You Have Got a Human Form . Now What

August 9, 2006

Hare Krishna,

Welcome to the human form of life. There is no greater opportunity than the human form of life for achieving permanent relief from all the miseries of material existence. This is why the Vedanta Sutra enjoins, "athato brahma jijnasa--Now that you've got a human form you must utilize it to realized the Absolute Truth." Just as a fish feels happy and enlivened in the water, similarly as soon as we seriously take up the pathway of reviving our original divine consciousness we become naturally ecstatic. There is a tremendous resurgence throughout the world of souls who are seeking relief from the pangs of material existence. What is the reason for such an upsurge of seeking out the Absolute Truth? When Krishna-Bhakti is spread , the atmosphere of the universe is uplifted.

Srila Prabhupada taught the science of bhakti (devotion to God) in its original pure form. He made all of his teachings fully available and accessible in his books. The best entry point into his teachings is his translation and commentary on the spiritual classic, the Bhagavad-gita. His edition is called "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" because it stands in stark contrast to the hundreds of other editions that are available. While other authors have given Bhagavad-gita as it is not, Srila Prabhupada has given Bhagavad-gita as it is. In the other editions invariably there are interpretations added by the translator that minimize the person Krishna. Some authors draw the conclusion that the person Krishna is simply a poetic symbol for the unborn, unmanifested that is within you, me and everything. Using the very words of Krishna they try to kill Krishna by twisting His words. Some editions state that by worshipping God you will become God . Such things are nowhere stated in the Bhagavad-gita. They are simply the fanciful imaginations of the spiritually incompetent translators/commentators . In Bhagavad-gita As It Is Srila Prabhupada simply takes the original Sanskrit and translates it into English without any distortion. Since the Bhagavad-gita is spoken in very simple Sanskrit, those who are skeptical can take a semester or two of introductory level Sanskrit at their nearest university and see for themselves the accuracy of Srila Prabhupada's translation. In the Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme God Himself is directly speaking to us. By His divine arrangement His devotee and eternal companion Arjuna plays the role of someone who has fallen into illusion for the purpose of enabling the Bhagavad-gita to be spoken for our benefit. We are ones who are actually in illusion. The Bhagavad-gita was spoken 5,000 years ago on a battlefield called Kurukshetra. That place is still there today. Even today you can go there by train. You will get down at the Kurukshetra station. Some atheistic commentators say that Kurukshetra is simply a symbol for the human body. But we can go to Kurukshetra and see the actual spot where the Bhagavad-gita was spoken. If you are serious to know the absolute truth you must carefully study the Bhagavad-gita. By carefully studying and applying the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita you will in fact fully realize the highest truth. We guarantee it.

QUESTION & ANSWER

Question

If I Had Free Will.. Why in the first place did we start our journey from the divine abode of absolute bliss, peace and love and enter this material world of turmoil that makes us restless, incomplete and think of going back to home? If I had had free will, I would never have made such a decision to go so far away from my home in the spiritual world. Lovingly and respectfully, Gokul

AnswerYou Do Have Free Will... You do have free will. And you did misuse it. Free will means that you can either use it or misuse it. If you cannot misuse it, it is not free. It is constrained. Just as a child out of curiosity may utilize his free will to stick his hand in the fire against his mother's good warning, you the living being decided to try enjoying separately from God. Now take advantage of your free will to re-establish yourself in your original constitutional position in the spiritual world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari