In the Vedantic traditions, sound is considered one of the most important principles of existence, as it is both the source of matter and the key to become free from it. One who can thoroughly understand the four stages of sound as explained in the Vedic texts can utilize this science to become free from the bondage of matter.

Those who are tattva-vit understand that the Absolute Truth has three nondual features, namely Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. The mayavadis on the other hand say that the Absolute Truth is Brahman alone, and that Bhagavan is simply Brahman covered by illusion. Therefore they are known as the maya-vadis, because they believe Brahman gets covered by illusion.

The Vedic literatures [Hindu scriptures] state that protection must be given to weak and helpless living entities by the stronger members of society. It is the duty of a householder to protect and provide not only for one's family, but even for the ants that live within one's house; what to speak of higher living entities like the cow, who are at the mercy of their owners.

When discussing the origin of the Vedas, we must keep in mind the fact that the Vedas are eternal transcendental sound vibrations. Therefore we cannot use the word create in its general usage to describe the source of the Vedas. At the same time everything has a cause except for the Lord.

The following are ten verses from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana that were spoken by Lord Krishna to Mother Ganga just before the beginning of Kali yuga (the age of quarrel and strife). Kali yuga began approximately five thousand years ago, and it has a duration of 432,000 years, leaving us with 427,000 till the end of the present age.

If one is truly serious about achieving the ultimate goal of human life by perfecting his spiritual inquiry, he must adopt a life style that is conducive to the cultivation of self-realizing knowledge. This life style can be beautifully summarized in the phrase 'simple living and high thinking'. Here simple living is in relation to maintenance of the body, and high thinking is in relation to the aim of one's intellectual pursuits.

That the human form of life is special and unique in comparison to other species is accepted in practically all fields of scientific and philosophical knowledge. But what makes the human species so uniquely different from everything else is often lost in the whirlpool of academic pursuit.

The word "dharma" does not refer to a particular sectarian faith, but to the very function of the soul. The shastras teach us that it is the inherent nature of everyone to render service. When that service is directed ultimately towards ourselves, in a selfish manner, it becomes the source of our own bondage in the material world.

The controlling demigods (devas) possess a life span that is equal to one day of Brahma (1,000 divya-yugas, or 4,320,000,000 earthly years). This category includes most of the elemental controllers as well as most of the demigods within the court of Indra.

It has become quite popular nowadays to speak about mystical experiences and "siddhis". Most yoga and meditation groups speak of them, along with other esoteric blabber such as the raising of kundalini, opening of chakras, and other things which no one has actually experienced.

In the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna explains this subject to Arjuna in great detail. Arjuna was faced with a situation where, in order to uphold dharma, he had to fight and kill people who were very dear to him, his own relatives and friends.

Sri Chaitanya is the Kali-yuga avatara, and He descended for the purpose of establishing the yuga dharma, which in this age is the chanting of Lord Krishna's names. He appeared in the guise of a devotee to perfectly show how the process of devotion should be followed and applied.

Many times people have written to me about their difficulties and despondency in life. Usually they ask how they can attain peace and happiness. Nowadays peace is a very rare commodity in the world. Everyone is looking for it, whether one is an individual, or a nation.

The Bhagavata Purana, commonly referred to as the Srimad  Bhagavatam, is considered the ripened fruit of all Vedic  knowledge. Sri Vyasa Muni, the compiler of the Vedic texts,  advises us as follows:

nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam
shuka-mukhad amrita-drava-samyutam

The topic of this issue is the Mahabharata war in relation to world history and culture. We will begin the topic with a question we received sometime back:

 

"In the Mahabharata, the war seemed to have affected the whole world. We don’t find so many references to such of a huge event in other cultures. Why are there no references to a great world event?"