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ISKCON Connection Newsletter, Issue 28, September 22, 2019
 
Prabhupada Nectar
They (the Mayavadi philosopher) want to make the spiritual world as zero or imperson due to less intelligence. But actually, real life, real pleasure, eternal pleasure is there in the spiritual world, not in this material world

730228 - Lecture - Jakarta

So this ānanda potency . . . we are seeking after ānanda. Every one of us, we are seeking after pleasure. This is struggle for existence. Everyone wants to be happy, peace and pleasure. But wherefrom this idea comes? Now, Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ: it also comes from Para-brahman. So if Para-brahman has no such tendency how to enjoy, wherefrom this so-called love in this material world between young boy and young girl comes? There cannot be any existing. It is only perverted reflection of that pleasure potency of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

It is only perverted reflection. It is not false. It is temporary, perverted. Just like the example is sometimes given to mistake a rope as snake. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they give. They say it is māyā. But it is not māyā. When you mistake a snake as . . . huh . . . mistake a rope as a snake, that is not māyā; that is illusion. You can call it māyā, but the snake is there. You cannot say, because it is rope, therefore there is no snake. No. Snake is there. Otherwise, how it comes to the idea of snake? The snake is a fact, but you are mistaking the rope as snake. That is your mistake. But snake is not illusion; snake is a fact.

Similarly, the another example is given. Just like in the desert, the mirage. In the desert, sometimes the animals find that water, there is a vast mass of water, and they are after, when they're thirsty, they jump over and go farther, farther, farther. But because there is no water, he dies. But no sane man goes after that water. But water is not false. That water is being sought in a false place. Similarly, the pleasure, the pleasure between two sexes, man and woman, that is not false. But we are seeking that pleasure in a false place in this material world. Therefore you have done. It is a great science.

So there is the pleasure, this sex attraction. But that sex attraction is not material: Kṛṣṇa, rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmāt, ekātmānāv api deha bhedaṁ gatau (CC Adi 1.5). Try to understand. For Brahman perception, Brahman pleasure, a great saintly person, he gives up everything material. He takes sannyāsa, he goes . . . undergoes severe penances, just to realize brahmānanda. So when Brahman . . . a person, ordinary person, to realize brahmānanda, he gives up everything material, do you think Kṛṣṇa, the Para-brahman, is enjoying something material? Just try to understand. Kṛṣṇa does not enjoy anything. He's Para-brahman. For understanding Brahman pleasure, a person is recommended to give up everything material. And when the Para-brahman wants to enjoy, does it means that He's enjoying something material?

This is our nescience only. This is our misunderstanding. When Para-brahman enjoys, He . . . but the difficulty is that this Māyāvādī philosopher, they cannot understand that in the spiritual world there is also pleasure. Their foolish brain cannot accommodate. Because here in this material world they have got very bad experience of this material . . . they want to make the spiritual world as zero, or imperson, due to less intelligence. But actually, real life, real pleasure, eternal pleasure is there in the spiritual world, not in this material world.

So from Bhagavad-gītā, if you study scrutinizingly each word and each śloka—not by malinterpretation, but actually as it is—then we can understand what is our eternal life, what is our eternal pleasure, how we can be transferred there. Everything is explained there. Everyone can go. Everyone can transfer himself in that spiritual world—simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa. That's all. And the Kṛṣṇa understanding is there. Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā. He . . . if you do not introduce your so-called foolish scholarship, then you get actually back to home, back to Godhead, by simply studying Bhagavad-gītā. But if you add your foolish rascal scholarship, that "Kṛṣṇa means this and that means this, this means that," then you are lost.

Study Bhagavad-gītā as it is. You get all information how to realize Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, so 'ham. Don't misinterpret. (break) Don't . . . there is no . . . just like Kṛṣṇa . . . this verse is very plain. This verse says, na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsam (BG 2.12). Where is the difficulty? "My dear Arjuna, both I, you . . . it is not that I did not exist, you did not exist, neither this soldier." Where is the difficulty to understand? Why should we misinterpret?

dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjaya
(BG 1.1)

No. The main meaning is very plain: that Dhṛtarāṣṭra is asking his private secretary, Sañjaya, "My dear Sañjaya, māmakāḥ, my sons, and pāṇḍavāḥ, my brother's sons, Pāṇḍavas, they assembled," dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1), "in the Kurukṣetra field, which is known as dharma-kṣetra, the religious pilgrimage. After that meeting, what did they do?" Now, where is the, I mean, difficulty to understand this verse?

But unfortunately, one so-called scholar or so-called foolish man will come, he'll say, "Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetra means this body." No. "Where you get this meaning, sir?" But he'll say, explain in this way: "The Pāṇḍava means five senses." Well, in which dictionary you'll find? This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. If you give up this rascaldom, simply read Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then you'll become successful in life. That is our preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

 

 

 

ISKCON News

Courtesy of iskconnews.org

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It all started a decade ago with the 50/50 Campaign, an initiative by the BBT to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of ISKCON, which encouraged devotees to distribute 50 of Srila Prabhupada’s books in 2016. I wanted to come up with different ways to distribute books because, as a working mother, I didn’t have a lot […]

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By most measurable indicators, the world today is far from peaceful. Armed conflicts persist across multiple regions, families are being strained under mounting pressures, and economic instability continues to erode livelihoods on a global scale. In both private and public spaces, conversations are increasingly dominated by anxious, often polarized discussions of politics and geopolitics. It […]

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Representatives of both institutions with the signed Memorandum of Understanding. In a significant step toward bridging India’s ancient intellectual heritage with modern academic research, the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (IIT Bhubaneswar) and the Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 19, 2026. The partnership signals a growing institutional consensus […]

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Dandavats

Courtesy of dandavats.com

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Controlling one’s mind is the purpose of yoga, and Krishna consciousness is the yoga of bhakti, or service to Krishna with love. As with any type of yoga, practicing bhakti-yoga in an atmosphere where we’re deluged with information can be tough. The digital age seems to control us, as yesterday’s inventions become today’s necessities. When I compare my childhood to that of kids today, I wonder how they can concentrate on anything, their minds so easily disappearing into a virtual world that’s becoming more and more like the bricks and bats of the real world.

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By Jaganmohini Devi Dasi

I will have to tell you that today science education- people are taking it as very important. Scientific civilization, or scientific knowledge or scientific education, people are becoming engineers, doctors, telecommunication engineers, IT’s. It is important–the material education. But unless those fields of knowledge are applied in the understanding of higher or deeper dimension of knowledge it becomes a total material waste. In other words if one is not able to understand what the most important duty of the life is, it becomes useless.

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From the Reservoir of Knowledge
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By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada

Personal Letters from Srila Prabhupada. As a genuine spiritual master, His Divine Grace takes personal responsibility for the advancement of each of his students in the spiritual life of Krsna consciousness. Although now his transcendental instructions are available in book form, when Srila Prabhupada first began the Krsna consciousness movement, the only way his new disciples could get the answers to their many questions was to ask Srila Prabhupada personally. Therefore, since 1966, Srila Prabhupada has written literally thousands of personal letters to his disciples, answering their questions, giving them encouragement and opening their eyes to newer and newer realizations of Krsna. A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind to his disciples, and as their ever well-wisher, he blesses them with genuine spiritual understanding. Some of Srila Prabhupada's instructions are presented here.

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TOVP News

Courtesy of tovp.org

Akshaya Tritiya and the TOVP Prabhupada 50 12-Day Matching Fundraiser April 19/20 in India
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In this video, Braja Vilasa prabhu explains the importance of the auspicious Akshaya Tritiya (April 19, 20 in India), and why it is a most opportune time to give to the TOVP Prabhupada 50 12-Day Matching Fundraiser, and help open the TOVP on Srila Prabhupada’s 50th Disappearance Anniversary, November 1, 2027.

Watch Now

Construction Update from the TOVP Factory by HG Braja Vilasa Das
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In this video, we bring you the latest construction update from the TOVP Factory. See the ongoing progress, new developments, and behind-the-scenes work happening as the project continues to move forward.

Watch and Subscribe

When Is the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) Opening?
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Devotees continuously ask us the million-dollar question, “When is the TOVP opening?”. Since construction began in 2009, there have been a number of opening dates announced, but eventually pushed back due to various reasons such as financial, covid, etc.. We are pleased to confirm a definite Grand Opening date to the worldwide ISKCON community.

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TOVP & Vedic Science Channel Present
TOVP & Vedic Science Channel Present

​A lecture by Dr. Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa)

Relationship Between God and Matter

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.26.21
San Diego, California, January 22, 1993

In a famous debate between Newton and Leibniz, Newton proposed that God periodically adjusted the motions of the planets in order to maintain precise motion, whereas Leibniz countered that since God is perfect, adjustments were not required. Thompson draws from perspectives offered in the Bhagavad-gita to help shed light upon this age-old dispute.

Listen Now

 

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: 
founderacharya.com, vanipedia.org

The official ISKCON website: iskcon.org,

Find your nearest temple: centres.iskcon.org

ISKCON leadership: gbc.iskcon.org

Education such ar Bhakti-shastri, Bhaktivaibhava etc: Mayapur Institute, Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education, Bhaktivedanta College Europe

News: news.iskcon.org, dandavats.com,

BBT books: bbt.org, krishna.com, vanisource.org, vedabase.com, bbtmedia.com

World Sankirtan Newsletter: wsnl.net/wsnhome.htm

Temple of Vedic Planetarium: tovp.org

Deity Worship and courses: deityworship.com, Mayapur Academy 

Inspiration & Sadhana: 
mayapur.tv, iskcondesiretree.com

Vaishnava Calendars: 
ISKCON GBC Vaishnava Calendar Comitee, GCAL (Gaurabda Calendar, a program for calculation of the calendar for vaisnavas, according Gaudiya-Vaisnava tradition.)

These dates and timings are for Sri Mayapur Dhama. Find timings for your location at the Vaishnava Calendar links.

20 April, 2026 (Monday)
Aksaya Trtiya. Candana Yatra starts. (Continues for 21 days)

23 April, 2026 (Thursday)
Jahnu Saptami

25 April, 2026 (Saturday)
Sri Madhu Pandita -- Disappearance
Srimati Jahnava Devi -- Appearance
Srimati Sita Devi (consort of Lord Sri Rama) -- Appearance

Address: ISKCON GBC Office
P.O. Sri Mayapur, Nadia, WB 741313, India

Email: office@iskconconnection.org

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