Kyros

Rg Veda 1.22.20

Sama Veda 7.1.2

There can only be one Absolute Truth.

The Garuda Purana declares the Bhagavad Purana to be the "King of all Literatures."

Garuda Purana 3.1.45

"The wise declare knowledge to be manifold, consisting of various grades - high, low and middling. All that knowledge is found in the Bhagavata Purana. Hence, Bhagavata is the highest of all Puranas.

We all know that Sattwic means good (things), and as far as I know, you can find the Puranas categorized in the Matsya Purana, as well as Padma Purana.

By those facts alone we can understand that rajasic and tamasic Puranas, which generally glorify Lord Brahma and Lord Siva respectively, are inferior to Sattwic Puranas, which glorify Lord Visnu.

Bhagavad Gita 14.17

Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, 236.18–21

According to the Padma Purana, the texts may be classified in accordance with the three gunas or qualities; truth, passion, and ignorance:

• Sattva ("truth; purity"): Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana
  
• Rajas ("dimness; passion"): Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana
  
• Tamas ("darkness; ignorance"): Matsya Purana, Kurma purana, Linga Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana

It doesn't get more explicit than this.

However, this doesn't mean that information found in the rajasic and tamasic puranas are not true; however, if there is a contradiction in between two Puranas, then the one in a higher position is to be taken as truth.

For example, Siva Purana states Lord Siva to be the Supreme Person, but Visnu Purana states Lord Visnu to be the Supreme Person. Both are contradictory, but the Visnu Purana is placed in a higher position, thus Lord Visnu is the Supreme Person.

Hare Krsna

He did.

He saw, that's why he is Einstein.

But it was his quest to know that was more in focus.

I guess, the answer to his question was given by one the Lord's greatest devotee, Sri Sukadeva Goswami in his Srimad Bhagwatam.

Lord Krishna never remotely talks about how he created the universe in the Gita, which is what Einstein's alleged quote is implying. That's in the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic literature.

Regardless, that Einstein quote is not authentic. It's best not to bring up that quote or scholars who know Einstein would call that out and it'll just bring us more discredit.

Don't listen to the other guy, he's obviously a mayavadi.

Can someone please explain this to me?

 

1) "Ganesh, Indra, Varuna, Brahma (et al) are all just demigods."

Demigods are representatives of the Supreme Lord. They are minute living entities (aka, like ourselves) who have been elevated to exalted material positions because of their past pios activities (good karma).

It is not a permanent position and once your karma is over, you come back down to the middle planetary system (aka, where Earth resides).

Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad Gita that demigod worship is for the less intelligent. A clear sign that demigods are not on the same length as Krishna, or any other Visnu-tattva.

2) "Siva is a demigod, but the greatest Vaishnava."

This is true, as stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam. However, there is another Purana that contradicts this statement, and that is, not surprisingly, the Siva Purana.

Bhagavad Purana has Lord Visnu(Krishna) as the Supreme with Shiva as subordinate, and Siva Purana has Lord Siva as Supreme, with Visnu subordinate. Both texts cannot be rejected, so to reconcile this, you go to the other 16 Maha-Puranas.

The Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda explains that Lord Visnu is the Supreme and Lord Siva is subordinate. There are other Puranas that also divide the 18 Maha-Puranas into 3 categories: sattwic(goodness), rajasic(passion), tamasic(ignorance).

Sattwic: Lord Visnu

Rajasic: Lord Brahma

Tamasic: Lord Siva

Conclusion: Lord Visnu is Supreme.

3) "But Allah and Jehovah are 'just names for Krishna', the 'Svayam Bhagavan'. They are all God, just different names".

 

How is this?

 

Jehovah was just a minor desert deity, elevated to supremacy by Moses. Jehovah, in the 'Old Testament', admits to being a "jealous god", wrathful, and ready to mete out capital punishment (death penalty) at a whim (those who worship or even respect images and/or idols, collecting firewood on the Sabbath, a child disrespecting their parents, and at least 24 other offenses).

 

Allah was just a minor lunar deity, elevated to supremacy by Mohammed. Allah, in the 'Koran', admits to being violent and wrathful, and ready to mete out capital punishment (death penalty) on a whim (those who worship or even respect images and/or idols, apostasy, collecting firewood on the Sabbath, a child disrespecting their parents, and at least 29 other offenses)

 

So, why are Allah and Jehovah elevated so? Is it just for political correctness?

 

Why has Allah and Jehovah been elevated to the same level of Krishna?

 

According to Moses and Mohammed, Jehovah and Allah, respectively, both claim to be God. Why have their words being taken literally?

 

So why not accept the words of others who have claimed to be God? For example, Haile Selassie, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Sathya Sai Baba, Sun Myung Moon, Charles Manson, and so on?

 

Through history, we have seen the results of the words of Moses and Mohammed: wars and violence galore. India has seen the atrocities of these religions.

 

I just hope no one replies with the "all is one" stuff (i.e., Mayavada philosophy).

 

Just as there is one sun in the sky, but different names for it in different languages, so there is only one God, but is called differently in different languages.

According to the dictionary, Jehovah and Allah literally translate to God. So there is no problem in calling Krishna Jehovah or Allah.

However, Lord Krsna is not a jealous God, and his only law in the universe is karma (cosmic law of balance/cause and effect/action and reaction), which is the source of all other laws.

So yes, it's somewhat of a political stunt, but there is some philosophical purpose behind it as well.

Hope this clears up some things.

That first one said by Albert Einstein is fake. People have searched all over the web for a reference for that quote, and they can't find it.

Not to mention that Lord Krishna doesn't talk about the universe in the Bhagavad Gita. I don't see how Einstein can reflect on the universe, unless maybe when he describes this universe as an upside down tree.

While staying in a temple recently, I came upon an old Back to Godhead issue which featured a 6 page spread based on some 3d modeling Saduputa Das created to illustrate the mechanics of the universe, all based on the 5th canto. It was explained in logical scientific detail.

 

It showed concentric rings, the furthest being a mountain range upon which the wheel of the chariot which carried the sun rode upon. Each ocean/mountain combo was rendered nicely. It showed how the moon was positioned on a plane compared to the earth and sun whereby at times it was further above the earth than the sun, and everything.

 

It was masterful.

 

I have never heard anyone reference it when defending the Vedic version of the mechanics of the universe.

 

On my list of things to do is to obtain a copy of that Back to Godhead A.S.A.P.

http://www.iskcondesiretree.info/

They claim to have every BtG magazine ever published. Mind telling us which one it was?

"What is the most wonderful thing?"

"Every day hundreds of millions of living entities go to the kingdom of death. Still, those who are remaining aspire for a permanent situation.What could be more wonderful than this?"

I thought Gaudiya Math would be more rigid on chanting?

Lord Chaitanya wanted people to chant 64 rounds. ISKCON chants only 16 because people early on said that 64 rounds were alot. Prabhupada then dropped it to 32, and then finally 16, but that was his limit.

Anyway, best to start chanting the Maha-Mantra, and take your time. Prabhupada met BhaktiSiddhanta Maharaja early on, but didn't surrender to him until several years later.

Anybody know where I can find good ayurvedic books?

I have one called Ayurvedic Encyclopedia by Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha.

Are there any others that people think is worth collecting?

Our bodies will crumble in due course too...but we still care for it and treat it well. Sacred.

 

Why is science demonized? There is some good science available that holds to a broad vision of consciousness...including the transcendent possibilities.

 

Is it a perennial truth that science and religion have no harmony? Or will some of these truths be temporary...lets hope so!

No no, I'm a student in the field of IT, so I know how valuable science is (or at least technology).

But A LOT of people don't care about that stuff. It's not hidden that most people aren't interested in science. They only care about how to make more money, and science like astronomy is not where money is.

One of my classmates said that going to space was pointless, no one argued that.

He's more into sports and women, hence my argument that people just want sex nowadays. There are a lot of dogs in society, with their tongue hanging out and all. These people don't care about science, or religion for that matter; just sex.

I like science, it must exist to keep philosophers from going overboard with theories like they did in the medieval times (good God!).

But the problem today is that those few who do like science, they take it as the all in all.

I remember arguing with one atheistic scientist before, and he made such "absolute" statements that the soul and God doesn't exist. At the end, he said that "their may be a God out there, but no one knows for sure."

So you can see why science is sometimes "demonized."

To say scientist don't care about science or astronomy and just want sex is a foolish conclusion. The fruits of material science is everywhere, like in the computer you are using for one or the development of laser surgery for another.

My apologize, but I apparently rushed my post. It doesn't even make sense.

But anyway, science and technology, while has made vast contributions to society, is eventually going to crumble.

You mean unlike people from the past, who were not interested in sex and were totally into science and astronomy? Hmm...I need to recheck my history as I am not aware when that was ever the case. If you are aware of specific time periods, when people were savvy about science and astronomy than modern man, please mention them.

What?

You mean the Bhagavatam, not the Vedas - there is a world of difference.

 

Since you appear to know more about astronomy than fulltime astronomers, why don't you educate them about the correct method of determining these distances? Unless, you are already in touch with them and correcting their mistakes.

 

Cheers

No, the Vedas. I'm not an astronomer, nor am I really interested in it. I prefer to put my faith in the Vedas. Call it blind if you want, I'll stick to it's words.

By the way, I heard that some distances made by the Surya Siddhanta were fairly accurate with modern scientists. It seems my faith in the Vedas is paying off.

Also, there is the whole issue with different coordinate systems. I could put the moon as the center of the universe which would have different distances, and I would be totally right! I would say the Vedas use a different coordinate system than modern scientists. It wouldn't be totally off, but as I said, I'm not an astronmer. I'll leave it to the so-called "simpletons" Danavir Goswami.

If this planetarium fails, then the Krsna Conscious movement will end up being the laughing stock in the whole world(not taken seriously). Considering that Lord Chaitanya said this whole world will be inundated in Krsna-Prema (or w/e), I don't think Krsna would allow the planetarium to fall.

How convenient that you quote no shastra in your spasm of Fallvadi hallucination.

 

I guess we are just supposed to take your word for it?

http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/saranagati/html/vishnu_mjs/jiva/jiva_4.html

Brother, I think you're the one hallucinating. That's why you have to resort to name calling, which is a sign of anger, and we all know what happens to angry people.

"From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool." (B.G 2.63)

This is an unbelievable topic.

Living entities are always prone to falling down, even if they are liberated. Jaya and Vijaya are eternally liberated souls, but they ended up having to take birth in the material atmosphere and thus, they got severely deluded.

That is called being from the Tatastha Sakti. It's not a place, but it's where we came from.

The reason why some of the translations call Tatastha Sakti a place (or whatever) is because translating stuff from Sanskrit to English and try to keep the same idea is extremely hard.

That's what you get from trying to translate words from a copious language like Sanskrit to Latin based languages.

What a self righteous attitude... look there are many masters with the spiritual wisdom of Prabhupada througout whole india but in diffrent schools.

That was my point. Plenty of bonafide spiritual masters, but ONLY in India.

The Brahma and Sri Sampradaya are the only ones I have seen that preach outside of India and have gained lots of followers. I haven't seen much of the Rudra or Kumara Sampradaya have as much influence outside.

Let alone all of the other sampradaya's.

The Gaudiya Vaishnava's, being the most expansive (international) has the best chance, and they give out Prabhupada's books.

Oh, and it requires good intelligence to read Prabhupada's books. If you're closed minded like a lot of people are, then they aren't going to make sense and you'll just end up understanding it differently. That's why Prabhupada stresses finding a guru to learn about this subject.

Just like in the real world you have to approach chemists to learn chemistry, or mathematicians to learn math. Your intelligence can only carry you so far before you need some help.

The Ayurvedic textbook I'm referring from is written by a follower of Sripad Sankaracharya.

And you can find any Vedic text on the Internet, so if you can read Sanskrit, go for it.

Srimad Bhagavatam, Manu-Samhita, it's all there.

Prabhupada's books are good enough to follow only if you have a good intelligence. No offense, but it's inevitable that Prabhupada's books are going to be the most popular in the future. That's a sure sign of a God blessed person. Only those who do not know how to follow Prabhupada's books aren't capable of understanding them. Only the Brahma and some Sri Sampradaya followers are preaching vedic philosophies and bhakti yoga outside of India.

1. No Meat Eating

2. No Intoxications <- Click on link

3. No Illicit Sex <- Click on link

4. No Gambling <-Click on link

If you want scriptural proofs. The end of the Fifth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam will explain them. The Bhagavad Gita (by Srila Prabhupada) is also another good source.

Ayurveda will also explain why people aspiring for spiritual life should not eat meat, indulge in illicit sex, and take intoxications. They are all heavily rajasic/tamasic, and the beginning of spiritual life can start only if one is situated in a sattwic lifestyle.

The Manu Samhita also prohibits some of these as well.

There are others as well.

are you saying the names 'narayara' and krishna refer to one and the same supresoul ?

Yes, though we aspiring Gaudiya Vaishnava's say that Krishna is the original. Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28.

Isn't it true that GAUDIYA and ISKON devotee's believes that narayana has four less auspicious qualities compared to krishana. Narayana who stays in Vaikunta is not the ultimate goal for the devotees. The ultimate goal is the goloka where krishna is serving his devotees

No, Narayana does not lack any qualities from his orignal form of Krishna. It's just that Narayana, or Visnu does not show those qualities.

61) the performer of wonderful pastimes (especially his childhood pastimes)

Lord Krishna had the best past times with his devotees. No other form, even Lord

Ramacandra had past times like Sri Krishna.

62) surrounded by devotees endowed with unsurpassed love of Godhead -

The unique thing about Lord Krishna was that none of his devotees knew he was

God. Being in God's presence would bring awe and reverence to the devotees,

which would get in the way of love, but they didn't know he was God, so they had

no awe and reverence. They had pure sweet love for him.

63) the attractor of all living entities in all universes through the expert playing of His flute

Just as a snake charmer enchants a snake, Lord Krsna's flute enchants everybodies

hearts. It should be noted that Krsna only played his flute in Vrndavana.

64) possessor of unexcelled beauty without rival.

Even Lord Visnu wanted to see Lord Krsna's beauty. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.89

Prabhupad was hopelessly misinformed about scientific subjects; in the above quote, for example, he says "The atomic energy works wholly on total combustibility," which I'm afraid is meaningless; combustion is a chemical reaction, not nuclear, and the nuclear reaction is far from "total" in any sense of the word. He said many things that are beyond his training or exposure. Best to realize his limitations and find out for yourself from people and sources that are expert and accurate about scientific matters.

You seem to miss the idea he was conveying, let me rephrase it so you can better understand it.

"The atomic bomb is very explosive and creates lots of fire and light, just like the brahmastra."

Hello, I am the 8758759695795705975sincetimeimmemorial grandson of Lord Brahma, the direct current link to Lord Visnu.

It would be better for Tulsi to be in a pot in areas where winter presides, and bring her inside.

Or you can try building a tent around Tulsi Devi...

Yeah, you just need to get yourself involved in one of the four authorized sampradaya's and you'll be fine.

Padma Purana (Kashiraj Publications, 2002 Reprint)

sampradāyavihīnā ye mantrāste niṣphalā matāḥ|

ataḥ kalau bhaviśyanti catvāraḥ sampradāyinaḥ||

Śrī-brahmā-rudra-sanakā vaiṣṇavā kṣitipāvanāḥ|

catvāraste kalau bhāvya hyutkale puruṣottamāt||

rāmānujaṃ śrī svicakre madhvācaryaṃ caturmukhaḥ|

śrīviṣṇusvāminaṃ rudro nimbādityaṃ catuḥsanāḥ||

All mantras which have been given (to disciples) not in an authorised Sampradāya are fruitless. Therefore, in Kali Yuga, there will be four bona-fide Sampradāyas. Each of them were inaugurated by Śrī Devī and known as the Śrī Sampradāya, Lord Brahmā and known as the Brahmā Sampradāya, Lord Rudra and known as the Rudra Sampradāya; and the Four Kumāras and known as Sanakādi Sampradāya. Śrī Devī made Rāmānujācārya the head of that lineage. So too Lord Brahmā appointed Madhvācārya, Lord Rudra appointed Viṣṇusvāmī and the four Kumaras chose Nimbāditya (an epithet for Śrī Nimbārkācārya).

Lord Narayana is a plenary portion of Lord Krishna, so names can be used interchangebly.

I assume when you mean by other "God's" name you're referring to Rama.

Rama also means the source of pleasure. God is the source of pleasure, so we call him Rama. Rama is another name for Krishna since he's God.

The real reason why any Visnu-tattwa prays to Lord Shiva is written in the Padma Purana. Lord Kalki will follow that tradition in approximately 427,000 years.

Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality and Lord Shiva is the best of the Vaishnava's.

Modern scientists don't know how the universe looks, and considering the direction civilization seems to be heading we may never (lets face it, people just want sex nowadays, they don't care about science, let alone astronomy.)

I'm more likely to put my faith in the Vedas than I will on modern astronomers, especially considering the method they use to determine distance between planets...