ISKCON celebrations in Pinetown
Pinetown residents and its neighbouring areas are invited to attend the Krishna Janamastami celebration this Saturday.
THIS year, the ISKCON Pinetown branch will host the Krishna Janamastami (appearance of Lord Krishna) programme to coincide with the 50th anniversary of ISKCON with commemorative celebrations worldwide.
Prataparuda Das said that the celebration at the Pinetown Civic Hall on Saturday 13 August at 5pm, will pay homage to its founding spiritual master His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Festivities will include plays, songs and dance items.
Admission is free and all residents of Pinetown and its neighbouring areas are invited to attend. It will give people, regardless of race, creed and religious affiliation a chance to experience the rich cultural diversity of South Africa. A free vegetarian meal with delectables from the east will be served afterwards.
In 1965, ISKCON founder, Swami Prabhupada at the age of 69, begged free passage to America aboard a cargo ship from India, on a mission to propagate the ancient Vedic philosophy of Bhakti Yoga, (ones devotion to God) to the English-speaking world. He was acting on an instruction from his spiritual master issued in 1922.
Swami Prabhupada began this journey frail and alone, virtually penniless with only seven dollars and a crate of his translations of Vedic texts. He suffered two heart attacks while at sea, but forged ahead with his dream and he established ISKCON a year later. Shortly after the formation of ISKCON, he circled the globe 11 times, across six continents as the world’s pre-eminent exponent of the teachings of Bhakti Yoga. His teachings showed how one could find true happiness, inner peace and global unity simply by dedicating ones energy to the service of God.
His brainchild, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust is the largest publisher of Vedic literature in the world and has distributed 516 million pieces of literature since its inception. He authored more than 70 volumes which are highly respected for their authority, depth, clarity and fidelity to tradition. These books have been translated into 76 languages and studied in colleges and universities around the world.
From humble beginnings 50 years ago, ISKCON worldwide has grown to approximately 600 temples, 90 farming communities and 100 restaurants. The Food for Life project is the world’s largest vegetarian non-profit food relief organisation, with projects spanning more than 60 countries. Volunteers provide up to 2,000,000 free meals daily across the globe.
