hare krishna prabhuji's and matajis!
i am afraid to ask this but i want to know how this happened to me.
i have a doubt in revelation of bhagavatgita to ordinary souls.
1)
in Bhagavat Gita krishna says that the truth of him was revealed to sun god before and i am delivering unto you(arjuna)in the kurushetra . here the above lines gives me fear. if the truth is known only to Sun god and arjuna who are dear to krishna and no one even Indra doesn't know the true form and truth of krishna! then how an ordinary soul like me able to taste the nectar of gita? even if am able to follow one minute principle of bhagavat gita then in the age of kali i can liberate myself.
please explain me clearly how we are able enjoy the teachings of the lord which even demigod's doesn't know!
Replies
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
Yes, 4.00 am is very good time to chant. If you are chanting only 1 round now, then it would not be possible for you to jump to 16 at one go. Better to do in phased manner - start with chanting 4 rounds - it will take half an hour of your time.
Then you can sing the mangalarati prayers. It is a very very good feeling to do mangalarati. You will feel soooooo good the whole day.
Then you can read Gita. According to me, no need to read Mahabharata - in my family, my mother would not allow us to keep Mahabharata at home at all - she says that the family taht keeps mahabharata actually witnesses a mahabharata in the family. Moreover, there is no authenticated version by ISKCON. Therefore, unable to suggest.
Suppose you start chanting and after 1 round, you feel your chanting is becoming mechanical - then go back a few beads and re chant on them in the same round - automatically you will concentrate better. The idea is to continue to chant, even if inattentively, even if with faults. Only then the mind will come under control.
If you read Gita, you will realise the havoc an uncontrolled mind can cause and learn to ignore the mind. Be resolute in your desire to please the lord by following 4 and chanting 16 (eventually).
If you are unable to wake up at 4.00 am anyday or unable to complete your rounds anyday, then you have to chant after 9.00 pm. At any cost, you have to complete your rounds before you go to sleep, regardless of time. Even if it is 2.00 am, chant and only then sleep.
Pls be in touch.
Haribol,
YOur servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
Please accept my humble obeisances
Please read Bhagavad Gita As It Is with focus and concentration. Trust me.
Looks like you are interested in knowing about Krsna but many doubts are also there in your mind. So please read Gita from Vedabase.com section or buy one hard copy.
All your doubts will vanish and then you will get the interest in chanting the Holy names of Lord Krsna.
I will definitely pray to Lord Krsna that your faith and devotion in Him may establish to a very firm extent.
If you are sincere then you will definitely be helped by Him Himself.
All the best.
Thank you.
Hare Krsna.
Hare krsna prabhuji,
You are already applying Gita in your life, by chanting. Yes, even a single round of chanting that you are doing is applying what Krsna expects of us.
As Krsa says in BG 18.65, "Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."
By chanting you have started the process of trying to remember and think of Krsna. So, keep that going. Dont expect to be all spiritualised in no time. This process is like a marathon and we need to make gradual and steady progress. For now, concentrate mainly on your chanting and read Srila Prabhupada books. Your mind (or others) may say "why only Prabhupada books?", it comes down to faith. If you have faith in the process, you will know you will succeed. Because krsna's knowledge cannot be just made up to NOT work. That is why he reminds us that He spoke the same knowledge to Sun god. This is not blind faith. This is actual knowledge coming down from krsna himself through his authorised representatives. Be part of it.
Dont stress too much about not being able to concentrate on the mantra. Although the mantra has its effect immediately but at a subtle level, we conditioned souls cannot comprehend that change but its there. To realise it fully, you need to keep the chanting going everyday. So, chant 1 round for few weeks and then you can increase it, which you will.
The next best way to apply is sadhu sanga, which again you are already doing it by associating with devotees here on the IDT forum. If possible you can extend this to meeting devotees in person at your local temple.
Krsna conscious is not about external change but its the internal realisations of the Supreme within us. So, please stay and experience the bliss that chanting and the process brings you.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad.
Hare krsna.
why the mahamantra starts without Om( pranava mantra) where other vedic mantras starts with om like OM NAMO NARAYANAYA, OM Nama shivaya etc.
very very important and interesting question prabhuji… Krsna is the whole, the sum total of everything.. please take a moment to understand the word everything… there is nothing other than krsna… when one comes to that ultimate conclusion then he will see that krsna and krsna’s name is not different nor is his form… Krsna declares He is in this, He is in that etc etc and He also says praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu, He is the syllable Om.. So krsna is om, om is krsna, then why does maha mantra need Om? Even if you chant “Om hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare, hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare”, it would still not take the splendour of the mantra nor would it add anything.. the name in itself is complete.
But it is interesting to note that other mantras cant be recited without OM. Doesn’t it go to show that most chant krsna’s name before other gods/goddesses without acknowledging krsna to be before everyone? Now who wrote these different verses?? Some sages.. who did they receive these knowledge from?? From their spiritual masters or from the supersoul in the heart.. so if you go back and decode you will come to krsna.. so the originator of the other mantras also will be krsna.. but He has cleverly hidden the messages.. but we are easily deluded, that is our weakness, right? That is why this knowledge is confidential..
Hare krsna prabhuji,
Bhagavat Gita should be understood not by just one verse. The verses are so interlinked that in order to understand its true message is really hard for us to sometimes comprehend and make sense of it all. Krsna says to Arjuna “I am revealing this confidential message because you are my closest friend and devotee”. So, unless you come or even desire to come close, the true message is always well hidden. The message is there, but it is revealed only to those who seek it.
Answering to your question, knowing the absolute truth in all its splendour and glory is not achievable to ANYONE because Krsna is unlimited. In other words, the absolute truth cannot be known in its entirety. All the scriptures put together cannot glorify the Lord as much as glorified He actually is. I am currently reading this book where the lord demands he be glorified and I was thinking, how can we ordinary people glorify the lord when the great demigods and shastras cannot do justice for the glorification of the lord?
But look at how merciful krsna is, He comes down to reveal himself AS HE IS and tells us all that “here I am, you wanted to see God, here I am”. He even shows his virat rupa to Arjuna which encompasses all there is and will ever be. Krsna repeatedly says in the Gita that only one who is inclined towards devotional service is able to understand (I am not writing completely understand). With the service we are doing, we are learning “A” of Krsna. So imagine how much far we need to go to understand Krsna for what He is.
please explain me clearly how we are able enjoy the teachings of the lord which even demigod's doesn't know!
The teaching of the Lord can be enjoyed by trying to follow what Krsna expects from us to do using this material body. Once you start to apply the teachings, then you will taste the sweetness. For example: chant a round of hare krsna mantra over time and see for yourself how it changes you and your outlook. The change might not be big but there will be a definite change in you, your mindset and attitude towards others. This itself is enjoying, not at a material level but at a soul level. You are giving the soul the outlet it deserves to come in contact with the whole (Krsna).
By the verse (BG 4.1) you brought up, krsna answers to those people who think he is just an avatar of Vishnu. Krsna is showing his omniscient quality by telling Arjuna that he delivered the SAME knowledge to the Sun God millenias ago. The knowledge is the same because Lord’s instructions are imperishable but is lost due to rise of irreligion. So God personally has to descend down to restart the learning process of going back to godhead. Depending on the place, time and circumstance, he sometimes sends a representative to deliver the knowledge and at other times, he descends down Himself, but the knowledge is never different.
Isnt it amazing that you and I are reading/studying the same knowledge that was spoken to Sun God and other elevated souls?
My response would spring up more questions I guess, feel free to write back.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad
Hare krsna.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
I feel sad when I see so much confusion - why is there so much confusion.
Puranas are divided into 3 categories - some (I think 6) are in the mode of Goodness (proclaim Vishnu/ Krsna as supreme), some in the mode of Passion and some in the mode of Ignorance (proclaim Shiva as supreme).
Apart from puranas, there are vedas, upanishads, acharyas and authorities on the subject who have concluded that Vishnu/ Krsna is supreme. Also, in Gita, Krsna Himself proclaims that He is supreme and there is nothing above Him or nothing to learn beyond Him. Anywhere Shiva or Durga or anyone else has proclaimed that they are supreme - not in my knowledge. Not only does Krsna say He is supreme, He then shows His Vishwarupa and proves it.
In Ramayan, He is maryada purushottam Ram - the ideal human being - how can He show Himself to be God then?
Purpose of Mohini was not to calm down Siva's anger, but to distract the demons. The purpose of the birth of Ayappa/ Murugan/ HariHar is to show that even Siva can be overcome by lust, what to speak of common human beings like you and me.
What I think you are doing is going everywhere and reading everything and thus getting confused. Better to choose one path and start walking on it. Then when you know the philosophy of your chosen path enough, you will be able to see the fallacy of the other philosophy and use your judgement to refute it. RIght now, everything appears to be correct to you because your faith is weak. You need to strengthen your faith prabhu.
PLs chant atleast 16 rounds of Mahamantra attentively everyday for 6 months. A lot of the doubts in your mind will get cleared automatically.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Transcendental knowledge remains unknown to those who are unqualified to receive it, despite effort of studying it all lifetime. Only by the mercy of those who have seen the Truth, the teachings of the Lord can be revealed.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
What Krsna is mentioning in the beginning of the 4th Chapter is that this knowledge was last given to Sungod many billions of years ago and now being given to Arjuna, because the knowledge has got lost That means that the knowledge was being disseminated by parampara system and in due course of time it got lost. That is the reason it is being spoken again, this time to Arjuna.
So effectively it means that this knowledge is received through parampara system. That is how we are receiving it. Indra knows the true form and qualities of the lord because of Govardhan lila (only 5000 years ago, small time in comparison to one day of Brahma).
For ordinary souls like you and me, the way out is to hear the knowledge or study under the guidance of a pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. We have to read/ study his purports, hear his lectures and lectures of his disciples. We have to chant - the way out in Kali is naam sankirtan.
PLs ask if there are further doubts.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD