Midsummer at Stonehenge 2023
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Sakshi Gopal das There were pagans and potheads and Indian chiefs There were druids and hippies and mounted police There were drinkers and smokers and drummers galore Who played on through the night ’til their fingers were sore There was dancing, while some stood around on the grass Some huddled in blankets, some sat on
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Vanipedia Expands with New Vani-Village Project in Belgium
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In a recent interview, Visnu Murti Das, the driving force behind Vanipedia, shared an inspiring vision for the online platform and the new BLS Vani-Village project in Radhadesh – Belgium. With a passionate call for dedicated devotees, talented writers, and researchers to assist the platform, Vanipedia is poised to become a beacon of knowledge and […]

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Srila Prabhupada and Rupa Gosvami’s Mercy
Giriraj Swami

Sripada Hrdayananda Babaji Maharaja was born in Radha-kunda and has been a pujari for 78 years. He lives next to the Radha-Damodar Temple. When, at the beginning of an interview, Babaji Maharaja was asked if he knew Srila Prabhupada, he began to cry. He said, “Never have I seen anyone do sadhana as he did. I have lived all my life in Vraja, and I have never seen anyone like him. Prabhupada did many arduous things. He worked very hard there at the Radha-Damodar Temple. At that time it was austere, undeveloped, and very muddy and dirty, with no facilities.

“Many years later, when I heard that it was actually he who had been chosen by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to spread the Hare Krishna maha-mantra around the world, I was not surprised. Prabhupada spread this Krishna consciousness by the mercy of Rupa Gosvami. Prabhupada used to pray to Rupa Gosvami, ‘You please give me your mercy.’ And then he got that mercy. I know this because I saw some things he did at the Radha-Damodar Temple. My room is still located in the same place as it was then, in 1964 or ’65. Many times in the middle of the night, at midnight or 1 or 2 in the morning, I would hear a voice crying from inside the courtyard near Rupa Gosvami’s samadhi-mandir. That voice was calling out and crying, but I did not know what it was, because I was trying to take rest. But one night, on the full moon, I heard that voice again, so I climbed up to the roof of our house and looked down into the Radha-Damodar courtyard. I saw something very amazing. Srila Prabhupada was sweeping the courtyard of Rupa Gosvami’s samadhi. He was bending down with a small broom, and as he swept the ground by the samadhi, he was crying out, ‘He Rupa! He Sanatana! He Gurudeva! Please give me your mercy. Without your mercy, I cannot do anything. Give me the mercy. Give me the strength that I may fulfill your orders.’ Then I realized that it was he who almost every night was calling out as he was sweeping like this.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

BRC Displays Priceless Treasures to Visitors at Kolkata Ratha Yatra
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The Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) displayed priceless treasures from their library collection at the 52nd Kolkata Rath Yatra festival held June 20-28th. The Kolkata Rath Yatra is a grand chariot festival celebrated in West Bengal, India. The annual event is organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and welcomes thousands annually. The booth […]

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Bomb Strikes Kherson Temple in Ukraine, Devotees Vow to Remain and Serve
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Nama Kripa Das preparing prasada in an abandoned swimming pool. In June, ISKCON News reported on devotees returning to survey the ISKCON Kherson Temple in Ukraine, which was severely damaged during the ongoing conflict there. Bhakta Max, a native of Kherson, had moved back into the building to remove debris and begin the restoration process. […]

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ISKCON Official Invited by US Government to Participate in Renowned Leadership Program
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Yudhistir Govinda Das with Mark Rozell, Dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Yudhistir Govinda Das, Director of Communications at ISKCON India, recently was awarded the designation of Fellow in the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), administered by the United States government. Spanning across notable cities such as […]

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In Honor of ISKCON’s Incorporation
Giriraj Swami

Srila Prabhupada incorporated ISKCON’s on July 13, 1966, in New York City, which corresponds to today on the Vaishnava calendar. One exchange between him and Bhavananda indicates some of the significance of the occasion:

Bhavananda: In Svarup Ganj there’s one big astrologer. So, he saw your photograph, and he said, “This is the face of the most powerful spiritual personality on the planet.”

Prabhupada: [laughs] Hare Krishna.

Brahmananda: Then what else?

Bhavananda: Then he said that “I can tell from his face that he can make a house in which the whole world can live peacefully.”

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupada!

Prabhupada: At least I desire so.

(Morning Walk, July 1, 1975, Denver)

 

The following are excerpts from the certificate of incorporation:

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, INC.
(Pursuant to the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York)

We, the undersigned, for the purpose of forming a corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York, do hereby make, subscribe and acknowledge this certificate as follows:

FIRST: The name of the corporation shall be INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, INC.

SECOND: The purposes for which the corporation is organized are:

(a) To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

(b) To propagate a consciousness of Krishna as it is revealed in the Bhagawat Gita and Srimad Bhagawatam.

(c) To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, and thus to develop the idea, within the members, and humanity, at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).

(d) To teach and encourage the Samkirtan movement congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

(e) To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.

(f) To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.

(g) With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings. . . .

IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have made, subscribed, and acknowledged this certificate of incorporation this 13th day of July, 1966.

[signed:] A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Carol Bekar, Raymond Marais