When Krsna appears in this world, He gives pleasure to His devotees, annihilates demons and establishes the religious principles. In the battle of Kurukshetra and before He always protected Pandavas, His devotees. Without His support they could have never been victorious over powerful Kurus.
This episode may lead to conclusion that Krsna is partial towards His devotees.
But Kunti maharani prays:
"My Lord, I consider Your Lordship to be eternal time, the supreme controller, without beginning and end, the all-pervasive one. In distributing Your mercy, You are equal to everyone. The dissensions between living beings are due to social intercourse." (1.8.28)
"O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial." (1.8.29)
Prabhupada compares the mercy of Lord to sun rays. Just like sun does not discriminate in distributing its light and its rays are all pervading. Lord's mercy and love is not only for a certain section of people. Every living entity is an eternal part and parcel of Supreme Being. Every jiva is a son of God. However, apparent partiality is due to the difference in receptacles. Pure devotee of the Lord is cent per cent surrendered unto Him, therefore all the love and protection of the Lord is available for such a fortunate soul. People consider the path of bhakti as the path of flattery. There is a significant difference. In flattery there is an expectation of something in return but bhakti means the devotee has no expectations whatsoever. He is serving the Lord only for His pleasure which is the constitutional position of every living being. He is unmotivated and selfless. To such a surrendered pure soul, Krsna gives Himself not just love. There are others like suffering and needy men, inquisitive persons or philosophers who make temporary connections with the Lord to serve a particular purpose. When the purpose is served, there is no more relation with the Lord. They are like those who expose themselves to sun only for some time. So they will receive only partial sunlight. Obstinate people who are envious of Lord and always rebel against His authority, carry a bowl. Ideally that bowl should be upright so that it can be filled with nectar of Lord's love. But they, misusing their free will, keep it upside down. Therefore, Kunti maharani says, "...The dissensions between living beings are due to social intercourse." and "...People only imagine that You are partial." This means people are suffering or enjoying only due to their own karma. They will receive reactions according to their use of free will.
Therefore, natural conclusion is, as put by Prabhupada, "...Such partiality in receiving the Lord's mercy is relative to the recipient, and it is not due to the partiality of the all-merciful Lord." Krsna also says in Bhagavad Gita, "As you shall approach me so shall I reciprocate." and "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." (BG: 9.29)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Importance of temples
Leaving a few nitya siddha devotees of the Lord, all of us had rebelled against the Lord. We wanted to be the independent enjoyers. As a consequence of defying His authority and desiring independence we were forced to enter the material world. Srila Prabhupada mentions in one of the purports of 8th chapter of 1st canto that such a category of people are 'less intelligent'.
Material world is temporary and miserable as opposed to spiritual world which is eternally full of bliss. Shastras say that spiritual world is our original home where we can reside once we become free from lust, propensity to enjoy independent of the Supreme Lord. Those fortunate souls who have some appreciation, by the mercy of Lord's devotees, for shastras and instructions of the Lord as mentioned in Bhagavad Gita and other vedic scriptures or have developed initial faith, adau shraddha, in the process of awakening their dormant Krsna consciousness have begun their journey for back home back to Godhead. Prabhupada writes in that purport, in the initial stages one should bow down before the deity of the Lord in a temple. By respecting the Lord in His archa-vigraha form we learn the accept the authority of the Lord. As mentioned in earlier post, Lord reveals Himself out of His own sweet will. Therefore, out of His unbounded and causeless compassion upon less intelligent people of the world who can not see anything beyond matter, He incarnates as deity. Radhanath swami maharaj says, "we all are searching for someone suitable whom we can love. Lord is the supreme object of our love." As its said, if you do not want a heartbreak give it to Krsna. However, without loving exchanges love can not be experienced. Therefore, to facilitate such loving reciprocations with His devotees, Lord appears in His deity form.
He is not an idol nor His worshippers are idolators as wrongly perceived by many. Form of a deity is not an imagination. Pure devotees can see the Lord constantly within their heart. That form of the Lord is verified by scriptures and installed in temples. All great acaryas in the past have established temples and organised deity worship. Advanced devotees meditate on the Lord through loving service but neophytes can not artificially transcend the stage of worshipping deity when their hearts are contaminated by anarthas.
To know more about Radhanath Swami you can visit:
www.radhanath.com
Material world is temporary and miserable as opposed to spiritual world which is eternally full of bliss. Shastras say that spiritual world is our original home where we can reside once we become free from lust, propensity to enjoy independent of the Supreme Lord. Those fortunate souls who have some appreciation, by the mercy of Lord's devotees, for shastras and instructions of the Lord as mentioned in Bhagavad Gita and other vedic scriptures or have developed initial faith, adau shraddha, in the process of awakening their dormant Krsna consciousness have begun their journey for back home back to Godhead. Prabhupada writes in that purport, in the initial stages one should bow down before the deity of the Lord in a temple. By respecting the Lord in His archa-vigraha form we learn the accept the authority of the Lord. As mentioned in earlier post, Lord reveals Himself out of His own sweet will. Therefore, out of His unbounded and causeless compassion upon less intelligent people of the world who can not see anything beyond matter, He incarnates as deity. Radhanath swami maharaj says, "we all are searching for someone suitable whom we can love. Lord is the supreme object of our love." As its said, if you do not want a heartbreak give it to Krsna. However, without loving exchanges love can not be experienced. Therefore, to facilitate such loving reciprocations with His devotees, Lord appears in His deity form.
He is not an idol nor His worshippers are idolators as wrongly perceived by many. Form of a deity is not an imagination. Pure devotees can see the Lord constantly within their heart. That form of the Lord is verified by scriptures and installed in temples. All great acaryas in the past have established temples and organised deity worship. Advanced devotees meditate on the Lord through loving service but neophytes can not artificially transcend the stage of worshipping deity when their hearts are contaminated by anarthas.
To know more about Radhanath Swami you can visit:
www.radhanath.com
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Lord reveals Himself only to His devotees
After Krsna protects Pandavas and the embryo in the womb of Uttara, queen Kunti is puzzled. Lord was present outside in front of her and simultaneously He was present within the womb of Uttara. She was confused and could not ascertain if Lord is all pervading or localized.
Lord is all pervading as His paramatma feature and simultaneously possesses an eternal personal form of bliss and knowledge. He is the infallible original personality of Godhead. He is the supreme controller. He is present both within and without. Still He is invisible because He reserves the right to reveal Himself only to surrendered souls. Radhanath swami maharaj often quotes, "As you approach the Lord so He will reciprocate." A surrendered soul who sincerely renders transcendental loving devotional service unto Him under the guidance of His bonafide representative, Lord reveals Himself to such a devotee. Maharaj says, "Understanding comes by mercy not by our intellectual prowess." For others who are less intelligent or rebellious, Lord is like sun covered by cloud of maya, Lord's illusory potency.
Scriptures declare that Krsna is the Supreme personality of Godhead. Great saintly persons like Asita, Vyasa, Brahma, Narada describe Him as the Supreme. He Himself tells that no one is equal to greater than Him. Despite
so many evidences certain classes of people deride Him as an ordinary human being. This is due to poor fund of knowledge. Their stubborn obstinacy is due to their past and present misdeeds.
Some other section of people try to know the Absolute truth through empirical knowledge based on their sense perception. But through imperfect senses, perfect knowledge can not be grasped. Lord is described as adhokshaja, one who is beyond sense perception. Senses are material but Lord is all spiritual.
So only way Lord can be known is when He reveals Himself by His own causeless mercy just like sun can not be seen until he himself manifests. To attract the mercy of the Lord, Srimad Bhagavatam describes the path of Bhakti yoga. Lord is atmarama and possesses all six opulences in full. So He can not be impressed by dint of our insignificant display of wealth, austerity or knowledge. However, He is very always eager for the butter of Gopis. Similarly when we cultivate unalloyed love for Him, have a clear, butter-soft heart then Krsna would get attracted towards us. When our heart is cleansed of all anarthas, Krsna would forcibly come and reside there eternally.
Kunti has been described as chaste woman which means her dependence only on Lord is complete without a second. Pandavas themselves were very skilled and powerful kshatriyas. Nonetheless they knew no one to turn to other than Krsna. Therefore, Krsna always protected them. Such souls are under direct protection of internal potency of the Lord. Often when a person is endowed with fame, wealth, beauty or strength, he inevitably finds shelter and protection in these perishable things and forgets the Supreme Lord. Upon forgetting the Supreme father that soul gets lost in the viscious cycle of birth and death. Its the merciful nature of the Lord that He cuts the material attachment by taking away everything just like an expert surgeon takes out the tumour of the patient and reinstates him back into his original, natural condition. As long as we seek shelter in any material thing or other than Krsna, Krsna would not manifest Himself. Till Draupadi had faith in shelter of her husbands, grandfather, other elder members and her own strength, Krsn did not come to her rescue. But when she cried out to Him, calling out His names "Govinda" with no other hope, Krsna immediately came to protect her.
Please do visit: www.itsohappened.com
Lord is all pervading as His paramatma feature and simultaneously possesses an eternal personal form of bliss and knowledge. He is the infallible original personality of Godhead. He is the supreme controller. He is present both within and without. Still He is invisible because He reserves the right to reveal Himself only to surrendered souls. Radhanath swami maharaj often quotes, "As you approach the Lord so He will reciprocate." A surrendered soul who sincerely renders transcendental loving devotional service unto Him under the guidance of His bonafide representative, Lord reveals Himself to such a devotee. Maharaj says, "Understanding comes by mercy not by our intellectual prowess." For others who are less intelligent or rebellious, Lord is like sun covered by cloud of maya, Lord's illusory potency.
Scriptures declare that Krsna is the Supreme personality of Godhead. Great saintly persons like Asita, Vyasa, Brahma, Narada describe Him as the Supreme. He Himself tells that no one is equal to greater than Him. Despite
so many evidences certain classes of people deride Him as an ordinary human being. This is due to poor fund of knowledge. Their stubborn obstinacy is due to their past and present misdeeds.
Some other section of people try to know the Absolute truth through empirical knowledge based on their sense perception. But through imperfect senses, perfect knowledge can not be grasped. Lord is described as adhokshaja, one who is beyond sense perception. Senses are material but Lord is all spiritual.
So only way Lord can be known is when He reveals Himself by His own causeless mercy just like sun can not be seen until he himself manifests. To attract the mercy of the Lord, Srimad Bhagavatam describes the path of Bhakti yoga. Lord is atmarama and possesses all six opulences in full. So He can not be impressed by dint of our insignificant display of wealth, austerity or knowledge. However, He is very always eager for the butter of Gopis. Similarly when we cultivate unalloyed love for Him, have a clear, butter-soft heart then Krsna would get attracted towards us. When our heart is cleansed of all anarthas, Krsna would forcibly come and reside there eternally.
Kunti has been described as chaste woman which means her dependence only on Lord is complete without a second. Pandavas themselves were very skilled and powerful kshatriyas. Nonetheless they knew no one to turn to other than Krsna. Therefore, Krsna always protected them. Such souls are under direct protection of internal potency of the Lord. Often when a person is endowed with fame, wealth, beauty or strength, he inevitably finds shelter and protection in these perishable things and forgets the Supreme Lord. Upon forgetting the Supreme father that soul gets lost in the viscious cycle of birth and death. Its the merciful nature of the Lord that He cuts the material attachment by taking away everything just like an expert surgeon takes out the tumour of the patient and reinstates him back into his original, natural condition. As long as we seek shelter in any material thing or other than Krsna, Krsna would not manifest Himself. Till Draupadi had faith in shelter of her husbands, grandfather, other elder members and her own strength, Krsn did not come to her rescue. But when she cried out to Him, calling out His names "Govinda" with no other hope, Krsna immediately came to protect her.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Power of attitude - how to transit to positive attitude?
Every one of us has free will. Depending upon how we use it in associating with what kind of objects or persons we condition or mould ourselves accordingly. Eg: We take to smoking when provoked by so called friend, after sometime we become addicted or taking another example, say, someone is given to complaining. One can acquire such a nature by doing two things: Firstly, by complainging and secondly, by associating with those who complain. In due course of time, that person succumbs to his own acquired nature of complaining although he is totally disinclined and want to quit. Similarly in childhood and youth by our own free will we find shelter in a particular attitude or a set of ways of responding. Soon that becomes an integral part of our personality. Attitude is our perception and verbal or physical action that follows in accordance to that perception.
History has witnessed how different perceptions have led to different results. William Bleigh, "We both read Bible day and night but you read black and I read white." Hitler read the same Bible which Mother Teresa read but their conclusions were diagonally opposite. Its the same text but some conclude we are the chosen ones and everyone else should be subordinate and others learn to love, be compassionate and merciful towards the humanity. Its a sheer difference of their perceptions or their attitudes. So the hatred of Hitler led to one of the most hineous and ghastly acts.
Positive attitude is to see the potential of doing something good even in the most unfavourable conditions. Whatever technology we are using today is mostly the outcome of positive attitude possessed by some people. Wright brothers saw a bird and they said men should also fly. They were simple farmers. People laughed at them and at their attempts to accomplish impossible, impractical and unreasonable. They were criticised for every failure. But today flying we take it for granted.
Thomas Edison failed for over 9000 times in discovering electric bulb. But at every failure he rejoiced that he has a learnt another way how electric bulb wont work. That's exactly what perception is. Someone else would have given up after 20-50 trials, remorseful over continous failures.This is the power of positive attitude.
History has witnessed how different perceptions have led to different results. William Bleigh, "We both read Bible day and night but you read black and I read white." Hitler read the same Bible which Mother Teresa read but their conclusions were diagonally opposite. Its the same text but some conclude we are the chosen ones and everyone else should be subordinate and others learn to love, be compassionate and merciful towards the humanity. Its a sheer difference of their perceptions or their attitudes. So the hatred of Hitler led to one of the most hineous and ghastly acts.
Positive attitude is to see the potential of doing something good even in the most unfavourable conditions. Whatever technology we are using today is mostly the outcome of positive attitude possessed by some people. Wright brothers saw a bird and they said men should also fly. They were simple farmers. People laughed at them and at their attempts to accomplish impossible, impractical and unreasonable. They were criticised for every failure. But today flying we take it for granted.
Thomas Edison failed for over 9000 times in discovering electric bulb. But at every failure he rejoiced that he has a learnt another way how electric bulb wont work. That's exactly what perception is. Someone else would have given up after 20-50 trials, remorseful over continous failures.This is the power of positive attitude.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Gratitude to His Holiness Radhanath Swami
As a token of gratitude to HH Radhanath Swami, this blog shall serve to spread the message of Godhead Whose knowledge alone is sufficient to satisfy the hearts of all living entities. We all are looking for happiness. But we have been baffled in our attempts for time immemorial. What is that most fulfilling purpose of life that one should strive for?
Do visit:
http://www.thejourneyhomebook.com/
Do visit:
http://www.thejourneyhomebook.com/
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