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
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Hare Krishna
Patrick Willis narrates:
Beamed from the Saucer Pod By Visible at 20:21
1106 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 801 – 1000 of 1106 Newer› Newest»Shiv Ratri - Monday Feb. 20
On the eve of Shiv Ratri, a Vaishnava’s perspective of Lord Shiva.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.30
atha bhāgavatā yūyaḿ
priyāḥ stha bhagavān yathā
na mad bhāgavatānāḿ ca
preyān anyo 'sti karhicit
TRANSLATION
You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am.
PURPORT
It is said, vaiṣṇavānāḿ yathā śambhuḥ: Lord Śiva is the best of all devotees. Therefore all devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa are also devotees of Lord Śiva. In Vṛndāvana there is Lord Śiva's temple called Gopīśvara. The gopīs used to worship not only Lord Śiva but Kātyāyanī, or Durgā, as well, but their aim was to attain the favor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa does not disrespect Lord Śiva, but worships Lord Śiva as the most exalted devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Consequently whenever a devotee worships Lord Śiva, he prays to Lord Śiva to achieve the favor of Kṛṣṇa, and he does not request material profit.
Because Lord Śiva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Śiva told the Pracetās that because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them very much. Lord Śiva was not kind and merciful only to the Pracetās; anyone who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear to Lord Śiva. Not only are the devotees dear to Lord Śiva, but he respects them as much as he respects the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, devotees of the Supreme Lord also worship Lord Śiva as the most dear devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. A devotee should be offered respect on the level of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and sometimes even more respect. Indeed, Lord Rāma, the Personality of Godhead Himself, sometimes worshiped Lord Śiva. If a devotee is worshiped by the Lord, why should a devotee not be worshiped by other devotees on the same level with the Lord?
Srila Prabhupada in the purport to SB 3.15.33 writes:
"Just as there are different departments in each state in this material world—the civil department and the criminal department—so, in God's creation, there are two departments of existence. All living entities who are residents of the material universes are considered to be more or less criminals because they do not wish to abide by the order of the Lord or they are against the harmonious activities of God's will. The principle of creation is that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is by nature joyful, and He becomes many in order to enhance His transcendental joy. The living entities like ourselves, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, are meant to satisfy the senses of the Lord. Thus, whenever there is a discrepancy in that harmony, immediately the living entity is entrapped by maya, or illusion."
Guru-krpa: . . . They say that in the spiritual everything is peaceful, there is no birth and death, there is no material conditions, so why if the conditions in the spiritual world are so nice and everything spiritual, how is it that one can become envious of Krsna in such conditions?
Acyutananda: The original sin.
Guru-krpa: How is it that, if everything is free from envy, free from bad material elements . . .
Prabhupada: That is independence. In spite of all these things, because you have got little independence, you can violate.
Sudama: It is very hard to understand.
Prabhupada: No, it is not difficult. It is not difficult. Because you are part and parcel of God, God has got full independence, but you have got little independence, proportionately, because you are part and parcel.
Acyutananda: But in the Gita, it says, "Once coming there, he never returns."
Prabhupada: But if he likes, he can return. That independence has to be accepted, little independence. We can misuse that. Krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha kare. That misuse is the cause of our falldown.
Acyutananda: In Krsna book it says that there were some color fighting in Dvaraka. They were throwing color. And some men became lusty seeing the women. Will that be the first part of their falldown, to be in Vaikuntha and think of personal lust with Krsna's associates?
Prabhupada: Yes.
ANANDA SVARUPA DAS..
Of all Srila Prabhupada's instructions, I think the most important one, the one closest to his heart, is the one to set up rural communities and live on the land, keep some cows for milk and fertilizer, bulls for hard work, grow our own organic crops, produce our own karma-free necessities and offer it all to Krsna in a spirit of devotion. The rewards are a no-brainer: health, both material and spiritual, self-esteem from achieving independence from the corporate greedbags, and an opportunity to create an inclusive spiritual community wherein no one's talents, big or small, will go unrewarded.
All of this in perfect consonance with the way Krsna designed the planet to be lived on — a way meant to teach us dependence on His mercy and not on the wheels of industry. And crucially, as it is a prerequisite to success, to teach us humility as in, "Humility means that you're convinced beyond any doubt that there is nothing in this world that will save you. No money, fame, friends, gun, education, or anything else will save you except the mercy of Krsna. When you're convinced like this, then you're humble."
Sri Isopanisad: “Phenomenal World is also complete in Itself”
Isopanisad Invocation: 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 BY SRILA PRABHUPADA
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.
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.
In the Bhagwat Puranam it is said that persons who are captivated by the temporary beauties of the external energy, forget his real aim of life which is going back to Godhead. And forgetting this he tries to adjust things by plans and programmes which is compared with the process of chewing the chewed refuge. But the Lord is so kind that He allows the forgetful living being to do so without interfering into the activities of the living being and thus the very appropriate word ‘just in pursuance of‘ is mentioned here. If a living being wants to go to the hell, the Lord allows him to do so without interruption and if he wants to go back to home and Back to Godhead, the Lord also helps him to do so.
He is described here as the Paribhu or the greatest of all. Nobody is greater than or equal to Him. Other living being are described herein as the beggars who ask from the Lord and the Lord supply such desirables. If other living entities would have been equal to the potency of the Lord or if they would have also been omnipotent or omniscient like the Lord there was no question of begging from the Lord even for the so-called liberation. Real liberation of the living beings is to go back to Godhead. Otherwise the liberation conceived by the impersonalist remains a myth and the begging business for sense gratification has to continue eternally unless the beggar comes to his senses in the matter of his constitutional position.
The Lord is complete and independent to do anything and everything by His various potencies. This is explained in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam by the words abhijnah svarat. The word sva-rat indicates that He is self-sufficient, not dependent on anyone. That is the qualification of God. Nowadays there are so many self-proclaimed incarnations of God, but as soon as they have some toothache they immediately say, “Ooooooh, doctor, help me. Save me.” If you are God, save yourself. Why go to a doctor? Such people are rascals, and they make it very difficult to spread Krsna consciousness. The whole world is now overburdened by such rascals and demons, and therefore the atom bomb is waiting for them by the will of the Supreme.
Tuesday, February 13, 1968
Los Angeles, Calif.
San Francisco
My Dear Upendra,
Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to hear that you are released now; this I expected when you came to see me. I entrusted the matter to Krishna to give you release.
Anyway, Krishna has been so much merciful upon you that He has taken you out of the state laws. So in every kind of miseries we have to depend on Krishna and we should not be too much disturbed when such miseries come upon us. You have shown very great example in sticking yourself to chanting Hare Krishna while you were in tribulation. Follow this practice all along your life, and surely Krishna will accept you into the Kingdom of God, Back to Godhead.
Hope you are well.
Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.1
TRANSLATION
Śrī Maitreya said: O learned Vidura, so far I have explained to you the glories of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His feature of kāla. Now you can hear from me about the creation of Brahmā, the reservoir of all Vedic knowledge.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.2
TRANSLATION
Brahmā first created the nescient engagements like self-deception, the sense of death, anger after frustration, the sense of false ownership, and the illusory bodily conception, or forgetfulness of one's real identity.
PURPORT
Before the factual creation of the living entities in different varieties of species, the conditions under which a living being in the material world has to live were created by Brahmā. Unless a living entity forgets his real identity, it is impossible for him to live in the material conditions of life. Therefore the first condition of material existence is forgetfulness of one's real identity. And by forgetting one's real identity, one is sure to be afraid of death, although a pure living soul is deathless and birthless. This false identification with material nature is the cause of false ownership of things which are offered by the arrangement of superior control. All material resources are offered to the living entity for his peaceful living and for the discharge of the duties of self-realization in conditioned life. But due to false identification, the conditioned soul becomes entrapped by the sense of false ownership of the property of the Supreme Lord. It is evident from this verse that Brahmā himself is a creation of the Supreme Lord, and the five kinds of nescience which condition the living entities in material existence are creations of Brahmā. It is simply ludicrous to think the living entity to be equal with the Supreme Being when one can understand that the conditioned souls are under the influence of Brahmā's magic wand. Patañjali also accepts that there are five kinds of nescience, as mentioned herein.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.3
TRANSLATION
Seeing such a misleading creation as a sinful task, Brahmā did not feel much pleasure in his activity, and therefore he purified himself by meditation on the Personality of Godhead. Then he began another term of creation.
PURPORT
Although he created the different influences of nescience, Lord Brahmā was not satisfied in performing such a thankless task, but he had to do it because most of the conditioned souls wanted it to be so. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) that He is present in everyone's heart and is helping everyone to either remember of forget. The question may be raised why the Lord, who is all-merciful, helps one to remember and another to forget. Actually, His mercy is not exhibited in partiality towards one and enmity towards another. The living entity, as part and parcel of the Lord, is partially independent because he partially possesses all the qualities of the Lord. Anyone who has some independence may sometimes misuse it due to ignorance. When the living entity prefers to misuse his independence and glide down towards nescience, the all-merciful Lord first of all tries to protect him from the trap, but when the living entity persists in gliding down to hell, the Lord helps him to forget his real position. The Lord helps the falling living entity glide down to the lowest point, just to give him the chance to see if he is happy by misusing his independence.
In the first canto part 3, a fascinating description of weather anomalies and how the earth reacts to the departure of lord Krishna. "Just see how the smoke encircles the sky. It appears that the earth and mountains are throbbing. Just hear the cloudless thunder and see the bolts from the blue. The wind blows violently, blasting dust every where and creating darkness. Clouds are raining everywhere with bloody disasters rivers, tributaries, ponds, reservoirs and the mind are all perturbed. .. what is this extraordinary time? What is going to happen."
The "disappearance of lord Krishna" chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam tells us how mother Bhumi reacts in separation from the supreme lord, how she goes through heavy changes, when the lord leaves. When Krishna left, at that moment the personality of Kali appeared. Inauspicious portents or signs will follow the departure of great personalities, or the departure of religious principles. There are tangible reactions to the decline of religious principles.
So, inauspicious events can happen in the departure of the principles of religion, of which truthfulness is the last leg of the cow still standing in this Kali yuga. Truthfulness is a highly valued virtue in Kali, since it is the last leg standing.
In the 8th canto, it states that "mother earth can tolerate all kinds of burdens, except the burden of a liar." From this we can understand the high priority of truthfulness. It is even vital to our physical well being and continuance.
Srila Prabhupada has said that Iskcon will "save this planet in its darkest hour,"
will show the world the true meaning of religious principles, which culminates in love of God.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.23.3
By the cooperation of material nature, which is considered to be prakṛti, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is considered the puruṣa, all the affairs of the universe are going on nicely in their proper order. prakṛti, material nature, is also described in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.44) as follows:
sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi
"The external potency, māyā, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit [spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself." Material nature, the external energy of the Supreme Lord, is also known as Durgā, or the female energy that protects the great fort of this universe. The word Durgā also means fort. This universe is just like a great fort in which all the conditioned souls are kept, and they cannot leave it unless they are liberated by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself declares in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam
evaḿ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaḿ punar janma
naiti mām 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." Thus simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can be liberated, or, in other words, one can be released from the great fort of this universe and go outside it to the spiritual world.
It is also significant that the predominating deities of even the greatest planets have been offered their exalted posts because of the very valuable pious activities they performed in previous births. This is indicated herein by the words karma-nirmita-gatayaḥ. For example, as we have previously discussed, the moon is called jīva, which means that he is a living entity like us, but because of his pious activities he has been appointed to his post as the moon-god. Similarly, all the demigods are living entities who have been appointed to their various posts as the masters of the moon, the earth, Venus and so on because of their great service and pious acts. Only the predominating deity of the sun, Sūrya Nārāyaṇa, is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mahārāja Dhruva, the predominating deity of Dhruvaloka (Pole Star), is also a living entity. Thus there are two kinds of entities — the supreme entity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the ordinary living entity, the jīva (nityo nityānāḿ cetanaś cetanānām). All the demigods are engaged in the service of the Lord, and only by such an arrangement are the affairs of the universe going on.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.15
TRANSLATION
I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.
PURPORT
The Supreme Lord is situated as Paramātmā in everyone's heart, and it is from Him that all activities are initiated. The living entity forgets everything of his past life, but he has to act according to the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is witness to all his work. Therefore he begins his work according to his past deeds. Required knowledge is supplied to him, and remembrance is given to him, and he forgets, also, about his past life. Thus, the Lord is not only all-pervading; He is also localized in every individual heart. He awards the different fruitive results. He is worshipable not only as the impersonal Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the localized Paramātmā, but as the form of the incarnation of the Vedas as well. The Vedas give the right direction to people so that they can properly mold their lives and come back to Godhead, back to home. The Vedas offer knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva is the compiler of the Vedānta-sūtra. The commentation on the Vedānta-sūtra by Vyāsadeva in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the real understanding of Vedānta-sūtra. The Supreme Lord is so full that for the deliverance of the conditioned soul He is the supplier and digester of foodstuff, the witness of his activity, and the giver of knowledge in the form of Vedas and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the teacher of the Bhagavad-gītā. He is worshipable by the conditioned soul. Thus God is all-good; God is all-merciful.
Antaḥ-praviṣṭaḥ śāstā janānām. The living entity forgets as soon as he quits his present body, but he begins his work again, initiated by the Supreme Lord. Although he forgets, the Lord gives him the intelligence to renew his work where he ended his last life. So not only does a living entity enjoy or suffer in this world according to the dictation from the Supreme Lord situated locally in the heart, but he receives the opportunity to understand the Vedas from Him. If one is serious about understanding the Vedic knowledge, then Kṛṣṇa gives the required intelligence. Why does He present the Vedic knowledge for understanding? Because a living entity individually needs to understand Kṛṣṇa.
Vedic literature confirms this: yo 'sau sarvair vedair gīyate. In all Vedic literature, beginning from the four Vedas, Vedānta-sūtra and the Upaniṣads and Purāṇas, the glories of the Supreme Lord are celebrated. By performance of Vedic rituals, discussion of the Vedic philosophy and worship of the Lord in devotional service, He is attained. Therefore the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Kṛṣṇa. The Vedas give us direction by which to understand Kṛṣṇa and the process of realizing Him. The ultimate goal is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vedānta-sūtra (1.1.4) confirms this in the following words: tat tu samanvayāt. One can attain perfection in three stages. By understanding Vedic literature one can understand his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by performing the different processes one can approach Him, and at the end one can attain the supreme goal, who is no other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this verse the purpose of the Vedas, the understanding of the Vedas, and the goal of the Vedas are clearly defined.
Srila Prabhupada
Māyāpur, February 27, 1977
Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorized. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rā… As soon as the paramparā is lost, sa kālena yoga naṣṭo parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective.
So these are the science. So Prahlāda Mahārāja is our guru. He’s not ordinary. Don’t think that “He’s a five-years-old boy. He has no knowledge.” No. He is perfect nitya-siddha guru, and we should always pray for his mercy. And that is Vaiṣṇavata.
So we should always pray, vaiṣṇava ṭhākura, tomāra kukkura boliya jānaha more. This is There is a song of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura: “My dear Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura, kindly accept me as your dog.” Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura. As the dog, by the indication of the master, does everything very obedient, we have to learn this lesson from the dog, how to become faithful to the master. That is the instruction. In everything you can learn something. Everyone Therefore mahā-bhāgavata, they accept everyone as guru, to learn something. Actually, from the dog we can learn this art, how to become faithful at the risk of life even. There are many instances, dog have given the life for the master. So, and we should be dog to the Vaiṣṇava. Chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā, nistāra pāyeche kebā.
Don’t think that Prahlāda Mahārāja is ordinary boy. We should learn from Prahlāda Mahārāja how to advance in devotional service.
Srila Prabhupada..
Regarding your questions concerning the spirit souls falling into Maya's influence, it is not that those who have developed a passive relationship with Krsna are more likely to fall into nescient activities. Usually anyone who has developed his relationship with Krsna does not fall down in any circumstance, but because the independence is always there, the soul may fall down from any position or any relationship by misusing his independence. But his relationship with Krsna is never lost, simply it is forgotten by the influence of Maya, so it may be regained or revived by the process of hearing the Holy Name of Krsna and then the devotee engages himself in the service of the Lord which is his original or constitutional position. The relationship of the living entity with Krsna is eternal as both Krsna and the living entity are eternal; the process is one of revival only, nothing new.
"Presently people are so fallen, they cannot distinguish between a liberated soul and a conditioned soul." (SB.4.18.5, Purport) “When the waves of maya attack, your little sentiment for Krishna may not save you. All my disciples must be thoroughly trained in the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.” (Letter to Visnujana Swami, 1972) “What is the use of so many disciples if none of them are knowledgeable?” (Letter to Satsvarurpa, 1972)
The majority of people in this Kali Yuga world have no interest in self-realization or Krishna consciousness. Their interest is enjoying their senses, working hard, or simply surviving and making ends meet. Among those who are interested in progressive life, most want to use Vedic rituals or devotional service or the chanting of the holy names for material elevation. They are the bhukti-kamis. They want to stay in this material world to compete for sense gratification by exploiting religious practices or by unauthorized means.
More rare than the bhukti-kamis are the siddhi-kamis. They understand that opportunities for sense enjoyment on Earth are extremely limited and plagued with problems. To rise above some of these problems and elevate themselves to a higher standard of enjoyment in the heavenly planets or the planets of great rishis, they take up devotional practices such as Deity worship and chanting spiritual mantras. Mystic perfections are meant to help devotees fix their minds on the form of the Lord and some activity of devotional service. But the siddhi-kamis want to enjoy life by exploiting material resources in the ultimate way. Sometimes they cheat their followers with displays of mystic power and claim to be an incarnation of God or one Krishna’s personal associates or expansions.
There is an interesting documentary on Lord Jesus Christ wherein he is laughing at his disciples for addressing him as the Supreme Lord above all. He told them that they shouldn’t consider the god of this material world to be equal to the Supreme Lord of the Universe. Although it may not mean much to the historians who helped create this documentary, Jesus Christ was taking the role of a mortal, namely Lord Brahma, and he was rejecting the idea of being worshiped as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
Srila Prabhupada points out the Lord Brahma who is chief of the Brahma-madhva Sampradaya is a pure devotee and an empowered incarnation of Krishna’s creative energy. Over and above his position as creator of this universe, Lord Brahma is a Vaisnava acharya. Similarly, Lord Jesus Christ is a shakty-avesha avatar of Krishna, as was confirmed by Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.
Among many pure devotees, spanning many centuries, there sometimes appears a pure devotees from the spiritual world who are considered messiahs, or saviors of all mankind. When such a savior appears there may be attempts on His life and attempts to ignore or minimize His instructions. He is opposed by many others, even those of His own religious background. This opposition comes in the form ignorance, apathy, and malicious envy. Similarly, His loyal followers who preach on His behalf are often persecuted, slandered, arrested, minimized, ignored, beaten, cheated or even killed—not only by atheists but even by those claiming some spiritual or religious standing.
"A devotee's ultimate achievement is to take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in any one of the planets in the spiritual sky. As a result of execution of devotional service, a devotee receives all material opulence, if these are required; otherwise, the devotee is not interested in material opulence, nor does the Supreme Lord award them." (SB.6.16.29, Purport)
Stop
BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS
Mar 02, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) —
it is wild
really
it
is
wild to dwell
on
what
starts
with
you
and the same
wild
wild
kind
of thing to say it
ends
with
us
being the servants
of
the servants of
it
in and around where there
is
no
place
for a gentleman i am
wild
about letting it
go
actually
i
am not the
kind
of
guy
interested in getting
away
with
it
it hurts after
all
what
a
pain wild yes
wild
it
is
wild really what a little
independence
does to a
man
of
faith
and
you
know what you
are
a
little
independent starter for
starters
you
started
it
but can't get away with it anymore
than
i
could
just
let
it go at
first
we
knew
we
were
both
men
of
faith
and it was
out
of the question
there
was
no
question about it
being
a
queer
curiosity and all
for
nought but you
pushed
the
buttons
started it and i had
to
get
right
on it couldn't let it
go
for
a
second just yes
just
like
a
servant
of
a servant of
it
and
so
it
is
a problem bursting out of
everywhere
where
there
is no place for a
gentleman
reverse the roles and it
is
the same thing
you
could
say
i started it just
as
easily from your point of
view
i
am
so easily taken
for
a
fool
and a liar
where
there
is
no
place
for
a
gentleman
we
are
liars
how
you lie about
it
and how i
lie
about it is
painful
to
witness
stop
it if you will only
stop
it
just stop it i know
it
has
to
stop
so
stop it go
ahead
and stop it i am
not
interested
in
getting away with it so
go
ahead and be
the
one
to
stop
it
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
"Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, while the birds sang around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than any work of the hands would have been. They were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance. I realized what the Orientals mean by contemplation and the forsaking of works."
"Depend upon it that, rude and careless as I am, I would fain practice the yoga faithfully . . . 'The yogi, absorbed in contemplation, contributes in his degree to creation: he breathes a divine perfume, he hears wonderful things. Divine forms traverse him without tearing him, and, united to the nature which is proper to him, he goes, he acts as animating original matter.' To some extent, and at rare intervals even I am a yogi."
-Thoreau
A short but wonderful read!
A translation of the Sanskrit by one of the purist Americans ever known; -Henry David Thoreau.
THE TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SEVEN BRAHMANS
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tsb/tsb05.htm
Srila Prabhupada..
But real Ramayana means the Ramayana composed by Valmiki Ramayana. Ramayana composed by Maharsi Valmiki. And this is… It is a popular notion that this is Ramayana, but actually this book is called Rama-carita-manasa.
So some of the description of Rama are there, but not all the description. Rather there are many differences from the original Valmiki Ramayana. Anyway this is song of a devotee for his Lord Rama. In that sense, you can call it Ramayana, but this book is actually Rama-carita-manasa.
So in the fifth chapter, Sundara-Khanda, it is a very nice verse. What is that? Santam sasvatam aprameyam anagham nirvana-santi-pradam. Each word is meaningful. Santam. The Lord is never disturbed.
Why He shall be disturbed? Just like we are, in this material world, we are always disturbed in so many ways. The duration life is short, and we are always embarrassed with so many problems, political, social, religious, cultural, so many things. And family, maintenance of family is more difficult than maintaining an empire.
So this material world is full of anxiety. I have several times explained, asad-grahat. Because we have accepted something which is not eternal. Anything which is not eternal will always create disturbance.
But because the Lord is eternal, therefore He is santam. Whenever we’ll find the face of Lord Krsna or Rama, Visnu, you’ll find smiling with peace. As soon as you’ll see you become also peaceful. His very face is so nice.
In The Family
BY: RAGHU MISHRA DAS
Mar 05, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) —
there
yes
there
there is a
marvel
to
unity
in
diversity
where
no
one feels as though one
is
the
only
one with an
interesting
perspective
in
Krsna consciousness yes master yes
master
or disciple one
is
as spiritual as
one
with
facility
for devotional service
yes
even as one
sees
the
chanting
of the Hare Krsna maha
mantra
as
the
only way in kali yuga still there
is
unity
in
the
very
tolerable
unity
of unity in diversity yes
the
unity
in
diversity of call
and
response
sravanam
kirtanam
call and response
call
and response the
creepy
thing
is
there are those with no
open
heart and soul for the
sense
purifying experience of call and
response
devotional
service
gaura bhakta-vrnda have mercy
i
am
in
the family of
those
creeps
shriven
and unscrupulous yes what is
the meaning i
say
to myself right
out
loud at times
like
this as well
what
is
the
meaning
of
all
this
nonsense getting no
response
i
can
barely contain myself
with
what
little
intelligence i have bobbing down
and
up in the
waves
of misery like
this
like a mentally
disturbed
victim
of
circumstance i indulge
in
soft
poetry
feeling
lost
and
indefensible
i am in
fact
a
lousy
two
faced
ignoramus in the presence of the eternal
spiritual
master yes Lord
have
mercy i am a fool
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.2
adhiyajñaḥ kathaḿ ko 'tra
dehe 'smin madhusūdana
prayāṇa-kāle ca kathaḿ
jñeyo 'si niyatātmabhiḥ
TRANSLATION
Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body, O Madhusūdana? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?
PURPORT
"Lord of sacrifice" may refer to either Indra or Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is the chief of the primal demigods, including Brahmā and Śiva, and Indra is the chief of the administrative demigods. Both Indra and Viṣṇu are worshiped by yajña performances. But here Arjuna asks who is actually the Lord of yajña (sacrifice) and how the Lord is residing within the body of the living entity.
Arjuna addresses the Lord as Madhusūdana because Kṛṣṇa once killed a demon named Madhu. Actually these questions, which are of the nature of doubts, should not have arisen in the mind of Arjuna, because Arjuna is a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee. Therefore these doubts are like demons. Since Kṛṣṇa is so expert in killing demons, Arjuna here addresses Him as Madhusūdana so that Kṛṣṇa might kill the demonic doubts that arise in Arjuna's mind.
Now the word prayāṇa-kāle in this verse is very significant because whatever we do in life will be tested at the time of death. Arjuna is very anxious to know of those who are constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. What should be their position at that final moment? At the time of death all the bodily functions are disrupted, and the mind is not in a proper condition. Thus disturbed by the bodily situation, one may not be able to remember the Supreme Lord.
Mahārāja Kulaśekhara says to the Lord, "Now my mind is undisturbed, and I am quite healthy. If I die immediately, thinking of Your lotus feet, then I am sure that my performance of Your devotional service will become perfect. But if I have to wait for my natural death, then I do not know what will happen, because at that time the bodily functions will be disrupted, my throat will be choked up, and I do not know whether I shall be able to chant Your name. Better let me die immediately." Arjuna questions how a person can fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet at such a time.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.8
abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena
cetasā nānya-gāminā
paramaḿ puruṣaḿ divyaḿ
yāti pārthānucintayan
TRANSLATION
He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha, is sure to reach Me.
PURPORT
In this verse Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses the importance of remembering Him. One's memory of Kṛṣṇa is revived by chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one's ear, tongue and mind are engaged. This mystic meditation is very easy to practice, and it helps one attain the Supreme Lord. Puruṣam means enjoyer. Although living entities belong to the marginal energy of the Supreme Lord, they are in material contamination. They think themselves enjoyers, but they are not the supreme enjoyer. Here it is clearly stated that the supreme enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His different manifestations and plenary expansions as Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva, etc.
The devotee can constantly think of the object of worship, the Supreme Lord, in any of His features — Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, etc. — by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This practice will purify him, and at the end of his life, due to his constant chanting, he will be transferred to the kingdom of God. Yoga practice is meditation on the Supersoul within; similarly, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one fixes his mind always on the Supreme Lord. The mind is fickle, and therefore it is necessary to engage the mind by force to think of Kṛṣṇa. One example often given is that of the caterpillar that thinks of becoming a butterfly and so is transformed into a butterfly in the same life. Similarly, if we constantly think of Kṛṣṇa, it is certain that at the end of our lives we shall have the same bodily constitution as Kṛṣṇa.
Urdhvaga das..
When a lover and beloved unite, they may be lost in ecstasy do to the happiness of their union but they nevertheless remain as individual entities. They do not dissolve and neither merges into each other or into the nothingness. Such is the union with the Lord.
Yoga means, that the Supreme Lord is there, the devotee is there and the activity of exchange of Love between the Lord and his Devotee is there. Therefore the individuality of two persons is present; in the Supreme Personality of the Lord and the individual Soul who tries to unite with him, otherwise there is no meaning to yoga. Yoga therefore means to unite oneself in a spiritual relationship with the Supreme Lord who is the real object of one's love.
Narayana Kavacha
BY: SUN STAFF
Mar 7, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) — Here is a beautiful video montage of BBT artwork framing the chanting of the glorious Narayana Kavacha – the Protective Shield of Vishnu mantra given in Srimad Bhagavatam. By chanting Sri Narayana Kavacha and invoking in one's memory the various Names, Forms, Qualities and Pastimes of the Lord, one gets powerful protection from all sorts of evil - above, below, within and without. The Narayana Kavacha is expertly chanted by Bhagwat Acharya Shri Venu Gopal Goswami.
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/03-12/news4173.htm
Gaura Purnima March 8, 2012
This is the appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Gaura Purnima means “Golden Full Moon,” signifying that Lord Chaitanya took birth at the time of the full moonrise.
Krishna Comes as Sri Caitanya
In a special appearance, Krishna personally came in A.D. 1486 as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and acted as His own devotee. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, saturated with the love for God. As the emblem of the perfect devotee of Krishna, He displayed feelings of the highest spiritual ecstasy.
Krishna taught Bhagavad-gita to liberate all souls, and He returned as Sri Caitanya to show us how to live by the Gita’s teachings.
Because spiritual realization is difficult in the present age, Krishna as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is especially liberal. He has made pure love of God attainable by the easy process of chanting His sacred names, as in the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
“In this way, assuming the sentiment of a devotee, He taught devotional service while practicing it Himself.” —Chaitanya-Charitamrita, Adi 4.41
Lord Caitanya pioneered a great social and spiritual movement that continues to spread its profound influence worldwide. He transformed India in four respects: philosophically, by defeating the greatest philosophers of his day; socially, by opposing the rigid caste system; politically, by organizing India’s first civil disobedience movement against repressive government; and, most important, spiritually, by teaching and demonstrating the science of love of God, bhakti-yoga.
Holi - March 8, 2012
Holi is associated with the Puranic story of Holika, the sister of demon-king Hiranyakashipu. The demon-king punished his son, Prahlad in a variety of ways to denounce Lord Narayana. He failed in all his attempts. Finally, he asked his sister Holika to take Prahlad in her lap and enter a blazing fire. Holika had a boon to remain unburned even inside fire. Holika did her brother's bidding. However, Holika's boon ended by this act of supreme sin against the Lord's devotee and she was burnt to ashes. Prahlad came out unharmed.
4.5
asan varnastrayo'hyasya grhnato'nuyugam tanum
suklo-raktas-tatha-pita idanim krishnatam gatam
This boy, krishna, has three other colors: white, red, and yellow, as he appears in different ages. Now, in this Dvapara-yuga, he has appeared in a transcendental blackish color. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.8.13)
4.6
sukla, rakta, krishna, pita – krame cari varna
cari varna dhari' "krishna" karena yugadharma
In the four ages, (yugas) Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali, krishna accepts four different colors: white, red, black, and yellow respectively. These are the colors of the different incarnations of krishna in different milleniums. (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20.330)
4.7
itham nr-tiryag-rsi-deva-jhasavataraair
lokan vibhavayasi hamsi jagat-pratipan
dharmam mahapurusa pasi yuganuvrttam
channam kalau yad-abhavas tri-yugo 'tha sa tvam
[Prahlada said] O krishna! In this way you appear in various incarnations: as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish, or a tortoise. Thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems. In this way, according to the age,You protect the principles of religion. But O, Mahaprabhu! In the age of Kali, [when you come to preach the holy name of krishna, you do so as a devotee and therefore] You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because your Godhood is hidden in the age of Kali You therefore known as Triyuga, or the Lord who manifests his Supremacy in only three ages. [And for this reason many sastras have also kept your appearance in Kaliyuga a secret.] (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.38)
4.9
aham eva kvacid brahman sannyasnasramamnasritam
hari-bhaktim grahayami kalau papa-hatan-naran
[The Supreme Lord said to Sri Vyasadeva] O learned brahmanas, sometimes I accept the renounced order of life to induce the fallen people of the age of Kali to accept devotional service to the Lord. (Caitanya Caritamrta Adi 3.81)
4.10
aham eva dvija-srestha nityam pracchana-vigraham
bhagavad-bhakta-rupena lokan raksami sarvada
O best of the brahmanas! My disguised form is eternal. In this way, with my own form hidden from ordinary sight, I take the form of a devotee and appear among the people in general in order to establish and protect religious principles. (Adi Purana )
The version of the Goswamis.
4.11
antam krishnam bahir-gauram darsitangadi-vaibhavam
kalau sankirtanadyaim smam krishna-caitanyamnasritam
I take shelter of Sri krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is krishna Himself, thinking of Himself. He is internally krishna – blackish – but externally, he appears with the golden complexion [of Sri Radha]. In this age of Kali, krishna appears as krishna Caitanya, simultaneously manifesting His eternal associates, opulences, expansions, and incarnations. In this way, he preaches the process of krishna consciousness by performing sankirtana. (Tattva-Sandarbha 2)
Sri Gauranga is the fountainhead of all avataras.
This is what upsets the Abrahamics who will ultimately deny the devotees their arca-vigraha Bhakti yoga so transcendentally pure, replete with beauty, grace and mercy.
SRI GAURA PURNIMA 2012
http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/?p=26525
Pancaratra and the Ahirbudhnya Samhita, Pt. 9
Chapter 40 contains the story of the first intervention of the Lord in order to fight evil. It is the Puranic story of the two demons Madhu and Kaitabha who wrested the Vedas from Brahman before he could make use of them for creating the world. Brahman, in his distress, goes to "the other shore of the Sea of Milk" and addresses a hymn to the Lord, in answer to which the Lord appears to him and hears his complaint. By His mere thought of the two demons these are forced to appear before Him, yet still they refuse to return the Vedas.
The enraged Lord now orders Visvaksena to kill them, but V., in spite of leading against them "all the Vaisnavite armies" (sarvah sena Vaisnavih), is unable to do so. Now the Lord Himself "in His discus-form" (cakrarupin), with sixty-two arms, wearing all His divine weapons, appears on the battle-field with the splendour of a thousand suns, and the armies of the demons, unable to bear the sight, are instantly destroyed, whereupon the Lord hurls His discus against the two evil-doers, decapitating both of them.
Holy Lake of the Acts of Lord Rama, Part 20
Tulasi das's 'Ramacaritamanasa'
[Doha 118] 'He whom the Vedas and the wise thus hymn and whom the sages contemplate is that son of Dasarath who loves his votaries, the king of Kosala, the Blessed Lord. [Caupai 119] He by the might of whose name I grant liberation to those whom I see dying at Kasi is that same Raghubar, my lord and the master of all created things, who knows the secrets of all hearts. When men even involuntarily utter his name, the sins they have committed in all their lives are burnt up, and those who meditate on him with reverence pass over the ocean of birth and death as though it were a puddle. Rama is that Supreme Spirit, Bhavani, and that you should attribute error to him is most unfitting. It is by admitting such doubt into the mind that knowledge and detachment and all virtues are lost.'
When she heard Siva's enlightening words, all her critical doubts were resolved; she began to love and trust Raghupati's feet, and her grievous incredulity passed away. [Doha 119] Again and again Girija clasped her lord's lotus feet, and folding her lotus hands spoke sweet words steeped, as it were, in love:
[Caupai 120] 'Your speech is like the moon's cool rays, and when I hear it, the burning autumn heat of error no more torments me. You, gracious Lord, have resolved all my doubt and now I know Rama in his true form. Now, husband, by your grace I am no longer sad but am made happy by the favour of my lord's feet. Now, though I am a woman of foolish nature and unwise, believe me to be your servant, and if I have found favour in my lord's sight, answer the question I first put. If Rama be the Absolute, pure Consciousness, immortal, untouched by aught and yet abiding in the city of the hearts of all, why, Lord, did he take human form? Explain it to me, O Siva!'
When he heard Uma's very humble prayer and marked her pure delight in Rama's story, [Doha 120a] Love's enemy, the all-wise Samkara, was pleased and lavished praise on Uma. Then said the Lord of grace:
[Sundarakanda or Soratha 120b] 'Listen, Bhavani, to the sacred story, the unsullied Lake of Rama's acts, as Bhusundi told it and it was heard by Garur, the king of birds. [120c] I shall tell you later the manner of their noble converse; hear now the very beautiful and faultless story of Rama's incarnation. [120d] Infinite are the virtues and the names of Hari; his stories and his forms countless and immeasurable. I tell of them as far as I am able; do you, Uma, reverently listen.
[Caupai 121] 'Hearken, Girija! Many are the pure and beauteous acts of Hari, sung in the Vedas and the Agamas. The cause of Hari's descents cannot be told exactly. Listen, wise lady! I hold that Rama is beyond comprehension by reason, thought or speech, yet as saints and sages, Veda and Purana, explain in part, according to the measure of their understanding, so I, fair lady, tell you the cause as I understand it.
Whenever righteousness decays and demons, vile and arrogant, wax strong and work lawless deeds beyond the telling, and Brahmans and cows and gods and earth suffer hurt, the gracious Lord puts on various bodily forms and relieves the distress of his faithful servants. [Doha 121] He slays the demons and sets the gods upon their throne; he defends the bounds of his own Vedic Law and proclaims throughout the world his spotless glory! This is the cause of Rama's birth.
Guest (3): What he wants to know is, when the soul leaves the body completely, what happens after that?
Prabhupāda: This soul is eternal. It is… The soul is covered by two kinds of body. One is subtle body. Just like you have got your mind; I have got my mind. Do you see your mind? Do I see your mind? (second guest translates into French) So the soul is carried by two kinds of body. One body is this gross, made of earth, water, air, sky, like that. And the other… They are like shirt and coat. This is the coating, and there is another body, shirt, which is made of mind, intelligence, and ego. So when this gross body is finished, the subtle body is there. So at the time of your death the mental condition will carry you to a similar body. (Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa translates) [break] This mental body you do not see. Therefore you say that this man is dead. It is not dead. The gross body is changed, and the mental body carries him to another gross body. (second guest translates) Any other question? That’s all right. (end)
Prabhupāda: In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says exactly the same thing. This is explained by Kuntī, a devotee. The same thing is spoken by the Lord Himself. Samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ, ye tu bhajanti māṁ bhaktyā teṣu te mayi. God cannot be partial. That is not possible. Everyone is God’s son. So how God can be partial to one son and, better than the other son? That is not possible. That is our mistake. We write: “We trust in God,” but we make discrimination. If you trust in God, then you must be equally kind and merciful to all living entities. That is God consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa says: “I have no enemies, neither I have got friends.” Na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ.
Dveṣya means enemy. We, we are envious of our enemy and we are friendly to our friends. So Kṛṣṇa is absolute. Even He appears to be inimical to some demon, actually He’s friend. When a demon is killed, that means his demonic activities are killed. He becomes a saint immediately. Otherwise how he’s promoted immediately to the brahmajyoti? All these demons who were killed by Kṛṣṇa, they immediately merge into the brahmajyoti-nirviśeṣa. The only difference is, of course, the brahmajyoti, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. They are one. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam [Bhāg. 1.2.11]. That is one truth, Absolute Truth, in different features only. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Originally Bhagavān, His plenary representation is Paramātmā who is situated in everyone’s heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. The plenary portion Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, He is in everyone’s heart. That is Paramātmā. And Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The ultimate issue is Bhagavān. So ye yathā māṁ prapadyante. Now He’s equal to everyone. It is up to the devotees or persons who are trying to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth. According to their capacity of understanding, the Absolute Truth, God, is revealed, either as impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā or Bhagavān. It is up to me.
The same example as I have repeated many times. Just like we see sometimes the hills from our room. Here there are many hills in Los Angeles. But they are not distinct. When you are seeing the hills from a distant place, it looks like something cloudy. But if you go still further towards the hill, you’ll distinctly find that there is something, hill. And if you come to the hill, then you’ll find so many persons are working there, so many houses are there. There are streets, motorcars, everything, all varieties. So similarly, when one wants to know the Absolute Truth by his teeny brain, “I shall make research to find out the Absolute Truth,” then you’ll have vague idea, impersonal idea. And if you become a meditator, then you will find that God is situated within your heart. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1]. The yogis, the real yogis, they, by meditation, they see viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart. And those who are devotees, they meet the Supreme Person face to face just like we are meeting face to face, talk face to face, serve directly. The Supreme Personality of Godhead orders that: “You supply me this,” and he supplies. That is the difference.
So samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu. He’s equal to everyone. Now it is up to you to understand Him according to your capacity. So Kuntī also says the same thing in this verse: samaṁ carantaṁ sarvatra. Samaṁ carantam. Carantam means moving. He is moving everywhere, outside, inside, simply we have to make our eyes clear to see Him. That is devotional service, to make our senses purified to perceive the presence of God. God is present everywhere. Antar bahiḥ. Antaḥ means within and bahiḥ means without. “Those who are less intelligent, they simply try to find out God within, and those who are advanced in intelligence, they can see You within and without.” That is the difference.
Infiltration by Demons, Take a Guess …
BY: DHARMAPAD DAS (DEAN DOMINIC DE LUCIA)
"In the Kali-yuga demons take birth in the families of brahmins." (Varaha Purana)
But they don't have to have been actual demons. There can be normal people who become inspired at some point with specific agendas.
Sadaputa das, in his book Alien Identities (p. 241 ), explains how this could be so by using the case of King Duryodhana as an example:
"King Duryodhana once had an encounter with some Ganharvas who had cordoned off an area around a lake for recreational purposes and had blocked Duryodhana's army from entering. When Duryodhana tried to enter anyway, a fierce battle took place, and he was captured by the Gandharva forces. At this point, Arjuna, who was staying nearby, used his political connections with the Gandharva to free Duryodhana. Arjuna and his brothers had been driven into exile by Duryodhana, but Arjuna intervened to save him from the Ganharvas on the grounds that he was a relative and a human being.
Duryodhana was humiliated at being saved by a person he had scorned and mistreated as an enemy, and he decided to give up his everything and fast until death. However, it seems that other parties had long-standing plans for Duryodhana and they weren't at all pleased by this turn of events.
'Thereupon the Daityas and Danavas, hearing of his decision, the gruesome denizens of the nether world, who had been defeated by the gods, now, in the knowledge that Duryodhana would wreak their party, performed a sacrificial rite in order to summons him.' (Mahabharat)
Once Duryodhana was in the presence of the Danavas, they explained to him that his birth on Earth was arranged in advance as part of their plan. His great bodily strength and his near immunity to weapons were arranged by their manipulations. He therefore shouldn't spoil everything by taking his life. Daityas and Danavas, taking birth as Earthly heroes, would assist him in his battle with the Pandavas. The Danavas also pointed out that they would use mind control to make sure that this battle had the desired outcome.
[They explained to Duryodhana that] ‘other asuras will take possession of Bhishma, Drona, Kripa and the others; and possessed by them they will fight your enemies ruthlessly. When they engage in battle, best of the Kurus, they will give no quarter to either son or brother, parents or relatives, students or kinsmen, the young or the old. Pitiless, possessed by the Danavas, their inner souls overwhelmed, they will battle their relations and cast all love far off. Gleefully, their minds darkened, the tiger-like men, befuddled with ignorance by a fate set by the Ordainer, will say to one another that – ‘you will not escape from me with your life!‘ Standing firm in their manly might in the unleashing of manifold weapons, best of the Kurus, they will boastfully perpetrate a holocost.'
If this wasn't enough, the Danavas also explained that the hero Karna and the "sworn warriors" (a band of demons ) would slay Arjuna. After convincing Duryodhana that he would be victorious, the Danavas arranged for his return.
The same Kritya brought the strong armed man back when he was dismissed, to the very spot where he had been fasting unto death. Kritya put the hero down, saluted him, and when the king had dismissed her, vanished then and there.
'After it was over, King Duryodhana thought that it had all been a dream, Bharat, and he was left with this thought: I shall vanquish the Pandus in battle.' "
Thus, dear readers, there are those among us who are actual demons, and those whose hearts have been influenced by possession by evil spirits on the level of chakras and the astral plane.
What a pertinent treasure trove of occult information Sadaputa das has passed on to us! This puranic narration informs us that demons take birth in human bodies and influence affairs on the surface of the Earth. If this was true 5,000 years ago, even while Sri Krishna walked the face of the Earth, then what to speak of now.
The narration also tells that the demons have the ability to take possession of even dharmic warriors, overwhelm their souls (the Pandavas resisted this), and have them carry out agendas.
Remember that Duryodhana didn't really have any clear recollection of what had happened -- he just thought he was a Vedic king and that he had a right to compete with Arjuna, as kings do. In a similar way, there have been leaders walking around in ISKCON that imagine that they are what they present themselves to be, but at certain times their hearts become overwhelmed by demoniac influences. Let's not be impersonal about it; we can think along the lines of lower and even demoniac beings on the astral level influencing someone's subtle body and consciousness.
All of that split personality business is sometimes really a matter of some other being having penetrated the polarities that usually help us to resist. This usually doesn't happen, though, until we become old and our energies no longer resist. But demons of the type that fly around in UFOs have shown that they understand the technology, the mysticism, to do it with. And don't think that ISKCON's book distribution potential and Srila Prabhupada's straightforward preaching didn't attract their attention.
I welcome the readers to correspond with me personally, Dharmapad das, with any feedback, questions and encouragement: silopanna@uol.com.br
GraveDistractions.com – Dean Dominic DeLucia
But in all humility, Srila Prabhupada, suppose the scientists actually succeed in artificially creating a living cell. What would you say?
Srila Prabhupada: What would be their credit? They would only be imitating what already exists in nature. People are very fond of imitations. If a man in a nightclub imitates a dog, people will go and pay money to watch him. But when they see a real dog barking, they don’t pay any attention to it.
Dr. Singh: Srila Prabhupada, the idea of chemical evolution came from a Russian biologist in 1920. He demonstrated that before biochemical evolution, the earth’s atmosphere was in a state of reduction. In other words, it was mostly full of hydrogen, with very little oxygen. Then, in due course, the sun’s radiation caused these hydrogen molecules to form into different chemicals.
Srila Prabhupada: This is a side study. First of all, where did the hydrogen come from? The scientists simply study the middle of the process; they do not study the origin. We must know the beginning. There is an airplane. [indicates an airplane appearing on the horizon.] Would you say the origin of that machine is the sea? A foolish person might say that all of a sudden a light appeared in the sea, and that’s how the airplane was created. But is that a scientific explanation? The scientists’ explanations are similar. They say, “This existed, and then all of a sudden, by chance, that occurred.” This is not science. Science means to explain the original cause.
Perhaps the scientists can create imitations of nature, but why should we give them credit? we should give credit to the original creator, God; that is our philosophy.
Dr. Singh: When a scientist discovers some natural law, he usually names it after himself.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, exactly. The law is already there in nature, but the rascal wants to take credit for it.
Here it is stated, nija-labha-purno. The Lord is so opulent that He has no hankering. Complete. Sad-aisvarya purnah.
He is complete with full six opulences. He is the richest, He is the wisest, He is the most famous, He is the most strong, influential, and renounced order. Everything is complete there.
Then why He is asking that, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati? He is so rich, so opulent, still He is begging that “Little flower, a little water, a little fruit, if offered to Me with devotion and love, I accept and eat it.”
So the real fact is that we have lost our devotion, faith, in God. So He is begging therefore that love and faith. Not your money. Because He is already opulent. What you can give Him? And what belongs to you? Nothing belongs to you.
You come from the womb of your mother openhanded, and when you die you go openhanded. So what does it belong to you? Nothing belongs to you. That’s a fact. Simply by illusion, you come here for some days and you think, “This is mine.” That’s all. This is called maya.
Actually, nothing belongs to you. Everything belongs to God, or Krishna. But you claim that it belongs to you. That is your maya. Therefore here it is said, manam janad avidusah karuno vrnite. Out of His causeless mercy He begs sometimes, “Give Me this.”
Just like sometimes father asks his child, “My dear boy, will you kindly give me a little cake from your portion?” And if the child is very fond of her (him), immediately gives. And sometimes he refuses, “No, I shall not give it.” Similarly, Krishna is full. Why He’s begging? He’s begging your love. That’s all.
Whenever Krishna wants some service from you or begs something from you, it does not mean that He is in need of it. He is not in need of it. But He is in need of your love because you have forgotten how to love God, how to love Krishna.
Prabhupāda: Yes. (chuckles) Kāmāt bhayāt krodhāt. Either for lust desires or out of fear, out of anger, some way or other, if one is attached to Kṛṣṇa, his life will be nice. So enemy means krodhāt, being angry upon us. “These Hare Kṛṣṇa people does like that.” So he is angry. But that will also be effective. Krodhāt.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa is so merciful.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Bahulāśva: I was trying to arrange a meeting between Your Divine Grace and this astronaut, Dr. Mitchell, and also this other famous scientist, Werner von Braun. But they are on the east coast at this time, so they couldn’t come. But they both wrote nice letters that they would like to meet you if they could be in California at the same time.
Revatīnandana: This von Braun is a big rocket scientist from the old days. He designed the V-2 missile in Germany during World War II, and then he designed the American missiles during the space program.
Prabhupāda: What benefit he has done?
Revatīnandana: Well, he’s recently said… He retired, and he said now he thinks the only purpose of life is to research about God, to find out about God. He’s very famous, so…
Prabhupāda: That is good. They have finished already science. Now if they do not come to God, then they are finished. They have nothing to say any more. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is Vedānta. Now they have finished all their so-called talent. Now they have to come to brahma-jijñāsā, inquiry about the Supreme. That is their concern now. Now they have cheated public and bluffed them, they are going to this, going to this, but they are all failures. Now they are anxious how to keep their position. That is the problem.
Prabhupāda: Because if they are not employed by government with big, big salaries, who will care for them, scientists? Hundreds of scientists may wander or walk in the street. Who will recognize him unless he has got money? I have seen in India. So many scientists are loitering in the street without any employment. Who cares for them?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But a saintly person, even he has no money, people care.
Brahmānanda: Yeah. Dr. Werner von Braun. That has been his conclusion now, at the end of his career. He is interested in meditation and self-realization. (end)
Prabhupāda: Yes, that's... There is Siddhaloka—without any aeroplane they can go from one planet to another. They are so perfect.
Paramahahansa: So these, what they think are spaceships, perhaps are demigods?
Prabhupāda: Spaceships there are in every planet.
Paramahahansa: On every planet.
Prabhupāda: But there is a planet. The residents of that planet, they can go without any spaceship. Siddhaloka.
Prabhupāda: Now recently I have got one news from one German scientist. His name...
Tamāla Krsna: Von Braun.
Prabhupāda: Von Braun. He is comparing there is God. He is scientist. He is thinking like us exactly. He is a very well known scientist, German scientist, Von Braun. Yes.
Bahulāśva: So we gave him a copy of Easy Journey to Other Planets and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and he's been reading that. He is friends with that other scientist, Wernher Von Braun, who gave that speech also saying that he feels that there is definitely God by his scientific studies.
Bahulāśva: He is a very big scientist for Fairchild. He started the space project.
Harikeśa: He invented those rockets in Germany.
Paramahaṁsa: Yeah, he was actually captured. He used to work for Hitler. He invented the V-2 rockets that bombed London, or was one of them.
Bahulāśva: He gave a very nice talk in San Francisco.
Prabhupāda: Oh. About?
Bahulāśva: He said that from his scientific studies he is feeling frustrated. So he made a public statement that he is going to give them up for studying God. He says that he feels that everything indicates in the universe that there must be a supreme intelligence behind the workings of the universe.
Prabhupāda: Very intelligent man. He is intelligent. As soon as one denies the existence of God, immediately he comes within the category of four classes of men: sinful, rascal, lowest of the mankind and knowledge taken away by māyā.
Paramahaṁsa: As far as these unidentified flying objects that Werner Von Braun was recently mentioning, he says that previously they've had many sightings. They've seen these and filmed these, but they're afraid to release them or the government is afraid to acknowledge them because they're afraid it would cause a panic amongst the world.
Prabhupāda: What is that panic?
Paramahaṁsa: A panic that everyone would be frightened with the fact that there is people from other planets.
Prabhupāda: And they are not frightened? Without this knowledge they are not frightened, as if they are safe. (laughter) Are they safe without that knowledge? They are frightened of your atomic bomb. Who is not frightened? Who is that rascal who is not frightened? Is there any person who is not frightened?
Paramahaṁsa: A fool.
Prabhupāda: Fool is also frightened when there is stick. Everyone is frightened. That is the one of the conditions of material life. As eating is one of the items, similarly frightening is also... And the more one is godless, he is more frightened. Paramahaṁsa: There is this question about these, again, UFO's, whether or not they are agressive or if they will bring us more knowledge than what we have. So there's this fear, uncertainty. [break]
Prabhupāda: ...sataḥ syāt. This frightfulness is due to unawareness of God. The more one is unaware of God, he is more frightened. One who is fully conscious of God, he is not frightened because he knows, "Everything is God. Why shall I afraid?"
SB 8.6.32: O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, chastiser of enemies, the demigods and the demons thereafter made an armistice between them. Then, with great enterprise, they arranged to produce nectar, as proposed by Lord Indra.
SB 8.6.33: Thereafter, with great strength, the demons and demigods, who were all very powerful and who had long, stout arms, uprooted Mandara Mountain. Crying very loudly, they brought it toward the ocean of milk.
SB 8.6.34: Because of conveying the great mountain for a long distance, King Indra, Mahārāja Bali and the other demigods and demons became fatigued. Being unable to carry the mountain, they left it on the way.
SB 8.6.35: The mountain known as Mandara, which was extremely heavy, being made of gold, fell and smashed many demigods and demons.
SB 8.6.36: The demigods and demons were frustrated and disheartened, and their arms, thighs and shoulders were broken. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who knows everything, appeared there on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa.
SB 8.6.37: Observing that most of the demons and the demigods had been crushed by the falling of the mountain, the Lord glanced over them and brought them back to life. Thus they became free from grief, and they even had no bruises on their bodies.
SB 8.6.38: The Lord very easily lifted the mountain with one hand and placed it on the back of Garuḍa. Then, He too got on the back of Garuḍa and went to the ocean of milk, surrounded by the demigods and demons.
PURPORT
Here is proof of the omnipotence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is above everyone. There are two classes of living entities — the demons and the demigods — and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is above them both. The demons believe in the "chance" theory of creation, whereas the demigods believe in creation by the hand of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The omnipotence of the Supreme Lord is proved here, for simply with one hand He lifted Mandara Mountain, the demigods and the demons, placed them on the back of Garuḍa and brought them to the ocean of milk. Now, the demigods, the devotees, would immediately accept this incident, knowing that the Lord can lift anything, however heavy it might be. But although demons were also carried along with the demigods, demons, upon hearing of this incident, would say that it is mythological. But if God is all-powerful, why would it be difficult for Him to lift a mountain? Since He is floating innumerable planets with many hundreds and thousands of Mandara Mountains, why can't He lift one of them with His hand? This is not mythology, but the difference between the believers and the faithless is that the devotees accept the incidents mentioned in the Vedic literatures to be true, whereas the demons simply argue and label all these historical incidents mythology. Demons would prefer to explain that everything happening in the cosmic manifestation takes place by chance, but demigods, or devotees, never consider anything to be chance. Rather, they know that everything is an arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the difference between the demigods and the demons.
SB 8.6.39: Thereafter, Garuḍa, the chief of birds, unloaded Mandara Mountain from his shoulder and brought it near the water. Then he was asked by the Lord to leave that place, and he left.
PURPORT
Garuḍa was asked by the Lord to leave that place because the snake Vāsuki, who was to be used as the rope for churning, could not go there in the presence of Garuḍa. Garuḍa, the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, is not a vegetarian. He eats big snakes. Vāsuki, being a great snake, would be natural food for Garuḍa, the chief of birds. Lord Viṣṇu therefore asked Garuḍa to leave so that Vāsuki could be brought to churn the ocean with Mandara Mountain, which was to be used as the churning rod. These are the wonderful arrangements of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nothing takes place by accident. Carrying Mandara Mountain on the back of a bird and putting it in its right position might be difficult for anyone, whether demigod or demon, but for the Supreme Personality of Godhead everything is possible, as shown by this pastime. The Lord had no difficulty lifting the mountain with one hand, and Garuḍa, His carrier, carried all the demons and demigods together by the grace of the Supreme Lord. The Lord is known as Yogeśvara, the master of all mystic power, because of His omnipotence. If He likes, He can make anything lighter than cotton or heavier than the universe. Those who do not believe in the activities of the Lord cannot explain how things happen. Using words like "accident," they take shelter of ideas that are unbelievable. Nothing is accidental. Everything is done by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10). Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram. Whatever actions and reactions occur within the cosmic manifestation all take place under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, because the demons do not understand the potency of the Lord, when wonderful things are done, the demons think that they are accidental.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Eighth Canto, Sixth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce."
One devotee was telling Srila Prabhupada that many devotees, especially the big devotees, were coming where Prabhupada was for the Ratha-yatra.
“Big devotees?” Srila Prabhupada replied, with surprise, “We are trying to become small devotees.”
Prabhupada: Devotees.... To become devotee is not so cheap thing. You don't think that because you have got a tilaka you have become devotee. Why do you think like that?
"Because I have got a tilaka and mala, I have become devotee." This kind of cheating will not do.
“To award fearlessness to the common man is the great act of charity.”
Gopala Krsna: Bhimasena, I was speaking to him two days ago. He says that he'll turn over that temple to us. He wants to meet you, so I'm going to call him to come and see you.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gopala Krsna: He's a big talker, but I was flattering him, and I said, "If you transfer it over to..." (laughter) He said, "I'll do it when Prabhupada comes." So I'll tell him to come and see you today and.... I told him if he transfers it over to us, then we can build better on the top. He has already built something downstairs, and we can make it a very beautiful temple.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes.
Gopala Krsna: We'll call it Bhimasena.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Gopala Krsna: He wants to become famous, so I said, "Everybody will know that you built a temple there."
Prabhupada: So it is good idea.
Gopala Krsna: Yes, the location is very good. It's right in the center. And they have Radha-Krsna Deities there, plus they have Rama, Sita, Laksmana, Hanuman, which we can also worship.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes.
Gopala Krsna: Only problem is they have Durga.
Prabhupada: Durga, so we can worship, giving Durga the prasadam of Rama or Krsna. That's it.
Gopala Krsna: Yes, something can be worked out.
Prabhupada: Not directly. His prasada. If we can worship ordinary human being, why not Durga? But we give prasadam. We shall give. So don't tell all these things now.
Gopala Krsna: No, I didn't tell him anything.
Prabhupada: We do not say that we do not believe in the demigods. No, we believe in. But they are servants. That's all. We cannot make the servant and the master on the equal footing. That is all. We worship Durga, srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga [Bs. 5.44]. Now, what is the function? Icchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sa govindam adi... She is acting by the desire of the Supreme Lord, Govinda.
Guru dasa: Better than we are and should be worshiped.
Prabhupada: Eh?
Guru dasa: Better devotee than we are and should be worshiped.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes.
Atreya Rsi: As a devotee.
Prabhupada: Yes, she's a devotee. Just like we say "prabhu." Prabhu means your master. So "Because you are devotee, we accept you as master." Master means "I am ready to serve you because you are devotee. I am your servant." Dasa-dasa-dasanudasah [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. "Because you are devotee, I am prepared to serve you. Otherwise not."
Cyavana: Do the demigods sometimes forget their positions?
Prabhupada: Why you are serving me? If I had been an ordinary person, why...? You would have not.... Because you accept that "You are devotee," therefore you serve. So as soon as we find a devotee, immediately serve him. Chadiya vaisnava-seva, nistara payeche keba. Without serving a devotee, who can be elevated? It is our duty. So we can serve the devotee.
Prabhupada: Prahlada Maharaja was offered, "Whatever you like, you take." He said, "No, no, I don't want anything. Please engage me in the service of Your servant." He rejected everything. He simply said, nija-dasya-yogam: "Kindly engage me in the service of Your servant." That is wanted.
Prabhupada: He did not want even direct service. "Engage me in Your service," he did not say.
Guru dasa: No.
Prabhupada: He said, "Engage me in Your servant's service."
Prabhupada: Yes. One who is lower than you, he requires your mercy. You give him mercy. And who is higher than you, you give him service. And to the lower person? Mercy.
Prabhupada: And equal person? Friendship.
Guru dasa: Yes.
Prabhupada: With equal, friendship. With higher, service. And with lower, mercy.
Guru dasa: And envious, ignore.
Prabhupada: Yes, ignore.
Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore we say prabhu. Prabhu means "You are my master. Please order me. What can I do for you?" That should be the attitude. [break] ..."Guru dasa Prabhu, please come here and brush my shoes." (laughter) What kind of prabhu? He should say, "Guru dasa Prabhu, can I brush your shoes?" That is real Vaisnava, not that "Guru dasa Prabhu, come here and brush my shoes."
"My dear friend, he who gives a person his physical birth is his first spiritual master, and he who initiates him as a twice born brahman and engages him in religious duties is indeed more directly his spiritual master. But the person who bestows transcendental knowledge upon the members of all the spiritual orders of society is one's ultimate spiritual master. Indeed, he is as good as My own self."
(Srimad Bhagavatam 10.80.32)
Glory to Srila Prabhupada!
Bhakta Chris Leaves his Body in Mayapur Dham
Mar 19, 2012 — LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (SUN) — Bhakta Chris from the UK left his body in Mayapur Dham last week. He was a very likeable character, definitely a character. He never missed a festival and he will be greatly missed. He loved Vraj Mandala Parikram, always involved in prasad distribution and has done a lot of service in Varanasi. He suffered a lot in this lifetime, but just see how Krishna arranged for him to get the mercy of leaving his body in the Dham. It is proof that the Lord is very kind to his devotees.
"If Caitanya Mahaprabhu is pleased, then he can give Krsna-prema, love of Krsna, to anyone, doesn't matter what is his qualification. He gives. If a person who is giving in charity, he can select any man: "You take," That is the power of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Otherwise Krsna-prema, to understand Krsna is very, very difficult job."
(Srila Prabhupada)
your servant,
Parasuram das
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/03-12/news4190.htm
“When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu passed through Vrindavan, herds of grazing cows saw Him and immediately surrounding Him, began to moo very loudly. Seeing the herds approach Him, The Lord was stunned with ecstatic love. The cows began to lick His body out of great affection. Becoming pacified, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began to caress the cows, and the cows, being unable to give up His company, went with Him.”
Lord Chaitanya, being Krishna Himself, told an astrologer:
“In My last birth, I was born in the family of cowherd men, and I gave protection to the calves and cows. Because of such pious activities, I have now become the son of a brahmana.” (C.C.Madhya 17.111)
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.16.10, Krsna Himself states, “The brahmanas, the cows, and the defenseless creatures are My own body.”
The cow is one of the seven mothers, for she nourishes us with her milk, the miracle of aggregate food values, and other milk products. In the same way as a father supplies food for the family, the bull is meant to help in the production of grains and vegetables by plowing the fields. Srila Prabhupada states:
“The bull is the emblem of the moral principle (dharma), and the cow is the representative of the earth.” (SB 1.16.18, purport)
Srila Prabhupada further comments (SB 1.17.3, purport) that indeed it is a law of nature that one can earn happiness by pleasing the bull and the cow. When the bull and cow are in a joyful mood, it is to be understood that the people of the world are also in a joyous mood.
“The principal sign of Kali-yuga is that lower class sudras, or men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation will be dressed like administrators or kings and the main business of such rulers will be to kill the innocent animals—especially the cows and bulls who shall be unprotected by the bona fide vaisyas.” (SB 1.17.1, purport)
Sri Ramakrishna resumed his seat, still charged with divine ecstasy. Coming down a little to the normal state, he said: "Om! Om! Om!
Om! Om! Om Kāli!" Again he said, "Let me have a smoke." Many of the devotees stood around. Mahimacharan was fanning him. The Master asked him to sit down and recite from the scriptures. Mahimacharan recited from the Mahanirvana Tantra:
Om; I bow to Thee, the Everlasting Cause of the world;
I bow to Thee, Pure Consciousness, the Soul that sustains the whole universe.
I bow to Thee, who art One without duality, who dost bestow liberation;
I bow to Thee, Brahman, the all-pervading Attributeless Reality.
Thou alone art the Refuge, the only Object of adoration;
Thou art the only Cause of the universe, the Soul of everything that is;
Thou alone art the world's Creator, Thou its Preserver and Destroyer;
Thou art the immutable Supreme Lord, the Absolute; Thou art unchanging Consciousness.
Dread of the dreadful! Terror of the terrible!
Refuge of all beings! Purity of purifiers!
Thou alone dost rule over those in the high places,
Supreme over the supreme, the Protector of protectors.
Almighty Lord, who art made manifest as the Form of all, yet art Thyself unmanifest and indestructible;
Thou who art imperceptible to the senses, yet art the very Truth;
Incomprehensible, imperishable, all-pervading, hidden, and without form;
O Lord! O Light of the Universe! Protect us from harm.
On that One alone we meditate; that One is the sole object of our worship;
To That alone, the non-dual Witness of the Universe, we bow.
In that One who alone exists and who is our sole eternal Support, we seek, refuge,
The self-dependent Lord, the Vessel of Safety in the ocean of existence.
Sri Ramakrishna listened to the hymn with folded hands. After it was sung he saluted Brahman; The devotees did likewise.
Adhar arrived from Calcutta and bowed down before the Master.
MASTER (to M.): "We have had such joy today! How much joy Hari's name creates! Is it not so?"
Sri Buddha-Avatara
From "Dasavatara - The Ten Manifestations of God" by Swami B.B. Tirtha.
Among the Dasavatara, Sri Buddha is the ninth avatara.
Additionally, Sri Buddha is the twenty-fourth lila-avatara.
In order to condemn the practice of animal sacrifice, Supreme Lord Vishnu appeared in the form of Buddha. Srila Jayadeva Gosvami prays to the Lord of the universe in his Dasavatara-stotra:
"O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of Buddha! All glories unto You! O Buddha of compassionate heart, You decry the slaughtering of poor animals performed according to the rules of Vedic sacrifice."
The name of Buddha also appears in the verse that describes the ten avataras in Srimad-Bhagavatam:
matsya kurmo varahasca nrisimha vamanastatha
ramo ramasca ramasca buddha kalki ca te dasah
In the dasavatara verse of Sahitya-darpana (a Bengali reference encyclopedia), we find the names of Buddha and Kalki. The Agni, Vayu and Skanda Puranas also mention the name of Buddha, as does the following verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
tatah kalau sampravritte sammohaya sura-dvisham
buddho namnanjana-sutah kikateshu bhavishyati
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.24)
"Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya (Bihar) just for the purpose of infatuating those who are envious of the faithful demigods."
In Chapters 17-18 of the 3rd Section of Vishnu Purana, Buddha has been designated as ‘Mayamoha'. Once, while bathing in the waters of the Yamuna, Akrura was astonished to see Krishna-Balarama within the river. Coming out, he saw Them seated in a chariot as They had been before appearing in the water. Again he immersed himself in the water, and saw the yellow-clad four-handed Vasudeva Sri Krishna along with His associates, graciously seated on the lap of the thousand-hooded Sri Anantadeva while being worshiped by Brahma and other demigods. At that time, he prayed to the Lord in the following manner:
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.40.22)
"O Lord! I offer my obeisances unto Your form of Buddha, who, possessing a faultless nature, deluded the miscreants by composing anti-Vedic scriptures. I also offer obeisances unto Your Kalki form, the annihilator of the wicked kshatriyas who are no better than barbarians."
The Vedas encode instructions according to the eligibility or qualification of various living beings, especially human beings. But in the course of time, ignorant men took the tamasika orders to be the only instruction of the Vedas and engaged in the extensive killing of animals, sometimes even sacrificing human beings during worship of the demigods. At that time, the Supreme Lord descended in the form of Buddha and outwardly rejected the teachings of the Vedas for the welfare of human beings incapable of comprehending the true teachings of the Vedas. This implies that He disputed and cancelled His own prior teachings, propounded the futility of belief in God and preached to human beings four noble truths, to free them from their violent practices. This act of Buddha provided instantaneous benediction to mankind of that period. As Lord Buddha was the Supreme Lord Himself, many people resolved to follow ahimsa-dharma-the path of non-violence, due to His influence. As a result of non-violence, the hearts of human beings became pious and their qualifications gradually increased, so Lord Siva appeared as Sankaracarya. He re-established the supreme authenticity and decorum of the Vedas, and founded the philosophy of ‘brahmakarana-vada' (Brahman as ultimate cause). In later ages, the Vaishnava stalwarts built the philosophy of bhakti upon this same foundation stone. From the personal and aggregate point of view, these are the steps of progress.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the Lord Himself, removed the incompleteness of the previously propagated philosophies through His ‘acintya-bhedabheda-tattva' philosophy (the principle of inconceivable simultaneous distinction and non-distinction).
Sriman Sadaputa Das (Richard Thompson)
To understand the Vedic conception of space, it is necessary to consider the position of Krishna as the absolute cause of all causes. Clearly we cannot regard the transcendental form of Krishna as being composed of tiny bits of substance situated at different locations in three-dimensional space. Whether we regard the tiny bits as spiritual or material, such a form would certainly be limited and relative. The actual nature of Krishna's form is indicated by the following verses from the Brahma-samhita:
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, and substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in itself the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and He eternally sees, maintains, and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane [SBS 5.32].
He is an undifferentiated entity, as there is no distinction between the potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him, and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore [SBS 5.35].
These ideas about space and its relation to sense perception are implicit in the Vedic literature, and they can best be understood by giving some specific examples. The nature of Krishna's absolute position is nicely illustrated by the following story of a visit by Lord Brahma to Krishna in Dvaraka.
In the story, Krishna first responds to Brahma's request to see Him by having His secretary ask, "Which Brahma wishes to see Me?" Brahma later begins his conversation with Krishna by asking why Krishna made this inquiry:
"Why did you inquire which Brahma had come see You? What is the purpose of such an inquiry? Is there any other Brahma besides me within this universe?"
Upon hearing this, Shri Krishna smiled and immediately meditated. Unlimited Brahmas arrived instantly. These Brahmas had different numbers of heads. Some had ten heads, some twenty, some a hundred, some a thousand, some ten thousand, some a hundred thousand, some ten million, and others a hundred million. No one can count the number of faces they had.
There also arrived many Lord Shivas with various heads numbering one hundred thousand and ten million. Many Indras also arrived, and they had hundreds of thousands of eyes all over their bodies.
When the four-headed Brahma of this universe saw all these opulences of Krishna, he became very bewildered and considered himself a rabbit among many elephants.
All the Brahmas who came to see Krishna offered their respects at His lotus feet, and when they did this, their helmets touched His lotus feet. No one can estimate the inconceivable potency of Krishna. All the Brahmas who were there were resting in the one body of Krishna. When all the helmets struck together at Krishna's lotus feet, there was a tumultuous sound. It appeared that the helmets themselves were offering prayers unto Krishna's lotus feet.
With folded hands, all the Brahmas and Shivas began to offer prayers unto Lord Krishna, saying, "O Lord, You have shown me a great favor. I have been able to see Your lotus feet."
Each of them then said, "It is my great fortune, Lord, that You have called me, thinking of me as Your servant. Now let me know what Your order is so that I may carry it on my heads."
Lord Krishna replied, "Since I wanted to see all of you together, I have called all of you here. All of you should be happy. Is there any fear of the demons?"
They replied, "By Your mercy, we are victorious everywhere. Whatever burden there was upon the earth You have taken away by descending on that planet."
This is the proof of Dvaraka's opulence: all the Brahmas thought, "Krishna is now staying in my jurisdiction." Thus the opulence of Dvaraka was perceived by each and every one of them. Although they were all assembled together, no one could see anyone but himself.
Lord Krishna then bade farewell to all the Brahmas there, and after offering their obeisances, they all returned to their respective homes [CC ML 21.65-80].
In this story it is significant that each of the Brahmas remained within his own universe. This means that Krishna was simultaneously manifesting His Dvaraka pastimes in all of those universes. Each Brahma except ours thought that he was alone with Krishna in Dvaraka within his own universe, but by Krishna's grace our Brahma could simultaneously see all the others. This illustrates that Krishna has access to all locations at once, and it also shows that, by Krishna's grace, different living beings can be given different degrees of spatial access, either permanently or temporarily.
Srila Prabhupada..
The tortoise as soon as he likes he discloses his senses,and when he likes he pulls them within.That is the position of a pure devotee.He can wind up the senses whenever he likes, and he can exhibit his senses whenever he likes.The senses are under his control. He is not under the control of the senses as are the ordinary persons.That is the meaning of Goswami.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.42
TRANSLATION
But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
PURPORT
The Supreme Lord is represented throughout the entire material universes by His entering into all things as the Supersoul. The Lord here tells Arjuna that there is no point in understanding how things exist in their separate opulence and grandeur. He should know that all things are existing due to Kṛṣṇa's entering them as Supersoul. From Brahmā, the most gigantic entity, on down to the smallest ant, all are existing because the Lord has entered each and all and is sustaining them.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.6.2
"I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is the original Personality of Godhead. By His partial plenary expansion [Mahā-Viṣṇu], He enters into material nature, and then into each and every universe [as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu], and then [as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] into all the elements, including every atom of matter. Such manifestations of cosmic creation are innumerable, both in the universes and in the individual atoms."
Sri Rama Navami - March 31, 2012
Srila Prabhupada..
"This is a verse from Brahma-samhita in which the incarnation of Lord Ramacandra is described. Ramadi. Not only Rama, but there are many other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the principal names are mentioned in the sastras. Therefore it is said ramadi. Ramadi means Rama and also other, many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that.
Just like Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga means... We have passed only five thousand years of this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dvapara-yuga. Dvapara-yuga means 800,000 years. And before that, there was Treta-yuga, which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at least two million years before Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet."
So now Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya.
So Lord Ramacandra appeared on this day. Today is called Sri Rama Naumi. On the ninth day of the moon Lord Ramacandra appeared.
The life and activities of Lord Ramacandra is... (break) ...in a book which is called Ramayana. You have heard the name of Ramayana. Ramayana is also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also. The Puranas, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Ramayana, they are counted amongst the history."
Sri Rama jaya! jaya! jaya!
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.26
TRANSLATION
When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, descends with His plenary portion. The Lord comes in His original form, with beautiful black hair. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.
PURPORT
This verse is especially describing the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa and His immediate expansion, Lord Baladeva. Both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Baladeva are one Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is omnipotent, and He expands Himself in innumerable forms and energies, and the whole unit is known as the one Supreme Brahman. Such extensions of the Lord are divided into two divisions, namely personal and differential. The personal expansions are called the viṣṇu-tattvas, and the differential expansions are called the jīva-tattvas. And in such expansional activity, Lord Baladeva is the first personal expansion of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, as well as in the Mahābhārata, both Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva are mentioned as having beautiful black hair, even in Their advanced age. The Lord is called anupalakṣya-mārgaḥ or, in still more technical Vedic terms, avāń-manasā gocaraḥ: one who is never to be seen or realized by the limited sense perception of the people in general. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.25) it is said by the Lord, nāhaḿ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ. In other words, He reserves the right of not being exposed to anyone and everyone.
One symptom is mentioned here in this verse, that the Lord is sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ, or one who is observed always with beautiful black hair. Both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Baladeva have such hair on Their heads, and thus even in advanced age They appeared like young boys sixteen years old. That is the particular symptom of the Personality of Godhead. In the Brahma-saḿhitā it is stated that although He is the oldest personality among all living entities, He always looks like a new, youthful boy. That is the characteristic of a spiritual body. The material body is symptomized by birth, death, old age and diseases, but the spiritual body is conspicuous by the absence of those symptoms.
Now the question is why the Lord, who is omnipotent, comes here to diminish the burden created upon the world by the unscrupulous kingly order. Certainly the Lord does not need to come here personally for such purposes, but He actually descends to exhibit His transcendental activities in order to encourage His pure devotees, who want to enjoy life by chanting the glories of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.13-14) it is stated that the mahātmās, great devotees of the Lord, take pleasure in chanting of the activities of the Lord. All Vedic literatures are meant for turning one's attention towards the Lord and His transcendental activities. Thus the activities of the Lord, in His dealings with worldly people, create a subject matter for discussion by His pure devotees.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.27
One cannot manufacture a God by one's mental speculation or by numerical votes, as has become a practice for the less intelligent class of men. God is God eternally, and an ordinary living entity is eternally a part and parcel of God. God is one without a second, and the ordinary living entities are many without number. All such living entities are maintained by God Himself, and that is the verdict of the Vedic literatures.
As Lord Kṛṣṇa is concerned, He is God always, either as a child on the lap of His mother, or as the coverer of the universe, Vāmanadeva. He does not require to become God by undergoing severe penances, although some men think of becoming God in that way. By undergoing severe austerities and penances, one cannot become one or equal with God, but one can attain most of the godly qualities. A living being can attain godly qualities to a large extent, but he cannot become God, whereas Kṛṣṇa, without undergoing any type of penance, is God always, either in the lap of His mother or growing up or at any stage of growth.
The Lord in any condition is Lord of the universe, and He can act as such in any form, gigantic or small, as He likes.
Srila Prabhupada..
"You are restless because you don't read. I am laboring so hard for you, but you don't take advantage. Don't take advantage of eating and sleeping. Take advantage of these books. Then your life will be successful. My duty--I have given you so valuable things, day and night trying to convince you, each word to word. And if you don't take advantage of this, then what can I do for you?"
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.14, Melbourne, April 13, 1972)
Prabhupada, London, September 16, 1969
So some way or other, our knowledge is now covered in this material existence, so we have to get out of this ignorance. For that purpose we require tapasya, tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1]. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting some inconveniences. Voluntarily…
Just like a man is very happy in his family life… He has good house, good wife, good children, and good bank balance, enjoying life, but sastra says, “No. You are fifty years old; you must get out.” So he has to get out. He cannot say that “I am so happy in my family life. My wife is so nice. My children are so obedient. I have got nice money, income. Why shall I go out?”
But sastra says, “No. Vanam vrajet.” Vrajet means must. You must go to the forest. But if you disobey, then you will be in trouble. Just like you disobey the laws, you will be in trouble. So this is called tapasya. I do not like to go out of my home, very comfortable home, happy home, but sastra says, “You must.”
So I have to accept inconveniences. If I leave my home, comfortable home, I do not know where to live, how to eat, where to stay. These are experienced. When we took sannyasa, in the beginning, we thought like that, but by the grace of God, Krishna, we are not uncomfortable.
So by Krishna’s grace, by God’s grace, everything is there, provided you depend on Him. There is no fear. Narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28]. If you want to become dependent on God, you’ll never be afraid—svargapavarga-narakesv api tulyartha-darsinah—either you are put into the heaven or hell or anywhere.
So this is tapasya.
If you perform tapasya for transcendental understanding, then the result will be that your next life you will be promoted to the spiritual sky. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti kaunteya [Bg. 4.9]. After leaving this body, one does not come again to this material existence, miserable existence.
But unfortunately, we do not accept that we are living in miserable condition. That is called maya; that is called ignorance. We are actually in a miserable condition. We are trying to adjust things. But that cannot be adjusted. We have to suffer. The only way is that you realize yourself, what you are, and act accordingly.
So your position is you are eternal servant of Krishna. You just practice how to serve Krishna; then your life will be successful. So that is our movement. This Krishna consciousness movement is training people how to become unalloyed servant of Krishna.
Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
Discussions between Peace Corps Worker Bob Cohen and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
These excerpts deal with the personality of Lord Jesus Christ..
Bob: Prabhupada, people that engage in religions, like these "Jesus freaks" and other people, claim that Jesus is guiding them. Can this be so?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, but they are not taking the guidance. Just like the Christians. Jesus is guiding them, "Thou shalt not kill," but they are killing. Where is the Jesus guidance? Simply saying, "I am guided by Jesus Christ"-will that do? "But I don't care for his words." Is that guidance? Nobody is being guided by Jesus Christ. Their claim is false. It is very hard to find a man who is actually being guided by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's guidance is available, but nobody is caring for him. They have taken Jesus Christ as contractor to take up their sins. That is their philosophy. They commit all kinds of sins, and poor Jesus Christ will be responsible. That is their religion. Therefore they say, "We have a very good religion. For all our sinful activities, Jesus Christ will die." So is that good religion? They have no sympathy for Jesus Christ. He died for our sins. Why should we commit sins again? Such a great life has been sacrificed for our sins, so we should be guided by Jesus Christ. But if you take it otherwise-"Ah, we shall go on committing all sins, and Jesus Christ will make a contract to nullify all my sins; I'll simply go to the church and confess and come back and again do all nonsense"-do you think that shows very good intelligence?
Bob: No.
Srila Prabhupada: Actually, one who is guided by Jesus Christ will certainly get liberation. But it is very hard to find a man who is actually being guided by Jesus Christ.
Bob: What about the "Jesus freaks," the young people that have joined the Jesus movement? They read the Bible very often, and they try to-
Srila Prabhupada: But violence is against the Bible's injunctions. How can they kill if they are following the Bible?
Bob: I asked one this, and he claimed that Jesus was also eating meat in the Bible.
Srila Prabhupada: That's all right. He may eat anything. He is powerful. But he has ordered, "Thou shalt not kill. You must stop killing." He is powerful. He can eat the whole world. But you cannot compare to Jesus Christ. You cannot imitate Jesus Christ; you have to abide by his order. Then you are guided by Jesus Christ. That is actually obedience. That is explained in the Bhagavata. One who is isvara, who is empowered, can do anything, but we cannot imitate. We have to abide by his order: "What he says to me, that I will do." You cannot imitate. You say that Jesus Christ ate meat. Admitting that, you do not know in what condition he ate meat. He is himself eating meat, but he is advising others not to kill. Do you think that Jesus Christ was contradicting himself?
Bob: No.
Srila Prabhupada: He cannot do that. That is real faith in him-that he cannot do that. So why has he eaten meat? He knows, but he has asked me not to kill. I have to follow. That is the real system. You are not Jesus Christ; you cannot imitate him. He has sacrificed his life for God. Can you
do that? So why shall you imitate Jesus Christ? You are imitating Jesus Christ by eating meat. Why not imitate Jesus Christ and sacrifice your life for spreading God consciousness? What do you think? Yes, when you preach you can say what you think. They are so-called Christians-but what are they doing for God?
Jesus Christ is powerful; he can do everything. But we cannot imitate; we have to simply abide by his order. That is real Christianity. We cannot imitate a powerful man. That is wrong. In our Vedic literature, there was a poison ocean, so people could not find out what to do with it. Then Lord Siva said, "All right, I'll drink it." So he drank the whole poison ocean and kept it in his throat. Can you drink poison? Not the ocean-just one cup? So how can we imitate Lord Siva? Lord Siva never advised that we drink poison. So you have to abide by the advice, not imitate.
These LSD and marijuana people say that Lord Siva used to smoke ganja. But Lord Siva drank the whole poisoned ocean. Can you do that? Lord Siva's instructions should be taken. He says that the best worship is worship of Visnu. Visnor aradhanam param. When he was asked by Parvati what method of worship is best, then he said, "The best worship is worship of Lord Visnu [Krsna]." There are many demigods, but he recommended Visnu worship as the best. And better than Visnu worship is worship of a Vaisnava. Tadiyanam-His servants, or those who are in relation to Him. For instance, we are worshiping this plant, tulasi. We are not worshiping all plants, but because this tulasi has a very intimate connection with Krsna, Visnu, we are therefore worshiping her. Similarly, if anything is intimately related with Krsna, worship of that thing is better than worship of Visnu.
Padma-purana Patalakhand, chapter 82, verses 55 - 89
(The context is lord Shiva is responding to questions from Narada Muni. Lord Shiva is describing how after meditiating on Lord Narayana, Lord Narayana and Lakshmi devi appeared to him and asked him to choose a boon.)
"Having saluted the Lord of Kamala, the giver of boons, I said to Him, "O ocean of compassion, O highest God, I desire to see that form of yours which gives great joy, which is the abode of joy, which is eternal, which is embodied, which is superior to everything else, which is qualityless, actionless, calm and which the wise know as Brahman."
Then then glorious lord of Kamala said to me, who has sought His refuge, "Today you will see that form of mine which is desired by you in your mind. Go to My Vrindavan, to the western bank of the Yamuna." Saying so, the Lord of the world vanished along with His beloved. Then I came to the auspicious bank of the Yamuna. There I saw Krishna, the Lord of all gods, who had put on the dress of a cowherd, who was lovely, who was the age of a boy, who had put his charming left hand on the shoulder of His beloved, who was laughing and making her laugh in the group of cowherdesses, who was bright like a glossy cloud, and who is the abode of auspicious qualities.
Then, having laughed, Krishna speaking sweetly like nectar said to me, "O Rudra, having known your desire I have appeared before you and you have now seen this uncommon form of Mine which is the embodiement of pure love that is solidified goodness intelligence joy [sat-cid-ananda], which is at the same time formless, qualityless, all-pervading, actionless and higher then the highest. The Upanisads describe this faultess form of Mine only. Because My qualities have not sprung from the constituents of prakrti and are endless, and because My qualities are not effected [unchanging], they call me the qualityless Lord. O Maheshavara, because this form of Mine is not visible to the physical eyes, all the Vedas describe Me as formless. The wise ones also know Me to be Brahaman, part of the Supreme Spirit, because of My all-pervading nature. As I am not the agent of the visible world, they also call me actionless. I am also called actionless because My portions, through the power of maya, perform creation; I do not myself perform creation.
O Shiva, O Mahadev, I am overcome with love for these cowherdesses. I do not know any any act, even myself [?]. Being influenced by her [Srimati Radharani] love, I always sport with Her. Know this My beloved Radhika to be a great Deity. Around Her, see her friends in the hundreds and thousands. O Rudra, they are eternal, just as I have an eternal body. The cowherds, cowherdesses and Vrindavan always exists. All this is eternal and full of joy. Know this Ananadakanda to be My Vrindavan, merely by entering which a man would not again go to wordly existence. The fool who, having reached my grove, goes elsewhere, is a self-killer. I have told the truth and only the truth. I never leave Vrindavan to go anywhere else. With Her I always live here only. O Rudra, I have thus told you everything I had in mind."
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.15
TRANSLATION
The limbs of the serpent's body were slackened by the Gandharvas and Yavana soldiers, who had thoroughly defeated his bodily strength. When he attempted to leave the body, he was checked by his enemies. Being thus baffled in his attempt, he began to cry loudly.
PURPORT
At the last stage of life, the different gates of the body are choked by the effects of disease, which are caused by an imbalance of bile, mucus and air. Thus the living entity cannot clearly express his difficulties, and surrounding relatives hear the sound "ghura ghura" from a dying man. In his Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara states:
kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapańkaja-pañjarāntam
adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haḿsaḥ
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ
kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaḿ kutas te
"My dear Kṛṣṇa, please help me die immediately so that the swan of my mind may be encircled by the stem of Your lotus feet. Otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up, how will it be possible for me to think of You?" The swan takes great pleasure in diving within water and being encircled by the stem of the lotus flower. This entanglement is sporting joy. If, in our healthy condition, we think of the lotus feet of the Lord and die, it is most fortunate. In old age, at the time of death, the throat sometimes becomes choked with mucus or blocked by air. At such a time the sound vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, the mahā-mantra, may not come out. Thus one may forget Kṛṣṇa. Of course, those who are strong in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot possibly forget Kṛṣṇa at any stage because they are accustomed to chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, especially when there is a signal from death.
Letter to: Jadurani
Vrindaban
9 September, 1967
My Dear Jadurani,
Please accept my blessings. Your letter of 8/24 contains some important questions. The six goswamis are not all eternal associates of Krishna. Only Rupa- and Raghunath Goswami are eternal associates.
You know there are two kinds of living entities: nityamukta or eternal associates of the Lord, and nityabaddha or eternally conditioned. This material manifestation is a chance for the eternally conditioned entities to go Back to Godhead; but when they go back there is no distinction between the two.
When Krishna appears some of his eternal associates come with Him to assist Him in His different incarnational activities; and some of the living entities from conditioned life are liberated by following the footprint of Lord Krishna and His bona associates; so all the six became eternal associates of Krishna.
Regarding Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he descended from higher planet for being liberated in the association of Lord Caitanya, so his conditioned life came to an end after he contacted Lord Caitanya. The distinction between subtle and gross bodies is elementary.
There are eight elements: five gross and three subtle. When a living entity has only subtle body he is considered to be a ghost, and when he has both, he is considered in full strength. To remain in subtle body in this material world is very uncomfortable.
Regarding your work in the temple by painting, wherever you remain, if you are fully absorbed in your transcendental work in K.C., that place is eternally Vrindaban—It is the consciousness that creates Vrindaban. The Lord remains in the hearts of every living entity. He lives in the heart of a hog, and the hog lives in a filthy place.
That does not mean that the Lord lives in a filthy place. The Lord lives always inconceivably in His transcendental abode. Similarly, a fully K.C. person lives always in the pastimes of Lord Krishna by such consciousness only. The material atmosphere is no impediment for continuing our K.C. in any circumstance.
I think you may not attempt to open a center. Your duty is already fixed up. Better you remain peaceful under the protection of your god-brothers, and prosecute your transcendental avocation.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
“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
My Dear Madhavi Lata,
Please accept my blessings. I am so much pleased to receive your nice letter of June 11, 1968, all full with humility and love and very nice sentiments.
Your simplicity is a great asset for Krishna Consciousness. Krishna is very kind to the meek and simple, so dullness of the material world and consciousness about Krishna go well together.
Too much intelligence in material activities are detraction from Krishna Consciousness. Better to remain dull and simple as you are, and thus make advancement in Krishna Consciousness.
There is a nice story about Bharata Maharaja, who remained just like a dullard, in order to avoid material association. And he was known as Jada Bharata, but when he was tested, Maharaja Rohugan found him highly advanced in Krishna Consciousness, and became his disciple.
Yes, you stay in Boston. Please learn this painting under care of Jadurani. Please always talk about Krishna amongst you two sisters, and enjoy life. This is very good opportunity that you are talking and painting about Krishna, so that your mind, hand, and attention are all absorbed in Krishna samadhi, and tongue chanting Hare Krishna.
This is first class samadhi, and the highest position of the greatest yogi. Try to continue this atmosphere happily.
Now, Devananda and Satsvarupa, and you and Jadurani try to develop the temple very nicely.
Hoping you are well.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 7: The Science of God
Srila Prabhupada, Montreal, August 19, 1968 — What is the highest type of religion? Everyone will say that “My system of religion is better than yours.” That is quite natural. A Hindu will say, “Oh, I am better than the Christian.” Christian will say, “I am better than the Hindu.”
But Bhagavata says that that is not the test of religion. Bhagavat says, sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoknaje [SB 1.2.6]. That type of religion is the best by which one develops love of Godhead. That’s all.
The test is how much you have developed love of Godhead. Bhava-grahi janardana. In Vedic literature it is said that God, Krishna, simply accepts your bhava or your situation, how much you have developed your attraction for God, or Krishna.
That is taken into account. He does not take account that “Oh, you are very rich. You are very beautiful. You are very opulent,” or “You are very poor. You are not beautiful.” These considerations are not there. The only consideration is how much you love God. Then your life is successful.
So Prahlada Maharaja, therefore, taking courage, that the material qualifications are not assets to approach God, but it is only devotional service, service attitude. “Krishna, or God, I love You. I can sacrifice You… I can sacrifice everything for You.” Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He sacrificed even his life. The gopis, they also sacrificed everything for Krishna. This is wanted.
The degree of sacrifice, the degree of attachment is taken into consideration by God, not any material opulence. So Prahlada Maharaja is encouraged. Tasmad aham vigata-viklava isvarasya sarvatmana mahi grnami yatha maninam: “Therefore I shall try to offer my prayers according to my capacity.” It is not that because one does not know Sanskrit or a particular type of language and he cannot pray very nicely with poetic simile, metaphors… These things are not required.
imply you have to open your feelings of love of Godhead. Then He’s pleased. It does not depend on the particular type of language or poetic ideas. No. There is one verse in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that, tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api namany anantasya yaso ‘nkitani yat srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah [SB 1.5.11] It is said that a verse written in broken language…
Suppose a person, a great devotee, is writing some prayers for God, but he has no idea of the rhetorical or prosodic method, the system of poetry. He has no such idea, but he is simply expressing his feeling. But if that feeling is correct, even the language is broken… There are many examples. Just like a child, he prays mother, parents, simply by crying.
It has no language, but the mother understands what is the feeling of the child. It is the feeling that is taken into consideration, not the language. So Prahlada Maharaja very much encouraged, that tasmad aham vigata-viklava.
So without any doubt, isvarasya, of the Lord, sarvatmana, wholeheartedly, without any reservation, if I say, “My dear God, my dear Krishna, from today I surrender unto You. Please protect me,” this very language, this very feeling will give you all protection. It is so nice. He does not require to be very learned man. In the spiritual platform there is no such consideration.
Tulasi das's 'Ramacaritamanasa'
[Doha 133] 'Now there were two of Siva's henchmen who knew the whole secret; in Brahman guise they went about and looked on; very whimsical creatures they! [Caupai 134] In that rank where the sage went and took his seat, priding himself beyond all measure on his beauty, sat also Siva's two servants, disguised as Brahmans, and no one guessed who they were.
In Narada's hearing they uttered words of sarcasm: "Marvellous beauty has Hari bestowed on him! The princess will be charmed when she sees his graceful form, and will surely wed him, deeming him Hari in person!" The sage's mind was deluded and no longer under his control, and Siva's servants mocked him to their hearts' content. Though the sage heard their subtle jeers, he did not understand them, for his intellect was all astray. Nobody else realized exactly what had happened, but the king's daughter saw him as he was, and when she beheld his monkey face and repulsive body, she was full of indignation.
[Doha 13] 'Then with her attendant maidens the princess moved on like a swan. She went round, looking at all the kings, bearing in her lotus hand the wreath of victory.
[Caupai 135] 'Never for a moment did she look towards that spot where Narada was sitting, swollen with conceit. Again and again the saint jumped up in his agitation. Siva's servants smiled to see his plight. Then came the gracious Lord, wearing the form of a king. Gladly the maiden cast about him the wreath of victory; so Laksmi's lord carried off the prize and the assembled kings were in despair. Under the influence of illusion the sage was utterly bewildered, as though a jewel had dropped and fallen from his purse.
'Then said Siva's henchmen with a smile, "Go and look at your face in a mirror!" With these words the two ran off in great alarm. The sage looked in the water and saw his face, and when he beheld his form, he grew more wrathful yet and cursed them with a very dreadful curse; [Doha 135] "Go, you twins, deceitful and guilty! Become demons of the night! You laughed at me; now reap your reward, and in future beware how you laugh at a sage!"
[Caupai 136] 'Again he looked into the water and saw his own proper form. Yet was his soul not satisfied; his lips trembled and there was rage in his heart. Swift he sped to Laksmi's lord, thinking, "I shall curse him or myself perish, for he has made a mock of me in all the world!" Hari, the demons' foe, met him on the way, and with him were Laksmi and that same princess. The Lord of lords addressed him in gentle tones: "Wither away, O sage, like one distraught?" At these words Narada was infuriated, and under the influence of illusion all sense deserted him. "You cannot bear to look on another's success," he cried. "You are a mass of jealousy and guile! At the churning of ocean you drove Rudra mad and, egging on the gods, caused him to drink the poison. [Doha 136] Wine for the demons and poison for Samkara, but for yourself Laksmi and the lovely jewel! You're utterly self-centered and deceitful, continually practising guile!
[Caupai 137] You're absolutely independent and there's no one to check you; so you do whatever you please. You make good evil and evil good, with a heart that feels neither grief nor joy. You have tested everyone by perpetually deceiving them; you fear nobody and you think it all good fun. You are not hindered by regard for good or evil deeds, and so far no one has put you right. But now you've made fun of someone important, and you'll get what you deserve! Assume the same form as that in which you cheated me! That is my curse! You made me look like a monkey, so monkeys will be your helpers; you caused my dire disgrace, so you will sorrow for the loss of your wife!"
[Doha 137] 'The Lord gladly took on himself the curse and humbly begged Narada's forgiveness. Then the gracious Lord withdrew the power of his illusion.
[Caupai 138] 'When Hari removed his illusion, neither Laksmi nor the princess was to be seen. Then the sage was terrified, and clasping Hari's feet cried, "Protect me, O thou who relievest thy suppliants' distress! O gracious Lord, may my curse be of none effect!"
'"It is my will," said he who has mercy on the humble.
'"Full many an ill word have I spoken," said the sage; "how may my sins be blotted out?"
'"Go and repeat the hundred names of Samkara and you will at once experience relief. No one is as dear to me as Siva; never for a moment cease to believe it. He on whom Purari bestows not his favour, O sage, wins not to faith in me. Go, wander through the earth with this thought in your heart; henceforward my illusion will not come nigh you."
[Doha 138] 'With these and many other words the Lord consoled the sage and disappeared. Narada departed to Brahma's realm, singing the praise of Rama's virtues.
[Caupai 139] 'When Hara's henchmen saw the sage walking on the road, free from illusion and full of inward joy, they came in terror to Narada, clasped his feet and spoke a piteous word: "O king of sages, we are Hara's servants, not Brahmans. We have done very wrong and have met our desserts. Graciously cancel the curse, O merciful lord!" Narada, who has compassion on the humble replied, "Go you both and be born as demons; great be your power and splendour and might. When you shall have conquered the universe by the strength of your arm, Visnu shall take the form of man and you shall die in battle at Hari's hand, and so be released nor born again in the world." The pair bowed their heads before the sage and departed, and in due time were born as demons.
[Doha 139] 'It was for this cause that in one aeon the Lord became incarnate as a man -- Hari, who delights the gods and brings joy to his faithful people and relieves the earth of its burdens.
[Caupai 140] 'Thus Hari's lives and acts are many -- charming, beneficent and marvellous. Whenever aeon after aeon the Lord descends to earth and performs all kinds of glorious exploits, the high sages have sung his story, composing very sacred verses, and have told of his many unrivalled adventures, at which the wise are not astronished when they hear them. Hari is infinite, and infinite Hari's stories; and all the saints recite them and listen to them in various ways. The glorious acts of Ramacandra cannot be sung in ten thousand aeons.
'I have told this tale, Bhavani, to prove that even wise sages are misled by Hari's illusion. The Lord is sportive and acts for his suppliants' weal; he is to be bound of those that worship him, one who eases every pain. [Sundarakanda or Soratha 140] There is no god or man or sage whom his powerful illusion does not lead astray. This remember and worship in your heart the Lord of mighty illusion.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.18
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, who sits in everyone's heart, appearing as Yajñapati, observed that the Rākṣasas and demons were going to devour Svāyambhuva Manu. Thus the Lord, accompanied by His sons named the Yāmas and by all the other demigods, killed the demons and Rākṣasas. He then took the post of Indra and began to rule the heavenly kingdom.
PURPORT
The various names of the demigods — Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Indra and so on — are not personal names; they are names of different posts. In this regard, we understand that Lord Viṣṇu sometimes becomes Brahmā or Indra when there is no suitable person to occupy these posts.
Holy Lake of the Acts of Lord Rama Part 25
'The Lord was very pleased with the royal pair's request, gentle, humble and full of devotion. The treasure-house of grace who loves his votaries, the Blessed Lord who dwells in the whole universe was manifest.
[Doha 146] 'Myriads of Loves were put to shame when they saw the beauty of his body, dark as the dark-blue lotus or the sapphire or the dark rain-burdened cloud; [Caupi 147] his face matchless in beauty as the autumn moon; lovely cheeks and chin and neck marked like the conch; ruddy lips and charming teeth and nose, and a smile brighter than the moonbeam; eyes perfect in loveliness like newly-opened lotus buds; a fascinating glance to enchant the soul; curved eyebrows outrivalling in charm Love's bow; a sect-mark gleaming on his forehead; fish-shaped earrings in his ears and on his head a glorious crown; curly hair like a swarm of bees; on his breast the Srivatsa and a charming woodland wreath, a garland of gems and jewelled ornaments; a lion-like neck and beautiful sacred thread; beautiful, too, the bracelets on his arms, strong comely arms like an elephant's trunk; at his side a quiver, and bow and arrows in his hands; [Doha 147] yellow dress more brilliant than the lightning; three fair folds on his belly, and a navel so captivating that it seemed to have stolen the beauty of Yamuna's eddies.
[Caupi 148] 'None can describe those lotus feet, haunted by the bees that are the souls of sages. On his left there matched his beauty the Primal Energy, perfect loveliness, cause of the world, she from a part of whom are born those mines of virtue, innumerable Laksmis, Umas and Brahmanis; she by the play of whose eyebrows the world comes into being stood on Rama's left, Sita herself. When they beheld the boundless beauty of Hari's form, Manu and Satarupa gazed fixedly upon them with wide-open eyes. Reverently they looked on their matchless loveliness nor could be satisfied. They lost all consciousness in an excess of rapture; they fell prostrate and clasped his feet with their hands. The Lord of compassion touched their heads with his own lotus hands and at once raised them to their feet.
[Doha 148] 'Then said the gracious Lord, "Know that I am very pleased. Ask now whatever boon you will, believing me to be the giver of all good."
[Doha 148] 'Then said the gracious Lord, "Know that I am very pleased. Ask now whatever boon you will, believing me to be the giver of all good."
[Caupi 149] 'When the king heard the Lord's words, he folded his hands, and taking courage gently replied, "Lord, now that we have seen they lotus feet our every desire has been fulfilled. Yet there is still one boon I earnestly crave, both easy to grant and difficult; therefore it is hard to express it. Easy for thee to grant, divine master, but difficult for me to receive in my lowly estate. Just as a poor man who has found the tree of Paradise hesitates to ask for great wealth, because he does not realize its power, so I doubt in my heart; and this thou knowest who readest the hearts of all! Master, fulfil my longing!"
'"Hesitate not," said the Lord, "but ask of me, O king; for there is naught that I will not grant you."
[Doha 149] '"O greatest of givers and most gracious Lord," said Manu, "I tell thee truly, I wish to have a son like thyself. Can aught be hid from the Lord?"
[Caupi 150] 'When the Lord of compassion marked his devotion and heard his words beyond price, he said, "So be it! But where can I go to seek another like myself? I myself will come and be your son, O king!" Then, seeing Satarupa with folded hands, he said, "Lady, ask what boon you will."
'"Lord," she replied, "the boon the wise king has craved is altogether after my heart, O gracious one. But, Lord, it is a very presumptuous request, though thou art pleased to grant it because thou lovest thy votaries. For thou art the father of Brahma and the gods, master of the world, the Absolute, and thou knowest the secrets of all hearts. This I remember and doubt; yet what the Lord has said must come to pass. O Lord, that bliss which those who are thy votaries enjoy, that liberation they attain -- [Doha 150] that bliss, that liberation, that faith, that devotion to thy feet, that wisdom, that manner of life, O Lord, grant of thy grace to us!"
[Caupi 151] 'To her speech, so gentle and profound and charming and sweet, the ocean of grace replied in kindly tones, "I have granted all your heart's desire; doubt not. Mother, by my grace the spiritual wisdom that is yours shall never fail."
'Then Manu worshipped his feet and said again, "Lord, there is one more request I would proffer. May I love they feet as a father loves his son, however foolish anyone may call me. As a serpent cannot live without his jewel, or a fish out of water, so is my life dependent upon thee!" This boon he asked and stayed clasping his feet.
'"So be it," said the Lord of compassion. "Now do what I enjoin. Go and dwell in the capital of the king of heaven. [Sundarakanda or Soratha] There, my friend, enjoy luxury and delights, and when some time has passed, you will be born as the king of Avadh, and then I shall be your son. [Caupi 152] I shall fashion the body of a man, formed of my own will, and shall become manifest in your palace, my friend. I shall assume a body with all my parts and work deeds to bring happiness to my votaries, deeds which the thrice-blest will hear with reverence, and, hearing, will put off self-conceit and pride and pass over the ocean of birth and death. And this my Maya, the Primal Energy, who has brought the world into being, will also become incarnate. So shall I accomplish your desire. My promise is true, true, true!"
'With this repeated utterance the Blessed Lord of grace vanished from sight. The king and queen laid up in their hearts the vision of the Lord who grants his grace to the faithful and dwelt for some time in that hermitage. Then in due time they quitted the body without a pang and went and took up their abode in Amaravati.' [Doha 152] This very sacred story Siva related to Uma.
Room Conversation with Jesuit, 1975, Melbourne
Jesuit, May 19, 1975, Melbourne: Would you say that God loves the person that is doing wrong?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Jesuit: Still.
Prabhupada: Therefore He comes…
Jesuit: To save.
Prabhupada: “Don’t do wrong.” That is love.
Jesuit: And if the person…
Prabhupada: Therefore that is love.
Jesuit: And if the person rejects that love, does He still love him?
Prabhupada: Yes, still love him. He’s trying. God is situated in everyone’s heart, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]
Jesuit: God cannot change.
Prabhupada: Yes. God is friend always. He is sitting with the individual soul within the heart and giving him good advice that “You come to Me, you’ll be happy.”
But he’s not going. Therefore he’s here. Still God is with him.
Jesuit: When you speak of Krishna consciousness, it means…
Prabhupada: God consciousness, God consciousness. God is great and I am His eternal servant. This is Krishna consciousness. Two words: God is great and I am His eternal servant, I am small. This consciousness is called Krishna consciousness.
Jesuit: Do you know the prayer that the Russians use, the Jesus prayer?
Prabhupada: Any prayer. God is one. Either you pray in a different way, I’ll pray in a different way, it doesn’t matter.
Jesuit: Consider God as?
Prabhupāda: Best friend.
Jesuit: Best friend.
Prabhupāda: Just like Arjuna did. Arjuna worshiped God as friend, the best friend. God is the best friend for everyone.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So, dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam, to offer everything to God—whatever I have got, my body, my money, my… everything. These are nine processes:
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23]
Nine processes. So these nine processes you take. Or you take eight or you take seven or you take six or you take five, you take four, you take three, you take two—at least one.
Jesuit: And do you have a, what I may call a training in contemplation, in which you get…
Prabhupāda: That is smaraṇam. Memorizing. Thinking of God’s activities.
Jesuit: And, er, now in mysticism, Christian mysticism, Western mysticism, we have, say, the seven castles of St. Theresa of Avila, and we have a process of contemplation which we call infused, which God gives. Ordinary prayer, which anybody is able to make. Theresa would speak about the three castles, the first three castles.
Prabhupāda: Three castle?
Jesuit: Mm. In her book, Interior Mansions. But the real mystic prayer, well, is not given to everybody. Do you have… Do these men get trained in mystic prayer, contemplation?
Prabhupāda: Mystic prayer means to think of God’s activities. So that is smaraṇam.
Jesuit: Smaraṇam. Not so much thinking of them as just being really in His presence and open to receive love and to be active. Do you know what I mean?
Prabhupāda: Well, but bhakti is activity. Bhakti is not passive. Active. Just like hearing. It is activity. Similarly glorifying, this is activity. Smaraṇam, remembering, memorizing, that is activity.
Jesuit: That is true. I see that. I think I sort of see a higher form of activity, where the senses really have taken over…
Prabhupāda: Sense means activity.
Jesuit: Intuition. Something higher than…
Prabhupāda: Sense, when you use your sense, just like śravaṇam, hearing. So you use your sense. So this is activity.
Jesuit: I see that. I understand that.
Prabhupāda: You engage your ear. That means activity. I glorify, I speak, I engage my tongue in glorifying. That is activity. But as soon as there is sense activity, that is activity.
Jesuit: Hmm. But to get that real stillness and quiet in which…
Prabhupāda: No. Bhakti is not stillness. That is neutrality. Stillness means you stop your material activity. That is stillness. But your material activities, when you stop it, that is stillness.
Jesuit: What is neutrality then?
Prabhupāda: That is neutrality, that neither spiritual nor material— on the marginal stage. It is called simply realizing how God is great. That is neutrality. But real devotion begins when one understands that “God is so great, I am rendering my service to this world uselessly. Why not render service to God?” That is called dāsyam, beginning of active devotion. We are active in the material world. It is useless. Simply wasting time and making one entangled in repetition of birth and death. Material activities. This is called pravṛtti-mārga. Pravṛtti-mārga means sense enjoyment. And for sense enjoyment we have to accept so many different types of bodies, 8,400,000. Everyone is busy in sense enjoyment. The tiger is busy, the hog is busy, the dog is busy. The man also, if he becomes busy like tigers and hogs and dog, then he’s going to become again the same species of life.
Prabhupāda: That is a kind of concoction.
Jesuit: A kind of?
Prabhupāda: Concoction, mental speculation. Why should you love mankind? Why not tiger?
Jesuit: Because there is a common father, God is the father of all…
Prabhupāda: Yes, common fellow, that is… (To devotee:) Who can read Bhagavad-gītā? Bring Bhagavad-gītā. Find out this verse:
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [Bg. 5.18]
Translation: “The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision the learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater (outcaste).”
Prabhupāda: Mm. Just read again.
Devotee: “The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision…
Prabhupāda: Equal vision.
Jesuit: Equal vision.
Prabhupāda: Equal vision.
Jesuit: What does that mean, equal vision?
Prabhupāda: Equal vision means that I don’t make any distinction between you and a dog.
Jesuit: You make no distinction…
Prabhupāda: No, this is spiritual vision because a paṇḍita, paṇḍita means learned man, his equal vision means he does not make any difference between the souls. The dog has got also soul and the learned scholar has got also soul. But the soul is covered by the dog’s body, and here the soul is covered by the learned scholar’s body. Actually both of them are souls, part and parcel of God.
Jesuit: Would you think that their souls are of different value, the soul of the dog…?
Prabhupāda: No, soul is of the same value.
Jesuit: That I would find hard to accept.
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Jyotirlingas: As per Shiva Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Demi-god of creation) and Vishnu (the maintainer) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either direction. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies, while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity.
Srila Prabhupāda
Los Angeles, April 14, 1973
“My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus, and whose feet are engraved with lotuses.”
Prabhupāda: Lord’s feet, there are flags, lotus flowers, chariot. These are the symbolic representations. God is person, but His personality is distinct from our personality. So these specific marks are there on His lotus feet. And paṅkaja-nābhāya, another meaning, paṅkaja-nābhāya means originally a lotus stem came out from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Brahmā was born in that lotus flower, the origin of creation. So Kṛṣṇa’s all parts of the body, as reference to the paṅkaja. Paṅkaja means lotus flower. Paṅka means mud, and ja means generate. Paṅkaja, the lotus flower, is so important. Still, it is generated from mud. So Kṛṣṇa likes paṅkaja very much, lotus flower. So if we see lotus flower, we can immediately remember Kṛṣṇa. If… Just like if you love your child, if you see any garment, a small ship, shoes or any play things, immediately you remember your child: “Oh, this is my child’s shoes. This is my child’s playing things. This is my garment.” So it is the custom of love.
If you actually love God, Kṛṣṇa, then you can remember Him at any time, always, always. There is no difficulty. Here Kuntīdevī describes paṅkaja, with reference to lotus flower. And Kṛṣṇa describes Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, raso ’ham apsu kaunteya: “I am the taste of the liquid.” So Kṛṣṇa can be remembered by tasting water. Even those who are drinking… If he thinks that “This taste of drinking is Kṛṣṇa,” he will one day come out a great saintly person. Such a nice thing, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if you have cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if you follow the description given by the śāstras. So I can request that even the drunkards that “You can become Kṛṣṇa conscious.”
In your country, there are many drunkards. There is no scarcity. So if you’ll kindly remember when drinking wine that this nice taste of drinking is Kṛṣṇa… Just begin with it. You’ll come out one day a saintly person, Kṛṣṇa conscious. It’s so nice, practical.
So Kṛṣṇa is available, any circumstance, if we want to catch Him. That’s all.
Nectar of Devotion 31..
All the previously mentioned thirty-three symptoms of ecstatic love are called vyabhicārī, or disturbing. All these symptoms refer to apparently disturbed conditions, but even in such disturbed conditions there is acute ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. These symptoms, however, can be divided into three groups: first class, second class and third. There are many disturbing symptoms in ecstatic love, such as envy, anxiety, pride, jealousy, conclusion, cowardliness, forgiveness, impatience, hankering, regret, doubtfulness and impudence. These are included in the thirty-three conditions of ecstatic love. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has very nicely analyzed the different kinds of disturbing symptoms, and although it is very difficult to find the exact English equivalents for many Sanskrit words used here, his analysis will now be presented.
When one becomes malicious upon seeing another's advancement of life, his state of mind is generally called envy. When one becomes frightened at seeing a lightning bolt in the sky, that fearfulness brings on anxiety. Therefore, fearfulness and anxiety may be taken as one. One's desire to hide his real mentality is called avahitthā, or concealment, and a desire to exhibit superiority is called pride. Both of these may be classified under pretension. In a pretentious attitude both avahitthā and pride are to be found. One's inability to tolerate an offense committed by another is called amarṣa, and one's inability to tolerate the opulence of another is called jealousy. Jealousy and amarṣa are both caused by intolerance. One's ability to establish the correct import of a word may be called conclusiveness. And before such a conclusive determination of import, there must be thoughtful consideration. Therefore, the act of consideration is present during the establishment of a conclusion. When one presents himself as ignorant, his attitude is called humility, and when there is absence of enthusiasm it is called cowardice. Therefore, in humility, there is sometimes cowardice also. When the mind is steadfast it is called enduring, and one's ability to tolerate others' offenses is also called endurance. Therefore, forgiveness and endurance can be synonymous. Anxiousness for time to pass is called impatience, and when one sees something wonderful one is said to be struck with wonder. Impatience may be caused by being struck with wonder, and so impatience and being struck with wonder can be synonymous. When anxiety is in its dormant stage it is called hankering. Therefore, anxiety and hankering can also be synonymous. When one becomes regretful for some offense, his feeling is called bashfulness. In this way, bashfulness and regret can be synonymous. Doubtfulness is one of the aspects of argument. After exhibiting impudence one becomes restless. Therefore restlessness and impudence can be synonymous.
The Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 1
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/04-12/features2433.htm
The Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia - Part 2
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/04-12/features2434.htm
Very interesting article for those who are so inclined.
The Argument for the Tropical Zodiac in Vedic Astrology
BY: GAURAKISHOR DAS
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/04-12/editorials8490.htm
Vedic Origins of Europeans & Americans
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/04-12/editorials8504.htm
http://youtu.be/Q7px5CaEmHo
Malati: When they go back to Godhead, some people can remember their past lives.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Malati: In the mind.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Malati: I thought the mind was left behind.
Prabhupada: No. Actually mind carries you to the next body. So mind goes with you. The material mind, material ego, material intelligence become nil when you are completely liberated. But at that time your spiritual mind acts. It is not very difficult to understand. Somebody is acting under the impression... Just like one of our students, he was acting under the impression that he is Frenchman and doing something subversive, and now he is thinking that "I am Krishna's." (chuckles) He has stopped all those nonsense. [break] When he was thinking that he's a Frenchman, that mind was there. And now he's thinking that "I am Krishna's," the mind is there. So where is the chance of losing the mind?"
(Lecture, SB 7.9.11, Montreal)
"So this sort of civilization, simply making nice arrangement for eating and sleeping and mating and defending, that is not practically human civilization. The human civilization is meant for searching out God. Na te viduh. They do not know, unfortunately. They have forgotten. But by good association, they can remember."
"So that is the highest gift to the human society. There are so many welfare activities in the human society. People open hospitals, schools, colleges, charitable institution. They are nice. But the best contribution to the human society is to revive his lost relationship with God. This welfare activity, to get the lost son to his father, rich father, not ordinary father, that is the best service. Similarly, all living entities... As Krishna claims in the Bhagavad-gita...
sarva-yonishu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita [Bg. 14.4]
In many places in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna claims all living entities as His sons, parts and parcels.
Srila Prabhupada..
There are two kinds of philosophers. One class of philosopher, they say that we are one with God. Another class of philosopher says that we are different, God is different from living entity. But Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has adjusted that we are simultaneously one and different. Just like the father and the son. The father is one with the son, but at the same time, the son is different from the father. The son cannot claim cent percent equality with the father. That is not possible. But the son's body is nondifferent from the father's body. Similarly, living entities, we are simultaneously one and different from God. One in this sense: that all the qualities that God has, the same qualities the living entity has. But the difference is God has all the qualities in fullness, and so far we are concerned, we have got all the godly qualities in minute. That is the difference. Anu and vibhu. Vibhu means unlimited, and anu means limited. So we have got opulence, fame, beauty, strength, influence, knowledge, all good qualities that God has. But God has got in full, we have got in minute quantity.
So anyway, qualitatively, we are one with God. Therefore our business is how to again unite with God qualitatively. That is the highest perfection of human life.
TV 1.20 "Pure spiritual logic is the natural endowment of the soul. Still, when he is imprisoned in the world of matter, the soul, always meditating on matter, thinks mixed logic is better."
TV 1.20 "Arguing for a great variety of philosophies, as speaking in many different ways, mixed logic did not become happy. Then material logic began to hate itself. Talking and talking, material logic wept and lamented. It said, Alas! For how long have I labored in this external material world? I have fallen very far away from the soul, my eternal companion. I have rejected my own true nature."
"It is said that Your Lordship, sitting in the heart of a devotee, gives him direction by which he can very quickly come back home, back to You."
(KB 86, Arjuna Kidnaps Subhadra, and Krishna Blesses His Devotees)
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.
Lord Kalki Rides Devadatta
In the Shrimad Bhagavatam the following prophecies are given by Shrila Shukadeva Goswami in the 12th canto, 2nd chapter.
Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brahmana of Shambhala village, the great soul Vishnuyasha. (18)
When the Supreme Lord will appear on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.(23)
When Chandra, Surya and Brihaspati conjoin in the constellation of Cancer or Karkata-rashi, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Tishya or Pushyami—at that exact moment Krita Yuga will begin. (24)
Notes: This is Shrila Shukadeva Goswami's exact prophecy which gives perfect astrological references from the spotless Purana.
Pushyami (consisting of the stars Gamma, Delta and Theta Cancri) is a pious, deva-gana nakshatra ruled by the higher octave of Saturn, the planet of austerity, pennance and piety. The next time the Sun, Moon and Jupiter meet in Pushyami, Satya Yuga will begin and goodness will expand. It is noteworthy that in India today Pushyami is the favorite nakshatra for purchasing gold because the value will increase and the gold will bring good fortune. Similarly, during the Golden Age, goodness expands unlimitedly. Note that Satya-yuga will begin on amavashya (since the Sun and Moon are conjoined) and aupsiciousness will grow like the waxing Moon.
Thus I have described all the kings—past, present and future—who belong to the dynasties of the Sun and the Moon.(25)
From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass. (26)
Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakshatra called Magha. (27-28)
The Supreme Lord Vishnu is brilliant like the Sun and He is known as Krishna. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities. (29)
As long us Lord Shri Krishna (Who is Ramaapati the Husband of the goddess of fortune), touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet. (30)
After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent. (34)
"In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtan-yajna."
Lord Parasurama Destroys the World's Ruling Class
Parasurama Stotram
(Prayer to Lord Parasurama)
I salute that Rama with an axe,
Who is being saluted by devas,
Who is the consort of Lakshmi,
Who is expert in fighting in war,
Who shines due to his crown,
Who holds Kodanda in his right hand,
And arrows in his left hand,
Which are capable of saving the oppressed,
Who is armed with the terrible white axe,
Who is effulgent with light,
And who has a well proportioned heavenly body,
Victory to that Bhargava Rama,
Who has a laughing face of Brahmin as well as Kshatriya,
Who is the great fire which destroyed the clan of kings,
Who held the terrible axe in his hand,
Who shined like the rising sun,
Who had very electrifying matted locks,
Who dressed himself using the bark of trees,
And who was famous as the one
Who knows the holy chants of Yagna.
The Birth of Sita Devi
Sita Devi's Appearance day is observed on April 30th.
Janaka Maharaj, the king of Mithila, was ploughing a piece of land to prepare it for conducting a yajna. While ploughing, he unearthed a golden casket in which he found a beautiful girl, which caused him to be greatly overjoyed. Because land ploughed by the yoke is called 'sita', he named the baby Sita.
With her arrival, the king's good fortune improved greatly, and his queen gave birth to a daughter named Urmila. The royal couple brought up their children with great affection, giving them good education and all facility. The two beautiful girls, displaying all noble qualities and intelligence, endeared themselves to all and grew to become ideal princesses.
Sita devi was to be given in marriage to anyone who could bend the powerful bow given to Janaka by Lord Shiva. Rama succeeded in bending the great bow, and he married Sita. Their later, inconceivable pastimes are presented throughout Sri Ramayana.
Paramahamsa
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-12/editorials8528.htm
http://youtu.be/LjYe08xDkzA
Prabhupada: The Ravana (A great demon) will kill and Rama (God) will kill. Better to be killed by Rama. Eh? That Marica--if he does not go to mislead Sita, he'll be killed by Ravana; and if he goes to be killed by Rama, then it is better.
You try to trace out the history of the world, you'll find always persons who are for Krsna or God, they have been persecuted.
Lord Jesus Christ was crucified,
Haridasa Thakura was caned in twenty-two market places, Prahlada Maharaja was tortured by his father.
So there may be such things. Of course, Krsna will protect us. So don't be afraid. Don't be afraid if somebody tortures us, somebody teases us. We must go on with Krsna consciousness without any hesitation, and Krsna will give us protect.
[Srila Prabhupada from Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture 7.9.8 Seattle, October 21, 1968]
Srila Prabhupada..
We are, in the material world, we are seeking the favor of goddess of fortune, but in the spiritual world, hundreds and thousands of the goddess of fortunes, they are eagerly trying to serve the Supreme Lord. So He is full. He has nothing to accept from you. But He likes that you should offer Him something.
So our connection with the supreme father is like that. He is not in want. He does not require anything from me. But it is for my interest. If I offer something, then I become a very pet son of my father. This is called bhakti. This is devotional service or Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
“Anyone who offers Me in devotion these four things,” patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, “a bit of leaf and a bit of flower, a little fruit and little water…”
So here the ultimate, even the poorest of the poorest, he can offer these four things.
When God accepts, He says, “Yes, I…” Aśnāmi: “I eat.”
So this is the question of faith. This is the question of faith. And without faith, you cannot reach the kingdom of God.
Your experimental knowledge, your so-called defective reasons and arguments and philosophy, that will not be applicable in the transcendental field. You have to believe. You are believing in every sphere of your life. When you purchase a ticket for transferring yourself in the aeroplane, if you go on arguing, “Sir, I am purchasing ticket. Whether this aeroplane will reach? Whether it will not, I mean to say, crash on the way?” if you go on arguing, there is no question of, I mean to say, getting on the aeroplane. You have to believe that “Aeroplane will take me to the other side.” You are doing that. There is no argument.
“Swamiji, do you think God eats?” I said, “Yes.” “Then how do you think?”
“Because God says, ‘I eat.’ ” Here is, Krishna says, asnami. So God says, “I eat.” Who are you that He does not eat? I replied him like that. Who are you? You say that God does not eat, but here God says, “I eat.”
So whom shall I believe, a loafer like you, or Krishna? I am a third person, and you are also a third person, and Krishna is recognized the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Whom shall I believe? I accept that I am the fool number one, but whom shall I accept, you or Krishna? You said that… What you are? What is your position? You are an ordinary man. So you say that God does not eat, but God says, “I eat.” Why shall I not believe?
Guest, April 18, 1974, Hyderabad: What is the ultimate aim of this Krishna consciousness?
Prabhupada: Yes, ultimate aim is that there is spirit and matter. As there is material world, there is spiritual world also. Paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah avyaktah avyaktat sanatanah [Bg. 8.20]. The spiritual world is eternal. The material world is temporary. We are spirit soul. We are eternal.
Therefore our business is to go back to the spiritual world, not that we remain in the material world and change body from bad to worse or worse to bad, er, good.
That is not our business. That is a disease. Our healthy life is to enjoy eternal life. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6]. So our human life should be utilized for attaining that perfectional stage—not to get any more this material body which we have to change. This is the aim of life.
Human life is not to live a polished animal life. That is not human life.
Guest: Is perfection possible in one life?
Prabhupada: Yes, in one moment, if you agree, if we surrender to Krishna and take Krishna consciousness, immediately you are on the spiritual platform.
As soon as you become unalloyed devotee of Krishna, you immediately transcend this material platform. Brahma-bhuyaya kalpate. You remain in the spiritual platform. And if you die in the spiritual platform, then you go to the spiritual world.
Devotee: It seems as if the very things that they think will make them happy turn out to be the causes of misery.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. For example, in the name of happiness they have invented the motorcar. But when two motorcars crash head on, life is lost. Yet people aren’t inquisitive enough to ask, “We have invented this machine for happiness; so why has this disaster happened?” They don’t have the intelligence to ask this question. They simply go on searching after happiness in the material world. And when we say, “No, not in that way; come this way, to Krishna consciousness, and you’ll find real happiness,” they laugh.
Devotee: But isn’t it better to give up ego altogether?
Srila Prabhupada: Why? That is mayavada [impersonalistic] philosophy. We want to make our ego purified. We want to understand, “I am a servant of Krishna.” That egoism is wanted—not that I make my egoism zero.
Devotee: Why do the Mayavadi impersonalists want to eradicate the ego?
Srila Prabhupada: The Mayavadis are disappointed in life, so they think, “Let me finish my ego. Let me become zero.” But egoism cannot be finished. Because you are an individual soul, you will always have a sense of “I am.” Now I am thinking I am Indian, you are thinking you are American, someone else is thinking he is Russian, and so on. But I am not Indian and you are not American: we are all part and parcel of Krishna. We have to come to this egoism, the real egoism—that I am an eternal servant of Krishna.
In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says,
"The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he (the soul) is even higher than the intelligence." [Bg. 3.42]
Prof. Durckheim: Can consciousness exist apart from the material body?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Pure consciousness, the soul, does not need a material body. For instance, when you dream, you forget your present body, but you still remain conscious. The soul, the consciousness, is like water: water is pure, but as soon as it falls from the sky and touches the ground, it becomes muddy.
Prof. Durckheim: Why does it appear to be so difficult to understand that one is different from the body?
Prof. Durckheim: For instance, you may have already intellectually understood very well that you are not the body -- but you may still have the fear of death. Doesn't that mean you didn't understand it by experience? As soon as you've understood by experience, you should have no fear of death, because you know that you can't really die.
Srila Prabhupada: Experience is received from a higher authority, from someone who has higher knowledge. Instead of my trying to experience for years and years that I am not this body, I can take the knowledge from God, or Krsna, the perfect source. Then I have experienced my deathlessness by hearing from a bona fide authority. That is perfect.
Prof. Durckheim: Yes, I understand.
RAVANARI DAS
Rather than growing into a society of love and trust as Srila Prabhupada directed, dishonest gold-worshipping gurus turned ISKCON into a war of attrition, with the foot soldiers running from the weapons of deceit thrown by their own generals. And while Pralambaha prabhu may not realize it, that's why today in ISKCON there is no Bhaktivedanta Institute and no original members except those who hold the perks and posture of position.
There is no voice of conscience any longer. Today there is no such thing as a strong GBC that acts on principles of righteousness. When those who are callous and unrepentent of exploiting the innocent in exchange for gold are not taken to task, then punishment will be carried out by Krishna Himself. And for those who have sailed the ISKCON yacht thanks to the their submissive slaves rowing in the hold, the bitter fruits of the rod of chastisement will not be pleasant.
An ordinary man is known by his attraction to gold, something which hiding behind saffron cloth cannot conceal. Did these 24 caret renunciates who claimed to be "person Bhagavats" ever actually read the Bhagavat? Gold is naturally attractive to demons and that is why the Hiranya Brothers, Hiranykashipu and Hiranyaksha, were named as they were.
In the Bhagavatam (SB 5.14.7) we find this verse:
kvacic casesa-dosa-nisadanam purisa-visesam tad-varna-guna-nirmita-matih suvarnam upaditsaty agni-kama-katara ivolmuka-pisacam
TRANSLATION:
Sometimes the living entity is interested in the yellow stool known as gold and runs after it. That gold is the source of material opulence and envy, and it can enable one to afford illicit sex, gambling, meat-eating and intoxication. Those whose minds are overcome by the mode of passion are attracted by the color of gold, just as a man suffering from cold in the forest runs after a phosphorescent light in a marshy land, considering it to be fire.
BHAKTIVEDANTA PURPORT:
Pariksit Maharaja told Kali-yuga to leave his kingdom immediately and reside in four places: brothels, liquor shops, slaughterhouses and gambling casinos. However, Kali-yuga requested him to give him only one place where these four places are included, and Pariksit Maharaja gave him the place where gold is stored. Gold encompasses the four principles of sin, and therefore, according to spiritual life, gold should be avoided as far as possible. If there is gold, there is certainly illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication. Because people in the Western world have a great deal of gold, they are victims of these four sins. The color of gold is very glittering, and a materialistic person becomes very much attracted by its yellow color. However, this gold is actually a type of stool. A person with a bad liver generally passes yellow stool. The color of this stool attracts a materialistic person, just as the will-o'-the-wisp attracts one who needs heat.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.6
TRANSLATION
The very day and moment the Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, left this earth, the personality of Kali, who promotes all kinds of irreligious activities, came into this world.
PURPORT
The Personality of Godhead and His holy name, qualities, etc., are all identical. The personality of Kali was not able to enter the jurisdiction of the earth due to the presence of the Personality of Godhead. And similarly, if there is an arrangement for the constant chanting of the holy names, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no chance at all for the personality of Kali to enter. That is the technique of driving away the personality of Kali from the world.
In modernized human society there are great advancements of material science, and they have invented the radio to distribute sound in the air. So instead of vibrating some nuisance sound for sense enjoyment, if the state arranges to distribute transcendental sound by resounding the holy name, fame and activities of the Lord, as they are authorized in the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then a favorable condition will be created, the principles of religion in the world will be reestablished, and thus the executive heads, who are so anxious to drive away corruption from the world, will be successful. Nothing is bad if properly used for the service of the Lord.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.7
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a realist, like the bees who only accept the essence [of a flower]. He knew perfectly well that in this age of Kali, auspicious things produce good effects immediately, whereas inauspicious acts must be actually performed [to render effects]. So he was never envious of the personality of Kali.
PURPORT
The age of Kali is called the fallen age. In this fallen age, because the living beings are in an awkward position, the Supreme Lord has given some special facilities to them. So by the will of the Lord, a living being does not become a victim of a sinful act until the act is actually performed. In other ages, simply by thinking of performing a sinful act, one used to become a victim of the act. On the contrary, a living being in this age is awarded with the results of pious acts simply by thinking of them. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, being the most learned and experienced king by the grace of the Lord, was not unnecessarily envious of the personality of Kali because he did not intend to give him any chance to perform any sinful act. He protected his subjects from falling prey to the sinful acts of the age of Kali, and at the same time he gave full facility to the age of Kali by allotting him some particular places. At the end of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that even though all nefarious activities of the personality of Kali are present, there is a great advantage in the age of Kali. One can attain salvation simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Thus Mahārāja Parīkṣit made an organized effort to propagate the chanting of the Lord's holy name, and thus he saved the citizens from the clutches of Kali. It is for this advantage only that great sages sometimes wish all good for the age of Kali. In the Vedas also it is said that by discourse on Lord Kṛṣṇa's activities, one can get rid of all the disadvantages of the age of Kali. In the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is also said that by the recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Supreme Lord becomes at once arrested within one's heart. These are some of the great advantages of the age of Kali, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit took all the advantages and did not think any ill of the age of Kali, true to his Vaiṣṇavite cult.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.8
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Parīkṣit considered that less intelligent men might find the personality of Kali to be very powerful, but that those who are self-controlled would have nothing to fear. The King was powerful like a tiger and took care for the foolish, careless persons.
PURPORT
Those who are not devotees of the Lord are careless and unintelligent. Unless one is thoroughly intelligent, one cannot be a devotee of the Lord. Those who are not devotees of the Lord fall prey to the actions of Kali. It will not be possible to bring about a saner condition in society unless we are prepared to accept the modes of action adopted by Mahārāja Parīkṣit, i.e., propagation of the devotional service of the Lord to the common man.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.9
TRANSLATION
O sages, as you did ask me, now I have described almost everything regarding the narrations about Lord Kṛṣṇa in connection with the history of the pious Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
PURPORT
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the history of the activities of the Lord. And the activities of the Lord are performed in relation with the devotees of the Lord. Therefore, the history of the devotees is not different from the history of Lord Kṛṣṇa's activities. A devotee of the Lord regards both the activities of the Lord and those of His pure devotees on an equal level, for they are all transcendental.
SB7.1Summary
In this chapter, in response to a question by Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī gives his conclusions concerning how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although the Supersoul, friend and protector of everyone, killed the Daityas, the demons, for the sake of Indra, the King of heaven. In his statements, he totally refutes the arguments of people in general who accuse the Supreme Lord of partiality. Śukadeva Gosvāmī proves that because the body of the conditioned soul is infected by the three qualities of nature, dualities arise such as enmity and friendship, attachment and detachment. For the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, there are no such dualities. Even eternal time cannot control the activities of the Lord. Eternal time is created by the Lord, and it acts under His control. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, is always transcendental to the influence of the modes of nature, māyā, the Lord’s external energy, which acts in creation and annihilation. Thus all the demons killed by the Supreme Lord attain salvation immediately.
Everyone works under the influence of various modes of material nature, and when the various modes are prominent, the demigods or demons appear victorious under the influence of these modes.
Everyone enjoys the fruits of his qualitative activities. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (14.11–13):
“The manifestations of the modes of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illumined by knowledge.
“O chief of the Bharatas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion, the symptoms of great attachment, uncontrollable desire, hankering, and intense endeavor develop.
“O son of Kuru, when there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, madness, illusion, inertia and darkness are manifested.”
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart, simply gives the results of the increase in the various qualities, but He is impartial. He supervises victory and loss, but He does not take part in them.
The various modes of material nature do not work all at once. The interactions of these modes are exactly like seasonal changes. Sometimes there is an increment of rajo-guna, sometimes of tamo-guna and sometimes sattva-guna.
Generally the demigods are surcharged with sattva-guna, and therefore when the demons and the demigods fight, the demigods are victorious because of the prominence of their sattva-guna qualities. However, this is not the partiality of the Supreme Lord.”
The second question raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja concerns how Śiśupāla, although inimical toward Kṛṣṇa from his very childhood and always blaspheming Kṛṣṇa, attained salvation in oneness when Kṛṣṇa killed him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that because of their offenses at the feet of devotees, two attendants of the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha named Jaya and Vijaya became Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa in Satya-yuga, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, and Śiśupāla and Dantavakra at the end of Dvāpara-yuga. Because of their fruitive acts, Jaya and Vijaya agreed to become the Lord’s enemies, and when killed in that mentality, they attained salvation in oneness. Thus even if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in envy, he attains salvation. What then is to be said of devotees who always engage in the Lord’s service with love and faith?
Since Lord Nārāyaṇa is absolute, His transcendental qualities are described as one. Thus His punishments and His offerings of favor are both of the same value. Essentially, His inimical actions are not displays of enmity toward His so-called enemies, but in the material field one thinks that Kṛṣṇa is favorable to devotees and unfavorable to nondevotees.
When Kṛṣṇa finally instructs in Bhagavad-gītā - "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear" - this is meant not only for Arjuna but for every living entity within this universe.
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 8
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Krishna.
In these verses it is assured that even if a person engaged in devotional service falls down, he is not degraded, but is placed in a position in which he will in due course of time remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As explained later, Gajendra was formerly King Indradyumna, and somehow or other in his next life he became King of the elephants.
Now Gajendra was in danger, and although he was in a body other than that of a human being, he remembered the stotra he had chanted in his previous life. Yatate ca tato bhuyah samsiddhau kuru-nandana. To enable one to achieve perfection, Krishna gives one the chance to remember Him again.
This is proved here, for although the King of the elephants, Gajendra, was put in danger, this was a chance for him to remember his previous devotional activities so that he could immediately be rescued by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is imperative, therefore, that all devotees in Krishna consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Krishna mantra, which is the maha-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintamani-prakara-sadmasu or the Nrsimha strotra (ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho yato yato yami tato nrsimhah).
Every devotee should practice in order to chant some mantra perfectly so that even though he may be imperfect in spiritual consciousness in this life, in his next life he will not forget Krishna consciousness, even if he becomes an animal.
Of course, a devotee should try to perfect his Krishna consciousness in this life, for simply by understanding Krishna and His instructions, after giving up this body one can return home, back to Godhead. Even if there is some falldown, practice of Krishna consciousness never goes in vain.
For example, Ajamila, in his boyhood, practiced chanting the name of Narayana under the direction of his father, but later, in his youth, he fell down and became a drunkard, woman-hunter, rogue and thief. Nonetheless, because of chanting the name of Narayana for the purpose of calling his son, whom he had named Narayana, he became advanced, even though he was involved in sinful activities.
Therefore, we should not forget the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra under any circumstances. It will help us in the greatest danger, as we find in the life of Gajendra.
The Lord’s activities of saving the devotees and annihilating the demons are transcendental. Anyone annihilated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead gets the same result as a devotee who is protected by the Lord; both of them are transcendentally promoted. The only difference is that a devotee goes directly to the spiritual planets and becomes an associate of the Supreme Lord, whereas demons are promoted to brahmaloka, the impersonal effulgence of the Lord. Both of them, however, are transcendentally promoted. The Lord’s killing or annihilating of the demons is not exactly like the killing of this material world. Although He appears to act within the modes of material nature, He is nirguṇa, above the modes of nature. His name is not material; otherwise how could one get liberation by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma? The names of the Lord like Rāma and Kṛṣṇa are nondifferent from the person Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Thus by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one constantly associates with Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore becomes liberated.
One should not consider the Supreme Lord an ordinary human being. Material names and forms are contaminated, but spiritual name and spiritual form are transcendental.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Your country is full of buses. Yasmin deśe yad ācaraḥ. Your country is of motorcar, so take advantage of motorcar and utilize it for Kṛṣṇa. That is the tactics. Not that “Oh, we have become Vaiṣṇava. We don’t touch motorcar. It is material.” This is not our philosophy. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. We can utilize everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa because we see everything Kṛṣṇa’s. If the motorcar is there, it is for Kṛṣṇa. That is our mission.
Prabhupāda: And the Bengali saying, dhula mati bhatta kare mata (?): “They are catching dust and it is turning into coin.” This proverb is there, dhula mati bhatta kare mato. He is thinking that I am taking some dust, but when it is in hand, it is coin. That is good time. And when it is bad time, if you catch coin and when it is in your hand, it is dust. We should think that time may also come. Yes. Because after all, it is Kṛṣṇa’s desire, turn dust into coin, to turn coin into dust. So we should be always careful. If we remain Kṛṣṇa conscious, then the coin will never turn into dust. Otherwise it can be turned.
Prabhupāda: The mind, ego, and mahat-tattva, eighteen, yes. And then five sense objects, the rūpa, rasa, form, taste, like that. Then twenty-three.
Jayatīrtha: The aggregate, pradhāna.
Prabhupāda: Pradhāna, and then the soul, twenty-five. Twenty-four and three guṇas. Three guṇas: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Twenty-seven. So twenty-seven layers of garbage. Underneath, the soul is. What he will do? He is a small particle, soul, and he is covered with so many material elements. To come out of it is very very difficult. But if one is engaged in devotional service he can come out immediately. Just like when one is spiritually perfect, he goes immediately to Kṛṣṇa, penetrating these material coverings of the universe. Immediately. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [Bg. 4.9], immediately. That is spiritual force.
Prabhupāda: Very good. Tūrṇaṁ yateta. We should try very fast before the next death comes. And death will come. So we shall prepare in such a way that before the next death comes, our, we finish our Kṛṣṇa consciousness business and go back to home, back to Godhead. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. This is perfection. Because if we wait for another birth, maybe we may not get. Even Bhārata Mahārāja, he also slipped. He became a deer. So we should always be vigilant that “We have got this opportunity, human form of life. Let us utilize it to the fullest extent and be fit for going back to home, back to Godhead.” That is intelligence. Not that “All right, I shall get again chance next birth.” That is not very good policy.
5:22 pm
-
my thoughts, exactly
one, and done
-
Srila Prabhupada..
Atheists think that devotees foolishly worship a stone statue as God and an ordinary man as the guru. The fact is, however, that by the grace of Kṛṣṇa’s omnipotence, the so-called stone statue of the Deity is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the body of the spiritual master is directly spiritual. A pure devotee who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service should be understood to be situated on the transcendental platform (sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg. 14.26]). Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.
Oṁkāra (praṇava) is the symbolic sound representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ: the three words oṁ tat sat immediately invoke the Supreme Person. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that He is oṁkāra in all the Vedic mantras (praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu). The Vedic mantras are pronounced beginning with oṁkāra to indicate immediately the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, for example, begins with the words oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. There is no difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, and oṁkāra (praṇava). We should be careful to understand that oṁkāra does not indicate anything nirākāra, or formless. Indeed, this verse immediately says, oṁ namo bhagavate. Bhagavān is a person. Thus oṁkāra is the representation of the Supreme Person. Oṁkāra is not meant to be impersonal. This is distinctly expressed here by the word puruṣāya. The supreme truth addressed by oṁkāra is puruṣa, the Supreme Person; He is not impersonal. Unless He is a person, how can He control the great, stalwart controllers of this universe?
This false idea of becoming one with the Lord is the last snare of the illusory energy, which traps a living entity into the bondage of forgetfulness under the spell of false ego.
SB 3.5.31, Translation and Purport:
The senses are certainly products of the mode of passion in false ego, and therefore philosophical speculative knowledge and fruitive activities are predominantly products of the mode of passion.
The chief function of the false ego is godlessness. When a person forgets his constitutional position as an eternally subordinate part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wants to be happy independently, he functions mainly in two ways. He first attempts to act fruitively for personal gain or sense gratification, and after attempting such fruitive activities for a considerable time, when he is frustrated he becomes a philosophical speculator and thinks himself to be on the same level as God. This false idea of becoming one with the Lord is the last snare of the illusory energy, which traps a living entity into the bondage of forgetfulness under the spell of false ego.
The last snare of the illusory, external energy is the conception of becoming one with the Lord, and due to this conception the illusioned soul remains in the bondage of material energy, falsely thinking himself a liberated soul and "as good as Nārāyaṇa."
Life on Other Planets
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Even on the sun and moon there are living entities. What is the opinion of the scientists?
Dr. Singh: They say there is no life there.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: That is nonsense. There is life there.
Dr. Singh: They say that there is no life on the moon because they did not find any there.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Why do they believe that? The moon planet is covered with dust, but within that dust the living entities can live. Every atmosphere is suitable for life—any atmosphere. Therefore the Vedas[1] describe the living entities as sarva-gataḥ, which means “existing in all circumstances.” The living entity is not material. Although encaged in a material body, he is not material. But when we speak of different atmospheres, we refer to different material conditions.
Karandhara: They say that the moon’s atmosphere is unsuitable for life, but all they can legitimately say is that it is unsuitable for life as they know it.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: The Vedas say that the living entity has no connection with material things. He cannot be burned, cut, dried up or moistened. This is discussed in Bhagavad-gītā.[2]
Dr. Singh: Scientists extend their knowledge about life on this planet, thinking that it must apply to life on other planets also.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. They are thinking foremost of their own selves. They are thinking limitedly, in terms of their own circumstances.
Dr. Singh: Then intelligence is relative.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Everything is relative. You have your body, your duration of life, and your intelligence, and the ant has his. Both we and the ant live for one hundred years, but the length of our hundred-year life-span is relative to our bodies. Even Brahmā, the longest-living entity in this universe, lives for one hundred years. To us the ant’s life-span may seem only a few days. In the same way, on other planets with atmospheres different from the earth’s, there are life-forms suited to those conditions. But the scientists try to view everything according to the relative conditions of planet earth. This is nonsense. Why are they doing that? If the whole cosmic manifestation follows the law of relativity, how can the scientist say that the conditions of this planet must apply to life on other planets? The Vedas instruct us that knowledge must always be considered in terms of deśa-kāla-pātra. Deśa means “circumstances,” kāla means “time,” and pātra means “the object.” We must understand everything by taking these three elements into consideration.
Similarly, God is great, but we are thinking of God in terms of relative greatness, greatness relative to our own. There are certain insects that are born at night, and they grow, bear offspring and die—all before daybreak. They never see the morning. So if they conclude that there is no morning, that is nonsense. In the same way, as soon as we hear from the śāstras [revealed scriptures] that Brahmā’s duration of life is equivalent to millions of our years, we do not believe it. We say, “How can it be?” But Bhagavad-gītā (8.17) says, sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ: “Four billion three hundred million earth years equal Brahmā’s twelve hours.”
This is the problem. Rascals and fools are passing as scholars, scientists and philosophers, and therefore the whole world is being misguided.
Sri Rupa Gosvami affirms herein that there are nine different kinds of devotional service, which are listed as hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, worshiping the Deity in the temple, praying, carrying out orders, serving Krishna as a friend and sacrificing everything for Him. Each and every one of these processes is so powerful that if anyone follows even one single one of them, he can achieve the desired perfection without fail. For example, if one is attached simply to hearing about the Lord and another is attached to chanting the glories of the name, both will achieve their desired goal in devotional service. In the Caitanya-caritamrita this has been explained. One may execute one, two, three or all the different processes of devotional service, and at the ultimate end he will achieve the desired goal of being established in devotional service.
With the first complete engagement, one becomes automatically detached from material contamination, and liberation becomes the maidservant of the devotee. This idea is confirmed by Bilvamangala Thakura. If one develops unalloyed devotion to the Lord, liberation will follow the devotee as his maidservant.
“Some scholars recommend that knowledge and renunciation are important factors for elevating oneself to devotional service. But actually that is not a fact. Actually, the cultivation of knowledge or renunciation, which are favorable for achieving a footing in Krishna consciousness, may be accepted in the beginning, but ultimately they may also come to be rejected, for devotional service is dependent on nothing other than the sentiment or desire for such service. It requires nothing more than sincerity.
It is the opinion of expert devotees that mental speculation and the artificial austerities of yoga practice may be favorable for becoming liberated from material contamination, but they will also make one’s heart harder and harder. They will not help at all in the progress of devotional service.
This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself: “One can understand Me only through devotional service.” In beginning His teaching of the Gita, the Lord said to Arjuna, “Because you are My devotee, I shall teach these secrets to you.” Vedic knowledge means ultimately to understand the Supreme Lord, and the process of entering into His kingdom is devotional service. That is accepted by all authentic scriptures. Mental speculators neglect the process of devotional service, and by simply trying to defeat others in philosophical research they fail to develop the ecstasy of devotion.
In the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 31, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Krishna says, “My dear Uddhava, for persons who are seriously engaged in My service, the cultivation of philosophical speculation and artificial renunciation are not very favorable. When a person becomes My devotee he automatically attains the fruits of the renunciation of material enjoyment, and he gets sufficient knowledge to understand the Absolute Truth.” That is the test of advancement in devotional service. A devotee cannot be in darkness, because the Lord shows him special favor and enlightens him from within.
Dwarka Under the Sea
BY: SUN STAFF
May 13, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) — A presentation on the legend of Sri Krsna's City of Dwarka, and archeological attempts to prove its location under the Arabian Sea. Aired by Discovery Science Channel in 2001, this documentary is peppered with the usual language of skeptical and atheistic science. But Krsna conscious devotion shines through, and the facts of Rao's explorations and discovery of the mudha token are very interesting.
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/05-12/news4254.htm
http://youtu.be/_VgolU-9R9I
Srila Prabhupada..
So ether, the sky, we cannot see, we cannot touch, we cannot smell. But we can hear the sound. As soon as there is sound, that, we know that there is ether or sky. The sound vibration… As we have got experience of this material sound and therefore the material sky, similarly, there is spiritual sound and there is spiritual sky. Without sky, there is no sound. So there is spiritual sky. We get information from śāstra: paravyoma. Vyoma is called sky, and there is another sky. This is material sky, what we have experience. There is spiritual sky. And about that spiritual realization, as this creation begins from the sky—ether, then air, then fire, and then water, then land, kṣitir āp tejo marud vyoma—similarly, the spiritual world also begins from the spiritual sky. After this sky ends, then the spiritual sky begins.
That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā, paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ: [Bg. 8.20] “There is another bhāva,” means nature, “that is sanātana nature, eternal nature.” This nature, this sky, is temporary. It has got a duration of life, maybe millions and trillions of years, but it is not permanent. It is emanating from the Supreme Lord’s breathing period. Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ [Bs. 5.48]. So after this sky, there is another sky, and the sound produced from that sky is oṁkāra and Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is the sound vibration from the spiritual sky. Therefore it is effective immediately. Just like you contact thousands of miles away—somebody is speaking, and you can contact by the sound vibration you catch up with your machine, radio machine—similarly, the sound vibration from the spiritual sky you can also receive. That is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has described this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, “not of this material sky.” Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, this is not a material sound.
So we can enter into the spiritual world, the spiritual sky. The spiritual sky is there. Sanātana. That is eternal. Sanātana. Everything eternal there. In the material world they are, everything, temporary, asat. And everything in the spiritual world, that is called sat. Oṁ tat sat. That is spiritual world. So the Vedic injunction is asato mā sad gama: “Try to transcend from this asat, material world, to go to the spiritual world, sat.” Oṁ tat sat. That is actually our business. In the human form of life this is the only business: “How to transfer me to the spiritual world.” Sanātana. “Because I am sanātana.” Jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ [Bg. 15.7]. Jīva is sanātana, eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. The jīva is never destroyed after the destruction or annihilation of this body. He is eternal. Nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. So this is our business, that “I am eternal. As Kṛṣṇa, God, is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], and I am part and parcel of sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, so as Kṛṣṇa is eternal, so I am also eternal.” The Vedic mantra says that nityo nityānām. Kṛṣṇa is nitya, eternal, and we are plural number, nityānām. Cetanaś cetanānām. Sat cit… So as Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, so we are also sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. The difference is: Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer, Viṣṇu is the maintainer, and we are maintained. We are not maintainer.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Religion also means science. People have wrongly taken religion to mean faith—“I believe.” [To a devotee:] Look up the word religion in the dictionary.
Disciple: Under religion the dictionary says, “recognition of superhuman control or power, and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience, and effecting such recognition with the proper mental attitude.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Religion means learning how to obey the supreme controller. So, you may be Christian and I may be Hindu; it doesn’t matter. We must both accept that there is a supreme controller. Everyone has to accept that; that is real religion. Not this “We believe animals have no soul.” That is not religion.
Most religious people say, “We believe...” But what is the value of this belief? You may believe something which is not actually correct. For instance, some of the Christian people say, “We believe that animals have no soul.” That is not correct. They believe animals have no soul because they want to eat the animals.
Religion means scientific understanding of the supreme controller: to understand the supreme controller and obey Him — that’s all.
Mike Robinson: I see. Can you tell me what you believe to be the meaning of life? Why do we exist in the first place?
Śrīla Prabhupāda: The meaning of life is to enjoy. But now you are on a false platform of life, and therefore you are suffering instead of enjoying. Everywhere we see the struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling, but what is their enjoyment in the end? They are simply suffering and dying. Therefore, although life means enjoyment, at the present moment your life is not enjoyment. But if you come to the real, spiritual platform of life, then you’ll enjoy.
First faith, association with devotees (vani - vapu), then removal of all misgivings, then firm faith, then taste, then God realization, and then love of God, the perfection.
That is first-class religion. Not some ritualistic ceremony of “I believe, you believe.” That is not religion. That is cheating. Real religion means to develop your love for God. That is the perfection of religion.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.14
TRANSLATION
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has innumerable energies, and all these energies are divine. Although the living entities are part of His energies and are therefore divine, due to contact with material energy their original superior power is covered. Being thus covered by material energy, one cannot possibly overcome its influence. As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history. Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior, material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: māyāḿ tu prakṛtiḿ vidyān māyinaḿ tu maheśvaram. "Although māyā [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of māyā is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Maheśvara, the supreme controller." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.10)
“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.” (Bg. 4.9)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: God is saying, “Anyone who understands Me is free from birth and death.” But one cannot understand God by materialistic speculation. That is not possible. One must first come to the spiritual platform. Then he gets the intelligence required to understand God. And when he understands God, he does not get any more material bodies. He goes back home, back to Godhead. He lives eternally; no more change of body.
Mike Robinson: I see. Now, you’ve read twice from your scriptures. Where do these scriptures come from? Can you briefly explain that?
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Our scriptures are coming from Vedic literature, which has existed from the beginning of creation. Whenever there is some new material creation—like this microphone, for instance—there is also some literature explaining how to deal with it. Isn’t that so?
Mike Robinson: Yes, that’s right, there is.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: And that literature comes along with the creation of the microphone.
Mike Robinson: That’s right, yes.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: So, similarly, the Vedic literature comes along with the cosmic creation, to explain how to deal with it.
Śrīla Prabhupāda: We take guidance from the Vedic literature.
Mike Robinson: From the scriptures you quoted?
Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, it’s all in the literatures. We’re explaining them in English. But we’re not manufacturing anything. If we were to manufacture knowledge, then everything would be spoiled. The Vedic literature is something like the literature that explains how to set up this microphone. It says, “Do it like this: some of the screws should be on this side, around the metal.” You cannot make any change; then everything would be spoiled. Similarly, because we are not manufacturing anything, one simply has to read one of our books, and he receives real spiritual knowledge.
All material creeds under the name of socialism, communism, communalism, nationalism, altruism, bolshevism, Leninism, Gandhism, Christianism, Hinduism, Muhammadanism, or any other hundred and thousands of isms are different manifestations of the divine nature adulterated with materialism. Divine nature is spiritualism and is completely free from all the above-mentioned materialism and therefore Spiritualism is pure and simple Love of Godhead.
The only qualification that is necessary for attaining the topmost spiritual bliss is first and foremost to give up completely the idea of merging into the identity of the Absolute.
When the puffed up idea of becoming one with the Lord is given up one is sure to become a humble and meek personality before the Lord and this submissive attitude makes him qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God. By submissive aural reception of the powerful messenger of the Lord or His bonafide representative the ācārya who is a self-realized soul, one is sure to be awakened by his original spiritual consciousness which is inborn quality of every living being that remains in dormant condition even in the primitive form of human being. Even the savage and uncivilized groups of men bow down to the order of the Supreme Powerful. As such they worship the emblems of theism on the form of thunderbolt, big ocean, big mountain or any other gigantic natural phenomenon. The dormant inborn quality of obedience to the Supreme is present in primitive condition means it is quite natural to the human being but with the advancement of so-called civilized form of life this dormant quality of human being is killed by bad association and artificial standard of conventions of the so-called civilized man.
This is happened specially on account of the Avidyananda sannyāsīs now unproportionately increased by the grace of the Kali. Such sannyāsī's one-sided preaching of one with the Absolute makes the common man a puffed up being and although Śrīpada Śaṅkarācārya adopted the method to serve some particular purpose as ordered by the Lord, just to bring in the most materialist persons to the stage of renunciation and to prove the nonimportance of the material nature, at the present moment the whole procedure is miscarried and the preaching sannyāsīs themselves enjoy in the highest standard of material comfort while preaching the nullity of the same. And all the gods(?) are being more and more pressed by the laws of nature by such false propaganda. This rabid habit of posing oneself as a God has done tremendous harm to the people at large and as a result of this they are now more passionate than ever before. This attitude is not only harmful in this life but also it is very much risky for the next and what to speak of salvation as dreamt by those misguided men. How these irresponsible men are being hurled into the ocean of material miseries is correctly pictured in the Bhagavad-gītā [Bg. 16.19-20]
"There is definitely a decline in the form of religiosity. The Personality of Godhead cannot remain silent. The eternal servant of God in a state of forgetfulness does not any more try to go Back to Godhead. And for this the merciful Lord in a compassionate mood has causelessly descended to reclaim the fallen souls. Out of His causeless mercy He is calling back all of us towards our eternal home. He (the Lord) says that nobody has any more to enter in to the hills or forest for meditation or to perform austere penances.
Here is for you the word of deliverance; you can simply ask for it from Me and it is yours. Just remember your eternal Lord.
And He has sent His representatives also for this deliverance of the fallen souls. All such representatives are fully empowered by the Lord. And because they have descended with deligated power they are called Avatar (or the servants with deligated powers) It is the order of the Lord that everyone of us, inspired by that order, must move from door to door of the eternal servants, who are in slumber of forgetfulness for awakening them. And the awakening process is to chant the message of the Lord or the message of liberation. For this purpose only, has come down Nadia's Nimai" etc.
Within this small passage, the whole mission of the paper "Back to Godhead" is inculcated as if some body has forced Shri Sircar's pen to write down the manifesto of "Back to Godhead." The message of Nadia's Nimai, Who was later on known as Lord Chaitanya, is potentially expressed by Shri Sircar. The Lord (Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) said that every one born in India must perfectify his life by His instruction and then distribute the same message to the whole world for bringing in real peace and prosperity.
The people of the world are almost cent percent forgetful of their eternal relation with the Personality of Godhead. They have forgotten their constitutional position as eternal servant of God and by such forget fulness everyone is trying to become a tiny God by himself! By doing so the illusioned soul is putting himself more and more under the strigent trident of His (God's) external potency Mahamaya Who is equally strong like God, to put down the rebellious audacity of the Ashuras headed by Mahishasura. The descendants of Mahisasura Ravana etc. have increased in a numberless quantity but the mother Chandika has insurmountable weapons to punish this rebellious attitude of the false gods. The false gods who wants to enjoy Sita or Laxmi of Narayana are sure to be vanquished by the material energy of God. Presently the atomic weapons are created for such Ashuras. And Persons who are intelligent enough, must take shelter of the lotus feet of Shre Krishna so that one can get rid of the powerful weapons of Durga the superintending goddess of the material world. She cannot be hoodwinked by clever manoeuvres Do not try therefore to enjoy the material world and be punished by Her (Mahamaya). On the contrary try to serve the Lord by all energy (Shakti) that you have because it is all God's property that you falsely claim to be yours. This is called surrender unto the Personality of Godhead. And whoever so surrenders, becomes liberated from the rules of Mahamaya—as it is confirmed in the Bhagwat Gita.
"The laws of the material energy is insurmountably hard and stringent and no body can surpass them by the tiny efforts. The only way out is to surrender unto Me (Shri Krishna the Personality of Godhead) and thus get rid of the trident rod (Trisula) of Mahamaya. The conclusion is that effective Shakti-Pujah is resulted in the attainment of transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead. That is the highest stage of Mukti or liberation. Except this everything is bondage. Om Tat Sat.
Srila Prabhupada..
Even nowadays there are so many scholars... They want swamis. They do not accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even nowadays, what to speak of then? Even at the present moment. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā, and they are trying to kill Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is their business, killing... Kaṁsa's business. Kaṁsa was trying killing Kṛṣṇa, always thinking, "how to kill Kṛṣṇa?" So so many Bhagavad-gītā commentators, scholars, their only business is how to drive away Kṛṣṇa from Bhagavad-gītā. That is their... They do not give on the personality of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I have several times told you. Even scholars like Dr. Rādhā-Krishnan, he says like that, "It is not to Kṛṣṇa, person." Why? Why this demonic attitude? How you can get help from Kṛṣṇa? That is... We are discussing now, daivī-sampāt and āsuri-sampāt. Āsuri-sampāt means to kill Kṛṣṇa. That's all, to wipe out Kṛṣṇa from Bhagavad-gītā and bring something else. Six hundred and sixty-four editions of Bhagavad-gītā. This is going on. Prasāda.
Why I came to your country in this old age? That is service. To be Kṛṣṇa conscious, that's the best service. Without any distinction of caste, creed, country, color. No. Everyone should have Kṛṣṇa. This is the best service. Go everywhere, every part of the world, and give Kṛṣṇa. That is the best service you can do. And actually, they are now feeling, because they are Indians. Even in India, where there are so many devotees of Kṛṣṇa, but when they saw "These American devotees are so nice," thirty thousand people were coming daily. And what was our magic? This man was asking me, "Swamiji, what magic you have got?" I said, "I have got this magic that I don't tell lie. I don't make 'This rascal is God.' God is Kṛṣṇa. That is my magic. I don't bluff people. Here is God. See God, be with God, serve God. That's my business." Why God should be unseen? You see Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa says that "I am taste of the water," while you are drinking water, tasting, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa." As soon as you see sunshine, moonshine, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa." As soon as there is a nice flavor, "Oh, here is Kṛṣṇa."
These are all described in the Bhagavad-gītā, Seventh Chapter.
Srila Prabhupada..
Here is the picture of Sri Krishna, with his eternal consort Srimati Radharani, His pleasure potency. In this material world, the reflection of Sri Krishna and His pleasure potency exists pervertedly. As one can see in the picture, Sri Krishna is always consorting with Srimati Radharani. His features are described in Vedic literature: He stands in a very nice curved posture, blowing His flute. This picture is not drawn from artistic imagination. It is a descriptive painting from the Vedic literature. This description is in the Vedic literature.
So, in the material world there is the perverted reflection of Sri Krishna's Pastime with Radharani. It is not sex life as we have it, although it appears to be like that. It is transcendental. But that which we are after here—that is real. A young man wants a young woman, and a young woman wants a young man—this is natural. This is not artificial. It is natural because we are all part and parcel of that Supreme Being, Krishna. His attitude is in me because I am His part and parcel, just as the quality of gold is present in the minute particles of the gold. The chemical composition of gold is one hundred per cent present in a small particle of gold. Qualitatively. Therefore the enjoyment which we want between man and women is not a perversion of love and friendship. It is simply a perverted reflection. The real enjoyment is awakened in association with the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. It is the same pleasure, but is in its pure form. That same bliss is there for you, but don't become entangled in this perverted form of enjoyment. Don't remain asleep. Don't remain in this dreaming condition. Have the real thing. Awaken from the dream. That is the message of the Vedas.
Therefore, Lord Sri Krishna says that one who has learned how to control the senses is called swami. To a controlled person, worldly activities are darkness. Those who are situated in pure consciousness see that people who work hard simply for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending—these people are sleeping. And, to the persons who are engaged in these material activities, we are sleeping. They see that Swamiji has come to America to preach something to make us inactive. He is just trying to drag us from our general engagement, and he's trying to engage us in the process of Kirtan and hearing Bhagavad Gita, and wasting time. So, they believe we are sleeping. Somebody may think, these poor fellows have gathered here to waste their time in discussing something dry, which has no meaning, which is not bringing forth anything. Let us have some business discussion, so that we can gain something from it. We see that these people are sleeping and they that we are sleeping.
Now, actually, who is sleeping? He is awake who comes to the platform of consciousness that I am not this body—I am consciousness. One is awake who has understood this simple fact, that I am not this body, I am consciousness. Without consciousness, my body is useless. Therefore, I am actually consciousness. I am pure soul, and the symptom of my presence is consciousness. I am not this body. When I think deeply, I can understand that this is my body. This is not I, body. This is my body. So, one who has understood this—he is awake.
Now, the whole process described in the Bhagavad Gita is to be awake. You are pure consciousness—spirit soul. And, not only to be awake, but to act accordingly, so that, at the ultimate end, your pure consciousness may be liberated from this bodily entanglement. Then you'll get your healthy life. This is a disease, this material life. This material body is the symptom of my diseased form of life.
Prabhupāda: Transcendental knowledge means knowledge received from a source which is beyond the reach of my material senses. That is transcendental. Just like we are reading Bhagavad-gītā. So we have no knowledge that there is a spiritual world, but Kṛṣṇa says that there is another nature, a spiritual nature, beyond this material nature. So we understand through the source of transcendental knowledge. We cannot experience. That is explained, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. God, His name, His qualities, His pastimes—nothing can be understood by these material senses. But if you engage yourself in service, they become revealed. That will become confirmed: "Yes, there is Vaikuṇṭha, there is Vṛndāvana, where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are going on, and I am perceiving myself." These things become revealed gradually, not abruptly you can understand. Therefore common men cannot understand that they say " 'Going back to home, back to Godhead?' What nonsense they are saying?" They cannot understand, because it is transcendental, beyond the reach of these gross senses. But it is revealed: sevonmukhe. If you become submissive, if you engage yourself in the service of the Lord, guru-Kṛṣṇa, and the spiritual master, then these things become revealed. Now one who has got the knowledge by revelation, nobody can mislead him. Just like we believe in the transcendental abode, cintāmaṇi, Goloka Vṛndāvana. If somebody pays out millions of dollars and asks you to forget all these things, we cannot do that. If you give him hundreds and thousands of dollars, that "You believe in this," no, he will not believe. That is transcendental knowledge. So transcendental knowledge is not speculation. It is receiving from higher authority and gradually, by your service attitude, things become clear to you. That is transcendental.
Śyāmasundara: Before, we were discussing Descartes and Hume. Descartes expressed that all knowledge comes through innate ideas, and Hume said just the opposite: "No. All knowledge comes from sense experience." So Kant is trying to unify the two ideas.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Sense experience. Sense experience means purified sense experience. That is seva. Just like I am seeing here Kṛṣṇa, but others will see a stone. So he is also seeing with his eyes; I am also seeing with the eyes, but my eyes are different from his eyes. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena [Bs. 5.38]. When the eyes are anointed with love of God, ointment of love of God, then he can see. Just like if one's eyes are diseased, if he applies some eye ointment, or lotion, then he sees. So the same senses, the same eyes, unless they are treated and purified, he cannot understand or he cannot see or he cannot know.
Prabhupāda: We are seeking eternity. I find myself as a soul; I am eternal; so I must seek an eternal world. This is not my place. I am eternal. The same example: just like fish taken from the water, he is not finding comfortable life. So when the fish is thrown in the water, then it is comfortable. Similarly, I am spirit soul. I am not feeling comfortable with this material body. Therefore the right conclusion is how to go to the spiritual world or attain a spiritual body. That information we are getting from Bhagavad-gītā, that one who understands Kṛṣṇa or develops his love for Kṛṣṇa, how to see Kṛṣṇa, then he gets a spiritual body to see Kṛṣṇa.
Because if one is very much anxious, these thoughts will continue, and at the time of his death, ending this body, if he is filled up with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is immediately transferred. That is assured in the Bhagavad-gītā by Kṛṣṇa. So our business should be: Kṛṣṇa is eternal; Kṛṣṇa says, "I have spoken to sun-god, forty millions of years ago." Arjuna says, "How is that?" and He says that "That is the nature: I do not forget, you forget."
And śāstra also confirms, sat-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ. So if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you get also a similar body like Kṛṣṇa. If you get a material body, why not a spiritual body? It requires simply a process, how to get a spiritual body. So these things they do not know.
The Real Peace Formula
Every living entity is searching after peace. Everyone, from the aquatics to the highest form of human being, from the ant up to Brahma, the first creature of this universe, is searching after peace. That search is the main objective of life, and it constitutes the very struggle for existence. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that the only peaceful man is he who is in full Krishna consciousness, for he has no demands. He is akarmi, which means he does not suffer the reactions of his activities, that he has no desire, is self-sufficient and has nothing to ask. Such a person, fully situated in Krishna consciousness, is completely peaceful.
Everyone else falls into three other classes—bhuktis, muktis, and yogis. The bhuktis hanker after material happiness and enjoyment. These are the people who want to eat, drink, be merry and enjoy a life of the senses. There are different modes of enjoyment according to the body, and people are searching after sense enjoyment on this planet, on other planets, here, there, and everywhere. The main objective of this pursuit is simply to gratify the senses. Such are the bhuktis. The next class, a little more elevated, is the mukti class, those who, fatigued and frustrated by sense gratification, desire liberation from material entanglement. These Salvationists, however, also have some desire—the desire to be free from this material entanglement. The yogis, the third class, are busy searching after mystic perfection. There are eight kinds of mystic perfection which grant one the ability to become smaller than the smallest, heavier than the heaviest, lighter than the lightest, etc. Ordinary persons who are after sense gratification, and those who are Salvationists, and those who are after mystic perfection—all have some demand. This is not true of the devotees, however. They have no demands because they simply want to serve Krishna. They are awaiting the order of Krishna, and that is their satisfaction. If Krishna tells them to go to hell, they are prepared to go, and if He says, “You come to me,” they are also prepared to go. Because they have attained the perfect ional stage, they have no demands.
It is because we are in material bondage that we have so many demands. The masses of people simply want sense gratification, and those who are a little more advanced want mental satisfaction, and those who are even more refined strive to show some magical power in this world. All of these are in material bondage in different ways. Therefore a person who is Krishna conscious prays to the Lord: “My dear Lord, when shall I be fully absorbed in Your thoughts or Your service? When shall I be simply conscious of You and free from all mental demands?” Being absorbed in the thought of Krishna is not simply being absorbed in some abstract, concocted speculation. It is actual meditation on the Supreme Person that is indicated. By such meditation, all mental concoction and desires are completely eradicated.
At present we are hovering over the mental plane. The mind is constantly driving us to go here and go there, and it is to our benefit that we stop taking dictations from it. In order to do this, we have to establish ourselves in our constitutional relationship with Krishna as His servant. “I shall simply be Your eternal servitor,” we should think. “And I shall be very cheerful, for I have my master.”
Yet there are many difficulties which arise when we begin to take to Krishna consciousness. For example, Prahlada Maharaja, although five years old and a pet child, found that his father became his enemy and tried to kill him just because he was a devotee of the Lord’s. This is the way of the world; as soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he finds so many obstacles presenting themselves. But one should be assured that these obstacles will not be serious hindrances or impediments on the path. Despite all obstacles, we should always be personally prepared to become Krishna conscious, otherwise we can only turn to the kingdom of maya, illusion. Maya will try to defeat us as soon as she sees that a living soul is leaving her grip, but as soon as we become Krishna conscious and fully surrender unto the Supreme Lord, we have nothing more to fear from this illusion. Therefore the Krishna conscious person is a perfectly peaceful person.
Everyone wants peace in the world, but no one knows how to attain it. The defect in the philosophy of the peace marchers was noted by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he said, “You want the kingdom of God without God.” If we at all want peace, we have to understand that peace means knowing God. This is stated in Bhagavad-gita. Unless we are in touch with the Supreme Lord, Krishna, we cannot have peace, for this is the real key to the peace formula. The real peace formula is that one must know that God is the proprietor of all this universe, including the United States, Russia, China, India, etc. Because we claim that we are the proprietors, there is fighting, discord and disagreement. In such consciousness, how can there be peace? We first must accept the fact that God is the proprietor of everything and that we are simply guests on this planet for at most one hundred years. We come and we go, and while we are here, we are absorbed in the thought that “This is my land. This is my family. This is my body. This is my property.” We do not stop to consider that when there is an order from the Supreme, we will have to leave this home, body, property, family, money, bank balance, etc. Our position has to be totally vacated. When material nature takes us in her grip at death and offers different kinds of bodies, she says, “Now my dear sir, you accept this body.” In this way we are forced to accept an American body, Indian body, Chinese body, cat’s body, dog’s body, etc. We’re not even the proprietors of these bodies, yet we are claiming to be these bodies. This is all due to ignorance. In such ignorance, where is the possibility of peace? Peace can only be had when we understand that God is the proprietor of everything. Our friends, family and relatives are guests of time. When we accept this knowledge, we will have peace.
We are searching for a friend to give us peace and tranquility, and that friend is Krishna, God. If we would just make friends with Him, we will find that everyone is our friend. God is situated in everyone’s heart, and if we make friends with Him, He will dictate from within so that we will be treated in a friendly way. If we make friends with the police commissioner, we will receive some advantages, or if we make friends with the president, so many people will be our friend. Similarly, if we make friends with God, everyone will be our friend. If everyone understands that God is everyone’s friend and that He is the supreme proprietor, the world will become peaceful. This is the verdict of Lord Chaitanya’s.
On 'Tropical Zodiac in Vedic Astrology'
BY: SHYAMASUNDARA DASA
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-12/editorials8603.htm
Srila Prabhupada..
