Welcome to Krishna Connect’s Bhagavad Gita Introduction
Although Bhagavad-gita was spoken 5,000 years ago it is a timeless book and everything spoken by Krishna to Arjuna is still completely relevant in today’s world.
Bhagavad-gita was spoken on a battlefield.
And we, in today’s modern world, are also on a different kind of battlefield.
In Krishna Connect we will discover how to use the battlefield knowledge Krishna gives Arjuna to our advantage in our day-to-day lives.
Prepare for the Adventure…
I will send you the first Krishna Connect newsletter in a day or two. We are going to start by trying to understand the soul and how it is different from the body.
Constantly, since birth, we have been educated to think if we can satisfy our senses we will be happy. Practically everyone around us is working on this principle.
“If I get more money I will be happy,” “If I find a nice girl or boy I will be happy” and so on. But this is a false idea. Real happiness does not come from satisfying the senses of the body. Why this is so and how we can get real happiness will be revealed in the next issue of Krishna Connect.
We will explore many interesting topics over the next few weeks. I would like to send you a very short email like this one every few days and I am requesting you to please find a few minutes out of your busy life to read these emails.
Everything we will discuss will be based on Bhagavad-gita As It Is. You will get a lot more out of this if you have your own copy. To make it easy for you to get your own copy of the Gita I have bundled together all the books and a DVD we will be using on Krishna Connect, a total value of more than $40, for only $14.95.
This is a limited time special offer for Krishna Connect subscribers. Please take advantage of this and place your order now by Clicking on This Link.
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!
Related Posts
Prabhupada’s Vrndavana Krishna-Balarama Temple–How It All Began →
The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple →
We Are Not These Bodies →
Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Could you please send me mailing
Address where I can send check for book
Thanks
Usha sinha
We don not have any facility for processing checks in the mail. We can only accept online payments. So please place your order online at:
https://krishnastore.com
Hare Krishna.
At last I have found out the right path to have peace in my life through your association.
I’m very much grateful to you and will always eagerly wait for your invaluable emails.
Hare Krishna.
not getting email from Krishna connect since 21st feb 2019
Pls forward
Yes, I do not have the time for writing new emails at the moment, very sorry for this, I will try to get back into it again in the near future.
Hare Krishna.
I am a Lawyer by profession and was working in Dubai for past 8years. As my dad was continuously unwell due to his diabetes, I left my job in 2017and living with my parents in India.
Though I have a very hectic schedule, I try not to miss read gita or bhagavatam daily at least one verse. I also strictly do my prayers wherever I am.
By May 2017, Krishna blessed me and I got a friend from Australia who opened my eyes towards Krishna conciousness. He continuously told me to focus on Krishna and told me how to handle life, about karma,dharma etc. I was attracted all on a sudden and since then each day, every moment Krishna opened me new information knowledge in front of me one way or other and I feel Krishna everywhere and in everything.
Though I was born in religious family and we got Lord Ayyappa as family deity, knowing Krishna the Supreme is always exciting and enriching mind and soul.
Thank you for the email.
Radhe Radhe.
Hare Krisna Madhudvisa dasa!🙏
I really love your news letters and your site. I read Bhagavad Gita every day, and I think your explanations are very clear.
I really appreciate them! Thank you so much!
If we want our friends also to become krsna conscious, how to pray for them so that it happens in this life for them or as soon as possible.
And two of my friends are deceased I want to donate krsna books in their names to a common library, will that help their souls attain krsna consciousness.
Best thing is to become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself. That is the only why you will be able to help others become Krishna conscious, if you become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself. So start with following the basic points: 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 read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you are a pure devotee of Krishna yourself you will be able to understand how to help your friends become Krishna conscious, otherwise, if you are not a pure devotee yourself, you will not be able to help anyone.
I am an actor. Now I am helpless no work no health no wealth. But I can’t leave acting. Please help me out. I m in darkest era of my life. Suffering from last 5 years
Actors are mostly always unemployed. So you can not expect to be an actor and have regular work acting. That just does not happen. So get some other job to do while you have no acting work.
Where can I find a teacher, one known to Krishna, in New York? I live in a rural county near Norwich, NY and I’ve thus far found no one with whom I can study and learn.
Srila Prabhupada is the perfect teacher you are looking for. He is living in his books. READ THEM….
https://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html
I tried to download Bhagavad-Gita as it is but found only in few languages but not in Telugu PDF. Hence I request you please kindly avail the PDF in Telugu also. Hare Krishna.
We are only providing Srila Prabhupada’s original books, and they are in English. I think you can read English also?
thank you for your first email. I already have bhagavad gita as it is, the latest version available in ISKCON temples. However I would like to read the earliest version available. Could you kindly suggest.
Looking forward to receiving more mails and taking my reading and understanding further.
Hari bol
This is the book you need:
https://krishnastore.com/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-with-bonus-dvd-h-krishna-407.html
Dear Respected
Pls excuse me for a long discunnection with you.
All happenings in our society according to Lords lila ?
If man has been civilised, He has progressed, should he not become better and better ? Should he not create a world where there is peace, happiness, Where man is able to live without fear, Where there is amity between man and man, Mutual cooperation, Harmony, A feeling of unity and brotherhood ? Should not this characterise real civilisation, Real progress ?
Thanking you
NO. All the happenings in our society, in the material world, are our lila’s, NOT the Lords…
There will never be peace, happiness, freedom from anxiety, etc, in the material world. Material world is the opposite of these things. Problem is we have all come to the material world in an attempt to enjoy separately from Krishna. Actually we are all eternal servants of Krishna, that is our natural occupation, to serve Krishna. But we have come here to try and become the master, to try to lord it over the other living entities in the material word.
So if you have a world where all the inhabitants are trying to enjoy at the cost of the others then that is a hellish world. And that is the material word we are in.
So we should chant Hare Krishna and get out of this hellish material world and go back home, back to Godhead.
It is not possible to transform this material world into a happy, peaceful place, material world is not like that…
Thank you for your explanation.It is very clear. I really appreciate it.
Hare Krisna🙏
greetings. i am blind and can not read a book, so i purcahed your book through keindle on amazon so i can mazke the txt big enough to see it. i was wondering if I could receieve the yoga and self realization bonuses> Here is proof I bought the ebook
– Bhagavad-gita As It Is[Kindle Edition]
By: His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Sold By: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Qty: 1
Amazon.com order number: D01-1805291-4230642
Hare Krishna
You can get all of Prabhupada’s books for Kindle at:
https://krishnastore.com/srila-prabhupadas-books-for-amazon-kindle-h-krishna-1570.html
Hare Krsna! Actually I was looking for Kartallessons. Somehow I “slid” to your account.
Questions will come up, as I am reading the Srimad Bhagavatam from time to time. I should read more,but mostly I read after hearing lectures and finding the part then in the books.
Haribol to you Madhudvisa dasa
Thanks Prabhu!
Dear Respected
Pronam
A question has arrised in my mind-
Foe excessive sin or bad works a man can take birth in an animal.But can an animal take birth become a human being? If that,then how it can be, I mean from an animal what kind of behave or works have to be performed to take a birth of human ? Where a animal can’t Chant.
It is a good question. Yes. Animals gradually evolve, automatically raising to a higher species after their death. Because animals do not have free will, they only act on instinct to fulfill their desires in regard to eating, sleeping, mating and defending, there is no question of sinful or pious activities for an animal. So they automatically take birth in a higher species of life after death. There are three species, one for each of the modes of material nature, that the next birth is human. So that is cows in the mode of goodness, lions in the mode of passion and monkeys in the mode of ignorance. So for the cows, lions and monkeys, that is their last animal birth and their next birth will be human.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Good clarification.Thank you prabuji.i have three four copies of BagavadGita AsIt Is.i want to read Prabhupada lilamrta eBOOK.Pl help me to read this ebook Prabhupada.Harekrsna
Prabhupada Lilamrta is a contaminated book. It was written by one of the ISKCON Zonal Acaryas who usurped Srila Prabhupada’s positon of Founder-Acarya of ISKCON and they tried to become the acaryas themselves. It was a great disaster. So reading this book would be a great disaster for your spiritual life.
Please read ALL of Srila Prabhupada’s books and when you are finished READ ALL OF SRILA PRABHUPADA’s BOOKS AGAIN.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
Thank you a lot for your nice seva. Srila prabhupada would definitely be proud of you and you are also teaching us how to make him proud of us, so thanks.
I own Bhagavad gita as it is, but would like to know where I could download the other books and audios in your bundle. Can you please tell me where I can download these for free?Thanks
Hare Krishna
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan
Why not get the real books at Krishnastore.com ? Also you can get the USB sticks there for the audio, video, etc. And you can listen to all the audio at KrishnaKirtan.com, PDF downloads of the books are available at Krishna.org
Thanks a lot prabhuji
Dear Respected,
I am very glad to geting answer of my question. For “MAYA” we are all falls down back. Now how to we can overcom this MAYA ? Only chanting Hare-Krsna can we overcom this?
I received your first email. I will spend the time to read all your emails. I did bought the gita as it is and I am reading it. I alsp recently bought Prabhupada library of books.
Thank you and Sri Krishna
Sukhpaul Nandlall
Dear Respected,
I am very glad to connecting with you.
A question in my mind –
A devotee has a great conscious on Lord Krsna and regular chanting but yet he falls down back . What is the reason ?
The reason is maya, illusion, association with non-devotees, not being Krishna conscious. It is not easy, to become Krishna conscious in the material world, it is like declaring war. Maya fights back. So fall down is not so amazing. But we can easily start chanting Hare Krishna again and become again properly situated. So do that. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Please accept my humble obeisances. Thank you for your charming introduction. I do have a copy of Bahagvad Gita as it is. And look forward to your next email.I am connected with Vrindavan Dham since year 2000. Hare Krishna !
Please accept my humble obeisances. Thank you for your charming introduction. I do have a copy of Bahagvad Gita as it is. And look forward to your next email.
Is everything predestined in life?
Yes and No.
Yes if you remain in maya. No if you become a devotee of Krishna.
Hare Krishna dear Madhudvisa dasa,
all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I’m visiting your website since a couple of years regulary and everytime I do so I’m totally impressed. Such a nice service to Srila Prabhupada and all the vaishnavas!!!
Since today I’m getting your newsletter. And of course I’m a customer of krishnastore since 2014 or so 🙂 Unfortunatly book distribution of original books is not so easy in Germany, because they are all only available in english. But at least I read them, also as PDF. Please let me know, if you accept donations for providing this website(s).
Hari hari bol and warm regards,
Ronny
Hare Krishna Ronny
At the moment really we do not accept donations. Please purchase some books from:
https://krishnastore.com/books-wholesale-om-21_37.html
And distribute them.
Of course it is Germany, but Germans, particularity young ones, know English very well and can read it perfectly well. So just distribute the English books to the young Germans. All the edgy knowledge is in English, they can read it, it is just up to your power of persuasion to convince them to read it in English. It is better for them also to read the original in English rather than a translation in German.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Ronny,
all Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
We have a Prabhupāda center in Germany where u can get the german books: http://www.prabhupada-zentrum.de/
Also on this site u can get the ebooks, PDFs in German and English : http://www.prabhupada-books.de/
Haribol,
Bhakta David
Yes I will be purchasing a hardbound copy of the Bhagavad Gita book from this website’s store tonight or soon. Thank you so much and yes I will keep up to date with these emails and read them, thank you so much for everything.
I also sent a message to your “Contact Us” page and maybe you can check that out with open heart and help me understand whats happening to me.
With lots of love
– James Warmington (soon to be James Scott)
Very much look forward to your short emails every few days Madhudvisa dasa. I love very much the Original books from the store so far, the binding and quality honors so much the nectar inside them. Oneday a complete set will sit nicely on the shelf here. Thanks.
Madhudvisa dasa – HK and thank you for the email message. I already own several BG As It Is editions and read two of those editions this year. The 1972 edition remains my favorite. So, I will look forward to receiving and reading your emails. Mike
I am very glad to reading your sending Paragraph.
Now my question was ?
Are we all flying kites and Lord Krishna is the Supreme Controller of us.
pls.If you give a brifly description on it.
No. We are not at all like kites flying under the control of Krishna.
Of course ultimately Krishna is in control of everything. But we are all parts and parcels of Krishna, we have all the qualities of Krishna, but in a very small quantity. So as Krishna is supremely independent, we also have the quality of independence, but in a very small, limited way.
So we are making our own choices and suffering or enjoying the consequences. We are responsible for our own destiny. We are flying our own kite. Whatever suffering and problems come our way is due to our bad karma, our sinful activities in this life and in previous lives.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
i will no longer have access to the internet soon,how best should i continue ? i see bhagavad-gita as it is- is available in book form,perhaps i should start there.thank you-nancy
Yes. Please purchase Prabhupada’s books at:
https://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html
Hello, the Bhagavad-gita was spoken on a battlefield. How long did the conversation last on the battlefield before the fighting began??
The discussion between Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksettra was not very long. There was a great deal of tension and apprehension in the air, with both sides on the battlefield ready to fight. The conversation of Bhagavad-gita took place before the battle because Arjuna became bewildered, seeing the fighters on both sides were all his friends and family members, and knowing that the fighting would be very fierce and practically no one would survive the battle. So Arjuna decided that it would be better not to fight… So Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna to encourage him to fight. It was a very short conversation really. Not more than half an hour to an hour. The exact words spoken by Krishna and Arjuna are there in the Bhagavad-gita. It is only 700 verses. So you can chant those 700 verses, just the Sanskrit, and see how long it takes.
Somewhere in all you recordings, you will find someone ask
Srila Prabhupada this question.
Srila Prabhupada answered
~in your present measurement of time,
it took Krishna 1/2 hour to settle everything with Arjuna.~
Oh…I see it now. I thought it was a very long discussion at the onset of a war…and was wondering when will the fighting start…
Thank you!!
hare krishna prabhu
i am a student i should read geeta as well.as my subject
am i right or wrong
Yes. Of course you have to read Bhagavad-gita and Srila Prabhupada’s other books as well. Our real business is to become Krishna consciousness. Our real study is Srila Prabhupada’s books. Anything else is not very important in the big picture. So we have to get the priorities in our lives correct. First priority is to study Srila Prabhupada’s books. Everything else comes after that.
i want to ask define love.. what is love is it accessible in this world.
thankyou
Love does not exist in the material world. Actual love is the relationship between Krishna and the living entities. So we can only experience love in relation with Krishna. What we see in the material world is a perverted reflection of that original love we have with Krishna. It is a reflection only. You can imagine a mango tree full of ripe mangoes reflected in a lake. So in the reflection you can understand a lot about the mango tree. You can get the idea of the mangoes but if you try to grab one of those mangoes in the reflection you can not get the actual mango. You can not taste it in the reflection.
So love in the material world is just a reflect that has no actual substance. The actual love exists in the spiritual world in our relationship with Krishna, what we accept as love in the material world is just a perverted reflection of our original love with Krishna.
So you can know this from practical experience. There is no actual love in the material world. Everyone is self-interested in the ultimate issue. A boy “loves” a girl because she has a beautiful body and he thinks he will enjoy associating with her, having sex with her, etc. So this is not love, this is the boy thinking that he will be able to satisfy his senses using that girl. And the girl is similarly thinking that she can use this boy to satisfy her senses. And as soon as there is some problem with that sense gratification there is no more love. They separate and look for someone else to satisfy their senses.
So really all that is happening in the material world is practically everyone is completely on the bodily platform of life and accepting their bodies as themselves and they are trying to satisfy the senses of their body. So this is being misnamed as ‘love’. It is sense gratification, not love. Love only exists in our relationship with Krishna. It does not exist in the material world. What exists in the material world is only a perverted reflection of the actual loving relationship we have with Krishna in the spiritual world…
So.. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Perth, Australia ~What Is LOVE~
May 9, 1975
Conversation ~ His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
and Carol Cameron, then a doctoral candidate in anthropology. ~~~
Carol: Your Divine Grace, how would you go about teaching this idea of love [of God]?
Srila Prabhupada: Love means that just as I want to eat something, so if I love somebody then I will see that my beloved also eats. Also, naturally the lovers present things. For instance, when a boy loves a girl, he presents something, and she should also give him something. And if I have got some confidential thing in mind, I should disclose it to the lover, and the lover is also expected not to keep anything secret. She should disclose it. If I love you just because you are beautiful—for my sense gratification—but I keep everything secret, that is not love. That is sense gratification. Lust.
So these are the six kinds of reciprocation or exchange between the lover and the beloved. These are the signs of love.
dadati pratigrhnati guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva sad-vidham priti-laksanam
Priti means “love,” and these are love’s symptoms: give and take, eat and give to eat, disclose your mind and know the other party’s mind. This is love. The more you increase these six kinds of loving exchange, the more you increase the love.
Carol: If a man wants to perfect his love, should he withdraw from the world?
Srila Prabhupada: First of all, we have to understand that love exists not just within one person—love must be between two. Then you can expand the love. But first we should know, love requires two—the lover and the beloved. So the transaction begins
between the two; then it expands.
Carol: Do you look at the “two” as, say, the creator and the person? Would that be the two that you have in mind?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. The creator and the created. Do you believe in the creator?
Carol : An impersonal creator, yes.
Srila Prabhupada : Impersonal?
Carol: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: Oh. What kind of philosophy is that—”impersonal creator”?
Carol: Without any attributes.
Srila Prabhupada: Creator is an attribute. Being the creator—that is an attribute. If I create this bell, I know the art of how to create a bell. Knowing this creative art is my attribute. So how can you say the creator is without attributes? This is false philosophy. I know how to create this bell. That is my artistic sense. That is my attribute. So how can you say I am without attributes? As soon as you say “creator,” then that creator has got many attributes.
Carol: How can ignorance be removed?
Srila Prabhupada: The ignorant people can learn from the learned. If you have got this idea that the creator is impersonal, that means you are not learned; you have no knowledge. And this is the simple answer. As soon as you say “creator,” you can understand He has so many attributes or qualities.
Suppose I am ringing this bell. Now, if the bell’s spring is loose, the bell will not sound. So others may not know what to do, but the person who has created the bell knows—”Oh, the spring is loose. Now I’ll tighten it again.” That means the creator knows the ins and outs of whatever he has created. That is the nature of one who creates something.
So just imagine: The one who has created everything that exists—He is cognizant of everything that exists. How can He be impersonal? What is this philosophy? Hmm? Answer. You are a philosopher.
Carol: Well, He would incorporate personal attributes, not be governed by them.
Srila Prabhupada: Hmm? She says “He.” But “He” has to remain impersonal. [Laughter.]
Carol: Yes. [Laughs.] It’s true that creation does imply intellect and perhaps emotion.
Srila Prabhupada: Such vague ideas. And yet in this nonsensical culture, these vague ideas are passing as philosophy. “He” contradicts your impersonal idea. You say “He.” And still, you insist that “He” is impersonal.
Carol: At the emotional level, it’s a very personal …
Srila Prabhupada: Why should you be emotional? You are a philosopher. You should talk very rationally.
Carol: Oh. I … don’t philosophize. My sense is that God is impersonal but He incorporates personal features. If God is in everything, then the personal attributes must be part of “Him,” “it,” or whatever. But God is not just limited to being a person.
Srila Prabhupada: You have no idea of God. He must be a person. As soon as you say, “He knows everything,” “He creates,” and so many other things, then these all mean He is personal. Repeatedly you say “He.” These are all personal.
Carol: This is only our idea of God.
Srila Prabhupada: That means you have no clear idea of God, only a vague idea. So you have to learn what God is.
Carol: You think you can know the nature of God?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. You can know, also.
Carol: In an intellectual way?
Srila Prabhupada: You can know, also.
Carol: You might know something in your heart but not
be able to express it.
Srila Prabhupada: Why not be able to express it? You can express it. Whatever is within your heart—if you cannot express it, then you are not perfect. You must express what is within your heart very clearly. Not that I have got something within my heart but I cannot express it. That means my knowledge is imperfect.
Carol: So often, our understanding moves sort of separately—through the heart, through feelings and emotion.
Srila Prabhupada: Emotion is not required for scientific knowledge of God. Emotion is not required. Useless. Knowledge of God must be factual. Emotion is of no use. Emotion is useful in highly developed stages of ecstatic love. But it is not that for preliminary scientific study of God you require emotion. No.
Carol: And yet in the bhakti way of doing things, this emotion and love actually are very closely intertwined, aren’t they?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, but that is a higher stage. Not in the beginning. In the beginning, devotion means I should be devoted to God very rationally. To start with, why should I be devoted to God unless He is worthy? For instance, Krishna says, “You surrender unto Me.” So unless I understand that Krishna is worthy of my surrendering to Him, why shall I surrender to Krishna? If I had demanded of you, as soon as you arrived here, that you surrender, would you have liked to do that? Unless you are fully aware of my abilities, qualities, why should you surrender?
So before surrendering, one has to study the person to whom he is going to surrender. Then he surrenders. That is real surrender. But blind surrender will not last.
Similarly, blind surrender to God will not last. So since our first business in this human life is to surrender to God, we must know who and what God is. Then you must surrender. And then, when it is based on solid knowledge, your emotion is good. That means you are advanced. If you understand that God is giving us everything, emotion based on that understanding is very good. If, even from the very beginning, one understands and becomes emotional—”Oh, God is so kind, God is so great. He is giving us all our necessities, so I must serve Him”—then this emotion is very good.
But for the ordinary man, this emotion does not come. He needs to study who God is, what God is. And later, when he fully understands, “Oh, God is so great,” then that emotion is very nice. That is genuine emotion. Otherwise, his surrender to God is merely sentimentality. It will not stay. It will not last. It is temporary.
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa! Thank you!
BTW, could you please suggest how does one join to be a full time devotee in a temple? Is there an upper age limit to join?
Damien
Hare Krishna Damien
Problem is at the moment I am not aware of any temple that is functioning properly. It is Kali-yuga and we find quarrel and hypocrisy everywhere. So at this time I can not recommend any temple. But temple is not required. Lord Caitanya’s followers often wanted to join with Him, join His movement and travel with Him, but in almost all cases He advised them to stay where they were and become Krishna conscious where they are. So I think at this time this is the best option. Stay where you are, read Srila Prabhupada’s books chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles and speak to whomever you meet about Krishna. Gradually by your purity and example some others in your area will also become interested in Krishna consciousness and together you can chant Hare Krishna and there and preach in your area. This is the way Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement spread all over India and it is the way it can spread all over the world as well. Lord Caitanya’s movement is not actually a movement of temples. It is the sankirtana movement, it means the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. That means getting out in the general public and chanting Hare Krishna and distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books to them. So do this in your area. That will be so much more beneficial to you and your area than if you joined one of the bogus contaminated temples that we generally see today.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
C.C.ADI LILA 12:10
Hare Krishna, Madhudvisa dasa!
I am not working at this time and looking for work is quite challenging.
Would you be able send me a copy of the Bhagavad-gita?
Namaste!
You can get Bhagavad-gita As It Is online at:
https://krishnastore.com/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-with-bonus-dvd-h-krishna-407.html
or read it online at:
http://asitis.com
It is very good you have the time available to study Srila Prabhupada’s books so do it, and 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 will make very rapid advancement in Krishna consciousness.
I’m namo narayanaya…..I feel happy to know more about his teachings and principles..but I already have bhagavat gita book with me……is there any free copies to download….
You can download Bhagavad-gita As It Is PDF from:
https://krishna.org/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-original-1972-edition-free-pdf-download/
And you can read it online at:
http://asitis.com
or
http://prabhupdabooks.com/bg
Hare Krishna Prabhuji, Many thanks for the recent news letter about indicating that Lord Sri Krishna is the original and supreme Lord. I had an introduction about this great Bhagavad Gita from my mother. I know that human beings cannot go to other planets with this body. But nowadays space research organisation across the world have visited moon and lot of experiments are successfully conducted to reach Mars. But this is different from what is told in Bhagavad Gita and bhagavatam. Request your good self to clarify my doubt. Yours sincerely Nagendra.
Hare Krishna Nagendra
Yes. NASA have claimed to send men to the moon and return them home safely at least 6 times fifty years ago. That is a round-trip of about half a million miles. But since then they have not been able to send men anywhere except put them up in earth orbit which is only 100-200 miles up. Then when George Bush was president he told NASA to go back to the moon and they told him “We can’t go to the Moon, maybe if you give us a trillion dollars maybe we can go in 20 years…”
So that is the situation. Now we can’t go anywhere. We can’t even leave earth orbit. So how to understand this? Obviously if we can’t go to the moon now we were not able to go to the moon 50 years ago. So these days it is an open secret that NASA faked the moon missions. Even NASA admit they can’t send humans through the Van Allen’s radiation belts that surround the earth… It is not possible at the moment. They can not create a spaceship with enough radiation shielding to allow humans to survive the journey and still be light enough to be lifted up by their rockets…
So NASA’s manned missions to the moon are only fake.
As far as Mars… That has not happened yet, only dreams. NASA face a very serious problem. Because the obvious next step after visiting the moon is to go back there and stay for longer and do something practical there. Like scientific research, mining, etc. But the problem is if they make some permanent bases or settlement on the moon it is not that far away and even the general public have very powerful telescopes. So while a manned base on the moon may not be large enough to be visible through a telescope, the results of their activities would be visible. And when they install bright lighting so they can continue their activities during the long lunar night, then we could easily see their lights from earth through a telescope.
So the problem is if NASA go back to the moon and establish something there, it will not be real, it will be all done as a computer graphics show. It will be another fake. And they can make a very convincing fake in this way. But the problem is they can’t go to the moon. They can put a satellite between the moon and the earth and broadcast radio transmissions from the satellite which gives the impression they are coming from the moon… That is what NASA did during the fake Apollo landings. So that is OK. But they can not fake human activity on the moon.
So that is the reason they never went back to the moon. Because they can fake going back to the moon, but they can not fake the activities of their men on the moon if they don’t actually have men on the moon.
But mars is far enough away that they could say they have set up a mars base and sent men there and tell us they are doing wonderful things on mars but mars is too far away so we can’t see anything from earth through our telescopes…
So NASA is faking space… They get a lot of funding for this. It is a lot of people’s jobs. If they did not fake space they would have to close down NASA and they don’t want to do that… They would loose their jobs…
5th grade Ms. Pope was my favorite teacher. She often played telephone with us. She would say a short instruction like~” Don’t forget to bring your lunch to school tomorrow. “~ into the ear of the first student, This was to be repeated word for word to the student behind you. Finally the last student would stand and speak out loud the message. Of course the last student would always have a long story to tell but somehow there would be no mention of Lunch~School~or Tomorrow.
As people around the world read Srila Prabhupada`s Books and come to ISKCON Temples looking for more of His direction, it would be simple wonderful if there were a Book documenting Srila Prabhupada`s instructions as to how He requested the daily activities of ISKCON Temples to be conducted~*~
As we find in Srila Prabhupa’s Purport to Srimad Bhagavatam SB 3.24.12~To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word.
Hare Krishna Jonathan
All of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions are in his book. So the best thing would be to read Prabhupada’s books. Then we will learn everything about how ISKCON temples should be conducted. The problem is they don’t read Prabhupada’s books. ISKCON temples are not conducted according to the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives in his books. So they are useless.
The thing is it is the principles of Krishna consciousness that are important. ISKCON temples are for training the people in the principles of Krishna consciousness, for giving devotees a chance to live and serve Srila Prabhupada and Krishna in the association of other devotees. The actual details of exactly how the temples are run may vary from place to place and time to time. But the point is to teach Krishna consciousness to the people as Srila Prabhupada is teaching it in his books. So if the devotees in the temple become pure devotees of Krishna then the temple is successful, but if the temple is very strictly following a very rigid and difficult standard very nicely, but if the devotees do not become Krishna conscious, then it is a failure.
Ultimately every temple requires a pure devotee of Krishna to be the temple president who can guide the devotees and instruct them in such a way that they become pure devotees of Krishna. So a pure devotee can understand how things should be managed. And you can become a pure devotee by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, surrendering to Srila Prabhupada and serving him.
So it is not that we need more books. We need to read Prabhupada’s books. Everything is in Prabhupada’s books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
You seem to be over looking the simple instructions Srila Prabhupada gave for conducting Temple Activities.
For example you can listen to a room conversation @ the Honolulu Temple May 3,1976. Srila Prabhupada calls for Govinda Dasi because she has changed the instructions Srila Prabhupada has given her for the Diety Puja. You will find this theme throughout this room conversation, that it is only by following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions that will induce Krishna to reveal Himself to Yourself.
i can recall many instructions to be followed by all initiated disciples as a regular daily Sadhana. And you are correct to say they don’t seem to be followed presently in the Temples. But these instructions still remain in recorded records if not in Srila Prabhupada’s Books.
For example in regard to your stressing that everything is instructed in Srila Prabhupad’s Books. i don’t think you can find Prabhupada’s detalied instructions for ISKCON Diety Puja as He gave to Govinda Dasi who then somehow or other thought she had a better idea, in Srila Prabhupada’s Books?
Or for example. Karandhar Das Prabhu in mid late 70’s sometimes while giving Srimad Bhagavatam class in the L.A. Temple, would tell how Srila Prabhupada instructed Him how to conduct the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, etc. classes. Upon examination you would find the present “standards” not even close to Srila Prabhupada’s Specific instruction on this.
Or for example when i first met Vishnujana Swami, i found Him chanting the Govinda Jaya Jaya Gopala Jaya Jaya Radha Ramana Hari Govinda Jaya Jaya , Mantra as much as He would the Pancha Tattva Maha Mantra and Hare Krishna Maha Mantra.
When i asked Him Why, He told me~
” Yes, Srila Prabhupada told me that these are the 3 most important Mantra’s for ISKCON. ”
Now so far, i have never even seen this Mantra printed in any of Srila Prabhupada’s publications, let alone that it is one of the 3 most important Mantra’s for ISKCON.
So perhaps with a little more thought on this subject by yourself you will agree that Srila Prabhupada did give very important DETAILED instructions for the Daily activities of ISKCON that you will not find printed in His Books.
Thus making the need for ~Just 1 More~ Book similar to “This Is My Request”
With all of Srila Prabhupada’s Personal detailed requests for ISKCON activities. This would certainly encourage all.
Prabhupada’s standards are in his books.
The temple standards evolved during Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence according to the development of the devotees so you can not take one rigid set of template of temple standards and apply that in every temple in every time and every place. That is why some of the fine details you may not find in Prabhupada’s books. That is why a pure devotee is required to guide each temple. And you can become a pure devotee by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and surrendering to the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read the books. Then, when you become a pure devotee, you will be getting dictation from Krishna, and you can understand how to manage things in a particular place and at a particular time.
The four regulative principles have to be strictly followed by all temple devotees, all temple devotees have to get out of bed before 4:00 AM and attend Mangal Aroti, they have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on beads without fail, they have to attend the full morning and evening temple programs, and they have to go out every day with the kirtan party distributing books, prasadam and chanting Hare Krishna. Other details may vary a bit from temple to temple. Nowadays practically no ISKCON temple follows any of these basic points even…
Yes. I agree that there is a need to create an easy way to access Srila Prabhupada’s teachings on different aspects including his instructions in regard to ISKCON activities and we have a project to do that at http://www.prabhupadabooks.com and you will see that develop there over the next few years.
But you have to carefully distinguish between the actual teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the memories of Prabhupada’s disciples. Srila Prabhupada very much disliked this ‘Prabhupada said’ where he was constantly being incorrectly quoted or being quoted out of context by his disciples. His instruction in this regard is to read his books, that he has put everything in his books. So we can not take very seriously anything said by a disciple of Srila Prabhupada if it is not confirmed in Prabhupada’s books.
Wishing you all success in producing your easy access to Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
1 tip 4 your research is a collection of tapes found in the care of EkanathDas@ BBT Archives. He has labeled them as ~Unedited Bhajans~, meaning that he has not edited anything as he received it.
But unfortunately someone lost great portions of these recordings before EkanathDas received them.
For example on these recordings you may still hear Srila Prabhupada give some detail as how to offer the different articles to the Diety.
( Quite Different from present Temple practice ?)
You may also hear Srila Prabhupada sing the Tune He instructs should be used to chant the Srimad Bhagavatam Verses.
If only it were as easy to follow Srila Prabhupada’s Requests as it was to follow Ms.Pope’s…….
Hare Krishna Jonathan
Yes. I have that unedited bhajan tape collection. Ekanatha Prabhu’s current project is Unedited Prabhupada Audio. He is releasing all the Prabhuapda Audio in their collection as high-quality MP3s. He has already released from 1970 – 1977 and there is so much wonderful new never-released before nectar in these tapes. You can get them at:
https://krishnastore.ca/original-prabhupada-audio-1971-1972-1973-1974-1975-1976-and-1977-on-usb-drive-h-krishna-3163.html
I would very strongly recommend you get this and listen to it. You will find so much wonderful new Prabhupada nectar there…
Hare Krishna Prabhuji, thank you for the introductory mail. Please send news letter to understand more about Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Yours faithfully Nagendra
I have Jesus in my life. Why do I need anyone else ? Do you want to know about Jesus ? He changes your life upside down.
Why not read the Bible?
Jesus is always talking about his father in Heaven. Always talking about our relationship with God the Father. Jesus Christ means Jesus is his name and Christ is his father’s name. So in the original Greek it is not Christ, it is Krstos. And in India another name for Krishna is Krsta. So really it is Jesus Krishna, not Jesus Christ. So Krishna is the father in Heaven that Jesus is talking about.
The reason you need more is because Jesus was preaching to primitive fishermen. The followers of Lord Jesus Christ were so bad that after Jesus preached to them for only three years they could not stand him anymore and tried to murder him by nailing him to a cross…
What could those people understand about spiritual life? Very little.
So if you have read the Bible you may know that Jesus lamented “There are so many things I have not told you because you could not bear them.”
So the point is, because the followers of Jesus were not very qualified, there are so many things he could not teach them.
Everything that Jesus teaches in the Bible is very good, but if you want to advance further you need to hear from Jesus’s father, Krishna.
So please keep reading the emails. Gradually you will see what Krishna is teaching in the Bhagavad-gita is the same as what Jesus is teaching in the Bible but that Krishna is giving a much more complete and comprehensive explanation. It is like you can get a very small pocket dictionary and you can get the big multi-volume Webster International Dictionary. Both are dictionaries and both are correct. However the Webster International Dictionary contains so many more words and the definitions of the words are much more elaborate than in the small pocket dictionary. So the Bible is like the pocket dictionary and the Vedas is like the multi-volume international dictionary.
So all sincere Christians need to come to Krishna consciousness for the advanced course in spirituality. And that is what Jesus is suggesting when he says: “There are so many things I have not taught you…”
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Daar madhudvisa das,
I’m happy to recieve your very interesting mail again!
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
Last year I bought a copy of Bhagavad- gita, it is from krishna.com But letters or prints are very small that’s why I was reading that on line.
Thanks
Hare Krishna prabhu
What I can understand from this website, if we wish to choose a guru we should be very careful these days as our spiritual life would depends on it.
I have some questions to ask which I am not very comfortable posting here, can you please provide me with an email address of yours, such that I can send my queries.
Hari Bol
Your servant.
Hare Krishna Pia
This is the only place where I am answering spiritual questions so if you want me to answer please post your questions here. You can put some different name if you do not want anyone to know who is asking the questions.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
prabhuji sometimes I fear that I may not get totally mesmerized by chantin hare Krishna n forgot the v responsibility of my family…..bcoz nowadays I feel v much seduced by chantin perhaps due to chanting a lot …….give soluition n subside my fear
Don’t worry Prabhu, just keep chanting Hare Krishna more and more. Krishna will give you the intelligence how you can also manage the material things you have to at the same time, do not worry about that.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hi Madhudvisa dasa,
I am kamal and last time on Monday I got your last newsletter topic Prasadam, but since then I am looking forward to your another newsletter, but I did not get. I just want to know is everything ok.
And I have one question too: is it ok to eat egg, like I don’t eat meat, but sometimes do take egg. Should I stop eating that and even stop giving it to my family and as well as stop cooking at home too.
Please suggest.
Kamal
Hare Krishna Kamal
I sent “The importance of having a Qualified Guru” on Feb 10, you should have it now, and will continue sending mails to you every few days…
As far as egg it is not a clean food. It is a chicken’s period. Not clean and not offerable to Krishna. The main point as devotees of Krishna we want to do everything for Krishna. And we do not want to eat anything unless it is Krishna prasadam, unless it has been cooked with love and devotion by a devotee and offered to Krishna. So yes. Certainly. You should not take egg and not give it to your family. And everything that is cooked in your house you must offer it to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna first and then you can yourself always accept Krishna prasadam and distribute Krishna prasadam to your family members. That will be wonderful for you and for your family.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa prabhuji,
Firstly I would like to thank you for sending divine letters about Lord Krishna. I read the letter about worshipping demigods and understand that we need to take direct route ( Worship Lord Krishna) rather than indirect route for spiritual upliftment.
Dear Madhudvisa prabhuji,
Thanks for providing letters related to bhagvat gita, would like to know how Lord krsna reciprocates with his devotees
Krishna reciprocates with His devotees according to the way they surrender unto Him. If you really want to understand these things please carefully read Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
Hare Krishna,
Thanks for sharing such wonderful letters about bhagavat gita.I read that only body perishes but soul remains immortal but after coming to this world,getting entagled in relationship it is very difficult to come out of bondage and it is very disturbing when we see our near and dear ones stuggle and die.
Hare Krishna Kavery
You have to get used to struggle and death in this material world because this place is called ‘mrytu-loka’, the place of death. Here everyone is taking birth, getting old, getting sick and dying. And there is nothing we can do to change that. That is the nature of the material world. It is a miserable place so do not be surprised to see that the people here are miserable. The material world is meant for misery.
The answer of course is to become Krishna conscious yourself and then you will be able to help others also to become Krishna conscious. And in Krishna consciousness we can escape the material world, even in this body while we are still apparently in the material world. It is very nice. So chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna.
I posted my comment on April 14/2012, but I couldn’t get any reply yet…….. But I want to tell thanks to Madhudvisa dasa for providing news letter of Srimat Bhagavat Gita. Today news letter is so sweet and and very helpful for growthing Krishna consciousness.
Tahnk you so much
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Thank you so much for providing Bhagavat Gita News letter, its too help for taking notes from Bhagavat Gita. I think its better for asking some questions related Bhagavat Gita after you sent the news letters. This is my humble request and like a suggesstion only…….. if it is possible, its very helpful for getting many things in Bhagavat Gita, thats why iam asking prabhu……
Harebol…………
Your servant
Manimekalai.S
thanks sir
Thank you for this forum – very nice enlivening topics, I look forward to ongoing articles as I am studying Bhakti Sastri at the moment. Keep up the good work!
Hare Krishna! Madhudvisa,
It’s a very good idea of producing the podcast but
the link you had sent didn’t open.I don’t know it’s only
with my computer or any other reason.When the link is
clicked, it says- The page is unavailable temporarily.
Do I have to install any program?
Hare Krishna Prabin
I am sorry, podcast pages are a bit of a mess at the moment. I will fix early in the new year. The BG introduction you can listen here:
https://krishna.org/wp-content/uploads/PodCasts/Bg-Introduction.mp3
Hare Krishna
Thanks a lot for letting me know more about Takurgi.Will you explain me more about what is a soul?
Balasethu
you are told in this website srila prabhupada is not different from his books.
To chant hare krishna mantra 16 rounds without beeds is good.i love prabhupada and accepted him as my spiritual master.please tell me the method of offering food for prabhupada and krishna.what food krishna and prabhupada will like
Hare Krishna Sathya
It is very good that you want to cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. That is the perfection of cooking. You simply need to make a small alter somewhere with a picture of Srila Prabhupada and a picture of Krishna. And you prepare the food with the consciousness that you are making it for Srila Prabhupada and put it on a special plate that you only use for making offerings and put it in front of your alter and pray to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and ask them to accept your offering. And chant Hare Krishna. There are prayers for offering but if you just cook with the consciousness that you are making a nice offering to Srila Prabhuapda and make the offering by chanting Hare Krishna Srila Prabhupada and Krishna will accept the sincerity that you are offering it with.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Is it possible to share the pages from Krishna.org in facebook?I would like to share the story about the rama’s bridge in facebook.Is it possible?How?Can you explain the hinduism from scientific perspective?or can you the hinduism teaching in normal people’s language.For example,it is said that krishna had 10000 wives.What does these 10K wives really mean?I read somewhere,it means the senses:which I think is true.We need more explaination of the story in the religion.TQ
hare krishna
ihave been reading spritual things for some times.
why it is so that all spritual aspects are related to distant future ie., next birth which is still a illusion to most. so many restrictions are to be imposed on present life which is so real to everybody for the sake of a illusioned future. why god has not done a bit to lessen the illusion of life after death ie.,next birth.
Hare Krishna Kishore
It is a very good question. Many so-called spiritual groups simply talk about the next life and giving up things now so you can be in a better position in the next life. The Christianity that I came from is very much like that. They have a lot of rules that you are supposed to follow with the promise of going to heaven in the next life if you follow them. But in this life you suffer…
But, fortunately, Krishna consciousness is not at all like that Kishore. The spiritual benefits of Krishna consciousness can be experienced very much now in this material world. Krishna consciousness has to potency of converting matter to spirit. It can turn material activities into spiritual activities. And when your life is spiritualized like this you will be experiencing real transcendental bliss at every step.
You can reestablish your eternal loving relationship with Krishna, even in this body, even now, here in the material world. That is what Srila Prabhupada is teaching us how to do in his books. So I strongly suggest you make a serious program to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and put what you find there into practice in your life and you will practically realize that Krishna consciousness is not simply for some benefits after death. But that it has the potency to completely transform your life here and now.
If you carefully look at the things that are supposed to be enjoyable in the material world you will find that there is no real pleasure there at all. And that these activities are actually harmful to us and drag our consciousness down to the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance ensuring that we will suffer miserably in this life and in the next birth we will be born in some very degraded hellish condition. On the other hand if you seriously take to Krishna consciosuness in this life you will become very happy and be enjoying ever-increasing spiritual bliss at every moment, and at the time of death you will remember Krishna, and then you will go back home back to Godhead, and you will be very happy in your eternal natural constitutional relationship with Krishna in the Spiritual World.
So pursuing material so-called pleasures results in miserable life followed by a very hellish next birth. But pursuing Krishna consciousness results in a blissful, ecstatic life, and going back home, back to Godhead in the next birth…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna
Many thanks for replying to my question. please pardon me for any question i ask for which i imight not be a deserving soul. but i ask these question as these come to my mind what i see and experience according to my consious.
now i see that evil forces are always stronger and always try to over power true people and they even suceed in that only then god has to come to this earth to destroy them . why it is not possible for good people to defeat the evil on their own. even from the past experiences we know that only truth wii prevail in the last why evil forces are so tempted that more people attract towards them.
radhe radhe
hare krishna
Thank you for replying.
kindly guide me as to why evil force try to over power the good spritual force in a human.
radhe Radhe
hare krishna
since last one month i am not getting any newsletter. earlier it was on daily basis. i saw the website i am still registered.
KRISHNA IS THE GREATEST AUTHORITY PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD
CHANTING HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTRA IS THE EASIEST DEVOTIONAL SERVICE.
OR
READING SRIBHAGAVADGITA AND SRIMADBHAGAVATAM AND ALSO SMALL BOOKS GIVES MORE
KNOWLEGE TO GET DEVOTIONAL SERVICE. THIS IS LIKE CHANTING OR READING.
WISH YOU A MANY MANY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
LORD SRI KRISHNA
ON
KRISHNA JANMASTAMI
TO ALL ISKCON TEMPLES
thank you for adding me to your list. As I read your email I was blessed but unfortunately, I fail to see the answer to my problem; deep fear of failure in my sales job, financial ruin & more. I wake up each morning sick in my soul. Chanting is only a band aid & does not change the paradigm.The more i read the gita, the better I feel but it doesn’t last. Following dietary guidelines & abstaining from sex is easy but it does not solve the internal issues. I ask for your feedback. Please understand it is in humble interest and not to challenge you in any way.