Question:Say a devotee after getting initiated, is unable to do his 16 rounds of chanting on a day or few days, due to illness or anything of that sort, it is like breaking the vows, right? So how and what the devotee should do in such situation?

An offering to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness -- our spiritual master, who is an ocean of love and compassion.

“What nonsense! What nonsense! What misfortune! Even though he is a ‘great man’ he still does not like blissful Vrndavana! “If even the ‘greatest’ person refuses to take shelter of blissful Vrndavana, he should be called the lowest of men. “I do not love...

Materialistic activities are regulated by the institution of varnasrama-dharma. Without varnasrama-dharma, materialistic activities constitute animal life. Yet even in human life, while observing the principles of varna and asrama--brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, brahmacarya...

A living being by birth has a tendency to take a shelter or to put in other words we all have an affinity towards security. This very tendency can be seen in the new borns of any species right from humans to dogs and all others. However as we grow up the kind of security we search for changes, and this changeover is a very interesting process. During this change over we learn to be selfish, to forget those, whom we do not need presently, and the best part is that we are so overwhelmed of our material gains, that in the course of this process that we forget the ultimate source of all gains, The Almighty God.

Sex is the overwhelming obsession of modern society. Sexual promiscuity is so unrelentingly stressed that anyone who does not appear to the highly interested in it is generally considered to be a crank. Social pressure induces people to try to maintain juvenile lustiness...

The sincere devotee who wants to attain a perfection (Siddhi) for himself by the process of chanting the Name of the Lord must refrain from the ten kinds of offences which are quoted below from the “Padmapuranam.” The first and foremost offence is the act of defaming the great saints who have...

Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and CAN EQUALLY TOLERATE THE ONSLAUGHTS OF DISTRESS AND HAPPINESS IS CERTAINLY A PERSON ELIGIBLE FOR LIBERATION. In the varnasrama institution, THE FOURTH...

How can a person who has never seen Vrndavana’s Yamuna river, which is filled with eternally blooming indivara, kamala, kahlara, kumuda, and other lotus flowers, all filled with the sweet humming sounds of bumblebees, and which displays the places where Sri Sri Radha-Muralidhara...

Bhismadeva advised for all human beings nine qualifications: 1. Not to become angry 2. Not to lie 3. To equally distribute wealth 4. To forgive 5. To beget children only by one's legitimate wife 6. To be pure in mind and hygienic in body 7. Not to be inimical...

Once Chatrapati Sivaji (who was a famous King in India during the reign of Aurangazeb), was riding in his horse in the forest for hunting. While he was going, suddenly a big stone hit his head. Being a King, he became extremely angry, thinking who had the audacity to throw a stone at him. He was...

Today I received a mail from somewhere which contained the following stunning snippet from Srila Prabhupada's interaction with some of his devotees in his room. Prabhupada insisted how important it is for everyone especially his followers to study his books seriously.

After Satyabhama posed these questions, the chaste and blessed daughter of Drupada responded. ‘O Satyabhama, you are asking me about the practices of wicked women. How can I answer or speak about the objectives of such wicked females? It doesn’t become you to ask such questions or to doubt me by...

There was one thief, one robber. He was robbing businessmen and murdering people, and then one day he heard that the king of the country of the country had invited all the sannyasis, sadhus and ascetics for a big meeting. The thief was thinking, "Maybe the king will be giving help to them, so I will see if I can rob...

The second of the three “internal modes” is samvit-sakti (cit) - the Lords “knowledge” potency. It is between this energy and the external energy (maya), that the marginal energy-the living entities (jivas), exist. It is understood that the marginal energy is emanating from the samvit-sakti.

There are three spiritual modes of internal energy called sandhini-sakti, samvit-sakti, and hladhini-sakti. Over the next few weeks each of these component parts will be presented, beginning with this paper on sandhini-sakti.

A person may have many many flaws in his character, but the devotee extracts his good qualities only, and ignores his negative qualities; in so doing he encourages and enthuses the person of doubtful character to be more inspired to take to Krishna consciousness. In turn, Krishna purifes the person and his flaws eventually vanish.

Everybody is looking for Krishna. Some don't realize that they are, but they are. Krishna is GOD, the Source of all that exists, the Cause of all that is, was, or ever will be. As GOD is unlimited, HE has many Names. Allah-Buddha-Jehovah-Rama: All are Krishna, all are ONE. God is not abstract; He has both the impersonal and the personal aspects to His personality, which is SUPREME, ETERNAL, BLISSFUL, and full of KNOWLEDGE.

People often ask us, “Can you prove the existence of God?” Proof indicates a conclusive demonstration that establishes the validity of an assertion, in this case the assertion that God exists. But as soon as we speak of a demonstration, the next question is “To whom shall we demonstrate?” If we speak of evidence or data, we must know who will see and hear it. In other words, who will judge the results of a particular experiment, test, or trial.

A person who chants the names of Sri Krishna, but who is without the guidance of the gopas and gopis, cannot achieve vraja-prema. This is to be remembered and understood. If we do not contemplate the prema of Mother Yasoda and the vraja-gopis for Krishna and how that prema controls Him, we will not be able to achieve it. In the words of Srila Sanatana Gosvami: "Vraja-prema is very rare."