Krishna Temple Talks
Religion & Spirituality
About
The Sunday Talks given by Temple President Caru Das at the Krishna Temples in Salt Lake City and Spanish Fork, UT, Based on the teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, founder of ISKCON. Hare Krishna! Each Sunday all are welcome to gather at the Temple for the traditional Sunday Love Feast, sermon, and traditional worship.
Episodes
- Limping & Leaping
Though the acreage was empty and the obstacles rose, like a winter that never would draw to a close, by the kindness of Krishna, the struggle is stayed, and a palace of marble in glory is laid. In ninety-one, the air was thick with the sce…
- Standing in Faith
In ancient lore, we are told the story of Prahlad, a 5 year old boy /whose faith in Krishna was pure and bold. Ignited from within the womb, his love for the Lord shone like the moon. Chants of Krishna filled his soul, While his father’s r…
- Sounds of Victory
Yo, listen to the tale of the man and the wood,/Sitting where the branches of the Kalpavriksha stood. He wanted a bed, and the velvet appeared,/He wanted a feast, and the table was cleared. The fire was bright in the middle of the night,/B…
- Sharpen Your Edge
God is not old. He’s ever fresh. When we stay in touch with Him thru chanting, we stay in touch with His freshness. We stay in touch with youthfulness. You’ll not get stale if you attentively chant. By chanting you bring freshness and newn…
- Song: Chanting the Holy Names
chanting the holy names cleanses the heart extinguishes the flames breaks the chains blesses the earth at large with moonlike rays discharges waves of nectar our senses been craving since ancient days the holy name puts all other blessings…
- Surrendering the Outcome
I know a young man named Chaitanya Charan. He was a top-ranked student in India, a brilliant engineer. He did exactly what society told him to do. He studied hard, he worked long hours, and he got a near-perfect score on his GRE—2350/2400.…
- Song: Fresh Raincloud
(Intro – Sanskrit) nava-jaladhara-varṇam chanda-māhendra-nīlam pichha-mauli-kapolam rāja-rājendu-maulim | I see the color of a fresh raincloud, a luster deep and blue, With a peacock feather in His hair, and a face that’s ever new. The Kin…
- Servants Are Special
Prabhupada, “If I work in some ordinary man’s service, he gives me protection. Don’t you think if you work for Kṛṣṇa, He’ll not give you protection? Because you have no faith, therefore we are seeking protection from elsewhere.” Kṛṣṇa offe…
- Song: I Stand At the Gates
The world is shouting outside the stone But I’m the master on this throne I watch the clouds begin to gray But I decide what’s here to stay The screen is glowing with a bitter light Feeding the fire and the restless night They speak of sha…
- Rule Your Space
“Well, CARU I wish KRISHNA would help me to do better”. KRISHNA HAS done his part. He MADE you a KING. He’s given you AUTHORITY. You have the POWER TO RULE your SPACE. You can’t control all that’s around you, but you CAN CONTROL what gets…
- Song: Perfection for Dummies
In the age of Kali, the Name alone grants release. Bringing to every embodied soul the ultimate peace. Yo, in Satyuga’s Golden Age, Valmiki meditated sixty thousand years, To achieve the consciousness that conquers all his karmic fears. Bu…
- Lasting Change
After having compiled the voluminous Vedic literature—the four Vedas, the Mahābhārata, the eighteen Purāṇas, and the Vedānta-sūtra—Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the literary incarnation of God, felt profoundly unhappy and restless. He had performed a c…
- Song: The Forest Divine
jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa, jaya vṛndāvan śrī govinda, gopīnātha, madana-mohan Listen up close, let the flow begin here, Glories of the highest devotion are clear. Glory to the Vṛndāvana forest profound, Setting spiritual truth on sacred g…
- Ever Faithful Savior
Krishna has ways to protect you that you’ve never thought of. He controls the universe. You don’t have to FIGURE OUT how it’s going to happen. All you have to do is BELIEVE. “Lord, THANK YOU that you’re my protector. THANK YOU that you’re…
- Song: Sudasrshna Chakra
Yo, listen to the glory, the weapon shining bright, The razor-sharp disk, cutting through the night. O Sudarśana! Your great effulgence, the truth is clear, Millions of suns burning, clouds disappear. You dispel the darkness, revealing the…
- Special Favor
Fro where that sense of paternal protection comes from unless it is there in the Absolute Truth, the source of everything. Understanding that the Supreme Lord is my father, our uttitude should be. “I know Lord, You will never fail me or le…
- It’s Not About You
In the purport to Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 1/13 Prabhupada says, “Everyone wants to be served. Nobody wants to serve. This is the material conception of life. When we agree to serve others, not to be served by others, that is liberated positi…
- Song: Time I Am
śrī-bhagavān uvācha kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ ṛte ’pi tvāṁ na bhaviṣyanti sarve ye ’vasthitāḥ praty-anīkeṣu yodhāḥ The Supreme Lord declared, with a voice that cracks the sky: “I am Time, the great d…
- Restoration Is Coming
The enemy thought she was pulling you back to keep you there. She didn’t realize, like a bow and arrow, the more she pulls you back, the further Krishna is going to shoot you. She thought he was hindering you. The truth is she was helping…
- Song: Plea to the Mind
Yo, listen up close, this is a plea to the mind, To shed all the pretense and leave lies behind. I’m begging you sweetly, right at your feet, For a love that’s intense, a passion complete. For Vraja’s dear people and the Guru’s own light,…
- The Master Chef
The secret lies with the expert chef and the recipe. The chef knows that the ingredient isn’t meant to be consumed in isolation. It needs to be carefully portioned, mixed with other contrasting flavors, and then subjected to heat for a pre…
- Song: A Chariot Awaits
Cruel Kamsa sent a summons, dark and cold, A treacherous play, a future yet untold. You leave for Mathura, the tyrant’s shadow vast, But when You go, the light of every day is cast Into the deep. Who saves the promises we keep? You speak o…
- You Are Not A Victim
We are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have made. However, what is equally true is that all of us are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have NOT made. NOT TO DECIDE IS TO DECIDE to be a victim: victi…
- Song: Humane Death
The field awaits the dawn, a mist upon the breath. We never knew the promise led only to death. Hear the quiet testimony of a trust that was torn, Before the final moment, the day we were born. Verse 1 Sunlight warms the fence line, a dail…
- Song: From Illusion to Shelter
The curtain lifts on self-deception, the reality breaks through, The path of fruitive work is done, the mirage fades from view. The soul now knows its folly, the error of its ways, Seeking shelter at Your feet, in these reflective days. Th…
- Song: The Joyful Path
rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all, The purest and supreme, that answers to the soul’s call. It gives direct perce…
- Attitude Adjustment
BIG DREAMS are on the inside of each one of you. One day you’re going to start a temple, own a business, come out of debt, raise wonderful children. Krishna always puts bigger things in our spirit than our mind can handle. Don’t talk yours…
- Song: Be Still, My Soul
1. Be still, my soul! the Lord is on your side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to your God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly friend Thru’ thorny way…
- The Potter’s Wheel
We have to believe that HE IS DIRECTING OUR STEPS and to go with the flow. If you are going to become a vessel of gold, you have to STAY ON THE POTTERS WHEEL and be willing to change. Nothing in your life happens by accident. The delays, t…
- Song: Swami from India
Let the story unfold, About a swami from India, brave and bold. Seventy years young, with a mission in his soul, Prabhupada’s tale, let the rhythm take control. (Verse 1) Nineteen sixty-five, a voyage on the sea, Heart attacks strikin’, bu…
- Radhastami Talk 2025
“If something makes Krishna Happy and me unhappy, that becomes my greatest happiness. And if something makes me happy but makes Krishna unhappy, that becomes my greatest unhappiness.”
- Song: Hymn of the Earth
(Intro) Yo, check the mic, one two, this ain’t no ordinary tune It’s a hymn of the earth, under the sun and moon From the soil we spring, with a spiritual glow Let the rhythm flow, watch the seeds we sow! (Verse 1) Sunrise paints the sky,…
- Krishna Can Make It Happen
Our message today is that “if you can dream it, Krishna can do it.” Prabhupada was talking about the freedoms enjoyed by Narada Muni, “Every living being is anxious for full freedom because that is his transcendental nature. We, parts and…
- Song: The Final Test
anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ At life’s final end, with body cast aside, Whoever remembers Me, will with Me abide. He attains My nature, eternal and pure, Of this, O Arjuna…
- Balaram Purnima
Krishna is the Iswara Parama, doesn’t need to look strong, doesn’t need to instill fear, doesn’t need to manage.. Krishna is that person than whom no one is greater or equal because he is the boss of Balarama Balarama makes planets orbit l…
- Song: Swans & Crows
(Intro Verse) na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer yaśo jagat-pavitraṁ pragṛṇīta karhicit tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasā na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśik-kṣayāḥ (Verse 1) Yo, words that fail to recount, the Lord’s pure renown, He alone sanctifie…
- Song: Literature for Swanlike Men
(Intro Verse) tad vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api nāmāny anantasya yaśo ’ṅkitāni yat śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ (Verse 1) Yo, that literature, a distinct creation, Brimming with transcendental glor…
- Swans & Crows
Prabhupada. “Crows and swans are not birds of the same feather because of their different mental attitudes. The crows take pleasure in a place where garbage is thrown out, just as the passionate fruitive workers take pleasure in wine and w…
- Happiness on Purpose
Here’s the key: you have to give yourself PERMISSION to be happy. Sometimes we buy into the lie that we’re not supposed to be happy. We’ve been through too much. We’ve made too many mistakes. If we’re happy, people may not understand. Can…
- Song: Take the Limits Off
(Verse 1) Yo, check it, fam, listen close to the start, Vai and I, with aspiration in heart. To Utah’s plains, our journey we brought, A radio station, the prize that we sought. A concrete vision, a mission defined, To spread a message, co…
- Not Big Enough
This isn’t about simply achieving what you set out to do. This is about accomplishing goals that lie FAR BEYOND what you currently think or even dare to imagine. It’s about TAPPING INTO a source of support and grace that can elevate your a…
- Dry Seasons
As souls on a spiritual journey, striving to deepen our connection with the Supreme Person, Krishna, we inevitably encounter periods that feel dry and unfulfilling. The Bhagavad Gita, in its profound wisdom, speaks of the cyclical nature o…
- Getting Unstuck
Feeling trapped? Stuck in a career rut, a stagnant relationship, or watching your goals gather dust? It’s a heavy, draining sensation, a universal ache we all experience. We often wonder, “Is this all there is?” or even, “Is there some div…
- Song: Rainy Season in Vrndavan
Achyutam Keshavam Krishna Damodaram, Ram Narayanam Janaki Vallabham (Verse 1) Yo, the Vrndavana forest, from rains it improved, With dates, mangoes, and blackberries, all sweetly approved. Lord Krishna, the Supreme, with His boyfriends so…
- Song: Birth of Sankirtan
Then came the initiation, a pivotal phase, Into Krishna’s divine names, dispelling all haze. The essential process, for this epoch, He said, A conduit to freedom, where enlightenment’s spread. With the sacred mantra, Nimai’s spirit took fl…
- Part of the Process
You couldn’t find any place in scripture where someone did something significant, they didn’t have messy places, times it wasn’t fair, times they didn’t mistakes, times they felt disqualified. But when it all came together IT MADE SENSE. T…
- Song: Invocation Sri Isopanishad
Yo, this ain’t no myth, no fable, This wisdom ancient, etched in time, eternally stable. Oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ, hear the cosmic decree, The Source is whole, complete, and so are you and me. From this fullness, pure and grand, every ot…
- Never Stop Growing
David DeWitt: Look around you right now, wherever you are: desks, tables, electronics, electricity, light bulbs, appliances, glassware, furniture, knick-knacks, artwork, paint, carpeting, buildings. All of those things require science, eng…
- Stop Your Striving
All striving is doing is WEARING you out, MAKING you feel overwhelmed; can’t sleep at night, have digestive problems. Take the pressure OFF. It’s not your job to FIX everything. You can’t MAKE people do what’s right, MAKE your co-worker li…
- Song: How Can We Repay You (If At All)
Srila Prabhupada How Can We Repay O! Srila Prabhupada, You crossed the rough seas during your life’s twilight, To bring living entities out of their material plight. A spiritual formula you took to one and all, How can we repay this infini…