Kalah in Kalyug

Kaliyuga is the age of kalah or quarrel. The result is suffering. Sages diagnosed the basic cause of our problems; the cause is forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with Krishna and while remaining in such a state, indulging in various activities that lead to incremental suffering. The problem is that our mind always dwells in the past or in the future. To ensure that it remains in control, seeks continuously to cover up the present moment with the past and the future, so, our real Self and goal becomes covered with time, and true realisation is obscured by mind, which leads to losing the cherished feelings of certainty in life.

Suppose all five members of a family fall sick, and a doctor gives his diagnosis and prescribes medication. He also arranges for nursing so that medicines are administered in a timely fashion. A helper is also arranged for regular cleaning and maintenance. This house now has patients, doctors, nurses and attendants. Can we now call the house a hospital? On the same lines, this material world is dukhalaya, a place of suffering. Everyone is suffering due to one reason or other. And everyone is suffering due to misidentification of Self with body, mind and false ego due to which we always feel insecure and incomplete.

Eventually all these egos have to be relinquished, maybe now or maybe later. If we find it hard to believe, then we will learn this hard fact when we will feel death approaching. Death is a stripping away of all that is not us or that is not ours.

Lead a full life. Relish every moment as your own and leave all egos at bay, for you need not die every moment. And for final moment, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave the powerful method of becoming immortal. Krishna mentions in the Bhagavad Gita, “Leave every dharma and surrender unto me”. When you leave all dharma and perform all actions for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, every movement, every second of yours will be immortalised. Practise working for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord and finally, in death also you will become immortal. The choice is yours!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spirituality/vintage-wisdom/How-to-become-immortal/articleshow/7663714.cms

What is our worth??

Prabhupada gave an analogy which applies to everyone of us. He said “within existence, material creation within the Mahtattva is very a insignificant part and within the Mahatattva, within the cosmic manifestation, the particular universe we live in is just a tiny speck, it’s one of the smallest universes. Caitanya Caritamrita explains and this is all inconceivable, how many of you really believe it? But why not?

When Brahma came to Dwarka, to meet Krsna and Krsna wanted to teach Brahma how insignificant He was! That is part of being devotes, to realize how insignificant you are. So Lord Brahma comes and Krsna assistant comes into the quarter and says “Brahma is here to meet you” and Krsna asked non chalantly “ask which Brahma?” How many Brahma, there is only one Brahma in the universe, so “which Brahma? Which Brahma? No other Brahma, there is no one else like me, the four headed Brahma”, so Krsna at that time called other Brahmas from other universes to Dwarka and then He said “okay, now you can get the four headed Brahma”. The four headed Brahma, who is the father of all living entities within the universe comes in and he sees an eight headed Brahma, because Brahma has heads according to the size of universe he is controlling and he saw a Brahma with eight heads, there was one with sixteen heads, one with 32 heads, one with 64 heads, one with 108 Brahma, very auspicious and then he saw Brahmas with thousand heads, ten thousand heads, hundred thousand heads, millions of heads.

For Brahma saw this, four headed Brahma, and he felt like a little insect in a herd of elephants and he was very humble and they were going and putting their heads on Krsna’s lotus feet. They are all surrendering to Krsna and Krsna said “Alright, very good, just always remember me, never forget me and tell me if any demons come, now you can go back to your universes” and they all went back to their universes, then little four headed Brahma, understood his position and that little four headed Brahma happens to be able to see the whole universe with his eyes, that’s the kind of eyes God has given him, he sees the four directions and he lives 311 trillion years and he realized he was totally insignificant.

***
We have to put our faith in the word of God to understand and in order to understand the word of God, we must have conviction that through our limited mental, intellectual, sensual experiences, we cannot understand the inconceivable nature of the Lord, the inconceivable nature of all of His energies, including this external energy we are living in.

HariBol!

Vedic Divisions Of Time

SOURCE: Srimad Bhagavat Maha-purana, Canto III, Chapter XI
It is only recently that the Western scientists discovered the existence of the atom; but the following ancient Sanskrit verses show that the atom or anu was already known to the Asian seers thousands of years back.

This information is taken from the Paramahamsa Samhita Bhagavat-puranam: III/XI, which was originally spoken by Sri Sukadeva Goswami 30 years after the start of this current Kali Yuga or exactly 5070 years ago as of 1999 AD. I consider this information to be amazing, especially as it relates to modern scientific discoveries.
Remember, the following information dates back to 3070 BC.

English Translations
Verse 1: (The great sage) Maitreya said: “The smallest particle of material substance, which has not yet combined with any other similar particles, is called paramanu (a sub-atomic particle of matter). Paramanus always exist both in the dormant and manifest states of material existence. It is the combination of more than one paramanu (sub-atomic particle) which gives rise to the illusory concept of a (material) unit.

Verse 2: And the entire manifest material existence, taken as a non-specific whole, and before returning to an unmanifest (dormant) state, is defined as the largest (material) size.

Verse 3: We can understand the short and long dimensions of (material) time, as a potency of the Supreme all-pervading transcendental Lord, Who, in the form of the Sun, passes across the small and large dimensions of (material) things.

Verse 4: The amount of time it takes the Sun to pass across the smallest particle of matter is called paramanu which is the smallest measure of time, while the period it takes to cross the total expanse of material creation is called the longest measure of time.

Verse 5: A combination of two paramanus constitutes an anu (atom); and three anus (atoms) makes one trasarenu. Trasarenus are visable [to the naked eye] when seen floating upward in the air while viewed through rays of sunlight which enter a room through a latticed window.

Verse 6: Three Trasarenus is called a truti (8/13,500 part of a second), which is a measure of time it takes (the Sun) to travel across three Trasarenus. A combination of one hundred trutis is called a vedha (8/135 part of a second), and three vedas together is known as a lava (8/45 part of a second).

Verse 7: A combination of three lavas is called a nimesha or the twinkling of an eye (8/15 part of a second), while three such nimeshas equals a ksana (8/5 part of a second). A combination of five ksanas is known as a kastha (8 seconds), and fifteen kasthas is equal to a laghu (2 minutes).

Verse 8: A conglomerate of 15 laghus is called a nadika (30 minutes). Two nadikas equal a muhurta (hour), and six or seven nadikas equal a prahara (approximately 3 hours to 3 and a half hours, depending on long or short days), which is a fourth of a day by human calculation.

Verse 9: A nadika can be measured by taking a copper pot weighing six palas (8 tolas=ck dictionary) that can contain about 14 ounces of water and punching a small hole in the bottom using a 10-12″ long golden needle that weighs four mashas (ck dictionary); when the pot is placed in water it takes a nadika of time (about 30 minutes) to fill up (and sink).

Verse 10: Oh Vidura, who respect all beings, (the Sage Maitreya continued), for humans, day and night consist of four yamas (6 hour periods), while 15 such days & nights make up the bright or dark fortnight, by rotation.

Verse 11: Two of these fortnights (the bright and the dark) equals a masah (one month consisting of 30 days length), and this period is taken as one day and one night of the forefathers (Pitris in heaven). Two of these months equal a ritu or season, while six such months is called an ayana (one full movement of the Sun from North to South or South to North).

Verse 12: By the calculation of the demigods in heaven these two ayanas (12 months by human calculation) make up their celestial day and night which is one year for humans. And the full life span for humans is 100 years.
Just as the Gańgā is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Śambhu [Śiva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the greatest of all Purānas. [SB 12.13.16]
Hare Krishna!!

Theory of Avataras — Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya Ch.6-7

There is no end to the expansions and incarnations of Krsna. Lord Caitanya explains some of them to Sanatanajust to give him an idea of how the Lord expands and enjoys. These conclusions are also confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.26). There it is said that there is no limit to the incarnations of the Supreme Lord, just as there is no limit to the waves of the ocean.
There are six kinds of incarnations: (1) the purusa-avatara, (2) the lila-avatara, (3) the guna-avatara, (4) the manvantara-avatara, (5) the yuga-avatara, and (6) the saktyavesa-avatara.

