https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/ Articles and lectures by Vraja Gopal Das, a Vaishnava teacher and disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami: scripture study, kirtan and sadhana. en https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/madhurya-kadambini-how-devotion-becomes-steady/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/madhurya-kadambini-how-devotion-becomes-steady/Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhy a beginner has no steady taste, and what makes bhakti steady: according to Vishvanatha Chakravarti, Krishna-katha and the strength of effort in shravanam-kirtanam. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/when-krishna-appears-in-the-heart/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/when-krishna-appears-in-the-heart/Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhy the holy name can feel dry and how to regain the taste: the mirror of the mind, the jaundice of ignorance, respect for devotees, and humility seen in the heart. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/sat-sanga-and-jana-sanga/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/sat-sanga-and-jana-sanga/Fri, 28 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhy association with materialists binds the soul, how the same attachment turned toward the sadhu opens the door of liberation, and how a Vaishnava lives among people by giving. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/how-to-read-and-understand-shastra/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/how-to-read-and-understand-shastra/Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTHow reading shastra differs from studying and serving it, why faith is born from understanding the meaning of scripture, and how to worship the Bhagavatam every day. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/holy-name-seminar-early-rising-and-taste/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/holy-name-seminar-early-rising-and-taste/Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTThe first rule of chanting the holy name: rise in the brahma-muhurta. Why without early rising there is neither goodness nor taste for the holy name, and how to build the habit. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/repentance-and-forgiveness-open-spiritual-feelings/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/repentance-and-forgiveness-open-spiritual-feelings/Fri, 09 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhy there is no taste for the holy name without tears of repentance and the ability to forgive, and how humility opens the heart to Krishna. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/jesus-and-animals/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/jesus-and-animals/Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhat the Bible says was humanity’s original food, what Jesus was really protesting in the Temple, and why the monks of Mount Athos still eat no meat. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/four-defects-of-every-person/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/four-defects-of-every-person/Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMistakes, inattentiveness, a tendency to deceive, and imperfect senses: the four defects the Vedas see in every person, and where to look for the truth. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/guru-tattva-position-of-the-guru/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/guru-tattva-position-of-the-guru/Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhy spiritual perfection is impossible without a guru, how not to err in choosing one, and why guru-bhakti is the medicine that quickly and easily cures every disease of the heart. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/who-are-vaishnavas/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/who-are-vaishnavas/Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTA Vaishnava is defined not by dress or denomination but by a level of consciousness. Why wealth and poverty say nothing about a devotee, and how a true Vaishnava is known. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/reincarnation-truth-or-fiction/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/reincarnation-truth-or-fiction/Fri, 22 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTEvery religion accepts that the soul is eternal, yet only some scriptures explain reincarnation in detail. What the Vedas say, and what psychiatrist Ian Stevenson found. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/ekadashi-how-to-fast/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/ekadashi-how-to-fast/Tue, 19 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTThe three levels of the Ekadashi fast, how to begin and end the vow, and what the scriptures really say about Pandava Ekadashi—in the light of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/sound-meditation-basics/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/sound-meditation-basics/Tue, 12 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTEight practical rules for beginners: why the best meditation is on the sound of God’s name, when to practice it and what helps keep the mind focused. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/bhagavad-gita-ten-lessons/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/bhagavad-gita-ten-lessons/Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTThe essence of the Bhagavad-gita in ten lessons: how Krishna’s conversation with Arjuna begins and what it says about the soul, duty, karma, the three modes and love of God. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/who-am-i/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/who-am-i/Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTWho am I, really? The Vedas distinguish the eternal soul, the atma, from its changing roles, the ahankara, and explain why this knowledge frees us from suffering. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/qualities-of-a-spiritual-teacher/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/qualities-of-a-spiritual-teacher/Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTWhat the shastras say a genuine guru must be like, what disqualifies a teacher, and why the search for a spiritual master must never become an excuse for one’s own pride. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/why-do-we-suffer/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/articles/why-do-we-suffer/Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTWhy do even the righteous suffer? Queen Kunti’s meeting with her brother Vasudeva in the Srimad-Bhagavatam opens up the Vedic view of destiny and hardship. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/why-kirtan-is-more-effective-than-japa/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/why-kirtan-is-more-effective-than-japa/Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTWhy japa so rarely brings taste today and what to do about it: on prema-sankirtana, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s beda-kirtan, and why we need far more kirtan in our lives. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/why-there-is-no-taste-for-chanting/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/why-there-is-no-taste-for-chanting/Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTWhy the holy name still seems tasteless, where the taste for it comes from, and why its key is humility, which cannot be grasped by logic but only shown. https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/forgiveness-and-the-sweetness-of-the-holy-name/https://vraja-gopal-das.com/en/lectures/forgiveness-and-the-sweetness-of-the-holy-name/Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMTWhy the holy name does not reveal its sweetness without the ability to forgive, how to free the heart of its “iron,” and why to seek the company of tolerant, merciful sadhus.