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IN THIS ISSUE we present photo features on two pilgrimages, one in India and the other in Slovenia. ISKCON’s Vraja Maṅḍala Parikramā is an annual trek to sacred sites of Lord Kṛṣṅa’s pastimes in Vṛndāvana, India. It has been taking place for the last sixteen years, drawing Kṛṣṅa’s devotees from all over the world. Four thousand miles away from Kṛṣṅa’s holy land, in Slovenia, ISKCON members launched their first Padayātrā, or “walking pilgrimage,” delivering Kṛṣṅa consciousness to resort areas on the coast and in the mountains.

Whether in India or elsewhere, pilgrimages are meant to increase our faith and devotion. In “Redirected Love,” Śrīla Prabhupāda explains why our devotion to things of this world will never fully satisfy us. Our mission in life should be to reawaken our love for Kṛṣṅa, which begins by understanding that He—the eternal person Kṛṣṅa—is the highest aspect of the Absolute Truth. In “A Personal Look at the Nature of God,” Satyarāja Dāsa discusses how most commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā miss this essential point.

Dvārakādhīśa Devī Dāsī writes about properly understanding our subordination to Kṛṣṅa in “Becoming the Lord’s Servant.” And Arcana-siddhī Devī Dāsī, in “Why Do We Criticize Others?” provides insight into a powerful hindrance to our spiritual progress.

Hare Kṛṣṅa.—Nāgarāja Dāsa

OUR PURPOSES

• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.

• To expose the faults of materialism.

• To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.

• To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.

• To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

• To help every living being remember and serve Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead.