radha krishna - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-28T11:25:46Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/radha+krishnaTime, the Winkless God by Mathuresha Dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/time-the-winkless-god-12024-03-03T08:30:00.000Z2024-03-03T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515008660,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515008660?profile=original" /></strong></p>
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<p><em>A look at what the Srimad-Bhagavatam has to say about time, a concept that has challenged philosophers for centuries.</em></p>
<p>Time is a little difficult to define. Philosophers and theologians have tried for at least twenty-five centuries. Albert Einstein remarked, in the midst of slightly more esoteric statements regarding physics, that time was what his wristwatch measured. St. Augustine said that he knew what time was as long as no one asked him to explain it. And sounding a note of frustration in her book What, Then, Is Time (the title too is from St. Augustine), Eva Brann laments, “Why don’t I know what that is which I tell, save, spend, mark, waste, and even kill every day of my life with perfect aplomb?”</p>
<p>If we don’t know what time is, perhaps we can at least place it, or say where it is, and is not. In A Brief History of Time scientist Stephen Hawking proposes that “the concept of time has no meaning before the beginning of the universe,” thus placing time, say, alongside the universe, or inextricably involved with it. Hawking quotes (yet again) St. Augustine as saying that time is a property of the universe created by God, a property that did not exist before the creation.</p>
<p>The Vedic literature, which covers a wide range of topics, also deals with time. The Srimad-Bhagavatam, specifically, weighs in on the subject of the place and function of time in the creation of the universe. Portions of the Bhagavatam confirm and contradict the assertions of Hawking, Einstein, Augustine, and others, while providing unique perspectives.</p>
<p>The Bhagavatam teaches that Lord Krishna in his form as Vishnu is responsible for creation. Though Brahma and Siva also have roles to play, their power comes from Lord Vishnu. He exists alone before the creation, when nature is a subtle attribute of his person and time is in a dormant state as one of his powers. From his own attributes and powers, Lord Vishnu creates the universe, which is thus identical to him, while remaining unchanged and aloof himself. He maintains the creation effortlessly for an unimaginable length of time, then destroys it and absorbs it back into himself, then creates again.</p>
<p>This happens over and over, and after each destruction Vishnu is alone. Or nearly so. Vishnu has an eternal abode beyond the creation and destruction of matter where his perfect devotees live with him. Vishnu gives these devotees divine, affliction-free bodies like his own, bedecked with crowns and garlands. They reside with him forever, free from rebirth in a temporary universe. Lord Vishnu himself sometimes visits his creation, however, and some of his descents as avatars are described in the Bhagavatam. These avatars come to save the world, delivering the good and destroying the wicked while establishing dharma. Lord Vishnu descends this way of his own free will, unlike the array of subordinate individual souls, all under the sway of their karma, who enter the universe in the beginning of creation.</p>
<p>This cycle of creations is in line with the recurring theme of circular time described in the Vedic literature. The ages of Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali rotate like seasons. The individual living beings rotate through cycles of birth and death in different bodies. Creation and destruction of the universe also occur repeatedly.</p>
<p>Time as an Instrumental Cause</p>
<p>The Srimad-Bhagavatam recounts that as the creation of the universe gets underway, nature manifests from Vishnu in an inert and formless state. With no elements yet, no air, water, and so on, nothing is happening. Vishnu uses his time power to cause a “commotion” in nature and inseminates her with a multiplicity of individual living beings, or souls, as yet without bodies. This sets the creation on its way. The metaphor of a pregnancy is dramatic, with living beings now in the womb of nature, and with time, as an “impelling force,” clearly playing a central, if not precisely specified, role in the mix. Time is an original cause as an instrument of Vishnu, inert nature the original ingredient.</p>
<p>We living souls too are part of the time-activated mix. In his commentary on the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Vijayadvaja identifies time with “the fate of the individual souls necessary for the fruition of their karmas.” Expressing a similar notion, the Bhagavatam speaks of “time which awakens the fate of beings.” By their karma, or past activities, the living beings have a destiny to fulfill, with time, under the direction of Vishnu, awakening and impelling them to it. With this impelled life now in the womb, things begin to happen, and time remains to relentlessly direct each step of the creative process. Time is, in the words of one Bhagavatam commentator, “winkless.”</p>
<p>Portraying time as a power of God may not, as far as definitions go, satisfy a purely scientific mind. But so far, the Bhagavatam perspective does provide time, in response to the “where” question, with a theoretical location or origin beyond the creation, and in response to the “what” question, with a familiar status as one of God’s instruments. Neither of these responses wholly contradicts the statements of Augustine and Hawking that time has no existence or relevance before the creation. Since time in the Bhagavatam is dormant before the universe begins, and awakens more or less simultaneously with the first phase of nature, in one sense it is nonexistent and irrelevant prior to that. On the other hand, Bhagavatam time is not exactly one of the created elements, which have not appeared yet in nature’s womb. It is a property, as Augustine calls it, that precedes other properties.</p>
<p>A Vaishnava wall calendar, filled moment by moment with favorable and unfavorable times for all kinds of religious as well as ordinary activities, demonstrates that placing time beyond creation would not tell the whole story. Time is present in the cycle of ages, as well as in daily affairs. Time’s impelling nature may have its source beyond the universe, but manages to enter the days as well, somehow reconciling its precedence and its “pursuit” of the creation.</p>
<p>On the everyday level, the words “impelling” and “commotional” that the Bhagavatam uses for time in its primordial feature could just as well apply to the unsettling effects a person feels glancing at a calendar or clock. The same kind of impelling force is at work in the daily mix. When Eva Brann asks, “Why don’t I know what time is?” it is the contrast between this extremely familiar, ever-present thing that people daily save, waste, kill, mark, and spend, and the mysterious thing we can hardly know, that provokes her. The Bhagavatam make practical use of these everyday dynamics and images to construct a transcendent view of time. As time pursues the creation, the Bhagavatam, through an elaborate system called Sankhya, draws further on the everyday.</p>
<p>Pursuing the Creation: Sankhya Background</p>
<p>Nature, pregnant with living beings, and in flux under the force of time, next begins to differentiate into component elements. The Bhagavatam puts its description of this process under the heading of Sankhya cosmology. Sankhya carries the meaning of “number,” and the Sankhya system’s efforts to enumerate and categorize the elements of nature bear a loose resemblance to modern scientific efforts to assemble the periodic table. As the periodic table arranges the elements by their atomic numbers, which in turn correspond to their structures and properties, Sankhya describes the properties of its twenty-four elements, or categories of elements, and their relationship to each other. In A Survey of Hinduism, Klaus Klostermaier says of Sankhya, “The enumeration of the twenty-four basic elements is intended to provide a physically correct description of the universe and prepare the ground for the way back to its source.” Reflecting a related motivation in modern science, Hawking writes, “Our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.”</p>
<p>The Second and Third Cantos of the Bhagavatam present several descriptions of the Sankhya system, each differing slightly. The count of elements is sometimes twenty-four, sometimes twenty-five or twenty-seven, depending on how some elements are subdivided. My discussion here draws a general outline of the Sankhya system from various descriptions, including one from the Third Canto, Chapter 26, which lists time as an element. To preview, and to make a long story short, the elements appear in a particular sequence, evolving from one to the next, with one basic explanation for this evolution: the force of time and the force of destiny, or fate. Again time and destiny in the Bhagavatam, if not identical, are closely related.</p>
<p>Pursuing the Creation: Theory of Evolution</p>
<p>Beyond the fundamental similarities already noted, the Sankhya list of elements differs markedly from anything Einstein or Hawking would recognize. There are five “gross” elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. This is a lot like Aristotle’s list (earth, water, fire, air), and is as close as Sankhya gets to elements or categories resembling those in the periodic table. There are then five sense objects: sound, touch, form, taste, and odor. Then five sense organs: ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose. Then five working senses: arms, legs, speech organs, genitals, and anus. And three subtle elements: mind, intelligence, and ego. That makes four sets of five and one set of three. Add time for a grand total of twenty-four elements in the entire universe.</p>
<p>Time both moves the creation from step to step and is the context for the sequence of these steps. Of the twenty-four elements above, the Bhagavatam lists ego as the first to appear in the womb of nature. From ego, which “undergoes modifications” by the force of time, both mind and intelligence are produced. Time also modifies ego to produce sound, which appears along with space and the ear. Space evolves through time to produce another group of three: touch, air, and the skin. Air produces form, fire, and the eye. Fire evolves to taste, water, and the tongue. Water transforms to smell, earth, and the nose. Everything appears in automatic sequence by the power of time, under distant supervision by Vishnu. At this point in creation there appears to be only an inventory of elements with nothing fully assembled from them. The Bhagavatam does go on to describe assembly of species of life and planetary systems, all still under the control of time. The chosen topic here, though, is time’s place and the properties that make it elusive.</p>
<p>Properties of the Propertyless</p>
<p>From this summary version of elemental evolution, it is notable that each stage of three elements includes a corresponding sense. Sound and space appear with the ear, touch and air with the skin, form and fire (or light) with the eye. According to Sankhya analysis, as light illuminates form and is perceived by, and inseparable from, the eye, so space is connected to sound and the ear. Space “illuminates” the sound perceived by the ear. It carries sound the way light carries form. Similarly, water carries taste for the tongue, earth originates smell for the nose. Earth, in fact, as the last gross element to evolve, interacts with all five senses. You can smell it, taste it, see it, touch it, and—as it can produce sounds—hear it. Water, the element preceding earth, is odorless in its pure form, and so perceived by only four senses. And so on down to space in the first group of three along with sound, which is perceived by only one sense, the ear. All this is a very analytical, roundabout way of saying that time, though an element, has no corresponding sense or medium, nothing to directly illuminate or perceive it. This is another unique feature of time, one that hints at Eva Brann’s point as to why time is so hard know. Time is present with all the other elements, an essential part of the mix, but lacks a sensory access or affiliation.</p>
<p>A further unique aspect of the time of Sankhya, or perhaps a feature of its second, sense-less aspect, is that it has no special property. The Bhagavatam lists the other twenty-three elements along with their properties, many of which are strikingly obvious. Among water’s properties, for example, are to moisten, soften, remove heat and exhaustion, and slake thirst. The properties of touch are softness and hardness, cold and heat. Sound conveys meaning. And so on with all the elements. Even the mind (thinking, meditating, desiring), the intelligence (doubt, misapprehension, coming to conclusions), and the ego (pride, feeling of dominion) have their properties. Time does not have characteristics the way earth and the other elements do and is not interdependent as the other elements are. Many commentators hold forth on this point of properties, or propertylessness. Gosvami Giridhara-lala writes that time “is not characterized by any peculiarity, and hence it is beginningless and endless.” How being without peculiarity leads to endlessness is not explained, but another commentator echoes the same idea, saying that time “is not dependent on another cause; he exists of his own accord. Hence, he is endless.” The Bhagavatam itself says that time “is endless but puts and end to all. Time is beginningless but marks the beginning of all. He is immutable.” Beginninglessness and endlessness, as well as the ability to impose beginnings and ends on everything else, are features of time in the Bhagavatam that are evidently not considered to be properties comparable to the elemental properties.</p>
<p>Time’s Effects: Light-years and Timepieces</p>
<p>In its Bhagavatam version, time, being without properties, is perceived only by its effects. From the primordial commotion in nature to the appearance and evolution of the elements, time imposes beginnings and ends. Apart from the Bhagavatam, Brann notes that “When time is spoken of … in the world of nature … it is usually a word for something else—for motions of various kinds and for their measurements…. When time is named in natural science … what is meant is a standard motion or a probabilistic tendency.” The Bhagavatam time sets the world in motion and keeps it in motion while remaining invisible. Brann’s comments on time and motion could be taken as another way of saying that time is not only visible by its effects but measured by those effects as well. Her “standard motions” would then, in Sankhya language, be motions of the twenty-three elements, caused by time. And to measure these motions, other elements or objects have to be used. Einstein’s wristwatch, like most standard clocks, was a device calibrated to complete twenty-four cycles within one cycle of the sun. Less common timepieces, like carbon 14, also compare movements in one element with movements of the sun. Practically any element could serve as a clock if its patterns of motion or change are known. Einstein himself was partial to light-years. Old hourglasses used sand. Grand Canyon dating uses the erosive movement of water through stone. If time pursues the creation as the cause of motion or change, then in each of these cases it appears, using a Bhagavatam perspective, that time’s effect on one object is being compared to time’s effect on another, and the comparison is itself taken to be time or a measurement of time. The Bhagavatam proposes that the transformation, change, or movement of an object or element is the mark of time, not time itself.</p>
<p>The Bhagavatam is aware of this object-to-object conception of time and offers a range of measurement instruments, from the movement of atoms to the movement of the sun (which appears to be as central to Bhagavatam calculations as it is to ours). Time calculations range from millionths of a second up to the length of the creation, which is trillions of years.</p>
<p>Sports Section</p>
<p>In terms of definitions, time is elusive. Some of the Bhagavatam verses sound like definitions. For example, time is “God’s power which itself remains unmanifest, but occupies and encompasses [nature] and is competent to manage the creation, etc., of the universe.” Or, time is “the propelling force that awakens the fate of beings.” On closer inspection, though, what sound like definitions are not really definitive—not final, exhaustive, or quintessential. Instead of definitions, they are more like placements, or attributions for the cause of something else. “Time ‘occupies’ nature” is a general placement or location. “Time ‘awakens’ fate” is a causal attribution. Other would-be definitions seem to define roles without fully identifying the role-player. Time as “the power of motivation,” for example. Or time as “the instrumental cause” or as “a weapon in God’s hands.” These are all about what time allegedly does. To some extent the Bhagavatam can respond to Hawking’s statements about time’s relation to the universe, or to Einstein’s remark about his watch, but Brann’s simple question about what time is remains open.</p>
<p>To devotees of Krishna or Vishnu a standard definition may not matter. Time, which is beyond perception and empirical observation, is a power of Krishna, one of the features that makes God worshipable. Using time, Krishna as Vishnu creates without strain. Several places in the Bhagavatam describe Vishnu’s “sportive” (lilaya) approach to the creation of the universe. One verse says that Vishnu “sportively procreated himself in the form of the universe by using Time” as his instrument. Others state that “the sportive actions of the Lord … comprise within them the preservation, origination, and destruction of the universe” and that by devoted contemplation of his “sportive work” with time, human beings become disgusted with sense pleasures.</p>
<p>Though the Bhagavatam, as well as its commentators, do appear to devote considerable attention to the scientific (in the Sankhya sense) and philosophical aspects of time, time is also portrayed as a divine recreational tool with sportive functions beyond its mysterious and awe-inspiring, thunderboltlike facets. On one hand time “creates terror in beings and reduces their life,” “cuts asunder the hope of life in this world,” and disperses people as the wind disperses clouds. On the other hand time “has no power over the Almighty God,” whose sportive proclivities lead to the repeated creation of the universe.</p>
<p>The contrast between sport and terror is a little alarming, but may bear some similarities to the discussion, outside the Vedic tradition, regarding how God can be good if there is suffering in the creation. As a Christian may assert in the face of suffering that God is all good, so the Vaishnava concept of a playful Vishnu may hint at the same idea of a benign God. For Vaishnavas, Time in creation gives living beings the chance to pursue their goals both in life after life and in creation after creation. While there is fear and terror involved in this process, mention of eternal suffering or condemnation is absent. Everyone gets a sporting chance at improving their standing in life.</p>
<p>The idea of sport may also emphasize the independence of a Supreme Being. In any tradition, the appearance of God within the creation might raise a doubt concerning divine supremacy. One perspective derived from the Srimad-Bhagavatam is that whether God speaks from clouds, a mountain, or a burning bush, or whether he descends as an avatar, these are all sporting activities in the sense of freely chosen and undertaken for enjoyment without the prospect of negative consequences. God’s actions are fully voluntary. He never comes under the control of nature, which is controlled by his energy known as time.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=84985">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=84985</a></p></div>My Choice of Radha Krishna by Bhaktimarga Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/my-choice-of-radha-krishna-by-bhaktimarga-swami2024-02-08T14:03:07.000Z2024-02-08T14:03:07.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><div>
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<p id="viewer-5ke1t24212">I have been in the home of the deities, Radha Gopinath, for 5 decades and when I was just in Trinidad, Longdenville, the temple there has the same name for their set of Radha Krishna deities. The name Radha, God in feminine form, refers to the most gracious goddess. The masculine God is Krishna and Krishna as Gopinath means the lord of the Gopi, in particular, the exquisite milk maiden, Radha. They are two in one. </p>
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<p id="viewer-ovm4g2332">Whenever I travel on foot, on plane, in car, train, truck, the name I know as God is the combination of Radha and Gopinath. They fire me up devotionally. I do not carry their photo anywhere or their miniature or chota (small) form, in my suitcase for doing puja or worship as some swamis do. I carry my beads and often time props and costume for my dramas. That is enough.</p>
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<p id="viewer-yo1pt2334">In my heart in my mind, I carry my Radha Gopinath of Toronto with me. Perhaps it is the other way around - they carry me. Actually they sustain me. The facial image of Radha is the visual that is most prominent for me, especially in '74 when she was painted by a god sister, Tribhuvanesvari, who since that time struggled and died from breast cancer. As an artist she had the look down, in my opinion. There was something that she did with the eye shadow that made Radha so captivating. Well, Radha has been painted many times on her white marble face since that time, yet that visage has stayed with me all these years and gives me mental peace. She is queen! <br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/my-choice-of-radha-krishna">https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/my-choice-of-radha-krishna</a></p>
</div></div>Exchanges Of Love by Mohini Radha Devi Dasihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/exchanges-of-love-22023-12-02T07:30:00.000Z2023-12-02T07:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
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<p>By Mohini Radha Devi Dasi</p>
<p>In the interactions between the Lord and His<br /> devotees, both relish the highest happiness.</p>
<p>Bhagavad-gita and other scriptures praise Arjuna for his close relationship with Krishna. Arjuna is known for his mood of friendship (sakha-bhava). Since relationships are by definition reciprocal, not only is Arjuna known as Krishna’s friend, but Krishna is known as Arjuna’s friend. Krishna drove Arjuna’s chariot and is therefore called Partha-sarathi, the “charioteer of Partha (Arjuna).” This name shows Krishna’s special relationship with His devotee Arjuna.</p>
<p>Discussions of devotional service often emphasize the activities devotees perform to please Krishna, but the transcendental relationship between the Lord and His devotees is dynamic, with the loving exchanges originating from both sides. Although Krishna is sympathetic to everyone, He is especially favorable toward His devotees. This is called bhakta-vatsala, the Lord’s affection for His devotees. In Bhagavad-gita (9.29) Krishna tells Arjuna, “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” It seems contradictory to say that the Lord can be “equal to all” and, at the same time, pays special attention to His devotees. In his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada explains that the Lord takes care of all living entities, or jivas, who are all part of Him. He provides all resources necessary to sustain life; indeed, not a blade of grass moves without His sanction. As the Supreme controller who maintains all jivas, Krishna is equal to all.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Krishna distinguishes among His parts according to how they relate to Him. He rewards degree of surrender: “All of them as they surrender unto Me I reward accordingly.” (Bg. 4.11) It is natural, therefore, that Krishna takes special interest in His devotees, who are completely surrendered to Him and are constantly serving Him with love and devotion.</p>
<p>The Lord is a person, and the living entities are also individual persons, although they are minute and the Supreme Lord is unlimited. The analogy of a fire surrounded by many tiny sparks illustrates this concept: The sparks are tiny compared to the original fire, but the composition is the same. Like the relationship between the individual sparks and the fire, an eternal reciprocal relationship exists between the living entities and the Lord.</p>
<p>For the devotee, who is favorably disposed toward the Lord in a relationship of loving service, this relationship is very special and the essence of his or her life. Krishna consciousness means that Krishna is the single focus for the devotee’s actions, words, and desires. When this perfection is achieved, true reciprocity between Krishna and the devotees takes place. Krishna is dear to His devotees, and the devotees are dear to Him. Although He is completely independent and self-satisfied, He accepts service from His devotees, and thus remains at the center of their lives. The reciprocation between Krishna and His devotees, enjoyable for both, is unique. Elsewhere in the Gita(6.30), Krishna confirms this reciprocity: “For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.”</p>
<p>In his explanation of the transcendental reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees, Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a diamond ring: the diamond looks more beautiful next to the gold, and the gold looks more beautiful next to the diamond. (Bg. 9.29, purport) In this way, the devotees glorify the Lord, and the Lord does not hesitate to glorify His devotees. He appears in this world just to please His devotees and punish demons who challenge His authority and trouble the devotees. (Bg. 4.8)</p>
<p>When the pure devotee renders service without asking anything in return, Krishna is obliged and “becomes a kind of debtor to the devotees.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.8.27, purport) This fact is often explained in connection with Radharani and the gopis, who are glorified by Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the topmost devotees. No one can control Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Radharani controls Him with her devotion. Likewise, He willingly allowed His mother, Yasoda, to bind and scold Him. He showed His universal form to Arjuna and His four-armed form to Bhismadeva upon hearing their prayers. Krishna is the source of pleasure for His devotees, and He enjoys fulfilling their desires because their desires are purely Krishna conscious.</p>
<p>Krishna’s desire to serve His devotees is prominent in His form as Lord Jagannatha, who presides at the great temple in Puri, Orissa, with His brother Baladeva and sister Subhadra. Histories of the temple have recorded Lord Jagannatha’s pastimes over hundreds of years. Once, Jagannatha and Baladeva disguised Themselves as soldiers and fought alongside Purusottama Maharaja, the king of Puri, in a battle against the king of Kanci. The king of Kanci had insulted Purusottama Maharaja for being a street-sweeper. (The king of Puri traditionally sweeps in front of Jagannatha’s chariot at the annual Ratha-yatra festival.) The humble king did not take the insult personally but as an offense against his beloved Jagannatha, and therefore he went into battle, emerging victorious under the command of the two Lords.</p>
<p>The Poet Salabega</p>
<p>Jagannatha is Krishna, and His transcendental pastimes are unlimited and beyond comprehension. He showed special mercy to His poet-devotee Salabega, whose example illustrates the Lord’s eagerness to reciprocate with His devotees. Born in the beginning of the seventeenth century, Salabega was the son of the widow of a Hindu brahmanaand Lalbeg, a merciless commander of the Moghul Empire. Although his ruthless father intensely hated the Hindus, Salabega’s mother was a fervent devotee of Lord Jagannatha, and she taught her son about the Lord.</p>
<p>Once, as a child or young man, Salabega became very ill, and the attending physicians thought he would die. Salabega miraculously recovered when he heard some devotees singing bhajanas (devotional songs) about Krishna and Jagannatha and he began chanting Jagannatha’s names. This was a pivotal moment in his devotional life. He remembered his mother’s description of Vishnu’s rescue of Gajendra, the king of the elephants, when chased by a crocodile. Like Dhruva Maharaja and Sri Prahlada, Salabega had intense childlike faith in the mercy of the Lord.</p>
<p>As he grew older, Salabega learned to sing and compose devotional songs for the pleasure of Jagannatha, whom he sometimes called Kalia, “the dark darling.” He eventually lived in Vrindavana, but he became anxious to see Lord Jagannatha in Puri. Because of his Muslim birth, Salabega was denied entrance to the Puri temple, and he returned to Vrindavana in disappointment. Lord Jagannatha is known as Patita Pavana, “the savior of the fallen,” and so He comes out from the temple every year during the Ratha-yatra festival to bestow his merciful glance upon all creatures. Salabega planned to visit Puri during the Ratha-yatra festival.</p>
<p>On the way to Puri, however, he fell ill. Lamenting at the thought that he would miss the opportunity to see Jagannatha, he prayed that Jagannatha would wait for him, a sentiment prevalent in one of his songs: satasa pacasha kosha cali na parai/ moha jivajaen nandighose thiva rahi. “It is very difficult to walk the 750 kosas [the distance between Vrindavana and Jagannatha Puri] to see You. Please remain on Nandighosha until then.”</p>
<p>Just then, a miracle occurred. Lord Jagannatha’s cart, called Nandighosha, stopped, and no one could budge it. Jagannatha waited for the arrival of His dear devotee Salabega, who had the opportunity to sing directly to his dark darling and look at Him to his heart’s content. Those who had criticized Salabega for his low birth were humbled as they saw the greatness of Salabega’s devotion.</p>
<p>Salabega often returned to compose songs for Jagannatha at the spot where the Lord had stopped. Today, his samadhi (tomb) stands nearby on Grand Road.</p>
<p>Salabega’s devotion apparently brought the Lord of the universe under his control. In tribute to this pastime, even to this day Lord Jagannatha’s cart stops at Salabega’s samadhi on Grand Road during the Ratha-yatra procession.</p>
<p>Salabega’s example teaches us that birth does not matter, that pure devotion transcends social status, such as being a brahmana. After all, we are not these bodies but spirit souls. To show the world that anyone can become Krishna’s pure devotee, Prabhupada wanted his followers, most of whom were not brahmana as by birth, to be brahminical in devotion and behavior.</p>
<p>Even the most neophyte devotees of the Lord can taste the sweetness of the Lord’s reciprocity. It is said that when we take one step toward Krishna, He takes a hundred steps toward us. When we remember that Vamanadeva, Krishna’s incarnation as a dwarf brahmana, crossed the entire universe with two steps, Krishna’s hundred steps toward us are particularly significant. Even though no one is truly eligible to serve the Supreme Lord, He is so merciful that He accepts the devotee’s humble attempts. (SeeSrimad-Bhagavatam 6.16.25, purport.) The Lord is more eager to reclaim His conditioned parts than they are to return to Him, and He helps His devotees return home, back to Godhead: “Those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.” (Bg. 9.22) Even if a devotee does not become completely purified in this lifetime, he or she will be able to continue on the path of devotional service in the next life. Spiritual gains, unlike material gains, are never lost.</p>
<p>The easiest way for us to feel Krishna’s reciprocation is through hearing and chanting His names: Shravanam kirtanam. When Krishna descended as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He made pure love of God, prema, available to everyone through the chanting of the holy names. In degraded Kali-yuga, the current age of quarrel and hypocrisy, this is the best method to achieve perfect Krishna consciousness. It is the yuga-dharma, the prescribed activity for the age. Krishna’s names are endowed with all His potency, which means He is present in His names. When we chant attentively, He will come to dance on our tongues. What greater reciprocation do we need than this?</p></div>The Greatness of Ancient Vedic India’s Developmentshttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-greatness-of-ancient-vedic-india-s-developments2023-08-11T06:30:00.000Z2023-08-11T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:390px;height:500px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9573448299,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="The Greatness of Ancient Vedic India’s Developments" /></p>
<p>(Excerpt from “Advancements of Ancient India’s Vedic Culture”)</p>
<p><strong>By Stephen Knapp</strong> (Sri Nandanandana dasa)</p>
<p>When we talk about the planet’s earliest civilization, we are talking about the world’s earliest sophisticated society after the last ice age. This means that according to the Vedic time tables, various forms of civilization have been existing for millions of years. But the first record of an organized and developed society was the Vedic culture that arose in ancient India with the Indus Sarasvati civilization, and then spread out from there in all directions around the world.</p>
<p>Often times we see that students, even in India’s academic system, have not studied or encountered the contributions that were made by early civilization in the area of ancient India. Not only are they not aware of such developments that had been given from India, but there is often a lack of such knowledge to be studied. Therefore, this book is to help fill that gap of information and to show how this area of the world, indeed, had a most advanced civilization, but was also where many of society’s advancements originated.</p>
<p>It can be found that what became the area of India and its Vedic culture was way ahead of its time. This can be noticed in such things as industry, metallurgy, science, textiles, medicine, surgery, mathematics, and, of course, philosophy and spirituality. In fact, we can see the roots of these sciences and metaphysics in many areas of the world that can be traced back to its Indian or Vedic origins.</p>
<p>Furthermore, we often do not know of all the progress that had been made during the ancient times of India, which used to be called Bharatvarsha or Aryavrata. Nor do most people know all that ancient India gave to the world. So let us take a serious look at this.</p>
<p>From the Preface of Indian Tradition of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, the authors relate most accurately: “Hindus are a race who have dwelled on the most fundamental questions about life (& death), about nature and its origins. The bold questioning by Hindus gave birth to theories, axioms, principles and a unique approach to and a way of life. The approach to life and the way of life led to the evolution of one of the most ancient and grand cultures on the face of the earth. The spiritual aspects of Hindu culture are more commonly known, the fact that science, technology and industry were a part of their culture is little known.</p>
<p>“For historical reasons, the achievements of ancient Hindus in various fields of science and technology are not popularly known to Indians. The recent research by Sri Dharmpal and others has shown that the colonial invaders and the rulers had a vested interest in distorting and destroying the information regarding all positive aspects of Hindu culture. The conventional understanding today is that Hindus were more concerned about rituals, about spirituality, and the world above or the world after death. That Hindus were an equally materialistic people, that India was the industrial workshop of the world till the end of 18th century, that Hindus had taken up basic questions of the principles of astronomy, fundamental particles, origins of the universe, applied psychiatry and so on, are not well documented and not popularly known. That ancient Hindus had highly evolved technologies in textile engineering, ceramics, printing, weaponry, climatology and meteorology, architecture, medicine and surgery, metallurgy, agriculture and agricultural engineering, civil engineering, town planning, and similar other fields is known only to a few scholars even today. There are about 44 known ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts on a technical subject such as chemistry alone. The information about the science and technological heritage of India is embedded in the scriptures, the epics and in several of the technical texts. The information needs to be taken out of these and presented.</p>
<p>“Facts like Hindus had the knowledge that the sun is the center of the solar system, about the geography of the earth, the way the plants produce food, the way blood circulates in the body, the science of abstract mathematics and numbers, the principles of health, medicine and surgery and so on at a time in history when the rest of the world did not know how to think, talk and write has to be exposed to people. This can draw the attention of these communities, especially the future generation towards ‘ideas’ that are essentially Indian.</p>
<p>“There are several published works on the history of India. Such works are written by Indian scholars as well as western researchers in oriental and Indological studies. Many of these works are highly scholastic and are not amenable to the common man. There is a need to make the knowledge of science heritage of India known to one and all. Further, there is need for studying scriptures, epics, and other ancient literature (in Sanskrit as well as other regional languages) to unearth the wealth of knowledge of our ancestors. Reports of such studies also need to be published continuously.” 1</p>
<p>This is the goal of the present volume, to easily and simply convey this knowledge for the benefit of everyone, for the correct view of history, and to give credit where credit is due.</p>
<p>THE ADVANCED NATURE OF ANCIENT INDIAN SCIENCES</p>
<p>Achievements in the sciences of ancient India were known all over the world, even in Arabia, China, Spain, and Greece, countries in which medieval scholars acknowledged their indebtedness to India. For example, the Arab scholar Sa’id ibn Ahmad al-Andalusi (1029–1070) wrote in his history on science, called Tabaqat-al’umam:</p>
<p>“The first nation to have cultivated science is India… India is known for the wisdom of its people. Over many centuries, all the kings of the past have recognized the ability of the Indians in all the branches of knowledge. The kings of China have stated that the kings of the world are five in number and all the people of the world are their subjects. They mentioned the king of China, the king of India, the king of the Turks, the king of the Persians, and the king of the Romans. …they referred to the king of India as the ‘king of wisdom’ because of the Indians’ careful treatment of ‘ulum [sciences] and all the branches of knowledge.</p>
<p>“The Indians, known to all nations for many centuries, are the metal [essence] of wisdom, the source of fairness and objectivity. They are people of sublime pensiveness, universal apologues, and useful and rare inventions. …To their credit the Indians have made great strides in the study of numbers and of geometry. They have acquired immense information and reached the zenith in their knowledge of the movements of the stars [astronomy]. …After all that they have surpassed all other people in their knowledge of medical sciences…”</p>
<p>Furthermore, “Whether it was astronomy, mathematics (specially geometry), medicine or metallurgy, each was a pragmatic contribution to the general Hindu ethos, viz., Man in Nature, Man in harmony with Nature, and not Man and Nature or Man Against Nature, that characterizes modern science. The Hindu approach to nature was holistic, often alluding to the terrestrial-celestial correspondence and human-divine relationship. Hindu and scientific and technological developments were an integral part of this attitude that was assiduously fostered in the ancient period.” 2</p>
<p>In his article, Indic Mathematics: India and the Scientific Revolution, Dr. David Grey lists some of the most important developments in the history of mathematics that took place in India, summarizing the contributions of luminaries such as Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Mahavira, Bhaskara, and Madhava. He concludes by asserting, “the role played by India in the development (of the scientific revolution in Europe) is no mere footnote, easily and inconsequentially swept under the rug of Eurocentric bias. To do so is to distort history, and to deny India one of its greatest contributions to world civilizations.”</p>
<p>Lin Yutang, Chinese scholar and author, also wrote that: “India was China’s teacher in trigonometry, quadratic equations, grammar, phonetics…” and so forth. Francois Voltaire also stated: “… everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges.”</p>
<p>Referring to the above quotes, David Osborn concludes thus: “From these statements we see that many renowned intellectuals believed that the Vedas provided the origin of scientific thought.”</p>
<p>The Syrian astronomer / monk Severus Sebokhy (writing CE 662), as expressed by A. L. Basham in his book The Wonder That Was India (p. 6), explained, “I shall now speak of the knowledge of the Hindus… Of their subtle discoveries in the science of astronomy – discoveries even more ingenious than those of the Greeks and Babylonians – of their rational system of mathematics, or of their method of calculation which no words can praise strongly enough – I mean the system using nine symbols. If these things were known by the people who think that they alone have mastered the sciences because they speak Greek, they would perhaps be convinced, though a little late in the day, that other folk, not only Greeks, but men of a different tongue, know something as well as they.”</p>
<p>There have been many scholars, both old and new, who readily agree and point out the progressive nature of the early advancements found in ancient India’s Vedic tradition. So let us take a quick overview of some of what was known and developed in earlier times in the Vedic culture of the East.</p>
<p>American professor Jabez T. Sunderland (1842-1936), President of the India Information Bureau of America, spent many years in India. He was the author of India in Bondage, wherein he wrote, “India created the beginnings of all sciences and she carried some of them to a remarkable degree of development, thereby leading the world. India has produced great literature, great arts, great philosophical systems, great religions, and great men in every department of life–rulers, statesmen, financiers, scholars, poets, generals, colonizers, skilled artisans and craftsmen of every kind, agriculturalists, industrial organizers, and leaders in far reaching trade and commerce by land and sea.”</p>
<p>Sunderland went on to say, “India was a far greater industrial and manufacturing nation than any in Europe or than any other in Asia. Her textile goods–the fine products of her loom, in cotton, wool, linen, and silk–were famous over the civilized world; so were her exquisite jewelry and her precious stones, cut in every lovely form; so were her pottery, porcelains, ceramics of every kind, quality, color and beautiful shape; so were her fine works in metal iron, steel, silver, and gold. She had great architecture–equal in beauty to any in the world. She had great engineering works… Not only was she the greatest ship-building nation, but she had great commerce and trade by land and sea which extended to all known civilized countries.” 3</p>
<p>In India in Bondage, Sunderland also quotes Lord Curzon, the British statesman who was viceroy in India from 1899 to 1905, as saying in his address delivered at the great Delhi Durbar in 1901: “Powerful empires existed and flourished here [in India] while Englishmen were still wandering, painted in the woods, while the English colonies were a wilderness and a jungle. India has left a deeper mark upon the history, the philosophy, and the religion of mankind, than any other terrestrial unit in the universe.”</p>
<p>Lord Curzon had also stated: “While we [the British] hold onto India, we are a first rate power. If we lose India, we will decline to a third rate power. This is the value of India.”</p>
<p>Similar to this, Beatrice Pitney Lamb, former editor of the United Nations News, first visited India in 1949 on an assignment for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes in her book, India: A World in Transition: “In addition to the still visible past glories of art and architecture, the wonderful ancient literature, and other cultural achievements of which educated Indians are justly proud, the Indian past includes another type of glory most tantalizing to the Indians of today–prolonged material prosperity. For well over a millennium and a half, the Indian subcontinent may have been the richest area in the world.” 4</p>
<p>Many other writers and scholars had commented on their high regard for what had been developed in India. For example, to recognize a few, General Joseph Davey Cunningham (1812-1851) author of A History of the Sikhs, writes: “Mathematical science was so perfect and astronomical observations so complete that the paths of the sun and moon were accurately measured.”</p>
<p>There was much admiration even of the language of India. William Cooke Taylor (1800-1849), author of A Popular History of British India, stated in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. II: “It was an astonishing discovery that Hindusthan possessed, in spite of the changes of the realms and changes of time, a language of unrivaled richness and variety; a language, the parent of all those dialects that Europe has fondly called classical–the source alike of Greek flexibility and Roman strength.” 5</p>
<p>French scholar Buffon presented a coherent theory that scholars of ancient India had preserved the old learning from the creators of its sciences, arts, and all useful institutions. Voltaire had also suggested that sciences were more ancient in India than in Egypt. Russian born philosopher Immanuel Kant placed the origin of mankind in the Himalayas and stated that our arts like agriculture, numbers, even the game of chess, came from India.</p>
<p>German scholar Friedrich Schlegel also had a high regard for India, stating that everything of high philosophy or science is of Indian origin. French scholar and judge Louis Jacolliot, in his Bible in India, writes: “Astonishing fact! The Hindu Revelation (Vedas) is of all revelations the only one whose ideas are in perfect harmony with modern science, as it proclaims the slow and gradual formation of the world.” Of course, we can see the videos in which the astrophysicist Carl Sagan says, “The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths, dedicated to the idea that the cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed, an infinite number of deaths and births. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond to those of modern cosmology.”</p>
<p>The point is that all science of the Vedic tradition was developed with or in continuation of the ancient Vedic or spiritual knowledge that was a central point in understanding life. It was part of the Absolute Truth, or Sanatana-dharma, by which we could understand how to function in this world, and what is the purpose of both this world and our life in it. From this point, so many other developments took place, not as a means to control the environment, but as a means to know how to work holistically with nature for our material and spiritual progress and growth.</p>
<p>People like the Nobel Prize winner Maurice Maeterlinck wrote in The Great Secret: “…This tradition attributes the vast reservoir of wisdom that somewhere took shape simultaneously with the origin of man, or even if we are to credit it, before his advent upon this earth, to move spiritual entities, to beings less entangled in matter.”</p>
<p>The popular American author Mark Twain also had a high opinion of India, and wrote in Following the Equator: “This is India… cradle of the human race, birth place of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition, whose yesterdays bear date with the moldering antiquities of the rest of the nations… India had the start of the whole world at the beginning of things. She had the first civilization; she had the first accumulation of material wealth; she was populous with deep thinkers and the subtle intellects; she had mines, and woods, and a fruitful soil.” 6</p>
<p>Even in scientific discoveries, there are those who acknowledge the knowing that has taken the rest of the world ages with which to catch up. For example, Fredric Spielberg writes in Spiritual Practices of India, with an introduction by Alan Watts: “To the philosophers of India, however, relativity is no new discovery, just as the concept of light years is no matter for astonishment to people used to thinking of time in millions of kalpas [days of Brahma]. The fact that the wise men of India have not been concerned with technological applications of this knowledge arises from the circumstance that technology is but one of innumerable ways of applying it. It is, indeed, a remarkable circumstance that when Western civilization discovers relativity, it applies it to the manufacture of atom bombs, whereas, Oriental (Vedic) civilization applies it to the development of new states of consciousness.”</p>
<p>Another simpler example is when Dick Teresi, author of The God Particle and co-founder of Omni magazine, writes in Ancient Roots of Modern Science, “In India, we see the beginnings of theoretical speculations of the size and nature of the earth. Some 1,000 years before Aristotle, the Vedic Aryans asserted that the earth was round and circled the sun.”</p>
<p>Dick Teresi also acknowledges how much of the knowledge we understand today did not necessarily come from the Greek civilization, but actually existed much earlier in the Vedic traditions of India. He again writes in Ancient Roots of Modern Science: “Two thousand years before Pythagorus, philosophers in northern India had understood that gravitation held the solar system together, and that therefore the sun, the most massive object, had to be at its center. Our Western mathematical heritage and pride are critically dependent on the triumphs of ancient Greece. These accomplishments have been so greatly exaggerated that it often becomes difficult to sort out how much of modern math is derived from Greece and how much from …the Indians and so on. Our modern numerals 0 through 9 were developed in India. Mathematics existed long before the Greeks constructed their first right angle.” 7</p>
<p>THE ANTIQUITY OF VEDIC CULTURE</p>
<p>Many are those who have mentioned the antiquity of the Vedic tradition, but how far back does it go? Traditionally, it was there since the beginning of time. However, even archeologically we can ascertain its very early dates.</p>
<p>For example, archeologists have found 7000-year-old rock paintings in the Aravalli mountain range near Benari dam in the Kotputli area of Jaipur district in Rajasthan in 1991. These paintings are adjacent to the site of the famous Indus Valley Civilization. Such 7000-year-old (5000 BCE) paintings were also found in Braham Kund Ki Dungari and Budhi Jeengore in Rajasthan. This discovery makes the Vedic civilization more ancient than the Egyptian and Greek and Mesopotamian civilizations. This also negates the Aryan Invasion Theory, the hypothesis that the Vedic Aryans were not indigenous, but established themselves after invading the area, which is completely wrong as we will show later in the book. 8</p>
<p>Along these same lines, further verification was also supplied by the Times of India (May 30th, 1992, New Delhi edition) wherein it was reported that the department of Archeology and Museums in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan discovered as many as 300 prehistoric paintings on Kanera rocks in an area of 400 square miles near the town of Nimbahera in Chittorgarh district. These paintings are dated between 50,000 to 60,000 years old. That pushes the earliest reaches of Vedic civilization to at least 50,000 years back.</p>
<p>Additional finds such as these are discovered on a regular basis. Another one is reported in the publication called Science (February 23, 2010). It was reported therein that newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago.</p>
<p>The international, multi-disciplinary research team, led by Oxford University in collaboration with Indian institutions, unveiled to a conference in Oxford what it calls “Pompeii-like excavations” beneath the Toba ash.</p>
<p>According to the team, a potentially ground-breaking implication of the new work is that the species responsible for making the stone tools in India was Homo sapiens. Stone tool analysis has revealed that the artefacts consist of cores and flakes, which are classified in India as Middle Palaeolithic and are similar to those made by modern humans in Africa. “Though we are still searching for human fossils to definitively prove the case, we are encouraged by the technological similarities. This suggests that human populations were present in India prior to 74,000 years ago, or about 15,000 years earlier than expected based on some genetic clocks,” said project director Dr Michael Petraglia, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford. This exciting new information questions the idea that the Toba super-eruption caused a worldwide environmental catastrophe.</p>
<p>An area of widespread speculation about the Toba super-eruption is that it nearly drove humanity to extinction. The fact that the Middle Palaeolithic tools of similar styles are found right before and after the Toba super-eruption, suggests that the people who survived the eruption were the same populations, using the same kinds of tools, says Dr Petraglia. The research agrees with evidence that other human ancestors, such as the Neanderthals in Europe and the small brained Hobbits in Southeastern Asia, continued to survive well after Toba.</p>
<p>The team has not discovered much bone in the Toba ash sites, but in the Billasurgam cave complex in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, the researchers have found deposits which they believe range from at least 100,000 years ago to the present. They contain a wealth of animal bones such as wild cattle, carnivores and monkeys. They have also identified plant materials in the Toba ash sites and caves, yielding important information about the impact of the Toba super-eruption on the ecological settings.</p>
<p>Dr Petraglia said: “This exciting new information questions the idea that the Toba super-eruption caused a worldwide environmental catastrophe. That is not to say that there were no ecological effects. We do have evidence that the ash temporarily disrupted vegetative communities and it certainly choked and polluted some fresh water sources, probably causing harm to wildlife and maybe even humans.” 9</p>
<p>In this way, recent discoveries show that the area of ancient India was one of the locations for the oldest civilizations the world has known.</p>
<p>CONCLUSION</p>
<p>THE GREATNESS OF INDIA AND VEDIC CULTURE</p>
<p>History certainly proves that India was also one of the wealthiest countries on the planet in its earlier days. Not only did she have vast treasures of knowledge and developments, but ancient India also had great wealth, such as sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and other gems, along with sunny climate, great fertility, and much more that was exported to various parts of the world, but the deep levels of knowledge and development was another of her greatest assets. For this reason, the ambition of all conquerors was to possess the area of India.</p>
<p>The pearl presented by Julius Caesar to Servilia, the mother of Brutus, as well as the famous pearl ear-ring of Cleopatra, were obtained from India. The Koh-i-noor diamond, weighing at 106.5 carats, one of the most fabled of diamonds, was taken to England from India. In fact, when Alexander left Persia, he told his troops that they were now going to “Golden India” where there was endless wealth, which made the beauty and riches of Persia look puny.</p>
<p>When the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the famous Somnath temple, he found astonishing wealth in diamonds and jewels. He also sacked Mathura and gathered numerous Deities in gold and silver. Thereafter he went to Kanauj which astonished the tyrant and his followers to such a degree in its wealth and beauty at the time that they declared that Kanauj was only rivaled in magnificence by heaven itself.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it was the wealth of India that drew the barbaric Arabs to the country, and then let the half-civilized Tartars to overrun it. It was the wealth of India that attracted Nadir Shah to ancient India, and from where he captured immense booty, which motivated the Abdali chiefs to renew their attacks on the country.</p>
<p>The people of India were actually not so barbaric as the invaders that forced their way into the country, but rather some of the most civilized in the world, primarily because of their sophisticated level of consciousness and gentleness towards one another caused by their training in the principles of the Vedic spiritual culture.</p>
<p>The character of the Hindus of the day had been described by some of those Europeans who had traveled there back in the 19th century, such as Max Muller, wherein he said: “Warren Hastings thus speaks of the Hindus in general: ‘They are gentle and benevolent, more susceptible of gratitude for kindness shown them, and less prompted to vengeance for wrongs inflicted than any people on the face of the earth; faithful, affectionate, submissive to legal authority.’</p>
<p>“Bishop Heber said: ‘The Hindus are brave, courteous, intelligent, most eager for knowledge and improvement; sober, industrious, dutiful parents, affectionate to their children, uniformly gentle and patient, and more easily affected by kindness and attention to their wants and feelings than any people I ever met with.’</p>
<p>“Sir Thomas Munro bears even stronger testimony. He writes: ‘If a good system of agriculture, unrivaled manufacturing skill, a capacity to produce whatever can contribute to either convenience or luxury, schools established in every village for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, the general practice of hospitality and charity amongst each other, and above all, a treatment of the female sex full of confidence, respect, and delicacy, are among the signs which denote a civilized people–then the Hindus are not inferior to the nations of Europe, and if civilization is to become an article of trade between England and India, I am convinced that England will gain by the import cargo.'” 10</p>
<p>Besides all these considerations, Max Muller also once related: “I wished to point out that there was another sphere of intellectual activity in which the Hindu excelled–the meditative and transcendent–and that here we might learn from them some lessons of life which we ourselves are but too apt to ignore or to despise.” 11</p>
<p>Finally, in what could be a conclusive statement made by a European who had spent many years living and studying the Vedic culture and Sanskrit literature of early India, Max Muller said, “If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow–in some parts a very paradise on earth–I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them which well deserve the attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant–I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, we who have been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and of one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human, a life not for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life–again I should point to India.” 12</p>
<p>CHAPTER NOTES</p>
<p>1. Prof. A. R. Vasudeva Murthy and Prasun Kumar Mishra, Indian Tradition of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Samskrita Bharati, Bangalore, India, August, 1999, pp. i-v.</p>
<p>2. Science and Technology in Ancient India, by Editorial Board of Vijnan Bharati, Mumbai, August, 2002, Foreword by B. V. Subbarayappa.</p>
<p>3. Niranjan Shah, Indian Tribune Newspaper, December 8, 2007.</p>
<p>4. Ibid.</p>
<p>5. Ibid.</p>
<p>6. Niranjan Shah, Indian Tribune Newspaper, December 1, 2007.</p>
<p>7. Niranjan Shah, Indian Tribune Newspaper, December 9, 2005.</p>
<p>8. India Tribune, June 1, 1991, Atlanta edition.</p>
<p>9. <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/images/maincolumn/9440">http://www.ox.ac.uk/images/maincolumn/9440</a></p>
<p>10. Max Muller, India: What can it teach us?, first published in 1883, published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2002, pp. 46-47)</p>
<p>11. Max Muller, India: What can it teach us?, Longmans, Funk & Wagnalls, London, 1999, p. 22)</p>
<p>12. Max Muller, India: What can it teach us?, first published in 1883, published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2002, p. 5)<br /><br /><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10840">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10840</a></p></div>Sankirtana: Welfare for All Beings by Dayananda Dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sankirtana-welfare-for-all-beings2023-07-20T11:00:00.000Z2023-07-20T11:00:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2515008879,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515008879,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515008879?profile=original" width="400" /></a></strong></p>
<p>“Is chanting all that your religion does? Don’t you do welfare or anything like that?”</p>
<p>Alex, my barber, works at the Pilatos salon in Queens, New York, on the cusp of a Hispanic neighborhood. The salon has mostly Latino hairdressers and clients, and it is bright and upbeat, with salsa music often playing softly in the background. On a recent visit there, instead of salsa, I heard the chanting of om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, which means “obeisance to the Supreme Lord Krishna.” I remarked to Alex that this is one of the Hare Krishna chants. He and I sometimes chat about Krishna consciousness, so he became quite interested. It seems the CD was a European compilation of various exotic chants and prayers from around the world and Alex was the one who had brought it to the salon.</p>
<p>He asked me about chanting. I explained that the basis of the Hare Krishna religion is sankirtana, or glorification of the Lord in everything one does. One kind of sankirtana is chanting the Lord’s holy names.</p>
<p>Alex had seen groups of people chanting on the streets, and he asked, “Is chanting all that your religion does? Don’t you do welfare or anything like that?”</p>
<p>“We do welfare work,” I responded, “but it’s welfare for the soul.”</p>
<p>Welfare for the Soul</p>
<p>In a previous conversation, I had explained to Alex that we are not these bodies; we are souls. The body is the vehicle for the soul. Still, the idea of welfare for the soul confused him, so I explained that my guru, Prabhupada, compares welfare for the body to saving the coat of a drowning person and letting the person drown, whereas welfare for the soul saves the drowning person. Nevertheless, Alex wondered aloud how one might do something to benefit the soul.</p>
<p>I told him that the chanting itself is the greatest welfare, because it invokes the presence of the Lord in the form of His name. When we chant in public, everyone who hears is benefited by association with the Lord. Thus, Mem>sankirtana is welfare. Alex, who is Catholic and from Costa Rica, said that some of the nuns he knew in school recited the rosary almost all day. He wondered whether that was like our sankirtana.</p>
<p>“Yes,” I replied, “it is similar to sankirtana. And Prabhupada once told me that the Muslims’ chanting of Allah’s name is also like sankirtana.”</p>
<p>Alex said that he didn’t want to offend me, but he had noticed that many people who see the Hare Krishna chanting groups don’t understand what we’re doing.</p>
<p>He asked, “How is that welfare, if they don’t understand?”</p>
<p>I explained that the effect of the chanting doesn’t depend on our understanding. I used the example of a medicine we take to cure a disease. We swallow the pills, but we don’t need to know how they act. After some time, the medicine takes effect, and the disease goes away. Similarly, the chanting acts to cure the soul of its disease, which is bondage to maya.</p>
<p>Alex recalled that we had spoken of maya in our last conversation.</p>
<p>“Yes,” I said, “maya is illusion, and it keeps us focused on this world, clouding our ability to connect with Krishna.”</p>
<p>He liked my explanation of the mysterious effect of chanting, but he still thought it impractical to chant among people who had no idea that their maya was being cured.</p>
<p>“In fact,” I replied, “we do tell people about maya and Krishna. Our welfare work includes disseminating Krishna’s teachings and glories. And, yes, you’re right(when people understand Krishna, they receive a greater benefit from sankirtana welfare.”</p>
<p>I added that book distribution is our most effective means of informing people of the significance of sankirtana.</p>
<p>He asked, “Do you sell your books in the subway, like the Scientologists and Jehovah’s Witnesses?”</p>
<p>I explained that we have a number of books.</p>
<p>“One is called the Gita, which has Krishna’s teachings, and another is the Bhagavatam, which is a set of books containing Krishna’s glories. And we distribute them widely, sometimes even in the subway.”</p>
<p>Emboldened by my candor, Alex expressed concern that a religion where everyone simply chanted all the time didn’t seem practical.</p>
<p>“Well,” I said, “some of our saints were examples of constant chanting, but Prabhupada advised me not to follow that example. He asked me to chant about one and a half to two hours a day as a disciple’s duty, but he said that for the remaining hours of the day working for Krishna is as good as chanting. He cautioned that lazy might people chant to avoid such work. Because I was a family man, Prabhupada encouraged me to have an honest profession and use my efforts and money for sankirtana.”</p>
<p>Transcendental Welfare Formula</p>
<p>Alex was wary when I mentioned money. He said that the Catholic priests he knows are always asking for money and he didn’t much like that. I explained that Chaitanya had prescribed a kind of formula for sankirtana welfare that addresses his concern.</p>
