VEDA - Vedas and Vedic Knowledge Online

Quote of the day:

Indexes of main sections are in the left column.
_Major_ additions, updates, news and upcoming main holiday-related items:

since March 18: update - metody prevence a léèby virových infekcí, pouèení z koronového vývoje (prùbìžnì aktualizováno s odkazy)

Replaced a lot of zip and rtf files by pdf for easier access so some of your bookmarks may not work. In most cases will help just changing the suffix to pdf.

Feb 19: Sivaratri story and vrata (Garuda Purana 1.129) scan 3

Feb 19: Sivaratri story and vrata (Garuda Purana 1.129) scan 2

Feb 19: Sivaratri story and vrata (Garuda Purana 1.129) scan 1

Feb 10: Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura biography based on GVA and GPC (en, cz)

Feb 9: update - Grhastha

Jan 14: HUMAN 2.0 - Spiritual Warfare is upon us - Infinite Waters.mp4 (14 min wake-up-from-matrix video)

Dec 23: Mají oddaní volit? - Šríla Prabhupáda a politika (aktualizace)

Nov 2: Guru Gita (HK transliteration, cs)

Oct 19: Holandsky sedlak obstastnil zelene aktivisty produktem sve prace

Oct 12: Manidhara das ACBSP on FDG speculation

Aug 20: Manah Siksa (Astaratha dasa ACBSP)

Aug 8: Narasimhalila.wordpress.com blog en (saved defunct blog)

Aug 8: Narasimhalila.wordpress.com blog cz

Aug 5: Východní filozofii, tanec i zpìv mohli poznat všichni od Èeského Dubu po Dìèín. Také v prùvodu s dvìma voly

Jul 13: Ratha yatra Prague 2022 - Bhadra P. kirtan Celetna street, Staromestske namesti

Jul 1: CD Džagannáth prija-nátakam

May 26: update - Brahmacari (a passage from Brahmana and Vaisnava by BSST)

Jun 16: The Christian Darwin You Don’t Know

May 30: update - Vaisnavism timeline

May 27: update - Reinkarnace (cs) (reakce na teologický text)

May 21: update - Siva (HBV verses)

May 20: A fun solution to overeating: The Anti-Gluttony Door in Portugal’s Alcobaça Monastery Shamed Plump Monks to Start Fasting

May 7: What happens when you die (interview with neuroscientist dr. Peter Fenwick, Thanatos TV 2020)

Apr 13: Parasurama's Food for All - Ukraine in Spanish TV (with Loka sarangaji)

Apr 6: What about the world situation?

Feb 27: The power of holy name

Feb 22: Caitanya Bhagavata (Sarvabhavana, cz; incomplete, unedited, anonymous translation

Jan 28: Parasara smrti (en)

Jan 28: Parasara smrti (sa)

Jan 28: Parasara smrti (sa index)

Dec 10: update - Ghosts FAQ

Dec 10: update - Duchove FAQ

Nov 30: Muralilala Adhikari - Vaisnava Digdarsani (replaces of a zip archive with txt files)

Nov 11: update - Dying (Rajendranandana P. ACBSP)

Nov 11: update - Umirani (Rajendranandana P. ACBSP)

Oct 30: Fundraising campaign of Russian sankirtan devotees for new cars

Oct 12: update - sthanas of 11 avataras in this world

Oct 10: Durvasa's prayer for protection (BvP 4.25) en, cz

Sept 30: Sri Nrsimha vandana updated

Sept 18: Discovering Krisna’s Will During Czech Padayatra 2021

Sept 14: Sri Radhastami katha

Sept 2: Petice proti biometrickému sledování

August 30: Sri Krsna Janmastami katha

August 22: Balarama Jayanti katha

August 3: update - works about Srila Prabhupada

July 29: Arabové ztrácejí Alláha, Alláh Araby (sekularizace v islámských zemích)

July 25: Sri Nrsimha palana

May 31: update - Seneca on his becoming a vegetarian for some time

May 26: Why hinduism forbids one to cross the sea?

May 23: Jayananda dasa ACBSP remembrances

May 23: The Nrsimha katha file (updated)

May 19: Cesta za modrým pasáèkem krav (Jalangi dd)

May 18: Naivedya mahatmyam (HBV 9.390-411)

May 4: Dnes opustil tento svet vzneseny vaisnava, Sriman Pankadzanghri Prabhu ACBSP, dlouholety pujari ve Sri Majapuru. Dzaja Sri Vaisnava Thakura! Pro pripomenuti, zde je preklad jeho knihy o Sri Dzagannathovi v Radzapuru, ktery vysel i knizne, ale je jiz rozebran.

May 4: Sri Radhikastaka (Krsnadasa Kaviraja, en, cz)

April 24: 20 years of VEDA! Thanks for all your support over the years. All the best.

April 20: Álvárové

March 28: Feature Documentary on “India’s Book of Wisdom—The Bhagavata Purana” Released

March 25: Mzdová nerovnost mužù a žen je pøirozená (ekonomka proti feminismu)

March 22: Atma-tattva dasa - Untold Stories of the Ramayana

Feb 17: Za panem Vlastimilem Markem

February 25: Sri Nityananda Rama avirbhava - katha files

Feb 12: update - Buddhism (atman par with ref. at the end)

Feb 11: Josef Tolar, Govinda Palmovka, Praha 8: Bez vìrných zákazníkù bychom nepøežili

Jan 31: update - Time (long lifespans in extra-Vedic traditions, dating sastras)

Jan 15: Wikipedia is 20 today - congrats to our 2-months elder colleague!

Jan 4: Plány na další rok - prabhupad.cz

Jan 3: vyhodil som zo svojho bytu televízor

Dec 24: update - Jak recitovat Bhagavad-gítu (zvláštì pro Gítá Džajantí)

Dec 23: Bidermanova tabulka donucování (psychologie postupného zotroèení)

Dec 8: Projekt Knihu chraò (recenze knih a médií)

Nov 26: Religion growth/rust nabozenstvi 1946-2019

Nov 22: Losing our Krishna Conscious Children (to maya)

Analýza 17. listopadu (pozadí pøevratu)

Nov 15: Sri Govardhana Puja katha texts

Nov 9: update - Šríla Prabhupáda a jeho knihy (k novému vydání èeské BG)

Serious stuff: Google can ban you from all their services with no explanation / Vážný problém: Google vám mùže zrušit všechny služby bez vysvìtlení

2 covid certifikáty - pozitivní a negativní - ve stejný den

Sep 27: Sri Kevalastakam (sa, en, cz)

Sep 18: Sri Purusottama masa begins

Sep 15: Radhika Raman's Mayapur Seminar on Jiva Goswami's Sat Sandarbhas (2015)

Sep 13: Ghee – An Ayurvedic Perspective

Sep 1: Sri Visvarupa Mahotsava katha

August 31: Review: Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics

Aug 13: Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja book 2020

August 7: update - Sastras vs commerce

July 30: 5 Minute Meditations by Nityananda Chandra Granger from ISKCON Dallas (on YouTube here - 5MM)

July 25: update - Šríla Prabhupáda a jeho knihy (citace BSST o rozšíøení GV literatury)

July 18: Ve chrámu se dvojèata nauèila sloužit

July 5: QA conference (part) by Bhakti Caru Swami

July 1: update - dalsi apologetika proti "krestanskym" dezinterpretacim

June 23: Sri Jagannatha Rathayatra, Puri online

June 12: Madan Mohan (Prabhupad Bhavan) nyni v restauraci Avatar v Brne

June 1: update - arguments against jiva's falldown answered

May 18: update - colors of avataras

May 10 Mother's Day: Just a Mother (en, cz)

May 5: The Emergence of Nrsimha (Padma Purana 6.238) (en, cz)

May 4: Online Srimad-Bhagavatam Marathon Held to Benefit the World (see related SB reading plan)

May 2: Firefox addon Video DownloadHelper and its new version 7.3.9 fail

April 22: Oddaní Krišny ve virtuálním svìtì

April 12: Hare Krishna the movie, free online screening during Easter time

April 5 Damanakaropana dvadasi: VEDA turns 19.

March 22: Daily Sri Nrsimha puja in Mayapur for the protection of devotees worldwide

March 15: Where all these virii like SARS, MERS, Covid etc. come from?

March 9: Gaura Purnima katha

March 7: BVKS - Childish atheism (trochu humoru na úèet ateistù a racionální argumenty)

March 2: rozhovor o hnutí Hare Krišna v kontextu BSST-GM-ISKCON (jisté nepøesnosti)

February 22 Sivaratri: The story of Lady Martin (cz with en link)

February 20: God on trial (theistic vs atheistic arguments in a court)

February 19: San Gregorio Magno e il Coronavirus del suo tempo (cs)

February 14: Three radio reports from Vrindavan (by National Public Radio and National Geographic, 2005)

February 12: Plan to sabotage ISKCON temple in Dhaka, Bangladesh

February 1: Sri Advaita Acarya avirbhava - katha files

January 30: Jan Sedláèek - Ochrana pøírody versus klimaalarmismus

January 23: 15 000 rokov stará šachta na ažbu volfrámovej rudy

January 13: Mayesa das ACBSP - Last night I had a dream

December 29: Sri Visvesa Tirtha "Pejawar" Swami departs

December 21: A Neuroscientist Explores the "Sanskrit Effect"

December 12: Spiritual identities of our guruparampara members and other prominent gaudiya vaisnava personalities

December 10: Kenneth R. Valpey - Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics (free book by Krishna Kshetra Swami)

December 7: On aparadhas and remedies (en, cz)

October 31: Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura: short biography (en, cz)

October 11: The first ever article about Hare Krishna in the West

October 10: Mayapur - the capital of Sena kingdom

memorial repost: Karel Gott zpiva Hare Krisna na melodii z muzikalu Vlasy (Gottwaldov 1971)

September 17: Significance of wearing sari

August 30: What is Vedic astrology v2015

August 24 Srila Prabhupada avirbhava: Viraha astaka (en, cz, verze2)

August 23: Swamiji, 1966

August 22: update - The appearance of Krsna - the mystery

July 23: Vedabase 2019

ongoing updates: Zrudnosti v souboji paradigmat (dole vyjádøení k ukrajinské krizi)

Internal and external link check is done about once a month (current: Mar 17, 2023) with the help of Xenu, the best link checker known to me. Since there are about 3 500 external links, it's difficult to keep track of their validity. The checker only tells when they are down or redirected and doesn't check secure domains (gives errors 12057 and 12157). Please report defunct or redirected links. Thanks.

Vedas and Vedic culture: what you won't learn at schools

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8)

If you want to "be someone", if you want to be viewed as doing something valuable for society, you must have an education. In school we can learn many things but unfortunately not the important, existential ones. These are elaborated on in Vedas, a sort of manuals how to use this world, how to live in it as well as how to transcend it. Obviously, they should be available to everyone.

"Veda" is Sanskrit word for "knowledge". Sanskrit was the language of ancient Vedic civilization. Vedic culture, based on Vedic scriptures (sastras) called Vedas, flourished all over the ancient world with center in India, formerly known as Bharata-varsa. See the section Connections for more.

