vrajavasi

Radhe Krishna, Dear friend guest who gave his thumbs up, kindly note that a manthra is kept as a secret and is revealed by a guru to sishya. I have pramaana for this from many sources other than gaudiya sampradaaya. Below is the verse from Hari Bhakthi vilasam. 2.147, a gaudiya sampradaaya pramaana grantha. gopayed devatam istam gopayed gurum atmanah gopayec ca nijam mantram gopayen nija-malikam You are supposed to keep it hidden - your guru, your ishta devatha, the manthra and the japa maala. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, Radhe krishna, krsnaji, I am thankful to you for your messaage at #13. I am of the traditional view that manthra is always kept a secret and it is passed on by a guru to a sishya. I have pramaana for this from sources other than gaudiya sampradaaya. Somewhere in my mind, there was a click that earlier gaudiya aacharyaas should have opined same way about this. and you have provided the quote from Hari Bhakthi vilasam. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, Vyasacharya has written shrimad bhagawatham as he was the witness to the events and svayam an avatara of lord vishnu. vyasaya vishnu roopaya vyasa roopaaya vishnave Finding fault with vyasa vakya - i do not find it in a good taste Then why anyone recite shrimad bhagawatham "Shrimad Bhagawatham puranam amalam yadvaishnavaanam priyam yasmin paaramahamsyam ekam amalam gnyanam param geeyathe thahra gnyana viraaga bhakthi sahitham naishkarmyamaavishkrutham thath shrunvan vipatan vichaaranaparo bhakthya vimuchyennaraha" This is for the purpose of attaining bhakthi, gnyana , vairagya. I have seen in this and many threads people making a big hue and cry over change of a few words in the books penned by Shri Prabhupada ( this is not a complaint and I in fact appreciate their aacharya bhakthi in this regard - although i am not a member of ISKCON). If change of words penned by prabhupad is that offensive, imagine change of words by Vyasaacharya who is an avataara of lord vishnu. Yes, if you have a mindset of research - rather than changing vyasa vakya - try find materials in support of that. that would be rather easier and meaningful. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, Radhe Krishna, Number2, when I said Yoga, karma and vedantha provide only knowledge of these systems who study them in the current age and not as much solace, my intent was not per se put them at a lower platform. Every other system is per se meant for god realisation. The rigours involved in these systems make it difficult for people to pursue it with vigour and reap the results. And in the same time, whatever results which are supposed to be reaped by vigorouslly following these systems can be very simply reaped by following the path of bhakthi which stands tall above all other systems in the ghora kali for realisation of god. A good lot of people have realised god cutting across varna, gender and even religion through the system of bhakthi. Shri haridas, the sishya of Chaitanya mahaprabhu was from a yavana background. Eknath, thukaram, senanayi, Chokamela, ravidas, kabirdas, Rahim, latif, Thiruppanazhvar are only a few bhakthas in a long list of bhakthas who realised god through bhakthi. Then about the bitter fight going on in this thread. There are marriages taking place between people belonging to different varnas. Varna sangraha is an event which is presupposed in puranaas. As we people believe in a varna by birth system, what we visualise is a mass sanathana dharma in a varnaless form. But as per scriptures, people in the lineage of varna by birth would also continue till the end of kali whether one like it or not. Regarding brahmin bashing. South Indians, basically tamil brahmins are quite used to it. They have got earful of brahmin bashing for the past few decades. But undeterred many tamil brahmins are engaged in preserving and passing on the ages old brahminhood to their next generation. It never mean that people of other varnas are less. The varnashrama dharma system by birth never ever looked down upon people. Even the most orthodox of tamil brahmins never hesitate to pay their obeisances to alwars who are nithyasuris or the nayanmars who are in the abode of lord shiva because they are born in a different varna. Even kabir, latif and raskan are devotedly studied by orthodox tamil brahmins who are normally well versed in many languages. What stands out in the rat race of the current age is the will of an individual to swim against the tide. It is survival of the fittest. As said in Shrimad Bhagawatham, Jeevo jeevasya jeevanam. Radhe krishna.

Radhe krishna, not in offensive but in a suggestive way, i am giving you my unsolicited suggestion, dear yegan, instead of spending your time on ghost websites, spend time in study of Shrimad Bhagawatham and Bhagawath Geetha. That would give peace to ghosts also. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna I am born a brahmin and am doing my daily chores as ordained by scriptures and there are a lot of other people who are born brahmins like me and doing their daily chores in south india. But, yes, I am also engaged in material world earning and saving money which is undoubtedly a sinful act as per scriptures. As for as the vision of sanathana dharma is concerned - it is broad and it covers the entire humankind with compassion. As far as liberation is concerned it is guaranteed in sanathana dharma to one and all irrespective of race, colour or varna to which one belong. Same with respect to knowledge. As far as the practice of the dharma is concerned - yes a good lot of people - ( its not just brahmins but a lot of people belonging to other varnas - if you so wish you can say caste) - are practicing - albeit with distortions - the system by birth. But yes, with the changing times, people belonging to Europe, Africa and other continents are attracted to sanathana dharma for its clarity in spiritual issues and an ocean of varnaless society of sanathana dharma is under creation. Organisations which are embraced by these people - like Ramakrishna mission, ISKCON, Divine life society provide them with every other knowledge they seek from the dharma. We people who are born as brahmins come under our respective lineages like people belonging to other varnas - since when - god knows. Many of us practicing the dharma as ordained by scriptures - albeit distortions. Yes many lot are completely carried away by the tide of new age. But this is a process. It has been explained in the scriptures that these things would happen thus. In shrimad Bhagawatham, in kali varnanam it is explained that - "viprathve suthra meva hi". That the only identity brahmins would have in kali is the suthra - the yagnyopaveetham. In spite of the fact that this is just the first part of kali yuga there are many people born as brahmins and who are even with out the "suthra". And many brahmins are keeping up the dharma against the tide of age. Its not that easy to simply deviate from the root of a system all of a sudden. It is only after considering all these probable happenings in kali - that god has ordained that only nama sankeerthanam would elevate people from the age old misery of samsaara. However disputable it may be, all other paths like yoga, karma, vedantha would not provide people with the solace as much they provide the knowledge. The history of sanths cutting across sampradaayas in the last one thousand years point to this fact undoubtedly. In nutshell, i feel people following varna system would continue to follow them - albeit with distortions and vast ocean of people would follow sanathana dharma - away from by birth system. But both would coexist peacefully and sanathana dharma would make its presence all over the world. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, A few rasika additions to the above episode. Draupadi was not such a careless housewife to clean vessels in such a way that something is still left out in the vessel. she cleaned it properly. When she felt she was in trouble, she thought of keshava. keshavam klesha nashanam. krishna came there. he told her draupadi, i am very hundgry. give me some food to eat. draupadi told him, oh! my lord, i am sorry. i have just cleaned the vessels. nothing would be there. but krishna told her, pl see something should have left. even if i get a bit of a remain of letuce, it would suffice. she went and found the remain of a piece of letuce. It was but krishna sankalpa. Radhe krishna

Radhe krishna, yes mahakala, you are right in your perspective. Being a krishna bhaktha, I am also biased towards the subject. when i recite bhagavatha, when i get verses which straight away say Naraayana as the supreme, involuntarily my mind look at those verses which say things otherwise. To put in nutshell, puraana pramaanam for krishna as the supreme - yes shruthi pramaanam for krishna as supreme to vishnu - nil its simply because whereas you find the name of vishnu in shruthi, you dont find the name of krishna. But that need not be the basis of an obstacle for a person engaged in krishna bhakthi. Since it is clearly explained in bhagawatham that krushnasthu bhagawan swayam. Bhagawath geetha comprising of 700 shlokas is a part of Mahabharatham comprising of 1,00,000 shlokas. Bhagawath geetha is not part of shruthi (vedas) Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, Varnashrama dharma has four varnas in the system which are by birth. This is so as per scriptures and adhered to as such by the followers of three basic schools of philosophy - advaita, visishtadvaita and dvaita. Caste is a latter invention which has no scriptural backing. This is also a fact that the system is dwindling. But the dwindling of the system is so as it is so predestined by the lord. it is not because of someone like or dislike the dwindling of the system. But as per the scriptures, people in the varna by birth would continue like vasordhara till the end of kaliyuga. whatever anarthas which are bound to happen will happen because these are predestined by god as to what would happen when the varnasangraha takes place in kali. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, Really very nice. These are aatmagunas given in a nutshell. Humility, patience, vinayatha, Soulabhyatha, Kaarunyatha - many more - these are aatmagunaas which every bhaktha is supposed to inculcate. The life and times of every haridasa cutting across sampradaya barriers are filled with these wonderful traits. Only a soul who can inculcate these attributes can ever thing of being nearer to god irrespective of the fact what sadhana he is doing and what grantha he is reciting and how many times. But it is a different story that aatmaguna and Bhagawath bhakthi are mutually complimentary to each other. The simple fact that one is in bhakthi - would mean he would develop aatmagunas. But it is the question of time - as to how early he picks up the traits. Radhe Krishna

Radhe krishna, Archa murthy of garuda above is very nice. i am surprised with your opening remarks "jaya sita rama" - mentioning it not as a matter of pointing out something. but finding this different from other ISCKON people saying, Haribol or Harekrishna. Building a temple or participating in the activity of building a temple could be only by poorva janma sukrutha, Guru krupa above all krishna krupa. Hope you are blessed with all. My prayers that these efforts result in a beautiful temple where scores of people participate in chanting hari nama, reciting Shrimad Bhagawatham and Bhagawath Geetha. (ofcourse with a beautiful goshala). Radhe krishna

Radhe krishna, Dear theist, I am penning this from a platform outside ISKCON. The guru sishya relationship is explained in markata maarjaala nyaya. markata - monkey maarjaala - cat A sishya is supposed to be attached to a guru like a baby monkey tightly holds its mother. A guru is supposed to be attached to his sishya like a mother cat wherever it goes takes its baby cat in its mouth. its a two way relationship. Radhe krishna

Radhe krishna, The main purpose for which I study Shrimad Bhagavatham is that it would enhance my krishna bhakthi. Shrimad Bhagawathakyoyam prathyakshaha krishna eva hi.. Every discussion from Shrimad Bhagawatham I engage in is in the form sharing ideas and it can never be in the form of any debate. Because I no that I am not a vidwan and neither I recite Shrimad Bhagawatham for the purpose of improving my vidwat. That krishna is an avatar of vishnu is a general and traditional perception and this can be supported by many scriptural quotations. If Gaudiya sampradaya teaches that krishna is the supreme and he is all pervasive - it should have been done by the sampradaya pravarathakas of this sampradaya (specially the six goswamis)- who are very learned and liberated people and whom I rever much although what is taught to me differ. As such, I can consider their interpretation to be one another interpretation from a noble soul. The nature of every shloka and every shabdha delivered by vyasacharya is so powerful that even Sandhi vichcedas would provide different interpretations. An addition or deletion of even a single alphabet like "cha" or "thu" would give altogether modified interpretations. But this is for those who are interested in debates which per se I dont feel on a wrong side - so far as it is helpful in further study of granthas and enhancement of knowledge rather than individual clash. Yes only from the platform of sharing my views I give below the following : Dwithiya skanda, adyaya 5 "Narayana paraa veda deva naraayanangajaha" Naarayana paraa loka Naaraayana paraa makhaha Naaraayana paro yogo Naarayana param thapaha Naaraayana param gnyanam Naarayana paraa gathihi you can straight away infer the purport But you go to Prathama skanda, adyaya 2 Vaasudeva paraa veda Vaasudeva makhaha vaasudeva paraa yoga vaasudeva paraha kriyaha Vaasudeva param gnyanam vaasudeva param thapaha vaasudeva paro dharmo vaasudeva paraa gathihi A straight interpretation - vasudevasya putraha - vaasudevaha here could mean shri krishna - and further interpretation accordingly. At the end of dashama skanda, go through santhaana gopaalam where krishna goes to vaikunta alongwith arjuna paying obeisances there to shriman narayana. Dashama skanda, 89 adyaya "Vavanda Aatmanam anantham achyuto jishnuscha tath darshana jaathasaadhwasaha Taavaaha bhuma parameshtinaam prabhuhu badhdhanjali sasmithamoorjaya gira" "Pibatha Bhagawatham rasamaalayam muhuraho rasikaha bhuvi bhavukaha" Although, Shrimad Bhagawatham has been taken by vidwans in vidwath sathas, basically the grantha is for rasikas who enjoy reciting, sharing and hearing verses from it Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, pankaja netra need not necessarily means lotus coming out of eyes - eyes looking like vikasitha kamalam. pankajanaba and padmanaba specifically refers to lord vishnu. But there are innumerable instances from shrimad bhagavatham where it is perfectly referred that krishna is avataram of lord vishnu. but,yes, they are one and the same. Out of bhakthi, to consider shri krishna as all pervasive is also not offensive. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, As gopikas says in gopika geetham : Thava kathamrutham thaptha jeevanam kavibhireeditham kalmashapaham every leela of krishna is smaraneeyam and would absolve us of kalmasha Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, eating vegetarian food improves the saativikata of an individual. Killing animals is a cruel thing which should be discouraged and vegetarianism should be encouraged. But by persuasion. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, It depends whether you engage yourself in gaudiya vaishnava sampradaya. In that case, you should get initiation from a guru of that sampradaya. Else there are many many sampradaayas and many sampradaya Acharyas are there from whom you can get initiation. What is more important is how sincere you are in your bhakthi rather than from whom you have got initiation. May Rahdaju showers us all with krishna bhakthi. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, There are so many occasions in Shrimad Bhagavatham to enunciate this fact. In kunthi sthuthi, kunthi praises lord krishna as : Namaha pankaja naabaya namaha pankaja maaline namaha pankaja nethraya namaha pankajangraye kunthi refers krishna as pankaja naaba - vishnu and not vice versa. through the sthuthi of kunthi vyasacharya also opines thus. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, To chant "Hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare" Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, Why should there be so much heart burn. One can recite the prahlada kruta nrusimha sthuthi in Shrimad Bhagavatham. The lord who liquidated hiranyakashipu and was in a rage became sombre on hearing prahlada sthuthi and in spite of the fact that prahlada did not expected anything from the lord showered him with boons. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, From Shrimad Bhagawatham, I can not recollect whether Prahlada chanted "Dwadasakshari". But I am sure I have not come across the fact that he has chanted "Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare" Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, wonderful collection of kavadi photos. My brother is a upaasaka of lord karthkeya and he would be happy to look at these pictures. Are these from Pazhani or south east asian countries? Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, The manthra is called "Shadakshari". Traditioanlly we believe that manthras are to be obtained from a guru by way of initiation. As such, I am sorry that I can not share it. But if you are so interested you can approach a guru to get initiation. If you are from Tamil Nadu, the composition, "Thirupugazh" is full of lord karthikeya. You can get to know of lord karthikeya from this grantha. But, my dear friend, the chanting of manthras are needed for upaasana. In another thread you were asking about "Panchakshari" and here it is another manthra. Where is in vaidic religion, one can not escape from paying obeisances to all the devathas in performance of shroutha smartha karmas, it would always be better if upaasana is directed towards one to derive the fruits of bhakthi. Ofcourse, there is nothing per se offensive, in even doing upaasana of many devathas, I strongly doubt whether any great soul has done upaasana of so many devathas at a time. Radhe Krishna

Radhe Krishna, The shabdha is split according to the purport one perceives in the context. Every split of word which is grammatically correct and is not in disagreement with other five upaangas like Siksha, Chandas etc., are agreed as a base for further vichaara. One easy way of splitting words while you recite big puraanas or ithihaasas like Shrimad Bhagawatham, Valmiki Ramaayana, Mahabharatham etc., is to hold on to the chandas or vrutha. By holding on to chandas or vrutha, the shabdha automatically gets split. But this would not be 100% correct. This would only be substantially correct. Only by splittng words in agreement with vyakarana and context would give proper split of words. This requires bhasha gyana. Rather than reciting 'lut lut' "dukrun' dukrun' - if one recites Granthas like Shrimad Bhagawatham, Vaalmiki Ramaayana, Shrimad Bhagawath Geeta, Hari Bhakthi vilasam, Radha Rasa sudhanidhi - may be albeit with mistakes of pronounciation mistakes - one would ultimately get dwelled in the nectar of these Hari bhakthi granthas thereby also gaining knowledge of the bhasha. This is the way as to how a child learns its mother tongue. A child is not taught the intricacies of a langauge. Rather by practice it learns it. Radhe krishna

Radhe Krishna, In shrivaishnava sampradaya, whenever the deity of the temple comes out during utsava times, normally the veda reciting goshti comes behind the deity and the goshti reciting "Naalayira divya prabhandam" goes in front of the deity. It is explained thus. Wheras vedas search which is the brahma vasthu and goes on saying "NethiNethi" - meaning not this not this, the goshti reciting the vedas comes behind the deity and the lord is after Naalayira Divyaprabhanda goshti where the alwars undoubtedly declared that shriman naarayana is the brahma vasthu. Radhe Krishna