Guruvani

According to Bhagavat Purana, this Virabhadra was not an incarnation of Shiva or a form of Shiva, rather a demon created by Lord Shiva.

<center></center> <center></center> <center>Lord Siva Creates the Demon Virabhadra</center> "Thus Lord Siva, being extremely angry, pressed his lips with his teeth and immediately snatched from his head a strand of hair which blazed like electricity or fire. He stood up at once, laughing like a madman, and dashed the hair to the ground. A fearful black demon as high as the sky and as bright as three suns combined was thereby created, his teeth very fearful and the hairs on his head like burning fire. He had thousands of arms, equipped with various weapons, and he was garlanded with the heads of men. When that gigantic demon asked with folded hands, "What shall I do, my lord?" Lord Siva, who is known as Bhutanatha, directly ordered, "Because you are born from my body, you are the chief of all my associates. Therefore, kill Daksa and his soldiers at the sacrifice." Purport: Here is the beginning of competition between brahma-tejas and siva-tejas. By brahma-tejas, brahminical strength, Bhrgu Muni had created the Rbhu demigods, who had driven away the soldiers of Lord Siva stationed in the arena. When Lord Siva heard that his soldiers had been driven away, he created the tall black demon Virabhadra to retaliate. There is sometimes a competition between the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance. That is the way of material existence. Even when one is situated in the mode of goodness, there is every possibility that his position will be mixed with or attacked by the mode of passion or ignorance. That is the law of material nature. Although pure goodness, or suddha-sattva, is the basic principle in the spiritual world, pure manifestation of goodness is not possible in this material world. Thus, the struggle for existence between different material qualities is always present. This quarrel between Lord Siva and Bhrgu Muni, centering around Prajapati Daksa, is the practical example of such competition between the different qualitative modes of material nature. Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, that black person was the personified anger of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he was prepared to execute the orders of Lord Siva. Thus, considering himself capable of coping with any power offered against him, he circumambulated Lord Siva. Many other soldiers of Lord Siva followed the fierce personality in a tumultuous uproar. He carried a great trident, fearful enough to kill even death, and on his legs he wore bangles which seemed to roar. At that time, all the persons assembled in the sacrificial arena--the priests, the chief of the sacrificial performance, and the brahmanas and their wives--wondered where the darkness was coming from. Later they could understand that it was a dust storm, and all of them were full of anxiety. Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, they said: There is no wind blowing, and no cows are passing, nor is it possible that this dust storm could be raised by plunderers, for there is still the strong King Barhi, who would punish them. Where is this dust storm blowing from? Is the dissolution of the planet now to occur? Prasuti, the wife of Daksa, along with the other women assembled, became very anxious and said: This danger has been created by Daksa because of the death of Sati, who, even though completely innocent, quit her body as her sisters looked on. At the time of dissolution, Lord Siva's hair is scattered, and he pierces the rulers of the different directions with his trident. He laughs and dances proudly, scattering their hands like flags, as thunder scatters the clouds all over the world. The gigantic black man bared his fearful teeth. By the movements of his brows he scattered the luminaries all over the sky, and he covered them with his strong, piercing effulgence. Because of the misbehavior of Daksa, even Lord Brahma, Daksa's father, could not have been saved from the great exhibition of anger. While all the people talked amongst themselves, Daksa saw dangerous omens from all sides, from the earth and from the sky. My dear Vidura, all the followers of Lord Siva surrounded the arena of sacrifice. They were of short stature and were equipped with various kinds of weapons; their bodies appeared to be like those of sharks, blackish and yellowish. They ran all around the sacrificial arena and thus began to create disturbances. <center></center> <center> Daksa's Sacrificial Ritual is Disturbed </center> Some of the soldiers pulled down the pillars which were supporting the pandal of sacrifice, some of them entered the female quarters, some began destroying the sacrificial arena, and some entered the kitchen and the residential quarters. They broke all the pots made for use in the sacrifice, and some of them began to extinguish the sacrificial fire. Some tore down the boundary line of the sacrificial arena, and some passed urine on the arena. Some blocked the way of the fleeing sages, some threatened the women assembled there, and some arrested the demigods who were fleeing the pandal. Maniman, one of the followers of Lord Siva, arrested Bhrgu Muni, and Virabhadra, the black demon, arrested Prajapati Daksa. Another follower, who was named Candesa, arrested Pusa. Nandisvara arrested the demigod Bhaga." Srimad-Bhagavatam 4:5:3-17 <center> </center> "The great sage Maitreya said: My dear Vidura, all the personalities present were very much satisfied in heart and soul upon hearing the words of Lord Siva, who is the best among the benedictors. Thereafter, Bhrgu, the chief of the great sages, invited Lord Siva to come to the sacrificial arena. Thus the demigods, accompanied by the sages, Lord Siva, and Lord Brahma, all went to the place where the great sacrifice was being performed. Purport: The whole sacrifice arranged by King Daksa had been disturbed by Lord Siva. Therefore all the demigods present there, along with Lord Brahma and the great sages, specifically requested Lord Siva to come and revive the sacrificial fire. There is a common phrase, siva-hina-yajna: "Any sacrifice without the presence of Lord Siva is baffled." Lord Visnu is Yajnesvara, the Supreme Personality in the matter of sacrifice, yet in each yajna it is necessary for all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, to be present. After everything was executed exactly as directed by Lord Siva, Daksa's body was joined to the head of the animal meant to be killed in the sacrifice. Purport: This time, all the demigods and great sages were very careful not to irritate Lord Siva. Therefore whatever he asked was done. It is specifically said here that Daksa's body was joined to the head of an animal (a goat). When the animal's head was fixed on the body of King Daksa, Daksa was immediately brought to consciousness, and as he awakened from sleep, the King saw Lord Siva standing before him. At that time, when Daksa saw Lord Siva, who rides upon a bull, his heart, which was polluted by envy of Lord Siva, was immediately cleansed, just as the water in a lake is cleansed by autumn rains. Purport: Here is an example of why Lord Siva is called auspicious. lf anyone sees Lord Siva with devotion and reverence, his heart is immediately cleansed. King Daksa was polluted by envy of Lord Siva, and yet by seeing him with a little love and devotion, his heart immediately became cleansed. In the rainy season, the reservoirs of water become dirty and muddy, but as soon as the autumn rain comes, all the water immediately becomes clear and transparent. Similarly, although Daksa's heart was impure because of his having slandered Lord Siva, for which he was severely punished, Daksa now came to consciousness, and just by seeing Lord Siva with veneration and respect, he became immediately purified." Srimad-Bhagavatam 4:7:6-10 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Excerpted from texts and purports of HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

this is an important understanding about Varnashram that sometimes is being missed with some devotees. Srila Prabhupada says: the whole matter of Varnashram is about: Varnashram is for the masses, but they never flocked to take shelter of ISKCON. ISKCON is for Vaishnavism. It's not important to try and impose Varnashram on ISKCON.

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Isn't that chant the signature mantra of the tantric sahajiyas in Braja? No proper Vaishnava acharya has every approved that sahajiya mantra.

Well, Vikram babu, I am very impressed that you are a Vaishnava. That is a very exalted status. Myself, I an neither Vaishnava, Shaiva, Buddhist, Christian or Muslim. I am just a baddha jiva caught in a struggle for existence in the material world. Vaishnavas are liberated mahatmas beyond the clutches of illusion. That certainly doesn't describe me. Please excuse me. I am just a lowborn American mleccha and you are a very cultured and highborn Bhartiya. Here in the USA were aren't used to living side by side with Shaivas, so I am not so prone to be very accomodating when one of them comes into the forums saying essentially "my Siva killed your Narahari". It appears he was just begging for some disagreement from those of us in here who don't accept Siva at Paramesvara. I feel that maybe you are a little more defensive of your fellow Hindus and a little prone to be very critical of us American people.

The qualities of the consciousness of the soul are: (1)thinking (2)Feeling (3)Willing. Basically those are the functions of consciousness. What makes the soul eternal and unique from matter is that it is a superior form of energy than matter, as matter does not possess consciousness. The soul retains it's individuality from God and other souls by it's nature as a fragmented unit of energy. As a spiritual spark, it is forever fragmented from the supreme whole. Light energy is made up of individual photons of light energy. The soul is like a photon of light that has emanated from the glory of the supreme being Krishna. So, the soul can never be killed or disintegrated because it is already a single unit of energy. Unlike material light energy, the spiritual light energy is a superior form of energy that cannot be exhausted or depleted. If the souls comes to a point of not having any karma, the soul can exist as a single unit of spiritual light energy on the absolute strata of undifferentiated consciousness. However, there are higher and much superior forms of spiritual energy than the living entities. If the soul somehow comes in contact with superior forms of energy and becomes associated with these higher forms of energy it can in essence attain to life forms in the absolute realm where these higher beings dwell.

As well, sometimes the God of the Bible is referred to as the "creator God". So, exactly what the ancients believed and how they worshiped is always up for debate. But, practically speaking, if you talk to a "Christian" today you will find that they worship God not only as the creator God but as the absolute God of everything. So, modern Christanity, whether Jesus was historically real or not, is monotheistic and recognizing that there is ONE supreme ABSOLUTE God. Religious people have over the centuries evolved the monotheistic religious faith that prays to the ONE SUPREME ABSOLUTE GOD. It has it's basic foundations of the teachings of Christ, whether or not Christ was historically real or not. So, it really doesn't matter if Christ was an actual historical figure or not. The monotheistic faith with it's principle practice of praying to God as the one supreme absolute person has value. At least it has been credited with having value according to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur. So, we don't have to accept Jesus as an actual historical figure to appreciate that "Christianity" promotes exclusive monotheism and advocates prayer to God and moral, ethical and religious life. There are allegorical figures in Puranic shastra as well, but there can be much to learn and much to benefit even in the words of allegorical or fictional characters if there is some real knowledge and understanding attached to the fable.

What is known as Christianity today is a monotheistic religion which practices prayer as the principle act of faith. Whether or not Jesus was an actual historical figure is debatable and probably nobody can ever prove he was or he wasn't. Even some of the big skeptics have come to accept that there probably was some historical Jesus, but they also say that his life and his divinity have been greatly embellished and exaggerated in the gospels. The bottom line though, is that "Christians" believe in one supreme God and the limb of Bhakti that they practice is "prayer". Whether or not Jesus was a real historical personality is debatable, but some modern Vaishnava acharyas have credited the monotheistic Christianity and their praying to God as actually within the lowest form of Vaishnavism. Vaishnavism in it's most basic form is first and foremost monotheistic. Prayer to this ONE God is one of the limbs of bhakti. So, Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivindode Thakur both gave the Christian concept as being within the range of Vaishnavism. So, really, Christianity, whether Jesus was histroically real or not, is monotheism and their praying to God has been recognized as an act of devotion to God and within the broader conception of bhakti. Srila Prabhupada gave appreciations to Jesus AND Mohammed both for the fact that through Islam and Christianity this monotheism has been spread all over the world laying the foundation for Vaishnavism. That is the virtue of Islam and Christianity, that monotheism is the foundation and that prayer to God is taught and practiced. These religious systems have helped mankind greatly by encouraging ethical and religious life in civilizations around the world. There are many defects and shortcomings in the ecclesiastical doctrines of these great world religions, but they have one underlying virtue of propogating monotheism and prayer to God and helping human civilization out of atheism and polytheism.

Both. If you are at the Superbowl game and some drunk is standing up in front of you screaming and yelling and being the fool and you tap him on the shoulder and say "set down and shut up, we are trying to watch the game" and then this drunk turns around and punches your lights out, then that is an example of INSTANT KARMA. There is instant karma and there is karma that takes time to manifest. Sometimes they say "when the chickens come home to roost". That means that eventually, sooner or later the karma will be there and the karmic reaction will occur. The intricacies of karma are mysterious. Nobody can say for sure when the reaction is going to come. That is all decided by the will of providence and the Supreme Being that dwells in the heart of all living things.

The Padma Purana describes that all the Puranas are divided into three types: *Sattva: Visnu, Narada, Bhagavata Garuda, Padma, Varaha *Rajas: Brahmanda, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavisya, Vamana, Brahma *Tamas: Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Vayu/Siva, Skanda, Agni So, it is accepted that the Siva Purana is for men of tamasic nature. As such, what can we expect from a tamasic Purana? Tamasic means ignorant. So, the Siva Purana is meant to create in ignorant men some faith in Siva so that they might get some benefit and make some gradual advancement in theistic life. So, in the tamasic Puranas we might find some exaggerations or bending of the truth in the attempts to reach people of tamasic nature and start to lead them towards the Vedic scriptures and the Dharma shastras. In the Sattvic Puranas we most definitely find Siva worshiping Vishnu-tattva and subordinating himself to Vishnu-tattva. As well, since the Siva Purana is a tamasic Purana, there is a high possibility that these tamasic men over time have adulterated versions of Siva Purana for financial reasons and other such tamasic motives. Getting pure knowledge from tamasic shastra and tamasic worshipers is not a very likely possibility.

Different avatars of the ONE supreme being. God is ONE, but he appears in many forms at different times and places to perform his Godly activities. The life of Krishna is best described in the 10th Canto of Bhagavat Purana. This same knowledge has been presented nicely in a form easily readable to Enlgish speaking people in the form of KRISHNA BOOK by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. You can read this book online here: http://www.krsnabook.com/contents/ There is a nice summary of the life and teachings of Sri Caitanya here: http://lordcaitanya.com/tlc/en

Well, the hypothetical you described is an unlikely scenario, but it depends on your karma as well as some higher power that could possibly intercede on your behalf. Also, as Hindu it depends on WHO you were praying to. There are many gods in the Hindu culture. Praying to different gods will produce different destinies and results. If one is a devoted Hindu and worshiping a particular Hindu god, then that that god or goddess will bestow some blessings according to their nature. Karma is not the only factor in the destiny of the soul. The body is awarded according to the judgement of the supreme being who lives in the hearts of all souls. the supreme being is the authority behind the laws of karma and ultimately karma is simply what he chooses to do with our souls at the time of death. Karma is not everything. The will of divine providence is the final authority. In other words our destiny is in the hands of God. to say that being born as Muslim is a step back from being born as Hindu is too much of a tricky issue to give a patent answer to. Some Muslims might be better than some Hindus. There are some "Hindu" worshippers of Kali etc. that perform terrible acts of tantra that are not worthy of being considered as superior to Islamic religion. Some Muslims are superior in religion than some Hindus. Some Hindus are into very dark worship of some ghastly deities of terror and horror. I don't consider that as better than Islamic religion.

it would be impossible to reduce down the universe that is billions of miles in diameter into a scale model or a picture. some attempts were made but rejected by the acharyas. Because of the mystical and mysterious aspects of God's creation it is not possible to really create a model or a picture of it. Because there are aspects and dimensions of the universe that are very subtle and mysterious, it is impossible to put in into a physical model of any kind. Because the universe was created by God and is beyond the grasp of human comprehension, it is very difficult to penetrate in the Puranic concepts of the universe. All we can understand are very basic and elementary concepts, because if we get too technical it can get very confusing.

ic Vedic cosmology has some serious discrepancies in comparison to modern astronomy and is a very difficult concept to grasp even for seasoned students of the Puranas. Basically, the Puranic description of the universe is that it is vast and that ultimately it is in a layered shell of solid energy, liquid energy, fire energy, gaseous matter, ethereal matter, thought matter, subtle matter and the intuitive energy. The universe is divided into three parts as upper, middle and lower. The Sun illuminates the middle portion of the universe. The Sun does not illuminate neither the highest regions nor the lowest regions of the universe which have their own sources of illumination different than the Sun of our Solar system. Again, Vedic cosmology has a mystical element to it as does all the Vedic sciences so it is not a good subject for one not acquainted with the mystical aspect of Puranic histories. The Vedic cosmology has been a bone of contention amongst western students of Puranic history since it was introduced in the west, so it's not a good subject to really dabble in till one can accept this mystical element of the Puranic concepts. The 5th Canto of Bhagavat Purana deals with this Vedic cosmology quite elaborately, but it is a very complicated subject matter and not a proper subject to study until one has gone through the first four cantos of the literature.

There is only ONE supreme God that appears in many different forms at the same time. That is the greatness of God. He can appear everywhere in different forms at the same time. So, Sri Caitanya is the same Krishna. The supreme being has unlimited power to appear everywhere in a different form all at the same time, so for Krishna to again appear as Sri Caitanya is not a problem for HIM. Sri Caitanya is exactly the same ONE supreme being as is Lord Krishna.

you keep preaching theoretical concepts. I keep emphasising the actual living example that Srila Prabhupada demonstrated in ISKCON. You can make all these false claims that Srila Prabhupada related with and personally cared for all his disciples, but I know for sure that there are literally thousands of formal initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada that never got any personal attention from Srila Prabhupada. You refer to a smaller group of devotees that did get some personal attention from Srila Prabhupada and I keep refering to the majority of ISKCON devotees that did not get personal attention from Srila Prabhupada. The majority of the 5000 or so disciples of Srila Prabhupada did not get personal attention from him. Out of those 5000 disciples maybe a few dozen or a hundred or so got personal attention that amounted to more than glance or a smile. So, I think you are presenting a false picture of ISKCON as a whole. I think you are grasping at straws trying to win an argument that you don't deserve to win.

Brahmaloka is the highest heaven in the material universe. It is far beyond the reach of the sunlight in the topmost portion of the jagat - the material universe. You cannot see Brahmaloka amongst the stars in the sky because it is in a higher planetary system than our solar system. Brahmaloka is self-illuminating. There is no need for a sun planet in that highest realm of the universe. Sometimes the impersonal brahmajyoti is also referred to as brahmaloka.

Yes. Sri Caitanya is the same Krishna but in a different mood - the mood of a devotee. The Supreme Lord is the greatest teacher. To teach the highest kind of devotion to God, Lord Krishna advented himself in this modern age as Sri Caitanya.

Reincarnation means to take on a body or form in the material world of matter. But, there are spiritual bodies and forms in the Kingdom of God known in Vedic terms as Vaikuntha - the realm without misery. so, taking birth again in the material world of matter is what is called reincarnation. Salvation, liberation, mukti, moksha - these all describe a form of deliverance from the world of matter into the transcendental realm of eternal life of full knowledge and bliss referred to in western terms as the Kingdom of God. As far as the highest level of reincarnation goes, it is said that the soul can reach up to the level of administative demgods such as Lord Brahma or Lord Indra etc. Lord Brahma is the chief adminstrative demigod in each universe. The soul can potentially reach to the position of Lord Brahma who is the creator god of the universe. That is probably a very difficult concept for most western minds to accept, but is it the Vedic conclusion. That is a very high position to attain and in takes hundreds of lifetimes of the strictest form of religiousity to attain to that post. But, the highest goal given in the Vedic scriptures is the attainment of liberation from material existence and achieving eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Freedom from reincarnation is the goal.

Diksha into Krishna consciousness is about learning how to chant the Holy Name of the Lord without offense. There are ten offenses against the Holy Name and these are impressed upon the disciple at the time of initiation. There are the four regulative principles that are also given to the disciple at the time of initiation.. Srila Sanatan Goswami has presented in hari-bhakti-vilasa a standard and a system that was meant to somewhat conform the the smarta culture that was prominent in India at that time. Srila Sanatan Goswami gave the Gaudiya sect a respectable facade that was meant to appear as being conforming to some of the basic principles of smarta vidhi and thereby reducing the critcism and condemnation that could come from the smarta society that was most prominent in the Hindu communities. Srila Sanatan Goswami tried to reduce the criticism of the smarta religious leaders and present the Gaudiya sect as a respectable form of brahminical culture. What Srila Sanatan Goswami did in writing hari-bhakti-vilasa should not be artificially imposed upon devotees in the western world where smarta culture does not exist. In the western world some of the smarta vesha of the Gaudiya sect can be eliminated and exchanged for an image and a system that actually compliments the prominent and prevailing religious concepts of western societies. So, just as Sanatan Goswami adapted Krishna consciousness to a society where smarta culture was prominent, Srila Prabhupad had to adopt Krishna consciousness in a way that was more compatible with western society. So, the attempt to impose hari-bhakti-vilasa on western devotees is artificial and unnecessary. Srila Prabhupada tried to make Krishna consciousness a practical ideology that was within the range of possibilities of western people. Fanatic and blind attempts to impose upon western people the same standards that Srila Sanatan Goswami established for devotees living within the parameters of smarta India is actually wrong and actually an obstruction to the spreading of Krishna consciousness all over the world.

A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: Imitating without effect? Hey guys, does that sound familiar to any of us? Posing and profiling doesn't amount to diddly-squat.

You don't have to announce it or ask for permission to leave the discussion. Nobody is twisting your arm to make comments about things you don't know much about.

yep, strike three and you're out!!!

With those references from hari-bhakti-vilasa that you didn't understand, you were already out before you were ever in.