Wherever you go, whatever you are, you will get cooked!!!

Cooked on all sides

via kksblog.com by Kadamba Kanana Swami on 12/13/11

A lecture given by H.H Kadamba Kanana Maharaja on 2^nd December 2011, in Pretoria, South Africa

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

 We're reading from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi lila, chapter 8, entitled, "The author receives the order of Krsna and guru," text 79: 

sei likhi, madana-gopala ye likhaya
kasthera puttali yena kuhake nacaya

Translation: As a wooden doll is made to dance by a magician, I write as Madana-gopala orders me to do so.

(Purport)

(Invocatory prayers)

To be the instrument of Krsna

As a doll is made to dance…this marionette, the puppet on strings, is not dancing independently. It is said that in the same way, the pure devotee is the instrument of the Supreme Lord and the Supreme Lord from within the heart is dictating His desires through him. In that way this devotee is becoming an instrument, nimitta-matram bhava savya-sacin- as it is said in the Bhagavad Gita. Savya Sacin- to become the instrument of the Lord. That is the idea. To put false ego aside, to put false dreams aside, to put what we want to be aside or to put lamentation of all that we couldn't get… to put it aside and to simply be what Krsna wants us to be. We should accept that and preach accordingly. Destiny somehow or other gives us a certain service and then we develop that service. The mind may come up with so many things- not satisfied, restless, disturbed…the mind is not our friend, it is stated and in the conditioned state, only the pure devotee, his mind becomes his friend. The mind is no longer in conflict, the mind is no longer pulling in another direction and the mind simply becomes purified. ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam, it is said by chanting Hare Krsna, the consciousness becomes purified. The consciousness is like a mirror and this mirror is simply reflecting Krsna or His desire in various ways.

 Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami was writing the Caitanya Caritamrta. How he was writing was inconceivable because the Caitanya Caritamrta is in a way a book full of quotes from different scriptures. It is therefore a book, which is not something which is written like on the top off ones head but it is a book that has a lot of work in it. A lot of work- by taking quotes here and there from different scriptures and it means the writer has to do hard work. One can also just write something that comes into the head but if one starts to pull in evidence from here and there then that is a serious book. So the Caitanya Caritamrta is like that, it's a serious work but he was in his 90's when he was writing it! So most people in their 90's are like slowing down a little, the brain is no longer in such a good condition and Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami, in the last chapter of the Cc is writing like that; he is saying, "my memory is finished, my eye sight is gone, my hand is trembling so much, my body is full of disease…how am I writing? How is this possible? It's not me who is writing, it's the Supreme Lord who is dictating, dictating from within." Caitya-guru, Srila Prabhupada explains, is the guru in the heart, Krsna who is acting as guru in the heart. In this way the pure devotee, he knows what to do, he knows from within.

We cannot imitate because when we start listening to the heart then actually we are listening to our mind and how do you know what comes from the mind and what comes the heart? It's very difficult. We say, 'yes, yes we feel it,' but later we realise that no, that was not Krsna, that was my mind. At the time when I got the message, I thought, yes, yes, this is Krsna's desire but now I realise that it's my mind. My mind is just pushing me through the three modes of material nature and in the three modes of material nature we desire to enjoy this and that. That is the mind and that will bring us suffering, it will bind us because the mind is the seat of the senses. The senses are connected to the mind so whatever we perceive through the eyes, the nose, the ears or the sense of touch, all that is connected to the mind. In the mind we store remembrances of previous experience. For so long no sense enjoyment and then we remember that, 'actually the last time it wasn't that bad, let's have it again. Of course that is difficult then one has to struggle to try and get the same enjoyment again. So these are all being on the mental platform.

To be the servant of the servant

Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami was obviously another type of devotee. He was always thinking of Krsna. According to the Gaura- ganoddesa- dipika from Kavi Karnapura, which is a book that basically describes the 'who is who.' It describes who in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, what role they played in the pastimes of Krsna because after all, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna. So He has come back now as Caitanya Mahaprabhu then along with Him all His associates also come like that and vrajendra-nandana yei,     saci-suta haila sei, balarama ha-ila nitai. That Vrajendra-nandana, the son of Vraja, the son of Nanda (Vrajendra means the controller of Vraja, Nanda Maharaja) has now appeared as saci suta, the son of Saci. And Balarama, He has come as Nitai. So Krsna and Balarama appear and along with Krsna and Balarama all the associates also appear. So we see that so many of the devotees with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu were also there with Krsna and then we can see who they were. So the Gaura- ganoddesa-dipika is saying that Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami was Kasthuri Manjari, one of the gopis described as nitya sakhis, or the eternal friends of Srimati Radharani. Of course it is known that Krsna is not only enjoying with Srimati Radharani but also with other gopis. But these nitya sakhis, they are performing austerities to become free from the desire to be embraced by Krsna so that their desire is only to serve Radharani and nothing else. Those are the nitya sakhis.

So Kasthuri Manjari is one of these sakhis and they perform these austerities. Srila Jiva Goswami describes that they perform these austerities and then as a reward for their austerities they perform a bathing ceremony of Srimati Radharani, who was always in that mood of somehow or other serving Radha and Krsna, by serving Radharani. That actually is the mood of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's followers that, 'I am not a great devotee, so what can I do to please Krsna? Here I am doing some service for Krsna but what does Krsna care about my little service in comparison to the service of His great devotees. Therefore better than trying to make my offering and say Krsna here is my offering, I'll make my offering to assist a greater devotee and in that way Krsna will be more pleased.' So that is the mood in Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement, to assist the greater devotee and not to just say, 'out of the way! Here I am! I am serving Krsna!' so that is our mood. One serves the spiritual master, one serves the vaisnavas, the senior vaisnavas and one thinks, 'who am I? I am simply an assistant.' That is important. It's obviously in that where humility develops, in that mood of being an assistant and all assistants are assistants of Srimati Radharani, who is the topmost.

So Krsnadas Kaviraja Gosvami comes in that mood now to assist Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu comes into this world then all these associates come and in the spiritual world, they are close servants. Rupa Manjari is Rupa Goswami. Rupa Manjari is the direct servant of Lalita. The most intimate servants are Lalita and Vishaka. It is said that they are members of the asta-sakhis and they are expansions of Srimati Radharani. So Radharani is serving Krsna in a particular mood but then She expands Herself into other forms that have a little bit different mood so that She can also serve Krsna in another mood simultaneously. Like that, it is going on.

The service of the Goswamis

The point is that Rupa Goswami is a real leader amongst all the devotees. Rupa Goswami is distributing service as an assistant of Lalita. So there is a whole heirachy, it's not that everyone is in the spiritual world and walking around in the mood of, 'I'm serving Krsna…' and it's all just 'Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Krsna…' no, everyone is serving some other servant and service is given, not that service is taken. In this way everyone is given some service. There is incidental service, service that you do sometimes. That may be given just once, 'do this service,' 'yes, thank you. Done!' and then there is a fixed service, a service where one takes responsibility for a particular service. In that fixed service, there we are developing that service, improving the service. That is of a higher calibre. So we see that all the eternal associates of the Lord have a fixed service.

 So when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came into this world then we see that Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis also came and they came to write books, elaborating on the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu as they had heard it and then establishing these teachings based on conclusions of various scriptures. nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau, they took different things from so many scriptures and they found evidence of everything they had already heard from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So in this way they established all the conclusions of Mahaprabhu on the basis of scripture. Not that Mahaprabhu could have not done that Himself but He left it for them to do that, 'okay you do that; this is the essence and you do that work…' and then Jiva Goswami came and he was brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Such a learned person! Such a brain! So sharp that Jiva Goswami was defeating all other philosophers and clearly establishing vaisnavism based on Srimad Bhagavatam as the truth. And then Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami came…

He appeared during the time that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was still on the planet but he never met Him because he was still a child at the time. Only later when he was grown up did he go to Vrndavana and he spent some significant amount of time in Vrndavana. Exactly how long, he's not sure and in Vrndavana he resided in Radha Kunda and he became the assistant of Raghunatha das Goswami. So Raghunatha Goswami is interesting because he was born of a very, very wealthy family. It is said that at that time his father was having a monthly income of 1.2 million rupees. So if even today- 500 years later- you can imagine, incredibly wealthy! Inconceivably wealthy! And Raghunatha das just gave it up, he gave up everything, he gave up all that wealth and he became completely renounced and his renunciation was just inconceivable. He came to Jagannatha Puri and joined Caitanya Mahaprabhu  there. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu placed him under the care of Swarup Damodara Goswami and Swarup Damodara Goswami was teaching Raghunatha, not in renunciation but in antaranga-seva. He was teaching him according to his eternal spiritual identity, which is for the very advanced devotees. So he was serving under Swarup Damodara, not in the consciousness of this external body but within the consciousness of a spiritual body. He was really there; it wasn't like imagined therefore he was able to serve, always being in the spiritual world. On the material platform, he had no interest in anything material- zero interest. Not only had he renounced all the wealth of his parents but he didn't want to bother with material things. So very simple clothes, whatever was lying around, whatever he was getting he took without any endeavour. Even for his meals he was begging at the Jagannatha temple. But then he stopped doing that and then he started taking from the charity booth. They have these holy places in India where they give out some free food. So he would just go there. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked, "Swarup Damodara, what happened to Raghunatha? He used to beg in front of the gate, the lion gate of the temple." He said, "ya, he gave that up because this kind of begging is in the mood of a prostitute who is always thinking, 'maybe this one will be my customer, maybe that one will be my customer.' And if one stands and begs, he is thinking, 'maybe this one will give something…yesterday he came and he gave so maybe he'll give again.' One's mind gets into calculating so he said Raghunatha das decided to give it up. So Raghunatha said, "better to take once a day from the charity booth and then finished." 

Then after a while Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked again to Swarup Damodara, "Raghunatha has stopped taking from the charity booth, what's he doing now?"

"Oh, what Raghunatha das is doing now, he is taking whatever rice they have thrown out from the Jagannatha temple. Whenever there is the maha prasadam there is always too much rice and when the rice goes bad they throw it out and first the cows eat it but then after a while it gets so bad that even the cows will not take it. So Raghunatha is taking that and he's washing it under the water until all the soft parts comes off and only the hard core remains and he eats that with a little salt." Then that day, Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Raghunatha das and He said, "oh, Raghunatha, what nectar are you having there?" and Raghunatha das said, "no, no, no, my Lord, no, no, no! This is not for You!"
"But Raghunatha das what are you hiding from Me? You are having some nectar there!" Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Raghunatha, give me some of that…"

"No, no, no…." but Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He is very powerful and Raghunatha das couldn't stop Him. Somehow or other He snatched it and said, "mmmm! This is the best prasadam, the best prasadam I've ever tasted! Delicious!" Then Swarup Damodar arrived there and sort of came in between and said, "no, no, no, this is enough, enough! This is not for You, this is for Raghunatha."

So in this way we see how Raghunatha das performed his austerity but it was not austerity at all. He was simply staying free to be absorbed in the eternal, spiritual reality. Why bother with the material world and all the complexities? Just keep it as simple as possible and as pure as possible. Like he wanted to solve his eating problem very simple but at the same time he got maha prasadam! So like this, it was of the higher, spiritual calibre and at the same time very simple. So Raghunatha in this way was very fortunate. He became the intimate servant of Swarup Damodara Goswami and Swarup Damodara Goswami, he was the one who stayed in the final days with Caitanya Mahaprabhu so he knew everything about the special ecstasies that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was experiencing in His last days. The amazing symptoms of love of God, nobody knew about but people had heard about- not in detail- but they had heard that there was something extraordinary going on but nobody knew the fine details of it. But Swarup Damodara knew and he wrote it down in a diary. Then that diary was lost! My God! It was a written in a diary and the diary was lost but somehow or other, Swarup Damodara had told about this diary so many times to Raghunatha das that Raghunatha das remembered it. Raghunatha  das was one of the very few so he was a treasure house of knowledge.

 Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami- the chosen one

Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami, he lived in Radhakunda. It was Raghunatha das who had developed Radha kunda. With the wealth of some businessman, who was instructed from within to give his money to Raghunatha, he had used it to build all the ghatas and so on. Raghunatha was expert at handling money because of his family background. He had arranged for all these ghatas and now Radhakunda has all these stone slabs- the whole thing! Then, because Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami was there, he had heard everything from Raghunatha das Goswami. So, he knew that the vaisnavas knew it, that Krsna das Kaviraja knew it. And the vaisnavas knew that Krsnadas was very learned in the vaisnava books of the Goswamis because they knew that Krsnadas had come to Vrndavana and had been trained by Rupa Goswami and Jiva Goswami personally. Therefore he had not only studied the books but he had personally trained him. They knew that and they knew that he knew the secrets about the diary of Swarup Damodara Goswami and therefore they knew that he was the one to write about Caitanya Mahaprabhu although he never met Him! So he was the one who was chosen to write the Caitanya Caritamrta, which included the teaching and the life of Mahaprabhu and especially also the later part, describing to what extent love of God can go. And then one chants Hare Krsna and then one becomes mad with love of God. But what is this madness, how does it work? It is to do with intensity, not just a desire to be a devotee, not just a desire to serve Krsna but intense desire and everything else becomes insignificant, meaningless, forget it. Caitanya Mahaprabhu forgot everything else- everything else! It was only Krsna and it just became more and more intense.  That of course is another subject matter.

The Caitanya Caritamrta as a mirror

But we can see that actually, the pastimes of Caitanya Mahprabhu are like staged by the Lord. When the Lord comes into this world He stages His pastimes like a road show and along with Him comes His associates and they are performing all this pastimes and teachings for us so that we can connect and that everything that we need is there, that everything that comes up in our spiritual life is being dealt with. In this way, a book like the Caitanya Caritamrta deals with everything that we encounter in our pursuits in spiritual life, it's there. Everything that we come across is dealt with, is described. In that way, when we look at the Caitanya Caritamrta it's like looking in a mirror and we see our own spiritual life in front of our eyes and how we performing. We can see how to move on, we can see where we went wrong, we can see what we are lacking, what pure devotional service really is. In this way we can find inspiration to become more serious.

Being cooked on all sides

The kanistha is a weak devotee. It is said kamala sraddha, he has weak faith, he doesn't believe firmly that his happiness will come from only Krsna. He is thinking, "Yes, happiness comes from Krsna but there is also other things. So the kanistha will always hold on to other things but can't give them up either. So this is the first fight; the first fight is that one has to cut with knowledge. One has to cultivate knowledge and when there's knowledge, very sharp knowledge, then it cuts. So with this sharp knowledge, we cut this old, stale attachments- cut, one after another! And one has to cut more, step by step…

Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami, is described as a wooden doll that is dancing in the hands of the magician. That means he is completely humble. Step by step one has to cut to become humble. One doesn't get humble by a mood, 'and now I'm going to be humble…' I usually say that one can take super glue and put their hands together and they always stay together…it looks humble but it's only superglue! That is really what it is. So one of the acaryas was saying that it is a journey and one has to pass by oceans, mountains, stars in the sky… and give them all up! So, big things, big attachments, one has to leave them. The big things, one has to pass by and let it go. Everyone has some big things in his life, big, so many big things are there and we have to do it. Of course in the beginning we have all these big attachments so the spiritual master will say, 'yes, yes…'

We had a discussion about, 'yes, yes' it was a 'yes, yes' discussion. Someone came and said, 'should I get married? Or should I stay single for life?' Yes! 'Should I take a job?' Yes! 'should I just surrender and just preach?' Yes! 'You're saying yes to everything?' Yes! 'Then what am I supposed to do? Should I just do any of these things?' Yes! 'You mean it doesn't matter?' Yes!

Whatever you do there will be austerity, whatever you do there will be austerity. You choose, you try…

I went to the city of New York and you know, in New York you have everything! So in New York I saw a chapatti machine. Yes somewhere I saw a big machine cooking chapattis. That's New York- you have everything! And it was interesting that at the top there was a container and they put in the flour in the machine and then some water  and then (machine noise) it mixes it up and then cut and little balls come and they go through rollers and then perfectly round, flat chapattis come out. And then it goes on a hot disc and it gets roasted. Then after a little while the metal arm comes and the chapatti hits the metal arm and then it goes down a hole and then it goes down a slide and it turns and lands on a hot disc one level lower and now it gets cooked on the other side. So, you're going to get cooked no matter what! Either this side or another side, but you are going to get cooked! Oh yes you are! Therefore the spiritual master knows, he knows that you are going to get cooked, he knows. And he can see, this one needs to be cooked a little more…so what to do, we just wait. He says, 'yes…yes…'

'Shall I get married?' Yes! 'This marriage is too much!' Yes! 'Shall I move to another country?' Yes! Everything is 'yes' because you will be cooked by the austerity that is in that situation. Yes, you can't escape it; it's there! 'Shall I stay in Soweto? Shall I move to Pretoria?' Yes, yes! If you get cooked in Soweto, you get cooked in Pretoria! No matter where you go you get cooked! Have you noticed? That is how it is. at one point you just say, 'you know what, I had enough of this, I really had enough! No, no, I've said it many times that I've had enough but this time I'm not only saying it but this time I actually really had enough! I'm going to get serious about spiritual life!'

So this is what it takes to go from kanistha to madhyama- one has to be cooked! A kanistha has to be cooked like a chapatti! Sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other side until finally a kanistha says, 'I've had enough! I'm going to get serious about spiritual life and then madhyama begins. When was is serious and one takes shelter of devotional service then one will apply himself very seriously to both acara and pracara- to behave like a devotee and to preach. And because we behave like a devotee and preach then we'll get mercy, taste and inspiration very quickly. So a madhyama gets inspiration. Then uttama, to be completely uttama- an advanced uttama- means to be like Raghunatha das. To actually live in that eternal, spiritual relationship with Krsna, that comes by grace and you can't jump to that. That you cannot do by determination. Some try to jump to that level by determination. No, that level comes by grace. When Krsna gives it, He gives. That day will come when Krsna desires. That comes by grace of guru and Krsna.

So in this way we can see the progression and we can see how these eternal devotees are showing everything, all the stages of bhakti. And then the present spiritual masters are presenting it according to time, place and circumstances. In this way we are all the servants of the servants. We are servants of Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami when we are trying to explain the Caitanya Caritamrta, who is the servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is non-other than Radha and Krsna combined, showing the eternal nature of the spiritual world. This is how we are all servant of the servant. And otherwise, just be a chapatti!

Any questions, any comments?

Question: So if we are cooked anyway, it doesn't make sense to get married or move to another country…

Maharaja: Yes, it makes sense…if you marry a blue eyed blonde from America, beautiful and pockets full of dollars! Anyway, there are other countries and other varieties and yes you can handle all these things and why not…

At the point when you come to surrendering, it really doesn't matter. As long as you're in the grhastha asrama and you're not surrendered to Krsna and then your hope will be that this grhastha asrama is going to work out and is going to be full of wonderful experiences and so on is not happening. Well sometimes, a little bit, but most of the time it's not and then the result is that you get frustrated. Then we think, 'is this what I got married for?' well there's a few options and then we may think, 'I'm going to dump this one and get another one.' We can think like that but then again there's so much trouble.  So that's all part of the frying process of being cooked. So ultimately, one day, a grhastha will have to come to the point and say, 'actually, it really doesn't work, I should just try and be a devotee and should just put my energy into being a devotee.' And then when both of them are going to do that, then it's okay and then suddenly the relationship starts to work better. And before that, it just doesn't work. So it's okay to be married, there's nothing wrong there. Of course if you are all alone then you will save yourself a lot of time and a lot of money. You know, when you get married you need a lot of money and you have to work or somehow or other hustle to make some money. It takes effort.

So you can save yourself all that trouble and walk around in orange. But that's also austere because there you also get cooked. And for the one thousandth time…bang! clang! In the middle of the night some guy smashes the door and turns on the light just when you're asleep. And then for the one millionth time, one brahmacari puts his alarm clock at 2 '0 clock and he doesn't get up. And the damn thing keeps on beeping and beeping and it's everyday!!! and when you feel, 'I want a place of my own, just my own place, where I can do what I want, my place…God do I want it!' Well when you come to that point then you know that as a brahmacari you are going to get cooked. And then you know that there's only two options: either get married or take shelter of Krsna and get serious.

So yes….anybody else?

Question: Hare Krsna Maharaja, please explain this conditioned life and karma… (question inaudible)

Maharaja: Karma is a factor obviously. Some people, by karma, they are more renounced and some people by karma are more inclined towards sense enjoyment. Some people in the last life were already brahmacaris and some people in the last life were you know, just having a party everyday. So yes, obviously, we bring some karma with us but it is stated that karma is only a factor in the beginning. This karma in the beginning makes a difference but if one is advancing then the karma does not make so much difference. Yes, a kanistha adhikari, one of the factors is karma but when we make karma too big then we think, 'it's all my karma, it's destiny' and then you begin to believe in astrology. And then you are going to an astrologer and he's looking at your chart and then he begins to do calculations and says, 'oh my God! Oh my God! Ya on September this year your whole life will change and then it will become very difficult for you and to maintain this asrama. You will meet your wife from last life in September. Yes, she will come and there's not much you can do about it and I mean, what are you going to do? Tell me honestly? Think about it…but I'm telling you, in September, you are going to meet your wife from last life!' So then you go like, 'oh my God! oh my God! Listen to this prabhus! I went to an astrologer and you know wha5t he told me? He told me in September it's going to happen to me, I'm going to meet my wife from last life…oh no! What am I going to do! What am I going to do! What am I going to do! Oh no, oh no, oh no!'

Look, my answer to that is, you married her last life, so don't make the same mistake again- that's one answer! (Laughter) Of course, I'm not speaking out against marriage but it doesn't mean you have to do it again. But some people, astrology, it will control everything in their life. 'oh it says on my chart! Oh now what can I do? I have to do.' No, it's up to you to choose and karma, that's the astrology- it shows the karma. And when we think that astrology controls our life, the karma controls our life, then we have no faith in the power of Krsna consciousness. So the power of karma is there but the power of bhakti is greater than the power of karma. What can karma do? Prabhupada said that Krsna can kick out a million Rahus!

Another question? Okay finished…finished with Rahu- an auspicious end! (Laughter)

Srila Prabhupada ki, Jaya! Hare Krsna!

Cooked on all sides

Bhagavad-gita As It Is 5.4

Sankhya Yoga taught by Lord Kapila Dev to His mother Devahuti

sankhya-yogau prithag balah
pravadanti na panditah
ekam apy asthitah samyag
ubhayor vindate phalam

SYNONYMS
sankhya -- analytical study of the material world; yogau -- work in devotional service; prithak -- different; balah -- the less intelligent; pravadanti -- say; na -- never; panditah -- the learned; ekam -- in one; api -- even; asthitah -- being situated; samyak -- complete; ubhayoh -- of both; vindate -- enjoys; phalam -- the result.

TRANSLATION
Only the ignorant speak of devotional service [karma-yoga] as being different from the analytical study of the material world [Sankhya]. Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both.

PURPORT
The aim of the analytical study of the material world is to find the soul of existence. The soul of the material world is Vishnu, or the Supersoul. Devotional service to the Lord entails service to the Supersoul. One process is to find the root of the tree, and the other is to water the root. The real student of Sankhya philosophy finds the root of the material world, Vishnu, and then, in perfect knowledge, engages himself in the service of the Lord. Therefore, in essence, there is no difference between the two because the aim of both is Vishnu. Those who do not know the ultimate end say that the purposes of Sankhya and karma-yoga are not the same, but one who is learned knows the unifying aim in these different processes.

Goal of Sankhya and Karma yoga are the same!

There's chaos everywhere because everyone wants to become God.

If one pebble is thrown in a still pond,the ripples formed will be uniform&it will reach throughout the pond without disturbance. If many pebbles are thrown,there'll be many ripples colliding with each other&the whole pond is disturbed. The idea is if everyone accepts the majesty of the Supreme Lord(Sri Krishna) the whole society can be peaceful.


Bhagavad Gita 5.29

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati

TRANSLATION

The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.

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Otherwise there'll be only chaos when everyone tries to become God and it's like throwing many pebbles into the still pond which will disturb the whole atmosphere and one such is this material world. Wise men accept that we are controlled and maintained by the Supreme Lord every moment. That's the Actual peace formula.

Actually we dont deserve to be God or to become God because we are not God.When I told one of my Friends that we are servants of God eternally,he said why should we be slaves all the time? This is the problem we have. There are so many demi-gods working behind the show. All our bodily movements, mind, intelligence are controlled by demi-gods accordingly as per our karma,our present/past desires&also based on what we deserve. I understood that even our intelligence is by providence.

First deserve & then desire. We dont deserve to be God so when we try to take that position,we can never be happy nor the ones around us can.It's like a puppet show. Therefore it's important to understand the Sankhya philosophy also. What's God&what's not. What we are? What are the material elements? How are they in action? How the spirit&matter interact? This is real science, Krishna science and the ultimate solution to all problems in the world. We are in this world but we are not of this world. We are not meant for this world but the ones who are defying the existence of God and even the self. There are people who deny the self and believe in voidism.

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com/

Chaos Everywhere! Spiritual solutions to Material Problems!

Bhagavad-gita As It Is | Part [BG.13.09]

TEXTS 8-12:

(8)

amanitvam adambhitvam

ahimsa kshantir arjavam

acaryopasanam saucam

sthairyam atma-vinigrahah

(9)

indriyartheshu vairagyam

anahankara eva ca

janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi-

duhkha-doshanudarsanam

(10)

asaktir anabhishvangah

putra-dara-grihadishu

nityam ca sama-cittatvam

ishtanishtopapattishu

(11)

mayi cananya-yogena

bhaktir avyabhicarini

vivikta-desa-sevitvam

aratir jana-samsadi

(12)

adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam

tattva-jnanartha-darsanam

etaj jnanam iti proktam

ajnanam yad ato 'nyatha

TRANSLATION:

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona
fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of
the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the
evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from
entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid
pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring
to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people;
accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the
Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever
there may be is ignorance.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

Besides this whatever there may be is ignorance - [BG.13.09]

28, October 2011, By His Grace Krishna Kirti Dasa

In 2001, Sripad Jayadavaita Swami gave a lecture series titled "Food
for Death", which is still available on his website at
http://www.jswami.info/seminars#food and which examined how prasadam
distribution seen by the public as ordinary welfare work affects
ISKCON's core values. Sripad Bhakti Vikasa Swami in his 2011 lectures
titled "Some Concerns About ISKCON" and "Further Discussion on
Concerns About ISKCON" addresses the same issue Jayadvaita Swami
addressed but in a more generalized context that includes other
welfare initiatives.[1] Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja in his lectures also
addresses what he identifies as fundamental, philosophical differences
that have emerged within our society.

As far as social welfare is concerned, the lectures of both Swamis
make a common point: the time and resources devotees increasingly give
to indirect preaching in the form of welfare work, at the expense of
direct preaching, reflects ISKCON's growing acceptance of karma-kanda
as a part of its core mission and, hence, core values.

Mission drift and Vyasa's dissatisfactionThat as grand a spiritual
institution as ISKCON could itself become mundane is not a new idea.
In the Bhagavad-gita at the beginning of the 4th chapter, Krishna
describes the system of the guru-parampara and how, in the course of
time, the succession had been broken and the knowledge of the science
of yoga was lost. On some occasions, Srila Prabhupada himself said
that ISKCON could be destroyed not by outsiders but by insiders. Such
changes are the result of a gradual drift of the disciplic succession
away from its original message and mission.

Mission drift usually does not occur suddenly, like some natural
disaster. It almost always happens over long stretches of time, over
generations. The manner in which it is likely to occur is suggested by
Srila Narada Muni in his conversation with Srila Vyasadeva about the
reason for Vyasa's despondency. Narada Muni says,

"Whatever you desire to describe that is separate in vision from the
Lord simply reacts, with different forms, names and results, to
agitate the mind as the wind agitates a boat which has no resting
place. The people in general are naturally inclined to enjoy, and you
have encouraged them in that way in the name of religion. This is
verily condemned and is quite unreasonable. Because they are guided
under your instructions, they will accept such activities in the name
of religion and will hardly care for prohibitions" (SB 1.5.14 – 15).

With regard to mission drift, Narada's statement is relevant in these
two respects:

Describing reality without connection to the vision of the Lord
agitates people's minds.
Where Krishna is not directly and sufficiently glorified, conditioned
human nature all but guarantees a perverse outcome.

The first attribute would correspond to an absence of direct reference
to Krishna in any stated purpose or description of the activity
itself. For example, in the Gita itself Lord Krishna criticizes the
pretentious followers of the Vedas known as veda-vada-ratah, who take
the various rituals and sacrifices offered in the Vedas as ends to
worldly enjoyment. They perform religious acts that are disconnected
from krishna-bhakti, because, as Narada suggests, the connection
between the acts and the Lord are not obvious.

It may be said that indirect worship of the Lord can be performed with
the expectation of making spiritual progress as long as the performer
himself remembers the true connection. But the second attribute in
Narada's statement explains why that almost never happens. Because
people in general are inclined to material enjoyment (especially in
Kali Yuga), their perverse nature predisposes them to forget the
original purpose of such indirect worship of the Lord and give up the
regulative principles that must also be followed in the course of its
performance.

A view of the world separate in vision from the Lord need not be
totally separate to cause people to gradually become disinterested in
religion. The disjuncture may be partial. Vyasadeva's former works
that left him dissatisfied were not devoid of krishna-katha. The
Mahabharata, after all, features Krishna and the Bhagavad-gita itself.
So how could it lead to dissatisfaction? As stated by Narada, Vyasa
gave too much emphasis to pious activities and not enough to bhakti.
"Although, great sage, you have very broadly described the four
principles beginning with religious performances, you have not
described the glories of the Supreme Personality, Vasudeva" (SB
1.5.9). Vyasadeva was trying to gradually purify people by dovetailing
their propensity for enjoyment into religious activity. Yet that did
not have the effect Vyasa intended. As stated in the purport to this
verse,

"The prompt diagnosis of Sri Narada is at once declared. The root
cause of the despondency of Vyasadeva was his deliberate avoidance of
glorifying the Lord in his various editions of the Puranas. He has
certainly, as a matter of course, given descriptions of the glories of
the Lord (Sri Krsna) but not as many as given to religiosity, economic
development, sense gratification and salvation."

Again, symptoms that one's spiritual program has the same problem
identified by Narada include emphasis of its alleged material benefits
while speaking minimally about its spiritual benefits. It is like
basing a large-scale preaching program on telling people that
Krishna's holy names "recharges your batteries", gives you peace of
mind, while hardly speaking about their true spiritual benefit.

Although the above criticism of spiritual activity devoid of proper
understanding is put forward by Shri Narada himself, one may still
question whether proper understanding is even necessary. For example,
saying "Hare Krishna" in a mocking or derisive way to taunt devotees
will nevertheless purify the person who utters Krishna's name in this
way. This is an example of ajnata-sukrti. Valmiki Muni is the
quintessential example of how transcendental activity performed
unintentionally nevertheless has the same transcendental effect as if
it were performed intentionally. This is also Sukadeva Goswami's point
in narrating the Ajamila moksha-lila. Like medicine, the potency of
Lord's holy name does not depend on the understanding of the person
who hears or utters it. The same can be said of Krishna prasadam.

So then it may be asked what harm is there in clandestinely
distributing Krishna prasadam to the masses, as if one were conducting
yet another mundane welfare program popular among the karmis? The
expected outcome is that the karmis give us their money and good will,
we give them prasadam, they get purified, and we expand the Krishna
consciousness movement. It sounds like a win-win-win-win situation.
What could possibly go wrong with it?

The key assumption made here is that devotees will maintain a level of
purity sufficient to keep themselves from falling into materialistic
consciousness while engaging in activity that purposefully avoids
krishna-katha. The time one spends extolling the perceived material
benefits of prasadam (which you call food now, not prasadam) is time
spent NOT glorifying Krishna. One is not engaging in krishna-katha
while one is trying to avoid describing Krishna. Distributing prasadam
while not presenting it in relation to Krishna has the same kind of
problem Narada pointed out to Vyasa. Although it is prasadam that is
being distributed, it is not presented in relation to the Lord. For
this reason the devotees will not be able to maintain for long the
requisite level of purity required of such a clandestine effort to
distribute prasadam to be successful. This is why Srila Prabhupada
insisted that prasadam distribution be accompanied by kirtana.

It may be further objected that although some people are too neophyte
to engage in any service other than direct hearing and chanting of the
Lord's names and pastimes, the devotees distributing prasadam in the
guise of worldly food relief are strong enough in their own devotional
service such that they will not fall down. This is not true. As Srila
Prabhupada explains in the Nectar of Instruction (Text 5),

— QUOTE —

"The Krsna consciousness movement prescribes sixteen rounds daily
because people in the Western countries cannot concentrate for long
periods while chanting on beads. Therefore the minimum number of
rounds is prescribed. However, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati used to
say that unless one chants at least sixty-four rounds of japa (one
hundred thousand names), he is considered fallen (patita). According
to his calculation, practically every one of us is fallen, but because
we are trying to serve the Supreme Lord with all seriousness and
without duplicity, we can expect the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, who is famous as patita-pavana, the deliverer of the
fallen."

— END QUOTE —

If already it is admitted that 16 rounds of japa plus the 4 regulative
principles are still deficient in terms of quantity of sravanam and
kirtanam, and if, according to Srila Prabhupada's assessment above,
quotidian devotional service makes up for that deficiency, then a
preaching program deficient in sravanam and kirtanam means that the
devotees will not get sufficient spiritual support from their daily
activities. They will lose their taste for spiritual life in the way
that Narada describes to Vyasa.

Some examples of preaching disconnected from krishna-kathaIn his
lecture, Bhakti Vikasa Swami reminisces about how in the 1980s
devotees started selling non-devotional paintings and other
paraphernalia to accumulate money. This money would then be spent for
preaching purposes. The collection program and the direct preaching
program were separate.

The result? Devotees lost their taste for spiritual life, and the
program proved unsustainable. As Maharaja points out, the best-selling
paintings were pictures of dogs. They were "selling pictures of Dog,
not God." It is not that the money was not being used for preaching
purposes. It was. Yet in the end the program proved unsustainable.

We also find in Srila Prabhupada's letters similar, cautionary
reminders to his disciples that selling incense is not their primary
business. "Attention diverted to incense business is not a very good
sign. We should give all our energy for distributing BTG" (Letter to
Satsvarupa 21/6/1971). ISKCON has first-hand experience with the
dissatisfying nature of activity in which sankirtana is at best a
secondary objective.

Mid Day Meals lacking krishna-katha, lacking kirtana.What makes
something a secondary objective as opposed to a primary objective?
Consider the Sunday Feast. Contrary to what the name implies, the
primary objective of the Sunday Feast is not to give people prasadam.
The primary objective is to give people a chance to hear
krishna-katha. The secondary objective is to give people prasadam. Of
course, prasadam is a necessary part of the program, as prasadam is
directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, Himself. It
is His mercy. Yet distributing prasadam is not the primary objective.
We use it as an incentive to get people to come to our centers to hear
our lectures. The emphasis of our program and hence its primary
objective is on the propagation of krishna-katha. It is more important
than any other aspect of our mission.

Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja in his lecture notes not only the lack of
krishna-katha in the Mid Day Meals program but also that it is
advertised as having mundane, not spiritual, objectives.

"The advertising for the Mid Day Meals program, if you see their
brochures is that 'we're helping to build the nation', and that
appeals to people. We're helping to 'build the nation' by getting the
children educated, giving them a good future. But that's against our
philosophy. The idea of 'building the nation' is totally mundane."

Maharaja further notes how in India the India Regional Governing Body
had dealt with the question of what may be considered appropriate and
inappropriate in distributing prasadam, and one of the requirements
they came up with was that it must at least be accompanied by kirtana
and lectures. Yet the lack of devotees available to conduct kirtana
and the secular Indian government interfere with this requirement.

The first problem, which Jaydvaita Maharaja also mentions in his own
lectures, is that in the places where the Mid Day Meals program is
conducted on a substantial scale, there is nowhere near enough
devotees that can perform kirtana at each of the places where prasadam
is distributed. Kirtana performers cannot be hired like bus drivers.
So the prasadam gets cooked and dropped off at the schools and
presented as if it were any other mundane meal.

Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja raises the question of whether Krishna is
reciprocating in a way devotees running Mid Day Meals haven't
anticipated. What might happen if, for example, instead of our pujaris
worshipping the Deities in the temple we hire non-devotee brahmanas to
worship Them? Maharaja asks, "Is it prasada?" If a murti of Krishna is
handled negligently, is Krishna still obliged to remain there as
murti? Some of the same considerations seem applicable in the case of
prasadam.

The second problem has to do with the secular Indian government, or
secular governments wherever they exist. But in India in particular,
in some places the government will not allow kirtana and lectures
because whatever is given to the children or poor through the
government must be strictly food relief. Religious elements are not
always allowed. And for that reason kirtana and lecture would also not
allowed.

And because devotees have collected extensively for these programs, it
is nearly impossible to withdraw from places that disallow kirtana.
Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja in his lecture gives the example of the day
school on the ISKCON Juhu property, where, after some time, the
devotees there saw how the school itself was taking up time and
resources for no spiritual end, and it was not producing devotees
anyway. But when they tried to close down the school, the parents and
students objected, and now the temple has to raise huge amounts of
money to relocate the school outside of the temple campus. Thus the
devotees who run these programs will find it very difficult, if not
impossible, to reconnect the Mid Day Meals program with kirtana.

Embracing karma-kanda within ISKCONBhakti Vikasa Maharaja raises a
more serious issue: that the Mid Day Meals program is advertised as
fulfilling purposes that are against the philosophy Srila Prabhupada
taught. This is an example from the "Who Are We?" page of ISKCON Food
Relief Foundation's Delhi Mid Day Meals website:

"ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is a Non-Religious, Non-Sectarian, and
Not-for Profit Charitable Trust"
(http://www.delhimdm.com/whoweare.php).

The website's vision page (http://www.delhimdm.com/vision_m.php) makes
it even more self-evident that the prasadam distribution program
embraces objectives opposed to ISKCON's original core mission (bolding
added).

— QUOTE —

Vision: Removing hunger and upscaling learning opportunities for
underprivileged children

Mission: ISKCON Food Relief Foundation works with Government to
provide hygienically cooked, balanced, nutritious, wholesome Mid-Day
Meal food to children in municipal and government aided schools in
India to improve access to good food and promote education.

Philosophy: ISKCON Food Relief Foundation believes that food is a
fundamental right. Inadequate nutrition not only affects physical,
mental, and emotional health of children adversely but also restricts
their learning ability, development opportunities and effective
participation in the community.

We believe that a simple way of breaking the vicious cycle of hunger
and poverty is by providing them regular and nutritious food and this
fulfills ISKCON's mission.

Goals: 1. To promote the provision of distribution of sanctified meals
all over the India; and 2. To promote food system education;

— END QUOTE —

This is Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja's response to examples like the one above:

— QUOTE —

The idea of "building the nation" is totally mundane. It is the idea
that we will "build the nation" by having more people educated so they
can become lawyers, doctors, or more likely become factory workers. It
is also the idea that we are helping children to improve their life,
and that's also mundane. And that we want to help develop the present
modern society. . .

But that wasn't Prabhupada's welfare program at all. His social
welfare program was to develop varnashram communities where people
don't have to live in this demonic society. That was Prabhupada's
welfare program.

It wasn't that Prabhupada was callous to social welfare, but he wanted
to do so through varnashram and varnashram education—that people will
be educated according to their role in varnashram. So the advertising
for Mid Day Meals is totally mundane.

And you may say it is just a way to induce people to give a donation
for it, but the problem is that, when we start talking like this, our
people go out and speak to the public, they meet businessmen and tell
them, "OK, we're helping hungry children, and building the nation. .
.", and you keep repeating it and saying it again and again and again,
you start to think like that yourself. And instead of following
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's order jare dekha tare kaha krishna upadesh,
you're going to people to talk about mundane things. It changes the
whole atmosphere of ISKCON.

— END QUOTE —

Maharaja's argument echoes the same point that Narada Muni made to Vyasadeva.

How the fall from suddha-bhakti to karma-misra-bhakti takes
placeJayadvaita Maharaja in his own lecture series argues similarly,
except that he follows through with his argument to its logical
conclusion, which is the mixing of karma-kanda with bhakti:

— QUOTE —

There is a problem, or downside to that, apart from whether or not
you're actually doing something that you are supposed to be doing, or
that you are authorized by Srila Prabhupada, by a Founder-Acharya to
do. You have this problem:

First you say, "We're going to make a strategy here. We're going to do
something charitable, and people are going to give us their
appreciation. We understand that it is not really our business, but
we're going to do it, and people are going to see that we're doing it,
and that's going to help us in our main business. We're going to be
able to distribute more books, people will give us more facility, and
so on." That is stage one.

Stage two is that as you start to get appreciation and as you preach
to the devotees that this is what we're going to do, the next stage
two comes. That is, devotees start thinking that we really are doing
something here, which is our mission. That really, "We are doing good
work here. Really, we're fulfilling Prabhupada's mission. We're
helping the needy. We're saving people afflicted by disaster." That's
stage two, to the point where if anyone says, "Well, Prabhu, you know,
this is not . . .", then you'll start getting heavy letters saying,
"Don't you know there are sincere devotees working all over the world,
dedicating themselves, risking their lives. . ." That's stage two—this
IS our mission.

And stage three, four, five comes when you reach the mature stage,
like the Salvation Army. I don't know how they're known in England, in
America, when you have junk, that you would dispose of, rather than
take it to the dump, you call the Salvation Army. And they cart away
your old clothes, old furniture, old whatever-it-is, and distribute it
to the poor. Or the St. Vincent DePaul Society. There are various
organizations. . .

I knew of that organization. I used to see their trucks with the big
shield on it, when I was a child, a boy. And I don't think I was
younger than about 20 before I found out that they had any sort of
spiritual component to them. They are in fact a Christian missionary
organization, they do have a message about Jesus and salvation and so
on. But I had no idea what it was, and in fact, because in my
tradition the word "salvation" is not a big term, as far as I
understood, "salvation" meant picking up your old garbage and carting
it away, and that's "salvage."

So in the mature stage, you finally reach the point where even your
leaders of your organization believe that this is your mission. The
leaders of your organization, the theologians, the priests, believe
that this is what Jesus, or this is what Jehova, or this is what Lord
Chaitanya wanted us to do. And at that point, what is the distinction
between you and a karma-kanda organization?

What is the distinction between you and the Red Cross or the Red
Crescent Society? Now that you are doing the work of all these
charitable societies, who is doing your work? Who is there to preach
renunciation? Who is there to preach that you're not this body? Who is
there to preach that you should turn your back on material enjoyment
and go back home, back to Godhead, now that you're busy fully
dedicated to the urgent mission of uplifting the afflicted people of
the poorer classes of this material world, so they can have a decent
life, who is going to do that other work?

— END QUOTE —

Though Jayadvaita Maharaja focuses more on the end result—the
establishment of karma-kanda as one of ISKCON's core values—he and
Bhakti Vikasa Maharaja make the fundamental point that because welfare
activities like the Mid Day Meals program is promoted in a mundane way
and in ways that stand against our long-held siddhantas, the
transformation of ISKCON into yet another mundane religious
institution is not merely a remote, theoretical possibility. It is
likely.

And now, perhaps inevitable.

Some Quotes from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on Altruism
and CharityFrom Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava, page 421:

— QUOTE —

The thousands of karmis who have opened innumerable hospitals, old age
homes, centers for the poor, and schools, and the thousands of jnanis
who have undergone meditation and severe austerities, are
insignificant compared to a single kanishta-adhikari Vaishnava once
ringing the bell before the Lord's deity. This is not sectarianism,
but plain truth. Atheists are wholly incapable of realizing this; thus
they become either direct or indirect blasphemers of devotional
service, or adherents to the doctrine of harmonistic all-inclusiveness
(Amrta Vani 102 – 3; Sri Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta 174).

Being averse to Lord Visnu, countless jivas have come to Maha-maya's
dungeon to envy Lord Visnu in countless ways. To deliver even one of
them from Maha-maya's fortress and make him a devotee of Krsna is
unlimitedly better welfare work than the construction of countless
hospitals and schools (Sri Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta 286).

Krishna-bhakti is the only way to deracinate miseries from the world.
You are working only for the good of the body and treating the
symptoms, not the original disease. Your patchwork schemes of various
social, economic, and political ideologies are like blowing on a boil,
which gives but a momentary and false sense of assuagement. The real
cure is to lance the boil and squeeze out the pus. Similarly, the pus
of material attachment must be excised by the sharp words of the
expert devotee, the only genuine well-wisher of human society (Jati
Sekhara Prabhu, disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Both lectures by Bhakti Vikasa Swami are available here:
http://www.oneiskcon.com/2011/09/his-holiness-bhakti-vikasa-swami-has-some-concerns-about-iskcon/

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

ISKCON and social welfare: Mission Drift

Krishna Album

Krishna

The field of activities and its interactions [BG.13.08]

What’s on your Mind when we say "Astrology" ? - Msut Read!!!

How Do You Approach Vedic Astrology? - Must Read!!!

Love in this world depends on so many material
considerations,therefore it's not satisfying to the heart. The Supreme
Lord is the object of Love&the recipient of our Love. If we develop
Our Love for Him it will never be lost. Between the living entities
the Love is not experienced fully. If there's Love between living
entities,it should be among all regardless of the bodies. But we find
it's not so. We find Love between same species of life but not among a
man&beast or man and frog. We may Love so many different things or
different people in this world but at a certain point of time,we'll
lose the person&the Love which gets lost creates so much pain but
actually it's an illusion or a kind of dream.
Only with Supreme Lord we can feel the Love 100%,not with any other
living entity.

A tinge of real Love that's in Spiritual world between the Lord&His
devotees can be found in mother for her child which is unconditional.
If we can revive our Love for Krishna which was lost,we would really
feel the pain of all living entities and at that time we will not only
feel Love for our family members but also for the living entities in
the whole world.

So this is the way to enjoy endless Love. Everyone wants to be loved
by someone else. Anger is absence of Love or experienced because of
lost Love. By performing loving Devotional Service to the Supreme
Lord,we automatically Love all the living entities&everyone can feel
the Love at heart for one another at that time. But be careful,Enemies
such as pride,envy,lust,greed,madness,anger are always ready to stab
your heart to steal the real Love inside&thereby cause pain at heart.

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

~Endless Love~

Love in this world depends on so many material
considerations,therefore it's not satisfying to the heart. The Supreme
Lord is the object of Love&the recipient of our Love. Our Love for Him
will never be lost. We may Love so many different things or different
people in this world but at a certain point of time,we'll lose the
person&the Love which gets lost creates so much pain but actually it's
an illusion or a kind of dream.

A tinge of real Love that's in Spiritual world between the Lord&His
devotees can be found in mother for her child which is unconditional.
If we can revive our Love for Krishna which was lost,we would really
feel the pain of all living entities and at that time we will not only
feel Love for our family members but also for the living entities in
the whole world.

So this is the way to enjoy endless Love. Everyone wants to be loved
by someone else. Anger is absence of Love or experienced because of
lost Love. By performing loving Devotional Service to the Supreme
Lord,we automatically Love all the living entities&everyone can feel
the Love at heart for one another at that time. But be careful,Enemies
such as pride,envy,lust,greed,madness,anger are always ready to stab
your heart to steal the real Love inside&thereby cause pain at heart.

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

~Endless Love~

What is this body made of? Who controls it? How it changes? Whats goal of the soul? Part [BG.13.05]

Today is the most auspicious day when Lord Krishna spoke Bhagavad Gita 5000 years ago in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This is the most favourite book in my life and also in the lives of many devotees. Especially Bhagavd Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada is the only one edition in the world which transformed the hearts of millions of readers and made them devotees of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Following are the images which are very famous for Bhagavad Gita!

Bhagavad Gita - Song of God!

Supersoul Vs Conditioned Soul (Paramatma Vs Jivatma)

Beauty is worse than wine, it intoxicates both the holder and beholder

Srimad Bhagavatam - 3.28.16-17

TRANSLATION

His loins are encircled by a girdle, He stands on the lotus of His devotee's heart. He is most charming to look at, and His serene aspect gladdens the eyes and souls of the devotees who behold Him. The Lordis eternally very beautiful, and He is worshipable by all the inhabitants of every planet. He is ever youthful and always eager to bestow His blessing upon His devotees.PURPORTThe word darśanīyatamam, which is used in this verse, means that the Lord is so beautiful that the devotee-yogī does not wish to see anything else. His desire to see beautiful objects is completely satisfied by the sight of the Lord. In the material world we want to see beauty, but the desire is never satisfied. Because of material contamination, all the propensities we feel in the material world are ever unsatisfied. But when our desires to see, hear, touch, etc., are dovetailed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,they are on the level of the topmost perfection.Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His eternal form is so beautiful and pleasing to the heart of the devotee, He does not attract the impersonalists, who want to meditate on His impersonal aspect. Such impersonal meditation is simply fruitless labor.

The actual yogīs, with half-closed eyes, fix on the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not upon anything void or impersonal.The word sarva-loka-namaskṛtam means that He is worshipable by everyone on every planet. There are innumerable planets in the material world and innumerable planets in the spiritual world as well. On each planet there are innumerable inhabitants who worship the Lord, for the Lord is worshipable by all but the impersonalists.

The Supreme Lord is very beautiful. The word śaśvat is significant. It is not that He appears beautiful to the devotees but is ultimately impersonal. Śaśvat means "ever existing." That beauty is not temporary. It is ever existing — He is always youthful. In the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.33) it is also stated: advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaḿ purāṇa-puruṣaḿ nava-yauvanaḿ ca. The original person is one without a second, yet He never appears old; He always appears as ever fresh as a blooming youth.The Lord's facial expression always indicates that He is ready to show favor and benediction to the devotees; for the nondevotees, however, He is silent. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, although He acts equally toeveryone because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and because all living entities are His sons, He is especially inclined to those engaged in devotional service. The same fact is confirmed here: He isalways anxious to show favor to the devotees. Just as the devotees are always eager to render service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord is also very eager to bestow benediction upon the pure devotees

Beauty is worse than wine, it intoxicates both the holder and beholder

We are prisoners of our own desire!
Desire is the constant companion of the living entity. It's never
possible to become desireless. To become desireless itself is a
desire. Every action we perform has a desire behind which is to reap
the results. Desire to enjoy separately from the will of the Lord is
the sin that separates us from God and takes us far from Godly
qualities.
We are constantly monitored by the agents of higher authorities who
are designated to carry out the work as per the order of the Supreme
Lord.

Actions that are inline with the revealed scriptures yield good
results and gradually takes one to higher levels of consciousness

Actions that are against the laws of nature bring misery to the actor
and also to those involved in the action,

Therefore first thing we have to understand is we are accountable for
our every single action. Just like there are state laws governed by
the authorities,there are laws of nature which work behind our eyes.
These laws of nature are code of conduct for human beings provided in
the scriptures-word of God.

When Arjuna asks Krishna that what is the position of an unsuccessful
transcendentalist. Is he not going to loose both material and
Spiritual result and get lost like a riven cloud with no position in
any sphere? Krishna says,"One who does good My friend is never
overcome by evil. Such a person will enjoy heavenly happiness in the
higher planets and after that takes birth in a family of
transcendentalists or aristocrats. Certainly such a soul is very
rare."

It depends on the gravity of our devotion when we performed Devotional
Service to Krishna.

Our desires should be dovetailed in such a way that the results are
favourable to our devotion to Krishna or the actions of our desires
should be pleasing to Krishna.

When our desires are not pure we think we are the enjoyers of all that
we survey. And it's because everything belongs to Krishna,when we use
it for our enjoyment without acknowledging Him,we are thieves and
then we become prisoners bound by our own desires. When we consider
everything for us it's material desire but when it's for Krishna it's
Spiritual desire.

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

We are prisoners of our own desire!

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Ute Ute Gopala - By HH.Lokanath Swami, Must Hear!!! : Krishna

Ute Ute Gopala - By HH.Lokanath Swami, Must Hear!!! : Krishna

Messmerizing Govinda Mana Laga-By HH.Lokanath Swami : Krishna

Messmerizing Govinda Mana Laga-By HH.Lokanath Swami : Krishna

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Madhava Prabhu Sings Hare Krishna

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not only a superior literature but is the ripened fruit of all Vedic literatures. In other words, it is the cream of all Vedic knowledge. Considering all this, patient and submissive hearing is definitely essential. With great respect and attention, one should receive the message and lessons imparted by the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

The Vedas are compared to the desire tree because they contain all things knowable by man. They deal with mundane necessities as well as spiritual realization. The Vedas contain regulated principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical, physical and metaphysical subject matter and all that may be necessary to keep the body and soul together. Above and beyond all this are specific directions for spiritual realization. Regulated knowledge involves a gradual raising of the living entity to the spiritual platform, and the highest spiritual realization is knowledge that the Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all spiritual tastes, or rasas.

Every living entity, beginning from Brahmā, the first-born living being within the material world, down to the insignificant ant, desires to relish some sort of taste derived from sense perceptions. These sensual pleasures are technically called rasas. Such rasas are of different varieties. In the revealed scriptures the following twelve varieties of rasas are enumerated: (1) raudra (anger), (2) adbhuta (wonder), (3) śṛńgāra (conjugal love), (4) hāsya (comedy), (5) vīra (chivalry), (6) dayā (mercy), (7) dāsya (servitorship), (8) sakhya (fraternity), (9) bhayānaka (horror), (10) bībhatsa (shock), (11) śānta (neutrality), (12) vātsalya (parenthood).

The sum total of all these rasas is called affection or love. Primarily, such signs of love are manifested in adoration, service, friendship, paternal affection, and conjugal love. And when these five are absent, love is present indirectly in anger, wonder, comedy, chivalry, fear, shock and so on. For example, when a man is in love with a woman, the rasa is called conjugal love. But when such love affairs are disturbed there may be wonder, anger, shock, or even horror. Sometimes love affairs between two persons culminate in ghastly murder scenes. Such rasas are displayed between man and man and between animal and animal. There is no possibility of an exchange or rasa between a man and an animal or between a man and any other species of living beings within the material world. The rasas are exchanged between members of the same species. But as far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.

SB#1.1.3

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.