Tag: a. c. bhaktivedanta swami prabhupada

Understanding Vaishnava Compassion: Lessons from Great Saints (part 3)

This article explores the profound concept of Vaishnava Compassion through the examples of Jesus Christ, Vasudeva Datta, Ramanuja Acharya, and Srila Prabhupada. Each figure exemplifies immense compassion, willing to suffer for the sake of others. Their teachings inspire us to embody such selflessness and understanding in our own lives.

In the earlier two parts of this series of articles, we examined

In this part, we will look at 4 examples of Vaishnava Compassion.

1. Jesus Christ – a topmost Vaishnava

Jesus Christ - a Topmost Vaishnava Saint

This, some readers find surprising. Indeed, when I spoke on this topic, many in the audience came to chat with me about this.

Some people argue, and entire churches have been created on the premise that Jesus Christ is God Himself. But Jesus himself claimed that he was son of God. And of course, we know that God, being unlimited, has no shortage of sons or daughters or prophets.

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 16.17

God is perfect in every respect. God is full of all opulence. The compassion of Jesus is even more adorable because he is a son of God and not God Himself.

Jesus Christ appeared in a most desolate place, the dry and foreboding desert, at a time of great turmoil, the decay of the Roman empire, amidst the most wretched of all people, and tried to help them understand God consciousness. But the people of that day and age were so fallen that they tried to crucify their savior. Still, what Jesus has taught continues to resonate with so many souls, even though most misunderstand his teachings.

We adore Lord Jesus Christ is a Vaishnava Acharya. Why do I say that?

I will leave you with some quotes of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada…

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that any bona fide preacher of God consciousness must have the qualities of titikṣā (tolerance) and karuṇā (compassion). In the character of Lord Jesus Christ we find both these qualities. He was so tolerant that even while he was being crucified, he didn’t condemn anyone. And he was so compassionate that he prayed to God to forgive the very persons who were trying to kill him. (Of course, they could not actually kill him. But they were thinking that he could be killed, so they were committing a great offense.) As Christ was being crucified he prayed, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing.”

…Of course, the message that Christ preached was just according to his particular time, place, and country, and just suited for a particular group of people. But certainly he is the representative of God. Therefore we adore Lord Jesus Christ and offer our obeisances to him.

Once, in Melbourne, a group of Christian ministers came to visit me. They asked, “What is your idea of Jesus Christ?” I told them, “He is our guru. He is preaching God consciousness, so he is our spiritual master.” The ministers very much appreciated that.

Actually, anyone who is preaching God’s glories must be accepted as a guru. Jesus Christ is one such great personality. We should not think of him as an ordinary human being. The scriptures say that anyone who considers the spiritual master to be an ordinary man has a hellish mentality. If Jesus Christ were an ordinary man, then he could not have delivered God consciousness. (Science of Self Realization, Chapter 4, “Understanding Krsna and Christ)

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

2. Vasudeva Datta – relatively unknown, but even greater compassion

Lord Chaitanya with His Associates, including Vasudeva Datta

It is tempting to think that Lord Jesus Christ is one of a kind. Such mercy as shown by Jesus Christ is practically unparalleled. But such personalities have been repeatedly sent by God all over the world. Before Jesus, after Jesus, and such personalities continue to walk the earth with us even today. Most of us do not have the eyes to see such great personalities for who they are. But thanks to revealed scripture, we know of many such personalities.

One great example is Vasudeva Datta, an eternal associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, God in the form of His own pure devotee.

Jesus Christ takes the sins of anyone who believes in Him or surrenders to him. But Vasudeva Datta wanted to indiscriminately take on the sinful reactions of all the living entities in this Universe!

I will quote an interaction from the Chaitanya Charitamrita…

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then embraced Vāsudeva Datta and began to speak of his glories as if He had a thousand mouths.

When Caitanya Mahāprabhu glorified him, Vāsudeva Datta immediately became very much embarrassed and shy. He then submitted himself, touching the Lord’s lotus feet.

Vāsudeva Datta told Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “My dear Lord, You incarnate just to deliver all conditioned souls. I now have one petition, which I wish You would accept.

“My Lord, You are certainly able to do whatever You like, and You are indeed merciful. If You so desire, You can very easily do whatever You want.

“My Lord, my heart breaks to see the sufferings of all the conditioned souls; therefore I request You to transfer the karma of their sinful lives upon my head.

“My dear Lord, let me suffer perpetually in a hellish condition, accepting all the sinful reactions of all living entities. Please finish their diseased material life.”

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard Vāsudeva Datta’s statement, His heart became very soft. Tears flowed from His eyes, and He began to tremble. In a faltering voice He spoke as follows.

Accepting Vāsudeva Datta as a great devotee, the Lord said, “Such a statement is not at all astonishing because you are the incarnation of Prahlāda Mahārāja. It appears that Lord Kṛṣṇa has bestowed complete mercy upon you. There is no doubt about it.

“Whatever a pure devotee wants from his master, Lord Kṛṣṇa doubtlessly grants because He has no duty other than to fulfill the desire of His devotee.

“If you desire the deliverance of all living entities within the universe, then all of them can be delivered even without your undergoing the tribulations of sinful activity.
Text 168: “Kṛṣṇa is not incapable, for He has all potencies. Why would He induce you to suffer the sinful reactions of other living entities?

“Whosever welfare you desire immediately becomes a Vaiṣṇava, and Kṛṣṇa delivers all Vaiṣṇavas from the reactions of their past sinful activities.

“ ‘Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the original Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who regulates the sufferings and enjoyments due to fruitive activity. He does this for everyone — from the heavenly King Indra down to the smallest insect [indra-gopa]. That very Personality of Godhead destroys the karmic reactions of one engaged in devotional service.’

“Because of your honest desire, all living entities within the universe will be delivered, for Kṛṣṇa does not have to do anything to deliver all the living entities of the universe.

“Just as there are millions of fruits on the uḍumbara tree, millions of universes float on the waters of the river Virajā.

“The uḍumbara tree is filled with millions of fruits, and if one falls down and is destroyed, the tree does not even consider the loss.

“In the same way, if one universe is vacated due to the living entities’ having been liberated, that is a very little thing for Kṛṣṇa. He does not take it very seriously.

“The entire spiritual world constitutes the unlimited opulence of Kṛṣṇa, and there are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets there. The Causal Ocean is considered the surrounding waters of Vaikuṇṭhaloka.
Text 176: “Māyā and her unlimited material universes are situated in that Causal Ocean. Indeed, māyā appears to be floating like a pot filled with mustard seeds.

“Of the millions of mustard seeds floating in that pot, if one seed is lost, the loss is not at all significant. Similarly, if one universe is lost, it is not significant to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

“To say nothing of one universal mustard seed, even if all the universes and the material energy [māyā] are destroyed, Kṛṣṇa does not even consider the loss.


“If a person possessing millions of wish-fulfilling cows loses one she-goat, he does not consider the loss. Kṛṣṇa owns all six opulences in full. If the entire material energy is destroyed, what does He lose?”

 Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “ ‘O my Lord, O unconquerable one, O master of all potencies, please exhibit Your internal potency to conquer the nescience of all moving and inert living entities. Due to nescience, they accept all kinds of faulty things, thus provoking a fearful situation. O Lord, please show Your glories! You can do this very easily, for Your internal potency is beyond the external potency, and You are the reservoir of all opulence. You are also the demonstrator of the material potency. You are also always engaged in Your pastimes in the spiritual world, where You exhibit Your reserved, internal potency, and sometimes You exhibit the external potency by glancing over it. Thus You manifest Your pastimes. The Vedas confirm Your two potencies and accept both types of pastimes due to them.’ ”

CC Madhya 158-180 https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/15/

3. Ramanuja Acharya – compassion greater than all

Ramanuja Acharya, the saint of boundless compassion

In both of the above cases, the compassion of Jesus and Vasudeva Datta was certainly great.

But the great Vaishnava Acharya Sri Ramanuja exhibited even greater compassion. He showed the way by which anyone can be freed from the effects of bondage due to sinful reactions.

Among many instances of Ramanuja’s vast compassion, here is just one.

Ramanuja was advised to get education from a highly respected teacher of the times, Goshtipurna, based in Tirukostiyur. Ramanuja was then based in Srirangam. Over 100 kms away. When Ramanuja approached him after his 100+km walk, Goshtipurna asked Ramanuja to come back another day. Ramanuja was disappointed but went back and came another day, walking all the way. This happened once, twice, a total of 18 times! This was just to test the earnestness of the aspiring disciple, Ramanuja. However, Ramanuja rose to the expectations and Goshtipurna gave him the mantra at last.

Just imagine, Ramanuja walked well over 3600 kms to get the mantra!

When the great teacher imparted the well-known mantra, he commanded Ramanuja to keep it an absolute secret. The reason was that those who heard it would be liberated. But if imparted to unworthy persons, Ramanuja would go to hell. Ramanuja considered this for some time. He then hastened to a nearby temple, quickly climbed to the top of its tower. Ramanuja then called out to the people to assemble there and loudly imparted the mantra to everyone.

When Goshtipurna got the news, he was furious. He called for his errant disciple right away. Ramanuja humbly expressed his willingness to go to eternal hell. He said he would reside in hell with great joy. Since so many others people who, otherwise might not progress to liberation would now surely get it, he was happy. Goshtipurna realized the magnanimity of Ramanuja and fell at his feet, giving him the title “Emperumanar” – He who is the most compassionate.

And what was the mantra?

“Om Namo Narayanaya” / ॐ नमो नारायणाय / ஓம் நமோ நாராயணாய

Ramanuja Acharya and his followers have popularized the mantra all over!

4. Srila Prabhupada – a modern example of Vaishnava Compassion

Srila Prabhupada

The glories of Srila Prabhupada are limitless! He appeared in this world 1896, and re-entered the spiritual realm in 1977.

Hundreds and Thousands of souls have written about this great modern-day saint. Writings about Srila Prabhupada will continue at least for the next 10,000 years.

Here is one little pastime that illustrates Srila Prabhupada’s most perfect example of Vaishnava Compassion.

When Srila Prabhupada was winding up his pastimes on our planet, he was apparently very ill.

One doctor, a very learned traditional healer, came to see Srila Prabhupada. He had an urgent, important piece of information that could prolong Srila Prabhupada’s life!

He said that when an Acharya allows a deity of himself to be worshipped while he is still in a living body, when people offer obeisances to that deity and touch the feet of the deity, the karmic reactions of the worshiper enter the living body of the Acharya.

In other words, Srila Prabhupada was accepting the sinful reactions of thousands upon thousands of people every day.

The doctor made an urgent request – he said, remove that deity, let people not worship you in deity form, and you will be immediately healed, cured from your ailment.

Srila Prabhupada refused. He softly muttered “do you not know why I have come?”

Srila Prabhupada came to take away our sufferings, and was willing to suffer, exactly in the mood of Jesus Christ, of Vasudeva Datta, of Ramanuja Acharya.

Such compassion is rare indeed, in our world.

We cannot imitate it, but we can certainly try to follow in their footsteps.

तप्यन्ते लोकतापेन साधव: प्रायशो जना: ।
परमाराधनं तद्धि पुरुषस्याखिलात्मन: ॥ ४४ ॥
tapyante loka-tāpena
sādhavaḥ prāyaśo janāḥ
paramārādhanaṁ tad dhi
puruṣasyākhilātmanaḥ

It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/7/44/

Anxious from physical pain or health issue? Leverage it!

When facing physical pain, it’s natural to feel anxious. This anxiety can be debilitating if not channeled properly. However, this can be channeled to deepen Krishna Consciousness. Just like a cricket batsman flicks away a fast ball from an aggressive bowler to score many runs, embracing verses like 10.14.8 from Srimad Bhagavatam within the heart and leveraging hardships to increase devotion can lead to liberation. Just as a legitimate son inherits from his father, a sincere devotee will gain the mercy of the Lord and attain the kingdom of God.

Question

When I get any physical pain or physical health problem, I tend to get extremely anxious. How to deal with that?

Answer

The anxiety in response to physical pain is natural. After all your body is your home, home of the spirit soul.

If there is a fire or flood in our home we get anxious and take care to mitigate the issue. People spend their whole life maintaining their house and clothes and car.

India is full of people who are mad after cricket. So here is a cricket analogy… when a fast bowler sends a very fast ball the batsman who is skillful channels the energy of the bowler to score runs, just by flicking the ball away to the boundary.

Cricket batsman plays the flick shot...

We may not be able to avoid anxiety but we can channel that anxiety to increase our Krishna Consciousness. We can use the opportunity to remember that the present body is temporary, to remember Krishna and take to His shelter more deeply. Whenever I feel such pain I ask if this may be my last moment in this life and try to remember Krishna very sincerely and cry, even if internally, that I am not yet Krishna Conscious.

Verse 10.14.8 from Srimad Bhagavatam is my favorite to take shelter of when facing adverse situations. Learn it by heart and take shelter of that verse whenever you feel anxious.

तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणो
भुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् ।
हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्ते
जीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥ ८ ॥


tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

Translation
My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

Purport
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains in his commentary that just as a legitimate son has to simply remain alive to gain an inheritance from his father, one who simply remains alive in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, automatically becomes eligible to receive the mercy of the Personality of Godhead. In other words, he will be promoted to the kingdom of God.

The word su-samīkṣamāṇa indicates that a devotee earnestly awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord even while suffering the painful effects of previous sinful activities. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā that a devotee who fully surrenders unto Him is no longer liable to suffer the reactions of his previous karma. However, because in his mind a devotee may still maintain the remnants of his previous sinful mentality, the Lord removes the last vestiges of the enjoying spirit by giving His devotee punishments that may sometimes resemble sinful reactions. The purpose of the entire creation of God is to rectify the living entity’s tendency to enjoy without the Lord, and therefore the particular punishment given for a sinful activity is specifically designed to curtail the mentality that produced the activity. Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the false happiness of this world. The Lord therefore creates a particular situation to eradicate this remaining enjoying spirit. This unhappiness suffered by a sincere devotee is not technically a karmic reaction; it is rather the Lord’s special mercy for inducing His devotee to completely let go of the material world and return home, back to Godhead.

A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s abode. Therefore he willingly accepts the Lord’s merciful punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the Lord with his heart, words and body. Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words dāya-bhāk. Just as one cannot approach the sun without becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Kṛṣṇa, without undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear like suffering but which is in fact a curative treatment administered by the personal hand of the Lord.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/14/8/

The Stone Deity who bore witness – Saakshi Gopal

Deities are made of stone, wood, marble, metal etc. But authorized deities are anything but material! Want to read about a deity who walked a thousand plus miles to bear witness for His devotee? Read about the renowned Sri Saakshi Gopal!

Once upon a time, in South India, there lived two Brahmins. One was very rich and aristocratic, but also old in body. The other was poor but gentle, a young man. Both were great devotees of Krishna, with complete faith in the Lord.

From Sakshi Gopal, a book published by Sri Vaikuntha Enterprises
From Sakshi Gopal, Published by Sri Vaikuntha Enterprises

They both went on pilgrimage to Vrindavan. The young Brahmin man served the elderly one very sincerely, helped him. This service was essential, because in those days, pilgrimages were by foot, often without facilities. So to walk well over a thousand miles and back was no mean feat.

The young man begged alms, cooked, and served the older gentleman nicely. When the older man fell sick, the young one nursed him back to health. The young man served the older one very sincerely.

One day, when in Vrindavan, the older Brahmin felt tremendous gratitude for the young man’s selfless service. He wanted to reciprocate in some way. In fact, he thought it would be fitting to have this young man as his son-in-law. He loved the idea of this saintly young man becoming the husband of his daughter. So he declared his intention.

The young man said “Sir, you are rich and aristocratic, I am poor, your family will never agree to this alliance. I did not serve you with the expectation of getting anything in return. Please let it be my pleasure and privilege to have served you and let’s leave it at that”. The older one said “No no, I insist, you must accept my daughter’s hand in marriage!”. So then the young man said, OK, in that case, please note that you have made this statement in front of this beautiful deity named Gopal. In order that you don’t experience the reaction of lying in front of the Deity, you will need to fulfill your words. The older man heartily begged Gopal to allow him to fulfill his promise to the nice young man.

Back in the village, the older gentleman declared his intention to his family. His son objected. His wife objected. The wife said “If you do such a thing, I shall commit suicide”. The son said “If anything on this matter comes up, just say I don’t remember”. Both the wife and son of the older man were afraid of losing their social stature by marrying off the girl to this poor unknown young man.

The older man was disappointed, but helpless in the face of such intense opposition from his family members. The girl, meanwhile, had no qualms… she knew her father well and trusted her father’s judgement completely.

After many days had passed, the young man came to the rich family’s home to remind the elderly man of his promise… the son quickly intervened saying “you lowly wretch. How did you think we’d marry our girl to you? When on pilgrimage, you drugged my father and made him promise! What proof do you have that my father made this promise to you?”. At this, the young man said “The deity of Gopal bore witness to the promise”.

The son of the elderly Brahmin, even though born of a wonderful saintly father, was somewhat of an atheist. He laughed out loud and proclaimed “If the deity of Gopala comes to bear witness to my father’s promise, then surely we will conduct the wedding and give my sister in marriage to you”. He was completely confident that a stone deity could never come to bear witness, especially not over a thousand miles.

But this young man, was of great faith and purity. He went back to Vrindavan, and explained the situation to Gopal. He said “My dear Lord, I am not attached to marrying this girl, but the older Brahmana will suffer reactions for having lied in front of you, so I am asking, please come to bear witness”. The deity spoke to this young man…. “My child, go back to your village, conduct a fire yajna, I will appear in the fire as Vishnu and bear witness that way”… the young man said “No no, you don’t know these people, they will not accept, they have demanded that you come personally!”. The deity replied “My dear boy, have you ever seen a deity walk?“, to which the young man replied “If a deity can talk, then surely He can walk!“. Now, moved by the boy’s intense faith, the deity agreed to follow him to the village… over a thousand miles away.

Krishna says the following in the Bhagavad Gita…

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् ।
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥ ११ ॥

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/11/

So, when you walk into a temple, see a deity of Krishna, and say “What is this, this is just a statue!”, indeed, you will see no more than a statue. Such a person can have the pleasure of ridiculing everyone else who sees Krishna instead of a statue.

But when you walk into the presence of the authorized deity, and want to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known by other names like Allah and Jehovah, then the Deity manifests to you.

I have had hundreds and thousands of such experiences where it is clear that the deity of Krishna is Krishna Himself. He has reciprocated in so many wonderful ways, even though, as a recovering atheist, I am completely unworthy and unqualified.

God is such. To the atheist, He gives the satisfaction, the pleasure, of not being present. To the devotee, He plays in direct proportion to the surrender of the devotee. In other words, God, being the Ultimate Well-wisher of everyone, gives each person the privilege of loving Him or leaving Him.

Gopal instructed the young man to walk to his village, and every day, to prepare a quantity of rice offering but to never turn and look back. As to how the young man would know the deity was following? Listen to the sound of Gopala’s ankle bells! The tinkling ankle bells would tell him Gopal was right behind.

In this way, the young man and the stone deity made their way back from Vrindavan to South India, over a thousand miles. Just outside the village, the boy couldn’t hear the sound of the ankle bells of Gopal… so worried, he turned around, and there the deity was, in all His splendour. Gopal said “I will not move from here, you bring the villagers to me now”.

So the boy recounted that Gopala had come to bear witness to the old man’s promise. All the villagers rushed to the spot to witness this miracle. Lord Gopal bore witness and the young man and the girl were duly married.

This young man became the priest of Lord Gopala, who was now called “Saakshi Gopala” – the Lord who bore witness.

In due course of time, the Gajapati king of Orissa conquered over this South Indian kingdom and brought this deity of Saakshi Gopal to Orissa, not far from Jagannath Puri.

And there He stands today. Still bearing witness to our loving devotion. My prayer is to be able to convince everyone to accept God’s love wholeheartedly. And reciprocate with that love unreservedly. Now, dear reader, please help me in that mission to the most loving Sri Krishna!

To those faithless atheists of all stripes who decry deity worship as idol worship, this deity stands as a challenge. To those who are simple and pure-hearted, Saakshi Gopal blesses to this day.

We had a wonderful experience earlier this year visiting Sri Saakshi Gopal and serve the residents of His town with transcendental spiritual literature.

There, at Saakshi Gopal, we met this elderly gentleman who had tremendous appreciation for the modern-day saint His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and for the elaborate arrangements made by his International Society for Krishna Consciousness – ISKCON, to distribute spiritual knowledge far and wide. The locals told us he was a poet, writing about devotion to Sakshi Gopal. I begged him to write poems from the books, he agreed and gave his his blessings.

To me, it was as if I’d met the two devotees of Saakshi Gopal personally in meeting this elderly gentleman. I expressed gratitude once again.

I’d heard about Saakshi Gopal many years ago, nearly 20 years ago. And hankered to visit Him! He is so sweet!

Won’t you visit the Lord who bore witness for His devotee? No picture can capture Saakshi Gopal’s elegant beauty! No words can do Him any justice. You must go there and see Him for yourself! Go! He’s waiting for you! And don’t forget to serve Him! Here and now!

God is Great! God is Good! Proclaim that in every town and village!

Of Devotion & Devotional Service

What is the difference between devotion and devotional service? Is it possible to perform devotional service without devotion? Is it possible to have devotion without performing devotional service?

Brajanath Das, 26 April 2015
Hare Krishna Dear Devotees!        

Please accept my humble obeisances!

All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Please help me to understand the invisible line of difference between devotion and devotional service. 

your servant,

Brajanath Das

Bhaktin Aruni, 26 Apr 2015

Hare Krishna!          

Pamho, 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I think maybe devotion is the attitude and devotional service is the act …

aruni

Bhakta Jayakrishna, 27 April 2015

Hare krishna! Thank you Prabhu! 

I too had this doubt when first heard and yet never thought that there may be some serious difference.but i felt that there indeed exist some difference as, if ones devotion is not supported by some service in its way, it is most likely he lose his devotion also, (here i must confess that we neophyte devotees more or less are with such a stage,)and hence, devotion when backed up by service or activities suiting it is the devotional service, but i have no sastric reference and i wish to hear from our senior brothers who can give a better explanation.

your servant

Jayakrishna

Premananda Das, 27 April 2015

Hare Krishna

Devotion means ardent and  selfless affection  and dedication to a person or principle. According to Padma Purana one should always remember Lord Vishnu and never forget Him.This is called dhyana or meditation always remembering Krishna.

Srila Rupa Goswami says bhakti means devotional service to Krishna.Every service has some attractive features which drives the servitor progressively on and on.

A family man works day and night for his wife and children.A philanthropist works for the greater love of family and a nationalist for the cause of country and countrymen.The force that drives them is called a rasa or mellow (relationship) that is very sweet.Bhakti -rasa however does not finish with the end of life.It continues perpetually and therefore is called amrta that which does not die but exists perpetually.

According to Bhagavad Gita a little advancement in the bhakti rasa can save the devotee from greatest danger that is missing the opportunity of human life.The rasas derived from social and  family life or greater family life like altruism,philanthropy,socialism,communism nationalism does not guarantee next birth to be human life.

your servant

Premananda Das

Amogha Lila Das, 27 April 2015

Hare Krishna Prabhu. Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Devotion is cultivated through devotional service. There are nine processes by which one can cultivate devotion.

Sravanam, Kirtanam, Smaranam, Pada Sevanam, Arcanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atma Nivedanam

Gurudeva often mentions these nine processes in his lectures and they are described by Prahlada Maharaja in the 7th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 7.5.23-24):       

To hear about Sri Visnu’s transcendental name, His form, His characteristics, His possessions and His pastimes and to hear and chant about His pastimes, to remember them, to serve the lotus feet of the Lord, to respectfully offer service to the Lord, to offer prayers to the Lord, to become His servant, to consider the Lord one’s best friend and to offer Him everything-these nine processes are recognized as pure devotional service.

Following the above nine processes one can gradually advance in devotional service and progress through the nine stages of Bhakti yoga as described in the Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila, by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as follows:

“In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes finally fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Krsna consciousness.”

your humble servant,

Amogha Lila Das

Rantideva Das, 28 April 2015

My dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I trust that you are all well.

Very nice question and answers regarding devotion and devotional service. However, this subject brought to mind another question concerning the same subject matter. Is it possible to perform devotional service without devotion? And what about devotion without devotional service?

I remain your worthless servant,

Rantideva das

Hare Krishna Das, 28 April 2015

Dear Prabhu,

Please accept my humble and respectful obeisances!

All Glories to His Divine Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari Gurumaharaj and Srimati Gurumata!

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Devotion in itself includes service. Without service, there is no actual devotion. It is only lip service. But, to stress the importance of service and protect it from sahajiaism, Srila Prabhupada used the term devotional service. I admit, I also have no quotes (reference lines) from Senior Vaisnavas. This is my perspective. Willing to hear from others.

Thanking You,

your servant,

Hare Krishna Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 30 April 2015

Dear Devotees,

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

This discussion was very enlivening for me. Thank you to all who have participated in this discussion. The question is already answered, from reading the emails together.

Since Srila Gurudeva stresses a careful reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books for all of us, I am adding quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s books to solidify our understanding. I have made a few sentences bold, as they jumped out at me, but of course, every word of Srila Prabhupada is of utmost significance…

(from purport to SB 1.2.19)

A living being in his normal constitutional position is fully satisfied in spiritual bliss. This state of existence is called brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) or ātmā-nandī, or the state of self-satisfaction. This self-satisfaction is not like the satisfaction of the inactive fool. The inactive fool is in the state of foolish ignorance, whereas the self-satisfied ātmānandī is transcendental to the material state of existence. This stage of perfection is attained as soon as one is fixed in irrevocable devotional service. Devotional service is not inactivity, but the unalloyed activity of the soul.

The soul’s activity becomes adulterated in contact with matter, and as such the diseased activities are expressed in the form of lust, desire, hankering, inactivity, foolishness and sleep. The effect of devotional service becomes manifest by complete elimination of these effects of passion and ignorance. The devotee is fixed at once in the mode of goodness, and he makes further progress to rise to the position of Vāsudeva, or the state of unmixed sattva, or śuddha-sattva. Only in this śuddha-sattva state can one always see Kṛṣṇa eye to eye by dint of pure affection for the Lord

(from purport to SB 1.10.23)

Jitendriya means one who has full control over the senses. The senses are active parts of the body, and their activities cannot be stopped. The artificial means of the yogic processes to make the senses inactive has proved to be abject failure, even in the case of great yogīs like Viśvāmitra Muni. Viśvāmitra Muni controlled the senses by yogic trance, but when he happened to meet Menakā (a heavenly society woman), he became a victim of sex, and the artificial way of controlling the senses failed. But in the case of a pure devotee, the senses are not at all artificially stopped from doing anything, but they are given different good engagements. When the senses are engaged in more attractive activities, there is no chance of their being attracted by any inferior engagements. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that the senses can be controlled only by better engagements. Devotional service necessitates purifying the senses or engaging them in the activities of devotional service. Devotional service is not inaction. Anything done in the service of the Lord becomes at once purified of its material nature.

(From the Introduction to the Nectar of Devotion)

Pure devotional service should be free from the desire for any material benefit or for sense gratification, as these desires are cultivated through fruitive activities and philosophical speculation. Generally, people are engaged in different activities to get some material profit, while most philosophers are engaged in proposing transcendental realization through volumes of word jugglery and speculation. Pure devotional service must always be free from such fruitive activities and philosophical speculations. One has to learn Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or pure devotional service, from the authorities by spontaneous loving service.

This devotional service is a sort of cultivation. It is not simply inaction for people who like to be inactive or devote their time to silent meditation. There are many different methods for people who want this, but cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is different. The particular word used by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in this connection is anuśīlana, or cultivation by following the predecessor teachers (ācāryas). As soon as we say “cultivation,” we must refer to activity. Without activity, consciousness alone cannot help us.

I hope that these quotes help.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Rantideva das, 01 May 2015,

Reposting this question as no reply was received earlier…..

My dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I trust that you are all well.

Very nice question and answers regarding devotion and devotional service. However, this subject brought to mind another question concerning the same subject matter. Is it possible to perform devotional service without devotion? And what about devotion without devotional service?

I remain your worthless servant,

Rantideva das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 01 May 2015

Dear Rantideva Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please forgive us, we didn’t mean to ignore your question, but somehow missed it.

It is possible to perform devotional service without devotion, in other words, it is called “ajnata sukriti” (unknowingly performed devotional service), this is when, for example, devotees engage others in devotional service without giving them the full details about how, why… this includes for example when devotees serve out Krishna Prasada for the masses, when they put on festivals like Jagannatha Ratha Yatra, or when they go out on Harinam Sankirtan, or go in public wearing Tilaka and devotional attire, etc.

Or, it could be like someone plants a tree and some devotee uses the fruits and flowers from that tree to offer to the Lord, the person who planted the tree gets the benefit of assisting in devotional service.

This also includes the devotees who feel no devotion but go through the motions anyways, for example, chant mechanically, or dance enthusiastically either because of fear or respect for the spiritual master, or to keep up with their vows or commitments. While they don’t make as much advancement as if it were done attentively and devotedly and genuinely, but still, they make some progress, so for example Srila Gurudeva says “mechanical chanting is better than no chanting”, and “offensive chanting is still better than no chanting”, etc. He also says “dance enthusiastically anyway and the ecstasy will come”, when asked about dancing in Kirtan.

Often it is seen that even such service, performed apparently without devotion, fructifies into full-fledged devotional service, I am one such example who did so much devotional service without any devotion and now I feel some attraction to pleasing Guru and Krishna. All glories to the wonderful devotees who engaged me in service throughout my life, my mother, father, cousins, teachers, devotees all over the world, Bhaktimarga Swami, devotees in Toronto, the book distributor who gave a copy of the Bhagavad Gita even though I was undeserving, Srila Gurudeva for giving me his personal attention even though I am undeserving, the list goes on and on, and I don’t even know how to express my gratitude to them all!

Of course, such “service without devotion” devotional service does not count as “pure devotional service”. 🙂

It is however, not possible to have any devotion without performing devotional service, as was hopefully clear from the various answers and Srila Prabhupada’s writings.

I hope this helped, I beg all group members that if I have misunderstood something, or created some misunderstanding, please do kindly help and correct me.

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

Haldhar Prabhu, 01 May 2015

Hare Krsna Mahabhagavat Prabhuji and Rantideva Prabhuji for one more perfect question and perfect answer.

I understood the question only after the answer 🙂

Hare Krsna !

your servant,

Haldhar Das

Rantideva das, 04 May 2015

My dear Godbrother,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

I was thinking about Jayananda prabhu. How he could engage anyone in Sri Krishna’s service. He could take anyone from the street, say a homeless man or drunkard, and engage him in helping to build  a ratha cart. So this homeless man is engaged in devotional service but has no devotion for the Lord. He’s just working in hopes of receiving a free meal afterwards. Sometimes we even see how a homeless person will come to the temple on Sunday for a free meal. In both cases they are reaping great benefit by performing service for the Lord, or hearing the pastimes of the Lord, or taking Krishna prasadam.

 Since today is Jayananda Prabhu’s disappearance day, May 1, 1977, this topic of devotional service is very appropriate. By the mercy of Srila Gurudeva and Lord Sri Krishna, may we all reach the platform of pure loving service that our dear Jayananda Thakur displayed while here in this material world.

I remain your worthless servant,

Rantideva das

(das is the important part)

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 05 May 2015

Dear Rantideva Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Actually I have met one hippie encouraged by Jayananda Prabhu… this was in Puerto Rico, I was visiting the Hare Krishna temple in Gurabo with my wife for a “retreat”, we once went to downtown San Juan. I had my Tilak on but was dressed in street clothes. An elderly man was doing something with some iron bars, some kind of welding work, and suddenly he saw me and called out “Hare Krishna, are you from the temple in Gurabo”, I was amazed and pleasantly surprised. Then he introduced himself as Lance, went on to describe how he “worked with” one taxi driver we consider a great saint, immediately I knew he was talking about Jayananda Prabhu.This man had met Srila Prabhupada even. I asked him what happened, and he sadly replied that with the drugs, he’d lost most of his intelligence, and even then, he heard only partially, and he does not remember much, but he appreciates everything.

It was the highlight of my day, practically the highlight of that trip, and a reaffirmation of the power of Sankirtan, tell everyone about Krishna, deliver Krishna’s mercy to them, and they will never forget Krishna, and this will help them, if not in this birth, then in the next. Clearly, Lance has performed some devotional service, with or without devotion, but I think the devotion had already started to manifest long ago…

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

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God has no shortage of sons (and daughters)

Some people say that God has only one son. But God is unlimited. So why can’t God have more than one son? And why not daughters? Are we misunderstanding something here?

One of the ideas floating around in this world for quite some time is that God has only one Son.

And that Son is Jesus Christ. Originally known as Jesus of the Christ.

So, the argument goes, that if you’re not an “official” Christian, or following the dogma of the present-day so-called Christians, then “you sir, are going to hell” as I’ve been told often.

Unfortunately, these angry so-called Christians have never stopped and calmed down long enough to have a proper conversation, so I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this with them. But I hope it will help others of all denominations, faiths, affiliations, and orientations.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed a Son of God, God the Son. If you look at his teachings and his life, it is clear that Jesus Christ purely followed the word of God and lived trying to spread the word around.

In fact, what to speak of his life, even the so-called death of Jesus Christ was simply a way to spread the glories of God. It is superficial to understand that Jesus Christ was killed, because we know, of course, that spirit soul, Atma, can never be killed.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि-
न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/20/

However, God clearly states this:

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामह: ।
वेद्यं पवित्रम् ॐकार ऋक् साम यजुरेव च ॥ १७ ॥

pitāham asya jagato
mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ
vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra
ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/17/

In other words, God, in His feature as God the Father, declares that He is the father of the entire Universe, not just Jesus Christ.

Interestingly, God declares that He is also the Mother of the Universe! Indeed, how could God not be omnipotent to also be the Mother of the Universe?

Finally, God states that He is the grandsire, or the grandfather of this Universe. Why does God say that? Because while God is the Primary Creator of this Universe, he employs the services of one of His sons, Brahma, as the secondary creator. In other words, God gives birth to Lord Brahma, who then, under instruction from God, creates the Universe, the many different planetary systems, the species, and so on.

प्रचोदिता येन पुरा सरस्वती
वितन्वताजस्य सतीं स्मृतिं हृदि ।
स्वलक्षणा प्रादुरभूत् किलास्यत:
स मे ऋषीणामृषभ: प्रसीदताम् ॥ २२ ॥

pracoditā yena purā sarasvatī
vitanvatājasya satīṁ smṛtiṁ hṛdi
sva-lakṣaṇā prādurabhūt kilāsyataḥ
sa me ṛṣīṇām ṛṣabhaḥ prasīdatām

May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahmā from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahmā, be pleased with me.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/4/22/

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada writes:

As we have already discussed hereinbefore, the Lord, as the Supersoul of all living beings from Brahmā to the insignificant ant, endows all with the required knowledge potent in every living being…

In the beginning of the creation, Brahmā is born first without any father and mother because before Brahmā there were no other living beings. Brahmā is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and therefore he is known as Aja…  

A spiritual master is not a theoretical speculator, like the mundane scholar, but is śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham.

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in the purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/4/22/

In Christianity, there are 3 concepts of God, and all of them are supported by the Vedic Literature.

  • God the Father
  • God the Son
  • God the Holy Spirit

God the Father is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His “non-different” expansions, known as Vishnu Tattva, or the Quality of being endowed with the full potency of God Himself.

God the Holy Spirit is called Paramatma, or the Supersoul dwelling within… not just within each living entity but also within every atom and within the space between the atoms.

ईश्वर: सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति ।
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्‍त्रारूढानि मायया ॥ ६१ ॥

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/61/

In other words, that God resides in the heart of every living entity, not just humans.

God also says the following:

उपद्रष्टानुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वर: ।
परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुष: पर: ॥ २३ ॥

upadraṣṭānumantā ca
bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto
dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ

Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/23/

In other words, the inspiration to act is provided by God according to the desires and earnings of the individual spirit soul.

Which brings us to the question, who is then God the Son?

Srila Prabhupada makes this clear.

The example of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s being the Supreme Personality of Godhead is appropriate in regard to understanding the spiritual master. The spiritual master is called sevaka-bhagavān, the servitor Personality of Godhead, and Kṛṣṇa is called sevya-bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is to be worshiped. The spiritual master is the worshiper God, whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the worshipable God. This is the difference between the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/15/27/

The servitor Personality of Godhead is called the Son of God.

When we look at the life and example of Lord Jesus Christ, it is clear that Jesus Christ can be called the servitor Personality of Godhead, or the Son of God. This is similar to Lord Brahma, who, in addition to be born directly from the navel of an expansion of God, also acts in accordance with the will of God.

So far we have detected at least two sons of God. So, does God only have two sons?

An ordinary animal or insect in this world can have more than two, a dozen, even thousands of offspring, and God can only have one or two?

But God said that every living entity is a son (or daughter) of Him above. But we don’t worship every living entity as a child of God, even though we do respect all living entities as part-and-parcel of God.

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूत: सनातन: ।
मन:षष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥ ७ ॥

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/7/

So while we respect every living entity because they are claimed by God, we don’t necessarily give them all the same respect as given to Lord Brahma or Lord Jesus Christ.

Why is that? It’s called “oneness in purpose” or “na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ” or “no difference in purpose”, or in completely harmony.

Let’s take a mundane example… suppose we have a great businessman, and the businessman has several sons and daughters.

Some of the businessman’s sons and daughters act according to the direction of the father in the father’s business empire, and yet others rebel against the father and act against his instructions.

In the general world, the obedient sons are known as the “real sons” of the father, whereas the other children are known as “sons or daughters in name only”.

This example applies to many souls in so many different contexts, for example, “true citizens” are those who act in the interest of the nation, “true students” are those who fully follow the instructions of the teacher, “true professionals” are those who act for the good of the profession. Such souls act in a certain way even if it is not according to their own personal interest… in other words, they put the higher common interest ahead of their own.

Which brings us to our answer.

The Spiritual Master is the True Son of God.

And the Bibilical statement:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

John 14.6 (King James Edition)

What this means is that unless someone acts in the spirit of Lord Jesus Christ teachings, example, and actions, they cannot approach God the Father.

And what is this “way” of Jesus Christ? This humble attitude…

Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.

Luke 22.42 (King James Edition)

Therefore, anyone who lives in that spirit of surrender to God, who surrenders to God with their intelligence, and engages in loving devotional service to God, that person can be rightly called a son (or daughter) of God.

When we look around in our own limited knowledge of the scripture and history, there are many such sons (and daughters) of God.

So, the understanding that Jesus Christ is the “Only Son of God” is incomplete, at best.

To claim that is to have no understanding of God’s infinite unlimited potency. Unlimited names, Unlimited forms, Unlimited pastimes, Unlimited qualities, Unlimited activities, Unlimited Universes, and naturally Unlimited sons and daughters.

As we are now living on this planet, there are many sons and daughters of God who walk the earth with us. Let us learn to recognize them and follow in their footsteps.

And if we can’t spot them? Then we are just as unfortunate as those poor fools who couldn’t spot Jesus Christ when he was here on this planet in person, and those who cannot spot how great is Jesus Christ even today. These poor fools cannot spot others who are purely following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of God.

Want to read more? Read this! https://www.krishna.com/christ-our-guru

God is Unlimited! Hare Krishna!

How much sin does Chanting Hare Krishna eliminate, and Why is material advancement a disqualification?

How powerful is the chanting of Hare Krishna? And why is advancement in material progress a disqualification? After all the whole world is trying to advance materially? And hardly anyone chants Hare Krishna?

Brajanath Das, 24 January 2016

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances!

All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All glories to your devotional service!

While reading SB 1.8.26 purport, I got the following doubts –

In the purport it is stated that “It is said in the śāstras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit.” What is the meaning of “… the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit”?

Later in the purport Prabhupada says …

Therefore, the four principles of material advancement, namely (1) high parentage, (2) good wealth, (3) high education and (4) attractive beauty, are, so to speak, disqualifications for progress on the path of spiritual advancement. 

 Krishna says in Bg 6.41 that unsuccessful yogi takes birth in sucinam srimatam gehe … , but the first two are kind of contradictory.

The other two – high education (knowledge)  and beauty are sparks of Krishna’s opulence. Only pious/fortunate people get them. How they become disqualification for spiritual progress?

Please help me to understand.

your servant, 

Brajanath Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 26 January 2016

Dear Brajanath Prabhu,

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

>What is the meaning of “… the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit”?

It is said that by one utterance of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

one burns away more sinful (and pious) reactions than one can accumulate in an entire lifetime.

Lord Gautama Buddha also said that if we stacked up the skeletons of all the bodies one soul has inhabited in the material world, it would block out the sun. Meaning that we have been here more lifetimes than we can possibly imagine.

One lifetime of Brahma is 311.04 trillion years. Every living entity starts as a Brahma of some universe, and then devolves and goes up and down in the chain of species, sometimes human sometimes some other bodies. The scriptures state that numerous Brahmas come and go and the living entity is still in the cycle of birth and death.

I heard a class by Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja where he said “apparently, then, there is a bit of a pile of sinful reactions” (not actual quote – but as I remember).

Sinful activities give rise to seeds, which sprout, take root, grow into trees, and give flowers and fruits – imagine one banyan seed giving rise to a tree giving rise to millions of figs which give thousands of seeds each, which result in more trees… So, Sriman Rao, our past sinful activities are collecting super-super compound interest as I write this 🙂 Unless we are fully surrendered to Krishna, in which case, these seeds are roasted in the fire of Krishna consciousness, and this incapable of multiplying and eventually burned by Krishna.

But still, another challenge is offenses against the Vaishnavas, against the Holy Name – inspite of absence of sinful reactions, these offenses block progress in spiritual life and stop us from chanting Hare Krishna properly.

>The other two – high education (knowledge)  and beauty are sparks of Krishna’s opulence. Only pious/fortunate people

>get them. How they become disqualification for spiritual progress?

With your second question, in the purport, Srila Prabhupada makes it clear – did you miss those lines:

quote

But the result is that by possessing all these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up, intoxicated by such temporary possessions. Consequently, such materially puffed up persons are incapable of uttering the holy name of the Lord by addressing Him feelingly, “O Govinda, O Kṛṣṇa.”

unquote

Don’t you see that if you have a beautiful face and healthy body, others will be attracted to you for sense gratification and they will give you sense gratification? Don’t you se that high education in the material realm will give you a lot of money with the ability to enjoy a lot of sense gratification? Does sense gratification ever relinquish its grip on a person intoxicated with knowledge, beauty and wealth?

Finally, did you read these lines in the purport? “The material covering of the pure spirit soul is an external feature, as much as fever is an external feature of the unhealthy body. The general process is to decrease the degree of the fever and not to aggravate it by maltreatment. Sometimes it is seen that spiritually advanced persons become materially impoverished. This is no discouragement. On the other hand, such impoverishment is a good sign as much as the falling of temperature is a good sign. The principle of life should be to decrease the degree of material intoxication which leads one to be more and more illusioned about the aim of life. Grossly illusioned persons are quite unfit for entrance into the kingdom of God.”

Yes, the verse from Bhagavad Gita you quoted, 6.41 is right, but this pious birth only gives an opportunity for advancement, it does not guarantee this. How many children from pious households do we know who took up terrible bad habits like meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling? Just being born in a pious atmosphere does not guarantee piety, just as being born in a family of doctors does not guarantee one’s profession as a doctor.

Yes, the facility is there, but if someone does not make use of the facility, they fall back down into a lower status.

We should realize that Maya, or the illusory energy, is also a spark of Krishna’s splendor. But associating with this energy of Krishna does not lead to spiritual emancipation.

One should follow in entirety what Srila Prabhupada has taught us, not take a sentence from here, a sentence from there, and allow the uncontrolled mind to make us bewildered with some apparent contradiction.

Does this make sense?

Devotees, please do kindly add your perspectives

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Bhakta Sunil, 27 January 2016

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Here is a discussion : 

(kīrtana, followed by small child playing karatālas)

Prabhupāda: Oh, very good. (laughs) Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ geheyoga bhraṣṭa sañjāyate [Bg. 6.41]. When Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa that “Persons who are trying to make perfection in the bhakti-yoga…” Because the māyā’s influence is very strong. Anyone practicing bhakti-yoga, sometimes he may fall down. But there is assurance that even one falls down, there is no loss. That has been advised by Nārada Muni, that tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁcaraṇāmbujaṁ harer bhajann apakvo ‘tha patet tato yadi [SB1.5.17]. Just like in our movement somebody joins. A few cases have happened also that joined, being nice, but all of a sudden drifted from our Society. So Nārada Muni advised that even some, sometimes somebody may not continue, but falls down, there is no loss. Tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam. And those who are sticking to their work, prescribed duties, but not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, what they are gaining? Just try to understand. A person, say, out of sentiment, or some other influence, he joins this Movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but could not follow strictly the rules and regulation and falls down. Nārada Muni says there is no loss, even though he has fallen. But another person who is sticking to their material activities, a material… A karmī’s thinking, “What these people are doing? Simply wasting time. Let us do our duty. Let us produce something”—so-called production.

So Bhāgavata says such persons who are very nicely done their materialistic way of life, duties, but has not taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, what does he gain? This is the comparison. One joins this movement; due to some reason, immaturity, he falls down. For him the assurance is that he does not lose. He’s still gainer. But one who’s sticking to the material duties, but does not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Bhāgavata says, “What does he gain?” It is very important question. The spiritualistic duties, transcendental duties, Kṛṣṇa conscious duty is so nice that even if you fall down, whatever you have done, that is your guaranteed property. That is your guaranteed property. And anything, whatever you gain in this material world… Suppose you become very rich man, good factory, working. But as soon as this body’s ended, everything is ended. Lost everything. These things will not go with you. Your factory, your skyscraper building, your millions of dollars, bank balance, that you’ll have to leave behind you. You have to go with your work only, what you have done, pious or sinful activities. That will go with you. The result of pious activity and sinful activity will go with you. But in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever you have done, it will go with you, and to give you other chance you’ll have your birth in two nice places: śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe [Bg. 6.41]. Those who have fallen from this Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform due to many reasons, maybe—he’s guaranteed next life a human form of life. And where? Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe. You’ll take your birth in a nice devotee or brāhmaṇa’s house or in a rich man’s family. Not only your human form of life is guaranteed, but also in a better house, in a better family.

So these children who are born in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness Society, they are those children, those who could not finish Kṛṣṇa consciousness last life. They have been given to take birth in the family of devotee husband and wife; therefore he’s playing karatāla. Otherwise it is not possible. He had practice in his last life; therefore he’s quickly… He had got the chance. Again he’s remembering and playing. This is the fact. So we have to study from the śāstric vision. Śāstra-cakṣuṣāt. How you’ll see? You’ll see through the authority, scriptures. So these are the statements of authoritative scriptures. Śucīnāṁśrīmatāṁ gehe. So this child is born of a devotee father and devotee mother. Now he’ll again begin from the point where he lost last life. Suppose Kṛṣṇa consciousness he executed fifty percent. So he’ll begin from this life fifty-one percent. That fifty percent was in his stock. But ordinary karmīs—cent percent lost. He has to begin another chapter of life according to hiskarma. Either he’ll become a man or dog, there is no guarantee. If he has maintained a dog mentality, then he’ll get a dog’s body. All this property he made in this life goes to hell. He becomes a dog if he has maintained a dog mentality. And if he has maintained a god’s mentality, then he becomes a god also. But that will depend on his work. But generally the karmīs, they are not very good mentality. So there is risk. You do not know.Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa [SB 3.31.1]. The judgement will be done by the superior authority, and he’ll be given a particular type of body, as he has maintained the consciousness.

Therefore our business, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is to train the followers to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that next life he gets Kṛṣṇa consciousness atmosphere. He’s not promoted immediately, directly to the abode of Kṛṣṇa. That is also possible. Mad-yājino ‘pi yānti mām [Bg. 9.25]. “Those who are My devotees, they come to My place.” Kṛṣṇa says. So if you perfect your Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this life, then you’re guaranteed to be promoted to go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa. If you do not perfect, then next life is guaranteed, a very nice human body, either in a rich man’s family or in a Kṛṣṇaconscious family. Just try to understand how nice this movement is.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Yes. Now here is a question: If one takes a birth in a rich man family, rich man’s family, how it is good? Nowadays, actually, now…, not nowadays, practically always… That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ tayāapahṛta-cetasām [Bg. 2.44]. Those who get facilities of material sense gratification, bhoga, aiśvarya—means great opulence, wealthy—for them it is very difficult to come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In other words, too much rich, richness, is a disqualification for coming to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But it is not always the same. There are many persons, if they have associated, they… Unfortunately they do not associate with spiritually advanced men. That is their defect. They think the spiritual advancement is poor man’s business: “They have no sufficient to eat; therefore they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. What they can do? We have got this factory. We have to go to the factory.” That is their mentality. Therefore it is not good. But if one is intelligent, if he has got good association, then he understands the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁgehe, yoga bhraṣṭa sañjāyate. [Bg. 6.41] If he thinks that “I have got this opportunity of opulence. I have nothing to bother about my living and eating. I am born rich man. Why I am given so much chance? Because last, my, I executed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, yoga; I could not finish. Therefore Kṛṣṇa has given me this chance that I’ll not have to bother about my eating, sleeping. I save my time and engage myself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” Unfortunately, due to bad association, they think, “I have…, we have go so much money, father’s money, for nothing, without any labor. So either let me become a great sense enjoyer or a hippy.” That’s all. It is due to bad association. Therefore it is our duty to go door to door and inform them the message of Kṛṣṇa, without any discrimination, so that they’ll come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

All right, give me…. (end)

—

Hope that the following lecture by Prabhupada in Detroit, July 17, 1971 on Gita 6.41 , helps

Sincerely,

Bhakta Sunil

Brajanath Das, 29 January 2016

Pranams Prabhu for your wonderful answer.

Dandavats a lot!

your servant,

Brajanath Das

Brajanath Das, 30 January 2016

Pranams Sunil Prabhu,

Kudos to you for sharing a wonderful lecture by Srila Prabhupada. After reading Mahabhagavat das Prabhu’s answer and the Srila Ptabhupada lecture, the following two pastimes came to my mind.

Lords pastime – Deliverance of Nalakuvara and Manigriva (breaking the twin arjuna trees) clearly explains how arrogant pride which comes from puffed-up prestige, which is rooted in a madness for wealth. This pastime of Krishna very directly illustrates the predicament of people who are wealthy and aristocratic, but who become involved in licentiousness.

Lord Chaitanya’s pastime with Keshav Kashmiri CC Ādi 16.29 on wards … Later Kesava Kashmiri became an acharya in  Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya and his pravachanams became Kesava Kasmiri’s Commentary.

Any pastime on beauty? (Probably King Daksha, not sure)

your servant,

Brajanath Das

David J, 30 January 2016

I seem to have posted this wrong the first time.  I hope I am doing it correctly this time.

Dear Mahabhagavat Prabhu

Hari bol!

All glories to Krishna’s devotees.

I hope I don’t add to anyone else’s confusion by ‘butting in”, but your answer has raised a question in my mind.

You stated “Every living entity starts as a Brahma of some universe and then devolves and goes up and down in the 

chain of species…”

I would be first to admit that my Krishna consciousness is infinitesimally small.  That being said, I find this statement quite confusing.  I was under the impression that Lord Brahma(s) is a more ‘evolved’ being in the chain of species; indeed, at the top of the chain.  I have read that he is a great devotee of Lord Krishna, although I cannot provide a specific reference.  If this is true, how is it that he ‘devolves’ into lower species, rather than immediately going back home, after leaving the Brahma body?

David

Bhakta Sunil, 01 February 2016

Jaya!

While reading “Nectar of Devotion” for e-academy connected to this group, i came across following lines from Chapter nine , which further enlightens on your question :

There is the following statement in Caitanya-caritamrita: “A person who chants the holy name of Krishna once can counteract the resultant actions of more sinful activities than he is able to perform.” A sinful man can perform many, many sinful activities, but he is unable to perform so many that they cannot be wiped out by one single uttering of Krishna.”

Regarding pastime in context of wealth and beauty having a corrupting impact , following pastimes came to my mind :

Hiranyakasipu who misused power

Prostitute who tried to entice Haridas Thakur with her beauty

Hare Krishna

your insignificant servant,

Bhakta Sunil

Brajanath Das, 01 February 2016

Pranams Mahabhagavat Prabhu,

Wonderful answer. I liked this sentence very much .. “One should follow in entirety what Srila Prabhupada has taught us, not take a sentence from here, a sentence from there, and allow the uncontrolled mind to make us bewildered with some apparent contradiction.”

Dandavats a lot!

your servant,

Brajanath Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 01 February 2016

Dear David,

Hare Krishna!

Your question is valid and relevant, and you may be helping a lot of us clear our confusion. I had a similar confusion when I heard this first, but later on I understood by asking questions.

There are two types of Brahmas, one type, a living entity Brahma, and when no one is qualified, then the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself to play the role of Brahma. A living entity can fall, the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never fall down into material conditioning, being Supremely Perfect.

Now, in the category of the living entity Brahmas – what is the qualification? One hundred consecutive human lifetimes lived without sin qualifies a living entity to play the role of Brahma. Of course, just because someone is qualified does not mean they do become a Brahma, that is Krishna’s choice. (source – class by Rupanuga Prabhu (GKG), no recording or transcript exists – feel free not to accept this part)

Now, from the category of those jivas who have got the post of Brahmas, there are two categories. One category is a devotee Brahma, like our 4-headed Brahma is a pure devotee. Another category is “bahirmukha Brahma” or “outward facing Brahma” or in other word a Brahma who is not a devotee. Just imagine, one can be 100% sinless and still not be a devotee!

The living entities struggling here were, at some point in time, clearly a non-devotee Brahma.

Srila Prabhupada writes this in his book Teachings of Queen Kunti (see http://www.vedabase.com/en/tqk/18):

quote

To become Brahmā is not a very easy thing. Brahmā is such a big post, and it is given to a very qualified living entity who is highly advanced in austerities and penance. But he is also a living entity like us. In America there are many citizens, and President Ford is also a citizen, but by dint of his ardent labor and diplomacy he captured the post. Still, he is an ordinary citizen. President Nixon, for example, has now been dragged down and is no longer president. This is because he was an ordinary citizen. Similarly, if we like, we may also become Brahmā. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says:

kīṭa-janma hao yathā tuyā dāsa

bahirmukha brahma-janme nāhi āśā

“Let me become an insect in a place where Your devotee is present, because if I fall down in the dust of the feet of a devotee my life will be successful.” Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, bahirmukha brahma-janme nāhi āśā: “I would not want to be a Brahmā and not be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.”

unquote

Srila Prabhupada also writes the following in his purport to SB 6.16.57:

quote

As stated by the Vaiṣṇava poet Jagadānanda Paṇḍita in his Prema-vivarta:

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare

 nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

As soon as a living entity forgets his constitutional position and endeavors to become one with the Supreme, his conditional life begins. The conception that the Supreme Brahman and the living entity are equal not only in quality but also in quantity is the cause of conditional life. If one forgets the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entity, his conditional life begins. Conditional life means giving up one body to accept another and undergoing death to accept death again.

unquote

We are fortunate to even take our birth in a universe where the chief living entity is a devotee, and we happen to be in that tradition passed down by him… we should definitely take advantage of this and finish this foolish dalliance with the material energy.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

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Vrindavan Feeling in Toronto

Sometimes, you’re so near to a spiritually perfect person or in a sacred place of pilgrimage, but your consciousness is far from spiritual, and sometimes you could be far from a spiritual preceptor or a place of pilgrimage, but feel blessed with spiritual grace… w Howhy is that? How can we be in perfect spiritual consciousness always? How can we experience Krishna at every moment?

Kusum Sarovar, Govardhan, near Vrindavam
Kusum Sarovar, Govardhan, near Vrindavan

One Morning a few years ago, well before sunrise, I suddenly had the feeling that I was in the sacred sublime atmosphere of Vrindavan, or at the very minimum, in the personal presence of my spiritual master, Srila Sankarshan Das Adhikari.

Everything I did that morning was done in a very pure way, without any disturbance from body, mind, or external sources. I cannot describe the experience in words fully, and neither do I want to disclose details, because that is not the point of this post.

On that morning however, neither was I in Vrindavan, and nor was I in the personal presence of my divine spiritual master.

So what to make of that wonderful ecstatic feeling I was gifted with?

For those who may not know, Vrindavan is a sacred tract of land, a replica of the highest spiritual realm, mentioned in the scriptures as Goloka. That the Vrindavan in the material realm, in the modern-day district of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, is confirmed by great saints… for example, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada writes:

The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vṛndāvana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was in Vṛndāvana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the other inhabitants of Vṛndāvana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vṛndāvana knew nothing but Kṛṣṇa….

…

Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor electricity or fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahma-jyotir, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) it is beautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Śyāmasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us. It is by His omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes found in His abode

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/introduction/

After much reflection, I realized that this meant I was doing something right in my spiritual practice. Actually this meant I was following my spiritual master’s instructions sincerely, even if not perfectly. What I was feeling was the pleasure of my spiritual master, and the grace of Sri Radha Krishna.

Since then, I have regularly tested that internal state to determine what kind of consciousness I am in. For example, whenever I am in material consciousness, even if I am directly in Vrindavan, or in the personal presence of my spiritual master, I feel far far away from that divine spiritual consciousness.

How amazing is that! By being there, doing that, still one can feel so far away, and yet, still, while far far away, one can feel that special feeling?

You can’t go to Vrindavan by buying a ticket to travel to Delhi and then taking a taxi or whatever. You can only enter Vrindavan by the blessings of the pure devotee.

His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari

I have had a chance to test this out on several occasions…

  1. While in the personal presence of my spiritual master but unfortunately distracted, and
  2. By physically being in Vrindavan but due my misfortune, in the association of materialistic persons.

Can’t get no Bhaav!

His Grace Sriman Vaisesika Das Adhikari

I cannot just go and sit down in Vrindavan, and even if I do, the current external atmosphere of Vrindavan has become so degraded that it is so easy to come under the influence of the many materialistic persons who prowl there in the hope of making money or enjoying personal sense gratification… it takes a lot of intense prayer and mercy to be able to enter into the real mood of Vrindavan.

It is said that the pure devotee, due to their intense Krishna Consciousness, carries Krishna within their heart, and therefore, wherever they go, that place becomes spiritual even if it is the most abominable place.

भवद्विधा भागवतास्तीर्थभूता: स्वयं विभो ।
तीर्थीकुर्वन्ति तीर्थानि स्वान्त:स्थेन गदाभृता ॥ १० ॥

bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās
tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho
tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni
svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhrtā

My lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/13/10/

And neither can I always be in the personal presence of my spiritual master, owing to my various responsibilities, which he has instructed me to manage intelligently.

It is further confirmed by Krishna Himself that He lives where His pure devotees are hearing and chanting about Him…

nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe
yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā
tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ

“My dear Nārada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuṇṭha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogīs, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities.”

Padma Purana, quoted in https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/30/35/

So therefore, all I have to do is to sincerely remember and follow in the footsteps of my spiritual master, and strive to sincerely hear and chant about Krishna.

Simply by bringing the memory of an instruction received, one can practically bring into one’s heart the presence of the spiritual master.

Even though, due to my past sinful activities, I have to be in a place where almost everyone practices forgetting Krishna, and where speaking nonsense and doing stupid things are the norm… even for such a lowly wretch such as myself, there is hope.

I can still always be in the association of my spiritual master, and in the sacred spiritual realm of Vrindavan. How?

किरातहूणान्ध्रपुलिन्दपुल्कशा
आभीरशुम्भा यवना: खसादय: ।
येऽन्ये च पापा यदपाश्रयाश्रया:
शुध्यन्ति तस्मै प्रभविष्णवे नम: ॥ १८ ॥

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā
ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ
ye ’nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ
śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ

Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/4/18/

I may be the most lowly wretch, and yet, simply by remembering my spiritual master, by taking shelter of him within my mind, by following his instructions, wherever I am, and whatever I might be doing, I shall be instantly purified.

To do what I can, with what I have, this is what I pray for, birth after birth. For a moment of pleasure for Guru and Krishna, I am prepared to work hard sincerely, lifetime after lifetime. May this ever be.

Always Be Prepared – to Die

Everyone will face death, it’s just a question of death, whether it comes in the next 80 seconds, or not for another 80 years. Our attitude to death brings all sorts of choices… and we all know that the decisions we make today constrain our choices tomorrow. So how to live with a perfect balance between the long-term view and the short-term view?

This is based on what I heard from my spiritual master, His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari

When we are prepared to die at every moment, every moment is a perfect moment, a moment of perfect consciousness – every moment becomes a thrill!

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

When I reflect on these words, I see how true they are, whether for good or for bad – for example, a lot of people do stupid things because they think they can get away with it – after all, things are changing all the time, I may never see that soul again, so what does it matter how I treat them? Whether it is relationships, business, work, or just random acts of unkindness, this short-term view causes a lot of problems.

And then there are the fools who think they are pleasing God by dying in the process of killing others. There are no bigger fools, unfortunately, they are going to another place, not to the Kingdom of God.

However, the very same attitude, when applied to transcendence, gives a powerful sense of urgency, an impetus to act for the highest spiritual benefit.

Be prepared to die in the next 80 seconds, or live for the next 80 years.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

On the other hand, someone who is too focused on the short term, but not the longer term, ends up in trouble as well. They may spend too much time in avoiding what needs to be taken care of, like a leaky tap or a broken tile… This also results in excessive sense gratification, or postponing important things that must be done diligently… as in the proverbial tale of the hare and the tortoise… the rabbit and the tortoise once had a race, the rabbit quickly bounded off and gained a big lead… he saw that the tortoise was far behind, so he decided to rest and relax and fell asleep. The tortoise meanwhile, kept going, and ended up winning the race by the time the rabbit woke up.

How to maintain that balance of paying attention to the short-term details while still keeping that longer term focus?

Well, first of all, know that you are eternal, you will never die, you may change your covering, your dress, your vehicle, your residence, but you will never die. So the consequences of all your actions will be seen, sooner or later. So that will surely avoid the temptation to be short-sighted.

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।
न चैव नभविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥ १२ ॥

na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ
na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ
na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ
sarve vayam ataḥ param

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/12/

And the other side? How to avoid being so long-term focused on the future that we ignore the here-and-now?

Remember that the here-and-now is what will take us to our destination – and the choices we make in the moment affect the choices that we have access to in future.

इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्‍‍गुह्यतरं मया ।
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ ६३ ॥

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru

Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/63/

Srila Prabhupada dives deeper in his wonderful purport…

Here the words yathecchasi tathā kuru – “As you like, you may act” – indicate that God does not interfere with the little independence of the living entity. In Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord has explained in all respects how one can elevate his living condition. The best advice imparted to Arjuna is to surrender unto the Supersoul seated within his heart. By right discrimination, one should agree to act according to the order of the Supersoul. That will help one become situated constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the highest perfectional stage of human life. Arjuna is being directly ordered by the Personality of Godhead to fight. Surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is in the best interest of the living entities. It is not for the interest of the Supreme. Before surrendering, one is free to deliberate on this subject as far as the intelligence goes; that is the best way to accept the instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such instruction comes also through the spiritual master, the bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa.

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in the purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/63/

Here are three questions you can ask yourself repeatedly, every time you have a choice to make:

  1. Based on the instructions of the spiritual master, what is the best use of my time right now
  2. How best may I serve the instructions of the spiritual master with what I have at this moment?
  3. Am I following the principles “better late than never” and “something is better than nothing”?

In this connection, my spiritual master often says:

Your attitude, and not your aptitude, determines your altitude.

His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari

If we reflect and act in this way, our life will be perfect, and death becomes immaterial, whether it comes in the next 80 seconds, or in the next 80 years.

तदोत्तानपद: पुत्रो ददर्शान्तकमागतम् ।
मृत्योर्मूर्ध्नि पदं दत्त्वा आरुरोहाद्भुतं गृहम् ॥ ३० ॥

tadottānapadaḥ putro
dadarśāntakam āgatam
mṛtyor mūrdhni padaṁ dattvā
ārurohādbhutaṁ gṛham

When Dhruva Mahārāja was attempting to get on the transcendental plane, he saw death personified approach him. Not caring for death, however, he took advantage of the opportunity to put his feet on the head of death, and thus he got up on the airplane, which was as big as a house.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/12/30/

Go ahead. Transcend death! Why wouldn’t you?

Did Arjuna disobey Krishna’s orders in regards to Ashwatthama?

Ashwatthama murdered little children in their sleep. Krishna ordered him killed. But Arjuna spared his life. So did Arjuna disobey Krishna?

Todd, 23 August 2016

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my greetings.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Can you help understand more clearly how it is that Krishna’s word is not followed by Arjuna in regards to Asvatthama’s death?

In 1.7.53-54 Krishna says he must die, correct? Is it that the Lord meant figuratively the whole time? 

Then 1.7.57 is also confusing to me.

Please help me to understand more clearly.

Thank you in advance

Sincerely,

Todd

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 26 August 2016

Dear Sriman Todd,

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for your question.

Some context is in order, for those who may not be familiar with the full picture.

Ashwatthama is the son of Dronacharya, the military teacher of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the two sides of the mighty war of Kurukshetra 5000 years ago, where Srila Prabhupada says 640 million warriors fought and we know hardly anyone went back home.

Dronacharya and his son Ashvatthama fought on the Kauravas side. The Kauravas lost and were killed. Dronacharya was killed also. Ashvatthama survived. He did not like the way his father was killed in battle and as revenge, vowed to wipe out the Pandavas dynasty, and hence he killed the 5 sons of the Pandavas who were all children at the time, and this was done while they were sleeping also.

Now, the conundrum was that Ashvatthama was the son of a Brahmana (priestly and intellectual class of society), or the son of their teacher, and therefore meant to be revered. But he had done this abominable thing of killing defenseless children in their sleep.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, First Canto (which our Bhagavata Online Academy of 2011 will start reading shortly, but it took 5 years of preparation to get there… all classes of Bhagavata Online Academy will get there, and more details to follow from Hemanga Prabhu…), this incident is described in some detail in the chapter “The son of Drona punished”, which readers can access at https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/7/

The verses in question are:

SB 1.7.53-54 — The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: A friend of a brāhmaṇa is not to be killed, but if he is an aggressor he must be killed. All these rulings are in the scriptures, and you should act accordingly. You have to fulfill your promise to your wife, and you must also act to the satisfaction of Bhīmasena and Me.

SB 1.7.55 — Sūta Gosvāmī said: Just then Arjuna could understand the motive of the Lord by His equivocal orders, and thus with his sword he severed both hair and jewel from the head of Aśvatthāmā.

SB 1.7.56 — He [Aśvatthāmā] had already lost his bodily luster due to infanticide, and now, moreover, having lost the jewel from his head, he lost even more strength. Thus he was unbound and driven out of the camp.

SB 1.7.57 — Cutting the hair from his head, depriving him of his wealth and driving him from his residence are the prescribed punishments for the relative of a brāhmaṇa. There is no injunction for killing the body.

Arjuna, being a pure devotee, never fails to follow Krishna’s word, but not in a mood of slavery, but in the mood of clear understanding and harmony with Krishna.

Krishna often uses situations involving his dearest devotees, such as Narada Muni, the Gopis, and Arjuna, to illustrate important points and create situations that may be bewildering to some but the way that those devotees behave sets exemplary precedent for others to follow.

This can be roughly compared to modern courts, which rely on precedence – judges presiding over court cases even today base their judgements from precedents set by other landmark cases elsewhere… in fact, it can be roughly generalized that the practice of law is to know the law, know case law precedence, and apply logical and ethical arguments judiciously using that knowledge. Great lawyers and great judges are those that set precedent in difficult situations.

Similarly great devotees are those who set precedence, for example, Srila Prabhupada’s application of scriptural knowledge is exemplary in the history of the world.

So here was the conundrum:

1. A Kshatriya (or anyone else, for that matter) shall not kill a Brahmana, no matter what, unless of course, a Brahmana is trying to kill a Kshatriya, which Ashvatthama did do, he killed the pandavas’ minor children while they were sleeping

2. Krishna is “go brahmana hitaya cha” – protector of cows and the Brahmanas

3. But Krishna is ordering Arjuna (a Kshatriya) to kill Ashvatthama (a Brahmana), is Krishna, as Supreme Personality of Godhead, inconsistent with His own principles?

4. Bhima, Arjuna’s elder brother is going with a particular understanding of scriptural law, and as he is elder, Arjuna is duty-bound to follow his instruction

4. Draupadi is pleading with Arjuna not to kill Ashvatthama out of compassion for his mother and respect for the individual, even though her own children were the ones Ashvatthama killed, and Arjuna is also duty-bound to fulfill his wife’s lawful and reasonable wish.

5. Arjuna is the devotee who must apply scripture, Krishna’s words, and also carry out his elder brother’s instruction and wife’s desire

In the Bhagavad Gita it is clearly stated that for an honorable person, dishonour is worse than death – BG 2.34 “People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.”

So Arjuna fulfilled all requirements by taking away Ashvatthama’s respectable signs, his hair, and the jewel attached to his head from birth.

1. Ashvatthama, being an illustrious warrior, and a member of the Brahmana class, was certainly respectable (until he committed this crime).

2. To be humiliated in this way is worse than death, and yet, he was not killed

So, Ashvatthama was killed and not killed, in fact he lives to this day trying to heal/fill the raw wound open gaping hole in his head caused by the forced removal of the jewel by Arjuna, but no one wants to associate with him and thus he is in a very abominable situation – neither living nor dead.

All of this is confirmed by the verse and Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 1.7.55

quote

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Just then Arjuna could understand the motive of the Lord by His equivocal orders, and thus with his sword he severed both hair and jewel from the head of Aśvatthāmā.

Purport: Contradictory orders of different persons are impossible to carry out. Therefore a compromise was selected by Arjuna by his sharp intelligence, and he separated the jewel from the head of Aśvatthāmā. This was as good as cutting off his head, and yet his life was saved for all practical purposes. Here Aśvatthāmā is indicated as twice-born. Certainly he was twice-born, but he fell down from his position, and therefore he was properly punished.

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in SB 1.7.55

We are often in a situation where instructions given by different respectable individuals can be apparently contradictory, and we follow the example of expert devotees who follow perfectly while resolving apparent contradictions through their behaviors.

Does this help?

Devotees, please feel free to add your understanding and perspectives to this question as it is a wonderful example of trying to understand Srila Prabhupada’s books extensively and very much an example of how Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva want us to study Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.esctaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

No reason for hopelessness, despair, and negativity

Sometimes there is hopelessness, despair, negativity in our life. Sometimes we don’t understand what’s going on and why. But spiritual life is a scientific process. A scientific process produces a repeatable results each time. So, always remember Krishna (GOD) and never forget Krishna (GOD). But how practically?

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 27 August 2020

Hare Krishna!

Some of us have received messages to the group or to individuals which convey a sense of hopelessness, despair, and negativity. This may be natural at a time like this, but please know that there is no reason for all that.

Simply striving to understand the process of Krishna consciousness, follow it as best as one can, and find ways to render spiritual service to everyone around us will both gradually and immediately remove all causes of negativity in our lives.

1. You all are already part of the eCourse. Please read the daily message carefully and try to imbibe it deep inside your consciousness – those messages are truly effective. I have been receiving them since 2004, so I have 17+ years experience now. Even though we might not remember the details of each message, it is like a meal packed with nutrients and love and pure spiritual power – even if you don’t remember specifically what you had 10 days ago, it has still made you stronger.

2. You all have access to the daily live lectures, broadcast twice a day. I can rarely attend the lectures, but when I do manage to, I feel very enlivened and energized. Just this morning, an answer to my question by Gurumataji pulled me out of some grave misunderstandings!

3. We have a dedicated team of souls helping to imbibe Srila Prabhupada’s books in an organized fashion… Bhagavata Online Academy – if you are not already on one of those groups, then let me know – we will be soon creating a new group… if you are, then please read those messages, even if you cannot read the actual book, just that message alone is packed with positive energy!

4. Please chant Hare Krishna as much as you can, take Krishna Prasada as much as you can, and serve Krishna and His dear ones as much as you can.

The process of Krishna consciousness works. I have sincerely (and mostly imperfectly) tried it for over 20 years. The only time something goes awry is when I slip on following the process diligently.

If there are any relevant questions, please ask the group – please follow the group guidelines carefully – only messages that follow the guidelines are posted to the group.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Maxine, 27 August 2020

Hare Krishna thank you I will be doing so as you said I should do I ask you to please add me to the group you have coming up I tried to sign up for a group but I received no email from the action I am thankful  for your words and I look forward to do as you say and want to be in a group I want to learn all of Lord Krishnas words and follow and serve him thank you again the material body  I am in is I’ll at the moment but my soul and mind are fine and I am listening to all you teach and all I can read I will follow your words I know we can save all and make this world for Krishna your humble servant maxine

Maxine

Araon Joy, 27 August 2020

And, if I may add what I tell people and keeps me not being hopeless:

God, Lord Krishna, never abandons us and never forgets us (nor do I believe God is sitting back laughing at us as we fail/pass his tests, as I had one Christian tell me earlier this year). We just don’t see the big picture. We don’t see God’s divine plan for our lives or the world. We do not see always how God is constantly working in the world. If I have a moment of fear, as I do not know what is next, I remind myself that somebody else knows what is next and has my best interests at heart (or a really good lesson or something I need in my life) and I trust Krishna completely. Completely.

While I keep doing what I feel moved to, and what dreams I have I continue to pursue, and what art/creativity I want to create I continue to create.

Srila Prabhupada said to Bob Cohen (in the booklet “Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers”) in a series of conversations that miracles are simply things we do not understand. Someone might think a chemical reaction is a miracle, but for a scientist who knows the process it makes sense. We do not understand God’s process in the world. It may seem like miracles or a lack of miracles, but we simply don’t understand the process that has been put in play by the greatest scientist. I trust that scientist. Have faith. Read Gita and Prahbupada’s books. Associate with those of us who are like minded. Remember Krishna daily.

Just my few thoughts.

Hare Krishna

Aaron Joy

Portland Maine USA

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Sankirtan Adventures – Old City Hall, Guelph, Online, Janmashtami

Sankirtan during the Pandemic, a look back at 2020…

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 21 August 2020

Dear Devotees,

Hare Krishna!

Please kindly accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I pray that you are all well and in good health and spirits.

By your blessings I am able to participate in this Hare Krishna movement, despite my disqualifications. Thank you!

Summary:

14 Jul 2020 Old City Hall

16 Jul 2020 Old City Hall

19 Jul 2020 Downtown Guelph Harinam

23 Jul 2020 Old City Hall

23 Jul 2020 Walking Harinam Old City Hall to ISKCON Toronto

28 Jul 2020 Email/WhatsApp Sankirtan

11 Aug 2020 Janmashtami Sankirtan

21 Aug 2020 Old City Harinaam

————————————-

Total 8 Outings

It has been a very nice summer generally. The Pandemic is a pity, because it is really hard to meet Canadians at close quarters when it gets cold. Yes, there is the phone, email, WhatApp, zoom, etc., Sankirtan, but a majority of “laying the groundwork” happens out there, on the street, in summer festivals, knocking on doors… The devotees have been largely absent from public consciousness.

As the Pandemic wears on, the attention to social media has waned, and many are not as receptive to online platforms as they were before. So, at least based on the reception we’re getting outside, the devotees should cautiously resume outdoor Harinaam Sankirtan, even though it will probably not immediately result in a lot of books distributed. Right now, we are circling amongst ourselves, preaching to ourselves, which, no doubt,needs to be done, but we also need to distribute the mercy outside of those we know presently.

I had some really nice experiences, in Guelph with Paramahamsa Prabhu, on Janmashtami, with Yogesh who had never been out on Harinam Sankirtan before. He took many books home with him, especially the smaller ones we don’t seem to be distributing a lot of these days. What is more, he is a customer for books that we could not distribute because they were “old looking”! 🙂 And Yogesh is reading those books intently – Mahaprabhu has already brought Yogesh into His tidal wave.

Especially now, the people are very needy for Harinam Sankirtan, while a lot of Harinam may be going on behind closed doors and behind virtual closed doors like Facebook and Zoom, we do need to get out there.

Especially in Toronto – the restaurants are open, the bars are open, the cinemas are open, the liquor shops are open and liquor is now being sold in the grocery stores. The brothels are open, the casinos are open, the malls are open, the offices are open. But the devotees are indoors. Harinam Sankirtan is a closed club. It is indeed a cause for concern that those who know we are not the body but spirit souls are sitting indoors even when the risk has gotten so low. We are supposed to be the fearless Hare Krishnas. Where is our “abhayam”? We are supposed to be surrendered to the Lotus Feet of Sri Abhaya Charanaravinda, where is our Abhaya?

Where possible, I’m urging devotees to get out there and not be lazy/afraid/overly cautious. Please, the world needs us and what we have.

Writing about one experience from yesterday, though there were many more…

I was on Harinam yesterday… Many were responding, many were not, but one man, unsteady on his feet due to being inebriated, cigarette in hand, came close. He asked “Indian song?” I said “yes I am from India but this is the song of the heart”. He listened really intently, thankfully he kept his distance. But I felt somewhat uncomfortable… I  mean, it is easier to be ignored than to be scrutinized like that. He then started singing, suddenly asked me, “Do you need some change”, I asked him “Do you need a book”, so he took 2 books, one by Srila Prabhupada and one by my spiritual master Sankarshan Prabhu. He gave me a donation and immediately started reading the book. He did say “Always Christ” and I said “All the way my brother”. I was intensely praying to Lord Chaitanya “please give this man your mercy and the Lord did shower His mercy upon that soul! So we can see how one can get instant feedback while out on Sankirtan.

Go out where you can. Go out when you can. Go out in ones or twos. Go out with a mask if you have to. Stay outdoors. Wash your hands, stay far away from others, but let the sound of your voice become the humble vehicle for the Holy Name to go out there and do His magic. There is no other way, no other way, no other way, except Harinam Sankirtan Harinam Sankirtan Harinam Sankirtan.

I reported my Sankirtan outing this morning and my spiritual master was pleased. So, dear devotees, please let us please our spiritual masters.

quote

So we have to be very careful. The age is very bad, the Kali-yuga. You are experiencing. We have to simply take shelter of krsna and always cry,

krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, he!

krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, he!

krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, raksa mām!

krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, pāhi mām!

krsna, keśava, krsna, keśava, krsna, keśava, raksa mām!

rāma rāghava, rāma rāghava, rāma rāghava, pāhi mām!

Like that, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught us. The time is very dangerous. And still, in this dangerous time… Just like in epidemic condition where every people is being contaminated and dying, still, the doctors appointed by the government, they have to go into the epidemic area and try to treat the person and save them. Our duty is like that. The whole atmosphere is epidemic, whole atmosphere, this Kali-yuga. And still, by the superior orders we have to preach this krsna consciousness movement. Therefore our only shelter is krsna. krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna, raksa mām. Very dangerous position. The foolish people, they are thinking that “We are very happy and we are very safe.” But nobody is safe. Nobody is safe. So we have to deal with persons very carefully, and at the same time, we have to push our missionary activities. Aho kastam dharma drsam.

– from SB 6.2.1-5 in Calcutta, India

unquote

My 2020 goal is 108 outings, and I have 88 left to go, with just over 130 days left. Please bless me that I may humbly perform this service. I am very greedy for your blessings. In fact, I am 100% convinced that I can only go out on Harinam Sankirtan because of your blessings, because otherwise I am just a useless fool.

Praying to be always out on Harinam Sankirtan, or at least be in Harinam Sankirtan consciousness 24X7, this is my humble desire, though I must admit that unfortunate as I am, I still maintain all sorts of material attachments.

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

dasadas.com

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

The Ultimate Synthesis of Advaita & Dvaita – achintya bheda abheda

There are a lot of different philosophies in the world. Some are just absurd, but some are partial truths. Instead of fighting over philosophies, one should try to understand the ultimate synthesis of philosophies – if you haven’t heard of it before, it’s called “Simultaneous Inconcievable Oneness and Difference” – the philosophy of Lord Chaitanya.

When it comes to philosophies, there are an infinite variety.

Some philosophies apply to life in the material world, and don’t extend to the spiritual realm. We will discard these philosophies, because they pertain to the temporary. It is not that they are devoid of value, but that for a spiritualist they are not of too much consequence in the long run, from the perspective of eternity.

Often, followers of various philosophies debate, quarrel, bicker, and disagree with each other in mild and severe forms. Sometimes, a difference in philosophy results in quarrels, enmities, violence, murder, and even war!

This article does not claim to list and explain all the different philosophies, but simply summarizes the chief ideas.

I wrote before about the chief philosophies that drive our modern world, such as voidism and randomness, which are merely imaginations.

Actually, when thinking of philosophies, one should consider the tale of the 6 blind men and the elephant.

Once upon a time, 6 blind men were taken to “see” an elephant… those who are blind in vision use their other senses to “see”… we don’t mean any offense to blind readers of this post, but this is how the story goes.

6 blind men and the elephant

One touched the side of the elephant.

The second touched the tail

The third touched the tusk

The fourth touched the trunk

The fifth, the ear of the elephant.

The sixth, the leg of the elephant.

Then they all came out and began to tell each other what the elephant is like. One said the elephant is like a wall (side), the second said it is like a stiff rope (tail), the third said it is just like smooth spear, and the fourth said it is like a snake (trunk). The fifth said it is like a smooth tray (ear) and the sixth said it is just like a tree trunk (leg).

All of them began to disagree with each other, and eventually got into an argument about what the elephant is like.

All the blind men were partially right, but could not synthesize their partial truths into one consistent whole.

Scholars looking at philosophies are just like those blind men.

In particular, there are 2 main spiritual philosophies

Advaita – This philosophy describes that all is one, and there are variants of these philosophies all the way from Kevaladvaita, Shuddhadvaita, Vishishtadvaita. This philosophy encapsulates practically all of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

Dvaita – This philosophy describes that God is one and the living entities are separate from God… and in some remaining ways describes the key difference between God and the living entity, between God and nature, and so on.

And scholars have fought over this for thousands of years.

So many philosophies… is there one that encapsulates and synthesizes them all?

Only God can establish something perfect…

धर्मं तु साक्षाद्भ‍गवत्प्रणीतं
न वै विदुऋर्षयो नापि देवा: ।
न सिद्धमुख्या असुरा मनुष्या:
कुतो नु विद्याधरचारणादय: ॥ १९ ॥

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ
na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ
na siddha-mukhyā asurā manuṣyāḥ
kuto nu vidyādhara-cāraṇādayaḥ

Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṇas.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/3/19/

In the 16th Century, God Himself appeared in the form of Lord Chaitanya and described the ultimate synthesis of all valid philosophies.

कृष्णवर्णं त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्रपार्षदम् ।
यज्ञै: सङ्कीर्तनप्रायैर्यजन्ति हि सुमेधस: ॥ ३२ ॥

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/5/32/
Lord Chaitanya with His associates

Lord Chaitanya’s philosophy is as follows:

achintya bheda abheda – simultaneous inconceivable oneness and difference.

This philosophy is different from all the valid and invalid philosophies, but beautifully synthesizes the correct aspects of all valid philosophies.

I am just a humble servant of the servant of the servant ad infinitum of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. If anyone wishes to understand this in more detail, they are invited to thoroughly study the books of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (ask me how), and then, after understanding Srila Prabhupada’s books, into the famous writings of Srila Jiva Goswami, the 6 Sandarbhas.

How George Harrison found complete satisfaction

Why can we not find satisfaction? A poor person, middle class person, and rich person all are dissatisfied. Even the richest person sometimes wants a carefree life of the poor… how to get satisfaction in life?

Nisarga, 30 June 2020

When a poor man sees a middle class person he wishes that if I atleast have a life like him I will be satisfied. Similarly that middle Class person will find his happiness in a rich person’s life and the rich person also won’t be that satisfied or happy in his life…he will sometimes wish that he had a life to live like that poor man without any worries .why does this happen and how do we break this loop and find satisfaction and happiness within oneself.

Nisarga

Mahabhagavat Das, 08 September 2020

Dear Nisarga,

Hare Krishna!

A spirit soul is purely spiritual. But when the spirit soul identifies with matter, then the soul seeks satisfaction in material sense gratification. But because the soul is spiritual, everything material does not satisfy.

Actually, the spirit soul is in search of Krishna, as said perfectly by George Harrison…

quote

Everybody is looking for KRISHNA. Some don’t realize that they are, but they are.

KRISHNA is GOD, the Source of all that exists, the Cause of all that is, was, or ever will be. As GOD is unlimited HE has many Names. Allah-Buddha-Jehova-Rama: All are KRISHNA, all are ONE.

God is not abstract; He has both the impersonal and the personal aspects to His personality which is SUPREME, ETERNAL, BLISSFUL, and full of KNOWLEDGE. As a single drop of water has the same qualities as an ocean of water, so has our consciousness the qualities of GOD’S consciousness… but through our identification and attachment with material energy (physical body, sense pleasures, material possessions, ego, etc.) our true TRANSCENDENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS has been polluted, and like a dirty mirror it is unable to reflect a pure image. With many lives our association with the TEMPORARY has grown. This impermanent body, a bag of bones and flesh, is mistaken for our true self, and we have accepted this temporary condition to be final.

Through all ages, great SAINTS have remained as living proof that this non-temporary, permanent state of GOD CONSCIOUSNESS can be revived in all living Souls. Each soul is potentially divine. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita: “Steady in the Self, being freed from all material contamination, the yogi achieves the highest perfectional stage of happiness in touch with the Supreme Consciousness.” (VI,28)

YOGA (a scientific method for GOD (SELF) realization) is the process by which we purify our consciousness, stop further pollution, and arrive at the state of Perfection, full KNOWLEDGE, full BLISS.

If there’s a God, I want to see Him. It’s pointless to believe in something without proof, and Krishna Consciousness and meditation are methods where you can actually obtain GOD perception. You can actually see God, and Hear Him, play with Him. It might sound crazy, but He is actually there, actually with you.

There are many yogic Paths–Raja, Jnana, Hatha, Kriya, Karma, Bhakti–which are all acclaimed by the MASTERS of each method. SWAMI BHAKTIVEDANTA is as his title says, a BHAKTI Yogi following the path of DEVOTION. By serving GOD through each thought, word, and DEED, and by chanting HIS Holy Names, the devotee quickly develops God-consciousness. By chanting:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna – Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama – Rama Rama, Hare Hare

one inevitably arrives at KRISHNA Consciousness. (The proof of the pudding is in the eating!)

I request that you take advantage of this book KRISHNA, and enter into its understanding. I also request that you make an appointment to meet your God now, through the self liberating process of YOGA (UNION) and GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (KRISHNA) HARI BOL.

GEORGE HARRISON 31/3/70

unquote

The only satisfaction is in pure Krishna Consciousness.

Does this help?

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Nikhil Mishra, 08 September 2020

Jai..Hari Bol. Thanks for quoting George Harrison.

I guess Swami Prabhupada must be very pleased with the services of

George Harrison. I have heard that in his last days, Prabhupada asked

caretaking devotees to give his ring to Mr. (Bhakta) George Harrison.

Sincerely

Nikhil

Reason and Love : “Reason helps Love to maintain its proper bounds in the Spiritual world. Love often tends to degrade itself by exercising its function on objects other than God and converts itself into lust for women, wine, meat and gold. Here Reason advises her to rise higher till she reaches her proper sphere above.”

– Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Mahabhagavat Das, 09 September 2020

Yes, George Harrison is a great Vaishnava. He has done tremendous services in the Krishna Consciousness movement when it was needed the most. He chanted Hare Krishna right till the end of his body. Srila Prabhupada surely has arranged for his onward journey. Now it is time for us to strive hard, get out of complacency and be truly Krishna conscious, and give this one life to Krishna. What are we waiting for? 

Mahabhagavat Das, dasadas.com

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Sankirtan Adventures 2019.77-78 MARATHON! Old City Hall, New Ocean Supermarket

What is it that makes Srila Prabhupada book marathon so enlivening, so energizing, so inspiring and empowering? Here are some Sankirtan stories!

Mahabhagavat Das, 03 December 2019

Dear Devotees,

Hare Krishna!

Please kindly accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

By your mercy, Sankirtan continues. By your mercy may this marathon season be successful! Please bless! PRABHUPADA MARATHON!

My prayer to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai almost every day, in Marathi, with some variants sometimes.

Mee naalaayak aahe (I am unsuitable)

Mee murkha aahe (I am a fool)

Pan tumhi malaa sveekaarla (But You have accepted me)

Tar aata tyaa saglyaanvar krupa karaaa (so now please have mercy on all those others too)

Tumchi krupa aso, kaahitari karu dya (Please have mercy, please let me do something)

Das’ regular prayer

Summary:

27 Nov 2019 – Old City Hall

30 Nov 2019 – New Ocean Supermarket

———-

Total 2 Outings

Marathon magic!

What is it about the Prabhupada Marathon that inspires, empowers, and energizes? How is it that during the Prabhupada Marathon, impossible miracles occur? I don’t know. I am diving in. Please dive in too. You can only taste the nectar by diving in, not, as my spiritual master said to me before I started practicing “by licking the outside of the jar”. I pray that I can fully surrender to that instruction! 🙂

My son asks for a report – Baba, how many books, who took them, and so on. And he just LOVES to pack books for me, and accompany me too, whenever his 6-year-old busy schedule allows him to!

Ongoing conversation with Max… he’s asking questions, hopefully he reads a book! 🙂

I’m writing this “fresh”, in other words, as soon after the outing. There may be more of these writings with more detail, because I remember more, so please bear with me.

At City Hall one afternoon after a rainy day, collected a lot of no’s, some curiosity, but mostly no’s…

3 young men, walking by and I said “meditation”, and they said something I didn’t hear clearly and walked by. One of them turned around, the other two also turned around. I placed books in their hands and asked the first one “ever tried meditation”, he said no, and opened the Gita and started reading “…Personality… Godhead… Spoke… Sun God…” – flipped some more pages. I said this was spoken 5,000 years ago and that Einstein, Thoreau, Gandhi, they all read it, and we’re looking for people who want to read it, that we don’t sell them but accept donations. The others were busy flipping through their own books in the meantime. Turns out they had no money, high school kids, or maybe didn’t want to give, but high school kids! Pressman gave me his email, Euan gave me his Instagram, and the other one who said his name was Lucas said he had bad experiences with giving people his emails – so just for kicks, I let them read a crazy email I got (some of them, they’re really out there!). After a good chuckle, they all chanted, once, twice, and thrice, so the deal was sealed. Pressman handed me the Gita back because he felt he couldn’t accept it without giving me something. So they took small books and left with a good impression. Will one of them be a Vaisesika Prabhu? Will one of them be a friend of Vaisesika Prabhu? Will one of them be a Krsnadasa Kaviraja Prabhu? Will one of them teach their friend the Mahamantra and that person would be a Sankarshan Prabhu? They were all artistic and musical, so they played with the idea of making the Mahamantra as their “producer tag”. And we parted ways.

M sidled up to me, like literally rubbing against me before I jumped out of the way. She was unusually and uncomfortably close. With her high heels, cigarette blowing horrible smoke too close to me, dark skin, eyelashes, and makeup and heavy perfume, I could tell she was intoxicated, I asked her, “what do you do M” and she almost purred “I’m a working girl”. I could see her expression changing gradually as I spoke to her about meditation and a higher non-material inner pleasure. She took a book “yeah I will take one” and sobered up really quickly, stubbed out her cigarrette on the ground, crushing it with precision with her stiletto, and unfortunately didn’t chant the Mantra – didn’t want to push her, I was a bit nervous to be honest – who knows how it could go! I hope she will read the book “Conquer Your Mind, Conquer the World” by Sankarshan Prabhu, my spiritual master.

Teddy looked at me as I said “meditation” but passed me by. Then he slowly turned around and said “what did you say”. For a moment, I was fearful that I had met another interesting character and might possibly be in trouble. But as I handed him the Chant and Be Happy, I said “I said, are you interested in meditation, sir”. Teddy is into stoicism, and said he “got that orange book” (Bhagavad Gita), but cannot understand it. I said “see, stoicism is fine, but if you don’t feel anything how will you ever connect? You need to feel, but you can’t get carried away by every feeling”. That resonated with him. So he took Chant and Be Happy saying it “looked simpler”, chanted the mantra, and as I dropped him an email – he said he would be in touch. In parting he said “namas to you”, so I said “namaste” with joined palms, and he did the one-handed pranaam in the Oriental way and left, and I was happy to note he was not stoic but had a wiiiide smile!

Karan was my most memorable candidate that day. He approached me with “Sir, do you like Kids”, and I said of course and asked him if he was with Sick Kids Hospital. He said no, I think he is with Amnesty or some other welfare organization trying to save the children. I said, look I do a lot of this, I just spent a whole bunch of time standing over there trying to see if anyone is interested in their own spiritual welfare, it’s the month the Gita was spoken. He said “I’m Sikh, and I always wanted to read the Gita”. I said, today is your lucky day. So he got a Gita, and we exchanged emails. He was so moved. Who knows what prayers Karan has made to Krishna and what his relationship is with Krishna? But he couldn’t believe it, he was clearly very emotional about this turn of events. I pray he will serve all souls with Sankirtan.

