The Spirit of Bhagavad Gita
January 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
As Bhagavad Gita As It Is will be the basis of our discussions on the Krishna Connect website I would like to give you a general overview of the book. This overview will continue in the next few articles.
Even if you have already read the Gita I think you will find this information interesting. Bhagavad Gita is an amazing book. Even if you were to read the entire book every day of your life, every day you will still find new inspiration in it. So please read this carefully. I may be asking you questions about it later!
Firstly I would like to offer my respectful obeisances to my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapda, because without the knowledge he has most mercifully given us I would still be completely in darkness as far as spiritual knowledge is concerned. It is only because of his mercy that I can say anything of value.
Bhagavad Gita contains the essence of all spiritual knowledge spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. Because Bhagavad Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other spiritual literature. One need only regularly and attentively hear and read Bhagavad Gita.
At the present time mankind is so absorbed with day-to-day activities related to simply surviving in this world that he does not have the time to read all the Vedic literatures. But that is not necessary, this one book Bhagavad Gita is sufficient.
Bhagavad Gita appears within the Mahabharata. Mahabharata means the “the history of Greater India.” So the conversation we hear between Krishna and Arjuna actually happened. It is history. And if you would like to understand everything that happened before and after this conversation, that is available also, in the Mahabharata. However Bhagavad Gita is the very essence, the very nectar of the Mahabharata. So simply studying the Gita is sufficient.
There are thousands of translations of Bhagavad Gita available and we are not just studying any translaton of Bhagavad Gita, and there is a very good reason for this. We are studying Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and he describes that the reason he has given us this translation is as as far as he can see in America, and even in India, practically all the other translations of the Gita that are available in the market do not convey the real spirit of the Bhagavad Gita. In practically all the other editions the commentator expresses his own opinions without touching on the spririt of Bhagavad Gita.
And what is the spirit of Bhagavad Gita? Arjuna was the first student of the Gita, so we can understand the spirit of the Gita by seeing how Arjuna relates to Krishna, how he accepts Krishna and the instructions given by Krishna.
Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he gives evidence that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead also, by saying that all the great authorities in the past also accepted Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Krishna also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Gita. Therfore we should take Bhagavad Gita in this spirit. Understand it as Arjuna understood it from Krishna.
Krishna tells Arjuna that the Bhagavad Gita is not new. He tells Arjuna that He originally spoke the Gita to the Sun god, Vivasvan, at the beginning of the creation, and that the knowledge was handed down through the saintly kings from generation to generation, but now that knowledge had become lost, so therefore Krishna again spoke that same original knowledge to Arjuna.
A very important question is why did Krishna decide to speak this topmost spiritual knowledge to Arjuna? Arjuna was a warrior. A fighter. There were many other, seemingly more qualified people who Krishna could have spoken the Gita to. Why did he pick Arjuna?
Krishna tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because he is His devotee and His friend. Therefore the Bhagavad Gita is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna’s. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with Krishna.
We all have a relationship with Krishna eternally. However in the material state of life that eternal relationship is covered and we are unaware of our relationship with Krishna. But the process of Krishna consciousness can revive that original relationship.
The way Arjuna accepted the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna should be noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter.
“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal Divine Person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krishna I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods, nor demons, O Lord, know thy personality. (Bg. 10.12-14)
So this is the spirit of Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna tells Krishna the he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect, “I accept everything You say to be true.” Arjuna says that the personality of Krishna is very difficult to understand, that Krishna can not be known even by the great demigods. Therefore if even the beings greater than humans can not understand Krishna how can any human understand Him without becoming His devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad Gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna, nor should he think that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at least theoretically, according to the statements of Bhagavad Gita, or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad Gita.
We should therefore at least theoretically accept Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad Gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad Gita in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand because it is a great mystery.
Thank you for reading this newsletter. In a couple of days I will post the next instalment, “Just What is the Bhagavad Gita?“
Here krishna
dear Madhudvisa Namaskar….
I have a doubt… in Bhavath Githa Krishna said “worship only the God such as Krisnna,Ram,Vishhnu , not Devas such as Indiran,suriyan” Then whether Krishna Devotes can Worship the god and goddess such as Ganesh,Durga,Kali Madha or not… this is my great doubt… i am looking for your valuable reply….
Here Krishna……
How can you have a doubt? Krishna says the worshipers of the demigods are alpha-medhasam. They are fools with no brain substance. Krishna says “Surrender to Me, worship Me.” He does not say surrender to the demigods and worship them. There is no reason for confusion. Devotees of Krishna do not worship the demigods. They worship Krishna knowing that if Krishna is pleased everyone, including the demigods, will also be pleased.
Although my name sounds muslim. As a Bangla Deshi I know that we were forced to convert. Regarding worshiping the gods(Indra, Brahma,etc..) Krishna says that by worshipping him you worship all of them.
But if you worship ,say, Indra then you are worshipping only one aspect of GOD.
Dear Raja Rao,
Hare Krishna! First we have to understand that the devas do not have eternal life. These are executive posts in the administrative government for presiding over the affaires of the material world. Therefore by your good karma, you also can become Lord Indra, or Chandra, etc. But all of these devas have limited lifespan, even though much longer than our earthly lifespan. Therefore how can they grant you eternal life? Therefore to approach such beings for help in becoming free from samsara, repetition in the cycle of birth and death, this is not a good plan. And therefore Krishna condemns such plans as less intelligent.
Basically, worship of the devas is for persons who want to stay in line with the will of God, but who also want to live most comfortably and profitably within the brahmanda, within the material cosmos, whether on this planet or on the planets of the devas. This can be accomplished. But when the good karma runs out, like any good bank account, then death comes.
Everything that we have in this world comes to us through the devas. However, they are all servants of Krishna. Even Lord Shiva is always seen with his mala, meditating on Lord Krishna. Even Lord Brahma sings in Brahma Samhita, “Govindam adi purusham tam aham bhajami.” (“Oh Govinda, Lord of Lords, it is You whom I adore.”) And when Krishna diverted the Indra puja that Nanda Maharaja (Krishna’s father) wanted perform, and Krishna held up the Govardhana Hill on his little finger for 7 days, then Lord Indra came and offered puja and prayers to Lord Krishna. So you will never offend these great personalities by worshipping Krishna, because they all recognize Krishna as their Lord. Just like when you pay your tax to the government head office, all of the offices will get their share. You do not have to pay them each individually.
I hope tht this is helpful. You are a good soul. And you want to do the right thing. Simply you have been trained by others who are not in full understanding. Now you have been given that more full understanding. So you can go ahead with a happy heart, knowing that all of these other offices will be pleased with you when you give your love and service and offerings to the Head office.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa
First of all , i would like to offer my profound and humble service and prayers to the Lord of the lords – Sri Krishna.
Swami- i have verey recently experienced a great personal tragedy. I lost my 4 year old daughter – she was all of 4 years old – who was born after a prolonged period after my wedding… I called her a gift of God .
She was healthy with no realy major health issues. Suddenly, following a fever, she breated her last. This was quite sudden and even medical science is unable to explain or know the reason for my little daughters demise.
I and my wife are in a state of shock and grief. Why did it have to happen to an innocent child. I cannot but think of her all the time and grieve.
I pray to Lord Krishna to help us .
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Shantaram
Everything happens because of karma. Because of our actions in our previous lives. So no one is born ‘innocent’. Everyone has many past lives full of activities, some good and some bad. So everyone has to suffer the reactions of their past bad activities and ‘enjoy’ the reactions to their good and pious acts in the past. So it is all karma. We do not know why these things are happening but we know that we are not without blame. It is a practical example of the real nature of this material world which is mrtyu-loka. Everyone is dying here. But we try to forget that and work very hard to try and turn this place of suffering and death into a happy place where we plan to live with our family forever… Of course all our plans will be frustrated.
So do not worry. This is the nature of the world. We are all brought together for some time and then we are separated. With your daughter it was only a short time and that was ordained by your karma and by her karma. She did not die, death is simply a change of body. So she changed into another body.
These things happen. There is no reason to be shocked and in grief. Everyone is dying here in the material world. It is mrtya-loka, the planet of death. So death should not be shocking to us..
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I donot wish to sound hard-hearted. But while she was alive, did you give mahaprasadam of Lord Krishna from Krishna’s altar? did you teach her to chant the name of Krishna in kirtan so that she could become attached to chanting the holy names of Krishna and associate in her mind the chanting of the holy names with feelings of love and being loved? Did you teach her to bow down before the form of the Lord, on the altar, to participate in bathing the Lord and dressing the Lord? As a parent, did you give your daughter these advantages in preparation for her inevitable death, or did you simply try to enjoy her presence in your life for your own pleasure?
These are the questions that you must ask yourself. And if the answer is “no”, then you can understand that when you have your next child, you must do everything in your power to give that child every opportunity grow up in an atmosphere in which love for Krishna is the glue that holds your lives together, your family life, your practical life in the world, and the life that you will have after you leave this temporary body.
I never had these advantages as a child. My parents were atheists, and told me there was no God, that it was all superstition. My life was so very empty and meaningless. Then I met Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Swami, my spiritual father. And at age 25 I began to cultivate this Krishna Consciousness, after learning so many ungodly ways of living and thinking. So if you can spare your next child this kind of ungodly experience and give them all facility for developing love for Krishna, and if you will promise this to Krishna, then Krishna will surely give you a beautiful and wonderful baby to grow up and spread Krishna consciousness in this world of death.
The technology for having a spiritual child take birth in your wife’s womb is that you and your wife must have only thoughts of Krishna in your hearts while you are impregnating your wife. The menality of the parents at the moment of conception determines the spiritual quality of the soul that becomes attracted to the mother’s womb. In that way a great service is performed by bringing only spiritual beings to this planet, beings that can help others to grow in spiritual life so that we do not have to return to this terrible painful place.
So you can begin formulating your contract with Krishna. That will be good for you, for your wife, for your child, and for all the people of this planet.
Srila Prabhupada used to instruct his students to chant on their Tulsi mala 64 rounds of japa (in one day) before entering into sexual realtion, both husband and wife, just so that they could attract to her womb an elevated servant of Krishna.
I sincerely hope this may be encouraging to you. Hare Krishna!
Ishan das
Hare krsna prabhuji…
well,many good changes occured in our life ever since you started your preaching..well,i thank the Lord for sending you to help poor devotees in distress like us..prabhu,i’ll only tell you toplz continue guiding us..we need guru’s like you to be able to know our vainavism culture and Our lord more…
HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
Hare Krishna
Namaskar
do i have to chant the mantra in the morning or we can chant it all the day
do i have to chant it in front of lord krishna or i can chant anywhere
can i start with 5 rounds. Please answer me i want to know all about japa and kirtan. how can i get progress towards lord krishna.
HARE KRISHNA
Hare Krishna Anshu
You can and should chant the Hare Krishna mantra constantly, morning, noon and night — 24 hours a day. You can chant anywhere, there are no rules and regulations as to where you can chant Hare Krishna, you can and should chant Hare Krishna everywhere and anywhere. You will not seriously start until you actually become dedicated to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra a day. If you are not prepared to do this then you have not yet started. You have not taken it seriously. If you want Krishna consciousness to actually work you have to take it seriously which means you have to at least surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra a day and very strictly following the four regulative principles: No illicit sex, No meat eating, No gambling and No intoxication. If you are not prepared to surrender to these things then you can not start Krishna consciousness actually. This is how you can progress towards Krishna. Surrender to Srila Prabhupada and follow his instructions!!! And he instructs everyone to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. So we have to do this. Otherwise there will be practically no progress towards Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Anshu
Í can understand your questions for i’ve been through the same. What i did was chant as many times as i could in the beginning which would be 3 times somedays 4 or 6. I’d chant while i drive as well. slowly in a couple of weeks i could increase the number and in 2 months i could get to 16 rounds which included the rounds i did while driving. Then I read in one of the comments that while i can chant when driving, number of rounds done while driving cannot be counted. Since a few months now i’ve been able to do 16 rounds and more leaving aside the chanting i do while driving. What i mean to say here is if you are sincere in your attempt, Lord Krishna will guide to where you intend to reach. So, as you practice deligently you will find time and will be able to do 16 rounds and more easily. When i’m in doubt and have not found satisfactory answers speaking to fellow worshippers or by reading, i ask Lord Krishna to show me the right path and believe me over time HE does show it depending on how sincere you are with the request.
Hare Krishna
Sanat Attavar
Hi,
While reading 1st mail which u have send me It came in My Mind, 1).Why is Kirshna so difficult to Understand, 2).Why there is need for one to Understand that Krishna is god as everything in his life is still going on for those who even dont ask who is god.
3). How one can beocme devotee, what are the things required to become devotee.
Please help
Thanks and Hare Krishna
Dear Madhudvisa Prabhuji, Hare Krishna!
Your post is evry enlightening, Thank you! I try to read the BG every day and due to Gods mercy am trying to slowly understand the purport. You have rightly said that if you were to read the BG every day,you will still find new inspiration in it!
Thank you and I look forward to your upcoming posts,
Hari Bol!
Hare Krishna, Thanks a Ton for Your Mail regairding the Spirit of Bhagvad Gita…I am really Happy to See your mail regarding the teachings of Bahavad Gita, As you have already mastered in Spiritual Knowledge and You Guinding Us really a Great Opportunity for us to Remain in Contact with Krishna while Working as Well…
Can I tell others as well to chant what should I tell them (My Office Colleague).
Hare Krishna Arjun
Yes, certainly, if you are chanting Hare Krishna and feeling some benefits from it then you should talk about it with your friends and work mates. Really you can not ‘tell’ anyone to do anything. You can explain things to people and let them know how it is working for you and describe the benefits you are experiencing and you can suggest that they try it also and see what happens, like that. But don’t be disappointed if your friends and workmates do not take to chanting Hare Krishna. Actually not everyone can do it. It requires something, some special mercy from Krishna and Krishna’s pure devotee. Most people are 100% convinced that sense gratification, money and sex, is the purpose of life. So many times to take seriously to Krishna consciousness a person needs to have become somewhat frustrated in his attempts to enjoy in the material world. He has to be smashed by maya. And then, when he can see the real nature of the material world, he will be much more likely to take to spiritual life.
But you can help your friends and workmates to become Krishna conscious by giving them your good association, by taking with them about Krishna. Not telling them to do things, but explaining interesting parts of the philosophy to them and also you can talk about the many stories in the Bhagavatam and Krishna Book. There is so much material for talking about in Prabhupada’s books so if you read Prabhupada’s books then you can talk about what you read and that will help anyone who hears you.
You can get some of Prabhupada’s small books and give them to your friends and encourage them to read also themselves. This is actually the most powerful way that people become devotees of Krishna, by reading Prabhupada’s books. Actually our preaching does not have much potency. Prabhupada often says “What will your five minutes of preaching do? If he takes a book and just reads one line it will change his life…” So Prabhupada’s books are so potent and actually our preaching will not really be potent until we are actually pure devotees of Krishna and we have really transcended the three modes of material nature and have no more material desires…
The other thing you can distribute prasadam to your friends.
So certainly you should talk about Krishna with whomever you meet and get them to take and read Prabhupada’s books…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I will state my current situation simply.I am a poet and I by change discovered the Bhagavad Gita.It gave me sustenance and I learned of the Mantra.I started doing the Mantra and now I am ready as a derivative benefit to stop smoking.I am urgently preparing for my intent to Honour Krishna for his loving service to me.
I will not incriminate and religion but the Hare Krishna faith has given me a holy sancutary to be myself completely under the guidance of our Lord.
Hare Krishna !
South-Africa.
Hare Krishna Martin
I am very happy that you have experienced some positive results from taking to Krishna consciousness. But you have to know you are just in the beginning stages. To become actually Krishna consciousness is a process that you have to learn and follow. So I humbly request that you very seriously study the books of Srila Prabhupada. Do not try to write about things that you do not completely understand. First become the student and learn from the bona fide guru. Only then when you have completed the course and received the blessings and mercy of Krishna’s pure devotee can you become empowered to write something of value about spiritual subject matters.
Otherwise you writing will just become yet another disturbance in the society…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
Hare Krishna
Bhagvad Gita is the spritiual knowledge spoken by Supreme personality of Godhead Krishna.
dear Madhudvisa prabhu,
In bhagavat gita it is said that there are only 8400000 species of life. how is this to be understood as there are already millions of species of insect only?
thank you for giving this opportunity to ask questions.
haribol
Have you seen millions of insects???
Hare Krishna
Dear Madhudvisa Dasa
I have a list of questions that i wish to ask, i have nothing against the god i totally believe in him but due to certain incidences in my life i think i am getting little off the track. I don’t know may be because of symptoms of self realization or may be because of curiosity i need somebody to guide me, i have read few books by Sri A.C BHAKTIVEDANT SWAMI PRABHUPADA and i visited Vrindavan,Mathura and ISKCON temple but i was not able to open up my questions as there were lot of people around me, kindly guide me how i can help my curiosity and be on the right spiritual path.
Hare Krishna
Prabhupada will guide you if you surrender to him and read his books and actually follow the instructions he gives you in the books. It does seem that most people are not capable of this and do need some physical guidance. That is their great misfortune because at the moment we do not see any such qualified physically present guide is there. So better to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and learn how to benefit from his personal association through reading his books and listening to his recorded classes…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
On Janmastami day 2010 a very good friend of mine took me to the ISKCON Temple – Chennai, INDIA and a young Hare Krishna devotee urged me to buy and read some books. I was a regular visitor to Sri Krishna Temple in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman since 1996 but sadly never had understood Sri Krishna as HE is to be understood. Thanks to the books available at ISKCON Temple i was able to understand and suddenly i found meaning to my life, till such time i lived a full life, living life the way it is to be lived which is through prayer, hard work, sincereity, committing mistakes sometimes knowingly sometimes unknowingly and enjoying every moment of it but had never understood why life is such. My reading of the Bhagavad Gita – As it is gave my life a whole new meaning and since then i’ve never felt the need for anything else, its an experience which has to be experienced not narrated, for only then will every individual understand what he is and where he has to eventually go. Thanks to everyone who at every step helped me get till here and from here on i know it is my devotion to Sri Krishna which will take me further to my ultimate destination for which i’m in a great hurry but at the same time i wish to enjoy every bit of the journey to get me there for i know bliss is as much in chanting Hare Krishna as it is in getting to HIM.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa
I live in Avon Park, Florida. A Hindu woman who owns a store near me told me about a temple in Lake Wales, Florida. Are you familiar with that? Also, what is the difference between Hindi and Hare Krishna, anything?
Finally, I would love to have a copy of “Bhagavad Gita, As It Is” for myself to read. I remember in San Diego during the 1970s it was easy to find devotees on the street or at the Ashram in Pacific Beach and I used to have a copy many years ago. At the time I lost interest but am anxious to learn more at this time.
Sincerely,
Michael
Hare Krishna Michael
You can get Srila Prabhupada’s original Bhagavad-gita As It Is at:
http://www.KrishnaStore.com
I am reading Bhagavadgita, a sloka per day. Hare Krishna….
in the 1980′s I read the teachings of Jesus which instructed that I if I wished to see the the Kingdom of Heaven that I must forsake all. I surrendered all including shoes and family and set to the streets to live as a fool. Although 3 or 4 days would go by without food, I did not starve to death. Of the multiple epiphonies and reallizations I experienced the most profound was was a spiritual intuition to travel 100 miles of Highway which led me to a second hand shop where my hands first felt the covers of the Swami’s teachings and I was refrshed in the Spirit of Lord Krisna. Many answers were contained in study and meditation and the simpliest joy is contained in the relationship between The Lord and Arjuna. When you converse about Godhead in the Maya you must see thru the veil of Material Nature and see the eyes of the Lord in your companion. Look to the Supersoul and believe all is one and much will be revealed, we may not like the revelation but it will help us to rise above the illusion and carry on in our journey. I pose a question for the purpose of our relationship in the Lord, “are we really here, or are we dreaming”?
Warm Wishes, David
Hare Krishna! David,
According to our vaishnava teachings, both are true. We are really here, and, we are really dreaming.
The energy that we call “spirit soul” is one of the energies of God. We are this energy, which is eternally alive and conscious. And Krishna has created us in order to enjoy loving exchanges with us.
Our relationship with Krishna is that we can experience unlimited happiness by seeking Krishna’s pleasure with every thought, word and deed. This demeanor of seeking Krishna’s pleasure is bassed upon love for Krishna. And although we were created for this purpose, some of us have opted for desiring not to be loving servants of God, but to want to have His position as the central person who everyone else serves, glorifies, adores, etc. Therefore the material world of gross elements and the subtle mental energy has been created, so that we can try our hand at being the central figure. but the problem is that we are here in the material world with countless other wayward souls who also, like us, desire inappropriately, to be number one. Therefore our envy of God’s position, manifests as envy of each other, so that we are always in conflict with each other.
In the sense that we are asleep to our real nature of spontaneous love for God, and are forced to identify this gross body and subtle perverted mind as our selves, we are dreaming. In this context, we are most subtle while the dream is gross. It is a dream because these identities, one body after another, are all temporary. They dissolve or are recycled into the material nature. Here today, gone tomorrow. Therefore these identities are like dreams – not because they don’t exist, but because they don’t endure. So we are really here, within the material creation, experiencing the successive dreams of one lifetime after another, all with different identities of species, of gender, of race, of nationality, etc.
The material creation is like an insane asylum for disoriented souls who want to be God, rather than engage in loving service to God. The treatment for our perverse inclination is a kind of hypnotherapy in which we are forced to experience these dream identities, birth after birth. Although we are eternal and indestrucable, we experience birth, old age, disease and death, the miseries of the mind, of the body, the miseries infliced on us by other living entities, and the miseries of natural disater, of plague, volcanoe, tidal wave, flood, famine, earthquake, etc. Although nothing is happening to us as pure spirit, we are hypnotized by Krishna’s illuory energy so that we experience these miseries as real. It is not imposed on us as punishment, but out of love, to bring us to our senses, that we cannot be successful in fulfilling ourselves by being self-centered.
When we become exhausted after millions of lifetimes, and choose to seek a solution, Krishna puts us in touch with real information through the various scriptures. And when we take up the path of devotional life, gradually, the illusion is lifted and we experience ourselves as eternal loving servants of God. Although still in a material body, the bodily identification is finished, and the soul experiences boundless ecstacy, and becomes indifferent to material concerns. It is like waking up from the dream and back on track with our real life. Then, when we leave this body, there is no more need to return to the material world.
So, yes, we are really here, and we are dreaming. Self-realization means to wake up from this dream. No one can wake up on their own, but rather this realization comes by grace. That grace comes through the agency of Krishna’s confidential messengers, who write books like those that you have found. Please continue reading and everything will become clear.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Thankyou that was so excellent, have a great day, Hare Krisna David
thankyou, i am in your debt for your kind attentions to my thoughts. Hare Krisna
HARE KRSNA,
as i have the knowledge little bit about bhagavad gita, and few days ago i was reading sri krishna story from net, in which is written that krishna was born from vishnu due to too many demons on the earth, to protect, later on he died …. and bhagavad geeta say krishna is supreme personality of godhead, he is the supersoul, but the issue is krishna came thru lord vishnu…m so confused at this part kindly clarify mr this…
Thanking you,
Hare krishna
Hare Krishna
Yes. Many are confused about the appearance and activities of Krishna and then his disappearance. Actually Krishna says: janma karma ca me divyam.. “One who understands the nature of My birth and activities in this material world does not take birth again.” So in other words it is very common to be confused about Krishna’s birth and activities in this world — and if one is not confused about this — if one understands the nature of Krishna’s birth and activities in this world — then he is a liberated soul who does not have to take birth in this world again…
So to really understand this you have to become Krishna conscious. And the process to become Krishna conscious is very nicely described by Srila Prabhupada in his books. SO PLEASE READ THEM……
Hare Krishna prabhuji,
yes i have been reading so many books as science of self realization, teachings of queen kunti n then i dont remb the book name but the story was of jamila in which his last son name was narayana and due to this to save jamila krishna came….but my issue as krishna came from vishnu…so krishna n vishnu bhagwan are the same or still krishna is the higher one than vishnu as everybody knows krishna is the supersoul , supreme persoanlity of godhead. OR VISHNU BHAGWAN IS KRISHNA ONLY…
Hare Krishna .
How can one surrender to Krishna ?
Ys.
It is a process that Srila Prabhupada has written about in more than 60 books… READ THEM!!!
Dear Bhupendra,
These words, like “surrender” and “service” will naturally have material connotations for us, because we live in this material world, where surrender and service are not looked upon as positive values.
In this realm no one wants to surrender, but everyone wants to vanquish others. And no on e wants to be a servant, but everyone wants to be served by others. But this is only because we inappropriately want to be Krishna, or God, and have everyone surrender to us and serve us. That is our insanity.
As pure spirit souls, we are eternal (sat), full of wisdom (chit) and full of spiritual ecstacy (ananda). And these attributes are manifest when our spontaneous love for Krishna is re-awakened. This re-awakening process is the path of surrender. These are the activites of bhakti yoga, in which loving service to Krishna is both the means and the goal.
These activites of the pure spirit soul are shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, or hearing about Krishna, glorifying Krishna, and remembering Krishna, all with a nice attitude, with a desire to develope our love for Krishna. These activites comprise the path of surrender.
As Madhudvisa Prabhu has indicated, we can hear from the pure source of wisdom by reading the books of the pure devotee, His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. By giving submissive aural reception to these teachings from a pure lover of Krishna, you will be automatically engaged in shravanam, and then kirtanam and smaranam will follow. So don’t delay, but begin reading these books, and enjoying the path of surrender to Krishna.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Hare Krishna prabhu I read your news letter I find it very interesting prabhu I often wonder why do we die and where do we go I have heard that we merge with Krishna but why some one come and tell us can you give me any more information Hari Bhol
Hare Krishna Shanti
Krishna makes it very clear in the Bhagavad-gita about what happens, where we go when we die. He says that whatever state of consciousness one has at the time of death, that state he attains without fail.
So whatever you are thinking about at the time of death determines your next life. So if you are thinking like an animal, animals eat, sleep, mate and defend, so if that is what you are primarily interested, then your next birth will be in an animal body. If you are thinking of Krishna at the time of death then you will go back to Krishna, back home, back to Godhead. So the process of Krishna consciousness is to train ourselves to always remember Krishna so if we are always remembering Krishna then we will certainly remember Krishna at the time of death…
These things are much more fully explained in Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is, you should read it…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Shanti, Hare Krishna!
This concept of “merging” with Krishna, this is not the conclusion or understanding as it is given to us in Bhagavad-gita (Krishna’s direct words) or the Bhagavat Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam). This Bhagavatam is given to us by Veda-Vyasadeva, who is the author of the Vedanta Sutra. The Bhagavatam is his own commentary on the Vedanta Sutra.
It would take far too much time and space to provide you with all of the quotes from these vedic literatures, but the conclusions are quite easily stated:
We are eternally individual spirit souls, and our eternal nature is to engage in loving devotional activites in relation with Bhagavan Sri Krishna. All of the activities of bhakti that we do while we are in this realm is only to prepare us for the same activites that we will perform in the spiritual realm. In Krishnaloka, also known as Goloka Vrindavan, Krishna is served by His loving asociates. The very thought of “merging” is completely abhored by them. The very idea of merging is completely distasteful, because by merging, all individuality is lost, and the opportunity to engage in loving service to Krishna is lost.
This merging is a factual experience for those who aspire for it. But it is only the very tip of experience of God, and cannot provide the fulfillment that our hearts are always craving. It is a kind of spiritual suicide. Because material life with all of its relationships is so painful, some yogis have become attracted to the idea of ending our individuality with this merging. But this is a great mistake, because eternal loving exchanges with Krishna is so filled with ananda – ananda that those who merge can never taste.
It is true that those who have experience of merging become somewhat equipoised, but we see again and again that these yogis and swamis are not content with that merging, but because they have no loving exchange with God, they again become involved in the material field of good works. On the other hand, those who establish a loving relationship with Krishna, understand that this eternal loving exchange is available to everyone. Therefore they do not waste time in opening hospitals (that cannot save anyone from dying) but give all their energy for encouraging all of us to cultivate a loving exchange with Krishna so that we can return to Krishna and celebrate eternal life with Him in the spiritual sky.
If you are serious to understand this in all of its authoritative detail, it will be necessary for you to read the Books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is a pure devotee of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
If fact, those who advertise this merging experience are their own worst enemies because they are enemies of Bhagavan Sri Krishna Himself. This is because they beleive that the highest aspect of God is void, impersonal. But Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that He is the source of that impersonal Brahman that is the brahmajyoti – the great impersonal spiritual light: “brahmano hi pratishtaham”.
This merging is an option, but only for those who are enemies of Krishna, who do not want to bow to Him, and who want to declare themselves as
God.
You must read Srila Prabhupada so that the idea of merging will become completely distasteful to you.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
HARE KRSNA,
I am very happy to be connected with you swamiji…I must say that I am very fortunate to attend your sessions…as those four sessions turned my life..thats all because of your pure service..
I am curiously waiting for your news letter..thank you so much.
Well, maybe so. I gave up on submission or god. Why? Why not is a better question. I’ll tell you, Mr. Harrisons devotion is of great interest to me, I had and have an enormous amount of respect for him. I don’t know anything though, I been ready to leave here for quite a while.
My Mantra has been ‘So What” for a long time.I’d like to enjoy it here but I really wonder if I really can. I’ll keep the connection. We’ll see.
Haribol. This is a very nice article and I am very excited for the next one to come out. Thank you.
my master madhudvisa i just want to ask that i have a month before i go to hostel where no internet is there and so i wont be able to read your mails and newsletters for next 2 years and also not bhagwad gita for 2 years. so i say that i have read gita once and in this remaining time i want to read the whole book and so i thought that i should just try to understand gita at this time rather remerbering it as it is as you recommended me in discipline succesion. because it takes time to exactly memorise one verse on other hand i have no experience of doing it. so far what i have studied was based only on understanding and not learning it word to word . so i think that i should just try to read whole gita and try to remember its contents rather than whole verses exactly same and in future or if i get the book gita then i might practise learning gita exactly same very hardly. please show the path and tell what shall i do and is my thinking right? please tell my bona fide spiritual master
In 2 years you can read the Bhagavad-gita many times…
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa,
Thank you for your sending me newsletter.
I read Bhagavad Gita but very slowly and unable to complete in a day. So I read day by day because I am a working girl. I chant everyday. Morning, noon while I am working in office and then evening. I hear the song of Hare Krishna Hare Rama. I have no doubt for God and no question for him. I just want to know that should we complete Bhagavad Gita in one day and how is it possible or alternative or as I am reading that is also right way???
I am reading Bhagavad Gita it does not mean that I have a full knowledge. I have just started. Yes I started to read this 8 months ago then it left by me between. Now I have started again.
Hare Krishna
Deepali
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji ,
I ‘ve been trying to follow the path of ISKCON for last two years , I have read the perfect question & Answer book.
As being a working class person I get very short time to read Bhagwad Geeta , I am a Professional driver and I have LISTENED to Bhagwad geeta as it is ,while I am driving. Most of the times I do Chant while I am driving .
But still in my mind i feel guilty all the times that I am not doing everything perfectly as I still have not converted my self to be a fully vegetarian person , As the type of job I do We some times have to grab something on the way which is quick to eat .
I have not READ Bhagwad Geeta yet , where as I have Listened to it.
Can you please give me some tips about chanting properly , As While driving I can not chant on beads .
Can you please guide me about the right Path what should I do to become a better person and a better follower of Srila Prabhu Paad ji.
Hari Bol.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
You can chant Hare Krishna anywhere, anytime but you can not chant your 16 rounds when you are distracted by other things. So you can not chant your 16 rounds while driving for example. Just get up early in the morning before 4:00am and chant them then. That is the best time to chant Hare Krishna. You can continue chanting Hare Krishna also all day even when you are driving but that sort of chanting can not count towards your 16 rounds.
To chant properly you have to be able to concentrate on chanting and hearing the mantra. So you need to make some time in your day to do this. And you have to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication]. It is just a matter of deciding to do it. And again making some arrangement so you have some prasadam to eat when you are hungry. You can take some prasadam with you to work in a thermos or something like that. You just have to analyze your current lifestyle and work out what parts of if are not very favorable to your making advancement in Krishna consciousness and change them….. You can change your life, your daily routine, your habits, that is in your power. A devotee accepts the things that are favorable for his advancement in Krishna consciousness and rejects the things that are not favorable. You just need to do that gradually, one thing at a time, and you will see that your Krishna consciousness will steadily improve.
If you don’t know what to do just chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books and Krishna in your heart and Prabhupada in his books will give you inspiration and then you will know what you should do…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Guruji!
Sri Rama Navami wishes to you n all Guruji!
I am feeling very happy sir,’cause iam receiving these letters from now onwards!
actually i completed reading my BhagavadGita As It Is(Srila Prabhupada Guruji) in Telugu language!
somewhere one guruji said in a TV prog that “one who completes reading BhagavadGita for 18 times,then he’ll surely reach Krsna!!!”
i am trying for this guruji!
because of some family n financial problems am unable to do concentrate on my studies guruji!
my mom advices me to wear maha shiva’s Rudrakshas to convert all the things in to favourable factors!my elder bro is still wearing those!
i said that Krsna is everything for me n even to that Great DemiGod Shiva!then why should i wear them?but they are forcing sasying that Shiva is the Greatest devotee of Krsna n if you wear those Rudrakshas n that Krsna will definetely pleases!
but i strictly refused that!
am i wrong in doing this guruji?
before i use to eat non-veg but when i came to know about this site,i totally left all those n even am not drinking tea coffee too!all are shocking by looking at all my changed habits!
now a days everybody use to wear the NAZAR SURAKSHA KAVACH,DHANLAXMI PENDANTS,RUDRAKSHAS,FENGSHUI TIPS(related to VAASTHU SHASTRA)!
should we believe in these guruji?
or in Krsna?!
please answer to all these questions guruji!
am eagerly waiting for your reply sir!
once again Sri Rama Navami wishes to everybody!
Hare Krsna!
Hare Krishna Prabhu
We should just surrender to Srila Prabhupada and hear from him his instructions about how we should serve Krishna. So that means you do not listen to all the nonsense advice given to you by others. You can be very polite and say, “Yes, yes…” but actually completely ignore what they say and follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions which are very simple and that is to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on tulsi japa beads. And of course all of the other instructions that we find in Prabhupada’s books including wearing tulsi beads around our necks.
All of these other things are material things, they may perhaps have some material benefit, perhaps not, but a devotee does not need any of these things because ultimately every benediction is coming from Krishna, so if we are worshiping Krishna directly then there is no need for us to worship any other demigod or follow any of these other things…
So you are not doing anything wrong, you are doing the right thing. So just stick to following the instructions you find in Srila Prabhupada’s books and you will be very successful. And not just you, the family members of a devotee also share in the results of his devotional service, even if they are inimical to him or even if they are inimical to Krishna. So you are doing the best service to your family also by becoming a pure devotee of Krishna.
So don’t compromise, but also don’t go out of your way to agitate them too much and gradually they will accept what you are doing also..
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Madhudvisa dasa Ji, my obeisance to you. I very much appreciate the time and energy you are giving through this website and through the newsletter. I’ve some questions which I request you to answer:
My grandfather can die any day. I want their next life to be beneficial for them; what can I do for this purpose?
I am considering making them wear Tulsi mala, because I’ve read on some websites that “Upon seeing the Tulasi-mala, the Yamadutas fee like leaves scattered by the wind”. But I’ve many doubts about doing this, as if the Yamadutas really fee then who comes to take care of the soul? Even if you quote for me from our ancient texts, I don’t know how much I can trust the quotes, because when I read such statements:
“In Garud Purana it is stated: All those people of evil argumentative mentality who say why to wear Tulsi beads, what results are attained by wearing them, and don’t wear Tulsi beads around their neck, burn in the fire of anger of Sri Hari and will never get liberated from hell.”
-When I read such statements I get doubtful about trusting quotes from our ancient texts.
Again, what can I do so that my grandfather’s next life is beneficial for them?
Hare Krishna Blue
Best talk to your grandfather about Krishna. At the end of life people are naturally interested in spiritual things. So you can think of how to explain Krishna consciousness to him in a way that he can relate to it and tell him that these beads are very special and spiritual and holy and will help him in his next life. And if he likes the idea then why not put tulsi beads on him. It is offensive for people who are not following the regulative principles to wear Tulsi beads so it is better that you convince him to be vegetarian and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and follow the four regulations before wearing them actually…
The reality is you can’t really become Krishna consciousness against your will. So you have to preach to him to convince him that these final days of his life should be spent coming closer to God. And if he is a Christian then he can read the Bible, or if you can convince him about Krishna consciousness and get him to chant Hare Krishna then that would be wonderful.
Of course there is a way that you can take all your family members for many generations into the past and many generations into the future. You just have to become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself and automatically your whole family will benefit from that and they will all go back home back to Godhead, even if they are not devotees at all. So that is the best way actually. Become a pure devotee of Krishna and be confident that in doing that you are doing the best service for your family members also.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you so much for the answer. My grandfather because of their old age can’t think properly and for talking they just make sounds. I still have many questions regarding Tulsi mala and Krishna consciousness; I think until I get clarity, what I can at least do is to simply pray to Krishna for them. Madhudvisa Ji, I’ve many diverse questions and then counter-questions; So is there any knower of everything, present today whom I can approach? I think Sathya Sai Baba was such a saint, I had to meet him but he died before I could meet him. Is there anyone else who knows everything and is approachable?
Srila Prabhupada. He is the most approachable. Just read his books. You will not find anyone more qualified then him and you will not find anyone else who can answer all your questions with such clarity.
But no one is going to answer your questions actually unless you follow the process and surrender to them and serve them and offer them obeisances. That is the way that transcendental knowledge flows from the guru to the disciple. But submission and surrender and service.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Blue,
Hare Krishna! It has been revealed that Sai Baba was not a saint. Here is a part of report, many of which you can find online, about Sai Baba, made by a man who was very close to Sai Baba:
“I in fact feel that Sai Baba’s misery has just started and after losing his legs and one hand, soon he will lose his hearing, speech, eyesight and mental sanity, one by one, and his misery will be shown to the whole world, and he will be exposed for what he truly is : the retribution for a lifetime of massive fraud, debauchery, trickery and self seeking, for name and fame as God, resulting in an old age drooling, gibbering, legless, blind, speechless, paralysed and broken, and humiliated old wretch.”
In order to discriminate between who is a real saint and who is actually a first class rascal, you must read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
It is true that the baba had a large following, performed many tricks to dazzle the minds of the innocent, and was involved in various humanitarian efforts. But humanitarian efforts will not save us from the real problems of life which are janma, mrytu, jara, vyadi, (birth. old age, disease and death).
This predicament of being subject to the conditions of samsara is our real problem. If we can be released from samsara, then automatically all of our other problems are solved, so there is no need of such humanitarian work.
Of course we should be helpful to each other, but a real teacher, a real saint will remove the whole range of human suffering in one motion by teaching us how to re-awaken our love for Krishna. This awakening of love for Krishna is our automatic passport to the spiritual realm, and once going there, Krishna declares in Bhagavad-gita, one will never return to this miserable world of birth and death.
The baba that you are referring to did not give this kind of teaching. Nor was he practicing it.
Madhudvisa Prabhu is a gentleman, and so he is not saying anything against that man. As Madudvisa says again and again, you simply must read Srila Prabhupada’s books. In that you you will become convinced as to what is the real standard of saintly life.
Saintly life is not about doing humanitarian work. Such work does not relieve anyone from the terrible suffering of human life, birth after birth after birth. Anyone who pretends to be a spiritual teacher and does not point the way towards the real doorway out of this life of suffering, once and for all, is simply misleading the public. By such misleading, he is the cause not only of their death but of their repeated death, perhaps for millions of lifetimes. In the west such a person is referred to as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He pretends to be nice, but his plan is to take their blood.
I humbly place myself at your feet, and request that you simply begin to read the books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Through the pages of those books is the doorway that you are really looking for, a doorway that will take you out of this world of cheaters, to the realm of eternal life, singing, dancing, and feasting with the one and only Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
All other Bhagavans are simiply envious imitators, who are paving their path to hell.
Hare Krishna, Ishan das
I won’t promise right now that I’ll read any of his books completely. But I’ll surely go through some of his books today (Indian Standard Time) and in later days.
I have read the Gita, pes a lobro spiritual and mysterious, because how you say every time a read it is something new, sometimes I ask him Sri Krishna as the book habro Temgo the answer.
Now I lent the book to another is enriched spiritually.
I’m still as Arjuna with many questions.
Blessings.
Cristina de Jesus.
Hare krishna.
Brothers in krishna blessings, I am very happy
befriend you, concienia of our loving God.
Dear Christina,
Hare Krishna! Thank you for being so intelligent and finding satisfaction and goodness in the teachings of Bhagavad-gita.
This material life is so much filled with suffering. All over the world people are suffering from diseases, wars, exploitation and natural disasters. Not only is this the real standard of life in the material world, but it cannot be improved – not through science, not through medicine, not through politics.
All of these approaches are being made by less inteligent people who cannot see that this life is very short, and will end at any moment, regardless of science, politics, education, economic developement, etc.
The only solution for a sane person is to re-awaken our feelings of spontaneous love for Krishna. If this is accomplished one can leave this world and not be forced to return by the laws of karma. Krishna promises that He will remove all of our karma if we open our hearts to Him.
Thank you for reading Bhagavad-gita and for sharing it with your friends. this sharing of this knowledge with your friends is the greatest kindness, and it is very, very pleasing to Krishna.
I offer you my respects. Welcome to our family of Krishna Consciousness. We are all going Home together.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Hare Krishna Prabhu .I live in Dubai. I read your news letter. I started associating with Krishna Consciousness only few months ago. I have started chanting and just started reading Bhagavat Gita.
I recently suscribed to krishna newsletter on B.G.I read whole letter i liked it very much..i want to know more about god(lord krishna).please send next letter as soon as possible..hare krishna…
Jai Shri Krishna Swami Ji
My regards always to you.I have started Bhagvad Gita.There are 18 chapters,and it contains time to finish.I want to know that what are those things which are to be ignored during the time when we continues with Bhagvad Gita.Waiting your soonest reply.
With Best Regards
Ravi Kant
Nothing can be ignored in the Bhagavad-gita Prabhu. YOU HAVE TO STUDY ALL OF IT. It is a very small book, only 1000 pages. If you read one chapter a day that will take you less than two hours a day and you will be finished the whole book in 18 days. Most people watch at least 2 hours of television a day. So if you just read the Gita instead you will be finished the whole book in 18 days… And then you can read it again and again and again. And every time you read it the Bhagavad-gita gets better…
Hare Krsna,
Dear Madhudvisa dasa,
Thx very much for your regular mails. They are very informative and give lot of encouragement to go ahead in the devotional path. I have been adviced by one of the Hare Krsna devotee that I’m supposed to do 16 rounds of Mala Chanting of Maha Mantra. I was also told that while chanting I have to do it loudly or at-least audio-able to naked ears, but I find doing it in mind is more peaceful and pleasing. Also, I’m told that, if I’m interrupter, due to phone call or some one call me, I’m supposed to start that round all-over-again. Is that true? Kindly advice on above pls.
Thanks.
K.V.Ramesh
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Yes. The advice you have received from the devotee is correct. You have to chant the Hare Krishna loudly, at least loudly enough so you can clearly hear the mantra yourself. Because the process is CHANTING and HEARING. It is the transcendental sound vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra that is purifying so for the purifying effect you have to chant the transcendental sound vibration. If you just think it in your mind there is no transcendental sound vibration so there is really very little purifying effect. Of course thinking of Krishna is also good but that is not the process recommended for this age. You have to chant loudly the Hare Krishna mantra and hear it. That is the only way…. And yes, if you are interrupted while chanting a round you should start it again. That is also correct. It is not a problem. The more you chant Hare Krishna mantra the more you will become attached to the chanting and you will not want to stop chanting Hare Krishna when you get to 16 rounds you will want to keep chanting Hare Krishna forever…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you
Hi,
Have read the 1st news letter sent by you & i am inspired & impressed.. I would like to join the ISKCON society as a folk member, plz advise how to go abt it..
Thank you
Nikhil Krishna
Hare Krishna Prabhu
I do not recommend joining ISKCON at the moment. They have so much distorted and watered down the teachings of Srila Prabhupada over the past 25 years that you will only get mislead by them unfortunately. I suggest you keep reading the newsletters and make a serious effort to study Srila Prabhupada’s books for yourself so you know actually what he is teaching us.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Pozdrav,that means Hi! on my language.
I have red the first news letter and that is how I felt about it:
Maybe ‘I have just discovered the warm water’- this is a phrase in my language when something is wide world known, but this is the destiny of human kind….so let’s repeat:
I think that the story about Arjuna and Krishna is retold constantly from time to time. But it’s up on us weather we will revitalize the myth or not. The myth is not just the common story, it is a true sacred magic.But it’s up on us weather we will revitalize the myth or not. Everyone of us is invited to be named Arjuna, everyone is invited to harness his or her own horses- that is what yoga is all about- to harness your own thoughts and acts, and everything after that is magic and true happiness of life.
Bhagavad Gita is a pattern made for human kind, but nevertheless there are indeed so few of us who are ready to act from their harts.
Arjuna was the only one who felt the guilt about the battle that is going to occur on Kuruksetra field and killing his many relatives.He was the one who asked a question of what is right and wrong- in that moment he become Krishna’s fried and everything what happened after it’s not so important like this moment of enlightenment. Anything that happen after that was anyway under the Divine’s blessing.
Hare Krishna!
Dear Martan, Hare Krishna!
Bhagavad-gita is not a myth. These ideas such as mythology, and anthropomorphism (imagining a form and character of God in terms of our human experience) are simply the expressions of people who are atheistic. Such people are the university professors, scientists, etc.
The fact is that the human mind cannot understand God, not by any amount of endeavor. God can only be understood by revelation, when He agrees to reveal Himself to us. Therefore, as Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita, He comes to this material realm so that we can understand Him clearly and begin to cultivate our love for Him. When that cultivation of love becomes mature, then Krishna will reveal Himself to us. He gives us the ability to enter into the spiritual realm, by spiritual vision, even while we are still within these material bodies.
“He was the one who asked a question of what is right and wrong- in that moment he become Krishna’s friend and everything what happened after it’s not so important like this moment of enlightenment.”
That moment of enlightenment is only the very beginning. From the moment one becomes an intimate associate of Krishna, one’s every thought, word and deed is only for the pleausure of Krishna. It is not that we become enlightened, and then have no more need to think of pleasing Krishna. That is the teaching of those who think that God is ultimately impersonal. They worship the personal form of Krishna, and when they have an experience of merging into the great light (which emanates from Krishna) then they think they have become God, and no longer try to engage in Krishna’s service. The more we advance in love for Krishna, the more we become concerned in every thought, word and deed to please Krishna. This is our eternal life. Those who try to teach otherwise are in fact the enemies of Krishna, and of mankind. Ishopanishad indicates that persons who teach like that are destined to go to hell.
Although there are so many translations of Bhagavad-gita, for the most part they are written by persons who are rejecting the idea of eternal service to Krishna. Such persons are in fact demons.
You simply have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, and all these misconceptions will be removed from your heart.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Questions concerning the Bhagavad-Gita after the second newsletter received:
I’m delighted to receive a newsletter from you so fast!
In the Bhagavad-Gita it is described that real studying begins when someone looks for a master to ask questions in a devotional manner. (Please excuse my English, I’m from Austria and try to translate what I have written in German into my notebook to give an answer to your newsletter. This will become a really long text of questioning so I excuse myself right away!)
1.) parampara
Is it necessary to live with a spiritual master to follow the spiritual principles and to fulfill all which is demanded in parampara/ pupil succession or are we able to gain inspiration by writing comments into the forum and talking about Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, while going on to do their daily job/ employment?
I want to give a short insight on how I came to read the Bhagavad-Gita:
I’m from Austria and I’m part of the roman-catholic belief and family, but only my grandmother and mother who have partly both brought me up when I was a child, are believing in god or at least in the immortal soul.
My grandmother is born on the day Jesus Christ was born, on Christmas, and believes in Jesus Christ and also in angels. Once she was able to cure pain and illnesses of her friends by laying her hands on them, she also did this on me because as a child I was suffering with asthma. Today the asthma has disappeared but I’ve got an itchy cold since then tormenting me.
I was tested on allergies and being told I have something like an allergy (Histamin.. ?) – I shouldn’t eat old food which is stored or kept too long before being eaten.
Because of my grandmother I understood the necessity to ask the question all of us want to have an answer to, at least once in life (for example, when a friend or relative dies):
Is there something after death or does everything turn into pitchblack?
Unfortunately, most of my family members don’t think about this mystery, only my grandmother, grandfather, mother and father – sometimes.
Currently I’m in a relationship I’m very happy in – I’m glad to feel secure and sheltered.
I’m not at all interested in other men, but my boyfriend is an unconcealed atheist.
He even believes in the existence of Satan ruling over this world as the eternal seducer, ruling over our material world and the earth. – Even in the bible it is written Satan rules over the world.
Satan offered the whole world to Jesus – but Jesus refused it and sent him away.
My boyfriend believes worshipping Satan results in gaining more wealth to be able to enjoy life more. He hates Christian priests who rape little boys and because of this he left church.
I can’t talk about god with him and he doesn’t like the idea of me thinking about god…
But I find it necessary to ask this question at least once in life – the hope to live on after death, about reincarnation and the community with god.
Friday night this week, his grandmother died….
I loved her character but felt heartless because I couldn’t shed tears about her death.
Perhaps it’s because I really hope life doesn’t end after death, and that she is liberated from her suffering and now she is reunited with her husband, without him she had to live for almost 7 years alone before her death.
She was always in grief for her husband and clinging to her life by learning foreign languages.
She pleased us with her lively manner until cancer overwhelmed her and she forgot all her relatives, except her son and daughter-in-law who took care of her well-being until death.
I didn’t dare to visit her in her last days and hours of agony and delirium because I wanted to keep her in mind as the person I admired:
As a loving widow, who always thought about her passed away husband and was so brave to hide her grief, leading her life completely independent, keeping her mind busy with foreign languages to stay mentally healthy.
Her attitude gave me the strength to believe in a durable relationship – because she only wanted to be reunited with her husband.
Please excuse my long message… but I want to have clarity about all and this is my way to write…
Dear teacher/ gosvami.. I bid you to scatter my doubts because I’m disappointed by the huge amount of suffering humans have to endure.
I wish all humans and animals could be happy!
Now I want to describe something which will lead to my second question which is very important to me.
In my religion, Christianity, there was always a lack of explanation of the human soul in school.
I understand every human is imperfect with imperfect senses and as a result he sins.
Because of this fact Jesus died for us so we were liberated from our sins if we believe in him!
But for sure you have heard there are only 2 paths for a soul described in Christianity, at least like we are told in school:
Our deeds and our faith decide whether we end up in heaven or ETERNAL hell and purgatory.
And if someone doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ he will be condemned and not be revived at the day of the last judgment (?).
The church suppresses the mass so the people stay obedient while threatening them with hell when ignoring that threat. For example, the church says, all who commit suicide or are homosexual will go to hell.
How nice… this should be kindness? Eternal mercy?
2.) God is of immeasurable mercy, isn’t he?
Why should any human dare to threaten someone with hell if god shows mercy to all, even to sinners (and demons!)?
So.. Jesus died for us all to take our sins from us.
Therefore… shouldn’t even find a homosexual forgiveness who believes in Jesus and/ or god?
One day I found the Bhagavad-Gita among books of my other grandmother who didn’t remember where she had it from. She wasn’t interested in it and gave it as a present to me.
(in German language with the comments of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada himself, almost 900 pages)
The depicted person on the cover, Krsna as I should become to know, attracted me magically.
He was with Arjuna on his carriage of war (?).
Krsna is smiling calm, kind, charming, superior, omniscient on this picture… all of his qualities seemed to be present in his smile.
I began to read, instantly being caught by the words when the Lord explained that we all were spiritual souls and little parts of him, who are covered temporarily by a material body, but are eternally existent in reality.
I cried out of joy! So there was a scripture who told us we were immortal in our deepest core!
Overwhelmed by this happy message I continued reading.
Full of gratitude and humility I wanted to accept all as the truth what Krsna told us there.
But there was one point which seemed strange….
Please forgive my human flaws but also help me to understand ….
It’s written god kills all demons or lets them reincarnate again in demonical forms forever and ever.
But Srila Prabhupada explains, everyone is at once liberated when killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
3.) But what is liberation to the demons?
Are they dissolving into nothingness by being united with the brahmajyoti-radiation of Krsna or are they being transferred to the spiritual planets or into heaven?
Will these demons be taught by spiritual masters, so they become faithful souls of god?
Now my real question concerning this…
Krsna instructed Arjuna to fulfill his duty and kill his relatives on the battlefield because it was all predetermined by Krsna that they would die the one or other way.
The Bhagavad-Gita also tells that one shall not kill animals because it would disturb the development/ evolution of the animal… but doesn’t this also count for humans and demons?
So.. why wasn’t there another possibility to save the demonic souls and other people on the battlefield?
Because later, Krsna gave Arjuna the divine view/ sight, so he was able to see Krsna as god himself.
Why didn’t Krsna also enable the others to recognize him?
Or aren’t demons ever able to see him, even with his help?
Krsna would have had much more followers if he had given them the divine sight but he only chose Arjuna whom he referred to as his “friend”.
Why did Krsna exclude all the others?
Or is it the nature of the demons to never surrender to Krsna and they knew who he was but were in fear of him?
Therefore, the story in the Bhagavad-Gita must seem very heartless because Krsna wants Arjuna to kill his relatives. For someone who doesn’t read Srila Prabhupadas comments it is very difficult to accept!
You know.. .there is an anime I like because of the main character… it’s Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon is all-forgiving, she forgives all and everybody. She even loves her worst enemy.
In the last season of the anime she embraces her enemy Galaxia.
Because of her being forgiven by Sailor Moon, she awakes and regains her senses, gives up her demonical manners and is crying deeply moving out of guilt and because she remembers all the bad things she did to others – she had done to others because she was herself deeply hurt!
Sailor Moon converted a demonical person and all of her friends, still she forgave her because she knew, hate will only produce more hate and suffering!
At the end all of Sailor Moons friends are revived by her former enemy Galaxia – happy end.
Please understand it’s not my intention to confuse anyone or to tell anyone they are on a false path!
I’m pretty sure, everyone has got similar questions to mine and I want to ask them now, with the confidence that you will be so merciful to destroy my doubts.
All humans want to be free from suffering but they don’t agree how to accomplish it.
I’m convinced only the knowledge of the immortal soul and god can give us peace..
But on the other hand it was Sokrates who said it was still the same if he knew there was a soul or not. He said, when he died, he would see it anyway – why think about it too much?
This time of life more than ever humans want to have a proof for everything and it’s difficult to make reason to the mind. In my opinion, “blind faith” without questioning is not of very much value because this type of faith can easily be ruined.
Almost nobody today takes the time to meditate and feel the immense source of life which gives us the strength to live or even to see there has to be a big intelligence behind the material world.
When scientists see a miracle they try to explain it by material means and try to weaken the miracle.
For example… the planets rotate in determined paths and scientists give a name to this miracle and say “ it’s all because of the magnetic fields and cores of the planets”.
By giving this natural phenomenon a name, they pretend it’s not a miracle anymore.
But it’s still a miracle, isn’t it? I liked the part where Srila Prabhupada explained it was god who keeps the planets in their paths.
Or for example the shark… in a museum we were told that the shark’s skin was grey on his upper side of the skin and white on the bottom of his skin so he could disguise itself, a camouflage.
Even if the shark developed this skin out of evolution, it’s still a miracle?
Because the shark surely didn’t wish for this camouflage. There must have been a concept of superior intelligence to give the shark the shape it has… right?
The Bhagavad-Gita tells Krsna is god, the one and only god, and the human is an imitation after the shape of Krsna.
The Bhagavad-Gita claims to accept Krsna as the one and only god, just as the bible claims it’s god is THE god.
But still it’s terrifying humans kill other humans because they can’t force THEIR god on somebody who believes in another god..
There is a song of the EAV, an Austrian bands, saying: (originally in German though)
“My god isn’t your god, but which god is god? So we slay ourselves in the name of god!”
A skeptical person said somewhere in the internet (an Indian!) that Krsna has to be rather a demon than a god, because he claimed from Arjuna to kill his relatives and Krsna were in truth an ultimate seducer….
In Christian history there were also many crusades in which people said they killed in the name of god and they were allowed to kill because it was “god’s will”!!! This must stop… v.v
I want to say rightaway that I understand the battlefield of Kuruksetra was an exception – because it was described god himself was personally present, Krsna.
But why didn’t Krsna save the demons in another way ?
Was death the only way out for them?
Was Krsna really full of mercy by killing them?
The one who doubted Krsna to be god also said it’s Jesus we have to believe in because he died for the sinners. He didn’t harm anybody, he even cured ill people!
After his death he rised from the dead and got back into heaven where he now sits beside his father.
4.) Some people think god came down as Jesus and Jesus wasn’t a mere mortal man.
It reminds me of Krsna coming down as Sri Caitanya only to understand Radharanis feelings toward him, beautiful!
I love Krsna and his figure, but I want to understand why he let the demons kill instead of saving them in another way.
Is Krsna not allowed to change the mind of any soul by himself because the spiritual soul has got a little bit of independecy?
Has Krsna come down in the shape of Jesus, like he did in Sri Caitanya and Buddha?
Krsna came down into the womb of his mother Devaki,
Jesus came down into the womb of virgin Mary as a spiritual spark.
Srila Prabhupada explained that no religion has got no meaning unless it doesn’t lead us to love for god.
5.) Is all predetermined?
The Bhagavad-Gita explains, that god dwells in the form of Vishnu/Narayana/Syamasundara in everybodys heart and so he knows everybody. He knows what will happen in future and also how a human heart will develop.
But if the spiritual souls are independent, even the slightest, it would mean to me not even god were able to know the absolute future… because the soul always has got this little indepency which allows her to decide her own future…. ? This is a contradiction to me.
6.) God is described as the ultimate enjoyer.
So he does love his creation and also the earth, doesn’t he? Isn’t this wonderful? I mean, isn’t the ideo wonderful that god learns to get to know his own creation in personal because he is present everywhere?
Thinking this way suddenly I even like the idea the human has to suffer… Only if we are able to be sad we can hope for better times or the happy feeling someone experiences when being loved .
This is the reason I don’t like the idea of the material world only seen as a place of suffering.
In the end our world is the medium, through which we can return to god, isn’t it?
7.) It is described as the highest to-be-without-wishes if one has only the wish to serve god and to get to Krsnaloka to get happy.
But isn’t it even more noble when someone wants to stay in this material world to save many souls and lead them back to god? Without even wishing to return to Krsna? It would be of more use if such a person endures all types of suffering just to get back as many souls as possible.
I have heard of “crystal children” or “indigo children” who are born and immediately know that their soul is immortal, so they also try to convince others about it.
Wasn’t Jesus really unselfish because he died to save many who believed in him?
Srila Prabhupada said, a devotee would do everything god demands from him, even if it means much suffering.
8.) I don’t know why Jesus said on the cross, before he died “God, why have you left/ abandoned me?”
Is this proof he was rather god’s son in the end than god himself? Or did he suffer so much for a moment he forgot about god and there had been moments, when god spoke and took action through him?
9.) Prasadam – sacrificed and purified food/nourishment
The B.-G. tells we shouldn’t eat something which hasn’t been sacrificed to Krsna before and the only food suitable consists milk, vegetables, fruits and cereals.
Not allowed would be meat, fish and eggs…
and we shouldn’t eat something for our own pleasure either…
Does it mean we aren’t allowed to drink coffee, tea, eat sugar? Also no cakes containing eggs, no noodles???
I must admit I only read the new testament of the bible in whole, but I can’t remember any prohibition for such food…
Also, Jesus drank wine, he turned water into wine and he multiplied the caught fish and the bread to spread it to the poor.
Is it possible, the Christian commandment “Do not kill.” is not only referring to humans, but also to animals? That we aren’t told by the church and allowed to eat animals but in reality, we shouldn’t?
There is a passage where it says the humans should turn the animals into their servants, but nothing about killing them to eat them…
Prasadam.. if one should sacrifice the food to Krsna does it mean automatically that we should always cook the food by ourselves? Not going into restaurants or buying food in stores, also we aren’t allowed to eat food which is older than 3 hours?
I must admit, I’m a bad cooker, I can’t cook… v.v
Because of the people around me I can’t become a full vegetarian, because I don’t want to offend a family member when he is cooking a meal with meat in it, but I try to eat no meat when at work etc.
In Christianity, there is a prayer before eating a meal, so we show our gratefulness for getting something to eat, because it’s not natural to have enough to eat – there a many countries in this worlds where people suffer hunger and starve to death.
My grandmother always remembered me of this and waited until I had eaten the whole meal she had cooked. But she also is used to cooking meat and with much vegetables…
Because Christians use to eat meat… are they all sinners condemned to become pigs in their next life? Like it was explained in the B.-G.
Don’t you think it’s a little unfair… Christians don’t know about the prohibition to eat no meat.
10.) Chanting – sankirtana-yajna
Srila Prabhupada told about followers who used to chant Krsnas Name 60. 000 or even 300 000 times a day…
But doesn’t count the love with which it is chanted more than the amount?
Or is this big amount used to keep the mind busy only with Krsna and nothing else?
Does a devotee chant so much because he can’t endure to be a second without Krsna, like Srila Prabhupada said?
In the forum here it was mentioned that chanting the right way is only when chanting without doing something else during it. Someone should stay up early in the morning, at 4 o’clock, to chant and after this go to work.
I’ve got the problem I get home after work at 8 o’clock p.m. and go to bed often at 1-2 o’clock after midnight, then I have to get up at 6:45 a.m… I would only sleep two hours if I stayed up at 4 o’clock..
Till now I tried to chant during worktime and when nobody listens. It’s embarrassing to chant in Austria because the people think you are insane …
Second question…. I’m always singing the sankirtana-yajna in two types of melody… is there a homepage I can learn more types of chanting it?
11.) Out of body experience
It is said someone can have the proof we are eternal souls through an out of body experience.
I know a man who did this many years but stopped doing it because it wasn’t the “ultimate truth” or such he told me. But it’s said to be a method someone can experience the soul.
Do you know anybody who tried it? Are you in any way familiar to it? I was never able to do an OBE.
12.)
God explained he would come in every period of time to re-establish the real purpose of life.
Was Krsnas appearance around 5000 years ago, when he taught Arjuna the Bhagavad-Gita, the only time he came to us in the Kali-yuga?
I feel like religion is falling apart right away now everywhere in the world.
Can’t he come a second time or even later once more?
13.) God – man or woman or both, or superior to all
I heard long time ago women ruled society – matriarchy and god was seen as a “mother of all” – but when men gained the control they described god as a man – patriarchy – god father.
Is Krsna male, female or transcendental? Is he both or can he choose what to be?
Srila Prabhupada explained god gave life to his creation by only looking on it.
The humans are confused by the terms of god being a man or a woman.
I noticed Krsna looks very feminine yet full of male strength on all paintings. Even his waist is narrow.
He doesn’t have too big muscles but yet very much strength when fighting against enemies.
The stories about Krsna describe him very childish, but also wise. He is full of childish joy and pure.
I adore the painting where Krsna is playing in the water with his gopis under the moonlight! It’s my favorite!
But concerning sex…………. there are many paintings with Radha and Krsna having sex… but did they really have sex? I mean, Krsna can reproduce in other ways? Simply by looking at his creation?
14.) About sex and marriage
It is said one should only have sex when married and only to get Krsna-conscious children.
I’m in a relationship and not interested the slightest in other men…. but does this mean, because I’m not married I’m not allowed to have sex with my boyfriend?
He also doesn’t want to have a child either – not in near future time. Also, there was a time I felt the need for sex more than now. The lust I felt doesn’t return.. I tried to revive it, but it won’t come back.
I’m 25 years old now.. and sex doesn’t interest me like it once did.. but I love romantic stories and reading about emotions. I think the humans are beautiful because of the big variety of emotions.
Is it a duty for a woman to get children? Sometimes I feel I will never have an own child.
First I felt sad about this thougt, now I don’t know what I have to feel about it.
15.) Hypnosis
If god is present in everybody’s heart, could we talk to him in hypnosis so he tells us what our purpose in this life is? Can someone beg god to take over our heart and guide us, giving up our little independency?
I want to excuse myself for this loooong text.. and I’m looking forward to getting an answer from you! I would really be grateful and want to say my thanks many times!
If I’m not able to follow the principles I fear it will take me a long time to return to god…
Also, I don’t want to let my friends, relatives and soulmates down…
I think it would be better if we could all return to god together one day.
I would consider myself very selfish if I abandoned my family and friends for the noble goal to return to god alone. Rather I would like to be a burning light for everybody for eternity, if god wishes and also considers it better – to serve others as much as I can.
I wish, god could forgive everybody and I think he will – because he knows, we are all full of flaws.
And I wish I would be conscious of god in every incarnation from now on, knowing he’s there and carrying me through all difficulties, while trying to give others solace.
Amen and Hare Krsna!
Kathi
I can not answer such a big question. Please write a small question and I can answer that.
Dear Kathi, Hare Krishna!
I will try to address some of your concerns.
1) It is not necessary for you to live with the spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada has written all of these books so that you can ;earn about Krishna and gradually become more and more close to Krishna through your thoughts, words and deeds. by studying these books, everything will become clear to you.
The mood of Satan is that we can be fulfilled without engaging in God’s service. According to the teachings of the Vedas we all have come here, from the spiritual wolrd, because we have a desire to be happy as self-centered beings. This material creation is provided so that we can persue this orientation. We receive a material body, and also a material mind and intelligence. This material mind and intelligence, is our “software”. And as long as we are under the influence of this software, our tendancy is to be self-centered. That original desire for self-centered fulfillment is our “original sin”, and when we are born in the material creation, with this self-centered software, every activity, every thought, that is enacted with this orientation, begets more of this way of thinking and feeling. This is the law of karma, or as Jesus said, the “sewing and reaping” of activity in this world.
Your boyfriend is correct to disrespect a clergy that is engaging in child-abuse. But he has to understand that these people do not represent Jesus, do not represent God. Therefore to reject God because of the way that such people behave is unintelligent. If one has gone to a doctor who is a “quack”, an unqualified person, one should not conclude that we must reject the medical profession. Rather, we should avoid false pretenders.
No matter how successful one may appear to become in the persuit of material happiness, it all ends with old age, disease, and death. Therefore your boyfriend’s vision is very short-sighted. What kind of happiness is that? Anyone who is trying to become fulfilled in this this way – this is a kind of insanity.
Anyone who will not allow you to talk about God is equivalent to a person who is murdering you. Because by stopping you from such activites, he is causing you to avoid the activities that can free you from the cycle of birth and death. Therefore you will have to die repeatedly as long as you choose to associate with such people.
Satan rules this world. Yes. And if we serve Satan, then we are engaged in only in sin. Anything we do that is not for God’s pleasure is sin. Therefore the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. Repeated death. Therefore we should serve Krishna. The material world is the prison house of the spiritual world. Satan is the self-centerd mentality of everyone in this prison. As long as we serve this mentality we must remain in this prison of repeated birth and death.
“.. I bid you to scatter my doubts because I’m disappointed by the huge amount of suffering humans have to endure.”
We do not have suffer like this. We are here in therapy. Although this material body and this material world is gross matter, it is all a kind of dream. It is a dream because is has a beginning and an end. Life after life, we have a new identity – and when we leave that body, that particular identity is disolved. Just like a bad dream that is ended. In fact the soul is full of spiritual bliss – eternally. But when we are in this gross dream, that bliss is covered. In fact nothing is happening to the soul. We do not die. the soul is never diseased. All of the suffering only applies to this dream body and dream mind. this is hypno-therapy provided by Krishna, so that we will voluntarily give up our self-centerd way of being. When we agree to give this up, the influence of the dream is reduced, and we begin to experience our real nature of eternal bliss, even while we have these material bodies. This is called self-realization. That dream of suffering is God’s loving kindness upon us, to convince us to come home to the spiritual world. We do not have to suffer like this. It is only because we refuse to change. We are determined to follow the dictates of Satan within our hearts – so the bad dream continues. This therapy is for the spiritually insane. All who live in the material realm are spiritually insane. We are here to become cured of this insanity. And each has the freedom to choose.
“The church suppresses the mass so the people stay obedient while threatening them with hell when ignoring that threat. For example, the church says, all who commit suicide or are homosexual will go to hell.
How nice… this should be kindness? Eternal mercy?”
This life in the material world is a hell. According to Veda, one can take birth in more painful places than this planet. This planet earth is a middle level planet. We are all imprisoned. We are here in therapy. suicide is an attempt to break out. We cannot get out until we are cured. And we must return again until we we are cured. We are forced to return so that we can have a change of heart. The decision is in our hands. We cannot blame God for this bad dream. We are in this dream because we want it. We have to accept responsability. We have to have a change of heart. No matter how stubborn we are, we are still maintained here by God, always hoping we will have a change of heart. This is eternal mercy.
“It’s written god kills all demons or lets them reincarnate again in demonical forms forever and ever.
But Srila Prabhupada explains, everyone is at once liberated when killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
There is no contradiction in this. When we die, before we are in love with Krishna, we must come back to continue our spiritual developement. But those who were personally killed by Krishna, they are liberated.
“3.) But what is liberation to the demons?
Are they dissolving into nothingness by being united with the brahmajyoti-radiation of Krsna or are they being transferred to the spiritual planets or into heaven?
Will these demons be taught by spiritual masters, so they become faithful souls of god? ”
There are different demons and Krishna may deal with them differently. But we are not going to be killed by Krishna personally, so this is not the most important question. The most important question is how can we wake up to our natural state of love for Krishna?
“Krsna would have had much more followers if he had given them the divine sight but he only chose Arjuna whom he referred to as his “friend”.
Why did Krsna exclude all the others?”
Krishna came here so that the Bhagavad-gita could be held in your hand and my hand. The knowledge of Bhagavad-gita was also available to those on the battlefield. But they were not interested. Most people in the material world are not interested. They are like your boyfriend. they will not listen. Therefore the therapy of the bad dream of brth and death is provided to them. This is Krishna’s decision, based on His love for us. He could make us cease to exist. But he wants us to come back to Him. So the therapy continues. We have to accept the understanding: IT IS REALLY OUR CHOICE!
“The one who doubted Krsna to be god also said it’s Jesus we have to believe in because he died for the sinners. He didn’t harm anybody, he even cured ill people!”
Curing the sick – and other miracles – these are only there to awaken faith in those who are less intelligent. What is the value (long term) is regaining one’s ability to walk, or to see, if we have not come to the point of loving Krishna, and have to return to the world of birth and death? Those who approach God for material enhancement, material prosperity, health – anything material – they are missing the point. That is the religion of the less intelligent. Jesus taught that the first commandment is: “Love the Lord with all your heart.” Improving life in the material world is like improving prison conditions, instead of becoming qualified to leave the prison.
4. Jesus was the son of God. We also are the sons and daughters of God. But we are here in therapy. Jesus came as therapist, as doctor. When he was baptized by John, Krishna spoke and said “This is my son in whom I am very pelased.” So Jesus was a bhakta, who lived only for God’s pleasure. He was a qualified spiritual master.
In some ways we must simply accept that Krishna knows what is the best way to proceed. Just like you are enjoying Bhagavad-gita, that is open to everyone. But they must have the freedom to choose for themselves. Krishna will not make them change. We have to accept this and go forward.
5) We have to understand that the logic of the material mind cannot fully comprehend all of these issues. What we can understand is that love of God is our ticket to freedom, and as we become more and more free we will understand more.
6) Yes, there is some beauty in this world. Some tiny amount of hapiness, perhaps. So you are seeing it this way, and not only as a place of suffering. Let us think then, if you will, that this can give us a tiny idea of how wonderful the spiritual world is. Krishna wants us to come home. He says in gita that those who have realization feel that there is nothing greater that can be gained.
7) Yes, this is more noble. But first let us come to this position . Then we can ask Krishna if we can do this work. Also, you have to remember that those souls who are fully awakened, like Jesus for example, such beings have so much spiritual ecstacy that the dualistic experiences of this realm, heat and cold, hunger and thirst, are not significant to them. They are “in this world but not of this world”. The pleasure and pain of this realm do not affect them because these are the experiences of this gross dream, and such persons are fully awake. Therefore when they are crucified, for example, they are still in ecstacy. And they can pray, “Dear Krishna, please forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing. They are in ignorance.”
9) Meat, fish, eggs. Wine. Foods containing eggs, animal fat. The Vedas explain that the teachings are actually one. Love of God. But according to time and place and the culture, the teachings must be adjustedfor the people who are to receive them. As far as wine is concerned, we are already intoxicated with this material mind. Coffee and teas that contain caffeine, only serve to make us more stirred up, less calm. We are given advice to help us to advance in Krishna consciousness. Lord siva drank an ocean of poison in Krishna’s service. But we cannot. Jesus may have drank wine. But we cannot. We do not have to accept all these rules. It is our choice. But if we do not agree to follow, how can we ask for the blessing of spiritual growth? Somehwere along the line we have to become convinced enough to make an experiment by submitting to the process. But we always have a choice.
When we cause harm to animals, don’t they cry? Don’t they cry out in pain? How can one be trying to get closer to God and do such horrible things? Such heartless things?
The energy of the cook goes into the cooking. Therefore the cook should be the person who is closest to God. The food that is prepared should be prepared by one who is cooking it for Krishna. Otherwise how can we offer it to Krishna? You can learn how to cook nicely. Gadually, you will want to cook for Krishna. And you will not want to eat anything that has not been offered to Krishna. That is my experience. And my father, he was a butcher of animals. How can we offer food to Krishna that was prepared by people who have blood on their hands? Even touching such people will affect our consciousness. We have to make choices. Arjuna had to make choices. There is no way to avoid this. That is part of the purification fire.Part of showing our willingness to become pure.
Christians may not know, but you know. Therefore it is worse if you eat animal bodies. You are responsable for their killing because they are being killed for you. Christians are not serious. If they are serious they will not be able to be so heartless. When something higher is offered, we have to accept it.Otherwise it reveals our real heart. It is inhuman to kill these animals when it is not at all necessary. Can you imagine? I am killing you, simply because I like the taste? That is hell.
You are afraid to offend your family members by refusing to be part of their killing culture. but you must remember that when Jesus was asked about his family members, he said “These are my family”, not those who would not follow him. At first these are difficult choices. But there is no way to avoid these issues. Such activites are demonic. We have to make these choices because we have been given higher knowledge.
I have only adressed your items up to number 9. I will have to return later in the day or tomorrow to complete anwering your questions. You are a very good person. And you are in a very challenging situation. So many of devotees have similar challenges. You are not alone in this. My family would not advise me when my father was on his deathbed, simply because i am trying to serve Krishna. Little by littel we come to understand that these people are not our friends, not our real family. What can be done? It is not easy, but as we grwo spiritually, it becomes much easier. And also, it is explained in Veda that if you becme a devotee all of your family relations for many generations are very much spiritually benefitted. but in the meantime, they will not appreciate that by being a devotee you are serving them. What can be done? You have mentioned coming back to this world to save the masses of people. First you must save yourself.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Hare Krishna Kathi!
10) Yes, it is important to chant Hare Krishna with feelings of love. But it is also important to understand that this sound vibration, Hare Krishna, this sound vibration is identical to the presence of Krishna, Himself. And so this sound vibration will purify our hearts so that we can begin to feel love for Krishna. Actually love for Krishna is our real nature. But at the moment this natural feeling of love for Krishna is sleeping. When chanting Hare Krishna we are having direct association with Krishna and that asociation is cleaning our hearts so that our desire to feel love for Krishna becomes stronger. When that desire is strong enough, then our sleeping love for Krishna is awakened within our hearts- by grace! When we are in love with Krishna we cannot stop chanting His name. And if we want to awaken our sleeping love for Krishna, then we cannot stop chanting His name.
You can chant always, 24 hours. You can chant when you are doing other things. But we are taught that we should chant 16 rounds on our beads, when we are not doing other things.
I can understand that you have boyfriend and family and job…. You just go on reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant as much as you can. And pray to krishna, and gradually you will find your way out of all this involvement. Gradually, as you are sincere, you will not be able to tolerate that kind of association. Non-devotional association will be like being in a cage of fire.
11) Re out of body experience, that is practiced by some yogis. One can learn how to do this. But it is a diversion. There are various different mystic powers, such as becoming so light in wieght that one can walk on water, or levitate, or control the minds of others, even of large groups of people. All of these abilities are not spiritual. They are material abilities. Just like one may become proud by becoming very wealthy, one may become proud by learning these things. They can become great temptations and arouse the desire to have the admiration of others. The pure devotee is automatically granted all of these powers, but he or she is not interested in them. They only want to be engaged in Krishna’s service – not because they are trying to be moral or good – but because Krishna’s service is so pleasing that they are mad after it. All these powers become like garbage to such persons. If you can obtain some DVD’s of Srila Prabhupada you will see how aloof he is from any adoration from people. He is simple content to be in Krishna’s service.
12) Krishna came in this Kali Yuga, about 500 years ago as Lord Chaitanya. he was krishna Himself. But He was in the mood of His dearest servant, Srimate Radharani. Her love for Him is so strong that Her spiritual ecstacy suprasses that of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna wanted to taste that love that She has for Him. And so He came as Lord Chaitanya, Krishna, in the mood of Radharani’s love for Krishna. And He distributed this taste through His sankirtan movement. When you are ready you can read all about this in Srila Prabhupada’s Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, 11 volumes describing all of this in great detail.
Once again, I must say to you that nothing is lacking in terms of Krishna’s mercy on the people of this material world. The truth is that people in this world are simply not interested in spiritual mercy. They are interested in material persuits, self-centerd life.
Krishna is present in His holy name. Even Jesus says this in Bible. “Our Father, Who is in heaven, your name is holy, spiritual. And if we chant it the result will be – they kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.” This means that if we chant, Krishna is right here with us in that sound vibration.And where that sound vibration is made, this material world becomes completely spiritual. Because Krishna is present in His naem, as we continue to chant, we will be able to perceive Krishna’s form and pastimes are present in His Name, and then we will not be able to stop chanting. That is a very advanced stage. So again, there is o lack of mercy. The only lack is that people lack desire to receive this mercy. It is not that we are all calling for help. When krishna comes or His real representative comes to offer help, people say, “No thank you. No help wanted.” They even try to hurt such people – as they did when Jesus came.This is the material world. It is not a very nice place. The people here are against a God-centered life.And they do all kinds of ungodly behavior in the name of God. Gradually you will see that more clearly.
13) Krishna is male. Srimate Radharani is part of Krishna. They are One but they exist as two so that they can have loving exchanges. Everyone is looking for love. That love that we are all looking for exists between Radha and Krishna. When we learn how to take pleasure in Their loving exchange, our spiritual joy will have no limits. Loving God means always desiring God’s pleasure. The devotees in the spiritual world are always engaged in making wonderful arrangements so that Radha and Krishna can enjoy loving exchanges. And it is written in scripture that when Radha and Krishna are enjoying in that way, the devotees have greater pleasure than Krishna.
This is why love of God is such a great gift. Because when we really feel mature love of God, we receive spiritual “feedback”. If the leaf on the tree waters the root of the tree, the leaf becomes satisfied. That invisible feedback loop exists between ourselves and Krishna. That is why material life can never satisfy us. Our cspiritual circuitry for inner satisfaction is such that we obtain our satisfaction by pleasing God. Pleasing God is not about self-denial. Pleasing God is the direct path, direct circuit for pleasing ourselves. “Yoga” literally means making this spiritual connection of this spiritual circuit. “Yoga” means “linking up”. This linking up in feelings of spontaneous love is so pleasing , so satisfying, so thrilling, that the devotee cannot stop trying to please Krishna. By understanding that no one, can please krishna as much as Srimate Radharani, the devotee simply wants to engage in making nice arrangements for that loving exchange. And yet the harder she tries, the more she becomes overwhelmed with spiritual ecstacy.
As far as the love between Radha and Krishna is concerned with sexual activity, I am not qualified to write to you about these things. However, if you read Caitanya Caritamrita by Krishnadas Kaviraj, with commentary by Srila Prabhupada, you will find some of the answers to your questions.
14) Regarding having sex with your boyfirend, as you have admitted, although you are only 25, that passion is now falling away from you. This is because you are becoming more spiritually awake. Sex in this world is about self-centered desires. The desire to please God is not involved in this activity. Therefore it cannot be done as devotional service. However, if one desires to have a very spiritual child that will become a grat devotee of Krishna, that can be done in a spirit of devotional service. For those who have no connection with God, sex is the driving force in this world. And those devotees who are very advanced in devotional service have no desire for physical sex. They are actually repulsed by the thought of it. Spiritual life is not an all or nothing context. It grows by degree, and as it grows we become gradually transformed.
15) ” Can someone beg god to take over our heart and guide us, giving up our little independency? ”
If you can pray to Krishna like that, then there is no higher prayer that you can make. It is a beautiful statement that you have made, and I will save it for my own inspiration.
Actually, we are now hypnotized under the influence of Krishna’s material nature. This hypnotism causes us to think we are these material bodies, and causes us to think that by satisfying these material senses we will become happy. this hypnotism makes us think that we are related to the family of our birth as our family. It causes us to think of the country in which we are born as our motherland.It causes us to think we are male or female, black or white, young or old, rich or poor. We are totally hypnotized. And as we advance in real spiritual life this hypnotism begins to fade, and we understand, little by littel that we are pure spirit individuals. We begin to see all living entities, not interms of their bodily dsignation but simply as Krishna’s servants. And we begin to understand that they can only be happy by serving krishna, and we begin to desire to share this information with others.
We can all return to God one day, as you have written, but someone has to be a leader, so that others can see that the leader is becoming happy , and they will want to follow. so you are , I believe, that kind of person. Your greater family is all of mankind , all of the animals and all of life. Gradually as you advance you will know this and you will be drwn to helping those in this greater family who are looking for real answers.
“I wish, god could forgive everybody and I think he will – because he knows, we are all full of flaws.”
Actaully God has forgiven everyone. He is not angry with us. He only loves us. But we wanted to enjoy outside of the loving yoga circuit of devotion to God. We wanted to be littel self-centered gods. Therefore krishna has provided all of this material creation so that we could try to be happy in this way. We cannot. And he sends His messengers, Hid dear servants to us again and again, and even comes Himself, simply to encourage us to come back to Him. He is so much loving us, and so much wanting us to come back. But because He loves us so much,He is allowing us to decide for ourselves. The real devotee will ask for God’s forgiveness. But All that Krishna wants is our love. There is no question of foregiveness. he loves us so much.
You are a very, very good soul. Thank you for your wonderful questions and thoughts about spiritual life. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions. I am so hopeful that some of the things I have written will be helpful to you.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Krishna’s intimate servant who has brought this message of Krishna to us.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
why is said that ‘Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead ‘. Becuase. if it’s correct as I believe, that there are others Prsonalities of God as Rama, etc etc.
Thaks very thanks fo all!!!
Nora
Yes, Krishna expands as many different Personalities of Godhead. And sometimes they have very different moods and appearances than the original Krishna. But Krishna is the original from where all the other Personalities of Godhead expand. Krishna is the only Supreme Personality of Godhead. All the others like Rama, Nrsimha, etc, are expansions of Krishna.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji…We all know that Lord Krishna is the Supreame Personality of Godhead.And also Lord Vishnu is a part of Krishna…Could you please explain how lord Vishnu is different from Lord Krishna?
Visnu and Krishna are the same but Krishna is the original and complete manifestation of the Personality of Godhead and Visnu is His expansion and does not exhibit all the features of Krishna. They are the same personality but the mood is different. Krishna is much more approachable. It is not possible to worship Lord Visnu in any other mood that that of awe and reverence, as one would worship a king. But Krishna appears as a cowherd boy in Vrindavan and we can play with Krishna as one of His friends. The gopis can dance with Krishna. No one can play with Visnu or dance with Visnu. So you see only dasya-rasa is available for the worshipers of Visnu but we can worship and serve Krishna also in the same mood of awe and reverence but in addition we can play with Him as His friends, we can have Krishna as our child, we can even have Krishna as our lover. Such relationships are completely impossible with Visnu. So Krishna is the original complete Supreme Personality of Godhead and everyone else, including Lord Visnu, are expansions of Krishna. And none of the expansions of Krishna are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Swami Ji
Jai Shri Krishna all of you
My simple question is that, can we chant “Hare Krishna Mantra” with japa beads
when we travelling somewhere while wearing of leather shoes or sport shoes.
Waiting for your soonest reply
Regards
Ravi Kant
You are not chanting with your shoes… So why not? If you are really worried you can get japa beads that are not tulsi [neem beads], we have them at KrishnaStore.com. You have to be reasonably clean to chant on tulsi beads because Srimati Tulsi devi is a pure devotee of Krishna. And we want to be reasonably clean while touching her body. But if you are chanting on neem beads then there is no problem like this. But if your heart is pure, that is the main thing, means you are following the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds a day at least, and your hands are clean, then you can chant on japa beads anywhere, not in the bathroom, but otherwise you just have to use your common sense…
I asked why it’s sais that Krishna in the Supreme Personalit of God?
Thans very much for the mails!!!
Nora
Because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead…
Hare Krishna Paul
Yes. Please keep chanting Hare Krishna on japa beads. That will free you from all negative things.
Bhagavad gita and all other original Prabhuapda books you can get at:
http://www.KrishnaStore.com
You can also read these books online at:
http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Akash
We offer incense before offering flowers.
But you are not supposed to offer just incense. The flowers should be there also.
We wear the kanti mala because Srimati Tulsi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna and having her around our neck like this is a constant reminder that we are supposed to be devotees of Krishna and supposed to be acting like devotees of Krishna. The beads also remind others about Krishna. One definition of a devotee is someone who reminds others of Krishna, so by wearing the tilak and kanti mala we are reminding others about Krishna. And we are reminding ourselvs also that we are supposed to be devotees of Krishna…
It is very important to wear the kanti mala and the tilak…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!