<p>“Chaitanya urged everyone to do sankirtana welfare by offering their words, intelligence, wealth, and life. He taught that the basis for sankirtana welfare is the offering of words, including public chanting or the distribution of the printed word. Intelligence is also used for welfare by organizing the festive chanting and book distribution. For example, every year here in New York we have a grand procession down Fifth Avenue called Rathayatra that has large, colorful carts adorned with flags and tall canopies. Many Hare Krishna people apply their intelligence to obtain permits for the festival, organize displays, prepare food, and coordinate cleanup.”</p>
<p>In the mirror I could see Alex’s face light up. He stopped trimming my hair and told me that he had walked in the Rathayatra parade in June 2002, just months after the attack on the World Trade Center. He commented that the devastation from the attack had depressed him, and he felt that the parade had nourished his soul. It had reminded him of Catholic processions in Costa Rica.</p>
<p>Still, he asked, “What about the money you mentioned? Who gets the money?”</p>
<p>I replied, “The important point is that giving money is based on the offering of words and intelligence, so we are supposed to use our intelligence when we give and not depend on others to dictate or intercede. We give our money for the chanting festivals and book distribution. We also use it to maintain temples, which are centers for sankirtana welfare. Prabhupada taught that we should see to it that our offerings to sankirtana are not misused. Part of the mission of the organization he founded—the International Society for Krishna Consciousness—is to govern the proper use of contributions. It is especially important to offer money, because Krishna’s Gita teaches that such an offering is part of a yoga called karma-yoga.”</p>
<p>When I mentioned yoga, Alex told me that he does a little yoga at home and sometimes goes to classes. I explained that karma-yoga is different from exercise yoga.</p>
<p>“Karma-yoga is the offering of one’s efforts and money to Krishna as a way to connect with Him. Krishna taught that using money selfishly is the cause of worldly bondage, but sacrificing it for welfare frees one from maya. Also, Krishna taught that karma-yoga is an essential part of the highest and most powerful yoga, which is bhakti-yoga, or devotional service to Krishna. Bhakti-yoga is the highest yoga because it awakens love for Krishna.”</p>
<p>My haircut had been finished for a few minutes, and Alex had another client waiting. I reminded him that everything is based on the chanting. He asked whether I could write down the words to the prayer on the CD, so I wrote om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Underneath the prayer, I wrote: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.</p>
<p>I told him, “The prayer on the CD has the power of Krishna’s name, and chanting it will benefit you. However, Prabhupada taught his followers to chant Hare Krishna because it is especially recommended for this age. I find chanting Hare Krishna to be wonderful.”</p>
<p>Alex asked his next client to go for a hair wash, and I went to the cashier to pay for the cut. I came back to give him a tip and said that next time I would bring him Krishna’s Gita. That way, he could learn how to offer his intelligence as well as his chanting. At that point he joked that he was a long way from the money part. I laughed.</p>
<p>“That’s no problem,” I said. “Krishna says you can begin by offering Him even a leaf.”</p>
<p>As I prepared to leave, Alex asked me how much money I give to sankirtana. I replied that Prabhupada had asked me to give fifty percent of what I earn, so that is what I try to give. He was surprised and said that it seemed to be quite a lot.</p>
<p>“I’ll tell you frankly, Alex,” I replied, “I was deeply grateful for Prabhupada’s affection and training, so I felt that it was the least I could do. Moreover, Chaitanya likened sankirtana welfare to distributing fruit that cures old age and death. I was enchanted by that analogy and have definitely experienced the benefits of giving and seeing others benefited.”</p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17536">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17536</a></p></div>Radha Krishna Boat festival at New Nandagram by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/radha-krishna-boat-festival-at-new-nandagram-by-ramai-swami2023-03-20T11:58:01.000Z2023-03-20T11:58:01.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11000311869,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="11000311869?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></p>
<p>Keshava Prabhu, from Hare Krishna Valley (New Nandagram) in Bambra, Victoria, invited Devamrta Maharaja and I to the Radha Krishna boat festival at the farm.The previous day was hot and gusty but the weather turned more pleasant on Sunday and there were 300-400 guests who attended.</p>
<p>The day started with arati and kirtan at the temple, then everyone went in procession down the hill to the lake. There was a joyous mood as the devotees anticipated seeing Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Krishna in a beautifully decorated boat bestowing Their merciful darshana to all.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11000313253,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="11000313253?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></p>
<p>Once there, Their Lordships were offered a wonderful variety of preparations, which was followed by arati and kirtan. Devamrta Maharaja and I spoke about Radha and Krishna’s pastimes in Vrndavan, especially at Manasi Ganga and on the Yamuna. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a sumptuous feast.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11000313489,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="11000313489?profile=RESIZE_584x" /><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/radha-krishna-boat-festival-at-new-nandagram/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/radha-krishna-boat-festival-at-new-nandagram/</a></p></div>Sri Gopastami by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-gopastami-by-giriraj-swami2022-11-01T04:30:00.000Z2022-11-01T04:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9794193495,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9794193495,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9794193495?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="499" height="781" /></a></p>
<p>Today is Gopastami, the day on which Krishna and Balarama and other boys Their age, who previously had tended the calves, were given charge of the cows. This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1):</p>
<p>tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje<br /> babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau<br /> gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair<br /> vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh</p>
<p>“When Lord Rama and Lord Krsna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrndavana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the task of tending the cows. Engaging thus in the company of Their friends, the two boys rendered the land of Vrndavana most auspicious by imprinting upon it the marks of Their lotus feet.”</p>
<p>As stated in the purport, “Since Lord Krsna’s spiritual body had apparently grown slightly in age and strength, the senior men of Vrndavana, headed by Nanda Maharaja, decided to promote Krsna from the task of herding calves to the status of a regular cowherd boy. He would now take care of the full-grown cows, bulls, and oxen. Out of great affection, Nanda Maharaja had previously considered Krsna too small and immature to take care of full-grown cows and bulls. It is stated in the Karttika-mahatmya section of the Padma Purana:</p>
<p>suklastami karttike tu<br /> smrta gopastami budhaih<br /> tad-dinad vasudevo ’bhud<br /> gopah purvam tu vatsapah</p>
<p>‘The eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Karttika is known by authorities as Gopastami. From that day, Lord Vasudeva served as a cowherd, whereas previously He had tended the calves.’</p>
<p>“The word padaih indicates that Lord Krsna blessed the earth by walking on her surface with His lotus feet. The Lord wore no shoes or other footgear but walked barefoot in the forest, giving great anxiety to the girls of Vrndavana, who feared that His soft lotus feet would be injured.”</p>
<p>The celebration was meant for only the cowherd men and boys, but Srimati Radharani also wanted to enjoy the fun, and so, because of Her resemblance to Subala-sakha, she donned his dhoti and other garments and joined Krishna. Thus, on this occasion, in temples in Vrindavan and elsewhere, Srimati Radharani is dressed as a cowherd boy.</p>
<p>The Lord is very kindly disposed toward the cows and the brahmans (go-brahmana-hitaya), and whoever serves them becomes dear to Him, too. Knowing this, devotees observe a special festival on the Gopastami day, dedicated to the worship of cows. In Vrindavan especially, but also the world over, devotees begin the festival by brushing the cows, painting their horns and bodies with artistic designs, and hanging flower garlands around their necks. Then a cow and her calf are selected, and an arati is offered to them. During the arati, devotees sing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and then they feed the cow, her calf, and indeed the entire herd, bananas, balls of gur (jaggery), and fresh grasses. Some devotees also recite the following mantra (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 16.252):</p>
<p>agratah santu me gavo<br /> gavo me santu prsthatah<br /> gavo me parsvatah santu<br /> gavam madhye vasamyaham</p>
<p>“May cows stay in front of me. May cows stay behind me. May cows stay on both sides of me. May I always reside in the midst of cows.”</p>
<p>At the ISKCON goshala in Vrindavan, the program ends with a breakfast feast served to participants in the cowsheds.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>Yours in service,<br /> Giriraj Swami</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=91395">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=91395</a></p></div>11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Lord Vamanadevahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/11-things-you-probably-didn-t-know-about-lord-vamanadeva-12021-09-17T13:18:27.000Z2021-09-17T13:18:27.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:295px;height:500px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9577278061,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Lord Vamanadeva" /></p>
<p>By Gauravani dasa</p>
<p>1. He is known by many names, the most common ones being Vamana (the little dwarf), Trivikrama (he who has taken three step; the giant form), and Upendra (Indra’s younger brother);<br /> 2. In every planetary system the denizens worship a particular visnu-tattva as their sole Lord (Plaksadvipa, Surya-Narayana; Brahmaloka; Maha-purusa; Maharloka; Yajna-purusa, et cetera) and in the heavenly planets, the demigods worship Lord Visnu in His plenary portion: the four-armed Vamana;<br /> 3. When Indra and the demigods leave Svargaloka temporarily to battle the asuras, Vamana stays behind and protects the Heavens by flying around on the back of Garuda, and pierces demons with His trident;<br /> 4. When Vamana took His second step, He pierced a hole through the subtle coverings that surround our universe, and Ganga and Yamuna flowed into our universe through that hole that Vamana made with His toe;<br /> 5. Srila Prabhupada had said that to honor festivals such as Rama Navami and Vamana Dvadasi, the devotees could dress up and worship a small boy as the particular avatar. In Mayapur, every year on Vamana Dvadasi a young gurukuli from the Bhaktivedanta Academy is chosen to ‘be’ Vamana for the day. A foot washing ceremony is performed, followed by elaborate offerings of bhoga (he gets to eat whatever he wants!), arati, pushpanjali, and distribution of his maha-prasad.<br /> 6. Bali Maharaj is a mahajana, and represents atma-nivedanam, the act of surrendering fully to the Lord, one of the angas of bhakti.<br /> 7. Bali Maharaj also become Indra in the next manvantara;<br /> 8. Vamana did not kill Bali Maharaj, because He had promised Prahlad Maharaj (Bali Maharaj’s grandfather) as Lord Nrsimhadeva that He would not kill anyone in his family lineage, before or after his time;<br /> 9. Vamana eternally resides on His personal planet in Vaikuntha, and as the door-guard to Bali Maharaj’s kingdom in the lower planetary systems, as well.<br /> 10. Once Ravana tried to force himself into Bali Maharaj’s kingdom. Vamana kicked Ravana with his toe and sent him flying 10,000 yojanas away.<br /> 11. When Vamana pushed Bali Maharaj down to Sutalaloka, Bali Maharaj received special permission from the Lord to visit his kingdom on earth once a year, the day of Onam.</p>
<p>your servant,<br /> Gauravani dasa</p></div>The many lessons for Vaishnavas to learn from Lord Vamanadevahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-many-lessons-for-vaishnavas-to-learn-from-lord-vamanadeva-22021-09-17T13:14:10.000Z2021-09-17T13:14:10.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:385px;height:500px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9577201486,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="The many lessons for Vaishnavas to learn from Lord Vamanadeva" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>By Kripamoya Das</p>
<p>Lord Vamanadeva appeared within this world from the womb of Aditi, the mother of the gods. He appeared at midday on the shravan-dvadasi, the 12th day of the lunar month of Shravan when the moon is waxing.</p>
<p>There are many lessons for Vaishnavas to learn from the narration of His activities, as found in the 8th canto, 18th chapter of the Bhagavat Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam). Amongst the lessons are these:</p>
<p>1. That God comes to this world in many forms; not just once, in one form, or even many times in the same form, but many times in many forms. He is never limited by the form, but remains all powerful.</p>
<p>2. That all other gods are meant to offer homage to Him. They did this when, appearing as a young child, he was awarded the sacred thread by Brihaspati, the guru of the gods. The sun god gave Him the Gayatri mantra and His father, Kasyapa Muni, a straw belt. Mother Earth gave Him a deerskin and Lord Brahma gave Him a waterpot. Kuvera, the heavenly treasurer gave Him a monk’s begging bowl, and the wife of Lord Shiva gave Him the first alms. In this way, the gods all offered the best of what they had to the Supreme God. Each of us, in our own way, must also give the best of what we own – our talents, intelligence, words and wealth – as a gift to that same God. He gave it to us along with our birth, and we can offer it back to Him.</p>
<p>3. Upon seeing the lad from a distance, King Bali noticed his remarkable sun-like effulgence. He welcomed Him and washed His feet. Thinking of himself as a great proprietor of the Earth, Bali then asked Vamanadeva what He would like to be given in charity, as this was the custom of the king. Vamana replied that He only wanted three paces of land, as measured by His own short steps. The king smiled at the thought of such a small request. He was soon to discover that just as God comes in disguise, so His requests to us are often disguised as simple acts of devotion. Many people smile at the thought that God asks us for only three words: Hare, Krishna, and Rama, spoken as a mantra. But as we speak those three small words we begin to realise that He is changing our life forever from within our hearts.</p>
<p>4.Vamanadeva teaches Bali that enlightened human beings are meant to be satisfied with what comes to them. Those who are not satisfied with what they actually need will never be satisfied, even if they gain the whole Earth. And a man or a woman practising the spiritual life must never be dissatisfied, for by such dissatisfaction they sprinkle water on the inner fire of their spiritual potency.</p>
<p>5. Bali Maharaja’s guru, Sukracarya. was perceptive enough to understand what was happening, who the young boy was, and what was about to happen. But he counselled the king to deny the request, even though he knew that it was Vishnu Himself asking. Thus Sukra was an atheist, even though learned in the Vedas. Such a guru, who stands in the way of his disciple’s emancipation, is fit to be rejected.</p>
<p>6. Bali turns to his guru and says that telling lies, or not keeping a promise once spoken, is the most sinful act. He explains that Mother Earth once said: ” I can bear any heavy thing except a person who is a liar.” Therefore, a person living according to dharma must scrupulously avoid lying.</p>
<p>7. He explains that the opportunity to give in charity to a qualified, saintly person is very rare. It must never be regarded as a time of loss, but as a moment when auspiciousness is drawn towards the giver. When we give we don’t lose, rather God – and the universe – gives us even more in return.</p>
<p>8. Sukra curses his own disciple, thus revealing the actual relationship that sometimes exists between an official religious priest and a member of the faith.</p>
<p>9. Vamana responds to Bali’s promise by expanding his size. Although God may appear as a child, He is the oldest of the old, the immeasurably largest of all large things, and the most powerful of all. This lesson would later be learned by Lord Brahma, who tested the Lord’s power when He appeared as child Krishna. God is also the ultimate owner of everything since everything emanates from Him.</p>
<p>10. Vamana takes His first two steps which, due to His size, encompass the entire cosmos. When He asks where He should place his third promised step, Bali realises that there is only one thing left to give Him – his very self. The king surrenders fully to God at that moment. The surrender of Bali, although offered in a moment of abject desperation, is nonetheless to be emulated by all of us. We don’t own countries, but we do regard ourselves as proprietors of our domestic domains. Most of these, in truth, never quite belong to us legally, and in the grand scheme of things we can claim no factual ownership at all. Death will come very quickly and take everything away from us, so better to give it all to God now. We do this by dedicating everything we own to His service. The result? Curiously enough, the same result that Bali achieved: that we are given everything back and that God draws us nearer to Him and His eternal abode.</p></div>Srila Prabhupada on Lord Vamanadevahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-prabhupada-on-lord-vamanadeva-12021-09-17T13:09:45.000Z2021-09-17T13:09:45.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:379px;height:500px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9577139693,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="Srila Prabhupada on Lord Vamanadeva" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada writes to one his disciples about Lord Vamanadeva:</p>
<p>Montreal 3 July, 1968</p>
<p>My Dear Satsvarupa,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 28, 1968, and I thank you very much for it. Regarding Bali Maharaja: He is born in the same atheistic family of Maharaja Prahlada. He happened to be the grandson of Maharaja Prahlada, and as his great grand-father, Hiranyakasipu was very powerful, and as there was animosity between the demigods and the demons, Bali Maharaja also defeated the demigods several times, and was occupying all the planets. At that time Vamanadeva appeared as the son of Kasyamuni. Bali Maharaja was very charitably disposed. Sometimes the atheists are also very charitable. Persons who believe that we are doing pious activities, making charities and welfare work to the human society, why should we bother about God?–such persons even though very moral and pious in the estimation of the material world, are also demons, on account of their apathy for Krishna Consciousness. So, Bali Maharaja was a man of that type. Under the circumstances he was not averse to accept charity and other pious activities. He was being guided by his spiritual master, Sukaracharya. Sukara means the semina. In other words, one claims to become acharya on the principle of being born of a Brahmin father. They may be called sukaracharya, or acharya or preacher not by disciplic succession, but on the right of heredity. In India there are still superstitions that one should be initiated by such sukaracharya family. They are called generally as the jatigosain. Jatigosain means the caste spiritual master. All over India, especially in Bengal, this jatigosain spiritual mastership is very prevalent. But really goswami means one who is master of the influence of different senses, namely the influence of tongue, the influence of mind, the influence of anger, the influence of belly, the influence of genital, and the influence of talking. So one who is master of these influential webs of sense gratification, he is called goswami. Goswami is not by hereditary chart. So Sukaracharya posed himself as such goswami spiritual master. He had many mystic powers, therefore he was considered to be very influential spiritual master of the demons.</p>
<p>So when Vamanadeva appeared, Bali Maharaja was attracted by His beauty as a Dwarf Brahmin, and as he was charitably disposed, he wanted to give Him some charity. But Sukaracharya, being elevated in mystic yogic powers, he could understand that Vamanadeva was Visnu. And in order to favor the demigods, He had come there to cheat Bali Maharaja in the shape of begging some charities. Bali Maharaja was puffed up with his material vanities, and Vamanadeva as He is Visnu, all-peaceful, without interrupting his attitude, just approached him in the form of a Brahmin, Who has a right to beg something from the princely order. And the principle orders also are always disposed, to make charities to the Brahmins.</p>
