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:

Hare Krishna

1106 comments:

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Anonymous said...: One more comparison of Vedic knowledge, thousands of years old, with modern science.
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8.7 million species exist on Earth, study estimates | Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, August 23

For centuries scientists have pondered a central question: How many species exist on Earth? Now, a group of researchers has offered an answer: 8.7 million.

Although the number is still an estimate, it represents the most rigorous mathematical analysis yet of what we know — and don’t know — about life on land and in the sea.
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Srila Prabhupada..

In this way, all the living entities, beginning from Brahmā down to the microscopic germ, everyone is rotating in different species of life, in different planets, in different position. Innumerable. As the living entities are innumerable, so varieties of bodies are also innumerable. Not innumerable, they are counted, 8,400,000 species of life. This is Vedic knowledge. Exactly giving the number. Exactly. 8,400,000. It doesn’t say 9,000,000, or 500,000. No. Exact.; Friday, August 26, 2011 8:29:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

Now that life after death may be in one of the so many, 8,400,000’s of bodies. There is no guarantee what kind of a body you are going to get. In our last meeting we explained that from Bhagavad-gita, that yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg. 8.6]. Ante, at the time of death, as his mental position is there, he gets the, another body, similar. There are many historical references. As I told you the other day, that King Bharata, he was very much elevated and very great soul. At twenty-four years of age he was emperor of the world, but at the very young time he gave up his wife, children and kingdom and went to the forest for spiritual enlightenment. And he was making progress. Unfortunately, one day he saw that a deer cub was in helpless condition. It’s mother came to drink water from the river, and there was a roaring of lion, and she begot the calf and fled away—after all, she’s animal. So Bharata Maharaja took compassion on the little, just-born calf: “Oh, it will die. Let me take care.” So he was taking care. One evening that calf did not come back. So he was anxious where it was gone, and so he went to the forest, and while he was on the up, hill, he slipped from the hill and fell down and died. And at that time, his mind was absorbed in the thought of that calf. So next body, he got a deer. Yes.

So we have to prepare our mind in such a way that we should always think of Krsna(God). Then that is meditation, real meditation. And practical. There is no use thinking of something void. That you cannot concentrate. That is not practical. You can simply struggle for it and waste your time. But if you have got something tangible to meditate, that is very easy. So why not Krsna(God)?; Tuesday, August 30, 2011 4:38:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada: Now the... You can expect at any moment disaster in this material world, but the comet is the sign that there will be some great disaster.
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August 30, 2011

The Mystery of Comet Elenin

Russia Today..

Astronomers and other outer space experts are speaking out on a comet expected to make a close call with colliding into Earth later this year. The consequences could be dire, so why are so many people unaware of it?

“I think it’s worth a raised eyebrow” says author Brooks Agnew. He’s done a lot of research on Elenin and tells RT that there are some rather strange coincidences regarding the comet that people should take into consideration.

“A lot of people are concerned about it,” says Agnew. “We’ve done a lot of research on Comet Elenin and what we’ve found is there’s a lot of missing data on this comet”

Agnew says that NASA calls the comet just “a harmless little fuzzball of ice” that won’t come within more than 20 million miles from Earth. Others, he says, are claiming that this comet should raise concern since it doesn’t look like a comet, doesn’t act like a comet and is coming from outside of the area where most comets are accustomed to originate out of.

“There are a lot of things about this comet that don’t make sense,” Agnew says.

Another thing raising concern for the author is that another large asteroid is expected to come close to Earth around the same time. Coincidentally, he says, a new emergency alert system has been announced to debut the same day that asteroid will rock right by our planet...; Tuesday, August 30, 2011 6:32:00 AM
Anonymous said...: 10.32.15 Sukadeva Gosvami to Maharaja Pariksit

Shri Krishna had awakened romantic desires within the gopis, and they honored Him by glancing at Him with playful smiles, gesturing amorously with their eyebrows, and massaging His hands and feet as they held them in their laps. Even while worshiping Him, however, they felt somewhat angry, and thus they addressed Him as follows.

10.32.16 Gopis to Krishna

The gopis said: Some people reciprocate the affection only of those who are affectionate toward them, while others show affection even to those who are indifferent or inimical. And yet others will not show affection toward anyone. Dear Krishna, please properly explain this matter to us.

10.32.17-21 Krishna to the Gopis

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: So-called friends who show affection for each other only to benefit themselves are actually selfish. They have no true friendship, nor are they following the true principles of religion. Indeed, if they did not expect benefit for themselves, they would not reciprocate.

My dear slender-waisted gopis, some people are genuinely merciful or, like parents, naturally affectionate. Such persons, who devotedly serve even those who fail to reciprocate with them, are following the true, faultless path of religion, and they are true well-wishers.

Then there are those individuals who are spiritually selfsatisfied, materially fulfilled or by nature ungrateful or simply envious of superiors. Such persons will not love even those who love them, what to speak of those who are inimical.

But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopis, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else.; Tuesday, August 30, 2011 5:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Bhakta dasa:

Prabhupada said, "Bill prabhu come forward. Your name is Bhakta Das," He handed me my beads and said, "This name means that you are the servant of the devotees. The more you think of yourself as a servant, the more you will advance in spiritual life. The more you think you're becoming a master, the faster you will go to hell."
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Mangalananda dasa:

When Prabhupada first came to New York he was living in the Bowery. Once Prabhupada said, "Even if a drunk man in the Bowery sips wine with the attitude, 'O Krishna makes the nice taste in this wine,' he will eventually achieve perfection."
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Bhagavata dasa:

At the end of the talk Prabhupada asked if anybody had questions. I said, "How does one become sincere?" because I thought that sincerity was the key quality in achieving self-realization. He said, "You become sincere by being sincere."
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Yogesvara dasa:

In the early days, before I ever met Srila Prabhupada, his letters were vitally instructive and enlightening. In one letter that came to Tamal Krishna Maharaj in Bury Place in 1970, there was an admonition. Tamal had asked, "What is more important, sankirtan, rounds, devotional service, or our health?" Prabhupada answered, "The highest principle is to save yourself."; Tuesday, August 30, 2011 5:41:00 PM
Anonymous said...: On a morning walk one devotee asked, "Srila Prabhupada, how is it that a pure devotee gets sick?" Prabhupada stopped and became emotional. His eyes got really big, and he said in a loving way, "It is just like lovers. Sometimes lovers fight." The devotee said, "Oh, a love fight, Prabhupada." Prabhupada said, "Yes. Similarly, Krishna has His love fights. Sometimes He fights the devotee." Then he smiled. It was very deep and ecstatic.; Wednesday, August 31, 2011 4:32:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Glories of Krishna’s Flute
From Brihad-Bhagavatamrita
Part Two, Chapter Five, Text 140-149

140. "Aho! Just as Sri Krishna is the most extraordinary of all incarnations, in the same way His flute, which like the most supremely beloved object always rests in His lotus hand, is extraordinary. My tongue is incapable of even touching its glories."

141. "Still, by His mercy and according to my capacity, I will describe the glories of the flute, so listen carefully."

142. "Because that enchanting bamboo flute has touched Sri Krishna's bimba-fruit lips, its vibration can accomplish things that He could not with His own lotus mouth or through the words of the Upanisads, Vedas, Puraras and other Sriptures."

143. "Upon hearing that vibration, the demigods and perfected souls who were travelling in their airplanes with their wives all fainted in ecstatic love, and Indra, Sri Shiva and Sri Brahma became mystified and forgot their knowledge of brahma (transcendental substance) - in other words, this doubt arose in them: 'Is that which we meditate on brahma, or is this flute melody brahma?'"

144. "Upon hearing that vibration, the great sages' samadhi was broken and symptoms of ecstatic love manifested on their bodies. That flute melody even interrupted the orbit of the moon and other planets, which are eternally travelling on the wheel of time."

145. "How can I describe the good fortune of the cowherd men? In their thoughts and behaviour they were always indifferent to their bodies and everything related to their bodies, they had offered their very souls to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna, they were devoid of any worldly or other-worldly desires, and solely because their wives were very dear to Krishna, they even offered pranama to their wives."

146. "The sons of those gopas always accompanied Sri Krishna like His shadow. When, desiring to see the splendour of the forest, Sri Krishna would go away from them for even one minute, then not seeing Him they would become extremely distraught. And quickly running to Him, they would receive great satisfaction from touching Him."

147. "Hearing the vibration of the flute, the supremely exalted Sri Radha and vraja-gopis, who to meet with Sri Krishna had abandoned their husbands, sons, religious principles, and shyness, attained mahabhava in such a way that becoming spellbound in the simultaneously sweet and poisonous thoughts of Him, they completely forgot their own selves and became motionless like pillars."

148. "Please hear more of the astonishing wonders of that flute melody. When the cows, calves, bulls, deer, the birds who reside in trees, the birds and other living entities who reside in the water, the trees, rivers, clouds and other entities who are devoid of intelligence heard the vibration of the flute, they all abandoned their respective natures."

149. "Upon hearing the melody of the flute, moving living entities became motionless and motionless entities like stone melted and began to move. In other words, the conscious became as if matter, and matter became as if conscious. Plunged into a great ocean of prema-rasa, they all exhibited symptoms of ecstatic love."; Thursday, September 01, 2011 2:44:00 AM
Anonymous said...: In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (1.9.27) Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira in the following dharma:

dana-dharma, or public acts of charity,
raja-dharma, or the duties of a king,
moksha-dharma, or duties for salvation,
stri-dharma, or duties for women, and ultimately
bhagavata-dharma, or pure devotional service to the Lord.

Everyone's energy is generated or borrowed from the reservoir of energy of the Lord; therefore, the resultant actions of such energy must be given to the Lord in the shape of transcendental loving service for Him. As the rivers draw water from the sea through the clouds and again go down to the sea, similarly our energy is borrowed from the supreme source, the Lord's energy, and it must return to the Lord. That is the perfection of our energy. The Lord, therefore, in the Bhagavad-gita (9.27) says that whatever we do, whatever we undergo as penance, whatever we sacrifice, whatever we eat or whatever we give in charity must be offered to Him (the Lord). That is the way of utilizing our borrowed energy. When our energy is utilized in that way, our energy is purified from the contamination of material inebrieties, and thus we become fit for our original natural life of service to the Lord.; Thursday, September 01, 2011 5:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: In the Brahma-vaivarta Purana 4.129. Krishna spoke to Mother Ganga about the future events which would come to pass after His departure from Earth about 5,000 years ago. Mother Ganga was very disturbed by the fact that Kali Yuga was coming and she was afraid that nobody would protect her. Shri Krishna promised her some relief with the following words:

"O Ganga devi, on the earth 5,000 years of Kali will be sinful and those sinners will deposit their sins in you by bathing. Thereafter by the sight and touch of those who worship Me by My mantra, all those sins will be burnt. O Ganga devi, the whole planet will become a pilgrimage sight by the presence of Vaishnavas, even though it had been sinful. In the body of My devotees remains eternally [the purifier]. Mother Earth becomes pure by the dust of the feet of My devotees. For 10,000 years of Kali such devotees of Mine will fill the whole planet. After the departure of My devotees there will be only one varna [outcaste]. Devoid of My devotees, the earth will be shackled by Kali. Saying this, Lord Shri Krishna departed."; Friday, September 02, 2011 1:36:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Bhagavad Arka Marichi Mala by HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

Now Krishna is standing somewhere counting His cows on a string of gems. He wears a garland of tulasi flowers that bear the fragrance of His beloved, and He has thrown His arm over the shoulder of an affectionate cowherd boyfriend. As Krishna plays His flute and sings, the music attracts the black deer's wives, who approach that ocean of transcendental qualities and sit down beside Him. Just like us cowherd girls, they have given up all hope for happiness in family life.

O sinless Yasoda, your darling child, the son of Maharaja Nanda, has festively enhanced His attire with a jasmine garland, and He is now playing along the Yamuna in the company of the cows and cowherd boys, amusing His dear companions. The gentle breeze honors Him with its soothing fragrance of sandalwood, while the various Upadevas, standing on all sides like panegyrists, offer their music, singing and gifts of tribute.; Friday, September 02, 2011 4:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...: RADHASTAMI

Srimati Radharani's appearance day Sept. 5, 2011.

Her worship (aradhana) consists of fulfilling the desires of Lord Krsna. Therefore the Puranas call Her Radhika.

Srila Prahbupada spoke the following:

“So what is the position of Srimati Radharani? We should try to understand this day and offer our obeisances to Radharani. Radhe vrndavanesvari.

Our business is “Radharani, You are so dear to Krsna. So we offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”

Radharani is hari-priya, very dear to Krsna. So if we approach Krsna through Radharani, through the mercy of Radharani, then it becomes very easy. If Radharani recommends that “This devotee is very nice,” then Krsna immediately accepts, however fool I may be. Because it is recommended by Radharani, Krsna accepts.

Therefore in Vrndavana you’ll find all the devotees, they’re chanting more Radharani’s name than Krsna’s. Wherever you’ll go, you’ll find the devotees are addressing, “Jaya Radhe.”

Otherwise, If you go by the speculative process to understand Krsna, it will take many, many lives. But if you take devotional service, just try to please Radharani, and Krsna will be gotten very easily. Because Radharani can deliver Krsna. She is so great devotee, the emblem of maha-bhagavata.

Even Krsna cannot understand what is Radharani’s quality. Even Krsna, although He says vedaham samatitani, “I know everything,” still, He fails to understand Radharani. Radharani is so great. He says that… Actually, Krsna knows everything. In order to understand Radharani, Krsna accepted the position of Radharani.

Krsna wanted to understand the potency of Radharani. Krsna thought that “I am full. I am complete in every respect, but still, I want to understand Radharani. Why?” This propensity made Krsna obliged to accept the propensities of Radharani, to understand Krsna, Himself.

These are, of course, very transcendental, great science. One who is advanced in Krsna consciousness and well conversant with the sastras, they can understand. But still, we can discuss from the sastra. When Krsna wanted to understand Himself, He took the tendency of Srimati Radharani.

And that is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna, but He has accepted the propensities of Radharani. As Radharani is always in feelings of separation of Krsna, similarly, in the position of Radharani, Lord Caitanya was feeling separation of Krsna.

That is the teachings of Lord Caitanya, feelings of separation, not meeting. The process of devotional service taught by Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His disciplic succession is how to feel separation from Krsna. That is Radharani’s position, always feeling the separation.”; Saturday, September 03, 2011 9:09:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Virabhadra: Are you in this world?

Prabhupada: I am?

Virabhadra: Are you in this world? I mean you, are you…?

Prabhupada: I’m not in this world, yes.

Virabhadra: You’re not in this world.

Prabhupada: No.

Jaya-gopala: I thought I heard it said that you are in this world without being a part of it. You are in the world without being a part of it, being a part of it, like the lotus flower which floats on the water.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is the way. That is the way of understanding. Just like I am in America. It is very easy to understand. I am not adopting any ways of life as the Americans do. So I am not in America. Not only myself, all my disciples who are following me, they are also not Americans. They’re different from American behavior, American ways of life. In that sense I’m not in America. I am in Vrndavana because wherever I go in my apartment or in my temple I live with Krsna and Krsna consciousness. I don’t accept any consciousness of America. And I teach my disciples also to take to that consciousness. So one who takes to that consciousness, he is also not in America, not in this world. It is… I have given this example many times. Just like a king and a bug is sitting on the same throne. The bug is biting and the king is ruling. It is not that because the bug is there on the throne, he is king, or the king is sitting with the bug, he is bug. Why this difference? Difference of consciousness. The king knows his duty. He is working in his duty; therefore he’s king. And the bug knows his business, to bite; therefore he’s bug. But sitting on the same place. But because due to different consciousness, one is bug, one is king. So if you take to Krsna consciousness and if you remain in Krsna consciousness, you don’t belong to this world. You are no more bug, you are king. Change this consciousness. Even apparently you may seem to remain with the bug, you are no more bug. Is it clear?; Saturday, September 03, 2011 9:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada: Our point is that we are going to live in the future. So if, becoming modern, we forget our future, then what is the use of becoming modernized? Better remain primitive. The business is that in future also we shall exist. If we do not know how we shall exist—either I shall exist as a cat, as a dog, or a tree, or a demigod, or as associate of Krishna.... If I do not know.... On account of being modernized, if I remain in darkness about my future, so it is better to remain primitive. What is the use of becoming modernized and forget myself and my future? Becoming modernized, if I become dog in future, so what is the use of modernized? The real business is that I shall take care of my future. Especially in the human form of body. Cats and dogs, they do not know about future. If I know there is future, I have a future.... This is also said by Krishna. Tatha dehantara-praptih: [Bg. 2.13] "In future." Not this body, another body. So is it not my first business, to prepare what is my future body? That is my first business? Or to drink R.C. (Royal Crown?) my first business? Just see. By drinking R.C. if I, next life I become a dog, then what is the use of modernized life? And if we, by remaining in primitive state, we can produce Vyasadeva, oh, it is better. But the fools have no sense.

A human life is meant for preparing for the next life. That is sensible. But I am so much busy in manufacturing things for modernized life, R.C., T.C., P.C., and so on, so on. In future, at the time of death, I begin to bark and I think, "Oh..." And nature will say, "All right, come on." "No, no, I'm not going to..." No, why not? You have become modernized, barking like dog. So you bark. Who will check that? Daivi hy esha guna-mayi mama maya... [Bg. 7.14]. maya will take consideration, "What you have made yourself, a dog or god?" That she will take account. If you have made yourself a dog, "Just come on, become a dog." If you have made yourself as god, then "Come on, you'll be demigod." That is for everything. Otherwise why there are varieties? There is dog life and there is demigod life, Indra life. It is not one-sided. Tatha dehantara-praptih [Bg. 2.13], it is not one-sided. You have to change your body. And there are varieties of life, so it is up to you what kind of body you have got. You can change your body up to the point of becoming associate of Krishna. Mad-yajino 'pi yanti mam [Bg. 9.25]. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama... [Bg. 15.6]. These informations are there. So if you have to prepare for the next life, why not go back to home, back to Godhead? Yad gatva na nivartante. This is intelligent? Or to become modernized and become a dog next life? Which is intelligent? The shastra says, "No, this is intelligent." What? Tapo divyam putraka yena shuddhyed sattvam [SB 5.5.1]. This life should be utilized for tapasya, to purify your existence. That is the shastra. Sastra does not say you become modernized. What is this modernized? Simply waste of time.; Sunday, September 04, 2011 4:27:00 PM
Anonymous said...: RADHASTAMI

Srimati Radharani's appearance day Sept. 5, 2011

Now he started to qualify the divine grace and glory of Shri Radha, whose Characteristics are beyond realisation even to Krishna too.

Shri Radhika is the mine of all kinds of devotional qualifications which have been highly praised by all Shastras. Among all the female deities of this vast eternal universe, Shri Radha is the Goddess of Goddesses. The mistresses of Krishna are of three classes namely Lakshmis, Queens and Vrajanganas. But all are the embodiments of Shri Radha. The three classes are taken to be the three types of virtues of Shri Radha. Lakshmis denote her luxurious character, Queens denote her wealthy character and Vrajanganas denote her witty and humorous character. As it is impossible to enjoy wit and humour alone, Radha exposes herself by creating all the Vrajanganas from her own entity. Shri Radha is the main source of power to Krishna. So she is the deity to be worshipped by all. She is the protectoress and mother of this vast universe. She is the mine of divine beauty.

Shri Radhika fulfils all the wishes of Krishna. Krishna is the fascinating figure which charms the vast universe and Radha is the God Himself and the Supreme Being in this vast eternal universe, Radha is the Supreme Goddess. Goddess Durga is only a part of Krishna whereas Radha is the whole part of Krishna. Krishna is the Lord of Radha who is the embodiment of Krishna and has none but Krishna in her mind. She always thinks of Krishna as her external and internal body and can feel the entity of Krishna in all things which come in to her view.; Monday, September 05, 2011 9:33:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Divine Transcendental music.

Radha Londonishvara - Jayadeva Prabhu and the Mantra Choir - Janmashtami 2010

http://youtu.be/xnl30F09CbU; Tuesday, September 06, 2011 5:07:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, April 5, 1977, Bombay: [...] The human being is to understand that “I am not this body.” That is the first knowledge. That is the first principle.

That is brahma-jnana. Athato brahma jijnasa. So these things are here in India. Instead of distributing, understanding these things, we are jumping like cats and dogs, like the Western civilization. Anthill and four-wheel dog race.

These big, big buildings, they are like anthill. You know anthill? The ant also can make a big stack of earth. Does it mean it is civilization to compete with the ant?

Or run with the dog? Sometimes if a car is driving, and dog is running, it is a competition and the dog running. Is that civilization? Without understanding, the whole thing is going on, running on like that. Why India should imitate? India has got so much great exalted knowledge given by Krishna.

India should learn it and teach it to the whole world. That is India’s business. Paropakara. And that is being done in Krishna consciousness. Very important movement, very scientific movement. So do not neglect it. Come and join, learn it and give it to the whole world. This is the perfect knowledge, paropakara. Not to imitate there and jump like monkeys and cats and dogs. This is not good.

Every paper, every learned man, every…, every should take it seriously and implement it. It is not meant for everyone. Still, there must be an institution to teach this, I mean, the highest standard of knowledge to the human being.

Why they should simply jump like cats and dogs? This is our mission. So don’t try to imitate cats and dogs, but be human being. Understand what is your position and cultivate that knowledge.

[Bg. 9.3] “Those who are not interested in the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita, the result will be he will not understand Me, God, and he will again return to the cycle of birth and death.”

Mr. Koshi: But how many people have the capability. As you say, they are jumping up and down.

Prabhupada: Yes. So it is not for… You see. When we talk of diamond, it does not mean that everyone will be able to purchase it. But there must be the diamond. Because there is no customer, very many customer, diamond should be abolished?

Mr. Koshi: No.

Prabhupada: That is not possible. Similarly, how many men will understand or not understand, that is not the consideration. But we have got in India such exalted knowledge. We must cultivate and distribute knowledge as far as possible. It is our duty. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission.; Wednesday, September 07, 2011 6:44:00 PM
Anonymous said...: A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?; Wednesday, September 07, 2011 6:48:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada – The marginal living entities in Goloka ALWAYS have the free-will to choose Krishna or their own selfish desires, it is those non-Krishna conscious desires that are referred to as the ‘sub-conscious condition’ of the marginal living entity (nitya-baddha) which enters the mahat-tattva.

The nitya-siddha terminology is always Krishna Conscious eternally however, the marginal living entity can choose to ignore that eternal nitya-siddha ‘svarupa’ body and enter the material creation as nitya-baddha dream state (the sub-conscious condition of the marginal living entity) That choice is always there and makes us marginal (tatastha-s’akti) even in Goloka.

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)

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? Of course that means we can also misuse that free will.

The term sub-conscious simply means when the marginal living entity uses their free will and chooses to leave Goloka. This means they are NOT leaving as their full conscious nitya-siddha body, but rather they ‘leave’ as their sub-conscious condition, which is called the nitya-baddha state of consciousness.

The paradox is, yes, the marginal living entity never leaves Goloka as their nitya-siddha body unless its for Krishna lila) because ones eternal spiritual body is eternally fixed within the ‘eternal presents’ of Goloka.

Srila Prabhupada – “We have also come down from Vaikuntha some millions and millions of years ago.”
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on August 6, 1973); Thursday, September 08, 2011 4:56:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Once, when Bali Maharaja was the king of the demons, Indra, the king of the demigods, killed Bali Maharaja and his chief generals in a fight between the demigods and the demons. When Devaraja Indra began killing the demons with the vow of annihilating the entire demon dynasty, grandfather Brahma came to know about it and sent Narada Rsi to stop him from such a heinous act. When Narada Rsi informed Indra about the order of Brahma to stop killing the demons, only then did he cease.

Sukracarya, the family priest of the demons, revived Bali Maharaja and his chief generals and demons by using the art of mrita-samjivani. For the benefit of the demons, Sukracarya advised Bali Maharaja to arrange for a visvajit-yajna to be performed by brahmanas of the Bhrigu dynasty. Bali Maharaja, following the order of his spiritual master, collected offerings for the sacrifice. Sukracarya and the brahmana descendants of Bhrigu performed the sacrifice systematically. Various kinds of weapons including an inexhaustible quiver were produced in the sacrifice. Bali Maharaja became greatly powerful by the power of mantra and besieged heaven with his army of demons. When the demigods informed Devaraja Indra about this, he came prepared with his army to fight. However, upon seeing the splendor of Bali Maharaja, he became bewildered. What to speak of fighting, Indra did not even have the courage to stand before Bali Maharaja. Therefore, the worried and frightened Indra approached his spiritual master Brihaspati, and inquired about the amazing strength of the demons. "What is the reason behind this extraordinary power of the demons?" he asked. Brihaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods replied, "The brahmana descendants of Bhrigu who are dear to Sri Hari, are backing Bali Maharaja. Bali Maharaja has become powerful by the yajna performed by them. If you go to fight with him at this time, you will be unable to win. You will certainly be badly defeated. Therefore my advice to all of you is that you give up your kingdom of heaven and hide in space."; Saturday, September 10, 2011 3:44:00 PM
Anonymous said...: On the advice of Brihaspati, Indra and the other demigods left heaven and began to live clandestinely in space. Aditi [1], the mother of the demigods, was saddened to see her sons living in this condition without a kingdom. She stopped taking food and water and existed in a depressed state. Because she was constantly sorrowful and indifferent to all the housework, her home lost its beauty. Day by day she became increasingly emaciated. Mother Aditi anxiously began to wait for her husband Kasyapa Rsi who was engaged in performing austerities. After a long period of time, Kasyapa Rsi returned home having finished his austerities. Surprised at seeing the house lusterless and his wife weak and pale, he asked Aditi why this was so. Aditi weepingly replied to her husband, "The demons have driven our sons out of the kingdom of heaven. I pray to your lotus feet that you will please take action to expel the demons and return my sons to their kingdom. Until my sons regain the kingdom of heaven, my sorrow will not be alleviated." Hearing the inappropriate words of his wife, he tried to pacify her by speaking the essence of supreme truth. He said, "The demigods are our friends and the demons are our enemies; this vision of the duality of enemy and friend only occurs to those who are infatuated by the illusory energy (maya) of the Supreme Lord. Due to forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord, people experience the negation of knowledge (viparita-buddhi) of their own constitutional position, and consequently all sorts of troubles and difficulties originate. Actually, all are engaged in a mutual interrelationship of love by dint of their relationship with the Supreme Lord. A pure understanding of knowledge does not include any vision of enmity. My advice to you is that you should give up bodily misidentifications along with false relations and worship Hari with full dedication."

Mother Aditi took to heart the teachings of her husband, which were full of knowledge. Nonetheless, she persistently requested that her sons should regain the kingdom of heaven. Mother Aditi repeatedly implored that unless her sons returned to their residence in heaven, she would be unable to find peace of mind. It would seem from these words of Mother Aditi that much like a materially entangled jiva illusioned by maya, she was aggrieved by affection for her sons. But this was not the actual case. In reality, the Lord wanted to appear as the son of Kasyapa Rsi and Mother Aditi, to bestow His mercy upon them. He was in fact inspiring Mother Aditi and compelling her to speak like this just to fulfil His objective.; Saturday, September 10, 2011 3:47:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sep 10, 2011 — USA (SUN) —

Absorption during book distribution can make a devotee fearless. Ananga Mohan Prabhu, being absorbed in this seva landed up at the underworld den in Moscow. A neighbour warned him and his partner to not enter the building. Undaunted, the duo entered the premises and rang the bell. A mean looking man opened the door and asked them their names. Ananga Mohan Prabhu mentioned his legal name, which in Russian meant ‘shark’. No sooner had he mentioned his name, fifteen men pulled out their guns and pointed at Ananga Mohan Prabhu. ‘Shark’ was the rival gang leader with whom these thugs had serious fights. Even the police feared these two prominent gangs.

Ananga Mohan Prabhu was fearless, and he told the men pointing guns at him about the Kali yuga emergency, and the desperate need to take shelter of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who has come to deliver all the fallen souls of this age by awarding them the priceless gift of congregational chanting of Krishna’s Holy Names.

Meanwhile Ananga Mohan Prabhu’s partner was nervous and kept pulling him back, to leave the place immediately. However Anaga Mohan Prabhu was focused in his preaching, and believe it or not, after his twenty minute emphatic presentation of the Krishna consciousness philosophy, he distributed fifteen copies of Teachings of Lord Chaitanya to these ill famed gangsters.

Later as they came out of the building, Ananga Mohan Prabhu’s partner was still shivering from the scary experience of seeing over a dozen guns pointed at them. He asked Ananga Mohan Prabhu if he wasn’t frightened on seeing the guns. Ananga Mohan Prabhu was surprised that these men had guns, for he was oblivious to it and thought they were high on liquor, but never noticed the guns. This was the extent of his absorption in his service.

Last August, after having distributed Srila Prabhupada books in Russia daily (even during the minus 40 degrees winter) for over twenty five years, Ananga Mohan Prabhu shocked the temple president with news, “Prabhu, last night Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in my dream and told me that He is very pleased with me. He also mentioned to me that I should come back to Him for he has some other important services for me elsewhere.”

The devotees were wonderstruck and asked him to describe further. He revealed how the Lord has a beautiful golden complexion and is dressed in dazzling yellow garments and is performing sankirtana. As the devotees were happily transported to the spiritual world by his descriptions, he shocked them by repeating the Lord’s instructions, “I think Prabhus I’ve to leave. The Lord is calling me back. Please prepare my papers.” (In Russia you need special government papers to perform your final rites in a Vedic way).

As the temple president and other devotees dissuaded him, Ananga Mohan Prabhu was emotional, “I am sure this was no ordinary dream. It was a divine vision. The Lord wants me for another service. I know I am sinful and completely unqualified to receive these instructions, but it is true.”

A few days later as Shri Gaura Hari Prabhu and other devotees prepared the papers they got the news about a car accident where Ananga Mohan Prabhu left his body on the spot, seated next to the driver. On reaching the accident site, the devotees discovered there were no injuries or marks on his body; just smilingly, his hand on the bead bag, he was gone. Devotees knew Lord Chaitanya had called him for another service — a reward for his tireless two decades of dedicated and selfless service.; Sunday, September 11, 2011 10:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Brahma Purana:
Once, the gods of the kingdom of heaven, upset by the constant battle calls of demons, met Lord Narayan in the Milk-Ocean, where the Lord was deeply immersed in divine slumber. They prayed to the Lord with profound devotion to save them from the atrocities of the demons. When the Lord woke up, the gods made a very humble appeal stating, "Hey, Prabhu, the protector of the helpless and the vulnerable, thou art the Lord of the universe. We know well that thyself is aware of our tormenting concern. We are very often troubled by the demons. We therefore pray for Thy intervention in our case to humble the demons with Thy uncommon prowess".

The all-merciful Lord was immensely pleased. He immediately consoled the gods, saying, "Oh, the gods of heaven, you are blessed with myriad divine powers. Your powerful weapons conjointly used in a composite form can annihilate the demons from earth. What I suggest in this connection is that all of you should together part with some portions of your divine power and create a composite divine weapon, which would be not only very powerful but also far-reaching in its magnitude. We may use this weapon to humble down the wicked demons in a ruthless way".

Hearing the kind words of the Lord, the gods were greatly pleased. They immediately parted with portions of their divine power, with the help of which the Lord created Chakraraj Sudarshan. However, the Lord preserved it under His possession. He wielded it only when it was necessary to annihilate the evil.

In Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Sudarshan is described as the king of all stars. He is present in the all-pervading space. He represents the moon; he is water and air in the universe. In the same way, he is the earth and the sky. Sri Sudarshan is also described as Jagnya. He exists as soul in all living beings. He represents the supreme luminescence of the Supreme Purusha as described in the Vedas.; Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:16:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Gaura Prabhu: “Prithaputra Swami was the 1st French sannyasi. He did a lot of service for the preaching mission. But after Srila Prabhupada’s physical demise he left KC and reassumed a lifestyle he led before he joined – sex, drugs rock’ n’ roll. He never came back. Nevertheless, he never criticised KC. Some years later he contracted AIDS. As the disease progressed he ended up in hospital, and as it progressed further he was hooked on the machines which kept him alive. During his last days he was in coma. As he was about to die any day now doctors gathered around his bed and tried to estimate how many days – if not hours – he had left. As they discussed his condition all of a sudden Prithaputra Prabhu opened his eyes, sat up in his bed and looked towards the door. -”Prabhupada, you came…”, he said. Then he layed back on his bed, closed his eyes and died. Doctors later told this story to the devotees.”; Thursday, September 15, 2011 4:26:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Dr. Patel: How they smuggled away the secret of atom smashing from America, these Russians?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Dr. Patel: They smuggled away the secret of atom bomb from America.

Prabhupāda: The Germans.

Dr. Patel: No, the Russians smuggled away. Germans came to America, taking that…

Prabhupāda: They understood from the Germans.

Dr. Patel: Yes, sir, but it is said that the German scientist ran away to America because they were afraid of Hitler. If Hitler gets the secret of atom, he would bomb out the whole world.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Hitler knew it.

Dr. Patel: No. They were not able to be successful to…

Prabhupāda: No, no. He knew it, everything, but he did not like to do it. He said. He said. He was gentleman. But these people are not gentlemen. He knew it perfectly well. He said that “I can smash the whole world, but I do not use that weapon.” The Germans already discovered. But out of humanity they did not use it. And all the, your American, other countries, they have stolen from German ideas.

Dr. Patel: They say Germany could produce more scientists because they had all our, our Vedas and all our secret ancient books with them, the Sanskrit. They had read them.

Prabhupāda: That is also fact.

Dr. Patel: And one Śaṅkarācārya—I don’t know which—who was the professor in one of the colleges of Madras, he went and met Professor Einstein and talked about… And then he gave out some, one śloka of two lines which actually depicted how atoms could be smashed. That is in our sciences.

Prabhupāda: [break] …ago, there was one Mr. Badhuri in Benares. He was a great astrologer. So he told me that from Benares the Germans have taken three books: one is Akāśa-patola, one is Kapota-vahi and his Khapoda-vahi. Khapoda-vahi, this airplane. Kha means akasa. And there is another science, kapota-vahi, to carry man by the pigeons. That is not yet displayed. Kapota-vahi. And there is another, Akasa-patola. Any, any, even your chairs you sit down; by mantra it will go on.

Prabhupāda: No, three books they have taken. They paid some eight lakhs of rupees. That Mr. Badhuri told me. (aside) Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Patel: That means this civilization must have felt the pangs of the modern sciences and then they must have lost it. No?

Prabhupāda: Not lost. It is there. You don’t take it. That’s it. What is there? One who can read… Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. Good boy.

Harikesa: They couldn’t chant those mantras though, could they? If they tried… Even if they tried, they wouldn’t be able to chant the mantras.

Prabhupāda: Why? Nobody taught them. You are chanting. How you are chanting? Nobody taught them. That is the difficulty.

Jayapataka: Why the Germans are good Sanskrit scholars? Why?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Because they had very good tendency for learning Sanskrit to know so many things. That was their research. They knew it that in Sanskrit language there are so many wonderful things.; Thursday, September 15, 2011 4:36:00 PM
Anonymous said...: When I last lived in Austin I lived in a unique bottle house built by local resident artists.
It is still there, kind of a landmark on South First Street, preserved. Although my cedar posts courtyard with mustang grape and morning glory roof was torn down for the parking space.

Before me there was a Buddhist monk living there. He is a wonderful man and every day at the same time he would ring his bell and the three of us would have tea, maybe a little rice or maki roll and discuss man and law and God.
He always, unfailingly, smiled nicely as I talked of God the Person and ever tried to convince him of Northern Mahayana Pure Land Vaishnavism origin.

Above my cot was a window, 3 X 3, and a writing spider lived there on a web covering the entire window. Incredible web.

We had a mutual beneficial existence. I didn't bother her, chanted nicely and in return she caught many of those three inch cock roaches which would jump on the back of my neck at night as they traversed from the window sill to the floor.

Many an afternoon as I lay there chanting quietly we would look at each other as she busily wrapped one of the giant roaches up in her silk storage pouch and deposit it on web's edge, usually southeast side.
She was quite beautiful with a yellow body and bright day-glo black and orange legs.
I also saw many brown recluses and several black widows. Both are actually quite shy and never were a problem as long as I was a little careful not to endanger them.

Your comment at SM also sparked an urge to tell you a little tale, a lesson.

I was initially granted a very stupendously powerful siddhi when I first became conscious of the Paramatma and began chanting mantra meditation in earnest.
This was some forty years ago and I'm still feeling the "mercy" I received for abusing this questionable treasure. Of course after time and events unfold it surely became clear that it is mercy I received.

I was close to death initially and once more soon after my, and yes it was my transgressions.

I once told you of meeting Lord Ganesha, who saved me from the yamadutas? Dear son of of Lord Shiva to whom I offer all respect, adulation and gratitude!
That was the first, the second I was more or less on my own.
I have a feeling you relate.

Why this particular siddhi was given to me I have an idea of, but talking about it even now, to this day, makes me feel physically sick and mentally exhausted and a little ashamed.

I tell you this because I believe you experience this life in similar ways and perhaps because sickening or not I sometimes feel a need to relive and honor this powerful tapasya.

Thanks for listening, Les prabhu.
I talk to you here so as not to unnecessarily disturb the readers at the other blogs.
I understand the various conditions and temperaments and honestly try to not be too outrageous or seemingly arrogant when I comment.

I consider you a friend and as a person who is honest and sincere.
Those alone are in their own spheres siddhis of very high regard as well they should be.

Wishing the best of health and all success to you.

Hare Krishna!

Homer; Saturday, September 17, 2011 6:04:00 AM
Anonymous said...: “Those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on my transcendental form, to them I carry what they lack and I preserve what they have.” (Bhagavad Gita 9.22); Saturday, September 17, 2011 3:48:00 PM
Visible said...: You're a precious jewel Homer but I think the reader would very much appreciate if you put comments like this into the regular rotation. I'm quite serious about that. And thank you so much for the steady stream of truth. Got a new mirrors up I think you'll like.; Sunday, September 18, 2011 2:50:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's transcendental journey aboard the Jaladuta is observed on September 19th.

Although my Guru Maharaja ordered me to accomplish this mission, I am unworthy to do it, being very fallen and incompetent. That being the case, O Lord Krsna, Your mercy is today arising in a befitting manner to make me become worthy, for You are the wisest of all.

If You bestow Your divine power, then one attains the factual substance which is service to the spiritual master - and life becomes successful. If that service is obtained, then one becomes truly satisfied, and ultimately received Your association due to good fortune.

O my dear brother! In Your company I will experience great joy once again. Wandering about the pastures and fields, I will pass the entire day with You in tending the cows. Joking with You and frolicking throughout so many forests of Vraja, I will enjoy pastimes of stealing and eating one another’s lunch. When, oh when will that day be mine?

Today that remembrance of being with You came to me in a very nice way. Feeling great longing I called out for You, O Lord Krsna! Only because I am Your eternal servant do I desire Your association so much. Except for You, I have no other refuge.; Monday, September 19, 2011 3:41:00 PM
Anonymous said...: O Shrinivasa, by the order of Cakra-tirtha, Sanatana Gosvami resided at this place. See his cottage in the forest. Everyday with determination he would perform the twelve krosha [twenty-four mile] parikrama of Govardhana Hill.

Seeing the difficulty taken by Sanatana in his old age, Gopinatha appeared before him in the form of a cowherd boy. Sanatana, with tearful eyes, tried to conceal his fatigued condition from the boy. Gopinatha sweetly spoke to Sanatana, `In this old age you should not take so much endeavor. Dear Svamiji, please follow My advice.' Sanatana replied, `Whatever You say I will certainly follow.' Then the cowherd boy climbed Govardhana and brought one shila marked with His own footprint. In sweet words He requested Sanatana to accept the govardhana-shila marked with the footprint of Lord Krishna. `From today just circumambulate this shila and thus your vow of daily parikrama will be fulfilled.' Saying this He gave the shila to Sanatana in his cottage and disappeared.

Sanatana became very anxious on not seeing the boy. Seeing Sanatana's condition Gopinatha affectionately revealed His identity. Wet with his own tears, Sanatana then repented why he did not recognize his Lord. In this way Sanatana remained under the influence of intense love for Shri Vrajendra-kumara, who sports in the flower groves of the Vrindavana forest.; Tuesday, September 20, 2011 4:08:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

“The ultimate truth is a supreme and beautiful person, and thus throughout the creation of God we will always find the personal touch.”

“Our relationship is eternal. But if somebody lags behind, so in spite of our eternal relationship one may not meet other at the destination. Just like a flock of birds—although very intimately related, everyone of them has to fly in the sky by individual strength. If one is less strong, the other cannot keep him in the sky. That is the law of nature. So long everyone of us is strong in Krishna Consciousness, there is no doubt, you can fly in the spiritual sky and meet together without failure. Therefore, individual strength is most important. And that individual strength is achieved in the association of devotees also. So you can make your own judgment.”
Letter to Satsvarupa, September 20, 1968; Tuesday, September 20, 2011 4:12:00 PM
Anonymous said...: After the rainy season, the farmers begin to rebuild the partitioning walls of the paddy fields so that the water will be conserved, just as yogis try to use their conserved energy for self-realization.

The living being is the marginal energy of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and he can spend his conserved energy either externally or internally. When spent internally, the energy is identified with the internal energy of the Personality of Godhead, but the same conserved energy, when spent for His external energy, is identified with that external energy. All energies—internal, external, and marginal—are emanations from Him, the Supreme, and they act differently to prove diversity in unity. The unity is the Lord, and the energies represent diversity. The Lord is so powerful that He can do anything and everything merely by His sweet will alone. As mentioned above, everything is done by His energies in a natural way, with full knowledge and complete perfection. That is the information we have from the Vedic literatures.

The internal energy and the marginal energy are of the same superior quality, but the external energy is inferior in quality. That is the information we have from Bhagavad-gita. Because the living entity is classified as marginal energy and is of the same quality as the internal energy, it is quite natural for him to cooperate with the internal energy. But when the living entity prefers to cooperate with the external energy, he is put into difficulty. By the process called pratyahara (diversion), yoga diverts our energies from the external to the internal.

The energy of our senses is meant to be diverted, not stopped. The senses are to be purified, so that they serve the Lord instead of disturbing His settled harmony. The entire cosmic harmony is a settled fact by the will of the Supreme. So we must find the supreme will in every action of the cosmic situation. That is the instruction of Isopanisad. The human life is an opportunity to understand this cosmic harmony, and therefore our conserved energy, which is likened to the conserved water in the paddy field, must be used for this purpose only.; Wednesday, September 21, 2011 2:10:00 AM
Anonymous said...: WORLD HOLY NAME WEEK KI JAYA!

From New Zealand to London, Cape Town to Tokyo, Vancouver to Singapore to Sao Paulo to Moscow,to Delhi Every town and village. All over the world the chanting is going on more than ever before as World Holy Name week is on its way. In India all over the yajna is in full swing with japathons, 24 hour kirtan programmes, public Sankirtan in streets, and other venues.

"The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna's name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna's name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.'
(This is a quotation from the Padma Purana.)

Thus krsna-bhakti begins with the tongue, for we can utilize the tongue to chant, and to taste krsna-prasada.; Thursday, September 22, 2011 3:45:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Krishna accepts equally the service given to Him..

21 September, 1970
Calcutta

My Dear Harivilas,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated September 15th, 1970, the contents of which have given me great satisfaction.

Sriman Hanuman has already arrived here in Calcutta and from the pictures he has shown me of your temple and devotees I can understand that everything is going on very nicely there.

I think Krishna is giving you good intelligence to manage everything in Paris. Everyone should be kept fully engaged one hundred percent of the time in Krishna’s service without a vacant moment so that Maya will never have a chance to act.

It does not matter what one’s engagement in Krishna’s service may be; Krishna accepts equally the service given to Him by a little calf and that given by Srimati Radharani. So we should all be very much appreciative of our God-brothers’ and Godsisters’ service.

Here also the Sankirtan Party lead by Madhudvisa Maharaj is having great success and sometimes as many as four hundred business and working men join them in chanting Hare Krishna on the streets.

It is all Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Mercy that this is happening all around the world and we should pray to Him that he may benedict us with even greater opportunity to spread His Samkirtan Movement.

Please offer my blessings to all the Paris Prabhus. Hope this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami; Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:01:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Jesus told the Temple leaders and teachers that their punishment by God would be the worst. He said they themselves would not enter the door to the kingdom of God, which at that time and place was faith in Jesus and his promises! Obviously in their feigned humble hearts they wanted their follower's money, honor, and worship more than eternal life. Then by their bad advice the people who naturally listen to authority would be afraid and directed away from Jesus the genuine authorized representative of God. So the question is which cup is the real holy grail containing the elixir of immortality? Is it time to question or neglect our elected authorities in order to obey and trust in Srila Prabhupada a genuinely higher authority? By his final order he is saying that he still wants to be active presence guiding and purifying our lives? Bali Maharaja was faced with a similar choice as we are today. He neglected his authority who was his own crooked sly Guru to obey a higher authority who was Vishnu disguised as a dwarf brahmana.

-Gaurahari Das; Friday, September 23, 2011 4:32:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

“Krishna was attempted to be killed by the Kamsa class of men and his company, the demons. So it will be there; it is already there. Don’t be disappointed, because this is the meaning that it is successful… So as Krishna was attempted to be killed… So there may be an attempt like that. And Lord Jesus Christ was killed. So they may kill me also.”

“So there are snakelike persons, they are envious about our movement, and they are opposing. That is the nature. Prahlada Maharaja was also opposed by his father, what to speak of others. These things will happen, but we should not be disappointed, as Prahlada Maharaja never became disappointed, although he was teased in so many ways. He was also served with poison, he was thrown amongst the serpents and he was thrown from the hill, he was put under the feet of an elephant. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has instructed us that “Do not be disappointed. Kindly forbear.” Be tolerant more than the tree. I mean to say one should be meek and humble, more than the grass. These things will happen. In one life if we execute our Krishna consciousness activities, even there is suffering, little, don’t mind. Go on with Krishna consciousness. Don’t be disappointed or hopeless, even there is some trouble. That is encouraged by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita: “My dear Arjuna, even if you feel some pain, this bodily pain, it comes and goes. Nothing is permanent, so don’t care for these things. Go on with your duty. Prahlada Maharaja is the practical example, and our duty is to follow the footprints of such persons like Prahlada Maharaja.”

“Of course, according to my horoscope, these days are my last days. But if Krishna saves, that is a different thing… It doesn’t matter if I leave this body. Even in death I’ll live… Now, as far as possible, I have trained you. Try to follow the principles. And go ahead. Don’t be set back by maya’s tricks. Go ahead, forward, at any cost. So many obstacles are coming. Maya is strong. And still we are going forward.”

Whether I am present or not present, it does not matter. As Krishna is living eternally, similarly living being also lives eternally. “One who has done service to the Lord lives forever.”; Friday, September 23, 2011 4:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: What is parampara?

"Parampara" means disciplic succession. The transcendental knowledge (divya jnana) is like a river flowing from one acarya to the next. It's source is Krishna who directs it to a qualified disciple who realizes, preserves and directs it to his qualified disciple who again realizes, preserves and directs it to his successor and so on until it arrives here. There are four disciplic successions, namely the Brahma parampara, Siva parampara, Laksmi parampara and the Kumara parampara. Divya jnana, transcendental knowledge, is not limited to material considerations and therefore the parampara is not a bodily succession. Transcendental knowledge may as well flow from one member of the parampara to the other without any bodily contact or official initiation. Predecessor and disciple may dwell on different planets or even different universes. We should not think that the parampara is simply a row of material bodies or that transcendental knowledge is ordinary knowledge. The river parampara sometimes flows according to the official initiation or bodily succession of master and disciple and then sometimes prefers to flow underground. Parampara and transcendental knowledge are both eternal but it sometimes happens that the connection is lost and then Krishna comes to revive or renew the system again.; Saturday, September 24, 2011 4:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: It is not possible to become desireless, but it is possible to give up material desires. It is the nature of the living entity to desire; it is not possible to be desireless. If one is desireless, he is dead. Desirelessness means purifying one's desire, and desire is purified when we only desire the service of Krsna. (from "Teachings of Lord Kapila")

Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (7.8), pranavah sarva-vedesu: 'In all the Vedic mantras, I am represented by pranava, or omkara.' Thus chanting of the Vedic mantras beginning with omkara is directly chanting of Krsna's name. There is no difference. Whether one chants omkara or addresses the Lord as 'Krsna', the meaning is the same.

Srila Prabhupada's teachings are focused on topics for people who do not even know how to behave like human beings. After all most of the people today are living like animals; they don't know about a higher destination and are mad after sense gratification. It would be irresponsible to speak with such uncivilized people about the intimate pastimes of Sri Krishna. First there must be education and purification. Then the more intimate knowledge is revealed. This is a natural process which can't be forced by fabrications and initiation ceremonials. Nevertheless Srila Prabhupada also writes a lot about the stage of raganuga bhakti (advanced bhakti-yoga) and siddha-deha (the eternal spiritual body). Everything is there in his books.; Saturday, September 24, 2011 5:03:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.6

TRANSLATION

Now you should completely give up all attachment to your personal friends and relatives and fix your mind on Me. Thus being always conscious of Me, you should observe all things with equal vision and wander throughout the earth.

PURPORT

Srimad Viraraghava Acarya has explained the concept of equal vision as follows: sama-drik sarvasya brahmatmakatvanusandhana-rupa-sama-drishtiman. "One who is on the path of self-realization should always endeavor to see the ultimate spiritual nature of all existence." The word mayi in this verse means paramatmani. One should fix one's mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the source of everything. Thus as one passes one's life on the earth, using up one's allotted time, one should practice seeing all things and all people as part and parcel of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. Since all living entities are part and parcel of Krishna, ultimately they all have the same spiritual status. The material nature, also being an emanation of Krishna, has a similar spiritual status, but although matter and spirit are both emanations from the Personality of Godhead, they do not exist exactly on the same level. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that the spirit soul is the superior energy of the Lord, whereas the material nature is His inferior energy. However, since Lord Krishna is equally present in all things, the word sama-drik in this verse indicates that one must ultimately see Krishna within everything and everything within Krishna. Thus equal vision is compatible with mature knowledge of the varieties present within this world.

"At the end of His manifest pastimes on the earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, thought as follows within His mind: 'During My pastimes on the earth, I have satisfied the desires of all those devotees who anxiously desired to see Me. I have duly married many thousands of queens, headed by Rukmini, whom I personally kidnapped, and I have killed innumerable demons in various places and by various means. I have attended meetings, reunions and ceremonies with many friends, relatives and well-wishers in cities such as Vrindavana, Mathura, Dvaraka, Hastinapura and Mithila, and thus I have kept constantly busy coming and going in the performance of pastimes.; Sunday, September 25, 2011 3:46:00 PM
Anonymous said...: " 'I further arranged to give My personal association to great devotees who are situated below the earthly planet. In order to please My mother Devaki and return her six deceased sons who were killed by Kamsa, I descended to the planet Sutala and blessed My great devotee Bali Maharaja. In order to return the dead son of My spiritual master, Sandipani Muni, I personally went to the court of Ravinandana, or Yamaraja, and thus he was able to see Me face to face. I even blessed the residents of heaven, such as mother Aditi and Kasyapa Muni, with My personal association when I traveled there to steal the parijata flower for My wife Satyabhama. And in order to please the inhabitants of Maha-Vishnu's abode, such as Nanda, Sunanda and Sudarsana, I traveled to Maha-vaikunthaloka to recover the deceased children of a frustrated brahmana. Thus, innumerable devotees who ardently desired to see Me have received the object of their prayers.

" 'Those great souls who have surrendered unto Me are always equipped with transcendental knowledge and detachment from the material world. Sometimes, being busy in their devotional service, they may appear to forget Me. However, a pure devotee who has achieved the platform of love for Me will always be protected by such sincere devotion. Even if such a devotee should suddenly give up his life while neglecting to fix his mind intensely on Me, such a devotee's loving feelings are so powerful that they afford him all protection. Even if there is a temporary moment of forgetfulness, such devotion will bring the devotee to My lotus feet, which are beyond the vision of ordinary, materialistic persons. Uddhava is My pure devotee. Knowledge of Me and detachment from this world have again been aroused in him because he can never give up My association.' "

One who is situated in his constitutional relationship with Krishna can see all things in relation to Krishna. He thus gives up the mundane urges of the body, mind and speech and travels throughout the earth as a devotee of the Lord. Such a highly elevated personality is called gosvami, or the master of the senses. This stage is described in Bhagavad-gita (18.54) by the words brahma-bhutah prasannatma: on the spiritual platform one attains complete satisfaction.; Sunday, September 25, 2011 3:49:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The span of human life should be methodically divided | Light of the Bhagavata..

The first stage is called the brahmacarya-asrama, or the order of life in childhood, when the man-to-be is trained in the ultimate goal of life. The next stage is the grhastha-asrama, in which the man is trained to enter into the Transcendence. Then comes the vanaprastha-asrama, the preliminary stage of renounced life. The last stage recommended is the sannyasa order, or the renounced order of life. In this way one accepts a gradual process of spiritual activities for the ultimate goal of liberation.

Unfortunately, for want of sufficient culture of the human spirit, no one wants to give up the householder life, even though it is full of pinpricks and mud. And those who are too attached amidst the pinpricks of muddy householder life are compared to the cranes that stand on the bank of the river for some sense enjoyment despite all the inconveniences there. We should always remember that the society, friendship, only shadowy representations of the real society, friendship, and love reciprocated in the kingdom of God. There is no reality in the conditioned life of material existence, but because of our ignorance we are attached to the mirage. The idea of society, friendship, and love is not at all false, but the place where we search for it is false. We have to give up this false position and rise to the reality. That should be the aim of life, and that is the result of cultivating the human spirit.

Unfortunately, for want of sufficient culture of this spirit, the materialistic man always sticks to this false place in spite of all its turmoils. It is said that a man should give up the order of householder life at the age of fifty. But in this era of ignorance even an old man wants to rejuvenate his bodily functions, put on artificial teeth, and make a pretense of youthful life, even on the verge of death. Cranelike politicians especially are too much attached to the false prestige of position and rank, and so they always seek reelection, even at the fag end of life. These are some of the symptoms of an uncultured life.; Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:04:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

Therefore it is said here, punah punas carvita-carvananam: [SB 7.5.30] “chewing the chewed.” If we don’t make our life perfect Perfect means stop this business of chewing the chewed. Punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30]. Now, suppose we have got this human form of life. Now, by our pious activities we may be elevated to the higher planetary system, Svargaloka, heavenly planet. But what we shall gain there? The same sense gratification, in higher standard, that’s all. Just like sense gratification is there in the society of the cats and dogs, sense gratification is there in one country, in another country, but the arrangement is, may be, little different. But the pleasure of sense gratification is the same, either you enjoy it as a dog, as a human being, or as a demigod. The sense gratification pleasure is not different. It is the same. So we are, in this material world, we are changing our body, tatha dehantara-praptih, and enjoying sense gratification. That is called punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30], again chewing the chewed. I have tasted it in this life or that life; again I am trying to that. So this business, when we are disgusted with this business, that is called knowledge.

It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita, janma karma ca me divyam yo janati tattvatah [Bg. 4.9]. If we simply study Krsna in truth, then tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti kaunteya: [Bg. 4.9] then the result will be that after giving up this present body he will not have to accept another material body. To accept another material body, that is called punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30]. Either I get this human form of body, either get as the body of a dog or either I get the body of a demigod, the business is the same, ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca: eating, sleeping, and sex life, and defense. Don’t think that the heavenly planet, they are very safe. We have got information from Bhagavatam. Lord Indra, he is always perplexed. So many demons disturbing, the fighting is going on, although they have got a long duration of life, ten thousands of years, their duration of life. And their one day is equal to our six months.

So this way our life is being spoiled, and it can be stopped only by Krsna (God) consciousness. But this Krsna consciousness… Prahlada Maharaja saying that “This Krsna consciousness cannot be achieved by grha-vratanam.” Grha-vratanam means those who are interested in this family life or sense gratification life. For them it is very difficult.

So we have to control the senses. If we really want spiritual life, if we really want to be free from these material clutches, then we have to learn how to control the senses. That is wanted. That is the purpose of human life. Now… That is the purpose of human life. Human life is not meant for imitating the life of cats and dogs and hogs. That is not human life.; Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:26:00 AM
Anonymous said...: So here also, Vaivasvata Manu. Vaivasvata Manu means the son of the gentleman whose name is Vivasvan. He is the president of this solar world, of the sun, sun planet. There is also president. You have got your president here. Why not in the sun planet? Why…? How can you deny with teeny knowledge that there is no life, there is no city, there is no…? Simply you go on smoking ganja and telling anything, but the fact is different. The fact is different. From common sense we can understand that this is a planet made of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. So this whole material world is made of these five elements. Somewhere, some portion is very prominent. Here the earth is very prominent. Similarly, in the sun planet the fire is very prominent. But there are five elements.

Therefore if we study Bhagavad-gita very carefully, you understand everything.

So it is, God’s creation is like that. According to karma, there are different species of forms of life, but they have got all facilities to live. That is God’s creation. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10] The direction is there, that this living entity wanted a body to swim in the sea very jubilantly, so now he has got the body of a fish. So let him live very peacefully. That is God’s mercy. You take very much pleasure with that surf… What is called, in the sea?

Devotee: Surfboard.

Prabhupada: Surfboard? Yes. (laughter) So if you increase your engage…, “How I shall be swimming and enjoy this sport all day and night?” then Krsna will give you the body of a fish. (laughter) Yes. He is very kind. And you will very nicely live in the sea, always swimming without any difficulty. Every life. As you increase your propensity for a certain type of activities, nature is ready immediately: “Take this body. Why you are anxious? Take this body.” Similarly, if you become anxious to have a body like Krsna, that is also ready. Now it is your choice. If you like, you take the body of a fish, or if you like, you take the body of sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], eternal, blissful knowledge.; Tuesday, September 27, 2011 4:24:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Radha remembers Krsna adorned with precious stones and his followers,
including asetics, humans, gods and demons.
----------------------------------

Prabhupada: Why one is put into such exalted position, and why one is put into that abominable position? What is the answer? Kama-haitukam.

Trivikrama: Past activities.

Prabhupada: Yes. You cannot say it’s by chance. And who is making this chance arrangement, that one is born so exalted, one is born so low? Then again we have to accept somebody is. So these are all foolish theories, “By chance, by kama-haitukam.” No, there is great arrangement.

Trivikrama: “The demoniac conclude that the world is a phantasmagoria. There is no cause, no effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They do not think that the world was created by God for a certain purpose.

According to them, everything is void, and whatever manifestation exists is due to our ignorance in perception. They take it for granted that all manifestation of diversity is a display of ignorance.

Just as in a dream we may create so many things which actually have no existence, so when we are awake we shall see that everything is simply a dream. But factually, although the demons say that life is a dream, they are very expert in enjoying this dream. And so, instead of acquiring knowledge, they become more and more implicated in their dreamland.

They do not believe in the words of Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita, mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: [Bg. 9.10] ‘Under My direction the whole material world is moving.’ In other words, amongst the demons there is no perfect knowledge of the creation of this world; every one of them has a particular theory of his own.; Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:56:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

You should know that each and every planet is full of different types of living entities, and in the higher planetary system, the standard of living may be very… Not maybe. It is mentioned, thousands and thousands of times better than this planet. They… This is called Bhurloka, then Bhuvarloka, then Svargaloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Satyaloka, Brahmaloka—these are different higher planetary system—and each loka, the standard of happiness is thousand times better than the earth. This is the position.

But here Rsabhadeva says that anywhere you go, the threefold miseries of material existence, that will continue. You cannot get free. Even Brahmaloka, the Brahma, he is subjected to die. He is also undergo the principles of death, and what to speak of others. Nobody will exist here. A-brahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ’rjuna [Bg. 8.16].

Krsna says, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha- dosanudarsanam. Krsna never says that “Within this universe, if you go to the heavenly planet, then you can avoid janma-mrtyu-jara- vyadhi.” Never says. Nobody says. Krsna says, “Even you go to the heavenly planet,” abrahma-bhuvanal lokah, “the janma-mrtyu-jara- vyadhi, they are everywhere; you cannot avoid.” Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6]. “But if you come to Me,” param dhama, “then you can avoid.”; Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:59:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "Lord Siva is called the Bhuta-natha, being assisted by various types of powerful ghosts and denizens of the inferno--Bhutas, Pretas, Pramathas, Guhyakas, Dakinis, Pisacas, Kusmandas, Vetalas, Vinayakas and Brahma-raksasas. (Of all kinds of ghosts, the Brahma-raksasas are very powerful. Brahmanas transferred to the role of ghosts become Brahma-raksasas.)"

Krsna Book, Chapter 63

"Ghosts and mischievous hobgoblins are also the creation of Brahma; they are not false. All of them are meant for putting the conditioned soul into various miseries. They are understood to be the creation of Brahma under the direction of the Supreme Lord."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3:20:40

"Lord Siva is described here as caracara-guru, the spiritual master of all animate and inanimate objects. He is sometimes known as Bhutanatha, which means "the worshipable deity of the dull-headed." Bhuta is also sometimes taken to indicate the ghosts. Lord Siva takes charge of reforming persons who are ghosts and demons, not to speak of others, who are godly; therefore he is the spiritual master of everyone, both the dull and demoniac and the highly learned Vaisnavas."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4:2:2

"Lord Siva is described here as bhuta-rat. The ghosts and those who are situated in the material mode of ignorance are called bhutas, so bhuta-rat refers to the leader of the creatures who are in the lowest standard of the material modes of nature. Another meaning of bhuta is anyone who has taken birth or anything which is produced, so in that sense Lord Siva may be accepted as the father of this material world."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4:2:32

"In Calcutta there are many butcher shops which keep a deity of the goddess Kali, and animal-eaters think it proper to purchase animal flesh from such shops in hope that they are eating the remnants of food offered to goddess Kali. They do not know that goddess Kali never accepts nonvegetarian food because she is the chaste wife of Lord Siva. Lord Siva is also a great Vaisnava and never eats nonvegetarian food, and the goddess Kali accepts the remnants of food left by Lord Siva.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4:19:36; Friday, September 30, 2011 3:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm Issuing You a Citation

BY: NITYANANDA RAMA DASA

Oct 03, 2011 — PORTLAND, OREGON, USA (SUN) — This is the only line i hear Hare Krishnas or former Hare Krishnas say these days in public. I have never once seen devotees on the streets in Portland chanting and dancing, handing out books etc. Not one single time. (this includes myself, I am to blame as well!) But this weekend at an outdoor market I saw multiple groups out on the pick, scamming tourists with fake charities, selling trinkets, etc.

Using the old scamkirtan "citation" line, selling stickers, wearing tie-dye and reggae hats, selling necklaces. One woman approached me and my co-workers and said, "I'm giving you a citation...." I just said "Haribol, no thanks" and she gasped and said "Ohh!". My coworkers had no idea what was going on, but I was saddened. They thought we were in trouble for a moment and then I had to explain to them the scam, which is unfortunate.

This is what has become of a once thriving movement. Part of me feels anger, but I'm not even sure at whom it should be directed. Possibly these were Srila Prabhupada disciples that were pushed out of ISKCON and through years of hardships, are back to old bad habits. Perhaps I should feel compassion for them. Perhaps they are still on the pick for some so-called guru and doing anything to get him more money to invest in yet another investment scam.

If I look deeper, perhaps I see that is where any of us could be heading in the future if we stick around these demons long enough that run the show in the institution. I am glad and thankful even that I was never indoctrinated enough into the cult and business of ISKCON or related mini-cults. I am also thankful that I have been lucky enough to understand that Srila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness and the Sastras are separate from these scams. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, this is the public face of "Hare Krishna".

I'm issuing a citation to stop the scams.

Sure we all need to support ourselves and make some money, but there are other ways, I promise.

Haribol spirit souls.

ys,
Nityananda Rama dasa; Wednesday, October 05, 2011 3:28:00 PM
Anonymous said...: BTG | Volume 10, Number 04, 1975 — [...] The whole process of westernizing India or materializing India began about two or three hundred years ago. The Westerners introduced their so-called civilization, with its coffee, tea and meat eating. They built factories and developed large cities that had never been developed before. The entire Indian economy had been based on the villages, but under British rule and then recently more and more, everything moved toward the city.

What happened is that the Vedic culture broke down. When it was present, the necessities of life were plentiful; there was no difficulty. But by and by it broke down. People were encouraged, “Come into the cities to work in the big factories.” And what is the great advantage of the big factories? Luxury: an economy with the ultimate goal of material, temporary sense gratification.

And as bodily satisfaction becomes paramount, spiritual culture fades away. But the actual necessities—fruits, grains, vegetables, milk—these were not produced by the factories. You can’t eat nuts and bolts, you know.

The British built the railroads to link up all the big cities so that people would no longer, live in villages. The British induced the villagers to come to the cities to work in the factories. Then they took all the goods and all of India’s wealth to Britain. Gandhi’s w movement was to stop this.

What did Gandhi say? Village industry. Go back to the village; begin the small, industries. Decentralize, dematerialize, deindustrialize. He had the intelligence to see that this was required. But unfortunately by the time so-called independence came, the people were already materialized to a great extent; enough people had become so polluted that they could no longer go back.

The materialistic disease eats away at a man’s intelligence so that he loses the strength to realize his fallen condition; instead, he sees his fallen position as superior. But how has the city man actually improved his condition? Has he solved any of the real problems of life, such as birth, death, disease and old age? No.

Does he actually know who he is—that he is pure spirit soul, not his body? No. So what is the gain? He lives in a big, comfortable house, complete with all luxuries and a big bank balance. But at the time of death, how will any of these help him? Can he take his house or bank balance with him? You see, the material disease is so bewildering that at the time of death a man clings desperately to all his possessions.

All his life he has identified himself with his body and his possessions, instead of cultivating knowledge of the true self, the soul, and the real possession, love of God. As a result he dies in misery and ignorance, destined for a hellish future. But just as a crazy man thinks that he’s sane and everyone else is insane, so a materially diseased person thinks, “I’m very well off, but the other man is not.”

The man in the village? “Oh, barbaric, backwards, impoverished.” You see? But the Vedic villager lives simply and honestly, and with the better part of his time he cultivates spiritual knowledge. He has real wealth: knowledge of the self, of God, and his relationship with God.; Wednesday, October 05, 2011 3:31:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Light of the Bhagavata

In Bhagavad-gita the vaisyas are described as the natural agriculturalists, the protectors of cows, and the general traders. When Lord Sri Krishna incarnated Himself at Vrindavana, He took pleasure in becoming a beloved son of such a vaisya family. Nanda Maharaja was a big protector of cows, and Lord Sri Krishna, as the most beloved son of Nanda Maharaja, used to tend His father’s animals in the neighboring forest.

By His personal example Lord Krishna wanted to teach us the value of protecting cows. Nanda Maharaja is said to have possessed nine hundred thousand cows, and at the time of Lord Sri Krishna (about five thousand years ago) the tract of land known as Vrindavana was flooded with milk and butter. Therefore God’s gifted professions for mankind are agriculture and cow protection.

Just as a living being attains a transcendentally attractive form by rendering service to Lord Hari, similarly, all the inhabitants of the land and the water assume beautiful forms by taking advantage of the newly fallen water.

The residents of the water are the fish, frogs, and so on, and the residents of the land are the cows, deer, and so on. By constantly drinking and taking bath in the fresh rainwater of the rainy season, the tired and parched animals are refreshed, and their complexions become brilliant as their health is invigorated by the arrival of new rainwater. The lakes, ponds, and rivers are cleansed and invigorated by the downpour of new rainwater and thus become most beautiful. Similarly, a devotee of the Supreme Lord who takes advantage of the beautiful and invigorating downpour of the transcendental descriptions of God found in Vedic literature finds his spiritual consciousness invigorated and refreshed. In this way his spiritualized body becomes very beautiful.; Thursday, October 06, 2011 4:49:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

So the real mistake they are committing: dehātma-buddhi, this body as self. That is the basic mistake of all education. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13]. Anyone who has accepted this body as self, yasya ātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke… This is a bag of three elements: kapha, pitta, vāyu. And on this basis, sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu… Sva-dhīḥ. Sva-dhīḥ means thinking, “my own men.” Kalatrādiṣu. Kalatra means wife, and through wife, children, then other relationship. Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. And the land in which one is born, that is worshipable. Nowadays nationalism. Nationalism means the land. In so many ways the whole basic principle of education is wrong. Therefore such persons who are making so-called progress on the basic principle of mistake, so parābhavas tāvat, they are simply being defeated, because the basic principle is wrong. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. Ātma-tattvam, spirit, spiritual knowledge, one who hasn’t got, so whatever they are doing in the name of progress, they are all being defeated. That’s all. It will never be successful. They will never be happy. There will be no peace and prosperity in the world, because the basic principle is wrong.

Unfortunately, the teachers, professors, they are all rascals. Therefore we do not get proper education. Wrongly directed. They are changing. Changing is not knowledge. That is not knowledge.

Our senses are imperfect. That is our defect in the conditioned life. We have got four defects: we commit mistake, we become illusioned, our senses are imperfect, and we cheat. Because our knowledge is imperfect, still, we take the position of teacher; therefore we are cheater—not teacher, but cheater. So the teacher society nowadays is the cheater society. And this modern world is a society of the cheater and the cheated. That’s all. Somebody is cheating and somebody is being cheated. This is going on.

Knowledge means without any mistake. Anything without any mistake, that is perpetually right. And anything based on mistaken idea, that will change.

Knowledge means what you accept as right, it must be accepted perpetually right. That is knowledge. That is knowledge. Just like our principle. Kṛṣṇa says that “I am the Supreme,” five thousand years ago. So Arjuna who heard from Kṛṣṇa, he also said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg. 10.12]. He accepted. I am speaking of five thousand years. Otherwise perpetually. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg. 4.1]. Long, long ago, before speaking to Arjuna, this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to the sun-god, forty millions of years ago. The same principle. In the Bhagavad-gītā: “I am speaking to you the same principle.” Not that “Forty millions of years have passed, so things have changed.” No. Nothing has changed. The sun forty millions of years ago used to rise from the eastern side. Forty or trillions of years. Still it is rising from the east. Can you make any new thing, “Let the sun rise from the west?” No.; Friday, October 07, 2011 3:55:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Isopanisad

The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

PURPORT

The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. Realization of impersonal Brahman or of Paramatma, the Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. Realization of impersonal Brahman is realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and Paramatma realization is realization of His sat and cit features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features—sat, cit and ananda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means “form.” Thus the Complete Whole is not formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than His creation in any other way, He could not be complete. The Complete Whole must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He cannot be complete.

The Complete Whole, the Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies, all of which are as complete as He is. Thus this phenomenal world is also complete in itself. The twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation are arranged to produce everything necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No other unit in the universe need make an extraneous effort to try to maintain the universe. The universe functions on its own time scale, which is fixed by the energy of the Complete Whole, and when that schedule is completed, this temporary manifestation will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the Complete Whole.; Saturday, October 08, 2011 5:05:00 PM
Anonymous said...: All facilities are given to the small complete units (namely the living beings) to enable them to realize the Complete Whole. All forms of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole. The human form of life is a complete manifestation of the consciousness of the living being, and it is obtained after evolving through 8,400,000 species of life in the cycle of birth and death. If in this human life of full consciousness the living entity does not realize his completeness in relation to the Complete Whole, he loses the chance to realize his completeness and is again put into the evolutionary cycle by the law of material nature.

Because we do not know that there is a complete arrangement in nature for our maintenance, we make efforts to utilize the resources of nature to create a so-called complete life of sense enjoyment. Because the living entity cannot enjoy the life of the senses without being dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the misleading life of sense enjoyment is illusion. The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body. When the hand is severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it actually has none of the potencies of a hand. Similarly, living beings are part and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the Complete Whole, the illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them.

The completeness of human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All services in this world—whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary—will remain incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When everything is dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the attached parts and parcels also become complete in themselves.
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These transcendental words are so magnificent in their simplicity and loving worth that I am often moved to tears of gratitude and honest love for those blessed gurus, saints and devotees who give this to us.

And for the fact of dear Lord Sri Radha Krishna Himself.

Jaya Srila Prabhupada!; Sunday, October 09, 2011 1:53:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.47 Lecture
Dallas, July 29, 1975

Prabhupada:

vartamanah anyayoh kalah
gunabhijnapako yatha
evam janmanyayor etad
dharmadharma-nidarshanam
[SB 6.1.47]

So this future, past, present, future, is being controlled by the three modes of material nature. If we practice in this life sattva-guna, then urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah: [Bg. 14.18] then we shall be promoted to the higher planetary system. Madhye tishthanti rajasah. If we cultivate rajo-guna... Rajo-guna means kama-lobha, kama, simply desiring. This is called rajo-guna. "I want this, I want this, I want this." Because there is no satiation of want, therefore every man or woman planning something, "How my sense gratification will be fully satisfied." This is rajo-guna, kama. Everyone is forgetting his real business. His real business is he should know, one should know, that "I am eternal. I have taken this temporary body and subjected to the laws of nature, birth, death and old age. So my real problem is how to become again eternal, not accepting any more birth, death, old age. That is my real business." But because I am infected with the material modes of nature, we are making different plans. Everyone is busy. Everyone is busy in different plans, forgetting his real business. This is called maya. Maya means..., ma means not; ya means this. Therefore maya means when you understand, "This is not my business," then you are out of maya. "This is not," ma-ya.

So here the Yamadutas are analyzing whether Ajamila is pious or impious. The Vishnudutas asked them to explain what is dharma and what is adharma. "You have come here to arrest this person, to take away with to the yama... So you are servant of Dharmaraja. Now explain what is dharma and adharma." Dharma means which will bring me again to my original, constitutional position, and adharma means which will take me down and down from my original, constitutional position. This is the test of dharma and adharma. I am eternal part and parcel of God, so my dharma is to render service to God and go back to home, back to Godhead. This is my real business. So adharma means I forget my relationship with the Supreme Lord and I go down and down just to become up to the worm in the stool. This is called adharma. There are so many varieties of life. Why? This is due to difference of dharma and adharma. Those who are trying to take the principles of dharma, they are being elevated to the higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, up to back to home, back to Godhead. And those who are not accepting... Jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah [Bg. 14.18]. Jaghanya, they do not know how to live, just like animal, less than animal. Animal has got also sense. The modern civilization is less than animal. Animal does not kill its own son. The human being is killing his own son.; Monday, October 10, 2011 10:21:00 PM
Anonymous said...: October 11th marks the start of the period of Damodara, the fourth month of Caturmasya.

Lord Damodara Whose Belly is Bound by a Rope.

Sri Krsna-candra, Who is achintyananta-saktiman bhagavan - the Supreme Personality of Godhead and potent source of inconceivably limitless energies - allowed Mata Yasoda to bind Him with ropes to a wooden grinding mortar. By this pastime, He fully tasted the essence of her visuddha-vatsalya-prema-rasa, the totally pure spiritual mellows of her parental love. He also thereby revealed to the world the highest characteristics of His quality of bhaktadhinata, or willingness to subject Himself to the dominance of the devotee.

"O learned Vipras! If one worships the deity of Sri Radhika during the month of Karttika for the purpose of Her pleasure, then Damodara Hari becomes very satisfied. One who worships Lord Damodara by daily reciting the prayer known as Damodarastaka, which was spoken by the sage Satyavrata, verily attracts Damodara Himself."; Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Sri Damodarastakam of Satyavrata Muni

Verse 1

"I bow down to the supreme controller, Sri Damodara, whose form is the embodiment of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. His glistening earrings swing playfully to and fro upon His cheeks. He manifests super-excellent pastimes in Gokula, by stealing fresh butter suspended from the rafters of the gopi's storerooms. In fear of Mother Yasoda, He jumps down from a wooden grinding mortar and quickly runs away. She runs swiftly after Him and finally catches Him from behind."

Verse 2

"He cries and rubs His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are fearful and His breathing quick. As Mother Yasoda binds His belly with ropes, He shivers in fright and the pearl necklace shakes upon His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conch shell. To the Supremem Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound by His mother's pure love, not by rope, I offer my humble obeisances."

Verse 3

"O my Lord, by Your own childhood pastimes, You continually immerse the residents of Gokula in pools of ecstasy. You reveal to those who are attracted to Your majesty and opulence, that You are only conquered by the love of Your pure devotees. Again I offer my obeisances with love and devotion hundreds and hundreds of times."

Verse 4

"O Lord Damodara, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for liberation, nor the supreme goal of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor for any other boon. My only desire, O Lord, is that Your form as Bala Gopala in Vrindavana may constantly remain in my heart. I have no use for any other boon besides this."

Verse 5

"Your supremely enchanting face, encircled by shining locks of dark blue curling hair, resembles the fully blossomed lotus, tinged with a reddish luster, due to being kissed again and again by Mother Yasoda. May this vision of Your lotus face, with lips are red as bimba fruit, remain forever in my heart. Millions of other benedictions are of no benefit to me."

Verse 6

"O Damodara! O Lord of divine beauty and unlimited mercy! O all pervading Visnu! I offer my obeisances unto You. May You be pleased with me. I am drowning in an ocean of sorrow and feeling almost dead. Shower Your nectar laden glances upon me, thereby uplifting me and enthusing me with life. Please accept me, O Lord, and become visible before my eyes."

Verse 7

"O Lord Damodara, although Mother Yasoda bound Your divine form to a wooden grinding mortar, You mercifully delivered the sons of Kuvera, Manigriva and Nalakuvara, who were cursed to stand as trees, and You gave them the gift of devotional service. Please bless me in this same way with Your most wonderful prema-bhakti. I have no eagerness for any other type of liberation."

Verse 8

"O Lord, I offer respectful obeisances unto Your belly, the abode of the entire universe, which is bound by Mother Yasoda with a brilliantly effulgent rope. To this rope I offer my humble obeisances. I offer repeated obeisances to Your dearmost beloved Srimati Radharani, and I bow before You, who are performing unlimited super-excellent pastimes."; Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:59:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, New York, November 29, 1966:

That is bhakti: taiche bhakti-phale krsne prema upajaya. If you execute the devotional service, then you develop that love. And as soon as krishna-prema asvada haile, bhava nasa paya..

And as soon as you develop, the more the proportionate way of, you develop love of Krishna, love of God, proportionately, you are free from this material contamination. When you are perfectly in Krishna love, you are perfectly free from material contamination. This is the way of liberation.

daridrya-nasa, bhava-ksaya,—premera ‘phala’ naya prema-sukha-bhoga—mukhya prayojana haya

So one should not think that “Now I am materially happy. My all distress, my all poverty, has gone by Krishna, by devotional service of Krishna,” or “I have become liberated.” No. These are by-products. To become liberated and to become materially happy by prosecution of Krishna consciousness is a by-product.

You have to attempt further thing. And what is that? Prema-sukha-bhoga: you shall be absorbed in love of Krishna. That is the… That is here recorded that that should be your ultimate goal of life. So we should not stop: “Oh, now I am very happy. Now I have no material miseries,” or “I am liberated. Now this material contamination does not affect me.” No. When you will be so much absorbed in love of God, just like Lord Caitanya showed… Caksusa pravrsayitam sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me, govinda-virahena me: “Oh, I am crying.

Just My tears coming, just torrents of rain from My eyes.” Sunyayitam jagat sarvam: “I am seeing everything vacant.” Why? Govinda-virahena me: “In separation of Govinda.” That is highest stage of life. Govinda-virahena me. Just like in this material world, if you love somebody and if he is dead and passed and gone, you see everything vacant.

That is a test of that govinda viraha. But we are foolish. We know that everything will be finished here. Why should I give so much attachment to this nonsense? Give your attachment to Krishna. He will never be finished. So that is love of Krishna. We have to attain that stage. Yes. That is the perfection of life.

Thank you. (end); Wednesday, October 12, 2011 5:06:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, May 1, 1973, Los Angeles:

Everything belongs to God, and because we are sons of God, we can use the father’s property. But not more than what I require.

That is your business. Similarly everything is God’s property. Everyone, even the birds, beasts, everyone has right to use the father’s property. Just like the birds. They will use. Just like they are picking up the small fishes. So as much they require, they are allowed, “Take it.”

But they are not making any stock for speculation. Man does that. As soon as there is some good harvest, ah, immediately they… [break]… problem. If everyone only takes as much he requires, there is no problem in the world. But he wants to take more. Just like you Americans, you have covered so many thousands of miles. And you don’t allow anyone. “No, you cannot enter. Here is gun.” What is this nonsense? It is God’s property. Why do you disallow others.

Let them come. So there is no question of over-population. There are so much land in Australia, in Africa, here in America, that ten times of the present population can be provided. God has provided. But these rascals will not allow. So there is overpopulation in India, in China and other places, and there is problem. They are trying to occupy more land but you will not allow.

Therefore war, there is war. So we create problems. Otherwise God has supplied us enough. You can use it; as much as you like you can use what you have… They are creating trouble and the scientists giving them, “Yes, I am giving you this chemical composition. You drop on the enemies’ camp.” This is scientific research, to impel the rascals. (laughter)

The rascals, rogues, they are trying to usurp other’s property, and the scientists helping them. That’s all. If you help one murderer, if you help one thief, then you also become criminal. Is it not? So they are helping one another, all these thieves and rogues. Therefore there is so much trouble in the world. They are all criminals. Stena eva sa ucyate. One who does not recognize the proprietorship of the Lord, he is a thief.

Find out, take statistics how many people recognizes God. Take statistic. Everyone will say, “Eh! What is God, nonsense.” Everyone will say. Therefore they are in trouble. Bhaktivinoda Thakura summarizes this fact: mayar bose, jaccho bhese, Khaccho habudubu bhai, jiv krsna-das, e biswas, korle to ar duhkho nai. As soon as you believe in God and accept yourself as eternal servant, there is no more problem.; Thursday, October 13, 2011 3:59:00 PM
Anonymous said...: A 'bala-lila (childhood pastime)' of Lord Krishna
with Bhagavan Shankar for the devotional contemplation by Lord's
devotees in perfect harmony.

A similar 'pada' was also written and sung by the Rasik Saint
Suradasji of Sri Vallabha Sampradaya.

Lord Krishna's holy birth is being celebrated in Gokula Vrindavan with
great joy and grandeur. Mother Yashoda is overwhelmed by ecstatic
maternal love for her darling child.

A gopi maiden brings the news that there is a strange looking 'Yogi'
called 'Shambhu' waiting at the entrance door of their courtyard,
loudly chanting with delight, "alakh!", "alakh!" - (meaning-
'O Formless Absolute Brahman! O God imperceptible to eyes!)

The messenger gopi gives some more details of this supreme Yogi to
Mother Yashoda.

"The Yogi is brilliant white in color, with crescent moon decorating
his forehead, matted locks of his hair drenched in Ganga waters, his

neck adorned with a garland of skulls and his limbs are embraced by
poisonous snakes. His abode is Mount Kailas and he is the enemy of
Cupid, god of beauty and mundane love."

Mother Yashoda is very happy to receive the unique Yogi Maharaj and
serves him with great respect and hospitality. She encourages him to
ask for whatever treasure he would like to have as alms, and insists
him to recieve as much gold, precious diamonds and pearls as he
pleases because of the auspicious occasion of her child's birthday
festivities.

But Shankar Bhagavan being totally detached from the material world
replies that he is a renounced mendicant and worldly riches and gifts
are of neither use nor value to him. He simply begs for the alms of
the blessed vision of her precious divine child, Sri Krishna.

But mother Yashoda becomes very disturbed with this request and
worried about the consequences.

She says to Lord Shiva that her infant Son, Krishna is at very tender
age and delicate. Fearing that He would be scared to death to see the
inauspicious, terrible form of Yogi Maharaj as described above, she
tries to avoid showing her darling baby boy.; Friday, October 14, 2011 9:48:00 PM
Anonymous said...: But Lord Shiva, understanding her hesitation, assures that her new
born Child is NO ordinary Son but the incarnation of Supreme
Personality of God Himself and full of transcendental attributes!

Ofcourse naive Yashoda who is blinded by divine love does not believe
Lord Shiva and moreover she doubts his very own words.

The reluctant mother clevery reminds Shivaji,

"Yogiraj Shambhu Shankar! Until now You have been meditating upon the
impersonal Brahman and chanting the sacred syllables 'alakh!' 'alakh!'
(O Formless Absolute Brahman! O God imperceptible to eyes!)

How is that you have realized that my cute, little Baby is the Divine
incarnation of Bhagavan?

Please do not try to confuse me with your words."

Then wise Shankar ji tricks mother Yashoda saying that he has been
proclaiming loudly the word "aa lakh!" "aa lakh!" and not "alakh!"

("Aa lakh" means - "come on, have a look!")

He adds that since the same Absolute Brahman Whom Yogis and Jnanis
realize as Formless and Attributeless has descended on earth appearing
in His Supreme Personal form of Lord Krishna and performing blissful
lilas of Divine Love with His intimate devotees, he has been shouting
all along inviting everyone to 'COME and HAVE A LOOK' at the Blessed
Lord, the Personified Bhrahman!!

After listening to the high praises of her son by Yogi Raj and
believing in the good fortune of her precious child, innocent mother
Yashoda humbly brings Baby Krishna and shows Him to Lord Shiva.

Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva fondly look at each other with deep
familiarity of Their close eternal relationship, both of Them being
lost in the divine rapture of rendezvous!

In the concluding verse, the Rasik saint-poet exclaims- "I would
sacrifice thousands of my lives just to have one glimpse of the
overwhelming spiritual ecstasy of my Lordships, "Hari and Hara"
absorbed in Their Divine Union!"

Jaya Sri Radhey!; Friday, October 14, 2011 9:49:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada: That’s all right, but actually it is not money. You are befooled. You are such a fool that you accept a piece of paper as money. Therefore I say you are rascal. That is my business. If I say “Government, give me gold,” and government has passed law, “No, you cannot possess gold,” that means cheating. How I shall keep gold, that is my business. First of all you give me gold. It is due to me. But you are giving me paper. That means cheating is begun from you.

Harikesa: How will the government decide what my gold is and what his gold is? How does the gold get distributed?

Prabhupada: Gold coins. Formerly there was gold coins. We have seen in our childhood gold coins, silver coins. There was no paper.

Harikesa: But you have to do something to get it.

Prabhupada: Yes. I will have to do something. That is another thing. But why you are cheating me? Instead of gold, you are giving me paper. Formerly… You have seen in Krsna book that one fruit man came, and Krsna was taking some grain. It was falling down. So that was the… A fruit man come, and you give him a packet of grain. Then whatever exchange is possible, the fruit man gives you fruit. That’s all.

Pusta Krsna: That is called bartering.

Prabhupada: Bartering. So there is no need of money. Similarly, you go to another shop. You get. So you produce your food, and in exchange, in barter, you get all things, other things. Somebody is producing something, somebody is producing something. But it can be done. Suppose I am a blacksmith. You want some work from me. So you say that “I’ll make this instrument for me.” So I say, “You give me one kg paddy.” So you give me one kg, I prepare you, so your necessity is fulfilled. Now I have got so much paddy. Now, I may go to purchase something else because I am blacksmith, so grains will be used for my eating, and for, say for ghee, I take the same grain somewhere. So where is the money need of?

Harikesa: It’s very difficult to cheat in that system. It’s very difficult to cheat.

Prabhupada: Cheat?

Harikesa: In a system of bartering it’s very hard to cheat.

Prabhupada: Yes. There is no cheating. Everyone is simply simple, honest. And here the government begins cheating. He is engaging you to hard work day and night and paying you a piece of paper, where it is written “one hundred dollars.” That’s all. This is your society, cheating and cheater. That’s all.; Saturday, October 15, 2011 4:45:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Sri Damodarastakam - Text 6

namo deva! damodarananta! visno!
prasida prabho! duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam
krpa-drsti-vrstyati-dinam batanu-
grhanesa! mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah

Obeisances to You, O Deva! O Damodara! O Ananta! O Visnu! | O Prabhu! Be pleased with me. I am sinking deeply into the ocean of tribulations | Shower the rain of Your merciful glance upon me who am so pitifully fallen | Alas! Kindly exhibit Your favour and deliver me O Isa! I am totally ignorant | Please become visible to my eyes; Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:21:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada: Kirtana and prasadam distribution. This is our preaching mainly. And if they hear little philosophy, that is very good. Otherwise simply kirtana and prasadam distribution is sufficient. Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to do that. He was not speaking philosophy to everyone. Kirtana and prasada distribution. So our men can perform very nice kirtana, and if they come to take little prasadam, that is preaching. You have to maintain this standard, that kirtana must go on and prasadam should be distributed.

Satsvarupa: And take collection for that, to continue that.

Prabhupada: Yes. By selling books, by contribution, somehow or other maintain. Everywhere.

Satsvarupa: Our movement has changed in America in the past six years or so. Now devotees are not much seen on the streets chanting. So there’s different feelings. Some say it is all right, because everyone is now distributing books more.

Prabhupada: That is also nice.

Satsvarupa: That’s also a kind of kirtana. But then the public, they hardly ever see us anymore. They used to say, “Oh, the saffron- robed people chanting on the streets.”

Prabhupada: But they come to the love feast.

Satsvarupa: Yes.

Prabhupada: That’s all right.

Satsvarupa: Yes. It’s not necessary to emphasize that street chanting.

Prabhupada: No. Sell books and invite them to come to temple for love feast.; Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:26:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada:

apanara hitahita kichui na jana! gramya-vyavahare pandita tai satya mani

So in India, still, a brahmana is called pandita, panditaji. Just like you know our Prime Minister was Pandita Jawaharlal Nehru. He happened to be a Sarasvata brahmana. Sanatana Gosvami, he also a Sarasvata brahmana by caste. But he has placed himself:

nica jati nica-sangi patita adhama kuvisaya-kupe padi’ gonainu janama

He could understand that “These people call me pandita.” Pandita means one who knows everything. The ultimate pandita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita, panditah sama-darsinah [Bg. 5.18]. Pandita means he sees every living entity on the equal level. That is real pandita. Panditah sama-darsinah.

vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva sva-pake ca panditah sama-darsinah [Bg. 5.18]

He’s really pandita. That is spiritually. And material pandita, that is also mentioned by Canakya Pandita, his moral instruction. He gives description of a pandita:

matrvat para-daresu para-dravyesu lostravat atmavat sarva-bhutesu yah pasyati sa panditah

He never said that anyone who has passed his M.A. degree or Ph.D. degree, he is pandita. No. The test of pandita is here, from moral instruction, that anyone who sees all other woman except his wife as mother, he is pandita. Just see. This is the test. Matrvat para-daresu and para-dravyesu, other’s property as garbage in the street, nobody touches. And atmavat sarva-bhutesu, and treat everyone as his own self. If anyone has learned these three things, then he is pandita. And spiritually, when one sees that all living entities, may be in different types of bodies, he is spirit soul, part and parcel of God, then he is pandita.

brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]

So these are Vedic instructions, and Sanatana Gosvami, although he was a minister in Muhammadan government, Nawab Hussain Shah’s, but in touch with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he has come to his knowledge that gramya-vyavahare pandita: “Actually, I am not pandita, but in village, in ordinary common sense, because I happen to be a brahmana, they call me pandita. I also accept as pandita. But my real position is that I am such a pandita, such a learned man, that I do not know what is good for me. This is my position.” He is submitting to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, his guru. Why guru is necessary? Tad vijnanartham. When we are perplexed that “I do not know what is my actually goal of life, what is benefit here for me…” Just like Arjuna did. When he was talking with Krsna on equal terms, two friends… But when he saw that the actual solution is not coming, then he submitted himself to Krsna, that “Krsna, now we are not friends. We are friends, but treat me as Your disciple.” Sisyas te ’ham sadhi mam tvam prapannam. So “Make me pandita. I am talking all foolishly. I am ksatriya, it is my duty to fight and I am denying it. I know that I am deviating from my duties. So how it has happened? What is the cause? So kindly, sisyas te, I am submitting myself before You as Your student. Sadhi mam prapannam, I am surrendering.”; Wednesday, October 19, 2011 8:35:00 PM
Anonymous said...: nica jati nica-sangi patita adhama kuvisaya-kupe padi’ gonainu janama

If we remain puffed-up, that “I am born in such and such family. I am educated such and such, and I am posted in such and such post, so now my life is successful,” that is false. Life is successful when we understand that… Here it is said, apanara hitahita kichui na jani. When we understand what is the goal of life, then life is successful. Not the temporary position, “I am getting good salary, I am very nicely posted, I have got good family,” and so on, so on. No. One must know the goal of life.

The goal of life is that… We are fallen in this material world somehow or other. As Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, anadi karma-phale pori’ bhavarnava-jale. Now when a man is fallen in the ocean or in the water, he’s asking help, you cannot say that “How did you fall? What was the cause?” That we shall discuss later on. First of all, save him. So that is the immediately necessity. There is no… Sometimes we are questioned that “How a living entity fallen in this material world?” Yes, that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita: iccha-dvesa-samutthena sarge yanti parantapa. Iccha-dvesa. Actually, we are servants of God. That is our real position. But we sometimes become envious, that “Why shall I become servant of God? This is slave mentality.” Sometimes we are accused, the Vaisnavas are, of slave mentality because they want to serve God. And the Mayavadis, they think that “We are so exalted that I am as good as God. I am God.” That is their position. But actually, nobody is God here. Everyone is servant. He’s simply falsely thinking that he’s God, he’s master, he’s this or that. You have got very nice example in the life of Mr. Nixon. He was thinking that he’s everything: “I am the President.” But now what is his position, you can understand.

So similarly everyone…, nobody is master. The master is Krsna. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta, ekale isvara krsna ara saba bhrtya. The master is there, that is Krsna, and everyone is servant. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches that jivera svarupa haya nitya krsna dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. We living entities, we are eternally servant of God.; Wednesday, October 19, 2011 8:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada: The soul is eternally a gentleman.
Lawyer: Ahh. But is the soul who takes birth as an animal also a gentleman?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. He is a gentleman by nature, but a criminal by artificial means. As soon as—
Lawyer: But suppose you attain moksha [liberation]. Is that the same as returning to the spiritual world?

Prabhupada: There are two kinds of moksha. In the first kind one tries to remain in the impersonal Brahman effulgence. But one cannot remain there eternally. The Brahman effulgence is like the sky. You may go up into the sky, but you cannot remain there. If you don’t get any shelter, you have to come down again. You are a living entity and you want enjoyment, but what enjoyment will you find in the sky? You require society, friends, love—everything. But none of these are there in the Brahman effulgence.
So, the moksha of the impersonalists is temporary because although they think that by merging into the impersonal Brahman they will be happy, they cannot be happy there. Aruhya kricchrena param padam tatah patanty adhah: although they go up to the impersonal Brahman effulgence, because there is no ananda
[spiritual pleasure] they come down again to find pleasure in the material world. By nature the living entity seeks pleasure (anandamayo ‘bhyasat). But you do not get any ananda in the Brahman effulgence.
Lawyer: Isn’t merging into Brahman itself ananda?

Srila Prabhupada: No. It is eternal existence, but no ananda. Can you remain eternally without pleasure? No, so you have to come back down again to this material world, because here there is something like ananda, although the pleasure here is temporary. So unless you go to God and dance with Him, you’ll have to come back to this world. But the impersonalists cannot reconcile how God can be a person and not have to suffer birth and death like them. Because they have had a very bad experience of being a person here, they think the Absolute must be impersonal in order to be perfect. They are mudhas, fools; they are not intelligent.
Lawyer: But what is the stage at which the atma [the soul] merges with the paramatma [the Supersoul]?

Srila Prabhupada: That I have already explained: you cannot merge. You may simply imagine you are merging. You can enter into the spiritual atmosphere, but without ananda you cannot stay there. Therefore you have to come back again to this material world. Suppose you are put in some place where you cannot practice law. How long will you remain there? If I say, “Please remain here happily without any law practice,” how long could you remain? You will want some activity, some pleasure. That is your nature.
So, here in the material world we are all trying to get some pleasure, but that pleasure is temporary. It is not satisfying us. Therefore, being disgusted, we want to stop material life and merge into Brahman. But that life is also temporary. Unless you go back home, back to Godhead, there is no complete life. Therefore Krishna comes and shows by His spiritual activities how to enjoy real ananda. He plays with the cowherd boys, He dances with the cowherd girls, He kills the demons—He performs so many activities. This is ananda. You have read our Krishna Book?[Krishna Book, or Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, is Srila Prabhupada’s summary study of the Tenth Canto of Srimad- Bhagavatam, India’s greatest spiritual classic.] Krishna’s activities are described there in detail. We are trying to give people real knowledge from the shastra [scriptures]. Now it is up to them to take advantage of it.; Thursday, October 20, 2011 4:25:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Light of the Bhagavata..

The beautiful white clouds, freed from all burdens of water distribution, float in midair, like mendicants freed from all family responsibilities.
----------------------------------

As long as one is attached to the so-called responsibilities of family burdens, he is always full of cares and anxieties about meeting his family expenses. The four orders of social life, as designed in the varnasrama system, are very scientific and cooperative. In student life one is taught the primary principles of the human form of life. One who enters the householder’s life can execute the duties of a family man because he has already been trained for this job in the brahmacarya-asrama. And after fifty years of age the householder retires from family life and prepares for the life of sannyasa.

The householder is duty-bound to maintain the members of all three of the other asramas, namely the brahmacaris, the vanaprasthas, and sannyasis. In this way, every member of society was given a chance to retire for a higher order of spiritual culture, and the householders neglected no one. The brahmacaris, vanaprasthas, and sannyasis all curtailed their necessities to the minimum, and therefore no one would begrudge maintaining them in the bare necessities of life.

In Kali-yuga, however, the entire system has gone topsy-turvy. The student lives in luxury at the expense of the father or the father-in-law. When the educated, indulgent student becomes a householder by the strength of university degrees, he requires money by all means for all kinds of bodily comfort, and therefore he cannot spare even a penny for the so-called vanaprasthas and sannyasis. The vanaprasthas and sannyasis nowadays are those who were unsuccessful in family life. Thus the so-called sannyasis try to construct another home in the name of the sannyasa-asrama and glide down into all sorts of luxury at the expense of others. So all these varnas and asramas have now become so many transcendental frauds.

But that does not mean that there is no reality in them. One should not conclude that there is no good money simply because one has met with counterfeit coins. The sannyasa-asrama is meant for complete freedom from all anxieties, and it is meant for uplifting the fallen souls, who are merged in materialism. But unless the sannyasi is freed from all cares and anxieties, like a white cloud, it is difficult for him to do anything good for society.; Monday, October 24, 2011 3:46:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Jaya Srila Prabhupada!!

So this thinking of Krsna is a process of devotional service, out of the nine processes. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam [SB 7.5.23]. So if you remember Krsna, you advance in your spiritual life, and you become perfect yogi. How?

yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah [Bg. 6.47]

If you simply think, as you drink water, or drink anything, the taste only… Here is the hint: “Now here is Krsna.” So you must be drinking so many times. If so many times, if you remember Krsna, you gradually become Krsna conscious. So simple thing it is. Krsna is prescribing. Raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Suppose if you do not drink. So nobody there is who does not drink. Everyone drinks. The another method, prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. As soon as, early in the morning, you find the sunshine, you remember “Here is Krsna. Here is Krsna.” Or at night, when there is no sun, there is moonlight, “Here is Krsna.” Then pranavah sarva-vedesu. If you are a student, serious student of Vedic mantras… Om tad visnoh paramam padam sada pasyanti sura… If you chant the Vedic mantras… Om bhur bhuvah svah tat savitur varenyam. The omkara, that is Krsna. Many people are very much fond of chanting omkara. That is also nice. That is Krsna. But if we simply remember that “This omkara is Krsna,” then we become perfect. Because the process is how to become Krsna conscious.

So it is not at all difficult to become Krsna conscious. There is no expenditure; there is no loss. Simply by your daily dealings you can become Krsna conscious. This is the program here.

If you simply remember this sloka of Bhagavata, that sabda, any sound… Hare Krsna sound is transcendental. That’s all right. But if you don’t like Hare Krsna sound, you take any sound, any sound is also… That is coming from the original sound. Simply it is covered by maya. What is the difference between spiritual and material? Everything is spiritual. Sarvam khalv idam brahma. But when it is covered by maya, it is material. That’s all. And what is maya? Forgetful of Krsna. The same water, the same water, it is spiritual. Because it is Krsna’s energy. Krsna has already said, bhumir apah. Apah. Here also, apsu. So apah, jala, or water, is Krsna’s energy. How it can be different from Krsna? So we have to deal with water in so many ways. How we can forget Krsna?; Monday, October 24, 2011 3:56:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.120

This is mukti. That means… Caitanya Mahaprabhu is immediately, by one word, giving you mukti. They are trying so much, undergoing austerities, penances, going to the Himalaya, making mystical…, so many things for mukti. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu? That mukti He’s given directly: “Take this mukti.” This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. “You simply try to understand your position, that you are eternal servant of Krsna.” And as soon as you accept this position, you are mukti.

So mukti is not difficult for a devotee. Bilvamangala Thakura has said, muktih mukulitanjali sevate asman: “Oh, mukti? She is standing at my door with folded hands: ‘What can I do for you?’ ” So the bhaktas, they do not care for mukti. They are already mukta. There is no need of separate endeavor for mukti. You simply accept this truth, that you are servant of Krsna—immediately you are mukta, immediately. It doesn’t require… It requires only one second to become mukta. It doesn’t require… Just like Krsna says in the Bha…,

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami… [Bg. 18.66]

This is mukti. “You surrender unto Me, and immediately I save you.

o by the grace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu one can learn how to become liberated in one second, one second. It doesn’t require many births. Of course, to come to this position, as Krsna says, bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Bg. 7.19], after many, many births, that is very difficult job. We do not know. Suppose in this life I am living for hundred years or fifty years or ninety years. Then again another eighty years, ninety years, another hundred, four, five hundred years, or five thousand years… Because according to the body… The trees are standing for hundreds of years, five thousand years. So bahunam janmanam ante [Bg. 7.19] is not very easy thing. It may be millions of years. So after millions of years, if one actually becomes wise, jnanavan, he understands this simple truth, that jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa, this simple truth, that every living entity is eternally the servant of Krsna. If he understands this, then he becomes immediately liberated.

Then actually, when he is mukta, then there is life in mukta. Mukta does not mean finished life. Just like if you become free from a certain type of disease. So after being cured there is duty. There is duty. Not that after being cured, the diseased also cured, and you are also cured. You are also finished. No. After the disease being cured, there is healthy activities. That is required.; Wednesday, October 26, 2011 2:05:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupāda..

New York, November 4, 1966

Today Govardhanadhārī, Giridhārī, Lord Kṛṣṇa, today lifted the mountain. According to Vedic literature there are different demigods. Sometimes you will find in Greek mythology the gods of the water, gods of the thunderbolt. These are not imagination. Actually they are facts. But due to our insufficient knowledge we do not know how the material nature is being controlled. So when Kṛṣṇa was on this planet and He was playing the part of a cowherd boy, and it was known to all over the universe that “God has come, taken incarnation, and He is on the earth planet, and He is at Vṛndāvana playing the part of a cowherd boy…” So as if somebody, if there is incarnation of God, somebody believes and somebody does not believe, when Kṛṣṇa was actually present on this earth, it is not that everybody understood that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not even up to date. Only few persons, the five brothers of the Pāṇḍavas and the damsels of Vṛndāvana, only in the fingers’ count, say, out of the whole population, say, hundred or two hundred men knew Him that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise everyone thought that “He is an ordinary man just like one of us, but most powerful. That’s all.” Similarly, the demigods in other planets, they also thought, “Oh, he’s a foolish person. They are thinking of a cowherd boy as God,” sophisticated, like that. And especially Indra, the heavenly kingdom…, king of heaven. He was… He’s very powerful, so he thought, “What god he has come? My God, He cannot come.” This was some speculation. Even Brahmā also speculated. But Kṛṣṇa wanted to show Indra that “Yes, actually I have come.” So that incidence is today, Govardhana- pūjā.; Friday, October 28, 2011 3:40:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

"...Still I was maintaining the establishment simply depending on Krishna and then Krishna sent me everything—men and money. Similarly, if a sincere soul goes out and opens a center in any part of the world Krishna will help him in all respects. Without being empowered by Krishna, nobody can preach Krishna Consciousness. It is not academic qualification or financial strength which helps in these matters, but it is sincerity of purpose which helps us always...That is preaching, cooking, writing, talking, chanting everything one man's show. I never thought about the audience. I was prepared to chant if there were no man to hear me. The principle of chanting is to glorify the Lord and not to attract a crowd. If Krishna hears nicely then he will ask some sincere devotee to gather in such place..."; Saturday, October 29, 2011 4:49:00 PM
Anonymous said...: He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around!

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura; Sunday, October 30, 2011 3:15:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

We can get this seed of transcendental devotional service from Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead Himself, in His transcendental message of Bhagavad-gita. If we are at all able to grasp this genuine message of Sri Krishna, the teacher of Bhagavad-gita, then and only then can we perfectly appreciate the teachings of Bhagavad-gita.

Otherwise, we can go on reading Bhagavad-gita life after life, and we may write a thousand and one commentaries on it, but all such attempts will prove futile.

What the Personality of Godhead is, He Himself has explained in Bhagavad-gita. How many common men have written their autobiographies, and how enthusiastically we have read and accepted them.

But when the Personality of Godhead Himself tells about Himself, we cannot take it as it is. This is nothing but our misfortune. On the other hand, we try to drag concocted meanings out of the simple passages of Bhagavad-gita to establish some man-made idea which is never supported by Bhagavad-gita.

By such artificial dragging, one cannot ultimately establish his rubbish theory, but at the end, one confirms the whole thesis by putting a monkey in place of God. In Bhagavad-gita it is definitively established that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is established, also, that our only duty is to render transcendental loving service unto Him. Thus, once we really understand these two facts from the pages of Bhagavad-gita, then we can enter into the primary classes of spiritual education.; Sunday, October 30, 2011 3:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Steve Jobs and "WOW"

BY: NRSIMHANANDA DAS

Oct 30, 2011 — LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — I've noticed some articles about Steve Jobs on the Vaisnava websites during the past year. There seems to be a lot of devotee interest in him. Perhaps because he honored a lot of prasadam in his hungry days as a college student/dropout/entrepreneur? He definitely gets a human birth in his next life. Maybe because his life's work has impacted nearly all of us in some way. But what he saw at the time of his death was certainly spectacular.

Steve was not "wow'ed" by anything less than the highest standard of excellence; that we know about him. He was a consummate perfectionist. We've heard from his co-workers, fans, and detractors that he was not easily impressed. Yet, something he saw in the last moments of his life elicited not only one "wow," but three in rapid succession:

In a touching eulogy about her late brother at his memorial service on October 16th, Mona Simpson described the Apple founder's last hours and the enigmatic words he uttered before he died. She told the group of mourners at the Memorial Church of Stanford University that Steve Jobs looked at his wife and children, then beyond them, before uttering: "OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW."

Describing his death in the eulogy reprinted in the New York Times, she said: "Steve's final words were monosyllables, repeated three times. Before embarking, he'd looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them, before saying his final words." (See Daily Mail article)

I wonder what he saw. Was it the Visnhuduttas? Could it have been the "white light" (effulgence of the Supersoul) at the end of the naga? Doesn't appear to be the Yamadhuttas or he would be deathly afraid. We'll never know for sure, but one thing we do know -- "Oh, wow" is not the recommended mantra for deliverance from this material world. I don't think anyone can be sure what the sound vibrations of "Oh, wow" transliterated into some Sanskrit syllables may evoke at the time of death. Some joke that he was seeing the next generation of the iPad or iPhone. Whatever, let us hope and pray that our last words will be "Hare Krishna" and "Hare Rama" a few times before we make our final flight from the present body.

As for Steve, may Srila Prabhupada include you in his pastimes somewhere in your next life. You certainly exemplified through innovation that Krishna's material energy is "endlessly mutable" (Bg 8.4 1972 ed.) For us in this material atmosphere, your products were, well, "wow," but compared to the mercy of the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, and the gorgeously dressed Deities in temples around the world, it's a wimper of a "wow". They are " OH WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW...." ad infinitum.; Monday, October 31, 2011 3:51:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srimad-Bhagavatam | Canto 1 | “Creation”

O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhisthira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.

PURPORT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA

The popular saying is that a housewife teaches the daughter-in-law by teaching the daughter. Similarly, the Lord teaches the world by teaching the devotee.

The devotee does not have to learn anything new from the Lord because the Lord teaches the sincere devotee always from within. Whenever, therefore, a show is made to teach the devotee, as in the case of the teachings of Bhagavad-gita, it is for teaching the less intelligent men. A devotee’s duty, therefore, is to ungrudgingly accept tribulations from the Lord as a benediction.

The Pandavas were advised by Bhismadeva to accept the responsibility of administration without hesitation. The poor subjects were without protection due to the Battle of Kuruksetra, and they were awaiting the assumption of power by Maharaja Yudhisthira. A pure devotee of the Lord accepts tribulations as favors from the Lord. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no mundane difference between the two.; Monday, October 31, 2011 3:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Stone Falls Off Puri Jagannatha Temple..

Nov 01, 2011 — JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Chaos prevailed at the world famous Jagannatha Temple in Puri after a huge stone tumbled down from the pinnacle of an interior complex (gumuta) at the western gateway of the shrine on Tuesday. Luckily nobody was hurt in the mishap.

Some priests described the incident as a bad omen. "It is indication of the beginning of doomsday," a priest said.; Thursday, November 03, 2011 12:23:00 AM
Anonymous said...: The annakuta (hill of grains) mahotsava originally began by the inhabitants of Vrindavana around 5000 years ago after 7 yr old Krishna lifted the mountain known as Govardhana. This mountain at that time was around 64 miles longs, 32 miles wide and about 8 miles high.

Today, due to the curse of Pulasta Muni is has shrunk to about 50 feet in height. Originally in Goloka Vrindavana when Krishna asked Radharani to come to this material world, she said yes, only on the condition that the Yamuna and Govardhana hill would be present. He told her, its already “done”.

So when Sri Govardhan made His appearance He became the son of King Dronachal, another large mountain. When Sri Govardhana appeared as his son, the demigods showered flowers upon it. One day Pulasta muni showed up, and seeing the stunning beauty of this mountain asked king Dronachal for his son in charity to which the king, out of great attachment.

Immediately began to cry not wanting to part with Him. The muni got highly agitated and began to raise his hand to curse the king when Govardhana spoke up asking the muni how will you carry me? He said with my right hand I will carry you. Govardhana said Ok I will go with you but if you put me down, I will not move from that spot.

The muni agreed to these terms, and they both left. As evening approached the muni wanted to take his evening bath so he put Govardhana mountain down, in of all places, Braj mandala. When he returned from bathing, he tried lifting Govardhana again and found he could not budge Him at all.

After repeated attempts and failing he then cursed Govardhan Mtn to remain there and shrink the size of a mustard seed until He was gone. So today Govardhana Hill is only about 50 feet high and when He is actually “gone” then Kali yuga will commence in full force.; Thursday, November 03, 2011 12:44:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.5.2 | TRANSLATION

My dear father, please describe factually the symptoms of this manifest world. What is its background? How is it created? How is it conserved? And under whose control is all this being done?

PURPORT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA

The inquiries by Narada Muni on the basis of factual cause and effect appear very reasonable. The atheists, however, put forward many self-made theories without any touch of cause and effect. The manifested world, as well as the spirit soul, is still unexplained by the godless atheists through the medium of experimental knowledge, although they have put forward many theories manufactured by their fertile brains. Contrary to such mental speculative theories of creation, however, Narada Muni wanted to know all the facts of creation in truth, and not by theories.

Transcendental knowledge regarding the soul and the Supersoul includes knowledge of the phenomenal world and the basis of its creation. In the phenomenal world three things are factually observed by any intelligent man: the living beings, the manifest world, and the ultimate control over them. The intelligent man can see that neither the living entity nor the phenomenal world are creations of chance. The symmetry of creation and its regulative actions and reactions suggests the plan of an intelligent brain behind them, and by genuine inquiry one may find out the ultimate cause with the help of one who knows them factually.; Thursday, November 03, 2011 4:10:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, New York, November 29, 1966: [...] That bhakti, that process of devotional service, is very dear to the actual transcendentalist, very dear. Bhaktih punati man-nistha. Man-nistha. To know simply “I believe in God,” that is not sufficient. The ultimate goal is to attain very intimate relationship or love of Godhead.

That is required. Of course, to know, to believe in God, to accept God, that is all right. It is better than the atheist. But that is not end. You must develop yourself. You must… You should not simply make God as your order-supplier, but you should be order- supplier. When I become order-supplier to God, that is my perfection.

And so long I keep God as my order-supplier, that is not bhakti. Generally, people keep God as his order-supplier: “O God, give us our daily bread,” “O God, I am in distress, “O God, I am in difficulty, “O God, I am…”

God supplies them. God is supplying. Eko bahunam vidadhati kaman. But that is not ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is that you should supply God. God will be dependent on you. That is bhakti.

Just like Yasodamayi. Yasodamayi, she was so advanced in devotion that God became dependent on her. God appeared as her child. As the child always remains dependent on the mercy of the mother, similarly Krishna before His foster mother Yasodamayi just remained just like dependent. Mother said, “My dear child, if You become more naughty, then I shall chastise You.”

And God is crying. You see? These are the relationship between God and the devotee. You see? One who chastises the whole universe, whole creation, He is afraid of His mother. He becomes dependent as He likes. It is said in the sastra that “When My devotee thinks Me dependent on him, oh, I like that. I like that.”

People always worship God as the sublime, but the devotee, they do not worship. They want to serve God as dependent. Just like mother serves the child as dependent. There is no purpose. The mother is satisfied simply by keeping the child in perfect order. Yes. There is no purpose.

Similarly, when we shall be inclined to see that He is always satisfied, that is devotion. Then you can have God in your grip. You see? God is so kind, Krishna is so kind, that He becomes just… Ajito ’pi. Nobody can conquer Him, but He becomes conquered by this kind of devotional service.; Thursday, November 03, 2011 4:14:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Damodarashtakam

Transcendental music..

http://youtu.be/TK5_ZsFdTtk; Saturday, November 05, 2011 1:29:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Harmony

BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS

Nov 05, 2011 — CANADA (SUN) —

dear shadow
of the former self one

sees

the inspiration
to
meditate in peace
there
can be

no

disgrace leaving
aside

one's
undesirable place in
the war
between demons and
ghosts

there

are so

many
relationships
even as feeling

the
presence of
the eternal

spiritual
master isn't immediately
evident
like this without
the
prospect of harmony

yes there
are
so

many that
are

like that
between

a demon and a ghost
dear
shadow of the

former

self
let

us meditate on the kind
of harmony one
can

relate to so
suddenly
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare; Sunday, November 06, 2011 2:45:00 PM
Anonymous said...: TALES OF DEMONS

Andhak - The Demon King

The Sage Narad was curious to know how the demon King Andhak behaved with the deities. He asked Pulastya in this regard. Pulastya replied-

"After ascending the throne, Andhak did a severe penance to please Lord Shiva and received a boon according to which he could neither be killed by the deities nor by any mortal. He also received another boon according to which even fire could not burn him.

Andhak appointed Shukracharya as his chief priest. He defeated the deities and had gained control over the whole earth. Once, Andhak had gone to see the beautiful sight of Sumeru Mountain. Indra after making adequate arrangements for the security of his capital Amravati came forward to fight him with a huge army. A fierce battle was fought between both the armies. The whole atmosphere was covered in darkness due to the dust. It became difficult for the warriors of both the sides to distinguish between friend and an enemy. The whole battlefield was strewn with dead bodies and blood.

Indra unleashed a volley of arrows towards Andhak. In reply, Andhak too retaliated by unleashing a volley of arrows towards Indra. In this duel, both of them got injured. Infuriated, Indra attacked him with his Vajra, which destroyed all of Andhak's weapons. Indra's Vajra then chased Andhak who jumped down from his chariot to save his life. Andhak defended himself by attacking it with his fist. As a result, it fell on the ground. Indra then attacked Andhak by unleashing a volley of arrows in his direction. Andhak dodged the assault and ran towards him menacingly. He attacked Airavat, the elephant and mount of Indra with such force that it became paralysed. Seeing his elephant in such a pitiable condition, Indra picked up his Vajra and ran inside the fort to save himself. Andhak then single-handedly destroyed Indra's whole army.

Yamaraj was fighting from the deities' side. He attacked Prahlad who was fighting from Andhak's side. It became impossible for Yamaraj to match Prahlad's valour and bravery. As a result, he was forced to flee from the battlefield. Inspite of having mighty warriors like Varun and Agni in their ranks, the deities could not match the valour of the demon's army, which comprised of valiant and brave fighters like Virochan, Maya and Shambar. Ultimately, the deities were defeated in this battle. The victorious demon King Andhak returned to Patal loka with his army."; Sunday, November 06, 2011 2:51:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Vamana Purana, Part 2

TALES OF DEMONS

Sukeshi's Queries

Sukeshi was the son of the demon King Vidyutkeshi. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Being pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva had blessed him with invincibility and gifted him a city, which was situated in the sky. Sukeshi was a virtuous and just king.

Once, he had gone into the Magadh forest, where he found numerous sages engrossed in meditation. After introducing himself to the sages, he expressed his desire to know about the path that led to benediction. He also wanted to know how a man could achieve respectability and contentment in his life. The sages told him that a man could achieve benediction only by following the path of Dharma.

"A religious man achieves both respectability and contentment", said the sages. Sukeshi then asked them about the characteristics of Dharma. The sages revealed to him that the deities engage themselves in religious activities like Yagya, self-study, study of Vedas and worship of Lord Vishnu. So, all these activities are the Dharma of the deities. "The Dharma of the demons consists of negative qualities like jealousy etc. But they have profound knowledge in policy matters and have great devotion towards Shiva", said the sages.

"The Siddha's Dharma is to engage himself in activities like practice of Yoga, study of Vedas, self-realisation and devotion to both Lord Vishnu and Shiva", said the sages. In this way, they enlightened Sukeshi on the Dharma of different sections of divine entities.

The Rise and Fall of Sukeshi's Kingdom

Pulastya says-

"After being enlightened by the sages on various subjects, Sukeshi returned to his capital. He taught the demons all that he had learnt. As a result, all the demons became very virtuous. The newly attained virtuosity and religiousness made the demons invincible and powerful. Sukeshi's capital was situated in the sky. The whole city illumined brightly due to virtuosity attained by the demons. Its illumination even subdued the radiance of Surya (Sun). Now it became very difficult to determine when the Sun rose.

The deity Surya became worried at this development. He started pondering on how the demons became so powerful and contemplated over the means to destroy the demons. While Surya was meditating, the fact regarding the demons' power dawned on him. Surya became furious and angrily glanced at Sukeshi. The city started falling towards earth. Sukeshi became worried and started praying to Lord Shiva. Seeing his devotee Sukeshi in trouble, Lord Shiva looked angrily at Surya as a result of which, he too started falling towards the earth.

When the sages and hermits saw Surya falling down, they advised him to take refuge in Lord Vishnu. Surya curiously asked as to how could he take Vishnu's refuge as he had been punished by Lord Shiva. The sages then advised him to direct his descent to Varanasi. Surya accepted their advice and landed at Varanasi between two rivers- Varuna and Asi. He was feeling restless because of severe heat and so he decided to take a bath in the Asi River. After taking his bath, he started revolving around both the rivers.

In the meantime, all the sages, demons, and apsaras went to Brahma loka and requested Lord Brahma to re-establish Surya in his original abode. Lord Brahma, accompanied by all the deities, went to Lord Shiva and requested him to forgive Surya. Shiva was pleased at their humbleness and forgave Surya and re-established him on his chariot. He also gave a new name to Surya- Lolaark. At last, Surya was re-established in the sky."; Tuesday, November 08, 2011 1:54:00 AM
Anonymous said...: SOME SACRED PLACES OF PILGRIMAGE

Sthanu Tirtha

The sages then asked Lomaharshan about the origin of Sthanu Tirtha and the importance of Sthanu Vata. They also expressed their desire to know about the reservoir named Saanihitya and how Indra had filled it up with mud. Sage Lomaharshan replied-

"Once, Sanat Kumar upon being asked by Baalkhilya and other sages the same question, narrated the following tale- During the period of final annihilation, when the whole earth was submerged in water, Lord Brahma manifested inside an egg. He slept there for thousands of Yugas. When he woke up from his sleep, he found the world devoid of any inhabitants. Being under the influence of Rajo Guna, he planned to commence his creation. At the same time, Lord Vishnu awakened from his sleep and broke that egg after seeing that the whole world had merged inside him. Subsequently, Lord Brahma began his creation starting from the word- 'OMKAR'. After that, the terms- Bhur, Bhuvah and Swah respectively came into existence.

The brilliant effulgence radiating from the egg had dried up the water as a result of which, the remaining water had turned into the shape of an embryo. The reservoir- Saanihitya is situated at the same place where the egg had manifested itself. Meru Mountain is nothing but the outer shell of that egg and all the other mountains are its membrane. The oceans and the rivers are the fluid inside that egg. There is a great reservoir near the navel area of Lord Brahma. A big Banyan tree is situated just in the middle of that reservoir. This tree appears like a pillar (Sthanu). All the three major castes (Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya) originated from that tree. Lord Brahma then created his Manasputras- Sanat, Sanandan etc. Subsequently, he created the Saptarishis and the Baalkhilyas. All the Baalkhilyas did a severe penance for thousands of years without having a morsel of food. They had become very weak but still Lord Shiva was not pleased with them.

Once, Lord Shiva and Uma were traveling by aerial route when suddenly Uma saw the weak Baalkhilyas engaged in penance. She was saddened to see their frail bodies and requested Lord Shiva to end their miseries. Lord Shiva told her that the Baalkhilyas had not attained a bit of virtuousness inspite of their severe penance. "They have still not become free from anger and desires", said Lord Shiva. But Uma was reluctant to believe his words. Lord Shiva then asked her to wait there and himself went to show their real worth to her to prove his point.

Lord Shiva then shed his apparels and became naked. As a mendicant, he visited the hermitages of all the Baalkhilyas. At that time the Baalkhilyas were engaged in penance and hence only womenfolk were present at the hermitages. The womenfolk, infatuated by Lord Shiva, started running after him. When the Baalkhilyas came to know about this, they uprooted his private organ (Linga) and threw it on the ground. Hardly had the Linga fallen on the ground, the whole world got engulfed by the process of destruction. All the sages and learned saints became worried and went to seek Lord Brahma's help. Lord Brahma revealed to them that this destruction was due to Shiva's wrath. He also told them about the futility of their penance as they were still under the influence of anger and lust. "You cannot attain perfection until your flaws are removed", said Lord Brahma."; Tuesday, November 08, 2011 4:58:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "I Am the Taste of Water"

"O, Arjuna, son of Queen Kunti: I am the taste of water. I am the light of both Surya and Shashi. I am the syllable AUM in all Vedic mantras. I am the sound in ether. I am ability in man." (Bhagavad-gita 7.8)

Shrila Prabhupada used to tell devotees in India, "You are sick because you do not drink sufficient water. Sicknesses originates in the stomach through stagnation and you must drink water to keep your stomachs clean."

Astonishing effects – and more – are obtained only by drinking the most common liquid on our planet, namely water. Raso‘ham apsu kaunteya. Water is so sacred that its very essence, its taste, represents Lord Krishna. But this is a taste missed by the average person who drinks all sorts of liquids like coffee, tea and juices but hardly remembers his intake water. We assume that all liquids are created equal without realizing that we can suffer dehydration if we do not drink water. Even if we drink the best quality of juices they would never equal the benefits that water provides. Pure water has specific qualities that other liquids simply do not have. One interesting reference to the amazing properties of water is found in Shrimad Bhagavatam. There is given the story of Indra suffering the reactions of killing the brahmana Vishvarupa:

"Although Indra was so powerful that he could neutralize the sinful reactions for killing a brahmana, he repentantly accepted the burden of these reactions with folded hands. He suffered for one year, and then to purify himself he distributed the reactions for this sinful killing among the earth, water, trees and women." (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.9.7)

"And in return for King Indra's benediction that water would increase the volume of other substances with which it was mixed, water accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions. Therefore there are bubbles and foam in water. When one collects water, these should be avoided." (SB 6.9.11)

Bhaktivedanta Purport: If water is mixed with milk, fruit juice or other similar substances, it increases their volume, and no one can understand which has increased. In return for this benediction, water accepted one fourth of Indra's sinful reactions. These sinful reactions are visible in foam and bubbles. Therefore one should avoid foam and bubbles while collecting drinking water."

So, the ability of water to become other liquids is a disguised curse as seen from the above example. Pure water is essential to our body, mind and soul. It has an ability to connect us with Shri Krishna. By consciously drinking water and remembering Lord Krishna we can become Krishna conscious. Drinking pure water is a process which has many beneficial side effects which have been detected in the molecular patterns that water forms. According to Japanese researcher Dr. Masaro Emoto, if we chant beneficial mantras over the water its molecules exhibit beautiful shapes. Drinking such water is purifying and uplifts the mind. But if we utter unpleasant words over a glass of water its molecules form discordant patterns and such water may harm whoever consumes it.

It is amazing that Bhagavad Gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam contain such profound and factual wisdom yet they are often seen by non-devotees as only poetic statements with no practical value. Still, Shri Krishna has explained in Bhagavad Gita so many ways to access Him through His manifestations in the world that surrounds us. By advancing in Krishna consciousness we will develop the analytical part of our minds as we pray to understand the depth of the simple statements spoken in Bhagavad Gita by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna.; Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:48:00 AM
Anonymous said...: The Vamana Purana, Part Five

Manifestation of Vegetation from the Deities

Pulastya says-

"Lotus flower manifested from Vishnu's navel in the month of Ashwin. Similarly, other vegetation also manifested from the different organs of the deities- Kadamb tree from the palm of Kamadev, Dhatura tree from the heart of Lord Shiva, Khair tree from the middle portion of Brahma's body, Kataiya tree from Vishwakarma's body.

Kundalata manifested from Parvati's palm, Sinduar tree from Ganesha's belly, Palaash tree and Gular tree from the right and left armpits of Yamaraj.

Similarly, Sarpat manifested from the body of Sheshnaag, black and white Durva grass from the tail and back of Vaasuki Naag, Harichandan tree manifested from the heart of a devotee."

The River Saraswati

The sages requested Lomaharshan to reveal about river Saraswati's origin, which flowed in Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan said-

"Saraswati originates from Paakad tree (Indian fig tree). She enters Dwaitvan after passing through numerous mountains. While describing about her majesty, sage Markandeya felt that Saraswati was the source from, which everything originated- all the three worlds, three Vedas, Vidya (learning), heavenly bodies like Sun, Moon etc. Once, sage Markandeya eulogised Saraswati by saying- "O Saraswati! You manifest in the form of cryptic mantra- "OMKAR". You are the eternal form through which the Almighty God (Brahma) manifests himself in different appearances."

Saraswati was pleased by his devotion and said- "O Brahmin! I am willing to go wherever you want to take me." According to Markandeya, river Saraswati was initially known as Brahmasar. Later on, she became famous as Ramhalad. Sage Markandeya requested Saraswati to flow in the territory of Kurukshetra where sage Kuru was doing his penance. This way, Saraswati diverted her course towards Kurukshetra."; Friday, November 11, 2011 3:42:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “We don’t very much like this so-called democracy. What is the value of this democracy? All fools and rascals. They vote for another fool and rascal and he becomes prime minister, or this or that. That is not good for the people. We are not for this so-called democracy because they are not trained.”
(Lecture in London, 24 July 1973)

Interviewer: Do you think most of the Hare Krishna members will participate in the election in November? Do you think they will register and vote?
Prabhupada: Personally I never give votes.
Interviewer: Will they follow your example and not vote?
Prabhupada: I do not know, but our principle is that I vote for this man or that man if there is some spiritual benefit. That is our point.
(Interview with the religion editor of the Associated Press in New York, 16 July 1976)

“I have never given vote. Since we have got this sva-raj, Indian independence, as soon as the vote question comes up, I go away. I think, “Why shall I give this nonsense person my vote? None of them are liked by me.” So I avoid it. I don’t believe in it.”
(Room Conversation in Bombay, 8 January 1977); Friday, November 11, 2011 11:31:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Vamana Purana, Part Seven

Manifestation of Nara-Narayana

Sage Pulastya says-

"Dharma, the possessor of divine body and who manifested from the heart of Lord Brahma married Murti, the daughter of Daksha. Four sons were born to them- Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayana. Hari and Krishna engaged themselves in the practice of Yoga while Nara and Narayana went to the Himalaya Mountain and started doing penance for the welfare of humans.

Indra became frightened by their arduous penance. He feared that he might lose his authority and power. He sent beautiful Apsaras to disturb their penance. He himself went to that site accompanied by Kamadev and Vasant (spring)."

Prahlad Blessed by Nara-Narayana

"A ferocious battle was fought between Prahlad and Nara-Narayana in which all types of lethal weapons were used. The battle continued for 1000 divine years. Ultimately, Prahlad was defeated in this battle. He went to Vaikuntha and asked Lord Vishnu as to why Nara-Narayana was invincible. Lord Vishnu revealed to them that Narayana was his own incarnation. He also told them that Narayana could be won only by devotion and not by power.

Prahlad decided to relinquish his throne and appointed Andhak as his successor. He went to Badrikashrama and made salutations to Narayana in reverence. Narayana was surprised at the sudden change in his behaviour. He asked Prahlad as to what the matter was. Prahlad then said- "Who can defeat you? You are none other than Lord Janardan. You are the one who has taken incarnation of Hrishikesh, Chakrapaani and Hayagreev."

Narayana was pleased by his devotion. He told Narayana that though he was not able to defeat him in the battle but he was successful in doing so by his devotion. Narayana also blessed Prahlad. Prahlad then returned to his capital. Andhak expressed his desire to make Prahlad the king once again but it was turned down by him. Prahlad spent the rest of his life preaching on the virtues of religiousness and truthfulness."
---------------------------------
How might anyone accept this excerpt from Vamana Purana, Part Seven, being barely a drop within a wave within a tidal wave within an ocean of literature, science and transcendental realizations to be a result, a product of some vague neolithic sun worshipers who were barely able to scratch out a record of their immediate conditions?

A result of Kali yuga's societies of cheaters and the cheated wherein the masses of people eventually cheat themselves as a way of life..; Saturday, November 12, 2011 5:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Los Angeles
13 November, 1968
68-11-13

My Dear Upendra,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your nice letter of Nov. 7, 1968, and thank you very much for it. Regarding your question, Sayamrupa means the Original Form. Sayamprakash means Balarama. And Tadekatmarupa is the purusa, just like Mahavishnu.

It is not necessary to remember or fully understand all these different forms, at the present, but it is like if you simply stick to the master faithfully that is very good, but if you know that my master is so great, and so rich, and great in this way and rich in this way, and that way, then your veneration for your master will increase.

To know Krishna is great, how He is expanded into different forms, that enhances our attachment to Krishna more rigidly.
You ask about the desire for fame.

Fame is a material desire, but to desire fame in Krishna Consciousness is not bad. If you think that people may know me as a great devotee of Krishna, that they may acknowledge me a nice devotee of Krishna, that is not at all bad.

But even one is highly elevated in Krishna Consciousness he should not think himself a great devotee, he should think himself always humble.

You can celebrate Rasa-lila by having nice kirtana and prasadam distribution, that is our way of celebrating.
Your question, “When one has become pure enough, Krishna conscious, does one take regular dictation from one’s Guru Maharaja? I know you to confirm yes, but how is this so?

Understanding that each individual has a certain particular rasa with Krishna, how would one relate with another soul of a different rasa? Especially between that of the Guru and disciple?” That doesn’t matter.

The Spiritual Master’s position is to train the disciples. Just like a teacher, he may be a very expert mathematician, but in the lower class he is teaching English.

The Spiritual Master’s duty is to train him, but when he comes to the perfectional stage of training, then he realizes his position. That is not a gift of the Spiritual Master, the Spiritual Master helps him to realize his relationship with the Lord.

Just like the student in lower stages has to study so many things as preliminary education, English, history, math, etc., but in higher stage of education, he has got a particular taste for a special subject, so he specializes as a mathematician or a historian, etc. So that special qualification reveals in the higher stage.

So these topics are not to be discussed in the conditioned stage, and when we come to the liberated stage we can understand. This is useless talks in the preliminary stage. In the beginning let us do the preliminary routine work very nicely, and be cured of the disease (out of maya), then we can know what taste you have for what particular type of food. So these things are not to be discussed at the present moment.

Yes, you can pray to Krishna—Krishna may be prayed that I am unwilling to become Krishna Conscious, so you can force me to become so. You put me under certain circumstances so that I may be forced to accept Krishna Consciousness. You can pray like that. It is Krishna’s special favor and mercy that He sometimes forces a devotee to surrender fully to Him.

Hoping you are well,

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami; Sunday, November 13, 2011 5:30:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Mr. Faill: If we don't make the most of this life, do we get a second chance, in another life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. According to your desires at the time of death, you get another body. That body is not guaranteed to be a human body, however. As I've already explained, there are 8,400,000 different forms of life. You can enter any of them, according to your mental condition at death. What we think of at the time of death depends on how we act during our life. As long as we are in material consciousness, our actions are under the control of the material nature, which is being conducted in three modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. These modes are like the three basic colors--yellow, red, and blue. Just as one can mix red, yellow, and blue to produce millions of colors, the modes of nature are being mixed to produce many varieties of life. To stop the repetition of birth and death in different forms of life, we must transcend the covering of material nature and come to the platform of pure consciousness. But if we do not learn the transcendental science of Krsna consciousness, then at death we must transfer to another body, either better or worse than our present one. If we cultivate the mode of goodness, then we are promoted to the higher planetary system, where there is a better standard of life. If we cultivate the mode of passion, then we will remain at the present stage. But if out of ignorance we commit sinful activities and violate nature's laws, then we will be degraded to animal or plant life. Then again we must evolve to the human form, a process that may take millions of years. Therefore a human being must be responsible. He must take advantage of the rare opportunity of human life by understanding his relationship with God and acting accordingly. Then he can get out of the cycle of birth and death in different forms of life and go back home, back to Godhead.; Monday, November 14, 2011 5:35:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr. Faill: Do you think transcendental meditation is helping people?
Srila Prabhupada: They do not know what real meditation is. Their meditation is simply a farce--another cheating process by the so-called svamis and yogis. You're asking me if meditation is helping people, but do you know what meditation is?
Mr. Faill: A stilling of the mind--trying to sit in the center without swinging either way.
Srila Prabhupada: And what is the center?
Mr. Faill: I don't know.
Srila Prabhupada: So everyone is talking very much about meditation, but no one knows what meditation actually is. These bluffers use the word "meditation," but they do not know the proper subject for meditation. They're simply talking bogus propaganda.
Mr. Faill: Isn't meditation valuable just to get people thinking right?
Srila Prabhupada: No. Real meditation means to achieve a state in which the mind is saturated with God consciousness. But if you do not know what God is, how can you meditate? Besides, in this age people's minds are so agitated that they cannot concentrate. I have seen this so-called meditation; they are simply sleeping and snoring. Unfortunately, in the name of God consciousness or "self-realization," many bluffers are presenting nonstandard methods of meditation without referring to the authorized books of Vedic knowledge. They are simply practicing another type of exploitation.
Mr. Faill: What about some of the other teachers, like Ouspensky and Gurdjieff? In the past they brought to the West a message similar to yours.
Srila Prabhupada: We would have to study the particulars of their teachings to know whether they meet the Vedic standard. God consciousness is a science, just like medical science or any other science. It cannot be different because it is spoken by different men. Two plus two equals four everywhere, never five, or three. That is science.
Mr. Faill: Do you feel that others may have possibly taught the genuine method of God consciousness?
Srila Prabhupada: Unless I study their teachings in detail, it would be very difficult to say. There are so many bluffers.
Mr. Faill: Just doing it for money.
Srila Prabhupada: That's all. They have no standard method. Therefore we are presenting the Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any personal interpretation. This is standard.

Mr. Faill: Krsna consciousness seems to involve shaving the head and wearing saffron robes. How can an ordinary man caught up in family life practice Krsna consciousness?
Srila Prabhupada: The saffron robes and the shaven head are not essential, although they create a good mental situation, just as when a military man is dressed properly he gets energy--he feels like a military man. Does that mean that unless he is in uniform he cannot fight? No. In the same way, God consciousness cannot be checked--it can be revived in any circumstances--but certain conditions are helpful. Therefore we prescribe that you live in a certain way, dress in a certain way, eat in a certain way, and so on. These things are helpful for practicing Krsna consciousness, but they are not essential.
Mr. Faill: Then one can be a student of Krsna consciousness while going about normal daily life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.; Monday, November 14, 2011 5:40:00 AM
Anonymous said...: The Vamana Purana, Part Ten

Sage Shukracharya Curses Danda

Prahlad says-

"Blinded by lust, Danda forcibly breached the modesty of unrelenting Araja and returned to his palace. Araja was saddened by the inability to protect her chastity and started wailing.

When Shukracharya returned to his hermitage, he found Araja lying down at the entrance. He asked her about what transpired with her. Araja narrated the whole story, which made Shukracharya extremely furious and his eyes were reddened due to his anger. He thundered- "The wicked Danda would become a pauper after losing his wealth and kingdom within a week." After cursing Danda, he instructed his daughter Araja to do penance so that she could become liberated from her sin and himself went to Paatal loka accompanied by his disciples. Shukracharya's curse came true and as a result, Danda lost his whole kingdom within a week.

After narrating this story, Prahlad told Andhak- "On account of the immoral deeds of King Danda, the deities abandoned Dandakaarnya and it was now inhabited by the demons. Now it must be clear to you that a person who breaches a chaste woman's modesty against her will is doomed to destruction. Andhak, you must not go ahead with your evil intention of marrying Parvati because she is Lord Shiva's consort whose might is unmatched."

Andhak replied angrily- "I have driven out the deities from heaven. Why should I get scared of Shiva who is fascinated by his wife's beauty?" Prahlad tried his best to convince Andhak against going ahead with his evil plan but it had no effect on him. Andhak ordered his lieutenant Shambar to go to Mandaar Mountain and inform Lord Shiva that Parvati should be given to him (Andhak) if he (Lord Shiva) wanted to remain alive. Shambar went to Mandaar Mountain with narrated Andhak's desire to Lord Shiva. Hearing this, Goddess Parvati who was sitting besides Lord Shiva told Shambar that she would agree to marry Andhak on the condition that he defeats Lord Shiva in a battle. Shambar returned and narrated everything to Andhak.

Now, Andhak's anger crossed all limits and he ordered Duryodhan to prepare for the war. Andhak's huge army was instructed to assemble. The whole atmosphere reverberated with the sound of bugles and war cries. Andhak proceeded towards Mandaar Mountain with a huge army, which consisted of mighty warriors like Jambh, Kujambh, Shambar, Virochan, Duryodhan and Vrishparva. Destiny led Andhak towards his own death trap."; Tuesday, November 15, 2011 6:15:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, New York, November 30, 1966:

daridrya-nasa, bhava-ksaya,—premera ‘phala’ naya prema-sukha-bhoga—mukhya prayojana haya

So by devotional service one should not expect, “My miserable material condition may be improved” or “I may be liberated from this material entanglement.” So that is also a kind of sense gratification. If I want that “Let me be free from this entanglement…”

Just like the yogis and the jnanis, they try. They try to be free from this material entanglement. But in the devotional service there is no such desire, because it is pure love. There is no expectation that “I shall be profited in this way.”

No, it is not a profitable commercial business, that “Unless I get in return something, oh, I shall not practice the devotional service in Krishna consciousness. There is no question of profit. Lord Caitanya prays to the Lord like this:

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

“Oh,” He says, “My dear Lord, Jagadisa…” Jagadisa means the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Jagat, jagat means this world, material world or spiritual world, all worlds. Jagat. Jagat gacchati iti jagat: “Which is progressing, that is called jagat.”

So Jagat-isa, the supreme master of this jagat, going concern. “Jagadisa, O the supreme master of this jagat, I pray unto You that I do not want,” na dhanam, “I do not want any wealth,” na janam, “I do not want any number of followers…” Na janam na dhanam na kavitam va jagadisa kamaye. Kavitam means very nice wife, poetical… “I do not want.” “Then what do You want?”

Mama janmani janmanisvare. Janmani janmani means “birth after birth.” So He does not want liberation also. Because when we speak of liberation, there is no birth. Mad-gatva punar janma na vidyate: “One who reaches the kingdom of God, he hasn’t got to come back again to take birth here.” So here Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmani: “Birth after birth.” That means “I do not want liberation also.” Mama janmani janmani.

“Then what do You want?” Isvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki: “My dear Lord, I may be put in any condition of My life, but please bestow this benediction, that I may not forget You. That’s all. I may not forget You. Because due to My forgetfulness I am suffering so much. So if I can remember You, I don’t mind in whatever condition I am.”
---------------------------
This is said in exactly the same way, exactly the same mood as was and is eternally chanted by Sri Hanumanji, among others.; Tuesday, November 15, 2011 6:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "Whatever service we can do for Krishna, even if somebody is not able to execute fully Krishna Consciousness, whatever amount of service he does it never goes in vain.

It will eternally remain. And it will act.
Even if somebody does small amount of service, and not even very willingly, still, he is assured to get human body in next birth, and chance to execute some service further.

Whatever one may do in the material world, if he is even Rockefeller, it is all failure, defeat, because it will not exist beyond this body. He does not know that next life I may be dog or cat.

But whatever service we can do for Krishna, even if somebody is not able to execute fully Krishna Consciousness, whatever amount of service he does it never goes in vain. It will eternally remain. And it will act. Even somebody does small amount of service, and not even very willingly, still, he is assured to get human body in next birth, and chance to execute some service further.

So there is no question of failure in Krishna Consciousness. It is only success. Krishna says, My devotee is never vanquished. So we must try sincerely, that’s all.
Krishna says, My devotee is never vanquished. So one must try sincerely, that’s all.

Human life is very valuable, and one should not waste it in vain exploration of other planets. One should be intelligent enough to return to Godhead."; Thursday, November 17, 2011 3:16:00 AM
Anonymous said...: So, you are all advanced students. You should understand the importance of each and every item of devotional service. Do not make any misunderstanding by devaluating any of the spiritual activities. One who distinguishes a particular type of service as inferior or superior, he does not know the value of devotional service. It is all transcendental. Whatever item is suitable, that is accepted as very elevated.

Just like Maharaja Pariksit. He simply listened to Sukadeva Gosvami. That is sravanam. And Sukadeva Gosvami simply narrated Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is kirtanam. Prahlada Maharaja simply contemplated–smaranam. Prthu Maharaja simply did deity worship–arcanam. Arjuna only remained as friend of Krishna–sakhyam. Hanuman remained only engaged in carrying out the order of Lord Ramacandra–dasyam. And Bali Maharaja surrendered everything to Krishna–atma-nivedanam.

So, any devotee executing any one of the nine is transcendentally glorious. One devotee may be proud that his process of service is the best. That is not inglorious. This is called transcendental competition. Everyone should feel proud of his particular type of devotional service, but that does not mean that other types of service are inferior. Everyone should feel proud of becoming sincere servant of Krishna, but the pure devotee never minimizes the importance of other devotees.

Krishna is the enjoyer of varieties of service. It is not stuck up with any particular type of service. Krishna takes pleasure with devotees even by fighting service. When Grandfather Bhisma was trying to injure the body of Krishna by sharpened arrows, in full devotion in the mellow of chivalry, Krishna was feeling the piercing of the arrows as good as worshiping him with soft rose flowers.

The conclusion is that everyone should be very very sincere. There is no more the question of inferior or superior.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami; Thursday, November 17, 2011 3:29:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Just A Second

BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS

Nov 17, 2011 — CANADA (SUN) —

how would i make
you

out

to

be impersonal
do
you

do

you ever get the feeling
one
has

to
start

all
over again i

have
yes i

have

this

i

have
this sneaking

suspicion

that
is

starting all over again whatever

that

was
all

about yes whatever
whatever

i

know

whatever i know i am

whatever i

know

i

am
not

interested
to start making

this all

about

false

ego
like this okay we can

we

can

we
can make this

all
about one
getting
closer
to
Sri Krsna or

forget
it

okay

no false ego

'kay

one can just
start

over

from
where one left off okay ?

i know

she

will

and

so will he
whomever
they are

why should one make them

out

to

be

impersonal now

and
again no one

would
get

away

with
it

anyhow

Hare Krsna !

yes
jaya

Radhe !

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite

gokula-taruni-mandala-mahite

damodara-rati-vardhana-vese
hari-niskuta-vrnda-vipinese

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite

gokula-taruni-mandala-mahite

vrsabhanudadhi-nava-sasi-lekhe
lalita-sakhi guna-ramita-visakhe

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite

gokula-taruni-mandala-mahite

karunaḿ kuru mayi karuna-bharite
sanaka-sanatana-varnita-carite

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite

gokula-taruni-mandala-mahite

"This song was sung by Rüpa Gosvami.

He is the real person, actual person, to
understand
Radha and Krsna.
So he says, All glories to Radharani.
Radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite. She's so dear to
Krsna.

Krsna, everyone is trying to love
Krsna, but
Krsna
is trying to love somebody. Now how great
She is.
Just try to understand.

Everyone, the whole
world, the whole universe, all
living entities, they are trying to
love Krsna.

Krsna-prema.

Lord Caitanya describes,
prema-pumartho mahan. And Rupa Gosvami described
that You are distributing krsna-prema. So krsna-prema is
so valuable, but Krsna
is after Radharani. Just see how
Radharani is
great. Just try to understand
the
greatness of
Radharani. Therefore She
is so great, and we have to offer
our respect.

Radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite."

jaya Srila Prabhupada !; Friday, November 18, 2011 9:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Vamana Purana, Part Thirteen

Uma Marries Lord Shiva

Lord Vishnu, Brahma, the deities and the Ganas were pleased to hear about Shiva's marriage. Lord Shiva went to his abode- Kailash Mountain to make preparations for the marriage ceremony.

Lord Shiva's marriage procession proceeded towards Himalaya Mountain. His appearance was quite terrifying with a tiger skin around his waist and Gorochan Tilak on his forehead. He had a garland of skulls around his neck. Snakes were coiling all around his body. His mount- Vrishabh (ox) was walking in a majestic way. The marriage procession comprised of the deities, Yakshas, demons and his Ganas. Lord Vishnu had Goddess Laksmi by his side and was mounted on Garuda (eagle) while Lord Brahma was mounted on Hans (swan).

When the marriage procession reached its destination, Himalaya received his esteemed guests with great honour and guided them to his palace. The womenfolk envied Uma as they glanced at the handsome appearance of Lord Shiva. Uma was looking divinely beautiful in her white coloured silken apparel. At last, both the bride and the bridegroom entered the canopy where the marriage ceremony was supposed to be performed.

Himalaya placing Uma's hand in Shiva's, requested him to accept her as his wife. Lord Shiva said- "O king of the mountains! Despite being homeless, I agree to accept your daughter as my wife." After that, both Shiva and Uma tied the nuptial knot and circumambulated the sacred fire for three times. Both of them made offerings to the sacred fire. As Uma touched Shiva's feet, Lord Brahma got a chance to have a glimpse of her beautiful face. He was so infatuated by her divine beauty that he ejaculated. Nobody except Lord Shiva was aware of this incident. Lord Brahma tried to conceal his ejaculated sperms (Veerya) under the soil. But Lord Shiva prohibited him from doing so and said- "Don't destroy this Virya. From it would manifest 80,000 Baalkhilyas.

Lord Shiva's prophesies came true and in a very short time, 80,000 Baalkhilyas appeared there. Lord Shiva then returned to Mandaar Parvat accompanied by his consort, Uma."; Friday, November 18, 2011 9:04:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Ratha-yātrā Lecture
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Philadelphia, July 12, 1975..

In the Bhagavad-gītā; it is said,

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmāyān sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg. 18.61]

So we living entity, we desire. “Man proposes; God disposes.” God is very kind. Whatever you desire, He will fulfill. Although He says that “This kind of material desires will never satisfy you,” but we want. Therefore God supplies us, Kṛṣṇa, different types of body to fulfill our different desires. This is called material, conditional life. This body, change of body according to desire, is called evolutionary process. By evolution we come to the human form of body through many other millions bodies. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati. We pass through 900,000 species of form in the water. Similarly, two million forms as plants, trees. In this way, by nature’s way, nature brings us into this human form of life just to develop or awaken our consciousness. Nature gives us the chance, “Now what do you want to do? Now you have got developed consciousness. Now you again want to go to the evolutionary process, or you want to go to the higher planetary system, or you want to go to God, Kṛṣṇa, or you want to remain here?” These options are there. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

So our movement is that “Why not stop this material, conditional life, repetition of birth, death, old age and disease?” This is intelligence. “Why should we remain in this material body and undergo repetition change of body? Let us have our original, spiritual body.” That is wanted. That is intelligence. The human life is therefore meant, as it is stated in the Vedānta philosophy, athāto brahma jijñāsā: “Now this life is meant for enquiring about the Absolute Truth.” So that is required. That is human intelligence. And if we spoil our life like the animals… They are also eating; we are also eating. They are also sleeping; we are also sleeping. They are also having sex intercourse; we are also having sex intercourse. They are also defending; we are also defending. These four principles are common to the human being and to the animal. The special advantage of human being is that if he likes, he can stop this repetition of birth and death and go back to home, back to Godhead. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to educate people about this science, how to go back to home, back to Godhead. It is not a so-called religious movement. Of course, anything which has connection with God, you can take it as religious movement. But it is very scientific movement. For the big scientists, philosophers, thinkers, they should try to understand this movement. We have got fifty-seven books for convincing the philosophers, scientists. If you want to know the value of this movement through science, philosophy, we have got enough ingredients to supply you. Otherwise, it is simple, very simple. Simply chant this mantra,

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Then everything will be manifest to you.; Friday, November 18, 2011 9:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Vaamana Purana

VISHWAKARMA CONSTRUCTS A PALACE

After reaching Mandaar Mountain, Lord Shiva instructed Vishwakarma to construct a home. Vishwakarma constructed a spacious home for Shiva, which was spread in the area of 64Yojans. The home was decorated with Swastika symbols and its walls were made of gold.One day, Lord Shiva jokingly referred to Uma as Kali because of her dark complexion. But Uma did not take his comments lightly and told Shiva that she was going to the Himalayas to do her penance so that he did not dare to call her by that name again. Thus, Uma went to Himalaya Mountain and commenced her penance. Standing on one feet, she engaged herself in severe penance. One day, a lion arrived and seeing Uma standing on one feet,waited patiently for the moment when she would lose her balance and fall into its clutches.Uma continued with her penance for one hundred years by continuously chanting the sacred Brahma mantra. Pleased by her devotion, Lord Brahma appeared before her and asked what she wished for. Uma first of all requested him to bless the lion with immense power.She then requested him to bless her with a golden complexion. Lord Brahma blessed her and disappeared. She abandoned her dark complexioned skin from which manifested Kaushiki. Now, her complexion turned golden due to Lord Brahma's blessings. Indra appeared before her and sought her permission to take Kaushiki along with him. Uma gave her consent without any hesitation.Indra took Kaushiki to Vindhya Mountain and requested her to stay there. He said- "You would become famous as Vindhya Vaasini and would be revered even by the deities." He presented a lion to her and went back to his abode. On the other hand, Uma returned to Mandaar Mountain and lived happily. Lord Shiva became so deeply attached to her that he forgot about his duties and as a result of which, the whole world became disturbed. The deities became scared by this development and went to seek Lord Brahma's advice.; Saturday, November 19, 2011 3:53:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Lord Brahma went to Mandaar Mountain accompanied by all the deities. They tried to enter Shiva's abode but Nandi- Shiva's mount did not let them in. Helpless, all of them waited eagerly for the time Shiva would come out. Agni seeing rows of swans coming out from Shiva's abode disguised himself as a swan and thus managed to get inside. He went near Lord Shiva and said- "O lord! The deities are anxiously waiting for you outside. How come,you are not aware of this?" Lord Shiva immediately got up and ran towards the deities.Indra and other deities were scared at the prospect of losing heaven to Lord Shiva's progeny. So, they requested Lord Shiva not to procreate any child from Uma. Lord Shiva agreed but asked them as to who was capable of holding his out-flowing sperms. Agni came forward and swallowed each drop of Shiva's sperm. Satisfied, the deities left. Lord Shiva went inside and told everything to Uma. She became furious and cursed the deities that they too would remain sonless just like her.One day before taking her bath, Uma applied Ubtan (mixture of sandalwood, turmeric etc.)on her body. She then peeled off the paste from her body and made an elephant-headed image from it. Maalini, her companion assisted her in taking bath. Maalini was smiling all the while as Uma was taking her bath. Uma became curious and wanted to know the reason of her strange smile. Maalini told Uma about her firm belief that one day, she (Uma) would definitely become a mother. Uma told her that this was impossible as the deities had prohibited her husband, Shiva from procreating a child. But Maalini continued to smile. After taking her bath, Uma went back home.After sometime, Lord Shiva arrived and took his bath at the same place. The elephant-headed image created by Uma was lying there. Suddenly it became alive and started making a hissing sound from his trunk. Lord Shiva delightfully took him to Uma and said-"Look at your son." Uma was surprised to see that elephant-headed image alive and affectionately embraced him. Lord Shiva again said- "Your son will become famous as Vinayak and the whole world would worship him." Lord Shiva then entrusted the task of child's security to Ghatodar.Thus, both Lord Shiva and Uma lived happily. The same Uma later on took incarnation as Goddess Katyayani and killed the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh.; Saturday, November 19, 2011 3:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Just as I'd imagined..

700 as a blessing to you Les Prabhu, for your service to the Lord of all creatures great and small.

Best wishes for great health!
All success to you!

Thank you so much for accepting my small affection for you and your seva..

Jai Sri Sri Radha Krishna!
Lord Ananta Balarama ki jaya!
Jaya Maheshwara!

All glory to Srila Prabhupada!; Saturday, November 19, 2011 4:45:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila prabhupada..

The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His energy, to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the Lord Father’s grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.; Monday, November 21, 2011 4:20:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Yugas and Vedic Chronology

An interview with Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa dasa), co-author of Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race (1993)

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/11-11/editorials7976.htm; Thursday, November 24, 2011 4:53:00 AM
Anonymous said...: A very wonderful article of transcendental gratitude and its
10,000 years of mercy for all.

Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi Panels

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/11-11/news4060.htm; Thursday, November 24, 2011 4:10:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Simply stick to this programme: Lord Caitanya’s formula | Letter to Sudama

25 November, 1972

Bombay

My dear Sudama,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 14, 1972, and I have noted the contents with care.

Yes, we shall base our preaching work on Lord Caitanya’s formula: Sankirtana. After all, He is God, and if He recommends, what is the question of failure? That is not possible. If we simply stick to this programme as I have done it since the beginning, namely, kirtana, preaching, kirtana, distribution of prasadam – if you do like this only that will be sufficient.

Of course, you may make the kirtana as nice as possible, with dancing, many kholes, karatalas, conches, and if you preach sincerely, anyone will listen and become convinced. The potency of Krishna Consciousness movement does not come from some outward showing, no, it is the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krishna Mantra and the words of Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, like that.

So now go on and develop the things in this spirit, that will be nice. We are not interested to attract millions of men to see some show. Better we attract one sincere soul to join us in ecstatic chanting and hearing, that will be of real value. And distribute books, as many as possible. If anyone hears something philosophy from us, that will help him. But if he purchases one book that may turn his life.

So selling books is the best preaching activity. Sell books, hold the kirtana in public places like schools and colleges, preach–if you practice these things, and try to improve them more and more simply by your practicing sincerely, that simple programme will please Krishna the most and you will see that very soon.

Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami; Friday, November 25, 2011 6:38:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada (points at a dead tree with his cane): Formerly leaves and twigs were growing from this tree. Now they are not. How would the scientists explain this?

Karandhara: They would say the tree’s chemical composition has changed.

Srila Prabhupada: To prove that theory, they must be able to inject the proper chemicals to make branches and leaves grow again. The scientific method includes observation, hypothesis and then demonstration. Then it is perfect. But the scientists cannot actually demonstrate in their laboratories that life comes from matter.

They simply observe and then speak nonsense. They are like children. In our childhood, we observed a gramophone box and thought that within the box was a man singing, an electric man. We thought there must have been an electric man or some kind of ghost in it.

Dr. Singh: One of the popular questions that arises when we start studying biology is, “What is the difference between a living organism and that which is not living?” The textbooks say that the chief characteristics that distinguish the two are that a living being can move and reproduce, whereas dead matter can do neither. But the books never talk about the nature of the soul or about the consciousness of the living entity.

Srila Prabhupada: But consciousness is the primary indication that life is present. Only because of consciousness can a living being move and reproduce. Because a person is conscious, he thinks of marrying, and begetting children. And the original consciousness is described in the Vedas: tad aiksata bahu syam (Chandogya Upanisad 6.2.3). This means that God, the original conscious being, said, “I shall become many.” Without consciousness, there is no possibility of by-products.”; Saturday, November 26, 2011 4:23:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Dr. Singh: in fact, there are several theories explaining how life originated from matter, how living matter came from the nonliving.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: [casting Dr. Singh in the role of a materialistic scientist]. All right, scientist, why is life not coming from matter now? You rascal. Why isn’t life coming from matter now? Actually such scientists are rascals. They childishly say that life came from matter, although they are not at all able to prove it. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should expose all these rascals. They are only bluffing. Why don’t they create life immediately? In the past, they say, life arose from matter; and they say that this will happen again in the future. They even say that they will create life from matter. What kind of theory is this? They have already commented that life began from matter. This refers to the past—“began.” Then why do they now speak of the future? Is it not contradictory? They are expecting the past to occur in the future. This is childish nonsense.

Karandhara: They say that life arose from matter in the past and that they will create life this way in the future.

Śrīla Prabhupāda: What is this nonsense? If they cannot prove that life arises from matter in the present, how do they know life arose this way in the past?

Dr. Singh: They are assuming…

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Everyone can assume, but this is not science.; Saturday, November 26, 2011 4:26:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “Regarding the Christmas Day meal with your family, I do not think you should partake of the food prepared by non-devotees. Better you should prepare your own foodstuffs and offer to Krishna and then, if you like, you may offer these remnants to Lord Jesus. I think that Lord Jesus will also appreciate this. Of course you may sit down with your family and take fruits and milk which they offer but rather than taking the foods which they have prepared, you may prepare and offer your own prasadam for Lord Krishna, and then offer the same to Lord Jesus.”

Srila Prabhupada letter to Hrsikesa, Nov. 26, 1968; Sunday, November 27, 2011 4:44:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “I have received very nice reports from all our centers how they are very much appreciating my books and they are understanding association with the Spiritual Master is the same as association with His vani or teachings. This is a transcendental fact.”

Letter to: Satsvarupa
25 November, 1970

“We are not separated actually. There are two—vani or vapu. So vapu is physical presence and vani is presence by the vibration, but they are all the same. So Krsna when He was physically present before Arjuna is the same when He is present before us by His vani of Bhagavad-gita. So far I am concerned, I do not factually feel any separation from my Spiritual Master because I am trying to serve Him according to His desire. That should be the motto. If you kindly try to fulfill my mission for which you have been sent there, that will be our constant association.”; Monday, November 28, 2011 6:15:00 PM
Anonymous said...: All and All

BY: RAGHU MISHRA

there
is the ghost

of a chance one will
be
recognizable as an easy
listener in no time at
all

still there

in the Chandogya Upanisad (5.1.15) it is
said,

"In the body of a living
being neither the power to
speak,
nor the power to see,
nor the power to hear,
nor the power to think is

the prime factor; it is life
which is the center of all
activities."

Similarly Lord Vasudeva, or the Personality
of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna,
is the prime entity in everything.

In this body there are powers
of speaking, of seeing, of
hearing, of mental activities, etc.
But these are not important if
not related to the Supreme
Lord. And because Vasudeva
is all-pervading and everything
is Vasudeva,
the devotee surrenders in full knowledge

i don't
imagine any
of you all want to
be seemingly covered
over in an unseemly relationship

only
to have one

personality at
a time burst

out
at the seams like one but one
will at any time realize that
there
is no time
like the present to be
that way
yes be
that

as
it

may i personally

don't
imagine any of you becoming God
all the same yes all

the same there
is the
ghost
of a chance one will be
recognizable
as an easy

listener in no time at all
still there

yes yes still there so

are you

still there all and all

there is the sound of
one there
is that you there that
sounds like
one is listening to the
Hare Krsna
mahamantra
in no time at all
is that you listening to
God so suddenly
and listening and listening all
over again to the Lord's own
mantra
listening to
Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu's own
maha mantra
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
all and
all
are you all

there
sounding
like one is

listening

to the Hare Krsna mahamantra in no
time at all
there

is the ghost

of
a chance one

will be
recognizable as
an easy
listener in no time at all still
there
you know

yes as this
is
next that is of course

all that

this
sounds like in no time
now so do
you
as we
do

know

the sound of
more

than one of us listening to

Srila Prabhupada
simultaneously
being
one and different in reality
the inevitable all and all

listening yes all
and all we

know
about

vasudevah sarvam iti
being

put into perspective
yes listening
in the context of the

Bhagavad-gita as it is
we know

how
we are

being
put into perspective

bahunam janmanam ante
jnanavan mam prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma su-durlabhah

The living entity, while executing devotional
service or transcendental rituals after
many, many births, may actually become situated
in transcendental pure knowledge that the Supreme
Personality of Godhead
is the ultimate goal of spiritual realization.
In the beginning of spiritual realization, while one is trying
to give up one's attachment to materialism, there
is some leaning towards impersonalism, but when one
is further advanced he can understand that there are
activities in the spiritual life and that these activities constitute
devotional service.
Realizing this, he becomes attached
to the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and surrenders to Him. At such a

time one can understand that Lord Sri Krsna's mercy
is everything, that He is
the cause of all causes and that this
material manifestation is not independent from
Him. He realizes the material world to be
a perverted reflection of spiritual variegatedness
and realizes that in everything there is a
relationship with the Supreme Lord Krsna.
Thus he thinks of everything
in relation to Vasudeva,
or Sri Krsna. Such a universal vision
of Vasudeva precipitates one's full
surrender to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna
as the highest goal.
Such surrendered great souls are very rare.

vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma sudurlabhah

jaya Srila Prabhupada; Wednesday, November 30, 2011 4:15:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada, September 5, 1960:

The Supreme Lord is self sufficient. When Lord Krishna appeared before the living beings He displayed full fledged manifestation of Godhead by His various activities. In His childhood he killed so many Asuras like Aghasura, Bakasura, Sakatasura and there was no question of acquiring such power by any extraneous endeavour. He lifted the Govardhan Hill without any practice of weight lifting. He danced with the Gopis without any social restriction and without any reproach. Although the Gopis approached Him in the feelings of paramorous love, still such mixing of the Gopis and Lord Krishna is worshipped even by Lord Chaitanya Who was a strict Sannyasi and rigid follower of the disciplinary regulations of a Sannyasi. And to confirm these the Ishopanisad says that He is antiseptic and prophylactic. He is antiseptic in the sense that even an impure thing in the estimation of the mundaners becomes purified in touch with Him. The prophylactic means of His association is mentioned in the Bhagwat Geeta. There it is said that a scrupulous devotee may appear in the beginning as Durachara or not well behaved, but he is still to be accepted as pure because he is on the right path. That is the prophylactic process of the Lord’s association. The Lord is Apapabidhdam that is nothing like sin can touch Him. Even if he may perform something which appears to be a sinful act still such actions are all good actions and there is no question of the Lord’s being affected with any sin or Papa. In all circumstances He is Suddham or the most purified like the Sun. The Sun exacts moisture from many untouchable places of the earth and still the sun is as pure as anything and on the contrary it transforms the obnoxious things into purified form by the process of his sterilising effect. If the sun is so powerful although a material object, we can just imagine the purity strength of the all powerful Lord.; Friday, December 02, 2011 2:24:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada, September 5, 1960

Mantra No. 9

Andham tamah prabishanti ye avidyam upasate tato bhuya ibate vidyam ratah.

Translation

Those who are engaged in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. And further more than them are those who are engaged in the so-called culture of knowledge.

Purport

In this mantra there is a comparative study of Vidya and Avidya. Avidya or ignorance is undoubtedly dangerous but Vidya or knowledge which is misguided is still more dangerous. In the modern set of human civilization this explanation of the Ishopanishad is more applicable than in any other time in the past. The modern setup of civilization has advanced considerably in the matter of mass education but the result is that people are more unhappy than before on account of too much stress on the matter of material advancement of activities without any taste for the most important aspect of life namely the spiritual side. So far Vidya is concerned the first mantra of the Ishopanishad has explained the matter very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the Proprietor of everything that be and forgetfulness of this fact of life must be called defacto ignorance. The more a man forgets this fact of life the more he is in the darkness and on the basis of this truth of life, a Godless civilization directed on the so-called advancement of education is more dangerous than the civilization in which the mass of people is less advanced in the matter of material advancement of knowledge.

There are different classes of men who are called the Karmis, Jnanins and Yogis. The Karmis are those who are engaged in the activities of sense gratification. Almost 99.9 percent people of the modern civilization are engaged in the activities of sense gratification in the name of various group of activities such as industrialism, economic development, altruism, political consciousness, ideologies and so on. But all these activities are more or less based on the satisfaction of sense gratification without any reference to the sense of God consciousness as described in the first mantra of the Ishopanishad. In the language of the Bhagwat Geeta these people who are thus engaged in the matter of gross sense gratification are called Mudhas or those who are in the darkness of life like the ass. The ass is the symbol of stupidity and therefore persons who are simply engaged in the matter of sense gratificatory activities without any profit of life are in the estimation of the Ishopanishad, so to say, worshipping Avidya. And persons who are in the role of helping such type of civilization in the name of educational advancement of life are doing more harm than those who are in the sense gratificatory activities.; Friday, December 02, 2011 3:18:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Advancement of learning by the Godless people is as much dangerous as the valuable jewel on the hood of the cobra. A cobra decorated with such valuable jewel is as much dangerous as the one which is not decorated like that. On the other hand advancement of educational activities by a Godless people is according to Hari Bhakti Sudhodaya a kind of decoration of the dead body. In India and perhaps in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession of decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way the modern civilization is a patch up work of human activities to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. Such activities are meant for sense gratification but above the senses there is the mind and above the mind there is the intelligence and above the intelligence there is the soul. Therefore the aim of educational activities must be targeted on the point of self realisation by such activities as may lead to the realisation of spiritual value of the soul proper. Any education which does not lead to such realisation of life must be considered as Avidya. And culture of Avidya means going down in the darkest region of ignorance.

Such mistaken educationists are in the Vedic language called (1) the Vedabada Rata (2) Mayaa Apritajnana, (3) Asuri Bhavam (4) Naradhama etc. The Vedabadarata people pose themselves as very much learned in the Vedic literatures but unfortunately they are completely diverted from the purpose of the Vedas. In the Bhagwat Geeta it is said that the purpose of the Vedas is to know the Personality of Godhead but these Vedabadarata men are not at all interested in the matter of the Personality of Godhead but they are on the contrary attached by the side issues.; Friday, December 02, 2011 3:20:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada, Bombay, November 17, 1975

Krishna is situated in his own abode, Goloka Vrindavana, but by distribution of His different energies He is all-pervading. This is the idea.

When you speak God “all-pervading”—His energy. But He is not different from His energy. Sakti-saktimatayor abheda. Saktiman, the energetic, and the energy, they are not different. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is said — Krishna says — maya tatam idam sarvam jagat avyakta-murtina: “I am situated all over the universe in My avyakta form, nonmanifested form.”

The manifested form is Krishna. That is in Goloka Vrindavana. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. He is distributed all over the universe, everywhere. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. He is within the universe, andantara-stham, and paramanu-cayantara-stham, within the atom also.

That is all-pervading. Sarvam khalv idam brahma. So this is to be understood. The God is simultaneously localized and all-pervading. The Mayavadi philosophers, they think materially, that, “If God is all- pervading, why He should be localized?”

Why He should not be? That is answer. God is not under your dictation. He is all-powerful. He can do so. Remaining in His own place, He can be distributed. He can distribute Himself everywhere. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33].

eko ’py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim yac-caktir asti jagad-anda-caya yad-antah andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami [Bs. 5.35]

This is the conception of all-pervading.; Saturday, December 03, 2011 10:35:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada, London, August 5, 1971..

It’s Krishna’s mission to awaken man’s original consciousness. At the present moment we have got designated consciousness.

I am thinking “I am Indian,” you are thinking Englishman, another is thinking American. But actually we are neither American nor Indian nor any that sort of designation. We are part and parcel of God. That is our real identification. If we come to that consciousness, then all the problems of the world will be solved.

Now, due to our designated consciousness, we are thinking, “You are different from me, I am different from you,” but if we come to Krishna consciousness, then we shall know that we are one, the same spirit soul, maybe in different dress. That is the explanation given in Bhagavad-gita. Just like we are all human beings, gentlemen, ladies.

Maybe in different dress, but our aims and objects are the one and the same. So this Krishna consciousness movement is purificatory process.

That is the ideal perfection of human life. And our process is also very simple. There is no need of becoming a great philosopher, scientist, or thoughtful man. Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord we can immediately contact with the Lord, because the Lord as the person and His name and His quality are all absolute.

We are spirit soul we cannot be happy in material atmosphere.
If we are without spiritual consciousness we can never be happy.

That is the verdict of Bhagavad-Gita.
----------------------------------

Today is Gita Jayanthi!

Gita Jayanthi is the auspicious occasion of the appearance of Bhagavad-Gita. This is the day when Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna in order to benefit him and the whole world.; Sunday, December 04, 2011 3:42:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

So ekamsena, ekamsena, this partial, plenary representation of the Supreme Lord, Paramatma, Visnu, Maha Visnu, they are also parts and parcels. Visnu parts. Svamsa. Visnu, or the Supreme Lord, expands Himself in two ways. One way is Visnu expansion, and the other way is the jiva, these living entities expansion. We are also expansions of the Supreme Lord. Eko bahu syama. He alone, He has become so many. And why? What is the purpose of becoming so many? The purpose is anandamayo ’bhyasat. He wants to enjoy Himself with so many. So practically our creation is for enjoying in the company, in the association of the Supreme Lord. But we thought that it is better to become an imitation God and try to lord it over the material nature. That is not possible; therefore we are suffering.; Monday, December 05, 2011 4:18:00 PM
Anonymous said...: So before His coming, some of His devotees, they come first, just to become His father, become His mother, become His family members, like that. Because He does not do anything which is against the process of this world. A man is born out of his father and mother, so He has to take His birth from a father and mother. So these fathers and mothers were, are first sent. I think in the Bible they call messiahs, or what you have? Similarly, nobody can become the father and mother of God. But, when He manifests Himself in this material world, He shows that “He’s My father.” Just like Krsna accepted father, Vasudeva, Vasudeva as His father and Devaki as His mother. Or His foster-father, Nanda Maharaja, and His foster- mother, Yasoda. So they are all devotees. Krsna’s friend, Krsna’s father, Krsna’s everyone, when He displays Himself, they are all devotees. He’s the Supreme. Nobody can be father of Krsna.

vayaso vividhatve ’pi sarva-bhakti-rasasrayah dharmi kisora evatra nitya-lila-vilasavan

Nitya-lila-vilasavan means eternally He’s…, He’s manifesting His pastimes. Just like Krsna, Krsna-lila, the manifestation of Krsna and His different pastimes in this material world. In the…, on this earth was manifested, that thing is going on, nitya-lila. As I have several times explained to you that the sun, sunrise and sunset, is going on every moment. Every moment. You inquire by, by communication you’ll find in some country, there is always sunrise and some country there is always… Any country, you’ll find. Similarly, krsna-lila, Krsna’s pastimes, are going on in some of the universes, in any of… There are innumerable universes. In some of the universes He is there already.

From His childhood, just on the lap of His mother, He killed the demon Putana. Similarly, such pastimes are going on every moment. Every moment. That is called nitya-lila. In some of the universes… When the round (?) comes in this universe, it takes so many years. For millions and billions years. Just you can imagine how many millions and trillions of universes are there. Ananta brahmanda, tara nahika ganana. Ananta means innumerable universes are there. Nahika ganana: nobody can count.

ananta brahmanda, tara nahika ganana kona lila kona brahmande haya prakatana

Some of His pastimes is going on in either of the innumerable brahmandas.; Monday, December 05, 2011 4:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

God-realization is meant for human being. The human being, if he does not realize God, he’s simply engaged in animalistic way of life—eating, sleeping, mating—then nature will call, “All right, sir, again become animal.” Punar musiko bhava: “Again become a mouse.” You know this story? Punar musiko bhava. There is a story. There is a very nice story. One rat, mouse, he came to a saintly person. Everyone comes to saintly person for some blessing, you see. Real blessing they don’t want. Some material blessing. Real blessing, Krsna, they don’t want. If you give him some blessing that “You become very rich man and…” These are all very well, this. So this mouse also came and begged the saintly person, “Sir, I am in difficulty. If you give me some blessing?”

“What is that?”

“The cat chases after me always. I’m very unhappy.”

“So what do you want?”

“Now, if you make me a cat, then I can get relief from this thing.”

“All right, you become cat.” So he became cat.

So after few days, again he comes. “Sir, again I am in trouble.”

“What is that?”

“The dog is chasing me.” (laughter) Don’t laugh, hear seriously. “Dog is chasing me.”

“All right, then, what do you want?”

“Now, make me a tiger.”

“All right, you become a tiger.”

So when he became a tiger he was staring on the saintly person like this.

So he asked, “Why you are staring upon me? You want to eat me?”

“Yes.”

So he again curses, punar musiko bhava: “Again you become mouse. Again you become mouse.”

So that is our position. We are advanced in civilization. Now we want to kill God. So we are again going to be uncivilized, to remain in the forest and to remain naked. Actually, they are practicing that: nature’s way. So again they are going to be aborigines. And that is being practiced. They are going to the forest, they remain naked. So actually, punar musiko bhava: “Again become mouse.” Civilized human being means God conscious, happy life, no trouble, no enviousness, everything happy, no hard labor. Why hard labor? Everything is there. You just employ your little intelligence, you get sufficient food by grains, by fruits, by flowers, milk. There is no difficulty if we remain in our own way. So that is the difficulty, that we do not know that our ultimate goal of life is God-realization. Then God has got all arrangement.; Friday, December 09, 2011 5:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...: SB 5.24.23
Translation:

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead could see no other means of taking everything away from Bali Mahārāja, He adopted the trick of begging from him and took away all the three worlds. Thus only his body was left, but the Lord was still not satisfied. He arrested Bali Mahārāja, bound him with the ropes of Varuṇa and threw him in a cave in a mountain. Nevertheless, although all his property was taken and he was thrown into a cave, Bali Mahārāja was such a great devotee that he spoke as follows.

SB 5.24.24
Translation:

Alas, how pitiable it is for Indra, the King of heaven, that although he is very learned and powerful and although he chose Bṛhaspati as his prime minister to instruct him, he is completely ignorant concerning spiritual advancement. Bṛhaspati is also unintelligent because he did not properly instruct his disciple Indra. Lord Vāmanadeva was standing at Indra's door, but King Indra, instead of begging Him for an opportunity to render transcendental loving service, engaged Him in asking me for alms to gain the three worlds for his sense gratification. Sovereignty over the three worlds is very insignificant because whatever material opulence one may possess lasts only for an age of Manu, which is but a tiny fraction of endless time.

Purport:

Bali Mahārāja was so powerful that he fought with Indra and took possession of the three worlds. Indra was certainly very advanced in knowledge, but instead of asking Vāmanadeva for engagement in His service, he used the Lord to beg for material possessions that would lie finished at the end of one age of Manu. An age of Manu, which is the duration of Manu's life, is calculated to last seventy-two yugas. One yuga consists of 4,300,000 years, and therefore the duration of Manu's life is 309,600,000 years. The demigods possess their material opulence only until the end of the life of Manu. Time is insurmountable. The time one is allotted, even if it be millions of years, is quickly gone. The demigods own their material possessions only within the limits of time. Therefore Bali Mahārāja lamented that although Indra was very learned, he did not know how to use his intelligence properly, for instead of asking Vāmanadeva to allow him to engage in His service, Indra used Him to beg Bali Mahārāja for material wealth. Although Indra was learned and his prime minister, Bṛhaspati, was also learned, neither of them begged to be able to render loving service to Lord Vāmanadeva. Therefore Bali Mahārāja lamented for Indra.; Saturday, December 10, 2011 3:36:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.26

TRANSLATION

Bali Mahārāja said: Persons like us, who are still attached to material enjoyment, who are contaminated by the modes of material nature and who lack the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, cannot follow the supreme path of Prahlāda Mahārāja, the exalted devotee of the Lord.

PURPORT

It is said that for spiritual realization one must follow great personalities like Lord Brahmā, Devarṣi Nārada, Lord Śiva and Prahlāda Mahārāja. The path of bhakti is not at all difficult if we follow in the footsteps of previous ācāryas and authorities, but those who are too materially contaminated by the modes of material nature cannot follow them. Although Bali Mahārāja was actually following the path of his grandfather, because of his great humility he thought that he was not.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.27

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, how shall I glorify the character of Bali Mahārāja? The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the three worlds, who is most compassionate to His own devotee, stands with club in hand at Bali Mahārāja's door. When Rāvaṇa, the powerful demon, came to gain victory over Bali Mahārāja, Vāmanadeva kicked him a distance of eighty thousand miles with His big toe.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.28

TRANSLATION

Beneath the planet known as Sutala is another planet, called Talātala, which is ruled by the Dānava demon named Maya. Maya is known as the ācārya [master] of all the māyāvīs, who can invoke the powers of sorcery. For the benefit of the three worlds, Lord Śiva, who is known as Tripurāri, once set fire to the three kingdoms of Maya, but later, being pleased with him, he returned his kingdom. Since that time, Maya Dānava has been protected by Lord Śiva, and therefore he falsely thinks that he need not fear the Sudarśana cakra of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.; Saturday, December 10, 2011 9:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.25.1

TRANSLATION

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: My dear King, approximately 240,000 miles beneath the planet Pātāla lives another incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the expansion of Lord Viṣṇu known as Lord Ananta or Lord Sańkarṣaṇa. He is always in the transcendental position, but because He is worshiped by Lord Śiva, the deity of tamo-guṇa or darkness, He is sometimes called tāmasī. Lord Ananta is the predominating Deity of the material mode of ignorance as well as the false ego of all conditioned souls. When a conditioned living being thinks, "I am the enjoyer, and this world is meant to be enjoyed by me," this conception of life is dictated to him by Sańkarṣaṇa. Thus the mundane conditioned soul thinks himself the Supreme Lord.

PURPORT

There is a class of men akin to Māyāvādī philosophers who misinterpret the ahaḿ brahmāsmi and so'ham Vedic mantras to mean, "I am the Supreme Brahman" and "I am identical with the Lord." This kind of false conception, in which one thinks himself the supreme enjoyer, is a kind of illusion. It is described elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.8): janasya moho 'yam ahaḿ mameti. As explained in the above verse, Lord Sańkarṣaṇa is the predominating Deity of this false conception. Kṛṣṇa confirms this in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15):

sarvasya cāhaḿ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca

"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." The Lord is situated in everyone's heart as Sańkarṣaṇa, and when a demon thinks himself one with the Supreme Lord, the Lord keeps him in that darkness. Although such a demoniac living entity is only an insignificant part of the Supreme Lord, he forgets his true position and thinks he is the Supreme Lord. Because this forgetfulness is created by Sańkarṣaṇa, He is sometimes called tāmasī. The name tāmasī does not indicate that He has a material body. He is always transcendental, but because He is the Supersoul of Lord Śiva, who must perform tamasic activities, Sańkarṣaṇa is sometimes called tāmasī.; Sunday, December 11, 2011 4:18:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.25.2

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: This great universe, situated on one of Lord Anantadeva's thousands of hoods, appears just like a white mustard seed. It is infinitesimal compared to the hood of Lord Ananta.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.25.3

TRANSLATION

At the time of devastation, when Lord Anantadeva desires to destroy the entire creation, He becomes slightly angry. Then from between His two eyebrows appears three-eyed Rudra, carrying a trident. This Rudra, who is known as Sāńkarṣaṇa, is the embodiment of the eleven Rudras, or incarnations of Lord Śiva. He appears in order to devastate the entire creation.

PURPORT

In each creation, the living entities are given a chance to close their business as conditioned souls. When they misuse this opportunity and do not go back home, back to Godhead, Lord Sańkarṣaṇa becomes angry. The eleven Rudras, expansions of Lord Śiva, come out of Lord Sańkarṣaṇa's eyebrows due to His angry mood, and all of them together devastate the entire creation.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.25.6

TRANSLATION

Lord Sańkarṣaṇa is the ocean of unlimited spiritual qualities, and thus He is known as Anantadeva. He is nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For the welfare of all living entities within this material world, He resides in His abode, restraining His anger and intolerance.

PURPORT

Anantadeva's main mission is to dissolve this material creation, but He checks His anger and intolerance. This material world is created to give the conditioned souls another chance to go back home, back to Godhead, but most of them do not take advantage of this facility. After the creation, they again exercise their old propensity for lording it over the material world. These activities of the conditioned souls anger Anantadeva, and He desires to destroy the entire material world. Yet, because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is kind toward us and checks His anger and intolerance. Only at certain times does He express His anger and destroy the material world.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.25.7

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: The demigods, the demons, the Uragas [serpentine demigods], the Siddhas, the Gandharvas, the Vidyādharas and many highly elevated sages constantly offer prayers to the Lord. Because He is intoxicated, the Lord looks bewildered, and His eyes, appearing like flowers in full bloom, move to and fro. He pleases His personal associates, the heads of the demigods, by the sweet vibrations emanating from His mouth. Dressed in bluish garments and wearing a single earring, He holds a plow on His back with His two beautiful and well-constructed hands. Appearing as white as the heavenly King Indra, He wears a golden belt around His waist and a vaijayantī garland of ever-fresh tulasī blossoms around His neck. Bees intoxicated by the honeylike fragrance of the tulasī flowers hum very sweetly around the garland, which thus becomes more and more beautiful. In this way, the Lord enjoys His very magnanimous pastimes.; Sunday, December 11, 2011 4:25:00 PM
Anonymous said...: 12 December, 1967

“Krishna Kirtana is not for earning livelihood. Krishna Kirtana is not meant for entertaining the public for demonstration of arts. It is dynamic service to the Lord. We do not therefore mind so much about the artistic presentation of Krishna Kirtana but we want to see how much a devotee is satisfying the Supreme Will.”
Srila Prabhupada letter to Jadurani, Dec. 12, 1967

“The Sankirtana devotees are very very dear to Krishna. Because you are doing the field work of book distribution, Krishna has immediately recognized them as true servants…So Krishna immediately recognizes a preacher of Krishna consciousness who takes all risks to deliver his message… they are real mahatma, not that long beard and saffron cloth mahatma…All glories to the American devotees!”
Srila Prabhupada letter to Uttamasloka, Dec. 11, 1975

Prabhupada, New York, April 10, 1973 — [...] Generally, people go to temple, to church or mosque, generally, they go with a motive. Just like in the Christian world, they go that, “God must be order supplier. We shall pray to God, and He must supply. Then I accept God. This is the condition. And if He does not supply my order, I don’t care for this God.”
So they are not going to become servant of God. They want to make God his servant: “God, give us our daily bread.” That’s all right. God is giving daily bread. Why you are asking, bothering God? He is supplying food to millions and trillions of living entities, and why not to you?

He’ll also supply. That is not our problem, that God will supply our bread. He is supplying without asking. Do the animals go to the church and ask for bread? But they are getting sufficient. They are getting sufficient.

Therefore God consciousness does not mean any motive to take from some God, something from God. That is not God consciousness. You give everything to God. That is God consciousness. Just like the conception of accepting God as child. That is better conception than to accept God as father, because from father we simply take away: “Father, give me this, give me that, give me that, give me that.” And if you accept God as child, then you have to give everything. This is Gaudiya-Vaishnava conception.; Monday, December 12, 2011 4:30:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Poetry of Truth

BY: SADHUDASA ANUDASA

Dec 12, 2011 — SRIDHAM MAYAPUR, WEST BENGAL (SUN) —

Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi 5.22
SRILA PRABHUPADA'S
PURPORT:

"As SPIRITUAL SPARKS
of the beams
emanating
from
the

transcendental
body of the Lord,

WE
are all
permanently
related
with
Him
and

EQUAL to Him in QUALITY.

WE
are all
permanently
related
with
Him
and

EQUAL to Him in QUALITY.

The
material
energy
is a covering
of the

spiritual spark,

but in the absence
of that material covering,
the
living beings in Vaikunthaloka
are NEVER FORGETFUL
of their identities;
they are eternally cognizant
of their relationship with God
in their constitutional position

of
rendering transcendental
LOVING SERVICE to the Lord.

One
who
can

REACH

that abode
does

not come back

to the material world
with
a
material
body."; Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...: kishora-svarupa krshna svayam avatari

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, who is eternally an adolescent, is the Original Lord, the source of all incarnations." (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 2.99)

The svayam-rupa (Ultimate Form) of Svayam Bhagavan (God) is Krishna-kishora — an adolescent whose age is about 12-15 years old — who is also known as Navajauvana, or Eternally Young. Although He never leaves Goloka in His abode of Krishnaloka, He takes birth in Gokula to manifests His bhauma-lila or eternal earthy pastimes. After His birth as the son of Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yashoda, He becomes known by the following names corresponding to His different ages:

balya pauganda dharma dui ta' prakara

"He appears in two ages — childhood and boyhood." (Cc. Adi 2.98)

Therefore He is also known as Bala-Krishna from His babyhood up to about 4-5 years old, when He also receives the name Bala-gopala, who is also known as Gopala-Krishna. While been know as Gopala-kumara (8-9 years old) He also becomes known as Krishna-kumara — all this names refer to His particular activities while growing-up. Finally, as Kishora-kumara He then becomes active as Krishna-kishora.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.13.24, BHAKTIVEDANTA PURPORT: "Vidura accepted Maitreya as his spiritual master. A disciple always inquires from the spiritual master, and the spiritual master answers the question, provided the disciple is very gentle and devoted. Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura said that by the mercy of the spiritual master one is blessed with the mercy of the Supreme Lord. The spiritual master is not inclined to disclose all the secrets of transcendental science unless the disciple is very submissive and devoted. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the process of receiving knowledge from the spiritual master entails submission, inquiry and service."

Srila Prabhupada letter to HG Gunagrahi dasa, 3-7-72:

"Only a handful of your are there who are convinced beyond any doubt about this Krishna consciousness movement..."; Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

That Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated, localized, in everyone's heart." Just like the sun globe is there, and the sun globe's effulgence is the impersonal representation of the sun-god. And suppose there are five millions of people standing in the sunshine, and everyone will see the sun is above his head. That is localized. You go five thousand miles away and ask your friend here, "Where is the sun?" Your friend will say that "It is on my head." And you will also see it is on your head. As it is materially possible, why not spiritually? So spiritually, Kṛṣṇa is within your heart. Simply you have to realize it.

Simply by the spell of the material qualities you have become covered. But if you come here, if you hear and chant, then gradually... Kṛṣṇa is within you. He is sitting within your heart as a friend, not as an enemy. Kṛṣṇa is always your friend. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām [Bg. 5.29]. You are searching out friends to talk with, to joke with, to love. Kṛṣṇa is sitting there for that purpose. If you love Kṛṣṇa, if you make friendship with Kṛṣṇa, if you love Kṛṣṇa, then your life will be successful. You haven't got to search out any other friend. The friend is already there. Either you are a boy or a girl, you will find a nice friend within yourself. That is yoga system, when you realize this friend.; Wednesday, December 14, 2011 5:14:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada Letters 1971 December 10:

“Caitanya Mahaprabhu said this Krishna Consciousness Movement will spread to every nook and corner of the world – so there is no doubt it will happen. He is God, how can He be wrong? So if we are intelligent we will assist and get the credit. Otherwise, someone else will.”; Wednesday, December 14, 2011 5:20:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Lord Brahma replied,"but first 1 have a doubt which I ask You to kindly remove. Your doorman told me that You asked which Brahma has come to see You. Does this mean that there are other Brahmas besides me?"

Upon hearing this, Krishna smiled and at once called for countless Brahmas from the countless universes. The four-headed Brahma then saw many other Brahmas coming to see Krishna and to offer Him their respects. Some of them had 10 heads, some had 20, some had 100 and some even had a million heads. Indeed the four-headed Brahma could not even count the number of Brahmas who were coming and offering their obeisances to Krishna. Krishna then called many other demigods from various universes and they all came and offered their respects to Him.Upon seeing this wonderful exhibition, the four-headed Brahma became nervous and began to think of himself as no more than an insignificant mosquito in the midst of many gigantic elephants. Since so many demigods were offering obeisances unto the lotus feet of Krishna, Brahma concluded that the unlimited potency of Krishna could not be estimated. All the helmets of the various demigods and Brahmas shone brightly in the great assembly, and the prayers of the demigods made a great sound.

"Dear Lord," the demigods said, "It is Your great mercy that You have called us to see You. Is there any particular order for us? If so, we will carry it out at once." "There is nothing especially required of you", Lord Krishna replied, "I only wanted to see all of you together at one time. I offer My blessings to you.

Don't be afraid of the demons."; Saturday, December 17, 2011 9:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: A very very important moment for Russia.

The implications are immense.

Do the communist atheists still maintain such power in Russia?

Will the Orthodox Christian leadership show spiritual maturity?
---------------------------------
Lok Sabha Storm as Russian Court Decides
whether to Ban Bhagavad Gita

Dec 18, 2011 — NEW DELHI, INDIA (NDTV) — The Lok Sabha was adjourned this morning as MPs protested against a move in Russia to ban the Bhagavad Gita. In a Siberian court, state prosecutors have petitioned that the Gita, distributed locally by ISKCON members, is "extremist" literature. The court in Siberia's Tomsk city is scheduled to deliver its verdict today.

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/12-11/news4091.htm; Monday, December 19, 2011 4:41:00 PM
Steve said...: Wow Homer, you've been busy over here.
I haven't stopped by these comments since about 500 and now there are over 700 gems.

Thank you very much, I really enjoy reading these.

Hare Krishna

Steve; Monday, December 19, 2011 9:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Bhakti Ananda Goswami..

History, linguistics, philosophy, Logic, theology, physics, metaphysics, aesthetics, the arts and crafts, place names and cartography, numismatics, temple deposits, ritual, slavery and manumission practices, ethics, ‘race’ and anthropology, sociology, human rights, politics (governance and the City-State), geology, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and the natural ‘hard’ sciences, these are different from mythology and psychology or the study of the mind and ‘imagination’. I am making this distinction, because when it comes to the study of the Great Bhakti Traditions, we must focus our studying in the realms/domains of theology, philosophy and history etc. all of the above mentioned and other disciplines, rather on focusing on mythology.

For example, to contrast Mythology and Philosophy, let us compare the Mythology of Homer to the Philosophy of Plato. Plato and his fellow Helios-worshiping Greek Monotheists considered Homer’s great mythological epics to be works of corrupting fiction that were degrading Greek civilization. Some of them even wanted to have Homer’s Mythology removed from the education of Greek Youths. Plato’s writings and the discourses of his Master Socrates were not about Mythology, they were Philosophical and Theological. But today, we do not generally teach Plato or Plato’s Heliopolitan Monotheism as examples of Greek Religious Thought. Instead we teach the Mythology of Homer’s Epics etc. and the gross material Polytheism derived from these as the truth about the Religion of the ancient Greeks!

As long as our focus is on mythology, we cannot advance any further than people like Joseph Campbell. He was an atheist who was particularly hostile to Christianity. He did not need to have even one iota of respect for any theist’s sacred revelatory tradition to study mythology the way that he did. As an atheist, he was only interested in reducing all theistic religions to mythology! Thus, for all of his lifetime of research, he could not tell anyone what I am revealing here because he was simply not interested in studying the worship of the One True God in history. In fact, he was blind to the greater Historical Truths of what he was studying, because he could only see the mind-stuff archetypal “Hero With a Thousand Faces” everywhere he was looking, instead of the actual diffusion of the worship of the One True God accross time and traditions.

So, we will not understand what is important for us to take-away from humanity’s religious past, until we can take a different approach to it. Bhagavad Gita is a stupendous Theological Self- Revelation of the Triune Original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna-Vishnu-ParamAtman. We should use THIS THELOLOGICAL REVELATION as a template for the comparative study of all ancient religions and mythologies. Then we will understand the real identity and nature of the so-called gods and goddesses of the Egyptians, Greeks and Semites etc.; Monday, December 19, 2011 10:26:00 PM
Anonymous said...: via Homer..

That's great Steve!
I enjoy reading these also.

Once in a while a bit of one of these little excerpts starts to make sense and from there comes that lovely spark of what it must be like to truly know..

For lucky me there is nothing more addicting than this.

Thanks to Les Visible prabhu for the interest, the service of providing a medium and I'm pretty sure he also has a soft spot for Srila Prabhupada as well.

Hare Krishna!
Hare Rama!
Maheshwara ki jaya!
All glory to Srila Prabhupada!; Tuesday, December 20, 2011 4:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “So I am especially proud how my householder disciples are preaching Lord Caitanya’s Mission. This is a new thing in the history of the Sankirtana Movement. In India all the acaryas and their descendants later on acted only from the man’s side. Their wives were at home because that is the system from old times that women are not required to go out. But in Bhagavad-gita we find that women are also equally competent like the men in the matter of Krishna Consciousness Movement. Please therefore carry on these missionary activities, and prove it by practical example that there is no bar for anyone in the matter of preaching work for Krishna Consciousness.”
Srila Prabhupada letter to Himavati, Dec. 20, 1969

Formerly there was no charge for school. Now everything has become business. Formerly a brahmana, he’ll start a school. Brahmana is pathana pathana. His business is to become learned himself and to distribute his knowledge, education, to everyone free. This is brahmana. The brahmana, and the opposite word is krpana. Krpana means miser. A miser, he has got money, but he does not spend. He keeps it only. And brahmana means he has got knowledge and he distributes for others’ benefit. That is brahmana. Therefore we are making every one of our disciples brahmana, not that he should simply know himself what is God. No. He must distribute the knowledge also. Go from town to town, village to village, and try to convince these rascals what is God. They simply write, “In God We Trust,” but they do not know what is God or how to trust, nothing. Now let them know it scientifically. Here is the movement, Krsna consciousness movement. What is this movement? To know God. Of course, we cannot know God perfectly. God is so unlimited. Still, as far as possible, we can know, as God speaks Himself in the Bhagavad-gita.

-Srila Prabhupada
Los Angeles, December 20, 1973; Tuesday, December 20, 2011 4:55:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Dear Srimate Yamuna Devi Dasi passed on December 19, 2011

Srila Prabhupada's daughter will always be remembered, especially for her glorious offering of the Govindam prayers that we hear and chant daily.

Srila Prabhupada was so immensely pleased with her Govindam prayer, he ordered that it must be played every day in every temple.

Her "The Gourmet Ashram," (the art of cooking with devotion) is one of the great cookbooks of all time.
----------------------------------

"They shared a wonderful kirtan with "Khar" & Radha then retired. Between 9 & 10 pm, Yamuna complained of chest pains and pressure to the head.

Dina asked what she wanted to do and Yamuna preferred to sit and chant. At 12:30 am, Dina checked and she was sleeping with her oxygen machine. At 6:30, she checked again but this time, she had removed the machine, was lying on the bed, looking peaceful with her hand in her bead bag.
---------------------------------

http://youtu.be/GkXhWNEKBRA; Wednesday, December 21, 2011 4:21:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Memories of Srila Prabhupada by YAMUNA DASI

Montreal, Quebec Canada
July 16, 1968

My Dear Yamuna devi,
Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated July 9, 1968, giving a vivid description of the Rathayatra festival. I understand that Mukunda and Janaki are now living with you, but I have not received any letter from them. Anyway, I understand that Mukunda is leading now a nice Kirtan party in the streets, and there is good response.

The time is fast approaching when we will have to perform such public Kirtan in all the important cities of the world. Here also, in the Expo, they have performed Kirtan for two days, and it is wonderfully successful.
Your appreciation of the Rathayatra festival and realizing the beauty of Kirtan and Jagannatha as well as the magnanimity of Lord Chaitanya in His sublime teachings, are some of the wonderful things that I mark in your progressively advancement in Krishna Consciousness. Please try to continue this attitude and you will be more and more happy in your life, and at the end, get entrance into the association of Krishna. Chant Hare Krishna, both husband and wife, regularly, and worship Lord Krishna’s Sri Murti, as you are doing, and try to elevate others in Krishna Consciousness as you are doing. These things are the right line of activities, and you must continue to do so.
Regarding London-yatra: I have written to your husband as well as to Shyamsundar which you will read and do necessary plans.
We are all keeping well here, and I hope the same is with you also, along with your God-brothers and God-sisters in San Francisco.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

http://youtu.be/MUy_LylHqr0; Thursday, December 22, 2011 11:42:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

So people, they sometimes say, “Can you show me God? Have you seen God?” These questions sometimes we meet. So the answer is here. Yes, you can see God. Everyone can see God. I am also seeing God. But there must be the qualification. Just like God is there… Suppose a motorcar is there, something is wrong there. Everyone is seeing. But one engineer or mechanic, he sees differently. Therefore we have to go there. “What is the wrong in this car? It is not running.” He immediately touches some machine part; it runs. So these rascals, they do not know that “How I can see God if I have not the qualification?” The machine has gone wrong, I am seeing the machine. And the engineer, the mechanic, he is also seeing the machine. But his seeing and my seeing is different. He’s qualified to see. Therefore when the machine has gone wrong, immediately he touches some part, it runs. So if for a machine we require so much qualification, and we want to see God without any qualification? Just see the fun. Without any qualification. Rascal, they are so rascal, so fool, that they want to see God with their nuisance qualification.; Thursday, December 22, 2011 11:43:00 PM
Anonymous said...: ISKCON is where you are chanting the Holy Name

-YAMUNA DEVI DASI
(excerpts)

As a strong and independent young woman I met Srila Prabhupada in 1966 and took initiation in 1967. Had Srila Prabhupada demanded conformity to orthodox roles for women as a condition of surrender, I, along with many of my Godsisters, would probably not have joined ISKCON. That he did not is testament to his spiritual vision. He lovingly encouraged and engaged us in the service of the sankirtana movement, and he consistently revealed himself to be panditah sama-darsinah – equal to all.

In both men and women, Srila Prabhupada observed our propensities and expertly dovetailed them in his preaching mission. For many years, in different countries and circumstances, I had the good fortune to render personal service to him.

He trained me, urged me to accept more and more responsibility, and regularly asked me to lead kirtanas, give classes, arrange programmes, manage departments, provide comforts for visiting devotees, meet with leaders, and actively promulgate Krishna consciousness.

In ISKCON India, where previously no women were allowed, he sent me to various temples to learn cooking and Deity worship, and he repeatedly asked me to train others in the same.

It would take much longer than the limited time I have here to give you a glimpse into the numerous exchanges that illustrate Srila Prabhupada’s demeanour and mood. However, one such exchange is what
I call the Canakya Pandita episodes.

I was present on four occasions when Srila Prabhupada repeated the Canakya adage: ‘Never trust a woman or a politician.’ On each occasion Srila Prabhupada looked me in the eye to see my response. On the last occasion, in Bombay in 1973, he quoted the saying, heartily laughing in front of a small group of men. Then he said: ‘What do you think, Yamuna?’ Immediately I retorted: ‘Of course it is true, Srila Prabhupada,’ whereupon he became grave, looked at me with great feeling, and said, ‘But you are not a woman, you are a Vaishnava.’

In late 1974, not long after I had left my householder asrama, Srila Prabhupada pronounced it ‘good that you have left your husband’, and encouraged me to become a ’sannyasini’.

Although I was not in the traditional role of being protected by my father, husband or son, in both his personal darsanas and written instructions, Srila Prabhupada offered me unfettered encouragement and astonished me with unexpected answers to my questions.

After settling in Oregon with my Godsister Dinatarine, Srila Prabhupada, while pronouncing us ‘independent’ to a concerned Godbrother, at the same time twice rebuked us when we approached him to leave. ‘You westerners are so restless,’ he admonished. ‘Why can’t you remain in the same place? Stay where you are.’ We questioned, ‘But Srila Prabhupada, they are saying that if we aren’t in ISKCON, we lose your blessings and cannot make advancement.’

Prabhupada replied, ‘ISKCON is where you are chanting the holy name – that is ISKCON.’ We rejoined: ‘They are saying we don’t have any association here and are therefore in maya.’ He replied: ‘Association can be two or two hundred. If you are two and compatible, you can become perfect in Krishna consciousness. If you are 200 and are not, then no one will make advancement.’

let us instil in every person who comes into contact with Srila Prabhupada’s movement the healthy spiritual relationships that he had with his followers – his mood of encouragement, protection and kindness.

The closer we come to individually appreciating and honouring Srila Prabhupada’s personal dealings with his disciples, the closer we will come to his sense of completeness in Krishna consciousness, to his joyfulness, to his transcendentally attractive nature.; Friday, December 23, 2011 4:25:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Brahma-samhita

Chapter Five - TEXT 47

TRANSLATION

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, who bears the name of Sesa, replete with the all-accommodating potency, and reposing in the Causal Ocean with the infinity of the world in the pores of His hair, enjoys creative sleep [yoga-nidra].

PURPORT

(The subjective nature of Ananta who has the form of the couch of Maha-Visnu, is described.) Ananta, the same who is the infinite couch on which Maha-Visnu reposes, is a distinctive appearance of the Divinity bearing the name of Sesa, having the subjective nature of the servant of Krsna.

TEXT 48

TRANSLATION

Brahma and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Maha-Visnu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Maha-Visnu]. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Maha-Visnu is the portion of portion.

PURPORT

The supreme majesty of the subjective nature of Visnu is shown here.

TEXT 49; Saturday, December 24, 2011 2:26:00 AM
Anonymous said...: TEXT 49

TRANSLATION

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom the separated subjective portion Brahma receives his power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the sun manifests some portion of his own light in all the effulgent gems that bear the names of suryakanta, etc.

PURPORT

Brahma is two types: in certain kalpas when the potency of the Supreme Lord infuses Himself in an eligible jiva, the latter acts in the office of Brahma and creates the universe. In those kalpas when no eligible jiva is available, after the Brahma of the previous kalpa is liberated, Krsna, by the process of allotment of His own potency. creates the Brahma who has the nature of the avatara (descent) of the Divinity in the active mundane principle (rajo-guna). By principle Brahma is superior to ordinary jivas but is not the direct Divinity. The divine nature is present in a greater measure in Sambhu than in Brahma. The fundamental significance of the above is that the aggregate of fifty attributes, belonging to the jiva, are present in a fuller measure in Brahma who possesses, in a lesser degree, five more attributes which are not found in jivas. But in Sambhu both the fifty attributes of jivas as also the five additional attributes found in Brahma are present in even greater measure than in Brahma.

TEXT 50

TRANSLATION

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Ganesa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.

PURPORT

The power of destroying all obstacles to mundane prosperity has been delegated to Ganesa who is the object of worship to those who are eligible to worship him. He has obtained a rank among the five gods as Brahma possessing mundane quality. The self-same Ganesa is a god in possession of delegated power by infusion of the divine power. All his glory rests entirely on the grace of Govinda.; Saturday, December 24, 2011 2:29:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Very bittersweet story.

All people; young and old, wise and foolish, rich and poor, need such experiences in order to discriminate as to the value of life and LIFE.

Passing of Devarship Prabhu:
(The Unfortunate Passing Away of Devarshi Prabhu)

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/12-11/editorials8085.htm; Saturday, December 24, 2011 8:38:00 PM
Anonymous said...: via Homer..

Les Visible prabhu,

This is the character who tried to manipulate and influence you.

That particular incident(s) was the inspiration for this very nice "Hare Krishna" posting itself, as I recall.

Proof of good from bad, eh?

I'm sorry I was so late in relaying this to you. I somehow missed it.

I hope this offers at least a small support of your good intention and perhaps even a 'personal' proof of more than meets the eye at work here..

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/10-11/editorials7850.htm; Monday, December 26, 2011 5:44:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Here's the source. A short and marvelous work of nonfiction.

Real and true devotees, one of which I aspire to be, are a wonder to behold.

Devotees like Ravanari Das..

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/12-11/editorials8090.htm; Monday, December 26, 2011 9:40:00 PM
Anonymous said...: My Dear Gerald,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your nice letter dated Lachine, 23rd December, 1970. I am traveling all over India just now on preaching tour and Samkirtan, so sometimes my mail is delayed.

I am very glad that you are inquisitive to know the science of Krishna consciousness and you are already practically experiencing the awakening of transcendentally blissful love of God Krishna by the simple chanting of His Holy Names. This awakening of pure love of God is the ultimate perfection of all bona fide religious principles including Christian, Judaic, Mohammedan, Hindu, etc.

Just as it is recorded that Lord Jesus Christ said that the first commandment is that one should love God with all his heart, and soul and mind. Similarly Krishna instructs that everyone should surrender unto Him in Love.

Lord Jesus says that the first thing is to develop your love for God. So what is the difference between the original teachings of Lord Jesus Christ and Krishna?

Yes, it is a fact that no one can see Krishna without being a pure devotee of the Lord. Every living entity is the son of god, but not all of the sons are faithful to their Father.

This is explained in Bhagavad Gita. So one who turns away from his father naturally cannot see his father; but the faithful son can see his father at any time. Under the circumstances, we can understand the word of John because amongst all the people of that place Jesus Christ was the only faithful son of God, Krishna.

Lord Jesus says (John 6:46), “Not that any man hath seen the father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.” So one who is a devotee of the Lord in pure love, who teaches others how to love God is the messenger of God and he can see God without any doubt.

Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (11:54), “My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you; and I can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of my understanding.”

As your heart becomes more and more purified by the chanting process you will feel constant happiness in Krishna’s service and at that time Krishna takes all the sinful reactions from the devotee thus protecting him from all distresses of life.
Hope this will meet you in good health.

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

Srila Prabupada letter to Gerald, Feb. 19, 1971; Monday, December 26, 2011 9:55:00 PM
Visible said...: Wow! Homer, my goodness! How strange.

Thank you.; Monday, December 26, 2011 11:14:00 PM
Anonymous said...: via Homer..

My pleasure to offer perhaps a small relief and proof of your correct assessment and appropriate demeanor in connection with the asura.

Mid July of 2010 I was at New Vrindaban for darshan of Srila Prabhupada.
It was an off week with no big events planned so it was nice and quiet with perhaps a half dozen people present.

After my wonderful darshan I walked a bit and saw a devotee reading on a bench by a side door and sat down beside him. He was a scholarly looking fellow, smiled and welcomed me. He nicely answered my questions about who he was and how long he had lived at the temple (26 years).
We were discussing a purport from the Bhagavatam in which it is stated that sometimes (very rarely) a student who is by nature very sincere is naturally advanced and might actually become the deliverer of his own spiritual master. A very profound and delightful jewel which is a part of the transcendental perfection of Bhagavat Dharma.
As we were enjoying our little talk, who comes up to us from out of nowhere, out of the blue unannounced?!! THE MOST PROMINENT GURU in ISKCON TODAY!!!

HG RADHANATH SWAMI HIMSELF!!!
(AKA Richard Slavin the discriminated against 'little Jewish kid' from America)

You might be familiar with him as he gets around these days and makes sure his photo is prominently displayed in all the right places. Him and the Pope, him and Obama, him and etc., etc., etc. He has as of late been on a world tour promoting his new book "The Journey Home."

In his early days he was, I believe, the first pujari at New Vrindaban and great friend of the above mentioned and departed Kirtanananda Das AKA Bhaktipad AKA Keith Ham. Later on he was (and still is) one of the original 11 bogus guru usurpers of Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON.

Long story short, we had an eye to eye chat, me and the "Swami" and the very timely (actually perfect timing) topic of what the devotee and I were just discussing came up. This no doubt irritated the Swami a bit, the idea that anyone, much less a disciple might by any stretch of the imagination or even mystic siddhis rise above the guru to deliver them both to the promised land. He told me not once but three times to be careful what I was saying and to not commit the great sin of Vaishnava aparadha (dissing a Vaishnava).

I'm sure he was a tad irked already because I didn't at once throw myself at his lotus feet as he approached. Aw shucks..

I then proceeded to apologize to the devotee who I was with and asked him to forgive me if I had offended him in any way.
With that the Swami swished off in a huff with his very handsome young aide in tow. (wink wink)

To dot the i and cross the t on this little story of mine, I suggest, if you're interested in a little behind the curtain peek at the "Swami" (and if you have the stomach) read the links below.

Best wishes and all success to you Les Visible prabhu!
All glory to Srila Prabhupada!

http://jaganat.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/radhanatha%C2%B4s-swami-hidden-story/

http://prabhupadavision.com/2010/11/charlatan-or-saint/; Tuesday, December 27, 2011 2:36:00 AM
Anonymous said...: By simply advising the King of heaven, Indra, to send a strong wind, so many asuras can be immediately annihilated. So for that purpose, Krsna does not require to come. He comes for satisfying the devotees. The devotees are so anxious to see Him. Just like Prahlada Maharaja. Nrsimhadeva appeared not to kill his teeny father. To kill his teeny father... Simply by directing the maya, he could be killed. But He wanted to come before Prahlada Maharaja, that "You are My such nice devotee. You are suffering for Me. Now I have come. You see."
This is the purpose.

By the by, to kill the atheist, keeping the promise of Brahma intact... He took benediction from Brahma that "I shall not die in this way and this way, this way." All the promises of Brahma kept. He appeared in such a form that it will not clash with the promise of Brahma. Therefore He had to take the form of such a thing which does not clash with the promise. Brahma was a devotee. He has given him some benediction. So Krsna did not violate that. It must be kept. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati. Just see (the) kindness of Krsna. He kept Brahma's promise, He kept the atheist Hiranyakasipu's aspiration, and He satisfied Prahlada And everything was done simply by incarnating as Narasimhadeva.

This is Krsna's plan. He comes, but by one stroke, He serves so many business. That is Krsna. [Srila Prabhupada from a Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture 1.3.22, Los Angeles, September 27, 1972]; Tuesday, December 27, 2011 7:14:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Garden of Building

BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS

Dear
Srimati Radharani yes
i will write

about the dear most associate of the
Lord

like this is a picture

and a conch
shell
please

share the considered

warmth of bearing
with me as there is a

cool conch shell
full
of water please

yes

yes please there is only
one

way Hare Krsna Hare Krsna ! yes yes leave me
to
the life

i

am

blessed with in no one

else's mind
i will offer
this
like a cool conch shell
full of water meant to
remind one of the holy

Vrndadevi as well in

a Krsna conscious

garden
of
building yes

yes

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

what

is the use of being

scholarly if i am not
at

peace

with
the mind i

am
blessed with Srimati in no

one else's mind the mind

is
blessed Hare Krsna Hare Krsna !
yes the
mind
is
blessed the mind is full
of
grace Hare Krsna Hare Krsna !

child
Krsna indeed

the original mind of the
original
supreme personality of Godhead is full of Srimati's life
complete
and

together

They have a
way

one way of blossoming like the lotus

feet

of Sri Krsna Caitanya
They childlike fresh and beyond maturity are
of one
mind
i am blessed with no
one

else's naturally there is no other
mind

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

of what need
is

the mind to
be

elsewhere but
at
Their lotus feet Hare Krsna Hare Krsna !

yes

Sri Krsna Caitanya
understands how one feels about writing like

this in other

words

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare !

yes what is

the
use

of

being scholarly if i am

not
at

peace
with the mind i will
write
like this faithfully
this comes to mind faithfully as i

am
faithful like
this to the point of being just
as glad They
are

together

Hare Krsna !
yes

together

such that there
is no

other

yes there is
no

other way for one faithful

like this

to
write
as i write
about Srimati like
this picture of water now pouring knows
no other
garden

of building like Vrndavana i know how
kindly

Sri Krsna Caitanya will come to
mind
as i am the would be life i am
not blessed with in Krsna consciousness otherwise
Hare Krsna !

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare; Wednesday, December 28, 2011 6:28:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Letter to Krishna dasa, Bombay, 15 November, 1970

My Dear Krishna das,
[...]
Regarding Russia, I am very anxious to establish a center there in Moscow and if I am invited, I can go there. In the meantime, I think you should be the only one to hold correspondence with the Indology Professors, no one else.

This correspondence should be conducted very cautiously with Russia. You can ask them some questions, like: What is the ultimate goal of life? What is your ideal ultimate goal of life? What is the difference between animal and human life? Why is religion accepted by all kinds of civilized societies?

What is your conception of the original creation? In this way questions may be put to find out what is their standing. We do not grudge an atheist provided he has got some philosophical standing. In this way try to elicit some answers from the Professors.

If you can finally establish one Moscow center, it will be a great credit to you. So far studying Russian language, it is not necessary, but if you do so it is alright. I want very much a center in Russia, so for the time being I shall desire that Moscow Center.

Please offer my blessings to your good wife and all the other devotees there. Hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
--------------------------------
The other day I was reading in the, that paper, Moscow News, there was a congress, Communist congress, and the president declared that “We are ready to get others’ experience to improve.” So I think the Vedic concept of socialism or communism will much improve the idea of communism. Just like we are thinking in terms of human beings, the commu…, socialistic state, that “Nobody should starve. Everyone must have his food.” And in the Vedic conception of gṛhastha, householder, it is recommended there that a householder shall see that even a lizard living in the room or even a snake living in that house should not starve. They should be also given food.; Thursday, December 29, 2011 3:23:00 PM
Anonymous said...: So the Krishna consciousness movement is simply giving chance to people without any discrimination, "Please come. Become Narayana-parayana, devotee, and automatically you'll become sushila and sadhu." As soon as—that is the test—you become a devotee, narayana-para, then automatically you become sushila and sadhava. And if you become well behaved and sadhava, committing no sinful activities, sadhava, and simply serving Narayana, or Krishna, then for our elevation or salvation, that is the panthah kshemo akuto-bhayah. Akuto-bhayam. Now we are fearless. If on the devotional path, then you have no fear. Why? Now, Krishna takes charge of you. Krishna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranashyati: [Bg. 9.31] "Kaunteya, Arjuna, you can declare throughout the whole world that one who has become My devotee, he will never be vanquished." Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranashyati. You get immediately Krishna's help. So if we depend completely on Krishna, Narayana, Narayana-para, then automatically we become sadhu, automatically we become well behaved, and automatically we are protected. Therefore this path is the best way of advancing in our life and go back to home, back to Godhead.
Thank you very much.; Thursday, December 29, 2011 9:58:00 PM
Anonymous said...: German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) thought that nirvana, (freedom from suffering) means becoming desireless putting an end to our will. But His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada disagrees….

Hayagriva dasa: Arthur Schopenhauer was a nineteenth-century German philosopher who took some of his ideas from the Indian Vedic literature. For Schopenhauer, happiness meant inactive satisfaction nirvana. Since he thought that the will to enjoy the material world is the irrational urge that brings about all suffering, he advocated the extinction of the will. In his main book, The World as Will and Idea, he wrote, "The Indian Vedas and Puranas have no better simile than a dream for the actual [material] world, which they call 'the web of maya,' and they use none more frequently." From this Schopenhauer concluded, "Life is a long dream… What is this world of perception but my idea?" He goes on to conclude that life is a projection of the will.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, material life is a projection of the material will, or material desire. And nirvana means that material desires are finished. But the living entity cannot be desireless, because he is an eternal spiritual being. Thus, even when he finishes his material desires, he still has spiritual desires. In the materially conditioned state, these spiritual desires are covered by material desires, but in any case desire is the constant companion of the soul, or living entity.

The soul transmigrates in this material world from one body to another, and he creates desires according to the type of body he gets. God's supreme will affords the living entity various bodies so that he can fulfill his minute will, which is made up of material desires. In other words, the living entity wills something, and the supreme will (God, or Krsna), understanding the finite will of the living entity, gives him facilities to fulfill his particular desire. In this way, the will of the living entities is the cause of this material existence.

However, Schopenhauer was wrong in thinking that you can become happy by extinguishing your will. Since you are a living being, you must always have desires. If your desires are stopped, you become like a stone. So instead of trying to put an end to all desire, you should try to cleanse the diseased form of desire (sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam). That cleansing process is Krsna consciousness (bhakti). Presently our desires are desires of the body. When the living entity acquires the body of an American, a European, a Chinaman, or whatever, he desires like a human being. When he changes his body to that of a dog, he spends his time barking. According to his desires he has received a particular type of body. But these desires are temporary, and thus the living entity moves from one body to another. Because he is materially covered, he considers the temporary world to be reality; but because it is constantly changing, it is not. Therefore, in one sense, this material world is all a dream.; Thursday, December 29, 2011 10:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Hayagriva dasa: And trying to enjoy this dream is the source of frustration?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, because it is a fact that we cannot fulfill our material desires, which come and go like dreams. All material activities, subtle or gross, are manifestations of various dreamlike desires. Therefore the impersonalist Mayavadi philosophers say brahma satyam, jagan mithya:

"The dreamer is a fact, but the dream is false." Our Vaisnava philosophy agrees that the dreamer is the factual living entity; but we say that the dream of this material world is not false but temporary. Therefore the dreamer has to come to the real, eternal spiritual platform so that his flickering material dreams can be extinguished. As explained in the Narada-pancaratra,

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate

"Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects: he becomes free from all false material designations, and his senses become purified." When one abandons the dream and awakens to reality, that is Krsna consciousness, or bhakti.

Hayagriva dasa: Then will, or desire, can never be annihilated?

Srila Prabhupada: No, not even for a second. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita [3.5] that we cannot live for a second without desires. Because we are living, we must will and desire.

Hayagriva dasa: What about the Buddhists? They advocate a state of desirelessness.

Srila Prabhupada: They believe that if you dismantle this material body, there will no longer be will, desire, or suffering. But this is not a fact. The fact is that you are an eternal spirit soul; you do not die after the destruction of the body. Consequently, thinking, feeling, and willing are actually carried from this body to another body in the process of transmigration. When the body dies, the living entity's will carries him away, and according to the quality of his will, he receives another body. That body may be the body of a demigod, a dog, a human, or whatever. In any case, will or desire is the carrier.; Thursday, December 29, 2011 10:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Crest Jewel

All glories to yuga-acarya and current Sampradaya-acarya, Srila Prabhupada! All glories to the crown-jewel swan swimming in the ocean of Radha-Krishna prema! All glories to the glorious paramahamsa who turned into reality (i) the dearmost desire (namo bhistam) of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, (ii) the wondrous prophecies forecasted by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and (iii) the very words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, to the effect that the Holy Names of Lord Krishna would be chanted in every town and village of the Earth, Om Vishnu Pada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad His Divine Loving Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada!

http://youtu.be/hw-sX3Pmync

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/12-11/editorials8103.htm; Sunday, January 01, 2012 7:02:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Real Purpose Of Avatara

As far as the atheistic are concerned, it is not necessary for the Supreme Lord to appear as He is to destroy them, as He did with the demons Ravana and Kamsa The Lord has many agents who are quite competent to vanquish demons. But the Lord especially descends to appease His unalloyed devotees, who are always harassed by the demoniac.The demon harasses the devotee, even though the latter may happen to be his kin. Although Prahlad Maharaja was the son of Hiranyakashipu, he was nonetheless persecuted by his father; although Devaki, the mother of Krishna, was the sister of Kamsa, she and her husband Vasudeva were persecuted only because Krishna was to be born of them. So the Lord appeared to deliver the devotee and vanquish the demon miscreants.

After speaking the above two verses Lord Krishna gives the real reason for His appearance in the next verse:

janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah

tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."

(Bhagavad-gita 4.9)

The real reason that God appears is to give pleasure to His devotees. By seeing His beautiful form, chanting His holy Name, and remembering His wonderful pastimes, His devotees become greatly inspired and rapidly advance to reunite with Him in transcendental loving service; Friday, January 06, 2012 3:31:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 7.11) confirms:

kali-kalera dharma-krsna-nama-sankirtana
krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana

“The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. Unless empowered by Krsna, one cannot propagate the sankirtana movement.”

Unless one is blessed with krsna-sakti, the energy of Krsna, one cannot spread the chanting of the holy name all over the world. Because Srila Prabhupada was blessed with krsna-sakti he was able to spread the sankirtana movement throughout the whole world.

Still, Srila Prabhupada presented himself as the humble servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord, and generally we also worship Srila Prabhupada as the humble servant of the servant of the servant of Lord Krsna. And we want to be his servant, or the servant of his servants. That is the position of a Vaisnava: gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. Even Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented Himself as such.

“I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmacari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.” (Cc Madhya 13.80)

“But if you are not a brahmana, not a ksatriya, not a vaisya, and not a sudra, if you are not a brahmacari, not a grhastha, not a vanaprastha, and not a sannyasi, then what are you?” Gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah: “I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis of Vrndavana.” So that is the identity of a Vaisnava. He has no other identity. He doesn’t identify with the material varnas and asramas. He identifies himself as the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord.

In fact, Sisupala, who was also a great demon, criticized Lord Krsna, “No one knows Your caste. Sometimes You act as a cowherd boy, and sometimes You act as a warrior. So nobody knows Your caste, whether you are a ksatriya or a vaisya or what.” In Vedic civilization, to accuse someone of being without a caste is a great insult. Yet although Sisupala meant to criticize Krsna, indirectly he was glorifying Him, because the Lord--and the Vaisnava--is transcendental; he doesn’t belong to any caste. He doesn’t belong to any varna or any asrama. So, mundane people or demonic people may criticize, “What are you? You are not a brahmana, not a ksatriya, not a vaisya, not a sudra. What are you? You don’t fit into our categories.”

Actually, Krsna and Krsna’s devotees are beyond material designations and categories. So although materialists may try to fit them into some category and then become bewildered or disturbed that they don’t fit, devotees know their own identities: they are just the servants of the servants of the servants of Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis of Vraja.; Saturday, January 07, 2012 5:39:00 AM
Anonymous said...: This is Brahma-saṁhitā. The Lord, by expansion of one of His plenary portion, He is existing within this universe. Not only within the universe, but within the atom also. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. This is God’s qualification, that He can become greater than the greatest. Just like we have got conception the greatest—this universe. We cannot even imagine how long, how far it is extended. But such universes are coming out from the breathing of Mahā- Viṣṇu. Yaḥ kāraṇārnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-saroma-kūpaḥ [Bs. 5.47] From His breathing, when He exhales, innumerable universes come out, and when He inhales, all those universes again enters. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. It is generated and again annihilated. This is going on. This is one side, that innumerable universes can be put into the nostril hole of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. And another side, He can enter even within the atom. This is God consciousness. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. He is greater than the greatest. We generally say, “God is great,” but we do not know how great He is. People say, “God is great,” but we have no conception how great He is. He is so great that He can swallow innumerable universes within His belly.; Sunday, January 08, 2012 4:59:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Just like when Kṛṣṇa was challenged by His mother that “Show me Your face. You say that You have not eaten the earth. Your friends complained, and You say that You have not eaten. So I want to see. Open Your mouth.” So when He opened, (s)he saw all the universes within the mouth. All the universes. He proved, “My dear mother, not only a little earth, but the whole universe is within My mouth.” (laughter) So when mother Yaśodā was astonished, she thought something illusory, “All right, don’t do it again. That’s all.” (laughter) She does not know that “Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To show me His mercy He has become my child.” She does not know. She always thinks, “He is my child. He is under my control.”; Sunday, January 08, 2012 5:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Ratha Yatra festival

Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot, one makes advancement for stopping the repetition of birth and death – Srila Prabhupada

So actually, human opulence means not these tin cars. Once it is dashed with another car, it is finished, no value. Human opulence means the society must have enough gold, enough jewelry, enough silk, enough grains, enough milk, enough vegetables, like that. That is opulent. That is opulence.

All the cowherds boys, they are very rich. They have got enough grains and enough milk. Naturally they will be rich. But not that the cows and the calves will be taken care of by some hired servant. No. They would take care himself.

That was children’s sport, to go to the forest, take the calves and cows and carry some tiffin. Eat there, dance there, play there, and again come in the evening. Then they will take bath and change their dress and take their meals and immediately go to sleep. This was the boy’s, children’s, engagement. So how they would grow healthy because they go outside and play and work and very happily, they enjoy the company. So there is no question of becoming contaminated. Yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī. Yāmuna-tīra, on the bank of the Yamunā… Just like we go to the seaside, the beach, similarly, there is bank of Yamunā, very nice river, and there are trees. So these boys, Kṛṣṇa and His friends, with their cows they will go and loiter on the bank of the Yamunā and sport and frivolities, everything, so nicely. So there was no question of education at that time. After the child is grown up, healthy, nice, then he goes to school. Otherwise first of all eat sumptuously milk, butter and yogurt, and play sufficiently in open air with friends, take care of the cows. This is labor. But it is sporting, very nice. So these things were taught by Kṛṣṇa Himself, although He was the son of king.; Monday, January 09, 2012 4:20:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The epitome of Kali Yuga..

70% of Milk in Delhi, Country is Adulterated

Jan 09, 2012 — NEW DELHI, INDIA (TIMES OF INDIA)

Of the 71 samples randomly taken from Delhi for testing by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), 50 were found to be contaminated with glucose and skim milk powder (SMP), which is usually added to milk in the lean season to enhance volumes.

Elsewhere in the 33 states and UTs study, milk was found adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea, besides the age-old dilution with water. Across the country, 68.4% of the samples were found contaminated.

Only in Goa and Puducherry did 100% of the samples tested conform to required standards. At the other end were West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Mizoram, where not a single sample tested met the norms.

Other prominent states fared just a shade better. Around 89% of the samples tested from Gujarat, 83% from Jammu & Kashmir, 81% from Punjab, 76% from Rajasthan, 70% from Delhi and Haryana and 65% from Maharashtra failed the test. Around half of the samples from Madhya Pradesh (48%) also met a similar fate.; Tuesday, January 10, 2012 3:20:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

Everyone is praying to God with some interest. That is also good. If you go and pray to God, “Give me some money” or “Give me some relief,” “Give me a nice house, nice wife, nice foodstuff,” that is also good. But not so good as one is praying to God that “I don’t want any money. I don’t want any number of followers. I don’t want any good wife, nice beautiful wife.” “Then what do you want?” “I want to serve You. That’s all.” Finish your prayer. That is the best prayer. “You are so good, You are so nice, You are so great that I want to be engaged in Your service. I am serving these rascals. They are not satisfied, I am not satisfied. Now I have come to You. Please engage me in Your service.” That is the last word of prayer.

Thank you very much.; Tuesday, January 10, 2012 4:02:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.34

mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham

udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām

kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāḿ

smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā

TRANSLATION

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.

PURPORT

As soon as a man is born, he dies at every moment. Thus death is devouring every living entity at every moment, but the last stroke is called death itself. That death is Kṛṣṇa. As for future development, all living entities undergo six basic changes. They are born, they grow, they remain for some time, they reproduce, they dwindle, and finally they vanish. Of these changes, the first is deliverance from the womb, and that is Kṛṣṇa. The first generation is the beginning of all future activities.

The seven opulences listed — fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience — are considered feminine. If a person possesses all of them or some of them he becomes glorious. If a man is famous as a righteous man, that makes him glorious. Sanskrit is a perfect language and is therefore very glorious. If after studying one can remember a subject matter, he is gifted with a good memory, or smṛti. And the ability not only to read many books on different subject matters but to understand them and apply them when necessary is intelligence (medhā), another opulence. The ability to overcome unsteadiness is called firmness or steadfastness (dhṛti). And when one is fully qualified yet is humble and gentle, and when one is able to keep his balance both in sorrow and in the ecstasy of joy, he has the opulence called patience (kṣamā).; Tuesday, January 10, 2012 10:50:00 PM
Anonymous said...: In the Adi Purana there is the following statement by Lord Krsna Himself, addressed to Arjuna..

“My dear Partha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee.”

It is specifically mentioned that the karmis who are aspiring after the fruitive results of their activities, the salvationists who are aspiring to become one with the Supreme Person, and the yogis who are aspiring after mystic perfections can achieve the results of all perfectional stages simply by chanting the maha-mantra. Sukadeva uses the word nirnitam, which means “it has already been decided.” He was a liberated soul and therefore could not accept anything which was not conclusive. So Sukadeva Gosvami especially stresses that it has already been concluded that one who has come to the stage of chanting the Hare Krsna mantra with determination and steadiness must be considered to have already passed the trials of fruitive activities, mental speculation and mystic yoga.; Thursday, January 12, 2012 5:06:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Bhishma said, 'If one, setting oneself to undertaking involving even great exertions, fails to earn wealth, one should then practise severe austerities. Unless seeds be sown, no crops appear. It is by making gifts (to deserving persons in this life) that one acquires (in one's next life) numerous objects of enjoyment, even as one becomes possessed of intelligence and wisdom by waiting upon those that are venerable for years. The wise have said that one becomes possessed of longevity by practising the duty of abstention from cruelty to all creatures. Hence, one should make gifts and not solicit (or accept them when made by others).

One should worship those individuals that are righteous. Verily, one should be sweet-speeched towards all, and always do what is agreeable to others. One should seek to attain to purity (both mental and external). Indeed, one should always abstain from doing injury to any creature. When in the matter of the happiness and woe of even insects and ants, their acts (of this and past lives) and Nature constitute the cause, it is meet, O Yudhishthira, that thou shouldst he tranquil!'

Thus ends Section 162, of the Anusasana Parva, Part Two, Sri Mahabharata.; Thursday, January 12, 2012 4:04:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..
New York, December 3, 1966

Now, Caitanya, Lord Caitanya, is describing about the various forms of Kṛṣṇa. This is very important subject. How Kṛṣṇa is all-pervading, He is describing.

kṛṣṇera svarūpa—ananta, vaibhava—apāra cic-chakti, māyā-śakti, jīva-śakti āra

Kṛṣṇera svarūpa ananta. The transcendental forms of Kṛṣṇa, innumerable, vaibhava, and His opulence, that is also innumerable. Nobody can estimate. How many forms are there of Kṛṣṇa or how much opulent He is, nobody can estimate; nobody can measure. This is inconceivable. The first proposition. Cic-chakti māyā-śakti jīva-śakti āra. And His potencies are also unlimited, out of which, three potencies are generally accepted: cit-śakti, spiritual potency; material potency; and marginal potency. These three potencies I have described many times. Cit-śakti, the spiritual potency, is a manifestation of the spiritual world, and material potency is a manifestation of this material world, and the marginal potency, we are, we living entities. We are marginal potency. Why it is marginal? Because although we belong to the spiritual potency, but we have got tendency to come into contact of this material potency. Therefore it is called marginal, “this way or that way.” That a slight independence which is there in every living entity, he can use that, and he may select either to live in the spiritual potency or in the material potency. Therefore the living entities are called marginal potency. So parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. Although the energies of the Supreme Lord are innumerable—nobody can count or measure—but they are divided into three.

In the Vedic literature it is said, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. Just like I have several times explained before you that in the spiritual absolute identity, one minus one equal to one and one plus one equal to one. So although innumerable energies are coming out of the supreme body of the Supreme Lord, still He is full. There is no loss of energy. Just like we can have some material example: the sun. We do not know for how many millions of years the sunshine and temperature is coming out of the sun planet, but still the sun is the same. There is no loss of temperature. So if in a material object this is possible, that in spite of distributing heat and light from the sun disk for millions and millions of years, the sun disk is still of the same temperature, there is no loss of temperature—this is a material thing—so why in the spiritual body of the Supreme there will be any loss? This is a material idea, that “Because God has become all-pervading, therefore He has lost Himself.” Why He should lose His identity? This is confirmed in the Vedic literature: pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evavaśiṣyate. If you take from the… He is so full that if you take the whole thing from Him, still, He is whole. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate.

So as described here, kṛṣṇa svarūpa ananta vaibhava apāra. So although He is transmitting innumerable energies and although He is expanding Himself in innumerable forms, still, He is one. Still, He is the same and one. That is the spiritual conception, or absolute conception. Absolute is not relative. “Because something has being taken away, therefore it is something less”—it is relative. It is not absolute. This idea is relative. I have got in my pocket ten dollars. So I have taken two dollars. Now it is eight dollars. This is relative truth. This is not absolute idea. Absolute idea is that pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. Avaśiṣyate means the balance is still full. Whatever you may take, the balance is still.; Friday, January 13, 2012 4:19:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "The devotees who discuss that science of how to love Krsna, how to love everyone and everything in relation to Krsna, they learn not only to become more humble, seeing how great Krsna is, but more transcendentally, discrimination how to please Krsna, how to love Krsna in all his different forms. It is not that we are fanning Krsna with one hand and stepping on Krsna’s foot with the other. We have to love Krsna in the form of his Deity, in the form of his books, in the form of his devotees, even in the form of the Supersoul who is residing in the hearts of all living entities, in the form of his energies."

"Then my mind was wandering a little bit, or a lot, and because before I came to the movement I was practicing hatha yoga sometimes up to eight hours a day, I was sitting there, I had read some books, I was trying to figure out how to dissolve clouds in the sky, etc. So while I was sitting there, Prabhupada was talking to me and another devotee, I thought, “Let me see what Prabhupada’s aura looks like.” I started to meditate on Prabhupada’s aura, and immediately, Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Our process is not mystic yoga, [laughter] our process is bhakti.”; Saturday, January 14, 2012 3:29:00 AM
Anonymous said...: "Lord Caitanya, who bestowed the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahma, has appeared in Kali Yuga in Navadvipa. He has revealed the pure essence of the Vedas, freeing the pure Vedic philosophy from the contamination of Kali Yuga. The human being in concluding anything must certainly indulge in the four faults of error, omission, limitation and cheating. In relation to spiritual matters, even the greatest learned men cannot avoid these four defects. Therefore, in spiritual matters, the only authority is the word of Veda, which has no human author." (Mahaprabhura Siksa by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur)

Srila Prabhupada..

So Brahmā is the original creature. Therefore he has got contact with the original source. He has got the original source. How he receives knowledge? Because we have got understanding that we get knowledge from another person when we are face to face. But Brahmā was alone. How he got the knowledge? That is explained in the Bhāgavatam: tene brahma hṛdā. Hṛdā means through the heart. Because the Supreme Person, Paramātmā, is also within the heart. So although Brahmā was alone, he was getting the knowledge, dictation from the Supreme. Tene brahma. Brahma means knowledge. Brahma means Veda. The Vedic knowledge was given to him first. Tene brahma hṛdā.

The Vedic knowledge is given to everyone because Kṛṣṇa is in everyone’s heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. He’s sitting in everyone’s heart. But one must be qualified to receive the knowledge. Kṛṣṇa is helping us from within. He is giving us knowledge. From within, without also. So without, He’s spiritual master. And within He’s Supersoul, caitya-guru. In this way, we are getting knowledge.; Saturday, January 14, 2012 4:38:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Most of You Will Go Down

The following statement was given by Dhristadyumna das, relating his remembrances of Srila Prahbupada. The circumstances at the time Srila Prabhupada made this statement were in 1976, when Madhudvisa had disappeared and given up sannyasa. Srila Prabhupada said:

"Actually I have not given any of you sannyasa. But I am in a war with Maya, the material energy, and I need leaders." He said, "It is called in wartime ‘battlefield commission.' There are no qualified leaders, but someone has to lead the charge. So you take every fifth man, ‘You are now lieutenant of the squad.' He is really a private, but we make him lieutenant for the day and he leads the charge." Then Prabhupada said, "It is to be understood that you are not sufficiently equipped for this fight and most of you will go down."; Sunday, January 15, 2012 6:30:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

So Krsna is so kind. So the devotees see like that, that a Putana raksasi wanted to kill Krsna, but she got the promotion just like His mother Yasoda. Krsna is so kind. Because Krsna took it that "Although this raksasi came to kill Me with poison in her breast, but I have sucked her breast. She has become My mother." So Krsna takes only the bright side of your devotional service. He never takes the dark side because anyone in this material world, he has got only dark life. So try to serve Krsna. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat: "Even little service rendered to Krsna can save you from the greatest dangerous life." These are the instructions.; Sunday, January 15, 2012 6:53:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "Not only the Christians, but also the Hindus, the Muhammadans, and all others are guilty. They have rubber-stamped themselves "Christian," "Hindu," or "Muhammadan," but they do not obey God. That is the problem."

Visitor: Can you say in what way the Christians are disobedient?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. The first point is that they violate the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" by maintaining slaughterhouses. Do you agree that this commandment is being violated?

Father Emmanuel: Personally, I agree.

Srila Prabhupada: Good. So if the Christians want to love God, they must stop killing animals.

Father Emmanuel: But isn't the most important point-

Srila Prabhupada: If you miss one point, there is a mistake in your calculation. Regardless of what you add or subtract after that, the mistake is already in the calculation, and everything that follows will also be faulty. We cannot simply accept that part of the scripture we like, and reject what we don't like, and still expect to get the result.; Monday, January 16, 2012 4:17:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “Vibration, what we have heard from the spiritual master, that is living”

-Srila Prabhupada; Friday, January 20, 2012 6:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Holy Lake of the Acts of Lord Rama..

[Doha 49] Very marvelous are the acts of Raghupati; only the supremely wise understand them. Those who are dull of wit and under the dominion of illusion fancy something quite different.

[Caupai 50] It was at that time that Sambhu saw Rama, and his soul was enraptured. He gazed his fill on the ocean of beauty, but thinking it no fit occasion, he did not make himself known, but Love's destroyer went his way, crying, 'Victory to True Being, Consciousness and Bliss, that purifies the world!' So Siva, Lord of grace, departed with Sati, trembling again and again with ecstatic emotion. When Sati saw Sambhu's state, a great doubt arose in her mind. 'Samkara', she thought, 'is Lord of the world and worthy of all men's worship; gods, men and sages all bow the head before him. Yet he did obeisance to a prince, calling him True Being, Consciousness and Bliss, and Spirit Supreme; and when he saw his beauty, he was so absorbed in it that even now nothing can check his devotion. [Doha 50] Can the Absolute, which is all-pervading, passionless, unborn, indivisible, desireless, without parts – that which even the Veda knows not – take bodily form as a man? And even if Visnu should take human form for the sake of the gods, [Caupai 51] yet is he omniscient like Tripurari; then how should he, in whom all wisdom dwells, the lord of Sri, the foe of demons, be searching for his wife as though he lacked knowledge? Yet again, the word of Sambhu cannot be untrue, for all know Siva is omniscient.'

Such was the deep doubt that troubled her mind and her heart could find no solution. Though Bhavani said nothing openly, yet Hara who knows the secrets of all hearts could read her thoughts. 'Harken, Sati,' he said; 'you are just like a woman; such doubts should never lodge in your heart. He whose story the seer Agastya told, and faith in whom I taught the sage, is my own chosen deity, Raghubir, whom steadfast sages ever reverence. [Chanda 2] He whom steadfast sages, ascetics and adepts continually contemplate with unsullied soul, he whose fame Vedas and Puranas and Agamas sing, naming him "Not thus", that very Rama, all-pervading Absolute, Lord of all the worlds and master of illusion, has come to earth to save his faithful people, ever self-subsisting, jewel of the house of Raghu.'; Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:40:00 AM
Anonymous said...: [Sloka 51] Though Siva declared this many times, his teaching took no hold upon her heart. Then Mahesa, knowing full well the might of Hari's illusive power, said with a smile, [Caupai 52] 'If you feel such doubt, why do you not go and put the matter to the test? I will stay here, sitting in the banyan's shade will you come back to me. Do your best to be rid of your grievous ignorance and error, but act with circumspection.'

Sati went off at Siva's bidding, considering how she should act, while Sambhu thought to himself, 'Daksa's daughter will come to no good. If her doubt is not dispelled by all that I could say, then fate is adverse and ill will come of it. As Rama has decreed so shall it be; then why make a long argument about it?' So saying, he began to repeat the name of Hari.

[Doha 52] But Sati approached the Lord, the abode of bliss. After pondering her course again and again, she took the form of Sita and went forward on that road by which the king of men was coming. [Caupai 53] When Laksman saw the guise that Uma had assumed, he was astonished and dumbfounded; in his profound perplexity he could say nothing; steadfast of soul, he knew the power of the Lord. The Lord of heaven penetrated Sati's disguise, for he sees all and knows the secrets of all hearts. He, by the very thought of whom ignorance is destroyed, is that omniscient Rama, the Blessed Lord.

Now see what a woman's nature can make her do! Even in his presence Sati would hide her guile! But Rama, realizing the might of his own illusive power, addressed her with a smile in gentle tones. The Lord greeted her with folded hands and told her his name and the name of his father, and then said, 'Where is he on whose banner is blazoned the bull? Why are you roaming the forest alone?'; Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:40:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Doha 53] When she [Sita] heard Rama's words, so gentle but so full of meaning, she was utterly ashamed; awe-struck, Sati returned to Mahesa with anxious heart. [Caupai 54] 'I paid no heed to Samkara's word, but brought my folly to the notice of Rama; and now what answer am I to give?' Her heart's distress was a consuming fire.

Rama knew that Sati was in distress and showed forth his power in part. As Sati went on her way, she beheld a marvel. In front of her was Rama, with Sita and his brother. She looked behind her and saw the Lord with his brother and Sita in beauteous raiment. Wherever she looked, there was the Lord upon his throne, and adepts and learned sages were doing him reverence. She saw, too, many a Shiva, Brahma and Visnu, each surpassing the rest in measureless majesty; and all the gods she saw in various forms serving the Lord and doing homage to his feet.

[Doha 54] Satis, Sarasvatis and Laksmis she saw, innumerable and marvelous, each in a form to match the form of Brahma and the other gods. [Caupai 55] As many Raghupatis as she saw on this side and on that, so many were the forms of all the gods with their consorts. She beheld, too, all the creatures, moving and unmoved, the world contains, in their various kinds. The gods in many forms were worshipping the Lord; but nowhere did she see the form of Rama other than his own. Many a Raghupati and Sita she saw, but always their forms were the same – the same Raghubar, the same Laksman, the same Sita. Sati was terrified at the sight; with beating heart she lost all consciousness; she closed her eyes and sank down on the road. When she opened her eyes again and looked, Daksa's daughter saw nothing there; again and again she bowed her head before Rama's feet and went on to where the mountain lord awaited her.

[Doha 55] When she drew nigh to Mahesa, he smiled and asked her how she had fared. 'How did you put him to the test?' he said. 'Tell me truly all you did.'

[Caupai 56] Sati thought of the power of Raghubir and for very fear concealed the truth from Siva. 'Husband,' she said, 'I made no trial of him, but like yourself I greeted him with reverence. I was perfectly sure that what you said must be true.'

Then Samkara perceived the truth by contemplation and knew all that Sati had done; he bowed his head before Rama's illusive power by whose impulse Sati had been caused to utter falsehood. 'What Hari wills is destiny invincible,' thought all-wise Sambhu in his heart; 'Sati took the form of Sita,' Siva reflected in deep despondency; 'if now I treat Sati with a husband's love, the faith I follow will be lost and I shall be committing sin. [Doha 56] Sati is utterly pure and I cannot desert her; yet it were great sin to show my love.' Mahesa said nothing openly, but in his heart was grievous pain.; Tuesday, January 24, 2012 4:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: [Caupai 57] Then Samkara bowed his head before the feet of the Lord, and as soon as he thought on Rama, he made this resolve: 'I will not touch Sati in the body she now wears.' So Siva determined, and constant to his vow, Samkara went home with his thoughts on Raghubir; and as he went, a triumphant cry sounded from heaven: 'Victory to Mahesa! Firmly has thou upheld the faith! Who but thou, Rama's votary, the Blessed Lord, could make a vow like this?'

Sati was troubled when she heard the voice from heaven, and hesitantly asked Siva, 'Tell me, Lord of grace, home of truth and compassionate, what is this vow that you have made?' But though Sati questioned him again and again, Tripurari told her nothing.

[Doha 57a] Sati guessed that the omniscient knew all she had done. 'I have deceived Sambhu,' she thought, 'like a stupid, foolish woman! [Sloka 57b] Water mixed with milk is sold as milk, and, see, it is just the same with love. Let the acid of deceit fall into it and the two are separated and the taste is spoilt.'

[Caupai 58] As she dwelt on what she had done, her heart was torn with grief inexpressible and boundless anxiety. 'Siva,' she thought, 'is an ocean of grace, but an ocean no man can fathom, and that is why he has not spoken openly of my fault.' Bhavani read Samkara's thoughts in his face, and realizing that her Lord had abandoned her, was bitterly distressed. When she thought of her sin, she could say nothing, but her heart was a fiery furnace. When Siva perceived that Sati was sorrowful, he told her charming stories to comfort her; and thus recounting various legends on the way, Visvanath arrived at Kailasa. Then Sambhu, remembering his vow, sat beneath a banyan in the lotus-posture of meditation, and practicing complete self-control, Samkara fell into an endless, unbroken trance.

[Doha 58] Meanwhile, Sati dwelt in Kailasa and great was her grief; no one knew aught of her secret; every day seemed like an age in the passing. [Caupai 59] Ever in Sati's heart was the burden of a fresh sorrow: 'When shall I traverse this ocean of pain? I who slighted Raghupati and held my husband's word to be untrue! God has punished me as I deserve and all that he has done is fitting; but now, O God, think it not right to preserve my life when I am at variance with Samkara!' No tongue could tell her heart's despair, but wisely she thought on Rama and said, 'Lord, if thou art said to pity the humble, and the Vedas have proclaimed thy glory as one who relieves distress, then with folded hands I make my prayer that this body of mind be speedily put off. If I truly love the feet of Siva, and my wifely vow is true in thought and word and deed, then hear me, O all-seeing Lord, [Doha 59] and soon devise some means whereby I may die and so with ease be rid of this intolerable woe.'

[Caupai 60] So sorrowed Prajapati's daughter; heavy and grievous was her unspeakable anguish. Eighty-seven thousand years passed by and the immortal Sambhu awoke from his trance. When Siva began to repeat the name of Rama, Sati perceived that the Lord of the world was awake and went and did homage to Sambhu's feet. Samkara seated her before him and began to recite the romantic stories of Hari.; Tuesday, January 24, 2012 4:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Uttarā Kanda

The gods, Gandharvas, Siddhas and ṛṣis always listen with great pleasure to the Rāmayana in heaven. This legend is the bestower of longevity, the enhancer of fortune and the dispeller of sins. It is the equal of the Vedas. A man reading even a quarter of it is freed from all sins; indeed, even if one sins daily he is released from the reactions if he recites just one verse of the Rāmayana. A man gets the results of one thousand Ashvamedha sacrifices and ten thousand Vajpeya sacrifices merely by hearing this great work. He has visited all the holy shrines and bathed in all the sacred rivers. One who listens to the story of Śrī Rāma with full reverence roots out all sins and goes to the world of Viṣṇu. The Rāmayana is the unsurpassed form of Gayatri. By hearing it with devotion one will undoubtedly achieve liberation, along with many generations of ancestors. The exploits of Śrī Rāma are the bestower of all four of life’s objects—dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Hearing even one line of this work with full devotion guarantees one’s attainment of the world of Brahmā.; Wednesday, January 25, 2012 4:47:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

“Shabda, or sound, is spiritual. Originally, sound produced the creation; therefore sound is originally spiritual. And from sound, sky developed; from sky, air developed; from air, fire developed; from fire, water, and from water, land.”

“So what was the first sound, traditionally?”

“The Vedas say Om, God and His sound are nondifferent, absolute."

"God is not different from His energy. Shakti, energy, and shakti-makta, the energetic, are nondifferent. Just like fire and heat. Fire can be differentiated from heat, but they are integral.”

“Then is the sound Krishna and Krishna Himself not different in all circumstances?”

“Yes, but it’s a question of my appreciation, realization, and purity. If we vibrate the sound Krishna, we immediately contact Krishna. Because Krishna is pure spirit, I immediately become spiritualized. If you touch electricity, you immediately become electrified. So, by vibrating Krishna, you become Krishnized, and when you’re fully Krishnized you don’t return to this material existence. You remain with Krishna.”

“The impersonalists would say ‘merge.'”

“That’s less intelligent. Merging does not mean losing individuality. When a green bird enters a green tree, he appears to be merging, but the bird has not lost his individuality. As Krishna tells Arjuna, we are all individual persons in the past, in the present, and in the future. Individuality is our nature and is never lost. Therefore our proposition, bhakti-marga, is to keep individuality and agree. Our surrender means we agree with Krishna in everything, although we are individuals. If Krishna says that we have to die, then we die — out of love. So merging means merging in total agreement. That is the perfection of liberation: to retain our individuality and agree with God totally. We can come to this point immediately, or after many, many births.”

"The Vedas tell us that if we want to understand the science of God, we must go to guru.”

“We collaborate. Sadhu shastra guru vakya. We have to test everything from three physicians — the sadhu, or holyman, the scriptures, and the guru. These three should not contradict but collaborate.”

“The poet, the lover and the lunatic. The Krishna lover is also another kind of lunatic or poet, you see.”; Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:41:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Sound Association

BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS

Jan 25, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) —

we are not speaking to each other

in

sanskrit but that's alright
we have

sound

association in mind

as sanskrit is

the original stream

of
consciousness

language

they are singing and dancing

gracefully

the ones we have in

mind
who

has
no feelings of happiness for

them

i mean to say who

would not be

thrilled
at the prospect of meeting them in

sound

mind and body haribol haribol

haribol

they are associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu

the words of love spoken
in
any language broken

up

in time breaking

down the defenses of all

hardened
hearts

live
for the poetry in motion

of

sanskrit speaking enthusiasts rounding rounding
rounding

rounding

and

rounding is a form of estimation that is good

enough for one
haribol

haribol haribol what is good enough for

one
is round after

round of rounding off a few rounds

we are still not speaking to each
other

in

sanskrit
but that's alright we

have

sound association in
mind
and these things

take

time to break down into
words
of
interest
to our spoken for elucidators

yes

the

ones
who will throw
light upon what we are

and
how
we

are

trying

to say this for the first time; Thursday, January 26, 2012 3:55:00 PM
Anonymous said...: I posted this by error at the Origami site.

I very much like the short yet far reaching descriptions of various transcendental instances.

Allowing for a self realization check sometimes just feels so damn good even as I know how immense my shortcomings truly are.
------------------------------

Srila Prabhupada..

By regular hearing of the glories and pastimes of the Lord, the impurities in the student's heart begin to be washed off. The more one is cleansed of impurities, the more one becomes fixed in devotional service. Gradually the activities take the forms of steadiness, firm faith, taste, realization and assimilation, one after another. Realization and assimilation indicate that the sadhaka has sufficiently dissolved his material subtle body and has now had a glimpse of his spiritual form.

SB 3.2.5

It was so observed by Vidura that Uddhava had all the transcendental bodily changes due to total ecstasy, and he was trying to wipe away tears of separation from his eyes. Thus Vidura could understand that Uddhava had completely assimilated extensive love for the Lord.; Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:59:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada instructed the devotees to cry prayerfully for Krishna while chanting His name:

"So we are addressing, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna: ’O the energy of the Lord, O the Lord, please accept me.’ That’s all. ’Please accept me.’ We have no other prayer. ’Please accept me.’ Lord Caitanya taught that we should simply cry, and we shall simply pray for accepting us. That’s all. So this vibration is simply a cry for addressing the Supreme Lord, requesting Him, ’Please accept me. Please accept me.’”

Meeting Krishna is possible through the attitude of separation taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When the feeling of separation becomes very intense, one attains the stage of meeting Sri Krishna. (Cc. Adi 4.108, purport)

We know how difficult it is to instruct the mind to think something particular. It is just as difficult to instruct the emotions what to feel. When we are unable to feel separation from Krishna and we either think we are doing all right or we remain disturbed by our material problems – that is, we do not long for Krishna – we should know something’s wrong with us. Why don’t we hanker to attain Him?; Saturday, January 28, 2012 6:28:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his song Kabe ha’be bolo as he makes his appeal:

1. Please tell me, when, o when, will that day be mine when my offenses will come to an end and a taste for the pure holy name will be infused in my heart by the power of divine grace?
2. Feeling myself lower than a blade of grass, welcoming the quality of forbearance into my heart, giving honor to all living beings, and becoming free of false pride, when will I taste the essence of the liquid nectar of the holy name?
3. Wealth, followers, beautiful women as described in worldly poetry—I do not want these bodily pleasures. O Lord Gaurahari! Please give me unmotivated devotion to Your lotus feet birth after birth.
4. When, while articulating the divine name of Sri Krishna, will my body thrill with ecstatic rapture, my words choke with emotion, and my body lose color and tremble ecstatically? When will streams of tears flow constantly from my eyes?
5. When, in the land of Navadvipa, on the banks of the celestial Ganga, will I run about innocently calling out, “O Gaura! O Nityananda’? Dancing and singing, I will wander about like a madman, giving up all consideration of proper social behavior.
6. When will Lord Nityananda be merciful to me and release me from the illusion of worldliness? When will he give me the shade of his own lotus feet and bestow on me the qualification necessary to enter the marketplace of the holy name?
7. Somehow or other I shall buy or steal the mellows of the name of Lord Hari. Becoming thoroughly intoxicated by those liquid mellows I will become stunned. By touching the feet of those great souls who are expert in relishing those mellows I will be constantly immersed in the sweet nectar of the holy name.
8. When will there be an awakening in me of compassion for all fallen souls? Then this Bhaktivinoda will forget his own happiness, and with a meek heart he will set out to propagate by humble solicitation the sacred order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu."; Saturday, January 28, 2012 6:30:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

“Prahlada Maharaja continued: One may possess wealth, an aristocratic family, beauty, austerity, education, sensory expertise, luster, influence, physical strength, diligence, intelligence and mystic yogic power, but I think that even by all these qualifications one cannot satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, one can satisfy the Lord simply by devotional service. Gajendra did this, and thus the Lord was satisfied with him.”

So these are material assets. Nobody can captivate Krishna by all these material possessions. These are material possessions: money, then manpower, beauty, education, austerity, mystic power and so on, so on. There are so many things. They are not capable of approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna personally says, bhaktya mam abhijanati [Bg. 18.55].

If we have bhakti, love for Krishna, then we don’t require huge amount of money or strength or education or austerity. Nothing of the sort.

So everyone has got some duty. Krishna has created us, expecting something to be done by us for satisfaction of Krishna. That is bhakti. So that, our opportunity, is obtained in this human form of life. We should not waste our valuable time in any other occupation or business. Simply inquire and be ready how to serve Krishna.

That is called anukula, favorable. Anukulyena krsnanusilanam. And anusilanam means activity, not that “In trance I am in meditation.” That is also Something is better than nothing, but real devotional service is activity. One must be active.

Not that you have to learn something first and then you can serve. No. The service itself is learning. The more you try to render service, the more you become advanced how to become experienced servant. We don’t require any extra intelligence. Otherwise… The example is gaja-yutha-paya. The elephant, the king of the elephants, he satisfied. He’s an animal. He’s not a brahmana.

He’s not a Vedantist. Maybe very big, fatty animal, but after all, he’s animal. Hanuman was animal. There are many such things. Jatayu was a bird. So how they satisfied? The Jatayu fought with Ravana. Yesterday you saw. Ravana was kidnapping Sita devi, and Jatayu, the bird, he was going, flying. Ravana knew how to fly without machine. He was very, very materially powerful. So the Jatayu attacked him on the sky: “Who are you? You are taking away Sita. I shall fight you.” So Ravana was very powerful.

He was defeated, Jatayu, but he fought. That is his service. Never mind defeated. Similarly, we have to fight. Those who are opposing Krishna consciousness movement, we have to fight with them to our best capacity. Never mind if we are defeated. That is also service. Krishna sees the service. Defeated or victorious, depend on Krishna. But fighting must be there. Karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana. That is the meaning.

You have to work for Krishna sincerely, intelligently, and victory or defeat, it doesn’t matter. Just like Jatayu was defeated fighting with Ravana. His wings were cut off. Ravana was very strong. And Lord Ramacandra, He did his last funeral ceremonies because he was a devotee. This is the process, not that we have to learn something extra. Whatever capacity we have got, let us decide to render service to the Lord. It doesn’t require that you must be very rich or very beautiful, very bodily strong.

Nothing of the sort. Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje ahaituky apratihata [SB 1.2.6] In any condition, your devotional service should not be stopped. That should be the principle, that we are not going to stop, any circumstance. And Krishna is prepared even to accept a little flower, little water.; Monday, January 30, 2012 4:24:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Chapter 6, Verse 37

"Arjuna said: What is the destination of the man of faith who does not persevere, who in the beginning takes to the process of self-realization but who later desists due to worldly-mindedness and thus does not attain perfection in mysticism?

Chapter 6, Verse 38

O mighty-armed Krsna, does not such a man, being deviated from the path of Transcendence, perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?

Chapter 6, Verse 39

This is my doubt, O Krsna, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for Yourself, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt.

Chapter 6, Verse 40

The Blessed Lord said: Son of Prtha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.

Chapter 6, Verse 41

The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.

Chapter 6, Verse 42

Or he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom. Verily, such a birth is rare in this world.

Chapter 6, Verse 43

On taking such a birth, he again revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru.

Chapter 6, Verse 44

By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles--even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist, striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures.

Chapter 6, Verse 45

But when the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, after many, many births of practice, he attains the supreme goal."; Wednesday, February 01, 2012 5:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Varaha Dvadasi

February 4th is the auspicious Appearance Day of Lord Varaha, the Boar incarnation.

O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari,
who have assumed the form of a boar! All
glories to You! The earth, which had become
merged in the Garbhodaka Ocean at the
bottom of the universe, sits fixed upon the tip of Your tusk like a spot upon the moon.

Sri Dasavatara Stotra, 3rd Sloka

Varaha in the Vedic Literature Lord Varaha is glorified in virtually all of the major Puranas (the Vedic histories), which describe His different descents over the ages. In this kalpa (day of Brahma), Lord Varaha appeared twice. The first time He appeared from Brahma's nostril with a white (sveta) complexion, and He saved the Earth after the previous devastation. Hence, He is called Sveta-Varaha and this kalpa is named after Him -- the Sveta-Varaha-kalpa.

Later He appeared in a dark color from the ocean to save the Earth after she had been violated by the demon Hiranyaksha. During this incarnation, LordVaraha reinstated the Earth in her proper orbit and killed the demon. The Varaha of the popular dasavatara ("the ten incarnations") refers to this, Lord Varaha's second appearance.

In addition to the Puranas, references abound in the Vedic literature. The most elaborate glorification of the Varaha-avatara occurs in Srimad Bhagavatam, wherein Srila Vyasadeva specifically glorifies the Lord's transcendental activities during His numerous descents in this world. These narrations culminate in the description of God's original form as Sri Krishna.

"Although in His Varaha incarnation, many oceans could hardly even fill the Lord's hair follicles, Yashodamayi bathed that same lotus-eyed Lord Shri Krishna with just the water contained in her two joined palms." -- Krishna-karnamritam, 2.27

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish the Srimad Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice, was already relishable for all, including liberated souls."; Saturday, February 04, 2012 4:07:00 PM
Anonymous said...: New Radha Krishna Art by Vrindavana Dasa

http://vrindavan-das.artistwebsites.com/?tab=artwork; Saturday, February 04, 2012 4:24:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Shri Chaitanya Chandrodaya

The Rising of the Moon of Lord Shri Chaitanya (in 10 Acts) by Shrila Kavi Karnapura.

ACT TEN – MAHA-MAHOTSAVA
A Very Great Festival, Part One

1 (A foreigner enters)

Foreigner: I heard every year, at the time of the Rathayatra festival, Advaita Acarya and the devotees in Bengal go to see Shri Krishna Chaitanya. A close associate of the Lord, named Sivananda, who is expert at dealing with the toll-collectors like great thorn bushes growing on the highways, guide and protects the devotees in these travels. I am very eager to find him. I will search for him. (He takes a few steps). Ah! I see an honest-looking man ahead. Let me ask him. (he approaches).

2 (Enter Advaita's servant named Gandharva).

Gandharva: Lord Advaita sent me. He said; "Now is the auspicious time for us quickly to go to Purusottama-ksetra. Please speak this message to Sivananda: 'Please decide on a day for our departure. Write a note to tell us and we will all assemble for the journey.'" (he walks).

3 Foreigner: (approaching) Brother, where are you going?

4 Gandharva: Lord Advaita said to me: "Now is the auspicious time for us to go quickly to go to Purusottama-ksetra. Please speak this message to Sivananda: 'Please decide on a day for our departure. Write a note to tell us and we will all assemble for the journey.'"

5 Foreigner: (jubilant, he says to himself) Then what I heard is not a lie. I will ask him. (openly) Brother, will Sivananda give protection and guidance to an inexperienced traveller and lead him to Purusottama-ksetra.

6 Gandharva: Brother, Sivananda even protected a dog and led it to Purusottama-ksetra. Why should he not do the same for a human being.

7 Foreigner: Brother, what are you saying?

8 Gandharva: One year before Lord Chaitanya went to Mathura, as thousands of devotees were travelling to Purusottama-ksetra, a dog began faithfully to follow Sivananda. Seeing the dog faithfully following him, Sivananda began to look after it.

At mealtime he fed the dog, not with leftovers, but with food especially cooked for it. When the travellers had to take a ferry across a river, Sivananda paid the boatman extra to carry the dog. In this way the dog faithfully followed Sivananda every day. Then, one day, when the journey was already three-fourths over, Sivananda's servant forgot to give the dog its food. From that time on no one could find the dog anywhere. The grief-stricken Sivananda called out: "Alas! Today my dog was not fed!"

Sivananda went here and there calling out the dog's name, but could not find it anywhere.

All the way to Purusottama-ksetra Sivananda could not find the dog. In his heart he became filled with grief. Then, by the will of providence, he again saw the dog. The dog was at Purusottama-ksetra, on the beach near Lord Chaitanya.

When he saw the dog, Sivananda at once bowed down to become free from any offences he had committed to it. Lord Chaitanya was then throwing pieces of Jagannatha-prasadam coconut-pulp to the dog, and ordering it, "Say the word Krishna".

The dog was eating the pieces of coconut pulp one by one, and it was also chanting "Krishna, Krishna, Krishna". When Sivananda saw all this he again bowed down to the dog to become free from his offences of it.

After that incident no once could see the dog anywhere. I think the dog must have attained another body and entered the spiritual world.

9 Foreigner: Brother, today is an auspicious day for me, for today the news of Shri Krishna Chaitanya's pastimes has become a guest in my ear. Lord Chaitanya made even a dog chant the holy name of the Supreme Lord. If this is Lord Chaitanya's mercy to dogs, I wonder what kind of mercy He bestows to human beings? O brother, how do the bramble-bush like toll-collectors treat devotees when they travel on the roads?; Sunday, February 05, 2012 4:24:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Hrdayānanda dāsa Goswami: And are all the varieties of life we see on earth contained in the spiritual world?

Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. And, moreover, if in this inferior energy there are so many wonderful varieties of life, just think how wonderful are the superior varieties of life in the spiritual world. Even in this material universe, the inhabitants of some planets are far superior to those on other planets. For example, people on earth practice mystic yoga for achieving wonderful powers, but people on the planet called Siddhaloka have these great yogic powers naturally. On earth it is natural that a bird can fly; but we cannot, except with costly machines. However, on such planets as Siddhaloka, the residents can fly even from one planet to another without machines. They can go to other planets simply at will. Even on earth there are some yogīs who can take their bath early in the morning in four places at once—Jagannātha Purī, Rāmeśvara, Hardwar and Dvārakā. One yogī friend used to visit my father in Calcutta. The yogī told him that when he (the yogī) would simply sit down and touch his guru, he would travel from Calcutta to Dvārakā in two minutes. That is yogic power. So what are today’s airplanes? Durvāsā Muni traveled all over the universe and up to Vaikuntha (the spiritual world) within one year.

Srila Prabhupada. All matter is a combination of five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) and three subtle elements (mind, intelligence and false ego).

Karandhara. According to the Vedic science, material energy begins with the false ego and then develops into the intelligence, then the mind and then the gross elements—ether, air, fire and so on. So the same basic ingredients are present in all matter. Is this right?

Srila Prabhupada. Yes. The creation of the material universe is like the growth of a great banyan tree from a tiny seed. No one can see the tree within the seed, but all the necessary ingredients for the tree are there, including the required intelligence. Actually, everyone’s body is simply a sample universe. Your body and my body are different universes, small universes. Therefore, all eight material elements are present within our bodies, just as they are within the whole universe. Similarly, an insect’s body is another universe.; Tuesday, February 07, 2012 3:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Brahmana's wife said, 'Why did Word first arise and why did Mind arise afterwards, seeing that Word starts into existence after having been thought upon by Mind? Upon that authority can it be said that Mati (Prana) takes refuge in Mind. Why, again, in dreamless slumber, though separated from Mind, does not Prana apprehend (all objects)? What is that which restrains it then?'

The Brahmana said, 'The Apana breath, becoming the lord (i.e., bringing the Prana under its control), in consequence of such lordship over it, makes it identical with itself. That restrained motion of the Prana breath (which for the time becomes identical with that of the Apana) has been said to be the motion of the mind. Hence the mind is dependent upon Prana, not Prana upon the mind.

Therefore, in dreamless slumber, upon the disappearance of mind, Prana does not disappear. But since thou askest me a question about word and mind, I shall, therefore, relate to thee a discourse between them. Both Word and Mind, repairing to the Soul of matter, asked him,--Do thou say who amongst us is superior. Do thou, O puissant one, dispel our doubt.--On that occasion, the holy one made this answer.--The mind undoubtedly (is superior). Unto him Word said,--'I yield to thee the fruition of all thy desires!'

The Brahmana said, 'Know that I have two minds, immovable and movable. That which is immovable is, verily, with me; the movable is in your dominion. That mind is verily called movable which, in the form of Mantra, letter, or voice, is referable to your dominion. Hence, thou art superior (to the other mind which concerns itself with only the external world). But since, coming of thy own accord, O beautiful one, thou enterest into the engagement (about the fruition of all wishes), therefore, filling myself with breath, I utter thee. The goddess Word used always to dwell between Prana and Apana.

But, O blessed one, sinking into Apana, though urged upwards, in consequence of becoming dissociated from Prana, she ran to Prajapati and said,--Be gratified with me, O holy one.--The Prana appeared, once more fostering Word. Hence, Word, encountering deep exhalation, never utters anything. Word always flows as endued with utterance or unendued with it. Amongst those two, Word without utterance is superior to

Word with utterance. Like a cow endued with excellent milk, she (Word without utterance) yields diverse kinds of meaning. This one always yields the Eternal (viz., Emancipation), speaking of Brahman. O thou of beautiful smiles, Word is a cow, in consequence of her puissance which is both divine and not divine. Behold the distinction of these two subtle forms of Word that flow.'

The Brahmana's wife said, 'What did the goddess of Word then say, in days of old, when, though impelled by the Wish to speak, Speech could not come out?'"

The Brahmana said, 'The Word that is generated in the body by Prana, then attains to Apana from Prana. Then transformed into Udana and issuing out of the body, envelops all the quarters, with Vyana. After that, she dwells in Samana. Even in this way did Word formerly speak. Hence Mind, in consequence of being immovable, is distinguished, and the goddess Word, in consequence of being movable, is also distinguished."'

Thus ends section 21 of the Aswamedhika Parva, Aswamedha Parva of Sri Mahabharata.; Wednesday, February 08, 2012 3:27:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Prabhupada: The ignorance of law… Why? Why this human form of life? To know. Why you do not try to know it? Then you must be punished. Krishna said, asraddhadhanah purusa. “If you are neglectful to know,” dharmasyasya parantapa, “this dharma, this science, this duty, what I am giving…” Asraddadhanah: “Eh! Bhagavad-gita is…” Asraddadhanah. There is no sraddha. Rascals. “Then the result will be mam aprapya. He does not get Me.” Then what is next? Nivartante: “He goes back.”

Where? Mrtyu-samsara-vartmani: [Bg. 9.3] “Again in the cycle of birth and death, birth and death.” Again, after millions and millions of years, he’ll come, again get the chance of human body, another chance to know. So this is the chance to know. You cannot expect the dog will know, the cat will know. You have got human being. You must know.

The signboard, “Keep to the left,” is meant for the human being. If the dog goes from right to the left, he is not to be punished, because he has no knowledge. This is common sense. But you cannot neglect. You are human being. You cannot say, “I did not see the signboard.; Wednesday, February 08, 2012 3:34:00 PM
Anonymous said...: SB 5.16.25

Similarly, on Kumuda Mountain there is a great banyan tree, which is called Satavalsa because it has a hundred main branches. From those branches come many roots, from which many rivers are flowing. These rivers flow down from the top of the mountain to the northern side of Ilavrta-varsa for the benefit of those who live there. Because of these flowing rivers, all the people have ample supplies of milk, yogurt, honey, clarified butter [ghee], molasses, food grains, clothes, bedding, sitting places and ornaments. All the objects they desire are sufficiently supplied for their prosperity, and therefore they are very happy.

PURPORT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA

The prosperity of humanity does not depend on a demoniac civilization that has no culture and no knowledge but has only gigantic skyscrapers and huge automobiles always rushing down the highways.

The products of nature are sufficient. When there is a profuse supply of milk, yogurt, honey, food grains, ghee, molasses, dhotis, saris, bedding, sitting places and ornaments, the residents are actually opulent. When a profuse supply of water from the river inundates the land, all these things can be produced, and there will not be scarcity. This all depends, however, on the performance of sacrifice as described in the Vedic literature.

annad bhavanti bhutani
parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah

“All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.” These are the prescriptions given in Bhagavad-gita (3.14). If people follow these principles in full Krsna consciousness, human society will be prosperous, and they will be happy both in this life and in the next.; Thursday, February 09, 2012 3:15:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Sincerity

BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS

Feb 09, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) —

in the bodily
conception
of

life
that is subjected to material

calculation
one

finds

the determination of false ego

is
trading

in
love of God

for

lust at every opportunity yes

the

status quo is

actually

centred around love
for

the Radha and Krsna we know as divinely transcendental
but the little

independent
ones are liable to fall

in

with each other and create a nuisance on the
fringe

of
society

the international society

for
Krsna consciousness exists in one
way
still as before
not

as an artificial imposition to the mind

but as an everfresh elixir that is
the quintessence or absolute embodiment of transcendence such
as

one

witnesses
in the presence of Sri Pancha Tattva

while
it is true
the prospect of life in

the normal sense is tilting

towards
a disastrous likelihood the hope
we
hold out to others is
one

of
transformation

in the transcendental

sense

as an elixir

has
an

alchemic

quality capable of transmuting base metals into gold
so
our mission sees

success

in
trading
lust for love and the only love

holds
true

once
one has it
in mind to be nothing but a

servant

of maya all

hell
breaks
loose
but love of God remains as one
is

in truth related

to
the Lord and everything of

interest
to those who are in
love
yes all glories to Srila Prabhupada and all glories
all
glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga the
transcendental
fellowship is not
lost
take heart and be strong

yes in spirit

only

shall we be

continuously
successful but
we

are

not
in any case objects of maya nor
do we fall

under
the spell of false ego

for

the sake of self-aggrandizement

aggressive
idiots

are

manifestly characterized by
or

tending

toward

unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like

being
militantly forward or menacing to

the

relatively

innocent
they are making

fools

of
themselves
that's all fear

works

to
make

fools of us all if we are

late

in our thinking

think

fast and chant Hare Krsna at once

the

mind
is

full

of
grace if you do now

thinking
in

terms
of how you

do

now
there

is

nothing

else to do

to
convince

me

of your sincerity; Friday, February 10, 2012 4:37:00 PM
Anonymous said...: “Srila Prabhupada’s Divine Departure for Goloka Vrindavan”

BY: GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA (ACBSP)

Things were ecstatic in Hrisikesh, until that night when Srila Prabhupada first told us that he was going to leave his body. All of the sudden the great weather turned stormy with thunder and lightening. The power was going off all night long. At about 2:30am Upendra Prabhu came downstairs and told us that Srila Prabhupada had been sitting up all night, and had just said that he was going to leave the planet! He said Srila Prabhupada said: “Tomorrow we will go to Vrindavan; better to die in Vrindavan.”

Srila Prabhupada arrived at the temple at about 7am.

We brought a rocking chair out to the car to carry Srila Prabhupada. He asked to see the Deities first. We carried him into the temple before Sri Sri Gaura–Nitai.

Srila Prabhupada stood up offering his respectful obeisance’s to Their Lordships. Srila Prabhupada stood there gazing at Sri Sri Goura-Nitai for a few moments as tears gliding down his face.

The chair back was brought back and we carried Srila Prabhupada over to Sri Sri Krishna and Balarama. Again Srila Prabhupada stood up, even though it was difficult, with tears in his eyes as he gazed at Their Lordships with love and devotion for quite some time.

He turned to us and said that he wanted to see all of the devotees in his room.

So there is nothing new to be said. Whatever I have to speak, I have spoken in my books. Now you try to understand it and continue your endeavor.

Whether I am present or not present, it doesn’t matter. As Krsna is living eternally, similarly, the living being also lives eternally. But kirtiryasya sa jivah: ‘One who has done service for the Lord lives forever.’ So you have been taught to serve Krsna, and with Krsna we’ll live eternally. Our life is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire. A temporary disappearance of this body, it doesn’t matter. Body is meant for disappearance. Tatha dehantara-praptih. So live forever by serving Krsna. Thank you very much.”

"He reasons ill Who says
that Vaisnavas die
When thou art living
still in sound
The Vaisnava dies to live!
And living tries
To spread the Holy Name around."; Friday, February 10, 2012 4:56:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur..

(the incarnation of intellectual transcendental brilliance)

The glorious Appearance day of His Divine Grace, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur is observed on February 11th.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's life was one of complete spiritual excellence, and his many pastimes have been elaborated upon by various Gaudiya Vaisnavas, including Srila Prabhupada.

A few days before His Divine Grace passed from this world, December 23, 1936, he spoke the following words:

"The happy day has come when we are destined to spread the message of our Great Master to distant corners of the earth. The spiritual service to which we are dedicated has now passed the bud-stage and blown fully into a flower whose aroma we have to carry across the seas with that willingness which characterized Shri Hanuman when he leapt over the wide ocean with the message of Shri Rama. This extension of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's spiritual gift to the foreign countries is our humble offering at His Feet. I pray that the present attempt may be the fore-runner of many such missions in the future.; Saturday, February 11, 2012 4:34:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada: If people do not want to approach the Lord's devotees for spiritual enlightenment, what can be done? Just see this sparrow. Sex is always available to him. At any time sex is ready for him. The pigeons, so. Any time they want sex, sex is ready. Visayah khalu sarvatah syat: our only attachment for this material world is visaya, material sense gratification. The whole world over, people are fighting simply to gratify their bodily senses. "I must have nice eating, I must have nice sleeping, I must have very good sex, and I should be defended by a big bank balance, by military soldiers, by a powerful police force, by atomic weapons." This is going on all over the world. Take defense: the rascal does not understand, "In spite of all these defensive measures, at the end of this lifetime I will have to change bodies and go on suffering. The same sense gratification will be available again, in a different way -- and also the same suffering."

Modern rascals are getting no education to understand this special chance they have in human life. Therefore we must give this education. We must induce them to read these transcendental books in their schools and colleges. Otherwise, these rascals have no books to read about this transcendental realization. They have only Freud's sex philosophy and Darwin's monkey theory. All rascaldom, simply rascaldom. So let them read these transcendental books

So study. Can you see any real difference between this so-called human civilization and the ant civilization, the dog civilization? No difference. It is only a matter of outward configuration.

Unfortunately, today people are engaged simply for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. They have no time for Krishna consciousness, no time for spiritual consciousness. This condemned civilization must be stopped. It is a killing civilization -- a killing civilization. Human beings have the option of getting out of this material bondage -- chewing the chewed again and again -- but they are not being given the chance to exercise this special human option. Instead, they are being engaged more and more for the animal life of sense gratification. This killing civilization is sending human beings down into repeated births and deaths in the animal species. But by the process of Krishna consciousness - by renunciation and spiritual knowledge - many people have become purified and have gone back home, back to Godhead, the spiritual world.

All this information is available. But people are not educated. Therefore the Krishna consciousness movement is meant for educating them. That's all.; Saturday, February 11, 2012 10:02:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "Yes, the nine devotional process and how, by each process, one becomes perfect, just like Pariksit Maharaja, simply hearing, and Sukadeva Gosvami, simply chanting, reciting Bhagavatam. So both of them got salvation. Laksmi, she is simply pada-sevanam, giving massage to the lotus feet of the Lord. Arjuna simply made friendship with Krsna. Hanuman simply worked as a hard servant. He doesn't know what He is... "Lord Ramacandra wants it." Then it is done. Jump over. He does not know any philosophy. He has got bodily strength, so whatever Ramacandra says, he'll do. He was asked to bring that medicine for Laksmana. He did not know where to find it. "Take this whole mountain." (laughter) He was not intelligent. "Fight! We have to fight with Ravana. Then block his whole city by throwing stones and trees and dirt." Everything became blocked. They could not move. So in one side he is born of animal life, he had no higher intelligence, but his staunch desire, that "I shall serve Lord Ramacandra..." By that... Only this desire made him perfect."

Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, 01-13-77, Allahabad; Sunday, February 12, 2012 4:14:00 PM
Anonymous said...: So Krishna is so powerful that even in the ordinary ways it looks sinful, but if it is actually done for Krishna's sake... The same thing, Arjuna. He was thinking that "Killing of my family members, it is sinful." He argued with Krishna. Therefore this Bhagavad-gita is there. He was simply arguing that "I'll not fight. I'll not kill my grandfather, my teacher, my brother, my nephews, my brother-in-laws. No, no, I am not going to... It is sinful." But at the end he did it, because he understood, "Oh, it is for Krishna. All right. I shall take all the risk. That's all right." So for Krishna, the devotee takes all the risk of life, similarly, Krishna gives all the protection to the devotee. Don't be afraid.; Sunday, February 12, 2012 4:25:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Srila Prabhupada..

But when you’re actually on the platform of love of God, you understand your relationship with God: “I am part and parcel of God—and this dog is also part and parcel of God. And so is every other living entity.” Then you’ll extend your love to the animals also. If you actually love God, then your love for insects is also there, because you understand, “This insect has got a different kind of body, but he is also part and parcel of God — he is my brother.” Sama˙ sarvesu bhutesu: you look upon all living beings equally. Then you cannot maintain slaughterhouses. If you maintain slaughterhouses and disobey the order of Christ in the Bible — “Thou shall not kill” — and you proclaim yourself a Christian, your so-called religion is simply a waste of time . . . because you have no love for God.; Monday, February 13, 2012 9:09:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.18

karmaṇy akarma yaḥ paśyed
akarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu
sa yuktaḥ kṛtsna-karma-kṛt

TRANSLATION

One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.

PURPORT

A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is naturally free from the bonds of karma. His activities are all performed for Kṛṣṇa; therefore he does not enjoy or suffer any of the effects of work. Consequently he is intelligent in human society, even though he is engaged in all sorts of activities for Kṛṣṇa.

Akarma means without reaction to work.

The impersonalist ceases fruitive activities out of fear, so that the resultant action may not be a stumbling block on the path of self-realization, but the personalist knows rightly his position as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore he engages himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because everything is done for Kṛṣṇa, he enjoys only transcendental happiness in the discharge of this service. Those who are engaged in this process are known to be without desire for personal sense gratification. The sense of eternal servitorship to Kṛṣṇa makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements of work.; Monday, February 13, 2012 9:21:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Branches of Lord Chaitanya's Movement

BY: NARASIMHA DAS

Many of Lord Chaitanya's personal associates are capable of liberating fallen conditioned souls simply by glancing at them or touching them. Lord Nityananda was such a great personality that by His desire even the most wretchedly fallen souls were liberated immediately-- by His sweet will alone. In this connection Srila Prabhupada comments that it is by Lord Chaitanya's mercy that so many western people have been able to take up the mission of Krishna consciousness. Because Srila Prabhupada received the full blessings of Lord Nityananda and Lord Chaitanya, he was able to spread the sankirtana mission worldwide, in this most fallen age, within 11 years.

Those who are fortunate enough to appreciate Lord Chaitanya's nitya-siddha devotees don't need to wait around for the sankirtana movement to become institutionalized all over the world or in a particular locality. As Srila Prabhupada has repeatedly confirmed, devotees who are factually advancing in Krishna consciousness don't need a certificate from any institution to prove their advancement in spiritual life. Those who are not envious or duplicitous can be immediately promoted to Goloka Vrindaban simply by understanding the glorious position of the eternally liberated associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

"Simply by accepting that the associates of Lord Chaitanya are eternally free, one is immediately promoted to the transcendental abode of Lord Krishna." (Savarana-sri-gaura-mahima, Purport)

Another nitya-siddha branch of the "Chaitanya Tree" is Thakura Saranga dasa. He is the seventy-seventh branch of this divine tree. This great devotee was a babaji who used to worship the Supreme Lord at a secluded spot on the bank of the Ganges. He was not part of an organized mission but wanted to remain secluded from the general mass of people. Unlike some other leading devotees in Lord Chaitanya's mission, he was not focused on extensive preaching programs. He had decided to not accept any disciples. In spite of his idea to not accept disciples, the Supreme Lord within his heart was constantly inspiring him to do so. At last he relented, and thus one morning he decided, "Whomever I see today I will make my disciple."

The Thakura didn't jump on a tonga and head for the nearest town or village but went about his regular duties at his secluded location on the bank of the Ganges. He didn't see anyone that day, but when he went to take bath in the Ganges River, he saw a dead body floating by and happened to touch it with his feet. The dead body immediately came to life, and Thakura Saranga das accepted him as his disciple.

Srila Prabhupada comments, "The disciple later became famous as Thakura Murari, and his name is always associated with Sri Saranga. His disciplic succession still inhabits the village of Shar. There is a temple at Mamagachi that is said to have been started by Saranga Thakura. Not long ago a new temple was erected in front of the bakula tree there, and it is now managed by the members of the Gaudiya Matha. It is said the management of the temple is now far better than before. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (172) it is stated that Saranga Thakura was formerly a gopi named Nandimukhi." (Cc. Madhya 10.113, Purport); Tuesday, February 14, 2012 5:18:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The Personality of Kali
offered riddles to be solved
and Yudhisthira Maharaja,
the Personification of Dharma
replies:

Kali: A scare crow was
standing in a field, but instead
of protecting the crops, he
began to eat them. What does
it mean?

Yudhisthira Maharaj: In the
age of Kali, those who are
meant to protect the citizens
will exploit them.

Kali: A bucket of water was
able to fill four other pots but
when the water from the four
pots was poured back into the
bucket, it merely rendered it
half-full. What does it mean?

Yudhisthira Maharaj: In
Kali-yuga, one father will be
able to maintain four sons, but
four sons will not be able to
maintain one father.

Kali: From the eye of a
needle, the whole elephant
was able to pass but only his
tail got stuck. What does it
mean?

Yudhisthira Maharaj: In the age of Kali all big criminals
will escape freely but small
criminals will be caught and
punished.; Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:09:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Holy Lake of the Acts of Lord Rama, Part 14

[Chanda 3] Fled wisdom with her allies, and on the field of battle her warriors turned to flee, then went and hid themselves in the sacred books, as in mountain-caves. In all the world arose a turmoil: 'What is going to happen, O Creator? Who will protect us? Who is it has two heads whom Rati's lord is threatening in wrath, with bow and arrows in hand?'

[Doha 84] All creatures in the world, moving and unmoved, called male or female, overstepped the limits of their nature and fell subject to Love. [Caupai 85] In the hearts of all was a yearning for Love; the boughs of the trees saw the creepers and bent down towards them; the rivers swelled and ran to meet the sea; ponds and lakes met in union. When such was the state of inanimate creation, who can describe the acts of conscious beings? Beasts on the land and birds in the air and fish in the water paid no heed to time and season but gave themselves up to love. All were blind and restless with passion; the cakava and his mate regarded neither night nor day. Of gods and demons, men, Kinnaras and serpents, sprites and goblins and ghosts and vampires I make no special mention, for these are ever slaves to love; but even adepts and anchorites, great sages and ascetics, under Love's influence forgot their austere vows.

[Chanda 4] When great ascetics and hermits were subdued by Love, why speak of baser men? The wise, who used to see the whole created world as Brahma, now saw it as Woman. Woman saw the world as Man, and men as Woman. So for an hour this sportive mystery, fashioned by Kama, prevailed within the universe. [Sundarakanda or Sorath 85] All lost their self-control, for Love had stolen their hearts; at that time only those escaped whom Raghubir protected.; Friday, February 17, 2012 6:01:00 PM
Anonymous said...: [Caupai 86] This strange experience lasted for an hour until Kama approached Sambhu. At the sight of Siva Love was afraid, and the whole world regained its former state. At once all creatures were at peace, like drunkards when they cease from their drunkenness. When Kama looked on Rudra, the invincible and inaccessible, [ ] he was frightened; he was ashamed to retreat, yet could do nothing. He made up his mind to die, and devised a plan; forthwith charming spring, king of seasons, was revealed, and fresh young trees in rows sprang into lovely blossom. Forest and grove, pond and lake, in every quarter took on a wondrous beauty, as though passion were everywhere outpoured; and at the sight Love woke to life, even in dead souls.

[Chanda 5] Even in dead souls Love woke to life; no tongue can tell the beauty of the woods. Cool, mild and fragrant winds that fan Love's flame began to blow; many a lotus opened on the lakes, where swarms of bees hummed sweetly; swans, cuckoos and parrots made melodious song and Apsaras sang and danced.

[Doha 86] But though Love practiced all his arts in a myriad ways, he and his army were defeated. Siva's trance was undisturbed, and Love waxed wroth. [Caupai 87] Spying the strong branch of a mango tree, Kama climbed up on it in a rage. He fitted his arrows to his bow of flowers, and angrily taking aim drew the bowstring to his ear. He shot his five arrows and they lodged in Siva's breast; his trance was broken then and he awoke. The Lord's soul was much disturbed; he opened his eyes and looked in all directions. When he saw Kama hidden among the mango leaves, he grew so angry that the three spheres trembled. Then Siva opened his third eye and as soon as it looked on Kama, he was burnt to ashes.

A grievous cry of lamentation went up throughout the world; the gods were afraid but the demons were glad. The sensual were sad when they thought on the delights of love, but aspirant ascetics were relieved.

[Chanda 6] Ascetics were relieved, but Rati fell fainting when she heard of her husband's fate. Weeping and wailing with many a piteous lament, she went to Samkara. She stood before him with folded hands and earnestly besought him to relent. Siva, the gracious Lord, whose wrath is soon appeased, looked on the helpless woman and spoke a word of comfort:

[Doha 87] 'Henceforth, Rati, your husband shall be called the Bodiless; and bodiless he shall pervade all beings. Now hear how you shall meet him again. [Caupai 88] When Krsna shall take birth in the family of Yadu to relieve earth of her heavy burden, your husband shall be born as Krsna's son; my words shall not prove false.' When Rati heard Samkara's words, she departed.; Friday, February 17, 2012 6:02:00 PM
Anonymous said...: And now I tell you what happened next. When the gods heard all these tidings, they went together to Vaikuntha, and with Visnu and Brahma drew near to Siva, the gracious Lord. Each severally praised him, and he who bears the moon upon his brow was pleased. Said the ocean of grace, on whose banner is blazoned the bull, 'Tell me, immortals, why you have come.'

'Lord', said Brahma, 'you know the thoughts of every heart, yet, master, devotion impels me to make my prayer. [Doha 88] In the hearts of all the gods, O Samkara, is this one earnest desire; Lord, we long to see with our own eyes your marriage rites performed. [Caupai 89] O subduer of Love's pride, so act that we may feast our eyes on this glad ceremony! O ocean of grace, it was a kindly deed to grant a boon to Rati after burning up Kama. Lord, it is the nature of the great to show mercy after punishment. Parvati has performed an endless penance; now take her to yourself.'

When he heard Brahma's petition and remembered the words of the Lord, Siva was content and said, 'So let it be!' Then the gods beat their drums and rained down flowers and cried, 'Glory, glory to the Lord of heaven!' Then judging it to be the proper time, the Seven Seers came and Brahma at once sent them to the palace of the Mountain King; and first they approached Bhavani and spoke to her soft words, full of guile: [Doha 89] 'Last time you would not heed our words but only Narada's advice; now your vow has proved vain, for Mahesa has burnt up Kama!'

[Caupai 90] When she heard this, Bhavani smiled and said, 'True indeed, wise sages! You image that Sambhu has only now burnt up Kama and until this day has been a prey to desire. But I believe that Siva has always been an ascetic, unborn, irreproachable, free from lust and sensual desire; and if in this belief I have offered Siva my loving service, in thought and word and deed, then hearken, high sages! The gracious Lord will bring my vow to true fruition. When you said that Hara had burnt up Kama, you were displaying profound ignorance. Fire, my good sirs, is of such a nature that snow can never approach it; if it comes near it, it is sure to be destroyed; and so it is with Kama and Mahesh.'

[Doha 90] Right glad were the sages when they heard her words and marked her love and trust. They bowed the head to Bhavani and went to Himalaya.; Saturday, February 18, 2012 4:29:00 AM
Anonymous said...: [Caupai 91] They told the king of the mountains the whole story. He was very sad when he heard that Kama had been burnt, but when they told him of the boon granted to Rati, Himalaya took comfort. Thinking on Sambhu's sovereign power, he summoned the great sages with reverence, and asking them to choose an auspicious day and planet and hour, soon fixed a date for the wedding according to Vedic rule. He then gave the horoscope to the Seven Seers and clasping their feet besought them to be gracious. They went and gave the horoscope to Brahma, and when he read it he could not contain himself for loving joy. Brahma read out the appointed date to all, and all the sages and assembled gods rejoiced. Flowers rained down from heaven and music sounded, and in every quarter festive vessels were prepared. [Doha 91] All the gods made ready their various steeds and chariots; fair and auspicious omens were seen and Apsaras sang their songs.

[Caupai 92] Sambhu's attendants dressed him for the wedding; on his knot of matted hair they set a marriage-crown of snakes. Serpents were the earrings and bracelets he wore, with ash-smeared body and lion-skin for dress. The moon was on his noble forehead and Ganga on his head; three eyes he had, his sacred thread a snake. Poison was on his throat and on his breast a necklace of human heads; a gracious home of blessing in unblest guise! And there were the trident and the tabor glorious in his hand; he rode upon a bull to the sound of music.

When they saw Siva, the gods' wives smiled. 'Nowhere in the world,' they said, 'is a bride to match this groom!' Visnu and Brahma and all the other gods mounted their several vehicles and joined the marriage procession. Naught could equal the splendor of the company of gods, yet the procession was not worthy of the bridegroom!

[Doha 92] Then Visnu summoned all the guardians of the quarters and said with a smile, 'Do you all march separately, each with his own train. [Caupai 93] Friends, this procession is not worthy of the bridegroom! Will you expose yourselves to ridicule when you enter a strange city?'

The gods smiled at Visnu's words and marched on separately, each with his own troops. Mahesa smiled to himself and thought, 'Hari must ever be indulging in sarcasm!' When he heard his dear Lord's loving words, he sent Bhringi and summoned all his hosts. At Siva's command they all came and bowed their heads before their lord's lotus feet. Siva laughed when he saw his retinue riding all kinds of steeds and appearing in all kinds of forms. Some had no mouths and some had many; some had no feet or hands and some had many; some had a number of eyes and some had none; some were stout and sturdy and some thin and weak.

[Chanda 7] Some were thin and some were stout, some looked pure and some impure; frightful ornaments they wore and carried skulls in their hands, and all were smeared with fresh blood. Their faces were the faces of donkeys and dogs and pigs and jackals; who could count the countless forms of hosts assumed? All kinds of spirits there were and goblins and witches in troops, indescribable!

[Sloka 93] All the ghosts were dancing and singing songs in high glee, very repulsive to look at and uttering all sorts of outlandish cries.; Saturday, February 18, 2012 4:33:00 AM

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