Father and Lord

Analogies, General, , , , , , ,

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is worshipable as a father is worshipable for his son. He is the spiritual master because He originally gave the Vedic instructions to Brahma and presently He is also instructing Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna; therefore He is the original spiritual master, and any bona fide spiritual master at the present moment must be a descendant in the line of disciplic succession stemming from Krishna. Without being a representative of Krishna, one cannot become a teacher or spiritual master of transcendental subject matter.

Krishna’s devotees relate to Krishna in various relationships; one might treat Krishna as a son, or one might treat Krishna as a husband, as a friend, or as a master. Krishna and Arjuna are related in friendship. As the father tolerates, or the husband or a master tolerates, so Krishna tolerates.

Feeding stomach and devotional service

Analogies, Devotional Service, ,

One who is on the path of liberation by Krishna consciousness is very dear to every living being, and every living being is dear to him. This is due to his Krishna consciousness. Such a person cannot think of any living being as separate from Krishna, just as the leaves and branches of a tree are not separate from the tree. He knows very well that by pouring water on the root of the tree, the water will be distributed to all the leaves and branches, or by supplying food to the stomach, the energy is automatically distributed throughout the body. Because one who works in Krishna consciousness is a servant to all, he is very dear to everyone. And because everyone is satisfied by his work, he is pure in consciousness. Because he is pure in consciousness, his mind is completely controlled. And because his mind is controlled, his senses are also controlled. Because his mind is always fixed on Krishna, there is no chance of his being deviated from Krishna. Nor is there a chance that he will engage his senses in matters other than the service of the Lord. He does not like to hear anything except topics relating to Krishna; he does not like to eat anything which is not offered to Krishna; and he does not wish to go anywhere if Krishna is not involved. Therefore, his senses are controlled. A man of controlled senses cannot be offensive to anyone.

By giving water to the root of a tree one satisfies its branches, twigs, and leaves, and by supplying food to the stomach one satisfies all the senses of the body. Similarly, by engaging in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord one automatically satisfies all the demigods and all other living entities.” Therefore, after reading Bhagavad-gita one should promptly come to the conclusion of Bhagavad-gita: one should give up all other engagements and adopt the service of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, the Personality of Godhead. If one is convinced of this philosophy of life, that is faith.

Persons who are engaged in the worship of demigods are not very intelligent, although such worship is offered to Me indirectly,” Krishna says. For example, when a man pours water on the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring water on the root, he does so without sufficient knowledge or without observing regulative principles. Similarly, the process of rendering service to different parts of the body is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different officers and directors in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the government, not by the officers or directors. Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automatically satisfy the different officers and directors of the Lord. The officers and directors are engaged as representatives of the government, and to offer some bribe to the officers and directors is illegal. This is stated here as avidhi-purvakam. In other words, Krishna does not approve of the unnecessary worship of the demigods.

Vaishnava Tilaka

Devotee

What is the reason to put tilakam? And why devotees in ISKCON put it so long till the nose? I am working in office so how can I apply it?

Tilak is a traditional mark to identify devotees of Krishna. It is made with a sacred clay from a holy place in India. It is worn to remind the wearer and everyone else that, the body is a temple and within the body resides the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, Krishna.

The ‘U’ represents the Lotus feet of lord Krishna. The mark below represents Tulasi leaf. This is the beautiful ancient Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition and an ornament of a devotee. If one cannot put a tilak due to circumstances one can use water and chant the mantra. This should do.

Grains on Ekadashi

Ekadashi, , ,

Why can we not eat grains on Ekadashi? Krishna never mentioned this in Bhagavad Gita.

Ekadashi is a special day, which appears twice a month – once on the waxing moon and the next on the waning moon. And according to the Puranas, fasting from grains and beans is mandatory on this day. It is cleansing, both materially and spiritually. Fasting from grains and beans on Ekadashi has pragmatic explanations as well. According to Ayurveda, the ancient Vedic science of medicine, and according to complex astrological calculations, this is an auspicious time for such fasting.

Lord Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita that someone offers a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water with love and devotion, He accepts them. All these items can be offered on Ekadashi days. He has not specifically mentioned about what food items can be consumed on Ekadashi day, since He did not have sufficient time to give all details at that time. When Lord Krishna came as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu five hundred years ago He asked His mother for one boon out of the many things He could have asked her and that was to follow the Ekadashi brata (the vow of Ekadashi).

Extra chanting of God’s names is recommended on this day. One should use this time for spiritual pursuits. Fasting is good for the body, and, when properly directed, it is good for the soul. It is recommended in all of the world’s religions. And so the particular day, in one sense, is not as important as the principle although, in another sense, the days that are recommended are important as well. They have special meaning. One of our predecessor teachers, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, has said that if one even accidentally follows Ekadashi, he makes great spiritual advancement.

Service to the Supreme Lord

Krishna,

If Krishna is self-sufficient then why did He create us? Is it to serve Him?

Yes, Krishna is self-sufficient, however we are not self-sufficient. He is perfect, however we are not. He is self-satisfied, however we are not. He is completely independent, however we depend on Him. It was our desire to be separate from the Lord, therefore He has created this material world. He never created us. Both the Supreme Lord and the living entities eternally exist. Only thing is that we forget, however He never forgets us. He wants us to come back to Him as quickly as possible. He doesn’t like His children to be suffering in this material world in forgetfulness of Him.

Just like father feels happy when the child offers him a flower or a small gift on his birthday. Similarly, Supreme Lord feels happy, when someone makes a small gesture of service toward Him. We have not realized how much pleasure is there in serving Him. We are trying to serve family, nation, community and many others, however we are not satisfied at all by serving them. Because all of them are like leaves of the tree. A tree can not be nourished by pouring water on the different branches, fruits or leaves of the tree. However, when someone waters at the root of the tree, all the leaves, branches and fruits are properly nourished. Supreme Lord Krishna is the root cause of everything. Many devotees in the past have served Lord Krishna and achieved perfection of their lives. Therefore, it is better and safer to serve Krishna than to serve material agents and prolong our existence in this material world.

With love and devotion

Deity Worship,

It is mentioned in a book by ISKCON that red hibiscus flower is not offered to Krishna. When He has created this beautiful flower then why not offer it to Him?

Krishna is Bhava Grahi Janardhana. He has even accepted a banana peel from Vidura’s wife. Without the basic principle of bhakti or devotion, nothing can induce the Lord to agree to accept anything from anyone. Make sure you offer everything to the Lord with love and devotion. Usually these general rules are mentioned in the scriptures to guide us. We hope this is all right with you.

Bhaktivedanta purports

Srila Prabhupada, ,

Previous Acharyas have already written many commentaries on Bhagavad Gita.  Then why did Srila Prabhupada write another commentary?

The Bhaktivedanta purports as Srila Prabhupada‘s commentary popularly called are based on the commentaries of the previous acaryas.

Srila Prabhupada would work from a Bengali translation of the Bhagavatam, with commentaries by twelve acaryas, such as Vishvanatha Cakravarti, Jiva Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Sridhara Svami, Bir Raghava Gosvami, Madhvacarya, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Bhagavad-gita is dedicated to and follows the commentary of Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana; the Caitanya-caritamrita purports are summarized from those written by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Even if we consider that  Prabhupada’s purports are partly translations of previous commentaries, this does not diminish our gratitude for his preaching and giving us access to the thoughts and devotion of the disciplic succession. Once, the devotees were commenting on how quickly Prabhupada was writing.  Prabhupada said “O, I can finish very quickly, but I have to present it for your understanding.  It requires deep thought, very carefully to present”. (Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita)

And neither were his purports just static translations of other commentaries, but he struggled to apply the words of the previous acaryas to the present-day mentality of the westerners.  We can imagine how difficult this must have been trying to present the principles of Vedic government, or the position of women in Vedic culture, or even the necessity to avoid sinful life to persons who were addicted to sense gratification and who had no idea what was wrong with it.  He saturated his purports with Krishna, and built the groundwork to supply his readers with the cultural language to enable them to enter into the pages of the Bhagavatam.

Arjuna never forgets Krishna

Chanting, ,

Arjuna was also a pure devotee, but he never chanted neither did Krishna asked him to do so. So why do you stress so much on the same?

Chanting the name of Krishna means to constantly remember Him. Although it may appear that Arjuna was not chanting like we chant on the beads, he was calling Him in great eagerness by different names like ‘O Yadava, O Keshava, O Madhava’. This is certainly a sign of great advancement. He was put in such an  awkward situation by the will of Krishna that he had no other choice but to call out in great desperation.

The dealings between Arjuna and Krishna were under Krishna’s internal energy, however we are affected by Krishna’s external energy. In the beginning we do not have taste for the Holy Name, therefore we are asked to chant in a prescribed way. Therefore we stress on chanting so that we come to higher level, wherein we are able to chant in great eagerness.

‘Maya’ attack

Chanting

When we chant the Mahamantra we are taking the names of Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Then why are we disturbed by Mayadevi?

 

The transcendental sound vibration ‘Hare Krishna’ is non-different than Krishna Himself. When we are chanting, Krishna is personally present on the tongue, however because we do not have taste for the Holy Name, we are not able to relish it. Also because of inability to focus on the Holy Name it wanders from one sense object to another. It is said that the Holy Name Krishna is like the sun and forgetfulness of Krishna is like darkness. As soon as we remember Krishna we are in bright sunlight and as soon as we forget Krishna, we are in darkness. Being disturbed by Mayadevi means we are simply forgetting Krishna. Therefore it is said that ‘Always remember Krishna’ and ‘Never forget Krishna’. Therefore in the conditioned state it is natural to forget Krishna and disturbed by Mayadevi, however when one is liberated by constantly chanting Hare Krishna, one shall be able to experience transcendental happiness at every step.