What is Action and what is Inaction?
“One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.” (Bhagavad Gita 4.18)
There is a general understanding that spiritual life means giving up activities, giving up work, giving up material purists, etc. There is truth to this in the sense that a transcendentalist gives up all actions that are not meant for the service and pleasure of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead however people generally become confused when trying to determine what is action and what is inaction.
A person in Krishna consciousness is not inactive but his activities are all performed for Krishna therefore he does not enjoy or suffer any of the effects of his work and he is naturally free from the bondage of karma. Therefore the devotee is intelligent in human society even though he is engaged in all sorts of activities for Krishna. In this way the devotees achieve the platform of akarma or freedom from the reactions to work.
The impersonalists are also trying to achieve this platform of akarma or freedom from the reactions of work but they have no information about Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and no inclination to work for Him. Therefore the impersonalists try to stop all fruitive activities because of fear of the reactions to these activities, they understand that such reactions would be stumbling blocks on their path of self-realization. This is a very difficult path to follow as the impersonalists have no positive actions to perform, they have no service to Krishna, thy are simply trying to stop all material activities so the reactions to these material activities will not become a problem for their advancement in spiritual life. However for the living entity to be in a position of not performing any activities is very unnatural and a very difficult.
The devotees know their position correctly and realize they are eternal servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead therefore they engage themselves in the activities of Krishna consciousness. Because they do everything for Krishna they enjoy only transcendental happiness in their execution of devotional service. Devotees who are engaged in this process of devotional service are known to be without any desire for personal sense gratification. This sense of eternal service to Krishna makes one immune to all reactions to work.
“One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every act is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker whose fruitive action is burned up in the fire of perfect knowledge. Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.” (Bhagavad Gita 4.19-20)
Only a person in full knowledge can understand the activities of a person in Krishna consciousness. Because the person in Krishna consciousness has no interest in performing any activity for his own sense gratification it is to be understood that he has burned up the reactions of his work by the perfect knowledge of his constitutional position as the eternal servant of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One is actually learned when he comes to this platform. Development of this knowledge of the eternal service of Krishna is compared to fire. Such a fire, once kindled, can burn up all kinds of reactions to work.
This freedom from the bondage of actions is only possible in Krishna consciousness when one is doing everything for Krishna. A Krishna conscious person acts only out of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has no attraction for the results of his actions. He is not even attached to his personal maintenance for he leaves everything to Krishna. He is also not anxious to get things he does not have nor is he anxious to protect things he already possesses. He simply does his duty to his best ability and leaves everything to Krishna.
Such a devotee is always free from the reactions of good and bad; it is as though he was not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions. Therefore even though a devotee is performing many activities in the service of Krishna because these activities have no reaction this is “inaction in action.” Although he is acting for Krishna there is no reaction so it is as if he was not acting at all because his actions are spiritual there is no material reaction to such actions.
Any other action however, which is not performed as service to the Supreme Lord Krishna, which is not meant to please Krishna, which is devoid of Krishna consciousness is binding on the performer of this action. He will have to either suffer the bad reactions from this action or enjoy the good reactions and this will keep him firmly bound in the material world.
“Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working he is not affected by sinful reactions.
” (Bhagavad Gita 4.21)
A Krishna conscious person does not expect good or bad results from his activities. His mind and his intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme, and therefore the part played by him, as part and parcel of the whole, is not by his choice but is chosen for him by the Supreme and is done only through His agency.
When the hand moves it does not move by itself but only by the endeavor of the whole body.
A Krishna conscious person is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for his own personal sense gratification. The devotee moves exactly like the part of a machine. As a machine part rrequires oiling and cleaning for maintenance, similarly, a Krishna conscious man maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore immune to all the reactions of his endeavors.
A Krishna conscious person, fully engaged in self-realization, has very little time to falsely posses any material object. For maintaining his body and soul he does not require any unfair means of accumulating money. He does not therefore become contaminated by such material sins. He is free from all reactions to his actions.
Therefore in a devotee of Krishna we can see that he is always busy acting in the service of Krishna but because all his activities are for the pleasure of Krishna there is no material reaction to his activities therefore from the material point of view it is as if he was doing nothing.
This is inaction in action.
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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Hare krishna madhudvisa prabhu ji. ..All glories to his devine grace a.c bhaktivedanta swami prabhupad ji. .u r doing great jov for the mission of prabhupad ji. ..I read ur article always and started to chant 16 round and reading prabhupad ji books. ..in this 3 December 2016 my friend and me distributed approx 500 the reservoir of pleasure sri krishna books and always we distribute prabhupad ji books …ur article inspired me lot and I started to distribute prabhupad ji books and really I fell happy when I distribute books and fell some transcendental pleasure. ..hare krishna prabhu ji
Hare Krishna Pankaj
This is very good news Prabhu! Please keep chanting 16 rounds every day, that will keep you in Krishna consciousness and give you the strength to preach.
And keep distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books more and more. That is Srila Prabhupada’s mission, to distribute his books. If we make distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books the mission of our lives then that will be the perfection of our lives.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
What is Vikarma
Vikarma means bad actions. Sinful actions..
More than the posts i love the comments section more Prabhu. Your replies show the clarity of philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. It is amazing Prabhu. I also have a desire to Preach the same way. Pls Bless me. Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
I am associated with ISKCON for 3 yrs . Left non veg , no illicit sex , gambling and intoxication. Always chant Maha mantra and read Gita . Why I am living a painful life with uncontrolled fear , anxieties ? Pls help
Hare Krishna Nirmal
The material world is a painful place. Becoming Krishna conscious means becoming transcendental to the material world. The example given is a lotus leaf, while it is in the water it does not get wet. So a devotee can live in the material world but remain untouched by the pains of the material world.
So if you are still feeling the pains of the material world it means you have not yet advanced very much in Krishna consciousness. One of the early stages of Krishna consciousness is achieving a joyful and peaceful state of mind even while one may externally appear to be in a very difficult position.
So the point is you have to become Krishna conscious and when you are Krishna conscious you will be experiencing Krishna consciousness which is a state of every increasing transcendental bliss.
So you need to learn how to become Krishna conscious by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. You do not mention that you are reading Srila Prabhupada’s books? So I think this is your problem. ISKCON do not stress reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and in ISKCON they have also got so many people who are preaching but who themselves are also not Krishna conscious. So this faulty hearing from people who are not actually themselves pure devotees of Krishna causes great harm to us and hampers our progress in Krishna consciousness.
So you have to hear from a pure devotee of Krishna, otherwise it is not possible to make advancement in Krishna consciousness. So please get Srila Prabhupada’s original books form https://krishnastore.com and read them and put the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you into practice in your life and you will become Krishna conscious and all your problems will be solved.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dandavat Pranam, thanks for keeping us awake. Hare Krishna
I have found the best way to live in Krishna forever more. This teaching is full of power which changes all human being’s self made pattern of life and redesigns it in Krishna Conscious.
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 able to chant hare krishna mantra. I am preparing for a competitive exam.I want to read srimad bhagavatam but I can’t.My parents force me to study but I can’t able to concentrate on it . What should I need to do…..Thanks
Hare Krishna Aditya
You have to adjust and chant Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds a day. Otherwise where is the question of Krishna consciousness?
That is the main thing. We have to chant Hare Krishna and follow the regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is the point of our life. And we can fit the rest of our life around these things. The other things are not important actually. The important thing is to become Krishna consciousness and go back home back to Godhead.
If you become Krishna conscious automatically your material side will be OK, or if Krishna wants it will not be OK. It is in Krishna’s hands.
The point is we have to become Krishna conscious and we can not become Krishna conscious without chanting Hare Krishna. And maya will ALWAYS give us VERY GOOD reasons why it is not possible for us to chant Hare Krishna. So we have to know that this is maya. And we have to chant Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds every day, even though maya will give us such good reasons why this is not possible for us.
If you surrender to maya now and stop chanting Hare Krishna then you can know it for sure that for your whole life maya will give you such good reasons to not chant Hare Krishna and you will not become Krishna conscious and you will waste your very valuable human form of life.
So there is no alternative. If we actually want to become Krishna conscious we have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, we have to follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and we have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. And we can just fit the rest of our lives around this.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna madhudvisa dasa ji.I am a student and I am preparing for a competitive exam.Due to my busy time table I always fail to chant hare krishna mantra. I am highly puzzled.My parents always force me to study but I do not concentrate in my study.Instead I want to read srimad bhagavatam but I can’t.They tell me to read it in future. I don’t want to live with worldly people .I Want to live with devotees of Lord krishna. I feel suffocating here.I am unable to practice bhakti.what should I have to do????
Hare Krishna Aditya
Just chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and at the same time do your duty as far as study and exams are concerned. Just get up early in the morning before 4:00 Am and spend the early morning hours chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books and during the day you can do your studies. In this way you can remain Krishna conscious and study at the same time.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Prabhu
I like the material you post to me. However at times I wonder “is this from Srila Prabhupada?”
There is never a name at the bottom of the essay/post. I am assuaging & hoping that it is ALL Srila Prabhupada’s writing. I’m sure it is. Srila Prabhupada’s name as author is the only thing missing.
Hare Krsna Prabhu.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
The letters are signed by me. So I am presenting the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. So it is Prabhupada but written out by me.
You will not find anything different from Prabhupada there.
My grandmother used to say to me that if we can do all things without expecting anything we will reach to a state of “virakthi” ie. doing all things according to the time. And the state of virakthi is an extra ordinary feeling to human being. From this news letter I understood that virakthi is same as inaction in action.
Thanking you for allowing me to read these newsletters.
Thanks
I enjoy recieving the info
It’s a bright light
I don’t think I remotely qualify myself as a devotee
As I know I have too much attachment to my sense gratifucation and maybe even my material possessions
But I sm glad to be reminded
Thanks
Hare krishna prabhuji is there any karma reaction for a devotee to shake hand with a nondevotee outside the temple
There is a reaction for everything if it is not done for Krishna. So the idea is a devotee has to adjust his life so he is doing everything for Krishna, nothing for himself. So if for example you are working to make money so you can worship Krishna. If that is your purpose, your motivation, for your work, and if in the course of your work you have to meet some non-devotees and shake their hands, etc, so you can make some money to use in the service of Krishna, then you are shaking that person’s hand only so you can get some money to serve Krishna. So it is OK. It is for Krishna.
If we go out to preach, to talk to people about Krishna, to sell them Srila Prabhupada’s books, then we will meet them, talk to them, shake their hands, etc, but it is all for Krishna, it is all to introduce them to Krishna consciousness, to get them to read Prabhupada’s books. So it is all good, it is all spiritual, it is all for Krishna.
So we have to arrange our life like that, so that everything we do is for Krishna, then no matter who’s hands we shake we will not be contaminated by that because we are doing it for Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Beautiful article Madhudvisa prabhuji
please keep sending more n’ more
ys,
Ashwin
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji
thanking my spiritual master His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and Madhudvisa Prabhu for there kindness.
thankyou for clearing each and every doubt and replying to the every comment…real,raw,deep thank.
I went through the article and comments again, and realized that, the reply i got from madhudvisa Prabhu was very true… Its real irritating in starting as our mind wants to go somewhere else…but as we continue with reading and chanting everything changes…
Jai Srila Prabhupada,
Hari Bolo 🙂
Hare Krishna, prabhuji,
Until and unless every human action takes place in Krishnabhavnamrit and it becomes human nature, the life is incomplete. But perfection can be attained only by continuous practice we are to think over that how the every human action be initiated with krishnabhavnamrit. For example; I came to know from a comment of a devotee, I want to share that common as it is so that you can get benefit from this as well, ‛ the all loving Lord Sri Krishna invites us to always be absorbed in Him. When we cook a meal for Krishna all our actions and emotions are fixed on Him: at the market we carefully select the nicest tomatoes and potatoes for Him. At home we wash them thoroughly for Him and we cook them to perfection for Him. The whole process from selecting, preparing, offering, distributing, and finally honouring the Prasadam, is saturated with the careful intention to please our Supreme Loving Krishna. In this way all our actions and emotions become one great meditation on Him. Even the air we breathe in and out, the movements we make in space, the ground we walk on, the rest we take, is all within Him, for Him, and with the genuine desire to please Him. In this way we can always be absorbed in love for Lord Sri Krishna and He affectionately reciprocates by unfolding His oceanic and ever-increasing Love for us ’. We will have to apply bhakti in our daily life in a very simple way.
We will have to think how we can make the adverse conditions (i.e. which do not support us) god centred.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey Prabhu
you have given a very good advice for how to perform inaction in action. If we want to eat some food then we will have to cook it for Krishna and serve him, then we can eat it which becomes an inaction in action. If we are living in an house and we have to clean it then we can develop a conscious that its Krishna’s house and we have to clean it which again becomes inaction in action. Very very nice mail.
Prabhu I had a question from a long time that I do tilak after getting bath but I am not able to bath in brahm mahurat (early 4:30 AM). I want to tell you that I have four members in my family mum, dad, elder brother and a pet bitch. Mom dad are radhaswami dikshits and do eat onions and garlics but no non-vegs, my brother is a non vegetarian. With my family I have to eat onions and garlic with tilak on my body. I chant mahamantra on Shri tulsi chanting beads. We avoid eating rice on ekadshi day and I never eat non veg. I avoid eating products made with eggs or non veg but coffee and tea is regular in my diet. I never offer food with onions and garlic to the supreme. I am not a dikshit but want to be one by prabhupada’s books and a bona fide spiritual master and want to live a moral life in service of Krishna ji. Am I createing sins for myself ? Please tell me what is done right by me and what is wrong. Also tell me that what should I do of the flowers which I bring from ISKCON and the flowers I offer to the supreme In my house’s small temple?
Your answers will help me a lot.
Thankyou Prabhu
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey Prabhu
Hare Krishna Vanshika
It may not be possible for us to follow everything all at once but we have to know what is the proper standard and we have to strive for that.
As far as taking bath, the idea is not to take bath in the brahma-muhurta, but to take bath before the brahma-muhurta. The brahma-muhurta is a very auspicious time for spiritual activities, the most auspicious time in the day, so we do not want to be taking a bath during that time, we want to be chanting Hare Krishna, worshiping the Deity, etc. The reason one would take bath before the brahma-muhurta is that if one was going to worship the Deity for example then one has to be very clean to do that. So it is necessary to take bath and put on clean clothes before worshiping the Deity and the Deity worship goes on during the brahma-muhurta so then one who is going to worship the Deity needs to get out of bed and take bath before the brahma-muhurta.
But if you can not take bath at that time in the morning that is not a very big disaster. You can wash your mouth, clean your teeth and wash your face and then chant Hare Krishna, read Prabhupada’s books, etc.
The details are secondary things. The most important things are chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra every day, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication]. We have to really focus on these things. These are the most important things.
As far as eating, a devotee only accepts Krishna prasadam, food that has been cooked by devotees for Krishna and offered to Krishna with love and devotion. So Krishna does not accept garlic and onions therefore anyone who is cooking with garlic and onions is not cooking for Krishna, so Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that if one eats food that is not offered in sacrifice then he is eating only sin. So when we eat any food that is not prasadam we are eating sin and that will have a bad reaction on us. So if we actually want to become Krishna conscious then we have to make some arrangement so we can only accept Krishna prasadam. You can easily do this by starting a small alter in your house, even with pictures, it does not have to be actually Deities, Krishna is also present in His picture just as much as He is present in the Deity. Then you can start cooking for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. So if you are cooking like this and offering the bhoga to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then you will not be cooking with garlic and onions and Srila Prabhupada will surely accept your offering if you cook it sincerely for his pleasure and offer it to him, and then you will be able to honor the prasadam and you will not have to eat anything with onions and garlic.
It does not have to be a very grand offering. Personally I cook kitery and chapatis every day and offer them to Srila Prabhupada and that is very easy to cook and the result is very wonderful Krishna prasadam which is completely satisfying for me. So realistically if we are surrounded by people who are not followers of Srila Prabhupada and devotees of Krishna ultimately we have to cook for Srila Prabhupada ourselves. That is the only way we will be able to accept only Krishna prasadam.
As far as what to do with the flower prasadam after, in temples they generally have a ‘sacred throw out’ and they put all old garlands, etc, in that and if it is in Vrindavan for example they empty this into the Yamuna. In other places they may bury it in the ground. Or something. You know we have to be practical and what to do depends on your situation. But the old prasadam should not be thrown in the normal rubbish. It should be respected. Exactly what you can do depends on your situation… You need to use some common sense.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey prabhu
Thankyou for answering so soon, you saved me .
I want to tell you about my routine
I wake up at 6:30am in the morning wash my face, brush & get ready for my school and return from school at 3 in the noon, take bath and do tilak, honestly I watch tv till 6 in the evening rather then chanting, then I take 2 hours for my homework and at 8:30 I worship Krishna ji. Then again I watch tv till 11:30 at sleeping time 11:30 pm I chant maximum 3 rounds. And sleep.
I have a great desire to improve my routine and chant rather then watching tv and I will do it, seriously.
But what about the rest of the routine?
If i chant complete 16 rounds a day and do tilak will it be good enough?
rather then being woke up before brahm mahurat .
I also want to tell u that my mum says that when you will shift in Mathura Vrindavan then u can start eating food without onions and garlic after completing your education.
Obviously everything will change when I will be in some spiritual place as its my dream to study hard for krisna and own a living in Vrindavan to serve my krisna in a nice and honest way.
can I only make a chapati and serve it to Chaitanya mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupad andLord Sri KrishnaJi?
surely I will change and
Sorry, I will use some common sence from next time.
Thankyou prabhu ji
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey Prabhu ji
Hare Krishna Vanshika
We have to chant minimum of 16 rounds of Hare Krishna mantra a day, not maximum of 3 rounds. Of course it may take some time to reach this goal, but we have to get there.
Certainly if you stop watching television you will have plenty of time for Krishna consciousness. Really it seems at the moment television, not Krishna, is the central point of your life.
So this television watching is 100% complete waste of time, and worse than that, the television programs are full of brainwashing materialistic concepts. So by watching the television we will automatically become more and more materialistic and this television watching will ultimately destroy our Krishna consciousness.
Of course in the beginning we still have so many material desires and material attachments, but if we are to reduce these material attachments ultimately to zero and replace them with attachment, love and service to Krishna, then we have to reduce our materialistic activities and increase or spiritual activities. And because we are attached to the material things like watching the television, giving up these things, at least in the beginning, is a little painful. But if we want to make any advancement in spiritual life then we have to surrender to this. We have to be prepared to suffer a little pain from the material point of view by missing our favorite television programs so we will have the time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.
In the beginning it will be painful and in the beginning also we may not even have much attachment for chanting Hare Krishna and it may well seem like hard work, chanting Hare Krishna. This is called TAPASYA. Austerity. And this tapasya, voluntary undergoing some suffering for the purpose of spiritual advancement, is necessary for us to advance in Krishna consciousness. In the West they have a saying: “no pain, no gain” and that is true also in devotional service, at lest in the beginning. Because we are attached to the material things like watching television and many people are attached to illicit sex, meat eating, gambling and intoxication. But if we want to become Krishna conscious we have to give up these things. Which will be painful for us in the beginning.
But these materialistic things will never give us any real pleasure anyhow. They always end in pain and suffering anyhow. Even though in the beginning the materialistic things seem to give us some pleasure, it all turns into suffering and frustration later on.
Spiritual life is the reverse. In the beginning we do not get any pleasure from missing our television programs and even we do not feel much pleasure from chanting Hare Krishna. We can not really appreciate the true glories and nature of the holy names of Krishna in our materially contaminated condition. But chanting Hare Krishna purifies our hearts and minds and gradually as all the materialistic contamination is washed off we can then actually appreciate the true glories of the Hare Krishna mantra. And then we will actually appreciate that this is so much better than watching television… But to discover this we have to first go through the pain of missing our favorite television programs so we have time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna!!!!!!
Swamiji I remember one of ur reply to me where u said we have to do seva and Krishna Consciousness doesnot believe in Karma…..What u said in the posting is very much on the same outline…. but one query i definitiely have.that in verse 47 of chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krsna talks of Karma …yes u r right He speaks of karma without expecting the fruits of karma but didnt He say to Arjuna to do his duty which is Karma for a mortal…….
Hare Krsna!!!!!!!!
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Whenever, I read this topic I always think that if it is not necessary to give up all material works and occupations and even money, then why Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took Sannyasa giving up all material works like earning money and avoiding even the touch of a girl/lady? And similarly why Shri Sanatan and Rupa Goswami, who were the ministers of the king Husainshah gave up all their jobs to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya to drown in the pure love of Shri Radha Krishna. They were also able to do their regular duties in Krsna Consciousness or they could build a temple at Vrindavan or any other place and could start the diety worship there as they have earned enough money for this. But even then they accepted the simple living and they used to bring their food from people by going home to home.
All this shows that it is necessary to give up all material things say money, home, wife, children only on the wish of God and surrendering to him to become fully Krsna Conscious.
Please reply me whdther I am Right or Wrong?
You are wrong.
You are thinking that you own your money, your home, your wife, your children, etc. This is maya. This is the bodily concept of life. A devotee knows that he does not own anything, he knows that everything belongs to Krishna. Everything is Krishna’s, nothing is mine. So the proper thing is to realize that everything belongs to Krishna and engage Krishna’s things in the service of Krishna. This is the teaching and the practical example of the goswamis of Vrindvan. Of course for themselves they lived very simple lives but when some rich king came to them and wanted to do some service for Krishna they would engage that king in building beautiful temples for their deities in Vrindavan.
So a pure devotee of Krishna knows that every material thing belongs to Krishna and real renunciation is engaging Krishna’s things in the service of Krishna.
So many people leave all their money to their families and go to Vrindavan, empty-handed, to serve Krishna. They have misunderstood that all ‘their’ money belongs to Krishna, not their family, and should be used in the service of Krishna.
So you have the wrong idea. You are in the bodily concept of life. You need to realize that you do not have any money. All the money is Krishna’s, you can not ‘renounce’ something you do not own. So if you have something you have to work out how to use that thing in the service of Krishna.
Of course giving up family life is good if the family is not interested in Krishna consciousness, but if you can make all the family members into devotees of Krishna and engaged them in the service of Krishna, then that is better than renouncing the family.
What you are suggesting is called ‘yukta vairagya’ or false renunciation by Rupa Goswami, because you do not understand that everything is Krishna’s, nothing belongs to us. So real renunciation is realizing this and engaging Krishna’s things in the service of Krishna, not maya…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna Madhudvisa ji….
there are many verses in Gita which I am not able to actually understand it properly. And this verse was one of them. other than this I find starting verses of chapter 13 and 15 very tough. looking forward for more mails. Thank you so much for making me clear this verse.
Hare krishna.
Hare Krishna Sonika
Hearing these Bhagavad-gita verses [including chanting the Sanskrit] and hearing Srila Prabhupada’s purport is more important than understanding. Actually Krishna consciousness is not on the intellectual platform. It does not depend on our understand or not understanding. It is on the spiritual platform. So if you simply hear attentively, even if you do not understand, still that will be effective and will purify your heart and as you become more and more purified you will be able to understand more and more.
My experience in first reading the Bhagavad-gita was similar. I could not understand very much at all. But now I have read it dozens and dozens of times and every time I read it I understand it a little bit more. Bhagavad-gita is not a book that you can appreciate and understand by simply reading once. It has to be read repeatedly. And every time you read it you will find a whole new dimension of understand opens up.
So do not worry if you do not completely understand something. Just hear it and be confident that this hearing of the Bhagavad-gita and of Srila Prabhupada’s purports is purifying you and elevating you in Krishna consciousness. And you will understand it more then next time you read it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Madhudvisaji, Hare Krishna. You have become my “Bandhava”. Your ‘Kripa’ to me is a kind of debt which I shall never be able to repay. Now a days, though I work in a college, my mind is absorbed in Krishna Naam. Krishna has inspired me to make a ‘Ashrama’ in my village to inspire and bless others by Krishna. I have been directed by Him to take a house loan and some of His devotees are working to get it done immediately. Please pray on behalf of me to bless me. He will listen to you as you are a pure devotee of Him. Please do this favor. Let my ASHRAM be built for Him and His creations. Harekrishna.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Thank you very much for your blessings Prabhu, I very much appreciate this. And yes, Prabhupada’s blessings and through Prabhupada Krishna’s blessings are available to all of us if we simply strictly follow the basic instructions Prabhupada is giving us and actually really chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on beads and really strictly follow the four regulative principles and really read Prabhupada’s books 1-2 hours a day. Most devotees these days are not doing these basic things so they go astray and generally become disconnected from the blessings of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. So I know you are already doing all these things Prabhu but I want to stress that this surrender to the orders of Srila Prabhupada and chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and reading Prabhupada’s books is our strength and it is through this reading and chanting and through practically implementing the instructions that Srila Prabhupada’s gives us while reading his books that we experience the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
And that is what you are doing there Prabhu with your ashram. So if you keep Srila Prabhupada as the central figure of your ashram and make sure everyone who comes there gets Prabhupada’s books and is reading them and chanting Hare Krishna your work there will be very glorious and successful.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hara krishna prvuge
i am try to come out from maya and surrender my life for krishna but i have little son. so i can not came out from family.please give me the right path.
Hare Krishna Nirupama
There is no need to leave family life to become Krishna conscious. You can become Krishna conscious in any stage of life. And if you have a son you can also render very nice service to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada by training your son nicely in Krishna consciousness.
So do not worry, remain in family life, this is absolutely no impediment to your spiritual advancement. Just follow the process of saddhana-bhakti as Srila Prabhupada teaches us, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. You can read Prabhupada’s books to your son also and even he may not completely understand everything the vibrations are spiritual and will be very beneficial for him.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu ji,
All Glories To Shrila Prabhupada
PAMHO
When we dance in sankirtan , a fallen soul like me never thinks that i am doing it for pleasure of krishna. I am just aspiring to become a devotee.So this dance have karma or not? Do i should continue dancing ??
How can make myself to do everything for pleasure of krishna??
I am in college …so if i don’t study(i am not doing my karma) only doing bhakti will krishna be pleased with me???
your insignificant servant(trying to be)
Hare Krishna Ankit
Dancing in the sankirtan is serving Krishna. But we should not just dance. We should also chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on our beads and strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and we should be reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. Without these things the dancing in sankirtan may become just sentimental. There are many kirtan parties in India by sahajiyas, those who take things very cheaply, and often these kirtan performers are also addicted to smoking and sex and other sinful activities. That sort of kirtan will not be effective. For the kirtan to be effective the performers of the kirtan have to be pure. Of course even if we are not pure if we somehow get involved in the kirtan of pure devotees we will become purified. Even the kirtan of the sahajiyas is not completely useless. They are chanting the holy names of Krishna after all, but if they are not following the regulative principles then that chanting will not be very helpful.
So Krishna consciousness is a science and we have to follow the scientific process if we are going to expect it to work for us…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna :
parbhu thanks so much for send me those nice lessons of the vedas, every
cmail you send me I read, I live in Tijuana mexico and I stll not find the
address of temple here in tijuana, I look on internet in different form
but i don’t find no address of tijuana’s temple.
Hare krsna
manuel parra
Thank you for your spiritual messages, I’m a addict. I’m “clean” 13 years. and Sober 21 years. You are so right on when you suggest getting addicted to Krishna.
Krishna keeps me clean and sober. And I’m growing , just to have this knowledge, to see Krishna to be around Krishna,
and the 12 step program is run entirely on the GRACE of GOD, Krishna.The L
And, I’m so glad we have “spell check”. and The JOY of The LORD.
I’m also so thankful for the Hare Krishna CD’s and DVD’s all the work everyone has done, to provide http://www.krishna.com and http://www.krishnastore.com
Krishna keeps me Clean and Sober.
Thank you, I’m suppose to be Anonymous, but it is OK , maybe we help other’s this way . I go to http://www.na.org and http://www.aa.org 12 step meetings, and Krishna is there too, Krishna is helping everyone , everywhere.
I’m like totally devoted, hare krishna.
Davy
HARE KRISHNA, thank you for wonderful article.one question i am addicted by something i just want to leave that thing but not able to do so,i am trying hard could you help me.
The only way to give up one addiction is to replace it with another, better addiction. So if you can just become addicted to Krishna then you will loose your interest in everything else. And the process of how to become addicted to Krishna is described very nicely and systematically by Srila Prabhupada in his books. SO PLEASE READ PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS!!!
The only way to give up one addiction is to replace it with another, better addiction. So if you can just become addicted to Krishna then you will loose your interest in everything else. And the process of how to become addicted to Krishna is described very nicely and systematically by Srila Prabhupada in his books. SO PLEASE READ PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS!!!
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Gauranga!
Prabhu one uncleared doubt which haunt my mind is that there are so many Guru’s in ISKCON, are everyone qualified to become Guru? Are they not acting against Srila Prabhuapda order. Srila Prabhupada appointed 11 ritviks to act as his representatives but they all dis obey his order. Tell me the fate of all these Gurus and their disciples. please Prabhu I am very much disturbed which is true ISKCON Srila Prabhuapda ritvik ISKCON or GBC ISKCON?
Hare Krishna Naveen
Yes Prabhu, it is very disturbing indeed. According to the GBC the only qualification an ISKCON devotee needs to be a guru is to have a few aspiring disciples and to accept the GBC as his authority. That’s it. If you can fulfill these two qualifications you can be a guru in ISKCON. They claim there is no need for the guru to be a pure devotee or anything like that. So this is such a great deception. In reality of course, anyone who has read any of Prabhupada’s books knows it well, that the spiritual master has to be a pure devotee of Krishna. That is actually very basic, Krishna consciousness 101. Even Krishna makes this very clear in the Bhagavad-gita (4.34): “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” So Krishna clearly states “The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” So Krishna is saying you have to approach a guru who is a self-realized soul who has seen the truth. But ISKCON are so outrageous that they dare to contradict Krishna and say that their gurus do not have to be self-realized souls…
So anyhow Prabhu these bogus gurus and their disciples are on their way to hell unfortunately. Because someone who is not a pure devotee, not a self-realized soul is incapable of guiding others back home, back to Godhead. These are very basic points and very obvious points and I should not need to have to explain them. It is an obvious thing. If you want to become an expert carpenter then you have to go to an expert carpenter and request him to teach you. You can go to a plumber and ask him to teach you but you will never be successful in that way. So if you want to be a pure devotee of Krishna, and we all want that, that is the idea of Krishna consciousness, that is the point of Krishna consciousness, then we have to accept a pure devotee as our spiritual master. But ISKCON says “NO…. You can accept a conditioned soul as your spiritual master…” And fools are doing it so it is there fault also for not reading Prabhupada’s books and knowing better…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu….
Dandvat pranam…..
All glories to Sri Guru Gauranga and Srila Prabhupada
I had a conversation with one of my friend on vedic philosophy and islamic philosophy..
He said in yajur veda it is stated “natasya pratima-asti…”, the supreme has no form..
though i said many things from Srimad Bhagvatam about the form of Lord Krishna but still he was not satisfied and started blaspheming Krsna and me…
He said u people are fools, just as christains considered Jesus as God u also are doing the same thing…There’s no God accept Allah..
I will see on the day of judgement wether your Krsna comes to save you are not…
Though it showed his ignorance but still blaspheming Krsna will cause problems….What shall i do prabhu to help him….?????
Your Servant….
namaste,
i want to know that how can i being a student of medicine study medicine for Krishna.how can i dedicate this karma of mine unto Him?
Dear Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!
I have been meaning to reply to your most gracious and informative posts. I wish I could enumerate their value but all I can say is a simple but most heartfelt “Thank You”.
In addition,like the commentator above, I have a query. How is one who is engaged in the study of material subjects dedicate it unto the Lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna? I ask this because I am a student of Law and taking into consideration some of the half truths cliques about lawyers, I’m greatly disturbed about this.
Thanking you in anticipation of a reply.
Hare Krishna,
Seeta.
Hare Krishna Seeta
There are two sides to our life. We may have some business to earn our livelihood and there is the spiritual side, Krishna consciousness. So being a lawyer really has nothing to do with Krishna consciousness but if you work as a lawyer and make some money in this way and then you use that money to serve Krishna then that will purify and spiritualize your work. This is called karma-yoga and it is the way to spiritualize otherwise mundane activities.
But you should not get too hung up on thinking you are lawyer, that is only a temporary bodily designation, it has nothing to do with your eternal spiritual nature, and you should know that for sure and not care really what people say about lawyers. You know in Krishna consciousness we are supposed to realize that we are not this material body, and we have to give up all the bodily designations. So being a lawyer is just a bodily designation. You should not care very much about this.
Of course if you are a lawyer and you can work as a lawyer and make money and use it in the service of Krishna that is good. But we have to identify our selves as servants of Krishna, not lawyers or any other bodily designation.
So basically I am saying don’t worry about what people say about lawyers, it doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that you reestablish your lost relationship with Krishna by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Thank you very, very much for reminding me…and thank you for the practical answer.
This is precisely what your newsletters do-remind, encourage, teach, counsel et cetera.
Hare Krishna!
I know nothing, really. I know nothing.
Still I love KRISHNA.
My most knawing problem, is the people around me, all deny or argue “Krishna”, and it stiffles my Love, my emotional Love to be with KRISHNA and especially RADHA. I truly Love Radha, she is most beautiful. All I think about is a chance to be with her, to be with her, to even be married to her, to be by her side. To “Be” with Radha, is my hope. This keeps me going.
I also long to see Lord Krishna in His supreme form his “Blue” form, in his nice clothes and jeweled head piece and garlands, I ponder “why” I can’t instantly be with Lord Krishna , and why I can’t see Him continuously in his astral form, why it takes so long , with so much desire and love from me, why it takes so long to get back to Godhead.
This makes me sad.
And at times it makes me resentful.
However, I have a picture of Krishna and a picture of Radha.
I am in Love with Radha. What can I say.
and I love Sri Krishna, what else cn I say.
what can I read?
what can I do?
My hope is to be with Radha, she is beautiful to me. To be with her ,always.
I will always respect Krishna and serve Krishna, this is in my soul.
Hare Krishna
Davy
I play music I go on Music Tour to Germany in February/March and April.
I hope for success, for my music and art.
I would like to make a Movie, from my book “Tye Dye Betty” , it would be
a number one Movie.
I need work too, and money miracles.
and I’m crazy in Love with Radha. She is beautiful to me.
Davy
PS Hare Krishna, Happy New Year
hare krishna,
how can one carry on his daily duties keeping lord krishna in mind , as he says in gita that u shuld do all your duties keeping your mind fixed at me .
This especially becomes difficult when the person turns out be a householder or even a student,,, dnt we have to strive for higher goals , better living etc,???
pls clear my doubt!!!!
Really we don’t have to strive very much to make advancement in the material world. Krishna does not say that in the Gita. He says ‘perform your duty’. That’s all. Actually our success or failure in the material world is already fixed up due to our karma and working very hard will not make any difference actually. So better to just do your duty and live a simple life and simply live according to what naturally comes. Of course you have to work and do your best in study and work and so on, but that is not the purpose of life, it is simply for the maintenance of the body and the bodies of our families. The real purpose of life is serving Krishna and if we put worshiping and serving Krishna in the center of our lives then automatically all the material things will fall into place also.
thank you very much sir,
hare krsna prabhu
can you please create the same original 30 volume srimad bhagavatam art gallery similar to asitis.com website.
It is on my list of things to do with the other 1000+ things…
Dear Madhudvisa Prabhuji
PAMHO & AGTSP
Hare Krishna. Prabhuji I am very impressed with your devotional mails, its full of knowledge.
Prabhuji I need a favor from you, I am not good in speaking/preaching, & I have very less knowledge of shastras. Currently I am admitted in one hospital in Pune, India for my leg pain treatment, there the Director of the hospital has asked me to give a general pravachan/lecture for the patients & the staff, but I am not confident about myself, & moreover I don’t know how to systemetically present the knowledge of BG.
May I kindly request you to please please help me.
Guide me how to start the lecture?
e.g., means of liberation in 4 yugas with slokas from SB, then aahar nidra bhaiya maiyhuna, I don’t even know the full sloka. How to explain different yoga systems, why to eat vegetarian & not to eat non vegetarian, people say onion & garlic are good for health, why to count our chanting etc., like this different topics for general public knowing nothing about Krishna Consciousness. You may kindly send me different quotes from various sastras about importance of chanting.
Prabhuji I am sure you would definately help me in this regard & so that I can start preaching slowly & gradually, I meet so many people whom I can preach & by the mercy of hari guru & vashanavas convert them to devotees of lord krishn, but I am not doing it.
Prabhuji please send something so that I can start my first ever lecture to general public.
Awaiting yout positive response.
Your servant
Lalit Krishna das
Pune India
Hare Krishna Lalit Prabhu
First we have to become Krishna conscious ourselves and then preaching will come naturally. Because Krishna is within the hearts of everyone so He is certainly within the hearts of the devotees and as He says in the Gita “I give remembrance, knowledge and for the forgetfulness.” So it is for the devotees that He gives remembrance and knowledge and because the demons want to forget Krishna He helps them to forget also.
If you don’t know the slokas then you have to study Srila Prabhupada’s books and learn the slokas and read Srila Prabhupada’s purports and listen to his classes so you can hear how Prabhupada is preaching, how he is explaining the philosophy, and then you can do the same thing. If you hear properly from Srila Prabhupada then you will be able to speak properly the philosophy. So proper hearing is the secret for good preaching.
The devotee realizes that he is not the doer, Krishna is the doer, it is our business simply to surrender to Krishna and then Krishna will do it using us as His instrument. So the idea of Krishna consciousness is to surrender to Krishna and let Krishna do the preaching through us. And if you actually follow the process very sincerely as Prabhupada is teaching us you will see this happen in your life. The process for speaking on the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-gita is very clearly given to us by Srila Prabhupada. You sit down and chant “Jaya Radha Madhava” and a small kirtan, then you pick a verse, any verse, as long as it has a purport by Srila Prabhupada. Then you read the verse, sanskrit, and get the devotees to repeat also the Sanskrit word-by-word then the whole verse, then you read Srila Prabhupada’s purport and then reread the Sanskrit and the verse and then pray to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna “O my Lord I am worthless, useless, please if You desire make my speaking suitable so these people can understand Your glories. Make me an instrument in Your hands, if you want me to dance, make me dance…”
This is the mood of a devotee. Naturally like you feel he is feeling unqualified and worthless. But we have to speak about Krishna even though we feel unqualified and worthless. Every real devotee feels humble and unqualified like this and doesn’t feel qualified to speak. But we have to speak, otherwise who else can speak about Krishna?
But we have to know what to speak. Which means we actually have to know the science of Krishna. We have to have seriously studied Srila Prabhupada’s books. Otherwise it is cheating. So many ‘devotees’ so-called, sit down and speak on the Bhagavatam, but they have not even read the whole Bhagavatam themselves. So this is cheating. If one is going to give a lecture on a subject he has to be very conversant with the subject. Otherwise his lecture is useless. We have to become authorities on the science of Krishna. Which means we have to study Srila Prabhupada’s books very seriously on a daily basis. Prabhupada recommends that we have to read his books 1-2 hours a day at least.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has ordered His followers that “First you become perfect yourselves, then preach.” So the teacher has to be qualified, otherwise he can not teach and his teaching is actually cheating.
The real preaching for us is distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. What I am trying to do is get people a bit interested in Krishna consciousness and Srila Prabhupada and my preaching goal is to get the people to purchase and read Srila Prabhupada’s books for themselves. I am not fooling myself that people are going to benefit much from what I am saying but I know for sure that if I can interest them in Prabhupada’s books and get them to read Prabhupada’s books then they are in very good hands.
So you need to be thinking like this. That preaching to someone means convincing them to purchase and read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
In this mood you can certainly speak on the Bhagavatam and pray to Krishna that He will empower you to speak nicely. But you can not expect Krishna to do much if you have not studied Prabhupada’s books very thoroughly and heard from Srila Prabhupada on a regular basis yourself. Actually if we are reading Srila Prabhupada’s books daily and hearing him give classes daily then somehow automatically we know the philosophy and we know how to answer people’s questions and we even remember so many Sanskrit verses. It is not that you have to make a big effort to learn these things. That is not the process actually. The process is submissive hearing from the bona fide spiritual master. So we only have to concentrate on hearing nicely from Srila Prabhupada and reading his books [it is better to read them aloud also so you can hear them] and that hearing will be very effective and will empower us to speak also. The more we hear from Prabhupada the more we will be qualified to speak about Krishna.
So the summary is that you should speak about Krishna but first you need to know the science of Krishna and that you can learn by very seriously reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and hearing his classes….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa,
Hare Krishna
it is nice reading to your elaborate explanation. but i loose my peace of mind thinking about those millions of hindus who are refugees in their own country and in neighbourhood. these poor souls are subject to inhuman crimes because they are Hindus. do we have any duties towards them ? are we to merely study SRI MAD BHAGWAT GITA and benefit ourselves ?
please help console my soul, if you can
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Sanjay
The devotees feel great compassion for all the conditioned souls and want to help them. But we have to learn the process how to help them and that is sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the holy names of Krishna:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
and the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books and prasadam, foodstuffs offered to the Supreme Lord.
So a world-wide program for this sankirtan and book and prasadam distribution is necessary for the benefit of all the people of the world. It is not for Hindus particularly. It is for everyone, and the problem for the Hindus is they already know this, it is their culture, but they have rejected this Vedic culture and instead are hankering after making money and having illicit sex and eating meat and gambling. So they have taken on all sinful activities and rejected Krishna, this is the real reason for the suffering and problems in India and all over the world.
So the solution is to spread the Hare Krishna movement…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I read “Worshiping Demigods Works But…” article and i completely agree with it. But what about the people who are praying some Baba’s like Sai and Satyasai-baba? What kind of efforts we are able to do against such BABA CULTURE OF INDIA and ultimately to save Hindu religion?
And Why people are praying them?
Hare Krishna Santosh
This is also a sort of demigod worship. These ‘babas’ have somehow got some position and respect by some people. But they are lost and so are their followers. The solution is that we first have to become Krishna conscious ourselves. There is a saying “First save yourself” and there is truth in that. It is not selfish because if you are not yourself healthy you can not help others. So we first have to become Krishna conscious then we can understand how we can help others. So the first thing you have to do is become determined to chant at lest 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…
To become Krishna conscious requires a significant amount of determination and effort on our part and as we become Krishna conscious will will become empowered to help others also.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Prabhu!
pamho! agtSP!
Thank you so much for this great article! Just what I needed to hear today!!! jay!
Thanks for all the Newsletters you send via e-mail, they are GREAT! and great preaching material too!
Jaya Prabhupada!
ys Suvarna Manjari dasi
Hare Krishna Gurudev, Please accept my humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of Krishna-Balaram. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Please enlighten me with the following:
One who is devotee of Krishna since a child upto the old age of 80 years now on bed for the last moment struggling for life. first eye operation, then leg fractured and other weakness. Begging Krishna for back to Goloka. Is he related for some sinful activities/karma( bad or good).
Other example, devotee of demi-gods, but not krishna concious, left the world at very early age( 40 years) due to heart attack or any other reason. Is he related to karma(bad or good).
Thanks, Haribol,
Dipesh
Hare Krishna Dipesh
Everything is related to Karma. We say everyone is a devotee but actually a real devotee is very, very rare. A real devotee is someone who is actually devoted to Krishna, who does not do anything except serve Krishna, who does not speak anything except for chanting Hare Krishna and for glorifying Krishna, who does not think of anything except Krishna, who never does anything for himself or his family, he simply works to please Krishna knowing that if he pleases Krishna everyone else will be happy… Such a person is very, very, very rare. We are aspiring to become devotees, trying to be devotees. But ‘devotee’ is a very high position actually. For Krishna’s pure devotees He takes special care. And a pure devotee does not suffer because he knows he is not the material body. So he knows the body is in difficulties but because he does not identify with the body he does not identify with the suffering also. But it is of course inconvenient for him. It is like if you have a motor car and it is not working properly it is inconvenient for you but still the problems of the car are not really your problems. You are different from the car.
We are not pure devotees, we are mixed. We have some idea to serve Krishna, we think serving Krishna is very nice, but still we keep so many material attachments and we are not actually surrendered to Krishna. We do a little bit for Krishna and a little bit for maya… So that is very different from devotee really. We are just trying to become devotees. So to the degree that we are not surrendered to Krishna we still have to suffer and enjoy the reactions of our karma. But for a pure devotee because he is completely surrendered to Krishna, Krishna takes direct charge, but that does not mean that his body will not get sick or old or that everyone will be nice to him. There are so many examples of pure devotees being attacked by envious persons like Haridas Thakur and Lord Jesus Christ. So even for pure devotees this material world is not a nice place. But they are detached from it, they know they are not the material body and they are always remembering Krisna and never forgetting Krishna so they are not actually in the material world. But we are not pure devotees. We need to be a little realistic about our position…
A devotee does not care about the body living or dying nor is he attached to anything in the material world. He is simply attached to serving Krishna and he accepts everything as Krishna’s mercy. The devotees bodies will also get old, sick and die like the materialist’s bodies. We can not expect that because we are devotees our material bodies will stay young.
With very, very few exceptions we all come to this material world because of our karma. We are all coming here to try and enjoy separately from Krishna, and that is a demoniac mentality and we have to suffer the reactions to that.
So we should not care so much about the coming and going of the material bodies but we should care about becoming Krishna conscious so that at the time we leave this body we will be completely Krishna conscious and will remember Krishna at the time of death and go back home, back to Godhead and not have to take another material body.
This material world Krishna calls dukalayam asasvatam: it is a temporary place full of miseries. And we are trying to make it into a happy comfortable place. It will never happen. It will always be a place that is full of miseries and temporary. So we can not expect much comfort and happiness here, this world is not for that.
We should see all the suffering in the material world as simply confirmation of Krishna’s words in the Bhagavad-gita and live in such a way that we will not have to take another hellish birth in the material world…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I’m sure they went to the Moon. My Dad was a NASA engineer back then, and He knew several personalities of KRISHNA. He is in Heaven now and he suggested I suggest this to you all.
I’m in Alabama now, and it’s kind of like being on the Moon.
Hare Krishna
Davy
Krishna brings JOY either on the Moon or in Alabama.
Krishna brings JOY, and is JOY.
Yet it seems that in the course of his devotional service even finds the devotee reactions to his past activities.
How does this happen and what the attitude of the devotee?
Hare Krishna!
Everyone is thinking that we are devotees but devotee is not such a simple thing. You may know that in the early days Mukunda wrote a poem “devotees we are la la la…” or something, and Srila Prabhupada corrected him and let him know that devotee is a very elevated platform. We are aspiring to become devotees. To the degree that we are not surrendered to Krishna then we will have to enjoy or suffer the reactions to our past activities. And even if we are fully surrendered to Krishna and pure devotees still so many apparent reverses and difficulties will be there in the material world. You can look at the lives of so many actual great devotees like Srila Prabhuapda, Haridas Thakur, Lord Jesus Christ, etc, and find in their lives so many apparent problems and suffering conditions.
But an actual devotee knows and has practically realized he is not the material body, but the spirit soul within the body, so even though he may encounter many material difficulties they do not effect him at all because these difficulties are only related to the body. They do not have any effect on the spirit soul. So a real devotee remains equipoised in any material condition, good or bad.
We can not expect that “I am a devotee so my body is not going to get old, sick and die…” No. Of course not. Our bodies are going to get old, sick and die. A real devotee knows that he is not the body. That is the big difference. So he knows that it is not him that is getting old, sick and dying, but simply his outward dress and he knows that the time of death is simply a changing of that old outward dress for a new one…
So it is a question of consciousness… The devotees consciousness is different. But still the devotees material body will go through all the transformations and problems that a non-devotee’s body will.
Of course for an actual devotee Krishna makes special arrangements. He minimizes the reactions. Instead of chopping off his hand he may get a small scratch. But still some reaction will be there.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Swamiji,
one must also pray to Krishna not only give us the means to serve Him but also the ability to serve Him. In today’s world one easily forgets Krishna once he is blessed bu Him materially. Then only can our devtion to the Lord be complete. Hare Krishna.
I want to know about my future cos hav been warned of early death, I live in constant fear
Hare Krishna Nadu
Don’t worry about the future. You will never die. You are eternal. You are not the material body. Death of the material body is simply changing from one body to another. It is not the death of the soul.
For a devotee living or death it does not matter. It is the same thing. Krishna gives the benediction that whatever spiritual advancement we have made in this life we will not loose that. So we will just take birth again and continue from the point we left off. So there is no loss for a devotee if his material body dies. Rather he gets to change to a new, fresh young body, or if he is actually able to remember Krishna at the time of death he can go back home, back to Krishna.
So become a devotee and then automatically you will not fear death any more. Chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And be happy!
hare krsna
can you please tell me if i want to develop krsna consciousness.i want to give up all material duties.how it is possible to give up material duties.if i have money only it is possible to buy prabhupada books.
Hare Krishna Sathya
Krishna does not recommend that one give up material duties. He suggests performing the duties for Krishna. The point is for example you have to eat and that is a material thing. So if you give up eating your body will die and that is not good because Krishna has given you this body to serve Him. You have to look after it. So the answer here is to cook for Krishna. You can purchase the vegetables, milk products, grains and fruits at the market with the consciousness that you will use them to prepare a nice offering for Krishna. And then you can cook for Krishna and offer the meal to Krishna and then you can eat the remnants of Krishna’s meal. Krishna prasadam.
You may have to go to work to pay for the rent of the house and buy food, etc. But if you have an alter in the house with Krishna there and you consider it is Krishna’s house then in that way when you are working to pay for the rent it is not for your house but for Krishna’s house.
So in this way all of our so-called materialistic activities can be transformed into spiritual activities.
Arjuna wanted to give up fighting and go to the forest because he though the fighting would not be good. But Krishna convinced him to do his duty and fight.
As you say you can only buy Prabhupada’s books if you have money. So if you work like this for getting money to buy Prabhupada’s books, and to get food to offer to Krishna and to pay for the rent of the house you live in which is now Krishna’s house then that working becomes a transcendental activity. It is called karma-yoga. It means doing some work for the sake of the Supreme Lord. It is spiritual.
Hope it helps.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Beautifully explained. Doing the action renouncing the reward is what the Lord expects us to do. When we do the actions thinking that they are done for Him, we offer the results to Him only.
Respected Madhudvisa dasa,
Hare Krishna,
It was nice to hear from you.
You elaborately explained the subject. The Verse 4.18 had two things together.
inaction in action,and action in inaction.
You explained first one. could you kindly elaborate action in inaction.
Regards, Rajesh
“Prabhupāda: Action, just like you are active. You are working, you all Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees, you are also working. You are not sitting idly, but it is inaction. Inaction in this sense that it is not producing any reaction. It has no reaction. But others, those who are not acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are also busy but they are producing their reaction. So things which are not producing reaction, that is inaction. One who can see that “I am acting in this way, there is no reaction,” that is inaction. And one who sees that “I am doing this but there is reaction,” that is action. So it requires little intelligence to see how it is action or inaction. Therefore it is said that one who can see action in inaction and inaction in action, he is intelligent.”