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Jahnava Nitai Das

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Everything posted by Jahnava Nitai Das

  1. If someone wants to worship Lord Shiva then he should read Periya Puranam and follow the examples given therein of the 63 Nayanmar saints. Their examples are very simple and illuminating.
  2. The previous recommendation has been deleted because the "astrologer" posted his own recommendation under various user names, all with the same IP address.
  3. Use the "contact us" link at the bottom of this page. Then include a list of all the URLs to your old messages and a moderator will remove them.
  4. We won't have any automatic removal system. It's just for informational purposes so people can get an idea if the poster has a history of being helpful or not. Based on that they can judge what they read.
  5. There is a new box under each post with the words "Did you find this message helpful? Yes | No". Please use this to mark posts that are helpful and not helpful, as this will help other users sort out the good content from useless content. It will also help reflect your disapproval for posts you find offensive. Your name will never show up with the ranking, so it will be anonymous.
  6. I can't speak for what was on her mind, but sometimes what we want isn't what is best for us. We cant really expect saints to fulfill our desires. They will bless us in a way that will help our eternal soul. Sometimes the best thing for us is financial security, other times the best thing may be complete ruin. We are like children asking our parents for more and more candy. But their job is to make us eat our vegetables.
  7. In the Gita Krishna seems to make a similar connection in the verse "annad bhavanti bhutani parjanyad anna sambhavah". The rough meaning is "Food grains come from rain, rain comes from sacrifice, sacrifice comes from prescribed duties", (one forth of these prescribed duties is the protection of cows by Vaishyas which produces the pure ghee necessary for sacrifice). If there is no protection of cows, and there is no offering of sacrifice (using the ghee from protected cows), then there will be no rain and no food. The basic idea is the entire cycle of growing food is disrupted, which today we have manifested in so many different ways (one of which is the disappearance of pollinating bees).
  8. That was a good article. Some times we go along with hiding the terrible atrocities from ourselves (just like the factories want us to), and thereby feel it doesn't really concern us. The more we know about the torture the cows are undergoing, the more we will lose taste for the by-product. I am certain if we had one of these cows in our back yard, and we had to watch a guy come and do the things they do to the cows in front of us, we would never buy milk from him when he finished and came to our door. What that means is we know its wrong, but as long as we don't see it we are happy. The same psychological process occurs when a minority is being exterminated (suppose jews, or any other). As long as we don't see it, we pretend it isnt happening and everything is alright. It is a complex problem. I think the best solution would be to again give emphasis to Prabhupada's instructions to protect cows. You can't take just half an instruction. Prabhupada says protect cows and drink milk. But if someone only wants to highlight the importance of drinking milk, but not protecting cows, then they arent truly representing the message of the guru. Protecting cows isn't just a nice phrase to say, it requires a whole lot of hard work. In fact it will likely make who ever does it completely broke. There is no way to break even taking care of cows in a humane manner, since you have to compete against factory farms that don't need to spend money taking care of the cows. The cost of the food for the cow will actually be more than the cost of selling the milk, even in a place like India. So people are left with terrible alternatives, such as diluting the milk, selling the bull calves for slaughter, leaving the cows to find their own food in the streets, etc. The fact is literally every single person chooses these cheap solutions, neglecting the welfare of the cow. This is why we all have to suffer the effects of Kali yuga. There will never be peace or happiness in society as long as the cows are being mistreated as they are now, especially by people claiming to be religious and following dharma. In order to create a model that could financially perpetuate itself, you would need a large community of devotees willing to pay 5 times the price for milk compared to store prices, with the idea that the cows are being protected and therefore it is a donation for their welfare (go-seva). Only then could a goshala have enough funds to properly feed, maintain, and protect cows and their offsprings (bulls, etc.) for their entire lives. Unfortunately, I don't think this will ever happen, as people in general, will unlikely be willing to pay more money for milk when it is available for 1/5th the price from abused cows.
  9. I believe the criticism referred to here is actually needless fault finding, based on envy. It doesnt refer to disagreeing, or debating other beliefs.
  10. The time of death isn't just a split second moment, but the entire process of the soul exiting the body and what happens next. At that stage of leaving the body, the soul is conscious and aware, even if he wasnt aware while in the body (due to a medical condition or some other problem). In that conscious state, while having exited the body, if one then turns his consciousness to Krishna, then Krishna delivers him. If on the other hand he turns his consciousness onto his bodily attachments, lamenting the loss of his body, family, etc., then he gets another chance to enjoy these things through rebirth. Sometimes one is conscious both before death and after having left the body, so there is no real difference. But in the case of someone who is unconscious prior to death, the difference in awareness is more drastic prior to leaving the body and after having exited the body. In that situation he still has time to think of Krishna once his awareness is restored. And as you have pointed out, the consciousness at that stage is primarily determined but what you did in life. We can practice for this every single day. This is the gift of God. When you wake up from your dream, what do you think about? You can choose to immediately think of Krishna and accept that the dream was false, or you can try to hold on to that dream and continue living your imaginary life. Practice becoming detached from the dreams when you wake up and immediately put your consciousness on Lord Krishna. Doing this daily will prepare us for a similar test at the point of death, where we are given the opportunity to give up the real dream of this world.
  11. I said "But oddly, we don't see Vaishnavas worshipping Vishnu in temples by chanting Rudram or some other prayer apparently glorifying a devata", and you replied: I don't see how quoting Vishnu sahasranama is a valid answer to what I said. If you find a Vishnu temple chanting Rudram, please let me know, then I can consider whether my statement is false or not. As is, you highlighting that there are Vishnu temples that chant Vishnu Sahasranama does not make my statement false.
  12. Gita 2.35: trai-gunya-visaya veda "The subject matter of the vedas is the three Gunas." Gita 15.15 vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah "By all the Vedas, I am to be known." I don't see a contradiction. One is speaking of the subject ("content") and one is speaking of the purpose. The Vedanta is the essence of Vedic knowledge, and the ultimate purpose. That purpose is to know Krishna. The content of the Vedas is the three modes. Of the three modes, one needs to cultivate Sattva, by which one will come closer to knowing Vishnu. Ramanuja's commentary to 2.45 nicely explains this: "The word Traigunya means the three Gunas - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Here the term Traigunya denotes persons in whom Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are in abundance. The Vedas in prescribing desire-oriented rituals (Kamya-karmas) have such persons in view. Because of their great love, the Vedas teach what is good to those in whom Tamas, Rajas and Sattva preponderate. If the Vedas had not explained to these persons the means for the attainment of heaven etc., according to the Gunas, then those persons who are not interested in liberation owing to absence of Sattva and preponderance of Rajas and Tamas in them, would get completely lost amidst what should not be resorted to, without knowing the means for attaining the results they desire. Hence the Vedas are concerned with the Gunas. Be you free from the three Gunas. Try to acquire Sattva in abundance; increase that alone. The purport is: do not nurse the preponderance of the three Gunas in their state of inter-mixture; do not cultivate such preponderance. Be free from the pairs of opposites; be free from all the characteristics of worldly life. Abide in pure Sattva; be established in Sattva, in its state of purity without the admixture of the other two Gunas. If it is questioned how that is possible, the reply is as follows. Never care to acquire things nor protect what has been acquired. While abandoning the acquisition of what is not required for self-realisation, abandon also the conservation of such things already acquired. You can thus be established in self-control and thereby become an aspirant after the essentail nature of the self. 'Yoga' is acquisition of what has not been acquired; 'Ksema' is preservation of things already acquired. Abandoning these is a must for an aspirant after the essential nature of the self. If you conduct yourself in this way, the preponderance of Rajas and Tamas will be annihilated, and pure Sattva will develop. Besides, all that is taught in the Vedas is not fit to be utilised by all."
  13. I referred about two dozen translations of this verse from virtually every school of Indian thought before commenting, and all seem to take trai gunya vishaya veda as meaning the exact same thing. It has nothing to do with a Hare Krishna interpretation or a western interpretation. In this case you are just wrong and refuse to admit that. That's fine with me. But its just a a word game taking place here. To clarify, I was only speaking on the one line I mentioned, nothing about the topic of being indifferent or whatever else is being spoken. You may choose to "reinterpret" this line to fit what you consider the meaning of some other verse, but that's on the level of interpretation. The meaning of the verse is direct and clear. Interpretation is another topic.
  14. Krishna says "trai-gunya-visaya veda". Whatever interpretation you want to give to it, the fact is the direct meaning is "The subject matter of the vedas is the three Gunas." This is not a concept made up by anyone in this thread, this is the direct statement of Krishna, which you say is the wrong view. Madhva may disagree with this, but that's his opinion and interpretation. If the topic is what did Krishna say (not what did He really mean to say), the answer is, "The subject matter of the vedas is the three Gunas." You may debate what the correct understanding of that statement is, but you cannot claim that Krishna did not say this. Madhva's view is that in the Vedas, in the beginning, middle and end, only Hari is glorified. That's his interpretation. To him, when the Vedas say Rudra, it means Vishnu. When the Vedas say Indra, it means Vishnu. When the Vedas say anything, it means Vishnu. It may be true, but using such logic, of redefining every single word to mean Vishnu, then the point of "proving" who the Vedas glorify is meaningless, because every single word has been redefined to mean Vishnu. But oddly, we don't see Vaishnavas worshipping Vishnu in temples by chanting Rudram or some other prayer apparently glorifying a devata. So it is more of an intellectual philosophical view, but not one actually applied in practice.
  15. The contamination you get when you are touched by an impure person is generally not a physical dirt, as such the ganga water will purify yourself by sprinkling it on you. There is a distinction between purifying and cleaning. Purifying refers to a subtle energy that is removed, whereas cleaning refers to removal of physical dirt. Usually some types of physical dirt also create the presence of a subtle impure energy. Thus if you purify yourself but do not remove the dirt, the impurity will again be present automatically. In cases where it is only the subtle presence of negative energy, ganga water will be sufficient to remove it and make you pure. Generally puja is done early in the morning before we have many worldy interactions which may cause us to be impure or dirty. The evening puja is usually performed after bathing if possible. In both situations one will not have to worry about being unclean. Swami Shivananda gives nice instructions on cleanliness in his books, and stresses that it is most important to take a mala and chant Gods name every day. He says even if you cannot take bath, just wash you hands, feet, face, and brush your teeth, then take the mala and chant. In his view the chanting of God's name in a semi-unclean state is important enough to do rather than avoiding it due to being unclean. As most know, Swami Shivananda comes in the advaita line, but is very fond of bhakti sadhanas.
  16. The second statement does not naturally follow from the first. I believe the points they are trying to make (they may correct me if I am wrong) are: 1) The Vedas deal mainly with the three modes of material nature, and the karma kanda rituals for fruitive results. 2) The essence of the Vedas is the Vedanta. (Essence in no way implies direct connection with the bulk or main content of the Vedas.) 3) The Gita is further the essence of the Upanishads (Vedanta), thus also the essence of all Vedic knowledge. 4) The Vedas deal primarily with karma kanda, where as Vedanta and the Gita deal with jnana-kanda. The purpose of karma kanda is to come to the point of knowledge (jnana kanda). So the aim of the Vedas is to bring one to knowledge, though the bulk of the texts may not focus specifically on that (instead focussing on the indirect karma kanda process of purification). 5. Jnana kanda is essentially for the purpose of coming to the path of upasana kanda, or bhakti marga. So the essence of Gita is further refined to bhakti, making bhakti the supreme essence of all Vedic knowledge.
  17. In the strict sense, clothes become considered unclean from many different things. For example sleeping is considered unclean. If you sleep in your clothes then they become unclean. Your bed is considered unclean, so you shouldn't place clean clothes on the bed. In strict brahmana families in South India, they will have a special clothes line which is very high, out of reach, so that no one will touch the washed clothes and make them unclean. As soon as they take bath, they will bring the clothes down with a long stick and wear them, and then go to the puja room. I am not suggesting being like that, but just trying to show one side of it. When we keep ourselves clean before entering a temple or worshiping God, it is an offering to Him. We are not trying to be clean because we enjoy being clean, but because we have so much respect and love for God we feel we should approach him in a respectable and pure manner. The fact that God is completely pure is another concept all together. We present our selves before God in a pure manner as an offering and a sign of respect to him, not because we think he will become unclean otherwise. We also benefit by external purity. It creates a conducive atmosphere for meditation and puja. External purity helps lead us to internal purity. Overall there are some things that are more important than being clean, and one of them would be the need to pray to God and worship Him. If someone is avoiding to worship God because of thinking they are unclean, then I would suggest they should first start worshipping God somehow or other, and that will help them to become pure and clean both externally and internally gradually over time. Generally just washing the item with water and soap is enough. I don't really suggest trying to purify something that is unclean through a ritualistic process like sprinkling Ganga water. It is true that Ganga water can purify anything, but it does not physically remove the dirt. Suppose a bird has passed on your shirt. Sprinkling Ganga water doesn't remove the dirt, so the physical qualities of the shirt remain. Better is to always wash the item with water, and if necessary soap. Generally in India people wear freshly washed clothes each morning. If for some reason that isn't possible, then at least the clothes should not have been worn in the bed. If it is too much trouble to wash your clothes every day, then keep a separate dhoti only for worshipping God. After taking bath, wear the dhoti like a lungi, and do your morning worship. Then fold the dhoti and keep it on a clean shelf for use again the next day. If you are only wearing the cloth for a short time during worship, then it can be used again if there is no other alternative. But if doing this you shouldn't wear it around the house or eat while wearing it. Generally, yes. But you can always prayer to God in your heart and chant his name regardless of whether we are clean or unclean. I would say just wash it again and try to avoid using soap with animal fat in the future. Nowadays in India people are using factory products like Surf powder, though dhobis probably use a solid bar of soap. The ones that I am familiar with do not contain animal fat.
  18. As far as legality in India, there is no such thing as law in the common sense. In Hyderabad there is a mechanized slaughterhouse for killing buffalos, bulls and cows (I believe it is around 20,000 per day or something). The governemnt has given them a license to kill 500 "useless" buffalos per day. But who counts these animals? It is their own staff, and some paid inspectors. Every single worker in that plant receives a salary of thousands of dollars. Why would they be paying common laborers (who normally get $2 a day) the salary of the most experienced doctors? It's because they need to keep everything that happens inside a secret from the rest of the country. There are many cases like this, where we see the law has no interest or power to stop these illegal activities. The politicians are all involved, each receiving their necessary cut of the profits.
  19. Yajna (the word above in sanskrit script) tends to refer to a ritualistic sacrifice for God. So I am not sure if that is what you are aiming at or not.
  20. We shouldn't have to bribe people to be honest, especially when it deals with food contamination. The rest of the world doesn't do that. "If you agree not to put poisonous substances to dilute your milk we will give you bonuses and perks." The priority should be to teach morality to these people, not to pay them off for agreeing not to poison us. The root problem is greed and indifference to the welfare of other people. These type of stories are very common in India and come on the television or in the newspapers regularly. For example some time back I recall a story of people mixing used car oil with mustard oil and selling it in fake packaging as original mustard oil. Another time it was fake medicines being sold by pharmacies with identical looking packaging. When people are willing to risk the lives of their customers just to get some extra money, then they shouldn't be offered perks and bonuses as an incentive. They should be punished severely. Due to corruption this doesn't happen, and people then accept that it is fine to do such activities. The root problem is greed and lack of morality. The solution to the problem needs to be a spiritual solution, or a very strict government that will punish the criminals.
  21. You will need to give the definition that you are referring to. As there will be more appropriate words based on the exact meaning.
  22. If you are an astrologer and based in Chennai, please contact me using the contact us link at the bottom of the page.
  23. I was there just yesterday. A very wonderful temple to visit. At present they are putting oil on the deity, so they block the darshan of the deity from the neck down. After three months the deity will be fully visible. There is also a smaller deity of Vamana (holding umbrella and walking stick) behind the main altar on the parikrama path. The parikrama path is locked most of the time, so you will need to ask the watchman to open the parikrama marga so you can see the Vamana deity. You are supposed to see the Vamana deity before seeing the Trivikrama deity.
  24. Sri is used by all Vaishnava sampradayas to refer to the Lord's shakti, either as Lakshmi, Sita, or Radha. There really isn't any distortion on this usage, as its common and traditional. The meaning of any word depends on the context. So we cannot rule out a meaning unless we see the exact context it is spoken in. In this particular case, Radha was offered as one of many meanings of "Sri". The original poster never said "Sri only refers to Radha". But along those lines you are presenting "Sri cannot refer to Radha". Grammatically, and based on traditional usage, the later is not true, and the former is true, as we cannot say Sri can absolutely never refer to Radha. If your contention is that in most cases Sri refers to Lakshmi, then there is no need to argue, because no one has denied that. Each school of philosophy will interpret words based on their siddhanta. If a Sri Vaishnava is speaking, Sri will always refer to Lakshmi. If a Ramanandi is speaking, Sri refers to Sita Devi. If a gaudiya is speaking, Sri refers to Radha. There is no contradiction in this, it is just their cultural usage. Exact verses where the word Sri occurs need to be judged case by case based on context of the passage.
  25. We will try to slowly fix the changes. Everytime we upgrade to a new version of the software all the previous modifications are lost, so we have to start back at the beginning. That's one reason we do not upgrade too often.
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