Here you will learn about true history of the Hare Krishna movement in Russia starting from its inception in the former USSR till present time. You will get to know the man who, among the first, started and spread Krishna Consciousness and Harinama Sankirtana movement all over Russia.
His name is Murali Mohan Maharaj (Mamu Thakur das). He has been preaching the message of Krishna Consciousness throughout the world for more than 40 years now. He is an author of more than 40 books, vast array of mind-blowing paintings and a spiritual teacher, true guru leading his disciples by example.
Millions of lives, the soul travels from one planet to another, from one form to another, until it encounters a sadh guru, receives the seed of bhakti (bhakti-lata-bija) and the chance to return to Krishna. Murali Mohan Das pays deferential bows to his diksha guru Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaj, the entire guru-varga (the previous Acharyas of Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya), as well as all Vaishnavas sincerely devoted to Krishna, who inspire us to pure devotional service.
To the reader, Murali Mohan Das is known for many publications of articles on philosophy and religion. He is the author of the following books: “Bhagavad-gita – the book of devotion”, “Hare Krishna yesterday and today” (four issues), “Primer, the art of meditation”, “Transcendental mosaic” (five issues), “Temple in every home – the art of archana”, “Temple of Sri Sri Kishore Kishori”, “Harinama, diksha, vaishnava-sadachara”, “Psychoanalysis of the incomprehensible”, “Tattva-siddhanta in prayers and songs of gaudiya Vaishnavas”, essays “Notes of a vegetarian” (in Russian and English), In Search of Happiness, Anatomy of Love, Nectar of Sankirtana Lila, Krishna Cuisine, The Hand of the Giver Will Not Be Impoverished, The Tree That Does Not Bring Fruit, The Culture and Religion of Demons, If You Want to Be Happy, Be Happy!, Hinduism and Bhagavata Dharma, and several practical guides to devotional service.
Murani Mohan Das shows respect and appreciation to his readers. He is infinitely happy when he sees that one or another conditioned soul is interested in the topic of his books and makes efforts to become a Krishna devotee.
Preacher, writer, artist – he made a lasting impression on millions of people with whom he met on his life path. He spoke to everyone about Krishna and inspired thousands to devotional service. Many academics, scholars and powerful people became interested in Vedic philosophy through the persuasive preaching of Murali Mohan Maharaj.
Murali Mohan Maharaj (Mamu Thakur) came to this world in 1949 in Perm’ on the day of Nrisimha-chaturdashi.
The name of Mamu Thakur das was well-known to every follower of the Krishna Consciousness Movement in the former Soviet Union. This man is a living legend. He was the first to hold mass public appearances and street harinamas in all major cities of the former Soviet Union. For example, the harinamas in Moscow (on Red Square), in St. Petersburg (on Nevsky and Palace Square), in Tbilisi (in front of the administration building), on the streets of Riga, Tallinn, Minsk, Dushanbe, Alma-Ata, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Kharkov, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Tyumen, Novokuznetsk, Ulan-Ude, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Essentuki, Pyatigorsk, Simferopol and many other cities – this is by far not a complete list.
According to a rough estimate, he preached in one hundred cities of the vast Soviet empire. He printed and distributed the first books of Srila Prabhupada back in times of socialism stagnation, when such distribution did not bring any income, on the contrary – it was punishable as an ideological crime, along with espionage and involvement with the CIA.
He was fearless and fully devoted to Krishna, and Krishna protected Mama Thakur. By the special mercy of Krishna, the mercy of Srila Prabhupada.
It says in the scriptures that the devotees of Krishna are fearless (narayana-parayana). Fulfilling the Lord’s mission, they can go to hell to save conditioned souls from the fortress of maha-maya. There is no doubt that Krishna shows them a special mercy. Caitanya Charitamrita says that nobody can preach a holy name and become a spiritual master without being authorized, empowered by Krishna: Krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana.
So, in 1986-87 he organized the first Hare Krishna ashram in Leningrad (on Zina Portnova Street), in 1988 he opened the first vegetarian cafe (the first vegetarian catering in the history since the tsarist Russia), then the preaching center “Sankirtana”. Hundreds and thousands of people got to know about Krishna, purchased books and honored Krishna’s prasad here.
At present our society is yearning for a spiritual process. Murali Mohan Maharaj’s fundamental vision is to offer the science of Hare Krishna maha mantra to every human being – a science that helps a person realize that he is not this body, that he is a soul and he can stop this cycle of birth, old age, disease, and death, and safely return home, to the spiritual world, to Krishna. From this vision stem a vast array of his projects and programs both in Russia and US, all towards the same goal: to plant a seed of bhakti in every human being, so that they stop suffering in this material world and become Krishna-conscious, exuberant, and in harmony within themselves and the world.
Here you will find the answers to many frequently asked life questions. We are compiling a comprehensive list of questions and answers derived from the books, articles and other materials by Sri Srimad Murali Mohan Maharaj.
At present he wrote and published 49 books on different spiritual and philosophical subjects aiming to unravel the mystery of Krishna Consciousness.
He is the author of the books: “Bhagavad-gita – the book of devotion”, “Hare Krishna yesterday and today” (four editions), “Primer, the art of meditation”, “Transcendental mosaic” (five editions), “Temple in every house – the art of archana”, “Temple of Sri Sri Kishora Kishori”, “Harinama, diksha, Vaishnava-sadachara”, “Psychoanalysis of the incomprehensible”, “Tattva-siddhanta in the prayers and songs of gaudiya-vaishnavas”, essay “Notes of a vegetarian” (in Russian and English), “In Search of Happiness”, “Anatomy of Love”, “Nectar of Sankirtana-Lila”, “Krishna’s Kitchen”, “The Hand of the Giver Will Not Be Impoverished”, “The Tree That Does Not Bring Fruit”, “Culture and Religion of Demons”, “If You Want to Be Happy, Be It!”, “Hinduism and the Bhagavata-Dharma” and several practical guides to devotional service. He is infinitely happy when he sees that at least one conditioned soul is interested in the subject of his books and is making an effort to become a devotee of Krsna.
