Hare Krishna dear Devotees,
please accept my humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
i heard about so many austerities which people in the past or even now perform.
For example,
-----Mother of Srila Prabhupada used to eat with her left hand until her son asks her why she was doing so.
----Savitri in order to change her husband's destiny fasted in milk and chapati.
----Dhruva Maharaja fasted from food, then from water then even from air...
----Hiranyakashipu stood holding hands up for many years...
----some people grow their hair and do not take care of it...
Where they find such like austerities? Is there any book about austerities? Or they create it themselves?
And is there any scientific explanation for them?
For example, why mother eats with left hand? Or one stands on one leg?
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You may say that only austerity in this age to chant the Holy Names which for 500% is true but i just want to know.
Thank You!
Your servant, bhaktin maral
Replies
The Chaturmasya Vrata from Haribhakti Vilasa
15th vilasa
Caturmasya Benefits
Bhavisya Purana- "One who passes the Chaturmasya season without observing religious vows, austerities and chanting of japa, such a fool although living should be considered to be a dead man."
Kanda Purana, Nagava Khunda- "In the month of shravana (July, August) one should refrain from eating spinach. In the month of Bhadra (August, September) of yogert in Ashvina (September, October) milk. In Kartik (October, November) meat and urd dall.
Various vows and austerities during Chaturmasya and Their respective results.
"O King, one who is My devotee and is fixed in vow, whether man or woman, for the purpose of Dharma, should accept these various austerities and observances. I shall now describe to you all of them along with their respective results.
1) No saltOne's voice becomes sweet.
2) No oilOne's life is prolonged and gets progeny.
3) No oil massagesOne's body becomes beautiful.
4) No cooking with oilOne's enemies are vanished.
5) No licorice and oilOne becomes wealthy.
6) Give up wearing unoffered flowersOne becomes a Vidyadhara in Devapura.
7) Give up six kinds of tastes (spice, sour, bitter, sweet, salty and harsh)One never becomes ugly, smelly, or obtains a bad birth.
8) Practice of yogaOne goes to Brahmaloka.
9) No betal nutsOne becomes happy.
10) No cooked food (raw fruits & Vegetables)One obtains purity.
11) No honeyOne becomes lustrous.
12) No yogert or milkOne attains Goloka.
13) No cooking with earthen potsOne gets ... (?)
14) No hot foodOne gets offspring with a long life.
15) Take rest on the ground or on stoneOne becomes an associate of Vishnu.
16) One who gives up meat & honey is a yogi and muni.
17) No intoxicating liquorsOne becomes powerful and free from disease.
18) Fast for one dayOne is honored in Brahmaloka.
19) No cutting of hair and nailsOne gets the benefit of taking bath daily in Ganges.
20) No speaking of grama katha (nonsense)One's order will never be disobeyed.
21) Eat food on the ground without dish or plateOne obtains a kingdom on Earth.
22) Chant the mantra Namo NarayanaOne obtains the result of giving in charity 100 times.
23) Offer prayers to the LordOne gets the result of giving cows in charity.
24) Touch the lotus feet of the DeityOne becomes a successful person.
25) Clean the temple of the LordIf one is king he remains so for a Kalpa.
26) Circumambulating the temple three times offering prayersAt the time of death one will mount a swan airplane and go to Vaikuntha.
27) Singing or playing musical instruments in the temple of the LordOne goes to Gardharvaloka.
28) Take pleasure in studying the sastrasOne goes to Vishnuloka.
29) Sprinkle water in the templeOne goes to apsaraloka.
30) Take bath in a holy placeOne's body becomes pure.
31) Worship Lord Vishnu with flowersOne goes to Vaikuntha.
32) Eat panchagavyaOne gets the result of observing candrayana fasting.
33) Eat one meal a dayOne gets the results of performing an Agnihotra.
34) Eat at night onlyOne gets the result of going to all the places of pilgrimage.
35) Eat at noon onlyOne attains Devaloka.
36) Take food not obtained by begging or any extraneous endeavorOne gets the results of opening water stands and digging wells.
37) Take bath dailyOne will never see hell.
38) No eating on a plateOne gets the result of bathing at Pushkara
39) Eat on a leafOne obtains the result of living at Kurukshetra.
40) Eat on a stoneOne obtains the result of bathing at Prayog.
41) Giving up drinking to six hoursOne will not be attacked by diseases.
42) During the Chaturmasya, garlands, caranamrta, candana and water from the conshell of the Lord, mahaprasädam, Deity garlands must be accepted.
In this way one who performs this vrata for the satisfaction of Lord Kesava becomes satisfied himself. O best of the Pandavas, among My devotees, he who accepts these vows and austerities during the Chaturmasya goes to my abode at the time of death, of this there is no doubt.
Vishnu Rahasya- Lord Brahma to Narada Muni.
If one accepts all these Vaisnava austerities and observances with devotion, one attains the supreme destination O Narada. One who desires within himself to execute all these Vaisnava austerities and vows, his sins obtained within one hundred births is destroyed. If one is exclusively devoted, peaceful, takes daily bath, is fixed in vow and worships the Lord during these four months, he goes to the abode of the Lord. He who accepts the austerity of sleeping on the ground this time when the Vishnu Deity is sleeping in yoga nidra underwater, he goes to the abode of Laxmi.
In Udupi Krishna temple, some people eat prasadam on the floor.. rice rasam sambar on the floor in prasadam hall and they eat it.. its a kind of austerity.. i dont know if its mentioned anywhere in the scriptures..
my humble obeisances Prabhu,
yes, this austerity helps one to become humble. One will do it for cultivating humility.
It is said in Chaturmasya story.
One can sleep on the floor, eat from the floor, once in a day...
Your servant,
“If an initated Vaisnava, who is engaged in devotional service of the Lord, eats grains, or even fruits and roots, on Sayana Ekadasi, Parsva-parivartana Ekadasi, or Utthana Ekadasi, I do not forgive his previous or present offenses and I will place him into the darkest region of hell.” (HBV 12th Vilasa Text 101-102)
“If one eats fruit or roots or drinks water on Sayana, Utthana, or Parsva-parivartana Ekadasis, it is considered by Me to be like piercing My heart with an arrow.” (HBV 12th Vilasa Text 103)
Lord Sri Krishna says "He who swallows food on Utthana, Sayana, or Parivarthana Ekadasi sends Salya into my throat.” (Kalapraksika Ch XLV)
Prabhupäda: Yes. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura 13th, and 14th Ananta Caturdasi and Haridäsa Öhäkura. So, this 14th September should be observed fasting, whole day. [those dates relate to 1972. Fasting whole day refers to Ananta Caturdasi]
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yes, he is not an ordinary person, Prabhuji.
He is in our Guru Parampara. He was Shiksha Guru of Bhaktivinod Thakur.
When Bhaktivinod Thakur found the hidden birth place of Lord Nimay he wanted to proof it is the same place or not. And brought his Gurudev who at that time was in toooooooooo old body. And some Devotees used to carry him in a pot like thing. He could not move ....but when they took him to the place of birth of Lord Gouranga he stood up and started to dance.
...
In this way he is not an ordinary personality.
Your servant,
2-3 years back i heard about one austerity doing which one will be able to see Lord Chaitania.
This was done by Jaganath Das Babaji Maharaj.
The process was from morning till Sun set one should chant the Holy Names in beads.
No food, no water till the Sun set.
No any other words but only Hare Krishna Rama.
Also if there is nature's call one takes bath and again sits to chant.
In this way for 3 months. And Lord will be pleased with this austerity.
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In this way Maharja followed for 2 months but by mistake his servant made him to pronounce different word then Maharja started the whole process from the beginning.
Your servant,
Any thing performed against our sense gratification is called austerity. Mostly this is considered or people in general look at the act as austerity only when it is performed externally. All the austerities you mentioned are only related to ones body and this can be achieved by practice. The real austerity is not this but to control ones mind and senses. That is the tough job. Though Hiranyakashipu stood for several years on one leg in meditation to the point that whole of his body was eaten by ants, we all know what happened latter on. He became the most envious person towards Lord. We are practicing devotees and our only aspiration in life is to become good devotees of Lord Sri Krishna. HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj says that Krishna is a butter thief and when our heart becomes soft like butter, Krishna will come and steel it away. That is perfection. So the real austerity is to give up the sense of thinking that I/Me/Mine and thinking that we are the doers.
my humble obeisances Prabhuji, thank You for Your reply. Yes:
this one is food for thought.
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But i do not want to agree with You that external austerities are useless or not important. We do them in order to make our mind pure and peaceful. Senses are also situated in the body. So it is not different from external austerities.
Austerities are in 3 modes. Hiranyakashipu did austerity in the mode of ignorance by brining destruction to his own body and then later on to all the living entities in this universe. So it was in the mode of ignorance.
But there are austerities in the mode of goodness also.
Bodily austerity is to render service to the Lord, respect elders...like mother, father, Gurus...control of the senses...
And when we do these external things then it will be easy to control our mind. But one can not blame that he/she is religious if she/he is not doing such like external austerities.
Some people drink, eat non veg, do illicit things and worship to God and proclaim themselves as religious and that all these rules and regulations are only external things we have just to be sincere in our mind ;(
breaks heart isn't it?
And the same His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj told in His lectures how Devotees used to do austerities when they were in New Vrindavan. He told that when they read about Prahlad, Dhruva Maharaj they became so inspired by them and learned many things from them.
They used to worship Sri Sri Radha Krishna and they used to wake up before 2 AM, chant their rounds then go out take bath in the ice water and pick flowers for their beloved Deities in the very dark times, then decorate Deities, service to them used to take 3-4 hours, ...they used to eat not luxuriously, they used to sleep on the hard floor, it was cold, .....................................even though so many difficulties and austerities but they were in bliss of serving.
In this way austerity be it external or internal very important.
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and for these days i understood something that service to the Supreme Lord is really austerity for the body, for the mind also.
Because when one is pujari he/she has to wake up early in the morning, take bath, wear clean clothes (vaishnava clothes), try to keep oneself clean all over the service, do not sleep body becomes contaminated, do not eat clothes are considered not clean after that, eats only after cooking, offering...
eats as much as it is required or else very difficult to again and again go and take bath. Also in order not to sleep much, and wake up on time....
please forgive me if i hurt You!
Your servant bhaktin maral
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