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This is a nice advice to all devotees who are not able to follow all the principles strictly. Everyone can be engaged in devotional service and become part and parcel of this wonderful movement. Purport and translation of this sloka from the Bhagavad-gita by Srila Prabhupada. abhyase 'py asamartho 'si mat-karma-paramo bhava mad-artham api karmani kurvan siddhim avapsyasi TRANSLATION Principles of Hare Krishna If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage. Principles of Hare Krishna PURPORT One who is not able even to practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, under the guidance of a spiritual master, can still be drawn to this perfectional stage by working for the Supreme Lord. How to do this work has already been explained in the fifty-fifth verse of the Eleventh Chapter. One should be sympathetic to the propagation of Krsna consciousness. There are many devotees who are engaged in the propagation of Krsna consciousness, and they require help. So, even if one cannot directly practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, he can try to help such work. Every endeavor requires land, capital, organization and labor. Just as in business one requires a place to stay, some capital to use, some labor and some organization to expand, so the same is required in the service of Krsna. The only difference is that in materialism one works for sense gratification. The same work, however, can be performed for the satisfaction of Krsna, and that is spiritual activity. If one has sufficient money, he can help in building an office or temple for propagating Krsna consciousness. Or he can help with publications. There are various fields of activity, and one should be interested in such activities. If one cannot sacrifice the results of his activities, the same person can still sacrifice some percentage to propagate Krsna consciousness. This voluntary service to the cause of Krsna consciousness will help one to rise to a higher state of love for God, whereupon one becomes perfect. Bg 12.10 purport

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare is a perfect transcendental vibration brought by the eternal messenger from the transcendental realm... What is mantra meditation? Mantra is a repetitive sound that focuses your mind in a particular direction. For example you are taking a long trip and you have many things to pack. "Don't forget the keys" - you say to yourself on and on while you are grabbing different other things to take with you on the plane. This is a mantra. In sanskrit the word mantra can be divided into two: man - which refers to the mind, and tra - which means to deliver. Shortly it can be translated as "freeing yourself from your mind". The mind tends to wander. Just like with the keys, you want to remember not to forget the keys, but a phone rings and it's a friend you have not spoken to for 14 years, so naturally you become emotionally surcharged, your mind is distracted and you forget your keys at home and realize this only after you shut the door behind you. This is the mind. Instead of following your direction, the mind sometimes becomes too loose and drags you into an unfavorable situation. In the same way, the mind drags us from one life to another. Whatever state of being one remembers at the time of death, that state he shall attain without fail. The mind carries the spirit soul into another body just like air carries aroma. If the air passes through a rose garden, the aroma of the air will be a very pleasant smell. If it passes over a filthy place, it will carry an obnoxious stink. Similarly, whatever the mind is absorbed in throughout one's life will decide his future birth either as a human, god or an animal. Mantra meditation is therefore a conscious future body designing. We are designing our future body by the thoughts we willingly try to cultivate. The best type of body to design for our future is the eternal body full of bliss and knowledge. This is our true nature. No one wants to be temporary, miserable or ignorant. However, by meditating on material nature we cannot help but contemplate things of that nature. Even the sun which distributes unlimited amounts of light and heat without being diminished in its potency is ultimately doomed to destruction, what to speak of other things in this universe? If we want to find a perfect object of our meditation, we must go beyond the temporary material universe and reach the transcendental reality. Even our very sensory perception is material and therefore temporary. It is not possible to understand or perceive a transcendental reality with material senses which are full of limitations. For this, we have to hear the vibration from that realm. In other words, we depend on the help from that world and it is impossible to reach this ultimate transcendental reality by one's own efforts. A bound man cannot free himself on his own but needs the help of the unbound. The Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare mantra is a perfect transcendental vibration brought by the eternal messenger from the transcendental realm. By chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, one can re-establish his lost relationship with the original supreme being: Sri Krsna. A material tongue cannot chant the mantra, nor can the material ear hear the mantra. The mantra is chanted by the soul himself, although externally it might seem that our material senses are also engaged in the chanting of the mantra just as clothes of a person move along with the person when the person is moving. By chanting under the guidance of the spiritual master coming in the eternal disciplic succession, one can gradually shed the shackles of the material senses and chant purely for the Lord. Chant with us every Sunday at The Sunday Love Feast!

