Websites from the ISKCON Universe
By Sri Radharamana dasa If money is the means, then what is the goal? Over 2,300 people around the world tuned in Live where 200 selected local industrialists and leaders gathered in the heart of Cape Town to hear from an ISKCON Swami and celebrity...
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By Yamuna Devi One morning, soon after our arrival at Kailash Seksaria’s home, Srila Prabhupada called on a male devotee to chant the new melody of Gurvastakam. After two lines of the prayer, he asked him to stop and then requested another devotee to continue. The same thing happened, and he asked another devotee to chant, with the same result. Then he asked me to lead the prayer, and he did not stop me. So later, I asked him why he had done that, and he replied: Learn to listen. You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely. Continue reading "The one who startled India with kirtan
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By Babhru das Essential to Bhaktivinoda’s revolutionary view was the understanding that Lord Chaitanya was not exaggerating when He said that His name would be sung in every town and village around the world. Bhaktivinoda wrote in his monthly journal Sajjana-tosani, “Sriman Mahaprabhu did not descend with His associates to deliver a certain number of human beings in the land of India, but rather His purpose was to deliver and uplift all living beings in all countries of the world by practicing the eternal religion of all souls.” He quoted a verse from Chaitanya-bhagavata in which the Lord predicted, “My name will be preached in all the countries and towns that exist throughout the world.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura then expressed his heart’s desire: “There are many kinds of religion in the world, and among all of them the highest development of religion is the congregational chanting of the Supreme Lord’s divine names. Of this there is no doubt. Alas! When will that day come when greatly fortunate souls in countries such as England, France, Russia, Prussia, and America will take up banners, kettle drums, mådaìgas and karatalas and thus cause the ecstatic waves of Harinama-kirtana and the singing of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Holy Name to rise in the streets of their towns and cities? O when will that day come, when pure and transcendental Vaisnava-prema will be the only religion of all souls and all tiny sectarian religions will meet in the unlimited and universal religion of Vaisnavism as rivers merge into the great ocean? O when will that day come?” Continue reading "Considering Srila Prabhupada’s Mercy
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A new, stunning dress in honor of Lord Nityananda’s appearance day! (2 min video)
Sponsered By Niyati and Palaka and made by the Mother Antaranga. A true offering of love to Sri Sri Radha Govinda from Their devoted servants!
All glories to Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Govinda and Their loving devotees!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/JTT11h
[Nityananda Trayodashi evening class at ISKCON, Nasik]
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Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2017 worldwide invitation (3 min video)
Dear devotees of Lord Gauranga, you are very welcome to...
By Bhakti Gauravani Goswami Srila Prabhupada spoke about this in 1977. This is exactly 40 years ago in Bhubaneshwar, right? He spoke about Varaha’s appearance. He said “Ramadi murti su kala niyamena.” Krishna, the original adi pursua, is taking various forms. Ramadi murtisu, especially three Ramas, Parasuram, Balaram and Dasarathi Rama. Rama means enjoyment. Krishna’s enjoyment does not mean that when Krishna appeared as a boar he was suffering. Everything is “Anada- cinmaya-rasa- pratibhavitabhih,” every second is imbued and permeated with ever blissful spiritual rasa. Srila Prabhupada gives an example which we have heard, I think more than one time, about a big man becoming a horse, remember that? He talks about the British Prime Minister Gladstone, a pretty serious man. You don’t imagine that he may become a horse. Continue reading "Varahadeva’s Appearance Day
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TOVP update.
Sadbhuja Das: You have been following the photos from Russia regarding the Kalash and Chakras.
There are 2 Ch...
In Memoriam
Dear Gopinatha Acarya,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It was with great sadness that I learned of your sudden departure the day before yesterday. Though we never served together, we had a number of nice exchanges over the years whenever I would visit Australia and New Govardhana in particular.
In your long career as a devotee, two contributions stand out in my mind. The first is your dedication to book distribution in the early days of the Australian yatra, and the second is your service to Lord Krsna’s cows over many years. In these two valuable services you acted as a proper brahmana: you distributed transcendental knowledge and you gave great pleasure to the Lord by protecting and maintaining his dear-most cows. Through such service you exemplified what is most dear to the Lord as explained in the following verse from the Visnu Purana:
namo brahmanya-devaya
go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya
govindaya namo namah
“My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the benefactor of the entire human society.” ( Visnu Purana 1.19.65 )
In this connection, Srila Prabhupada writes:
“Without protection of cows, brahminical culture cannot be maintained, and without brahminical culture the aim of life cannot be fulfilled.”
[ Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.24.5 Purport ]
Thank you for being the perfect example of fulfilling this purport written by our spiritual master.
As a vaisnava, you illuminated this world of darkness by sharing transcendental knowledge and rendering service to the sacred cow. Thus, unbeknownst to most people, the world became a little darker the day before yesterday because the light of your seva was extinguished.
But our loss was others’ gain, for upon your demise you were no doubt greeted by joyful devotees eager to have your association on your next assignment in service to our beloved lord and master, Srila Prabhupada, be it in this world or the world of transcendence. Either way, you are blessed. When our godbrother Visnujana Maharaja passed away early in his devotional life, HH Tamal Krsna Goswami asked Srila Prabhupada where he was and how he was doing. Srila Prabhupada sat back and smiled. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he is doing very nicely.”
The many devotees who loved and appreciated you may lament they didn’t have the opportunity to be with you at the time of your death. Leaving this body is never easy and can be a great challenge. But as devotees we have no need to worry. Once Ramanujacarya asked the famous Ranganatha deity, “My Lord, what happens if Your devotee cannot remember You at the moment of death?”
Lord Ranganatha replied, “If My devotee cannot remember Me at the moment of death then I shall remember My devotee!”.
No doubt the Lord remembered you, surrounded as you were by so many cows. And we will also remember you. You were a pioneer in the history of the Australian yatra. We should remember and discuss your sustained service for many years to come, lest we forget.
Though you are no longer amongst us I know this message will reach you through the transcendental medium of our guru parampara. We wish you well on your path back to the spiritual world. And if you have attained that goal please look down lovingly upon those of us who remain behind. In reality we are the ones to be lamented, for we remain within this world of birth and death, whereas you are now safely on the other shore by the side of Srila Prabhupada, serving him to your heart’s content.
Your servant,
Indradyumna Swami
Gita verse-by-verse Podcast
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Lord Nityananda is the eternal associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rarely is the name Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) taken without that of Nitai (Lord Nityananda).
Mahaprabhu cannot be approached or understood without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, who is the guru of all the universes and serves as an intermediary between Mahaprabhu and His Devotees.
He is the Lord’s active principle in both creation and lila. He is the second body of the Lord, manifesting as Balarama to Sri Krsna, Laksman to Sri Rama and Nityananda Prabhu to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All other forms and expansions of the Lord emanate from this second body.
Harinam Sankirtan in Melbourne, Australia (Album with photos)
Told by Hari Sauri Dasa From a 1991 BTG In February 1976. Srila Prabhupada was in Mayapur, having arrived a few weeks prior to the Gaura Purnima festival. As per his usual schedule, every day he took his massage in the late morning on the balcony outside his room. One morning, as he sat on a straw mat on the sunlit veranda ready to begin, he drew my attention to some sparrows making a nest. The site they had chosen was a hole in the wall behind the electrical circuit box just outside Srila Prabhupada’s sitting-room window. He said they had been disturbing him at night while he was translating his books. So before the birds could build a complete nest and settle in, I removed the bits of straw they had gathered. But as I began the massage, one of the birds returned and began to rebuild, flying back and forth with small pieces of straw. I crumpled some paper and stuffed it into the hole to block it. So when the sparrow came back and found its access barred, it pecked, undaunted, at the paper for almost half an hour, trying to open the hole to continue its home-making. When the bird found this too difficult, it flew off and returned with its mate, and together they worked hard to remove the paper. Eventually they succeeded. By pecking and tugging in unison, they removed the paper and began to build again. All the while, Srila Prabhupada watched without comment. When the birds flew away to get more straw, I again filled the hole with the paper, forcing it in tight so that the sparrows couldn’t remove it. Again the sparrows spent a long time trying, but this time they were unsuccessful. Eventually they accepted defeat, gave up, and left. Srila Prabhupada then drew an interesting parallel. Even though the birds had eyes, he told me, they could not see. They were trying so hard to build their house, but they couldn’t see that the person who had prevented them stood nearby watching. So they continued on in ignorance, trying to make adjustments and struggling against the superior arrangement. In the same way, he said, materialistic persons, though having eyes, could not see how maya, the material energy, was supervising all their efforts. They simply struggled on, making adjustments, hoping to improve their life and secure their place in the material world, not understanding that maya was watching their every move and defeating them at every step.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Rs99bq
To kick off the World Holy Name Week, ISKCON of Houston, Texas, USA, has announced the launch of Kirtan Fest 2017 this upcoming Labor Day weekend (Sat-Mon Sept. 2nd - 4th) at ISKCON’s fabulous new state-of-the-art Houston, Texas temple. This inaugural festival will kick off what will be an exciting, on-going flagship event every year.
New Vrindaban is set to host the second annual ISKCON North America Farm Conference from October 13th to 15th this year. The GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture, which organized conferences on simple living in four continents last year, is behind the event. The conference, themed “Back to the Basics,” will be facilitated by ECO-Vrindaban and ISKCON New Vrindaban. Representatives from thirty farming efforts all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be invited.
Win - Win Situation (Distributing Foreign Books) (Album with photos)
Satyanarayan Das, Trustee for BBT Far East / Middle East: This foreign book distribution adventure is exciting and profoundly blissful – from beginning to end!
It begins with these beautiful books being displayed and distributed in a most wonderfully attractive way.
A divine combination of (1) a book table with a Yoga/Meditation sign that attracts people from 200 feet away, (2) transcendental books with amazing culturally-focused designs, (3) proven and super-successful selling methods developed and demonstrated here by Jaya Chaitanya Prabhu, North America’s #1 book distributor, and (4) with all of this happening in the absolute perfect venues which packed with the ripest fruit: at the universities, tourist places and on Harinama parties.
And it ends with 100’s upon hundreds of blissful foreign students, tourists and foreign communities taking multiple foreign language books Plus local language books on the spot… and THEN taking those same books back home with them to their own home countries in the Middle East and Far East!
Helping to change the consciousness of the most difficult parts of this planet – as one little side benefit!
Maharajas… Prabhus… Matajis… What could possibly be more Win-Win-Win than this?!?
You’ve got to join in and experience this incredible bliss with us. It’s all here. These divine books, this very special training, the precise methods and the exact places to experience this same ecstasy have all been described, and further, we are here to help you with everything…
Come on everyone… Just jump in! The water’s fine!!! :))
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Ez0Xf9
Nityananda Trayodasi celebration at ISKCON Salem (Album with photos)
Tamala Krsna Goswami: If someone wants to understand what Srila Prabhupad was like, he should read about Krsna’s intimate devotees and associates in transcendental books like Nectar of Devotion and Krsna. Actually, Srila Prabhupad manifested all the qualities of the eternal associates of Krsna. His humor was completely sublime, his compassion was sublime and transcendental. Courage, competitiveness–all the qualities we read about in Krsna and Nectar of Devotion were manifested in Srila Prabhupad. He was the living embodiment of Krsna-Krsna’s representative. We learned about Krsna by seeing Srila Prabhupad. And we learned to believe in Krsna by seeing Prabhupada, because we could see that here was a person who had actually come from the spiritual world to be among us. So “beautiful devotee” means that he was a pure devotee of Lord Krsna, with all transcendental, beautiful qualities. Srila Prabhupad called a chapter of one of his books “Wonderful Krsna.” And Srila Prabhupad was Krsna’s representative–so, “wonderful Prabhupada.” Everything he did was wonderful. Everything. All the qualities possessed by the greatest personalities were present in Srila Prabhupad to a wonderful degree. From a 1978 BTG
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By Yogeshvara Dasa As visitors to India travel north by car from Kolkata, the landscape gradually shifts from urban sprawl to pastoral farmland. High-rise housing and industrial construction sites give way to a flat horizon of villages and rice paddies. Four hours and eighty miles later, visitors enter the district of Mayapur on the banks of the Ganges River, at the point of its confluence with the Jalangi. Here at Mayapur, in the early sixteenth century, Lord Krishna in His form as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu popularized the public chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare as the means for achieving realization of God in the current age. Continue reading "The Unseen Universe
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By Srutadeva das The kirtana was uproarious as Prabhupada entered the airport with the devotees. He was leaving New York after their first, wonderful Ratha-yatra (July 1976). The kirtana grew more intense as he went through the security check. Hari Sauri, Guru dasa, and I followed behind. In the waiting lounge, Srila Prabhupada took a seat and kindly motioned for Guru dasa to sit next to him. A well-dressed man seated on Prabhupada's other side, noticing that there were others with Srila Prabhupada, very politely moved to another seat. Prabhupada again very kindly offered us a seat, this time motioning toward me and Hari Sauri. I gently nudged Hari Sauri toward the seat. He graciously offered it back to me. After all, he was Prabhupada's personal servant; I nudged him again. He very kindly again offered it back to me. I couldn't resist. I sat down next to Srila Prabhupada. He looked very grave, almost sad. Perhaps he knew that this had been his last trip to America. His eyes were overflowing with tears of ecstatic love as he sat silently absorbed in his own transcendental thoughts. Continue reading "A remembrance
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By Sri Radharamana dasa If money is the means, then what is the goal? Over 2,300 people around the world tuned in Live where 200 selected local industrialists and leaders gathered in the heart of Cape Town to hear from an ISKCON Swami and celebrity banker on this topic. With admission by invite-only, individuals considered cream-of-the-crop in the South African white community made up 80% of the gathering. The Provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities in the Cape Town government, Mr Alan Winde, joined the assembly along with his wife. His Excellency Mr Puneet Kundal, the High Commissioner of India in Cape Town also graced the occasion. Continue reading "ISKCON Introduces Corporate Spirituality in Cape Town
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Anwser Podcast
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Anwser Podcast
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Anwser Podcast
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Anwser Podcast
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[Nityananda Trayodashi class at ISKCON, Nasik]
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[Gitamrita class at ISKCON, Nasik]
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“Невзирая на риск быть оскорбленным, Нитьянанда Прабху приблизился к Джагаю и Мадхаю и конечно же освободил их. Мир полон Джагаями и Мадхаями – пьяницами, охотниками за женщинами, мясоедами и картежниками – и мы должны будем приближаться к ним, рискуя получить в награду оскорбление, травму или еще что-нибудь эдакое. Сталкиваться с превратностями жизни и терпеть результаты действий считается величайшей аскезой, епитимьей в деле духовного продвижения общества”.
[ письмо Шрилы Прабхупады от 27 января 1970 ]
Gita verse-by-verse Podcast
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 February 2016, Durban, South Africa, Nityananda’s Appearance Day Lecture)
Caitanya Caritamrta describes how the happiness of Lord Nityananda is so overwhelming and so intoxicating that he becomes drunk. He is drunk by that happiness, and one knows well that a drunk man cannot see clearly. So in this case, Lord Nityananda does not see clearly who is fallen and who is not fallen! It is too complicated. He gives mercy to everyone. He does not select anymore. It is Lord Nityananda who does not select, who just gives out the mercy regardless, due to his intoxicated state of ecstasy. Therefore Lord Nityananda is the most merciful.
Radhadesh (Belgium): Nityananda Trayodasi & 40 Years Installation of Sri Radha Gopinath (Album with photos)
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By Vijaya Dasa After losing the No. 1 position to Mayapur for a couple of years, New Delhi again is the No. 1 temple worldwide, with 1,050,559 book points in 2016. There is always a close transcendental competition between Russia and the USA. Well, in 2016 the USA finally conquered Russia after a decade of close competitions. 2016 was particularly close: the USA won by just 1,526 book points. The USA did 752,972 points; Russia 751,446. Nepal did really well for the year, with a 19% increase: 97,503 book points. We're raising donations for a new bus to hold the many sankirtan devotees in Kathmandu. They're inspired to give the Nepalese mercy in the form of Srila Prabhupada's books. If you want to help, please contact me. Continue reading "WSN December 2016 – World Sankirtan Newsletter – Delhi the No. 1 temple worldwide. USA conquers Russia after a decade
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A video and music by Dr. Sahadeva Dasa.
A video by Vrishabhanu das.
A video by Ananta Vrindavan.
Chant Anyway!
Your mind is wandering all over the universe when you chant. Chant anyway! Your mind is wandering to the past and future when you chant. Chant anyway! You are not able to concentrate on Krishnas names while you chant. Chant anyway! You have no taste for chanting. Chant anyway! You have lusty desires. Chant anyway! You are making offenses in chanting. Chant anyway! You are not praying to Krishna to help you chant better. Chant anyway! You often chant late at night. Chant anyway! So WHY? Why should you chant despite all the above obstacles? This is why: There is no vow like chanting the holy name, no knowledge superior to it, no meditation which comes anywhere near it, and it gives the highest result. No penance is equal to it, and nothing is as potent or powerful as the holy name. Chanting is the greatest act of piety and the supreme refuge. Even the words of the Vedas do not possess sufficient power to describe its magnitude. Chanting is the highest path to liberation, peace and eternal life. Its the pinnacle of devotion, the hearts joyous proclivity and attraction and the best form of remembrance of the Supreme Lord. The holy name has appeared solely for the benefit of the living entities as their lord and master, their supreme worshipful object and their spiritual guide and mentor. Whoever continuously chants Lord Krishnas holy name, even in his sleep, can easily realize that the name is a direct manifestation of Krishna Himself, in spite of the influences of Kali-yuga. Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati (quoted from Adi Purana) From the Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 1 By Krishna-kripa das Read more: https://goo.gl/o8MwhM