Beggar

Sacre bleau!!! The Yamadutas are here!!!! Monsieure Devereneau, The Yamaduttas are here!!!!

Mallard

Prabhupada: The impersonalist theory is that I am now devotee. As soon as I become perfect I become one." Prof. Hopkins: Oh. Prabhupada: That is their theory. Then there is no more difference. In the preliminary stage, when I am not perfect, I am worshiping some imaginary form of God. But when I become perfect there is no need of worshiping, I become one with God. This is impersonal. Now, actually, the Supreme has no form so they recommend whichever form you like to worship you can select out of these five. But their destination is the same. So somebody likes "I worship Siva," somebody says "I worship Ganesa," somebody says, "I worship Durga," and Surya, or somebody says, "I worship Visnu." So this Vaisnava is impersonalist. You'll find amongst smarta brahmanas there are also some of them Vaisnavas, but they are impersonalists. Prof. Hopkins: So you would... You would say that those, those smartas say, and I know smarta brahmanas who are worshipers of Visnu. You would say they still are impersonalists in some ultimate sense because at some point they would deny... Prabhupada: No, it is very difficult to pick them out. Most of the so-called Vaisnavas, they are impersonalists. Prof. Hopkins: Some, I suspect, are more Vaisnavas than they are smartas. Prabhupada: So, satatam kirtayanto mam? Brahmananda: <center> satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate</center> "Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion." Prabhupada: Perpetually. It is not that I am worshiping now and when I am perfect I become one. That is impersonal. Prof. Hopkins: But someone who sees devotion as the not just a stage... Prabhupada: They say everything one; no devotee, no devotion, and no person. Everything becomes one. Prof. Hopkins: So that would then be the deciding test, as it were, of whether one were a serious devotee or not. Prabhupada: Devotee means serious devotee. Prof. Hopkins: Not only that one is devoted now, but that one sees the goal as perpetual devotion. Prabhupada: Yes. Nitya-yukta. Prof. Hopkins: And which never is there... Prabhupada: The word is used, nitya-yukta. Nitya-yukta means perpetually. If a devotee is to merge into the existence of the Lord then why this word is used, nitya-yukta. Upasana. Not only nitya-yukta, upasana. Upasana means "you worship Me." As soon as the word is "he worships" that means the worshipable and the mode of worship and the worshiper must be there. That is indicated, nitya-yukta, perpetual. But the Mayavadis or these impersonalists, they think that it is temporary. I am devotee temporarily. As soon as I become perfect I become one. Prof. Hopkins: So that you would see then, in terms of, in terms of some kind of theological structure, you would see that Purusottama as always... Prabhupada: Uttama, uttama means the best. Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, 7-13-75, Philadelphia

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -- Get Your Own Copy <center>Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute</center> TEXT 10 bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam buddhir buddhimatam asmi tejas tejasvinam aham SYNONYMS bijam--the seed; mam--unto Me; sarva-bhutanam--of all living entities; viddhi--try to understand; partha--O son of Prtha; sanatanam--original, eternal; buddhih--intelligence; buddhi-matam--of the intelligent; asmi--I am; tejah--prowess; tejasvinam--of the powerful; aham--I am. TRANSLATION O son of Prtha, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men. PURPORT Bijam means seed; Krsna is the seed of everything. In contact with material nature, the seed fructifies into various living entities, movable and inert. Birds, beasts, men and many other living creatures are moving living entities; trees and plants, however, are inert--they cannot move, but only stand. Every entity is contained within the scope of 8,400,000 species of life; some of them are moving and some of them are inert. In all cases, however, the seed of their life is Krsna. As stated in Vedic literature, Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is that from which everything is emanating. Krsna is Parabrahman, the Supreme Spirit. Brahman is impersonal and Parabrahman is personal. Impersonal Brahman is situated in the personal aspect--that is stated in Bhagavad-gita. Therefore, originally, Krsna is the source of everything. He is the root. As the root of a tree maintains the whole tree, Krsna, being the original root of all things, maintains everything in this material manifestation. This is also confirmed in the Vedic literature. Yato va imani bhutani jayante. "The Supreme Absolute Truth is that from which everything is born." He is the prime eternal among all eternals. He is the supreme living entity of all living entities, and He alone is maintaining all life. Krsna also says that He is the root of all intelligence. Unless a person is intelligent he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj, "In the Name of Rama within the Hare Krishna mantra, the Gaudiya Vaisnavas will find Radha-ramana Rama. That means, Krishna who gives pleasure (raman) to Srimati Radharani." Yet the higher section will find themselves in direct contact with Radha dasyam. But the next possibility is that they will also find themselves simultaneously, directly in contact with Gaura Gadadhar.

God acts in mysterious ways.

I completely agree with your points. Srila Sridhar Maharaj one time wanted to publish Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's explanation of the api cet sudaracaro verse in Gita in a fortnightly. Sripad Yajavara Maharaj objected and told him, "Maharaj, this is a very dangerous conception to put before the neophyte section". Of course due to his nature Srila Sridhar Maharaj took the risk and published the truth. Once Srila Sridhar Maharaj remarked to the Western devotees that offensive japa was like shooting blanks. Now some who have heard this (and also 20 yrs ago) do not chant their prescribed rounds with the excuse, "Oh I would just be shooting blanks". This is a complete misintepretation of what Srila Sridhar Maharaj intended, but this is the risk he would take. Although we may be firing blanks we chant anyway because we were ordered by our gurudeva do so. Also, Srila Rupa Goswami has written that the only remedy for offensive chanting is incessant chanting of Krsna nama. While we are "pulling on beads" and mumbling our offenses or a semblance of the holy name we must be aware of our fallen condition.

But Here's The Question Volgograd, Russia: September 13, 2004 Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja,

Sacre bleau! I have lost mon bead bag!

I think that most devotees who have been ordered to chant a minumum of 16 rounds daily will tell you that it takes around 6 or 7 rounds just to "get into the zone" and get the mind to calm down a bit.

A. So you don't chant your rounds? B. Nope, I don't want to shoot blanks. I just do service.

“Dear brother, you must be aware that these things are obstacles <nobr>to Devotion for Lord Krsna. So if you want to take the Holy Name of</nobr> <nobr>the Lord, take the association of the pure and saintly true devotee,</nobr> <nobr>and cast out from your heart all desires for exploitation {karma},</nobr> <nobr>liberation {jnana} </nobr>and mystic powers {siddhis}." Translation of Bengali poem by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda-dev Maharaj

Copied from an old Audarya post: 'The Search For Sri Krishna' by Srila Sridhar Maharaj "In chanting the holy name, there are also four kinds of namabhasa. Namabhasa means a faint connection with the holy name. Namabhasa is neither offense nor service mood, but between the two. Its basis is renunciation, but we must also cast away this indifference and become earnest for serving the name. Namabhasa may be classified into four categories. The first is sanketyam: chanting indirectly, to indicate something else, as in the case of Ajamila." "Ajamila was a brahmana's son. Somehow, he connected with a low-class woman and entered into a degraded life as a dacoit, drinking and doing many other nasty things. After many years, the time came for his death. As he lay in a coma, suddenly he saw three messengers with a horrible appearance come and put a rope around his neck and begin to drag him away. He was horrified. Just before this, he had seen his son Narayana Playing nearby, so he sought the help of the child and called "Narayana!" But in the curse of calling his name, Ajamila thought within himself, "What can this boy Narayana do? How will he deal with these three furious figures? He is nothing." So, by the connection of the holy name of Narayana, Lord Narayana came to his mind. When in his apprehension his call for Lord Narayana was sincere, four agents from Vaikuntha descended. They were sober and mild, and addressed the Yamadutas, the sessengers of death saying: "Who are you? Why have you come?We have come because it is the last day of Ajamila. He was a great sinner, and we have been sent by our king, Yamaraja, the Lord of death, to drag him away for punishment." "Don't you know what is dharma, duty?Oh yes, we know.""Then why are you here?He committed immense sin.Didn't you hear him take the name of Narayana?" "Yes we have heard. What of that? His whole life he has committed so many sinful acts, and only one name of Narayana will do away with that? It is not possible." "Oh, you have not been properly directed by your master. Now that Ajamila has taken the name of Narayana, his juridiction has at once changed. He is not longer under the juridiction of your master. Has he not given such instructions to you?No, no, we do not know all these things.Then, go back, and ask him." Ajamila was released. Frightened by the posture and grandeur of the messengers of Vishnu, the Yamaduttas fled. Ajamila thought, "What is the instruction to be learned here?" This is namabhasa. It is a faint connection with the holy name. It was neither out of faith, nor by the order of his guru, that he chanted the name of Narayana. It was not that he purposely went to take the name, but by accident it flashed in his mind. Still, as a result of his previous pious activity, namabhasa gave him salvation. Ajamila at once awoke; he remembered all his past sinful activities and beganto repent. He began his journey towards Hardwar without speaking a single word to family or friends. There, he chanted the name of Narayana for a long time. At the proper time, those four Vishnudutas descended with a divine chariot and took him to the concious spiritual domain of Vaikuntha." "Indirect Chanting Hela is another kind of namabhasa: neglectfully chanting the name. When we are rising from bed in the morning sometimes, we may negligently say "Hare Krishna". In this way we may cast off our indolence. Even there it may be namabhasa. It may liberate us from our present position, but may not give us entrance into Vaikuntha. That is possible only through devotional service. One Mohammedan, who was being killed by the tusk of a boar, shouted "Ha ram" meaning, "This is abominable" but because of his previous sukriti, or pious credits, it became namabhasa, and he achieved liberation by chanting the name of Lord Rama. Namabhasa may come, and mukti, liberation, may be effected, but we cannot get the opportunity of service there. Only if our mind is surcharged with a serving attitude will it elevate us to the subtle and higher plane, otherwise not. If the tendencies for renunciation and exploitation are mixed with our chanting, it won't yield the desired result. The chanting must be done with a service attitude (sevonmukhe hi jihvadau). What is our aim? We want the service of the Lord: "Die to Live." We want a life of purity which is full of self-giving: we want a generous life. We want to live the life of those who want not to extract, but to give. We want a civilized life in the domain of higher civilization, where everyone is a giving unit, an emanating unit, and not an absorbing unit. There, everyone is especially God-centered and harmonious. They are all of the nature of divinity. And divinity means dedication towards the center of all harmony, the absolute good. So with that spirit, we are to chant the holy name, and every action should be done with devotion for Krishna. We should try to take the positive line of serving Vishnu and Vaisnava, Krishna and His devotees, and with this sort of attitude we should chant the holy name of Krishna."

The story of the brahmana and the prostitute is most likely just a fable to illustrate a point whereas the story of Ajamila is a real history described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. If the brahmana in the story was sent to the "planet of the prostitutes" then that must have been a reaction to nama aparadha. The history of Ajamila shows that one must be qualified to see the Visnuduttas, for they have forms almost exactly like that of Lord Narayana. Ajamila's qualification was that he chanted without offense although he did not chant the pure name, suddha nama, still he chanted namabhasa. This illustrates the glories and the power of the Holy Name. The brahmana who was sent to "planet of the prostitutes" therefore could not have chanted namabhasa at the time of death. The brahmana therefore had no qualification to see or talk to the Visnuduttas. So in that way the story is contradictory, yet it is used to illustrate a lesson which is certainly valid. <table><tbody><tr><td align="center"> </td><td class="m" align="center"> </td></tr></tbody></table>Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2 Summary

The book, The Uddhava Gita of Krsna-Dvaipayana Vyasa, translated by Bhumipati Dasa contains the tika or commentary by Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura and Summaries and purports by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The real insight and realizations are coming from Chakravarti Thakura and Sarasvati Thakura, who are our gurus, and the the sweetest nectar is there. It is impossible to understand the real meaning of the Uddhava Gita without their mercy. Also some of the translations of the Srimad Bhagavatam, of which the Uddhava Gita is part, are the subject of disputes by the personalist and impersonalist sections. There are many verses of the Uddhava Gita that are used by the impersonal philosophers to support their position. In that way it is similar to the Bhagavad Gita.

(How horrible!) Harama! Harama!

Srimad-Bhagavatam Class 1.7.8 Vrndavana, September 7, 1976 Srila Prabhupada:

This was taking place in Vrndavana, so don't think of it as "Vedic" mantras. The story says that the brahmana was chanting the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. If he was chanting Bhagavatam then we can infer that he was chanting Krsna nama. The mantras were not weak, the brahmana was weak, he could not control his mind. We are getting Krsna nama from Sri Gurudeva and not controling our minds. Are we to think that it is because the mantra is weak? That would be the ultimate pessimism. Yes, the brahmana was engaged in mental fault finding so his chanting must have been offensive, aparadha. In essence he was not chanting the "real" mantras or slokas due to his mentality It's just a story if he would have really seen the Visnuduttas then he would have been immediately liberated, as in the history of Ajamila.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the cheaters and the cheated, one cannot exist without the other. Therefore from the existential viewpoint, one can only cheat themselves. After all isn't it ourselves who have cheated our own self out of an eternal life of bliss and knowledge? Srila Sridhar Maharaj,

My bad, it was actually written by Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin and Warren Moore.

Generally bhaktas who are trying to approach Krsna in a pure way would not feed their dogs meat. -------- "I wouldn't be dog gone I'd be long gone" Marvin Gaye

That - (definition) - The illusion that I am God.

I attended the San Francisco Ratha Yatra in 1977. Unfortuately I hadn't been there since 1973. I noticed that during the kirtans and classes the sannyasis (the one's I remember being there, Ramesvara, Satsvarupa and Brahmananda and a few that I can't remember), who were not leading kirtan or giving the lecture, were off by themselves having heated political and management discussions. Yeah, I snooped on them. It went on the whole day and it was really weird. Such a thing could have never happened so out in the open in the early 70s but the ISKCON rank and file were willing to tolerate so much more hypocrisy by the leadership in 1977. And this was three months before Prabhupada left our vision!

Talk about being a pampered pooch … Here’s a story about one lucky dog: Pampered doesn’t quite cover it. While some dogs might be prone to biting the odd slipper, this one actually choked on her own Cartier And now Conchita, known to her family as The Boss, refuses to wear diamonds any more because of the mishap. However, her owner still spends £7,000 a month on Louis Vuitton bags, bikinis, pearls, dresses and make-up for her. She has her own special pink racing car bed, bathroom and TV, and lunches daily on fresh grilled chicken breast at the exclusive Shore Club in Miami. With weekly, her own minder and publicist, this one-year-old 500g (1lb) chihuahua is living the dog life equivalent of Paris Hilton’s existence. And, like the hotel heiress, Conchita’s owner, socialite Gail Posner, is the daughter of a billionaire businessman. Link

Swami Ambikananda Saraswati's guru, Swami Venkatesananda wrote, "So long as the "I" is awake, so long as the ego is awake, Self-realization will not come...". Prof. Hopkins: You would say impersonalist. Prabhupada: Oh yes. They say Sivaham, "I am Siva." They are impersonalist. If you are Siva then why you worshiping Siva? That is impersonalist. Prof. Hopkins: So any position which would deny the difference between the devotee and God, you would see... Prabhupada: He is impersonalist. Prof. Hopkins: Is impersonalist. Prabhupada: The impersonalist theory is that I am now devotee. As soon as I become perfect I become one." Prof. Hopkins: Oh. Prabhupada: That is their theory. Then there is no more difference. In the preliminary stage, when I am not perfect, I am worshiping some imaginary form of God. But when I become perfect there is no need of worshiping, I become one with God. This is impersonal. Now, actually, the Supreme has no form so they recommend whichever form you like to worship you can select out of these five. But their destination is the same. So somebody likes "I worship Siva," somebody says "I worship Ganesa," somebody says, "I worship Durga," and Surya, or somebody says, "I worship Visnu." So this Vaisnava is impersonalist. You'll find amongst smarta brahmanas there are also some of them Vaisnavas, but they are impersonalists. Prof. Hopkins: So you would... You would say that those, those smartas say, and I know smarta brahmanas who are worshipers of Visnu. You would say they still are impersonalists in some ultimate sense because at some point they would deny... Prabhupada: No, it is very difficult to pick them out. Most of the so-called Vaisnavas, they are impersonalists. Prof. Hopkins: Some, I suspect, are more Vaisnavas than they are smartas. Prabhupada: So, satatam kirtayanto mam? Brahmananda: <center> satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate</center> "Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion." Prabhupada: Perpetually. It is not that I am worshiping now and when I am perfect I become one. That is impersonal. Prof. Hopkins: But someone who sees devotion as the not just a stage... Prabhupada: They say everything one; no devotee, no devotion, and no person. Everything becomes one. Prof. Hopkins: So that would then be the deciding test, as it were, of whether one were a serious devotee or not. Prabhupada: Devotee means serious devotee. Prof. Hopkins: Not only that one is devoted now, but that one sees the goal as perpetual devotion. Prabhupada: Yes. Nitya-yukta. Prof. Hopkins: And which never is there... Prabhupada: The word is used, nitya-yukta. Nitya-yukta means perpetually. If a devotee is to merge into the existence of the Lord then why this word is used, nitya-yukta. Upasana. Not only nitya-yukta, upasana. Upasana means "you worship Me." As soon as the word is "he worships" that means the worshipable and the mode of worship and the worshiper must be there. That is indicated, nitya-yukta, perpetual. But the Mayavadis or these impersonalists, they think that it is temporary. I am devotee temporarily. As soon as I become perfect I become one. Prof. Hopkins: So that you would see then, in terms of, in terms of some kind of theological structure, you would see that Purusottama as always... Prabhupada: Uttama, uttama means the best. Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, 7-13-75, Philadelphia