Websites from the ISKCON Universe
By Vijaya Das So far, September turned out to be one of the most successful months of the year. Ten temples reported over a 999% increase--amazing! ISV was the #1 temple in the world--incredible! Mayapur is so huge nobody was even getting close to them, so quite a surprise. Continue reading "WSN September 2024 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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Govardhan Puja event. On November 2, 2024, more than 1,200 devotees from remote villages in the Satpura hill range came together to celebrate the auspicious Giriraj Govardhan Puja Mahotsav. The event, led by Nitaipad Das and Markatshyam Das, with the cooperation of Upanand Das, Jayant, Gopal, Vasant, and Chaitanya, took place in a tribal region […]
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The Bhagavata Academy, a spiritual retreat center in Sealy, TX, suffered a great loss last November from an electrical fire. The fire caused over $50,000 worth of damage, including the workshop and guest housing. Thankfully, there were no injuries. The residents are hoping to have the new guest quarters completed by the end of this […]
The post Bhagavata Academy Recovers from Devastating Fire, Looks to Future with Hope appeared first on ISKCON News.
November 14, 1977, at 7:30 p.m., in his room at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir in Vrindavana, Srila Prabhupada gave his final instruction by leaving this mortal world and going back to Godhead.
Ācārya means one who knows the purport of the sāstra, and he behaves himself according to the shastric regulative principle and teaches his disciple in that way. Ācārya means whose behavior, whose activities should be followed. That is called ācārya. Being the founder acarya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada continued teaching us with his own example.
“His departure was exemplary because his whole life was exemplary. His departure marked the completion of a lifetime of pure devotional service to Krishna. A few days before the end, Srila Prabhupada had said he was instructing as far as he could, and his secretary had added, “You are the inspiration.” “Yes,” Srila Prabhupada had replied, “that I shall do until the last breathing.”
Srila Prabhupada’s departure was glorious because he remained in perfect Krishna consciousness, chanting and hearing the holy names of Krishna.”
Nestled in the vibrant city of Oslo, Norway, the ISKCON Oslo Yatra is a community that has undergone significant growth and transformation over the years. The Oslo temple serves as a beacon of spirituality in one of the world’s most secular countries, serving both long-standing devotees and newcomers to Krishna consciousness. At the helm of […]
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Answer Podcast
Transcription :
Transcriber: Suresh Gupta
Question: If someone puts in the same efforts as me but gets better results, how to avoid envy?
Answer: All of us are on a multi life-time journey where actions and results are not simply a linear connection. We see that a particular action done by us leads to a particular result and when someone else does the same action, it produces different result. Although causes and effects are connected, the connection between cause and effects is not simply linear or a one-to-one correspondence. For example, two farmers living in different part of the country may individually do the same action of sowing seeds, ploughing their land but if it rains only in one part of the country and not in the other part then the place where it rained, the farmer will get lots of harvest and the other place where it did not rain, the farmer may not get any harvest.
In Sanskrit, all these factors are described as karma (action), daiva (destiny), kaala (time) and phalah (fruit). We perform karma (action) to produce phalah (fruit) but actually there are two more factors involved: daiva and kaala. So, the entire equation is karma + daiva + kaala together lead to phalah. In this case, the karma is the farmer ploughing the land, sowing the seeds; daiva is the rains coming; kaala is the passage of time until the harvesting season and finally it leads to phalah.
Whenever we do any action, we need to understand that they alone do not determine the results. Our actions do play an important role – the farmer has to plough the land, sow the seeds but that alone does not bring the result. Sometimes, we may go through a phase when the daiva or the destiny is not favourable and because of that, even after doing the work, result does not come. If we look back at our life, we will remember situations where although we had put in small efforts, still we got a good result. Along with our hard work, many things would have fell right in place (e.g. we might have found the right contact, a particular thing happened on time etc.). The results achieved require not just our good performance but also other things. Thus, daiva is an accumulated sum total of the karma that we have done in the past.
When we do not get the results, it means that karma is not leading to phalah because daiva is not favourable. Daiva is like weather – sometimes cold, sometimes hot. It is not that daiva will always be unfavourable. One must learn to tolerate such events and be patient. There is no need to be envious of others because everybody has done a mix of good and bad karmas. With this understanding, we would not deem ourselves as failure for not producing a result.
Ultimately, nothing is gained by envy. Therefore, we should instead focus on doing our best then even when the results do not come, we are at least becoming better at what we are doing. We are growing internally. Einstein said, ‘’Strive to become a man of values, not a man of wealth”. Values are enduring and wealth is fleeting but if we develop the culture of discipline, dedication and values, then that will bring results in due course of time.
End of transcription.
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Once, on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened, and thus we experience the beauty of his presence—in separation.
To straightaway speak about Srila Prabhupada’s departure feels abrupt to me, because it is a painful topic; but remembering Srila Prabhupada’s words that the disappearance is also beautiful, I wanted to share with you a lesson I learned from his departure.
A few days before he was to leave us, Srila Prabhupada expressed a desire to travel by bullock cart to different holy places in India. His Holiness Lokanath Swami had been traveling by bullock cart to different places of pilgrimage, and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened when Lokanath Swami reported to him in Vrindavan. Prabhupada said that he too would like to go on pilgrimage on a bullock cart. He asked Lokanath Swami to arrange it, and Lokanath Swami was enthusiastic, having been encouraged by Prabhupada in such a direct way. He immediately went to organize the cart and make all the arrangements. Govardhana-puja was to take place in a couple of days, and Prabhupada said that he would begin his pilgrimage by traveling on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to celebrate Govardhana-puja with the Vraja-vasis.
At that time, Srila Prabhupada was bedridden and emaciated. He was unable to eat, and he was able only to sip a little liquid. So he was very gaunt and weak, with almost no energy. He would just lie on his bed, and sometimes, with great difficulty, he would speak softly, often so faintly that only those very close to him could hear his words.
There were many devotees in the room when Srila Prabhupada had his exchange with Lokanath Swami. And immediately after the discussion ended and devotees went outside, they began to express two strong, heartfelt opinions about what Srila Prabhupada should do—and, more than that, how we as disciples should relate to Srila Prabhupada and serve him.
One group, which included Lokanath Swami and other esteemed, senior disciples, such as Hamsaduta Prabhu and Baradraj Prabhu, felt that we should just do what the spiritual master orders. We shouldn’t question his order; we should just execute it. And some of the other disciples, many of whom had been attending to Prabhupada’s personal care, felt that Prabhupada’s health would not sustain his travels on a bullock cart and that, because he was so emaciated (he had practically no flesh on his bones), it would be very painful for him to go. Even if they padded the cart with a mattress, it would still be a basic bullock cart, and the roads in Vraja were very rough, so the movement of the cart would jostle Prabhupada and he would feel pain. Some devotees feared that he might even give up his body on the way. So, they did not want him to be subjected to what they foresaw as certain pain—and perhaps the dire consequence of death.
But this second position was very difficult to maintain under the circumstances, because Srila Prabhupada was so emphatic. “Let me travel to all the tirtha-sthanas,” he had said—to all the holy places. And whatever objections devotees had raised against the proposal, he had countered. “One-day experiment,” he had pleaded. “Rest assured. I will not die in one day.” When even Prabhupada’s kaviraja had predicted that with all the jostling on the bullock cart, Prabhupada would not survive more than two hours, Prabhupada had replied, “But I think I shall be cured.” Still, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, Bhavananda Maharaja, and others felt strongly that this “experiment” would have dire consequences. But how to convince Prabhupada?
So, the controversy continued. When Prabhupada said, “I think I shall be cured,” Hamsaduta and others took it that he was supporting their position. But the other side took it differently: “What does it mean that he is going to be cured? It means that he is going to leave his body and get a spiritual body. That’s how he is going to get cured.” Each party was seeing things in a particular way that supported their particular point of view.
Finally, things came to the stage where the bullock cart was waiting outside the gates of the Krishna-Balaram Mandir. Everything was being readied. And for the devotees who were in the mood that Srila Prabhupada should stay, it must have been like when the residents of Vrindavan saw Akrura getting the chariot ready to take Krishna to Mathura.
The evening before the planned parikrama, Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed (many of you have seen his bed in his house in Vrindavan). Bhakti Charu Swami was in the room, and Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother Akincana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja was there for a visit. Babaji Maharaja was a very advanced devotee; Srila Prabhupada had said that he was a paramahamsa. He was always engaged in hari-nama, absorbed in hari-nama, and he was always blissful. And he and Prabhupada had an extraordinarily affectionate relationship.
So, Bhakti Charu thought, “Let me appeal to Babaji Maharaja. If he asks Prabhupada not to go, then Prabhupada may listen.” And when he explained the situation to Babaji Maharaja, Maharaja declared, “Then he shouldn’t go.”
“So, do you all jointly request me not to go?” Srila Prabhupada asked when Maharaja had conveyed his conclusion. “Ji,” Maharaja confirmed.
“We were getting so upset,” Tamal Krishna agreed. “Two devotees told me this road is so bad that if you go on it, you’re going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. If anybody wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you’re in this condition? I can’t understand it.”
“All right,” Srila Prabhupada said. “I will not go.”
“Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda. “I was in too much anxiety.”
“No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety. I shall do what you like.”
“Actually, Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “we’re so attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight we were becoming mad.”
“No, I shall not do that,” Prabhupada said. And to Babaji Maharaja he added, “Just see how much they love me . . . Left hand, right hand. I cannot refuse.”
“The way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment every moment,” Tamal Krishna said.
And Prabhupada replied, “It is my duty.”
For the devotees in the room, it was a jubilant occasion that Prabhupada had agreed to wait. As Tamal Krishna Goswami had said, “We will take you on tirtha-yatra, to all the places. Just get a little stronger.” But when the news reached the other group, they were upset: “This is not our duty as disciples, to try to prevail upon our spiritual master. Our duty is to execute his will. He said that he wants to go by bullock cart to Govardhana, and our duty is to arrange for what he wants. Our duty is not to advise him or prevail upon him according to our perception.” The controversy continued until the end—the anniversary of which is today.
Prabhupada spent his last three days with his disciples at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir, and the last day he didn’t speak. His only words were in the morning, when the kaviraja asked him to drink some juice and he replied, “Meri kuch iccha nahin”: “I have no desire.” After that, Prabhupada didn’t speak. He was in a completely internal state of consciousness, and the devotees surrounded him with kirtan. For the last few hours, in the afternoon, the leaders opened up the doors to everyone. Young, old, children, men, women—all were allowed to be in the room with Srila Prabhupada and to reciprocate love with him. Then, at about 7:26 p.m., his tongue and mouth moved—“Hare Krishna”—and he left.
As for the controversy, it continued; even after Prabhupada left, the feelings still ran strong on both sides. And I still couldn’t determine who was right. There were devotees senior to me on both sides—devotees whom I respected and had served. Personally, I may have been closer to some of the ones engaged in Srila Prabhupada’s personal service, but still I wasn’t sure who was right, and it was on my mind.
It was my habit, or practice, to chant japa in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms (though not when he was there), and after he departed, I did that. I was in his room chanting japa, and behind his bed was an area with his bookshelves. So, I found a little corner there and was chanting japa, when somehow my eyes fell upon the new volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam that had just arrived—the Tenth Canto, Volume Two. It had been delivered into Srila Prabhupada’s hands in his last days. When the devotees had presented the book to Srila Prabhupada and he was looking at the pictures, everyone could see the love in his eyes. Tamal Krishna Goswami had remarked, “How much love for Krishna Prabhupada has,” as evident from the way Prabhupada had been looking at the pictures of Krishna. So, I saw the book. It had gold embossing, made especially for Srila Prabhupada. I opened it up, and it happened to open to Chapter Nine: “Mother Yasoda Binds Krsna.” I read a few verses and purports, and then I came to a verse that, to me, answered the question:
TEXT 19
evam sandarsita hy anga
harina bhrtya-vasyata
sva-vasenapi krsnena
yasyedam sesvaram vase
TRANSLATION
O Maharaja Pariksit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Krsna in this pastime.
COMMENT
The pastime is encapsulated in the previous verse:
TEXT 18
sva-matuh svinna-gatraya
visrasta-kabara-srajah
drstva parisramam krsnah
krpayasit sva-bandhane
TRANSLATION
Because of Mother Yasoda’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Krsna saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.
COMMENT
When I read these verses, I thought, “This is what happened.” The spiritual master is the transparent medium through which Krishna manifests Himself. Of course, in vraja-bhakti the relationship with Krishna is different. In Vraja, Krishna exhibits nara-lila, humanlike pastimes, in which there is complete intimacy and freedom between the devotees and the Lord. In the relationship between the disciples and spiritual master, there is always an element of awe and reverence—and duty. Still, duty is meant to lead to love. And Srila Prabhupada did say to Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.”
One month earlier, there had been another incident. Srila Prabhupada had stopped drinking. Previously, he had said that when his father had wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that this was a bona fide way to give up one’s body when the time came. Prabhupada didn’t make any announcement or anything; he just stopped drinking.
Upendra dasa, a very sweet devotee who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant at the time, innocently said to him, “Prabhupada, you have to drink. If you don’t drink, you will become dehydrated. And Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” That decision—whether Prabhupada should drink or not—was no small matter.
So, Abhirama informed the GBC, and the GBC and senior devotees came into the room. Prabhupada said, “If I want to survive, of course I’ll have to take something. But my survival means so many inconveniences. Therefore I have decided to die peacefully.”
“Everything is in the hands of Krishna,” said Tamal Krishna. And that had been the mood, coming from Srila Prabhupada: everything depended on Krishna. Many times Prabhupada had said that he would accept whatever Krishna desired. If Krishna allowed him to stay, he would stay. And if Krishna wanted him to go, he would go. Previously, a disciple had asked him, “You said that your guru maharaja left early because he was disgusted. Is that the case with you?”
“No,” Srila Prabhupada had replied. “No. If Krishna allows me to stay in your association, I will be most happy to stay in your association.”
Now, however, Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes and said, “Krishna wants me to do as I like. The choice is mine. He has given me full freedom.” This was a different mood—a completely different answer. And it gave—and gives—us a glimpse into the intimate reciprocation between Prabhupada and Krishna.
So, we all went out into the anteroom and discussed. Kirtanananda Swami’s point was most clear and lucid and intelligent. “If Krishna has given Prabhupada the choice and Prabhupada is giving us the choice,” he said, “then we should ask Prabhupada to stay.” Everyone agreed: “Yes, we should ask him to stay.” Then a devotee said, “But all the GBC men aren’t here.” And Brahmananda retorted, “Come on. What GBC is going to say that they don’t want Prabhupada to stay?” So, it was decided, unanimously. We would go back into Prabhupada’s room and tell him that we wanted him to stay; Kirtanananda Swami would be the spokesman.
When we went back into the room, Prabhupada was lying quietly on his bed. As soon as we finished offering obeisances, Kirtanananda broke down and started sobbing. He couldn’t speak. Brahmananda, sitting behind him, rubbed his back to soothe him. Then Kirtanananda managed, “Srila Prabhupada, if Krishna has given you the choice, then don’t go! We need you!” Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is this your joint opinion? Have you discussed?” “Yes, we have all met together. We want you to remain and lead the movement and finish the Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
Prabhupada was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he yawned and said, “All right.” Just like that. He agreed to stay in such a nonchalant way. All the devotees were jubilant. Within ourselves, we were rejoicing: “Prabhupada is going to stay! Prabhupada’s going to stay! He is not going to leave us. He is going to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam. He is going to lead the movement.”
And Prabhupada said, “This is real affection.”
So, when I read this verse from the Tenth Canto, I thought of these two incidents and put them together. In both cases, when the disciples had expressed themselves—“We want you to stay,” “We want you to get healthy”—Prabhupada had said, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.” So, I think that all the disciples in this controversy were acting on the basis of their realization of their devotion for Srila Prabhupada, but I believe that what Prabhupada really was doing was drawing out our loving sentiments—beyond our just following the order. Following the order is a given; there is no question. We have to follow the order of the spiritual master. To disobey the order of the spiritual master is an offense against the holy name. It is a basic principle of spiritual life. So, we are not talking about disobeying the order of the spiritual master; we are talking about developing loving feelings for the spiritual master and expressing them to him. When Srila Prabhupada brought us to that stage in those two incidents, he commented, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.”
Relating the verse from the Tenth Canto to what Srila Prabhupada did with us, there’s also a parallel between the damodara-lila and that principle of spontaneous love. Every night during the month of Damodara, we recite the Damodarastaka, including verse three:
itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavrtti vande
“By such pastimes He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy and revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His devotee’s pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.”
The damodara-lila shows pure, spontaneous love’s special power to conquer the Lord. The Lord comes under the control of such pure love. In the same way, Srila Prabhupada—not exactly that he came under the control of our love, but I would say that he brought that love out from deep within the recesses of our hearts, and then he reciprocated with us by coming under our control, by agreeing to our requests.
So, this is a very deep pastime of Srila Prabhupada’s. Among the disciples who were around him at the end, it was understood that he was the perfect acharya—he had taught us by his own example how to live in Krishna consciousness, and now he was teaching us how to die in Krishna consciousness. That was the general idea in those months and weeks, that he was showing us how to retire to a holy place and how to be absorbed in hearing the holy names of the Lord, and how up until the end, even in his delicate condition, he was trying to push forward the mission and was translating and dictating purports to Srimad-Bhagavatam—until the very end. In that way, he was showing us how to die in Krishna consciousness. But within that final lesson he also brought us to this more intimate level of exchange where we could express to him our heart’s deepest desires even in spite of the barriers that I would say he deliberately put up. He deliberately put up the barriers, but then he inspired us to break through them to reach out to him and express our love for him and ask him to stay with us.
Even though Srila Prabhupada has now left that body, we still have that choice: Do we want him to stay with us or not? And I remember that at that time, although we had been going along in the mood that whatever Krishna wanted was all right, when we understood what really should have been in our hearts—that we wanted him to stay—we thought, “Maybe we want to be the controllers, to be the enjoyers.” So, there is always that question: Do we want the kingdom of God without God, without God’s representative, or do we want the kingdom of God with God, with His representative, as their humble servants? And so I pray to Srila Prabhupada that I will always remember this lesson and always pray and act in such a way that he will be pleased to stay with each of us individually and all of us collectively—and bind us to his lotus feet eternally.
Hare Krishna.
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day, November 14, 2007, Mayapur]
Yesterday, at the Hindu Sabha Mandir, a Hindu temple in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, there was an incident during a temple event. Pro-Khalistan movement protesters held a demonstration outside the temple, which escalated into violence. It is unclear what led to the protest turning violent and who initiated the violence. Today, ISKCON Communications North America released […]
The post ISKCON NA Communications Issues Statement on Hindu Sabha Mandir Attack in Canada appeared first on ISKCON News.
From: mahadev
1.Does repression of sexual instinct is harmful in any way to mind & body. What should be a balanced view towards it ?
2.What measures you take and suggest to someone who is trying to get over it ?
3.My take on it is that unless there is some thing higher it is impossible to overcome it ? Please suggest if there are measures one can take irrespective of religion/ideologies he is following.
Thanks a lot for your guidance.
Transcription (edited) by- Keshavgopal Das
Question- Is repression of sexual instinct harmful in any way to mind and body? What should be a balanced view towards it? What measures can one take who is trying to get over it? My take on it is that unless there is something higher it is impossible to overcome it. Please suggest measures that one can take irrespective of religion and ideologies one is following.
Answer (short)-
Answer (long)- The repression of sexual instinct is entirely natural and necessary for civilized human existence. Some amount of regulation, if it were not there, we could not have even a family existing if everyone started acting on any passing sexual desire that comes to mind. Then we cannot have any sanctity, for example, in relationship between son and mother, daughter and father, brother and sister or other relatives.
The idea that we can express every desire that comes in our mind is conducive to social chaos. That is why in all the religions and cultures in the world there has been a tradition of marriage which allows regulated and civilized expression for the sexual instinct.
Repression in the sense of just saying complete no-no to the desire for pleasure will constitute torture of oneself. We are pleasure seeking individuals and we need pleasure somewhere. You can read the article ‘What’s wrong with sex?’ on this website to fully understand how sexual instinct cannot satisfy our longing for pleasure because it is temporary, illusory, and miserable. Redirecting our desire for pleasure towards Krishna can help us to experience a higher happiness and thereby bring the sexual instinct purposely under control and gradually by spiritual advancement go beyond it completely.
