Tag: birth

14 May 2024 What is the real problem of life, and how to stop it? Srimad Bhagavatam Class with Bhakti Sanga Japa Group SB 7.7.37

Prahlada is a great saint. He learned everything he knew while he was still in the womb of his mother Kayadhu, from Narada Muni, the great spiritual master. And his devotion manifested when he was a small child… so much so that Prahlada is known as one of the great Mahajanas, the great pure teachers of the Science of God.

In this SB 7.7.37, Prahlada instructs that the real problem of life is birth and death. Do you want to know how to stop this continuously whirling wheel of birth and death?

Attend this class to find out, watch the recording, or if you are pressed for time, just read this article!

Hare Krishna!

The Bhakti Sanga Japa Group connects Krishna conscious devotees from across the world, be it a neophyte, serious sadhaka, or just someone with a casual interest in spirituality, through online conference calls! Bhakti Sanga group facilitates devotee association with several classes and japa sessions during the day. Classes include lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Children’s sessions on scriptures, festival/holy days and assorted spiritual topics. The Bhakti Sanga group provides an informal setting where devotees can seek answers regarding their sadhana, spiritual topics and practices. Come experience Krishna consciousness in the association of devotees, from the very convenience of your home, just a phone call away!

DATE📆: Tuesday, 14th May 2024

TIME⌚: 7:20 AM. ET USA/ 6:20 AM. CT USA/ 4:20 AM PST USA/ 12:20 PM UK/ 8:20 PM MYT/ 4:50 PM IST

The class will be available on Zoom and later uploaded online on their Youtube Channel.

ZOOM Meeting ID: 681 873 6022 Password: 803604

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHty1ZkyTvzn_vTTfiYqwTA

Please join online if you’re interested in joining this class, or let me know if you want to get a link to the recording.

Chapter SB 7.7 What Prahlāda Learned in the Womb – Summary

In this chapter, to dissipate the doubts of his class friends, the sons of the demons, Prahlāda Mahārāja states how, within the womb of his mother, he had heard from the mouth of Nārada Muni, who had instructed him in bhāgavata-dharma.

When Hiraṇyakaśipu left his kingdom and went to the mountain known as Mandarācala to execute severe austerities, all the demons scattered. Hiraṇyakaśipu’s wife, Kayādhu, was pregnant at that time, and the demigods, mistakenly thinking that she carried another demon in her womb, arrested her. Their plan was that as soon as the child took birth they would kill him. While they were taking Kayādhu to the heavenly planets, they met Nārada Muni, who stopped them from taking her away and took her to his āśrama until Hiraṇyakaśipu’s return. In Nārada Muni’s āśrama, Kayādhu prayed for the protection of the baby in her womb, and Nārada Muni reassured her and gave her instructions on spiritual knowledge. Taking advantage of those instructions, Prahlāda Mahārāja, although a small baby within the womb, listened very carefully. The spirit soul is always apart from the material body. There is no change in the spiritual form of the living entity. Any person above the bodily conception of life is pure and can receive transcendental knowledge. This transcendental knowledge is devotional service, and Prahlāda Mahārāja, while living in the womb of his mother, received instructions in devotional service from Nārada Muni. Any person engaged in the service of the Lord through the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master is immediately liberated, and being free from the clutches of māyā, he is relieved of all ignorance and material desires. The duty of everyone is to take shelter of the Supreme Lord and thus become free from all material desires. Regardless of the material condition in which one is situated, one can achieve this perfection. Devotional service is not dependent on the material activities of austerity, penance, mystic yoga or piety. Even without such assets, one can achieve devotional service through the mercy of a pure devotee.

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

ŚB 7.7.37

अधोक्षजालम्भमिहाशुभात्मन:
शरीरिण: संसृतिचक्रशातनम् ।
तद् ब्रह्मनिर्वाणसुखं विदुर्बुधा-
स्ततो भजध्वं हृदये हृदीश्वरम् ॥ ३७ ॥

adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ
śarīriṇaḥ saṁsṛti-cakra-śātanam
tad brahma-nirvāṇa-sukhaṁ vidur budhās
tato bhajadhvaṁ hṛdaye hṛd-īśvaram

Synonyms

adhokṣaja — with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of the materialistic mind or experimental knowledge; ālambham — being constantly in contact; iha — in this material world; aśubha–ātmanaḥ — whose mind is materially contaminated; śarīriṇaḥ — of a living entity who has accepted a material body; saṁsṛti — of material existence; cakra — the cycle; śātanam — completely stopping; tat — that; brahma–nirvāṇa — connected with the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute Truth; sukham — transcendental happiness; viduḥ — understand; budhāḥ — those who are spiritually advanced; tataḥ — therefore; bhajadhvam — engage in devotional service; hṛdaye — within the core of the heart; hṛt–īśvaram — to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul within the heart.

Translation

The real problem of life is the repetition of birth and death, which is like a wheel rolling repeatedly up and down. This wheel, however, completely stops when one is in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, by the transcendental bliss realized from constant engagement in devotional service, one is completely liberated from material existence. All learned men know this. Therefore, my dear friends, O sons of the asuras, immediately begin meditating upon and worshiping the Supersoul within everyone’s heart.

Purport

Generally it is understood that by merging into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, one becomes completely happy. The words brahma-nirvāṇa refer to connecting with the Absolute Truth, who is realized in three features: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. One feels brahma-sukha, spiritual happiness, by merging into the impersonal Brahman because the brahmajyoti is the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. Yasya prabhā, the impersonal Brahman, consists of the rays of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental body. Therefore whatever transcendental bliss one feels from merging in Brahman is due to contact with Kṛṣṇa. Contact with Kṛṣṇa is perfect brahma-sukha. When the mind is in touch with the impersonal Brahman one becomes satisfied, but one must advance further to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for one’s remaining merged in the Brahman effulgence is not always assured. As it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: one may merge in the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth, but there is a chance that one may fall because of not being acquainted with Adhokṣaja, or Vāsudeva. Of course, such brahma-sukha undoubtedly eliminates material happiness, but when one advances through impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in relationship with Him as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover, one’s happiness becomes all-pervading. Then one automatically feels transcendental bliss, just as one becomes happy seeing the shining of the moon. One acquires natural happiness upon seeing the moon, but when one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s transcendental happiness increases hundreds and thousands of times. As soon as one is very intimately connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one surely becomes free from all material contamination. Yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtām. This cessation of all material happiness is called nirvṛti or nirvāṇa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.38):

brahmānando bhaved eṣa
cet parārdha-guṇīkṛtaḥ
naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ
paramāṇu-tulām api

“If brahmānanda, the bliss of merging in the Brahman effulgence, were multiplied one hundred trillion times, it would still not equal even an atomic fragment of the ocean of transcendental bliss felt in devotional service.”

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

“One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything; he is equally disposed toward all living entities. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto the Lord.” (Bg. 18.54) If one advances further from the brahma-nirvāṇa platform, one enters the stage of devotional service (mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām). The word adhokṣajālambham refers to keeping the mind always engaged in the Absolute Truth, who is beyond the mind and material speculation. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ. This is the result of Deity worship. By constantly engaging in the service of the Lord and thinking of His lotus feet, one is automatically freed from all material contamination. Thus the word brahma-nirvāṇa-sukham indicates that when one is in touch with the Absolute Truth, material sense gratification is completely nullified.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/7/37

Why Krishna Takes Birth

Why does Krishna take birth in this horrible material world? How does contact with Krishna help a soul? And what if we cannot associate with Krishna personally?

Today is the Appearance Day of Krishna. The festival is celebrated by hundreds of millions around the world. This festival is also called Sri Krishna Janmashtami or Gokulashtami.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna has many names.

But when someone learns that Krishna comes to this material realm via “birth”, that too in a prison cell, and then they learn that Krishna has parents… Vasudeva, Devaki, and foster parents Nanda and Yashoda… they are bewildered.

Krishna manifests His four handed Vishnu form to Vasudeva and Devaki and then transforms into a baby in the prison cell of Kamsa.

Are you sure, they ask, that this is God we are talking about? How can God have parents, and how can God have a form like you and me, how can God take birth?

But dear soul, please consider that if you and me, we have a form, then is God lesser than us to have no form? Krishna’s form, though, is not like ours. Krishna’s form is purely spiritual. Even in His deity form, Krishna’s form is purely spiritual.

Also consider that the “parents” of Krishna eternally love Him and want to serve Him in that way. Everyone knows that parents serve a child unceasingly! So why can God not grant that wish to His devotee?

But so many accept Krishna as a historical personality, famous, smart, strong, influential, but an ordinary person like you and me, a mortal with a material coil. Some accept Krishna as a soul on the way to spiritual perfection. Some go further and accept Krishna as a prophet, a messenger of God, one among many.

But of course, Krishna declares this in the Bhagavad Gita and the great spiritual masters like Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, and Madhva have accepted His words.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ २९ ॥

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/29/

So, then, why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead come here, to this nasty place where most people misunderstand Him, defame Him, insult Him, try to kill Him, ignore Him, or in the worst case, never even come across Krishna!

Krishna takes birth so we don’t have to take another birth ourselves.

जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥ ९ ॥

janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjuna

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

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/9/

Krishna personally states some reasons as to why He comes

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥ ७ ॥

yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.

परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ८ ॥

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/7/ and https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/8/

But to be honest, Krishna does not have to personally come to accomplish all this. He has many competent energies and empowered agents who can do this themselves.

So why does He come then?

No matter how you see God as, as God the Father, or God the Ultimate Master, or God the Best Friend, or God the Lover, or God Second to None… ultimately, Krishna is concerned about us, souls trapped in the material realm.

He comes to free us. How does he do that? In many ways.

We are here in the… material realm trying to enjoy. But what can we enjoy with these imperfect senses and decaying dying bodies? It is a mere reflection of enjoyment, a mere shadow of the real thing.

Krishna comes here and brings His eternal associates, places, paraphernalia, and pastimes, and with them, shows us the standard of real enjoyment.

Enjoyment that is:

  1. Ever increasing
  2. Never ending
  3. Unlimitedly variegated

Regardless of what our own standard of enjoyment is here in the material realm, it is fluctuating and temporary, and the more you try to enjoy, the more it is the same old same old… And time takes it all away! Take any sensory experience. Why is anyone dissatisfied in the world with material sense gratification? Because it is, immediately or eventually, boring. Materialists are always looking for something more, something different, but ever dissatisfied despite tremendous endeavour.

It is a fact that when presented with genuine pleasure, the materially entrapped soul cannot appreciate. However, the more the conditioned soul comes in contact with Krishna, the more they are purified.

When Krishna comes and shows the standard of His character, then we are all attracted to following such a wonderful magnanimous person.

Take the example of Putana. Putana was a witch. She specialized in killing. Not just anyone, but little babies and children. She had killed thousands. She enjoyed various ways of torturing and killing them, and sucking their blood. She developed this into a way of life. She was expert in all kinds of murder, from poison to weapons. She was commissioned to kill Krishna by Kamsa, the demoniac tyrant.

She carefully thought about her modus operandi, and dressed herself as a beautiful celestial woman. So exquisite did she look that no one stopped her. She approached Krishna as a wet nurse, to feed Him. Her disguise and manner was masterful. And in a village, mothers often feed each other’s children. No one stopped her, so trusting and simple were Krishna’s associates.

She had smeared a deadly poison on her breast. Her plan was simple. Baby Krishna sucks, end of story.

But Krishna, He is impossible to kill. Even the rest of us are impossible to kill, because the spirit soul is immortal.

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्ल‍ेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २४ ॥

acchedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam
akledyo ’śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur
acalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥ

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/24/

Indeed, the soul is completely indestructible!

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्ल‍ेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥ २३ ॥

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi
nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/23/

While our material bodies can be killed in various ways, Krishna’s body is completely spiritual.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/1/

In fact, Krishna only appears to enter the material world, but actually He never enters or leaves! After all, what does it mean to enter or exit when Krishna is all-pervading, inside and outside of everything and everyone simultaneously?

स एव स्वप्रकृत्येदं सृष्ट्वाग्रे त्रिगुणात्मकम् ।
तदनु त्वं ह्यप्रविष्ट: प्रविष्ट इव भाव्यसे ॥ १४ ॥

sa eva svaprakṛtyedaṁ
sṛṣṭvāgre tri-guṇātmakam
tad anu tvaṁ hy apraviṣṭaḥ
praviṣṭa iva bhāvyase

My Lord, You are the same person who in the beginning created this material world by His personal external energy. After the creation of this world of three guṇas [sattva, rajas and tamas], You appear to have entered it, although in fact You have not.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/3/14/

Krishna sucked the poison, sucked the milk, and sucked out her very life!

Good riddance, someone might say. After all she was quite wicked.

Ah, but here is how Krishna is not only great but so sweet!

Krishna didn’t merely suck out the poison from her outside, Krishna sucked out the poison from Putana’s very heart! He washed her completely clean. Just by coming in contact with Krishna, Putana became spotless!

And because Putana approached him as a mother, even if with a heinous devious motive, still Krishna took the best of what she had to offer… she approached as a mother, and that position Krishna gave to Putana in the spiritual realm.

अहो बकी यं स्तनकालकूटं
जिघांसयापाययदप्यसाध्वी ।
लेभे गतिं धात्र्युचितां ततोऽन्यं
कं वा दयालुं शरणं व्रजेम ॥ २३ ॥

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Pūtanā] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/2/23/

Krishna chooses the highest and best of everyone to amplify, magnify, and enhance.

I got out on Sankirtan often. I sing Krishna’s names in public, and speak about Krishna, distribute spiritual literature, and try to get souls to serve Krishna in some way, according to their capacity.

Some take to it enthusiastically, singing along, dancing, taking books, making donations, having deep spiritual conversations. These are really the fortunate souls.

Some engage with Krishna, but not in such positive ways… they try to make fun, they tease, they try to insult or abuse. They are also fortunate souls.

Why is that?

If Krishna can give the highest position of “Mother of God” to a witch who came to poison Him, then what to speak of those who engage with Him?

Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth!

নাম চিন্তামণিঃ কৃষ্ণশ্চৈতন্যরসবিগ্রহঃ ।
পূর্ণঃ শুদ্ধো নিত্যমুক্তোঽভিন্নত্বান্নামনামিনোঃ ॥ ১৩৩ ॥

nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ

“ ‘The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical.’

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/17/133/

In other words, by associating with the name of Krishna, you get the same benefit as associating with Krishna personally. There is no difference betweeen Krishna and His Name!

Do you want proof that Krishna and His Name are nondifferent?

Modern-day Kannauj, the ancient city of Kanyakubja

In what is modern-day Kannauj (ancient Kanyakubja) in Northern India, there was a very decent young man named Ajamila. Trained to be a Vaishnava priest, he once went to the forest to collect some ingredients for the worship of Krishna.

In the forest, he saw what is a very common sight today… he saw an uncouth man embracing a prostitute in a sensuous way. Such a sight is sure to agitate a young man.

Ajamila spots a prostitute and her customer

Not a self controlled soul as Krishna describes, but anyone who is below this standard…

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं
समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
स शान्तिमाप्‍नोति न कामकामी ॥ ७० ॥

āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ
samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat
tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve
sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/70/

Poor Ajamila was attracted to this uncultured woman, and became her keeper. The husband of a prostitute is most unfortunate. He cannot be happy, no matter how hard he may try to satisfy his wife. He gave up his wife and parents, and engaged in all sorts of abominable occupations like thieving, robbery, gambling, and murder, to maintain the prostitute and the 10 children he had with her.

Time flies, but like most of us, Ajamila didn’t notice.

Somehow or other, by inspiration from Krishna who sits in the heart as Paramatma, the Supersoul, he named his youngest son “Narayana”, which is another name of Krishna.

He was very attached to this little child, and would constantly call out “Narayana take your milk”, “Narayana wake up”, “Narayana, it is time for bed”, “Narayana careful that you don’t fall into that pond” and so on as a typical loving parent calls out to a small child.

Even thought he was 88 years of age, he didn’t notice that death was creeping up on him, so attached he was to this little child.

One day, the moment of his death arrived and he saw the Yamadutas, the servants of Yamaraja, the demigod in-charge of death. They were quite frightful looking. They engaged their tools in extracting Ajamila’s soul from the inner reaches of his heart.

In great pain and anxiety undergoing the process of death, he called out with tears to that which he was most attached to, his little child Narayana.

Hearing his plaintive cry, made in helplessness, the Vishnudutas, the servants of Lord Vishnu, appeared and forbade the servants of death from taking the soul.

Ajamila witnessed the conversation between the two sets of personalities, the Vishnudutas and the Yamadutas. The essence was that by that one cry of the name of Krishna, “Narayana”, his previous sinful activities were completely nullified.

Ajamila got a second chance to reform himself, and he took the second chance.

The key point to note here is that in recognition of some past spiritual service, Krishna inspired Ajamila to name his son after Himself. So he arranged for Ajamila’s deliverance.

Those of us who have already received the Holy Name of Krishna into our life, we should simply sincerely continue chanting.

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

When the Holy Name of Krishna appears, it means Lord Krishna Himself has appeared in our life.

And this is why we are saved by the Holy Name of Krishna.

अज्ञानादथवा ज्ञानादुत्तमश्लोकनाम यत् ।
सङ्कीर्तितमघं पुंसो दहेदेधो यथानल: ॥ १८ ॥

ajñānād athavā jñānād
uttamaśloka-nāma yat
saṅkīrtitam aghaṁ puṁso
dahed edho yathānalaḥ

As a fire burns dry grass to ashes, so the holy name of the Lord, whether chanted knowingly or unknowingly, burns to ashes, without fail, all the reactions of one’s sinful activities.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/2/18/

Dear reader, my dear Jivatma. Please chant the name of Krishna incessantly.

Krishna says that for a materially entangled spirit soul, the only way out of suffering is to surrender unto Him completely, abandoning all other attachments…

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा श‍ुच: ॥ ६६ ॥

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66/

It may feel very difficult to unconditionally surrender, but, if you simply chant the names of Krishna, such surrender will be yours very soon.

You will feel unlimited ecstatic joy, if not immediately, then in due course of time, but very soon.

If someone like myself, a sinful former atheist can recover and feel ever increasing joy by chanting Hare Krishna, then what to speak of you, who are surely much better than me in every respect?

Are there millions of souls living in my body?

How many souls live in a body? For example, there are millions of sperm in an average healthy man’s body, do they all contain souls? If there are millions of souls but only one or two get a chance then what happens to all the others?

Partha Das, 18 March 2020

Hare Krsna,

I understand that each sperm has a soul. Our body has millions of sperms. Does it mean there are millions of souls living in my body along with my soul at any time.

Sounds scary.

Dandavats

Partha Das

Rcard, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!!!

I’ve been wondering the same query but multiplied even more.

I’ve included all the cells of our bodies including micro-organisms and so on. 

Which one is your soul? Is it the one dwelling in your heart?.

Do all these cells, sperms and micro-organisms transmigrate with your soul when change body?.

Rcard

Priya Sundari devi dasi, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna Prabhus. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I hope this finds you well. 

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami has a seminar called ‘Dust to Dust’ – this is recorded and is available on Iskcondesiretree for devotees to listen to. 

In that Maharaja says that the soul goes into the body of the male first through grains (and again someone asks the question in the seminar that does that mean we avoid eating grains), before which it goes through the rain, into the ground and then into grains.  

Maharaja also explains very nicely that when the time is right then we attract a soul who comes into the male’s body through consumption of grains and then is transferred to the womb of the mother. It also answers other questions about the souls journey before birth and after death, hence the name Dust to dust. 

The seminar is quite extraordinary and I would highly recommend listening to it. 

I also read somewhere that the soul stays in the father’s body for 3 months and the mother’s body for 270 days (pregnancy). <– Apologies I cannot find a quote / reference for this. 

your servant 

Priya Sundari devi dasi. 

*Kṛṣṇe matir astu*

Bhakta Sanjay, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna,

Dandavat Pranam to all vaishnavas.

Soul is spiritual sparks from supreme soul i.e. Lord Krishna. Body is material which consists of 5 elements. Based on Karmic reactions from million births, soul transmigrate to the already built-in heart in the womb of a mother i.e. who will be father and mother is already pre-detinied based on KARMA. This is my personal understanding after going through the scriptures. Based on this understanding, each chromosome will not have spiritual sparks (soul) but material energy from the Lord with potency to fertilize an egg.

Haribol,

Jay Gurudev, 

Sanjay

Arnoldas Zdanevicius, 19 March 2020

Hare Krsna.

Dandavat pranam to all!

All glories to Srila Prabhupad and His faithful followers.

I wonder why we discuss things which we will never know completely? All the answers about the soul are hidden from us. Soul is not material. That’s it. 

Don’t waste your time trying to understand the soul. 

or better ask your Guru about it. Do not speculate about it.

better chant Hare Krsna – this is for me.

Please help me how to find taste in chanting again. I am loosing.

Perhaps I am done with Krsna consciousness for some time.

your eternal servant, anyway.

Arnoldas 🙂

Rasika Krishna Das, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!

I once asked Srila Gurudev almost same question, he answered that there are many souls within our body like microbes & germs in air that we breathe, worms in our digestive tract and many more but you (the owner of this body) are the king of all souls, the king of this city of nine gates.

Regarding sperms, only potent sperms have souls. That’s the reason why many healthy aspiring mothers are never able to conceive because the aspiring fathers don’t have any potent sperms because of their karma. From purport of SB 11.5.41:

“Often the sexual act fails to produce pregnancy at all. So although all parents desire a beautiful, highly qualified child, this is often not the case. Thus it can be understood that ultimately it is by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that a man and woman are able to produce a child by the sexual act. It is by the Lord’s mercy that the man’s seminal injection is potent and the woman’s ovum is fertile. Similarly, it is only by the mercy of the Lord that the child is born in a healthy condition and reaches physical maturity to pursue his own life. If at any stage in the evolution of a human being the Lord’s mercy is withdrawn, sudden death or crippling disease occurs.”

your servant,

Rasika Krishna Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dandavat Pranam to all Krishna devotees

I too agree with your views. The subject of discussion which doesn’t lead us to absolute knowledge of truth and love for the supreme is simply a waste of time and energy. All our endeavor to be directed towards self realization through increasing our consciousness on the absolute. Lord in his manifestation in this material earth has enacted many a plays which carry a dual objective of his divine play as well teaching mankind his real purpose on this material earth. We need to dwell on this subject for a deeper understanding of its morals and following the same . 

For your losing taste in chanting, I request the elevated souls of this group to enlighten on how to persevere with the endless love towards Supreme. 

Hare Krishna 

your ever endearing servant 

Tapas 

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Thanks for the explanation. 

Partha Das

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Hare Krsna, Dandavats,

We are all devotees of Krsna.Also we are sincere students of the great Vedic literature.

As students we get many doubts as we study. These have to be answered before we move on further. Hence the queries.

your servant

Partha Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 21 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dear Partha

You are on the right path as well with divine association of illumined souls to guide you in the path of Krishna consciousness. It is true , in the beginning our inquisitive mind plays an active role in trying to know all at a go . But as we go along through perseverance in search of absolute knowledge keeping aside temporary distractions, all answers unfold before you slowly. 

yours all endearing servant 

Tapas

Mahabhagavat Das, 25 March 2020

Hare Krishna Everyone!

Thank you for a lively discussion on this important subject matter. Actually it is important to know that semen contains millions of jivas, not all jivas have the good fortune of getting a womb and a body… leave alone a human body! We all have got that good fortune, and the chance at a human life. So when someone says “human life is rare” they are not joking!

This means we need to take responsibility – this is the reason why illicit sex is a sinful activity, because we are denying any of those souls a chance to lead a human life.

Also, to the followup question whether other cells in the body are souls also, the answer is given in the Bhagavad Gita…

“

यथा प्रकाशयत्येक: कृत्स्‍नं लोकमिमं रवि: ।

क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्‍नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥

yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ

kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ

kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ

prakāśayati bhārata

O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.” https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/34/ (please read the purport, very very wonderful!)

We can realize that if we cut off the hand, or drain some blood from the body, or be badly burned, or have brain damage or a faulty heart, as long as the soul doesn’t leave the body, the body stays alive. When the soul leaves, then even if the body had perfectly good cells at the time of death, it is a dead body. No one can clearly explain medically or analytically exactly why one body in the same circumstances lives and another one in the same circumstances dies – the only possible explanation is “the soul stayed or left depending on his karma and the decision of higher authorities”.

I am Mahabhagavat Das, eternal servant of Sankarshan Das Adhikari, grand-disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, now writing this email, that tiny particle living within my body which is known in this world by various temporary material designations. My absence from this body will make my body a dead body. As long as I am here, this body will be at least somewhat valuable. Once I am gone, useless.

Srila Gurudeva’s answer also makes it clear by extension, that other living entities live in/on our body too, they are all individual souls as they don’t necessarily die when we leave the body, but in fact can even thrive and flourish – which is why the body begins to decay.

This is a moderated group. All questions are welcome. Anything that is not according to group guidelines or not helpful to broadcast will not be posted or will be answered privately. If you are asking or answering a question, please be kind, respectful, and encouraging.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Editor’s note: Also the verses BG 3.14, and 3.15 discuss this subject matter. Also this article answers this question also: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/01/do-all-sperms-have-soul/

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

Human Animal Farm

George Orwell’s Animal Farm describes a horrifying story of how “equals” exploit other equals… There are so many different social systems being tried out, communism, capitalism, socialism, and so on, but practically all of them are animalistic. Is there an ideal social system?

There is a famous book by George Orwell, Animal Farm. It is a satire on communism.

In the book, the oppressed animals on a farm overthrow their human farmer and try to create a society based on egalitarian principles, but they end up in a situation much worse than before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

But have you considered any other competing “ism”, such as, say “Capitalism”?

Capitalism, where money rules the roost

Is any materialistic ideology different from any other materialistic ideology when implemented in human society?

Is the end result any different?

Let’s take the case of any “democratic” country… take for example Canada, where I live presently… Canada is high up on the list when it comes to social liberty and freedom, with its famous Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and so on… but even in Canada, let’s take, say, the Prime Minister of Canada – does anyone feel that such a person is “equal” to the rest of us living in Canada? OK, let’s leave the top powerful people aside… let’s take an ordinary police officer… there was recently a case in which a Toronto Police Officer accessed a database, gave his son the name and address of an individual who drove a car with a certain license plate, and the individual ended up dead because of that.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

And if you want to exclude that type of power from the equation, let’s take the case of the Native Canadians! The original first nations people of Canada – where are they? I have mostly seen them destitute and begging on the streets. How on earth did Canadian society engineer that injustice?

Canadian Beggar

There are extreme examples, for example communism is supposed to be a classless society in which everyone is equal, has access to common prosperity, and equal opportunity for the best possible life. What is the reality though? The children of communist leaders study in the top schools, go to the top universities, and the children of the rural citizens? They are not even allowed to get off the farm, because then, who will feed the cities cheap food? This is institutionalized with many systems, such as the Hukou system. We see leaders trying to hold on to power until their dying breath, Stalin, Lenin, and Mao are all examples of that. There are any number of present leaders who want to entrench themselves for the duration of their lives!

Communism is based on materialistic ideals

But lest you think that some other competing system like democratic capitalism is better, just look around us – some people have no access to clean drinking water, food, and opportunity in life, just by the compounded effect of generations of exploitation. Some people have what is known as “inter-generational wealth”, and others struggle to pay their rent, living in buildings owned by REITs funded by, guess who, those with inherited wealth! Of course, who ends up born in better or worse material circumstances depends on the past karma of every individual.

