Gita 11.49 If we maintain a service disposition, Krishna will reveal a conducive vision
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Gita verse-by-verse Podcast


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Meeting Krsna
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 June 2009, Japa Talks)

 “This chanting should go on. Instead of meetings, resolutions, dissolutions, revolutions and then no solutions, there should be chanting.” His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, from Lilamrita, Volume 6, Page 182

I wonder how much time of my life has been spent in meetings. But then again, together we can make a difference, what can I do alone? And then there are personal matters that cannot always be ignored. Yesterday I was thinking of going early to bed and then rising early. But last night, someone came and needed to talk. It was important to him and he is important to me. So what to do, I had to sacrifice my early morning and with it, so many extra rounds that I had been planning to chant. That is what it means to have relationships, it is a matter of giving and taking. The bhajanandi (the devotee who practices solitary devotional service) makes all the time in the world for his chanting, what else is there to do. A ghostyanandi would like to do the same but cannot always because he gives himself to others in preaching Krsna consciousness.

Prithu Prabhu likes to talk about yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa (CC Madhya 7.128), whomever you meet tell them about Krsna. The other day, he said, “We would only think about making devotees. We were always looking if someone could maybe become a devotee and we were making devotees.” And he did make so many nice devotees.

How many of us really have the time to regularly chant 64 rounds? I like the program of rising at 1:30 am, taking bath and just chanting. Then I can 64 rounds before 10 am but then I would miss mangala arati, guru puja and class. Sometimes I want to hang a sign on the door, “Do Not Disturb! Important meeting in progress,” and inside the room I will be trying to meet Krsna by chanting his holy names. Sometimes I want to be alone and other times I want to go on harinama or be at Ratha Yatra. Preaching gives life to our japa…

Remedy for Envy
Giriraj Swami

In the morning I have beeBCS and GRSn listening to Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful talks on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta given in Juhu in November 1975, and today I was struck by his explanation of how we can feel fellowship with each other—free from envy:

“So if we accept this philosophy, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s, without falsely declaring ourself that ‘I am equal to God’ or ‘I am God,’ if you simply accept that jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya dasa’ [Cc Madhya 20.108], that we are eternally servant of Krishna, and act like that . . . Servant of Krishna means he must be always engaged in the service of Krishna. This is called bhakti.

sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
[SB 7.5.23]

This is our position. And if we understand that all of us, we are servant of Krishna—you are servant of Krishna, I am servant of Krishna, he is servant of Krishna—then we can understand our position is one. That is oneness—we are all servants. So there is no question of my becoming envious of you or your becoming envious of me. We are all servants of God, so we have to execute the orders of God. That is servant’s business.”

Hare Krishna.

—Giriraj Swami

I was initiated earlier by a priest – how do I see it when seeking initation from a Vaishnava guru?
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Answer Podcast


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Is speaking about krishna-bhakti to relatives who may be faithless an offense to the holy name?
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Answer Podcast


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The Hare Krsna Mantra
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By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

The arduous sea voyage from Calcutta to Boston was finally over. The lone passenger aboard the cargo ship Jaladuta, a seventy-year-old Indian holy man, had been given free passage by the owner of the Scindia Steamship Company. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived at Commonwealth Pier on September 17, 1965. For thousands of years krsna-bhakti, love of Krsna, had been known only in India, but now, on the order of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada had come to awaken the natural, dormant Krsna consciousness of the American people. On his arrival day onboard the Jaladuta, he wrote in his diary the following words: Absorbed in material life, they [Americans] think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva [Krsna].... But I know that Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic ... How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? ... O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.... I am seeking Your benediction ... I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna.... Continue reading "The Hare Krsna Mantra
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Meeting Srila Prabhupada
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Hare Krishna By Sivarama Swami

I first met my spiritual master on March 6th 1975 in Dallas Texas. Srila Prabhupada had just been in South America and had toured the Southern United States. I was on travelling book distribution with a sankirtan party and had strayed quite a distance from Montreal my home base. While reporting to the temple president about our scores, we were informed that Srila Prabhupada was flying from Atlanta to Dallas the next day and would be there for some time. We immediately drove west to see with the idea to meet Prabhupada at the airport. By the time we arrived both Prabhupada and his reception of devotees had left. All that remained was a trail of flower petals through the airport. Disappointed we sped to the temple, but by the time we arrived, gurupuja was over and Srila Prabhupada was finishing his talk. I came in the temple room, offered obeisances and saw my spiritual master for the first time. For almost five years I had seen and known Prabhupada visually from photos. His pictures were on the altar, vyasasana, books, magazines, framed on temple walls, in fact everywhere. Continue reading "Meeting Srila Prabhupada
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Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami Appearance Day observed at…
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Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami Appearance Day observed at ISKCON-Delhi: 17-01-2017 (Album with photos)
Shrila Gopal Bhatta Goswami appeared in 1500 AD (though, according to some authorities, he was born in 1503) as the son of Venkata Bhatta in the town of Shrirangam in South India. Their residence was in a village not far from Shrirangam called Belagundi.
According to Narahari in the Bhakti-ratnakara, Shrila Gopal Bhatta Goswami was given a vision in a dream by Mahaprabhu in which he was fortunate enough to witness all the Lord’s Navadwip pastimes. An eternal associate of Krishna, he appeared in a faraway place in order to participate in Lord Gauranga’s pastimes. Even so, he was able to know long before he even saw him that the Lord had appeared and taken sannyas. Gopal Bhatta did not particularly like the Lord’s appearance as a sannyasi. He was distressed and crying alone when the Lord appeared to him and gave him the dream vision of his Navadwip lila. In this vision, the Lord was overwhelmed by ecstatic love, embraced him and drenched him in his tears.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tQCoZM

Second Call for Homages for Srila Prabhupada’s 2017 Vyasa Puja Book
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Hare KrishnaBy Dravida dasa

*Absolutely no offerings will be accepted after April 15, 2017.* Offerings must be in English. Please restrict the length to a maximum of 3,000 words. Please omit all diacritics on words that can be found in the VedaBase. It’s easier for us to put them in. If you quote a verse from outside the VedaBase or compose original Sanskrit, please include diacritics. Do not "recycle" an offering — no offerings from previous years will be accepted. The Vyasa-puja book is meant for glorifying Srila Prabhupada, not venting grievances. The BBT reserves the right to reject an offering it deems inappropriate or to ask for a rewrite. When writing an offering on behalf of a temple or other unit, please try to write in such a way that the other devotees in your unit can also identify with the offering. Who may write an offering? Continue reading "Second Call for Homages for Srila Prabhupada’s 2017 Vyasa Puja Book
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Gita 11.48 Pious action doesn’t qualify us for devotional vision
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Gita verse-by-verse Podcast


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Perfect arrangements
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Untitled Lecture)

Krsna knows what is best for us! Thus a devotee who is intelligent will rely on Krsna. If one desires a wife then Krsna will send someone or maybe he will not. If he does not send one then so be it; what is the point in looking – looking everywhere… maybe this one… or maybe that one… and in the meanwhile just becoming totally obsessed with such mundane things without remembering Krsna. Our business is to remember Krsna and trust that Krsna will make arrangements for us.

Gopal Bhatta Goswami Appearance
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Shri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan, was born in 1503. He lived for 75 years and left this world to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord in 1578.

He was the son of Vyenkatta Bhatta, a brahmana resident of Shri Rangam in South India, who was initiated in the Shri Sampradaya tradition.

During his travels in southern India, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at Vyenkatta Bhatta’s home. At that time Gopal was just a young boy. Both father and son became Gaudiya Vaisnavas, followers of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Gopal Bhatta Goswami later established the Radha-Ramana temple in Vrndavan after one of the twelve shilas he brought back from the Gandaki River, manifested Himself as a fully-fledged Krsna deity.

Srila Prabhupada Accepted me as His Disciple. Deena Bandhu Das:…
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Srila Prabhupada Accepted me as His Disciple.
Deena Bandhu Das: His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada gave me initiation in the old La Cienaga Temple in LA on the fourth day of the dark half of the month of Magh, which was 25th January, 1970. I remember it was one of the last ceremonies where Srila Prabhupada did everything. He chanted on the beads, did the yajna, and gave the lecture. After this time, Srila Prabhupada would chant on the beads in his room and someone else did the fire sacrifice. This time Srila Prabhupda came down off his Vyasanana, sat on a cushion in front of the yajna kunda and chanted on the beads in front of everyone. There was about 10 of us, so it took a long time. At the end of each round, he then asked the regs, and how many rounds to the person who handed him the beads. When he got to me, I remember, those old natural wood beads from Tandy Leather Co. (didn’t have Tulasi in those days, we strung our own) looking like a string of pearls in his lotus hands! Then he asked me the regs and I rattled off, “16 rounds. No meat eating, no illicit sex, no gambling….” My mind just went blank and I couldn’t think…I froze. Somewhere behind me, some brahmacarini was whispering over and over, no drugs! “Oh, and no intoxication.” He said, “Yes, no LSD!” and broke out into one of those smiles where a thousand suns rise in the sky, completely delighted with his own sense of humor. Then he handed me the beads, and said, “So your name is Dina Bandhu, friend of the humble.” I didn’t quite hear and he must have seen it in my face, so he repeated it and added, “Is it alright?” with a big smile.

Loving relationships with devotees
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Hare KrishnaBy Varshana Swami

This was just unacceptable that Srila Prabhupada could not show his love by not handing out cookies in gurupuja. So Radhanath Swami very quickly took the Deities’ plates with the offerings from mangala arati and tried to offer these to Srila Prabhupada as mahaprasadam. But the secretary said, “No you can’t offer this to Srila Prabhupada.” Then Maharaja snuck around the other side where there was a more lenient servant and placed the tray there. Then Srila Prabhupada, like a little child, he had very small silver spoons, began distributing prasadam to the devotees as they lined up. He gave spoonfuls of sweet rice and other preparations that Srila Prabhupada would taste and then distribute to the devotee. When Srila Prabhupada came to the gulabjamun, he bit into one and it popped and the juice sprayed all over the devotees. When he sampled the second one the same event repeated itself. The devotees were so ecstatic, and Srila Prabhupada was beaming like a little child as he was spoon feeding. Continue reading "Loving relationships with devotees
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Reasons We Blame or Criticize Others
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma das

You feel entitled to special treatment or status, and when you don’t get it you become critical of those who should give it (or who should arrange for it to be given). You have a strong need to be right which manifests as a strong need to make others wrong. You are trying to get attention or communicate your feelings but you lack the proper skills to do this, and thus the only way to get attention is through criticism. You are an expert in a specific area(s) and therefore criticize or condemn others for their ignorance or inability. When you are misunderstood, your frustration manifests as criticism of other’s lack of ability or intelligence to understand you. You feel rejected by someone through their words or behavior and you condemn them for rejecting you. Continue reading "Reasons We Blame or Criticize Others
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Happiness in Devotional Service
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Swamii

Here are some of the following few ways to practically apply and understand whether the happiness experienced is for own satisfaction or for the satisfaction of the Lord: 1. We can check our internal consciousness when we experience happiness (i.e. introspect). Ask yourself “Is this experience based on a selfish motivation, e.g. derived from an activity that we love to do, or perhaps an activity which will put us in the forefront, making us more noticeable thus helping us to gain appreciation from others?” Continue reading "Happiness in Devotional Service
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Is God a Man?
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Our concept of male and female is limited to our experience of male and female. We have only experienced incomplete, flawed males and females. Therefore to say that God is either male or female is seriously problematic, because it implies to our minds that God is like something flawed. On the other hand, to say God is neither male nor female also leaves us feeling blank, because we cannot comprehend such a thing.

Śāstra makes all such statements. In some places it describes divinity as female; in some places, as male; in some places, as both; in some places, as neither.

But by sādhana (deep contemplation with mantra practice) we can gradually perceive the actual truth in all these statements.

God is both male and female, because God is everything. Yet, God is neither a male nor a female because God has no flaws or limitations. So, God is the manifestation of an unlimited entity, which is both perfectly male and perfectly female.

This is why we don’t depict or conceive of Śakti (perfect femininity) without Śaktiman (perfect masculinity), nor Śaktiman without Śakti. 

In short, Krishna in Vṛndāvana surrounded by his gopīs, headed by Rādhā is our conception of God. He does not exist without the gopī saturated Vṛndāvana. Bhāgavatam says dhāmna svenda sadā — He exists only in his dhāma. 

And even in Krishna himself, you find a peacock of a hero. 

And even in Rādhā herself, you find a brave hero of a woman.

And you will not find one without the other.

Vraja Kishor


Tagged: female, goddess, male

Gita 11.47 The vision of the universal form, even its destructive feature, is a rare favor
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Gita verse-by-verse Podcast


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Eager for mercy
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 December 2016, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.26.46)

In deity worship, everything is prescribed from beginning to end e.g. one cannot chastise someone in front of the deity, one cannot cry in front of the deity except for tears of ecstasy, one should not eat in front of the deity except pure maha prasadam which should be honoured immediately because that is mercy and the nature of mercy is such that if we don’t take it straightaway, it may disappear!

Therefore when mercy comes, take it without delay! Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was woken up by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Straight from bed, Mahaprabhu gave him prasad of Jagannatha and he took it without brushing his teeth or anything… Maha prasadam is to be taken without delay!

We remember that in the early days of Iskcon, Brahmananda and Tamal Krsna Maharaj were seated next to each other at the time of taking prasad. Prabhupada had given a very big simply wonderful to Tamal Krsna Maharaj and Tamal Krsna Maharaj was saving it for the end of the meal. Brahmananda saw that simply wonderful and suddenly just grabbed it and swallowed it! Tamal Krsna Maharaj said to Prabhupada, “But… He just…” and Prabhupada just said, “That’s the nature of mercy!” If you don’t take it straightaway, it may disappear!

In this way, we can appreciate that we must be eager and awake. A vaisnava has a radar to detect mercy – always scanning everywhere and when we see it, we take it. And not only edible mercy but mercy in any form.

Once I did a study on mercy and I found throughout the Bhagavatam different words are used for mercy – sometimes daya, sometimes kripa, sometimes anukampa. But in the tenth canto, when it comes to Vrindavan and the transcendental situation of the eternal residents of Vrindavan, there is only one word for mercy: PRASAD! They see everything as prasad, as coming from Krsna and they are always looking for Krsna’s mercy.

But we are dull, Prabhupada often said that we are dull and not sensitive to the mercy; we are just not seeing it! Krsna is here in so many ways, right here in the material world – this is the amazing thing. The spiritual world is right here.

The Divinity of Sri Caitanya
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Swami

The reason why Lord Caitanya's identity is concealed is stated within the Bhagavatam itself: the incarnation for this age does not directly assert Himself to be the Personality of Godhead. Prahlada Maharaja states this in Bhagavatam (7.9.38): "According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas." It is by His own desire that the Lord chooses to appear as a 'channa-avatara' or 'gupta-avatara' (hidden incarnation). Through one action the Lord accomplishes many purposes; one of the external reasons for His maintaining His identity discrete is understood thus: Lord Caitanya appears in the mood of a devotee to teach by example the process of devotional service. Continue reading "The Divinity of Sri Caitanya
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Attaining Krishna’s Abode
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Hare KrishnaBy His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Krishna's abode in the transcendental kingdom is called Goloka Vrindavana. The city in India named Vrindavan, where I have come from, is called Bhauma Vrindavan, which means the same Goloka Vrindavana descended to earth. Just as Krishna descends to earth out of His own internal potency, His dhama, or His abode—Vrindavana dhama—also descends. Continue reading "Attaining Krishna’s Abode
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“Indian day” class
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“Indian day” class.
Kamalini Dasi Darling: This picture is in the Emerson Waldorf School Calendar (in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US). In the 5th grade they learn about India, so every year they have us come to teach a class. They all dress up and wear tilak and we tell Krishna pastimes and have a Kirtan.