Vedas are the most ancient literary works on Earth, at the same time with the profoundest and widest scope. They cover all fields of knowledge, material and spiritual. The real treasures of the East weren't jewels, spices or exotic perfumes but the amazing treasure house of this sacred and universal knowledge which is increasingly validated by modern science and embraced by leading corporations, professionals and leaders around the world. It also trickles down into the popular culture thru media of all kinds. At the same time, our recent scientific and technological efforts can only to some extent approach the ancient Vedic material advancement while the Vedic spirituality is much more elevated than anything found anywhere else. This is not an exaggeration but a plain fact which becomes obvious when one starts to learn and compare.

VEDA is one-of-its-kind resource related to the Vedas and Vedic culture. Although there are many different encyclopedias, now some online, until 2001 there has been no encyclopedia focused on Vedic culture available to the wide public, aside several dictionaries and encyclopedias published in India and used mainly by scholars. This situation, together with a recent increase of interest in Eastern philosophy, ancient civilizations, alternative paradigms and a lack of comprehensive online resources [i.e. in 2001 when this text was written and Wikipedia was just 2 months young and we didn't even know about its existence], inspired the creation of this site.

Other sources of inpiration

Here are several sample quotes:

"Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krsna consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere." (Sri Caitanya in Cc 1.9.36)

"During this period Siddhanta Sarasvati was engaged in the compilation of a Vaisnava encyclopedia which contained an explanation of Vaisnava terminology, brief biographies of great Vaisnavas, an introduction to the books of the Vaisnava acaryas, a description of the Vaisnava tirthas, the various conclusions of Vaisnava sects. etc. He called it Vaisnava-Manjusa-Samahriti, and it was later published in four volumes. A Vaisnava scholar commented on it by saying, "This work is only possible for a supra-mortal, a great personality like Prabhupada Srila Sarasvati Thakura. Even if 25 to 30 scholars and 10 to 15 men taking the treasury of a king began the work, they would be unable to edit it." (Rupavilasa dasa - A Ray of Vishnu, ch. 4)

"Whatever you have learned, you try to expand in English language." (Hari Sauri Das, Transcendental Diary, Vol. I, p. 366 - Srila Prabhupada quotes his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Maharaja)

"My dear Subhananda Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. I have been instructed by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada to reply your letter dated June 7th, 1977. His Divine Grace was very pleased to hear your proposal for systematically amassing a subject by subject encyclopedic compilation of all of Srila Prabhupada's teachings and instructions as found in his books. Srila Prabhupada said that he knows that you are a scholarly devotee and are just fit for doing this job. He said, "It is a very welcome suggestion." (Tamal Krishna Goswami, letter to Subhananda das; quoted in Sri Namamrta - The Nectar of the Holy Name, Preface)

"This is the special significance of Krsna consciousness, that we want simply sincere soul; then everything is there. You study or no study. But for preaching work, studying required. If you are..., because you have to meet so many opposing elements, so if you can give some reference from books of authority. But even if you don't give references, you can speak logically, you can place arguments logically." (SP, Six Gosvamis Lecture, Los Angeles, November 18, 1968)

Site Contents

Vedas are vast and varied and VEDA specifically focuses on Gaudiya Vaishnava Vedanta, the cream of Vedic philosophy, expounded by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, avatar of this Kali-yuga, and brought to the West by its foremost recent exponent Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. You can find more details about this site and its development in About VEDA.

Its four main sections, Bhakti-yoga, Connections, Vedic Encyclopedia and Vedic Library, contain about 700 articles and freely downloadable files with all kinds of information related to Vedic philosophy and culture. Planetarium section gives a simple overview of the Vedic/Puranic universe from the pov of both space and karma, which is unique.

VEDA isn't self-centered in any way. There are now over 3 170 links to other related resources.

We'll be glad if you put a link on your personal site, blog or social profile and spread the word. We don't exchange links anymore.

If you see our content elsewhere, please let us know. With the degradation of netiquette awareness and following, some sites take our content, sometimes in great amounts, without even linking back. We think about starting to list them here.

Suggestions, corrections, donations, cooperation etc. are most welcome - please contact us.

At your service since Damanakaropana Dvadasi (March/April) 2001.