narayani

Hare Krsna, As far as I know: While Abhimanyu was still in the womb, his father, Arjuna, was explaining the process to enter the chakra vyuha to his wife, Abhimanyu's mother, Uttara. She eventually fell asleep so Abhimanyu never learned how to exit the chakra once it closed behind him.

Hare Krsna, I'm trying to find out some information about Lord Nrsimhadeva. Does anyone know what His favorite foodstuffs are? I know He likes to drink panakam, but I haven't found anything about the foods stuffs He perfers. Any info would be great:pray: Thanks

Hare Krsna, I'm trying to find out some information about Lord Nrsimhadeva. Does anyone know what His favorite foodstuffs are? I know He likes to drink panakam, but I haven't found anything about the foods stuffs He perfers. Any info would be great:pray: Thanks

As far as I know Kateri is a Chatholic saint also known as "The Lily of the Mohawks." Her full name is Kateri (the mohawk version of Katherine) Tekakwitha. At the age of 4 she got smallpox and was left with bad scars. The smallpox also took the lives of her father and brother. In 1676 at the age of 20 she was baptized by a Jesuit priest and dedicated the rest of her life to prayer, chastity, and caring for the sick and aged. She died in 1680 at the age of 24. The process of her canonization began in 1884. As of 2004 the church is still waiting for a verified miracle before canonization is final. If you meant Kaveri, it's a river in India. The Kaveri River (also spelt Cauvery or Kavery) is one of the great rivers of India and is considered sacred by the Hindus. The headwaters are in the Western Ghats range of Karnataka state, and flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu across the southern Deccan plateau, then the eastern lowlands, and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. The river has supported irrigated agriculture for centuries, and the Kaveri has been the lifeblood of the ancient kingdoms and modern cities of South India. The source of the river is Talakaveri located in the Western Ghats about 5000 feet above sea level. Talakaveri is a pilgrimage set amidst Bramahagiri Hills in Kodagu. Thousands of piligrims flock to the temple at the source of the river especially on the specified day known as Tula sankramana when the river water has been said to gush out like a fountain at a predetermined time. It flows generally south and east for around 765 km, emptying into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths. The Kaveri is also known as Dakshina Ganga, or the Ganges of the south, and the whole of its course is holy ground. According to the legend there was once born upon earth a girl named Vishnumaya or Lopamudra, the daughter of Brahma; but her divine father permitted her to be regarded as the child of a mortal, called Kavera-muni. In order to obtain beatitude for her adoptive father, she resolved to become a river whose waters should purify all sin. Hence it is said that even the holy Ganges resorts underground once in the year to the source of the Kaveri, to purge herself from the pollution contracted from the crowd of sinners who have bathed in her waters. (from a wikipedia article) Hope this helps:)

My dear spirit souls, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. What is the need for offering foodstuffs to the Lord? What is the purpose of honoring mahaprasada? Honoring mahaprasada is not only symbolic of the superior life of the vaisnavas, but is part of worship, which ordinary theists cannot fully understand. Ordinary men are much inclined to preserve the superiority of reason over the intuitive feelings on man toward the God of love. We must now proceed to show with healthy arguments that our intuitive feelings want to offer everything we eat to the Lord of our Heart. We must first examine the arguments of the antagonists. The rationalists states that God is infinite and without wants, and consequently it is foolish to offer eatables to such a being. It is sacrilege to offer created things to the Creator and thereby degrade the divinity of God, treating HIm as a human being. These are reasonable arguments indeed, and one who has heard them will certainly be inclined to declare to others, "down with mahaprasada." These conclusions, which may appear reasonable, are dry and destructive. They tend to separate us from all connection in worshiping God. When you say that the Infinite wants nothing, you forbid all contemplation and prayer. The Infinite does not want your grateful expressions or flattery. Utter a word to the unconditional Lord and you are sure to degrade Him into a conditioned being. Hymns, prayers, and sermons are all over! Shut your temple door and church gates because our rationalist has advised you to do so. Belive a creative principle and you have done your duty. Oh! What a shame! What a dreadful fall! Theists, beware of these degrading principles! Now the rationalists appears in another form and allows prayers, sermons, psalms, and church going, saying that these things are wanted for the improvement of the soul, but God does not want them at all. We are glad that the rationalist has come toward us and will make furthur approaches in the course of time. Yes, the progressive rationalist has admitted a very broad principle in theology: whatever we do toward God is for our own benefit, and not for the benefit of God, who is not in want of anything. However, the rationalist is a rationalist still and will continue to be so as long as he seeks self-interest. This view, however, smells of utilitarianism and can never be theism. We must love God for God's sake even if our actions appear unreasonable. Our love must be without any goal concerning our selves. This love must be a natural emotion to the deity, as our well-wisher, without interferance or experiance. Salvation, dear as it is, should be the object of this love. What then about other forms of happiness? Love of God is its own reward. Salvation, as a concominant consequence, must be a servant of love, but we must not look on it as the main goal. If a rationalist is prepared to believe this, he becomes a theists of the vaisnava class, but the mere assuming of a name is of no consequence. Though fully aware of the Lord as completely unconditioned, our holy and sweet principle of love takes a different view of the rationalist. Reason says one thing but love prescribes the opposite. Reason tells me that God has no sorrow, but love sees God in tears for His sons who are misled to evil. Reason tells me that the strict laws of God reward and punish me in a cold manner, but love reveals that God slackens His laws to the repentant soul. Reason tells me that, with all his improvements, the repentant soul will never touch GOd; but love preaches that on the conversion of the soul into a state of spiritual womanhood, God, unconditioned as He is, accepts an eternal marriage with the liberated soul. Reason tells me that God is in infinite space and time, but love describes that the all beautiful Lord is sitting before us like a respected relative and enjoying the pleasures of society, as a fater in his amusements with his young children. God is spreading all sorts of delicious food all over the earth, and expecting His sons to gather them for their own benifit. But the loving children, out of their holy and unmixed love, gather all the scattered blessings and with strong feelings of love, regardless of reason, offer all the blessings to the Father whom they love more than their lives. The Father again, in reply to their kind feelings, gives back the offering to the children and kindly tells them, "O My children! These blessings are intended for you! Out of your natural love, you bring them to Me for My enjoyment, but naturally I have no wants for you to supply. I have however accepted that part of your offering, which is for Me: your unmixed love and unbiased affections, for which I am exceedingly anxious. Take back these sweet things and enjoy them!" This process of unbiased love, which dry reason can never approach, sanctifies the food we take and bring us harmless enjoyment every day of our natural life! This is a system of sincere worship, which theists of a higher class alone can act upon. We cannot express the joy we often felt when we took the mahaprasada in the temple! The holiness we attach to it is its sweetness and often we pray that all men may enjoy it. ~Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura~ Mahaprasadam KI JAI!!

Thanks!

Guest, This thread was begun for discussing the wonderful Lord Venkatesvara. Yet you seem to have only offensive remarks to make against His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. I will not hear from you any longer. For those who wish to enjoy wonderful Venkatesvara Katha, I highly reccomend www.atmatattva.com. I listened to the lecture yesterday. It is wonderful!! Such blissful passtimes! I enjoyed it soo much that I'm listening to the other lectures available as well. The pastimes of Sri Rama are fantastic! Happy listening!

Hare Krsna, It has been my understanding that in order to be a bonafide guru you must agree with sastra, so would it matter if one quotes the bonafide guru or sastra since both should be in accord?

Hare Krsna, Two points: First, Guest asked when Srila Prabhupada become a bonafide guru? Srila Prabhupada is in the bonafide disciplic succession of the Brahma-madhva-gaudiya sampradaya. He is a direct disciple of Sri Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakura and a pure devotee to Lord Krsna. his sole mission in life was to fulfill his gurumaharaj's order of spreading the cult of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu around the world. What Srila Prabhupada says is correct because it agrees with sastra. Second point, Srila Prabhupada visited the Sri Balaji temple and was a welcome guest there. He told his disciples that it should be Iskcon's goal to follow in the example of the Venkatesvara temple. They show the perfect example of how a temple should be managed. He wished to see iskcon temples managed in the same wonderful way. Of course Lord Venkatesvara is a most worshipable form of Lord Visnu. Srila Prabhupada mentions Him in a lecture in which he discussed the diference between idol worship and archa-vigraha deity worship. The following is quoted from that lecture: "...sometimes, "It is idol." He's not idol. We are not worshiping idol, stone. Just like some rascal says that "If by worshiping stone, God is available, then I can worship the mountain." Pathar puja ke hari mile meita puje pahar(?). So this rascal does not know that this is not worship of pathar. It is worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally, but to show us mercy, because we cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead with these blunt eyes, He has assumed the form of a stone. This is called arca-murti. It is His mercy. When arca-murti, the Deity worship in the temple, if one thinks it is made of stone, it is made of wood, that is very offensive. One should not think like that. God is omnipotent, all-powerful. He can accept your service even in this form, but because He has assumed this form, don't neglect it that "It is stone." Then it will be offensive. It is to show you mercy, arca-murti. Otherwise all the great saintly persons, just like Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, all big, big acaryas who were actually controlling the Vedic civilization still, they established thousands of temple and murtis, especially in South India. Still Ranganatha temple, Tirupati temples, visited by hundreds and thousands of people. So does it mean they have all become fools? They go to see some stone? No. So as we have explained many times, that this arca-murti... The rascal class of men, they cannot understand arca-murti. They think that "They are worshiping idol." Even amongst the Hindus there are so-called followers of Vedas. They also say that "What is the necessity of worshiping Deity in the temple?" They made very vigorous propaganda in India to stop temple worship. For a short time it has got some reaction, but now it is finished. That rascal propaganda not to worship the Deity in the temple is finished. Nobody cares for that. They think that God is everywhere -- except in the temple. (laughter) That is their view. And God is everywhere; why not in the temple? No. That is their poor fund of knowledge. They cannot accommodate. No. God is everywhere but not in the temple. This is their intelligence, rascals. So we have to follow therefore acarya. Acaryavan puruso veda: one who has accepted acarya... One who knows the sastra and practically behaves according to the regulation of sastra, he is called acarya. Acinoti sastrarthah. So all the acaryas... In India there are many thousands and thousands of temples, very, very big temples, especially in South India. Some of them you have seen. Each temple is like a big fort. So all these temples were established by the acaryas, not that the people whimsically established. No. Still there is very prominent temple, Balaji temple, Tirupati, Tirumalai. People are going, and the daily collection is more than one lakh of rupees still. Although they have been propagated so vigorously not to visit temples... So the temple worship is essential. So those who are against temple worship, Deity worship, they are not very intelligent class of men, foolish, mudha." Srila Prabhupada also describes in his translation of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta in Madhya-lila how Lord Caitanya went on a tour of the holy places in south india. One of his stops was at the Lord Venkatesvara temple in tirupati. As posted previously checkout www.atmatattva.com for lectures on Lord Venkatesvara's advent. Hope this helps:)

Hare Krsna, I very much agree with you, Murali Mohan das. In the past I went through a period of great doubt and confusion. I decided to educate myself about "other" religions. I studied Christianity, Buddhism, some Judism, even shaminism and wicca, among others. I always felt they were nice enough in their own right but someting was missing. Something was incomplete. I always found myself returning to Krsna Consciousness. No others were as joyful, colorful, or as tasty as Krsna bhakti. For me it will always be the sweetest! My mother is an avid Roman catholic now, for her that is the sweetest. I have no problem with her faith. It's hers. She has found her path to God. What matters is that one follows the path that speaks to their hearts. As long as loving and returning to GOd is the ultimate goal you know you are on a right path.

Hare Krsna! Jai!! I'm glad you get a chance to go to a Ratha Yatra!! Your first one, WOW!! You are going to have a GREAT time!! Ratha Yatra has always been one of my favorite festivals! Be sure you dance as much as you possibly can!! It's tradition with my friends and me to dance sooo much on Ratha Yatra that it hurts to walk the next day! Then you know you had a great time!! I like to go to as many Raths as I can in a summer. I only was able to hit one this year: New York's. If you would like, check out some of the pics I took at www.flickr.com do a search for "New York Ratha Yatra 2006" my sreen name is "space angel." Once again, Have a MARVELOUS time!

Hare Krsna, I feel that you have misunderstood my statements. In no way was I comparing Lord Krsna to an ordinary human being. He is the ultimate example of greatness. Your question was why having more than one wife was not recommended in this day and age. I hope the following will clarify why I speak of Lord Krsna: I quote Srila Prabhupada, "Krsna, when He was householder, He married sixteen thousand wives. And who can maintain sixteen thousand wives? One cannot maintain even one wife. This is called urukrama. Great activities. Not that Krsna remained one, and He had sixteen thousand wives. No. He also expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms so that no wife may be displeased. If I am one, and if I have got many wives, so everyone will be displeased. He provided sixteen thousand palaces, and in each palace, there were many thousands of servants and maidservants, and each wife was blessed with ten sons. This is called urukrama, great activities." Because we are limited, simple human beings why should we dare think that just because Lord Krsna married more than one wife it is reccomended for us. This is kali-yuga, the most fallen of ages, and we are all fallen in this material existence. It is dificult enough to satisfy one wife, in this age, what to speak of more than one. It is not reccomended for this age. I don't know how to be more conclusive than that. Hare Krsna! Jai Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna, Here is the link to the song book used in Iskcon temples around the world. It is a pdf file. You can also purchase one from www.krishna.com http://www.krishnamedia.orgVaishnava_Songbook.pdf It includes songs by Srila Bhaktivinode thakur, Sri Narottama das thakur, Visvanatha chakravarti thakur, Srila Bhaktisiddanta sarasvati thakur, Srila Prabhupada and many other vaisnava acaryas. Many beautiful songs are included. Enjoy:)

Hare Krsna, The sun god, Vivisvan, is a very advanced jiva-atma appointed by Lord Sri Krsna with the governance of the sun planet. He is an individual entity. Technically, one could say that everything is made of God’s energy, and therefore indirectly everything is God. Yet at the same time everything is not God. A simplified example of this concept is sunshine. The sunshine is different from the sun, yet the sunshine is nothing but the sun. It is simultaneously one and different. This is acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. Simultaneously one with and different from Krsna. Each living entity is a part and parcel of the Lord but is still an eternal individual. From Isopanisad: oḿ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaḿ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

Hare Krsna, Here are some statements made by Srila Prabhupada concerning "true religion." I hope they help:) Prabhupada: Today's subject matter is "What is Religion?" So we are reciting some verses from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where the subject matter, dharma, is discussed. It is said that dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [sB 6.3.19]. Dharma, it is Sanskrit word, and the English translation, generally, it is made as "religion." Religion is accepted as a kind of faith. But faith may be wrong or right -- according to the different time, persons, climate, condition, so many consideration. But Srimad-Bhagavata says, dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam. Dharma, or religion, means the law given by God. Simple formula. As there are laws given by the state, similarly, the supreme state, supreme governor is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God means the supreme being, supreme person. So... Or the supreme authority. Supreme means the greatest authority. As in a state the greatest authority is the government, similarly, throughout the cosmic manifestation, throughout the whole creation, there must be some supreme authority. So that supreme authority is God, and whatever He gives, the rules and regulation, that is called religion. You cannot change it. That the law whimsically, you cannot change. Then you will be punishable. Similarly, the laws or the words (are) of the regulative principles given by God. That is religion. And if you do not follow it, then you'll be punished. Actually, the Sanskrit word dharma means the constitutional position. We may try to understand what is the meaning of dharma. Just like fire. Fire means there must be heat and light. Without heat and light, there is no meaning of fire. If you say that we have got fire but there is no heat and no light, so what kind of fire it is? So that fire and light of, heat and light of fire is to be understood as dharma. You cannot change it. This is no possibility. Otherwise, there will be no meaning. Water, water is liquid. Any water, any parts of the world, when you take water, it is liquid; therefore this liquidity is the dharma of water. You take anything. Actually, dharma means characteristic -- anything you take. Just like I am speaking before this microphone. So if it does not produce the sound, then what kind of microphone it is? The sound production from the microphone is the dharma, is the religion, natural characteristic. So what is the natural characteristic of human being? The natural characteristic is that we serve the superior. That is natural characteristic. Either you become Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist, nobody can say that "I do not serve any superior." Nobody can say. One must serve. That is dharma. Faith, ritualistic -- I am today Hindu; I can accept the ritualistic process tomorrow of the Christian faith; or a Christian may take another ritual -- but his business, to serve the superior, that does not change. Either you become Christian or Muslim or Hindu, it doesn't matter. It is not that Hindus, they only serve in the office; the Christian do not. No. The service is there. So actually the service is his dharma, not this rubberstamp, "Hindu,Muslim,Christian." No. That is designation. Actual dharma means the characteristic. If you take sugar, if you taste sugar, it is sweet. The sweetness is the characteristic of sugar. That is dharma. If you take chili, it is very hot. If you take a chili and if it is sweet, you immediately say, "Eh, this is not good chili," because there is no dharma. So dharma means characteristic. Dharma means to understand God. It doesn't matter whether you are Christian or Hindu or Muslim. It doesn't matter. If you think that by your principle, you have understood God and you have learned how to love God, and you have learned how to obey God, that dharma is perfect. That religious system is perfect. It may go on under any name, it doesn't matter. But if you have achieved the result, that is wanted. Just like if you pass your M.A. examination. It doesn't matter whether you pass it from London University or Calcutta University or Berlin University. You have passed your examination. That will be taken into consideration. So similarly, sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje [sB 1.2.6]. That system of religion is perfect by which one can learn what is God and how to love God. That is perfect. So, my small understanding of the above statements is the "true religion" is the one that teaches how to Love and serve God. That is the final test to determine if it is a "true religion." Do you learn to love and serve God by following this path? If yes, then you've got a winner. There can be more than one "true religion." The key is following the path completely and correctly to gain the result.

Hare Krsna, Here is a quote from a lecture Srila Prabhupada gave: Prabhupada: So Bhagavan means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases: brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate [sB 1.2.11]. Absolute Truth can be realized in the beginning as impersonal Brahman, which is the objective of the jnanis, and next, Paramatma, which is the objective of the yogis, and at last, the last word in the absolute understanding is person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimate issue is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just like we understand that in the sun globe there is the Supreme Person or the surya-narayana, or the chief person within the sun planet. His name is also given in the Bhagavad-gita-Vivasvan. The Lord says in the Fourth Chapter, imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam: [bg. 4.1] "I first of all explained this science, this yoga system of Bhagavad-gita, to Vivasvan, the sun-god." Vivasvan manave prahur manur iksvakave 'bravit. And Vivasvan, the sun-god, he explained to Manu, and Manu explained to his son. In this way, by the disciplic succession the knowledge has come down. So when we speak of jnana, knowledge, it must be learned from a person. So Bhagavan, the last word in the understanding of Absolute Truth, He says in this Bhagavad-gita. Hope this helps.

Hare Krsna, Glad to be of service:) Here are two pictures of Lord Siva instucting the pracetas: Here is a link to images from the srimad Bhagavatam: http://srimadbhagavatam.org/treasury/pictures.html

Hare Krsna, I'm not sure. I guess you must do the needful to make the home livable if it is infested. The best way to prevent these creatures from coming into the home is by practicing strict cleanliness. Keeping the floors washed and clean and not leaving any foodstuffs out in the open to tempt them. There are certain things available that repel rather than kill. For example, cedar wood protects clothing from moths and some other bugs. I know there are many things available on the market today to aid in this sort of thing. Just do some research. I'm sure there are ways to be rid of the creatures without killing them. If not, then I guess the choice is to accept the reaction for killing them if you must do so. Check out this website. ecomall. It has links to many "eco-friendly" websites for just about everything from pest control, clothing, home furishing and care, etc. http://www.ecomall.com/biz/pest.htm Hope this helps some:)

I was at the New York rath this year. What a perfect day!! you can see some pics I took if you visist www.flickr.com and search new york ratha yatra 2006. There was wonderful kirtan down 5th ave. ending in Washington Square park for an excellent feast, a ddrama, and dancing.! Jai Jagannatha!!

Hare Krsna, In this material world there is a karmic reaction for every action we perform. In a conversation Srila Prabhupada discusses this topic here is his answer: And again, when you cleanse this, you kill them -- you become implicated. You have killed. You have to suffer. They are disturbing; still, you cannot kill them. This is your position. But people are with Flit (a bug killer) killing thousands of mosquitoes and flies, becoming implicated. Tamala Krsna: We shouldn't kill them. What about if they're biting you, right in the process of biting you? Prabhupada: Hm? Tamala Krsna: Supposing a mosquito is biting you and sucking the blood. Prabhupada: Yes, when they bite, you can kill, according to laws of nature. But on the whole, you cannot kill. Tamala Krsna: You cannot invent means... Prabhupada: Therefore mosquito curtain. Tamala Krsna: Prevention. Prabhupada: Prevention is better than cure. They are meant for that purpose. God has made. So instead of killing them, you protect your... But if you are in the service of the Lord, you are not responsible. Srila Prabhupada always emphasized respect for all living entities even the seemingly insignificant ones. WE are all part and parcel with Krsna. In a SB 6.1.7 lecture Srila Prabhupada states: So we are responsible. Even if we kill one mosquito, we are responsible. It is not man-made law, that "If you kill a human being, then you are punished, and if you kill another animal, you are not punished." This is man-made law, according to our convenience. "We have to eat the animal; therefore there is no punishment for animal killing." But God is for everyone the same. Every living entity is part and parcel of God. So they have been given an opportunity to undergo the punishment or enjoyment. You cannot disturb him. You cannot disturb him. Just like you are living in an apartment according to your position, but if I forcibly I ask you, "Go out of this apartment," then I will be punishable by the law. I have no right to get you out from that apartment. Similarly, every living entity by the laws of nature, all laws of nature, is imprisoned or allowed under certain apartment, either in the body of a tree or a human being or demigod or cat or dog. These are all ordained. So you cannot get out the living entity, soul, by force from that body. Then you will be punishable. The living entity is never killed, but you have no right to get him out from that body. That is sinful. If you argue that "What is the harm if I kill one animal, because it is said, na hanyate hanyamane sarire: [bg. 2.20] 'The living entity, soul, is never killed even after the annihilation of this body'?" that is all right. But you cannot force him. Just like if you get one person, by force, get out from his apartment -- he is not dying, of course, but still, it is criminal because you are forcing to go out of the apartment. So that is the law of nature. You cannot force anyone to get out of the body. Then you are punishable. So my understanding is that if the insect or snake or what not is in the process of hurting you, according to the laws of nature you are allowed to protect yourself, but it is not reccomended to just kill out right. Prevention is best anyway, right? Hope this answers your questions.

Hare Krsna, This is the way I was taught as a child to offer all food stuffs to Lord Krsna. It can be done to deity forms of the Lord, to a picture, and if none are available it can done in the mind by picturing an image of the Lord: Preparing and offering food to the Lord shows Him our devotion and gratitude. Krishna doesn't need to eat, of course, but He accepts the love with which we offer food to Him. As far as possible, use fresh, natural ingredients for cooking. Krishna accepts only vegetarian food, and packaged, store-bought products may contain meat, fish, or eggs. So read labels carefully. Cleanliness is important in cooking for Krishna. Wash your hands before you begin. And don’t taste the food while cooking; the meal is for Krishna’s pleasure, so He should taste it first. It’s best to have a new set of dinnerware used only for Krishna’s offerings and not used by anyone else. Place the plate in front of Krishna and ask Him to accept the offering. (There are also prayers one can chant. See below.) Leave the plate there for a few minutes, just as you would if someone else was eating. Remove the plate, transfer the food to a serving plate, and wash Krishna’s dinnerware. The food is now prasadam, or “mercy” from Krishna. While you eat, consider the spiritual value of the food; because Krishna has accepted it, it is spiritually identical to Him. Therefore by eating prasadam you become purified. Everything you offer Krishna becomes spiritualized prasadam—flowers, incense, water, food. All prasadam should be respected and shared with others. Spread the mercy around. Here are the prayers to say. I follow in the teachings of Srila Prabhupada so I say his pranam first. If you have a different teacher or guru you can surely offer respects to them. The Lord is reached through His devotees. nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine nirvisesha-sunyavadi-paschatya-desa-tarine I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism. Then I offer prayers to the Lord in His form of a preacher, Sri Krsna Caitanya namo maha-vadanyaya krishna-prema-pradaya te krishnaya krishna-chaitanya- namne gaura-tvishe namah O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. Then I offer to Lord Krsna, Himself. namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca jagad-dhitaya krishnaya govindaya namo namah My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world. I repeat each verse three times while ringing a bell. Before partaking of prasadam I say this prayer: sarira avidya-jal, jadendriya tahe kal jive phele vishaya-sagare ta’ra madhye jihva ati-, lobhamay sudurmati, ta’ke jeta kathina samsare krishna bada dayamay, karibare jihva jay, sva-prasadanna dila bhai sei annamrita pao, radha-krishna-guna gao, preme dako chaitanya-nitai O Lord, this material body is a lump of ignorance, and the senses are a network of paths to death. Somehow, we have fallen into this ocean of material sense enjoyment, and of all the senses the tongue is most voracious and uncontrollable; it is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world. But You, dear Krishna, are very kind to us and have given us such nice prasadam, just to control the tongue. Now we take this prasadam to our full satisfaction and glorify Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, and in love call for the help of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. The importance is to first offer the foodstuffs to God rather than simply lust after them for one's own sense gratification. By offering them first they become spiritualized. Almost all faiths have this sort of teaching. Christians say grace before a meal.. an offering of thanks to the Lord for providing food. The key is to keep God in our thoughts. Hope this helps some:)

Hare Krsna, Vedic knowledge is very vast and complex. Even having grown up with it, as I have, I have barely seemed to scratch the surface:) Here is a link to the basics http://www.krishna.com/main.php?id=457 Hope this helps

Hare Krsna, Chanting the Maha-mantra daily is always great. I personally, however, love the Govindam prayers of Lord Brahma. They are so beautiful! http://www.stephen-knapp.com/govindam_prayers.htm I try to chant them daily or when ever possible:)

Hare Krsna, I recently finished a philosophy course in which I had to write a final research paper. Of course, as most traditional philosophy courses go, it was presented from the "western" view point. I wrote a paper attempting to present the vaisnava view on man's relationship with God. Here is a small section of the paper. keep in mind I wrote it with the goal of explaining to a philosophy student who is only familiar with "western" thought, but I think it touches on this discussion. Let me know what you think:) Understanding the all-pervasiveness of God is one of the first steps in understanding one’s relationship with Him. Though God is everywhere and in everything, the soul is still able to have a personal relationship with the Lord. This relationship is <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>’s mercy to each individual soul. Our relationship with God is eternal and based upon the most important thing of all: Love. Developing this loving exchange with the Lord is the ultimate goal of life. It is the realization of our true nature; our true persona. The Vaisnava believes we are each eternal loving servants of God. When we realize this, our persona becomes our salvation and perfection. The individual must be there, but as long as we are in this material world, our soul identifies with material distinctions with our family, community, body, nation, ideal, and so on. The soul is there and must continue, but proper understanding is realizing that we are eternal servants of God. Further more, the Vaisnavas also propound that every living entity is by nature a female or prakrti. Prakrti means female, and purusha means male. The only male or purusha is God, <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>. To the Vaisnava, male means the enjoyer, and female means the enjoyed (not the material identifications of sex). But for God, no one is the enjoyer. <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> is considered the only male; therefore originally we are all female by constitution; this is our true position, but under illusion the soul attempts to become a male, an enjoyer. Although a female by constitution, the living entity is trying to imitate the supreme male, <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>. This is the reason for our place in the material world. Because we are trying to be the enjoyers, God has given us the chance to do so. This position is not our true nature; therefore, we are never satisfied. We search for meaning and purpose. We endlessly seek for answers, but when we come to our original consciousness, we understand that we are not the predominator but the predominated. The predominator, the enjoyer, is <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, and the predominated, the enjoyed are all living entities. When the predominated helps the predominator, that is the perfection of enjoyment. This enjoyment is the pure, loving relationships God has with each and every individual spirit soul.

Hare Krsna, Yes, it is a very beautiful set of verses from the 4th canto chapter 24 of the Bhagavatam. Lord Siva is instructing the Pracetas. Here is a link to them: They begin at about text 20 http://vedabase.net/sb/4/24/en