maya | The Hare Krishna Movement

Realizing that God Is Everywhere

28 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Krishna, Teachings of Pralada Maharaja Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, all-pervading, all-pervasiveness of the Supreme Lord, God is Everywhere, illusion, material nature, maya, Prahlada Maharaja

Transcendental Teachings of Prahlada Maharaja
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 5

Realizing that God Is Everywhere

Mahārāja Prahlāda informed his classmates about the all-pervasiveness of the Supreme Lord. But although the Supreme Lord is all-pervasive by means of His expansions and His energies, that does not mean He has lost His personality. That is significant. Although He is all-pervading, still He is a person. According to our material perception, if something is all-pervading, then it has no personality, no localized aspect. But God is not like that. For example, the sunshine is all-pervading, but the sun also has a localized aspect, the sun planet, and you can see it. Not only is there a sun planet, but within the sun planet is a sun-god, whose name is Vivasvān. We get this information from Vedic literature. There is no way to understand what is taking place on other planets except to hear from authorized sources. In the modern civilization we accept scientists as authorities in these matters. We hear a scientist say, “We have seen the moon; it is such and such,” and we believe it. We have not gone with the scientist to see the moon, but we believe him.

Viraha Astaka

23 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Poetry of Srila Prabhupada, Viraha Astaka, Vyas-puja Tags: Dasaratha-suta das, Hindu ceremonies, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lord Nityananda, materialists, maya, Poetry of Srila Prabhupada, Sankirtan mission, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur

Viraha Astaka
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Recently translated and published from the Bengali into English by Dasaratha-suta dasa, the following is an offering of eight prayers to Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, composed sometime in December, 1958.

First Octet: The Flood of Krishna Prema

1) O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer
to see the suffering
of the fallen conditioned souls.
On this anniversary of your separation
I am utterly despondent.

2) “The ocean of mercy was previously held back by a dam,
but Lord Nityananda personally cut a channel in it
and thereby released the outpouring flood
of pure ecstatic love of God.”
(from Lochana dasa’s song “Nitai Guna Mani”)

3) Those devotees to whom the responsiblity was given
to continue spreading this flood of love
somehow became overpowered by Maya
and were thus reduced to simply performing
ritualistic Hindu ceremonies
for the benefit of the materialists.

King Indra’s fall from Heaven

28 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Indra, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, hog, Lord Indra, Lord Kapila, maya, Srimad Bhagavatam

King Indra cursed to become a Hog

Taken from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3, Chapter 30, Text 5-6
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

“The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight in hellish enjoyment.”

It is said that once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, on account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog’s life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, “Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king’s body,” he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities. Lord Kṛṣṇa is personally canvassing, “Give up everything in this material world. Come to Me, and I shall give you all protection,” but we are not agreeable. We think, “We are quite all right. Why should we surrender unto Kṛṣṇa and go back to His kingdom?” This is called illusion, or māyā. Everyone is satisfied with his standard of living, however abominable it may be.

Such satisfaction with one’s standard of living is due to deep-rooted attraction for body, wife, home, children, animals, wealth and friends. In such association, the conditioned soul thinks himself quite perfect.

This so-called perfection of human life is a concoction. Therefore, it is said that the materialist, however materially qualified he may be, is worthless because he is hovering on the mental plane, which will drag him again to the material existence of temporary life. One who acts on the mental plane cannot get promotion to the spiritual. Such a person is always sure to glide down again to material life. In the association of so-called society, friendship and love, the conditioned soul appears completely satisfied.