Homeless person in Toronto, Canada

Ultimately no materialistic or man-made system can be perfect. The only perfect system is the one that is created by the Creator of all Natural Systems, variously referred to as Allah, Jehovah, or Krishna but referring to the same one Person.

Krishna, the Perfect Creator of the Perfect Society

It is called “Varnashrama”, which is a combination of 2 words “Varna” and “Ashrama”… Varna means occupation, Ashrama means “Life Status”…

The system is organized as follows – there are 4 main Varnas, and 4 main Ashramas, which gives rise to a combination of 16 different categories of people, which are a natural order of society.

The 4 Varnas are:

  • “Brahmana” – the intellectual class
  • “Kshatriya” – the administrator class
  • “Vaishya” – the mercantile class
  • “Shudra” – the worker class

The 4 Ashramas are:

  • “Brahmacharya” – the student class
  • “Grhastha – the householder class
  • “Vanaprastha” – the retired class
  • “Sannyasa” – the renounced class

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः ।
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥ १३ ॥

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam

According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/13/

Ah, there you go, you might say, here comes the infamous Indian caste system, which has resulted in so much suffering, so much inequity, so much bias, and so much violence and exploitation.

The present-day Indian caste system is demonic

Two words are key here, one is “guna” and the other is “karma”.

The present Indian caste system is based on birth, which is called “janma”… basing the caste system on birth is like saying that all doctors’ children will be ever forevermore doctors, or that all of the judges’ children will be anointed judges. Yes, if you are born in a technical or a medical or a business family, it is very likely you will take up the same line because the whole atmosphere is steeped with that particular mood, but you still have to go to medical school or law school or learn to operate a business!

A doctor must be properly qualified

So therefore, the caste system based on birth alone is rejected… instead, every person is analyzed according to their qualities and the work they do.

If for example, someone is born in a family of doctors cannot clear high school or medical school, they will not get the degree and will not be allowed to practice. So why then is someone born in the family of a Brahmana but has the mindset of a worker still demand the social position of a Brahmana?

A judge must be duly qualified

This degraded practice alone has completely destroyed the original social system in India, and is responsible for the destruction of the high class Vedic culture. After all, just like in the famous book by George Orwell, if you make a pig the leader of society, the position will not alter the fact that the pig is, at the root of it, still a pig!

A pig in a suit is still a pig!

The 4 orders are compared to the various parts of the body – the Brahmanas to the head, the Kshatriyas to the hands, the Vaishyas to the stomach, and the Shudras to the legs. This is not derogatory, the head alone cannot get much done, and neither can the hands, stomach, or legs on their own.

The different sections of society must work together, just like the parts of our bodies

Imagine the legs running around without a head, or the hands flailing about in one place, or the stomach starving for the want of food! Our society is presently just like that.

So, in modern day society, we see that the humans are actually divided into 4 categories, represented by animals.

श्वविड्‍वराहोष्ट्रखरै: संस्तुत: पुरुष: पशु: ।
न यत्कर्णपथोपेतो जातु नाम गदाग्रज: ॥ १९ ॥

śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ
saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ
na yat-karṇa-pathopeto
jātu nāma gadāgrajaḥ

Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/

Why dogs, hogs, camels, and asses? Do we have some kind of hatred for these animals? No, we respect every living entity, but we lament the lost opportunity when a living entity who has achieved a human form of life descends to lower species in life…

Dogs will be dogs

Why and how are humans like dogs?

Modern university education practically prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality with which to accept the service of a greater master. After finishing a so-called education, the so-called educated persons move like dogs from door to door with applications for some service, and mostly they are driven away, informed of no vacancy. As dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, a man serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
A pig will eat anything, practically

Why hogs?

Persons who have no discrimination in the matter of foodstuff and who eat all sorts of rubbish are compared to hogs. Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. So stool is a kind of foodstuff for a particular type of animal. And even stones are eatables for a particular type of animal or bird. But the human being is not meant for eating everything and anything; he is meant to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar, etc. Animal food is not meant for the human being. For chewing solid food, the human being has a particular type of teeth meant for cutting fruits and vegetables. The human being is endowed with two canine teeth as a concession for persons who will eat animal food at any cost. It is known to everyone that one man’s food is another man’s poison. Human beings are expected to accept the remnants of food offered to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (Bg. 9.26). As prescribed by Vedic scriptures, no animal food is offered to the Lord. Therefore, a human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared to a hog.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
A camel eats thorns, and thinks they are tasty whereas it tastes its own blood as the thorns cut the insides of its mouth

Why camels?

The camel is a kind of animal that takes pleasure in eating thorns. A person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared to the camel. Materialistic life is full of thorns, and so one should live only by the prescribed method of Vedic regulations just to make the best use of a bad bargain. Life in the material world is maintained by sucking one’s own blood. The central point of attraction for material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one’s own blood, and there is not much more to be explained in this connection. The camel also sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs. The thorns the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel’s mouth. The thorns, mixed with fresh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn-eating business with false pleasure. Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood. Therefore the Bhāgavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the camels.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
An ass carrying a heavy load, all for a little grass

And why asses?

The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself.* The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. When the ass begs for sexual intercourse, he is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, to the ass. The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the Age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving ṭhelā and rickshaws. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/

What happens when humans who are just like hogs, dogs, camels, and asses go to the election? The dogs vote for a big dog, the hogs vote for a big hog, the camels vote for a big camel, and the asses vote for a big ass.

We end up with a civilization of dogs, hogs, camels, and asses!

And we get a leadership that is full of such dogs, hogs, camels, and asses!