So from the river… The saintly persons, they depended mostly on the riverside. Anywhere they will put a cottage on the river… Still that is going on. A saintly person, if he wants to remain in a secluded place, so they select any place on the riverside, have a small cottage. Still you’ll find in many places, especially on the bank of the Ganges, Narmadā, Godāvarī, Kāverī. There are many saintly persons, especially on the bank of Yamunā and Ganges. If you go to Allahabad, you’ll find they are living very peacefully, a small cottage on the bank of the Ganges.
When Nārada Muni made the hunter a disciple, so he dragged him to the riverside, Ganges, and gave him a tulasī plant, that: “You sit down here and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. And the tulasī plant is here. You offer obeisances.” Then he was very much anxious because he was hunter. He has been stopped, his main business, killing business. So he was thinking that “My Guru Mahārāja may not cheat me. He has stopped my business. He has broken my bows and arrows. And now he has dragged me here to sit down and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.” Then he asked, “What about my food, sir? I’ll sit down here or…” Nārada Muni assured him that “Don’t bother. I’ll send you your food. You sit down here. You chant, and I will send your food.” So he was little doubtful. Anyway, this news, as soon as the news spread in the neighboring places that “A hunter has become a Vaiṣṇava,” so out of curiosity, people used to come to see the hunter-Vaiṣṇava. The hunter… When one is Vaiṣṇava, he’s no longer a hunter or belonging to the any caste. But people used to say “the hunter-Vaiṣṇava.”
So it is the custom of gṛhasthas that when a gṛhastha goes to see a saintly person, he should bring some gifts. Never mind however insignificant is. At least one palmful of rice or ḍāl or ātara, put there. Give something. If one comes to the temple… Here are many temples in India still. People come there with… One who hasn’t got many things, but he brings one palmful of ātara or rice or ḍāl. This is useful. And in the temple there are three pots. They put ḍāl in the ḍāl, ātara in the ātara, and rice in the rice. So in this way the inmates of the temple, they can live without going outside. But people have lost such habit. They come empty-handed—“darśana”—that “I’ll not give you anything, but you are a saintly person. Give me darśana, and give me your āśirvāda, and then I enjoy my senses. That’s all. Nothing to give you, but you give me your āśirvāda. You give me the dust of your feet. I become benefited. You starve.” But (chuckling) that is not the process.
(Excerpts from the Epic Ramayana)
Oh Man, I am the demon warrior Indrajit, hard to see. I fight invisibly, hidden by enchantment from your sight. I attack behind the wild winds of evil thought. I put out many lights left unguarded. I know you, and good deeds done in life are your only shield when you must die and go alone past me to another world. You may hide at night from the Sun, but never from your own heart--where lives Lord Narayana (Vishnu). The entire worlds are watching your deeds, and therefore forgiveness is Dharma.
Valmiki the Poet looked down into the water held cupped in his hand and saw into the past. Before he looked, he thought the world was sweet poison. Men seemed to be living in lies, not knowing where their ways went. The days seemed made of ignorance and doubt, and cast from deception and illusion. But in the water he saw--a dream, a chance, and a great adventure. Valmiki trusted the True and forgot the rest; he found the whole universe like a bright jewel set firm in forgiving and held fast by love.
Widen your heart. Abandon anger. Believe me, your few days are numbered; make one fast choice now and no second!
Come, clear your heart and quickly walk with me into Brahma, while there is time.
I feel unfit to associate with the Vedas; physically, mentally, or spiritually. Insufficient to consciously be in the presence of the Supreme Personality.
But then! ... The rare sparkling moments of transcendental taste in tears of gratitude, faith and budding love.
So I remain.
Sri Ganga-puja
India-May 31, 2012
Sri Ganga-puja, also known as Sri Ganga-dushara (she who removes inauspiciousness), appears in the month of Jyestha (May/June) on the 10th day of Sukla-paksa, or the waxing fortnight of the full moon. On this day, Maharaja Bhagiratha's desire of bringing Ganga to this mortal world was finally fulfilled as the sacred river descended from Lord Siva's blessed head at Mount Kailasa. The River Ganga then flowed through the Himalayas behind Maharaja Bhagiratha's chariot and entered Jahnu Rsi's asrama. Afterwards, he successfully let the Ganga go to Rasatala, in the lower planetary system, to liberate the sixty-thousand sons of King Sagara.
As stated in the Narada Purana (Uttara-bhaga 40.21):
"It was on the tenth day in the bright half of the month of Jyestha, when the day of the week was Tuesday and the constellation was Hasta, Ganga descended to the mortal world."
Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi, or the descendent of Bhagiratha.
Sri Ganga-devi continually appears in her unlimited pastimes for the pleasure of the devotees. Regardless which day one accepts as the appearance day of Ganga, or the day the river descended onto this planet, Mother Ganga's pastimes are always appearing throughout the three worlds, which is one reason she is known as Tripathaga Ganga.
Srila Prabhupada mentioned that we shouldn't give more importance to the ‘when' or ‘where' of an appearance, but ‘WHY' that personality appears.
Song Name: Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna Jaya Vrindavana
Official Name: Sri Vraja Dhama Mahimamrita
Sung by: HDG Srila Prabhupada
Author: Krishna Dasa
http://youtu.be/iE_1iE7dqas
Full of Anxiety
Srila Prabhupada..
So this is our position. We may be very great man in the estimation of our friends and countrymen, but everyone is subjected to the miserable condition of life. They cannot make any solution. That is not possible. They have made a solution, big, big learned scholars, just that Mr. Kotovsky said, "Swamiji, after death, there is no life. Everything is finished." Unless they think like that, then life becomes more horrible, full of anxieties. If they think of that there is another life and there is punishment and reward, according to our karma, then their life is very horrible. So just like the animals, poor animal, sometimes facing enemy, close the eyes, as if there is no enemy, so they do like that, close the eyes. Children, when there is danger, they close the eyes. They have no other means to escape. So these people, they close the eyes. "There is no life after death." Otherwise they cannot accommodate.
Just like Professor Kotovsky, such a big professor, he says, "There is no life after death." He's a rascal number one. What is the meaning of this education? He does not know that the soul is eternal, and therefore Bhagavad-gita teaches first, dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam... Na hanyate hanyamane sarire. "First of all understand this: soul is eternal; you are eternal; you do not die, after the annihilation..." This is the first education. And these rascals, they say there is no life after death. So how much educated they are you can understand. They are all rascals. And you may open big, big colleges, institution, providing some rascal professor, rascal student, and beg the whole life, and sacrifice everything. It is useless. Srama eva hi kevalam, simply wasting time.
Srama eva hi kevalam. You can do your duties very nicely, very good, dharmah svanusthitah, but if you do not develop your, I mean to say, attachment for Krsna... Vasudeva-katha rucih. "Oh, here krsna-katha is going on. Topics on Krsna is going on. Let me hear it." Just like here. We are talking of Krsna; nobody is coming. Nobody is coming. Only few selected. Vasudeva-katha rucih. There is no taste for hearing krsna-katha. So such kind of education, advancement of civilization, is srama eva hi kevalam, simply wasting time. And if you waste your time in such foolish activity, then there will be anxiety, there will be disease, there will be enemies, there will be disturbance--everything, one after another, one after another. Natural disturbance, disturbance by other living creatures, disturbance by your body. So this world will become hell. This is the position.
Tropical Zodiac, Pt. 2
BY: SHYAMASUNDARA DASA
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/06-12/editorials8633.htm
GOMATI!
Lord Chaitanya, being Krishna Himself, told an astrologer:
“In My last birth, I was born in the family of cowherd men, and I gave protection to the calves and cows. Because of such pious activities, I have now become the son of a brahmana.” (C.C.Madhya 17.111)
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.16.10, Krsna Himself states, “The brahmanas, the cows, and the defenseless creatures are My own body.”
Srila Prabhupada further comments (SB 1.17.3, purport) that indeed it is a law of nature that one can earn happiness by pleasing the bull and the cow. When the bull and cow are in a joyful mood, it is to be understood that the people of the world are also in a joyous mood.
“The bull and cow are symbols of the most offenseless living beings because even the stool and urine of these animals are utilized in human society.” (SB 1.17.13, purport)
Bharat Chandra das narrated the story of how Lakshmi devi came to reside in the body of the cow. Seeing all the demigods having been awarded a particular dwelling place in the body of mother cow, Lakshmi devi also desired to reside in her. Although initially refused, after repeated insistences from Lakshmi devi, mother cow explained that the only place left where she could reside was in her dung. Since Lakshmi devi Herself resides in cow dung, cow dung is considered the greatest of wealth, a goldmine.
“The principal sign of Kali-yuga is that lower class sudras, or men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation will be dressed like administrators or kings and the main business of such rulers will be to kill the innocent animals—especially the cows and bulls who shall be unprotected by the bona fide vaisyas.” (SB 1.17.1, purport)
The Gomati-vidya by Parasurama says:
“Wherever the thirsty cow drinks water from, that body of water is as good as the Ganga, Yamuna, Sindhu, or Sarasvati. In the body of the cows, all holy places and rivers are present. Lakshmidevi resides in cow dung. Simply by the cow’s touch and sight, she purifies all living entities. Among all purified objects, she is most pure, and among all auspicious objects, she is the most auspicious.”
The yoga system instructed in this chapter is called sanātana-yoga, or eternal activities performed by the living entity. This yoga has two divisions of sacrificial actions: one is called sacrifice of one's material possessions, and the other is called knowledge of self, which is pure spiritual activity. If sacrifice of one's material possessions is not dovetailed for spiritual realization, then such sacrifice becomes material. But one who performs such sacrifices with a spiritual objective, or in devotional service, makes a perfect sacrifice. When we come to spiritual activities, we find that these are also divided into two: namely, understanding of one's own self (or one's constitutional position), and the truth regarding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who follows the path of the Gītā as it is can very easily understand these two important divisions of spiritual knowledge. For him there is no difficulty in obtaining perfect knowledge of the self as part and parcel of the Lord. And such understanding is beneficial for such a person who easily understands the transcendental activities of the Lord.
One should, therefore, follow the path of Bhagavad-gītā as it is expressed in the Gītā itself and beware of self-interested people after personal aggrandizement who deviate others from the actual path. The Lord is definitely the supreme person, and His activities are transcendental. One who understands this is a liberated person from the very beginning of his study of the Gītā.
Sannyāsīs sometimes artificially think that they have become liberated from all material duties, and therefore they cease to perform agnihotra yajñas (fire sacrifices), but actually they are self-interested because their goal is becoming one with the impersonal Brahman. Such a desire is greater than any material desire, but it is not without self-interest. Similarly, the mystic yogī who practices the yoga system with half-open eyes, ceasing all material activities, desires some satisfaction for his personal self. But a person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness works for the satisfaction of the whole, without self-interest. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and thus he is the perfect sannyāsī, or perfect yogī. Lord Caitanya, the highest perfectional symbol of renunciation, prays in this way:
"O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth."
Anyone who doubts love of God is still extant in Kali yuga has only to notice India and its devotees.
Though India too is caught in the Kali yuga degradation, Sanatana Dharma eternally reminds, instructs, encourages and supports all jivas, no matter their positions.
------------------------------
Debasnan Purnima Draws Huge Crowd of Devotees
to Puri..
Jun 05, 2012 — JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Spiritualism reached a crescendo as a sea of humanity turned up at Puri to witness the annual Debasnana Purnima at Jagannath temple on Monday. Devotees made a beeline in front of the 12th century shrine from early morning to view Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra being given ceremonial bath. Debasnan purnima is a major festival observed prior to Rath Yatra, which is held this year on June 21st.
After being escorted out of the temple's sanctum sanctorum, the Deities were ferried to the bathing altar located at the outer temple complex, facing the Grand Road, amid a pompous procession (pahandi). Refrains of Hare Krsna Hare Rama, Jai Jagannath Jai Balabhadra Jai Subhadra reverberated through the air as the transcendental Sibling were given ceremonial bath following completion of a set of the proscribed rituals.
-----------------------------
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/06-12/news4282.htm
Instructions to the Mind on the Process of Bhajan
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur discourse, July 12, 1936, The Gaudiya Math, Calcutta.
We jivas are really poor, no doubt. We are poor jivas but we are not poor Narayanas. (To identify Narayana Who is the permanent Possessor of all wealth, with a poor jiva, is an absurdity.) Our poverty should be diminished. And to that end, wealth should be accumulated. Wealth of what kind? It is wealth of Krishna-prema, i.e. causeless love for the Absolute Truth-Krishna. And for this, we should pray to Him in the same way as a Vaishnava mahajana prays, in the following lines:
"Life without Love is useless and poor they say,
Appoint me in Thy service, Oh Lord with Love as my pay."
Our prayer should be of the aforesaid nature. We naturally begin to feel dislike for everything but Krishna as soon as we feel necessity for Krishna-prema. In absence of this, other tendencies and considerations take firm hold of our mind, exhorting us to be great workers, forgetful of the main object of the Pancharatra.
Now, what course should we adopt, with regard to our propaganda work in England? Mahaprabhu enjoins us to proclaim His Name, throughout the length and breadth of this world-from small hamlets to big cities. Gross, worldly names are being in vogue, everywhere at present; let the Transcendental Name be henceforth proclaimed all over the world.
Now, as to the manner in which that work is to be carried out. A self-conceited or vain-glorious man can never successfully carry on propaganda work. How will it be possible for him? For, the Absolute Truth never manifests Itself to a vain-glorious man, who looks upon himself as the only preacher of truths. Such a man can do no good to the world. Of such persons some will be fond of prohibited food as available at Kalighat. Some will be malicious patriots engrossed with considerations of their own advantages, as opposed to others' interests; while others will be in the clutches of self-enjoying propensities or its opposite-renunciating tendencies with a view to have, respectively, self-emolument or salvation; and the rest will make pretended show of bhakti. But none of them will have the least idea of the Absolute Truth divested of the slightest trace of insincerity and maliciousness.
Those agitators, who, leaving aside all considerations of bhakti, are busily engaged in movements for temporal advantages only, are doing harm to themselves. And their failure to serve Krishna, Who is the emporium or rather effigy of all endless, immeasurable nectar of love, joys and pleasures, bespeaks simply of their ignorance of the real state of affairs. And such desistance of service to Krishna, gradually turns a man into an upholder of nirvishesha-vada (i.e. the doctrine of the unspecifiedness of the Absolute Truth.) And what can be more deplorable than such misfortune of the mankind. So, to counteract the aforesaid tendencies in us, we should sing, every morning, advising our wicked mind to hold bhajan, which is impossible if we be unmindful of the dictum:
trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih
-which means that Hari kirtana should be continued ceaselessly and with the humility of low grass.
Now, what is the object of our bhajan? It is only the Holy Feet of Radha-Krishna, roaming about freely in the woodland of Vraja. And what should be our line of conduct in holding bhajan? Mahaprabhu's advice to Shrila Das Goswami, in this connection, is as follows:
"Have no worldly talk, nor pay heed to it,
Wear no good clothes, nor rich food eat,
Have Krishna-nama always, humbly, on your tongue,
Serve Radha-Krishna in the closet of the mind, all day long."
This wicked mind, which is never to be trusted, should be broom-sticked every morning with such warning as, "Be not anxious to find fault with others, or to proclaim thyself as a true, sincere, bonafide bhakta, which certainly thou art not." In this connection, the advice of a Vaishnava Mahajana is this:
"Be not attached to karmis, jnanis and bhaktas false.
But pure, unalloyed bhajan you should always endorse.
Follow principles, which Vraja folk adopt,
These being valued truths to be kept aloft."
Guru means one who can give you Krishna..
Letter to: Vrndavanesvari
New Vrindaban
6 June, 1969
“… you asked if we will remember the earth, when in Vrindaban, and the answer is certainly. When Narada Muni was talking to Vyasadeva, as you may have read in first volume of our Srimad-Bhagavatam, he was in a spiritual body, but he remembered his previous life and explained it to Vyasadeva. In material life there is forgetfulness, but in spiritual life there is no forgetfulness…
Regarding the first question in your letter about how do we know of the spiritual abodes since once going there no one returns, you should know that the great liberated souls and incarnations who appear from time to time in this material world are not actually coming back, because they are never subject to material contamination or the laws of material nature. For the purpose of delivering the fallen living entities they come here temporarily and then go back when their business is finished, and this is all under the direct order of the Lord. So the appearance of the Lord or the great liberated souls in the material world is different from the appearance of the contaminated living entity who is forced to take birth in the material world due to his desire to lord it over the world.”
“If you begin to give something to Krishna, you become opulent”
Srila Prabhupada, Bombay, January 18, 1975:
Krishna does not say that “You bring one thousand dollars.” No. He says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati.
So anywhere within this universe, you can get all these things, however poor man you may be. Patram, a little leaf, better tulasi leaf, or any leaf. Patram puspam a little flower. Phalam, little fruit, and little water, that’s all. Yo me bhaktya prayacchati. Krishna, He is the bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka… [Bg. 5.29]. He is the proprietor of the all universes. So why He is asking this patram puspam phalam toyam? He is so poor? He is not poor. He is the most opulent. But if you begin to give something to Krishna, you become opulent. That is wanted. Therefore He is canvassing that “Give Me something.” Yat karosi yaj juhosi yad asnasi yat tapasyasi, kurusva tad mad-arpanam. Because you have forgotten to give to Krishna, therefore Krishna comes down. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata [Bg. 4.7]. He canvasses, “Please give Me something,” as if He is in great need of it. He is not need of it. But if you hear Krishna and if you give something to Krishna, then it is for your benefit. You will understand gradually what is your relationship with Krishna and gradually develop your Krishna consciousness. Then your life is successful. Then your life becomes peaceful.
Otherwise there is no possibility. Otherwise there is no possibility. Everyone is hankering after peace, but this is the way of attaining peace, to revive your relationship with Krishna, to engage your mind fully in the service of Krishna in the matter of understanding Krishna. And if you understand Krishna… The books are there. Bhagavad-gita is there. Srimad-Bhagavata is there. You have got your reason. You have got your knowledge. Try to understand Krishna. Then your life is successful.
So the best achievement of life is the how to stop this getting material body again. Spiritual body. That is happiness. Then you will get eternal happiness, blissful life. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti kaunteya [Bg. 4.9]. That you go to the spiritual world. There is spiritual world, as this, here, is material world. You have got material body. So if you are fit for going to the spiritual world, then you get spiritual body, same way. And spiritual body means sac-cid- ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], spiritual body. Vigraha means body, and sac-cid-ananda… Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ananda, blissful. That we want.
Srila Prabhupada Puspa Samadhi
A video tour of Srila Prabhupada's Puspa Samadhi, from a March 2012 pilgrimage to Sridham Mayapur by the Hungarian devotees.
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/news/06-12/news4283.htm
http://youtu.be/lpLDPJg6B_4
The 24 Gurus
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.33-35 (paraphrased).
The 24 gurus are: the earth, the air, the sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon, python, the sea, the moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief, the deer, the fish, the prostitute Pingala, the kurara bird, the child, the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp.
1. Earth: a sober person should never be distracted from progress on his won path even if he is harassed by other living beings, because they are acting helplessly under the control of God. He should be as steady as the earth. Like the mountain and the tree, he should dedicate himself to the service of others.
2. Air: a transcendentalist may be surrounded by innumerable material objects possessing good and bad qualities. But like the wind he should never be entangled by them. When the wind carries different aromas, it never mixes with them.
3. Sky: Though the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within it, it does not mix with anything. The soul and Supersoul have the same quality. The sky is never implicated or affected by the blowing action of the wind. In the same way the living entity is never affected though it may enter a body of material elements.
4. Water: The saintly person is like water because he is free from all contamination, gentle by nature and when speaking creates a beautiful vibration like the flowing of water. By seeing, touching or hearing such a saintly person, the living entity is cleansed as if coming in contact with pure water.
5. Fire: Even if a saintly person eats contaminated food by chance he is not affected, like the fire that burns up contaminated substances that are offered to it. Like fire, he is sometimes concealed and sometimes revealed. As the spiritual master he burns up the past and future reactions of his disciples. The Supreme Soul is like fire in that He enters different bodies as fire manifests differently in various pieces of wood. Like the flickering fire, the waves of time flow constantly and imperceptibly bring with them birth, growth and death. But just as nobody can follow the changing pattern of a flame, no-one can see the changes wrought by time upon them.
6. Moon: Though the moon waxes and wanes, it is not affected by this "change." Similarly the living entity is not affected by the changes of the body from birth to death.
7. Sun: A saintly person can accept a material thing with his senses and at the appropriate time he gives that thing to the proper person. So also the sun evaporates water and returns it to earth as rain. Sun and saint are never entangled by this. The sun is reflected in many objects but is never divided. Also the soul is reflected into various bodies but is always one and the same.
8. Pigeon: he is an example for excessive attachment, because he chose to be captured by the hunter after seeing his wife and children so captured, thinking that without them life was not worth living.
9. Python: he does not make arrangements for food, but waits for food to come to him. This exemplifies peacefulness and patience.
10. The sea: just like a tranquil sea, the saintly person, being full of knowledge, is never disturbed.
11. The moth: a foolish man is captivated by a woman's charms just like a moth is captivated by a flame and burns within it.
12. The honeybee: a renounced person who begs a little food from different houses is like a madhukari, or honeybee. Also a honeybee takes nectar from different flowers. So also an intelligent human being takes the essence of different scrip-tures. But a saintly person should not become greedy and collect too much.
13. The elephant: A saintly person should remember how the great bull elephant is captured by the she-elephant; therefore he should never desire to touch the body of a young girl.
14. The honey thief: sannyasis and brahmacaris are entitled to take away the wealth of the laboring householders, just like a hone thief takes away the honey from the nest of the busy bees.
15. The deer: they are bewildered by the sound of a hunter's horn, and thus are killed. A renounced person should never become attracted by mundane sounds like sensuous music, especial-ly the sweet singing and dancing of beautiful women.
16. The fish: they are caught on the hook by their uncontrollable tongues. A learned man should control all his senses by first controlling the tongue, which is the most powerful sense of all.
17. Pingala: this prostitute gave up her plans for earning money through sex indulgence out of frustration. Feeling satisfaction from her abandonment of material desires, she could remember Krsna and became peaceful.
18. The kurara bird (hawk): When a hawk carrying some meat was attacked by larger hawks, he gave it up out of fear for his life. Renouncing and saving himself, he felt more happiness than he did when he took the meat.
19. The child: a foolish child is happy due to ignorance, and a saintly person is happy due to having surrendered to Krsna.
20. The young girl: receiving some prospective bridegrooms on a day when her parents were away from home, she went into the kitchen to prepare food for them. While beating rice, her bracelets jangled, and she was afraid that the young men would think her family was poor because she was doing all the work in the home. She broke all the bracelets except two on each arm, but these also jangled. She then removed one from each arm, leaving only one on each arm. Thereafter she worked in silence. So too, when many people live together, there will be clashing of interests and fighting. It is better to live alone.
21. The arrow maker: the devotee should be so absorbed in the Lord that he does not see duality, just as the arrow maker was so absorbed in his work of making a straight arrow that he did not notice the king passing buy.
22. The snake: he makes no home for himself, but takes over the homes of others, having eaten them. A sage should similarly make no endeavors for his own shelter.
23. The spider: God is like the spider because He creates the network of the cosmos from his own potency and then withdraws it into Himself.
24. The wasp: he trapped a weaker insect in his hive. This insect took on the mentality of a wasp out of intense fear of the wasp, and thus became a wasp in its next life. This illustrates how one attains in the next life what one's mind is fixed upon.
"I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."
The Vedanta School
"In summary it should be understood that all these materialistic philosophers have tried to avoid the Supreme Personality of Godhead by putting forward their own mentally concocted philosophies. However, Vyasadeva, the great sage and incarnation of God head, has thoroughly studied all these philosophical speculations and in answer has compiled the Vedanta-sutra, which establishes the relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the importance of devotional service in ultimately achieving love of Godhead.
The verse janmady asya yatah, which appears in the very beginning of Vedanta-sutra, is explained in Vyasadeva's Srimad-Bhagavatam. In Srimad-Bhagavatam Vyasadeva establishes from the very beginning that the supreme source of everything is a cognizant, transcendental person.
The impersonalist tries to explain that the impersonal effulgence of the Supreme Lord (brahmajyoti) is beyond these material modes of nature, but at the same time he tries to establish that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is contaminated by the modes of material nature. The Vedanta-sutra asserts that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not only transcendental to the material modes of nature but that He also has innumerable transcendental qualities and energies. All these various speculative philosophers are one in denying the existence of the Supreme Lord Visnu, and they are very much enthused to propagate their own theories and be recognized by the people. Unfortunate people become enamored of these atheistic philosophers and consequently can never understand the real nature of the Absolute Truth. It is far better to follow in the footsteps of great souls (mahajanas). According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, there are twelve mahajanas, or great souls, and these are: (1) Brahma, (2) Lord Siva, (3) Narada, (4) Vaivasvata Manu, (5) Kapila (not the atheist, but the original Kapila), (6) the Kumaras, (7) Prahlada, (8) Bhisma, (9) Janaka, (10) Bali, (11) Sukadeva Gosvami and (12) Yamaraja. According to the Mahabharata, there is no point in arguing about the Absolute Truth because there are so many different Vedic scriptures and philosophical understandings that no one philosopher can agree with another. Since everyone is trying to present his own point of view and reject others, it is very difficult to understand the necessity for religious principles. Therefore it is better to follow in the footsteps of the great mahajanas, great souls; then one can achieve the desired success. Lord Caitanya's teachings are just like nectar, and they hold whatever is needed. The best way is to take to this path and follow it."
What is the evidence for God?
The scientists say there is no God:
Can any scientist create life? Every second God is creating trillions of living beings in various forms. This is evidence of God.
Everything on this planet is maintained by living beings, so who is maintaining everything beyond this planet? This is evidence of God.
Can any scientist create trees that produce fruits and vegetables? This is evidence of God.
The cow takes water and grass and turns it into milk. Can any scientist do this? This is evidence of God.
According to the scientists it would take over 400 billion nuclear weapons to produce the same amount of heat that the sun produces in just 1 second. Can the scientists replicate the sun? This is evidence of God.
The sun always rises and sets on time, and the seasons come and go on time. Is this by chance? This is evidence of God.
The legs of trillions of living beings, including humans are 100% of the same length. Is this by chance? This is evidence of God.
Why is there variety of living beings? Can a manufacturing company produce anything without the input from a person? This is evidence of God.
Every human face is unique, is this by chance? Can a manufacturing company produce unique products without any input from a person? This is evidence of God.
Why doesn't the donkey think like a human and vice versa? This is evidence of God.
If you throw some bricks on the ground, will they form into a house? Without a spiritual being, the bricks cannot be formed into anything. Do the atoms combine to form certain molecules by chance? No. It's Krishna (God) who is present in every atom that combines the atoms to form specific molecules.
"I am the origin of all creations. There is nothing, moving or non-moving, that can exist without me." (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 10.39)
"With a single particle of myself [Krishna], I maintain the entire creation." (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 10.42)
Regards,
Kamlesh Patel
Srila Prabhupada..
“Unless one is a resident of Krishna Loka, one cannot be a Spiritual Master. That is the first proposition. A layman cannot be a Spiritual Master, and if he becomes so then he will simply create disturbance. And who is a liberated person?
One who knows Krishna. It is stated in BG, fourth chapter, anyone who knows Krishna in truth is immediately liberated, and after quitting the present body, he immediately goes to Krishna. That means he becomes a resident of Krishna Loka. As soon as one is liberated he is immediately a resident of Krishna Loka, and anyone who knows the truth of Krishna can become Spiritual Master.
That is the version of Lord Caitanya. So to summarize the whole thing, it is to be understood that a bona fide Spiritual Master is a resident of Krishna Loka.
Your next question, whether the Spiritual Master was formerly a conditioned soul, actually a bona fide Spiritual Master is never a conditioned soul. There are three kinds of liberated persons. They are called 1) sadhan siddha, 2) kripa siddha, and 3) nitya siddha. Sadhan siddha means one who has attained perfection by executing the regulative principles of devotional service.
Kripa siddha means one who has attained perfection by the special mercy of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, and nitya siddha means one who was never contaminated. The symptoms of nitya siddha is that from the beginning of his life he is attached to Krishna, and he is never tired of rendering service to Krishna.
So we have to know what is what by these symptoms. But when one is actually on the siddha platform there is no such distinction as to who is sadhan, kripa, or nitya siddha. When one is siddha, there is no distinction what is what. Just like when the river water glides down to the Atlantic Ocean nobody can distinguish which portion was the Hudson River or some other river.
Neither is there any necessity to make any such distinction. Actually, every living entity is eternally uncontaminated, although he may be in the material touch. This is the version of the Vedas. Asanga ayam purusha—the living entity is uncontaminated.
Just like when there is a drop of oil in water you can immediately distinguish the oil from the water, and the water never mixes with the oil. Similarly, a living entity, although in material contact, is always distinct from the matter.
You are correct when you say that when the Spiritual Master speaks it should be taken that Krishna is speaking. That is a fact. A Spiritual Master must be liberated. It does not matter if he has come from Krishna Loka or he is liberated from here.
But he must be liberated. The science of how one is liberated is explained above, but when one is liberated, there is no need of distinction whether he has come directly from Krishna Loka or from the material world.
But in the broader sense everyone comes from Krishna Loka. When one forgets Krishna he is conditioned, when one remembers Krishna he is liberated.”
The Terrors of Kali-yuga..
When the moon, the sun and Brhaspati are together in the constellation Karkata, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Pusya -- at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Krta, will begin.
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/06-12/features2487.htm
Guru Nanak and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
A great deal of Guru Nanak's lifetime was spent traveling the length and breadth of India. Over 25 years, he went from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. Among his most famous pada-tirtha stops was the one at Jagannatha Puri Dham, when he had the great fortune to meet Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
There are several stories told about their meeting, including this one by Gaudiya Matha swami, HH Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami:
"Nanak was invited to visit the temple at the time of Arati in the evening. When the arati started, Guru Nanak stood silent, not participating. Later when asked why, he said, this was not homage enough to the glory and wonder of the Lord of the Universe, to whom Nature paid a far more sublime tribute. In reply, he sang verses which remain immortal for their exquisite mystic poetry:
"In the salver of the sky
The Sun and Moon shine like lamps,
The galaxy of stars are scattered like pearls;
The chandan-scented winds waft as Thine incense,
The forests are Thy flowers.
(Thus) is Thy arati performed,
O, Thou Destroyer of fear!"
"In the congregational singing led by Shri Chaitanya in Nagar Purushottama (Puri dham), Nanak and Saranga (another name for Mardana who played the sarangi), the two bothers Rupa and Sanatana along with Jagai and Madhai also joined in. Gopal Guru, for whom Guru Nanak had deep affection, was there as well, along with Nityananda Prabhu, who was considered an incarnation of Balarama. They all relished the kirtan at Jagannath Puri."
There is another well known story about Guru Nanak's time in Puri Dhama -- this one involving Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As Guru Nanak was entering the temple of Lord Jagannath, he met Sri Chaitanya, who was just then leaving the temple. Both offered pranams to one other. But Guru Nanak then turned and started to leave the temple, instead of proceeding inside. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired why he was not going inside to have darshan, and Nanak replied, "I have already seen the Lord".
According to Dr. Durgadas Basu, a National Research Professor and Padma bhushan, Guru Nanak was given mantra diksa by none other than Prabhu Nityananda. This is said to have taken place while Nityananda was traveling through Bangladesh (Bengal). Guru Nanak's status as a mantra shishya of Nityananda is recorded in his autobiography.
In the final chapter of the Guru Grantha Sahib, while elaborating the greatness and glory of the holy ‘Naam', we read:
"Swasi grasi harinam samali
Simar bus vishwambhar ak"
"In order to attain salvation, one must chant the holy name of Ram, Hari or Vishwambhar."
Asked about Sikh-dharma, Srila Prabhupada answered:
"Guru Nanak, he chanted the name, holy name of Rama, the holy name of Krsna, Govinda. So if we follow Guru Nanak, we are fortunate. Anyone who presents a science of God, it doesn't matter whether he is this man or that man; he is our guru."
In his lecture on Bhagavad-gita (Montreal June 13, 1968), Srila Prabhupada stated:
"Similarly, in the temple of Guru-dvaras, Sikhs... (break) ...like the Hindus. And they also offer flower, fruits, and sweetmeat, but they read their Granthasahib. As we are reading Bhagavad-gita they read Granthasahib enunciated by Guru Nanak. So this temple worship or accepting some authority, either you accept Krsna or you accept Lord Jesus Christ or Jehovah or Lord Buddha or Guru Nanak, that is a different, I mean to say, kinds of faith, but this acceptance of authority is there in everywhere. Now who is the highest authority, that we have to see by understanding Vedic literature, by our arguments, by our sense, by our understanding. But this acceptance of authority is there."
les Visible prabhu,
I will be away from the computer for some time during the next month or so.
Obligations demand my presence and more.
Best of health and all success to you!
Homer
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, Ch 8, 37, purport: [...] Transcendental literature that strictly follows the Vedic principles and the conclusion of the Puranas and pancaratrika-vidhi can be written only by a pure devotee.
It is not possible for a common man to write books on bhakti, for his writings will not be effective. He may be a very great scholar and expert in presenting literature in flowery language, but this is not at all helpful in understanding transcendental literature.
Even if transcendental literature is written in faulty language, it is acceptable if it is written by a devotee, whereas so-called transcendental literature written by a mundane scholar, even if it is a very highly polished literary presentation, cannot be accepted. The secret in a devotee’s writing is that when he writes about the pastimes of the Lord, the Lord helps him; he does not write himself.
As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (10.10), dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te. Since a devotee writes in service to the Lord, the Lord from within gives him so much intelligence that he sits down near the Lord and goes on writing books. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami confirms that what Vrindavana dasa Thakura wrote was actually spoken by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and he simply repeated it.
Srila Prabhupada, June 24, 1976, New Vrindaban:
Just see minute fibers on the flower. Can anyone manufacture this? So small fibers. And how brilliant it is. If you study only one flower, you become God conscious. There is a machine which we call nature. From that machine, everything is coming. But how machine is perfect? And who has discovered this machine?
Kulasekhara: In London you said they do not know that the butterflies and flowers are painted, but Krishna paints them with thought.
Prabhupada: Yes. How you can expect without painting it has come so beautiful? This is foolishness, “nature”—what is this nature? Everything is being done by the machine of Krishna. Parasya saktir vividaiva sruyate. Anyway, improve this mode of life. Live in open place, produce your food grains, produce your milk, save time, chant Hare Krishna. Plain living, high thinking, ideal life. Artificial necessities of life do increase your so-called comforts, but if you forget your real business, that is suicidal. We want to stop this suicidal policy. We don’t want to stop the modern advancement of technology, although the so-called advancement technology is suicidal. But we don’t talk of this. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore given a simple formula—chant Hare Krishna. Even in your technological factories, you can chant. What is the wrong there? You go on pulling on with your machine and chant, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna...
Srila Prabhupada..
So, even in the Vaikuntha, if I desire that—"Why shall I serving Krsna? Why not become Krsna?"—I immediately fall down. That is natural… You cannot become God. That is not possible. But he's wrongly thinking.
Devotee: Why doesn't Krsna protect us from that desire?
Srila Prabhupada: He's protecting. He says, "You rascal, don't desire. Surrender unto Me." But you are rascal; you do not do this.
Devotee: Why doesn't He save me from thinking like that?
Srila Prabhupada: That means you loose your independence. That is force…Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force.
"So Vedic culture is very old. It is not a concocted thing or a new pattern. It is eternal. Therefore it is called sanatana. Sanatana means eternal. It has no beginning, no end. Sanatana. So the Vedic culture means sanatana, eternal. Krsna is eternal. We living entities we are eternal. And our relationship and exchange of loving service with Krsna is also eternal. Krsna is eternal, we are eternal, and our dealings with Krsna is also eternal. But sometimes it becomes interrupted by the maya, which is called svapna. Svapna means dreamlike. As a dream has no fact, it is all hallucination, similarly our detachment from Krsna is also a hallucination. Actually there is no detachment…"
S'rî Jagannâthâshthakam
Sometimes in great happiness He plays His flute loudly in the groves.
like a bumblebee He tastes the lotus faces of the damsels of Vraja,
Lakshmî, S'iva, Brahmâ, Indra, and Ganes'a worship His lotus feet.
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
In His left hand He holds a flute, on His head peacock feathers,
fine yellow silken cloth on His hips, from His eyes He casts His glances,
He always reveals Himself through His pastimes in divine Vrindâvana.
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
At the ocean, in a large palace, atop the brilliant, golden Nîlâcala Hill,
He resides with His powerful brother Balabhadra
and with Subhadrâ between Them, He gives all the opportunity to serve
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
An ocean of mercy and as beautiful as a row of blackish rain clouds.
the storehouse of bliss for Lakshmî and Sarasvatî; His face a spotless fullblown lotus.
The best of demigods and sages worship Him; the Upanishads sing His glories.
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
Moving on His Rathayâtrâ car, all brâhmins chant prayers and sing to please.
Hearing their hymns, He becomes very favorably disposed.
He is the ocean of mercy and the true friend of all the worlds.
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
With His eyes like lotus petals, He is the ornament on Lord Brahmâ's head.
He resides on Nîlâcala Hill with His lotus feet on Ananta's heads
Overwhelmed of love, He embraces the cool pond of Râdhâ's body
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
I do not pray for a kingdom, nor for gold, rubies, or wealth.
I do not ask for a beautiful wife, as desired by all men.
I simply pray for Him, whose glories Lord S'iva always sings.
May that Jagannâtha Svâmî, be the object of my vision.
Prabhupada: Bhakti, yes. Prapatti means bhakti. Just like I can surrender unto you when I have got full faith and devotion unto you. Otherwise, I cannot. That is wanted. If we simply surrender to God, then everything is complete. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita, the prapati is described, bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Bg. 7.19], this word: "After many, many births of philosophical speculation or personal endeavor to understand what is God, when he's actually wise, he surrenders unto Me." And it is said next line, vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah: [Bg. 7.19] "Vasudeva, Krsna, is everything." When he understands this, then his knowledge is perfect. But such kind of mahatma, great soul, is very rare to be seen."
Jyotirmayi: So she said that in..., it is also explained that those who are not intelligent enough to study, or who are out of caste, so they cannot, they don't have the right to study, then it is said that they can attain God directly by surrendering unto God.
Prabhupada: Yes, certainly. It does not require education, knowledge or anything. If he agrees to surrender to the lotus feet of God, then his life is perfect. That is stated in the Vedic literature, naradita yadi hari sthapasata tat kim (?). "If one has surrendered himself to the lotus feet of God and worshiped Him, there is no more need of austerity and penances." And naradita yadi hari sthapasata tat kim (?). "If one has not learned how to surrender to God and worship Him, then all his austerities, knowledge, are useless." Antar-bahih yadi hari sthapasata tat kim (?), "If one can see God within and outside, then where is the necessity of austerity?" And naradita..., nan tad yadi bahi hari sthapasata tat (?), "If one has not learned to see God within and without, then where is the value of his austerity and penances?" Therefore God realization is the only business of the human being.
Prabhupada: Yes, that is fact. If you are actually devotee, then God will reveal. That is... That is stated in the Vedic language, atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih: [Brs. 1.2.234] "You cannot understand the form, name, attributes, pastimes of God by these blunt senses." These senses, present (the ten) senses, cannot realize. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. Indriya means sense. Then how to realize? Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. When you begin service with your tongue, then gradually God reveals. So tongue means you can do two business with the tongue. One is talking, and one is eating. So if you engage your tongue in glorifying God, and if you eat God's prasadam, then you realize God.
Prabhupada: Yes. Just like in the Bible it is said, "There was only word in the beginning." So in the beginning, there was word. That means that word is not the word of this material creation.
Yogesvara: Just like these Guru Maharajis. They say you cannot chant the name Krsna because it's simply a material sound. They say the name is material.
Prabhupada: That's it. The rascal does not understand what is this sound. He does not see that there was word before creation.
Brahma-vaivarta Purana
Text 49
Ganges said: O protector, Supreme enjoyer, on your departure for the perfect abode, Goloka, thereafter what will be my situation in the age of kali?
Text 50
The blessed Lord said: On the earth 5,000 years of kali will be sinful and sinners will deposit their sins in you by bathing.
Text 51
Thereafter by the sight and touch of those who worship me by my mantra, all those sins will be burnt.
Text 52
There will be chanting of the name of Hari and reading of the [Bhagavata] Purana. Reaching such a place, attentively hear.
----------------------------------
By hearing and reciting the sacred narrations of the pastimes of Lord Krishna (within the Srimad Bhagavatam), all the bad qualities within one's heart are cleansed."
The present age is simply a reflection of the hearts of millions of living entities on the earthly planet. Because our hearts are polluted by kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed) and matsarya (envy), therefore the present age is called the age of quarrel. It is not that we are bad because the age is bad, but rather the age is bad because our hearts are impure. The cure for a polluted heart is described above: daily reading of the Srimad Bhagavatam. If the entire population were to take up the reading of the sacred text of Srimad Bhagavatam, everyone's heart would be purified and the age of Kali would no longer be able to influence the world. Therefore in the present age the need of the hour is to distribute the most sacred book Srimad Bhagavatam to the entire humanity.
The Srimad Bhagavatam is not an ordinary book, but it is directly an incarnation of the Lord:
“This Srimad Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all blissful and all-perfect.” Srimad Bhagavatam is defined as brahma sammitam because it is the sound representative of Brahman, the absolute truth.
Text 58
They are more dear to Me than My life, who everyday meditate only on Me. The air and fire become pure simply even by their indirect touch.
Text 59
For 10,000 years of kali such devotees of mine will fill the whole planet. After the departure of My devotees there will only be one varna [outcaste].
Text 60
Devoid of My devotees, the earth will be shackled by kali. Saying this Krishna departed.
----------------------------------
500 years ago, Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted and said that on this whole earth, in each and every village and city, the congregational chanting of MY name will be heard:
It will reach at it's peak in next 4500 years, and then gradually decline in next 4500 years. 500 years of this movement has already passed, which started with the advent of Krishna, in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
The coming of SriSriMad Bhakti Vedanta Swami Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad), the founder acarya of ISKCON, was also predicted by Mahaprabhu 500 years ago, and he said:
If the sinful jivas go to other countries (out of India) and are bereft of this sankirtan-movement, then for delivering them, I will send my senapati-bhakta (senapati means a military commander), who will deliver the people of these countries.
This senapati-bhakta is no other than Srila Prabhupada who went to all the countries outside of India and inaugurated this sankirtan movement there.
For the people, who are still averse to this movement of naam-sankirtan, there is absolutely no limit of their ignorance.
Srila Prabhupada..
Why do they take advantage of Bhagavad-gita and preach their nonsense philosophy? That is our protest. You preach your nonsense philosophy. We have no objection. But don't touch Bhagavad-gita.
Do you think it is honesty that you want to preach something of your own philosophy and you take advantage of my book and mislead others? Is that very good, honest business? This is going on. This is going on, very dangerous position. In our country, and what to speak of other countries, all these swamis, yogis, and politicians, and scholars, they are doing like this. Very dangerous position. Why should you touch Bhagavad-gita? You speak, you preach, your own philosophy. There are so many philosophies. But our only objection is that "Why should you preach your nonsense philosophy through Bhagavad-gita?"
Guest (2): ...not believe Krsna and preaching Bhagavad-gita...
Guest (3) (Indian man): No. But, say, it's like this. Man who has understood philosophy of Bhagavad-gita probably will not attach much importance whether it's Krsna, Siva or somebody else, once he has reached the supreme state.
Prabhupada: No, if Krsna... Krsna says that "I am the supreme..."
Guest (3): Yes, He says...
So if you read Bhagavad-gita, then you must accept Krsna as the Supreme. Otherwise, what is the use of...?
That means he does not accept Krsna as Supreme. Therefore he does not pronounce. That is the... If he understands that Krsna is supreme, he should... Just like we have understood. We are chanting always, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna... This is understanding, not, not... If you... Krsna says, satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah [Bg. 9.14]. That is Krsna. Satatam kirtayanto mam: [Bg. 9.14] "Always chanting about Me."
There is no "but." This is the instruction of Krsna. You have to accept it. Otherwise, you don't read Bhagavad-gita. That's all.
It is, it... There is no question of "but." Krsna says that man-mana bhava mad bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]. If you do not do that, then what is the use of your reading Bhagavad-gita? Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. If you do not follow these instructions of Krsna, then where do you, why do you waste your time reading Bhagavad-gita, and mislead others? That is our protest. All these misleaders... Perhaps, throughout the whole world..
Yes. One has studied all the Ramayana, seven cantos, seven khandas, and he is asking, "Whose father is Sita?" Sita is a feminine, and the Ramayana expert is asking, "Whose father is Sita?" This is their education, they are becoming big lecturer on Bhagavad-gita. Rascals and fools.
Prabhupada: So Lord and Lord's name, They're the same, identical. Just like we are chanting Hare Krsna. So this Krsna name and the Krsna person, identical. Because the Lord is absolute. In the material world, the world of duality, the name is not the substance. If you require water, simply by chanting "Water, water," your thirst will not be quenched. You require the substance water. But in the spiritual world, the Lord and His name, the same thing. If you chant the Lord's name, Krsna, or any name of Lord, that is identical with the Lord. Therefore by chanting the holy name of the Lord, you are associating with the Lord. And as soon as you associate with the Lord, you become purified. Because Lord is all-pure. Just like if you associate with fire, you become warm. Similarly, if you constantly associate with the Lord, you remain purified. Therefore our principle is they are always chanting... Just like we are... I am chanting also. (Holds up beads) Or reading some book. Or talking with you about Krsna. So we are always connected with Krsna, or God. In all our activities... The whole house, you'll see, they are engaged in some sort of work which has connection with Krsna. There is no other work. So nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe. Anything attached with God, that is also godly.
Prabhupada: So the iron becomes warm, warmer, and then at last, it becomes red-hot. When the iron is red-hot, it is no longer iron. It is fire. If you touch anywhere, it will burn. Although apparently it is iron rod, but because it has become red-hot, it is fire. Similarly, if you constantly keep in spiritual activities, your outward body, although it is iron and matter, it becomes spiritualized. Try to understand this example. Iron rod put into the fire, when it is red-hot, it is no longer iron rod. It is fire. Similarly this body, although material, if you constantly keep in touch with spiritual activities, then it is no longer material. It is spiritual. The body's also spiritual.
Mrs. Wells: And how long do you think this takes to...
Prabhupada: So long you keep in spiritual activities.
Prabhupada: Well, I say that there is every chance of falling down. That is up to you to keep fit. Otherwise there is chance of falling down. But even he falls down, whatever he has done, that is permanent.
Devotee: “Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness. His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in devotional service. Thus in spite of his unwillingness, he gets liberation without separate endeavor.”
Prabhupāda: We have to see the Deity beginning from the lotus feet, not jumping over the smiling face. That is the way. First of all you try to see. And when you are practiced… Try to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and when you are practiced to this habit, even after visiting the temple if you go home, if you are practice to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is meditation. If you meditate on Kṛṣṇa’s form, that is Kṛṣṇa. So we associate with Kṛṣṇa, His smiling face, His flute, His hand, His dress, His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, or any other, gopīs, surrounded by. In this way, practice this habit of observing the Supreme Lord. Therefore He has appeared, arcā-vigraha, so that we can see Him.
And hear also Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Simply if you try to see and if you don’t hear, then it will not stay very much.
To hear about the Supreme from Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedic literature, that is called bhāgavata-vidhi.
Prabhupada, Vrndavana, September 5, 1975:
Therefore when a devotee suffers, he does not take it illy. He thinks that, “I am being purified. I am being purified.”
tat te ’nukampam su-samiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak
A devotee, when he is in troubled condition, he thinks, “My Lord is so kind that He is purifying me. I am suffering from my past misdeeds. So Krishna is so kind that He is purifying me, giving me little suffering. That’s all right. Therefore I must be obliged to Him.” And he offers more respectful obeisances to the Lord: “My Lord, You are purifying me.”
If one lives like this, mukti-pade sa daya-bhak, his liberation is guaranteed.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.20
TRANSLATION
The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, the dust of whose feet is worn on the head by others, waits upon You, as appointed, for she is anxious to secure a place in the abode of the king of bees, who hovers on the fresh wreath of tulasī leaves offered at Your feet by some blessed devotee.
PURPORT
As previously described, tulasī has attained all superior qualities due to being placed at the lotus feet of the Lord. The comparison made here is very nice. As the king of bees hovers over the tulasī leaves offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, so Lakṣmī, the goddess who is sought by the demigods, brāhmaṇas, Vaiṣṇavas and everyone else, always engages in rendering service to the lotus feet of the Lord. The conclusion is that no one can be the benefactor of the Lord; everyone is actually the servant of the servant of the Lord.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.37
TRANSLATION
My dear sons, the Lord is the controller of the three modes of nature and is responsible for the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe. His wonderful creative power, yogamāyā, cannot be easily understood even by the masters of yoga. That most ancient person, the Personality of Godhead, will alone come to our rescue. What purpose can we serve on His behalf by deliberating on the subject?
PURPORT
When something is arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should not be disturbed by it, even if it appears to be a reverse according to one's calculations. For example, sometimes we see that a powerful preacher is killed, or sometimes he is put into difficulty, just as Haridāsa Ṭhākura was. He was a great devotee who came into this material world to execute the will of the Lord by preaching the Lord's glories. But Haridāsa was punished at the hands of the Kazi by being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces. Similarly, Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, and Prahlāda Mahārāja was put through so many tribulations. The Pāṇḍavas, who were direct friends of Kṛṣṇa, lost their kingdom, their wife was insulted, and they had to undergo many severe tribulations. Seeing all these reverses affect devotees, one should not be disturbed; one should simply understand that in these matters there must be some plan of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhāgavatam's conclusion is that a devotee is never disturbed by such reverses. He accepts even reverse conditions as the grace of the Lord. One who continues to serve the Lord even in reverse conditions is assured that he will go back to Godhead, back to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Lord Brahmā assured the demigods that there was no use in talking about how the disturbing situation of darkness was taking place, since the actual fact was that it was ordered by the Supreme Lord. Brahmā knew this because he was a great devotee; it was possible for him to understand the plan of the Lord.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.8.3
O greatly fortunate Sukadeva Gosvami, please continue narrating Srimad-Bhagavatam so that I can place my mind upon the Supreme Soul, Lord Krsna, and, being completely freed from material qualities, thus relinquish this body.
PURPORT
To be fully engaged in hearing the transcendental narration described in the text of Srimad-Bhagavatam means to constantly associate with the Supreme Soul, Sri Krsna. And to constantly associate with the Supreme Lord Krsna means to be liberated from the qualities of matter. Lord Krsna is like the sun, and material contamination is like darkness. As the presence of the sun dissipates darkness, constant engagement in the association of the Lord Sri Krsna frees one from the contamination of the material qualities. Contamination by the material qualities is the cause of repeated birth and death, and liberation from material qualities is transcendence. Maharaja Pariksit was now a realized soul by this secret of liberation, through the grace of Sukadeva Gosvami, for the latter had informed the King that the highest perfection of life is to be in remembrance of Narayana at the end of life. Maharaja Pariksit was destined to give up his body at the end of seven days, and thus he decided to continue remembering the Lord by His association with the topics of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and thus to quit his body in full consciousness of the presence of the Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Soul.
The hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam performed by professional men is different from the transcendental hearing of Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
It is the duty of the sane to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a self-realized soul and not be duped by professional men. One should continue such hearing till the end of one's life so that one can actually have the transcendental association of the Lord and thus be liberated simply by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit had already given up all his connections with his kingdom and family, the most attractive features of materialism, but still he was conscious of his material body. He wanted to be free of such bondage also by the constant association of the Lord.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.8.4
TRANSLATION
Persons who hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested in their hearts within a short time.
PURPORT
Cheap devotees or materialistic devotees of the Lord are very much desirous to see the Lord personally without meeting the requisite qualifications. Such third-grade devotees should know well that material attachment and seeing the Lord face to face cannot go together. It is not such a mechanical process that the professional Bhāgavatam reciters can do the job on behalf of the third-grade materialistic pseudo-devotee. The professional men are useless in this connection because they are neither self-realized nor interested in the liberation of the audience. They are simply interested in maintaining the material establishment of family attachment and earning some material benefits out of the profession. Mahārāja Parīkṣit had no more than seven days to live, but for others Mahārāja Parīkṣit personally recommends that one hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly, nityam, always by one's own effort and with serious devotion also. That will help one to see the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested in one's heart within no time.
The pseudo-devotee, however, is very anxious to see the Lord according to his whims, not making any serious effort to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and without detachment from material benefit. That is not the way recommended by an authority like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who heard and benefited by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The difference between the material and spiritual worlds is that His external energy is manifested in the material world whereas His spiritual energy exists in the spiritual world. Both energies, however, belong to the Supreme Lord, and therefore in a higher sense there is no exhibition of material energy because everything is spiritual energy. The energy in which the Lord’s all-pervasiveness is not realized is called material. Otherwise, everything is spiritual. Therefore Prahlāda prays, ekas tvam eva jagad etam: “You are everything.
My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, the entire cosmic creation is caused by You, and the cosmic manifestation is an effect of Your energy. Although the entire cosmos is but You alone, You keep Yourself aloof from it. The conception of “mine and yours,” is certainly a type of illusion [māyā] because everything is an emanation from You and is therefore not different from You. Indeed, the cosmic manifestation is nondifferent from You, and the annihilation is also caused by You. This relationship between Your Lordship and the cosmos is illustrated by the example of the seed and the tree, or the subtle cause and the gross manifestation.
All this Vedic information indicates that there is only one God and that there is nothing else but Him. The Māyāvādī philosophers explain this in their own way, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead asserts the truth that He is everything and yet is separate from everything. This is the philosophy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, which is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. Everything is one, the Supreme Lord, yet everything is separate from the Lord. This is the understanding of oneness and difference.
RITUDVIPA
At this place there are eleven trees which, according to experts, belong to no known species of trees. These trees were created by Caitanya Mahaprabhu by planting eleven pens in the ground. There is a Gaudiya Math here established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj.
RITUDVIPA
At the time of creation, Maya passes over the river Viraja and spreads out her three gunas. Taking shelter of this abode of Saraswati, the rishis conquered over ignorance. Having received lessons on the sixty-four branches of knowledge, they set themselves up in various places throughout the Earth, but all of these separate branches of knowledge are actually situated here.
Valmiki, by the grace of Narada Muni, received the Ramayana here. Dhanvantar received the Ayur Veda. By the request of the rishis, Lord Brahma produced the four Vedas here. Narada Muni wrote his Pancharatra here to teach the people in general about practical devotional service. The Upanishads stay at this place and worship Lord Gauranga eternally. If one simply visits this place, he will definitely attain all knowledge.
Although there are many opinions at the present time about the location of the various holy spots in Navadvipa Dhama, we accept the opinion of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Lord Nityananda, who very clearly state that Vidya Nagara is Rtudvipa.
JAHNUDVIPA
I pray that birth after birth I may be a clump of grass in the land of Jahnudvipa, which is worshiped even by the king of the demigods. That would be perfection of my desires.
(Navadvipa-sataka 13)
Jahnu Muni's Asrama (Jana Nagara)
This place is non-different from Bhadravan in Vrindavan. Jahnu Muni underwent penance here and received darshan of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Jahnu Muni was sitting in this place, chanting Gayatri, when along came the Ganga, gushing down, following the chariot of King Bhagirathi. As it rushed by Jahnu Muni, it washed away his achaman paraphernalia. Thus he became furious and drank the Ganges as if it were a few drops of water.
When King Bhagirathi noticed that the Ganges was no longer following him, he became most perturbed. He started searching everywhere. Finally he concluded that Jahnu Muni must have drunk up the Ganges. He performed austerities to please the Muni, and when Jahnu Muni was pacified, he released the Ganga through his ear. Thereafter the Ganga became known as Jahnavi, daughter of Jahnu Muni.
Ganga at that time divided into many streams and thus formed the land into nine islands. (Navadvipa).
Bhisma Tila
It is described in the Navadvipa-taranga that once Bhismadeva came here to Jahnu Muni's ashram for darshan of Jahnu Muni. Jahnu Muni instructed Bhismadeva in the essence of sastra. Jahnu Muni also informed him that this was the eternal abode of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. At this Bhismatila (Ekadala), Bhismadeva performed austerities and obtained darshan of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
The Lord informed Bhismadeva that in the future He would attain to this place. He also informed him that, at the time of his death, he would teach the highest knowledge to King Yuddhisthira and that he would leave his body in full consciousness, visualizing Sri Krsna in His four-handed form.
Whoever lives on this island will get the darshan of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu very easily.
HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur
Association is the basis of one's nature
A person's nature is shaped by the company he keeps. In other words, a person develops a nature similar to that of whomever he associates with. The jiva's association with the fruitive activities he performed in his past life moulds his nature, and this nature is transformed by the company he keeps in his current life. Thus, association is the root cause in forming a person's character. It has therefore been said:
yasya yat sangatih pumso
manivat syat sa tad-gunah
Sri Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (quoted in Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.229)
The quartz crystal assumes the colour of any object in its proximity, regardless of the hue of that object. Similarly, a person acquires the qualities of whomever he joins company with. Sadhu-sanga is the path to liberation Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.23.55) states:
sango yah samsriter hetur
asatsu vihito 'dhiya
sa eva sadhushu krito
nihsangatvaya kalpate
By associating with worldly-minded materialists, a person is bound to undergo severe suffering in material existence. He will certainly have to bear the consequences of his association, even if he cannot distinguish between good and bad. By associating with saintly persons, however, a person attains nihsangatva, complete freedom from worldly attachments.
Relinquishing unfavourable association is essential
Regarding bad association, Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.31.33-34) affirms:
satyam saucam daya maunam
buddhih srir hrir yasah kshama
samo damo bhagas ceti
yat-sangad yati sankshayam
teshv asanteshu mudheshu
khanditatmasv asadhushu
sangam na kuryac chocyeshu
yoshit-krida-mrigeshu ca
Worldly association destroys all one's virtues like truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, gravity, intelligence, shyness, prosperity, reputation, forgiveness, control of the mind, control of the senses, good fortune and opulence. One should utterly reject the company of a person who is not a sadhu, considering such association to be extremely miserable, for such a wicked and restless fool is but a dancing dog in the hands of a woman and is thereby simply bent on annihilating himself.
The symptoms of a sadhu, and the necessity of sadhu-sanga
We do not, however, attain the desired goal merely by renouncing bad association. We must earnestly engage in sadhu-sanga. The symptoms of a genuine sadhu, one whose association must be sought, have been outlined in Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.25.21,23-24):
Lord Kapila said, "O Mother, the sublime ornaments of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and a well wisher and friend to all living entities. He considers no one his enemy, is peaceful and abides by the scriptures. These qualities comprise the nature of all pure devotees.
"Since the minds of such personalities are fully absorbed in Me, they do not perform the arduous endeavours of those lured by the paths of karma, jnana or ashtanga-yoga. Rather, they engage themselves simply in speaking and hearing harikatha, their minds having been easily cleansed by narrations of My pastimes. O virtuous lady, these devotees, who are completely free from all worldly attachments, counteract the harmful effects of a person's material bondage. You should pray for their association."
In conclusion, one cannot transcend the power of maya even after acquiring knowledge from many scriptures. No great benefit is achieved from birth in a high-class family, and one is unable to cross the material ocean of birth and death even after practicing the dry renunciation enjoined in sastra. Nor can worldly opulence and physical beauty render this favour. One achieves unalloyed, transcendental devotional service to Sri Krishna only by very carefully investigating the nature and character of the pure devotee, who is a true sadhu, and then by honestly following him.
The materialist's humility and appeals for mercy are utter hypocrisy.
Materialistic persons offer obeisances to a sadhu and pray to him, "O benevolent one, I am extremely fallen. Please bestow your mercy upon me and explain how my attachments to this world may be removed." But their words are hollow. In the depths of their heart, they are convinced that accumulating wealth is real gain, and amassing objects for sense enjoyment is life's only goal. An infatuation for money burns in their hearts day and night. The materialist hankers to be recognised by the sadhu and fears that the sadhu's curse may destroy his prospects for sensual pleasure. Therefore, he displays false humility and devotion before him. If the sadhu were to bless such a person by saying, "May your desire for sense gratification be extinguished, your opulence destroyed and your relatives taken away", the materialist would at once cry, "O sadhu-maharaja, be kind! Don't bless me like this. Your favour is a curse and definitely harmful for me." Just see! Such behaviour with a sadhu makes a mockery of sadhu-sanga.
Duplicity deprives one of the real fruits of sadhu-sanga
In the course of life, we may encounter many sadhus, but our deceitful natures check us from receiving the real benefit of their association. Our souls will make spiritual advancement if, with simple faith, we carefully and continuously assimilate the spotless character of a genuine sadhu - that is, a mahatma, great soul. Keeping this in mind, we should associate closely with a sadhu. By doing so, we will become conscious of his nature and character and make a focused endeavour to develop such a nature and character ourselves. This, indeed, is the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada..
We must be in sadhu-sanga at every moment. I am weak. Without sadhu-sanga I cannot possibly save myself. If I remain far away from sadhu-sanga, then I will fall pray to the ill-mentality that "I am the master." The moment we are without shelter, maya will capture us. Consequently, we will roam here and there in this material world as a servant of maya.
Without the mercy of Bhagavan, no one can ever be delivered from material bondage. We are the eternally purchased slaves of Krsna. As soon as we forget this, we must become the slaves of maya.
To have darsana of Bhagavan means cent-per-cent engagement of the senses in the service of Godhead. In other words, it means to serve Bhagavan with all of one's senses throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. To be thus engaged is in fact to be established in atma-dharma (the constitutional function of the soul) and is actual bhagavat-darsana. Internal and external sphurti (transcendental vision) of Krsna, which arises by Sri Guru's mercy as well as by the influence of one's bhajana, is indeed darsana of Krsna.
To relinquish external vision - vision aimed at enjoying this world - along with the physical forms therein, it is especially necessary to have internal vision. Someone who does not have internal vision will surely have external vision, in which he sees everything as meant for his own enjoyment. Indeed, external vision means seeing maya, or illusion.
When someone is extremely eager to see the contents of the letter, he won't waste his time staring at the external envelope. If we can perceive the whole universe as engaged in the service of Bhagavan, our external vision of it will be dispelled.
"Bhagavan pervades the whole universe; everyone's heart is His place of residence. He constantly resides in the temple of my heart to bestow upon me the opportunity to serve Him."
When this realization intensifies and becomes strong, we will see the whole world as His residence. We will perceive the presence of our worshipable Lord everywhere. At that time there will be no question of having bahir-darsana, external vision, separate vision from the interest of Krsna, insignificant vision, objective vision of the phenomenal universe and so forth. Only then will we perceive the whole world to be full of transcendental happiness.
To think, "I will protect myself," is a fiendish, non-devotee mentality. As soon as this type of ill-thought comes, one is endangered.
"Sri Krsna is my sole protector. What do I have to fear?" We should exclusively imbibe this exalted conception, just as Bhakta Prahlada Maharaja did. If we become indifferent to the narrations and instructions of Sri Bhagavan, then soon after, our reliance on Him will lessen. As a result of this, our various ill-thoughts and our false-egos would place us in a calamitous situation.
Bhagavan fulfils every desire of His surrendered bhaktas without fail, and He never rejects them.
With such resolute faith, we can become free from fear and anxiety, and become happy and successful. Krsna is the embodiment of auspiciousness; and therefore, if we have complete faith in His nature to bestow auspiciousness, we will certainly attain such auspiciousness. Words cannot express the kind of great auspiciousness that is obtained by surrendering fully at the lotus feet of Bhagavan.
It is only when we do not engage ourselves in service to Bhagavan that other thoughts, characteristic of the enjoying mentality, grasp us. The embodiment of compassion, Sri Krsna, is always ready to protect us from this danger, but how will we be protected if we do not entirely depend upon Him? As the guru, Krsna protects the jiva. Sri Guru is the embodiment of Krsna's mercy. Sri Gurudeva, the representative of Sri Krsna, descends to this world to deliver the jiva from material existence and bring him back to Krsna. Only those fortunate seekers of the Truth who whole-heartedly accept the mercy of Sri Gurudeva can be delivered from this material existence and enter into the abode of transcendental peace and happiness.
Mangachi
This place is non-different from Ayodhya, and also Bhandiravan in Vrindaban. In a previous kalpa, when Lord Ramachandra, along with His wife, Sita, and brother, Laksman, had been banished to the forest, They came to this place and built a hut under a huge Banyan tree. At the present time this banyan tree is invisible.
One day when Lord Ramachandra was living here, he began laughing to Himself. Seeing Lord Ramachandra laughing, Sita asked Him why. He replied, "Listen Sita, this is a secret story.
In Kali-yuga I will take birth here in Navadvipa as the son of Jagannath Mishra. I will give to all those fortunate souls who see my Childhood pastimes the supreme gift of prema. For the pleasure of My dear devotees, I will perform educational pastimes and engage in Sankirtan of the holy name.
After this, I shall accept sannyasa and reside in Jagannath Puri. My mother will weep with My wife in her arms. She who is now mother Kausalya will become Mother Saci, and you, Sita, will serve Me as Vishnupriya, and in separation, you will worship My Deity and thus spread My glories. In separation from you, I shall worship a golden Deity of you. In Ayodhya this subject is a great secret, Sita; do not reveal it to the people now. Navadvipa is My very dear abode, and even Ayodhya is not equal to this place."
Lord Ramachandra's friend Guhaka took birth here in a brahmana family. His name was Sunanda Vipra Bhattacarya. He was present in the house of Jagannath Mishra when Lord Caitanya was born.
I thank you for your appreciation that you accept me on the superhuman platform and that will compel you to believe in God.
~ Srila Prabhupada Letter to Rayaram
----------------------------------
Kṛṣṇa’s another name is Madhusūdana. Madhusūdana means He killed one demon whose name was Madhu. Therefore God’s names are different according to different activities of God. God has got innumerable names because He has got innumerable activities. Suppose we are part and parcel of God. We have got innumerable… We cannot remember how many activities, how much activities we are engaged in, that, from our childhood up to this time. So just think about God. He is unlimited; therefore His activities are also unlimited. So He has got unlimited names also. Kṛṣṇa, of course, is the chief name, but He has got many other unlimited names also. So one of the names of Madhusūdana. Madhusūdana means He killed a demon, a very great demon. Therefore since then, His name is Madhusūdana. So what is the purpose of “Madhusūdana”? Why he is addressing… He could address, “Kṛṣṇa,” directly because he is more known to Kṛṣṇa as friend, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Why he is asking, why he is saying, “Madhusūdana”? That means this mind is as a big demon, just like Madhu. If it is possible to kill the demon, then we can attain yoga. You see? That, the particular purpose of Madhusūdana, that “You are a killer of Madhu demon. Now I think my mind is stronger than this Madhu demon. So if You can kill it, then it is possible for me to accept this yoga system.” The mind is so agitated.
Madhusūdana
The Roads of the Foolish and the Wise
Krsna is thus explaining Himself as He is. Yet we are not attracted to Him. Why is this? The reason is given by Krsna Himself:
daivi hy esa guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." (Bg. 7.14)
The material world is pervaded by the three qualities of material nature. All living entities are influenced by these qualities. If they are primarily influenced by the mode of goodness, they are called brahmanas, and if they are influenced by the mode of passion, they are called ksatriyas. If they are influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance, they are vaisyas, and if they are influenced by ignorance, they are sudras. This is not an artificial imposition due to birth or social status but is according to guna, or the mode of nature under which one is operating.
"According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable." (Bg. 4.13)
It is not that this system refers to the perverted caste system in India. Sri Krsna specifically states: guna-karma-vibhagasah: men are classified according to the guna or the mode under which they are operating, and this applies to men all over the universe. When Krsna speaks, we must understand that whatever He says is not limited but is universally true. He claims to be the father of all living entities--even the animals, the aquatics, the trees, plants, worms, birds and bees are all claimed to be His sons. Sri Krsna asserts that the entire universe is illusioned by the interactions of the three qualities of material nature, and we are under the spell of that illusion; therefore we cannot understand what God is.
No one can get rid of the entanglement of the three qualities of material nature by mental speculation. The three gunas are very strong and hard to overcome. Can't we feel how we are in the grip of material nature? The word guna (mode) also means rope. When someone is bound by three strong ropes, he is certainly very tightly secured. Our hands and legs are all bound by the strong ropes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Are we therefore to abandon hope? No, for here Sri Krsna promises that whoever surrenders unto Him is at once free. When one becomes Krsna conscious--whether in this way or that way--he becomes free.
The auspicious observance of Lord Balarama's Appearance day, celebrated August 1st.
Sri Garga-samhita, Canto Eight, Volume Two, Chapter Ten
Text 5
sahasra-vadano devo
bhagavan bhuvanesvarah
na danair na ca tirthais ca
bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya
Lord Balarama, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the worlds, and who is also thousand-headed Lord Ananta, is not attained by giving charity or going on pilgrimage. He is attained only by devotional service.
Text 9
dhyayet param harim devam
balabhadram sanatanam
gauram nilambaram hy adyam
vana-mala-vibhushitam
Then one should meditate on Lord Balarama, the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose compelxion is fair, and who is dressed in blue garments and decorated with a forest garland.
Text 17
pranavam purvam uddhritya
kama-bijam tatah param
kalindi-bhedana-padam
sankarshanam atah param
First, speak the syllable Om. Then, speak the Kama-bija syllable (klim). Then recite the names Kalindi-bhedana (the breaker of the Yamuna) and Sankarshana.
Text 18
caturthyam tam dvayam kritva
svaham pascad vidhaya ca
mantra-rajam imam rajan
brahmoktam shodasaksharam
After speaking these two names, then recite the word svaha. O king, this sixteen-syllable king of mantras was spoken by the demigod Brahma.
Note: The mantra then is Om klim kalindi-bhedanaya sankarshanaya svaha.
Text 19
japel laksham vrati bhutva
sahasrani ca shodasa
ihamutra param siddhim
samprapnoti na samsayah
Following this vow one should chant this mantra 116,000 times. Thus one will attain the supreme perfection in this life and the next. Of this there is no doubt.
RUDRADVIPA
Vilva Paksa (Vela Pokara)
My dear great sages, auspiciousness personified, it is very difficult for even the mystic yogis to see you. Indeed, you are very rarely seen. I do not know what kind of pious activity I performed for you to grace me by appearing before me without difficulty. Any person upon whom brahmanas and Vaisnavas are pleased can achieve anything which is rarely attained in this world as well as after death. Not only that, but one also receives the favour of the auspicious Lord Siva and Lord Visnu, who accompany the brahmanas and the Vaisnavas."
Maharaja Prithu offered his welcome to the four Kumaras, addressing them as the best of brahmanas. He welcomed them saying, "From birth, you strictly observed vows of celibacy, and although you are experienced in the path of liberation, you are keeping yourselves just like small children." (Srimad Bhagavatam)
September 26, 1969, London: My dear Jayapataka, please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated September 11th, and I have noted the contents.
The prayers offered by Visvanatha Cakravarti to his Spiritual Master have a special significance. His Spiritual Master was one of the assistant gopis, so the prayer was offered like that. On the whole, the Spiritual Master is an agent of Krishna. But either He is assistant to the gopis or assistant to the cowherds boys, He is on the level of Krishna. That is the verdict of all scriptures. Krishna is worshipable God and the Spiritual Master is worshipper God. The exact words are sebya (worshipable) and sebak (worshipper).
Your explanation of Annamoya is all right. Pranamoya means there are different types of airs, and the spirit soul is floating on the air, just like all the planets are floating in the air. This Pranamoya air is transferred by breathing exercises, but we have nothing to do with such exercises. Our prana, or life, is surrendered to Krishna. That is the first class yoga system approved by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. This Pranamoya, Annamoya, etc. are different stages for persons who are too much engrossed in the bodily concept of life.
Our philosophy begins from the point where we immediately accept that I am not this body; I am pure spirit soul, servant of God, Krishna. Therefore, these studies are meant for neophyte transcendentalists. But this devotional service is far above such platform. Regarding your last question, generally those who are attracted very much to Lord Caitanya and Goswamis are understood to develop to the conjugal love stage with Lord Krishna.
So I am very much pleased, and I congratulate you.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Srila Prabhupāda..
“I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra. I am not a brahmacārī, I am not a gṛhastha, I am not a vānaprastha…” Because our Vedic civilization is based on varṇa and āśrama. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu denied all these things: “I do not belong to any one of these.” Then what is Your position? Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ: “I am eternally servant of the maintainer of the gopīs.” That means Kṛṣṇa. And He preached: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109] That is our identification. We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the servants who have rebelled against Kṛṣṇa, they have come to this material world. Therefore, to reclaim these servants, Kṛṣṇa comes. And Kṛṣṇa says,
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge [Bg. 4.8]
Kṛṣṇa comes. He’s so kind.
So let us take advantage of Kṛṣṇa’s coming here, leaving behind Him this Bhagavad-gītā, and read it perfectly, and make your life perfect. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not a bogus movement. It is a most scientific movement. So outside India, these European, Americans, they are taking advantage of it. Why not these Indian youths? What is the wrong there? This is not good. Let us join together, start this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement very seriously, and deliver this suffering humanity. That is our purpose. They are suffering for want of knowledge. Everything is there, complete. Simply by mismanagement… Simply by the… It is being managed by the rogues and thieves. Take. You become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and take the management and make your life successful.
Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: Go on.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.” Purport. “One who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious is subjected to material desires while contemplating the objects of the senses. The senses require real engagements, and if they are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, they will certainly seek engagement in the service of materialism.”
Prabhupada: Every living entity is seeking after pleasure. That is his nature. You cannot stop. If you stop… Just like a child is seeking after some enjoyment, he’s breaking something, enjoyment. But he does not, that… He is breaking, but he’s simply enjoying that breaking.
Similarly, we do not know what is enjoyment in this material concept of life. We are breaking and building. In your country I have seen in several places. Nice building is dismantled, and again, in that very place, another building is raised. You see?
Breaking and building. Breaking and… “Oh, this building is old. Break it.” The same childish play. You see? Simply wasting engagement, valuable time of this human form. Breaking and building, breaking and building. “This motorcar is useless. Another ’69 model”.
And thousands of people are engaged in that ’69 model. You see? What is that? In essence, the breaking and building, breaking and building. Just like the child. You see? So unless one has got better engagement, Krishna consciousness, surely they will be engaged in this breaking and building, breaking and building.
Childish engagement.
So unless one is engaged in Krishna consciousness, he must be in the maya’s engagement, same thing. People may eulogize such engagement, “Oh, he’s so moneyed man.
He has dismantled such nice building and again constructed another nice building.” So, this is very nice in material estimation, but in spiritual estimation they are simply wasting time.
"In Srimad Bhagavatam it is described that when the secondary creator Lord Brahma was born, he was bewildered and he didn’t know what to do. All around him was simply darkness ... emptiness.
At that time he heard a sound vibration of two syllables (from the flute of Lord Krishna) – ta pa. “tene brahma hådaa ya adi-kavaye.”
To the heart of Brahma God spoke these two syllables–ta pa. And by the sound vibration of those two syllables Lord Brahma began to meditate and performed tapasya; austerities.
Through this process of tapasya he understood exactly how to create the fourteen planetary systems of this universe.
There is no greater healer and there is no greater destroyer than sound vibrations and the condition of the world is very much dependent on what sound vibrations are permeating the atmosphere."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkXhWNEKBRA
http://youtu.be/GkXhWNEKBRA
Srila Prabhupada..
So-called gurus, they are so-called gurus. They are not gurus. That is already explained. If one does not speak what Krsna speaks, he is not guru. If you accept so-called guru, that is your misfortune. What can be done?
----------------------
"Spiritual Slut" and Company: A Corrupting
Influence
BY: CARITRA-VARNANA DASA
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-12/editorials8857.htm
Aug 04, 2012 — CANADA (SUN) —
Hare Krishna! On Saturday, August 11th, the day after Sri Krishna Janmastami (Aug 10th) is the Appearance Day of His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Sri Vyasapuja is observed with fasting until noon.
On the left, just inside the main gate of Sri Mayapur Candodaya Mandir (ISKCON Mayapur), is the straw hut Srila Prabhupada stayed in from 1972 to 1976 while the first main buildings were being built. Srila Prabhupada first lived in a small hut near the campus's main gate. That was the first structure built in ISKCON Sri Mayapur. It is still being maintained today according to Srila Prabhupada's desire. He instructed devotees to perform Harinama Kirtana 24-hours a day throughout the year in Sri Mayapur. Srila Prabhupada's hut became the place of nonstop Harinama Kirtana in 1990 during Gaura Purnima. Since then the singing of:
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE |
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE ||
has continued non-stop 24-hours despite huge floods during the years 1999, 2000 and 2006.
16 devotees take part in this service. There are 8 shifts of 3 hours each. 4 groups of 3 devotees each take part in each shift, once during the day and once at night. The Harinam Sankirtan department in ISKCON Mayapur is determined to continue this 24 hour Harinam Kirtana eternally and please Srila Prabhupada by this service.
Srila Prabhupada..
”If somebody engages himself in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, then very quickly this detachment develops. And knowledge.” Knowledge also. Without knowledge, there cannot be detachment. Without knowledge, one cannot be detached. And what is that knowledge? The knowledge is that “I am not this matter; I am spirit soul.” So… But this knowledge is… Although it is very easy thing to say, that “I am not this body, but I am spirit soul,” but actually to have perfect knowledge, that is a great job. It is not very easy. For getting that supreme knowledge so many, I mean to say, transcendentalists, they were trying life after life, just to get detached. But the easiest process is that if one is engaged in the devotional service. That is the formula given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vāsudeve bhagavati. Vāsudeve bhagavati, “in the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.” Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ [SB 1.2.7]. Bhakti-yoga means devotional service. If it is applied, if we apply our devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be that janayaty āśu vairāgyam, very soon you’ll be detached from this material attraction. Very soon. And jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam. And you’ll gain also knowledge. You do not know how you have received knowledge. That is the magic. That is the magic.
Just like Lord Buddha’s teaching. Lord Buddha’s teachings is… That is also detachment from matter, nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa. But he does not speak anything about the spirit soul. Because the position in which he was speaking, that position, for the human, humanity, was not suitable for understanding what is the constitution of spirit, therefore he did not say anything about spirit. He simply preached nonviolence, he stressed on the point that we should be nonviolent. We should not be killing animals anymore. That was his preaching. Similarly, Śaṅkara… A little more than Buddha. He said, “No, no. Matter is not all. The spirit is real thing. Matter is false.” Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Now, he did not say about the activities of spiritual life. He simply gave hint that there, that matter is false. Matter is generated by spirit. Spirit is the real, principle thing.
So that is the position of Buddha. He did not say about the spirit. But Śaṅkara, Śaṅkara said, “No, matter is our false position. Spirit is real position.” But he did not say anything, what are the activities of the spiritual life. Then Śrī Rāmānujācārya came. He described the actual position of spiritual life. These are gradual development.
Lord Jesus Christ, he also gave hints of spiritual life, kingdom of God. So when we speak of kingdom of God, a kingdom, vacant, cannot be. Kingdom means there must be activities. Otherwise, what is the meaning of kingdom? So, of course, he did not give any detailed account of the kingdom of God, but he gave hint.
So these are gradual development so far the human society is concerned. As the position is. The whole process is, as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in this Bhagavad-gītā.
Questions and answers on spiritual life, published in 'The Harmonist'.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur..
Q. Why am I afflicted with the three miseries?
Ans. The jiva, due to his intermediate position, is liable to forget Krishna. This happens when he turns his face towards the external power of Krishna. The tendency of this aversion to or turning way from Krishna is inherent in the jiva in his eternal position. When the jiva turns his face towards the external power he finds himself in this mundane realm. His miseries are due to his submission to the external power who makes him totally forget his own nature and to entertain the delusion that he, and not Krishna, is the master of the external power.
Q. Is fear of punishment helpful to the soul of the jiva?'
Ans. The sense of fear comes upon the jiva only when he turns his face towards the external power. It is due to the reversal of his relationship with Krishna. It is this fear of punishment that finds its appropriate plane in this worldly sojourn. The external power playing upon the fears and hopes of the jiva sometimes elevates her victim to heaven and sometimes hurls him headlong into the lowest abyss of hell.
The jiva is not allowed to have a moment's safe and secure position. His condition has very aptly been compared to that of criminals in ancient times who were punished by being held forcibly under water and brought up to the surface for short intervals to prevent death by suffocation. But the jiva does not suspect that the external power is deluding him in this manner. On the contrary, he trusts in her promises to give him domination over the world.
Q. How can the jiva get rid of delusion?
Ans. The jiva can be relieved of the miseries of his worldly sojourn only if his mind is turned towards Krishna by the mercy of sadhus and the Shastras. As soon as the jiva turns his face towards Krishna, the external power ceases to have any control over him. So longs as the jiva agrees to be deluded by the external power he remains without any recollection of Krishna. Krishna out of His Mercy manifests Himself to jivas in His three forms of (1) the Veda fully explained in the Srimad Bhagavata, (2) the spiritual preceptor who is the best-beloved of His servitors, and (3) as the Internal Divine Guide. The jiva is enabled with the help of these Divine agencies to realise the fact that Krishna is his Lord and Saviour.
The Birth of Lord Krsna
Srila Prabhupada..
"As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that His appearance, birth, and activities, are all transcendental, and one who understands them factually becomes immediately eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. The Lord's appearance or birth is not like that of an ordinary man who is forced to accept a material body according to his past deeds. The Lord's appearance is explained in the Second Chapter: He appears out of His own sweet pleasure.."
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/index.htm#ppv2432
-------------------------
Sweetest Description of Janmastami-lila
From Ananda Vrindavan Champu by Srila Kavi Karnapura
Now we will discuss the truth about the transcendental birthplace of Bhagavan and the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna.
Once upon a time, Bhumi, the predominating deity of the earth, felt overburdened by different demons posing as members of the royal order. Feeling aggrieved upon seeing her miserable condition, the lotus-born Brahma appealed to Ksirodakasayi Visnu, the maintainer of the universe, saying, "Please deliver Goddess Bhumi who is feeling greatly distressed by these demoniac kings. Only You can remove this terrible influence from the earth."
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-12/editorials8872.htm
Srila Prabhupada, Vrindavana, October 30, 1972: [...]
The whole world is working, especially in Western countries, you see… They are working so hard. They have got their nice motorcar, nice roads, and very, very nice ways also, fly over, one road is flying over another road, another road. Very good facility for driving motorcar, and they have got enough motorcar also.
Every third man has got a car. But what are these civilization? Kama and lobha, lustiness and greediness. That’s all. The basic principle is lust and greediness. That’s all. This is their qualification.
So anyone who has become free from this lusty and greedy status of life, he’s advanced. He’s advanced. Kama-lobhadayas ca ye. Because these lusty desires and greediness will not help him at any time to realize his self or to realize God. That will not be helpful.
So at least, if he comes to the platform of goodness, sattva-guna, then he can at least understand that “I am not this body. I am spirit soul. My duty is different from these bodily activities.” Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati [Bg. 18.54].
The lusty and greediness keeps one always in lamentation and hankering. Na socati na kanks… Na kanksati. Kanksa. These people, they have no end of their kanksa, hankering. One after another, one after another, one after a… Sarva-kama. In the sastra they are called sarva-kama. There is no end of their lusty desires. So nasta-prayesu abhadresu.
By the hearing process, one becomes gradually free from the lusty and greedy platform, and he comes to the platform of knowledge. And at that time he can understand at least that, “I am not this body. I am spirit soul. And what is my duty as spirit soul?”
That duty, if he understands, that is, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]. That is the duty. When he comes to this platform that “My duty is to execute devotional service”, that is required.
http://causelessmercy.com/t/?P=721030SB.VRN
Srila Prabhupada..
A pandita, pandita can see… Pandita means a learned man can see that “Here is a learned brahmana.” In India, according to Vedic civilization, a learned brahmana is considered to be the topmost man in human society. So therefore He is taking the example that “Here is a very learned brahmana.” Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane. Not only he is brahmana, but he is very gentle. Vidya means… What is the result of vidya? Education means one becomes gentleman. That is the result of vidya. If one is not a gentleman, then his learning is not accepted according to the Vedic literature.
July 9, 1969, Los Angeles: My Dear Rayarama, please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 3, 1969, and I have noted the contents.
So I am glad to learn that your program is to do some work independently, and at the same time to do work for our Krishna Consciousness Movement. This formula I have already accepted, and I have given you permission according to your leaning. If possible, then try to give the results of your work to Krishna. We do not disapprove of any activities of the world provided the result is given to Krishna. That is the whole instruction of the Bhagavad-gita. You have learned this philosophy for so many years, so try to execute it to your best capacity.
So far as I am concerned, I have accepted you as my disciple and you have accepted me as your spiritual father. This relationship cannot be ended anymore. It is eternal. So it will be my duty always to pray to Krishna for your further and further improvement in Krishna Consciousness, so you should go on serving this movement to your best capacity.
Srila Prabhupada..
So indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā. One who is practiced to control his senses… Senses are not to be stopped. They are to be used at proper time, but not at the dictation of the senses. When one comes to that standard of life, that he is not dictated by the senses but he uses senses when it is properly required… Senses are not to be stopped. That is not prescribed. That is not prescribed. Somebody says that sense control means to use, to stop the action of the senses. No. Senses, action of the senses, cannot be stopped. Simply it has to be purified. The action of the senses has to be purified. That is the whole process. Because as spiritual living entity, we have got our spiritual senses. Those senses are now covered by this matter. We are not senseless. Just like your coat. Your coat is cut according to your hands. Because the coat, you will see, the coat has also got a hand. And why coat has got a hand? Because the user of the coat, he has got a hand. The coat is cut according to the hand of the user of the body. Similarly, this material body has been described in the Bhagavad-gītā as dress. So unless I have got body, wherefrom the dress comes? Dress has no meaning unless I have got body.
So senses are there, and those senses are required to be used; otherwise there is no meaning of senses. But that is spiritual. So senses have to be engaged in the spiritual activities. That is spiritual life, spiritual life.
The example, as I have already explained to you many times, just like Arjuna. He wanted to control his senses to refrain from fighting. When you fight, you require to engage your senses. He said that “I will not fight.” That means he is controlling his senses from fighting. But after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he says, “Yes, I’ll fight.” Just see. Before hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position of Arjuna, that “I,” “I will not fight,” and after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position of “I,” “Yes, I will fight.” Two contradictory. Before hearing Bhagavad-gītā, the position of “I” was negative, and people may estimate this nonviolence attitude of Arjuna very nicely. But after Bhagavad-gītā, after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he said, “Yes.” Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava: [Bg. 18.73] “Yes, I shall fight.” Now, do you mean to tell that he degraded? First of all he was nonviolent. He was not willing to fight. Now he has degraded after hearing Bhagavad-gītā? Is it…, is the conclusion? No. He has improved. He has improved. Why he has improved? Because he has understood how to use the senses. That’s all. In the beginning he did not know how to use the senses. Therefore he decided, “I shall not fight. I shall not fight.” That is his material calculation.
So our material calculation is all nonsense. Our material calculation of our activities, they are all nonsense. They are all causes of our bondage. And when the same senses, they are engaged in the service of the Supreme, that is our freedom.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada..
Q. Why does not every person pray for the service of Krishna as it appears to be so very easy to gain and so desirable in every way?
Ans. It is very rarely, indeed, that a person is redeemed from the bondage of the world. It is only when through some rare good fortune one's addiction to worldliness is wearing off that a person has a chance of being attracted towards Krishna by association with His pure devotees. Association with sadhus thus offers the only chance for the redemption of conditioned souls.
---------------------------
Srimad Bhagavatam 4.21.33:
"The question may be raised that since the Lord is supposed to be worshiped by great demigods like Lord Brahma, Lord Śiva and others, how can an ordinary human being on this planet serve Him? This is clearly explained by Pṛthu Maharaja by the use of the word yathādhikāra, "according to one's ability." If one sincerely executes his occupational duty, that will be sufficient."
In Padma Purana Krishna says:
Naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hridayesu va
Tat tat tisthama narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah
"I am not in Vaikuntha, nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying my activities."
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur
Q. What is the first step in the attainment of a life of spiritual service?
Ans. As soon as a person surrenders himself to Krishna with perfect reliance, Krishna makes him at once similar to Himself. This is spiritual proselytisation.
26. Q. How should a person himself after proselytisation, for perfecting his devotion?
Ans. The object of practising the service of Krishna as means to the end is the attainment of love for Krishna. During the period of novitiate the process which appears as means is the end in the stage of realisation. During the period of endeavour such prescribed activity as listening, chanting, recollection, etc., of Krishna are the proper forms of the process. In respect of means love for Krishna is an accompanying manifestation.
27. Q. Is the process of service the means by which love for Krishna is realised?
Ans. Love for Krishna cannot be realised by any other means than itself. It is eternally self-realised. The means in this case, such as the acts of listening, etc., are also eternally self-realised processes that appear in the pure spiritual essence of the soul in the form of means to the end.
“Gurus, teachers, who are simply interested in this material world are described in this verse as andha, blind. Such blind men may lead many other blind followers without true knowledge of material conditions, but they are not accepted by devotees like Prahlada Maharaja. Such blind teachers, being interested in the external, material world, are always bound by the strong ropes of material nature.”
SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM 7.5.
TEXT 31
PURPORT
Since there must always be a difference of opinion between demons and devotees, Hiranyakasipu, when criticized by his son Prahlada Maharaja, should not have been surprised that Prahlada Maharaja differed from his way of life. Nonetheless, Hiranyakasipu was extremely angry and wanted to rebuke his son for deriding his teacher or spiritual master, who had been born in the brahmana family of the great acarya Sukracarya.
The word sukra means “semen,” and acarya refers to a teacher or guru. Hereditary gurus, or spiritual masters, have been accepted everywhere since time immemorial, but Prahlada Maharaja declined to accept such a seminal guru or take instruction from him. An actual guru is srotriya, one who has heard or received perfect knowledge through parampara, the disciplic succession.
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja did not recognize a seminal spiritual master. Such spiritual masters are not at all interested in Vishnu. Indeed, they are hopeful of material success (bahir-artha-maninah). The word bahih means “external,” artha means “interest,” and manina means “taking very seriously.”
Generally speaking, practically everyone is unaware of the spiritual world. The knowledge of the materialists is restricted within the four-billion-mile limit of this material world, which is in the dark portion of the creation; they do not know that beyond the material world is the spiritual world. Unless one is a devotee of the Lord, one cannot understand the existence of the spiritual world.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
If I were to desist from lecturing about the Absolute Truth due to fear that some listeners may be displeased, I would be deviating from the path of Vedic truth and accepting the path of untruth. I would become one who is inimical to the Vedas, an atheist, and would no longer possess faith in Bhagavan, the very embodiment of truth. He who compromises is finished.
(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava)
--------------------------
"I thank you Srila Prabhupada for having the courage to fearlessly represent Krsna no matter what the popular opinion is. As you once said to Umapati Svami "I can't change the truth to please the Americans."
RUPANUGA DAS (ACBSP)
Eight Inadequate Appreciations On The Appearance Day of
His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada..
We are in darkness,
Your Divine Grace the light
To guide us beyond
This material night.
Your Divine Grace has shown
The whole world's sleeping
With hardened heart
Against Sri Krsna's seeking.
Yet by Your Divine Grace
Of Lord Krsna we can hear:
His glorious pastimes
Give us boundless cheer!
Your Divine Grace
Has proven, beyond doubt,
The Absolute is the Person
We can not live without.
As Acharya, Your Divine Grace
Has shown us by example
What we each are,
His infinitesimal spiritual sample.
Your Divine Grace
Has given the principle of Bhakti
The only legitimate business
Of Lord Krsna's jivashakti!
Your Divine Grace is perfect
So what is our improvement,
Except our hearty promise
To push Lord Chaitanya's Movement.
Who can sing full of that day
-Our obeisances are simply lame-
When Your Divine Grace, Oh!
Delivered the Holy Name!
ISKCON Buffalo
Vyasa Puja Day, 1969
Reporter: How many disciples do you now have in the U.S.?
Prabhupada: Although one cannot expect many disciples, still, there are two thousand. Not many come because I insist on many restrictions. And because people in general have forgotten Krsna, forgotten God, Krsna consciousness is difficult to understand. I am trying to remind them and make them Krsna conscious.
It is a very difficult job. I have to shed my blood three tons before I make one person convinced in Krsna consciousness. That is my experience.
Especially Europeans and Americans. They do not accept anything blindly. Questions, questions, questions. They are inquisitive, and they want to know. So I give them answers.
Especially in Europe and America, when I make this condition that you cannot have illicit sex, you cannot have intoxication, you cannot eat meat, you cannot gamble . . . This is their daily habit. This is their life.
Even a British lord, Lord Zetland, refused these principles, “Oh, we cannot give up these things.” So I strictly control my students, but still, they are coming. So it is very difficult job. Still, there are many thousands. And they are so sincere. If I ask them, like I have asked this boy [Sudama Vipra Swami], to go to Red China, they go even at the risk of their life.
By Prabhupada’s mercy, souls trapped in maya’s kingdom are becoming dear to Krsna:
“For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.”
How dear devotees are to Krsna. How dear to Krsna must be Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
Q. Are there varieties of the practice of Bhakti as means?
Ans. The practice of Bhakti as means is of two kinds viz. (1) practice of service by the method of obedience to the injunctions of the Shastras and (2) practice of Bhakti in pursuance of spontaneous liking.
Q. What is the nature of the practice of Bhakti in obedience to the rules of the Shastras?
Ans. This course is followed by persons who have no spontaneous liking for the service of Krishna. They do so through their sense of duty. The forms of such regulated service of Krishna are numerous. I shall briefly indicate them. Taking refuge at the feet of the Guru, initiation, service of Guru, learning from him about the real function of the soul and practising loyal enquiry about the same, to follow the path of the sadhus, to give up one's own enjoyments for pleasing Krishna, to reside in a place sanctified by its association with Krishna, to accept the minimum that is necessary for maintenance of life, to observe the fast on the eleventh day of the lunar month which is the Lord's day, to reverence holy trees e.g., emblic myrobalan the cow, the Brahmanas and the Vaishnavas. These ten constitute the first steps on the path of the practice of Bhakti as means.
In addition to these the following are negative helps. To avoid offences in regard to service and also those regarding the Name, to avoid spiritual communion with those who are opposed to the service of the Absolute, not to entertain numerous disciples, to avoid partial study and exposition of many books, not to be elated or depressed by profit or gain, not to be subject to grief, etc., not to condemn other gods or Shastras, not to listen to calumnies against Vishnu and Vaishnavas, not to listen to talks bearing on domestic life for the gratification of the sexual appetites of man and woman, not to cause any anxiety to any living thing.
To the above twenty are to be added forty-four more varieties of service which are as follows. Listening, chanting, recollecting, worshipping, praising, obeying, serving, practising, friendship, surrendering oneself, dancing before the Sree Vigraha, singing, confessing, prostrating oneself, standing up to meet Godhead and His devotees when they are found coming towards oneself, to follow Godhead and His devotees when they move away from oneself, to frequent holy places and temples of Godhead, to perform circumambulation, to recite hymns of praise, to practise mental recital, to perform the congregation chant, to accept the odour of incense and garlands offered to Godhead, to honour the great favour in the form of the remains of the Lord's food, to witness the light-waving service, to view the Sree Murti, to offer objects loved by oneself to Godhead, to meditate, to serve His Own (which includes serving the tulasi etc., serving the Vaishnavas, residing at Mathura and tasting the sweetness of the narrative of the Bhagavata), to exert oneself without stint for the sake of Krishna, to expect His Mercy, to perform the festivities of His Nativity, etc., in the company of the devotees, to practise submission in every way, to observe the prescribed vows in regard to the month of Kartika and on other similar occasions, to wear the symbols of a Vaishnava, to wear the Letters of the Name of Hari, to wear the remains of the Lord's offerings, to drink the nectar touched by the Lord's Feet.
The greatest emphasis is laid upon the following five practices which are repeated for this purpose, viz. association with sadhus, chanting of the name, listening to the Bhagavata, residing at Mathura and worshipping Sree Murti with faith.
Q. Are all these obligatory on every person?
Ans. There are some who practise only a single form, while there are others who practise many of the forms. The growing tide of love is fostered by constant practice. Each item of these practices has to be performed in its distinct form by the complete employment of one's body, senses and inner faculties. A person who worships Krishna by giving up the pursuit of the pleasures of his senses in obedience to the injunctions of the Shastras, is under no obligation to serve the devas, rishis and pitris.
Those who serve the Feet of Krishna by giving up the prescribed methods have also never any inclination of committing offences that are forbidden by the rules of the Shastras. If such offence makes it appearance unconsciously to the devotee of Krishna, Krishna Himself purifies him from all defilement without subjecting him to any penitential expiation. Knowledge, renunciation, etc., are never constituent parts of Bhakti. Freedom from malice, perfect control over the senses and regularity in the performance of one's duty dog the steps of the devotee of Krishna.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
Q. What are the characteristics of the tendency to love?
Ans. Bhava or the pre-condition for love has been defined by an analogy. It is like a ray of the sun of love. It is pure liking which makes one conscious of a great softness and tenderness and tends to remove all roughness of the cognising function.
Q. What are the characteristics of love?
Ans. When Bhava, after making the seat of consciousness perfectly soft and smooth, manifests an extreme personal affinity with the Absolute and itself takes the form of its concentrated quality, such liking is called love.
Q. By what progressive development is the state of love realised?
Ans. If by some undefinable good fortune any jiva experiences firm and natural faith for the service of the Absolute, such a person is thereby impelled to practise association with sadhus. By such association he has the opportunity of practising listening and chanting the Word. By such practices as means all undesirable hankerings gradually subside. On the complete subsidence of all evil desire Bhakti acquires the quality of constancy. Constancy produces in its turn liking for listening, etc. From growing liking for the practice of Bhakti arises exuberance of attachment. From intense attachment the seed of liking for Krishna germinates in the seat of consciousness. When this liking is condensed it is designated Prema or love. This love, wherein abides all perfect bliss, is the need of our souls.
Q. How is it possible to recognise a person who loves Krishna?
Ans. Even the wise cannot fathom the words, activities and attitudes of a person in whose consciousness love of Krishna manifests itself. It is also not possible to describe the Mercy of Godhead in any explicit form.
As described in sastra, when Lord Shiva wished to elude the Pandavas, he took refuge in Kedarnath, in the form of a bull. Finding a herd of cattle grazing in the marshy Kedar, he turned himself into a bull and mingled with the herd. The Pandavas were at a loss to find him, until Narada Muni suggested that Bhima stand with his feet on two adjoining mountains. The other four Pandavas could then round-up the cattle and drive them through Bhima's legs. Narada, of course, realized that all the cattle would pass under Bhima's legs except the bull who was Shiva in disguise. Thus when the Pandavas found a solitary bull refusing to follow the herd, they ran after and corralled him. Shiva then began digging the soft earth so as to descend and escape. Bhima caught hold of the bull's hump, and in exchange for their great perseverance, Shiva relented and give darshan to the Pandavas before disappearing underground.
After Shiva dived into the ground, he left behind his hump of the surface. Kedarnath (the hump) is therefore known as one of the Panch Kedar, being joined by sacred sites representing Shiva's arms (bahu) at Tungnath, face (mukh) at Rudranath, navel (nabhi) at Madmaheshwar, and hair (jata) at Kalpeshwar. The hump is worshipped in the temple at Kedarnath in a conical Shiva pinda form, while the remaining parts of the body are worshipped at the other four locations.
Vandana - Offering Obeisances..
Obeisances, obeisances, obeisances to the saintly demigod Ganesa, who destroys all obstacles, who has a single tusk, who is stout, and who helps all auspicious projects. Glory, glory to Parvati's son!
Folding my palms, I bow my head before Gauri and Siva. Falling at their feet, I serve them. They are the creators of the three worlds. They are the givers of devotion to Lord Vishnu. They are all the gods and goddesses.
I bow my head before Goddess Sarasvati. O goddess, please play on my tongue. Please give me many songs praising Lord Gaurahari, wonderful songs like nothing known in the three worlds.
I bow down before the devotees of Lord Vishnu, devotees who are very fortunate, devotees whose virtues purify the whole earth, devotees who are merciful to everyone, devotees who love everyone, devotees whose pastimes bring auspiciousness to the three worlds.
I am worthless. I don't know right from left. I want to climb up and grab the sky. I am a blind man who wants to find a splendid jewel, even though I have no power to see even a mountain. What will become of me? I do not know.
There is but one hope. The Lord accepts any person, high or low, that sings His glories.He is merciful to everyone. To everyone He gives the shade of His feet. He does not worry whether the people are worthy to receive His mercy.
In my heart I do not think one devotee is first and another is last.
I offer my respectful obeisances to the devotees who live on the earth and the devotees who live in the worlds above. One by one, I bow down before the feet of every devotee.
I am not qualified. I am a fool. Still, I yearn to taste the sweetness of Lord Gaura's glories.
I am not qualified. I make many mistakes. Still, please don't rebuke me. Don't become angry.
Who does not like to taste nectar when he sees it? A foolish child will wish to grasp the moon in the sky...
Srila Prabhupada..
"The bhaktivedantas see the people in general are wasting time in false sensuous things. Their business is to get the ignorant mass of people to reestablish the lost relationship with the prayojana, lost relationship with the Personality of Godhead. By such endeavor even the most forgotten soul is roused up to the sense of spiritual life, and thus being initiated by the bhaktivedantas the people in general gradually progress on the path of transcendental realization."
SB 5.24.1
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, some historians, the speakers of the Puranas, say that 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles] below the sun is the planet known as Rahu, which moves like one of the stars. The presiding deity of that planet, who is the son of Simhika, is the most abominable of all asuras, but although he is completely unfit to assume the position of a demigod or planetary deity, he has achieved that position by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Srila Prabhupada..
Lord Krsna also says that vedanta vid vedanta krd ca aham: “I am the compiler of Vedanta and I am the knower of Vedanta.” If God, if Krsna is not knower of Vedanta, then how He can compile Vedanta? Vedanta means “the last word in knowledge.” We are, everyone, seeking knowledge, and Vedanta means the last word of knowledge. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu first of all establishes that in the Vedanta-sutra you cannot find any flaw; therefore you have no right to interpret. Because you are nonsense rascal, so how you can touch and comment on the sutras which is compiled by God, the Supreme Perfect? But we do not admit that “I am rascal.” I think that I am very much learned, I have no flaw, I am perfect. So these are foolishness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s point is this, that why the foolish persons go to interpret and comment on Vedanta, which is perfect itself? Do you require to see the sun with this light? How it is possible? The sun is itself illuminated so nicely that you don’t require any other light to see sun. If I say, “My dear boy, please come with me and take this light. I’ll show you sun in the sky,” oh, you’ll think, “Oh, Swamiji is a nonsense.
Post a Comment