PAMHO, I am new into krishna conciousness, there are few questions which hunt me day and night. I am chanting 8 round but to move forward i need my question to be answered
1. How krishna is supreme than vishnu, except bramha samhita do we have any vedic supporting except bramha samhita (bramha samhita was found by lord chaintya only), Geeta & Bhagvatam
2. Why we (i am iskconite) too much into guru praising, even before Hare Krishna mahamantra, we chant jay shri krishna, chaitanya.......... in food offering, mangla aarti. always we are glorifying Gurus, why so???
3. Is it correct to install idol of Shrila Prabhupad in temples, i am worried whether PP would have allowed it. before PP whose idol was worshiped
4. why dont we beleive in Karma Kanda as per vedas, like for "Agni Ahwahan" we have different mantra, we have to glorify Lord Ganesha before starting new thing, even Tulsidas did sa em in Vinay Patrila , his Ishtdev is Ram but he followed what is Karmakanda
5. Do we beleive in Hinduism/Sanatan Dharm, often we are blaimed we are not relegion and we are cult, even shakaracharya of Puri (forgive me) says a lot about iskcon for these all
Please answer me these questions are giving me sleepness nights, i need to clear "Agyaan" so that i can advance my bhakti, in search of answer i have message all big devoees like GG das, AL prabhu
Help me
Your servant
Abhinav
Replies
PAMHO.
To continue,
4) Our attempt is to transcend karma kanda and reach pure devotion. Actually pure unalloyed devotion - which is the rarest. As you know, there are devotees of all levels. So if we do karma kanda, they will get confused. the idea is to respect all demigods, but under no circumstances, we are to ask anything for ourselves or our loved ones frm demigods. That is the reason we avoid praying to demigods completely, but at the same time we acknowledge that they are exalted personalities and empowered by God to assist Him in service.
5) Ours is very much Sanatan dharma prabhuji. People who don't understand blame. What shankaracharya of Puri is saying, unless you tell, we cannot refute.
I am of the opinion that you should ask questions in your congregation, or privately to your shiksha guru. If he is right person, he will welcome your questions. There is nothing wrong with your questions. It is natural to think like this in initial stages, unless you understand and realise some things. Maybe ask 1 question and see reaction. Your way of asking is also important - it should be submissive, with intention of getting answer, rather than challenging with a pre decided mindset that you are right.
At any rate, please feel free to ask anything here.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
PAMHO.
I will attempt to answer your queries.
1) Krsna is God has been accepted by all the known devotees of all sampradayas in the past 200 years. Even Adi Shankaracharya, who said do not believe in vedas, wrote Bhaja Govindam at the end of his life. He wrote Krishna Ashtakam. Jayadev, an Oriya devotee, who wrote Dashavatar Stotram, has written in it - kesava dhritah dasa vidha rupa (not Vishnu Dhritah...). Krsna is God has been established by the lord Himself in Gita - read 10.8-10.11 of Gita. He says there is nothing above Me, there is no truth higher than Me, what I am telling you is the highest knowledge. Anywhere else, is there any reference of any personality, be it Shiva, Durga, Ganesh, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed telling anyone that I am supreme? NO. Why - because they are not. There are enough scriptures to eulogise Shiva, Durga, Ganesh, and practically all our demigods. But have the personality themselves said - I am supreme and followed it up with a Vishwarupa darshan? No. There is a very good lecture by HH Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj, set in Fiji Islands - Who do you think is God and why? PLease do youtube search and see. It will clear a lot of your doubts.
2) I understand for a neophyte, new to KC, it is too much. Everyone comes with attraction for mainly prasadam, develop some attachment to Krishna, then Radharani, then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the panchatattvas, then only guru. The thing is - our movement is - we are servant of the servant of the servant. We depend on mercy of previous acharyas to show us the way to Krsna. The Hare Krsna Mahamantra was given to us by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu - who is non different from Krsna, is actually Radha and Krsna combined. He appeared in the age of Kali to give us the method to get out of the material world in the dark age of Kali. Not only that, He very kindly freely distributed Krsna prema - love of Godhead. This is so prized that it was never give before - in the earlier ages, through Penance, yagna or deity worship, one could at best attain Vaikuntha. The destination of Goloka Vrindavan was unknown to the world. THis has been given so freely, without seeing qualification in this age. Its like a huge discount sale by God. That is why we chant the pancha tattva mantra before chanting maha mantra - so that we can invoke the mercy of the pancha tattva, as well as acknowledge Their mercy. The thing to note is - while we glorify guru in ISKCON, we are very clear that guru is different from Krsna. We never say that Guru is God, unlike other sampradayas.
3) Even during Srila Prabhupada's lifetime, his deity was installed in atleast some of the temples, if not all. In fact, he had to suffer a lot more physical ailments, because he was getting the karma through his deity, of his disciples. This was communicated to his divine grace, still he continued. Such is the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. PLease read Prabhupada Lilamrta or see the series - Remembering Srila Prabhupada on youtube. YOu will understand his greatness.
Post is becoming log. Will answer in next post.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
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