Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna Prabhuji,

I would like to discuss few questions asked from one of my colleague at my workplace, actually I was discussing something about Krishna Conciousness with him, he was asking me different questions as follows

1. why should I believe in Krishna and why have people accepted Krishna as the Supreme personality of Godhead....

2. is it not possible that the Vedas and other scriptures would have been tampered according to the need of that particular time

3. why should we beleive that Vedas and other scriptures was pre-existing or its not a human composition..in other words that its the Man who invented Vedas and other scriptures and not God

4. Why does God exists

this were some of the questions raised by my colleague which I was not able to answer in a proper manner and I accepted in front of him the fact that I have just started knowing what is Krishna Conciousness and might not be capable of answering this questions, I will be very grateful if someone can ellaborate on the above mentioned questions

Hare Krishna :)

Hare Krsna Ravikumar!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I hope you are in good health and happy in your spiritual life.

It is very good that you are starting your Krsna Consciousness process. Congratulations! So, to really advance and make progress you should study Bhagavad gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam... You have all the Srila Prabhupada's books to obtain knowledge and wisdom. If you perform devotional service, bhakti-yoga, then you will purify yourself to preach.

Regarding your questions, I can help you with this answers.

1. Krsna is mentioned in the Vedic sastras as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishnas tu bhagavan svayam [Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28]. One of the names to describe Krishna is “Bhagavan”, which means “one who is full in the six opulences.” Only when someone possess these 6 opulences in full can He be accepted as God. These opulences are: 1) Strength, 2) Fame, 3) Wealth, 4) Knowledge, 5) Beauty, and 6) Renunciation.

Krsna says aham sarvasya prabhavo [Bhagavad-gita 10.8] "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me."

You have also guru-sastra-sadhu as the medium to prove the Absolute Truth. Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON gurus speak the Absolute Truth, that is the same Absolute Truth stated in the sastra and the Sadhus live the same Absolute Truth.

2. Guru-parampara is the system to protect and teach the sastra. Krsna says evam parampara praptam [Bhagavad-gita 4.2] "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession." Srila Prabhupada explains: Since there is a great need of an edition of the Gita in English, as it is received by the parampara (disciplic succession) system, an attempt is made herewith to fulfill this great want. Bhagavad-gita -accepted as it is- is a great boon to humanity.

3. Krsna says imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave 'bravīt [Bhagavad-gita 4.1] "I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku." Srila Prabhupada explains: At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple the sun-god Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krsna.

And you know, The Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedas.

4. om namo bhagavate vasudevaya janmady asya yato nyayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat [Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1] "O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him."

Srila Prabhupada explains: It is natural that a philosophical mind wants to know about the origin of the creation. At night he sees the stars in the sky, and he naturally speculates about their inhabitants. Such inquiries are natural for man because man has a developed consciousness which is higher than that of the animals. The author of Srimad-Bhagavatam gives a direct answer to such inquiries. He says that the Lord Sri Krsna is the origin of all creations. He is not only the creator of the universe, but the destroyer as well. The manifested cosmic nature is created at a certain period by the will of the Lord. It is maintained for some time, and then it is annihilated by His will. Therefore, the supreme will is behind all cosmic activities. Of course, there are atheists of various categories who do not believe in a creator, but that is due to a poor fund of knowledge. The modern scientist, for example, has created space satellites, and by some arrangement or other, these satellites are thrown into outer space to fly for some time at the control of the scientist who is far away. Similarly, all the universes with innumerable stars and planets are controlled by the intelligence of the Personality of Godhead.

In Vedic literatures, it is said that the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, is the chief amongst all living personalities. All living beings, beginning from the first created being, Brahma, down to the smallest ant, are individual living beings. And above Brahma, there are even other living beings with individual capacities, and the Personality of Godhead is also a similar living being. And He is an individual as are the other living beings. But the Supreme Lord, or the supreme living being, has the greatest intelligence, and He possesses supermost inconceivable energies of all different varieties. If a man's brain can produce a space satellite, one can very easily imagine how brains higher than man can produce similarly wonderful things which are far superior. The reasonable person will easily accept this argument, but there are stubborn atheists who would never agree.

Also it is stated isvarah paramah krsna sac-cid-anada-vigrahah anādir ādir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Brahma-samhita 5.1] "Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."

Of course, there are a lot of more information about Sri Krsna, but I think this can help you and your friend.

Best wishes in your spiritual life.

Your servant,

Jiva-Sakti dasa (HpS).

Replies

Jiva-Sakti dasa July 16, 2011 at 1:01am

Hare Krsna Ravikumar!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I hope you are in good health and happy in your spiritual life.

It is very good that you are starting your Krsna Consciousness process. Congratulations! So, to really advance and make progress you should study Bhagavad gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam... You have all the Srila Prabhupada's books to obtain knowledge and wisdom. If you perform devotional service, bhakti-yoga, then you will purify yourself to preach.

Regarding your questions, I can help you with this answers.

1. Krsna is mentioned in the Vedic sastras as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishnas tu bhagavan svayam [Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28]. One of the names to describe Krishna is “Bhagavan”, which means “one who is full in the six opulences.” Only when someone possess these 6 opulences in full can He be accepted as God. These opulences are: 1) Strength, 2) Fame, 3) Wealth, 4) Knowledge, 5) Beauty, and 6) Renunciation.

Krsna says aham sarvasya prabhavo [Bhagavad-gita 10.8] "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me."

You have also guru-sastra-sadhu as the medium to prove the Absolute Truth. Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON gurus speak the Absolute Truth, that is the same Absolute Truth stated in the sastra and the Sadhus live the same Absolute Truth.

2. Guru-parampara is the system to protect and teach the sastra. Krsna says evam parampara praptam [Bhagavad-gita 4.2] "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession." Srila Prabhupada explains: Since there is a great need of an edition of the Gita in English, as it is received by the parampara (disciplic succession) system, an attempt is made herewith to fulfill this great want. Bhagavad-gita -accepted as it is- is a great boon to humanity.

3. Krsna says imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave 'bravīt [Bhagavad-gita 4.1] "I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku." Srila Prabhupada explains: At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple the sun-god Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krsna.

And you know, The Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedas.

4. om namo bhagavate vasudevaya janmady asya yato nyayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat [Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1] "O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him."

Srila Prabhupada explains: It is natural that a philosophical mind wants to know about the origin of the creation. At night he sees the stars in the sky, and he naturally speculates about their inhabitants. Such inquiries are natural for man because man has a developed consciousness which is higher than that of the animals. The author of Srimad-Bhagavatam gives a direct answer to such inquiries. He says that the Lord Sri Krsna is the origin of all creations. He is not only the creator of the universe, but the destroyer as well. The manifested cosmic nature is created at a certain period by the will of the Lord. It is maintained for some time, and then it is annihilated by His will. Therefore, the supreme will is behind all cosmic activities. Of course, there are atheists of various categories who do not believe in a creator, but that is due to a poor fund of knowledge. The modern scientist, for example, has created space satellites, and by some arrangement or other, these satellites are thrown into outer space to fly for some time at the control of the scientist who is far away. Similarly, all the universes with innumerable stars and planets are controlled by the intelligence of the Personality of Godhead.

In Vedic literatures, it is said that the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, is the chief amongst all living personalities. All living beings, beginning from the first created being, Brahma, down to the smallest ant, are individual living beings. And above Brahma, there are even other living beings with individual capacities, and the Personality of Godhead is also a similar living being. And He is an individual as are the other living beings. But the Supreme Lord, or the supreme living being, has the greatest intelligence, and He possesses supermost inconceivable energies of all different varieties. If a man's brain can produce a space satellite, one can very easily imagine how brains higher than man can produce similarly wonderful things which are far superior. The reasonable person will easily accept this argument, but there are stubborn atheists who would never agree.

Also it is stated isvarah paramah krsna sac-cid-anada-vigrahah anādir ādir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Brahma-samhita 5.1] "Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."

Of course, there are a lot of more information about Sri Krsna, but I think this can help you and your friend.

Best wishes in your spiritual life.

Your servant,

Jiva-Sakti dasa (HpS).
- Ravikumar Shukla > Jiva-Sakti dasa August 5, 2011 at 12:49pm
  
  Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
  
  Prabhuji, I would definitely like to thank you for taking out this amount of your precious time to reply in such wonderful words, your reply is certainly helping my Friend in moving ahead in Krishna Conciousness, Prabhuji Please accept my apologies for such a late reply I am really sorry about that...
  
  Hare Krishna :)
  - Jiva-Sakti dasa > Ravikumar Shukla August 19, 2011 at 3:09am
    
    Hare Krsna Ravikumar! All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    
    You are always welcome. I am very happy that you and your friend are better.
    
    Please feel free to write for questions or comments.
    
    Have this in mind, always remember Krsna and never forget Him.
    
    Your servant,
    
    Jiva-Sakti dasa (HpS).
Volunteer

Jagadatma das July 15, 2011 at 7:55pm

Dear devotee Hare Krsna, You will need to study and be yourslf convinced io anwser so many quertions effectively.We cam only give a breif answer here.

If I am genuinely seeking to know the truth I should be willing to hear all the evidence that is available to me.

The words of Lord Sri Krishna are the most famous and authoritative.

The vedic system of rishis and brahmonical parampara has protected and preserved the shastras in the original lamguage sanskrit. Countless thousands of ancient texts are still preserved all over the subcontnent.   Bhagavad Gita is the same everywhere. There us no known changes in the sanskrit.

Real spiritual knowledge cannot be invented or man made. It must be given from the perfect source and that perfect sourse can only be The Supreme God.

That perfect knowledge is never changed by time. It is always relavent for all time place and circumstance. It is eternal knowledge of the self the world and God.

Lord Sri Krsna is accepted by all the greatest vedic authorities as that Supreme Personaliy of Godhead. And the devotees who hear Him and dedicate there lives to Him gain scientific knowledge and realisation by His Grace.   It is not mere blind faith.

As far as why does God exist?     His existence is not dependant on weather we beleive or not. We are under the control of time and many other laws.   And He is the controller and posseser of of all enerigies .
- Ravikumar Shukla > Jagadatma das August 5, 2011 at 12:45pm
  
  Hari Krishna Prabhuji,
  
  First of All Please accept my apologies for such a late reply, but I am feeling very happy that my Friend is feeling better now and he was quite satisfied with your reply and has started taking more interest in knowing more about Krishna Conciousness
  
  Hari Bol :)

This reply was deleted.