Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

ISKCON’s Comeback Emperor: His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja
→ The Spiritual Scientist

I don’t usually write about events because they don’t attract me as much as concepts, on which I write extensively. Yet there are some events that impel me to write. The inauguration of the new temple in Pune, the departure of the devotee-mother of two brahmachari brothers who are my close friends and then the […]

How do we understand different devotees interpreting the moisture on the Pancha Tattva Deities differently?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

You explained that it was a result of condensation, but Jananivas Prabhu has stated that it is a miracle. Answer Summary in text followed by a detailed audio answer: I called His Grace Jananivas Prabhu to discuss this. I have great respect for him; he has been a shiksha-guru for me, answering many of my questions […]

Can’t all miracles be ascribed to natural causes?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Saurabh: it appears that all the miracles had natural reasoning behind them like in Gopalji pastime, the deities could have been moved by the devotee and in Gopinath ji pastime it could have been a mere dream which was taken too seriously. Then how can we determine whether miracles happen or not? and should […]

How do we understand contradictions in scriptures?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Goutam Paul P Sometimes the same story has different endings in different Sastras. For example, in Siva-puran, there are stories where Siva defeats Vishnu and in the description of the same story in Visnu-purana, Vishnu defeats Siva. Some scholars interpret this as deliberate injections of devotees of Siva and Visnu, so as to protray […]

How is shabda-pramana free from four defects?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Goutam Paul P Sabda-praman is the aural reception of spiritual knowledge in disciplic succession. That is also processed through our senses. Then how Sabda-praman is free from the four defects? There is scope for misunderstanding of the speaker, of the listener and there is scope for addition of noise in different written versions. Answer […]

How can we best present the Gita to intellectuals who feel Prabhupada’s Gita is too devotional?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Ankur P My name is Ankur. I’m pursuing PhD in Iowa State University, US. I organize a weekly Bhagavad Gita discussion session which is attended by 4-5 of my Indian friends. The aim of these sessions is to study the message of Bhagavad Gita and seek out ways to apply it our own lives. […]

Why does Prabhupada say that Haridasa Thakura is superior to Lord Shiva?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Promila Mataji In one of the purports in BG chapter 2, Srila Prabhupada cites a comparative example that how Lord Shiva was agitated by Parvati whereas Hari Das Thakur wasn’t even moved a bit by the prostitute who came to allure him. This was in the context of establishing that devotional service is superior […]