Hare Krishna Society

Recently I saw on the internet a discussion wherein an Iskcon “guru” was disputing a purport found in one of Srila Prabhupada’s original, authorized editions of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. This sannyasi has determined that this often quoted book purport is wrong. He apparently made this determination based on his great erudition and knowledge of Bengali. He contends that his study of the Bengali purports of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (purports Srila Prabhupada has based his own purports upon) has revealed that the book version is incorrect, even though Srila Prabhupada was highly pleased with these publications and read and lectured from them many times.

The original version found in the book is as follows: One should not try to be an artificially advanced devotee, thinking, “I am a first-class. devotee.” Such thinking should be avoided. It is best not to accept any disciples. (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 7.130, Purport.) The swami says this purport should read: One should not try to be an artificially advanced devotee, thinking, “I am a first-class devotee, so it is best not to accept any disciples.” Such thinking should be avoided.

I am not a Bengali scholar and have not studied Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s purports to this verse, but I do know English fairly well and have carefully studied all of Srila Prabhupada’s books in English. The version found in the book is consistent with the siddhanta found throughout Srila Prabhupada’s books. The version of the swami, however, contradicts siddhanta. There is significant difference in meaning between these two versions.

The first version cited above, as found in the authorized books, is clear. It says devotees should not think of themselves to be paramahamsas simply because, as Damaghosa mentions, they may have been following the basic regulative principles and chanting the minimum of 16 rounds for a few years. Such following is the qualification for being a disciple, not a guru. Srila Prabhupada concludes his statement above, clearly saying, “It is best not to accept any disciples.” Throughout Srila Prabhupada’s books the emphasis is on the strict sadhana required to become a bona fide disciple. Srila Prabhupada never ordered, authorized or suggested ecclesiastical arrangements for electing “gurus”. Nor did he suggest one should adopt the office and status of spiritual master on his own initiative, without full authorization and realization.

Unfortunately, most of us modern men are sloppy readers and writers, as is seen constantly in legislative assemblies, newspapers, magazines, and even scholarly journals. Most experienced English teachers and editors will agree on this point. Srila Prabhupada’s original books have been carefully proofed by qualified editors. The standard is high, with very few, if any, glaring errors that severely distort the intended meaning. English is a complex and precise language in word definitions, grammar and structure, but sadly it is often misused, miswritten or misunderstood by sloppy readers and writers, the poorly educated, and those with ulterior motives, such as lawyers and politicians. Srila Prabhupada, on the other hand, had perfect command of the English language, particularly in writing. He required no editors; yet by his causeless mercy he engaged qualified disciples in this service.

The swami’s version of this purport perverts the meaning drastically. He puts Srila Prabhupada’s statement “It is best not to accept any disciples” within the quotation marks that Prabhupada uses to illustrate the type of thinking that should be avoided. In other words, the swami’s version says, “One should not think himself too exalted to take on the botherations involved in accepting disciples.” The book version, on the other hand, shows no quotation marks on the statement “It is best not to accept disciples.” This statement appears as Srila Prabhupada’s clear warning that one should not become a spiritual master on his own initiative, without specific authorization, full realization and empowerment from Sri Guru and Gauranga. (Although for most devotees it may be best to not accept any disciples, Krishna of course sometimes orders His pure devotees to descend to the material world to do so.)

Throughout Srila Prabhupada’s books he has repeatedly cited evidence that shows only a first-class devotee is qualified to become a genuine spiritual master and deliverer of fallen conditioned souls and that even such a qualified devotee never accepts disciples on his own initiative. The version promoted by the swami, however, disputes this idea by suggesting: One should avoid thinking: “I am a first-class devotee, [therefore, for me] it is best to not accept any disciples [since accepting disciples is the work of second-class and third-class devotees].”

We should carefully note the placement of quotation marks in these two versions. The second version is misleading. It gives emphasis to the idea that thinking “It best not to accept disciples” is the thinking that should really be avoided, not necessarily thinking “I am a first-class devotee.” In other words, the swami’s version is structured in such a way as to suggest that it may be fine to think of oneself as a first-class devotee as long as he doesn’t use that as an excuse to avoid accepting disciples.

Such speculation, change and interpretation of Prabhupada’s original books creates a dangerous precedent. Devotees may come to believe that it is a good idea to analyze every book statement based on old archived manuscripts someone has dug up somewhere–manuscripts that have been transcribed from tapes long ago or recently by who knows who. Should we doubt statements we don’t like and go back to so-called “original” manuscripts, or even the writings of previous Acharyas, to determine what Prabhupada really meant? It seems odd to say, “The Caitanya-caritamrita Prabhupada gave us was a rushed job, so naturally it is full of serious mistakes, even though Prabhupada accepted it, read it and lectured from it many times. I am an advanced scholar, so let me offer the correct version.”

With all the book changes and speculation in Iskcon, the authority of Srila Prabhupada’s books has been undermined. If this continues, the authority of Prabhupada’s mission may become more and more obscured, as a floodgate of speculation is opened wide. We must all try to carefully maintain respect for the integrity and authority of Srila Prabhupada’s original books. Otherwise, the whole mission may eventually become severely adulterated or spoiled by misguided pundits and persons with false ambitions.

Srila Prabhupada explained that his Guru Maharaja never appointed anybody as acharya.

“…They wanted to create artificially somebody acharya,”…

Note: 1) The ISKCON GBC artificially created 11 acharyas in March of 1978.

2) If Srila Prabhupada wanted to appoint 11 acharyas [diksha-gurus] for ISKCON, why did he not directly say?

“He said so many things, and this point He missed? The real point?”

Note: Similarly Srila Prabhupada said so many things in the last few months of 1977, and the real point He missed?

“…and they insist upon it. They declared some unfit person to become…”

– Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976, Bombay

Note: And the GBC misheard, misunderstood, and misrepresented to the body of ISKCON devotees that 11 had been “appointed” as acharyas. And they insisted upon it. And they declared some unfit persons to become acharyas.

Note: If His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada did not appoint anyone as acharya [or diksha guru] for His mission, what makes the leading secretaries of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada think that He would appoint one acharya or a group of acharyas for his mission, in direct contradiction of his criticism of this whole concept in August of 1976.

– Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976, Bombay, India

Srila Prabhupada explains that there is no record that His Divine Grace Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura nominated “any acharya” after him.

“… I have also read specifically your articles on the matter of acharyas, wherein on the 14th paragraph I see the acharya shall be entitled to nominate in writing his successive acharya.

But we do not find any record where our Srila Prabhupada nominated any acharya after Him. Different persons have interpreted on this point, and everyone of our God brothers are acting as acharya, so this is a controversial point which I do not wish to enter into while we are proposing for co-operation…”

– Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Swami Bhagavata Maharaja, August 21, 1969, Los Angeles

Note: Where is the actual verifiable record that Srila Prabhupada [HDG ACBSP] “nominated any acharya after Him”?

Srila Prabhupada defines obedience.

Srila Prabhupada: “I may say many things to you, but when I say something directly to you, you do it. Your first duty is to do that, you cannot argue -‘Sir, you said to me do like this before’, no that is not your duty, what I say to you now you do it, that is obedience you cannot argue.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture, April 14, 1975, Hyderabad

Guru cannot be self-made. Guru must be authorized.

“Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorised. Evam parampara-praptam imam ra… As soon as the parampara is….kalena yogo nasta parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, February 27th 1977, Mayapur, India

Guru must be authorized by the bona fide guru.

“Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he’s guru. This is the fact…Similarly; bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, Nectar of Devotion, October 31, 1972

Guru must be authorized by his predecessor spiritual master.

“One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorised by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksha-vidhana.“

– Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.8.54, purport

Guru must be ordered by his guru.

Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don’t go very speedily. A guru can become guru when he’s ordered by his guru. That’s all. Otherwise nobody.

Result of Gaudiya Matha’s attempt to become more than guru.

“Why this Gaudiya Matha failed? Because they tried to become more than guru. [.] They declared some unfit person to become acharya. Then another man came, then another, acharya, another acharya.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976

Position of the actual guru.

“An actual guru always remains the servant of his own guru and the predecessor acharyas. Attempting to become a guru without one’s own guru’s order is a materialistic ambition. Accepting followers and circumventing one’s own guru is offensive.”

– My Glorious Master, by Bhurijana Dasa, 22-11: A Lost Son Visits Home

Srila Prabhupada explains how he became the leader of the Krishna Consciousness movement.

Guru must be ordered by His guru.

Indian man: When did you become spiritual the leader of Krishna Consciousness?

Srila Prabhupada: What is that?

Brahmananda: He is asking when did you become the spiritual leader of Krishna Consciousness?

Srila Prabhupada: When my Guru Maharaja ordered me. This is the guru parampara.

Indian man: Did it…

Srila Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don’t go very speedily. A guru can become guru when he is ordered by his guru. That’s all. Otherwise nobody can become guru. “

– Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Lecture, October 28, 1975

Guru must be authorized. Guru cannot be self-made.

Position of gurus without authority.

“Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorised. Evam parampara-praptam imam ra… As soon as the parampara is…kalena yogo nasta parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, February 27, 1977, Mayapur, India

Guru must be authorized by the bona fide guru.

“Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he’s guru. This is the fact…Similarly; bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Nectar of Devotion lecture, October 31, 1972

Guru must be authorized person.

“Therefore guru must be authorized person, not that bhumi-phala-guru. No. I am guru,” no. You cannot become guru unless you are agent to draw out the mercy water from the ocean of mercy of Krishna. That is guru. And therefore a guru is not an ordinary person. He is the representative, bona fide representative of Krishna.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, November 30, 1976

Guru cannot impart instructions without being authorized.

“The schoolmasters in the modern days are paid agents for giving some information, but the spiritual master is not a paid agent. Nor can he impart instruction without being authorized.”

– Srimad Bhagavatam: 2.9.43, purport

“A Guru can be Guru when he is ordered by his Guru. That’s all. Otherwise nobody can become Guru.”

– Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita lecture, 28th October 1975

Srila Prabhupada predicts what happens when the acharya disappears?

Unfortunately, when the acharya disappears, rogues and nondevotees take advantage and immediately begin to introduce unauthorized principles in the name of so-called svamis, yogis, philanthropists, welfare workers and so on.

– Srimad Bhagavatam: 4.28.48

Do not make addition, alteration.

Results of making additions and alterations.

Many times they give me very great credit that I have done wonderful. Yes, I have done wonderful. But what is the reason? Because I am not a rascal. I speak what Krishna has spoken. That’s all. Very easy. Everyone can do that. Not only I. Any of you, you can do this. Simply speak what Krishna has said. That’s all. Don’t make addition, alteration. Then you become rascal. Immediately you become rascal.

– Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, 1.5.29 Vrindavana, August 10, 1974

Danger of concocting

Prabhupada: Ara na koriha mane asa. Don’t concoct. Don’t you sing daily? Ara na koriha mane asa. Don’t manufacture ideas. That is dangerous. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaches by His example. Guru more murkha dekhi’ karila sasana. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to Prakashananda Sarasvati that “My spiritual master saw Me fool number one, so he has chastised Me, that ‘Don’t try to read Vedanta; chant Hare Krishna

– Conversations, June 23, 1976, New Vrindavan

Go to right person who has seen. Do not make your own interpretation.

Prabhupada: Therefore Krishna says, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya: “One who knows, go and understand from them, from the guru.” Don’t make your interpretation, rascal. You shall remain always a rascal. Then what is the use of all these verses? If it is so easy to understand Krishna then why Krishna says, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya: “Then you will understand. Go to the right person who has seen.”

– Conversations, December 10, 1975, Vrindavana

Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj and Srila Bhaktivinode thakur

I have been reading the book called Sri Caitanya Siksamrta by Bhaktivinode Thakur. In the Fifth rainfall section he writes….

“False ego is identity of the self with matter. The identity of the self with his cit (spiritual) body before material association is natural and proper, but the material identity arising through material association is false and imposed. Another name for this condition is ignorance. The false ego is in an intermediate position, a thread binding the spiritual self to the material world. The self, situated in the material world, identifies itself as material. Then in devolution, the false ego becomes grosser, becoming known as citta, material consciousness. When this same false ego, making judgements in the material world become even grosser, it is called intelligence. Next when the false ego contacts matter directly through the senses it is called mind. False ego intelligence and mind are not part of the pure self, nor are they gross matter. therefore they are called the linga deha (subtle body). Because the spiritual body , spiritual activities and spiritual cultivation of the soul in the pure state are still perceivable to a minute degree in the subtle body, this intermediate signifying element is designated as linga (subtle). The awareness of self that is present in the spiritual body of the soul thus manifests in a contracted state in the subtle body. However the souls pure identification with his spiritual body is almost lost and becomes forgotten. When a sense of self does arise in the subtle body, is attributes that sense of identity to the material body. The identity of oneself as the servant of Krsna, as a pures soul with a spiritual body, becomes transformed into a new identity as a servant of matter and the material sense objects. In this condition the souls bondage by maya become complete.

or in the words of the Srimad Bhagavatam-

SB 4.22.31 When one deviates from his original consciousness, he loses the capacity to remember his previous position or recognize his present one. When remembrance is lost, all knowledge acquired is based on a false foundation. When this occurs, learned scholars consider that the soul is lost.

CONCLUSION- without the association of bona fide devotees of the lord, our present conditioned so

called “understandings and knowledge” are all products of the illusory energy of the Krsna. Therefore Srila Prabhupada has called spiritual life a razors edge because our perceptions of what is actually spiritual is like a thin thread in the subtle body, capable at any time of becomming covered over again by Maya.

Hare Krsna

Damaghosa das

Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Here is a few short paragraphs in which Prabhupada quickly explains

why the most common devotee, is light years ahead of even the greatest of materialists.

Why is that? Because the materialist is only furthering his implication

in Karma, while the devotee is getting free of this nasty thing called karma.(repeated birth and death)

Damaghosa das

—————————

761228SB.VRN Lectures

Sometimes bhakti is observed as similar to the activities of the karmis, but there is difference. One is bhakti, one is going back to home, back to Godhead; and the other is going forward to the hellish condition of life by the same activities. This is the technique. How it is possible? It is possible. By practical example, it is said in the sastras… Just like if you take more quantity of milk preparation, you get diarrhea. But the same milk preparation, yogurt, is there. It will stop diarrhea. Both of them are milk preparation. One has created the disease diarrhea, and another is stopping diarrhea. So why? Cikirsitam.

One is by medical process and the other is without any medical process. The medical process is to satisfy Krsna. Here the building is being constructed to satisfy Krsna. To satisfy Krsna. And in other places the building is constructed to satisfy senses. This is the difference, material and spiritual. Material means to satisfy one’s senses. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti. Karma means they are working very hard like dogs and hogs, but the purpose is indriya-priti. Nunam pramattah: they are mad. They should not… And why mad? Because the karma means you are creating another body. And as soon as there is another body, dehantara-praptir, so long you have got this material

body, you’ll suffer. That is the law of nature. Karmanu bandhah. Yavan priti mayi deve… tavat karmanu bandhanah. The karmanu-bandha will continue. Therefore in the sastra it is recommended, yajnarthe karma anyatra karma-bandhanah. Don’t act anything except for the satisfaction of Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness movement. If you do anything for your sense gratification, that means you are being bound up by the laws of karma. Laws of karma, it is very strict according to the modes of activities. Purusah prakrti-stho hi bhunkte karma-jan gunan. So we should be very much careful not to be afflicted by the karma. Karmanu bandha. This is very delicate task….

Bg 3.9 T Karma-yoga

Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.

Hare Krsna to all

pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Here in a few short sentences, Srila Prabhupada cuts thru volumes of sastra and so nicely explains

our problems and how to simply solve them.

Our problem, is we love matter much more than Krsna.

He nicely explains how this is simply corrected which will give us the highest pleasures-Krsna Prema !

———–

740614mw.par Conversations

Paramahamsa: It’s also said that if you follow perfectly the rules and regulations, but don’t develop love for Krsna, then you have wasted your time.

Prabhupada: Yes, but if you follow the rules and regulations, automatically, you’ll love Krsna. Sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah. These are the stepping-stones. The devotional service develops by association. So if the associates are pure devotees, anyone who will come to that association will become devotee. (break) …just like a young man and young woman. The devotion is there, love is there, but in the beginning, they should mix, or some presentation should be given, some, something eatable should be accepted, should be given. In this way, when the association is thick and thin, the love is there. The love is already there. It has to awakened by a certain process. Dadati pratigrhnati bhunkte bhojayate guhyam akhyati prcchati ca sad-vidham priti-laksanam. These are six types of loving principles, that you give, if you want to love somebody, you give something. And whatever he or she offers, you take from him. Dadati pratigrhnati. You give him something to eat, and whatever he or she gives, you eat. Bhunkte bhojayate ca. And guhyam akhyati prcchati. And you try to understand his heart, and your heart be disclosed to him or her. If you follow these principles, automatically the loving propensity will awaken. It is already there. It is not artificial. It has simply to be awakened by a certain process. So that process we are

prescribing, to rise early in the morning, have mangala-aratrika, worship Deity, offer food stuff, eat prasadam, chant Hare Krsna. Anyone who will follow this principle, he will become purified.

There is no need of education, because the devotion is already there. By following these rules and regulations, it will be awakened. As, as, as in this straw, there is fire. Now, you ignite it, and just fan it, and the fire will come. It is already there, fire. But you know, you must know the process how to ignite fire. Huge fire will come. You can burn the whole garden from this straw. Is it not? So you must know the process, how to ignite fire. Fire is already there, in these trees, in these straws, in this grass. Fire is already there. That, that is the process. First of all, you must know that fire is already there. Now ignite. Then it comes more. Then burning, blazing. So the blazing fire is required. But that will come gradually. If you follow the process. That is described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the Siksastakam, ceto-darpana-marjanam. The first step will be cleansing of the heart. And in the heart there is God, already. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati. The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart. So actually yoga system is to find out the Lord within the heart. That is meditation. Lord is there already: simply we have to find it out.

That, that if, if you are informed that within this park there is one hundred weight of gold is lying there. Now you have to find out. But the indication is there. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati. The Lord, the Supreme Lord, is situated in everyone’s heart. Now find him out. That is yoga system.

The Glories of Lord Nityananda Balarama

CC Adi lila chapter 5-selected verses compiled

This is Gauranga Ananta- the combined forms of Lord Gaura (frontside)

and Lord Nitai (coiled snake on backside)

Lord Baladeva in Krsnaloka is Nityananda Prabhu. Therefore Nityananda Prabhu is the original Sankarsana, and Maha-sankarsana and His expansions as the purusas in the universes are plenary expansions of Nityananda Prabhu.

Adi 5.1 Let me offer my obeisances to Lord Sri Nityananda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose opulence is wonderful and unlimited. By His will, even a fool can understand His identity. Adi 5.10 According to expert opinion, Balarama, as the chief of the original quadruple forms, is also the original Sankarsana. Balarama, the first expansion of Krsna, expands Himself in five forms: (1) Maha-sankarsana, (2) Karanabdhisayi, (3) Garbhodakasayi, (4) Ksirodakasayi, and (5) Sesa. These five plenary portions are responsible for both the spiritual and material cosmic manifestations. In these five forms Lord Balarama assists Lord Krsna in His activities. The first four of these forms are responsible for the cosmic manifestations, whereas Sesa is responsible for personal service to the Lord. Sesa is called Ananta, or unlimited, because He assists the Personality of Godhead in His unlimited expansions by performing an unlimited variety of services. Sri Balarama is the servitor Godhead who serves Lord Krsna in all affairs of existence and knowledge. Lord Nityananda Prabhu, who is the same servitor Godhead, Balarama, performs the same service to Lord Gauranga by constant association.

Adi 5.18 The abode known as Vrndavana or Gokula is also known as Goloka. The Brahma-samhita states that Gokula, the highest region of the kingdom of God, resembles a lotus flower with thousands of petals. The outer portion of that lotuslike planet is a square place known as Svetadvipa. In the inner portion of Gokula there is an elaborate arrangement for Sri Krsna’s residence with His eternal associates such as Nanda and Yasoda. That transcendental abode exists by the energy of Sri Baladeva, who is the original whole of Sesa, or Ananta. The tantras also confirm this description by stating that the abode of Sri Anantadeva, the plenary portion of Baladeva, is called the kingdom of God. Vrndavana-dhama is the innermost abode within the quadrangular realm of Svetadvipa, which lies outside of the boundary of Gokula Vrndavana.

Adi 5.20 The land there is touchstone [cintamani], and the forests abound with desire trees. Material eyes see it as an ordinary place.

PURPORT

By the grace of the Lord His dhamas and He Himself can all be present simultaneously, without losing their original importance. Only when one fully develops in affection and love of Godhead can one see those dhamas in their original appearance. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, a great acarya in the preceptorial line of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, has said for our benefit that one can perfectly see the dhamas only when one completely gives up the mentality of lording it over material nature. One’s spiritual vision develops proportionately to one’s giving up the debased mentality of unnecessarily enjoying matter.

Adi 5.22 In the material world, everything is a creation. Anything we can think of within our experience, including even our own bodies and minds, was created. This process of creation began with the life of Brahma, and the creative principle is prevalent all over the material universe because of the quality of passion. But since the quality of passion is conspicuous by its absence in the Vaikuntha planets, nothing there is created: everything there is eternally existent. And because there is no mode of ignorance, there is also no question of annihilation or destruction. In the material world one may try to make everything permanent by developing the above-mentioned qualities of goodness, but because the goodness in the material world is mixed with passion and ignorance, nothing here can exist permanently, despite all the good plans of the best scientific brains. Therefore in the material world we have no experience of eternity, bliss and fullness of knowledge. But in the spiritual world, because of the complete absence of the qualitative modes, everything is eternal, blissful and cognizant. Everything can speak, everything can move, everything can hear, and everything can see in fully blessed existence for eternity. The situation being so, naturally space and time, in the forms of past, present and future, have no influence there. In the spiritual

sky there is no change because time has no influence. Consequently, the influence of maya, the total external energy, which induces us to become more and more materialistic and forget our relationship with God, is also absent there.

The residents of Vaikuntha have brilliantly black complexions much more fascinating and attractive than the dull white and black complexions found in the material world. Their bodies, being spiritual, have no equals in the material world. The beauty of a bright cloud when lightning flashes on it merely hints at their beauty. Generally the inhabitants of Vaikuntha dress in yellow clothing. Their bodies are delicate and attractively built, and their eyes are like the petals of lotus flowers. Like Lord Visnu, the residents of Vaikuntha have four hands decorated with a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower. Their chests are beautifully broad and fully decorated with necklaces of a brilliant diamondlike metal surrounded by costly jewels never to be found in the material world. The residents of Vaikuntha are always powerful and effulgent. Some of them have complexions like red coral cat’s eyes and lotus flowers, and each of them has earrings of costly jewels. On their heads they wear flowery crowns resembling garlands. In the Vaikunthas there are airplanes, but they make no tumultuous sounds. Material airplanes are not at all safe: they can fall down and crash at any time, for matter is imperfect in every respect. In the spiritual sky, however, the airplanes are also spiritual, and they are

spiritually brilliant and bright. These airplanes do not fly business executives, politicians or planning commissions as passengers, nor do they carry cargo or postal bags, for these are all unknown there. These planes are for pleasure trips only, and the residents of Vaikuntha fly in them with their heavenly, beautiful, fairylike consorts. Therefore these airplanes, full of residents of Vaikuntha, both male and female, increase the beauty of the spiritual sky. We cannot imagine how beautiful they are, but their beauty may be compared to the clouds in the sky accompanied by silver branches of electric lightning. The spiritual sky of Vaikunthaloka is always decorated in this way.

…. But the poor materialist makes plans to live comfortably here and thus wastes his valuable human energy in something that is doomed to frustration. Instead of wasting his time with business speculations, he might have sought the life of plain living and high spiritual thinking and thus saved himself from perpetual materialistic unrest….

Adi 5.41 The original quadruple forms Krsna, Baladeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand into another quadruple, which is present in the Vaikuntha planets of the spiritual sky. Therefore the quadruple forms in the spiritual sky are the second manifestation of the original quadruple in Dvaraka. As explained above, Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are all changeless, transcendental plenary expansions of the Supreme Lord who have no relation to the material modes. The Sankarsana form in the second quadruple is not only a representation of Balarama but also the original cause of the Causal Ocean, where Karanodakasayi Visnu lies asleep, breathing out the seeds of innumerable universes.

Adi 5.42 There the personal feature of Balarama called Maha-sankarsana is the shelter of the spiritual energy. He is the primary cause, the cause of all causes.

Adi 5.45 There is one marginal potency, known as the jiva. Maha-sankarsana is the shelter of all jivas.

Adi 5.46 Sankarsana is the original shelter of the purusa, from whom this world is created and in whom it is dissolved.

Adi 5.47 He [Sankarsana] is the shelter of everything. He is wonderful in every respect, and His opulences are infinite. Even Ananta cannot describe His glory.

Adi 5.48 That Sankarsana, who is transcendental pure goodness, is a partial expansion of Nityananda Balarama.

Adi 5.50 I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Sri Nityananda Rama, whose partial representation called Karanodakasayi Visnu, lying on the Karana Ocean, is the original purusa, the master of the illusory energy, and the shelter of all the universes.

Adi 5.51 Outside the Vaikuntha planets is the impersonal Brahman effulgence, and beyond that effulgence is the Karana Ocean, or Causal Ocean. Purport-. Neither Krsna in Goloka nor Narayana in Vaikuntha comes directly in contact with the material creation. They are completely aloof from the material energy. It is the function of Maha-sankarsana in the form of Karanodakasayi Visnu to glance over the material creation, which is situated beyond the limits of the Causal Ocean. Material nature is connected with the Personality of Godhead by His glance over her and nothing more. It is said that she is impregnated by the energy of His glance. The material energy, maya, never even touches the Causal Ocean, for the Lord’s glance focuses upon her from a great distance away. The glancing power of the Lord agitates the entire cosmic energy, and thus its actions begin at once. This indicates that matter, however powerful she may be, has no power by herself. Her activity begins by the grace of the Lord, and then the entire cosmic creation is manifested in a systematic way. The example of a woman’s conception can help us understand this subject to a certain extent. The mother is passive, but the father puts his energy within the mother, and thus she conceives. She supplies the ingredients for the birth of the child in her womb. Similarly, the Lord activates material nature, which then supplies the ingredients for cosmic development.

Material nature has two different phases. The aspect called pradhana supplies the material ingredients for cosmic development, and the aspect called maya causes the manifestation of her ingredients, which are temporary, like foam in the ocean. In reality, the temporary manifestations of material nature are originally caused by the spiritual glance of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead is the direct, or remote, cause of creation, and material nature is the indirect, or immediate, cause. Materialistic scientists, puffed-up by the magical changes their so-called inventions have brought about, cannot see the real potency of Godhead behind matter. Therefore the jugglery of science is gradually leading people to a godless civilization at the cost of the goal of human life. Having missed the goal of life, materialists run after self-sufficiency, not knowing that material nature is already self-sufficient by the grace of God. Thus creating a colossal hoax in the name of civilization, they create an imbalance in the natural self-sufficiency of material nature.

Adi 5.52 Surrounding Vaikuntha is a mass of water that is endless, unfathomed and unlimited.

Adi 5.53 The earth, water, fire, air and ether of Vaikuntha are all spiritual. Material elements are not found there. Adi 5.54 The water of the Karana Ocean, which is the original cause, is therefore spiritual. The sacred Ganges, which is but a drop of it, purifies the fallen souls. Adi 5.55 In that ocean lies one plenary portion of Lord Sankarsana.

Adi 5.56 He is known as the first purusa, the creator of the total material energy. He, the cause of the universes, the first incarnation, casts His glance over maya.

Maya-sakti resides outside the Causal Ocean. Maya cannot touch its waters.

Adi 5.58 Maya has two varieties of existence. One is called pradhana or prakrti. It supplies the ingredients of the material world.
PURPORT
Maya, the external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is divided into two parts. Maya is the cause and the ingredient of the cosmic manifestation. As the cause of the cosmic manifestation she is known as maya, and as the agent supplying the ingredients of the cosmic manifestation she is known as pradhana. An explicit description of these divisions of external energy is given in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.24.1-4).

Elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.63.26) the ingredients and cause of the material cosmic manifestation are described as follows: The body is generated from activity, and activity is generated from the body, just as a tree is generated from a seed that is generated from a tree. This reciprocal cause and effect is called maya. My dear Lord, You can save me from this cycle of cause and effect. I worship Your lotus feet.”

Adi 5.63 Just as the original cause of an earthen pot is the potter, so the creator of the material world is the first purusa incarnation [Karanarnavasayi Visnu].

Adi 5.64 Lord Krsna is the creator, and maya only helps Him as an instrument, just like the potter’s wheel and other instruments, which are the instrumental causes of a pot.

Adi 5.65 The first purusa casts His glance at maya from a distance, and thus He impregnates her with the seed of life in the form of the living entities.

Adi 5.66 The reflected rays of His body mix with maya, and thus maya gives birth to myriads of universes.

PURPORT- . In the conditioned state the living entities of the marginal energy are a mixture of spiritual and material energies. The marginal energy is originally under the control of the spiritual energy, but, under the control of the material energy, the living entities have been wandering in forgetfulness within the material world since time immemorial…

.. The marginal jiva, or living entity, misuses his independence and becomes averse to the eternal service attitude when he independently thinks he is not energy but the energetic. This misconception of his own existence leads him to the attitude of

lording it over material nature…

….but a person who is engaged in devotional service in full Krsna consciousness and who is therefore already situated in the spiritual energy can understand that the material energy has no independent powers: whatever actions are going on are due to the help of the spiritual energy. The material energy, which is a perverted form of the spiritual energy, presents everything pervertedly, thus causing misconceptions and duality.

…When a living entity is liberated, however, from the conditioned life of matter, he can understand the two different activities of material nature, namely covering and bewildering.

Adi 5.67 The purusa enters each and every one of the countless universes. He manifests Himself in as many separate forms as there are universes.

Adi 5.68 When the purusa exhales, the universes become manifest with each outward breath.

Adi 5.69 Thereafter, when He inhales, all the universes again enter His body. Adi 5.70 Just as atomic particles of dust pass through the openings of a window, so the networks of universes pass through the pores of the skin of the purusa. Adi 5.72 “Where am I,[Lord Brahma] a small creature of seven spans the measure of my own hand? I am enclosed in the universe composed of material nature, the total material energy, false ego, ether, air, water and earth. And what is Your glory? Unlimited universes pass through the pores of Your body just like particles of dust passing through the opening of a window.”

PURPORT

When Lord Brahma, after having stolen all Krsna’s cows and cowherd boys, returned and saw that the cows and boys were still roaming with Krsna, he offered this prayer (Bhag. 10.14.11) in his defeat. A conditioned soul, even one so great as Brahma, who manages the affairs of the entire universe, cannot compare to the Personality of Godhead, for He can produce numberless universes simply by the spiritual rays emanating from the pores of His body. Material scientists should take lessons from the utterances of Sri Brahma regarding our insignificance in comparison to God. In these prayers of Brahma there is much to learn for those who are falsely puffed up by the accumulation of power.

Adi 5.91 That Maha-purusa [Karanodakasayi Visnu] is known as a plenary part

of Him who is Lord Nityananda Balarama, the favorite associate of Lord Caitanya.

Adi 5.93 I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Sri Nityananda Rama, a partial part of whom is Garbhodakasayi Visnu. From the navel of Garbhodakasayi Visnu sprouts the lotus that is the birthplace of Brahma, the engineer of the universe. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of the multitude of planets.

Adi 5.107 That Lord Narayana is a part of a plenary part of Lord Nityananda

Adi 5.109 I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of Sri Nityananda Rama, whose secondary part is the Visnu lying in the ocean of milk. That Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the Supersoul of all living entities and the maintainer of all the universes. Sesa Naga is His further subpart.

Adi 5.134 Thus Lord Nityananda has unlimited incarnations. In transcendental emotion He calls Himself a servant of Lord Caitanya.

Adi 5.135 Sometimes He serves Lord Caitanya as His guru, sometimes as His friend and sometimes as His servant, just as Lord Balarama played with Lord Krsna in these three different modes in Vraja.

Adi 5.136 Playing like a bull, Lord Balarama fights with Krsna head to head. And sometimes Lord Krsna massages the feet of Lord Balarama. Adi 5.138 “Acting just like ordinary boys, They played like roaring bulls as They fought each other, and They imitated the calls of various animals.”

Adi 5.139 “Sometimes when Lord Krsna’s elder brother, Lord Balarama, felt tired after playing and lay His head on the lap of a cowherd boy, Lord Krsna Himself served Him by massaging His feet.”

Adi 5.142 Lord Krsna alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.

Adi 5.143 Thus Lord Caitanya is also the only controller. All others are His associates or servants.

Adi 5.154 Krsna and Balarama present Themselves as elder or younger brother, but in the scriptures They are described as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and His expansion.

Adi 5.156 Lord Caitanya is the same Lord Krsna, and Lord Nityananda is Lord Balarama. Lord Nityananda fulfills all of Lord Caitanya’s desires.

Adi 5.157 The ocean of Lord Nityananda’s glories is infinite and unfathomable. Only by His mercy can I touch even a drop of it.

In ancient times there were two brothers named Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. They were demons born to sage Kashyapa Muni. They flaunted uncommon bodily features and had steel-like frames which grew just like mountains. Their bodies became so tall they seemed to kiss the sky with the crests of their golden crowns. They blocked the view in all directions, and while walking shook the earth with their every step.
The younger demon, Hiranyaksha, was a greedy exploiter of gold. He exploited enough gold from the earth so as to cause it to spin out of orbit. It then fell into the Garbhodaka ocean.

(below, we have two Varaha Salagram Silas-notice the snouts)

Lord Brahma who was the creator of the Universe was thinking of how to lift the earth which was submerged in water. At this time, the small form of a boar came out of his nostril. The measurement of the creature was not more than the upper portion of a thumb. While Brahma was looking at it, that boar became situated in the sky like a gigantic elephant. Then the boar roared like a rolling mountain. Brahma and the other demigods who saw this came to know that He was an incarnation of Lord Krishna and offered their prayers.
Playing like an elephant, Lord Varaha (the boar) flew in the sky, slashing His tail, His hard hairs quivering. He scattered the clouds in the sky with His hooves and glittering white tusks. As Lord Krishna had assumed the form of a boar He searched for the earth by smell. Diving into the water like a giant mountain, He split the ocean into two huge waves. Lord Varaha penetrated the water with His hooves, sharp like arrows. There He saw the earth, the resting place for all living beings, lying as it was in the beginning of creation. Then He easily took the earth on His tusks and lifted it out of the water. With His anger glowing like molten coal, Lord Varaha then accosted the demon Hiranyaksha.
Thereupon Lord Varaha killed the demon, just as a lion kills an elephant. The cheeks and tongue of the Lord became smeared with the blood of the demon, just as an elephant becomes reddish from digging in the purple earth.
In this manner the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, the maintainer of all living entities, raised the earth from within the water, and having placed it afloat in its orbit, He returned to His own abode.
Ref: Srimad-Bhagavatam Third Canto

Hare Krsna to all

pranams

Glories to Prabhupada

This is a very nice lecture by Srila Prabhupada-

Why?

Because he explains that God is not just an opulent God, surrounded

by millions of goddesses of fortune and a huge family, not that He

gives us a fragment of transcendental knowledge in His Bhagavad Gita, not

that He lifts a mountain when He was only 7 years old, but that He also

exhibits His complete opulences-as vairagya, or renunciation of this material world.

Krsna did this as Ramchandra when He gave up His princely right to the throne by

the next day walking out of His fathers palace and into the forest for exile, as Krsna

when He ran away from fighting some demon king, and as Lord Rsabhadev by giving

up His world kingdom and assuming the position of an avadhuta/madman who was

completely oblivious to the material world.

Prabhupada tells us that we must be self realized and completely zero with material desire before we

leave this body, if we expect to go back Home. But this takes time and one starts this

process of going back to Godhead by the morning program, getting up early for mongol arotik,

chanting, worshipping the Deity,tulsi devi, hearing SB daily ,associating with the devotees,etc etc.

He also gave the example of how Lord Caitanya was once benedicted by a brahmana on the banks

of the Ganges with a nice wife and happy family life. When He heard this He blocked His ears not

wanting to hear this “benediction”. Then the brahmana reversed his blessings saying you will

never be happy in your family life-in other words He, Lord Caitanya would take sannyasa-This

Lord Gauranga liked very much !!

Only a devotee could understand this benediction.

Hare Krsna

Damaghosa das

————————–

761128SB.VRN Lectures Pradyumna: “Lord Rsabhadeva was the head of all kings and emperors within this universe, but assuming the dress and language of an avadhuta, He acted as if dull and materially bound. Consequently, no one could observe His divine opulence. He adopted this behavior just to teach yogis how to give up the body. Nonetheless, He maintained His original position as a plenary expansion of Lord Vasudeva, Krsna. Remaining always in that state, He gave up His pastimes as Lord Rsabhadeva within the material world. If, following in the footsteps of Lord Rsabhadeva, one can give up his subtle body, there is no chance that one will accept a material body again.”

Prabhupada: So this is also opulence of Krsna. Jadavad avadhuta-vesa. Although He is the proprietor, sarva-loka-mahesvaram, still, this is another opulence, how to become renounced. This is another opulence. It is as good as the other opulences. …

And He says, Krsna, sarva-loka-mahesvaram. Not only in one planet but all the universes, all the planets within the universes, they are all the properties of Krsna. Sarva-loka-mahesvaram.

… So yasasah sriyah jnana-vairagya. This is vairagya. Not that Krsna is simply enjoying sixteen thousand palaces, sixteen thousand queens, and millions of descendants, yadu-vamsa. This is another side, and this is another side, vairagya. Jnana-vairagya. Jnana. We can understand a little piece of His contribution of jnana, Bhagavad-gita. That is a little piece of His stock of knowledge. Five thousand years He spoke, and still it is being continued, not only in India, but also all over the world. This is jnana. So anyway–strength. When He was seven years old, Krsna, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. Jnana- vairagya, everything complete. That is God. Nothing less. Not that, that “I am rich man, but I cannot lie down on the street.” Not that kind of vairagya. He is complete, completely different from a rich person. Akhila-loka-pala. He is the controller of the whole universe; still, you see His vairagya.

But here Krsna as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krsna as Rsabhadeva, Krsna as Krsna Himself, They are teaching us how to become pure devotee, because sva kalevaram jihasur atmanah. Before leaving your, this body, you must be self-realized. That is the aim of life. Bahunam janmanam ante.

niskincanasya bhagavad bhajanonmukhasya. Niskincanasya. If you actually want to become a pure devotee, then you have to make this material way of life completely zero. Anyabhilasita-sunyam. Then it will be possible. If you have still a pinch of attraction for material life, then it will be stopped, your promotion to the other, spiritual world. Simply attachment to Krsna, that will make you advanced.

So anyone who has accepted this material world as very comfortable… It is not comfortable; it is simply suffering. Krsna says, duhkhalayam asasvatam. And still, if we want to be happy in this material world, bahir-artha-maninah. These fools, they are trying to be happy within this material world. Material means external energy. Bahir-artha-maninah. Na te viduh svartha gatim hi visnum durasaya. This is durasaya, the hope which will never be fulfilled. But this we do not… Maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan. So unless there is vairagya, there is no question of happiness. But we cannot attain vairagya immediately; therefore the vidhi-marga, vidhi-marga-bhakti, to rise early in the morning, to attend mangala arati, to offer Deity flowers, fruits, and in this way we shall be engaged twenty-four hours. Then vairagya-vidya will gradually develop. Anarthopasamam saksad bhakti-yogam adhoksaje. Then the anartha… This material life is simply anartha, has no meaning, because we are creating another life. Without any spiritual knowledge, if we simply give ourself to the action and reaction of material nature, then we are making progress on the path of mrtyu- samsara vartmani. And if we attain Krsna, then mam upetya kaunteya duhkhalayam asasvatam, napnuvanti.

This sloka can be applicable to Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s life. He also became a sannyasi, arya-vacasa. One brahmana cursed him. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to receive some blessings from the brahmanas, when He was boy He was voluntarily trying to give some service to the brahmanas who were engaged in bathing in the Ganges. He’ll clear the place because the brahmana, after taking bath in the Ganges, would sit down, would chant mantra. So He’ll cleanse and He’ll wash the cloth, and in… Voluntarily He was doing that, service. So one brahmana blessed Him, “My dear boy, You’ll be very happy in your family life. You’ll have good wife, very opulent position.” And Caitanya Mahaprabhu was blocking the ears. The brahmana said, “What is this?” “No, this is not blessing, sir.” “Oh, it is not blessing? Then You’ll never be happy in Your family life.” “Yes, this is the…” (laughter) “This is all right.” So therefore He took sannyasa. Arya-vacasa yad agad aranyam. Similarly, Lord Ramacandra, arya-vacasa yad agad aranyam. These are the characteristic of the Personality of Godhead. Try to follow Them, not imitate, but follow them. Thank you. (end)

You have no feeling for Krsna

760623gc.nv Conversations

Devotee (4): The difficulty is that we cannot understand, we cannot

feel what pleases Krsna now, yet we can feel what pleases us, and that

is the difficulty?

Prabhupada: You have no feeling, that everyone knows. Therefore you

have to carry out the order of spiritual master, that’s all.

Devotee (1) : If we try to please Krsna with all of our service and

activities, that automatically brings pleasure to the self?

Prabhupada: You cannot please Krsna directly. You please your

spiritual master, Krsna will be pleased. If you want to please

directly Krsna, that is not possible. That is concoction You cannot

please. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. You have to please your

spiritual master, then Krsna will be pleased. Don’t jump.

Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya. What is that song you

daily sing? What is that?

Pradyumna: By the words of the spiritual master our mind becomes

conclusive from…

Prabhupada: Ara na koriha mane asa. Don’t concoct. Don’t you sing

daily? Ara na koriha mane asa. Don’t manufacture ideas. That is

dangerous. Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches by His example. Guru more

murkha dekhi’ karila sasana. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said to Prakasananda

Sarasvati that “My spiritual master saw Me fool number one, so he has

chastised Me, that ‘Don’t try to read Vedanta; chant Hare Krsna.’ Just hear………..

Conclusion—

1) So by HEARING—gradually all BRAHMINICAL QUALITES develop.

2) Brahmanas qualities—Samo damas tapah saucam….

3) Every human being expected to become a brahmana Vaisnava

4) Without becoming brahmana, nobody can be Vaisnava

5) You think being a Devotee is such a cheap thing? A 25 cent brahmana thread??

6) If everyone was a devotee brahmana, then why so many have fallen away??

7) Vaisnava means pure Devotee of God—Sa Gunan samatityaitan brahma bhuyaya kalpate

8) So keep on hearing from Srila Prabhupada, develop all brahminal qualities and then become pure Vaisnava, servant of God.

Sri Guru Is Present In All Things

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

Question 1: Are genuine saints (sadhus) respected in this world?

Answer: In a world full of duplicity, only duplicitous persons are honoured. Genuine saints, who do not lead the masses along the wrong path, are not respected in this world. In modern times, simply getting cheated by those who mislead the masses through a pretentious form of spiritual discourse has somehow emerged as the religion of the age (yuga-dharma). And because the true saints wish to expose wicked and unholy persons (asadhus), those same unholy cheaters bewilder the masses by condemning the true saints as unholy, duplicitous and thieves themselves in a ploy to secure their escape. The illusory potency of the Lord, maya, never allows the jivas to be sincere (niskapata) and to that end she has even devised various expert strategies for depriving the jivas of the association of genuine sadhus.

Question 2: Is it possible to have darsana of the Supreme Lord without first having darsana of sri guru?

Answer: Definitely not. Sri guru is the fully transcendent (aprakrta) temple of Sri Bhagavan, and Bhagavan always resides within that temple. Bhagavan Sri Krsna, who is controlled by love, manifests Himself within sadhu-guru and remains there always. It is written in the scriptures:

srutim apare smrtim itare bharatam anye bhajantu bhava-bhitah aham iha nandam vande yasyalinde param brahma

Padyavali (126)

Others may serve the Srutis, Smrtis, the Mahabharata and other scriptures, fearing material existence, but I shall worship Nanda Maharaja, who is so great that the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute Truth Himself, plays in his courtyard.

Many people present themselves as being highly eager to have darsana of Bhagavan, but they do not understand that darsana of Bhagavan is only possible through darsana of guru. Without having darsana of sri guru, having darsana of Bhagavan is not even imaginable. Even bhakti herself does not begin to manifest if the entity known as sri guru is not present.

Sri guru is the sole medium by which we are connected to Sri Krsna and given direct audience of His lotus feet. And the way Sri Krsna demonstrates His infinite mercy is by sending the greatest Vaisnavas, His dear-most servants, to this world. Indeed, sri guru is the personification of Krnsa’s infinite mercy. Only he who teaches us about serving the Deity and the Holy Name is sri gurudeva.

It is not sufficient to serve sri guru only with awe and reverence from a distance. We must serve sri guru with intimacy, that is, with deep love and faith (visrambha guru-seva), just as Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami intimately served Sri Svarupa Damodara Prabhu.

Question 3: What will happen to me if I forget sri guru?

Answer: The moment I deviate from sri guru, the moment I become forgetful of he who keeps me attracted to his lotus feet at every single moment, I will, without a doubt, diverge from the Truth. And when I am thus separated from sri guru, countless misgivings and deficiencies will engulf me. I shall simply spend my time bathing when I’m hot and bundling up when I’m cold. In other words, I will become more anxious to arrange for my own comfort than to serve sri gurudeva.

If at the beginning of every year, every month, every day and every moment, I do not remember my gurudeva, who saves me from absorption in that which has no connection to my constitutional nature or are separate from krsna-bhakti, then I will definitely fall into greater and greater difficulty. I will try to present myself as guru and will be swallowed up by the ill-mentality of believing that others should worship me as such. This alone is dvitiya abhinivesa – infatuation with the worthless purposes of our unnatural state. To come and offer guru-puja just for one day is insufficient. It is our duty to serve gurudeva at every moment.

Question 4: Who sees shortcomings in the Vaisnavas?

Answer: Only those who are averse to hari-bhajana, and who are purely dependent on their material senses – their eyes, ears, nose and so on – which are doomed to perceive only the external aspect of things, look for faults in the Vaisnavas. In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krsna has declared that a devotee of the Lord is never touched by inauspiciousness; he never perishes – na me bhaktah pranasyati (Srimad Bhagavad-gita 9.31).

How can those who are engaged in exclusive bhajana of the Lord ever become degraded? Verily they attain only the greatest welfare. Because my vision is imperfect, I see faults in others. Thus I am unable to attain my own welfare.

If I become completely dependent on the observations and perceptions of my senses, then I will be deprived of service to Adhoksaja – the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of the senses – and I will be deprived of service to sri gurudeva. It is because of my own dismal state that I allow my mind to happily dwell on the misfortune of others. I am only so attracted to finding faults in others because I myself am full of faults. If I am able to achieve my own welfare, then no time will remain for seeing faults in others.

Question 5: Is sri guru present in everything?

Answer: Yes. The acaryas who comprise our asraya-jatiya guru-varga* are present in various forms in order to bestow mercy upon us. All these forms are manifestations of sri gurudeva himself – he who imparts transcendental knowledge (divya-jnana). The image of the jagad-guru is reflected in various idealistic entities. My sri gurudeva is being reflected in every entity. The visaya-jatiya aspect of Krsna (Krsna as the object of love) is one half of the Absolute Reality. The other half is the asraya-jatiya aspect (wherein love of God takes shelter). The completeness of the Absolute Reality exists in the variegatedness of the transcendental pastimes of these two aspects. The complete perception of the visaya-jatiya aspect is Sri Krsna, and the complete perception of the asraya-jatiya aspect is my sri gurudeva. The transcendental reflection of the asraya-jatiya aspect in all the conscious cosmic manifestation is the manifestation of my gurudeva alone, in diverse forms. He who teaches us at every moment that we should engage in serving Bhagavan for our entire life is certainly sri gurudeva. This very same gurudeva is reflected in the heart of every living being. He is present in every single entity in his asraya-jatiya aspect.

_____________________ * The line of pure gurus in whose hearts Sri Bhagavan resides

Question 6: When does someone attain a sphurti (momentary vision) of Bhagavan in his heart?

Answer: By good fortune, someone may perceive sri gurudeva wandering in his heart – that is to say, he may have darsana of sri gurudeva in his heart. Only in such a pure heart does the momentary vision (sphurti) of Bhagavan take place. There is no other means to attain service to the Supreme Lord than serving and pleasing sri guru, he who inspires us to engage in serving Sri Bhagavan by all means and in every activity.

Question 7: If I do not completely surrender to the lotus feet of sri guru, am I simply deceiving myself?

Answer: Definitely. I may consider that I have received mantra from guru, but in real terms, if I am not prepared to accept full shelter at the lotus feet of sri gurudeva, then to whatever extent I act with duplicity, I will be cheated.

Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team from Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta Questions re-numbered for this on-line presentation

Hare Krishna Society

Law Books for Mankind: The Final Authority

Srila Prabhupada never appointed acharyas

Here is how, according the Bhaktivinode Thakur, we come under illusion(maya)

Superficially-devotional service and material activities look the same

The Lord is situated in everyones heart-now find Him out, by the yoga system-SP

The Glories of Lord Nityananda CC Adi ch 5

Today is the appearance of Lord Varaha Dev

Lord Rsabhadevs teachings to all yogis-SP

“You have no feeling for Krsna”–SP

Sri Guru is present in all things-by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj