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Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna

Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna
Gopis performing Devotional Service to the Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krishna

Fwd: [granthraj] Cooking should be Vedic


Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. 

In the recent offering titled "Secret of Good Health", we heard from our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Maharaj about the benefits of natural medicine and Vedic cooking. Maharaj's words are very informative and it is really and eye-opener. In this offering I would like to share some more words of Maharaj on Vedic cooking.

Srimad Bhagavatam says that our medicine must be our food and our food must be the medicine. Great Rishi Charak mentioned in his Charak Samhita that any food cooked without air and sun light is poison. But now in modern days most of the vessels are made of steel and we cook the food without exposure to sun-light. The body does not need aluminum. And aluminum is neither innocent nor benign  participant. Aluminum accumulates in the kidneys, brain, lungs, liver and thyroid where it competes with calcium for absorption and can affect skeletal mineralization. Aluminum is an attacker and its target is our central nervous system. Other hand Silver is non toxic and exhibits low toxicity in the human body. Aluminium plates were introduced in India by British to serve food to jail mates so that due to effect they will die early but in due course of time aluminum pots came to poor and now in every house. Refrigerators were first introduced in Canada to preserve medicine for soldiers at specific temperature, to get rid of extreme climate. But now we are using refrigerator for keeping food which is fully hazardous and difficult to digest. 

Maharaj said that clay pots are best for cooking. Maharaj always use to tell us that we should stop cooking in aluminium pots and refrain from using refridgerator and microwave. He used to advise that instead of that we can invest little money and buy clat pots for cooking some silver plates to eat. Being an acharya Maharaj practised what he preached. He used earthen vessels for his cooking and silver plate to take prasadam. He was also appreciative of the way food is served in banana leaves in the South. He said that all these natural ways are very simple and have a nice impact on our health. Even till date, Sri Sri Jagannathaji prasadam in Puri is prepared and offered in mud pots only. Our ancestors lived a long healthy life as their life-style, cooking etc all were Vedic. Diseases related to heart, cancer, blood-pressure, diabetes, infertility, insomnia were all unknown in their times because they led a simple and natural life style. But unfortunately since we have completely ignored Vedic cooking and life-style, we find large portion of the world's population is suffering from these ailments. 

Maharaj was also not appreciative of the standing kitchen style being adopted these days. He said that standing kitchen is a real punishment. He used to recollect how his mother, grandmother used to sit and cook, and how lovingly they used to serve hot prasadam. He said that this intimacy is not possible in standing kitchen. Maharaj's words are indeed true. When we have to stand for longer hours and cook, naturally we feel tired and irritated and disturbed. And in that mood, we would neither be able to cook joyfully nor serve them to others with love. In Srimad Bhagavad Gita verse 15.14 Lord Krishna states.

aham vaishvaanaro bhutvaa / praninaam deham aashritah 
pranaapaana-samaayuktah  / pacaamy annam catur-vidham

"I am the fire of digestion in every living body, and I am the air of life, outgoing and incoming, by which I digest the four kinds of foodstuff."
 
Being Krishna conscious and keeping our self-healthy is our prime duty to cooperate with Lord's instruction as He is the digestive force for all four kinds of foodstuff.  When cooking is Vedic, then there won't be indigestion because all the diseases, come mainly from undigested food. Though longevity is not our goal, we should ensure to do the bare minimum things necessary to keep our body fit, so that we are able to render proper service to Guru and Krishna in this life time. By embracing artificial standards of life, we are inviting more trouble in our already troublesome life. Srila Prabhupada in his wonderful purport to verse 1.1.10 says, "Overeating, over-sense gratification, over-dependence on another's mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy". So let us lead a simple life.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Tushta Krishna Das.
Sharjah
__,_._,___

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10 Types of prayers



(from Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana)

1. Samprarthanatmika - direct prayer glorifying the Lord. We have many examples of this type of prayer in Narottama Dasa's Prarthana.

2. Svadhainyabodhika - expressing humility and embarrassment, informing the Lord: I am very fallen.

3. Manah-siksa - examples are Bhajahu Re Mana by Govinda das or Manah-siksa by Raghunatha das Gosvami. In this type of prayer the mind becomes a disciple and we teach it how to deal with the senses and relate to intelligence. We consider the mind a separate entity and tell it: Pull yourself together! Meditate on Krsna! The challenging spirit of intelligence becomes manifest. One function of the intelligence is to challenge the mind.

4. Vilapatmika - statements of supreme lamentation. This may be confusing; we hear the devotees are always happy, so how can a devotee lament? But this kind of lamentation is a type of devotional ecstasy - it draws a devotee closer to Krsna.

5. Vaisnava Mahimaprakasika - revealing the greatness of the Vaisnavas. Krsna doesn't want to be considered separately from the Vaisnavas, therefore we can please Him by glorifying them.

6. Sri-Guru-Vaisnava-vijnapti-rupa - statements of submission and glorification of the Vaisnavas, especially of the guru. The example is Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura.

7. Sridhama-vase-lipsatmika - expressing the desire to live in the holy places. There are many prayers of this kind, composed by Prabodhananda Sarasvati, glorifying Sri Vrndavana. In one of them he says: Anyone who desires to leave Vrndavana I consider to be a madman.

8. Sadhaka-dehe-lalasa-sucika - expressing the desire to practice devotional service.

9. Siddha-dehe-lalasamayi - desire to attain siddha-deha and serve Krsna in this spiritual body.

10. Aksepabodhika - lamentation again: extreme grief and sorrow that we have fallen to this material world.--
Yours
Dinesh

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Life is Short


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Senapati Bhakta Srila Prabhupada Predicted in the Scriptures



nama-guna-sankirtana vaisnavera shakti

prakasa karibe ami nija prema-bhakti



Chanting of the name & qualities of Krsna is the life & energy of the

Vaisnavas. I will reveal these activities & rejuvenate pure devotional

service

unto Myself.



ei mate kali-papa karibe sanhara

sabe cala age pache na kara vichara



In this way I will destroy all the sins in Kali Yuga. So all of you, My

associates, go ahead and take birth on the earthly planet before My advent

and don't remain behind.



ebe nama sankirtana tikshna khadaga laiya

antara asura jivera phelibe katiya



Taking the sharp sword of the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna

mantra, I will root out & destroy the demoniac mentality in the hearts of all the

conditioned souls.



yadi papi chadi dharma dure dese yaya

mora **senapati-bhakta** yaibe tathaya



If some sinful people escape and giving up religious principles go to far

off countries, then my Senapati Bhakta will come at that time to give them Krsna

consciousness.



From Caitanya Mangal by Srila Locana Dasa Thakura

--
Yours
Dinesh

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The Material Creation


The material creation in its very first stage is called pradhana the eternal, subtle, undifferentiated sum total of all material elements, the unmanifested eternal combination of the three modes of material nature.
Pradhana is sometimes also related to as saguna Brahman, since it is basically Brahman but with the presence of the three modes of material nature. Nevertheless, these modes do not yet clearly manifest causes and effects (SB 3.26.10). The pradhana contains the following 24 elements in a dormant state:


5 subtle elements (sound, touch, form color, taste)
5 gross elements (ether, air, fire, water, earth)
5 knowledge acquiring senses (ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose)
5 working senses (tongue mouth, hands, legs, genital, and anus)
4 internal, subtle senses (mind, intelligence, ego, contaminated
Consciousness)

Time is considered to be the 25th element; it is the mixing and agitating Element. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can be perceived as time (SB3.26.1118)

The pradhana or saguna Brahman becomes then agitated by the time factor which represents the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus and by the influence of the three modes of material nature the creation comes to the level of mahat tattva, or prakrti, where the elements actually can manifest themselves. The mahat tattva is the breeding source of all varieties and brings forth all the different material bodies and material objects; it contains all the universes and is the root of all cosmic manifestations. The mahattattva is annihilated at the time of the annihilation, the end of Brahma's life.

Next the Supreme Personality of Godhead impregnates the mahat tattva with His internal potency which is the living entities. Agitated by the destinations of the contitioned souls the material nature, or mahat tattva, delivers the cosmic intelligence (Hiranyamaya). The mahat tattva is thus "lit up" by the sum total of the consciousness of all the conditioned souls (SB 3.26.1920).

The Caturvyuha expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, namely Sri Vasudeva, Sri Aniruddha, Sri Pradyumna and Sri Sankarsana occur and take charge of various aspects of the material creation.

In the beginning pure goodness, the vasudeva stage of consciousness, prevails within the mahat tattva. This point of creation is controlled by Sri Vasudeva, the Superknower. Due to the pure goodness the consciousness has the qualities of complete serenity, clarity and freedom from any distraction; one is free from the infringement by material desires.
Therefore one can see a reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and
if one worships Sri Vasudeva one can come to the platform of pure goodness
(suddha sattva), thus understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead (SB 3.26.21).

Through the desire to enjoy and control separately from Krsna, the misuse of Independence by the living entities which are impregnated into the material nature, material ego or false ego is caused to spring up from the mahat tattva in pure goodness. This false ego is endowed with active power of three kind good (serene), passionate (active), ignorant (dull). From the false ego in different modes of material nature mind, senses, elements as well as all the other ingredients and objects of the material nature are produced. Therefore every object within the material creation is seen as identical with false ego since it has the false ego as its source. Sri Sankarsana controls that false ego and in order to become free from it one is advised to worship Sri Sankarsana. He is worshipped through Lord Siva; the snakes which cover the body of Lord Siva are representations of Sri Sankarsna, and Lord Siva is always absorbed in meditation upon Sri Sankarsana (SB 3.26.23©24).

From the false ego in goodness come the controlling demigods as well as the mind. The mind has the quality of not being fixed; due to different kind of desires for sense gratification the mind rejects something as bad and accepts something else as good. The false ego in goodness is controlled by Sri Aniruddha. If one wants to get free from mental disturbances, one has to worship Sri Aniruddha. For this purpose, worship of the moon planet is also recommended in the Vedic literature (SB 3.26.26©27).

From the false ego in passion intelligence, living energy (prana), the five knowledge acquiring sense and the five working senses are created.
Intelligence has five qualities: doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, memory and sleep. The function of intelligence is to ascertain the nature of an object and thus help the senses to make choices. The intelligence is supposed to control or guide the senses. By intelligence one can understand how things are and if intelligence is properly applied one's consciousness becomes expanded. This begins with doubt, the first quality of intelligence. One doubts whether ones existence is spiritual or material. Doubt is a very important factor in developing intelligence, even though doubting is improper after receiving information from an authoritative source. Through proper analysis one then finds that things are different from what they seemed to be so far; thus misapprehension, the second quality of intelligence, is detected. Next, after eliminating the wrong understanding one can come to the proper conclusion; this is called correct apprehension, the third quality of intelligence. In this way by intelligence one can understands that one is not the body and one's consciousness becomes expanded; expansion of consciousness culminates in pure Krsna consciousness.
Beyond the intelligence's 3 qualities of doubt, misapprehension and correct apprehension there are also the qualities of memory and sleep. In order to keep the intelligence working properly one must sleep. For being fixed in one's intelligence one has to worship Sri Pradyumna, who is reached through the worship of Lord Brahma.

Directly related to intelligence in their function are the knowledge acquiring senses which are: Ears, skin, eyes, nose and the tongue.
With the working senses action are performed; there are five working senses as well: Tongue (mouth, speaking), hands, legs, genitals and the anus.
Both, the knowledge acquiring senses and the working senses are depending on the living energy (vital energy, prana), which is also created from the
false ego in the mode of passion. The more a person is influenced by the mode of passion the more he can accomplish and acquire. The Vedic scriptures recommend that if one wants to encourage a person in acquiring material possessions, one should also encourage him in sex life. Thus one can see that those who are addicted to sex life are also materially advanced. Sex life or passionate life is the impetus for the material advancement of civilization (SB 3.26.29).

From the false ego in ignorance the five subtle and gross elements, from whom all (perceivable) objects within the material world are made, become manifested; it is presided over by Sri Sankarsana. Therefore persons who are very dull and very much absorbed in the gross material world worship Lord Siva who is connected with Sri Sankarsana, in order to obtain gross material sense objects. When the false ego in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, first the subtle element sound is manifested. The original and very first sound within the creation is the omkara, "OM", being the sound representation of the Supreme Personality’s Brahman aspect. From sound comes the gross element ether as well as the sense of hearing. Sound has the quality of conveying the idea of an object; therefore it is considered to be the subtle form of an object. Further sound indicates the presence of a speaker, eventually screened form our view, and it also constitutes the subtle form of ether (SB 3.26.32©33).

Ether has the qualities of accommodating the room for external and internal existences of all living entities, the field of activity of the vital air, the senses and the mind.
Ether means room or space, and it evolves from sound vibration. Thus form the original sound vibration "OM" the room was created within which the manifestation of the gross elements like air, fire, water and earth (the universe) can take place. In general the ether or sky gives accommodation to the room which the various material bodies of the living entities need for their external and internal existence. The internal existence of a living entity in the material world comprises of vital air (prana), senses and the mind. These ingredients require for their functioning subtle forms which are invisible and rest within ether. In this way ether accommodates the internal existence of the living entities within the material world. With external existence everything is meant that stands in relation with material objects which are external to the material body. By means of sound vibration, talking about a particular object, the subtle form of that object, which sound carries, is created within the mind. These subtle and invisible forms of material objects are given a room within the ether and this is called the external activity of ether. That within ether subtle, invisible forms of material sense objects can exist has been proven by modern science by transmission of television where forms as pictures are transmitted from one place to another by wireless means (SB 3.26.34). Thus it is seen that mental activities or psychological action in terms of thinking, feeling and willing are activities on the ethereal platform. This is very important in relation to the moment of death. On the basis of its reflections (which are influenced by sound vibrations) the mind generates desires for obtaining various sense objects. In fact these desires are unlimited and they all subtle forms within ether. An of course, they all result in various bodies in order to enjoy these desired situations (desiring a sense object indirectly means desiring all the tools to enjoy it) which are accommodated in their subtle form within ether as well. In this way one can, and in fact by every minute's desires one actually does create an unlimited number of bodies within the ether, all well equipped to become manifested on the gross level. At the moment when one particular body perishes the opportunity for one of all the subtle forms kept within ether arises to become manifested on the gross plane. This happens according to the level of contamination or desire which was most prominent within the mind at the moment of death. All this is described by Sri Krsna in the Bhagavadgita (8.58).

From the above it becomes clear that the evolution of various material elements is not something that takes place only once, at the moment of creation. The description of the primary creation is rather a general scheme by which matter is manifested in general, at the moment when creation starts as well as at any stage of the existence of the material manifestation. The difference is, however, that at the beginning of creation the sum total of each element was taken from a dormant state, the pradhana, and made available by the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas later, when the living entities "create" while pursuing various desires they simply receive supplies from that sum total of the material elements.

From ethereal existence, under the influence of time, the subtle element touch and thence air and the sense of touch become manifested.
After creating subtle forms in the mind which are accommodated in the ether, time separates us from the manifestation of gross forms which we can touch.
By the influence of the mode of passion, which is related to air (movement)? We endeavor to manifest the form on the gross level. Our sense of proprietorship over action (= passion) is due to the activity of air within the material body. Consequently, we will "get in touch" with the gross form of what now is a wishful thought in the mind in due course of time.--

Yours
Dinesh

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