I was meant to go out for at least 2-3 more Sankirtan outings, but somehow or the other I could not go. This is how life can pass me by, one day at a time, no Sankirtan, no Sankirtan, no Sankirtan!

New Ocean Supermarket

Murlidhar Seva Prabhu, in tandem with the Sankirtan Organization Team carefully planned and organized for the Sankirtan warriors to go out to 6 different stores last Saturday. Not one, not two, but 6! Many many books were distributed, mostly Bhagavad Gitas! It was a masterstroke, on a cold day!

I went to one of them, and joined Sriman Peran, Rameshwar Prabhu, Mother Geetha. Vitthal Bhakta and I were then also joined by the power team of Radha Mohan Prabhu, Govinda, and Ananya Bhakti.

Conversations were simple, either super-easy, or impossible 🙂

All I had to say was, to place the Gita in someone’s hands and say something like “sir, look at this Gita... sir Gita Jayanti coming up, as a service to Krishna we want to distribute 24,000 of these in the GTA. Please sir, take at least one. We are from the temple sir. No business sir. Just cost price sir, 10 dollar, if you give more, give more, goes to Krishna”. Most said “I already have”, to which I’d respond “yes sir yes sir, of course, surely you have, sir, this is not for you, this is for you to bless someone else sir, as a service to Krishna sir”. I replaced the “sir” with a “ma”/”ma’am”/”amma” depending on who I was speaking to.

There was the man who took one Gita and spontaneously gave us $50 (we gave him a couple more to distribute). There was the lady who didn’t know were accepting donations and left with the Gita (lucky winner). There were the souls who didn’t have any cash so they went to the cash register, with Peran and Rameshwar Prabhu tagging with them because you know, some “escaped”! To get cash back… There was the store owner’s wife Shobana who promised to come to the temple on Gita Jayanti with her kids.

We ran out of all the Tamil Gitas very quickly, and almost all the English ones too. I didn’t collect contact details here, though Peran Prabhu did collect a few.

There were the difficult ones of course, like the parents who discouraged their children “you don’t have time, too much studies”, I was thinking “what are they afraid of, that their child is going to become the emperor of the world by reading the Gita?”.

Anyways, after some delicious Prasada packed lovingly by Mother Shyama Mohini, we headed home. Vitthal Bhakta was very happy with the “really nice people taking so many Bhagavad Gitas”.

My Sankirtan outings goal for 2019 is 108, and write about them all, and I now have 30 to go, in 29 days. Please bless me that I may humbly perform this service. I am very greedy for your blessings. In fact, I am 100% convinced that I can only go out on Harinam Sankirtan because of your blessings, because otherwise I am just a useless fool.

Praying to be always out on Harinam Sankirtan, or at least be in Harinam Sankirtan consciousness 24X7, this is my humble desire, though I must admit that unfortunate as I am, I still maintain all sorts of material attachments.

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Preeti, 03 December 2019

Hare Krishna Prabhuji 

I love to read your report on sankirtan!

It is soooooo inspiring. Please keep sending more.

Hopefully one day I will have the opportunity and courage to go on sankirtan myself. 

Hari Bol

Preeti 

Tapas Chakraborty, 03 December 2019

Hare Krishna

All glories to Gurudeva

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Thank you so much for sharing the inspiring stories of reaching out to help millions of souls in directing them to the world of Krishna consciousness for realising truth transcendental peace and ecstasy. In its truth you are serving the lord residing in dormant consciousness within each soul to awaken and enjoy the heavenly peace and joy. No more service is better than this.

Going through the passages I felt nostalgic as if missing the divine consciousness of all your holy company in this mission to make the whole world Krishna conscious.

I am enjoying a lot and visualising my presence in this holy mission.

Thanks a lot to you again.

Tapas

Rasika Krishna Das, 03 December 2019

Jaya !! Hare Krishna !!

Rasika Krishna Das

Haladhar Das, 04 December 2019

Hare Krsna prabhu Dandvat Pranam 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada 

All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata 

Thank you very much for sharing the nectar. It’s really inspiring that not only you are distributing Srila Prabhupada mercy but also then share your experiences with us. 

By your blessings and regular motivation I am too trying this year to contribute in Gita marathon. Have started once a week, will increase to twice thrice a week and have already made up mind to do whole year.  Will share some realizations soon. 

Looking forward to your next visit to India soon. Everyone in Pinjore remembers you.

Thank you very much for being part of SDA family 

your servant 

Haladhar Das, Pinjore, India 

Mahabhagavat Das, 05 December 2019

Dear Sriman Tapas,

Thank you!

I am saved by this Krishna Consciousness movement, by Srila Prabhupada, by Srila Gurudeva, by all these devotees. So I am trying to spread my good fortune around.

Please do your best too, knowing that your best will surely get better by Krishna’s mercy.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Mahabhagavat Das, 05 December 2019

Dear Mother Preeti,

Hare Krishna!

Anyone and everyone can distribute books. In fact, the books are so potent that they distribute themselves!

Please take some books and go out – try to tell people what you know about the books, tell them you’re not selling but asking for any donation from their heart. Do this in a reasonable way taking into account, place, time of day, type of people around, your own personal safety etc., into account, and I guarantee that you will distribute many books.

Please try it out and write about your experiences.

If you have any difficulties, please let me know.

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Mahabhagavat Das, 05 December 2019

Dear Haladhar Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for your kind encouragement Prabhu. Yes, I can do so very little, but if we can together amplify our efforts by encouraging and motivating each other, then that will be a great thing.

Any kind of “sankalpa” – determination to serve is all-auspicious. I do remember all the devotees in and around Chandigarh very fondly and am deeply grateful to them for giving me an opportunity to serve, and tolerate my mistakes and imperfections.

I look forward to returning. Right now, I have made a sankalpa to attend Srila Gurudeva’s next Vyasa Puja in Vrindavan. If by Krishna’s grace, I can come, then I will feel most fortunate to have your association.

We should thank Srila Gurudeva and Srila Prabhupada for bringing us together, this is indeed one amazing transcendental family!

bhadram te!

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Gautam pal, 05 December 2019

Hare Krishna

All glories to Gurudeva 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Prabhu,

Please give me the guidelines so that I can get Krishna’s mercy.

Sincerely,

Gautam Pal

Mahabhagavat Das, 06 December 2019

Dear Sriman Gautam,

Hare Krishna!

Distributing to persons of different cultures is slightly different… you need to tailor your approach. For examples, Indians get offended if you ask them to read the Gita – they feel they already know it, their mother read it to them, and their grandmother had it all memorized, their great-grandfather was a Guru equal to Srila Prabhupada and so on…

To Indians we say “Sir, you are a gentleman, know so much about the Gita, this knowledge flows in your veins. But so many others don’t know. We want to spread this knowledge all over the world. We want to distribute x Gitas this December to those who don’t yet understand. We are from the temple, we are not doing this for money. Please help us by taking one or more and spread this pure knowledge. Our cost is x, if you give more donation, it will go to the temple”.

These are the basics:

1. Get books and keep them with you  – you cannot distribute books if you don’t have them with you always.

2. We are ambassadors of goodwill – no arguments, no fights, give everyone what they can accept. A smile, a Maha Mantra, an invite to the temple, a little bit of Krishna Prasada, a book, and the service of giving a donation

3. Don’t worry about money. Don’t be shy about accepting a donation on Krishna’s behalf, but if someone is interested but cannot give the full amount, as long as you are not at a temple book stall, give the book to them – that is your service to them. For example, 20+ years ago, I got my Gita free of charge – someone had sponsored! Now every Gita I distribute, that original sponsor is also getting benefit for helping me connect to Krishna!

4. The more you show, the more you distribute – show to everyone as far as possible, put the book in their hands as soon as possible, and “give to the hand”, at hand level, the hand takes

5. Start with a personal connection – wave at people, smile at them. Don’t approach them if they are hostile or do not reciprocate. Save your energy for those who reciprocate. Krishna Himself says “manushyaanaam sahasreshu” – among thousands, one is interested.

6. Ask them questions about themselves and be genuinely interested in them, also tell a little about yourself as appropriate and build trust. Build trust before you ask them for anything.

7. There is no hard-and-fast rule, except don’t pursue people who are not ready, let them go. Especially fanatics, avoid them!

8. Above all, MOST IMPORTANT – leave everyone with a good impression, we are doing a service to Krishna, we don’t want to do any disservice to Guru and Krishna!

9. Stay humble, we are doing this more for our own purification than for others’ benefit, if someone else benefits, that is a bonus, but Sankirtan, especially rejection builds our spiritual blood for our spiritual body

10. Sankirtan and book distribution is the highest sadhana, the more you go our on Sankirtan the better your chanting will be, and the better you chant, the more effective you will be on Sankirtan… actually this is the mood of the Gopis, especially Srimati Radharani, how to engage everyone in the service of Krishna

11. We are all one big global/Universal team – if I miss someone, you will get them, if you miss someone, I will get them, but important to approach everyone to increase their good fortune that one day they will say yes

Remember that we can be soft like the water, but the water has carved continents and mountains! We are on a project to redeem a soul that has been in the material realm for millions, billions, trillions of lifetimes, so we should have patience, we (at least I) cannot take them to Goloka in one conversation 🙂

Anyone with more interest, look for the BBT book “Our Family Business” by His Grace Vaisesika Dasa Adhikari, a Godbrother of Srila Gurudeva.

Spiritual books by Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva are very powerful. They will attract the right candidates, you just be their instrument.

I can speak or write about this for ever (and I hope to), but you will only taste the nectar if you try yourselves!

Please everyone, try, and report back here. We are eagerly waiting to hear your adventures on book distribution!

your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Rupa Manjari Devi Dasi, 07 December 2019

Hare Krishna! Jai, 30 more things to do, you can do it!

Rupa Manjari Devi Dasi

Haladhar Das, 12 December 2019

Hare Krishna dear devotees,

All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Encouraged by HG Mahabhagavat Prabhu, have again re-participated in this year Gita Marathon, once a week as of now, trying to convince myself to increase to at least twice or thrice a week. Except 1 or 2 atheists a very small number to discourage, mostly there were many nice experiences during book distribution on the streets during last 3 Sunday’s, sharing some of them :

1. A seeker – a Sikh gentleman carrying his small baby on his shoulder was very pleased to receive Bhagavad Gita. He said I have been searching for Bhagvad Gita for the last 2 years and have even gone to the other city for the same but could not find. I don’t know how fortunate I am that I have come across you. People don’t value the price of Bhagavad Gita. It’s a priceless jewel. I somehow never saw you people distributing Bhagavad Gita earlier. Hearing this I felt embarrassed and replied yes we do only during the Gita Marathon only and that too only on Sunday’s. Though he lived little far, yet I shared with him our Centre address and program details and invited him to attend the programs. 

2. School girl fan of Krishna – A young girl came across and when I showed her the Bhagavad Gita, she was so blissful to see Krishna’s picture and hearing Krishna’s name. She was not much aware about Bhagavad Gita. When I tried to tell her something, she kept interrupting and asking is this book of Kanha ji (Lord Krishna) and I said yes, she was very pleased and very happily asked to kindly give her. She had INR 30 less but the attraction and love which she had for Krishna was worth it. She gladly took Bhagavad Gita and moved ahead.

3. A seemed to be stubborn old man – He returned back on his two wheeler, took the book and said, I don’t need Bhagavad Gita, but I am very inspired to see you in this young age making so much effort to distribute Bhagavad Gita on roads. Ofcourse it was like nectar pouring in my ears as after so long I have heard someone calling me young 🙂  I thanked him for being part of Vedic literature distribution and told him that Bhagavad Gita won’t stop, if you won’t be reading, someone else will definitely. 

This confirmed my thoughts that I share with younger devotees that if you preach, go out on Harinam, do book distribution, more people will feel inspired to connect with the movement.

4. Are you a Salesman – One gentleman who was observing since long finally came near and told you should go to a nearby place and sell there in the weekly vegetable market. I replied, we are not selling Bhagavad Gita, we are giving them on donation, so more can be printed and distributed and more and more people can get Lord Krishna mercy.

5. Appreciative but non-receptive: Many people though did not take the books, but they showed appreciation for distributing Bhagavad Gita. If time permits we are taking their contacts to keep them updated of ISKCON programs. Many ladies as usual replies we already have at home. When told to take for gifting to some near & dear ones or to donate, they show reluctance. Some who seemed to be non-receptive outwardly turned out to be appreciative and took books while those who seemed appreciative outwardly were reluctant to take the books as well as cited their unwillingness to come to Sunday programs due to various reasons like distance from the Centre, working etc but promised to read the books. It was a sweet reminder that I should approach everyone, as Krishna has His own ways to inspire people.

6. I’m not always right: Like some, one person came but when he was shown the Bhagavad Gita, he said this one I have. I thought may be lying like others, but anyhow to give a try I reluctantly invited him to our books table and showed him Krishna book and other small books, he happily took them and also took details of the ISKCON center of his city. Realized that day that we cannot just judge a book by its cover, we have to open it and try to go through.

These are some experiences which I could remember. What really amazes me and motivates me to keep going are those devotees who are distributing Srila Prabhupada books in foreign land, where people are of different backgrounds, different religions, different mindsets, different cultures…… whereas in India its not so difficult as almost everyone at least have heard about Lord Krishna and Bhagavad Gita, still the wicked mind finds reasons to avoid participating in distributing Srila Prabhupada mercy to one and all. I have a deep desire to do door to door book distribution, but not the courage to do so. Hope someday by Vaishnavas mercy would be somehow able to do it.

Kindly keep blessing, else I see no hope for carrying forward my spiritual life especially book distribution which at times if not done for long, seems too tense, fearful and stressful in the beginning like having an injection from some Doctor’s inexperienced looking young assistant after a long time but once the needle goes in and comes out generally it is more or less unnoticed. Similarly to me, distribution of Srila Prabhupada books 

Kindly forgive if you find any mistakes in above dealings and do correct for my betterment so as to properly help the society as much as possible.

Hare Krishna.

trying to be servant of the servant of Sri Guru and Gauranga

Haladhar Das, Punjab, India

Sacinandana Das, 12 December 2019

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees, 

Please accept my humble obeisances. 

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji. 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

I along with three other devotees went for book distribution last Sunday but we could distribute only 1 Bhagavad Gita and only one responded to me by saying Hare Krishna. 

 Please bless me this weekend so I can distribute more books. 

your servant, 

Sacinandana das. 

Rasika Krishna Das, 12 December 2019

Jaya !! All glories to your services Prabhuji 🙂

your servant,

Rasika Krishna Das

Rasika Krishna Das, 15 December 2019

Jaya !! All glories to your services Prabhuji 🙂

your servant,

Rasika Krishna Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

A bridge to the Moon

With all this talk of going to Mars and the Moon, did you ever pause to think that this has been tried before? There is a way to go to other planets but is this it? But anyways, why go here and there when it is all necessarily temporary?

At least 2.1 Million Years ago, there was a very powerful personality named Ravana. He was the king of a Golden Kingdom called Lanka. He was a very learned scholar, practically unbeatable in battle, and had practically conquered the entire Universe. You can say he was the greatest atheist of his time too.

Ravana

He really wanted to change things up – among other things, he wished to construct a bridge from Lanka to the Moon. He was technically capable of accomplishing this, seeing that he was undefeated in the Universe.

The Moon

The Moon is a Heavenly Realm, where the residents enjoy a very long duration of life, very strong, attractive bodies, with all manners of facilities for sense gratification, all powered by a beverage called “Soma Rasa” – literally, the nectar available on the Moon.

Chandra Deva, King of the Heavenly Realm of the Moon Planet

Naturally, everyone wants to go to a beautiful place where a lot of sense gratification is available. The hordes of humans going to various places for tourism is the proof of this. Mostly, people go on vacation for a weekend, a week, maybe a month or two, and yet others manage to stay on vacation for a long time, according to how much wealth and health someone possesses.

A vacation spot is not without its perils

In order to gain health and wealth, one must try very hard, and many are unsuccessful. Quite often, the healthy are not wealthy, and the wealthy are far from healthy. So, their capacity for sense gratification is limited. Most people who are on vacation don’t want the vacation to end. They want it to last as long as possible.

If someone is able to go on an unearned vacation, that is seen as a great stroke of good luck. If a politician was to promise his people unlimited free vacations, he would stay in power for ever, and the people would remain grateful to such a leader for ever!

Student slogging away

But to go to the Moon planet requires tremendous merits, which can be obtained by performing various severe austerities and penances, quite painful, and most cannot make it. Great practitioners of the process of material elevation, called “karma kanda” strive for many, many lifetimes to enter the heavenly realm of the moon. But one cannot go to the heavenly realm in these earthly bodies, just like an astronaut puts on a space suit to go into space and a diver puts on a diving suit to go under water, similarly, the heavenly realm requires a heavenly body.

The kundalini yogi can choose the moment of his departure

Not everyone can afford an astronaut suit or a diving suit, or the training needed to perform those activities, or the means of transport needed!

Astronaut wearing a special suit

This is generally true… to become a great rich businessman, to become a rich professional like a doctor or software engineer, stock broker or real estate tycoon, one must work very hard. What to speak of those things, if one wants to get a mere University degree, one has to slog for a good 20+ years through school and University. And even then a degree is not guaranteed, after all, so many students fall by the wayside without earning a University degree.

Stock Brokers struggling to earn a livelihood

So naturally, Ravana was a very popular king, he promised the Ultimate heavenly luxury just for the mere price of climbing a staircase!

But Ravana didn’t make it. In fact, he bit the dust at the hands of Lord Rama – God who appeared as the Ideal King. And needless to say, the staircase never materialized.

So, these days, it is all the rage to want to go and live in space, on the Moon, or maybe Mars. Fools are claiming to take anyone who wants to go anyplace in our Universe in due course of time. But they too will bite the dust, just like the mighty Ravana. And it’s not only Ravana, but unfortunately, a large number of his followers were also slain in the battle outside Lanka.

In fact, compared to the Original Ravana, these little ravanas like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson are not even as significant as bacteria. They are rich on imaginary wealth, somehow everyone is accepting their billions of dollars of fake money as real. Every single day, just by rising and setting, the sun is eroding their lifetimes. They are already old men, and will sooner or later succumb to inevitable death.

The intelligent person should ask the right questions…

  1. What about this planet? What about getting along with each other here without trying to kill each other? What about respect for all of us, all races, all species, all species? What problems are we trying to solve running away from this planet and this life here and now?
  2. No matter how amazing a place might be on this planet, no matter how beautiful, how relaxing, or how exciting, has it’s own share of problems. Every “tropical paradise” has it’s share of birth, death, old age, and disease, not to mention mosquitoes, crime, violence, exploitation, and corruption!
  3. If I live in a poor country, say a place like Burundi or Somalia, say I want to go to a rich country like the United States of America or Germany… can I go there without a passport, a visa, and a plane ticket? Can everyone in the world go to any place on the planet today? So, why can someone travel to other planets without acquiring the necessary qualifications?
  4. Those of us who have the experience of being on holiday, does the holiday last for ever? Is it not that once the money is finished, one has to get back home and resume work? So, even if someone was able to go to some heavenly realm, would it not be temporary? Should we not look for a permanent solution to the problems of the world?

आब्रह्मभुवनाल्ल‍ोका: पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।
मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥ १६ ॥

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino ’rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/16/

While the Moon is a heavenly realm, Mars is actually an inauspicious planet, why should anyone go there!

NASA, little Ravanas

So therefore, instead of being in the Ravana camp by being a fan of NASA or Musk or the like, or placing any faith in them, we should instead go beyond their bluffs and reach a higher level of consciousness, Krishna Consciousness. Instead of going here and there, we should strive to go back home, or be right at home in our eternal spiritual identities, regardless of where we may be placed.

We are spiritual beings at our core, we all are. We’re having this material experience, and striving to get the material experience that will truly satisfy us. But no material experience can make us truly happy just as a fish out of water will never be happy.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

If you want to read this book “Easy Journey to Other Planets” by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, click here. If you would like a paper copy, or send a copy to the little Ravanas, let me know!

Questions? Would you like to reach out to me?

Is there Sex in the Spiritual world?

Is there sex in the spiritual world? Everyone in the spiritual realm is just perfect, so do they get attracted to each other and have sex?

Partha Das, 23 April 2020

Hare krsna,

I would simply like  to know if there is sex life in the spiritual world. All the Vaikuntha and Goloka planets are filled with perfect men and women, so it is but normal for them to be attracted to each other.

I know the difference between sex and lust is like gold and iron. But since the perfected beings live there as couples, is their sex life ?

Dandavats,

Partha Das

Nashvin, 23 April 2020

Hare Krsna Partha Prabhu

This may help:

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/23/29/ Purport:

“In the Vaikuṇṭha planets there are husbands and wives, but there is no question of their giving birth to children or having sex life. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets both husbands and wives are extraordinarily beautiful, and they are attracted to one another, but they do not enjoy sex life. Indeed, they consider sex not to be very relishable because both husband and wife are always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and in glorifying and chanting the glories of the Lord.”

your servant,

Nashvin

Kaspars Gulbis, 23 April 2020

Dear Partha Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I hope this letter from Srila Prabhupada’s letter will satisfy your question.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/letters/letter-to-madhudvisa/

Letter to: Madhudvisa

Dated: June 3, 1969

Location: West Virginia

Letter to: Madhudvisa

69-06-03

My Dear Madhudvisa,

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 30, 1969, and I have noted the contents. I can understand the disturbance of your mind, but why you keep yourself in such artificial disturbance? You can become a householder. That is not prohibited. There are so many good examples of householders, and similarly you can become a householder. Our principle is to enter into the family of Krishna. In the Vaikuntha world there are many devotees who have their wifes, but they are so much absorbed in Krishna Consciousness that they forget the idea of sex-life. Anyway, instead of being agitated in mind, it is better to become a married man and in peaceful mind execute Krishna Consciousness. That is my verdict, and ever since I started this movement I have encouraged marriage to so many disciples. So there is no hindrance in this respect, and you can do the needful.

I hope this will meet you in very good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

P.S. London wants two trained brahmacaris. Can you spare two trained men for them. Then open correspondence with Syamasundara in this connection.

—End Of Letter—

Sincerely,

Kaspars Gulbis

Sacinandana Das, 26 April 2020

Hare Krishna Partha Prabhu ji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please find the answer to your question below:

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Is There Sex in the Spiritual World?

I have two important questions: 1) is there any sex life in the spiritual world? Since sex is a big thing in the material world. And 2) can one have sex and still be in the quality of goodness?

Best wishes,

Göran Holm in Sweden

Answer: They Have a Better Standard of Pleasure

Regarding your question about whether there is sex in the spiritual world, Srila Prabhupada explains as follows in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 15, Text 20:

“They have ample opulences for enjoyment, but they need not labor to achieve them. It is also stated that in the Vaikuntha world the consorts of the residents are many, many times more beautiful than we can find in this material world, even in the higher planets. It is specifically mentioned here that a woman’s large hips are very attractive and they stimulate man’s passion, but the wonderful feature of Vaikuntha is that although the women have large hips and beautiful faces and are decorated with ornaments of emeralds and jewels, the men are so absorbed in Krishna consciousness that the beautiful bodies of the women cannot attract them. In other words, there is enjoyment of the association of the opposite sex, but there is no sexual relationship. The residents of Vaikuntha have a better standard of pleasure, so there is no need of sex pleasure.”

The answer to your second question is that sex is spiritual when it used to produce saintly children under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master.  In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna states that such sex is He Himself. But if one engages in sex unrestrictedly ignoring the Vedic injunctions he comes down to a platform lower than animals and remains entangled in the cycle of birth and death.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

(www.joincourse.com)

—

your servant,

Sacinandana Das.

Partha Das, 26 April 2020

Dear Kaspars Prabhu,

Hare Krsna, 

Thanks for your reply. So I conclude from the letter, that sex life does exist in Goloka. But it’s importance becomes less because everyone is engaged in Krsna’s service.

By the way, I am a married man for last 24 years, but still am struggling to give up the sex life.

Dandavats,

Partha Das

Arun, 26 April 2020

Dear prabhuji,

Is masturbation considered immoral? When sex urge is intense naturally masterbation is resorted to . Please advise if my question is acceptable so I will take care likewise. 

Hare Krishna 

Sincerely,

Arun

.

Sacinandana Das, 27 April 2020

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please find the reply below (via www.joincourse.com  :

Answers According to Vedic Wisdom | June 9th, 2019

Question: How to Stop Masturbating?

How to get rid of my deep-rooted habit of masturbation going on from long time? Please guide me how to become free from this dangerous habit.

Anonmyous

Answer: Be Krishna Conscious

From: ISKCON Austin, Texas

My Dear Anonymous,

Please accept my blessings.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

So far your difficulty for controlling the sex urge, my advice in this connection is that the more you become Krishna conscious, this sex urge can be checked. This is the only way for checking the sex urge. This nasty masturbation habit bleeds your body of vital energy and is especially detrimental for your brain. Semen is meant to be kept within your body as much possible so that it rises to your brain and nourishes your brain for deep spiritual understanding. It also fortifies your body against disease and promotes longevity.

As long as you remain on the platform of gratifying your genitals you are relegating yourself to an animal birth in your next life in species such as dogs, hogs, or monkeys. Is this the future you want?

So now it is up to you to decide whether you want to be lusty animal in your next birth or whether you want to go back to your original home in the spiritual world. And once having decided you must in accordance with your decision.

I hope this meets you in the best of health

and in an ecstatic mood.

Your ever well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

(www.joincourse.com)

—

your servant,

Sacinandana Das.

Aron Joy, 28 April 2020

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

If I may add to this discussion, albeit a little delayed. I was just taking a break from my work and reading from the booklet “Beyond Birth & Death” by Srila Prabhupada, originally printed 1970. A purely random choice in books I recently started. I came upon a paragraph on sex in the spiritual world (page 23, chapter 2, English edition) that seemed completely relevant to this recent question I wanted to cite, that may be of value in addition to what was said previously:

From the words of our teacher …

“In the material world it is generally accepted that the highest pleasure is sex. This is a perverted reflection of the sex pleasure in the spiritual world, the pleasure of association with Krishna. But, we should not think that the pleasure there is like the sex pleasure in the material world. No, it is different. But, unless sex life is there in the spiritual world, it cannot be reflected here. Here it is simply a perverted reflection, but the actual life is there in Krishna, who is full of all pleasure.”

Krishna, who is full of all pleasure! Good thoughts. Hare Krishna.

~ Aaron Joy

Maine USA

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

The origin of western religion

What is it with those who claim to have the one and only true eternal religion? And why do they spew hatred? Would you like to understand the origin of the western religious traditions?

Many Western Religions, that is religious traditions that originated in the Middle East, such as Islam and Christianity, claim to be the “One and Only Original True Religion”. I have had people tell me I’m going to hell because I’m not following their particular denomination.

You know, it is really sad to see one type of Muslim denouncing another type of Muslim (for example Shias and Sunnis), or one type of Christian denouncing another type of Christian… Is that not the fundamental anti-thesis of the life of Lord Jesus Christ? Did Prophet Mohammad teach hatred?

But when I converse with them about their own religious tradition, they descend into unreasonable hatred towards others very quickly without actually expressing any understanding about God Himself. I cannot accept that such a soul has any proper understanding of religion which means to re-connect.

So, when I do meet such a person, I follow this advice, and try to get away as soon as possible. What is the use of discussing politics when I want to discuss God?

Of course, there are the pious souls who follow a religious tradition just so they can use God as an order-supplier. For such souls, I strive to encourage them to go deeper into their own understanding of their own faith, so they can reach the essence of their tradition, at minimum, in this lifetime.

God is One without a second, and has absolutely no competition. I would accept your acceptance of your tradition as genuine if you actually know something about God and you actually love God, and by corollary, every single living entity. I could accept your acceptanc of your faith if you know yourself and if you are yourself, meaning, without external material designation.

Every genuine religion tradition has come into being because the great teacher, messenger of God, had something of value to share, and they had to share it in the particular time, place, and circumstances that they were in. Giving undue importance to the details originating from the specific time, place, and circumstance and losing the essence of the teaching is the pastime of fools.

So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement is, the starting point is, the spirit soul. And automatically, unless… In the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord said the sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: [Bg. 18.66] “You give up the so-called man-made duties or occupation or dharma. You just surrender unto Me.” So actually this is dharma, or religion, to surrender to God. God is one. He is neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian. God is one. If there is another God, then there is competition. God cannot be two. God is one. Eko brahma dvitīya nasti. That is the Vedic injunction. So God is one. So either you become Hindu or Muslim, the God is one. This is to be understood. So the science of God, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You try to understand scientifically what is meant by God, what is meant by religion. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s preaching. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. He begins His teaching on this principle, that every living being is eternal servant of God. That’s all. And this is religion. Religion does not mean stamping in different way. Religion means to know God the great and we are subordinate, maintained by God. This is religion. If anyone knows these two things only—God is great, and we are subordinate; our duty is to abide by the orders of God—that is religion. So unity can be established on the spiritual platform.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Recently, I came across this interesting article on the website of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami on the Origin of Western Religion – it is worth a read!

https://www.bhakticharuswami.com/2014/01/the-origin-of-western-religions/

I won’t repeat what’s in this insightful article, but I encourage you to go and take a read yourself!

As always, if I may assist you on your spiritual journey please let me know!

Eating a Mango in hiding

The great saint Ramanuja once gave his disciples a mango each and ordered them to eat hidden from view… one disciple couldn’t find a place to hide! What about you? Do you think you can hide?

I heard this from my Gurumata, Srimati Vishnupriya Devi Dasi, one of my primary instructing spiritual masters.

Once upon a time, the great saint Ramanuja, who appeared on this planet more than 1000 years ago, called his disciples and gave them each a mango. He instructed them to eat the mango in a secluded place without being seen by anyone, and report back.

The disciples scrambled, some went to caves, some to forests, some locked themselves into a dark room, yet others hid behind buildings and trees. Some went under a blanket.

One of the disciples though, returned to his spiritual master and apologetically offered that he could find no place where he could be unseen.

Ramanuja heartily congratulated this disciple and was very pleased with him.

Indeed, for every single one of our thoughts, words, and deeds, there are witnesses.

Everywhere we go, we are witnessed by the light of the sun or the moon, the light of the stars, the earth, air, space, and other material elements. These material elements are merely manifestations of the controlling deities.

You may find that hard to accept, but just think about this – do you have a cellphone? Wherever you go, the cellphone network “sees” you, tracks you. If you ever connect to any network, anything you do on that network is seen by all the providers of that network, and if they wish to, they can easily reconstruct all your actions online. Every. Single. Action. Every. Single. Byte. It is all recorded in gigantic datacenters the size of mega cities, in servers and disks with blinking lights, whirring fans, and efficient cooling systems. You are not unseen.

What to speak of man-made networks, there is the Original Network of this Material Nature, with all the material elements, the various gross and subtle manifestations and so on… do you think that the Creator and operators of this network cannot see your actions?

Very specifically, the agents of the personality in charge of death and the ultimate taxes, Yamaraja, such as Chitragupta, are tapped into this network and are recording all our actions. Not one single action goes unrecorded.

मुक्तलिङ्गं सदाभासमसति प्रतिपद्यते ।
सतो बन्धुमसच्चक्षु: सर्वानुस्यूतमद्वयम् ॥ ११ ॥

mukta-liṅgaṁ sad-ābhāsam
asati pratipadyate
sato bandhum asac-cakṣuḥ
sarvānusyūtam advayam

A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/27/11/

Even if we were to be able to escape the material elements somehow, we cannot escape the Super Soul, the Paramatma, who is expanded within our hearts and travels with ourselves, us, the spirit soul, Atma. The very same Paramatma is expanded inside every atom and within the space between atoms.

eko ‘py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between 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.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/35/

Like that fortunate disciple of Sri Ramanuja, we need to see…

सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।
ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शन: ॥ २९ ॥

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ
sarva-bhūtāni cātmani
īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā
sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ

A true yogī observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/29/

Everyone can see God. Here. Now. For one who has the eyes to see!

The Hare Krishnas are not pessimistic, optimistic, or realistic – we are simply joyful!

Are the Hare Krishnas pessmistic? Are they realistic? Why do they keep talking about death and the futility of the material pursuit? Could it be, could they be, simply… joyful?

Brajanath Das, 20th February 2017

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances!
All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Srila Gurudeva!

Please help me to how to explain if someone says that the Hare Krishnas are not realistic but pessimistic

your servant
Brajanath das

Bhaktarupa Das, 21st February 2017

Dear Brajanath Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

You have asked what if someone questions why Hare Krishna’s are pessimistic. You wanted to explain to them that we are realistic and not pessimistic.

One of the dictionary meaning of “pessimistic” is
“tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen”.

Dictionary meaning of “optimistic” is
“hopeful and confident about the future.”

If we introspect ourselves, as devotees we follow the regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of mahamantra every day.
Generally for non-devotees, following them every day is very austere and difficult. In fact even for devotees in the beginning it is very austere and difficult. But still why do we try to follow them strictly? If there is no benefit in doing so, why do we still do it? The fact is there is immense benefit.

A student who is serious to graduate from school, undergoes severe austerities in studying the subjects thoroughly by spending long hours, sacrificing other recreational activities like watching movies, TV, passing time in browsing internet, Facebook, whats-app, etc. which the student would have engaged in these recreational activities if not serious about graduating from the school. Such taking up of austerities by the student should be criticized as being pessimistic? or appreciate the student as being optimistic who spends time in recreational activities by neglecting to prepare for the graduation?

The sincere student who takes up austerities for graduating is the one who is actually optimistic about the life. The student sees a very bright future and enjoy bigger happiness by taking up these austerities. But the student who does not see the value of graduating from school and spends time in immediate recreational activities is the one who is actually pessimistic. Because the student is pessimistic, looks for all those things that can give immediate sense enjoyments rather than taking up austerities now for a bigger and lasting happiness in the future.

Similarly we “sadhakas” or practicing devotees, also take up austerities now because we are optimistic about our future. We wanted to taste lasting happiness, we realize that the happiness or pleasures provided by the immediate recreational activities did not give us lasting happiness, which every one of us are looking for. This is the exact same thing Lord Sri Krishna and the saintly devotees in the line of disciplic succession are teaching us. We are infected with the disease of ignorance, which hides our original identity, nature and relationships. They teach us on how to get rid of the disease and rise above and situate in the platform of pure last happiness. That process is called Krishna Consciousness. In the beginning these austerities might seem to be very bitter. But Krishna explains that happiness which is bitter in the beginning and becomes nectar in the end is in the mode of goodness. Scriptures explain that this is called “shreyas”, but that happiness which is like nectar in the beginning and becomes bitter in the end is in the mode of passion, called as “preyas”. The sense pleasures provided by the recreational activities are in the mode of passion. It will appear nectar in the beginning but it will turn to be bitter or even poison in the end.

Optimistic people take up austerities to obtain lasting happiness; but pessimistic people settle with immediate temporary pleasures, not seeing the optimistic future. Therefore the Hare Krishna devotees are not only realistic but in fact they are optimistic.

Hare Krishna!

your servant,
Bhaktarupa Das

Dra Varni, 21st February

Hare Krsna!!! Very optimistic, destination and a vehicle for departure. dra

Dra Varni

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 22nd February 2017

Dear Brajanath Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for the question, and a rare and wonderful response from Bhaktarupa Prabhu! Thank you!

Such questions really should be answered in the same vein as they are asked – most people asking such questions about Hare Krishnas are really not serious about understanding spiritual life – why should we justify anything to anyone? We don’t owe casual askers anything. When someone is serious, then they ask questions differently, and they accompany their question with actions too, trying to do something about their spiritual progress. So we should know when to answer and when not to answer directly.

Actually, we are truly pessimistic about anyone’s chances in the material world, everyone who was born in the material world eventually dies. And everyone who tries to make some nice situation here fails, at minimum, at death, but mostly everyone fails at other times too. We challenge anyone on this point – so many empires have come and gone, so many people have come and gone, so many great people are totally forgotten – what is the value of material efforts? Zero, it all comes to nought.

And we are immensely optimistic about Krishna’s mercy, in fact, we are not just optimistic, but we are experiencing it every day, so we have got direct confidence by personal experience.

The best answer I got to such questions was “try it and see for yourself”. If someone chants Hare Krishna even just once they will benefit more than anything I can say to them for all my lifetime:

https://www.vedabase.com/bg/9/2

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. BG 9.2

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport:

“Generally, people are not educated in this confidential knowledge; they are educated in external knowledge. As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.”

Then he writes: “It is said that the execution of devotional service is so perfect that one can perceive the results directly. This direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical experience that any person who is chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa (Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare) in course of chanting without offenses feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination. This is actually seen. Furthermore, if one engages not only in hearing but in trying to broadcast the message of devotional activities as well, or if he engages himself in helping the missionary activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he gradually feels spiritual progress. This advancement in spiritual life does not depend on any kind of previous education or qualification. The method itself is so pure that by simply engaging in it one becomes pure.”

And finally, to conclude (purport continues but for this point – this is sufficient):

“The process of devotional service is a very happy one (su-sukham). Why? Devotional service consists of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, so one can simply hear the chanting of the glories of the Lord or can attend philosophical lectures on transcendental knowledge given by authorized ācāryas. Simply by sitting, one can learn; then one can eat the remnants of the food offered to God, nice palatable dishes. In every state devotional service is joyful. One can execute devotional service even in the most poverty-stricken condition. The Lord says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam: He is ready to accept from the devotee any kind of offering, never mind what. Even a leaf, a flower, a bit of fruit, or a little water, which are all available in every part of the world, can be offered by any person, regardless of social position, and will be accepted if offered with love. There are many instances in history. Simply by tasting the tulasī leaves offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, great sages like Sanat-kumāra became great devotees. Therefore the devotional process is very nice, and it can be executed in a happy mood. God accepts only the love with which things are offered to Him.”

We are not even realistic, we are simply joyful! 🙂

Srila Prabhupada’s final words in that purport?

“Thus the process of devotional service, of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is the king of all education and the king of all confidential knowledge. It is the purest form of religion, and it can be executed joyfully without difficulty. Therefore one should adopt it.”

your servant,
Mahabhagavat Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

I am Flower Bearing Spring

Do you have trouble seeing God?

It’s a famous frequently asked question, and being the recovering atheist I am, I’ve been asked the question many times, can you show me God?

A great saint, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, wrote this article to answer just that question… http://www.backtogodhead.in/how-to-see-god-by-his-divine-grace-a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/

In the Song of God, The Bhagavad Gita, God says

” ṛtūnāṁ kusumākaraḥ “, or ” of seasons I am flower-bearing spring“

BG 10.35

I had that experience recently, when one night it was still winter, and seemingly, the next morning, all of a sudden, it was spring. Some trees had fresh green leaves, others had flowers in profuse numbers, some bright and colourful, some fragrant, some both… Here are some pictures so you can see God for yourself.

Apple Blossoms, still buds yet… God’s smile, about to unfold…
Wild Apple Blossoms, in full Bloom, God’s beautiful smile…
Do you have trouble seeing God? Why not see what God says about how we can see Him? Spring anyone?
More Apple Blossoms, this time against the Brilliant Sun, also the eye of God…

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How did we fall into the material world?

Rathin Mandal, 14th May 2013

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We say that modes of material nature is there only in the material world,
But when we decided to enjoy separately from Krishna, look for our identity separate of Krishna and to lord the Manifestation ourself.
How should this nature of us be understood which is independent of modes of material nature?

your Servant
Rathin

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 15th May 2013

Dear Rathin Mandal,

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Yes, it is correct that the modes of material nature do not exist in the spiritual world.
But free will, that exists in the spiritual world. The desire to enjoy separately and independently from Krishna is the root cause of the living entity’s bondage in the material world. When the living entity desires to enjoy in this way, then the living entity then comes under the modes of material nature and is transferred to the material world.

In purport to SB 4.29.65, Srila Prabhuda wrote:

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga-vāñchā kare

nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

(Prema-vivarta)

Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the supreme enjoyer. When a living entity wants to imitate Him, he is given a chance to satisfy his false desire to lord it over material nature. That is the beginning of his downfall. As long as he is within this material atmosphere, he has a subtle vehicle in the form of the mind, which is the stockpile of all kinds of material desires. Such desires become manifest in different bodily forms. Śrīla Nārada Muni requests the King to accept this fact from him because Nārada is an authority. The conclusion is that the mind is the storehouse of our past desires, and we have this present body due to our past desires. Similarly, whatever we desire in this present body will be expressed in a future body. Thus the mind is the source of different kinds of bodies.

If the mind is purified by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one will naturally in the future get a body that is spiritual and full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such a body is our original form, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: [Cc. Madhya 20.108] “Every living entity is constitutionally an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.” If a person is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, he is to be considered a liberated soul even in this life. This is confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:

īhā yasya harer dāsye

karmaṇā manasā girā

nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu

jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate

“One who engages in the transcendental service of the Lord in body, mind and words is to be considered liberated in all conditions of material existence.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.187) The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on this principle. We must teach people to absorb themselves always in the service of the Lord because that position is their natural position. One who is always serving the Lord is to be considered already liberated. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

māḿ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guṇān samatityaitān

brahma-bhuyāya kalpate

“One who always engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service at once transcends the modes of material nature and is elevated to the spiritual platform.” The devotee is therefore above the three modes of material nature and is even transcendental to the brāhmaṇa platform. A brāhmaṇa may be infected by the two baser modes — namely rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. A pure devotee, who is free from all material desires experienced on the mental platform and who is also free from empiric philosophical speculation or fruitive activity, is always above material conditioning and is always liberated.

——end purport —-
Plus, Srila Gurudeva’s answer here is very instructive, worth meditating on.

This is from TTFD dated 4th Nov 2009.
Have the category of souls known as nitya-baddha always been in the material hemisphere, hence the term “eternally conditioned”?

According to the philosophy of some Gaudiya Vaisnava groups this is the case. They say that the nitya-baddhas have never ever been in the spiritual world, thus the term “eternally conditioned” and that the nitya-siddhas have never left Krishna’s association. They say that the nitya-baddhas have been in a place known as the tatashta-shakti from where they descended into the material world of their own free choice. However, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada states that we were once face to face with Sri Krishna in the spiritual planets, that we fell down to become little imitation lords here, and that we are then known as nitya-baddha, eternally conditioned. What is the exact situation of the living being?

Question No.2 : The jivatmas in the spiritual world decided by their own free will to depart. They were sac-cid-ananda vigraha: eternally in full knowledge and bliss. How and why could they they have decided by their own free will to leave Krishna’s association, since everything in the spiritual world is fully spiritual and the material influence of maya or illusion is conspicuous by her absence? Though he has a free choice to depart as he desires [Free-will always been the prerogative of the living being as well as his dharma- pure loving servants of the Supreme Person Krishna,], how could he have possibly been influenced to do so? For example, a split second second decision to leave due to temptation of being an enjoying over lord in the heavenly planets. Is this not some kind of material maya? Would he not have known the consequences due to his higher spiritual aware state of knowledge? Why would he have wanted to leave Krishna’s blissful association?

Answer:

The reason that many devotees get confused over the terms nitya siddha (eternally liberated) and nitya baddha (eternally conditioned) is that they consider them from within the context of time. In other words in material consciousness we are conditioned by kala or time into thinking that there are such things as past, present, and future. If we remember that in the liberated state there is no influence of time, that there is simply the eternal present with no past or future, then we can begin to understand how one can be eternally conditioned or eternally liberated and can switch from one status to the other.

To say that the conditioned souls have never been in the spiritual world with Krishna is anti-sastric and absurd when we consider that Lord Caitanya states that the constitutional nature of every living being is that he is the eternal servant of Krishna.

The eternally liberated souls in the spiritual existence have the independence to either love Krishna or leave Krishna. There has to be a choice. Otherwise love cannot exist, because love is voluntary. As long as the independence of free choice is there, there has to be a possibility of misusing that free choice. And possibility means that there must be certain degree of probability as well. Of course in this case the probability would be smallest possible percentage of 1 divided by infinity (1/?). But if we apply this infinitesimal percentage against the infinite number of living beings who inhabit the spiritual world, guess what we get. We get an infinite number of living beings who misuse their free will and give up the Lord’s association. (1/? x ? = ?)

At the boundary between the spiritual and material worlds time does not exist. Therefore the crossing of the living being over this boundary cannot be measured in time. This means that there is no moment in time when he entered the material world. In other words, if he is in the material world there is no moment in time when he entered it and he has therefore been there eternally. Hence, the term “eternally conditioned”. And when he chooses to surrender to Krishna and go back to Godhead he enters into that realm where there is no past or future. Therefore when he goes back to Godhead, he was always there. Hence the term “eternally liberated”.

Of course, as long as our thought patterns are conditioned by time we cannot fully comprehend these things. But if you will chant Hare Krishna regularly with love and devotion your consciousness will be liberated from the constraints of time, and you will be able to gradually realize these things in full.

And another answer from TTFD dated 29 July 2012:

“In this regard it is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in a lecture he gave in Mayapur on 11 February 1976 that every living entity is originally nitya-siddha or eternally liberated. But sometimes just as a king may fall asleep and dream that he is a pauper, the eternally liberated soul, because of his marginal nature, may fall into the illusion that he can enjoy separately from Krishna or God. And just as a dream of only a few seconds can appear to be going on forever, when the soul forgets his identity, his illusioned dream-like state seemingly goes on forever and he is thus designated as nitya-baddha or eternally conditioned. Therefore when the living being does not misuse his free will he is known as nitya-siddha and when he misuses his free will he is known as nitya-baddha. “

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Rathin Mandal, 15th May 2013

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you very much for the answer Prabhuji. This helps me to understand the subject more clearly.

your Servant
Rathin

Update: Q&A from Thought for the Day Dated 09 Apr 2020

Question:  Why Did We Leave the Spiritual World?  

Dear Sankarshan Das Prabhu,   Haribol.   Why did we souls in the material universe leave the spiritual universe in the first place?  

Mayur  

Answer:  We Wanted to Become God

From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA
My Dear Mayur, 

Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.  

In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains as follows in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fourth Canto, Chapter 28, Text 54 as follows:  

“The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world. In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world. However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world. ”  

In conversation recorded in Washington, D.C. on 8 July 1976 Srila Prabhupada also explains:   “So even in the Vaikuntha, if I desire that ‘Why shall I serve Krishna? Why not become Krishna?” I immediately fall down. That is natural. A servant is serving the master, sometimes he may think that ‘If I could become the master.’ They are thinking like that, they are trying to become God. That is delusion. You cannot become God. That is not possible.”  

I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.

Your ever well-wisher, 
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.backtohome.com

Scriptural basis for Chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra

Janardan Mali, 24th September 2013

I had said that I am chanting Hare Krishna mantra every day 1600 times without the help of japamala.

You say ‘so thank you for that, please keep it up’.I do not know  why are you thanking me.

I also follow the  other methods prescribed by Shri Krishna in Srimad Bhagavad Gita for self realization.
You say that Chanting Hare Krishna is  the general easiest method of self realization for this age, and is the fastest path to spiritual perfection
given in the scriptures, it is not invented by anyone, it is specified as so in the Vedic literature.

I am eager to know the scriptures and the Vedic literature. Srimad Bhagavad-Gita  is timeless spiritual knowledge.

You also say that ‘in fact, the Hare Krishna Mahamantra includes ALL other Vedic mantras and is the origin of all Vedic traditions,
including the sacred syllable “Om” which is an impersonal expansion of Krishna of the all-pervading transcendence.

I know you could speak with greater authority and refute any  arguments. But sometimes scholars in response to the requirements of expediency
preach doctrines opposed to the dictates of their conscience and reflects clearly hypocrisy, mendacity and lack of religiosity, pride erroneously
exuding from intoxication of position. Supreme Lord Krishna describes the science of self-realization and the exact processes by which a
human being can establish their eternal relationship with God. In terms of pure, spiritual knowledge the Bhagavad- Gita is incomparable.
Its intrinsic beauty is that its knowledge applies to all human beings and does not postulate any sectarian ideology or secular view.

I am really sorry if I sound harsh.

Yours in Krishna Consciousness

Janardan Mali

Jagannatha dasa, 24th September 2013

My Dear Bhakta Janardan,

Please accept my respectful greetings.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I’ve read with pleasure that you are enjoying the chanting of Hare Krishna so much.  By doing this you are following in the footsteps of the six gosvamis of Vrindavan, headed by Srila Rupa Gosvami, who would dedicate their time to chanting a fixed number of Krishna’s holy names.  The followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are generally known as Rupanugas because they follow the example of Srila Rupa Gosvami.  Our particular branch of the Caitanya tree is headed by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The teachings of Krishna are eternally sweet, and become even sweeter by coming down to the present moment through Krishna’s pure devotees.  This is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.3:

nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ
 śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayam
 muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ

Translation:

O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.

We receive these teachings of Srila Prabhupada through His Grace, Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari prabhu’s Ultimate Self-Realization course, of which this e-group is an adjunct.  He is a bona fide spiritual master, who helps countless souls understand and apply the teachings of Lord Sri Krishna.

In Padma-Purana, it is said:

sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah
SrI-brahma-rudra-sanaka-vaisnava ksiti-pavanah

“Within the Vedas there are crores of perfected mantras. However, outside of the supervision of the guru in an actual sampradaya, one will only become confused and eventually fall into a dark well full of Mayavada philosophies. Under proper direction, the same mantra will deliver the highest achievements.”

Furthermore, Srila Prabhupada’s dedication to presenting his books in such a scholarly and authoritative way, making thousands of sincere disciples and grand-disciples, establishing centers etc. at such an advanced age, dealing with heartless drug-addicts and meat-eaters and empowering them to revive their original enlightened state of Krishna consciousness —- All of this, is testiment that he is free from hypocrisy, mendacity and pride.

Therefore, we follow Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada instructs us to chant on japa mala.  As you come from a very respectable background, I’m sure you know that chanting on japa malas is nothing new, but a prominent feature of our sacrosanct Vedic tradition.

Now, one may not be able to take up all of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings just yet, but at least the principle of accepting Srila Prabhupada’s authority should not be resented, this includes his teachings on how to dress, chant, offer prasadam, and all other aspects of Vaisnava culture.

My dear sir, please excuse me for any pain I may have caused with my words, unintentionally.  I pray to please my beloved Spiritual master, and all devotees, including your good self.

your servant,
Jagannatha Dasa Brahmacari

Harish, 25th September 2013

Hare Krsna Dear Janardan Mali pr !

All glories to Srila Gurudeva !
All glories to Srila Prabhupada !
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krsna mahamantra is mentioned in various scriptures as the only means of deliverance in this dark age of Kali.

Chaitanya-bhagavata 1.14, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu speaking to Tapana Misra
“Listen my dear Misra, in Kali-yuga there is no need for severe penances or performance of opulent sacrifices; whoever worships the Supreme Lord Krsna he be crowned with fortune and success. So go back to your home and worship Lord Krsna with undeviating faith and attention, giving up falsehood and pretensions. By chanting the holy name of Lord Hari, Krsna, you will simultaneously obtain both the proper spiritual practice and the ultimate goal. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way. I am repeating this great chant for deliverance to you. This consists of sixteen names of the Supreme Lord with thirty two syllables: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. By constantly chanting and worshiping this Maha Mantra, your heart will feel the first blossoming of love and God; then gradually you will understand the truth about the proper spiritual path and the ultimate spiritual goal.”

Kali-santarana Upanisad from Krsna Yajur Veda
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate

The sixteen names of the Hare Krsna mahamantra “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” destroy all the inauspiciousness of the age of Kali.  This is the conclusion of all the Vedas.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in his song Sri Nama from Gitavali
gay gora madhur sware
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Lord Gaurasundara sings in a very sweet voice, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare ; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Agni Purana
hare Krsna hare Krsna Krsna Krsna hare hare
ratanti halaya vapi te krtartha na samsayah

Hare Krsna hare Krsna Krsna Krsna hare hare: Whoever chants this mantra, even neglectfully, will attain the supreme goal of life. Of this there is no doubt.

Brahmanda Purana 6.59-60
nama sankirtana deva tarakam brahma drsyate
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

The nama sankirtana(public chanting) of Hare Krsna maha-mantra delivers a complete revelation of all of spiritual reality.

Padma Purana, Svarga Khanda 50.6
harir eva samaradhyah sarva deve suresvarah
hari nama maha mantrair nasyatpapa pisacakam

All the grievous sins of one who worships Lord Sri Hari, the Lord of all lords, and chants the holy name, the maha-mantra, are removed.

Ananta-samhita (which is part of the Narada Pancaratra)
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
sodasaitani namani dvatrimsad varnakani hi
kalau yuge maha-mantrah sammato jivatarane
varjayitva tu namaitad durjanaih parikalpitam
chandobaddham susiddhanta viruddham nabhyaset padam
tarakam brahma-namaitad brahmana gurunadina
kalisantaranadyasu sruti-svadhigatam hareh
praptam sri brahma-sisyena sri naradena dhimata
namaitad-uttamam srauta-paramparyena brahmanah
utsrjyaitan-maha-mantram ye tvanyat kalpitam padam
mahanameti gayanti te sastra-guru langhanah
tattva-virodha-sanprktam tadrsam daurjanam matam
sravatha pariharyam syadatma-hitarthina sada
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

“Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare: This sixteen-name, thirty-two syllable mantra is the maha-mantra in the age of Kali by which all living beings can be delivered. One should never abandon chanting this maha-mantra and take to other so-called purificatory processes which are practiced by rascals, or engage in chanting other metrical compositions of the name of Krsna that are against the pure conclusions of the scriptures, or are filled with rasabhasa. About this divinely spiritual maha-mantra, which delivers one from material existence, the original guru, Lord Brahma, has said, kali-santararadi srutite, “The srutis have declared this mantra to be the best means of deliverance in the age of Kali”. Having all heard this from Brahma, the sons and disciples of Brahma, beginning with Narada, all accepted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and, having meditated on it, attained perfection.”

Thank you

your servant,
Haladhar Das

SUPARTHA RUDRA, 25th September 2013

Hare Krishna,

Respected Janardan Prabhuji,

Please accept my pranam.

In addition to HG Jagannath Prabhuji’s wonderful answer, please find the following link for scriptural reference of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare as the only way to be delivered in this kali yuga:

http://www.krishna.com/some-scriptural-references-hare-krishna-maha-mantra

your servant,
supartha

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 25th September 2013

Dear Bhakta Janardan,

Hare Krishna!

Since the wonderful responses have given most of the information you had requested, I can now answer why I am thanking you for chanting, even though you are not yet chanting according to the spiritual master’s instructions.

This is because any chanting of

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

is better than no chanting of
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

By chanting
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

you are not only benefiting yourself, but the living entities in the entire universe, including myself.

So thank you once again, for daily chanting

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

Finally, Srimad Bhagavad Gita is ONLY accessible and understandable truly to those who are in disciplic succession from Krishna. So therefore, unless you are reading Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada or another bona fide Acharya in disciplic succession who presents the knowledge As It Is, you haven’t gotten the point. Even though the Bhagavad Gita is open, it is an open secret. 🙂

I quote:
tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaḿ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

Translation: Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. BG 4.34

Purport

The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. No one can be a bona fide spiritual master without following this principle of disciplic succession. The Lord is the original spiritual master, and a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message of the Lord as it is to his disciple. No one can be spiritually realized by manufacturing his own process, as is the fashion of the foolish pretenders. The Bhāgavatam (6.3.19) says, dharmaḿ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam: the path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord. Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help lead one to the right path. Nor by independent study of books of knowledge can one progress in spiritual life. One has to approach a bona fide spiritual master to receive the knowledge. Such a spiritual master should be accepted in full surrender, and one should serve the spiritual master like a menial servant, without false prestige. Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission constitute the proper combination for spiritual understanding. Unless there is submission and service, inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be effective. One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding. In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. Not only should one hear submissively from the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries. A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect. unquote

So kindly do not try to manufacture your own process, please follow the Acharyas in disciplic succession, and their direct instructions given according to time, place, and circumstance.

Hare Krishna!

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Neelam sharma, 30th September 2013

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisance.

All glories to srila gurudeva and srimati gurumata.
All glories to srila Prabhupada.

Scriptural references on the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra

The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is mentioned in various scriptures as the only
means of deliverance in this age of Kali:

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate
The sixteen names of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra: hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare, hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare destroy all the inauspiciousness of the age of Kali. This is the conclusion of all
the Vedas. (Kali-santarana Upanisad from Krishna Yajur Veda)

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

ratanti halaya vapi te krtartha na samsayah
Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare: Whoever chants this mantra, even neglectfully, will attain the supreme goal of life. Of this
there is no doubt. (Agni Purana)
nama sankirtana deva tarakam brahma drsyate
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
The nama sankirtana(public chanting) of Hare Krishna maha-mantra delivers a complete revelation of all of spiritual reality. (Brahmanda Purana 6.59-60)

mukti-hetuka taraka haya ‘rama-nama’
‘krishna-nama’ paraka haña kare prema-dana

“The holy name of Lord Rama certainly gives liberation, but the holy name of
Krishna transports one to the other side of the ocean of nescience and at last
gives one ecstatic love of Krishna.” (Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila 3.257

harir eva samaradhyah sarva deve suresvarah
hari nama maha mantrair nasyatpapa pisacakam
All the grievous sins of one who worships Lord Sri Hari, the Lord of all
lords, and chants the holy name, the maha-mantra, are removed. (Padma
Purana, Svarga Khanda 50.6)

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

sodasaitani namani dvatrimsad varnakani hi
kalau yuge maha-mantrah sammato jivatarane
varjayitva tu namaitad durjanaih parikalpitam
chandobaddham susiddhanta viruddham nabhyaset padam
tarakam brahma-namaitad brahmana gurunadina
kalisantaranadyasu sruti-svadhigatam hareh
praptam sri brahma-sisyena sri naradena dhimata
namaitad-uttamam srauta-paramparyena brahmanah
utsrjyaitan-maha-mantram ye tvanyat kalpitam padam
mahanameti gayanti te sastra-guru langhanah
tattva-virodha-sanprktam tadrsam daurjanam matam
sravatha pariharyam syadatma-hitarthina sada
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
“Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare, hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare: This sixteen-name, thirty-two syllable mantra is the maha-mantra in the age of Kali by which all living beings can be delivered.
One should never abandon chanting this maha-mantra and take to other so-called purificatory processes which are practiced by rascals, or engage
in chanting other metrical compositions of the name of Krishna that are against the pure conclusions of the scriptures, or are filled with
rasabhasa. About this divinely spiritual maha-mantra, which delivers one from material existence, the original guru, Lord Brahma, has said,
kali-santararadi srutite, “The srutis have declared this mantra to be the best means of deliverance in the age of Kali”. Having all heard this from
Brahma, the sons and disciples of Brahma, beginning with Narada, all accepted the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and, having meditated on it, attained
perfection.” (Ananta-samhita)
Ananta-samhita is part of the Narada Pancaratra”)

The maha-mantra is further mentioned in Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.7.83
(krishna-nama maha-mantrera), Chaitanya-charitamrita 3.9.56 (‘hare krishna,
hare krishna’ kahe avisrama), Narada Pancaratra, etc.

hare krishna krsneti krsneti mukhyan
mahascarya-namavali-siddha-mantran
krpa-murti-caitanya-deva upagitan
kadabhyasya vrndavane syan krtarth
“When will my heart become satiated by perfecting the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra in Sri Vrndavana Dhama, which the most merciful Sri
Caitanyadeva personally chanted and distributed to the fallen souls out of compassion? This wonderful maha-mantra is mixed with the mellows of love and
is the chief and the perfection of all other mantras. They are full of spiritual energies and glories.” (Sri Vrindavana Mahimamrta by Srila
Prabodhananda Sarasvati 17.89)

hare krishna rama nama gana dana karinim
soka moha lobha tapa sarva vigna nasinim
pada padma lubdha bhakta vrnda bhakti dayinim
gaura murtim asu naumi nama sutra dharinim
“He makes the gift of the song of the names ‘Hare, Krishna and Rama’, and destroys all obstacles such as sorrow, delusion, greed and suffering. He
gives the devotional service of Lord Krishna to the multitude of devotees who are eager for the shelter of His lotus feet. I fall down swiftly to
offer my prostrated obeisances to the Lord in His golden form, who holds a string of meditation beads.” (Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Susloka-Satakam
23)

sri-radhar bhave ebe gora avatar
hare krishna nam gaura korila pracar
(Vasudev Ghosh’s bhajan “Jaya Jagannatha Sacira-nandana”, text 4)

Chaitanya-bhagavata Madhya-khanda 23.75-80: (trans. Kusakratha Das)
. The Lord personally taught them, “Please happily hear from Me the maha-mantra of Lord Krishna’s names. It is:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
The Lord said, “Regularly chant japa of this maha-mantra.

In this way you will attain all perfections. Chant at any time and in any circumstance. There are no other rules for chanting.

Gather together, five or ten, in your own homes, clap hands and sing kirtana of these holy names.

You may also sing these words:
haraye namah krishna yadavaya namah gopala govinda rama sri-madhusudana
(‘I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. He is the descendant of the Yadu family. Let me offer my respectful
obeisances unto Gopala, Govinda, Rama and Sri Madhusudana.’ Also see
Chaitanya-charitamrita 2.26.64)

Gathering at home with parents, wife, and children, please sing kirtana in this way.”

japato hari namani sthane sata-gunadhikah
atmanam ca punaty-uccair-japan srotrn-punati ca
“Compared to that person who is attached to chanting japa, the person who performs loud chanting of the holy name of Sri Hari is one hundred times
better. This is because the person who chants japa purifies himself, whereas the person who chants the holy name loudly in kirtana purifies himself, all
those who are with him, and everyone else who hear the holy vibration.”
(Naradiya Purana, Prahlada-vakya)

pasu-paksi-krma-adi balite na pare
sunile se harinama ta’ra saba tare
japile se krishna-nama apani se tare
ucca-sankirtane para-upakare kare
ata eva ucca kari’ kirtana karile
sata-guna phala haya sarva-sastre bole
“The animals, birds, and insects cannot chant the holy name, but by hearing the holy name chanted they can benefit. Chanting the japa of the holy name
of Krishna purifies oneself, but the loud sankirtana of the holy name of Krishna benefits all living beings. Therefore, loudly chant the holy name of
Krishna in kirtana, and you will get one hundred times the benefit of chanting japa. This is the verdict of all the sastras.” (
Chaitanya-bhagavata 1.16, Haridasa Thakura speaking)

“Listen my dear Misra, in Kali-yuga there is no need for severe penances or performance of opulent sacrifices; whoever worships the Supreme Lord Krishna

he be crowned with fortune and success. So go back to your home and worship Lord Krishna with undeviating faith and attention, giving up falsehood and
pretensions. By chanting the holy name of Lord Hari, Krishna, you will simultaneously obtain both the proper spiritual practice and the ultimate
goal. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other
way. There is no other way. I am repeating this great chant for deliverance to you. This consists of sixteen names of the Supreme Lord with thirty two
syllables: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama

Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. By constantly chanting and worshiping this
Maha Mantra, your heart will feel the first blossoming of love and God; then
gradually you will understand the truth about the proper spiritual path and
the ultimate spiritual goal.” ( Chaitanya-bhagavata 1.14, Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu speaking to Tapana Misra)

In his purport to Caitanya-bhagavata Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati says very
clearly that Haridasa Thakura chanted either loudly or softly and that is
why his cave became Vaikuntha.
Chaitanya-bhagavata 1.16.172:
tabe haridasa ganga-tire gopha kari’
thakena virale ahar-nisa krishna smari’
“Then Haridasa went and found a cave on the bank of the Ganges. He remembered Krishna day and night as he resided alone in the cave.”

Purport: “While remaining in a solitary cave on the bank of the Ganges at Phuliya, Srila Thakura Mahasaya loudly chanted the names of Krishna and
passed his days and night remembering the pastimes of the Lord. Sometimes he would chant the sixteen name, thirty-two syllable, maha-mantra loudly
(uccaihsvare), and sometimes he would chant softly (mrdusvare). Every day he would complete the chanting of three hundred thousand holy names, or in a
year he would chant one hundred million names of Hari. Some people consider that chanting the names of Krishna in a solitary place is in the category of
“upamsu-japa,” or “chanting very mildly.” They say that this maha-mantra, or chanting the holy names of the Lord, should not be heard by others; only the
person who is chanting should hear. If the lips move, or if the holy names are recited, then they will automatically be heard by others. But if such
persons lack faith in the Vaisnavas who chant the holy names of the Lord, then by the influence of Kali they dare to quarrel with those Vaisnava
chanters.”
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in his song Sri Nama from Gitavali:

gay gora madhur sware
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
Lord Gaurasundara sings in a very sweet voice, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
——————————————————————–
your servant,
Nand Priya Devi Dasi

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When did the Vedic period end?

Janardan Mali, 25th August 2013 

Hare Krsna !

It is said that all the Vedic knowledge is apaurusheya  i.e. not given by mortal human beings. What period is considered as Vedic Period?

What is really Vedic Version? Can it be extended upto 20th century?

Yours in Krishna Consciousness
Janardan Mali

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 26th August 2013

Dear Bhakta Janardan,

Hare Krishna!

Yes, it is true that all genuine Vedic knowledge is coming from Krishna. If someone hears carefully and attentively, absorbs fully, follows, and then repeats without addition or subtraction, then that knowledge is still as pure as it was when it came from Krishna, without any contamination. So why 20th century, even 21st century, 22nd century, and 52nd century can be considered Vedic period IF we are hearing the knowledge through bona fide authorized disciplic succession.

In this connection, we are all fortunate that Srila Prabhupada A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada heard and brought us this knowledge, and that his determined and sincere servitors such as Srila Gurudeva Srila Sankarshan Das Adhikari are daily repeating this “apaurusheya” knowledge to us. Now it is our duty to hear carefully, follow, and spread without contamination.

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.backtohome.com.

Dealing with Doubt

Jessica M, 05th November 2012

What should one do when they begin to experience doubts while on the path to Krishna consciousness?
I have been chanting for five months now and reading the Gita As It Is as well. I don’t know any devotees in my area though and have a lot of curiosity and begin to find myself reading material that endorses a more impersonalistic viewpoint from which I first came from before learning about and accepting Krishna consciousness. I feel a bit torn…At first I felt so convicted, while chanting, and now I’m doubting things.
I would love to feel that sense of conviction, faith, again. Any advice?

Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 05th November 2012

Jessica,

Hare Krishna!

Thank you so much for writing in!

We welcome encouragement and support for Jessica from the global community here! Please don’t let her think that she is all alone on this path of Bhakti. This community is especially for those who live far from association of devotees, but of course, anyone who is genuinely desirous of spiritual advancement can benefit from this.

What you are going through is natural. I also came from a phase in life where impersonalistic philosophy dominated. As long as we are not fixed up in devotional service, this comes back again and again. It is a very seductive philosophy, because it encourages the material mind to remain as it is today, the undisputed master of the soul.

Whenever we think about something, one pragmatic thing to do is to assess who is to gain from a course of action. For example politicians push projects where they or their close circle will gain… actors promote goods which increase their own wealth, and so on, the world is full of such examples.

Impersonalistic philosophy does not have any genuine element of surrender to God… so that means the mind remains the master – the mind chooses what to do and what not to do, the mind disguises actions and thoughts and words as “realizations from the impersonal oneness”, but if we see carefully it is just rantings of the mind.

You should ask your doubts, specific individual doubts, the questions should be asked submissively so that those who have the knowledge are inclined and encouraged and pleased to share with you. When you get the answers, do your best to act on them. If you don’t act on the answers received, then they will remain mere theories.

Bhakti Yoga is very very personal, and it is experiential… what is involved for an experience to occur? Some effort! 🙂

So, why don’t you wholeheartedly participate in the activities of this group – this question is surely a start!

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Virendra Trivedi, 06th November 2012

Dear Jessica,

Hare Krsna.

I asked similar question many years back to a senior devotee in a public forum and he gravely replied: “If you have doubt then come out challenging; willing to be defeated by authoritative reference and ready to be convinced by logical reasoning. This doubting phase is a dangerous situation. Don’t you know what Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita? Samsayatma vinashyati: The doubting soul is ruined. So don’t delay it. Act fast.”

So that is all I can advice you.

But here is something more I can tell you from my personal experience: I acted on his advice and I was saved from being ruined. To be defeated or corrected by devotees is also a very very good fortune which most people in this world do not have.

Just expose your doubts in this transcendental e-association of devotees as HG Mahabhagavat prabhu has suggested and see them replaced with your previous sense of conviction and faith once again. Participate in the association of devotees more often and their love will not let you feel torn anymore. You will certainly keep going higher and higher in spiritual life 🙂

Sincerely,
Virendra

Rahul Mangla, 06th November 2012

Hare Krishna,

Welcome to this wonderful group of devotees Jessica mataji. Please share your doubts in this group and I am sure your lost conviction and faith will return.

your servant,
Rahul

Rupa Manjari devi dasi, 06th November 2012

Hare Krishna

Dear Jessica

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!
All glories to Srila Prahbupada!

Doubts are natural on this process of devotional service and are nothing to be ashamed of.  When we first come to Krsna consciousness there is some faith called Sraddha, due to the association of some devotees or the holy named that incites are to take up the process, then there is a long process before we get to
nistha (firm unflinching faith).  We first have to go through the stage of sadhu sanga (associating with the devotees) bajana kriya, (we start taking up the process, taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master), and the long desert of anartha avritti, the clearing of the unwanted things within the heart).  So during this stage doubts are natural, and clearing these doubts by making humble inquiries are all about  the process.

This Krishna conciousness process does not require blind – faith, in fact blind fact is actually discouraged, that is why the faith you see in advanced devotees are strong, it is based on realization through pratical experience. But I assure you they also had to go through the stage which we all are going through, the doubting stage. Even my beloved Spiritual master his Grace Srimad Sankarshana das Adhikari often speaks of the time he first came to Krsna consciousness – he was also influenced by the impersonal Mayavadi philosophy, and was reluctant at first to surrender to his now beloved Spirtual master  His divine grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

But through association, he especially mentions the association Visnujana Swami his faith increased to the stage he had firm faith in Srila Prahbupada and now look at him now!  Complete faith, no doubts to the point his only desire is to serve Srila Praahbupada, by bringing and guiding everyone to Krsna consciousness.  Every minute, every second, he is engaged in answering e-mails,  because his only desire is to clear up the doubts of all those who inquire from him so they can too progess and experience the sublime existence of being pure Krsna conscious.

