hare krishna...dandwat pranam to all devotee
can we workship laddu gopal in our home? laddo gopal ko kaise bithana chahiye ? unki pran pratishtha karake ya aise hi?
Please clear my confusion
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Hare Krsna Mataji,
PAMHO.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad. Also I respect Your thinking to welcome Laddu Gopalji in your House. It is good that every body wants to install Gopal but fail to carry out service. As a mother how you look after your small child , same way you will look after Gopal. After doing Pran Pratistha, daily you have to do bathing in ganges water or in milk,tulsi leaf, flowers, dressing with clothes, putting chandan,Kajal,combing his hair etc. Gopalji will seat in Jhula. Three times Bhoga with normal Aarti, Changing drinking water while offering Bhoga. You should think in your mind that He is Master and you are svt..
During Night while you say Gopal to sleep, you can sing sweet songs for Gopal to sleep.
I have seen one Mataji she is mad for his Gopal. During winter she put Kambal for Gopal. So it depends how you develop Bhakti and Seva for Gopal? Also one thing is important always you should talk with Gopal. Time will come Your Gopal will come in dream and talk with you. Believe me.
Bolo Shri Gopalji ki Jai.
Your servant
Rabi Narayan Das
Hare KRsna Mataji,
PAMHO.
THis is true - our shiksha guru and diksha gurus are different. Actually, as per shastra, there are 4 gurus - path pradarshak guru (one who shows us the way to Krsna Consciousness, Diksha guru (who promises to take us back to Godhead), Shishka guru (who preaches the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness to us) and Chaitya Guru (paramatma who guides us as Supersoul).
We should always be indebted to path pradarshak guru and shiksha guru. There can be a lot of shiksha gurus in our life. A true sadhaka will learn from anyone and everyone. A case in point is Pingla, the prostitute mentioned in Srimad Bhagawatam - asha hi paramam dukham.....Unfortunately, shiksha guru cannot take full responsibility for us for our entire lifetime. Therefore we need diksha guru - who will garauntee to take us back to Godhead provided we follow his instructions.
In ISKCON, the GBC decides who is empowered to give diksha. There are some Maharajs who are empowered, but of their own will, refuse to give any diksha. So it is personal. Of the gurus who are giving diksha, one should look at whose teachings are inspiring us, which of Srila Prabhupada's instructions that guru has imbibed and made a mission of his life, what is our proximity to that guru (as in what are the chances that we will be meeting that guru at periodic intervals, no point taking shelter of someone who is preaching in Hawai or Honululu (for me) because I may never go there and he may never visit my city) and then decide. Physical characteristics of the guru like - oh how innocent he looks, or oh how he walks or how he talks is not important. That is for movie stars. What is important is what he says, whether he practises what he preaches (with our limited knowledge we have to figure out), who are his disciples, what is the quality of his disciples should be important. I have heard of a lot of disciples saying they had dream of who their guru should be.
If you are sincere in your heart to find a diksha guru, chaitya guru will guide you.
I hope this answers your question.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi
thanks mataji.....
hare krishna..
most of devotee told me that we cant go to golok dham by serve to laddu gopal its true?????
Hare Krsna Mataji,
PAMHO.
In Goloka Vrindavan, there are the following rasas - Vatsalya, Sakhya and Madhurya. Therefore, if you are serving Laddu Gopal in vatsalya rasa, then it is not a bar to enter Goloka Vrindavan.
Having said that, I had heard in one lecture that it is a disease of ISKCON devotees, that if they do not reach Goloka Vrindavan, then they have failed - reaching Vaikuntha is not the destination. We should ideally pray to the lord and want to serve Him unconditionally and without any desires. Our desire should be to serve lovingly - let the lord decide whether He wants us to serve Him in Vaikuntha, Goloka, Earth or even Hell.
Surrender mataji, let the lord decide where He wants you to serve Him.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi
hare krishna mataji.....
There are so many guru's in iskcon so we confusion what to do...i cant understand how to find my guru? hum jo class attented karate hai un guru ke prati hum surrender nahi our jin guru ke prati surrender hai unki class nahi attented karate....please give me suggestion
Hare Krsna Mataji,
PAMHO.
All glories to you and your family, you want to install Laddu Gopal deity in your house. By all means, do that, it is highly recommended. If you do proper praan prathishta, then the deity will be powerful from the beginning, otherwise, without praan prathishta, if you serve the deity for 12 years, then it is considered as good as the deity which has got praan prathishta done. One priest of Juhu ISKCON temple has told me this in an earlier ocassion.
Regarding seva - whatever level of seva you establish in your house, you have to maintain. It could be that you are doing arati once only, it could be arati once a day and deep lighting in the evening. Bhoga once a day, of only milk and fruits or bhoga of every meal .....when the lord comes to our house, He is a guest and He adjusts to the routine of the household He is in. But when the lord is in the temple, there it is His house, therefore, everything revolves around Him and His convenience.
Since it is laddy Gopal, you need not do mangal arati - like how they wake up Banke Bihari at 8.00 am in Vrindavan, because He is a small boy, how can He wake up early.... However, a minimum standard of worship is recommended. Atleast one arati a day, atleast one bhoga a day, evening lighting lamp and night putting the lord to sleep. Some people keep laddu and water at the time of sleeping - He is a small child, if He feels hungry in the night, He can have.
Abhishek should be done atleast once a fortnight, if not everyday (again convenience is the key). Ladies should not touch the altar or do any direct service those days of month.
Its your emotions and how you relate to the lord. My recommendation is to start with a simple seva and as your devotion grows, you can increase the level of service. Chanting 16 rounds everyday to welcome the deity is very good and highly recommended.
Please bring Him home with a lot of joy, love and devotion in your heart. Please do share with us what you finally decide to do.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi