jagatpurush

"If you live your life for sacrifice, sacrifice of yajïa, then you will never be unhappy. You'll never be in want. We become unhappy for want of things which we require. This is practical. This is practical. Anyone... You will be surprised. I have taken practical information. In 1942 there was a manufactured famine in Bengal by the manipulation of the then government. It is for the first time we experienced that India... In our childhood, when we were children, at that time the first-class rice was selling three dollars for 82 pounds. Can you imagine? Three dollars. Not three dollars, I mean to say, dollar is exchange. Say, for less than one dollar, three-fourth dollar. Three rupees. Three rupees. The exchange of dollar and rupees is: five rupees make one dollar. Now, it was selling at 3.8. So about, I mean to, 75 cent. 75 cent for 82 pounds of best rice. I have seen it in my experiencing of life. When I was a boy in India it was selling. Can you imagine that? But that rice all of a sudden rose in 1940, ten dollars. Now, just imagine if something, the price of something, is raised from 75 cent to ten dollars, how difficult it becomes for the public, for general mass of people. So so many people were in difficulty, and so many people died for want of food, diseases, famine, because when there is want of food... But you will be surprised... I inquired in 1942. Persons who were in our line, I mean to say, engaged in devotional service... I also purchased at the same time. I had... In my family life at that time, I had some responsibility: my self, my wife, my five children, servant, and so many, about ten people. And I was purchasing rice. So anyway, management was going on. But so many people died. But you will be surprised. Those who were in some way or other in touch with the devotional service, I inquired from them individually, and I was satisfied that they were not in difficulty even in that famine circumstances. Even from the villages I inquired that "Were you in difficulty?" They replied, "No, we have no difficulty. Some way or other, we are managing." So this is practical. Anyone who is engaged in the devotional service, whose life is dedicated for service of the Supreme, you will see practically that there will be no want, there will be no unhappiness. This is a fact. This is a fact. So devän bhävayatänena te devä bhävayantu vaù parasparaà bhävayantaù çreyaù param aväpsyatha This Vedic injunction is also like that, that "You do sacrifice for the Supreme. Then you will never be unhappy. You will never be in want." Now, mind that, that the work is not stopped. The work in which you are engaged, that is not stopped. We have discussed in the previous verse that niyataà kuru karma tvam. The work which is entrusted to you, or the work in which you are now engaged, that is not to be undone. You work as you are doing. But you engage your, the result of your work or life for the matter of sacrificing for the Supreme Lord." Bg. 3.8-11, NY 5-20-66

> I cannot remember my birth, I agree I am changing my body every minute and my present body is not the one I had in childchood. Why do my scars remain? one cannot even remember the first four years of this life, what to speak of the previous one. however, the main reason we do not remember our past lives is because we are very attached to our present identity in this body. also, if we knew how and why we were punished, we would not be able to try and enjoy again. Krsna gives us the 'gift' of ignorance, so that we may try to become enjoyers in accord with our previous desires. these 'scars', or samskaras, remain connected to the soul after death via the suksma sarira, or subtle body.

thank you for your nice question. there are a couple of considerations here: >When you say that Krishna devotees are not well off financially, do they stay like this forever or their situation changes. >It is said in scriptures, specifically in Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead that Indra seeing that the residents of Vrajabhumi had become very opulent due to worshiping Krsna, thought that they had indeed become proud by not worshipping Indra and hence Indra, the King of heaven decided to shower rain in Vrindavan and flood this. Also, it is said in Navadvip Mahatmya that people in this land are never in want of material things as everyone is prosperous and the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu automatically has created a land of splendor. here we are talking about pure devotees. when they are present on earth, they may be either in opulence or in great material difficulty, depending on the lila they are involved in. the demon Hiranyakasipu tried to kill the devotee Prahlada in so many ways, such as boiling him in oil. such lilas are meant for our instruction--to show how a devotee can be Krsna conscious in the greatest of material difficulty. >I have heard that if you chant Krsna's name you never run out of material necessities - food, clothing and shelter. Is this true? yes this is true--although it's not quite the same as material opulence. Prabhupada gave the example that during the man-made famine in Bengal in the 40s, those who were bhaktas were able to manage somehow or other, while others starved. someone may receive material opulence by worshipping Krsna, but generally Krsna shows His mercy on the serious devotee by taking away His material opulence so that the devotee will remember Him more intensely: "yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih." [srimad Bhagavatam 10.88.8] ["The Personality of Godhead said: If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress after another." ] we can see this in the life of Srila Prabhupada. he was never very successful in business or marriage. again, this lila is for our instruction, to take inspiration. however, you need not fear to take up Krsna-bhakti on this account. Krsna will never give you more than you can handle. whatever tests He gives you (proportional to your level of advancement), He will also give you the means to overcome them. thanks, hope this helps. i would like to also hear more realizations on this point.

>For instance, is the nama of Siva more potent than bija of siva (i do not know what the bija is)? yes the name of Lord Siva is more auspicious than the syllable used for worshipping Lord Siva (shraum or reeng). because he is a Vaisnava. vaisnava yatha sambhoh. so by remembering the pure devotee we become purified. the bija mantras are material sound vibrations, except for om, which is transcendental. >Also, is it dangerous to say bija mantra or nama? one should not say it unless properly initiated and following the rules and regs. i have heard a story of one brahmacari who was overwhelmed by lust by chanting the kama gayatri, which involves kleem, in unauthorized manner. the Hare Krishna mantra, however, is a maha-mantra, consisting only of nama. it may be safely chanted by anyone.

It is appointed for man but once to die then the judgment. Hebrews 9.27 how to know that they have not translated it to their own convenience? does it literally say 'but once' in the original language? if not, then what is the value of this statement?

Re: Cardinal Ratzinger's view on Hinduism and Reincarnation achintya@, Aravind Mohanram <psuaravind> wrote: >And Hinduism, he said, offers `false hope'; it guarantees `purification' based on a `morally cruel' concept of reincarnation resembling `a continuous circle of hell'." > I am curious to know what he thinks of the Christian worldview in which a man is born into this world, naturally takes on the beliefs of whoever raises him, and after death suffers eternally if he was not raised or converted to Christianity. By this logic, everyone born into this world before Christ automatically goes to hell eternally. And those who are born after Christ, but are geographically isolated from Christians, also go to Hell despite whatever virtues they may possess. With its "one-lifetime,Jesus only," and "eternal Hell" beliefs, Christianity strikes me as a very cruel and illogical religion. Consequently, the only criticisms they can make of other religions are also confused and mixed up. This remains the case even when "highly respected" theologians (who are still highly respected even though they eat beef) make these statements.

>Association of Pure Devotees, that is, Sri Vaisnava Sanga, is the best thing. With that comes initiation from a bonafide guru. If there is someone senior to that Guru, a real Guru will stop giving initiation and tell prospective disciples to go to that Guru. what is the proof of this? Narayana Maharaj never said that only he in the world should initiate. in fact he says the opposite: "If a man is not uttama Vaisnava, even if he is madhyama adhikari stage, if he is simple and sincere, HE SHOULD BE TREATED AS GURU and we can take initiation from that person." he should be treated as guru--not treated as inferior because he does not take siksa from Narayan Maharaja even though he is a dear disciple of Prabhupada and has been serving Prabhupada faithfully and a sannyasi since before you were born. this whole attitude of superiority is very unvaisnava and very kanistha and typical of what we see from the NM camp unfortunately. do you think that because you are associated with Narayana Maharaja you have cornered the market on bhakti and are now qualified to criticize everyone--even people vastly senior to you? no mature devotee would go around trying to undermine other people's faith in a bona fide spiritual master. do you see murlidhar doing that? no, he is just analyzing on a philosophical level. that is different. thanks, jpd

>"In the Gaudiya Matha, Harinam is not considered to be initiation. Only the brahmana diksa, the gayatri, is considered to be initiation. " of course Bhakti Charu Maharaja is wrong, i know a consistent numbers of Gaudyas from various mathas and no one believes in such way well obviously you haven't had THAT much association with Gaudiya Matha. this is a sort of smarta thinking within Gaudiya Matha. for example, some smarta types in the Gaudiya Matha think that BV Puri Maharaj is not a full disciple of Prabhupada Sarasvati Thakura because he only took harinama and not DIKSA. if you had ever been to a Gaudiya Matha, you would know that gayatri initiation is called 'diksa', and not harinama. so before you go criticizing a Prabhupada disciple faithful sannyasi and guru, please get your facts straight. just because YOU say something doesn't make it so.

>the bija mantra for krishna is kleem, isn't it? then why chant hare-krishna mantra? a mantra has 3 parts: bija (seed), nama (name), and nyasa (how to chant). om namah sivaya. of the 3, the bija (in your question it is kleem) is powerful, but nama is more powerful. so we chant 'Krsna', because the name is nondifferent from Krsna, and therefore more powerful than the bija representing Krishna, or kleem. kleem is used in the Vaisnava gayatri. if you want to get that, you have to become a brahmana first. thanks, Hare Krsna

i take this to mean that association is the most important thing? for those, like me, in ISKCON, association is mainly ISKCON.

Those who are gayatri candidates, they will get the gayatri after the fire sacrifice. I'll just say a few words about the gayatri mantra. It is said that just by chanting the gayatri mantra, one becomes delivered. The difference between the gayatri and the hare Krsna maha-mantra is that gayatri is mantra, whereas the hare Krsna mantra is MAHA mantra. Why? You see, gayatri has 3 aspects. It has bija, or seed, then nama, the name of the personality about which this gayatri is indicated, and then nyasa, how to chant, or how to mediate, on that mantra. Of these three, the most important is the nama. Just as in a locket the most precious jem is kept in the middle, just as the 6 most important chapters of the Bhagavad Gita are kept in the middle, similarly, of these 3 aspects, the nama is the most important. The bija and the nyasa indicate the nama. Every gayatri must have a seed. For example, for brahma gayatri, the seed is 'om.' I'll give you an example, "Om namo bhagavate Vasudevaya.' Here, the bija is "Om," the nama is Vasudeva, and how are we meditating, by 'namah,' Therefore this can be considered to be a gayatri. Nowadays, everyone chants the brahma gayatri. Generally, they are not said in public, but since it has become quite public, I'll take the example. In the brahma gayatri, the bija is "om," 'bhur bhuvah savitur varenyam' is the name. Who is the personality? It is He who is the worshipable Lord of Savita, who lights up the bhur bhuva and svarga. And that 'dimahi dhi yo yo na pracodayat' is the nyasa. Of these 3 aspects, the most important is the nama. Now, in the hare Krsna maha-mantra, what do we have? Hare Krsna hare Krsna Krsna Krsna hare hare, hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. It is only name and name and name and name only. Therefore it is maha-mantra. Also we can consider the panca tattva mantra. It is maha-mantra. Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara Srivas adi gaura bhakta vrinda. Srila Prabhupada also indicated this panca tattva mantra as maha-mantra. Now you understand why? Because it consists only of names, whereas the gayatri mantra should have bija, nama, and nyasa. So this gayatri is meant to be meditated upon. Gayatri is indicated, as I said, "Dimahi di yo yo na pracodayat." The person who inspires us, that person we mediate upon. The maha-mantra, on the other hand, can be mediated, can be sung, and can be congregationally chanted. Gayatri is a secret mantra. Therefore it is given in a quiet place. Now, the initiation candidates can come forward. Before that, we will do acaman, which means cleansing the vocal channel. Before one chants mantra, or before one takes a vow, one is meant to do the acamana. It is done by taking a few drops of water in your palm and drinking from the base of your palm and chanting, "Om Sri Kesavaya namah"

>Could you please clear a doubt of mine! Very difficult to become a Vaishnava. I mean if you are working in an office, u would know what I mean. If you are too humble, people think you are meek and they don't consider you seriously. They think you are a person to be taken advantage of...I mean this is the mentality of the people these days. So what do u think? Should we be taken advantage of or fight back? IN DEFENSE? HareKrishna! sometimes dealing with the rough world we have to be rough. Prabhupada said we should be like "a lamb at home and a lion in the chase." so to stick up for yourself does not go against humility. we can keep humility internally and maintain a rough exterior when dealing with such people. thanks, Hare Krsna.

it even sounds very nice. see, Theist Prabhu? there *is* an advantage to the original language.

is a huge deviation from the original teachings.

>It doesn't change God; it changes me. this concept of prayer transforming us into better people led me to the realization that, it is good to practice religion not because it gives us things, but because it changes the nature of our consciousness and therefore makes us happier and more elevated. it has been well noted that most devotees are not very comfortable financially. they are in continuous financial distress, despite Krishna being the Lord of Lakshmi. that is what seems to make Krsna Consciousness unattractive to the material point of view: it does not bestow material benefits. but for one who tastes the nectar of KC, it makes all the difference in the world. that is why certain Prabhupada disciples are practicing KC very nicely, even independently of any institution. i would like to serve such people who have a taste for serving the Lord.

>Does it mean I should only Tirupati? no you may safely worship all forms of Krishna, just as the Vaisnava sampradayas do. Is he the same as Krishna? What is his mantra and how to worship? you can worship His picture by offering agarbati, bhoga,flowers, etc. it seems from your questions that you are not very initiated in to the tradition of worshipping kula-devata. so then you might as well just chant Hare Krishna and worship Balaji at the same time. it is a much more simplified process. it is like, to get the benefit of chanting gayatri one has to be pure in habits. but anyone gets the benefit of chanting maha-mantra. so similarly, the harinama is more merciful than the ritualistic process of worshipping kula-devata. also here is audio lecture: I want to know more about Sri Tirupathi Balaji. Thank you for writing. The entire puranic history of Sri Tirupathi Balaji is given in the online lecture by Sri Atmatattva Das at: http://www.indiadivine.com/real-audio-lectures-hinduism.htm To hear the lecture you will need Real Audio player installed. There are two parts to the lecture. The lecture is also available on audio cassette for those who are unable to download it. Yours in service, Jahnava Nitai Das, Bhaktivedanta Ashram

There are also eight gopis, four on each side of Radha-Madhava. They are, from left to right, Srimati Tungavidya Devi, Srimati Chitra Devi, Srimati Champaklata Devi, Srimati Lalita Devi, Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, Srimati Visakha Devi, Srimati Indulekha Devi, Srimati Rangadevi, Srimati Sudevi. thx, Hari bol

>do not be so harsh... our friend, in a very long prayer that it is very poetic and inspired, has only made a mistake that he can easily correct maybe i have been hanging out too much at .?

Hari bol Theist Prabhu. Dandavats. i would like to hear other devotees' realizations, like jndas Prabhu and stonehearted Prabhu, about informal prayer and mood of prayer, because surely they are more immersed in prayer than me. but here is my thinking on this subject: internal prayer is a way of personalizing our communication with God. when we pray this way, instead of praying the same mantra, we have to apply our knowledge to pray according to the events in our life. a clear-cut example of this would be praying for a devotee's health. i feel presumptuous to compose prayers of praise to God. i usually more ask for spiritual benedictions. eg. to become an instrument of His divine will. Srila Prabhupada also said that we could pray for certain things. it comes to mind there was a letter Prabhupada wrote to a brahmacari about how to control sex desire. and he says that we should pray to Krsna to overcome sex desire. so that would be an example. Prabhupada said that he prayed that he would never fall down. and of course he mentioned many other things that he prayed for. so it seems only natural that as spiritual life becomes more real for us, Krsna Consciousness will manifest itself in ways other than the formulaic way. i would like to hear more senior devotees realizations plz... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

well that explains why we should not write our own prayers. because they may contain rasabhasa (incorrect mood). Caitanya Mahaprabhu liked to hear sastra explained by Svarupa Damodara, because he had such a perfect understanding of Krsna Consciousness. so we should recite the prayers of previous acaryas and it will be pleasing to the Lord. otherwise so many faults will be there that prevent the prayer from being relishable, like sand in the sweetrice. it is not that we can't have an internal dialogue with the Lord. but that is different from formalized prayers. thanks, Hari bol

>Your relationship is simply based on lust and not real love and it will also be temporary, as most relationshsips end with a divorce. So don't fool yourself, it's not love but lust. yes it's true. you may not know it but you could have just as easily fallen in love with another person you were attracted to. in which case you should probably drop this guy and find someone who has more elevated qualities.

the conjugal affairs of the Lord are different than human affairs because they are on the platform of prema, or pure love. Srila Prabhupada: The love between Radha and Krsna, it is called parakiya. They are not married husband and wife. But Radharani appears to be wife of some other gentleman. But Krsna, from childhood, They were friends. So Radharani could not forget Krsna. She used to come to Krsna and stand like that. That's all. And He was playing. Kisora-Kisori, They were boy and girl. But there is no inebriety. Just like here the boy and girls mix and there are so many abominable things. Distressful, which is binding their material bondage. So that friendship between boy and girl is there, but without inebriety. Krsna had so many gopis, girlfriend, but there was no contraceptive pills. (laughter) That is the beauty. Here, the so-called love is lust. And there, that is the highest. The same thing, obverted, perverted reflection. Just like in the original tree the topmost part has come down to the down. Similarly, in the spiritual world the highest, topmost level of love, parakiya... Parakiya means love not by marriage life, by friendship. That is there. But there is no such inebriety. It is pure. So perverted means the topmost thing has come down to the lowest. Here, this parakiya, loving other's wife or other's husband, is most abominable, adultery. Not allowed by society, not allowed by the state. But tendency is there. Even one is married, he wants to love another's wife. Or if the girl married (s)he wants to love another husband. Why? That is there. But without inebriety. That is the beauty. So everything is there, but here, that thing is reflected, pervertedly. Therefore misunderstood."

this is a common Vaisnava mantra purification. it is used in ritualistic ceremonies and can be used while bathing also: OM ....APAVITRO PAVITRO VA, SARVA VASTHAM GATO 'PI VA YAH SMARET PUNDARIK AKSAM, SA BAHYA ABHYANTAR SUCIH. SRI VISNU, SRI VISNU, SRI VISNU. "Whether one is purified or unpurified, or been through all manner of walks in life, if one remembers the lotus eyed Lord one is automatically purified both within and without."

Out of four RPs, 1) Gambling: No 2) Intoxication: Tea, coffee. I dont drink alcohol or smoke. 3) Illicit sex: no, but I do masturbate and have sexual thoughts 4) Meat eating: No, except eggs. >As you can see, I dont follow RPs fully. What am I to do? getting eggs out of your diet is relatively easy. after all, a nice sabji is much more palatable than an omelette. as far as sex desire, that is extremely difficult to deal with. traditionally in india, people got married before the age of 20. thus no sexual frustration. nowadays it is delayed. but in the long run, the Vedic answer (as most cultures in the world) to sexual agitation is to get married and have children. Hari bol!

Hare Krsna prabhu. These are some of the principal scriptural references for chanting maha-mantra, which was popularized by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126) In three out of the four ages (namely Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga and Dvapara-yuga) people had the honor to be able to understand transcendence through the path of disciplic succession. However, in the present age, people have no interest in the disciplic succession. Instead, they have invented many paths of logic and argument. This individual attempt to understand the supreme transcendence (called the ascending process) is not approved by the Vedas. The Absolute Truth must descend from the absolute platform. He is not to be understood by the ascending process. The holy name of the Lord is a transcendental vibration because it comes from the transcendental platform, the supreme abode of Krishna. Because there is no difference between Krishna and His name, the holy name of Krishna is as pure, perfect and liberated as Krishna Himself. krte yad dhyayato visnum tretayam yajato makhaih dvapare paricaryayam kalau tad dhari-kirtant "Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.3.52) Academic scholars have no entrance by means of logic and other argument into the understanding of the transcendental nature of the holy name of God. The single path in understanding the transcendental nature of hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare / hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare is the chanting of these names with faith and adherence. Such chanting will release one from designated conditions arising from the gross and subtle bodies. In this age of logic, argument and disagreement, the chanting of Hare Krishna is the only means for self-realization. Because this transcendental vibration alone can deliver the conditioned soul, it is considered to be the essence of the Vedanta-sutra, as it is stated by Lord Brahma in the Kalisantarana Upanisad that the essence of all Vedic literature is the chanting of these holy names of Krishna: hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate "These sixteen words of the Hare Krishna mantra are especially meant for counteracting the sins of the age of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of this age there is no alternative but to chant this maha-mantra. After searching through all the Vedic literatures one cannot find a method of religion for this age so sublime as the chanting of Hare Krishna." According to the material conception, there is duality between the name, form, quality, emotions and activities of a person and the person himself, but as far as the transcendental vibration is concerned, there is no such limitation, for it descends from the spiritual world. In the spiritual world there is no difference between the name of the person and the quality of the person. Of course in the material world there is a difference. Because the Mayavadi philosophers cannot understand this, they cannot utter the transcendental vibration.