Author: Bhakti Vikasa Swami

  1. Not the ornamentation, but the ecstasy

    In India the system is that people go to see the Jagannatha Deity. The Deity is not very beautiful from the artistic point of view, but still people attend by the thousands. That sentiment is required. Similarly with our kirtana we are only using drums and karatalas, but people come to the point of ecstasy. It is not the ornamentation, it is the ecstasy. This ecstasy
  2. Benefits of attending Ratha-yatra

    In the Brahmanda Purana it is said, "A person who sees the Lord's Ratha-yatra car festival and then stands up to receive the Lord can purge all kinds of sinful results from his body." A similar statement is there in the Bhavisya Purana, in which it is said, "Even if born of a lowly family, a person who follows the Ratha-yatra car when the Deities pass in front or from
  3. Is it good to eat much prasada?

    Hari-sauri: You were speaking before about controlling the tongue is very important. And in your lectures you have said simply by eating prasadam this is controlling the tongue. But still, we have tendency when there is a big feast to eat very much prasadam. Is this a good thing, or...? Prabhupada: [chuckles] It is not very good, but it is still good. [laughter]
  4. Cows save children and the diseased

    Go-raksya means protection to the cows. Instead of protection to the cows, they are killing the cows. How you can have perfect society? Cows must be protected. It is so important animal. It is giving the you nectarean food milk, and from milk, you can save your children, you can save your diseased persons. And how it is that you take the cow's milk and send it for
  5. Corrupt governments fail to protect citizens

    Such corruption of the judicial system is very prominent in Kali-yuga. The judicial system is meant to provide for execution of justice, yet false witnesses and bribery make it difficult. With money, almost anyone can get a favorable judgment in court. If the justice system is corrupt, life becomes extremely troublesome. The government is supposed to offer the
  6. Srila Prabhupada’s fervent appeal

    I am fervently appealing to you all not to create fracture in the solid body of the Society. Please work conjointly, without any personal ambition. That will help the cause. It is the injunction of the Vedas that the Spiritual Master should not be treated as ordinary man even if sometimes the Spiritual Master behaves like ordinary man. It is the duty of the disciple
  7. Eat the guru

    First of all kill the guru. That is called guru-mara-vidya. Guru advised that you take food in goodness, sattvika. So he first of all advised that don't take fish, just like we are advising, meat, eggs, don't take. Then they thought that "The cow is very pure. Cow is very pure, so let us eat cow, sattvika." So when Guru Maharaja inquired that "You have given up
  8. Why Mayavadis fear the Krsna consciousness movement (or should do)

    The present so-called Hindu religion, being predominantly conducted by the Mayavada philosophy, has become a hodgepodge institution of various concocted ideas. Mayavadis greatly fear the Krsna consciousness movement and accuse it of spoiling the Hindu religion because it accepts people from all parts of the world and all religious sects and scientifically engages them
  9. Democracy, quasi-kings, and corruption

    In a monarchy, one man sufficiently trained was competent enough to conduct alone the business of the state. But in a democracy no one is trained like a prince; instead, politicians are voted to responsible posts of administration by diplomatic arrangements. In place of one king or supreme executive officer, in a democracy there are so many quasi-kings: the president