Kuruksetra | The Hare Krishna Movement

Dhrtarastras in Every Home

08 Aug 2016 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Dhrtarastra Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta purports, Dhrtarastra, Duryodhana, Kunti, Kuruksetra, Mahabharata, Pandavas, political field, political season, Purocana, SB 1.13.18, SB 1.13.8, Srila Prabhupada's books, Varanavata, Yudhisthira

This morning I did a quick study on Dhrtarastra, the father of the Kurus. This being a political season, the description of Dhrtrastra seems very approiate. I was particularly amused by this statement by Srila Prabhupada from the first canto of the Bhagavatam…

…Five thousand years ago there was one Dhṛtarāṣṭra, but at the present moment there are Dhṛtarāṣṭras in every home. (purport to SB 1.13.24)

Ratha-yātrā

26 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Festivals, Krishna Consciousness, Krishna Consciousness Movement, Krsna Consciousness Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Hare Krishna, human being, jagannatha svami, krsna consciousness, Kuruksetra, philosophy of Krsna Consciousness, prabhupada, Ratha Yatra Festival, Ratha yatra lecture, Ratha-yatra, San Francisco Ratha yatra, solar eclipse, The Hare Krishna Movement

…So if we want to have eternal life, full of knowledge and blissfulness, then we must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the greatest welfare activities in the human society. We are giving information to every man, without any discrimination of cast, creed, or color, that every human being especially, not only human being, all living entities, including the animals, beasts, birds, trees, aquatics—everyone—they can achieve to the highest perfection of life by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But especially the extra intelligence of the human being can be utilized to realize Kṛṣṇa. If we don’t do that, we are missing a great opportunity. So our request to everyone is to understand this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (Ratha-yātrā Lecture, June 27, 1971, San Francisco)

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Krsna’s Sweet Flute Playing Within The Forest of Vṛndāvana

26 May 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna's flute, Radha Krishna, Radha Madhava, Spiritual Life, Srimati Radharani Tags: 1975 edition, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, fifth note, flute, Krishna's Flute, Kuruksetra, Radha, Radharani, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Vrndavan, Yamuna

[This is a verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.] “My dear friend, now I have met My very old and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvana.”

Kṛṣṇa-kathā, Part 2

03 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna-katha, Maharaja Pariksit, Srimad Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arjuna, Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Ganges, Krsna, Krsna-katha, Kuruksetra, Maharaja Pariksit, Sukadeva Goswami, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, topics about krishna

The position of Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī is unique. Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the right person to hear about the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the right person to describe them. If such a fortunate combination is made possible, then Kṛṣṇa-kathā immediately becomes revealed, and people may benefit to the highest possible degree from such a conversation.

Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma Meet the Inhabitants of Vṛndāvana

26 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Krishna Consciousness, KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Spiritual Life, Spiritual World Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Balarama, Dvaraka, Krishna, Krsna and Balarama, Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kuruksetra, Lord Parasurama, Vrndavana, Yadu dynasty

“For one who remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Prtha, because of his constnt engagement in devotional service. (Bhagavad-gita 8.14)

…The special qualification of the pure devotee is that he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa without considering the time or place. There should be no impediments. He should be able to carry out his service anywhere and at any time. Some say that the devotee should remain in holy places like Vṛndāvana or some holy town where the Lord lived, but a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service. It was Śrī Advaita who told Lord Caitanya, “Wherever You are, O Lord-there is Vṛndavana.” (From Purport)

So to help us in remembering the Lord, we are posting this very nice chapter from “KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead” by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, who is teaching us how to always think of Krishna.

…All the members of the Yadu dynasty were naturally very beautiful, and yet on this occasion, when they appeared duly decorated with gold necklaces and flower garlands, dressed in valuable clothing and properly armed with their respective weapons, their natural beauty and personalities were a hundred times enhanced. The members of the Yadu dynasty came to Kurukṣetra in their gorgeously decorated chariots resembling the airplanes of the demigods, pulled by big horses that moved like the waves of the ocean, and some of them rode on sturdy, stalwart elephants that moved like the clouds in the sky. Their wives were carried on beautiful palanquins by beautiful men whose features resembled those of the Vidyādharas. The entire assembly looked as beautiful as an assembly of the demigods of heaven…

KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead (1970 Edition)
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Vol.2 Chapter 27

Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma Meet the Inhabitants of Vṛndāvana

Once upon a time while Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were living peacefully in Their great city of Dvārakā, there was the rare occasion of a full solar eclipse, such as takes place at the end of every kalpa, or day of Brahmā. At the end of every kalpa the sun is covered by a great cloud, and incessant rain covers the lower planetary systems up to Svargaloka. By astronomical calculation, people were informed about this great eclipse prior to its taking place, and therefore everyone, both men and women, decided to assemble at the holy place in Kurukṣetra known as Samanta-pañcaka.

Advent of Bhagavad-gita

04 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Bhagavad-gita, Book Changes, Book Distribution Tags: Arjuna, as it is, Battlefield of Kuruksetra, bhagavad-gita, devotee of Sri Krishna, dharma-ksetra, gita-mahatmya, Glorification of the Gita, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna, Kuruksetra, place of pilgrimage

The Advent of Bhagavad-gita

Today is the anniversary commemorating the day when Sri Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, at the place known as Kurukṣetra.

Traditionally devotees go to Kurukṣetra (dharma-kṣetra, a place where religious rituals are performed) ) and recite Bhagavad Gita from early morning until the next morning, perform arati to Bhagavad Gita and to Krishna and Arjuna upon the chariot, offer lamps, and discuss the significance of the Bhagavad-gita.

Devotees who cannot get to Kurukṣetra, can honor the blessed event by reading or reciting the Bhagavad-gita, and discussing the subject matter of Bhagavad Gita in the association of devotees.

Distribution of Bhagavad-gita’s on this day is also a very auspicious activity to perform.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjaya

dhṛtarāṣṭraḥ—King Dhṛtarāṣṭra; uvāca—said; dharma-kṣetre—in the place of pilgrimage; kuru-kṣetre—in the place named Kurukṣetra; samavetāḥ—assembled; yuyatsavaḥ—desiring to fight; māmakāḥ—my party (sons); pāṇḍavāḥ—the sons of Pāṇḍu; ca—and; eva-certainly; kim—what; akurvata—did they do; sañjaya—O Sañjaya.

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do, being desirous to fight?

Purport

Bhagavad-gītā is the widely read theistic science summarized in the Gītā-māhātmya (Glorification of the Gītā). There it says that one should read Bhagavad-gītā very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations. The example of clear understanding is there in the Bhagavad-gītā itself, in the way the teaching is understood by Arjuna, who heard the Gītā directly from the Lord. If someone is fortunate enough to understand Bhagavad-gītā in that line of disciplic succession, without motivated interpretation, then he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom, and all scriptures of the world. One will find in the Bhagavad-gītā all that is contained in other scriptures, but the reader will also find things which are not to be found elsewhere. That is the specific standard of the Gītā. It is the perfect theistic science because it is directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.