Author Archives: Vraja Kishor

She was the sister of Bali, the Daitya “demon” who had conquered all the gods. When Vāmana and approached Bali, she fell in love with him, “What a wonderful boy, I wish I was his mother!” But when she saw how he manipulated Bali and stole everything from their family, her feelings turned to hatred,…

Here are a few questions about Bhagavad Gita, with my replies. The first questions I have are about chapter 10 – verse 7-8… Why by comprehending krishnagod’s mystical nature, will we develop a devotional feeling towards him? We may develop devotion to him after understanding his unique nature and position. It is not certain. Just like by…

The mind is a sort of mirror by which consciousness reflects its light into the dim world of external objects. This mirror is the first function of the mind, which is called citta (“heart”). The mind has three other functions too.  The next function is to create an image of oneself (“ego” / ahamkara). Consciousness…

https://www.createspace.com/6251033 <– you can get the paperback here, now. If you are going to see me in May, it’ll be cheaper to buy it directly from me. If you want a kindle or pdf, please hang on till June. Rādhe Rādhe Śyāma ! Tagged: 108hc, hardcore, Hare Krishna, ISKCON, krishnacore, straightedge

Question 1) In Raganuga bhakti we aspire for the passion present in an eternally perfected brajabāsī – a devotee like a cowherd boy/ gopī/ Krishna’s parents, not a perfected devotee in this world? Rāgānugā is the method of striving for a specific type of passionate relationship with Krishna found in Vṛndāvana-līlā. People like Prabhupāda, Rūpa Goswāmī,…

Question: Did Radharani marry someone else, or are they simply engaged? She is married to Abhimanyu (lit. the “Proud One” or the “Supposed Husband”). Her sister-in-law is Kuṭila (lit. “Crooked”, “Fradulent”, “Dishonest”). Her mother-in-law is Jaṭila (lit. “Hairy”, “Twisted”, “Problematic”). viz. Radha Krishna Gannodesha Dipika 2.174 The marriage is an abhiman (the husband is Abhimanyu). Abhiman means “an idea.” In the realm…

Are women less intelligent than men? Men and women are not identical. The differences between them are the basis by which they legitimately tend to play different roles and have different responsibilities in the world. First, we can speak in generalities about these differences from the perspective of what modern studies have shown, particularly as it…

The first vilāsa of Haribhakti Vilāsa explains quite a bit about the qualities of a guru. It begins with the most essential, core quality… HBV 1.35 quotes the Upaniṣads, “tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet…” The essential qualifications of the guru is…: 1) to personify the conclusions of the Vedas,  2) to be expert in explaining those conclusions,  3)…

Duty… A dictionary defines it as a “moral or legal obligation or requirement.” A thesaurus lists synonyms like, “Responsibility, obligation, commitment.” Essentially, “duty” means to do what is required of you. What’s required of you? That depends on who you are. If you are a student it’s your duty to study. If you are a…

This continues directly from the previous excerpt; We Do Not Eat Fruits Washed by Karmīs Then we went to other European countries and everything was so different. The devotees were kind, generous, and helpful. The parents of the straightedge kids whose homes we sometimes stayed in didn’t seem so terrified by the “Hare Krishna sect.” I…

The Hare Krishna world in Europe was quite different from the one I was used to. The ‘80s hadn’t devastated it as fully as in America. I guess that’s because their main post-Prabhupāda guru actually managed to “keep the dream alive” and continue acting as their unquestionable divinely-anointed leader. Harikeśa Swāmī, a.k.a. Śrīla Viṣṇupāda, made…

QUESTION: I once read somewhere, but I cannot remember where, that Kubja was attracted by Krishna in a selfish way of sensual satisfaction, and still Krishna fulfilled her desire. And then it is said that this intimate contact with Krishna purified her, so that her love later transformed into pure prema, as that of the gopis.…

QUESTION: Could you talk about the relationship of the bhakta’s sexuality and his/her sadhana. How to spiritualize sex? Sex and Religion Observance of regulation is the beginning of discipline, and discipline is the beginning of yoga. Thus sex begins to gain spiritual utility through religion – which regulates and refines sex through principles, rules and sacraments…

When we got back from the old world, I tried to book a string of shows and make 108 actually happen. It was something I had never done before and have never done again. The first show would be on Saturday, October 10th at the Unisound in Reading, Pennsylvania with Another Wall and one or…

QUESTION: Why did Lord Rama abandon Maa Sita? This is not my specialty, I am a devotee of Krishna, who, I’ve heard, was Rāma in a previous life. 🙂 Nonetheless, I will try to share with you whatever I know about this heartbreaking topic. Why did Rāma abandon Sītā? The answer is simply this: Rāma’s reason-for-being is…

Aren’t you sick of being seen as just a piece of meat? An exploitable toy? I want the Hare Krishnas out of hardcore, and I’ll tell you why: blatant sexism. Sexism has no place in our scene. Female domination and male subordination must end! That’s how I opened the “Sexist Things Krishna’s Say” article in…

In ISKCON and many other modern attempts to implement Krishna bhakti, one of the biggest mistakes classically made is to focus primarily on anartha-nivṛtti rather than artha-pravṛtti – trying to annihilate “bad” things rather than on proliferating “good” things. This approach is doomed. Removing the bad (a) is too difficult, and (b) does not necessarily bring in anything…

QUESTION: In his purport on the 10th Mantra of Īśopaniṣad, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman or Kṛṣṇa, and thus everything belongs to Him only.” So, can I go rob a bank or be a drug dealer with the consciousness that I will use it for Krsna – like, I will build…

Continuing the discussion on morality and bhakti… The conclusion that in all circumstances, abandoning of duties is an immoral act, caused confusion not only b/c it appears we hear to the contrary from sastra BUT also b/c several devotees online have made personal decision in life which, hitherto, was thought of as a sacrifice for…

This post addresses some questions that arose from yesterday’s post on this topic. I’m not sure how “morality” is precisely defined and on what basis? Morality is a translation of the concept of dharma. Dharma literally means the essential nature of a thing. Everything has a particular function based on its nature, and to fulfill that function…

Bhakti must be within the philosophical and moral framework established by the Vedas and exemplified by the sādhus. The 4th item of sādhana, “sādhu-vartmānuvartana” seems to sometimes be controversial when explained to people with a certain background. It is an extremely important principle, evidenced by the fact that Śrī Rūpa puts it immediately after the…

My dad kept trying to bring up the point that the Veda and Krishna were great, but ISKCON was seriously problematic. That was not news to me. I knew ISKCON was faulty, but my response to that fact wasn’t to abandon it, but to try to help fix those flaws. So, in late 1992 I…

QUESTION: If one knows the essence of the sastras, is one exempted from reading difficult portions of the sastras which are very philosophical? Like we at least know theoretically the conclusion of sastras that we are not the body but a spirit soul, a part and parcel of Krishna and as a part, its our duty…

There are two approaches to sādhana. One is motivated by an intellectual conception, the other is motivated by an emotional conception. Intellect and emotion are involved in both approaches, but the intellectual approach has intellect as the prime motive and emotion as the supporting instrument, while the emotional approach has emotion as the prime motive and…

The question is: “Is Bhakti something dormant / forgotten in our souls, and we have to wake it up / remember it by sādhana?” The question arises in connection to Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu’s definition of sādhana-bhakti not as a means to create perfection, but to manifest something eternally perfect. The question is also related to Bhakti…

Exiting the plane at Indira Gandhi International in New Delhi, the first thing I saw on the airport walls was a huge modernistic bas-relief of Viṣṇu lying in the ocean of causality, generating all the “bubbles” of worlds from his pores. I stopped in my tracks and kissed the airport floor! The weight of the…

I think the main ideas of Bhakti Rasamrita Sindu (without technicalities) are: 1) What is love? 2) How can you “practice” love? 3) How do you practice love?  4) What are the inspirations to practice love?  5) How is love experienced? 1) What is love?  Love is an expression of affection. Affection is the desire to…

QUESTION: What is the Vaishnava feeling on silent maha mantra mediation? I read that Prabhupada said that loud and silent Japa were both “good” as long as they were sincere. I will reproduce an edit of a section from a previous post: Step One (of one): Improve Japa Chanting Śrī Rūpa says that japa is “sulaghu” – “very light enunciation the…

QUESTION: When we read something, we intellectually process it, and we understand it – but still we can’t act on it. Why not? It takes time. First you get the food on a plate. Then you chew it. Then swallow. Then it digests. And eventually you get the nourishment and energy. Similarly, first you hear knowledge…

Is Guru “as Good as” Śāstra? If we observe the various spiritual and religious groups in Indian history we see that they can be grouped in two categories: pantha and paramparā. The difference between them is that a pantha is based on the teachings of a guru, but a paramparā is based on the teachings of…

Sri Rupa Goswami advises us how to think of Krishna (Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.294) kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā Kṛṣṇaṁ smaran is the first injunction: “think of Krishna.” Next, janam cāsya: “In  thinking of Krishna, also think of his people.”  It’s phrased this way because kṛṣṇa-smarana is ubiquitous to all bhakti-sādhana…

Krishna’s words in chapter three are extremely pertinent to this important debate. Here in this video, Vraja reads from and explains his book, A Simple Gita – which is available at www.vrajakishor.com Tagged: grihastha, renunciation, sannyasa

Question: How can we take prasādam without being totally hedonistic? Is it possible to deeply experience the prasādam without reinforcing the experience of sense gratification? My Answer: I think this subject is too advanced for most of us. Most of us are not tyāgīs (renunciates), and even those of us who are supposed to be renunciates live in air-conditioned…

QUESTION 1: What are the proper conceptions of the Name for persons who are just beginning to chant (i.e. those who are without attachment to Krishna in any particular rasa, but with a desire to somehow or other obtain such an attachment)? Everyone has some “sambandha” with Krishna, and everyone should invoke his name in the context of…

The Veda presents four goals of life. The first is kāma – “pleasure.” This is the root of every goal, for everyone – from insects to gods. More evolved people, however, don’t just focus on immediate pleasure, they try to insure that they can also enjoy tomorrow. This is the second goal, artha – “wealth.”…

Because I speak in my own words, what I say often seems brand new or different than what you’ve heard before. I like this because it encourages people to think. Sometimes what I say may seem different than what you’ve heard Śrīla Prabhupāda say. I consider myself a grateful follower of Śrīla Prabhupāda, so I…

Question: “I have the tendency to spend a lot of time studying, and then forgetting all I’ve studied. Same goes for hearing classes and notetaking. How to study sastra/hear classes in such a way as to remember everything, and especially not loose the message/or essence in the process? Budhi (intellect) has three functions: (1) detecting patterns in the…

Doubt: I’ve found in the past, when I try to follow the rules of a particular tradition, at some point I lose interest and they cease to have the allure they once did: they lose their magic and/or I lose my passion. My Reply: We have to pay attention to following the rules effectively – not just…

Question: Why do you think so many spiritual traditions (and most religions) have ‘rules’ for practitioners to follow? I want to know why rules are used as a technology in spiritual traditions. Why are “do and don’t lists” so important? My Reply: I think it’s simple. If you want to get from point A to point…

Here is a breakdown of how it all works, based on Kapila’s sankhya, explained in the final chapters of Śrīmad Bhagavatam’s Third Canto. The senses feed their data into the intellect. The intellect has three sub-organs within it. Each performs its own function: 1) Pattern recognition 2) Pattern matching 3) Memory (storage of patterns) So,…