led by an elephant, the parade kicked off the transcendental activities for a most ecstatic day of chanting, dancing, feasting and distributing thousands of books and thousands of plates of prasadam.
This slideshow shares a glimpse of the devotees loving devotional service to the Lord. Please turn up the volume and relish the transcendental sounds of the Jagannathastakam as the Festival of the Chariots shines its light on the beach cities of Santa Monica and Venice.
Jai Jagannatha! Jai Srila Prabhupada! http://cindikphotography.zenfolio.com/p619752361/slideshow Your servant, Dvarakarani Devi dasi
(Note: It was an inflatable elephant in case you’re wondering. It was on a cart with a sound system playing the roaring of an elephant.)
Sri Krishna Janmastami message (2017) from ex GBC Chair HH Bhakti Charu Swami (6 min video)
For me, the most encouraging part of traveling and speaking is meeting people who are already connected with me through my sites. In Houston, I met a young man who is not connected with any temple but has been regularly reading Gita daily articles. He told me that the articles have helped him better cope with career uncertainties caused by Trump’s H1-B visa policy changes.
In New Jersey, I met a devotee mataji who told me that her husband, though born in a devotee family had been quite short-tempered, reducing her child and her to tears. But since reading Gita-daily for the last one and half years, he has become much calmer, and their family life is much smoother and happier.
In Salt Lake City, I met a Christian preacher who told me that he has been reading Gita-daily articles for over an year and has found himself agreeing with, even appreciating, 90% of what I say. When I asked how he had come to know about Gita-daily, he said that he had got a Gita from devotees doing street distribution and when he had googled to get more contemporary understandings of the Gita, he had found Gita-daily.In Detroit, I met a Western devotee Mataji who said that she has been facing severe health issues that make it difficult for her to come to the temple and sometimes she doesn’t feel like even getting out of bed because of her sickness. But ever since she started reading Gita daily articles, she feels that each day she has something to look forward
In Detroit, I met a Western devotee Mataji who said that she has been facing severe health issues that make it difficult for her to come to the temple and sometimes she doesn’t feel like even getting out of bed because of her sickness. But ever since she started reading Gita daily articles, she feels that each day she has something to look forward to, and that they have enlivened her enormously.
Knowing that I am able to assist people in coming closer to the Gita inspires me to keep studying and sharing its wisdom, even though I continue to struggle as a sadhaka in applying the Gita in my own life.
When I returned to Radha Gopinath mandir after three months and offered by obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, I felt deeply indebted to him. He had strived tirelessly to bring bhakti to millions the world over and I, despite my many limitations and flaws, am being used in some small way to share that glorious legacy. I felt my feelings encapsulated in a verse composed by Jiva Goswami in his introduction to Krama Sandarbha.
yad atra skhalitaṁ kiñcid vidvāṁsaḥ pūrayantu tat
yad atra sauṣṭhavaṁ kiñcid tad guror eva me na hi
Whatever errors are there in this commentary, may the learned souls correct it, and whatever good is found here belongs to my guru, not to me.
This article is part of a series of articles about the recent Western tour. Full article can be read here.
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[Janmashtami krishna katha at youth retreat in ISKCON, Juhu, Mumbai, India]
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[Janmashtami krishna katha at youth retreat in ISKCON, Juhu, Mumbai, India]
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Just one day to go! Tomorrow is Janamstami ( 15th Aug). Preparing our consciousness to receive the Lord on His appearance day, to establish Lord’s lotus feet in our hearts, is a special ceremony called Adhivas, which will be celebrated today evening. Best day to submit your loving seva offerings to Sri Radha-Madhava! There are […]
The post Janmastami: Submit your offerings now! appeared first on Mayapur.com.
“I am so much obliged to you that you have become so enthusiastic for offering Vyasa-puja… And I am very much hopeful that … even if I die, my movement will not stop, I am very much hopeful. Yes. All these nice boys and girls who have taken so seriously…” – Srila Prabhupada, Sri Vyasa-puja, […]
The post Honoring the Crest Jewel of All Gurus! appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Recently I happened to hear the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and was overwhelmed with thoughts of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, that in Krishna consciousness we do not lose anything—rather, we have everything, with Krishna, and thus everything becomes more beautiful.
When I was fourteen, in 1961, I would steal into my parents’ living room, which was generally off-limits to us youngsters, and listen to the song on their stereo with all the lights out. Something about the song captured my imagination and made me yearn to experience the culture that gave rise to it—the exotic lure of what was then sometimes known as the Dark Continent.
Twenty years or so later, that desire was fulfilled by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy in such a way that I and others could spiritually benefit—I was engaged in speaking the message of Krishna, chanting the holy names of Krishna, and distributing Krishna prasada, sanctified food offered to Krishna, in Southern Africa.
And now, hearing the song fifty-five years after I first heard it, after having lived in South Africa, I was stuck by how much more it meant me and how by Srila Prabhupada’s grace all desires are fulfilled, how we have everything, but better—more beautiful and more meaningful—in Krishna consciousness.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami