Spiritual FAQs

Q. According to the Krishna conscious philosophy, what is the goal of life?

A. The Vedas state that the goal of life is to learn how to properly serve God, revive one’s love for God, and return to live eternally with Him in the spiritual world at the end of life. The chanting of the mahamantra fully awakens the awareness of our true eternal spiritual identity, which is beyond the temporary body and the limitations of this existence within the material realm. This Self-realization purifies our consciousness and frees us from the cycle of repeated birth and death or reincarnation.

Q. In several places in BTG I have read that while departing the body, if the soul thinks of Lord Krishna as the last thought, then it reaches only Lord Krishna, the Supersoul, as its final destination. How does this fit with the laws of karma, where your past works determine your next life and destiny in the material world? Is it not saying that all your life you can commit sins and in old age run to the shelter of Lord Krishna and try to develop the skills to think of Him in your last thoughts and thus reach Him”in other words, attain liberation?

A. We do not worship idols. Idolatry is the worship of an imagined form of God. Deity worship is not idol worship, but is worship of the Lord according to His instructions.God is spirit, but as Krishna reveals in the Bhagavad-gita, matter is His energy. Because we cannot perceive spirit in our present condition, Krishna allows us to see Him in His Deity form made of material elements. He tells us that the Deity installed according to the directions of the scriptures is identical to Him.

Q. As declared in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord appears in the mortal world to execute His much-needed mission of killing the miscreants and giving protection to the suffering faithful. In spite of that mission, Lord Krishna tolerated the insult to Draupadi by the Kurus and the injustices perpetrated against the Pandavas, as well as insults to Himself. The question may be raised, “Why did He tolerate such injustices and insults in His presence? Why did He not chastise the Kurus immediately?”

A. Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.43
When Draupadi was insulted in the assembly by the Kurus by their attempt to see her naked in the presence of all, the Lord protected Draupadi by supplying an unlimited length of clothing. But He did not chastise the insulting party immediately.

This silence of the Lord did not mean, however, that He excused the offenses of the Kurus. There were many other kings on earth who had become very proud of three kinds of possessionsâ wealth, education and followers”and they were constantly agitating the earth by movements of military strength. The Lord was just waiting to get them together on the Battlefield of Kurushetra and kill them all at one time, just to make a short-cut in His killing mission.

Godless kings or heads of state, when puffed up by advancement of material wealth, education and increase of population, always make a show of military strength and give trouble to the innocent. When Lord Krishna was personally present, there were many such kings all over the world  and He thus arranged for the Battle of Kurushetra.

In His manifestation of vishva-rupa, the Lord expressed His mission of killing as follows: “I have willingly descended on the earth in My capacity of inexorable Time in order to decrease the unwanted population. I shall finish all those who have assembled here except you, the Pandavas. This killing does not wait for you to take part in it. It is already arranged: all will be killed by Me. If you want to become famous as the hero of the battlefield and thus enjoy the booty of war, then, O Savyasaci, just become the immediate cause of this killing and thus take the credit. I have already killed all the great warriors “Bhishma, Drona, Jayadratha, Karna and many other great generals. Do not worry. Fight the battle and be famous as a great hero.” (Bg. 11.32-34)
The Lord always wants to see His devotee as the hero of some episode which He Himself performs. He wanted to see His devotee and friend Arjuna as the hero of the Battle of Kurushetra and thus He waited for all the miscreants of the world to assemble. That  and nothing else, is the explanation of His waiting.

Q. Some devotees insist that, while taking prasadam  only those who have not eaten can serve; they say that those who have just eaten are unclean. How can one be unclean while taking in prasadam? One added point is that if we were to be taking prasadam in a house where we would like to have all of the family members honor prasadam simultaneously, it would not be possible to do so if we insisted on the above rule.

A. The general principle is that after eating, one must at least wash one’s mouth, hands and feet, before touching other things, especially kitchen utensils which are used in Krishna’s service (like serving utensils). Although prasadam is transcendental and purifying, while eating our hands touch our mouth (either directly or with a spoon or fork), which is not clean. The minimum Vedic standard of cleanliness we should follow after eating is that we must cleanse our hands and mouth thoroughly. Prior to worship of an installed Deity in the Temple, one must fully bathe and put on a clean set of clothes after eating.

