1975 November 14: "So-called scholars and saintly persons have misguided the people by unnecessarily making different interpretations of the divine instructions. That is the cause of the ruination of India's culture."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 November 14: The Westerners have good brains, but no good leader. Now the Krsna consciousness movement will provide them good leader if they take it seriously. This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's prediction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 November 14: "Now we have to revive this Aryan civilization and rectify things. Our mission is to have Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu applauded all over the world. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. That statement must be fulfilled - that we want to see."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

Kirtan at Santipur — Niranjana Swami — 29-Oct-13

Answer Podcast

From Tamil Mani

Is equal disposition similar to equanimity? As with Arjuna and Duryodhana,can a devotee (who has done no harm) take appropriate steps to defend his honor against a demonic person delirious with envy and hatred?

Answer Podcast

From Mishri

Self pity is opposite of pride. but in our practice just to avoid the pride we try to be humble and that turns out to be self pity. It is very difficult to be exact what we want to be.

Answer Podcast

From Stoka Krishna P:

In the purport of Gita 13.8-12, Srila Prabhupada explains humility as not being anxious to have the satisfaction of being honoured by others and you have explained it in one of your Gita daily articles as being Krishna Centered. How do we link up these two perspectives on HUMILITY.

Answer Podcast

From Avatari Chaitanya P:

Whenever I think of 18.66, the only worry I have is whether Krishna actually considers me surrendered. Devotional service is a vast unlimited ocean and because of so many limitations and conditionings, I am only able to go so far. I have to draw the line somewhere regarding how much I can do. In addition, I am visibly short on several counts expected of me. Srila Prabhupada expected his followers to attend mangala arotika at Bhramha Muhurta every day. That is far from feasible for me. SP expected us to attend Srimad Bhagavatam classes every day. Again a far cry for me. At the time of Srila Prabhupada, most of ISKCON was a fully engaged community family. As a person who has a full time job, I often get the question of how Krishna (and Srila Prabhupada who is non-different from his in intentions) must be thinking of me. Prabhu, it will be great if you address some of these doubts in some future articles.

 Answer Podcast

Isn't it an abuse of the renunciate's dress? And how can a devotee like Arjuna become besotted by a woman?

Answer Podcast

Lecture Podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Holy Name Meditation Podcast

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto Two, Chapter Ten, Text Eight

yo ‘dhyātmiko ‘yaḿ puruṣaḥ so ‘sāv evādhidaivikaḥ |
yas tatrobhaya-vicchedaḥ puruṣo hy ādhibhautikaḥ || 8 ||

The key words in this śloka are: (1) adhyātmika, (2) adhidaivika, and (3) ādhibhautika. All three words basically start with “adhi” and end with “ika” – if we strip away these parts we can see the key parts more clearly: (1) ātma, (2) daiva, and (3) bhauta. These three are in a strengthened grammatical form. If we revert this, the three words will become very familiar: (1) ātma, (2) deva, and (3) bhūta.

So, the three key concepts in this text are:

1. Individuality (ātma)
2. Divinity (deva)
3. Substance (bhūta)

The subject of this śloka is the word puruṣaḥ - a “person.” Every person has three aspects: individuality, divinity, and substance. This śloka explains the interrelationship of these three aspects of a person:

About individuality (ātma) the text says: yo ‘dhyātmiko ‘yaḿ puruṣaḥ - “Where there is individuality there is a person.”

About divinity (deva): so ‘sāv evādhidaivikaḥ - “And that person is also certainly divine.”

About substance (bhūta): yas tatrobhaya-vicchedaḥ puruṣo hy ādhibhautikaḥ - “But, the part of a person that stands between the two is the substance.”

“Substances” (solids, liquids, etc) can be unreal products of māyā or real products of yogamāyā. When considering substance as the unreal product of māyā, it refers to a material body. So the meaning of the śloka is - A person is a divine individual, but a body of unreal substances separates and cuts off the individuality off from divinity. This is the primary meaning. The secondary, or hidden, meaning emerges when we consider “substance” as the real products of yogamāyā. That meaning is - A person is a divine individual, and a body of true substances facilitates the relationship between the individual and the divinity.

Note: “Cuts off” dually means “Facilitates the connection” due to the dual nature of the prefix vi- in viccheda. However this is an uncommon, unconventional, hidden meaning.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto Two, Chapter Ten, Text Nine

ekam ekatarābhāve yadā nopalabhāmahe |
tritayaḿ tatra yo veda sa ātmā svāśrayāśrayaḥ || 9 ||

This verse continues talking about the three (tritayam) components of a person described in the previous verse: individuality (atma), divinity (deva), and materiality (bhūta). 

The first thing it says is ekam ekatara - the three components of a person are interdependent, that is, one depends upon the other. How so? ekam ekatarābhāve yadā na-upalabhāmahe - if one of them is not present, the other two cannot be tangible.

An divine (deva) individual (ātma) without a body (bhūta) cannot be tangibly experienced, for example. An individual body without a divine element is also not tangible, it quickly decays and disappears.  Etc. Śrīla Viśvanātha and his greatest modern follower Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmī Prabhupāda give another example by brilliantly extending the three keywords like this: deva is analogous to the (divine) power of perception, ātma to the consciousness, and bhūta to the physical organs of perception. In the absence of one, the others become intangible.

To review, the śloka so far says “These three components of a person are interdependent, if one is not present the other two seem to vanish also.”

The second half of the śloka says something revolutionary for us, in the sense that it points out a part of reality that is so close to us that we almost always see right through it, and thus forget about it. It says that these three components of personality are not the actual person itself. After all it has already said that these three are relative realities. Now it will point to the actual person, an absolute (non-relative) being. It says: tritayaḿ tatra yo veda sa ātmā - “The one who possesses all three, s/he is the true self.” In other words the true self (ātmā) has three intrinsic qualities: individuality, divinity, and substance. 

The śloka ends, thus ending the “paragraph” begun in the previous śloka by saying something deep in a very amazing way. It ends by saying svāśrayāśrayaḥ. This is a compound of three words: sva-āśraya-āśrayaḥ. The true self is the shelter of three amazing qualities (individuality, divinity, and substance), but the true self is not independent. Svāśrayāśrayaḥ means means that the true self is an entity sheltered (āśrayaḥ) by one who is his own shelter (sva-āśraya). In other words, the spiritual entity is sheltered by/ rooted in the Supreme Spiritual Entity, and the Supreme Spiritual Entity is self-sheltering / self-rooted.

Conclusion

Altogether, these two outstanding verses teach us this:

Where there is individuality there is a person, and that person is also certainly divine, but the part of a person that stands between its individuality and divinity is its substantiality.

These the three components of a person are interdependently relative. If one is not present, the other two cannot be manifest.  The entity who possesses all three of these is the true self, an entity sheltered by one who is his own shelter.

May we all take sincere shelter of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

A very interesting and sometimes humorous seminar on the 10 offenses by Dulal Chanda dasa. Email subscribers click the blue link above.

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A visit to Varsana brought our parikrama party to one of Vraja’s most special places – the home of Srimate Radharani. We prayed for Her mercy every step of the way. [ Photos by Ananta Vrindavan dasa ]

Indradyumna Swami: A visit to Varsana brought our parikrama party to one of Vraja's most special places - the home of Srimate Radharani. We prayed for Her mercy every step of the way. [ Photos by Ananta Vrindavan dasa ] Read more ›

What’s There To Worry About?

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mariano and I were the first awake in the ashram.  With a spurt of claustrophobia, we decided to hit the main street nearby for a walk before brahma muhurta, predawn.

“We’ll have to be careful though!” he warned.

“Alright, so what’s there to worry about?” I challenged with a chuckle.  “No drug dealer’s going to sell us anything, and if a prostitute is at a street corner, we will say to her, ‘Hare Krishna, Mataji’.”  Mataji means ‘mother’ respectfully.  “If a group or a gang spots us, they won’t know what to do with a couple of guys in robes.  It’s beyond their scope of experience.  If someone wants our money, we can prove we are pennyless and say, ‘hey, we’re monks’.”  It appears Mariano’s fears were dispelled.

Of course, I live in no denial about the dark side of life.  “It is for real,” I thought, while we were walking and seeing graffiti caked on store fronts almost everywhere we roamed.  It’s the sign of the times.  Some people say this is the age of Aquarius.  From a Vedic perspective, this is the age of Kali, a time of spiritual sleepiness.   This is quite easy to see anywhere in the world.

There’s a diversity of shops, all closed at this hour, mind you – modern furniture places, confectionaries, banks, clothing stores, office buildings.  A woman was lying there in front of a store front.  She had a blanket partially covering herself, and as we passed by, she looked ashamed and covered her face.  A few blocks further on, and we saw a reclined fellow enjoying a cigarette.  He gave a wave with a complacent smile.  He seemed content enough in his pile of meagre belongings.  If anyone’s life is not safe, it’s these types of people who are homeless and are in a vulnerable situation.

Safety or guarding from suffering is a concern for everybody, and it is apparent that some people do take shelter of God for alleviating pain.  This is one of the motivations behind approaching a life of devotion.  At noon today, four young people accepted diksa, spiritual initiation, as a step toward a better quality of life.  Held at the local temple, Mariano received the Sanskrit name, ‘Gaura Dayanath’ by his guru, Virabahu.  Then I delivered the names Markandeya Rishi to Marcos, Sevakund to Sebastian, and Nitya Siddha to Nadia.  The community in Argentina has treated my monk assistant, Maha Mantra and I, with amazing warmth.  I won’t forget their send off chanting party, just like I won’t forget their greeting.  The food was sublimely digestible, and I couldn’t get enough out of peach juice and fresh basil leaves in the veggie dishes.

Adios!

May the Source be with you!

8 KM

http://bit.ly/1cUvgtu

The post A very special and powerful vow with which to complete the month of Kartika and observe Bhisma Pancaka appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Float parade through the streets of the city to get to Plaza Francia, PARTY! Read more ›

Bhakti Caru Swami Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.37

tvad-alokana-kalāhi-daṁśair eva mṛtaṁ janam
tvat-padāmbja-milal-lakṣa-bheṣajair devi jīvaya

Someone is so near death, from the bites of the black snake of not seeing you. O Goddess, revive that person with the antidote: a meeting with the red-lac that adorns your lotus-feet.

This exquisitely beautiful poem is the 9th verse of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī’s Vilāpa-kusumāñjali. The entire book is full of such beauty. Those who read and appreciate this book destroy the limits of their good fortune.

1966 November 13: "My preaching work is gaining ground. My followers and assistants are all young Americans. They are educated and possess an aptitude for grasping reality. I am enclosing our prospectus and some press cuttings from which you will see how this movement is growing."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

1968 November 13: "This is useless talks. These topics are not to be discussed in the conditioned stage. When we come to the liberated stage we can understand. Let us first do the preliminary work very nicely and be cured of the disease of maya."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 November 13: "Remember I am always with you. Although physically we are not together, we are not separated spiritually. So we should be concerned only with this spiritual connection."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 November 13: "A jackal made himself king by fooling the other forest animals but his ruse was soon exposed. What are these Swamis? They cannot go outside. In a small forest, a jackal is King."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 November 13: "To those engaged in the service of the Lord, dictation is given from within. But still you should check with me. One should be cautious, not callous."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970