Planet ISKCON

So, does Krishna have a plan for everyone of us? There are so many Jivas in this world, like billions. So, he has a plan for all of us. And what is the plan? What’s the final goal of the plan? Is it to go back, come back to Godhead? Or is it something of our choosing? Or something? Of our choosing.

Okay. Now, does Krishna have a plan for everyone? See, there are two distinct aspects to it. To Krishna’s plan, if we consider, there is a universal aspect to the plan.

And there is an individual aspect to the plan. So, the universal aspect is that each one of us is meant to love and be loved. And that propensity to love and be loved is fulfilled most in our relationship with Krishna.

So, in that sense, to love Krishna is the ultimate purpose. And that is the overarching common plan for everyone. But at the same time, Krishna has made each living being to be an individual.

And each one of us has to find our individual way to express our love for Krishna and to experience our love for him. So, what that means is that if we consider, say, this is a mountain and this is a river. So, this is the ocean, rather.

So, now, from the mountain, the river has to go to the ocean. Now, the river has to, in one sense, there is a plan for the river. Basically, let’s get to the ocean.

But the specific path that the river has to find, sometimes there might be just too much obstacles. The river might go left, might go right, might go above, might go below. Or might just erode through.

So, that the river has to decide. And from the mountain, there are many different rivers that are flowing. So, each river will have to find its path to the ocean.

So, like that, each one of us is an individual. And each one of us has to find our path to the ocean. So, the ocean is Krishna.

Now, the impersonalists use this metaphor to say that we merge into Krishna. But for devotees, they say the river keeps flowing to the ocean. Like that, for a devotee, the consciousness keeps flowing toward Krishna.

And the key principle here is that, while the river is flowing toward the ocean, the river does so much good to the thousands and thousands of life forms that are there, human and non-human, plants and vegetations, flora and fauna. So, like that, each one of us, as we are going through this life journey toward Krishna, learning to express our love for Him, each one of us can do so much good in this world. So, in that sense, there is very much a room for individuality for all of us in Krishna’s plan for us.

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Spiritualization of emotions. That emotions are an integral part of who we are and what we do. At the same time, our emotions can very easily drag us into trouble. So, is there a way we can spiritualize our emotions? Now, what does spiritualizing emotions means?

It broadly has two components to it, that we develop spiritual emotions. That means we develop emotions in relationship with the Lord, in relationship with his various manifestations. So he is himself the spiritual reality, and emotions related with him are naturally spiritual. So spiritualizing emotions has this one component that we develop spiritual emotions. And the second component is that that we transform material emotions into spiritual.

Whatever emotions we may have in our relations with others, into spiritual. So, these are two distinct aspects of what needs to be done for spiritualizing emotions. Now, interestingly, in the Ramayana, both of these happen naturally, because what we would normally consider as material relationships are in the Ramayana relationships associated with the Lord. So he has a father and a mother, and their emotions in relationship with him, his his brother, his consort, his associates, his friends, his servitors. They all have emotions in relationship with him and while these emotions are very relatable to us as human beings, at the same time, these are also real emotions in relationship with the Lord.

So in that sense, the example of how material emotions can be spiritualized is very nicely depicted in the Ramayana. So yesterday, I was talking on the theme of guilt and guilt management. So I’ll continue with that, but we’ll focus on examples from the Ramayan. Because while there are many emotions which we may have, and the principles for spiritualizing emotions are relatively similar. And, for example, when Ram goes to the forest, the agony that the citizens experience, that is described in vivid terms in the Ramayana of Valmiki itself, as well as in subsequent poetic renditions.

And the citizens feel as if their life has been pulled out of their body and their heart. They feel as if we just can’t live. Now, just as when the Gopis see Krishna departing, At that time, there is not much mention of each individual gopi over there. We know in the Bhagavatam, there is no explicit reference even to Radharani. The Gopis are referred to as a generic Gopis in the plural.

The celebrated Gopi Gita also it is said, So Gopi would be a singular. Gopi Uvache is a plural. So similarly, just as the Gopis are referred to as one community, the Ayodhya Vasis are referred to as one community. And they are all experiencing utter agony and heartbreak at the prospect of Ram departing. Now, this is an emotion which if we love someone and that person is going away, we may also experience that emotion of separation and of the agony that comes because of separation.

Now while such emotion is understandable, because it is a relationship with the Lord, it becomes spiritualized. So now if you consider yesterday’s talk, I’ll do a quick recap. I talked about how guilt, we were talking about Yudhishthi experienced immense guilt feeling that I am not worthy of becoming the king. And then in relationship with that, he felt that he should just renounce the world. Let’s see if this stays.

Okay. I won’t move this now. So what happens we discussed is that guilt can arise from various causes. So yesterday I discussed four main causes of guilt. We’ll be talking about the spiritual one is because of misdeeds.

Somebody has done something wrong, and that’s why they feel guilty about it. Second is mistakes. They didn’t intend to do something wrong, but something bad happened. Then misapprehension. Excellent.

That we may be just reading the situation wrong. That’s why we feel guilty for something that we have not done at all. And last is manipulation. So yesterday I gave one example of guilt from the Ramayan itself. What was that?

Sita. Was there a guilt over there? I was talking about being manipulated by So guilt can come by how? That said, don’t you care for your son? Your son may be threatened if Ram becomes the king.

Do something to protect him. Do you have no love for your son? So she manipulated him through guilt, or she manipulated her through guilt. So this is manipulation. Now, if we consider there are various other ways also guilt can come.

In fact, while Lord Rama himself is the supreme lord, there’s one time, Ravan is charging through the Vanara army destroying everyone. And at that time, Ram goes forward to challenge, and Lakshman says, I will challenge. Ram says, be careful. He’s dangerous enemy. And Lakshman fights heroically, stuns Rawan, and Rawan becomes enraged and uses celestial weapon, and he just pierces into Lakshman’s chest, and Lakshman falls, apparently lifeless.

And at that time, Ram breaks down and he says, you know, I might get another wife like Sita, but I would never get another brother like Lakshman. He sacrificed everything for my what face will I now show to his mother, Supra? What will I tell her? Fire on me that I could neither be with my father during his last moments, nor could I stop my brother from being killed in front of my own eyes. What use is anything for me?

He starts breaking down in lamentation. So at that time, Jambavan, Hanuman, Sugriv, they’re all aggrieved, and they have a physician among them, Nala. And he comes forward and he just touches Lakshman. And Lakshman is lifeless, but he whispers something to Sugriva. And then Sugriva comes forward and says to Ram that please do not lament.

There is a chance that he can be revived. So sometimes we may feel guilty that we are responsible for things, but it may be that we are not actually guilty. So Ram and Lakshmana’s fall. She thought he was dead. Now, sometimes there are some mistakes that we do.

And at that time, we may feel guilty. Now this happens with Dashrath. Now Dashrath has given two bones to Kaikeyi, and on that particular day, when he comes in a very jubilant mood, because now his beloved son, Ram, is going to succeed, a parent’s greatest joy is that the child become not just as good as, but better than them. Parents, whatever they get, they want it. The best of the world to be offered to their children.

So he is in a very celebratory mood, and he comes to meet his favorite wife, and he can’t find her anywhere. And then he asks the maids, where is she? So, she is in a particular chamber which is called her a sulking chamber. When she is upset, she goes in that chamber and sulks. Why is she there?

And he goes there, he is very concerned and he sees that he is lying on the ground, utterly in distress and disarray. So he says, what is the matter, dear? He says, I have no hope, I have no protector, I am abandoned. No. What has happened?

He says, no. My situation is such that nobody can help me. He says, no. Whatever you I will do whatever I can. Will you promise me that you will, you will give me whatever I ask for?

So, Dasharaj Mahavadi is so excited. Sometimes when we are too emotional, if we have one emotion, there’s a lot of happiness. And when we are extremely happy, if some problem comes up. Now we don’t want to lose that happiness. We just want that problem to be fixed as quickly as possible.

So he says, yes, whatever you want, I will give you. I promise you in the name of my beloved son, Ram, that I will do whatever you tell. Then when she asks, send Ram to exile for fourteen years and make Bharat the king, Dasharat feels as if he suddenly entered into a horrible nightmare. He just looks he goes through a whole series of turbulent emotions. Disbelief, shock, anger, betrayal, despair, and then utter agony.

That’s the time when he starts he tries to beg Kaikeyi to relent. If you want Bharat to be the king, so be it. But please don’t send Ram to the forest. He has never harmed you, he has just treated you like his mother. And I will not be able to live without it.

So he see, in a relationship, there are three if say, in a relationship there are multiple people involved. So Dasharat makes a very heartfelt appeal considering all the three stakeholders. He says, why target Ram? Ram has never done anything wrong. Then he says, as far as you are concerned, he has always been respectful and loving towards you.

And third is himself. Yes, I won’t be able to live without him. But she just does not relate. Then when Ram starts going to the forest and Dasharat can do nothing, at that time he feels as if he has failed his son. A father would want to protect and give the best to the world, best of the world to his son.

And here, he has to watch on while his son has to suffer for no fault of his. And not only can he not do anything to stop the suffering, it is he who is the cause of that suffering. So at that time, he feels guilt. Why? Why did I ever make such a promise to Kaike?

Why did at that time give such two blanket boons? Like that? So, now, when Dashrut feels guilt no. He had no intention to hurt Ram or anyone else for that matter. So it could be said to be a mistake.

We can give promises, but the blanket promises are dangerous. The blanket promises can actually bury us in a blanket only. You know, we can just get completely suffocated. Now, there are misdeeds. Who does some misdeeds?

Who is the person who does misdeed in the Mahabharata? Sorry, in the Ramayan? Rawan. Now does Rawan feel guilt? No.

So we will discuss that psychology also. Now misdeeds are done by Rawan, but Rawan feels no guilt. So on but there is one more character whose action could be said to be somewhere between a mistake and a misdeed, And that is sugriyu. Can you think when this happens? Yes.

He takes his own sweet time to come to Yes. See what happens is, Sukhree has been living for years in a no Internet zone, and then he gets full WiFi, and he goes on a Netflix blinch for blinch for four months. He forget that his four four months are over now. So he has been living in royalty, and suddenly he’s exiled into the forest. And then he his situation is worse than Ram in many sense.

In because he does not have his family with him, and he has his brother out to kill him. So from being in that situation, when he gets his kingdom back, and because of reigns, he just can’t do anything. So he just gets into the revelry, and he forgets completely. He forgets that he has to help Ram to find Sita. Again, that’s not an intentional misdeed, but it does happen from his side.

And it’s misdeed is generally meant with that it’s intention. But it’s not just a mistake over here. It’s something more. He got into a certain level of enjoyment, and that was unhealthy. But let’s look at these.

So now, we say that there are a variety of situations and a variety of emotions that arise from those situations. We are focusing on guilt and the spiritualization of guilt today. So let’s look at what is to be done for dealing with various situations. Now first of all, what is guilt? Now guilt can be defined in various ways, but at one level, guilt is when we feel bad on doing something bad.

It’s a simple way to define guilt, that we feel bad on doing something bad. Now, I’ll just become a little technical over here to differentiate a few points. See, there is also regret. Now regret is slightly different from guilt. Guilt is generally associated with moral things.

I did something morally wrong. Now regret is often associated with emotional. Say for example, if we spoke something in a way that hurt someone else. Now maybe we use some words which are considered or is considered offensive. And then that person felt hurt.

So there’s regret over there. Regret is not the same as guilt. That in the same direction, what I did was bad. Now regret can also be because of some practical damage. No.

We do something and sometimes that action causes harm to someone. So guilt is slightly different from regret. Now, in this same direction, there is these two are not exactly the same. Now, beyond that, there is one more emotion before I move out of this technical stuff. So, there is guilt, there is regret, And then, there is a third thing, which is reform.

Now, before reform comes remorse. Now remorse is more internal. Now regret can be internal as well as external. I feel regret and I suppose somebody invites us for a program, and we are not able to go for that program. I regret to inform you that I won’t be able to come for the program.

So that regret is not I won’t say I feel guilty that I can’t come for your program. It’s regret. It’s it’s often functional. Now reform, on the other hand, is external. So we may feel remorse when we do something bad, and then we do some we do something to change ourselves for the better.

Now all of these are to some extent associated with something called conscience. Conscience is the Viveka Buddhi. So remorse is is and then reform is Then as an expression of regret, we might do some atonement. That is Prayashchit. And conscience is Viveka Buddhi.

So now the conscience is broad. What what is it? It is our innate sense of right and wrong. The sense within us of right and wrong. This is good, this is bad.

This is right, this is wrong. We all have an innate sense, and that sense needs to be developed. So for example, say, if we are rushing on some urgent errand through a crowded room, and while we are walking through a crowded room, we notice that we have stepped on someone’s foot. As soon as we notice it, immediately we say, sorry, sorry. We might touch their body and touch it to our head, whatever.

Now imagine if somebody notices that they stepped on someone’s foot and they look at that person. Oh, it’s you. They deliberately raise their foot and bang it again on the other person. So, that is basically being evil. Where we not just hurt others, it’s like guilt is we feel bad on doing something bad.

But a person who is evil feels good on doing something bad. So, Brugari, when he half killed animals and he saw them suffering, he would feel joy in that. Now, we may not be physically malicious like that in hurting someone, but we can be emotionally malicious sometimes. That means we hear something about someone. And if that became widely known, that would hurt that person’s reputation, that could harm that person’s service.

But sometimes we just broadcast it. I am doing it in public interest. It’s not in public interest, it’s in personal interest. Isn’t it? It is.

It is because we want to get back at that person. So sometimes, our lack of conscience can be seen in when we gossip. Generally, for gossip to happen, two things have to come together. It is, we learn we need learn something we like. We come to know something we like, about someone we don’t like.

So when these two things happen together, when we hear something we like about someone we don’t like, oh, wow. This person pretends to be such a good person. Now I will unmask the reality of who they are. So this is when gossip starts off. The Sanskrit word for gossip is is a much broader category, but gossip will also fall in So sometimes people who gossip, they also have a distorted sense of conscience.

Their conscience is not working. So generally, if somebody has some challenges in their personal life, it happened with Srila Prabhupada that one of his senior leaders had some severe challenges. And he sent a letter and Prabhupada the letters that were sent to Prabhupada were read by his servant to Prabhupada. And this servant told this will happen in Mayapur. He told everyone that this has happened with this devotee.

This has happened with this devotee. And Prabhupada was very upset. He said, why did you tell like this? He wrote to me in confidence. One of the limbs of bhakti is guhyam akhyaati prucshati.

That guhyya, the confidentiality is very important. A, we truly want to have a community, we need to have in the community people whom we can trust. And that trust, one major aspect of earning trust is the capacity to keep confidences. So otherwise, surveys show that people in religious communities where there are high moral standards, such people actually feel more lonely than people in the secular world. Generally, pump people come to religious and spiritual groups because they want a closer sense of community, because the materialistic world is lonely.

But if we do not learn to keep confidences, then we will actually sentence people in our own community to far greater loneliness, because nobody will wanna share their hearts. Or whatever we call as sharing the hearts will only be where is the surface and we will not be able to connect at a deeper level. So anyway, so this is where guilt, if I have told something to others which was told to me in confidence, I should feel guilty about it. When we do something wrong, it is important that we feel that I did something bad. So guilt itself is not a bad thing.

Now guilt is actually a psychological protection mechanism. Just like there is a physical protection mechanism. Say, if let’s say there’s a current in this particular thing. A live current going on. I touch this and I feel current.

That immediately, I feel that current, I feel that pain, and my hand will not go over there. I’ll make sure that my hand doesn’t go over there. So just as that physical sensation of pain protects us from stimuli that will cause us pain, similarly, the emotional emotional sensation of guilt is meant to protect us from actions that are wrong, that are hurtful. So guilt itself is, is actually a necessary part of our psychological set up that Krishna has given us. So guilt is not bad.

However, there’s a problem that with respect to guilt, guilt can become misformed, misled, or misdirected. Now, when guilt is misdirected, what happens? Two things happen. We feel it when we shouldn’t, and we don’t feel it when we should. So feel it when not necessary.

So for example, I know one devotee here in America. He told me that he grew in a family, where for generations of course America doesn’t go for many generations, two hundred years, twelve, twelve fifty years old country. But he said for generations, they went into cattle breeding. And that was just their profession. So eating meat, beef, just a part of their profession, and that is a part of their family lineage.

So he said, when he started practicing Bhakti, and he started becoming a vegetarian, he said, I started feeling guilty as if I am betraying my family and my dynasty. So we eat meat all the time. At that time, he had showed me some cartoon. One point, one American asked another American, he says, are you a vegetarian? He said, no.

I am an American. So the idea is, as if I am American, that means, is of course I love you vegetarian. But, no, that’s not true. But, so sometimes, we may feel guilt when there is no reason to feel guilt. So, sometimes guilt might our sense our conscience may get culturally conditioned.

Culturally conditioned means that because of the family upbringing, because of the way everyone is doing something in a particular society, particular cultural setting, then if we do something different, we may feel guilty. But there is no need for that guilt. So when guilt gets misdirected, we feel it when not needed. And the second, which is more common is, we don’t feel it when it is needed. So So while the first can be damaging, the second can actually be devastating.

And this is not feeling guilt when needed, that is actually typical of the demoniac nature. Demoniac nature means, the way you are going, you are messing up your life. But, they blame that person only. Like somebody is an alcoholic and their family tries to help them give up alcohol and they blame that family only. You know, if you hadn’t been a better spouse, if you had been a better parent, if you had been a better sibling, then I would not have to drink.

So, this is actually called gaslighting. Gaslighting is where we deflect blame away from us to the very person who is actually helping us. So, the characteristic of demoniac nature is that they feel no guilt. Krishna talks about it in the sixteenth chapter when he says that, He says that the demoniac people just kill their rivals, and they think it’s a sign of their cleverness. Yeah.

You know, I eliminated this enemy, and I eliminated that enemy now. And just see how clever I am, just see how smart I am, just see how successful I am. So sometimes for warriors, killing may be required, but to get joy in that and to celebrate that, that may be harmful, that may be dangerous. So demoniac, now of course there are sometimes people who are villainous and they are killing, may be necessary, and may be celebrated also, but still, we have to be very careful about this. So when we do bad and don’t feel bad, that is really bad.

So, Ravan, when he abducted Sita, neither the thought of that plan nor the execution of that plan, never did he feel any guilt at all. No. All he felt was, this is Ram such an inconvenience. I just want Ram to get out of the way. Now, he was misled by Maricha or whoever, actually by Akampana, and Akampana said that Ram is so attached sorry.

Ram is so attached to his wife that he has brought her into the forest also. That means, he won’t be able to live without her. And if you take her away, then he will become weak and he will die. So sometimes crimes like rape are seen as rising from lust. But, you know, that’s only one part of it.

If somebody was just lusty, they could go to a prostitute. Rape and crimes like that arise more out of ego. Ego and pride that expresses itself through lust. So initially, when the Pankarawas wanted to disrupt Draupadi, it is not so much out of lust. It was to humiliate the Pandavas.

So when somebody, one person wants to dominate the other person and force them against their will, that forcing is not because of lust. That is because of ego and pride. It’s a complex combination, but Ravan, when he initially wanted to abduct Sita, he did not even know about Sita’s beauty much. Yes, Shorbankai told her about it. Initially when he thought about it, when a company told him, it was simply a way to get back at Ram.

But when he saw the beauty of Sita, heard about it from Shurparka and saw it himself, he said, this is not about getting back at Ram, this is just for my own enjoyment. So the point over here is whether it was lust or pride, that Rawan had no conscience and therefore he felt no guilt. This is where there are some criminals who are sociopaths and psychopaths, they just remorselessly kill people and that’s a deadly thing. So now, when we have done something wrong and we don’t feel guilt, what do we do at that time? So as I said, guilt is healthy and in some cases, guilt needs to be felt.

So for that purpose, actually, we need three things. We need education. Education, not just intellectual education, philosophical education, but education that leads to the elevation of our emotions, development of our emotions. Some people just don’t have that capacity for empathy. So, you know, here I’m talking about how conscience can be developed.

We need association. We need education. You know, education for emotions. And in many ways, bhakti is all about educating and elevating our emotions. Then most important for developing consciousness is association.

Association is where, if we associate people who have a strong moral compass, then we start thinking, hey, maybe what I’m doing so nonchalantly, maybe I should not be doing this. Some people just lie very casually and they say it’s a harmless lie. And sometimes you con to confront them also, it is, it is, they will just take it nonchalantly That they will focus on it as harmless. Now what happens is sometimes, it is a harmless lie they have spoken. Why did you lie?

They focus on the harmless and we focus on the lie. So why did you speak a lie? It is harmless, but it is a lie, but it is harmless. And sometimes they just not take it, they do not take care for it at all. So when we associate with people who have a very sharp moral compass, By that we start understanding, okay, now this is something which should not be done.

So, if we associate somebody who is, who is very sensitive about the emotions of others, you You know, if you if you speak this if you some suppose somebody in an authority position has to take some disciplinary action against someone, they have to be very careful, okay, what words am I using and how will those words be seen by others. So if we associate someone who is very, very careful about the words, then that helps us, okay, this is what I need also to be careful about. So association is very helpful. And of course, beyond that is purification. Now purification means that see basically, we could consider that our emotions are like our reservoir of energy, And this energy will go in some direction.

So if my emotional energy if somebody has like a hundred hundred watt power backup, and if that is used to charge your fridge, then your store will not work. Or if you are using it to charge your laptop, then your phone will not get charged. So like that, when we are impure, all our emotional energy goes in pursuing that particular desire. So it’s not that a person who is lusty or greedy is by nature heartless, in the sense of not considering others emotions. But they are so caught in their own emotions.

Like if say, if there are three cake pieces and they are meant for three people, and one person is greedy, they will just eat all the three pieces, and they wouldn’t think about the other person. It’s not that they wanted to hurt the other person, but their emotions are so caught in their greed that they just don’t think about the other person. Now what happens is, all these emotions like lust, anger, greed, they make us eye specialists. Not eye specialists, eye specialists. Which is become very self centered.

So purification, what it does is, it releases our emotions from wherever they are locked. So as we chant Hare Krishna and practice bhakti, we start becoming purified. That means the emotions that are locked in the greed, the emotions that are locked in the, last, the emotions that are locked in the jealousy, they start getting unlocked. And then, it’s so if we have a very lot of impurities, then all our emotional energy goes in just feeling what we want to feel, and not feeling what others are feeling or will feel at all. So that’s why purification is vital.

So through education, association, purification, the conscience can be developed and then we will have healthy guilt. Where we should feel guilt, we will start feeling guilt. And that is a good thing, that will make us more careful in actions that may hurt others. And eventually, of course, by the law of karma, hurt ourselves. So now I’ll talk about the last part.

So what do we do about unhealthy guilt? So our topic value is spiritualization of emotions. So we should feel guilt when it is necessary. So Sugri was so caught in his Internet surfing that he forgot his responsibility. But then, when first Hanuman reminded him, then Tara reminded him, And then when Lakshman came, Lakshman didn’t just remind him.

Lakshman started shaking him up. Not physically, Lakshman chastised him. And then what happened is, through all that forceful association, his sense of his responsibility, his sense of his right and wrong awakened. So, it is not that he is an impure person, but it was that he needed that shock. Sometimes that’s what is required.

Sometimes you have to forcefully remind others that of how wrong what they have done is or what they are doing is. So that’s association. Now beyond that, if we move forward towards dealing with the situation where guilt may be now there are some people like Rawan, no matter who reminds them, like, the if their moral compass is asleep, it can be awakened. But if he is dead, nothing can be done to it. Somebody is dead, you can shake them, you can slap them, you can kick them, they are not going to get up.

So Rawan’s moral compass was more or less dead. That’s why neither the good advice of his own relatives, Vibhishan and even, even Mandodari and Mandodari’s father. They all advised, but he didn’t listen to anyone. And nor did he take the warnings coming from Hanuman and Angad also. So either way, some places it just doesn’t work.

And then people who don’t have who don’t feel guilt on doing something wrong, they really have to be punished strongly. If we don’t punish such people, if we don’t forcefully restrain such people, they will keep doing wrong things. The leftist propaganda is that nobody is actually bad. That it is only society which makes people bad. And when people do bad things, it is because society needs to be changed.

So in California, during the pandemic, they had the rule that if anybody shoplifts, as long as they are shoplifting below $750, oh, people are poor, they don’t have bread to eat, they don’t have food, that’s why they are shoplifting. And they said, the police will not even press any charges against them, not even record a complaint. And what happened, people were going and shoplifting and now there are nobody shoplifting bread and food. They were carefully shoplifting iPhones and Louis Vuitton purses, but just below $750, and shoplifted one day and sell the next day on Ebay. So the thing is, that there are bad people.

Of course, everyone at the level of the soul is good, but there are bad people in the world, and they need to be punished, because if they if they do not have a conscience that guides them, then there is consequence that has to guide them. If there is no conscience and there is no consequence, then society will have to bear the consequence. That’s how it is. So for us, how do we stop wrongdoing? There are these only those two factors broadly speaking.

If somebody is doing something wrong, how do they stop? Internally, there is conscience, and externally, there is consequence. Now ideally speaking, both should come together. In the case of the consequence of Dashratha dying also didn’t awaken her conscience. But when Bharat came and chastised her, I said, What do you think you have done?

You think you have done this for my pleasure? She said, I am disgusted with this. She said, I reject you as my mother. So she was shocked. And she got that consequence of rejection from the very person for whom she had done everything.

Then she came out of her stupor, and then she actually severely repented for what she had done. She even came with Ram to beg him to come back from the forest. So now, this is with respect to guilt that is healthy. What about guilt that is unhealthy? That means, guilt that is unhealthy is when we are feeling bad despite not having done something bad.

So what do we do at that time? Now, this can happen because of three things. One is manipulation. So if somebody is deliberately making us feel guilty to control us, like I said, gaslight, like mantra, try to manipulate So at that such a time, we need to distance ourselves from such people. We need to keep a distance.

Such people, sometimes they may just not change. We can change them well and good. If not, at least we need to change the dynamic of our relationship. If there are some people who constantly make us feel bad about ourselves, then we have to see. Of course, there are things in our life we all need to improve.

But to improve, we don’t just need chastisement all the time. We need encouragement also. You know, if I was traveling in America over here and staying at one devotees home, and their their son, he was a young adult, he was driving me around. So we both had a lot of interest in English, so we became friends. And one day when he was driving, he told me, you know, I feel as if my parents don’t love me at all.

I said, what makes you say that? I’ve seen your parents with you. They care for you. Yeah, yeah. He said, they of course care for me, but I think that they love only a future version of me, and they are tolerating me till by if that future version of their dreams emerges.

Now, I think that’s a very insightful observation. So of course I told him that there are so many kids who don’t have parents, who don’t have anyone, who cares neither for their present nor their future. But sometimes it happens that some somebody who is guiding us, they may see where we can be and they want us to rise to those standards. But what happens is, the way they want us to rise to those standards is by constantly making us feel bad about where we are right now. They may not be intentionally manipulating us, and their intention may not be at all bad.

But what they are doing is that it’s as if I feel, if I start feeling that the present me is a terrible person. And so it’s like, nobody in any relationship will feel as if I will be loved only when I get there. And right now, I am being tolerated. And the tolerance may also break at any time. So when that happens, that relationship becomes very stretched.

So basically, there is everyone needs to have an inner negotiation. So, with this point I’ll be concluding, and then we can have some few question answers. What is this inner negotiation? This applies to others also. See, when we are guiding others or instructing others, we may want them to rise.

Now within all of us, there is the present me, and then there is the potential me. There is who I am right now, and there is who I can be. So now, if only the present me is cared for, then what will happen is, that the that means, oh, you know, you like to watch TV, watch TV. You like to go and play games, you go and play games. You like to hang out with your friends and party, do that.

Whatever makes you happy, do that. No. Say for example, if parents care only for the present child, then the child will stagnate. The child may even degrade. But on the other hand, if we so these are like two extremes of pendulum, if we care only for the potential me, That means if the parents care, oh, you know, you have so much talent, you can become a great achiever, or you can become a great devotee.

You know, you can do this, you can do that, you can do that. If we care only for the potential me without caring for the present me, what will happen is, the person will suffocate. That there is it’s only when I get there, I will be loved and accepted and respected. Until that time, I am barely being tolerated. Now, that is also a very unhealthy state.

If you feel suffocated too much, then what happens is, you just want to go away from that place. So, the ideal situation is, there has to be both, the present me and the potential me. So, the present me and the potential me, each person has to balance the needs of both of them. So, the present me needs to be accepted. And even not as accepted, but also appreciated.

It’s not that as I say, somebody accepted means it just as if I’m tolerating you. That is the basic level and definitely has to be there. But along with that, there is good in each one of us at present also. And that needs to be appreciated. Say, we can’t fast Nizjaloni kadashi.

We can beat ourselves, why can’t why don’t I fast Nizjal? Or we can we can appreciate ourselves. Okay. Maybe six months ago, I would not even be able to fast from one meal also, but now I am able to skip one meal. So the presently where I am, that also needs to be appreciated.

Now the potential me, the potential me, that is also very important. You know, there is each one of us can become so much better. And the potential me has to be fanned. Fanned means it’s like a fuel. It’s like a it’s like a fire.

The fan when you do fan, what happens it? It grows. Now it has to be fanned means the person has to be encouraged, the person has to be inspired. But fanning alone is not enough. Along with fanning, it has to be facilitated.

Facilitated means, okay, come on, you can do this. Yes. That’s good. But, you know, how do I do this? Suppose the child is trying to learn how to cycle and child keeps falling down.

The parent says, come on. You can do it. Come on. You can do it. Yeah.

But why am I falling down? Tell me that. Isn’t it? Maybe the child is pedaling too much on one side of the leg. And that’s why the child’s cycle is going off balance.

Okay. You know, don’t pedal so much with this leg. Paddle also with that leg also. Use equal force. That means you have to give practical help also.

What is it that you are not able to do? So the potential me has to also be found and facilitated. So when there is so if somebody is focusing only on the potential me and not caring for the present me, then the guilt that results over there can be unhealthy, because it can be very discouraging. That, you know, oh, I should be there and I’m not there, and because I’m not there, Krishna, Krishna is displeased with me. This beautiful letter of Prabhupada where he says that I am never displeased with any member of his god.

What Prabhupada means is that just by being a part of his moment, we please him. Now, of course, within the moment we can do more and more, and that will please him more and more. But the basic foundation is is a foundation of acceptance and appreciation. From there we grow forward. So the key point is that here, this is if I am here now, and Krishna is here, and say, some wrong action is here.

Some wrongdoing is here. What should happen is, guilt should act like a blockade. Guilt should be here, and it stops me from doing something wrong. And this guilt is positive. But sometimes, guilt ends up coming over here, where we feel, because of guilt, so discouraged that we feel as if, I’m just not capable of doing this.

I cannot do this at all. So I don’t want devotee. He was a very dynamic devotee when I I introduced him to Bhakti, then I moved to another place as a part of my service. I met him after many years. Now, I met him in California.

He is, he is now one of the biggest preachers and patrons of the Ramakrishna Mission there. So I met him when I came California. I saw one of the programs. He came to meet me. And I asked him what happened.

So he was introduced to what he he, when he was introduced, he was in one of the IITs in India. I used to go there regularly, so he would attend my classes. And we would have a lot of discussions. So he said, I loved the philosophy and I just felt that it was not practical for me. It’s just impossible for me.

And I got very frustrated. I felt very guilty about it. And then after finally I decided I cannot live with such a guilt, so I just left Krishna consciousness. Then I found a spiritual path that was more doable for me. So I said, okay, so what part of, of Krishna consciousness did you feel was not doable for you?

So he said, I was told that I should read only Prabhupada’s books. And since the age of five, every week I read two books. And not just like light novels. I like to write self help books, I read, non fiction. So every year I read at least hundred books.

And when they told me that you should read only Prabhupada’s books, I felt this is impossible for me. And when I said I would like to read other books, I was constantly made to feel guilty about it. And that’s why I decided I cannot live with this. Now, you know, we should read Prabhupada’s book. We should read Shastra.

But different people are different. Some people who have a more intellectual nature, they live with books. They will read a light variety. We should not be in the business of telling people don’t read this other stuff. Because when you read Shastra.

Now, there is no need for anyone to make him feel guilty for reading other books. And now this is such a trivial reason because of which somebody left Krishna conscious. That person who is a big leader in our movement could have done so much service for Krishna. So what happens is that sometimes certain people have certain needs. If somebody is intellectual, they will want to read widely.

For most people, to get them to read even one book is difficult. That’s why, okay, it’s true. Tell them, no, don’t read too many books. That is true. Now what when the Goswami say this, but you look at what the Goswami themselves They themselves have read a lot of books.

And they quote even from literature within the Vedic canon that is non devotional. And the whole Rasa tradition, they quote from contemporary authors also. So the point is, some people may have particular needs. Somebody is very much into music and you tell that person, if you no. If somebody wants somebody to be faithful to Prabhupadhyas.

So you if you are to be faithful to Prabhupad, the way is you should sing only Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna Dhun Kirtan. No other dhuns allowed. If you sing any other dhun, you are being a deviate. This person will feel musically suffocated. Isn’t it?

And of course, we don’t do that, but, you know, just as people have musical needs, people have intellectual needs. So, now of course, there are boundaries that need to be set, but different people may need different boundaries. And somebody who is very much into music, they may want to also hear some secular music. Okay. What kind of musical trends are going on in the world?

And they may want to present bhakti according to those musical trends. And they are not hearing music for self gratification. They are hearing it for service. So we cannot have a one size fit all for everyone. There needs to be some customization and accommodation.

So the idea is that everybody needs to feel accepted and appreciated where they are at. And then, they can be facilitated to grow further. So, when we learn to do this, either if we are feeling in our bhakti that I am not accepted and appreciated right now, then we need to find the devotees with whom we will be accepted and appreciated. Isn’t the devotee associate itself, there are some who will appreciate, some who will not appreciate us. But finding that is very important.

When you find that, then this unhealthy feeling of constant guilt, constant insecurity, constant inadequacy, that will go away. That doesn’t mean I am perfect. Of course, we have a long way to go. But here we are, we are accepted and appreciated. From there, we can keep moving forward step by step.

So I’ll summarize what I discussed today. We talked about Guilt Management, and in that, today’s topic was the second part. So first I talked about how the Ramayana is into basically the spiritualization of emotions. The spiritualization of emotions can happen in two ways. One is by directly directing our emotions toward Krishna, and other emotions also, we connect them with Krishna.

So when we do this, then our emotions can be spiritualized. And then within that, I discussed about specifically we focus on the theme of guilt, and when we are talking about guilt, how guilt is actually healthy. It is even necessary. It is positive because it protects us from wrongdoing. It protects us from ruining.

When we do something bad, we feel bad on doing that. And that is due to guilt. And for some people, this this comes from conscience. So we don’t have to increase our guilt, but we do have to increase our sense of conscience. And that can be done by three things.

That is our education. Education especially in terms of emotions and how our actions impact others, then association, associating people who have a strong moral compass, and purification, by which our emotions that were locked in something become freed, so that they are available for other things. We don’t remain eye specialists, and we start becoming more empathic towards others. Now, such a guilt is good. Now when we are trying to go through life, guilt can also be negative.

Guilt can become misdirected when we feel guilty when we need not, and we don’t feel guilty when we should. So if the negative will come because of constantly feeling of inadequacy. If the present me and the future me, or the potential me. So in the, if there’s only the present me is cared for, that’s not good enough, then we’ll stagnate. If the only the future me is cared for, we’ll suffocate.

So ideally speaking, what happens? In the balance, both the present me needs to be accepted, and not just accepted, but also appreciated. And at the same time, the potential me also needs to be fanned. Yes, you can do better. You need to be encouraged, and then also practically facilitated.

So when both of these are done, and we are provided association that enables us to do this, then that’s how a person will be able to grow. And every devotee, where they are, whatever the conditionings may be, the devotee needs to be accepted and appreciated, feel accepted and appreciated. And each devotee has the individual responsibility to find the association where we’ll be accepted and appreciated. And as a community, we also need to have the responsibility to cultivate that mood within the broader community. So let us pray to Lord Ramachandra that just as he is, my dear Lord, you have demonstrated beautiful emotions which all are centered on you and which bring closer to, everyone closer to you.

Please, oh lord, help us to also develop similar sublime and spiritual emotions and let our guilt bring us closer to you and never cause us to go away from you. Help us to gently cultivate healthy emotions of guilt that protect us.

The post Guilt Management 2: When Guilt is Healthy.. Houston – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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Hare Krishna. I’m grateful to be here, all of you today, at the lotus feet of the lordship, Shraddha Nilamadha. And today and tomorrow, I will take a two part series on the topic of dealing with guilt. Here we see, Yudhishthir Maharaj is suffering from a severe attack of guilt. So when is guilt healthy, and when does guilt become unhealthy?

That will be the topic which we’ll be discussing today. So today, I’ll talk about it in two parts. Today we’ll mainly be looking at can this be seen for everyone? Okay. So guilt, healthy and unhealthy.

That will be the topic. So today, I’ll be talking more about the causes of guilt and when they are right and wrong. And tomorrow, we’ll be discussing more the cure for guilt, how to actually address guilt. So today, I’ll talk about three main points. The context, what exactly is going on in this section of the Bhagavatam, and why is Yudhishthira Maharaj feeling so guilty.

Then second is we’ll talk about the general causes of guilt. And then I’ll talk about one misconception about guilt, which can actually create a lot of trouble for all of us. So what is the context over here? The context is that the war has got over. And just now, we’ll go back from the context one by one, that Krishna is about to depart and Yudhishthira has just seen how Parikshit their their only successor who is surviving was so brutally attacked and was miraculously saved.

And before that, Kunti has offered prayers, before that, the war has got over. So now Yudhishthir is feeling immensely guilty and he’s saying, I cannot I cannot become the king. And he says that, I have been responsible for such a terrible war which led to such catastrophic bloodshed. And it is for my own greed for kingdom that I did this. And therefore, a person like me who is driven by greed and who has committed such wrongs is should not become the king.

And he is he is an intelligent person. He is already anticipating objections. So they may say that, actually, you know, even if you consider yourself guilty, you can always do Yajnas, and Yajnas are meant for atonement, and you can be purified by atonement. So he’s anticipating that and he’s replying, no. He says, my crime is so severe that those yagnas are meant for atonement and purification, but this was mass slaughter of human beings and so many human beings.

He says that, this cannot be counted. And Srila Prabhupada often in his purports is very clear about what he is trying to do. Srila Prabhupada has particular points that he wants to emphasize. And quite often for Srila Prabhupada the that is the Bhagavatam purport or the Bhagavita purport or the Chaitan Chartha Murth purport. Prabhupada is He’s one pointed.

His focus is on imparting principles of Krishna consciousness, which are especially relevant for people. So he immediately takes Ashwamedha Yagna and he says, okay, that is not relevant. Sankirtan Yagna is relevant today. And he emphasizes how we should be performing Sankirtan Yagna. Now within this context, let’s look at what triggered Yudhishthir’s guilt.

You know, if if you see the Mahabharata war okay. See the Mahabharata war, it was a catastrophic war. And what happened to Arjuna? Before the war, happened to Yudhishthir after the war. Arjuna had second thoughts about fighting, and at that time, Krishna had to pacify it, pacify him and reassure him, and now Yudhishthir has is having not second thoughts about the war, that’s already done.

But he is having second thoughts, especially about becoming the king. In fact, he could say he is not having second thoughts. He has decided I will not be the king and that’s where it is. Now what triggered it so much? The Pandavas won the war, but it was not a clean victory.

It was basically the victory that came to the Pandavas, it was it was costly, very costly. And it was a very unhazy victory, not a very clear victory. Hazy means what? That even the Pandavas had to do immoral things to win the war. Now we could think of how they surrendered to Krishna and how in the bigger contest, it was unethical.

It was ultimately ethical. But still, there, what was the cost? For him, the biggest there are two big costs. One was that all sons were killed And especially while all his sons were killed, Yudhishthir felt especially responsible for the death of Abhimanyu, because the Chakravyu had been formed by Drona to trap him. And he had said, Abhijvani, if you go inside, we will break in.

Generally, a parent or a parent figure is meant to be a protector of a child. Yudhishthir felt, what kind of king can I be? That I send my nephew who is like my son to his death all for my own protection. And then he had been he had his all sons first of all, Uriasana was killed. Sorry.

Abhimanyu was killed. And then after that, all the sons were slaughtered by Ashwat Dawa. We’ll come to that. But, after that, what really broke Yudhishthir was Kunti’s revelation that Karna was his brother. Throughout Yudhishthir, while Arjuna had animosity with the Pandavas, among the various people, Yudhishthir on the Kaurava side, Yudhishthir had strong negative feelings, especially in terms of fear about Karana.

And Karana had humiliated Yudhishthir on the battlefield on the seventeenth day. And Yudhishthir had celebrated when Karana had been killed. And now when he heard that the person whose death I celebrated was my own brother and that brother whom I thought was so cruel and so evil that he sided with Rirodhan, that very brother had a chance to kill me and kill my brothers. And he did not kill me because he had made a promise to my mother. And he was such an honorable person that he kept his promise.

So this just completely broke him. He was angry with Kunti. How could you have hidden this from me? But beyond that, some people have a lot of those who have a lot of ego, they become very aggressive in blaming others. But those who are relatively humble, one we’ll talk about this.

A misapplication or misunderstanding of humility can lead to we blaming ourselves. Now another another why was it hazy? Because he himself felt especially guilty about the way Drona was killed. Because he see, there are other killings that happened and it’s like the Khababhad war was such that nobody came out unsullied. Each of the Pandavas had to do something seriously questionable.

Bhima had to finally hit Duryodhan about below the waist. Arjuna had to shoot an unarmed Karana, and Yudhishthir had to speak a lie. Now he spoke a lie, and actually at that time, the Pandava’s plan was not so much to kill Drona as drop Drona. And if Drona lowers his weapons, Arjuna’s plan was, we will arrest him. We’ll keep him in house arrest till the war is over.

Because that day, Drona had started using celestial weapons against ordinary soldiers. So he felt Krishna told him that he it’s like in today’s world, if some head of state who has nuclear weapons, start using nuclear weapons in an ordinary war, where only conventional weapons are used. Then the other world leaders may be decided somehow or the other, this leader has to be assassinated. Otherwise, he can destroy not just the entire opposing army, the entire world can be destroyed. So it was with great reluctance that Yudhishthira agreed and he spoke the lie.

But then, the the the Sudyumna took the opportunity and lopped off Drona’s head in cold blood. And Arjuna was enraged at the Sudyumna and he wanted to attack him. And Yudhishthir had great ambivalent feelings at that time. And after that, everything that bad happened, Yudhishthir felt as if it is it is the reaction to my misdeal in speaking a lie that led to the death of my Guru. So this happened multiple times.

Ashwatthama, when he used the Narayan Astra, and that Astra just could not be countered. It is just destroying all of Yudhishthiras. Are we Yudhishthiras spoke? Oh, warriors. This was not not at the end, this was on that very day, fifteenth day only, towards the evening.

Yudhishthir started calling out, oh warriors, this weapon cannot be defeated. This weapon will kill all of us. Leave the battlefield and go wherever you can find shelter. I too will, if I survive this weapon, enter into the forest. This is the reaction for what I did to my Guru.

So he felt especially guilty for Drona’s Drona’s actions. And that was the justification for what Ashwatthama did to their sons. Ashwatthama felt that when your Guru was not awake, was in a trance, you killed him like an animal. Therefore, you deserve to be killed like an animal. He wanted to kill the Pandavas and he also lamented when he found out he had killed the Pandavas’ sons and Duryodh lamented.

And Yudhishthira understood what had happened. He said, you know, for what we did, I should have got for what I did, I should have got the reaction. But my sons got the reaction. And all of them were killed. What was this war for?

So he is completely devastated over here. He is crushed by what has happened. And the Mahabharata actually depicts the harsh nature of the world. That even good people who want to do good things also end up in big, big trouble. This is just the nature of the world.

So his guilt is understandable. And because of this, he’s saying, I just cannot I cannot become the king. So how is his guilt addressed? That we’ll discuss in the next chapter, which will start tomorrow. What exactly Bhishma speaks, we won’t go into the full argument, but specifically how he addresses guilt that we’ll discuss tomorrow.

So this is the context. Now in general, when I’ll go to the second point. When you talk about the causes of guilt, broadly, there are four causes of guilt. One is misdeeds. Now we have done something bad and we have done something wrong, and because of that, we feel guilty.

And generally, this kind of guilt is healthy. So here, we could say causes of guilt. Here, this is positive. The sense that we should feel bad after we have done something bad. So now to his credit, when Karuna acted in a very terrible way during the gambling assembly gambling match, he he was the person who suggested that Draupadi be dragged into the assembly and be disrobed.

He called Draupadi a prostitute. And he stopped Vikarna when Vikarna tried to stop the Dhrushraviya Draupadi. To his credit, afterwards, he at least regrets. He said, in trying to please Duryodhan, I went too far at that time. He doesn’t give up Duryodhan, so that regret in that sense is empty.

But at least he feels guilty. Does Duryodhan feel guilty? Not in the least. So, you know, to not feel bad or doing bad is actually very bad. That indicates that the person’s character if somebody has no remorse, like in today’s language, you know, some people who commit crimes and don’t even show slightest bit of remorse, they are psychopaths and sociopaths, very dangerous people.

So guilt itself is not a bad thing. If misdeeds are done, madam, we should feel guilty. Now sometimes it’s not misdeeds, it’s mistakes. What is the difference between misdeeds and mistakes? Mistakes are generally unintentional.

Misdeeds are quite often intentional. So now when mistakes happen, should we feel guilty? It can be positive, but with a question mark. There should be that that guilt, what it should do and what it should not do. We’ll have to discuss that.

In such situations, there can be some guilt, but we shouldn’t be beating ourselves up. We are all finite beings. We’ll discuss this. Now the fourth could be misapprehension. Misapprehension means we are holding ourselves responsible for something that we haven’t done, this kind of guilt is definitely negative.

So guilt is where it’s something which we have not done and still we are feeling bad about it. And this is the kind of guilt which Yudhishthir Maharaj is feeling, and that’s what will be addressed. So when we misunderstand the situation, say, a doctor gives a medicine and, to a patient and the patient dies. Now, was it because of medical malpractice? Did doctor want the patient to die?

Did the doctor not consider some side effects of of some pre existing conditions of the patient? If none of these are the case, and it is just that, you know, some completely unpredictable complication that happened. Then while the doctor may feel bad, nobody would want a patient to die. But when they die, there should not be guilt over there. It can be misapprehension.

So we are misapprehension means we hold ourselves responsible for things that were not in our control, that we just could not have prevented. Yudhish had tried his very best to prevent the war, but that had just not worked. So misapprehension, that’s a third cause of guilt. And the fourth is the most dangerous, that is manipulation. That people who are a bit insecure, often they can be manipulated by cunning people and by manipulation, they can be made to feel guilty and then they are made to do things that will actually make them guilty, that will actually harm them.

So this is what, for example, Mantra did to Kaikeyi. Now, when Kaikeyi first heard that Ram is being coronated, she was happy. She said to Mantra, this is the greatest news that you have ever brought. Here have this necklace. And Mantra said, what kind of foolish woman are you?

Do you not understand what conspiracy is happening over here? And she just okay. She just didn’t pay much attention. She was hearing. She didn’t take anything very seriously.

But, the mantra said, do you not see that if everything was above board, why does this transfer of power have to happen in the absence of Bharat? This is clearly a plan to sideline Bharat. And this is where it gets her attention. And seeing this, then Kaikeyi thrusts in for the kill. And she exactly accuses Kaushalya of planning what she is actually trying to do.

If you do not protect Bharat’s interests, Ram will always see him as a competitor and Ram will make up some case against him and have him persecuted. He will have him exiled or he may even have him executed. Do you not love your son? Do you not care for his welfare? And this is where lost it.

So there are people who manipulate and there are these self seeking people who manipulate others and make them feel guilty for things that there’s no reason to feel guilty about. So this kind of guilt is totally toxic. You could say this is negative. There’s like a negative square, you can say. This has to be we we should not feel guilty rather.

The guilt needs to be rejected. Now unfortunately, among the people in the world who are expert at using and inducing guilt through manipulation are most prominent are the religious leaders. There is this infamous Catholic guilt as they call it. So in the Christian tradition, the idea is, we are all born sinners. So sin is like a genetic defect that we have all inherited.

And because we are all sinful, even if somebody has not harmed anyone, of course, you cannot say that we live throughout the life without harming anyone. But the idea is, there is always this feeling of insecurity, inadequacy and guilt that is created so that people will feel the need for God. And they’ll feel that, oh, you know, I am so fallen. Without God, I’ll be doomed. I’m going to go to hell.

So the idea that in if you see in the Vedic tradition, it is not that of course, there’s a conception of right and wrong, but the focus is on the fact that the soul is pure. The soul is always pure. And when guilt is used in this way, there are religious leaders who will create impossibly high standards. And when the followers are not able to follow those standards, the followers will become feel very guilty. And when the followers feel very guilty, then they’ll say, oh oh, you leader, you are my only savior.

Whatever you say, I will do. And that’s how okay. You cannot follow the stand standard. You are so followed. Therefore, do this, do this.

They will do whatever the leader tells them to do. That’s how cults are formed. And cults can manipulate people. So when in the nineteen seventies, when our movement started growing in America, at that time, there was this great fear that we are also a cult. And one of the reasons was there was there were some cult leaders who had really horrendously manipulated people.

There was one, some person called Reverend Johns or whatever. He he had his own followers on a farm somewhere here in Texas, then he went to Mexico. And he did a lot of criminal activities and immoral activities. And then when he was about to be found, he said, now is the test of your faith. All of you are all of you are sinners, but if you do one act of faith now, you will be delivered.

What is that act of faith? All of you take poison. So first, you give poison to your children, then you take poison. And and when the police came over there, everybody there was dead. So it was all manipulation, and manipulation through guilt is extremely dangerous.

See, in our tradition, Prabhupada does talk about hell. But very rarely does Prabhupada emphasize that, you know, give up sense gratification, give up sinful activity because you’ll go to hell because of that. His focus is not on fear, inducing fear, but on empowering the intelligence. His focus is that we are not our physical shells, we are spiritual beings And we are meant for so much greater happiness. Why should we waste our life in pursuing this meager pleasure?

So it was that this is insignificant pleasure. We are meant for something bigger. So it’s not at all inducing guilt. It’s actually the opposite. It is more of inspiring greatness that we as parts of Krishna, have a great destiny.

We are meant for Ananda Mudhivardhanam and it is that we should seek that destiny that we are made for. So when there is this when there is religious teaching, it can go both ways. It can be either it can induce guilt and try to get compliance from people. You are so guilty, if you don’t obey me, you are going to go to hell. That’s a very toxic way to do things.

Otherwise, it can inspire greatness, That we are meant for great things. What Arjuna says, Arjuna has told Krishna, rise and attain victory. That is not just a message for Arjuna alone. That is Krishna’s call for everyone. So, I’ll now move to the last part, the misconception.

What is the misconception? The misconception has two parts that see, we are all told to be that we have to cultivate humility. And yes, we need to cultivate humility. But but humility, sometimes people think if I feel guilty, that will make me humble. But actually, humility and guilt are very different.

I’ll explain why, and I’ll conclude then you can have questions. There is ego, And often we think the opposite of ego is humility. And, I was in one college and I saw one quote. I I was one boy, he was wearing a t shirt, and he said, my greatest quality is my humility. So you’re proud of your humility.

So what happens is we generally it’s a fair thing that if you don’t have ego, you’ll have humility. If you have humility, we should not have ego. There’s definitely truth to that. However, the truth is also a little more subtle. Actually, they’re not just two components.

There are three components. On one side, there is ego. The other side is insecurity. And associated with insecurity also comes guilt. And in between is humility.

So that ego and insecurity are two extremes of the pendulum. Both of them are centered on our vision of ourselves. How do we see ourselves? So our vision of ourselves, ego is where I can do everything. I am everything.

I am God. So I can do everything that is ego. On the other hand, insecurities, I am nothing, I can do nothing, I am nothing. That is Shunya vad. So Srila Prabhupada came to free us from Nirubhishesh Shunya vadhi.

So we do not want we do not want impersonalism, where I am, I am everything, I can do everything. That is not what we want, but we don’t want this voidism also. That I am nothing, I can do nothing. What is the basis of humility? Humility is, So, I am something.

I am a part of Krishna, and I’ll always be a part of Krishna. So I can do some things. I can’t do everything, but that doesn’t mean I can do nothing. I can do some things and I am something. Something or someone, you can say in this context.

That, and Krishna says, sanatana. No matter how many bad things we have done, we will still always remain parts of Krishna. Krishna will never abandon us. Krishna will always be with us and he will always be there in our hearts as the Paramatma. So humility is acknowledging that I have weaknesses, I have insufficiencies, but my weaknesses and insufficiencies do not define me.

There is a core to me which is pure, which is potentially divine, which is the part of the divine. So this is a healthy relationship with ourselves. Oh, we all will fall short of many things. We will in the series of Anathya Nirodhi, it says that niyama kshama. There are many rules and standards which we may not be able to follow.

We may not be able to fast, we may not be able to do that, we may not be able to do this. And we can always aspire for more. But not being able to do something should not fill us with guilt. Krishna says, not We need to be filled with affection and gratitude that we have the opportunity to serve. That it’s it’s so the mind is so toxic at sometimes, that sometimes you tell somebody to that we should feel grateful for the opportunity for bhakti and just like lust can be a conditioning, this anger can be a conditioning, guilt can also be a conditioning.

I’ve seen I I do a journaling seminar where I tell people, you know, we can try to journal what we are grateful for. So one of the warnings I give is write what you feel grateful for, not what you should feel grateful for. Because, you know, we may theoretically say, oh, you know, millions of people. There are few who get bhakti. And it’s true.

I’m not saying it’s not true. But we may not really feel that fortunate on daily basis. If we go, I have to follow this rule. I have to do this. I have to do that.

So sometimes what happens is, if we try to cultivate gratitude based on not what I feel grateful for, but what I should feel grateful for, then we we start thinking that I should feel grateful for this, but I don’t feel grateful for this and therefore, I feel dreadful about not feeling grateful. And there is guilt at not feeling grateful. So guilt can be like a cancer that can completely corrupt our inner world. Not just corrupt, corrode our inner world. So we have to be very careful.

Yes. Should we feel insecure, or we should not never feel insecure? No. We will discuss this whole topic more tomorrow session about this toxic misconception about guilt and how to address it. But I’ll make one more point here, that our focus focus should not be on how fallen I am.

That should not be our focus. Our focus should be on how glorious Krishna is. And yes, there are expressions in our tradition of even say great soul like Krishna’s Kaviraj Goswami saying that, I am lower than a worm in a stool. I am more sinful than Jagayana Madhai. But that does not that statement does not make them feel discouraged about practicing Bhakti, about glorifying Krishna.

So what we want is to be focused on Krishna. That we our our Prabhu Shlapa did not come to start the International Society for Guilt Consciousness. Isn’t it? He came to start the International Society for Krishna consciousness. So to the extent our feeling, oh, I am impure, I am fallen, inspires us to take shelter of Krishna.

To that extent, it’s okay. Now what does this how do we define this extent? That I’ll talk tomorrow, but the key point is our focus should be not on the self. I am so great, that is one distraction. Another distraction is, I am so wonderful is one distraction, that is ego.

I am so dreadful is another distraction. Because in both cases, we are we are becoming self conscious rather than be Krishna consciousness. Have any of you heard this statement? I am a fallen soul. How many of you heard this statement?

You know? You probably already heard this. It’s one of the most common statement that comes. Now, sometimes what happens is, in this statement, this the fallen becomes so big that the soul becomes forgotten. From I am a fallen soul, it has become I am fallen.

Now we have to remember that this fallen is also a temporary designation. Just like to think that I am a male, I am a female, I am young, I am middle aged, I am elderly. All these are designations associated with something external to the soul. Their designations are associated with the body. Now there can be a signations associated with the mind.

I am an introvert, I am an extrovert, I am I have a Kshatriya nature, I have Brahmana nature. All those are important, but they are external to the soul. We shouldn’t identify too much with them. So the fallen should not become so big that we forget the soul. We are a soul.

We are eternally a soul, eternal part of Krishna, and presently we are in a condition that is fallen. But this is temporary, and by Krishna’s mercy and by our endeavor, this condition will be rectified. So let the focus be on Krishna and remembering Krishna. And we focus on those things that energize us to remember Krishna, not de energize us. So if guilt is energizing us, wonderful.

If guilt is de energizing us, then put that guilt away. We’ll summarize what I discussed today. I talked about the topic was dealing with guilt, understanding when guilt is healthy and unhealthy. So within that, I discussed three points. First, with the context, the context is Yudhishthir’s guilt.

And what is the reason for Yudhishthir’s guilt? There are two reasons. One is that he the cost, the cost is that all his sons had been killed. And often his sons had been killed for his sake. And now his grandson, Solsarab, might also have been killed, somehow have been survived.

And not only that, his brother, he had he had celebrated the killing of his brother, who had the opportunity to kill him and didn’t kill him. So that cost, he felt was too severe, and then apart from the cost, it was what he felt was the morality, the immoral immorality, especially it was killing of Drona. He felt that I lied, I played a terrible role, and everything that is happening to me is a reaction, and I deserve this and worse. So I don’t want to be the king. I don’t deserve to be the king.

Then broadly, we discussed the causes that may come because of guilt. And in terms of causes, we may decide which is healthy. So when is guilt healthy? First is when there are misdeeds. So here guilt can be definitely positive, then if there are mistakes, then yes, we might have guilt, but it should not be too much.

Then when there is misapprehension, when we are seeing things wrongly, when we are holding ourselves responsible for things that were not in our control, at that time, guilt should not be there. And when there is manipulation, when somebody uses our sense of right and wrong, our goodness to try to control us, then that greed is definitely talk guilt is toxic, and it needs to be rejected. We need to keep a distance from people who cause that kind of guilt for us also. And then the last one we discussed was the misconception about guilt. What are the misconception?

That we may think guilt is good, because guilt is equal to humility, or guilt will lead to humility. That will guilt lead to humility? Possibly, but frequently not. So we discussed how ego and humility are not exactly opposite. They can be, but there’s one more dynamic.

There is a feeling of insecurity, where that that can also very easily come with guilt. So when, guilt comes because of insecurity, then that is not humility. That keeps us self centered, self conscious. And our focus is we want to be not self conscious, either in the positive sense of how wonderful I am or in the negative sense of how dreadful I am. Both self consciousness positive and negative, both are unhealthy.

What we want is to be Krishna conscious, and we need to see that is my guilt helping me to become Krishna conscious, or is it obstructing me in my Krishna consciousness? And accordingly, we need to look at ourselves in a way that is healthy. Thank you very much. Let us pray to Krishna. My dear Lord, please guide me so that I can always stay conscious of you and keep coming closer to you.

And my guilt may bring me closer to you and never let my guilt become a weapon of maya by which she uses my guilt to keep me away from you or to go further away from you. Thank you very much. Are there any questions or comments? Yes, please. Maharaj, any comments?

Thank you. Thank you, my Rajas. You have blessings. Yes, sir. It seems like in Kali yuga, there’s it’s justified to say that it could be justified to say that everyone’s sinful and, you know, the Christians say everyone’s sinful.

So is it possible that when they think of Jesus being a forgiving and they could turn it into a positive I mean, like, there’s a lot of I agree with you that the guilt in Christianity seems very toxic, but is there any possibility of examples of Christians that, see Jesus in a very positive, loving way? Oh, yeah. Definitely. So two things. I won’t say that guilt is always toxic, and I won’t say guilt in Christianity is also toxic.

It can be. And and historically, it has been used like that, to make people compliant and to keep. So but it’s not intrinsically like that. That guilt can also what I said, like we can if our guilt inspires us to take shelter of Krishna, and that is what the focus is, to be Krishna conscious, then that is not a bad thing at all. That’s a good thing.

So similarly, their idea is that you desperately need Jesus. And because of that, if people take shelter of Jesus, and not just that that idea that, oh, you know, Jesus died for our sins so that we are free from all sins. No. Because of that. That is largely an idea that comes more from polyanity than Christianity.

Paul was one of the apostles of Jesus who didn’t never met Jesus actually. And he shifted the focus on Christianity from Jesus’ teachings to Jesus dying. And he said that by that you are all freed from sins. Now, of course, there is a lot of debate about this in Christian history, but the point is that if that inspires people to focus on Jesus’ teachings and live more morally and live more devotionally, then that is a good thing. Now, historians of religion also say that, to some extent the influx of Hindu teachers, and they mentioned his Swami Prabhupada, into America and their vision of a God of love rather than a God of judgment actually caused Christianity to soften their image of God also.

So in, many popular Christian movies now or popular Christian novels, one common character, one common trope trope is like a repeated theme that comes is that some young person is invited to a church and they go they say, I don’t want to go to church. I used to go in my childhood and I didn’t like that experience at all. And they say, when they come to a church now, and maybe they are 25, 30, 40, and they come and they say the pastor speaks a message of love, how Jesus forgives and he wants us to forgive those wrongs that have been done to us, our wrongs have been forgiven. And they focus more on how Jesus is a God of or Jesus or Christianity reveals a God of love and acceptance rather than a God of judgement. So that has happened to a large extent.

Now that can go to a complete extreme where, you know, God may accept everyone. This is the point I’m going to speak tomorrow. God accepts everyone. That does not mean He accepts everything. That certainly doesn’t mean He appreciates everything.

There are certainly things which are right and wrong. We will discuss that tomorrow. But yes, that effect has come in Christianity also. So they say, I grew up with a very critical conception of God, but now the conception of God in the church is so loving. So Protestants have adopted that wholeheartedly.

They very rarely, unless except for a few fringe branches of protestantism, God of judgement. Most protestants talk about the God of love only, and Catholics are also totally adopting that. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir.

Hare Krishna, Prabhu ji. I have a comment and a question. Actually, the comment comes from CS Lewis. CS Lewis famously said, humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.

Yes. Now the question Yes. It is not about devaluing ourselves. It is about valuing something bigger than ourselves. Oh, I am so terrible.

I am so terrible. Not it’s not about devaluing ourselves. It is about, there is so much more to life than me. And I can be an instrument for something bigger than myself. I can be a part of something bigger than myself.

So yes, humility is at the same point of it’s phrased differently. Sometimes that play of words is good, but it doesn’t really clarify what it means. Not to think less of ourselves, but think ourselves less. What that means is humility is not about devaluing ourselves. It is more about valuing something bigger than ourselves.

Yeah, go ahead. Your question. So in the, six divisions of surrender, the famous verse goes and it ends with and the translation is given as, full self surrender for and karpanya is humility. So my doubt is the same word karpanya appears in the Bhagavad Gita where it is classified as a dosha, karpanya dosha. So can you explain what is the karpanya in Gita and what is the karpanya in this specific words?

Yes. See, words can have many different meanings. And, it’s a good question. Karpanya in the Bhagavad Gita so broadly, I’ll take about two distinct words. One is feeling helpless.

That kar panya is the helplessness that makes us feel the need for God. Sometimes devotees say we should feel helpless and hopeless. I have some reservations about that. We can feel helpless, but we should never feel hopeless. Helpless that I cannot do anything.

Draupadi was helpless, but she never became hopeless. Sometimes we can use that word as a rhyme to say that we should depend on Krishna, that I have no hope in myself. I have hope in Krishna. But then you even to take shelter of Krishna, we need to have some hope in ourselves. That I am worthy enough to take shelter of Krishna.

So, now the thing is that, specifically for us, that in the context of the six limbs of surrender is, it is what inspires surrender. Now when Arjuna is saying one says Arjuna is borrowing the language of Krishna. The borrowing of borrowing the language of Krishna is 2.23. Krishna has said that, So initially, Arjuna refuses. No.

He says, No. I am not being I am not being cowardly. I am not being petty minded. I am not being I am not being weak. I am actually being thoughtful.

It’s not easy to fight. How can I fight against my elders? But then eventually he says that, whatever it is, I am confused. My whole conception of life has been completely shaken. My very nature is being afflicted by weakness.

So I think the the word is the same, but the context is very different. In my journey from learning more about Christianity and then into my body and personalism, and like, unlearning a lot of the things that I thought about my thoughts and my feelings, and becoming isolated almost from my heart, and thinking that it doesn’t matter. That it’s just things that are arising. You spoke on things that we feel as though we should be grateful for, but yet are not in the moment. And one thing that resonated with me about that was the things that I’ve given up in the four principles that, you know, now that the parmama is working to purify my heart, that, you know, it’s like a burning sensation that I’m not familiar with, because I’ve been so disconnected with my heart space, and it’s very uncomfortable and unfamiliar for me.

And being in this unfamiliar territory, being in a space of helplessness and surrender to that, although I’m not comfortable with where I’m going, and I’m unsure of where I’m going and how it’s going to work out, just trusting that it’s going in that direction anyway. Yeah. Thanks for sharing your journey. I’d say two distinct points here that, one of the ways we may deal with, negative emotions is to just create a distance from the whole world of emotions. Like some people, if they’re betrayed, then they may just say that, you know, I don’t want to connect with anyone at all.

And that may keep our heart safe, but it’ll make our heart cold. And that’s not what we want. So now with respect to connecting with our heart space, I just start where we can. One of the meanings of this phrase, Somehow or the other, fix your mind on Krishna. That somehow or the other means start from where we can right now.

So is there something in the current, ambit of experience for us where we feel some softness of heart? Where we feel some emotion connect with something beyond ourselves in terms of something that is positive, something that is uplifting. If you see somebody in pain, and you feel, I should I should help that person in pain. Sometimes in Kirtan, sometimes we look at the details, we feel some special connection. We hear some stories, some pastimes.

So wherever we have that emotional connect, cherish that and try to see, you know, how that can be increased. Maybe look for similar themes, look for similar stories, look for similar experiences. And gradually, the the you could see the flower of the heart that has shrunk, It has shrunk not because it has become old and decayed, it has shrunk out of defensiveness that that flower will start blossoming. In fact, one of the metaphors that is used for the growth of Krishna consciousness is the blossoming of the flower of our heart. That will happen.

Start with wherever we can right now. And as far as what we should feel grateful for, because at an intellectual level we can have a list. It’s good to have that list. But at the same time, at a personal level, we may not feel grateful at that time for that thing. So we can look at what do we feel grateful for at that particular time.

If I before I came to America, I had a severe throat issue for almost seven, eight weeks, I was having cough constantly. Almost every class, I was coughing. So now now that cough is gone, I am grateful. But there are sometimes when I speak for more than one hour, one and a half hours, I feel my throat losing energy. Now at that time, I may not feel grateful.

At least I’ve got this much. My my throat has not come back to normal capacity. I am not feeling grateful at that time. You can say, look at people who are worse than you and feel grateful for that. But sometimes it doesn’t work.

We would like to be where we are. Okay. If I don’t feel grateful, don’t push yourself too much. Okay. What do I feel grateful for?

I feel grateful that at least I could come on this tour. I feel grateful that, you know, I had some good experiences, interactions, I could do some service. So to be that approach somehow or the other can also be applied to these positive emotions. Okay. Wherever I feel grateful for, let me start with that.

And generally, emotions see, with respect this is a big topic and I’ll talk about this tomorrow a little more. We only talk about with respect to the mind, we have to control the mind. And that is true, but it is desires that need to be controlled. Emotions can’t always be controlled. Sometimes they need to be comforted.

If somebody is feeling loss or pain or grief, at that time, you know, loss, pain, grief are not simply to be controlled and crushed. We need to be comforted at that time. So we cannot have like a one one size petal approach. So control is not the only way to deal with what has happening in the mind. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Okay? Thank you very much. I think we are going in lower time. You wanna take one more question? Do you tell me what?

Whoever is in charge? Yes, Prabhu. Last question. Radhakrishnanapur, do you have any comment? Just like saying, Vaishtrauma aaprat can be need not be done by associating with the Vaishnavas.

So we keep away from Vaishnavas, then we will not do Vaishnava Aparad. So in this world in this world, so many advertisement, so many influence comes. How to select the right thing? Okay. So we cannot avoid everything in the world.

So someone says somebody says that, okay, I don’t want to offend devotees, so I won’t associate with devotees only. Well, we may not offend devotees, but we’ll do so many other things which will be self destructive. So I would say the boundaries come at three levels. The boundaries is first what we see. Now sometimes we can just avoid certain things.

If I know I’m going on this road every day and there’s a holding which is quite obscene over here. So we can put some boundaries. So boundaries can be on what we see. Then boundaries can also on what we dwell, what we remember, what we replay in our mind. We have seen something, but we try to avoid replaying those things.

And then, certainly, what we enact. Just because I saw something, because something is going on in my mind, then that does not mean that I have to act on it. So this is 2.58, that is set boundaries so that we don’t see only. Then what we replay in our mind. So there are many places where Krishna says that we shouldn’t be contemplating the sense objects.

So for example, 3.6 he says that that if you are dwelling on the sense objects, that’s not a good thing. And then he says sometimes our mind may be agitated, but we don’t act out on that agitation. In 1842, he says, shamo dhamastapa shoucham. So shama is peacefulness of the mind. Dhamma is sense control.

That means sometimes it’s best we can avoid the mind getting agitated itself. But even if the mind gets agitated, we don’t act it out. B, may get agitated internally, but we don’t act it out. That itself this is also there in 3.41. So what happens is, ideally speaking, let’s try to avoid perception, but we can’t.

So if you can’t avoid perception, avoid action or contemplation. If you can’t avoid contemplation also, then at least don’t let it not go to the level of indulgence. And gradually, whatever is there, we are also perceiving Krishna, we are also remembering Krishna. Whatever we have seen in the past will also get purified. K.

Yes, please. History is his story. Correct. Yes. How many hiss we have to follow.

True. Nicely put. Yes. So whatever has happened in our past life also, in our past, you know, that we may say, oh, this is terrible. I have a bad history.

But even through whatever bad has happened in our life, Krishna is working. Krishna is planning, and Krishna can bring something good even out of the bad. Thank you so much. So I have written a few books, so So especially what I talked about guilt, not having a guilt centered relationship with Krishna, but more of a prayer centered relationship, a devotion, affection centered relationship. This is a book of prayers inspired by the Bhagavad Gita.

So there’s a poetic rendition of key verses from the Bhagavad Gita, and there’s a beautiful video feature of Krishna, and then there’s a prayer inspired by a particular verse. So more than my wrongs is your capacity to free me from those wrongs. So Krishna, this is in April in the Gita. Even if your sins are dark and vast, more than all who sinned in the past, the boat of wisdom when you firmly ascend, the ocean of illusion you will surely transcend. So if you would like to, have this book, it’s available.

And there’s another book, Gita for the CEO, which talks about leadership principles based on the Bhagavad Gita. So like simple diagrams which illustrate the concepts of the Gita are here, and it’s in the form of conversation between two people. One corporate leader who knows the Gita, another who wants to know the Gita. Very accessible way of sharing Gita wisdom, not only for our own application, but also with those who may not yet be ready to read the spiritual wisdom of the Gita. Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.

The post Guilt Management 1: When Guilt is Unhealthy… Houston – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

India In USA (Consulate General of India, Atlanta)

Dr. Sharmila Ford (Svaha Dasi), recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) 2025, was felicitated by the Consulate in a community event held in Atlanta. The Consul General presented Dr. Ford with the medal and certificate conferred by the Hon’ble President of India in recognition of her impactful community service during the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2025, held in Odisha.

Dr. Sharmila Ford is the sixth PBSA awardee from the Consulate’s jurisdiction since 2012. The first PBSA awardee from the Consulate’s jurisdiction was Mr. Subash Razdan, who was also present at the ceremony.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honor conferred by India upon overseas Indians for their outstanding contributions to various fields.

Svaha Devi Dasi is the wife of Ambarisa Das (Alfred Ford), great grandson of the auto magnate, Henry Ford, and Chairman of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, a project of ISKCON in Sridham Mayapur, West Bengal, India

View the Consul General Invitation, Certificate and video screenshot below.

 

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Svaha Dasi Delivers Speech at 1st Annual Indian Community Association Forum, Atlanta, Georgia – March 8, 2025 – A Video

 

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By Dandavats Staff Writer

From the grand celebrations marking ISKCON Vrindavan's 50th Anniversary to the heartwarming efforts of Ukraine Food for Life in Kyiv, these stories resonate with compassion and dedication. Delve into enlightening discourses on Lord Ramachandra's glories by H.G. Vaisesika Dasa and immerse yourself in the soul-stirring 'Ayodhya Vasi' musical video by Visvambhar Sheth. Witness the restoration of historical sites like 26 2nd Avenue and the uplifting tales from Western Europe shared by Pandava Sakha Prabhu. Each piece, whether through video, article, or report, invites us deeper into the profound journey of devotion and service. Continue reading "ISKCON Worldwide: Celebrations, Humanitarian Efforts, and Spiritual Insights Unfold Across the Globe! April 7
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And if we ourselves have done something wrong, can we still see the resulting situation as Krishna’s plan or is that more on us? Again the same answer, it’s achintya veda ved, yes and no. So it is that we can say that if you are driving on the road and the GPS tells us turn right and we turn left, then what does GPS do? It routes. It says, you didn’t obey me, get lost, stay lost.

No, it doesn’t do that. So like that, you know, GPS is God’s positioning system. So sometimes we may not listen to God’s positioning system.

So we may take a wrong turn, then we will go in the wrong direction. But just like GPS has got the territory mapped out, so Krishna has got the entire territory mapped out. So wherever we may have gone, whatever wrong turn we have taken, Krishna can reroute us from there.

So in that sense, we are still within Krishna’s plan. So is our situation Krishna’s plan? Well, our situation is because of our own actions. But that does not mean that our actions are so terrible that Krishna is going to say, you know, you did something so foolish, get lost, I don’t care for you anymore.

So Krishna has a plan to reroute us from there also.

The post If we ourselves have done something wrong can we still see the resulting situation as Krishna’s plan? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Parasuram das “However, we cannot do this alone. We urgently seek the support of the international devotee community to continue this vital service. Your prayers, donations, and assistance—big or small—can make a significant difference in the lives of those affected. Let us unite in service and compassion, extending Krishna’s mercy to those in distress.” —
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

One of HH Janananda das Goswami’s most impactful contributions has been his role in breathing new life into book printing and distribution efforts in France. Recognizing the foundational importance of Srila Prabhupada’s books in spreading Krishna consciousness, he worked with great determination to reestablish this vital aspect of ISKCON’s mission at New Mayapur. His work at New Mayapur goes beyond management-he's been instrumental in breathing new life into this historic property, making sure it continues to serve as a spiritual haven for future generations. One of his most cherished qualities is his ability to connect personally with others. Devotees often speak of how his guidance and presence have helped them through challenges and inspired their own devotional journeys. Continue reading "The Inspiring Journey of HH Janananda das Goswami: A Spiritual Odyssey and Service to Humanity
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

Rama Navami Celebrations: Devotees were inspired by a spiritually enriching morning class delivered by HG Bhurijana Prabhu on April 6, 2025, in honor of Lord Rama's appearance day. ISKCON Vrindavan's 50th Anniversary: A grand celebration continued with powerful evening sessions, reflecting on decades of devotion and service in the holy land of Vrindavan. Exciting Book Distribution Updates: The March edition of Good News About Books (GNAB) highlighted the tireless efforts of Sankirtan devotees around the world. Congratulations to all for spreading the transcendental message of Krishna consciousness! Historic Moments: Devotees remembered the powerful 1975 grand opening of the Krishna-Balarama Mandir, where Srila Prabhupada installed the Deities and addressed a jubilant international crowd. Global Festivities: Ram Navami was joyfully celebrated in sacred places like Ayodhya, the holy dham of Mayapur, and even in far-off regions such as Cape Town, showing the worldwide reach of Lord Rama's glories. Continue reading "A Glorious Wave of Krishna Consciousness: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future! April 6
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Some years ago, Medhavi das from Brisbane, bought a house in the regional town of Toowoomba with the idea of using it as a centre for cultivating new persons interested in Krsna Consciousness.

He is now adding an extension temple room with deity kitchen and guest rooms and it will be finished in a couple of months. There are regular programs here and when there is a big festival like Rama Navami it is celebrated in a nearby school hall.

I was fortunate to be invited for the program, which was attended by a few hundred guests.

Hare Krishna? Okay, so we talked about plans, Prabhu, so when something goes wrong in our life, when something bad happens, is it still Krishna’s plan? Yes and no. Basically, we can say that Prabhupada translated this as Sasyanvito Rajan. In Bhishma’s prayer, he says everything is within Krishna’s plan.

And there’s a big difference between everything is Krishna’s plan and everything is within Krishna’s plan. Now, what is this within Krishna’s plan? What does it make a difference? It’s like if you consider a school. Now, in a school, if a student fails, now is the student failing the school’s plan? If that is the plan, then nobody should go to such a school, isn’t it? So, the school is not intended to fail the student.

But if a student fails, does the school have a plan for such a student? Yeah, you have failed in one subject, you can just go to the next session, next semester, but you can do the subject again. You failed too many subjects, then maybe you need to do this whole semester again. So, now of course, there are some students for which even the school will say, I have no plan for you.

You know, you just leave. But Krishna is not like that. So, the student’s failing is not the school’s plan, but the student’s failing is included within the school’s plan.

So, like that, when some people do bad things, no, it is not that Krishna wants them to do the bad things. But if they do bad things, it is not that they are thrown out of Krishna’s plan. That Krishna still has a plan for them.

So, that’s the way to understand it.

The post When something bad happens in our life should we see it as Krishna’s plan – Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Dandavats Staff Writer

ISKCON communities worldwide joyfully celebrated Rama Navami, the divine appearance day of Lord Sri Ramachandra. Temples were adorned with beautiful decorations, devotees engaged in melodious kirtans, dramatic plays, and inspiring discourses. The celebrations reflected deep devotion, honoring Lord Rama’s virtues of righteousness, compassion, and divine leadership. Continue reading "Glories of Rama Echo Worldwide: ISKCON’s Joyful Rama Navami Celebrations! April 5
→ Dandavats"

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.”

TEXT 23

asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesa
  iksvaku-vamsa avatirya guror nidese
tisthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesa
  yasmin virudhya dasa-kandhara artim arcchat

TRANSLATION

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Laksmana, and Satrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are visnu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Ramayana who present the younger brothers of Lord Ramacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Laksmiji Sita is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durga. Durga is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Siva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi.

Lord Ramacandra was ordered by His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the king of Ayodhya. One of His younger brothers, Laksmanaji, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sitaji, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Dandakaranya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Ramacandra and Ravana, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sita. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Ravana, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sita is Laksmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramacandra. A materialistic man like Ravana does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana. Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Ramacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kalesah, or master of all opulence.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supreme scripture, or book of knowledge, in the science of God. It explains the Absolute Truth in detail. The Vedanta-sutra says, janmady asya yatah, that the Absolute Truth is that from which everything emanates, and Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with the same words—janmady asya yatah—and proceeds to explain that the Absolute Truth is a person, the Supreme Person, Krishna. Krishna expands Himself into various plenary portions and portions of plenary portions, and the Bhagavatam, after listing so many incarnations of Godhead, says, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam, that all of the abovementioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord but that Lord Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So, Lord Rama is an expansion of Krishna. There are so many expansions of Krishna mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam, but Rama is an expansion of Väsudeva, who is an expansion of Krishna. Laksmana is an expansion of Balarama, who is the first expansion of Krishna. Bharata and Satrughna are also direct expansions in the category of visnu-tattva. They are all God but manifest in different forms. Sri Brahma-samhita gives the example that from one candle you can light a second, from the second you can light a third, from the third you can light a fourth, and so on. All the flames are the same fire, and all have the same strength, but still, there is one original candle, and that is Krishna. Still, Rama, Laksmana, Bharata, and Satrughna are all God. They are all the same as Krishna, but they descend into the world for different pastimes. The verse says, avatirya. Avatara means “one who descends.” They descend from the spiritual world into the material world out of mercy—prasada—for the conditioned souls, to deliver the conditioned souls from the quagmire of material existence.

All of us here, from Lord Brahma to the insignificant ant, have somehow or other fallen into the material world and thus are forced to suffer. We are being attacked at every moment by some sort of misery, big or small, gross or subtle. Certain major sufferings, major miseries, afflict all of us, and they are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita: janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi—birth, death, old age, and disease. None of us wants these miseries, but they are forced upon us. Once we come into the material world and accept a material body, we are forced to suffer repeated birth, disease, old age, and death—and rebirth.

As explained in the Vedic literature, the purpose of life is to become free from this repetition of birth and death. And the way to become free is to become God conscious, Krishna conscious. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says, yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, that in whatever state one leaves one’s physical body, one attains the same state in the next life.

 yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
  tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
  sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” (Gita 8.6) The Bhagavad-gita further states that if one thinks of Krishna at the time of death, one will go to Krishna—back home, back to Godhead.

anta-kale ca mam eva
  smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
  yati nasty atra samsayah

“And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Gita 8.5)

The Lord descends into the material world to show us who He is. Everyone speculates about God. They know that God is the oldest, so sometimes they imagine that He must be an old man with a beard and gray hair. They know that God is the ruler of the universe, so they imagine that He must sit on a throne. Therefore God Himself descends into the material world to show us who He is, and He does so in His original form as Krishna as well as in the form of Lord Ramachandra, who has the same full potency as Krishna. Thus Ramachandra is described here as kalesa: He is full in all opulence. The Lord displays His pastimes to attract the fallen, conditioned souls to Him to engage in His service. The pastimes of Krishna and those of Rama are very attractive.

The history of Lord Rama, summarized in Srimad-Bhagavatam and elaborated on in the Ramayana (in particular, we accept the authoritative version of the Ramayana by Valmiki), has existed for thousands of years, and people still read it, hear it, recite it, and stage dramatic performances of it. It is ever fresh, as the Lord is ever fresh. We never tire of hearing the pastimes of the Lord. The ordinary news of the conditioned souls is not so attractive or fresh. Once, when a newspaper reporter from The New York Times came to meet Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada held up the Bhagavad-gita (it could just as well have been Srimad-Bhagavatam) and said, “Every day your employer prints so many newspapers. Especially on Sunday, the paper is so big that one can hardly carry it. But after reading it an hour, people throw it away. Here is the Bhagavad-gita. People keep it and read it for a lifetime, and in this way it has been read for the past five thousand years.” And the newspaper reporter acknowledged the truth of what Srila Prabhupada had said.

So, these descriptions of the pastimes of the Lord are ever fresh. We relish them year after year, day after day, moment by moment. The pastimes of Lord Ramachandra and Lord Krishna can be discussed eternally, and to cover even the basic history would take many days and hours, so in the limited time we have today we can’t really discuss it in detail. But I will comment on this one point that is mentioned in the verse: that the great demon Ravana, who was very materially powerful, kidnapped Sita, and that in the end he was killed by Lord Ramachandra and his entire dynasty and opulence were destroyed.

Sita is the energy of the Lord. In fact, everything we see is the energy of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that He has two energies—the spiritual energy, which includes the living entities, and the material energy, which we experience as earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego.

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
  kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
  bhinna prakrtir astadha

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.

apareyam itas tv anyam
  prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
  yayedam dharyate jagat

“Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” (Gita 7.4–5)

Basically, whatever we see is the energy of the Lord—either the material energy or a combination of the material and spiritual energies. The Lord Himself is fully spiritual (sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah). But until our senses are completely purified and spiritualized, we cannot see Him in His original form. What we can see is the Lord’s energy, which is His property and is meant to be engaged in His service. If you go into someone’s house, whatever is there is meant for the pleasure of the proprietor of the house. Of course, if the proprietor is a devotee, he knows that Krishna is the true proprietor and therefore everything is meant for His pleasure. But in any case, you can’t take the property for yourself or use it for yourself—at least not without permission.

Sita is the internal potency of the Lord, His pleasure potency, and Ravana made the grave mistake of coveting her, lusting after her, to the extent that he abducted her, which was a great insult to not only her chastity but also the dynasty of Lord Ramachandra.

It is a long story, but ultimately Lord Rama, who on the order of His father was in exile in the forest, gathered together a band of monkeys and bears who marched on Lanka armed with trees and boulders; they didn’t have any other weapons. And Ravana had a massive army with very sophisticated weapons. When Rama and His forces reached the southern tip of India, they had to cross the ocean to reach Lanka. And at that stage Rama glanced over Lanka with red-hot angry eyes, as described in the next verse:

yasma adad udadhir udha-bhayanga-vepo
  margam sapady ari-puram haravad didhaksoh
dure suhrn-mathita-rosa-susona-drstya
  tatapyamana-makaroraga-nakra-cakrah

“The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes, and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.” (SB 2.7.24)

There at the ocean a small incident took place that is very instructive in terms of bhakti. After Rama cast His glance, the ocean personified came before the Lord and said, “You may use my water as You like. Indeed, You may cross it and go to the abode of Ravana, who is a great source of disturbance. Please go kill him and regain Your wife, Sita. Please construct a bridge over my waters and spread Your transcendental fame.” So, Lord Rama’s soldiers, chanting Rama’s name, started to hurl into the ocean great stones, all of which floated, and thus they constructed a bridge over which Rama and His army could pass. There at the shore a small squirrel was putting little grains of sand in the ocean, to contribute to the effort, and Hanuman, the mighty servant of Rama, chastised the squirrel, “What are you accomplishing with your little grains of sand? Can’t you see that I am throwing these huge boulders? Get out of my way.” And the squirrel replied, “But I want to serve Lord Rama, too.”

Lord Rama overheard this exchange and rebuked Hanuman: “This squirrel wants to serve Me, just like you. And he is serving to his capacity, just as you are. In My eyes you both are the same. And besides, I am the one who is making all the boulders float. Ultimately, I am the one who is doing everything.”

This is a very instructive point. The qualification to engage in devotional service is simply one’s sincere desire. One’s material qualifications don’t matter. The Lord doesn’t require anyone’s service; He just wants to see our mood of devotion. If one has the sincere desire to serve, that’s enough. Whether one is an insignificant ant or spider or squirrel—or a great monkey like Hanuman, a powerful human being, or Lord Brahma himself—what the Lord sees is the living entity’s sincere desire to serve. That is what He considers—whether we are sincerely serving to our full capacity, however great or small that capacity may be. It is said that the Lord sees not what we give but what we hold back. If a poor man can afford only ten dollars and he gives ten dollars, the Lord will see that he has given to his capacity. And if a rich man can afford ten million but gives ten thousand, the Lord will see, “Oh, he gave Me ten thousand, but he is keeping 9,990,000 for himself.”

The essence of bhakti is the desire to serve the Lord fully, to one’s capacity, and the opposite of bhakti is the desire to exploit the Lord or the Lord’s energy, as exemplified by Ravana. He didn’t want to serve the Lord. He wanted to steal the Lord’s energy, to enjoy the Lord’s property, in opposition to the Lord, in defiance of the Lord, and that is demonic.

Sita, the Lord’s energy, is Lakshmi, who is associated with wealth, opulence, and good fortune. Generally, conditioned souls, who are materialistic, want Lakshmi—they want to engage Lakshmi in their service. But Lakshmi is meant to be engaged in the service of her husband, the Lord, Narayana. As devotees, we worship the Lord and His energy together as the complete whole—as Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana, Lakshmi-Nrsimha—and that satisfies both the Lord and us. But if we, like Ravana, try to enjoy the Lord’s energy independent of the Lord, we will never be satisfied, and in the end we will be vanquished and all that we have will be lost.

The pastimes of the Lord are not mythological stories. They are factual—recorded in authentic books such as the Ramayana and Srimad-Bhagavatam—not imaginary or merely symbolic. Although there are lessons to be learned from the pastimes, the persons and events are real. Rama is real, Sita is real, Lakshman is real, Hanuman is real, Ravana is real, Lanka is real—they are all real. And we can learn from these historical accounts. In ordinary affairs, people say that the only thing we learn from history is that people learn nothing from history—and that may be true in material society, where people don’t learn. But in the association of devotees we can learn and improve. By hearing the pastimes of the Lord, we can learn that the Lord’s energy is meant to be engaged in the Lord’s service. We can learn from the example of Hanuman, who jumped over the ocean to Lanka to find Sita and discovered her in an asoka grove. His purpose was not to exploit her, enjoy her, or keep her for himself. His purpose was to find her for the sake of Rama, so that she could be reunited with Him to serve and please Him. The Lord’s energy is meant to be engaged in the Lord’s service.

Once, a devotee told me that Srila Prabhupada had said that all of our service here in the material world is meant to bring Radha and Krishna together in the spiritual world. I wasn’t sure about that statement, so I asked Srila Prabhupada, and he replied that materialists are like Ravana and that they have kidnapped Sita, or Lakshmi. And that we, as devotees, act as Hanuman to get Lakshmi back from Ravana and return her to Rama, or Narayana, by engaging the materialists’ money in the service of the Lord. Of course, Rama is an expansion of Krishna, and Sita, or Lakshmi, is an expansion of Radha. Transcendentally, accepting money from the materialists and engaging it in the Lord’s service is reuniting Radha and Krishna.

Especially in Kali-yuga, everyone has these two tendencies—to serve the Lord and engage the Lord’s energy in the Lord’s service, and to exploit and try to possess the Lord’s energy and enjoy it for ourselves. The process of bhakti-yoga is meant to purify the consciousness, so that the Ravana-like tendency to exploit and enjoy slackens and the devotional tendency to serve becomes more prominent. And the way to purify our hearts, especially in the present age of Kali, is to chant the holy names of the Lord.

The Personality of Godhead appears in different ages. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8),

paritranaya sadhunam
  vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
  sambhavami yuge yuge

“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” He says, paritranaya sadhunam: to deliver the devotees, vinasaya ca duskrtam: to destroy the miscreants, and dharma-samsthapanarthaya: to establish the principles of religion, sambhavami yuge yuge: I appear in every millennium. Yuge yuge means “in every age, or millennium.” In Treta-yuga He appeared as Lord Rama, some two million years ago. In Dvapara-yuga He appeared as Lord Krishna, some five thousand years ago. And yuge yuge suggests that He also appears in Kali-yuga; in Kali-yuga He appeared as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
  sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
  yajanti hi su-medhasah

“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions.” (SB 11.5.32) Krsna-varnam means that He is in the same category as Krishna, which means that He is Krishna—because no one else can be in the same category as Krishna other than Krishna—and is always singing the glories of Krishna. Still, tvisakrsnam: His color is not blackish like Krishna’s in Dvapara-yuga; as described in sastra, it is golden. Sangopangastra-parsadam: He is accompanied by His associates. Every incarnation descends with eternal associates—Rama with Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Satrughna, and others; Krishna with Nanda, Yasoda, Balarama, Radharani, and others; and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Nityananda Prabhu and others. Yajnaih sankirtana-prayair: in Kali-yuga intelligent people (su-medhasah), people who have good intelligence, will worship (yajanti) the Lord by sankirtana-yajna, by the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. And that is the method by which the heart is cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the demonic mentality of Ravana is vanquished, and the devotional mood of Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Satrughna, Hanuman, and others—even the squirrel—is manifest.

nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) Nitya-siddha krsna-prema—pure love of Godhead exists eternally within the heart. ‘Sadhya’ kabhu naya—it is not to be gotten from any other source. Sravanadi-suddha-citte—by hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord our consciousness is purified, and karaye udaya—that eternal love is awakened.

This is our goal. By hearing the pastimes of Rama, the pastimes of Krishna, our love for Them awakens. When we chant the maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—our love for Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, and Gaura-Nitai awakens. That is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.

Two full chapters in the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam are devoted to summarizing the Ramayana. Srila Prabhupada remarks that everyone wants Rama-rajya, the ideal kingdom that existed during the reign of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama cared for the citizens like a father, and the citizens, accepting Him as their father, loved and obeyed Him. Although He became king during Treta-yuga, because of His good government the age was like Satya-yuga, and everyone was fully religious and happy. Srila Prabhupada states that the same conditions can be evoked now by the chanting of the Lord’s holy names, which have been made available to us by Lord Chaitanya—by Lord Ramachandra, who has so kindly appeared in the present age as Chaitanya-chandra.

“If people take to this sankirtana movement of chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Rama, they will certainly be freed from the contamination of Kali-yuga, and the people of this age will be happy, as people were in Satya-yuga, the golden age. Anyone, anywhere, can easily take to this Hare Krsna movement; one need only chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, observe the rules and regulations, and stay free from the contamination of sinful life. Even if one is sinful and cannot give up sinful life immediately, if he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra with devotion and faith he will certainly be freed from all sinful activities, and his life will be successful. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. This is the blessing of Lord Ramacandra, who has appeared in this age of Kali as Lord Gaurasundara.” (SB 9.10.51 purport)

We should take advantage of the mercy of the Lord. Out of His causeless mercy upon all living entities (asmat-prasada), He appears in every age (yuge yuge)—as Rama, as Krishna, and in the present age as Krishna Chaitanya. And we should take advantage of the special mercy that He gives us in the form of the sankirtana movement, which teaches people to engage in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and in the entire process of devotional service (bhakti-yoga). Lord Krishna gave the preliminary instructions in the science of God, the science of bhakti-yoga, in the Bhagavad-gita; Lord Chaitanya and His followers, especially the Six Gosvamis, explained the science elaborately; and Srila Prabhupada has presented it to us in a way that we can very easily follow, to cleanse our hearts and awaken our love for God. But those little Ravana-like demons in our hearts keep telling us, “You can enjoy. Why should Krishna have all the fun?” Of course, we want to enjoy—that is natural. The Absolute Truth, Krishna, is by nature full of pleasure (ananda-mayo ’bhyasat), and we, as His parts and parcels, are also meant for pleasure. But we cannot enjoy real, eternal pleasure based on these dead bodies, these bags of blood and stool and other such things. We, as spirit souls, can enjoy true pleasure, ananda, on the spiritual platform, in relationship to the Supreme Soul, in the spiritual energy, in the spiritual world.

The Lord doesn’t want us to suffer. He wants us to be happy, but He knows that we can be truly happy only in relation to Him. Therefore He comes—as the ideal king as Lord Rama, in His original form as Krishna, and most recently in His devotional form as Krishna Chaitanya—to show us the way. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Nityananda Prabhu came especially to give us this method of chanting Hare Krishna and dancing, hearing the pastimes of the Lord (krsna-katha), worshipping the Deity, and taking krsna-prasada. And this method, as described by one great devotee, is kevala ananda-kanda: simply joyful—just chanting, dancing, hearing about Krishna and His incarnations, and taking prasada.

So, we should take advantage of this wonderful opportunity that has been given to us by Lord Rama, who has appeared as Lord Gaurasundara, and which has been presented to us in the most pleasant and accessible way by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Even the smallest effort—by anyone—can bring the greatest result, as demonstrated in the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra. He engaged even monkeys and other creatures of the forest in His service, and in the end He took all the residents of Ayodhya back home, back to Godhead.

na janma nunam mahato na saubhagam
  na van na buddhir nakrtis tosa-hetuh
tair yad visrstan api no vanaukasas
  cakara sakhye bata laksmanagrajah

[Sri Hanuman says:] “One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Ramacandra on the basis of material qualities such as one’s birth in an aristocratic family, one’s personal beauty, one’s eloquence, one’s sharp intelligence, or one’s superior race or nation. None of these qualifications is actually a prerequisite for friendship with Lord Sri Ramacandra. Otherwise how is it possible that although we uncivilized inhabitants of the forest have not taken noble births, although we have no physical beauty, and although we cannot speak like gentlemen, Lord Ramacandra has nevertheless accepted us as friends?

suro ’suro vapy atha vanaro narah
  sarvatmana yah sukrtajnam uttamam
bhajeta ramam manujakrtim harim
  ya uttaran anayat kosalan divam iti

“Therefore, whether one is a demigod or a demon, a man or a creature other than man, such as a beast or bird, everyone should worship Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears on this earth just like a human being. There is no need of great austerities or penances to worship the Lord, for He accepts even a small service offered by His devotee. Thus He is satisfied, and as soon as He is satisfied, the devotee is successful. Indeed, Lord Sri Ramacandra brought all the devotees of Ayodhya back home, back to Godhead.” (SB 5.19.7–8)

Thank you very much.

Guest: I have heard that Lord Rama is green. Do you know anything about how can someone be green?

Giriraj Swami: The Lord’s body is spiritual—sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. Although the scriptures describe the Lord and the spiritual world in terms that correspond to our experience in this world, the reality of the Lord is different from anything we have ever experienced here. Lord Rama is greenish, but His complexion is not a material green as we see in this world but a spiritual hue from which the material color green comes.

Madhusudana dasa: Lord Rama is described as being the color of freshly sprouted grass.

Devotee: How long does it take for a soul to be transferred to another body?

Giriraj Swami: As soon as the next body is ready, one leaves the present body, just as when one’s next step is secure, one gives up the last one.

vrajams tisthan padaikena
  yathaivaikena gacchati
yatha trna-jalaukaivam
  dehi karma-gatim gatah

“Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up the one he had before.” (SB 10.1.40)

Devotee: So, it varies between each body?

Giriraj Swami: When the next body is ready, one leaves the present body, but depending on the type of body, one may take less or more time to be born. The period of gestation may vary. For example, in the case of a human being, after the soul is placed in the womb of the mother through the semen of the father, it takes nine months for the embryo to grow and develop to the stage when the entity is ready to come out of the womb and be viable. That period will vary according to the species.

Of course, our actual goal is to become free from the repetition of birth and death. And the main process by which we can attain liberation, especially in the present age of Kali, is to chant the holy names:

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann
  asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krsnasya
  mukta-sangah param vrajet

“My dear king, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (SB 12.3.51)

As mentioned, the chanting cleanses the dirty things from the mirror of the mind, or heart:

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
  sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
  sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krsna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.” (Siksastaka 1)

The first of the dirty things within the heart is false identification with the body; that is the first misconception. We think, “I am this body, and everything in relation to this body is mine—to enjoy.” And whatever we do that follows from the premise that “I am the body” takes us further and further from the goal. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that if in a mathematical problem you make a mistake in the first step, even if you perform all the other steps perfectly, you will likely get further and further from the solution—because you made a mistake in the first step. So if from the beginning you think you are the body—given that in fact you are not the body but are the soul—then even if you do everything thereafter perfectly for the sake of the body, you will get further and further away from the actual goal. So, we have to understand from the beginning that we are not the body, that we are the soul within the body, and that to act for the benefit of the soul is in our real self-interest.

Everyone wants his self-interest—that is natural—but people don’t know what their real self-interest is. Unless they know what their real self is, how can they know their real self-interest? Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum: they do not know that their real interest is to serve Vishnu, or Krishna, and go back home, back to Godhead.

na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum
  durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah
andha yathandhair upaniyamanas
  te ’pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah

“Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Visnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.” (SB 7.5.31)

There is no harm in wanting to pursue one’s self-interest, but we should know what our real self is. The first instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is that we are not this body but are the soul within the body. And our spiritual life proceeds from that understanding.

After we gain theoretical knowledge, we must realize the knowledge, and by faithfully chanting the holy names, we can actually realize that we are not these bodies but are eternal spirit souls, eternal servants of Krishna. First we hear. For example, we hear in theory that rasagullas are sweet, and we want to try one. And when we actually taste one, our knowledge becomes realized. Then we know the sweetness of a rasagulla by practical experience, and we want others to experience that taste. So, by chanting with attention, one can actually realize that he is not this body but is the soul within the body, and one can taste the sweetness of Lord Krishna’s holy name. Thus, Srila Rupa Gosvami, who actually realized the sweet nectar of the holy name, could write,

tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye
  karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham
cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim
  no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi

“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krs-na’ have produced. When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.” (Vidagdha-madhava 1.15)

But first we have to realize that we are not this body, that the body is just a machine that the soul inhabits for some time.

Chanting is a serious practice—although the process is easy. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Chanting is easy, but the determination to chant is not so easy.” Anyone can say “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” but the determination to chant a prescribed number of rounds daily and to be attentive while chanting—to actually hear every word and every syllable—requires some effort. Still, if we can do that, we can realize that we are not these bodies but are actually parts and parcels of Krishna, eternal servants of Krishna. Then we will act exclusively for the pleasure of Krishna, and that will be our pleasure—greatest pleasure—and satisfaction.

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
  yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
  yayatma suprasidati

 “The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” (SB 1.2.6)

The natural function of the part is to serve the whole. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that the hand is part and parcel of the body, so the natural function of the hand is to serve the body, to serve the stomach. If there is a nice rasagulla (we are talking so much about rasagullas, I hope they have some!) and the hand thinks, “Why should I feed the stomach? I will enjoy myself,” and then tries to absorb the rasagulla directly, to enjoy the rasagulla separately, it can’t. The hand is not meant to enjoy apart from the stomach. But if the hand feeds the stomach, then the hand and all the other parts of the body are naturally nourished and satisfied. In the same way, if we try to enjoy independent of Krishna, we can’t. We are not meant for that. We are part of Him and are meant to serve Him. And if we do serve Him, then all of Krishna’s other parts and parcels are satisfied. And if we want to enjoy independent of Krishna, we can try—that is what is going on in the world today: everyone is trying to enjoy independent of Krishna. But they are not successful. They are never satisfied. They always want something more, something new, something better—they are never satisfied. We can be happy and satisfied only when we serve Krishna with love, for His pleasure.

Devotee: People seem to do that very happily—go through the ups and downs of never being satisfied and then forging back into looking for satisfaction without Krishna. They seem to do it happily.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, ordinary people keep doing it over and over again. Punah punas carvita-carvananam: chewing the chewed again and again. You get a piece of sugarcane and chew it to get the juice out. And afterwards, you throw it away. If you come back and start to chew it again—you can chew it, but there is no juice, nothing more to be gotten. Ordinary conditioned souls, in the bodily concept of life, try to squeeze some pleasure out of the body, and after getting whatever little pleasure they can, they keep trying to get more and more out of it. But they are never satisfied.

matir na krsne paratah svato va
  mitho ’bhipadyeta grha-vratanam
adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram
  punah punas carvita-carvananam

“Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krsna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (SB 7.5.30)

So, what is the way out? Krishna consciousness—realized by the mercy of pure devotees.

naisam matis tavad urukramanghrim
  sprsaty anarthapagamo yad-arthah
mahiyasam pada-rajo-’bhisekam
  niskincananam na vrnita yavat

“Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Krsna conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.” (SB 7.5.32)

Such pure devotees, following the scriptures and previous authorities, induce us to chant the holy names of the Lord.

harer nama harer nama
  harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
  nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.” (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126)

A vivid example is Valmiki Muni himself. He was a robber and murderer. He would plunder innocent people on the road, kill them, and take everything. But he happened to associate with the great devotee Narada Muni, who requested him to chant the holy name of Rama. Valmiki refused: “I am a murderer—what have I to do with chanting God’s name?” But then Narada asked him to meditate on the meaning of death by repeating the word mara, which means “death.” Valmiki agreed, and by repeating mara, mara, mara, mara he came in effect to chant Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama. Living in a previous age, he was able to meditate on the holy name of Rama for many thousands of years, and when he was liberated, he wrote the Ramayana. By the power of the holy name, his heart became purified, and he became a great devotee and rishi (seer), empowered to glorify and personally serve the Lord. So, anyone, even the greatest sinner, can become the greatest devotee of the Lord by serving the instructions of a pure Vaishnava and chanting the holy name of the Lord.

Sri Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Rama-navami, April 14, 2008, San Diego]

To see notes, click here

Hare Krishna. So I’m grateful to be here with all of you today. And I seek the blessings of all the pro bodh disciples and senior devotees so that I can speak something on the Bhagavatam. I’m especially grateful for the overwhelming participation and appreciation for yesterday’s session. I have been trying to understand and share the Bhagavad Gita in many different ways, and I was not sure about how this particular approach would be received.

So I’m very grateful for your encouragement. I also thank the temple management for facilitating this seminar. Today we’ll have the second part in the evening. So actually I got this verse only yesterday night, or rather today morning, and I was talking with a couple of devotees in the morning, and one devotee, sir, told me that if you’re a politician, this is the kind of topic that could end your career. So the theme so I’ll I’ll try to let’s look at what is going on over here in this context, and I will try to explain this in two with two main points in the session.

So the context here is that this particular verse is coming in the section of the pregnancy of. And here, those who act in reproachable ways, how they are condemned is being described. So so the punishment, whether it be curse or whatever, by the Brahmanas, is among the most feared things in the Vedic tradition. And even the fifth canto, Bharat Maharaj also prays that that when he’s or other Jagannath is speaking to Jagannath, and he’s saying that, I don’t fear even the weapons of the gods as much as I fear the curse by a brahmana. So that is the key principle over here.

And those who are living in ways that terrorize others, they are condemned. They’ll be condemned to hellish conditions in the in the future life as well as in this life. And for that Srila Prabhupada is focusing on this, the principle of being condemned. And he’s giving the example of life of life as a dog as something which is condemned. Now this may seem, you know, why pick on dogs?

What have they done to harm you? Somebody may ask. So I’ll talk about this in two broad principles I’ll talk. Basically, the theme will be like understanding difficult statements in scriptures or difficult statements by. That’s the topic I’ll be discussing.

And I’ll leave some time for, comments and questions also. And it is not that I have a conclusive understanding. I’m also trying to see how this is to be understood and to be explained. So the two main points I’ll be talking about is in terms of two acronyms, arc and cut. The arc by which we can cut through misunderstandings and move toward the deeper understanding.

See, in general, whenever we take any statement in scripture, any scriptural statement is there, There are two extremes that we can go towards. One is that we absolutize the statement. And we can go to the other extreme, and we can relativize the statement. So a r c, that’s the acronym method I said. Absoluteizing is one extreme.

Relativizing is the other extreme. In between is to contextualize. Now there is a huge difference between relativizing and contextualizing, and I’ll explain that gradually. So let’s look at it. What does absolutizing a statement mean?

Absolutizing means that this statement has to be applied now in today’s world in the absolutely same form as it was given at that particular time. So if you consider absolutizing, the Gita is a book that calls Arjuna to fight. So everybody who is following the Gita should take up weapons and start fighting. Now that is not the way the tradition has understood the Gita. It’s only recently just in the pre independence times.

In India, there’s a political party called the Congress. Here, the Congress refers to the it’s the body itself, Indian National Congress. So when it was agitating for independence, some of the political leaders wrote commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita. And they said, the Britishers are like the Kauravas. And you, oh, Indians, have to be like Arjuna.

And we, the Indian National Congress, is like Krishna. And we are giving you the instruction of the Bhagavad Gita, fight against the Britishers. Now this was not the interpretation, that take up literal weapons and fight given by the Acharya. That is not the essential message of the Gita. Vishnu Acharya Thakur lived at a time when Vrindavan had just been devastated by Aurangzeb.

In India recently, hugely popular movie has come about. The atrocities that this Muslim king Aurangzeb did against, Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Shastambhaji Maharaj. So this whole issue of Aurangzeb is very much active in India right now. But the point is Chakravartipath was living at a time when Vrindavan that Mahaprabhu and the Goswami had restored had been devastated by Aurangzeb. And Chakravartipath pioneered the restoration of Vrindavan.

And yet, nowhere in his purports to the Bhagavad Gita does he say. To follow the Bhagavad Gita, rise against all these Mughals and destroy them. No. So now, could that be an application? Yes.

In Arjuna’s context, for him, rise and fight was the application. But there is a contextual meaning, and that contextual meaning is not meant to be absolutized. So there is the universal principle is Krishna the point of the Gita is not just to get Arjuna to fight. The point of the Gita is to get Arjuna to rise to a higher consciousness. And in that higher consciousness, the action that he needs to do there in that particular context is fight.

So if you consider the Gita, the Gita has a contextual message and a universal message. So the contextual message is fight. The universal message is raise your consciousness. Learn to act in harmony with God. Don’t just see what I like to do, what I don’t like to do.

See that God has a plan and become a part of God’s plan. And that is what we seek Arjuna’s mood also in 1873. When he says, I’m I I accept what you’re saying. My illusion is dispelled. He does not say I will fight.

He says, I will do your will. Now that will happens to be in that context, fighting. So now this is one example, and we could give many examples of how absolutizing scriptural statements is not only not possible, but that is not what has been done in the scriptural tradition itself. There was one Christian who wrote a book about about something like hundred days of literally living the Bible. And it’s everything in the Bible.

If somebody commits adultery, stone them to death. So can you do that today? So the point is that absolutizing scripture is something which, the tradition itself tells us. This is not the way to do it. We learn from the ex we learn from the tradition itself.

Now when scripture is not to be absolutized, some people go to the other extreme and start relativizing it. Now relativize means what? Oh, you know, those people at that time thought like that. And that has no application in today’s world. It is just that person’s subjective opinion at that time.

Now now relativizing can lead to a lot of devaluation. And nowadays, there is a lot of, moral relativism in today’s world. So this is my truth, and this is your truth. This is the way I want to live, and that is the way you want to live. Now, you know, when we talk about relativism, even from a logical perspective, we cannot relativize everything in the world.

There has to be some universal principles. In the new the Nuremberg trials were held after the second World War. And the Nazis, generals, they said, you know, you can’t hold us responsible for the Holocaust. Why? Because we are in the military.

And the training that we get in military is follow orders. So we’re just following orders. So we are not responsible. But that was not accepted. You know, the idea was that there are there is a absolute moral right and wrong, and that is what we should be following irrespective of whatever context we are in.

So we can’t just context we can’t just absoluteize everything, control or, you know, just because you’re in that situation, you did that. We are human agents. We are responsible. I was giving a talk in Amazon, and there, I was talking about how now I’m not talking specifically about scripture, but I’m talking about how relativism doesn’t work, that complete devising of things. And so I was giving a talk on how on the topic of how we need some compass that is universal.

And then one person said that, you know, but there’s no such universal compass. Everybody has their own sense of right and wrong. So then I asked him, okay. Right now, is there anything in the world that is going on that you think is wrong? He said, yeah.

Of course, there are terrorists. There are religious fanatics. There are child abusers. There are sex sexual molesters. Then I said to him, do you think that those people think that they’re doing something wrong?

Many times, they don’t think like that. So if we use, there will be no such thing as crime at all. We cannot live like that. So after that, one of the user of the top executives at Amazon, he came and told me that, you know, we in our website also, they’re a materialistic company, but they say that we don’t want to promote any kind of child sexual abuse. So when they show apparel, when they show clothes, it’s for men and women.

They will show men and women wearing those clothes. But for children, they don’t show children babies wearing the clothes. So the idea is there also, they have some boundaries, the materialistic company, but there also they have boundaries. It’s not all relative. I was in Dubai, and in Dubai, there are very weird shaped buildings.

The triangular and pentagons and hexagons, all kind of buildings are there. And that’s considered the part of, like, postmodern or cutting edge architecture. Now we can have buildings of all kinds of shapes, but we can’t have foundations of all kinds of shapes. The foundation of a building has to be in a particular way so that we can sustain the building. So like that, yes, there can be something which is relative.

But there is something which is not just relative. Oh, I like this kind of foundation. I’ll have this kind of foundation. No. The foundation has to sustain the building.

So absolutizing is not right. Relativizing is also not right. So most people think only in these two terms. Absolutize or relativize. And what happens when we go into these two terms?

It becomes very polarizing. That, you know, if you absolutize, you’re being so irrational, you’re being fanatical. How can you believe something like this? And your relativize, who do you think you are? You think you are cleverer than scripture?

You think you’re cleverer than the Acharya? You think you know better? So there’s this in between absolutizing and relativizing is contextualizing. Now what does contextualizing mean? So I’ll talk about this in terms of one particular as I said, the second thing I’ll talk about is the cut how to cut through emotions.

So generally, whenever scripture is to be understood, you know, there is okay. Let’s put it this way. Let me put it another way here. There is something which is called as a ladder of abstraction. It’s often used in, literature.

So what is the ladder of abstraction? That whenever we want to understand something, at the top of the ladder let me just repeat this ladder. So this is a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder are specific details. At the top of the ladder are universal principles.

So the idea is for any if you want to actually retain interest and give a meaningful message, then we need to go up and down this ladder of abstraction. So specific details, often they catch interest. They’re interesting. So if I come and say that, okay. Today, I’m going to talk about how the population of bears in Alaska is decreasing.

What has that got to do with the disease? Why are you talking about that in the Bhagavatam? Now there’s a specific deal. It might be interesting, but how is it relevant? Then I say, based on that, I talk about how the climate is changing and how materialism is causing exploitation of nature.

And therefore, even for the survival of species, we humans need a spiritual consciousness. So then it makes it more relevant. So universal principles are what make it sorry. This is universal. That is what makes it more relevant.

So there is they show how it’s relevant. Show relevance. So, you know, we have to do both things, catch interest and show relevance. So for example, we may watch a movie or, read a novel. That may be interesting.

But unless we can relate something with our life, there’s nothing to learn over there. We can read Ramayana and Mahabharata, and that could just be entertaining stories. But then our acharyas give purports, give commentaries in which you learn some lessons. So generally, when anything is to be understood, anything is to be communicated, there is this idea of ladder of abstraction. So abstract is something which is not very, tangible, something that’s more universal.

So there’s a bottom, which is specific, top, which is more abstract or universal. So now when scripture is to be understood also, this idea that scripture is spoken at a particular time, there’s a contextual there’s a contextual statement. A statement is made in a particular context. Now we don’t just say, okay, in that context, and doesn’t apply today. That would be relativizing.

And it’s just those people’s opinion at that time. But from there, we rise upward from the contextual statement. We rise to look at what is the universal principle over here. What is the universal principle? And then from that universal principle, so cut is the acronym, then there is today’s application.

How does it apply today? So this going up and down the ladder of abstraction is what enables us to actually make script or see how scripture is relevant to us. Now Srila Prabhupada may not have specifically mentioned this, but he uses it many times. For example, in prayer prayers, where he’s telling how a person who who is not controlling their senses is pulled in various directions by the senses just like a person who has multiple wives and is pulled by them. And there, so one of the things is that the Sanskrit says that the ears are attracted to tempting music.

Now even in the western tradition, the idea that the siren song and somebody may get caught by that. So now Prabhupada puts that as the ears are attracted to movie songs or radio songs. Now we may say and Prabhupad puts it in translation only, not even the purport. The ears are attracted to radio songs. And now we may say there was no radio at the time of Prahlad as far as we know at least.

So what is Prabhupad doing? Prabhupad is taking that particular concept. And, okay, the ears are attracted to, attracted to attract, to tempting sounds. And is giving a today’s application. Of course, today’s application means the application for him at that time.

Today, it might be the ears are attracted to what? YouTube songs or whatever. We might put it like that. But the idea is that does that. For example, also we have Prabhupa translated the idea of.

When we do, that is like paying tax. Now this is a very contemporary, easily understandable concept. But, you know, that’s not exactly the way the yagna is understood. Yagna is sacrifice. But Prabhupad says, when you’re doing yagna, you’re paying tax.

So Prabhupada this was actually Prabhupada’s expertise. He would take what was given in scripture at one time, and then he would make it relevant to us today. So similarly, we see in the fifteenth chapter when Krishna says that He says that that abode is not illuminated by the sun, moon, or fire. Now puts electricity over there. Now there is no Sanskrit word with.

No electricity over there. Now what is doing by putting electricity over there? Prabhupad is making that particular point relevant. So if you apply that that of abstraction, here is that that sun, moon, and fire. That’s what is mentioned.

That is the specific statement that is there. What is the universal principle over there? That the spiritual world this is 15.6. What is the universal principle? The spiritual world is self luminous.

The spiritual world illuminates itself, And we don’t that it does not need to be illuminated by anything else. And Krishna will contrast us later, six verses, in 15.12, when he says that the material world needs to be illuminated, and he the same three list. That I am the sun, moon, and fire by which this world is illuminated. I manifested those things. So the point is the spiritual world is different from the material world.

The spiritual world is self luminous. It does not need any external source of luminosity. Now for many people today, for them, more than the sun, moon, and fire, the source primary source of luminosity today is electricity. So Srila Prabhupada mentioned sun, moon, and fire, but he also adds electricity. So what is he doing?

He is making that universal principle relevant to us today. He’s showing what is the application in today’s world for us. So let’s now, adopt this approach and see what this particular purport how we can understand this particular purport. So now if you see the if you see Srila Prabhupada’s books. Srila Prabhupada’s books, they have both a timeless aspect to them and a timely aspect to them.

Timeless means they contain principle that are going to guide us for hundreds and thousands of years. At the time, at the same time, Srila Prabhupada wrote those books at a particular time. And he was addressing devotees at that particular time. So, you know, we cannot say that the books are timeless, so there’s nothing timely about them. It’s like, say, now when we give a talk, when initially gave a talk, he was speaking to a particular audience.

So he was he was giving his talks with some people in mind. Now he was not speaking only to those people. He is speaking for all of humanity. But can we say that he was not speaking to those audience at all? No.

He was speaking to those audience. When Srila Prabhupada was in India, he would give classes in Hindi. Because he’s speaking to that audience also. So there is a timeless component, and there’s a timely component. So for example, Srila Prabhupada speaks about generally the spiritual master in singular.

He was writing at a time when he was the spiritual master. Now when we have organization, there are multiple spiritual masters. Now how exactly are those purports to be applied? And how that principle of following the spiritual master will be universal. But how exactly is to be applied?

That has to be contextually considered. So there’s a timeless aspect, and there’s a timely aspect to it. So now keeping this in mind that what is the universal principle over here? If you consider the universal point is that the universal point over here is that, you know, we wrongdoings, especially wrongdoings that involve offenses to Brahmanas, disrespecting of Brahmanas, wrongdoings will lead to a dark place, will lead to a condemned place, will lead us to a condemned place. That is the key principle.

That is a universal principle that we will be punished. Wrong now wrong rules will be condemned. And more specifically, offenses to Brahmanas, disrespecting Brahmanas, that will lead to hell or hellish conditions. This is the universal principle that Shilpa Upadis, that the scripture itself is talking about. That’s the word that’s what the verse is about.

And now within that context, now what does this particular statement about dogs, dogs being condemned species, mean? So, you know, I’ll I’ll talk about this from a philosophical perspective, a scriptural perspective, a historical perspective. And this is how we’ll try to contextualize it. Now from a philosophical perspective, the idea that the word dogs are considered it’s not that there’s a statement of hating dogs in particular. Dogs are often seen as representing, in general, nonhuman species.

Dogs, they represent nonhuman species. And we have, there are many places where the our dogs are taken. And the point over here is that it represents nonhuman species in general. Now there can be many nonhumans. And the point is that in that particular species, a soul who has gone is has lost the human life the opportunity of human life.

And that soul is going to get opportunity after a long time. So that con condemned is certainly not in the religious sense of Christianity or some religions where there’s eternal damnation. It’s not used condemned in that sense. Condemned is also not used in today’s sense where the idea is, you know, I hate you and I condemn you. It is used in a philosophical sense where the opportunity for spiritual life is lost.

And now you see that that that that well known words, that a person who considers a person who considers their own land to be worshipable. A person who goes to a holy place just to bathe. It is said, sir, Such a person is like a cow or a What is a? Ass. A donkey.

Now we may say, cows are considered sacred. Why are cows and donkeys put together in one category? Isn’t this a? So the point is in that context, both of them are representative of animal species. So the key point is that another context, a cow is considered very special.

Cow is dear to Krishna, and we don’t technically worship cows. You know? But cows are also respectable. Now there is a go puja which is contextual. It’s not that we’d consider cows to be gods.

In the western context, worship means considering them to god. That’s not exactly the same. But the point is, in some context, cows may be very elevated. And in some context, the whole idea of a cow may be considered unintelligent, like a donkey. Now cows and donkeys are very different.

Yet so in context, sometimes animals are referred to the whole animal species as a nonhuman species, which lacks philosophical intelligence to pursue spiritual life. So certain beings may be taken as representatives of that. So it is not so much singling out on dogs itself, but it’s more a symbolic reference to dogs. Now when we talk about dogs from a scriptural perspective, So there is a story associated with the Ramayana. It it comes in the Ananda Ramayana.

Now where there is a dog named Sarama. So lord Ram, it is said, this is he he had he was so open to ensure that there’s justice everywhere that he had a big bell in the center of his the center of in a central marketplace, in a central, crossroad. Anybody could ring that bell, and then their case would be taken to lord Ram, and justice would be given to them. So one time it happened that a dog started pulling that bell. And then the dog was brought before Lord Ram.

And the dog said, you know, my life is so miserable. All other dogs are picking on me. You know, all other dogs are hurting me. Why is my life so miserable? And then Lord Ram talked with the Brahmanas, and the Brahmanas gave a vision that this dog in a previous life had been a Matadipati.

So a is like a is like a a managerial head of a religious institution. And as a managerial head of a religious institution, he while managing, he had offended the Brahmanas living in that monastery, in that matter. And because he had offended the Brahmanas, he became a dog. And because he had troubled others, now other dogs are troubling him. So now one devotee who was who was a manager, he told me after I heard this story, I thought I should resign from management.

It’s a difficult service. Prabhupad wanted us to do that service. But I tried to find out whether Prabhupad is referring to the story. There’s no other place where I’ve seen Prabhupad refers to this particular story. But, you know, there are context where the dog’s specie and this particular idea of a dog being condemned.

So this Brahmana was named Sarama in a previous life, and this Sarama was condemned. So now there could be this scriptural context is the story of, of a Matadipati becoming a dog. So now now beyond that, if you consider, as I said, the same cow example of the cow I gave, in some cases, it’s considered very positive. Oh, cows are so dear to Krishna. Another context, it’s considered, that, oh, they are unintelligent.

And it is also there are some places, you know, sometimes you have a imitation calf brought in front of a cow. And that calf seems to start tackling its milk, and the cow starts giving milk. So there are cases where it’s talking about how a cow is not so intelligent. So gentleness, purity, dearness to Krishna, these are positives of a cow. But there are also cases where it’s negative.

So now if we consider dogs okay, before this, I’m going more into psychological perspective before I go into historical with which I’ll conclude. So if we consider dogs from a psychological perspective, so on one side, their loyalty has always been praised. And within our tradition also, we have, Bakhtul Thakur says, Tomar Kukuru. He says that, oh, I want to be like your dog. That is so from the loyalty, it’s considered very positive.

But that same loyalty can lead to territoriality. Territoriality is this is my territory, and you cannot come in over here. And Srila Prabhupad would use this to refer to immigration. You say that, you know, that, you know, we are not criminals. We are not thieves.

Why should we be frisked in security? It’s like a dog saying that this is my territory. You cannot come in. Now from security considerations perspective, we understand that the people who are coming into country, they need to be frisked. But Prabhupada is making a particular point, and he would compare immigration officers to dogs.

Not all the time. He said they are being so territorial. You think everything is Krishna’s property, you think it is my property. So from that perspective of territoriality, dogs can be quite territorial. It’s not only dogs who are territorial.

Tigers and lions can also be territorial. But dogs can be territorial. And when they are territorial oh, I didn’t realize it. Sorry. Oh, okay.

We’ll fix something today. So dogs can be quite territorial, and the territoriality can lead to some severe fighting among dogs also. So when the condemned is being talked about, it is not a blanket condemnation of dogs. That dogs are themselves among all species, they are bad. They represent animal life.

And even among dogs specifically, there are attribute that are good also. And themselves as where we have the story of Shivananda Singh being so compassionate to a dog. And the dog getting elevated, dog getting liberated. So the point is now last point I make it is historical. From a historical perspective, Srila Prabhupada came to the West in his when he was almost, 70.

And it’s remarkable that in the last ten years of his life, he was able to, he was able to do so much in terms of spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. Now traditionally, dogs, and you could say in pre industrial society, They sold certain functions. They were for guarding. They were for hunting, and they were for herding. These were the main functions.

Guarding is they guard the house. Hunting is, you know, people dogs hunt people who are some people who want to go to hunt. In hunting, partying, they have dogs which will corner the animal, and then the person will shoot them. And herding is if you have cattle, it’ll herd them. So from that perspective, Prabhupada would often say that dogs should always be outdoors.

And so now when they’re outdoors, dogs mark their territory. And sometimes they can be territorial. They can fight over it. Now if you consider, this is how it was traditional even in the West. But in the modern times, after urbanization started, after urbanization led to fragmentation of the extended family, then there was dislocation.

There’s a lot more loneliness. So it is only in modern times that dogs have become more as pets. It’s not that people would have pets so extensively. Queen Victoria, she had a pet and she made a pet dog. And from that time, just to please her, all the British royals started having dogs as pets.

And then that’s how the idea of it is not just like a psychological need, but also become like a status symbol, a prestige symbol. A cool cultural trend to have a dog. So dogs as pets is relatively a modern phenomenon. Now we also have we have dogs as service dogs, the therapy dogs for people with special needs. And those dogs may come indoors.

Some people have psychological needs. So relatively speaking, the cultural context today is different. And the cultural context, Prabhupada was that was different. So the today’s application is, a, the Prabhupada said dogs are condemned. If you don’t agree with that, you are deviating from Prabhupada.

Now that would be absolutizing the statement. Now relativizing the statement would be, you know, that is just Prabhupada’s opinion. No. Contextualizing the statement would be there’s a universal principle over there. Universal principle is there are states of existence that are condemned.

And if we offend Brahmanas, if we offend devotees, we will go to those condemned states. And we have to be careful not to act in ways that will be offensive. And that way, we can avoid going into those condemned states. I’ll just make one last point and conclude this. And now what those condemned states might be, that can be very different.

There was a survey done among Indians who went to America. And Indians come to America, and sometimes they don’t get visa extension. They go back to India. The survey, sometimes people just in their board meetings, they have icebreakers. So they ask different questions, get to know people.

So they asked a question to about it was, like, 500 Indians that all these Indians had gone to America and come back or come to America and gone back to India. So I said, if reincarnation were real, which species would like to be born you to be born in? And out of these 500 Indians, more than hundred Indians, the majority said, we would like to be born as a dog in America. Because the dogs live so comfortably. Now should have proved that worse.

Now normally from the traditional contextual perspective, birth in the West is considered to be a relatively degraded world. The West is materialistic, West is godless. So out birth in Bharat Varsha is considered to be auspicious. Birth outside is considered not so auspicious. But in that particular verse, when Jann Maheshwari Prayers, I mean, Prabhupadhu is a lecture on that, and he talks about the appearance of birth.

And he’s speaking to Americans. He says, all of you are born America. This is such a prosperous country. And you are fortunate to be born over here. Now use your good fortune.

So now is birth in America auspicious or inauspicious? Well, it depends on context. Now if we consider from a traditional cultural context, yes, birth outside India is inauspicious. But if you consider from a contemporary, say, geopolitical or economic context, birth in America, gives a certain level of comfort, a certain level of freedom from at least anxiety for basic survival. But so now the statement of what is auspicious or what is auspicious may also vary according to context.

And that’s why contextualizing is extremely important. And when he is giving us this statement, it’s through his own example also. He is showing how to contextualize. And when we learn to contextualize, we won’t get caught in particular statements and fixate on either trying to defend them or reject them, accept them or absolutize them or relativize them. We’ll understand what is the essential principle over here.

What are the universal principle? Srila Prabhupada did not start the international society for dog condemnation or dog glorification for that matter. His precise international society for Krishna consciousness. And what will further Krishna consciousness in today’s world is what we should be focusing on in order to carry on legacy responsibly. So I summarize, and the topic today was how to understand difficult statements, or statement that seem difficult for whatever reason.

So first I thought is three approaches we discussed. They’re based on the acronym ARC. We simply can absolutize, but that’s a problem. Are we all meant to take up weapons and fight like Arjuna did? We can relate to wise, but that would mean that there is no value in those statements now for us.

It is just those people’s subjective opinions. But what we do is contextualize. And we discuss various examples of how himself does the contextualization. How do we do the contextualization? We discussed this acronym of cut.

There is a contextual statement. Now from that contextual statement, we see what is the universal principle over there. And from that universal principle, we try to see what is today’s application. So takes the contextual statement that in that about, there’s no sun, moon, light. And based on that, he says that there’s no in that about, there’s no electricity also.

So is making it applicable for us today. So with respect to the specific statement about dogs, I talk about contextualizing in multiple ways. Contextualizing is philosophical. The dogs symbolically represent the nonhuman specie where they’re condemned in the sense that they don’t have the opportunity to be elevated. Opportunity to grow spiritually because they don’t have the philosophical intelligence.

And then I give the example of how cows can also be seen negatively, positively. Scriptural contextualization, the story from the Ramayana about how a person who offended a Brahmana became a dog. Then we talked about psychological contextualization that depending on context, a positive or negative attribute may be emphasized. So the dog’s loyalty and also their territoriality. And then lastly, I talked about from a historical perspective that in the past, dog served a particular function, and now they’re serving a different function.

So at that time, mostly, it was their function with outdoors. Now their function they’re serving is different. So our focus should be on the universal principle that that actions which involve offending Brahmanas and Vaishnavas and people that will lead us to a condemned state. And that’s why we try to avoid such offensive actions. Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.

The post Are dogs a condemned species? — Understanding Prabhupada’s difficult statements | Alachua, USA appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

 Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 13
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 13: March 26–April 1, 2025)

Tallahassee, Alachua
(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on April 5, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

For the thirteenth week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee. I chanted Hare Krishna every day at Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library. Ananga Mohan Prabhu joined me on Friday as usual and played the drum. In Tallahassee, I distributed a Science of Self-Realization, an “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets, and fifty-nine little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus.

I tell about our Tallahassee Ratha-yatra, attended by at least forty devotees, many from Alachua and Gainesville, and a visit to the Alachua Sunday feast.

I share a quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and The Nectar of Devotion. I share quotes from The Delaware Diaries, Renewal, and Sanatorium by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on classes in Tallahassee by Pran Govinda and Govinda Kaviraja Prabhus and on a Sunday feast lecture in Alachua by Devaki Devi Dasi. I share an insight from a conversation with Dasaratha Suta Prabhu in Alachua.

Many, many thanks to my sister, Karen Beetle, for paying for my new computer out of our mother’s estate. I was able to get it just in time before my previous computer, which was five years old, died. Thanks to Uddhava Prabhu for the video of me dancing before the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra. Thanks to Ananga Mohan Prabhu for the selfie of us on harinama at FSU and for the use of his phone to take Ratha-yatra videos, as I foolishly forgot to bring mine.

Itinerary

January 6–April 11: Tallahassee harinamas and FSU college outreach
April 12: St. Augustine Ratha-yatra
April 13: Gainesville harinama
April 14–15: USF harinamas in Tampa
April 16–20: Washington, D.C., harinamas with Sankarsana Prabhu
April 21–22: NYC Harinam
April 23: Flight to Brussels
April 24: Layover in Oslo
April 25: Kadamba Kanana Swami Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh
April 26: King’s Day in Amsterdam
April 27: Liege harinama
April 28–May 1: Paris harinamas
May 2: Sarcelles market harinama
May 3–4: Amsterdam Kirtan Mela and Sacinandana Swami seminar
May 5 and 6: harinama in Amsterdam, Antwerp, or Brussels
May 7: Flight from Brussels to New York City
May 8–June 15: NYC Harinam
mid June–mid August: Paris
– June 22: Paris Ratha-yatra
– July 11: Amsterdam harinama
– July 12: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
– July 13: Netherlands harinama

Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee

This FSU student formerly participated in Krishna Lunch in Gainesville and was happy to hear we have it at FSU.

Ananga Mohan Prabhu came out on Friday to my spot on Landis Green behind the main university library. He played the drum during my kirtan, and I played the drum during his kirtan.

Pran Govinda, along with bhaktas from his ashram in Alachua, came to Tallahassee the evening before Ratha-yatra.

Here he chants Hare Krishna at the home of Subir (https://youtu.be/wgncx_b2nvE):

The Tallahassee Ratha-yatra is the Hare Krishna contribution to the Springtime Tallahassee parade, which is either the last Saturday of March or first Saturday of April each year. The parade is so short it is hard for me to do the three hours of public congregational chanting I like to do each day. Formerly, when I came up from Alachua with the Alachua harinama devotees, we would do harinama for a hour at the Downtown Saturday market after the parade to make the whole experience worth the two-hour journey each way. This year I decide to come to the site an hour and a half before the parade as the officials recommend. I brought my harmonium and amplifier and happily chanted for half an hour to Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra, who patiently waited in their car as the devotees prepared the cart. The first twenty minutes there was no other amplified sound so dozens of parade participants would able to hear the holy names. After I chanted Mayur chanted Hare Krishna to the Jagannatha deities for a while (https://youtu.be/5EqZHqd-jZo):

Next Ananga Mohan Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there before the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/HOQYPd6hf3w):

Uddhava Prabhu took this video of me dancing in that kirtan of Ananga Mohan (https://youtu.be/Ss5jAQfmg1U):

Later Bhakta Max, who stays in Pran Govinda Prabhu’s ashram in Alachua, chanted Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/2hU4KiXVn6M):

Here Kishor Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the start of the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/GMmHk9_fqIY):

During the procession I did not want to leave my position in the parade to make a video of our whole kirtan party so I just took videos of people in the crowd who appreciated.

Here Kishor Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Tallahassee Ratha-yatra, and onlookers appreciate (https://youtu.be/KcJBKqNyr4g):

Kishor Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Tallahassee Ratha-yatra, Nate dances, and onlookers wave, smile, and dance (https://youtu.be/biQwZMgwsAE):

Kishor Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the end of the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/A-jp79jeisc):

As we had only chanted Hare Krishna for two and a half hours and I like to do three, I encouraged Nimai Govinda Prabhu from Alachua and his friends to chant Hare Krishna on the way to their vehicle (https://youtu.be/xBPzLoVhlkE):

Keshava Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Tallahassee after Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/ETVqd2c_huQ):

Then his wife, Karuna Gopi Devi Dasi, chanted Hare Krishna there too (https://youtu.be/rUSd1ZMu-wM):

After helping to clean the kitchen and taking a nap, in the late afternoon I went to the campus to chant Hare Krishna for an hour and half to promote Krishna Lunch.

One day one of my regular customers for the free halava stopped to get some, despite being late for class. After class, she got some more, on the way to her presentation, saying she hoped it would bring her good fortune. The next day she said her presentation went well, she was relaxed doing it, and many people asked her questions. Then she got some halava both for herself and her supervisor in charge of FSU international programs. She is a Christian from Jamaica majoring in neuroscience.

Chanting Hare Krishna in Alachua

Radhika Ramana Prabhu chant Hare Krishna at ISKCON Alachua first Sunday feast kirtan (https://youtu.be/FHDbvj0CZMc):

During the feast I sat with Arthur from Clearwater, who I originally met at a Krishna House program in Gainesville. He later chanted with me at Depot Park in Gainesville and also at University of South Florida in Tampa. He really appreciated the association of the devotees and relocated to the Alachua area for that reason. He likes to see the truth in the different religious traditions, and he invited two male Mormon missionaries he met in High Springs to come to the Sunday feast. The young Mormons really liked the prasadam and came back for seconds, getting a serious amount on the second time around. They shared with us this quote from the Mormon’s thirteen “Articles of Faith” appreciating worship of God in other traditions: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” (11)

Adikarta Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Alachua Sunday feast Gaura Arati kirtan (https://youtu.be/zshMjz_vbVM):

Amala Harinama Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna after the ISKCON Alachua Sunday feast (https://youtu.be/8_GslRH_t4k):

Kumari chants Hare Krishna after the ISKCON Alachua Sunday feast (https://youtu.be/R0YX8xQ8c9s):

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Bhagavad-gita 5.26, purport:

“The devotee in Krishna consciousness, although far away from the Lord’s abode, can elevate himself to that abode simply by thinking of Him constantly—by engagement in Krishna consciousness. He does not feel the pangs of material miseries; this state of life is called brahma-nirvana, or the absence of material miseries due to being constantly immersed in the Supreme.”

From Bhagavad-gita 5.29, purport:

“Krishna consciousness, however, brings one into spiritual life even while one is within the jurisdiction of matter, for it is an arousing of spiritual existence by practice in the material world. The more one is advanced, the more he is freed from the clutches of matter. The Lord is not partial toward anyone. Everything depends on one’s practical performance of duties in Krishna consciousness, which in every respect helps one control the senses and conquer the influence of desire and anger. And one who stands fast in Krishna consciousness, controlling the above-mentioned passions, remains factually in the transcendental stage, or brahma-nirvana.”

From Bhagavad-gita 13.34, purport:

“Thus consciousness is the proof of the presence of the soul, as sunshine or light is the proof of the presence of the sun. When the soul is present in the body, there is consciousness all over the body, and as soon as the soul has passed from the body there is no more consciousness.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.4:

“Persons who hear Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna manifested in their hearts within a short time.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.6.40:

“Words, mind and ego, with their respective controlling demigods, have failed to achieve success in knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, we simply have to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him as a matter of sanity.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 17:

“By the process of executing regulated devotional service, one is actually elevated onto the transcendental stage, beyond the material modes of nature. At that time one’s heart becomes illuminated like the sun. . . . When a devotee is purified like the sun, from his pure heart there is a diffusion of ecstatic love which is more glorious than the sunshine. Only at that time is the attachment to Krishna perfect. Spontaneously, the devotee becomes eager to serve the Lord in his ecstatic love. At this stage the devotee is on the platform of uttama-adhikari, perfect devotion. Such a devotee has no agitation from material affections and is interested only in the service of Radha and Krishna.”

“One should execute devotional service rigidly in the association of devotees so that there will be certainty in raising oneself to that ecstatic position.”

“It is essential, therefore, that one constantly associate with pure devotees who are engaged morning and evening in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. In this way one will get the chance to purify his heart and develop this ecstatic pure love for Krishna.”

“In the Padma Purana there is the story of a neophyte devotee who, in order to raise herself to the ecstatic platform, danced all night to invoke the Lord’s grace upon her.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 18:

“In the beginning, of course, a neophyte devotee must try to keep himself apart from all kinds of alluring attachments, but the real position of a mature devotee is that even in the presence of all allurements, he is not at all attracted. This is the actual criterion of detachment.”

“The strong conviction that one will certainly receive the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called in Sanskrit asa-bandha. Asa-bandha means to continue to think, ‘Because I’m trying my best to follow the routine principles of devotional service, I am sure that I will go back to Godhead, back to home.’”

“When one is sufficiently eager to achieve success in devotional service, that eagerness is called samutkantha. This means ‘complete eagerness.’ Actually this eagerness is the price for achieving success in Krishna consciousness. Everything has some value, and one has to pay the value before obtaining or possessing it. It is stated in the Vedic literature that to purchase the most valuable thing, Krishna consciousness, one has to develop intense eagerness for achieving success.”

“The example is given that on the full moon there are some spots that may appear to be pockmarks. Still, the illumination spread by the full moon cannot be checked. Similarly, a little fault in the midst of volumes of devotional service is not at all to be counted as a fault. Attachment for Krishna is transcendental bliss. Amid unlimited volumes of transcendental bliss, a spot of some material defect cannot act in any way.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 19:

“When one’s desire to love Krishna in one’s particular relationship becomes intensified, this is known as pure love of Godhead.”

“In the Narada Pañcaratra it is clearly stated that when lust is completely transferred to the Supreme Godhead and the concept of kinship is completely reposed in Him, such is accepted as pure love of God by great authorities like Bhisma, Prahlada, Uddhava and Narada.”

“Ecstatic love of Godhead can be potently invoked simply by following the rules and regulations of devotional service as they are prescribed in scriptures, under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master.”

“From the example of Candrakanti as found in the Padma Purana and from the example of the gopis as found in Srimad-Bhagavatam, it appears that a devotee who always thinks of Krishna and who always chants His glories in ecstatic love, regardless of his condition, will attain the highest perfection of unalloyed devotional love due to Lord Krishna’s extraordinary mercy.”

“In the Narada Pañcaratra pure, unalloyed devotional service is explained as being without any motive for personal benefit. If a devotee is continuously in love with Lord Krishna and his mind is always fixed upon Him, that devotional attitude will prove to be the only means of attracting the attention of the Lord.”

“There are many societies and associations of pure devotees, and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid.”

“In the Narada Pañcaratra Lord Shiva therefore tells Parvati, ‘My dear supreme goddess, you may know from me that any person who has developed the ecstasy of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who is always merged in transcendental bliss on account of this love, cannot even perceive the material distress or happiness coming from the body or mind.’”

“Without relishing some sort of mellow, or loving mood, in one’s activities, no one can continue to perform such activities. Similarly, in the transcendental life of Krishna consciousness and devotional service there must be some mellow, or specific taste, from the service. Generally this mellow is experienced by chanting, hearing, worshiping in the temple and being engaged in the service of the Lord. So when a person feels transcendental bliss, that is called ‘relishing the mellow.’ To be more clear, we may understand that the various feelings of happiness derived from discharging devotional service may be termed the ‘mellows’ of devotional service.

“This relishing of transcendental mellow in discharging devotional service cannot be experienced by all classes of men because this sweet loving mood is developed only from one’s previous life’s activities or by the association of unalloyed devotees. As explained above, association with pure devotees is the beginning of faith in devotional service. Only by developing such faith in the association of a pure devotee, or by having in one’s previous life executed devotional activities, can one actually relish the mellow of devotional service. In other words, this transcendental bliss is not to be enjoyed by any common man unless he is so extraordinarily fortunate as to be in association with devotees or to be continuing his previous birth’s devotional activities.”

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.312, commentary:

“To attribute on someone faults that are not present is called blasphemy. Being induced by irrelevant goals, those who are unable to tolerate the glorification of others and with a desire to attack them unfairly attribute faults on them continually meet with inauspiciousness day after day.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.318, commentary:

“After Sri Gaurasundara accepted the bodies of Jagai and Madhai to be as good as His own, whatever He had them do, whatever He had them speak, however He had them behave, and whatever He had them eat was favorable for the service of Vishnu. In this way, after turning one towards the Lord’s service, the worshipable Lord takes His worshiper servant, who leaves a body made of the five gross elements within the material world, and departs.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.319, commentary:

“The proper use of independence is to become inclined towards the service of the Lord, but the senses of persons who are averse to the Lord’s service are induced by three types of false ego to engage in pious and impious activities and more or less identify with material nature.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From Renewal:

“Listening to Prabhupada’s dynamic speech, and taking part personally in the singing and then the dancing, I felt completely free. I was with my best friends, although some of them I had only known for a few months. I felt the ecstasy of the Swami’s love for Krishna, and felt we had done a great thing and that it would become popular and widespread. I felt happy to have been a participant of the first recording, of The Happening maha-mantra record. There was a delay in the production and release of the record, but after a few months it finally came out, and quickly became popular, especially among the youth. It was played on the radio frequently, and it sold well in the record stores. Some persons joined the Hare Krishna Movement just on the force of this record and speech.”

From Sanatorium:

“I once heard Radhanatha Swami say that Prabhupada’s books are full of humility, and humility is everything; therefore, you can find everything in Prabhupada’s books.”

“I hear his [Prabhupada’s] lectures still and I am inspired and struggle. Even the struggle is good, like ‘wrestling with God.’”

“Prabhupada is gradually giving raganuga in his books. You’ll find many sections. There’s one section where he compares raganuga to the gradual learning of how to type with a typewriter. He says at first, you’re given lessons and you go slowly, but gradually you learn to type without even looking at the keys. So, he uses that famous word of his, ‘automatically’ you come to your position, and even to your siddha-deha, your eternal relationship with Krishna.”

From The Delaware Diaries, Volume 2 (Tachycardia):

“We’re having a rather large gathering at Thanksgiving, and some of the members won’t be Krishna conscious, so Sastra asked me if I could give a ‘secular’ talk. I don’t think I can. We have to thank God. I believe the first Thanksgiving was observed in the sixteen hundreds by the Pilgrims who sailed to America from England. They endured a bitter winter trying to make a settlement and dealing with the native Indians but somehow managed to survive. They shot some turkeys and had a feast and thanked God. They were a religious sect, the Puritans, who escaped England because of religious persecution.

“So when we give thanks on this day, it must be to our Provider, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can think of all the ways in which we are grateful. We should express our gratitude that we’re able to eat so amply and not take it for granted, since many people in the world are starving. We should be thankful that we have a family of warm friends and relatives who can gather in harmony on this day and not in bitterness or split up. Children should be thankful to their parents, and parents thankful to their children for their obedience and growing up as good persons who want to make a contribution to the world.

“In the religious field, a spiritual master should be thankful to his disciples for their service and assistance, which he offers to God, or Krishna, and disciples should be thankful for the guidance of the spiritual master. We should be thankful we live in a civilized country where religious freedom is guaranteed.

“Aside from the things I put into a speech at a family gathering on Thanksgiving, I may consider privately the things I’m grateful for. I’m grateful that Srila Prabhupada came to me and saved my life. And especially that I met him in 1966. I’m grateful that I didn’t join him by joining an institution or through his disciples but that he personally handled me in the early days, when it was like a family. I’m grateful that he gave me positions to serve in ISKCON, such as temple president, and that he put me on the GBC when he formed it and that he picked my name to initiate on his behalf. I’m grateful that he called me to be his personal servant in 1974, put me in charge of the library party and that he always seemed to appreciate my service. I’m grateful that he and the GBC asked me to write the Srila Prabhupada-lilamṛta. I’m sorry that I failed him with my falldown, but grateful that I was able to work with Brahmatirtha Prabhu and the GBC committee to retain my position as sannyasi in ISKCON and keep my faithful disciples. I am grateful that I’ve been able to spend my later years in relative peace and quiet and take up renewed interest in chanting and hearing.”

“Society mocks the monks as parasites, but they do great good when they pray for souls and when they go into the world and try to help the fallen.”

“I’m glad I made a decision to keep chanting during the pain. Sometimes you have to choose sadhana over health care. You just want that life so badly.”

“Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I live with Him. I cry for self-realization. I want Him in the center of my life. I will hear of His pastimes and instructions.”

“Trying to get my financial affairs in order. Krishna will take care of me. ‘To those who are devoted to Me with love, I preserve what they have and deliver what they lack.’ One way or another, I will survive. He does it personally, and the pure devotee doesn’t doubt it. He has no financial insecurity.”

“You can rest assured that Krishna will give you food, clothing and shelter because you are sincerely serving Him and His representative.”

“Krishna Kripa is here visiting for a couple of days from Gainesville. He went down to the beach with us wearing a dhoti with long johns underwear. He said he liked it more than he expected because it was so peaceful, and the cold and the walk kept him alert. Baladeva took our picture together, and it looks like a seagull is standing on Krishna Kripa’s head.”

“KK said it must be hard for me to tolerate decades of headaches. I replied that it’s become a part of my life. And I told him what the migraineurs say about the remark that migraine is not a life-threatening disease. They say it is life-threatening because it takes so much away from their quality of life. They can’t play with their children, they get fired from their jobs, they have to stay in bed all day. If that isn’t life-threatening, what is? As they search for a cure, they cry out, ‘I want a life!’”

“KK told me he recently met with a sannyasi Godbrother who came to the U.S.A. to see what preaching was going on and decided nothing was going on. He’s going to try something big himself. He is trying to raise $250 million to build a Krishna conscious theme park in Orlando, Florida. Along with the theme park, he’ll build a self-sufficient community that will supply arts and crafts to the theme park. It really sounds like ‘shooting for the white rhinoceros.’”

“KK said he recently attended the Vyasa-puja of Hridayananda Maharaja in Florida, held in the house of one of his disciples. He said the microphone wasn’t properly balanced, and they had to balance it by hanging a can of beans on one side of the stand. Hridayananda Maharaja joked that whoever gave the best homage would win the can of beans. He said the function was very relaxed because Maharaja is very relaxed and funny.”

“I also received a nice letter from Caitanya-candrodaya from Ireland. He writes,

I often hear Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s quote, ‘I never was, am not, and never will be a spiritual master.’ I would never have understood it in practice until I see how you, while acting and being my spiritual master, never consider it to be your nature and never identify with it as your fixed position in relation to a disciple. You will always be my spiritual master because you do not only quote it but you live by this quote and are my eternal friend.

It could be shocking for a disciple to realize that it is not an eternal goal or a svarupa of his or her spiritual master. For someone, it could be a shock to realize that his or her spiritual master is not perfect and makes mistakes. For someone it could be a revelation that a spiritual master cannot see Krishna all the time. For some it could be a revelation that maya is strong enough to attack anyone in this world. But I know that you are my eternal friend and an associate of Krishna, I know that whatever mistakes you make, you teach us how to rectify them, I know that all the acaryas serve Krishna in separation, and I know that there is not a single soul on this world that is beyond the potential grip of maya, and the fact that one can overcome maya’s attacks is the actual direct mercy of Krishna to be praised.

I was very impersonal towards Prabhupada, I took him for a ‘previous’ great teacher, but it is by your mercy that I am able to relate to him as a person, not just an iconic figure but a real guru....

Your books talk to us, just as we talk to other devotees, it is as easy to read them as it is to talk to a friend. Please continue to write these ‘friendly’ comments on the Bhagavatam, so that thinking and nondogmatic followers of Prabhupada will always have a refuge of the seniormost disciple presenting Prabhupada’s words and answering the questions without pretense. It will take years to appreciate it for others, but that is the way of humility and art of following.

The last kick in the face of Hindu-imitating, pseudo-traditional and formalist religionist follower of a tradition called Gaudiya Vaisnavism, which is actually the activity of the soul and is free from any form of identification that are of this world, is your art. It is not just nice, it is challenging to a formal believer and liberating to a sincere cultural man, who would rather see a nonsectarian approach to Krishna and His philosophy, culture and love.

“Krishna Kripa admired the fact that I, although having difficulty, never gave up on my disciples but kept my promise to work with them and help them to go back to Godhead. I have kept my side of the bargain, he said.”

“Outside the [Philly] restaurant, I was stopped by a young bearded man dressed in a dhoti who had attended the whole [Vyasa-puja] program. He was someone I had never met before. Haryasva told me he comes to the restaurant often. He’s a disciple of Srila Narayana Maharaja. He told me that he has been reading my books for fifteen years and that he loves them more than anything. He told me one time Narayana Maharaja was crying, and when the devotees asked him why he was crying, he said he was thinking of Satsvarupa Maharaja. I was touched by this expression.”

“My dear Lord Krishna, You are always close to me. Thank you for being with me over the Vyasa-puja weekend and allowing me to discharge those duties. I must always be there for those who wish to be my disciples. I must exchange with them in love.”

“Most of all I need to feel love for You, Divine One, and for my spiritual master. That will be the root for all the love I can give to others.”

“On this day after my birthday celebration, I rededicate myself to setting a good example and serving Your dear ones. Some of them are depending on me, and I must not fail. I must find the love in my heart, which You have implanted, and share it with them. I do this first by becoming Your unalloyed devotee and the servant of my Guru Maharaja.”

“You can be simultaneously involved only with Your most intimate devotees in Goloka Vṛndavana, and yet open to touch with aspiring souls who maybe appear to be very distant to You, living in the material world and still distracted by the illusory energy. Whenever they turn to You, You are ready for them.”

“You are my only shelter. And I only know You through my connection with Srila Prabhupada. He has left this world in his manifested form, but he is still present spiritually in his teachings and personal example. His kindness toward me while he was here remains in my heart. My duty to serve him will always be with me.”

“Have faith in the scriptural statements that chanting Hare Krishna constantly is the greatest act of devotion. Do it despite your low taste.”

“I stand face to face with Krishna. I bow down to His lotus feet. Nami (Krishna) and nama (His name) are identical. Each bead chanted on is bowing to Krishna and Radha. Even when you don’t do it perfectly in the offenseless stage, it counts in your favor.”

“When your time is upit will be hard to chant the namesso do it while you canwhile you’re calm and at your ease.”

Dasaratha Suta Prabhu:

From a conversation in Alachua:

“The false ego is such a rascal that it convinces you that it’s the Paramatma.”

Pran Govinda Swami:

A sadhu is relishing spiritual life and eager to share it with others.

What you do not believe, you cannot make others believe.

Varna you are born with, but asrama you are not born with.

These three questions we should ask ourselves every day:
Who we are?
Whose we are?
Where we are?

We cannot do bhakti without happiness.

Brahma-bhuta means free from the three modes of nature.

When we come to Krishna consciousness by engaging in devotional service we become spiritualized. When we stop performing devotional service, we return to our previous state.

We get delivered by the devotee infusing Krishna’s potency from his heart to ours.

The gopis have ten kinds of gossip or jalpa about Krishna, and Krishna likes that. Their gossip keeps them in the spiritual world, but our gossip keeps us in this world.

The false ego binds the spiritual soul to matter.

There are only two choices: you either work for Krishna or you work for maya.

When we see things separate from God then fear will come, so we should practice connecting things with Krishna.

No one cannot live without philosophy, and if you do not accept Krishna consciousness, you have to accept some other philosophy.

Every moment we have a choice to love Krishna or not love Krishna.

Service cannot be taken away from us because it is our nature.

Love is eternally with the soul.

The Mayavadis aspire for cessation of existence, but you can ask them how they know in that state they will be experiencing happiness.

The process of bhakti is one of purification not escape. If you try to escape, you can’t run far.

Faith is essential. Even if you cannot understand Krishna’s words, still have faith in them.

Krishna’s form is the condensed form of bliss, from the tip of hair to the toe nail.

All of Vraja moves by feeling. Sat and cit is subordinate to ananda. Krishna and His devotees are all absorbed in ananda.

Your soul is more beautiful than your body, no matter how well you decorate it.

The Lord is in our heart as Paramatma, a judge, but by our service Krishna Himself with all His mercy will enter our heart and merge with Paramatma.

Dhundhukari, although grossly sinful, attained liberation when he heard the Bhagavatam with faith and engaged in three things: contemplation, reflection, and assimilation.

In Vraja they do not calculate times or days. This is called vivek-sunya-prema.

Higher than that is visramba-prema. When Krishna is absent, they close their eyes and see Krishna within and engage in pastimes with Him.

Higher is utkantha-mayi, in which the devotee cannot be for a moment without Krishna.

There are ten features of a Vedic welcome.

The eclipse at Kurukshetra was exactly 50 years after Krishna left Vrindavan.

Narada was shocked that Krishna invited everyone to Kurukshetra at the time of the solar eclipsis except the residents of Vraja.

Krishna explained that he did not invite residents of Vraja because they love Him so much it would be hard to accommodate them.

Krishna decided to just invite the utkantha-mayi devotees to Kurukshetra.

Nanda, Yasoda, and the cowherd boys and girls went but were detained by the guards outside the Dvaraka pandal at Kurukshetra.

The discussion with the guards continued until it got to the point where Yasoda said, “If I cannot see Krishna, I will die at this spot.”

Yasoda sang, “Gopal!”

Krishna, having taken off his kingly costume, came running.

Uddhava created a special place for Yasoda and Krishna to meet.

Yasoda and Krishna hugged intensely for quite sometime.

Afterward Yasoda told Krishna, pointing to Radha and the gopis, they miss You more than me.

Lover, beloved, and love. Without these things, life has no meaning.

Bringing someone to Krishna gives Him the most pleasure, but to do that we have to give ourselves to Krishna first.

Philosophy, practical, spontaneous.

Krishna is the only manifestion of the Lord who can accommodate all the rasas.

Nitya-siddha means you love Krishna more than yourself.

Comment:

You mentioned that if we do not accept Krishna’s philosophy, then we will accept some other philosophy. That reminded me of this verse:

“Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, who possesses unlimited transcendental qualities. Acting from within the cores of the hearts of all philosophers, who propagate various views, He causes them to forget their own souls while sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing among themselves. Thus He creates within this material world a situation in which they are unable to come to a conclusion. I offer my obeisances unto Him.” (SB 6.4.31)

Regarding freeing ourselves from our subtle body, this verse comes to mind:

“Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat.” (SB 3.25.33)

You mentioned that Krishna is the condensed form of spiritual bliss. That reminds me that once a girl hearing the harinama in the Times Square subway station said, “That sound is pure joy!” Krishna’s name, which is nondifferent from Krishna, is also pure spiritual bliss.

You were talking about scary verses. Here is another: “There is no stronger obstruction to one’s self-interest than thinking other subject matters to be more pleasing than one’s self-realization.” (SB 4.22.32)

Devaki Devi Dasi:

From a Sunday feast lecture in Alachua on Bhagavad-gita 13.34 on March 29, 2025:

The Alachua is famous all over the world. Everyone has at least heard the glories of Alachua.

Thank God we are not conscious of all bodies. It is challenging enough to be conscious of our own body.

A person who is highly elevated in spiritual consciousness is efflugent.

On a morning walk the devotees overheard two policemen talking about Srila Prabhupada. One was saying to the other, “That man is glowing.”

One man who had kidney failure accepted a kidney transplant from his wife. She loved chocolate, but no one else in the family did. However, after the transplant the man raided his wife’s chocolate stash as he developed a craving for it. They mentioned that to the doctor, who smiled, saying that often happens when they transplant an organ. After a few days, however, the consciousness of the recipient influences the new organ, and his former tastes return.

There was a radio program where I heard of a study done on trees. The consciousness of a tree was expressed in sound. The sound of a peaceful tree and the sound of a tree in anxiety were played. The cause of the tree’s anxiety was that three years ago a person had damaged the tree, and now the same person had returned.

There is a devotee in Germany who built his own house himself over a period of a few years. When you enter that house, you can feel its special energy.

Kirtan is the perfect and sublime love song.

Sacinandana Swami says when we use the kirtan to show off it is like giving people a capsule of poison instead of medicine.

We do not get the full benefit of hearing through the internet as when we hear in person.

I was at an ecstatic kirtan. Someone recorded it and gave the recording to me. When I heard it, I was waiting to experience that same ecstasy I remembered, but it was not there. Then I realized that hearing in person is special.

Gaura Govinda Swami says that still there are two benefits of hearing recorded talks of sadhus: (1) We remember the feeling we had when we were sitting in front of the sadhu. (2) We long for that personal association again.

Comments by me:

You were glorifying the special potency of the speaking of the pure devotee, and that reminded me of this selection from a purport, “Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had forgotten everything.” (SB 4.20.25, purport)

At 26 Second Avenue, I prayed to Srila Prabhupada to be able to chant the same name of Krishna that he brought from India and chanted in that very place back in 1966. My kirtans are not usually very ecstatic, but that one was.

On harinama on a good day I pray to chant the pure name of Krishna so that those who hear get the supreme spiritual benefit.

You mention that Srila Prabhupada wanted that tree in Bombay to be protected. Once in Dallas a tree was damaged by lightning, and devotees were worried that it might fall on one of the buildings so they cut it down. Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami was in charge at the time, and when Srila Prabhupada next visited, Srila Prabhupada criticized him heavily for unnecessarily taking the life of the tree.

Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:

When people are suffering, and they see it is beyond their control, they pray to God, the person who is in control. That is natural.

There was a time, for a month or so, in the Kyiv temple in Ukraine when we did not have any outreach programs, but the devotees were very absorbed in the morning and evening programs in the temple. One club called us and invited us to do a program, and we did a fire sacrifice in their club. One of the devotee ladies did an Indian dance. A movie was made of it by some nondevotees, and it was shown on TV in Ukraine. Part of the movie compared the devotee’s dance with the dance of the usual club dancer, the divine and the demoniac side by side, and it was very well done.

-----

This is one of two verses which I am aware of which mention that devotion to Krishna eternally exists within the heart of the every living entity. That is a wonderful concept for me. The love of Krishna is already there. It just has to be awakened. In the beginning, because we are so absorbed with the idea of finding pleasure in materialistic activities, devotion to Krishna may seem artificial, and thus it is reassuring to know that it is something we already have, although in some cases it is very much covered. If we are enthusiastic about the practice, it is only a matter of time before our love of Krishna is uncovered.

krti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-

bhava sa sadhanabhidha
nitya-siddhasya bhavasya
prakatyam hrdi sadhyata

“When transcendental devotional service, by which love for Krishna is attained, is executed by the senses, it is called sadhana-bhakti, or the regulative discharge of devotional service. Such devotion eternally exists within the heart of every living entity. The awakening of this eternal devotion is the potentiality of devotional service in practice.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.105, which is a quoted from Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.2)

By Dandavats Staff Writer

Dive into philosophical insights with morning classes by HG Bhurijana Prabhu and special sessions on Cyavana Muni's tale, illustrating profound teachings through engaging narratives. Celebrate the spiritual buildup to Ram Navami, where the stories of Lord Ram, Krishna, and Chaitanya are vividly shared, blending devotion and humor. Continue reading "Divine Celebrations & Spiritual Journeys: ISKCON’s Latest Festivals, Teachings, and Transformations! April 4
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

The Festival of Colors exemplifies how spirituality can unite people across diverse backgrounds. Thanks to leaders like Caru Das and Vaibhavi Devi Dasi-whose dedication continues Srila Prabhupada's mission-the event has become more than just a celebration; it is a movement promoting peace, harmony, and cultural understanding. As Holi 2025 concludes with smiles on every face and colors on every hand, it leaves behind a legacy of joy that will inspire future generations. Whether you are drawn by spirituality or simply seeking fun-filled moments with loved ones, this festival reminds us all that life is meant to be celebrated-together! Continue reading "Holi in Utah: How the Festival of Colors Brings Vibrancy, Community, and Devotion to Spanish Fork and Salt Lake City
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The section of Bhagavatam, which is basically introducing us to the characters. Bhagavatam, as we know, is a conversation between Parikshit Maharaj and Shukdev Goswami. And this conversation, the Bhagavatam’s conversation actually begins the core conversation begins from the second canto. It goes to the around twelve point four. So that is the conversation.

Now the first canto, basically, the people who are conversing are being introduced. And it’s interesting over here, the way the Bhagavatam does this, for the speaker, there’s a very brief introduction. It’s only five to six verses in the first chapter in seventh chapter of the first canto. Mhmm. That is where how Shrutadeva Swami was the son of Vyasadeva and how he was so detached and how he was so realized as described.

And from there onwards, the listener, his introduction is being given from 1.7 to 1.19. And that is, how great a person was he? So, how great were his poor fa his ancestors? What is the great dynasty he was born in? And what was the adversity in which he appeared?

How the lord protected him at the time of death? And now, specifically, the prophecies that were made at the time of his birth, of what all illustrious qualities he would have, those are being displayed through his actions. So here, he’s vigilantly traveling in his kingdom to see what is going on. When he hears that there is some disturbance, he travels around. It’s like, if a city is, well managed by the police, then they don’t just wait for somebody to report crime.

There are petrol cars, which are constantly going around to see if there’s any crime. So that’s proactive detection and prevention or at least minimization of the crime. So like that, he is not waiting for someone to come to his kingdom, to his court, to tell him there’s a problem. He hears there’s a problem, and he himself goes out to see what is the problem. And now he’s countering the crime that is happening over here.

So, basically, in this section, the character of Parichit Maharaj as a responsible leader is being described. And I’ll talk about this with this initial context. I’ll talk about this session and there are three parts and then we’ll have some questions. First is, so I’ll use the acronym act for this. So is analysis.

We’ll talk about what is going on. The broad topic we’re discussing is the role of government in spirituality. What is the role of the king? What is the role of the ruler in fostering spiritual values or spiritual culture? So we’ll talk about analysis of what was there in the Vedic context.

Then after that, we will talk about the can I have some water? Yes. I have a mic. Okay. So what is the underlying concept?

And lastly, how does it apply today? So nowadays, there is, whenever people talk about, say, any kind of religion and the association of that with the government, there is that fear that are you talking about theocracy? Are you going to impose your faith on everyone else? So in the vedic context, there are two distinct terms. There is dharma and there is shraddha.

Now shraddha can be translated also as bhakti. Now dharma, while sometimes, nowadays it is translated as religion. Dharma actually refers to order. Dharma refers to, basically, law and order. Now, sometimes people say that, you know, religion should never be mixed with politics.

And God and politics keep it all separate. Well, Krishna comes to this world specifically for political purpose. What do you mean by political purpose? Krishna comes to disempower and neutralize those rulers who have become disruptive. Krishna fights and, dethrones Karna to Kamsa.

Ram, he removes Ravan. So now when we use the word politics, there are many meanings to the word politics. But I will first, let’s do this analysis. If you see what Krishna is telling in the Bhagavad Gita, it’s 4.78 are well known verses. Where Krishna says that, He says whenever dharma goes down, dharma comes up.

I descend personally. And what do I do? I establish that, ma’am. Dharmasam sphaapna aartaya. Sambhawami, you gay, you gay.

I come to establish dharma. That is in 04/1978. And then after that, in the next two verses, it is 4.91. This is where he’s talking about Bhakti. Should the proppa would put four general Hindu community often quotes 4.78 quite a lot.

Proppa would put 4.9 much more. Those who understand the transcendental nature of my appearance and activities, they become attracted to me, they become devoted to me, and they attain me. And Krishna says, for this, you need to become free from Become free from anger. Become free from, attachment. Become free from apathy.

And then you’ll come to me. You can take shelter off me and come to me. So in one sense, I’ve drawn this as a as a funnel. See, dharma is mandatory. Dharma is law and order.

Somebody cannot say that I won’t follow the traffic rules. That is mandatory. Shraddha or bhakti is voluntary. Stopped. And then he says, just by seeing me here, by seeing my activities, there will be people who will get attracted to me and they’ll come to me.

So Krishna does want, we could say spirituality in the sense of bhakti. That Krishna wants that. But Krishna does not impose that. That is something which Krishna inspires. So, you know, following the traffic rules is mandatory.

Okay. A, the police say, every morning you have to come to Krishna House for attending the morning class. That would be forcing a faith on someone. You know, where you drive on the road, that is up to you. But following the rules when you’re driving on the road is not up to you.

So dharma, although the word sometimes is translated as religion, dharma is basically, order. Srila Prabhupada would explain dharma as an inherent property of an object. Now that which makes a thing what it is. So another way to understand dharma is it is harmonious belonging. That we all belong to certain larger units.

So when we belong to some larger units, we get something from that and we need to give something to that. Mhmm. See now, all of you sitting for this session and some of you sitting close to other people. Everyone of you is quite confident that the person sitting next to you is not going to suddenly turn on you and punch you in the face. Is that possible?

You could say anything is possible. Isn’t it? But if somebody is coming for a spiritual talk early in the morning, we understand they must have a basic level of discipline, a basic level of culture, a basic level of self restraint by which they won’t do something so disruptive or crazy. Isn’t it? So this is if you’re coming for a class, there’s a way to harmoniously belong to the class.

Now, if somebody sits right in front and sits with the back of the speaker, that would be disharmonious belonging. Or if somebody is sitting and talking loudly on phone with someone. Then that would be disharmonious belonging. So whichever unit we are belonging to, belonging to that is the essence of that. Mhmm.

So if we are going on the traveling or driving on the road, then we are belonging to the road transport system. And then we need to belong harmoniously. If we are part of a family, then we get something from the family, we’re expected to give something to the family. If we are in university, if we are having a job, we’re getting a salary, we’re expected to make a contribution out of it. So dharma is basically harmonious belonging.

And this maintaining basic harmony is essential for the functioning of society itself. And this ensuring that harmonious belonging occurs is the responsibility of the rulers. That ruler if somebody is a ruler of a country, then they have to make sure that the citizens follow the rules of the country, and the citizens are protected while they are within the country. So here Prabhupada is giving the example that even the animals are considered citizens, and they also need to be protected. So we won’t go into that direction of animal killing.

I will focus on this basic principle of dharma that harmonious belonging. So now dharma in that sense has two aspects. So, harmonious belonging, there is an individual level to it, and there is a social level to it. So, at an individual level, we should follow the traffic rules. That’s individual dharma.

But social dharma would be that the cops should not be corrupt. And the cops should not target members of a particular community because they dislike those members. A small a small crime by a small I may say, what are the two kinds of a larceny and felony? A small larceny, a minor crime by people from one demographic is a huge charge against them. And a big crime by someone else from another community, and it’s just overkill.

It’s downplayed. So dhar so so dharma means it is the individual has to belong harmoniously, but the social unit also has to perform perform harmoniously. So both of these together are dharma. And maintaining the order of the larger units that a person belongs to is the responsibility of the head. Whoever the head of the state may be.

Whoever the and this applies not just to kings. The the word as I said, the word politics, it has two different meanings. There is a neutral meaning, and there is a negative meaning. The neutral meaning is politics is basically the art of the science or the system of administration. So every every place will have to have a political system, like political science.

It’s a field where we study. We will study democracy. We will study monarchy. We will study communism. So neutral, it is a system of administration.

So we cannot live without some kind of political system of administration management. The negative sense is manipulation. No. Don’t be bring politics into this, you know. Don’t be don’t do politics over here.

We’re not here for politics, sir. Don’t be angry for power and don’t backstab, don’t manipulate. So when, we are using the word politics here, it is more that neutral sense. That every society or every group, everything, every unit where people belong, every unit that is bigger than an individual will require some managerial system, some administrative system. And that administrative system would be the political system over there.

The political system could be we have democracy. Sometimes we may have, multiple admins, but one person may have veto over there. Now all of you can vote, but I will veto. Again, the UN UN Security Council, there are five members who have the veto power. So this is how things are managed.

So it is both the individuals should be law abiding, and the system should be enforcing the law in a fair way. It should not be discriminatory. It should not be disproportionate. So dharma refers to both these things. Now if you see the war that was fought after the Bhagavad Gita was spoken, that was between two parties.

Who were those two parties? You know the names? Pandavas. Pandavas. Pandavas.

And the? The Kurus. The they know the Kauravas. The Kauravas. Now interestingly, was it that the Pandavas were devotees and the Kauravas were non devotees?

Yes. No. This devote was happening. Yeah. So it is it is not a war between devotees and non devotees.

It is if you see among the Pandavas now, specifically, when we talk about the word devotees, we refer to Vaishnavas. We are in the Vaishnavas tradition where we worship Krishna Krishna. Now it’s interesting that on the Kaurava side, there were Vaishnavas. That who were the Vaishnavas on the Kaurava side? Bhishma.

Bhishma himself was there. Dronacharya was not a Vaishnava. Oh, sorry. Dronacharya was a Shaivite. Yeah.

But there was another king named Bhushrwa. He was a Vaishnava. Now on the Pandava side, there were Shaivites. Shaiwites are those who worship lord Shiva. And so Drupada himself, his family deity was lord Shiva.

So it was not a religious war. It was not that Krishna devotees or Vishnu devotees were imposing Vishnu devotion on everyone else. It was not that when Krishna went as a peace messenger to the Kaurava, he said, you all start chanting Hare Krishna, and there’s no war in there. So it was not for religious imposition. Duryodhan was such a terrible ruler that he tried to dishonor and disrupt Draupadi in public in the royal assembly.

There will always be in the world men who will be predators. It’s an unfortunate reality it is there. But such predatory men generally would prey on some woman in some lonely street where there is no evidence, no eyewitnesses. They have some fear of the law. But if somebody does something like this in public, then that means they have no fear of the law.

But if somebody goes to a police station or somebody goes to a court and commits a crime over there, then that means not only do they have no fear of the law, the law has fear of them. And such people would be brazen and brutal, and they need to be stopped. So Duryodhan’s actions against Duropathy fell in this category. He was not ready to reform at all. So the war was fought to establish dharma.

It was not to impose bhakti. It was not that Yudhishthir told the drashtra, if you don’t chant Hare Krishna, it’s only. After now that I have defeated you, I’ll force my faith on. He did not do that. So dharma is basically the you could say law and order in a broad sense, but it is basically the system by which harmonious belonging is possible.

So for harmonious belonging to be possible, it’s both ways. That at an individual level, the individuals should be responsible to follow the rules that are expected of them, and the administrators should be fair. So when Krishna says, I come to establish dharma, what he means by that is he is changing those who are ruling the system because they are not fair. They are exploitative. They are they’re manipulative.

They’re evil. So that is one aspect. Now so the analysis I talk about here is that that the Gita and our the broad Vedic tradition is that dharma is to be established by the king. It is not that bhakti is to be imposed. There are many kings in history.

There was a famous king, Krishnadevaraya. He held, built a Jainagar empire. It’s one of the most prosperous kingdoms in the medieval times. And, you know, he belonged to a particular faith. He was, he was a Vaishnav.

From the he was following the Madhu Sampradaya. Then one of his descendants, he started following the, Shiri Sampradaya. And one of his successors started following the Advaita Sampradaya. He became a he will follow the impersonal spirit. But it is not that when the when the personal faith of the ruler changed that the king king decided, you know, okay now I’m away because I’m a Vaishnava, I will destroy all my bodies.

Now that or I’m a Mayawadi, I will destroy all Vaishnavas. He didn’t do that. That, it was his personal faith and naturally because it was his personal faith, he would give more donations, he would facilitate, he may build maybe temples or provide educational support for that particular tradition. But he would not impose his faith on others. That’s not a king’s job description.

So that brings me to second part. I said, first of all, about analysis. And now what is the concept? The underlying concept is basically with with with sort of free will. Now, with respect to free will, there are two distinct aspects to it.

On one side, the free will should always be respected. Everybody has freedom. Krishna has given everyone free will. Krishna does not impose his will on everyone. Now Krishna could have if he had wanted, if you are not ready to become my devotee, I’ll destroy.

Krishna does not do that. That on one side, even when Krishna speaks the Gita, not even once does Krishna use his godhood to impose his will on Arjuna in the Gita. If that’s what Krishna wanted to do, he could have finished the whole Bhagavad Gita in six words. What were the six words? I am God.

Obey me. Fight. Bhagavad Gita completed. So Krishna does not do that. Krishna builds a reasoned argument for Arjuna to understand and accept what Krishna is saying.

So the other aspect of free will is needs to be guided. It needs to be refined. We have free will, but that doesn’t mean that we allow that free will always knows what is good for us. So you could put this as a pendulum. At one exit, it is the free will is only respected And not guided at all.

Then, okay. You can do whatever you want. Does that mean that, you know, I wanna kill myself. Let me kill myself. I wanna kill you.

I’ll kill you also. I respect your free will. No. Free will always has to have some boundaries. With respect to free will, it’s only respected.

Then, it can become very destructive. Disruptive and destructive. It has to Now, on the other hand, if it is only restricted. Now when when I say restricted, it’ll be no. You cannot do this.

You cannot do this. You cannot do this. You cannot do this. In in the bible, there are 10 commandments. So there’s a atheist spoof against the bible.

So in the it said that that in the beginning was the word and the word was God. So that is the saying that’s sitting in the bible, but how they it is it. In the beginning was the word and the word was no. The word was no means you cannot do this. You cannot do this.

You cannot do that. You cannot do that. So if religion and spirituality are seen as just no. No. No.

People they’ll they’ll be rebellion. People will become rebellious. And will not be able to sustain it. So, with respect to free will, what has to be done is, at one level, you know, it has to be appreciated. That everyone has free will and we cannot impose anything on anyone.

But at the same time, it also has to be elevated. K. What is really good for you? You can say it’s elevated or educated. So, we need to accommodate the free will has to be accommodated.

We cannot impose anything on anyone. But at the same time, what is the best use of the free will? That also has to be done. Done. So this is the broad way Krishna himself manages the material world.

And how does this what does this mean for in terms of the government? We have the head of state, you have the ruler. Whatever it is. You know? The one extreme would be imposition of one’s faith.

In European history, this happened that there was a hundred year war between the protestants and the Catholics. And both were trying to impose their faith on others. So if the head of state would become in the history of England, it happened that when the when the king was a protestant, the person will persecute the Catholics. And the king became Catholic, then the Catholic would produce to protect would persecute the protestants. So now this the king is not meant to impose faith.

The king is not meant to punish people who who who follow different faith. In India, when there was Islamic rule, apart from the many much destruction of the temples and other things that happened, that was intermittent. It was severe when it happened. But for a large period of Islamic history, there was a tax called jaziah. That was a discriminated task.

Anybody who was not Muslim was had to pay that task. Pay that tax. And if you just became Muslim, that tax will be go up. We would have complete. So now this is discrimination.

It can be at various levels. But one cannot the king cannot impose based on faith. But on, the other side, one is imposition. That cannot be done. But the other side is condemnation.

The king is the head of state is not meant to impose one’s own faith, but the head of state is also not meant to condemn faith. It is not meant to reject faith. So this is what happened, say, in France when the French revolution happened. After that, it went France became aggressively anti religious. They had the Notre Dame was renamed as a as a as a temple of reason.

And they started rejecting religion and they persecuted religious people. That’s what was tried at a mass level in communism in China and Russia. China and Soviet Russia, USSR. So people often say religion is the cause of war. Well, Soviet Russia and China are examples of, states that were administered without any religion, not other official rejection of religion.

And what is the result? The result was a hundred million corpses. The number of people killed during the communist regime was more than world war one and world war two combined and doubled also. And so that was the state persecuted. So the state becoming officially, aggressively atheistic is also not healthy.

So in between is, the state should have provide inspiration. Not imposition, but inspiration. Inspiration to follow a particular set of values, a set of principles. So dharma needs to be established. It needs to be enforced.

But spirituality has to be inspired. It cannot be it cannot be forced for people. So now that brings us to the context today. What do we do today? So now if we look at history of the world, secularism that is prominently there.

Now, sec as the idea of secularism is said to have evolved in Europe and secularism is at one level, humility. Humility in the political domain. What do I mean by humility in the political domain? It is not the business of the head of state to legislate faith. It is it is to a large extent when this humility was accepted.

You know, you each individual can have their own faith. That is accepted. That’s where to some extent peace has been there. Now if this changes, then there will be there’s there’s disruption. There is violence.

So in India, we we did not have, say, Christianity, Islam, and other such such these faiths were not there traditionally in the Vedic time, but still, there were Shaivayat, there were Vaishnavayat. There were different faiths in that sense. And the kings were actually secular. Now so now secularism can mean three different things. It can mean neutrality towards faith, shraddha or bhakti.

Neutrality. But, historically, this was what secularism was intended to be, neutrality. But afterwards, it became apathy. Neutrality means that the state will not impose any particular faith. But if you don’t care about it at all, that is bad.

And over a period of time, in some places at work, it has become hostility. Become hostility or antipathy towards faith. So neutrality is good. Apathy is worse. Hostility is by far the worst.

The state should not be opposed to people in spiritual. So, like, Marxism, their ideas is religion is the opium of the masses. So why so now that’s why he was aggressively against religion. That’s what communism tried to do. And that has not worked at all in history.

It’s not just from a spiritual perspective and from a, as I said, from a law and order perspective. If people do not have some higher purpose for their lives, as a higher sense of meaning, then the craving for worldly things will become excessive and destructive and destructive. So what can we we do at our level today? It is you know, for all of us, when we are individual citizens, most of us, we live in democratic countries. So we have, to some extent, some power, some ends of agency by the votes we give.

So broadly speaking, when we look for a head of state, the first criteria should be dharma, and the second can be shraddha or ba. Say, it is not that just because some head of state is of my faith. That’s why I will vote for you. That’s an important consideration. But that should not be the sole consideration.

Why not? Because politics is serious work. If I got a heart attack, now would I go to a devotee heart surgeon or non devotee heart surgeon? Whichever one’s better. Yeah.

Whichever one’s better. I do only heart surgeon, I promise you that when I will do when I do surgery, I’ll chant Harishna. That’s nice. But will you do the surgery properly? I can’t guarantee that, but I will do I’ll chant Harishna on that.

Because I want to go back to audit, but not so early. So just as in any field when we function, material world, functioning any field is a serious business. And it requires competence. It requires competence to function in that particular field. And if somebody doesn’t have that competence, having that person as a leader will lead to chaos.

Most of the problems that are there, if you consider the African countries, have not progressed so much. And is it because of religion? Actually, among all the continents, you could say Africa is the most religious continent. Half of it is Christian, half of it is Muslim. And both of them are quite aggressive with that.

And you see, most of the problems are not because of religion. They’re, of course, problems because of religion, but it is because of bad leaders. And bad means they’re bad simply in material terms. They are progressive, more than panasic leaders who will just who will just earn a lot of money, who will just aggrandize a lot of money while the people are starving. People are suffering.

So it is not to pile on Africa. I’m just giving this as an example that, you know, religious affiliation is not as important a qualification for a leader as material competence. Now of course, if there is material competence and there is a spiritual inclination, there’s a religious, alignment. That’s even better. So Arjuna succeeded in the Purukshetra war not just because he was a devotee, also because he was a great archer.

His son was a great devotee. But his son was not that great an archer. And Abhimanyu got trapped. And he died. So, in the material world is a harsh place.

And we need competence over here. So when we are exercising our political discretion, we wanna consider both these factors, that the capacity of the leader to establish dharma, and the capacity of the leader to inspire bhakti. However, even if the government is completely non theistic, but if they maintain basic law and order, we can practice our faith and we can inspire others to practice. We can share our faith with others. But if there is complete law and order chaos, then you might be sitting in a class like this and somebody throws a bomb from the window.

You know, a sudden some bomb explodes. We won’t be able to function. How much can we function? So in that sense, we need to be clear. Krishna calls upon Arjuna to do his duty, which in this case was to fight a war to establish that.

And the Gita has spoken so that he would do it in his spiritual consciousness. And in that sense, we for each one of us, there is dharma so I’ll conclude with this point now. There is dharma is we belong harmoniously. Each one of us will belong to various units. So for example, you know, we are in this class.

We belong to this class. Now we are in the city of our Gainesville. So there are some rules of Gainesville. We are in Florida. We’re in America.

So like that, we all belong to larger and larger units. So the ultimate unit that we belong to, that all units are rested in is God. So Krishna is, in that sense, we’re following all of these is dharma. From each of these, we’re getting something, and we need to be giving something. But all of them ultimately culminate in Krishna.

And that’s why bhakti is the highest dharma. Krishna says harvardharma, pririti, jama, and kamisha, namtha cham. So it’s not a Dharmi and Bhakti are unrelated. The highest Dharma is Bhakti, and that’s what is ultimately to be practiced. But that has to be individually practiced because it’s it’s a matter of the heart.

Matters of the heart cannot be imposed by the law, nor can they be legislated by the law. They have to be so all the other dharmas should be arranged in such a way that a person becomes inspired to follow the highest dharma. That so the family the the parent should be in such a way that they inspire children to become devotees. The school should be such that they inspire students to become devotees. The social culture should be such that they inspire people to come to.

But nobody can impose. If our child does not become a devotee, that does not mean to stop loving our child. As a parent, our dharma is there. We should take care of the child. If our parents are not become devotees, no.

They should not be opposing our devotion and crushing our devotion. Then we have to draw some warnings. But just because they are not devotees does not mean that we reject them. We would like to inspire bhakti, but dharma is something which we all need to follow. So I’ll summarize what I discussed.

Broadly, we discussed three points. The topic was the role of the head of state, role of king, or role of politics in spirituality. So or rather, to put it that way, how what is the what is the head of statement to do with respect to spirituality? So I talk about first of all, I give context that this is Parrishit Maharaj’s qualification to describe. So a was the analysis.

The analysis was Krishna comes to to establish dharma and inspire bhakti, not to impose bhakti. So it’s like a funnel. Dharma is something which everybody has to follow. This is 4.78 in the data. And then Bhakti Krishna himself said that very few people, one among thousands will actually practice Bhakti.

This is something which is to be enforced. It’s law and order. This is to be inspired. And we discussed how the Kurukshetra war was not a war between devotees and nondevotees. It’s a the Pandavas.

It’s not that they were all devotees, and the Kauravas were all nondevotees. It is a war over a law and order issue, not a devotional issue. So then we talk about the concept over there. I spent a lot of time in the analysis part itself. The concept was what?

The free will is to be respected. Now free will is to be respected, but if it’s only respected, then there will be a problem. If it’s only restricted only respected, then people will abuse it. Only restricted, it will be cause suffocation. So what it is?

It is to be it is to be refined. Refined means how do you refine it? In one side, it is to be appreciated, but it’s also be elevated or educated. Everybody has freedom, and we wanna and they elevate their freedom. So like that, the head is not meant to imposition of faith is not to be there, but nor is there meant to be the rejection of faith.

So, unfortunately, what has happened with respect to secularism. In in between is inspiration. The faith has to be inspired. Last part I talked about was today. So what has happened is secularism is largely present in most parts of the world.

Secularism originally started as what? Neutrality towards religion. But from neutrality, it became apathy. And in some parts, it has become hostility. Now that is unwanted.

And then when we are trying to select a leader, we would like to see both, you know, material competence, that is the capacity to establish dharma. And we have to we’ll say the spiritual spiritual devotion or spiritual inclination. That would be bhakti. So while both are important, but actually, material competence is much more important. And when we have this, then at a basic level, the king will maintain order.

So the king is not Parikshit is not punishing Kali because he’s a non devotee. Parikshit is Kali punishing Kali because he is being cruel. He’s disrupting law and order. Thank you very much. Hooray, Krishna.

Hooray, Krishna. Do we have time? So my my question is in regard to thank you so much. This is so brilliant. My mind is totally blown.

I’m like, I’m going to just, like, turn this over a thousand times to really understand it. But my question is actually within the context of, of ISKCON and Bakhti. What, I would just love you to speak on this concept of free will and what what to do when those who are your authority restrict free will within with specifically within the ISCOM context and and the fact that there is, like, a clear hierarchical Yeah. See, in general, there are two distinct things. One is autonomy and the other is facility.

Now in general, nowhere in the world, in any institution, will we get both of those together. Now if I come here, if I come here to give a talk, I want a facility. There’s a system over here. There’s a there’s an audience over here. So now if I come here and if I say I’ll I wanna speak with politics directly.

No. We don’t talk politics over. Here, if I say that I want to speak with Vedan Sutra. So now we speak with the Bhagavad. So I might just by using this facility, some of my autonomy is going to be restricted.

Like, if I want the autonomy, if I want to do Vedan Sutra, then I have the facility I have the autonomy to do that, but I cannot demand facility. So if I want a particular facility, that will require me to sacrifice some of my autonomy. So now each one of us has to decide based on our individual needs, our individual needs and our individual inspirations. Now which one do I need more, or which one is more important for me? So when you say the historical authority restricting our free will, at least the way I’m understanding it is that there are certain things within any institutional framework.

There’ll be some restriction of autonomy. If somebody says I want to become a devotee, I want to be initiated in this con, but I don’t wanna chant Hare Krishna. At least you have the free will not to chant, but then if you want to be a part of this community, this is what is required. So I would say, each leader will have a particular vision, and they may insist on certain things. And the advantage of the way the Prabhupada made the Krishna consciousness movement was that he made it like a a nuclear joint family.

What it means to that? It’s a we are all a part of one joint family, but each is a nuclear family. Each center is like a nuclear family. In the sense that if we can’t gel with at one particular place, if we find that the rules are too strict over here or that ambiance atmosphere is not that good, we can always go to some other place. So we may have we have that autonomy.

Now can we change the place itself? Well, it depends. So I would say this is a broad we cannot expect that there won’t be some regulation of our autonomy when we take some facility. Now is the leader becoming exploitative, destructive? If that is happening, then we may have to escalate the matters to the GBC or to SCOND resolve.

We have mediations, forums. We have ombudsmen. And then we can take care of it. So that is, I would say, the exception that can if that can happen. That’s unfortunate.

But, again, the principle is that if we want autonomy, we may have to forward the facility. Okay? Thank you. Yes, please. Yeah.

Yeah. I have a question about dharma. So I understand the dharma as a as a generic thing where lord Krishna has given us some drama for to follow. So that is a generic part. But if you come as a as a Yeah.

The whole of Mahabharata is basically a search for understanding what is dharma, and it’s not easy. That’s right. So it’s not and it doesn’t that doesn’t mean that nobody should we should not care for dharma. It’s like, say, if we have to make a decision that I want to offer the best for my children. But maybe one place, we have a good culture in the school, but maybe the education is not very good over there.

Another place, the education is good, but the overall campus culture, the student college school culture is not very good. Now which is the child which is the place where we should admit a child? Is there a right answer? No. Each person has to deliberate and decide.

So even when Krishna is with Arjuna, after speaking the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna does not microcontue Arjuna. It is not that before every arrow that Arjuna is shooting, Krishna, should I shoot the arrow? Do I have your permission? No. He’s he’s his own person.

So we have to use our best intelligence. Now the more we pray to Krishna, the more we are serious in our spiritual practices, the more it is likely that that we will get guidance from within to make good decisions. But, ultimately, there is a certain level of uncertainty that’s going to be there. And it’s like a the compass will get more and more refined by practice. That’s why talking with senior devotees, having some spiritual guides, and basically, aligning our spiritual compass through purification association is very helpful.

Thank you, professor. Yes, ma’am. You had it. Yeah. I want a second presence.

This was absolutely amazing and mind blowing. Thank you so much. My question is because you talked about how, the qualifications of a leader is first and foremost Dharma and second Shraddha, and that the leader also never, you know, forces forces the faith on someone. So, thank you. That’s so important.

And also we hear, that Srila Prabhupada’s books will become the law books for the next ten thousand years, and that the golden age of Krishna consciousness is is coming. And Srila Prabhupada also, he actually did encourage devotees to run for political office. So I was wondering in the context of is Khan expanding and growing in the golden age, like, what exactly does that golden age look like in terms of your presentation today? And and, although Dharma, you know, is, like, the first qualification of the leader, we also hear in the Srimad Bhagavatam how, when when the ruler is God conscious, you know, and is a devotee, then all good fortune comes. You know, they’re not forcing it on others, but their example, and because they are Krishna, connected to that highest dharma, then everything flows nicely.

Yeah. Good points. So regarding the Prabhupada’s books becoming law books, as far as I have seen, it was one conversation which Prabhupada said that. It’s not something which Prabhupada said repeatedly. And, now when he mentions the word law books, you know, laws are also they’re also amended according to entry circuits.

In the constitution, they’re amended what to speak of law books. So my understanding I’m not saying the power of parts books will be amended. My point is that, you know, you cannot have one frozen book which can be used for all matters at all times. So you got to speak of managing the whole world according to Prabhupada’s books. Are we able to manage this concept literally according to everything that Prabhupada said?

No. We have to adjust things. Prabhupada said in the books we have on the Ladhi at 04:30. Some places we might at five at five, we might later. We have to adjust it on time itself.

So Prabhupada, in his own books, has given the principle of flexibility, deshika la patra, the time based candidate. That’s also a principle to consider. So it’s my understanding is from Prabhupada’s books, we’ll get the principles. And the specific application will have to be combined with circumstances. When during Prabhupada’s times, different discount centers will do many different things.

And what Prabhupada said happened what happened in in Soviet Russia, for example, or in Pakistan, the way devotees, which is very different from in America or India. So that we we cannot the law books they quote cannot be taken out of context. Now with respect to whether if the leader is devoted, if all things follow, I have not seen that happen even in ISKCON. That means, say, just because the leader chants Hare Krishna tentatively every day, is there for the full morning program, does that mean the project will be wonderfully managed? Somebody can be a very serious sadhaka, and that’s wonderful.

That is a good example, a good inspiration. But just by the leader being a good sadhaka, does that mean everything automatically gets managed? There is now definitely if the leader is a good sadhaka, Niraja is a good example, everybody does sadhana nicely, That will lead to a certain decrease in another cause in everyone. Personal ambition. If everybody’s getting the higher taste, personal ambition will not be that much.

The lust and the anger and all the issues that come because of that, they will not be that much. But beyond that, life itself has many challenges to deal with. And we have to we need expertise in dealing with those challenges. So one of the most frustrating exam experiences for a devotee that I have seen is you go to a leader with a practical problem, and the leader gives a philosophical solution. You know, if you want to do that, then be a brahmana.

Don’t be a. That means what? Say now after this program, there is prasad. Now might suppose there is no prasad. Somehow they forgot to cook or they messed up and didn’t cook.

And you go to the hallway, the in charge says, there’s no concern. There’s a channel, a kitchen, and we’re happy. Now if you want to say that, that’s fine. But don’t be the kitchen in charge of that. Isn’t it?

So if you’re going to be a Kshatriya, then you have to give a practical solution. Now along with the practical solution, you can give a philosophical perspective. This is the Kshatriya’s business. So when the manager avoids doing managerial tasks and just gives philosophical solutions, then devotees get very frustrated. It doesn’t work like that.

If there is some devotee who is who is very abusive or is whatever father is abusive, and that devotee is hurting everyone. You go to the manager and the manager says, you know, beyond chant Hare Krishna, I learned to talk great. See it as your own karma. That will only enable the abuser to abuse one thing. Isn’t it?

Is Parikshit Maharaj shilling the bull over here? No. See it as your own past karma. Tolerate it. No.

He’s taking aggressive action. So when so to conclude complete this answer, what I would say is that the leader having spiritual values and spiritual devotion is important. At the same time, the material world is a tough place. And, see, Prabhupada did not think that, oh, just with my purity, if I just chant Hare Krishna, the whole world will become Krishna conscious. Prabhupada traveled to America A Day or so.

It was a material change that he made in his physical location. And if you see one of the last instructions that Prabhupada said, How will Krishna consciousness spread? He said, It is by organization and intelligence. Now if you see, organizing intelligence, is that spirituality? Well, you could say yes.

But, it is if we are to be effective in the material world, the material world has its truths. And we have to respect those truths. The material world functions according to certain principles. And if we neglect those principles, then things are not going to function. And one of the principles is that we need people who are competent to do the corresponding jobs.

That is the base essence of Varnash. Varnash is not about boxing people into certain categories. It’s basically ensuring that competent people are doing the right the jobs at which they are competent. Okay? Thank you.

Can I take the last question? It came really out of Yeah. Sure. Sorry. You can drop one to one if you don’t mind.

So thank you.

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The section of Bhagavatam, which is basically introducing us to the characters. Bhagavatam, as we know, is a conversation between Parikshit Maharaj and Shukdev Goswami. And this conversation, the Bhagavatam’s conversation actually begins the core conversation begins from the second canto. It goes to the around twelve point four. So that is the conversation.

Now the first canto, basically, the people who are conversing are being introduced. And it’s interesting over here, the way the Bhagavatam does this, for the speaker, there’s a very brief introduction. It’s only five to six verses in the first chapter in seventh chapter of the first canto. Mhmm. That is where how Shrutadeva Swami was the son of Vyasadeva and how he was so detached and how he was so realized as described.

And from there onwards, the listener, his introduction is being given from 1.7 to 1.19. And that is, how great a person was he? So, how great were his poor fa his ancestors? What is the great dynasty he was born in? And what was the adversity in which he appeared?

How the lord protected him at the time of death? And now, specifically, the prophecies that were made at the time of his birth, of what all illustrious qualities he would have, those are being displayed through his actions. So here, he’s vigilantly traveling in his kingdom to see what is going on. When he hears that there is some disturbance, he travels around. It’s like, if a city is, well managed by the police, then they don’t just wait for somebody to report crime.

There are petrol cars, which are constantly going around to see if there’s any crime. So that’s proactive detection and prevention or at least minimization of the crime. So like that, he is not waiting for someone to come to his kingdom, to his court, to tell him there’s a problem. He hears there’s a problem, and he himself goes out to see what is the problem. And now he’s countering the crime that is happening over here.

So, basically, in this section, the character of Parichit Maharaj as a responsible leader is being described. And I’ll talk about this with this initial context. I’ll talk about this session and there are three parts and then we’ll have some questions. First is, so I’ll use the acronym act for this. So is analysis.

We’ll talk about what is going on. The broad topic we’re discussing is the role of government in spirituality. What is the role of the king? What is the role of the ruler in fostering spiritual values or spiritual culture? So we’ll talk about analysis of what was there in the Vedic context.

Then after that, we will talk about the can I have some water? Yes. I have a mic. Okay. So what is the underlying concept?

And lastly, how does it apply today? So nowadays, there is, whenever people talk about, say, any kind of religion and the association of that with the government, there is that fear that are you talking about theocracy? Are you going to impose your faith on everyone else? So in the vedic context, there are two distinct terms. There is dharma and there is shraddha.

Now shraddha can be translated also as bhakti. Now dharma, while sometimes, nowadays it is translated as religion. Dharma actually refers to order. Dharma refers to, basically, law and order. Now, sometimes people say that, you know, religion should never be mixed with politics.

And God and politics keep it all separate. Well, Krishna comes to this world specifically for political purpose. What do you mean by political purpose? Krishna comes to disempower and neutralize those rulers who have become disruptive. Krishna fights and, dethrones Karna to Kamsa.

Ram, he removes Ravan. So now when we use the word politics, there are many meanings to the word politics. But I will first, let’s do this analysis. If you see what Krishna is telling in the Bhagavad Gita, it’s 4.78 are well known verses. Where Krishna says that, He says whenever dharma goes down, dharma comes up.

I descend personally. And what do I do? I establish that, ma’am. Dharmasam sphaapna aartaya. Sambhawami, you gay, you gay.

I come to establish dharma. That is in 04/1978. And then after that, in the next two verses, it is 4.91. This is where he’s talking about Bhakti. Should the proppa would put four general Hindu community often quotes 4.78 quite a lot.

Proppa would put 4.9 much more. Those who understand the transcendental nature of my appearance and activities, they become attracted to me, they become devoted to me, and they attain me. And Krishna says, for this, you need to become free from Become free from anger. Become free from, attachment. Become free from apathy.

And then you’ll come to me. You can take shelter off me and come to me. So in one sense, I’ve drawn this as a as a funnel. See, dharma is mandatory. Dharma is law and order.

Somebody cannot say that I won’t follow the traffic rules. That is mandatory. Shraddha or bhakti is voluntary. Stopped. And then he says, just by seeing me here, by seeing my activities, there will be people who will get attracted to me and they’ll come to me.

So Krishna does want, we could say spirituality in the sense of bhakti. That Krishna wants that. But Krishna does not impose that. That is something which Krishna inspires. So, you know, following the traffic rules is mandatory.

Okay. A, the police say, every morning you have to come to Krishna House for attending the morning class. That would be forcing a faith on someone. You know, where you drive on the road, that is up to you. But following the rules when you’re driving on the road is not up to you.

So dharma, although the word sometimes is translated as religion, dharma is basically, order. Srila Prabhupada would explain dharma as an inherent property of an object. Now that which makes a thing what it is. So another way to understand dharma is it is harmonious belonging. That we all belong to certain larger units.

So when we belong to some larger units, we get something from that and we need to give something to that. Mhmm. See now, all of you sitting for this session and some of you sitting close to other people. Everyone of you is quite confident that the person sitting next to you is not going to suddenly turn on you and punch you in the face. Is that possible?

You could say anything is possible. Isn’t it? But if somebody is coming for a spiritual talk early in the morning, we understand they must have a basic level of discipline, a basic level of culture, a basic level of self restraint by which they won’t do something so disruptive or crazy. Isn’t it? So this is if you’re coming for a class, there’s a way to harmoniously belong to the class.

Now, if somebody sits right in front and sits with the back of the speaker, that would be disharmonious belonging. Or if somebody is sitting and talking loudly on phone with someone. Then that would be disharmonious belonging. So whichever unit we are belonging to, belonging to that is the essence of that. Mhmm.

So if we are going on the traveling or driving on the road, then we are belonging to the road transport system. And then we need to belong harmoniously. If we are part of a family, then we get something from the family, we’re expected to give something to the family. If we are in university, if we are having a job, we’re getting a salary, we’re expected to make a contribution out of it. So dharma is basically harmonious belonging.

And this maintaining basic harmony is essential for the functioning of society itself. And this ensuring that harmonious belonging occurs is the responsibility of the rulers. That ruler if somebody is a ruler of a country, then they have to make sure that the citizens follow the rules of the country, and the citizens are protected while they are within the country. So here Prabhupada is giving the example that even the animals are considered citizens, and they also need to be protected. So we won’t go into that direction of animal killing.

I will focus on this basic principle of dharma that harmonious belonging. So now dharma in that sense has two aspects. So, harmonious belonging, there is an individual level to it, and there is a social level to it. So, at an individual level, we should follow the traffic rules. That’s individual dharma.

But social dharma would be that the cops should not be corrupt. And the cops should not target members of a particular community because they dislike those members. A small a small crime by a small I may say, what are the two kinds of a larceny and felony? A small larceny, a minor crime by people from one demographic is a huge charge against them. And a big crime by someone else from another community, and it’s just overkill.

It’s downplayed. So dhar so so dharma means it is the individual has to belong harmoniously, but the social unit also has to perform perform harmoniously. So both of these together are dharma. And maintaining the order of the larger units that a person belongs to is the responsibility of the head. Whoever the head of the state may be.

Whoever the and this applies not just to kings. The the word as I said, the word politics, it has two different meanings. There is a neutral meaning, and there is a negative meaning. The neutral meaning is politics is basically the art of the science or the system of administration. So every every place will have to have a political system, like political science.

It’s a field where we study. We will study democracy. We will study monarchy. We will study communism. So neutral, it is a system of administration.

So we cannot live without some kind of political system of administration management. The negative sense is manipulation. No. Don’t be bring politics into this, you know. Don’t be don’t do politics over here.

We’re not here for politics, sir. Don’t be angry for power and don’t backstab, don’t manipulate. So when, we are using the word politics here, it is more that neutral sense. That every society or every group, everything, every unit where people belong, every unit that is bigger than an individual will require some managerial system, some administrative system. And that administrative system would be the political system over there.

The political system could be we have democracy. Sometimes we may have, multiple admins, but one person may have veto over there. Now all of you can vote, but I will veto. Again, the UN UN Security Council, there are five members who have the veto power. So this is how things are managed.

So it is both the individuals should be law abiding, and the system should be enforcing the law in a fair way. It should not be discriminatory. It should not be disproportionate. So dharma refers to both these things. Now if you see the war that was fought after the Bhagavad Gita was spoken, that was between two parties.

Who were those two parties? You know the names? Pandavas. Pandavas. Pandavas.

And the? The Kurus. The they know the Kauravas. The Kauravas. Now interestingly, was it that the Pandavas were devotees and the Kauravas were non devotees?

Yes. No. This devote was happening. Yeah. So it is it is not a war between devotees and non devotees.

It is if you see among the Pandavas now, specifically, when we talk about the word devotees, we refer to Vaishnavas. We are in the Vaishnavas tradition where we worship Krishna Krishna. Now it’s interesting that on the Kaurava side, there were Vaishnavas. That who were the Vaishnavas on the Kaurava side? Bhishma.

Bhishma himself was there. Dronacharya was not a Vaishnava. Oh, sorry. Dronacharya was a Shaivite. Yeah.

But there was another king named Bhushrwa. He was a Vaishnava. Now on the Pandava side, there were Shaivites. Shaiwites are those who worship lord Shiva. And so Drupada himself, his family deity was lord Shiva.

So it was not a religious war. It was not that Krishna devotees or Vishnu devotees were imposing Vishnu devotion on everyone else. It was not that when Krishna went as a peace messenger to the Kaurava, he said, you all start chanting Hare Krishna, and there’s no war in there. So it was not for religious imposition. Duryodhan was such a terrible ruler that he tried to dishonor and disrupt Draupadi in public in the royal assembly.

There will always be in the world men who will be predators. It’s an unfortunate reality it is there. But such predatory men generally would prey on some woman in some lonely street where there is no evidence, no eyewitnesses. They have some fear of the law. But if somebody does something like this in public, then that means they have no fear of the law.

But if somebody goes to a police station or somebody goes to a court and commits a crime over there, then that means not only do they have no fear of the law, the law has fear of them. And such people would be brazen and brutal, and they need to be stopped. So Duryodhan’s actions against Duropathy fell in this category. He was not ready to reform at all. So the war was fought to establish dharma.

It was not to impose bhakti. It was not that Yudhishthir told the drashtra, if you don’t chant Hare Krishna, it’s only. After now that I have defeated you, I’ll force my faith on. He did not do that. So dharma is basically the you could say law and order in a broad sense, but it is basically the system by which harmonious belonging is possible.

So for harmonious belonging to be possible, it’s both ways. That at an individual level, the individuals should be responsible to follow the rules that are expected of them, and the administrators should be fair. So when Krishna says, I come to establish dharma, what he means by that is he is changing those who are ruling the system because they are not fair. They are exploitative. They are they’re manipulative.

They’re evil. So that is one aspect. Now so the analysis I talk about here is that that the Gita and our the broad Vedic tradition is that dharma is to be established by the king. It is not that bhakti is to be imposed. There are many kings in history.

There was a famous king, Krishnadevaraya. He held, built a Jainagar empire. It’s one of the most prosperous kingdoms in the medieval times. And, you know, he belonged to a particular faith. He was, he was a Vaishnav.

From the he was following the Madhu Sampradaya. Then one of his descendants, he started following the, Shiri Sampradaya. And one of his successors started following the Advaita Sampradaya. He became a he will follow the impersonal spirit. But it is not that when the when the personal faith of the ruler changed that the king king decided, you know, okay now I’m away because I’m a Vaishnava, I will destroy all my bodies.

Now that or I’m a Mayawadi, I will destroy all Vaishnavas. He didn’t do that. That, it was his personal faith and naturally because it was his personal faith, he would give more donations, he would facilitate, he may build maybe temples or provide educational support for that particular tradition. But he would not impose his faith on others. That’s not a king’s job description.

So that brings me to second part. I said, first of all, about analysis. And now what is the concept? The underlying concept is basically with with with sort of free will. Now, with respect to free will, there are two distinct aspects to it.

On one side, the free will should always be respected. Everybody has freedom. Krishna has given everyone free will. Krishna does not impose his will on everyone. Now Krishna could have if he had wanted, if you are not ready to become my devotee, I’ll destroy.

Krishna does not do that. That on one side, even when Krishna speaks the Gita, not even once does Krishna use his godhood to impose his will on Arjuna in the Gita. If that’s what Krishna wanted to do, he could have finished the whole Bhagavad Gita in six words. What were the six words? I am God.

Obey me. Fight. Bhagavad Gita completed. So Krishna does not do that. Krishna builds a reasoned argument for Arjuna to understand and accept what Krishna is saying.

So the other aspect of free will is needs to be guided. It needs to be refined. We have free will, but that doesn’t mean that we allow that free will always knows what is good for us. So you could put this as a pendulum. At one exit, it is the free will is only respected And not guided at all.

Then, okay. You can do whatever you want. Does that mean that, you know, I wanna kill myself. Let me kill myself. I wanna kill you.

I’ll kill you also. I respect your free will. No. Free will always has to have some boundaries. With respect to free will, it’s only respected.

Then, it can become very destructive. Disruptive and destructive. It has to Now, on the other hand, if it is only restricted. Now when when I say restricted, it’ll be no. You cannot do this.

You cannot do this. You cannot do this. You cannot do this. In in the bible, there are 10 commandments. So there’s a atheist spoof against the bible.

So in the it said that that in the beginning was the word and the word was God. So that is the saying that’s sitting in the bible, but how they it is it. In the beginning was the word and the word was no. The word was no means you cannot do this. You cannot do this.

You cannot do that. You cannot do that. So if religion and spirituality are seen as just no. No. No.

People they’ll they’ll be rebellion. People will become rebellious. And will not be able to sustain it. So, with respect to free will, what has to be done is, at one level, you know, it has to be appreciated. That everyone has free will and we cannot impose anything on anyone.

But at the same time, it also has to be elevated. K. What is really good for you? You can say it’s elevated or educated. So, we need to accommodate the free will has to be accommodated.

We cannot impose anything on anyone. But at the same time, what is the best use of the free will? That also has to be done. Done. So this is the broad way Krishna himself manages the material world.

And how does this what does this mean for in terms of the government? We have the head of state, you have the ruler. Whatever it is. You know? The one extreme would be imposition of one’s faith.

In European history, this happened that there was a hundred year war between the protestants and the Catholics. And both were trying to impose their faith on others. So if the head of state would become in the history of England, it happened that when the when the king was a protestant, the person will persecute the Catholics. And the king became Catholic, then the Catholic would produce to protect would persecute the protestants. So now this the king is not meant to impose faith.

The king is not meant to punish people who who who follow different faith. In India, when there was Islamic rule, apart from the many much destruction of the temples and other things that happened, that was intermittent. It was severe when it happened. But for a large period of Islamic history, there was a tax called jaziah. That was a discriminated task.

Anybody who was not Muslim was had to pay that task. Pay that tax. And if you just became Muslim, that tax will be go up. We would have complete. So now this is discrimination.

It can be at various levels. But one cannot the king cannot impose based on faith. But on, the other side, one is imposition. That cannot be done. But the other side is condemnation.

The king is the head of state is not meant to impose one’s own faith, but the head of state is also not meant to condemn faith. It is not meant to reject faith. So this is what happened, say, in France when the French revolution happened. After that, it went France became aggressively anti religious. They had the Notre Dame was renamed as a as a as a temple of reason.

And they started rejecting religion and they persecuted religious people. That’s what was tried at a mass level in communism in China and Russia. China and Soviet Russia, USSR. So people often say religion is the cause of war. Well, Soviet Russia and China are examples of, states that were administered without any religion, not other official rejection of religion.

And what is the result? The result was a hundred million corpses. The number of people killed during the communist regime was more than world war one and world war two combined and doubled also. And so that was the state persecuted. So the state becoming officially, aggressively atheistic is also not healthy.

So in between is, the state should have provide inspiration. Not imposition, but inspiration. Inspiration to follow a particular set of values, a set of principles. So dharma needs to be established. It needs to be enforced.

But spirituality has to be inspired. It cannot be it cannot be forced for people. So now that brings us to the context today. What do we do today? So now if we look at history of the world, secularism that is prominently there.

Now, sec as the idea of secularism is said to have evolved in Europe and secularism is at one level, humility. Humility in the political domain. What do I mean by humility in the political domain? It is not the business of the head of state to legislate faith. It is it is to a large extent when this humility was accepted.

You know, you each individual can have their own faith. That is accepted. That’s where to some extent peace has been there. Now if this changes, then there will be there’s there’s disruption. There is violence.

So in India, we we did not have, say, Christianity, Islam, and other such such these faiths were not there traditionally in the Vedic time, but still, there were Shaivayat, there were Vaishnavayat. There were different faiths in that sense. And the kings were actually secular. Now so now secularism can mean three different things. It can mean neutrality towards faith, shraddha or bhakti.

Neutrality. But, historically, this was what secularism was intended to be, neutrality. But afterwards, it became apathy. Neutrality means that the state will not impose any particular faith. But if you don’t care about it at all, that is bad.

And over a period of time, in some places at work, it has become hostility. Become hostility or antipathy towards faith. So neutrality is good. Apathy is worse. Hostility is by far the worst.

The state should not be opposed to people in spiritual. So, like, Marxism, their ideas is religion is the opium of the masses. So why so now that’s why he was aggressively against religion. That’s what communism tried to do. And that has not worked at all in history.

It’s not just from a spiritual perspective and from a, as I said, from a law and order perspective. If people do not have some higher purpose for their lives, as a higher sense of meaning, then the craving for worldly things will become excessive and destructive and destructive. So what can we we do at our level today? It is you know, for all of us, when we are individual citizens, most of us, we live in democratic countries. So we have, to some extent, some power, some ends of agency by the votes we give.

So broadly speaking, when we look for a head of state, the first criteria should be dharma, and the second can be shraddha or ba. Say, it is not that just because some head of state is of my faith. That’s why I will vote for you. That’s an important consideration. But that should not be the sole consideration.

Why not? Because politics is serious work. If I got a heart attack, now would I go to a devotee heart surgeon or non devotee heart surgeon? Whichever one’s better. Yeah.

Whichever one’s better. I do only heart surgeon, I promise you that when I will do when I do surgery, I’ll chant Harishna. That’s nice. But will you do the surgery properly? I can’t guarantee that, but I will do I’ll chant Harishna on that.

Because I want to go back to audit, but not so early. So just as in any field when we function, material world, functioning any field is a serious business. And it requires competence. It requires competence to function in that particular field. And if somebody doesn’t have that competence, having that person as a leader will lead to chaos.

Most of the problems that are there, if you consider the African countries, have not progressed so much. And is it because of religion? Actually, among all the continents, you could say Africa is the most religious continent. Half of it is Christian, half of it is Muslim. And both of them are quite aggressive with that.

And you see, most of the problems are not because of religion. They’re, of course, problems because of religion, but it is because of bad leaders. And bad means they’re bad simply in material terms. They are progressive, more than panasic leaders who will just who will just earn a lot of money, who will just aggrandize a lot of money while the people are starving. People are suffering.

So it is not to pile on Africa. I’m just giving this as an example that, you know, religious affiliation is not as important a qualification for a leader as material competence. Now of course, if there is material competence and there is a spiritual inclination, there’s a religious, alignment. That’s even better. So Arjuna succeeded in the Purukshetra war not just because he was a devotee, also because he was a great archer.

His son was a great devotee. But his son was not that great an archer. And Abhimanyu got trapped. And he died. So, in the material world is a harsh place.

And we need competence over here. So when we are exercising our political discretion, we wanna consider both these factors, that the capacity of the leader to establish dharma, and the capacity of the leader to inspire bhakti. However, even if the government is completely non theistic, but if they maintain basic law and order, we can practice our faith and we can inspire others to practice. We can share our faith with others. But if there is complete law and order chaos, then you might be sitting in a class like this and somebody throws a bomb from the window.

You know, a sudden some bomb explodes. We won’t be able to function. How much can we function? So in that sense, we need to be clear. Krishna calls upon Arjuna to do his duty, which in this case was to fight a war to establish that.

And the Gita has spoken so that he would do it in his spiritual consciousness. And in that sense, we for each one of us, there is dharma so I’ll conclude with this point now. There is dharma is we belong harmoniously. Each one of us will belong to various units. So for example, you know, we are in this class.

We belong to this class. Now we are in the city of our Gainesville. So there are some rules of Gainesville. We are in Florida. We’re in America.

So like that, we all belong to larger and larger units. So the ultimate unit that we belong to, that all units are rested in is God. So Krishna is, in that sense, we’re following all of these is dharma. From each of these, we’re getting something, and we need to be giving something. But all of them ultimately culminate in Krishna.

And that’s why bhakti is the highest dharma. Krishna says harvardharma, pririti, jama, and kamisha, namtha cham. So it’s not a Dharmi and Bhakti are unrelated. The highest Dharma is Bhakti, and that’s what is ultimately to be practiced. But that has to be individually practiced because it’s it’s a matter of the heart.

Matters of the heart cannot be imposed by the law, nor can they be legislated by the law. They have to be so all the other dharmas should be arranged in such a way that a person becomes inspired to follow the highest dharma. That so the family the the parent should be in such a way that they inspire children to become devotees. The school should be such that they inspire students to become devotees. The social culture should be such that they inspire people to come to.

But nobody can impose. If our child does not become a devotee, that does not mean to stop loving our child. As a parent, our dharma is there. We should take care of the child. If our parents are not become devotees, no.

They should not be opposing our devotion and crushing our devotion. Then we have to draw some warnings. But just because they are not devotees does not mean that we reject them. We would like to inspire bhakti, but dharma is something which we all need to follow. So I’ll summarize what I discussed.

Broadly, we discussed three points. The topic was the role of the head of state, role of king, or role of politics in spirituality. So or rather, to put it that way, how what is the what is the head of statement to do with respect to spirituality? So I talk about first of all, I give context that this is Parrishit Maharaj’s qualification to describe. So a was the analysis.

The analysis was Krishna comes to to establish dharma and inspire bhakti, not to impose bhakti. So it’s like a funnel. Dharma is something which everybody has to follow. This is 4.78 in the data. And then Bhakti Krishna himself said that very few people, one among thousands will actually practice Bhakti.

This is something which is to be enforced. It’s law and order. This is to be inspired. And we discussed how the Kurukshetra war was not a war between devotees and nondevotees. It’s a the Pandavas.

It’s not that they were all devotees, and the Kauravas were all nondevotees. It is a war over a law and order issue, not a devotional issue. So then we talk about the concept over there. I spent a lot of time in the analysis part itself. The concept was what?

The free will is to be respected. Now free will is to be respected, but if it’s only respected, then there will be a problem. If it’s only restricted only respected, then people will abuse it. Only restricted, it will be cause suffocation. So what it is?

It is to be it is to be refined. Refined means how do you refine it? In one side, it is to be appreciated, but it’s also be elevated or educated. Everybody has freedom, and we wanna and they elevate their freedom. So like that, the head is not meant to imposition of faith is not to be there, but nor is there meant to be the rejection of faith.

So, unfortunately, what has happened with respect to secularism. In in between is inspiration. The faith has to be inspired. Last part I talked about was today. So what has happened is secularism is largely present in most parts of the world.

Secularism originally started as what? Neutrality towards religion. But from neutrality, it became apathy. And in some parts, it has become hostility. Now that is unwanted.

And then when we are trying to select a leader, we would like to see both, you know, material competence, that is the capacity to establish dharma. And we have to we’ll say the spiritual spiritual devotion or spiritual inclination. That would be bhakti. So while both are important, but actually, material competence is much more important. And when we have this, then at a basic level, the king will maintain order.

So the king is not Parikshit is not punishing Kali because he’s a non devotee. Parikshit is Kali punishing Kali because he is being cruel. He’s disrupting law and order. Thank you very much. Hooray, Krishna.

Hooray, Krishna. Do we have time? So my my question is in regard to thank you so much. This is so brilliant. My mind is totally blown.

I’m like, I’m going to just, like, turn this over a thousand times to really understand it. But my question is actually within the context of, of ISKCON and Bakhti. What, I would just love you to speak on this concept of free will and what what to do when those who are your authority restrict free will within with specifically within the ISCOM context and and the fact that there is, like, a clear hierarchical Yeah. See, in general, there are two distinct things. One is autonomy and the other is facility.

Now in general, nowhere in the world, in any institution, will we get both of those together. Now if I come here, if I come here to give a talk, I want a facility. There’s a system over here. There’s a there’s an audience over here. So now if I come here and if I say I’ll I wanna speak with politics directly.

No. We don’t talk politics over. Here, if I say that I want to speak with Vedan Sutra. So now we speak with the Bhagavad. So I might just by using this facility, some of my autonomy is going to be restricted.

Like, if I want the autonomy, if I want to do Vedan Sutra, then I have the facility I have the autonomy to do that, but I cannot demand facility. So if I want a particular facility, that will require me to sacrifice some of my autonomy. So now each one of us has to decide based on our individual needs, our individual needs and our individual inspirations. Now which one do I need more, or which one is more important for me? So when you say the historical authority restricting our free will, at least the way I’m understanding it is that there are certain things within any institutional framework.

There’ll be some restriction of autonomy. If somebody says I want to become a devotee, I want to be initiated in this con, but I don’t wanna chant Hare Krishna. At least you have the free will not to chant, but then if you want to be a part of this community, this is what is required. So I would say, each leader will have a particular vision, and they may insist on certain things. And the advantage of the way the Prabhupada made the Krishna consciousness movement was that he made it like a a nuclear joint family.

What it means to that? It’s a we are all a part of one joint family, but each is a nuclear family. Each center is like a nuclear family. In the sense that if we can’t gel with at one particular place, if we find that the rules are too strict over here or that ambiance atmosphere is not that good, we can always go to some other place. So we may have we have that autonomy.

Now can we change the place itself? Well, it depends. So I would say this is a broad we cannot expect that there won’t be some regulation of our autonomy when we take some facility. Now is the leader becoming exploitative, destructive? If that is happening, then we may have to escalate the matters to the GBC or to SCOND resolve.

We have mediations, forums. We have ombudsmen. And then we can take care of it. So that is, I would say, the exception that can if that can happen. That’s unfortunate.

But, again, the principle is that if we want autonomy, we may have to forward the facility. Okay? Thank you. Yes, please. Yeah.

Yeah. I have a question about dharma. So I understand the dharma as a as a generic thing where lord Krishna has given us some drama for to follow. So that is a generic part. But if you come as a as a Yeah.

The whole of Mahabharata is basically a search for understanding what is dharma, and it’s not easy. That’s right. So it’s not and it doesn’t that doesn’t mean that nobody should we should not care for dharma. It’s like, say, if we have to make a decision that I want to offer the best for my children. But maybe one place, we have a good culture in the school, but maybe the education is not very good over there.

Another place, the education is good, but the overall campus culture, the student college school culture is not very good. Now which is the child which is the place where we should admit a child? Is there a right answer? No. Each person has to deliberate and decide.

So even when Krishna is with Arjuna, after speaking the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna does not microcontue Arjuna. It is not that before every arrow that Arjuna is shooting, Krishna, should I shoot the arrow? Do I have your permission? No. He’s he’s his own person.

So we have to use our best intelligence. Now the more we pray to Krishna, the more we are serious in our spiritual practices, the more it is likely that that we will get guidance from within to make good decisions. But, ultimately, there is a certain level of uncertainty that’s going to be there. And it’s like a the compass will get more and more refined by practice. That’s why talking with senior devotees, having some spiritual guides, and basically, aligning our spiritual compass through purification association is very helpful.

Thank you, professor. Yes, ma’am. You had it. Yeah. I want a second presence.

This was absolutely amazing and mind blowing. Thank you so much. My question is because you talked about how, the qualifications of a leader is first and foremost Dharma and second Shraddha, and that the leader also never, you know, forces forces the faith on someone. So, thank you. That’s so important.

And also we hear, that Srila Prabhupada’s books will become the law books for the next ten thousand years, and that the golden age of Krishna consciousness is is coming. And Srila Prabhupada also, he actually did encourage devotees to run for political office. So I was wondering in the context of is Khan expanding and growing in the golden age, like, what exactly does that golden age look like in terms of your presentation today? And and, although Dharma, you know, is, like, the first qualification of the leader, we also hear in the Srimad Bhagavatam how, when when the ruler is God conscious, you know, and is a devotee, then all good fortune comes. You know, they’re not forcing it on others, but their example, and because they are Krishna, connected to that highest dharma, then everything flows nicely.

Yeah. Good points. So regarding the Prabhupada’s books becoming law books, as far as I have seen, it was one conversation which Prabhupada said that. It’s not something which Prabhupada said repeatedly. And, now when he mentions the word law books, you know, laws are also they’re also amended according to entry circuits.

In the constitution, they’re amended what to speak of law books. So my understanding I’m not saying the power of parts books will be amended. My point is that, you know, you cannot have one frozen book which can be used for all matters at all times. So you got to speak of managing the whole world according to Prabhupada’s books. Are we able to manage this concept literally according to everything that Prabhupada said?

No. We have to adjust things. Prabhupada said in the books we have on the Ladhi at 04:30. Some places we might at five at five, we might later. We have to adjust it on time itself.

So Prabhupada, in his own books, has given the principle of flexibility, deshika la patra, the time based candidate. That’s also a principle to consider. So it’s my understanding is from Prabhupada’s books, we’ll get the principles. And the specific application will have to be combined with circumstances. When during Prabhupada’s times, different discount centers will do many different things.

And what Prabhupada said happened what happened in in Soviet Russia, for example, or in Pakistan, the way devotees, which is very different from in America or India. So that we we cannot the law books they quote cannot be taken out of context. Now with respect to whether if the leader is devoted, if all things follow, I have not seen that happen even in ISKCON. That means, say, just because the leader chants Hare Krishna tentatively every day, is there for the full morning program, does that mean the project will be wonderfully managed? Somebody can be a very serious sadhaka, and that’s wonderful.

That is a good example, a good inspiration. But just by the leader being a good sadhaka, does that mean everything automatically gets managed? There is now definitely if the leader is a good sadhaka, Niraja is a good example, everybody does sadhana nicely, That will lead to a certain decrease in another cause in everyone. Personal ambition. If everybody’s getting the higher taste, personal ambition will not be that much.

The lust and the anger and all the issues that come because of that, they will not be that much. But beyond that, life itself has many challenges to deal with. And we have to we need expertise in dealing with those challenges. So one of the most frustrating exam experiences for a devotee that I have seen is you go to a leader with a practical problem, and the leader gives a philosophical solution. You know, if you want to do that, then be a brahmana.

Don’t be a. That means what? Say now after this program, there is prasad. Now might suppose there is no prasad. Somehow they forgot to cook or they messed up and didn’t cook.

And you go to the hallway, the in charge says, there’s no concern. There’s a channel, a kitchen, and we’re happy. Now if you want to say that, that’s fine. But don’t be the kitchen in charge of that. Isn’t it?

So if you’re going to be a Kshatriya, then you have to give a practical solution. Now along with the practical solution, you can give a philosophical perspective. This is the Kshatriya’s business. So when the manager avoids doing managerial tasks and just gives philosophical solutions, then devotees get very frustrated. It doesn’t work like that.

If there is some devotee who is who is very abusive or is whatever father is abusive, and that devotee is hurting everyone. You go to the manager and the manager says, you know, beyond chant Hare Krishna, I learned to talk great. See it as your own karma. That will only enable the abuser to abuse one thing. Isn’t it?

Is Parikshit Maharaj shilling the bull over here? No. See it as your own past karma. Tolerate it. No.

He’s taking aggressive action. So when so to conclude complete this answer, what I would say is that the leader having spiritual values and spiritual devotion is important. At the same time, the material world is a tough place. And, see, Prabhupada did not think that, oh, just with my purity, if I just chant Hare Krishna, the whole world will become Krishna conscious. Prabhupada traveled to America A Day or so.

It was a material change that he made in his physical location. And if you see one of the last instructions that Prabhupada said, How will Krishna consciousness spread? He said, It is by organization and intelligence. Now if you see, organizing intelligence, is that spirituality? Well, you could say yes.

But, it is if we are to be effective in the material world, the material world has its truths. And we have to respect those truths. The material world functions according to certain principles. And if we neglect those principles, then things are not going to function. And one of the principles is that we need people who are competent to do the corresponding jobs.

That is the base essence of Varnash. Varnash is not about boxing people into certain categories. It’s basically ensuring that competent people are doing the right the jobs at which they are competent. Okay? Thank you.

Can I take the last question? It came really out of Yeah. Sure. Sorry. You can drop one to one if you don’t mind.

So thank you,

The post Should heads of state promote their religion? A Vedic perspective | Gainesville | Bhagavatam 1.17.8 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Dandavats Staff Writer

Explore a vibrant tapestry of devotion and celebration across Iskcon communities worldwide on Dandavats. Delve into the profound spirituality of Śivarāma Swami's "Praising Gaurāṅga" series and enrich your understanding with insightful articles on heritage and devotion. Witness the grandeur of ISKCON Vrindavan's 50th Anniversary, where history and culture converge in tribute to Srila Prabhupada's legacy. From spiritual dramas and cultural showcases to global engagements with leaders like PM Modi, every story resonates with deep reverence and the spirit of service. Join us in embracing timeless wisdom and joyous festivities at every turn. Continue reading "Echoes of Devotion: Celebrating ISKCON’s Legacy Across the World! April 3
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

His Holiness Kavicandra Swami exemplifies devotion, leadership, and service within ISKCON. From managing temples to preaching Krishna consciousness across diverse regions and engaging with devotees through social media platforms, his life is a testament to his dedication to Srila Prabhupada's mission. By nurturing devotees and spreading the glories of Lord Krishna worldwide, Kavicandra Swami continues to inspire countless individuals on their spiritual journeys. Continue reading "HH Kavicandra Swami: A Global Spiritual Leader Spreading Unity and Devotion Across Cultures
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SB 2.7.23

asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesa
  iksvaku-vamsa avatirya guror nidese
tisthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesa
  yasmin virudhya dasa-kandhara artim arcchat

TRANSLATION

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT 

Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Laksmana, and Satrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are visnu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Ramayana who present the younger brothers of Lord Ramacandra as ordinary living entities.

But here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead.

Laksmiji Sita is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durga. Durga is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Siva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi.

Lord Ramacandra was ordered by His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the king of Ayodhya.

One of His younger brothers, Laksmanaji, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sitaji, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Dandakaranya Forest, to live there for fourteen years.

During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Ramacandra and Ravana, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sita. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Ravana, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sita is Laksmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramacandra. A materialistic man like Ravana does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries.

The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana. Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Ramacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kalesah, or master of all opulence.

In 1999, for ISKCON TV, Shyamasundar Prabhu recorded a series of experiences he had with George Harrison and with Srila Prabhupada:

“Srila Prabhupada treated George Harrison like an old, old friend. I spent some time with George this summer. . . . [He] has reached a very high level of spiritual development, I am happy to say. He chants Hare Krishna every day. And he is totally serene, as he has accepted life as it is. He has actually achieved a much higher level of self-realization than I can ever hope to achieve. He is peaceful and serene to a degree that is rare in a person, and at such a young age . . . Prabhupada benefited him so much. Prabhupada knew the buttons to push and not to push because of [the Beatles’] natural hesitancy to have anything public to do with Prabhupada, because they would see us then as just going after their money or their fame and not giving them the real thing. So, I tried, and Prabhupada, by his example, showed me the way to treat them: ‘Always, just keep giving them stuff. Never ask them for anything.’

“One time, though, Prabhupada did call me into his room and said, ‘You know we only have one book. We have Bhagavad-gita—that’s it.’ And maybe there was Nectar of Devotion. He said, ‘Krsna book has been finished for some time, and I got news today that it is ready for publication. How can we publish? We need this book.’  He said, ‘I want you to go and ask George for the money for this book.’ So, then I said, ‘Aww, no, Prabhupada. You know the reason that we have gotten this far with George and he has helped us so much to date is that I’ve never asked him for anything. I always wait until he offers.’ And Prabhupada said, ‘Yes, but we really need this.’ And I asked, ‘Well, how much is it?’ He said, ‘$19,000.’ In those days that was like saying $100,000. Whew. So, I said, ‘I don’t really think it is a good idea, Prabhupada.’ And he said, ‘Yes, yes it is. You’ll see. Krishna will help you. Watch this.’

“So, we had made arrangements for the next day to go look at marble. George had said that he would donate a new slab of marble for the altar. To help us select this marble, he had called on his friend David Wynn, a very famous sculptor who had designed the coinage and who had done the famous busts of Queen Elizabeth and the Beatles too. So, we went with David Wynn to the marble yards, and afterwards we went to his house for dinner. And all this time I was trying to screw up my courage. Because I had one mission that day, How am I going to ask George for this money? Here he has given us this three- or four-thousand-pound slab of marble. How can I ask him for something more on top of that today?

“We had dinner, and we were all finished eating, and it was getting late at night. It was dark. It was a long way from where I had to go in London, and George had to go all the way out someplace in the suburbs. So, finally I just did it. I said, ‘George, Srila Prabhupada asked me to ask you if you would donate money to print the Krsna book.’ I explained what the Krsna book was, and his face just got increasingly grimmer and grimmer. I could see the whole thing passing through his face, with him thinking, Oh, man, they are just another one of these groups. Here it comes. Then the room went quiet for a moment while he thought about it and fixed me with this really belligerent stare.

“And suddenly all the lights in the house went out! And BAM! A bolt of lightning hit the house. True story. The whole house shook. The sound and the light were simultaneous. After that, we sat for some minutes in silence, stunned. And when the lights came back on, I looked over at George, and he had this huge grin on his face and said, ‘Well, how much is it, then? And I told him, and he said, ‘Well, what can I do after that?’ And he came the next day and talked to Prabhupada about it.

As things turned out, George not only gave the money to print the Krsna book, but he also penned some “Words from Apple,” which was like a foreword, concluding with “All you need is love (Krishna).”

By Dandavats Staff Writer

Explore the vibrant world of ISKCON through an array of enlightening videos, insightful articles, and inspiring reports. Highlights include HH Janananda Goswami's profound discourse on Srimad Bhagavatam, offering spiritual wisdom and guidance. The Bhakti Yoga Conference at Harvard Divinity School, featuring HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, celebrates Krishna's transformative influence through bhakti yoga and chanting. Continue reading "Krishna Consciousness in Action: Transformative Talks, Historic Anniversaries, and Devotional Reflections! April 2
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Question: When we do some activity repeatedly, like drinking or taking drugs, we get addicted to it. But as students, we study for 20, 15, 20 years, why do we never get addicted to studying?

Answer Addiction or even for that matter, it’s milder version attachment, is not just a result of repetition. Repetition is one important factor in forming the impressions inside our mind, which impel us to do that same thing again.

But while the mind is sometimes compared to a software, say a computer browser, where the sites we have visited come as auto-completes, but the mind is much more sophisticated than just a software, the history record, the history in a browser does not reflect how enthusiastic we were about visiting a particular site, whereas the mind’s impressions record that. So to understand the strength of the impressions formed in the mind, we need to consider three factors. I prefer the acronym FIT for this, frequency, intensity and time duration.

How often we do something is important, how long we do a thing is important, but probably the most important thing in forming impressions in the mind is how much is our interest, how much is our involvement at the level of emotions, at the level of absorption, basically how much is the intensity, how much are our, how much is our, how much are our emotions and desires involved in the activity. So, because activities such as drinking or doing drugs give us a quick dopamine hit and some of them are designed to give us that quick intoxicating or even irresistible pleasure. However, because of that, the problem that happens is our getting intensely involved in it is much more probable, we could say even inevitable and that is how addiction happens, attachment and addiction happens for these activities, whereas with respect to studying, it doesn’t happen because we do it because we need to do it.

It’s not because we like to do it, let alone love doing it. So because we don’t get so emotionally involved, that’s why the impressions that are formed are not that strong. Of course, there are people who love to read and they can get addicted to reading also.

Generally, the word addiction is used for strong or compulsive behavioural patterns that are destructive. So we may not use the word reading addiction generally speaking, but the principle is that along with how long or how often we do it, it’s how intensely we do it which is a critical component in determining the strength of the impressions formed.

The post “We get addicted to drinking or smoking by doing it repeatedly. Why don’t we get similarly addicted to studying?” appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Dandavats Staff Writer

You may recall "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder, a global hit and his best-selling single, topping charts in 28 countries. The song’s message of love without reason mirrors how a devotee calls out to Krishna through the Hare Krishna mantra—purely out of devotion. Here are adapted lyrics reflecting this sentiment, set to the original melody, produced by HG Nirantara Prabhu. Continue reading "“I just called to say I love you”
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

HG Nirantara Prabhu ACBSP is a shining example of how devotion, talent, and dedication can come together to inspire countless lives. His contributions to the Hare Krishna movement serve as a testament to the enduring power of spirituality and music in transforming individuals and communities worldwide. As he continues on his journey, his legacy as a spiritual musician and leader will undoubtedly continue to grow, touching hearts and inspiring souls for generations to come. Continue reading "A Melody of Devotion: Nirantara Prabhu’s Enduring Legacy
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

Discover a tapestry of spiritual journeys and community achievements with Dandavats. From celebrating ISKCON Vrindavan's 50th Anniversary, rekindling Srila Prabhupada's legacy at Krishna Balaram Mandir, to insightful sessions at the Bhakti Yoga Conference at Harvard, each article and video shares profound wisdom and devotion. Witness initiatives like Prem Sarovar's Rain Water Harvesting Pond and ISKCON Greece's impactful year, embodying the essence of service and spiritual growth. Join us in exploring these enriching narratives that inspire unity, compassion, and deep spiritual connection worldwide. Continue reading "Unity in Bhakti: Heartwarming Tales from ISKCON Communities Worldwide! April 1
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Why did mother Sita enter into the earth rather than be united? Be united with Ram when he finally called her back? Answer, ultimately these are pastimes that are meant to function at two levels, their loving reciprocations between the Lord and His devotees, which work according to the Lord’s divine desire for His pleasure and they are meant to teach us some lessons in this world. So, the Ramayana broadly teaches the mood of sacrifice and Sita lives a, there are two kinds of sacrifice, there is a life of sacrifice and the sacrifice of life. In general, the life of sacrifice is actually far more demanding than the sacrifice of life.

And Sita could have ended her life when Ram let her send her to the forest. But she felt she had a responsibility to take care of her children and she did that diligently and that was her life or her life of sacrifice. And then finally, when her sons were reunited with Ram, then she demonstrated the sacrifice of life by re-entering into the earth.

Ultimately, when the Lord descends, He teaches us many lessons and while He teaches us how to do Adharma in this world, He also teaches how we are to face the end. And there is always a happy ending for the soul and the soul unites with God. But in this world, there is not always a happy ending.

In fact, the ending is there is separation in this world at this level. So, the whole of Ramayana is with its various characters diligently demonstrating their dutifulness and she is, they do that diligently in their particular ways. So, that’s how she enters into the earth and they are reunited ultimately in the higher spiritual abode.

The post Why did Sita return to the earth rather than reunite with Rama when her sons met him? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

April Fools’ Day is celebrated yearly on April 1, and today I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that we remain fools before the spiritual master, as stated in a room conversation in Bombay, August 16, 1976.

A devotee asked, “Even nitya-siddha has guru . . . Even the liberated soul, nitya-siddha?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Liberated soul never says that ‘I am liberated.’ As soon as he says ‘liberated,’ he’s a rascal. A liberated soul will never say that ‘I am liberated.’ That is liberation. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is God—guru more murkha dekhi’ karila sasan [Cc Adi 7.71]: ‘My Guru Maharaja saw Me fool number one, and he has chastised Me.’ He’s God. This is the example. If one remains always a servant, everlastingly, of guru, then he is liberated. And as soon as he thinks that he is liberated, he’s a rascal. That is the teaching of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Guru more murkha dekhi’. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is murkha? Why He is posing Himself that murkha, ‘I am fool number one’? That means that is liberation. You must be ready always to be chastised by guru. Then he’s liberated. And as soon as he thinks that ‘I am beyond this chastisement. I am liberated,’ he’s a rascal. Why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says guru more murkha dekhi’ karila sasan? This is sahajiya-vada, thinking, ‘Oh, I have become liberated. I don’t require any direction of my guru. I’m liberated.’ Then he’s rascal. . . . So better remain a foolish person perpetually to be directed by Guru Maharaja. That is perfection.”

I pray to be directed by Srila Prabhupada eternally, as his everlastingly humble servant, or servants’ servants’ servant.

Hare Krishna.

Your servant,
Giriraj Swami

By Dandavats Staff Writer

Iskcon communities worldwide are vibrant with spiritual enthusiasm and impactful initiatives. Highlights include HG Daivi Shakti Mataji's profound discourse on Srimad Bhagavatam, Radhika Das's uplifting kirtan on BBC One, and Turkey's thriving Krishna Consciousness movement, marked by educational outreach and compassionate service. Additionally, there are insightful discussions by HG Atul Krishna Das on Lord Krishna's divine acts, HH Romapada Swami's illuminating insights on Lord Ramachandra's appearance, and the joyous celebrations like Ratha Yatra in Melbourne and the colorful Holi festival at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. The launch of the MySadhana App and other significant events further showcase Iskcon's commitment to spiritual growth and community engagement. These endeavors collectively inspire a deeper connection with spirituality and a brighter future for all involved. Continue reading "Uniting Hearts Through Devotion: Inspiring Stories from Iskcon Communities Worldwide! March 31
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Should we aspire for the ecstatic symptoms that are described as characteristics of pure love for Krishna at our stage, or should we aspire just for the removal of anarthas that are troubling us right now? As devotees, we certainly want to develop love for Krishna, and whatever is obstructing us in developing that love for Krishna, we want that to be removed, no doubt, and all of us will have our individual inspiration or vision about what love for Krishna means and how it can be developed. That is, that for some devotees, it may mean a deep immersion in Shastra. For some devotees, it may mean going to a holy dham like Mayapur and or singing the names of the Lord in the holy places over there.

For some devotees, it may mean worshipping the Deities in the temple. For some devotees, it may mean discussing exalted subjects of intimate Krishna pastimes with other devotees. So because it’s a personal relationship with Krishna, we cannot legislate it too much.

It’s a bond of the heart. So the most important thing in our bhakti is Anukulyasya Sankalpa Pratikulyasya Varjanam at operational level. Whatever is favorable for our devotional growth, we accept that, and whatever is unfavorable, we try to keep a distance from that.

So if it is favorable for us to move toward Krishna, that we have a vision of certain ecstatic symptoms or certain expressions of love for Krishna, then having that vision, having that aspiration, that’s wonderful. And the Artha Pravrutti and Anartha Nirrutti are both important. If we focus only on Artha Pravrutti without Anartha Nirrutti, then the danger is that we may become more Sahajiya-ik, that it’s just we are becoming sentient, we are trying to get our head to the spiritual world while our legs are still sinking on the ground in the material world.

We have not even got them out of the material world till now. On the other hand, if we get too caught only on Artha Nirrutti and don’t try for Artha Pravrutti, then we will become, we may tend to become like Mayavadis, for whom the focus is more on simply on freedom and liberation, not so much on positive attraction to Krishna. So, both are required and at different times in our life, we may feel inspired by different things.

So, whatever it is that we feel inspired by, we take that and move forward. And it’s good to have some other devotees who know our situation, whom we can consult, some seniors, either our spiritual masters, spiritual guides or some equals who know us well, so that they can guide us whether we are going too much in one direction. In general, each one of us may have our particular natural inclination for some devotees becoming very mindful and self-aware, to understand their motivations and to evaluate why particular kinds of moods or desires or hurts are rising within them because of what happened in the past, is very important as a part of their spiritual growth.

For others, all this may seem too analytical and they may feel more inspired to immerse themselves in hearing Krishna Katha and relishing Krishna Katha. Each of these modalities can help us grow, but we can go too far. Sometimes, our so-called immersing asana in Krishna Katha may be our way of running away from the hard issues that we need to deal with.

Let’s say the person may be physically wounded and they may start hearing Krishna Katha and they transcend the pain of the wound, but that doesn’t mean the wound itself is going to get cured. So, it may happen to physical, psychological level also. Similarly, it may happen that somebody may get so caught in psychological self-understanding that Krishna and Krishna’s mercy may become like a background, may become relegated to the background and that’s also not healthy.

So, we need a balance and we may need to understand what is our natural inclination so that we can take shelter of Krishna in that way. At the same time, we don’t neglect the other side by having some guide-route balances.

The post Should we aspire for the ecstatic symptoms of divine love or for the removal of impurities? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Question, how much should devotees read non-devotional books? Answer, there is no should over here. Sri Prabhupada didn’t really present Krishna Consciousness as a rigid set of do’s and don’ts. He focused more on helping us develop Krishna Consciousness.

And our primary reading should be reading of Shastra, so that we can become convinced about the practices of Bhakti and also learn how to practice Bhakti better, so that we can develop love for Krishna. That is what should be our focus in terms of reading. Now apart from that, we could say other reading could fall in three different categories.

One is that we may need to read some other things for our particular services. If somebody wants to start a school and they want to get a school for devotee kids and they want to get some certification, they may need to learn certain things about educational policies, they may need to get some certification for themselves as teachers or as teaching administrators. Similarly, if you want to build a temple, you may need to learn something about architecture apart from hiring architects, you need to know something basic.

So we may need to learn some principles for our particular services. If somebody wants to learn writing, they may want to read some books on writing. So first is for our services.

And second is that sometimes for our own self-understanding. We can, through the principles of Ananashram, we can understand our Varna. And that’s one valuable psychological or psychophysical categorization for self-understanding.

But there are many other frameworks available. And sometimes these could be helpful for us to understand ourselves better. So, especially if one is finding oneself in a very incompatible or uncomfortable situation, then we need to know ourselves ultimately in terms of the soul that we are.

But also we need to know ourselves in terms of the body-mind machine that we presently have, so that we can use it properly in Krishna service. So if someone is more of an introvert or someone is more of an extrovert, they need to see what services they can take up, or what kind of situation they can find shelter and strength in, so that they can practice their bhakti best. So for certain self-understanding, at the level of our nature or the level of the kind of mind that we have, some people may need to read something for that.

So, in the first category of our service, if we are living in the world and we are interacting with the world, a certain level of awareness of the world may be required as a matter of service. So, if you are living in a particular part of the world, what is the geopolitical situation in the vicinity? What is the religious undercurrents or tensions? Whether we need to read books for that? It’s not as important as that we need to be aware of those situations. So, beyond our service and our self-understanding, a third could be that some people may just have an intellectual nature and they may have a lot of intellectual curiosity.

So, for them, reading is just their nature. And they read on diverse subjects. And their reading on those subjects does not adversely affect their scriptural reading.

They were voracious readers before they came to Bhakti. And we cannot suddenly expect them to rigidly reduce their reading to only scriptural or devotional books. They will read that and they will read that voraciously.

But they may sometimes have an appetite for reading other things. It’s like somebody was very much into music before they came to Bhakti. And now they come to Bhakti.

They will naturally want to enthusiastically participate in any musical events or musical service associated with Bhakti. But just because they have become devotees now, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be musically satisfied only with the kind of tunes and the kind of singing and the kind of instruments that are used in Bhakti, traditionally or contemporarily in the moment. They may want to see what kind of music is currently trending and whether they could compose something based on that, which is devotionally compatible.

So, everybody, based on their particular nature, will have a particular kind of appetite. And that appetite needs to be fulfilled. It cannot be artificially restricted.

So, for such people, based on the particular areas of interest or curiosity they have, they may read in those areas. And based on that, they can learn and they can grow. So, that would mean that they may become more, in future, public intellectuals where they can offer scriptural commentary on current issues or they may themselves be able to connect Krishna Conscious Wisdom with many different areas of life.

And depending on the particular intellectual nature of that person, either they may be very diverse in reading a wide variety of things or they may be very specific in going deep into one field or there may well be a combination of both where they are widely read in many fields and deeply read in one field. So, that’s how it’s not a matter of should. Should one read or not read? It’s more a matter of what helps one to best achieve the ultimate purpose of life which is to develop our love for Krishna and progress towards Him while making the best contribution during our journey in this world, in this life.

The post When should devotees read non-devotional books? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

One Goal | One Seva | One Mission

The TOVP Fundraising Team is pleased to announce the upcoming TOVP Marathon 2025 Euro Tour from April 10 – May 13. Led by Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimha’s Satari, the team consisting of Jananivas, Praghosa, Braja Vilasa and UK/Euro Coordinator Sukanti Radha prabhus will be visiting multiple locations in ten countries to increase awareness and fundraise for the completion of the project.

According to Braja Vilasa, “This monumental project is opening at the end of 2026 and the celebrations will extend for three months until Gaura Purnima. The marathon continues until then, and our efforts now are to get the final support from all devotees to achieve this important goal and relocate our beloved Mayapur Deities into Their new home without fail.”

Devotees in the countries being visited are encouraged to attend and become inspired by experiencing the massive worldwide influence the TOVP will have when it hits the world stage in 2026, thus fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s dearmost desire to build this temple in Sridham Mayapur and bring the people of the whole world there.

For tour information contact: tovpuk@gmail.com

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View and download the schedule.

• Sweden: April 10-12 and 16 (Stockholm & Goteborg)
• Norway: April 13 (Oslo)
• Denmark: April 17-19 (Copenhagen)
• Germany: April 20-24 (Lielberg & Cologne)
• Austria: April 25 (Vienna)
• Hungary: April 26-28 (Budapest)
• Croatia: April 29 (Zagreb)
• Switzerland: May 3-4 (Zurich)
• France: May 5-8 (Paris & Lucay-le-Male)
• Belgium: May 9-13 (Radhadesh & Antwerp)

 

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TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
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By the GBC

The accomplishments of Turkey's Krishna Consciousness movement in 2024 highlight its unwavering dedication to spiritual enlightenment and social service. Through innovative outreach strategies, compassionate food distribution programs, and a strong focus on education, the movement continues to inspire individuals across Turkey while making a tangible difference in their lives. As they look forward to an even brighter future in 2025, their efforts serve as a shining example of devotion and service. Continue reading "A Year of Growth and Service: Turkey’s Krishna Consciousness Movement in 2024
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

Discover a vibrant tapestry of spiritual wisdom and community achievements in the latest updates from ISKCON. From enlightening discourses by revered speakers like H.G. Bhima Prabhu and H.G. Kalakantha Prabhu on the profound teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita, to inspiring events like the Rishikesh Kirtan Fest 2025 drawing thousands to the banks of the Ganges. Celebrate the growth and service milestones of ISKCON communities worldwide, highlighted by significant meetings and projects such as the Sri Sri Krishna Arjuna Mandir in Kurukshetra. Stay tuned for the upcoming VedaBaseTM 2025 update, promising enriched spiritual resources on Lord Nrisimha-caturdasi day. Experience these stories and more, resonating with devotion and the legacy of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Continue reading "Celebrating Bhakti: Teachings, Festivals, and Milestones in ISKCON’s Global Community! March 30
→ Dandavats"

By the GBC

ISKCON Hungary has experienced remarkable progress and accomplishments in 2024, showcasing its dedication to spreading Krishna Consciousness, promoting sustainability, and serving communities across the nation. From book distribution milestones to self-sufficiency initiatives, the organization has made significant strides in various areas. Continue reading "GBC REPORT – A Year of Growth and Service: ISKCON Hungary’s Achievements in 2024
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Introduction Nestled in the tranquil foothills of the Sahyadri mountains near Mumbai, India, the Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) stands as a remarkable testament to the seamless blend of sustainability and spirituality. An initiative of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), GEV has emerged as a model eco-community that embodies the principles of environmental conservation,
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Sajjani dd and Daksa das had their wedding at New Govardhana in front of the Deities, Srila Prabhupada, their families and the assembled devotees.

I remember when they were both new devotees and I was always enthused to see them settling into the devotee community so wonderfully. It was a very happy occasion.

The TOVP Fundraising Team is most happy to announce the upcoming Gopal Krishna Goswami 13 Day Matching Fundraiser, from April 29 (Akshaya Tritiya – U.S.) until May 11 (Nrsimha Caturdasi – India).

On May 5, 2024, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami departed this world to join Srila Prabhupada in eternal loving service to Lord Sri Krishna. To honor this dedicated and loving servant of our Founder-Acharya, and one of the greatest supporters of the TOVP, as well as to fulfill the instruction to him from Srila Prabhupada to “construct a temple at the birthplace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu”, we are dedicating this year’s TOVP Matching Fundraiser to his memory through a beautiful 3” wide Bhakti Ratna (Jewel of Devotion) medallion. And if you sponsor one during the 13 day fundraiser, every donation will be matched by Ambarisa prabhu!

This is yet another opportunity to help complete the magnificent Temple of the Vedic Planetarium and prepare for the historic 3-month-long Grand Opening starting December, 2026 until Gaura Purnima, 2027, when our beloved Mayapur Deities will be relocated into Their new home and palace.

Sponsor a Bhakti Ratna medallion during the thirteen days of the matching fundraiser or give a donation of any amount. Every actual monetary donation (not pledges) will be matched by Ambarisa prabhu. Medallions will be shipped worldwide.

Visit the 13-day Fundraiser campaign.

 

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TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://s.tovp.org/whatsappcommunity1
Instagram: https://s.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://s.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://s.tovp.org/newstexts
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/