From: dwight@pentasoft.com
Dear MDS:
> Well, let's see: Krishna was famous for luring the cowgirls and screwing
> them in the pastures and forests. Most of the Krishna images have wine
> and good food and sex in them - and not marital sex, MDS. Krishna was
> the Indian version of Zorba, quite a lusty guy. And that was okay.
> One thing he wasn't, for sure - that was celibate. Radha, Radha,
> Radha Govinda Jai -- victory to spirit, victory to nature, ...
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the supreme male
person. His position is different from ours. You have written the above
from your own perspective, as if Krishna was an ordinary man like you or
me. Krishna married 16,108 queens, He maintained a separate palace for
every one of them and every evening after finishing his business as the
King He would expand into 16,108 separate forms to be present with every
one of His wives. Of course He was legitimately married to these queens.
You have also mentioned the gopis, the cowheard girls of Vrndavana.
Krishna was born in Mathura and immediately transferred to Vrndavana
where He spent His childhood up to the age of 16. His youthful pastimes
in Vrndavana are the sweetest and most worshipable, but also the most
difficult to understand. Many people have, as you have noted, classed
Krishna as a women-hunter and have painted licentiousness pictures
totally misrepresenting the whole thing. Krishna did dance with the
gopis, He wasn't married to them, many of them were already married and
some had children as well. But when they heard the sweet sound of
Krishna's flute coming from the forest in the dead of night they went to
Krishna and danced with Him. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
and He is beyond moral principles.
> To think that others are critical of your life-restrictions because
> they feel guilty, and are envious of your happiness, is the mind-set of
> the religious fanatic.
Perhaps, but people are often envious. We are happy serving Krishna and
detached from the happiness and distress of the material world. Many
people are not so fortunate as I am sure you know. Just look around
and see for yourself.
More realistically, some others may see you as
> a vapid follower-type, one who adopts a set of unusual practices (like
> publicly chanting Sanscrit while wearing ancient Indian garb) in order
> to experience fellowship with a group of similar followers.
How would they know? They have never tried it. How would you know? I
know because I have been in both situations. You have also given a
very sterotyped description of a devotee. Many don't shave their hair
and wear dhotis. They wear ordinary clothes and are quite respectable
citizens. Some of us choose to live in temples in a somewhat monastic
style but what is wrong with that? And what is strange about glorifying
God publicly. The Salvo's have been doing it for years. I really don't
know what is your problem.
The kind
> of happiness you experience in kirtan is quite selfish. It can be
> like a sort of spiritual masturbation, a way to get yourself high
> without actually contributing anything to the world.
kaler dosa-nidhe rajan asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet
"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still
one good quality about this age; simply by chanting the Hare Krishna
maha-mantra one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to
the transcendental kingdom."
We are living in a very dark time, the age of quarrel, the iron age,
there is not much hope for spiritual life. But this Krishna sankirtana
is the special boon, simply by chanting (or hearing) the maha-mantra,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare
Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, we are purified. The name of Krishna and
Krishna are non-different, in fact Krishna has appeared in this age of
Kali in the form of the Holy Name. So performing sankirtana [chanting
Hare Krishna in the streets] is the most beneficial activity for
everyone. The chanters benefit and the people hearing also benefit. It
is a gradual thing but everyone is becoming purified.
Many of us see
> the Krishna-sect "happiness" as the plague to be avoided: it can be a
> way to skip doing any real work on yourself and just drift off into
> bliss, unconcerned. Not that different from heroin.
Then you don't know what Krishna consciousness is. We work just like
everyone else. Krishna consciousness is a practical thing, it's
DEFINITELY NOT "drifting off into bliss unconcerned." It's doing what
you can do best for Krishna. If you like to cook then you can cook for
Krishna. It's practical activity. If you like the outdoors you can work
on one of Krishna's farms and produce fruit and vegetables to be offered
to Him. If you want to preach you can preach... But not "drift off into
bliss unconcerned." We want to keep ourselves always busy doing
something for Krishna.
> I don't mind seeing you happy. I don't mind seeing you chanting, or
> wearing orange, or shaving your head. I don't care what you believe,
> or what your life-restrictions are.
Good.
<< Nonsense deleted >>
Thank you. Hare Krishna!
Madhudvisa dasa
(madhudvisa@krishna.org) /sudarsana
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
Sudarsana Home madhudvisa@krishna.org