If there was ever a turning point in our lives, this month in Vrindavan must have been it. John had always been neutral on spiritual matters, but I was an avid atheist, so much so that I had converted some of my friends to my way of thinking.
Sridhama Mayapura is the home of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this abode, apparently located in the district of Nadia, West Bengal, the Supreme Personality of Godhead wonderfully appeared almost five hundred years ago.
At Mayapur the devotees will chant and visit the places where the Lord performed His pastimes. But most importantly, they will hear from their spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.
One morning we suddenly came upon a particularly beautiful spot. The cool sands were thick with foliage; the tall trees full of singing birds. As the sun brightened the clear morning sky, peacocks filled the air with their peculiar call.
Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krishna brought forward the cows and played on His flute throughout the forest of Vrindavan, which was full of flowers, vegetables, and pasturing grass.
Vrindavan is bounded on three sides by the Yamuna River. The slow-moving cows look like ancient sages silently meditating as they chew. Parrots decorate the trees, cascading pleasant songs into your ears, while peacocks in great abundance strut impressively and display their train of regal feathers.
Vrindavan is a simple village unlike all other places in the world, for this is where Lord Krishna, the Supreme Godhead, comes to earth with His associates to display His pastimes.
VRNDAVANA is the transcendental dwelling place of Krishna. Being a manifestation of His intrinsic energy, it is a part of Himself. It consists like Him of the attributes of existence, intelligence and bliss and is different from the phenomenal world, which is a manifestation of His extrinsic energy.
We take it for granted that you are one of us in Vrndavana. We are sure that wherever you travel you must carry with you the impression of Sri Vrndavana-dhama. In other words, the culture, religion, philosophy and transcendental existence of Sri Vrndavana-dhama travel with you.
The holy town of Udupi lies on the Arabian Sea in the South Indian state of Karnataka. The town is famous as a place of pilgrimage because of the temple Sri Krsna Matha. This temple was founded by Srila Madhvacarya, one of the greatest saints, philosophers, and religious reformers of India.
The sacred Ganges, glorified for her connection with Lord Krsna’s pastimes, inspires an arduous journey to her historical, mystical source.
BACK TO GODHEAD is the monthly journal of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. When Srila Prabhupada began the Society (in New York City, in 1966), he put into writing the purposes he wanted it to achieve. They are as follows: 1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all […]
On the Ganges plain ninety miles north of Calcutta, the world headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) rises in Mayapur, the land of Lord Caitanya’s birth.
In Navadvipa the identical realm of Goloka Vrndavana on the bank of the Ganges, Gauracandra who is Krsna, the Entity of pure cognition makes the process of pure unalloyed devotion manifest in this mundane world.
It was the Lord’s grace to perform the superhuman feat of lifting Goverdhan on His little finger, to act as an umbrella for His friends and kinsmen. He thereby showed that simply to follow the Lord’s advice is better than following all the scriptural injunctions.
The small village in north central India pictured on these pages is in reality the very Vrindaban of the spiritual sky, the supreme abode of the Lord. At this location the Lord reveals His eternal pastimes, although He has not left that original locality in the spiritual sky.
Rishikesh is a heaven in itself, and the beautiful Deities at Swargashram, a temple situated on a nearby peninsula along the Ganges, make it even more perfect.
The Krsna consciousness movement is the sankirtana movement, the movement for spreading the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. This chanting may appear to be the repetition of some ordinary words, but it is not. We simply require to practice it a little to experience its effect.
I remember Lord Krsna standing by the banks of the Yamuna River, so beautiful amidst the kadamba trees, where many birds are chirping in the gardens. And these impressions are always giving me transcendental bliss.
Time has all but stopped in Navadvipa – or so you’d think, seeing the ancient-looking riverboats and temples. Five hundred years ago in this transcendental land. Lord Caitanya appeared and began His great spiritual movement.