Yes, we certainly need a higher taste to overcome sexual desire. Connection with God especially by chanting His holy name is a very practical and powerful way to prevent our mind of thoughts of sex and fix it on God by which we can experience a higher peace and pleasure.
A balanced view is that we cannot obviously express every sexual desire that comes in the mind; nobody in world can do that. Hiranyakashyipu, as described in Srimad Bhagvatam, tried to fulfill every desire that came to his mind, even then he was not satisfied. The nature of the desires is such that the more we feed them the stronger they grow. It is like putting fuel in fire. On the other hand, a total repression will make us feel tortured. In the Vedic culture those who are strongly inspired, inclined, and determined to become free from the sexual instinct, they take the path of renunciation (path of brahmacharis and sannyasis). They live in a particular kind of culture which is conducive for that and majority of others will enter into family life (path of grihasthas). In grihastha ashram the man and woman will regulate the sexual desire within sacred bonds of marriage. This regulation is not repression. Regulation if done within the bounds of marriage and it is accompanied by spiritual culture and activities that give us spiritual experience then the higher happiness will make one feel a sort of distaste and one will realize the futility and the emptiness of the promises of the sexual happiness the world bombards us with. Even within framework of marriage one can gradually go beyond the sex desire. Therefore, the balanced view is that we need to regulate the desire within the sacred bonds of marriage and get a higher taste through connection with God to go gradually beyond the desire.
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In October, ISKCON Hungary hosted an early celebration of Diwali (Dipavali), known as “The Festival of Lights,” an event with a long-standing tradition in the local community. This exclusive gala dinner is held annually in Budapest, inviting key supporters of the yatra, public figures, decision-makers, goodwill friends, professional partners involved in Food for Life, members […]
The post Devotees Celebrate Dipavali in Hungary with a Special Gala Event appeared first on ISKCON News.
Transcribed by: Bhaktin Raji Nachiappan
Question: Isn’t the Gita’s comparing women with vaishyas and shudras derogatory?
Answer: This can be explained at three levels:
Firstly, is it that Lord Krishna is endorsing the comparison of women with vaishyas and shudras or is he simply stating that? Let us examine verse 9.32 of Bhagavad-gita where the reference comes:
maam hi partha vyapashritya, ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaishyas tatha shudras, te ’pi yanti param gatim
Here, what is the thrust of the verse? That even those who are vaishyas, shudras, women and the
lowborn can also attain perfection. The thrust of the verse is not to show how women are, rather to show how potent bhakti is. The potency of bhakti is such that whoever you are, bhakti can elevate to the supreme perfection.
Equating women with a particular social grouping is not a teaching of the Bhagavad-gita. That is just a statement where Lord Krishna is just echoing the conceptions of society at that time. Earlier in the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says sa kalenaha mahata yogo nashtah parantapa (BG 4.2) which means that by the power of time, that primeval knowledge which he had given was lost. That means that the culture that Lord Krishna appeared in, is not the ideal culture. The culture that the Mahabharata describes is the deviated culture. That is why Lord Krishna had to come to correct the situation, dharma samsthapnarthaya (BG 4.8). Therefore, were the cultural conceptions at that time necessarily right? We do not know which one is right and which is not. However, one thing is that, it is clearly not the teaching of the Gita. Everything that is in the scripture is not necessarily the teaching of the scripture. Sometimes scripture may just be describing the socio-cultural reality at that time.
Secondly, even if we consider the social situation at that time, the whole Bhagavad-gita is a
description about attaining transcendence or spiritual reality. For gaining spiritual knowledge and
attaining spiritual reality, in the broad human society, there are certain dispositions which are moresuitable. The brahmanas are more analytical and intellectual and they are best suited for spiritual understanding. Kshatriyas also have some amount of sattva which regulates their rajas and hence they are also suitable for understanding the spiritual reality. Then, there are the vaishyas and the shudras. We need to understand that at times, there are certain people who would be very money minded, not necessarily in a sinful materialistic way. For such people, it is very difficult to think about the other world. In the same way, it was acknowledged that vaishyas and shudras may never be able to take sannyas and they may not even take vanaprastha. Usually brahmanas take sannyas and kshatriyas take vanaprastha.
For the shudras, it is said that the only reformatory ceremony is vivaha or marriage. What does this mean? This means that in the Vedic culture, it was acknowledged that certain people may not be at a level to embrace renunciation or the path of spiritual elevation. This is simply a fact of life with respect to peoples’ spiritual receptivity.
Similarly, with regards to women. Generally, in the female body, the primary purpose is to nurture
and nourish. For nourishing a new life, emotionality is very important. Children or babies are not
rational, and similarly if mothers were rational, they may not be best suited to take care of the baby.
For mothers to have that emotional connect with children, they will need to have emotional nature.
This is not a disadvantage. It is needed for the purpose of nurturing and it is a great strength also.
To achieve spiritual growth, one way is through philosophical analysis, wherein we understand the futility of the material world and then look for a higher alternative. There are certain kind of people, who are just not suitable for that path because they may not be philosophical enough. Hence, Lord Krishna is saying is that some varnas are not qualified for the analytical and intellectual approach to spirituality. However, they are still qualified for the path of bhakti. Therefore, the thrust is that bhakti is possible for everyone. The psychophysical nature and its limitation is a limitation on the path of intellectual spirituality but it is not a limitation on devotional spirituality. In that sense it is not an accusation or condemnation.
Thirdly, Gita begins by saying that we are not our bodies and that we are souls. That means our
bodily designation is our temporary situation. There is a dynamic balance or tension between how we act spiritually and how we act physically. Different people grow spiritually in a different way. There are exceptions also in the broad Vedic tradition. There are examples of great sages who were females. In the Upanishads, there is an example of a lady sage, Gargi. It is mentioned that when there was a debate in Mithila, she defeats everyone. No social categorization is watertight. The Shrimad Bhagavatam also says lakshane prokta – ultimately it is by characteristics that we are meant to be known. There are some women who may be very philosophical and analytical. Such women are not to be deprived.
Therefore, if we understand the context, then such statements will not seem very jarring. It is only
when we see the statement in isolation from what is being spoken, then they become very jarring.
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Transcribed by: Sundarinath das
Question: How do we differentiate between tolerating a situation by being patient or just leaving the
situation because we are getting too much hurt?
Answer (short):
Tolerance means that while doing our duty, there will be inconveniences and distresses that we
should tolerate.
Our service to Krishna is our supreme duty or virtue and we may have to tolerate many things
for our service to him. However, tolerance does not mean a situation where we allow ourselves
to not serve Krishna.
Tolerance is the virtue that enables us to keep small things small so that we can focus on big
things.
The basic application of tolerance is to check our impulsive reaction when something goes
wrong and then with our higher intelligence decide what to do.
Answer (Long):
Tolerance does not necessarily mean subjecting oneself to injury. In the Bhagavat-gita 2.14, Lord
Krishna tells Arjuna to tolerate, tams titikshasva bharata. However, the entire Bhagavat-gita is spoken in a context where Arjuna is told to fight a war against the injustices by the Kauravas. Although Krishna is teaching to tolerate, but he is not advising to tolerate the atrocities of theKauravas. Rather, he is advising Arjuna that while doing his duty of fighting the war, there will be inconveniences and distresses, which he should tolerate.
Our purpose in this world is to serve Krishna by contributing with different talents he has given us and inthe process, move closer to him. Our service to Krishna should be our supreme virtue to decide what we should and should not do. We cannot elevate anything except our relationship with Krishna as the supreme virtue. Sometimes for our service to Krishna, we may have to tolerate but if tolerance means giving up our service to Krishna, then that is not the right kind of tolerance. Here service does not simply mean chanting or bhakti related activities, but it also includes the service and the role we have in this world.
Tolerance is the virtue that enables us to keep small things small so that we can focus on big things. Tolerance does not mean that we let big things go down the drain. For example, if we are going for an important meeting in a vehicle and somebody just cuts the vehicle dangerously, we get angry because such an act could have caused a fatal accident. The person starts escaping from the scene and in our anger, we start chasing the person so that we can chastise. We drive all over the town and get late for our important meeting. Alternatively, we could have just tolerated the act and focused on our important meeting.
In another example, we see how Pandavas responded differently at different times in their lives. Initially, when Kauravas tried to poison them, and later burn them, the Pandavas ignored it thinking, “It is a conflict amongst us, let us keep it among ourselves and not publicize it, hopefully the animosity will go down.” However, when their cousins try to dishonor their wife and things started to go beyond limit, then they even fought a war. Later in their lives, eventually when Krishna departed from the world, they decided enough is enough and just walked away from the situation.
Whenever there is a difficulty in our life, there are three alternatives available: (i) change ourselves and tolerate the difficulty (ii) change the person or the situation (iii) walk away from the situation. Here, walking away is not the same as running away. Walking away means, “I have better things to do in my life, I don’t want to get caught in this.” Each of the three responses may be appropriate in different situations. Executing each of these responses also require tolerance because when something goes wrong an impulse within us often makes things worse. Tolerance enables us to check such impulse so that using our higher intelligence we can decide what to do.
If a relationship is repeatedly hurting us and there is no indication that things will improve then we may have to create some safe distance in the relationship. Tolerance does not mean that we allow ourselves to hurt continuously. However, in any relationship, just like we are imperfect and have our conditionings, others also have their conditionings. We should not make small differences in a relationship big to the extent we eventually end a relationship. There has to be a sense of perspective which comes when we look at the issue from some distance. Tolerance facilitates such sense of perspective. The basic application of tolerance is to avoid knee-jerk reactions. We do not act immediately but allow some time to pass so that the emotions subside and we can decide intelligently. When we think calmly we can understand the issue better. If we find the issue not so important we ignore it otherwise we address it with an appropriate response.
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Diwali significance – how to understand & explain the various celebrations Part 1 of 2
Diwali Significance – How To Understand & Explain The Various Celebrations Part 2 Of 2
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1 Six characteristics of bhakti – Basics of relationships
2 Six characteristics of bhakti – Treatment metaphor | Nectar of Devotion (Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu)
3 Six characteristics of bhakti – How bhakti removes distress & brings auspiciousness
4 Six characteristics of bhakti – Bhakti-karma relationship QA
5. Six characteristics of bhakti – Last four characteristics
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From October 3-6, 2024, over 120 North American leaders gathered at New Vrindaban, WV, for the North American Leadership Conference. This event brought together leaders from across the United States and Canada to discuss topics central to ISKCON’s future. However, none were as exciting as the “3/35 Vision”, an ambitious growth plan outlined by the […]
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The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, advised the cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajna and begin the Govardhana-puja in order to chastise Indra, who was very much puffed up at being the supreme controller of the heavenly planets.
The honest and simple cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja, accepted Krishna’s proposal and executed in detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana worship and circumambulation of the hill.
The sacrifice known as Govardhana-puja is observed in the Krishna consciousness movement. Lord Caitanya has recommended that since Krishna is worshipable, so His land—Vrindavana and Govardhana Hill—is also worshipable.
To confirm this statement, Lord Krishna said that Govardhana-puja is as good as worship of Him. From that day, Govardhana-puja has been going on and is known as Annakuta. In all the temples of Vrindavana or outside of Vrindavana, huge quantities of food are prepared in this ceremony and are very sumptuously distributed to the general population.
When everything was complete, Krishna assumed a great transcendental form and declared to the inhabitants of Vrindavana that He was Himself Govardhana Hill in order to convince the devotees that Govardhana Hill and Krishna Himself are identical. Then Krishna began to eat all the food offered there.
Thus performing the Govardhana-puja sacrifice, all the inhabitants of Vrindavana followed the instructions of Krishna, the son of Vasudeva, and afterwards they returned to their respective homes.
I was fortunate to observe the Govardhana Puja festival at Radha Giridhari temple in Auckland New Zealand.
This year, ISKCON Turkiye hosted Bhakti Camp, attracting over a hundred devotees from Europe and the Middle East to a forest retreat near Istanbul. The camp provided an opportunity for spiritual growth and community engagement. Led by Zonal Supervisor Nrsimha Krishna Das, the theme was “Stronger Together,” which emphasized unity and collaboration among participants. Nrsimha […]
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