Just to let you know up front, there is no real happiness in this world. The majority of us are struggling to achieve two things: to have a vantage point to procure wealth and pleasure, and to avoid pain and suffering. Unfortunately, this is an impossible task. Even if you think you’ve achieved something, it will change shortly. There is no permanent situation. Every generation and era has its own problems. It is said that the guiding principle in the material world is the survival of the fitt
kali-yuga (6)
By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)
In the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), Sri Krishna clearly explains, “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion–at that time I descend Myself.”
From all that we have learned in the previous chapters about the holy name of the Lord, we can understand that during this age of Kali-yuga it is the holy name, especially in the form of the Hare Krishna mantra, that is the present incarnati
As the age of Kali-yuga moves forward, many people are wondering how bad social conditions will get before they improve, and what can we do about it now. Yet the Vedic texts contain a specific prescription for staying free from the heavy influence that this age of Kali-yuga brings.
In spite of all the changes predicted to happen in society and on the planet, there are still many ways, both material and spiritual, to stifle or even get free of Kali-yuga’s influence. If we are going to change any
By Srila Prabhupada
There is nothing in the world with which the Lord is disconnected. The only thing we must learn is to excavate the source of connection and thus be linked with Him by offenseless service. We can be connected with Him by the transcendental sound representation of the Lord. The Holy Name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical, and one who chants the Holy Name of the Lord in an offenseless manner can at once realize that the Lord is present before him. Even by the vibra
As conditioned souls, our deepest problem is that we have forgotten our relationship with the Supreme Lord, and we are engrossed in thinking of material activities. In order to transfer our thinking power back to Krishna, we have received the Holy Name and the Vedic literature.
A basic piece of the Vedic literature is Bhagavad-gita. It was spoken at the beginning of Kali-yuga, 5000 years ago, and it addresses the specific situation of the modern man. In Kali-yuga, people are short-lived, their e
We may think that we are free because we are making our own choices according to our own liking. But what we fail to see is that when we are not following the four regulative principles closely, we are actually in the grip of kali. This is why Srila Prabhupada formalised the four regulative principles. Pānaṁ (intoxication), dyūtam (gambling), striyaṁ (illicit sex) and śunām (meat eating) are all mentioned as the four types of adharma (irreligion). Therefore, Prabhupada pointed out that we must
