This article was originally published in Back to Godhead magazine in
1993. Edifying hyperlinks added.

The heroes of my youth were the great healers of humanity. While it’s
true that in those days I could be seen with other American boys
paying homage to the likes of Elvis Presley and Joe DiMaggio, I
rendered them only lip service. My real—if somewhat secret—devotion
was reserved for a pantheon of great medical pioneers like William
Jenner, discoverer of the smallpox vaccination; Robert Koch, who
identified the tuberculosis bacillus; and Ignaz Philipp Semmelweise,
who crusaded to save women from childbirth infection by teaching
doctors to disinfect their hands. I avidly studied the life stories of
these saviors and dreamed of becoming like them by slaying some modern
scourge—leukemia, say, or coronary thrombosis. In my eyes there was no
higher calling than to wage war on behalf of humanity against disease
and death.

I entered college intent on medical studies, but a little over a year
later abandoned that aim. I had not been fatally disheartened by my
encounter with other pre-med students, profiteers eager to mint gold
from disease. A book, rather, had destroyed my vocation and my faith.

Mirage of Health: Utopia, Progress and Biological Change is a
pioneering study of medical history written in the late fifties by a
physician named Rene Dubos. His conclusion devastated me: Progress
toward some utopia of health is an illusion. Disease will never be
“conquered.” Disease is so inescapable a part of our human condition
that today’s remedies inevitably become the agents of tomorrow’s ills.

Using an abundance of historical evidence, Dubos shows how the
diseases we suffer from arise out of the complex social, political,
and economic dynamics of our particular society; as society changes,
our ills change with it. Some diseases fade away, and others, out of
the inexhaustible bounty of material nature, rise to take their place.

In modern industrial societies, as Dr. Dubos points out, we no longer
suffer and die from smallpox, typhus, typhoid, diphtheria, and the
other microbial plagues of the past. We have made “progress”: We
suffer and die instead from cancer, coronary heart disease, emphysema,
and mental disorders (with their attendant drug abuse and suicide).

According to Dubos’ analysis, even my boyhood heroes, those unswerving
foes of deadly microbes, had little to do with the disappearance of
infectious diseases. These afflictions were retired mainly by the
social and economic reforms that followed industrialization. At the
same time, that same process was ushering in a whole new set of
scourges. And even those old diseases are by no means “conquered,”
Dubos warns. They are merely held at bay (at a high price), and they
can reenter human history any time the conditions are right.

I was undone by Dr. Dubos’ lesson. Medicine at once underwent a
catastrophic devaluation in my eyes. I wondered why that should be.
Dubos, of course, never claimed that medicine was useless, a waste of
time. True, it may not save humanity, but it can save humans. That
ought to be enough, I argued with myself. I could still live by
ideals, modest though those ideals might be. Surely, real heroism lies
in doing humbly what little good one can, without some fantasy of wide-
screen, Hollywood heroics, soundtrack booming in the background. Be
realistic: There are no saviors of humanity, because humanity will not
be saved, and that’s that.

Still, I could revive no enthusiasm for medicine. The truth of the
matter was that at heart I badly wanted to be saved from disease and
death altogether, and I had possessed a real faith that scientific
progress would, at the end of its struggle, win just that for all of
us. To me it had been a foregone conclusion that through science and
technology nature would be eventually conquered and tamed, made
entirely serviceable to us, and we would live without worries in a man-
made paradise on earth. Although I had never spelled out this
conviction to myself, it had insensibly become my true faith, my
religion.

How was it a religion? Religion and science—like faith and knowledge—
are supposed to be opposites. Yet somehow science itself had become a
religion—call it “scientism”—an ardent faith that progress in science
and technology will so improve upon man and nature as to rid earthly
life of all ills. This religion was—and still is—the true faith of
America, the spiritual motor that drives its enterprises.

Where had I absorbed this religion? I had bowed before no altar,
recited no creed, sung no hymns, enacted no rites. However, this
religion does not need special buildings or ceremonies. As the true
religion of America, it is woven completely into the fabric of life. I
had absorbed it all along from my parents and teachers and friends,
from the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts, from museums and theme parks,
from My Weekly Reader and Reader’s Digest and Life and Post and
Popular Mechanics. I had soaked it in from “Meet Mr. Wizard” and the
unending iteration of corporate commercial slogans (”Progress is Our
Most Important Product” and “Better Things For Better Living Through
Chemistry“), from the biographies of my medical heroes, not the least
from my hoard of science fiction paperbacks.

The faith that formed America was a creation of the so-called
Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. Eager to extend Newton’s
success in describing nature in rational, mathematical form, a coterie
of European thinkers battled to dethrone traditional religion and
morality and replace them with empirical science and natural reason as
the valid guides for human activity.

Unenlightened and superstitious Christians believed in a future
millennium, a thousand-year kingdom of God on earth that would start
with the prophesied second coming of Christ. That belief had to go.
Yet the savants of the Enlightenment replaced it with their own
secularized faith, their man-made millennium: Steady progress in
science and enlightened reason would gradually bring the natural and
human world totally under rational scientific control. Nature and
society will be consummately engineered. Free from drought and flood,
poverty and crime, disease and even death, man will have established
on earth the kingdom of God—without God.

