Hinduism and Krsna Consciousness

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

Hinduism and Krsna Consciousness

 

<font color="red"> by

 

His Divine Grace Srila A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada </font color>

 

There is a misconception that the Krsna consciousness movement represents Hinduism. Krsna consciousness is in no way a faith or religion that seeks to defeat other faiths or religions. Rather, it is an essential cultural movement for the entire human society and does not consider any particular sectarian faith. This cultural movement is especially meant to educate people in how they can love God.

 

Sometimes Indians both inside and outside of India think that we are preaching the Hindu religion, but actually we are not. One will not find the word Hindu in the Bhagavad-gita. <font color="red">Indeed, there is no such word as Hindu in the entire Vedic literature. </font color> This word has been introduced by the Muslims from provinces next to India, such as Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia. There is a river called Sindhu bordering the north western provinces of India, and since the Muslims there could not pronounce Sindhu properly, they instead called the river Hindu, and the inhabitants of this tract of land they called Hindus. In India, according to the Vedic language, the Europeans are called mlecchas or yavanas. Similarly, Hindu is a name given by the Muslims.

 

India's actual culture is described in the Bhagavad-gita, where it is stated that according to the different qualities or modes of nature there are different types of men, who are generally classified into four social orders and four spiritual orders. This system of social and spiritual division is known as varnasrama-dharma. The four varnas, or social orders, are brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, and sudra. The four asramas, or spiritual orders, are brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa. The varnasrama system is described in the Vedic scriptures known as the Puranas. The goal of this institution of Vedic culture is to educate every man for advancement in knowledge of Krsna, or God. That is the entire Vedic program.

 

 

When Lord Caitanya talked with the great devotee Ramananda Raya, the Lord asked him, "What is the basic principle of human life?" Ramananda Raya answered that human civilization begins when varnasrama-dharma is accepted. Before coming to the standard of varnasrama-dharma there is no question of human civilization. Therefore, the Krsna consciousness movement is trying to establish this right system of human civilization, which is known as Krsna consciousness, or daiva-varnasrama -- divine culture.

 

In India, the varnasrama system has now been taken in a perverted way, and thus a man born in the family of a brahmana (the highest social order) claims that he should be accepted as a brahmana. But this claim is not accepted by the sastra (scripture). One's forefather may have been a brahmana according to gotra, or the family hereditary order, but real varnasrama-dharma is based on the factual quality one has attained, regardless of birth or heredity. Therefore, we are not preaching the present-day system of the Hindus, especially those who are under the influence of Sankaracarya, for Sankaracarya taught that the Absolute Truth is impersonal, and thus he indirectly denied the existence of God.

 

Sankaracarya's mission was special; he appeared to reestablish the Vedic influence after the influence of Buddhism. Because Buddhism was patronized by Emperor Asoka, twenty-six hundred years ago the Buddhist religion practically pervaded all of India. According to the Vedic literature, Buddha was an incarnation of Krsna who had a special power and who appeared for a special purpose. His system of thought, or faith, was accepted widely, but Buddha rejected the authority of the Vedas. While Buddhism was spreading, the Vedic culture was stopped both in India and in other places. Therefore, since Sankaracarya's only aim was to drive away Buddha's system of philosophy, he introduced a system called Mayavada.

 

Strictly speaking, Mayavada philosophy is atheism, for it is a process in which one imagines that there is God. This Mayavada system of philosophy has been existing since time immemorial. The present Indian system of religion or culture is based on the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, which is a compromise with Buddhist philosophy. According to Mayavada philosophy there actually is no God, or if God exists, He is impersonal and all-pervading and can therefore be imagined in any form. This conclusion is not in accord with the Vedic literature. That literature names many demigods, who are worshiped for different purposes, but in every case the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is accepted as the supreme controller. That is real Vedic culture.

 

The philosophy of Krsna consciousness does not deny the existence of God and the demigods, but Mayavada philosophy denies both; it maintains that neither the demigods nor God exists. For the Mayavadis, ultimately all is zero. They say that one may imagine any authority-whether Visnu, Durga, Lord Siva, or the sun-god-because these are the demigods generally worshiped in society. But the Mayavada philosophy does not in fact accept the existence of any of them. The Mayavadis say that because one cannot concentrate one's mind on the impersonal Brahman, one may imagine any of these forms. This is a new system, called pancopasana. It was introduced by Sankaracarya, but the Bhagavad-gita does not teach any such doctrines, and therefore they are not authoritative.

 

The Bhagavad-gita accepts the existence of the demigods. The demigods are described in the Vedas, and one cannot deny their existence, but they are not to be understood or worshiped according to the way of Sankaracarya. The worship of demigods is rejected in the Bhagavad-gita. The Gita (7.20) clearly states:

 

kamais tais tair hrta jnanah

prapadyante 'nya-devatah

tam tam niyamam asthaya

prakrtya niyatah svaya

 

"Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."

 

Furthermore, in the Bhagavad-gita (2.44), Lord Krsna states:

 

bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam

tayapahrta-cetasam

vyavasayatmika buddhih

samadhau na vidhiyate

 

"In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service does not take place."

 

Those who are pursuing the various demigods have been described as hrta jnanah, which means "those who have lost their sense." That is also further explained in the Bhagavad-gita (7.23):

 

antavat tu phalam tesam

tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam

devan deva-yajo yanti

mad-bhakta yanti mam api

 

"Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees reach My supreme abode."

 

The rewards given by the demigods are temporary, because any material facility must act in connection with the temporary body. Whatever material facilities one gets, whether by modern scientific methods or by deriving benedictions from the demigods, will be finished with the body. But spiritual advancement will never be finished.

 

People should not think that we are preaching a sectarian religion. No. <font color="blue"> We are simply preaching how to love God. </font color> There are many theories about the existence of God. The atheist, for example, will never believe in God. Atheists like Professor Jacques Monod, who won the Nobel prize, declare that everything is chance (a theory already put forward long ago by atheistic philosophers of India such as Carvaka). Then other philosophies, such as the karma-mimamsa philosophy, accept that if one goes on doing his work nicely and honestly, automatically the result will come, without need for one to refer to God. For evidence, the proponents of such theories cite the argument that if one is diseased with an infection and takes medicine to counteract it, the disease will be neutralized. But our argument in this connection is that even if one gives a man the best medicine, he still may die. The results are not always predictable. Therefore, there is a higher authority, daiva-netrena, a supreme director. Otherwise, how is it that the son of a rich and pious man becomes a hippie in the street or that a man who works very hard and becomes rich is told by his doctor, "Now you may not eat any food, but only barley water"?

 

The karma-mimamsa theory holds that the world is going on without the supreme direction of God. Such philosophies say that everything takes place by lust (kama-haitukam). By lust a man becomes attracted to a woman, and by chance there is sex, and the woman becomes pregnant. There is actually no plan to make the woman pregnant, but by a natural sequence when a man and a woman unite, a result is produced. The atheistic theory, which is described in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita as asuric, or demoniac, is that actually everything is going on in this way, because of chance and resulting from natural attraction. This demoniac theory supports the idea that if one wants to avoid children, he may use a contraceptive method.

 

Actually, however, there is a great plan for everything -- the Vedic plan. The Vedic literature gives directions regarding how men and women should unite, how they should beget children, and what the purpose of sex life is. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that sex life sanctioned by the Vedic order, or sex life under the direction of the Vedic rules and regulations, is bona fide and is acceptable to Him. But chance sex life is not acceptable. If by chance one is sexually attracted and there are children, they are called varna-sankara, unwanted population. That is the way of the lower animals; it is not acceptable for humans. For humans, there is a plan. We cannot accept the theory that there is no plan for human life or that everything is born of chance and material necessity.

 

Sankaracarya's theory that there is no God and that one can go on with his work and imagine God in any form just to keep peace and tranquillity in society is also more or less based on this idea of chance and necessity. Our way, however, which is completely different, is based on authority. It is this divine varnasrama-dharma that Krsna recommends, not the caste system as it is understood today. This modern caste system is now condemned in India also, and it should be condemned, for the classification of different types of men according to birth is not the Vedic or divine caste system.

 

There are many classes of men in society-some men are engineers, some are medical practitioners, some are chemists, tradesmen, businessmen, and so on. These varieties of classes are not to be determined by birth, however, but by quality. No such thing as the caste-by-birth system is sanctioned by the Vedic literature, nor do we accept it. We have nothing to do with the caste system, which is also at present being rejected by the public in India. Rather, we give everyone the chance to become a brahmana and thus attain the highest status of life.

 

Because at the present moment there is a scarcity of brahmanas, spiritual guides, and ksatriyas, administrative men, and because the entire world is being ruled by sudras, or men of the manual laborer class, there are many discrepancies in society. It is to mitigate all these discrepancies that we have taken to this Krsna consciousness movement. If the brahmana class is actually reestablished, the other orders of social well-being will automatically follow, just as when the brain is perfectly in order, the other parts of the body, such as the arms, the belly, and the legs, all act very nicely.

 

The ultimate goal of this movement is to educate people in how to love God. Caitanya Mahaprabhu approves the conclusion that the highest perfection of human life is to learn how to love God. The Krsna consciousness movement has nothing to do with the Hindu religion or any system of religion. No Christian gentleman will be interested in changing his faith from Christian to Hindu. Similarly, no Hindu gentleman of culture will be ready to change to the Christian faith. Such changing is for men who have no particular social status. But everyone will be interested in understanding the philosophy and science of God and taking it seriously. One should clearly understand that the Krsna consciousness movement is not preaching the so-called Hindu religion. We are giving a spiritual culture that can solve all the problems of life, and therefore it is being accepted all over the world.

 

[barney]

Beliefs of the Group

ISKCON's theology comes from the Bengali Gaudiya-Vaisnaya tradition of Hinduism in India that dates back to the eleventh or twelfth century 27 . Prabhupada is seen to be one of a lineage or guru-parampara of spiritual masters dating to Sri Caitanya (1485-1533), whom it regards as an incarnation of the supreme lord and god Krishna 28 . Caitanya spread the use of the holy name or mantra as a method to enable anyone to become Krishna conscious 29 .

 

Krishna is the name supreme or "all-attractive" (aka Rama, "the highest eternal pleasure"). Hare is a call to Krishna's divine energy 30 . A mantra is a chant or vibration of sound used by Krishnas to free their minds. The Krishna chant is as follows: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare . Chanting the mantra allows the Krishna consciousness to bring out the natural, pure state of the mind.

 

The Krishnas believe that truth is found in the scriptures (Bible, Koran, Torah) of a number of major religions; however, the Vedic texts, the oldest of all known scriptures, are the literal record of God's word 31 . Krishnas believe that Krishna consciousness is inside all people because each individual has a soul 32 . Because of physical pleasures and the spiritual debasement of the world, people are unaware of the true happiness that they can find through Krishna consciousness.

 

Because we are our souls and not our bodies, physical pleasures can cloud our minds and keep us from achieving Krishna consciousness. These physical pleasures, the eating of fish, meat or eggs, the use of intoxicants, illicit sex, and gambling and frivoulous sports, are called the four regulative principles 33 . Because of the rejection of these pleasures, Krishnas practice a strict vegetarian lifestyle 34 .

 

Hare Krishnas believe in the samsara or an eternal cycle of reincarnation. In one's subsequent births, one inherits karma (positive or negative consequences) from the religious works or dharma one has or has not performed 35 . The goal of one's life is to break away from the endless repetitive reincarnations and achieve mukti , liberation, and return to the original and natural state of Krishna Consciousness 36 . The only way to achieve mukti is through bhakti , a state of active worship, service, and devotion of the deity 37 . There are nine ways to achieve bhakti. There are nine processes of devotional service expounded as hearing the name and glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (sravana), chanting His glories ( kirtana ), remembering the Lord ( smarana ), serving the Lord's feet ( paricarya ), worshiping the Deity ( arcana ), offering obeisances unto the Lord ( vandana ), acting as the Lord's servant ( dasya ), making friends with the Lord ( sakhya ) and surrendering oneself fully to the Lord ( atmanivedana ).

 

Most fully initiated devotees of Krishna consciousness, live in Krishna temples and adopt a major transformation in appearance and dress 38 . Male devotees shave their heads except for a small tuft of hair at the back of the head called a sikha . Both sexes wear holy markings ( tilaka ) on their twelve locations on their body 39 . Men wear Indian style lower robes called dhotis with long, loose shirts called kurta 40 . Women wear Indian style garments called saris 41 . All wear small tulasi beads and a sack with a string of one hundred eight japa beads around their necks 42 . Each devotee must complete sixteen rounds on the japa beads everyday with one rotation of one hundred and eight beads constituting one round 43 .

 

Although the daily routines of devotees and Krishna temples varies somewhat due to the nature of the work performed, most temples have similar schedules 44 . Most devotees rise around 4AM. Devotees chant, perform religious ceremonies, and worship for a couple of hours 45 . After breakfast devotees perform duties in their communities and their temple for approximately three to four hours 46 . Following lunch, devotees perform sinkirtana (group chanting in public places), have class about the Vedic tests, and perform an arati ceremony 47 . Most devotees go to bed around 9PM.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Barney,

 

What material body do you currently inhabit?

 

 

[Guest guest]

Most fully initiated devotees of Krishna consciousness, live in Krishna temples and adopt a major transformation in appearance and dress

 

 

this is not exact, most of fully initiated devotees lives at home as private citizens

[Guest guest]

are you hindu?

if you are hindu what or who is god for you?

[Guest guest]

"According to Mayavada philosophy there actually is no God, or if God exists, He is impersonal and all-pervading and can therefore be imagined in any form."

 

First of all isn't this word Mayavada an invention of Hare Krishnas?, because I've never seen this word used before by any other movement. I think Advaita or non-dualism better describes it.

 

According to Advaitists they do believe that God IS the impersonal Brahman and the devtas are personalised forms of Brahman. And Sankaracharya did have spiritual experience of the devtas, but he thought they were all 'forms' of impersonal Brahman taking a form. Ultimately they don't believe God has a body, but may assume a form for a devotee.

 

What does Ramanuja and Visitadvaita say about this (Brahman as God) and how does Hare Krishnas view Ramanuja, Visistadvaita and Sri Vaishnavism?

Ramanuja taught qualified non-dualism right? And this is different to the dualism taught by Madhva > can anyone explain the similarities and differences?

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

Hare Krsna

 

First of all isn't this word Mayavada an invention of Hare Krishnas?

 

 

 

SWAMI B.G. NARASINGHA: There is no actual mayavada philosophy mentioned in the scriptures nor is there any ritvik system mentioned in the scriptures. So to establish either of these two conclusions is illusory.

-------

 

Ultimately they don't believe God has a body, but may assume a form for a devotee

 

 

 

Sriman Sankracharya said Krsna is Supreme, which his followers seem to ignore. Anyway I do not know much about this, which in fact is not a bad thing.

 

how does Hare Krishnas view Ramanuja, Visistadvaita and Sri Vaishnavism?

 

 

Bona-fide prabhu, Visistadvaita I have not heard.

 

Sorry I know certain things only /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Guest guest]

This is an excelent post Govindaram, the teachings of Krishna can not be tethered to so called "hindusim" and its various man made religions. It must be known that Krishna Consciousness is THE universal truth and not some religion, sect, or cult like hinduism, islam or christianity. Jai Sri Krishna and keep at it brotha!

-Amit

[Ganeshprasad]

Jai Ganesh

 

Re

(It must be known that Krishna Consciousness is THE universal truth and not some religion, sect, or cult like hinduism, islam or christianity. Jai Sri Krishna and keep at it brotha!

-Amit)

 

By all means sing the glories of your sampraday but to call hinduism a cult is pure and simple arrogant and ignorance.

 

Jai Shree Krishna

[Guest guest]

cult:

n.a system of religious worship esp. as expressed in ritual.

a devotion or homage to a person or thing (the cult of aestheticism).

b a popular fashion esp. followed by a specific section of society.

(attrib.) denoting a person or thing popularized in this way (cult film; cult figure).

[Guest guest]

"a system of religious worship esp. as expressed in ritual"

 

That pretty much says what KC is. By the way all that talk about it being "Universal truth" was said before by Hindus about Hinduism, especially Vedanta.

[Guest guest]

this definition is a very generic one... it does not hurt, nor it definites the inner meaning of any religion or krishna consciousness

 

hinduism is not one "universal truth".. hinduism is so many "universal truths" that it is very difficult to give a serious meaning to "hinduism" definition

 

many do not agree that at the origin there's hinduism.. many think that at the origin there was sanatana dharma and that sanatana dharma and hinduism are not synonims

[Guest guest]

There is the word of God and this is the Gita and affiliated scriptures, and then there are human concoctions, such as hinduism(a word invented by the muslims) or so many other so called religions, some that may have some degree of truth and/or ignorance. I believe its that simple.

-Amit

[barney]

Acharya Shankara

 

 

The Holy land of India was in the throes of spiritual darkness. The dark clouds of ignorance by way of excessive and selective emphasis on rituals and priesthood threatened to engulf the true spirit of Upanishads. Under the influence of so-called 'Kali Yuga', society was plagued with casteism, cruelty, and intolerable suffering inflicted upon animals as well as underprivileged people. Dharma was on decline. Material comforts and sensual enjoyment formed the basic aim in life; spirituality took beating in the onward march of crass superstitions in the name of religion.

 

The cry of mass despair resulted in the advent of Buddha and Mahavir that filled the religious vacuum to some extent with their teachings of compassion and non-injury. People desisted from animal sacrifices and envisaged some respite from the tyranny of kings and their liaison with merchant and Brahmin class. Kings and the emperors adopted the new religion of equality, ahimsa, and compassion. For some time peace and prosperity prevailed in the land.

 

However, in their attempt to cut the dross, Buddhism and Jainism removed the basic life sustaining principles as well. Truth contained in Vedas and Upanishads was discarded; these religions refused to accept the authority of Vedas and Upanishads. Hinduism was on decline, and with it the religion as such was in danger. Soon the inevitable happened. Buddhism also showed signs of distortions and degeneration, and was on wane in this Holy land of India. What were the factors responsible for this decline? It is difficult to say, but indiscreet enrollment of many people as monks, both men and women, was one of them. Invariably the monasteries breed corruption where monks or sannyasins are admitted without proper training, and when they are incompetent to lead pure and selfless life.

 

Be that as it may, the lurking fire for Truth, Liberation, and Freedom can never be extinguished from the hearts of restless souls - the seekers after truth. And moreover, whether we consciously know it or not, there is always the need for true religion, for the essential human nature is ever in search of and yearns for the Final Truth. In such chaotic conditions of dominance of priesthood and karma-kanda on one hand and degenerate Buddhism on the other, the society needed a soul of great spiritual knowledge and capacity to reestablish the dharma. And as assured in the Gita, this holy land did not disappoint her children then also.

 

Life

 

In the far off corner of southern India, presently the state of Kerala, was born (around 686 A.D., some maintain 788 A.D.) the saviour of true Hinduism, who reestablished the dharma of Upanishads, the eternal religion. Shankaracharya was personification of Knowledge and Compassion combined together! No adjectives would ever be enough to sing glories about his extraordinary life, supernatural powers, and razor sharp logic, reasoning and rational analysis of epistemology. His philosophy was based on one fundamental truth, truth of personal realization of the Highest Truth.

 

Shankara had taken to life of sannyasin at this tender age of boyhood. This boy monk had halo around him, nimbus of purity, divinity, and godliness. No one could come in his way, for now he had turned his back on the world to seek the highest truth of Advaita. Even as a child, he walked barefoot on the path full of thorns of hardship and austerity. What a tapas! But there was no fear in the heart or eyes of the child. He had heard that the great Yogi Patanjali lived in the state of samadhi in a cave at the banks of holy river Narmada as Govindpada. He had mentally accepted him as his Guru, and thus, he reached at the tender age of eight to the banks of Narmada and became disciple of the great Govindpada.

 

Right from his early childhood Shankara exhibited extraordinary divine powers, rarely found in any ordinary human being. Just at the age of eight, he had learnt all the Upanishads, the Vedas, and other important Hindu Scriptures. At the age of sixteen he had written commentaries on eleven major Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita. He composed most melodious verses and songs in the praise of Mother Goddess, Lord Krishna, and Lord Shiva. Unbelievable feat indeed that is possible only for supernatural soul.

 

Philosophy

 

Acharya Shankara preached Absolute Monism, also known as Advaita Vedanta. The basic philosophical tenet is based on only One Truth, without second - ek meva advitiya. This Reality is of the nature of Consciousness, and can be described as Sat Chit Ananda at the best! The Reality is also called as Brahman, Self, God, and Atman. The world, the nature, the Jivas and whatever we experience through our senses, as multifarious existence is illusory and therefore unreal - Maya. Thus Acharya Shankara is credited to have propounded Mayavada. Later many philosophers did not agree with his absolute monism, and they have had introduced various revisions in the philosophical basis of Advaita Vedanta of Shankara. It is very difficult to understand the nuances and subtleties therein; suffice here is to say that Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Vallabhacharya, Chaitannya, and many more of recent past - Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda - have enriched Vedanta for the benefit of humanity. For all these philosopher saints religion and philosophy were not two different things, but, in fact, religion was realization of these philosophical truths/principles in individual lives.

 

He established the true religion of Upanishads - Advaita Vedanta - to its highest glory. According to him transcendental realization of SELF was the sole purpose of human birth, only real knowledge, and that was the ultimate stage a person should strive to seek. For next sixteen years he wandered from place to place covering every nook and corner of this holy land, establishing Maths for spiritual renaissance and rediscovering the lost glory of Sanatana Dharma. Scores of people followed him as his monastic disciples, and householders also went along as followers of this great victorious 'king' who defeated army of scholars of Purva-Mimamsa, Samkhya, Buddhism, and Jainism one by one and freed the masses from the clutches of religious superstitions, uncertainty, and confusion.

 

Conclusion

 

Today Acharya Shankara is one of the most misunderstood philosophers and saints of India. People are afraid that he taught total Vairagya (renunciation) and Sannyasa (life of monk) only. Many believe that for Shankara actions and karma were of no importance, however, it must be said with great emphasis that such is and was never the case. He firmly advocated karma and bhakti as the means to purification of mind, which then becomes fit for realization of Atman. His Jnana Yoga was not dry philosophy, otherwise how can one explain his reestablishing idols in hundreds of temples all over India, his mother worship, and scores of most melodious songs and hymns in the praise of Ma Annapurna, Ganga, Shiva, Krishna, Pandurang, and so on!

 

In fact, as no philosophical discussion can ever be complete without the mention of his name, Acharya Shankara must be credited with reviving and reestablishing Sanatana Hindu dharma amidst the danger of Truth losing to declining religions of his time, as well as to those that were to come to India later.

 

– Dr. CS Shah

 

 

[Ganeshprasad]

Jai Ganesh

 

Re

(where's the problem?)

 

Cult; Oxford dictionary.

a system of religious devotion directed towards a particular figure or object. &#8594;a relatively small religious group regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.

 

I do not have to listen to this rubish.

if we start looking for faults, we will find it every where.

 

Jai Shree Krishna