How Free Are We?

The Vedic contribution to one of the central debates in Western philosophy.

Sam Surya goes to his city’s orphanage one day and makes a large donation. Elsewhere in town, Andy Andhakara robs a bank. What led these two to make such drastically different choices? Was it their own volition, or the force of some other factor? In other words, were their actions predetermined, or did Sam and Andy have free will?

These questions concern one of the pivotal debates in Western philosophy. Are human beings destined to follow a set course? Are we like children on an amusement park ride lets them steer right and left but inevitably takes them along a fixed track? Or are we free to desire and do as we like, our lives a blank slate upon which we may write anything and everything?

In this article we’ll take a brief look at how Western philosophy has addressed the problem of determinism versus free will, and then suggest how the Vedic literature can offer additional insight into this most elusive yet important issue.

Before we begin, let’s be clear about the term will. From a philosophical perspective, it is a nuanced concept that has undergone shifts in meaning over the years. Nevertheless, for all practical purposes it can be taken as synonymous with “action.” Hence the debate over determinism versus free will is essentially a quest to identify the cause of human behavior. Keeping this in mind should help keep you from getting lost in what might otherwise become a hazy jungle of abstract philosophical jargon.

Strict Determinism

One perspective on this debate is to say that Sam Surya was destined to donate and Andy Andhakara was destined to steal, and neither ever really had a say in the matter. This is the theory known as strict determinism. It holds that all human actions are the direct results of a sequence of causes and effects such that they are predetermined and can unfold in one and only one way. Thus, we do not actually play any part in determining our actions. Rather, they are caused by something beyond us. Western philosophers have generally been loath to embrace this view, and with good reason: strict determinism is contrary to both common experience and the norms of civilization. (The doctrine of the predestination of souls, espoused by St. Augustine in the fifth century and championed by the leaders of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, is one major exception.) Far from feeling forced into every action we take, we instinctively feel we can make choices in our lives. Therefore, the thought that we have no control whatsoever over what we do is repulsive. And the laws that govern society have meaning only if citizens can decide to follow them or not. For example, we would perhaps support punishing Andy Andhakara to send a message to the community that stealing is bad and others should not follow his example. But if citizens don’t have the power to decide to steal or not, then what’s the use of sending such a message? Therefore, strict determinism can be rejected as counterintuitive and highly impractical.

Categorical Free Will

Having rejected this extreme, let’s test out the other. As strict determinism tells us that Sam and Andy each had to act in a particular way, the opposite perspective tells us they could have acted in absolutely any way. This is the theory known as categorical free will. It holds that human actions are in theory completely unconstrained and can unfold in an infinite number of ways. Our behavior is not the preset product of any grand universal scheme, but is fluid and flexible. It essentially has no cause, for that would limit its course.

Unlike the theory of strict determinism, which has had few adherents among Western philosophers, the theory of categorical free will has been embraced by many, including the French philosopher Rene Descartes in the early seventeenth century and the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the late eighteenth century. Indeed, it is a welcome relief from the stifling rigidity of determinism, and it resonates with Western notions of liberty and independence. But as other philosophers have pointed out (including those named in the next section), it goes too far. They argue that a phenomenon either has a cause (or causes) or is completely random; there is no third option. Therefore to say that human actions have no cause is to say that they are random. But observation of the world around us shows that this is clearly not the case. We don’t see mothers hugging their dirty laundry and throwing their babies into the washing machine. Rather, in place of such inexplicable chaos (the logical consequence of this theory) we observe order and meaning in human behavior. Hence, categorical free will must also be rejected as illogical and unrealistic.

Life and Afterlife: Does Modern Science Have it Right?

The intellectual community fails to even consider the validity of evidence of reincarnation.

I recently read one of the latest books by Ian Stevenson, entitled European Cases of the Reincarnation Type. Dr. Stevenson is a research professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, and he has been doing research on the subject of reincarnation for more than thirty years. Over this period, he has accumulated several hundred accounts of young children who consciously remember details of past lives, exhibit birthmarks or phobias connected with a former person’s death, or even speak fluently in languages with which they have had no prior contact.

Stevenson and his team have rigorously investigated and verified many of these accounts through interviews, historical record searches, and visits to the often-remote areas described by these children. And yet few people are familiar with his work, and even fewer scholars in conventional academic circles address it seriously. Why such indifference? What is it about the intellectual community that prevents it from embracing Stevenson’s research and the idea of reincarnation?

I’m a graduate of the Science, Technology and Society program at Stanford University, and this is not the first time I have thought about the nature of the modern scientific establishment and its relationship with mainstream culture. Among the public there is a perception that scientific inquiry is a dispassionate endeavor that uncovers value-neutral truths about reality. As a result, people are expected to regard scientific knowledge as belonging in a different category than knowledge from other sources, such as opinion, intuition, or scripture. This is justified on the grounds that science is supposedly free from the bias, prejudice, and blind faith that may characterize these other sources.

But this distinction is artificial. Science is far from the objective arbiter of truth it is commonly perceived to be; rather, it is routinely affected by all manner of subjective considerations. Not only these more general mundane influences, but a more profound spiritual one as well, have played a part in the low esteem with which scientists hold Stevenson’s body of work and the concept of reincarnation.

Tainted Perception

The effect of irrational factors on empirical scientific research has been discussed, most notably by Thomas S. Kuhn in his classic The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Among the issues he highlights that I view as bearing on reincarnation are the theory-laden nature of perception, the role of paradigms in scientific research, and the social nature of such research.

The first influence refers to the unconscious effect of existing attitudes and worldviews on what someone perceives. A popular notion is that scientists collect hard facts and then process them in a straightforward, rational way to come up with a theory. Stevenson points out, however, that “prior beliefs influence judgments about evidence; and they influence even more the primary observations that furnish the evidence.” A researcher’s underlying system of values unwittingly shapes the conclusions he or she comes to. What’s more, even the original facts themselves are subjective in that they may mean different things to different people. In this light, the image of the open-minded scientist transparently studying the world to extract an objective truth rings false. What a researcher believes before beginning an investigation necessarily affects what he or she ultimately discovers.

Kuhn cites an interesting psychology experiment as an example of this phenomenon of perceptual bias. In it, the experimenters asked their subjects to identify a series of playing cards that were shown to them in increasingly lengthy exposures. Mixed in with the normal deck, however, were some anomalous cards, such as a red six of spades and a black four of hearts. When the cards were shown in short flashes, almost all of the subjects correctly identified the normal cards but, without hesitation, misidentified the anomalous ones (i.e., they would identify a black four of hearts conventionally as either a black four of spades or a red four of hearts). As the exposure time increased, the subjects started to hesitate in identifying these anomalous cards, until, often quite suddenly, they were able to identify them correctly without difficulty. At first, the subjects fit the strange cards into one of the normal conceptual categories they had derived from experience. Only with an extremely exaggerated exposure time, perhaps forty times as long as that required to identify normal cards, were they able to correctly identify the anomalous cards. One is almost forced to conclude that, until the end, many of the subjects were actually “seeing” something different than what was actually before their eyes.

Navina-Syama Dasa

Navina-Syama Dasa (Navin Shyam Jani) grew up going to ISKCON temples, first in Cleveland, Ohio, and later in Laguna Beach, California. He became serious about spiritual life while studying at Stanford University, and after graduation he spent time in several North American temples and farm communities. Later, he traveled to India with his wife, Krishna Priya Devi Dasi, where he earned a Bhakti Shastri degree with High Honors from the Mayapur Institute of Higher Education. He ultimately found shelter at the feet of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, from whom he has taken first and second initiation.

Navina-Syama has a passion for Vedic culture. He is particularly interested in the ancient Indian art of spatial design, Vastu Veda, on which he has conducted research at the University of Florida and the University of California, Irvine, and for which he offers freelance consulting services through his website, VastuShyam.com.

His current plans are to move to New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where he will live with his wife and daughter, Varada Lila, in a custom eco-Vastu home, spending his days as an attorney in nearby Wheeling.

Bhakti: Life’s Highest Goal

In the stage of pure devotion, one can rightfully say, "I am Krishna's, and Krishna is mine."

Bhakti, devotional service to Lord Krishna, is the most powerful, pure, and exalted of all activities; it is the dynamic, variegated activity of the soul. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam Prahlada Maharaja lists nine kinds of devotional service: hearing about Krishna, chanting His names or speaking about Him, remembering Him, serving His lotus feet, worshiping Him, offering Him prayers, becoming His servant, becoming His friend, and surrendering everything to Him. When we do one or more of these activities with the intent to please Krishna, He comes closer to us and we come closer to Him.

Remembering Krishna

Each of these processes of devotional service is spiritually potent, and by performing one or more of them purely one can attain love of God, life’s highest goal. For example, let us consider the service of remembering Krishna.

The vast Vedic literature encompasses the four original Vedas (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda) and their corollaries, including 108 primary Upanishads, 18 main Puranas, numerous Samhitas,the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and other works. The essence of the knowledge contained in this immense canon is the Bhagavad-gita.Vaishnava commentators have written that of the Bhagavad-gita’s eighteen chapters, the middle six are the essence. Of those six, Chapter 9 ("The Most Confidential Knowledge") is the essence. And of Chapter 9, the last text, 34—the very middle of the Gita—is the essence. Krishna begins that verse with the words man-mana: "Always think of Me." So, of all Krishna’s instructions, the instruction to always remember Him is the essence of the essence of the essence.

The potency of pure thoughts of Krishna is so great that simply by the power of remembering Him, Prahlada Maharaja, the emblem of one who always thinks of Krishna, was able to evoke the personal presence of the Lord (Krishna as Nrisimhadeva). The Lord then defeated the most formidable demon in the universe, Prahlada’s father, Hiranyakashipu. Because Prahlada was only five years old, his example shows that age is no impediment to performing devotional service. As long as one has the power to think, one can choose to think of Krishna.

Pure vs. Mixed Devotional Service

Pure devotion like Prahlada’s is free of selfish motives: The pure devotee's interest and the Lord’s are identical. But not all devotional service is pure. Service to God performed by those who are envious, proud, violent, and angry, and whose interests differ from the Lord’s, is considered to be in the mode of ignorance. Those who do devotional service in this mode often think they are the best devotees. Devotional service that’s motivated by the desire for fame, opulence, and material enjoyment, or service by those who think the Lord should fulfill their demands, is devotional service influenced by passion. And devotees acting in the mode of (material) goodness want to free themselves of the results of their actions—karma—by devotional service.

Even a pinch of personal interest means one’s devotion is mixed. Pure devotion is exhibited “when one's mind is at once attracted to hearing the transcendental name and qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is residing in everyone's heart. Just as the water of the Ganges flows naturally down towards the ocean, such devotional ecstasy, uninterrupted by any material condition, flows towards the Supreme Lord.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.29.13) Pure devotees want no material or spiritual benefit from their service; without stopping, they serve the Lord and His devotees simply to please them.

Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi

Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi, a disciple of Virabahu Maharaja, practices Krishna consciousness in New Dwaraka, the temple community established by Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles, California. She cooks for and attends to the temple's beautiful Radha-Krishna deities, Sri Sri Rukmini-Dwarakadisa.

Karuna Dharini has participated in ISKCON educational seminars to better understand the fields of  communications, teaching, and child protection. She facilitates and teaches classes on Srila Rupa Goswami's Nectar of Instruction and a course on Vaisnava Etiquette to women beginning their practice of Krishna consciousness.

Her husband is Jagadishananda Dasa, disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He serves as mail-order accountant for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. They have one daughter, Gaura Sundari, who sometimes helps new devotees to become more involved in temple functions by inviting them into her home and introducing them to the benefits of the Krishna conscious way of life.

As a child, six of Karuna's family members worked for LA newspapers in reporting, editorial, composing, typesetting, photography and graphic arts. Karuna spent Saturday mornings playing in the editorial rooms of the newspaper. She believes she was influenced to see written communication as highly valuable through the minds of her family members. She studied comparativ

Karuna is glad to explain and distribute the transcendental news in the viable and beautiful form of Srila Prabhupada's books. She has distributed Srila Prabhupada's books to people from all over the world.

