Jahnava Nitai Das

Thats a counter to record how many rounds you chanted in a day. Usually it is tied onto the loop on the bead bag and as you finish one round you pull one bead down to keep track.

Devi loka described in the scriptures is this material world of birth and death. The real abode where Devi resides is Shiva Loka or Kailasha. She is never seperate from Mahadeva. Generally there are three realms described, Devi Dhama (consisting of unlimited universes, fourteen bhuvanas, etc.), Mahesha Dhama (Lord Shiva's spiritual abode situated between material realm and Vaikuntha), and Hari Dhama (Vaikuntha, abode of Lord Vishnu).

Gita 9.13 mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakritim asritah bhajanty ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam Translation "O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible." Purport In this verse the description of the mahatma is clearly given. The first sign of the mahatma is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivi prakriti, divine nature. So when one is promoted in that way—by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—one attains to the stage of great soul, mahatma. The mahatma does not divert his attention to anything outside Krishna, because he knows perfectly well that Krishna is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahatma, or great soul, develops through association with other mahatmas, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Krishna’s other features, such as the four-armed Maha-Vishnu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Krishna. They are not attracted to other features of Krishna, nor are they concerned with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They meditate only upon Krishna in Krishna consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Krishna consciousness.

I think it is just general statistics. There are 1 billion Indians in the world. That means 1/6 of all great people, great jobs, great anything should be Indian. But the actual numbers are likely much less than that. So statistically Indians are probably not performing as well as they should based on their population.

Sita Rama are the names of the God in Sanskrit. Hindus believe it is auspicious to invoke the names of God before writing something.

The server may be up and down throughout the day as we try to fine tune the settings. I apologize for the inconvenience.

The emphasis of "accepting it as it is" is more on the lines of hearing the Gita as it was spoken by Krishna, not diluting it or altering it to fit someone else's philosophy. Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita, so if we want to study the Gita we should try to hear it as He spoke it. It doesn't mean that we should blindly accept it, but we should just try to hear His words as He spoke them. There are many versions of the Gita where people have tried to force their own philosophies into Krishna's words, even though Krishna speaks something completely different. So this is what the translator was warning against.

If you see this message, then you are now on the new server. We had closed the forums yesterday to avoid people losing the posts they would have made on the old server. Now all problems with pages loading slowly should be over (unless the problem is with your internet connection, or some other network problem). Server load shouldn't be a problem anymore. In case anyone is interested, these forums are now ran on a Dual Opteron 248, w/ 2 GB Ram, and SCSI drives. As of now this is the most powerful server you can get without adding more CPU's. The only more powerful server would be one with 4 CPU's. We also have around 2,000 GB of unused bandwidth each month, so if anyone has spiritual downloads that they would like to distribute we can host them for you.

Go to that link above, enter your city, and it will generate the years festivals for you. Holi and shiva ratri will be included in that list, though both have already passed this year. Holi may be listed as "Gaura Purnima" as the festivals occur on the same day.

Other important concepts of the Gita: 1) Lord Krishna is the object of all the Vedas, Upanishads and Vedic Scriptures; and He is also the Paramatma in the heart of all living entities: sarvasya caham hridi sannivisto mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham "I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." 2) Lord Krishna is beyond both the fallible and infallible living entities (even at the state of Mukti the soul does not become equal to Lord Krishna): uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah yo loka-trayam avisya bibharty avyaya ishvarah "Besides these two (the fallible and infallible), there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them." yasmat ksharam atito ’ham aksharad api cottamah ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitah purushottamah "Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person." 3) One who knows Krishna as the Supreme Person (Purushottama) knows everything and nothing remains to be known: yo mam evam asammudho janati purushottamam sa sarva-vid bhajati mam sarva-bhavena bharata "Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead (purushottama), without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional service to Me, O son of Bharata." 4) This knowlegde of Krishna's supreme personality is the most confidential part of Vedic scriptures. iti guhyatamam shastram idam uktam mayanagha etad buddhva buddhiman syat krita-krtyas ca bharata "This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection." This is the conclusion of the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

Text 20 paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktat sanatanah yah sa sarveshu bhuteshu nasyatsu na vinasyati SYNONYMS parah -- transcendental; tasmat -- to that; tu -- but; bhavah -- nature; anyah -- another; avyaktah -- unmanifest; avyaktat -- to the unmanifest; sanatanah -- eternal; yah sah -- that which; sarveshu -- all; bhuteshu -- manifestation; nasyatsu -- being annihilated; na -- never; vinasyati -- is annihilated. TRANSLATION "Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is." This verse says Bhagavan is unmanifested to the manifested world. Krishna has stated the same thing elsewhere in the Gita: avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam "Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme." naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah mudho 'yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyayam "I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-maya]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible." Text 21 avyakto 'kshara ity uktas tam ahuh paramam gatim yam prapya na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama SYNONYMS avyaktah -- unmanifested; aksharah -- infallible; iti -- thus; uktah -- is said; tam -- that; ahuh -- is known; paramam -- the ultimate; gatim -- destination; yam -- which; prapya -- gaining; na -- never; nivartante -- come back; tat -- that; dhama -- abode; paramam -- supreme; mama -- My. TRANSLATION "That which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns -- that is My supreme abode." As Prabhupada points out in his commentary: Vedic literatures (Katha Upanishad 1.3.11) state that there is nothing superior to the abode of the Supreme Godhead, and that that abode is the ultimate destination (purushan na param kincit sa kashtha parama gatih). The Katha Upanishad states that attaining the abode of the supreme person (purusha) is the supreme destination. Else where in the Vedas it is written: om tad visnoh paramam padam sada pasyanti surayah "The supreme abode which the Devas are constantly looking towards is Lord Vishnu." Krishna states the following in the fifteenth chapter of the Gita: mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts." Krishna's use of the words sanatana (eternal) and amsha (seperated part) is clear, without beginning or end. Elsewhere He states: na tv evaham jatu nasam na tvam neme janadhipah na caiva na bhavisyamah sarve vayam atah param "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." Thus establishing the eternal individuality of the living entities as spirit souls. As far as some other truth higher than Krishna, it is denied throughout the Gita: mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva mattah--beyond Myself; para-taram--superior; na--not; anyat kincit--anything else; asti--there is; dhananjaya--O conqueror of wealth; mayi--in Me; sarvam--all that be; idam--which we see; protam--strung; sutre--on a thread; mani-ganah--pearls; iva--likened. "O Arjuna, there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread." aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah "I am the source of all existence. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts." We need to analyze the Gita thoroughly and systematically, not just pick and choose one verse and make claims. Is it really possible that in your 4 minutes of writing your post on the internet you were able to figure out something that Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka and Vishnu Swami couldn't figure out over thousands of years? Sure, it's possible. But it's highly unlikely any of us will figure out something new that they weren't able find.

Yes, I would disagree as the Shiva Gita is not even a commonly accepted scripture among any traditional Vedanta school. The Bhagavad Gita on the other hand is universally acknowledge as infallible, on par with shruti, by all schools of Vedantic thought. There is also a Ganesha Gita, where all 700 verse of the Gita have been taken and the words "sri bhagavan uvaca" have been replaced with "sri ganeshovaca". There is no limit to the number of manufactured scriptures in Hinduism. Thus one relies on parampara, sampradaya and traditional lineages to identify the authenticity of a sciptural text.

These things are rare in India, but then again with a country that has 1 billion people and many isolated and backwards villages, tribals, etc., these things do occur once in a while. Usually it is superstition, so it will occur in those communities who believe in this things, most notably the adivasi tribals.

I will find a link where you can create your own Hindu calendar. A good one for Vaishnava festivals is this one: http://vcal.iskcongbc.org/ I haven't found one yet for other Hindu festivals, but if someone here has a link please post it. It should be noted that Hindu calendars are calculated based on the moon rise or sunrise, so the date of a festival may change depending on the city you live in. That's why you need to calculate the calendar for your particular city. The changes in dates are usually a maximum of a day off.

I will try to reply to this a little later. There are so many threads, and not much time, so I usually pick a few each day.

Devi is a generic word that refers to the feminine goddess associated with Shiva. There are always pairs, one shakti (feminine goddess) and one shiva. The original form of Devi is called by various names, sometimes as Durga, sometimes as Rajarajeswari. The name isn't so important, but the concept is what is important. Devi has an original form that is linked to Shiva's original form. As Lord Shiva expands into thousands and thousands of other forms (with different qualities and aspects), simultaneously Devi also expands to accompany him. There are 10 main expansions of Devi, known as the dasha mahavidyas. All of these Expansions are on the side of the material creation, dealing with creation and destruction. Durga is the imediate source of material creation, and Shiva is the immediate cause of life in the material world (in his form as Shambu). Beyond this is Maha Vishnu who creates the material universes by His breathing out. Technically Mother Earth (Prithvi Devi, or Bhumi Devi) is Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. Durga is the "Nature", as opposed to the "Earth". Parvathi is an expansion of Durga. Parvathi means "daughter of the mountain". It was one lila Devi performed where she took birth as the daughter of Himavan (Himalayas) and Lord Shiva married her. This was the incarnation following her pastime as Sati mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam. I'm sure you have heard of the Hindu practice of Sati (the widow being burned alive in the funeral pyre of the husband). Well, I don't think that practice actually exists in India, but the origin of these stories come from the story of Sati, who burned her body to ashes through meditation when her father insulted Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva found out he tore a hair from his head and threw it to the ground, which then transformed into the terrible Virabhadra. Virabhadra then went on to kill Daksha (Sati's father) and punish all those who participated in the sacrificial ceremony wherein Lord Shiva had been insulted. This story is scriptually very authentic as it is accepted by all schools of thought within Hinduism and is found within all of their respective scriptures (Vaishnava, Shaivite, etc.). You can read this story here: http://vedabase.net/sb/4/en It goes on for 3 or 4 chapters, beginning with the second chapter. Ambika is also a generic name for Devi, which means "Mother".

There are two branches of Shaivism. One is the devotional path that accepts Lord Shiva's eternal personal existence. The goal of these devotees is to attain the abode of Shiva known as Kailasha and serve Lord Shiva there. The other school wants to merge into Shiva and become one with the nondual absolute, which they identify as the source of Shiva.

Yama is not a deity that anyone really worships. Neither does he ask you to worship him. He is listed as one of the twelve mahajanas (great devotees of Vishnu), and as such is pleased with those who worship Narayana. There are a few small temples to Yama scattered throughout India, but very, very few. Yama incarnated as Vidura during the Mahabharata war. Vidura is famous as a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna.

It is notable that even advaitists such as shankara don't recognize the Shiva Gita. A more authentic scripture would be Rudram (Rudram Chamakam).

I would disagree with this. It is the soul which is inherently perfect. The human body is just another of the 8,400,000 species of conditioned life in the the material world, bound in samsara. There is no perfection within the mundane world.

Actually Hinduism is both dualistic and non-dualistic. It is a matter of which school of philosophy one follows. Five of the six branches of vedanta are dualistic, whereas only Shankara's advaita vedanta is non-dualistic. No, the Vedic scriptures do not accept an evil deity who leads people to ignorance. The cause of evil is explained in the Bhagavad Gita as follows: tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nasanam atmanah kamah krodhas tatha lobhas tasmad etat trayam tyajet "There are three gates leading to hell--lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul."

Since you can't see any problem in the way you dealt with other visitors, and since you admit you won't change the way you post, we will have to put you on the moderated list. All your messages will be held till a moderator can review them and approve them. Please allow 24 hours or so for your messages to show up to the public, provided there are no insults, unwarranted challenges or attacks in them. There have been many complaints against your posts, which till now we didn't act on. For example someone has said the following: "He offends many people, who then begin to insult Srila Prabhupada, thinking he is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. But while they are insulting Srila Prabhupada he doesn't have the decency to tell them that he isn't a disciple of Prabhupada, and that he has no connection with Srila Prabhupada or to ISKCON. Perhaps if it was his spiritual master, Puri Maharaja, who was being insulted because of his preaching style, he would tone down his words and learn to speak decently with other people." The moderators have also complained to me many times, that they have to keep removing people's insults to Srila Prabhupada because of posts that you have made.

The other message with the link in it was removed because the html formatting broke the page up.

Where did that come from? No one mentioned the Qu'ran, but out of your prejudice you immediately attack this person imagining what his religious beliefs are. This is nothing but hatred and prejudice. If you attack people like this again you will not be able to post here anymore. And I really wish you would come here to learn more instead of trying to smash people on the head with your knowledge. You need to cool down to participate in these forums. It's not a crusade here to convert everyone to your faith.

There are plenty of made up things in all of the religious TV serials, including the Mahabharata. The level of research done by a TV producer to finish a 90 episode serial in one year isn't sufficient, especially considering sants and sadhus have spent their whole lives studying scripture and yet some still make mistakes. Overall the religious TV serials are better than the regular television people watch, but sometimes mixed up information is worse than no information.