Chant Hare Krishna Blog

Home All posts

3:16 PM

The urge to visit sri krishna and srimati radharani

Shri Krishna Akshaya Patra, Amit Teli, International Society For Krishna Consciousness, Iskcon, ISKCON HKM Group, ISKCON Vrindavana, Sitemap, Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana-chandra, Supreme Lord, Vrindavan Uttar Pradesh No comments

"There is a saying: IF YOU EVER VISIT VRINDAVANA YOU MUST NOT FORGET TO PAY A VISIT TO SRI SRI RADHAVRINDAVANA CHANDRA MANDIR"
-Amit Teli

GLORIES OF SRI VRINDAVANA and The urge to visit Sri Krishna ad Srimati Radharani

If one visits the holy place of Vrindavana in India located in Matura district of Uttar Pradesh in India one is surely going to submerge in transcendental extacy of devotion towards the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna.

Vrindavana is a place for saints and debotees alike even great personalities like ISKCON Founder Acharya and sole diksha Guru His divne grace A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA stayed here and went through the deep vedic studies. Even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the most munificient incranation of supreme personality of godhead sri krishna had come here. This is surely the land of vedic studies an it is as holy as the lord himself.

VRINDAVAN is cosidered to be nom different from Goloka Vrindavana the transendal abode of the supreme personalty of godhead sri krishna in the spiritual word.

SRILA PRABHUPADA once said " Everything in Vrindavana is spiritual". By this we can understand the importance of Sri Vrindavana.

Sri Vridavana is also called as Brindavana in Bengali language and there is no meaning for why it is called so.

Sri Vrindavana or Vrindaranya is the place were the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna revealedbhis childhood pastimes, there he walked, there he lived, ther he stayed, there he ate, there he danced, there he sang, there he slept, there he mate, there he fought the demons and aetheists, there he lifted the Govardana hill to protect his devotees. Its much more to say than what can be written. No one in thus mortal or material world can decribe the glories of Vrindavana.

One should note that Vrindavana is also known as Vraja or Braja or Vrajabhumi or Brajabhumi.

The people of Vrindavana are naturally devoted to supreme personality of godhead sri krishna, they worship, they love him. It was here that supreme personality of godhead sri krishna's consort srimati radharani appeared and performed many wonderfull pastime cherished by millions of devotees worldwide till today.

Sri Vrindavana is filled with many lakes or kundas, trees, flowers, birds. One can also find many pastime places of the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna still existing there.

IT is most apporiate to call Vrindavana as Sri Vrindavana with all respects submitted to the place as Sri Vrindavana Dham.

HIS Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada instituted ISKCON a temple of worship for the supreme perzonality of Godhead Sri Krishna and His beloved Consort Srimayi Radharani. One can find many devotees here in Vrindavana chanting and performing Hari Nama Sankirtana or Hare Krishna Sankirtana in troops here. It was desire of Srila Bhaktisiddanata Sarawati Takura the Spiritual Master of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada to spread to message of Godhead to the west and this was envisioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabu or Sri Gauranga or Sri Nimai Pandita 500 years back "That the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna will reach the entire world and in every village and city". This was done by Srila Prabhuapada and is stil carried out anf followed by his bonafide followers under the guidelines he setup still now.

I can go on and on wrijngghe glories ad mahatmya of Sri Vrindavana Dham but I want to keep it short.

Lastly what I would like you to do if you ever get an opportunity to visit Sri Vrindavana Dham is "TO VISIT SRI SRI RADHA VRINDAVANA CHANDRA MANDIR" wihout fail.

It is at this temple or holy place you will surely find all the bonafide details about Vrindavana.

THATS IT!

Hare Krishna

ALWAYS AT SRILA PRABHUPADA AND VAISHNAVAS DISPOSAL,

Amit Teli

1:02 PM

The festival of lights celebrations at Iskcon Bangalore.

Shri Krishna Amit Teli, International Society For Krishna Consciousness, Iskcon, ISKCON Bangalore, ISKCON HKM Group, Sitemap, Srila Prabhupadas Iskcon Bangalore No comments

The festival of lights what's going on at Iskcon Bangalore.

This festival is going to happen till November 14th of this month.

Discuss to the significance on Sri Sri Krsna be boned by his mother in of love towards her son.

You are cordially invited to the festival.

Hare Krishna.

2:10 PM

Navaratri – Celebrating the victory of good over evil

Shri Krishna Amit Teli, Navarathri, Sitemap No comments

Navaratri – Celebrating the victory of good over evil

Inline image 1

Navaratri is a festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Shakti. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped. The 10th day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or Dussehra. The festival culminates with Dussehra, the victory of good over evil. The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are two very important junctions of climatic and solar influence. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother. The dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar.

Usually in late September/early October each year. This year, Navaratri starts on October 5 and ends on October 13.

The festival is celebrated all over India but in different ways. The traditional dances of Gujarat, known as garba and dandiya raas, are performed in circles with dancers dressed up in colorful clothes. Small, decorated sticks called dandiyas are used in the dandiya raas.

In Delhi, the feature of Navaratri celebrations are the Ramlila plays that take place all over the city. Towering effigies of the demon Ravana are burnt as part of these performances on Dussehra.

Over the course of the nine days, the Mother Goddess is worshiped in her various forms -- Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati.

Each goddess is worshiped for three days in turn, starting with Durga who destroys negative tendencies. Next is Lakshmi who bestows good virtues and fortune, and last is Sarasvati, who instills wisdom and spiritual knowledge. The worship, accompanied by fasting, takes place in the mornings. Evenings are for feasting and dancing.

The Dusshera celebration of Mysore in Karnataka is a veritable extravaganza! Chamundi, a form of Durga, is the family deity of the Maharaja of Mysore. It’s a wonderful scene to watch the grand procession of elephants, horses and courtiers.

10:02 PM

Hare Krishna and the Russian Orthodox Church

Shri Krishna Amit Teli, Hare Krishna Hare Rama Temple, Hare Krishna Movement, Hare Krishna Movement Russia, Iskcon, Sitemap No comments

Hare Krishna Movement in Russia

A Ramanavami pooja conducted by Hare Krishna followers in Russia.

R&I Report: Mumbai's Marine Drive is hardly a place where you would expect to "bump into" a Russian Orthodox Church priest, let alone one from as far away as Siberia. On a breezy late-monsoon evening, a tall and young Russian man asked me the time. His features and accent had "Russian" written all over them and when my response came in his native language, he was pleasantly surprised. At first glance, I assumed the bearded man got lost somewhere in Goa's hippie trail and ended up in India's financial capital, but it was my turn to get surprised when I found out who he was.

The young priest hailed from Tomsk, a university town that unfortunately came in the radar of the Indian public in late-2011 when there were attempts by local officials to get the ISCKON version of the Bhagawad Geeta banned. He was in Mumbai to try and do some "personal research" on ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement. After 3 months, he was convinced that the movement was not "extremist in nature" but still had reservations about its practitioners.

His knowledge of Hinduism as a whole was strong enough to put many practicing Hindus to shame. "Hinduism is a religion of freedom and encourages thought," he said. "But the ISKCON people both back home in Russia and here are neither open to debate or questioning." When I told him that I thought he was generalizing, he said that his talks with believers convinced him that they were on a mission of proselytism and were authoritarian. "This is a movement that refuses to recognize any other version of the Geeta except their own," he said. I couldn't challenge the statement that particular evening, but I did find out later on that there was truth in it.

"One can only be born a Hindu," the priest said. "So why are they trying to convert so many Orthodox Christians?" He went on to say that Hindus are actually a race and that all Indians belong to that race, "which within its own principles allow people to practice or believe in whatever they wanted." He said Sufi Islam in India was Hinduism as well. If he wanted to leave the Orthodox Church in Russia, there are enough organizations in India that would make him their poster boy.

His views are in no way meant to be taken as the word of the Russian Orthodox Church, but the young priest said the church was a unifying factor in Russia and was ideal for a country, that is largely homogenous, despite having many ethnic minorities. "India's greatness lies in it finding its Hindu spiritual roots and for all Indians to understand that and you see, Russia is again becoming great now since more people understand and appreciate traditional Russian Orthodox values," he said.

The priest equated the Hare Krishna movement with Western missionaries and said both groups were looking at misleading Indians and Russians and destabilizing the countries. I'll admit that I have heard these "CIA agents" conspiracy theories but I am not really one hundred percent convinced.

The very fact that the young man came to India with an open mind to try and find out for himself what he heard from others has to go to his credit. He said he hoped that more people embraced vegetarianism and that in his opinion when Jesus said, "Thou shall not kill," he meant to include animals as well. When I joked that his "friends" from ISKCON were also vegetarians, he took it in good stride and laughed as he called them "extremists" in their vegetarianism as they refused to eat onions and garlic!

He kept insisting that the Orthodox Church has a lot of regard for Indian culture, customs and traditions, but then was critical of the Indian government for decriminalizing homosexuality. Calling it a sin and a sickness, the young priest said homosexuality was a Western creation and a serious danger for India as well! Divorce, single-parents, alcoholic women and rejection of traditional values would spell doom for Russia and India. This he argued was an orchestrated plan by the West to keep the countries "in suffering."

Despite his speaking with clarity, I sensed a great degree of confusion in the young priest. He believed with his whole heart in the concept of a great Russia and a great India. Is some sort of religious conformity across both countries the only way to unite the largely "traditional" people and help the countries progress? The "godless Chinese" whose country is sandwiched between Russia and India seem to be doing just fine after experimenting first with the "Western evil" of communism and then with another "vice" from the West called capitalism.

Tailpiece: I personally love visiting Orthodox Churches and monasteries in Russia. Many of them are architectural marvels and the followers welcome outsiders, much in keeping with Russian tradition of hospitality. This kind of openness towards outsiders is not seen in Hindu temples in some parts of India.