Q. If prasadam is spiritual why does it decay like normal food does in a
day or so.

A. Prasadam is spiritualized by virtue of its contact with the Supreme Lord. Prabhupada gives the example of iron rod and fire. The iron rod kept in fire acts like fire, but is not fire itself. Prasadam is spiritual in that it has been accepted by Krishna  and thus it has a spiritualizing effect on those who partake of it. Nevertheless, it is still made of material elements and appears to our mundane vision as undergoing material transformations. The same applies to the deity forms of the Lord (archa-vigraha), the body of a pure devotee, the holy dhama (place of pilgrimage) and the sacred scriptures.

An advanced devotee, however  would be able to see the actual spiritual nature of each of these items  and would never consider them according to their material appearance  just as Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was accepting old and spoiled remnants of Jagannath maha prasadam as delightful mercy of Lord Jagannath.

Q. When you are reincarnated is it always the same gender?

A. Not necessarily. In fact it is said that if one is too attached to the opposite sex, they will be attain a body of the opposite gender in their next life!

Q. How can you know for sure that there really is life after death, instead of the other belief that we are just mechanistic organisms that live and then die and then are nothing?

A. There are different processes of acquiring knowledge, such as by direct perception, by experiment, by logic and example, by hypothesizing etc. But none of these methods bring us to the point of conclusive knowledge, especially about something that lies beyond our sense perception; all these processes are subject to defects. The best way of acquiring knowledge is therefore to hear from qualified authorities. We accept the Vedas as authority on all subjects, because they are not man-made but given by the Supreme Lord, the creator Himself. It would be a big mistake to think that Vedic knowledge is nothing but a set of blind beliefs or that it is fictitious; the Vedas are very scientific and reasonable. From Vedic evidence, such as Bhagavad-gita, we can get very clear and scientific understanding of our true nature as spiritual entities beyond the combination of material ingredients, in the shape of the material bodies which we presently occupy.

Q. What is Astrology? I have heard it said that when one is born in this world his horoscope is fixed depending on the time and place of birth. People born at auspicious time will have all the good of nine Grahas, which determines ones life, i.e., what he will become, how long he will survive, rich/poor etc. Was Duryodhana born as wicked man and Yudhisthira born as good man? Is this all based on their past karma?

Ans:
The material circumstances of a person, their future, their general disposition etc., are all predestined according to one’s guna and karma. When the soul takes birth in this world, the event takes place according to their karma, during a corresponding arrangement of constellations. Astrology is a branch of Vedic science that, among other things, gives detailed techniques of how to use this information (stellar arrangement at the time of birth) to predict one’s future. While one may have particular tendencies or conditioning of modes of nature from birth, it is also to be understood that the association one is in has a great influence on their character traits.

Q. Some people claim that what is to happen in this life is already determined by God (i.e. fate). Their idea is that we do not have much control on our life. We are under the illusion of Maya. Others think that only because of our intelligence and our carefully executed efforts, we achieve desirable ends. My question is, do our efforts really matter?

A. Yes, we create our own destiny but the scope for doing so is quite restricted or limited. We have our desires and free will but they are supervised by the Supreme, according to natural laws. Thus, our freedom to ‘create our destiny’ is VERY restricted! We really have not so much control, ultimately. With unrestricted freedom, we can choose if we are going to act according to God’s laws or not. That is within our control. But ultimately Krishna is the supreme controller and actual doer.

Q. How can I do my duties if everything is predestined? I want to do them and I want to follow the teachings of Bhagavan Shri Krishna, but circumstances prevailing at certain times sometimes push me to take any optional decision which ultimately proves to be disastrous.

A.  It is the mode of passion that forces us to take up a course of action that opposes our deepest convictions. Therefore, we must carefully cultivate a live centered in goodness. Bhagavad-gita teaches us so clearly what will help us remain centered in a life of goodness. However, because we have entangled ourselves so much in this material condition, it is very perplexing how to make the right decisions, even if we learn about the Lord’s teachings. Therefore, it is essential that we need to take guidance from advanced devotees, ultimately taking shelter of a bona fide guru, who can help us progressively align ourselves with the Lord’s instructions and not commit blunders, which will only entangle us further