Back to Godhead Magizine | The Hare Krishna Movement

Srila Rupa Gosvami

25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: ac-bhaktivedanta, Back to Godhead Magizine, God, India, Krishna, Krsna, Nectar of Instruction, philosophy, religion, Rupa Goswami, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Rupa Goswami

Last night as I was falling asleep, this prayer just popped into my head:

SRI RUPA PRANAMA

sri-caitanya-mano-‘bhistam sthapitum yena bhtu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam dadati sva-padantikam

sri-caitanya-of Lord Caitanya; manah– mind; abhistam-what is desired; sthapitam-established; yena-by whom; bhu-tale-on the surface of the globe; svayam-himself; rupah-Srila Rupa Gosvami; kada-when; mahyam-unto me; dadati-will give; sva-his own; pada-lotus feet; antikam-proximity to.

When will Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?

And as I drifted off to sleep I was thinking about Srila Rupa Goswami, I don’t know why. But I woke still thinking about him. The following is an article from Back to Godhead Magizine.

Obstacles on the Path of Eternity
An Excerpt from Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta
from Back to Godhead Magazine Vol. 1, No.88, 1973

[SRILA RUPA GOSVAMI was one of six exalted devotees especially chosen through the Krsna conscious chain of spiritual masters to teach the devotional service of the Supreme Lord in a scientific manner. Although all of these six great devotees were erudite scholars and prolific writers, Srila Rupa Gosvami is the most prominent, for he most greatly appreciated the nectar of Krsna consciousness. His Upadesamrta (Nectarean Instructions), a short work of only eleven verses, teaches the basic principles for arousing one’s dormant love of Krsna, the Supreme Lord. Written in Sanskrit some 400 years ago, it has now been translated into English, with an illuminating explanation of each verse, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.]

From Your Lips to Your Ears

14 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: Back to Godhead Magizine, Chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, India, mantra meditation, meditation, religion, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, yoga

Chanting the Maha Mantra, or the great “chant for deliverance”, is very easy, and can be preformed anywhere, anytime. Srila Prabhupada has said “from your lips to your ears”, it is that easy. It is the kind of yoga (union), or meditation, one can easily practice anywhere, anytime.

Chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is the easiest process of meditation. (from purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.53)

No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the chanting of the mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. (BTG #30 1970)

Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mantra

(appeared as a separate pamphlet in 1967 and reproduced from the article “On Chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra” published in the 1970 Back to Godhead Magazine number 34)

“This simplest method of meditation is recommended for this age. By practical experience also, one can perceive that by chanting this mahā-mantra, or the Great Chanting for Deliverance, one can feel a transcendental ecstasy coming through from the spiritual stratum.”

Celebrating Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

01 Jul 2024 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead, BBT, Caaitanya-caritamrta, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Kalakntha das Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead Magizine, BBT, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Caitanya-caritamrita, Kalakantha dasa, Krishna, Krsna, Srila Prabhupada

I remember as a young book distributor on the Radha Damadora Traveling Sankirtan Party back in 1975, we were getting fresh new cases of the Caitanya-caritamrta to distribute, “Hot off the press”. Literally the pages were still warm. We couldn’t wait to open up a new case and look at all the new pictures.

Celebrating Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

A 16th-Century Bengali Masterpiece

By Kalakantha Dasa

By any standards, Caitanya Mahaprabhu led a most remarkable life. As a child-scholar, He refuted the leading philosophers of His day. Later, as a young renunciant, He traveled widely, converting kings, panditas, Muslims, Buddhists, and thousands of their followers to the path of Krsna-bhakti. In His final years, He exhibited unprecedented miracles and devotional ecstasies. Even today, five hundred years later, Lord Caitanya’s movement reverberates around the world with startling religious vitality.

Disappearance Day of Jayananda Thakur

14 May 2022 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Jayananda Thakur Tags: back to Godhead, Back to Godhead Magizine, disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Jayananda das, Jayananda Thakur, Rathayatra Festival

Today marks the disappearance day of my dear friend and God brother, Jayananda das. He was such a beautiful devotee, the perfect servant of our Srila Prabhupada, and friend to all. His death was glorious as stated in a letter to Ramesvara das shortly after his death:

Jayananda’s death is glorious. It is very good that he had stated,what is the use of such a useless body, better to give it up. He has left his body very wonderfully, and he has been transferred to Vaikuntha. I have already sent a condolence letter for publication in Back To Godhead. Everyone should follow the example of Jayananda. I am very proud that I had such a nice disciple. If possible Jayananda’s picture should be hung in the ratha of Lord Jagannatha, and in all of our temples a day may be set aside for holding a festival in his honor, just as we do on the disappearance day of the other great Vaisnavas. (letter by Srila Prabhupada 77-05-11)

We have included a personal letter by Srila Prabhupada to Jayananda

The Perfection of Yoga: Pure Love of Krsna

12 Aug 2017 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead, Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, Bhakti Yoga, Yoga Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead Magizine, Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavata Dharma Discourse, bhakti yoga, hatha yoga, Krsna consciousness movement, science of understanding God, topmost yoga system, yoga, yoga system

The Perfection of Yoga: Pure Love of Krsna

excerpted form; Back to Godhead Magazine Volume 10, Number 4, 1975

“Yoga” is a word becoming increasingly familiar top people all over the world. Many are asking, “What is yoga? What does the yoga practitioner seek to achieve? And what is the ultimate goal of yoga?”

A Bhagavata Dharma Discourse—an address on the science of understanding God, delivered in Delhi, India.

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

This Krsna consciousness movement is the topmost yoga system. You have perhaps read in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, wherein Arjuna declined to accept the hatha-yoga system, the following words of Krsna:

yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah

“And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all” (Bg. 6.47)

Krsna is known as Yogesvara, the master of all yogis, and if one takes Krsna within his heart, he becomes the topmost yogi.

Vrndavana – Land of No Return

20 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Back to Godhead, Brahmananda das, Spiritual Life, Spiritual World, Vrndavana Tags: Back to Godhead Magizine, Brahmananda Swami, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, Kusum Sarvara, Spiritual Life, spiritual qualification, Spiritual world, Srila Prabhupada, Vrndavan

Kusum Sarvara

Please click on image to enlarge

Vrndavana – Land of No Return
by Brahmananda Swami
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine 1975 Vol.10, No. 11

I once visited Vrndavana, India with His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. As I accompanied him on his daily walk 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.

Srila Prabhupada looked over his shoulder and said to me, “So, Brahmananda, this is Vrndavana. How do you like it?”

“It’s wonderful, Srila Prabhupada,” was all I could reply. I felt that he was actually revealing the glories of Vrndavana to me even though I had no particular spiritual qualification.

Vrndavana is the place where the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna appeared five thousand years ago. Lord Krsna descended there from His own spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana to attract us by displaying His supernatural pastimes. Srila Prabhupada has explained that when Krsna descends to the material world, this same Vrndavana descends with Him just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Krsna comes His land also comes, Vrndavana is not considered to exist in the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vrndavana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Goloka Vrndavana.