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The Spiritual World

08 Mar 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Govinda, India, Krishna, Krsna, Laksmis, religion, spiritual-world-srimad-bhagavatam, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, touchstone, travel, writing

Sometimes when I am sitting and reading from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam, a verse or sentence from the purport just jumps out from the page almost like it is in 3D, and I catch a glimpse of what the Spiritual World must be like. It is beyond even my imagination, but sometimes I catch a glimmer of light, through a transcendental window, by the grace of my spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

…The transcendental abode of the Lord where the trees are all desire trees and the buildings are made of touchstone. The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation.

“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.” (Bs 5.29)

…The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation. And those who are artists, overtaken by the beautiful creation, should better see to the beautiful face of the Lord for complete satisfaction. The face of the Lord is the embodiment of beauty. What they call beautiful nature is but His smile, and what they call the sweet songs of the birds are but specimens of the whispering voice of the Lord.

Pranams (Prayers)

22 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta, books, Hare Krishna, Maha Mantra, pranams, prayers, religion, six goswami's, songs-of-the-vaisnav-acharyas, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, writing

click on image to enlarge

One of the most used books in our temple room is the songbook. Everyday it seems, I am flipping through the “Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas”, singing one of the many songs or reciting some of the numerous pranams (prayers) as part of my daily sadhana. The following post is the first 13 pages of songbook, which in my mind is a nice way to start the day and is a good prelude to other devotional service.

Pranams
from the Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas

SRI GURU PRANAMA

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

om-address; ajnana-of ignorance; timira-by the darkness; andhasya-of one who was blinded; jnana-anjana-by the ointment of spiritual knowledge; salakaya-by a medical instrument called a salaka, which is used to apply medical ointment to eyes afflicted with cataracts: caksuh-eyes; unmilitam-were opened; yena-by whom; tasmai-unto him; sri-gurave-unto my spiritual master; namah-obeisances.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.

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?

MANGALACARANA

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

vande–offer my respectful obeisances; aham–I; sri-guroh–of my spiritual master; sri-yuta-pada-kamalam–unto the lotus feet; sri-gurun–unto the spiritual masters; vaisnavan–unto all the Vaisnavas; ca–and; sri-rupam–unto Srila Rupa Gosvami; sa-agra-jatam–with his elder brothers Sri Sanatana Gosvami; saha-gana-raghunatha-anvitam–with Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami and his associates; tam–unto him; sajivam–with Jiva Gosvami; sa- advaitam–with Advaita Acarya; sa-avadhutam–with Nityananda Prabhu; parijana-sahitam–and with Srivasa Thakura and all the other devotees; krsna-caitanya-devam–unto Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; sri-radha-krsna-padan–unto the lotus feet of Radha and Krsna, saha-gana–with associates; lalita-sri-visakha-anvitan–accompanied by Lalita and Sri Visakha; ca–also.

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaisnavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Srila Rupa Gosvaml, along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami, as well as Raghunatha Dasa , Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopal Batta and Srila Jiva Gosvami. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda along with Advaita Acarya, Gadadhara, Srivasa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Srimati Radharani and Sri Krsna along with Their associates Sri Lalita and Visakha.”

Building a Sacred Digital Archive for the Next 10,000 Years

09 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, philosophy, Prabhupada Libary, Prabhupadanugas, Spiritual Master, Spriritual Master, Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada Conversations, Srila Prabhupada vani, Srila Prabhupada's Accomplishments, Srila Prabhupada's Books, Srimad Bhagavatam, The Hare Krishna Movement, Transcendental Knowledge, Uncategorized, veda base Tags: ac-bhaktivedanta, bhaktivedanta-archive, history, philosophy, prabhupada, prabhupada.io, religion, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, Swami Prabhupada, writing

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

How Srila Prabhupada was Received in Mexico

27 Nov 2025 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: God, Krishna, spirituality, srila-prabhupada-in-mexico, travel, writing

HOW WAS PRABHUPADA RECEIVED IN MEXICO

A memory by Citsukhananda das

I didn’t expect so many people. But literally there were five to six hundred people in the temple room and more were standing outside, and they were all very, very much anxious to see Srila Prabhupada. So Srila Prabhupada gave a wonderful lecture. I wish I could remember some of the things that he said, but one of the things they asked was, “Why do you wear these marks on your forehead?” And he said, “So this is simply to make people chant Hare Krsna, that when they see these marks on our foreheads they will remember, ‘Oh, that is a Hare Krsna devotee.’ And therefore they are beginning to chant, and by chanting they can become happy. The only way to become happy is to chant. So our business is to make everyone chant by one way or another.” So everyone was very pleased with his answers.