Thus my spiritual master is constantly encouraging me to bring all my doubts to him.  Sometimes I brings my doubts up with other devotees  other devotees, and other times to my spiritual master. My spiritual master has a wondeful way of eradicating my doubts immediately but  some times it takes time, and it comes down to “lets just continue this process and then wait for Krsna to revealed the answers because this process is so potent and real, and tangible, and though sometimes the mind may decieve you to think otherwise, once someone begins they develop a higher taste, and so once they begin they can never fully go back to there original mindset, in other words, they  can not actually fully enter material existence again.  Many times I felt like running back to my christian ways going back to church, because of some aspects I could not yet understand, but it would take me only one hour in the church to realize they were missing the missing link which Krsna Consciousness has.  I see proof of this all the time when I am distributing books or prasadam on the street.  I meet many people who
have taken up the process before me, and for some reason or other, they stop, but the faith doesn’t go. They are so convinced of the authenticisty of Krsna consciousness, they still read Bhagavad-gita, or at least revere it, and tell others about Krsna consciousness, in contrast to those who leave other systems of religious practice which is based on blind faith,  often become athiests.

Personally I dabled a little bit in the impersonal philosphy, and my first doubt was, “This world is real but  temporary “I was convinced it was unreal, but inquires eradicated that doubt.  But the strongest doubts I had to deal with was my christian conditioning.  And with Krsna consciousness there is a lot of doubts that can come if you are from Christian background  the first of course being the deity form of the Lord which to a condition Christian is “idol worship”, and of course Krsna lets Maya test you a bit, to see where you go for shelter, whether you take shelter of your mind, or his devotees.  On this point though I inquired and I could therotically understand the post box anology, (as you send a letter through the post box, the Lord allows us to worship him through his  authorised diety form, it  is the Lord’s mercy because he appears to us in material form, because our eyes to not have the spiritual vision to see him),  but still some doubt was lingering but then one day nine months after I started taking up the process Krsna did something wonderful.  One of the devotees in my community was going to India and wanted me to take care of her Radha Krsna dieties.  She asked me to do arti everyday for them, offer, flower, ghee lamp and insense and of course offering of food.  They at first appeared just like statues but I stared doing arti for them and offerings, and by the end of the month I could actually realize the mercy of Krsna through his diety.  Through this intimate service I could experience a attraction for Radha and Krsna devoloping and so felt reciporaction from them.

The process of Krsna consciousness can sometimes be diffcult to understand intellectually but without a doubt if you give it some time you will understand it practically through experience, as Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita 9.2

raja-vidya raja-ghuyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su–sukham kartum avayayam

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets.  It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion.  It is everlasting, and it
is joyfully performed.”

So I wish to encourage you Jessica, we have all been there and are still there to various degrees, but if you inquire from devotees in this forum, and inquire from senior devotees.  I especially reccommend to humbly inquire from pure devotee becasue they can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.  BG 4.34, “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.  Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him.  The self-realized souls can  impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.”  So I especially enccourage you to bring you doubts to His Grace Srimad Sankarshan das Adhikari, with which you are already his student on his e- course.

You can e-mail him at sda@backtohome.com and I can guarantee he will be delighted to answer you inquiries.  Of course we are also happy to answer your inquiries to the best of our abilities.  Many of my doubts were cleared up just through inquring from devottees in my community, and a lot of mine are getting cleared up through this forum.
Some through direct inquiry and others through the inquiries of others.  And finally just keep with the process, eventually, everything will become revealed,

BG 10.10

tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadmi buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti ti

“To all those who are constantly devoted to serving me with love I give the understanding by which they can come to me.”

your servant
Rupa Manjari devi dasi

Shobha, 07th November 2012

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!
All glories to Srila Prahbupada!

Very nice answer. Thank you for sharing your realization.

your humble servant,
Shobha

Hemanga Das, 08th November 2012

Hare Krishna Devotees,

Please kindly accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Gurudeva
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

It’s so enlivening to read devotee emails who are always up to guide others in spiritual path. Thank you Rupa Manjari Devi Dasi Mataji for sharing your experience.
This present Karthik month is like a Mega Sale.Any effort to chant more rounds or read Srila Prabhupada books will definitely help in spiritual advancement.Let’s all utilize this wonderful opportunity.

your servant,
Hemanth

Rahul Mangla, 10th November 2012

Hare Krishna to all devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Gurudev & Srimati Gurumata.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad.

Please find below link which focuses on the detrimental effects of doubt in the path of devotion.

http://archive.org/stream/SriKrishnaKathamritaBinduIssue288/bindu288#page/n0/mode/2up

Hare Krishna,

your servant,
Rahul

Tirtharaja Dasa, 15th November 2012

Hare Krishna Jessicca,

When one starts experiencing doubts, that is a sign of making spiritual progress for the faith we have on Krishna is not blind faith but is faith with a purpose that is backed by Shastra (Krishnas own words or descriptions of
Krishna and the like) and emulated by great saintly personalities down the ions of time.

There is a very nice book on this matter and I advise that if you can gret a copy then get a copy immediately for it deals with this matter of doubt precisely. Conclusively we have to practically read all of Srila Prabhpuadas books but for starters this is a good starting point. The book is entitled Obstacles on the Path of Devotional Service by Srila Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami.

Just to give you a test, He writes quoting from Bhagavad-gita (7.27 purport) p. 2 “…Due to desire and hte, the ignorant person wants to come one with the supreme Lord (impersonalism) and envies Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead” One form this rebellion takes is doubts towards the teachings of the revealed scriptures and on the same page…Ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this life nor the next..”. further, “…The doubts that have arisen in your heart because of ignorance should be slashed with the weapon of knowledge. Armed with yoga, arise and fight.” and He concludes, … Meditation on these verses has been helpful in curing my doubt.

In his own words he advises…” Until one reaches the liberated stage, doubts will continue to come. They may not be serious, or they can become so grave that they can impede our progress. We should not hide the fact and bluff as if we are perfect. We have to learn how to deal with the obstacles on the path.

I hope this helps

your lowly servant,
Tirtharaja Dasa.

Sunil, 15th November 2012

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Respected Jessica I have read your question. I humbly suggest to you that you try to chant as attentively and sincerely as you can. Process of Chanting is like meeting with God through transcendental sound vibrations

And when you are free please give as much time as you can , to reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. If any question or doubt comes
to your mind while reading Srila Prabhupada’s books , please post them here

Regards,
Sunil Vaswani

Sanil, 17th November 2012

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Kindly accept my humble obeisances,

All glories to Srila Gurudeva

Following understanding helped me a lot:

o  Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of Bhagavad-gita that one with the conviction that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead will receive the maximum benefit of reading Bhagavad-gita.  So, I wanted to be convinced

o   When I searched, I found out that the acharyas in the disciplic succession, pray to Lord and also spread Krishna Consciousness not for any material achievement or sense enjoyment. In fact they have rejected all material
benefits on their path of spiritual progress.

o   Srila Gurudeva sacrificed everything material he had except a guitar, with which he had a strong attachment.  Later on Srila Gurudeva said that he even sold that guitar for paying the rent of the temple.  I just heard a seminar
of Srila Gurudeva in the net http://www.theultimateselfrealization.com in which he says the following in between the seminar:

“I have been married and my wife is sitting here now, Vishnupriya Devi Dasi. We married since 1984. That means almost 29 years married. We remain brahmachari the whole time, strict brahmachari. I am not saying that every householder should do that, because householder life is meant for producing children. But Prabhupada said if a householder does not want to have sex life, which is very good. They can remain brahmachari. They can do that. There is a very nice verse in Srimad Bhagavatam, 7th canto (SB 7.12.11). Srila Prabhupada talks about the rules and regulations for the householders and sanyasis. I recommend that all householders should study this verse very carefully.” So, I realised that they are selfless people; they are not interested in any material achievement or sense enjoyment. Hence, I did not find any reason why I should not believe them. I feel and understand the unlimited mercy and
blessings they shower when I associate with them.

o   I also noted that associating with devotees help me lot to be focused.  By this virtual network, it is very easy for me to have association all the time.

o  Also, I realized the importance to finalize what I need at the end. So, I came to following conclusion:

o   I don’t want to be a miser – since, miser is satisfied only when he satisfy himself.  The miserly satisfaction is incomplete and temporary and doesn’t provide any real satisfaction.

o   I wanted to be a selfless lover.  So, in that process, I understood and convinced that only Srila Prabhupada’s teaching can guide me to realize these goals.

o   I wanted to achieve perfection:  To achieve perfection, I am convinced about Srila Prabhupada’s teaching that:
v  I should fully surrender to a bona-fide spiritual master who is perfectly situated, so that I can get proper guidance.
v  I should offer everything to Krishna, and my only aim should be to satisfy the senses of Krishna.  So, I need to do everything very carefully and lovingly before I offer it to Krishna and I should not do anything which Krishna
doesn’t like.  And at the end, when I achieve this, I am convinced that it will help me in the following:

o   I will be in perfect love relationship with Krishna, since I am serving Him unconditionally.

o   I will love everybody and everything (and I will not hate anybody or anything) since I know that everything is Krishna’s energy and Krishna’s arrangement.

o   With Krishna’s mercy, I will be able to transcend all dualities.

o   I will achieve spiritual perfection and unlimited bliss, since I am doing everything perfectly and unconditionally and there is no sin associated with it, and lastly,

o   I am protected, since Krishna had declared it through Arjuna that my devotee will never perish.

your servant,
Sanil kumar
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Why Krishna likes Raas leela?

Why does Krishna like the Rasa Lila?

Pradnya, 15th September 2011

Hare Krishna,

Why Krishna likes Raass Leela?

Pradnya

Ashutosh pandey, 15th September 2011

Hare Krsna!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Krsna likes Rasa Leela because it gives pleasure to His devotees which is perhaps the source of Krsna’s pleasure Himself.

your servant,
Ashutosh

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 15th September 2011

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Why does anyone like anything? Because it gives them pleasure. Every thing, for example, the color of clothes they wear on a given day, has an element of personal choice involved.

Krishna is the Supreme Enjoyer, Raas Leela is Supreme Enjoyment, therefore Krishna likes Raas Leela. But don’t think that any mundane person can enjoy this pleasure… Even though Krishna enjoys this pleasure, still He is always fully renounced, always Brahmachari. There is no mention of breakups and divorces and unwanted pregnancies and abortions and custody rights in the spiritual world. The attraction between boy and girl, man and woman in this material world is a perverted reflection of the pure unadulterated Love between Krishna and Radha, Krishna and the Gopis.

No mundane materialistic person can ever understand Rasa Leela, they can only misunderstand and they do. To understand Rasa Leela as interactions between ordinary boys and girls is the worst mistake one can make.

On a humble note, Srila Vyasadeva did not in fact consider Himself qualified to discuss Rasa Leela very much in detail, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu only discussed Rasa Leela in the private company of pure devotees like Raya Ramananda.

Sometimes the spiritual masters give us a glimpse into this rare and mystical spiritual experience, for example, Srila Prabhupada has described this in his Krishna book, but it is an undeserved gift, and must be gratefully accepted with great endeavor for purification by trying to chant attentively and hearing the sound of the Mahamantra, following the regulative principles and hearing the vani of the spiritual master and following the spiritual master’s instructions carefully.

your servant,
Mahabhagavat Das

Ikshvaku das, 23rd September 2011

Hare Krishna , Prabhu, to you and all other revered devotees on this group , or anywhere else,
All Glories to Shri Shri Guru and Gauranga!
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Please accept my humble obeisances

I am very pleased that I could participate in this group and reading discussions here really makes my day, and want to thank to all participating devotees.

Just 2 minutes ago , I sent one letter to another group of devotees dedicated to studying Bhagavad Gita As It Is
Few hours before , I read the your question thread here and wanted to say something , but was not sure what it was.

And it is this : the essence of Rasa Leela is hearing about Krishna in the company of devotees – just like this group offers. Or any other group of pure devotees offers. These groups are not something material that ends with death. The
friendship established here goes on eternally , ever sweeter , ever increasing Ocean Of the Transcendental Bliss of Sankirtana , As Lord Chaitanya describes in His Sikshastika.

Now to mundane eyes, the Rasa Leela appears like young boy dancing with young girls. But what mundane eyes fail to see is – what is THE BOY discussing with the girls. In the material universe , discussion during the dance is sex. But what
about Krishna and the Gopis discussing while they dance and kiss and hug each other : Sankirtan – Pure devotional Service. The essence of every kiss or hug between them , you also get in the gathering of devotees who engage in pure
hearing of Krishna. As Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes the development of Pure Bhakti from Shraddha to Prema, compared to sugar candy production : 1st it is molasses and in the end after several processes , it’s very concentrated sweetness.

Or the other example , The wings of Garuda. The sound of his wings is vedic hymns. In the same way , every Kiss of Krishna is very concentrated Sankirtan topics and emotions connected with the service which the Pure Devotees
render to Him. And who are the Gopis – The Gopis are the highest pure devotees.

Srila Prabhupada describes in Krishna Book that that night of Rasa Lila was the duration of Lord Brahma’s night – 4320000000 earthly years. But the topics the Gopis discussed with Krishna during this night of dance, the
hugs and the kisses between them were so sweet  , that to them , it felt just like an ordinary night. Does the mondane sex possesses such sweetness? no it ends in just few feeble seconds – Like Srila prabhupada said – Psh, psh, psh.

Srila Prabhupada further explains that there is original taste of Sex – Adirasa , which comes from the Spiritual world.
But in the spiritual world the nasty mundane process of sex is completely absent , although there are hugs and kisses.

Of course how can I disscuss the Rassa lila Dace properly , but but somehow your question evoked in me , a systematic picture , from what I have heard from the Guru Prampara so far. Although information given from them is surely unique , it’s
highly possible that due to my own missunderstanding , I’m not able to present it correctly. That’s why ,  that’s why- this is not directly an attempt to answer question ,
but it’s an attempt to present what I have understood this far , which may be be corrected or further described

your servant
Ikshvaku das
Sofia , Bulgaria

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Material Desires and the Purification Process

Francisco Valencia Berrueta, 05th September 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhus
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to Sri Krishna

A person in the purification process of Krishna Consciousness, I have some material desires such as money, health, so on, I’ve heard about the devotees of Krishna that one must ask to Sri Krishna instead of the demigods other persons or gambling. Is this a correct perspective?

All glories to the devotees of Krishna

your unworthy friend and servant
Francisco

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 07th September 2011

Dear Francisco Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva & Srila Prabhupada.

The desire for money to serve Krishna is not material. The desire for health to serve Krishna is not material.

Yes, just as a child does not have to ask his/her parents to feed him/her, similarly, Krishna is our Supreme Father, we don’t have to ask Him for anything as He already knows what we need.

However, sometimes, when a child is sick, even the most loving parent does not feed the child the favourite food according to the medical needs of the child… in other words, even if child wants some type of food, the parent does not give. But this is only so that the child can be cured very fast. A foolish parent may give the child something against medical advice, but that may make the child even more sick.

Therefore, anyone on the path of devotional service, Krishna is directly sanctioning everything personally, it is the treatment, the perfect cure from material life. So, yes, it is not necessary to ask, because He knows everything already.

But if you do feel like asking, then please ask no one else but Krishna, because even while fulfilling the material desire, Krishna will take away all the material contamination… therefore he is known as Hari – the one who takes away. There are many such examples.

Under ANY circumstances please do not gamble. It is one of the 4 surest ways to remain in material misery, win or lose.

your servant,
Mahabhagavat Das

Krishna khushi priyasi, 07th September 2011

Hare Krishna mahabhagavat prabhuji
your answer is very influential.

hari bol

your servant
khushi

“Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari, written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.backtohome.com“

Sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada

Francisco Valencia Berrueta,16th August 2011

HARE KRISHNA

Su Santidad Sankarshan Das Adhikari, in The Ultimate Self Realization Course, “Is It Essential to Have a Living Guru?” (Lesson C24); wrote:

“One does not need to be spiritually disadvantaged by the physical disappearance of a great spiritual master, such as ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, thinking that now there is no more opportunity for spiritual progress. All one has to do is find a sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada and fully take shelter of him.”; my question is: How to recognize the sincere disciples of Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who have the qualifications to be a spiritual master?

I thank in advance for your kind comments.

Servant of the devotees of Krishna

Francisco

Mahabhagavat Das SDA,17th August 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Yes, this is a very important question. Thank you very much Prabhu.

You can study the books of Srila Prabhupada, especially the Nectar of Instruction, which is a translation from the Sanskrit version Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu by Srila Rupa Goswami, and other instructions by Srila Prabhupada about the qualifications of the spiritual master, then you can assess any person you encounter who presents himself as a spiritual master, who is a personally initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada (not this bogus so-called initiation where a so-called disciple imposes himself upon Srila Prabhupada after he has entered Samadhi).

A spiritual master is 100% dedicated to spreading Srila Prabhupada’s mission all over this planet, every single moment of their day, this is their only business.

The spiritual master never deviates from the instructions of his own spiritual master, and never asks anyone to deviate also. For example, in South America there are some so-called disciples of Srila Prabhupada who are initiating disciples and saying that chanting 4 rounds of Hare Krishna Mahamantra on the beads is alright. Such so-called spiritual masters may be sincere themselves, but by deviating, they make themselves unqualified to be spiritual masters. Some other spiritual masters, they left ISKCON and started their own organizations, such persons, even though they may be sincere devotees, are again not qualified to be spiritual masters themselves because they disobeyed the order of Srila Prabhupada to not leave ISKCON.

In other words, a spiritual master always remains a sincere disciple of his own spiritual master. But note that not every person who is eligible to bea spiritual master is actually willing to accept the responsibility of taking disciples.

In ISKCON, there is a very careful process that goes beyond emotion and sentiment, there is careful assessment and very very strong checks-and-balances, continual observation of the spiritual masters who are authorized to initiate. This process is accomplished via the ISKCON GBC which is how Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples to manage ISKCON. In other words, no one who is not authorized by the ISKCON GBC is allowed initiate disciples within ISKCON.

Also, there is a personal component also – if you are really sincere, you can feel in your heart which spiritual master is connecting you to Krishna best. But when you meet such a person, carefully assess without wasting time, and then please do not hesitate. Don’t go by external things like name, fame, etc., as a spiritual master is a pure devotee. Do not lose the opportunity to be connected to the disciplic succession through a bona fide spiritual master.

Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

Tirtharaja Dasa, 18th August 2011

Yes another good source of information is the compilation of Srila

Prabhupada’s writings and sayings on this subject matter known as ‘The

Spiritual Master and The Disciple’. Thank you and happy, informed and

blessed reading.

Yls

Tirtharaja Dasa.

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 18th August 2011

Here is a very good article:

http://www.krishna.com/finding-genuine-guru

ys,

MBD

Jagannatha dasa,18th August 2011

Hare Krishna prabhus.

Here are some quotations by Srila Gurudeva on the topic.

Question:  How to Find Guru?

Can you have more than one guru ?

How you can find guru?

How you can get faith and increase faith in guru and God?

Jayprakash

Answer:  You Already Have

While we have only one initiating guru, we may have an unlimited number of instructing gurus.

You do not need to go looking for a guru. You have already found one.

The way to increase your faith in guru and God is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra on a regular daily basis.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

———-

Question: How to Find an Enlightened Guru?

Dear Swamiji,

I am really in need of your precious advice. For the last ten years I have been looking for an enlightened guru. In this regard I have met many monks, but I have found most of them fake. I want to live a spiritual life and want to know the Absolute Truth, but I have failed to meet a real guru. Kindly help me out and tell me the address of a real enlightened guru. I will very much obliged.

Thank you.

Shaminder

Patiala, India

Answer: You’ve Already Found One

I understand your frustration of encountering so many fake gurus because I was also disappointed in the same way when I was seeking a guru who could bless me with genuine spiritual enlightenment. By Krishna’s grace after four-and-a-half years of difficult struggle, I finally found such a bona fide spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness). He enlightened me with perfect spiritual knowledge and saved me from the vicious cycle of birth and death. If you will read his translation of the Bhagavad-gita known as Bhagavad-gita As It Is, you will find great joy and solace.

Before his left this world in 1977 he carefully trained me and his other disciples how to become gurus so that in his physical absence we could carry on with his mission of enlightening the human society. So there is no need for you to be frustrated anymore in your search for an enlightened spiritual master because you have already found one. You may consult with me and the other devotees of ISKCON regarding how to become free from all material miseries. There are many ISKCON temples throughout India. Is there one in your area?

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

——

Who is the Real Guru?

Poojaneeya Swamiji,

Please accept my humble pranams.

In these days many people claim to be Gurus. And it is very difficult for an ordinary person to judge who is the real Guru

who is self-realized and can take his/her disciple to the highest truth. How one can find his/her Guru and how he/she will be sure that his chosen person is a real Guru who is self-realized?

With humble pranams

Devadas

The Real Guru is Realized in the Vedic Wisdom

My Dear Devadas,

Please accept my blessings.

If someone decides to be a gold merchant they must have some preliminary knowledge of what is gold, otherwise they will be cheated by so many people who will sell them imitation gold. In a similar way if we are going to seek out a guru or spiritual master we must have some preliminary knowledge of what is a guru or we will be cheated by so many imposters. We are currently living in the Kali Yuga, the Age of Quarrel and Cheating, so we must be very careful when seeking out a guru that we do not become cheated.

Guru is not an invented concept. The idea of guru comes from India’s ancient Vedic literature. If we want some preliminary knowledge to enable us to find out the bona fide spiritual master, then we simply must carefully study the Vedic literature to learn the method of discerning who is the bona fide guru. For the example, the following injunction is given in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

tasmad gurum prapadyeta

jijnasuh sreya uttamam

sabde pare ca nisnatam

brahmany upasamasrayam

“Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.”

SB 11.3.21

Note that the spiritual master must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures. Sadly, nowadays, the so-called gurus present conclusions which go against the authoritative Vedic literatures.

In this way they create societies of the cheater and the cheated. They are the cheater and their disciples are the cheated.

Therefore if you want to find out who is your actual proper guru you must become educated in the Vedic wisdom. In this way you can find out the real guru who is presenting the Vedic wisdom as it is without any distortion. There is a great need in the modern day society for real gurus and real disciples, but due to a lack of Vedic education we have a world full of cheating so-called gurus and their millions and millions of cheated disciples. This is why there is so much chaos in the world.

To try to bring relief to the suffering humanity we are trying to educate the mass of people what is the proper Vedic understanding. So my best advise to you in regards to finding out who is your guru is that first you should become learned in the Vedic wisdom. Then you will have no difficulty at all in discerning who is your guru. I am willing to give you all training and guidance to become expert in the Vedic wisdom. This why I am offering this e-course, the Ultimate Self Realization Course. Kindly take full advantage of it.

Hoping this meets you in good health and in a cheerful mood,

Your eternal well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

—–

There are also so many more quotes along these lines available.

One can search http://www.sda-archives.com in the search bar for keywords or questions.  I got 10 pages of quotes on this topic by searching how to find a guru there.

I hope this is useful.

Your servant,

-Jagannatha dasa

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Your servant,

-Jagannatha dasa