The Ten Offenses in Chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra
The Hare Krishna mantra is unlimitedly powerful and has the potency to immediately cleanse us of all the reactions from our sinful activities from this an so many other lifetimes. It has the power to awaken within us our original pure love for Krishna. The Hare Krishna mantra has the power to connect us with an ever-increasing ocean of transcendental pleasure. On the other hand one can chant the Hare Krishna mantra for many, many births and not achieve any significant results at all. Why?
The answer is there is a quality to the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. If the chanting of Hare Krishna is done purely then the results will be very quick and very great, but if there are offenses in the chanting then the results will be very, very limited. Chanting Hare Krishna with offenses has been compared to trying to light a fire with one hand and pouring water on it with the other hand. So actually you will not be able to light the fire in this way. There will be practically no result. Only your effort will be there, but there will be no result.
Therefore if we want to be successful in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra it is essential that we come to the platform of offenseless chanting.
Actually in the beginning we can not chant the Hare Krishna mantra purely. There will be many offenses for sure. The only way to overcome these offenses actually is by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
At least 16 rounds a day every day without fail. Also we must strictly following the four regulative principles:
- No illicit sex life [sex is only for having children in marriage, nothing else]
- No meat eating
- No gambling
- No intoxication
If we are thinking that we can make any advancement in Krishna consciousness without coming to the platform of chanting at 1east 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles we are simply deluding ourselves. There is no spiritual life without following these principles, only useless sentiment.
In addition to following the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily we have to consider the ten offenses in regard to chanting the holy name:
- The first is to blaspheme the great devotees who have tried to spread the glories of the holy name throughout the world. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is non-different from Kṛṣṇa, and one who attempts to spread the holy names throughout the world is beloved of Him. Kṛṣṇa Himself does not tolerate offenses against His pure devotees.
- The second offense is to deny that Lord Viṣṇu is the Absolute Truth. There is no difference between His name, quality, form, pastimes and activities, and one who sees a difference is considered an offender. The Lord is Supreme, and no one is equal to or greater than Him. Consequently if one thinks that the Lord’s names are nondifferent from the names of demigods, he offends.
The Supreme Lord and the demigods should never be considered on the same level.
- The third offense is to consider the bona fide spiritual master to be a common man.
- The fourth offense is to blaspheme Vedic literature and authorized scriptures like the Purāṇas.
- The fifth offense is to consider the glories attributed to the holy names to be exaggerations.
- The sixth offense is to concoct perverted theories about the holy name.
- The seventh offense is to commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the holy name. It is understood that by chanting the holy names one is free from sinful reactions, but this does not mean that one should act sinfully on the strength of chanting. That is the greatest offense.
- The eighth offense is to consider that religious rituals, austerity, sacrifices or other forms of renunciation are equal to chanting the holy name. Chanting the holy name is as good as associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pious activities are only means to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they can even be performed for some material reason.
- The ninth offense is to preach the glories of the holy name of God to a faithless person who is not interested in hearing them.
- The tenth and last offense is to maintain material attachment even after hearing and chanting the holy names of God. The idea is that by chanting the holy name without offense, one can obtain elevation to the liberated platform. On the liberated platform one is freed from all material attachment. Thus if one chants the holy names and still has material attachments, he must be committing some offense.
[from TLC 1: Teachings to Rupa Gosvami]
Srila Prabhupada always stresses these points very strongly at initiation ceremonies and if he is not personally performing the initiation he stresses these points in his letter to the initiates.
The following quotes from a July 1969 letter Prabhupada wrote to his new disciples in London are typical:
“So this initiation means the preliminary chance for preparing oneself to achieve this highest perfection. I am very glad that you are already interested in the Krishna Consciousness Movement, and you will please chant at least 16 rounds daily, observing the rules and regulations.
“The four principle rules is that you will refrain from 1) meat-eating or partaking of fish or eggs, 2) illicit sexual connections, 3) intoxication (including cigarettes, coffee and tea) and 4) gambling.
“In addition to these rules there are ten offenses to chanting the Maha Mantra which should be avoided. These rules are as follows: 1) blaspheming the Lord’s devotee. 2) Considering the Lord and the demigods on the same level. 3) Neglecting the orders of the spiritual master. 4) Minimizing the authority of the Scriptures. 5) Interpreting the Holy Name of God. 6) Committing sin on the strength of chanting. 7) Instructing the glories of the Lord’s Name to the unfaithful. 8) Comparing the Holy Name with material piety. 9) Inattention while chanting the Holy Name. 10) Attachment to material things while engaged in the practice of chanting.
“So follow faithfully the above rules and regulations, help your godbrothers and sister in London to propagate Krishna Consciousness, and there is no question that you will all come out successful. I hope this will find you well.”
So you can see that coming to this platform of chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles is simply a prerequisite, a requirement which must be met before anyone can be initiated as a disciple in the Hare Krishna movement. And this initiation is simply the beginning. “So this initiation means the preliminary chance for preparing oneself to achieve this highest perfection.”
So after initiation there is whole process of training that one must undergo under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master to gradually rise himself to the platform of pure, offenseless chanting. There has to be surrender, service and he has to hear the instructions of the bona fide spiritual master and follow those instructions.
So Krishna consciousness is not a very cheap thing that can be had very easily. Krishna is not available to anyone very easily. Krishna can only be achieved by the mercy of His pure devotees. So there is no access to Krishna consciousness directly to Krishna. That is not the process. And Krishna will not reveal Himself to the devotee unless the devotee pleases and gets the mercy of Krishna’s pure devotees.
Therefore having a bona fide spiritual master and serving him and pleasing him and getting his mercy is essential. Otherwise there can be no advancement in Krishna consciousness. And unless the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna then he has no potency to give you Krishna. He is simply a cheating rascal.
So in fact above all the rules and regulations and offenses I have mentioned the most important thing, the essential thing, which is required if you want to come to the stage of purely chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is you must have a bona fide spiritual master who is a pure devotee of Krishna. Without having a bona fide spiritual master you can chant Hare Krishna forever but you will not be able to advance because Krishna does not reveal Himself in this way. He only reveals Himself to those devotees who surrender to and serve and please His pure devotees.
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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This was most helpful n informative. Thank you very much for this. Do you have any advice on how to give up meat eggs fish n cigarette’s coffee n tea? Is there a certain prayer for that? Why cant you have coffee n tea ? I’ve read n have learned that there are a lot of teas that are very beneficial and healing the body and coffee is good for your liver. Is boiling sliced ginger root in eater n adding a bit of raw honey not okay either. Is it okay to take supplements like fish oils like Omega 3 as they are very good for the heart. Can you tell me what supplements are not okay to take. And is it OK for a women to share her hair? Is it recommended or not? And why must women keep their hair covered? Must they do it at home m while sleeping too? Which online Hara Krishna chanting video do you revcmend the most? My Thanks in advance. I live two hours from the nearest temple and I have no vehicle so I have no way to get to the temple to ask anyone these
questions. May God Allah Krishna bless you. Thanks Mujella (my Sufi given name)
Hare Krishna
Yes. To make spiritual advancement we have to only accept Krishna prasadam, that means “Krishna’s mercy”. So the idea is a devotee does not do anything for himself, he does everything for Krishna. And he simply takes Krishna prasadam. So Krishna does not eat meat, eggs, fish, etc. So a devotee is only concerned about pleasing Krishna, he has no concern about himself. He knows that if he simply works for Krishna and takes Krsihna prasadam [food that has been offered to Krishna] then that will contain everything that he needs to keep his body fit and strong.
Of course it is practical and if we have to take some medicine or something to help maintain the body then that can be done sometimes.
But the principle is devotee does not do anything for himself. And almost everything you are listing in your message are things that are meant for your personal satisfaction, not for the satisfaction of Krishna.
So devotee understands that we can not actually satisfy our senses. The demands of our senses are unlimited. We can not satisfy them. So it is pointless. Rather we should try to satisfy the senses of Krishna. So it means that when we cook, we cook for Krishna, for the satisfaction of Krishna. And Krishna does not smoke or drink alcohol or eat meat or eggs, etc…
So we need to cook something for Krishna that He likes and offer it to Him and then we will accept the prasadam, the remnants of Krishna’s meal.
So hopefully that will be helpful.
Hare Krishna prabhuji.. I started chanting 16 rounds in 2022 but I was in relationship with bf
. Again in 2023 I had illicit sex with him.. now how to repent for this sin
Hare Krishna Sikha
It is not so strange that one might fall down from the proper standards of Krishna consciousness. The way to solve this problem is to again immediately get back properly situated in Krishna consciousness. Firstly we have to be in Krishna consciousness. Most so-called ‘devotees’ have no idea what Krishna consciousness is. It begins with surrender to Srila Prabhupada, and without surrender to Srila Prabhupada there is no question of Krishna consciosuenss.
Anyhow Lord Caitanya is patita pavana, the deliverer of the most fallen, so being fallen is not a disqualification for advancing in Krishna consciousness as Lord Caitanya is the deliverer of the most fallen.
So there is no problem what we have done in the past, that is in the past, there is no need for anything except becoming properly situated in Krishna consciousness now. So that requires training and the training is given to us by Srila Prabhupada in his books. PLEASE READ PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS:
https://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html
Hare Krishna
Me and my family members are non-vegetarian..but i want to start chanting ‘hare Krishna japa”..is there any rule to start chanting..or in starting can I chant only 1 time or 16 times is compulsory? Or which beads should I refer neem or Tulsi if I m not vegetarian?
Yes. Just chant Hare Krishna. Tulsi beads are only for devotees following the principles. But you can chant Hare Krishna in any situation on neem beads. So just chant. But you have to also follow the four regulative principles to make any real advancement: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. But chanting will bring you to the point where you will be able to follow the principles. But you have to know that you have to follow the principles. Not that we can chant Hare Krishna and go on breaking the principles. But if we are chanting Hare Krishna and do fall down, then we just keep chanting Hare Krishna, but we have to be always striving to strictly follow the principles, not that we just go on breaking the principles and make a show of chanting Hare Krishna.
Point is it is a package. We have to do all the things, chant at least 16 rounds Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication, and read Srila Prahbupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
So maybe in the beginning it is not possible to do everything but we have to know this is the standard we have to achieve and maintain to make any significant advancement in Krishna consciousness.
HARE KRISHNA
COULD YOU PLEASE ADVISE ME ON SRILA PRABHUPADAS VIEWS ON USING HOMEOPATHY MEDICINES.
Srila Prabhupada, in his previous life, was a manufacturing chemist. He produced medicines and sold them. So he was certainly aware of all the different types of medicines including the western the auyarvedic and the homeopathy. But medicine is not something that Srila Prabhupada really spoke about. Prabhupdada was speaking always about Krishna.
So the point is we have to become Krishna conscious. As far as I am aware Prabhupada never expressed or endorsed or gave much detail on any medicines. It is not that Prabhupada is teaching us about medicine, he is teaching us we are not these material bodies but we are the spirit souls present in the bodies, and it is the spirit soul that is important, not the body.
The whole idea of Krishna consciousness is to get off the bodily conception of life, not to overly focus on the body and trying to fix it when it is destined to get old and die and be destroyed in time anyhow.
Have i have dirtied my mala in ignorance by chanting on them in bed? i didn’t let them touch the bed or bed-linen, always laying a clean cloth beneath them.
If they are now dirtied can i cleanse them or should i dispose them, if so, how should i do this.
Just wash the bead bag and chant Hare Krishna on your beads. Don’t worry about all these rascals telling you chanting Hare Krishna is offensive. They are demons simply trying to discourage you from chanting Hare Krishna by inventing so many rules and regulations to stop devotees from chanting Hare Krishna.
There are no rules and regulations for chanting Hare Krishna, you can chant Hare Krishna anywhere and everywhere. Your beads are just to keep track of how many times you have chanted Hare Krishna, they are a counting mechanism. Not that you should stop chanting Hare Krishna for any of the thousands of reasons these demons come up with…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Hare Krishna!
Please answer my question.
Can i chant the Maha Mantra on the japa mala without initiation?
Yes. Why not?
Hare Krishna!
Im from Russia! Sry for my bad english…
I have a question.
Can i use japa mala for chanting Maha Mantra before initiation. I just started listening to Bhagavad Gita with Prabhupada Commentaries.
YES YOU CAN!!!!!
Because of health issue if I am not able to chant in morning….can I chant at evening for one day?
Yes. Our vow is to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. So you can chant anytime, not that you stop at 16, if you have more time, chant more rounds, but at least 16 rounds every day.
Prabhu ji , can women worship diety of shri prabhupad ji ? Can women perform all diety routines ?
There is no question of man or woman. We are not the material body. We are eternal servants of Krishna. So anyone can serve Krishna, anyone can serve Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji. I have a few questions.
1. I chant 3 rounds a day because my work and study life is hectic and I need to pay attention to that as well. What if I keep chanting three rounds until I am of retirement age and then I focus on chanting 16 rounds and taking initiation? Is that ok? Because I also need to maintain myself and my family. I donate a small portion of all my income to the temple near my home. I do not have interest in being a Brahmana right now.
2. Can chanting be done without taking initiation? I have heard that chanting without taking initiation has no effect. Am I wasting my time?
3. I was always avoiding reading the article about 10 offenses while chanting because I knew I must have committed some offenses. And today I read the article. My offenses are that I did not believe that the Puranas are true and used to reject them and I always ask for material benefits from Krishna during my last round of chanting. During chanting, mentally, during my first round I ask for more Bhakti, in the second round I mentally ask for protection of all devotees and Hindus all around the world, and in the third round I mentally ask for Krishna to solve the troubles I am facing in my life and to make the path ahead smoother for me. What can I do to ask Krishna for forgiveness of my offenses?
4. What mantra to say before offering food to Krishna?
5. How does karma work in the case when Krishna uses one person to punish other for the sins they committed in the previous birth? For example, if one person has committed some theft in previous birth and in his current birth, he gets robbed, then does the robber sin or not? If it was supposed to happen then will the robber face reaction of sin in his current or next life? Or did God do it?
Hare Krishna Prabhu
You have to study Srila Prabhuapada’s books more seriously than you study your school books. Krishna consciousness is a science and how can you expect to learn it without studying the books?
So what is the point of me giving you one sentence replies to your questions that are elaborately explained by Srila Prabhupada in his books? If these points could be sufficiently explained in one sentence books Prabhupada would have given us a small 20 page pamphlet and you could read that and just chant 3 rounds a day and maybe become Krishna conscious in your old age.
But you will not become Krishna conscious in your old age. You will continue what you have done in the rest of your life, sense gratification, in your old age.
So it is a little more serious, Krishna consciousness. Not something that can be achieved if we refuse to follow the basic principles: Chanting at least 16 rounds a day and strictly following the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating and no gambling and seriously studying all of Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is the beginning of Krishna consciousness. So everything is nice. You are chanting 3 rounds Hare Krishna mantra, it is wonderful, but that is 15 minutes of the day you are Krishna conscious, the rest of the day 23.75 hours, you are working for sense gratification.
So Krishna can see this, he is working for me 15 minutes and he is working for sense gratification 1485 minutes, he is spending 1% of his time working for me and 99% of his time working for his sense gratification.
So Krishna sees not only how much we surrender to him, but Krishna can also see that 99% of the time you are working for sense gratification…
So Krishna can understand what we want. Obviously if we are working 99% of our time for sense gratification and 1% of our time for Krishna, we don’t want Krishna, Krishna is not important to us. You want success in the material world, you want money, a good job, a beautiful wife, many beautiful children. And if Krishna can help you get that then that is good. You don’t want Krishna, so you are not going to get Krishna by surrendering 1% of your time to Krishna.
You said reading Prabhupada book is more important than our academic book, if we neglect our study how we get a job, if we don’t get a job then how we maintain our family.
Main thing is to become Krishna conscious. That is the purpose of this human form of life. So main thing is every day chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. And rest of the time you can read some academic books and study and get a job and support your family, etc. So you can do both. But reading Prabhupada’s books is certainly more important than reading anything else and has to be the number 1 priority.
Maya will ALWAYS give you a convincing reason why you have no time for Krishna, but the reality is we need to be spending all our time and energy, 24 hours a day, serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. And if you read Prabhupada’s books you will find out how you can do this in practice.
Prabhuji, Is it necessary to take initiation from a bonafide spiritual master?
Yes. Of course it is…
Who today is a bonafide spiritual master?
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapda, he is living in his books and ready to instruct and guide you. You just have to take the time and effort to read his books.
Radhe Radhe
Prabhuji
Can we chant the HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTRA without a japa bag or bead bag ?
Yes. Of course, japa beads are just a counting mechanism. We make a vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, so we use the japa beads to count how many times we have chanted the Maha-mantra. And bead bag, it is just to protect the beads. So yes, of course, you can chant Hare Krishna without a bead bag… Why these silly quesitons?
My friend, no question is silly if it contributes to another’s deliverance. Much respect and Hare Krishna 🙏🏽💙
Hare Krishna Prabhuji..
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Will it be fine if we only do chanting all time and not do other spiritual practices like deity worship, reading scriptures etc. Acyually I have very less interest in other practices.
Please guide
This is most likely sahajiya. Because if you are truly attached to chanting Hare Krishna, then you will be truly attached to serving Krishna, like being engaged in the deity worship, going out and selling Srila Prabhuapda’s books, going out on the Hari Nama Sankirtana party, etc. So if you are not attached to serving Krishna practically it is very unlikely that you are really chanting Hare Krishna. Because chanting Hare Krishna is a prayer to Krishna, “Please engage me in Your service.” But you are saying, “I like chanting Hare Krishna but I don’t want to do any service.” So it is most likely you are a sahajiya. Taking things very cheaply.
Of course there are great devotees like Haridasa Thakura who simply chanted Hare Krishna 24 hours a day, but he was chanting all day and almost all night, 100,000 names a day, that is like 64×3 = 192 rounds a day. But we are having trouble even chanting 16 rounds a day, yet we are claiming a position like Haridasa Thakura…
So no. We need to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, read Srila Prabhuapda’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication]. At least we need to do these things, and that is really just the beginning.
When you read Srila Prabhupada’s books he will instruct you so many things we need to do if we actually want to become devotees of Krishna.
For us simply sitting in a secluded place and pretending to chant Hare Krishna, that is not going to work. We need to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and do real, practical service with our body, money, mind, words, etc, to help spread the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. That is the only way for us. Not pretending to chant Hare Krishna in a secluded place.
Thankyou Prabhu Ji for your kind reply. I will try my level best to Serve Krishna and Srila Prabhupada with all my senses.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
Hare Krishna prabhu. I’ve a question that in the book krsna the supreme personality of godhead, chapter Deliverance of lord shiva it is stated that “If a karmi performs auspicious acts, he is elevated to the heavenly planets, and if he acts impiously, he is put into a hellish condition of life. But whether a devotee acts in a so-called pious or in an impious manner, he is neither elevated nor degraded, but is transferred to the spiritual kingdom”. So, as far I’m concerned the devotees don’t commit any impious activities. But why the above statement is written? Is the devotees allowed to perform impious activities?
Please clear my doubts prabhu.
Thank you.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
You can’t just pick a few lines out of one of Prabhupada’s books and try to understand the few lines by themselves. You have to read the whole chapter, the whole book and understand everything in context. In this chapter of Krishna Book Srila Prabhupada is describing the devotees, pure devotees, who are sometimes put into difficulties due to the desire of Krishna. He is contrasting this to the karmis who are put into difficulties due to their past sinful activities.
The point is a devotee is surrendered to Krishna, not that everyone who claims to be a devotee is a devotee. A devotee is someone who is surrendered to Krishna and all his activities are performed under the direction of Krishna and Krishna’s pure devotees. So a devotee has no independence. He is simply carrying out the orders of Krishna. The example Prabhupada is giving here, earlier in the chapter, is Arjuna. Arjuna is on the battlefield, fighting, killing the enemy, who are actually his family members. And in the ordinary situation this could be impious and he could be put into a hellish condition of life. But in Arjuna’s case he is fighting on Krishna’s order. Krishna ordered Arjuna to fight. So Arjuna has no responsibility for any sinful reactions that would normally occur in such a situation.
So hopefully you can understand this Prabhu. Devotee does nothing except follow the orders of Krishna and Krishna’s pure devotee, so if devotee is doing any thing impious, like we could say Arjuna killing his family members on the battlefield of Kuruksettra, in the ordinary course of events, mighty be impious. But Arjuna is doing this killing under Krishna’s order. So for a devotee who is simply following Krishna’s order there is no elevation for the performance of pious activities and there is no punishment for the performance of sinful activities.
Because devotee is a surrendered soul, he is just serving Krishna, it may appear externally to be pious or impious, but for the devotee the result is the same, he will go back home back to Godhead…
Thank you so much Prabhu. How easily you make my doubts clear.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Can we chant while lying down in bed ? If we are very tired and exhausted at night or can’t sleep .
Yes. Yes. Yes. We can chant Hare Krishna anywhere and at anytime. There are no rules and regulations as to where we can chant Hare Krishna. We can chant Hare Krishna even in the bathroom. But we can not take our japa beads into the bathroom or into the bed. But we can chant Hare Krishna mantra anywhere.
It is 16 rounds a day. So yes. You can chant 8 in morning and 8 in the evening for example. As long as you chant 16 rounds in the day.
But I do not have tulasi beads. Can I chant on my fingers.
You can get tulsi or neem beads at:
https://krishnastore.com
Haribol! I am new to bhakti and Krishna Consciousness and am trying to understand how to navigate it as a beginner. I have love for Krishna and pure intention in devotion while chanting and singing the Hare Krishna mantra. I have a friend who does not believe in any form of God but self-describes as spiritual and would like to sing in kirtan because it sounds beautiful and they like to sing and like other people to hear them sing. I feel uncertain of this, it seems like it would be offensive to chant the holy name without believing in the holy name, I don’t feel good about this person’s intention and I feel I have heard and been taught that this would be offensive, but I’m not certain. I also don’t want to judge or exclude someone from experiencing the Hare Krishna mantra and kirtan though, so I am confused. Thank you for any advice. Hare Krishna!
Yes. Chant Hare Krishna, get your friends to chant Hare Krishna, become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself and by your good association your friends will become Krishna conscious also.
Thank you! 🙏💚
Can one chant Hare Krishna if he or she eats egg by mistake (for example while eating a cake which is made with egg)? I mean if he or she does not willingly eats it, but by mistake.
Of course you can chant Hare Krishna in any situation.
Is it necessary to keep tulsi japa beads with me everytime i chant hare krishn mahamantra? Can i chant without the beads? I chant while working, while driving and while going for a walk so it is not possible to take the beads everytime i want to chant.
Yes. You should keep your beads with you always, while walking, while working, while driving, etc. That is what the bead bag is for, you put it around your neck so you will have your beads always there with you ready to chant on.
Of course while driving you can’t chant on your beads but you can chant. Of course you can chant without beads. But that chanting does not count towards your 16 rounds.
I feel comfortable while chanting Maha Mantra silently and I can feel the calmness in my Mind. Is this ok or should I chant a little bit louder so that I can hear it. Please advise Guru ji which is better. Namaskara.
Chanting means you have to be able to hear it. If you can’t hear it you are not chanting. You can chant in your mind but that is not really chanting, that is remembering, and remembering, it is also one of the nine processes of bhakti, so it is good also. But it is not chanting. So for proper chanting you need to chant loudly enough so you can hear it, but you do not have to chant very loud, you can chant very softly so you can just hear it yourself, or you can also chant very loudly so everyone else can hear it. But if you can’t even hear it yourself then you are not really chanting.
Is itching, yawning,coughing, sneezing, farting is prohibit while chanting the Hare krishna mahamantra…Please reply me prabhu.
Hare krishna
No. There are no rules and regulations in regard to chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. You can chant the Hare Krishna mantra in any situation. You can chant Hare Krishna in the bathroom, in any filthy condition, anywhere at any time. There are no restrictions whatsoever for chanting Hare Krishna, you can do it anywhere and at any time with absolutely no limitations at all.
However, there are some restrictions in regard to Tulsi japa beads, Srimati Tulis is a pure devotee of Krishna and we have to offer her some respect. So devotees keep their beads in an bead bag for example, to protect the beads so they do not touch the floor, etc. And we don’t take our japa beads into the bathroom for example. But some devotees take this way too far. So much that they leave their japa beads in the temple, fearing that it might be offensive to take them with them. This is nonsense. We have to be always chanting Hare Krishna so we have to always have our japa beads with us and we have to be always chanting Hare Krishna on them. So that is the main point. Chant Hare Krishna constantly 24 hours a day. So always keep your japa beads with you and you can make some effort to respect Srimati Tulsi Devi but the best way to please her is to keep your japa beads with you always, 24 hours a day, and constantly chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
on them.
There are also some regulations regarding the temple, particularly entering the deity room to do deity worship. But these things should be observed visiting the temples also. So these offences in regard to deity worship are nicely described by Srila Prabhupada in his Nectar of Instructions Chapters 8 and 9. You can read it at:
https://prabhupadabooks.com/nod
No restrictions you mean you can consume non veg sometimes? Of the 4 regulations applies to only initiated people
You can do anything you want to do, but you will go to Hell.
If you want to make advancement in Krishna consciousness then you have to follow the four regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, at least. That is the beginning.
Otherwise if you don’t want to surrender to these things you can do whatever you want to do and go to Hell.
We can only suggest to you what you need to do if you want to make spiritual advancement, it is up to you to choose if you want to make spiritual advancement or if you want to go to Hell.
Of course chanting Hare Krishna is always good, even if you find yourself eating meat and doing all sorts of sinful activities then keep on chanting Hare Krishna. But not that it is OK to eat meat and do other sinful things and think that by chanting Hare Krishna that will neutralise the sins. No. That is the greatest offence in chanting the holy name, “Committing sinful activities on the strength of chanting the holy name.”
So if it happens, we fall down, we are eating meat, we are performing sinful activities, we have to know we are fallen, we are sinful, we are not properly situated and we have to pray to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna to save us from this fallen condition and then chant very sincerely the Hare Krishna mantra, not in an attempt to neutralise our sinful activities, but with the desire that we become properly situated in Krishna consciousness and that we get the strength, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, to give up all our sinful activities.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Thank you fir the clarification. I have given meat a few weeks ago. The only problem i have is semen loss. Could you please advise some books to help me overcome this problem?
You just have to become Krishna conscious, that requires reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and following the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books.
Hare Krishna!,
why do I have to say ‘jai shri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara sri vasadi gaura bhakta vrinda’? before starting chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra?
Hare Krishna Roshan
Because that is the “Panca-Tattva Maha-mantra”
jai shri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara sri vasadi gaura bhakta vrinda
It is a prayer to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and if you don’t know why you are praying to Him then you had better find out.
Please read Srila Prabhupada’s “Teachings of Lord Caitanya,” then you will understand everything nicely:
https://krishnastore.com/teachings-of-lord-caitanya-1968-edition-h-krishna-405.html
I want to chant hare krishna maha mantra but i can’t stop eating onions and drinking tea is it okay..?
Yes. Chant Hare Krishna and the more you chant Hare Krishna the more you will get strength and you will then automatically be able to easily give up eating onions, drinking tea, etc. So we should always chant Hare Krishna, never give up chanting Hare Krishna, no matter what condition we are in. And the chanting of Hare Krishna will give us the strength and intelligence to give up all our sinful activities.
Thankyou very much i was very worried thankyou for clearing my doubt i will start chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra and pray to god to give me strength thankyou thankyou🙏❤️
I want to ask that even if you are not initiated you should follow the 4 principles and if you can’t follow one of them like i can’t stop eating onion and garlic and drinking tea you can and you should still chant hare krishna and it will eventually give you the strength to stop eating onion and garlic? Also, like after i have eaten my meal( consisting of onion and garlic) and drank tea can i still chant hare krishna on japa mala or should i just chant before eating anything?
The thing is you have to want to follow the principles and seriously try to follow the principles and then you will be able to follow the principles and get the strength to follow them by chanting Hare Krishna. Otherwise if you don’t want to follow the principles chanting Hare Krishna will not necessarily help you follow the principles. Krishna knows what we want so we have to want the right thing. Otherwise Krishna will give us what we want and if we want the wrong things then that may be a bit difficult for us. These are called weeds. And part of advancing in Krishna consciousness is to get rid of the weeds in our hearts so that the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is causing the growth of the bhakti-lata bija, the creeper of devotion, not the weeds. So it is a bit more advanced understanding.
But yes. Chanting Hare Krishna is always good in every situation and we should always chant Hare Krishna no matter what situation we are in.
Hari Krishna,
did Krishna have a material body like us?
No.
Krishna’s body is not material. Krishna appears in His original transcendental spiritual body. Because we have a material body we can not remember what we were doing before we accepted this material body, before we were born, but Krishna is not like that. Krishna is not forgetful. Krishna remembers everything, because Krishna does not change His body, Krishna does not accept a material body under the modes of material nature as we do.
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Please accept my obeisances.
IN 9th offence is to preach the glories of the holy name of God to a faithless person who is not interested in hearing them. at the same time krsna say no one is dearer to Him than one who risks everything to preach His glory. so how to avoid the this offence at the same time preach kc
You can not preach to non-devotees because they can not understand Krishna consciousness. So the idea is that it is pointless, preaching philosophy to non-devotees. They have to become qualified, they have to perform some service, they have to have some pious assets, to allow them to comprehend anything about Krishna consciousness. So Prabhupada’s system is to engage everyone in chanting Hare Krishna. That is the recommendation. Sankirtan, congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. That is for everyone, devotees and non-devotees. And prasadam distribution. Prepare sumptuous offerings for Krishna, offer them to Krishna and distribute Krishna prasadam to everyone, devotees and non-devotees alike. And sell them Prabhupada’s books and encourage them to read Prabhupada’s books. If they give some of their hard-earned money to pay for Prabhupada’s books that is service, and that service will qualify them to understand what they read in Prabhupada’s books.
So preaching is an art and it is mostly Chanting, dancing and distributing Krishna prasadam and selling Prabhupada’s books. That is the way. That is for everyone. Discussing the philosophy is only for the devotees actually.
TEXT 68
ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva
mam evaisyaty asamsayah
TRANSLATION
For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.
PURPORT
Generally it is advised that Bhagavad-gita be discussed amongst the devotees only, for those who are not devotees will neither understand Krsna nor Bhagavad-gita. Those who do not accept Krsna as He is and Bhagavad-gita as it is should not try to explain Bhagavad-gita whimsically and become offenders. Bhagavad-gita should be explained to persons who are ready to accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is a subject matter for the devotees only and not for philosophical speculators. Anyone, however, who tries sincerely to present Bhagavad-gita as it is will advance in devotional activities and reach the pure devotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, he is sure to go back home, back to Godhead.
Namaste,
Could you inform me how to find a bona fide guru?
Thank you?
READ SRILA PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS, HE WILL INFORM YOU.
is guru necessary for chanting
No. Anyone can chant Hare Krishna. But it will not be very effective without surrender to bona fide guru.
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Please accept my obeisances.
I recently came across a video, where two persons were performing kirtan in a bar, where they try to attract people who were intoxicated with liquor. It is actually a short film and in the end, they convinced some people in that intoxicated state that chanting Hare Krishna is the highest pleasure (which seemed completely artificial, as it was just a short movie)
I got really disappointed seeing that film. The kirtan they were doing was mostly like a rock music. They were also using some heavy rock guitar and drums and all those rock music stuff for kirtan. They also sang the panca-tattva mantra in a similar way.
First of all, is this type of kirtan necessary, Prabhu? It looked like they were totally missing the point and that their main motive was to gain popularity in that bar.
It was actually just a short film drama, and I don’t think it’s possible to attract people in that state. Did Srila Prabhupada mention anything about this type of kirtan?
P.S.: I am sorry if I have said something offensive.
Yes. This type of ‘preaching’ is very questionable. It is possible of course for pure devotee to preach to intoxicated people. That is what Lord Caitanya did with the demon brothers Jagai and Madhai and it is what Srila Prabhupada did when he went to the Lower East Side of New York in 1966. That was just as bad as the bar and everyone was intoxicated and engaged in all sorts of sinful activities. But Prabhupada’s presence purified it and Prabhupada created a spiritual oasis in the middle of it all. So it can be done by pure devotees. But when you go down to their level and play their demonic music and chant Hare Krishna to it the tendency is you get pulled down by the demonic music and atmosphere rather than being elevated and if you, the preacher, are pulled down, then you can not help to elevate the people…
So we should preach in the standard way, at the same time a pure devotee of Krishna can discover unconventional methods to spread Krishna consciousness…
So it is really better to go out and preach correctly ourselves rather than to criticize other’s attempts to preach. Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is always good, but if it is done offensively of course it becomes milk touched by the lips of a serpent and has poisonous effects. So the real thing is if the chanter is a pure devotee of Krishna or if he is a demon. Pure devotees chanting will be effective in any situation but demon’s chanting will be like milk touched by the lips of a serpent, it will have poisonous effects.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What is the best time to chant hare Krishna maha Mantra or we can chant anytime?
We can chant Hare Krishna any time. Best is to chant Hare Krishna mantra 24 hours a day. Brahma-muhurta, the early morning hours starting around 4:00 AM is a very good time of course…
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
While chanting on beads when spiritual thoughts like Srila Prabhupada saying something come to our mind then also do we have to bring our mind back to hearing the chanting?
Yes. We always have to bring our minds back to hearing and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. That is the process. But it is nice if we are getting spiritual thoughts while chanting Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Hare Ram,
Madhudvisa ji, Is it fine to chant the mantra in mind than chanting by lips? While doing my work, I just chant the mantra in mind and I don’t count how many rounds, just chanting inside my mind. So, it is fine?
Warm Regards
Sandeep Kalita
No. It is not fine. Chanting means with your tongue and hearing with your ears. So we have to do this, at least 16 rounds a day.
Of course thinking about Krishna in your mind is good also, that is another process, it is not bad, but it is not chanting, it is not a replacement for chanting.
Thanks for your message. Indeed of 16 rounds of japa is it ok for 10 rounds daily?
Of course chanting Hare Krishna even once is good. So chanting 10 rounds is good also, but Krishna Consciousness is anandam-buddhi vardhanam, it is an ever-increasing ocean of transcendental bliss. So chant 10 rounds today, 11 rounds tomorrow and increase by one round a day, in a few days you will be chanting 16 rounds.
16 rounds and following the four regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day is the minimum for serious devotees. But everything connected to Krishna consciousness is good, however if you actually want to become Krishna conscious, you have to take it seriously and chant at least 16 rounds, follow the four regulative principles and read Prabhupada’s books. No one is going to become Krishna conscious without surrendering to these basic points at least. But of course chanting 10 rounds a day, you will naturally get more attachment to chanting Hare Krishna and want to chant more rounds. So it will lead you to becoming more serious and chanting at least 16 rounds.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your feet. Please tell me sir that how one can follow ekadashi when he is not in home. Simple example of this would be a person serving in army. How can he break fast and how can he chant 16 rounds as he is most of the time employed near borders. Even sometimes his duty comes in odd timings when there is time of parana. So sir please tell me he can observe fast. I will be really obliged.
Fast means not eating. You can not eat anytime you like. So it is up to you. Chanting 16 rounds also, you can do it, no one can stop you from chanting Hare Krishna. You may have to adjust the times according to the situation. We may not be able to strictly follow all the things exactly in difficult circumstances like you are in but you can chant Hare Krishna, 16 rounds, find the time sometime during the day or night to chant, and if you want to you can fast for ekadasi by just not eating that day.
Thank you.
Share with us more messages for maintaining the self realisation and refraining from material bond.
Thanks for your kindful reply sir. It relived me a lot. I want to ask you 1 more question sir. Sir i follow iskcon calender to refer for fasting days. But regular calenders do not match with some fasting days(e.g.- like papamochani ekadashi was on 31st of march and in iskcon calender it is given on 1st april) so what is the reason behind this. Can you please explain it sir. It will help me a lot. Waiting for your kindful reply.
It is because ISKCON calculate the calendar for every location. Which means fasting days can be on different days in different locations.
This is against the instructions of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada ordered us to observe the fasting dates as calculated for Mayapur all over the world.
So if you get the ISKCON Mayapur calendar and use that this is Prabhupada’s instruction. Then you should find that matches the other calendars also.
sir it is said that hare krishna maha mantra saves one from becoming an animal in next life is it true ?
Yes. It is true.
Sir respectful obeiscences to you.
My respectful obeisences to you. Sir I want to ask that when following ekadashi vrata is it a offence if we sleep during night. As I am a student and being in my home i cannot stay awake whole night doing kirtan as it may disturb sleep of family members. I can neither read scriptures because reading scriptures will not help prevent sleep. So please tell me how can i follow vrata in correct way. I will be obliged.
Hare Krishna Bhawesh
It is not offensive to sleep in the evening during Ekadasi. It is better to stay awake and chant Hare Krishna and read the scriptures but if your schedule does not permit this it is not offensive to take rest.
The only things we must do on the Ekadasi days is fast from grains. But if you can fast completely on the Ekadasi days that is better of course. But we should at least observer the Ekadasi by fasting from grains on that day and try to chant Hare Krishna more and read from Srila Prabhupada’s books more than we would do on ordinary days.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What is the importance of counting the holy name while chanting ? Pls give refrance from shastra . Waiting for your reply
This system of counting the number of rounds is called ‘numerical strength’ and it was introduced by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And it is done by all the followers of Lord Caitanya in the Madhava-Gaudiya Sampradaya.
So there are plenty of examples of this in the books like Caitanya-caritamrta, Caitanya-Bhagavata, etc, the biographical works on the life of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You can read and find the references for yourself.
The real point is you have to find a pure devotee of Krishna and you have to surrender to him and serve him and he will instruct you and give you directions on the process you should follow that will enable you to advance spiritually. So Srila Prabhupada instructs his disciples to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on beads every day.
In our neophyte condition we can not understand everything about everything, that is not possible. We simply have to find a pure devotee of Krishna, surrender to him, and follow his instructions, then our life will be successful.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu!
How will a neophyte devotee find who is pure and who is not? He/She won’t know those facts in the neophyte stage, right?
Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna. You can take that for an absolute fact. So read his books, surrender to him, serve him, that way you will make advancement in Krishna consciousness and come to the madhyam [middle] platform where you will be able to distinguish who is a devotee and who is a demon.
Hare Krishna
I have started chanting Hare krishna Mahamantra 2 rounds daily on japa mala. I keep chanting it other times also while I am driving, or walking or doing other things. I also refrain myself from those 4 acts you mentioned. But I have a question. Being a man, is it sinful to masturbate ? if i masturbate, should i not chant on that day? I am very worried and confused.
Yes. Masturbation is illicit sex, and it is loosing semen which is bad for a man. So you need to chant at least 16 rounds and follow the four regulative principles and read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, you are not reading Prabhupada’s books if you do not know this. Illicit sex is difficult to control. And we should never stop chanting Hare Krishna, no matter how fallen we become. Because it is only by chanting Hare Krishna that we have some hope of getting the strength to come out of our fallen condition and get the strength to not fall down again. But you have to chant at least 16 rounds a day, not 2, if you are serious about becoming Krishna conscious. And read Prabhupada’s books every day 1-2 hours, that will give you strength and help to control the senses also. But if we fail we have to keep on trying, keep on chanting Hare Krishna.
Hare Krshna.. How long these material word will last..?
Material world is cyclical. It repeats in cycles. So it just keeps on repeating over and over again. It gets created, it exists for some time, it gets destroyed and then it gets created again and the cycles repeat.
hari bol,krishna mantra is very nice and charming,It gives unlimited pleasure,when we surrender into that to full extent.
It is very hard to be pure all times,But krishna’s love is more than mothers love,Unlimited pleasure and reservoir of pleasure.
He can give best level of transacental knowledge,He can give both material as well as trascendal pleasure
Can we also chant mantras like “Om Namo Narayanaya”,other than the Hare krishna maha mantra? I am only asking about the mantras for Lord Vishnu(or Lord Krishna).
You can chant the mantras given to you by your bona fide spiritual master. If you want to accept Srila Prabhupada as your spiritual master then you have to chant the mantras given by him.
Without having a bona fide spiritual master you can chant Hare Krishna forever but you will not be able to advance because Krishna does not reveal Himself in this way.
Can you please expand on this because as i understood the maha mantra any chanting has benifits. Even if you do not practice any time you chant is some advancement even if it is very small. And even hearing chanting can be of great benefit. Especially when it is from a pure devotee. I have a disabled brother who cannot speak and has severe learning difficulties. How does he progress.
If you are hearing the chanting from a bona fide devotee you are hearing it from a spiritual master. So that is the point. Once you hear the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra from a pure devotee you have a spiritual master and if you go on chanting the Hare Krishna mantra you will get great benefit. Practically we are all hearing the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra from Srila Prabhupada so we all have a pure devotee spiritual master. It is just up to us to surrender to him and follow his instructions and we will all make great spiritual advancement. Yes. It will be of great benefit for your disabled brother to hear the chanting of Hare Krishna, to hear you reading Prabhupada’s books to him, to hear you chanting the Bhagavad-gita slokas, etc. All these things are very powerful.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
I follow Krishna, have few doubts. I’ve started chanting but as of now I chant for 1-2 times as I listen to Krishna’s satsang. And whole day I’m at office, so can we chant on counter while driving as well? Please clear this. If we just remember Krishna every moment and chant 16 rounds, so will be free from birth and death cycle?
And I want to learn Shloka’s of Bhagwad Geeta and understand Geeta deeply, are their any classes?
Hare Krishna Namrata
You can chant Hare Krishna anywhere and at any time, there are no hard and fast rules for chanting Hare Krishna. But 16 rounds should be chanted attentively, that means not when you are driving, but you can of course chant Hare Krishna when you are driving also, but that will not be very attentive, still it is very good to chant Hare Krishna when you are driving, when you are walking, everywhere and at every time you can and should chant Hare Krishna. But the 16 rounds should be done when you can chant attentively with minimum distractions. Still you should always chant Hare Krishna, when driving and when doing everything else. The idea is to remember Krishna always, 24 hours a day, and chanting Hare Krishna automatically causes us to remember Krishna so we should be always chanting Hare Krishna.
Can chanting the mahamantra with faith help absolve sins from millions of births
Plsssss kindly tell
Yes even offensive chanting can clear all sins.But we should gradually progress towards pure chanting(offenseless).
Not really. Offensive chanting is not very effective at all. What you are thinking about is namabasa, that is very powerful, unknowingly chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, but if we knowingly chant offensively, that is like trying to light a fire with one hand and pouring water on it with the other. It is not very effective at all.
Mother Marlene,
Live far up north Ontario,
Very hard to get gee, can I cook with butter?
Had a one night stand after being celibate for 15 years will Krishna Forgive me for my fall down.
I read the Gita and other books and just stating to chat again.
Please help Thank you
Hare Krishna
You can not cook with butter because if you heat up butter it will burn. But you can make ghee from butter. It is not very difficult. Basically you just have to heat it up, at a low temperature, so all the water from within the butter evaporates out of the ghee and you don’t disturb it while this is happening and then the milk solids will settle at the bottom and maybe some on the top also. So then you will have a pot of ghee and you can just ladle it out and the milk solids you can put into subji’s etc.
So ghee is butter, clarified butter. It is butter with the water and milk solids taken out.
As far as falling down, it can happen, due to bad association, and yes, Krishna will forgive us, if we seriously recommit to following the regulative principles again and don’t make it a regular thing.
It is very good you are reading Prabhupada’s books again and chanting Hare Krishna again.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Thank you so much, I Love Lord Krishna, and prayed for mercy and forgiveness.
I feel better now, and back on track.
and thank -you for the answers that I need to keep going forward.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
Thank-you for keeping me on the right track and answering my questions.
I am coming back into krishna conscience, after some years feeling far away. My mind was no longer able to be still while hurtful things were being done to devoties and aspiring devoties like me. That is to say i no longer felt Krishna love in the actions of the group and started feeling like a hipacrote, doubt filled my mind even when I chanted. So I stopped and I left. I found a pure land devote at a market, Jade, and though not krishna, her heart was pure so through the few words i could understand i followed her instructions on pure land for about 3 years. she was able keep me going and that path has led me back to Krishna. So i started chanting again but have forgotten all but Hari Krishna mantra. Also i have forgotton how to offer food non offensively, but can not stop myself from offering food direct to Krishna. I start with asking forgiveness for my offences and beg krishna to accept my offering while calling his name. I tell my heart that this is just practise till I get it right. Anyway I feel the love but fear to offend.
It is very good you are coming back to Krishna. Get Prabhupada’s books and read them. You will soon remember everything.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
I want to follow all the above orders but unfortunately for my parents and my studies I cannot follow all.but I chant holy names almost all time possible everyday without fail.but my mind sometimes gets polluted by dirty thoughts which I don’t want to think which is a mental disease according to doctor please help this sinful person
It is not very strange that our mind gets polluted by materialistic thoughts. But the sollution is to seriously and strictly 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 every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. Even doing all this our minds may still become disturbed at times. But that is the nature of the world we are living in. It is a great battle, to become Krishna conscious in the middle of the material world. But we have to do it. There is no other alternative.
But my parents does not allow me to eat veg and chant holy names.whenever I chant if they hear they scold me and i only read about gita and instructions of lord chaitanya in internet I had a gita which my father has taken away from me.i am a student of engineering and I have no personal money how can I buy book.i cannot steal money from parents and read the books which is a sin please give me a solution
You can read Srila Prabhupada’s books online for free at:
https://prabhupadabooks.com
and you can download them in PDF form for free at:
https://krishna.org/category/free-pdf-downloads/
Hare Krishna prabhu. I have 1 doubt. Need u r clarification. Can we chant mahamantra even after going toilet .
Yes. You can even chant maha mantra in the toilet, but not with your beads. There are no rules and regulations as to where you can and can not chant Hare Krishna. You can and should chant Hare Krishna always in every circumstance.
Thx U for giving me this knowlege. I was chanting only 2 rounds a day
H are Krishna. Am reading srila prabupada book since 10 years. I want to ask a question. I offer food to krsna everyday but I use oignon, is it an offence? Because I hve heard in iskcon they don’t eat oignon.
Yes. It is offense. Krishna doesn’t like onion, so we should not offer it to Krishna. So just stop using onions and garlic in your cooking.
Why coffee and tea are considered as part of intoxication?
Because drinking coffee and tea are addictions. They are intoxicants and they are addictive. So devotees do not take any intoxicants and only want to be addicted to Krishna.
It is said the name of Krishna and Krishna the person are non different. Now I have doubt. is the name “Krishna” alone identical with the person Krishna or other names like Govinda, Gopinatha, Madhusudana, Giridhari, Madhava etc. are also identical with Lord Krishna?
All the names of Krishna are identical with Krishna.
Dear Prabhuji
This is Siddhartha from Bangalore .. Again i am back requesting you to solve my query
since from 2010 to till date i wake up early morning .. complete my bath & start chanting vishnu sahasranaama & with Lord narasimha Mahamantra .. this two takes time to complete say 45 mins then i chant Maha lakshmi stotram – 1min / 2mins then rest of my deity Gods chant – 15 mins
All together i complete in an hour by 5:30am then do arati .. After arati i have to go for walk / Mild jogging then come back ,,freshen myself read Srimad Bhagavad gita then @ 8:30am i leave home to reach office @ 9:30am
i come back to office 7 to 8pm .. tired …exhausted
How to complete 16 rounds of Hare Krishna Mantra in a day which approximate takes 2 hrs .. i wish to do .. but due to physical stress i hardly complete 5 rounds ( some wat i feel words are slipping up my tongue not getting proper pronunciation )
Pls advice .. Its a humble request from this Krishna Das – ( Servant of Krishna the Supreme Lord ..) –
regards
Siddhartha
Bangalore
You have plenty of time. Just make chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra your first priority. Everything else is secondary to this. Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the only way of spiritual advancement in Kali Yuga. Other things are nice. But chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra FIRST. So between 4:30 – 6:30 chant Hare Krishna, then finish 16 rounds or 12 if you can’t do 16 and do other 4 later on, and then do your other things.
Hare krsna
Can I chant hare krsna mantra in my mind ,does i get same benefit, when i chant this mantra in mind?
Because maximum time, i am surrounded by many people, and when I chant, people laughs.
Please guide me
No you can not chant in your mind. Chanting is done by your tongue and hearing is done with your ears. So you have to chant Hare Krishna with your tongue and hear the chanting with your ears. You need to do this at least 16 rounds a day. Of course thinking about Krishna is also good. But that is a different thing. Chanting is done with the tongue and it has to be heard with the ears.
Hare Krishna!
Actually most of the time we fear that they will laugh but actually they don’t laugh mostly. This is my experience.
I want to ask virndavan which is considered holy place and heaven of earth i got to heared that one lady who hails from odisha she was brutually raped in vrindavan or mathura i dont the exact place but she was raped brutually one of this two place may i know why may be what thoughts she was carry with herself but my question why such a sin full work could happen over krishna place were the lord residing i want a review on this
Hare Krishna Akaash
It is not possible to go to Vrindavan by purchasing a ticket and traveling to that place. Vrindavan can only be visited by one who is Krishna conscious. It is a state of mind. So there are many people living in that place who are totally materialistic, total demons. So that place which was once the playground of Krishna is becoming more and more covered because it is now populated by demonic people more and more. So gradually more and more Vrindavan is being covered over. 500 years ago Vrindavan was completely lost and forgotten. It was rediscovered by Lord Caitanya and His disciples the Six Gosvamis. But now again Vrindavan is becoming more and more covered up.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Prabhu ji
2 simple questions
1 ..why 16 rounds per day ??
2 .. if 16 rounds completes in morning can still continue another couples of rounds @ evening & start reading Srimad Bhagvad Gita ??
Pls advise
There has to be some commitment to chant a regular number of rounds. This principle of ‘numeric strength’ was introduced by Lord Caitanya.
The point is in the beginning we have no attraction to chanting Hare Krishna, so we have to force ourselves to chant Hare Krishna. And the only way to do this is by vowing to chant at least a certain minimum number of rounds.
Previously it was much greater. But Srila Prabhupada has set up this minimum of 16 rounds per day. It is not very much. Takes only about 3 hours out of 24 hours. So everyone can find time to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.
Chanting Hare Krishna is the only way to make spiritual advancement in this age of Kali. So we have to chant Hare Krishna, and the only way we will do it is if we vow to chant at least 16 rounds.
Certainly you can chant more rounds. 16 is just the minimum. Previously devotees were regularly chanting 64 rounds a day and some still do. Haridas Thakur was chanting a lot more, 300,000 names more than 170 rounds a day.
So yes. You can chant 16 rounds in the morning and then some more rounds in the evening and reading. That is a very good idea.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Very wonderful. Prabhuji you said that Sriman Haridasa Thakur ji chanted more than 170 rounds a day.Will I also be able to chant.and just chant and chant all the whole day.Will then my Spiritual Body appear to me .
No. Probably not. We can not imitate Haridas Thakur. Instead we should surrender to and strictly follow the practical instructions of Srila Prabhupada starting with the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours every day. This is the starting point. We have to do at least this and increase more and more from that point.
Hello i had one question..actually i m param baktha of Radha rani and i love her lot..i chant her names always when i woke up early morning and befour i go to sleep..so can i chant Rhadhe krishn Rhade krishn krishna krishna Rhadhe Rhadhe Rhadhe shyam Rhadhe shyam shyam shyam Rhadhe Rhadhe..and applying hare too..can i chant both..no bad effects na?..both have nice power na?
Chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. That is the maha-mantra, that is the recommended process for spiritual elevation in this current Kali-yuga, there is no other way, no other way, no other way.
Everyone wants to do something else but this is the only way.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
i want you change life read and get good marks all should be happy
Hare Krishna :About 4 years I was into meet eating/alcohol and other stuff having no idea about Krishna and the books translated by Guruji.
I am irregular in chanting now ,missing on days altogether, and by grace of Krishna some bad habits have gone — Except Alcohol.
If I become regular with the chanting of specific rounds will I be able come to Krishna’s mercy ?
Hare Krishna Vikram
Yes. Certainly. Krishna wants to give you His mercy, His mercy is always there. But we have to want Krishna, if we want maya then Krishna will give us maya, but if we want Krishna, then Krishna will give us Himself.
So the point is we have to become regular in chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, we have to force ourselves to give up intoxication and illicit sex and gambling. This is the beginning. These are signs that if we do these things seriously Krishna will see we are trying and He will help us.
And to maintain our determination and to give us real transcendental knowledge we need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
Krishna is not so cheap, Krishna consciousness requires us to become determined and follow the principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. It is very joyful and very easy actually, but because we have become accustomed to materialistic life for so many births in the material word, because of this in the beginning we may find Krishna consciousness quite difficult.
To succeed in anything in life we have to work at it with determination, we need to perform austerities, tapasya, it means we have to accept things that seem to be difficult, suffering, for us, for the sake of making advancement in spiritual life.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna mantra,
Can I chant holy Hare Krishna mantra in my office sitting on chair and wearing shoese, with or without beads. Please guide.
Hare Krishna Yogesh
You can chant the Hare Krishna mantra in any situation at all. There are no hard and fast rules about where and when you can chant the Hare Krishna mantra. So yes, most certainly, you can chant Hare Krishna mantra in your office with shoes and with or without beads.
We need to make a vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. So the beads are a counting mechanism to enable us to keep track of how many rounds we have chanted. Also because Srimati Tulsi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna when we are chanting on tulsi beads we are touching the body of a pure devotee. So that is why it is recommended for devotees to chant Hare Krishna on tulsi beads.
But if, according to the time and place, it is not possible for you to chant on beads then you can chant and make some other systme fo keep track of how many rounds you have chanted.
Traditionally in these situations devotees have used a ‘clicker’:
https://krishnastore.com/japa-clicker-hand-tally-for-mahamantra-chanting-h-krishna-1120.html
to keep track of how many mantras they have chanted. There are also digital versions, phone aps, etc, But personally I would not like using a phone app as the phone is a very distracting thing and we want to concentrate on Krishna, not the messages on the phone…
But certainly you can chant Hare Krishna in any situation with or without beads. With beads you can not take them into the restroom for example, but you can chant Hare Krishna in the restroom even.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna
Sir I am reading prabhupada books and I am chanting mahamantra daily. And theoretically I understand that only krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
But still due to my upbringing I am more inclined to the mayavad philosophy. In this mentality am I eligible or can I worship archa vigrah of lord and also chant…. Thank you…
Yes. Of course. Please chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books…
I am Sudipta Chakrabarti from Kolkata. I Can’t stop chanting ” Hare Krishna” when I start but usualy I have to stop when I am in work like in Laboratory job, research work. Another thing is that “how many times I have to chant to see my lord Krishna?” I have heard that 3 lakh times. Is this true?
Chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. That is 16 * 108 = 1728 mantras * 16 = 27648 names.
This is the minimum for serious devotees. You can chant more, some devotees chant 32 rounds, some 64 rounds, etc. But if we are serious then we have to chant at lest 16 rounds every day.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna.
Krishna g saved draupatti in Mahabharat right. Why Krishna g does not save a gal from getting raped now a days.?
Hare Krishna Vikram
Because Dropadi was surrendered to Krishna, the girls today are not surrendered to Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Am new,I dont know where to start any help
Read Srila Prabhupada’s books… Start with the smaller ones, Beyond Birth and Death, Perfection of Yoga, Easy Journey to Other Planets, etc, then Science of Self-Realization, then Bhagavad-gita, etc, etc.
Everything you need is in Prabhupada’s books. Please read them…
How can I found a spiritual master in this age of kali?
READ SRILA PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS… HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT????
Hare Krishna
I always find it a bit harder to concentrate on hare krishna if I say it myself, I find it much easier if I say it along with hearing chants of hare krishna from a video, is this useful or do I have to just say and hear it myself?
Thanks!
Hare Krishna Sharayan
Yes. You have to say it and hear it yourself but you can do it while playing the Prabhupada Japa CD that has Srila Prabhupada and other devotees chanting Hare Krishna. I also chant sometimes while playing Prabhupada kirtans and bhajans. So certainly you can hear the chanting of Hare Krishna from a CD or video while you are chanting Hare Krishna. If it is Prabhupada chanting you are hearing along with your own chanting that is of course very wonderful.
HARE KRISHNA prabhuji can i chant sri gurudev dutta and then chant hare krishna maha mantra ,will that be an offence
Hare Krishna
The thing is we have to approach the holy name respectfully. First we offer or respects to Srila Prabhupada:
NAMA OM VISNU-PADAYA KRSNA-PRESTHAYA BHUTALE SRIMATE BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMIN ITI NAMINE.
NAMAS TE SARASVATE DEVE GAURA VANI PRACARINE NIRVISESA SUNYAVADI PASCHATYA DESA TARINE.
Then we offer our respects to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates:
SRI-KRSNA-CAITANYA PRABHU-NITYANANDA SRI-ADVAITA GADADHARA SRIVASADI-GAURA-BHAKTA-VRNDA.
Then we can chant the Hare Krishna mantra. Personally I chant Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras before I start chanting and before each round I chant the Panca-Tattva Maha mantra once. But the point is first we need to chant Prabhuapda’s pranam mantras, then the Panca-tattva maha mantra, then the Hare Krishna maha mantra. That is the way.
This is because it is by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we can get the mercy of Lord Caitanya and by the mercy of Lord Caitanya we have some hope of getting the mercy of Krishna. So we have to go like that, through the parampara, disciplic succession.
Hare Krishna Prabhu. Does one have to chant both the Guru pranam mantra and Panch tattva mantra before every round or both the mantras before the start of first round then only panch tattva mantra before other rounds? Is it chanted on the Krishna bead? And which bead is the first one? The big bead after the Krishna bead or the small one? Please clear these things because different people tell different things.
Hare Krishna Aman
Yes. There is some confusion and disagreement among the devotees on these small points.
You don’t chant anything on the Krishna bead. You only chant on the smaller beads. It does not matter which side of the Krishna bead you start chanting on. You can start on the small bead side or the big bead side, it does not matter. Only thing is just start chanting Hare Krishna in any direction and when you get to the Krishna bead again you reverse the direction for the next round. You do not chant on the Krishna bead and you do not cross over the Krishna bead.
As far as the Prabhupada pranam mantras and the Panca-Tattva maha-mantra both have to be chanted before you start chanting Hare Krishna. The point is we can not directly approach Krishna, we have to approach Krishna through the parampara, disciplic succession. It means we have to approach Krishna through Srila Prabhupada. So that means we have to chant Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras first, before we do anything. We have to bow down before a picture of Srila Prabhupada and chant his pranam mantras at least three times a day. But generally we will do it many more times than that. We chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras before anything. Like when we enter the temple we bow down and chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, before offering prasadam we bow down and chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, when we wake up in the morning we offer obeisances and chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, before taking rest we chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, etc, etc. So we will be chanting Prabhupada’s pranam mantras all the time because it is only through the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we have some hope of approaching Krishna.
Then before chanting Hare Krishna we have to chant the Panca-Tattva maha mantra. That is because it is only through Lord Caitanya actually that we can approach Krishna. Lord Caitanya is very merciful, there are no offenses considered when we chant the Panca-Tattva maha mantra, but the offenses are considered when chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. So the idea is to chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, then the Panca-Tattva maha mantra to clear the offenses and to recognize that we need the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya to approach Krishna, then we start chanting Hare Krishna.
So everyone agrees on all these points. But devotees differ in what they exactly do. Personally I chant Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras all the time, like I explained before, but I do not chant them before every round. But I do chant the Panca-Tattva maha mantra once before every round and I just chant it on the first bead and stay on that bead and chant the first Hare Krishna mantra.
As far as I know this is the most common practice among devotees. Although some will chant also the Prabhupada pranam mantras on every round and some will just chant Hare Krishna.
As far as I am aware Srila Prabhupada just chanted Hare Krishna. We have the Prabhupada japa tape and some other recordings of Srila Prabhupada chanting japa at initiations, etc, and we hear him only chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. As far as we can tell he is not chanting his spiritual masters pranam mantras or the Panca-Tattva maha mantra before every round. He is just chanting Hare Krishna.
So I chant the Panca-Tattva before each round because that is what the devotees taught me to do in the beginning and that is what everyone was doing in ISKCON at least back then when I was in ISKCON. And I think it is very good and it works well for me so that is what I do. That is what I would recommend you do. Chant Panca-Tattva mantra once before each round. But you do have to be regularly chanting Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras. Like before you start chanting you would offer obeisances and chant Prabhupada’s pranam mantras. But you don’t have to do this on every round. Of course it will not be bad if you do do it on every round.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Could you please clarify something for me considering you statement here. Back in the mid 1970’s when I was first instructed by a devotee on how to practice the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, he never talked about chanting Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantra in Japa practice. His instruction was to say the Panca-Tattva Maha Mantra first then the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. He also added that during a Japa session of 16 rounds some devotees chanted the Panca-Tattva Maha Mantra before every round of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra while others did it at the beginning of the session only…in other words it was optional. I have read many of Srila Prabhupada’s books and instructions on the subject of Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra and Japa and that devotee seemed to have given me an accurate instruction. I have never seen Srila Prabhupada mention about using a Guru pranam mantra in Japa practice or repeating the Panca-Tattva Maha Mantra before every round (of course, I could have missed something). So, was this simply a later practice started by devotees only and not an official rule propagated by Srila Prabhupada? I am confused. Have I been doing Japa wrong all these years?
Hare Krishna Shanta Prabhu
You are correct and the devotee who instructed you is correct also.
Srila Prabhupada did not teach this chant Panca-tattva maha mantra before every round, and he did not do it himself also. We have numerous recordings of Srila Prabhupada chanting japa and he is only chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
But it is the system to first offer obeisances to the spiritual master by chanting his pranam mantras which we do for example immediately after rising in the morning, and at so many other times. But it was certainly never the system to chant guru pranam mantras before every round. This was something invented by some of the ISKCON zonal acharyas as far as I know.
But the system of chanting Panca-tattva maha-mantra before each round is widespread in ISKCON. And that was the way I was initially trained up in the bhakta program, so that is what I am still doing. There is nothing wrong with it, and there is nothing wrong also if you want to chant guru pranam mantras before every round. But this was not done by Srila Prabhupada and not taught by Srila Prabhupada. I think not many chant Guru pranam mantras before every round, but many, including me, chant the Panca-Tattva maha mantra before every round. But the main point of course is to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra at least 16 rounds every day…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu!
Dandavat Pranam
I’m doing japa exactly as you do since you told me how you do. I can’t Prabhupada pranam mantra and Panchaag tattva mantra and Hare Krishna mantra before opening Srila Prabhupada’s books and then before starting to read. I chant these mantras also before and after sleeping but these two times in mind only. But now I will start chanting by making little sound also. And will do it before listening to lectures also and chant Prabhupada pranam mantras 3 times a day bowing down before him and more.
Hare Krishna!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krishna!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Sir i have common japa mala not tulsi japa mala, so can we chant with common japa mala
Yes. You can chant Hare Krishna using any counting system. The idea of the japa mala is to keep track of how many rounds you have chanted. So as long as you have 108 beads that will be OK. The point is to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and you need some way of counting the number of times you have chanted. So that is the main point. To keep track of the number of times you have chanted Hare Krishna. It is chanting Hare Krishna that is the main thing, the important thing, everything else is secondary.
Hare Krishna prabhu! I wanted to ask that I usually chant on my tulsi mala and recently I had bought another one although the previous one is in right condition. Can i use both mala s for chanting or do i have to stick to just one.?
Hare Krishna
You can use both. The point is to chant at least 16 rounds of Hare Krishna Mantra every day. Please make sure you do this.
IS Hearing hare krishna mantra is better than chanting
No. The process is chanting and hearing. So you chant Hare Krishna, you vibrate it with your tongue, and you hear the Hare Krishna mantra with your ears. So there is no question. If you chant Hare Krishna, then you are going to hear Hare Krishna also.
Chanting of hare Krishna mantra is very powerful and effective. However, one should focus on the sound of words. Certainly one has to avoid above-mentioned offenses to get the mercy of krishna
Hare Krishna
Should we be observing Ekadasi?
Yes. Of course we have to observer Ekadasi if we want to make some advancement in Krishna consciousness. Observing Ekadasi means fasting to reduce the bodily necessities of life so we have more time for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. So Ekadasi is for minimizing the demands of the body and increasing our devotional service.
Thank you for taking the time out to respond. I sure have a long way to go. I have been chanting the mantra and reading the Gita by Srila Prabhupada. Don’t know if that’s sufficient to keep me grounded and detached.
Sir when to chant the holy màntra sir – morning or evening, actually iam IIT ASPARENT so i will get less time, if we chant 108 times it is enough sir.
Hare Krishna mantra is to be chanted always, constantly, 24 hours a day. So if you can not chant 24 hours because you need to take some rest, then chant as much as possible. Most auspicious time is early in the morning, so devotees get out of bed at least 1.5 hours before sunrise. That is a very nice time to chant Hare Krishna. But we can and should chant Hare Krishna all the time at every time during the day and night.
Hare Krishna
I’d like to be more spiritual and I have been pushing myself reading the Gita and with the chanting and abstaining from alcohol. Can one learn more without the guidance of a Guru?
Hare Krishna Shwetha
We can not advance in Krishna consciousness without the guidance of a bona fide guru. But if you are reading Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is then Srila Prabhupada is present in that book personally in the form of his commentary, his transcendental Bhaktivedanta purports.
So your guru, Srila Prabhupada is there, in his books and in his audio and video recordings also. So bona fide guru, Srila Prabhupada, is there, you simply have to take care to carefully hear his instructions to you as you read his books and make sure that you put those instructions into practice in your day-to-day life and in this way you will be hearing instructions from and surrendering to Srila Prabhupada. The point about accepting a spiritual master is to hear from him and to surrender to him and to follow the instructions he gives you.
So hear from Srila Prabhupada, surrender to Srila Prabhupada and follow his instructions and you have your perfect and bona-fide guru.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Can I read Chaitanya Caritamrta first and then read all the other books of Srila Prabhupada ji please
If you want to do it that way you can, it is not the recommended way, but if you insist, then do it.
Hare Krishna
In regard to chanting the Mahamantra, is it necessary to chant out loud or can one simply chant in our mind?
Hare Krishna
Shwetha
Hare Krishna Shwetha
It is very necessary to chant the Hare Krishna mantra aloud so you can hear it. The process of spiritual advancement through the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is by the chanting and hearing of transcendental sound. The mind is material. So thinking about things in the mind, speculating, etc, is not very powerful. Of course thinking about Krishna, remembering Krishna, is one of the nine processes of bhakti. So one can actually become perfectly Krishna conscious by thinking about Krishna. Still in this age our minds are very disturbed so it is not easy for us to constantly think of Krishna.
Therefore Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that although this age of Kali is a very difficult time for spiritual life still there is one very great benefit, “This Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults but there is one great benefit, simply by chanting Hare Krishna one can very easily be liberated.”
So the time, Kali-yuga, is difficult, therefore Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us a very easy way to transcend all the problems of Kali-yuga.
So the point is the Hare Krishna maha mantra is a transcendental vibration, it comes from the spiritual world, so you have to vibrate it, and you have to hear the transcendental vibration. The benefit of chanting Hare Krishna is in the chanting and hearing, the benefit is not coming in the mind. So you have to chant with your tongue and hear with your ears. That will, of course, also force your mind to think of Krishna. So you have to chant Hare Krishna with your tongue and hear the transcendental vibration with your ears…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Do not create rules and regulations on the auspicious name of Shri Krishna. People like you complicate simple things and make life rigid!
Hare Krishna Jeet
I have not created these rules. These rules have been given by the great Acaryas. I am simply repeating them. The point is one can not become Krishna conscious without accepting some basic rules and regulations. There are basically four essential regulative principles: no meat eating, no gambling, no illicit sex and no intoxication. Any one of these four things will destroy our attempts to advance in spiritual life. Not giving up these sinful activities and trying to become Krishna consciousness is like trying to light a fire while pouring water on it. It will not be very successful. So we have to let people know that if they want to advance in spiritual life then they have to restrict their sinful activities.
Anyone who preaches but does not mention the regulative principles is a cheater.
One can not advance in spritual life without reducing his materialistic sense gratification. Of course there is sense gratification in Krishna consciousness one gets from serving Krishna. That is much better, a much higher standard of sense gratification, than one could get from taking intoxication, gambling, having sex, etc. But one can not come to the point of experiencing this spiritual pleasure unless he is prepared to follow the rules and regulations… That is just cheating and will not have much effect at all.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
In regards to chanting, basically I am from UAE and chanting on beads in office is not possible and I get only 3 – 4 hours max at home before I go to sleep by 12:30 or 1:00. is it counted if i chant using a clicker in order to complete my rounds? I have tried all possible ways but I can not chant more than 3 – 4 rounds at home. please suggest.
Thank You
Yes. You can use any counting system that is practical for you. The point is to chant at least 16 rounds and you have to fit it in and count them in some way that is possible for you. It is the chanting of Hare Krishna that is important. So do it somehow or other.
Hare Krishna.
I had a question regarding the regulative Principles. I consume meat / fish only once in a week. That means 4 – 5 times in a month.
So, can I chant the Mahamantra on Tulsi beads on the remaining days i.e around 26 days a month ( leaving the days in which i consume meat / fish )
Would that be acceptable as per the regulative principles.
Hare Krishna
No. That is not acceptable. You have to follow the four regulative principles strictly including no meat eating, otherwise how can you expect to become Krishna conscious?
It is a very small thing, giving up eating meat. So do it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant the maha mantra we all had to start somewhere IT’s ate meat at one time. If you look at it this way it helped me .if you have a glass of saltwater and chanting is a drop of fresh water it will eventually will become all fresh water in the glass just chant with beads or without Hari Bo probau
Hare Krishna
First of all, my heartfelt thanks for providing an opportunity to seek answers to our queries. My apologies if I am asking below question which may be already answered in some form.
I have heard that a mantra must always be taken from a bonfide guru in person (for it to be effective). However, I learnt that Mahamantra chanting is recommended for anyone, whosoever so desires and is seeking lord’s divine grace without getting it in physical presence of a guru.
I am myself chanting this mantra and slowly increasing the daily rounds, however, kindly clarify this query. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Hare Krishna
Vivek
Hare Krishna Vivek
Yes, mantra has to come from guru. But Srila Prabhupada is living personally in his books. He is quite powerful enough to give you the mantra through his books. It is true that the mantra has to be given by bona fide guru. But Prabhupada has most likely already given you the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, anyhow read his books and follow the instructions you find him giving you as you read his books and this will please him. It is only by the mercy of the bona fide guru that we can make advancement in Krishna consciousness. So if you read Srila Prabhupada’s books and come to understand from that what he wants you to do to serve him, and you do that, then you will become dear to Srila Prabhupada and in that way you will get the mercy of Krishna.
So yes. Guru is very necessary. And Srila Prabhupada is living in his books. He is not dead, he is still living and still available to us all.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Iam a university student currently pursuing my masters. I have been chanting the mahamantra for quite some time now and I have dissociated myself from destructive habbits that I had earlier. My question is that will it be more beneficial to be a monk or I can still gain krishna bhav amrit by leading a family life. Please help!
Hare Krishna Chirag
You can become Krishna conscious in any situation. There is no need to become a monk. You can become Krishna conscious in your family life and by your good example and preaching all your family members can also become Krishna conscious and benefit greatly from your association.
Hello Sir,
I am very new to Chanting Mahamantra.
Started chanting 8 mala daily, but I have one query that during my exam, I have very less time to prepare for exam due to exam schedule and preparation time, so can I exempt to do the mala during my exam time…
another query is that can female chant mahamantra mala during Menstruation period…
Hare Krishna
Keep chanting always. Don’t stop chanting Hare Krishna for exams or for anything else. You will be able to concentrate better and study better with the chanting. If you stop chanting your study and exam results will be worse, not better.
Yes. Woman can chant Hare Krishna any time including during menstration period. There is no limit. We can chant Hare Krishna at any time and in any place.
Hare Krishna, I love and respect animals, will it be right to chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra to animals so they get spiritual enhancement.
Yes. It is allright. Animals will benefit by hearing the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. Animals are spirit souls just like us but they are in animal bodies. Their consciousness is lower than ours. But it is not good to concentrate on animals. Because whatever we concentrate on at the time of death that state we will attain in our next life. So if you think of an animal at the time of death then your next life will be as an animal and that will be a big problem for you. Animals consciousness is very low, they can not practice spiritual life in an animals body. So we have to reestablish our love for Krishna, we need to develop our love for Krishna, not our love for animals. If we love Krishna then we will think of Krishna at the time of death and that will be the perfection of our lives.
hare krishna
instead of doing 16 rounds of jap mala daily, if one goes on ahanting mahamantra throout the day as and when one gets time which work out to more than 16 founds, is any offence commited?
Hare Krishna Mahesh
It is necessary to chant on beads with numerical strength. So it is necessary to chant on beads at least 16 rounds every day. But certainly during the day at work, etc, one should continue chanting Hare Krishna constantly.
Thant is the idea. 16 rounds is just the minimum. Not that when we finish 16 rounds we stop chanting. No kirtaniya sada hari, one should chant Hare Krishna constantly, 24 hours a day.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa dasa, I am a university student and my real goal in life is to attain salvation. I would first like to thank Lord Krishna and you for sending me really wonderful newsletters that really helps in spiritual advancement. But I would like to ask you a small question:
I am a student enrolled in university now and will be in the university for the next 4 years. According to your newsletter, it is very important to have a bonafide spiritual master and serve him with devotion. But as I am in the university, I cannot do it for the next 4 years.So please help me and guide me what to do in this case. I really want to get spiritually advanced and I truly love Lord Krishna and chant his holy name many times a day. Please tell me a way to advance spiritually in these 4 years of my university life where I cannot go to ISKCON and surrender to Srila Prabhupada and serve him.
Hare Krishna Raksha
You can get out of bed early in the morning, before 4:00 AM, and offer Mangal-Aroti and chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books. And then in the day do your university work.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa dasa,
Does the Hare Krishna mantra provide the same spiritual protection from negative energies (eg. demons, ghosts, goblins and witches) as does the mantra: om namo bhagavate vasudevaya? I have been chanting the Hare Krishna as much as possible throughout the day but then came across a website that recommends chanting the mantra om namo bhagavate vasudeva mantra for spiritual protection. Who is right? Which mantra should I chant and recommend to people who are clearly possessed by demonic spirits? I too have felt possession from dark entities. I’m getting confused.
Also, if I eat a vegetarian diet I cannot sleep. It is too light for me. I’m wide awake at 3 am. A little meat helps me sleep. What to do?
Must I chant 16 rounds in the morning if I chant the Maha mantra throughout the day to stabilize me mentally? Is it ok to chant throughout the day, as much as possible?
Thank you,
Hare Krishna,
Ian (Melbourne Australia)
Hare Krishna Ian
Yes. Chanting Hare Krishna provides the best protection from all evil energy. But you have to chant it at least 16 rounds and strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication for the best results.
If you chant Hare Krishna but do not follow the regulative principles that is like trying to light a fire with one hand and pouring water onto it with the other hand. It is very difficult to light a fire in that way.
So there is no alternative, it is not a choice we have, if you want to make spiritual advancement you have to give up eating meat. If you eat meat it will not be possible to make spiritual advancement.
You can chant Hare Krishna mantra anytime but devotees get out of bed before 4:30 AM in the morning so they are chanting Hare Krishna at least for the Brahma-muhurta that occurs 1.5 hours before sunrise. That is a particularly powerful time to be chanting Hare Krishna. But you can keep on chanting Hare Krishna all day. 16 rounds is just the minimum. You can chant more, you do not have to stop when you get to 16 rounds.
As far as om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. We chant this mantra before reading Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is very good mantra of course. But Hare Krishna maha-mantra is the primary mantra and the most powerful and most essential mantra to chant in this age.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa dasa. I have stopped chanting since reading your email about the multiple offenses we can commit in chanting, as I was completely devastated to learn that, after 8 months of solid chanting, I had been committing many offenses in ignorance, & also, misinforming others about things in my ignorance. I am not worthy of chanting God’s name I realise now. Even though in doing so, I felt so content in my ignorance. I cry at my inability to be good enough to serve God as He would want me to, & in knowing what I know now I cannot continue chanting and encouraging the other dirty rotten filthy sinners all about me to do so for our own good, because I now know that we are all committing offenses. Now I have to go about my small community and let everybody know, who I have recommended to be chanting the hari mantra. One of them may possibly already be in prison now, serving a long sentence. Your email about the offenses of chanting should be supplied in large print, with the initial lure of the promises given for simply chanting God’s name. Spiritual liberation is not just as simple as just chanting the hari mantra, obviously. You also have to be practically pure and perfect for it to be worthwhile….which is just not possible for us lower lives. I will continue reading Prabhupada’s books nonetheless…. despite having fallen so far from God’s grace.
Hare Krishna Mandi
You have misunderstood everything.
We all start chanting offensively. It is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra that enables us to become free of the offenses.
So the point is when you know about the offenses then you increase your chanting and by the power of the holy name your consciousness is purified and the offenses disappear.
So do not worry how sinful you are or how offensive you think you are. The only cure to our sinful and offensive ways is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.
While we may not experience many of the symptoms of chanting Hare Krishna while we are chanting with offenses that offensive chanting gives us the strength to overcome the offenses.
Of course it is possible to be pure. That is the whole point of chanting Hare Krishna, to become purified. We have to want to become purified because it is only in that pure status of consciousness that we can actually experience Krishna consciousness.
So we can never give up chanting Hare Krishna, no matter how fallen and how offensive we may be, we keep on chanting Hare Krishna and by the power of the Hare Krishna mantra and by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya Krishna will pull us up from the darkest ignorance to the transcendental platform of pure devotional service.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Not sure my previous email to you got through, so, I’ll ask the same question again.
Does one still receive any benefits from chanting the maha-mantra, if they are only able to chant around 5-12 rounds a day, along with adhering to the four regulative principles, reading Prabhupada’s books and eating prasadam food? I’m only able to do 5-12 rounds of japa a day.
Hare Krishna Glenn
Yes of course everything is good. Chanting Hare Krishna once is good. But chanting Hare Krishna once is not the same as becoming Krishna conscious. Becoming Krishna conscious means always remembering Krishna and never forgetting Krishna. So if you want to become Krishna conscious seriously then the minimum starting point for this is chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishan mantra, etc. If you can chant 12 rounds then you can easily chant another four and that is 16, no problems. So just do that.
You may be not able to do it but you should be trying to chant 16, not that you become satisfied that you are chanting 12 and that’s OK. NO. It is not OK. 16 rounds is the minimum. You have to think like that. You have to be like Bhaktisddhanta said that he beat his mind in the morning a hundred times with a broomstick and in the evening a hundred times with shoes. It is our rascal mind that is coming up with these nonsense ideas that we can only chant 12 rounds, it is crazy, if we can chant 12 rounds then we can chant 16 rounds. So just beat your mind and force it to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day.
So point is in the beginning sometimes we may fail to come up to the standard and we have to feel bad about that, that we have not come to the standard, but at the same time we are trying sincerely to the best of our ability and Srila Prabhupada and Krishna do see our sincere efforts. There is a saying “Failure is the pillar of success,” so that is also true in spiritual life.
So do not be satisfied chanting 5-12 rounds a day, know that the minimum standard is 16 rounds and that you are falling short on this, and always try to chant at least 16 rounds every day and gradually you will be doing it easily every day.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I hear many excuses and many people can’t even chant 16 rounds. The funny thing is it only takes 2-3 minutes to do 16 rounds. How can anybdy not have time to chant 16 rounds? If you are so busy simply do them first thing in the morning or when you go to bed. What is so difficult?
Hare Krishna Vinod
It takes 2-3 hours to chant 16 rounds. 16 rounds is chanting the Hare Krishna mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
once on each of the 108 beads and going around the beads 16 times.
So it means chanting the Hare Krishna mantra 108 x 16 = 1728 times.
Yes 2-3 hours (not 2-3 minutes of course) Do 1 hour in the morning, while commuting and an hours before bedtime.
Hare Krishna
Hare krishna Prabhuji, i chant on a tulsi mala and i am not initiated. I am a girl who gets sick every month like any other girl, you know what i mean? So can i chant on those days on my tulsi mala?
Hare Krishna Jai Radhe
Yes. I think so. The thing is we are not these material bodies. All our bodies are messy and nasty. So because our bodies are messy and nasty it does not mean that we stop chanting Hare Krishna. Of course we need to stay clean as much as possible. But perfect cleanliness is not possible in the material world. There is a great purifying power in the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. So just keep on chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and deal with the bodily necessities as required.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Stop eating animal products and unnatural foods that contain chemicals and additives. I know what Madhudvisa dasa will say, that everything is bad, contaminated and a sin and we should just focus on become Krishna conscious.
But just because we are in the insane contaminated material world doesn’t mean we have to suffer more than necessary. A proper diet will cure most physical problems. I speak from experience.
I was dead sick until I was around 20 y.o. But I stopped listening the medical “gurus” and made my own decisions and have not had a flu, cold or fever in more than 25 years. No kidding.
Drink 3-4 liters of clean prefereably distilled water daily. Take daily fresh fruits, vegetables, greens, grains, nuts and some chlorella, spirulina etc.
Hare Krishna
Hi, I have ordered 3 books from your store, and should be getting them soon, I live in Virginia.
I ordered Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead, The Bhagavad Gita, & The Teachings of Lord Caitanya.
I’m brand new to this, and I’ve only read The Science of Self-realization & it was great, but I’ve run into some issues.
I’ve read that ISKCON has been changing Prabhupada’s books that he himself requested remained unchanged, which led me to your store to pick up some essential reading.
I wanted to go to New Vrindaban to see what changes have been made, but after reading that ISKCON temples are bad for spiritual progress, I’m afraid to visit for a day – question is, where else can I find a pure devotee? There are BAPS temples here, but I need guidance, I wish there were a School of the Original Teachings of Prabhupada, because if ISKCON is flawed, we need a good alternative to nurture our relationship with Krishna.
Hare Krishna James
Yes. A school for the original teachings of Srila Prabhupada is much needed and that will surely manifest in time. But now it does not exist. Now you can find the original teachings of Srila Prabhupada in Srila Prabhupada’s original books and I suggest you do that.
You can do everything. Just get up in the morning before 4:00 am, chant Hare Krishna mantra on your beads at least 16 rounds a day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. And gradually you will become a pure devotee and eventually qualified to start a school for the original teachings of Srila Prabhupada yourself. But first we have to learn the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and actually live them practically in our day-to-day lives.
So just concentrate on these things. Reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and living your life accordingly. And avoid ISKCON.
New Vrindavan can not help you. They have totally lost the plot.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna.
Is consumption of tobacco a sin while engaged in chanting the holy names of Hari and the maha mantra itself… please guide me to be close to Krsna
Yes. All intoxication is sinful and is counter-productive in making spiritual advancement.
While you are attached to tobacco you can not become attached to Krishna so you have to give it up.
However please keep chanting the Hare Krishna mantra in any situation, no matter how fallen, no matter how sinful, keep always chanting Hare Krishna. Chanting Hare Krishna will give you the strength to stop the sinful activities. So don’t stop chanting Hare Krishna, increase your chanting of Hare Krishna and the sinful things will go away.
In simple words I can say with my practical experience of life working as hard core criminal lawyer &especially when I am undergoing with multi organ diseases after accident,I have realised that only one super power exists who is creator&destructor. From childhood I grew with the thought that performance of my duty is the biggest religion&till date I live with it which is my strength. From childhood lord krishna had been my guidung force&in this scientific world i can say if i am existing inspite of no cure in medical science than it is because of lord krishna. In every thing,every where I see Lord &hence my heart goes to His feet for relief. For me Lord Krishna is breathe.
Hare krishna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Does working in a bank leads to breaking ‘No gambling’ regulative principle prabhu?Of course I will not enter into stocks,forex etc. but the nature of the job drags into these things?I am confused about this.It would be great help to shed some light on this prabhu.I don’t know if I explained my doubt clearly..
Your Servant
Hare Krishna Sasi
No, working in a bank is not gambling. We have to do something to supply the material necessities of our lives and more importantly so we can worship Krishna. So the point is in all engagements in the material world there is some imperfection. But just because there is some imperfection we should not give up our occupation. Rather we should engage the fruits of our occupation, the money we earn, in the service of Krishna. That will purify everything.
Thank you prabhu!
I m take part in meditation with hare Krishna mantra but I could not meditate in it ,various types of passion feelings or my previous misdid disturbs me, however I forcefully chants holy name of lord Krishna any time while on playing ,specially sleeping, walking,working eating.I give up meat, and sense enjoyment .I want to separate from sense enjoyment but every time my mind being unpleasant ,frustration,.I have everything in my material pleasure, but I couldn’t get such happy which I want, sir please advice me
Hare Krishna Neependra
You need the guidance of a pure devotee of Krishna. Otherwise you can not reach the happiness you desire. Therefore you need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you get Srila Prabhupada’s original books from https://krishnastore.com and make a program to read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books systematically every day then gradually you will become a pure devotee of Krishna and you will taste the unending and ever-increasing ocean of spritual bliss that is Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa
But some of Prabhupada’s books have been edited and are not the original (Like the Srimad Bhagavatam). So what do we do about that?
Get the original books! All Prabhupada’s original books are available at KrishnaStore.com:
https://krishnastore.com/srimad-bhagavatam-set-original-30-volume-h-krishna-502.html
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji
I was wondering. So “The ninth offense is to preach the glories of the holy name of God to a faithless person who is not interested in hearing them.” I am confused with this because I have seen videos of Vaisesika prabhu in book distribution. He first offers people the chance to buy a book and later on he tells them how to pronounce the Hare Krishna mantra. Also i think i remember reading a story in which lord Chaitanya and his devotees use to go door to door. Whenever a person opened his/her door, they would fall down on their feet and beg them to say the name of the lord just once. So those two ideas seem to deny the other. Can you please explain why that is so?
Thank you very much for your kind help.
Hare Krishna Asheesh
The key is ‘faithless’. Most people are not faithless. They are ignorant. Most people are not demons, even if they may be acting like a demon. People take on the qualities of the people they associate with. So because the whole society is demonic the people tend to act in a demonic way. But actually this is just because of bad association in most cases. Most people will act like demons in the association of demons and will act like devotees in the association of devotees. They are innocent and they take on the qualities of the people they associate with.
So a devotee wants to give them a chance to associate with devotees. And if you do that yourself, if you go out on book distribution yourself and speak to the people and give them Srila Prabhupada’s books you will discover there are very few demons out there. They do exist of course. Occasionally you will meet someone who is so totally against the idea of God and Krishna. So the approach with actual demons is different. We do not bother with them because preaching to an actual demon will make him more angry. But we can get him to eat a simply wonderful….
As far as getting people to chant the Hare Krishna mantra namabasa is a wonderful thing. You need to read the discussions of the namacaraya Srila Haridasa Thakura on this. Haridas Thakur has established that namabhasa [chanting Hare Krishna unknowingly] is so powerful that it can give liberation immediately. So these people who we get to chant Hare Krishna who have no idea really what it is, that is actually namabhasa and it is very, very powerful. More powerful that the offensive chanting most of us do.
So do not underestimate the power of the Hare Krishna mantra. Chanting Hare Krishna mantra is always unlimited good. Even if the demons are chanting “I want to kill those Hare Krishnas” that is very good for them. So chanting Hare Krishna is always very good even for the greatest demons…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
i m lord krishna devotee and m very frustrated.give me some advice and rules to get closer with lord krishna by heart.
The advice is very simple. Chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours every day and strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. If you do all these things then you will directly perceive that you are becoming closer to Krishna day by day.
Beautiful teachings by Srila Prabhupadaji. I am feeling very happy after reading the teachings of Srila Prabhupadaji. I give my heartily Namaskaram.
Hare Krishna Sir!!
I use to chant ” Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaya”..
Whenever I chant this mantra I feel a strange kind of pleasure….
What is the difference between Hare Krishna Mantra and this mantra?
Hare Krishna Astha
On the absolute platform there is no difference between the Hare Krishna mantra and the om namo bhagavate vasudevaya mantras. We are also chanting om namo bhagavate vasudevaya mantra.
However Hare Krishna is the maha mantra, or great mantra. And Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has declared ‘hare nama hare nama hare nama eva kevalam’ There is no other way for deliverance in this age of Kali than by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.
Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the yuga dharma for this age, it is the only practical spiritual process that will enable us to become free from the clutches of maya [illusion] in this dark age of Kali.
So for sure keep chanting om namo bhagavate vasudevaya mantra but remember to chant the Hare Krishna mantra every day at least 16 rounds.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I want to know , when to chant hare krishna maha mantra
Always, 24 hours a day you should chant Hare Krishna mantra.
Respected Revered one!
I do not have any thing to comment. But I need to learn how can I take care of my soul after death to get connected to our dearest One.
Regards
Gostha Bihari Das Mohapatra
Take care of your soul now by chanting Hare Krishna and by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and your soul will have a very nice destination after your body dies.
Sairam and Hare Krishna
Swamiji, would you kindly explain the significance ,if any ,of chanting the Maha Mantra sixteen times
Prof. Balakrishnan
Hare Krishna
It is not sixteen times, it is sixteen rounds. A round is 108 times so it is 108 x 16 times. The idea is to chant Hare Krishna constantly. Never stop chanting Hare Krishna, but that is not possible for us. So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced this principle of chanting at least a certain minimum number of rounds every day. It is called ‘numerical strength’.
The problem is in the beginning we have no taste for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. We think we have so many more important things to do than chant Hare Krishna. So we have to vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day to make sure that we do chant.
So this numerical strength is required. The point is this is the order of Srila Prabhupada the spiritual master and we have to accept the orders of the spiritual master knowing that he understands the process how we can become Krishna conscious.
Becoming Krishna conscious is not so easy in the material world. The whole material world is against Krishna consciousness. So if we do not surrender to this chanting of at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day we will not have spiritual strength and will just get dragged down by maya like everyone else.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Prabhu
How a misericordy can become an offense at the same time?. Please explain this to me.
I was told since I was a child that everyone that chant mahamantra can achieve great misericordy. What if the one that chant is just A regular person (I do not like to use the word Carmi or dog eater, because we all have paramtma and different paths ruled and guided by the Supreme Lord), and for him commit one of the said offenses?. Is not enough clear for me.
Read Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives you as you read. Everything will become crystal clear. That is the way. The only way.
feeling up and betterment in my voice and attitude when I started the valuable mantras of krishna
Is it necessary to be a sanyasi for chanting mahamantra? ?
No it is not necessary to be a sannyasi to chant Hare Krishna. Anyone can chant Hare Krishna.
Hare Krsna Prabhu,
Prabhu, which is the correct way of preaching? Because when I try to convince people that Krsna is The Supreme Personality of Godhead, initially they seem to be interested but later after some days, I find most of them atheist and rest still donot change their previous views.
I feel this like an insult to Krsna and I am the cause for it and then regret why on earth did I try to preach when it only results in offence to Krsna.
Hare Krishna
Preaching can not be effective on the intellectual platform. The person’s heart has to be purified, otherwise the preaching will have no effect. That purification can happen by the association of a pure devotee, so if you convince them to purchase a Prabhupada book from you and if you can convince them to read that Prabhupada book that will be your perfect preaching. Realistically only a pure devotee has the potency to awaken the dormant spark of Krishna consciousness in the hearts of the conditioned souls. So if we want to preach with any potency we have to become pure devotees. So we have to at least strictly follow the minimum things. We have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and we have to be reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If we are not reading Prabhupada’s books then what will we be preaching. But we can always distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. New people need to be offered sumptuious Krishna prasadam and have to be engaged in kirtans with pure devotees and need to be engaged in practical service in assisting pushing on Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
Krishna consciousness is not something that someone can understand just by you ‘preaching’ to them. Krishna consciousness is a way of life. It is not just a philosophy. They have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, accept Krishna prasadam, associate with pure devotees, be engaged in the kirtans and be engaged in practical service. Krishna consciousness is already there within their hearts. It simply has to be uncovered.
All these things you will learn by seriously reading all of Srila Prabhupada’s books. The main thing is we have to become pure devotees of Krishna ourselves. Without becoming pure devotees of Krishna ourselves we will not have any potency to preach. Preaching is for pure devotees actually. It only works for them…
Hare krishna madhudvisa dasa ji.I am facing some problems. I am a student and I live in New Delhi alone.due to my busy time table I am not progressing in krishna consciousness. I do not get time to chant hare krishna mantra. I am so worried about my human life and as my love for krishna slowly increases I always fall down.I do not maintain this love for a long time.what should I do?
Yes. Of course you have time to fall down but no time to chant Hare Krishna.
There is no question of no time. You have to make time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. Just do it. Just organize your life to do it. Get out of bed before 4:00 AM in the mornings then you will immediately have so many extra hours in every day for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is the medicine to cure the material disease. You have to take the medicine if you want to cure the material disease. There is no other way.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I am blessed to be a hindu and devotee of GOVIND my lord…..
Hare Krishna. thanks to all acharyas & maharaj to show the 10 offences.It reminds u if u go wrong somewhere & shoes u the correct path.
I m chanting the required 16 rounds but still not find my to b focused.I m not able to remember the sanskrit shlokas of bhagawat gita. I think I m doing chanting just ractically .please help.
your servant
manoj obhan
Hare Krishna Manoj
You are doing nicely and keep on chanting Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day. You have to hear the words as you chant. And if you just keep on chanting then gradually your mind will become more and more focused on Krishna. That is the whole point of chanting. The vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra forces you to be remembering Krishna. It is a scientific process. It works. Just like if you associate with fire you will get warm. If you chant Hare Krishna then you are going to become Krishna conscious. There is a quality to the chanting of course. If we chant with offenses it may take a long time. But even if we are chanting with offenses the chanting will give us the strength to stop the offenses and chant purely.
You need to also read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. That will give you more strength, faith and confidence in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Jai srila prabhupada
Jai radhe karishna
Hare Krishna
Dear Prabhu,
I am working in indian navy . I am 24 years old.. I wanna become Krishna’s devotee… But its very difficult to follow these rules to me… But how can I overcome these difficulties… I think you understand my problem…. Plz reply to me ..
Hare krishna
Hare Krishna Arun
You can become Krishna’s devotee anywhere. Even in the Indian navy. Actually we are all already Krishna’s devotees. We have forgotten it, that is all. So Krishna consciousness simply means to remember our original eternal relationship with Krishna.
Do not worry, it is difficult for everyone. Not that it is more difficult because you are in the Navy. No. We are living in the material world and the whole mood is against spiritual life, against Krishna consciousness. So no matter where you try to become Krishna conscious you will find some difficulties and opposition from the people around you. It is natural, we have to expect that.
So all you have to do is start chanting Hare Krishna mantra regularly every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books regularly every day and then Srila Prabhupada and Krishna will guide you as to how you can practice Krishna consciousness in your current circumstances.
So just do it. Chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and you will see your spiritual life will develop very nicely.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji
my mom have one problem,when she hare krishna maha mantra that time
she will facing so much head ache and suffering.and when she stops the
chanting and singing krishna songs that time she will more happy plz
answer my question
hare krishna………..
That is maya. Maya will try everything to discourage us from chanting Hare Krishna. So we have to expect things like this and just keep on chanting Hare Krishna. If we keep on chanting Hare Krishna then gradually maya will give up and we will feel the transcendental ecstasy that is Krishna consciousness.
I’ve just bought the book bag ad Gita as it is. And want to learn more about Sri Krishna.
Very Good. Read Bhagavad-gita As It Is and you will learn a lot more about Sri Krishna.
Is masturbation a sin. If this is a sin how I will remove the sin that I’ve done? Will Bhagoban forgive me?
Yes. Mastrurbation is a sin. It is breaking the regulative principle “No illicit sex.” But the sex desire is very strong. The way to avoid it is to experience a higher pleasure. And that higher pleasure is available in Krishna consciousness. In chanting Hare Krishna and engaging in devotional service. We have all performed unlimited sinful activities and Krishna will forgive us of course if we sincerely regret our failings and try to not fall down again. The answer is in chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly following the four regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. If we follow these things every day without fail then there will be no question of falling down. So we just have to become Krishna conscious. It is difficult of course. Living in the association of non-devotees, so the danger is there of falling down. But we have to chant Hare Krishna. That is the main thing.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhu. Pardon me for asking an irrelevant question regarding this topic as I couldn’t find the right page to ask u a question. Prabhu I read somewhere that vishnupadacharya, a son of madhwa scholar in karnataka was taught about all dvaita philosophies. Gradually he became lot more passionate and started defeating all the dvaita scholars and this reached a stage where none of dvaita scholars could challenge him. This has become a big impediment for me to acknowledge the existence of god as advaitans claim the philosophy of non dualism or non existence of god.
Krishna exists and Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes as He states in the Bhagavad-gita: sarva kara karanam. So surely you accept Krishna and His Bhagavad-gita as authority? If so then Krishna completely defeats these Mayavadi rascals you have been hearing from in the Gita. So just read Bhagavad-gita as it is at http://www.asitis.com or purchase the book at http://www.Krishnastore.com and just read Krishna’s words for yourself and let Krishna convince you about His nature Himself.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna….. all glories to our guru sarla prabhupad ji…..danwat pranam prabhu ji….from last couple days we friends having argument over that who is supreme god krishna or shiva…he is shivist and firm believer of Lord shiva …he said whatever has been written in bhagwat geeta as it is the fantasy of sarla prabhupad ji…his questions need to be answered…though i am a very silent person but if i listen anything against krishna or prabhupad ji i become bit agitated and talk offensive…so i need possibly the best answers for his questions… prabhu ji before i start i just wanna know that why i turned so violent after listing that shiv is the supreme lord …is this my self ego that if i worship krishna he has to be the supreme? Does it really matter us that krishna is supreme lord or not? If we love him it should not matter if he is supreme lord or not? Anyways if i had done anything wrong may lord krishna gave mercy to me…so coming into his questions…
1-this is wrong to pose shiva as demigod in bhagwatam he is not a demigod he is a supreme lord he is one who is granted krishna the sudarshan chakra….
2-krishna is the incarnation of lord vishnu how can he be more than vishnu …his place is below shiva and vishnu
3-if bhaktivedant ji said us to follow purans then he should also read shivpuran where it stated that there is no one is bigger than shiv…
4-if u say that shiv rule tamas gunh because he showed anger thn lord vishnu also showed anger in his narshima avtar he should also be called tamsi…
5-international society for krishna consciousness has insulted every single section of our society by claiming that every god is demigod in front krishna..where it is written other thn bhagwatam that krishna is the only supreme personality…
6-hare krishna movement is just 500 year old before chetaniya mahaprabhu no body claimed suprimcy of lord krishna why?
Hare Krishna Tarun
It is best not to associate with these people. They are followers of Lord Shiva because they are in the mode of ignorance. Probably meat eating and taking intoxication and completely unable to understand spiritual knowledge. They can not understand.
If you yourself read Srimad-Bhagavatam you will find all the answers to these questions directly yourself. So you need to do that yourself. Read Srila Prabhupada’s books, and that will arm you will all the knowledge you need.
Basically answers are:
1. He is correct that Lord Shiva is in a special position above all the other demigods. It is a special tattva. There is Visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva. But Lord Shiva is inbetween, shiva-tattva. Lord Shiva is described as being Lord Visnu in contact with the material energy. The example given to explain this is that when milk is in contact with a culture it is transformed into yoghurt. So Lord Visnu is likened to the milk and Lord Shiva is likened to the yoghurt. So as milk when transformed into yoghurt can be said to be milk but as yoghurt it has completely different properties as the original milk. If you want the benefits of milk you have to take the milk. You can not get the benefits of milk from yoghurt although in reality the yoghurt is nothing but milk in contact with the culture.
So Lord Shiva is Lord Visnu transformed by contact with the material energy. And in the form of Lord Shiva he acts differently. So he is correct that Lord Shiva is in a position above the other demigods but Lord Shiva is in charge of the mode of ignorance in the material world. He is called Tamasi, his followers are those in the mode of ignorance who want sex and intoxication. So there is no question about this and he can not argue about this.
2. Krishna is not an incarnation of Visnu. Krishna is the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krisha is non-different from Visnu but Krishna is the original personality of which Lord Visnu is a partial manifestation only. So Lord Visnu is not the full manifestation. Krishna is the full manifestation. Krishna has everything that Lord Visnu has and more. This is a great science and if one wants to understand it in full he has to study it. I can not explain it in a paragraph…
3. We have no interest in Shiva Puran, it is for those in the mode of ignorance and we are attempting to be in the mode of goodness. It is not for us.
4. Shiva rules the mode of ignorance in the material world Brahma rules the mode of passion and Lord Visnu rules the mode of goodness. This is a VERY basic point accepted by ALL followers of the Vedas. He can not argue on this point.
5. It is written everywhere: krsnas tu bhagavan svyam: “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” All through Bhagavad-gita, all through Bhagavatam, everywhere.
6. Krishna consciousness movement is eternal. It is not started by Lord Caitanya. It is revived by Lord Caitanya and put in a form very practical for the Kali-yuga. Krishna worship has been always going on…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hello Prabhu, just want to add two things.
About your point 3. mode of goodness comes from worship of Vishnu (sattva) but mode of _pure_ goodness can only be achieved in transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.
Also, point 5. Krishna is the Supreme Being is stated not only in scriptures directly based on Him such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam, but also the Vedas (which of course only discuss the Lord apart from the materialistic rituals), various Upanishads, Puranas, and all kinds of scriptures, so Prabhu’s ‘everywhere’ isn’t an exaggeration. All vedic scriptures have atleast a few lines mentioning Sri Krishna as the supreme. In this age of Kali many details have been hidden by maya but they are there for those who look. Just as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s incarnation was hidden and the names of Gauranga and Nityananda are secret, but present in the scriptures.
Hare Krishna Vikram
I like your mood Prabhu. And agree with your second point, and like the mood of your first point. But actually Vishnu and Krishna are both siddha-sattva, transcendental to material goodness. So worshiping Vishnu or any of the incarnations like Rama, Nrsimha, etc, that is also siddha-sattva, the mode of pure goodness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Guru brother!
I chant the mahamantra even
while I do my household works, so is that okay.
Yes, yes, yes. That is OK, chanting Hare Krishna while doing the household work. That is very good. We should always chant Hare Krishna 24 hours a day. It is very good to be always chanting Hare Krishna even if we are doing some other work at the same time.
Hare krishna. Sri bhaktivendanta swami
Hello prabhu can u pls tell me where I can find an audio file about ambrisha maharaja so that I can download and listen to it. It is said those who listen it will certainly become a devotee very soon so prabhu can u pls help. I can never forget ur help prabhu. Hare ram
You will find it at
http://www.Krishna.tv
Hare Krishna,
I went through your article pointing out the ten offences and in this regard i am an offender since i smoke cigarettes a lot and am a bit alcoholic which clearly indicates the gact that i am eternally not permitted to chant those golden spells of my God. Kindly suggest whether i can read those in my mind or not without any voice. And i was having a request that if you can mail me few beautiful photographs of my God which will inspire me to leave these offences.
Hare Krishna,
SAMIT BANERJEE
Hare Krishna Samit
You can chant Hare Krishna even if you are not currently following the regulative principles. In fact you have to chant Hare Krishna to follow the regulative principles because chanting Hare Krishna gives you the strength to follow the regulative principles. So chant Hare Krishna no matter what situation you find yourself in life and that will give you the strength to stop the smoking and alcohol.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa Dasa,
I am an active reader of your refreshing newsletters. They bring to light several essential information that I needed for my imperfect mind. Now, I understand Kaliyuga better.
While reading your article about the ten offenses in chanting the Maha mantra, some questions were awakened in me. If you could clarify them for me, I would be much more clearer in digesting the information.
The questions will be numbered so that it will be easier for you to answer them in an orderly manner.
I thank you beforehand for your patience.
Firstly, it was mentioned that one needs a bona fide spiritual master in order to attain Krishna. Therefore,
1. How does one distinguish one from a cheating rascal?
I must include that I have a boyfriend who used to be a devotee of the Lord when he was younger and purer at heart. Due to bitter encounters throughout his life, he started to despise and avert God. I am trying to teach him about the Supreme Lord, the demigods and other important information he needs to learn in order to bond with God once more. Hence,
2. Is it an offense if I do so? I am asking this because the ninth offense indicates that it is sinful for someone to preach the Holy name of God to a faithless person. I am also very puzzled by why this is a sinful action.
3. Also, may I know in which Holy scriptures Krishna mentioned these offenses? I would like to inform you that I have yet to read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, and hence, it would be of great help to me if you could quote the offenses for me. I could then further my research on the field.
4. Are 100% Herbal teas also considered forms of intoxication? There are numerous teas in the market, some of them serving the purpose of helping in curtailing body weight. Is the consumption of such teas sinful?
I apologize if my queries are in any way rude or offensive. I hope you understand my position as a beginner in the path of Krishna. I rely on your help for my transcendental pleasure.
Once again, I thank you for your cooperation.
Hare Krsna!
Hare Krishna Sri Radha
1) It is not possible for a neophyte disciple to distinguish a bona fide guru from a cheating rascal. That is why it is so important that we do not remain neophyte disciples. We have to advance to at least the platform of madhyama-adhikari to be able to distinguish who is a real devotee and who is a cheating rascal. This is one of the characteristics of a madhyama [middle] devotee. They can distinguish. The only way we can become elevated is by the association and mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. So the only pure devotee of Krishna we can guarantee 100% is really a pure devotee of Krishna who we have access to is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. So we need to associate with and serve Srila Prabhupada by reading his books and following the instructions we find him giving us as we read his books. In this way we will gradually be elevated from the neophyte platform to the madhyam platform. It is only when we are on this madhyama platform that we will be able to distinguish who is a real bona-fide guru and who is a cheating rascal.
As far as preaching to your boyfriend also preaching is really possible on this madhyama [middle] platform of devotional service. Of course on any platform we can talk about Krishna and we can chant Hare Krishna and encourage others to chant Hare Krishna and we can cook for Srila Prabhupada and offer to him and distribute the prasadam to others. So like this. But we will not have much potency to actually preach really until we are a little bit advanced ourselves. The real practical way to preach is to encourage the people we know to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. In this way, if we can convince them to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, then Prabhupada will directly preach to them. And that is much better than us trying to preach to them ourselves.
As far as speaking to people about Krishna we have to see if they are interested in hearing us speak about Krishna. That is the point. It is offensive to preach to the faithless because it does not do any good. Because if someone has no faith in God and you try and preach about God to him he will only become angry and more offensive towards God. So it does not help actually. It makes matters worse. So we have to be careful that we are speaking about Krishna to people who are at least a little bit interested in what we have to say. If someone is not interested or even against Krishna then there is no point in trying to directly preach to them about Krishna. We can get them to hear and chant the Hare Krishna mantra, we can cook sumptuious foods for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and offer them to Krishna and then feed our friends with Krishna prasadam. They say the way to a man’s heart is his stomach. And that is very true also with Krishna prasadam. And we can encourage them to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. These are all good things for people who are not interested in hearing from us about Krishna.
It requires some qualification to be interested to hear about Krishna. And it requires some qualification to be able to speak about Krishna. So both the hearer and the speaker have to have some qualifications. If these qualifications are not present then the transcendental Krishna-katha, talks about Krishna, will not be very successful.
2) I think I have explained already why it is an offence to preach to a faithless person. If you want more information about the ten offenses please read Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion, particularly chapters 8 and 9. You will find everything you are looking for there.
3) If you have not yet read the Bhagavad-gita then I do not really know what you think you will be preaching to your boyfriend? The first thing is we have to save ourselves. Once we are saved ourselves then we can think about trying to save others. It is like a lifesaver at the beach. It is useless if he can not swim himself. To be a lifesaver first one has to be a very proficient swimmer himself. If he is not a very strong swimmer himself he will never be able to save some other person who is drowning and if he tries it will just create a big disaster and both of them will drown. So we need to become very firmly fixed up in Krishna consciousness ourselves by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and by chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. The whole point is chanting Hare Krishna. So if we do not even chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day then we have no idea what Krishna consciousness is ourselves even. We can not hope to help others if we are not even firmly situated in these basic practices ourselves.
As I have already said the ten offenses are very elablorately explained by Srila Prabhupada in his Nectar of Devotion. Please read it.
4) Everything is sinful if it is not done for Krishna. A devotee does not do anything for himself. He does not purchase anything for himself, he does not cook anything for himself. He does everything for Krishna. So we are not concerned with herbal teas, etc. That is self-interest. We have to give up self-interest. And we need to become interested in purchasing nice fruits, vegetables, grains and milk products for Krishna so we can prepare a very nice offering and offer it to Krishna. That should be our only consciousness. We need to have the faith that we only need to work to satisfy Krishna and be very confident that if somehow we are able to satisfy Krishna then automatically we will be satisfied also. So anything that we are doing for ourselves, for our bodies, etc, this is sense gratification, and this is sinful. We have to do everything for Krishna. Of course we understand that these bodies are not our bodies, they are Krishna’s bodies. So we have to keep the body healthy as far as possible by regular bathing and so on.
So Krishna consciousness is a completely different way of thinking. We give up all these personal interests and are no longer interested in doing things for ourselves and we become interested in doing things to please Krishna and the amazing thing is that if Krishna does become pleased by our puny offerings then automatically we are also satisfied in every way. This is a very important point to understand. This is Krishna consciousness. Doing everything for Krishna’s interest and doing nothing for our own personal interest.
So the main thing is you need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives you as you read his books and then gradually you will see all your questions are automatically answered and a new and wonderful spiritual world will open up for you.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji!!!
Jay Prabhupada!!!
i have few questions Prabhu , kindly clear them again
with reference to your above reply Prabhu , is it safe to conclude that
an individual or group of individuals
1) can distribute original unedited books of Srila Prabhupada
2) can cook foodstuffs using raw materials in the mode of
goodness for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and offer it , and later
it can be distributed as Prasadam to all others
3)can distribute original tapes of Srila Prabhupada (chanting
Hare Krishna and other lectures) in order to distribute Hare
Krishna maha mantra
Even if that individual person or that group of individuals are NOT chanting 16 rounds, strictly following the four regulative principles and reading books for 1 to 2 hour
actually it does appear to be so…… but if you confirm them it would be great
Yes. Of course. But in reality, without chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles and reading Prabhupada’s books the person will not be Krishna conscious and will not have much energy for distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books and will not know how to answer if someone asks him what is in the books and why he should read the books.
Why not do it, it is not difficult, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books? What’s difficult about that??
I’m in dire need of a spiritual master or devotee I live in spokane washington I’m considering taking a bus to Los Angeles because I know there are devotees there and a temple I would have to live on the streets which is not a problem for me I actually prefer it I chant hare krishna everyday I eat vegetarian I don’t have sex my biggest probem is that I smoke ciggarettes which I will quit and I don’t have a guru I would really appreciate some advice and someone to keep in contact with me to help me progress with my consciousness, hare krishna!
Hare Krishna Jeffrey
Read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions you find him giving you when reading the books. You will automatically give up smoking and you will be very soon feeling great transcendental ecstasy. Really it is best to stay away from ISKCON temples. They will drown whatever little spark of Krishna consciousness you may have and you will never become Krishna conscious. Just stay where you are and get Srila Prabhupada’s original books from http://www.KrishnaStore.com and read them and make your life perfect. Once you have made your life perfect you can preach to the people around you and help them to make their lives perfect also. In this way you can become the guru for Spokane.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. I have a bad habit called shoplifting or stealing in a way not noticeable in stores. And on top of that i acted on my urge to shoplift this times. Out of many times sometimes i give in the urge or temptation to do it. And top of it i know it is a bad thing to do but still i do it and know it is a bad thing and somewhat know when i am doing the thing that i am doing offense on the strength of the holy names. What can i do. most of the times i take food from there and other times some stationary like three erasers and pencil lead packet. It is not that i do not get it that i do. It is a habit of getting the thing without paying for it at times.
Just stop doing it. We need to develop self-control. That is essential for spiritual advancement. So it means that we have to be able to force ourselves not to do something that we want to do. It can be very difficult of course and sometimes due to our past bad habits we may fall down again. But we have to become very determined to follow the regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day at least 1-2 hours. If you surrender to these basic things then automatically your shoplifting problems will be solved.
Krishna consciousness is like that. Krishna consciousness is the solution to everything. So we just have to become Krishna conscious. That is the answer to all problems.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna! I have a question. I’ve been attending the Hare Krishna Temple ISKON in New Orleans, Louisiana for a lil over a month now. My husband & children do not attend w/me. My husband is Catholic. Our children & myself are baptized Lutheran. He’s finally opened up to the idea of letting our children attend temple w/me, but now. They have no desire to do so.
I had a question about not having illicit sex, or was it illucid sex. Why aren’t we not allowed to have, & enjoy sex w/our spouses?? We’re can’t have anymore children. 3 is enough, & our adopted daughter makes 4. So! Does that mean, we can never have sex w/one another, ever again?? Also! If we’re not meant to enjoy sex w/our spouses. Then! Why the God create our bodies to do so, both man & woman’s bodies were designed, & created, & engineered, to enjoy the pleasures of sex w/our spouse?? I’m a good wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, person, & devotee. Now! I do admit. I do not chant 16 or more times a day. I’m lucky to get in 3 times a day. Right now! I have a house to keep cleaned, meals to cook, laundry to do, I have to help my elder children w/their homework, & 3yr old to look after all day, doctors appointments to attend, errands to run, spend some quality time w/my children & etc. I’m nonstop! I read a few texts a day in my Bhagavad-Gita as it is book, & a few pages a day in my Srila Prabhupada~Lilamrta book everyday, & take my own bath. Then bed. Then wake up, the next day. Only to do it all over again.
Hare Krishna Sharie
Yes. Krishna consciousness is a different world, a different consciousness. In Krishna consciousness sex is for the purpose of having children and in Krishna consciousness we come to realize that our real pleasure lies in serving Krishna. We come to realize that these material bodies are temporary illusions only and that things that reinforce our bodily concept of life like sex are actually the greatest enemies of spiritual advancement.
It is actually only by sex that we are trapped practically eternally in this material world birth after birth. So by advancing in Krishna consciousness we will realize gradually that we are no these material bodies and that the pains and so-called pleasures of these material bodies are not our pains and pleasures. So when we come to this platform we will no longer be interested in the so-called pleasure of sex life.
As we develop in Krishna consciousness we will experience transcendental bliss, pleasure from the spiritual platform. And once we are really experiencing this transcendental pleasure the so-called pleasure of sex life will appear to be very nasty to us. We will spit at the thought of sex life. We will be disgusted by the thought of it.
Krishna consciousness is a gradual evolution of our consciousness and as your spiritual consciousness evolves more and more you will automatically realized these things yourself.
So, I understand you are living a very busy life, still we have to find the time to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna and as long as you keep on doing this you will make solid advancement in Krishna consciousness and all your questions will be answered by Srila Prabhupada progressively as you read his books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Can I wear lord krishna pendant while going to toilet??
No you can not take Krishna’s picture into the toilet. You can wear neck beads. You can not take your chanting beads into the toilet. But you can chant Hare Krishna in the toilet.
Nilesh, you yourself answered your question. Even bill gates is so much bothered about others. He has donated most of his wealth to charity instead of giving to his children. He constantly writes about fighting for poor and is doing so much for developing countries.
G0d is the most compassionate and loving. Why do you think He won’t care, if bill gates can care.
Hare Krishna Amit
You are making a very good point and giving a very good example but I would be careful with Bill Gates. His aims may not be as noble as you think. He is of the opinion that the earth is overpopulated and wants to reduce the population down to about one billion total. That means Bill Gates wants to see the population of the whole earth reduced to less than the population of India. It means he wants a lot of people to die.
This overpopulation is a myth. There is no such thing. If Krishna brings someone into the world then Krishna also supplies the food for him to eat. And if there is really overpopulation then nature will deal with it. We do not need Bill Gates to help with reducing the population of the world.
He has the ‘I am god’ disease. Wants to control the world. It is a very common disease.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is controlling the world and He does not need Bill Gates help. Of course ultimately Krishna is controlling Bill Gates also. Everyone is serving Krishna, either directly, or they are serving maya, who is also serving Krishna.
We are servants. That is all we can do, serve. We can serve Krishna or we can serve maya. We can not do anything else. And maya is serving Krishna. So even if we are serving maya then we are indirectly also serving Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
why god must be bothered about me he must be enjoying himself …..since he is god he can achieve anything ..he does not hv to work to get something like us …he has got power he is not like us ordinary people with no power…….even in this material world powerful people they do not bother about anybody they enjoy themselves then what to talk about god who has all the power….is bill Gates has anything to bother about a common man ? then why god …
Hare Krishna Nilesh
Yes. Krishna is self-satisfied. He is enjoying Himself. But we are all part and parcel of Krishna. So we are part of Krishna and as you care about the parts of your body so Krishna also cares about all the parts of His body.
Krishna is all-cogniscient so Krishna is aware of our situation, our suffering. The whole material world is Krishna’s mercy upon us. This material world is like a prison. It is like the government actually cares about the prisoners. They send the prisoners to prison with the hope they will become reformed in the prison and will again be able to enter the society as fine upstanding citizens.
So we are like that. We are criminals and we have been sent to this material world to suffer and be reformed. So you can not really understand any of these things without seriously taking to Krishna consciousness, chanting Hare Krishna, reading the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, etc. So do it… Chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Otherwise it is very difficult for me to explain these things to you…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
my question to u is that why this we need guru to reach krishna or god …why not directly because today so many people are cheating in the name of guru…..eg asaraam …
i strongly hate this guru kind of philosophy …
they cheat innocent people…
Guru is required because Krishna tells us that is the way. So God is telling us that guru is required. So guru is required. It is not possible to go directly to Krishna. One only gets the mercy of Krishna by getting the mercy of Krishna’s pure devotee. Read Srila Prabhupada’s books and you will find a real bona fide guru.
Yes. I completely understand your position. I also hate today’s gurus who as you say just cheat innocent people.
Read Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna and be happy! You will find the real guru…
Hare Krsna,
I have been a faithless person my whole life up until last year when I first chanted the Hare Krsna mantra on japa beads. Before I knew better I was always engaged in many illicit things. I am ashamed to admit it but before I knew better I was using hard drugs(meth, cocaine, LSD,etc) daily as well as smoking ganja and associating with prostitutes and other unchaste women. I have been since keeping a vow of celibacy and abstience from these things. Due to depression and an atheistic lifestyle.
I smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drink a lot of caffeinated beverages. I also work the majority of my day. And am surrounded by non devotees 24/7. What’s more I find no time during the day to properly prepare prasada (although I have in times past and whenever I have time). Sometimes I engage in eating of chicken or non offered food.
I have quit smoking, caffeine, meat eating and sinful food many times only to fail and fail again.
I feel sometimes like I will never be able to make it and that Krsna will never accept as a devotee so I feel intense guilt and shame daily. But I am trying hard and reading the Bhagavad gita as it is daily, have read other books written by Srila Prabhupada and listen to his lectures. And of course chanting daily.
So my question is even such a shameful and lowly person as my self, can they become a pure devotee through gradual change? If I keep chanting and reading will I eventually be able to control the senses?
Despite quitting very addictive substances I have been a lifelong smoker and coffee drinker and it is very hard to shake as I was not raised in a very pious household.
I do not want to be this way forever I truly want these offenses to go away. I have come a long way I realize but still it is offenseful.
How can I abandon these things 100%?
Hare Krishna JS
Just keep on chanting Hare Krishna and keep on always trying your best to come to the proper standards of Krishna consciousness and you will be successful in the end for sure.
It is a very difficult time at the moment. Very difficult to find any real devotee association. And surrounded by karmis we have to associate with someone and the association of non-devotees is very contaminating.
But as you are doing you just have to try to become Krishna conscious in spite of all the obstacles and difficulties. We have no other choice. The only value of this human form of life is that we can use it to understand and serve Krishna. There is nothing else of any value in this world.
We do need to follow the process. Of course because of our bad habits from our life it may be very difficult sometimes and we may fall down due to our bad habits. But we have to rectify ourselves and again, and again, and again get ourselves back into the proper standards of chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly following the four regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
It is possible to become Krishna conscious in any condition of life. But it always requires an enormous amount of determination and enthusiasm. You have to become very determined to follow the regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds a day and at the same time if you do fall down do not be very surprised about that and just pick yourself up again and get yourself back into the proper regulated way of chanting Hare Krishna, following the regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books.
I know it very well. I experience it myself. Maya is so very strong and very difficult to overcome. But we can overcome maya by surrendering to Krishna. Krishna tells us this in the Bhagavad-gita so it is possible. With great determination and patience.
We have to be patient. We may not become completely Krishna conscious overnight. But we will become Krishna conscious if we stick to it. Even if it seems hopeless. Even if we are so totally fallen and not following anything. If we just keep on chanting Hare Krishna that chanting of Hare Krishna will give us the strength and determination that will enable us to become properly fixed up in Krishna consciousness.
As far as prasadam we really have to only accept Krishna prasadam, the food that has been cooked by the devotees and offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna with love. And in our situation we may be the only devotee around. So that means we have to cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna ourselves. We just have to organize that. It is not difficult and does not take much time. I cook chapatis and kitery every day and offer to Srila Prabhupada and it only takes about half an hour to cook and I get to have Krishna prasadam and really it is wonderful. It is so totally satisfying and I never want to eat anything else. Really it is the best thing in the world. It is so nice.
And as soon as I eat the food cooked by the nondevotees my consciousness is destroyed and I again become a nondevotee.
So Prabhu do not become discouraged. We can always remember that Lord Caitanya is patita-pavana, the deliverer of the most fallen. So being very fallen is not a disqualification for coming to Krishna consciousness, being the most fallen actually qualifies us for unlimited mercy from Lord Caitanya. Because He is the deliverer of the most fallen.
Of course we can not stay fallen. When we are delivered by Lord Caitanya we are not fallen any more. But if we are sincere Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya will shower unlimited mercy upon us. So never loose hope.
It is good to feel disgusted with ourselves and our position. That encourages us to improve our position. But we should never feel hopeless. There is always hope and Srila Prabhupada’s and Lord Caitanya’s mercy is always available to us. All we have to do is chant Hare Krishna and be happy…
Madhudvisa dasa
“If we are thinking that we can make any advancement in Krishna consciousness without coming to the platform of chanting at 1east 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles we are simply deluding ourselves. There is no spiritual life without following these principles, only useless sentiment.”
I have been told that eating prasadam, hearing the mahamantra chanted, & association with a true devotee, even without ever personally chanting the mahamantra, will all bring spiritual advancement. Is this not true?
No. Because you have to go with the natural progressing. You can not accept prasadam and hear the mahamantra being chanted and associate with a pure devotee without developing the desire to chant the Hare Krishna mantra yourself. That is impossible. If you do not have the desire to chant the Hare Krishna mantra yourself you have completely missed the point and you are doing something very wrong. Of course it is true that there are nine processed of bhakti. And it is possible to become perfect by perfecting even one of the processes. And there are examples of devotees who have become perfect by hearing only [Maharaja Pariksit], chanting only, worshiping only, praying only, etc. But that was not in the Kali-yuga. In the Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu declares: Hari nam hari nam hari nam anukevalam kalu nastay kalu nastey eva anyatha. “In this age of Kali the only way, the only way, the only way to make spiritual advancement is chanting the names of Hari.”
So the chanting is required. You have to chant the Hare Krishna mantra yourself at least 16 rounds a day. If you associate with a true devotee he will tell you that you that you have to chant at least 16 rounds a day. If you accept Krishna prasadam that will purify your consciousness and with that purified consciousness you will develop a great desire to chant Hare Krishna yourself. If you hear the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra chanted by pure devotees naturally you will want to join in the chanting yourself.
The whole process of Krishna consciousness culminates in chanting Hare Krishna. You have to do it yourself…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I am a 14 year old girl born into a Hindu family…..was not inspired , never took religion seriously and always offended – am a very impure person. Have realized how wrong i have been and am desperately trying to improve , but remain unsuccessful . I have started reading the SACRED GITA and am also following the rules . I want to get in touch with the Dubai (in U A E ) ISKCON group , but am unaware of the place , location and how to get there . I am accepting LORD KRISHNA as the supreme master , but any advice or guidence would be helpful . And please let me know how I can join the Dubai branch of ISKCON , and how i can connect with other devotees . Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated .
I have no idea if there is a Dubai ISKCON group. But even if there is not you can chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com download free pdf versions of them at https://www.krishna.org and purchase the books at http://www.KrishnaStore.com
So the main thing is to become Krishna conscious wherever you are. Krishna knows your heart and He can make any arrangement at any time. So all we have to do is try to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and seriously follow his instructions. That will purify us, enable us to advance in spiritual life, and automatically, as we make spiritual advancement, we will understand what is the next step.
Hare Krishna mataji!
Sorry for interference :p
You can sign in at Krishnaconnect.com. There you’ll get devotee association, not 100% pure devotees association but a good devotee association! We all are learning there, you can also join, and learn about Krishna consciousness. We discuss, share and learn. A total 100% pure devotee association you’ll get only and only by prabhupad’s books, nowhere else.
Prabhu correct me if am going wrong,
Hare Krishna!
Hare krishna ,
I am 18 years old and in krishna consiousness since last eight months
M faith in krishna has increased a lot and i have visited iskcon vrindavan once last july and had a great experience
I chat four rounds daily but unfortunatelt not on the tulsi beads because my family is not at all in favour of my krishna consiousness
I want to know that if i buy a bead bag and tulsi beads and not do the japa daily on the beads
Is there any offence prabhuji ?
Hare Krishna Prai
You have to be serious about Krishna consciousness. You need to surrender to at least the basic things. You have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and 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.
Everyone can do this if they want to. Everyone has plenty of time. These days people watch the television and play on their phones and computers for on average 5-6 hours a day. That is 5-6 hours a day totally wasted on maya.
It does not matter what your family think. You have nothing to do with your family. You are not your material body, you are the spirit soul within that body and you, the spirit soul, has nothing to do with that family. You are eternally related with Krishna, not your family. We have to give up this family attachment and become attached to Krishna. We have to enter Krishna’s family.
So do not care about what your family and friends think. Every devotee has to come to the point of deciding to become Krishna conscious in spite of all opposition from friends and family. Mostly people are not going to surrender to Krishna. A devotee is very rare, someone who is prepared to surrender to Krishna is very rare, so it is very unlikely that the people around a devotee will also be interested in surrendering to Krishna. So every devotee will face opposition from friends and family when he is trying to seriously take to Krishna consciousness. That is the nature of the material world. Everyone comes to the material world to forget Krishna. So the general people are not very happy when their son or brother or friend starts to want to remember Krishna. That is the problem of the material world.
But we have to realize that the only purpose of our life, the only valuable thing, is to reestablish our eternal but forgotten relationship with Krishna and engage in devotional service. There is no other purpose for our life. We should not waste time doing anything else. And if we really surrender to Srila Prabhupada and through Srila Prabhupada surrender to Krishna then Krishna will help us in every way. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that for My devotee I protect what He has and personally carry to him what he needs. A devotee obviously has no desire except to serve Krishna, so this means that the devotee is desiring to serve Krishna and Krishna personally carries to the devotee whatever he needs to serve Krishna. So it is a very nice thing.
But you will never be able to understand what Krishna consciousness is unless you surrender at least to the basic things, chanting at least 16 rounds a day, strictly following the four regulative principles, and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. This is the minimum. This is the beginning. You have to do at least this.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
HARI BOL… 🙂
I do not understand why people do chant “Hare Krishna” Maha Mantra throughout Astaprahari. What is the reason they do for? Is it just like a type of meditation or anything behind this?
Kindly clarify my doubt.
Regards
Krishna is not different from His name. So when we chant the Hare Krishna mantra Krishna is personally present in the form of transcendental sound. In fact in the Sastras we find that the Hare Krishna mantra is declared to be an incarnation of Krishna. And this Hare Krishna mantra is the most powerful and really the only practical method of making rapid spiritual advancement in this dark age of Kali-yuga:
Kali dosa nidhe rajan asthy eko maha gunah kirtand eva krsnasya mukta sanga param vrajet
“This age of Kali is an ocean of faults but there is one great boon. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one can very easy be liberated.”
So this chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is actually the yuga-dharma, or the recommended process of religion, for this age of kali.
So we should always incessantly chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krsna prabhu. Nice article.
One question. Is it possible to only take Srila Prabhupada as our guru(obviously a pure devotee of Krsna) and serve him through his instructions(daily reading his books).Is anything else necessary and is it sufficient.Just focus on Prabhupada”s books and chanting Hare Krishna !6 rounds daily???
Thank You for this website.Hare Krsna
Hare Krishna Claude
It is not possible to ‘take Srila Prabhupada as your guru’. It is possible that Srila Prabhupada may accept you as his disciple. But that is up to Srila Prabhupada, it is not up to you. You can not ‘take’ Srila Prabhupada. You can act in such a way that Srila Prabhupada will be pleased with you and will accept you as his disciple.
Srila Prabhupada is not at all interested in cheap disciples. That is useless. He is only interested in disciples who are actually prepared to surrender. And this surrender is a very rare thing. So most so-called disciples of Srila Prabhupada never actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada. They keep some personal interest. So it is false. And such false disciples never become actually Krishna conscious.
So Krishna consciousness is a very serious thing. It is not a cheap thing. And you can not force Srila Prabhupada to accept you as his disciple. That is not possible. You can not ‘take’ Srila Prabhupada as your spiritual master.
When Srila Prabhupada was present on the planet no one could ‘take’ him as their spiritual master. If they wanted to be accepted by Srila Prabhupada as his disciple they had to surrender to living in one of his temples and serving under the authorities appointed by him for at least 12 months and be seen to be fully engaged in service, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra, strictly following the four regulative principles, etc, for 12 months before they are accepted for Hari-Nama initiation.
So you have to become qualified to be accepted by Srila Prabhupada as his disciple and then it is up to Srila Prabhupada if he will accept you or not.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,Madhudvisa dasa
Your answer to Kaustubh inquiry about addiction/intoxication is not clear to me at all. Of course, we must do everything to please Almighty God, our only creator. But, still, as humans, we have to eat, drink, work, have a sexual life (between married couples) and have a family life. Sure, we must eat and drink clean and healthy foods. However, we are not intoxicated to these necessities of life.
It would be appreciated if you could clarify this issue.
Brunette
Hare Krishna Brunette
A devotee never does anything for himself. He does everything for Krishna. So a devotee does not cook for himself or his family. He cooks for Krishna. This is a very important point we have to understand. Actually we are all parts and parcels of Krishna and we can only become happy ourselves by pleasing Krishna. It is actually our purpose to serve Krishna. And the only way we can become happy is by serving Krishna.
So we should never be trying to serve ourselves. That is maya, illusion. The idea that we can be happy by satisfying our senses is maya, illusion. We can only be happy by satisfying Krishna’s senses. So a devotee will prepare very nice offerings for Krishna from the four groups of food that is accepted by Krishna [fruits, vegetables, grains and milk products] and offer this to Krishna and be satisfied by accepting the remnants of the food offered to Krishna.
As far as a sexual life between married couples that is practically non-existent for a devotee. A devotee does not do anything for his own satisfaction. He does everything for the satisfaction of Krishna. So sex in married life according to the regulative principles Krishna says “I am”. So that is good. That is service to Krishna. Having sex in marriage according to the regulative principles to produce children that can be trained up as devotees of Krishna. That is very good. But the regulative principles have to be followed and that means a married couple can have sex once a month on the day that is the most likely for the woman to conceive when they want to have a child. There is no sex for pleasure.
This is of course very difficult for us from the West to understand and follow, particularly in the beginning. But there is actually a very great pleasure available from serving Krishna that is so much greater than the so-called pleasure of sex, that makes that so-called pleasure appear totally insignificant. So if we can experience this ‘higher taste’ that is available from serving Krishna then we are no longer very interested in sex.
And there are so many troubles created by sex. Which I am not going to go into here. But abstaining from sex except for when it is needed to create nice Krishna conscious children is very good for us from every angle of vision. Even from the point of view of health and peace of mind. Of course really one can only abstain from sex if he gets this ‘higher taste’. So we have to actually become Krishna conscious and experience this higher taste then we can understand that serving Krishna is what is important, sex is not important except for having nice children. That is what it is meant for.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Could you please clarify for me how tea & coffee are intoxicating ? I get that people get addicted to them, my parents are, but technically they are stimulants. Also, is herbal tea, green tea okay ? And since the caffeine is the problem, are de-caffeineated tea & coffee okay ? Thank you.
Addiction means intoxication. One gets addicted to intoxicants.
We want to get addicted to Krishna, not tea or coffee. So they are intoxicants and forbidden for devotees.
Nothing is OK except Krishna prasadam. We have to understand that anything taken for our own personal enjoyment is a cause of bondage to the material world. A devotee does not do anything for his own personal enjoyment. A devotee understands that he, and everyone else, are parts and parcels of Krishna. So as when one supplies water to the roots of a tree automatically all the parts-and-parcels of the tree like the branches and leaves and fruits and flowers, they are all automatically nourished by the water supplied to the roots of the tree. So similarly if we satisfy Krishna, the root of everything, automatically all the parts-and-parcels of Krishna, including ourselves, will be satisfied.
So the way to satisfy ourselves is to satisfy Krishna.
So we cook for Krishna, we offer the results of our cooking to Krishna and let Krishna enjoy the offering and we only accept Krishna prasadam. The remnants of the foodstuffs offered to Krishna. So Krishna will accept offerings of foodstuffs in the mode of goodness. That means foods prepared from the four groups of grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits. So if we prepare such offerings with love and devotion for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and offer them then we can accept the remnants of Krishna’s meal. Krishna prasadam. That is all. A devotee will never accept anything else except Krishna prasadam.
So the point is to please Krishna. So we should offer Krishna the things that please him. We have no concern with what pleases ourselves or our parents.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
It is true that people get addicted to such stuff, & thus should refrain from it. But it is not my intention to drink any kind of tea or coffee. I am merely curious about it – and I do hope you will answer my doubt more clearly – since the drug caffeine is the one causing addiction, would it not be true that de-caffeinated drinks do NOT produce addiction/intoxication ? Plus, coffee beans are grains. I’ll clarify again that this is just curiosity. Thank you.
Hare Krishna !
Yes. It is the caffeine that is the problem but why would one offer decaffeinated coffee to Krishna? That is not the point. Is not that we should be offering the things to Krishna that we want to eat. We should offer Krishna the things that He wants to eat and drink. And really I do not think Krishna has any interest in decaffeinated coffee. We are supposed to be serving Krishna, cooking for Krishna, not for ourselves.
Yes. Coffee beans are grains. They are beans, beans are grains. So drinking decaffeinated drinks one may say is not breaking the regulative principle “no intoxication”, I think that is the main point you are asking. But really even if we are attached to something because we like the taste of it that is also an addiction. Many people are addicted to sugar for example. So sugar is of course in the mode of goodness and good for offering to Krishna. But also in excess sugar is an intoxication. So we can become addicted to sugar and then for us sugar becomes an intoxication, an addiction. Fermented sugar becomes alcohol.
The point is we have to become addicted to chanting Hare Krishna, addicted to serving Krishna. OF course if we become addicted to Krishna prasadam that is very good, because Krishna prasadam is not different from Krishna. So becoming addicted to Krishna prasadam is becoming addicted to Krishna. But still we should not overeat even Krishna prasadam.
Ultimately we need to just accept whatever food we require to keep the body and soul together. Not over eat, even not overeat Krishna prasadam.
The idea is not to eat too much, but also not to eat too little. But it is better to eat less than more.
The point is to make a very nice offering to Krishna from the four food groups that He accepts [grains, milk products, fruits and vegetables] and after Krishna has enjoyed the meal we need to be totally satisfied to just accept Krishna prasadam, the remnants of the food offered to Krishna.
We know what Krishna likes, we know what Mother Yasoda was cooking for Krishna, we know what Mother Sachi and the devotees were cooking for Lord Caitanya. So we can follow in their footsteps and cook the same things for Krishna now. And they were not offering Krishna decaffeinated coffee.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Please tell me how much is one round.
Please read Prabhupada’s books…. If you don’t even know this it means you have not read any of Prabhupada’s books. How do you expect to become Krishna conscious without reading the books? Krishna consciousness is a science. It is like any other science, if you want to learn it you have to read the books, Prabhupada’s books.
I really need to learn the right way.I do not have bona-fide Spiritual Master. I need the guiedence
I have read this through. I’m questioning myself The one thing I clearly understand To follow the path the right way from the very beginning. I will be honest to be a Spritual desiple
Srila Prabhupada is a bona fide spiritual master and you can get his guidance by reading his books. That is the solution to all your problems, the answer to all your questions: “READ SRILA PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS!!!”
hare krishna, it is hard to understand me, how krishna help me if I don’t help myself ?
how my life can be simple?
You have to help yourself by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna, then Krishna will help you. God helps those who help themselves…
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I will be very obliged if i can get the answers from few of my questions from you.
1) Last to last week i went to Iskcon Temple Delhi, youth festival was going on there. I met one of the acharya (bhramachari) there, he was friendly he was good and one of the worker of ISKCON took me to meet senior Acharya, i was waiting for him in top floor of Iskcon temple, he made me wait one hour but that is fine he might be busy very much meanwhile i took prashad and i was about to complete my prashad Acharya ji came… and as he came the workers who were working there just lay down in floor in front of his feet as if he is GOD.. and one of the worker said to Acharya ji that this person (me) wants to meet u… and that Acharya ji very rudely said refer him to any one… my question is if one is very much advance in KC… then why he is considering himself not less than GOD? why he is not down to earth??? why he want people to lay down infront of his feet???? me being an educated person i haven’t done that therefore he become angry with me…. I am a devotee of Krishna too, i chant his name and try to remember him as much as possible while doing the daily activities of my work… I am looking for a Guru too but i will listen to my heart and without knowing any Acharya properly i will not surrender him….. Please correct me if i am going wrong…
2) while attending the youth festival there…. one Acharya ji was about to give lectures and he was worshiped as god by fellow jr Acharyas and we all were force fully made to clap also for him and rather then showing us the meaning of human life he started singing song.. i wasn’t able to tolerate them so i left within 15 min… all these activities of their made me remember the movie “OH MY GOD”… my question is are they really very much advance in KC???? I want to say is even i am a devotee of Lord Krishna and even if i become very much advance in KC i will still be grounded and normal person.. y to hanker for respect from other people?????? Prabhu ji you can scold me also if u think m talking ill bout others.and please correct me if m going wrong.
3) Is Becoming a Bramachari recommended by u prabhu??? If not in Iskcon then where we aspiring Bhramachari will go?????
Your Servant
Hare Krishna Amit
Yes. Unfortunately, for an intelligent and sincere devotee like your good self ISKCON has become somewhat comical. Tragically comical. Actually in ISKCON His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the Acharya, but as you have noticed they will never tell you this. Everyone in ISKCON is pretending to be the acharya without possessing the qualities of the acharya at all. A primary quality of a real acharya as you have noted is humility.
The whole thing in ISKCON is a joke. These ‘acharyas’ and the others who are hanging around there hoping to be ‘acharyas’ also in the future have destroyed the whole thing.
What you need to do, if you truly want to advance in Krishna consciousness, is avoid ISKCON completely. ISKCON is totally destroyed. Totally spoiled.
But fortunately Srila Prabhupada is still living in his books. You can get personal and direct association with a real pure devotee, a real humble acharya, by reading the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. All you need to do is read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions that you find Srila Prabhupada giving you and apply them in your practical day-to-day life and you will find the spiritual world opening up before your eyes. You will find your love for Krishna increasing and your attachment to the material world decreasing.
These are the symptoms that you are associating with a real acharya.
You can purchase Srila Prabhupada’s books at http://www.KrishnaStore.com and read them online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Ya, really Humble acharya 🙂
Jai srila prabhupada 🙂
Hari hari bol…
you can come to krishnaconnect.com, where you’ll get like minded people…
All respects to madhudvisa prabhu…
Hari Hari bol…:)
Hare Krishna Prabhu, All Glories to Srila Prabupada ji…
Thank you prabhu for ur valuable reply….. ur each and every reply, every counseling of urs is extremely helpful for everyone…
Your Servant
Amit Mehra
I. Want to know how can. I get a devotee. Spiritual master ..
Read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Srila Prabhupada is living in his books. He will guide you if you surrender to his instructions that he will give you as you read his books…
I am a devotee of lord krishna… but there are lot of restrictions on the other hand if you are a devotee of lord shiva you can get easily liberated very soon… as lord shiva get impressed very easily by his devotees….. this is the reason mojor part of the population is a devotee of lord shiva….. plz correct me if m wrong….
Hare Krishna Amit
It is true that Lord Shiva is very easily pleased by his devotees, but the other side is he also very easily becomes angry with his devotees.
And, I think as you well know, the devotees of Lord Shiva are not asking Lord Shiva for liberation or anything spiritual. Lord Shiva is called ‘Bhutanatha’, the Lord of ghosts and hobgoblins. So these people worship Lord Shiva because they think if they worship Lord Shiva they can have illicit sex, eat meat, and drink alcohol and smoke ganja. That is why people worship Lord Shiva. It is not for liberation. And also Lord Shiva is not in a position to give liberation. Lord Shiva gives benedictions within this material world only. If one wants liberation then he has to worship Visnu, Krishna, or at least the impersonal Brahman. One can not get liberation by worshiping Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva himself worships Lord Krishna. So Shiva will be very happy with his followers if they too worship Lord Krishna. Otherwise Lord Shiva is easily angered and is very prone to become angry with his devotees and curse them…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna
I really believe in krsna, I love him, I chant hare krsna mantra, read Bhagvad gita, I am a vegetarian, I don’t drink nor I do gambling but I cannot put a stop to my sexual desires. However am nt yet married but I’m am an young adult who is left by his fiancé recently and ever since I am unable to focus in my studies or do anything please help me.
Of course we may be disturbed by material desires. That is not unnatural. But we have to know that even if we can ‘satisfy’ these material desires that will not satisfy us and will not help us in any way. So you simply have to commit to following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, this is the solution to your problems. The only solution. You have to accept these things and follow them. That is your answer.
Even if your mind is disturbed still you have to force yourself to chant Hare Krishna and the power of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra will bring your mind under control and focus it at the lotus feet of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji
Where can one find a bonafide spiritual master in his age of Kali?
In Srila Prabhupada’s book. Read Srila Prabhupada’s books. You will find your bona fide spritual master there.
Hare krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
i have started chanting 16 rounds of hare krishna mahamantra and following 4 princepals. i have 2 questions,
1. where will i get bonafied spritual master in mumbai,india.
2. regarding the 4 principals, i chew tabacco from last 16 yrs. is that against the 4 principals?
Please guide me as i m new in kc.
hare krishna
servant’s servant
Aditya
Hare Krishna Aditya
Yes. Chewing tobacco is intoxication and is against the principles. You can stop it by chanting Hare Krishna and accepting Krishna prasadam. And you will need to know how to identify a bona fide spiritual master otherwise you will be cheated by a bogus spiritual master and your life will be ruined. For that you have to study Srila Prabhupada’s books. Prabhupada has given us everything in his books. We have to read them. Unless we read Srila Prabhupada’s books there is no chance of us actually becoming Krishna conscious.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji,
My name is Amit Mehra, one month back I came in contact with ISKCON temple. The more I am knowing about lord Krishna the more I am getting attached and attracted towards Krishna.
My question is: I am in final of my CWA. after that I want a good job and earn lot of money just to satisfy my parents, regarding me I am a Materialistic person but not that much, and the more I am concentrating on Lord Krishna the more I am getting less attached to this material world….. My question is I don’t want to Marry, I want to take Celibacy, For women it is important to get married but for men also??????
I know GRASTHI jeevan is also good, previously I was
interested in getting married (long time back) but now I am in favor of Celibacy only.
My parents are emotionally attacking me to get married. and when I am saying that I want to be a sanyasi they are saying m mad I need a serious treatment…..
Please help m looking for the direction, m looking for the path of taking celibacy.. not now but once the role of my parents is over in this material world then I will take complete sanyas… Coz lord said in Bhawad Gita without completing ur responsibility and taking
Sanyaas is a big NO…. please advice
Hare Krishna.
Your servant
.
Hare Krishna Amit
Yes. You are correct. For women marriage is necessary, but for men it is not. However at the current point in time there is very little support and facility for the actual brahmacary life you are thinking of. Thinking of taking sannyasa is rather premature. Sannyasa is the final stage. It comes after one has been thoroughly trained as a brahmacary serving a pure devotee of Krishna. And sannyasa is a very difficult thing in Kali-yuga. Most people in Kali-yuga can not properly follow the strict principles of sannyasa life and they end up becoming cheating demons in the dress of sannyasis who destroy the spiritual lives of anyone who is unfortunate enough to surrender to them and become their disciples.
So the point of Krishna consciousness is to give up our own personal desires and to surrender to Krishna and do what Krishna wants us to do. Therefore we can not make grand plans for our life, exactly what we will do, we have to make a grand plan to surrender to Krishna and once we surrender to Krishna Krishna will tell us what He wants us to do. And the only way we can surrender to Krishna is by surrendering to a pure devotee of Krishna. In our conditioned state we can not directly understand what Krishna wants us to do. We have to be guided and directed by a pure devotee of Krishna. The bona-fide spiritual master. So Srila Prabhupada is living in his books and he is ready to guide you.
So what you have to do now, instead of frightening your mother like this with talks of taking sannyasa, is to actually become a pure devotee of Krishna so you can get some connection to Krishna and so you can understand what Krishna wants you to do, which may end up being very different from what you want to do yourself. Krishna consciousness means giving up the things that we want to do ourselves and surrendering to what Krishna wants us to do.
So to find out what Krishna wants you to do you have to actually surrender to the process of saddhana-bhakti. You have to chant the Hare Krishna mantra every day at least 16 rounds, you have 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 absolutely necessary. You have to surrender to these things. Otherwise there is no actual Krishna consciousness, there is no spiritual intelligence, and you are just thinking and speaking nonsense like so many bogus swamis and sadhus who have no actual spiritual realization but make a business out of cheating the ignorant masses out of their money… I know this is not what you intend to do, but this is what generally happens to the Kali-yuga sannyasis…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Dasa Prabhuji,
I offer my sincere obeisance to you. Since last one year I have come into the contact of ISKCON. The first time I visited the temple, I found it very attractive – I don’t know why. Previously I was under the impression that inside the ISKCON so many bad things happen in the name of religion but once I started visiting their Love Feast program and started hearing the lectures of different Swamijis alongwith reading the books of Srila Prabhupada, I experienced something different. I have joined their seminar on ‘Journey of Self Discovery’ and after that I am attending the Sunday Classes as well. Today I have stopped taking non veg foods including onion & garlic and also started chanting 16 rounds of Maha Mantra but to be very honest sometimes I missed to complete the 16 rounds. I know that I am not a devotee having all the perfection but how can I engage myself more into the Lord’s service ? I am a married person aged around 42 years having one daughter and doing job. My other family members are not against but not that much attached to the Krishna Consciousness. Since I used to offer ‘Bhog’ to the Lord, they have also started taking the same Prasadam which I used to have but still if they are in a wish, they take non veg very occasionally. Looking at the present context, will I be able to serve my ‘Lord’ as per his wish ? Another thing is that some times I also get distracted while chanting since my mind starts flying here and there about the materialistic things. How to control my mind ? Looking forward for your valuable advise.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
You need to take seriously reading all of Srila Prabhupada’s books. As you read Srila Prabhupada’s books he will personally instruct you, guide you, help you, answer your questions.
The secret to advancing in Krishna consciousness is to realize that Srila Prabhupada is living in his books and to take full advantage of Srila Prabhupada in the form of his transcendental books.
I suggest you get some of Srila Prabhupada’s books so you can read them:
http://krishnastore.com/prabhupada-library-h-krishna-1734.html
So once you are in contact with Srila Prabhupada you will always know what to do.
You have to know that the beginning of Krishna consciousness is to surrender to the basic saddhana-bhakti program given to us by Srila Prabhupada. That is chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly following the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication, and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
ISKCON does not put much stress on these points, but strictly following these things is essential for us to even begin on the path of Krishna consciousness.
So many people are fooled by ISKCON that they are devotees but they do not even tell them that to even start on the path to becoming devotees we have to surrender to strictly following the four regulative principles, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books 1-2 hours a day at least.
We have to do these things. Then gradually our hearts will be purified and we will be able to see everything very clearly.
Krishna consciousness is a purification process. We are currently very dirty, so it takes some time for us to become completely purified. So in the beginning it is natural that we may be distracted and find it hard to control our minds and find our minds being distracted onto material things when we are trying to chant Hare Krishna. But the chanting of Hare Krishna is very powerful. If we just keep on chanting Hare Krishna and keep on concentrating on hearing all of the words of the mantra, then very soon our mind will be back under control again.
The way to perfect our chanting is only by chanting. That is why there is this vow that we have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. Because in the beginning we have no taste for chanting Hare Krishna. We have to force ourselves to chant Hare Krishna, even though maya is telling us always to not chant Hare Krishna. Maya will always try to convince us that we have so many other, more important, things to do with our time than chanting Hare Krishna… But we have to fight maya. It is a battle and strictly following the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day can be a great challenge to achieve in today’s busy world. But it can be done and if we want to become Krishna conscious, if we want to go back home back to Godhead, we have to surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds, following the regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is the answer to all problems…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Melbourne, Australia
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Dasa Prabhuji
You said that “For women marriage is necessary, but for men it is not.”. Really, I do not understand this statement as it does not make sense to me. Then, who are going to marry these Krishna-conscious Hindu women if marriage is not important for Krishna-conscious Hindu men? Do you imply that women have greater sexual urge than men?
Respectfully yours
Brunette
Hare Krishna Brunette
Yes. Women have 9 times the sex desire of men. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Actually birth in a woman’s body is not a very high birth spiritually. The women are listed with the sudras. So a woman advances in Krishna consciousness by serving her spiritually qualified husband. That is the way. That was understood everywhere all over the world even, before the 60’s. Even I remember when in the Catholic church the marriage vows for the woman were that she would promise to “Love, honor and obey” her husband. She was supposed to serve her husband. So it is the natural way that the woman needs to have a husband and need to surrender to him and serve him. And if the husband happens to be a devotee of Krishna then the woman shares in the spiritual advancement of her husband.
As far as the shortage of husbands the Vedic culture allows men, particularly strong men like the Ksatriyas to marry more than one wife. That solves this problem.
So men do not need to get married but woman must get married.
Of course these things are on the bodily concept of life. Once we transcend the bodily concept of life there is no question of male and female. There is no difference spiritually between the soul in a man’s body and the soul in a woman’s body. But the woman’s body is a more materialistic covering of the soul than the man’s body. Still if one can transcend the bodily concept of life then there is no difference on the spiritual platform.
Krishna consciousness is on the transcendental platform and can be equally practiced by men and women. There is no disqualification. It is not that men can practice Krishna consciousness better than women. Women have the natural quality of surrender and you will find at religious places around the world very often there are a lot of women there. They have a simpler, less complex outlook then men which allows them to more easily surrender to Krishna. A man will often get on the mental platform and speculate and all this gets in the way of the simple surrender and service that is the essence of Krishna consciousness.
You can see in the Krsna book if you read the story of the Brahmana’s wives feeding Krishna and Balaram in the forest how this nature of a woman is favorable for Krishna consciousness. The Brahmana’s were advanced in knowledge and the Vedic scriptures for sure. And they were engaged in a big Vedic sacrifice. Of course the Vedic sacrifice is ultimately meant only for the pleasure of Krishna. So Krishna and Balarama who were in the forest came to the Brahmanas and asked them for food. But the Brahmanas refused because they were preparing everything for the sacrifice and the food could not yet be distributed according to the strict Vedic rules.
So Krishna and Balaram then went to the wives of the Brahmanas who immediately fed them sumptuously with the food that was meant to be prepared for the sacrifice.
So the position of male or female is no bar in advancing in Krishna consciousness but we do have to understand that the male and female bodies are different and for the proper functioning of society those in male and female bodies do have to realize they have different roles to perform, at least on the material platform.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
But how can we find the spiritual master……???? I think initially we should start chanting 16 rounds and follow the 4 regulative principles and then when time comes Lord Krishna will automatically show us the way to his spiritual master…..
You will find your spiritual master in Srila Prabhupada’s books. How can you miss it? Srila Prabhupada is the spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement….
Hare krishna madhudvisa dasa ji, can i make my one day from 12 noon to 12noon next day as we have to chant 16 rounds of mantra daily i m not able to chant that much daily. If i can make my one day as i wish then i will be able to chant 16 rounds daily so please tell me . Hare krishna
It only takes 2-3 hours a day to chant 16 rounds. This is essential if we want to become Krishna conscious. There is no question of spiritual life if we are not prepared to surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra. Anyone can do it and it may take a bit longer like say 4 hours in the beginning. But it can not take any longer than 4 hours and will reduce to 2-3 hours a day after some practice. It is not a problem for anyone to find 2-3 hours a day to chant Hare Krishna. Most people watch television for 2-3 hours. So they just have to stop watching television and they have the time to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day.
So there is no alternative. Surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day or you are not going to become Krishna conscious. It is required. Essential. Necessary. There is no other alternative.
Thank you and hare krishna.
sir, Jai Shree Krishna..!!
i am very thankful and obliged to receive the newsletters from you.my cheerful regards to you for spreading the wisdom of divine light…
i completely realise the prerequisite of giving up intoxication,illicit sex , meat eating and even gambling as profession as its exactly same as lighting the candle with one hand and pouring water with another..but i after precisely thinking will not agree that playing of games and sports on limited amounts with main motive of recreation can be considered as prerequisite..it is definitely a part of a sub rules conduct to which the one should further rise up..including it in prerequisite will be same as directing to avoid playing sports and games which is nothing else but simply a yogic thought…
Here i will like to quote brahma sutra where the lord says “that yogic people hardly reaches the tip of my toe through a process which expands thousands of millions year” and a person is rarely aware totally about his yogic behavior the seeds are sown deep inside…
we shuld even not forget that spirituality is a business of spirit which is not restricted to the life of a body and there are karmic reactions which we have to face in this highly illusion creating materialistic world..
once again i will like to extend my gratitude to the vaishnav community and krishna movement…
thank u Madhudvisa dasa ji..
Hare Krishna !
Nothing to say than this.
|| Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ||
Pls I really want to know if you can make any wish of your choice while chanting and will it be done for you ???Thank You
Hare Krishna Michael
God is not our order supplier. The idea of chanting Hare Krishna is it is a prayer meaning: “Please Krishna engage me in Your service.” So it means we want to surrender to Krishna and serve Him. We want Him to tell us what He wants us to do. We want to surrender to Krishna and serve Krishna.
For a devotee he does not have any personal desire that he wants to wish for. His only wish is to be engaged constantly in the service of Krishna under the direction of Krishna’s pure devotee.
So we should not be wishing for anything except the ability to surrender to and serve Krishna while we are chanting Hare Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What if you haven’t got a spiritual master? Is it satisfactory to be taught by Krishna devotees who themselves have been taught by a spiritual master? Is reading the books and listening to talks by spiritual masters, alive and or no longer here on earth also beneficial? When you say 16 rounds, do you mean chanting the mantra 16 times or going around the japa beads 16 times?
If you read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books then you have a spiritual master. It does not matter, from the material point of view, living or not living. The spiritual master never dies. He continues to preach in his words, and Srila Prabhupada’s words are there in his books and in his recorded classes, so we can take full advantage of hearing from Srila Prabhupada, and that is the relationship between the disciple and the spiritual master. The disciple surrenders to and hears submissively from the bona fide spiritual master. So we can all surrender to and hear from Srila Prabhupada.
16 rounds, of course, means chanting all the way around the beads 108 times [that is one round] and repeating this 16 times. Once you are practiced at this it will take 2-3 hours a day. So if we are even slightly serious about Krishna conscious we have to find this 2-3 hours every day to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
Thankyou very much for the newsletters Im just starting to read the books , follow the four regulations and chanting
Is it ok to chant Hare Krishna as a whisper so to not wake up household members?
Is there somewhere in Australia I can talk with devotees like yourself at a temple or festival or something?
Can you confirm Cannabis to be a intoxicant?, and can this be taken if the medicine is specially made into a oil so that there are none of the usual psychotropical recreational side effects? It will be like taking a herbal tea like tulsi
In my stupid youth one of the ways I sinned was by agreeing for my wife and I to have abortion and another time a morning after pill. This is very sinful I know and a lot of kharma has come my way because of it. If I can become Krishna consciousness this will be released and I may not have to complete another cycle on earth?
Hare Krishna
Andrew
Hare Krishna Andrew
We have all done sinful things in the past and everything can be corrected by Krishna consciousness. So there is no point in worrying about what we did in the past. We simply have to surrender to the basic things. Chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly following the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours per day.
It may sound like a lot to do, but if we want to become Krishna consciousness coming to this platform is the beginning of Krishna consciousness.
Currently I am not aware that there is any temple in Australia where you could go and get the association of devotees who are actually following Srila Prabhupada. In fact it is very difficult to find this anywhere in the world at the moment. Kali-yuga and maya are so strong that they have attacked and taken over all the temples and realistically you are not going to find Krishna consciousness in the ISKCON temples at the present time unfortunately.
But you will find Krishna consciousness in Srila Prabhupada’s books and in his audio and video recordings. So we need to take advantage of associating with Srila Prabhupada, a pure devotee of Krishna, and in this way we will be able to become sincere disciples of Srila Prabhupada and then everything will be allright.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa
Thankyou your newsletters and posts are very helpfull.
I ‘ve been following the four regulative principles, reading and listening to Srila Prabhupada’s books
audio, and video.
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa
Jaya Prabhupada.
Thankyou very much, your newsletters and articles really help.
I will continue to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours per day.
Hare Krishna
Andrew
Dear Sir,
Is it wrong to worship Lord Krsna in its Viswaroopam form. Kindly reply when time permits.
Regards
S Siva
Universal form is not a real or permanent form of Krishna. It is more or less imagination for those who can not understand Krishna but can understand the universe as a form of the Supreme Lord. So for those people it is good. But for someone who can conceive of Krishna then obviously worshiping Krishna is best…
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. Say i doing a job say as sales person in place where people sell, fruits, vegetables, grains and milk(not wanted to because today’s milk is contaminated with Vitamin D in United States especially). So people today are non-devotees mostly. The thing is that those vegetables still have the oppurtunity or the potential to be Krsna prasadam and (if not at least it is in the mode of goodness which just came to mind). And they are places like the supermarket which have food varieties in goodness,passion and ignorance. And still the food sold can be potentially used for Krsna Consciousness.
But here is the question. Selling vitamin supplements, protein bar or beauty products, etc are not potentially Krsna Consciousness.
This statement that you said which is” But because of the strange ways of the material world often devotees will find themselves working at something that is not really Krishna conscious at all.” Is this what you were meaning to say in terms of doing work that is not Krsna Conscious at all. That the material world is like that i am forced to sell non- prasadam food to make money.
Hare Krishna Mehra
Almost no job will be 100% pure. You will find some imperfections, some problems, with practically every job. But because there may be some imperfections that does not mean a devotee will give up the job. Actually the job is not the point. You are only working at the job to get some money, so the main point is what you do with the money that you earn from working at the job. If you use that money for purchasing vegetables, grains, etc, and then you cook these and offer them to Krishna then that spiritualizes your work to make the money. This is called karma yoga. It means doing some work which is not directly Krishna conscious and engaging the fruits of that work in the service of Krishna. This is the way to spiritualize our work. And do not worry so much if there is some imperfection in the work. There will always be some imperfection in the work. But if you use the money you make from the work for serving Krishna then that will make everything perfect and spiritual.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. If you do not answer any other inquiries it is fine. But i want to know or hear one thing.
I should not associate care, accept, bother, hear or take seriously or feel offended by non-devotees of any kind no matter who they are (including regular people, mental-speculators, Iskcon , others) and forget about them and what they say, said or will say(like their ideas, speculations, opinions) in the past, present,future? And concentrate on becoming Krsna Consciousness like chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krsna mantra, following the four regulative principles and reading 1-2 hours of Srila Prabhupada right.
Basically i should have a blank slate of mind of what i have learned or heard from people, internet, books and read and hear of what Srila Prabhupada has to say and/or start the process of surrendering to Srila Prabhupada/Krsna Consciousness.
Yes.
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. Is material knowledge of sociality like social customs, social conventions and social etiquette necessary when aspiring to be a devotee. Well i very much doubt it. But still would like some clarity on this. I mean i read one article in which Prabhupada was mentioned to be at airport in “Prabhupada memories” and Prabhupadanever felt the need to conform to social conventions.” So Prabhuji focusing on Krsna Consciousness is the main thing right. I think so. Although my mind is troubling me. But i will. I was never much of a social etiquette guy even till now. And since i am not a fan of social etiquetee, social this, social that and plus i hear being Krsna Conscious you become perfect gentleman.
Hare Krishna Mehra
Yes. We don’t care for social etiquette. We have our own etiquette among devotees, sadhu sanga. We have our own ways. You will learn everything by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna. We don’t care about the materialists and their ideas actually. That is, I think, what the Prabhupada memories person you refer to is talking about. We don’t care about the etiquette of a particular society. We have our own ways and our own Krishna conscious etiquette… But really to become Krishna conscious all you have to do is read Srila Prabhupada’s books and actually listen to what Srila Prabhupada is instructing you to do as you read and surrender to Srila Prabhupada in this way and follow his instructions….
It is true that all good qualities automatically develop in the body of a devotee. All we have to do is to endeavor to become Krishna conscious and automatically all the good qualities will come to us as well…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji i have a issue to ask about which is association. You said not to associate with non-devotees and you have said that association with non-devotees is on sense-gratification as that is the only thing they know.
Let me tell you what the problem is. I am a very inquisitive person. I inquire about like everything and anything and it is mostly material one of the things is think like people’s personal life or just about things relating to them like financial status or something. Is this association still sense-gratification really.
And plus even with the devotees what type of association should i have if i encounter. Is talking or being inquisitive about their daily day to day life and and asking them of their personal position in life in a lot of areas of life still not good association.
You should not be interested in people like this. It is useless. It will not help you in any way to advance in spiritual life to know anything about other people like this. If you are inquisitive then you should be inquisitive about Krishna. You should want to know every little detail about Krishna from Srila Prabhupada’s books. So just transfer your inquisitiveness to Srila Prabhupada’s books and Krishna. A devotee has no interest in materialistic people and the way they live their lives, etc.
If you meet a devotee then you should talk about Krishna. If you meet an non-devotee also you should talk about Krishna. And to talk about Krishna you have to know about Krishna. So you have to read Prabhupada’s books so you know about Krishna so you can talk about Krishna with everyone you meet…
Thank-you for your reply and the way you replied. I was fearing that you will be very critical or severe to me because of my actions but you explained it in a very kind way. Thank-you for that
I am not able to believe that God exists. I feel that a philantrophist has written the books for the well being of the people. All types of doubts are doubts are arising in my mind. What shall I do? Is there any prove that God exists? or that these books have been not written by a philantrophist?
Hare Krishna Sosh
It does not matter if you believe God exists or if you do no believe God exists. God exists and He is not going to stop existing because you do not believe He exists. It is your ignorance only that you do not believe in the existence of God. So you can cure this ignorance by knowledge.
Bhagavad-gita is a book which is the exact record of a conversation between Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His friend Arjuna. It is the only book in the world that is a direct conversation with God Himself, and it contains the exact Sanskrit words that Krishna Himself spoke five thousand years ago.
So you should read Bhagavad-gita As It Is. You can read it at http://asitis.com
Bhagavad-gita As It is is the direct words of God. It is not written by any man. It is directly from Krishna, God.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Radhe Radhe prabhu
i want to ask that, are ladies allowed to do 13 tilaks?
thanku
Hare Krishna, Radhe Radhe
Yes. Ladies can put tilak on their bodies in the same way that men do.
Hare Krishna
I am eating onion and garlic. But obstained during Ekadashi days. Also worshipping Lord Krishna in the form of saligram & Jagannathji.
Is it ok?
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
Obviously it is not OK. A devotee will not ever accept anything which is not first offered to Krishna. He will only accept Krishna Prasadam. So yuo can not offer anything to Krishna that has onions and garlic in it. So a devotee will never accept anything that is not cooked by devotees and offered to Krishna. So if you eat things that have onions and garlic in them you are not a devotee and do not understand the most basic things about devotional service.
If we want to become Krishna conscious we have to first control the tongue. Without controlling the tongue Krishna consciousness will not be possible for us. So there are two aspects to controlling the tongue. One is that we have to only taste Krishna prasadam and the other is we have to only vibrate Krishna katha, talks about Krishna. We have to seriously follow these things otherwise it will be impossible for us to control our tongue and then it follows that it will be impossible for us to control our other senses and therefore it will be impossible for us to become Krishna conscious.
So it is not OK to eat foods that contain garlic and onions. A devotee only accepts Krishna prasadam. Nothing else.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
As far as your other question preaching means making an uninterested person interested in Krishna. So if you can talk to someone in such a way that you can present the ideas of Krishna consciousness philosophy in an interesting way then they will become curious, they will want to find out more, so in this way you have made an uninterested person interested and then you can talk about Krishna as long as they are at least a little bit interested in hearing. We have to create the interest. It is just that we should not try to force someone who is actually against Krishna consciousness to try and make them become Krishna conscious. It has to be voluntary. The person we are speaking to about Krishna has to be at least a little interested in hearing what we are saying. But it is not that they have to be very interested in Krishna, just not that they are totally against Krishna and are getting angry as we talk to them about Krishna. That is no good. But if they are just a little bit interested in hearing what we have to say then we can speak to them about Krishna….
Why not quit meat eating completely? It is going to make it very difficult for you to advance in Krishna conscionsess. If it has come to almost nill then just make it nill. That is what you have to do if you want to become Krishna conscious and it is not difficult.
We have to learn to ignore our own cravings and just do things for the pleasure of Krishna. If we don’t learn this then we can not become Krishna consciousness so forcing ourselves to follow the regulative principles gives us this self-control and determination.
So we just have to do it, follow the regulative principles, even if we have cravings to break the regulative principles. The more we become Krishna conscious the more the cravings will go away.
But you know it is like an itch. You feel like scratching it but scratching it just makes it worse. If you leave it alone it will go away quickly, but if you scratch it it will become infected and be a great problem. So we just have to ignore our cravings and get on with our service to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
First you should read Srila Prabhupada’s books. All these simple questions will then immediately be answered for you. You don’t need diksha to begin in Krishna consciousness. Chanting one round means chanting the whole Hare Krishna mantra 108 times. That is why there are 108 beads on a set of japa beads… Yes. A person with worldly responsibilities can most certainly take to Krishna consciousness.
First thing is you should read Prabhupada’s books. You can purchase them from http://www.KrishnaStore.com or read them online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
how will i get a bona fide spiritual master…. plz answer
Srila Prabhupada is a bona fide spiritual master. Read his books and get him as your spiritual master.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
I have one doubt in my mind. How can I come to know that the Spiritual Master under whose guidance I should be initiated is a pure devotee of Lord Krishna.
Hare Krishna
These days it is safe to assume that every spiritual master is bogus and unqualified and not a pure devotee of Krishna unless he is really actually showing the qualities of a pure devotee of Krishna. A pure devotee of Krishna, a bona fide spiritual master, is effulgent like the sun, when the sun rises in the morning you do not have to ask your friends if the sun is in the sky or not. It is obvious. You can feel the heat and see the light from the sun. Similarly you can experience the presence of a bona fide spiritual master. And you can experience the presence of a bona fide spiritual master by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and hearing his classes. So please do it.
Srila Prabhupada is the standard for a bona fide spiritual master. Guru is one. Guru is not two. So any bona fide guru has to be qualified like Srila Prabhupada. A pure devotee of Krishna, a bona fide spiritual master, has got the potency to awaken the dormant Krishna consciousness within everyone’s hearts. So a symptom of a pure devotee of Krishna is that whoever hears from him with faith becomes purified and very quickly becomes advanced in Krishna consciousness.
You have to know the science of Krishna, you have to actually know who is a bona fide spiritual master and who is not, otherwise you will be cheated by the unlimited numbers of bogus gurus who are out there trying to collect disciples so they can exploit the disciples for some personal benefit.
So to find out who is a bona fide spiritual master you have to study Srila Prabhupada’s books. Prabhupada has taught us everything in his books but we are not reading his books. That is the problem. If you actually read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions you will find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books then you will very soon know it very well and very clearly who is a bona fide guru and who is a bogus guru.
And you have to be ready to discover that practically everyone who is presenting themselves as a guru in this Kali-yuga is completely bogus…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna. I have started to pray Krishna since the last two years. But I am a meat eaters, but gradually I decrease the amount I eat and keep fasting on a regular basis. Will I not progress spiritually?
Hare Krishna Hema
There is a process to make advancement. You have to follow the process. It is not ‘praying to Krishna’, of course praying to Krishna is one of the nine processes of Bhakti. It is good of course. But in Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has stressed that the only way, the only way, the only way, to make spiritual advancement in this Kali-yuga is chanting Hare Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna. So you have to surrender to this. Chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day and follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication.
What is the problem? It is very easy not to eat meat. As soon as you have only been accepting Krishna prasadam for a few weeks then eating meat becomes a disgusting horrible thought and you would not touch it if someone paid you millions of dollars to touch it.
So just stop eating meat and start chanting that Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day. Really if you are not prepared to surrender to the process you will not make any perceivable advancement in Krishna consciousness.
If you are sick and you go to the doctor and he prescribes the medicine that will cure you and he directs that you take the medicine, one spoonful four times a day, but you decide to instead take one drop a month, will you be cured from the disease? What is the point of going to the doctor and asking his advice and getting him to prescribe the medicine if you are not going to take the medicine?
So the medicine for curing the material disease and for awakening our eternal dormant Krishna consciousness is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, to strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication, and to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. So if you want to make advancement, if you want to become Krishna consciousness, if you want to go back home back to Godhead after leaving this material body, then TAKE THE MEDICINE.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
why the supreme personality godheadlordkrishna made maya or illusion so attracful that it it is very difficult for a person to overcome this attraction so instead of submitting to lord they just give up except those who are uncommon,i m 20 yr old iam also badly influenced by this material world,when i rennunciate bhagvan krishna’s holy name i feel great satisfication such that there are no more desires left but after sometime this feeling is lost and if i try myself to rennunciate again i do it forcefully without any attention to lord krishna why god has made this bhakti the most rarest in this kaliyuga,i preach lord krishna but at the sametime i commit various sinfulacts then i feel so regretful that i hate to show my face to lordkrishna and i think i can’t come near to lordkrishna why is it so with lots of people including me?
Hare Krishna Shivam
It is a great struggle to overcome maya and become Krishna conscious. This is a very severe test that maya imposes on everyone who tries to escape from her clutches. We are in maya’s kingdom, and virtually everyone here is a servant of maya, they are all working for maya. So if we try to escape from this prison of maya then everyone will work against us and try to stop us from escaping. That is simply the nature of the material world.
Once we reject Krishna and come here to the material world it is virtually impossible to escape. We are stuck here to suffer eternally.
The only possibility of becoming Krishna conscious and escaping from the material world is by the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. And pure devotees of Krishna are very, very, very rare.
It is absolutely useless hearing from someone who is not a pure devotee of Krishna or accepting someone who is not a pure devotee of Krishna as your spiritual master because he himself is stuck in maya and one who is himself tied up with strong ropes can not help anyone who is also tied up to become free. The spiritual master must be liberated otherwise he can not help his disciples become liberated.
So the key to the problem is really without the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna there is no chance of overcoming maya. So we have got access to a pure devotee of Krishna, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and our only hope is to please him, so to please him we have to find out what he wants us to do. So we must carefully study all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and hear from him in this way and follow the instructions he gives us as we read his books. In this was we will come to know exactly what it is that Srila Prabhupada wants us to do and if we actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada and dedicate our lives completely to serve him, if we make the order of Srila Prabhupada the only purpose of our lives, then we have a good chance of conquering over maya.
But still, even if we do this, it will not be very easy. We have to be ready for that. We are declaring war against maya and practically everyone is fighting in maya’s army. So if we actually start fighting for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then maya’s army will fight us with absolutely everything they have.
So it is not possible actually to become Krishna conscious without a great fight, and sometimes we will be wounded in action, sometimes we will be dancing in ecstasy in the Krishna-kirtan, and sometimes we may get wounded and become overcome again by maya… But we simply have to pull ourselves up and again begin chanting Hare Krishna, even if it feels that we have no taste any more for chanting Hare Krishna. If we just read Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna the taste will come back and again we will be dancing in ecstasy in the Krishna Kirtan, until maya smashes us again… Then we have to get up again. It is like that. A battle. And we have to become strong enough to keep fighting the battle no matter what opposition maya and her servants throw at us and no matter how badly we get injured…
Although Krishna consciousness is our natural original consciousness, we are in maya’s kingdom now, and it is not easy to escape from the clutches of maya.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Republic of Mauritius
The first offense of the 16 ones mentioned is:
No illicit sex life [sex is only for having children in marriage, nothing else]
From my understanding of it, husbands and wives can only engaged in sexual intercourses in order to procreate krsna-conscious babies, isn’t it?
I am a married woman (37 y.o) with a loving, caring and understanding Aryasmajist Hindu husband. We have two sons (11 y.o and 15 y.o) and do not want to have more children. I do birth control (taking pills). I and my husband do enjoy our physical/sexual relationship for pleasure and enjoyment only, not for procreation of babies. Am I committing sins? I am the only one attending prayer meeting of HRHK at Phoenix, Mauritius.
If I am sinning as a woman by engaging in sexual intercourses with my husband for pleasures and enjoyment only, what solution do you propose to me. Thank you.
Hare Krishna!!!!!
Hare Krishna
We have to understand what Krishna consciousness is. Krishna consciousness means we want to live in such a way that we always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna. As devotees of Krishna we know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Krishna is the enjoyer and we are all His servants. So it is maya to try and enjoy separately from Krishna. Actually the only way we can enjoy is by serving Krishna. So devotees don’t do anything for their own sense gratification, they do everything for the pleasure of Krishna’s senses.
So the only purpose of sex is to have children in marriage, outside of that sex is being done for sense gratification, and doing anything for sense gratification is sinful and will make us forget our relationship with Krishna. It is because of sex life that we are bound to the material world and suffering here life after life. In a ordinary prison the very dangerous prisoners are chained in with iron shackles so they will not be able to escape, this material world is also a prison and we are chained here in the material world by sex. As long as we are attached to sex for our own pleasure we will not be able to become Krishna conscious and we will not be able to get free from the material world.
Of all the things in the material world sex is the most bewildering and the most effective way to bring us down to the mundane material platform and to make us forget Krishna.
The solution of course is to increase our attraction to Krishna. Artificially trying to give up sex life while the desire for sex still remains may work for some time but it can not be maintained for a long time. The solution is to enjoy spiritual pleasure from serving Krishna that is unlimited more enjoyable than sex. The transcendental pleasure that one can experience in Krishna consciousness, in serving Krishna, is unlimited and ever-increasing. So we have to become Krishna consciousness and get at least a small taste of this transcendental pleasure and then we will no longer be attracted by sex.
It is like if a many is very hungry he will eat any rotten food just to satisfy his starvation. But if he is well fed then he has no attraction to rotten food. Sex is a very rotten and very disgusting thing really in comparison to the pleasure and satisfaction available to us when we surrender to Krishna and serve him by surrendering to a pure devotee of Krishna and accepting him as our spiritual master and guide.
If we read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions we find Prabhupada giving us as we read them then we will soon be experiencing transcendental pleasure which makes it seem to us that the so-called pleasure we can get in sex is absolutely nothing at all, we will no longer be attracted by sex, we will be disgusted by it.
But this is an actual platform that we have to get to by development of Krishna consciousness and I suggest that you and your husband start chanting the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. And you can in the mornings and evenings come together with all the family members and offer aroti and have Krishna kirtan. In this way by chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books both you and your husband will make rapid advancement in Krishna consciousness and sex will no longer be so important to you and you will be able to follow this regulative principle: no illicit sex, very easily.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Republic of Mauritius
Hare Krishna and thank you Madhudvisa dasa for the valuable information.
My husband is a devout 42 y.o Aryasamajist Hindu man. He does not gambling, does not drink alcohool, nor eats meat. He respects my choice to attend ISKCON Centre for prayers. However, he has never been to Hare Krishna Centre for prayers sessions nor he would allow me to take our sons to ISKCON for prayers. I have tried to convience him to accompany me to Hare Krishna Centre for prayers but he has flatly refused on the ground that he has his own way of worshipping.
Concerning sexual relationships between us as a married couple, he loves sex a lot. I have tried to talk to him about Srila Prabupada teachings/Krishna conciousness to him about sex and that we must abstain from sexual intercourses for pleasure and enjoyment. He would make fun of me by telling me that sexual intercourses in marriage is part of Hindu Religion/culture. He would say “Kama Sutra” was written by Hindu for whom? He would reply: “of course for Indian Hindu Couples”. He would say why India is the most populous country. It’s because Hindu couples like doing sex and sex is a gift of God for enjoyment and not from the devil and so only stupid couples would deprive themselves of this enjoyment.
I can not reason with him concerning sex. I have two young sons, I love my husband and above all, I can not destroy my marriage by refusing to have sexual intercourses with him regularly.
In the past I have use such pretexts that I am sick, I am fasting,etc to avoid sexual intercourses with him, but I can use these pretexts always.
Each time, I do sexual intercourses with my husband(which is very regular) and after completing the act, I take my bath straight away, whether it is 10.00 or 11.oo at night or midnight and after have some Krishna kirtans before going to sleep.
I am confused.
Hare Krishna Brunette
You have to know that this sex life for enjoyment is not spiritual, it is material and it is the opposite of spiritual life. So if your husband is so much attached in this way it is a material attachment. As you are his wife you really do not have a big say in this. But anyhow you can yourself become Krishna conscious and even you husband is having sex with you like this all the time it does not matter. You can become Krishna conscious anyhow and you can become detached from this.
So there is no point in trying to talk him out of this directly. But if your husband becomes actually spiritually advanced then he will realize that sex life is detrimental to spiritual advancement. And then he will change.
So as a good wife you have to go along with your husband and serve him but at the same time he is not stopping you from serving Krishna and doing your bhajan so you concentrate on becoming a pure devotee of Krishna. Whenever you cook you must be cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and you need to offer the bhoga to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and then offer the prasadam to your husband. In this way by taking the Krishna prasadam and by hearing your chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and if you can also encourage him to read some of Prabhupada’s books, in this way gradually your husband will become more and more Krishna conscious and things will change.
It is a ‘blessing in disguise’ that your husband will not let you go to the ISKCON temple. ISKCON is so hopelessly deviated from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada it is better if you never go to an ISKCON temple. You will find everything you need to know in Srila Prabhupada’s books.
So be nice to your husband and chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and cook and offer the bhoga to Prabhupada and Krishna and then your husband… And things will get better…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare kirshana Madhudvisa
its nice to hear from you, 16 rounds and 2.1 hours to read books and leave 4 sins. dear if used these 16 rounds and spend 2 hours for reading but not leaving intoxication because i am smoker and very low liquor occasional user and meat eating. and illicit sex and gambling is not in my life means two things i am use to and two other i am not. my question is if i use tho sins and two not then will kirshna conciousness born in my heart and kirshana love towards me or not?
You have to follow all of the four regulative principles otherwise you will not be able to become Krishna conscious. You just chant Hare Krishna and that will give you the strength to stop the sinful activities. If you can not do it immediately then chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books but you have to know that if you are not following the four regulative principles you will not be able to become Krishna conscious. So you have to come to the point of following these principles. And you will be able to easily also if you sincerely read Srila Prabhupada’s books and try to put what you read into practice in your life and chant Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day. If you sincerely do these things that will quickly give you the strength to give up all sinful life. But you have to want to give up sinful life. There is no way to be Krishna conscious and sinful at the same time. That is not possible.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I am from pakistan, we (Hindus in pakistan) are unknown about all vedic scripture of Hinduism, then how can we be able to understand Krishna? here is no preaching of Hindu philosophy, our children and adults are used to with Islamic preachings because we are totally intermingled with them. we does not know the Sanskrit even hindi. we are so trapped and so many obstacles to understand the hindu religion, then how can we be able to attain MOKSHA. I am not able to be perfect in Kirshana conciousness because we are meat eaters, drinkers and so on means all four things that srila perbhupada said. can u explain that what will u do for us who live in? how u will help us? will u take appropriate measures to lit the fire of spirituality within us?…this is not an argue but the appeal towards the pillars of spiritual scholars. i hope u will do some favour for the betterment of Pakistani Hindus.
Hare Krishna Kewal
That is what Srila Prabhupada wrote his books for. So anyone, anywhere in the world, can awaken the spiritual force, Krishna consciousness, within their hearts.
I am from Australia, I was born in a meat-eating Christian family and was fully engaged in all sinful activities and living the life of a complete melecha. Then I started reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and could understand that the way of life I had been taught in Australia was very wrong and that I had a change. So I followed the instructions Srila Prabhupada gave me as I read his books. And naturally my life changed. You don’t have to live the same way as the other people in the country you are living in. You have your house and you can cook and eat anything you want to there and you can worship God in any way that you want to. No one can stop you from practicing Krishna consciousness anywhere in the world.
So you just have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and put the instructions that Srila Prabhupada gives you as you read his books into practice in your life and you can become Krishna conscious anywhere in the world.
Krishna consciousness has nothing to do with Hinduism. Krishna consciousness is the awakening of our original consciousness as servants of Krishna. It has nothing to do with religion like Hindu, Christian, Muslim, etc. This consciousness, Krishna consciousness, is everyone’s original consciousness. It simply has to be awakened by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
So just do it, chant Hare Krishna, and all the good qualities will automatically develop in you and you will automatically give up sinful things like meat eating.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
thanks Madhudvisa Dasa i will read these books but how can we develop kirshna conciousness within the illiterate persons who are living with same environment they are unable to read and learn. i am not only one who has the problem but so many others who are also struggling to get rid of from this situation like maleecha. how can i build kirshna conciousness within my home town where i be benefited to understand my soul and make others to understand the kirshna. i want to engage my self in kirshan and also want to others to be engaged in.
Hare Krishna
First become Krishna conscious yourself. You can not help anyone else become Krishna conscious unless you are Krishna conscious yourself. And if you are Krishna conscious yourself then you will know how to make others Krishna conscious. So you need to concentrate on becoming Krishna conscious yourself. You can not do anything at all to help others until you help yourself. So to become Krishna conscious you have to surrender to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, you have to strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and you need to be reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and putting into practice in your life the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books. If we are not prepared to at least surrender to these simple things then we can not become Krishna conscious ourselves and we will never be able to help anyone else become Krishna conscious.
So the thing is you have to become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself, and then, and only then, you will be able to help others to become pure devotees of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Could you please tell me, what is No gambling & No intoxication?
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
You don’t know what is gambling and intoxication?
Gambling is any time you risk something with the hope of some gain in the future. You know surely that betting on something like a horse winning a race or investing money in some company’s stocks hoping that they will increase in value in the future, these are examples of gambling. The problem is that gambling destroys honesty and honesty is one of the good qualities that a person advancing in spiritual life needs to have.
Intoxication includes drinking tea and coffee, drinking alcohol, smoking and a big range of drugs, etc. If you are intoxicated and become dependendent on these intoxicants then you can not surrender to Krishna and become dependent on Krishna… So all these things, gambling, intoxication, illicit sex and meat eating must be given up by anyone wanting to advance in spiritual life. If one is not prepared to give up these things then he can not advance in spiritual life and if someone is claiming to be a spiritual person but still addicted to some or all of these things then he is a great cheater. A demon.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
pranam guruji all glories to our gurudev father pls tell me is watching movies also comes under intoxication?? i am doing animation and in this field on e needs to see alot of animated movies ,so please tell,is it ok if whatever work i do in animation ,i dedicate it to krishna?? kindly explain
Watching these karmi movies is bad because they are full of materialistic concepts of life and full of sense gratification. Basically it is brainwashing to keep us in the material concept of life. To keep us forgetful of Krishna. I have already replied that you can not make some animation that is encouraging people to forget Krishna and engage in sense gratification and sinful activities and dedicate this to Krishna. So you can not dedicate maya to Krishna… As I said before you can use the money you make from working as an animator for serving Krishna. That you can do…
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. Firstly is all types of investments in the world like gold, real estate or any type of investment gambling. I feel like there needs to be something in the savings when i retire. I can’t be working all my life to earn money so i need money for basic things like food water shelter etc and also for serving Krsna after retirement. So can i invest in something which does not fall under the category of gambling to have money for after retirement. So how to go about this issue of money after retirement.
I understand what gambling is. And it is very bad. But how does it relate to honesty or truthfulness. Or necessarily involve dishonesty. How is truthfulness or honesty described.
Honesty and truthfulness are destroyed by gambling because a gambler always looses ultimately. And he thinks that if he gets some more money he will gamble that also and win back his losses. So he steals the money to gamble with. That destroys his honesty and truthfulness.
As a householder you need to save something to cover emergencies and for retirement, etc, there is no problem with that.
Ultimately, however, we all have to depend on Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hi guruji,
i am 36 years old..and i have two daughters..studying in 3 and 1…. my wife is very good and understand able women…..guruji..
i dont have any problem from financial side..but still i have problems in life….and i am disturbed and i dont know why…i feel some time i think to finish of my life but i fear of my kids and wife……please put some light on my life…
Hare Krishna Rakesh
We are all here for a purpose and that purpose is to serve Krishna. So you will be happy when you reestablish your eternal loving relationship with Krishna. So do not get disturbed and worried about so many problems which seem to appear in your life. It is natural. This world is full of problems and everyone’s life is full of problems and disappointments and difficulties. This is not just something that you are facing, everyone is facing it. The solution is only Krishna consciousness. So the best thing is you and your family can become more Krishna consciousness by having the deity of Krishna in your house and everything your wife cooks you can offer to Krishna and then you can distribute the Krishna prasadam to all the family members. And in the mornings and evenings all family members can gather before the Deity and chant Hare Krishna and see the aroti and you can read something from Srila Prabhupada’s books. In this way you can add Krishna into your life and the lives of your family members and then you will all be able to see that the real purpose of this life is simply to prepare ourselves so we can be always remembering Krishna, never forgetting Krishna, so then naturally at the time of our death we will remember Krishna and go back home back to Godhead. Because Krishna promises in the Bhagavad-gita that ‘Whoever remembers Me at the time of death will attain My abode without fail…’
So all your problems will be solved and your life will become very nice simply by chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I’ve have recently taken up chanting Maha Mantra daily. I try and chant early hours of morning before departing for work and at night after I get back from work. I chant with tulsi beads. I am trying to do 16 rounds, but somedays just do few rounds with time permitting.
Instead of sitting in my ‘pooja’ room, I walk around my home while chanting Maha Mantra as I want my family members to hear Krisha name even in their sleep. Naturally, I can’t force them to wake up early and chant … but haven’t lost hope that one day they will join in chanting Maha Mantra.
I also have a pet fish tank, and even chant near that as I believe every soul should listen to Krishna glory.
I am I doing something wrong Prabu by not sitting at one place and chanting near my pets?
Hare Krishna Raj
You are doing the right thing Prabhu. You can walk around and chant Hare Krishna. It helps to keep you awake. But the main thing is of course to concentrate on chanting all the words of the Hare Krishna mantra clearly and hearing them attentively. It will benefit all the living entities who hear it. So you are doing the right thing. But you need to fix up on chanting at least 16 rounds every day. That is important. You can walk around and chant Hare Krishna or you can sit in one place and chant Hare Krishna, whatever is best for you. There are no hard-and-fast rules in this regard.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Many thanks Prabhu
Hare Krishna !
I have a close relative , who has committed a lot of mistakes and is diagnosed with a mental disorder, I am striving to be a Krishna devotee and follow all the restrictions and wear the Tulasi maala , I thought the only solution for the relative’s mental instability is to chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra all other forms of treatment have failed , she has started chanting one maala round per day , are there any suggestions apart from this to help this fallen individual
Hare Krishna Richa
Of course it is good that you get her to chant Hare Krishna and give her Krishna prasadam and if she can read you can get her to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. You can also make some arrangement so she can play Srila Prabhupada’s kirtans, bhajans and classes and hear them.
But the most important thing is that you become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself. You have not got any limitations like your relative. So you should thank Krishna for this blessing very much and please be sure that you are yourself chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and that you are reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. The most important thing is that you save yourself. When you become a pure devotee of Krishna you will have the power to save others also. But first you have to save yourself.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
I have followed your advice, and am trying to save myself first from the clutches of maya.. I recently moved back to the city, and have lost my devotee association, and city life is draining, it tries to drain out all the faith in you, and crushes you.. It seems to me, to not be ideal for a longer term if I want to seriously pursue Krishna Consciousness..
I chant daily, but have not reached my goal of 16 rounds per day yet, but with Krishnas mercy hope I will soon, I follow all the 4 regulative principles, am unmarried, and read Srila Prabhupadas Books daily during my 3 to 4 hours of travel to work and back.
As Srila Prabhupada says, Non-devotee association is very harmful, I am starting to realise that with experience, it degrades or tries to degrade your Krishna Consciousness, It is like a slow venom seeping into the mind.. It is the opposite of Devotee association.. and is definetly harmful.
I recently was approaced by a non devotee who asked for reading some relegious material- I gave him Srila Prabhupadas material- i.e The science of self realisation, The person almost avoids me when I ask him back for the money I spent on buying the book.. Prabhuji, Do you think I made a mistake? Should I leave it be? Isnt it wrong to distribute Srila Prabhupadas Books for free?
I am very confused, What am I to learn from this..?
I would be very glad to hear your point on this issue..
I feel discouraged from distributing Srila Prabhupadas books thinking I am not doing well enough..
I am not able to get money out of an alcoholic who lavishly spends money on such maya, but refuses to pay for srila Praphupadas Books..
Thank you
Richa Bhatt
Hare Krishna Richa
You are doing very well and do not worry about the materialistic people. You have given him one of Srila Prabhupada’s books and that is a great service for you and a great benefit for him.
So somehow that book you distributed will save him or someone else who ends up getting that book. As book distributors we do not always see the results of our preaching and book distribution. It does not happen immediately. We are “planting seeds” and seeds take time to germinate and grow.
If distribute a book to someone and you want them to pay you for it then you have to get the money from them at the time you are giving them the book. Maya is very strong. We may be able to create some interest in the person enough to take a Prabhupada book from us so when he has that interest, that is the time to ask for a contribution to help with the printing cost. And if he does not give you can have some small thing like the “On Chanting Hare Krishna” booklets and you can give him that instead of the bigger book. But we should always give them something to read. That is the main point.
As a book distributor you have to become a bit detached. Sometimes people do not pay for the books. So we can not bother too much about that or get obsessed with it. It is not wrong to distribute Prabhupada’s books for free, but it is much better if you can get a donation from the people because if they give you some of there hard-earned money, even if it is not much, then they will feel obligated to read the book. They will think “I have paid $5 for it, I have to read it to get my money’s worth.” And also if they give you the $5 and you use that for getting more books to distribute then they are supporting the book distribution with their contribution and that is devotional service for them and that will purify them and qualify them for understanding the books…
So don’t worry. Forget about that person now and that book and get some more books and distribute to more people.
We can not convince everyone to buy a book. Often book distributors have to approach and present the books to ten people before one will buy a book. That is just the way it is. Not everyone is interested, but some are, so we need to find those people and sell them Srila Prabhupada’s books.
So you are doing very well. Just keep on trying to improve. It is true that the cities are not very conducive to Krishna consciousness but on the other hand there are a lot of people in the cities so they are good for book distribution and preaching…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I like to chant the Mantra “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”. While chanting I visualize myself at the feet of Krishna. Is chanting “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” same as chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”?
Hare Krishna Harsh
Chanting “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” is of course very nice and we chant it also always before reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But it is not the maha-mantra. Of course I am not saying there is anything wrong with chanting “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” however the thing is Prabhu it is not about what we like. If we want to make advancement in Krishna consciousness then we have to forget about what we like. We have to follow in the footsteps of the mahajanas. Mahajana yatha sa pantha. Our mahajana is Srila Prabhupada and he has ordered his disciples to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on beads and we must do this. Of course he has also instructed us to chant ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya’ also before reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So that chanting is also completely bona fide. But to take initiation from Srila Prabhupada we must vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily. This must be done. So sure you can chant “Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya” but you also must chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
There is nothing wrong with Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, as a regular mantra, but the maha-mantra is exactly as said–a MAHA mantra. It has been given special potency by Caitanya Mahaprabhu for Kaliyuga and due to that, his followers such as Srila Prabhupada say (rightly) that it is the main means to gain realization in this age of Kali.
I liked the chanting hare Krishna message to us sinful souls to purify ourselves of our deeds.
Keep up the good act. However to achieve Krishna, one needs to be pure at heart, Our true concious is Krishna. ..And rightly said for achieving Krishna just chanting will get one nowhere. Well, matter of fact, you need not chant Him a thousand times either, Call for Him just once…He comes.
Hare Krishna Namita
Yes. Krishna also says in Bhagavad-gita that Krishna consciousness is only possible for one who is pure of heart, one who has got rid of all the sinful reactions of this life and his previous lives. He can take to Krishna consciousness. But Lord Caitanya is so merciful that He is delivering Krishna consciousness to everyone and He is not caring if they are qualified or not. So we live in a very special time…
As far as chanting once, of course it is possible to become Krishna conscious by chanting Hare Krishna once. But there is a quality to the chanting. And for most of us we can not chant that Hare Krishna mantra purely the first time we chant it…
And even if, for example, you did become Krishna conscious by chanting Hare Krishna just once you would develop such a wonderful taste for chanting Hare Krishna that you could not stop chanting Hare Krishna. So there is no question of chanting Hare Krishna just once.
And realistically it is not possible to become Krishna conscious, or even chant Hare Krishna really, without the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada orders his disciples that we must chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. So do not think that you can disobey this most fundamental order of Srila Prabhupada and at the same time become Krishna conscious. It is not possible to disobey the orders of the spiritual master and at the same time become Krishna conscious. If you want to actually become Krishna conscious you have to surrender to the orders of Srila Prabhupada and that means surrendering to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily.
The only way we are going to be able to reach the platform of pure chanting is by chanting Hare Krishna with ‘numerical strength’ so we must vow to chant at least 16 rounds every day otherwise we are disobeying the orders of Srila Prabhupada and will never be able to become Krishna conscious….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa Prabhu, Thank you for giving a nice detailed reply. I agree with you fully on all the points. Please accept my humble obeisances! Continue your powerful preaching service with enthusiasm. It’s wonderful!! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
your servant,
Atul Krishna
Dear Madhudvisa Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhu, I was recently discussing your article with a devotee, and I was challenged by him. He challenged me
“…many many births with no result?.. Where did Prabhupad say that exactly? I mean exactly??? ”
Unfortunately, I was not able to quote him anything from Srila Prabhupada at that time. I will try to search when I will get free time, but if you can please help me & elaborate this statement in detail.
You’re doing amazing service to Srila Prabhupada! Please keep it up!
your servant,
Atul Krsna
Hare Krishna Atul Krishna
You are misquoting me Prabhu. “On the other hand one can chant the Hare Krishna mantra for many, many births and not achieve any significant results at all. Why?” So I did not say ‘with no result’. There is obviously a result but the results from offensive chanting and chanting without following the four regulative principles are very minimal, not significiant. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of trying to light a fire with one hand and pouring water on it with the other. You will never be able to light the fire like this. So chanting without following the regulative principles and offensively, you can do it for many, many lifetimes without any significant results. This is the definition of offensive chanting. If one does not get off the platform of offensive chanting he can chant for many, many births without any significant results. Any devotee who argues with this is a fool. Just look up offensive chanting and see what Srila Prabhupada says about it.
“Then what is the meaning of the ten kinds of offenses? If he is chanting without offense, then it is all right, but if he is committing offenses, it will not be effective. There are ten kinds of offenses. Whether he is strictly offenseless? Then it is all right. If he is offender, then it will not be fruitful. It will be fruitful; it will take long time [long time could be many, many births…] because first of all you have to become offenseless. Then you will be admitted. So they are committing offenses, so how they can become perfect? He is committing not following the rules and regulation. That means he is thinking that “Whatever I do, it will be adjusted by chanting the name.” Is it not?”
If someone actually does keep on chanting Hare Krishna even offensively it will be fruitful eventually but only when they come to the platform of offensless chanting. There are so many sahajiyas, so many rascals, chanting Hare Krishna, and they don’t get any significant results and they can do this for so many births and still not get any significant result. There is only a significant result from chanting Hare Krishna if it is on the namabhasa platform or offensless platform. On the offensive platform there is no significant result.
There are many pseudo-devotees. They are not really devotees at all, they are not motivated by the desire to please Srila Prabhupada and serve Krishna. But they have some personal interest to get out of Krishna consciousness. There are many professional Bhagavatam reciters and professional kirtan performers. They are doing it for money, not for Krishna. Actually they do not want Krishna, they want money. So they may get the money but they will not get Krishna. They will go to Hell and will take their followers with them to Hell. And there are so many quotes from Srila Prabhupada to prove this Prabhu:
“Without serving Kṛṣṇa according to the vidhi-mārga regulative principles of the pāñcarātrika-vidhi, unscrupulous persons want to jump immediately to the rāga-mārga principles. Such persons are called sahajiyā. There are also demons who enjoy depicting Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes with the gopīs, taking advantage of Kṛṣṇa by their licentious character. These demons who print books and write lyrics on the rāga-mārga principles are surely on the way to hell. Unfortunately, they lead others down with them. Devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be very careful to avoid such demons.”
“Devotional service with attachment is natural, and one who has been attracted by it does not argue with those who oppose him, even though others may argue by presenting scriptural injunctions. The natural inclination to devotional service is also based on scriptural injunction, and one who has attachment for such devotional service is not required to give it up simply on the strength of scriptural argument. In this connection it should be noted that a class of so-called devotees (known as prākṛta-sahajiyā) follow their own concocted ideas and, representing themselves as Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, indulge in debauchery. Such devotional service and attachment are false, and those so engaged are actually gliding down a hellish path. This is not the standard of rāgātmikā, or devotion. The prākṛta-sahajiyā community is actually cheated and very unfortunate.”
“On the other hand, there are many so-called devotees who think Vedānta is not meant for devotees. Such people are ignorant of the fact that Vedānta is the only platform of pure devotees. All the great ācāryas of the four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas have made commentaries on the Vedānta-sūtra, but the so-called devotees known as prākṛta-sahajiyā carefully avoid the study of Vedānta-sūtra. The prākṛta-sahajiyā mistakenly take the pure devotees and Vaiṣṇava ācāryas to be mental speculators or fruitive actors. Consequently they themselves become Māyāvādīs and leave the service of the Supreme Lord.”
Of course if they are fortunate enough to chant the names of Nitai and Goruanga there is hope…
“The prākṛta-sahajiyās who chant nitāi-gaura rādhe śyāma have very little knowledge of the Bhāgavata conclusion, and they hardly follow the Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations, and yet because they chant bhaja nitāi-gaura, their chanting immediately invokes tears and other signs of ecstasy. Although they do not know the principles of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and are not very advanced in education, by these symptoms they attract many men to become their followers. Their ecstatic tears will of course help them in the long run, for as soon as they come in contact with a pure devotee their lives will become successful. Even in the beginning, however, because they are chanting the holy names of nitāi-gaura, their swift advancement on the path of love of Godhead is very prominently visible.”
Anyhow what I have written is perfectly correct Prabhu and if anyone is disagreeing then let them write their actual reason for disagreeing here and I will sort it out.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
It’s all about chanting without offense. Chanting without offense mainly means to chant with a spiritual emotion. In the primary stage of chanting spiritual emotion is little difficult to attain. However, with persistent chanting, chanting becomes effortless and occurs in the subconscious mind. Spiritual emotion is difficult to attain if you have less understanding about your connection with God. In The Bhagavat Gita, Lord Krishna said that he is the original doer of all actions and humans are the instruments. However, due to Maya (The great illusion) the living entities think themselves as the doer. But, when you surrender on to the lotus feet of the Divine with Love, your action becomes inaction-action(action done without a sense of doer ship. Gradually, the more you get perfection in chanting, the more you surrender to Lord. While doing all activities, when you synchronize chanting with it, then you get freedom from the reactions of your actions. The following are the 8 ways spiritual emotion can manifest.
1. Becoming motionless/experiencing standstill
2. Sweating
3. Hair standing on end/goosebumps
4. Tremulous voice
5. Tremor
6. Becoming pale/blanching
7. Tears flowing from the eyes
8. Fainting
These manifestations of spiritual emotion happen effortlessly and spontaneously in the absence of any other non-spiritual contributing factor. When experiencing this state a person’s demeanour is usually altered and he also experiences lack of body consciousness, mind going thoughtless by being fixed on a certain religious stimulus. It happens when there is something to precipitate a sudden increase in sattvikta.
For example, tears of spiritual emotion are quite often experienced by a seeker during singing of hymns or when they remember Guru or God or when then recollect various spiritual experiences in their life. This can be classified as tears of spiritual emotion, one of the eight types of spiritual emotion. When all the above eight signs are seen simultaneously, it is said that the eight-fold saattvik spiritual emotion (ashtthasaattvik bhāv) has been aroused.
This experience of manifestation of spiritual emotion is usually short in duration but can occasionally also be of a prolonged nature. A longer duration is usually experienced by seekers at a higher spiritual level or Saints on the path of Devotion (Bhaktiyoga) when going through some exceptional spiritual experience.
Hare Krishna!
There are stages before chanting without offenses. So you can never get to the point of chanting without offenses unless you complete the previous stages. And the most important previous stage is finding a bona-fide spiritual master and accepting him as your guru and surrendering to him and serving and in this way pleasing him. Without this, pleasing a bona-fide pure devotee of Krishna, then you can not go anywhere and chanting without offense will be impossible.
Everything is absolutely dependent on the mercy of a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna. If you can not get the mercy of a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna then you can not get Krishna.
And of course that is the beginning… Initiation from a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna. Then the process of bhakti-yoga begins.
And chanting without offense does not at all mean “chanting with a spiritual emotion”. This is nonsense. Offensless chanting leads to spiritual emotions but offensless chanting is not caused by spiritual emotions.
You have no idea at all. I strongly suggest you read Srila Prabhupada’s “Nectar of Devotion” particularly chapters 8 and 9 and get these points straight.
You are speaking so much nonsense “surrender to the lotus feet of the divine with love…” It is all nonsense, impersonal tinged nonsense. You have to surrender to the bona fide pure devotee and serve him. You do not surrender with love. In the beginning the love is not there. The love develops as a result of the surrender, the love is not there before the surrender….
You have everything upside-down and backwards and are presenting all this as if you are some authority on the subject….
Read Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Instruction and follow the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read it and if you do this you will become a real authority on this subject and will be able to speak about it properly.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for making the points clear. I just kept my opinion, which I felt. However, I truly appreciate your opinion about surrender. We should learn from those who have experienced this, and Srila Prabhupada is the perfect example. Whatever I said, may be regarded as just a discussion of a seeker with another. I have already read Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion, and I shall go through chapter 8 and 9 again. I truly ask for forgiveness, for elaborating things without having hand on experience in this subject.
One must strictly follow the principles described by spiritual Guru Srila Prabhupada. God is the Nirgun and Guru is the Sagun form. To understand Nirgun one must follow the footsteps of his Sagun form.
Jai Shree Krishna!
Where are you getting this rubbish from Prabhu: “God is the Nirgun and Guru is the sagun form?”
Prabhupada: Anyone who worships Krsna, avyabhicarena, without any change, he becomes nirguna.
So anyone who worships Krishna, he becomes nirguna, what to speak of the guru, he is nirguna…
It is better Prabhu not to speak if you do not know what you are speaking about… Please do read Prabhupada’s books again. It is a great disadvantage to be in India and to be drowned in bogus impersonal philosophy from birth. You have to forget all that nonsense Prabhu, just make yourself a blank slate, and hear from Prabhupada submissively and just repeat what Prabhupada says…
Indian man (3): So saguna is necessary for going to nirguna?
Prabhupada: Huh?
Indian man (3): Saguna is…
Prabhupada: No, not necessary. But if you don’t worship unflinchingly Krsna, then you remain in the saguna platform.
Indian man (3): Hm, I see.
Prabhupada: Here it is clearly said, sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate [Bg. 14.26]. So you have to adopt the means; then you become nirguna. And if you don’t adopt, then you remain saguna.
Indian man (3): Yes, and I can come to you and just, you explain me what is the way…
Prabhupada: (aside:) Hare Krsna. Jaya. Sa gunan samatityaitan [Bg. 14.26]. Sagun.. saguna…
Greetings,
I do work on the side in the adult film agency.
Can I still be Krsna conscious?
Hare Krsna.
To become Krishna conscious you must follow the four regulative principles, and one of those is ‘no illicit sex’, so if you are having illicit sex you will not be able to become Krishna conscious. But keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books and Krishna will give you the intelligence and make adjustments in your life so you can rectify the situation.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari Bol,
Just keep chanting and regulate (if you are not able to give up completely) your adult film work . And slowly slowly renounce it.
hare Krishna prabhuji,
I was a pure non vegetarian but after reading Shreemad Bhagvad Gita I stopped eating Non-Veg . Now I want to join Gym but if i join gym , trainer will suggest me to eat egg everyday. “Actually i want to know “Egg” is veg or non veg?” If it is a non-veg i will not join gym. Shree Krishna is more important for me then my body.
Jai Shree Krishna
thank you
Egg is non-veg… You can not offer egg to Krishna. That is the main point. Devotees only accept Krishna Prasadam. Eggs are a chicken’s period. They are filthy things full of disease and obnoxious things. They can never be offered to Krishna, that is the point, and devotees will never eat anything which is not offered to Krishna.
hare krishna prabhuji,
this question has been bothering me for the longest time and I shall be grateful for your insight on it. i wish to completely dedicate myself to the service of Lord Shree Krishna but observe that as long as I am involved with the material world in the minutest sense, the objective seems lost. Something as simple as having a regular job gets you entangled in everything materialistic. How then do you suggest could a person sustain himself(food, shelter, clothing) while being purely dedicated to the service of the Supreme Godhead? I know Karma is important and you simply can’t wash your hands off it(as was the case with Arjuna not wanting to fight his cousins) but can’t there be a channel where we can avoid the unnecessary challenge of getting involved materialistically and then overcoming it and simultaneously working towards our service to Shree Krishna? Just to further clarify my point, for instance, i put in my best efforts at my job, and expect to be rewarded for it and if it doesn’t work out that way, the entire cycle of sadness/hapiness kicks in, and as hard as you may try to be unaffected, it unsettles you. Couldnt there be simply one way of serving the Lord without having to engage in maya?
hare krishna
thank you
Hare Krishna Subir
There is no simple way. To become Krishna conscious requires tapasys, voluntary suffering for the purpose of making spiritual advancement. So you have to work at something to maintain the body and soul together but organize your life so you can practice Krishna consciousness. And as you become more and more Krishna conscious you will become transcendental to the problems and difficulties of the material world and they will no longer disturb you or your Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji,
i am grateful for your insight on my last query.there was one more question, which I am not sure if at all relevant to this particular forum but i dont know any better.i feel sometimes that my intent of becoming krishna conscious is more driven by the idea of attaining salvation/ freedom from maya than it being in pure service to lord, though in a sense the outcome is the same. this brings a sense of guilt along. kindly guide me. pardon me for any inconveniences.
hare krishna
thank you
Hare Krishna Subir
It is natural Prabhu, that in the beginning we do not feel much love for Krishna, and that we want to get free from the sufferings of the material world. But if we actually follow the instructions of Srila Prabhupada the love of Krishna that is dormant within all our hearts will be awakened through the process of pure devotional service. So we simply have to practice pure devotional service and gradually that love for Krishna will develop in our hearts and then we will no longer care about liberation and will no longer suffer in the material world either. But we have to be a bit patient as it may take time and at the same time we have to be very enthusiastic and determined to stick very seriously to the process of Krishna consciousness Srila Prabhupada is giving to us.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I can’t concentrate chanting what can I do prebu??
You have to keep chanting at least 16 rounds a day and strictly follow the four regulative principles and read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and in time you will be able to concentrate on the chanting. But in the meantime you just have to keep chanting Hare Krishna, even if you can’t concentrate on it…
How can I tell Krishna conscious to a cristhn
First become Krishna conscious yourself then you will know.
I have spent much time at the Temple in Philadelphia as a teen. I have read many of Prapupads books and done much chanting as well. So I wonder how with all that has happened in the movement do I find a true bonafied spiritual master? Who do we trust as such?
Hare Krishna Najib
ISKCON drove away every devotee who had any real attachment for Srila Prabhupada because after Prabhupada left our material vision they had gurus and acharyas whose only interest was to replace Prabhupada, to take his place. So this is offensive to Srila Prabhupada, to Krishna and to the sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada. So offenders can not become Krishna conscious. Therefore you are not going to find a bonafide spiritual master in ISKCON. If there was any bonafide spiritual master in ISKCON they would have thrown him out by now.
So it is best to completely avoid ISKCON. They have no potency to help you advance in spiritual life but they are very qualified to destroy the natural spiritual advancement you will make by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I am only doing 4 rounds twice a day but I am not able to follow all four of the regulative principles just yet.
I will get there in time through Krishnas mercy.
I am very in love with Sri Krishna and I thank you for your service and guidence you have given me an many others. I listen to the audio podcasts of the Bhagavad Gita as it is and I would like to know if there is a reason you read the Gita in such a monotone voice. It is distracting at times.
I hope to be doing 16 rounds very soon while surrending to the regulative principles. This takes time.
In service of Krishna
Darryn
cape town
Hare Krishna Darryn
Yes. It can take some time to get to the point of chanting at least 16 rounds and strictly following the four regulative principles. And even when we finally are able to do it we may sometimes fall down also. But the main thing is we can never be satisfied with anything less than chanting 16 rounds and following the four regulative principles.
So many ‘devotees’ chant one round a day or four rounds a day and stop there. But that is no good. We have to surrender to the process. We have to accept the prescription of the expert doctor, Srila Prabhupada, who gives us the prescription for overcoming the effects of the material nature. He is prescribing chanting at least 16 rounds and following the four regulative principles. If we think we can make advancement in spiritual life by chanting four rounds and following two principles then we are mistaken. We have to accept and follow the prescription of the expert physician if we want to be cured.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhuji.. Even all the 4 rules are being followed by me from last many years with chanting as well but still the offences takes place most of the time. what to do to concentrate in spiritual life upto such an extent so that no offence will be there?
You have to read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day really seriously and really follow the instructions you find Prabhupada giving you when you read his books, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication). If you actually do all these things the offenses will automatically reduce.
Hello Prabhu! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions on this website.
I came into contact with Devotees 2 years ago and my life has changed ever since. It was a very small community of them in my City, but they have all now moved away (the last Devotee just left for India 2 weeks ago).
I feel so lost now. I didn’t realize how much influence they had on me. I am not chanting like I was, I’m not reading Prabhupada’s words like I was, I feel some of my desire left when they did. I really want it to come back, but as of right now I am so fallen and absorbed in sinful things. Their association was such a strong thing, I didn’t realize it until they left. My husband is also interested in Krishna consciousness, we listen to Kirtan often, but we hardly ever talk about Bhakti.
Any advice you may have for me to find my way back to Krishna, I would really appreciate it. I am still a very fallen person, I’m imperfect, I want to get the desire back to serve Krishna, but I feel so lost without other Devotees.
Hare Krishna.
Thank you.
Hare Krishna Cherry
Yes. The power of the association of devotees is very strong. But we have to realize we can have the association of Srila Prabhupada, the best devotee, at any time.
I would very strongly recommend that you get the Prabhupada DVD set and MP3 Audio Library from KrishnaStore.com and you can watch the Prabhupada videos and listen to his classes and kirtans. It is better to listen to Prabhupada’s kirtans as he is a pure devotee of Krishna and there is so much more benefit in hearing from a pure devotee. Actually really there is no benefit in hearing from someone unless they are a pure devotee of Krishna.
The way back to Krishna is always the same way… We just have to surrender to and follow the process that we already know very well. If we want to become Krishna conscious we have to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and we have to chant at lest 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and we have to read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours per day. So this is the path back to Krishna consciousness, you just have to surrender to it and follow it and you will become Krishna conscious.
Otherwise you will suffer in maya forever… Which is not very nice. So you have to just surrender to these things and follow them, even though in the beginning you may not have any desire to follow, but just force yourself to follow, and that will purify you and you will again become Krishna conscious and you will find that Srila Prabhupada, the best devotee, is right there with you in his books and is always ready to associate with you.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Jai Shri Krishna,
On 09 December 2012 I went to a renowned bookstore to buy Bhagvat Gita . I found the Gita written by Mr S Radkrishhann , but i was not very happy with the
content so i came back very dejected. Once i was just alighting the stairs of the Shopping mall to my surprise i found ISKON monks chanting Hare Krishna and almost out of the blue one of the monks gave me a copy of Bhagwatgita As It IS by Prabhupada. I was astonished , i told the monk that i had come for Gita and lord Krsna had fulfilled my wish. This is a miracle in my life and i consider myself very blessed , i have a very strong feeling that i should go for Spandan diksha from an enlightened soul . If you have any etnlightened soul to your knowledge please let me know.
regards
Debashis Das Chowdhury
The only enlightened soul I am aware of at the moment is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and he is living in his books so please read them and in this way you can associate with a completely enlightened soul 24 hours a day 7 days a week…
HELLO SIR
I am a non vegetarian and i eat Meat on a weekly basis, and i eat eggs everyday. other than that i am on par with the four principles. I am also interested in chanting Hare Krishna Mantra…. Can u please guide me , should i continue meditating, because i cant refrain from eating non veg…. and i even do yoga regularly..
Yes. No matter what you do you should always chant the Hare Krishna mantra constantly. Gradually through the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra Krishna will make the arrangements in your life and you will be very easily able to adjust things like meat eating, etc….
So no matter what, keep on chanting Hare Krishna!
Hare krishna,
I am a 28 year girl. I am not following the four regulations of Srila Prabhupada. But i am chanting whenever I get time.It is not possible to avoid meat for me. I am not indulge in illicit sex. I do not chant with tulsi beads as I scared because I cannot avoid meat eating. Am I doing sinful act ?
I am facing lot of hurdles in my job and in my love life. Please help me. I will really be grateful to you.Sometimes I think about not living anymore as well.
Hare Krishna Savitri
I am helping you when I say that if you want to be happy you have to follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and chant at least 16 rounds a day of the Hare Krishna mantra and read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
You have to do these things if you want to be happy. If you refuse to do these things you will not be happy. What else can I say?
But no matter what, in whatever condition you may find yourself, do not give up chanting Hare Krishna. As long as you keep chanting Hare Krishna there is good hope, even if there are problems with the other things…
You can get neem beads that you can chant on if you are doing sinful activities:
http://krishnastore.com/neem-japa-beads-inexpensive-h-krishna-1105.html
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krsna prabhu . i am not interested in having a sex with girl to whom i am loving. i want anybody who will love me and tc better than what i.she has wonderfull character and i feel that if she come in my life i will be happy.i dont want anythng from this material world accept her .i am enngineeering 2nd year student.pls give some more detailed reply…hare krsna
You are in maya Prabhu. You should be saying “I don’t want anything but Krishna.” But instead you are saying, “I don’t want anything but this girl.” It is a silly childish material relationship.
So you can do whatever you want to do but I have already given you the advice that you should become Krishna conscious and develop your loving relationship with Krishna.
What do you expect me to say? You are in maya and I suggest you get into Krishna consciousness and you know the process I am suggesting is that you get out of bed early in the mornings and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you do this for a week or two you will become very inspired in Krishna consciousness and this girl will be not very important any more.
A woman is the perfect manifestation of maya in the material world. She is able to so completely bewilder a man that he can not think of anything else. And in this condition he is doomed.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I have heard that at time of initiation the spiritual master takes up the remaining karma of his disciple.Is this true?
If it is then my question is:
if someone feels that his past life is very sinful to the extent that it can bring his aspiring spiritual master in trouble then what he should do?
Yes. The spiritual master has to take on the karma of the disciple. If the spiritual master is actually a pure devotee, if he is actually qualified to be a spiritual master, then he will be able to absorb unlimited amounts of karma, for he is simply a direct link to Krishna. But if the spiritual master is not qualified he will have to accept the karma of the disciples himself and in time that will destroy him and his destruction will, in turn, destroy his disciples…
But if you find a real spiritual master there is no question that your sins will get him into trouble.
But there is no point in looking for a spiritual master unless you are actually prepared to surrender to Krishna…
hare krsna
Now recently fell in love with a girl.and loving her but she don’t know that I am loving her.and I am following of krsna conciousness .i chant 16 rounds daily and I read bagvatgita.is that wrong if I love a girl .and I am an engg student .i am crazy about her .what to do and how to approah her.
Yes Prabhu, this is maya. Big maya. It is a illusion that you are thinking you will be happy if you get a beautiful girl and have sex with her. That is maya, maya, maya. And you will not be happy in this way. If you want to have sex get married and have it in a respectable way.
Women is maya personified. There is no more complete way to become captivated by maya than to ‘fall in love’ with a woman.
So you should develop your love for Krishna. If you had some Krishna consciousness you could at least theoretically understand the nature of the maya that you you are in. Krishna’s material energy is very powerful and very bewildering but He promises in the Gita that for one who surrenders to Him it becomes very easy to surpass.
So the thing is we have to become actual devotees of Krishna and then we will no longer be so much bewildered by this attraction for women. So Prabhu you are chanting Hare Krishna but please also read from Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours every day. That will help you a great deal. And try to understand that there is no happiness in the material world, there is only spiritual happiness and we can experience that by reestablishing our eternal loving relationship with Krishna. We have to fall in love with Krishna, not some girl…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
thanks bro for your instructive advice but a person who is following nearly all the rules and as well as chanting the prescribed number of round and not initiate d .does that practice has some benefit or just waste of time? please guide
Why ‘nearly all the rules???’ We have to follow all the rules. At least we have to surrender to the idea of following all the rules and try for this. It may not be possible in the beginning, we may fail many times, but we can not be happy and think we are going to make advancement by following ‘nearly all the rules.’
We will make advancement when we start following all the rules [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and we are chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and reading Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. So we have to at least try very hard to do these things. Otherwise if we are not even seriously trying to do these things we are not going to make spiritual advancement.
To make advancement in Krishna consciousness one needs to take it very seriously and we have to at least follow these basic points. And if we are sincerely trying in this regard and we fail that is not surprising because we can not expect that we can become Krishna conscious instantly. So even if we fail we have to keep on seriously trying to follow these things and we should know it very clearly that if we are not doing at least these things [strictly following the four regulative principles, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and reading Prabhupada’s books daily] then we are most certainly not advanced in spiritual life and we are not following the process which will help us advance.
It is not that we can water down the process and follow ‘nearly all the rules’. It will not work unless we follow all the rules…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare KRISHNA . iam confused as during my exams iam not able to concentrate in my studies, not able to chant properly as i used to do earlier. iam distracted a lot
due to some work , fish eating ( forced to eat ), excess home work . basically i totally dislike d education which iam receiving as i feel everything is crab , no single school teach us about BHAKTI YOGA , DEVOTION, BHAKTI ,etc… i believe
” bhagavan jo karte hai achhe ke liye karte hai ” bt i dont see any advantage of this education , i feel iam wasting my precious time . my parents wont listen to me . they dont love my interst towards krishna consiousness so much . they feel iam wasting my time .they get afraid when i dont get good marks . sometimes i feel to go out from house and go directly to ISKCON to take the shelter of HARI – sri KRISHNA but not possible . iam lucky that iam able to receive the true knowledge , bt think , whem i will SERVE for HARI’S . iam engaged in this since 2009 . me & my true friend used to read and discuss regarding this , we transformed ourselves totally. God has blessed me with such a true and great friend , for which iam always grateful . need help and guidance guruji . Please help , what to do …?
Hare Krishna Anurag
No one can force you to eat fish. You have to take control of your life and 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 and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and if you do these things seriously then all your problems will fade away. Otherwise without doing these things it becomes sentimental only.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna
I would like to know where I can associate with other devotees I live in santa clarita california and sometimes it becomes hard to keep my mind on krishna since everywhere I turn its nothing but ignorance and bussinessmen who think they are better than everyone because of there luxuries I really wish to speak face to face with a devotee since I recently started krishna consciousness I have many questions. please respond.
thank you for your time.
marvin.
Hare Krishna,
When i was in Folk 4 (Bangalore iskcon) classes, i used to rarely smoke and drink, though prior to it i was a big time drinker and smoker. Life took a turn and i left going to iskcon and got into the materialistic world. i have even forgot all the kirtans/bhajans that used to be done there.
Now that i have again become a drunkard and smoker and non-vegetarian, i want to go back to the same place ie iskcon. But now when im trying i cant come out of my addictions. But everyday i chant atleast 1 round (108times), go to iskcon in the weekends but dont know why am i not able to come out of my addictions. I keep trying to reduce everything and come out but dont know what to do.
Is it a sin if chant or go to iskcon..Cant i keep chanting or keep visiting iskcon?
Hare Krishna Aditya
No, it is absolutely not a sin to chant Hare Krishna or visit the temple. It is not strange that we get caught up by all these materialistic addictions. It happens due to bad association. The people we associate with have a great impact on our life. If we associate with people who are materialistic and sinful then gradually we also become materialistic and sinful like them.
You can chant the Hare Krishna mantra in any condition of life. If we are sinful and fallen then it is only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna through chanting His holy names that we will be able to get the strength to get back to the proper spiritual platform.
Chanting 1 round of the Hare Krishna mantra is of course better than chanting nothing but that is not the process to become Krishna consciousness. We have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra if we want to become Krishna conscious. So you need to start doing this. I know it is difficult and in the beginning we may have no taste or feeling for chanting Hare Krishna at all. But this chanting of Hare Krishna is the medicine we need to cure the materialistic disease. So if you want to become Krishna conscious again you have to start chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, following the regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and you need to read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours daily.
We can not expect to become Krishna conscious without surrendering to doing these things. That is the process and we have to follow it and if we do chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and follow the four regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books we will become purified and will easily be able to give up all our sinful activities and again we will be able to feel spiritual pleasure on the platform of Krishna consciousness.
This is the process and if we want to become Krishna conscious we have to surrender to this process and follow it. It may be difficult in the beginning but we have no choice. We have to do it or we will be stuck in maya forever…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Madhudvisa dasa ji
Is having attachment to wife (not attached to bodily form but spiritual part= Living entity) considered material attachment. I mean she is also a living entity, part and parcel of lord RadhaKrishna. Of course one cannot be too much attached to wife, if she is not Krishna Conscious, but still it is wrong to have attachment to your wife while chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra.(Prabhupada ji said it is natural to have affection for your wife or kids/parents). What if the person really loves his wife and really can’t live without her even if he tries to and truly love her unconditionally, congenially and selflessly and tries to make himself Krishna Conscious and her too so that he can take her with him in Spiritual world so she doesn’t suffer. I mean you can have eternal relationship with her(if she wants to have it) and all living entities are spiritual(marginal potency of Lord RadhaKrishna).
I have one more question. When we got to spiritual world can we have infinite attachment towards a living entity?. Lord RadhaKrishna does not have any problem with that right??
Sorry for asking silly questions but it would be really nice if you could answer the questions.
Your servant,
Tushar Sharma
Hare Krishna Tushar
Really Prabhu a devotees relationship with another devotee is centered around serving Krishna. A devotee is in love with Krishna. He is not in love with anyone else. His relationship with others is connected with his relationship with Krishna. So one devotee may be attracted by another devotee of Krishna of course but they are both in love with Krishna and together they are cooperating to serve Krishna. That is the nature of a devotee. A devotee is not madly in love with his wife like this. He is in love with Krishna.
So we have to develop our loving relationship with Krishna and as our love for Krishna increases we will become disinterested in these temporary love affairs of the material world….
Chant Hare Krisha and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Thanx for another an informative mail that actually an eye opening for me. you spoke about the gurus and the unseen picture of today’s gurus who are behind money. After reading it i’m feeling little bit confused as what can one do when he/she doesnot has a spiritual master? and krishna is the supreme God So we all considered him as a master. so krishna becomes a master himself. what can we do in this situation and how to understand him and his signals?
Sorry for replying late.
your servant
pratiksha
Hare Krishna
We can not have Krishna as our spiritual master. That is not what Krishna asks us to do in the Bhagavad-gita. Krishna orders that we surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. But these days you can not find a bona fide spiritual master. Basically they are all criminals engaged in the ‘guru business’ for some personal benefit. But we are very fortunate that Srila Prabhupada is still with us in the form of his transcendental vani, or instructions, in the form of his books and recorded classes, conversations, etc. So we can read Prabhupada’s books and associate with him personally. And the more you surrender to Srila Prabhupada, the more you read his books, the more you will realize that Srila Prabhupada is not dead, he is living in sound and living in sound spreading the holy name around…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji sorry to say u prabhuji i have commited lots of offcens i cant contorl my sex feelings so i watch pron movies and chant mahamantra so prabhuji pls guide me how to over come my offcens pls reply prabhuji i am very afraid pls guide me
You have to become completely immersed in Krishna consciousness. You can only give up the lower taste by experiencing the higher taste. You have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Otherwise how will you ever know what Krishna consciousness actually is and what is the process to achieve it? So read Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives you while you read his books, chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day and strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication). You have to do all these things otherwise there is no hope that you will become Krishna conscious. So it just requires a little determination. But don’t give up. Even if you fall down many times, keep chanting Hare Krishna and and keep sincerely praying to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna for the strength to follow the regulative principles properly. But you have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and try very hard to strictly follow the four regulative principles. Otherwise you are just fooling yourself.
Hi,
I have been chanting the name of my family deity since 2 years. It is said that one should not consider the name of Krishna equal to any other God. But my family deity is Lord Narshimha. So can I consider Lord Narshimha equal to Krishna during chanting?
I have been trying my best to do a quality chant. But I do not feel enthusiastic about anything. Mostly I get severely bored during many times. During the last 1 year I am not feeling happy during any situation. However the intensity of unhappiness is also minimal. Is it the effect of chanting? How shall I bring back the enthusiasm?
Finally, I have a very important question. Please tell me in details how to do a quality chant. I mean, I already know that chanting without offenses is quality chant. But my relation to Lord is that of the Supreme and Servant. So, during chanting shall I meditate on his form? Or something else… Please give details and practical suggestions regarding this.
Thank you!
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Lord Nrsimhadeva is Krishna. So chanting Lord Nrsimhadeva’s name is as good, non-different, from chanting Lord Krishna’s name. Krishna appears in the form of Lord Nrsimhadeva in that particular form to protect His pure devotee Prahlada Maharaja from his demonic father Hiranyakasipu. So Lord Nrsimhadeva is Krishna, but in a different mood. Still you should chant at least 16 rounds daily of the Hare Krishna maha mantra. That is the process. You can chant Lord Nrsimhadeva’s name as much as you want but you still have to chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day. That is the process given by Lord Caitanya and confirmed by the disciplic succession including Srila Prabhupada.
The reason you are not feeling any taste for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is offenses in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. You need to study Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion:
http://krishnastore.com/the-nectar-of-devotion-1972-edition-h-krishna-410.html
And please study that. There is no way we can advance in Krishna consciousness without pleasing the pure devotees of Krishna. That is the way Krishna works. He sends His pure devotee to the material world to act on His behalf and if we want to get to Krishna we have to go via His pure devotee. So you need to worship Srila Prabhupada. It is possible to get the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and if Srila Prabhupada is pleased with you then Krishna will automatically be pleased with you.
There are so many people who become attached to chanting and following some or even all of the regulative principles but because they do not surrender to Krishna’s pure devotees and do not have any actual service attitude they can not really ever get any taste for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.
What this really is is the Mayavadi contamination. That is a very poisonous and very disastrous philosophy which has flooded India and now the whole world. Once one hears the Mayavadi philosophy he is doomed and he can not understand Krishna consciousness. This is Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s conclusion: mayavadi bhasya sune haya sarva nasa, “If one hears the Mayavadi philosophy he is doomed.”
So of course Krishna consciousness is unlimitedly powerful and Srila Prabhupada’s mercy is fathomless so anything is possible if you surrender to Srila Prabhupada and actually read his books and put into practice in your life the instructions you find in his books. There you will find all the secrets on how you can develop real love an attachment to Krishna and to chanting the holy names of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Currently I am chanting 10 rounds a day. The only concern is to bring the mind under control while chanting. There are lot of distractions while chanting because of wavering mind. How to control it. Kindly guide.
Also I am married and blessed with two kids. According to four regulative principles, illicit sex is one of the principle. Having sex with my wife is an offence or not.Kindly clarify
Hare Krishna Divakar
Krishna conscious marriage is not for sex. It is for the husband and wife and children to become Krishna conscious. The biggest distraction from Krishna consciousness is sex. But sex has a purpose and it can be used in the service of Krishna to bring nice God-conscious children into the world. So a devotee only engages in sex life with his wife when he wants to have a child. Sex is only for having children within marriage. Not for any other reason.
As far as concentrating when chanting and the mind wavering, you have to expect this will happen in the beginning and do not become disturbed by it. Just pull your mind back to concentrating on hearing every word of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And increase your chanting to sixteen rounds a day, that is the minimum. Jut make it your first priority to chant at least 16 rounds a day and make the time to do it. And if you actually chant sincerely every day at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra and follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day then very soon you will see that your mind will be completely controlled when you are chanting Hare Krishna and you will feel practically that you are making tangible advancement in spiritual life…
Actually Krishna consciousness is not such an easy thing, particularly in the beginning. There are so many distractions and maya does not like to let us leave her service so she is always trying to trick us and distract us from Krishna consciousness. So we have to become very strong and determined to actually follow the process and we have to surrender to a pure devotee of Krishna because the only way we can actually get the mercy of Krishna is by pleasing His pure devotee. So the only pure devotee we are aware of at the moment is Srila Prabhupada. So read Prabhupada’s books, that is direct personal association with Srila Prabhupada, and in this way you will hear Srila Prabhupada instructing you, so if you surrender to these instructions that Srila Prabhupada gives you and follow them that will be very, very good for your spiritual life.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhuji,
How can I find a bona fide spiritual master ??
warm regards,
Nilesh
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is a bona fide spiritual master and you can find him in his books and other recorded teachings like the audio recordings of his classes and the film and video recordings of him…
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I have been interested in spiritual life for quite some time. The more I learn about this path, the more it makes sense and really resonates with me. I will continue to read and learn and inquire. Again, thank you so much. Hare Krishna!
Hello again, Hare Krishna!
I had forgotten to ask the other question I had, and am grateful for any answer I receive. I understand many of the aspects of Krishna, of our true nature, etc. I’ve yet to read why we are here. To put it clearer, I understand human life is for purification and getting back to God, but I don’t understand why we’ve come into a material world that we must fight to get out of. Why were we placed here in Maya? This is the one question I keep meaning to ask, but forget until I’m alone! haha I would be very grateful if you could explain. Haribol!!!
Hare Krishna
We are here because we desire to be the master. We don’t want to surrender to Krishna and serve Him. That is actually impossible because we are eternally servants of Krishna by our constitution. But as we are all part and parcel of Krishna we have the same qualities and desires as Krishna. So as Krishna is the Supreme Lord, sometimes we also desire to be the master. Which is not possible for us actually. So Krishna creates this material world for us where we can ‘play God’. But our attempts to become the master here will always all be frustrated so after many many births of such frustrated attempts at becoming the master one thoughtful living entity will realize that he is not the master, Krishna is the master, and he will surrender to Krishna and go back home back to Godhead..
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!
I have so enjoyed learning from this website. I have been associating with a small group of Devotees in my city, and learning bit by bit. I have a question regarding the Gurudev.
I am wondering whether or not it was acceptable to accept a Gurdev who has already passed, or if it is required to surrender to a Gurdev who is still living. I cannot imagine any situation where I would actually be blessed enough to be in the presence of a Gurdev here (I live in a state that isn’t heavily populated with this sort of spirituality) and would like to know if there is only one way to accept a Gurdev. Thank you thank you thank you for any response you give. Haribol!
Hare Krishna
You have to be able to associate with your spiritual master and the most important sort of association with your spiritual master is you have to hear from him. So you can certainly accept Srila Prabhupada as your spiritual master because he has recorded his transcendental instructions in his more than 80 books and also recorded over 1000 hours of his discourses on Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, conversations with devotees and guests, morning walks, press conferences, etc. Also we have his letters, and more than 50 hours of film and video footage.
So to accept a spiritual master you have to be able to associate with him personally and there are thousands of devotees who can attest that reading Srila Prabhupada’s books is personal association with Srila Prabhupada. So you can do this and experience for yourself the personal association and guidance of Srila Prabhupada through his transcendental recorded vani [instructions].
There are two ways of associating with a spiritual master. One is vapu, or associating with his physical form, and the other is vani, or associating with him by following his transcendental instructions. Of the two the vani is much more important than the vapu,
So the answer is yes. You can accept Srila Prabhupada as your spiritual mater. But that means you have to associate with him, hear from him, surrender to him, serve him… It is not a cheap thing. We have to actually surrender and then the transcendental knowledge will flow from Srila Prabhupada to us.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, I am now getting myself to seriously follow the path of krishna consiousness.
I would like to clarify the last phrase stating the to advance in pure krishna devotion one must have a bona fide spiritual master. So how am I to find a spiritual master who is a pure devotee of Krishna in order for me to advance in krishna consiousness by purely chanting the Hare Krishna mantra?
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa,
It is my great privilege to associate with Krishna Consciousness.
I am in the awakening stage, where I am still pursuing my life as a student and wish to excel and have a great career. Perhaps, I do not consider myself a devotee; however, I am spiritual and wish to maintain such a state of mind.
My question to you is –
I have recently started chanting and not sure if You would consider this as a pure form of chanting.
I eat eggs (no meat), I take salmon fish tablets (omega 3 fatty acids which are good for brain), I do not have any form of sex but do tend to masturbate as it’s natural. I am not into any form of intoxication and certain don’t dabble in gambling. Please let me know if I can pursue chanting and will Krishna accept my devotion?
I am quintessential 24 year old ambitious boy who is currently working and pursuing studying in order to make a good career. I need Krishna’s blessings for all of this to come to fruition.
In addition, would urge you to share your experience and how did your connect with Krishna Consciousness? I am sure you are a full time devotee.
Hare Krishna,
Shubham
Hare Krishna Subham
You have to surrender to the process of Krishna consciousness if you want to become Krishna conscious. So that means following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex which includes no masturbation, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. If we are not doing these things then we have to be honest with ourselves and realize we have not yet really begun the process of Krishna consciousness. Actually we should not consider ourselves devotees. Devotee is someone who is completely devoted to Krishna, he is a surrendered soul to Krishna. He has no business other than serving Krishna. So ‘devotee’ is a high platform. It is more realistic to consider that we are aspiring to become devotees.
If you can not follow the regulative principles in the beginning then certainly just chant Hare Krishna. The Hare Krishna mantra is unlimitedly powerful and we can chant it in any condition of life, even if we are very sinful, still the Hare Krishna mantra will help us.
You say masturbation is ‘natural’, so also having sex is ‘natural’, eating meat is ‘natural’ for many, taking intoxication, smoking and gambling are also natural for many. Krishna consciousness means we are going against nature. The material world is maya and it is an elaborate arrangement to distract us from serving Krishna. If we want to transcend maya and actually come to Krishna consciousness then we have to undergo the little austerity to stop doing these so-called ‘natural’ things, which are natural for the demons but devotees are not interested in these ‘natural’ things. That is because devotees, actual devotees, are enjoying a higher spiritual taste from serving Krishna so these things like sex and intoxication are not at all attractive to them. Actually a real devotee is disgusted at the thought of material sense gratification. He is only interested in serving Krishna, satisfying the senses of Krishna.
So at the moment honestly you do not have devotion to Krishna. Devotion means surrender. So you have to surrender to Krishna, otherwise where is the devotion. But still chanting Hare Krishna will help you to come to the point of surrender to Krishna. So certainly Krishna will be happy with you because you are trying to develop devotion for him. But it is very dangerous to think that ‘I am not following the principles, but I am a devotee…’
A real devotee does not feel that he is a devotee. He feels most fallen. And you can understand the feelings of a real devotee if you read the Songs of the Vaisnava Acharyas, our song book.
We have to work to become devotees of Krishna and other things need to be secondary. Of course you can excel in your education and get a good job and be successful in the material world. But all this has to be secondary to the main purpose of your life which is to become Krishna conscious. Actually becoming Krishna conscious is the only business we have in this life. Everything else we do has to support this aim of becoming Krishna conscious.
From your email you want to be successful in maya. But actually no one is ever successful in maya. That is why it is called maya, illusion. So at the moment you are chasing the illusion. You should be chasing Krishna. As I said it does not mean you have to give up your education and your plans to be successful in the material world, but you have to get things in the right order. Your main business is to surrender to Krishna and become Krishna conscious. Everything else is secondary.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari bol Dear madhudvisa Dasa!
I have a quastion.How it comes that devotees chant for 30-40 years Mahamantra and they still dont have a God realisation.What counts?The quality or the amount of Mantra?
Thank you
Hare Krishna
artashes
Hare Krishna Artashes
What counts is getting the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. The only way we can make any advancement in Krishna consciousness is by pleasing a pure devotee of Krishna. We can not actually chant the Hare Krishna mantra unless we get it from a pure devotee of Krishna. God realization is only possible if we actually surrender to and serve a real actual pure devotee of Krishna and actually please him by our service. If we can not do this we can try to chant the Hare Krishna mantra for many millions of births but we still won’t be able to get God realization.
These days most devotees have bogus gurus. Unless one has a pure devotee of Krishna as his spiritual master and unless he actually surrenders to him and makes the order of his spiritual master his life and soul and unless he is able to actually please his spiritual master by his service then he is not going to get God realization.
God realization is not a very cheap thing. It is not very easily available. So we are very fortunate to have such a great opportunity to hear from and associate with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. If you actually read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and actually follow his orders which begin with chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and if you read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and actually follow the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books then you will become God realized quite quickly.
But most people refuse to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, they refuse to follow the four regulative principles and they refuse to read Srila Prabhupada’s books regularly. So these people will never be able to become God realized. No matter how much they make a show of chanting Hare Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Respected Prabhuji,Plse accept my humble obeisances.All the glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
I am reading your all articles daily.Thanks for your all mails.
HARE KRISHNA
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Prabhuji!
How should females do japa during their monthly cycles?
The same way, by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare……
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa
One of my friend asked me “Investing in Share Market is gambling or not…?”
So I thought better to ask you…
Yes. That is gambling, speculation. Breaking the regulative principles…
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. I don’t mean to offend you. And i know what you say is beneficial in every way. But how do you come to know something like whether masturbation is not good, stick market is gambling and all these types of things. Actrually my father was saying what these guys teach is wrong or that useless. i don’t know he was not being very good about it.
He said he hates this krishna stuff or something. He says if you read about Krsna or Gita good but what is all these things. And i had a argument over it why they say this wrong or not right. He was asking show me that this is written in gita. He says Gita or Krsna says in Gita to do your work.
He got angry and hit as i was saying it must be in the scripture. then afterwards he said he hit me because he was asking me so many times whether it is written in gita but i said it must be in the sastras or scriptures somewhere.
I mean how could i answer his question of where it says about masturabation and stock market is gambling.
Anyways my main thing of writing this thing is for me and me asking for myself. What should i think of my non-devotee parents about what they say of life in general and gita. And i don’t think it was at all fair of my father to hit me. he used physical violence on me.
Hare Krishna Mehra
Non-devotees, parents or anyone else, are demons and they have no knowledge and we have to see very clearly like that. We, as aspiring devotees, do not like to associate with or hear from non-devotees. So in the family situation of course you will be polite and try not to create unnecessary agitation which may mean that you just don’t take any notice of what the parents, etc are saying but at the same time don’t give them any reason to be angry at you. It is a delicate thing. But we have to know it for sure that non-devotees have no knowledge.
You ask how do I know the things I say are true. I know everything I say is true because I simply repeat what Srila Prabhupada has said to me through his books and lectures. That is the process. There are two types of knowledge. One type of knowledge is the descending type and that means accepting knowledge from a higher authority. That is the path I follow and the path all real devotees follow. As devotees we do not have any independent personal ideas or opinions. We know our own personal ideas and opinions are just rubbish and have no value. No. Devotees hear the transcendental knowledge from their bona fide spiritual master and they repeat that and so long as I simply repeat and explain what I have heard from Srila Prabhupada without changing it then what I am saying is perfect.
So these things you mention are clearly explained by Srila Prabhupada to breaking the regulative principles and sinful. Masturbation is illicit sex and speculation on the stock market is gambling. Both are braking the regulative principles and both will frustrate our advancement in spiritual life.
So, even though it can be very difficult, and even though we may fall down and fail to come to the proper standard at times, still we have to know very clearly what is right and what is wrong, what is breaking the regulative principles and what is following the regulative principles. It is one thing to be fallen and to know it. If we are fallen and engaging in all sorts of sinful activities but still if we are chanting Hare Krishna and feeling repentant and feeling that we are engaged in all this sinful activity and that we want to get out of it, we want to become Krishna conscious, then there is some hope. But many people try to convince themselves that they can be ‘devotees’ and at the same time engage in illicit sex, gambling, etc. These people are lost. It is not possible to advance in spiritual life and to break the regulative principles at the same time. So we have to come to the proper standard. And if we are not on the proper standard we have to know that we are not on the proper standard and strive to bring ourselves back up to the proper standard…
Anyhow the point is I know what is right and what is wrong because I have heard it from Srila Prabhupada who is a pure devotee of Krishna. So as long as I simply repeat and explain what Prabhupada has taught me and as long as I follow it myself then what I am saying is perfect…
Of course I am not very perfectly following but I am trying, and what I do say is correct because I am really not saying anything at all myself, I am just repeating what Srila Prabhupada is saying…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Harev Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. What do you mean by giving them any reason to not get angry. KC will always be one reason. Another is i can commit mistakes like for example if i spilled milk or not paying attention then is that a good reason for them to get angry. Because these things happen. And plus all other types of things also happen or reasons happen like you are saying. So please tell me with examples of what you mean don’t give them any reasons. Because the reasons my parents will get angry are mixed and other small to big things. And surely i am a child of theirs.
Tell me something. Don’t parents tolerate or should they tolerate whatever mischief or misbehaviour a child does. And surely getting angry is no solution to a problem. What do you say to that. if you want to solve a problem then solve it without anger.
Hare Krishna Mehra
We have to understand that other people are not under our control. Everything is going on in the material world because of karma. So we have to realize that we have performed many sinful activities in this life and in previous lives and for those unlimited sinful activities we are destined to suffer in so many ways. So actually others in the material world are forced by the laws of Karma to get angry at us and cause us trouble. Because we deserve to be in trouble, we deserve the suffering because of our unlimited sinful activities in the past.
So a devotee sees like this and does not blame the people who are getting angry at him and causing him trouble. He does not see these people as the cause of his trouble. There are two causes. On is the apparent cause. So if my parents become angry then I am thinking that it is not fair, why are they giving me so much trouble, I do not deserve this. But this is not actually the real situation. The real situation is that everyone in the material world is being forced to act by the modes of material nature. No one is independent. They are being forced to give you trouble because you deserve the trouble because of your sinful activities in the past.
So a devotee knows this very well and sees the remote cause of these difficulties and sufferings in his life. So he does not blame the person who is apparently causing him these problems for he knows that person is simply a puppet in the hands of maya and the real cause of his suffering, the remote cause, is his sinful activities.
So the only solution to all of this is to become Krishna conscious because becoming Krishna conscious will destroy the seeds of karma within our hearts and free us from all these karmic reactions.
Anyhow you can not really do anything about your parents. They will do whatever they want to do. But you do have complete control over your own life. So if you simply surrender to Srila Prabhupada and actually chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) then you will become Krishna conscious and everything will change in your life and by your good association your parents and family members will also advance in spiritual life.
So the answer is that you just become a pure devotee of Krishna. Concern yourself with that. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. Is my parents or anyone giving me suffering on account of being Krsna Conscious or because i am aspiring to be Krsna Conscious also part of suffering of my past bad karma in this life and previous lifes I am getting. Please explain it to me.
Hare Krishna Mehra
Yes. Of course demons become agitated when devotees try to become Krishna conscious. So when we actually become devotees then the demons will be annoyed with us not because of our past karma, but because we are trying to become Krishna conscious. So a pure devotee will still get so much opposition and the non-devotees will attack him and try to cause him so much suffering, but this is actually because the non-devotees are envious of Krishna and do not like to hear the message the devotee is presenting: “Surrender to Krishna,” they don’t like it. They get angry.
A very good example of this is the narration of the life of the pure devotee Prahlada Maharaja and his demonic father Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada was a pure devotee of Krishna so he was completely transcendental to any karmic reactions, still his father, Hiranyakasipu, tried to inflict so much suffering on Prahlada. He threw Prahlada from the top of a big mountain but Prahlada did not die, he threw Prahlada into a pit with many poisonous snakes but they did not bite Prahlada, he put Prahlada into a pot of boiling oil but he did not die. So in so many ways he tried to kill his son Prahlada but Prahlada just kept on chanting Hare Krishna and was not disturbed by any of it.
So for devotees it is different. Nondevotees will try to cause so much difficulty and suffering to the devotees. But the devotees do not actually suffer as a result of this. The devotees are transcendental to these things. It does not effect them. So we have to become actual devotees and become transcendental to these things because they will continue. The demons will always be antagonistic towards the devotees. That is just the way it is.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. You are right. “Non-devotees, parents or anyone else, are demons and they have no knowledge and we have to see very clearly like that.” But my parents or just some non-devotees still seem to have some knowledge about life and the type of people they interact with. Well i also agree for sure that they have no knowledge(material knowledge does not matter) but it seems like it i saying about life and the people they interact with.
Hare Krishna Mehra
Materialists have material knowledge of course. We can not say they have no knowledge actually. And even material knowledge can be useful if it is engaged in the service of Krishna. So that is the quality of the bona fide spiritual master. He can engage everything, even the materialists and their materialistic knowledge in the service of Krishna.
There is a verse in the Bhagavad-gita that describes different types of materialists:
na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah
It describes four different types of materialists: the mudhas, fools; the naradhamas, the lowest of mankind; the mayayapahrta-jnana, those who’s knowledge is stolen by illusion and the asuras, the men of demonic principles.
Srila Prabhupada describes all these things elaborately in this old Back to Godhead article:
http://back2godhead.com/lowest-mankind/
But the point I am getting at here is that the materialists are described by Krishna as duskrtino, and ‘krtino’ means one who has performed very meritorious work. The ‘dus’ means that the materialists use this very meritorious work for bad things. So it is not actually that the materialists have no knowledge or no merit. But they use whatever knowledge they may have for materialistic purposes.
So that is the way. I apologize if I did not properly explain this in the original article.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Mr Steve,
Pl find the link for Srimad Bhagavatam.
http://srimadbhagavatam.com/
Hare Krishna
Siva
Thank you Siva. I will read it.
Since I have been associating with Krishna Devotees and attending the temple I am losing my desire to eat meat. I bought another boat and went out to catch fish but when I caught the fish I did not have the heart to kill it just for eating purposes! All my friends laugh at me when they ask why I sold my boat and I tell them. I can’t believe this is happpening to me! I wish the same would happen also in regards to sex. I have been married for many years. Surely Krishna ordained sex. If my wife gets pregnant then that would be great! But also a miracle since she is now passed the child bearing years. So is there still need to surrender this part of ones life since we do not use contraceptives? And what if she is not a devotee and I become full devotee and she desires to have sex! Do I refuse? So many rules and regulations. Surely Krishna should look at the heart first? Also regarding the eggs. eggs are not fertalised are they? So one is killing nothing. What is wrong with that. Could you please give me some reference in the Srimad Bhagavatam or the Bhagavat Gita to support this rule….Hare Bol
Hare Krishna Steve
The rules are given by the spiritual master. Advancement in Krishna consciousness is only possible by pleasing a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna. It is by the guru’s mercy that you get Krishna, you can not get Krishna any other way. So if Srila Prabhupada says the four regulative principles are: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and stresses these points so strongly then if we want to please him then we have to follow these regulative principles. And it is only by pleasing Srila Prabhupada that we can get Krishna.
Sex is the perfect manifestation of maya, it is the thing the chains us to the material world. So if we can not give up this sex life except for having children in marriage then there is no hope that we can get free from the material world. But it is not so difficult also, it is the same principle that you are now no longer interested in catching fish and killing them. In the past you could never imagine that you would loose your interest in killing and eating fish, but it has happened. Of course we find the sex desire to be more difficult to conquer than the meat eating desire, but the principle is the same. The more you become attached to Krishna the less you will be interested in sex.
So the main thing is to become more attached to Krishna and then automatically the regulative principles will follow. So just chant Hare Krishna more and read Prabhupada’s books more and become more attached to Krishna and you will see that automatically all your material desires are reduced…
As far as eggs they are unclean, they are not in the mode of goodness. It is not about being vegetarian and also not about not killing things. If you cook a cabbage then you have to kill the cabbage to cook it. So even with vegetables you are also killing. The real point is that devotees cook for Krishna and in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna tells us that if we make an offering for Him from grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits with love and devotion then He will accept it. He does not accept meat and eggs. So devotees do not eat meat and eggs because they only eat Krishna prasadam, the remnants of the foods offered to Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes I understand. More of Krishna and less of Maya. First I must work on giving up the meat totally, I find writing tunes to the Maha Mantra and playing and singing them on my guitar draws me closer to Krishna also and very helpful..Hari Bol
HKP,
prabhu, i m chanting 16 – read all the short books. living in iskcon hostel. But what my problem is – in past I used to watch many porn movies and was a great lover of all that bad things.
I’m although doing 16 rounds which i try to do more offence-less on daily practice, but sex desire is growing… As soon as I see a girl – I keep stare at her and Krishna’s shloka comes in sometimes in my mind – janm – mritu – jara – vyadhi and all – but I still do and then realize – oh! she will die one day keep focus in Krishna.
Like regular fight between me and mind is going on – but my mind is not getting fixed.
please tell some tricks.
Hare Krishna Richie
There are not tricks except taking Krishna consciousness seriously. It is not a very simple thing, Krishna consciousness. It requires constant engagement in service under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master. Unless one is constantly engaged in serving Krishna under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master it will be very very difficult to control the senses.
The senses are controlled by engaging them 24 hours a day in the service of Krishna under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master. This constant engagement in serving Krishna generates a very nice taste. Such a completely surrendered devotee experiences a ‘higher taste’ and once he has experienced this higher taste the lower taste of sex life is no longer attractive to him.
So to get rid of the lower taste we have to experience the higher taste from chanting Hare Krishna and being constantly engaged in serving Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna.
So why just read Prabhupada’s small books? What do you think Prabhupada wrote the big books for?
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In ISKCON few devotees are characterless, Pravupad and Krishna does not support it, But why this type of devotees are allowed to ISKCON premises ??????
Unfortunately today’s ISKCON is full of cheaters, imposters and demons. That is the nature of Kali-yuga, the age we are currently living in. Kali-yuga means in this age the people tend to be cheaters. They pose as holy men to get fame, profit, adoration and distinction… So so many gurus and devotees in ISKCON are in there for some reason other than serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. It is just what has happened to the organization over the 35 or so years since Srila Prabhupada left our material vision.
If you want to actually understand Krishna consciousness you will not find this in ISKCON. You will find it in Srila Prabhupada’s books…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
how do we know that our activities in the material world factually pleases krsna?
You have to be guided by a bona fide spiritual master. In the beginning you can not know yourself if your activities are pleasing Krishna or not. But you can take the guidance from Srila Prabhupada, and in that way you can know. For example if you follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and strictly 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 maha-mantra daily then you can know that this is pleasing Krishna… And if you are not prepared to surrender to these basic things then you can know that you are not yet anywhere near the platform of Krishna consciousness…
What an amazing article Madhudvisa Prabhu. I wish I read this article 8 years back when I was totally confused by some Iskcon devotees behavior who were chanting 16 rounds at that time but were so far from knowledge and Vaisnava behavior revealed in Srila Prabhupada’s books. Chanting Hare Krishna Maha mantra isn’t a a cheap thing. We have to work hard to overcome our offenses. The greatest offense many Iskcon devotees do is to think that Srila Prabhupada is gone. He isn’t living in his books. He can’t guide future devotees through his divine Vani. This is the greatest offense they do and that’s why their chanting is not showing the desired result of chanting Hare Krishna Maha mantra. They used to ask me to chant 16 rounds and don’t focus too much on reading Srila Prabhupada books as I won’t understand them without a guru from Iskcon.
“The Hare Krishna mantra has the power to connect us with an ever-increasing ocean of transcendental pleasure. On the other hand one can chant the Hare Krishna mantra for many, many births and not achieve any significant results at all. Why?” I got my answer now. Thank you Madhudvisa Prabhu. Please keep on writing these amazing articles to guide fallen souls like me as I sincerely want to go back to Lord Krishna this life time.
in the mail you sent me..you said dat i need a guru who can follow up my bhakti..would you plz guide me as my guru..??
Srila Prabhupada
hare krsna prabhuji,
thanks for guiding me all through this way..well,some changes did happen in my life..but truly i have a big concentration problem..lord krsna knows everything..but what to do when you have to choose between your family n the lord..my husband n i decided to sacrifice all relations in order to dedicate all our bhakti to do seva for the lord.you knw prabhuji..i dont know..its like a kind of am in love with krsna..n so is my husband..its like impossible to live without him…but the main prob is dat wen we do mangal arti in the morning..den my hus familly start shouting @ us..plz guide me in dis problem..
thnx in advance prabhuji..
diya..
Just do it a bit quietly and don’t wake him up…
Dear Madhudvisa Dasaji,
Hare Krishna, Thanks for the wonderful newsletter that I get in my email. When ever I get your email I try to read as soon as I can and even forward to my children. Thanks again, for giving us a clear picture of this world and Submission to godhead that is krishna. Recently, I have been looking for lot of answers to many questions that I have. Currently, in this article when you say our regulative principles need to be follow than:
No illicit sex life [sex is only for having children in marriage, nothing else]
No meat eating
No gambling
No intoxication
what if you are not the part of it but your family member of close relation like your husband / brother follows it and you just keep quit as you want to save marriage or fighting. Even after making them understand they still not get it and you can not avoid them.
So, as you are not part of this whole mess but chant Hare krishna all the time and your body and brain is on Krishna. So, is this person is doing some offense being with these people.
Hare Krishna!
You have to follow yourself. You can no force other people to follow. So just become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself and Krishna will give you the intelligence what to do. You can not expect that everyone else will also follow these principles. We have to follow them. That is the important thing.
Dear Madhudvisa dasaji,
Jai Shri Krishna!Thank you so much for the above newsletter.It was a wonderful start to 1/1/12.I sincerely hope and pray I can do a lot more than last year regarding following Srila Prabhupadajis instructions fron his books,starting from reading them avidly and reverentially to trying and acting on them.Thank you once again.
prabhu ji…shree radhey…
Prabhu ji…i am a student..nd i have to eat in a mess..where there is not taken care of onion garlic..nd all that..my schedule does not let me have 16 rounds..but only 2-3 rounds..now does i have the right to wear tulsi mala around my neck..please reply prabhu ji…i really wanna wear to be active in counciousness movement…
You have to change your schedule Prabhu at least so you can chant 16 rounds a day. You can get up earlier in the morning for example…
If you can not follow the process then you can not become Krishna conscious. It is like writing me a letter saying I want to bake a cake but I want to do it without the flower and without the sugar and without any oven… It is not possible. You have to have the ingredients, you have to follow the recipe and then you can bake a cake. So the thing is if we want to become Krishna conscious we have to adjust our lives. Not that I will become Krishna conscious and everything will remain the same…
Of course something is better than nothing so chanting 2-3 rounds is good if that is all you can do but really Prabhu that is not a very good excuse. You can find more than 1/2 an hour a day for Krishna, surely? It is not very serious if you can only find 1/2 an hour a day for Krishna. It is nice of course, if you can find 1/2 an hour but really Krishna is looking for surrender… Everything…
So that you are thinking that you want to become Krishna conscious and that you are already chanting 2-3 rounds is very good and just increase it. Do not say that you can’t increase it. We have much more capacity for Krishna consciousness than we can imagine, so just increase it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna…
ji prabhu ji…i am trying for more..surely i will be upto 16 rounds soon..i bilieve…my krishna will take me to that point…
And prabhu ji my question…tulsi mala..can i have it with irregular routine and onion and garlic(compeltion reason being i have to eat in mess)..??
Hare Krishna Prabhu
If you can follow the regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] then you can chant on tulsi mala. And you need to understand to respect Srimati Tulis Devi by not allowing the beads to touch the floor, not allowing them to touch your feet, being clean when you are chanting, etc. But there is no reason why you can not chant on tulsi mala if you are sincerely trying to become Krishna conscious and you have seriously vowed to strictly follow the four regulative principles. Of course we may also fall down sometimes due to bad association and our bad habits from the past but as long as this is accidental and we feel genuinely regretful about our fall down and seriously recommit ourselves to strictly following the regulative principles again we can keep chanting on the Tulsi mala.
After all Srimati Tulsi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna and she is merciful and understands also if we are sincerely trying to become Krishna conscious. So yes, as long as you are really seriously trying to be Krishna conscious then you can chant Hare Krishna on the Tulsi mala.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu ji…
i chant on tulsi mala….(krishna’s mercy…he allows me to) and i heartily respect srimati tulsi devi…i was asking to wear double round tulsi mala round my neck..
shree radhey..
hare krishna,
I have a great doubt. i got used to chaant the manthra right from six months. earlier i was in a pure materialistic world worshipping demigods like vinayaka etc.,. you can understand my life style before i started chanting the hare krishna manthra. thing is that i came to know by visiting ISCKON temple and meeting with some devotees and reading your articles that it is my responsibility to chant the hare krishna manthra. so I greatly feel that as being a human being our final destination is LORD KRISHNA. i felt it as my work which iam supposed to do and hence daily i will chant the hare krishna manthra. untill now there is no problem. but still iam involving in all the materialistic programmes except meat eating and taking intoxications( alchol and smoking) and illicit sex as iam not married(but even thinking of beauty of the opposite sex is also called ILLICIT SEX (this I came to know from your article). I can say i involved in gambling(watching movies a lot). I am Unable to come out of those materialistic programmes even then i will daily chant maha manthra as my responsibility. i chant maha manthra not for the purpose of sinful activities and all. i can say now i am strongly believing in lord krishna and while chanting i hope thatlord krishna is there with me and he will protect from all the problems(materialsitically and all) and will provide me lot of courage to solve all the problems. so thinking like this is an offense? i feel krishna is my protector and iam servent to him. from reading all your articles i can say i am not spirutually connected with lord krishna but only materially connected but still i can say my final destination is LORD KRISHNA. I am Bit in a confusion. clear all my doubts.please
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
Hare Krishna!
You are doing the right thing, chanting Hare Krishna and trying to follow the regulative principles. Now you just have to keep on improving and follow whatever principles you are not following and because you will keep on chanting Hare Krishna Krishna will give you the strength to do this. But you have to get the mercy of Krishna’s pure devotee. We can not directly approach Krishna. The only way to get to Krishna is by pleasing His pure devotees. So you need to please Srila Prabhupada. To do that you need to know what Prabhupada wants you to do, and so you can know that you have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and put the instructions you get from Srila Prabhupada’s books into practice in your day-to-day life. In this way if you can please Srila Prabhupada Krishna will be pleased with you and everything will develop very nicely in your spiritual life.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Sir is truley loving some one is also an offence
Hare Krishna Amit
If you truly love someone you will give them Krishna consciousness and that is not an offense.
There is no true love in the material world. There is only lust in one form or another. True love is only discovered when we reestablish our eternal loving relationship with Krishna. what we think of as love in the material world is just a perverted reflection of this original live we all have with Krishna.
Devotees of Krishna can also have a loving relationship in connection with their relationship with Krishna. So, for example, if you and your wife are both devotees of Krishna then you are working together in a loving spirit with the common goal of serving Krishna. So you can make a who family full of real loving relationships if you keep Krishna as the central point. This is real love.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Dasa Prabhu! and Thank You for being so kind in sending us these newsletters!
Prabhu what do you recommend if for some reason that you are not able to finish your 16 rounds or start doing them?For example if you are feeling really sick.
You have to make up the missing rounds the next day. So the next day you chant your 16 rounds plus the ones you missed from the previous day. But you should try and chant the 16 rounds every day, even if you feel very sick.
We have to practice detachment from the body. It is only the body that is sick, you are not the body, so it is possible to continue chanting Hare Krishna even if the body is sick and we have to learn this ultimately. Because at the end of our life we have to remember Krishna, we have to chant Hare Krishna and our body will be sick. So it is good practice to learn how to do this now…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Forgive me for any offense, but why do we have to chant 16 rounds a day? If we want quality chanting, and can’t chant fast enough to fit 16 rounds into our day, then if we tried to chant them all we’d be inattentive and rushing. Is that only for initiation? And do we have to be initiated to go back to Godhead?
Hari Bol
Hare Krishna Rachel
Your idea is not correct. We can not speculate like you are doing–if we want knowledge we have to accept that knowledge as it is coming to us in the disciplic succession.
You can not have quality chanting without quantity. 16 rounds is very little. It takes only 2-3 hours. If we can not find at least 2-3 hours a day to spend chanting Hare Krishna then we are not at all serious about becoming Krishna conscious. So if we are not prepared to chant even 16 rounds a day how can we expect to make any significant advancement in Krishna consciousness. There is no question of “quality chanting” if we can not chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.
Chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra is the minimum, the beginning, the start. So if anyone is serious about becoming Krishna conscious he has to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication] and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. One has to be doing this strictly and seriously for at least 6-12 months before there is any question of initiation.
Srila Prabhupada will not accept anyone for initiation unless they have already shown that they are surrender souls who are following the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and they are fixed-up in doing this. They have been serving him and sincerely following the regulative principles and chanting their rounds for at least 6-12 months.
So this chanting of at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles is for anyone who is interested in advancing in spiritual life. This is the beginning. Initiation is of course required. There is no possibility of becoming Krishna conscious if you don’t have a bona fide spiritual master. If you want to become a pure devotee of Krishna then you have to find a pure devotee of Krishna and accept him as your spiritual master. That means surrendering to him, accepting his instructions to you as being non-different from direct instructions from Krishna.
Without surrendering to and serving a bona fide spiritual master you can not become Krishna conscious. And it is this surrender that is actually initiation. It is not that you can become initiated by sitting in some fire sacrifice and chanting some mantras. There has to be surrender. We have to surrender and give up any personal interest and simply work for Krishna’s interest by following the orders and instructions of our bona fide spiritual master.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, thank you for the reply.
If we are unable to find a bona fide spiritual master within our lifetime for some reason, yet we still surrender to Krishna and follow the principles, will we be able to attain at least the Vaikuntha planets? For example remembering Krishna upon death will elevate us to the spiritual world (even if it’s not Vrindavan); is this possible if we haven’t met a spiritual master or haven’t completely surrendered to them?
NO. The way to Krishna is only through surrender to Krishna’s pure devotee. And you can meet Srila Prabhupada now and surrender to him if you want to. A jnani or an impersonalist may be able to get impersonal liberation into the brahmajoti but you can not get personal liberation without having a bona fide spiritual master. This is essential. Brahmananda brahmate kon bhagavyan jiva guru krsna prasada paya bhakti lata bija: “The living entities are wandering from one universe to another and only occasionally one gets the opportunity to meet a bona fide spiritual master and gets the ‘bhakti-lata-bija’, the seed of devotional service.” So it is a very rare thing actually–meeting a bona fide spiritual master–and that is the only way to get the bhakti-lata-bija, the seed of devotional service. And without the seed there is no way at all that you can grow the plant of bhakti in your heart. So it is impossible without surrendering to a bona fide spiritual master.
So we have met Srila Prabhupada–we should take advantage of our great fortune and surrender to him, hear from him, serve him, offer him obeisances. Because the chance of meeting a bona fide spiritual master is so rarely attained. If we miss this opportunity we may be stuck in the material world practically eternally…
Hare Krishna,
So we can surrender to Srila Prabhupada and he can be our bona fide spiritual master even if he’s not physically present with us?
Why not? It is not physical presence that is important. There are two ways of associating with the spiritual master and one is physical presence but more important is following his instructions. That is even more powerful association than physical presence. And following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions does not require physical presence.
Hare Krishna,
Alright. I had the misconception that we had to be in the physical presence of a spiritual master, which troubled me because I do not live around any temples or like minded people. Thank you for your time.
Krishna’s complexion is described as being like that of a newly formed storm cloud. Could there be anything more majestic and beautiful?
hare krishna Madhudvisa dasa
hope u doing fine. what is the story behind krishna’s complexion, one is fair complexion and one is black. some devotees says the real krishna to pray is the dark complexion one but i have got some pictures from India, where Krishna is in a fair complexion.
Hari bol
Hare Krishna Radha
Krishna is dark complexion, blackish, but very, very beautiful–Shyamasundar. Radha is fair complexion, golden. Krishna appears in the mood of Radharani as Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with a golden, fair complexion.
So Krishna is always dark complexion and Radha is always fair complexion but Krishna sometimes wants to understand the intense feelings of love that Radha feels for Him, so He sometimes appears in a golden complexion–Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sometimes you see the Deity of Krishna is made from white marble but Krishna is not white, He is still dark complexion. With spiritual eyes you can see this.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
AGTSP. PAMHO.
On the fourth offense the following is a selection of quotes by Srila Prabhupada:
“The fourth offence is to consider the Vedic literatures, such as the Puranas or other transcendentally revealed scriptures, to be ordinary books of knowledge.” Bhag. 3 15.25
“Our Vedic scriptures are not ordinary lawbooks of human common sense; they are the statements of factually liberated persons unaffected by the imperfectness of the senses.” Adi 17,157
“Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura states that one has to ascertain the right path for his activities by following in the footsteps of great saintly persons and books of knowledge under the guidance of a spiritual master (sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya).” Bhhag 4,21.28-29
“For perfect knowledge we have to approach a superior person, a guru. One may try to learn a subject by reading books at home, but he can learn much better by going to college and approaching a professor. In the same way, we have to approach a guru. Of course, if we encounter a false guru, our knowledge is false.” SSR 6.
“To follow the path of philosophical knowledge one must become a very learned scholar, one must read so many books, one must go to learned professors and scholars and speculate. One must search out a person who has seen the light.” SSR 8
“That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, that this science of Bhagavad-gītā has to be accepted by disciplic succession. That is the way of accepting any scientific thing. Just like even in material science, suppose if you have to become medical practitioner or a lawyer. So you have to study the law books by the previous lawyers, by the judgments of the courts. One who has studied the previous records of legal implications, he is best lawyer. Similarly a medical practicer, practitioner, who has studied the previous books and knowledge and experience, he is called experienced physician. The same principle is there that the spiritual knowl…, you cannot manufacture any spiritual knowledge. That is atheism. You cannot manufacture any religious principle. It is not possible. That is not accepted in Vedas. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇī. Dharma means the rules and regulation which is given by God. That is accepted everywhere. In Bible, in Koran also. The laws of God. You cannot manufacture. So Kṛṣṇa said that this principle ofBhagavad-gītā… At the present moment Bhagavad-gītā is being interpreted by anyone and everyone according to his whims. That is not permissible. That is not Bhagavad-gītā. We have to understand this. Simply Bhagavad-gītā is that which is received by the paramparā system. That is being explained. Go on.” 681123BG.LA
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Dasa Ji
I have been doing my 16 rounds since a month and in this course of time, I have met several friends who were in some difficulty, I told all of them to chant rounds and it worked out. I am very happy for them but I don’t know why but I still feel something is missing in myself.
Please help out.
Hari Bol
Hare Krishna Radha
Don’t worry if you do not feel so much result from chanting Hare Krishna immediately. It is a process and it takes some time. It is a cleaning process. Chanting Hare Krishna cleans the mirror of our hearts. So it is working but you can not realize it immediately. But if you keep chanting every day 16 rounds–even if you are not feeling any taste or attraction to chanting Hare Krishna–for 12 months and then look back on your life you will see in those twelve months your whole life has been transformed and you are now quite a different person with a different and much nicer outlook on the world and you will be much closer to Krishna.
There are many tests given to us by maya to see how serious we really are at surrendering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna–and maya will always try to convince us through our mind that this chanting is no good and we should stop it. She is sometimes not so direct–she has so many subtle ways to discourage us from pushing on with chanting Hare Krishna and serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Sometimes people are not so honest also and they may say they are having wonderful spiritual experiences chanting Hare Krishna–of course it may be true–but sometimes people exaggerate. So do not worry what others are saying they are experiencing–the reality is that in the beginning chanting Hare Krishna, 16 rounds a day, can be quite difficult and we may not feel much inspiration from it. But this is the purification process and it is working and we are getting the benefits.
Srila Prabhupada often gives the example of a man with the jaundice disease. This disease is common in India and when one gets it he looses his taste for sweet things. If you offer him some sweet thing it will taste bitter to him and he does not want to eat it. But the cure for this jaundice disease is to take sweet things. So you see how this relates to chanting Hare Krishna. Actually the Hare Krishna mantra is very sweet but because we have the material disease which takes away our taste for chanting Hare Krishna when we try to chant Hare Krishna we have no attraction to it–we can not appreciate the sweetness of the Hare Krishna mantra because of our material disease. It is because we have the disease that we can not perceive the sweetness of the Hare Krishna mantra but the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the only cure for the material disease so if we chant Hare Krishna–even though we have no taste for it, even though it may taste bad to us–that will cure our material disease and then we will be able to taste the sweetness of chanting Hare Krishna.
So you see how it works. We have to keep chanting Hare Krishna to cure the material disease and only when the material disease is cured will be actually able to relish the sweetness of chanting Hare Krishna.
So please keep chanting Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds a day and in time you will practically experience what I am saying here.
Ultimately we can say so may things–preach on so many points, but there is an English saying “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” So the only way you can really understand Krishna consciousness is by practically following the process of saddhana-bhakti as it is given to us by Srila Prabhupada and experience the results yourself. And like anything to advance in Krishna consciousness requires dedication and determination and it requires tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily giving up something that we want to do and instead serving Krishna. So in the beginning we may want to do so many things but if we give them up and chant Hare Krishna and strictly follow the four regulative principles it may even be a bit painful in the beginning but this is required to make advancement. There is another English saying: “No gain without pain.” And that is actually true also in Krishna consciousness. In the beginning our material desires are strong and we want to satisfy our senses by sense gratification and to give this up and chant Hare Krishna may be a bit painful.
So it is also said that spiritual life is like poison in the beginning and like nectar at the end, on the other hand material life is like nectar at the beginning but that quickly turns into poison. So we can not be too sentimental and expect everything to be roses and cream. There will be some difficulties for sure as we try to make advancement in Krishna consciousness. But Krishna consciousness is the greatest achievement and to achieve the greatest thing we have to be prepared to undergo a little bit of tapasya…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
dear prabhu
what is mean by, material attachment, is it include boidly relationship also, like fater, mother brother and …….,
ur servent
sanjay
Yes. Everything related to the body like father, mother, brothers, sisters, etc. is all temporary. You are eternal. You have had millions of and billions of different bodies and every time you have a different mother, father, etc. You have no permanent connection with these people. You meet with them for one life only and you will never see them again. So we need to give up all these bodily attachments and replace them with attachment for Krishna. That is permanent, eternal. Krishna is our real father–the person we think is our father is not. We have to become attached to our real father…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
dear prabhu , hare krishna
thanku for reply
pls sugget me , i can understand and belive on u, but i m finding difficulty in to suddenly give up these relationship, i m ready to do this, but how to start for this pls guide me
ur servent
sanjay kuamr
In this article it is written that I must have a spiritual master who can guide me very well. But I have no time to do all this. Because I am studying in 10th std and I have to prepare for board exams. But I have managed to save a little time in a day to read prabhupada’s books. So, by reading his books can I be successful in advancing in Krsna consciousness, just like a person advances after he surrenders unto his spiritual master?
Hare Krishna Krishnadas Vinay
Reading Prabhupada’s books daily is part of it and certainly even if you just read Prabhupada’s books you will make advancement because reading Prabhupada’s books is personal association with Srila Prabhupada. But you will find many instructions from Srila Prabhupada in the books about things he wants you to do in your practical day-to-day life so the more you follow these instructions and the more you live what you read in Prabhupada’s books the more you will advance in Krishna consciousness.
Krishna consciousness is a practical thing–a way of life. So to make nice advancement we need to adjust our life and live it in a Krishna conscious way according to the instructions and guidelines given by Srila Prabhupada in his books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
HARE KRISHNA.
please accept my humble obeisances,
ALL GLORIES TO SRILA PRABHUPADA
If we r doing service to PRABHUPADA,how can we know whether he is satisfied or not.i have a doubt ,directly doing service to prabhupada is it wright process?is
guidance also required ?plz explain this prabhuji.
all r telling satisfing siksha guru,service to him is moreimp than prabhupada.
iam in confusion.
somebody said if we dedicate our service to siksha guru, that is all useless.
what is wrightplz explain clearly?
Hare Krishna Yamuna
Siksa Guru means someone who you get some instruction from that helps you in advancing in Krishna consciousness. It may turn out that one siksha guru becomes your main guru or it may turn out that he just gives you some important instructions in one aspect of your Krishna consciousness.
In my case I have had many siksha gurus over the years who have taught me different things about serving Krishna like cooking for Krishna, distributing Prabhupada’s books, general brahmacary training, learning Sanskrit slokas, etc.–but for me Srila Prabhupada has always been my primary guru.
As far as ‘satisfying’ siksa or any type of guru he will be satisfied if he sees you making advancement in Krishna consciousness. That is his pleasure.
We have to dedicate our service to a pure devotee of Krishna–that is the main thing. Siksa guru is a title, diksa guru is a title–titles are not so important–the important thing is if the person is a pure devotee of Krishna–if he is a pure devotee of Krishna then we can serve him and he will not take that service for himself but will offer it to his spiritual master and that way our service will go to Krishna through the disciplic succession. If you offer service to someone who is not a pure devotee of Krishna however there is a good chance he will not offer that serve on to his spiritual master but will try to enjoy it himself and it will not go to Krishna. That is the problem.
So the bottom line is that guru you dedicate your service to has to be a pure devotee of Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari Bol Madhuvisa,
Still regarding my 9 year old handicapped daughter. At home she eats veg only but at school she eats non veg. Should I stop it at school also? Health wise is it proper since she doesnot walk, she hold things but she needs to be fed, she is totally dependent on me.
thank you madhuvisa Ji.
Hari Bol
Yes. Of course she should not be eating non-veg food.
Hare Krishna Madhuvisa,
I am greatly indebted to you for having replied to my e-mail regarding my 9 year old handicapped daughter. In fact i am doing my 16 rounds for a month now, i started on the japa some 3 months ago. My husband does his rounds as and when he feels like. I am not forcing him just giving him time to become krishna concious. He did accompanied me to the ISKCON temple on krishna janmashthami and also the following day on the appearance of Srila Prabhupada. That was a great gift I got from him. In fact he is still on non veg foods (not everyday, it can be once a week) and if he prepares food, he still add onions and garlic. With time he might change, thats my faith. I have a small temple inside my house with three levels, the middle one is connected with Krishna deities, radha rani, balaram, gaur0nitai, prabhupal etc. I offer sweets in the morning and anything I have prepared in the evening. And these are offered to my family members. I do my rounds early morning and remaining during the day at work. How can I help my daughter in that case since early morning she is still sleeping. During the week end, i put cds of krishna kirtans. Is there anything that I should correct which I am not doing right? Please help me Prabhu Ji. I also have one more query. I will be very glad if you can help me again. I want to install an altar in my house. Should I keep the previous one (where there all all deities) or just build another one.
Hare Krishna Madhuvisa
Hare Krishna Mataji
It seems things are developing nicely for you and your family. You can not expect your husband to do everything all at once and for the answers to many of your questions like this you can simply pray to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and use your common sense. You understand the ideas you just have to apply them in your particular situation.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Prabhu,
I understand the rules of chanting but at the same time I trust those who are meat eaters from birth wont be able to give up eating asap and i believe if they do that wont be genuine as their crave may get to them soon.
Me and my husband have been in Krsna Consciousness close to 1 year now. We been chanting and observing no meet eating where we can. We chant and trust in Krsna that he will lead us to the purity so that we will be also able to give up meet totally.
I our journey we have met people who have been meet eaters for 10 long years while being in Krsna consciousness and finally Krsna makes them loose the crave and now they are very happy and strictly following the rules. I trust Krsna will enlighten the path for us as well soon.
I am just saying in this Kali Yuga, we are doing so many sinful things and am sure Krsna will help those who are trying to purify them selves.
Hare Krsna!
Hare Krishna Neetha
It is not a question of ‘observing no meat eating where you can’. You have to give up meat eating. That is one of the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. We have to do these things and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily–that is the process. If we don’t follow the process we can not expect the craving for meat to go away.
All the Western Hare Krishna devotees were brought up as meat eaters and we have given up eating meat 100% easily. The other regulative principles may give trouble but generally after tasting Krishna prasadam and seriously practicing Krishna consciousness the devotees taste for meat eating is gone. The idea of eating meat becomes revolting. So it is just a question of taking Krishna consciousness more seriously and there will be no craving for meat.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
HARE KRISHNA GURUJI.
YOUR MAIL HAS COME IN RIGHT TIME FOR A RIGHT PERSON.REALLY IAM HAPPY ALL MY DOUBTS HAVE CLEARED.IN BETWEEN I HAVE STOPPED CHANTING& AS YOU RIGHTLY SAID ABOUT 10 OFFENCES.REALLY IT HAS TOTALLY APPLIED ME ONLY. THANK YOU YOU HAVE POSTED IN RIGHT TIME.IT HAS OPENED MY IGNORENCE.I WILL DO 16 ROUND CHANTING &FOLLOW STRICTLY ON REGULLATION.GURUJI,EARLY IN THE MORNING I WANT TO GO FOR WALKING IS IT POSIBLE TO CHANT WHILE WALKING AS MUCH ROUND AS POSSIBLE,REMAINING AFTER BATH ?
Yes. You can chant Hare Krishna while walking.
if 1 is married do not want 2 have children but still induldge in sex life 4 pleasure is that an offence ?
Yes. Sex life for pleasure is a sin. No matter what you do there will be pregnancy sometimes and then what are you going to do? Many people kill the child by abortion which is murder and hideously sinful and if you have the child he will be ‘varna sankara’, an unwanted child, and will grow up badly. The whole world is full of these unwanted children at the moment and it is turning the world into hell.
Sex is only for having children in marriage. And the only way you can realistically follow this principle is to make some advancement in Krishna consciousnesses and experience some transcendental pleasure on the spiritual platform by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Madhuvisa Dasa,
In the four regulative principles, you have mentioned the following
No illicit sex life [sex is only for having children in marriage, nothing else]. A married man having sex with his wife is it considered ILLICIT..Request to please clarify.
Regards
Sivakumar
Yes. A married man who has sex with his wife for pleasure, not for having children is having illicit sex. Sex is for having children in marriage only.
If you are having sex for pleasure then you do not want the children that will sometimes result from this activity. You wife will sometimes get pregnant even if you take precautions, then you will perhaps murder the child by having an abortion. If you go ahead and have the child he will not grow up well because he is ‘varna sankara’, an unwanted child. So it is in all ways very inauspicious and sinful this ‘sex for pleasure…’
can i purchase tulasi neck beads outside shops?.what is the difference between tulasi neck beads and japa beads
You can purchase from http://www.KrishnaStore.com
Neck beads are for going around your neck and japa beads are for chanting on.
Dandavats Madhuvisa,
All glories to Shrila Prabhupada. I just want to say I’m sorry if I’m not replying to you, it is nothing personal, I think you preach quite expertly mainly because of your faith in Shrila Prabhupada and everything he ever said and your very strictly following Prabhupada’s instructions so in other words I have no complaints or questions really, I find Prabhupada answers all my questions, I’ve been dedicated to him since at least 69, anyhow all glories to your service, I pray I’m not annoying you, please let me know if I am vancha kalpa!!! I’m just curiouse sometimes to read what you are saying, and it truly is very impressive to me really and it makes me very humbled to see someone obviously more advanced in such a compassionate preaching mood,it’s too bad there are not more devotees giving this opportunity to souls to hear from a disciple of Prabhupada like yourself who can preach in detail Prabhupada’s understanding really as far as I can see!!!!
Hare Krishna,
Madhudvisa dasa,
Thank you for the teaching of the ten offenses in chanting Hare Krishna Mantra.
I have a tendency to preach on lord Krishna to the faithful and Unfaithful. I will correct my bad behavior. I have been using garlic and onion on my food. I will stop putting them in my food. Is there other foods that we shouldn’t eat beside meat and egg? Please explain on the intoxication of tea and coffee. Can we have it or not? I drink herbal tea once or twice a day. What we should drink in the morning?
Hare Krishna,
Sara
Hare Krishna Sara
We should be making nice offerings to Krishna and trying to please Him and whatever we have offered to Krishna, whatever is Krishna prasadam we can can be very glad to accept that ourselves as Krishna’s mercy. The devotee is just concerned about pleasing Krishna with nice offerings and whatever remnants of those offerings to Krishna are there he is satisfied with that.
We can only offer Krishna things in the mode of goodness and garlic and onions are in the mode of passion so they can not be offered to Krishna. Tea and coffee are intoxicants so we can not offer them to Krishna. Herbal teas are different. They are generally OK for offering to Krishna. Things like peppermint tea, etc. There is no problem with this. It is the normal tea and coffee that is the problem.
We should drink in the morning whatever you offer to Krishna in the morning. Many times devotees will offer some herbal tea to Krishna and that is OK. But we can not offer the ordinary tea or coffee.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Madhudvisa, dasa,
Thank you for giving us the ten offenses in chanting the hare krishna mantra. I am following them but I have a tendency to push people to accept Krishna to the faithful and unfaithful. Thank you for your advise that I have to follow strictly the ten offenses – not to preach on the faithful.
I have been drinking tea and preparing my food with garlic and onion. I can prepare my food without garlic and onion. Please explain the intoxication of tea and coffee. We shouldn’t drink tea and coffee or we can have it in lesser quantity.
Hare Krishna,
Sara
We shouldn’t preach to the faithless. It is subtle point. The idea is you shouldn’t try to force someone to accept Krishna consciousness against their will. If they do not believe in God or they are atheistic, these people are out there and as soon as you mention God they get upset. So preaching to them will just make them angry. But you can speak to people about Krishna and if they are happy to listen to you then you can go on speaking. If they are listening to you without objecting to what you are saying they must have some interest and a little faith in what you are saying.
So do now worry so much about this, just remember that if you sense the person you are speaking to about Krishna does not want to hear it then it is better not to try to force it on them. The idea is the person you are speaking to should be interested to hear and if they are hearing about Krishna that is wonderful. Go on speaking about Krishna.
Tea and coffee are intoxicants. You get addicted to them. We want to get addicted to Krishna not tea and coffee. And you can not offer them to Krishna and we only want to eat things or drink things that have been offered to Krishna–Krishna prasadam.
As I wrote in the other reply there are many herbal teas that can be offered to Krishna.
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Pranaam Guruji
with your grace I was chanting 16 rounds daily.
If suppose time will be available i can 32 rounds also but one doubt,
once I started to chanting 32 rounds is it compulsorily to chant 32 rounds daily?
Yours servent
Hare Krishna Surya
It is very good to hear you are chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. It is the minimum and you can always chant more rounds if you have the time. 32 rounds, 64 rounds or even more. Haridas Thakur was chanting 300,000 names a day which is over 170 rounds a day. So 16 is the minimum and you can always chant more but 16 remains the minimum, if you chant more one day you can go back to chanting 16 rounds the next day. That is fine. No problem.
Ideally we should be always chanting Hare Krishna, but some minimum has to be there.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa dasa
Having followed various articles , by various (maybe) followers of Krishna ,I need to ask a straight question and would appreciate a straight answer.
You must know (by name) who are the true followers of Srila Prabhupada and those who are not.
All profess they are true Guru’s , and for a new devotee a clear cut (by example) answer to this question would be very helpful.
I am convinced Srila Prabhupada would give a direct answer…..
I am thankful for your web-site…
Regards
Jurgen
Hare Krishna Jurgen
I do not know any follower of Srila Prabhupada who is qualified as acharya as Srila Prabhupada is qualified.
It is very rare to find a qualified bona fide spiritual master. Most will be bogus. That is just the way it is. I am not aware of any true gurus except Srila Prabhupada. The real Vaisnava Acharya is self-effulgent like the sun. We saw the Prabhupada sun rising and it is still very brightly shining in the sky. So you should take advantage of Srila Prabhupada. I have not seen any other vaisnava acharaya sun rising…
It does not mean it is not possible. But it is very rare to find a bona fide guru…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Out of the four main rules a pure Krishna devotee should abstain. please clarify in detail about meat eating. It is mentioned no egg or fish to be eaten. I agree. But a certain section of the devotees say you must abstain from taking garlic,onions & lentils. I use them in my meals. Could you clafify whether these too need to be completely abstained.
The thing is we don’t make meals for ourselves. We cook for Krishna and this realization is very important for devotees to have. So Krishna only accepts things in the mode of goodness. That means grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits. Garlic and onions are exceptions as they are in the mode of ignorance and are not offerable to Krishna. Lentils are also generally not cooked by devotees as they are very heavy in protein. But devotees use all sorts of beans like mung beans, split peas, urad dhal, chick peas, etc. There are many beans that can be used for making dhal for offering to Krishna. All devotees will say this, it is a general thing–you can not offer garlic and onions to Krishna at all that is for sure. Lentils there may be some disagreement on but as followers of Srila Prabhupada we do not offer lentils.
Hare Krishna,
I chant the Maha Mantra, but it really hurts me when people say that I am a Hippie, or when I hear it being chanted in wrong ways (Trance Music, Bollywood music, etc) and that wrong people are chanting it (people under alcohol/drugs toxication). How should I prove my innocence to them?
Hare Krishna Gia
People will always find ways to try and discourage you from chanting Hare Krishna. Just ignore them and keep chanting Hare Krishna. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone except Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,sir ji
I have many queries in life regarding ,how to live life. Why some are rich and some are poor and what type of karma should we do to make life blissful. I found that rules and regulation are must in chanting hare krishna but if some body chants in any place ,is that right to chant it anywhere ,in bazzar,in school,in office or when i need to chant for peace.
Is it compulsory to chant with beads and 16 time without fail.
Whenever i feel lonely i started chanting and ignore the place where i am sitting or where iam walking. Is such kind of chanting is a sin
I am waiting for your generous reply………………..
Hare Krishna Atul
There are no hard and fast rules for chanting Hare Krishna. You can chant Hare Krishna anywhere, anytime. Chanting Hare Krishna is most certainly never a sin in any situation at all. You can and should chant anywhere, anytime.
People’s positions–some are rich an some are poor–that is a result of their karma, the reactions to the things they have done in this and previous lifetimes. If people have done a lot of pious, good things in the past then they will have more good fortune now and if they have done sinful things in the past they will be experiencing more suffering now. It is the way the universe works.
Krishna consciousness is transcendental to this. For a devotee it does not matter if he is rich or poor. We can chant Hare Krishna and serve Krishna in any position.
It is compulsory to chant at least 16 rounds if you want to seriously take to Krishna consciousness. But any chanting is good. It is best to chant on beads but not compulsory. If you can no for some reason chant on the beads you can chant with some other system for counting the rounds. Or if you have already chanted 16 rounds you can just keep chanting Hare Krishna without bothering to count the rounds with or without beads.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my humble obeisances and heartfelt thanks for taking the time to write to everyone and kindly answer our questions.
In the above article about the offenses of chanting, there is a section that emphasizes the importance of finding authorized instruction through a spiritual master and rending service to them:
“Therefore having a bona fide spiritual master and serving him and pleasing him and getting his mercy is essential. Otherwise there can be no advancement in Krishna consciousness. And unless the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna then he has no potency to give you Krishna. He is simply a cheating rascal.”
My question is three-fold:
1. Can we accept Srila Prabhupada as our spiritual master?
2. If not, how does one go about finding a pure devotee of Krsna to serve and receive instruction from?
3. Does one have to associate with them physically or can they instruct you from afar, like in another state or country?
Again, I am so grateful to receive your emails and to be able to associate with you on this forum.
Hare Krsna.
Hare Krishna Noah
Thank you very much for the good questions.
The whole reason that Srila Prabhupada wrote his books is so that he could personally instruct all of his disciples who were scattered all over the world and also scattered throughout time. Even in Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence he established a system where he appointed priests to initiated his disciples on his behalf and there are many, many Prabhupada disciples who have never met Srila Prabhupada at all. He was only in one place in the world at any time and he was accepting disciples from all over the world. Many of them never met him and he never met them. There only connection with Srila Prabhupada was through his books and his recorded classes.
So if this is possible in Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence–that he can accept disciples from anywhere in the world–disciples who have never physically met him and who he has never met–then it is still possible now.
Prabhupada is living in his books. What does that mean? It means that Prabhupada’s books have the complete potency of Srila Prabhupada. He is there in the books and he can guide us and initiate us and chastise us–everything–through his books. If we are prepared to open them up and read them in a humble and submissive spirit of course.
So no, physical association with the spiritual mater is not important. There are many devotees who had a lot of physical association with Srila Prabhupada but turned out to be rascals. That is not the important thing at all. The important thing is to associate with the spiritual master by following his instructions. That is the real association–and if you really surrender to Srila Prabhupada by following his instructions you will feel his real tangible presence with you at all time and he will always be there to guide you and help you.
Hope it answers the questions.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Madhudvisa dasa,
Thank you for your expert response to my question. Your logic and understanding is truly sound. There are many that serve His Divine Grace and accept Him as their Spiritual Master, even though they may have never personally met Him or taken any kind of formal initiation. I also believe you are correct, His spiritual potency DOES live on through His books and is not diminished, in any way, by His having departed this world. I have been confused for so long by so many different things I have read about this dilemma concerning finding a bona fide Guru. Now, you have completely dispelled my confusion and my path seems clear. I cannot describe in words how good it is to know that a fallen soul, like me, can accept Srila Prabhupada as my guide and Spiritual Master. There could not be ANYONE in this world that could be more qualified to guide the fallen as He. I only hope that my feeble service will be acceptable to Him. Without any doubt, even today, His Divine Grace still lives on, through His books, lectures, recordings and other teachings. His tireless work is truly a priceless benefit to all mankind.
Therefore, I now pledge all that I have and all that I am, mind, body and soul and surrender fully at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada.
With unalloyed submission, Master, I accept Your Divine Grace as my beloved Guru, now and forever. May Sri Radha-Krsna give me the strength to uphold my solemn pledge to constantly render devotional service to You with avery action I take; to daily chant 16 rounds (or more) of the Holy Mahamantra, to diligently study Your excellent books and submissively accept Your transcendental teachings without any arrogance. Guruji, may I always remember You constantly and strictly follow the four regulative principals, all the days of my life, without fail.
Master, since I am presently in such a lowly and fallen condition, Please take mercy on me and help me abide in You correctly. I pray that my humble service will be acceptable in Your sight. In return for my devotion, I ask for nothing, except that you might continue to instruct me so my dormant love for Krsna will someday develop and grow. I beg the Almighty, Lord Krsna, that in any future birth I take, even if it is to be in some hellish condition, that I may continue to be allowed to serve Your Divine Grace again and never forget Your causeless mercy.
Jaya Jaya Prabhupada! Jai Guru Deva! Jai Sri Krishna! Jai Radhe! Jai Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabu! Haribol !
can you please tell me rice is satvic food.
yes. Rice is satvik food. It is a grain. Satvik foods are from four groups: grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits
Always whole grains are better than polished grains.
iam chanting hare krsna mantra 64 rounds, following 4 regulative principles.can you please tell me the onions and garlic are in the 4 regulative principles.
Hare Krishna Sathya
It is great news. I am not sure if you completely understand what 64 rounds is or not. One round is chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
108 times. So chanting one round will take typically about 10 minutes, therefore theoretically one could chant 64 rounds in eight hours although for me personally it always takes much longer than that because I chant slowly and tend to space out…
But if you are chanting 64 rounds that is wonderful and keep it up.
The four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily are the vows we take at initiation time. So these are the most important things. However there are many other dos and don’ts that we also have to follow.
As far as garlic and onions this is not really in the four regulative principles but there is a very important principle that as devotees we should only take Krishna prasadam, food prepared by devotees and offered to Krishna. And garlic and onions are not offerable to Krishna. Foods can be in 3 modes: goodness, passion and ignorance and only foods in the mode of goodness [grains, milk products, fruits and vegetables] can be offered to Krishna. Garlic and onions are in the mode of passion so they can not be offered and if we eat them they will have a bad effect on our consciousness. So firstly devotees do not eat anything which is not offered to Krishna and you can’t offer garlic and onions to Krishna so we can’t eat them and secondly we can not eat them because they are in the mode of passion…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
thanks for replying prabhu
iam chanting 64 rounds for 8hours.iam chanting each rounds 108 times how it is possible.but without beads iam chanting?when iam walking in road,when Iam travelling in bus. when iam taking bath.when iam going to some computer classes.
Hare Krishna Sathya
It is OK to chant without beads also. But the vow we take is to chant 16 rounds on beads. So you need to chant at least 16 rounds on beads and all the rest of the day if you can not chant on beads because you hands are busy doing something else you can keep chanting Hare Krishna without the beads. But you must have the beads and must chant at least 16 rounds a day on them.
It is my practical experience that if I do not count the rounds I tend to think I am chanting more than I really are. So you need japa beads to count the 108 mantras in a round and then small counting beads to count the number of rounds you have chanted. Every time you finish a round you move one of the counting beads down and then always you can easily see how many rounds you have chanted so far.
If you do not have the japa beads you can get them from http://www.KrishnaStore.com
You are doing wonderfully. Just keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books also and your Krishna consciosuness will develop very nicely!
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Jai Srila Prabhupada
Jai Sri RadhaKrishna
Hare Krishna!!!
Dear Prabhu,
Greetings, Kindly forgive me for any offenses i may speak. How do you control the urge of sex and sexual feelings. If a person has strong attachment to sex how will he control it so that he may follow the principles of regulations. Its a very difficult task to control the mind in these areas. Coming to illicit sex, i believe it includes every thought we think sexually, every action we perform with our senses which is inclined directly or indirectly to sex. Just like there are eight methods of worship for Lord Krishna like hearing, chanting, remembering etc, there are 8 forms of sexual indulgence, and it is not that only with a partner these acts can be done, being alone too these acts can be done, through self indulgence. some of the sexual indulgence include, hearing, praising the opposite sex, making fun with them through improper conversations, remembering the form of beauty of opposite sex, etc.
In order to remove the thought about sex and firmly fixing the thought of the lotus feet of the Lord requires tremendous effort, and we often fail many times. Then with all humility i ask sincerely to you, how would you control the mind in the area of sex and firmly fix it in Krishna Consciousness.
I believe whether one chants attentively or with minor offenses he will get results, as without chanting one will not get purified, and without purification one cannot chant offenselessly.
Kindly clear my doubt as
1. how can one control the mind the area of sex and sexual thoughts and acts?
2. how to get purified for chanting and steadily progressing in Krishna Consciousness?
If any offenses or mistakes found in the above letter, kindly forgive this fallen soul.
Waiting for your merciful reply.
Thanking You
Hare Krishna Jag
Chanting Hare Krishna is always good and will always have a good effect no matter how offensive we are or in whatever condition we are so we should never stop chanting Hare Krishna no matter how fallen or offensive we feel. When we are committing offenses it is only the chanting of Hare Krishna that can give us the strength to stop committing the offenses. So the effect of the offensive chanting is that is helps to raise us to the platform of offenseless chanting.
As far as controlling sex desire is concerned yes, that is very difficult. Particularly if we are surrounded by people who are very much sexually inclined. That is why it is ideal to live in the association of devotees who are strictly following the regulative principles but that association is also very, very difficult to find nowadays. There are so many cheaters even among the devotees. It is not surprising that we may fall down but we should not make plans to fall down. If we are sincerely trying to follow the principles and because of our bad habits from the past we happen to fall down into illicit sex then we just have to try to rectify our position again by sincerely regretting our falldown and praying for Srila Prabhupada’s and Krishna’s mercy and for the strength to get back on the proper path and get back to the proper standard. Chanting Hare Krishna will save us from these accidental falldowns but we can not make a plan, “I will do this sinful thing and then I will chant Hare Krishna and then I will be forgiven.” That is one of the ten offenses, “Committing sinful activities on the strength of the holy name.” Srila Prabhupada says this is the greatest offense.
The only way to control the sex desire is to become actually Krishna conscious and to raise to the platform where we are enjoying a higher pleasure from serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna than the so-called pleasure that is there in sex life. And to become Krishna conscious we have to follow the process of saddhana-bhakti as taught by Srila Prabhupada. I say it all the time but without chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra a day we can not expect to be able to control the sex desire. So that has to be there first. And we have to make a vow to follow the four regulative principles and really try our best to follow. And we need to control the tongue. That is very important. The tongue, the belly and the genitals are in a straight line and if we can control the tongue we can control the genitals. The tongue has two businesses: vibrating and tasting. So we have to organize our life so our tongue only vibrates the Hare Krishna mantra and Krishna katha, talks about Krishan, and the tongue only tastes Krishna prasadam–then we will be able to control the genitals.
As I mentioned before association is very important. If you associate with friends who are all interested in having sex then that association will contaminate you and you will be practically forced to have sex because of this bad association.
And we have to read Prabhupada’s books–we have to know the philosophy, because that will give us strength in times of difficulties. It is a whole process and you have to follow the whole process but we should never become discouraged. There is always hope no matter how fallen we are. Lord Caitanya is patita pavana gaura hari–“The Saviour of the most fallen.” So as well as chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
We also chant:
Sri Krishna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara
Srivasadi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda
It is not possible to fully answer this question in a few paragraphs because the answer to your question is if you want to control your sex desire you have to become Krishna consciousness and Srila Prabhupada has scientifically explained all the details about how to become Krishna conscious in more than eighty books. And it is all important. So you have to read all of Prabhupada’s books and put them into practice in your life if you want to become Krishna conscious.
Everything in this world that is valuable requires a great effort to attain, so if we want to become Krishna conscious we have to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and through him surrender to Krishna and make a great effort to serve Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. It is the mission of our life because if we can become Krishna conscious in this life then we don’t have to come back to this horrible material world again–we can go back home back to Godhead.
So the short answer is as soon as you become Krishna conscious you will have no sex desire because you will experiencing a pleasure far greater than sex so it will not appear even attractive to you any more. And how to become Krishna conscious? That is described in detail in Srila Prabhupada’s books…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Madhudvisa Dasa please chant with me to help over come my nicotine and alcohol addiction.
I am chanting but you have to chant also. We actually have to become addicted to Krishna. In the beginning we are naturally addicted to maya, everyone is, it is not a very strange thing to be addicted to nicotine and alcohol. So many people are and so many devotees were also before they took to Krishna consciousness. I never smoked but I was a big drinker before I became a devotee and honestly now I have no attraction at all to alcohol. And so many devotees have this experience. If we can just experience a little bit of the higher spiritual taste of Krishna consciousness then our material taste is completely gone. After this we may even fall down again but we will always remember that higher taste of Krishna consciousness and hanker for it and that will save us.
It is written in the Bhagavad-gita that once one starts on this path of Krishna consciousness he will complete the course. It is a question of time. And better if we do it quickly. And that depends on our determination to some extent but really we have to get the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. That is the key, that is the secret to becoming Krishna conscious. So we have to do something practical to serve Srila Prabhupada.
So why not take up the mission of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. Srila Prabhupada says “if you love me distribute my books.” So if you really want to overcome your addictions that requires that you become Krishna conscious and the quickest way to become Krishna conscious–actually the only way–is to please Krishna’s pure devotee–and Srila Prabhupada made it very clear that the best way to please him is to distribute his books… So it is a simple thing…
Maybe it will not be easy. But nothing worthwhile is easy. If we want to achieve anything of value we have to be prepared to work for it and Krishna consciousness is no exception.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! [I am also chanting and thinking of you but ultimately you have to please Srila Prabhupada–that is the secret]
Madhudvisa dasa
So gay people are not allowed unless I leave my life partner or decide to become celibate for the last 40 years of our lives? Honestly this did not seem like the bhavava coming from you guys when we chanted with you in Venice. We we very drawn to you. So what’s up.
Hare Krishna Mark
We are not saying you have to do anything at all. All we are saying is if you want to become Krishna conscious, if you want to make spiritual advancement, then you have to give up illicit sex. But you don’t really have to worry about this because without becoming at lest a little bit Krishna conscious that would seem impossible. Because when we are in material consciousness sex is very important to us. So becoming celibate seems impossible and crazy. So you like the chanting at Venice and you were drawn to it which means you have some connection with Krishna from your past lives and all you have to do is just chant Hare Krishna and read some of Srila Prabhupada’s books and understand the philosophy more deeply and you will gradually come to realize the momentary pleasures of sex in the material world are nothing in comparison to the ocean of pleasure you can experience on the spiritual platform. So when you are experiencing a higher pleasure then the lower thing becomes unimportant.
You don’t have to leave your partner. You can chant Hare Krishna and advance in spiritual life together. Why not?
So don’t worry about it. Just chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu!!
I am not recieving the newsletters regularly.
the last mail i recieved was on the importance of having a qualified guru on aug15.
I am trying to send as often as possible, please forgive me for the delays.
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Pls. answer below question…
1) Can we chant on Japa Clicker while travelling… ?
2) Can we wear 3 or more than 3 loops Tulsi neck beads…if we are following four regulative principal…but not initiated…?
Your Servant
Hare Krishna Chetan
I spend my whole life traveling Prabhu and everywhere I chant on japa beads. Prabhupada spent 12 years traveling and preaching all over the world and everywhere he went you see he is chanting on japa beads. We chant on japa beads Prabhu, not clickers… Japa beads are not very heavy to take with you everywhere…
Of course ultimately the japa beads are a counting system but they are special because Srimati Tulsi devi is a pure devotee of Krishna and by touching her body while chanting we are getting great spiritual benefit. So if you use a clicker you miss out on this benefit. But if you have no japa beads or you are really in some situation where you can not chant on beads you can use a clicker or your mobile phone or your fingers or whatever counting method you can come up with to keep track of how many rounds you have chanted.
If you are really following the four regulative principles strictly and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily then you can wear 100 rounds of tulsi beads around your neck if you want to. Why not? The point is it is offensive to be wearing tulsi beads if we are performing sinful activities. So if you are not doing any sinful activities and you are chanting at least 16 rounds a day you can wear tulsi neck beads…
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
One more question Prabhu
I was told by one of the devotee (In India) that only initiated devotee can wear 3 or more than 3 rounds of tulsi beads around neck…
Uninitiated devotee has to wear 2 rounds of tulsi beads around neck…if he follows four regulative principles strictly…Is it true…?
Your Servant
This 3 rounds, 2 rounds is a custom only. It is not something that is in the sastra or something that Srila Prabhupada taught. It is a custom that has developed in ISKCON only. But if you are associating with ISKCON devotees then why not follow the custom? 2 rounds or 3 rounds it does not really make any difference.
However it is true that only one who follows the regulative principles strictly should wear tulsi beads and chant on tulsi beads.
You say that only someone who follows the four regulative principles may wear Tulasi kanthi mala and use Tulasi japa mala. Do you have any shastra for that?
Hare Krishna Tulasi
Someone who does not follow the regulative principles is not a devotee. So really why would they want to wear tulsi neck beads?
If one is sincerely trying to be a devotee, sincerely trying to follow the four regulative principles, and does occasionally fall down from the proper standards due to his or her past bad habits that is a different thing.
Srimati Tulsi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna. And we have to respect her. And it is disrespectful to wear tulsi beads and at the same time commit sinful activities.
That is offensive. That is what we have learned in the disciplic succession in ISKCON. It is the tradition in ISKCON that devotees are first given neem beads to chant on and only at the time of initiation, after they have made vows before the sacred fire, the spiritual master, the deities and the assembled Vaisnavas to strictly follow the four regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, only then are they offered tulsi japa beads.
That is the system that Srila Prabhupada established in ISKCON. So I do not know if such things are written in the sastra but that is the principle established by Srila Prabhupada.
So we do not recommend that someone who is not at least very sincerely trying to follow the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day use tulsi japa beads or wear tulsi neck beads. These things are only for serious devotees. Of course “serious devotee” is not a wonderful difficult to attain thing. It is just seriously following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day. Without following at least these basic principles there is no question of spiritual life. It is only sentiment.
So be serious and follow the four regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and it will be OK for you to wear tulsi neck beads and chant on tulsi japa beads. Otherwise it is best to chant on neem beads. That is the tradition in ISKCON.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I wish to know about initiation.
Initiation is not very important.
Becoming a devotee is important. So the thing is you read Prabhupada’s books, you follow his instructions and you chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles and you will become initiated.
Initiated really means surrendering to, dedicating your life to serving and following the orders of the bona fide spiritual master. That is all. If you don’t surrender there is no initiation. If you surrender you are initiated. The ceremony is not the initiation. The real surrender to Srila Prabhupada, making the mission of Srila Prabhupada your mission–that is initiation.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
what is one round of chanting??
Hare Krishna Mahesh
It is a very good question and I apologize for not clearing this up in the article.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced this system of chanting with “numerical strength” for His disciples and followers and that system has continued in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya-Sampradaya which we are part of.
So disciples in the Krishna Consciousness Movement take a vow at the time of initiation to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on japa beads. Japa beads you can see at:
http://krishnastore.com/mantra-meditation-kit-japa-chanting-beads-in-bead-bag-h-krishna-421.html
You can see there are 108 wooden beads plus a bigger bead that we call the “Krishna Bead.” So “one round” is chanted by chanting on each of the 108 beads, and you know you have finished one round because you come to the “Krishna Bead.” You do not cross the Krishna bead, you reverse the direction of your chanting on your beads and when you reach the Krishna bead again you have chanted two rounds. And you just repeat this until you have chanted 16 rounds.
Different devotees can chant at different speeds. Occasionally I have been able to chant 16 rounds in two hours but for me generally it takes longer, 2.5 to 3 hours. Really if we are concentrating it will be possible to chant one round within 10 minutes. So for me at least chanting 16 rounds typically takes about 2 and a half hours. So it is not a very long time, and you don’t have to do it all at once. You could chant 8 rounds in the morning and 4 rounds at various times during the day and 4 rounds in the evening for example. So anyone can find the time to chant 16 rounds in a day if they make it a priority and chant Hare Krishna instead of watching the TV and other time wasting things. Also you can chant on the bus or on the train or walking on the street. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.
So I hope this explains what is chanting one round.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
You have written, “The ninth offense is to preach the glories of the holy name of God to a faithless person who is not interested in hearing them.” Does it not negate the obligation for every Vaishnava to preach and spread Krishna consciousness to the uninitiated and the ignorant with maybe even blasphemous views of Krishna. Should we leave them, the ignorant and the blasphemous sinners as such or try to change them positively?
Hare Krishna Amit
Actually Srila Prabhupada has written this and I am quoting Prabhupada. There is no point whatsoever in preaching to a person who is not at least a bit submissive and a bit interested in hearing what you have to say. The art of preaching is first to find the right person to preach to. A preacher will avoid the envious and the demons and preach to the innocent. It is an offense to preach to the faithless because that sort of preaching will have a bad effect. An atheist for example does not believe in God. So if you tell him to surrender to Krishna he will just get angry and become blasphemous and become a bigger offender.
There is a big difference between an ignorant person and a faithless person. It is not that the preacher ignores the ignorant. Practically everyone is ignorant of Krishna consciousness, the preacher has to have the ability to differentiate between the envious, the innocent and the devotees. He avoids the envious, he preaches to the innocent and he associates with the devotees. And he is always searching for the association of devotees who are more advanced than him. This is actually the madhyam-adhikari platform. The first platform of Krishna consciousness is Kanista-adhikari and that is a dangerous position because a kanistha can not tell the difference between an envious person, an innocent person and a devotee. So he does not know who to preach to, who to avoid or who to associate with. And preaching to the wrong person is offensive and associating with the wrong person can destroy our spiritual advancement and accepting someone who is not a pure devotee of Krishna as his spiritual master will be a very big problem in his spiritual life.
So the idea is really preaching is for the madhyam-adikaris, and we should not remain on the kanistha platform–we have to advance to the madhyam platform–then we can preach, we can understand who to preach to, who to avoid and who to associate with…
Of course an expert devotee can preach to anyone and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has shown this by his activities. He was very concerned about engaging the mayavadis and the impresonalists in Krishna consciousness. And He was making plans how they could also be swept up in the ocean of love of Godhead which was inundating the world because of His Sankirtan movement.
There are ways of preaching to the envious. We can chant Hare Krishna in Sankritan on the streets and the envious people will hear it and they may get a little upset but if the chanting is being done by pure devotees it will be powerful and will touch their hearts. We can distribute Krishna prasadam and get them to take Krishna’s mercy in this way and it will act. We can sell them one of Srila Prabhupada’s books and they will give some of their hard-earned money to pay for the book, and this is ‘ajnata-sukriti’. They are giving some contribution to help in the spreading of the Krishna consciousness movement so that will be very purifying for them and that will be their qualification to read and understand the book and by associating with Srila Prabhupada and Krishna through the book they will be purified.
But we can not jump up and down in front of an envious person and demand that they surrender to Krishna and chant Hare Krishna. Preaching the philosophy can only be done to the innocent, sincere people.
Many people are innocent and if you start to talk to them about Krishna they will like to hear it. But some people if you mention God will immediately get angry. So there is no point arguing with them. It will have bad results. Better to give them a sweet-ball (prasadam) and go on to the next person…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you Guruji for this best explanation
Hare Krishna
unless we have our spiritual guru ,we cannot chant harakrishna mahamantra.but due to some problems if we cannot join krishna concious them,what we should do.
Hare Krishna Indira
No. You can chant Hare Krishna. Why not? And Prabhupada is there in his books to guide you. He will be happy to be your guru if you surrender to his instructions and accept him as your guru. So there is no question of guru not being there. You can chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books in your own home and quickly advance in Krishna consciousness in this way.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
How can a handicapped 9 year old girl approach krishna? Please reply
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Radha
By the mercy of her Vaisnava parents. If you in your house make an arrangement to worship the Deity of Krishna with Krishna kirtan in the morning and in the evening and readings from Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and if every time you cook you offer the bhoga to the Deity and then distribute prasadam to the family members including the handicapped girl then she will make quick advancement in Krishna consciousness by hearing the chanting, by hearing the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita, by respecting the prasadam and by associating with the other family members who are all devotees.
This is the case for all children, handicapped or not handicapped. They need guidance and training from their parents and if the parents give the guidance and training in Krishna consciousness then they will become devotees. That is the responsibility of becoming a parent–to make the children devotees of Krishna.
Krishna consciousness is not about the body, it is the souls original relationship with Krishna that we are reawakening–so it doesn’t matter if the body is handicapped–that is not a disqualification for taking to Krishna consciousness.
Madhudvisa dasa
I find reading this occasionally as a ‘reminder’ is most beneficial as it keeps it fresh in my mind.
Thanks to all who have made this available.
Nityaseva dd = Dianne Light
Can’t stop drinking, don’t believe in god, can i chant while I’m getting clean. Why would anyone ever want to hurt a buddhist?
Hare Krishna Tim
You can chant Hare Krishna any time, all the time, every time.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
pranam prabhuji all glories to our gutudev HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C BHAKTIVEDANTA SRILA PRABHUPADA
FATHER I JUST WANTED TO KNOW THAT ONCE SRILA PRABHUPADA TOLD THAT WE SHOULD CHANT PANCHA TATTVA MANTRA BEFORE CHANTING THE HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTRA ,IT WILL REMOVE ALL THE OFFENCES OF CHANTING THE MAHA MANTRA ,SO IT IS OK RIT/? THAT SHOULD BE THE RULE THEN BECAUSE THAT ELIMINATES OFFENCES,PLEASE KINDLY REPLY
YOUR SERVENT
ANANYA MISRA
Yes. That is a rule. We chant the Pancattva mantra before chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. All devotees do this, or at least they should. We never chant the Hare Krishna mantra without chanting the Panca-Tattva mantra first. In kirtan we always first chant Srila Prabhupada’s pranam mantras, then the Panca-Tattva Maha-mantra, then the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. And when chanting japa I, and I think most devotees, always chant once the Panca-Tattva mantra before each round of the Hare Krishna mantra…