The Mission of Book Distribution

Srila Prabhupada inherited the mission to distribute books on Krishna consciousness from his spiritual master, and passed it on to his disciples.

“I felt disillusioned with performing the Catholic rituals I grew up with,” explains Christina Camacho. “I abandoned them and went looking at various Eastern doctrines. I finished my master’s degree in counseling and took a trip to Japan to study Buddhism, but it didn’t touch my heart.”

In 1976, Christina, now known as Pavaka Dasi, bought a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is from a devotee at the Los Angeles airport. She read it and was inspired to order the rest of Prabhupada’s books, one after another, through the mail.

“Only through Srila Prabhupada’s books," Pavaka says, "was I able to become centered on myself as the soul and take up the process of devotional service. For ten years I didn’t spend much time at a temple, but Prabhupada became my guru through the purports in his books.”

Now Pavaka acts as coordinator for the life membership program at the ISKCON temple in Los Angeles. She got that first book because a devotee of Krishna went to a public place and sifted through hundreds of passersby to find a person who showed interest. Those who embrace the uplifting concepts found in Srila Prabhupada’s books often like to share his books with others.

Formerly the Sanskrit literature was not easily available, even in India. Some well-to-do people had copies in their homes, but the books were more or less the treasure of the brahmanas, the priestly class, and often kept within the temple. Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, had a more liberal attitude and encouraged his disciples to print and distribute the Vaishnava scriptures generously. Srila Prabhupada carefully translated and wrote commentary on these transcendental scriptures and took up the task of distributing them on a grand scale.

Srila Prabhupada gave his full blessings to disciples who accepted the mission to distribute the books he translated.

Bhrigupati Dasa, a full-time distributor of Srila Prabhupada’s books for thirty-five years, explains, “On more than one occasion, Srila Prabhupada told us that preachers are very quickly recognized by Krishna. That's our objective, so why not take shelter of a particularly effective way to achieve it? I very much like the experience of Krishna's using me as His instrument to engage the people I meet in devotional service.”

Srila Prabhupada Initiates Book Distribution

With powerful determination, Srila Prabhupada acted on his guru's ideas for printing and distributing books. Before departing for America in 1965, with little financial support he began translating and publishing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, a monumental work about God and His devotees. He carried a trunkload of the first three volumes with him as he crossed the Atlantic on an ocean freighter to America. Alone in his early days in the West, he was not shy about selling the three-volume set to anyone who showed genuine interest.

In 1972, the Macmillan Company published Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is. It received acclaim from scholars at many leading universities and quickly gained popularity. It can now be read in over one hundred languages.


Soon after, Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead was printed in Tokyo. Known in ISKCON as "the Krishna book," it is Prabhupada's summary study of the Tenth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which describes Krishna's activities on this planet fifty centuries ago. When Prabhupada was presented the first carton of the Krishna book, one book was missing—the disciple delivering the books from Japan had sold one to a businessman on the plane.

“Ah, this is very auspicious," Prabhupada said. "The first book has already been distributed.”

He told his disciples to sell the rest of the books, not even keeping one for himself.

But his disciples were unsure how to sell the books. Then one day two devotees got the idea to trade a book for a tank of gasoline. The station attendant readily agreed, and they became convinced that the books could be sold in other ways.

Devotees tried selling the books at concerts and found interested customers. It was exciting for them to share Krishna in this way. They sold the book by talking about the philosophy it contained and felt deeply connected to their spiritual master by doing so. News spread from temple to temple that distributing books was a great way to please Srila Prabhupada. The excitement grew. Many locations for book distribution were attempted—shopping malls, parking lots, fairs, airports, and so on.

There were few vegetarians then, and terms such as yoga, karma, and guru were new. Americans were pledging themselves to rapid material advancement through science and technology. Yet Srila Prabhupada’s books, which denounce the godless life of materialistic sense gratification, poured forth like a sudden flood from an unlimited ocean.

The Evolution of Consciousness

Although Darwin was right in proposing a process of evolution, he was wrong about what was evolving.

Listen along:

Consciousness, or awareness in the simplest sense, is not a characteristic of humans alone. Take dogs, for instance. Not only can they sense their surroundings (through smells, sounds, sights, tastes, etc.), but they can also recognize places, odors, flavors, and sounds. One might argue that even machines can sense with detectors, so what differentiates them from a dog? A dog can experience pain, fear, anger, comfort, excitement, and so on, whereas a nonliving machine cannot. All mammals, vertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, aquatics, and so forth, are conscious, even though what they sense may differ for individual species. Dolphins and bats navigate with sonar; snakes and some nocturnal animals see with infrared vision; sharks and some other fish sense electricity. No matter how varied their sensations, they all share the faculty of consciousness.


What about insects? If you block an insect’s path, it will turn around. Or if it senses danger, it may run to safety or bite as an act of self-defense. So the instinct of survival is present. But this alone does not suffice as a differentiating attribute of conscious, because even a robot could be programmed to avoid certain dangers. But a robot does not have desire, whereas the insect desires to live. It desires to survive.


Are microorganisms—bacteria and single-celled creatures—conscious? They can move in response to stimuli such as light and chemical changes in their environment. Now, even a robot could reposition itself just as a bacterium does in response to external stimulus, but the difference here is that the robot is itself only a nonliving system controlled by a living person, either manually or through code written by a programmer. But who controls the motions of a bacterium? Who decides how a bacterium will rotate its flagellum?


Instinct is the one-word answer that comes to mind. Some geneticists say that the organism's inborn patterns of behavior, or its unlearned and inherited fixed-action patterns, are encoded in its DNA. In this sense, the organism, a biochemical system embedded with DNA code, is just the biological counterpart of the robot, a silicon-based machine programmed with a computer language. But just as no robot, computer, or machine can function without a living person's commanding it, the bacterium, a biochemical machine, cannot function without a living being controlling it.


Now the skeptic may challenge, "The bacterium is living by itself. There is no need for a separate living being to control it." This rebuttal is based on a mechanistic theory that reduces the life of an organism to its internal biochemical reactions. Srila Prabhupada responded by pointing out that if life is just a result of chemical reactions, then scientists should be able to create it in the laboratory, but no scientist can claim to have created even one living cell.


Atma: The Source of Life


Every organism is alive only because of the soul dwelling within it. To the skeptical, belief in a soul sounds superstitious. But occurrences documented by medical practitioners suggest its validity. In his book Light and Death, cardiologist Dr. Michael Sabom reports the surgery of Pam Reynolds, a patient suffering from an aneurysm (a sack-like widening of an artery) in her brain stem that was on the verge of rupture, which could be fatal. Since the aneurysm was at the base of Pam's brain, her surgeon, Dr. Robert Spetzler, director of Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, had to drain all the blood from her brain to flatten the brainwaves and stop her heartbeat and breathing. Pam was clinically dead during the surgery. After the successful operation, however, she could recollect exact conversations among the surgeons and accurate descriptions of medical instruments (only uncovered after the patient is anaesthetized) used in her surgery, during which she was supposed to be unconscious. During the operation, Pam could see her body from above; she was floating outside her body, so to speak. This and several other documented near-death and out-of-body accounts suggest the existence of the soul, the spirit particle, as a metaphysical being that is the actual source of consciousness.


According to the Bhagavad-gita, a spirit soul resides within each living organism. The spirit soul, or atma in Sanskrit, is the source of consciousness. The spirit soul enters a body at conception and departs at death, transmigrating to a new body arranged by the laws of nature according to the soul's desires and past deeds. During this cycle of birth and death (or reincarnation), the soul can travel to lower or higher forms of life. But the further down the atma travels in the ladder of life forms, the more dormant the consciousness, and thus the less the symptoms of consciousness are exhibited. So even though each bacterium is possessed by a spirit soul, the soul's presence is not as evident as it is in mammals and other advanced species.

Maha Navami : Tuesday, 23-10-2012

Maha Navami : Tuesday, 23-10-2012

Mahanavami is celebrated on Ashwin Shukla Paksha Navami,the ninth and the final day of Durga  Navratri.On this day,the goddess Durga is worshipped in the form of Aparajita,by offering her sugarcane stalks.Mahishasura Mardhini Puja is also observed on Mahanavami,when the Goddess Durga is decorated and worshipped in the form of Mahishasuramardhini alankaram.
Matangi Dasamahavidya too, is worshipped on Mahanavami as a part of Dasamahavidya pooja in Navratri. Mukteshwari is the Goddess to be worshipped on ninth day of Navratri as part of Saptamatrika and Ashtamatrika puja.As per Hindu beliefs,Durga pooja on Maha Navami is equivalent to the Durga pooja performed on all nine days of Durga Navaratri.

Goddess Siddhidatri puja is also performed on Mahanavami day,by the Navadurga Shakteya sampradaaya people.In Bihar,Kashmir,Punjab,Uttar Pradesh,Haryana and Bihar; Kanya Puja is performed,when nine young virgin girls(kumarika),are worshipped,who symbolically represent the nine forms of the goddess Durga.Their feet are washed,kumkumis applied on the forehead and they are feasted and given gifts and new clothes by the worshippers.

On Mahanavami day, in South Indian states especially in Kerala, Ayudha(arms) Pooja is performed.Tools, instruments,muiscal instruments and books are worshipped.The next day of Mahanavami is observed as Vijaya Dashami.In some rural places, Janthu bali (animal sacrifices) are performed on Mahanavami daywhich is against the Hindu culture and society.

Suvasini Puja, Kanya Puja, Dampati Puja, etc. are observed on Mahanavami day in Navratri. In some places of Telangana region of  Andhra Pradesh, Bathukamma festival is celebrated.On this final day Saraswati Visarjan(immersion)or Saraswati Udyapan is done.It also concludes the Devi Triratra vrata (3-day or 3-night Devi vrata).

Maha Ashtami : Monday, 22-10-2012

Maha Ashtami : Monday, 22-10-2012

The largest religious festival for the Hindus enters the third day today with thousands of devotees being expected to throng the puja mandaps (pavilion) to worship the mother goddess.

This is the most important day of Durga Puja, known as Durga Ashtami, as it celebrates the victory of the goddess over Mahishasura (the buffalo-demon from Hindu mythology).

Kumari Puja, Suvasini Puja and Dampat Puja are also performed on Durga Ashtami.

Today's celebration marks the triumph of good over evil.

The goddess is bathed symbolically and dressed for the final battle. This happens just after dawn. It is believed that on this day Durga killed the demon. In old days, a buffalo was offered as sacrifice to the goddess. These days bananas, pumpkins and cucumbers replaced the animal.

Also known as Maha Ashtami or Veerashtami, the day holds special significance in the Hindus' social and religious calendar, which comes after Maha Saptami.

On Maha Saptami, worshippers seek divine blessings through reciting hymns and offering flowers.

Devotees celebrated the day yesterday with elaborate rituals since early morning at about 28,000 mandaps across the country.

The spectacular puja mandaps with colourful idols of the goddess gave a festive look to cities, urban centres and even rural villages of Bangladesh as the Hindus make up 10 percent of the country's total population.

Saraswati Puja (part of Navaratri) : Sunday, 21-10-2012

Saraswati Puja (part of Navaratri) : Sunday, 21-10-2012

Goddess Saraswati descends on this Earth plane in her ferocious form to destroy the demon of ignorance. Saraswati Puja restructures your thoughts to give you divine intelligence. Ma Saraswati or Goddess Saraswati who represents unpolluted consciousness, destroys the demons of negativity and ignorance that causes suffering in this whole world.


Ma Saraswati or Goddess Saraswati

Goddess Saraswati or Ma Saraswati is most widely known as the Goddess of Education. She is the Goddess of Science and Technology and the Goddess of Innovation and Design. She will bring in new understandings and technologies beyond our present thinking that will uplift all of Humanity on Navaratri 2011. This will deepen our faculties and open us on spiritual level.

In Sanskrit, ‘Sara’ means essence and ‘Va’ means the self therefore meaning knowledge of the true self which is all knowing and all powerful. Ma Saraswati is also called the ‘Shwetambari’, since Shweta means ‘white’ and Ambari means ‘one who clad or wears’, because of her fondness of wearing white dresses.

The Symbolism of Goddess Saraswati

Ma Saraswati is depicted either sitting on a white lotus or riding a white swan. In North India, she is shown with a peacock. The white lotus symbolizes supreme pure knowledge while the swan symbolizes grace and the power of discrimination. The peacock is the secret of Om. Goddess Saraswati has four arms which represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: i.e. mind, intellect, alertness and ego.

In one hand Ma Saraswati holds the Vedas which represent the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures. In another hand she holds a crystal rosary or mala, representing the power of meditation and spirituality. In the third and fourth hands she holds a musical instrument called the veena, representing her perfection of all arts and sciences.


Saraswati Puja on Navratri

Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of Wisdom, learning, intelligence, skills and creative arts. She wants to inspire others to excel and stimulate creativity in the world. Ma Saraswati, one of the first Goddesses to be mentioned in Ancient Indian texts, is considered to be the Mother of the Vedas.

Ma Saraswati is the Goddess of Speech and is also known as Vag-Devi, the Goddess of Divine Sounds. She is worshipped on the final 3 nights of Navratri festival. Saraswati Puja on Navratri will help you restructure your thoughts to give you divine intelligence.


Goddess Saraswati Destroys the Demon of Ignorance on Her 3 Power Nights

Goddess Saraswati on Navratri  will destroy the demon of ignorance and will grant us knowledge and divine wisdom. Her energy is essential for discrimination, academics and performing arts and worshipping Goddess Saraswati on her 3 power nights of Navaratri  will bless you with perfection of all arts and sciences.

Pitri-Paksha ends : Monday, 15-10-2012

Pitri-Paksha ends : Monday, 15-10-2012

The annual ancestor-worship or 'Pitri-Paksha' is a period that is observed during the dark half of the Hindu month of 'Ashwin.' This period of 15 days is set aside by the Hindus for the remembrance of their ancestors. During this fortnight, Hindus donate food to the hungry in the hope that their ancestors will also be thus fed.
It is this time that Hindus throughout the world reflect on the contributions their forefathers made to their present life, and the cultural norms, traditions and values they set for us in order to make our lives better.

Three Debts an Individual is Born with

According to the Vedic scriptures an individual is born with three debts. The debt to God is called ‘Dev-rin.’ The debt to the sages and saints is called ‘Rishi-rin.’ The third debt to one's parents and ancestors is called ‘Pitri-rin.’ These three debts are like three mortgages on one's life, but not liabilities. It is an attempt by Hindu scriptures to create an awareness of one's duties and responsibilities.

"Pitri-rin" - Debt to One's Parents & Ancestors

The third debt an individual is expected to pay during one's life is to one's parents and ancestors. One's entire existence, including the family name and the great dharma one belongs to, are the gifts of one's parents and the forefathers. Just as your parents, who brought you into this world, protected you when you were weak and frail, fed you, clothed you, taught you, and brought to you up, your grandparents performed similar duties for your parents.

How to Repay the Debt to Ancentors

So how is this debt repaid? Everything that one does in this world should enhance the fame and glory of one's family, and of one's forefathers. Your ancestors are anxious to help you in all your endeavors and the departed souls are capable of doing so. However, they have one expectation from all of us and that is to perform acts of charity in their names during their annual visits to your homes in their subtle, invisible bodies.

A Pure Act of Faith

You do not have to believe in this unique Hindu ritual because it is purely based on faith called 'shraddha' in Hindi. Hence, another name for annual ancestor worship is 'Shraadh,' derived from the word 'shraddha' or faith. However, you will agree that it is the responsibility of everyone to keep up the pride of the family lineage by performing actions that promote the good of all. The fortnight of ancestor worship is nothing but a reminder of your lineage and duties towards it.

Vamana Jayanti : Wednesday, 26-09-2012

Vamana Jayanti : Wednesday, 26-09-2012


Vamana jayanti is celebrations of the appearance day of Vamana dev in the month of Bhadrapada. It falls on the dwadasi, the twelth day, of bright half Bhadrapada month (August – September). In 2011 Vamana jayanti is on 9th September.


Who is Vamana dev
Vamana dev is the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the second yuga or Treta yuga. It is the first incarnation of Lord in total human form. Lord Vamana appeared as the son of Aditi and the sage Kashyapa muni. He was known as the younger brother of the king of heavens, Lord Indra. In Srimad Bhagavatam, the great epic of Hindus, in eighth canto, chapters 15 to 23 there is interesting narration of the pastime of Lord Vamana dev.

King Bali and Vamana Dev
King Bali was grandson of devotee king Prahlad. He performed 100 Ashwamedha yagna to become Lord Indra. He wanted to become very powerful and defeat Indra, under the idea of false guru Shukracharya. When Indra came to know that King Bali is about to finish the yagna, he ran to Lord Vishnu to save him. Then Lord Vishnu incarnated as Vamana dev, a dwarf Brahmana boy. King Bali was very generous in nature. He declared he can grant any charity during the yagna.

Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana approached King Bali. When Shukracharya saw Vamana he could know that he is Vishnu. Thus he stopped King Bali to give any promise. But King Bali could not give up his generous nature. Vamana dev carried wooden umbrella and came to King Bali in a humble demeanor.

King Bali’s Charity
Vamana asked 3 steps of land in charity. King Bali sarcastically laughed and asked the boy to ask something more. But Vamana answered that one should be satisfied with whatever is needed and never try to think of more than needed. King Bali promised to give the charity.

Lord Vamana dev expanded in the gigantic form and covered whole cosmos in one step. He then covered whole earth in another step. Then he asked where to keep his third step. King Bali surrendered to Vamana dev and gave his own head to step on for the third step.


Vamana Jayanti Celebrations
Devotees of Lord Vishnu celebrate this day in great reverence. The event is celebrations of victory of Vamana dev. They visit the temples dedicated to Vamana dev. They perform poojas and rituals. This pastime of Vamana dev from Srimad Bhagavatam is recited with great love and devotion.

Radhastami : Sunday, 23-09-2012

Radhastami : Sunday, 23-09-2012

"In Vrndavana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord Krsna. Srimati Radharani is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Radharani is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Krsna, the Lord at once accepts the devotee's admittance into His association. The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one's doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived."

Srimad Bhagavatam 2:3:23


Radhastami is the annual observance of the Appearance day of Srimati Radharani, who is dearmost to Lord Krsna. Radharani always comes to be wherever Lord Krsna is present, and her Appearance day is always celebrated exactly two week’s after Sri Krsna’s.

"Here in this forest of Vrndavana my heart has become enchanted by the youthfulness, expert skill in the art of transcendental amorous pastimes, ever new and splendid beauty, shyness, playful smiles, playful crooked sidelong glances, playful graceful motions, very beautiful and splendid fair complexion that makes the beholder become overwhelmed with transcendental bliss, and charming transcendental sweetness of Sri Radha. When, because of seeing the forest of Vrndavana with perfect clearness, will my heart, jubilant with the sweet nectar of transcendental bliss and overwhelmed with ecstatic pure love, become plunged in the golden, shoreless ocean of the sweetness and beauty of Sri Radhika's transcendental form and pastimes, which is filled with gracefulness, youthfulness, and charm, and which is the thief that has stolen the heart of Sri Krsna."
Sri Vrindaban-mahimamrita, 10.8-9

On Radhastami, the temple Deities are covered entirely in flowers. On this day only, one may take darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet, which are covered on all other days. The day of Radhastami is spent by the devotees in reading the transcendental pastimes of Radharani and her Gopi friends, and her lila pastimes in the groves of Vrndavana with Krsna.

Our Radhastami Feast begins with Rasa Lila Rice, an opulent and zesty preparation with cashews, lime and coconut, which is decorated with a spiral of golden friend chenna balls, reminiscent of the rasa dance.

The Bheendi Gavar Dal is replete with okra (ladyfingers), beans and a spicy broth of yellow moong. Radharani’s teasing mood is recalled with a sumptuous Spicy Mango Stuffed Paratha, in which tart apples, mangos and jalapenos are rolled into a savoury fried bread.

In loving remembrance of the endless ways in which Srimati Radharani melted Lord Krsna’s heart, we offer Paneer Butter Masala, a velvety concoction of soft fried chenna in a buttery masala sauce.

When Krsna was not nearby, Srimati Radharani lost her smile and some of Her happy luster faded until He returned to her. In that mood, here is an offering of Amandita Sabji. The Sanskrit word ‘amandita’, or ‘unadorned’, is reflected in this simple charchari concoction that is completely devoid of spice. Squash and avocados, apple and coconut are left to fold gently in on themselves without the company of other flavours.

In the light-hearted and happy mood of Radharani and her Gopi girlfriends, we have Banana Vada, a delightful and smile-inducing savoury. Beside it, we have another savoury reminiscent of the circle dance, Sweet Potato Spirals, adapted from one of Kurma das’s excellent recipes.

Like the rosy blush of Radharani’s cheeks, the reddish color of Jewel sweet potatoes is also found in Shakarkand Kofta, a rich stuffed vegetable preparation featuring savory chenna stuffed into fried potato balls, afloat in a nectar gravy.

In celebration of Srimati Radharani’s countless, unparalleled qualities, we offer Banana Flower Salad, a most exotic and delicate preparation.

Next, we have a simple Doodhi Raita, which is a cooling blend of yoghurt and sweetened pumpkin. Lord Krsna’s bluish-black luster, so sweet and all attractive to Sri Radha, is recalled with Blackberry Almond Chatni, a sweet, glistening preparation.

Of her many loved pets, Radharani was very affectionate towards her parrots. We re-create them for the Radhastami feast in the form of Radharani's Parrots, creamy rich milks sweets decorated in colored coconut, with dried apricot beaks and claws.

Sweet Gopi Jamuns are wonderful fried sweets, each hiding a juicy pineapple chunk inside. A tart and flavorful Green Mango Pie completes the festive sweets.

And last, the Sweet Cream and Honey is a frothy sweet milk flavored with almond and saffron. We hope this Radhastami beverage brings to mind just a little taste of the sweetness one gets whenever Srimati Radharni’s name touches the lips of her devotee.

Ganesh Chaturthi (Immersion) : Wednesday, 19-09-2012

Ganesh Chaturthi (Immersion) : Wednesday, 19-09-2012

Ganesha — the elephant-deity riding a mouse — has become one of the commonest mnemonics for anything associated with Hinduism. This not only suggests the importance of Ganesha, but also shows how popular and pervasive this deity is in the minds of the masses.

The Lord of Success
The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.

Significance of the Ganesha Form
Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha's left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.

The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse.

How Ganesha Got His Head
The story of the birth of this zoomorphic deity, as depicted in the Shiva Purana, goes like this: Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy's head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name 'Ganapati'. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture.

However, there's another less popular story of his origin, found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana: Shiva asked Parvati to observe the punyaka vrata for a year to appease Vishnu in order to have a son. When a son was born to her, all the gods and goddesses assembled to rejoice on its birth. Lord Shani, the son of Surya (Sun-God), was also present but he refused to look at the infant. Perturbed at this behaviour, Parvati asked him the reason, and Shani replied that his looking at baby would harm the newborn. However, on Parvati's insistence when Shani eyed the baby, the child's head was severed instantly. All the gods started to bemoan, whereupon Vishnu hurried to the bank of river Pushpabhadra and brought back the head of a young elephant, and joined it to the baby's body, thus reviving it.

Ganesha, the Destroyer of Pride
Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. "All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief," says D N Singh in A Study of Hinduism. "He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus."

Ganesh Chaturthi
The devotees of Ganesha are known as 'Ganapatyas', and the festival to celebrate and glorify him is called Ganesh Chaturthi.

Attaining Krishna's Abode

Lecture given on Nov. 17, 1966, in New York City
From the Bhagavad-gita we learn about the spiritual world and the means to go there.

mam upetya punar janma

duhkhalayam ashashvatam

napnuvanti mahatmanah

samsiddhim paramam gatah

"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection."—Bhagavad-gita 8.15

Krishna says, "Anyone who comes to Me . . ." Krishna is everywhere, but still, He has His abode. The difference between Krishna and the ordinary living being is that we can be at one place only but Krishna can be in all places.

Krishna's abode in the transcendental kingdom is called Goloka Vrindavana. The city in India named Vrindavan, where I have come from, is called Bhauma Vrindavan, which means the same Goloka Vrindavana descended to earth. Just as Krishna descends to earth out of His own internal potency, His dhama, or His abode—Vrindavana dhama—also descends. In other words, when Krishna descends to earth He manifests Himself in that particular land. Therefore that land, Vrindavan, is sacred.

Krishna has His own abode in the spiritual world. And Krishna says, "Anyone who comes to My abode is not born again in the material world, which is full of threefold miseries." Such a person is called a mahatma.Perhaps you have heard this word. Our leader Gandhi was known as Mahatma, but mahatma is not the title of a politician. Mahatma means the first-class Krishna conscious person who is eligible to enter the abode of Krishna. He is called a mahatma.

We should use all the facilities we have as human beings to become amahatma, or become eligible to enter the kingdom of Krishna. Because if we can do that, then for us there will be no more birth in the material world, which is full of threefold miseries. We have several times discussed what these threefold miseries are, but every one of you knows that, some way or other, we are in a miserable condition, either pertaining to the mind, the body, some natural disturbance, or from friends or animals. There is always some kind of misery inflicted upon us. That is the situation of the material world.

Krishna says that this world is a place where you cannot avoid these miseries. It is meant for that. Unless the miseries are there, you cannot come to Krishna consciousness. They are an impetus and help to elevate you to Krishna consciousness. An intelligent person thinks, "I do not want miseries, but the miseries are inflicted upon me by force." Nobody wants miseries. Then he should ask, "Why are these miseries inflicted upon me by force?" Unfortunately, the modern civilization sets this question aside: "Oh, let me suffer. Let me cover suffering by intoxication." You see? But as soon as the intoxication is over, again I am at the same point. That is not the solution.

You cannot solve the misery of your life by artificial intoxication. You have to solve it by Krishna consciousness. If you always remain in Krishna consciousness, then gradually you'll develop spiritually and you will be able to quit your material body in Krishna consciousness. Then immediately you'll be transferred to the planet where Krishna is. That is the process. And if you can attain that situation, that is perfection. That is the highest perfection of life, samsiddhim paramam.

Archana Siddhi Devi Dasi

Archana Siddhi Devi Dasi is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. She has a B.S. in psychology and a master's in clinical social work. She joined the Hare Krishna movement in 1976 while in graduate school. She lived and served at the Potomac, Maryland, temple for twelve years. Her main service was book distribution.

After moving out of the temple, she finished her master's degree and worked in a mental health clinic for fourteen years, counseling both children and adults and specializing in family and couple's therapy. She is currently living in Prabhupada Village, North Carolina, with her husband. She is working in private practice, doing individual, couples, and family counseling.

She and her husband are members of ISKCON's Grihastha Vision Team. She has written and delivered a number of seminars on personal growth to enhance devotees' spiritual progress. She and her husband are currently [November 2011] finishing a book titled When Bad Is Good: Finding the Gems in Misfortune. She is a frequent contributor to Back to Godhead magazine.

"Surrender Unto Me"—Krishna's Loving Invitation

Bhaktivinoda Thakura's instructions come to the aid of those of us who shudder at the mention of the word "surrender."

Growing up, my older brother and I would sometimes get into physical fights. I can't remember what we would fight about, but a few times a month when my parents weren't home we would end up in a skirmish. He would often bend my arm behind my back, telling me to surrender by saying "uncle." I would scream and push and stomp until the pain would become unbearable. Then I would yell, "Uncle! I surrender." He would triumphantly release my arm, bragging about his victory. I remember feeling angry and vengeful. I even decided to stop biting my nails so I could use them as weapons to defend myself. I hated having to surrender to him.

So when I first heard Krishna's words in the Bhagavad-gita telling me to give up everything and surrender to Him, I winced. That word surrender carried an emotional charge.

After getting past my initial negative response to the word, I wanted to know more about what Krishna means when he uses the word surrender, or in Sanskrit, sharanam. I learned that sharanam is often translated as "shelter." So the surrender Krishna talks about differs from the surrender my brother demanded from me. Krishna's call for surrender is His loving invitation to come under His complete shelter.

Although the Bhagavad-gita is apparently a private conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, Krishna intended that His teachings to Arjuna would be available to us. He is giving knowledge of Himself that will help us understand why, at the end of His talk, He can ask us to give up all other paths for progressing in human life and just surrender to Him. Anyone who has faith in all the things Krishna has said about Himself in the Bhagavad-gita will be convinced that He is worthy of our surrender and love.

In our Gaudiya tradition (the disciplic line descending from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu), Bhaktivinoda Thakura has elaborated on the word sharanam. In his collection of songs titled Saranagati ("The Goal of Surrender"), he gives us a conceptual orientation of what pure surrender looks like and how we can practice to achieve the status of a sharanagata, a fully surrendered devotee. He describes the six practices of those serious about dedicating their lives to Krishna: accepting things favorable to devotional service, rejecting things unfavorable to devotional service, accepting that Krishna is our only maintainer, accepting that Krishna is our only protector, developing a deep sense of humility, and fully giving ourselves for the purpose of guru and Krishna.

Understanding Karma and How to Stop It

Everyone has heard of karma, but hardly anyone knows how it works.

The Sanskrit word karma has gained mainstream acceptance today and found a place in the English dictionary. Karma as a philosophical principle, however, is little understood. Simply put, the law of karma states that every action we perform has a reaction. In the Biblical tradition this is phrased as "As you sow, so shall you reap."


Is the Law of Karma Scientific?


Yes and no. Yes in the sense that the law of karma is, like the other laws of nature discovered by modern science, a foundational principle governing the world we live in; no in the sense that it involves the interaction of non-quantifiable parameters like consciousness, free will, and motivation that are beyond the ken of classical physics.


Science has discovered that nature obeys laws for any interaction of any kind, from the microscopic level to the macroscopic level. In fact, classical physics is nothing but the study and application of nature's laws. If laws govern all of nature, wouldn't it be patently unscientific to claim that humans alone are the law-exempt odd man out? Of course, humans have subtle endowments like consciousness and free will, which insentient matter doesn't have and which are beyond the capacity of classical physics to precisely discern, quantify, and explain. However, does the inability of classical physics to explain a phenomenon automatically make that phenomenon nonexistent? The reality of consciousness is undeniable; all of us know it as a self-experienced reality. Even skeptics who deny the existence of consciousness are able to deny because they are conscious. Thus, consciousness is such an inescapable foundational ground-reality that its attempted denial becomes its undeniable proof. Given the inadequacy of classical physics to explain an aspect of reality as fundamental as consciousness, wouldn't it be unreasonably narrow-minded to exile out of our notions of reality so vital a field of knowledge as the interactions of consciousness by labeling it as “unscientific”? Wouldn't the human quest for knowledge be checked and choked by such narrow-mindedness? Physicist David Bohm calls for open-mindedness by reminding us that the realm of scientific study is potentially open-ended: “The possibility is always open that there may exist an unlimited variety of additional properties, qualities, entities, systems, levels, etc., to which apply correspondingly new kinds of laws of nature.”


One such new level has been uncovered by quantum physics, which has supplanted classical physics in many fields. And quantum physics is increasingly recognizing consciousness as an integral aspect of reality. So it's possible that future development of quantum physics may acknowledge as scientific such concepts as the law of karma that are today deemed unscientific.


Moreover, the law of karma can be said to be scientific in another sense: We can use reason and logic—the basic cognitive faculties that undergird the scientific spirit of enquiry—to gain a general understanding of the workings of karma.

The Rising Moon of Mayapur

In West Bengal, in a little-known village on the bank of the Ganges, an extraordinary temple is taking shape.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or the Hare Krishna movement, is gradually being recognized all over the world as an authentic spiritual tradition with roots in ancient Vedic scripture and culture. Throughout history, the great spiritual traditions of the world have gifted mankind many grand monuments that serve as lasting, inspiring reminders of the glorious traditions they represent. The upcoming Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (ToVP) will be one such monument, representing ISKCON in particular and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in general. Combining modern technology, ancient science, timeless wisdom, and lively culture, the ToVP promises to be a popular spiritual destination.

The Mayapur Connection

The ToVP is rising on the banks of the Ganges in the holy town of Mayapur, West Bengal, India. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the father of the modern-day Krishna consciousness movement, narrates in his Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya how Lord Nityananda spoke to Srila Jiva Goswami (both contemporary devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) about the future of Mayapur. Lord Nityananda prophesized: "When our Lord Chaitanya leaves this world, by His desire the Ganges will swell. Its water will almost cover Mayapur for a hundred years, and then the water will recede. Then, by the Lord's desire, Mayapur will again be manifest, and the devotees will build temples of the Lord. One exceedingly wonderful temple (adbhuta-mandira) will appear from which Lord Chaitanya's eternal service will be preached around the world."

Because Mayapur is where Lord Chaitanya appeared, Srila Prabhupada chose it as ISKCON's international headquarters. Lord Chaitanya, who is Krishna Himself in a golden form, appeared in Mayapur a little over five hundred years ago with the mission to flood the world with the highest love of God, a love rarely revealed. He spread the Hare Krishna mantra throughout India and prophesized that one of His "commanders" (senapati-bhakta) would one day deliver the holy names to every town and village in the world. In 1965, at seventy years of age, Srila Prabhupada arrived in the USA. Within twelve years, he inspired the founding of 108 temples in cities around the globe. Now, forty-seven years later, ISKCON continues to spread Lord Chaitanya's mission with the goal of fulfilling His prediction. ISKCON has about five hundred temples, farm communities, restaurants, and schools, and the number is growing.

It's significant that Srila Prabhupada chose Mayapur as ISKCON's international headquarters. Even today Mayapur is not well connected with the rest of the world; he didn't choose it for its material assets. Rather, he well knew the incomparable spiritual significance of Mayapur. Here Lord Chaitanya first revealed his superexcellent presentation of Vaishnavism: Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Mayapur is the highest seat of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. With the construction of the magnificent ToVP, Gaudiya Vaishnavism could become a well-known spiritual tradition all over the world, attracting millions from all walks of life to its sublime philosophy and culture.

Temple or Planetarium?

In Mayapur, Lord Chaitanya started His sankirtana movement of the congregational chanting of the holy names. The main activities of the Mayapur ISKCON temple, on whose campus the ToVP is being built, center on sankirtana and gorgeous deity worship. Whoever visits Mayapur, for whatever reason, gets a chance to experience and practice Krishna consciousness, thus ushering auspiciousness into the visitor's life.

Srila Prabhupada had a clear vision for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, one he often expressed. He wanted a unique Vedic planetarium to present the Vedic perspective of life, including a gigantic display of the material and spiritual worlds that visitors could view from different levels as they traveled through the planetarium. He wanted something startling and state-of-the-art to attract people from around the world to Mayapur.

Srila Prabhupada recognized the hold modern atheistic science has on most people. He wanted to challenge the mechanistic understanding of the universe. To educate people in the principles of Vedic cosmology is a crucial aim of the ToVP. Cosmology studies the origin and structure of the universe, and Vedic cosmology goes further, giving extensive information about its purpose and the subtle laws that govern it.

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The Rising Moon of Mayapur

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Back to Godhead March/April 2012
By Abhijit Toley

In West Bengal, in a little-known village on the bank of the Ganges, an extraordinary temple is taking shape.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or the Hare Krishna movement, is gradually being recognized all over the world as an authentic spiritual tradition with roots in ancient Vedic scripture and culture. Throughout history, the great spiritual traditions of the world have gifted mankind many grand monuments that serve as lasting, inspiring reminders of the glorious traditions they represent. The upcoming Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (ToVP) will be one such monument, representing ISKCON in particular and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in general. Combining modern technology, ancient science, timeless wisdom, and lively culture, the ToVP promises to be a popular spiritual destination.