Planet ISKCON

On this day, 5000 years ago, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, the Supreme Lord Krsna delivered the most confidential and topmost knowledge of devotional service in the form of Bhagavad-Gita to His dear devotee Arjuna.

The Bhagavad-Gita is also meant to help humanity at large, in order that all understand the purpose of life and the way to surrender unto Krsna.

Gita Jayanti is celebrated by reading the Bhagavad Gita and discussing it. Devotees  fast on this day as it falls on Ekadasi. The main purpose of celebrating Gita Jayanti is to recall the words of the Gita and apply them in our daily lives.

This is a brief update on the progress of the preparation work for the historic Grand Installation Ceremony of the Chakras onto Sri Radha Madhava’s and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s domes on February 7th, 2017, and the sponsorship of Their abhishekas.

1. Current abhisheka sponsorships:
Lord Nrsimhadeva Chakra – 402 sponsors
Radha Madhava Chakra – 312 sponsors

2. The preparation of the domes for the installation of the Chakras is full-steam ahead with a three month marathon underway. Below is a video update by Sadbhuja prabhu, the TOVP project Managing Director, about the marathon and other progress in the temple construction.

https://tovp.org/construction/tovp-quarterly-report-3-month-marathon-preparation-chakra-installation/

3. Due to so many donors sponsoring abhishekas we will not be able to accommodate everyone to personally bathe the Chakras. Instead, all ISKCON gurus will perform the bathing on behalf of their disciples who have sponsored the abhishekas. We will also read the names of all donors during the Maha Sudarshana Yajna, place their names at the base of the Chakra(s) they sponsored, and provide the special gifts mentioned in our original announcement.

If you haven’t yet sponsored a Chakra abhisheka and would like to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, please visit the TOVP website here: https://tovp.org/donate/once-in-a-lifetime-chakra-abhisheka-seva-opportunity/

The post Chakra Installation Update appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

• Special properties of our universe point to an underlying intelligence.
• God is defined as consciousness and that parts of that consciousness are embedded in us.
• Our reality and the laws of physics is like a vast simulation within God consciousness.
• The universe is like a virtual reality developed and advanced over millions of years.
• Fine tuning of the laws of nature strongly meant to the idea that our universe was meant to be lived in and that near-death experiences allude to a spiritual reality. All of this he says points to God's existence.

Around 125 people from both traditions attended the third annual Hindu-Catholic Dialogue, held at the Shiva Vishnu temple in suburban Washington D.C. on Saturday November 11th.Participants included Catholic bishops, priests and several dozen Catholic laypeople. From the Hindu community, there were leaders from local Hindu temples, along with a number of congregational members

One of the best ways to celebrate the advent of Bhagavad Gita is to share it with others.
One devotee asked Jayananda Prabhu how can one go back to Godhead? Jayananda Prabhu replied “ I don’t know, I’m too busy serving Srila Prabhupada “

Gita Jayanti celebration in MOSCOW TEMPLE (Album with photos)
Round table “Bhagavad-gita: in the pursuit of harmony in the modern multipolar world” The round table is held in the framework of celebrating the 70th anniversary of Russian-Indian diplomatic relations, celebrated throughout the year 2017 in Russia and India, and timed to the popular Indian holiday “Gita-jayanti ”. Representatives of state authorities, academics and the capital city administration, Indian diaspora, Hindu organizations, experts in the field of Russian-Indian relations, interreligious and interethnic dialogue, journalists, students take part. The aim of the Roundtable is to consolidate the efforts of the society and the state in the development of interethnic and interdenominational dialogues, to promote the exchange of experience and the dissemination of programs and projects aimed at constructive interethnic dialogue and preservation of cultural diversity as the basis for cooperation. In the program: presentation on the actual topics of spiritual and cultural interaction and dialogue, musical and dance numbers, exchange of opinions, reception. The round table is organized jointly by the Moscow House of Nationalities, the Moscow Center for Indian Culture and the Council of Hindu Communities of Russia. Gita Jayanti (the appearance of “Bhagavad-gita” ) is one of the oldest sacred holy days on earth. According to the legend, “Bhagavad-gita” (“The Song of God”) sounded more than 50 centuries ago before the start of the grand battle between the families of the Pandavas and the Kauravas as a call to fulfill a man’s duty to God and people. “Bhagavad-gita” is not just a sacred text of Ancient India and the main part of the epic “Mahabharata”, which has survived to the present day from the depths of millennia, but also a unique message to the whole world, regardless of nationality and religion. “Bhagavad-gita” is rightfully considered the quintessence of the thousand-year wisdom of the Vedas and one of the greatest works of philosophical classics in the world. Sincerely, Sanjit Kumar Jha (Director of the Center for Indian Culture)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/vEEMrN

Kirtan London (3 min video)
“6 Hours of Happy” Highlights - Oct 2017
Filmed and edited by Jonathan Caicedo-Galindo
Music - “Govinda Jaya Jaya” by The Hanumen.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/dY3KDQ

Gita Jayanti Address (8 min video)
by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami.
Gita Jayanti actually means the birth of Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita appeared was conceived when Krishna spoke it to Arjuna. Bhagavad Gita is actually the essence of the entire Vedic wisdom.
The Vedic wisdom flows through two streams predominantly. One through the stream of Upanisad and second through the Purana. Bhagavad Gita is the essence of all the Upanisads
All the Upanisads have been compared to a cow and Krishna is the cowheard boy who milked that cow. The cow gives milk for the sake of the calf but actually here the human beings drink that milk. The objective is to provide food for human beings that’s the purpose of the milk. So, similarly Upanisads that have been compared to a cow and Krishna milked that cow making Arjuna the preliminary objective but actually that is for the benefit of everybody.

vatsapartha (Gita-mahatmya 6)

In this arrangement Krishna made Arjuna the calf and the milk is gitopanisad and who drinks that milk? sudhirbhokta, those who are endowed with very advanced intelligence drink this milk like. arthovatsaùsu-dhirbhokta, dugdhamgitamrtaàmahat

That milk is the nectar of Bhagavad Gita. Yes, it is nectar. But why is it the nectar? It helps us achieve immortality. The Sanskrit word for nectar is amrta. The word amrta means a- mrta. Mrta means death and ‘a’ means negation of death. So, negation of death means no more death, death is destroyed. How do we achieve immortality? We can achieve immortality through proper knowledge. It is not like we drink some liquid and achieve immortality. Yes, there is also a liquid like that which one can drink to become immortal. This liquid the demigods actually take advantage of. They drink that nectar but that nectar gives immortality or so-called immortality to the body. Unfortunately, the body is not going to last forever although it lives for a long duration. But we should aim to grab the permanent nectar that Bhagavad Gita is giving. This nectar is coming in the form of knowledge. What is this knowledge about? This knowledge is about our spiritual identity. It makes us realise that we are not this body but we are spirit souls and this body is perishable. When the soul leaves the body, the body dies. So, death is to the body but this body is not our real identity. Real identity is the spirit soul and the soul never dies. So, we are spiritual beings and we never die. That is our constitutional position. We are all immortal to begin with but because of our misidentification with this body, we think that we die when the body dies.
So,the nectar that the Bhagavad Gita is giving is in the form of knowledge. This knowledge gives us immortality, real immortality and this knowledge is not only extending the duration of this body but this knowledge is situating us in our spiritual identity and enabling us to go back to the spiritual world.
yadgatvananirvartante (Bhagavad gita 15.6).

Going there we never come back to this world. This is a world of death, Sanskrit word for this world ismrtyu-lokaor the world of death. Everyone here is subject to death. Whereas that world is the world of immortality or there is no death in that world in the spiritual world. Nobody dies there because the spirit soul never dies. So that is why this knowledge of Bhagavad Gita is so important. Everyone wants to become immortal and we have this nectar that gives us immortality, gives everyone immortality. It’s just a matter of accepting it, understanding it and leading one’s life according to that understanding.

So, in this way Krishna created such a wonderful opportunity for this world by giving this nectar of Bhagavad Gita which is the essence of all the Vedic wisdom. Vedic wisdom does not originate this world. Vedic wisdom came from the spiritual world. The Vedas, this knowledge and the essence of this knowledge came from the spiritual world. The purpose of this knowledge is to take us out of this material nature back to the spiritual world, back to godhead. And that is why it is important that we celebrate it the proper way. The proper way to celebrate this knowledge is not by having some festival but by distributing this knowledge to others. Of course before we distribute it we have to accept it ourselves. In order to celebrate this wisdom, this opportunity, this occasion we give it out to everybody out there, “Come take it.” So, let us celebrate the birthday of Bhagavad Gita by giving it to everybody and showing them the way to immortality.
Thank you very much.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
GauraPremanande Hari HariBol!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/nDnroN

ISKCON-London 48th Anniversary 26/11/17 (3 videos)
1. Srila Prabhupada arrival
2. MC Opening
3. Jai Nitai dasa Welcome
4. Mantra Lounge (Part 1)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/PKiM51
1. Interview Mr Goyal & Jai Nitai dasa
2. Mantra Lounge (Part 2)
3. Mother Mandakini devi dasi
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7cBU22
1. Drama
2. Guru Puja with kids and final kirtan with Srila Prabhupada disciples
3. Event Close
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/vqQte7

Radhanath Swami Debates at the Cambridge Union (Album with photos)
In November 2017, Radhanath Swami was invited to debate at the worlds oldest, and arguably most prestigious debating society, the Cambridge Union. The topic was “Have we lost faith in faith? Does it have meaning in the modern world? Can we justify faith in line with the rest of the world’s atrocities?”
The Cambridge Union was founded as a small debating society in 1815, but today is the largest student society in Cambridge and has over 70,000 life members worldwide. It established a forum in which the art of public debate was defended and the free exchange of ideas was encouraged. The Union hosts many of the most famous speakers in the world including politicians, olympians, businesspeople and journalists, so that its members can meet them, question them, and challenge their views. In the past the Society has hosted important world figures such as Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt and the current Dalai Lama. Recent guests have included Germaine Greer, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Robert Downey Jr, Vivienne Westwood, Buzz Aldrin, Russell Brand and Julian Assange, to name but a few.

The Union also serves to encourage younger generations in public speaking, providing free debating workshops to local schools, and thrice-weekly workshops for all student members in Cambridge, at every level of ability, to train themselves in public speaking and learn how to competitively debate. It is this training that produced the top two debaters at the World University Debating Championships in 2015.

Over 200 people gathered in the chamber of the Union for the debate on faith. On the side proposing the motion, was Ken Follet, a Welsh Author who has sold more than 150 million copies of his works, and is a staunch atheist. Ajhan Brahm, a British Theravada Buddhist monk and the Abbot of Bodhinyana in Serpentine, Western Australia and Sadia Hameed, spokesperson for the Council of ex-Muslims of Britain, also joined him.

Opposing the motion was His Holiness Radhanath Swami, alongside Virginia Moffat, religious editor for Peace News and Asad Dhunna, board member of Imaan, Europe’s biggest charity supporting LGBTQI Muslims.

Before the debate started, the Cambridge Union created a poll on their Facebook page to ask attendees to vote whether the motion stands firm. That is, have we lost faith in faith? Fifty-eight percent voted that we had, leave 42% defending that we had not. This meant the debate was on the side of the Ken Follet and his peers.

The debate started with Ken Follet defining the word faith and sharing his thought on why faith had no place in our society. Radhanath Swami spoke in opposition first, arguing that giving up artificial faith makes us eligible to find genuine faith. As the debate proceeded, it swung to become a debate on religion versus science, but a member of the audience, Jonathan, who studied Philosophy and Religion at Cambridge University brought it back. He mentioned that we must have faith in something. We can have faith in empirical science, but that is still faith. Therefore, we can never lose our inherent faith by definition. The debate was closed by Ajhan Brahma for the motion and Asad Dhunna who was against the motion.

The evening came to an end with a book signing of both Mr Follet’s and Radhanath Swami’s books, with students intrigued to know the outcome. The Swami presented his memoir The Journey Home and New York Times Bestseller The Journey Within to all speakers and the President of the Cambridge Union, Page Nyame-Satterthwaite who mentioned, “It was a pleasure to speak to the Swami. It’s rare to have a speaker with such gravitas at the Union. We were very grateful he could attend.” Jonathan, the student who criticised both sides earlier, also met Radhanath Swami at the end. He said, “It was an honour to meet him and I enjoyed listening to his point of view.”

The result of the debate was confirmed at the end of the evening and the opposition claimed victory by receiving 54% of the vote to the propositions 27% of the vote. The rest of the audience abstained. This meant that arguments that Radhanath Swami and his peers put forward had swung the Cambridge audience to vote against the motion that we had lost faith in faith.

UK: 1st day of the Marathon kicks of to a great start! (1 min video)
Sutapa Das: The mercy month is just beginning! Last night we visited the Queens Sankirtan team who were distributing Bhagavad-Gita’s in Morrisons Superstore! They managed to distribute a total of 95 books!
They explained how they started the day off by reciting the whole Bhagavad-Gita together which took 3 hours! Then they were spiritually surcharged and ready to distribute the fruits!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/x1zMS1

This year the double blessing Gita-jayanti confers upon the participants continues to flow.

Those who take part on the Gita-jayanti celebration on December 2 or support its book distribution by sponsoring a book package will receive special blessings. Aside from the blessings of Bhagavad-gita, they will get Sri Sri Radha-Syamasundara’s personal blessings since the Gita-jayanti celebration supports Radha-Syama’s Nitya Seva as well.

There is still time to apply for the double mercy or to double the double mercy by sponsoring more book packages :))

For the double and double double mercy, please contact Asta Sakhi devi dasi.
Phone: +36 30 600 1459
E-mail: Asta.Sakhi.SRS@pamho.net

The post Daily Darshan: 30 November, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Answer Podcast

The post How do we deal with negative people who are not transformable? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

Podcast Summary

Video:

The post Gita Jayanti talk – Appreciating the Gita’s message by contemplating the starting and ending names of Arjuna and Krishna appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.2-7)

We should never think that somebody is not a devotee. We should think that everyone is a devotee! The uttama-adhikari sees everyone as a devotee. We should find the devotee in other people. The devotee is there; we should just find it! When we treat someone as though they are not a devotee then they may also say, “Yes, I am not a devotee!” but if we find the devotee; awaken the devotee… then there is a devotee in every person!

“Anyway, print books, distribute profusely, and that will be the best preaching work. What will your three minutes’ preaching do?—but if they buy one book, it may turn their life. So make this your important task, to print our books…and distribute widely, and that will please my Guru Maharaja. Never mind it takes little time […]

The post Gita Jayanti appeared first on Mayapur.com.

After a day off we flew from Australia to New Zealand for a one day program at the Auckland temple of Sri Sri Radha Giridhari on November 23rd. We were welcomed enthusiastically by all the devotees and prepared for the TOVP program at the temple.

300 devotees attended and participated in the Lord’s arati and abhisheka, and listened with great enthusiasm to talks about the TOVP project. Being so inspired, the devotees pledged over $300,000.

We wish to thank the Temple President Kalasamvara prabhu for his efforts and support to make this event successful.

To make a donation and sponsor an abhisheka for Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s and/or Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Chakra during the installation ceremony on February 7th, please go here: https://tovp.org/donate/once-in-a-lifetime-chakra-abhisheka-seva-opportunity/

The post TOVP Australasia Tour, Day 7 – Auckland, New Zealand appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

• Everyone successful does some type of mindfulness or meditation for 10 to 20 minutes daily in the morning before they turn their phones on in the morning helping them set their mental and emotional states for the day.
• Another point is journaling - to write down a question or answer that arouse within you (the subconscious you) during the day (a type of deep introspection)
• Another point is to try something new (new behavior) but only for a finite amount of time like two-to-four weeks. Brief changes in behavior reduces the pressure of fear of change.
• Successful people choose projects to cultivate skills and relationships even if a project fails and not for the attachment of the outcome or result. 

Today is Gita Jayanti, the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna. One year on this occasion I heard a beautiful talk in which Srila Prabhupada spoke about the perfection of reading the Gita.

“When Lord Chaitanya was traveling in South India, in a big temple, Ranganath temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brahman was reading Bhagavad-gita. And people were joking with him, ‘Oh, Mr. Brahman, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?’ Because they were neighbors, they knew that this brahman was illiterate, and he was studying Bhagavad-gita. So they were joking. But the brahman did not care about them. He was taking the book and in his own way he was reading. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw this incident. He came to the brahman. He asked the brahman, ‘My dear brahman, what you are reading?’ The brahman could understand, ‘This person is not joking with me; he is serious.’ So he explained, ‘My dear sir, I am reading Bhagavad-gita. Unfortunately, I am illiterate. I do not know even the alphabet.’ ‘Why you are reading Bhagavad-gita?’ So he said, ‘My spiritual master knows that I am illiterate, but still, he has asked me to read Bhagavad-gita. What can I do? Therefore I have taken this book. I am simply seeing. I do not know how to read.’ ‘Oh, that’s all right. You cannot read. But I see that you are crying. How you are crying, if you are not reading?’ ‘Yes, I am crying. Of course, there is cause.’ ‘What is that?’ ‘As soon as I take this Bhagavad-gita, I remember Krishna. Krishna is sitting as driver and Arjuna is hearing. I have heard the story. I know something of the instruction but cannot read. So as soon as I take this book, this picture comes before me and I simply think how Krishna is so nice that He has become a charioteer of His devotee. He is so great. Still, He has accepted a menial service of His devotee. This gives me so much pleasure that I cry.’ Chaitanya Mahaprabhu embraced him, ‘Your Bhagavad-gita reading is perfect. You have taken the essence.’

“If you simply remember how Krishna is teaching Arjuna and Arjuna is hearing—if you simply remember the picture—that is sufficient. Even if you think that you cannot read. Because after all, we have to become Krishna conscious. We don’t have to become a learned man to argue with another learned man. If it is possible, we can do that. But it does not make any difference if I cannot argue with others or if I cannot teach very nicely Bhagavad-gita to others. Simply if I remember this picture, that is perfection. Because we have to become Krishna conscious. We have to simply think of Krishna. You think in any way. That is your perfection. Smartavyah satatam visnuh. This is the injunction. You have to think of Vishnu always. This is samadhi; this is meditation; this is yoga siddhi, perfection of yoga.

“One who has learned to think of Krishna always, he is already on the perfectional stage. Aradhito yadi haris tapasa tatah kim. If one has come to this stage, just to understand Krishna to be the great, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he’s a surrendered soul: ‘Krishna, whatever You like You do. I am surrendered.’ This is aradhana. Then he isn’t required to undergo any austerities or penance. His everything is finished. And naradhito yadi haris tapasa tatah kim. And if he does not come to this stage, his so-called scholarship, learned argument, this or that—all nonsense, finished. Useless. One has to come to this stage. Therefore Lord Chaitanya embraced the brahman: ‘Yes, your study of Bhagavad-gita is perfect.’ Because one has to come to this stage, thinking of Krishna always.

“So, that is the perfection. Krishna and gopis. They were cowherd girls. Their father, mother, they were only ordinary village [people], keeping cows. That’s all. What was their education? They were not Vedantists. But they learned to love Krishna. That was their qualification. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu certifies, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita: ‘Oh, there is no better worship than that which was contemplated by the gopis.’ They did not know what is Krishna, but they loved Krishna. That’s all. They loved Krishna. Because Krishna was God or Krishna was something great? No. Their natural affection was for Krishna. They could not stay even for a moment without seeing Krishna. That was their qualification. This is Krishna consciousness.

“So, one has to come to perfect Krishna consciousness some way or other. That is perfection. We have presented so many formulas. Why? Not that the formulas are important, but the formulas will help me to remember Krishna always. Just like you are going to sell our magazines. So this magazine selling or taking some contribution is not our business. Our business is that we are spreading Krishna consciousness; people are hearing something about Krishna. And because we are helping, we are also hearing. We are also benefiting. When you speak to somebody about Krishna, then I hear also Krishna. Sravanam kirtanam. The first preliminary steps, hearing and chanting, are going on. So in this way we shall take all opportunities so that twenty-four hours, whether awake[ned] or sleeping, we shall always think of Krishna. That is perfection. This chanting means always remembering Krishna—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I am cooking for Krishna, I am typing for Krishna, I am going to preach for Krishna, I’m distributing Back to Godhead for Krishna. In this way, always remember Krishna; that’s all. That will make you perfect.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

The Threat of World War III.
Sivarama Swami: In 1914 at the outbreak of World War I, H.G. Wells wrote a series of articles that appeared as a book called ‘The War to end War’. Meanwhile, the retort of Prime Minister David Lloyd George was: “This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”
And so it was: World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and it continues to this day. At a rough count, 240 million people died during World War I. H.G. Wells didn’t get it right. My mother, who lived through the Holocaust had also told me that at the end of World War II, everyone had thought, “Now we have learned our lesson … no more war.” They didn’t get it right either. Can man stop war? And will next one possibly be a nuclear war? Is World War III, inevitable?

If humanity continues living as it is doing now then the answer is: no you cannot stop war. And World War III may be one of them.

Are there any solutions at all? And what lifestyle do we need to live to bring about an end to this conflict? First let me say what are not solutions—peace treaties, international committees or the United Nations (UN). Since the UN was formed in 1945, there have been over 140 wars. They don’t have it right either.

To solve a problem, you need to know the cause. What are the causes of war? There are two: 1) man’s misuse of his free will 2) the reaction from the misuse of our free will (Karma). Karma means nature’s response to man’s actions. You have to really dig deep into history to find a more sinful and degraded time than we live in today. The scale of it is staggering:

90 billion animals slaughtered for food yearly. 1.5 billion abortions since 1980
Rampant drug abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality Ethnic cleansing
Race discrimination
Pedophelia
Senseless destruction of forests, our waterways and the environment I could go on. The bottom line is this: for every action there is a reaction. For every action not in harmony with God’s and nature’s laws, man will get a reaction— that’s karma. That karma stores up, and when it hits a critical point, a tipping point, then something happens. Plagues, tsunamis, earthquakes and yes, also war. S

So we need to change our lifestyle in order to reduce our accumulation of Karma. Our lifestyle needs to be in harmony with God’s laws. And yes, we need to know what those laws are and abide by them. In this we will live in Peace, not pieces.

Ratha Yatra, Blockhouse Bay, New Zealand, 25th Nov 2017 (5 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: To say nothing of the spiritual advanc...

Life’s lessons from Bharat Maharaj by HG Vaisesika Dasa (video)
Recorded on 11-22-2017, ISKCON of Silicon Valley.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/13yYi4

The guru is responsible for taking all of his disciples back to Godhead.
Room Conversation – December 12, 1971, Delhi:
Devotee (5): Śrīla Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Devotee (5): The spiritual master, his duty is to take all of his disciples back to home, back to Godhead, and I’ve heard it said that he doesn’t leave until he has taken all his disciples back. What is the position of Lord Jesus when so many people are following but not doing, not in a position to go back to home, back to Godhead? Is he responsible for all of these people, who are attempting to serve him?
Prabhupāda: That is nice question. What is that? Repeat it again.
Devotee (5): Because the guru is responsible for taking all of his disciples back to home, back to Godhead, I was wondering what was the position of Lord Jesus Christ because so many people for so many years have been attempting to follow his teachings, many of them sincere but not getting proper instructions. I was wondering if he is responsible for all of these people who are attempting to serve him.
Prabhupāda: But one thing is we sing daily, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo **. You have to please your spiritual master. But yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi, if you displease your spiritual master then you are nowhere. How do you adjust these things? It does not mean that because you have made somebody spiritual master, you displease him, at the same time he takes responsibility. Is it very nice?
Devotee (5): Many times…
Prabhupāda: If you please him, then he is responsible. Yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi. If you displease him then you are nowhere. So, if you take it in this way, that my spiritual master has taken responsibility so whatever nonsense I do, it doesn’t matter. The Christians are thinking like that.
Jesus Christ has taken contract for all our sinful activities, so we can do anything, whatever we like. But that is not the fact. If one takes responsibility for you, you must abide by his order. Otherwise how is that, that he simply takes responsibility and you don’t abide by his order? It is reciprocal.
But the Christians are thinking, “Because we have taken to Christian religion, now we are safe. We can do anything we like and Lord Jesus Christ will compensate. He’ll be every time crucified and we can go on doing all nonsense.” Is it not? Then? That’s not a very good idea.
This is, as Viśvanātha Cakravartī said, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo **. If you please your spiritual master, then God will be pleased. If you don’t please him, then you are nowhere. So first of all you please Jesus Christ, that is reasonable, then he takes the responsibility. If you disobey Jesus Christ in every step, what is his responsibility? That is a misconception.
Devotee (5): There are some Christians who are actually sincere and they feel as though they are doing the proper thing, but they are just misled by the fact that there is no paramparā system coming from Lord Jesus. The churches are teaching the wrong thing, but they are sincere. (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa will direct them (indistinct) the proper authority?
Prabhupāda: Yes. If they are actually following strictly the principles of Jesus Christ, then sometimes when he meets some pure devotee, he will accept. The groundwork will be nice for accepting farther advancement. Just like Jesus Christ says, “Thou shall not kill.” So if anyone follows this principle, “No, I shall not kill,” then he becomes purified. But who is that Christian who is not killing? So where is follow?
Amongst the Christians the more killing process is going on very strongly. So who is a Christian? In that, if you disobey the first principle of Christianity, then where is your Christianity? Why you falsely claim that you are a Christian? “Thou shalt not covet.” What is that next?
Devotee: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Devotee: Honor thy mother and father?
Devotee: There is one about no adulteration.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So adulteration is going on, killing is going on. So many disobedience to Christian principles. So where is the possibility of becoming a Christian?
Devotee: “Honor thy mother and father” is not being respected.
Prabhupāda: Not… So many things. So, if you do not follow the principles of Christianity, simply by stamping yourself as Christian, will that do? So why Jesus Christ will be responsible for you? Simply by stamping yourself that “I am Christian.” Is that very reasonable proposal?
Nara-Nārāyaṇa: Lord Jesus himself never claimed that he would be responsible. As a matter of fact, he would heal certain persons who by their karma were blind, or lame deaf, or some disease, even dead, he would bring them back to life, so many things. And then when he healed them, he invariably said after, he said, “Now go thou and sin no more lest the worst thing befall you.” And he has been saved by Jesus personally, yet Jesus is saying, “lest the worst thing befall you.” How can the worst thing befall you if everything he does then is all right? So that means Jesus does not take that responsibility.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Why he should be responsible? If you are not a Christian, why he should be responsible? Now, here he says that “Now you have sinned, full reaction I have washed, don’t do it again.”
Nara-Nārāyaṇa: Yeah.
Prabhupāda: But they are going to church, confessing every week, and doing the same thing. Who is a Christian, first of all find out, then Jesus Christ will take responsibility.
Devotee: They are gambling and eating flesh right in the churches, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: That’s all right, I mean to say, if you don’t follow the Christian principles, how you can claim yourself to become a Christian and how you can ask Jesus Christ to take responsibility for you? These are misleading, therefore people are coming disgusted. Otherwise Christian religion is all right. It teaches love of Godhead, teaches to become moral, it teaches to love people, that’s nice. These are good principles.

The post Daily Darshan: 29 November, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Gita Jayanti Mayapur
“Anyway, print books, distribute profusely, and that will be the best preaching work. What will your three minutes’ preaching do?—but if they buy one book, it may turn their life. So make this your important task, to print our books…and distribute widely, and that will please my Guru Maharaja. Never mind it takes little time to make progress, our process is slow but sure, and we are confident that if we continue in this way we shall go one day back to home, back to Godhead.”
- Srila Prabhupada in a letter to Bhagavan das, Vrindaban, 5 November, 1972

Over five thousand years ago, Lord Sri Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, a warrior prince, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. Every year on the anniversary of that day, devotees of Lord Krishna gather and recite the Bhagavad Gita.

In Sri Dham Mayapur, seven hundred students from the Bhaktivendanta Gita Academy organize a huge Gita Jayanti festival. They go for mangala arati, then bathe in the Ganga before going to the festival pandal. A beautifully decorated yajna kunda is set up, and oblations are offered into the fire during the recitation of the Sanskrit verses of the Bhagavad Gita. On average, over four thousand devotees gather in one place to recite the Bhagavad Gita in unison. The atmosphere is surcharged. After the recitation of the Gita, a delicious feast is served.

During this time, many copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is are distributed to the visiting pilgrims. This distribution is a combined effort of many of the Mayapur community devotees, as well as some visiting devotees from around the world. Everyone helps in the distribution of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Even little children take part in the distribution of Gitas.

In the Sri Mayapur International School, there is also a Gita Jayanti festival, where all the students and teachers gather and recite the Bhagavad Gita.

In this way, this most auspicious Gita Jayanti festival is wonderfully observed in Sri Dham Mayapur by all the devotees of Sri Krishna.

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Following Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Prabhupada is explaining that because devotees are living in the material world, they also have activities that they must perform in relation to material existence, in relation to society, state, and so on. Such activities cannot be avoided, because we are in the material world. We have to live in society. We have to live in a country. In the grhastha-asrama, one has to earn a living and pay taxes. We have to do so many things, and those activities are performed in the material world. When we go to the spiritual world, we won’t have to go to the office, pay taxes, or perform social functions, but for now we must. There are, of course, constitutional activities that one performs both here and in the spiritual world. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam. We hear about Krsna. We chant about Krsna. We remember Krsna. And when we go to the spiritual world, we will engage in these same activities. Continue reading "The Advent of the Bhagavad-gita—Some Practical Guidance
→ Dandavats"

At the annual meeting of the global BBT in June, HH Jayadvaita Swami resigned as a trustee of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Since 1988, he has served as a trustee of the original BBT Trust, or as a director of the BBT International, or both (The two organizations work together). His resignation, which the BBT trustees have accepted, means that he no longer holds a post with either. His letter below gives his reasons for resigning. The BBT Trustees and Directors would like to thank HH Jayadvaita Swami for his years of dedicated service to the BBT and are grateful that he continues to serve the BBT as a friend and advisor. Continue reading "HH Jayadavaita Swami’s resignation as a BBT Trustee
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

Transcription :

Transcriber: Sharan Shetty

Edited by: Keshavgopal Das

Question: When jnana and karma are different philosophies, how can they both give the same result, as the Gita’s sixth chapter states?

Answer: When Krishna is using the words karma and jnana, he is not necessarily using the words to refer to whole philosophical systems. Arjuna and Krishna are not discussing broad philosophical treatises, they are discussing courses of action, that is why, karma in that context refers to the path of action and jnana refers to the path of inaction or the path of renunciation based on contemplation. There are some connections between the sankhya (which is being talked over there) and the sankhya (which is a philosophy) but they are not exactly the same because words have contextual meaning and context-independent meaning. Here, in the context, Krishna says to Arjuna , in Gita 5.2, nihsreyasa-karav ubhau. This means both will lead to long term benefit, but both will not lead to the exact same benefit. Krishna is not specifying any identical ultimate goal, he is broadly saying that both will lead to nihsreyasa or long term benefit. Therefore, in that context, both are similar.

When Krishna is using the word karma, he is not using it to refer to karma-kanda, he is actually using it to refer to karma yoga because in the context of karma-kanda, Krishna has already told in Gita 2.47, karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana (You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action). The progression from karma-kanda to karma yoga has already happened before Chapter Three. Krishna is talking here about karma yoga which does not mean romanticizing and enjoying the world. Krishna explains karma yoga as working with detachment. There are various places where Krishna is saying asaktah – work with detachment. Among the path of detached action and contemplative knowledge, karma yoga is better, although both will lead to long term benefit.

The yoga ladder, in itself, is an overall truth in which jnana yoga is placed above karma yoga. However, in the Gita’s context, there are very few verses which are actually speaking positively about the jnana yoga, path of inaction. Krishna wants Arjuna to act and so he always stresses on action, not on renunciation. The very fact that Arjuna wanted to renounce the world indicates that he considered renunciation to be higher than action and from a broad cultural understanding; renunciants are respected even by the kings. Renunciation being respectable is a broad Vedic understanding and Krishna is not challenging it. Renunciation of the world for the contemplation of higher reality is considered higher than engagement in the world for the purpose of enjoying the world. So, in the Gita, the hierarchy of renunciation being higher than action, in principle, is already accepted. However, in the context of Arjuna, inaction is not preferable. For him, the path of detached action is preferable. That is why, Krishna is speaking in general principle that both will lead to long term well-being but for Arjuna (and in general, people who are not very detached or not in sattva-guna) the path of detached action is better than path of renounced contemplation. This is the principle which Krishna is explaining in that context.

End of transcription.

The post When jnana and karma are different philosophies, how can they both give the same result, as the Gita’s sixth chapter states? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, May 2011, Radhadesh, Belgium, Lecture)

Our ISKCON movement is growing every day, and not growing only in numbers but it is also growing in complexity! In the earlier days, when Srila Prabhupada was establishing the preaching mission, this movement was simpler; membership was more homogenous – people of a similar age group and all engaged in the same activity.

Now, there is much more diversity! Diversity in different members of this movement and also diversity in different kinds programmes needed. We need a very broad movement! We need a movement which provides various ways for all kinds of people to engage in Krsna consciousness because Krsna consciousness is possible in any condition of life and it is meant for all kinds of people. There isn’t a particular stereotyped way of practicing Krsna consciousness.

In recent years, a lot of focus is on individuality, on engaging according to one’s nature, in finding one’s natural place in Krsna consciousness. In the earlier years of this movement, a lot of emphasis was placed on sacrifice – sacrifice of one’s nature for the mission. But now, people are looking for individual expression and we see more creative ways of engaging in devotional service, which opens up more avenues for more people to connect. So in that way, we established our movement in so many ways to society! That is fine and nice but the spirit of sacrifice still remains very valuable. The spirit of simply putting one’s own idea aside for the higher interest!