Rays of The Harmonist
- Krsna-nama, Krsna-dhama and Krsna-kama
- Srimad-Bhagavatam Can Only Be Read by a True Bhagavata
- Professional Priests and Orators Cannot Claim to Be Gurus
by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Those who attend to the service of God’s name (nāma), His abode (dhāma) and His desire (kāma) are the only really adorable ones in the world. No being can extricate himself from wrong understandings due to māyā without engaging in service to śrī nāma. As the result of service to śrī nāma...
Read Moreby Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam must be read in the company of true Vaiṣṇavas. Śrīla Svarūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda said, “Go and read the Bhāgavatam with a Vaiṣṇava.” The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam cannot be chanted through the mouth of a person who is not himself a bhāgavata, or true devotee of God...
Read Moreby Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrta it has been declared: “One should first practice dharma before teaching it to another; unless you do it yourself, you cannot teach it.” Platform speakers or professional priests cannot claim to be gurus. If I were a professional discourser on the Bhāgavata and I happened upon an advertisement that the position of a sweeper had become vacant and that it carried an emolument higher than what I earn from my discourses...
Read MoreFeatured: Jagannatha Ratha-yatra
Śrī Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā is bound to take one’s appreciation of Ratha-yātrā to new heights, beyond the thrill of an extraordinary cultural or religious experience. Annually, in Purī, India, approximately a million people attend the ancient Ratha-yātrā festival, to take darśana of Lord Jagannātha on His chariot, and at least three times that view it from other places in India and around the world. Still, the deep significance of Ratha-yātrā, being most confidential, is not widely known...
Sri Gurvastakam
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Today I want to give an explanation of Sri Guru – what are the symptoms of a bona fide guru – and to show you examples that have been given in the epics [Vedic scriptures]. You can apply this to your own guru. Our Sri Guru is akanda-guru-tattva, Sri Baladeva Prabhu or Sri Nityananda Prabhu, so all teachings should be applied to him and to others who are following this...
Some Remembrances of Srila Gurudeva’s Ideal Life
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Sriman Siddhanath Prabhu, Srila Gurudeva's younger brother, departed today, November 28th, 2014 at 3:15 PM. He attended Vraja Mandala Parikrama this year, 2014, and stayed with devotees of Gopinath Bhavan and Seva Kunja Krsna-Balaram Mandir. We will post more details of his departure and life as they come. Below is his remembrances of Srila Gurudeva, Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja...
Bathing
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There was once a devotee who wanted to receive initiation from a bona fide guru. The guru read his face and immediately knew everything about his heart. The guru told him, "You should come to me tomorrow after taking bath, and I will initiate you." The next day, in the early morning, that devotee went to the Ganges, took bath...
Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja
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A doubt occasionally arises in my heart. I think, "Have I made a mistake in accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of the Vaiṣṇavas? It certainly seems so. I appear to have made a mistake in taking up bhajana, in accepting the shelter of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas and, specifically, in taking refuge of the Gauḍīya Maṭha and dedicating all my senses to serving in the Maṭha...
Annakuta Mahotsava
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There were three mantras especially uttered by Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura when he offered puspanjali at the lotus feet of Giriraja Govardhana. Although they are taken from songs, they are now accepted as the mantras used in the worship of Govardhana. The first is from Stava-mala by Srila Rupa Gosvami...
New E-reader Titles
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With the hopes of nourishing the devotees' enthusiasm to celebrate the month of Kartika, Gaudiya Vedanta Publications is pleased to announced the release of its latest ePub titles, Dāmodarāṣṭakam and Śrī Vraja-maṇḍala Parikramā. Though you may not be able to be physically present in Vraja-dhāma this year, you can certainly be there mentally by careful study of these books...
Praying To The Pastime Personalities
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We should pray to madhurya-bhakti, which lives in the gopis, and among the gopis, Srimati Radhika is the embodiment of hladini-sakti (Sri Krsna's pleasure potency). When hladini-sakti and samvit-sakti mix together, that essence is called lila-sakti, or Yogamaya. If we pray to this Yogamaya, Paurnamasi, who is a manifestation of Srimati Radhika, she will arrange that a chain of pastimes will automatically manifest in our hearts...
How To Deeply Perform Arati
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You will have to add something in your sadhana-bhajana. Try to follow the instructions given in the book Hari-bhakti-vilasa, for all rules and regulations can be found there. Also, for arcana (formal deity worship), there is a book coming from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu through Sri Vakresvara Pandita and Sri Gopala-guru Gosvami, and after that through Gopala-guru Gosvami's disciple Sri Dhyanacandra Gosvami. This book is called Arcana Padhati...
Nectar of Bhagavatam Floods Kashipur
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Kaśipur India's Sanatana Dharma Committee organized a Bhagavat Saptha with guest speaker Sripad Bhaktivedanta Madhusudan Maharaja on August 24, 2014...
Appearance Of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
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Today we are observing the auspicious Appearance Day of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He is considered to be the Saptama (seventh) Gosvami, and he has written more than one hundred very authorized books in many languages. He has especially given us two very important gifts. He discovered the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and he gave us Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada...
Sri Vraja-mandala Parikrama- 8th October to 6th November 2014
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For more than fifty years, om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja performed and conducted Sri Vraja-mandala parikrama. This month long festival affords the opportunity of visiting and hearing about all of Krsna’s pastime places in Vraja, of regularly hearing the philosophical conclusions of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, of performing kirtana morning, noon and night, and of being in the company of sincere devotees from around the world. For these reasons, Vraja-mandala parikrama was given much emphasis by our beloved Srila Gurudeva....
If Rupa Gosvami Had Not Come
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Srila Rupa Gosvami is the life of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. He is the crest-jewel of the rasika-bhaktas (devotees who taste transcendental mellows) and it is he alone who fulfills the mano-bhistham, the heartfelt desire, of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have performed our worship of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and we pray to his lotus feet that his conceptions may manifest in our heart. We pray that the manner in which he served Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Radha-Krsna may also manifest in our heart.