And what will such leaders do in society? They will promote animalism, they might spout big ideals just like the hogs in George Orwell’s book do, but quietly or openly promote animalistic civilization.

Srila Prabhupada once called democracy as “demon crazy”! In other words, the democratic process does not get us the best leaders, only the lowest common denominator.

An ideal society without God in the Centre is not possible

Take your pick, the system created by God or the system created by animals masquerading as humans.

Krishna, the Creator of the Perfect Social Order

What is your choice?

How to stop death

How to stop death? Most people don’t understand that death can actually be stopped. Would you like to understand how?

A lot of souls are interested in stopping death. Trillions of dollars are being spent all over the world in the attempt to stop death. Some are trying to prolong life, some others are trying to conquer this or that disease. Some are taking special diets and pills, yet others are striving to edit their genes to clip out the parts that cause our bodies to grow old.

Some have accepted the inevitability, but are trying to externally patch up their appearance with cosmetic surgery or other cosmetic treatments.

Yet others have accepted the inevitability, and are trying hard to perpetuate themselves through wills, estates, and institutions.

Most don’t realize that there is a simple way to stop death, though.

जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च ।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥ २७ ॥

jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur
dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca
tasmād aparihārye ’rthe
na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi

One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/27/

It is a fact that if someone has taken birth then they have to die. And someone who has died must take birth again.

So, if you want to stop death you must stop (re)birth.

Krsna’s advice in the Bhagavad-gita is that we tolerate this temporary suffering. Just as your body is not permanent, so your diseases are also not permanent. You should tolerate the temporary suffering and solve the real problem—you must stop your repetition of birth and death. But people do not know that birth and death can be stopped, so they are simply busy with the temporary problems.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back To Godhead Magazine, Conversation with Mr. Chugani

As we cultivate a certain consciousness, practically we prepare our next body. For example, there may be a very rich man, and he may be striving to figure out how to protect his wealth from those who want to take it from him… such a person may bury his wealth somewhere, and after death, be born as a poisonous snake that bites anyone who goes in that area. In fact, such an occurance is described in the seventh chapter of the Gita Mahatmya section of the Padma Purana, spoken by Lord Shiva to Parvati Devi. We won’t get into the details here, but this is how it works…

If I cultivate the consciousness of a hog by thinking and acting like one, the mother nature will give me the body of a hog. If I cultivate the consciousness of a dog by thinking and acting like one, then mother nature will mercifully give me the body of a dog.

However if I do cultivate my original consciousness, that I am a spirit soul, part of the Supreme Whole, and spend my life thinking, feeling, willing, speaking, and acting in that purely spiritual way, then, there will be no death for that person, and where there is no death, there is no (re)birth. Where there is no rebirth, there will be no death.

अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् ।
य: प्रयाति स मद्भ‍ावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशय: ॥ ५ ॥

anta-kāle ca mām eva
smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/5/

For example, if you have spent your lifetime caring for your wealth, possessions, family, or employees or your community or nation, at your moment of departure, you will think of how your projects will continue. You may even ask your physician to give you more time to manage your affairs and leave them properly done. You cannot suddenly think of God. But no one can extend your lifespan even by a single moment.

You may follow another tradition from mine, that is alright. But please understand this fact, that the consciousness you cultivate will determine if you die or live at the moment of your inevitable death. Please purely cultivate God Consciousness, in any tradition.

Hare Krishna!

What does a foetus feel in the womb?

What does a foetus in the womb feel? Are the descriptions in the Scripture confirmed by Science?

Nikhil Mishra, 30 June 2018

Hare Krsna                                                                                

Obeisance to Guru , Gauranga and devotess.

Please refer the below link.

http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/3/31

In it, is described the development of foetus. My question is – has it been seen by modern scientific instrument like ultrasound etc that fetus is totally unhappy n unable to move his/her limbs inside womb?  because in one youtube video, (if i remember correctly !!), they showed one grown baby fetus smiling inside belly of mother!!

Sincerely

Nikhil

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 03 July 2018

Dear Sriman Nikhil,

Hare Krishna!

I think I remember seeing one such video, but really, we all know that videos can be easily faked.

From what I know, yes, the amount of space available to the foetus continuously decreases, and in the initial months, the foetus can swim around, but later on, everything gets progressively very tight – that part is clearly confirmed from data and experience.

In fact, one of the things that expecting mothers are taught to do is to take a few moments throughout the day to monitor that the foetus is moving around – too many just give up their life inside the womb and sometimes the mother doesn’t even know for days after! Re facial expressions, I have seen that the baby as seen in ultrasound images could be neutral, crying, or grimacing.

In any case, the ultrasound lasts for a few seconds or minutes, it cannot be done 24X7.

It is not possible to conclusively confirm, as baby is not verbal until about a year after birth, and the trauma of birth takes away all memory of life in the womb.

I have witnessed childbirth myself. It is no walk in the park, even with all sorts of pain medication. It is clearly Krishna’s mercy that women don’t remember it, otherwise, no one would have children in this world.

There is also no need to doubt the statements of the Bhagavatam which is spotlessly pure and free of fault by the personal statement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself and thousands of other great Vaishnava Acharyas.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Nikhil Mishra, 04 July 2018

Thank you very much Mahabhagavat Prabhu for taking out time to express your views on my question. I really appreciate that and offer my gratitude to you for the same.

Knowing views of other vaisnavas help me to intensify my search about truth and devotion while keeping my intellect sane.

Sincerely

Nikhil

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 05 July 2018

Dear Sriman Nikhil,

Hare Krishna!

I completely understand where you are coming from.

Srila Gurudeva once told me “the sign of a Brahmana is one who can keep two opposing viewpoints in the mind without getting disturbed” and then he added “that is also a definition of intelligence”.

Basically, when we position the scripture and modern scientific understanding as competing against each other, it is always a difficult situation.

But they are not competing fields of knowledge, but complementary fields of knowledge.

Reality is very vast, and there is much of reality that is not materially perceivable – for example, material science expresses thoughts, emotions, as mere eletrochemical reactions. Yes, it is true that someone may observe that my thoughts and emotions might be expressed on one level as electrochemical reactions. BUT, that sort of reductionist viewpoint is incomplete, because we all have personal experience that thoughts and emotions are much more than just electrochemical reactions.

Science explicitly looks for matter, and thus therefore finds matter… starts with the assumption that anything that is not mathematically provable or empirically observable does not exist (though there are inconsistencies there – for example what is the square root of -1, can anyone show me an i?).

Scripture and Science are two different genres of knowledge – you cannot always take the rules of one and apply to the other.

For example, take the image below… reality consists of gross, subtle, and spiritual, but materialistic science only deals with the gross. (Image courtesy of His Grace Chaitanya Charan Das The Spiritual Scientist). Spirituality on the other hand, doesn’t concern itself so much with the gross, but focuses on the subtle and spiritual.

Vedic Oasis for Inspiration Culture and Education, Pune 5 How Are They Diverging Operating Platform Spirit SubtleGross SCI...

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Nikhil Mishra, 05 July 2018

Hare Krsna

Thank you for writing me again Mahabhagavat prabhu. Yes you got the essence of query and your answer further helped me.

Really Vaishnavas are so merciful.

Hari bol

Sincerely

Nikhil

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Escape Manual

In one of my first posts, we explored souls in the material realm . Somehow or other, we are here. In this realm, every action causes reactions, some direct, some indirect. And most actions have consequences, even if the action was “unavoidable”. The consequences of action and reaction is so mind-boggling complex that the best minds are way too feeble to track and comprehend.

If I sow one seed, and that seed gives rise to 10,000 seeds every year, and just a fraction of them, say 1,000 sprout and give rise to 10,000 seeds every year. In just 100 years, how many seeds will this one initial seed produce?

aprarabdha-phalam papam
kutam bijam phalonmukham
kramenaiva praliyeta
visnu-bhakti-ratatmanam

There are different stages of dormant reactions to sinful activities to be observed in a sinful life. Sinful reactions may be just waiting to take effect [phalonmukha], reactions may be still further dormant [kuta], or the reactions may be in a seedlike state [bija]. In any case, all types of sinful reactions are vanquished one after another if a person engages in the devotional service of Lord Visnu.”

Padma Purana

We have been here a long long time, and every moment here, just by the simple act of breathing, prolongs our cycle of reactions.

To live, I need to breathe, I need to eat.

अहस्तानि सहस्तानामपदानि चतुष्पदाम् ।
फल्गूनि तत्र महतां जीवो जीवस्य जीवनम् ॥ ४७ ॥
ahastāni sahastānām
apadāni catuṣ-padām
phalgūni tatra mahatāṁ
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam
Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/13/47/

So how can a being trapped in this endless cycle of action, reaction, birth and death ever escape?

Here is the Escape Manual!

Anyone who reads and strives to apply the principles of the Bhagavad Gita “The Song of God” gets on the trajectory of escape from the material realm. And anyone who begins that journey gains ever-increasing momentum, even if progress may be imperceptible at first.

If you need a copy, let me know!

Surf’s Up!

In my recent travels, I’ve been to the coastal regions of Southern California quite a bit. There, I had a chance to witness surfers in action. My personal experience with them, (when they’re not far out on the water) is that they’re insightful. I feel a connection with surfer dudes and dudettes. They’re certainly out there seriously looking to catch the next big wave, and so are all of us.

There are different types of oceans to surf on. There are the traders who surf the waves of the markets, and the emergency medical staff who surf the waves of calm, accidents, and disasters, there are the surfers of corporate politics, and of course, among the most skillful surfers in the material world, politicians of various kinds… But all these oceans are material in nature.

Eventually one becomes too weak to be able to surf materially at all (old age, death, and disease), and then one has to eventually give up this body, and give up all the assets, relationships, privileges, and all identity associated with the present body left behind. The ocean of material existence is ultimately exhausting, all that effort and we go nowhere. And once all the waves I’ve earned are “caught”, there are no more left, until I strive hard to earn more, start from scratch. Such a waste. A bad deal.

I do have to surf a few different waves of material nature yet, but for the last couple of decades, had the great good fortune to first dip my toes, and then dive headlong into, the unlimited ocean of spiritual nectar. Those waves are sweet and refreshing, never-endingly adventurous, and one never tires of them. And one can go on surfing for all of eternity. These waves of spiritual bliss take one higher and higher, and there is no hankering, each wave is simply delicious!

It’s a matter of my previous actions and resulting reactions that I still have anything to do with the waves of material nature, but there will surely be a day when I will never leave the ocean of spiritual bliss.

While I do not yet have a personal experience of what Rupa Goswami writes below, I pray to never leave the waves of the oceans of nectar generated by the vibration of the syllables “krish-na”. Spiritual assets, relationships, privileges, and identity are guaranteed, I do take them all with me to any new destination.

tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ vitanute tuṇḍāvalī-labdhaye
karṇa-kroḍa-kaḍambinī ghaṭayate karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām
cetaḥ-prāṅgaṇa-saṅginī vijayate sarvendriyāṇāṁ kṛtiṁ
no jāne janitā kiyadbhir amṛtaiḥ kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayī

“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’ have produced. When the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.” https://www.vedabase.com/cc/antya/1/99

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