Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hare Krishna

Greetings to the one that rules the 18 million internal
and external universes.
Greetings to the one who created everything out of itself
Who permeates and rules it and is the consciousness of and
In it
and who dwells in me



Greetings to the one who is one alone and the many as one
Who is the substance of things unseen
Who is always more than there is
no matter
How much there may be
The rising sun that never hits the zenith



Greetings to the living light behind all appearances
Who composes the appearances and is not what appears
Greetings to the qualities and virtues that make up the personality of
The ineffable in the cloud of unknowing that shrouds the blinding world and
Humbles everything before it and which
Dwells in me.



Greetings to the unassailable unmoving center
From which spirals the galaxies and worlds
Like the spiral of a closed fist
Of perfect concentration
That holds it all in place that
Moves it all that forms and un-forms and does not
Begin or end and which dwells in me.



Greetings to that which endures and prevails
And is the life in everything
That meets and greets itself knowing and unknowing
That scatters itself into uncountable pieces and
Gathers them altogether again and
That dwells in me



Greetings to the dynamic animating principle.
Greetings to the one that does not know time nor size but
Does know sequence and form



Greetings to the one whose idea is complete in the genesis and
Is the intelligence behind evolution and design and not the result of them.
Greetings to what cannot be known but whose presence can be practiced
And enjoyed and who dwells in me.



Greetings in the before and after that both spill into the endless now
Greetings to the one who commands the superiors and inferiors
Whose every effort serves the entire
Who is the one who waits before
In the midst and at the end of every thought, word and deed



Greetings to the mind inside the mind of every architect in every dream
Who waits and watches forever and who
Abides in me.



Greetings from within the sleep that struggles for awakening
That cries out for union with the beloved
That cries in this moment for awakening to the one
Who dwells in me.



Greetings
many greetings and
much gratitude
Greetings and greetings and
much gratitude



Hare Krishna


Patrick Willis narrates:

1106 comments:

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kikz said...

:)

Anonymous said...

Jai Sri Radha!
Jai Sri Krishna!
Jai Sri Gauranga!

Anonymous said...

It may be trite to say it, but this is, indeed, moving and beautiful.

You are amazing, LV.
In gifts, how richly endowed!

wandering minstrel

meytaoo said...

LV this is beautiful. Your post is like a recitation of the Name of that which is divine, which cannot be contained in just the word "GOD".

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada – "This material creation is the spirit soul's dream. Actually all existence in the material world is a dream of Maha-Vishnu, as the Brahma-Samhita describes – "This material world is created by the dreaming of Maha-Vishnu. The real, factual platform is the spiritual world, but when the spirit soul wants to imitate the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is put into this dreamland of material creation".
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.83)

Srila Prabhupada - “Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things. Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only”.

ZHP said...

Les,
It is an amazing predicament we are in. We have the ability to move far ahead in God conciousness and at the very same time we see how much we must change our hearts.

I always wondered, in my youthful philosophising, if I would end up believing in God, but I didn't think it would be so soon or happen in such a way.

You express the immensity of God as well as his love for us, right here with us and yet allowing us to have our hand at the wheel in this world.

I feel a big responsibility to turn my ship towards him though it's taking some effort. I'm still quite attached to the material world!

(That would be coffee, muffins and beautiful women!)

abe said...

Beautiful words Les

Anonymous said...

The Dreaming

BY: GAURA GOPALA DAS

Jan 03, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — Many have laughed when told their existence in the material world is just the dream condition of the marginal living entity (soul). However, if they care to read Srila Prabhupada's books, they will find the material creation is simply their own self-centered imaginations, thoughts, dreams and their reactions (karma) that are all a factual yet temporary reality.
This impermanent reality known as the mahat-tattva (material creation) is experienced by first choosing to leave Goloka (the eternal imperishable Kingdom of God), not as one's perpetual nitya-siddha or mukta body that is forever there in Goloka beyond the material gross and subtle body, but as their secondary nitya-baddha sub-conscious bodiless state, that is only able to have form by entering unlimited material vessels or containers within the mahat-tattva that are all created and manufactured from the dreams of Maha-Vishnu.

Srila Prabhupada – "This material creation is the spirit soul's dream. Actually all existence in the material world is a dream of Maha-Vishnu, as the Brahma-Samhita describes – "This material world is created by the dreaming of Maha-Vishnu. The real, factual platform is the spiritual world, but when the spirit soul wants to imitate the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is put into this dreamland of material creation".
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.83)

Anonymous said...

KRISHNA DEVOTEES ARE DEAR TO SHIVA

AND SHIVA IS DEAR TO THEM

Shiva works for the benefit of everyone, and tries to help the living beings make spiritual advancement. This is why he has his own line of disciplic succession. This is also why he says to the sons of King Pracinibarhi, “Any person who is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of God, Lord Krishna, the controller of everything, is very dear to me.”

The sons of the King were going to practice austerities to worship Lord Vishnu and while searching for a suitable place happened to find Lord Shiva. His bodily luster was like molten gold, his throat was bluish, he had three eyes, and was accompanied by musicians who were glorifying him. Shiva is the protector of the pious and those of gentle behavior. So he was pleased to speak to the princes the way he did. He continued in this way:

“A person who is directly surrendered to Lord Krishna, or Vishnu, in unalloyed devotional service is immediately promoted to the spiritual planets. I, Lord Shiva, and other demigods attain these planets only after the destruction of the material world. You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am.”

In this way, a devotee of Krishna does not disrespect Lord Shiva, but worships him as the greatest of devotees of Lord Krishna. A Krishna bhakta also prays to Lord Shiva, but asks Shiva to assist him in attaining the favor of Lord Krishna, and not merely for material benefits. As we find in the Tulasi Ramayana (Uttara-Kanda, Doha 45), Lord Rama says “With joined palms I lay before you another secret doctrine: without adoring Sankara (Lord Shiva) man cannot attain devotion to Me.” So in this way, Shiva can assist us in attaining devotion to Lord Krishna and His expansions.

After Lord Shiva had spoken to the sons of King Pracinabarhi, he relates a particular mantra for their benefit, which is pure and auspicious for anyone who wants to attain the ultimate goal of life. This mantra is called Shiva’s Song, and consists of verses 33 to 79 of the Twenty-fourth Chapter of the Forth Canto in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Anonymous said...

Greetings indeed, it glows when spoken aloud to the morning, you can FEEL the quickening. Probably works at night, also. Thank you, Love.
~dorothi

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada: So, even in the Vaikuntha, if I desire that—"Why shall I serving Krsna? Why not become Krsna?"—I immediately fall down. That is natural… You cannot become God. That is not possible. But he's wrongly thinking.

Devotee: Why doesn't Krsna protect us from that desire?

Srila Prabhupada: He's protecting. He says, "You rascal, don't desire. Surrender unto Me." But you are rascal; you do not do this.

Devotee: Why doesn't He save me from thinking like that?

Srila Prabhupada: That means you loose your independence. That is force…Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force.

"So Vedic culture is very old. It is not a concocted thing or a new pattern. It is eternal. Therefore it is called sanatana. Sanatana means eternal. It has no beginning, no end. Sanatana. So the Vedic culture means sanatana, eternal. Krsna is eternal. We living entities we are eternal. And our relationship and exchange of loving service with Krsna is also eternal. Krsna is eternal, we are eternal, and our dealings with Krsna is also eternal. But sometimes it becomes interrupted by the maya, which is called svapna. Svapna means dreamlike. As a dream has no fact, it is all hallucination, similarly our detachment from Krsna is also a hallucination. Actually there is no detachment…"

Anonymous said...

Sunday, 9 April, 1972

Sydney

My dear Bhakta dasa,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 19, 1972, and I am very much pleased to note that you are making steady growth in all aspects of devotional service, especially in the department of selling so many books monthly.

But always remember that we are selling books not for making business but for pleasing Krsna, and by preaching we should sell books, not by cheating. If this simple method is followed, there will be tremendous success in selling of our books, and the public will appreciate and take great benefit from our preaching and publications.

This process of surrendering 50% of all profits made by the temple has been adopted by you, and I think you are the pioneer in this giving up of 50% to my Book Fund, though I had recommended it should be our general policy to Karandhara some months back. Of course, I can only suggest, and wherever possible that can be applied, but I do not force anyone.

After all, you are only working so hard to please Krsna only out of love for me, so there can be no question of force if love is there. We should not ever try to force anyone or reduce our Society to an impersonal business exchange, this will kill everything. Our only purpose in every endeavor is simply to make advancement in spiritual life or in pleasing Krsna.

I have consented to accept Susan Tumminia as my duly initiated disciple, especially as you have recommended her because she never talks nonsense. That silence, or only speaking of Krsna-related subjects, is first sign of the advanced devotee.

Because a man or woman may be wearing something so we might think, "Oh, he is like this or she is like that." But we cannot really understand what a person is until they speak something in words, then we can understand, "Oh, this is nonsense, or, here is a devotee." Her letter follows.

Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Anonymous said...

Now You See It, Now You Don't

It has just occurred to me that I really am eternal. I know I've been hearing it and reading it for years, but I never thought about the reality of it.

If I don't go back to Godhead, then after this life there will be another one. Of course, it's nice to know that I will keep living, but in what conditions?

I will have to start all over again, from nothing. All the knowledge I have acquired in this life will be lost, and I will have to start learning to read again, assuming I even have a human birth. I will have to go through the whole struggle all over again to build something that will again be lost at death.

And it goes on forever, starting again and losing everything at death, again and again and again.

It's given me a new look at the following statement in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.1.1):

"Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal."

How can it be unreal? Srila Prabhupada says, on the other hand, that the world is temporary but not false:

"The creation is not false, but it is a temporary manifestation just to give a chance for the conditioned souls to go back to Godhead." [Srimad Bhagavatam 2.10.4]

Why then do the scriptures also say it is unreal?

Because it is temporary. We struggle so hard to obtain temporary things that vanish from our grip, like a magician's illusion: Now you see it, now you don't.

I may struggle to acquire a fortune, and it all seems real—the struggle, the money, the goal. But at the end of my life, it will all disappear.

So as real as it seems, it is also an illusion because in the end it all disappears, without a trace, without even a memory.

And I will have to start again, maybe a man struggling to get rich, maybe a tiger struggling to catch a buffalo, maybe the buffalo struggling to escape from the tiger.

Where will I be, what will I be, a hundred trillion lives from now? a hundred trillion creations from now? And that's nowhere near the end because there isn't any end.

It's like the old saying: You can't win, you can't break even, you can't quit playing.

All this, and yet the way to an eternal, deathless life of bliss and knowledge is on the tip of my tongue.

Hare Krishna.

© Umapati Swami, January 20, 2007

Anonymous said...

"You asked me to pray for the devotees, and that is the only business of my life."

To sit down in a corner without preaching risk and to make a show of chanting Hare Krishna Mantra is condemned by my Spiritual Master and He has written a very nice song in this connection, which I am recording. The substance is that to become very dear to Krishna or Balarama or in other words to Lord Caitanya and Nityananda is to take the task of preaching work very seriously at all risk. Please always remember this and you will be successful.

So I see in your letter that you are also being bold in Krishna’s service in the matter of the preaching work.

You asked me to pray for the devotees, and that is the only business of my life.
Upendra is preparing for going to Australia.

I hope this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Anonymous said...

There are two ways of association--by vani and by vapu. Vani means words, and vapu means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence. Bhagavad-gita, for example, is the vani of Lord Krsna. Although Krsna was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer physically present from the materialistic point of view, Bhagavad-gita continues. "

Conclusion to Sri Caitanya caritamrta
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

"Next you ask if I am present in my picture and form? Yes. In form as well as in teachings. To carry out the teachings of guru is more important than to worship the form, but none of them should be neglected. Form is called vapu and teachings is called vani. Both should be worshiped. Vani is more important than vapu."

Anonymous said...

Maya Is Going To Test You

Srila Prabhupada: "Maya will try to defeat us as soon as she sees, 'Oh, here is a living soul going out of my grip."

And you know how well maya fights. She hits the hardest where you are weakest, where she finds your strongest material tendencies. We are only as strong as our weakest link and she knows what it is.

So what's the best way to fight with maya? Actually there's no way we can directly win a fight with maya. Krsna says, mama maya duratyaya, My material energy is insurmountable. She has a million tricks up her sleeve to illusion us and keep us away from Krsna. She'll even convince us we are conquering her through some material or spiritual means while we are fully in her clutches.

Obstacles are things we focus on when we lose sight of our goals.
Rupa Goswami, playing the part of a conditioned soul, shows us how we should be thinking.

"I have no love for Krsna, or for the causes of developing love of Krsna - namely, hearing and chanting. And the process of bhakti-yoga, by which one is always thinking of Krsna and fixing His lotus feet in the heart, is also lacking in me. As far as philosophical knowledge or pious works are concerned, I don't see any opportunity for me to execute such activities. But above all, I am not even born of a nice family. Therefore I must simply pray to You, Gopijana-vallabha [Krsna, maintainer and beloved of the gopis]. I simply wish and hope that some way or other I may be able to approach Your lotus feet, and this hope is giving me pain, because I think myself quite incompetent to approach that transcendental goal of life."

"By my previous shameful life my heart is polluted with many illusory attachments. Personally I have no power to stop them. Only Lord Krsna within my heart can remove such inauspicious contamination. But whether the Lord removes such attachments immediately or lets me go on being afflicted by them, I will never give up my devotional service to Him. Even if the Lord places millions of obstacles in my path, and even if because of my offenses I go to hell, I will never for a moment stop serving Lord Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada taught that we can act in a Krsna conscious way despite our heart's contrary desires. Maya's tells us the exact opposite. She wants us to believe that we have to give into our strong conditioning, that we are so fallen that even Krsna can't help us overcome all of our conditioning.

Anonymous said...

A very thoughtful article.
A wonderful website.

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/01-10/editorials5624.htm

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:

The darkness has no existence in the presence of sunlight; similarly Maya cannot exist in the presence of Krishna. As darkness and light exist eternally, similarly, Maya and Krishna exist eternally, but Maya has no existence in the presence of Krishna. Try to understand this simile.

Anonymous said...

"Your eyes should be sastra, not your so-called imagination. sastra-caksusa. Yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate kama... [Bg. 16.23]. If you give up the direction of the sastra and manufacture your own way, yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate kama-karatah, as you like, then na sa siddhim avapnoti: you will never get siddhi, perfection, never get. Na sa siddhim avap..., na sukham, neither happiness. And what to speak of param gatim, going back to home, back to Godhead."
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 1.24-25 -- London, July 20, 1973)

Anonymous said...

BY: GAURAGOPALA DASA

Jan 29, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — More on understanding the marginal living entity (jiva-tattva) and the nitya-siddha and nitya-baddha terminology

Srila Prabhupada - "The answer to your question about the marginal energy is that the jiva soul is always called marginal energy whether he is in the spiritual world or in the material world'.
(Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968)

There are only two types of living entities, Vishnu-tattva and jiva-tattva.

We the marginal living entity is jiva-tattva -

Srila Prabhupada – "In the Padma Purana, wherein it is said that there are two kinds of spiritual entities; one is called the jiva, and the other is called the Supreme Lord".
Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eighty-seventh Chapter of Krsna, "Prayers by the Personified Vedas." )

Srila Prabhupada - "After all, the living entity falls down from the spiritual world . . . There is possibility . . . even if you are in Vaikuntha, you will fall down, what to speak of this material world."
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on July 4, 1974)

Without the ability to choose, even in Goloka, then how can there be genuine love and the individual ability to always expand those loving emotions and service to beautiful Krishna? It is because we have that free will, there is the tendency to mise use it if we choose.

Srila Prabhupada – "Tendency means the independence. So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that you cannot become fall down, that is not independence. That is force. Therefore Krishna says, yathecchasi tathä kuru. "Now you do whatever you like."
(Bhagavad Gita as it is. lecture, Mayapur, June 20, 1973)

Anonymous said...

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.1

In the Mahābhārata (Śānti-parva 348.51-52) we can trace out the history of the Gītā as follows:

tretā-yugādau ca tato

vivasvān manave dadau

manuś ca loka-bhṛty-arthaḿ

sutāyekṣvākave dadau

ikṣvākuṇā ca kathito

vyāpya lokān avasthitaḥ

"In the beginning of the millennium known as Tretā-yuga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvān to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Rāmacandra appeared." Therefore, Bhagavad-gītā existed in human society from the time of Mahārāja Ikṣvāku.

At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was Dvāpara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Tretā-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to his disciple and son Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu the Gītā was spoken by the Lord to His disciple the sun-god Vivasvān, a rough estimate is that the Gītā was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gītā, according to the Gītā itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Anonymous said...

SB8.16.61: This payo-vrata is also known as sarva-yajna. In other words, by performing this sacrifice one can perform all other sacrifices automatically. This is also acknowledged to be the best of all ritualistic ceremonies. O gentle lady, it is the essence of all austerities, and it is the process of giving charity and pleasing the supreme controller.

PURPORT

Aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param. This is a statement made by Lord Siva to Parvati. Worshiping Lord Vishnu is the supreme process of worship. And how Lord Vishnu is worshiped in this payo-vrata ceremony has now been fully described. The ultimate goal of life is to please Lord Vishnu by varnasrama-dharma.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada stated, "Krishna Consciousness is easy for the simple hearted and complicated for the crooked. It's so simple it will pass you by".

Anonymous said...

HARI NAMA INVOCATION / RECITATION BEING THE YUGA DHARMA:

Venerable Master Hsuan Hua...

“If one is simply able to recite ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha’, one will certainly be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where, transformationally born from a lotus, one will see the Buddha and awaken to the patience of the uncreated, never again to retreat to the Small Vehicle [HINAYANA], or to the status of a common person. If what I say is not so, I will gladly descend into the hells."

Anonymous said...

Krishna, Brahma, Narada, Vyasa, Madhva Muni (Purnaprajna), Padmanabha, Nrhari, Madhava, Aksobhya, Jayatirtha, Jnanasindhu, Dayanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Rajendra, Jayadharma, Purusottama, Brahmanyatirtha, Vyasatirtha, Laksmipati, Madhavendra Puri, Isvara Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Svarupa Damodara and Sri Rupa Gosvami and others, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Krsnadasa Gosvami, Narottama dasa Thakura, Visvanatha Cakravarti, Jagannatha dasa Babaji, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami."

Another time when Srila Prabhupada asked a devotee to read in the garden the devotee asked him why he liked to hear his own books so much. Srila Prabhupada said, "I did not write these books. Krishna wrote these books!"

Anonymous said...

-KURMA DASA (NOT THE CHEF)

"Today in 2010, some thirty-eight or so years after Srila Prabhupada's departure, we have a system that votes-in the position of acarya -- a system condemned by Srila Prabhupada himself. This system offers pride, wealth, and adoration to people who have been given the rubber stamp of approval, all in the name of co-operation and unity."
---------------------------
-Srila Prabhupada:

If every time someone feels something they call for changing everything, THEN ALL THAT I HAVE DONE WILL VERY QUICKLY BE LOST.
(Letter to Hamsaduta, Sydney, 2 April, 1972)

"We will establish hundreds of temples, and they will all be very opulent. But if we do not follow the instruction of the Spiritual Master, they will just be showbottle. Do you know what showbottle means? It means colored water in a bottle which looks just like medicine, but which, when you take it, does not work."
(Room conversation, New York, July, 1970)

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada: "In His form as Karanodakasayi Vishnu the Lord impregnates material nature by His glance. The transcendental molecules of that glance are particles of spirit (baddha-jivas), or spiritual atoms, which appear in different species of life according to the seeds of their individual karma from the previous cosmic manifestation".
(Caitanya Caritamrta Adi 5.69)

Srila Prabhupada: "Because he (The baddha-jiva) falls down from Brahma-sayujya (impersonal liberated condition), he thinks that may be his origin, but he does not remember that long, long, long, long, long ago before that even, he was with Krishna.
(Letter to Madhudvisa Swami in Australia 1972)

Anonymous said...

The state of the union in this Kali yuga...

Flattery

BY: SADHUSHASTRA DAS

Feb 26, UK (SUN) — Socrates said that "Flattery is like friendship in show but not in fruit". In other words, it is not real. It is false, made up and contrived for ulterior purpose! Dale Carnegie said, "Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself".

All this talk about devotees being sent personally by Krnsa to help Srila Prabhupada is "BS" leftover from the neophyte Zonal Acarya era. Listen up, devotees worldwide! This is all illusory, bogus, sentimental nonsense! This is all flowery-worded mental concoction. It is worthless and has no place in real Krsna (God) consciousness!

Please listen to Srila Prabhupada's disciples who are pointing out all this rubbish: Nrsimhananda prabhu, Rocana prabhu, Rupanuga prabhu, Madhudvisa prabhu, Mahavidya prabhu, and so many others including former Zonal Acarya disciples.

Here's the truth: when Srila Prabhupada departed, those that assumed acarya roles mainly reverted back to the things that they desired most -- sex, money and power. All of them succumbed to all or parts of these material desires.

Even today you see so-called gurus and so-called sannyasis with uncontrolled wealth. In the majority of cases there is no oversight regarding what they do or how they use this money. Some of them use it for karmi clothes, karmi travel, karmi holidays away from 'adoring eyes', some use it for drugs and sex.

So the next time someone tells you that he or one of the others was sent by Krsna (God), tell him or her to go take a running jump off a short pier!

Your servant,
Sadhushastra das

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada: "When this service attitude is impaired, that "why serve Krsna, why not ourself?" That is maya, then he falls down in the material energy."

"Each and every living entity is originally attached to a particular type of transcendental service, because he is eternally the servitor of the Lord… Therefore every living entity has a particular type of service relationship with the Lord, eternally."

"So we have got our relationship with Krsna, AHH, in so many ways shanta, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhurya…so in this way we are related with Krsna…so we have to revive them. And as soon as we revive any one of them, intimacy, then we become happy. Because that is eternal."

Anonymous said...

March 4th, 2010

Prabhupadanuga News
“God man” in sex scandal

Swami Nithyananda lands in sex scandal

(This comes just a day after a Telugu News Channel TV9 exposed a scam by Vijay Kumar Naidu or Kalki Bhagavan and Amma Bhagavan)

---------------------------

Prabhupada, Honolulu, May 21, 1976: “[...] If there are so many fallen brahmanas in India and I am making brahmana in the Western countries, if they are still fallen, then what is this attempt? My attempt is futile. So kindly be responsible, those who are second initiated. If you fall down, then the whole movement becomes false. That is happening. So kindly rectify if that is happening, that guna- karma. You must acquire the qualities and must act accordingly.”

---------------------------

Do these jokers really believe there is a Lord Balarama?

Kali yuga or what!!??

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:

There are many so-called incarnations who are preaching like that: "You think of me." Same, repeating the same words in his own favor, not in Kṛṣṇa's favor.
Lecture on SB 1.5.30 -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

Perfect knowledge you can get from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in paramparā system you get that knowledge. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Paramparā means they do not change the word of Kṛṣṇa. That is paramparā. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), and the paramparā system says the same thing. No change. They never said that "I have now become Kṛṣṇa and you surrender unto me, think of me." There are many so-called incarnations who are preaching like that: "You think of me." Same, repeating the same words in his own favor, not in Kṛṣṇa's favor. That is not mahātmā. That is durātmā. Mahātmā means who always speaks in Kṛṣṇa's favor. That is mahātmā.

Anonymous said...

Reporter: I wondered how many people you think might have been taken in by fake gurus.

Srila Prabhupada: Practically everyone. [Laughter.] There is no question of counting. Everyone.

Reporter: This would mean thousands of people, wouldn’t it?

Srila Prabhupada: Millions. Millions have been cheated, because they want to be cheated. God is omniscient. He can understand your desires. He is within your heart, and if you want to be cheated, God sends you a cheater.

Reporter: When you say that lots of people want to be cheated, do you mean that lots of people want to carry on with their worldly pleasures and at the same time, by chanting a mantra or by holding a flower, achieve spiritual life as well? Is this what you mean by wanting to be cheated?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, this is like a patient thinking, “I shall continue with my disease, and at the same time I shall become healthy.” It is contradictory. The first requirement is that one become educated in spiritual life. Spiritual life is not something one can understand by a few minutes’ talk. For instance, the Srimad-Bhagavatam is a very long work, and if you try to read this book, it may take many days just to understand one line of it. The Bhagavatam describes God, the Absolute Truth, but people are not interested. And if, by chance, someone becomes a little interested in spiritual life, he wants something immediate and cheap. Therefore, he is cheated. Actually, human life is meant for austerity and penance. That is the way of Vedic civilization.

Anonymous said...

Devotee: How can a devotee be free...?

Prabhupada: When he's attracted by Krsna, he'll forget. Just like we are more or less not attracted by these material features because we have a little attraction for Krsna. That's all. So increase your attraction for Krsna; you'll forget all nonsense. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. The bhakti means more realization of God and forgetting this, all this nonsense. That is bhakti. That is the test of bhakti: how much you have become disinterested with this material advancement. That is bhakti, advancement of bhakti. And the... Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore says, niskincanasya. At last, when you'll feel that "Now I am dispossessed of all this material nonsense," then you make progress. And so long you'll feel "I have got this, I have got that, I am in possession of this, I...," that means your material disease is continuing. When you'll feel that "I do not have anything material," that is the beginning of Bhagavata-dharma.

Devotee: Prabhupada, what is the devotee's greatest enemy? A devotee's greatest enemy?

Prabhupada: He, he himself. Because he's a rascal, he's his greatest enemy. So just get out of this rascaldom, and you become your friend. Nobody is enemy. You are yourself your enemy. Nobody is enemy.

Anonymous said...

"To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters becomes immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.6)

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada compared Lord Vishnu as God in an official mood, and Krishna as God at home with His parents, brothers and sisters, girl friends and friends.

At other times Lord Vishnu is seen resting on the coils of the serpent Shesha, also called Ananta. Sheshanaga is the expansion of Lord Balarama, Lord Krishna’s brother, and serves the Lord in this way as the Lord’s support and paraphernalia. Shesha has a thousand heads swinging to and fro over the form of Lord Vishnu, creating a shelter and couch for the Lord. Ananta means endless, and Ananta is endlessly singing the praises and glories of the Lord from His thousand hoods without ever reaching the end. His hoods are also supporting the many planetary systems in the cosmic creation that are orbiting throughout the universe above His heads. Ananta also means endless in terms of the endlessness of cosmic time. This is also represented by His thousand hoods as divisions of time. The material worlds are created within the element of time, and are thus sustained by time. During the process of the universal annihilation, time ceases to exist, in which case the material planets are also forced into obliteration.

Lord Shesha is often seen floating on the causal waters of the Garbhodaka Ocean, which exists on the bottom of the universe. Lord Vishnu is thus resting on Sheshanaga as They float on the ocean. At other times, They are viewed floating on the Kshiramudra, or an ocean of white milk. This represents the Prakriti or the ingredients of the unmanifest material nature in its purest form.

Anonymous said...

This is a profound piece..
Not by any means the first brilliant piece by Bhakta George Smith, but perhaps the most illuminating.
An informative and descriptive depiction of real time actions/effects of Kali yuga. I've never seen better..

Hridayananda and His Dogs

BY: GEORGE A. SMITH

Mar 07, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) —

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/03-10/editorials5834.htm

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada warned in a prophetic omen that he entered into Srimad Bhagavatam:

"Only under certain conditions do the planets float as weightless balls in the air, and as soon as these conditions are disturbed, the planets may fall down in the Garbhodaka Ocean, which covers half the universe. The other half is the spherical dome within which the innumerable planetary systems exist. The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth. A similar disturbance was created formerly by the demons headed by Hiranyaksa (the great exploiter of the gold rush), and the earth was detached from its weightless condition and fell down into the Garbhodaka Ocean".

Anonymous said...

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.35

apām upasthe mayi nāvy avasthitāḥ

prajā bhavān adya rirakṣiṣuḥ kila

sa vīra-mūrtiḥ samabhūd dharā-dharo

yo māḿ payasy ugra-śaro jighāḿsasi

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, in this way You once protected me by rescuing me from the water, and consequently Your name has been famous as Dharādhara — He who holds the planet earth. Yet at the present moment, in the form of a great hero, You are about to kill me with sharpened arrows. I am, however, just like a boat on the water, keeping everything afloat.

PURPORT

The Lord is known as Dharādhara, meaning, "He who keeps the planet earth on His tusks as the boar incarnation." Thus the planet earth in the shape of a cow is accounting the contradictory acts of the Lord. Although He once saved the earth, He now wants to upset the earth, which is like a boat on water. No one can understand the activities of the Lord. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, human beings sometimes think the Lord's activities contradictory.

Visible said...

I would like to sincerely thank whoever it is that keeps posting these gems here. They have been truly informative and welcome.

I should mention that I now chant Hare Krishna to the exclusion or any other chants. it just happened and I don't question it. I'm going to interweave it with a couple of songs I am about to record too.

Anyway... thank you!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Les, for that little pat.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!!

I'm so very glad you enjoy these and I truly hope others might, as well.

Homer

Anonymous said...

I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,

On board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Dated 18th September 1965.

Anonymous said...

One may argue that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates the whole cosmic manifestation simply by His glance, cannot come within the womb of Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this argument, Vasudeva said, "My dear Lord, it is not a very wonderful thing that You appear within the womb of Devaki because the creation was also made in that way. You were lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Visnu, and by Your breathing process, innumerable universes came into existence. Then You entered into each of the universes as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Then again You expanded Yourself as Ksirodakasayi Visnu and entered into the hearts of all living entities and entered even within the atoms. Therefore Your entrance in the womb of Devaki is understandable in the same way. You appear to have entered, but You are simultaneously all-pervading. We can understand Your entrance and nonentrance from material examples. The total material energy remains intact even after being divided into sixteen elements. The material body is nothing but the combination of the five gross elements--namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. Whenever there is a material body, it appears that such elements are newly created, but actually the elements are always existing outside of the body. Similarly, although You appear as a child in the womb of Devaki, You are also existing outside. You are always in Your abode, but still You can simultaneously expand Yourself into millions of forms.

Anonymous said...

Sickly Sweet

BY: MAHAVIDYA DAS (ACBSP)

Mar 10, UK (SUN) —

Rocana prabhu is quite correct in his latest article, "The High Price of Sentiment".
Here at Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK, we are already practically experiencing the overripe fruits of mundane sentiment.
Religiosity has become the order of the day.
ISKCON is now openly advertised as being a Hindu something or other.
The congregation (whether they like it or not) are now Hindus.
Srila Prabhupada's temples are now "Hindu temples".
The leadership here, under the direction of our GBC Praghosa das, endorses all of this.
Bhaktivedanta Manor has become a wedding factory, churning out cash to pay for salaries.
All with the blessings of our ISKCON UK management.
(But not with the blessings of the Founder-Acarya HDG AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
Whoopee!
Of course, we are very fortunate here in the UK to have the association of HH Bhakti Caru Swami, Radhanatha Swami and HH Sivarama Swami.
Along with other ISKCON Illuminati, all are regular visitors to Bhaktivedanta Manor.
Yet… do we hear a murmur of protest?
(Perhaps I should start naming them all, and why they stay so silent)
Certainly not! Not a whisper.
Perhaps... it is because they all benefit from this arrangement.
And,
we do not want to disturb the goose that lays the golden eggs, do we?
Those Swamis, if they wish, could influence the situation.
After all…
it is their disciples managing the situation.
Come to think about it... there are many other Srila Prabhupada disciples and grand disciples here in the UK,
But…
we do not hear much from them, either.

Anonymous said...

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.70

adhyeṣyate ca ya imaḿ

dharmyaḿ saḿvādam āvayoḥ

jñāna-yajñena tenāham

iṣṭaḥ syām iti me matiḥ

TRANSLATION

And I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence.

Anonymous said...

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/about_vedic_prophecies.htm

The author presents from the Bhavishya Purana, the oldest scripture on predictions and most reliable in the world, that a great global tribulation and disaster will begin in May, 2000 A.D. It is the same Purana that accurately predicted the coming of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc. Also, information is given from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana where Krishna tells Ganga Devi that there will be a Golden Age within the Kali-yuga that will start 5,000 years after the beginning of the age of Kali-yuga. It will last for 10,000 years, i.e., 15,000 years into the age of Kali the full force of Kali will manifest. We are considered to be in the first phase of this Golden Age, for Lord Krishna departed 5,000 years ago. Therefore, millennium predictions coincide with Krishna's message.

"There will be a higher and progressive energy shift, as predicted by the Vedic scriptures, and it is already in progress. In this cycle, the planetary changes, whether they appear to be good or severe, will be a cleansing process to help bring in the needed progress and new species of humanity, at least while the Golden Age within Kali-yuga continues.

"What this means is that we are at a decisive period. There will be a transformed world. It will be attained by force, through an apocalypse, or through cooperation by a planetary awakening."

Anonymous said...

"As the sun appears in the morning and gradually rises to the meridian and then again sets in one hemisphere while simultaneously rising in the other, so Lord Krsna's disappearance in one universe and the beginning of His different pastimes in another take place simultaneously. As soon as one pastime is finished here, it is manifested in another universe. And thus His nitya-lila, or eternal pastimes, are going on without ending."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.7 Purport

Anonymous said...

"By late 1966 Srila Prabhupada had begun accepting disciples. He was quick to point out to everyone that they should think of him not as God but as God's servant, and he criticized self-styled gurus who let their disciples worship them as God. "These 'gods' are very cheap," he used to say. One day, after someone had asked, "Are you God?" Srila Prabhupada replied, "No, I am not God--I am a servant of God." Then he reflected a moment and went on. "Actually, I am not a servant of God. I am trying to be a servant of God. A servant of God is no ordinary thing."

-Michael Grant
(Mukunda dasa)

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada and the Ants...

"When Srila Prabhupada took his lunch it immediately became known by the resident ant population. They always had scouts running along the walls and within minutes of putting his plate on the table, they would call in the battalions. Once, in Los Angeles Srila Prabhupada told me to put some turmeric down at the spots they were entering. It worked in Los Angeles. I suppose those ants were more materialistic. The ants in Mayapur could not be stopped. Obviously, they were spiritual entities and they could not be discouraged from taking maha prasadam remnants from the plate of the pure devotee.

I watched as hundreds of ants ascended up the leg of the choki, circling his plate to finally descend upon his prasadam. They seemed to know exactly when they were allowed on a certain preparation. Srila Prabhupada would eat in stages. First there were the vegetables and chapatis, the rice was mixed in later on and then finally the sweets were eaten. Initially they would congregate around the plate. Gradually they would work their way onto the preparations that Srila Prabhupada had finished with. It seemed like the ants had a little courtesy. Finally, Srila Prabhupada would finish his meal with a few sweets and get up to wash. For the ants the moment they had been waiting for had arrived. They knew now was the time to dive into the sweets. Incredibly, Srila Prabhupada never said one word about them during this daily attack on his lunch.

This was not an isolated incident. It happened with great regularity. There seemed to be an arrangement between the pure devotee and these tiny insects. He was free to take as much time as he wanted and they were allowed to eat whatever he was finished with. I tried to get to the plates as quickly as possible after he finished so that there was something left to distribute to his disciples. As Srila Prabhupada said in Calcutta, “It’s all right, they don’t eat very much.”

-Srutakirti Dasa

Anonymous said...

By Kalakantha dasa

After You steal butter, Your earrings dance and shine
as You flee Your mother in Gokula pastimes.
Though you are all blissful, all knowing, ever-new
Greatest of controllers, Your mother controls You.

She shows You the stick and she binds You by the waist.
As You rub Your frightened eyes, tears roll down Your face.
Sobbing and quick breaths make Your necklace of pearls shake.
Ropes of her love bind You in Your mother’s embrace.

Relishing Your childhood activities like this,
You plunge Your devotees in deep oceans of bliss.
Though many revere You, by love You are subdued.
Again and again, Lord, I bow down before You.

Although You give freedom, I don’t ask to be free,
Nor do I want anything You could offer me.
I only request that Your sweet childhood pastimes
Ever be enacted in my heart and my mind.

Curly hair encircles Your face of blackish-blue.
Kisses make Your cheeks look like red bimba fruit.
May this sublime vision be all that I can see.
Any other treasure has no value to me.

Damodar! O Vishnu! O Lord beyond compare,
Be pleased with a soul sunk in oceans of despair.
Uplift and protect me with glances from Your eyes;
Shower Your compassion like rainfall from the sky.

Two sons of Kuvera were cursed to stand as trees;
You gave them the chance to become Your devotees.
My Lord, will You offer the same blessing to me?
I don’t want to merge with Your identity.

Although in Your belly the universe is found,
Your mother’s effulgent rope has Your belly bound.
I bow to that rope and to Radha, Your most dear,
And those sublime pastimes in which You appear.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada warned us to not dwell too much of why and how we are here, but to get out.

In the prison house, if you think a first-class prison is very nice, but after all, it is prison house. Your independence is cut down. So similarly, here in this material world it is simply varieties. We call, This is first class. This is second class. This is third class. Actually, it is all third class…

Similarly, the mother material nature, or Durga-devi… Durga means the superintendent of this prison house, material, Durga. Dur-ga: “You cannot go out.” That is called durga. Durga means fort also. Very difficult, dur-ga, to go out. So the superintendent is called Durga. The mother Durga is the superintendent of this material world. Srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka. Very powerful, she has got ten hands. Ten hands means ten direction: east, west, and north, south, and the four corners, eight, and up and down, ten direction, dik, dasa-dik. So she is watching all sides: “You cannot get out.” Therefore she is called Durga-devi. Or this material world is called Devi-dhama, “the place where the Devi, mother Durga, is the superintendent.” Daivi hy esa gunamayi, maya. She is called also Maya, Daivi-maya.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada then explained another logic, known
as bakanda-nyaya. "Baka means 'duck,' and anda means
'testicles of the bull.' The bull is going, and his
testicle is hanging, and the duck is following after
that. He is thinking, 'Here is a fish.' You will find
the ducks always going and wondering when the 'fish'
will drop. It will never drop, but he is going after
it. And neither is it a fish. The bakanda is
comparable to any materialist in illusion, who chases
after maya."

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada related the story of a rat who became
liberated by offering service to Visnu. The rat was
running on the altar of the Deity, just at a time when
one of the ghee lamps was about to go out. The rat
thought that the flame might be some foodstuffs, so he
stuck his whiskers in it. The dying flame caught on to
the rat's whiskers and the fire flared up, catching on
to the unused portion of the wick. In this way, by the
rat's foolish sacrifice, the flame on Visnu's altar
continued to burn nicely. And for his service to
Krsna, the rat went to Vaikuntha. This is the potency
of devotional service to Krsna, even performed
unknowingly.

Anonymous said...

Who would realize these as transcendental pastimes of a pure devotee of Krishna?
---------------------------

Srila Prabhupada told us about a ghost house he had
rented in Lucknow. "I am not afraid of ghosts; I am
ghost proof. In England there are also many ghosts.
Ghosts are generally evil, and sometimes they even
kill. They can be seen sometimes, entering a latrine,
sitting on a pillar. By offering pinda, one can free
one's forefathers from ghostly bodies. In mayapur
there were Muhammadan ghosts, but not any more. By
chanting Hare Krsna, ghosts go away."
---------------------------

Srila Prabhupada also gave Satadhanya Maharaja a new
mantra, "Jaya Nitai-Gaura Radha-Syama, Jaya
Krsna-Balarama," for glorifying our Deities here.
Prabhupada spoke about the intelligence of animals.
For example, when a snake fights with a mongoose, the
snake's bite is poisonous. But as soon as the mongoose
is bitten, he runs to a particular plant and rubs
himself with it. (Prabhupada imitated a mongoose
rubbing himself against a plant.) Then he rushes into
the fight again.
In the evening, when I expressed my appreciation for
Srila Prabhupada's books, Srila Prabhupada began to
cry and said, "I am only child. But I have tried to
please my Guru Maharaja. I have not written. It is
Krsna. Krsna and my Guru Maharaja."
Later Srila Prabhupada reprimanded Upendra that the
cabinet doors had been left open. He said, "I chastise
you very severely. But actually I am praying to Krsna,
'I cannot deliver them; You do.'"

Anonymous said...

May 11, 1969, Columbus, Ohio


Allen Ginsberg: Hare Krsna.

Prabhupada: Hare Krsna.

Allen Ginsberg: How shall we sing tomorrow. Have you thought of an arrangement of the program?

Prabhupada: As you like.

Allen Ginsberg: As you like. At what time are we supposed to do it?

Hayagriva: Eight.

Allen Ginsberg: In the hall?

Hayagriva: Hm.

Allen Ginsberg: Is there a stage?

Devotee: The stage has a..., there's a seat, there's a floor, and there's gradually little steps about six, seven steps and then the stage, where the platform, so on the steps people can sit also.

Allen Ginsberg: Yes, the more the merrier. So how long will we go? Did you figure?

Hayagriva: Well, when, we have the auditorium till...

Allen Ginsberg: How long?

Hayagriva: At least two and a half hours.

Allen Ginsberg: Okay, let's go through the whole two and a half.

Hayagriva: Good, good.

Prabhupada: So, how do you feeling about chanting?

Allen Ginsberg: I have been chanting steadily all along now although I enjoy it more and more.

Prabhupada: That's all right.

Allen Ginsberg: Lately, Peter and I have been chanting together on stages, and lately we have been singing Raghupati Raghava Rajarama. Is that part of your canon also?

Prabhupada: No. There is no harm, but this chanting of Hare Krsna mantra is recommended in the scripture.

Allen Ginsberg: The Hare Krsna is the most pleasing of the chanting as far as I am concerned. Do we want to do that continuously, for as a complete?

Prabhupada: That's nice.

Allen Ginsberg: Do you want to do that continuously or do you want any other like Gopala or...

Prabhupada: I think this Hare Krsna mantra should be chanted.

Allen Ginsberg: You see, we have two and a half hours.

Prabhupada: Huh?

Devotee: It'll be lecturing too though.

Allen Ginsberg: Yes.

Prabhupada: I think in the beginning we should have kirtana.

Allen Ginsberg: Yes.

Prabhupada: And at the end we should have kirtana. And in the middle we can speak, you can speak about Krsna Conciousness.

Allen Ginsberg: I think you'd better speak because you're more eloquent on it and also you understand in the language...

Prabhupada: I'll speak and you'll also speak.

Allen Ginsberg: You might not like what I say. (laughter)

Prabhupada: No you say your experience, how you're experiencing. That's all.

Allen Ginsberg: Yes. Okay.

Prabhupada: Yad yad vibhutimat sattvam. You have got Krsna's blessings upon you. You are not ordinary man.

Allen Ginsberg: I'm not certain that I'm worthy of that, Swamiji.

Prabhupada: That's all right. But I know that you are not ordinary man.

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada: Yes, sahaja, this is sahaja. You are part and parcel of Krsna. Sahaja. Sahaja means you are born along with Krsna. Krsna is neither born, neither you are born. Sahaja, this word, means saha ja, "along with born." So you are part and parcel. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. When I was born the finger was also born. This is saha-ja. The finger was not separately born. When I was born, the finger was born. So similarly, so long God is there, I am also there. So God is eternal; I am also eternal. You understand this? Then why you are changing bodies? And that is knowledge.

Guest (9) (Indian man): No, why do we at all enter into this circle?

Prabhupada: That I have already explained. You want to be a separate Krsna. That is your ambition.

Guest (9): Initial thing is that.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is initial. A servant, big man's servant... That is natural, that "If I would have become the master." So a servant, if he wants to become the master, that is artificial. A servant remains a servant -- he is happy. And as soon as he tries artificially to become the master, that is the beginning of distress. So we are eternal servant of God. As soon as we try to become God, that is the beginning of our suffering.

Anonymous said...

The old youth of the Hare Krsna Lord came back to dance and sway,

Easing along the promenade with pomp, colour and time,

The Holy Name danced forth from their hearts, as it did on their very first day.

They kept in step as best they should, old yes but eternally prime.

Pilled high were the papers of pain and ink, dried past promises told,

But still they pushed forward with clash and boom, blazing smiles in spite of their feet.

Srila Prabhupada! and Lord Krishna! they sang, keeping their promises of old,

And on they went chanting Hare Krsna to and beyond the end of life's street.


Hasti Gopala dasa

Anonymous said...

Bob:
Christ's suffering was of that nature?

Srila Prabhupada:
Mm-m?

Bob:
Was Christ's suffering -

Srila Prabhupada:
That I have already explained. He took the sinful reactions of all the people. Therefore he suffered.

Bob:
I see.

Srila Prabhupada:
He said - that is in the Bible - that he took all the sinful reactions of the people and sacrificed his life. But these Christian people have made it a law for Christ to suffer while they do all nonsense. [Bob gives a short laugh.] Such great fools they are! They have let Jesus Christ make a contract for taking all their sinful reactions so they can go on with all nonsense. That is their religion. Christ was so magnanimous that he took all their sins and suffered, but that does not induce them to stop all these sins. They have not come to that sense. They have taken it very easily. "Let Lord Jesus Christ suffer, and we'll do all nonsense." Is it not?

Bob:
It is so.

Srila Prabhupada:
They should have been ashamed: "Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us, but we are continuing the sinful activities." He told everyone, "Thou shalt not kill," but they are indulging in killing, thinking, "Lord Jesus Christ will excuse us and take all the sinful reactions." This is going on. We should be very much cautious: "For my sinful actions my spiritual master will suffer, so I'll not commit even a pinch of sinful activities." That is the duty of the disciple.

Anonymous said...

"All the controlling deities like Visnu, Brahma and Siva are different manifestations of the Paramatma feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who exhibits himself in such manners by entering into each and every universe generated from Him. But still apparently there are divisions of the controller and controlled. For example, in the food-controlling department the controller of food is a person made of the same ingredients as the person who is controlled. Similarly, each and every individual in the material world is controlled by the higher demigods. For example, we have our senses, but the senses are controlled by superior controlling deities. We cannot see without light, and the supreme controller of light is the sun. The sun-god is in the sun planet, and we, the individual human beings or any other being on this earth, are all controlled by the sun-god as far as our eyes are concerned. Similarly, all the senses we have are controlled by the superior demigods, who are also as much living entities as we are, but one is empowered while the other is controlled. The controlled living entity is called the adhyatmic person, and the controller is called the adhidaivic person. All these positions in the material world are due to different fruitive activities. Any individual living being can become the sun-god or even Brahma or any other god in the upper planetary system by a higher grade of pious work, and similarly one becomes controlled by the higher demigods by lower grades of fruitive activities. So every individual living entity is subject to the supreme control of the Paramatma, who puts everyone in different positions of the controller and the controlled."

Srimad-bhagavatam 2:10:8 Purport
---------------------------
"Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gita, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances."

Srimad-bhagavatam 2:7:32 Purport

Anonymous said...

It's clear we're missing something in our attempts to harness the laws of nature for our own purposes. What is that "something"? We find out in the very first mantra of the Isopanisad, the foremost of ancient India's books of wisdom known as the Upanisads: "Everything in this creation is owned and controlled by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong."

Anonymous said...

"Thus mother Yasoda began to chant different names of Visnu to protect the child Krsna's different bodily parts. Mother Yasoda was firmly convinced that she should protect her child from different kinds of evil spirits and ghosts--namely Dakinis, Yatudhanis, Kusmandas, Yaksas, Raksasas, Vinayakas, Kotaras, Revatis, Jyesthas, Putanas, Matrkas, Unmadas and similar other evil spirits, who cause persons to forget their own existence and give trouble to the life airs and the senses. Sometimes they appear in dreams and cause much perturbation; sometimes they appear as old women and suck the blood of small children. But all such ghosts and evil spirits cannot remain where there is chanting of the holy name of God."

Krsna Book, Chapter 6

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:

Similarly, one can go to many ghostly planets and become a Yakṣa, Rakṣa or Piśāca. Piśāca worship is called “black arts” or “black magic.” There are many men who practice this black art, and they think that it is spiritualism, but such activities are completely materialistic.

Anonymous said...

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/03-10/editorials5894.htm

The strength of Maya in Kali yuga is so in your face apparent as to assume an inception of normalcy.

Anonymous said...

Rama Navami 2010
BY: MADHAVENDRA PURI DAS

Belonging to Vishnu Tattva,
You shine on the Raghu Vamsha,
Beloved son of Kaushalya,
Your father is Dasharatha.

To win a bride, You broke a bow.
Though kshatriya, You made a vow:
Known by the name ” Eka Patni”,
Accepting only one devi.

Belonging to Vishnu Tattva,
You shine on the Raghu Vamsha,
Beloved son of Kaushalya,
Your father is Dasharatha.

To win a bride, You broke a bow.
Though kshatriya, You made a vow:
Known by the name ” Eka Patni”,
Accepting only one devi.

The sages say Sita to be
None other than Lakshmi Devi.
In qualities, being equal,
Your union was pleasing to all.

Ideal raja You were to be,
When, suddenly, struck destiny!
Jealous, the king's favourite wife,
Forced You to sacrifice Your life.

Tricking henpecked Dasharatha,
Queen Kaikeyi, for Bharata,
Obtained of Your coronation,
Ill advised the cancellation.

To unfair will surrendering,
In the wild You went wandering.
With this exile thus accepted,
Your father's word was respected.

Spotless in her fidelity,
To follow You, Sita Devi,
The daughter of king Videha,
Left the comforts of Ayodhya.

You both went through tribulations
Due to demons' evil actions.
To end up their atrocities,
You had to slay dark entities.

The worst of all was Ravana,
Lusting after mother Sita.
Using magic, the rakshasa,
Took her prisoner to Lanka.

Playing the part of a human,
You took the help of Hanuman,
Who in the realm of devotion,
Displays perfect dedication.

You had to plan an invasion
Of the island of the demon.
Gathering a monkey army,
A bridge was built above the sea.

You marched ahead with Hanuman,
Nila, Sugriva and Lakshman.
Having aroused Sita's anger,
The abductors were in danger.

Devastating the great city,
Jungle dwellers won victory.
And, at the end, the Ten-headed,
By one arrow was defeated.

Pious brother of Ravana,
Through Your mercy, Vibhisana,
Saved the sinner from suffering
Hellish torments never ending.

Upon Your chest, O Narayan,
Ideal servant Sri Hanuman,
Was pleased to place Lakshmi Devi
Were she belongs eternally.

-

Anonymous said...

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has all the tendencies that may be found in the living entity, for He is the chief living entity. Therefore it is natural that sometimes Lord Visnu wants to fight. Just as He has the tendencies to create, to enjoy, to be a friend, to accept a mother and father, and so on, He also has the tendency to fight. Sometimes important landlords and kings keep wrestlers with whom they practice mock fighting, and Visnu makes similar arrangements. The demons who fight with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the material world are sometimes His associates. When there is a scarcity of demons and the Lord wants to fight, He instigates some of His associates of Vaikuntha to come and play as demons.

There have been many historical incidents in which the Lord killed a demon, but the demon attained a higher position by the mercy of the Lord. Putana is an example. Putana's purpose was to kill Krsna. She approached the house of Nanda Maharaja with the purpose of killing Krsna by smearing poison on her breast, yet when she was killed she attained the highest position, achieving the status of Krsna's mother. Krsna is so kind and impartial that because he sucked Putana's breast, He immediately accepted her as His mother. This superfluous activity of killing Putana did not diminish the Lord's impartiality. He is the friend of everyone. Therefore partiality cannot apply to the character of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who always maintains His position as the supreme controller. The Lord killed Putana as an enemy, but because of His being the supreme controller, she attained an exalted position as His mother. Ordinarily a murderer is hanged, and in the Manu-samhita it is said that a king bestows mercy upon a murderer by killing him, thus saving him from various kinds of suffering. Because of his sinful activities, such a murderer is killed by the mercy of the king. Krsna, the supreme judge, deals with matters in a similar way because He is the supreme controller. The conclusion, therefore, is that the Lord is always impartial and always very kind to all living entities.

Being killed by the Personality of Godhead is a great fortune. Since the Lord is absolute, His acts of violence and nonviolence are both on the absolute platform. There is no difference in such acts of the Lord. Mundane violence and nonviolence have nothing to do with the Lord's acts. A demon killed by Him attains the same result as one who attains liberation after many, many births of penance and austerity. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes angry or kills a demon, materially this may appear unfavorable, but spiritually it is a blissful blessing upon him. Therefore pure devotees do not make any distinction between the Lord's anger and His blessings. They see both with reference to the Lord's behavior with others and themselves. A devotee does not find fault with the behavior of the Lord in any circumstances. When a demon continuously thinks of Krsna because of enmity toward Him, he is certainly freed from the sinful reactions of his life. To think of Krsna in any way, in terms of His name, form, qualities, paraphernalia or anything pertaining to Him, is beneficial for everyone.

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Excerpted from various texts and purports of HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

Anonymous said...

THE DEAF MAN

A deaf man used to call his wife. She would reply, "I am coming," but the deaf man could not hear her. He used to think, "This woman is deaf." In actuality, he was deaf, but he accused her of being deaf.

MORAL: This is similar to the mass of people who are brainwashed by material illusion and yet who accuse the Krsna conscious persons of being brainwashed.
---------------------------

A CHANGE OF HEART

In the Puranas there is a story of one old man who was addicted to sinful activity, a very cruel person. But when he was on his death bed, at the last minute he had a change of heart. He said, "Well, why not try it? All my life I've seen these Vaishnavas chanting Hare Krsna. I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well try it." He called his servant and told him "Go to the marketplace and purchase some of those beads I see the devotees chanting on, those japa malas." His servant was surprised. "You want japa-mala? What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to chant Hare Krsna. Give it a try." So the servant went to the marketplace, but unfortunately the old man died before his servant returned. So at that time the Yama-dutas came, and the Vishnu-dutas also came at the same time. Both questioned the other's presence. The Yama-dutas said, "This man was a very sinful person. He never did one pious activity. There is nothing in his record to show that he did anything pious or transcendental. So what are you doing here?" The Vishnu-dutas replied, "We have come to take this man back to Godhead simply because he had a desire to chant Hare Krsna.

MORAL: If nama-abhasa, contaminated chanting of the holy name is so powerful then what of those devotees who are chanting the pure name?

Anonymous said...

Today's ISKCON resurgence will need more than green-card seeking Hindus yearning to copulate with white women, blubbering college graduate sycophants showing off their shallow diplomas and oversexed Adolph swamis. There is no need for new inventions, for Srila Prabhupada gave us everything. Hari nama eva kevalam.

Only a fool thinks that Srila Prabhupada has left us. Phalena parichiyate. A man (or woman) is known by his/her works, and a devotee is known by his abiding faith in Srila Prabhupada's divine command. We have but little time and the goal is great. Now where are the true leaders who love Srila Prabhupada, those whose mridanga beat will lead this new Renaissance of World Sankirtan? He who loves the legacy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder and Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, will be found once again on the street corners of "every town and village", chanting this mantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

- PRITHU RANI DEVI DASI

Anonymous said...

The narration of the Kalki Avatar also takes place in the hollow earth, in the city of Shamballa, which is still present in the collective memory of both the Hindus and Tibetans- a city in the hollow earth. The Bhagavat Purana does not go into much detail on this narration, but other puranas tell that at the end of the Kali Yuga, the Kalki Avatar will procede to the surface of the Earth and annihilate the miscreants, and that the outer surface will again be colonized by inner earth inhabitants as the satva yuga dawns.

The hollow Earth theory certainly strengthens the Puranic account of a cyclical, re-population of the surface of our planet from the madhyatah, the hollow portion, including its chief city Shambhalla, and suggests that what is past will one day be prologue.

http://www.holloworbs.com/HE_Puranas_Article.htm

Anonymous said...

Thoroughly Disappointed

BY: MAHAVIDYA DAS (ACBSP)

Mar 30, UK (SUN) —

I read the 2010 GBC Resolutions and was thoroughly disappointed.
Using their own GBC guidelines, I would have expected at least half a dozen or more GBC resignations.
Especially the resignation of my own nefarious GBC, Praghosa das.
That poor fellow is guilty of many faults.
Still... I guess he deserves the company he keeps.
Being a blatant liar is obviously all part of some higher management strategy.
In order to keep a known child abuser on board, it requires a certain expertise worthy of any politician or politicians.
Bravo, bravo... well done, GBC members.
Long live our corporate Hindu society.
Of course... none of this goes on without protection coming from the very top of the food chain.
In due course of time, when things get sticky, those in the know will deny any knowledge or involvement.
If you don't believe me,
read what is happening at present in the Catholic Church.
Children have the unfortunate habit of growing up.
So…
For all their many resolutions…
does this make ISKCON a better place?

Anonymous said...

http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/?p=9994
---------------------------
Philosophy Discussions
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda: Carl Gustav Jung

JUNG.HAY

Hayagrīva: This is Carl Jung, Carl Gustav Jung. One interesting point is that the inscription above the door of Jung’s house read, in Latin, “Summoned or not summoned, God will be there.”

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Hayagrīva: And in his book, his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, we find most of his thoughts about the, about theology and psychoanalysis. In that book he writes, “I find that all my thoughts circle around God like the planets around the sun and are as irresistibly attracted by Him. I would feel it to be the grossest sin if I were to oppose any resistance to this force.” He sees all creatures as parts of God. He says, “Man cannot compare himself with any other creature. He is not a monkey, not a cow, not a tree. I am a man. But what is it to be that? Like every other being, I am a splinter of the infinite Deity.”

Prabhupāda: Part and parcel. That is our theory. We are part and parcel of God. Like fire and the sparks.

Hayagrīva: He writes, “It was obedience which brought me grace. One must be utterly abandoned to God. Nothing matters but fulfilling His will. Otherwise all is folly and meaninglessness.”

Prabhupāda: Very good. Surrender. Sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bg. 18.66]. That is real life. Śaraṇāgati, to surrender to God, to accept things which is favorable to God, to reject things which are unfavorable to God, always maintaining conviction that “God will give me all protection,” and remain humble and meek, and think oneself as one of the members of God’s family—that is spiritual communism. As the Communist they think a member of a certain community, similarly a man’s duty is to think always as member of God’s family. The same idea I was speaking, that God is the supreme father, material nature is the mother, and anything, any living entity coming out of material nature, they are all sons of God. So practically we see that all living entities coming out, either from land or from water or from the air—everywhere there is living entity—so the material nature is the mother.

Anonymous said...

Here it is, given freely...

"CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE"

http://www.vedaveda.com/gitagita/en/science/016.html

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada, Los Angeles, November 25, 1968: When Lord Caitanya was traveling in South India in a big temple, Ranganatha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brahmana was reading Bhagavad-gita. And people were joking him, “Oh, Mr. brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?” Because they were the neighbors, they knew that this brahmana was illiterate and he was studying Bhagavad-gita.

So they were joking. But the brahmana did not care them. He was taking the book and in his own way he was reading. Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw this incident, He came to the brahmana. So He asked the brahmana, “My dear brahmana, what you are reading?” So he could understand “This persons is not joking with me; He is serious.” So he explained, “My dear sir, I am reading Bhagavad-gita. Unfortunately, I am illiterate.

I do not know even the alphabets.” “Why you are reading Bhagavad-gita?” So he said that, “My spiritual master knows that I am illiterate, but still, he has asked me to read Bhagavad-gita. What can I do? Therefore I have taken this book. I am seeing simply. I do not know how to read.” “Oh, that’s all right. You cannot read. But I see that you are crying. How you are crying if you are not reading?” “Yes, I am crying. Of course, there is cause.” “What is that?”

“As soon as I take this Bhagavad-gita, I remember Krishna. Krishna is sitting as driver and Arjuna is hearing. I have heard the story. I know something of the instruction but cannot read. So as soon as I take this book, this picture comes before me and I simply think, ‘Oh, how Krishna is nice that He has become a charioteer of His devotee. He is so great. Still, He has accepted a menial service of His devotee.’ This gives me so much pleasure that I cry.”

Caitanya Mahaprabhu embraced him, “Your Bhagavad-gita reading is perfect. You have taken the essence.” So this is the thing. If you simply remember Krishna is teaching Arjuna and Arjuna is hearing, if you simply remember the picture, that is sufficient.

Even if you think that you cannot read. Because after all we have to become Krishna conscious. We haven’t got to become a learned man to argue with another learned man. If it is possible we can do that, but that does not make any difference if I cannot argue with others or if I cannot teach very nicely Bhagavad-gita to others.

Simply if I remember this picture, that is perfection. Because we have to become Krishna conscious. We have to simply think of Krishna. You think in any way. That is your perfection. Smartavyah satatam vishnuh. This is the injunction. You have to think of Vishnu always. This is samadhi; this is meditation; this is yoga siddhi, perfection of yoga.

Anonymous said...

Reason and Love

by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

We do not mean to say that Reason is a foolish principle. On the contrary we do not find better admirers of Reason than our humble selves. We hold that man’s superiority amongst all created beings consists in man’s possessing the noble gift of Reason.

What we maintain is this, that independent of this noble principle there is another higher gift in man which goes by the name of Love. Reason helps Love to maintain its proper bounds in the Spiritual world. Love often tends to degrade itself by exercising its function on objects other then God and converts itself into lust for women, wine, meat and gold. Here Reason advises her to rise higher till she reaches her proper sphere above.

Thus we find that the object of Reason is to help Love and not to create it. Reason may be properly styled as the servant of Love and must always be subject to her in all her hopes, aspirations, and holy works.

The Rationalist on the contrary considers Reason as all and all! This is a degradation of humanity! The progressive Rationalist, on the other hand, believes in the principle of love, but attempts to make her the maid-servant of Reason! This is another error! He makes spiritual love sometimes a prisoner in the jails of Reason! Love wants to soar on her spiritual wings to a realm where the Jailor (Reason) cannot go and the latter is sure to tie up her wings for fear lest she goes to an unworthy place!

Love utters sounds of a spiritual character peculiar to herself, but Reason, having no previous experience of it, mistakes it for a disease and administers medicine for her cure!! Thus it is that the natural strength of the Queen of our Soul is crippled by artificial administration of the dry principle of Reason and she rests in us as if a bird taken in a cage! Oh! What a havoc doth Reason commit by abuse of his power. Oh! Shame to the Rationalist! God help the man!!

Theist take care of those amongst you who mix with you only by assuming the name of Theist but are in fact Rationalists of a very dry character. They are divisible into two classes vis. the designing and the dupes. The designing Theist is he who is in fact a Rationalist but by assuming the name of Theist wants to degrade the sincere by his bad influence. He that calls himself a Theist in order to get rid of the name of Rationalist but still holds Love in subjection to Reason is a dupe because he is unable to find out his own position. The sincere Theist should however take care of both of them and preserve the sovereignty of Love over Reason and his comrades.

From an article called, The Temple of Jagannath at Puri, by Thakur Bhaktivinode on September 15, 1871.

Anonymous said...

Dear Srila Prabhupada

BY: MAHAVIDYA DAS (ACBSP)

Apr 03, UK (SUN) —

Initiated on Srila Prabhupada's Vyas puja day, 1973 at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

Dear Srila Prabhupada,
I regret I will not be able to visit you at Bhaktivedanta Manor for your Vyasa puja this year, as the present management has banned me for repeating your instructions.
I have presented to the present management your specific instructions on weddings not to being held in front of the Deities.
I have presented to the present management your instructions pertaining to salaries.
I went as far as to print copies and post them on the temple notice board under "Srila Prabhupada nectar".
They were always removed within minutes.
I was removed from Bhaktivedanta Manor by my godbrother Kripamoya das, with the help of 2 policemen, for trying to present your teaching to one of the wedding priests.
Such is the state of your ISKCON institution, Srila Prabhupada.
Your Istaghosti forum has been dismantled.
The GBC simply ignore whatever we have to say.
We have a well-known child abuser working within the community very publicly representing you.
Not one of my older godbrothers speak up.
Of course... I very much doubt if this offering will reach your Vyasa puja book this year.
Srila Prabhupada, I and others miss you very much.
your servant,
Mahavidya das

Anonymous said...

In Two Lines the Whole World is Analyzed

BY: VRINDAVAN DAS


Apr 03, UK (SUN) —

bahu-rupa ivabhati
mayayabahu-rupaya
ramamano gunesv asya
mamaham iti manyate

The illusioned living entity appears in so many forms offered by the external energy of the Lord. While enjoying in the modes of material nature, the encaged living entity misconceives, thinking in terms of "I" and "mine.'"
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.2)

Srila Prabhupada comments:

"So it is a very important verse... Just study this analysis of the whole world, this verse. This is Bhagavata. By two lines the whole world is analyzed. Now you see the whole world is working under these two lines."
(Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.2, Melbourne, April 4, 1972)

Anonymous said...

I'll leave now and I'm sorry, Les.
Sorry you remain silent as the Gita haters with their Krishna envy spout nonsense day in and day out. How do you hear these slurs of Srila Prabhupada, the pure devotee and watch idly, say nothing?

If it were Ramakrishna or HPB they were slurring, you would be in there with both feet. I've seen and heard it before.

I'm used to this for me. But I simply will not expose myself to any vileness directed towards Lord Krishna and His devotees if I can avoid it.

Thank you for your words of appreciation.
Good luck to you.

Jai Sri Sri Radha Krishna!
Jai Sri Guru and Gaurang!
----------------------------------

http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/articles/327/1/Bhagavad-Gita-911/Page1.html

Text 11

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-maheshvaram

Translation

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

From the other explanations of the previous verses in this chapter, it is clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although appearing like a human being, is not a common man. The Personality of Godhead, who conducts the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the complete cosmic manifestation, cannot be a human being. Yet there are many foolish men who consider Krishna to be merely a powerful man and nothing more. Actually, He is the original Supreme Personality, as is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita (ishvarah paramah krishnah); He is the Supreme Lord.

Visible said...

Brother, I am extremely sorry. It is my policy to publish opinions.

Here is what I will do for you. You may have this space and I will publish no one else unless they are speaking like you. I forgive your defaming my. I understand your passion. Please forgive my stupidity. I am very sorry.

Nick said...

When I saw Les Visible's beautifil ode to Krsna, I copied it out in my best handwriting and keep it safe from damp and dust and read a few of it's verses most mornings at sunrise.

This my plea to give Les Visible the forgiveness he requests and to honour myself and a great many of the devotees with your enlightening contributions.

For His divine grace, please return.

Anonymous said...

The Brain Chemistry of the Buddha
The God gene
Tony

Anonymous said...

"One thing blooped gurus seem to have in common is an abiding admiration for Bob Dylan, so, with apologies to Dylan, the following "ex-acharya puja offering" is sung (nearly) to the tune of "Like A Rolling Stone".

Acharya X

Once upon a time
Your Rolex told you the time
You shined like a golden mine
With your silk kurta ironed so fine,
Didn't you?

You walked upon a silver cloud,
The saffron staff you held so proud
As a member of the inner crowd.
Wrapped up in your saffron shroud,
Ain't it true?

With roses draped around your neck,
You seemed as suave as Gregory Peck,
When all your supplicants hit the deck,
No one foresaw the coming wreck,
In your zoo.

Your brothers and sisters came forth to preach
And said, "Listen to what we've got to teach."
But you turned away and behaved towards each,
Just like some slimy blood-sucking leech.
On crazy glue.

With your palm outstretched,
You placed all your bets,
On every nickel and dime that you could get,
You stepped in a sink hole of karmic debt.
What can you do?

You used to condescend;
Towards your Prabhus as they'd all bend,
With folded hands, obeisance send;
When you had nothing at all left to lend,
From your private room.

Now with empty cup in hand,
Your hour glass is draining sand.
You've lost each and every fan,
You're not even half a man,
Is that your doom?

Once you preached so vociferously
You told everyone "You fools, just listen to me."
"I'm your eyes, now you can see"
You gathered up the required fee,
From your stooges.

You demanded flowers spread at your feet.
On your way up to your Presidential suite,
To enjoy your trance of samadhi sleep,
Oh you really knew how to turn up the heat,
At your Guru Pujas.

Now one and all they call you "Ex"
Because you've become a nervous wreck.
You dealt your game with a stacked deck,
Well, what card did you think was coming up next,
For guru Scrooges.

What you pulled off was immoral, Man.
You made up your very own concocted plan.
You pathetically wasted your lifeless span.
You're now a hypocrite and an also-ran.
What can you do?

You know your conscience now is wracked.
You're a false renunciate in the sack,
A forlorn and forgotten hack,
Who's now afraid of looking back.
Aren't you?

You're a lost vagabond on the street;
A pathetic study in defeat.
With principles and morality in retreat,
You've worn out the shoes on your lotus feet.
Who's to blame?

Once you spoke boldly on radio and TV,
You owned castles from sea to sea,
But the bank just cancelled your registry,
Why you won't surrender is a pure mystery
But hear me out, friend, just listen to me,
Now you should just go off and sit under a tree,
And chant the name.

Forget all your games.
They've made you insane,
We're not to blame.

You need to get down,
And chant all your rounds,
Or you'll die like a clown.

It's time to beg for forgiveness now,
The tables are turned and you've got to learn how,
Give up attachment to your mud and your sow,
Arise from your slumber; remember your vow.
Before it's too late.
Oh what is your date?

Anonymous said...

This song was found on a temple computer. Unfortunately, the author remains unknown.


I WONDER

If Srila Prabhupada visited you,
Maybe just for a day or two.
and came by unexpectedly,
I wonder what you'd do.

Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room,
To such an honored guest,
And all the food you'd offer,
Would be the very best.

And you would keep assuring him,
you're glad to have him there,
That serving him within your home,
Is a joy beyond compare.

BUT...

If you saw him coming,
Would you meet him at the door,
With arms outstretched to welcome
this honored visitor?

OR ...

Would you have to change your clothes
Before you let him in?
Or hide some magazines
And put the Gita where they'd been?

Would you watch those mundane movies,
upon your TV set?
Would you have to answer e-mail
while he was taking rest?

Would you run to turn your music off,
before it reached his ears?
And put the tilak on your forehead
Or bind or shave your hairs?

Would you hide away your Gameboy,
take your posters off the wall?
Would you have to hide the DVDs,
you just bought at the mall?

AND, I wonder ... If Prabhupada spent
A day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing
The things you always do?

Would you go right on saying
The things you always say?
Would life for you continue
As it does from day to day?

Would you gossip with your partner
about devotees' faults?
Would you have to re-cook dinner
Without the garlic salt?

Would you put tulsi on your neck
And have to find your japa beads?
And wake up in the morning before the
Sun peeks through the trees.

Would you sing the songs you always sing
And read the books you read?
And let him know the things on which
your mind and spirit feed?

Would Prabhupada be invited
Everywhere you planned to go?
Or, would you, maybe, change your plans,
Just for a day or so?

Would you be glad to have him meet
your very closest friends?
Or, would you hope they'd stay away
Until his visit ends?

Would you be glad to have him stay
Forever on and on?
OR ... Would you sigh with great relief,
When finally he had gone?

It might be interesting to know
The things that you would do
If Srila Prabhupada, or the Lord,
came to spend some time with you.

Anonymous said...

Last darshan of the great chanter of the Holy Names, His Grace Aindra Prabhu - July 17, 2010, Vrindavan.


Aindra Prabhu ki: Jaya!


http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/07-10/news3393.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ4hxXpm63g&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Last darshan of the great chanter of the holy names, Srila Aindra Prabhu. July 17, 2010. Vrindavan.

My humble obeisance to Aindra Prabhu's lotus feet.

Lord Krishna says.. " even those who are devotees of My devotees are very dear to Me.”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umjnoFMKyUA

Anonymous said...

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.24.60

karmāṇy aparimeyāṇi

manasāpi sureśvaraiḥ

saha-sańkarṣaṇaś cakre

bhagavān madhusūdanaḥ

SYNONYMS

karmāṇi — activities; aparimeyāṇi — immeasurable, unlimited; manasā api — even by such plans perceived within the mind; sura-īśvaraiḥ — by the controllers of the universe like Brahmā and Śiva; saha-sańkarṣaṇaḥ — along with Sańkarṣaṇa (Baladeva); cakre — performed; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; madhu-sūdanaḥ — the killer of the Madhu demon.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, with the cooperation of Sańkarṣaṇa, Balarāma, performed activities beyond the mental comprehension of even such personalities as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. [For instance, Kṛṣṇa arranged the Battle of Kurukṣetra to kill many demons for the relief of the entire world.]

Anonymous said...

“Modern Policy of the whole World: Engage them”
2010 July 25

"There is a clash between our movement and others. They want to make all people to work hard like an ass, and we say that they… There is a difference of philosophy."

Prabhupada, Bombay, April 8, 1974: [...] Therefore present policy is that, “Engage them in work only, and never mind. There is no need of spiritual education. There is no need of jnana. You throw them out, then. Now work just like ass. That’s all.” This is the modern policy of the whole world, engage them.

In England and other countries, they want to see that everyone is engaged in working. Then their factories and other things will go on. And if one is engaged in philosophy, jnana, then the work will stop. So they do not like this Krishna consciousness movement anywhere. We are not liked.

Prabhupada, Los Angeles, December 4, 1968: [...] You have seen many pictures of Krishna, He is loving cow. Why cow is loved by Him? Why not another animal? There are many other animals. Why particularly cow? Because cow protection is the most important business of the human society.

In offering obeisances to Krishna, it is said, namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Person, who is the protector of the brahmanas and the cows.” Go-brahmana-hitaya ca jagad-dhitaya. The first qualification is that He protects the brahmanas and the cows. Next, He protects the whole world. Jagad-dhitaya krsna. And He is Krishna, Govindaya, this Govinda.

So the example is set by the Supreme Personality of Godhead that human civilization will advance only on the basis of brahminical culture and cow protection. As soon as there is falldown from brahminical culture, and as soon as there is discrepancy in the protection of cows, there will be no more peace in the world.

Anonymous said...

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it. ..

Anonymous said...

Mr. Lawrence: I must confess, these activities of Krishna’s are quite beyond my comprehension.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, they are very difficult for ordinary people to understand. That is why this portion of Krishna’s life is depicted in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Nine cantos are devoted to understanding Krishna’s supreme position. Then Krishna’s intimate lila [pastimes] are described in the Tenth Canto. But if one tries to read the life and pastimes of Krishna without understanding that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one will be misled.

In the spiritual world Krishna has unlimited varieties of activities. The activities in this material world are only a perverted reflection of those in the spiritual world.

But out of foolishness we take Krishna’s activities to be like ours. Krishna loved the gopis. The gopis were young girls, and Krishna was a young boy, and He loved them. But here the so-called love between a young boy and girl is lust. Therefore it is condemned. But in the love between Krishna and the gopis there is not a trace of lust.

Srila Prabhupada: Just see! And they are trying to drag their lusty ideas into Krishna’s pastimes. Generally, rascals claim that Krishna’s pastimes with the gopis support their own lusty activities: “Krishna acts lustily, so I can also.” This is a gross misunderstanding. People who think like this do not take into account that here in the material world so-called love is lust—and it breaks. But in the love between Krishna and the gopis, there is no breaking—only increase. So how can they compare their lusty affairs to Krishna’s loving affairs with the gopis?

Anonymous said...

"A guideline, however, should be the Vedic instruction given in Isopanisad:

isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

"Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one must not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong." (Isopanisad, Mantra 1)

Anonymous said...

"Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performer's lack of knowledge. "

Anonymous said...

Vrajanath – Is the maya-shakti in some way present in the constitutional structure of the jiva?

Raghunatha das Babaji – No the jiva is a product of spiritual nature. However, because he is infinitesimal in size, he lacks sufficient spiritual strength. Therefore he is vulnerable and can be easily defeated by maya, although maya is actually totally absent in the constitution of the jiva.”

Anonymous said...

Dear Srila Prabhupada..
BY: MAHAVIDYA DAS (ACBSP)

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

There is no doubt in my mind that you wanted your ISKCON society to be successful.
You created your ISKCON society ( You have written so in your books ) that we may take advantage of devotee association.
You wanted that we dedicate our lives to self-realisation.
You wanted that we become pure devotees of Sri Krsna.
I can never remember You telling us to become "Hindus".
You never preached "Hinduism".
I can never remember You paying us a salary.
You were teaching us the science of pure devotion, bhakti.
You never charged us.
You gave us the "istaghosti", You wanted us to be "independently thoughtful souls".
Srila Prabhupada, it would appear that to simply repeat your siksa, your instructions can sometimes be a very risky business.

Anonymous said...

AINDRA prabhu: Everything is coming by guru’s grace. Guru is not limited by physical circumstance. If we think that because the guru has physically demised, that he has left us, then this is wrong thinking.

Especially in vraja dhama, every acharya in our line is eternally residing in vraja dhama. It is not that we don’t have the association of our acharya, it is not that he’s not seeing us. Our business is to act in such a way that he wants to see us.

That he’s happy to see us. Not that we try to see guru, but that we act in such a way that guru is happy to see us. That when he sees us he’s satisfied that we’ve honored his instructions and when he’s satisfied that we’ve honored his instructions, then he takes from his personal bank account and places the credits of his own transcendentally pious activities into the bank account of his disciples and that is the way the disciple advances.
It is not by the disciple’s endeavor that the disciple advances, it is by the guru’s grace that the disciple advances, and without his grace there is no possibility of making any advancement. But we have to show the guru that we want his grace, and the way we do that is by honoring the instructions of the spiritual master.

If that is our real business, the instructions are there. All we have to do is open our ears, open our heart and we can actually inculcate the real message of the predecessor acharyas and our guru and become fixed up in unalloyed devotional service which will help us to attain the perfectional stage of prema.

Anonymous said...

Right-Brain E-Mail

BY: HARAKUMARA DASA

Jul 30, 2010 — TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (SUN) — [The following folded fragments from one integrated once-private e-mail recently e-merged on a disc found in a certain temple computer which runs the daksha software to access the dakshina hemisphere. This electronic missive has left definite evidence indicating that it leans quite to the right side of the spheres of subtle life. Nonetheless, it was not forwarded right away, to allow for the prudent removal of private information-- the right thing to do, for the right of the person who undertook the oversight to write it. The author remains unknown.]

"Hare Krsna, prabhu.
Dandavats.
Srila Prabhupada ki JAYA!

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/07-10/editorials6376.htm

Anonymous said...

Śrī Īśopaniṣad 5

tad ejati tan naijati

tad dūre tad v antike

tad antar asya sarvasya

tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.

PURPORT

Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities, executed by His inconceivable potencies. The contradictions given here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord. "He walks, and He does not walk." Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our limited powers of understanding. For example, the impersonalist philosophers of the Māyāvāda school accept only the Lord's impersonal activities and reject His personal feature. But the members of the Bhāgavata school, adopting the perfect conception of the Lord, accept His inconceivable potencies and thus understand that He is both personal and impersonal. The bhāgavatas know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words "Supreme Lord.

Because He is full of inconceivable potencies, God can accept our service through any sort of medium, and He can convert His different potencies according to His own will. Nonbelievers argue either that the Lord cannot incarnate Himself at all, or that if He does He descends in a form of material energy. These arguments are nullified if we accept the existence of the Lord's inconceivable potencies. Then we will understand that even if the Lord appears before us in the form of material energy, it is quite possible for Him to convert this energy into spiritual energy. Since the source of the energies is one and the same, the energies can be utilized according to the will of their source. For example, the Lord can appear in the form of the arcā-vigraha, a Deity supposedly made of earth, stone or wood. Deity forms, although engraved from wood, stone or other matter, are not idols, as the iconoclasts contend."

Anonymous said...

Those Favored by God find their Paths
Set by Thorns

BY: VRINDAVAN DAS


Aug 02, 2010 — INDIA (UK) — By HDG Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada.

We are put to test and trial in this world.

Only those who attend the kirtana of the devotees can succeed.

Every spot on earth where discourses on God are held is a place of pilgrimage.

Possession of objects not related to Krsna is our main malady.

Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst enemies.

As dalliance with the body in luxury increases, so wanes the spirit of service of the Lord.

Those favored by God find their paths set by thorns.

There is no peace or happiness in our worldly life. Circumstances create turmoil and annoyance.

Chant the maha mantra loudly and with attachment. This will drive away inertia, worldly evils and pests.

Be indifferent to bazaar gossips, stick firmly to your cherished goals, no lack or impediments of the world will ever stand in your way.

Pay due respects to the extroverts of the world, but do not be appreciative of their manners and conduct. They are to be shaken off from your mind.

A devotee feels the presence of God everywhere, but one averse to the Lord denies His existence anywhere.

You cannot appreciate transcendental matters with the reasoning of the world. It is sheer nonsense to decry them with the measuring stick of your intellect.

To recite the name of Sri Krsna is bhakti.

Life is for the glorification of topics on Hari. If that is stopped, then what need is there to carry on life.

Physical illness with Hari-bhajana is preferred to physical fitness without Hari-bhajana.

Our span of life on earth is short. Our life will be crowned with success if the body wears out with constant discourses on Hari.

We are here on earth not to work as artisans for making big buildings with wood and stone but to work only as messengers for the teachings of Sri Caitanya Deva.

A sycophant is neither a guru or a preacher.

To transform the adverse desires of the jivas is the supreme duty of the most merciful. To rescue one person from the stronghold of Mahamaya is an act of superb benevolence, far superior to opening innumerable hospitals.

Unless we are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us.

Look within. Amend yourself, rather than pry into the frailties of others.

In this world of Maya, averse to the Lord, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends for Hari-bhajana.

The Lord, Gaurasundara, puts His devotees in various difficulties and associations to test their patience and strength of mind. Success depends on their good fortune.

When faults in others misguide and delude you - have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself.

I wish that every selfless, tender-hearted person of Gaudiya Math will be prepared to shed two hundred gallons of blood for the nourishment of the spiritual corpus of every individual of this world.

Anonymous said...

"Christian, Muhammadan, Hindu-it doesn’t matter. If he is simply speaking on behalf of God, he is a guru. Lord Jesus Christ, for instance. He canvassed people, saying, “Just try to love God.” Anyone-it doesn’t matter who-be he Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, is a guru if he convinces people to love God. That is the test. The guru never says, “I am God,” or “I will make you God.” The real guru says, “I am a servant of God, and I will make you a servant of God also.

Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was so badly treated and still he was thinking, “Father, they do not know what they are doing. Please excuse.” This is suhrdah. He is praying to God This is sadhu, mahatma. Suhrdah prasanta. Not that… In India there are examples like Haridasa Thakura, Prahlada Maharaja. And the Western countries also, Lord Jesus Christ, he is saktyavesa-avatara, God’s son. And he tolerated so much. These are the examples of mahatma. Don’t misunderstand that we are preaching that mahatmas are only in India. No. By the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are mahatmas even amongst the birds, even amongst the beasts, even amongst the lower than animals. Because this Krsna consciousness movement is going on in different places, in different circumstances.( Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.3 –vrndavana Oct 25, 1976)

Anonymous said...

Brahma Vaivarta PuranaThe Brahma Vaivarta Purana states:

In the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, mother Ganges petitions Lord Krishna: “O protector, supreme enjoyer, after Your departure for the supreme abode, Goloka, what will be my condition in the degraded age of Kali?”

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: “On the earth 5,000 years of Kali will be very sinful and sinners will come and deposit their sins in you by bathing.

"Thereafter simply by the sight or touch of One who will worship Me by My Mantras*, all those sins will be burnt at once.

(*Here Lord Krishna is indicating His own concealed incarnation in the form of Lord Gauranga in Kali-yuga when He will appear as His own upasaka or worshiper for the purpose of teaching devotional service to everyone by the chanting of His Holy Names of Nityananda and Gauranga and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. The Lord will appear in Navadvipa on the bank of the Ganga and destroy all the sins accumulated in the Ganga by taking bath and sporting in Her waters with His eternal associates for 24 years.)

“Everywhere there will be chanting of the name of Lord Hari and reading of the Shrimad Bhagavata and Chaitanya Bhagavata. At that time you can also go to such a place and attentively hear My glorification.

"All sinful reactions including the killing of a brahmana can be completely nulified simply by hearing the the above two Bhagavata scriptures and the continuous and devoted chanting of the Holy Names of Nityananda, Gauranga and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra following in the footsteps of the great devotees (who are the followers of the ultimate mantra-upasaka Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu).

“Just as dry grass or wood is consumed by fire, simply by the embrace of these Vaishnavas (followers of Lord Lord Gauranga) all sins of the living entities will be burnt.

"O Ganges (Jahnavi), the whole planet will become a most auspicious pilgrimage sight by the presence of these Vaishnavas, even though it had been very sinful in the past 5000 years.

“In the body of My devotees, there is extraordinary potency to purify everything. Thus even Mother Earth will become purified by the dust of the feet of My devotees.

“As My devotees will purify the whole world, they will purify even the pilgrimage sites. Those intelligent learned followers of the worshiper of My maha-mantra (Lord Gauranga), will only partake of My remnants (prasadam) and thus purify everything.

“Those who meditate on Me constantly by the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and My Names (like Gauranga, Nityananda etc.), are more dear to Me than My very life. Even the air and fire (which are already purifiers) will become pure simply even by their indirect touch.

“For 10,000 years of Kali (which will be the Golden Age brought by the Lord in the form of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu), such devotees of Mine will fill the whole planet. After the departure of My devotees, all of those who will remain will be like outcastes.

“After these 10,000* years, completely devoid of My devotees, the earth will be shackled again by Kali’s strong influence (as described in the 12th Canto of the Bhagavata Purana).” Saying this, Lord Krishna departed.

(*Kali-yuga total duration is 432,000 years. So after 5,000 years of sinful degradation and the next 10,000 years of the Golden Age (1486 AD to 11486 AD) of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu as described above, the balance 417,000 years of Kali-yuga will be the most sinful period for the earth planet due to the complete domination by the personality of Kali. At the end, i.e. 427,000 years from now, the Lord will appear on a white horse in his partial incarnation of Kalki to annihilate the demons and restablish the Satya-yuga. So we are extremely fortunate to have taken birth in this Golden Age and not waste this most rare opportunity.)

Anonymous said...

"The Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in six different features: (1) prabhava, (2) vaibhava, (3) empowered incarnations, (4) partial incarnations, (5) childhood and (6) boyhood. The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, whose permanent feature is adolescence, enjoys His transcendental proclivities by performing pastimes in these six forms. In these six features there are unlimited divisions of the Personality of Godhead's forms. The jivas, or living beings, are differentiated parts and parcels of the Lord. They are all diversities of the one without a second, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." CC, Adi, text 100

Anonymous said...

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur


Putana [the demoness who tried to kill Krishna] is the slayer of all infants. The baby, when he or she comes out of the mother's womb, falls at once into the hands of the pseudo-teachers of religion. These teachers are successful in forestalling the attempts of the good preceptor whose help is never sought by the atheists of this world at the baptism of their babies. This is ensured by the arrangements of all established churches of the world. They have been successful only in supplying watchful Putanas for effecting the spiritual destruction of persons from the moment of their birth with cooperation of their worldly parents. No human contrivance can prevent these Putanas from obtaining possession of their pulpits. This is due to the general prevalence of atheistic disposition in the people of this world.

The church that has the best chance of survival in this damned world is that of atheism under the convenient guise of theism. The churches have always proved the staunchest upholders of the grossest form of worldliness from which even the worst of non-ecclesiastical criminals are found to recoil.

Anonymous said...

"You do not think that only woman is woman. The man is also woman. Don't think that the woman is condemned; man is not. Woman means enjoyed, and man means enjoyer. So this feeling, this feeling is condemned. If I see one woman for enjoyment, so I am man. And if woman also sees another man for enjoyment, she is also man. Woman means enjoyed and man means enjoyer. So anyone who has got feeling of enjoyment, he is considered to be man. So here both sexes meant for...Everyone is planning, "How I shall enjoy?" Therefore he is purusa, artificially. Otherwise, originally, we are all prakrti, jiva, either woman or man. This is outward dress." ~ SP Lecture on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Vrndavana India, 1 September 1975

Anonymous said...

But Putana does not at all like to receive her reward in only form which involves the total destruction of her wrong personality. King Kamsa also does not like to lose the services of the most trusted of his agents. The effective silencing of the whole race of pseudo-teachers of religion is the first clear indication of the appearance of the Absolute on the mundane plane. The bona-fide teacher of the Absolute, heralds the Advent of Krishna by his uncompromising campaign against the pseudo-teachers of religion.

Anonymous said...

Ananta Shesha

In ancient Egypt, Israel and Judah, Ananta Shesha Naga was sometimes depicted with wings and then called a SERAPH. [1.1] This Winged Serpent Form of His in China is the Good Dragon of Mother Kuan Yin. [1.2]

In the early Sumerian and Assyrian and Persian Traditions, and in Egypt the Lord and His expansions or representatives were sometimes depicted as having multiple arms or limbs and some of these were sometimes wings or wings with hands. [1.3] It is often purely prejudice that blinds people to recognizing GOD when he appears before them in His unfamiliar Multi-Form. [1.4]

Be open to God! Open your hearts and Minds my dear brothers and you will begin to see Him everywhere! Do not let your minds dictate to God what He can look like, or whom He can choose for His devotees, and what they can look like! [1.5] Anantadeva as the Egypto-Jewish Seraphic Sesha Nachash (Sarpa Shesha Naga) was depicted as a Giant Egyptian Cobra, Who sometimes had WINGS or WINGS WITH HANDS. [1.6]

When Anantadeva was depicted with wings, He [Shesha Naga] was called a DRAGON, or celestial Naga. [1.7]

According to Hindu (Vedic) tradition, Shesha (Śeṣa in IAST transliteration) is an expansion of '' ' Vishnu ' '' who takes the form of a gigantic Divine Serpent (Naga) with many thousands of heads In the Puranas He is said to hold all the planets of the universe on His hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all His mouths. [1.8]

His name means "that which remains", from the Sanskrit Root '' shiş '', because when the world is destroyed at the end of the Kalpa, Shesha remains as He is. [1.9]

He [Shesha] is said to have loosened Mount Mandara, to enable it to be used in the churning of the ocean by the Deva s and Asura s. [1.10]

According to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva), his father was Kashyapa and his mother Kadru. [1.11] "That Ananta Shesha is the devotee incarnation of Godhead. [1.12] He [Ananta Shesha] knows nothing but service to Lord Krishna

Anonymous said...

Among Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples have been demoniac influences also. And Srila Prabhupada has this to say in a letter concerning an attempt of the agents of Kali to take over his mission from the inside:

“It is a fact however that the great sinister movement is within our Society.”

(Srila Prabhupada Letter to Hansadutta 70-09-02)

Srila Prabhupada knew about the sinister influences in the world and his movement. Also Lord Jesus Christ was aware that from within and without his movement was endangered by the demons.

"Similarly, although the Krsna consciousness movement and Krsna are not different and no asuras can check it, we are afraid that at any moment the asuras can stop this movement in any part of the world."

“Demons are very much disturbed when devotees worship the Lord in the prescribed ways recommended in the scriptures. Demons do not like such activity. They are always envious of God and His devotees… The demon wants to uproot this source because if the root, God, were to be checked, the activities of the Lord and the devotees would automatically stop. The demon would be very much satisfied by such a situation in society. Demons are always anxious to have a godless society for their sense gratification.

Today Srila Prabhupada’s and Lord Jesus Christ’s once pure and powerful movements have lost their potency due to organized disobedience and the distortion of the teachings by the servants of Kali-yuga.

“Many “isms” and cults will spring up in Kali-yuga only to kill the spotless bull of religion.”

Therefore the demoniac attempt to try to kill pure devotees like Srila Prabhupada (by administering poison or establishing theories like the ‘living guru thesis’) or Lord Jesus Christ (by crucifiction or writing a book to declare him a myth), cannot minimize their transcendental position, reputation and influence!

“Lord Krsna says: “O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.’”

(Bhagavad-gita 9.31)

Anonymous said...

”Yes, to call one another prabhu is all right, but not to become prabhu. To accept others as prabhu, and remain as servant is the idea. But because somebody is calling you prabhu, one should not become a prabhu, and treat others as servants. In other words, everyone should feel himself as servant, and not to think himself prabhu because he is being called prabhu. This will make the relationship congenial.” SP letter to Himavati Devi Dasi, June 14, 1968

Anonymous said...

There is, of course, much evidence that Lord Jesus Christ, who by his words and deeds has powerfully shaken the pillars of demoniac existence on this earth, is a pure devotee of Lord Krsna. The best evidence, however, is the divine words of the spiritual master of the world, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, who is himself the empowered representative of Lord Krsna.

“He is coming from spiritual planets. He is authorized representative of Krsna, we accept him as saktyavesa-avatara.”

(Srila Prabhupada Letter to Upendra 70-08-04)

“A Vaisnava should follow the examples of such Vaisnavas as Haridasa Thakura, Nityananda Prabhu and also Lord Jesus Christ.”

(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.6.47 P) Prabhupada: They asked me. And, “He’s our guru.” They very much appreciated. He is preaching God’s consciousness, so he is our guru, spiritual master. That’s a fact. Don’t take him otherwise. He’s guru. Hari-sauri: It’s just his nonsense followers. Prabhupada: Gurusu nara-matih. Such person, great personality, why shall think of him as ordinary human being? That is naraki-buddhi. Hari-sauri: Yes. Prabhupada: Anyone who is preaching God’s glories, he is guru. So how can I decry him? He is guru. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Unless one is guru how he can preach about God? Hari-sauri: Yes. Actually we have a much better appreciation of Jesus than anyone. Prabhupada: More yes. Oh, yes. Hari-sauri: Because we actually understand the value of the guru. Prabhupada: We are the greatest Christian. We follow his instruction; we accept him as guru.

Anonymous said...

Now according to the sastra it is said that you cannot see a sadhu/guru, you must hear them:

"...Gosvami Sukadeva, after leaving his paternal home, was roaming like a madman, and therefore it was very difficult for the citizens to recognize him in his exalted position. A sage is not, therefore, recognized by sight, but by hearing. One should approach a sadhu or great sage not to see but to hear him. If one is not prepared to hear the words of a sadhu, there is no profit. Sukadeva Gosvami was a sadhu who could speak on the transcendental activities of the Lord. He did not satisfy the whims of ordinary citizens. He was recognized when he spoke on the subject of Bhagavatam, and he never attempted jugglery like a magician. Outwardly he appeared to be a retarded, dumb madman, but in fact he was the most elevated transcendental personality"
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.4.6. Purport)

"This line of guru-parampara is existing up to today without any break and it will continue to exist like this in the future also. To say, 'There is no sad-guru living in the world at present and neither will there be any in the future,' is an atheistic opinion."

(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada: "True Conception of Sri Guru Tattva")

Anonymous said...

You will find in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that one sometimes... It is called līlā, pastimes, that Brahmā, when Kṛṣṇa was here on this planet, so Brahmā was very much proud that "Kṛṣṇa is now in the earthly planet, and this earthly planet is one of the innumerable planets under my control." Brahmā is the controller, is the primal, principal living entity in this universe, so he was little proud that "Kṛṣṇa is within my control." So therefore Kṛṣṇa, because He is Paramātmā, He knows everything, what one thinks, what one does. So Kṛṣṇa asked Brahmā to come and see Him. So Brahmā came. Brahmā came. His doorman informed Kṛṣṇa that... Doorman asked Brahmā, "Who are you, please?" "Now, you say Kṛṣṇa that I am Brahmā. I have come to see Him." So when the doorman informed Kṛṣṇa that in Dvārakā, when Kṛṣṇa was there as king, so Kṛṣṇa asked, "Oh, which Brahmā? Which Brahmā?" The doorman came back again and informed that "Which Brahmā you are?" So Brahmā became astonished: " 'Which Brahmā?' I am the Brahmā. I am the supreme creature within this universe, and 'Which Brahmā?' " He was surprised, and he said, "Tell Kṛṣṇa that four-headed Brahmā." Brahmā has four heads. So Kṛṣṇa called him, "All right, come on." So he came, and he offered his obeisances, and Brahmā asked Him, "Kṛṣṇa, my Lord, may I ask You some question?" "What is that?" "Your doorman asked me, 'Which Brahmā?' So does it mean there are other Brahmās also?" Kṛṣṇa said, "Yes, there are innumerable Brahmās. You are only four-headed. There are eight-headed, there are sixteen-headed, thirty-headed, sixty-four-headed, hundred-twenty-eight-headed, and millions of headed. So all right, I am calling them all." So Kṛṣṇa called all the Brahmās, and by His māyā, Brahmā could see them, but they could not see this four-headed Brahmā, and each of them came and offered obeisances to Kṛṣṇa, and they asked, "My Lord, what can I do for You? You have asked me?" "Yes. I have not seen you for so many times, so many days, so I have called you." So they came, thousands and millions of Brahmās came, and offered obeisances, and they went away. And this Brahmā, four-headed Brahmā, remained in the corner, "Oh, what is I am?" So this is Kṛṣṇa's creation.

Anonymous said...

So here it is stated that yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya [Bs. 5.48]. "Only just abiding by the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu"—there are millions of Brahmās—"they are living." And each Brahmā's period... That you have read in the Bhagavad-gītā: sahasra-yuga-paryantam arhad yad brahmaṇo viduḥ [Bg. 8.17]. The Brahmā's one day means 4,300,000's times 1000. That is Brahmā's twelve hours. Similarly, twenty-four hours, one day. Now calculate one month, such one years, such hundred years. So that hundred years of Brahmā is only a breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu, just like we are breathing, our inhalation and exhalation is going on. So during the breathing period, when the breathing is out, all these brahmāṇḍas become created, and when it is inhaled, all, they are closed, account closed. So this is going on. And such Mahā-Viṣṇu is the part, one of the fourth part of Kṛṣṇa's expansion. That is stated. Lord Caitanya is giving evidence from Brahma-saṁhitā:


yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
[Bs. 5.48]


"I worship that Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, whose fourth dimension, fourth expansion, is Mahā-Viṣṇu, in whose breathing period all these Brahmās, or the principal head of each brahmāṇḍa, they live."

Anonymous said...

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the fountainhead of all incarnations. Lord Balarama is His second body. They are both one and the same identity. They differ only in form. Balarama is the first bodily expansion of Krishna, and He assists in Lord Krishna's transcendental pastimes. He is the source of the entire spiritual world and is the adi-guru, the original spiritual master.

Lord Balarama assumes five other forms to serve Lord Krishna. He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord Krishna, and He does the work of creation in four other forms called the catur-vyuha (four armed) forms known as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Anirudha. He executes the orders of Lord Krishna in the work of creation, and in the form of Lord Sesa He serves Sri Krishna in various ways. In all the forms He tastes the transcendental bliss of serving Krishna. No one can approach Krishna without first getting the mercy of Baladeva.

Whenever Krishna appears in the material world, He is accompanied by His associates and paraphernalia. Five thousand years ago when Krishna descended into the material world, He was first preceded by Baladeva. Only after Baladeva give His mercy did Krishna descend, such is the intimate relationship between Krishna and Baladeva.

Lord Balarama exemplifies the service attitude to Krishna. His only mission is to please Krishna by rendering service to Him, whether it is in the creation of the material worlds, maintaining the spiritual world or as His personal paraphernalia.

Lord Balarama is the eternal companion of Sri Krishna. He came as Lakshmana with Rama and later as Nityananda Prabhu with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is the original spiritual master, and any one desiring to make spiritual progress must first get the mercy of Lord Balarama.

Anonymous said...

The Buddha was an incarnation of God who appeared in the guise of an atheist to confound the atheists.Srila Prabhupada puts it across better then myself:

At the time when Lord Buddha appeared,the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea or excuse of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached non-violence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that He did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed His principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and non-violence, which are the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists, because such atheists who followed His principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who Himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: He made the faithless faithful to Him. (Excerpt from purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24 by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada: “The Sankirtana Movement is not my invention. So how can it be copyrighted? So Hare Krishna cannot be copyrighted….” (SP Letter to: Dinesh 10 June, 1969)

Fast forward to the present..

Ajita das: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc is the registered owner in Australia of the trade mark HARE KRISHNA in relation to “religious education, seminars, lectures; educational entertainment and information services of a religious nature” in Class 41 (registration 745346) and so any use of the words HARE KRSHNA in a trade mark sense by an entity that is not authorized by us in relation to such services would infringe registration 745346.

Anonymous said...

"Yes. That is our opinion. Beauty, knowledge, strength and opulence—everything—they are transcendental. Here, in this material world, it is perverted reflection. Just like the example is the mirage. A fool, animal, is thinking there is water in the desert, and he is running after it, and after sometimes he dies of thirst because there is not. But a sane man knows there is no water;…"

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada was giving darshan in his new quarters in Juhu beach when one Indian gentleman began to deride Christianity and even Christ himself. Srila Prabhupada immediately stopped him saying, "Please don't talk like that; Christ is my Godbrother. I love Christ as much as I love Krishna!" Srila Prabhupada said that Christ was a pure devotee who was preaching according to the time and circumstances.

In a letter Srila Prabhupada wrote that we could offer Krishna's prasadam to a picture of Christ. He also said that Christ is one of our gurus. It is so nice the way that Srila Prabhupada preached in a perfect non-fanatical way. He said you don't have to give up your religion; just follow whatever one you are attracted to, and add the chanting of the Lord's Holy Names. (Srila Prabhupada In Bombay by Gauridasa Pandita Dasa,

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada's only desire for me was that I should come to know the real, eternal hero, Krsna. So I listened as he explained that Lord Visnu, the origin of all the worlds, has ninety-four percent of Krsna's qualities, Lord Siva, the chief of all demigods, has eighty-six percent, and Lord Brahma, the creator of this one universe, has seventy-eight percent. "When a person becomes perfect through Krsna consciousness," he said, "he also manifests seventy-eight percent of the qualities of Krsna, in minute quantities."

Enthused, I asked, "So, that means you have seventy-eight percent of Krsna's qualities, Swamiji?"

His eyes opened wide. "Me? I am a conditioned soul."

I didn't believe him - I already considered he was no conditioned soul. But it was obvious that he was also not feigning his humility-the symptom of a softened heart. I

Anonymous said...

"Sometimes the Swami personally cooked and served the food. There was something special about his cooking. When he cooked many people would come. He was very popular in that neighborhood. There were a number of so-called gurus from India in New York, but everyone on the Lower East Side knew that Swami was genuine, because he wasn't into money or fame. Everyone knew that God took care of him because he had so little money. Sometimes Allen Ginsburg would drop by the storefront and give him a big donation."

"He did everything for God. In fact, as long as he lived at 'Matchless Gifts' the whole Lower East Side was talking about God. But when he left the whole atmosphere changed and people resorted to their old ways."

"One young man attending a lecture in New York did. He asked Prabhupad, in a rude, sarcastic tone of voice, "Can you see God?" The answer came swiftly: "Yes, but you're in the way!"

"At an outdoor program at the New Vrindaban farm in West Virginia, a woman asked, "If the purpose of life is to be Krishna conscious, why is Maya so strong?" Right at the last syllable of her question, the answer: "Because your purpose is not strong."

"The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death. " [SB 1. 18. 13]

Anonymous said...

"Many times they give me very great credit that I have done wonderful. Yes, I have done wonderful. But what is the reason? Because I am not a rascal. I speak what Krsna has spoken. That’s all. Very easy. Everyone can do that. Not only I. Any of you, you can do this. Simply speak what is…, what Krsna has said. That’s all. Don’t make addition, alteration. Then you become rascal. Immediately you become rascal. (Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture 1.5.29 Vrndavana, August 10, 1974)

Anonymous said...

This is KALI YUGA!!!
-------------------------------------
An Open Letter to the Dalai Lama
by Norm Phelps, written June 15, 2007

Dear Sir: I am writing to you with great sadness...


http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-10/editorials6458.htm

Anonymous said...

Phony as a Three Dollar Coin

BY: HASTI GOPALA DASA

Aug 22, 2010 — TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (SUN) — I like Rocana dasa's article, "Radhanatha's Magical Mystery Tour", on the swami's book. The man is as phony as a three dollar coin. Who would be at all interested in such drivel? Keep track of the numbers of books sold, and watch them go for under 10 dollars by next year in the book clearing houses.

The Seattle interview is in no way attractive. In fact, he comes across as a thoughtless whimp. A real guru or even a good actor would sit tall and have strength in his voice. He's like the rest of the ISKCON leaders, a passing fancy.

This poem, Masters Of Bore, suits him well (sung to the tune of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War'):

Masters Of Bore

Come ye masters of bore
To collect all the sums
You smile to the people
And do business with scums.
You closed what was started
Rolled up just like sod
Drove away the down hearted
And took Prabhupada.

Then all the disciples
You had driven away
Cut down by corruption
To this very day.
You play the big drum
And you make the big score
You built to destroy
While becoming a bore.

You gave birth to the blind
With riches and fame
To steal from the world
The best Holy Name.
Your business unholy
With the race you are in
Ignoring the others
With great master sin.

Throughout many nations
There's an upturned palm
They suffer in darkness
With no Hari Nama
Prasadam the lifeline
That feeds the connection
We hear your cheating idols
And are making the correction

You took our dear ISKCON
And fashioned a form
Injected with evil
And started a storm
You neglected our children
You neglected the Lord
High points now with Yamaraja
With him you have scored.

How much do I know
Now that I'm getting old
Well I know by your floor show
That your hearts are all cold.
Guru business keeps worlds
All colored in reign
No shelter for anyone
In a world full of pain.

Srila Prabhupada's books
Are for saving mankind
Not for lenders and leeches
In a financial bind.
You keep changing the words
That Prabhupada said
So that no one gets the mercy
Not even the dead.

And we hope that you fly
And your flight will come soon
We'll watch as you leave here
On that good afternoon
We'll stand on the tarmac
And we'll wait on and on
To make sure for certain
That we know you are gone.


~ by Hasti Gopala dasa

Anonymous said...

Speaking of the truth...

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-10/editorials6462.htm

http://harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/10-09/editorials5224.htm

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-10/editorials6457.htm

Anonymous said...

Who can do it alone?

http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/?p=13982

Anonymous said...

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, says in Bhagavad-gita that the natural laws are perfect because of His superintendence. No one should think that nature is working automatically, without superintendence. The Vedic literature says that the clouds are controlled by the demigod Indra, heat is distributed by the sun-god, the soothing moonlight is distributed by Candra and the air is blowing under the arrangement of the demigod Vayu.

http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/?p=13967

Anonymous said...

http://www.prabhupadaconnect.com/files/obeisances_Dieties.jpg

"On one particular afternoon, Srila Prabhupada was comfortably seated in a chair, and I was sitting on the ground beside him. He was softly chanting japa, enjoying the fresh ocean air, mixed with the fragrance of roses and other flowers. Occasionally he would say something but mostly he would chant softly. Suddenly beside my sitting place I saw a large brown slug in all its slimy ugliness. Somewhat repulsed I leaned away from the creature. Srila Prabhupada looked at me quizzically and I said: "Ugh, look at this", pointing to the slimy, sliding creature. Srila Prabhupada leaned forward and looked at the slug, his face grew full of love and compassion, and he said to me: "Chant to the poor creature", and so I sat there, chanting Hare Krsna to the slimy, yet benedicted slug for some time until he slithered away. He had incredible compassion even for the most abominable creature. Srila Prabhupada, I can never forget the sound of your voice when you gave me that instruction. In it, your whole mission was encapsulated. "Chant to the poor creature."

estebanfolsom said...

i've been back a billion years
and up around the bend
i was there when it all began
and also at the end
i've been trying a million faces
till i find one that fits
i've been looking out thru these eyes
to where eternity sits
and haven't i heard a thousand names
shooting thru space my way
hasn't it been a hundred ages
not one of thems yet to say
i am beyond all your words
and all your eyes can see
no thought can reach
no hand can touch
what i might really be

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada called me one day and asked me to get the Bhagavatam. He had his original Bhagavatam with the spiritual sky on the cover. He said, Do you see this spiritual sky? It's very big. You cannot fathom how big this is. Three-quarters of Krishna's creation is the spiritual sky and one-quarter is the material creation. That material creation has innumerable universes. One universe is so big the scientists can't measure it. We're on one planet in one of those universes out of innumerable universes, which constitute one-quarter of the creation. This one planet, earth is one of the smaller planets in this universe. On this planet there are seven continents, and on one of the continents, North America, there is a great city called Los Angeles. In that Los Angeles city, there's a long boulevard called La Cienega. On that La Cienega Boulevard, there is one church building that is now a Hare Krishna Temple. In that one Hare Krishna Temple, there is one Tamal Krishna, and he thinks that he is very important. (Laughs) I felt so small.

Anonymous said...

In a lecture in New York in 1966, Srila Prabhupada gave his opinion on "The Illuminati":

Just become a little gentle and submissive, and hear these messages from Krsna. Tanu. Tanu means your body, and vak means your words, and mana means mind. Just try to adjust your mind, your body, your words, and hear the Srimad-Bhagavad-gita which is spoken by the Supreme Lord, and put your arguments, put your reason, whatever you have got. Don’t accept it blindly. And think over it, and then you’ll see what is the result.
The Lord says, the raksasam asurah caiva, those who are raksasas... Raksasa means almost man-eaters. Raksasa are called man-eaters, more than tigers. They, for their self-satisfaction, they can eat, even, their own sons. You see? They are called raksasas. No shame. “My sense gratification should be satisfied. Never mind. You go to hell.” So this is the age. So we, we create a machine that everyone comes and becomes smashed in that machine, and my sense satisfaction is there. Although I’ll never be happy by that sense satisfaction. This is going on. You can know this world is now managed by the raksasas. Raksasa. They don’t mind what is happening. They are prepared to sacrifice everything for fulfilling their whimsical nonsense. They are called raksasa. Why they are? Now, they are very much enamored by this material beauty. Not beauty. The material civilization. So they cannot. They cannot understand. It is very difficult for them. They cannot understand. And they’ll never try to understand because they are raksasas. Government men are always like carnivorous demons called Rāksasas [man-eaters]. Sometimes these government men turn against the conditioned soul and take away all his accumulated wealth. Being bereft of his life’s reserved wealth, the conditioned soul loses all enthusiasm. Indeed, it is as though he loses his life.

Anonymous said...

In a letter to one of his disciples, Srila Prabhupada wrote:

Yes, Lord Jesus was jivatattva. He is not Visnu tattva. When a jiva tattva becomes specifically empowered by the Lord, he is called saktyavesa avatara. Lord Buddha and Lord Jesus Christ were in this group of saktyavesa avatara.. But they were not in conditioned state when they appeared; they came to teach here." (Letter to Anuriddha, Los Angeles 14 November, 1968)

According to the Krsna Consciousness philosophy which has its scriptural foundations in the Vedas,there are many kinds of avataras (Divine incarnations). There are Lila avataras (where God incarnates to perform a pastime or numerous pastimes), Purusa-avataras (incarnations of the Lord for the purpose of maintaining the cosmos), Guna avataras (incarnations for the purpose of controling the modes of material nature --- goodness, passion and ignorance), Manvantara-avatara (divine incarnations for the era of Manu, and ) Yuga-avatara (incarnations for each of the four ages in the cosmic cycle of time which are known as the Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali-yugas) A saktyavesa avatara is an incarnation whereby a living entity is empowered by the Supreme Lord for a particular purpose and saktyavesa avataras can be further divided into those who are directly empowered by God and those who manifest a portion of God's potency.

Anonymous said...

Prabhupāda: Rascal, where is your freedom? You are kicked out like football from one life to another. Where is your freedom, rascal? That they do not know. Therefore they are śūdras. He is being kicked out like football from this pole to that pole, and still he is thinking, “I am free.”

Anonymous said...

Lord Krsna answered the question of Maharaja Yudhisthira as follows: "If I especially favor a devotee and especially wish to care for him, the first thing I do is take away his riches." When the devotee becomes a penniless pauper or is put into a comparatively poverty-stricken position, his relatives and family members no longer take interest in him, and in most cases they give up their connection with him. The devotee then becomes doubly unhappy. First of all he becomes unhappy because his riches have been taken away by Krsna, and he is made even more unhappy when his relatives desert him because of his poverty-stricken condition. We should note, however, that when a devotee falls into a miserable condition in this way, it is not due to past impious activities, known as karma-phala; the poverty-stricken position of the devotee is a creation of the Personality of Godhead. Similarly, when a devotee becomes materially opulent, that is also not due to his pious activities. In either case, whether the devotee becomes poorer or richer, the arrangement is made by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This arrangement is especially made by Krsna for His devotee just to make him completely dependent upon Him and to free him from all material obligations. He can then concentrate his energies, mind and body--everything--for the service of the Lord, and that is pure devotional service.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:

"Also, all of us are individuals. There is no question of merging together. Every one of us is an individual. God is
an individual, and we are also individuals. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam: "Of all the eternal, conscious,
individual persons, one is supreme." The difference is that God never changes His body, but we change our
bodies in the material world. When we go to the spiritual world, there is no more change of body. Just as Krsna
has His sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, an eternal form of bliss and knowledge, so when you go back home, back to
Godhead, you will also get a similar body. The difference is that even when Krsna comes to the material world,
He does not change His body. Therefore one of His names is Acyuta, "He who never falls."

Krsna never changes. He never falls down, because He is the controller of maya, the material energy. We are
controlled by the material energy, and Krsna is the controller of the material energy. That is the difference
between Krsna and us. And not only does He control the material energy, but He controls the spiritual energy
also--all energies. Everything that we see, everything manifested--that is Krsna's energy. Just as heat and light
are the energies of the sun, everything manifested is made up of the energies of Krsna.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.2

so 'ham nrinam kshulla-sukhaya duhkham

mahad gatanam viramaya tasya

pravartaye bhagavatam puranam

yad aha sakshad bhagavan rishibhyah

TRANSLATION

Let me now begin speaking on the Bhagavata Purana, which was directly spoken to the great sages by the Personality of Godhead for the benefit of those who are entangled in extreme miseries for the sake of very little pleasure.

PURPORT

The sage Maitreya proposed to speak on Srimad-Bhagavatam because it was especially compiled, and traditionally comes down in the disciplic succession, for the solution of all the problems of human society. Only one who is fortunate can have the opportunity to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam in the association of pure devotees of the Lord. Under the spell of material energy, the living entities are entrapped in the bondage of many difficulties simply for the sake of a little bit of material happiness. They engage in fruitive activities, not knowing the implications. Under the false impression that the body is the self, the living entities foolishly relate to so many false attachments. They think that they can engage with materialistic paraphernalia forever. This gross misconception of life is so strong that a person suffers continually, life after life, under the external energy of the Lord. If one comes in contact with the book Bhagavatam as well as with the devotee bhagavata, who knows what the Bhagavatam is, then such a fortunate man gets out of the material entanglement. Therefore Sri Maitreya Muni, out of compassion for the suffering men in the world, proposes to speak on the Srimad-Bhagavatam first and last.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.3

asinam urvyam bhagavantam adyam

sankarshanam devam akuntha-sattvam

vivitsavas tattvam atah parasya

kumara-mukhya munayo 'nvapricchan

TRANSLATION

Some time ago, being inquisitive to know, Sanat-kumara, the chief of the boy-saints, accompanied by other great sages, inquired exactly like you about the truths regarding Vasudeva, the Supreme, from Lord Sankarshana, who is seated at the bottom of the universe.

PURPORT

This is in clarification of the statement that the Lord spoke directly on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. When and unto whom the Bhagavatam was spoken is explained herewith. Questions similar to those put forward by Vidura were asked by great sages like Sanat-kumara, and Lord Sankarshana, the plenary expansion of the Supreme Lord Vasudeva, answered them.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.4

svam eva dhishnyam bahu manayantam

yad vasudevabhidham amananti

pratyag-dhritakshambuja-kosam ishad

unmilayantam vibudhodayaya

TRANSLATION

At that time Lord Sankarshana was meditating upon His Supreme Lord, whom the learned esteem as Lord Vasudeva, but for the sake of the advancement of the great learned sages He slightly opened His lotus like eyes and began to speak.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.5

svardhuny-udardraih sva-jata-kalapair

upasprisantas caranopadhanam

padmam yad arcanty ahi-raja-kanyah

sa-prema nana-balibhir vararthah

TRANSLATION

The sages came from the highest planets down to the lower region through the water of the Ganges, and therefore the hair on their heads was wet. They touched the lotus feet of the Lord, which are worshiped with various paraphernalia by the daughters of the serpent-king when they desire good husbands.

PURPORT

The Ganges water flows directly from the lotus feet of Vishnu, and its course runs from the highest planet of the universe down to the lowest. The sages came down from Satyaloka by taking advantage of the flowing water, a process of transportation made possible by the power of mystic yoga. If a river flows thousands and thousands of miles, a perfect yogi can at once transport himself from one place to another simply by dipping in its water. The Ganges is the only celestial river which flows throughout the universe, and great sages travel all over the universe via this sacred river. The statement that their hair was wet indicates that it was directly moistened by the water originating from the lotus feet of Vishnu (the Ganges). Whoever touches the water of the Ganges to his head surely touches the lotus feet of the Lord directly and can become free from all effects of sinful acts. If after taking a bath in the Ganges or being washed of all sins, a man guards himself against committing further sinful acts, then certainly he is delivered. But if he again takes up sinful activities, his bath in the Ganges is as good as that of the elephant, who nicely takes his bath in a river but later spoils the whole thing by covering himself with dust on the land.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.6

muhur grinanto vacasanuraga-

skhalat-padenasya kritani taj-jnah

kirita-sahasra-mani-praveka-

pradyotitoddama-phana-sahasram

TRANSLATION

The four Kumaras, headed by Sanat-kumara, who all knew the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, glorified the Lord in rhythmic accents with selected words full of affection and love. At that time Lord Sankarshana, with His thousands of raised hoods, began to radiate an effulgence from the glowing stones on His head.

PURPORT

The Lord is sometimes addressed as uttamasloka, which means "one who is worshiped with selected words by devotees." A profusion of such selected words comes from a devotee who is fully absorbed in affection and love for the devotional service of the Lord. There are many instances in which even a small boy who was a great devotee of the Lord could offer excellent prayers in the choicest words for glorification of the pastimes of the Lord. In other words, without the development of fine affection and love, one cannot offer prayers to the Lord very suitably.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.7

proktam kilaitad bhagavattamena

nivritti-dharmabhirataya tena

sanat-kumaraya sa caha prishtah

sankhyayanayanga dhrita-vrataya

TRANSLATION

Lord Sankarshana thus spoke the purport of Srimad-Bhagavatam to the great sage Sanat-kumara, who had already taken the vow of renunciation. Sanat-kumara also, in his turn, when inquired of by Sankhyayana Muni, explained Srimad-Bhagavatam as he had heard it from Sankarshana.

PURPORT

This is the way of the parampara system. Although Sanat-kumara, the well-known great saintly Kumara, was in the perfect stage of life, still he heard the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam from Lord Sankarshana. Similarly, when he was questioned by Sankhyayana Rishi, he spoke to him the same message he had heard from Lord Sankarshana. In other words, unless one hears from the proper authority one cannot become a preacher. In devotional service, therefore, two items out of the nine, namely hearing and chanting, are most important. Without hearing nicely, one cannot preach the message of Vedic knowledge.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.8

sankhyayanah paramahamsya-mukhyo

vivakshamano bhagavad-vibhutih

jagada so 'smad-gurave 'nvitaya

parasarayatha brihaspates ca

TRANSLATION

The great sage Sankhyayana was the chief amongst the transcendentalists, and when he was describing the glories of the Lord in terms of Srimad-Bhagavatam, it so happened that my spiritual master, Parasara, and Brihaspati both heard him.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.9

provaca mahyam sa dayalur ukto

munih pulastyena puranam adyam

so 'ham tavaitat kathayami vatsa

sraddhalave nityam anuvrataya

TRANSLATION

The great sage Parasara, as aforementioned, being so advised by the great sage Pulastya, spoke unto me the foremost of the Puranas [Bhagavatam]. I shall also describe this before you, my dear son, in terms of my hearing, because you are always my faithful follower.

PURPORT

The great sage of the name Pulastya is the father of all demoniac descendants. Once upon a time Parasara began a sacrifice in which all the demons were to be burnt to death because his father had been killed and devoured by one of them. The great sage Vasishtha Muni arrived at the sacrifice and requested Parasara to stop the deadly action, and because of Vasishtha's position and respect in the community of sages, Parasara could not deny the request. Parasara having stopped the sacrifice, Pulastya, the father of the demons, appreciated his brahminical temperament and gave the blessing that in the future he would be a great speaker on the Vedic literatures called the Puranas, the supplements of the Vedas. Parasara's action was appreciated by Pulastya because Parasara had forgiven the demons out of his brahminical power of forgiveness. Parasara was able to demolish all the demons in the sacrifice, but he considered, "Demons are so made that they devour living creatures, men and animals, but why on that account should I withdraw my brahminical qualification of forgiveness?" As the great speaker of the Puranas, Parasara first of all spoke on the Srimad-Bhagavata Purana because it is the foremost of all the Puranas. Maitreya Muni desired to narrate the same Bhagavatam be had heard from Parasara, and Vidura was qualified to hear it because of his faithfulness and his following the instructions received from superiors. So Srimad-Bhagavatam was being narrated from time immemorial by the disciplic succession, even before the time of Vyasadeva. The so-called historians calculate the Puranas to be only a few hundred years old, but factually the Puranas existed from time immemorial, before all historical calculations by the mundaners and speculative philosophers.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.10

udaplutam visvam idam tadasid

yan nidrayamilita-drin nyamilayat

ahindra-talpe 'dhisayana ekah

krita-kshanah svatma-ratau nirihah

TRANSLATION

At that time when the three worlds were submerged in water, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu was alone, lying on His bedstead, the great snake Ananta, and although He appeared to be in slumber in His own internal potency, free from the action of the external energy, His eyes were not completely closed.

PURPORT

The Lord is eternally enjoying transcendental bliss by His internal potency, whereas the external potency is suspended during the time of the dissolution of the cosmic manifestation.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.11

so 'ntah sarire 'rpita-bhuta-sukshmah

kalatmikam saktim udirayanah

uvasa tasmin salile pade sve

yathanalo daruni ruddha-viryah

TRANSLATION

Just like the strength of fire within fuel wood, the Lord remained within the water of dissolution, submerging all the living entities in their subtle bodies. He lay in the self-invigorated energy called kala.

PURPORT

After the three worlds -- the upper, lower and middle planetary systems -- merged into the water of dissolution, the living entities of all the three worlds remained in their subtle bodies by dint of the energy called kala. In this dissolution, the gross bodies became unmanifest, but the subtle bodies existed, just like the water of the material creation. Thus the material energy was not completely wound up, as is the case in the full dissolution of the material world.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.12

catur-yuganam ca sahasram apsu

svapan svayodiritaya sva-saktya

kalakhyayasadita-karma-tantro

lokan apitan dadrise sva-dehe

TRANSLATION

The Lord lay down for four thousand yuga cycles in His internal potency, and by His external energy He appeared to be sleeping within the water. When the living entities were coming out for further development of their fruitive activities, actuated by the energy called kala-sakti, He saw His transcendental body as bluish.

PURPORT

In the Vishnu Purana, kala-sakti is mentioned as avidya. The symptom of the influence of the kala-sakti is that one has to work in the material world for fruitive results. The fruitive workers are described in Bhagavad-gita as mudhas, or foolish. Such foolish living entities are very enthusiastic to work for some temporary benefit within perpetual bondage. One thinks himself very clever throughout his life if he is able to leave behind him a great asset of wealth for his children, and to achieve this temporary benefit he takes the risk of all sinful activities, without knowledge that such activities will keep him perpetually bound by the shackles of material bondage. Due to this polluted mentality and due to material sins, the aggregate combination of living entities appeared to be bluish. Such an impetus of activity for fruitive result is made possible by the dictation of the external energy of the Lord, kala.

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.13

tasyartha-sukshmabhinivishta-drishter

antar-gato 'rtho rajasa taniyan

gunena kalanugatena viddhah

sushyams tadabhidyata nabhi-desat

TRANSLATION

The subtle subject matter of creation, on which the Lord's attention was fixed, was agitated by the material mode of passion, and thus the subtle form of creation pierced through His abdomen.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.14

sa padma-kosah sahasodatishthat

kalena karma-pratibodhanena

sva-rocisha tat salilam visalam

vidyotayann arka ivatma-yonih

TRANSLATION

Piercing through, this sum total form of the fruitive activity of the living entities took the shape of the bud of a lotus flower generated from the Personality of Vishnu, and by His supreme will it illuminated everything, like the sun, and dried up the vast waters of devastation.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.15

tal loka-padmam sa u eva vishnuh

pravivisat sarva-gunavabhasam

tasmin svayam vedamayo vidhata

svayambhuvam yam sma vadanti so 'bhut

TRANSLATION

Into that universal lotus flower Lord Vishnu personally entered as the Supersoul, and when it was thus impregnated with all the modes of material nature, the personality of Vedic wisdom, whom we call the self-born, was generated.

PURPORT

This lotus flower is the universal virat form, or the gigantic form of the Lord in the material world. It becomes amalgamated in the Personality of Godhead Vishnu, in His abdomen, at the time of dissolution, and it becomes manifest at the time of creation. This is due to Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, who enters into each of the universes. In this form is the sum total of all the fruitive activities of the living entities conditioned by material nature, and the first of them, namely Brahma, or the controller of the universe, is generated from this lotus flower. This first-born living being, unlike all the others, has no material father, and thus he is called self-born, or svayambhu. He goes to sleep with Narayana at the time of devastation, and when there is another creation, he is born in this way. From this description we have the conception of three -- the gross virat form, the subtle Hiranyagarbha and the material creative force, Brahma.

Anonymous said...

Krishna Janmashtami, the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna will be celebrated on September 2nd this year!

Jai Sri Radha Krishna!

According to a mystical prophecy, the eighth child born to Krishna’s parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, would defeat Kamsa, the cruel king of Mathura. This eighth child was none other than Lord Krishna. When King Kamsa heard the prophecy, he became determined to destroy Krishna. Kamsa locked up Krishna’s parents in a prison, and there Krishna’s mother gave birth to seven children, six of whom died by Kamsa's cruel hand.

One elder brother of Krishna's eluded the sinful king. Known as Balarama, He is a plenary expansion of the Godhead. He transferred Himself to another location and waited for Krishna to also go there. Finally the eighth child of Devaki, Krishna, was born in the very dungeon of His family’s persecution.

When Krishna first appeared to His parents, He showed Himself as the splendorous four-armed Lord Vishnu, upon whom they were accustomed to meditate. Mother Devaki prayed to Him:

I understand that this transcendental form is generally perceived in meditation by the great sages, but I am still afraid because as soon as Kamsa understands that You have appeared, he might harm You.… My only cause of fear from my brother Kamsa is due to Your appearance…. Therefore I request You to conceal this four-armed form of Your Lordship, which holds the four symbols of Vishnu—namely the conch shell, the disc, the club and the lotus flower. My dear Lord, at the end of the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, You put the whole universe within Your abdomen; still by Your unalloyed mercy You have appeared in my womb. I am surprised that You imitate the activities of ordinary human beings just to please Your devotee.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:
"There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaishnavas in this Krishna Consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. A false acarya may try to override a Vaishnava by a high-court decision, (2/3 hand vote) but Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that he is nothing but a disciple of Kali-yuga.".

"Bhaktivinoda Thakur says, Kali-cela. He indicates that there are other Vaishnavas, pseudo-Vaishnavas, with tilaka on their nose and kunti beads around their neck. Such a pseudo-Vaishnava associates with money and women and is jealous of successful Vaishnavas. Although passing for a Vaishnava, his only business is earning money in the dress of a Vaishnava".

Devotee: "Can demons become devotees?"
Prabhupada: "Of course - by chanting Hare Krishna and agreeing to serve Krishna. And devotees may temporarily fall down and act like demons. That independence is always there."

Lord Krishna: "In order to annihilate the miscreants, and deliver the devotees, I appear "
Srila Prabhupada; There is two mission: not only to give protection to the devotees, but also to kill the demons. To kill the demons, that is one side. So the devotees of Krishna should be trained up both ways: not only to give protection to the devotees, to give them encouragement, but if need be, they should be prepared to kill the demons. That is Vaisnavism. It is not cowardism. It is not cowardism. When need be. [Bhagavad-Gita Lecture 1.7 July 11 1973]

Anonymous said...

http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/?p=14349

“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. ..

Anonymous said...

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada, if material nature is the absence of Krsna, then what is material?

Srila Prabhupada: Nothing is material. If you continue Krsna consciousness, there's nothing material. When we offer this flower in Krsna consciousness, is it material?

Devotee: No.

Srila Prabhupada: So how has it become spiritual? It was material in the tree and now it has become spiritual? No. It is spiritual. As long as I was thinking that it is meant for my enjoyment, it was material. As soon as I take it for Krsna's enjoyment, it is spiritual.

Devotee: So actually this entire world is spritual.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. That we want - to engage everything in Krsna's service. Then this world will be the spiritual world.

Devotee: So we can also appreciate Krsna's creation in that light? For example, this flower is very beautiful because it is Krsna's.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. We realize that. The Mayavadi philosophy says jagan mithya: "This world is false." We don't say that. Krsna has created so many nice things for His enjoyment, why shall I say mithya [false]? Suppose you build a nice house and you call me. "Just see," and I say, "It is all mithya."

Devotee: I'll be offended, because I can't enjoy it if it is false.

Srila Prabhupada: [Laughing]: How depressed you'll be! The Bhagavad-gita explains that the demons say like this - asatyam apratistham te jagad ahur anisvaram. The rascals, the demons say that this world is asatya, untruth, and that there is no cause, no isvara. This is the declaration of the demons. But if Krsna is a fact. His creation is a fact. His energy is a fact. Why shall I say it is false?

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada: Krsna explains, "Everything is in Me, but I'm not everything." This is called acintya-bhedabheda - simultaneous oneness and difference. Everything is Krsna, but you cannot worship this bench as Krsna. That is rascaldom. The sunshine is also sun. It it not? But when the sunshine is in the room, you cannot say, "The sun is in my room." This is called acintya-bhedabheda.

Devotee: But you said one can see Krsna within the stone.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Why not?

Devotee: And one can worship Him within the stone or within everything.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. We worship everything. We see Krsna evrywhere. We don't see the tree; we see Krsna's energy. Therefore the tree is also worshipable because Krsna and Krsna's energy are both worshipable. Therefore we say, "Hare Krsna." Hare means Krsna's energy. We worship everything.

In our childhood we were taught by our parents that if a grain of rice falls on the floor, we must pick it up and touch it to our head to show respect. We were taught like this - how to see everthing in relationship with Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness.

Therefore, we do not like to see anything wasted, anything misused. Why are we preaching? Because we see that so many rascals are misusing their life. We think, "Let us give them some enlightenment." This is our mission. This is our mission. "Oh, these people are being misused under maya. Let them gain some enlightenment."

We are teaching how to utilize everything for Krsna, how to understand Krsna in everything. That is our mission. See Krsna in everything. Krsna says, "Anyone who sees Me everywhere, and everything in Me, is perfect."

Anonymous said...

"Well initiation or no initiation, first thing is knowledge... knowledge. Initiation is formality. Just like you go to a school for knowledge, and admission is formality. That is not very important thing."
(Srila Prabhupada Press Interview; October 16, 1976; Chandigarh)

"The chanting Hare Krishna is our main business, that is real initiation. And as you are all following my instruction; in that matter, the initiator is already there."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter to Tamala Krsna, August 19, 1968)

Anonymous said...

Once, at the hermitage of a venerated guru, a disciple became enlightened after years of penance and instruction at his master's feet. "O master," he said, "I realize what you have been saying all along: God and I are one. Only by the power of illusion have I been making a distinction between myself and God. By your kindness I am awakened. I am in union with the formless, limitless and ineffable supreme." When the guru indicated that the disciple had understood rightly, the disciple asked his master's blessing to go alone on a pilgrimage. On his way, he walked down the middle of the streets, pondering the implications of his recent enlightenment. After some time, he heard an elephant driver shouting from atop his elephant, "Make way for the elephant! Move out of the road!" He saw pedestrians fearfully scurrying out of the elephant's path. "If I am God," our hero reasoned, "Why should I move out of the road for an elephant? That would betray my convictions. The elephant should stand aside for me." Before long, he and the elephant came face to face. "Make way for the elephant," the mahout shrieked in panic, but the ascetic stood his ground. The elephant then grabbed him around the waist, and tossed him out of the way. The ascetic sustained a broken arm and some ugly bruises. Early the next day he hobbled into his spiritual master's presence, where he related the incident. "O master," he cried at the conclusion, "just yesterday I thought I'd completely understood your teachings, but look what happened when I applied them. How could such a misfortune happen to me, and on the very day when I realized your instructions?" With a slight hint of annoyance, the benign master chided, "Did you not hear God on top of the elephant telling you to move out of the way?"

MORAL: This story demonstrates one of the severe flaws in the philosophy of monism, which states that there is absolute oneness - without differentiation - of all beings, including God. As the story shows, if everyone is elevated to the status of God, only calamity can result from the confusion as to who should have the right of way when a conflict of interest arises.

Anonymous said...

Lord Ramachandra was building the bridge. So Hanuman was taking big big boulders and throwing. There was a small spider. Hanuman was laughing at that. Lord Ramachandra called him over and asked him, "Tell Me why I am building this bridge."
"Because You want to cross the ocean," Hanuman said. "This is not true. I don't have to cross the ocean. Just a few minutes ago I dried the ocean simply by getting angry. That's not the reason. I could be there in one moment if I wanted. Simply by taking My name you crossed the ocean. How much more potent is it if I am there?"
Hanuman said, "Because You want to kill Ravana."
Rama replied, "If I want to kill Ravana, all I have to do is leave his heart and He will die. Only because of My presence is he living."
Hanuman said, "Then why is it you are building this bridge?" "To engage you," said Ramachandra. To engage you so that you will get purified. And this spider is similarly engaged."

Anonymous said...

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.23

mrinala-gaurayata-sesha-bhoga-

paryanka ekam purusham sayanam

phanatapatrayuta-murdha-ratna-

dyubhir hata-dhvanta-yuganta-toye

TRANSLATION

Brahma could see that on the water there was a gigantic lotuslike white bedstead, the body of Sesha-naga, on which the Personality of Godhead was lying alone. The whole atmosphere was illuminated by the rays of the jewels bedecking the hood of Sesha-naga, and that illumination dissipated all the darkness of those regions.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3.8.33

sa karma-bijam rajasoparaktah

prajah sisrikshann iyad eva drishtva

astaud visargabhimukhas tam idyam

avyakta-vartmany abhivesitatma

TRANSLATION

Lord Brahma, thus being surcharged with the mode of passion, became inclined to create, and after seeing the five causes of creation indicated by the Personality of Godhead, he began to offer his respectful prayers on the path of the creative mentality.

PURPORT

Even if one is in the material mode of passion, to create something in the world he has to take shelter of the Supreme for the necessary energy. That is the path of the successful termination of any attempt.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Eighth Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Manifestation of Brahma from Garbhodakasayi Vishnu."

Anonymous said...

“There is no vow like chanting the holy name, no knowledge superior to it, no meditation which comes anywhere near it, and it gives the highest result. No penance is equal to it, and nothing is as potent or powerful as the holy name. Chanting is the greatest act of piety and the supreme refuge. Even the words of the Vedas do not possess sufficient power to describe its magnitude.

Chanting is the highest path to liberation, peace and eternal life. It is the pinnacle of devotion, the heart’s joyous proclivity and attraction and the best form of remembrance of the Supreme Lord. The holy name has appeared solely for the benefit of the living entities as their lord and master, their supreme worshipful object and their spiritual guide and mentor.

“Whoever continuously chants Lord krishna’s holy name, even in his sleep, can easily realize that the name is a direct manifestation of krishna Himself, in spite of the influences of kali-yuga.” ( Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in Saranagati (quoted from Adi Purana)
----------------------------------

God appears, and God is light
To those poor souls who dwell in night,
But doth a human Form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
-William Blake

Anonymous said...

Prahlada Maharaja cited the example of Hanuman, the eternal servitor of Lord Ramacandra, who also set an example by never asking any material favor from the Lord. He always remained engaged in the Lord's service. That is the ideal character of Hanuman, for which he is still worshiped by all devotees. Prahlada Maharaja also offered his respectful obeisances unto Hanuman. There is a well-known verse spoken by Hanuman in which he says, "My dear Lord, if You like You can give me salvation from this material existence, or the privilege of merging into Your existence, but I do not wish any of these things. I do not want anything which diminishes my relationship with You as servant to master, even after liberation."

In almost all the cities and towns of India there are temples of Hanumanji, the eternal servant of Lord Ramacandra. Being the eternal servant of Lord Ramacandra, Hanumanji has been respectfully worshiped for many hundreds and thousands of years. Here even Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu set the example in showing how one should offer respects to Hanumanji."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madyam lila 8:300

"Devotees also offer their respects to Hanuman, who always remained a servant of Lord Rama. The great devotee Hanuman prayed:

bhava-bandha-cchide tasyai
sprhayami na muktaye
bhavan prabhur aham dasa
iti yatra vilupyate

"I do not wish to take liberation or to merge in the Brahman effulgence, where the conception of being a servant of the Lord is completely lost."

Anonymous said...

“Another day, when Krishna and Balarama were playing with Their friends, all the boys joined Balarama and told mother Yasoda that Krishna had eaten clay. On hearing this, mother Yasoda caught hold of Krishna’s hand and said. ‘My dear Krishna, why have You eaten earth in a solitary place? Just see, all Your friends including Balarama are complaining about You.’ Being afraid of His mother Krishna replied. ‘My dear mother, all these boys, including My elder brother Balarama, are speaking lies against Me. I have never eaten clay. My elder brother Balarama, while playing with Me today, became angry, and therefore He has joined with the other boys to complain against Me. They have all combined together to complain so you will be angry and chastise Me. If you think they are truthful, then you can look within My mouth to see whether I have taken clay or not.’ His mother replied. ‘All right, if You have actually not taken any clay, then just open Your mouth. I shall see.’”

“When the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna was so ordered by His mother. He immediately opened His mouth just like an ordinary boy. Then mother Yasoda saw within that mouth the complete opulence of creation. She saw the entire outer space in all directions, mountains, islands, oceans, seas, planets
, air, fire, moon and stars. Along with the moon and the stars she also saw the entire elements, water, sky, the extensive ethereal existence along with the total ego and the products of the senses and the controller of the senses, all the demigods, the objects of the senses like sound, smell, etc., and the three qualities of material nature. She also could perceive that within His mouth were all living entities, eternal time, material nature, spiritual nature, activity, consciousness and different forms of the whole creation. Yasoda could find within the mouth of her child everything necessary for cosmic manifestation. She also saw within His mouth, herself taking Krishna on her lap and having Him suck her breast.”

Anonymous said...

Balarama serves as Krishna’s elder brother, both in their eternal state of being in the Spiritual World, and during their recorded earthly pastimes. In a way, this gives him a senior position to God, a fascinating prospect that has an equally fascinating story behind it.

According to the ancient Puranas, each cycle of time contains four Yugas: Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. As Krishna himself states in Bhagavad-gita, he appears in each of these Yugas along with his associates, “To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion.”

One of these appearances, during Treta Yuga, was as Lord Ramachandra. In this Avatar, Krishna was assisted by his female energy and eternal consort Radharani as Rama’s wife Sita, and Balarama as his younger brother Lakshman.

But as he carried out his mission of destroying the demon Ravana and giving the world the example of an ideal king, Rama endured untold suffering. He was banished from his inherited kingdom by his own step-mother; sent to the forest in exile for fourteen years; told that his father had died in grief while he was away; suffered the harsh austerities of life in the forest; and had his beloved wife kidnapped by Ravana.

While all these incidents were the Lord’s own decisions and integral to his example of perfect righteousness, they nevertheless caused Balarama, as Lakshman, much pain. His inferior position as younger brother did not allow him to object to Rama’s actions. The Chaitanya Charitamrita explains, “As a younger brother he could not stop Lord Rama from his resolution. And so he remained silent, although unhappy in his mind.”

Out of his love for Krishna, Balarama vowed that in future earthly advents he would never again take birth as the Lord’s younger brother. So when Krishna appeared again in Dvapara Yuga in his eternal form, Balarama became his elder brother by one year to ensure that he would be happy and not go through so many hardships.

Only 500 years ago in the current age, Kali, Balarama again appeared as the older brother—Nityananda Prabhu—to Krishna’s incarnation as Shri Chaitanya. Together, the two introduced the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra as the best path to God and self-realization.

Anonymous said...

Mother Yashodha was blessed to see the cosmic vision inside his mouth, and while on the point of recognising His Supreme Nature was brought back to the normal plane through the Lord’s Maya. She could tie Him to the grinding stone in an attempt to control His pranks because He allowed her to do so.

The Supreme Brahman growing up as a child in Ayarpadi, playing and mingling with the simple folk and indulging in childhood pranks, is itself an occasion that provides tremendous opportunities for God experience. Azhwars (Alvars) have delved deep into Lord Krishna’s childhood and taught us to savour the closeness to God in the roles of a Yasodha, Nandagopa, the Gopis or the cowherds.

Anonymous said...

Hayagrīva: Mr. Ginsberg was telling me downstairs that the President is going to come to Ohio State.

Allen Ginsberg: Nixon.

Hayagrīva: President Nixon?

Allen Ginsberg: In one month for the graduation.

Hayagrīva: He told the students to chant...

Allen Ginsberg: Hare Kṛṣṇa to Nixon.

Prabhupāda: Very nice.

Hayagrīva: So that he would hear it when he was coming by.

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Prabhupāda: Very good. Very good suggestion. Yes.

Allen Ginsberg: I think I told you about that, didn't I?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You told me in San Francisco. Yes.

Allen Ginsberg: So he heard two rounds of it. Okay. I have to take a plane today to a Catholic college in New York State. I'll be going back to New York at one o'clock, so I have to go back and pack and say good-bye to the students. It was a pleasure to see you here, lovely. So maybe we'll do it again in New York.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Allen Ginsberg: I'll call. Thank you for your words and thank you for letting me join you.

Prabhupāda: My... You are already chanting. But if we do together, it will be very nice.

Allen Ginsberg: So let's do something together in New York City this summer. I'm free all summer, so it's at your convenience this time 'cause I'll be free. I don't have any dates or appointments. So if you just let me know maybe two weeks or somebody let me know a few weeks in advance, then I can come down from the farm, spend a day with you and then we chant. I'd be happy to do that. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Give him that garland. (end)

Anonymous said...

A devotee is very uncomplicated—his life is simply dedicated to doing whatever will please the Lord. This simplicity and innocent devotion is illustrated in a story told at Hanuman temples all over India.

When Hanuman was delivering Rama’s message and ring to Sita while she was being held captive by Ravana, he saw her applying reddish vermillion—known as “sindhur” or “kumkum”—in the parting in her hair, and asked what its purpose was.

“It is to give my husband Sri Rama a long life and to protect him from calamities,” Sita explained.
Hearing this, Hanuman thought, “If just a pinch of sindhur can protect Rama, how safe will a huge amount keep him?” He then promptly covered his entire body with sindhur.

When he returned to the other side of the ocean, where Rama was preparing his army of monkey warriors for war, the commander-in-chief Sugriva burst into laughter. Rama, however, gravely asked Hanuman why he had done such a thing. When Hanuman told him, Rama was deeply moved by this innocent show of Bhakti and proclaimed that any devotee who worshipped Hanuman with sindhur would receive His mercy and be able to cross all obstacles in devotional service.

Today, devotees at temples across India still worship Hanuman by anointing his deity form with sindhur.


It is stated in the scriptures that wherever rama-katha, stories about Rama, are recited, Hanuman comes to listen. He makes every endeavor to increase the bliss of Lord Ramachandra’s devotees, both in ancient times and today.

It is also said that the immortal Hanuman has vowed to remain in this world as long as the holy names of Rama are chanted.

Anonymous said...

Hanumad Ramayana

After the victory of Rama over Ravana, Hanuman went to the Himalayas to continue his worship of the Lord. There he scripted a version of the Ramayana on the Himalayan mountains using his nails, recording every detail of Rama's deeds. When Maharishi Valmiki visited him to show him his own version of the Ramayana, he also saw Lord Hanuman's version and became very disappointed. When Hanuman asked him the cause of his sorrow, he said that his version, which he had created very laboriously was no match for the splendour of Hanuman's, and would therefore, go ignored. At this, Hanuman took those rocks on one shoulder and Valmiki on the other, and went to the sea. There he threw his own version into the sea, as an offering to Rama. This version, called the Hanumad Ramayana, has been unavailable since then.

Maharishi Valmiki was so taken aback that he said he would take another birth to sing the glory of Hanuman which he had understated in his version. (It is said that Saint Tulsidas who composed the Ramcharitmanas was none other than the Maharishi Valmiki reborn to fulfill his desire).

Later, one tablet is said to have floated ashore during the period of Mahakavi Kalidasa, and hung at a public place to be deciphered by scholars. Kalidasa is said to have deciphered it and recognised that it was from the Hanumad Ramayana recorded by Hanuman in an extinct script, and considered himself very fortunate to see at least one pada of the stanza.

Anonymous said...

Once while in deep meditation on Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva heard the sweet vibration of Krishna playing His divine flute. Mesmerized, He entered samadhi. He followed that transcendental sound until He came to Vrindavan, where Lord Gopinath was getting ready to start the Maha raas with His gopis.

Desiring intensely to join the maha-raas, when He came to the entrance of the raas-sthali, He was stopped by Yogamaya, who told him, "No males except Krishna are allowed entry. First you must have gopi-rupa, the form of a Vraja milkmaid, a gopi, only then can you enter."

Lord Bholanath asked "How can I get gopi-rupa?" Yogamaya replied, "Seek the shelter of Vrinda Devi. She will grant you the form of a gopi."

Vrinda devi asked Lord Shiva to take a dip in the waters of Manasarovar. After bathing there, Lord Shiva emerged from the lake with the form of a beautiful gopi.

Vrinda devi then took Lord Shiva in her gopi form to one corner of the raas sthali. Lord Shiva stood there and prayed to Sri Sri Radha Krishna for getting prema-bhakti.

Then the raas started. Lord Krishna danced with all the gopis. He also danced very elegantly with Lord Shiva disguised as a gopi.

Then after some time, when they rested, the Lord said 'I'm not getting the usual pleasure from our raas. Something is not right. I think there is another man in our midst." Then He asked Lalita devi to check all the gopis and make sure no man was lurking amongst them dressed as one of them.

Lalita devi went around and lifted the veils of all the hundreds of gopis but couldn't find any man disguised as a woman. She came and reported to Krishna, "I have not found any man, but there is one gopi with three eyes." she said puzzled.

Lord Krishna asked her to bring her to Him. When the Lord saw the Shiva gopi, He laughed heartily and addressed him, "O Gopeshwar, I am very pleased to see you in the form of a gopi. But you know that this raas is not for grihastas (householders). Therefore, since you have already participated and fulfilled your desire, now I offer you the post of raas dwaar paal (gatekeeper of the raas). I also give you the blessing that henceforth, all the gopis will offer respect to you and seek your blessing to get gopi bhava."

From that time, Gopeshwar Mahadeva has been worshipped in Vrindavan in the form of a Shiva linga in the mornings. In the evenings, the shiva-linga is decorated beautifully as a gopi.

Anonymous said...

Srila Sanatana Gosvami, who resided in Vrndavana near the old Sri Madana-Mohana temple, would go daily to see Sri Gopeshwar Mahadeva at his temple.

Once, in his older years, Sanatana Gosvami had a dream wherein Gopeshwar Mahadeva appeared and instructed him: Now that you are old, please do not go through so much trouble to see me. Sanatana Gosvami replied, I will continue to come. I cannot change this habit.

Lord Gopeshwar said, Then I will come and stay very near to your residence, manifesting in Bankhandi. The very next day, Sri Gopeshwar Mahadeva appeared in Bankhandi, halfway between his orginal temple and Srila Sanatana Gosvami's residence.

Seeing this, Sanatana Gosvami became overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy, and from that day on he visited Bankhandi Mahadeva every day.

Prior to this, Lord Siva had asked Sri Krsna for the boon to witness His childhood pastimes. Krsna ordered him to situate himself in Nandagaon in the form of a hill. Siva followed this order and became Nandisvara Hill, and he thus became known as Nandisvara.

Srimad gopishwaram vande sankaram karunaa-mayam
sarva-klesha haram devam vrindaaranya-rati-pradam

Sri Gopeshwar Mahadeva ki Jai !!

Jai Jai Sri Radhey !!

Anonymous said...

Nandisvara Temple

On the side altar of the Nandagram Temple there is a Siva-linga called Nandisvara (Nandisvara), who is said to have been installed by Vajranabha. This linga of Lord Siva resides eternally in Nandagram performing bhajan (worship) to Sri Krishna. This is one of the five presiding Siva-lingas of Braja. These Siva-lingas protect the holy dhama from any disturbing elements.

Once Lord Siva came to the house of Nanda and Yasoda and asked to see child Krishna. When Yasoda saw his frightening appearance (Lord Siva has ashes, snakes and bones on him) she would not allow him to enter. He tried to persuade her to see Krishna, but she would not agree. Lord Siva then left and went to the forest to meditate on Krishna.

In the house, child Krishna started to cry and no one could stop Him. Mother Yasoda realized that maybe because she did not receive a guest properly there was some reaction. She then sent everyone to go find the tantric yogi who had come to her house earlier. After a short while they returned with Lord Siva.

When Lord Siva came before Krishna, He immediately stopped crying and smiled brilliantly. Mother Yasoda then said to Lord Siva “My son has finally stopped crying, what can I do for you.” Lord Siva replied that he just wanted to be able to see child Krishna and to be able to eat the remnants of His food. Even today the priests of the Nandagram temple offer the remnants of what was offered to Lord Krishna to the
Nandisvara-linga in this temple.

Anonymous said...

Hanuman is a sevaka. He wants to serve in all ways. He thinks that if anyone will stop his service, he will die. Once Bharata, Laksmana, Satrughna and Sita were having a discussion about Hanuman and they decided, "Hanuman has come and taken all our services. We should make a scheme to drive him out from the Raja palace." They went to Rama and told Him, "We will serve You all day and night, and we will divide up all the services. The entire night Sita will serve You, and during the day sometimes Laksmana, sometimes Bharata, and sometimes Satrughna will serve."

They left no service for Hanuman, and therefore he humbly requested them, "Please give me some service; anything you like; any service at all."

They asked, "What service do you want?"

He replied, "Please give me the service that when Rama is yawning, I will snap my fingers."

"Why?"

Hanuman replied, "To make Rama remember Krsna or God." In Indian culture it is the habit of one to snap his fingers when someone else yawns so that the person will remember Krsna or Rama. "So I should do this."

They knew that Rama never yawns, and thus there would be nothing for Hanuman to do. They said, "Oh yes, we can give you this service." Hanuman then left the room and began to snap his fingers continually; and Rama began to yawn throughout the day and night. There was no other service to do because Rama was always yawning. A great problem arose and the four could not decide what to do. Now Sita was not serving, nor was Laksmana, nor Satrughna, nor anyone. They came to Rama and asked, "What should we do now?" And Rama continued to yawn.

They went to Hanuman and requested him, "You should stop snapping your fingers."

He asked, "Why should I stop? You have given me this service. I don’t know when Rama will yawn, and therefore I snap my fingers all the time."

Rama then advised them, "Divide the service and give something to Hanuman. Otherwise he will always be snapping his fingers and I will be forced to continue yawning. Hanuman cannot live without service."

There are two kinds of servants. Hanuman wants to embrace Ramacandra. However, being a pure servant, he cannot do so. If you want to see another type of servant, you can go to Vraja, where there are the servants of Nanda Baba. These servants take Krsna in their laps and, kissing Him, say, "O baby Krsna, O baby Krsna!" Sometimes they even give Him their own remnants. They are far superior to Hanuman.

Hanuman wants to come to Vraja, but he cannot come. There he may see that Krsna's mother is controlling Him, twisting His ear, slapping Him, and taking a stick to Him and accusing Him, "You naughty boy!" He would not be able to tolerate this because he considers that his Prabhu is the supreme Lord, and therefore he never comes. On the other hand, the servants of Nanada Baba never think that Krsna is the supreme Lord. They only know that He is Nanda Baba’s son.

Srila Prabhupada:
A man becomes purified simply by hearing the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose lotus feet create the holy places of pilgrimage. Therefore, what remains to be attained by those who have become His servants?"

Anonymous said...

Gopal in Baby Swing¹

[Yashoda is] swinging Krishna (Gopala) in a baby swing. Among the three-hundred thirty million demi-gods and sages, there is excitement about this event.

That Whose mysteries are beyond Brahma, and is not achieved by Shiv and Sanakadi, is now being seen by Yashoda who is happily swaying Krishna in the baby swing.

Krishna is rising up, smiling, and cackling with glee, thereby increasing the happiness and excitement. O Soordas! For the benefit of devotees, Shyam takes many forms.

Poet: Soordas

Source: Sri Krishna Baal Madhuri

Anonymous said...

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.37

deva-dviṣāḿ nigama-vartmani niṣṭhitānāḿ

pūrbhir mayena vihitābhir adṛśya-tūrbhiḥ

lokān ghnatāḿ mati-vimoham atipralobhaḿ

veṣaḿ vidhāya bahu bhāṣyata aupadharmyam

TRANSLATION

When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles.

PURPORT

This incarnation of Lord Buddha is not the same Buddha incarnation we have in the present history of mankind. According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the Buddha incarnation mentioned in this verse appeared in a different Kali age. In the duration of life of one Manu there are more than seventy-two Kali-yugas, and in one of them the particular type of Buddha mentioned here would appear. Lord Buddha incarnates at a time when the people are most materialistic and preaches common-sense religious principles. Such ahiḿsā is not a religious principle itself, but it is an important quality for persons who are actually religious. It is a common-sense religion because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to he who does the harm. But before learning these principles of nonviolence one has to learn two other principles, namely to be humble and to be prideless. Unless one is humble and prideless, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent. And after being nonviolent one has to learn tolerance and simplicity of living. One must offer respects to the great religious preachers and spiritual leaders and also train the senses for controlled action, learning to be unattached to family and home, and enacting devotional service to the Lord, etc. At the ultimate stage one has to accept the Lord and become His devotee; otherwise there is no religion. In religious principles there must be God in the center; otherwise simple moral instructions are merely subreligious principles, generally known as upadharma, or nearness to religious principles.

Anonymous said...

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.41

nāntaḿ vidāmy aham amī munayo 'gra-jās te

māyā-balasya puruṣasya kuto 'varā ye

gāyan guṇān daśa-śatānana ādi-devaḥ

śeṣo 'dhunāpi samavasyati nāsya pāram

TRANSLATION

Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.

PURPORT

The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has primarily three potential manifestations, namely internal, external, and marginal potencies, with unlimited expansions of these three energies. As such, the potential expansions can never be calculated by anyone because even the Personality of God Himself, as the incarnation of Śeṣa, cannot estimate the potencies, although He has been describing them continuously with His one thousand faces.

Anonymous said...

Who says devotees are staid and humorless?

Just Discovered:
More Letters Prabhupada Didn't Write

BY: HASYA MUKHI DEVI DASI

Sep 08, 2010 — USA (SUN) —

Back By Popular Demand Department: Guess what, Prabhus. The BBT(X) Archives just uncovered a whole ‘nother slew of…

Letters Prabhupada Didn’t Write

"I have received the good news about the Kuli Mela and have seen the exciting 2009 video. Yes, I strongly encourage such festivals that are sectarian, appeal only to certain individuals and are based upon the bodily concept of life. Especially I enjoyed the master of ceremonies in his tuxedo, hooting it up about his leather shoes. The rap music was also very nice. Perhaps there was some deeper meaning in the dance of the young lady swinging a weapon in the air, crying "You want a piece of me?" that I did not understand. But that is your advancement, to have moved to a new level, which even previous acaryas cannot fathom."

"Regarding the Kuli Mela, as we are opposed to intoxication please make sure that sales of marijuana are kept at least one hundred feet from the door to the theater."

"I am pleased to see that your center is supporting a New Age Mela. But for the sake of equality, there should also be an Old Age Mela for devotees who are retiring from their salaried positions and are now collecting their pensions from the Sankirtan Fund."

"I am pleased that your center wishes to have more festivals. I have just seen the Kuli Mela video and can suggest some similar celebrations as follows:

Stoolie Mela: This mela should be only for stalwart devotees who limit their preaching to "Your body is stool and urine." So this reunion of the "stoolies" will no doubt produce some remarkable benefit."

Foolie Mela: This mela is exclusively for devotees who enjoy sitting on Vyas Asans and calling everyone else ‘You Fools.' I suggest that it be organized by Rameshwara and Hridayananda, as they are expert in this department. Of course, this mela will require a separate Vyasa Asan for each celebrant, but we have a precedent for this. When the eleven acharyas met in Vrindavana, each one had his own Vyasa Asan right in the temple, so building Vyasa Asans for all the advanced Foolies will not be difficult."

Rulie Mela: This mela will be a meeting for all the devotees who emphasize only the rules of ashram life. Meet at 7 pm sharp. Sit up straight up, and do not look to the side. Snacks will be served, but no eating with the left hand."

"No, I do not approve of the idea of the Jewly Mela, as I do not wish for Harikesha, Satsvarupa, Bhavananda and Kirtanananda to feel left out. Yes, please have the Dandavats Dandies Mela and invite all the commentators to Dandavats. Especially the professional commentators who can't write articles of their own should participate. Yes, the Dandies should go ahead with the seminars, "New Fault Finding Techniques" and "Using Strange Words Out of Context to Hide Illiteracy."

Anonymous said...

Prabhupada: “… Anything grown in the garden, that is hundred times valuable than it is purchased from the market. …and if you ‘can’t', or no soil, get dried beans, soak, and grow sprouts, and offer, and eat raw, in a few days”

This farm project is especially for the devotees to grow their own food. Cotton also, to make their own clothes. And keeping cows for milk and fatty products.” ( Letter to: Yasomatinandana — Vrindaban 28 November, 1976)

“Therefore I am asking so much here and…, “Farm, farm, farm, farm…” That is not my program — Krsna’s program. Annad bhavanti bhutani [Bg. 3.14]. Produce greenness everywhere, everywhere. Vrndavana. It is not this motorcar civilization. If it has taken in his brain, then it is to be understood that he can do this plan. He’ll be able. “ (Conversation Pieces — May 27, 1977, Vrndavana)

That I want to introduce. At any cost do it and… Don’t bother about big, big buildings. It is not required. Useless waste of time. Produce. Make the whole field green. See that. Then whole economic question solved. Then you eat sumptuous. Eat sumptuously. ( SB 1.10.4 Purport)

Anonymous said...

Yamaraja then told the Yamadutas:

"Paramahamsas are exalted persons who have no taste for material enjoyment and who drink the honey of the Lord's lotus feet. My dear servants, bring to me for punishment only persons who are averse to the taste of that honey, who do not associate with paramahamsas and who are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell.

"My dear servants, please bring to me only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy name and qualities of Krsna, whose hearts do not remember the lotus feet of Krsna even once, and whose heads do not bow down even once before Lord Krsna. Send me those who do not perform their duties toward Visnu, which are the only duties in human life. Please bring me all such fools and rascals."

Anonymous said...

If one has to take shelter of Lord Vishnu, why should the demigods take shelter of Lord Shiva? They did so because Vishnu acts through Shiva in the creation of the material world; Lord Shiva acts on behalf of Lord Vishnu. When Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (14.4) that He is the father of all living entities (aham bija pradah pita), He is referring to actions performed by Lord Vishnu through Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu is always unattached to material activities, and when material activities are to be performed, Lord Vishnu performs them through Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is therefore worshipped on the level of Lord Vishnu. “When Lord Vishnu is untouched by the external energy he is Lord Vishnu, but when he is in touch with the external energy he appears in his feature as Lord Shiva.”

Anonymous said...

A wonderful peek into the diary of a true seeker.

Paste in Google...

The Ultimate Journey: Visiting Lord Shiva at Mount Kailash, 2000

Anonymous said...

Transcendental vibrations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNev_4S7Uy0

Anonymous said...

“Thus when Krishna calls out, ‘Hey Dhavali’ (the name of a white cow) a whole group of white cows comes forward, and when Krishna calls ‘Hamsi, Candani, Ganga, Mukta’ and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called ‘Aruni, Kunkuma, Sarasvati, etc., the blackish ones ‘Shyamala, Dhumala, Yamuna, etc., and the yellowish ones are Pita, Pingala, Haritaki, etc. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.35.19 purport)

“As described in the Brahma Samhita (surabhi apbipalayantam), Lord Krishna on His planet, Goloka Vrindavana, engages in tending the surabhi cows. These cows are the Lord’s pet animals.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.8.2 purport

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada, Moscow, 22 June 1971: [...] But when you come to Krishna, then it is sufficient. You are satisfied. I’ll give you an example: a child is crying, and people move him from one lap to another. Oh, he does not stop. But as soon as the baby comes to the lap of his mother…

Prof. Kotovsky: It stops.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, full satisfaction. So this surrender, these changes, will go on in different categories. But the sum total of all this surrender is surrender to maya.

Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gita it is said that this surrender, neglecting Krishna, is all maya. Either you surrender to this or to that, but final surrender is surrender to Krishna; then you will be happy.

The process of surrender is there, but surrender to Krishna keeps one quite satisfied, transcendentally.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada scoffed at the religious leaders and politicians who talk about "universal brotherhood," yet exclude animals from moral concern. He taught that nonviolence is the first principle of spiritual life (Letter to Bhakta dasa, August 3, 1973) and that the saints and mystics see all living entities with equal vision. We are all equal in Gods eyes whether one is incarcerated inside the body of a bird, fish, reptile, mammal, demigod, poet, merchant, insect, etc...He taught that social ills such as racism, sexism, caste-ism, nationalism, speciesism, etc...arise because eternal souls falsely identify with their temporary bodies. On the spiritual platform, we are all equal. (Compare Colossians 3:11 and Galatians 3:28)

Srila Prabhupada responded to the Declaration of Independence by saying animals also have the right to life; animals as well as humans are protected in an enlightened civilization. Srila Prabhupada taught that our present civilization cannot even be considered human, because of the practice of slaughtering animals for food and sport. He equated eating meat with cannibalizing small children, and candidly told a Catholic priest in London in 1973 that, "Animal-killers cannot understand God. I have seen this. It is a fact."

Anonymous said...

Srimati Radharani's Appearance Day

Radharani..., today is Radharani's appearance day. So we should try to understand Radharani's feature. Radharani is the pleasure potency, hladini-sakti. Anandamayo 'bhyasat. In the Vedanta-sutra the Absolute Truth is described as anandamaya, always in pleasure potency. That anandamaya potency... Just like ananda. When you want ananda, pleasure, you cannot have it alone. Alone, you cannot enjoy. When you are in the circles of friend or family or other associates, you feel pleasure. Just like I am speaking. The speaking is very pleasing when there are many persons here. I cannot speak alone here. That is not ananda. I can speak here at night, dead of night, nobody here. That is not ananda. Ananda means there must be others. So because Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is anandamaya, therefore eko bahu syam, He has become many. We are also Krsna's part and parcel, to give pleasure to Krsna. And the chief pleasure potency is Radharani.

Anonymous said...

Jewel-name of Rama

Oh dear! I have got the jewel like name of Rama.

My preceptor has given me an immaculate entity and He has accepted me out of benevolence. I have achieved the eternal treasure of name of Rama and have lost everything else in the mundane world.

This treasure [of name of Rama] does not diminishes on spending, and a thief cannot steal it. It increases five-fourth times each day. My preceptor has crossed the ocean of metempsychosis (rebirth cycle) by using the boat like name of Rama.

The Lord of ‘Mira’, is Krishna, Who lifted the mountain Govardhana, and Who is naughty. Mira sings His glories with immense happiness.

Poet: Meerabai

Anonymous said...

Krishna’s lotus feet
By Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura


You eagerly show these signs of the lotus etc. on Your feet to Your Beloved, saying: " Look, Priye, at these divine signs on My foot-soles! I’m the Lord! Why don’t You believe Me?", but still She won’t give You the proper respect! The gopis just think: " O, we also have so many different signs on our feet, that doesn’t make us God!"

Anonymous said...

Wandering through the forest
By Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura


While wandering with the gopis through the forest Krishna saw budding Yuthi-flowers growing in the rain and thought: " Sri Radhika’s beautiful face, with Her soft smile that casually opens itself and then closes itself again out of coquettish pride, reminds Me of the buds of the Yuthi-flower ", and He picked some of these Yuthi-flowers, strung a garland of them and wore them on His chest. In this way He wore Sri Radhika’s slightly smiling face on His chest.

Anonymous said...

Equality in Service

We have many engagements. We rise early in the morning for mangala aratik, then dress the Deity, offer food, then aratik, so many hours. Then read books, class, take care of the temple. Don’t think that if one is engaged in Deity worship and if one is engaged in gardening there is a distinction, no. The one who is working as a gardener is as good as the one who is dressing the Deity because it is on the Absolute plane. There is no difference.

In the material world if one is working as a manager and the other is working as a menial servant there is a difference of pay or service. In the spiritual world there is no such thing. In the spiritual world even a small ant who is serving Krishna by chance is serving absolutely. Suppose there is an ant, and the flower is thrown onto the lotus feet of Krishna, and the ant kisses the lotus feet of Krishna - he is as good as the pujari. This is the spiritual world.

Anonymous said...

thank you for your teachings,you send me on timeless journeys...peace neil

Anonymous said...

Hazrat Muhammad is the perfect holy man

Srila Prabhupada: That you have to find out, but here it is already there. Why should you go to some trouble to find out another holy man? The holy man never says, Muhammad never said that "You chant my name." We have to test whether he is a holy man or not. Here is the perfect holy man. He never said that "You chant my name." He said "Chant Allah's name." That is a holy man. That is the test of a holy man. He does not become God, he serves God. That is a holy man. (Roomconversation. Tehran, 14/03/75)

Here Srila Prabhupada explains that Hazrat Muhammad is the perfect holy man. The Holy Prophet Muhammad never said, "Chant my name, praise me." He requested, "Chant Allah's name, praise God." That is the test of a holy man. He always serves God and invites others to serve God. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, despite being the spiritual and state leader of the Arab empire, lived a very simple life. He requested bis followers to never praise him, worship him, bow down before him, or worship his tomb after his departure from worldly life. He inspired people to give all praises, all worship and all adoration to God.

Anonymous said...

Krishna says, patram pushpam phalam toyam: “You can offer Me a leaf or a fruit or some water or a little juice—just something small—and I’ll accept it.” Everyone can pick a leaf from a tree or grow a leafy vegetable. Everyone can get a flower. They grow everywhere. You can offer a prize rose or a small wild flower—or even a dandelion or a buttercup! Everyone can get some water or a little juice. So it’s not the item that’s so important, but the love that goes into it.

That morning during Srila Prabhupada's daily walk, he was talking about prasadam, food offered to God before it is personally consumed. Prabhupada said prasadam is so spiritually potent that if a human being simply eats prasadam once, in his next life, he will take birth in a family of devotees. He then stated that if an animal eats prasadam, in its next life it will immediately take birth in the human form of life, jumping over all other species of life that a soul would normally have to pass through before obtaining a human birth.

Anonymous said...

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1-8
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Stockholm, September 8, 1973

Prabhupāda: So this instruction of Ṛṣabhadeva is very, very important. Try to understand. Our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a protest to the modern way of civilization. The leaders of the modern society, they want that people should be engaged in working like dogs and hogs and asses. They should not understand what is the value of life, what is the object of life. Let them always remain intoxicated, and sense gratification, and produce more product for sense enjoyment. This is modern civilization. All these factories… I understand that in this country the farmers are taxed so heavily that they are forced to work in the factory. This is a policy of the government leaders to engage people. If anyone wants to live peacefully, save time for developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the leaders of the society or the government will not allow him to do so. This is the position.

Anonymous said...

Sep 18, 2010 — CANADA (SUN) — Sri Vamana Dvadasi, the Appearance Day of Vamana-avatar, is observed on September 19th.

The fifth among the Dasavatara is Sri Vamana-avatara. There are innumerable lila-avataras. Among them are twenty-five chief lila-avataras of which Sri Vamanadeva is the eighteenth. All the lila-avataras have been mentioned in the previous description of Matsya-avatara. Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are the original catur-vyuha, or original four expanded forms of Sri Krishna in Dvaraka. They are prabhava-vilasa (four-handed forms) of Sri Krishna.

The majestic expansion of Sri Krishna, Narayana, who resides in Vaikuntha, also has His catur-vyuha, which is known as the second manifestation of four expanded forms. Each form of this second catur-vyuha again expands into three forms. Among the first manifestation of expanded forms, Pradyumna expands into three forms known as Trivikrama, Vamana and Sridhara. Thus, each form of the second catur-vyuha expands into three forms, which totals twelve, and These are the Presiding Deities of the twelve months.

Anonymous said...

1970 something...

Devotee (1): Instead of using the land to grow potatoes and watermelons, they’re simply using it to build more offices for tables and chairs to study the situation."

Prabhupada: Life will be more more dangerous in this Kali-yuga. People will starve. And they… It is already began. The hippies are going to the forest. This will be the whole world situation. Everything will be chaotic.

Amogha: But if they actually go to the forest, then that will be one step.

Prabhupada: No, it is disappointment. It is simply disappoint… That is not solution. But people will do that. When the one is mad he doesn’t know what to do–”Let me go to the forest.” Achinna dara-dravinam gacchanti giri-kananam, it is said. Giri means mountain, and kananam means forest. Giving up their hearth and home… They are already giving up the home, wife, children, and going away. Everybody doing that.

Paramahamsa: Actually, in so many cases the hippies, they went to the forest, and because there was no standard of spiritual life there, they became discouraged also. They ran into the same problems in the forest that they had in the cities.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Paramahamsa: So therefore many of these communities that they started back in, about ten years ago, 1960′s, they have all folded up because there was nothing to hold them together.

Prabhupada: Yes. There is no engagement. Therefore we are proposing that eat nicely, live nicely, and chant Hare Krsna. This is the engagement.

Visible said...

I'm doing my best with this community and you have communities too. Mine have always been successful and I have had two so far and they are still intact although migrated into a larger setup. I read your gifts. Never assume that Krishna is unaware of my devotional contribution. Everyone is an expert except me. It makes you wonder why I get so much attention and why so many people, some of them gifted professionals are selling what they have to come and join me.

Anonymous said...

les, none of this is meant as criticism or objection..
Please know I mean no ill will of you or your efforts which are indeed impressive and obviously well intentioned.

I just offer Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavata Dharma as he gave it.
The intended gist of this was to point to the wonderful and beneficial goal of simple living, high thinking, of which farming is integral.

I think you are fine and good with your service and I'm certain Lord Krishna accepts it as such.

As for me, well I'm really not much at all. I'm lazy, not so intelligent or very helpful at much of anything.
Sometimes I think my only redeeming quality is my apathy and indifference and that's not really much quality at all, is it.

To think of myself as an expert anything at anything, except perhaps lollygagging around and taking up space, is amusing at best and the truth at worst.

As I'm sure you've gathered, I am not a member of ISKCON. Nor do I wish to be or intend to be.

Thank you for your showing these wonderful words.
And that is what they are.
Most are transcendental gems, yes.

I am glad you and one or two others enjoy and benefit from them.

Please accept my best wishes and apology if I offended you.

Homer

Visible said...

Not at all Homer, why don't you come over and we will chant Hare Krishna together. It just seemed pointed at the community; my mistake. I'm just trying to do my best and all of this is because people keep asking me for somewhere to go and I have somewhere. I have something very nice for the right people where farming and the rest is the main priority of the region.

Anonymous said...

Thanks les.
You're a scholar and a gentleman.
Among other things... (grin)

I'd love to chant Hare Krishna with you les. I think perhaps we already do, at times..
And who knows, I might just visit, Lord willing.
I'm fairly sure I can run a shovel well enough to work along side Bholanath. Well, maybe..

Visible said...

Don't let maybe get in the way of absolutely. Bholanath gives me the same excuses when I already know he's going to be there. We're not going to wield shovels in this season. We are going to talk and praise the name of God and nothing more. Shovels won't help us now and I have plenty of food anyway.

You can or you can't... fine, that's besides the point but we are not digging until Spring.

Anonymous said...

When Lord Krishna was returning to Dwaraka after the great war of Mahabharata was over, He asked everyone what he/she wanted from Him. Kunti asked Him that calamities should befall her so that she would remember Him often. She said it was during the calamities that the humans remembered God and tried to establish a connection with Him.

Anonymous said...

In the Brahma Samhita, prayers by Lord Brahma, it is stated that Ganesa worships the lotus feet of Lord Narasimhadev and has thus become a source of great auspiciousness and then he is able to clear all impediments.

While watching the rasa dance performed by Lord Krsna and the gopis, Lord Siva beheld the beautiful face of Krsna and immediately began to dance and beat upon his small dindima drum. While Lord Shiva was dancing in ecstasy, his eldest son, GANESHA, joined him.

Demigod Ganesha is a Shudha Vaishnava. A devotee of Lord Narshimhadev. So a Vaishnava Devotee will Always Worship him to make him/her advance in Krishna bhakti and to remove any Impediments in the Path of Krishna Consciousness.

Anonymous said...

Vinayaka Chathurthi:

It was Vinayaka Chathurthi once again. Nanda, thefoster-father of Krishna residing in Gokulam, made animage of Vighneswara, while Yashoda prepared varieties of sweets and placed them before the idol kept in the puja room. She closed the door behind her and came away, expecting the Lord to partake of the sweets on that auspicious day.

Meanwhile, Krishna found his way to the puja room.He sat in front of the idol of Vighneswara. ”Brother, please eat all these delicacies. Today is an auspicious day.”

Vighneswara now picked up the sweetmeat with his trunk and began eating them one after the other. ”Krishna, you must share these with me and eat whatever I give you. This will be hailed as a glorious occasion!”

Anonymous said...

What is link between Ganesh Chaturti and Srimad Bhagavatam?

For the sake of mankind to live happily Lord Mahaganapathi did a very big sacrifice. When Veda Vyasa requested Lord Ganesha to write Mahabharata, Lord Ganapathi accepted it with some conditions. In order to write this great epic, he broke one of his tusks. It is because of Lord Ganapathi that we are all blessed to have the “Panchamo Vedha” (i.e.) Mahabharata. Lord Ganesha is also responsible for the Koorma Avatar (Lord’s incarnation as a tortoise). Ganesha, thus, is one of the greatest Bhagavatas!

Anonymous said...

* WISDOM in RUKMINI's LOVE : In a disaster situation - negotiation was reached that Krshna could stay in Dwaraka (and not be drafted to heavens) if they could give gold equal to His weight to the Devas. The TULA Pastime.
When all queens had exhausted their jewellery on one side of the balance, the other side being filled by Krshna, they turned to Rukmini "Sri Rukmini, do something !" She calmly took a Tulasi leaf, wrote a msg of love, pouring all Her love in it and place it on the balance. The balance tipped !

This Lila shows Krshna responds to Love, not material wealth.

estebanfolsom said...

there is a path
of devotion

that'll get you there

there is a path
of reasoning

same destination

a path of service
also works

and what of
renunciation ?

Anonymous said...

Yes esteban, all those, and more, are contained in the first.

In chanting the Mahamantra all worship and respects to God and every demigod alike, are accomplished.
Any prayer, offering, service, thoughts, pleas to Krishna (God)
are celebrated by Lords Shiva, Indra, Chandra, Surya, Ganesha, the angels, the rishis, the saints and every deva. All of them are satisfied.

This is the mercy of the Lord.
And it's huge. Immeasurable.

Even a criminal bastard like myself is given the degree of relief correspondingly.

“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly."

Anonymous said...

"Radhanath Swami Scores"

Yes, but just who is it the "Swami" is scoring with?

I am so far below the poverty line that it hardly matters.

I am so lazy and lame talent wise as to be lucky to even claim membership in the class of no nothing bums.

I am not very intelligent as to be even minutely above animal intelligence.

Still, I would never wish to be and give thanks that I am not one Radhanath Swami whose destination is known to even one such as me!

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/09-10/editorials6593.htm

Anonymous said...

" Anyone can see that an ordinary tree is producing many chemicals"

Dr. Singh, May 7, 1973, Los Angeles: [...] The scientists will reply that they cannot believe in mystic power.

Srila Prabhupada: But they must explain the origin of the chemicals. Anyone can see that an ordinary tree is producing many chemicals; they cannot deny it. But how does it produce them?

Since they cannot answer this, they must accept that the living force has mystic power. I cannot explain how my fingernail is growing out of my finger; it is beyond the power of my brain.

In other words, it is growing by inconceivable potency, or acintya-sakti. So if acintya-sakti exists in an ordinary being, imagine how much acintya-sakti God possesses.

The difference between God and me is that although I have the same potencies as God, I can produce only a small quantity of chemicals, whereas He can produce enormous quantities.

I can produce a little water in the form of perspiration, but God can produce the seas. Analysis of one drop of seawater gives you the qualitative analysis of the sea, without any mistake.

Similarly, the ordinary living being is part and parcel of God, so by analyzing the living beings we can begin to understand God. In God there is great mystic potency. God’s mystic potency is working swiftly, exactly like an electric machine. Machines operate by certain energy, and they are so nicely made that all the work is done simply by pushing a button.

Similarly, God said, “Let there be creation,” and there was creation. Considered in this way, the workings of nature are not very difficult to understand. God has such wonderful potencies that the creation, on His order alone, immediately takes place.

Anonymous said...

"Humility implies perfect submission to the truth and no sympathy for untruth. A person who entertains any partiality for untruth is unfit to chant the kirtana of Hari."

~ Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

Anonymous said...

Precious Human Life

One afternoon a master and his disciples were resting on the banks of the Ganges. Shyamanand was idly inspecting a stone he had picked up along the road, thinking of the vast throngs who had come to hear the Guru. "Master," said Shyamanand, "you teach a way for every person to find liberation. But many of those who listen still seem to spend much of their time in conflict, and in seeking out excitement and other idle pursuits. Why do they waste away their lives so?"

"Most people don't recognize its value," replied the Guru, "although human life is the dearest treasure on this earth."

"Surely everyone can see the value of life," said Shyamanand.

"No," said the master, "Each man places his own value on things according to what he thinks. A different man with different knowledge will place a different value. That stone you found in the dirt will make a good example. Take it to the marketplace and see what you can get for it."

Puzzled, Shyamanand took the stone to the marketplace and at a stall that sold sweets he asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laughed, "Go away, you're wasting my time."

He next tried a produce seller. "I have paying customers to wait on," said the grocer, "I'll give you an onion for it just to get you out of here."

Shyamanand tried several more shops with no better response. Finally he came to the shop of Salis Raj, the jeweller. Salis Raj's eyes opened wide when he saw the stone. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't have enough money to buy your gem. But I will give you a hundred rupees if you will let me look at it a while longer."

Shyamanand hurried back to the Guru to tell him what had happened.

"So you can see," said the master, "how, when we are ignorant we mistake a valuable gem for a worthless stone. If someone had told you its value before you knew what it was, you would have thought he’s crazy. Such a jewel is human life, and whatever you've traded for it, that is what is yours."

Anonymous said...

Lord Balarama is also the Sesa incarnation. Garbodakasayi Vishnu lies upon Ananta Sesa while dissolving the material creation. In the Upanisads it is stated that one cannot attain the supreme or any form of self-realization without being sufficiently favored by Balarama. Bala does not mean physical strength. No one can attain spiritual perfection by physical strength. One must have the spiritual strength which is infused by Balarama or Sankarsana. Ananta or Sesa is the power which sustains all the planets in their different positions. Materially this sustaining power is known as the law of gravitation, but actually it is a display of the potency of Sankarsana.

Anonymous said...

The action of the mind is the prime force compelling the living entity to transmigrate from one body to another. The Gita explains, "Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state of being he will attain without fail." Our minds are constantly recording all of our thoughts and desires, and the totality of these memories floods our consciousness in the last moments of life. The nature of our thoughts at this critical juncture propels us into the appropriate physical body. Thus the body we now occupy is an accurate physical projection of our state of mind at the time of our last death.

The Bhagavad-gita explains, "The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of eye, ear, tongue, nose, and sense of touch, which are grouped around the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects."

According to the Vedas, a soul in a form lower than human automatically evolves to the next-higher species, ultimately arriving at the human form. But because the human being possesses freedom to choose between matter and spirit, there is a chance that the soul will descend again into the lower species. The laws of karma are so arranged that if a human lives and dies with the animalistic mentality of a creature such as a dog, then in the next life he will be able to fulfill his doglike desires through the senses and organs of a dog. This is certainly an unfortunate occurrence, but such a fate is a definate possibility for a person immersed in ignorance. The Gita declares, "When he dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom."

So the soul in the body of an animal may once have inhabited a human form and vice versa. Although a soul may successively occupy plant, animal, and human bodies, its intrinsic nature remains the same. Because the soul is pure spiritual energy, it cannot be altered in any way by matter. Bhagavad-gita explains that the soul is "immutable and unchangeable." It is only the bodily covering, with its particular combination of mind and senses, that temporarily restricts or releases the conscious energy of the soul.

Anonymous said...

Faill: What can an ordinary man do? I mean the Krsna consciousness movement involves shaving the head and wearing the saffron robe. What can the man who is caught up in family life do?

Prabhupada: This saffron robe is not very essential, or cut the hair, but it creates some good situation, mental. You see? Just like a military man, when he is dressed properly he gets some energy to feel like a military man. But it does not mean that unless you are dressed, you cannot fight. It does not mean. So God consciousness can be revived in any condition, without any check. But these conditions are helpful, helpful. Therefore it is prescribed that “You live like this,” “You dress like this,” “You eat like this,” “You do like this.” These are convenient. These are convenient. So they are not essential. At the same time, if we take to these processes, then it will be helpful.

Faill: Yes. One can be a student of Krsna consciousness while going about a normal daily life.

Prabhupada: Yes.

So, so long we are on the bodily concept of life, our understanding is sense gratification because body means the senses. And then, if we go still up, then we can see that mind is the center of sense activities. We take the mind as the final, and that is mental platform. Then, from mental platform, we come to the intellectual platform. Then, from intellectual platform, we come to the transcendental platform.

Faill: To the trans…

Prabhupada: Transcendental platform. And from transcendental platform, we come to the spiritual platform. These are the stages. So in this age, because people are so fallen and in the sastra a special recommendation that give the people directly spiritual platform… That direct spiritual platform is chanting of this holy name of God, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. So if we cultivate this practice on the spiritual platform, then immediately we realize our spiritual identity, and God, and it becomes very quickly successful.

Anonymous said...

Srila Prabhupada:
Because we are now in the material world, we do not see Kṛṣṇa directly. Nonetheless, we can see Him indirectly. For example, if one sees the Pacific Ocean one can remember Kṛṣṇa immediately, if one is advanced in spiritual life. This is called meditation.

Similarly, when one sees the sunrise one can immediately remember Kṛṣṇa, for Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.8), prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: “I am the shining of the sun and the moon.” If one has learned how to see Kṛṣṇa, one can see Him in the sunshine. Our scientists have not created the sun, and although they may juggle words, it is beyond their ability to know what the sun actually is. But the Vedānta-sūtra (1.1.3) says, śāstra-yonitvāt: one can know everything through the śāstra, the Vedic literature. For example, if one studies the Vedic literature one can know what the sun is, for the sun is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.52):
This verse describes the sun as the eye of all the planets, and if one meditates upon this one can understand that this is a fact. The sun is also described as the eye of the Lord. The sun is one of His eyes, and the moon is the other. In the Upaniṣads, therefore, it is said that only when Kṛṣṇa sees can we see.

So where is the difficulty in understanding God? There is no difficulty. If one is actually sane, one can understand God at every step. The Lord says:

“O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” (Bg. 7.8) Why then do people say, “I have not seen God”? Why don’t they see God as God directs them to see Him? Why do they manufacture their own way? One cannot see God by one’s own way. That is not possible. If one tries to do so, one will always remain blind. At the present moment so-called philosophers and scientists are trying to see God in their own way, but that is not possible. One has to see God by God’s way. Then one can see Him.

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