Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Beautiful Vrindavana (Album with 112 HR photos)
Srila Prabhupada: These four principles: Always think of Krishna, become Krishna’s devotee, worship Krishna and offer your respect, obeisances to Krishna. That’s all. This is Krishna consciousness. Hyderabad, November 17, 1972.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/SpRQ87
Harinama at Burleigh Heads (a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia) - 28 February 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The principle of chanting is to glorify the Lord and not to attract a crowd. If Krishna hears nicely then he will ask some sincere devotee to gather in such place. Letter to Subala, November 12, 1967.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/vU0sfQ
Bonds of Love: Brahmi Devi Dasi.
Brahmi Dasi: My first memory of our beloved Srila Prabhupada was my discovery of him in a book I found in a secondhand bookshop called Krsna Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System. I also found Easy Journey to Other Planets. I was so intrigued by these titles that I bought them both. One paragraph made such an impression on me. It was, as I remember it, “Why are we sending all these young men to the war in Vietnam when there is a fighting class of men?” That is when I recognized my spiritual master, and I said aloud to myself, “This man is beautiful.” I looked at the back of one of the books, saw the number of the Toronto temple, and called and asked if I could visit. When I was told I could, I took my baby daughter, Visakha, and went to meet the devotees.
I have loved Srila Prabhupada from the moment I read that first one of his books. He has been my life and soul from that moment on. I am, by Krishna’s mercy, now in a 77-year-old body – in the dwindling stage, to be precise. When I think of how my life would have been without Srila Prabhupada’s loving guidance and teachings – well, I shudder to think about it.
I first saw Srila Prabhupada in person at my initiation in West Virginia. We were like excited children, and I felt completely inadequate and unworthy. When I approached his dear lotus feet, he looked at me with his beautiful, noble, dark eyes and said, “Your name is Brahmi Devi.” I felt so ashamed to dare to stand before him. He was sitting on a vyasasana outside in the open, and all the devotees present were looking at that glorious figure of nobility and purity with adoring eyes. We were all his children, lost in the material world and coming to his dear lotus feet for security. There was a dog sitting under his vyāsāsana. When the devotees tried to move him, he said, “Leave him there.” How fortunate to be that dog!
Well, we simply felt jubilant to have Srila Prabhupada with us. The joy of it all! I remember dancing in the temple with maybe fifty devotees, and there was a devotee who had been a ballet dancer. He was jumping high in the air while the rest of us danced in unison, like in a ballet. I swear I felt time stand still, my heart felt such joy I couldn’t feel my feet touch the floor. The arati bell was ringing, and I just felt suspended in time.
I felt had this before in the Toronto temple during Radhastami – the fire sacrifice, the chanting of the maha-mantra, and time suspended, just the chanting of Hare Krishna.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/6HQf5c
The post Marcos Ferreira asks how to react and what to do when senior Vaisnavas are criticised appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Varnasrama series.
The post Introduction to Varnasram given at the Mayapura ILS (Part 2) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Radhe Kaise Na Jale Bharata Natyam Candrakanta and Narayan’s Wedding (7 min video)
Champakalata Devi Dasi: With guest dancer Malini Devi, our Padma Academy dance troupe presented Radha Kaise Na Jale from the movie Lagaan performed in Bharatanatyam style. Malini (playing Krishna) is a student of Srimati Viji Prakash of Shakti Dance Company and Champakalata (playing Radha) is a student of Srimati Sudha Chandrasekhar of Hindu Temple Rhythms. Both dance gurus come in line from the famous Tanjor gurus of Sri Raja Rajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai.
We danced for the occasion of Candrakanta and Narayan’s wedding on February 26th, 2016 and especially chose this song as a gift to the bride. Please excuse the “rough” beginning as we could barely hear the music at first. But once those drums kicked in, we were off! …into the land of Vraja where Radha and Krishna enact Their lila.
Dancers as seen in the line-up at the end: Right to Left (since the camera pans that way) Ramani Shiromani, Rupa Kishori, Karika, Champakalata, Malini, Kali Lalita, Tarani, Vinodini, Shrida, Nadia.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/3Ci1fc
ISKCON-Delhi - Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Appearance (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There are two ways of association—by vani and by vapuh. Vani means words, and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exists eternally. Bombay, November 10, 1974.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Xf7D6a
The post Daily Darshan: February 28th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Photos from Sridama Das
By Romapada Das
On the fourth day of the ILS, delegates at the plenary session heard a presentation by Anuttama Das, GBC Minister for Communications on the topic, ‘Srila Prabhupada, the greatest communicator’. He explained that we normally associate Prabhupada with his books, letters, conversations and speeches, but we should also remember that Prabhupada was a skilful communicator.
“Prabhupada tried to create a favourable environment for preaching Krishna consciousness by meeting influential leaders of the day such as Allen Ginsberg, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, George Harrison, and others. He met several religious leaders, VIPs, government leaders, and businessmen,” said Anuttama Das. “Prabhupada made it clear that he did not want to convert everyone or make them into devotees. Instead he wanted influential people to become ‘sympathisers’ so that a favourable environment could be created for spreading Krishna consciousness.”
Stressing the importance of how much communication mattered to ISKCON in the 21st century, Anuttama concluded, “We generally emulate Prabhupada to build temples, distribute books, make devotees and distribute prasadam. But we should also emulate him and follow his communicating strategies. The question every ISKCON temple should ask itself is: are we communicating like Prabhupada wanted us to?”
Almost 1200 delegates and presenters at the ILS have been fed three full meals every day by the organisers. The massive task of cooking these meals is being overseen by Bhavamrita Krishna Das from Mayapur. A team of over 30 devotees cut, clean and chop big mounds of vegetables, cook in large vats and woks, and transfer the cooked prasadam to big drums3.
“There are many western devotees at ILS, hence we are careful with the amount of spice we use in the prasadam,” said Bhavamrita Krishna. “We try to maintain variety in tastes and diversity in the cuisine by including South Indian, Punjabi, Bengali, Chinese, Italian and continental dishes every day. It is our great fortune to cook for so many senior Vaishnavas who are assembled together at the holy dham in the service of Srila Prabhupada.”
Complimenting the cooking team of 30, is the large service team of 100 devotees that transfers the cooked prasadam from the kitchen to the dining areas and carefully serves them to the ILS delegates.
Vanamali Mukunda Das, a sankirtan devotee who has been staying in Mayapur for seven years, is one of the 100 people who serve prasadam to the delegates. He feels that serving senior Vaishnavas at the holy dham of Mayapur is a rare opportunity that makes him a happier person. “When Vaishnavas are happy, the Lord is happy too,” he commented. “We feel so energised to see senior sannyasis, GBC members, Temple Presidents and ISKCON leaders all gathered together in the dining area, and even more so when we see them appreciate the prasadam and the service.”
The variety and range of different cuisines was appreciated by several ILS delegates.
“We are spoilt for choice,” laughed Vijnan Rajsatyal from Nepal. “The different tastes are balanced and the invigorating recipes are nutritious. Even if we eat a little bit, we feel totally satisfied. The devotees who serve the prasadam are truly humble and care for every small detail. I have so much to learn from them in terms of Vaishnava etiquette.”
Paramvyoma Das from Brazil has visited India fifteen times and tasted prasadam at innumerable locations in the country. “I feel that this is the best prasadam I have eaten in India in all my 15 visits. This is because the food is not too spicy, and also because of the incredible number of gourmet dishes and flavours they serve.”
Laxmimoni Dasi who oversees the organising and logistical parts of the ILS on behalf of the GBC Strategic Planning Committee is committed to maintaining the quality of the cooking and the service. “However, we need help to maintain the same quality for the ILS. In addition, many devotees who are not formally registered for ILS do walk in and ask us for prasadam. If we had more donations, we would be able to feed all of them too. We appeal to all generous devotees out there to please consider sponsoring the prasadam service at ILS, which is such a pleasing part of the whole event.”
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Dasha Mula Tattva 11 – Love is not just feeling but also doing appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Why do senior devotees sometimes join apasampradayas? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post What makes Indians convert to Islam or Christianity? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Dasha Mula Tattva 10 – Mayavada is the inversion, not contradiction, of Vaishnavism appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Isn’t it better to be a stable grihastha than a bewildered brahmachari? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post How can we be inspired when we don’t get much association of senior devotees? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Dasha Mula Tattva 9 – Association is the way to liberation appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Speaker: HG Vaisesika Prabhu
Venue: Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: 27 Feb 2016
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Ninth Canto, Chapter 11, Text 25.
sri-badarayanir uvaca
athadisad dig-vijaye
bhratrms tri-bhuvanesvarah
atmanam darsayan svanam
purim aiksata sanugah
Translation
“Sukadeva Gosvami replied: After accepting the throne of the government by the fervent request of His younger brother Bharata, Lord Ramacandra ordered His younger brothers to go out and conquer the entire world, while He personally remained in the capital to give audience to all the citizens and residents of the palace and supervise the governmental affairs with His other assistants.”
My humble obeisances to all the exalted Vaisnavas. Thank you very much for this opportunity to be with you. In this purport Prabhupada comes to this military terminology, Prabhupada’s vira rasa, where he wants to fight with the world to speak Krishna consciousness is evident in the way he wrote his letters when he wrote at the top of them ‘Camp Baroda’, ‘Camp Los Angeles’ and he saw it as a war against maya. In fact he used military terminology when he talked about book distribution. He said, ‘We are fighting with maya. It’s a war. And to fight maya means to go out and drop hundreds and millions of books into the laps of conditioned souls. Just like during war time people drop bombs.’
So in this verse also which is talking about the way in which Lord Ramachandra sent out His brothers to conquer the different directions which was the custom at that time. Prabhupada immediately relates it to the sankirtana movement and how one must become dig-vijaya and that way that one becomes dig-vijaya is to take the open order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And that is about the best deal there is in the whole universe because Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s words’s are inviting us to engage in the sankirtana movement and as Prabhupada phrases it, it’s an open order. That means anybody can take it at any time to their full capacity, whatever capacity one has, one can take that order and when one takes the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, its immediate that one becomes connected to the internal energy of the Lord because as Srila Prabhupada says in the Second Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam in relationship to the catur sloki Bhagavatam, that the direct order of the Lord is a manifestation of His internal potency. It is by that potency that one comes to see the Lord face to face. So it is pretty exciting there is an open order, isn’t it?
So what is the open order. Its just a small thing that can be taken care of within a few days, right! And not much room for many people. No! Its open for the whole world, the whole universe. Anywhere and everywhere one can go and spread this sankirtana movement. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is deputising everybody as a representative who just takes the open order. In fact when Prabhupada was speaking to the devotees who were asking him about how the movement would go on, and specifically they were asking how about initiation, how would that go on? Prabhupada had a few things to say and then he interjected as an afterthought, he said that ‘One who understands the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he can become guru, or one who understands the order of his spiritual master which is the same order, he can become guru.’ And this is the prerequisite, one simply has to understand that there is an open order, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and one has to take the order.
So leadership is defined in the Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam as the ability to understand this principle that one must deliver people and I love the word Prabhupada uses in this purport, he says induce. At first it sounds like when you are inducing somebody it may be a little bit aggressive. Does it to you? Just a little bit, maybe! I looked at the word. It comes from Latin, inducere which means to lead, ducere means ‘to lead’ and in means ‘in’. So inducere means to lead someone in a particular direction. So to inducing means to bring somebody along in the right direction. Well not necessarily in the right direction but in our case following the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the spirit of the sastra, which I mentioned in Fifth Canto,
gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan
na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum (SB 5.5.18)
Didn’t get it completely perfect the second time either, but the verse says that whatever kind of leader one is attempting to become or whatever leadership roll one is taking, whether its as a diksa guru or as a mother or a father or any worshipable position. Whatever position one is either asserting oneself for or finds oneself suddenly pushed into, which often is the case, one should keep this principle in mind, na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum. One’s idea should be to induce people to become free from birth, death, old age and disease and take to Krishna consciousness. Its an inducement.
In fact the whole material world if you think about it is a huge chance for Krishna to induce the living entities to go back home, back to Godhead. It’s the srishti lila, during which in the exhalation of Maha Visnu there is unlimited opportunities for living entities to come in contact with the various incarnations of the Lord, the various representatives of the Lord, the Ganges, different sastras, and its mentioned also in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the process of destruction takes place when Anantadeva becomes a little annoyed, actually angry it says. Annoyed is a more modern word. (laughs) He becomes angry that the living entities who have being offered so much opportunity to take to Krishna consciousness and Prabhupada says in the purport – to close down their business in this material world. Everyone’s got a little business going on, they have a little chip in the game here and Krishna comes along and gives a better deal, much better deal and says you kn ow, ‘Just close your business. I’ll take care of you, go back to Godhead.’ But people keep playing in here, keep playing their little business game and they don’t close it down, they don’t listen. So Prabhupada says, Anantadeva becomes angry. And from the forehead of Sankrsana comes out the eleven Rudras. They come shooting out of His eyebrows and they begin their dance of destruction, they burn down this universe because people aren’t using it properly.
So this indicates the intention of the Lord for the world. And the open order is that one can help Him in the mission which is to induce people, to lead them, to bring them closer to Krishna. And in the Caitanya Caritamrta Antya Lila its mentioned that Haridasa Thakura was particularly dear to the Lord. Prabhupada says, he understood Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mind that He was in anxiety because the living entities are suffering in the material world. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s anxiety can be relieved by those who take the open order and go out and induce people to take to Krishna consciousness. And Srila Prabhupada says that this is how one become an intimate devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by taking this idea to induce the living entities to come back.
As far as our organisation goes, our organization meaning our ISKCON society, there is a way in which we are organised around this principle as well and it seem natural that when we keep this principle in the center, of inducing those who come, leading those who come to Krishna consciousness, to hear and chant about Krishna, to come closer to Him. And the leaders also, a leader means one who also takes this very seriously. I particularly noted the first verse in the Upadesamrta which says that one who can control all of one’s urges,
vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat (Sri Upadesamrta (1))
That one who is controlled becomes a teacher for everyone else in the universe, its says everyone becomes his sisya, his disciple. So first of all one must, one has the opportunity to carefully take up the process of Krishna conciseness and cultivate it and by that one feels inspired and then can lead others by that potency and can induce other people to take to Krishna consciousness.
So leadership means, first one must be the leader of one’s senses, which are described in another sastra to be like bad masters and one has to overcome the bad masters of the senses.
kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesas
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (3.2.35)
The devotee who is advancing says, for how long and how many ways have I obeyed the bad masters of my senses but no longer will I obey them. They have never given me time off. They have never given me mercy and I never questioned them. But now my intelligence has awakened, labdha-buddhi, and now I am looking for personal service to Krishna, no longer serving my senses.
So this the foundational point of our Krishna consciousness movement, of our leadership, is to become the leader of one’s own senses. And to aspire for and be engaged in service to Krishna and Krishna’s devotees. And then one can go out as the dig-vijaya, as Srila Prabhupada is mentioning in this purport, Lord Ramachandra sent out His younger brothers to conquer all the world. So Prabhupada says we must also do the same thing, and this is victory. So victory over one’s senses and then one can go out…(reads from the purport of SB9.11.25)
“This is the order of the Lord, who speaks as the supreme emperor. Everyone should be induced to accept this order, for this is victory (dig-vijaya).”
And inducing people all over the world to take to Krishna consciousness. We see Caitanya Mahaprabhu did in various ways. He took sannyasa as an expedient measure to allow people to honour Him so they would make advancement in Krishna consciousness. And Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he was very patient with Prakasananda Sarasvati, he was very humble. But his full intention was to induce them to take to Krishna consciousness. So there are various ways of inducing people.
There is a devotee of Lord Nityananda whose name was Gadadhara dasa and he was given the mission to go all over town, door to door, and induce people to chant Hare Krishna and he was angry with the Kazi because the Kazi was trying to hinder the sankirtana movement. So he went right in the Kazi’s house and he began screaming out that the Kazi had to come down, he had to take to Krishna consciousness and the Kazi came down, normally a very brutal kind of person but he was a little amused by the audacity of Gadadhara dasa and said, ‘Listen why don’t you go home! Maybe I’ll take to this Hare Krishna chanting another day!’ Gadadhara dasa began to dance in ecstacy and said, ‘Why do I have to wait for another day? You just said Hare Krishna!’ This is the prerogative of the devotees. They are always trying to induce people to chant Hare Krishna.
And it reminds me when we are going door to door, not too long ago, I think it was in San Deigo, or Laguna beach, anyway somewhere in Southern California, there are all these apartments that you can go to. There are so many, you can’t even count them all in one life time and behind them are people just sitting in there, as Prabhupada said in his poem before he came to America, looking down the road waiting to see when are Nitai and Gaura going to come and rescue me! If you are wondering what people were doing in there, thats what they are doing! They are looking out of the window, ‘When are Nitai and Gaura coming to rescue me?’ So when you knock on the door don’t be surprised if they are happy to see you.
And I knocked on one door, there was a very nicely dressed gentlemen in his early forties, he was on way to work. He managed a fast food restaurant and he was a devout Christian and a very civil person. And he talked to us for a while and declined our inducement to purchase a book. So then we tried to induce him in another way by saying, ‘Do you believe in the power of prayer?’ And he said, ‘Yes I do!’ I handed him a card and I said, ‘Then this is a beautiful prayer in Sanskrit that’s meant to wake up pure love for God in your heart. Repeat after me. Are you ready?’ Which is what I usually say, because people might say no! So I say, ‘Are you ready!’ And then he said, ‘Oh no! I can’t do that!’ And there were several devotees, maybe about seven, we were watching him and taking to him and he gave a long explanation and he said, ‘Yeah, I just cant do this!’ I said, ‘Can’t do what?’ And he goes, ‘Say Hare Krishna!’ (laughter) And all the devotees who were standing there went, ‘Haribol!’ They were so happy that he said Hare Krishna! And according to the sastra,
aho bata sva-paco ’to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te (SB 3.33.7)
Devahuti says, oh how wonderful it is, somebody if they just one time say Hare Krishna, even the tip of their tongue, even just one time, then this person is the greatest amongst all the other kinds of living entities. It is considered by sastra they have already performed so many pious works, gone to many pilgrimage places, so forth. They are qualified people, become elevated so quickly.
So in the overall, the over arching goal of the Krishna consciousness movement is to take to Krishna consciousness very seriously. One of the ways in which we can connect ourselves and induce ourselves to always think of Krishna is by everyday reading the Bhagavad Gita because Krishna is personally present there and speaking to us directly.
So to that end we started an organization called CHAD, A Chapter A Day, where everyone has the right if they would like to. No one can stop you. Even if you are put in prison you can still do this, to chant one chapter of Bhagavad Gita a day. Try it and see. If somebody tries to stop you, just say, ‘No, I won’t stop! I am going to chant Hare Krishna! And read my chapter of Bhagavad Gita every day!’
And so if you chant one chapter of the Bhagavad Gita everyday then you’ll stay close to Krishna because He is personally present in the Bhagavad Gita. And also reading Srimad Bhagavatam which is, where Prabhupada is most available in his purports. Just by staying close to the Srimad Bhagavatam everyday, everyone can be guided very properly by hearing his purports. And sometimes it seems intimidating to read the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. But if one divides it up into small segments and reads a measured amount everyday, one can finish the whole Bhagavatam within a given period of time.
So if you read just 8 pages of the Bhagavatam everyday, you’ll finish the whole Bhagavatam in five years. And you’ll be five years older in five years anyway. But if you read the whole Bhagavatam in five years then you’ll conquer maya and you’ll be directly connected to Krishna in a very profound way. And if you read 41 pages everyday of the Bhagavatam, you’ll finish in just one year.
So this is the inspirational part of this purport that I picked up about dig-vijaya, conquer the senses and take this spirit out and induce people to chant Hare Krishna and organise whatever community you have, and whatever project you are doing around this principle of guiding people to hear and chant and the spirit of going out and giving Krishna consciousness to other people.
And now I am going to take a few reflections just to see if we can pull something else out.
HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja: Thank you very much Vaisesika Prabhu for this inspirational class. (audio indistinct)
HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Kesava Bharati Maharaja says he found this to be an inspirational class. He’d like to document the last point that I made, about how important it is to read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and to continue reading them for the rest of all lives. Not just start reading other things until one has assimilated what Srila Prabhupada has given. In the Madhya lila Chaper 25, text 178, there is a wonderful purport. He is going to try to repeat it, verbatim.
“Everyone connected to the Krishna consciousness movement must read all the books that have been published. Otherwise after some time, they will simply eat and sleep and fall down and miss the opportunity for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge.”
Hare Krishna!
(Applause for HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja!)
HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes. Just something else about inducement on my mind and that is that, living entities in this world are called tatastha. And tatastha means that they are open to suggestion. You can experiment with this but living entities everywhere, if you make a suggestion to them, they will consider it. And Krishna consciousness movement is meant to give this very strong suggestion to people that they can improve their lives, they can go back to Godhead simply by taking to Krishna consciousness. And everything we do is going towards helping the living entities do that, jive doya, krsna-nama—sarvva-dharma-sara, (Ajna-Tahal, Bhaktivinoda Thakura) The essence of our process is to show mercy to the living entities by widely distributing the holy name of Krishna.
One more? Yes?
Devotee: What about listening to Prabhupada lectures?
HH Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes, you could get all the Prabhupada lectures and you can even get them in chronological order and then you can go through each one and listen to them from the very beginning to the very end and then start over again. And in that way you can constantly hear from Srila Prabhupada.
Someone else?
vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
Gaurapremanande Hari Haribol!
Download the audio for this lecture here:
http://www.mayapurtvarchives.com/p/downloads-2016.html
From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 21, 2016 Speaker: HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaj
Subject: S.B.7.1.45-46
TEXTS 45-46
tatrāpi rāghavo bhūtvā
nyahanac chāpa-muktaye
rāma-vīryaṁ śroṣyasi tvaṁ
mārkaṇḍeya-mukhāt prabho
TRANSLATION
Nārada Muni continued: My dear King, just to relieve Jaya and Vijaya of the brāhmaṇas’ curse, Lord Rāmacandra appeared in order to kill Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa. It will be better for you to hear narrations about Lord Rāmacandra’s activities from Mārkaṇḍeya.
tāv atra kṣatriyau jātau
mātṛ-ṣvasrātmajau tava
adhunā śāpa-nirmuktau
kṛṣṇa-cakra-hatāṁhasau
TRANSLATION
In their third birth, the same Jaya and Vijaya appeared in a family of kṣatriyas as your cousins, the sons of your aunt. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa has struck them with His disc, all their sinful reactions have been destroyed, and now they are free from the curse.
PURPORT
In their last birth, Jaya and Vijaya did not become demons or Rākṣasas. Instead they took birth in a very exalted kṣatriya family related to Kṛṣṇa’s family. They became first cousins of Lord Kṛṣṇa and were practically on an equal footing with Him. By personally killing them with His own disc, Lord Kṛṣṇa destroyed whatever sinful reactions were left in them because of the curse of the brāhmaṇas. Nārada Muni explained to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira that by entering Kṛṣṇa’s body, Śiśupāla reentered Vaikuṇṭhaloka as the Lord’s associate. Everyone had seen this incident.
………………………………………………………………
HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaj
The point of discussion is about the equalness of the Lord, because we have our own particular idea of what equalness should look like. Sometimes the Lord’s actual nature of equalness is hard to appreciate. It seems that so many people get benefit and so many people get difficulties. Nice people are getting difficulties, not so nice people are getting benefits. What is the position, how do you judge equalness? This is the actual crux of the whole spiritual and material consciousness. What do you use as the factor of judgement?
How do you define something? There are unlimited ways you can define, depending on all the varieties of mundane consciousness. Spiritual consciousness has only one way to define it. That makes it easy.
Once you get to spiritual world, whatever aspect is in there, Vaikuntha, Dvarka, Vraja, they all think in one way. It’s all about the connection to Krishna, the pleasure of Krishna. Therefore, there, the decision making point is about how it pleases Krishna. From there you work back into your particular mood, your particular relationship, the particular nature of the rasa that you are serving in. So that will have its unique expression. The central point is always about the Lord’s pleasure, nothing else.
In the material world, then, because every living entity is thinking about themselves, then our view is going to be based on what’s good for me. So something that is not nice, but may good for me, I’ll say it’s nice, but if it’s not good for me, then I’ll say it’s not good. Then we become confused.
From the transcendental platform it is simply, what does Krishna want, what does He like, what pleases Him as a person? That’s what is defined in sastra. Sastra defines what pleases Krishna.
Depending upon the individuals, their particular conditioning, their values and interests, then the pleasure of Krishna will be presented in a variety of ways. From more subtle, more metaphysical, more gross, more intellectual, more sentimental, more attachment or more detachment, any combination.
All the different sastras give the same points, they just use different words to explain it.
Just like you have synonyms, they explain the same thing. But depending on the flavor, the mood, or the situation, you use a different word. The sastras are like that. All they are defining is what pleases Krishna.
What is comes down to is that since it is about Krishna, then how He constructs things, how He arranges things, is going to make for His pleasure. Someone who follows the Vedic recommendation, whether it is known or unknown, will please Krishna. If you know it and you follow it then that will please Him more. If you don’t know it and you follow it, then it’s nice. It’s better than not following.
That is actually the bottom line. How close is it to what Krishna wants. What does He like as a person. That’s why you will see that somebody who is not necessarily a nice person may somehow or another being doing something right.
Let’s say like Robin Hood. You steal from the rich. Stealing is never good. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or poor, it doesn’t matter who they are. Stealing is not proper. But then he gives in charity. He takes gives to people who are in need. That part is good. The other part is not good. For one part he will get a bad reaction and for the other part he will get a good reaction. It’s not that oh he is a thief, everything is bad.
It’s based on what you do. What part is good, is good. What part is not, is not. To take things a bit further, there is the intent on why you’re doing it.
Now, he’s stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. What’s his intent on doing that? That will also have a flavor. Now if he’s giving to the poor because he wants to be well known and famous among that group of people, then he will get less benefit. If you are proud of your charity then you lose the benefit. You boast yes, I gave this much, you know, this and that. You will lose the benefit. Intent is also there.
We see this combination. Krishna is sitting in the heart, He knows what you think. He knows what you feel. He knows why you do everything. That’s the whole point. He knows all of these things. Depending on how you deal, He responds. If you do things right, you get a good result. If you do things wrong then you get a bad result. That’s the equality.
For every living entity, no matter who they are or how they deal, Krishna will see in this way. Therefore, it doesn’t matter your position, you will be taken care of according to how you are reciprocating with Him either directly or indirectly.
Then you have the devotees. That will be a step beyond. For the general public, that’s called sthana, that’s just the maintenance of the universe. For the devotees though it is nourishment. He’s nourishing them because they are doing it consciously with devotion.
Therefore, for the other things, you do one unit and you get one unit – one unit good you get one unit good, one unit bad and you get one unit bad. But for the devotees, because they are doing something to please Krishna then they get so much more, so much greater. The results are much more. Therefore, nourishment.
This, then, is bewildering in general because you can’t tell why people are getting such good situations, who don’t seemingly deserve it. Why do these things happen? For the devotee, the idea is that if you always look at according to how Krishna would look at it, what would please Him, according to His standards, not our standards…sometimes you hear devotees say, oh Krishna wouldn’t like that. But it’s because they don’t like it. Krishna might actually be ok with it.
For Krishna, it’s the devotion that is the main thing. When we say it’s something that Krishna likes, the only thing he actually likes is devotion. What we are referring to when we say the rules and regulations of the scriptures or the recommendations of the scriptures, we’re not talking about the primary, the devotional attitudes. We are talking about the secondary forms, the medium to express the devotion.
The mediums are not the devotion. Therefore, expressing the devotion. But it doesn’t mean that your intent in choosing a secondary medium doesn’t have some connection to devotion.
Am I choosing a secondary attribute because it pleases me or because it pleases Krishna. If it pleases Krishna, that’s sannyasa. I’m doing this work for Krishna. It’s already Krishna’s. If I’m doing it for myself and then giving it to Krishna, that’s renunciation. If I’m doing it for myself and eventually some little bit is given to Krishna, then that’s smaller renunciation.
That’s the whole thing that Krishna will be looking at, not about what secondary is being performed, it’s about the intent of it. Why do you choose what you choose? What is the reason that you do what you do? That makes for the greater point. Then you will see that for the action itself, that will get a reaction. That will come. That you don’t have to have to worry about. Beyond that, it’s going to come to what is the intent in connection to Krishna. That becomes the subtlety there.
It’s about the personal relationship with Krishna. That’s actually the whole point of everything. It’s not about the rules and regulations. It’s not about the forms. It’s not about that. It’s about the devotion. Because it’s about the devotion, it actually starts from devotion.
Here we are starting from the externals working towards devotion. But we have to remember that in the spiritual world, they start from devotion and then there is the secondary manifestation of that.
Mother Yasoda has love for Krishna. That’s the primary aspect. The secondary is that she expresses that particular parental love through cooking for Krishna, keeping the house nice for Krishna, making nice clothes for Krishna, worrying about Krishna. That’s the secondary.
That means how does this work? There the primary is first and then the secondary follows to support it. Then it reflects off the viraja of our desire. Then it reverses. If we look at it, what are we interested in? Are we interested in the devotion that Krishna gets, that love is there? Or is it about the facilities He has and the enjoyment He gets from it? Therefore, it reflects off of our attachment or lust for the secondary items.
The first thing that we do is only deal with the secondary. The primary we very rarely ever get to. It means the devotional we rarely get to, basically, unless we take up devotional service. Even on the mundane platform, actually the purpose of a secondary aspect, very few people know and do. What you do is always going to go back to some good quality.
Why does somebody work very hard to have a house? He has a mortgage, works very hard, saves his money, misses out on so many facilities that he could have, but he’s working for the house. What’s the point of the house? The point of the house is security, safety, and environment in which then members of the family can then have a relationship and express that relationship in a stable and steady way. Because you know it’s going to be the same every day. That’s the point. But the focus is all on the secondary, the external point. It’s about the house. Oh, you have a nice house? Then the family life must be great. You don’t have a nice house then you can’t have a good family life. It actually has nothing to do with that. It’s whether you appreciate the quality of that security, the quality of that relationship. Then you can have something.
That’s what actually makes things function. But by modern advertising, you don’t sell money off of that much. It goes by the secondary, the social, all of these different things, the economic. We are looking at the secondary.
With the scriptures, the first thing we’ll notice are the rules and regulations because that’s where we put all of our focus. So then there are recommendations: these secondary acts are followed by the residents of the spiritual world. This is what they do. This is how they eat, they talk, they walk, they sit, they dress, they dance, this is what they do. If you want to develop love like them, they use these secondary attributes to express that love.
If you use that, it’s a step in the right direction since we don’t have that love. By doing those secondary aspects, connected to the Lord, that we want to do it to please the Lord, it will purify us and bring us to that platform of devotion for Krishna. It’s not the forms we are using that makes the devotion, it’s the intent in using it.
The reason that we choose it is that it’s what has been recommended to us by the great personalities. What do we know about the spiritual world and what is going on there? But the great personalities, they know, they’re from there. They know what pleases Krishna. They know what their superiors do. They are just assisting them.
The devotee is doing these secondary things to please Krishna with the intent of developing that love. Therefore it’s nourishment. For the non devotees, they’re either just following the rules and regulations the vedas give by determination or haphazardly because human beings and nature tend to do nice things here and there. Then they get the reaction to that, the result of that.
If you look from this perspective then you can actually see how Krishna maintains, how He reciprocates with each and every one. If one uses another formula, one will find that it will be very confusing.
So this is what Narada Muni is explaining, that it’s the aspect of pure devotion that makes things work. That’s what is actually the functioning point. Everything else is simply something to support that. There are recommended aspects of support, things that are neutral, and things that are opposed. The acharyas discuss these things. Srila Prabhupada tells us what is useful and what is not.
He is pointing out here that because of their contact with Krishna, because of their absorption in Krishna, they are going to get something. They are thinking of Krishna. The point is that one should always be absorbed in thinking of the Lord.
Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, Sisupala, they are totally absorbed. Therefore being killed by the Lord, they don’t know He’s the Lord, but they get material facility. Understand that connecting oneself to the Lord gets benefit. They’re getting benefit. One could say they are demons, why are they getting this benefit? But they are getting benefit because they are actually connecting themselves to the Lord.
It’s just like we see that the demons follow Sukacharya, they surrender to him, he’s the guru, they do what he says, and they get elevated to the heavenly planets. Indra offends his guru and he ends up sitting in a lotus stem in the manasarovara hiding there. If you look at the lotus stems carefully you notice that they’re not very big.
That’s just how it works. It’s Krishna’s system, it’s not our system of how we say it should be. It’s how Krishna says it should be. That’s what’s going to get us something. We have to look at it from that point. That’s the perspective. It’s the International Society for “Krishna” Consciousness.
The point is that the consciousness is there. Not that we say oh yeah, yeah, what about this thing. No. That “is” the thing. Then you choose the best secondary to express it. It’s not about the secondary. It’s about what is best to express the primary. If you make it about the secondary then you’ll miss the point, you will miss the primary. It’s which one to do, which one matches the situation.
That’s what the vedas are all about. What are the time, place, and circumstance to see one’s Krishna Consciousness in connection to Krishna and to see that consciousness to engage it in Krishna’s service. That’s what the vedas are talking about. They talk about all the different situations, all the different activities, all the different results that you can gain. But that’s only so you can decide which one is best for serving Krishna right now. Nothing else.
It’s not time, place, and circumstance to get it practically done for me. It’s time, place, and circumstance to actually express devotion for Krishna. Then, by the practical activity, practical results will come. The point is that your consciousness will define whether you get devotion from that practical endeavor or not.
Are there any questions or comments?
A question regarding sannyasa and renunciation, ok. The difference between sannyasa and renunciation. Ok.
It’s a simple, simple point. We are talking about it in connection to Krishna Consciousness. We are not talking about sannyasa and renunciation outside of that.
Basically, you have an activity that you perform. And from the activity it will generate a particular result. That’s just how, by the laws of the Lord, His energy transforms. You follow the law correctly and it transforms in a particular way. You don’t follow the law then it transforms in some different way.
If I engage in a particular activity that will result in transformation of the energy that will produce a particular result, why am I doing that? It’s not the activity itself because we always take everything as it’s this or that. It’s why you’re doing it.
Remember, the jiva can desire. We are not the one that’s doing it. The energy itself is transforming. Just like if I put something in a blender and push the button, I don’t blend it. I can say I blended it, but I didnt. The machine blended it.
What’s your intent in doing that? So if your intent in doing this is that the result is Krishna’s, that means that before I start, it’s Krishna’s, then that is called sannyasa. The result has already been given to Krishna.
If I perform the activity and the idea is that it’s my activity, my result, and then I’m going to give the result to Krishna afterwards, that’s called renunciation. That can mean that I can give all of it to Krishna or part of it to Krishna. So it’s depending on how great is my own desire.
The more I see it all, that whatever I’m doing is in connection to Krishna and that’s it, then that’s sannyasa. That means that is the ideal in the vedic system. It’s that everybody should be sannyasa.
We have eight different ways to express that mood of sannyasa through the varnashram system. As we said, you have to have an expression for the mood. Socially we have the varnashram system.
Ekalavya das: Maharaj, could one say that sannyasa is bhakti and that renunciation is karma mishra bhakti?
Maharaj: You can say it like that. It could be karma mishra, it could be jnana mishra. The point is that there is something mixed. Because it’s connected to Krisna, you will get purified. By getting purified, knowledge and detachment come, so eventually by good association, you come to the platform of pure sannyasa. That means that anybody can come to the platform of sannyasa no matter what their situation. That’s what we are trying for.
When we talk about giving up the results of things, we mean that’s it’s done to please Krishna. We don’t mean that you don’t work in the field. We’re not saying that grihasthas don’t make money and take care of the family, but why are they making money? Why are they taking care of the family? Is it about Krishna or is it about themselves? If it’s about themselves, then it’s renunciation. If it’s about Krishna, then it’s sannyasa.
Therefore, you see very attached persons as grihasthas and you see the paramahampsas as grihasthas. Priyavatra is a paramahamsa. He was asked to become a grihastha and become the king. He was a paramahampsa all the way through. He’s simply using grihastha ashram to perform those duties to please Krishna.
Most people take up grihastha ashram because they like the results and working in that field of endeavor. They are comfortable there. So they do that for Krishna. So it will be renunciation.
But he would be in that position of sannyasa. Because it’s not about him, he does the duties nicely. Therefore he will look like an attached householder. That was the doubt and the questioning about it. How is it that by attachment, you’re not going to get devotion if someone who has devotion would never manifest attachment? How is it that the prajatas are in family life for a long time? I think it was for a million years. At the end, they became great personalities and went back to Godhead. That’s because they were great all the way through, but, you only see externally when they gave it up and took to the renounced order, then you see ok now they are detached. But they were detached all along. It was all about I’m following grishastha life simply because it will please Krishna. Therefore they do it.
It’s like a drama. A good actor plays his part well. It’s not that he thinks I am that. Except for, you know, the Stanislavsky-ists. They’ll say I am that. But technically you’re not, right?
They are there playing their part. And they are playing it well. To everyone else it looks like here is a very attached grihastha. You can tell by other symptoms that they’re not because family is happy, family is this.
It’s an interesting point that, I think it’s fourth canto, the discussion that Srila Prabhupada brings up is about attachment and hatred. When we see hatred we see all of the isms and all of the fractional kind of things. That comes up because there is material desire. If there is no material desire then you don’t see that. That’s how you see the symptoms.
When you see the Pandavas, do you see that they see there is us and them? No. But with Duryodhana, you do. He has deisre. Yudisthira doesn’t. That means Yudisthira is running his kingdom, he’s dealing with wife very gently and nicely. He’s not going, hey I don’t need this, I want to chant my japa, why are you being so trippy. No. He deals with everything. He deals perfectly with all of the household elements. It’s because Krishna says that is how the grihastha ashram should run. He’s doing it to please Krishna. That’s called sannyasa.
The idea is at the lastest, you attain that by the time you take sannyasa. When you take sannyasa, now you don’t have anybody else to work for so it should be that it’s about Krishna. At least there, then, if you haven’t developed it before, it’s like with the trapeze you have the net below. If it doesn’t work before that then at least by this time you get it right.
In the vedic system, it starts before, like Prahlad Maharaj. Here, he’s already sannyasa and he’s three years old. That’s the point.
Sannyasa is the mentality, then it has its natural, external form. The confusion comes because grihastha doesn’t look like sannyasa. If it’s done in Krishna Consciousness, then it is.
Is it about Krishna or is it not? That’s why we have to look at that as the first. Then we start looking at the secondary and the forms and how they match.
Vaishesika dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you very much. Very insightful, as usual. Recently, having a discussion with a god brother about agyata sukriti. His position is that in ISKCON, we depend on the idea too much of agyata sukriti. To support his point, he quotes the last verse, 28, in chapter 17:
But sacrifices, austerities and charities performed without faith in the Supreme are nonpermanent, O son of Pṛthā, regardless of whatever rites are performed. They are called asat and are useless both in this life and the next.
I was wondering if you could help to describe what happens in agyata sukriti.
Maharaj: It’s useless. That’s why you don’t get rid of them. And then others are not nice, useless, you’ve just forgotten about them because they got in the closet or you got busy and stuff.
We’re used to the idea that nice means useful and not nice means not useless. But actually, if it’s connected to Krishna, it’s useful, and if it’s not connected to Krishna then it’s useless.
That’s why there is so much discussion about these pious activities, the recommended activities, charity, austerity, penance, all the good qualities, tolerance, humility, respect, all of these different things. These are the ideal secondary mediums to engage in Krishna’s service. Unless they are engaged in Krishna’s service, it’s just so much niceness and temporary and ultimately, it’s useless.
That has to be clearly understood because otherwise we tend to judge useful and useless by its secondary position and by our value system, what we value as a secondary item by our conditioning. That tends to cloud the thing.
Agyata sukriti means unknowing devotional service. That means someone has done devotional service but didn’t know it was devotional service. That’s why it’s agyata sukriti. If they do devotional service and they know it’s connected with the devotees, that’s where it becomes devotional service.
That’s why the point I may be projecting here that we may be working from the point too much that we’re depending on agyata sukriti because we are exposing people to devotional service, but, due to sometimes shyness or anxiety that people won’t be comfortable with it, we don’t mention about devotional service. Then, all people get is agyata sukriti.
Let’s say that we are distributing prasada but they don’t know it’s devotees. They’re taking prasada, they’re getting devotional benefit, that will be eternal. Agyata sukriti is eternal. It’s pious activities not connected to Krishna are the ones that are temporary.
They will get eternal benefit but the problem is that they won’t contemplate devotional service or devotees. They will have to wait for that volume to pick up and there’s no impetus for it to pick up any quicker. Once agyata sukriti reaches a certain volume, then it will transform into sraddha or faith. If they see we are devotees and they are taking prasada, and they appreciate the devotees, now they are getting more agyata sukriti. Much more quickly they will come to the point of sraddha.
That’s why, if it’s at all possible, you always make it clear that this is connected to the Lord, that this is devotional service. The idea that if you just leave it in the background, it will happen, yes it will happen. But it’s not necessarily that we’re getting as much credit as we think we deserve.
These things are arranged. Krishna is already doing that. He is arranging that these things happen. He has arranged that the guy had some interest. “What’s going on? What’s happening in life? Why is my life like that?” So his alarm didn’t go off. He was late. He missed the carpool and had to take the bus. When he got off he had to walk some distance and walked by the harinam party. Krishna is already doing the agyata sukriti stuff.
The whole point is that he doesn’t press. But Lord Caitanya is worried about that. People don’t know. Advaita Acharya says I’m already arranging that, no one’s responding. He’s calling Lord Caitanya who is taking the mood of the devotee that so that devotees will tell you here’s Krishna. I know that you’ve done nothing to deserve it but hey, take it anyway. Where Krishna is only if you desire it, if you take a step forward, He’ll reciprocate.
That’s the point of devotees and preaching that they please Krishna more than anyone. That the first offense is offending the devotees. It’s because they actually go out and are bold about it. They preach. That’s the whole thing. That’s what preaching is, to get it across to the person in a way that they would be attracted.
That idea that I just kind of put it there and leave it and disappear, that’s ok. At least it’s around. The real credit is going to be that if I do something. Let’s say, for example, the husband has done something wrong, he’s upset the wife. The tendency is that he just sits there and won’t something and waits for the wife to respond to it. But she’s waiting for him to do something because she’s in the feminine position. He does nothing, she waits for a little while, then she gets up and leaves. He’s going, now what’s happened? When she was expecting him to try, and he’s worried that if I try something, she’ll reject it. But at least he should try – if I try something and she rejects this, or try that and she rejects that, until you get one that works.
That’s the thing that is pleasing, that effort, how? We’re presenting this, it’s more of a delicate situation, but what wording could we use? What examples could we use? What kind of setting could we use that would interest them in Krishna Consciousness? That they know that this is Krishna Consciousness. Because nothing is more attractive than Krishna Consciousness to the soul. Nothings is more sophisticated or refined. Nothing is more intellectual. Nothing is more practical.
If one has that faith, people will find it. If one doesn’t have that faith, well of course, the karmis are more sophisticated, more intelligent, more professional, more this, so who are we? We just kind of sit back and throw it out and maybe they’ll notice.
But if you have faith that there is nothing better than Krishna, he is the most attractive, he makes the atoms hold together. The gravity they talk about, Krishna enters, they say there is a certain mass. But what they forget is how does this mass hold together? You have to have gravity in the first place to get mass. That means Krishna enters each atom and because of that mood of Madan Mohan, they get attracted to each other. He is the attractive feature that makes everything work.
So if we can present Krishna in wording and examples that the individual can appreciate, then they can take up Krishna Consciousness more quickly. Otherwise, if we just leave it to chance, who knows how many lifetimes it will take. The way people are going these days, there are going to be a lot of lifetimes in between their next human life. It mentions in the sastras that they go to hell for so many times, they go through so many animal species, then they come back to the human form of life and they get another shot. By engaging them in agyata sukriti nicely, then that can be hurried up.
Agyata sukriti is always good, but like you said, to depend upon it, that it will work on its own without my endeavor – so another is thing is that I’m making the endeavor and then we leave it up to Krishna and it’s totally up to Him, that dependence is good. That’s proper. Not, oh, I did this preaching so therefore I made the devotee. No, Krishna.
But this thing that we don’t want to be too pushy and this and that, you know, why don’t we hide in the closet and that kind of thing, people would like that, right? How is that going to please Krishna? That’s why the devotees are there. That’s why Lord Caitanya took the mood of Radharani, so He could preach. That’s why Lord Caitanya is preaching. But then, is anybody else?
Rupa Gosvami said no, we’ll do this for you. Therefore, those in the line of Rupa Gosvami, they’re bold. It doesn’t mean they’re not nice. We take that it means oh it’s not nice. That’s why I’m saying we have to go by Krishna’s definitions, not ours. Modern says bold is not nice.
But if you look at it, let’s say you had a five year old kid. You’re sitting in the airport and this five year old kid just walks over to you and says hi, what’s your name? That’s bold. But you would say that’s nice. There’s no agenda.
Boldness without agenda is good. People like it. But boldness with agenda, that’s the problem. What we have to understand is that all of these good qualities are good when they are connected to Krishna. If they’re not connected to Krishna, no matter how nice they are, they’re still temporary.
The guy is a nice guy this lifetime. Next life, what’s he going to be? A nice deer? I just read about how they have these little miniature donkeys that are this big. People keep them as pets. They say they’re really, really nice, they like kids. Ok, so he becomes a nice miniature donkey in someone’s back yard. He takes care of the kids, loves kids. But he’s a donkey.
That’s the point. He’s nice. But next life he’s going to be a nice what? So only when that niceness is connected to Krishna does it become of value. That’s what the Bhagavatam does from all other scriptures. All other scriptures tell you how technique works, and how, understanding the technique, this is how it connects to Krishna.
All Bhagavatam does from the first verse is tell you this is how you connect to Krishna and these are the things that you can connect. It starts with the primary and then shows how the secondary has been used by the great personalities. All of the other literatures show what are the secondary and how people have connected it to Krishna.
Do you understand the difference? One shows the science and then there is the connection in a few verses. The Bhagavatam is all about the connection, and then the connections are given through the examples of kings and householders and sannyasis and brahmans, and all kinds of situations.
That’s why it’s the paramahampsas scripture, because it’s talking about pure devotional service. The other ones are talking about activities that you could engage in Krishna’s service or not. They’re pious activities. But they are the recommended activities. Devotees are supposed to be pious, live a pious lifestyle, pious by Krishna’s definition, not by ours. But do that for Krishna because being pious is not enough. It’s a nice way to spend your time here, but you’ll spend your time here. But if you do it in connection to Krishna then you’ll get out of here and go back to Godhead.
Last question, yes?
Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Since in Kali Yuga people can very easily make offenses to the holy name and Lord Caitanya is very merciful, why don’t the scriptures recommend chanting Lord Caitanya’s name instead of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra?
Maharaj: Why chant Hare Krishna instead of Lord Caitanya’s name? Because He’s more merciful then why not chant His name?
The whole system is about pleasing Krishna. Krishna is the original form. That’s where His fullness in svarupa sakti is manifest. We see that there are five forms where Krishna is complete. Complete meaning manifesting full potency. Krishna, Lord Caitanya, Balarama, Nrsimhadeva, and Rama. They are called paravastu. So they are full manifestations. They are not expansions of Narayana. They are the original.
We see in all of these other moods, He’s manifesting less interaction with His internal potency. The full expression of His completeness is there in is pastimes as Krishna with Radharani in Vraja. That is the topmost.
To come to that position then we need that mercy. That’s when Krishna, who is Mukunda, who can liberate us, takes the mood of the devotee so that we can actually see the importance of chanting. That’s why we follow the order of Lord Caitanya, respecting Lord Caitanya. Then on His order we chant Hare Krishna. Lord Caitanya said that we should chant Hare Krishna. That’s what He would do.
Therefore, before we start chanting Hare Krishna, we chant Lord Caitanya’s name, but it’s actually about chanting Hare Krishna. That’s what pleases Lord Caitanya.
Again it comes back to this thing that what please Krishna is the actual standard. Otherwise, logically it would look like if I chant Lord Caitanya’s name and He’s the most merciful, I’ll get the most benefit. But He’s the most merciful if we follow what He wants. What He wants if for us to chant Hare Krishna.
We’ll end here.
20 02 2016 H G Deena Bandhu Prabhu Nityananda Appearance
February 28. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: A Further Prayer to Prabhupada.
Our heartfelt prayers to Prabhupada should be guided by śruti smṛti purāṇādi-pañcarātra vidhiṁ vinā. I am praying to Prabhupada to please direct me in the best way for my spiritual life. In one sense, we are waiting for an immediate response from Prabhupada, although we must also understand that prayer is itself a process. It is an ongoing meditation, rather than an isolated event with a set result.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, today I asked a devotee how to pray to you. The answer I got was that we should speak in prayers composed by the previous acaryas. I thought one of the most obvious prayers is the pranama mantra, which you yourself gave to us. “I offer my obeisances to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Krishna on this earth, having taken shelter at the lotus feet of the transcendental Lord.” And sometimes we pray to you spontaneously in our own words, “Prabhupada, please help me,” “Prabhupada, thank you for allowing me to serve and function as your assistant.”
Prabhupada, please let me go forward in Krishna consciousness, please let me serve you, please let me remember you, please guide me. I want to especially concentrate on that prayer – please guide me. You yourself were so confidential, private, and grave that you didn’t even tell us about it. You knew that preaching to us meant stressing the Bhagavad-gita and convincing us that God exists. But you also gave the postgraduate study, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and beyond that, Caitanya-caritamrta. You gave us the truth that Krishna came to taste Radha’s love in the form of Lord Caitanya. You explained to us that Lord Caitanya wanted to distribute that love, the love of the gopis, to the whole world. You introduced us to the Six Gosvamis. But you were also careful. You didn’t want to confuse us. You wanted to protect us.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=5
A Further Prayer to Prabhupada
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Bhagavatam study 33 01.7.38-43 Ashwatthama’s actions were inexcusable and punishable appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Gita 10.01 – The Gita is an endearing combination of lofty exposition and intimate affection appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Monthly sankirtan Festival(MSF)
Hladini Kirtan Band at your Home Programs
Fasting For Vijaya Ekadasi
Appearance of Lord Caitaniya(Fasting till Moonrise)
Nutritional Consultation
Sunday School
Gift Shop
“Locana Dasa Thakura says, parama karuna, pahu dui jana, nitai gauracandra—these two brothers, Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya, are supremely merciful. Saba avatara, sara siromani—They are the essence of all incarnations. And kevala ananda-kanda—the method they teach is simply joyful. But the author further explains, visaya chadiya, se rase majiya—in order to become fully absorbed in the nectarean mellows of this blissful process, one must give up sense gratification. Now, someone might think, ‘I thought that there were no conditions, that the process is simply joyful.’ But the truth is that sense gratification which works against the success of devotional service is best given up.”
Appearance Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada.
A Prayer at the Lotus Feet of the Gaudiya-Vaishnavas.
In all of the Vedas and Puranas it is said that the dear devotees of Śrīman Mahāprabhu are deliverers of the patitas, the most degraded. Because I am so degraded, so fallen, the lowest of the low, I have developed greed to take shelter at the lotus feet of the dear devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I beg for their mercy.
By Giriraj Swami Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada's spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him so well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work, which has helped bring me closer to my spiritual grandfather. We are all here by the mercy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There's a line through which the mercy descends upon us, beginning with Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and passing, one teacher after the other, through parampara, or disciplic succession. Five thousand years ago Krsna came in His original form and instructed, in the Bhagavad-gita (9.34, 18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhakto: "Always think of Me and become My devotee." Five hundred years ago the same Lord Krsna came again, in the devotional form of Sri Krsna Caitanya, to explain and personally show how to be a devotee and always think of Krsna. Continue reading "My Spiritual Grandfather, Our Devotional Line
→ Dandavats"
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
We are looking for brahmacaris and householders who are book distributors and who would like to become part of our team here at the Berkeley Temple. The San Francisco Bay Area has many great spots for distributing books, so if you are interested, please contact us by calling 707-426-4672.
yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
Jagannath Swami dasa
, President
ISKCON of the Bay Area, Inc.
2334 Stuart St.,
Berkeley, CA 94705
The Consul and a team of Russian Government representatives visited Mayapur yesterday. They walked around ISKCON campus, visited International School, TOVP, had Diety’s darshan at the temple, prasadam of course. Most photos in this album were made by Nara Hari prabhu, who have hosted this party in his home and took the group around for the site seeing.
Kadamba Kanana Swami was released from hospital yesterday. His state of health is fragile and he continues his recovery at the Durban temple. With great physical effort, Maharaj came to the temple room and presented a lecture on the glories of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakur. Please find recordings and photos below.
KKS_SA_DBN_27Feb2016_Bhaktisiddhanta_Appearance_Day_Intro_Kirtan
KKS_SA_DBN_27Feb2016_Bhaktisiddhanta_Appearance_Day_Lecture
Visit Flickr to see more photos
On the fourth day of the ILS, delegates at the plenary session heard a presentation by Anuttama Das, GBC Minister for Communications on the topic, ‘Srila Prabhupada, the greatest communicator’. He explained that we normally associate Prabhupada with his books, letters, conversations and speeches, but we should also remember that Prabhupada was a skilful communicator.
The post Daily Darshan : February 27th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Varnasrama series.
The post Introduction to Varnasram given at the Mayapura ILS (Part 1) appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
A new sannyasi for Iskcon.
Indradyumna Swami: Today the GBC have given their blessings for my beloved disciple, Uttama Sloka dasa, to enter the renounced order of life. On March 12, the appearance day of Srila Purusottama das Thakur, I will perform Uttama sloka’s sannyasa ceremony in Sridham Mayapura. All those who can attend that most auspicious function are welcome.
The Iskcon Education ministry awards for adult education goes to…….. MAYAPUR ACADEMY. Gaurapremanande!
A one time only big book offer, free download/read.
A free download for a period of time for the 20th Anniversary of Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami.
Sri Guru Makes Krsna Appear in Your Heart.
This book by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami contains eight lectures on the qualities and the position of the bona fide guru.
Find it here: https://issuu.com/tvpbooks/docs/book_sgmka_s
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Why has God given us such a troublesome mind? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Does spirituality choke our scientific enquiry? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.