PURUSH AVATARAS

Lord Caitanya continued to explain to Sanatana Gosvami that the expansions of Lord Krsna who come to the material creation are called avataras, or incarnations. The word avatara means “One who descends,” and in this case the word specifically refers to one who descends from the spiritual sky. In the spiritual sky there are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and from these planets the expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead come into this universe. The first descent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the expansion of Sankarsana is the purusa incarnation, Maha-Visnu. It is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.1) that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends as the first purusa incarnation of the material creation, He immediately manifests sixteen elementary energies. Known as the Maha-Visnu, He lies within the Causal Ocean, and it is He who is the original incarnation in the material world. He is the Lord of time, nature, cause and effect, mind, ego, the five elements, the three modes of nature, the senses and the universal form. Aithough He is master of all objects movabie and immovable in the material world, He is totally independent.
The influence of material nature cannot reach beyond the Viraja, or Causal Ocean, as confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.10). The modes of material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance), as well as material time, have no influence on the Vaikuntha planets. On those planets the liberated associates of Krsna live eternally, and they are worshiped both by the demigods and the demons. Material nature acts in two capacities as maya and pradhana. Maya is the direct cause, and pradhana refers to the elements of the material man ifestation. When the first purusa-avatara, Maha-Visnu, glances over the material nature, material nature becomes agitated, and the purusaavatara thus impregnates matter with living entities. Simply by the glance of the Maha-Visnu, consciousness is created, and this consciousness is known as mahat-tattva, The predominating Deity of the mahat-tattva is Vasudeva. This created consciousness is then divided into three departmental activities according to the three gunas, or modes of material nature. Consciousness in the mode of goodness is described in the Eleventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The predominating Deity of the mode of goodness is called Aniruddha. Consciousness in the mode of material passion produces intelligence, and the predominating Deity in this case is Pradyumna. He is the master of the senses. Consciousness in the mode of ignorance causes the production of ether, the sky and the sense of hearing. The cosmic manifestation is a combination of all these modes, and in this way innumerable universes are created. No one can count the number of universes. These innumerable universes are produced from the pores of the Maha-Visnu’s body. As innumerable particles of dust pass through the tiny holes in a screen, similarly from the pores of the Maha-Visnu’s body innumerable universes emanate. As He breathes out, innumerable universes are produced, and as He inhales, they are annihilated. All of the energies of the Maha-Visnu are spiritual, and they have nothing to do with the material energy. In Brahma-samhita (5.48) it is stated that the predominating deity of each universe, Brahma, lives only during one breath of the Maha-Visnu. Thus Maha-Visnu is the original Supersoul of all the universes and the master of all universes as well. The second Visnu incarnation, the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, enters each
and every universe, spreads water from His body, and lies down on that water. From His navel, the stem of a lotus flower grows, and on that lotus flower the first creature, Brahma, is born. Within the stem of that lotus fiower are fourteen divisions of planetary systems, which are created by Brahma. Within each universe the Lord is present as the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and He maintains each universe and tends to its needs. Although He is within each material universe, the influence of material energy cannot touch Him. When it is required, this very same Visnu takes the form of Lord Siva and annihilates the cosmic creation. The three secondary incarnations–Brahma, Visnu and Siva–are the predominating deities of the three modes of material nature. The master of the universe, however, is the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, who is worshiped as the Hiranyagarbha Supersoul. The Vedic hymns describe Him as having thousands of heads. Although He is within the material nature, He is not touched by it. The third incarnation of Visnu, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is also an incarnation of the mode of goodness. He is also the Supersoul of all living entities, and He resides on the ocean of milk within the universe.

LILA AVATARAS

lila-avataras, or “pastime” avataras. Of these the Lord Chaitanya points out that there is no limit. However, He describes some of them–for example, Matsya, Kurma, Raghunatha, Nrsimha, Vamana and Varaha.

GUNA AVATARAS

guna-avataras, or qualitative incarnations of Visnu, are three–Brahma, Visnu and Siva.
Brahma is one of the living entities, but due to his devotional service he is very powerful. This primal living entity, master of the mode of material passion, is directly empowered by the Garbhodakasayi Visnu to create innumerable living entities. If in some kalpa there is no suitable living entity capable of acting in Brahma’s capacity, Garbhodakasayi Visnu Himself manifests as Brahma and acts accordingly.
Similarly, by expanding Himself as Lord Siva, the Supreme Lord is engaged when there is a need to annihilate the universe. Lord Siva, in association with maya, has many forms, which are generally numbered at eleven. Lord Siva is not one of the living entities; he is, more or less, Krsna Himself. The example of milk and yogurt is often given in this regard–yogurt is a preparation of milk, but still yogurt cannot be used as milk. Similarly, Lord Siva is an expansion of Krsna, but he cannot act as Krsna, nor can we derive the spiritual restoration from Lord Siva that we derive from Krsna. The essential difference is that Lord Siva has a connection with material nature, but Visnu or Lord Krsna has nothing to do with material nature. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.88.3) it is stated that Lord Siva is a combination of three kinds of transformed consciousness known as vaikarika, taijasa and tamasa.
The Visnu incarnation, although master of the modes of goodness within each universe, is in no way in touch with the influence of material nature. Although Visnu is equal to Krsna, Krsna is the original
source. Visnu is a part, but Krsna is the whole. He is as powerful as Krsna, but the original Visnu is Krsna.
Brahma and Lord Siva are obedient servants of the Supreme Lord, and the Supreme Lord as Visnu is an expansion of Krsna.

MANVANTRA AVATARAS

there is no possibility of cou nting the manvantara-avataras. In one kalpa, or one day of Brahma, fourteen Manus are manifest. One day of Brahma is calculated at 4 billion 320 million years, and Brahma lives for one hundred years on this scale. Thus if fourteen Manus appear in one day of Brahma, there are 420 Manus during one month of Brahma, and during one year of Brahma there are 5,040 Manus. Since Brahma lives for one hundred of his years, it is caiculated that there are 504,000 Manus manifest during the lifetime of one Brahma. Since there are innumerable universes, no one can imagine the totality of the manvantara incarnations. Because all the universes are produced simultaneously by the exhalation of the Maha-Visnu, no one can begin to calculate how many Manus are manifest at one time. Each Manu, however, is called by a different name.

YUGA AVATARAS.

There are four yugas, or millennia– Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali–and in each millennium the Supreme Lord incarnates, and each incarnation has a different color according to the yuga. In the Satya-yuga the color of the principal incarnation is white. In the Treta-yuga the color is red, in the Dvapara-yuga the color is blackish (Krsna), and in the Kali-yuga the color of the principal incarnation is yellow (Caitanya Mahaprabhu). This is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.8.13) by th e astrologer Gargamuni, who calculated Krsna’s horoscope in the house of Nanda Maharaja. In the Satya-yuga the process of self-realization was meditation, and this process is taught by the white incarnation of God. This incarnation gave a benediction tothe sage Kardama by which he could have an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead as his son. In the Satyayuga, everyone meditated on Krsna, and each and every living entity was in full knowledge. In this present age, Kali-yuga, people who are not in full knowledge are still attempting this meditative process which was recommended for a previous age. The process for self-realization recommended in the Treta millennium was the performance of sacrifice, and this was taught by the red incarnation of God. In the Dvapara millennium, Krsna was personally present, and He was worshiped by everyone by the mantra:
namas te vasude vaya
namah sankarsanaya
pradyumnayaniruddhaya
tubhyam bhagavate namah
“Let me offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha.” This was the process of self-realization for the Dvapara age. In the next millennium- -this present age of Kali-yuga–the Lord incarnates to preach the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. In this age the Lord is yellow (Caitanya Mahaprabhu), and He teaches people love of God by chanting the names of Krsna. This teaching is carried out personally by Krsna, and He exhibits love of Godhead by chanting, singing and dancing with thousands of people following Him.

SAKTYAVESA AVATARAS

The saktyavesa incarnations are of two kinds–direct and indirect. When the Lord Himself comes, He is called saksat, or a direct saktyavesa-avatara, and when He empowers some living entity to represent Him that living entity is called an indirect or avesa incarnation. Examples of indirect avataras are the four Kumaras, Narada, Prthu and Parasurama. These are actually living entities, but there is specific power given to them by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When a specific opulence of the Supreme Lord is invested in specific entities, they are called avesa-avataras. Examples of direct or saksad-avataras are the Sesa incarnation and the Ananta incarnation. In Ananta the power for sustaining all planets is invested, and in the Sesa incarnation the power for serving the Supreme Lord is invested.

ALSO:
KALPA AVATAR. A list of incarnations is given in Srimad- Bhagavatam (1.3), and they are as follows: (1) Kumaras, (2) Narada, (3) Varaha, (4) Matsya, (5) Yajna, (6) Nara-narayana, (7) Kardami Kapila, (8) Dattatreya, (9) Hayasirsa, (10) Hamsa, (1 1) Dhruvapriya or Prsnigarbha, (12) Rsabha, (13) Prthu, (14) Nrsimha, (15) Kurma, (16) Dhanvantari, (17) Mohini, (18) Vamana, (19) Bhargava (Parasu rama), (20) Raghavendra, (21) Vyasa, (22) Pralambari Balarama, (23) Krsna, (24) Buddha (25) Kalki. Because almost all of these twenty-five lila-avataras appear in one day of Brahma, which is called a kalpa, they are sometimes called kalpa-avataras.

The Gita Condensed

A concise refresher on Lord Krishna’s immortal teachings.

In 1968 His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada published the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, which has since sold tens of millions of copies in dozens of languages. As a lifetime devotee of Krishna and a consummate Sanskritist, Srila Prabhupada spells out the clear conclusions of the Gita that are often obscured by arms-length commentators with their own agenda. Srila Prabhupada’s purports (commentaries) illuminate for us the verses spoken by Krishna and Arjuna. The following condensed version of their historic conversation combines key points from the verses and purports in the same sequence as the original. These are not direct quotes and thus cannot replace the complete Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Instead, this version provides an overview of the philosophical thread of the Gita. It is consistent with Srila Prabhupada’s comprehensive edition and can be used for introduction or review.

Part 1: Action

Arjuna: Krishna, please drive my chariot between the two armies. Let me see which followers of that criminal Duryodhana have come here to fight.
Krishna (Steering the fine golden chariot between the two huge armies facing each other on the vast, flat battlefield): Just see, cousin, all the great warriors assembled here.
Arjuna (aghast): Krishna, I can’t fight all these dear relatives, teachers, and elders. My whole family would be destroyed. I’d rather die, or just live as a beggar.
Krishna (smiling kindly) : You forget that everyone is an eternal soul, not a physical body. You can kill the body but not the soul.
Arjuna: Krishna, how could I kill these worshipable men? Any victory would be tainted with their blood. I don’t know what to do. Please instruct me.
Krishna: My friend, you’re a warrior. Fight, but not for yourself. Fight for the Supreme. Then you’re acting as the eternal soul you truly are. Fight all varieties of materialism and be a yogi.
Arjuna: What do yogis do? How do they behave?
Krishna: Yogis perform their external duties without attachment because they have mastered their mind and senses. They enjoy an inner happiness that is lost to most people.
Arjuna: You’re telling me to be happy within and fight at the same time. That’s a contradiction.
Krishna: You can’t live without acting, Arjuna. Instead of acting for yourself, turn what you do into a sacrifice for the Supreme. Then you’ll be happy.
Arjuna: What is this power pushing me toward acting selfishly?
Krishna: Lust, Arjuna, born of festering desire. Lust destroys your ability to think clearly. For a long time I’ve been teaching people how to use yoga to conquer lust. I taught the Sun-god, who taught his son, who started a long chain of teachers. Somehow, though, the original knowledge has been lost, so today, dear friend, I’ll teach it to you Myself.
Arjuna: How could You teach the Sun-god, who’s so much older than You?
Krishna: Ordinary bodies age and die, Arjuna, but My body is spiritual and never deteriorates. From time to time I appear in society to help the good people and to vanquish the bad. Good people get rid of their lust and turn their love to Me. But there are many kinds of people, and I respond to everyone individually.
Act for My sake, Arjuna. When you do, everything involved—your work, your equipment, your knowledge—becomes part of a blissful offering, a sacrifice for the Supreme. There are many ways to sacrifice, Arjuna, so you need to find a truly enlightened guru to help you sort them out.
Acting without attachment and acting for Me are both forms of yoga. However, by acting for Me you automatically act without attachment. Remember that I’m your friend, that I own everything, that all action is meant for Me. Then you’ll have endless inner peace. You’ll do your duty in perfect yoga, or union with Me. To do this you may find it helpful to perform the long austerities involved with the mystic process of yoga and meditation.
Arjuna: Making the mind sit still is like trying to control the wind. Mystic yoga seems too hard for me.
Krishna: Yes, it is hard, but it’s possible.
Arjuna: What if I start the path of yoga and fail? Then I’m a loser, materially and spiritually.
Krishna: If you do the right thing, how can you lose? At least in your next lifetime you’ll be better off. On the other hand, if you simply learn to serve Me with love, at death you’ll come to Me and leave this horrible world.

Part 2: Devotion

Krishna: Arjuna, just listen. You’re one of the rare souls who want to know the truth. Just try to understand these points:
Everything comes from Me, Arjuna, even the three types of materialism, which affect everyone except Me, their creator.
People who are materialistic, arrogant, falsely wise, or dull ignore Me. People turn to Me when they’re curious, desperate, sad, or wise.
People who think I’m just a mouthpiece for Brahman, the formless spirit, never get to know Me personally. But wise people who serve Me come to Me after death.
Arjuna: Tell me about this formless spirit, please, as well as the gods, the soul, karma, and Your presence in my heart. And, please, how do I know You at death?
Krishna: The formless spirit, or Brahman, is my spiritual effulgence, and the spark-like individual spirit souls are of the same spiritual substance. By nature, the individual souls serve, but if they choose to serve this endlessly changing world of matter they suffer karma. As for the gods, I create them to manage this material world. And yes, I do live in your heart as the Supersoul, Arjuna.
As for remembering Me at death, practice by thinking of Me as you fight. At other times think of Me as both ancient and fresh, grand and minuscule, but always as a person, shining like the sun. Mystic yogis train themselves with long, deep, mechanical meditation to leave their bodies at just the right time. That helps them proceed to Me in the spiritual world–the only world free of the extended misery of birth and death. But you can get there simply by remembering Me. In fact, by serving Me you gain whatever you might achieve from study, austerity, charity, renunciation, or any sort of religion.
Let Me tell you more. These lessons comprise the king of education, Arjuna. Because you have no envy toward Me you’re able to understand them. You must simply listen with faith.
I create the universe and everything in it, but I remain an individual, untouched by My creation. Fools see Me as an ordinary man, but great souls bow to Me and serve Me with love. Some offer great sacrifices to the gods instead, for they like the material enjoyment the gods can give them. But if one lovingly offers Me a little water or a flower or some vegetarian food, I accept it.
Even if you make a mistake, I’ll still accept you; I’m equal to everyone but partial to My devotees. Be My devotee, and I promise you’ll come to Me.
In short, just know that I create everything. Always serve and speak about Me, and you’ll be happy, for I, sitting in your heart, shall shine the lamp of knowledge and destroy all the ignorance in your life.
Arjuna: I love listening to You, Krishna. It seems that only You can truly know Yourself. How can I know You?
Krishna: When you see the best of anything—the shark among the fish, or lion among beasts, for example—think of Me. Yet anything wonderful you see in this world is just a spark of My true splendor.
Arjuna: Krishna, You have kindly dispelled my illusion. Although I see You now as You are, if You think I am able to behold it, please show me Your form in which You are the universe and everything within it.
Krishna: Yes, Arjuna. I shall give you divine eyes to see this divine vision.
Arjuna (amazed): Krishna, I see the huge gods with their weapons and jewels, dispersed on every planet, dazzling with every imaginable color. The blazing glory of it all surrounds and blinds me. And yet the gods bow in fear before You. Truly You are everything, Krishna! You see everything with your eyes, which are the sun and moon.
(fearful) Now I see You crushing the bodies of every living being with Your terribly sharp teeth. My relatives, my enemies—everyone is rushing into Your mouth! Why are You doing this?
Krishna: I am time, the death of all. All these warriors are already as good as dead, Arjuna. Fight as My weapon and win your fame!
Arjuna (trembling): Almighty Lord, I bow to You from every side! Every living thing should glorify You, but I have foolishly treated You as a friend. Please forgive me, as a father forgives a son or a wife forgives a husband. And please, let me see You again as Krishna.
Krishna: My universal form has frightened you, Arjuna. Be calm. Now see Me in the form you hold dear. Arjuna, even by performing every kind of good deed, a person will not see Me like this, as I am, as Krishna. Only by loving devotion can I be truly seen.
Arjuna: My Lord, should I contemplate You as Krishna or as infinite, formless spirit?
Krishna: Some people meditate on Me as an endless spirit. That kind of meditation is troublesome, but eventually they may achieve Me. But if you directly think of Me, I swiftly rescue you from the sea of birth and death.
If you can’t always think of Me, then hear and chant about me in the practice of bhakti, or devotional yoga. If you can’t do that, then work for Me, or at least work for charity, because detachment brings peace—more so than mere knowledge.
Those who think of Me in devotion show wonderful qualities of kindness, tolerance, steadiness, and determination. They love Me, and I love them.

Part 3: Spiritual Knowledge

Arjuna: Krishna, what is the relationship of the body and the soul?
Krishna: The body is like a field of action for the soul. An ordinary soul interacts with the body by using the senses and by feeling emotions such as lust and hate. However, taking help from a guru, a wise soul becomes detached from the material body. Such a person is humble, equipoised, and truly independent.
As the Supersoul, I offer guidance to all souls, however wise or unwise they may be. Each soul can choose between Me and materialism. Those who choose materialism suffer repeated birth and death in different species. Those who choose Me come to see the whole situation—the compassionate Supersoul and the plight of a spiritual soul encased in dull matter.
Let me tell you more about matter. It comes in three varieties, or modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. As the seed-giving father, I bring dead matter to life by implanting the soul. Then the modes take over. Goodness forces the soul to happiness, passion to ambition, and ignorance to delusion. The three modes compete for supremacy, knocking you, the eternal soul, from one material situation to the next. Only when you are free of their control can you taste real happiness.
Arjuna: How does one rise above the three modes, and having conquered them, how does one behave?
Krishna: To conquer the modes and be free of karma, simply love and serve Me in every circumstance. Then as the modes come and go you’ll observe them without loving or hating them. At that point you’ll be unshakably calm and treat everyone equally.
Arjuna, imagine this world as a great, ancient banyan tree with branches that grow down to become roots. No one can figure out where such a tree begins or ends. If you want to escape its entangling branches, you must cut it down. Then you can enter My self-illumined abode, where there is no need of sunlight or electricity. When you go there, you won’t miss this mortal banyan tree.
I want everyone to come to My abode, so I sit in every heart as the Supersoul, offering guidance. I also write the Vedic literature so that people can understand Me. I exist beyond both the materialist and the enlightened soul. If you know Me, you’ll be wise and everything you do will come out perfect.
I’ve told you something about enlightened souls; they’re honest, pure, self-controlled, and detached. You are such a person, Arjuna, but I’d like you to hear something about the materialistic, atheistic demons.
Demons don’t know what to do or what not to do. They’re unclean, dishonest, and preoccupied with sex. Thinking My creation to be their personal property, they build costly, destructive weapons and feel powerful and proud. Their occasional pretenses of religion or charity are meaningless, for lust enslaves them. Chained to materialism by greed and anger, they fall into lower species of life birth after birth.
The Vedic scriptures, which could save them from such a fate, are of no interest to demons.
Arjuna: What becomes of those who don’t refer to the Vedas but make up their own ways of worship?
Krishna: Religion by imagination is a product of the three modes. In goodness one worships the gods, in passion, powerful demons, and in ignorance, ghosts.
The three modes affect everything, even your food. Juicy, fatty, wholesome foods are in goodness; bitter, salty, pungent foods are in passion, and stale, cold, putrid foods are in ignorance. The modes also influence what kind of charity you give and what kind of discipline you impose on yourself. Still, you should not renounce charity or penance.
Arjuna: What does it mean, then, for one to be renounced?
Krishna: Renunciation means detachment from the fruits of your work. One in the mode of goodness works dutifully but renounces the result. One in the mode of passion renounces work when it grows troublesome. One in ignorance renounces work out of laziness or confusion.
By seeing others as souls and acting with that understanding, you will stay in goodness. That takes a determined mind, but the initial trouble will later bring you happiness. Happiness in passion seems splendid at the start but ends up being painful. Happiness in ignorance, such as taking intoxicants, is bitter from beginning to end.
Those who work in goodness, or brahmanas, are often judges, teachers, or priests.
Kshatriyas, those who work in passion, are often administrators, police or soldiers. Passion and ignorance combine to produce vaishyas, businesspeople or farmers. Those largely in ignorance are called shudras, and they work as artisans, laborers or servants.
Regardless of the kind of work that best suits you, by doing your work for the Supreme you turn it to yoga and become enlightened. For that reason it’s better to do your own work imperfectly than someone else’s perfectly.
My dear Arjuna, here is a final summary of what I have been teaching you.
By serving Me you will learn to act and live in simple wisdom, controlling your mind and senses and renouncing the fruits of your work. Soon you will enjoy peace and insight as you achieve unprecedented happiness and appreciation for everyone. In such a state of mind you will attain My abode.
Think about Me and stay with My devotees; I will clear every obstacle from your path. If you become egoistic and think that you can make it on your own, you’ll be lost.
You’re a warrior, Arjuna; because of your nature you’ll fight no matter what. Fight for Me and you’ll return to your original home in My abode.
Now I’ve told you the secrets of perfection. Think over what I’ve said, and then do whatever you wish to do.
Since you are very, very dear to Me, I’ll conclude with this:
Think about Me always. Become My devotee. Worship Me and give Me homage, and you will return to Me. Give up all other duties, Arjuna, and submit yourself to Me. Don’t worry; I’ll free you from the results of any past mistakes.
Please, repeat these words of Mine, but only to pious people. That too shall ensure that you will return to Me, for no one is more dear to Me than one who shares this message. And anyone who hears it faithfully, without envy, attains to the worlds of the pious.
Arjuna, do you understand?
Arjuna (firmly): Infallible Krishna, You have destroyed my illusions and doubts. By your kindness I have remembered who I really am. Now, according to Your instructions, I shall fight.

The Ekadashi Story

“At the beginning of the material creation, the Supreme Lord created the moving and non-moving living entities within this world made of five gross material elements. Simultaneously, for the purpose of punishing the evil human beings, He created a personality whose form was the embodiment of the worst kinds of sin (Papa-purusha). The different limbs of this personality were constructed of various sinful activities. His head was made of the sin of murdering a brahmana, his two eyes were the form of drinking intoxicants, his mouth was made from the sin of stealing gold, his ears were the form of the sin of having illicit connection with the spiritual master’s wife, his nose was of the sin of killing one’s wife, his arms the form of the sin of killing a cow, his neck was made of the sin of stealing accumulated wealth, his chest of the sin of abortion, his lower chest of the sin of having sex with another’s wife, his stomach of the sin of killings one’s relatives, his navel of the sin of killing those who are dependent on him, his waist of the sin of egotistical self-appraisal, his thighs of the sin of offending the guru, his genitals of the sin of selling one’s daughter, his buttocks of the sin of telling confidential matters, his feet of the sin of killing one’s father, and his hair was the form of all sorts of less severe sinful activities. In this way, a horrible personality embodying all sinful activities and vices was created. His bodily color is black, and his eyes are yellow. He inflicts extreme misery upon sinful persons.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, upon seeing this personality of sin began to think to Himself as follows: ‘I am the creator of the miseries and happiness for the living entities. I am their master because I have created this personality of sin, who gives distress to all dishonest, deceitful and sinful persons. Now I must create someone who will control this personality’. At this time Shri Bhagavan created the personality of Yamaraja and the different hellish planetary systems. Those living entities who are very sinful will be sent after death to Yamaraja, who will in turn, according to their sins, send them to an appropritate hellish region to suffer.

“After these adjustments had been made, the Supreme Lord, who is the giver of distress and happiness to the living entities, went to the house of Yamaraja, with the help of Garuda, the king of birds. When Yamaraja saw that Lord Vishnu had arrived, he immediately washed His feet and made an offering unto Him. He then had Him sit upon a golden throne. The Supreme Lord Vishnu became seated upon the throne, whereupon He heard very loud crying sounds from the southern direction. He became surprised by this and inquired of Yamaraja, ‘From where is this loud crying coming?’

“Yamaraja in reply said, ‘O Deva! The different living entities of the earthly planetary systems have fallen to the hellish regions. They are suffering extremely for their misdeeds. The horrible crying is because of suffering from the inflictions of their past bad actions.’

“After hearing this the Supreme Lord Vishnu went to the hellish region to the south. When the inhabitants saw who had come they began to cry even louder. The heart of the Supreme Lord Vishnu became filled with compassion. Lord Vishnu thought to Himself, ‘I have created all this progeny, and it is because of Me that they are suffering.’”

Vyasadeva continued: “O Jaimini, just listen to what the Supreme Lord did next. After the merciful Supreme Lord thought over what He had previously considered, He suddenly manifested from His own form the deity of the lunar day Ekadashi. Afterward, the different sinful living entities began to follow the vow of Ekadashi and were then elevated quickly to the abode of Vaikuntha. O my child Jaimini, therefore the lunar day of Ekadashi is the selfsame form of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, and the Supersoul within the heart of the living entities. Shri Ekadashi is the utmost pious activity and is situated as the head among all vows.

“Following the ascension of Shri Ekadashi, that personality who is the form of sinful activity gradually saw the influence that she, Ekadashi, had. Thus, he approached Lord Vishnu with doubts in his heart and began offering many prayers, whereupon Lord Vishnu became very pleased and said, ‘I have become very pleased by your nice offerings. What boon is it that you want?’

“The Papa-purusha replied, “I am Your created progeny, and it is through me that you wanted distress given to the living entities who are very sinful. But now, by the influence of Shri Ekadashi, I have become all but destroyed. O Prabhu! After I die all of Your parts and parcels who have accepted material bodies will become liberated and return to the abode of Vaikuntha (the spiritual domain). If this liberation of all living entities takes place, then who will carry on Your activities? There will be no one to enact the pastimes in the earthly planetary systems! O Keshava! If you want these eternal pastimes to carry on, then You please save me from the fear of Ekadashi. No type of pious activity can bind me. But Ekadashi only, being Your own manifested form, can impede me. Out of fear of Shri Ekadashi I have fled and taken shelter of men; animals; insects; hills; trees; moving and non-moving living entities; rivers; oceans; forests; heavenly, earthly and hellish planetary systems; demigods; and the Gandharvas. I cannot find a place where I can be free from the fear of Shri Ekadashi. O my Master! I am a product of Your creation, so therefore very mercifully direct me to a place where I can reside fearlessly.’”

Vyasadeva then said to Jaimini, “After saying this, the embodiment of all sinful activities (Papa-purusha) fell down at the feet of the Supreme Lord Vishnu, who is the destroyer of all miseries and began to cry.
“After this, Lord Vishnu, observing the condition of the Papa-purusha, with laughter began to speak thus: ‘O Papa-purusha, rise up! Don’t lament any longer. Just listen, and I’ll tell you where you can stay on the lunar day of Ekadashi. On the date of Shri Ekadashi, which is the benefactor of the three planetary systems, you can take shelter of foodstuffs in the form of grains. There is no reason to worry about this any more, because My form as Shri Ekadashi will no longer impede you.’ After giving direction to the Papa-purusha, the Supreme Lord Vishnu disappeared and the Papa-purusha returned to the performance of his own activities.

“Therefore, those persons who are serious about the ultimate benefit of the soul will never eat grains on Ekadashi. According to the instructions of Lord Vishnu, every kind of sinful activity that can be found in the material world takes its residence in this place of (grains) foodstuff. Whoever follows Ekadashi is freed from all sins and never enters into the hellish regions. If one doesn’t follow Ekadashi because of illusion, he is still considered the utmost sinner. For every mouthful of grain that is eaten by a resident of the earthly region (on Ekadashi), one receives the effect of killing millions of brahmanas. It is definitely necessary that one give up eating grains on Ekadashi. I very strongly say again and again, ‘On Ekadashi, do not eat grains, do not eat grains, do not eat grains!’ Whether one be a kshatriya, vaishya, shudra, or of any family, he should follow the lunar day of Ekadashi. From this the perfection of varna and ashrama will be attained. Especially since if one (even) by trickery follows Ekadashi, all his sins become destroyed and he very easily attains the supreme goal, the abode of Vaikuntha.”

Additional Information
From the above article and story we can understand that Ekadashi is a form of Lord Vishnu, and by observing the Ekadashi vow, it not only decreases the amount of sin (bad karma) we imbibe, but it also eats up sinful reactions to help pave our way back to the abode of Lord Vishnu, Vaikuntha. This is also why Ekadashi is called “The mother of devotion”. It helps remove the obstacles on our path of devotional service to the Lord.

Ekadashi generally falls on the 11th day after the new moon, and the 11th day after the full moon. Eka means one and dasi is the feminine form of dasa, which means ten. Together it means eleven. Only occasionally may it fall on a different day. So it is on these days that devotees and devout Hindus will follow the vow of Ekadashi and not eat any beans or grains, or products with such substances in them. Thus, the diet is expected to be simple and plain as part of the mood of renunciation, and preferably only once in the day if possible. Other recommendations include that the food should be made of vegetables, fruit, water, milk products, nuts, sugar, and roots that are grown underground (except beet roots). Restrictions include spinach, eggplant, asafetida, and sea salt, but rock salt is alright.

Since there are 12 months in a year, with two Ekadashis in each month, there are 24 Ekadashis in each year. Each Ekadashi has a name, that are Utpanna, Mokshada, Saphala, Putrada, Shat-tila, Jaya, Vijaya, Amalaki, Papamocani, Kamada, Varuthini, Mohini, Apara, Nirjala, Yogini, Padma (Devashayani), Kamika, Putrada, Aja, Parivartini, Indira, Papankusha, Rama, and Haribodhini (Devotthani). Occasionally there are two extra Ekadashis that happen in a lunar leap year, which are Padmini and Parama.

Each Ekadashi day has particular benefits and blessings that one can attain by the performance of specific activities done on that day. By engaging in the extra study to learn what these are, one can derive even more benefit from each particular Ekadashi. Books devoted to Ekadashi are available that contain such information, so we will not include it here. However, reading the glories of each Ekadashi day, along with all the names of these days, will also achieve a similar goal of observing the Ekadashi vow. This also means that we are encouraged to increase our spiritual activities that day, which are centered around the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Charity, especially to advanced devotees and preachers of the dharma, or directly engaging in activities of Krishna consciousness, Deity worship, chanting the purusha-sukta hymns, or other spiritual activities on Ekadashi are also highly recommended and brings great spiritual benefits to the performer.

It is said that even if one mistakenly misses the observance of an Ekadashi, he or she may make up for it by observing it the very next day on Dvadasi, and then break one’s fast from grain on the next day, Trayodasi. One may also observe the special fast on Nirjala Ekadashi. This is also called Bhima Ekadashi. This is because the Pandava brother known as Bhima was so strong and had such a voracious appetite that he could not observe Ekadashis twice a month. He could not fast because he was too hungry. So Lord Krishna told him to merely observe one Ekadashi a year, which is the Nirjala Ekadashi. Nir jala means no water. So he had to observe at least one Ekadashi a year, and on that day he had to abstain from not only beans and grains, but from all foods, even water. So devotees who miss an Ekadashi day often observe a complete fast from all food and liquids on the Nirjala Ekadashi, which is usually sometime in June, and thus make up for whatever was missed. However, this is a very potent Ekadashi, so a complete fast on this day gives one who observes this many pious credits.
Sometimes there is a day called Mahadvadasi. This is when Ekadashi is astronomically combined with Dvadasi, or the twelfth day of the full moon or new moon lunar cycle. This is called a pure Ekadashi and the observance is often started the evening before Mahadvadasi and through the next day with the basic Ekadashi fast.

Breaking the Ekadashi fast on the next day with some foodstuffs made from grains is usually done two-and-a-half hours or shortly thereafter from the time of the sunrise.
In the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 15-9-10), Shri Chaitanya begs his mother to follow Ekadashi, as was expected of all His followers. And in the purport to this verse Shrila Prabhupada explains that even though devotees eat food cooked for and offered to Lord Vishnu, prasada, which is spiritually potent and free from all karma, even on Ekadashi a devotee does not eat even maha-prasada that has grains in it, even though it can be saved for the next day.
In this way, by the observance of the special Ekadashi day and its special fast, a person can accelerate their spiritual growth and awareness, and free themselves from negative karma that will only further bind them to the continuous rounds of birth and death.

Some facts and figures on The Bhagavat Gita

Some facts and figures on The Bhagavat Gita.
-A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

1. The Living beings are eternal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna. (Bg. 15.7) (Bg. 14.3) (Bg. 2.17—30)

2. The living being is born of the internal potency of the Lord. (Bg. 7.25) (Bg. 7.12—19)

3. The material world is born of the external energy of the Lord. (Bg. 7.4—11) (Bg. 10.19—42) (Bg. 9.10) (Bg. 9.4)

4. In the material world there are innumerable globes and planets and there are different grades of living being. The highest planet in the material world is the Brahmaloka which is also as much perishable as this planet although life in the Brahmaloka is by crores and crores of years of our calculation. (Bg. 8.16—19)

5. Beyond this material world there is the spiritual sky which is never annihilated even after the destruction of all the material universes. (Bg. 8.20—22) (Bg. 8.15—?) (Bg. 15.3—4)

6. That spiritual sky is self illuminated and there is no nid of the sun or the moon. (Bg. 15.6)

7. That spiritual sky is different from this sky and that is the abode of the Lord. (Bg. 8.21—22)

8. There are living being also in that spiritual sky who live along with God and the living being who is now engaged within the material world may also go there after leaving this material body provided he trains himself up as the pure devoti of the Lord. (Bg. 14.26) (Bg. 8.11)

9. No body can enter in that spiritual realm who has no perfect knowledge of the Lord and one can know the Lord only by the process of Bhaktiyoga. (Bg. 11.55) (Bg. 18.55) (Bg. 7.3)

10. Materialistic living beings who are rotting in this material atmosphere and suffering from material pangs, specifically the pains of birth, the pains of death, the pains of old age and the pains of diseases, can get complete relief from all these as soon as they are able to enter into the spiritual kingdom of the Lord. (Bg. 11.21—32)

11. Lord Shri Krishna is the primeval Lord and everything has emanated from Him. (Bg. 10.8) (Bg. 11.18—20) (Bg. 11.51—52)

12 He manifests in thri features namely as the impersonal Brahman which pervades everything both material and spiritual. As super soul He enters every thing and every particles and thus maintains the existence. But at the ultimate issue He is a Person and His Personality supercedes all other personalities.

13. The demigods like Brahma etc are as much part and parcel living entities as we are but they are invested with more power and deputed as different predominant factors in different planets.

14. But no body is equal or greater than the Lord.

15. Men with ordinary merit worships the demigods and the benefit derived from such worshipful activities are temporary. For permanent result one must fully surrender unto the Supreme Lord.

16. The worshippers of the demigods go to the respective planets predominated by such demigods but one who worships the Lord goes back to Godhead for eternal life, bliss and knowledge. That is the highest perfection of life.

17. The Bhagavat Gita advises every one to attain this highest perfection of life i.e. to go Back to Godhead by practising the process of Bhaktiyoga and the Lord advises also to His devotis to preach this cult everywhere. No body is dearer to Him than one who preaches the message of the Bhagavat Gita.

http://leagueofdevotees.blogspot.com/2009/09/some-facts-and-figures-on-bhagavat-gita.html#links

Real yoga Real happiness!

In the material world, everyone is striving for some material happiness, but as soon as we get some material happiness, there is also material distress. In the material world one cannot have unadulterated happiness. Any kind of happiness one has is contaminated by distress also. For example, if we want to drink milk, we have to bother to maintain a cow and keep her fit to supply milk. Drinking milk is very nice; it is also pleasure. But for the sake of drinking milk one has to accept so much trouble. The yoga system, as here stated by the Lord, is meant to end all material happiness and material distress. The best yoga, as taught in Bhagavad-gita by Krsna, is bhakti-yoga. It is also mentioned in the Gita that one should try to be tolerant and not be disturbed by material happiness or distress. Of course, one may say that he is not disturbed by material happiness, but he does not know that just after one enjoys so-called material happiness, material distress will follow. This is the law of the material world. Lord Kapila states that the yoga system is the science of the spirit. One practices yoga in order to attain perfection on the spiritual platform. There is no question of material happiness or distress. It is transcendental.

The attempt in this material world to maximize happiness and minimize distress is called the struggle for existence. Generally yoga is practiced to acquire some material profit. There are eight kinds of yogic perfection (siddhis): anima, laghima, prapti, isitva, vasitva, mahima, prakamya and kamavasayita. A real yogi can become smaller than the smallest, lighter than the lightest and bigger than the biggest. Whatever he wants he can produce immediately in his hand. He can even create a planet. These are some of the yoga-siddhis, but here it is stated that the supreme yoga system does not aim at material happiness or relief from distresses caused by material inconvenience. Everyone is trying to get out of material distress and gain some happiness. In any case, when something is material, there is only so-called happiness and so-called distress. For instance, there may be fireworks going on, and this may be happiness for someone but distress for us. Some people are thinking that these fireworks are very enjoyable, and we are thinking that they are very inconvenient. That is the material world. On one side there is happiness, and on the other side there is distress. Both happiness and distress are actually illusions. In summer, water is happiness, but in winter it is distress. The water is the same, but at one time it brings happiness and at another time it brings distress. When a son is born, he brings happiness, but when he dies, he brings distress. In either case, the son is the same.

This material world is the world of duality, and we cannot understand happiness without distress or distress without happiness. This is therefore called the relative world. Spiritual happiness is above these dualities, and that spiritual happiness is the perfection of yoga. Yoga adhyatmikah. Yoga is the happiness of the soul, and the individual soul can be happy when it is with the Supersoul, the Supreme Soul. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. There is the Supreme Soul, or the supreme living being, and there are many individual souls, individual beings. We are many, but the principal living being is one, Krsna. He is the fire, and we are the sparks from that fire. The sparks are illuminated when they are with the original fire, but if the sparks no longer associate with the original fire, they are extinguished.
Similarly, our real happiness is in enjoying with the Supreme Being. Happiness is being in His company.

-Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada (from Teachings of Lord Kapila)

Question By Yaksha To Yudhisthira — HH Radhanath Swami

There is a beautiful story, you have all heard, the Pandavas were exiled to forest for twelve years, the last of those twelve next year after they had to remain incognito if Duryodhana for any of his associates discovered them during that last year they would have to return to the forest for another twelve years. So during that time just before that last year began the Pandavas were living in a forest Dwaitavan and one Brahmin approached them and said that: “I am every day performing sacrifice and in order to perform this sacrifice there is a very precious type of wood called Arani wood that I used to ignite the fire. A very mysterious deer has come into my home and taken the Arani wood on his anklets and run away and now I cannot perform my prescribed duty according to Varnashram of performing Yagna”.  The Kings were really humble servants so Yudhistra Maharaj said: “We will get this Arani wood back for you”. And Yudhistra, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadev went chasing after the deer but it was a very mystical deer, they would see the deer and they would chase after him to catch him, just to get the wood back somehow or other and just when they had come close to the deer, he would disappear and he would appear just in another place close by and they run after him and when they were just close to him he would again disappear and he was leading them deeper, deeper and deeper into the forest throughout the whole day and the Pandavas were becoming very depressed because they were conquerors, they had the power to conquer the whole world, but they could not catch this little deer it was an insult to them and after all day chasing after this deer and still not becoming successful they were terribly, terribly stricken with hunger and thirst and they decided to rest because their thirst was so terrible they could go on no longer, they rested under a Banyan tree and they were just lying there, Yudhistra Maharaj told his youngest brother Nakula that: “Please climb to the top of the tree and see if anywhere around there is a reservoir of water which we can drink”, then Nakula climbed to the top of the tree and from a branch he saw beautiful reservoir of fresh clear water, something very rare on these days. And he said: “I have seen, I have seen”. Yudhistra Maharaj asked him: “Please go and bring water back to all of us, we cannot even walk we can hardly stand, we have so much thirst, come as soon as possible”.

So Nakula went, ran as fast as he could run and he got to the reservoir of water and as he approached that lake, his thirst intensified and increased for some mysterious reason and he was about and picked up his hands a cup full of water and just he was about to drink a voice in the sky resounded very deep and very loud and said: “I am the proprietor of this lake and no one can drink this water unless you first answer my questions, if you try to drink this water without answering my questions you will die”. So Nakula was thinking who is this non sense, so he just thought “why do I have to, I am a great Kshatriya I do I have to listen to this voice”, so he drank the water and immediately, he died. So long time passed since that Nakula did not return, so Yudhistra Maharaj told to Sahadev that: “Your brother, I do not know where he is, may be some difficulty, go, go to that pond of water and help him bring water to rest of us”. So Sahadev went and when he got to the lake he saw his brother lying there dead, it grieved his heart but his thirst became so intensified that he could think of nothing but quenching his thirst and same voice resounded: “I am the proprietor of this lake, you may not drink this water until you answer my questions or you will die like your brother”. So Sahadev picked up the water and drank it and died. Sahadev did not return for long time, Yudhistra sent Arjuna, the wielder of Gandiva bow and he also drank the water and died and then Yudhistra sent Bhima, powerful Bhima and he went and the same voice warned him but he drank the water and he died.

So then Yudhistra himself went to the pond and he saw his four brothers – Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadev lying there dead and when Yudhistra Maharaj saw this his heart was broken, he loved his brothers so dearly he wanted to weep but he was so much devastated by what he had seen. He could not even weep, he was so dried up due to thirst and lamentation that he could not even bring tears to his eyes, he just trembled in pain, heart broken, mind smashed to pieces, he was thinking “these brothers of mine they have sacrificed their lives for me on everyway and now they are gone, how could I live without them, they are my dearest friends, my most loved associates, they are such exalted devotees of Lord Krsna, how could I live without them, why is death come to them and not to me?” And then he began to think “I will have to be the one to tell Draupadi and mother Kunti that all of her children are dead and how have they died, who could have done this? Bhima has the strength of ten thousand elephants and Arjuna’s bows unconquerable and it appears that they have died without a fight. Who could have possibly the power to kill them?” And in this state he just stood there and looked at his dead brothers, heart broken, no words can explain the grief of Yudhistra at that moment. But then his thirst became so intensified that he could no longer withstand it and he came upon pond of water and picked it up with his hands and just as he was about to drink that very, very cool, refreshing pure water the voice resounded from the sky, “You see how your brothers are dead, you will also die along with them if you do not follow what I say. I am the proprietor of this lake and you are not permitted to drink this water until you answer my questions”. At that point Maharaj Yudhistra who was nobility personified he put the water back in the pond and with folded palm he offered all respects to this voice and he said: “If you are the proprietor of the lake, I have no right to touch this water without your permission. But who are you? Who are you that are so powerful that has killed my brothers, what kind of magnanimous inconceivable personality could this be? Please show yourself to me” and at that time a terrible frightening looking Yaksha appeared before Maharaj Yudhistra. Maharaj Yudhistra offered his respectful obeisance’s to this Yaksha. Yudhistra Maharaj said to the Yaksha: “Now please, what are your questions? I will try to answer them to the best of my ability”. And many questions were asked and the series of questions and answers are very vital part of the Sri Dwaipayana Vyasadev’s Mahabharat.

Yaksha : “What is faster than the wind?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “What is faster than the wind is the mind”

Yaksha : “What is more innumerable than all blades of grass on the whole planet of the earth”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “The desires within the mind are more innumerable than all blades of grass on earth”

For so many millions of births we have accumulated so many impressions and so many desires and now we come to this human form of life and generally all species of life they are simply trying to satisfy any desire that comes to their mind and difference between the civilized human society and uncivilized human society is Shreyas and Preyas. Preyas means whenever one of these blade of grass sprout to the visibility of our mind we immediately want to satisfy somehow or other and we act. Our senses are dictated by the mind and mind is being dictated by the senses. But Shreyas – civilized human life means whatever desire comes upon our mind with our intelligence, the intelligence that comes through Guru, Sadhu and Shastra. Real intelligence – means the word of God. It does not mean the information we get from going to IIT or Oxford University or Harvard University or Bombay University or any of these institutions. They can give us some information and we can store that information within our brains and we can use it for certain purposes in life, our occupation and so forth. But that is not intelligence, Intelligence comes from God and the word of God is our intelligence and when we are guided by the word of God we are intelligent and that means we must discriminate at every moment of life whether this is good for me or whether this is bad for me? Whether this is pleasing to God or whether this is displeasing? Whether this will liberate me or create bondage in my life? That discrimination is necessary and Krsna explains in Bhagavad-Gita: That the mind that is controlled by one’s intelligence is one’s best friend, but the mind that is not being controlled by discriminatory powers of our intelligence is our worst enemy, in fact our only enemy. The mind is very difficult to control but the word of God has the power to control our mind. Krsna is all powerful and he is non-different than his instructions and he is non-different than his name, therefore the perfection of self-realization to keep the mind always fixed in remembering the name, the form, the instructions of the Lord and to act accordingly. The same mind and sense are causing us so much bondage and Karmic reactions when engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord according to the instructions of the Lord will purify our hearts. Our mind and senses can be used to purify our lives and connect us to the highest truth to Krsna. And that is the essence of the yogic process to keep the mind always fixed in Krsna through our matured intelligence and to have such intelligence we must with the Lord and hear his words and associate with his devotees because what we associate with we become. If we associate with materialistic people our intelligence becomes materialistic and then our mind and senses conquer us whereas if we associate with devotees of Lord who are always reminding us of what the purpose of life is and our intelligence is always fixed in truth and is there to calculate, to screen to moderate the wanderings of the mind and to accept what is favorable for devotion to God and to reject what is unfavorable for devotion to God. That is intelligence.

Yaksha : “What is the most valuable procession one can achieve in this world?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “The greatest possession is Knowledge”

Knowledge is the information that we get to discriminate properly.

Yaksha : “What is real knowledge?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “Knowledge of the self as separate from matter and how to discriminate between the two that is real knowledge”

Srila Prabhupad our Gurumaharaj said: “This big, big university and all universities in America, in all the universities in the world where is the department that teaches the difference between the living body and a dead body? So many subjects you are giving but the most basic fundamental principle of knowledge you are completely ignorant. Who are you? What is Truth? What is a living body and what is a dead body and why is there a difference between the two?” Such a simple question, but all these graduate professors were completely ignorant; they had no idea, no clue. One time there was a little devotee four years old, child of a devotee, Prabhupad asked: “What is the difference between a living body and a dead body?” And the little five years old, she was a little girl, she said: “Prabhupad the difference between the living body and dead body is the soul is gone in the dead body and soul is in the living body”. Prabhupad said: “She is more highly educated than all these big Professors at MIT or Oxford or IIT or Harvard or any of these other Universities. She understands what truth is?”

Yaksha : “Tell me something that only has value when it is given up?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “False pride”

When there is false pride whatever it is connected to it ruins it. When false pride is given up, everything else becomes valuable. Even knowledge, even if you so much understanding of Shastras, if you have false pride it nullifies everything else. When we see even great Yogis, great politicians, great entertainers, people of all various aspects of success in society, there downfall is generally always their false pride and in spiritual life especially false pride nullifies the good reactions that whatever we are striving to achieve. Actually, it is said that when you do something first the path of self-realization and you do something, you attain something wonderful as soon as you take credit for it, and it practically nullifies everything you have done, the spiritual results. But you give credit to God who deserves the credit because after all, he has the one who has empowered you with all ingredients and all the prepotencies to fulfill whatever we have done. If we humble ourselves in all of those credits uplift our souls and our consciousness.

Yaksha : “What is wickedness?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “To criticize others to find faults in other living beings”

This is the sign of someone who is actually having a kind and pure heart. Srila Rupa Goswami explains: “what is the symptom, one of the basic symptoms of a mahatma. He/ She no longer have the tendency to find faults in others that is always seeking to see the good in others. Even if there is a little spark of good try to see it and fan it. But the nature of Dhuratma – one has a crippled mind, crippled by envy and illusion takes great pleasure in finding faults and criticizing others. Today’s society is full of gossip infact; everywhere in the world you go there are these gossip magazines. It is there, every scandal, can you imagine these journalists and reporters their whole mind, their whole occupation is just searching for scandals and then exaggerating it as much as they can get away with and printing it and publishing it to millions of people and the people are hungry to hear about these scandals. But Mahatma has no more tendencies, why? because he has tasted the sweetness of hearing the glories of the Lord. It is said that crows like to go to the garbage dumps of all material topics and eat and drink all the sewage and garbage that is present there but devotees are like Hamsas or Paramahamsas they like to go those beautiful fresh lakes and drink the nectar in the centre of Lotus, similarly devotees are satisfied by coming to programmes like to night hearing the glories of the Lord, hearing the truth from Bhagavad Gita fills our heart with so satisfactions and when we chant the Holy names of the Lord our mind, our tongue, our ears our hearts our whole being and when we are dancing even our body is engrossed in the nectarine immortal nectar of Krsna and such a person it is below the dignity, it is shameful to be looking for false in others, no taste. Yudhistra Maharaj said: “This is the definition of wickedness to find false in other living beings”.

Yaksha : “What is the most wonderful thing on all the earth?”
Yudhistra Maharaj : “The day after day we see all living entities enter through the door of death and whoever remains is thinking that I will not die, this is the most wonderful thing in all the earth”

Srila Prabhupad gives the example that when they slaughter goats, what they do is the goats are lined up and they are eating their grasses and they are just eating grass, eating grass and they are going and they push and they are eating grass and finally they come to the killing floor and they are slaughtered such a terrible, cruel act with so much comic consequences but the goats in line they see that just ahead of them everyone is getting slaughtered. But they are so much engrossed in eating their grass, they are thinking, it will not happen to me, let me just eat grass and enjoy and what happened to them is inevitable. In the similar way in human society we see everyone is coming around us is coming to death and in could at any moment. Therefore Prahalad Maharaj said: “Now is the time, when you are a little child of four or five years old, this is the time to become very serious about self-realization and spiritual life, do not wait, because you do not know how much time you have”. One should not be a mother or father unless one is teaching the dependent how to become free from ever taking birth again in this world by cultivating devotion in the heart of the child. We should know that the fulfillment of the aim of life in this human existence is to become Krsna Consciousness, to realize our eternal relationship with the supreme, to liberate ourselves from the bondage of illusion and we should be cultivating in our own life and should be encouraging our children in their lives to receive this greatest of all wealth. And it is done by learning how to control the mind. Then you hear our adults, you know how difficult it is to control your mind, how wonderful it would have been when you are a child, if your parents were to train you very systematically and wonderfully, how to moral, how to be pious and how to keep your mind fixed on God, by the time you are adult it becomes natural. Let us give our children this opportunity, to be God conscious and let us take it ourselves.

Krsna explains in this verse, gradually step by step one should become situated in trans by means of intelligence sustained by fore conviction and thus the mind should be fixed on the self alone and should think of nothing else. So Yudhistra Maharaj by answering these questions of Yaksha, the Yaksha became so happy, he said: “I am completely satisfied, there is no more learned and noble with good qualities than you Maharaj Yudhistra. And therefore I want to give you an award; I will bring back to life anyone of your four dead brothers”. And Yudhistra Maharaj thought about it for a moment and he said: “Bring back Nakula”. Yaksha was shocked: “Nakula? You are about to fight this great war of Kurukshetra and you need Bhima, he is the most powerful person on earth, he can bring victory for you, then Arjuna is such a dear friend of Krsna and he is the greatest fighter and greatest archer in all the world, compared to them Nakula is insignificant what will he do for you? How will he help you, please tell me why you want Nakula?” Yudhistra Maharaj explained that: “My father Pandu, he had two wives, Kunti and Madri. And from Kunti there are three brothers – Arjuna, Bhima and myself. And I am still living, so Kunti will be satisfied because she has at least she has one child living but out of my love and respect for Madri because I always consider Kunti and Madri both mothers, I love them and respect them equally, I do not want to deprive Madri or break her heart of having a living child, so for her sake, please allow Nakula to live”. When Yaksha heard, how completely selfless, respectful, humble and considerate Yudhistra Maharaj was, he was overwhelmed with joy, he said: “because you have answered questions in such a way, I will bring them all back to life”, then all four brothers – Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadev, they all woke up as if they were in some deep sleep and Yudhistra Maharaj began to embraced them all and everything else. And began to drink water and Yaksha said: “Now you can drink water, now it is safe” and they drank lots of water. In fact they were satisfied they did not even have hunger and thirst anymore just by drinking the water of the mercy of this great personality, they were perfectly satisfied. Then Yudhistra asked to Yaksha: “Who are you? Please reveal your true self to me” and then he transformed into Yamaraj – Dharmaraj. He said: “My name is Dharma and I am your father”. Yudhistra Maharaj had not met his father, he bowed down, fell at his feet crying in ecstatic love that he was meeting, not only was he as father but Dharmaraj was one of the greatest Mahajans, one of the greatest of all devotees of the Lord. He worshipped his father with love and devotion and Dharmaraj gave him a benediction, he said: “I will grant you, because you have satisfied me so much any benediction or blessing you want, I will give you. It is coming soon that you fight this Great War against Kurus, what benediction you want?” Yudhistra Maharaj replied: “Please make me victorious, in the greatest of all wars the fight against the six enemies living in my heart, lust, anger, greed, pride, envy and illusion because unless I conquer this six enemies, I cannot serve the Supreme Lord Krsna with pure devotion. That is the only benediction I ask for”. And Dharmaraj replied: “You have already conquered your six enemies, you have already conquered Krsna with your devotion but I will promise you that Krsna will always protect you, keep your mind always fixed in faith and devotion in Krsna and you will be victorious and successful in every aspect of your life”.

So how to keep our minds always fixed on Krsna. How to gradually purify our hearts to progress at every moment for the liberated state of pure devotion, it is very simple but it takes a sincere heart to accept it. By hearing the glories of the Lord regularly and by always trying to keep our minds focused in the Lord through the chanting of his Holy name:

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

This Hare Krsna Mahamantra is the all pure incarnation of Godhead in this age and all the results of all the processes of Yoga are fulfilled and realized to one who sincerely keeps his mind fixed on Krsna’s Holy names.

Hari Bol!!

Krishna is…

The Param Gurudeva and Grandfather of the Hare Krishna Movement collected a series of observations from the Tenth Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam that he labeled “Krishna Is”. Here then is that collection by His Divine Grace Shrila Shri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur:

Krishna is possessed of an unlimited intellect (84.22)

Krishna is inaccessible to sensuous knowledge (16.46).

Krishna is the Lord of the infinity of worlds (69.17).

Krishna wields the power of creating the unlimited (87.28).

Krishna carries the impress of limitless power (87.14).

Krishna is possessed of inconceivable potency (10 .29).

Krishna is unborn (59.28, 74.21).

Krishna solves all heterogeneous views (74.24).

Krishna is vanquished by exclusive devotion (14.3).

Krishna is the Inner Guide (l.17)·

Krishna is the Withholder of the energy of the wicked (60.19) .

Krishna is the Giver of salvation to jivas that are free from vanity (86.48).

Krishna ordains the worldly course of conceited jivas (86.48).

Krishna is Primal God (Deva) (40.1).

Krishna is Primal Person (Purusha) (63.38).

Krishna is an overwhelming flood of bliss (83.4).

Krishna possesses fulfilled desire (47.46).

Krishna is self-delighted (60.20).

Krishna is the opponent of the sensuous (60.35).

Krishna is sung by the best of hymns (86.23).

Krishna is the dispeller of the night of pseudo-religion. (14.40).

Krishna is devoid of increase and decrease (48.26).

Krishna is efficient and material cause (10.29).

Krishna is the only Truth (14.23).

Krishna is the Awarder of the fruit of work (49.29).

Krishna is not subject to the consequences of work (84.17).

Krishna is the Seer of cause and effect (38.12).

Krishna is the Person who is time (1.7).

Krishna is Time’s Own Self (70.26).

Krishna is even the Time of time (56.27).

Krishna is Present in the heart of every animate entity, like fire inside wood (46.36)
Krishna is Grateful (48.26).

Krishna is the Augmentor (like the Full Moon) of the ocean of earth, gods, twice-born and animals (14.40).

Krishna is the Tormentor of cannibalistic persons (14.40).

Krishna is the Destroyer of the pride of the arrogant (60.19).

Krishna is the Root-Cause of the origin, etc., of the world (14.23)

Krishna is the Cause of the world (40.1).

Krishna is the Creator of the world (70.38).

Krishna is appears as if possessed of a body like that of mundane entities for the good of the world (14.55).

Krishna is the Guru (centre of gravity) of the world (80.44).

Krishna is the Refuge (Ashraya ) of jivas (individual souls) who are afraid of birth and death (49.12).

Krishna is devoid of birth (46.38).

Krishna is equally the Internal Guide, Cause and Director of jivas (87.30)

Krishna is the Destroyer of the miseries of persons who enjoy themselves in meditating upon Him (58.10).

Krishna is of the fourth dimension and self-manifest (66.38)

Krishna is Worthy of being gifted (741.24) .

Krishna is the Punisher of the wicked (69.17).

Krishna is the God of gods (80.44).

Krishna is rarely cognizable by the gods (48.27).

Krishna is unconcerned about body, house, etc. (60.20).

Krishna is the Supreme Ruler of the greatest gods (738).

Krishna is the Exponent of Religion (69.40).

Krishna is the Eternal Son of Nanda (14.1).

Krishna is Visible to man with great difficulty (71.23).

Krishna’s Presence mocks the world of man (70.40).

Krishna is the Object of palatable drink of the human eye (71.33).

Krishna is lnternal Guide of all (31.4).

Krishna is Worthy of the worship of all the worlds (69.15).

Krishna accommodates all the worlds (59.30).

Krishna is the Maniifestor of all light (63.34).

Krishna is unstinted in giving Himself away to one who recollects Him. (80.11)

Krishna is the efficient Cause (87.50).

Krishna, although devoid of all mundane quality, assumes mundane qualities by His Inconceivable Power for the purposes creation, etc. (46.40).

Krishna is not subject to change (64.29).

Krishna is not capable of discrimination, by reason of void of any extraneous covering (87.29).

Krishna is the Giver of Himself to those who covet nothing (86.33).

Krishna loves those who covet nothing (60.14).

Krishna does no work (60.20).

Krishna is the Human, Hidden, Primal Person (Purusha) (44.13).

Krishna is Present in the hearts of jivas like the five elements (82.45).

Krishna is the Supreme Sorcerer (70.37).

Krishna is Supreme Godhead and the Internal Guide of all (56.27).

Krishna is the Crest-jewel of those whose praises are sung by the sacred lore (71.30).

Krishna is Primal Person and Ever-existing (14.23).

Krishna is the Highest among the Objects of worship (74.19).

Krishna is the Healer of the miseries of the submissive (73.16).

Krishna is the Destroyer of the sins of the submissive (31.7).

Krishna is the Destroyer of the distress of the submissive (73.8).

Krishna is the Residue after the Cataclysm (87.15).

Krishna is devoid of touch with mundane senses (87.28).

Krishna is the Soul and Friend of all animate entities (29.32).

Krishna is devoid of distinction appertaining to an alien (63.38,44).

Krishna is Inconceivable by His Nature (70.38).

Krishna is the Master of the Universe (70.37).

Krishna is the Nourisher of the Unierse (85.5).

Krishna is the Sun that cheers the lotus of the kindred of the Vrishnis (14.40)

Krishna is God worshipped by the Brahmanas (69.15).

Krishna is Foremost of the Brahmanas (84.20).

Krishna is the Originator of Brahma (40.1).

Krishna is the Worshipped of Brahma (31.13).

Krishna loves His devotees (48.26).

Krishna wears Forms in accordance with the wishes of His devotees (59.25)

Krishna is etertnally Present in Mathura (1.28) .

Krishna is devoid of the. sense of kinship and regards all in the same way (46.37).

Krishna is beyond all Measuring Potency (Maya) (63.26)

Krishna is subdued by the love of Judhisthira (72.10).

Krishna is concealed by the screen of Maya from the sight of the people 84.23).

Krishna does not follow the ways of the world (60.36).

Krishna is the Destroyer of the fear of the mundane sojourn of the submissive. (85.19).

Krishna is the Womb of the Scriptures. (16.44, 80.45, 84.20).

Krishna is Sree Guru’s Own Self (80.33).

Krishna is devoid of hankering for wife, offspring, etc. (60.20).

Krishna is of the Ordainer of the worldly sojourn and of the summon bonum (1.7).

Krishna is the friend of the good (69.17).

Krishna is devoid of discrimination as of kinship (63.38, 44).

Krishna is Existence (56.27).

Krishna possesses true desires (80.44).

Krishna is the True Entity (87.17).

Krishna is True of speech (48.26).

Krishna is True of resolve (37.12).

Krishna sees with an equal Eye (16.33).

Krishna is the Cause of all causes (14.56-57, 63.38, 87.16).

Krishna is the Originator of all (59.28).

Krishna is the Soul’s own self of all jivas (individual souls) (14.55).

Krishna is Omniscient (16.48).

Krishna is All-seeing (38.18).

Krishna is the Embodiment of all gods (74.19, 86.54).

Krishna is the Seer of all (16.48).

Krishna is the Lord of all (37.23).

Krishna is the Stay (Ashraya) of all entities (82.46).

Krishna is All-pervasive and Eternal (9.13).

Krishna is the Soul of all elements (86.31).

Krishna is the Knower of the minds of all elements (81.1).

Krishna is the soul’s self of all elements (74.24).

Krishna is the lnner Soul of all elements (37.11).

Krishna is the Internal Guide of all elements (47.29)

Krishna is the Cause of the origin of all elements (64.29).

Krishna is the Limit of all good (84.21).

Krishna is Omnipotent (37.12).

Krishna is the Lord of Lakshmi, the Presiding Deity of all riches (47.46).

Krishna is the Internal Guide of all (63138, 7216).

Krishna is the Stay (Ashraya) of all (40.15).

Krishna is Witness and Seer of Self (86.31).

Krishna is the Refuge of the good (80.9).

Krishna is most difficult to serve (88.11).

Krishna is the Friend of one’s heart (48.26).

Krishna is the Withholder of Creation (82.45).

Krishna is Withholder, Creator and Preserver (63.44).

Master of the functions of creation, etc. (16.49, 37.12).

Krishna is devoid of distinction as of kinship (74.21).

Krishna is devoid of distinction as between kin and alien (72.6).

Krishna indwells the Universe created by Himself (48.19).

Krishna is satisfied by the taste of His Self-Delight (72.6).

Krishna is the Destroyer of the worldly sojourn of His devotees (60.43).

Krishna is the Wearer of body according to His Wish (1.7).

-SIDDHANTA SARASWATI.
24th Nov., 1932.
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