Tag: sin

Next Class: Why does someone act against their own self interest? Srimad Bhagavatam Class ISKCON Toronto Sunday 5 May 2024

The ISKCON Toronto Srimad Bhagavatam Class on 05 May 2024 at 7:30 AM (Eastern Time) will address the guidance of Lord Rishabhadeva on understanding our actions, the motivation behind them, and their consequences. The class will be recorded and shared. Join in person or online to explore how to avoid long-term pain for short-term gain, and how to find lasting happiness devoid of undesirable reactions.

Hare Krishna!

ISKCON Toronto Srimad Bhagavatam Class on 05 May 2024 7:30 AM (Eastern Time)

ISKCON Toronto Youtube

ISKCON Toronto, 243 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON, M5R 2J6

I will also record this class. Later on, I will send out a link of the recording to those who have expressed interest.

Please contact if you’re interested in this class.

Class Overview

Despite knowing that certain actions are not in one’s own best self-interest, why do people still act in that way? What impels them to hurt themselves?

This is one of the instructions spoken by Lord Rishabhadeva, an incarnation of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These instructions were given to his sons.

ŚB 5.5.4


नूनं प्रमत्त: कुरुते विकर्म
यदिन्द्रियप्रीतय आपृणोति ।
न साधु मन्ये यत आत्मनोऽय-
मसन्नपि क्लेशद आस देह: ॥ ४ ॥


nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam
asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ

Synonyms
nūnam — indeed; pramattaḥ — mad; kurute — performs; vikarma — sinful activities forbidden in the scriptures; yat — when; indriya-prītaye — for sense gratification; āpṛṇoti — engages; na — not; sādhu — befitting; manye — I think; yataḥ — by which; ātmanaḥ — of the soul; ayam — this; asan — being temporary; api — although; kleśa-daḥ — giving misery; āsa — became possible; dehaḥ — the body.

Translation
When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery. Actually the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification by which he perpetually gets material bodies one after another.

Purport
Begging, borrowing and stealing to live for sense gratification is condemned in this verse because such consciousness leads one to a dark, hellish condition. The four sinful activities are illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. These are the means by which one gets another material body that is full of miseries. In the Vedas it is said: asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ. The living entity is not really connected with this material world, but due to his tendency to enjoy the material senses he is put into the material condition. One should perfect his life by associating with devotees. He should not become further implicated in the material body.

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?

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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The Profession of Confession and Atonement

In many religious traditions, there is the concept of confessing and atoning for sins. But why do people keep sinning and keep confessing, keep atoning? What is the use of such confession and atonement? What can be done to completely get out of this nasty habit of committing sinful activities?

Some souls accept the authority of God in theory, but not in practice. In the article “Love of God, The Ultimate Variety“, I wrote about fear vs. love… who fears God? One who does not properly follow the instructions of God must necessarily fear God. Just like ordinary citizens are not afraid of the police, but the thief is.

The idea is that just as there is the state law, there is also God’s law. And just as someone who flouts the state law becomes a criminal or an outlaw, similarly, one who flouts God’s law also faces reactions. And depending on the severity of the crime, the reactions can be rather heavy.

In some traditions, practically all religious traditions, there is the idea of “atonement” or in Sanskrit “praayaschitta”. This has been formalized in so many different ways, for example, Christians often go to Church and then confess their sins to the priest. The priest says “OK, repent by doing this and this”, or maybe a Hindu might go to the temple and the priest might tell her “give this and that charity to such-and-such to atone for this sin”.

The atonement is supposed to release the soul of the sinful reaction for a much lower “cost”…

Confession, useful, but is it enough?

But even with or without atonement, though there is hellish punishment that purifies the sinner of the sinful reactions, the soul commits sin again, after all the purification! Why is this?

Do you know what the problem is?

क्‍वचिन्निवर्ततेऽभद्रात्‍क्‍वचिच्चरति तत्पुन: ।
प्रायश्चित्तमथोऽपार्थं मन्ये कुञ्जरशौचवत् ॥ १० ॥

kvacin nivartate ’bhadrāt
kvacic carati tat punaḥ
prāyaścittam atho ’pārthaṁ
manye kuñjara-śaucavat

Sometimes one who is very alert so as not to commit sinful acts is victimized by sinful life again. I therefore consider this process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless. It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/10/
An elephant bathes in the water

Let’s examine the elephant… the elephant goes to the river and takes a bath in the river. Then the elephant comes out and pours dirt, sand and dust on itself after it comes out. Now, the wildlife experts may say why the elephant is doing that, how it protects its skin etc., but let’s just keep to the spirit of the example here.

An elephant dusts itself with mud

If we treat a confession or atonement as a bath, then why is it that people perform the required atonement and then sin again? Why do you need to take a bath again and again? Because you got dirty again after the last bath!

In the material world, dirt is unavoidable, our very bodies are quite dirty, and need to be cleansed again and again. But what about the spirit soul? Is the spirit soul not clean originally?

Hindus bathe in the Ganga to atone for their sins

Is it a good thing to become a professional at confession and atonement? There is no doubt that God is infinitely merciful… and can forgive unlimitedly. Does anyone think that God is such a fool as to accept repeated confessions of a professional sinner without giving the proper reactions to maintain fairness? God is also unlimitedly wise!

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, the highly intelligent Maharaja Parikshit and Shukadeva Goswami had this wonderful conversation on this topic. To this question, the answer given was:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent. Indeed, they are in the mode of darkness. Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one’s desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously. Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedānta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/11/

But knowledge enough is not sufficient, one must act on that knowledge, Shukadeva Goswami continues…

My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him. Similarly, if one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/12/

One should go beyond the lifestyle that produces sinful desires…

तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण शमेन च दमेन च ।
त्यागेन सत्यशौचाभ्यां यमेन नियमेन वा ॥ १३ ॥
देहवाग्बुद्धिजं धीरा धर्मज्ञा: श्रद्धयान्विता: ।
क्षिपन्त्यघं महदपि वेणुगुल्ममिवानल: ॥ १४ ॥

tapasā brahmacaryeṇa
śamena ca damena ca
tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ
yamena niyamena vā

deha-vāg-buddhijaṁ dhīrā
dharmajñāḥ śraddhayānvitāḥ
kṣipanty aghaṁ mahad api
veṇu-gulmam ivānalaḥ

To concentrate the mind, one must observe a life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of voluntarily giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and senses, give charity, be truthful, clean and nonviolent, follow the regulative principles and regularly chant the holy name of the Lord. Thus a sober and faithful person who knows the religious principles is temporarily purified of all sins performed with his body, words and mind. These sins are like the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree, which may be burned by fire although their roots remain to grow again at the first opportunity.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/13-14/

It is commonly seen that even priests, supposed to be God’s representatives, sin, what to speak of the lay person! This means that even though one may lead a very closely regulated lifestyle, the desire to sin can still remain hidden as a root within the heart. So what is the ultimate solution?

केचित्केवलया भक्त्या वासुदेवपरायणा: ।
अघं धुन्वन्ति कार्त्स्‍न्येन नीहारमिव भास्कर: ॥ १५ ॥

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā
vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ
aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena
nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ

Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/15/

So therefore, it is impossible to be completely pure without being a pure devotee of God. Without being a pure lover of God, one cannot escape this sin. In fact, when one is rendering devotional service, at that time it is impossible to sin, because where is the time and the energy to perform sinful actions?

So therefore, instead of sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing, sinning and atoning, sinning and atoning, one should seek to develop pure uncontaminated Love of God in a practical way, which is the only way to be free of the desire and tendency to sin.

My spiritual master says it best “it’s hard to hit a moving target, so keep moving for Krishna, if you give illusion an inch, you will lose your life!”

What to do about unknowingly committed sins?

What do do about unknowingly committed sins?

Rashmi Chhabra, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna everyone.

Please accept my humble obeisances

I have a query. When we breathe, we kill microbes. When we walk we may kill ants or other tiny creatures. Definitely we are doing sins like this and many other times when we are unaware of.

How to counter or at least minimize reactions from such sins?

Thank you all,

Rashmi

Bhakta Sunil, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Regarding your question, i found the following Question-Answer dated 4th May 2019 from daily emails via www.joincourse.com

Question: What is Karma?

What is karma? Is it daily mundane work? Or is it something else?

Ashish Tiwary

Answer:  Our Actions

From: Riga, Latvia

My Dear Ashish,

Please accept my blessings.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Karma is our actions. They bring a material reaction. Everything we do creates a karmic reaction, even our breathing. For example, when we breathe we kill so many microbial germs. The karmic reaction for this is that in a future lifetime we will become microbial germs to be killed by the very same microbial germ, who is now in a human form, that we killed.

The only escape from this powerful wheel of karma is to fully surrender to Krishna, who then mercifully frees us from all of our karmic reactions and takes us back to His eternal abode where there is no birth, no death, no old age, and no disease. There we will enjoy an eternal life, full of bliss, andcfull of knowledge.

I hope this meets you in the best of health

and in an ecstatic mood.

Your ever well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sudarshan Das, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Please accept my humble obeisances

That’s a very beautiful question. It is beautiful because Arjuna had asked the same question.

arjuna uvāca

atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ

pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ

anicchann api vārṣṇeya

balād iva niyojitaḥ

Synonyms:

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said; atha — then; kena — by what; prayuktaḥ — impelled; ayam — one; pāpam — sins; carati — does; pūruṣaḥ — a man; anicchan — without desiring; api — although; vārṣṇeya — O descendant of Vṛṣṇi; balāt — by force; iva — as if; niyojitaḥ — engaged.

Translation:

Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Bhagavad-gītā 3.36

Simple answer is to be at the stage of doing akarma. When you walk, walk for Krishna; when you breath, breath for Krishna. This way you are not subjected to any sin or reactions.

Your Servant,

Sudarshan Das

Bhakta Shashank, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mata ji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Lord Krishna Says in Bhagavata Gita 18th Chapter, 66th verse:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Translation:

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/

So we just have to surrender to Krishna and He will take are of everything. But how to do that? We can do that by surrendering to the Spiritual Master.

Your servant,

Sacinandana Das.

Shridhar Das, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisance,

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All Glories to Sri Guru & sri Gauranga!

Seeing the enthusiasm, I am also inspired to answer.

Material world is such that one cannot pass a moment without sinning as examples in your question clearly states. Laws of material nature implicates and keeps us all by its shackles in various alluring forms.

Only a rare person in this age of Kali even cares to know how to get rid of such an implication.

Actually, I had once heard from a superior that there is sin tank in our hearts. When we perform devotional activity we immediately become sinless and experience happiness. But later, again the sinful reactions stock up. So this is an ever going cycle.

The solution is that we don’t have to worry about “Becoming sinless” but about “Being Krishna Conscious” as the devotees have already answered wonderfully below by choosing apt verses.

There is no need to give up our routine tasks, but simply changing the goal for whom we are doing the act.

In that way, our working a job, our cooking food, buying vegetables, our saving time, our earning/spending money, sleeping/rising on time, etc. everything will remain the same but because the goal becomes to please Guru & Krishna, all unintended sinful activities shall never act upon us. Not only that, any inclination to commit sinful activity also is uprooted!!! That is speciality of Acting in Transcendental Knowledge. That is why devotees take responsibilities for Krishna in form of Temple Services which keeps them busy in serving Krishna & His devotees. There are various services on this group as well.

In conclusion, the reactions from past constantly keep acting on us but the shield of Krishna Consciousness around us will powder those reactions into dust. We simply need to think of pleasure of Guru & Krishna in whatever we do – will this action/thought/plan/word be a nice offering to Them?

Your servant

Shridhar das

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