Getting Everything Into Perspective
When Brahma’s day is manifest, this multitude of living entities comes into being, and at the arrival of Brahma’s night they are all annihilated. (Bhagavad-gita 8.18)
The less intelligent living entities try to remain within this material world and are accordingly elevated and degraded in the various planetary systems.
During the daytime of Brahma they exhibit their activities, and at the coming of Brahma’s night they are annihilated.
In the day they receive various bodies for material activities, and at night these bodies perish.
The individual souls remain compact in the body of Visnu and again and again are manifest at the arrival of Brahma’s day.
When Brahma’s life is finally finished, they are all annihilated and remain unmanifest for millions and millions of years. Finally, when Brahma is born again in another millennium, they are again manifest.
In this way the living entities are captivated by the material world.
However, those intelligent beings who take to Krsna consciousness and chant Hare Krsna, Hare Rama in devotional service transfer themselves, even in this life, to the spiritual planet of Krsna and become eternally blissful there, not being subject to such rebirths.
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
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Maravilloso las escrituras Vedicas. Gracias por compartir
Hare Krishna,
The article is pretty good. But we have committed so many sins knowingly and unknowingly that we may not be forgiven. Will Krishna accept beings like us? Please reply.
Hare Krishna,
Ravinder Saini
Krishna is not going to accept any of us directly. Krishna suggests in the Bhagavad-gita that we approach a bona fide pure devotee spiritual master, surrender to him, serve him for such a self-realized soul can teach us the truth because he has seen the truth himself.
So it is not that we can directly approach Krishna. Krishna is only available by surrender to and service to His pure devotees. It is by the mercy of Krishna that you get guru, and by the mercy of the guru that you get Krishna.
So that is the only way. You have to find a pure devotee of Krishna, surrender to him and serve him. It is only by getting his mercy that you can get the mercy of Krishna. Otherwise it is not possible to get the mercy of Krishna.
Hare Krishna,
It is said in SB that Brahma is the first creature, in curiosity of his existence he search in the deep in the lotus to find its source but failed to find it. Just like a scientist tries to solve any mystery of nature and eventually comes with knowledge. After Brahma failed for knowing its existence by himself he heard a voice “ta-pa” means austerity and he did penance. By this way he knew his existence as Lord Vishnu guided him all the knowledge through heart. So Brahma by his spiritual master Lord Vishnu knew all the knowledge. So my question is, If Brahma knew all the knowledge, what we are learning today by the Grace of S. Prabhupada that this world is illusory or maya and we have to go back to godhead. Then Why brahma keep on creating this world and prajapatis, forms of life? He was the first to know the knowledge and directly from Lord himself. So did he created for his sense gratification? and why he is taking birth again and again if he is the first creature to know all the knowledge why he is not getting liberated just like our souls will be liberated after knowing the knowledge and we will never come back. As Krishna has boldly declare in BG. Please guide my to a solution for this confusion. Sorry for grammer mistakes.
Jai Shri Krishna.
The Lost Soul,
Utkarsh.
Hare Krishna Utkarsh
Nice questions.
This material world is created for a purpose. It is created for us rebellious living entities who have decided that we do not want to serve Krishna in the spiritual world but instead we want to become the lord and master ourselves. We want to be like Krishna, we want to imitate Krishna. But in reality we are all eternally servants of Krishna. Krishna is the Supreme Master and we are all eternally His servants.
But because we are part and parcel of Krishna, we are made from the same substance as Krishna, brahman, therefore we have the same qualities as Krishna but Krishna is unlimited in every way and we are tiny, infinitesimal. So as Krishna is the supreme controller, we, as part and parcel of Krishna, also have the controlling propensity.
It is impossible for us to become the master, because we are all eternally servants of Krishna. But sometimes we want to become the master. So it is for this purpose that Krishna creates the material world. On one hand in the material world we get to be the master to some extent. But on the other hand it all always ends disastrously. All our plans end up failing and we end up suffering from old age, disease and death over and over and over again. So an intelligent person, after many lives of suffering in the material world, comes to the realization that the material world is not a good place and he surrenders to Krishna.
So this is the purpose of the material world. Krishna wants it because He is making it for our benefit. So Lord Brahma is a devotee, a servant of Krishna, and Krishna has given Lord Brahma the service of creating and managing this material world. So this is his service to Krishna. Some Lord Brahmas do take birth again in the next creation but some of them go back home back to Godhead. Our Lord Brahma is a pure devotee since His encounter with Krishna in Vrindavan five thousand years ago that you can read about in Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book. So our Lord Brahma will be going back home, back to Godhead after the end of this universe.
Of course devotees are surrendered to Krishna, they want to serve Krishna. The want to do what Krishna wants them to do. It does not matter if their service is in the material or in the spritual world. A pure devotee is Krishna conscious and actually is always in the spiritual world. So if Krishna wants our Lord Brahma to take birth again in another material universe and again take the service of Lord Brahma then he will do that very happily. He is a devotee and he wants to do what Krishna wants him to do.
So Lord Brahma is not creating the material world for his sense gratification. He is creating the material world because he is a devotee of Krishna and Krishna has given him the service of creating and maintaining the material world.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
How many creations has there been in all of Lord Brahma’s incarnations-Totally?
Hare Krishna Kenneth
The cycle of creation and dissolution in the material world is eternal. It goes on forever. Without beginning or end. So the number of incarnations of Lord Brahma is unlimited.
JAI SHRI KRISHNA PRABHUJI ALL GLORIES TO SHRILA PRABHUPAD AND VAISHANAV’S
MY Q IS THAT ON WHAT VERY BASIS THE LIVING ENTITIES DIVIDED INTO DIFERENT KINDS OF SPICES
Hare Krishna Krishna dasa
Living entities get a particular material body based on their consciousness. There are 8,400,000 species of life and a particular living entity is placed in the womb of a mother in a particular species that matches his consciousness.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji
Dandwat Pranam
All glories to Srila Prabhupad
I want to stay connected to the Krishna Connect Newsletter
Waiting for your mercy
Your humble servant
Kanak
HARE KRISHNA prabuuji. Please tell me whether all soul have equal power or not.If yes ,then why one is rich and other is poor.
Hare Krsihna Shweta
Yes. All souls have equal power but it is a question of development of consciousness and a question of the activities of that soul in the past.
There are unlimited souls. Most are still in the unmanifest, unconscious state. So they have no activities or consciousness at all at the moment but it may develop in the future. Then there are souls in the plants which have very low consciousness and practically no ability to conceive of what is going on around them, then the souls in animals have more developed consciousness and can interact more than the plants and in the human form of life the consciousness is developed to the highest degree on this planet.
So the souls are covered by their material bodies and are only able to exhibit their power to the degree permitted by the particular material body they find themselves in. So if a soul is in a dogs body and he sees another dog he has to bark. That is what dogs do and he is forced to do that because he is in a dogs’ body. So the degree to which a soul can exhibit his power is limited by the material body he is trapped in.
Also the souls are eternal, they have a history. So life is continuous. This life is a continuation of our previous lives. So we suffer the results of the sinful activities we have performed in previous lives and we reap the benefits of the pious activities we have performed in previous lives.
So one person, who has performed many sinful activities in his previous lives, will experience a lot of pain, suffering and inconvenience in this life, whereas another person who has performed mainly pious activities in his previous lives will experience a relatively ‘happy’ life. Thing will go much better for him than for the man who has a lot of sinful actions in his previous lives.
As far as spending money for Krishna if you do not know how to do it yourself you need to take the advice of a bona fide spiritual master and for this I suggest you seriously read the books of Srila Prabhupada. And no putting money on Krishna’s feet is not using money for Krishna because you are going to take it off Krishna’s feet and use it for yourself…
We have to learn how to work for Krishna, how to spend for Krishna, from the bona fide spiritual master.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I used to attend the Hari Krishna Temple, in fact I chanted the maha-mantra for a number of years. I did at times experience a blissful “Oneness” with what I can only refer to as “God?” But it was difficult for me in many ways, and I especially was put off by many people going to that temple, often very strange or off into their own egos concerning the philosophy. So I left, and returned to practicing transcendental meditation.
I find the above quote leaves me unsettled with so many questions. It is such a VAST interpretation of “Reality.” How can we trust this?We must remember there were so many schools formed down through the ages from what the ancient seers actually cognized. The above explanation leaves me with a feeling of a dreadful God who allows his creations to constantly be tempted into falling down into “materialism.” How is that a “loving” God? I would like to hear your reply. Thank you, Lindsi
Hare Krishna Lindsi
Firstly true spiritual life is not ‘oneness’. In ‘oneness’ there is no individuality, no personality, no relationships and no bliss. In this oneness there may be some knowledge and a sense of eternality. But one can not experience any transcendental pleasure in oneness. So you have not understood what Krishna consciousness is, who Krishna is and what our relationship is and I don’t think it is possible for me to explain it all in a few paragraphs here so I humbly suggest you study the books of Srila Prabhupada. You will find all the answers there.
True knowledge is only one. Yes man has formed so many schools out of his own speculation. But this is not knowledge. This is not bona fide. The true knowledge is revealed by Krishna in the Vedas and it is only one, there are not many schools of knowledge.
We have to find the actual truth, not the speculations of many schools of imperfect men.
So really you have not understood anything. Not understood Krishna, not understood this material world we are in, not understood the nature of the material world, not understood the purpose of life and not understood this post. So what can I say really. I am a bit speechless for to explain all these things would take a long time.
Srila Prabhupada has written over 80 books that perfectly explain all these things and I humbly suggest that you read them.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu !!
I want to know after leaving body what happens to soul ??
Is there any time period for soul to take birth again ??
Also referring to this article the time period of Brahma is fixed . His one day all souls take birth and deaths again & again . And at night everything comes to rest and lives in compact form in Vishnu body .
And then Brahma dies after his time period and this cycles continues .!! That means everything is predestined ??
also the life we are living is also predestined ??
Kindly help me getting these queries sorted out . Thanks . Hare Krishna !!
It is very simple, what happens to the soul after leaving the body. You need to read Bhagavad-gita As It Is and you will find the answer to this question and all your other questions. Why people don’t read Prabhupada’s books and ask these silly questions I can not understand.
Whatever consciousness you have at the time of death that consciousness you will attain in the next birth. So it is your consciousness that carries your soul in the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego, to its next gross material body.
So your consciousness at the time of death is created by your actions and consciousness during your life.
The perfection of life is to be Krishna conscious at the time of death.
If you are Krishna conscious at the time of death you will attain Krishna after death. It means your soul will go back home, back to Godhead and not have to take birth again in this hellish material world. That is what we are aiming for, to be Krishna conscious at the time of death. And the process of sadhana-bhakti that Srila Prabhupada is teaching us is so we can adjust our lives so we are always thinking of Krishna 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year… So if we are always thinking of Krishna naturally we will be thinking of Krishna at the time of death…
As far as your assertion that everything is predestined then yes, in the sense of the cycles of manifestation and unmanifestation of the material world, this is an eternal cycle, like we see the cycle of the seasons through summer, autumn, winter and spring every year. So you can say the seasons are predestined and that would be true.
But it is not that the actions of the living entities are predestined. Every living entity has a little independence and it is the misuse of our limited independence that causes us to come to the material world and we always have that limited independence and that is the cause of our destiny. Our use of our limited independence. So we cause our own destiny. It is not that Krishna is causing it. We are responsible for our own actions and we have to suffer for the misuse of our limited independence.
We create our own suffering. It is not that Krishna is predestining anything in our lives. Krishna has given us a little independence and our use of or misuse of that independence causes our destiny.
Hare Krishna Prabhu !!
First of all thanks giving answers to my silly questions .
I have grown up in Hindu Culture so that why more of enquiries are coming from me like if we attain another body immediately after death as per our counciousness at the time of death , then what is role of Lord Yama?? Are we refuting the theory of Yamraj here ??
What causes our eternal body to fall into material world ??
Here I would like to refer to incident mentioned in Srimad Bhagvatam , sages cursed the door attended of Vainkutdhama who were Jai and Vijay . Merely getting curse from sages and your eternal body transforms to material body ??
So what is eternity ??? Really confusing me . Also want to highlight here that these attendant later took birth thrice and killed by Lord Narayana in his different Avatars . What happened to souls of these two attenedents after killed first time ( devote Prahlada era ) because the next time when these two appeared that was Lord era and third time it was Lord Krishna himself . Now I am trying to correlate my enquiry I made earlier what happens to soul after death ?? Where it stays before getting another body ??
also if you can tell me about Vainkutdhama?? What we do there after elevating to that plane ??
Looking for your mercy .
Thanks
Hare Krishna Prabhu !!
Too many questions.
Please read Srila Prabhupada’s books. All your answers are there.
First question only I am answering. You do not get a material body immediately after death. Sometimes we may simplify explanation. But actually at the time of death for devotees Visnudutas come and take him back home back to Godhead, for nondevotees Yamaduttas come at the time of death and take him to Yamaraja for punishment. So this punishment by Yamaraja in the hellish planets happens in the subtle body. After punishment is finished then he gets a chance to again take birth in a material body.
Please feel free to ask more questions but I can not answer dozens of questions in one comment.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa Dasa Maharaj Ji
Hare Krishna
And this is getting a bit too alarming too.
The overpopulated skin is ever enhancing and Jivatmas simply being strewn indiscriminately into sex machines (bodies – use & throw metaphysical wireless modulator terminals of the metaphysical network). And that too it says that there are millions of 7 shelled macrocosms appearing & disappearing on the causal waters.
What is the way for mass delivering Jivas Maharaj Ji?
Retrieve the “right of the Jivatma to remain spiritual without the slightest trace of material feeling.
May be a proxy technology will help 🙂
Warm $ Deepest Regards
Your humblest servant
Naren
Hare Krishna Naren
Nothing has changed. The way to awaken the dormant Krishna consciousness of the masses is very simple and it is nicely illustrated by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada. Firstly it requires pure devotees of Krishna. Unless one is a pure devotee of Krishna he can not awaken the Krishna consciousness of another. Then the process is sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra, prasadam distribution and, when the people are a bit purified by the chanting of the pure devotees of Krishna and the prasadam, then some philosophy can be explained to them.
There has to be a world-wide society of devotees practicing pure devotional service. And this has to be, as Srila Prabhupada established it, a ‘live in’ society. Because, particularly now, in Kali-yuga, without living in the association of very sincere devotees, it is very difficult, almost impossible for one to become Krishna conscious.
So really to save the world we have to recreate Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON. ISKCON, if it had been developed as Srila Prabhupada directed, would have saved the world by now. But unfortunately the leaders of ISKCON have taken it in a totally different direction so now it has no potency to deliver Krishna consciousness to anyone.
So the real thing is if you want to understand the answer to your questions very properly you need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Particularly Sri Caitanya-caritamrta:
https://krishnastore.com/sri-caitanyacaritamrta-17-volume-set-1974-edition-h-krishna-3415.html
Prabuji, my humble obeisance unto you
If a devotee wants to follow “mama janmani janmaniSvare bhavataad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi = causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth” then, is it same for him to transfer to the spiritual planet of Krishna and become eternally blissful there or which one is higher ?
A pure devotee is already with Krishna. So it does not matter to a pure devotee where he is. He is happy to serve Krishna in the material world or in the spiritual world. It makes no difference to him. That is the point of Lord Caitanya’s prayer. He does not care for liberation. He is happy to come back and take birth in the material world time and time again as long as He is engaged in the service of Krishna and living in the association of the devotees.
So for a pure devotee there is no question of higher or lower. He is equally happy serving Krishna either in the material or in the spiritual world.
If a devotee know About
who Karanodakayi Visnu ,
Garbodakasayi Visnu and
Ksirodakasayi Visnu ONE VILL NEVER TAKE BIRTH AGAIN=
NO MORE MORE REINCARNATIONS.!!
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Please accept dandavats.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
At the end of millenium Lord Brahma will be transferred to Krishna loka or again he will be reborn as
Brahma again in this universe.
Please clarify this.
Hare Krishna
Sudhakar
Hare Krishna Sudhakar
It depends. Everything is individual and Lord Brahma is an individual and it depends on his consciousness at the time of death.