For those of us in the Northern hemisphere, April means spring: chirping birds, flowers, trees sprouting new leaves, time to hang your laundry outside again.
“Of course, spring is a season universally liked because it is neither too hot nor too cold and the flowers and trees blossom and flourish.
In spring there are also many ceremonies commemorating Krishna’s pastimes; therefore this is considered to be the most joyful of all seasons, and it is the representative of the Supreme Lord, Krishna.” (Bg 10.35, purport)
Krishna advises us to always think of Him, then helpfully explains many ways how, among which; “Of seasons, I am flower blooming spring.”
In spring, we get to see the exquisite creativity of the Supreme Artist in every fuzzy and multicolored new bud and flower. So many varieties of foliage are at their peak of freshness, at the top of their game.
For those of us in the far north, spring means the sun is finally close enough that we dare to open windows again, let in some fresh air, and gleefully watch as the icicles drip themselves back into their unmanifest state.
If a year were one day, spring would be early morning, when everything is coming back to life, back to consciousness—after a long winter’s night spent packed up in bed, dreaming.
Lucky for us human beings, we can also come back to consciousness—awaken from our sleepy forgetfulness of Krishna and of our own spiritual nature—as soon as we turn our attention toward hearing about the Supreme Person, the creative force behind the mercifully-annually-recurring phenomenon of “flower blooming spring.”
So won’t you please take a moment and turn your attention toward Krishna.com’s online springtime offering of transcendental topics? The items listed below are but a few of the many, many new things you’re likely to find here, if you look around.
(Apologies, of course, to those in the Southern hemisphere, for whom spring comes in October—kindly simply cut and paste this seasonal homage six months from now).
Your servants,
The Krishna.com Team
Lord Ramachandra is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the ideal king. He appeared in the Treta-yuga, more than two million years ago. This year, his appearance anniversary falls on April 3rd in the western world.
Krishna.com is extremely happy to announce that finally, finally, FINALLY we are able to offer you LIVE SOUND from the Krishna Balarama temple in Vrindavan, India.
This fall, Krishna.com sent our expert kirtana audio technician to Vrindavan to help set up and troubleshoot the sound and video for broadcasting the world-famous 24-hour kirtana from the ISKCON temple in New Raman Reti, the site of Lord Krishna’s boyhood pastimes on Earth.
Months later—a mere four days before our tech expert’s return flight—he was finally able to address the issues that had been preventing us from being able to transmit that most transcendental audio signal to you.
Starting today (barring any further technical difficulties), you will now be able to transport your consciousness to that most holy place of pilgrimage and hear the Krishna Balarama 24-Hour Kirtan, by simply clicking here.
This issue contains three articles on the feminine aspect of God.
Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, following the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, states that God and His feminine consort are two persons and one person simultaneously.
Though this idea is said to be inconceivable, defying logic, it implies that our conceptions of Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, and other full manifestations of God are incomplete if we neglect to consider Radha, Sita, and Lakshmi as parts of their identity.
Also, find out how you can get published in Back to Godhead.
“If I am eternal, why should I change my body? Why should I go through the trouble? Why should I die?”
In this brief but philosophically packed video clip, Prabhupada says that if human beings don’t ask these questions, they are still thinking like animals.
If I’m performing mantra meditation, isn’t that good enough? Does quality matter, as long as I’m putting in my time?
In this series on personal japa chanting (daily repetition of the hare krishna mantra), Mahatma dasa and Badahari dasa share their many years of experience of chanting Hare Krishna. In a thought-provoking and interesting combination of recollections and discussions with a live audience, they make a strong case that the more care, attention, and energy we put into our spiritual practice, the more awake and alive our consciousness will be.
In this thoroughly engrossing and enlightening article, Ravindra Svarupa dasa explores the various meanings and connotations of the Sanskrit word hamsa. Commonly translated as “swan,” the word hamsa is also often used in reference to the greatest yogis and devotees of Krishna. Why is this? What kind of bird are the Vedas really talking about?
Have you seen our live shows? Ever looked to see what’s going on in Mayapur or Vrindavan or Los Angeles on our Live Temple Webcam page?
With all the recent advances in the world of video, we have been searching for a new camera to serve the spiritual media needs of our online audience, and keep up with the pace of technology.
We believe we have found just the right camera (a reasonably affordable one)—that we can use for all our locally produced Live Podcasts as well as Live Video presentations (such as Janmastami, Gaura Purnima, Radhastami, and many others).
You can help make a big difference, right now, by helping us get this camera.
Here is what we’re looking to get, and here’s how you can help
Krishna.com is proud to be associated with Friends of the BBT, a new organization established to help devotees of Krishna throughout the world become more directly involved in the work of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.