<p>Question, para. 2, answer: Sukracarya as spiritual master of Bali taught him that everything should be offered to Visnu. But when Visnu actually appeared before Bali, he was afraid of Bali Maharaja’s charitable disposition. He warned Bali Maharaja that this Vamanadeva had come there to take everything from him in the shape of charity, therefore he should not promise Him to give anything. This advice revolted Bali Maharaja because he was formerly instructed that everything should be offered to Visnu, now, why Sukaracharya was asking him not to act by his previous instructions? Sukaracharya was afraid of his own position. He was living at the cost of Bali Maharaja, so if Vamanadeva would take away everything from Bali Maharaja, he was thinking how he would live. That is a materialistic temperament. The materialist does not want to serve or to give to Visnu, because he thinks that by giving away to Visnu he will be put into poverty-stricken condition. This is materialistic estimation. But actually that is not the fact, as it will be evidenced by the dealing of Bali Maharaja and Vamanadeva.</p>
<p>Question 1, answer: That is the materialistic way of worshiping. Materialists are always careful for maintaining his material status quo first, and then please Visnu. Although they profess to be devotees of Visnu. Therefore the Krishna Consciousness persons are greater than such materialistic worshippers. Materialist person perform all pious activities or devotional activities for some material gain, and as soon as there is any hindrance in the path of material gain, they at once become demon. Therefore bhakti means without any material desires. That is the sign of pure devotee. He has no motive to satisfy his material desires by devotional service.</p>
<p>Question 2, answer: That is just his military spirit, that Bali Maharaja says “If He be the illustrious Lord Visnu not desirous of foregoing His own fame, He shall wrest from me this earth after slaying me in battle, or He shall be slain by me.” The last portion of this question is not very clear.</p>
<p>Question 3, answer: Why Bali Maharaja is considered a Mahajana: Bali Maharaja is Mahajana because he wanted to serve Visnu by disobeying his non-bonafide spiritual master. As explained above, Sukracarya was hereditary spiritual master by seminic succession. But Bali Maharaja first revolted against this stereotyped seminic succession spiritual master, and therefore he is Mahajana. Srila Jiva Goswami has described in his Karamasandharvha that one should be anxious to accept a spiritual master who is bona fide in spiritual knowledge. And if need be one should relinquish the connection of hereditary spiritual master and accept a real bona fide spiritual master. So when Sukaracharya advised him contrary to his previous instructions, specifically, he checked Bali Maharaja in the matter of worshipping Visnu, and thus Sukaracharya became at once fallen down from the position of becoming a spiritual master. Nobody can become a spiritual master who is not a devotee of Visnu. A brahmana may be very expert in the matter of performing Vedic rituals, accepting charities, and distributing wealth–all these are exalted qualifications of the brahmanas, but the Vedic injunction is, in spite of possessing all these qualities, if somebody is against Lord Visnu, he cannot be a spiritual master. So when Sukaracharya advised Bali Maharaja against Visnu, he at once became unqualified for becoming a spiritual master. Bali Maharaja disobeyed such unqualified spiritual master, and therefore, he is accepted as Mahajana. Mahajana means a personality whose footprints should be followed. So, his exemplary behavior in rejecting a non-Vaisnava spiritual master being ideal to the bona fide students, he is considered a Mahajana.</p>
<p>If Jadurani wants to paint the picture of Bali Maharaja, it should be like this: 1) The hall must be very nicely decorated, & princely hall, 2) in one side of the hall, the royal throne should be presented as vacant, and 3) Bali Maharaja should pose himself bowing down before Lord Vamanadeva, and Vamanadeva should be painted with one leg on the earth; and one leg high in the sky; and one leg coming out of his navel, and put on the head of Bali Maharaja. This means the charity of one’s possessions is not full for the Spreme Personality of Godhead, but when one’s personal body and head is given to the service of the Lord, then one becomes perfect in offering everything to the Lord. This is called complete surrender of everything that a devotee may possess.</p>
<p>Bali Maharaja may be shown as not more than 40 years old, very nice looking king, well dressed like the royal order, and with mustache and no beard. Sukaracharya should be wearing a Saivite tilaka, and also Maharaja Bali can have a Saivite tilaka, until after he meets with Vamanadeva, and then you can change Bali Maharaja’s tilaka into a Vaisnava one.</p>
<p>Yes, Pradyumna is typing that 3rd canto and will send you soon. Hoping you are all well.</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher,</p>
<p>A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
<p>P.S. While posting this letter, I have received your letter by 2nd July, 1968. I am glad to learn that Kirtana process in the Park is going on well as you received $50.00 last Sunday. This is very encouraging as in N.Y. also they are following the same process with success. I have received one letter from Rayarama as he is not going to Boston but he is in L.A. He will write you. Regarding immigration, I am sending here with the copy of the letter addressed to Mr. Hamilton. I think you should see Mr. Hamilton & take from him written letter advising me the right direction. I don’t want to see the U.S. Counsel.</p></div>The Appearance of Lord Vamanadevahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-appearance-of-lord-vamanadeva-22021-09-17T13:04:44.000Z2021-09-17T13:04:44.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:474px;height:500px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9576953279,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="The Appearance of Lord Vamanadeva" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>By Radhanath Swami</p>
<p>The Appearance of Lord Vamana</p>
<p>“Bali Maharaj, very intelligent personality. He was the son of Virochana, grandson of Prahlad, great grandson of Hiranyakashipu, great grand-nephew of Hiranyaksha. A very mixed up type of family heritage!”</p>
<p>So he performed yajna to please his guru Shukracharya, and his guru-maharaj was very pleased with him. In fact he arranged for the descendents of Bhrigu Muni to come to perform this yajna. And his disposition, his good qualities, was so pleasing to everyone that the descendents of Bhrigu showered blessings upon him, his guru Shukra showered blessings upon him. And by the performance of this particular sacrifice, performed by such great personalities, he received such blessings that he became undefeatable in his power. His body was radiating with light, with energy.</p>
<p>He gathered his army together and marched to Indrapur. And when Indra saw Bali Maharaj with his associates surrounding his abode, he was overcome with fear – “What can I do?” Just Bali Maharaj’s effulgence alone manifested such power that he could single-handedly destroy everyone, what to speak of his magnificent armies. So Indra approached his guru Brihaspati and asked: “What to do? I don’t see any hope of fighting against Bali Maharaj; look at his powers!” Brihaspati said: “He has pleased his guru; he has satisfied his guru and the brahmins; what to speak of the descendents of Bhrigu. Therefore time is on his side. There is no use trying to fight him: you will be crushed. The best thing to do is become invisible: evacuate. Evacuate your kingdom and hide.”</p>
<p>They became poverty stricken. They had nothing. They were just wandering around like fugitive, refugees; hiding from the demons. Very embarrassing situation. And there was nothing they could do. Their mother Aditi was feeling great distress to see her children in such a suffering condition. But what could she do? Her husband Kasyapa Muni was in his hermitage in the jungle performing tapasya, meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead; great devotee. Aditi, for a long time, many years, was suffering. She couldn’t even communicate with her children, seeing them deprived of everything. Finally after so many years of waiting Kasyapa Muni came out of his meditation. And he saw that his good wife was lamenting, so he asked her: “Is there some problem in our ashram? How is everything?” She said: “The ashram is fine but everywhere else there is problem. Our children: Indra, Varuna, Vayu; our children, they have been conquered by the demons. They are homeless, hiding like beggars, refugees. What to do? I can’t tolerate; this is causing too much pain to my heart.”</p>
<p>She knew her children’s shortcomings and defects; she knew the mistakes they made, but still, for a mother that is not important. “My children, I love them, I can’t tolerate to see them suffer.” She had such determination to help. So Kasyapa Muni saw his wife’s heart and told her: “The only possibility of bringing back the happiness to your children under this condition is that you must worship Lord Vasudev.” So she asked: “How this should be done?” He instructed her in the process of the Payovrata sacrifice. Payovrata sacrifice is a very, very detailed act of devotional service. A fasting, worshiping the guru, worshiping the Lord, chanting mantras, keeping very, very clean and very perfectly situated in your consciousness for twelve days. And the whole purpose of the Payovrata sacrifice is to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.</p>
<p>Aditi fell at his lotus feet. She rose with folded palms. She was in so much ecstasy seeing the Lord that tears were flowing from her eyes; she was so choked up, she couldn’t even speak. But finally with great effort she offered her obeisances and her surrender to the Lord.</p>
<p>Lord Narayana told Aditi: “I know exactly why you have approached me. I know your problem. And yes, I will bring back the wealth of your children. I will personally do it by becoming your son. You should worship your husband. I will manifest myself within your husband’s body and if you worship your husband properly then I will enter into your womb and appear as your own son.”</p>
<p>The Lord disappeared, and appeared within the heart of Kasyapa Muni. Aditi served her husband with great faithfulness, chastity and devotion.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada explains: “Just like in the forest, when two pieces of wood are pushed together by the wind, fire is created. Now, fire is not wood, and fire is not wind. So how is it that wind and wood create fire? It’s another element that is caused by the interaction. So Srila Prabhupada explains: “On the transcendental platform Aditi and Kasyapa came together and from their union the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifested.” The Supreme Personality of Godhead entered into the womb of Aditi. And on this day, the dwadashi, on the month of Shravan, Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared from the womb of Aditi. Therefore, this day is known as Vijaya, the day of victory. He appeared in his four-armed form as Narayana, from Vaikuntha. They worshipped him with great love, and then right in front of their eyes that four-armed form of Narayana transformed into a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful little brahman boy. He had a golden complexion and golden hair. He was a dwarf: therefore his name – Vamanadev. When the Lord transformed into this form he wasn’t just a little baby, he was a little dwarf. Soon all the demigods and the sages and the rishis came to celebrate the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They gave him various gifts. He was given a deer-skin; he was given rudraksha beads. Lord Brahma gave him kamandalu, a water pot, and goddess Parvati gave him the first alms when he went out to beg. He had a little stick and an umbrella. Little Vamanadev performed the yajna.</p>
<p>The meeting of Vamanadev with Bali Maharaj</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj performed a hundred Aswamedha yajnas when he was ruling very powerfully. So little Vamanadev, just by himself, walked with his bare feet and came upon the arena of the sacrifice on the banks of Narmada River. When Bali Maharaj saw him, this little dwarf – he was so effulgent, so beautiful, he radiated such purity and compassion – Bali Maharaj’s heart filled with joy. He stood up, and all the brahmins who were performing the yajna with him, they all stood up to offer honor and welcome to Lord Vamanadev. Bali Maharaj bowed to him and with deep affection he gave him a very, very honorable seat.</p>
<p>He said: “You have come; you have blessed us. Such a blessing you have given by your presence! You have sanctified my life. You have sanctified the whole yajna-shala. Please take whatever charity you wish. I can give you cows, I can give you property, I can give you homes, I can give you an island; whatever your desire; jewels. Ask for anything you desire.” Vamanadev replied: “If you wish to give me something then please give me three steps of land.”</p>
<p>And he spoke very strongly to his disciple. He said: “Don’t give him anything. Don’t give him these three steps of land, because you don’t know: he is the friend of your enemy. He is Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has come to cheat you. With his three steps of land he will cover everything you own. You will be bereft of everything. He has come to cheat you. He has come to take everything away from you.”</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj said: “But I have already promised. I have given him what he wants.” Shukracharya, he knew the scriptures quite thoroughly. And the nature of this world is if a scholar knows the scriptures you can take whatever you need from the scriptures to justify whatever you want to do or say. That is the problem. So Shukracharya was quoting from scriptures: “Yes, you have given your promise but there are times and circumstances where the scriptures sanction breaking your promise.” And he gave a whole list of reasons: when there is an emergency situation… And he gave all shastric evidence along with a very, very harsh prominent order: “You must break your promise and not give him anything.”</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj was very thoughtful. He paused and began to meditate: “There is nothing more sacred than one’s truthfulness. Even if you lose everything, if you are truthful you have something substantial; you have honor. What is the use if you have so much material opulences but you lose your honor?” In fact, it describes in this beautiful chapter that mother earth can tolerate any type of burden, but she can’t tolerate the burden of one liar that’s stepping upon her. In fact in this age of Kali it’s the last living leg of religiosity that’s wobbling but still existing – truthfulness.</p>
<p>Yudhisthir was an example of this. He was always truthful. Only when Krishna directly specifically told him to tell a lie… even then he hesitated.</p>
<p>sarva-dharmaan parityajya</p>
<p>maam ekam sharanam vraja</p>
<p>You can abandon all varieties of dharma and surrender to Krishna, but devotees can’t misuse this principle. Sometimes there is transcendental trickery in an emergency situation. An emergency situation, Prabhupada explains: If a child is sick and dying and he won’t take medicine, the mother would say: “This is a sweet, please eat it; laddu.” And the child asks if there medicine in it. The mother says: “No, it’s just laddu.” But there is medicine in it. So is she a liar? Because her purpose is selfless; there is absolutely no selfish motivation. She is simply doing it out of a crisis, emergency, to save the life of her child. Sometimes, for this reason we may have to adulterate the truth to save a person’s life.</p>
<p>But in this age of Kali prajalpa, gramya-katha is so prominent. We just don’t take these things seriously. jéve phele viñaya-sägore. The tongue is the most difficult of all the senses to control. The tongue can bring us back home, back to Godhead, if it vibrates the holy names, and the tongue can plumb us down to hellish conditions by speaking disrespectfully or by lying. So yes, we have to take this seriously. Prabhupada took this very seriously. Truthfulness is all important.</p>
<p>So a person who has actual spiritual and religious principles, he is willing to risk and sacrifice many cheap things of this temporary world to sustain the higher principle of truthfulness. And that was Bali Maharaj. His honor of being truthful was more precious than all of his kingdom, than his life itself, because mother earth can’t tolerate the burden of a liar. And he was thinking: “My guru was supposed to teach me to surrender to Vishnu. So my guru is telling me this is Vishnu and he is telling me not to surrender. Therefore, he is not bona fide guru.” So he turned to Vamanadev, and said: “Yes, I will grant your request. You may take three steps of land.” Shukrachayra was really offended. Now this is a difficult situation. Not everything is always easy in this world.</p>
<p>The surrender of King Bali</p>
<p>Trivikram_eSometimes you have no choice but to offend somebody. Yes? Can you imagine Bali Maharaj’s dilemma? He is in a predicament; he could have committed suicide. But outside of that alternative he had to either offend Vishnu by lying to him, or his guru by disobeying his instruction. Very difficult situation to be in!</p>
<p>His guru was outraged. Shukracharya said: “If you defy my order then I curse you ‘you will lose everything.’” Everything lost. Very upset!</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj was a man of exemplary integrity. Therefore he is a mahajan. To be honest, to do the right thing. Sometimes we are at risk of losing so much. But this was Bali Maharaj’s integrity. He had no fear; he was willing to lose everything. He was willing to accept any reaction to do what was right and speak what was right. This is a Vaishnava.</p>
<p>“Yes, take your three steps.”</p>
<p>Actually before this, when Vamanadev first asked for three steps, Bali Maharaj was amazed. “Why only three steps? I am the king of the universe, I can give you anything. You are only a dwarf; your three steps are so tiny.” The amount of land for three steps will hardly be one step for Bali Maharaj. “I can give you islands. I can give you tremendous wealth; I can give you much property. I can give you anything you want. Why only three steps? Ask for more.” Little Vamanadev told: “Actually you have conquered the whole world, but in your mind you are not satisfied. I have nothing. I am just a little dwarf with nothing. But I am satisfied. Happiness is within. If you are not happy in your heart, you can’t be happy if you gain the whole universe. And if you are happy within then whether you have or don’t have you will be happy. Happiness is within the heart. I already have that. I don’t need what you give me. Just give me three steps.”</p>
<p>“Yes, take your three steps.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Lord Brahma was worshiping his lotus foot, And Jambavan was doing pujas and circumambulating his lotus foot. It was an incredible scene. And his second step went so high that it actually reached the very end of the universe, above Brahmaloka, and his toe pierced the covering of the universe. And a drop of water from the Causal Ocean came out of that crack that he created and fell on his feet. And then that water that fell on his feet came down. And it is described in the Bhagvatam that different demigods came with their flower-airplanes with pots to get that charanamrita. And they brought it to their heavenly planets. And this was the origin of Ganga-devi.</p>
<p>On the Karana Ocean, the ocean in which the Lord is laying, that water entered into this universe and washed the lotus feet of Lord Vamanadev. Therefore, it is charanamrita, it is eternally sanctified and pure. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained the power of Ganga: “Anyone who sees the Ganga, touches the water of the Ganga, tastes the water of Ganga, bathes in the water of the Ganga, or even if someone is touched by breeze that has come off the Ganga, those persons would become purified of sins and in due course of time love of Krishna will awaken in that person’s heart.” King Bhagirath, by his tremendous determination, I believe 60,000 years of tapasya he performed to bring Ganga-mata from the heavenly worlds to Gangotri in the Himalayas. And thus she flows to sanctify the earth planet.</p>
<p>So he already covered the entire universe with two steps. But Bali Maharaj promised him three steps. Bali Maharaj was watching this whole thing in ecstasy. He was just in bliss. Because he understood, he understood the substance of the integrity of his grandfather, Prahlad Maharaj, and he was following in the footsteps of Prahlad. So at that point Garuda, understanding that Bali Maharaj was a liar, he was not keeping his promise… He promised three steps of land; two steps have already been taken. What he has? He has nothing else to give. Just imagine Bali Maharaj’s predicament. Just to be truthful he accepted the curse of Shukrachayra, he accepted the risk of losing everything just to maintain being truthful, and after all that the Lord made him so that he couldn’t be truthful. When Krishna wants to humble someone, he is thorough, totally thorough. yasyaaham anugrhanaami harishye tad-dhanam shanai.</p>
<p>Yes, in the name of being truthful a devotee is willing to risk everything. But in the end he risked everything, he lost everything and the Lord made him all to be liar, because he couldn’t fulfill his promise of three steps. Therefore, Garuda tied him up with a serpentine rope, like a prisoner. When this happened the soldiers of Bali’s armies, they were outraged. They were really, really outraged. “Just see what Vishnu is doing. He is taking everything away.” If they take it away, they take it away from us. Don’t think that they were selflessly serving Bali Maharaj. Whatever Bali had is they had, whatever he didn’t have what was they lose. So the demons, they were mobilizing armies to attack Vamanadev. And Bali Maharaj said: “No, no, don’t attack. Don’t harm him.” But by that time they saw that he was powerless. Who was he? He was wrapped around with ropes. So they attacked Vishnu. And Vishnu, just his associates defeated all of the asuras. They just scattered in all directions and ran away.</p>
<p>And now Bali Maharaj is being treated as a criminal, made into a prisoner. And he is brought bound with ropes before Vamanadev who now has taken his original form as a dwarf. And when he was in that predicament, when he was in that situation, Vamanadev told him: “You have promised me three steps. Where should I put my third?” Bali Maharaj, this was a very suspenseful situation, please try to be there. What a suspenseful situation this is! He is tied up; he is a prisoner. Everyone is around; they are watching what will he do. Bali Maharaj, he was in bliss. Totally humiliated in front of everybody; his wife, Vindyavali. Usually men don’t like to be humiliated in front of their wife. I am a sannyasi, but this is what I have seen. This is very unbearable for a husband to be outdone or humiliated before the wife. And his wife was watching. And all of his armies and all of his relatives and everybody around is seeing how Bali, the great king of the universe, has become an insignificant beggar, imprisoned; nothing left.</p>
<p>With tears of love in his eyes, Bali Maharaj spoke, he said: “My Lord, you have already taken everything. You have taken all my land, all my property, all my wealth, all my influence and prestige.” He totally took his prestige away. He said: “You have taken everything. There is only one thing left I have: my life, my body and my life.” And Prabhupada explains in this regard that how it was his life that possessed all these other things. His life is actually more valuable than everything else. So the greatest gift: giving the Lord all the planets that I control, all the gold and jewels and all the money and all the prestige and all my followers, giving them all – that is a small thing. But real offering is to give my life – my body, mind, and words.</p>
<p>Prahlad Maharaj was so happy. He appeared and was praising the good qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is so merciful that he took everything away. Prahlad’s prayers are very important. He is praising: “The Lord is the most merciful, the most attractive, the ultimate friend of everyone, because he has taken everything away</p>
<p>How Bali Maharaj became a Mahajan</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj was thinking: “Actually the demigods think that the Lord is merciful to them. Not at all, the Lord is most merciful to the demons.” This was Bali Maharaj’s psychology – “The Lord is most merciful to us – demons.”</p>
<p>Do you understand this? Would you like to hear the psychology of Bali Maharaj? Because the demigods, the Lord protects them and gives them their abodes and protects their abodes and all their opulence, and they get caught up in all the sense gratification and caught up in all this false prestige. And the Lord just keeps giving it to them and giving it to them and protecting them. And even when the demons come and try to take it away, eventually the Lord gives it back to the demigods. So by giving them all these material things, the Lord is not really very merciful to them. But he is merciful to the demons because he takes everything away from us. He takes everything away from us – that is his mercy. He actually favors the demons.</p>
<p>tat te ’nukampaam susamiikshamaano bhunjaana evaatma-krtam vipaakam.</p>
<p>“Prabhupada quotes in this regard that when one is put into very, very difficult circumstance, a devotee is grateful. A devotee, even when the Lord is taking everything away, even when the Lord puts you in the terribly painful condition, that devotee, with folded palms, will thank God: “This is your mercy; this is your kindness. I don’t deserve your kindness. I surrender to you.” To that person alone is liberation a rightful claim. Bali Maharaj manifested this principle. He personified this virtue.”- Radhanath Swami</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj surrendered his life to the Lord. His own wife Vindyavali was praising his good qualities. Prahlad was praising like anything the good qualities and the good fortune of Bali Maharaj for surrendering and losing everything for the Lord. Bali Maharaj meditated on Prahlad. That was how he got his courage to surrender everything. He meditated on his grandfather, Prahlad, and he followed in his footsteps. mahaajano yena gatah sa panthaah.</p>
<p>Vamanadev Accepts the Role of Door-Keeper for Bali Maharaj</p>
<p>Bali Maharaj followed in the footsteps of Prahlad. He was determined to not deter from the integrity of his honesty, his truthfulness and his promise to the Lord.</p>
<p>So Lord Vamanadev was so happy. He was so happy by Bali Maharaj’s unconditional, unmotivated surrender. He was not hoping or expecting anything in return. He gave his everything. Atma-nivedanam. He surrendered everything unconditionally. But the Lord, he reciprocates with our surrender.</p>
<p>ye yathaa maam prapadyante</p>
<p>taams tathaiva bhajaamy aham</p>
<p>[BG 4.11]</p>
<p>Therefore the lord gave Bali Maharaj a planet to rule over, Sutala, because he had nothing else. And Prahlad Maharaj wanted to be with him. He said: “I will also go to Sutala to live with my grandson.” Prahlad was so happy. He was so happy; he was so proud. How many grandfathers are proud of their son when they surrendered everything? Prahlad. And Vamanadev was so grateful. Vamanadev, by his own sweet will, accepted the role of the door-keeper for Bali Maharaj. Now that’s a very menial service. Is it not? A doorman, guarding the door for Bali Maharaj! Why did he accept that humble service?</p>
<p>“That same Lord who just manifested Upendra form, Trivikrama form, the Supreme Lord of all lords who with three steps covered the universe and conquered Bali, accepted the very humble position of the door keeper for Bali because he couldn’t give up the association of this devotee. He wanted to always give satisfaction to Bali Maharaj.”- Radhanath Swami</p>
<p>man-manaa bhava mad-bhakto</p>
<p>mad-yaaji maam namaskuru</p>
<p>maam evaishyasi satyam te</p>
<p>pratijaane priyo ‘si me</p>
<p>[BG 18.65]</p>
<p>“Always think of me, become my devotee, worship me and offer your homage unto me. In this way you will come to me without fail. This is my promise my dear friend.”</p>
<p>Vamanadev was always there in the vision of Bali Maharaj. So he could always remember him with love.</p>
<p>“There are many glorious lessons to be learned by this story. But ultimately like so many other lilas of the Lord, the Lord really descends to this world to glorify his devotee. Narasingha dev appeared in this world to give glory to Prahlad. Krishna appeared in this world to give glory to the Vrajavasis, to the Yadus. And Vamanadev, in his own inconceivable extra-ordinary way, came to glorify Bali Maharaj forever-more as the personified example of one who attains the ultimate perfection of pure love of God by surrendering everything.”</p></div>Why Srimati Radharani descended from Goloka?https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/why-srimati-radharani-descended-from-goloka-22021-09-16T11:04:19.000Z2021-09-16T11:04:19.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="height:500px;width:382px;margin:5px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9573205273,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="Why Srimati Radharani descended from Goloka?" /></p>
<p>Brahma-vaivarta Purana<br /> –<br /> Chapter Two<br /> Sridama-Radha-kalaha-varnana<br /> Description of the Quarrel Between Sridama and Radha</p>
<p>1-2 On whose request did Krsna come to the surface of the earth, what the Lord did before He returned to His own abode, how He removed the earth’s burden, and how He killed the demons, of all these I will, carefully thinking of what happened, tell you the story.<br /> 3 Listen and I will tell you of Lord Hari’s descent as a cowherd boy.<br /> His arrival in Gokula, and Radha’s descent as gopi.<br /> 4 Listen and I will tell you in detail what before you heard me tell only<br /> briefly in the story of Sankhacuda’s death.<br /> 5 Sridama quarrelled with Radha and She cursed him to become the demon<br /> Sankhacuda.<br /> 6 Then Sridama cursed Radha: Go to a human womb in Vraja! Become a girl<br /> of Vraja and walk on the earth’s surface!<br /> 7 Afraid of Sridama’s curse, She went to Sri Krsna and said: I will<br /> become a gopi! Sridama cursed Me! What will I do to prevent it! O breaker of<br /> fears please tell me.<br /> 8 How can I live without You? O Lord, without You every moment will<br /> become a hundred yugas.<br /> 9-10 My heart bursts into flames when the blinking of My eyes separates Us.<br /> O Lord glorious as the autumn moon, using the cakora birds of My eyes I drink<br /> the nectar of Your face day and night. I declare that You are My heart, My<br /> self, My mind and My body.<br /> 11 You are My eyes and My power to see. You are My life. You are My<br /> treasure. Awake of asleep, I always meditate on Your lotus feet. O Lord,<br /> without serving You I cannot live for a moment.<br /> 12 Hearing these words, Lord Krsna placed His beautiful beloved on His<br /> chest. He reassured Her and removed Her fears. He said:<br /> 13-14 O girl with the beautiful face, during the Varaha-kalpa I will go to<br /> the earth. You will go with Me and also take birth on the earth. O goddess, I<br /> will go to Vraja and enjoy pastimes (with You) in the forest.<br /> 15 You are more dear to Me than life. If I am present why should You be<br /> afraid?<br /> Saying this, Lord Hari, the master of the universes, became silent.<br /> 16 For this reason the master of the universes went to Nanda’s Gokula.<br /> Why should He be afraid? Of what would He, the killer of fears, be afraid?<br /> 17 Pretending to fear the illusory potency, He assumed the appearance of a<br /> gopa, approached Radha, and enjoyed pastimes with Her.<br /> 18-19 To keep the promise He made when the demigod Brahma prayed to Him, Lord<br /> Krsna came to earth with the gopis, removed the earth’s burden and then<br /> returned to His own abode.<br /> 20 Sri Narada said: Why did Sridama quarrel with Radha? What you briefly<br /> told before, now please tell at length.<br /> 21 Sri Narayana Rsi said: One time, in a rasa-mandala in a secluded place<br /> in a great forest in Goloka, Lord Hari enjoyed pastimes with Sri Radha.<br /> Overcome with bliss, Radha could not understand Herself or anything else.<br /> 22 Leaving Her unsatisfied in the midst of Their pastimes, He went to<br /> enjoy amorous pastimes with Viraja, another gopi.<br /> 23 Beautiful Viraja resembled Radha. She has a billion beautiful gopi<br /> friends.<br /> 24 As she sat on a jewel throne, this gopi, who thought Lord Krsna more<br /> dear than life, and who was fortunate and glorious among women, saw Lord Hari<br /> approach.<br /> 25 Lord Hari looked at her, her face glorious as the autumn moon, and she,<br /> ravishingly beautiful, smiled, and with crooked eyes gazed at Him.<br /> 26 She was eternally sixteen years old, in the full bloom of youth. She<br /> wore exquisite garments and Her beauty was richer with jewel ornaments.<br /> 27 Seeing that she was being tortured by Kamadeva’s arrows and the hairs<br /> of all her limbs were erect with excitement, Lord Hari at once enjoyed pastimes<br /> with her.<br /> 28-29 In the great forest, in a secluded place, in a circle of jewels, on a<br /> bed made of flowers, as she embraced to her chest the Lord of her life, who is<br /> more glorious than millions of Kamadevas, Viraja fainted, overcome with the<br /> bliss by enjoying amorous pastimes with Lord Krsna.<br /> 30 Seeing Lord Hari embraced by her in the jewel pavilion, Radha’s friends<br /> at once told their mistress.<br /> 31 Hearing their words, Radha became angry and lay down on Her bed.<br /> 32 Her eyes like red lotus flowers, the goddess wept bitterly. The great<br /> goddess said to them: “Show Him to Me.”<br /> 33 If you speak the truth, then come with Me. I will give Krsna and this<br /> gopi the result They deserve.<br /> 34 When I punish her who will save her? With her quickly bring Lord<br /> Hari’s other lovers also.<br /> 35-36 Don’t bring that smiling, crooked-hearted, nectar-mouthed pot of poison<br /> to My home. Instead, take the Lord to My beautiful pavilion and keep Him<br /> there.<br /> 37 Hearing Radha’s words, some gopis became frightened, and they all<br /> folded their hands and humbly bowed their heads and necks.<br /> 38 Standing before Her, they all said to the Lord’s eternal beloved: “We<br /> will show You the Lord with Viraja.”<br /> 39 After hearing their words, beautiful Radha, ascended a chariot. She<br /> departed with 1 630 000 000 gopis, travelling on a chariot…<br /> 40 …made of may regal jewels, splendid as millions of suns, roofed with<br /> thirty million domes made of regal jewels, splendid with a variety of colourful<br /> flowers, pulled by colourful horses,…<br /> 41 …with ten thousand wheels, enchanting the heart, travelling as fast<br /> as the mind, beautiful with ten million pillars and many different glorious<br /> jewels,…<br /> 42 …with many wonderful and colourful beautiful pictures, with many<br /> rubies in the inside rooms, with many jewels decorating the wheels,…<br /> 43 …with four hundred thousand splendid and wonderful wheels decorated<br /> with wonderful bells and tinkling ornaments,…<br /> 44 …with a hundred thousand jewel palaces, with doors made of the best<br /> of jewels, with jewel pictures,…<br /> 45 …with domes of the best regal jewels, with splendid spires, with<br /> delicious foods and exquisite garments,…<br /> 46 …beautiful with many jewel beds, jewel cups and cases, and golden<br /> platforms,…<br /> 47 …with ten million ruby staircases, with very beautiful syamantaka and<br /> kaustubha jewels,…<br /> 48 …splendidly beautiful with wonderful forests and lakes and hundreds<br /> of groves of millions of lotus flowers,…<br /> 49 …with splendid jewel domes and spires eighty miles wide and eight<br /> hundreds miles high,…<br /> 50 …splendid with ten million garlands of parijata, kunda, karavira and<br /> yuthika flowers,…<br /> 51 …fragrant with many very beautiful campaka, nagesa, mallika, malati,<br /> and madhavi flowers,…<br /> 52 …decorated with many garlands of kadamba flowers and thousand petal<br /> lotuses,…<br /> 53 …decorated with wonderful forests, lakes, and colourful flower<br /> gardens, fast as the wind, the best of all chariots,…<br /> 54 …covered with exquisite fine cloth, decorated with hundreds of jewel<br /> mirrors,…<br /> 55 …decorated with sapphires and white camaras, fragrant with sandal,<br /> aguru, musk and kunkuma,…<br /> 56 …splendid with ten million parijata-decorated beds, ten million<br /> flags, and ten million bells,…<br /> 57 …with ten million jewel beds covered with wonderful and colourful<br /> blankets, fragrant with campaka flowers, sandal and kunkuma,…<br /> 58 …decorated with flower-pillows, and perfect for amorous pastimes, and<br /> also decorated with many beautiful things never seen or heard of before.<br /> 59 O sage, quickly descending from the chariot thus described, Lord Hari’s<br /> beloved goddess Radha, at once went to Him in the pavilion of jewels.<br /> 60 At the entrance She saw a handsome, smiling, lotus-faced guard<br /> accompanied by a hundred thousand gopas.<br /> 61 To that gopa, who was Sri Krsna’s dear friend named Sridama, goddess<br /> Radha, Her eyes now like red lotuses, angrily said:<br /> 62 Go away! O servant of a rake, go away! I will see what kind of<br /> beautiful lover Your master has now!<br /> 63 Hearing Radha’s words, strong and fearless Sridama, holding a stick in<br /> his hand, did not allow Her to enter.<br /> 64 Their lips trembling, the other gopis angrily pushed the servant<br /> Sridama.<br /> 65 Hearing a great commotion from the people of Goloka and understanding<br /> that Radha was angry, Lord Hari disappeared.<br /> 66 Hearing the word “Radha” and seeing Lord Hari disappear, Viraja became<br /> afraid. By practice of mystic yoga she gave up her life.<br /> 67 Her body at once became a river circling Goloka.<br /> 68 That river was filled with jewels, very deep, eight hundred million<br /> miles wide, and ten times as long.<br /> Chapter Three<br /> Sri Radha-Sridama-sapodbhava<br /> The Cursing of Sri Radha and Sridama<br /> 1 O sage, when She went to the pavilion of amorous pastimes Radha did not<br /> see Lord Hari. Seeing the river that Viraja had become, She went home.<br /> 2 Seeing that His eternal beloved had become a river, Sri Krsna loudly<br /> wept on the beautiful shore of that Viraja River.<br /> 3 “O best, best of lovers, come to Me! O beautiful one, beautiful one,<br /> how can I live without you?<br /> 4 “By My blessing now become the most beautiful of women, and the empress<br /> of rivers.<br /> 5 :Now have a form more beautiful than the beautiful form you had. O<br /> chaste one, your previous form has now become a river.”<br /> 6 “Raise from the water and come to Me.”<br /> Taking a new form, and beautiful like Radha, she approached Lord Hari.<br /> 7 Wearing yellow garments and her lotus face smiling, with crooked eyes<br /> she gazed at the Lord of Her life and He gazed at her.<br /> 8 She was oppressed by the burden of her hips and thighs, and her breasts<br /> were swollen and high.<br /> 9 She was the most beautiful of beautiful women, and She was fortunate<br /> and glorious among women. She was the colour of a beautiful campaka flower and<br /> her lips were ripe bimba fruits.<br /> 10 Her beautiful teeth were like ripe pomegranate seeds,, her face was an<br /> autumn moon, and her eyes were blossoming dark lotuses.<br /> 11 She was decorated with a dot of musk and many dots of red sindura. She<br /> was beautiful with beautiful designs and pictures. Her braided hair was very<br /> beautiful.<br /> 12 Jewel earrings resting on her cheeks, She was decorated with a necklace<br /> of jewels and glorious with a necklace of pearls. On the tip of her nose was<br /> an elephant pearl.<br /> 13 She was splendid with jewel armlets and bracelets and a bracelet of<br /> shells. She was opulent with many tinkling ornaments and tinkling jewel<br /> anklets.<br /> 14 Seeing her so beautiful and so full of love for Him, the Lord of the<br /> universes at once embraced her and kissed her again and again.<br /> 15 Going to a secluded place, the all-powerful Lord again and again<br /> enjoyed many different kinds of amorous pastimes, beginning with viparita-lila,<br /> with His beloved.<br /> 16 Accepting the Lord’s invincible semen, passionate and fortunate Viraja<br /> at once became pregnant.<br /> 17 After a hundred celestial years of pregnancy, she gave birth to seven<br /> handsome sons from the Lord.<br /> 18 In this way the Lord’s eternal beloved became the mother of seven sons.<br /> She was very happy with her seven sons.<br /> 19 One day, her heart filled with amorous desires, the saintly girl again<br /> enjoyed pastimes with Lord Hari in a secluded place in Vrndavana forest.<br /> 20 Then, frightened by his brothers, her youngest son came there and went<br /> to his mother’s lap.<br /> 21 Seeing her son was afraid, she who was an ocean of kindness left Lord<br /> Hari and placed the boy on her lap. Then Krsna went to Radha’s home.<br /> 22 When she had comforted the boy she noticed that her beloved was no<br /> longer there. Her heart filled with unsatisfied desires, she lamented greatly.<br /> 23 She angrily cursed her son: “You will become an ocean of salt-water.<br /> The living entities will never drink your water.”<br /> 24 Then she cursed all the boys: “Those fools will go to the earth!<br /> Fools, go to beautiful Jambudvipa on the earth!<br /> 25 “They will not stay together in one place, but will stay each in his<br /> own place. They will stay happily around different islands.<br /> 26 “They may enjoy pastimes with the rivers on these islands.”<br /> In this way, because of his mother’s curse, the youngest boy became an<br /> ocean of salt-water.<br /> 27 The youngest then told the other boys about their mother’s curse.<br /> Unhappy, all the boys went to their mother.<br /> 28 After hearing their mother’s words, they offered obeisances to her<br /> feet. Then, their necks bowed with devotion, they all went to the surface of<br /> the earth.<br /> 29 O sage, they became seven oceans around the seven islands. From the<br /> youngest to the eldest, each ocean was twice as large as the preceding one.<br /> 30 They became oceans of salt-water, sugarcane juice, wine, clarified<br /> butter, yoghurt, milk and sweet water. Their liquid will be used to cultivate<br /> grains on the earth.<br /> 31 In this way they became seven oceans around the seven islands of the<br /> earth. Unhappy in separation from their mother and brothers, all the boys<br /> wept.<br /> 32 Tormented by separation from her sons, chaste Viraja wept again and<br /> again. She fainted out of grief she felt for her sons and husband.<br /> 33 Understanding that she was drowning in an ocean of grief, Radha’s<br /> master, His lotus face smiling, came to her again.<br /> 34 When she saw Lord Hari she stopped weeping and lamenting. Gazing at<br /> her beloved, she became plunged in an ocean of bliss.<br /> 35 Overcome with passion, she placed Lord Hari on her lap and enjoyed<br /> pastimes with Him. In this way, even though she had abandoned her sons, Lord<br /> Hari became pleased with her.<br /> 36 His eyes and face filled with happiness, He gave her a benediction:<br /> “Beloved, I will always come to you.<br /> 37 “Like Radha you will be dear to Me. By the power of My blessing you<br /> will always protect your sons.”<br /> 38 Seeing Sri Krsna with Viraja as he spoke these words, Radha’s friends<br /> told their mistress.<br /> 39 Hearing this, Radha lay down in the palace of anger and wept. Then<br /> Krsna entered that palace and approached Her.<br /> 40 O Narada, accompanied by Sridama, Krsna stood at Radha’s door. When<br /> She who is the queen of the rasa dance saw Her beloved Lord Hari, She became<br /> angry and said:<br /> 41 O Lord Hari, You have many other lovers in Goloka. Go to them! Why do<br /> You need Me?<br /> 42 Even though Your dear lover Viraja, out of fear of Me, left her body<br /> and became a river, still You go to her!<br /> 43 Build a palace on her shore and stay with her. Stay with her. Go to<br /> her. She became a river. You became a river also.<br /> 44 Because they belong to the same class, it is glorious for one river to<br /> associate with another river. As they happily eat together and sleep together<br /> they feel great love for each other.<br /> 45 O crest jewel of divine persons, when they hear from Me that You are<br /> enjoying pastimes with a river, the great souls will smile.<br /> 46 They who say You are the master of the universes do not truly know Your<br /> heart. The Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul in the hearts of all,<br /> now desires to enjoy pastimes with a river!<br /> 47 After speaking these words, angry goddess Radha stopped. Surrounded by<br /> a hundred thousand gopis, She would not rise from Her bed.<br /> 48 Some gopis carried camaras in their hands, some carried fine garments,<br /> some carried betelnuts in their hands, and some carried flower-garlands in<br /> their hands.<br /> 49 Some carried cups of scented water in their hands, some carried lotus<br /> flowers in their hands, some carried red sindura in their hands, and some<br /> carried flower garlands in their hands.<br /> 50 Some carried jewel ornaments in their hands, some carried black<br /> kajjala, some carried flutes and vinas in their hands, and some carried combs<br /> in their hands.<br /> 51 Some carried aviras in their hands, some carried yantras in their<br /> hands, some carried scented oil in their hands, some most beautiful women<br /> carried karatalas in their hands, and some carried toy balls.<br /> 52 Some played mrdangas, murajas, flutes and karatalas, some expertly<br /> sang, and some expertly danced.<br /> 53 Some carried toys in their hands, some carried cups of honey in their<br /> hands, some carried cups of nectar in their hands, and some carried footstools<br /> in their hands.<br /> 54 Some carried garments and ornaments in their hands, some served Radha’s<br /> feet, some stood before Her with folded hands, and some spoke prayers<br /> glorifying Her.<br /> 55 How many stood before Her? O sage, millions and millions stood<br /> outside.<br /> 56 As Krsna stood at the door, Radha’s friends, who held sticks, would not<br /> allow Him to enter.<br /> 57 As the Lord of Her life stood before Her, Radha spoken to Him words<br /> that were inaccurate, not worthy to be spoken, improper, and very harsh.<br /> 58 O Krsna, O lover of Viraja, get away from Me! O Lord Hari, o restless<br /> debauchee, why do You trouble Me?<br /> 59 Go at once to Padmavati! Go to beautiful Ratnamala or Vanamala whose<br /> beauty has no equal!<br /> 60 O lover of a river, O master of the demigods, O guru of the demigods’<br /> guru, I know who You are. Auspiciousnss to You! Go! Go from My asrama!<br /> 61 Again and again You act like a human! Rake, enter a human womb! Leave<br /> Goloka and go to Bharata-varsa!<br /> 62 O Susila, Sasikala, Padmavati, Madhavi, stop this criminal! What need<br /> have we for Him?<br /> 63 After hearing Radha’s words, the gopis spoke to Lord Hari words there<br /> were beneficial, truthful, gentle, sweet, and appropriate to that circumstance.<br /> 64 Some said: “O Lord Hari, for a moment go to another place. When<br /> Radha’s anger subsides we will bring You here.”<br /> 65 Some very affectionately said: “Go home for a moment. You make Radha<br /> blissful. Except for You, who can protect Her.<br /> 66 O sage, out of love for Radha some gopis said to Lord Hari: “For a<br /> moment go to Vrndavana forest until Her anger subsides.”<br /> 67 Some joked to the Lord: “O passionate one, by devotedly serving Her You<br /> will appease the jealous anger of Your passionate beloved.”<br /> 68 Some said the to Lord: “Go to another wife in the meantime, O Lord, we<br /> will bring the result You earnestly desire.”<br /> 69 Some stood smiling before Lord Hari and said: “Go to Her and pacify Her<br /> jealous anger.”<br /> 70 Some gopis spoke harshly to the Lord of their lives: “Who can see<br /> Radha’s lotus face now?”<br /> 71 Some said to the all-powerful Lord: “O Lord Hari, go to another place,<br /> and when Her anger is over You may return.”<br /> 72 Some beautiful and arrogant gopis said to Him: “IF You don’t go to<br /> another’s home, we will force You to go.”<br /> 73 Some beautiful gopis then surrounded the smiling, peaceful, and<br /> cheerful Supreme Lord of all and prevented Him from entering.<br /> 74 Forced by the gopis, Lord Hari, who is the first cause of the world’s<br /> causes, left and went to another’s home. Then Sridama became angry.<br /> 75 His lotus eyes now red, Sridama angrily spoke to the supreme goddesss,<br /> Sri Radha, whose lotus eyes were also red with anger.<br /> 76 Sridama said: O mother, why do You speak these harsh words to m master?<br /> O goddess, You rebuke Him without any consideration and for no reason.<br /> 77-79 You mock the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of<br /> Brahma, Ananta, Siva and is the master of Sarasvati, Laksmi, Laya, Maya and<br /> Prakrti, who is beyond the modes of material nature, who is self-satisfied, and<br /> whose desires are all fulfilled. Know that it is only because of Your service<br /> to Him and Your worship of His feet that You have become the best of goddesses<br /> and the queen of all. O beautiful one, You do not understand Him. How can I<br /> have the power to describe Him?<br /> 80 With a playful bend in His eyebrows He can create many millions of<br /> millions of goddesses like You. You do not understand Him, the Lord who is<br /> beyond the modes of material nature.<br /> 81 In Vaikuntha goddess Laksmi eternally serves Lord Hari with great<br /> devotion. She washes His lotus feet and dries them with her own hair.<br /> 82 With devotion Sarasvati always praises Him with beautiful prayers that<br /> are nectar for the ears. You do not understand Him, the great Supreme<br /> Personality of Godhead.<br /> 83 Frightened goddess Maya, who is the material energy and the personified<br /> life of all conditioned souls, always praises Him with devotion. O proud one,<br /> You do not understand Him.<br /> 84 Although they eternally offer prayers to Him, the Vedas cannot<br /> understand even one sixteenth of His glory. O beautiful one, You do not<br /> understand Him.<br /> 85 O goddess, with his four heads powerful Brahma, the father of the<br /> Vedas, glorifies Krsna. Brahma serves His lotus feet.<br /> 86 With this five heads, the guru of the yogis, offers prayers to Lord<br /> Krsna. His eyes filled with tears and the hairs of his body erect, he serves<br /> Lord Krsna’s lotus feet.<br /> 87 With His thousand heads Ananta Sesa again and again offers prayers to<br /> Lord Krsna, the all-pervading Supersoul. He devotedly serves Lord Krsna’s<br /> lotus feet.<br /> 88 Dharma, who is the protector and witness of everyone and the master of<br /> the worlds, happily and devotedly serves Lord Krsna’s feet always.<br /> 89 All-powerful Lord Visnu, who resides in Svetadvipa and is His partial<br /> incarnation, meditates on Lord Krsna as the Supreme at every moment.<br /> 90 The demigods, demons, sages, kings, manus, humans and philosophers<br /> serve Him though they cannot see His lotus feet even in a dream.<br /> 91 At once abandon Your pride and worship the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who<br /> merely by the play of bending His eyebrow destroys the material creation.<br /> 92 Brahma’s lifetime is an eye-blink for Lord Krsna. Twenty-eight Indras<br /> live their lives in Brahma’s day.<br /> 93 Brahma lives for 108 years calculated in this way. O Radha, You and<br /> the gopis and everyone and everything are under my master’s dominion.<br /> 94 Hearing Sridama’s very harsh and forceful words, She became suddenly<br /> angry. She stood up and spoke to him.<br /> 95 Going outside, Her hair loosened, Her lotus eyes reds, and Her lips<br /> trembling, She harshly spoke to him.<br /> 96 Sri Radha said: Rogue! Fool! Servant of a rake! Listen. I don’t know<br /> your master. You know everything about Him.<br /> 97 O lowest wretch in Vraja, Sri Krsna is your master and not Mine? You<br /> praise your father and rebuke your mother.<br /> 98 As the demons always insult the demigods, so you always insult Me!<br /> Therefore, O fool, become a demon!<br /> 99 Gopa, leave Goloka and go to a demoness’ womb. Fool, now I have cursed<br /> you. Who can protect you?<br /> 100 After thus cursing him, the queen of the rasa dance became silent.<br /> Then, with jewelled-handled camaras in their hands, Her friends served Her.<br /> 101 After hearing Her words, his lips trembling in anger, Sridama cursed<br /> Her: Go to the womb of a human woman!<br /> 102 You are angry like a human woman, therefore become a human woman on the<br /> earth! Mother, I have cursed You. Of this there is no doubt.<br /> 103 You will be eclipsed by a part of Your own shadow. The fools on the<br /> earth will say you are the wife of a petty king.<br /> 104 That petty king will be a partial incarnation of Lord Hari. He will be<br /> a great yogi born in a human womb because of Radha’s curse on him.<br /> 105 In Gokula You will attain Lord Krsna. You will stay with Him in the<br /> forest there and enjoy pastimes with Him. You will be separated from Him for a<br /> hundred years and then You will attain Him, Your Lord, again and return with<br /> Him to Goloka.<br /> 106 After speaking these words and after bowing down before Radha, Sridama<br /> went to Lord Hari. Bowing down before Lord Krsna, Sridama narrated the story<br /> of the cursings.<br /> 107 Sridama wept as never before. As weeping Sridama was about to go to<br /> the earth, Lord Krsna said to him:<br /> 108 You will become the king of demons. In the three worlds no one will<br /> defeat you.<br /> 109 After fifty yugas Siva’s spear will make you leave that body and with<br /> My blessings you will return to Me.<br /> 110 After hearing Lord Krsna’s words, grieving Sridama said to Him: You<br /> will never transform me into a person that has no devotion for You.<br /> 111 Saying this Sridama left his own asrama. Then, weeping again and<br /> again, Radha came there.<br /> 112 Saintly Radha loudly lamented, “Child, where are you going?” Then<br /> Sridama became Sankhacuda, the husband of Tulasi.<br /> 113 When Sridama had left, Goddess Radha approached Lord Hari. She told<br /> Him everything and He spoke to Her.<br /> 114 Lord Krsna told everything to His grieving beloved. Then, in the<br /> course of time, Sridama became Sankhacuda and then returned to the Lord.<br /> 115 In the Varaha-kalpa Radha went with Lord Hari to the earth. O sage,<br /> She attained a birth in Gokula in King Vrsabhanu’s home.<br /> 116 In this way I have spoken the transcendental narrations of Lord Krsna,<br /> which everyone yearns to hear. What more do you wish to hear?<br /> Chapter<br /> Sri Radha-Krsna Samvada<br /> 63 I will go to the earth. O demigods, first return to your homes, and<br /> then, by your amsa expansions, quickly go to the earth.<br /> 64 After speaking to the demigods, Lord Krsna, the master of the<br /> universes, called the gopas and gopis and spoke to them words that were sweet,<br /> truthful and appropriate.<br /> 65 Sri Krsna said: O gopas and gopis, please listen. All of you please go<br /> to Nanda’s land of Vraja. O Radha, please go at once to the home of King<br /> Vrsabhanu.<br /> 66 King Vrsabhanu’s dear wife is the saintly gopi named Kalavati. She is<br /> Subala-gopa’s daughter. She is a partial incarnation of the goddess of<br /> fortune.<br /> 67 She is fortunate and glorious among women. She was the mind-born<br /> daughter of the pitas, but by Durvasa’s curse she was born in a house in Vraja.<br /> 68 At once go to Nanda’s Vraja and take birth in her womb. O girl with<br /> the lotus face, I will assume the form of a small boy and I will marry You.<br /> 69 O Radha, to Me You are more dear than life. To You I am more dear than<br /> life also. We are not different. We are one body eternally.<br /> 70 Listening, Sri Radha wept, overcome with love. O sage, with Her<br /> cakora-bird eyes She drank the moonlight of Lord Krsna’s face.<br /> 71 Sri Krsna said: O gopas and gopis, please take birth on the earth in<br /> the beautiful palaces of the noble gopas.<br /> […] 185 In this way the demigods must go, by their partial expansions, to the<br /> earth and help to remove its burden. The demigods’ wives must also go, by<br /> their partial expansions, to the earth.<br /> 186 At that point Lord Krsna stopped speaking. O Narada, Brahma stood<br /> there, listening.<br /> 187 Sarasvati was at Lord Krsna’s left and Laksmi at His right. Parvati<br /> and all the demigods were before Him.<br /> 188 The gopis and gopas were before Him. Sri Radha rested on His chest.<br /> At that moment Sri Radha, the queen of Vraja spoke to Lord Krsna.<br /> 189 Sri Radha said: O Lord, please hear the words of Your maidservant. My<br /> life has become a blazing fire that burns without stop. My mind trembles,<br /> swinging to and fro.<br /> 190 When I look at You I cannot even blink. O Lord, how can I go to the<br /> earth without You?<br /> 191 O friend, how much time must pass before I will meet You again in<br /> Gokula? O master of My life, please tell the truth.<br /> 192 An eyeblink without You will be a hundred yugas for Me. What will I<br /> look on? Where will I go? Who will protect Me?<br /> 193 O master of My life, how can I for a moment think of mother, father,<br /> relatives, friends, brother, sister, or children when You are gone?<br /> 194 O master of illusions, please promise me that when I am on the earth<br /> You will not cover Me with illusion and make Me forget Your glories.<br /> 195 O Krsna, please turn My mind into a bumblebee always wandering among<br /> the nectar lotus-flowers of Your feet.<br /> 196 Wherever I may be born, please give Me service to You and remembrance<br /> of You.<br /> 197 You are Krsna and I am Radha. When I am on the earth may I never<br /> forget the glory of Our love. O Lord, please give Me this benediction.<br /> 198 As breath always stays with the body and as the body always stays with<br /> its shadow, may We two always stay together when We take birth. O Lord please<br /> give Me this benediction.<br /> 199 When We are on the earth let Us not be separated for even an eyeblink.<br /> O Lord, please give Me this benediction.<br /> 200 Who was it that used My life-breath to create Your body, feet, and<br /> flute?<br /> 201 How many glorious kinds of women are there? How many kinds of glorious<br /> men praised again and again? No woman is attached to her lover as I am to You.<br /> 202 How is it that I was created from half of Your body? There is no<br /> difference between Us. That is why My mind always thinks of You.<br /> 203 How is it that My mind, heart, and life were placed in Your body. And<br /> Your mind, heart and life were placed in Mine?<br /> 204 That is why an eyeblink’s separation from You brings a great<br /> catastrophe to My mind. That is why, when it hears that We may be separated,<br /> My life-force burns in an unending fire.<br /> 205 After speaking these words in the assembly of demigods, again and again<br /> Sri Radha grasped Lord Krsna’s lotus feet and loudly wept.<br /> 206 Then, placing Her on His lap and with His own garment wiping the tears<br /> from Her face, Lord Krsna spoke many true and beneficial words.<br /> 207 Sri Krsna said: Goddess, please listen and I will describe to You the<br /> yoga of the Supreme, a yoga even the kings of the yogis cannot understand, a<br /> yoga that cuts grief into many pieces.<br /> 208 O beautiful one, consider this: The entire universe is constructed of<br /> two things: resting places and things that rest in them. It is not possible<br /> for a resting thing to be separated from its resting place.<br /> 209 For the fruit the resting place is the flower. For the flower the<br /> resting place is the twig. For the twig the resting place is the branch. For<br /> the branch the resting place is the tree itself.<br /> 210 For the tree the resting place is the sapling. For the sapling, which<br /> is manifest from the seed, the resting place is the seed. For the seed the<br /> resting place is the earth.<br /> 211 For the earth the resting place is Lord Sesa. For Lord Sesa the<br /> resting place is the great tortoise beneath Him. For the tortoise the resting<br /> place is the wind. For the wind the resting place is I Myself.<br /> 212 For Me the resting place is You. I always rest in You. You have all<br /> powers. You are the root from which the material nature has sprung. You are<br /> the Supreme Goddess.<br /> 213 You are the resting place of all bodies. You are the resting place of<br /> the three mode of nature. You are the resting place of Me, for I am Your<br /> heart. Without You I cannot act. Only by Your grace have I the power to act.<br /> 214 From the man the seed is manifest. From the seed children are<br /> manifest. The resting place of both seed and children is the woman, who is<br /> manifest from material nature.<br /> 215 How can the spirit soul exist without the body? How can the body exist<br /> without the spirit soul? They are both the first cause. O goddess, how can<br /> the creation be manifest without them both?<br /> 216 O Radha, We are not different. We are the seed and the world grown<br /> from the seed. I am the soul and You are the body. Where the soul is present,<br /> there also is the body. We are not different. Why must You be so humble?<br /> 217 As whiteness is present in milk, as heat is present in fire, as<br /> fragrance is present in earth, and as coolness is present in fire, so I am<br /> always present in You.<br /> 218 As milk and its whiteness, fire and its heat, earth and its fragrance,<br /> and water and its coolness are one and cannot be separated, We are one also.<br /> We cannot be separated.<br /> 219 Without Me, You are lifeless. Without You, I am invisible. O<br /> beautiful one, without You I cannot exist.<br /> 220 Without clay a potter cannot make a pot. Without gold a goldsmith<br /> cannot make a gold ornament.<br /> 221 As the spirit soul is eternal, Your are also eternal. You are the<br /> material nature. You are all powerful. You are the eternal resting place of<br /> everything.<br /> 222 Laksmi, all-auspicious Sarasvati, Brahma, Siva, Sesa, and Yamaraja are<br /> dear as life to Me. But You are more dear than life to Me.<br /> 223 If this were not so, then why do the demigods and demigoddesses stay<br /> nearby, but You rest on My chest, O Radha?<br /> 224 O Radha, give up Your tears. I saintly one, give up this fruitless and<br /> mistaken worry and go to King Vrsabhanu’s house.<br /> 225 O beautiful one, use Your powers to create an artificial pregnancy in<br /> Kalavati. For nine months fill her womb with air.<br /> 226 When the tenth month comes leave Your natural form behind, accept the<br /> form of an infant girl and go to the earth.<br /> 227 At the time of giving birth, place Your form of a naked infant on the<br /> ground by Kalavati and cry like a newborn child.<br /> 228 O saintly one, in this way, without entering a mother’s womb, You will<br /> appear in Gokula. I also will appear without entering a mother’s womb. You<br /> and I do not enter a mother’s womb.<br /> 229 The moment I come to earth Vasudeva will carry Me to Gokula.<br /> Pretending to fear Kamsa, I will go there for Your sake.<br /> 230 I will be Nanda’s son in Yasoda’s house. O beautiful one, again and<br /> again You will happily see me and tightly embrace Me.<br /> 231 O Radha, because of the benediction I give You, You will remember<br /> everything. Following My own wish, I will enjoy pastimes with You in Vrndavana<br /> forest again and again.<br /> 232 Therefore, accompanied by thirty three virtuous friends and twenty one<br /> billion gopi-associates, please go to Vraja.<br /> 233-4 O Radha, after comforting with eloquent nectar words the numberless<br /> gopas and gopis left behind in Goloka, I will go to Vasudeva’s home in Mathura<br /> City.<br /> 235 The ten million gopas most dear to Me should take birth in the homes of<br /> the gopas. To enjoy pastimes with Me they should go to Vraja.<br /> 236 O Narada, then Lord Krsna stopped speaking. The demigods,<br /> demigoddesses, gopas and gopis were silent.<br /> 237 Then Brahma, Siva, Yama, Sesa, Parvati, Laksmi and Sarasvati joyfully<br /> offered prayers to Lord Krsna.<br /> 238 Overcome with love and burning in the flames of imminent separation,<br /> the devoted gopas and gopis offered prayers to Lord Krsna and bowed down before<br /> Him.<br /> 239 Burning in the flames of imminent separation even though Her desires<br /> were all fulfilled, Sri Radha devotedly offered prayers to Her lover Krsna, who<br /> is more dear to Her than life.<br /> 240 Seeing that Sri Radha was weeping many tears of distress, Lord Krsna<br /> spoke to Her truthful words of enlightenment.<br /> 241 Sri Krsna said: O goddess more dear than life, please be peaceful.<br /> Give up You fears. What You feel I also feel. Why should You be unhappy while<br /> I am with You.<br /> 242 However, I will tell You something that is not good. You will be<br /> separated from Me for a hundred years.<br /> 243 O beautiful one, I will go to Mathura and because of Sridama’s curse,<br /> We will be separated.<br /> 244 In Mathura I will remove the earth’s burden, release My parents from<br /> bondage and give liberation to a florist, a tailor and a hunchback girl.<br /> 245 Then I will kill Kalayavana, deliver Mucukunda, build the city of<br /> Dvaraka, and see a Rajasuya-yajna.<br /> 246 Then I will marry 16 100 princesses and defeat many enemies.<br /> 247 Then I will help My friends, burn Varanasi, make Siva yawn and cut<br /> Banasura’s arms.<br /> 248 I will forcibly take the Parijata tree, see many saintly sages when I<br /> go on pilgrimage, and perform many other activities.<br /> 249 While on pilgrimage I will speak with My friends and relatives, help My<br /> father perform a yajna, and, at an auspicious moment, see You again.<br /> 250 There I will also see the gopis and again I will teach You the truth of<br /> spiritual philosophy.<br /> 251 From that time We will never really be separated for even a moment of<br /> the day or night. Then, after some time, I will return to Vraja.<br /> 252 Beloved, during the hundred years We are separated We will meet in Our<br /> dreams again and again.<br /> 253 In My Narayana form I will go to Dvaraka for those hundred years. In<br /> that way I will enjoy My pastimes there.<br /> 254 Then I will return to live with You in the forest. Then I will wipe<br /> away all the sufferings of My parents and the gopas and gopis.<br /> 255 When I have removed the earth’s burden I will return to Goloka with the<br /> gopas, gopis and You.<br /> 256 O Radha, in My form as eternal Lord Narayana I will return to Vaikuntha<br /> with Laksmi and Sarasvati.<br /> 257 My various incarnations will return to Svetadvipa, the home of<br /> religion, and the partial incarnations of the demigods and demigoddesses will<br /> all return to their respective abodes.<br /> 258 Then You and I will again live in Goloka. Beloved, now I have told You<br /> everything both good and bad. Who can stop from happening what I have<br /> foretold?<br /> 259 After speaking these words, Lord Krsna had Radha rest against His<br /> chest. All the demigods and their wives were astonished.<br /> 260 Then Lord Krsna said to the demigods and demigoddesses: O demigods,<br /> please return to your homes and prepare for your mission.<br /> 261 O Parvati, please go to Mount Kailasa with your husband and sons. At<br /> the proper time you will execute the mission I have given you.<br /> 262 As I have said, you will take birth as a partial incarnation. You will<br /> not be accompanied by Ganesa, who is the lord of the great and the small.<br /> 263-4 Bowing down before Lord Krsna, the demigods happily returned to their<br /> homes. Then, bowing again before Lord Krsna and before Laksmi and Sarasvati,<br /> they went, eager to execute their mission, to the earth. Then Lord Krsna<br /> described Sri Radha’s mission, a mission beyond what the demigods can attain.<br /> 265 Lord Krsna said to Sri Radha: Accompanied by the many gopas and gopis I<br /> have already named, please go to King Vrsabhanu’s home.<br /> 266 Beloved, first I will go to Vasudeva’s home in Mathura, and then, on<br /> the pretext of fearing Kamsa, I will go to Gokula, where You will be.<br /> 267 Radha bowed down before Lord Krsna. Tormented with the thought of<br /> being separated from Her love, She wept, Her eyes now red lotus flowers, again<br /> and again.<br /> 268 She began to go and then She returned. Again and again and again and<br /> again She left, returned, and gazed and gazed at Lord Krsna’s face.<br /> 269 With the cakora birds of Her unblinking eyes saintly Radha drank the<br /> nectar moonlight of Lord Krsna’s face.<br /> 270 Seven times the supreme goddess Radha circumambulated Lord Krsna.<br /> Seven times She bowed down and respectfully stood before Him.<br /> 271 Then twenty-one billion gopis and ten million gopas came there.<br /> 272 O Narada, accompanied by the multitudes of gopas and gopis, Sri Radha<br /> bowed down before Lord Krsna and respectfully stood before Him.<br /> 273 Accompanied by Her thirty-three close friends and by the many gopas and<br /> gopis, beautiful Radha bowed down before Lord Krsna and then went to the earth.<br /> 274 Then Radha-gopi went to Vrsabhanu-gopa’s home, the place Lord Krsna<br /> arranged for Her in Nanda’s Gokula.<br /> 275 When Radha went with the gopas and gopis to the earth, Lord Krsna<br /> became eager to go there also.<br /> 276 After speaking to the gopas and gopis and giving them their various<br /> duties, Lord Krsna, the master of the universes, travelling as fast as the<br /> mind, went to Mathura.<br /> 277 Before all this Vasudeva and Devaki had six sons and Kamsa killed each<br /> one as soon as they were born.<br /> 278 By Lord Krsna’s order, Yogamaya pulled from Devaki’s womb the seventh<br /> embryo, who was an incarnation of Lord Sesa, and place it in Rohini’s womb in<br /> Gokula.</p></div>Yes, It Will Have the Same Effecthttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/yes-it-will-have-the-same-effect2021-03-20T07:51:25.000Z2021-03-20T07:51:25.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8686469656,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="8686469656?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>One lady raised her hand after Prabhupada had finished a Bhagavad-gita class, as she had a question. She asked, “In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that if one thinks of Krishna at the time of death, one will go to Krishna. Now my question is, What if I think of you at the time of death? Will it have the same effect?”</p>
<p>Prabhupada didn’t answer right away. He closed his eyes for two or three seconds as if he were searching for the answer, and then he smiled and said, “That is very nice. Yes, it will have the same effect.”</p>
<p>- Jaya Gauranga dasa</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=17024">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=17024</a></p></div>The Road Ahead by Indra Krishna Dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-road-ahead2021-02-02T11:05:00.000Z2021-02-02T11:05:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2515008856,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515008856,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="400" alt="2515008856?profile=original" /></a></strong></p>
<p>A Dubai commuter, stuck in traffic, muses on how modern inventions have failed to improve the quality of our lives and have added to our distress.</p>
<p>It’s 7:00 P.M., and I’ve been driving for more than an hour. As I head home from work along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, I’m caught in the usual evening traffic jam. Like the car ahead of me, my car starts, stops, and starts again. While my car moves slowly, my mind races. I do mental mathematics with the number on the car plate in front of me. The traffic keeps building up all around me, and I feel miserable, hopeless, and sick.</p>
<p>Despite the crowd outside, a strange loneliness engulfs me. In these hours of solitude, when my thoughts are my only companion, I become a philosopher; I turn my life upside down and reflect.</p>
<p>All around me is a sea of cars, the latest models of Pajeroes, Mercedes, BMWs, Land Cruisers, sports cars, and others competing with one another to get a few feet ahead. But what’s the use of the latest and jazziest cars when they’re forced to move so slowly that even a bullock cart puts them to shame? Material nature seems to conspire to nullify man’s inventions. And why should she not? Modern developments have distressed nature, with pollution, perversion, and calamity everywhere.</p>
<p>I feel suffocated. I want to run out of my car to freedom. But I am hopelessly bound; I am not free.</p>
<p>And I know I’m not the only one who feels like this. Hundreds of thousands like me in this city and hundreds of millions around the world stoically go through this ordeal every day.<br /> The Traffic Jams of Everyday Life</p>
<p>We take traffic jams to be part of life, of civilized living, the subject of long discussions in our living rooms. We’re frustrated. We see the need for unified action to improve the situation, but who will do it?</p>
<p>I’m moved by a desire to express our collective resentment. Thoughts that don’t find words flood my mind. My anger and frustration garble all expression.</p>
<p>I’m in a situation my physics teacher in college would refer to as “diarrhea of thought and constipation of expression.” I remember him teaching physics like an artist. In his teaching, the arts and science mixed into one coherent whole. I would remain transfixed in the class, mesmerized by the way he would handle complex topics such as wave dynamics, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics like an opera maestro waving a wand to the musical crescendo.</p>
<p>I rarely experienced anything like that till I read Srila Prabhupada’s books. In his books Prabhupada has dealt in a unique yet simple way with diverse topics like science, metaphysics, philosophy, the arts, spirituality, music, language, and literature—taking us beyond this world into a transcendental realm where all boundaries vanish. The reader is moved, fascinated, and convinced.<br /> Our Desires Cause Our Bondage</p>
<p>I’m transported to my days in college when it was my ardent desire to study in the US and drive on American highways. I did eventually drive on American highways, but without the thrill I’d expected.</p>
<p>When fulfilled, our material desires fail to satisfy us. The objects of our desires pale in comparison to the mental picture we have of them. In fact, my experience in life has taught me that no material objects please us, even though our mind fantasizes on the pleasures of obtaining them. Once got, the real thing does not excite us anymore. It falls into our routine.</p>
<p>I now realize the futility of my wish to drive on good roads. Dubai’s roads are as good as America’s, but driving on them is now the cause of my pain. My desires have me suffering like a caged bird inside the car. I could have been free, but now I have to suffer to enjoy the fulfillment of my earlier wishes.</p>
<p>The Lord, being merciful, grants our wishes, one after another. And because we are dissatisfied, we keep asking for more. We think we will ultimately be gratified, but we are not. Sometimes we spend many lifetimes fulfilling one desire after another, forgetting the real meaning of life. The Lord is generous, providing us with different bodies, cars, and other toys to play with. When will we realize the ultimate futility of material progress and care for our spiritual enlightenment?<br /> From Boon to Cause of Trouble</p>
<p>One of man’s greatest inventions, the car, is also one of his greatest banes. We started out excited to be able to travel great distances quickly, but that’s no longer a thrill, but a routine drudgery. Like other inventions, we thought the car would remove toil from our lives, but it has only aggravated our condition.</p>
<p>True, we don’t have to walk miles like our forefathers, but the car has brought with it a new set of problems. Our ability to travel fast and far has made it necessary for us to travel fast and far for things as mundane or routine as working, shopping, eating, and socializing. Our neighbors are strangers. We dislike what’s locally available and travel great distances for alternatives. We may fool ourselves into believing this is progress, but in the ultimate analysis it is sheer stupidity. The advantage of the car has been lost because we do not know how to use this great boon judiciously. And our attraction to the car leads to global warming, wide-scale wars, and conflicts that threaten our existence.<br /> Beautiful Buildings Hide a Sordid Tale</p>
<p>I look at the buildings around me. Tall, imposing structures, with bright neon lights give a sparkling color to Dubai, a marvel of the modern mind. This is the place where the world comes to shop and tour. All the open spaces are gone, replaced by state-of-the-art buildings. A desert has been transformed into one of the most modern cities, complete with all the latest amenities and services and their attendant virtues and vices.</p>
<p>I see the beautiful and majestic buildings competing with one another, but do they bring about a feeling of greatness in my mind or anyone else’s? While the builders and the promoters boast of constructing such marvels on earth, my heart goes out to the hapless workers who toil hard daily for little money, inadequately compensated for the inconveniences and risks they take.</p>
<p>I see these workers, most of them from other countries, herded onto buses that transport them from and to their pitiable living quarters. They look curiously and sorrowfully out of the bus windows. They have many pressing issues on their mind. They are busy fending for themselves and worrying about their near and dear ones in their own country, trying to save something so their kith and kin can live a little better.<br /> The Light of the Scriptures</p>
<p>I think of Lord Krishna’s answer to Brahma prayers:</p>
<p>rite ’rtham yat pratiyeta<br /> na pratiyeta chatmani<br /> tad vidyad atmano mayam<br /> yathabhaso yatha tamah</p>
<p>“O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.34)</p>
<p>What is the relationship of all these things to the Lord, I wonder? Do these people at all believe in His omnipotence?</p>
<p>Everything I see is the illusory energy of the Lord. So many building have gone up and come down. So many innocents have toiled hard to satisfy the ego of the rich and the powerful. Did they receive a fair payment for the objects they created?</p>
<p>And how many people in their cars would think they achieved what they set out for? I look around. The man in the car next to mine seems frustrated and probably does not know why.</p>
<p>To seek an answer one has to study the Vedic scriptures, existing from the beginning of creation. In the above verse Lord Krishna tells Brahma, the creator of the universe, that anything we create is merely an illusion if it does not relate to the Lord. And how can we be satisfied by illusions? But this is modern development, a royal road to hell in the name of so-called progress that has no relation to the Lord. And every step takes us farther and farther away from Him. The bright neon lights that gorgeously illuminate the city cannot dispel the darkness within our hearts and souls.</p>
<p>I’m still looking at the wondrous edifices lined up one after another. The great marvels of science seem to me just a waste of time and resources.</p>
<p>Another fundamental question arises in my mind: Why do I—and everyone else—work hard to create illusory things? My modern mind balks, unwilling to acknowledge my plight. But I depend upon the light of the scriptures to dispel the darkness within. The Lord seated within our heart guides us. I realize that what I need is basic food, clothing, and shelter, a little love and care, freedom of the soul—can all these modern things give me that? The Lord provides for all these; the huge buildings, the billboards, the neon lights, and the cars do not provide me with my necessities. Modern industries produce unnecessary things better done without. But we keep adding them to our lives. In our quest for progress, we forget our real needs and run after illusions. I think of the futility of our endeavors. Is this the progress we strive for?</p>
<p>My mobile phone rings, a call from home. My wife and children would like to know how I’m doing. I tell them I’m fine and will be home after some time.<br /> Help in the Holy Name</p>
<p>As my car inches forward slowly, remembrance of the Lord makes me feel better. I play the stereo, and a sweet bhajana fills the car and soothes my nerves. I start chanting the maha-mantra, and a wonderful transformation takes place within me. The traffic now seems to bother me less; the neon lights and the tall, imposing buildings mean nothing to me. I keep driving.</p>
<p>The metro construction near the Trade Center building is causing more traffic jams. We’ve been told the new metro will end our traffic woes. We hope so, but the material world is full of miseries, where there are dangers at every step.</p>
<p>Prabhupada talked of the spiritual sky, the Vaikuntha planets, the transcendental world—our real abode, without suffering or distress. But all that is beyond us unless we are willing to follow the spiritual path for which he laid out clear and easy-to-follow principles and guidelines.</p>
<p>The clock shows 7:45 P.M., a good two hours from the time I started. I turn the corner near my house. The hookah shop on the corner is set up enticingly for the evening, and a lot of people seem to be enjoying themselves. I cannot help getting the same feeling I always get whenever I pass by the shop. How much time and effort these people spend preparing themselves for the royal road to hell! Everybody who smokes knows what harm smoking does to them. And yet people are attracted to it, like moths to fire. To come to real knowledge, they need the mercy of a spiritual master. Now their desire for sense gratification gets the better of their intelligence. I think about someday shouting out to these people, but I lack the courage.</p>
<p>I park my car, and as I walk I feel happy at the prospect of sitting in front of my Gaura-Nitai deities and praying to them. I thank my spiritual master for having given me the most wonderful gift: the holy name. I can immerse myself in Krishna’s names and forget the pains of the day. And I can look forward to tomorrow—and more opportunities to remember the Lord.</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17555">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17555</a></p></div>Jay Radhe Jay Krishna Jay Vrindavanhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/jay-radhe-jay-krishna-jay-vrindavan2020-09-21T16:07:32.000Z2020-09-21T16:07:32.000ZNityananda Prabhu Dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/NityanandaPrabhuDasa<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7952574653?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BTrj35FsVw" target="_blank">Jay Radhe Jay Krishna Jay Vrindavan</a></p></div>Brazil’s Radha Krishna Camp to Immerse Youth in Spiritual Funhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/brazil-s-radha-krishna-camp-to-immerse-youth-in-spiritual-fun2019-11-10T08:14:33.000Z2019-11-10T08:14:33.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><div id="article_image" style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/img_versions/2019/11-Nov/br1_slideshow.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/img_versions/2019/11-Nov/br1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="br1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></div>
<div><strong>By Madhava Smullen<br /><br /></strong></div>
<div id="article_body">
<p>Now in its sixth year, Brazil’s Radha Krishna Camp will run from January 20th to 26th 2020, with a bilingual program in both English and Portuguese that is open to international youth. </p>
<p>The camp will be organized by Brazil’s Vaishnava Youth Secretary Vaikuntha Murti Das and his wife, Secretary of Education Subhadra Dasi.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br2.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br2.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="br2.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>Around forty youth, aged 12 to 17, are expected from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and USA.</p>
<p>The event will be held at Govardhana Eco Village, forty-five minutes from Sao Paulo International Airport. With lush greenery and a beautiful temple and restaurant, it’s the perfect spot for a youth camp.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br6.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br6.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="br6.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>For the full week, participants will take part in daily sadhana, with spiritual morning programs including japa as well as Srimad-Bhagavatam classes by special guest Chandramukha Swami.</p>
<p>Every evening, there will be kirtans organized by the youth themselves. Throughout, there will also be dynamic fun activities such as sports events and a trip to the famous Wet ‘n’ Wild water park.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br4.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br4.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="br4.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>“After six years organizing Radha Krishna Camp, the responses from parents and their children are amazing,” says Vaikuntha Murti Das. “We frequently have the same participants coming again and again because they love it so much.”</p>
<p>The camp, he explains, gives youth the chance to spend time with peers while investing in their spiritual life.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> <a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br3.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2019/11-Nov/br3.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="br3.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>“We know how atractive Krishna is, and how much our youth can be atracted when we provide them with a full Krishna conscious program,” he adds. “One where they can exchange experiences, make new friends, do practical services and feel the potential of bhakti yoga in their lives.”</p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://iskconnews.org/brazils-radha-krishna-camp-to-immerse-youth-in-spiritual-fun,7150/">https://iskconnews.org/brazils-radha-krishna-camp-to-immerse-youth-in-spiritual-fun,7150/</a></p>
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<p> </p></div>Radhastami - Srimati Radharani Appearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/radhastami-srimati-radharani-appearance-day2019-09-05T06:00:00.000Z2019-09-05T06:00:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="height:401px;width:250px;" title="Srimati Radharani" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2514924531,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="Srimati Radharani" /></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">For the occasion of Srimati Radharani’s appearance day we present a wonderful lecture titled “Rādhā-Prema Makes Kṛṣṇa Mad”, given by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja on 19th March 1992 in Bhubaneswar, India.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><br /><span style="font-size:20px;">Rādhā-Prema Makes Kṛṣṇa Mad</span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong><em><br /> rādhikāra prema—guru, āmi—śiṣya naṭa</em></strong><br /><strong style="text-align:center;"><em>sadā āmā nānā nṛtye nācāya udbhaṭa</em></strong></p>
<address style="text-align:justify;"><br /> “The love of Rādhikā is My teacher, and I am Her dancing pupil. Her premamakes Me dance various novel dances.”(Cc, Ādi-līlā 4.121-124)</address>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><br /> “You will find three topics in rādhā-prema. First is, rādhā-prema makes Kṛṣṇa mad. Rādhā-prema is so powerful that it makes Kṛṣṇa, who is almighty and all-powerful, mad. Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful, almighty and omnipotent, yet He becomes mad for rādhā-prema. So rādhā-prema is greater than Him.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><br /> Number two is that the pleasure and happiness derived from relishing the mellow of that love, rādhā-prema, is unknown to Kṛṣṇa. It is unknown to Him who is all-knowing. Therefore rādhā-prema is greater.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><br /> The third and last point is that there is a combination of two opposites in rādhā-prema. One after another we will discuss these three topics.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><br /><strong>Download PDF of Radha Prema makes Krishna Mad - <a href="http://ebooks.iskcondesiretree.info/pdf/His_Holiness_Gour_Govinda_Swami/Gour_Govinda_Swami_-_Radha_Prema_Makes_Krishna_Mad.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a></strong></p></div>