17 Jan 2021
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Health, Pandemic, Prasadam
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, antiseptic vaccine, bhagavad-gita, conspiracy theories, devbotees, epidemic, epidemic disease, health, Pandemic, political unrest, Prasadam, vaccine
In these troubling times, in the mist of a worldwide pandemic , there is a small glimmer or hope; a vaccine. I know there is much debate over mask wearing, and taking the vaccine, due mostly to political unrest, and conspiracy theories. Even amongst devotees, there is much debate.
However,Srila Prabhupada has given us some instruction in the Bhagavad-gita, chapter 3, text 14, on how we can help protect our health.
…the devotees of the Lord, who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, offer food to Kṛṣṇa and then eat-a process which nourishes the body spiritually. By such action not only are past sinful reactions in the body vanquished, but the body becomes immunized to all contamination of material nature. When there is an epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Viṣṇu and then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who eats only food offered to Kṛṣṇa, can counteract all reactions of past material infections, which are impediments to the progress of self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is immunized by accepting prasādam of the Lord (food offered to Viṣṇu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not do so becomes subjected to contamination. (from purport Bg 3.14)
Full text and purport
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01 Jan 2021
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhagavad-gita, Kali Yuga, Vedas
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, kali yuga, kalpa, kalpas, Srimad Bhagavatam, Time, Time I Am, yugas
So today is New Years Day 2021. Hopefully we will all see a better year ahead. But I have given this notion of “Time” some serious thought of late, what with the pandemic, blazing forest fires, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, political unrest, etc. As my wife has reminded me many times this last year; ‘its Kali Yuga’ the age of decline, of quarrel and hypocrisy. So today I wanted to post some about Time and the duration of the material universe.
…The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in cycles of kalpas. A kalpa is a day of Brahmā, and one day of Brahmā consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas or ages: Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali. The cycle of Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, there being practically no ignorance and vice, and the yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Tretā-yuga vice is introduced, and this yuga lasts 1,296,000 years. In the Dvāpara-yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and religion, vice increasing, and this yuga lasts 864,000 years. And finally in Kali-yuga (the yuga we have now been experiencing over the past 5,000 years) there is an abundance of strife, ignorance, irreligion and vice, true virtue being practically nonexistent, and this yuga lasts 432,000 years. (from purport Bg 8.17)
Even if I could grasp the extent of time in the material universe, that is just a fraction of the unlimited eternal time that continues after the termination of the yuga.
…Then the process is set rolling again. These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahmā, the creator god, and the same number comprise one night. Brahmā lives one hundred of such “years” and then dies. These “hundred years” by earth calculations total to 311 trillion and 40 million earth years. By these calculations the life of Brahmā seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the causal ocean there are innumerable Brahmās rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahmā and his creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they are in constant flux. (from purport Bg 8.17)
The above calculations Srila Prabhupada uses and I quote; “seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the causal ocean there are innumerable Brahmās rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic.” Wow!
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25 Dec 2020
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Uncategorized
Tags: 108 slokas from Bhagavad-gita, A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad-gita As It Is
This is the list of 108 of the most important slokas from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is (1972 Macmillan Edition) by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The index to these verses was taken from the Bhakti-sastri Study Guide compiled by Atmatattva dasa as used by the Bhaktivedanta Academy in Mayapur. [*Note for this collection of slokas, we are using the Original Translations rather than the later re-vised Translations. These were the Translations that Srila Prabhupada approved and which were memorized by heart, by all of the early disciples of His Divine Grace.]
These are important verses for memorizing. Srila Prabhupada has said, that when you quote a verse, your argument becomes authoritative.
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25 Dec 2020
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Uncategorized
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as it is, bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, prabhupadagita
So today is The Advent of Srimad Bhagavad-gita; Gita Jayanti. It is celebrated on the Ekadasi, 11th day of the waxing moon of Margashirsha month (November-December). I just so happens, that today is also Christmas Day. So merry Christmas to all.
In honor of this day, Gita Jayntia, we present the Complete 1972 Edition of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in the PDF format for you to read or save to your computer. Also we include a link to our other page Prabhupadagita Where you can read the entire book online a chapter at a time with the original illustrations.
click on links below:
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28 Nov 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arsha Prayoga, Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1972 Edition, Book Changes, Books by Srila Prabhupada, Lectures, Uncategorized
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arsha Prayoga, as it is, Bhagavad Gita, bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, book changes, no change, original books, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada's books, Srimad Bhagavatam
…
…That is the gift of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is in the śāstra. Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not give you anything which is not in the śāstra. He’s ācārya, although He’s God Himself. He can make śāstra. Whatever He does, whatever He speaks, that is śāstra. But still, because He’s playing the part of ācārya, He immediately gives Vedic evidences. That is the way of ācārya. Ācāryas will never say, “I think.” “It is in my opinion.” No. Such things are not accepted. No personal opinion. It must be supported by Vedic evidences. That is called paramparā system, genuine system of understanding. As Kṛṣṇa says, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg. 4.2]. No change. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We do not change. We have no power to change. Then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? I am a third-class man, and if I change the statements in the Bhagavad-gītā, then where is the authority of Bhagavad-gītā? That is going on. Therefore it is practically… You have got experience that there are hundreds of Bhagavad-gītā editions in the Western countries, but because we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, our sale is better than all others. There is a report from the trade manager of Macmillan. He says, “While other editions are dwindling, going down, this edition is coming up.” They published our, this present enlarged edition of Bhagavad-gītā, fifty thousand in the month of August. They are going to print again, second edition, August, September, October. So the reason is that if we present things as they are, it will be accepted. Without any adulteration. Sometimes, you know, people say that I have done miracles. They say everywhere. But I do not know anything, miracles or magic. If there is any miracle, that miracle is that we present things as they are. That’s all. Without any adulteration. So that should be the principle. Present as it is. It will be accepted.
excerpted from a lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11 Vrindavan India October 22, 1972
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12 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Absolute Truth, approaching a fona fide spiritual master, Bg 13.8-12, bhagavad-gita, cleanliness, humility, knowledge, nonviolence, pridelessness, renunciation, self-control, sense gratification, simplicity, steadiness, tolerance
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth-all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
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01 Apr 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Spiritual Life
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as it is, Bg10.10, bhagavad-gita, devoted, scholarship, spiritual advancement, Spiritual Life, tesam satata-yuktanam
This morning I was reading from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the following verse;
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
This is one of those verses that years ago I added to my repertoire of memorized slokas, and remains today one of my favorite verses. I have come to realize, that it is not by any great knowledge or scholarship, on my part, that I will make spiritual advancement, but rather, it is by faith and devotion, that I might be able to advance spiritually.
…A person may have a bona fide spiritual master and may be attached to a spiritual organization, but still, if he is not intelligent enough to make progress, then Kṛṣṇa from within gives him instructions so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. The qualification is that a person always engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and with love and devotion render all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Kṛṣṇa, and that work should be with love. If a devotee is intelligent enough, he will make progress on the path of self-realization. If one is sincere and devoted to the activities of devotional service, the Lord gives him a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him. (from purport to Bg. 10.10)
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17 Mar 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as it is, Banyan tree, bhagavad-gita, material world, reflection of reality, Spiritual world, Vedas, Vedic hymns
We will be away traveling for a short time and will be away from our computer, but we leave you with this nice image and a verse from Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita. Hare Krishna!
…In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:
“The Supreme Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.” (Bg. 15.1)
Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world. (from Introduction to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is)
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10 Mar 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Conversation with Srila Prabhupada
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, Krsna Arjuna, Srila Prabhupada
click on image to enlarge
When Lord Caitanya was traveling in South India…He saw one brāhmaṇa was reading Bhagavad-gītā. And people were joking him, “Oh, Mr. brāhmaṇa, how you are reading Bhagavad-gītā?” Because they were the neighbors, they knew that this brāhmaṇa was illiterate and he was studying Bhagavad-gītā. So they were joking. But the brāhmaṇa did not car. He was taking the book and in his own way he was reading.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw this incident, He came to the brāhmaṇa. So He asked the brāhmaṇa, “My dear brāhmaṇa, what you are reading?”
So he could understand “This persons is not joking with me; He is serious.”
So he explained, “My dear sir, I am reading Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately, I am illiterate. I do not know even the alphabets.”
“Why you are reading Bhagavad-gītā?”
So he said that, “My spiritual master knows that I am illiterate, but still, he has asked me to read Bhagavad-gītā. What can I do? Therefore I have taken this book. I am seeing simply. I do not know how to read.”
“Oh, that’s all right. You cannot read. But I see that you are crying. How you are crying if you are not reading?”
“Yes, I am crying. Of course, there is cause.”
“What is that?”
“As soon as I take this Bhagavad-gītā, I remember Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is sitting as driver and Arjuna is hearing. I have heard the story. I know something of the instruction but cannot read. So as soon as I take this book, this picture comes before me and I simply think, ‘Oh, how Kṛṣṇa is nice that He has become a charioteer of His devotee. He is so great. Still, He has accepted a menial service of His devotee.’ This gives me so much pleasure that I cry.”
Caitanya Mahāprabhu embraced him, “Your Bhagavad-gītā reading is perfect. You have taken the essence.” So this is the thing. If you simply remember Kṛṣṇa is teaching Arjuna and Arjuna is hearing, if you simply remember the picture, that is sufficient. Even if you think that you cannot read. (Bhagavad-gita talks with Srila Prabhupada 11/25/1968)
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18 Jan 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Chapter a Day
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, Brahma, brahmaji, Cause of All Causes, chad, chapter a day, demigod, disciplic succession, jnanam, Krsna, Lord Brahma, Narada, Narada Muni, parampara system, quailified spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, transcendental knowledge, Vedic literture
As we continue to update one of our other sites Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by posting a chapter at a time, of that great literary work by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, we will continue to share the progress with our readers here at The Hare Krishna Movement.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation”
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto Two, Chapter 5
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08 Nov 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1972 Edition, Devotional Service, Krishna Consciousness, Meditation, Yoga
Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as it is, as well as all austerities that you may preform, Bg9.26, Bg9.27, bhagavad-gita, do it for Me, patram puspam phalam toyam, yat karosi yad asnasi
This morning I went into our temple room, as I do every morning, and offered my obeisances. As I was saying my morning prayers this thought just entered my mind; ‘Vyasasan das, reporting for service”. It seemed like a strange thing to be thinking so early in the morning, and I do not recall ever thinking like that before. But almost immediately, I was reminded of this verse from the Bhagavad-gita:
O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.
I could not remember at first, what chapter and verse, but I went to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and began searching…Oh yes, I remember Chapter Nine, Text 27…and the purport reads:
…Everyone has to work for maintenance of his body and soul together, and Kṛṣṇa recommends herein that one should work for Him. Everyone has to eat something to live; therefore he should accept the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Kṛṣṇa. Any civilized man has to perform some religious ritualistic ceremonies; therefore Kṛṣṇa recommends, “Do it for Me,” and this is called arcanā. Everyone has a tendency to give something in charity; Kṛṣṇa says, “Give it to Me,”
This is real renunciation, real yoga; always thinking and planning how to serve the Lord. And for one brief moment in my life, my mind was right.
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02 Nov 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, New Vrindavan, Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada New Vrindaban, bhagavad-gita, Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, God is our father, God Krishna, guru, lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, material nature is our mother, nature, sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah, Sanskrit language, SB 1.2.1, sound vibration, spiritual realization
This is the first in the series of Lectures given at New Vrindavan Farm Community in September of 1972. These lectures are commonly known as the the “Bhāgavata Dharma Discourses”
…Devotee (1): Does anyone have any questions? Please ask. Raise your hand please. Especially a guest. If you have any questions please inquire. Yes?
Guest: Who is our mother?
Devotee (1): The question was, who is our mother?
Prabhupāda: Material nature is our mother. God is our father, and material nature is our mother. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just like the father gives the seed of the child within the womb of the mother. Similarly God impregnates this material nature with the living entities, and after that they come out in different forms. So material nature is our mother, and God is our father.
Guest: What happens to us immediately after our material body dies, in other words…
Prabhupāda: You do not die, your body changes. So you accept another body…
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27 Oct 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lokadrsti devi, Vyas-puja, Vyasasan das, Vyasasana
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada, Hari Nama devi, Krishna, lokadrsti devi, Maha Laxmi devi, Pushpanjali, Srila Prabhupada, Vyasasan das, Vyasasana
click on images to enlarge
Picture taken before Guru-puja
Today we honored His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s disappearance day here at New Vrindavan Farm Community, with beautiful offerings, a Pushpanjali (an offering of flowers) followed by an amazing feast The beautiful Vyasasana decoration was done by Her Grace Lokadrsti devi dasi, with assistance from Hari Nama, Maha Laxmi, and Christine prabhus. More
03 Oct 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead, Founder-Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead Magazine, bhagavad-gita, BTG, discipline of God consciousness, God consciousness, Hare Krsna, Hare Rama, krsna consciousness, Srimad Bhagavatam, The Hare Krishna Movement, the krsna consciousness movement
click on image to enlarge
The Krsna Consciousness Movement
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine Vol. 1, No. 48
The Krsna consciousness movement is now being increasingly recognized throughout the world as a spiritual force of great potency, purity and importance to human society. With the simultaneous publication of the first two cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the complete 1,000-page edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the public is becoming increasingly aware that the boys and girls whom they see chanting and dancing on their city streets are students of a most serious discipline of God consciousness which is established on the basis of a philosophical system of considerable completeness, consistency and depth.
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
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02 Oct 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita in Spanish, Free Downloads, Free eBooks, Spanish Bhagavad-gita
Tags: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Pabhupada, bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad-gita in Spanish, free download, free scanned copy, Free to the Spanish speaking world, Krishnapath, spanish 1975 edition of bhagavad gita, spanish bhagavad gita, tal como es
Hare Krishna
Our friends over at Krishna Path have done it again, and this time have put up the scanned copy of the Spanish Bhagavad-gita As It Is for all the Spanish speaking world. We have decided to share this Free Download with everyone today, as we have had many letters in the past asking for a copy of the Bhagavad-gita in Spanish. So here is one you can save to your computer or read online.
Just click on the link below.
Spanish Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1975 Edition: Bhagavad-gita_Tal_Como_Es-Spanish-1975_edition
24 Sep 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya, Lectures
Tags: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Pabhupada, as it is, astanga yogi, avajananti, bhagavad-gita, bhakti yoga, bhakti yogi, devotion, Govinda, hatha yogi, in yoga, jnana yogi, karma yogi, Krsna, krsnaconsciousness, Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, Rama, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, transcendental loving service, Vasudeva, yoga, yoginam api sarvesam, yogis
Devotion – The Highest Yoga
A lecture given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
1968
The word yoga has become synonymous in Western vernacular with a lithe figure, radiant health, peace of mind, and other material benefits. But the original meaning of the Sanskrit term carries a different, higher import: linking with the Supreme. In this lecture from 1968, Srila Prabhupada distinguishes the true goal of yoga—loving devotion to the Supreme Lord—from the physical and psychological elements of yoga practice.
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04 Sep 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Om, Srimati Radharani
Tags: a-kara, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, aum, bhagavad-gita, devotee, entourage, His name fame, Krsna, ma-kara, Om, omkara, omkara is the resting place of everything, pastimes, potencies, sarva visva dhama, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Srimati Radharani, u-kara
The other day as I was doing some research on Srimati Radharani, for her appearance day post, I ran across the following;
…Oṁkāra is a combination of the letters a, u and m. A-kāreṇocyate kṛṣṇaḥ the letter a (a-kāra) refers to Kṛṣṇa, who is sarva-lokaika-nāyakaḥ, the master of all living entities and planets, material and spiritual. Nāyaka means “leader.” He is the supreme leader (nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)). The letter u (u-kāra) indicates Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa, and m (ma-kāra) indicates the living entities (jīvas). Thus oṁ is the complete combination of Kṛṣṇa, His potency and His eternal servitors. In other words, oṁkāra represents Kṛṣṇa, His name, fame, pastimes, entourage, expansions, devotees, potencies and everything else pertaining to Him. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu states in the present verse of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, sarva-viśva-dhāma: oṁkāra is the resting place of everything, just as Kṛṣṇa is the resting place of everything (brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham) (CC Adi 7.128, Purport)
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05 Aug 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Soul
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arjuna, Bg2.12, Bg2.30, bhagavad-gita, boyhood to youth to old age, dehino smin yatha dehe, eternal soul, ever existing soul, for the soul there is never birth or death, Krsna, krsna consciousness, reincarnation, science of the soul science of self realization, soul, soul passes into another body, soul slokas, Srila Prabhupada, unborn
This morning I was thinking about the soul and its eternal journey. So I went to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and found some of the important slokas that pertained to the subject of the soul.
As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change. (Bg. 2.13)
For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. (Bg. 2.20)
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. (Bg. 2.22)
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. (Bg. 2.23)
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11 Jul 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, B. G. Sharma Art, Bhagavad-gita
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arjuna, Bg2.10, Bg2.11, Bg2.12, bhagavad-gita, God, illusion, impersonal Brahman, individual soul, Krsna, maya, mayavadi theory, saintly persons, Sharaman, supreme authority, Supreme Lord, the blessed Lord said, The Krishna Art of B. G. Sharma
click on image to enlarge
…at that time Kṛṣṇa, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.
The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. (Bg. 2.10-12)
Full text and purports More
03 Jul 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Demigod, Durga, Laksmi, Sarasvati, Srimad Bhagavatam, Uma
Tags: 1972 Edititon, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as it is, bhagavad-gita, demigods, God, goddess durga, goddess of fortune, goddess of learning, intelligence to see God, Laksmi, Lord Shiva, mother of the universe, Siva, Srimad Bhagavatam, Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Mother of the Universe, Uma the wife of Lord Shiva
Sarasvatī, the Goddess of Learning
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The other day I was doing some service at the Hare Krishna Temple here in New Vrindavan, West Virginia, and I ran into some Indian guests. After we greeted each other one of them asked me “when did you become a Hindu?” “I never became a Hindu” I replied, “I am a Hare Krishna devotee, a disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I am not a Hindu. I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
So just to make things a little clearer…both to myself and others, I did some research from Srila Prabhupada’s books to find the proper understanding of Goddess Worship, or worship of the demigods.
…Worship of demigods is discouraged herein because even the greatest demigods like Brahmā and Śiva only represent part of the opulence of the Supreme Lord. (Bg 10.42)
…The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, and all-powerful demigods like Brahmā and Śiva are engaged in the worship of Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore who can be more powerful than Mukunda (Lord Kṛṣṇa) to be factually called the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are not independently powerful; they are powerful as expansions of the Supreme Lord, and all of them are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and so also are the living entities. (from purport SB 1.18.21)
…Both the living entity and the demigods are subordinate to the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead…not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Generally, persons who are distressed in the material world go to the demigods, as they are advised in the Vedic literature. A person wanting some particular thing may worship such and such a demigod. For example, a diseased person is recommended to worship the sun-god; a person wanting education may worship the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī; and a person wanting a beautiful wife may worship the goddess Umā, the wife of Lord Śiva. In this way there are recommendations in the śāstras (Vedic scriptures) for different modes of worship of different demigods. And because a particular living entity wants to enjoy a particular material facility, the Lord inspires him with a strong desire to achieve that benediction from that particular demigod, and so he successfully receives the benediction. The particular mode of the devotional attitude of the living entity toward a particular type of demigod is also arranged by the Supreme Lord. The demigods cannot infuse the living entities with such an affinity, but because He is the Supreme Lord or the Supersoul who is present in the heart of all living entities, Kṛṣṇa gives impetus to man to worship certain demigods. (from purport Bg 7.21)
…Everyone thinks that his intelligence is perfect. Sometimes one employs his intelligence in the worship of Umā, the wife of Lord Śiva, in order to obtain a beautiful wife. Sometimes, when one wants to become as learned as Lord Brahmā, he employs his intelligence in the worship of the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī. Sometimes, when one wishes to become as opulent as Lord Viṣṇu, he worships the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī.
Intelligence should be employed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As soon as one uses his intelligence in this way, the goddess of fortune automatically becomes favorable to him. The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, never remains without her husband, Lord Viṣṇu. Consequently, when one worships Lord Viṣṇu he automatically obtains the favor of the goddess of fortune. (from purport SB 4.25.28)
Full text and purports from above excerpts More
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