Graduate Degrees ; Associate in Bhakti Sastra, and Bhakti Sastri will be issued post haste, as previously promised, to all those who have paid the rather newish annual $20. site fees. Site fees may be paid via Paypal at left side front page.

Indicate preferred format; pocket size /wallet or certificate for framing. So far, George Pye, Dr. Ananta Sesa, and Trnikrta-trnavarta dasa, are on that list.

PS; Sorry for all the money-related site notifications lately, but those who are onsite know it is infrequent. However, we need to get this show on the road moreso ... to firm up our services and provide lasting value to our members.

Ideally, we should be buying one house in the holy dhamas for occupation by our members when they travel to India. Ideally, our members, when they die, will leave an estate to this site for that purpose etc also. It would be grand to have books and prasadam distribution and sankirtan going on, and this is our ideal, Krsna willing. For now, our online site is w

There is only one God. If there were more than one God, this material world would not be organized so well. If there were many competing independent Gods, they would decree different, conflicting material laws, each according to his own desire. Of this there is no doubt. Looking at the material world, an intelligent and thoughtful person cannot fail to accept the idea that it was created according to the will of a single Supreme Person.

--Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Tattva-viveka 1.21, Commentary

I was reminded of this quote when I ran across it in the back of this month’s Back to Godhead magazine. One of the difficulties I face in teaching Vedic wisdom to students from a very diverse background is getting them to understand how there can be 30 million Gods, yet only one God.

            Most students think that the Vedic faiths are polytheistic because they see all of the images of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman, etc., etc., etc. It then becomes my duty to explain that in realit

Guest (1) (girl): Srila Prabhupada, would you please explain why Krsna consciousness hadn't come to the West until now, why it hasn't come earlier?

Prabhupada: Because you were not born. After your birth we have come here to take you back to home, back to Godhead. Now you take the opportunity; come with us. We were waiting for your birth.

J Langevin;

Happy Janmastami and Vyasa Puja! 

Prabhupada Connect

Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we're offline for the time being (see "What's New" entry, August 25th). In the meantime, we'd like to wish our dear readers and friends a very happy Janmastami and Vyasa Puja, 2015.

Srila Prabhupada writes: "As I have repeatedly said, that Krishna Consciousness is developed by following two parallel lines, means service of Krishna, and service of the Spiritual Master. This is the secret of success." (Srila Prabhupada letter, February 20, 1968)

Let us take this opportunity to renew our faith and dedication to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada. Now is the time. Carpe diem!

http://www.prabhupadaconnect.com/Sri-Krishna-Janmastami-and-Srila-Prabhupada-Vyasapuja.html

Hope you have a wonderful weekend full of divine inspiration and love.

Sincerely,

Padmapani dasa

The festival observed by Nanda Maharaja, Lord Krsna’s father, to celebrate Lord Krsna’s appearance.

The Nandotsav – Birth ceremony of Lord Sri Krishna Taken from Srimad Bhagavatam 10th Canto, 5th Chapter, translated by H.D.G. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 

As described in this chapter, Nanda Maharaja very gorgeously performed the birth ceremony for his newborn child. Then he went to Kamsa to pay taxes due and met his intimate friend Vasudeva.

There was great jubilation all over Vrindavana due to Krishna’s birth. Everyone was overwhelmed with joy. Therefore the King of Vraja, Maharaja Nanda, wanted to perform the birth ceremony for his child, and this he did. During this great festival, Nanda Maharaja gave in charity to all present whatever they desired. After the festival, Nanda Maharaja put the cowherd men in charge of protecting Gokula, and then he went to Mathura to pay official taxes to Kamsa. In Mathura, Nanda Maharaja met Vasudeva. Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva were broth

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

    His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Srila Prabhupada became his student and, in 1933, his formally initiated disciple.

   At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge in English. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work, and, in 1944, started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine. Single-handedly, Srila Prabhupada edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the ind

In the first three chapters of the tenth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam there is a description of the appearance of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Krishna's appearance is also described in Hari-vamsa and in Sri Jiva Goswami's Gopala-campu. Hearing the transcendental pastimes of Krishna is all-auspicious. The Bhagavatam describes:

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam

"Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, Who is the Paramatma in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear his messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted."

Why Krishna Appears

The Bhagavatam says that hearing the transcendental lila-kahani, narrations of the pastimes of Bhagavan Krishna, is all auspicious. If you hear with faith and concentrated attention, all of the mat

Personality of Godhead - Part Two

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

There is an old quarrel between those who assert that God has a material form and those who assert that God is the void – both of which are quite off the mark. It is unnecessary to pick a side in this futile and foolish debate. If humankind cannot rise above such palpably wrong ideas, we are sure to breed narrowness and sectarianism and to quarrel with one another.

We human-beings possess an intellect that is subject to error, oversight and self-deception, and that is liable to be led astray by the false testimony of our defective sense organs. And if we permit our judgement to be biased by anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and phytomorphic ideas that constitute the stock-in-trade of all human thought, we will surely become entangled in some form of idolatry.*

______________
* Anthropomorphism, zoomorphism and phytomorphism refer respectively to the attribution of human, animal or plant characteristics

http://www.nvfestivalofcolors.com/

“But you are not a woman; you are a Vaishnava.”

One of the loving exchanges Yamuna had on several occasions with Srila Prabhupada related to his teasing her, or as she used to say, “trying to get a rise out of her,” by quoting the Chanakya Pandit verse, “Never trust a politician or a woman.”

Another variation was when he would purposely make a statement about women being less intelligent. This may have started in San Francisco, but specifically she mentioned that it occurred in London, then in Madras and Bombay.

Once, she was riding in a car with him, and he quoted the Chanakya verse and then turned around to look directly at her with an almost impish smile on his face. When she didn’t react, he repeated it and looked around again in the same way.

Yamuna simply smiled and said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada, you are certainly correct.” Then some time passed, and Srila Prabhupada praised her to show that he in fact saw no distinction on the basis of body, but saw

The left altar at Sri Tota Gopinatha Temple features Lord Balarama with Revati and Varuni on His left and right

BALARAMA'S CHILDHOOD

During their formative years Sri Balarama and his younger brother Sri Krishna played and acted just like normal cowherd boys except for the events brought about by the unkind acts of certain demons these extraordinary activities were played out for the enjoyment and salvation of jivas in the material world. Krishna and his brother Balarama passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age known as pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their fifth year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krishna and Balarama traversed Vrndavana, purifying the land with Their footprints. Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krishna herded the cows and played on His flute through the forest of Vrndavana, which was full of

In 1517, Shri Rupa Goswami and Shri Sanatana Goswami, his elder brother, came to Vrindavana to fulfill four orders of Lord Chaitanya's: (1) Uncover Shri Krishna's lost pastime places. (2) Install Deities, start puja. (3) Write bhakti-shastras. (4) Propagate the rules of bhakti-yoga. (In the wallpaper: Rupa amd Sanatana Goswamis, Lord Shri Gopintha in Jaipur and Temple of Madan Mohan, Shri Vrindavan Dham).

   In 1517, Shri Rupa Goswami and Shri Sanatana Goswami, his elder brother, came to Vrindavana to fulfill four orders of Lord Chaitanya's:

   (1) Uncover Shri Krishna's lost pastime places.

   (2) Install Deities, start puja.

   (3) Write bhakti-shastras.

   (4) Propagate the rules of bhakti-yoga.
 
   Wearing only kaupina (loincloth) and kantha (patchwork quilt), Shri Rupa Goswami lived a mendicant's life absorbed in hearing, chanting, writing about Radha-Govinda's sweet loving pastimes in Shri Vrindavana-dhama. More details of his conduct and character are mentioned in Sanatana Goswami's b

"Gauridasa, My Murti form is as good as I am," said Lord Gauranga, "We will forever remain in your home to accept your service." (In the image: Shri Shri Gaura Nitay Deities of Shrila Gauridasa Pandit).

   "Gauridasa Pandit, the emblem of the most elevated devotional service in love of Godhead, had the greatest potency to receive and deliver such love. Making Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda the Lords of his life, Gauridasa Pandit sacrificed everything for the service of Lord Nityananda."( Chaitanya-charitamrta). 
 
   Before taking sannyasa, Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda visited Gauridasa Pandit in Ambika Kalna. Fearing their impending separation, Gauridasa cried and begged the Lord to stay longer. Mahaprabhu made life-like neem wood Deities of Gaura-Nitai to console his loving servant. "Gauridasa, My Murti form is as good as I am," said Lord Gauranga, "We will forever remain in your home to accept your service." 

   Gauridasa Pandit worshiped Gaura Nitai in many intimate ways–talk