In 1965, a 69 year-old spiritual teacher from India arrives in the West and settles among the hippies of New York’s Lower East Side. From a tiny storefront, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami starts a revolution of consciousness influencing tens of thousands in the US and worldwide. But what happens to his spiritual movement, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), after their charismatic leader’s passing? Will it survive? Will it change? Can an ancient Eastern religious tradition be relevant in the modern 21st century?
A documentary by Karuna Productions. (www.karunaproductions.com)
Ten days into the auspicious month of Kartika we visited Chandra Sarovar, one of the many lakes surrounding Govardhana Hill. It is situated on the long, outer parikrama-marg of Govardhana Hill that extends for over 40 kilometers. It was the pilgrimage route most often taken by Srila Sanatana Goswami 500 years ago. There are many pastimes that take place at Chandra Sarovar, including Krsna’s springtime Rasa Lila dance with the gopis. It was there that the gopis sang their famous Gopi Gita, expressing their deep feelings of separation from the Lord. At Chandra Sarovar one can also take darsan of the samadhi of the famous Vaisnava saint, Sur das.
«Following in the footsteps of our beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, we are back in Russia on a two-month winter preaching tour, taking us from the far eastern shores of Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, 6,532 kilometres to the west. The rigours and austerities involved in such a tour are nothing compared to the joy and satisfaction that come from sharing our good fortune as devotees of the Lord with others».
Indradyumna Swami (09.04.2018)
Preparations are in full swing for this year’s Polish Woodstock festival — renamed the Pol’and’Rock festival. Two and half million young people are expected. Our devotees are busy setting up our famous “Krsna’s Village Of Peace.” Devotees are arriving from Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Macedonia, France, Germany and a number of other countries. It’s the 25th year of the Pol’and’Rock festival and the whole area is buzzing with activity. Many people are arriving early and all of them are asking when we’ll start our food ( prasadam ) distribution. We’re almost ready — most of the 48 tons of foodstuffs we’ll use to distribute approximately 160,000 plates of prasadam has arrived. And our kirtan tent is ready to resound with the holy names day and night. A massive maha yajna is about to begin. I have no doubt the demigods are also arriving in their flower airplanes!
A few days ago our parikrtama party visited Radha Kunda, the most sacred place in the universe. We approached Srimati Radharanis kunda with all the humility we could muster and bathed in the sacred waters. We also listened to a discourse on Radha Kundas glories and relished kirtan and prasadam afterwards.
The Village of Champakalata and the Samadhi of Vrajranabh
A few days ago we visited Kharala, the village of Champakalata, one of Srimati Radharani’s 8 special girlfriends. Full of cows, buffalo’s, peacocks and other animals, it very much resembled the Vrindavan many of us first came to in the early 1970’s. We all relished hearing of Champakalata’s unique transcendental qualities and her service to Vrindavan’s queen. Afterwards we visited the samadhi of Vrajranabh, the great grandson of Krsna, who installed a number of Deities of Krsna around Vrindavan, soon after the Lord’s departure for Goloka, 5,000 years ago.
The other day as part of our Kartika parikrama 2019 we visited Chir Ghat, where the playful pastime of Krsna stealing the clothes of the gopis took place. The nearby village was enchanting and the spiritual atmosphere of Chir Ghat was overwhelming. We discussed the pastimes that took place there and chanted in bliss with Bada Haridas prabhu. I would say that Chir Ghat is a must see for all Gaudiya Vaisnavas who want to go deeper into understanding the science of Bhakti — loving devotion for the Supreme Lord.