Security ...

Security is one of the most important aspects in human nature. Everyone is looking for some Security in terms of job, permanent place, feeling safe in an environment etc. Nobody wants to be un secure and always wanting to be in danger. This aspect of security is natural to a living soul as we are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and hence our nature is to be eternal. Question of Security comes into picture when we are afraid that what we have will be lost or when we have an experience of such a thing where something dear was lost. For example the body, if someone threatens to harm or kill the body we become very much on guard and try to take all the measures to secure it from harm, since everyone loves his or her body. Similarly when there seems to be some danger to the near and dear ones with whom we associate on daily basis, we become morose and try to protect them.




As per the Vedic literatures, this feeling of fearfulness and this thought of protecting against this fear i.e. security is mainly because of our false identification with the body. From the Vedic literature, especially Bhagavad-Gita we get the information that every living entity is a spirit soul, eternal, full of knowledge and always enjoying by constitution. It is due to our contact with the material energy which is temporary, full of ignorance and always miserable; we have this feeling of fearfulness and with this experience going on from ages we worry about security. Everyone has experience that material things are taken away which cause pain and that fear of that pain causes us to act in so many ways by which we try to adjust things around us so that we can feel secured in every sense. From practical experience everyone knows that this never happens. One may have a feeling of security for some time, but that fear of loosing always remains. Since we are identifying with a temporary body which is perishable, we always have fear of loosing it, and in order to free ourselves from this fear we create an association around us of friends, relatives etc, and feel secure in their company. This is called illusion or maya as per the Vedic literatures. Since we are creating a field of illusion around us by thinking that our friends, family etc will help us from the fear of loosing our body or the things which we most cherish. It is like, one blind man takes the help of another blind man to cross the road and he thinks that he is going in the right direction. This is exactly what we are doing; all the people around us are identifying with the temporary material body and fearing. With the company of other such people we can feel secured falsely for a while but that illusion will soon be broken in the form death either our death or death of near and dear ones.



Vedic Literature instructs the living entity to wake up from this ignorance, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya and move towards enlightenment. Enlightenment means knowing what we are and what is the purpose of our existence in this temporary material realm, knowledge about the difference between matter and spirit and ultimately knowing our constitutional position with respect to the Supreme Spirit. Knowledge and practical application of all the above mentioned things will free a living entity from the false conception of the body and will take him to a stage of spiritual understanding. With this spiritual understanding, one will not fall into false attachments in this material world and will not “hope against hope” to find answers to his or her miseries. Only security for a living entity in this material world is to come to the stage of self realization and identify its relation with the Supreme Soul and act in that relationship, since that is the original nature of the soul. Due to our forgetfulness of this relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna we are always fearful and trying to adjust material things in the name of security , which will only lead to more frustrations, since the platform ( i.e. material body) on which we are trying to adjust things itself is wrong. In this age of Kali Vedas recommend only one way to achieve this knowledge and feel eternally secure, i.e. chanting the holy names of the Lord, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. So please chant and be happy.

Dream World

 With the advancement of the ages, human consciousness had changed too. It is believed that today  modern society has advanced far more than the ancient civilization. With more technology and equipments available at disposal, everything has become fast paced and instant. Material science has achieved a lot of progress than the yester years. This progress is thought of as an advancement in Civilization and is looked upon as a great achievement by the society. Today any nation, not using the latest technology is considered underdeveloped . Most certainly materially passionate human endeavors has led to many inventions, for helping and accelerating the way things are done, which certainly is commendable, and this is possible for a human being to achieve since human beings posses higher intelligence than any other species of life on this planet.

Although we have made lot of material progress, from the Vedic literatures, we get the information that human intelligence should not be used only for material progress, since the prime occupation of a human being is to Enquire about the Absolute Truth. This is completely contradictory to the modern idea of advancement. Advancement as per  Vedic text means advancing in spiritual consciousness. Materially one must endeavor to a point where one is able to comfortably maintain the body and soul together.

Reflecting on the Vedic thought, it is very natural for a reader today to immediately shun from this idea and not believe in the Vedic literature right away, since the 99% of populace do not consider Vedic thought or do not have the information . Every one today is tuned in with the modern thinking and modern way of living . Everyone is working hard to compete with other to increase the modern facilities of life to enjoy this lifetime to the fullest. Nevertheless, people who have studies the Vedic literature in depth and tried to follow its examples, have found that a profound truth lies in these literatures. When studied with the right perspective and under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual teacher it makes a lot of sense and has a life changing affect on the person who studies it. Vedic literatures are called as apaurushya, which means these teachings are coming in disciplic succession from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna Himself, since Lord Krsna is beyond this material creation , he is not subject to four kinds of defects which a ordinary human being is subject to namely one makes mistakes, one has a tendency to cheat, one has imperfect senses and one is illusioned. So the knowledge flowing in  this disciplic succession is perfect and even though we may not understand or believe it right away owing to our four defects, the knowledge is perfect and sublime.

So accepting that Vedic knowledge is perfect, if one compares the modern thinking of advancement, one will conclude that this is not the purpose of life. As mentioned above, the purpose of life as per the Vedic Civilization is not to work hard day and night only for material advancement, but it is to make spiritual advancement by understanding who we are, what is the Absolute Truth, Who is God ,What is our relationship with God etc. If one is not interested in these topics one is certainly living in a dream world, full of illusions which is called Maya ( or that which is not). From practical point of view, we see that most of the people today  have created a world around themselves, where that person tries to be the center in every aspect. Some people feel safe in a group of friends who praise and respect them, that is their dream bubble , always trying to live life in terms of that . Some people think of their family as their world, for some the colleagues at work are everything . Everyone is thinking in terms of their surroundings and living in a relative truth. This as per the Vedic thought is Maya ( which is not) or illusion. Since we all are spirit souls and part and parcel of one Almighty Lord . Our constitutional position is to be the servant of Krsna. If we forget what our original constitutional position is and act in a way which we are not that certainly is like dreaming. Since just like in a dream, we may become a king of a country and become very happy  for the moment, until we are awake again, Similarly when s person is unable to identify its real identity he or she is living in a dream world.

As per Bhagavad Gita,  we are not the bodies but are eternal spiritual sparks, part and parcel of God. We are meant to serve God and enjoy with him in that relation. This service to God is not based on the material conception of service, it is based on  Love and not lust. Bhagavad Gita informs us that only when we realize our true nature, it is then only we will be able to become peaceful and happy. Now all this information is new and revolutionary to the modern thinkers, since it is very difficult to see these things with gross senses, but there are many things which can be perceived and need not be seen to realize their existence. For eg, wind , air, mind, intelligence,all are perceived ,  these things have no tangible form, yet one can understand that everyone has got a mind and intelligence or  when there is a air blowingetc . Similarly in order to perceive the existence of soul Sri Krsna gives a example in the Bhagavad Gita,

dehino 'smin yathā dehe
kaumāraḿ yauvanaḿ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati [ B.g. 2. 13]

" As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change."

He furhter mentions
avināśi tu tad viddhi
yena sarvam idaḿ tatam
vināśam avyayasyāsya
na kaścit kartum arhati [ B.g. 2.17]

"That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul."

For an intelligent person these descriptions are more than enough to realize that the consciousness in the body is the symptom of the presence of soul. So if we are the eternal spirit souls, meant to serve the lord, it is evident that we are not the center or the enjoyer or the proprietor in any way . When one fully realizes that the only enjoyer, proprietor is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna , it should be understood that that person has set foot into the real world and is beginning to awaken from the dream bubble.

One may wonder as to what is the use or necessity of understanding God , since even if  I am living in my dream world, I am happy  within my world of friends, family , society etc.  It should be understood that the nature of this world is temporary and full of miseries, so even if by influence of Maya one is convinced that he is happy, sooner or later this reality will dawn him or her that this place is not a happy place. It is generally seen, that people become disturbed , depressed and sometimes even commit suicide when their dream bubble bursts when for eg their loved ones leave them or betray them etc. In this condition they start blaming God  for their miseries. But one forgets that God has already warned us through scriptures and his devotees that material world is full of miseries and temporary. For our original position is with Him ( God)  in loving devotional service.

This chance of human form is very rare, only after 8400000 life forms one gets this intelligence , by which he or she can inquire about the Absolute Truth and become eternally happy without anxieties and miseries. It is very essential that every one should take this opportunity and burst their dream bubble themselves to realize the Real Truth, rather than waiting for the nature to burst it in a painful way.  Easiest way as recommended by all the scriptures of the world especially Srimad Bhagavatam in this age of Kali to understand the Absolute Truth is by chanting the holy names of God, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Responsibility

   Responsibility means accountibility, To be responsible means to take the matters seriously and carry out the neccessary actions to accomplish a task.  For example, for a manager the responsiblity may mean to manage the employees working under him and get the required work done from them, for a employee responsibilty may mean to deliver his or her work on time and with as much accuracy as possible, for a housewife responsibility may mean to take care of the house and children to bring them up as good individuals etc. Every person involved in these particular roles takes his or her work seriously with accountibility and tries to make it a success. A person who is not responsible is just like animal who does not know what to do and simply wastes the life, that is the verdict of all the religions of the world.

  When this idea of Responsiblity is mismanaged or  not taken seriouly thing begin to fall apart and create havoc in the society, which is evident in today's modern setup.   As per Vedic culture from India, every society needs to be divided into four scientific divisions for proper functioning of the social order, namely, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra. Sri Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself mentions this in Bhagvad Gita, cätur-varëyaà mayä såñöaà  guëa-karma-vibhägaçaù [ B.g. 4.13] .  Just  like for proper fucntioning of a body it is necessary to have head, arms , belly and legs.  Head is compared to the Brahamana class, Kshatriya is compared to the arms ,belly is compared to the Vaisya community and legs are compared to the sudra community.  In the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad Gita Lord Krsna explicitly mentions the responsibilities of these four divisions of the society. These are called Varnas. which are natural sceintific divisions for the well being and proper functioning of the soceity .Similarly there are for Ashramas namely Brahmacari, Grahasta, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa, these four ashrams are designed for the spiritual upbrining of the living entity.

    This Varnashram system of Vedic civilization as created by the Lord , was specifically desiged to help a human being to progress towards self realization and ultimately attain the highest goal of life, which is Love of Godhead.  So it is the respoinsibility of human beings to follow this system and make their lives perfect. Human form of life is endowed with the necessary inteeligence and the mecahnism which can follow this system. Animals are not able to follow the specific rules and regulations of a Varnasharm system . It is important for a  human beings to understand the responsibility of this human form of life. Human form of life is obtained after 8400000 species of life forms and is extermely rare as per the Vedic scriptures. It is the responsibility of the living entity in this human form of life to enquire about the Brahman. The First injunction of Vedanta Sutra says  Athato Brahma Jijnasa   which means Now  Enquie about Brahman or God, since you have the  human form of life and you can now read and understand , so now enquire about God. The responsibilty of human beings in not just limited to working hard and providing for the family and  using all the money for sense gratification , but rather it has a higher purpose to Inquire about the Absolute Truth and our relation with Him.

  Unfortunately in today's misguided civilization people are only busy in eating , sleeping, mating and defending. Human beings are engaged in what is called ugra karma or very strenous jobs with no time left for Brahman Jijnasa or enquiring about God, which is the prime responsibility of the Human beings. Human body is the only gateway through which one can release one self from the repeated cycle of birth, death , old age and disease, but due to our gross ignorance human beings today are engaged in less important works trying to adjust the situation in this world to become comfortable , and considering them to be their responsibilities. Instead of trying to engage in activities in a God Conscious manner, today the human energy is being utlized to advance economically,  which has  left human being in a state of constant anxiety with the economic crisis and sterssful lifesytle, with so  much distrubance it is very difficult for any person to find time for enquiring about God. In order to get basic neccessity of life a human being now a days have to struggle and work hard  day and night, which was not the case a few years ago. The solution to this chaos and confusion lies in living simply to only accept things which are neccessary to ones sustenance and save time for the main Responsiblity of Human form of Life that is Brahman Jijnasa or Enquring about the Absolute Truth.

Truth and Beauty are Compatible

Hare Krishna,
A nice article

By A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead Magazine #15,1967

It has often been argued whether truth and beauty are terms compatible with one another. One would agree willingly, some say, to express the truth, but since truth is not always beautiful—indeed it is frequently rather startling and unpleasant—how is one to express truth and beauty at the same time?


In reply to this we may inform all concerned that Truth and Beauty are indeed compatible terms. Truth which is Absolute is always beautiful. It is so beautiful that it attracts everyone, including itself. Truth is so beautiful that many sages, saints and devotees have left everything for its sake. Mahatma Gandhi, the idol of the modern world, dedicated his life for experimenting with Truth, and all his activities were targetted towards Truth only.



Why Mahatma Gandhi?—every one of us is drawn by an urge towards Truth, because it is not only beautiful, but possesses all power, all resources, all fame, all renunciation and all knowledge as well.



Unfortunately, people have no information of the actual Truth, and 99.9 per cent of men in all ranks of life are following the principles of Untruth in the name of Truth and its quest. We are actually attracted with the beauty of Truth, but we are, since time immemorial, habituated to love untruth in the name of Truth. And therefore, to the mundane thinker, Truth and Beauty are incompatible terms.

Mundane Truth and beauty are explained as follows:



A man fell in love with a beautiful girl. He was very powerful and strongly built, but his character was doubtful. The girl, meanwhile, was not only beautiful in appearance, but also saintly in character. As such the beautiful girl did not like the proposal of the powerful man. The powerful man, however, insisted upon his lustful desires, whereupon the beautiful girl requested the man to wait for only seven days and after that she fixed up a time when they could meet. The strong man agreed, and with high expectations began to count the hours, waiting for the moment when he was fixed to meet the girl.



The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest the real beauty of relative Truth, adopted a means which is very instructive: She took a very strong dose of purgative medicine, and for seven days continually she passed loose stool and vomitted all that she ate. All the loose stool and the vomit she stored up in suitable reservoirs. As a result of this laxative medicine, the so-called beautiful girl became lean, thin as a skeleton, and turned gloomy of complexion, with her beautiful eyes pushed into the socket of the skull.



At the appointed hour, she was waiting anxiously to receive the man in love.

The man appeared on the scene well-dressed and well-behaved, and asked the waiting girl, who was depressed in appearance, about the beautiful girl who had called him there. The man could not recognize the waiting girl, as the same beauty whom he was asking for. The girl was in a pitiable condition, and the foolish man, in spite of repeated assertions, could not recognise her. All due to the action of the medicine.



At last the girl told the powerful man the story of her beauty, that she had separated the ingredients of beauty, and stored them up in the reservoirs. She told him that he could have and enjoy the juices of beauty stored up in these reservoirs if he wanted them. The man agreed to see the juices of beauty, and thus he was directed to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating unbearable odors. Thus the whole story of the liquid beauty was disclosed to him. The characterless man, by the grace of the saintly girl, was now able to distinguish between the shadow and the substance, and thus he came to his senses.



That is the real position of every one of us who are attracted by false material beauty. The girl above-mentioned developed a beautiful material body as she desired in her mind, but she was actually apart from that temporary material manifestation of body and mind. She is in fact a spiritual spark, and so also is the man in love, who was attracted by the false skin of the girl.



Many great thinkers, poets, artists and people in general, are deluded by the outward beauty and attraction of the relative truth, and are unaware of the spiritual spark which is both Truth and Beauty at one and the same time. The spiritual spark is so beautiful that on its leaving the body no one any longer wishes to touch it, even though the body may be decorated with the most costly jewels.



And because we are all after a false, relative truth, we find it to be incompatible with real beauty. The truth is so permanently beautiful that it maintains the same standard of beauty as it is for millions upon millions of years. Besides that, the spiritual spark is indestructible. The beauty of the outer skin can be destroyed in a few hours time by one small dose of strong purgative, but the beauty of Truth is always the same, and is indestructible just as it is. Unfortunately, mundane writers are ignorant of the beautiful sparks of spirit, as well as of the fiery resources of these spiritual sparks and their interrelations of transcendental pastimes.

When these pastimes are displayed here by the Grace of the Almighty, the foolish persons who cannot see beyond the gross senses mistake such pastimes of Truth and Beauty as being within the same field as the store of loose stools and liquid vomit. Thus they come to despair, and then declare that Truth and beauty cannot be accommodated at one and the same time.



The mundane thinkers do not know that the Whole Spiritual Entity is the beautiful Person attracting everything as the Prime Substance, the Prime Source and the Fountainhead of everything that be. And the infinitesimal spiritual sparks, as parts and parcels of the Whole Spirit, are qualitatively the same—beautiful and eternal entities. The difference is that the Whole is eternally the Whole, and the parts are eternally the parts. Both of them are the Ultimate Truth, Ultimate Beauty, Ultimate Knowledge, Ultimate Energy, Ultimate Renunciation and Ultimate Opulence.



Any literature which does not describe such Ultimate Truth and Beauty is a store of loose stools and liquid vomit of the relative truth. Real literature is that which describes this Ultimate Truth and Beauty

Recognize the Cause not the Instrument

It is certainly good to recognize and appreciate people for their efforts and good work. It goes a long way in encouraging any individual. A small amount of encouragement for the qualities and work performed should be recognized and eulogized. While we give lot of stress on appreciating and encouraging people for their contributions and hard work, often we fail to recognize the actual doer and the cause behind all the achievements. In the Bhagavad Gita Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna instructs Arjuna to Fight as a matter of duty and be an instrument, since the result of the war was already decided and arranged by the Lord

tasmät tvam uttiñöha yaço labhasva

jitvä çatrün bhuìkñva räjyaà samåddham

mayaivaite nihatäù pürvam eva

nimitta-mätraà bhava savya-säcin [ B.g. 11.33]

“Therefore get up. Prepare to fight and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by my arrangement, and you, O Savyasäcé, can be but an instrument in the fight.”

 

In other places in Bhagavad Gita Sri Krsna mentions that as living entities we have the right to perform our duties, but we are not entitled to the fruits of our action, and he warns us that we should not think ourselves to be the cause of our actions.

karmaëy evädhikäras te
mä phaleñu kadäcana

mä karma-phala-hetur bhür

mä te saìgo 'stv akarmaëi


“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”

So it is evident as part and parcels of Lord Sri Krsna we are the instruments in the hands of the Lord and if we understand this constitutional position of our existence we will be in peace. In fact in every activity we perform knowingly or unknowingly we are being helped by Lord and /or his Energies. For Example, with the human intelligence, today we are able to create big airplanes which take us from one place to another within hours, the intelligence to build this plane, the energy and the raw materials used are all Krsna’s energies as mentioned in Bhagavad Gita

bhümir äpo 'nalo väyuù

khaà mano buddhir eva ca

ahaìkära itéyaà me

bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä [ B.g. 7.4]

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.”

So the living entities who are parts of his spiritual energy are using these material energies to transform them into a usable form and that much credit we certainly have, that we have become the instruments to create such a nice machine. But if we start claiming that we are the cause of the creation of the aero plane than we are cheating ourselves and incurring sins for stealing God’s property.

It is therefore imperative to always think of ourselves as instruments in the hands of an expert craftsman who can use us in developing magnificent things, just like it will certainly be wrong to praise the saw of a carpenter for making a beautiful closet. Generally we may agree to this fact but we still do not realize it and hence we end up thinking ourselves to be the doer and the cause of all that we do which only increases our false ego and puts us in a gross illusion away from the reality. It should be noted individually and collectively that when people are recognized they should be recognized as instruments in the achievement with the main credit going to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. Many people think of this as modesty on part of the person who gives credit to the Lord for the achievements which he is credited for, but it is not our modesty towards Krsna, but it is Krsna’s modesty towards the living entity that, he is giving us the credit for the insignificant service we offer him which he really does not require. As seen from the earlier verse 11.33, Krsna tells Arjuna that you take all the glories and enjoy the Kingdom, since the work has already been done and arranged for. Lord is very merciful to his Devotees and loves to give all the credit to the devotee, and the devotees knowing well that without Krsna nothing can take place and they can just become instruments in his hand want to give all the credit to Krsna. This is the sweet relationship between the Lord and His devotees.

Hence it is very important that when there are achievements of any kind of task instead of becoming falsely egoistic about it we recognize the cause of all the causes Lord Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Brahma Samhita, Lord Krsna is the cause of all causes that we see in this world.

éçvaraù paramaù kåñëaù

sac-cid-änanda-vigrahaù

anädir ädir govindaù

sarva-käraëa-käraëam [ B.s. 5.1]

“Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.”

So let us all try to understand and realize our positions as servants of Krnsa and try to act as instruments instead falsely pretending to be masters. By realizing and recognizing the real master Lord Sri Krsna, there will be peace as stated in Bhagavad Gita by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.



bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà

sarva-loka-maheçvaram

suhådaà sarva-bhütänäà

jïätvä mäà çäntim åcchati [ B.g. 5.29]

“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

Krsna also mentions that it takes many many births of speculation and austerities for a person to come to the conclusion that Lord Sri Krsna indeed is everything, but by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and through the grace and valiant efforts of Srila Prabhupada, realizing Godhead has been made easy for this Age of Kali. Simply by chanting the Holy names of the Lord Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare individually and collectively one can realize the Absolute Truth.

Quality of a Pure Devotee : He Does not make Anyone his enemy

yasyästi bhaktir bhagavaty akiïca sarvair guëais tatra samäsate suräù [ S.B. 5.18.12]

“All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Väsudeva.”

 

There are 26 specific qualities of a pure devotee, which are described in Caitanya Caritamrta. One of these Qualities is that a Pure Devotee of the Lord never quarrels with or makes anyone his enemy.

From the lives of great Devotees like Prahlad Maharaja, Haridas Thakur, Jesus Christ and Srila Prabhupada, we understand, even though they faced insurmountable difficulties and had to undergo innumerable threats to their lives, they never considered anyone their enemy. Srila Prabhupada used to mention in his lectures that a person who becomes a devotee of the Lord will have many enemies, including friends and relatives. Prahlad Maharaja was put into various difficulties by his own father Hiranyakasipu, Haridas Thakur was beaten at 22 market places, Jesus Christ was crucified for preaching Krsna Consciousness and everyone knows how much opposition and trouble Srila Prabhupada had to go through in his life to establish the International society for Krsna Consciousness. In spite of all these difficulties faced by these pure devotees, they never considered anyone their enemies, on the contrary every one of them prayed and worked very hard for the spiritual upliftment of fallen souls.

Vision of a Pure Devotee is that of equality, as mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita, devotee does not look at the body but sees the soul accompanied by the Super soul within every living entity. Owing to this spiritual vision, devotees do not find any difference between, a learned Brahman, an elephant, a dog and dog eater outcast [B.G. 5.18]. Devotees understand that this idea of enmity arises on account of false identification of the soul with the body, which comes about due to the influence of three modes of material nature, based on living entity’s karma and desires. Hence instead of making enemies with people who are inimical towards them, devotees show compassion for the soul and try to deliver them from the influence of three modes of material nature, such is the magnanimity of a pure devotee. Therefore it is said that even a moment’s association with a pure devotee makes one’s life successful.

Lord Krsna mentions in Bhagavad-Gita that he is present in every ones heart, so how can a devotee make anyone his enemy, knowing that Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present in every living entity. Based on this understanding a devotee sees everyone’s body to be a temple of Lord Krsna and does not wish to hurt even an ant. Just like iron in association with fire, becomes as good as fire, a devotee by constant association with the Lord develops all the good qualities of the Lord in himself. In this age of Kali the process of associating with the Lord has been made very easy by Lord Himself in his incarnation as Catena Mahaprabhu, Simply by Chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, one can develop all the good qualities of a Pure Devotee.

Patience is trusting Krishna's timing

Hare Krsna,





Once there was a sweeper in a well known temple and he was very sincere and

devoted.



Every time he saw thousands of devotees coming to take darshan of the Lord,

he thought that the Lord is standing all the time and giving darshan and He

must be feeling very tired.



So one day very innocently he asked the Lord whether he can take the place

of the Lord for a day so that the Lord can have some relief and rest.

The Deity of Temple replied, "I do not mind taking a break. I will transform

you like Myself, but you must do one thing. you must just stand here like

Me, smile at everyone and just give benedictions. Do not interfere with

anything and do not say anything. Remember you are the deity and you just

have faith that I have a master plan for everything.



The sweeper agreed to this. The next day the sweeper took the position of

the deity and a rich man came and prayed to the Lord. He offered a nice

donation and prayed that his business should be prosperous. While going, the

rich man inadvertently left his wallet full of money right there. Now the

sweeper in the form of deity could not call him and so he decided to control

himself and keep quiet.



Just then a poor man came and he put one coin in the Hundi and said that it

was all he could afford and he prayed to the Lord that he should continue to

be engaged in the Lord's service. He also said that his family was in dire

need of some basic needs but he left it to the good hands of the Lord to

give some solution. When he opened his eyes, he saw the wallet left by the

rich man. The poor man thanked the Lord for His kindness and took the wallet

very innocently. The sweeper in the form of the Deity could not say anything

and he had to just keep smiling.



At that point a sailor walked in. He prayed for his safe journey as he was

going on a long trip. Just then the rich man came with the police and said

that somebody has stolen his wallet and seeing the sailor there, he asked

the police to arrest him thinking that he might have taken it. Now the

sweeper in the form of Deity wanted to say that the sailor is not the thief

but he could not say so and he became greatly frustrated. The sailor looked

at the Lord and asked why he, an innocent person, is being punished. The

rich man looked at the Lord and thanked Him for finding the thief.



The sweeper in the deity form could no more tolerate and he thought that

even if the real Lord had been here, he would have definitely interfered and

hence he started speaking and said that the sailor is not the thief but it

was the poor man who took away the wallet. The rich man was very thankful as

also the sailor.



In the night, the real Lord came and He asked the sweeper how the day was.

The sweeper said, "I thought it would be easy, but now I know that Your days

are not easy, but I did one good thing." Then he explained the whole episode

to the Lord. The Lord became very upset on hearing this whereas the sweeper

thought the Lord would appreciate him for the good deed done.



The Lord asked, "Why did you not just stick to the plan? You had no faith in

Me. Do you think that I do not understand the hearts of all those who come

here? All the donation which the rich man gave was all stolen money and it

is only a fraction of what he really has and he wants Me to reciprocate

unlimitedly. The single coin offered by the poor man was the last coin he

was having and he gave it to Me out of faith.



The sailor might not have done anything wrong, but if the sailor were to go

in the ship that night he was about to die because of bad weather and

instead if he is arrested he would be in the jail and he would have been

saved form a greater calamity. The wallet should go to the poor man because

he will use it in My service. I was going to reduce the rich man's karma

also by doing this and save the sailor also. But you cancelled everything

because you thought you know My plan and you made your own plans."



Moral:



God has plans and justice for everyone....



We just have to have patience!!!!!



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



"Peace is not absence of conflict, but presence of God whatever the conflict be."

Truth and Beauty are Compatible

Hare Krishna,




A nice article

By A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead Magazine #15,1967



It has often been argued whether truth and beauty are terms compatible with one another. One would agree willingly, some say, to express the truth, but since truth is not always beautiful—indeed it is frequently rather startling and unpleasant—how is one to express truth and beauty at the same time?



In reply to this we may inform all concerned that Truth and Beauty are indeed compatible terms. Truth which is Absolute is always beautiful. It is so beautiful that it attracts everyone, including itself. Truth is so beautiful that many sages, saints and devotees have left everything for its sake. Mahatma Gandhi, the idol of the modern world, dedicated his life for experimenting with Truth, and all his activities were targetted towards Truth only.



Why Mahatma Gandhi?—every one of us is drawn by an urge towards Truth, because it is not only beautiful, but possesses all power, all resources, all fame, all renunciation and all knowledge as well.



Unfortunately, people have no information of the actual Truth, and 99.9 per cent of men in all ranks of life are following the principles of Untruth in the name of Truth and its quest. We are actually attracted with the beauty of Truth, but we are, since time immemorial, habituated to love untruth in the name of Truth. And therefore, to the mundane thinker, Truth and Beauty are incompatible terms.

Mundane Truth and beauty are explained as follows:



A man fell in love with a beautiful girl. He was very powerful and strongly built, but his character was doubtful. The girl, meanwhile, was not only beautiful in appearance, but also saintly in character. As such the beautiful girl did not like the proposal of the powerful man. The powerful man, however, insisted upon his lustful desires, whereupon the beautiful girl requested the man to wait for only seven days and after that she fixed up a time when they could meet. The strong man agreed, and with high expectations began to count the hours, waiting for the moment when he was fixed to meet the girl.



The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest the real beauty of relative Truth, adopted a means which is very instructive: She took a very strong dose of purgative medicine, and for seven days continually she passed loose stool and vomitted all that she ate. All the loose stool and the vomit she stored up in suitable reservoirs. As a result of this laxative medicine, the so-called beautiful girl became lean, thin as a skeleton, and turned gloomy of complexion, with her beautiful eyes pushed into the socket of the skull.



At the appointed hour, she was waiting anxiously to receive the man in love.

The man appeared on the scene well-dressed and well-behaved, and asked the waiting girl, who was depressed in appearance, about the beautiful girl who had called him there. The man could not recognize the waiting girl, as the same beauty whom he was asking for. The girl was in a pitiable condition, and the foolish man, in spite of repeated assertions, could not recognise her. All due to the action of the medicine.



At last the girl told the powerful man the story of her beauty, that she had separated the ingredients of beauty, and stored them up in the reservoirs. She told him that he could have and enjoy the juices of beauty stored up in these reservoirs if he wanted them. The man agreed to see the juices of beauty, and thus he was directed to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating unbearable odors. Thus the whole story of the liquid beauty was disclosed to him. The characterless man, by the grace of the saintly girl, was now able to distinguish between the shadow and the substance, and thus he came to his senses.



That is the real position of every one of us who are attracted by false material beauty. The girl above-mentioned developed a beautiful material body as she desired in her mind, but she was actually apart from that temporary material manifestation of body and mind. She is in fact a spiritual spark, and so also is the man in love, who was attracted by the false skin of the girl.



Many great thinkers, poets, artists and people in general, are deluded by the outward beauty and attraction of the relative truth, and are unaware of the spiritual spark which is both Truth and Beauty at one and the same time. The spiritual spark is so beautiful that on its leaving the body no one any longer wishes to touch it, even though the body may be decorated with the most costly jewels.



And because we are all after a false, relative truth, we find it to be incompatible with real beauty. The truth is so permanently beautiful that it maintains the same standard of beauty as it is for millions upon millions of years. Besides that, the spiritual spark is indestructible. The beauty of the outer skin can be destroyed in a few hours time by one small dose of strong purgative, but the beauty of Truth is always the same, and is indestructible just as it is. Unfortunately, mundane writers are ignorant of the beautiful sparks of spirit, as well as of the fiery resources of these spiritual sparks and their interrelations of transcendental pastimes.

When these pastimes are displayed here by the Grace of the Almighty, the foolish persons who cannot see beyond the gross senses mistake such pastimes of Truth and Beauty as being within the same field as the store of loose stools and liquid vomit. Thus they come to despair, and then declare that Truth and beauty cannot be accommodated at one and the same time.



The mundane thinkers do not know that the Whole Spiritual Entity is the beautiful Person attracting everything as the Prime Substance, the Prime Source and the Fountainhead of everything that be. And the infinitesimal spiritual sparks, as parts and parcels of the Whole Spirit, are qualitatively the same—beautiful and eternal entities. The difference is that the Whole is eternally the Whole, and the parts are eternally the parts. Both of them are the Ultimate Truth, Ultimate Beauty, Ultimate Knowledge, Ultimate Energy, Ultimate Renunciation and Ultimate Opulence.



Any literature which does not describe such Ultimate Truth and Beauty is a store of loose stools and liquid vomit of the relative truth. Real literature is that which describes this Ultimate Truth and Beauty

A Systematic Study of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 : Observing the Armies on the Battle Field of Kurukshetra

Following post gives a synopsis of the lecture of Bhagavad Gita Discourse by His Grace Balaram Das, disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami.
Venue : Schaumburg, IL

Lecture 1 on 02/19/2011 and Lecture 2 on 02/25/2011

Book : Bhagavad Gita As it is , by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Sawmi Prabhupada
Copyright : International Society for Krsna Consciouness ( ISKCON)



Introduction :

Bhagavad Gita is a widely read theistic science. Though this book is by far the most popular book, its true understanding is rare. Due to its intricate philosophy of life, often people tedn to interpret this text and conclude diffferent meanings from this book for their own selfish motives. Bhagavad Gita As it is is an attempt by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to explain the real purport of Bhagavad Gita as it was meant to be, hence the book itself is tiltled as " Bhagavad Gita As it is "

Before embarking on study of this most important book, it is very essential to understand how Bhagavad Gita was understood by Arjuna, who heard it directly from Krsna. Krsna mentions in the Bhagavad Gita itself that why he had chosen Arjuna to be the first diciple to recieve this knowledge,

sa eväyaà mayä te 'dya
yogaù proktaù purätanaù
bhakto 'si me sakhä ceti
rahasyaà hy etad uttamam [ B.g. 4.3]

That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.

So few important points before trying to understand Bhagavad Gita are

1. One must not be envious of The Supreme Personality of Godhead , Krsna , and he should be a friend to him.

2. One must know that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, For those who do not believe this or trust this statement , they must atleast believe it thereotically that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavad Gita will scientifically establish this truth.

3. One must try to understand these teachings with a surrendred spirit and not with a challenging spirit.

4. One must not interpret the teachings of Bhagavad Gita to suit one's purpose.

With these four things, when one listens to Bhagavad Gita As it is from a bonafide source who has studied Bhagavad Gita from a bonafide disciplic succession one can relish the message of Bhagavad Gita and make ones life successful.

Each Chapter of Bhagavad Gita has a specific theme and in our study we would be making an attempt to address these themes .

Chapter 1 of Bhagavad Gita Entitled " Observing the Armies on the Battle Field of Kurushetra is also called as " Arjuna Visahad Yoga" it has different sections as shown in the diagram above.

Section I :

Verse 1.1 - 1.27 provide an introduction to the battlefield of Kuruskhetra.

Subsection A : Preparation for War : Verses 1.1 – 1.11

This section Starts with the enquiry of Dhrtarastra to Sanjaya his secretary regarding the armies on the Battle field of Kurushestra and ends with Duryodhana’s description of the armies of Pandavas and Kuru’s.

Important points to remember from these verses are as follows :

1. Dhrtarastra’s addressing His sons and Kuru’s and separating out sons of Pandu for the family, reveals his mind to usurp the kingdom for himself

2. Significance of the holy place of pilgrimage called Kurukshetra referred here as dharma kshetra.

3. Dhrtarastra’s worry of the influence the holy place of pilgrimage called Kurukshetra will have on naturally pious Pandavas and the reverse influence on his own son Duryodhana.

4. Sanjaya’s prediciting the mind of Dhrtarastra and assuring him that the war will not be stopped.

5. Duryodana’s diplomatic address to Dronacharya in finding out his fault in training Dryatadhumyna in military art, although knowing that he will be killed by him. Braminical qualification of Dronacharaya of training Draystadhumna even though knowing that he will kill him .

6. Duryodhan’s description of Pandava’s strength and his making his commanders attentive.

7. Duryodhan’s encouragement to his soldiers by describing the strength of his army .

8. Duryodhana’s confidence of victoru based on Bhisma’s strength and his experience in fighting.


Subsection B : Signs of Victory of Pandavas ( verses 1.12 – 1.20 )

This section starts with blowing of conch shell by Bhismadeva and ends with the description of Krsna and Arjuna on a chariot with a flag marked with Hanuman. This section mainly gives description of the various signs of victory for Pandavas.


Points to remember

1. Bhishmadeva’s louldly blowing the conchshell to indicate to Duryodhana that it was impossible for him to win since Lord Krsna was on Pandava’s side, but still it was Bhismadeva’s duty to fight and hence there will not be any slackness in that

2. Duryodhana’s feeling joy on hearing Bhismadeva’s blowing of his conchshell loudly like a lion , thinking he would be victorious because of Bhismadeva.

3. Blowing of transcendental Conchshells by Krsna and Arjuna , indicating that they will be victorious . also word Madhava means husband of Goddess of fortune, wherever there is Krsna , Goddess of fortune resides there hence, victory and fortune were on Arjuna’s side. Also the chariot of Arjuna was donated by Agni deva , which can conquer all directions

4. Addressing Krsna as Hrishekesa means controller of the senses , as supersoul , all the senses of the living entities belong to Krsna and he directs the senses of the living entities from within with respect to the degree of surrender, but for a pure devotee he controls the senses completely. Blowing of different conchshells was encouraging to the soldiers on Pandavas’s side and hence another sign of victory.

5. Different conchshells were blown by different members of the Kuru dynasty , indicating all will be killed in the battlefield due to ill motives of Dhrtarastra.

6. Heart breaking on the side of Duryodhana after hearing the conchshells on Pandava’s side, due to their confidence in Lord Krsna.

7. Lord Krsna, seated on the chariot of Arjuna marked with a flag of Hanuman, indicating that as Hanuman assisted Lord Rama in victory over Ravana, he would do so here for Arjuna, with Lord Rama i.e Krsna himself being present on Arjuna’s side thus showing definite signs of Victory for pandavas

Subsection C : Krsna as Bhakta – Vatsala [ Verse 1.21 – verse 1.27]

This section describes Krsna’s nature as affectionate to his devotees.

Points to remember

1. Krsna addressed as Acyuta or infallible, since Krsna never fails in his affection for his devotee. For the sake of his pure devotee Arjuna , he had taken a role of a chariot driver, but his position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not compromised in any situation. Arjuna was aware of Krsna’s position since his being a pure devotee and hence he addressed Krsna as Acyuta

2. Though Arjuna could not fall into illusion, because of his being a pure devotee and Krna’s friend, by the inspiration from the Krsna as a supersoul, Arjuna, wished to see the armies.

3. Krsna being the supersoul predicted Arjuna’s mind and asked him to look at the Kurus, especially Bhismadeva and Dronacarya so that he might fall into compassion and that illusion will set the ground for Krsna to recite the Bhagavad Gita for benefit of all.


Section II :

Verses 1.28- verse 1.46 in summary explain the five reasons which Arjuna gave for not fighting the battlefield

Verses 1.28 – 1.30 : Compassion

Arjuna felt compassion for the family members and all the soldiers from both sides who were going to fight in the battle of Kurushetra. Arjuna being a pure devotee of the Lord, though of it as unnecessary fight in order to acquire a kingdom , which will be tainted with blood of so many members of the Kuru dynasty. Due to his softheartedness owing to his being a pure devotee of the Lord, he was experiencing standing of hairs on his body. Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport that there are two situations when one experiences standing of hair on this body one is during spiritual ecstasy due to excessive joy and another situation is due to fear. In this case since Slipping of Arjuna’s famous Gandiva bow is mentioned it is understood that he was fearful and hence he was showing these symptoms. Such a situation happens due to material attachment.

Verses 1.31 – Verse 1.35 : Lack of Enjoyment

In these verses, Arjuna tells Krsna that if he were to kill all his relatives, than how is he going to enjoy the kingdom. Generally we want to win or acquire something with a hope of sharing and showing that to our friends and relatives in order to enjoy the victory. Arjuna’s Addressing Lord Krsna as Govinda which means one who gives pleasure to the senses is significant in this connection., by this Arjuna was indicating to Krsna that since he is Govinda, he should know what Arjuna is going through and hence he should not compel him to fight ,thus giving his senses pleasure, Srila Prabhupada explains here that Govinda is not meant for satistying our senses, but we are meant to satisfy Krsna’s senses and in turn our senses will also be satisfied once Krsna is satisfied and that is why Krsna is called Govinda. Genearlly everyone goes to Krsna to ask for facilities in order to satisfy his or her senses and they want Krsna to be their order supplier, but the constitutional position of a living entity is to satisfy Krsna’s senses and inturn the living entities senses will be completely satisfied, since we the living entities are infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme.


Verses 1.36 – 1.38 : Fear of Sinful Reactions

These three verses describes Arjuna’s saintly nature due to his being a devotee, he was aware of the sinful reaction of killing once family members and hence he argued with Krsna that he should not induce him to fight his family members, his addrerssing him as Madhava signifys that since Krsna was husband of Goddess of fortune, he should not ask Arjuna to act in a way which will bring him misfortune, but Krsna never brings misfortune to anyone, what to speak of his devotees. Prabhupada explains in the purport that as per Vedic wisdom there are 6 kinds of aggressors namely

1. poison giver, 2. one who sets fire to the house, 3. one who attacks with deadly weapons, 4. one who plunders riches, 5. one who occupies another’s land and 6. one who kidnaps a wife.

As a kshatriya Arjuna is supposed to kill such aggressors, it is required for a administrator to be saintly in behaviour but not cowardly, example of Lord Rama is given by Prabhupada, he was a ideal king and every one wanted to live in rama rajya , but he never forgave Ravana for his misconduct of kidnapping Sitadevi. But in Arjuna’s case the aggressors where his own family member hence it was a special case, due to his saintly nature he had thoughs of sins that he might commit by killing his own family members, taking all these pros and cons into consideration he considered not to fight to be a better option

Verses 1.39 – verses 1.43 : Destruction of Family tradition

These are the remaining verses in the Chapter 1, in these verses Arjuna describes the evil consequences of such a war where all the elderly personalities in the Kuru dynasty will be killed. As per Vedic etiquette elders of the family are never to be killed or even offered a verbal fight, since they guide the following generations in proper religions conduct. In absence of elders in the family the family traditions and the religious practices of sraddha will be stopped which will bring ruination to the future genearation, in absence of the elders the women of the family may intermingle freely which will lead to unwanted progency ( varna sankara) population which will create havoc and hellish life for all in the society. Considering the evil effects of killing his own kinsmen he did not think of fighting the war as a good idea and hence he sat on the chariot and kept his bow Gandiva down.

Verse 2.6 : In decision

This verse is explained in the second chapter and it decribes the indecision of Arujna on fighting the war. Since Drona and Bhisma where his spiritual master and grandfather respecitively and were very pious people. Arjuna has great respect and reverence for both of them and he was confused whether he should try to win over them or let them win over him in this condition as the later verses in Bhagvad Gita explain he surrendered to Krsna and accepted him as his spiritual master to instruct him on the right path.

Thus the First chapters sets the stage for Lord Krsna to speak the Bhagavad Gita to everyone through Arjuna. Our Acharyas explaing that since Arjuna was a pure devotee of the Lord, there is no chance that he could fall into any illusion, but only by Lord Krsna’s arrangement he was put into this illusion so that entire world can be benefited with the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad Gita and make their lives perfect.

Cause of all Causes

Cause and Effect are the natural phenomenon in this material world. Every Cause is followed by an Effect and every Effect has a Cause. This phenomenon of cause and effect is explained in Vedic texts as well as in the modern science alike. Newton's law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction and similarly in Vedanta Sutra, the Cause and effect phenomenon is explained in great detail. Knowing this truth, we generally tend to look at the cause and effects with our limited vision and blame or praise certain cause for the effects that we may enjoy or suffer during the course of our journey through life. For example, if we obtain something desirable, for instance, if we obtain a promotion, we give the credit to our boss and think that it is because of him alone that we are getting this raise, or some others think that because of their performance alone they are getting this promotion. Similarly when we obtain something undesirable or if someone has broken our heart, we tend to blame the other person of being the cause of this sorrow that we are getting.



It indeed is true that our boss or our performance did play a significant role in getting us the promotion or the person who broke your heart certainly played a vital role in your sorrow. But they are not the causes of it; they merely are instruments through which we receive the so called sorrow or happiness. They are the immediate causes that come to our mind for the effect we are experiencing. Brahma Samihata verse 5.1 explains that the cause of all causes is the supreme personality of Godhead Sri Krsna.

isvarah paramam krsna

sac-cid-änanda-vigraha
anädir ädir govinda
sarva-karana-karanam [ B.s. 5.1]

" Krsna who is known as Govinda  is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."

     What does it mean when we say cause of all causes? Cause of all causes means that whatever we see in our purview is emanating from Lord Sri Krsna. So some may ask then what is the cause of Sri Krishna, that is why the verse mentions anadir adir govinda, which means Govinda, or Lord Krsna is the cause of all causes but he has no cause he is svarat or independent. We the living entities have been conditioned by material nature to always think in terms of cause and effect within the limits of time. We do not have the conception of eternality. That is the reason we always think of everything as being born and everything will be destroyed, though this is true in connection to this material world, this is not true to a parallel existence beyond this material world which is called as spiritual world, though the information of the spiritual world is unknown to the modern science, nevertheless descriptions have been mentioned in the Vedic literatures regarding the nature and quality of the spiritual world. Lord Sri Krishna briefly mentions about the spiritual world in the fifteenth chapter of Bhagavad-Gita as,

na tad bhäsayate süryo
na sasanko na pävaka
yad gatvä na nivartante
tad dhäma paramam mama [ B.g. 15.6]

"That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world."

    As per the verse in Brahma Samhita, Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme cause of all causes. That means whatever good or bad we receive in our lives has its root cause coming from Lord Sri Krishna. But of course that should not mean that we blame Krishna of everything that goes wrong in our lives and for whatever good we obtain we praise him a little but within we believe that we are the cause of that. Although the ultimate cause in undoubtedly Lord Krishna, the respective happiness or sorrow which we receive in the material world is not his wish, whatever we received is based on our immediate cause, i.e. our actions. As per the law of Karma we shall reap what we sow, that is sure, but the cause of that law is Lord Krishna, hence the cause of all causes is Lord Sri Krishna.



With a simple example we can explain the above facts. In today’s modern world, advancement of technology and machinery is of a great amazement to common mass of people and often people, who are not well versed with science of God, conclude that man's intelligence surpasses everyone and hence human intelligence can make everything possible, there are attempts to scientifically create life also, although they have not been successful. In short with advancement in technology modern man is trying to compete with God. This foolish proposition is a result of lack of knowledge about the greatness of God and ignorance of the fact that he is the cause of all causes. Even though man has become successful with much advancement in technology and science, but the prime questions is who the cause for developing human intelligence is. Certainly human beings have not developed intelligence in laboratories, moreover when the child is in mothers womb, the developments of the child taking place in mothers body in an organized manner at perfect times without any external assistance should convince any sane man on God's wondrous and perfect workings. Exactly after 8 weeks child’s hands and legs begin to form, after a period of 9 months the baby is intelligent enough to know that it is time for it to come out of the womb and makes attempts to break free. So the question may arise as to who is the cause of this intelligence?



The astonishing achievements in technology and machinery requires lot of material things, like computers require iron, plastic etc. we get all these from nature and nature is one of the energies of God as mentioned by Lord Sri Krishna himself in the Bhagavad-Gita . Hence the ultimate cause is Sri Krishna.

mayädhyaksena prakåti
süyate sa-caräcaram

hetunänena kaunteya

jagad viparivartate [B.g. 9.10]


" This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunté, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again."


     So if one gets a promotion or if someone breaks your heart, one must remember, that the person who has become an instrument in these effects is not the ultimate cause, though we appreciate their contribution, we must always remember the cause of all causes is Lord Sri Krishna. The so called happiness or sorrow that one receives in this world is result of our own activities, but it is comes to us in different ways and through different mediums, And if one remembers always that Lord Sri Krishna is the enjoyer, proprietor and a very compassionate friend of all, one can understand that so called temporary happiness and sorrow of this world has no meaning. With the firm belief and trust on the judgment of the most compassionate friend Lord Sri Krishna, a person surrendered to the Lord takes every event of his life as a lesson knowing that God, will always want good for him. Lord Sri Krishna Himself mentions this in the 5th chapter of Bhagavad-Gita



bhoktäram yajna-tapasäm
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrd sarva-bhütänäm
jnatva mäm santim racchati [ B.g. 5.29]

" A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries."


Further He concludes,

sarva-dharmän parityajya
mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja
aham tväm sarva-päpebhyo
moksayisyämi mä sucau [ B.g. 18.66]

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."


      Like a concerned father in asks his sons and daughters to take shelter of him unconditionally in love and he will save his devotee from all the dangers, and in the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Sri Krishna Himself descended on this material world 500 years ago to show the people in general who had misunderstood his instruction in Bhagavad-Gita, on how to surrender to Krishna. To make things easy for the current fallen Age of Kali, he inaugurated the simplest form of process to surrender in love by chanting the holy names of God Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, which is joyfully performed by any kind of human being irrespective of caste, creed, sex, nationality, birth or status.

Arjuna's Bewilderment

It seems every Indian thinks the most important thing Krishna stresses in the Bhagavad-gita is that “You should do your duty.” Krishna's instructing Arjuna to do his duty as a ksatriya and fight in the battle is certainly a very strong theme in Bhagavad-gita:


tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

"Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me, and at the same time you should continue your prescribed duty and fight. With your mind and activities always fixed on Me, and everything engaged in Me, you will attain to Me without any doubt." (Bg. 8.7)

Arjuna is a ksatriya, a fighter, and therefore his duty is to fight. All political avenues have been explored and there is no alternative to the fight. Therefore it is Arjuna’s duty to fight. And Krishna is instructing him to fight. The situation is quite difficult for him however because practically speaking all the soldiers on the battlefield on both sides are Arjuna's friends and family members. Therefore in the beginning Arjuna becomes bewildered.

Although Arjuna knows it is his duty to fight, when he is seated on the chariot in the middle of the two armies, Pandavas on one side and Kurus on the other side Arjuna looks everywhere on both sides and sees only friends and family members and his teachers. Everyone is related to him in some way. So he thinks that if they fight this will be a great disaster and even if he is victorious in the battle because so many friends and family members will be killed on both sides. Arjuna is feeling that his life would not be worth living, even though he may be victorious in the battle. So he decides, “Krishna I shall not fight.” And he proposes going to the forest and living under a tree as if he give up the fight his reputation as a great fighter would be spoiled as everyone would think that he fled from the battlefield in fear of being killed after seen the very strong army of the Kurus.

In this position Arjuna is completely bewildered and he does not know what to do. So he surrenders to his friend Krishna. The relationship between Krishna and Arjuna changes at this moment. In the beginning of the discussion they were friends, but Arjuna becomes bewildered and does not know what to do so he accepts his friend Krishna as his spiritual master, as his guru and surrenders to Him.

kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ
pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ
yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me
śiṣyas te ‘haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam

"Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me." (Bhagavad-gītā 2.7)

So you see what has happened here. Krishna has instructed Arjuna that he should do his duty as a Ksatriya and fight. But Arjuna realized that if he does that then it will be disastrous for his friends and family who will mostly all get killed. So Arjuna is thinking that it would be better for everyone if he did not do his duty. Then the battle would not take place and his family members would not be killed.

Arjuna says here that he is confused about his duty. So the real point here is that Arjuna does not know what his duty is so is surrendering to Krishna and saying to Krishna “Please instruct me.” Arjuna is now Krishna's disciple, a soul surrenderd to Krishna and he will now do whatever Krishna tells him to do.

So the actual central point of the Bhagavad-gita, is really to surrender to Krishna in the mood of Arjuna, “Please instruct me.”

At this point it does not matter what Arjuna thinks is his duty. Actually at this point Arjuna is completely confused about his duty. On one hand he knows that he has the duty as a ksatriya and he should fight but on the other hand he has another duty to his friends and family and does not want to see them killed. So Arjuna is confused about his duty. So Bhagavad-gita is not actually about “doing your duty.” Arjuna does not even know what his duty is, so how can he do his duty? Many of us are also in the same position. We are confused about our duty.

The message of Bhagavad-gita is surrender to Krishna and get Krishna to instruct us, “please instruct me,” to let Krishna claify to us what is our duty.

It is not that we know what our duty is and Bhagavad-gita is telling us that we must do that. No. Bhagavad-gita is telling us to surrender to Krishna and let Krishna instruct us as at to what our duty is. Of course in Arjuna's case he was speaking with Krishna directly, but for us Krishna advises that we approach Him through His bona fide spiritual master and the spiritual master can let us know what we should do, what is actually our duty. Of course we can also hear from Krishna and from Sirla Prabhupada and from a careful study of Bhagavad-gita a thoughtful person can conclude what is his duty. Krishna will speak to him and Prabhuapda will speak to him...

These things can be discussed very elaborately and for a long time but really the Indian idea that Krishna is telling Arjuna to do his duty is a very superficial understanding of the Gita. It is true of course. Because when Arjuna surrenders to Krishna Krishna does instruct him to fight. But Krishna could have also instructed Arjuna to leave the battlefield and Arjuna would have done that also if that is what Krishna wanted him to do. The point is Arjuna accepted Krishna as His spiritual master and agreed to do whatever Krishna instructed him to do. Arjuna surrenderd to Krishna.

So the real point of Bhagavad-gita is surrender to Krishna. Not doing one’s duty. Actually one's duty is to surrender to Krishna and Krishna actually concludes His instructions to Arjuna in the Gita by saying exactly this:

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." (Bg. 18.66)

This is a very radical way really for Krishna to conclude His instructions in the Bhagavad-gita with. In India and all over the world they have invented so many dharmas, or occupations, or religions and Krishna is concluding here that Arjuna should give up all these dharmas or religions and simply surrender unto Him. So this is Krishna's real message, the real conclusion of Bhagavad-gita. Surrender to Krishna. This is the main message.

This is adapted from Srila Prabhuapda's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. If you do not have the book please get it and read it from:
http://krishnastore.com/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-with-bonus-dvd-h-krishna-407.html

If you have questions and comments on this email then rather than replying to the email directly please post them on the article at:
http://krishna.org/arjunas-bewilderment/
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
http://www.krishnastore.com/

Blind Man carrying the Lame Man

The Founder Acarya of International Society for Krsna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, used to often give this example of a Blind Man Carrying the Lame Man to stress on topic of co-operation. A man who is blind cannot see and a lame man cannot walk. So if both of them combine and the Blind Man carries the Lame man on his shoulders, the Lame man can show him the direction by which both of them can use what they have and become successful in achieving what they lack. Srila Prabhupada used to site this example in connection with combining the efforts of materially advanced nation like United States of America and spiritually advanced nation like India. If both of them utilize their expertise in helping each other they can combine to become a very powerful force in the world.

Lord Krishna informs us in Bhagavad-Gita that the material body is the covering of the soul which is moving the material body.

väsäàsi jérëäni yathä vihäya

naväni gåhëäti naro 'paräëi

tathä çaréräëi vihäya jérëäny

anyäni saàyäti naväni dehé [B.g. 2.22]

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones".

Just like a car is moving because of the presence of a driver, similarly the body is animated because of the soul within the body. The presence of the soul can be perceived by the presence of Consciousness all over the body, In other words the body is conscious because of the soul. This can be validated by studying the dead body, all the organs in a dead body are same as that of a living body, but since the soul has left the body there is no consciousness in a dead body. The presence of soul in a body is debated and some accept it and other don't, but as far as Bhagavad-Gita is concerned, it is clearly stated that, soul is the primary cause of consciousness and that is our real identity. The soul is a part and parcel of God and it cannot be destroyed by any means.

na jäyate mriyate vä kadäcin
näyaà bhütvä bhavitä vä na bhüyaù

ajo nityaù çäçvato 'yaà puräëo

na hanyate hanyamäne çarére [B.g 2.20]

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."

So our real identity is that we are spirit souls and part and parcel of God and not the material bodies. Even the dimensions of the soul have been mentioned in various other Vedic texts


bälägra-çata-bhägasya
çatadhä kalpitasya ca
bhägo jévaù sa vijïeyaù
sa cänantyäya kalpate [Svetasvara Upanishad 5.9]

"When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul."

If one is real researcher and wants to know the truth and studies these Vedic literatures with an unbiased mind, he or she will find out very interesting facts about life and which will drastically change the perspective of an individual about life and things around him or her.

So coming back to the topic, modern civilizations are highly advanced in technology, which is primarily meant to provide comfort to the material body, it is good to have these facilities indeed and the progress done in this regard is truly appreciable. The material body as mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita as a covering of the soul and is a machine which helps the soul to conduct itself in this world, but by making the machine comfortable will not make the soul happy. Just like polishing the cage nicely and decorating it with flowers but neglecting the bird within the cage and not feeding it will eventually lead to the death of the bird and without the bird the nicely decorated cage has no value. Similarly, as per the Vedic Literatures, Spirit soul within the material body is the actual self and not the body, our misidentification with the body and only taking care of the body, will soon lead to dissatisfaction of the soul leading to its unhappiness. This is the reason why in today's world, we find materially developed countries , even though they have ample of money have one of the highest rates of suicides and mental disorders like depressions and that is the major cause of many deaths. One who neglects the interest of the soul and only cares for the body is a Blind man. Hence it is very important for every human being to inquire about the soul with open mind and try to understand the science behind it, in order to see properly.

On the other hand, developing countries, like India, though they have the required spiritual knowledge struggle economically. If the body is not fit to work, the soul cannot work properly; hence it is also important to take care of the body sufficiently. Though body is less important than the soul, but it has to be maintained for the soul to carry out its business in this world. Hence such a person who is hampered materially is a Lame Man, who cannot walk properly. Vedic culture in India, has answers to all the problems in the world and can guide the whole world, to peaceful situation, with its advanced spiritual science and knowledge on the other hand developed nations with advanced material science can join hands to explore and research the truths embedded in these ancient texts using the latest technologies to educate the people all over the world. Such a co-operative spirit will surely bring peace to the world. Thus if the Blind man (materially advanced nations) carry the Lame man, like India on their shoulders, both of them will be benefited.

Some efforts have been made in this direction and institutions like ISKCON are practical examples of this co-operation, however, the number is very small. Unfortunately, in this age of quarrel know as Kali Yuga, people are more inclined towards material advancement rather than spiritual knowledge. This is evident from the fact, that even though India has got a wealth of spiritual knowledge, now a days, the leaders are inclined more towards, material prosperity, trying to follow in the footsteps of materially advanced nations, the young generation of this country is slowly forgetting the spiritual heritage and taking to modern ways, in short, the lame man is trying to become blind also. Hence there is a great need for everyone to understand the importance of spiritual knowledge and study Vedic literatures, like Bhagavad-Gita, with an unbiased mind, from a bonafide teacher to understand the intricacies of life and its purpose. With the purified mind one must try to understand the spiritual self and make his or her life successful and in this age of Kali the best way to purify as mentioned in the scriptures is to chant the holy names of God, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare.

harer näma harer näma
harer nämaiva kevalam
kalau nästy eva nästy eva
nästy eva gatir anyathä [C.c. Adi, 17.21]

“‘In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.’