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Another interesting prediction is that Lord Shiva, one of the great demigods, would appear in Kali-yuga as Shankaracharya. In the Padma Purana (6.236.5-12) Shiva explains to his wife, Parvati, that he will appear in the age of Kali to proclaim that the Buddhist doctrine is a false religion and illusory. He also said that he would propound the mayavada or impersonalist philosophy, emphasizing the indefinable nature of the Brahman, the great, impersonal spiritual force. He explained, "The philosophy of Maya (mayavada) is a wicked doctrine and is pseudo-Buddhist. In the form of a brahmana, I proclaim this doctrine in Kali-yuga. It makes the words of the holy Vedic texts meaningless and is condemned in the world. In this doctrine it recommends giving up one's duties of life [in order to be free of karma], which is said to be religiousness for those who have fallen from their duties. I will propound the identity of the Supreme Soul and the individual soul to be the [one and the same] Brahman in nature, without qualities. O goddess, I have conceived this mayavada (impersonalist) doctrine, which resembles a purport of the Ve das, for deluding people in this age of Kali [to mislead them toward atheism by denying the personal form of God]."

The KurmaPurana (1.30.33-34) states: "In Kali-yuga, Shankara, Nilalohita, will incarnate for the purpose of establishing rites of the Shrauta [Vedic] and Smarta [based on Smriti scriptures], with the desire for the welfare of his devotees. He will teach his disciples the knowledge of Brahman."
The Shiva Purana also quotes the Supreme Lord ordering Lord Shiva: "In Kali-yuga mislead the people in general by propounding imaginary meanings from the Vedas to bewilder them." How the Supreme Lord ordered Lord Shiva to appear in Kali-yuga to delude atheists and produce a philosophy and texts to hide the Supreme Being, and to make Shiva seem superior, is explained in the Padma Purana (6.71.89-116). Thus, we find in these verses confirmation that it was Lord Shiva who appeared in the Age of Kali as Shankaracharya at the request of the Supreme.

Shankaracharya (A.D. 788-820), also known as Shankara, was a follower of Shiva, born of a South Indian brahmana family in the town of Kaladi on the banks of the Periyarriver. When Shankara appeared, Buddhism had spread throughout India. It had been patronized by Emperor Ashoka in the third century B.C., and the followers of Buddhism had given up the Vedas. The Buddhist philosophy, basically, is that the material creation is the only manifestation of the Absolute Truth, which itself is temporary and brought on by egoistic desires. It asserts that these desires must be eliminated for oneto enter back into the void. It propounds that the void itself is all that is real and eternal, and the source from which everything manifests. The Buddhists believe in neither a soul nor a God and, ultimately, that the essence of everything is the nothingness or void wherein lies nirvana, freedom from all suffering.

Shankara's purpose, therefore, was to reform and purify religious life by reestablishing the authority of the Vedic scriptures. His interpretation of the Vedas is known as advaita or nondualisticbecause he taught that the individual jiva or soul is identical with God; that, ultimately, there is no variety, individuality, or personality in spiritual existence. According to him, the individuality of the Supreme Being and the jiva is false. This Mayavadi philosophy also teaches that the material world is false. The impersonal Brahman, or great white light, is truth. One merges back into the Brahman, where there are no activities or spiritual characteristics, after giving up the ego or bodily consciousness. Therefore, we find that impersonalists generally do not study the Vedas beyond the Vedanta-sutras. The reason is that as we progress through the Vedic literature up to the Puranas, it becomes more specific about the personal characteristics of the Absolute Truth, contradicting the impersonal viewpoint and establishing that the Supreme Being is a person.

In order for Shankara to teach the way he did, he had to ignore the many statements in the Vedas which assert that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person and the jivas are His subordinate parts. Therefore, by word jugglery, he developed a twofold theory that Brahman consists of the pure impersonal Brahman, and that any incarnation of God within this universe is simply a manifestation of that Brahman. This was a complete rejection of most of the Vedic literature, such as Bhagavad-grta, and in this way he differed with all orthodox Vedic schools. Like Buddha, he refused to answer questions about the origin of the cosmos and said that maya, the illusory energy, was inexplicable. However, since the Buddhists had followed a philosophy of complete atheism for hundreds of years and would never have accepted a viewpoint advocating a supreme personal God, Shankara's was the only philosophy they would consider. It was like a compromise between atheism and theism, but Shankaraused the Vedas as the basis of his arguments. As Shankara traveled throughout India his arguments prevailed and Buddhism bowed. Thus, his purpose was accomplished, so much so that his Sariraka-bhasya is considered the definitive rendition of Vedanta even to the present day.

It is accepted in the Puranas, however, that Lord Shiva is the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu, Krishna. Pictures of Shiva always show him in meditation, concentrating on the Absolute Truth, Sri Krishna. And several times in Shankaras life he revealed his true beliefs, that he was actually a devotee of Lord Krishna. In his birthplace of Kaladi, for example, there is a temple near the samadhi tomb of his mother that has a Deity of Lord Krishna installed by Shankara himself. Furthermore, in his Gita-bhasya, the first verse explains that Narayana (another incarnation of Lord Krishna), or Bhagavan, is transcendental to the material creation. In The Bhagavad-gita with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracarya, Dinkar Vishnu Gokhale establishes that Lord Shiva writes in his Meditations on the Bhagavad-gita: "Salutations to thee, O Vyasa [Vyasadeva, the incarnation of Krishna who compiled the Vedas]. Thou art of mighty intellect, and thine eyes are as large as a full-blown lotus. It was thou who brightened this lamp of wisdom, filling it with the oil of the Mahabharata." Shankara also points out that it is Bhagavan Krishna, "whose glories are sung by the verses of the Vedas, of whom the singers of the Sama sing, and of whose glories the Upanishads proclaim in full choir." This indicates that Shankara was encouraging everyone to read Bhagavad-gita and Mahabharata as written by SrilaVyasadevato understand the conclusion of spiritual knowledge. This also gives evidence that Shankara's personal beliefs were different from the philosophy he taught. There is no evidence that makes this clearer than texts eight and nine of his Meditations on the Bhagavad-gita as follows:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the transcendental, blissful husband of the Goddess of Fortune, whose mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains. Let all obeisances be unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, the Maruts, and all divine beings praise with the divine hymns of the Vedas and their supplementary parts, such as the Upanishads, whom the followers of the Sama-veda glorify with song, whom great mystics see with their minds absorbed in perfect meditation and of whom all the hosts of demigods and demons know not the limitations. To Him, the Supreme Lord, let there be all obeisances.

Near the end of his life Shankara wrote a verse which is often neglected by his followers, yet was for those who might miss the actual purport of the Vedas. In the proper mood of Lord Shiva he wrote, "Worship Govinda [another name of Krishna], worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you intellectual fools. At the end of your life all your grammatical arguments will not help you."

The following is an excerpt of Sesi-khanda of Vayu Purana. These verses predict the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the most merciful avatara of Lord Krsna.

sri satananda uvaca

bruhi tata kripasindho bhaktanugrahakatara
paritranaya lokanam hetum kalmasacetasam

Sri Satananda said:

O father, O ocean of mercy, O saint overcome with mercy for the devotees, to protect the people please tell why the hearts of the people in Kali-yuga have become dirtied with sin.

na tapas ca na cejya ca na dhyanam jnanam avyayam
na danam sattvasamyuktam kalau na dirrghajiivanam

In the Kali-yuga there is no austerity, worship, meditation, eternal knowledge, charity, truth, or long life.

kenopayena nistaro bhavisyati kalau yuge

How may the people in Kali-yuga be delivered?

sri gautama uvaca

sadhu pristam tvaya putra guhyad guhyatamam mama
samahitamana bhutva srinu tat paramadbhutam

Sri Gautama Muni said:

My son, your question is very good. Please attentively hear from me a wonderful answer, an answer that contains the most secret of all secrets.

etad guhyatamam vakyam brahma lokapitamahah
vaikuntham nagaram gatva sendrair devaganaih saha
vakta srilokanatham vai karunamayavigraham

Accompanied by Indra and the demigods, Lord Brahma, the grandfather of the worlds, went to Vaikuntha and spoke to Lord Narayana, the master of the worlds.

sri satananda uvaca

katham vai brahmana tata pristah sri purusottamah
karanam tatra va kim vai kathyatam munipungava

Sri Satananda said: What question did Brahma present before the Supreme Lord? O best of sages, please tell.

sri gautama uvaca

srinu putra prayatnena kalau kalmasasamjnake
sarve paparata lokas chanda mithyavivadinah

Sri Gautama Muni said:

O son, please listen carefully. In the contaminated Kali-yuga everyone is a sinner. Everyone is passionate, hot-tempered, and a liar.

svadhyayadina rahita devatatithivancakah
parasvalolupah keccit paradarabhigaminah

The people do not worship the demigods, observe the holy days, or study the Vedas. Some are eager to snatch the property of others. Some are adulterers.

iti viksya samudvigna dharani bharasankula
dhenurupadhara dina kripana malinanana

Seeing this, the earth-goddess became unhappy with the burden she bore. She assumed the form of a cow. She was filled with lamentation. Her face was filled with sorrow.

gatva vai brahmasadanam rodamana punah punah
sagadgadavaco bhuutva stutva brahmanam isvaram

She approached the demigod Brahma. Weeping again and again, with words choked with grief she said to him:

sarve kalimalagrastah papistha lobhatatparah
mahapatakasamyukta devadvijavinindakah

Everyone in Kali-yuga is a great sinner, a greedy materialist, a blasphemer of demigods and brahmanas.

tesam padapraharena kampate mamaki tanuh
tasmat lokaparitranam prthivyam kena jayate

My body trembles when they walk. How can the people of the earth be delivered?

tad eva kuru devesa yena santir bhaven mama
ity yuktvadhomukhibhuya stita bhur asurakula

O master of the demigods, please do something to make them peaceful and saintly.

After speaking these words, the earth goddess, troubled by the presence of so many demons, lowered her face.

tatah sancintya devesam brahma lokapitamahah
vaikunthanagaram gatva stutva tam purusottamam

After thinking for some time, Lord Brahmaa, the grandfather of the worlds, went to Vaikuntha and offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

sri brahmovaca

jaya krsna jagannath jaya vaikuthanayaka
jaya deva kripasindho jaya laksmyah pate prabho

Sri Brahma said:

O Krsna, O master of the worlds, glory to You! O master of Vaikuntha, glory to You! O ocean of mercy, glory to You! O husband of Laksmi, glory to You!'

jaya nilambu jashyama nilajimutasaubhaga
kandarpakotisaundarya jaya srivatsalanchana

O Lord dark like a blue lotus, O Lord dark like a monsoon cloud, glory to you! O Lord more handsome than millions of Kaamadevas, O Lord marked with Srivatsa, glory to You!

jaya pitambaradhara jaya kaustubhabhusana
jaya padma palasaksa jaya padmanana prabho

O Lord dressed in yellow garments, glory to You! O Lord decorated with the Kaustubha jewel, glory to You! O Lord whose eyes are lotus petals, glory to You! O Lord whose face is a lotus flower, glory to You!

jaya padmapadadvandva tilapuspasunasika
jaya natha jagadbandho vinatasutavahana

O Lord whose feet are lotus flowers, glory to You! O Lord whose graceful nose is a sesame flower, glory to You! O friend of the worlds, glory to You! O Lord carried by Garuda, glory to You!

jaya cakragadapadmasankhahasta caturbhuja
jaya padmadharitribhyam nisevitapadambuja

O Lord who hold a disc, club, lotus, and conchshell in Your four hands, glory to You! O Lord whose lotus feet are served by the goddesses Padma and Dhariti, glory to You!

sri gautama uvaca

iti samstuyamano'pi shri krsnah karunanidhih
brahmanam devadeveso jagada kripayanvitah

Sri Gautama Muni said:

After hearing these prayers, Lord Krsna, who is an ocean of mercy and the master of the demigods, kindly asked the demigod Brahma:

kim vrittam jagatinatha bruhi kim karavami te
ityuktva padmayonis ca provaca sri gadagrajam

O master of the universe, how are things with You? What may I do for you? Please tell.

Hearing these words, Brahma spoke to Lord Krsna:

sri brahmovaca

kalau paparata lokah svadhyayavidhivarjitah
sudravrittidvijah sudra brahmanadvesakarinah

Sri Brahma said:

In Kali-yuga the people are sinners. They neither study the Vedas nor follow their rules. The brahmanas act like sudras, and the sudras hate the brahmanas.

dvijanam gunato nicah sudra mantrapradayinah
sisnodarapara vipra vipratve sutradharinah

The brahmanas are degraded and addicted to pleasing their bellies and genitals. Brahminical status is determined only by possession of a sacred thread. The sudras are now gurus and give mantras.

mahaharah kharvakaya alasa mandabuddhayah
janas tvadvimukhah sarve paradravyabhilasinah

The people are gluttonous, short in stature, lazy, foolish, greedy after others' property, and averse to You.

In the modern age, the personality of quarrel, Kali, spreads sinfulness and violence throughout the world.

asatpatharatah sarve agamyagaminas tatha
tyaktasvadharmakarmano devadvijavinindakah

Everyone follows the wrong path. They abandon their prescribed duties, commit adultery, and blaspheme the demigods and brahmanas.

iti tadbharamagna sa dharani rudati punah
tasmal lokaparitram prithivyam kena jayate
tat kurusva jaganatha dinadurgatinasana

Troubled by the burden of these sins, the earth-goddess weeps again and again. How may the people of the earth be delivered? O master of the worlds, please do something to deliver them.

sri gautama uvaca

iti samjnapito devo brahmana prabhu achyutah
sa devan aha tad visnur guhyad guhyatamam vacah

Sri Gautama said:

Hearing Brahma's words, Lord Visnu, the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead, spoke to the demigods words that revealed the most secret of secrets. He said:

diti ja bhuvi jayadhvam jayadhvam bhaktarupinah
kalau sankirtanarambhe bhavisyami sacisutah

O demigods, please take birth as devotees on the earth. I will take birth as Saci-devi's son and I will start the sankirtana movement, a movement of chanting the holy names.

kriite japai mama pritis tretayam homakarmabhih
dvapare paricaryabhih kalau sankirtanair api

In Satya-yuga I am pleased by japa, in Treta-yuga by yajna and karma, in Dvapara-yuga by worship, and in Kali-yuga I am pleased by the chanting of the holy names.

brahmovaca

bruhi me karunasindho kirtanam kim svarupakam
katham vatra bhagavtah para pritir bhavisyati

The demigod Brahma said:

O ocean of mercy, please describe to us the nature of this movement of chanting the Lord's holy name. How should it be performed so that Your Lordship will be most pleased?

sri bhagavan uvaca

srnu brahman pravaksyami sankirtanam atah param
samahitamana bhutva sarat sarataram hi yat

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:

O Brahma, please listen carefully and I will describe to you the most exalted sankirtana movement.

mrdangaih karatalais ca svarabhavasamanvitaih
ragaraganvitam ganam yatah syat tulyakirtanam

In the sankirtana movement are sweet singing and the music of mrdangas, karatalas, and other musical instruments.

te sabdenocyate radha na sabdenocyate janah
teneti srutimatrena yathaivardratarobhavam

When in sankirtana there is the word tena, the syllable te means Radha, and the syllable na means person. In this way the word tena means "O Lord Krsna, O master of Radha!"

tatha catra bhavisyami bhaktyanugrahakamyaya
sahasraso 'vatara me gita brahman yuge yuge

O Brahma, yuga after yuga I kindly appear in many thousands of incarnations.

banamargair vedamargai ripunam tatra sanksayam
bhaktanam taranam kritva khyapitam vayashah ksitau

Walking either on the path of arrows or the path of the Vedas, I deliver the devotees, destroy their enemies, and place My glory on the earth.

kalau nastadrisam esa matpadyarka udesyati

For they who have become blinded by Kali-yuga, a verse with My holy names will rise like a glorious sun. This verse is:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

sakrid dvistrir yathasakti yavaj jivam athapi va
vyaaharan svapaco 'pi syan mama bhakto na samsayah

One should chant this mantra once, twice, thrice, as many times as one is able, or again and again for as long as one lives. By chanting this mantra even a person who was a dogeater may become My devotee. Of this there is no doubt.

sarvavedavido viprah puranagamaparagah
na cen madbhaktabhaktas te dure tisthanti varitah

Even if they are learned in all the Vedas and even if they have traveled to the farther shore of the Agamas and Puranas, they who are not devotees of My devotees cannot approach Me. They must stay far away from Me.

api cet suduracarah pukkasah svapaco 'thava
madbhaktibhaktikritsa syaan mama kaustubhasannibhah

Even a barbarian, a dogeater, or a person who has performed the most abominable action may come very close to Me, almost touching my Kaustubha jewel, if he has devotedly served My devotee.

bhaktarupam aham dhritva bhaktajnaparipalakah
matparan uddharisyami ghorasamsarasagarat

Fulfilling My devotee's request, I will accept the form of a devotee and I will deliver My devotees from the terrible ocean of repeated birth and death.

tilakancitabhalah sri tulasikanthikasritah
sankhacakralasadbahumulah kaupinah vasasah

In that form of a devotee My forehad will be decorated with tilaka, My neck with Tulasi beads, and My hands with the marks of a disc and conchshell. I will accept the dress of a sannyasi.

madbhakta vicarisyanti kalau bhagavatottamah

In Kali-yuga My devotees will work to convince the people to become devotees also.

svarnaditiram asthaya navadvipajanalayah
tatra dvijakulam prapto bhavisyami janalaye

I will take birth in a brahmana family in Navadvipa, by the Ganges' shore.

bhaktiyogapradanaya lokasyanugrahaya ca
sannyasarupam asthaya krsnacaitanyanama dhrk

To show mercy to the people and give them devotional service, I will become a sannyasi. My name will be Sri Krsna Caitanya.

anandasrukalapurnah pulakavalivihvalah
bhaktiyogam pradasyami harikirtanatatparah

Devoted to chanting the holy names of Lord Hari, My eyes filled with tears, and the hairs of My body erect, I will give to the people the gift of devotional service.

tenaiva sarvalokanam nistaro vai bhavisyati
mannamasmaranat kincit kalau nastyeva vaidikam

By remembering My holy names everyone will be delivered. In Kali-yuga it is not possible to follow the path of the Vedas.

madbhakta yatra gayanti tatra tisthami niscitam
tat svayam bhuvi bhakta vai jayadhvam bhaktitatparah

I stay wherever My devotees sing My glories. All of you please become My devotees on the earth.

yena lokasya nistaras tat kurudhvam mama jnaya
dharitri bhavita cabhir mayaiva dvijadehinah

By My order please act in such a way that the people of the world will become delivered. In this way I will accept the form of a brahmana and relieve the earth of her fears.

sadyas tatra svagopanam santa tu kamalalaya
namna gadadhara iti vikhyato dharanitale

The cowherd people of My Vraja village will also take birth on the earth. She who is the resting place of the goddess of fortune will be known on the earth as Gadadhara.

balaramo mamaivamsah so 'pi matpristham esyati
nityananda iti khyato nyasicudamanih ksitau

Lord Balaraama, who is My incarnation, will stay by My side. On the earth His name will be Nityananda. He will be the crest jewel of sannyasis.

kritvavadhutavesam sa dharman bhagavatan bahun
grahayitva janan ittham grihinam asramam tatah

He will give to the people the gift of devotional service to the Lord. First He will be a sannyasi, but then He will be a householder.

jahnavyadibhir atmanam darsayisyati manavan

Accompanied by Jahnavi-devi and many other associates, He will reveal His transcendental form to the people.

kamadeva iti gatva dhruvanandeti samjnitah
jahnavisisyatam etya lokan nistarayisyati

The demigod Kamadeva will be known as Dhruvananda. He will become a disciple of Jahanvi-devi and He will deliver many people.

naicim tanum samasthaya lokasiksarthatatparah
vikhyato haridaso yo mama bhaktim karisyati

To teach the people what is genuinely important, the demigod Brahma will accept the form of a low-caste man. His name will be Haridasa and he will diligently engage in My devotional service.

rudro 'vatirya madbhaktim sri madadvaitasamjnakah
grahayisyati lokams ca yatnat karunikah prabhuh

Merciful Lord Shiva will accept the name Sri Advaita. He will give devotional service to many people.

naaradah sri nivaseti ramanandeti tumburuh
vikhyatim prapya madbhaktau kurutam bhaktim avyaye

Narada will become Srinivasa, and Tumburu will become Ramananda. They will diligently engage in My service.

brihaspatir vasavaguruh sarvabhaumo bhavisyati
nanante vasinas tatra sastranyadhyapayisyati

Indra's guru, Brihaspati, will become Sarvabhauma. He will teach the truth contained in many scriptures.

punah siromanir bhutva nyasadin prathayisyati

The crest jewel of teachers, he will deliver many sannyasis and many others.

candro bhaved vardhamano yas tu dayalutavadhih
evam anye bhavisyanti devah svamsena bhartah

Many other demigods will expand by their parts and appear on the earth. As the moon increases day by day, so their mercy and other virtues will also increase.

tatraiva bhavita brahman vyasah kesavabharatih
sannyasasyopadesena bhavisyati gurur mama

O Brahma, Vyasa will appear as Keshava Bharati. He will become My sannyasa guru.

indro'vatiirya matiman prithivyam prithivipatih
prataparudro vikhyato madbhaktanam samasrayah

Indra will descent to the earth as King Prataaparudra. He will take shelter of My devotees.

anye devaganah sarve madbhaktah matparayanah
kurvanti mamakim bhaktim srinu brahman samahitah

All the other demigods will also become My devotees. They will diligently engage in My devotional service. O Brahma, please hear this with great attention.

sarve samagamisyamah svasthanam punar acyutam
prakasam amam devadyah bhaktah krisnaparayanah

After manifesting these pastimes as devotees of Lord Krsna to assist in My incarnation on the earth, the demigods and others will return to their respective abodes.

idam ye srinuyan nityam bhaktitah parikirtayet
kotijanmar jitam papam tatksanat tasy nasyati

They who with devotion regularly hear or recite these words become free of sin. The sins they committed in ten million births are at once destroyed.

sri gautama uvaca

tato devaganah sarve brahma lokapitamahah
pranamya devadevesam gantarah svapuram yatha

Sri Gautama Muni said:

Accompanied by all the demigods, Lord Brahma, the grandfather of the worlds, bowed down before Lord Krsna, the master of the demigods, and then returned to his own abode.

90% of our advancement is dependent on chanting.
- Srila Prabhupada

Your japa beads are your ticket back to Godhead.
- Srila Prabhupada

Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master's order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential. - Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

“There is no such requirement that japa should be done silently and chanting should be done differently. Loudly or silently, everything is all right. There is no such restriction. Only thing is that we should chant very attentively, hearing the vibration very distinctly.” - Srila Prabhupada

Our strength is in following the regulative principles and chanting 16 rounds japa. - Srila Prabhupada

THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION

1. Krishna

2. Brahma

3. Narada

4. Vyasa

5. Madhva

6. Padmanabha

7. Narahari

8. Madhava

9. Akshobhya

10. Jaya Tirtha

11. Jnanasindhu

12. Dayanidhi

13. Vidyanidhi

14. Rajendra

15. Jayadharma

16. Purusottama

17. Brahmanya Tirtha

18. Vyasa Tirtha

19. Lakshmipati

20. Madhavendra Puri

21. Ishvara Puri, (Nityananda, Advaita)

22. Lord Chaitanya

23. Rupa Goswami, (Svarupa, Sanatana Goswami)

24. Raghunatha, Jiva Goswami

25. Krishnadasa

26. Narottama

27. Vishvanatha

28. Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja,(Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana)

29. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

30. Srila Gaurakishora Dasa Babaji Maharaja

31. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

32. AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The correct process of receiving knowledge in any field is approaching a bona fide institute. Similarly, transcendental knowledge should be received through a bona fide disciplic succession

In Bhagavad-gita 4.2.Lord Krishna says:

evam parampara-praptam

imam rajarsayo viduh

sa kaleneha mahata

yogo nastah parantapa

Translation: “This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost”

There are four sampradayas or authorities on the science of bhakti.

Sri Krishna Chaitanya is like a desire tree, and in the form of Narayana, He is the original guru of the four sampradayas. Sri is the beloved of Narayana. She is His disciple as well. Her wonderful activities are elaborately described in all the Sastras. Sri is another name of Lakshmi. Her disciplic succession called the Sri sampradya has unlimited branches and sub-branches. After Ramanuja became the acarya in this sampradaya it took the name Ramanuja-sampradaya. Ramanujacharya earlier known as Laksmanacharya is the author of the Ramanuja-bhashya.

Lord Brahma is the leading disciple of the supreme Lord Narayana. His sampradaya is known as Brahma sampradaya with disciples all over the world. In this sampradaya, Sri Madhva significantly contributed by writing a commentary on the Brahma-sutras. After this the sampradaya became known as the Madhva-sampradaya.

The supreme Lord Narayana also has Lord Rudra as His disciple. Vishnusvami was a leading disciple in the Rudra Sampradaya. Vishnusvami was very influential and a learned scholar of all the scriptures. After him this disciplic succession came to be known as the Vishnusvami-sampradaya.

From the supreme Lord Narayana appeared the Hansa-avatara. In this disciplic succession came the four Kumaras headed by Sanaka Kumara. In this line Nimbaditya was a leading disciple. The name Nimbaditya sampradaya was thus established.This is known also as Nimbarka-sampradaya. The influence of Nimbarka sampradaya spread all over the world.

The Sri, Brahma, Rudra, and Kumara sampradayas spread their influence by dividing into other sampradayas. In the Ramanuja-sampradaya, Sri Ramanandacharya was highly respected. He had many disciples and grand-disciples. Similarly Sri Vallabhacharya appeared in the Vishnusvami-sampradaya. He wrote a commentary named Anubhasya, which is highly respected. His disciplic succession is known as the Vallabha-sampradaya.

Iskcon Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada comes in the brahma-madhva-gaudiya disciplic succession (see table on the right)
.

SB 4.26.7 Purport
Marriage means taking complete charge of a woman and living peacefully without debauchery. At the present moment, however, debauchery is unrestricted. Nonetheless, society makes a law that one should not marry more than one wife. This is typical of a demoniac society.

SB 4.21.46 Purport
According to the Vedic version, there is a hellish planet called Put, and one who delivers a person from there is called putra. The purpose of marriage, therefore, is to have a putra, or son who is able to deliver his father, even if the father falls down to the hellish condition of put.

SB 7.14.3-4
A grhastha must associate again and again with saintly persons, and with great respect he must hear the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Lord and His incarnations as these activities are described in Srimad-Bhagavatam and other Puranas. Thus one should gradually become detached from affection for his wife and children, exactly like a man awakening from a dream.
Srila Prabhupada November 17, 1971, New Delhi

So far our society is concerned, we don't allow anybody to remain in our society as friends, girlfriend or boyfriend. No. They must be married.
SB 4.23.2 Purport

Divorce is a man-made law and should be abolished
SP letter to Hayagriva October 7, 1968

The marriage tie should be taken as very sacred. One who marries for subduing lust is mistaken.
SB 12.2.3 Translation

[In Kali-yuga]: Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one's expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brahmana just by his wearing a thread.

