His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Appearance Day Lecture, London, September 23, 1969

So Bhaktivinoda Thakura is an ideal guru. He was not a sannyasi; he was grhastha, householder, living with family, wife, children. Still, he was guru. So anyone can become guru. Not that a sannyasi can become guru. A householder also can become guru, provided he knows the science. So today is a very auspicious day, Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s birthday. Here is the picture of Thakura Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda. He was one of the acaryas of this disciplic succession from Krsna. We have got ...Read More

Krishna Consciousness–The Yoga for the Modern Age

Nowadays, we find yoga being taught in numerous courses and touted in mass-market books as a means to achieve health, lose weight, develop mental powers over others, achieve success in making money, or increase sexual potency. But real yoga is something entirely different. All glories to the sankirtana movement. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when He was only a sixteen-year-old boy, introduced this sankirtana movement five hundred years ago in Navadvipa, India. It was not that He manufactured some religious ...Read More

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare…

Once you’ve hear it you’ll never forget it. You may not know what the words mean–nevertheless there’s something captivating about the Hare Krishna chant. Is it the catchy tune or the fascinating way in which the words are repeated and reversed? People who chant Hare Krishna say both contribute to its appeal. But they know that the secret of the chant’s attraction is the quality of the sound itself. Anyone can take three words and make a song out of ...Read More

During His Whole Life Lord Caitanya Induced People to Chant Hare Krishna

At His birth, in His childhood and in His early and later boyhood, as well as in His youth, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, under different pleas, induced people to chant the holy name of Hari [the Hare Krsna maha-mantra]. In His childhood, when the Lord was crying He would stop immediately upon hearing the holy names Krsna and Hari. During His pauganda age He became a serious student and also taught disciples. In this way He used to explain the holy name ...Read More

Seeing The Supreme Lord

Once, Sri Madhavendra Puri travelled to Vrndavana, the holy place where Lord Krishna spent His childhood. There he came upon the hill known as Govardhana. This hill was very important to Krishna and the cowherd boys because it provided such nice grass for their cows. When Madhavendra Puri saw Govardhana hill it reminded him of Krishna and His pastimes and he became almost mad in his ecstasy of love of Godhead, and he did not know whether it was day ...Read More

Vishnujana Swami: Chanting Hare Krishna on the Street 8-10 Hours DAILY!

In the early days sankirtan [chanting Hare Krishna and distributing books in public] is everybody’s prime function. All the devotees are inspired by Vishnujana’s love and dedication to sankirtan. After lunch prasadam he takes out the sankirtan party. Everyone enthusiastically crowds into the van for the drive to downtown LA in front of Bullock’s Department Store at Seventh and Broadway. The area is dirty and congested and not a very nice place to go, but it’s where almost every other religious ...Read More

The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu washed and cleansed the Gundica temple with His devotees and associates. In this way He made the temple as cool and bright as His own heart, and thus He made the place befitting for Lord Sri Krsna to sit. The Gundica temple is situated two miles northeast of the Jagannatha temple. At the time of the Ratha-yatra festival, Lord Jagannatha goes to the Gundica temple from His original temple and stays there for one week. After one week, ...Read More

When The Universe Was Dark

Many of us appreciate the beauty of nature, we are interested to hear of the wonderful and amazing creatures living in the tropical rain-forests, in the depths of the ocean and even in outer-space. We feel if these natural places are spoiled or destroyed as a by-product of industry it will be a great loss for us and future generations. We feel if these natural places are spoiled or destroyed as a by-product of industry then it will be a great ...Read More

Maintaining the Routine Work

This routine work, such as chanting, speaking, rising early, cleaning, cooking and offering prasadam, arati, reading books–these activities are the backbone of our Society, and if we practice them nicely in a regulative manner, then our whole program will be successful. If we become slack or neglect these things, then everything else we may try will fail. Delhi, 8 December, 1971 My Dear Patita Uddharana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of November 24, 1971, ...Read More

Throughway to Happiness

Every one of us is searching after happiness, but we do not know what real happiness is. We see so much advertised about happiness, but practically speaking we see so few happy people. This is because so few people know that the platform of real happiness is beyond temporary things. It is this real happiness that is described in Bhagavad-gita by Lord Krsna to Arjuna. Happiness is generally perceived through our senses. A stone, for instance, has no senses ...Read More

Ideal Householder Life–Better than Many Sannyasis

I am so pleased upon you that you are showing the example of an ideal householder. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura was also a householder, but he lived in so perfect Krishna Consciousness that he is better than many Sannyasis like us. Montreal, 30 August, 1968 My Dear Rupanuga, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated August 24, 1968, with 2 pictures, photographs of our temple in Buffalo. You have written to say that Buffalo is doing ...Read More

Reading Srila Prabhupada’s Books

I am requesting all of my students to read my books very seriously every day without fail. In this way, if your mind becomes absorbed at least one or two hours daily… Los Angeles 13 June, 1972 New York My Dear Bhargava, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated May 31, 1972, and I have noted the contents. Our advancement in Krishna Consciousness is made possible in two ways, by Knowledge and renunciation, jnana and tyaga ...Read More

Perfect Communism

Your great founder of your nation, Mr. Nikolai Lenin, was very much intelligent, and he could understand that people become united only under the guiding principles of a commonly accepted philosophy or standard of truth. But if we examine the course of history, we must conclude, with Mr. Karl Marx, that this so-called standard of truth constantly changes. Los Angeles 7 June, 1972 Secretary to Minister of Education and Culture Government of the U.S.S.R. Moscow Dear sir; With reference to an ...Read More

George Harrison’s Assistance in Printing Krsna Book

Sriman George Harrison has certainly done an unique service by contributing $19,000 for publishing my Krsna book. When I was in London, he saw me four times and he was very submissive and devout and he was not at all proud of his very well-to-do material position. Los Angeles, 8 February, 1970 Detroit My Dear Bhagavan das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 5 February, 1970, and as advised by you I am sending ...Read More

The Purpose of the Krishna.org Website

I have got the clue of going Back to Godhead just after leaving my present material body and in order to take along with me all my contemporary men and women of the world, I have started my paper Back to Godhead as one of the means to the way. We would like to develop the Krishna.org website along the lines of Srila Prabhupada’s original Back to Godhead magazine. Therefore we have presented a small collection of quotes from Srila Prabhupada ...Read More

Union Square New York: The Peace Vigil

On Wednesday evening, a group of devotees led by Brahmabhuta Prabhu sat down in Union Square Park in New York City and prepared to chant the Holy Name of Lord Sri Krishna to relieve thousands of grieving citizens of their painful loss and lamentation. The park was filled with thousands and thousands of candles lit in memory of those missing at ground zero of the World Trade Center disaster. As we Our audience appeared to us to be struck with ...Read More

Haight Turns to Love: The Haight Street Festival Hari Nam

TIt was my turn to lead. I looked ahead to see what appeared to be an endless sea of people. I gathered up my courage, and led the party through a thick crowd. As we sang ‘Nitai Gauranga! Nitai Gouranga!’ I had a sense that all that heard instantly became devotees, and I was filled with hope for humanity. Indeed, just by hearing the Holy Name of Krishna (smaranam), one is Hari Bol to all the Vaisnava Devotees of the Supreme ...Read More

Prabhupada Sankirtana Society: Chanting Hare Krishna and Distributing Books In the Big Apple.

Here in Manhattan, New York there many places to go and things to see. The glitter and glam of Manhattan attracts people from all around the world to come experience life in the big city. As such, it’s the ideal location for distributing the knowledge of Krishna Consciousness. Of course Srila Prabhupada emphasized the importance of making the Lord’s mercy available to the masses and Manhattan is considered by him to be a key location throughout the world. We are ...Read More

Activities of Prabhupada Sankirtan Society New York.

In Manhattan New York at the Lower Eastside is our humble temple of Their Lordships Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga. We daily practice devotion to the Lord by following the program given by His bonafide representative, our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada. The day begins at 3:45 a.m when we rise and get ready to greet the Lord with song and dance at 4:30. The neighborhood is touched by a spiritual sound vibration of devotional chanting accompanied by drums, cartals and tambourine. ...Read More

Book Review: Srila Prabhupada’s 1969 Sri Isopanisad

I have just had the great pleasure of reading Srila Prabhupada’s original 1969 Sri Isopanisad for the first time. Of course I have read Sri Isopanisad many times before, but this edition is very special. It is a photographically reproduced version of the original book. It’s printed on first-class paper, it has nine beautiful color prints and perfectly clean, clear and crisp text. The original books couldn’t have looked any more When the BBT editors made extensive unauthorized changes to Srila ...Read More