Process of Devotional Service

Woodstock! Kirtan!

3am and Madhava is still going strong. There are a few hundred kids chanting and dancing with all the devotees here in our big tent. The sun comes up soon. But the real sunshine of our lives is the holy names. Woodstock! Kirtan!

Discipline

We need to work hard and set higher and higher goals each time, so that we can achieve the highest goal – ceto darpana marjanam – a clean heart in which we can cultivate real love for Radha and Krsna.

Deity is a Person

Advanced devotee, when he goes for Darshan of the Deities, he knows, You are not a statue, you are directly the son of Maharaja Nanda.

A Fitting End

This is the ecstatic kirtan that concluded our Festival of Chariots in Durban over the Easter weekend. Madhava prabhu at his best! Watch the video here.

Pure Nectar

An evening kirtan performed by BB Govinda Swami and the 24 hour kirtan group. Krishna Balaram Temple, Vrindavan, April 7, 2011. listen to it here

Kirtan in the Sixteenth Century

Mukunda Goswami: “How did Lord Caitanya do kirtan in the sixteenth century? What did the chanting parties look like?” Srila Prabhupada: “Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami writes of this in his Caitanya Caritamrita. There were two mrdunga players, two dancers and seven karatalas. Other people would join in, but the main ones – the mrdungas, karatala men [...]

An Auspicious Disease

We need to hear from the pure unalloyed devotees of the Lord whose hearts are like gold – free from lust, anger, and greed – so that we can act as the transparent via medium for the Lord through which the message of Krsna consciousness can pass through loud and clear.

Sad news

I just spoke to my disciple, Karunika dasi, in Christchurch who told me the temple was badly damaged in today’s earthquake. And tragically the temple’s large Gaura Nitai deities, worshipped for 25 years, were broken in numerous places when They fell off the alter during the quake. Their faces and torsos are intact, but most [...]

Auspicious Bathing

While passing through Bhubaneswar yesterday on a cold winter morning, I happened to pass a brahamana bathing a Siva Lingam. I was impressed with the pujari’s devotion and the careful way in which he worshipped the Deity. Bhubaneswar boosts over 1,000 temples and is often refered to as the Temple City. ISKCON also has a [...]

Deity is not a Statue

When taking the darsan of the Deity in the Temple, neophyte devotees become restless after a few minutes. However, advanced devotees think “It took me a million lives to get here. I am not going anywhere”.