The following is one of the most quoted verses by Srila Prabhupada, from the Srimad Bhagavatam, and it is also one of the longest purports as well. Very important verse!
śrī-prahrādaḥ uvāca—Prahlāda Mahārāja said; śravaṇam—hearing; kīrtanam—chanting; viṣṇoḥ—of LordViṣṇu (not anyone else); smaraṇam—remembering; pāda-sevanam—serving the feet; arcanam—offering worship (with ṣoḍaśopacāra, the sixteen kinds of paraphernalia); vandanaṁ—offering prayers; dāsyam—becoming the servant; sakhyam—becoming the best friend; ātma-nivedanam—surrendering everything, whatever one has; iti—thus; puṁsā arpitā—offered by the devotee; viṣṇau—unto Lord Viṣṇu (not to anyone else); bhaktiḥ—devotional service; cet—if; nava-lakṣaṇā—possessing nine different processes; kriyeta—one should perform; bhagavati—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; addhā—directly or completely; tat—that; manye—I consider; adhītam—learning; uttamam—topmost.
Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.
When Prahlāda Mahārāja was asked by his father to say something from whatever he had learned, he considered that what he had learned from his spiritual master was the best of all teachings…(from purport)
Recently I was staying at a friends house, and in the room where I was spending the night there was one book by Giriraj Swami entitled “Watering the Seed”. I happened to open it and began reading from the Preface:
…from that first meeting with Srila Prabhupada, my whole life’s purpose became to bring people to meet Srila Prabhupada. And I was able to do that for many years. But when he passed away, I wondered ‘what will be my service now?’. My whole service had been to bring people to Srila Prabhupada.
Now I understand that Srila Prabhupada is always present, and that by speaking of him, hearing about him, remembering him, and, most significantly, by studying his books and following his instructions, we can experience his presence. So I can continue doing what I was doing when he was personally present-introducing soul’s to Srila Prabhupada-and that is what I feel most natural doing. Because I know that somehow or other, if someone comes in touch with Srila Prabhupada, his life will become successful. (Watering the Seed, Preface)
Now, I am always encouraged when I hear my Godbrothers speaking in this way, because this is how I have always felt, and continue to feel. That my main purpose, as a disciple, is to bring people to Srila Prabhupada, and there-by bringing them to Krishna.
Sometime ago, I ran across this wonderful web site Prabhupada.io. It has it all, images, text, conversations, lectures, letters, etc. It is truly an Archive of Srila Prabhupada’s Original unedited words. Highly Recommended!
Building a Sacred Digital Archive for the Next 10,000 Years
The path to creating Prabhupada.io began with a simple recognition: Srila Prabhupada’s teachings are not merely books—they are eternal law books that deserve preservation and accessibility for millennia to come.
The Vision: A True Digital Archive
What distinguishes a true digital archive from a mere collection of files? It requires, among other things:
Comprehensive indexing that reveals the interconnected web of spiritual knowledge
Clean, searchable source texts extracted with care from the original works
Intuitive navigation that serves both newcomers and scholars
Open accessibility that removes barriers between seekers and sacred wisdom
Future-proof architecture built to endure for generations
Question: How Many Persons are Benefitted from Book Distribution?…………
Prabhupada: Whoever gets a book is benefitted. If he reads the book he is benefitted still more, or if he gives the book to someone else for reading, both he and the other person is benefitted. Even if one does not read the book but simply holds if and sees it, he is benefitted. If he simply gives small donation towards the work of Krsna consciousness he is benefitted. And anyone who distributes these transcendental literatures, he is also benefitted. ( Letter to: German Disciples — Bombay May 6, 1977)
Happy New Year to all are readers. Wishing you all a prosperous new year filled with happiness and love. And may your Krishna Consciousness increase with each passing day.
When I think of New Years, I am reminded of what a short time a year is in the greater scheme of eternity. In the Bhagavad-gita there is a brief description of the duration of time in the material universe.
…The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in cycles of kalpas. A kalpa is a day of Brahmā, and one day of Brahmā consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas or ages: Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali. The cycle of Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, there being practically no ignorance and vice, and the yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Tretā-yuga vice is introduced, and this yuga lasts 1,296,000 years. In the Dvāpara-yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and religion, vice increasing, and this yuga lasts 864,000 years. And finally in Kali-yuga (the yuga we have now been experiencing over the past 5,000 years) there is an abundance of strife, ignorance, irreligion and vice, true virtue being practically nonexistent, and this yuga lasts 432,000 years. (from purport Bg 8.17)
Even if I could grasp the extent of time in the material universe, that is just a fraction of the unlimited eternal time that continues after the termination of the yuga.
…Then the process is set rolling again. These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahmā, the creator god, and the same number comprise one night. Brahmā lives one hundred of such “years” and then dies. These “hundred years” by earth calculations total to 311 trillion and 40 million earth years. By these calculations the life of Brahmā seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the causal ocean there are innumerable Brahmās rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahmā and his creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they are in constant flux. (from purport Bg 8.17)
The above calculations Srila Prabhupada uses and I quote;
…seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash.
Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives
Its interesting to note that this lecture also became the Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Prabhupāda:
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
sri-caitanya-mano-‘bhistam sthapitum yena bhtu-tale svayam rupah kada mahyam dadati sva-padantikam
vande ‘ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams’ ca sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa jivam sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams’ ca
he krsna karuna-sindho dina-bandho jagat-pate gopesa gopika kanta radha-kanta namo ‘stu te
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Bhagavad-gītā is known also Gītopaniṣad, the essence of Vedic knowledge, and one of the most important of the various Upaniṣads in Vedic literature. This Bhagavad-gītā, there are many commentations in English, and what is the necessity of another English commentation of the Bhagavad-gītā can be explained in the following way. One . . .
(break) One American lady, Mrs. Charlotte Leblanc, asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gītā which she can read.
Of course, in America there are so many editions of English Bhagavad-gītā, but so far I have seen them, not only in America but also India, none of them can be said strictly as authoritative, because almost every one of them have expressed their own opinion through the commentation of the Bhagavad-gītā without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.
The spirit of Bhagavad-gītā is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā itself. It is just like this—if we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the particular direction mentioned on the label of the medicine. We cannot take the particular medicine according to our own direction or by the direction of a friend, but we have to take the medicine under the direction given on the label of the bottle and as directed by the physician. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā also should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself.
…”I have read one book, Lord Jesus Christ, when he was a young boy he was very much shocked when he saw that animal-killing is going on in the synagogue. Therefore he differentiated from the Jews and he started his own religion, Christian religion. Is it not a fact? Am I right? Why… He was also a Jew. Why he deviated? Why he deviated from the Jews? Because when he saw in his young age that animals are being killed in the synagogue, he differed, “No, no, this is horrible. This should be stopped.” Therefore, his first commandment is “Thou shall not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) Am I wrong or right? Eh? That was his first impression, that people should stop killing. So who is Christian? Everyone is violating this first commandment, what to speak of other commandments. Everyone. So it is very difficult to find a real Christian. But if you violate the commandments of Christ, then what kind of Christian you are? This is our question. Who will answer this?” (Lecture by His Grace Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.21 Hawaii January 17 1974)
When we were in Butler PA, this summer for thefor the 60th aniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the USA, We visited the home of Sally Agarwal, where Srila Prabhupada first stayed as their guest when he arrived in America. We heard many sweet stories of his stay in Butler, and how Sally’s daughter referred to Srila Prabhupada as Swami Jesus.
…I am obliged to your good daughter for awarding me a good degree as SWAMIJESUS which is actually a great honour for me. Some time the Lord speaks through innocent child and I take this honour as sent by Lord Jesus through an innocent child free from all formalities of the current society. Lord Jesus preached the message of God and I have taken up the same mission, and it would be a good luck for me if I can follow the foot prints of Lord Jesus who preached the message of God in spite of all persecution. Lord Jesus is a living example how one has to suffer in this material world simply for the matter of preaching the message of God… (letter to Sally Agarwal)
click to listen the the Krishna Consciousness Happening Album
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
“This Transcendental Sound Vibration is called Bhakti yoga, or the Yoga of Ecstacy. It is easy and can be practiced by anyone. Simply sit down, RELAX, and LISTEN! Listen carefully and gradually you will begin to feel like singing too. SING! As you sing, you will feel like dancing. Dance! Do the ‘Dance of Ecstacy.’ Anyone can. There is no question of learning it. You already know it! Simply raise your arms over your head and dance. RELAX, SING, DANCE. A new life of bliss and Cosmic Consciousness await you on the other side of the mirror of the mind. This life is lived in love and can most easily be reached by SINGING and DANCING. This is Bhaktiyoga, the yoga for a New Age. Try it!” (Happening Album, back cover liner notes)
“Before meeting Prabhupada and all of you, I had bought that album Prabhupada did in New York, and John and I listened to it. I remember we sang it for days, John and I, with ukulele banjos, sailing through the Greek islands chanting Hare Krishna. Like six hours we sang, because we couldn’t stop once we got going. As soon as we stopped, it was like the lights went out. It went on to the point where our jaws were aching, singing the mantra over and over and over and over and over. We felt exalted; it was a very happy time for us.” (George Harrison, Chant and Be Happy)
“It brings a state of ecstasy.” (Allen Ginsberg, New York Times)
…So far Narada Muni is concerned, in His previous life He was a maidservant’s son, but by the mercy of the devotees He later on became siddha and next life He appeared as Narada with complete freedom to move anywhere by the grace of the Lord. So even though He was in his previous life a maidservant’s son there was no impediment in the achievement of His perfect spiritual life. Similarly any living entity who is conditioned can achieve the perfectional stage of life by the above mentioned processes and the vivid example is Narada Muni.
So I do not know why you have asked about my previous life. Whether I was subjected to the laws of material nature? So, even though accepting that I was subjected to the laws of material nature, does it hamper in my becoming Spiritual Master? What is your opinion? From the life of Narada Muni it is distinct that although He was a conditioned soul in His previous life, there was no impediment of His becoming the Spiritual Master. This law is applicable not only to the Spiritual Master, but to every living entity.
Letter to: Tamala Krsna Los Angeles 21 June, 1970
Paris My Dear Tamala,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 18th June, 1970, sent by Special Delivery Air Mail.
Krsna philosophy is understood as it is stated in the Vedas:
Yasya deve para bhakti yatha deve tatha gurau tasya ete kathitha hi artha prakasante mahatmanah
“One who has got unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and similar faith in his Spiritual Master to him only the imports of Vedic knowledge become revealed.”
A Spiritual Master is always liberated. In any condition of His life He should not be mistaken as ordinary human being. This position of a Spiritual Master is achieved by three processes. One is called sadhana siddha. That means one who is liberated by executing the regulative principle of devotional service. Another is krpa siddha, one who is liberated by the mercy of Krsna or His devotee. And another is nitya siddha who is never forgetful of Krsna throughout his whole life. These are the three features of the perfection of life.
I first ran across this book some twenty years ago, although it was printed in 1970, I was surprised to learn there was a handbook for devotees. I found it to be a treasure house of basic guidelines for developing our Krsna consciousness, as well as presenting the philosophy very simply. Nice little book.
Introduction This is the first annual edition of The Krsna Consciousness Handbook. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and is now becoming firmly established, with centers in thirty major cities around the world and world headquarters in Los Angeles,California. The goal of the Society’s members is to attain love of God by following the principles of bhakti-yoga,as ·taught by the Vedic scriptures and the disciplic succession of spiritual masters, and to spread love of God to all people through the process of sankirtana (public chanting of the holy names of God). Another important goal of the Society is to present authoritative literature on the science of God in English and other major languages.
A Summary of Srila Prabhupada’s Miraculous Accomplishments from 1965 to 1977
In reading many of the profiles of Srila Prabhupada, I’m saddened that a number of his important projects, programs and achievements are never mentioned. In the following summary I’ve tried to compile a more comprehensive list of his credits. Although this list is also incomplete, I hope it presents a fuller picture of Srila Prabhupada’s greatness.
In 1965, at seventy years of age, he ventured outside India for the first time to fulfill the order of his spiritual master. During his voyage at sea, he suffered two severe heart attacks. He reached the shores of America with virtually no money to his name.
He founded the International Society for Krsna Consciousness with a small group of disciples, after a year of struggling alone in New York City. This marked the only time in history that a Krsna devotee successfully trained non-Indians in the strict disciplines of Vaisnavism. Amazingly, this was achieved during the blossoming of America’s hedonistic counterculture movement.
He sent his followers, chanting the names of God, into the streets of cities and towns everywhere and Hare Krsna became famous in every corner of the earth.
We are now in the month of Damodara (Kartika). In honor and in celebration of the month of Damodara, we will be focusing our attention on the pastimes of Krishna in Vrndavan. Especially Krishna’s childhood pastimes. The following is the first verse from the Damodarastkam prayer which is sung morning and evening, and it is customary to offer a candle or gee lamp as well to a picture of Lord Krsna and Mother Yasoda.
“To the supreme controller who possesses an eternal form of blissful knowledge, whose glistening earrings swing to and fro, who manifested Himself in Gokula, who stole the butter that the gopis kept hanging from the rafters of their storerooms and who then quickly jumped up and ran in retreat in fear of Mother Yasoda, but was ultimately caught-to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances.“ (Sri Damodarastakam verse 1)
Our dear departed friend Padmapani Prabhu, is gone but not forgotten, as he has left us with the beautiful web page The Prabhupada Connection, but he has also, as some of the earlier devotees might remember, left us with this fine publication The Vaisnava Journal. I feel it is an important part of our history, and I wanted to be sure it available to all our readers, so we share all 5 issuses as PDF that you can view or save, by clicking on the links. Hare Krishna!
The Vaisnava Journal
by Padmapani Das
Shortly after Srila Prabhupada physically departed from this world, I joined the Middle East program. Since there were no temples in that part of the world, we simply carried on as we had always done—chanting Hare Krishna and worshiping Srila Prabhupada as our guru and the founder-acarya of ISKCON. But while visiting temples in India and Europe for short breaks, I noticed things were becoming increasingly difficult for devotees and the movement. So when the Middle East program had finished its course after five years, I humbly tried to make a positive contribution towards keeping our movement and the devotees together with Srila Prabhupada in the center. The Vaisnava Journal was created and distributed to ISKCON leaders and devotees worldwide with that objective in mind.
At the time we had Back to Godhead magazine and the ISKCON World Review, but neither of these publications addressed the topical issues of the day which were affecting the stability of Srila Prabhupada’s movement. I saw a great need for open and respectful communication in our society, and by Krishna’s grace, devotees of all persuasions and positions responded favorably. We openly discussed vital issues of concern to our movement and many spirited exchanges resulted. Unfortunately after five issues I was no longer able to support the rising publication and mailing costs on my own, so I had to stop work on the journal. However we now have a record of those discussions and our readers can research the contents online. Please click on the links below to access each issue in PDF format.
Throughout the ages, many avataras – divinely inspired teachers and incarnations of God – have appeared in the world, but none has ever distributed spiritual love as freely as the Golden Avatar, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He appeared in Bengal, India, in 1486 and lived for only 48 years, yet began a revolution in spiritual consciousness that has profoundly affected the lives of millions. He taught a practical process that anyone can perform to directly feel the ecstasy of pure love of God.
I ran across this verse and purport while reading from the the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta 1975 Edition Adi-lila Chapter 16, text 15, and it reminded me of the importance of chanting the Hare Krsna Maha-mantra.
The Lord, being satisfied, instructed him about the object of life and the process to attain it. He instructed him that the basic principle of success is to chant the holy name of the Lord [the Hare Krsna maha-mantra].
PURPORT
The Krsna consciousness movement is based upon this instruction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that one must chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra regularly and according to the prescribed principles. We simply ask our Western students to chant at least sixteen rounds a day, but sometimes we find that they fail to chant even these sixteen rounds, and instead they bring many austere books and a worshiping method that diverts their attention in so many ways. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s cult is based upon the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. Lord Caitanya first advised Tapana Misra to fix his mind in this chanting. We, the members of the Krsna consciousness movement, must strictly follow this advice of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for the survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -Albert Einstein
I personally feel it is very important to eat as healthy as possible. That is one of the reasons I plant a garden. Although not everyone has that luxury to plant a garden, still there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available in every American grocery store, there is ample opportunity to eat a healthy vegetarian diet.
Back in 1972 when I first became a vegetarian, the challenge was learning how to cook vegetarian meals. Therefore I am including the first cookbook that taught me the basics as a free pdf download (just click on link at bottom of post). Wishing you all a happy and healthy life. -V
I would like to share a very Special Photo of Srila Prabhupada in the San Francisco temple 1968 signing His name to a set of India published, first canto, Srimad Bhagavatam consisting of three volumes.
There is a backstory that bring back exciting memories to me. When Srila Prabhupada arrived in the USA, He carried with Him 200 sets of these books, which most were sold. The remaining books (assorted volumes) in India were shipped and arrived in the winter of 1966.
In Srila Prabhupada’s Apt. it was me and Brahmananda that unpacked these volumes. They were shipped in thin steel painted black trunks. There were three or four of them and pretty banged-up during shipment. But the books were undamaged. There were only a small number of full sets left, most were 2nd and 3rd volumes of the set. The front-covers were packed separately. And it was my service to carefully put the front jackets on all the books right in front of Srila Prabhupada.
The other day I was talking with a devotee about AI (Artificial Intelligence), something I know nothing about. But when that person said that AI read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books, I became curious. So I did a Google search, just typed in “AI” and at the top of the list was this link https://openai.com/. So I asked a question, “Who is Srila Prabhupada?”. I was surprised when it came back with a detailed description:
Srila Prabhupada refers to A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977), a renowned spiritual teacher and founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement.
He was born Abhay Charan De in Calcutta, India, and was a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, a prominent leader in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition (a devotional branch of Hinduism focused on the worship of Krishna).
Some key points about him:
Mission: Srila Prabhupada’s main mission was to spread the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam around the world, emphasizing bhakti-yoga (devotional service to Krishna).
Global Impact: In 1965, at the age of 69, he traveled from India to the United States with little money and no institutional backing. Within 12 years, he established over 100 temples worldwide.
Books: He translated and wrote extensive commentaries on many sacred texts, including the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Philosophy: His teachings focused on chanting the Hare Krishna mantra as a means to achieve spiritual realization.
Legacy: Millions of people still follow his teachings today, and ISKCON continues to grow worldwide.
If you’d like, I can give you a short, inspiring biography of his life’s journey that reads more like a story than a fact sheet. Would you like that?
So I replied ‘Yes’.
Alright, here’s Srila Prabhupada’s story in a more flowing, inspiring way:
Today marks the auspicious appearance of Lord Balaram. We honor it with a half day fast and followed by a nice vegetarian feast.
Lord Balarama is Krishna’s elder brother and His appearance day takes place on the full moon day (purnima), two weeks before Krishna Janmashtami. Krishna and Balarama were the darlings of Vrindavan/ Vraja. Together They would spend the day enjoying the company of the cowherd boys in the forests of Vraja. Their wonderful pastimes are related in the tenth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which Srila Prabhupada also translated as The Krishna Book. Lord Balarama is also considered the original spiritual master and His worship is therefore most important for Vaishnavas.
Balarāma means guru-tattva. Balarāma represents guru. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. If we want to understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu, if we want to understand Kṛṣṇa, then we must take shelter of Balarāma. Nāyam ātmā bala-hinena labhyaḥ. This bala-hinena labhyaḥ, this Vedic injunction, means “Without the mercy of Balarāma you cannot understand, you cannot realize your spiritual identification. So that Balarāma comes as Nityānanda Prabhu. Balarāma hailā nitāi. Therefore we must take shelter of Balarāma.
Lecture given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s Āvirbhāva Appearance Day Bhuvaneśvara, February 2, 1977
The Hare Krishna Movement 
