Answer Podcast

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Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

bEdited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: How are jnana and karma uncovered in bhakti?
Answer: Jnana and karma are two basic faculties of every living being, more specifically, human beings. Jnana connotes with knowledge or cognition and karma connotes with action. If we consider a body, it has hands, head and heart. Metaphorically, karma is primarily the path of the hands, whereas jnana is the path of the head. Underlying the hands and the head and unifying it all is the heart. Bhakti is the process of the heart, but it is not the process of the heart alone, it also engages the hands and the head.

When jnana and karma are covered, they are motivated by something other than pure love. That is why, jnana-karmady-anavṛtam means removing the covering.

The covering is basically a misdirection just like when white light is covered with red film, the light that comes out is red. Similarly, the soul has the capacity for action and cognition but when there is lack of devotion for the Supreme, then the capacity for action and cognition are misdirected.

It is not that bhakti rejects karma and jnana. Bhakti yogis are both active and intellectual, but both these faculties are subordinated to the love they have for the Supreme and therefore harmonised.

At one level, purification means removing the impressions which are imposed upon us by the external world. Another understanding of purification is activating the longing for the Supreme which is the innate nature of the soul. Our jnana and karma are misdirected by the various conceptions and contaminations that we have. Hence anavratam means that we remove those conceptions and contaminations. That way, when the soul’s nature to love Krishna is activated then jnana and karma become harmonised.

Shukadeva Goswami had a monistic disposition but when he understood how the all-attractive Supreme Person transcends the impersonal brahman then he used his phenomenal intelligence to compose and speak the Srimad Bhagavatam. Therefore, the jnana which was avrata (covered) became anavrata (uncovered). He used the same knowledge to glorify the personal bhagavan, instead of understanding impersonal brahman which is subordinate to the Supreme Lord.

Similarly, karma may also refer to some pious fruitive activity. There were many kings in the past who would perform such yajnas. Prachin Barhi used to do yajnas but he had no knowledge of transcendence. In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4, it is described, that when Prthu Maharaj was doing yajnas, he was not only remembering the particular devatas for whom the yajna was performed, he was also remembering Vishnu and was offering the fruits of the yajna to Vishnu.

Therefore, the idea is that karma or jnana are not to be given up. Arjuna was doing the karma of fighting and wanted to give it up but Krishna did not sanction. Instead he told Arjuna to perform his duty with a spiritual conception and motivation.

Thus, we have the capacity for both action and cognition, which should be harmonised and used in the purpose of devotion. That is jnana-karmady-anavratam.

End of transcription.

The post How are jnana and karma uncovered in bhakti? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Kirshna I have a problem!

Some time ago I looked at my bank statement, it was prompted by the continued pondering from a lovely devotee who reminded me that the big mistake we make is thinking “this is my money” when actually it is Krishna’s money and as devotees we need to take care of it.

So most of the direct debits and similar transaction’s I could identify and account for, but some personally I couldn’t identify so informed the bank to stop them. Several months later an e-mail came from the temple, asking about the money.

Personally I was saddened, the contact from the temple wasn’t an genuin enquire about how I was, nor that they haven’t seen me. Great sadness came on me although speaking about impersonalism and how it takes subtle forms and that we need to be conscious and focus on the individual. it felt the focus was my wallet, and although in many ways I’m a guardian of Krishna’s money I wondered if giving to the temple was indeed right as no loving exchange appears to be there.

The toil with the conscious begins, what to do?

Then  more e-mails in the same tone it was so sad to get, added to the insult of no calendar even as a thank you for the laxmi given, a small gesture and still no genuine concern as to how I am both physically and spiritually. Indeed the health is an ongoing issue.

And here’s the sadness I feel the discussionn was correct as no loving exchanges appear to be there and remembering another exchange with a great devotee who said if there is no loving exchange no one benefits.

Yes I am reminded that we should not expect anything in exchange, but also that there has to be genuine concern or loving exchange, and that my greatest heart desire which would have let me do more seva was blocked by the same devotees enquiring about my money.

So Dhirabhakta Das simply weeps

There has to be loving exchanges and I personally feel an enquire about money and not welfare is just to much for me to take, and the blocking of the one thing I desired reminds me sadly devotees are not like desire trees who will make sure your ability to do more in Krishna’s service.

Money appears to this soul the money, it wasn’t like this when I first met the devotees and introduced to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON; I weep and long for those days to return.

Krishna I have a problem and simply weep

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One evening Harikesa and Saurabha got to talking about Prabhupada’s plans for the Mayapur project. Harikesa, appreciating Prabhupada’s genius—how, from Mayapur, God-centered cities with temples, educational institutions, and proper social organization would spread around the globe—became so excited that he ran all the way from the construction office to Prabhupada’s apartment. He bounded up the stairs and, without even knocking, burst into Prabhupada’s room and threw himself on the floor and paid full dandavats.

Prabhupada was in the middle of eating a sandesa and a puri. He looked at Harikesa with big eyes, then went back to eating.

“Srila Prabhupada!” Harikesa exclaimed, “You’re a genius!”

Prabhupada looked up and said, “Oh?”

“Your plans for taking over the world. This is wonderful, this is fantastic—how you’ve made this plan for Mayapur and everything is so perfectly arranged.” Harikesa went on and on.

Prabhupada smiled and said, “Thank you very much.” Then he said, “Come here.” He broke the sandesa he was eating in half, gave Harikesa one half and the rest of his puri, and, still smiling, said, “Thank you very much.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

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by Dandakaranya das.
Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and how you both come to practice bhakti-yoga?

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Bhaktivedanta Manor and CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
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The Mayapur temple won last year, for the year 2019, but look out Mayapur! It looks like New Delhi is taking 2020 real seriously by getting a big head start. It did 145,921 book points in January. In second place this January was a temple in the small-temple category. That's right, passing all those big temples in the large category, Surat (India) took second place, with 39,708 book points. Continue reading "WSN January 2020 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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This is a transcript and translation of a recorded message sent (in Spanish) by Guru Prasad Swami to his disciples, regarding the online petition asking the International GBC reject Dhanurdara Swami’s request to be reinstated in ISKCON.

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“Hare Krishna.  Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.  I am in the middle of GBC’s meetings, but I know that you and other devotees are giving opinions regarding Dhanudhar Maharaja. I am sending this message, then you can share it. Not in Facebook, but with those devotees who have been commenting. Because it is my duty to oversee that my disciples and devotees in general do not commit offences against vaisnavas.

I know Dhanudhara Swami since 1975; every time I visited Vrindavan, I used to stay with him at gurukula’s accommodation; I saw his behavior, how he contributed academically, I saw his brahminical nature. Almost everything they are saying about him is not true; there was another devotee, his name was Raghunath. He hit devotees sometimes. He was the person who pushed a devotee against a column and broke his nose. He was the person who hit devotees. He was the person who chastised using sticks. He was the person who forced devotees to eat vomit.  Dhanudhara Swami didn’t do anything like that.

He committed some mistakes.  His mistakes were: Once, maybe twice, he pushed a devotee. That devotee fell and hurt his arm a bit, but that was not his intention.

And those children were out of control, coming from broken families, carrying very serious psychological issues; I saw them.  He told me about them, he asked me what to do with them. Some of those families didn’t care for their children.

He also made the mistake of censuring the exchange of mail communication with their families, to avoid having the children expose the situation of the gurukula.  His intention was to solve everything internally. That was his mistake.

He did many mistakes, but he didn’t do these things they are commenting.  I believe that those who are criticizing him, really don’t know him and are committing offences.

Dhanudhara Swami brought to ISKCON, two hundred or two hundred fifty persons in USA, India and Italy. Highly qualified people. His followers are more qualified than followers of any other preacher.  They are bank managers and powerful executives. The quality of his preaching is incredible.

So, I am just warning, please be careful, better you put more emphasis and attention chanting the Maha Mantra, spending less time on Facebook giving opinions regarding situations that you don’t know about. Many times, the information from the internet is exaggerated or false. Please be careful.

Thanks.  I hope you are well.  Receive my blessings from Mayapur.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Guru and Gauranga.”

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This transcript from Guru Prasad Swami is an extraordinary synopsis of the false narrative Dhanurdhara Swami has been sharing with his followers.

It’s not new. We’ve heard bits and pieces of this dog whistle and gaslighting commentary for nearly three decades.

What’s unique is this is the first time we have verifiable proof this is what they’ve been saying.

Let’s analyze a few key parts.

1. Here’s what Guru Prasad Swami says about Dhanurdhara Swami:

“I know Dhanurdara Swami since 1975… Almost everything they are saying about him is not true… Dhanudara Swami didn’t do anything like that… He committed some mistakes…  His mistakes were: once, maybe twice, he pushed a devotee… I believe those that are criticizing him don’t know him and are causing offenses…”

Juxtapose that with a 2006 report from ISKCON’s legal counsel, who worked on the bankruptcy case for six years:

“As a result of the litigation in Texas, and the 600-plus claims filed in the bankruptcy court, we now have a vast body of information (evidence) that was not available in 1999. Although much was known with respect to allegations of physical and mental child abuse by Dhanurdhara Swami at the Vrindavan gurukula, we now have even more information than we had at that time. Based upon this additional information, it is now unequivocally clear to ISKCON’s legal team that the damage inflicted by Dhanurdhara Swami was significantly greater than that which was known in 1999. In fact, Dhanurdhara Swami is named as an abuser in the bankruptcy claims far more than any other person.”

For emphasis, I’ll repeat the last sentence to make sure we catch the significance:

“In fact, Dhanurdhara Swami is named as an abuser in the bankruptcy claims far more than any other person.”

The report concluded:

“We have seen and reviewed firsthand the claims filed in the bankruptcy court documenting the severe abuse inflicted on the Vrindavana gurukula children by Dhanurdhara Swami, as well as the CPO information. From a legal standpoint, we have no doubt that these claims are legitimate.”

2. Guru Prasad Swami says this about the pioneer generation of children raised in ISKCON’s Gurukulas:

“And those children were out of control, coming from broken families, carrying very serious psychological issues; I saw them. He told me about them, he asked me what to do with them. Some of those families didn’t care for their children.”

Here’s a small sampling of what Srila Prabhupada said about these same children:

“If we are able to make a whole generation of our children into fine Krishna Conscious preachers, that will be the glory of our movement and the glory of your country as well. But if we neglect somehow or other and if we lose even one Vaisnava, that is very great loss.”

“These children are given to us by Krishna, they are Vaisnavas and we must be very careful to protect them. These are not ordinary children, they are Vaikuntha children, and we are very fortunate we can give them chance to advance further in Krishna Consciousness. That is very great responsibility, do not neglect it or be confused. Your duty is very clear.”

In Guru Prasad Swami’s statement, we can see how the former students of the Vrindavan Gurukula are presented as damaged beyond repair, easily cast away and forgotten by leaders who place their priorities and values elsewhere.

3. Contrast that with Guru Prasad Swami’s glowing descriptions of Dhanurdhara Swami and his disciples:

“I know Dhanudhara Swami since 1975; every time I visited Vrindavan, I used to stay with him at gurukula’s accommodation; I saw his behavior, how he contributed academically, I saw his brahminical nature.”

“Dhanudhara Swami brought to ISKCON, two hundred or two hundred fifty persons in USA, India and Italy. Highly qualified people. His followers are more qualified than followers of any other preacher. They are bank managers and powerful executives. The quality of his preaching is incredible.”

4. I would like to give attention to the following sentence:

“Because it is my duty to oversee that my disciples and devotees in general do not commit offences against vaisnavas.”

I’ll briefly circle back to an earlier point.

Again, those who Srila Prabhupada affectionately referred to as his “Vaikuntha children,” have little or no value to Guru Prasad Swami who, by saying this, inflicts even more damage to the already severely abused Vaisnavas.

Meanwhile, the individual responsible for hundreds of documented vaishnava-aparadas and also “named as an abuser… far more than any other person” in ISKCON’s history, is made out to be the victim and – tragic hero – in Guru Prasad Swami’s faithful retelling of Dhanurdhara Swami’s false history.

5. Next, I’d like to point out something quite revealing.

In one sentence there’s an assumption embedded so well, at first, I missed it:

“Dhanudhara Swami brought to ISKCON, two hundred or two hundred fifty persons in USA, India and Italy.”

Rather than be subject to GBC lifetime restrictions against holding any leadership position, including that of initiating guru, Dhanurdhara Swami left ISKCON in 2006, and has operated outside the organization ever since.

In 2020 Dhanurdhara Swami petitioned the GBC for re-admittance into ISKCON. The North American GBC and CPO both issued public statements declining his request. Rather than face the likelihood his request would also be denied at the international level, Dhanurdhara Swami withdrew his appeal, and remains outside ISKCON.

Knowing that, why would an ISKCON GBC member state “Dhanurdhara Swami brought to ISKCON two hundred or two hundred fifty persons?”

The best answer I can come up with is Guru Prasad Swami is one of the ISKCON leaders who publicly profess “Dhanurdhara Swami is out,” and privately act as if he’s really in.

6. And, as I conclude this analysis, here’s one more thing I’d like to highlight:

I am floored by the audacity of Guru Prasad Swami, a senior Prabhupada disciple, ISKCON guru, swami and GBC, who holds several of the most respected and influential positions in our Society.

In the opening sentence he says, “I am in the middle of the GBC meetings…”

If you listen to the audio, he wasn’t kidding.

He was literally sitting in the 2020 Annual Mayapur GBC meetings, recording a message to his disciples, spreading a patently false narrative, in an ongoing effort protect and defend Dhanurdhara Swami, the #1 child abuser in ISKCON’s history.

Looking forward, here are some of my questions:

Does this represent the ISKCON we want to be a part of?

Does this reflect the best ISKCON has to offer?

Are we ok with this untenable behavior from ISKCON leaders?

What more can we do to make ISKCON a Society we are proud of?

After the ISKCON Leadership Sanga finished, the GBC meeting in Mayapur continued on. As always, there were a lot of different subjects and issues to discuss and luckily, by Krsna’s mercy, we were able to finish off nicely.

I chaired most of the meeting, which sometimes was not easy because of the many who wanted to speak. In the end, all the devotees who helped facilitate the meeting with office paraphernalia, drinks and snacks etc. were thanked by the GBC body.

My godbrother Bhagavata Asraya Prabhu told me the following story, which he heard from our godbrother Gunarnava Prabhu.

Srila Prabhupada was visiting Bombay for what turned out to be one of the last times. Although the building was still under construction, at his request his quarters had been hastily prepared, and he had moved in.

Srila Prabhupada was by this time in poor health, and everything was a great effort for him, but still he was giving darshan to some devotees and guests. At one point an Indian man stood up in the midst of it all and, making something of an exhibition of himself, folded his hands and requested, “Swamiji, give me your blessings.”

Srila Prabhupada fixed the man with a stare that lasted long enough for the man and everyone in the room to start to feel uncomfortable. When the situation seemed to reach the point where it was intolerable, Srila Prabhupada began to speak. Addressing everyone, he said, in effect, “Such a big organization, this ISKCON . . . worldwide organization . . . with so many problems. All coming on my head. Every day all problems coming to me . . . so many letters from all over the world. All on my head.”

He gently tapped his head a few times, saying, “You don’t know the headache I have.” Then he gave the man another look and said, “So, if you want my blessings, you take some of my headache.”

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

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Mlecchas and yavanas!
Srila Prabhupada sent some American and European disciples to one of his sannyasi godbrothers’ ashram in India in the late 60s’. However, this sannyasi forbid them to cook or to perform arotika; they were Westerners and were thus too fallen to perform these services. Prabhupada never forgot this insult to his disciples: half a decade later, when that sannyasi asked Prabhupada for a contribution, Prabhupada replied as follows.

Iskcon devotees, including HG Mahatma prabhu ACBSP (in the photo), spent a morning collecting garbage thrown carelessly in the streets of the Holy Dhama of Sri Mayapur. There is a plan for the stores in Iskcon Mayapur to be using primarily products with biodegradable packaging but is not applied yet. There are also other policies thought out in order to prevent pollution like for example placing signs everywhere: 1000 RUPEE FINE FOR LITTERING and then get all the chokidars to enforce it. Eventually, these and other norms of this effect will be applied, as the nearing of the completion of the international project of the TOVP becomes imminent.

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ISKCON devotees all over the world!
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