Hare Krishna, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I want to know is there any Demon/ Satan in the presence of Shri Krishna? If it is there, can it harm us in the supreme presence of Lord Krishna??
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Hare Krishna,
In my understanding the being referred to as Satan in the Bible is equivalent to what we know as Kali. Historically it makes sense to understand these personalities to be one and the same. But also in terms of character. Kali wants to see people acting sinful and seduces them in all kinds of ways. Satan has the same attitude. He or they are opposed to God and represent the asuric mentality which is characteristic for this Age of Kali.
As we can see, Kali exists in the presence of Krishna (in the form of His holy name). Since in Kali-yuga demons and demigods are to be found in one and the same body, we can see that also many (if not most) devotees are very much influenced by sinful activities. The more one cultivates the demigod in oneself the less Kali/Satan has power. Kali lives from our weakness and desire, and if we seriously work on transforming them, by taking shelter of guru and Krishna, we become more and more immune to their influence.
your servant
Keshava Madhava das
Bhagavad Gita : 7.14
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
daivī — transcendental; hi — certainly; eṣā — this; guṇa-mayī — consisting of the three modes of material nature; mama — My; māyā — energy; duratyayā — very difficult to overcome; mām — unto Me; eva — certainly; ye — those who; prapadyante — surrender; māyām etām — this illusory energy; taranti — overcome; te — they.
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has innumerable energies, and all these energies are divine. Although the living entities are part of His energies and are therefore divine, due to contact with material energy their original superior power is covered. Being thus covered by material energy, one cannot possibly overcome its influence. As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history. Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior, material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: māyāṁ tu prakṛtiṁ vidyān māyinaṁ tu maheśvaram. "Although māyā [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of māyā is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Maheśvara, the supreme controller." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.10)
Another meaning of guṇa is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself — he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Kṛṣṇa, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature. Devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can help one gain such release. Kṛṣṇa, being the Lord of illusory energy, can order this insurmountable energy to release the conditioned soul. He orders this release out of His causeless mercy on the surrendered soul and out of His paternal affection for the living entity, who is originally a beloved son of the Lord. Therefore surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is the only means to get free from the clutches of the stringent material nature.
The words mām eva are also significant. Mām means unto Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu) only, and not Brahmā or Śiva. Although Brahmā and Śiva are greatly elevated and are almost on the level of Viṣṇu, it is not possible for such incarnations of rajo-guṇa (passion) and tamo-guṇa (ignorance) to release the conditioned soul from the clutches of māyā. In other words, both Brahmā and Śiva are also under the influence of māyā. Only Viṣṇu is the master of māyā; therefore He alone can give release to the conditioned soul.
Hari Bol !
Your servant .
All glories to Srila Prabhupada !
Srila Prabhupada uses the word satan in a few lectures where he
refers to Maya ... That is >> anything that poses us an obstacle on the path of Krishna .. That is pretty much the concept in Christianity as well .., only that they have given a villainous, evil imagery to it .. Well , in our aspiring devotional lives too ,we all agree that 'maya' is the biggest villain .. Don't we ?
Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavatam lecture (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.40
San Francisco, July 21, 1975 ) : "You must have to serve. If you don't serve Krsna, then you will have to serve maya. There are two things: God or Satan. So similarly, God is Krsna, and Satan is maya. So if you refuse to serve God, then you have to serve Satan. That's all. You cannot become master. This is called dharma. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]. And, as it is said here, vedo narayanah saksat. Vedo narayanah saksat. Veda, the knowledge, the law or the order, that order is from God."
Here is the link to the whole lecture :
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/main/Bhagavatam/510.html
Hare Krishna .
Your servant .
1. What is vaisnava view on Christian understanding that there must be some original evil - Satan
To be honest I have not heard the word evil or Satan used in Hinduism, let alone Vaishnavism, except to describe the various demons. Thus, I would assume evil = that which separates us from Krsna, such as material desire.
2.Many Christians think that in hinduism/vaisnavism Shiva is Satan
That's a tad rude in my opinion, but I would assume the Christians who said these things are not very familiar with the glories of Mahadeva.
3.I just found similarity in Yamaraja and His position with that theory (death). But He is mahabhagavata, so there can not be any comperation
Yamaraja is the judge, and is also known as Dharmaraja, thus there is no comparison.
HARI BOL
JAI ACHARYAS
JAI VAISHNAVAJAN!
AS PER SANATANA DHARMA THERE IS NO ETERNALLY EVIL OR THERE IS NO SATAN/SHATAN. EVEN THE DEMONS ARE SOULS MEANT TO SERVE LORD BY FIGHTING OR TO DISTURB NORMAL SOULS.
SB Canto 3
Śrī Maitreya said: The demon, being thus challenged by the Personality of Godhead, became angry and agitated, and he trembled in anger like a challenged cobra.
A cobra is very fierce before ordinary persons, but before an enchanter who can play with him, he is a plaything. Similarly, a demon may be very powerful in his own domain, but before the Lord he is insignificant. The demon Rāvaṇa was a fierce figure before the demigods, but when he was before Lord Rāmacandra he trembled and prayed to his deity, Lord Śiva, but to no avail.
http://www.vaniquotes.org/wiki/Category:Demons
Jaiva Dharma
Chapter 11
Excerpt
Mullah: Is it not better to meditate on an imaginary within the mind than to make an imaginary Deity form out of the material elements?
Goracanda: They are the same. When the mind is material, it thinks only of material things. You may say, Brahman, the Supreme, is all-pervading". Still, the material mind will think Brahman is like the material element ether, which is also all-pervading. However, if I continue to meditate on Brahman in that way, in the course of time the real truth about Brahman will be manifested in my heart. Time and space are material. If the mind's meditation is not beyond time and space, then how can the mind meditate on something that is beyond the material world. Rejecting the Deity form as something made of earth, water, or other material elements, you meditate on an imaginary form of the Lord, a form made of time and space. That is worship of a material form of the Lord, a graven image of the Lord. A material so-called form of the Lord is not needed. The Lord is not material. His is spiritual. That is His nature. Therefore a process is given to the conditioned souls by which they can approach the spiritual Supreme Lord. ,By chanting the Lord's holy names, by narrating His pastimes, and by worshiping His Deity form, one gradually becomes more and more devoted to the Lord. When the worshiper attains pure devotion, he can see the spiritual form of the Supreme Lord. Philosophical speculation and fruitive work will not help one to see the Lord.
Mullah: the Supreme Lord is different from matter. It is said that satan introduced the worship of material things in order to trap the souls in the material world. Therefore I think it is not good to worship material things.
Goracanda: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one without a rival. No one can possible compete with Him. Everything in this material world was created by Him and is dependent on Him. The Supreme Lord may be worshiped in many different ways. He is pleased by all these different kinds of worship. It is not that He will become an enemy if someone worships Him a particular way. He is all-auspicious. If you say that Satan does something, then I say that satan does not have the power to do anything against the Supreme Lord's will. If satan exists, then he must be an individual soul dependent on the Supreme Lord. However, I think that this satan does not exist. Why not? Because in this material world nothing can ever be done to thwart the Supreme Lord's will. There is not a single individual soul who is not dependent on the Supreme Lord. You may ask, `What is the origin of sin?' I reply: The individual soul is by nature a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Awareness of this fact is knowledge. To forget this fact is ignorance. If an individual spirit soul forgets this fact, then he sows the seed of sins in the field of his heart. A person who always remains a liberated associate of the Lord does not plant the seed of sin in his heart. Instead of imagining this mythological satan, one should honestly see the ignorance in his own heart. Therefore, even if one worships the Supreme Lord as present in the material elements, he commits no offense. Therefore Deity worship is necessary for the neophyte devotee and the source of great auspiciousness for the advanced devotee. Therefore the idea that Deity worship is not good is only a theory of some thinkers. It is not at all supported by the pure scriptures.
http://www.vaniquotes.org/wiki/Category:Satan
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