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.2.14-15

pretavases?u ghores?u

pretair bhuta-gan?air vr?tah?

at?aty unmattavan nagno

vyupta-keso hasan rudan

cita-bhasma-kr?ta-snanah?

preta-sran-nrasthi-bhus?an?ah?

sivapadeso hy asivo

matto matta-jana-priyah?

patih? pramatha-nathanam´

tamo-matratmakatmanam

SYNONYMS

preta-avases?u — at the burning places of dead bodies; ghores?u — horrible; pretaih? — by the Pretas; bhuta-gan?aih? — by the Bhutas; vr?tah? — accompanied by; at?ati — he wanders; unmatta-vat — like a madman; nagnah? — naked; vyupta-kesah? — having scattered hair; hasan — laughing; rudan — crying; cita — of the funeral pyre; bhasma — with the ashes; kr?ta-snanah? — taking bath; preta — of the skulls of dead bodies; srak — having a garland; nr?-asthi-bhus?an?ah? — ornamented with dead men's bones; siva-apadesah? — who is siva, or auspicious, only in name; hi — for; asivah? — inauspicious; mattah? — crazy; matta-jana-priyah? — very dear to the crazy beings; patih? — the leader; pramatha-nathanam — of the lords of the Pramathas; tamah?-matra-atmaka-atmanam — of those grossly in the mode of ignorance.

TRANSLATION

He lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and his companions are the ghosts and demons. Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he smears crematorium ashes all over his body. He does not bathe regularly, and he ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and bones. Therefore only in name is he Siva, or auspicious; actually, he is the most mad and inauspicious creature. Thus he is very dear to crazy beings in the gross mode of ignorance, and he is their leader.

PURPORT

Those who do not regularly bathe are supposed to be in association with ghosts and crazy creatures. Lord Siva appeared to be like that, but his name, Siva, is actually fitting, for he is very kind to persons who are in the darkness of the mode of ignorance, such as unclean drunkards who do not regularly bathe. Lord Siva is so kind that he gives shelter to such creatures and gradually elevates them to spiritual consciousness. Although it is very difficult to raise such creatures to spiritual understanding, Lord Siva takes charge of them, and therefore, as stated in the Vedas, Lord Siva is all-auspicious. Thus by his association even such fallen souls can be elevated. Sometimes it is seen that great personalities meet with fallen souls, not for any personal interest but for the benefit of those souls. In the creation of the Lord there are different kinds of living creatures. Some of them are in the mode of goodness, some are in the mode of passion, and some are in the mode of ignorance. Lord Vis?n?u takes charge of persons who are advanced Kr?s?n?a conscious Vais?n?avas, and Lord Brahma takes charge of persons who are very much attached to material activities, but Lord Siva is so kind that he takes charge of persons who are in gross ignorance and whose behavior is lower that that of the animals. Therefore Lord Siva is especially called auspicious.

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.2.29

nas?t?a-sauca mud?ha-dhiyo

jat?a-bhasmasthi-dharin?ah?

visantu siva-diks?ayam´

yatra daivam´ surasavam

SYNONYMS

nas?t?a-saucah? — cleanliness being abandoned; mud?ha-dhiyah? — foolish; jat?a-bhasma-asthi-dharin?ah? — wearing long hair, ashes and bones; visantu — may enter; siva-diks?ayam — into initiation of worship of Siva; yatra — where; daivam — are spiritual; sura-asavam — wine and liquor.

TRANSLATION

Those who vow to worship Lord Siva are so foolish that they imitate him by keeping long hair on their heads. When initiated into worship of Lord Siva, they prefer to live on wine, flesh and other such things.

PURPORT

Indulging in wine and meat, keeping long hair on one's head, not bathing daily, and smoking gañja (marijuana) are some of the habits which are accepted by foolish creatures who do not have regulated lives. By such behavior one becomes devoid of transcendental knowledge. In the initiation into the Siva mantra there are mudrikas?t?aka, in which it is sometimes recommended that one make his sitting place on the vagina and thus desire nirvan?a, or dissolution of existence. In that process of worship, wine is needed, or sometimes, in place of wine, palm tree juice which is converted into an intoxicant. This is also offered according to Siva-agama, a scripture on the method of worshiping Lord Siva.

Why Krishna came as Buddha to deny vedas & Why the same Krishna asked Sankaracharya to give the mis-interpretated Vedas again?

COUNSELLING:

“Jitender Nehra” asked like this:

“Hare Krishna Prabhu ji : Firstly very thanks for daily posts which you update daily. Its makes us very much aware. I want to ask two questions from you if u permit. both are connected with each other ...

1. Supreme personality of god head know as savior of vedas Then why he, in his Buddha incarnation he hidden the truth of veds?

2. why god ordered ...to shankarcharya to misinterpret real knowledge of vedas? For this my i'm quoting a text from "(Addressing Lord Siva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead said:] 'Please make the general populace averse to Me by imagining your own interpretation of the Vedas. Also, cover Me in such a way that people will take more interest in advancing material civilization....”

REPLY:

Good Question that will help many. We are expecting such questions.

Now, reply for your question:

It is like TAKING & GIVING BACK. Krishna came as Buddha to deny vedas; Sankaracharya came to re-establish vedas. Simple. Why it happened?

Read these details based on Srimad Bhagavatham:

(i) Sankaracharya was an incarnation of Lord Siva, who was ordered by his master, Lord Krishna, to propagate Mayavadi philosophy, impersonalism, for the purpose of defeating Buddhism and re-establishing Vedic culture in India.

The historical reason for this was that after Krishna departed from this planet 5,000 years ago India gradually degraded to such an extent that the people were killing cows and justifying it by a gross misinterpretation of the Vedic scriptures.

Therefore, being kind upon the poor cows, Krishna appeared in the form of Lord Buddha to stop the cow killing by teaching the principles of karma and non-violence along with a voidistic philosophy which denied the Vedas.

Such emergency action saved the cows, but Vedic culture was for the time being forgotten.

(ii) Now, Krishna felt that the need arose to bring vedas again to limelight.

Therefore to restore Vedic culture again, Lord Krishna ordered Lord Siva to appear as Sankaracharya, who presented a compromised version of Vedic philosophy that was similar to Buddhism. Sankaracharya also preached that all are god, like Budhism.

Philosophically they are very similar. Through expert grammatical word jugglery Sankaracharya twisted the Vedic teachings to make them appear impersonal (ie, all are god - ie, oneness) so that the Buddhists also would find it acceptable to adopt the Vedic culture and teachings.

In this way, Sankaracharya was successful in defeating Buddhism and re-establishing Vedic culture. But, it was a compromised version, just to defeat buddhism.

But before leaving this world Sankaracharya renounced his earlier impersonal Vedic misinterpretation and instructed his followers to accept the ultimate Vedic conception, the personal conception of God, like this:

bhaja govindam bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam mudha-mate
samprapte sannihite kale
na hi na hi raksati dukrñ-karane

"You intellectual fools, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda. Your grammatical knowledge and word jugglery will not save you at the time of death."

Unfortunately his followers did not follow his final instruction. Instead they tenaciously clung to impersonalism because they felt gratified by the false impersonal conception that the living being is God.

Another interesting prediction is that Lord Shiva, one of the great demigods, would appear in Kali-yuga as Shankaracharya. In the Padma Purana (6.236.5-12) Shiva explains to his wife, Parvati, that he will appear in the age of Kali to proclaim that the Buddhist doctrine is a false religion and illusory. He also said that he would propound the mayavada or impersonalist philosophy, emphasizing the indefinable nature of the Brahman, the great, impersonal spiritual force. He explained, "The philosophy of Maya (mayavada) is a wicked doctrine and is pseudo-Buddhist. In the form of a brahmana, I proclaim this doctrine in Kali-yuga. It makes the words of the holy Vedic texts meaningless and is condemned in the world. In this doctrine it recommends giving up one's duties of life [in order to be free of karma], which is said to be religiousness for those who have fallen from their duties. I will propound the identity of the Supreme Soul and the individual soul to be the [one and the same] Brahman in nature, without qualities. O goddess, I have conceived this mayavada (impersonalist) doctrine, which resembles a purport of the Ve das, for deluding people in this age of Kali [to mislead them toward atheism by denying the personal form of God]."

The Kurma Purana (1.30.33-34) states: "In Kali-yuga, Shankara, Nilalohita, will incarnate for the purpose of establishing rites of the Shrauta [Vedic] and Smarta [based on Smriti scriptures], with the desire for the welfare of his devotees. He will teach his disciples the knowledge of Brahman."

The Shiva Purana also quotes the Supreme Lord ordering Lord Shiva: "In Kali-yuga mislead the people in general by propounding imaginary meanings from the Vedas to bewilder them." How the Supreme Lord ordered Lord Shiva to appear in Kali-yuga to delude atheists and produce a philosophy and texts to hide the Supreme Being, and to make Shiva seem superior, is explained in the Padma Purana (6.71.89-116). Thus, we find in these verses confirmation that it was Lord Shiva who appeared in the Age of Kali as Shankaracharya at the request of the Supreme.

Shankaracharya (A.D. 788-820), also known as Shankara, was a follower of Shiva, born of a South Indian brahmana family in the town of Kaladi on the banks of the Periyar river. When Shankara appeared, Buddhism had spread throughout India. It had been patronized by Emperor Ashoka in the third century B.C., and the followers of Buddhism had given up the Vedas. The Buddhist philosophy, basically, is that the material creation is the only manifestation of the Absolute Truth, which itself is temporary and brought on by egoistic desires. It asserts that these desires must be eliminated for one to enter back into the void. It propounds that the void itself is all that is real and eternal, and the source from which everything manifests. The Buddhists believe in neither a soul nor a God and, ultimately, that the essence of everything is the nothingness or void wherein lies nirvana, freedom from all suffering.

Shankara's purpose, therefore, was to reform and purify religious life by reestablishing the authority of the Vedic scriptures. His interpretation of the Vedas is known as advaita or nondualistic because he taught that the individual jiva or soul is identical with God; that, ultimately, there is no variety, individuality, or personality in spiritual existence. According to him, the individuality of the Supreme Being and the jiva is false. This Mayavadi philosophy also teaches that the material world is false. The impersonal Brahman, or great white light, is truth. One merges back into the Brahman, where there are no activities or spiritual characteristics, after giving up the ego or bodily consciousness. Therefore, we find that impersonalists generally do not study the Vedas beyond the Vedanta-sutras. The reason is that as we progress through the Vedic literature up to the Puranas, it becomes more specific about the personal characteristics of the Absolute Truth, contradicting the impersonal viewpoint and establishing that the Supreme Being is a person.

In order for Shankara to teach the way he did, he had to ignore the many statements in the Vedas which assert that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person and the jivas are His subordinate parts. Therefore, by word jugglery, he developed a twofold theory that Brahman consists of the pure impersonal Brahman, and that any incarnation of God within this universe is simply a manifestation of that Brahman. This was a complete rejection of most of the Vedic literature, such as Bhagavad-grta, and in this way he differed with all orthodox Vedic schools. Like Buddha, he refused to answer questions about the origin of the cosmos and said that maya, the illusory energy, was inexplicable. However, since the Buddhists had followed a philosophy of complete atheism for hundreds of years and would never have accepted a viewpoint advocating a supreme personal God, Shankara's was the only philosophy they would consider. It was like a compromise between atheism and theism, but Shankara used the Vedas as the basis of his arguments. As Shankara traveled throughout India his arguments prevailed and Buddhism bowed. Thus, his purpose was accomplished, so much so that his Sariraka-bhasya is considered the definitive rendition of Vedanta even to the present day.

It is accepted in the Puranas, however, that Lord Shiva is the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu, Krishna. Pictures of Shiva always show him in meditation, concentrating on the Absolute Truth, Sri Krishna. And several times in Shankaras life he revealed his true beliefs, that he was actually a devotee of Lord Krishna. In his birthplace of Kaladi, for example, there is a temple near the samadhi tomb of his mother that has a Deity of Lord Krishna installed by Shankara himself. Furthermore, in his Gita-bhasya, the first verse explains that Narayana (another incarnation of Lord Krishna), or Bhagavan, is transcendental to the material creation. In The Bhagavad-gita with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracarya, Dinkar Vishnu Gokhale establishes that Lord Shiva writes in his Meditations on the Bhagavad-gita: "Salutations to thee, O Vyasa [Vyasadeva, the incarnation of Krishna who compiled the Vedas]. Thou art of mighty intellect, and thine eyes are as large as a full-blown lotus. It was thou who brightened this lamp of wisdom, filling it with the oil of the Mahabharata." Shankara also points out that it is Bhagavan Krishna, "whose glories are sung by the verses of the Vedas, of whom the singers of the Sama sing, and of whose glories the Upanishads proclaim in full choir." This indicates that Shankara was encouraging everyone to read Bhagavad-gita and Mahabharata as written by Srila Vyasadeva to understand the conclusion of spiritual knowledge. This also gives evidence that Shankara's personal beliefs were different from the philosophy he taught. There is no evidence that makes this clearer than texts eight and nine of his Meditations on the Bhagavad-gita as follows:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the transcendental, blissful husband of the Goddess of Fortune, whose mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains. Let all obeisances be unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, the Maruts, and all divine beings praise with the divine hymns of the Vedas and their supplementary parts, such as the Upanishads, whom the followers of the Sama-veda glorify with song, whom great mystics see with their minds absorbed in perfect meditation and of whom all the hosts of demigods and demons know not the limitations. To Him, the Supreme Lord, let there be all obeisances.

Near the end of his life Shankara wrote a verse which is often neglected by his followers, yet was for those who might miss the actual purport of the Vedas. In the proper mood of Lord Shiva he wrote, "Worship Govinda [another name of Krishna], worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you intellectual fools. At the end of your life all your grammatical arguments will not help you."

Oà Çré Kåñëa Caitannäya namaù
Oà Kåñëa Caitanya vigrahäya namaù
Oà Kåñëa Caitanya Chandräya namaù
Oà Kåñëa prema pradakäya namaù
Oà Kanaka gauräya namaù
Oà Kåñëa Näma dishäya namaù
Oà Kalimala nasakäya namaù
Oà Kåñëa premanmattäya namaù
Oà Gaura nämne namaù
Oà Gaura rüpäya namaù
Oà Gaura chandräya namaù
Oà Gaura chandrashwarüpäya namaù
Oà Gaura sundaräya namaù
Oà Gauräìga deväya namaù
Oà Gaura murtäya namaù
Oà Gaura dhamne namaù
Oà Gaura rüpa prakashine namaù
Oà Gauräya namaù
Oà Gaura mishwaräya namaù
Oà Gaura batharäya namaù
Oà Gauräìga mishwaräya namaù
Oà Gauräìga vigrahäya namaù
Oà Gaura varahäya namaù
Oà Gaura padambujäya namaù
Oà Gaura Gopäläya namaù
Oà Gaura kishoräya namaù
Oà Ganga garbha Viharine namaù
Oà Gadadhar prana nathäya namaù
Oà Gaudiya jethindriäya namaù
Oà Caitanya rüpäya namaù
Oà Caitanya mangaläya namaù
Oà Çré Caitanya iswaräya namaù
Oà Caitanya Kripanidäya namaù
Oà Çré Caitanäya namaù
Oà Jagannätha suthäya namaù
Oà Jagannätha Priya putträya namaù
Oà Jagannätha Mishrätmajäya namaù
Oà Jannavi tata viharine namaù
Oà Thrilakya nathäya namaù
Oà Dijuattamäya namaù
Oà Digvijahi darpärine namaù
Oà Navadwip Chandräya namaù
Oà Navadwip patäya namaù
Oà Navadwip sasodaräya namaù
Oà Navadwip vallabäya namaù
Oà Navadwip palakäya namaù
Oà Nithyanandänujäya namaù
Oà Navadwip natabharäya namaù
Oà Nadhiya purandharäya namaù
Oà Nadhiya viharine namaù
Oà Nämasaìkértana pracharine namaù
Oà Näma prema pradakäya namaù
Oà Nrithya vinodine namaù
Oà Näma rasa vigrahäya namaù
Oà Nimäi Sundaräya namaù
Oà Pranatha palakäya namaù
Oà Prema bhatharäya namaù
Oà Padmaneträya namaù
Oà Premananda pradakäya namaù
Oà Mahäprabhu Gauräìgäya namaù
Oà Mäyäpura nivashine namaù
Oà Mäyäpura chandräya namaù
Oà Mäyäpura viharine namaù
Oà Mäyäpura vallabhäya namaù
Oà Mahämantra vishaRädhäya namaù
Oà Mahämantra Vigräya namaù
Oà Mahäbhäva Siranmanäya namaù
Oà Maha maheshwaräya namaù
Oà Mishra purandara Sunobe namaù
Oà Mahämantra prakashakäya namaù
Oà Bhakta Cittaha vinodäya namaù
Oà Bhakta jana vallabhäya namaù
Oà Bhakta rüpa ciroàane namaù
Oà Bhagavatha priyojanäya namaù
Oà Bhakta vatsaläya namaù
Oà Jathisresträya namaù
Oà Jugalorüpäya namaù
Oà yuga avataräya namaù
Oà Yugadharma palakäya namaù
Oà Yugadharma pracharine namaù
Oà Rädhä Bhäva darine namaù
Oà Lakshmi nathäya namaù
Oà Lakshmi priya pathähe namaù
Oà Lakshmi kanthäya namaù
Oà Lakshmi shäya namaù
Oà Vaishnava prana nathäya namaù
Oà Vishvambharäya namaù
Oà Vishvarüpa nujäya namaù
Oà Vaishnava dharma palakäya namaù
Oà Vaikuëöha patähe namaù
Oà Varadesharäya namaù
Oà Varapradakäya namaù
Oà Vishnupriya vallabhäya namaù
Oà Vishnupriya nathähaya namaù
Oà Vishnupreshwaräya namaù
Oà Vishnupriya pathähe namaù
Oà Sachisutäya namaù
Oà Sacatmajäya namaù
Oà Sachitanäya namaù
Oà Sachiputträya namaù
Oà Sachinandanäya namaù
Oà Sachisunobe namaù
Oà Sachi vathsaläya namaù
Oà Sachikumaräya namaù
Oà Saìkértana rasa rasikäya namaù
Oà Saìkértana nathäya namaù
Oà Sarva Caitanya rüpäya namaù
Oà Sarveshwaräya namaù

Srimad Adi Shankaracharya bhagavadpada is believed to have composed the Bhaja Govindam during his famous pilgrimage to Kashi (Benares). The fourteen disciples are said to have accompanied him. The story goes that when he was walking along the streets of Kashi, he was pained to observe an elderly man trying hard to learn Sanskrit grammar. At his advanced age, the remaining valuable little time of his life should have been used for worshipping the God, instead of wasting on learning a language. This prompted Sri Sankara to burst out this composition, a sort of rebuke to foolish way of living. The Acharya urges the man to turn towards God and sing His glory instead of trying to learn a language. A censure is implied when the Acharya calls the man a fool (Moodhamathe). It may be added here that the tone of Bhajagovindam is not at all soft, but somewhat striking, in spite of its exotic poetic beauty and perfection of composition. This is no wonder, because such a treatment is required to wake up man from his slumber. A milder approach would delay the matter. The matter is urgent, as the Acharya explains in the next verse, for, when the hour of death approaches without any forewarning, the hard-learned verses of grammar are not going to save the poor soul. Hence the song rightly starts without any preamble:

bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM
govindaM bhajamuuDhamate .
saMpraapte sannihite kaale
nahi nahi rakshati DukRiJNkaraNe .. (1)

Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda. Oh fool! Rules of Grammar will not save you at the time of your death.

mUDha jahiihi dhanaagamatRishhNaaM
kuru sadbuddhiM manasi vitRishhNaam.
yallabhase nijakarmopaattaM
vittaM tena vinodaya chittam. .. (2)

Oh fool ! Give up your thirst to amass wealth, devote your mind to thoughts to the Real. Be content with what comes through actions already performed in the past.

naariistanabhara naabhiideshaM
dRishhTvaa maagaamohaavesham.
etanmaaMsaavasaadi vikaaraM
manasi vichintaya vaaraM vaaram. .. (3)

Do not get drowned in delusion by going wild with passions and lust by seeing a woman's navel and chest. These are nothing but a modification of flesh. Do not fail to remember this again and again in your mind.

naliniidalagata jalamatitaralaM
tadvajjiivitamatishayachapalam .
viddhi vyaadhyabhimaanagrastaM
lokaM shokahataM cha samastam .. (4)

The life of a man is as uncertain as rain drops trembling on a lotus leaf. Know that the whole world remains a prey to disease, ego and grief.

yaavadvittopaarjana saktaH
staavannija parivaaro raktaH .
pashchaajjiivati jarjara dehe
vaartaaM ko.api na pRichchhati gehe .. (5)

So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see the affection all those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a word with him when his body totters due to old age.

yaavatpavano nivasati dehe
taavatpRichchhati kushalaM gehe .
gatavati vaayau dehaapaaye
bhaaryaa bibhyati tasminkaaye .. (6)

When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare. But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fear of the corpse.

baalastaavatkriiDaasaktaH
taruNastaavattaruNiisaktaH .
vRiddhastaavachchintaasaktaH
pare brahmaNi ko.api na saktaH .. (7)

The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness. Youth is lost by attachment to woman. Old age passes away by thinking over many past things. But there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in parabrahmam.

kaate kaantaa kaste putraH
saMsaaro.ayamatiiva vichitraH .
kasya tvaM kaH kuta aayaataH
tattvaM chintaya tadiha bhraataH .. (8)

Who is your wife ? Who is your son ? Strange is this samsara. Of whom are you ? From where have you come ? Brother, ponder over these truths here.

satsaNgatve nissN^gatvaM
nissaNgatve nirmohatvam.h .
nirmohatve nishchalatattvaM
nishcalatattve jiivanmuktiH .. (9)

From Satsangh comes non-attachment, from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion, which leads to self-settledness. From self-settledness comes Jeevan Mukti.

vayasigate kaH kaamavikaaraH
shushhke niire kaH kaasaaraH .
kshiiNevitte kaH parivaaraH
GYaate tattve kaH saMsaaraH .. (10)

What good is lust when youth has fled ? What use is a lake which has no water ? Where are the relatives when wealth is gone ? Where is samsara when the Truth is known ?

maa kuru dhana jana yauvana garvaM
harati nimeshhaatkaalaH sarvam.h .
maayaamayamidamakhilaM hitvaa
brahmapadaM tvaM pravisha viditvaa .. (11)

Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these are destroyed within a minute. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and attain the timeless Truth.

dinayaaminyau saayaM praataH
shishiravasantau punaraayaataH .
kaalaH kriiDati gachchhatyaayuH
tadapi na muJNcatyaashaavaayuH .. (12)

Daylight and darkness, dusk and dawn, winter and springtime come and go. Time plays and life ebbs away. But the storm of desire never leaves.

dvaadashamaJNjarikaabhirasheshhaH
kathito vaiyaakaraNasyaishhaH .
upadesho bhuudvidyaanipuNaiH
shriimachchhankarabhagavachchharaNariH .. (12a)

This bouquet of twelve verses was imparted to a grammarian by the all-knowing Shankara, adored as the bhagavadpada.

kaate kaantaa dhana gatachintaa
vaatula kiM tava naasti niyantaa .
trijagati sajjanasaM gatiraikaa
bhavati bhavaarNavataraNe naukaa .. (13)

Oh mad man ! Why this engrossment in thoughts of wealth ? Is there no one to guide you ? There is only one thing in three worlds that can save you from the ocean from samsara. Get into that boat of satsangha quickly. Stanza attributed to Padmapada.

jaTilo muNDii luJNchhitakeshaH
kaashhaayaambarabahukRitaveshhaH .
pashyannapi cana pashyati muuDhaH
udaranimittaM bahukRitaveshhaH .. (14)

There are many who go with matted locks, many who have clean shaven heads, many whose hairs have been plucked out; some are clothed in saffron, yet others in various colors --- all just for a livelihood. Seeing truth revealed before them, still the foolish ones see it not. Stanza attributed to Totakacharya.

aNgaM galitaM palitaM muNDaM
dashanavihiinaM jataM tuNDam.
vRiddho yaati gRihiitvaa daNDaM
tadapi na muJNcatyaashaapiNDam.. (15)

Strength has left the old man's body; his head has become bald, his gums toothless and leaning on crutches. Even then the attachment is strong and he clings firmly to fruitless desires. Stanza attributed to Hastamalaka.

agre vahniH pRishhThebhaanuH
raatrau chubukasamarpitajaanuH .
karatalabhikshastarutalavaasaH
tadapi na muJNcatyaashaapaashaH .. (16)

Behold there lies the man who sits warming up his body with the fire in front and the sun at the back; at night he curls up the body to keep out of the cold; he eats his beggar's food from the bowl of his hand and sleeps beneath the tree. Still in his heart, he is a wretched puppet at the hands of passions. Stanza attributed to Subodha.

kurute gaNgaasaagaragamanaM
vrataparipaalanamathavaa daanam.h .
GYaanavihinaH sarvamatena
muktiM na bhajati janmashatena .. (17)

One may go to gangasagar(ganes), observe fasts, and give away riches in charity ! Yet, devoid of jnana, nothing can give mukthi even at the end of a hundred births. Stanza attributed to Sureshwaracharya.

sura ma.ndira taru muula nivaasaH
shayyaa bhuutala majinaM vaasaH .
sarva parigraha bhoga tyaagaH
kasya sukhaM na karoti viraagaH .. (18)

Take your residence in a temple or below a tree, wear the deerskin for the dress, and sleep with mother earth as your bed. Give up all attachments and renounce all comforts. Blessed with such vairagya, could any fail to be content ? Stanza attributed to Nityananda.

yogarato vaabhogaratovaa
saN^garato vaa saNgaviihinaH .
yasya brahmaNi ramate chittaM
nandati nandati nandatyeva .. (19)

One may take delight in yoga or bhoga, may have attachment or detachment. But only he whose mind steadily delights in Brahman enjoys bliss, no one else. Stanza attributed to Anandagiri.

bhagavad.h giitaa kiJNchidadhiitaa
gaNgaa jalalava kaNikaapiitaa .
sakRidapi yena muraari samarchaa
kriyate tasya yamena na charchaa .. (20)

Let a man read but a little from Gitaa, drink just a drop of water from the ganges, worship murari (govinda) just once. He then will have no altercation with Yama. Stanza attributed to dR^iDhabhakta.

punarapi jananaM punarapi maraNaM
punarapi jananii jaThare shayanam.h .
iha saMsaare bahudustaare
kRipayaa.apaare paahi muraare .. (21)

Born again, death again, birth again to stay in the mother's womb ! It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of samsara. Oh Murari ! Redeem me through Thy mercy. Stanza attributed to Nityanatha.

rathyaa charpaTa virachita kanthaH
puNyaapuNya vivarjita panthaH .
yogii yoganiyojita chitto
ramate baalonmattavadeva .. (22)

There is no shortage of clothing for a monk so long as there are rags cast off the road. Freed from vice and virtue, onward he wanders. One who lives in communion with God enjoys bliss, pure and uncontaminated, like a child and as someone intoxicated. Stanza attributed to Nityanatha.

kastvaM ko.ahaM kuta aayaataH
kaa me jananii ko me taataH .
iti paribhaavaya sarvamasaaram.h
vishvaM tyaktvaa svapna vichaaram.h .. (23)

Who are you ? Who am I ? From where do I come ? Who is my mother, who is my father ? Ponder thus, look at everything as essenceless and give up the world as an idle dream. Stanza attributed to surendra.

tvayi mayi chaanyatraiko vishhNuH
vyarthaM kupyasi mayyasahishhNuH .
bhava samachittaH sarvatra tvaM
vaaJNchhasyachiraadyadi vishhNutvam.h .. (24)

In me, in you and in everything, none but the same Vishnu dwells. Your anger and impatience is meaningless. If you wish to attain the status of Vishnu soon, have samabhava always. Stanza attributed to medhaatithira.

shatrau mitre putre bandhau
maa kuru yatnaM vigrahasandhau .
sarvasminnapi pashyaatmaanaM
sarvatrotsRija bhedaaGYaanam.h .. (25)

Do not waste your efforts to win the love of or to fight against friend and foe, children and relatives. See yourself in everyone and give up all feelings of duality completely. Stanza attributed to medhaatithira.

kaamaM krodhaM lobhaM mohaM
tyaktvaa.atmaanaM bhaavaya ko.aham.h .
aatmaGYaana vihiinaa muuDhaaH
te pachyante narakaniguuDhaaH .. (26)

Give up lust, anger, infatuation, and greed. Ponder over your real nature. Fools are they who are blind to the Self. Cast into hell they suffer there endlessly. Stanza attributed to bharativamsha.

geyaM giitaa naama sahasraM
dhyeyaM shriipati ruupamajasram .
neyaM sajjana saNge chittaM
deyaM diinajanaaya cha vittam. .. (27)

Regularly recite from the Gita, meditate on Vishnu [thro' Vishnu sahasranama] in your heart, and chant His thousand glories. Take delight to be with the noble and the holy. Distribute your wealth in charity to the poor and the needy. Stanza attributed to sumatira.

sukhataH kriyate raamaabhogaH
pashchaaddhanta shariire rogaH .
yadyapi loke maraNaM sharaNaM
tadapi na muJNchati paapaacharaNam.h .. (28)

He who yields to lust for pleasure leaves his body a prey to disease. Though death brings an end to everything, man does not give up the sinful path.

arthamanarthaM bhaavaya nityaM
naastitataH sukhaleshaH satyam.
putraadapi dhana bhaajaaM bhiitiH
sarvatraishhaa vihiaa riitiH .. (29)

Wealth is not welfare, truly there is no joy in it. Reflect thus at all times. A rich man fears even his own son. This is the way of wealth everywhere.

praaNaayaamaM pratyaahaaraM
nityaanitya vivekavichaaram.
jaapyasameta samaadhividhaanaM
kurvavadhaanaM mahadavadhaanam .. (30)

Regulate the pranas, remain unaffected by external influences and discriminate between the real and the fleeting. Chant the holy name of God and silence the turbulent mind. Perform these with care, with extreme care.

gurucharaNaambuja nirbhara bhakataH
saMsaaraadachiraadbhava muktaH .
sendriyamaanasa niyamaadevaM
drakshyasi nija hR^idayasthaM devam. .. (31)

Oh devotee of the lotus feet of the Guru ! May thou be soon free from Samsara. Through disciplined senses and controlled mind, thou shalt come to experience the Indwelling Lord of your heart !

muuDhaH kashchana vaiyaakaraNo
DukRiJNkaraNaadhyayana dhuriNaH .
shriimachchhamkara bhagavachchhishhyai
bodhita aasichchhodhitakaraNaH .. (32)

Thus was a silly grammarian lost in rules cleansed of his narrow vision and shown the Light by Shankara's apostles.

bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM
govindaM bhajamuuDhamate .
naamasmaraNaadanyamupaayaM
nahi pashyaamo bhavataraNe .. (33)

Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool ! Other than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the life's ocean.

Arjuna: O Krishna, I realize that I am more attached to Your two-armed form. I now want to confirm that the path of bhakti is the best path. Therefore who are considered better, those who worship the impersonal Brahman or devotees who worship You?

Krishna: Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always worshipping Me with great faith are the most perfect, Arjuna. These devotees are the best because bhakti is the quickest process for attaining Me. But those who worship the all-pervading, impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth, by controlling the senses and being equal to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all at last achieve Me.

Arjuna: Why are they inferior, Krishna, if they will also achieve you?

Krishna: Because those who are attached to My impersonal feature have to experience more difficulty, Arjuna. It also takes them a longer time to obtain their goal. However, whatever one can obtain by karma and jnana is easily and quickly obtained by My devotees. My unalloyed bhaktas do not even think of crossing this material world, therefore I personally uplift them without their desiring it. They make no endeavour to elevate themselves other than devotional service to My lotus feet.

Those unalloyed devotees renounce all activities that are obstacles to My devotion. They only hear about and remember Me and engage in pure devotional service. In this mood they meditate on My pastimes, their minds fully engaged in Me. I quickly uplift such devotees from the ocean of birth and death --- for I cannot tolerate delay. I come on Garuda and personally pick them up and take them away. Other yogis take the path of light or darkness, but I do not care for this process for My pure devotees. Bhakti does not depend on prescribed duties or anything else. Devotees attain Me by nothing more than devotion and chanting.

Arjuna: Then why should I fight, Krishna?

Krishna: Because your fighting is devotional service, Arjuna. How many times must I tell you? Just fix your mind upon Me and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always without a doubt. Not like the misra-bhaktas who gradually come to Me. They only see My aisvarya feature.

Arjuna: Krishna, it's difficult to fix the mind and intelligence on You. What will be the result if I cannot do it?

Krishna: If you are not able to directly remember Me without deviation, Arjuna, then bring your mind back again and again. Fix it on My form. Practising like this is called abhyasa-yoga or sadhana-bhakti. The mind is like a river which flows to filthy areas, but control it with dams. Bring it to the ocean of My form and swim in this ocean of rasa. You are called Dhananjaya because you fought with enemies and obtained wealth. Now, fight with the enemy of your mind and obtain the wealth of meditation.

Arjuna: My mind flickers like the wind, Krishna, I don't have the strength to control it. What should I do?

Krishna: If you cannot perform abhyasa yoga, Arjuna, and your mind is influenced by ignorance then you need to work for Me.

Arjuna: What type of work, Krishna?

Krishna: Build temples, Arjuna, make gardens, clean My temple, hear and chant, pick flowers, or perform puja. All these services are directly related with devotion. By performing these activities for My sake your mind will become attached to My form and glories. Even if you cannot remember Me while working, you will still attain prema. However, if you think you are a famous aristocrat, and you cannot perform menial service for Me, then you can perform yoga and renounce the fruits of whatever activities you perform and give them to Me. Still, if you cannot do this, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action because that will bring peace of mind.

Arjuna: Krishna, what are the qualities of one who has obtained that peace through devotional service?

Krishna: One is not envious but is a kind friend to all living beings. There is no sense of proprietorship or false ego in such a person . One is equal in both happiness and distress, tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination. Such a devotee is very dear to Me. He has these good qualities because his mind is surrendered to Me. That devotee is not disturbed by anyone and never puts others into difficulty. He is equipoised in happiness, distress, in fear or anxiety.

My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert in philosophy, who does not take sides, and does not feel disturbed even when disrespected by others is very dear to Me. One who does not become elated if he gets a son or a disciple, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things is very dear to Me. One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equi-poised in honour and dishonour, heat and cold, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, who is always silent and satisfied with anything, who is not attached to his residence, who is fixed in knowledge, and engaged in devotional service, is very dear to Me.

These qualities are born from devotion not from the mode of goodness. If someone has even one of these qualities he is dear to Me. Beginners who are aspiring for these qualities are better than the perfected ones on other paths. Devotees who follow sadhana are dear to Me, but those who have these qualities are very dear to Me. Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal are very, very dear to Me.

BG 08.05 - And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.

In this verse the importance of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the purest of the pure. Therefore anyone who is constantly Kṛṣṇa conscious is also the purest of the pure. The word smaran ("remembering") is important. Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service. Therefore one should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning of life. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Kṛṣṇa is essential. Therefore one should constantly, incessantly chant the mahā-mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya has advised that one be as tolerant as a tree (taror iva sahiṣṇunā). There may be so many impediments for a person who is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, tolerating all these impediments, one should continue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, so that at the end of one's life one can have the full benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

BG 08.06 - Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.

The process of changing one's nature at the critical moment of death is here explained. A person who at the end of his life quits his body thinking of Kṛṣṇa attains the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord, but it is not true that a person who thinks of something other than Kṛṣṇa attains the same transcendental state. This is a point we should note very carefully. How can one die in the proper state of mind? Mahārāja Bharata, although a great personality, thought of a deer at the end of his life, and so in his next life he was transferred into the body of a deer. Although as a deer he remembered his past activities, he had to accept that animal body. Of course, one's thoughts during the course of one's life accumulate to influence one's thoughts at the moment of death, so this life creates one's next life. If in one's present life one lives in the mode of goodness and always thinks of Kṛṣṇa, it is possible for one to remember Kṛṣṇa at the end of one's life. That will help one be transferred to the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa. If one is transcendentally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa's service, then his next body will be transcendental (spiritual), not material. Therefore the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare is the best process for successfully changing one's state of being at the end of one's life.

BG 02.20 - For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kūṭa-stha. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother's body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval—that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body, namely children, are also different individual souls; and, owing to the body, they appear as children of a particular man. The body develops because of the soul's presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six changes of the body.
The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies—whether man or animal—we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all-knowledge—past, present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa is not like the forgetful soul.
"Both the Supersoul [Paramātmā] and the atomic soul [jīvātmā] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul." Kṛṣṇa is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature; therefore he requires to be enlightened by Kṛṣṇa, or by His bona fide representative (the spiritual master).

BG 02.12 - Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

The same Vedic truth given to Arjuna is given to all persons in the world who pose themselves as very learned but factually have but a poor fund of knowledge. The Lord says clearly that He Himself, Arjuna and all the kings who are assembled on the battlefield are eternally individual beings and that the Lord is eternally the maintainer of the individual living entities both in their conditioned and in their liberated situations. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme individual person, and Arjuna, the Lord's eternal associate, and all the kings assembled there are individual eternal persons. It is not that they did not exist as individuals in the past, and it is not that they will not remain eternal persons. Their individuality existed in the past, and their individuality will continue in the future without interruption. Therefore, there is no cause for lamentation for anyone.
The Māyāvādī theory that after liberation the individual soul, separated by the covering of māyā, or illusion, will merge into the impersonal Brahman and lose its individual existence is not supported herein by Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme authority. Nor is the theory that we only think of individuality in the conditioned state supported herein. Kṛṣṇa clearly says herein that in the future also the individuality of the Lord and others, as it is confirmed in the Upaniṣads, will continue eternally. This statement of Kṛṣṇa's is authoritative because Kṛṣṇa cannot be subject to illusion. If individuality were not a fact, then Kṛṣṇa would not have stressed it so much-even for the future. The Māyāvādī may argue that the individuality spoken of by Kṛṣṇa is not spiritual, but material. Even accepting the argument that the individuality is material, then how can one distinguish Kṛṣṇa's individuality? Kṛṣṇa affirms His individuality in the past and confirms His individuality in the future also. He has confirmed His individuality in many ways, and impersonal Brahman has been declared to be subordinate to Him. Kṛṣṇa has maintained spiritual individuality all along; if He is accepted as an ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, then His Bhagavad-gītā has no value as authoritative scripture. A common man with all the four defects of human frailty is unable to teach that which is worth hearing. The Gītā is above such literature. No mundane book compares with the Bhagavad-gītā. When one accepts Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary man, the Gītā loses all importance. The Māyāvādī argues that the plurality mentioned in this verse is conventional and that it refers to the body. But previous to this verse such a bodily conception is already condemned. After condemning the bodily conception of the living entities, how was it possible for Kṛṣṇa to place a conventional proposition on the body again? Therefore, individuality is maintained on spiritual grounds and is thus confirmed by great ācāryas like Śrī Rāmānuja and others. It is clearly mentioned in many places in the Gītā that this spiritual individuality is understood by those who are devotees of the Lord. Those who are envious of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead have no bona fide access to the great literature. The nondevotee's approach to the teachings of the Gītā is something like that of a bee licking on a bottle of honey. One cannot have a taste of honey unless one opens the bottle. Similarly, the mysticism of the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood only by devotees, and no one else can taste it, as it is stated in the Fourth Chapter of the book. Nor can the Gītā be touched by persons who envy the very existence of the Lord. Therefore, the Māyāvādī explanation of the Gītā is a most misleading presentation of the whole truth. Lord Caitanya has forbidden us to read commentations made by the Māyāvādīs and warns that one who takes to such an understanding of the Māyāvādī philosophy loses all power to understand the real mystery of the Gītā. If individuality refers to the empirical universe, then there is no need of teaching by the Lord. The plurality of the individual soul and of the Lord is an eternal fact, and it is confirmed by the Vedas as above mentioned.

Srila Prabhupäda:
krsnadasa Kaviräja, the author of
Caitanya-
caritämåta:
Cc. Ädi
5.205]
He is not
making a show. He is feeling like that
. "I am the lowest. Everyone is best,
but I am the lowest. Everyone is en
gaged in krshna's service. I am not
engaged." Caitanya Mahäprabhu s
aid "Oh, I have not a pinch of
devotion to krshna. I cry to make
a show. If I had been a devotee of
krshna, I would have died long ago. Bu
t I am living. That
is the proof that
I do not love krshna." That is the vision of the best devotee. He is so
much absorbed in krshna's love that he
says, "Everything is going on, but I
am the lowest. Therefore I cannot see God." That is the best devotee.

The process of chanting the holy name of the Lord is so powerful that by this chanting even householders can very easily gain the ultimate result achieved by person in the renounced order. — Srimad Bhagavatam, 07.15.74

In this age, chanting of Hare Krishna Mantra is the prime business of the devotee, and preaching of this Hare Krishna Mantra by outdoor Sankirtana and propagation of literature is our more important business. Side by side, Deity worship is recommended, but when there is a question of accepting one of them, we shall prefer to accept chanting of Hare Krishna Mantra first.
Letter to Hamsaduta – Hamburg 5 September, 1969. Srila Prabhupada

In Jagannatha Puri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s only occupation was holding Sankirtana at least four hours every day and distributing prasadam to the devotees.
-Srila Prabhupada

The sound vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra, although presented in the ordinary alphabet, should not be taken as mundane or material.
Srimad bhagavatam 4.9.4,
Srila Prabhupada.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that everyone should chant the Hare Krishna mantra just to cleanse the dust from the heart. If the dust of the heart is cleansed away, then one can actually understand the importance of the holy name.
-Srila Prabhupada

Chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the easiest process of meditation in this age.
Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.53,
Srila Prabhupada

The transcendental name of Krishna, even though uttered unconsciously or by force of circumstances, can help one obtain freedom from the hurdle of birth and death.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.14,
Srila Prabhupada

In Vaikuntha, the spiritual world, there is no anxiety. Vaikuntha means "freedom from anxiety," and in Vaikuntha the liberated souls are always dancing, chanting, and taking prasada.
Path of Perfection, Chapter 1

By chanting Krishna's Holy Name, one cleanses all the dust from the mirror of one's consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada

If one doesn't practice remembering Krishna while one is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for one to remember Krishna at the time of death.
Srila Prabhupada.

Any person who is chanting the holy names of Krishna (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) in course of chanting without offenses feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination.
Bhagavat Gita 9.2,
Srila Prabhupada.

If one has killed an animal, one must himself be killed by that same animal. This is called mamsa. Mam means “me,” and sa means “he.” As I am eating an animal, that animal will have the opportunity to eat me.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.10.14,
Srila Prabhupada

A devotee is not afraid of going to hell if he has the opportunity to hear the glories of the Lord constantly. This is the advantage of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. One may be put in any condition, but God gives him the prerogative to chant Hare Krishna. In any condition of life, if one goes on chanting he will never be unhappy.
Purport on Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.49

Even by fighting, you can be a great devotee, just like Arjuna. He was not chanting on the beads, but he was fighting. But still, bhakto ‘si priyo ‘si me [Bg. 4.3]. Krishna says, “Oh, you are My great devotee.” Now people, may say that “He was not chanting. He was fighting. How he became a great devotee?” But Krishna says, bhakto ‘si priyo ‘si me: “You are My dear friend. You are My devotee. Because you are utilizing your energy for Me.” So bhakti means you utilize your energy for Krishna. Then your life is perfect.
Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 1.15 — London, July 15, 1973

I see you, you see me. I touch you, you touch me. I taste something. This is gross. Above this gross there is mental platform. So mantra is also on the mental, which is little above intelligence and above that there is spiritual platform. So if on the mental platform, the mantra can act so wonderfully, how much spiritually the mantra can benefit you. You have to simply imagine. So this Hare Krishna mantra is completely spiritual. If you chant it, spiritually enlightened, then surely it will act.
Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.19 — Vrndavana, September 16, 1976

Just work in such a way that God wishes to see you. This is the Krishna Consciousness movement. Everyone is busy to see God. Of course, it is not so easy to see God. However a devotee is not busy to see God, but he wants God to see him. - Srila Prabhupada

One’s memory of Krishna is revived by chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krishna. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one’s ear, tongue and mind are engaged.
Bhagavad-Gita 8.8,
Srila Prabhupada

Sukadeva Goswami says, this age is an ocean of faults, but there is one boon, in this age one gets the same result as was achieved in former ages through elaborate temple worship, costly sacrifices, or introspective meditation, simply by chanting the Holy Name of The Lord.
Letter to Achyutananda, 1975. - Srila Prabhupada