Iskcon

These songs come from a play, Archavatara, enacted by ISKCON Theatre group for Brahmotsava 2011. 

GOVINDA DAMODARA

This audio has specifically been recorded with the top 140 verses from the Bhagavad Gita. 

By going to https://bit.ly/140-verses, you can download the video, audio as well as a PDF file with all the important verse to help you with the memorisation.

Bhagavad Gita Chants - 140 Most Important Verses

Gauravani - The Day After - Rathayatra 2015 at Radha Govinda Mandir

The Day After Finale - Gauravani - Ratha Yatra 2015 at Radha Govinda Mandir

In Vrindavan - Kirtaniyas feat Sandipani Muni school

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/in-vrindavan-single/id1032659019 

Sandipani Muni school (Vrindavan Food for Life) link: http://www.fflvrindavan.org/en/donate.html 

“In Vrindavan” is a new Music Video and Single by the Kirtaniyas featuring children from Food for Life Vrindavan, an all girl’s charity school run on donation basis in Vrindavan, India. 

This release is part of a fundraising effort to bring support and attention to the school’s projects and to encourage learning of Kirtan, sacred mantra singing. 

*Personal statement from Vijay Krsna, band and project leader, founder of Sriyam Records:

"I've visited India over 14 times and spent a total of three years of my life in this sacred land of Vrindavan. Its culture offers so much to the world from agriculture, Dharma, community and music amongst other things, all in their most essential forms - Bhakti Yoga. This song was inspired by folk songs of the land, which speak about walking through Vrindavan’s flower groves and forests in fellowship, singing to its Divine couple - Radha and Syama (a name of Krishna), who are the epitome of pure love and beauty, the sacred river Yamuna that provided water to the land and its people. This way of life has been kept alive through the hearts of the people in the community who have imbibed its moods of pure love and devotion (Bhakti) and carry it with them, sharing Bhakti through their acts of selfless service but the benefit of One and all.

Each time I visit the Food for Life school in Vrindavan, I am a witness to the impressive development of its projects and values. I see how their schooling has cultivated love and compassion in the hearts of these children. Their school day starts in a way that I could only have dreamed about when I was a child : a good kirtan with cheerful, inspirational singing and dancing. This is a place where children are taught to honor their elders and have respect for one another, where folding hands in a prayer is a beautiful thing, rather than something to be ashamed of… We can certainly learn a thing or two in our Western society from such an establishment. Whilst this school might not be comparable to most Western schools with regards to facilities, what these children have taught me is that their education and upbringing can certainly offer us lessons in gratitude. “In Vrindavan” is me giving something back in return and I give thanks for the opportunity to serve in this way.” 

Released through Sriyam Records
www.facebook.com/sriyamrecords 

Produced by: Vijay Krsna & Sarasvati Dasi
Composed by Vijay Krsna
Mixed by Rob Cummings - Hot Milk studio - Berlin, Germany
Lyrics by Vijay Krsna
Mastered by Louis Henry Sarmiento @ Sonic Vista Studios

Directed by Andre Wagner photography
Produced by Vijay Krsna & Sarasvati dasi
Director of Photography: Andre Wagner
B camera: Bahurupa dasi
Edited by Nila Vanwolf
Shot in Vrindavan, India.
Special thanks to: Food for life Vrindavan, Rupa Raghunath, Charles Visvambara Towle
In Vrindavan press release: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WRERu7vWVr7j_UZgolAvNn63DJQRUBe4TZP-dg2zgVQ/edit

In Vrindavan feat. Sandipani Muni school kids

Ecstatic kirtan singer/violinist Jahnavi Harrison is with us on the podcast. She tells her unique life story - as a child raised at the 700 year old Bhaktivedanta Manor home in the Hertfordshire countryside. Beatle George Harrison (no relation) had donated the estate to ISKCON, the Krishna movement, in 1973.  Jahnavi talks of her devotional trajectory from being a child brought up in idyllic rural England to singing to Krishna all over the world.  We talk about the cleansing power of the Maha Mantra, her whole life singing kirtan, and finding that back-and-forth love therein and the universal magnetism of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Rama Hare Rama.  You will hear her sing live and from her new CD, “Like A River To the Sea."

Mindrolling - Ep. 128 - Jahnavi Harrison, “Like A River To the Sea"

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits at Yogamaya - Five Meditations 3.18.16

Gaura Vani 3.20.16 Sun Night at Radha Govinda

Gauravani & Acyuta 11.20.16 Sun Night at RG

Gaura Vani 11.27.16 Sun Night at RG

Akincina - NYC Rathayatra Eve 2017 at RG

Musician Jahnavi Harrison explores why chanting the name of God can be such a powerful devotional practice.

Drawing on her own bhakti yoga tradition, she recalls hearing her parents chanting and how important it became to her from an early age. "The name of God," she explains, "is said to be the panacea for whatever ails the mind, body and soul. It was the ever present soundtrack to my life - night, day, birthdays, funerals, weddings and road trips."

Her experience at a Christian school also showed her that other religious traditions say and sing the God's name. She notes that she was "thrilled to discover this common thread, and the myriad ways that this praise was expressed."

Using the words of the Psalms, the Sufi poets and a number of Hindu saints and mystics, Jahnavi celebrates the power of chanting in different ways and locations and, alongside the music of Vivaldi and Rachmaninov, she relishes in the most famous of all Hindu songs, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, who is quoted in the programme:

"My idea was to sneak up on them a bit. The point was to have the people not offended by 'Hallelujah' and, by the time it gets to 'Hare Krishna', they're already hooked."

Presenter: Jahnavi Harrison
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 'Something Understood' - Hallowed Be Thy Name - August 2017

Rehearsing for a special concert on 26th November, in honour of Shri Shri Radha Londonisvara, who were installed in the shrine of the Radha Krishna Temple in Soho, 48 years ago. Please join us for a wonderful celebration!

https://www.rldb.info/civicrm/event/register?id=117&reset=1

Vande Krishna "Sweetheart of the Gopis" Rehearsal

Musician Jahnavi Harrison draws upon personal experiences to explore the role of the guru and argue that true gurus offer great benefits as we progress through our lives.

For millions of people in the East, having a guru is as common as having an on-going relationship with a doctor or a dentist. However, in the West, the word carries some heavy baggage, often linked to manipulative figures who exploit their disciples.

With help from the music of Abida Parveen and rock 'n' roll legend Johnny Rivers, Jahnavi reveals that a guru is meant to always remind you of who you really are, and what you were born to do. According to the teachings of the ancient Hindu texts the Vedas, the ultimate knowledge that gurus can offer is how to realise the nature of the self and attain a state of freedom and enlightenment.

BBC Radio 4 'Something Understood' - A Guru is for Life - November 2017

Musician Jahnavi Harrison interweaves music, prose and poetry in a celebration of the women who choose to dedicate their lives entirely to God.

She explains that she has always been fascinated what it is that drives a woman to leave behind worldly affairs and adopt a life of seclusion and near-constant prayer. Though the tradition is timeless, with today's calls for feminine independence and gender equality the choice to be a nun feels just as radical and relevant as it might have in the past.

Jahnavi explores the life of Emahoy Maryam Tsegue-Gebroue, an Ethiopian nun whose prodigious talent as a pianist has led to her records being adored all over the world. We also meet the "maharis", Indian temple dancers who were dedicated at a young age, considered to be brides of God, taking part in a wedding ceremony and wearing all the markings of married women.

With readings from the 13th century Christian mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg, St Saint Clare of Assisi, the Bhagavad Gita and ancient Buddhist poetry from the Therigatha and music including the work of Christian polymath Hildegard of Bingen, The Flamingos and Yamuna Devi.

Presenter: Jahnavi Harrison
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood - 'Brides of God' - May 2018

(1)
namamisvaram sac-cid-ananda-rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya

"To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who I (due to the offense of breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing) is quickly running from the wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yasoda, but who has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed--to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances."

(2)
rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha-
sthita-graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham


"He is crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conch shell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances."

(3)
itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

"By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbues with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times."

(4)
varam deva moksam na moksavadhim va
na canyam vrne 'ham varesad apiha
idam te vapur natha gopala-balam
sada me manasy avirastam kim anyaih

"O Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor the highest liberation of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor any other boon (which may be obtained by executing the nine processes of bhakti). O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bala Gopala in Vrndavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any other boon besides this?"

(5)
idam te mukhambhojam atyanta-nilair
vrtam kuntalaih snigdha-raktais' ca gopya 
muhus cumbitam bimba-raktadharam me
manasy avirastam alam laksa-labhaih

"O Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me."

(6)
namo deva damodarananta visno
prasida prabho duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam
krpa-drsti-vrstyati-dinam batanu-
grhanesa mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah

"O Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta! O Vishnu! O master! O my Lord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes."

(7)
kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat
tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau krtau ca
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayaccha
na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha

"O Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera--Manigriva and Nalakuvara--were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation."

(8)
namas te 'stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai
namo 'nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam

"O Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisances to the brilliantly effulgent rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisances to Your belly, which is the abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes."

Sri Damodarastakam

The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy, Hara, to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the grace of the supreme father, Hari, or Krsna, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely. No other means of spiritual realization, therefore, is as effective in this age as chanting the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

1. Love In Separation - Shyamananda Kirtan Mandali

A beautiful Hare Krishna Kirtan by Yugadharma Band.

Lead Vocals: Rohit Kaushik
Percussion: Amalatma Das
Chorus: Amit, Kishon & Kiran
Recorded at: Pranava Studios
Masterd by: Hriday Goswami

Hare Krishna Kirtan - Rohith Kaushik, Yugadharma

Radhikastava - western

This track is from the album Prerna - The Timeless Inspiration and is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/madhavasrockband

Iskcon

Sanjay Chellappa