Hare Krsna,
jaya prabhupada! Jaya gurudeva!
Please enlighten me with the information whether, exercise is recommended for a vaishnava? so that the body overweight may not become an impediment in spiritual progress? Srila prabhupada said that exercise is not required as the devotees in the temple dance for the pleasure of the lord, but what should an unfortunate person do who does not have this oppurtunity?
Trying to be your servant,
Haribabu.
Replies
Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,
I think that if your intention is to maintain your body so you could continue to serve Lord Krishna exercise is a good. In chapter 9.27 Lord Krishna says "Whatever you do, what ever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and what ever austerities you erform- do that O, son of Kunti as an offerin to Me."
I think that each situation is different. I chant as I exercise, weights, run, yoga, etc. I know my intentions is to have a healthy spirit, mind and soul. Chanting and exercising reduces my stress so I am able to stay calmer in some challenging situations and interact with other pleasantly.
I thinnk that being healthy and in good physical shape contributes to sharing Krishna Consciousness with others. I know that I have associates that listen to me because we spend time running, or training together, so I see exercise as a benefit for my sharing Krishna Consciousness with others. In addition, many people I am aquainted with think that if they sto eating meat they will miss out. I share what I know with them to help them see that they still could be active and have a good vegetarian diet.
I wish you all a wonderful day.
Ys
Dhira
Hare Krishna!
PAMHO.
I exercise often (walk/run). Mi goal is to be healthy in order to be able to better serve Krishna and my spiritual master.
My humble opinion, based on what I can understand from Srila Prabhupada's teachings, is that is not the act itself that really matters, as long as it's not against Krishna's recommendations on how to serve him, but the consciousness of the executor.
I guess the story about the Brahmana's not being able to serve Krishna some prasadam because they were engaged in rituals, and Krishna being later served by the wifes of those brahmanas, even if they had little knowledge about rituals and scriptures, sheds some light on this matter.
I also chant some of my rounds while walking/running. While I agree is not the best, better chanting that thinking about something else. Besides, in my particular case, chanting under other circumstances won't make it much better.
I just wanted to share my personal experience on this. In no way I pretend this to be the best thing to do, since I have no qualifications for setting a proper example on how to handle this matter.
Your humble servant,
Ekendra Dasa
I do not remember the shloka, but in the Bhagawatam, it is said that one must do what is necessary to keep one's body fit. So that you can offer the body in the service of Krsna.
But one may not excessively indulge in exercise to go for body building.
I associate with many senior vaishnavas who go for walks in the evening. But they do that after they have ciompleted their daily sadhana, or it is part of a schedule.
Another lesson we can learn- Once Srila Prabhupada saw a fat person jogging. Prabhupada said - " This is madness. First you eat excessively, then you exercise to loose all the fat. What is the use? We have a fixed number of breaths destined to us in life. So why reduce your breaths by jogging and reducing your count?"
Myself I have had health problems due to eating sumptuously (having been introduced to the movement since my childhood been feasting since then). And now since I have a job far from home, there is a good bit of exercise.
You have my blessing that you will perform Sankirtana. Please dont forget to bless me back after you perform Sankirtana.
Vijayate SriKrishna Sankirtanam.
Harinam Sankirtan ki Jai!
Here seems an oppurtunity as now you should collect some devotee's and daily go out for hari naam sankirtan.If devotee's are not around you could start independently and others will follow.
Chanting with utmost attention is very nice prabhu. Please bless me that I may also chant with attention.
About your question what after you are done the rounds:
Its the perspective prabhu. On day a man goes to his priest as ask, "Father can I smoke while I am praying?". The priest tell the man the he should not smoke while praying to God.
Then the man asks, "I smoke a lot. Can I pray to god while I am smoking?" The Priest replies,"Yes we must constantly pray to God. Yes you may"
We must try not to do other things when we are perfoming devotional service of Sravanam, Kirtanam, Smaranam.... . However, when we are doing our daily duties we must also constantly think of God/listen to songs of the Lord, etc.
Hope I am making sense.
Sankirtana can be done by you alone if no other person in human body is available. There will be other spiritual beings with you as you do sing Hare Krishna, exalted beings like Narada, Hanuman etc
You can start out with as simple as humming Hare Krishna Maha Mantra while you walk through crowded areas, shopping malls, grocery stores to all the way LOUD chanting in the streets (this is the best and gives you the most focus on Krishna's Names) with kartal or mridhang.
Perform Sankirtana everyday in the streets and you will not have to think about exercise. Unlike modern exercises, Walking on Sankirtana is energizing.
Dont bother doing Japa while exercising because that will be inattentive chanting, which is one of the offenses called Namaparada.
It has become fashionable for devotees to carry a bead bag all day long doing parrot japa, doing exercise, talking to the neighbors about karmis or what ever. Japa must be performed with utmost attention. Not 16 round so japa, mind you, 16 rounds of attentive japa (yes I am working on that too). Japa can be finished in just a couple of hours in the morning.
Forgive me if I offended you or Manmath prabhu
Hare Krishna.
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