G

Guru Aparadha

“If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.” One’s devotional attitude increases in the […]

Goal of Knowledge & Religion

The word veda means “knowledge.” Supreme knowledge consists of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead and our relationship with Him and acting according to that relationship. Action in accordance with the Vedic principles is called religion. Religion means following the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are the injunctions given by […]

Glories of Mathura in Spiritual World

Lord Kṛṣṇa has many forms, as stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.33): advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked Raghupati Upādhyāya which form was the best of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s millions of forms, and he immediately replied that the supreme form was the Śyāmasundara form. In that form, Kṛṣṇa stands curved in three places and holds […]

Glories of Govinda Kunda

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura gives the following information about Govinda-kuṇḍa. There is a village named Āniyora on Govardhana Hill, a little distance from the village of Paiṭhā. Govinda-kuṇḍa is situated near here, and there are two temples to Govinda and Baladeva there. According to some, Queen Padmāvatī excavated this lake. In the Bhakti-ratnākara (Fifth Wave), […]

Story of the cleansing of Gundhicha Temple by Lord Chaitanya & His devotees

When these three people came before the Lord, He begged them for permission to wash the temple known as Gundhicha. The Gundhicha temple is situated two miles northeast of the Jagannātha temple. At the time of the Ratha-yātrā festival, Lord Jagannātha goes to the Gundhicha temple from His original temple and stays there for one week. […]

Sacrifice of God’s own promise

This means that the Lord was voluntarily defeated out of affection for His devotee. He was defeated voluntarily, because no one can defeat the Supreme Lord. Concerning this, the words of Bhīṣma in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.9.37) are important:sva-nigamam apahāya mat-pratijñāmṛtam adhikartum avapluto ratha-sthaḥdhṛta-ratha-caraṇo ‘bhyayāc calad-gurharir iva hantum ibhaṁ gatottarīyaḥ“Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, […]

Are you a Gopi in Vrindavan?

Some material sahajiyās who cannot actually understand the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa manufacture their own life-styles without referring to authority. Such sahajiyās are called sakhī-bhekī, and sometimes they are called gaura-nāgarī. They believe that the material body, which is fit to be eaten by jackals and dogs, is enjoyable for Kṛṣṇa. Consequently they artificially […]

Importance of Worshiping Govardhan Hill

              Formerly, at the end of Dvāpara-yuga, all the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana had arranged to worship King Indra, but they gave this worship up, following the advice of Kṛṣṇa. Instead, they performed a ceremony whereby they worshiped the cows, brāhmaṇas and Govardhana Hill. At that time Kṛṣṇa expanded […]

Good Family, Good Children, Good Devotion.

Generally, it is the ambition of a young girl to have a very handsome husband who is learned, clever, young and rich. According to the Vedic culture, one is rich if he possesses a large stock of food grains and a very large number of animals. Dhānyena dhanavān gavayā dhanavān: one is rich if he […]

Symptoms of Maha Purusha (Great Personalities).

It is a Vedic principle to observe a festival in connection with Nārāyaṇa and brāhmaṇas. Giving a child a particular name is among the purificatory processes known as daśa-vidha-saṁskāra, and on the day of such a ceremony, one should observe a festival by worshiping Nārāyaṇa and distributing prasāda, chiefly among the brāhmaṇas.   When Nīlāmbara […]