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From Back to Godhead

From Back to Godhead

A brief analysis of Bhagavad-gita 9.4, 9.5, and 9.6.

The Bhagavad-gita is one of the world’s perennial wisdom texts. Because it offers knowledge of the Absolute Truth, some of its texts can be difficult to understand. Few are as difficult as verses four and five of Chapter Nine: “By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Alt

From Back to Godhead

If God is inconceivable, as the scriptures state, can we really know anything about Him?

Sri Isopanisad states that Krsna is simultaneously very far away and very close. The Vedic scripturesencourage us: The best way to know Krsna and bring Him closer is to hear about Him.

As we open any book about Krsna, we’ll immediately feel the richness of the clear and scientific knowledge it contains. We’ll also come to understand that Krsna is by nature inconceivable to finite beings

As we read the scripture and hear from the spiritual master, we will hear both easy and difficult instructions. We’ll naturally be attracted to those that seem easier to follow, but the two types of instruction have a unity of purpose.

One of the most encouraging verses I have found in Bhagavad-gita is 2.40: “In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” A similar verse can be found in the ninth chap

For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)

The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in an

bhagavan api ta ratrih

saradotphulla-mallikah

viksy- arantum manas cakre

yoga-mayam upasritah

Sri  Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in all opulences, yet upon seeing those autumn nights scented with blossoming jasmine flowers, He turned His mind toward loving affairs. To fulfill His purposes He employed His internal potency.    – S.B 10.29.1

On this most sacred and holy evening on the full moon night of the month of Kartik,in the forest of Vrindavan the moon starts rising on th

On this day lord Sri Krishna became a qualified cowherd. Before this day, he was a keeper of the calves.

The Killing of Dhenukasura:

"Thus Sri Krishna, along with His elder brother Balarama, passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age of pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time, all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their fifth year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krishna and B

Krishna Lifts the Govardhan Hill.
Once in the beautiful land of Vraja,
For Lord Indra they wanted to do a puja
Begging to Indra to supply them rain
So that in time they can harvest their grain

Seeing this Krishna was not happy,
He told his father this is unnecessary,
‘You should worship Govardhana hill,
This is what I really feel’

The gopas and gopis were all so happy,
To worship Govardhan they were all ready,
With laddu, halava, pakora and puri
They offered it all to Govardhana joyfully

Hearin

Origin of Govardhan:

In the western coast of India, in the island of Salmali, lived Dronachala, the king of the mountains. Once a sage by the name of Pulastya Muni, came to him to take his son Giriraja with him to Kashi  Varanasi). After offering some initial resistance, Giriraja, somehow agreed to go with him only on condition that he should not put him down on the earth in between. If he does so, he would stay there forever.

When they were flying over the Vraja bhumi, Giriraja increased his

A time filled with love, devotion, and gratitude.

After going through the intense summer and a humid monsoon, we in India perceive sarat, or autumn, as one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. According to the vedic calendar, Sarat falls during the months of Asvin and Karttika, of which Karttika carries special significance because it is favored by Lord Krishna.

Everyone loves certain foods, drinks, clothes, and music, and Lord Krishna is no exception. In fact, we have our likes because w

It is our goal to always be one in thought with Krsna. One of the symptoms of surrendering in devotional service is to have no other interest other than the interest in Krsna. Of course, it is not that our thoughts are always aligned with Krsna, what to speak of our actions, however our meditation remains to cultivate pure devotional service so that we can be one in thought with Krsna. We have the following words – anukulyasya sankalpah, accepting whatever is favourable to devotional service; pr

From Back to Godhead

Which way does one go in moments of despair?

LORD KRSNA HAS TWO ENERGIES, material and spiritual, but they can be used interchangeably if one knows how. Just as the same electricity can be used to heat or cool a building, so Krsna’s energies can be used for different purposes according to the living entity’s desire.

That doesn’t mean that the living entity can control Krsna’s energies, only that he can use them. When a conditioned soul wishes to exploit the material nature,

The names of Krishna are the repository of all happiness and the greatest wealth. If we chant properly, we will not experience material miseries, but we may experience what the materialist might mistake as misery: the spiritual joy of intense separation from Krishna.

Since that joy comes from proper chanting, we might wonder how we can chant with attention and concentration, even if we are not yet pure devotees of Krishna. How can we control the mind? How can we keep ourselves from thinking of

By HH Sacinandana Swami

As I’m sitting here in Vrindavan, as the minutes, hours and days go by, I am more and more interested in the close God, not so much the distant God. I’m less interested in the God, Who is only thought about, but not experienced, Who is philosophized about, but not seen. As I chant, I think deeply about how to establish real contact with the Lord.

What he says is, “My Lord, I am directly calling out to You now, I am directly approaching You now, by Your various names. And

Context and Crux of Uddhava-gita

Bhagavad-gita is the great philosophical song by Lord Krsna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra to motivate His bewildered friend Arjuna. There is yet another Gita that Krsna sang in Dvaraka to pacify another of His friends named Uddhava. Famous as Uddhava-gita it forms the longest philosophical section of the magnum opus literature Srimad Bhagavatam.

Lord Krsna’s descent into this world was requested by the devatas headed by Brahma, to reduce the burden of the ear

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE HOLY SOUND

My life took an apical turn when I stumbled across the Hare Krishnas. Being born in India I had some knowledge of “Krishna” but I was like most Indians are – conscious of Krishna but not Krishna Conscious. Being just “conscious of Krishna” didn’t mollify my thirst for happiness. When I was introduced to the programs conducted by the Hare Krishnas near our college campus new hope dawned upon me. What mesmerized me the most in these programs was the chanting of t

When Lord Brahma ordered Drona, the best of the Vasus, and his wife Dhara to increase progeny, they said unto him, “Dear father, we seek your benediction. Please let us be born on earth so that after our appearance the Supreme Lord will appear as our son and spread devotional service.
In this way those born in the material world may very easily be delivered from misery.” Brahma agreed, and thus when Drona and Dhara took birth in Vrndavana as Nanda Maharaja and mother Yasoda, Lord Krsna appeared

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.23

Translation: Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?

Purport: Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada