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Special Kartik Feast | ||||||||||||||||||
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“Giriraj Swami spoke at the ‘Simple Living, High Thinking’ gathering in Houston, a regular program for seekers who want to learn about Krishna consciousness. After his talk—and many questions and answers—Giriraj Swami led an ecstatic kirtan during which everyone present danced very joyously.”
—Nila Madhava dasa
Dear Readers, the holy month of Kartik is now upon us, the time of year when it is that little bit easier to engage in bhakti, and the rewards that little bit more.
Its a Vaishnava tradition to make an extra endeavour at this time and I thought you might like to hear about my ‘Kartik Challenge.’
There’s no ice buckets involved, and no funds to be raised, but there is wonderful song to sing that is sure to give you pleasure and inspiration. Just one Sanskrit verse is all I’m asking for, filmed and uploaded to facebook. First, please watch this short video prepared by my young friends from Radha Krishna Records.
If you’re unfamiliar with the song, here is a version for you to listen to:
A conference at the prestigious Sala San Francesco Ferrara given by Matsyavatara prabhu 4th of October 2014 helped greatly its audience to raise their consciousness and understand how the laws of karma work in this material existence. Read more › 
To chant the holy name of Krishna one does not need to speculate on the philosophical aspects of the science of God, for one automatically becomes ecstatic and without consideration immediately chants, dances, laughs, cries and sings just like a madman. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.79 Purport) Read more › 
On 16th September 2014, a total of 33 children from SJMKL's Gokul Garden Sunday School gathered excitedly at Sri Jagannath Mandir Taman Yarl KL as early as 7.15 am to board a bus to Janda Baik, Pahang to visit Goshala farm which is approximately 52 kilometres away from Kuala Lumpur city. The children were accompanied by 10 teachers. The rain showers that morning did not dampen the children's spirit for the trip, instead it was taken as a shower of blessing from Lord Krsna. Read more › 
Mumbai, October 2: In a historic order the Mumbai High Court Tuesday stayed the slaughter of 12,000 bullocks while giving its ruling on the plea filed by Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) challenging the Maharashtra Government order of July 31, 2014. Read more › 
"In Dvapara-yuga one could satisfy Krishna or Visnu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pancaratriki system, but in the Age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name." (Narayana-samhita) Read more › The post October 7th, 2014 – Darshan appeared first on Mayapur.com.
BY ISKCON BHAKTIVEDANTA CULTURAL CENTRE, PENANG
"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-these sixteen names composed of thirty-two syllables are the only means to counteract the evil effects of Kali-yuga. In all the Vedas it is seen that to cross the ocean of nescience there is no alternative to the chanting of the holy name." (Kali-santarana Upanisad) Read more › 
"The essence of all Vedic knowledge-comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity, the Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods-is included in the eight syllables Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience." (Narada-pancharatra) Read more › 
In the material world, everything is full of anxiety
(kuntha), whereas in the spiritual world (Vaikuntha) everything is free from anxiety. Therefore those who are afflicted by a combination of anxieties cannot understand the Hare Krishna mantra, which is free from all anxiety.
(Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.74 Purport) Read more › History as it unfolded 37 years ago.
The post The attack on Mayapura appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
On September 29, 2014, former Florida Governor and current Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist visited Sarasota, Florida for a campaign fundraiser. On a short stop at the Sarasota Democratic Headquarters, Bhakta Scott of Sarasota Krishna House had an opportunity to present Mr. Crist with a copy of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. Read more › Mangala Arati Iskcon London
A friend kindly asked me, “Srimad Bhagvatam is what? Veda or Purana or Upanishad?”
In reply, I wrote this:
The Veda is a unified body of knowledge with billions of verses worth of content. In every kalpa, however, humans, sages, and even the gods gradually lose their ability to comprehend the Veda, and by the end of each Dvāpara Yuga there is a great, great deal of confusion. So at that time a “Vyāsa” always comes forward to edit, organize, and restructure the Veda so that it becomes clear once again.
The general editing strategy is always similar: the Veda is mainly about “sacrifice” (i.e. how to live in such a way that one fulfills ones ambitions without causing undue harm and without degrading oneself entirely by unrestricted selfishness). There are four parts to sacrifice (preparation, ritual, song, and consummation), so the editor, Vyāsa, always separates these four themes into four distinct books (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva respectively). Then he edits the material describing the philosophical significance of the sacrifices, and uses this to produce the Upaniṣads and similar appendices to the Four Veda.
After this edit, one billion verses remained unincluded and unsummarized in the four Vedas. What is the content of these verses? These are the sections of the original Veda which do not deal with sacrifices (karma) nor with the philosophical meanings of sacrifices (jñāna) but directly with material that inspires loving devotion towards divinity, and ultimately towards the Supreme Bhagavān.
Vyāsa summarizes them into 500,000. He takes 100,000 of these verses to create the Mahābhārata. The remaining 400,000 he divides into 18 Purāṇas. [It should be noted that the verse-counts given above represent the Veda as it exists in Satya-loka. Human beings currently have access to only a fragment of this content.]
Still Vyāsa feels less than perfectly satisfied with his work. This is often the case for an editor, it almost always takes several passes at a text before one achieves a really successful edit. So, Vyāsa was not satisfied with his first edit. Primarily he felt he failed to condense it sufficiently and present only the relevant material. So, to make amends, he created the Brahma-Sūtra (aka Vedānta Sūtra), in which the entire gist of all of the original unified Veda is given in a very short, direct series of concise codes.
But even after forming these Sūtra he wasn’t perfectly satisfied, mainly because the Sūtra were too difficult to understand and too open to interpretive manipulation. He did not know what to do, so Nārada advised him that he not only needs to make everything concise, he needs to make it very clear and only focus on the truly essential topics.
We should note at this point that not every Dvāpara Yuga is the same. Specifically there is one Dvāpara Yuga in every day of Brahma (every 1000 kalpas) in which Krishna appears in our world, in Vrindavana, with Radharani and the gopis. That is a very special Yuga. The Vyāsa in charge of editing the Vedas at this very important yuga is an avatāra of Viṣṇu who appeared as the son of Satyavatī and Parāśara by the name Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipayana. When speaking of the conversation between Nārada and Vyāsa we are specifically speaking about this Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipayana-Vyāsa. He was specifically advised by Nārada that he has to make the nature of Vrindavana Krishna very clear.
Receiving this instruction, Vyāsa re-compiled the Bhāgavata Purāṇa by explaining the Gāyatrī, Mahābhārata and Brahma-Sūtra with a very clear focus on Krishna-bhakti. He instructed the essence of this Purāṇa to his son, Śuka.
So the Bhāgavatam is a Purāṇa, but in this kalpa it is a unique Purāṇa. In every kalpa it is a sattvika purāṇa (6 of the 18 are sattvik, 6 are rajasik, and 6 are tamasik), and in every kalpa it is based on the narration of Bhagavān to Brahmā. (One of the reasons it is called Bhāgavata is because the original speaker is Bhagavān). But in this Kalpa the 10th canto is vastly elaborated and it is delivered through the narrations of Śuka to Parikṣit and Sūta to Śaunaka (all of them very ecstatic Krishna-bhaktas), so that the pure vision of Krishna bhakti becomes exceedingly clear throughout all 12 divisions.
The uniqueness of the Bhāgavatam, which make it more than an ordinary Purāṇa:
(1) It elaborates upon the meaning of Ṛg Veda and all the Veda, which is encapsulated into the Brahma-gāyatrī. The Bhāgavatam is Vyāsa’s explanation of the full meaning of Brahma-gāyatrī.
(2) It elaborates on the essence of Mahābhārata, which is Krishna-kathā.
(3) It expands and explains the meaning of the terse Brahma-sūtra, and is superior to other commentaries on Brahma-sūtra because it is written by the same author.
(4) It is the most purely sattvik of all the sattvik purāṇa.
Purāṇa are called Purāṇa because they make the Veda “Pūrṇa” (complete). Therefore when we identify the Bhāgavatam as the cream of the Purāṇas we simultaneously identify it as the cream of the Upaniṣads and Vedas.
Purāṇa are very similar to Upaniṣads, which seek to complete and explain the Veda. The specialty of the Purāṇa however, is that their linguistic structure is simple and flexible (unlike the Veda), and they deliver their message with more drama and flair, so they are very accessible to anyone and everyone.
For a more careful and detailed study of this, with elaborate references from śāstra, I advise a study of Śrī Jīva’s Tattva-Sandarbha. I am putting together notes on the Tattva-Sandarbha currently, very likely I will release or publish them sooner or later. Śrī Satyanārāyaṇa dās has translated and explained it super-excellently (published by JIVA). It is already published and a revised edition will be published soon.
Tattva-Sandarbha thoroughly explains why the Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇava school of thought distinguishes itself from other schools by wholeheartedly accepting the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam as the ultimate authority in Veda.
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