Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

How etymology conveys the significance of pradakshina
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“In the word Pra-Da-Kshi-Na the syllable Pra dispels sin, the syllable Da bestows what is desired, the syllable Kshi causes the destruction of Karman and the syllable Na is the bestower of salvation.”
Skanda Purana Ch.9 v.68

Should a devotee avoid initiation due to not being able to follow the fourth regulative principle fully?
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Answer Podcast Transcript: This is a personal question that has to be analyzed and applied on individual level with guidance from one’s own personal counselor or guide and based on one’s own understanding of one’s personal situation. So I cannot give a specific answer in terms of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but I can explain broad […]

Service is unavoidable
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Simply you have to develop your service attitude. Service attitude is already there. We are servants by constitution, but we are serving maya [illusion]. We are so constitutionally servant that after very, very high education, taking all these degrees, oh, we are moving door to door, that “Give me some service.” (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, […]

Pray not for oneness
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Can water quaff itself? Can trees taste of the fruit they bear? He who worships God must stand distinct from Him, So only shall he know the joyful love of God; For if he say that God and he are one, That joy, that love, shall vanish instantly away. Pray no more for utter oneness […]

Won’t the progress of science make the God-of-the-gaps redundant?
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When religionists point to the many things that science can’t explain and say that this proves the need for God as an explanation, won’t such a God become redundant when scientific progress explains those things?
Answer Podcast

Do devotees have to oppose science to be faithful to Prabhupada?
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From Dr Sathe, Phd Physics I am a scientist and I like Krishna consciousness, but I am disturbed that devotees constantly criticise science and scientists, labelling them as rascals, and say that only by so doing are we faithful to Srila Prabhupada. Can’t I have respect for science, my material profession, and bhakti, my spiritual […]

Isn’t it better to be satisfied with the beauty of the garden without imagining a fairy at its bottom?
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Richard Dawkins quotes this example in his “The God Delusion”. Is there any good response to this?
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Prabhupada approves Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary
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“I have just seen one Sanskrit dictionary of Pradyumna’s [Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editor], and it is compiled by one Englishman, Williams . . . he has taken so much trouble and he has made thorough study and it is very nice and scholarly books . . . and because he has chosen Sanskrit language for his […]

Ethics is the basic principle of purification
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Ethics is the basic principle of purification. Unless one…knows what is moral and what is immoral… Of course, in this material world everything is immoral, but still we have to distinguish good and bad. That is called regulative principle. Simply by following the regulative principle, if he does not reach the ultimate goal of spiritual […]

The scriptural basis for the translation of bhakti as ‘devotional service’ instead of ‘devotion’
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bhaj ity eṣa vai dhatuḥ       sevayaṁ parikirtitaḥ  tasmat seva budhaiḥ prokta      bhaktiḥ sadhana-bhuyasi “Bhaj as a root is used to convey ‘service.’ Therefore, the wise explain that engaging in the Lord’s service is the way of bhakti.” Garuda Purana  (Purva-khanda 231.3)

How we are different from God
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An imperfect living being does not even know what is happening within his own personal body. He eats his food but does not know how this food is transformed into energy or how it sustains his body. When a living being is perfect, he is aware of everything that happens, and since the Supreme Person […]