The Four Sampradayas

The Four Sampradayas
(The Main Chains of Disciplic Succession)
 
 
            There are four main sampradayas, or chains of disciplic succession descending down through the important acharyas, or spiritual preceptors. These are also the main schools of thought in the Vedic tradition. Thus, anyone should belong or be a part of one of these sampradayas if they are going [...]

Srila Vyasadeva

Srila Vyasadeva
By Stephen Knapp
            It is described in the lists of the main avataras of the Lord as found in the Bhagavata Purana, that the seventeenth incarnation was Srila Vyasadeva who appeared as the son of Parashara Muni and his wife Satyavati. His mission was to divide the one Veda into various branches and sub-branches so [...]

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
 
By Stephen Knapp
 
      Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu [pronounced Chaitanya] (February 27,1486 to 1534 A.D.) was born in Navadvipa, Bengal, on a full moon night during a lunar eclipse. It is typical for people to bathe in the Ganges during an eclipse and chant the Lord’s holy names for spiritual purification. So, everyone in the area [...]

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and His Great Accomplishments

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
And His Great Accomplishments
 
            This is the inspiring story of the great accomplishments of this important and distinguished devotee of the Lord and what he did for spreading pure spirituality and the universal principles that are based on the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It shows why he was called “the God-sent pioneer [...]

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura: The Lion Guru

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
The Lion Guru
 
            During the time of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s stay on this planet the pure religion of Vaishnavism taught by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was essentially lost and had come to be considered of the degrading standard of simply a sex religion, or at best a cult of [...]

Nityananda Mahaprabhu: Who is He

Nityananda Mahaprabhu: Who is He
  
Lord Sri Krishna, as the Vedic literature ultimately explains, is the absolute Personality of Godhead, and His first expansion in a form for pastimes is Sri Balarama. In the age of Kali-yuga, Lord Krishna appears in this material world as Lord Caitanya, and Balarama appears as Lord Nityananda. Lord Nityananda, [...]

Great Indians who did Great Things

Great Indians who did Great Things
        Here are some short reviews of some great Indian masters who made great contributions to world development.
 
ARYABHATT (476 CE) MASTER ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN
Born in 476 CE in Kusumpur ( Bihar ), Aryabhatt’s intellectual brilliance remapped the boundaries of mathematics and astronomy. In 499 CE, at the age of 23, [...]

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
By Stephen Knapp
 
In the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, in a conversation with Ganga Devi, Lord Krishna describes that after 5,000 years of Kali-yuga have passed, His mantra upasaka, the great sage and worshiper of Krishna’s holy names, will appear and spread the chanting of Krishna’s names (in the form of the Hare Krishna [...]