narayani

Dear Guest, Questioning is one of the frist steps on the process to understanding. At least you acknowledge there is God. Here is my answer: arjuna uvāca sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā jagat prahṛṣyaty anurajyate ca rakṣāḿsi bhītāni diśo dravanti sarve namasyanti ca siddha-sańghāḥ Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful upon hearing Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to You. Although the perfected beings offer You their respectful homage, the demons are afraid, and they flee here and there. All this is rightly done. kasmāc ca te na nameran mahātman garīyase brahmaṇo 'py ādi-kartre ananta deveśa jagan-nivāsa tvam akṣaraḿ sad-asat tat paraḿ yat O great one, greater even than Brahmā, You are the original creator. Why then should they not offer their respectful obeisances unto You? O limitless one, God of gods, refuge of the universe! You are the invincible source, the cause of all causes, transcendental to this material manifestation. tvam ādi-devaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇas tvam asya viśvasya paraḿ nidhānam vettāsi vedyaḿ ca paraḿ ca dhāma tvayā tataḿ viśvam ananta-rūpa You are the original Personality of Godhead, the oldest, the ultimate sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You are the knower of everything, and You are all that is knowable. You are the supreme refuge, above the material modes. O limitless form! This whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by You! vāyur yamo 'gnir varuṇaḥ śaśāńkaḥ prajāpatis tvaḿ prapitāmahaś ca namo namas te 'stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ punaś ca bhūyo 'pi namo namas te You are air, and You are the supreme controller! You are fire, You are water, and You are the moon! You are Brahmā, the first living creature, and You are the great-grandfather. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You a thousand times, and again and yet again! namaḥ purastād atha pṛṣṭhatas te namo 'stu te sarvata eva sarva ananta-vīryāmita-vikramas tvaḿ sarvaḿ samāpnoṣi tato 'si sarvaḥ Obeisances to You from the front, from behind and from all sides! O unbounded power, You are the master of limitless might! You are all-pervading, and thus You are everything! For more detailed information on the Lord please consider reading the Bhagavad Gita. Hare Krsna.

Dear Vaisnavas, Isn't the purpose behind birth control to allow one to engage in illicit sex-life? Karma is attached to that behavior as it is attached to all actions in this material world. viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ rasa-varjaḿ raso 'py asya paraḿ dṛṣṭvā nivartate The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaḿ manaḥ The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them. I think birth control is one of those many impetouses that is in place to carry our mind and actions away from the real purpose of this human life: freedom from birth and death and returning to Krsna. It is an added stumbling block on that path in the most difficult area of the senses to controll, the sex drive. I need as much help as I can get to control the sex drive, birth control makes it all the more difficult because one doesn't have to take responsibility for having sex i.e. pregnancy. Hare Krsna

Dear Guest, Good idea!! Look for them in the next day or so.

Hare Krsna, Originally Posted by Guest Hare Krishna I live quite far from the Hare Krishna temple and cannot go there often, so I would like to start my own deity worship. I chant 4 rounds and have no other deities. Would it be alright for me to start worshipping Radha Krishna deities in my home, or should I wait. I am a neophyte devotee and would like to worship sri Radha Krsna. Should I buy some deities or should I wait? Hare Krishna As others have stated above, it would be nice for you to begin your deity worship with a set of Gaura Nitai. They are very merciful and will forgive offenses more readily than Radha Krsna deities. As you become more fix in your devotion and regularity you came also get Radha-Krsna for worship. Srila Prabhupada wished to see Gaura Nitai worship in everyhome. I can't post url addresses yet, so you should visit krishna (dot) com for nice detailed articles on daily deity home worship and also you can puchase deities and all items necessary for Their worship. Here are some quotes from Srila Prabhhupada on Gaura Nitai worship: We are worshipping Lord Krishna and Lord Balaram in their forms of Gaura-Nitai because They are most forgiving of our shortcomings. "Irregularity in worshipping Guru and Gauranga can be tolerated, as They are always kind and forgiving, but irregularity in worshipping Lord Jagannath and Sri Sri Radha-Krishna is not good." "Lord Chaitanya is very kind and He accepts the simplest worship or sincere chanting of the holy name of Krishna." "Gaura-Nitai can be established anywhere, and it is simple to worship Them. Simply chant before Their Lordships. He doesn't mind that you haven't decorated very nicely, but if you chant and dance, He is very pleased." The Hare Krishna maha-mantra goes like this: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare So, to begin with, Gaura Nitai is very nice. Just chanting your rounds before Them is worshiping them. If you can do more such as dressing and arti and offering foodstuffs this is great! I myself live far from a temple and have a very beautful set of Gaura NItai who are so merciful toward me. I worship them to the best of my ability but I know it's not perfect worship. But They are SOOO sweet. Someday, I too wish to have lovely Radha Krsna deities, but until I'm settled and know I can do at least one arti daily for Them and care for Them properly I will not attempt Radha Krsna deity worship. Hope this helps you. Don't lose heart, the Lord accepts whatever service you are able to perform regardless of how great or small it is. Hare Krsna!

Hare krsna, I'm looking for Songs of the Vaisnava Acharyas written in sanskrit/bengali rather than roman transliteration, especially Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur's Gitavali. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Or if there is any accurate translation software. I could try to figure it out myself but I'm still learning and still make may errors and accuracy is a must. Thank you.