This was my faith, and I had lost it. Science would not save us; there
was no “progress.” That explained my strong reaction to Mirage of
Health.

In the years since I read that book I have come to recognize the
striving for release from material nature, the struggle against
disease and death, as profoundly and essentially human. It’s a
struggle we cannot avoid. Even though we may be unwaware of it, it
drives and shapes our lives. For this reason, even popular culture is
about serious things. It is not mere whimsy that leads people to
describe Joe DiMaggio as a baseball “Immortal,” or makes them believe
that Elvis Presley could not possibly have died. Operating with more
sophistication, Enlightenment thinkers set themselves against
religion, but they merely replaced salvation through Christ with
salvation through science. They could not free themselves from the
desire for transcendence, the urge to go beyond the limits of nature
into everlasting life.

We are all transcendentalists at heart. The problem is that most of us
are foolish ones, whose various schemes for liberation are doomed from
the outset. We persist in worshipping idols and gods that fail. We
engineer projects for salvation that only increase our bondage. Nature
can send mile-high sheets of ice flowing over continents and level
cities with a twitch, yet we embark on a quixotic war to conquer her.
An anthill has as good a shot at it as “advanced civilization.” Or
consider this: Survival is the primal urge of life, and for millions
of years all organisms have struggled for survival, just as we now
struggle. Now, look at the record. Where are the winners? In all of
history, has anyone survived? The death rate is one hundred percent.
It is a foredoomed attempt, but we cannot help ourselves.

We must be transcendentalists, but what makes us invest and reinvest
in foolish, impractical schemes? Let me suggest the reason. At the
root of our foolishness lies a dumb insistence in trying to actuate a
self-contradiction, make real an absurdity: We want to transcend
material nature, become free from her control, while at the same time
we want to continue to enjoy and exploit her.

This was the answer I discovered. After my crisis of faith, I studied
philosophy and religion for years; it was, in effect, a quest for
successful transcendentalists. And I thought that I had finally
discovered them at the vital center of the great spiritual traditions
of the world. In spite of their differences in culture and style, they
seemed unanimous in this: They agreed that to succeed in transcendence
we must become free from the mentality of enjoyment and exploitation.
All of them recognized the systematic endeavor to gain mastery over
the mind and senses, to extinguish material desires, as necessary for
real salvation or liberation of the spirit. These successful
transcendentalists understand very well that material nature binds and
controls us precisely through our desire to enjoy and exploit her.
That desire is, therefore, our ultimate disease. Cure that disease, we
shall become free from disease and death altogether.

Eight years after Dr. Dubos destroyed my faith in material progress,
Srila Prabhupada initiated me into the path of bhakti-yoga,
transcendental devotional service. I was attracted by the magisterial
way Srila Prabhupada exposed what he called “the illusory advancement
of civilization.” On the street a Krishna devotee had handed me a
tract containing these simple but impressive words of Srila
Prabhupada:

We are trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but
actually we are becoming more and more entangled in her complexities.
Therefore, although we are engaged in a hard struggle to conquer
nature, we are ever more dependent on her. This illusory struggle
against material nature can be stopped at once by revival of our
eternal Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada hadn’t done the research of a Dr. Dubos, but somehow
he understood it all. His clarity astonished me.

Attacking the idols of scientific progress and other ersatz religions,
Srila Prabhupada did not compromise in presenting the truth—if we want
transcendence, we must become free from material desires. He was the
only contemporary transcendentalist I’d encountered who did not offer
any cheating religion, an accommodation with material ambitions for
cheap popularity among the foolish.

My heroes still are those saviors who wage war on behalf of humanity
against disease and death: Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura, Srila Rupa Goswami, Thakura Haridasa, Madhvacarya, Narada
Muni and many others form my pantheon. These heroes have won the war
against death because they have mastered the actual science of
transcendence and delivered it to humanity.

In the meantime I credit Dr. Dubos with a good deal of prescience.
Events have proven him uncannily accurate. Even as researchers in high-
tech laboratories feverishly sought the “magic bullet” to destroy
cancer, a brand-new plague erupted, surprising almost everyone.
Studies predict that Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome will have
claimed about 400 million lives by the middle of the next century.
Like horror films that spawn even more ghastly sequels, some old-
fashioned diseases have begun staging spectacular revivals: A new,
drug-resistant version of Koch’s bacillus threatens a tuberculosis
epidemic in North America, where a remake of the scarlet fever microbe
is implicated in a run of deadly cases of sudden, massive septicemia.
Pediatricians report a steady rise in children with chronic bronchitis
and asthma, apparently the result of pollution. Indeed, a family of
new afflictions of the immune system, all apparently related to man-
made chemicals in the environment, has led to the establishment of a
new medical specialty called clinical ecology. Some studies show that
in the industrial nations up to forty percent of all diseases are
“iatrogenetic.” That means “caused by physicians.”

In Pittsburgh recently, a man survived seventy-one days on an
implanted baboon’s liver, which was still in good shape at autopsy.
Transplant technicians are planning farms where genetically engineered
animals will grow crops of organs for use in humans; biomedical
engineers are machining body parts out of space-age plastics and
microchips. They’re promising immortality by the end of the next
century.

Comments

Text 2

There is an entity who has the appearance of an adolescent boy, and who is being inundated with desire-tree flowers falling from the fingertips of the damsels of heaven. That boy is completely carefree, situated in transcendental beatitude, as He sends forth waves of sound from His famed flute. He is encircled by thousands of effulgent milkmaids, whose garments are becoming loose again and again (from their extreme pleasure at hearing the flute) and who are trying to hold them up. That adolescent boy, the pinnacle of munificence, places liberation from birth and death into the hands of His surrendered devotees.

Text 3

We worship that dark bluish young boy, in whom culminate the principal stimuli for amorous love, who causes Rädhä to become languid with the beauty of His dancing sidelong glances, and who in turn becomes languid with love when Sri Rädhä and Her friends cast their sidelong glances at Him. That boy's beauty, like waves of nectar, engenders an extreme thirst in the eyes of Rädhä and Her companions, and, conversely, their nectarous beauty makes Him thirsty to see them. He is affectionately worshiped by Rädhä's wistful glances, and He enjoys loving pastimes with Rädhä and Her friends on the bank of the Yamunä. We worship that young bluish boy, the source of the god of love, who has attained unchallenged dominion over love's sweetness.

Text 4

Let the effulgence personified (i.e., Krsna) shine within our hearts. He is wearing a bright peacock plume on His head, His face is steeped in sweet beauty, His fresh youthfulness is bursting forth, and His flute is pouring out murmuring, nectarous sounds of rapture. On all sides the milkmaids of Vraja, who have blooming, budlike breasts, worship Him in adoration. Indeed, He is, amazingly, the only enjoyer and the only source of enjoyment in the entire universe.

Text 5

Sri Krsna's eyes are long like petals of a blooming lotus, and His very charming lotuslike face is made all the more charming by His extremely beautiful and sweet, nectarous smiles. His profuse curling locks look delightful with their decoration of a proud peacock's tail-feather. Let Him, the embodiment of all effulgence, forever shine within my heart, which is (outwardly) greedy for the poisonous meat of sense objects, [or (inwardly) greedy for the beauty of Sri Krsna, a beauty that binds the devotee's mind and causes burning pain at the time of separation from Him.]

I shall post more soon.

Comments

Sri Vedanta-sutra commentary

I love handsome and dark Lord Krsna, who shows, even to they
who have only the dim reflection of devotional service, the path
that leads to Him.

Many Paths or One?

Introduction by Baladeva Vidyabhusana

In this pada will be described the nature of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and the path that leads to the realm of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Chändogya Upaniñad
(4.15.5-6) it is said:

." "Whether his final rites are performed or not, the
yogi goes to the light. From the light he goes to the day. From
the day he goes to bright fortnight. From the bright fortnight he
goes to the six months when the sun travels in the north. From
the six months when the sun travels in the north he goes to
year. From the year he goes to the sun. From the sun he goes to
the moon. From the moon he goes to lightning. From there a divine
person leads him to Brahman. This is the path to the Lord, the
path to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They who travel this
path do not return to the world of human beings

In this passage light is the first stage on this path.
However, in the Kauñétaké Upaniñad (1.3) it is said:

"He travels on the path of the heavenly planets. He
goes to Agniloka. He goes to Väyuloka. He goes to Varuëaloka.
He goes to Indraloka. He goes to Prajäpatiloka. He goes to
Brahmaloka."
Here Agniloka is the first stage. In the Båhad-äraëyaka
Upaniñad (5.10) it is said

"Leaving this world, the soul goes to Väyuloka.
There he passes through the opening of a chariot-wheel. Then the
soul ascends to the sun."

Here Väyuloka is the first stage on the path. In the
Muëòaka Upaniñad (2.11) it is said:

"Passing through the doorway of the sun, the soul is
cleansed of all impurities."

Here the sun is the first stage on the path. In other
scriptures other accounts are also seen.

Saàçaya (doubt): Is only one path to the world of the
Supreme described here, or are many different paths, beginning
with the path that begins with light, described here in these
passages of the Upaniñads?

Pürvapakña (the opponent speaks): Because these paths are
all different there must be many different paths.

Siddhänta (conclusion): In the following words the author
of the sütras gives His conclusion.

Sütra 1

arcir-ädinä tat prathiteù

arciù - light; ädinä - beginning with; tat - that;
prathiteù - because of being well known.

It begins with light, for that is well known.

Purport

The enlightened souls travels to the world of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead on a path that begins with light. Why is
that? The sütra expains, "tat prathiteù" (for
that is well known). In the Chändogya Upaniñad (5.10.1) it is
said:

"This they know: They who perform austerities and worship the Lord with faith travel on the path that begins with
light."

This passage is taken from the chapter describing the
knowledge of the five fires (païcägni-vidyä). Therefore the
path that begins with light is traveled even by they who study
the fire and other vidyäs. In the Brahma-tarka it is said:

"Two paths are famous. The path beginning with light
is traveled by they who are enlightened with transcendental
knowledge, and the path beginning with smoke is traveled by they
who perform Vedic rituals. That is the conclusion of all the
Vedas."

This being so, it is understood that the scriptures describe
a single path for the enlightened souls, and therefore the
differences in the descriptions should be reconciled in the same
was they were in the case of the attributes of the Lord. This is
so because the knowledge to be described here is one, even though
the scriptural texts seem to give different explanations. The
conclusion, then, is that the path begins with light. Any other
interpretation breaks the real meaning of the Vedic texts.

Comments

A Riddle...

Sri Krsna asks Srimati Radharani,
* Those who are fully satisfied by others satisfaction;
* Who become very unhappy when others are suffering;
* Who are not excited by personal comforts;
* Who are not troubled when troubles arise;
* And who are always engaged in the service of their chosen Deity
here in Vrindavan as Vaisnavas.

Oh My dearest moon-faced one! Kindly think it over carefully and then tell me - Who is that I am describing?
---Scroll down---
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
*
*
*
*
**
*
*
*
*
*
Sri Radha replies: You are actually talking about My gopis!!!!
(Govinda Lilamrita 13-113)
May you develop the desire to have the desire to always remember Krsna and never forget!

Comments

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada
          

If we are convinced of the necessity of consulting a real sadhu, we should be able to find him and he will explain to us the mode of life recommended in the sastras, which we should lead in this world for the benefit of our souls. The sadhu is a transcendental person whose life is wholly regulated by the scriptures. The Absolute Truth is never partial or less than complete. The awakened soul of the sadhu is necessarily and completely free from all touch of untruth or half-truth. The life recommended by the scriptures is the life that is led by the sadhu. It is not possible for worldly persons to understand, unassisted, the nature of spiritual living; because it is categorically different from the life currently led by them. This difference between the two is not confined to this or that isolated aspect. It is to be found in every single detail of conduct. The change from worldly to spiritual life is not of the nature of reform, but is truly a complete revolution.The Lord is Pleased to Accept The person who is liberated from the bondage of the world continues to perform the ordinary natural functions of the body and mind, apparently in the same way as one who is in the bound state. He also appears to eat and drink, sleep and die like ordinary worldly people. The process of eating of such a person is thus described in the sastras: A person whose body and mind have been accepted by the Lord is privileged to approach the Lord and offer Him food and drink. The Lord is pleased to accept the food offered by such a person. By the Lord’s acceptance the food is spiritualized in the same way as the body and mind are spiritualized by their dedication to the Lord. This dedication of all food to the Lord is, in the case of such a person, truly an act of renunciation of all material food. The food that is accepted by the Lord is spiritualized and is changed into mahaprasada or “the great blessing.” The sadhu accepts the mahaprasada not for the purpose of appeasing hunger or from the acquisition of bodily or mental health and strength, or for any other worldly purpose; but with the object of being enabled thereby to avoid the traps laid for him during his sojourn into this world by sensuous temptations of all kinds, including that of eating, and obtains by thus honoring the mahaprasada the inclination for the spiritual service of the Lord. Honoring the maha-prasada is thus different from eating, although to the uninitiated both may seem to be identical. The external form appears to remain the same although the real nature of activity is radically changed. The result is that whereas by mere eating the sensuous inclination is strengthened, by honoring the mahaprasada, gluttony and its attendant vices are radically cured.Mahaprasada literally means “the great favor.” The benefit to the soul that results by honoring the mahaprasada is also open to the bound jiva, but if the bound jiva honors mahaprasada his soul is benefited. The food that has been offered by the sadhus to the Lord is categorically different from ordinary food. To take ordinary food is harmful for the soul. By honoring mahaprasada, not only is the soul saved from the bad effect of eating, but is positively benefited by obtaining the inclination for spiritual service. The sastras, therefore, tell us to give up eating and honor the mahaprasada.” If the palate is conquered every other sense is conquered.” We can never be freed from the attraction of sensuous temptations until we give up eating altogether and learn to honor the mahaprasada. By honoring the mahaprasada our sensuousness is diminished and ultimately disappears altogether. And it is only then that we are enabled to understand the real meaning of the sastras. Not For Enjoyment  The sadhu helps the fallen jiva to regain his natural state of freedom from sin, by the constant service of bringing about the descent of transcendental sound in the form of words uttered by his lips and the mahaprasada in the shape of food that is offered by him to the Lord. The sound uttered by the sadhu and the mahaprasada are not things of this world. They are not identical with ordinary sound or ordinary food which are only means for the gratification of our sensuous appetites. The word of God and mahaprasada cannot be enjoyed, or in other words cannot be used for the gratification of the senses, because they are spiritual. Those who enjoy the kirtana, or any spiritual discourse, or eat the mahaprasada for appeasing hunger or for gratification of the palate are guilty of sacrilegious acts which serve only to prolong the state of sin and ignorance. The greatest possible calamity that can befall the human soul.The kirtan of Hari is the constant and natural function of all the faculties of the jiva soul in the state of its freedom from all affinities with this changeable world. Because the Absolute Truth is identical with Hari, Hari has to be served exclusively, constantly, and by all the faculties of the soul. The only function of the voice is to chant the kirtana of Hari, which is identical with and inseparable from the simultaneous service of Hari by all the other senses. One who does not employ his voice constantly and exclusively in chanting the kirtana of Hari has no access to the service of Hari by any other faculty. Qualification to Chant The kirtana of Hari has therefore to be chanted by being humbler than a blade of grass. There can be no trace of worldly vanity. There can be no seeking after any worldly advantage. The only object should be to please Lord Hari.Absolute Truth is a living person and not an abstract principle. He has the power of communicating His commands to us and expressing His approval and disapproval of our activities. No one can understand His command who does not fully submit to Him.The Absolute Truth is not anything limited or partial; neither can it be divided. It is not dependent on any condition except Itself. It is always one and the same. Listening to or chanting of it is always and necessarily beneficial—­being the natural function of the soul. Any other view of its nature will stand in the way of that perfect humility, the outcome of absolute submission which is the indispensable condition of its realization. Enemy of Hypocrisy A chanter of the kirtana of Hari is necessarily the un-compromising enemy of worldliness and hypocrisy. As a chanter of the kirtana of Hari, it is his constant function to dispel all misconceptions by the preaching of the truth in a most unambiguous form without any influence of person, place or time. That form has to be adopted which is least likely to be misunderstood. It is his bounden duty to oppose any person who tries to deceive and harm himself or other people by misrepresenting the Truth either due to malice or genuine misunderstanding. This will be possible if the chanter of kirtana is always prepared to submit to be trodden on by thoughtless people if any discomfort to himself will enable him to do good to his persecutors by chanting the truth in the most unambiguous manner. If he is unwilling to chant the kirtana under all circumstances due to consideration of self-respect or personal discomfort then he is unfit to be a preacher of the Absolute Truth. Humility implies perfect submission to the Truth and no sympathy for untruth. A person who entertains any partiality for untruth is unfit to chant the kirtana of Hari. Any clinging to untruth is opposed to the principle of humility born of absolute submission to the Truth.Those who serve the truth at all time, by means of all their faculties, and have no hankering for the trivialities of this world, are always necessarily free from malice born of competing worldliness; and are, therefore, fit to admonish those who are actively engaged in harming themselves and others by the method of opposing or misrepresenting the truth in order to attain the rewards of such a policy in the shape of a perpetuation of the state of misery and ignorance. The method which is employed by the servant of the good preceptor for preventing such misrepresentation of the truth is a part and parcel of the truth itself. It may not always be pleasing to the diseased susceptibilities of deluded minds, and may even be denounced by them as a malicious act with which they are only too familiar, but the words of truth from the lips of a loyal and humble servant of Hari possess such beneficent power that all effort to suppress or obstruct them only serves to vindicate to impartial minds the necessity of complete submission to the Absolute Truth as the only cure of the disease of worldliness. Humility that is employed in the unambiguous service of the Truth is necessarily and qualitatively different from its perverted prototype, which is practiced by the cunning people of this world for gaining their worldly ends. The professors of pseudo-humility have reason to be afraid of the preachings of the servants of Hari, (one whose duty it is to expose the enormous possibility of mischief possessed by the many forms of so-called spirituality) when they are taken to task for serving the untruth.

Comments

ALL THOSE WITH DOUBTS PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AT syamamkundadasa@yahoo.co.in , AS I DELETE OFFENSIVE COMMENTS. YOU CAN ALSO MAIL ME AT syamakundadasa@radhakunda.com . THAKNK YOU

Thanx to my nice friend Bhakta Brett for this nice article.

Many people often wonder what is the view of Lord Jesus Christ in the Krishna consciousness movement.

Srila Prabhupada, the foremost exponent of the Krishna
consciousness movement explains that Jesus is Krishna's representative, son of God, and spiritual master.

Below are excerpts from Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, and conversations about Jesus Christ and his
relationship with Krsna.

"If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, "Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus," then he has no knowledge. And if one says, "Why shall I love Jesus? I shall love Krishna", then he has no knowledge either. If one understands Krishna, then he will understand Jesus. If one understands Jesus, you'll understand Krishna too"
(Srila Prabhupada - Room conversation with Allen Ginsberg, May 12, 1969 / Columbus - Ohio)

As Lord Jesus Christ said, we should hate the sin, not the sinner. That is a very nice statement, because the sinner is under illusion. He is mad. If we hate him, how can we deliver him? Therefore, those who are advanced devotees, who are really servants of God, do not hate anyone. When Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, he said, "My God, forgive them. They know not what they do." This is the proper attitude of an advanced devotee. He understands that the conditioned souls cannot be hated, because they have become mad due to their materialistic way of thinking. In this Krsna consciousness movement, there is no question of hating anyone. Everyone is welcomed to come and chant Hare Krsna, take krsna-prasada, listen to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and try to rectify material, conditioned life. This is the essential program of Krsna consciousness.
(Path of Perfection Chapter 3: Learning How to See God)

Christian, Muhammadan, Hindu-it doesn't matter. If he is simply speaking on behalf of God, he is a guru. Lord Jesus Christ, for instance. He canvassed people, saying, "Just try to love God." Anyone-it doesn't matter who-be he Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, is a guru if he convinces people to love God. That is the test. The guru never says, "I am God," or "I will make you God." The real guru says, "I am a servant of God, and I will make you a servant of God also." It doesn't matter how the guru is dressed. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Whoever can impart knowledge about Krsna is a spiritual master." A genuine spiritual master simply tries to get people to become devotees of Krsna, or God. He has no other business.
(Science of Self Realization Chapter 2: Choosing a Spiritual Master)

So Lord Jesus Christ said, "My Lord, hallowed be Thy name." He wants to glorify the name of the Lord. And some people says that there is no name of God. How? If Lord Jesus Christ says "Hallowed by Thy name," there must be name. The name is there, but he did not pronounce it because the people at that time will not be able to understand or maybe some reason, but he says there is name. So we are making this propaganda, Krsna consciousness movement, the "Hallowed by Thy name. My Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, let Your holy name be glorified." This is our movement. It is not a sectarian...(Lecture: Bhagavad Gita 3.27 Melbourne June 27, 1974)

Sometimes Sri Krsna descends Himself, and sometimes He sends His representative. The major religions of the world-Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem-believe in some supreme authority or personality coming down from the kingdom of God. In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of God and to be coming from the kingdom of God to reclaim conditioned souls. As followers of Bhagavad-gita, we admit this claim to be true. So basically there is no difference of opinion. In details there may be differences due to differences in culture, climate and people, but the basic principle remains the same-that is, God or His representatives come to reclaim conditioned souls.
(Raja Vidya Chapter 6 :Knowledge of Krsna's Appearance and Activities)

Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was so badly treated and still he was thinking, "Father, they do not know what they are doing. Please excuse." This is suhrdah. He is praying to God This is sadhu, mahatma. Suhrdah prasanta. Not that... In India there are examples like Haridasa Thakura, Prahlada Maharaja. And the Western countries also, Lord Jesus Christ, he is saktyavesa-avatara, God's son. And he tolerated so much. These are the examples of mahatma. Don't misunderstand that we are preaching that mahatmas are only in India. No. By the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are mahatmas even amongst the birds, even amongst the beasts, even amongst the lower than animals. Because this Krsna consciousness movement is going on in different places, in different circumstances.(Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.3 --vrndavana Oct 25, 1976)

Conversation with Father Emmanuel - In 1974, near ISKCON's center in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, Srila Prabhupada and several of his disciples took a morning walk with father Emmanuel Jungclaussen, a Benedictine monk from Niederalteich Monastery. Noticing that Srila Prabhupada was carrying meditation beads similar to the rosary, Father Emmanuel explained that he also chanted a constant prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful unto us." The following conversation ensued.

Conversation with Cardinal Danielou - "Thou Shalt Not Kill" or "Thou Shalt Not Murder"?
At a monastic retreat near Paris, in July of 1973, Srila Prabhupada talked with Cardinal Jean Danielou: "... the Bible does not simply say, ..Do not kill the human being.' It says broadly, ..Thou shalt not kill.'... why do you interpret this to suit your own convenience?"

From Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers - Discussions between Peace Corps Worker Bob Cohen and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Jesus Christ Was a Guru - The spiritual leader of the Hare Krsna movement here recognizes Lord Jesus Christ as "the son of God, the representative of God... our guru... our spiritual master," yet he has some sharp words for those who currently claim to be Christ's followers...

A devotee of Krsna is friendly to everyone. Therefore it is said here that he has no enemy (nirvairah). How is this? A devotee situated in Krsna consciousness knows that only devotional service to Krsna can relieve a person from all the problems of life. He has personal experience of this, and therefore he wants to introduce this system, Krsna consciousness, into human society. There are many examples in history of devotees of the Lord who risked their lives for the spreading of God consciousness. The favorite example is Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified by the nondevotees, but he sacrificed his life for spreading God consciousness. Of course, it would be superficial to understand that he was killed. Similarly, in India also there are many examples, such as Thakura Haridasa and Prahlada Maharaja. Why such risk? Because they wanted to spread Krsna consciousness, and it is difficult. A Krsna conscious person knows that if a man is suffering it is due to his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Krsna. Therefore, the highest benefit one can render to human society is relieving one's neighbor from all material problems. In such a way, a pure devotee is engaged in the service of the Lord. Now, we can imagine how merciful Krsna is to those engaged in His service, risking everything for Him. Therefore it is certain that such persons must reach the supreme planet after leaving the body.
(Chapter 11 Bhagavad gita text 55 purport)

Comments

Los Angeles, CA : May 30, 2000
Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to be always absorbed in Radha's mood. Krsna Himself could not possess Her beauty or Her instrinsic mood. Radhika has adhirudha mahabhava, and even more than that. Krsna's mood goes up to mahabhava, but after that, the mood of how to serve and please Him, He Himself does not know. He has to learn that by going to the school of Visakha devi, and sometimes Lalita devi. Without the help of Lalita and Visakha, He cannot relish the mood of Srimati Radhika.

This was the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – to give the service of these moods. Krsna Himself could not do this, but when He took the beauty and the intrinsic mood of Radhika, He could then relish everything in Gambhira, under the guidance of Svarupa Damodara (Lalita) and Ramananda Raya (Vishaka).

At this time Gadadhara Pandita, who is Radhika Herself, serving Sri Krsna in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes, was watching to see whether or not Mahaprabhu was playing Her role perfectly. If Sri Krsna as Mahaprabhu would make a mistake in feeling and displaying the mood of Radhika, Gadadhara Pandita prabhu would 'twist the ears' of Krsna. He would say, "O, You are doing wrong, You should it do it like this."

Once, when Mahaprabhu was singing: barahapidam nata-vara-vapu, Gadadhara Pandita quickly came and said, "O, You should do it like this:

barhapitam nata-vara-vapuh karnayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam vaijayantim ca malam
randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair
vrndaranyam sva-pada-ramanam pravisad gita-kirtih

[''Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krsna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrndavana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories.'' (SB. 10.21.5)]

Although Sri Krsna as Mahaprabhu was perspiring, His heart melting, and His tears falling like heavy rain, there was some defect in Krsna, and Gadadhara Pandita therefore instructed Him.

To think that Lord Sri Krsna had taken away the beauty and intrinsic leftwing mood of Radhika to become Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and that Gadadhara Pandita had thus become Rukmini, is quite wrong. It is not like this.

Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja came for the same object and mission as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – the jivas should be given raga marga. They should know the identity of Srimati Radhika and the nature of all Her moods. However, when Srila Swami Maharaja came to New Jersey, Boston, and New York, he realized that he had to cut so many jungles. If the land is not fertile, how can the seed of this bhakti be given? The jungles were very dense and wild, with so many wild beasts, dangerous animals and poisonous snakes. It took time, but Srila Swami Maharaja kept everything reserved in his books. He told his disciples to read about the life and character of Prahlada Maharaja, Citraketu Maharaja, and others. He had so little time, because the bell rang and Krsna called him: ''I cannot remain without you. I need your service. Please come at once.'' He was then bound to go to his Prabhu. He has given everything in his books.

Yes, he has given everything, but you will have to go deep into them, through any pure Vaisnava:

yaha bhagavat pada vaisnavera sthane
ekanta asraya kara caitanya carane
(Antya-lila 5. 131

["'If you want to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam,' he said, 'you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.'"]

[The second excerpt is from a lecture given by Srila Narayana Maharaja on the morning of July 8, 2000. There, Srila Narayana Maharaja explained the essence of Sriman Mahaprabhu's appearance in a most interesting way:]

Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme almighty, but if you go deep into the scriptures you will see so many more things about Him, as given us by Srila Rupa Gosvami. Sri Krsna wanted to attract the fallen souls to Him, and He wanted to give the ocean of rasa, Srimati Radhika's mahabhava, to the world – but He could not. He could only give His own love, not love TO Him, which only Radhika has in completeness. He would therefore have to steal Her beauty and mood. He could not steal it, however, because Radhika is always alert and more clever and intelligent than Him. He could only have the wish, and therefore He had to beg Her. Her sakhis were also present when He prayed, "I beg Your mercy, Your beauty and Your mahabhava." Srimati Radhika replied, "Yes, I'm donating it for some time, but You will have to attend the class of My sakhis (Visakha devi in the form of Sri Ramananda Raya, and Lalita in the form of Sri Svarupa Damodara) so that they can sprinkle that upon You. And I will also be there (as Sri Gadadhara Pandita). Krsna was thus able to come and give what no other incarnation or acarya gave before: manjari bhava, direct service to Srimati Radhika as Her maidservant.

Transcriber: Padmavati dasi
Typist: Premavati dasi
Editor: Syamarani dasi

Comments

Oh born of Moslem parents Haridas!
And trained in youth in Moslem creed
Thy noble heart to Vaishnava truth did pass
Thy holy acts thy candor plead!

Is there a soul that cannot learn from thee
That man must give up sect for God
That thoughts of race and sect can ne'er agree
With what they call Religion broad

Thy love of God and brother soul alone
Bereft thyself of early friends
Thy softer feelings oft to kindness prone
Led on thyself for higher ends!

I weep to read that Kazis and their men
Oft persecuted thee, alas!
But thou didst nobly pray for th' wicked then!
For thou wert Vaishnava Haridas!

And God is boundless grace to thee, Oh man!
United thee to one who came
To save the fallen souls from Evil's plan
Of taking human souls to shame

And He it was who led you all that came
For life eternal, holy, pure!
And gave you rest in Heaven's endearing Name
And sacred blessings ever sure!

Thy body rests upon the sacred sands
Of Svargardvar near the sea,
Oh, hundreds come to thee from distant lands
T' enjoy a holy, thrilling glee!

The waters roar and storming winds assail
Thy ears in vain, ah, Vaishnava soul!
The charms of Vrindavan thy heart regale,
Unknown the wheel of time doth roll!

He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art living still in sound
The Vaishnavas die to live and living try
To spread the holy name around!

Now let the candid man that seeks to live
Follow thy way on shores of time,
Then posterity sure to him will give
Like one song in simple rhyme!

Comments

Comments

One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu met Haridasa Thakura as usual, and in the course of discussion He inquired as follows.’My dear Thakura Haridasa, in this age of Kali most people are bereft of Vedic culture, and therefore they are called yavanas. They are concerned only with killing cows and brahminical culture. In this way they all engage in sinful acts. How will these yavanas be delivered? To My great unhappiness, I do not see any way. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (03-22-06)

From this statement by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we can clearly understand that the word yavana does not refer only to a particular class of men. Anyone who is against the behavior of the Vedic principles is called a yavana. Such a yavana may be in India or outside of India. As described here, the symptom of yavanas is that they are violent killers of cows and brahminical culture. We offer our prayers to the Lord by saying, namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. The Lord is the maintainer of brahminical culture. His first concern is to see to the benefit of cows and brahmanas. As soon as human civilization turns against brahminical culture and allows unrestricted killing of cows, we should understand that men are no longer under the control of the Vedic culture but are all yavanas and mlecchas. It is said that the Krsna consciousness movement will be prominent within the next ten thousand years, but after that people will all become mlecchas and yavanas. Thus at the end of the yuga, Krsna will appear as the Kalki avatara and kill them without consideration.

This verse reveals the significance of Lord Sri Caitanya’s appearance as patita-pavana, the deliverer of all the fallen souls. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura sings, patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara: “O my Lord, You have appeared just to deliver all the fallen souls.” mo-sama patita prabhu na paibe ara: “And among all the fallen souls, I am the lowest.” How Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was always thinking about the deliverance of the fallen souls is shown by the statement e duhkha apara (”It is My great unhappiness”). This statement indicates that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the Supreme personality of Godhead Krsna Himself, is always very unhappy to see the fallen souls in the material world. Therefore He Himself comes as He is, or He comes as a devotee in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to deliver love of Krsna directly to the fallen souls. Namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is so merciful that He not only gives knowledge of Krsna but by His practical activities teaches everyone how to love Krsna (krsna-prema-pradaya te).

Those who are following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu should take the Lord’s mission most seriously. In this age of Kali, people are gradually becoming less than animals. Nevertheless, although they are eating the flesh of cows and are envious of brahminical culture, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is considering how to deliver them from this horrible condition of life. Thus He asks all Indians to take up His mission.

bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara
janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara

“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bharata-varsa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” (Cc. Adi-lila 9.41) it is therefore the duty of every advanced and cultured Indian to take this cause very seriously. All Indians should help the Krsna consciousness movement in its progress, to the best of their ability. Then they will be considered real followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Unfortunately, even some so-called Vaisnavas enviously refuse to cooperate with this movement but instead condemn it in so many ways. We are very sorry to say that these people try to find fault with us, being unnecessarily envious of our activities, although we are trying to the best of our ability to introduce the Krsna consciousness movement directly into the countries of the yavanas and mlecchas. Such yavanas and mlecchas are coming to us and becoming purified Vaisnavas who follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One who identifies himself as a follower of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu should feel like Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who said, iha-sabara kon mate ha-ibe nistara: “How will all these yavanas be delivered?” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was always anxious to deliver the fallen souls because their fallen condition gave Him great unhappiness. That is the platform on which one can propagate the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Haridasa Thakura replied, “My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety. Do not be unhappy to see the condition of the yavanas in material existence.

These words of Haridasa Thakura are just befitting a devotee who has dedicated his life and soul to the service of the Lord. When the Lord is unhappy because of the condition of the fallen souls, the devotee consoles Him, saying, “My dear Lord, do not be in anxiety.” This is service. Everyone should adopt the cause of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to try to relieve Him from the anxiety He feels. This is actually service to the Lord. One who tries to relieve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s anxiety for the fallen souls is certainly a most dear and confidential devotee of the Lord. To blaspheme such a devotee who is trying his best to spread the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the greatest offense. One who does so is simply awaiting punishment for his envy.

“Because the yavanas are accustomed to saying, ‘ha rama, ha rama’ [O Lord Ramacandra], they will very easily be delivered by this namabhasa.

“A devotee in advanced ecstatic love exclaims, ‘O my Lord Ramacandra! O my Lord Ramacandra!’ But the yavanas also chant, ‘ha rama, ha rama!’ Just see their good fortune!”

Comments

I pray that Sri Radha's lotus feet, which are decorated with sweetly
tinkling ankle-bells, and are filled with limitless beauty, delicate
softness, sweet fragrance, a flood of transcendental splendor, and a
host of other transcendental virtues, may appear before me.

May my heart chant the glories of Sri Radha's very beautiful lotus
feet, which are golden above their reddish soles, and which steal away
the heart of Lord Hari with their sweet transcendental splendor.

On Sri Radha's lotus feet I gaze at the waves of jewel splendor
flowing from Her anklets and toe-rings and shining in the splendid
jewel moonlight of Her toenails.

I meditate on the very fragrant lotus flower of Sri Radha's feet,
which is filled with the thick, sweet honey of transcendental bliss,
which the black bee of Lord Krishna yearns to attain, and which even
the goddess of fortune cannot attain.

I pray that Sri Radha's charming feet, which are beautifully decorated
with jewel ankle-bells, and which shine with a series of toenail moons
set on a line of newly sprouted very delicate flower toes, may appear
before me.

Everyone please meditate on Lord Krishna flute, which is now
completely silenced by the tinkling jewel ankle-bells on Radha's feet.
All its hissing is now useless. Now it is simply an object of laughter
for all of Radha's friends.

Because Lord Krishna again and again smells them and presses them to
His face, eyes, and heart, Sri Radha's fragrant and pleasantly cooling
lotus feet now shine with a dark splendor.

When, in this forest of Vrindaban, will the flooding ocean of the
great sweetness of Sri Radha's lotus feet devastate my heart and fill
it with unrestrained devotional love.

I meditate on Radha's lotus feet, their jewel toe-nails shining with
great splendor, and their charming ankle-bells tinkling during the
very sweet and wonderful pastimes in Vrindabans forest.

Srila Prabhodananda Saraswati

Comments

May Lord Krsna, who holds the Sudarsana cakra, and who smiled to hear these clever words from Srimati Radharani, protect you all.
Rupa Goswami - Sri Padyavali text 282

Comments