The Purpose of Life
To make the most out of life then we need to know what is the greatest achievement possible in life.
If we were to ask the average person what the greatest thing he could achieve in his life was the answers would almost all center around increasing material facilities for the gratification of his, or his families, material senses. People would like to become very wealthy, very beautiful, very powerful, very famous, etc. It is all self-centered. In this materialistic, selfish, self-centered world we have come to think a successful life means providing for our personal sense gratification.
The truth is this concept of sense gratification is only an illusion. It is not actually possible for us to enjoy in the material world. The actual enjoyable substance is not present here in the material world. This material world is called maya, it means “that which is not”. We have the idea of pleasure, the idea of love, etc. But the actual pleasure, the actual love, it is not to be found here in the material world. This material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. The spiritual world is the Kingdom of God. The place where Krishna lives in association with His devotees. The real pleasure is there in the spiritual world. Trying to enjoy in the material world is like trying to enjoy the taste of the mangoes on a tree that is reflected in the water of a lake. We can not taste the mangoes in the reflection of the tree. We can get the idea of the mangoes from the reflection, but to taste them we need the actual tree, not the reflection.
Although we strive to be the master the reality is we are all eternally servants. We have no choice but to serve. That is our nature. You can study any person in this world, even the so-called greatest man, and you will find he is a servant. The President is the servant of his countrymen and if they are not happy with his service they will drag him down from office.
So in this way everyone is a servant. No one is independent. But serving in the material world is not satisfying. We can only be actually happy by serving Krishna.
Before spiritual life is really possible we have to realize that this material world is not our home. We are in a very hostile foreign country. And we can never be happy here in this hostile foreign country. To be happy we have to go back home, back to Godhead. So there is no point in trying to make a comfortable arrangement here in the material world. It is not possible. We can never be happy in the material world. That is like a fish trying to be happy out of the water. It is not possible. The fish needs to live in the watery atmosphere. The fish can never be happy on the land. Similarly we are spiritual entities and we can only be happy in the spiritual atmosphere. We can never be happy in the material atmosphere.
We all have our karma, our destiny. It is already fixed up, how much we will ‘enjoy’ and how much we will suffer here in the material world. We can not change it. So once we understand this we can “make the best use of a bad bargain” and use this human form of life as a way to elevated our consciousness to Krishna consciousness. The human form of life is a very valuable boat and we can use this valuable boat to cross over this material world, which is likened to an ocean of darkness, and reach the spiritual world on the other side.
Krishna saying in the Bhagavad-gita (Chapter 8, Text 5):
And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
In this verse the importance of Krishna consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Krishna consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental abode of the Supreme Lord. The word “remembering” is important. Remembrance of Krishna is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Krishna consciousness in devotional service. To remember Krishna one should chant the maha-mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, incessantly, following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, being more tolerant than the tree, humbler than the grass and offering all respect to others without requiring respect in return. In such a way one will be able to depart from the body successfully remembering Krishna and so attain the supreme goal.
So here we have the key to understanding the perfection of the human form of life. Our human form of life is perfect if we can remember Krishna at the time of death. We should never forget this. And we will not be able to remember Krishna at the time of death unless we practice remembering Krishna during our lives. The purpose of Krishna consciousness is to live in such a way that we always, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are constantly remembering Krishna. Death can come at any moment. We do not know if we will still be living in this body in one hours time.
At any moment we can die. So the devotee is very careful to fill every moment of his life with Krishna consciousness. We need to adjust our lives so our every action is performed for Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna.
This art of living for Krishna, working for Krishna, doing everything for Krishna, this is the science of Krishna consciousness and Srila Prabhupada has given us all the secrets as to how to easily practice Krishna consciousness in his books. So we need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and put the instructions of Srila Prabhupada into practice on our practical day-to-day lives. That will lead to a very blissful and ecstatic existence for us in the material world and will cause us to remember Krishna at the time of death which will guarantee that at the time of quitting this material body we will go back home back to Godhead to serve Krishna there in the association of the pure devotees of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
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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CAN YOU SEND ME CHANTING BEEDS? HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA.
Please order them at:
https://krishnastore.com
they are very inexpensive and we can ship to anywhere in the world.
The essence of the life, is wonderfully explained, keep posting such enlivening lectures, it’s the daily dosage to keep the krishna conscious intact.
Thank you for taking time to write this
Hare krsna Madhudvisa dasa, Is it true that all of our activities are controlled by demigods?Is it true that all of our activities are predestined,when one is in womb?Is it true that diseases,suffering, are predestined?Is it true that All of our activities in the past,present and Future are predestined?It is said in Srimad Bhagavatam that our Hands are controlled by Demigod Indra,Our legs by Lord Vishnu,our Ego by Lord Shiva,Our Intelligence by Lord Brahma,Our Mind by Chandra,Our Eyes by Surya,Our Voice by Agni,Our sense of Taste by Varuna,Our sensation of Touch by Vayu.So What Freewill does we have to enjoy in this material world?Why wont krsna just make us Free in the material world from the control of Demigods?
If this material world is a miserable place why wont demigods suffer from Diseases,old age etc..They are always enjoying in heaven.
Hare Krishna Madhav
No, it is not as you describe. We have limited free will, but it is quite limited. All we can really choose is if we want to serve Krishna or serve maya [illusion].
If we choose to serve maya then it is as you have described. We are controlled by the demigods and our karma and have no real independence. But if we surrender to Krishna and serve Krishna then we are controlled by Krishna…
So we can make that choice, if we want to serve Krishna or if we want to serve maya.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!
I remember reading in the book A second chance that you can erase all your bad karma by simply chanting the holy name of the Supreme. Of course not with the intention to keep offending.
I read: “The word alam in this verse indicates that simply uttering the holy name of the Lord is sufficient. There is no need of any other process. Even if a person chants imperfectly, he becomes free from all sinful reactions.”
And the Padma Purana: “Even if one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra offensively, one can nullify these offenses by continuously chanting without deviation. One who becomes accustomed to this practice will always remain in a pure transcendental position, untouchable by sinful reactions.”
My hypothetical question: will it then not be possible to achieve Krishna’s abode even if we are not always 100% perfect in chanting 16 rounds every day? But we remember Krishna all the time and as long as we stick to the four regulative principles?
Hare Krishna Vinod
It is up to Krishna and the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. But we should be as Krishna conscious as we possibly can be. These things are very minimized, chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krsihna mantra is not much. We have to do at least that. That is the point. There has to be some minimum standard. We can do more but we have to do at least this.
If we are serious there is no question of doing less. If we are not serious then anything is good of course. But we should be serious…
Chant Hare Krisha and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna! Dandavat Pranams Prabhu!
The sastra says our body is not important as it is in transmigration and will wither and fall anyway. Some devotees say this body is important and we must take good care of it otherwise we will not be able to serve Krsna. But caring for the body seems to be in contradiction of our daily sadhana in Krishna Consciousness, at least for some of us.
If we have spiritual responsibilities we tend to carry all that out first then only look into the body’s needs. Sometimes over a long period of time our body becomes ill because of neglect. Especially in cases where we are the only devotee at home and there is no one else to help or no one else interested and willing to help in devotional practices. So our own meal times become delayed. But since we think that putting Krsna’s needs above our own is more important and pleasurable, we don’t care much for the delay as we think it doesn’t matter as I am not this body after all. Serving Krsna or serving deities is more important. Even serving fellow devotees is more important.
What is a good balance prabhu? Should we care about the body like non devotees who are so concerned about their health etc.? They eat on time, sleep on time and are very bodily conscious.
What I am saying is it is difficult to do both with equal importance. If we care a lot for the body then we can’t prioritise our sadhana. When we prioritise our sadhana we will to some extent neglect our body.
The above is in the context of a very busy female devotee who has many responsibilities including work responsibilities.
Looking forward to Prabhu’s insights.
Thank you very much,
Your servant,
Sridevi Gaurangi dd
Hare Krishna Mataji
It is not our body, it is Krishna’s body. So we have to look after Krishna’s things. But looking after the body is a very simple thing. If we become actually Krishna conscious then by serving Krishna we will automatically look after our bodies without having to make any separate endeavor. For example we do not care for cooking for the benefit of our body. But we want to make a very nice offering for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. And we can only offer the freshest, best quality foods in the mode of goodness to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. And of course we only accept Krishna prasadam. Which means immediately we have the best possible diet for our bodies. But we are not cooking for ourselves, we are cooking for Krishna…
And we are the sankirtan movement. It means a lot of dancing and chanting. Which just so happens to be perfect exercise for the material body. Not that we are going out of our way to exercise or body. We are just joining in the daily kirtan party. And that just happens to be the best exercise for our bodies.
There is an English saying: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” So in Krishna consciousness we have to offer Mangal-Aroti to Krishna at 4:30 AM each morning. So we have to get out of bed early and to get out of bed early we need to take rest early. So without even trying, just by being Krishna conscious, automatically our bodies become healthy, wealthy and wise.
To become Krishna conscious we have to remain in the mode of goodness which means we have to keep very clean. Regularly taking bath and putting on clean clothes. We can only cook for Krishna when we are clean. We can only offer to Krishna when we are clean. So we are keeping clean for Krishna, but keeping clean like this also happens to be very good for the body.
Also chanting Hare Krishna removes the cause of the bodily problems. So we avoid so many bodily problems that we would otherwise have to suffer simply because we are chanting Hare Krishna.
So you can see that we do not need to make any separate endeavor to maintain the body. We simply have to endeavor to become Krishna conscious and automatically all the bodily needs will be properly supplied.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare Krishna
guru ji dandvat pranam
your newsletter is very important for us.
it makes us alive you r doing such a wonderful work and I really only trust you after sri satgurudev prabhupad..thank you so much..I born in Hindu brhman family but as bhagwat says in kaliyug so called brhman family no austerity no celibacy and no bhakti only a bogus stamp of bhrahman..guru ji I want to know I saw sri babaji maharaja sri thakur bhaktivinod maharaj
sri Krishna chaitanya mahaprabhu and other devotees sri radha Krishna in my dreaming state but not totally dream like a fact real state and whenever I saw anything like this I also feel my soul is rotating very very so fastly in my body everywhere and one day when I saw sri radha Krishna like this my heart is dancing heart is rotating ..like we feel satisfaction in sex but it is more than sex it is more than anything and feels in heart …it happens only once in my hole life…guru ji is it called realisation I feel my soul is different from body and it is so powerful and one more thing is it possible our beloved guru maharaj initiate us in our dreams and respond and help us and also trained us …
your humble servant
ashish
hare krishna
Hare Krishna Ashish
Your experiences chanting Hare Krishna are very nice Prabhu. Yes. Initiation is quite misunderstood. Initiation means ‘the beginning’. So initiation is the point when we actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada, we accept his instructions as the mission in our life, and we surrender to him and agree to follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication, and we agree to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. It is this surrender that is initiation. And Prabhupada is with us. Not so reliably in dreams. We can not put much faith in dreams, although sometimes it is spiritual. But Srila Prabhupada is most certainly living in his books and he is always ready to answer our questions and instruct us through his books.
So we need to take more advantage of Srila Prabhupada’s personal association in this way, through his transcendental books, and our path to success will become more and more clear.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
10 Dec. 2015
Hare Krishna Prabhu.
Dear Sirs:
Your newsletter promotes awareness and importance Lord Krishna Consciousness indeed as this physical world said as all “Maya”. Instead of concentrating on material world alone, one has to practice philonthroahic nature of life by really helping the deserving poor for their survival to the extent possible. I understand this principle as part of Krishna Consciousness and practice as a human-being – as Jeevathma is Paramathma as various scriptures said to the extent possible limited to one’s capacity in all respects.
Harekrishna Prabhu.
Thank you Sirs. Namaskarams..
dear prabhu ji, dandvat pranam.. my name is ashish from delhi.I want to know one thing..I am trying to follow four principals and 16 round very hard but I fail so many times..I want to know what is nirjana bhajan I am reading srimad bhagwatam and get this word..and after read this I feel like pesudo devotee..pls guide me.. your humble servant ashish
Hare Krishna Ashish
Nirjana bhajan is going to some solitary holy place and sitting down there and chanting Hare Krishna in seclusion. But this is not possible for the ordinary devotees like us. When an ordinary devotee tries to do this it becomes a false show only. He makes a show. Pretending to be a sadhu and pretending to chant Hare Krishna while secretly doing all sorts of sinful activities in the holy place. So this is not recommended.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends that we stay where we are, there is no need to change our position in life, we can just become Krishna conscious ourselves and preach Krishna consciousness to the people who are around us. In that we we can become the guru for the people around where we live. This is the practical way. Not going to some secluded place in the mountains and pretending to chant Hare Krishna.
But we have to become Krishna conscious ourselves and that means we must at least chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra ourselves and follow the four regulative principles ourselves. It is not so amazing that sometimes we may fail to come to the proper standard. And that should not discourage us. There is an English saying: “Failure is the pillar of success.” So it is like that. But we can never become complacent. We have to always very sincerely try to follow the regulative principles and be determined to never fall down. But if by some bad association we do fall down we have to pick ourselves back up again and get ourselves properly situated again.
You will get more strength by preaching, by distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, by helping others come to Krishna consciousness. That is the secret. Krishna is most dear to those who explain the secret of Krishna consciousness to others. It means we have to know it first ourselves, otherwise it will not be possible to explain it to others. But even if we are not so advanced we can distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books to others. If we do this Prabhupada will become pleased with us and actually the only way to advance in Krishna consciousness is by pleasing a pure devotee of Krishna.
So do not let anything discourage you from chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and strictly following the four regulative principles. If we can not do that ourselves we will have no spiritual strength and we will have no power to explain Krishna consciousness to anyone else. First we have to become fit ourselves, then we may be able to do something to help others.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Jagad guru Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for sharing nice spiritual articles dear Madhudvisa Prabhu. Your articles are always refreshing and reminds me of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. I would just like to add that destiny of a devotee is completely different from non-devotees. A non-devotee never gets more than his destiny because he works for his personal gain. A devotee doesn’t work for his personal gain, but he works only for Krishna. So even though everything is fixed up for non-devotees, a devotee doesn’t blindly believes in his material destiny or luck, but in hard work, perseverance and Krishna’s mercy. I have seen sometimes neophyte devotees become lazy because they think everything is already fixed up, let me just focus on my chanting and Krishna will do everything. A devotee, especially devotees with Ksatriya gunas should never leave anything to destiny, but should endeavour very hard, day and night for Lord Krishna.
Sri Laxmanji, Valmiki Ramayan
विक्लवो वीर्यहीनो यः स दैवमनुवर्तते ।
वीराः सम्भावितात्मानो न दैवं पर्युपासते॥
Viklavo veeryaheeno yah sa daivamanuvartate
Veeraah sambhaavitaatmaano na daivam paryupaasate
2.23.16
Only the timid and the weak leave things to destiny (daivam) but the strong and the self-confident never bank on destiny or luck (bhagya)
Somebody protested that “Your Krsna consciousness movement makes people dull.” And now, you haven’t seen the Vaisnava. There are two fights in the Indian history. One is Rama and Ravana and one is Kuruksetra, and the hero is Vaisnava. We are going to produce such Vaisnavas, not these dull and rascal, sitting down. We don’t want these Vaisnavas, sitting down rascals. We want Arjuna or we want no one. That is Vaisnaivism. That is wanted.
(Srila Prabhupada, 13 th July 1974, Los Angels, California)
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Yes. It is true. We have to actually work for Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna. This is devotional service, working for Krishna. So without service there is no meaning to Krishna consciousness or devotional service…
Hare Krishna One purpose is going back to Godhead…….Another one is remaining in the matérial world for helping people to discover Sri Hari in a the next life…What do you think about ? Thank you very much …. Haribol !!!!
Hare Krishna
The purpose of life is not to go back to Godhead. The purpose of life is to surrender to Krishna and serve Krishna. That is the point. We are eternally servants of Krishna but we have rebelled against Krishna and come to this material world and here we are trying to get people to serve us. That is our disease. So the purpose of life is to cure this material disease and regain our original Krishna consciousness and be fully engaged in serving Krishna under the direction of His pure devotees. So that is the purpose of life. Pure devotees are surrendered souls at the lotus feet of Krishna. They go wherever Krishna wants them to go an serve Krishna wherever He wants them to serve.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What relation is Jesus to Krishna? Is he really the son of God?
Yes. Everyone is the son of God of course. God is everyone’s father.
So we accept Lord Jesus Christ as a shaktievasa avatara, an empowered incarnation. It means a living entity who has been specifically empowered to preach the message of God on earth.
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji. All Glories to Srila Prabhupad and All Glories to Srila Guru Maharaj.
This very nice article, constantly remembering to Krishna. But Prabhuji I am not always think about krishna whene i am working other jobs such as at my office work, travelling etc. even at Chanting time also not perfectly and constantly remembering to krishna because my mind is not control and so how i am constantly remember ? Hare Krishna
When you chant Hare Krishna that forces you to think of Krishna. You should be working for Krishna. It means you are working for money and you should spend that money only for serving Krishna. So when you are working you will be constantly remembering that it is Krishna for whom you are working. It is a science, Krishna consciousness. You have to learn it. Not that I can write one paragraph and you will learn the science. No. You have to study the science by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and putting the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives you in his books into practice in your day-to-day life. So please read Srila Prabhupada’s books. You will find all your answers there.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna !
Pranam Swamiji ___/\___!
Awesome post! thanks for reminding Swamiji! Hari Bol!
With Pranam
Uma Sridhar
Hare Krishna .
Prabhu ji I have confusion kindly clear me.
1. Can we chant in morning without taking bath.
2. I want to divert in myself in path of ISCKON
but i am not getting support from my family.
Kindly advice me how can handle the situation.
regards,
Arabind Sahani
Hare Krishna Arabind
Best thing is to rise early and take bath and then engage in spiritual activities. So if you can organize this then do it. But if you can not take bath early in the morning then you can rise early in the morning, clean your teeth and wash your face and chant Hare Krishna. There are no rules and regulations for chanting Hare Krishna and you do not have to take bath to chant Hare Krishna.
However if you are going to worship the deity you have to take bath first.
But you can chant Hare Krishna in any situation.
As far as the family members they will almost always be against you if you try to become a devotee of Krishna. That is something almost all devotees have to deal with. So you just have to deal with it. You can try to act in such a way as to not unnecessarily disturb them. Like if they are against the idea of Krishna consciousness there is not much point in constantly bothering them about it. But at the same time we can not compromise in any way as far as our Krishna conscious duties are concerned. So we just have to prosecute our Krishna conscious activities regardless of what our family members think or say.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna madhudvisa dasa,
Prabhu is everything fixed in life,i mean to say is our destiny fixed depending on the past karmas?
Hare Krishna Shivam
Materially speaking everything is fixed up according to our karma. At the time of birth we are predestined to enjoy a certain amount and suffer a certain amount according to our past karma. There is nothing we can do materially to change this.
But as soon as we take to Krishna consciousness everything changes. For the devotees Krishna takes a special interest and He changes everything. So for devotees things are not fixed up and karma is not having any effect on a pure devotee. Depending on our level of purity it may be that we are still somewhat under the power of the three modes of material nature. But as we advance in Krishna consciousness we can completely transcend the control of karma.
So the answer is that yes, for the karmis, everything is more-or-less predestined. But for the devotees it is not fixed. Devotees surrender to Krishna and serve Krishna and everything in a devotees life goes on under the personal guidance of Krishna. It is very nice if we can get to this platform…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna! Dandavat pranams!
Many Hare Krsna Devotees become overweight and sometimes obese due to consuming a lot of prasadam as in the course of a day or month they do so much offering and don’t want prasadam to go to waste. Hence they end to consume it especially mothers. When devotees become overweight is it alright for them to take weight reducing products that come in satchets that are meant to replace all their meals for a period of time? These satchets are of course not prasadam.
One more thing is many people dye their hair to appear young in this artificial world where anything not beautiful is usually not accepted. People feel their self image is threatened. May I know Prabhu’s view on this. Are these two examples that of indulging in the bodily conception of life? What does it mean if a devotee cares about his or her appearance — dying hair or putting on make up etc. ? Thanking you for your time Prabhu. Kindly share your views Prabhu. Hari Bol!
Hare Krishna Mataji
In India the ladies traditionally put henna in the hair to keep it dark and there is really no problem with this. Particularly for a married lady. Widow is different thing. But married lady has to present herself nicely.
As far as overeating we should not eat more than necessary. Not that because the food is there we must eat it. No. We have to just eat what is required to keep the body and soul together. So we have to solve the problem at the source. That is by reducing the eating. That is the real solution.
You have to use your common sense in these matters. It is necessary even for health not to overeat. There are many bad reactions from overeating health wise. So if you think by taking some medicine temporarily that will help you reduce eating then maybe it is OK. The point is if it is to increase your service to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
The real thing is we need to be engaged in devotional service. If we are very busy in devotional service we will not have the time to overeat.
So I can not say these things for you. You have to chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books yourself and understand what you need to do yourself.
But I think you have the idea to reduce eating and that is a good thing. Overeating is not at all good for devotional service. Undereating is not good also. We should be moderate in all our habits. Not too much eating and not too little.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji.
I have full confidence in Krishna Consciousness. But there is a confusion in my way of thinking. I know a devotee who is very devoted to Krishna. she was so ill and very ill, so miserable, so suffering for a long time that she could not even come to temple to pray and finally she died with the disease.
And another devotee, who used to do service (aarti every day we go to temple and see him doing aarti) but after months we learn that he began to suffer from his leg, and when finally he had to live on a wheel chair for his rest of life, he cannot even come to temple, how is it sad!
My question is that, we are preached that when we pray to Krishna and chant Maha Mantra, all our bad karmas are wiped off and our destiny becomes pleasurable and blissful. But seeing these two devotees I am confused, please instruct me. Hari Bol
Hare Krishna Bharati
Yes. A devotees destiny becomes pleasurable and blissful. But this is on the spiritual platform, not the material platform. We are in these material bodies and they are going to get old, sick and die. There is no escape from this. The point is a devotee comes to realize that he is not this material body. So even though a devotees body gets old, sick and dies, he knows he is not the body and throughout all of this he remains transcendental to the bodily conception of life and remains pleasurable and blissful.
So you have misunderstood. Devotees are not free from the material sufferings of their aging material bodies. The material suffering will be there for us all. But devotees become transcendental to this material suffering. It does not bother them. They are on the spiritual platform. This is the platform we have to achieve: Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna prabhu , all glories to gaura nitai, srila prabhupada
Beautifully explained how we can use the most precious gift our life to fulfill the greatest cause serving the causeless sri krsna
Prabhu, can you tell us where we can have mrdanga in Delhi, India
You can get it in Vrindava, which is not far from Delhi.
Dear Sir,
I could clearly understood spirutual world where Krishna love his devotees is far better than this material world. In this material world one will be facing lot of problems and worries for everything.Chanting Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.as many timy times as possible gives mental peace. Not only this one can surely remember Krishna at the time of death. But one thing is certain. Lord Krishna must help us to remember at the time of death. I think if once a person reaches spiritual world he need not come again to this material world.
Gurujeee do you agree to my comment. I am slowly elevating in my life with your excellent discourses..
Please be guiding me always.
With warm regards,
Hare Krishna K.V.Rangaswamy.
Hare Krishna
Yes. Your comment is very nice. I agree.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!
Thank you Madhudvisa das Prabhuji, for an enlightening article.
You mention in the last para.. ‘This art of living for Krishna, working for Krishna, doing everything for Krishna, this is the science of Krishna consciousness …’
I have a query regards to the above statement. For one who is in the Grahastha (Householder) ashram, do we have to continue to do the same work but with my mind, intelligence and ego surrendered to Krishna or do we have to move our Sanyas ashram to be full time in service of Krishna leaving our duties to family and society?
And you also mention that, ‘Remembrance of Krishna is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Krishna consciousness in devotional service..’ What does that devotional service mean? Is it only chanting, hearing and reading Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and books, keeping association of like minded people, having prasad (food sanctified) offered to Krishna? What actually is devotional service to Krishna?
Please clear my doubts as I am confused.
Hare Krishna!
Hare Krishna
To clear your doubts you have to surrender to the process of Krishna consciousness. It is not that I can explain it to you and you will understand it. No. You have to experience it by making spiritual advancement yourself. Otherwise you can never understand spritual life. So you have to start at the beginning. And that means you have to surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, you need to strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. And you have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. This is the process so if you truly want to clear your doubts and confusion then just follow this process and you will be very successful.
You can do all these things in your household life and in your current situation. There is no need to change your situation. You can just add Krishna consciousness and that will perfect your life.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I appreciate all your email, thank you very much
Hare Krishna
Guruji — need your help in how to attain this nature when mind always wanders and be after materialistic gains
You just need to read Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions he gives you as you read his books. But people do not do this. So you have to do this or there is no hope.
Hare Krishna !
Dandavat Pranaam !!
It is wonderful and great to read this “purpose of life” article. It is simple to understand and concise. May Lord Radha Krishna Bless you to carryout more such services ….
YHS
TBGD
Hare Krsna Madhuvisa dasa PAMHO all glories to Srila Prabhupada
S.B. 2/98 Bona fide spiritual master Puport
One has to receive the transcendental sound from the right source, accept it as a reality and prosecute the direction without hesitation. The secret of success is to receive the sound from the right source of a bona fide spiritual master. Mundane manufactured sound has no potency, and as such, seemingly transcendental sound received from an unauthorized person also has no potency. One should be qualified enough to discern such transcendental potency, and either by discriminating or by fortunate chance if one is able to receive the transcendental sound from the bona fide spiritual master, his path of liberation is guaranteed. The disciple, however, must be ready to execute the order of the bona fide spiritual master as Lord Brahmā executed the instruction of his spiritual master, the Lord Himself. Following the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the only duty of the disciple, and this completely faithful execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the secret of success.
We all want to be happy(or satisfied) in one way or another ; in nectar of devotion it is stated : (From Chapter 1)
”
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has analyzed the different sources of happiness. He has divided happiness into three categories, which are: 1) happiness derived from material enjoyment, 2) happiness derived by identifying oneself with the Supreme Brahman and 3) happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that if brahmānanda, or the happiness of becoming one with the Supreme, is multiplied by one trillionfold, still it cannot be compared with an atomic fraction of the happiness derived from the ocean of devotional service.
In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is also said that any person who has developed even a small amount of devotional service doesn’t care a fig for any kind of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification, or the five kinds of liberation.
”
See the word “small’ has great significance here.
Quote from
“You Must First Be Gentle”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.13
September 18, 1972, Los Angeles
So Lord Siva was in meditation, naked, and Parvati was induced to worship Lord Siva and touch the genital. But Lord Siva still was undisturbed. So at that time, Kalidasa Kavi, that “Here is the example of dhira. He is so much absorbed in meditation that a young girl, touching the genital, still, he is undisturbed. He is so self-controlled.”
This is a example of a pure devotee a completely self realized person in all three aspects of god.
Of course we should not try to imitate such unimaginably great personality but this shows the potency of a pure devotional service.