Five hundred years ago, Sanatana Gosvami was a central figure in the government of Bengal, but by leaving his governmental responsibilities to surrender to Lord Caitanya, he fulfilled a far more important responsibility to both himself and humanity in the service of the Supreme Lord.
Whatever your interest, it can be satisfied here because the subject of Back to Godhead is Krishna. Krishna, which literally means “the All-attractive,” is a name of the original form of God.
Back to Godhead magazine is for intelligent people only. To be intelligent, one need not have a university degree or engage in intellectual word jugglery because the higher intelligence required for understanding Back to Godhead is not a matter of mundane academic research. The really intelligent person is one who will accept information about God from higher authorities and regard the science of Krishna consciousness as valuable and important.
“In the age of Kali (Quarrel and Hypocrisy) the chanting of the holy name is the best means of God-realization. There is no other alternative, no other alternative, no other alternative”
Seemingly devout Hindus say, “Why are you teaching of Krishna in America? To follow the Vedas you have to be born in India.” Is Krishna’s message, then, just for a few?
The scriptures and the saints and spiritual masters through the ages all say that chanting the Lord’s holy names is the best way to make spiritual advancement in this difficult time. Besides, it’s practical; it works.
He was an expert hatha-yogi in the respected order of spiritual life (sannyasa), and had been running a major yoga center in New York for thirteen years.
I’d been distributing my spiritual master’s books to San Antonio servicemen since nine o’clock that morning. Now I had to catch the bus from the base back into the city to join the other members of my group.
Whats a Hare Krishna doing dressed up like Santa? Nowadays we usually think of Santa as some kind of wintertime Daddy Warbucks who”ll satisfy our craving for more and more material things. But ‘Santa’ really means ‘saint.’ The original Santa taught people all about God and how to love God.
From cow’s milk, says Srila Prabhupada, you get butter and so many other things, and you can add fruit, vegetables, and grains to make hundreds and thousands of preparations–that is real enjoyment. Krishna Prasada.
Before Madhavendra Puri, most Indians worshiped Lord Krishna in a ritualistic fashion, according to strict rules and regulations. Such formal worship is necessary for those who have not awakened their natural desire to serve the Lord with love and devotion.
None of us had ever designed a building or worked with marble or anything like that. But we chanted Hare Krishna, and gradually Krishna revealed these skills.
King Ambarisa was famous as a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. “But why,” Durvasa Muni wondered, “should people respect him more than a great mystic yogi like me? I will teach him a lesson.”
“Transmigration,” “reincarnation,” “astral travel,” “life after death”—topics once hardly mentioned but now much talked about. Is there a soul? Can the soul live outside the body? What happens to the soul when the body dies?
A true scientist would never prematurely declare, “I do not believe that I have a soul or spirit that survives my death.” Rather, if he really wished to perceive the soul, or self, he would embrace the process of self-realization Lord Krishna outlines in the Bhagavad-gita.
Who will say which religion is false and which genuine, which harmful and which beneficial? What we need is not someone’s self-interested opinion but a reliable, nonsectarian standard for separating the bogus religions from the bona fide.
Madhvacarya (acarya means “one who teaches by his life”) lived in thirteenth-century India and appeared in the Brahma-Gaudiya Vaisnava-sampradaya—the disciplic chain now represented by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Laguna Beach—vacationers visit this southern California haven to enjoy the sun, surf and exotic shops. But the devotees at the Radha-Krishna temple there know a much better way you can enjoy yourself.
When it comes to the science of God-realization, most people are pretty much in the dark. In this conversation with Professor Alphonso Verdu of the University of Kansas, Dhrstadyumna Swami uses ancient India’s Vedic literature—”the torchlight of knowledge”—to clear things up.
I’ve been chanting Hare Krishna and reading authorized books about Krishna consciousness for four years, and now I’m finding a higher happiness than I’ve ever experienced before.