Some people think that saints must always be smiling, but actually, they have all arrays of emotion. Lots of the time saintly persons are grave and serious as they spread urgently important transcendental knowledge. When they are pleased, however, such a smile is uniquely attractive, as Srila Prabhupada explains in this short but sweet purport. maitreya uvaca sa ugra-dhanvann iyad evababhase asic ca tusnim aravinda-nabham dhiyopagrhnan smita-sobhitena mukhena ceto lulubhe devahutyah Sri Maitreya said: O great warrior Vidura, the sage Kardama said this much only and then became silent, thinking of his worshipable Lord Visnu, who has a lotus on His navel. As he silently smiled, his face captured the mind of Devahuti, who began to meditate upon the great sage. PURPORT pure devotee It appears that Kardama Muni was fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness because as soon as he became silent, he at once began to think of Lord Visnu. That is the way of Krsna consciousness. Pure devotees are so absorbed in thought of Krsna that they have no other engagement; although they may seem to think or act otherwise, they are always thinking of Krsna. The smile of such a Krsna conscious person is so attractive that simply by smiling he wins so many admirers, disciples and followers. SB 3.22.21

The Hare Krsna movement transplanted from the timeless Vedic tradition into the western world by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is based on authorized revealed scriptures, of which Srimad-Bhagavatam is the foremost. Srimad-Bhagavatam written down by Srila Dvaipayana Vyasa is the natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, which in turn is the summary of the four Vedas - Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Srila Prabhupada summarizes the importance and purpose of Vedic literature in one of his purports: "The Vedas are compared with the desired tree because they contain all things knowable by the human being both for mundane necessities as well as spiritual realisation. The Vedas contains regulated principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economical, military, medical, chemical, physical, metaphysical and all that may be necessary for the proper up keep of the body and the soul together and above all there is specific direction for spiritual realisation also. Regulated knowledge means to raise the living entity gradually to the spiritual plane and the highest spiritual realisation is to know the Personality of Godhead as the reservoir of all mellows (Rasas)." (SB 1.1.3 purport) Fools often object: "These are some fairy-tales of primitive people who were freaking out cuz there were lightning and thunders in the sky..." Unfortunately for them, it will not be so easy to prove this assumption. In the light of modern science, the statements and mind-blowing details of different aspects of material nature (to start with) described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam call for attention of serious Absolute Truth seekers who are willing and ready to go beyond the limited range of sense perception, mental speculation, intellectual acrobacy and egocentric "I know everything" self-deception. One astonishing description, amongst many, is the profound and extremely accurate account of the development of a human, from the stage of gametes (ovum and sperm), through the stages of an embryo and fetus within mother's womb up to the point of delivery and after. It is a fact, that from a certain point of time when the developing body acquires an observable mass, its description is not a difficult task for an experienced medic with a trained eye, regardless of the era of history he may belong to. But to accurately describe a cluster of cells measuring not more than 0,1 millimetre and the exact timing of its structuring is a feat which doesn't seem to be possible to be described by a caveman. The Vedas with all the supplementary literature like the Upanisads, Puranas or Mahabharata (containing the Bhagavad-gita) were compiled 5000 years ago. They precede any other scripture in the world and, concerning that it was the era of stone age transiting into bronze age with people just discovering the secrets of agriculture or metallurgy and developing basic skills like pottery and writing itself (according to what we are taught in school), their content is simply wondrous. One can find in them information about the universe being held together by a force of attraction a.k.a. gravity, sphericity of Earth, the speed of light, motions of the Earth (rotation around the axis and its revolution around the sun), revolution times and distances of other planets in our solar system, (all this in the Rg Veda), Earth being flattened at the poles as well as the scattered sunlight being the physical cause of blue colour of the sky (Markandeya Purana), Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the "seven islands" of the Earth (the continents) long before the Vikings or Columbus set their feet on American soil and what to speak of discovering the Australia or Antarctica which had to wait for the westerners until the 17th and 19th century respectively. Hippies will be happy to know that the Brhat-samhita explains how a rainbow forms due to the multicoloured sunrays splitting in clouds and even such concept as the relativity of time proposed only many centuries later by professor Albert Einstein (an inspired reader of the Bhagavad-gita btw) is to be found in the Vedas. So far other revealed scriptures, or those which are supposed to be revealed, are concerned, the Bible doesn't really give any significant information on the development of a human within the womb, while the Quran is more advanced in this context. It is mentioned there that the man develops in stages in the womb and it also describes these stages: "He makes you in the wombs of your mothers in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness." (Sura ' 39:6) "Then We developed the semen into a leech (just like a leech attaches itself to the body of its host, so the embryo attaches itself to the wall of the uterus to receive nourishment). Then We developed the leech into a lump. Then We developed the lump into bones. Then We clothed the bones with flesh. (Here is the correct description of bones coming before the muscles). Then We produced it into another creature. Most Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators." (Sura 23.14) This is just to show a little example, in fact, the Quranic account of the embryonic development is quite impressive. Yet it does not go into details of such minuscule structures like cell formations which we will see described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the West, the science of embryology was not exactly developed until the invention of microscopes (the earliest ones in the 17th century) and it really took shape only in the recent 120 years. It is, therefore, a legit question, how could Srila Vyasadeva 5000 years ago (or if we take the current academic version, the sages of the past up to the 13th century, according to their so-called dating of the Vedas) have informations which allowed him (them) to exactly describe the stages of human embryo from the first phase such as fertilization of the ovum by a sperm. Dr. Keith L. Moore, PhD from the Department of Anatomy, University of Toronto gives this short summary of the evolution of embryology in the West: "We do not know when it was realized that human beings underwent development in the uterus (womb), but the first known illustration of a fetus in the uterus was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century. In the 2nd century A.D., Galen described the placenta and fetal membranes in his book "On The Formation of the Foetus." Consequently, doctors in the 7th century A.D. likely knew that the human embryo developed in the uterus. It is unlikely that they knew that it developed in stages, even though Aristotle had described the stages of development of the chick embryo in the 4th century B.C. The realization that the human embryo develops in stages was not discussed and illustrated until the 15th century. After the microscope was discovered in the 17th century by Leeuwenhoek descriptions were made of the early stages of the chick embryo. The staging of human embryos was not described until the 20th century. Streeter (1941) developed the first system of staging which has now been replaced by a more accurate system proposed by O'Rahilly (1972)." As in many other cases and dragging up until today, the idea of western "scholars" was somewhat a humorous imagination without any basis: "As recently as the 18th century, the prevailing notion in western human embryology was preformation: the idea that semen contains an embryo – a preformed, miniature infant, or homunculus – that simply becomes larger during development. Until the birth of modern embryology through observation of the mammalian ovum by von Baer in 1827, there was no clear scientific understanding of embryology. Only in the late 1950s when ultrasound was first used for uterine scanning, was the true developmental chronology of human fetus available. The competing explanation of embryonic development was epigenesis, originally proposed 2,000 years earlier by Aristotle. Much early embryology came from the work of the Italian anatomists Aldrovandi, Aranzio, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcello Malpighi, Gabriele Falloppio, Girolamo Cardano, Emilio Parisano, Fortunio Liceti, Stefano Lorenzini, Spallanzani, Enrico Sertoli, and Mauro Rusconi. According to epigenesis, the form of an animal emerges gradually from a relatively formless egg. As microscopy improved during the 19th century, biologists could see that embryos took shape in a series of progressive steps, and epigenesis displaced preformation as the favoured explanation among embryologists." Let us now take a dip into the depths of Puranic evidence on embryonic development which in detail and precision precedes any other such account in the known human history. The following are the verses of the Bhagavatam's 3rd Canto 31st Chapter entitled Lord Kapila's Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities translated from the Sanskrit language by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. TEXT 1 sri-bhagavan uvaca karmana daiva-netrena jantur dehopapattaye striyah pravista udaram pumso retah-kanasrayah sri-bhagavan uvaca—the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; karmana—by the result of work; daiva-netrena—under the supervision of the Lord; jantuh—the living entity; deha—a body; upapattaye—for obtaining; striyah—of a woman; pravistah—enters; udaram—the womb; pumsah—of a man; retah—of semen; kana—a particle; asrayah—dwelling in. Translation: "The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body." In the first sloka (verse) of this Bhagavatam chapter, we see the description of a sperm cell (pumso retah-kanasrayah: pumsah—of a man; retah—of semen; kana—a particle) as the agent of procreation, entering the womb of the mother. People naturally must have had the notion that male semen and its discharge into woman's womb is the cause of pregnancy, but the idea that semen contains "particles" couldn't be conceived without an instrument to enhance the power of the scientist's insufficient vision. In the West, such knowledge was not revealed until the 17th century. "The person with the dubious honour of being the first to study sperm in detail was Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutchman who developed the early compound microscope. Van Leeuwenhoek first used his new tool to examine more chaste subjects such as bee stingers, human lice and lake water in the mid-1670s. Colleagues urged him to turn his lens to semen. But he worried it would be indecent to write about semen and intercourse, and so he stalled. Finally, in 1677, he gave in. Examining his own ejaculate, he was immediately struck by the tiny “animalcules” he found wriggling inside. Hesitant to even share his findings with colleagues van Leeuwenhoek hesitantly wrote to the Royal Society of London about his discovery in 1677. “If your Lordship should consider that these observations may disgust or scandalise the learned, I earnestly beg your Lordship to regard them as private and to publish or destroy them as your Lordship sees fit.” His Lordship (aka the president of the Royal Society) did opt to publish van Leeuwenhoek’s findings in the journal Philosophical Transactions in 1678—thus begetting the brand new field of sperm biology." Amusing history, indeed. A bit disturbing, though, is the "cognitive filter" immediately applied on a startling discovery by its own author. On top of that, His "Lordship" was obviously at liberty to conceal or even destroy the new information in case he’d find it "disgusting" or "scandalous" for the "learned". Fortunately enough for western civilization, his Lordship transcended the cognitive dissonance, evaluated the discovery as beneficial for the advancement of knowledge and published it. Someone may argue that the author of the translations may be making the meanings up because he has an agenda: "See here? It´s in our scripture for a long time!" and he wants to impose it on modern scientific knowledge. To address such a claim I humbly submit here just a few reviews by Sanskrit scholars from around the world, acknowledging the bona-fides of Srila Prabhupada’s translations: "The original version of this work is by Swami Bhaktivedanta. Essentially, it consists of a commented translation of the Bhagavad-gita, edited in English, a language which the Swami has completely mastered, as he has Sanskrit and Bengali." (Olivier Lacombe, Professor, Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris; Director, Institute of Indian Civilization, Paris) "The gates of these most valuable treasures of Indian literature were thrown open by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada by his establishing the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness with centers in all parts of the world. The BBT has already published a number of important books written by him on the tradition of bhakti yoga coming down from the hoary Vedic Age to recent times, such as Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. The book production of these encyclopedic renderings is of a very high order, not only in respect of the external get-up and printing, but also in respect of the authenticity of the English translation of the original Sanskrit texts, accompanied by Roman transliterations, vocabularies, detailed cultural expositions of the stanzas, aids to reading of Sanskrit and copious indexes, all of which will serve to make even the common non-Sanskritist readers enjoy these inspiring literary expressions of ancient Indian civilization. I would therefore recommend that these books be acquired by all college and University Libraries, for they reflect the highest peak of literary genius." (Dr. V. V. Gokhale, B. A. (Hon), D. Phil (Indology, Sinology and Philosophy - Bonn; Thirty-seven years as Prof. of Sanskrit, Fergusson College, Pune) "We must thank the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust for giving us this significant text which is one of the great books of humanity. This edition is doubly beneficial because in addition to the translation of the Sanskrit text, there is A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's masterful verse-by-verse commentary... Let us hope for a wide distribution of this commented translation of the Bhagavat Purana. Those who are interested in the living India will find herein the genuineness of an authorized spiritual tradition while having access to one of the most beautiful religious poems in the timeless Hindu tradition." (Professor Jean Varenne, Dept. of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Universite de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France) "I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It provides a clear script of the Devanagari stanzas, beautifully presented with Roman transliteration, precise word-for-word equivalents and lucid English translation followed by an outstanding and comprehensive exegesis, with extensive subject index." (Dr. Samuel D. Atkins, Professor of Sanskrit and Vedic, Philology, Princeton University) TEXT 2 kalalam tv eka-ratrena panca-ratrena budbudam dasahena tu karkandhuh pesy andam va tatah param kalalam—mixing of the sperm and ovum; tu—then; eka-ratrena—on the first night; panca-ratrena—by the fifth night; budbudam—a bubble; dasa-ahena—in ten days; tu—then; karkandhuh—like a plum; pesi—a lump of flesh; andam—an egg; va—or; tatah—thence; param—afterwards. "On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be." And here it gets really interesting. On the fifth night, the mixture of sperm and ovum (which was also not known in the west until the 19th century) ferments into a BUBBLE. Sounds funny... a bubble. Well, a "bubble" indeed forms exactly five days after conception and that bubble is called a blastula. "The blastula (from Greek βλαστός (blastos), meaning "sprout") is a hollow sphere of cells, referred to as blastomeres, surrounding an inner fluid-filled cavity called the blastocoele formed during an early stage of embryonic development in animals. In humans, blastocyst formation begins about 5 days after fertilization, when a fluid-filled cavity opens up in the morula, a ball of cells. The blastocyst has a diameter of about 0.1–0.2 mm and comprises 200–300 cells following rapid cleavage (cell division). How on earth could people observe a "bubble" of 0,1-0,2 millimetres in size within the womb of the to be mother and what to speak of having an idea, that the object is hollow inside... It would be very interesting to hear a mainstream scientist's explanation of these descriptions which date thousands of years back as they, by their antiquity, greatly precede any sort of an instrument capable to identify this cell formation. TEXT 3 In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus. This is a description from a medical website: Weeks 9–12: The fetus reaches approximately 8 cm. (3.2 in.) in length; the head is approximately half the size of the fetus. External features such as the face, neck, eyelids, limbs, digits, and genitals are well-formed. The beginnings of teeth appear, and red blood cells begin to be produced in the liver. The fetus is able to make a fist. The verses of Bhagavatam then continue to describe the embryonic and fetal stages one by one up until the point of birth. Then it describes the root problems of man’s existence beginning from childhood up to the point of death and then the descriptions continue to describe the path of a soul departed from the body. A similar account on the development of a human being in the womb is to be found in the Mārkandeya Purana (Ch.11): "The son said: - As soon as the male seed is mixed with female blood one, released from heaven or hell, enters into it. (1) O father, the two kinds of seed being influenced by him he attains stability. He then grows into protoplasm, next into a bubble and then into a lump of flesh. (2) The germ that grows up in the lumps of flesh called Ankura and then are gradually produced the five limbs. (3) Then the minor limbs, fingers, eyes, nose, face, and ears are developed from (principal) limbs and from them the nails, &c. (4) Then hairs grow on the skin and then those on the head. Thus does the embryo grow up along with the uterus. (5) As a cocoanut fruit grows along with its case so does this increase along with its case, with is face bent downwards. (6) It grows keeping its hands downwards to its thighs and sides; the thumbs are placed on the thighs and the other fingers before them. (7) The eyes are behind the thighs and the nose is within the thighs. The hips are between the two heels; the arms and legs remain outside. (8) Thus a Creature, lying in the womb of a female, grows up gradually; the embryos of other creatures lie in the womb according to their forms. (9) It gets hardened by fire and lives by what is eaten and drunk; the embryo exists in the womb depending upon virtue and vice. (10) The entrail called āpyāyanī fixed to its navel is attached to the entrail of the female and it grows there. (11) Having its body nourished while in the womb, by the food and drink a creature gradually grows up. (12) It then gets the recollection of its many births and then pushed hither and thither it comes to entertain a distaste (for such a state). (13) Having been released from the womb - "I shall never do it again - I shall so strive that I shall not have to enter into the womb any more" - thus does it think remembering a hundred miseries of births originating from destiny which he had experienced before. (14-15) Then in the course of time, the creature, with its face bent downwards, turns itself and is then born in the ninth or the tenth month. (16) And coming out it is assailed by the Prajāpatya wind and tormented by the grief that is in its heart it bewails. (17) Coming out of the womb it falls into an unbearable trance; it regains its consciousness when it feels the (surrounding) air. (18) Then the enchanting illusion of Vishnu takes possession of it; having its soul possessed by it, it sustains a bewilderment of sense. (19) With the loss of sense the creature comes of infancy, boyhood, youth and old age. (20) A man repeatedly goes through a cycle of births and deaths. In this way, he rolls like a clock on the wheel of the world." We see the remarkable scientific knowledge about the workings of the material world in the Vedas, which is literature so ancient, that this kind of knowledge is simply not supposed to be there, at least according to what we are being taught about the history of human consciousness. If the Vedas give us so accurate information about the realm where we reside, why not consider the information they give about the realm which is now beyond our perception - the spiritual world? We don't have to waste time with experiments. The experiments were already performed and their results are put forward by great sages and acaryas. We simply have to take advantage of the Vedic knowledge to liberate ourselves from the cycle of birth and death, so we don't have to become a blastula again.

His Grace Purujit Prabhu and Maitreya Prabhu are back with the Bliss podcast, interviewing intriguing guests and tackling triggering topics. Bringing it back with a bang, the Prabhus talk about one particularly polarising topic: abortion. So, are the Hare Krishnas pro-choice or pro-life? What's the sastric conclusion on abortion? What does Srila Prabhupada say about it? Find out all in the most recent episide of The Bliss podcast. Don't forget to click the bell button and subscribe to get notifications when new content is published! Love what we do? Support us here

Wake up! Rise and shine! That's what they say when the sun rises in the morning and the darkness of sleep is removed. The chanting of the holy name of God dissipates all miseries because miseries arise from ignorance. When we are ignorant, we make mistakes. Mistakes lead to suffering. If you are ignorant that fire burns, you may touch the fire and burn yourself. As soon as there is knowledge that fire is dangerous you will avoid the fire and save yourself from that suffering. Similarly, in one is in full knowledge of everything, he can be free from all kinds of suffering. Our principle ignorance is that we do not know who we actually are. Some are thinking that we do not know who we are because we have lost our childish innocence or our passion due to bad association, but factually we do not know who we are because we identify with the body and the mind, which are always changing. The body and mind we had as small children are now gone and we have different bodies and think differently. But we are not gone. Therefore we do not really know who we are. It is not that we are the body and the mind and that we have some purpose or ability or goal to achieve in terms of that body, and our loss of self is due to forgetfulness of those so-called goals. No. We cannot be ”authentic” to our “selves” because we do know what the self even is. The actual self is the soul beyond the material coverings; man or woman, black or white, leftist or right-winger, small or tall. All the different designation give us a sense of purpose relative to the title of the body. If I am a man I have to work and be successful and be a father, if I am black I must fight for black rights and overcome discrimination, If I am a child I have to play and go to school, etc. But the underlying purpose of every conscious being is service. Our service is now spread in all these material directions towards the body, family, friends, society and so on, and so our consciousness is absorbed in these things. But the original eternal consciousness of everyone is service to the source of all consciousness, the supreme soul, Lord Sri Krishna. Forgetfulness of this is real forgetfulness of the self. And due to this forgetfulness we identify with our temporary body, mind and service in this temporary material world. Thus we suffer the pains of the body, the mind and the world around us including all the other living entities who may do the body and mind harm. The Maha-Mantra, being the name of the absolute truth, Krishna, is not any different from Krishna, because He is absolute. He is everything, and therefore He is also His name. When one chants the holy name of Krishna, He is directly meditating on Krishna. Since Krishna is the absolute truth, meditation on Him dissipates all darkness like the sun dissipates the darkness of night. So by chanting the holy name of God one can become free from all sufferings due to ignorance. Chant with us every day on Facebook, 8am and 6:30pm

Narada Das, otherwise known as Nathan Hartley, is a long time Krishna devotee and friend of Bliss. He is the founder of The Hare Krishna Project, a charitable foundation that organises kirtans, school preaching and book distribution with kirtan superstar Neera Haria around the U.K.. Narada Prabhu is also the author of two books, The Hare Krishnas in Britain and the upcoming expose: Black Magic, Booze and Bhakti. He is the founder and host of the popular Hare Krishna Podcast wherein he discusses topics of interest and intrigue with devotees from different Krishna organisations all across the world, and where many of our Bliss devotees have had the pleasure of being featured and interviewed! Every so often Bliss is blessed by a visit from this nice devotee, and copious amounts of prasadam are honoured over long talks. On his most recent visit, Narada Prabhu brought with him something very special, a gift we did not ask for but that we are so enthusiastic to accept. More on that later... Narada Das joins the Bliss podcast During his visit, we recorded an upcoming episode of the Bliss podcast. Like and follow our Facebook page to stay updated on its release. Can't wait? Hear all the podcast episodes here On his last visit, Narada Prabhu came to join the celebration of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day and give a talk at the first and second initiation ceremony of His Grace Nityananda Das and Krsna Prema Devi Dasi Bliss members interviewed by The Hare Krishna Podcast His Grace Purujit Das We know you want to know more about our teacher, His Grace Purujit Prabhu. Here you go: an in depth interview to satisfy your curiosity! His Grace Maitreya Rsi Das How did this young man from America come to be our trusty temple president? Her Grace Dora Mataji Our book distributor superstar shares her story. Krsna Prema Devi Dasi A young Bhaktin Love (now Krsna Prema Devi Dasi) is interviewed. Love our content? Become a Facebook subscriber for only £9.99 a month and get behind the scenes Bliss videos, plus a free e-Matchless Gift Magazine every month!

The Sunday Love Feast is a classic Hare Krishna event consisting of three ecstatic activities: kirtan, class, prasadam (homemade vegetarian feast). Introduced by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in New York in the 60s, Bliss London upholds this tradition every Sunday at our South London temple... Why Should you Attend the Bliss Sunday Love Feast? Take it from Srila Prabhupada: This attitude of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very important for persons engaged in the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In every center of our institution, we have arranged for a love feast every Sunday, and when we actually see people come to our center, chant, dance, take prasādam, become jubilant and purchase books, we know that certainly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always present in such transcendental activities, and He is very pleased and satisfied. Therefore the members must increase this movement more and more, according to the principles that we are presently trying to execute. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, thus being pleased, will smilingly glance upon them, bestowing His favor, and the movement will be successful. CC Adi 9.50, Purport Take it from the guests... Bliss Sunday Love feast Discover more reviews on our YouTube channel here. So, what are you waiting for?

The Bliss devotees have been invited to Germany to celebrate Gaura Purnima. Can you help us fund our trip? London Help Bliss go to Germany! Fundraiser London Who is lord chaitanya? Remember back in November when our temple was buzzing with international devotees? His Grace Mathura Pati Das and his students travelled from their Krishna temple in Frankfurt to celebrate Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day. We were also joined by devotees from Turkey and Bath, UK, to celebrate the occasion. Our guests stayed for some days, and helped evoke an auspicious atmosphere for the first and second initiations of Krsna Prema Devi Dasi and His Grace Nityananda Dasa. Bliss London What happened when the Bliss managers went to Germany? This March, the German devotees are taking their turn to host, in honour of the super auspicious appearance day of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna Himself in the role of His own devotee. To fund the trip, each devotee needs to raise £120 each, to cover travel and expenses. Can you kindly donate to our fundraiser and help us associate with the devotees for this rare and powerful ocassion? Donate here: help the devotees go to Germany! What's new at Bliss? New Matchless Gift Magazine, out now in print and online! Click here to get your limited edition print copy now

Matchless Gift is the brainchild of Bliss founder, His Grace Purujit Dasa. What started as an e-magazine with a humble following is now a successful monthly print and e-magazine with a loyal readership and new subscribers joining every day. The Matchless Gift magazine is a completely original way of presenting Krishna consciousness. Each issue is full of wisdom in the form of... Original artwork Interviews with famous devotees Transcribed classes by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and His Grace Purujit Dasa Hilarious comic, 'Ricky Tricky' Recipes from the Bliss London kitchen World news from a conscious perspective Articles by the Bliss devotees Special offers on Bliss products ...and so much more! This month's cover is graced by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the Krishna Consciousness Movement. Check out our other issues... Ready to buy? Click me Matchless gift

Yesterday marked the 150th anniversary of this Divine personality's disappearance. A majorly important person in our Krishna consciousness sampradaya, we at Bliss celebrated just as our Srila Prabhupada, the disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, instructed us to. While fasting until 12, His Grace Nityanada Prabhu lovingly prepared some of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's favourite dishes: kitchari, kadhi, kalakand, and a spicy coriander chutney. Her Grace Dora Mataji then gave a class to enlighten us as all about our grandfather guru. For more information on this personality, check out our other blog posts... Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja's Appearance Day 150th anniversary When a Political Freedom Fighter Met a Spiritual Freedom Fighter Celebrate in person with us every Sunday at The Love Feast event: kirtan, class and prasadam every Sunday, 4:30-8pm at our South London temple

On February 29th 2024 we celebrated the most auspicous festival of the appearance of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja, the spiritual master of our beloved Guru, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The following is Srila Prabhupada's recollection on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura spoken at the occasion of his appearance day on the 7th of February 1969 in Los Angeles. 'He is mercy representation of Lord Caitanya. And he appeared as the son of this Bhaktivinoda Thakura. At that time he was known as Kedaranath Datta. Kena Datta. And he appeared in 1867 as the child of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. And the house is still preserved in Jagannatha Puri. At that time Jagannatha Puri, he was magistrate in Jagannatha Puri, and he was... The system in the Jagannatha Puri, the manager, the official manager, is the district magistrate. So he was district magistrate. And in February 1867, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura appeared. And when he appeared, his, this what is called, the intestine? Madhudvisa: Umbilical cord? Prabhupada: Cord, cord. What is it called? Visnujana: Umbilical. Prabhupada: Embryo cord. That embryo cord was like this. Yes. That means brahmana from the beginning. You see? So when he was a child... He appeared in February. Then... When the Ratha-yatra takes place? In July. So February, March, April, May, June, July. So when he was six months old, the Ratha-yatra festival was held. And by chance the big cart stopped in front of that house. That is generally in the Jagannatha car stops. Just like our car also stops somewhere, and you have some difficulty to push it again. That's nice. That also happens in Jagannatha Purī. It was stopped, and some people were... Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to push with His head. So that was wonderful. So anyway, the cart stopped, and mother of our Guru Maharaja, the child Guru Maharaja, so she took the opportunity, and because she was manager's wife, so everyone respected with the child. So she put the child on the leg of Jagannatha. And as there are so many garlands, one garland immediately fell on the child. Yes. Automatically. So in this way Bhaktivinoda Thakura could understand that "This child is not ordinary child," and he knew that "I prayed to Gaurasundara to send me somebody. So this boy, this child, is sent by Him." So he took care of him very carefully. And in this way his name was Bimala Prasada, Bimala Prasada Datta. So when he was three years or four years old, he took one mango from the Deity room and ate it. So Bhaktivinoda Thakura said, "Oh, you have done a great wrong thing. You have taken the mango of the Deity before offering Him? It is a great offense." The child took it very seriously, and my Guru Maharaja never took mango throughout his whole life. Whenever mango was offered, he would say, "Oh, I am a offender. I cannot take that." You see? So there was a big meeting. [aside:] What is this sound? [chuckles] Somebody's sleeping? All right. [laughter]. In Midnapur district, when he was young man, he was holding meeting. He was a great astrologer, and he opened an astrological school when he was young man. And there are many big students still practicing. They are all students of my Guru Maharaja. And there was a meeting in Midnapur district. The subject matter was "Brahmanas and Vaisnavas." So in that meeting Bhaktivinoda Thakura was invited. At that time he was not very in healthy condition, indisposed. So he asked Sarasvati Thakura that "You go and speak there." So he spoke the distinction between brahmanas and Vaisnavas, and he defeated so many learned panditas. Then the whole audience began to take..., touch his lotus feet and touch with water and drink it, in this way, when he was young man. That book is also available in Bengali, Brahmana-Vaisnava. Then, after disappearance of Bhaktivinoda Thakura in 1914... Bhaktivinoda Thakura organized this Krsna Caitanya's movement in pure form from Mayapur. He published many books and papers, Sajjana-tosani. When he passed away in 1914, at that time, he entrusted the matter to Siddhanta Sarasvatī Thakura, that "I am going, my work unfinished, about this Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement. You take charge of Brahmana-Vaisnava very seriously the word of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. So since 1914 to '18, he was simply thinking that "How I can expand this movement?" So in 1918 he started this movement with the help of some disciples. Krsna sent him. So one of the disciples, he is now Tīrtha Maharaja. Perhaps he is... He belonged to Ramakrishna Mission Society. So he is very ambitious. So he took the opportunity of starting this movement, finding out the saintly person. So apart from that point of view, with his help this Gaudiya Mission was started, and gradually it developed. So in Calcutta, Guru Maharaja started in 1918. And, I think, in 1922, when I was young man, one of my friends, he took me to Guru Maharaja. That was my first meeting. And, of course, he was speaking to everyone, but he found me as something. So immediately after my meeting, he said this, that "Why don't you preach this Caitanya's cult in the Western countries?" That is a memorable day. Of course, I did not know that I will have to do it. [laughter] You see? It is... Boy: What? Prabhupada: [aside:] Stop. Whatever you do not understand, you will ask later on, not in the middle. I could not understand that time. You see? It was... I talked with him in so many ways: "Who will hear your Caitanya's message? We are dependent country." At that time I was Gandhi's devotee. In 1920 I gave up my educational career and joined this Congress Movement. Because Gandhi's program was to boycott the university education and the British law court, so we took this opportunity and gave up education. You see? [chuckles] So then Dr. Bose, he was my father's friend, so he asked, "What this Abhaya is doing?" So my sister told him, "Oh, he has appeared in the B.A. examination, but he is not doing anything." So Dr. Bose was my father's friend. So he appointed me the manager of his laboratory. I did not know anything; still, he appointed me. So that was in 1921. In 1920 I gave up my education. Of course, I was married in 1918, and I got my first child in 1921. So in 1922, when I saw my Guru Maharaja and when I was convinced about his argument and mode of presentation, I was so much struck with wonder. I could understand that "Here is the proper person who can give real religious idea." That I appreciated at that time. And at that time I thought, "This great personality is asking me to preach. I would have immediately joined, but now I am married. It will be injustice." Of course, I thought like that, in that way. Of course, Guru Maharaja did not say anything that "You give up your family life." No, never said. He simply gave the idea. So I thought that "It would have been better if I was not married." Anyway, then 1923 I left Calcutta on my business, and I established my headquarter at Allahabad. So all the days I was thinking of this, "Oh, I saw a very nice saintly person. But I am now off from Calcutta." So I was thinking like that. Practically he initiated me, because I was thinking of..., always. Then in 1928 there was a big fair which is called Kumbha-mela. At that time I was doing business in Allahabad. My business was very flourishing. It is well-known drug shop. So the persons who went to organize our Gaudiya Matha's camp in that fair, somebody has told that "Here is a Bengali gentleman's business. You can go, and he is very religious man. He will help." So all the disciples of Guru Maharaja, they approached my shop, my store, drug store. And I was..., because I was thinking of them, so I thought, "Oh, here is the men." You see? You see? I was very glad—"So they have come again"—because I was separated from them in 1923, and again I saw them in 1928, after five years, and I was thinking of Guru Maharaja simply in this way: "Oh, I met a very nice saintly person. Very nice saintly person. If I can see him again?" Like that. So in this way, with my help, the Allahabad center of Gaudiya Matha was established. Then I was initiated in 1933. In 1933. And in 1936 I was, at that time, in Bombay, and Guru Maharaja was very much indisposed, and he was at Purī, Jagannatha Purī. We have got our temple there. Guru Maharaja established sixty-four temples, small and big. Just like I am increasing, he increased. So most of the temples were in Bengal. In Bengal there were about fifty out of sixty-four, and one temple was at Allahabad, one was in Madras. In this way, outside Bengal, about three, four, one Benares. And he sent Bon Maharaja also in 1933 to London for preaching, but unfortunately, some way or other, he could not do anything, so Guru Maharaja called him back in 1934. He was not satisfied and sent another Godbrother, gosvami. In 1936, just on the 13th December, I wrote him one letter. Not 13th. I think by the beginning of December, 1936, I wrote one letter to Guru Maharaja. I knew he was little kind upon me, so I wrote that "Guru Maharaja, you have got many disciples. I am also one of them. But they are doing direct service to you. There some of them are brahmacaris, some of them sannyasis, but I am a householder. I cannot..." Of course, I was giving sometimes some monetary help, but I could not give any direct service, so I asked him that "If there is any particular service I can do for you?" So that letter was replied in 13th December, dated 13th December, from Purī. And he passed away on the 31st December. Just a fortnight before. So the reply was the same as he wanted me to do this preaching work in 1922, when I first met him, that "You try to preach whatever you have learned from me, the English-knowing people in English. That will do good to you and to the people to whom you shall preach. That is my instruction." So I took up that... And then he passed away in 1936, 31st December. So I consulted some of my Godbrothers, senior Godbrothers, "Guru Maharaja has told me like this. What can I do?" So you have heard the name of Professor Sanyal, and there were other Godbrothers. They asked me to write on the Vaisnava-siddhanta in English. So perhaps in 1935 I wrote one poetry. The part of it, somebody, you have got. He was very pleased. Since then he was insisting me that "You write on, preach in English." At that time I was thinking, "What can I do?" So anyway, after his passing away, this Back to Godhead paper was started, as late in 1944, I think, because the expenditure was three hundred, four hundred rupees per month. So somehow or other, it has begun, the blessings of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, as he wanted me, he desired me. So because he desired, my... I am not very expert or educated or nothing extraordinary, but only thing is that I believed in his word. That is... You can say that is my qualification. I believed cent percent in his word. So whatever success is there, it is just due to my firm faith in his instruction. So I am trying to follow. And by his grace, you are helping me. So actually, the responsibility will now depend on you. I am also old man. I may pass away at any moment. This movement should go on, you see, this movement started by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then accelerated by Gosvamis, and then again Visvanatha Cakravarti. And when... Just like whenever there is... Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [Bg. 4.7]. When there is some slowness, either Krsna Himself or some representative comes to give it a push. So you should know it that this movement should be pushed on. This should not be neglected. And I am glad that you are catching the ideas very nicely, and try... Simple thing: you chant sincerely and follow the rules and regulation. The rules and regulation are not very strict. They are very simple. But because you are trained in a different way... But I am so pleased and obliged to you that you have adopted. I never expected. When I came first in Boston, I was thinking, "Oh, who will accept these Vaisnava rules and regulation? These people are after meat [chuckles] and wine and illicit sex, and how they will accept it?" I was hopeless: "How they will chant?" You see? So by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, at least, I am hopeful that this movement can be accepted by anyone. It is not so hopeless as I thought. But apart from my calculation, you are realizing. This movement should be pushed on. Just like great souls always think of the poor souls, similarly, you should also feel. That is the way. Lord Jesus Christ, he also prayed for the sinful persons. So this is very good. If we struggle hard to push this movement, then, even we..., you don't get any follower, Krsna will be satisfied. And our business is to satisfy Krsna. That is bhakti.' For a full run down of the Vaishnava festivals, check out our handy calendar