Hare Krsna,

This has been one of the difficult forum topics to meditate upon. The manifestations of various forms of the Lord such as virat-rupa, arca-vigraha, etc. are actually a mercy of the Lord upon the conditioned living entities. These manifestations are actually meant for the neophyte devotees who may have difficulty in immediately accepting the transcendental eternal form of the Lord.

“Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibited this virāṭ or viśva-rūpa to Arjuna just to convince the impersonalists that He is the original Personality of Godhead… The virāṭ-rūpa is not, therefore, an eternal form of the Lord exhibited in the spiritual sky; it is a material manifestation of the Lord. The arcā-vigraha, or the worshipable Deity in the temple, is a similar manifestation of the Lord for the neophytes. But in spite of their material touch, such forms of the Lord as the virāṭ and arcā are all nondifferent from His eternal form as Lord Kṛṣṇa.” (SB 3.6.4 P)

“This virat-rupa of the Lord was especially manifested, not for the benefit of Arjuna, but for that unintelligent class of men who accept anyone and everyone as an incarnation of the Lord and so mislead the general mass of people. For them, the indication is that one should ask the cheap incarnation to exhibit his virat-rupa and thus be established as an incarnation.” (SB 2.1.24 P)

We also know that Krsna displayed His universal form to Arjuna (on the battlefield) and Yasoda (when she asked Krsna to open His mouth to check if He has eaten dirt). The question to ponder is, if the virat-rupa forms are meant for the less intelligent, why would Krsna display them to Arjuna and Yosada – His pure devotees. The reason is mentioned in BG Chapter 11 (The Universal Form).

“The Lord can understand also that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to convince others. Arjuna did not have any personal desire for confirmation. Kṛṣṇa also understands that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to set a criterion, for in the future there would be so many imposters who would pose themselves as incarnations of God. The people, therefore, should be careful; one who claims to be Kṛṣṇa should be prepared to show his universal form to confirm his claim to the people.” (BG 11.3 P)

There are numerous places in the scriptures where the Lord displayed His universal form. One such instance is where Lord Vamanadeva displayed the universal form to Bali Maharaja.

“Vāmanadeva first expanded Himself to the universal form and then reduced Himself to the original Vāmana-rūpa. Thus, He acted exactly like Lord Kṛṣṇa, who, at the request of Arjuna, first showed His universal form and later resumed His original form as Kṛṣṇa. The Lord can assume any form He likes, but His original form is that of Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam). According to the capacity of the devotee, the Lord assumes various forms so that the devotee can handle Him. This is His causeless mercy.” (SB 8.21.5 P)

In another instance, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed the universal form to His intimate devotees. Sri Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi 17.10) briefly mentions that Advaita Acharya had a vision of the virat-rupa. Sri Caitanya-bhagavata (Madhya 14) elaborates, saying that both Sri Advaita and Nityananda Prabhu were privy to this confidential manifestation of the Supreme and upon seeing it danced like jubilant peacocks. They felt that because of this form the world would now become aware of Lord Caitanya’s divinity.

My personal realization from this lesson is that it teaches us to be humble and fully dependent on Krsna. A lot of simple things that we take for granted such as opening and closing of our eyes, breathing in and out, etc. are actually made possible by the power of the Supreme Lord. He has empowered each controlling demigod to help us with the functioning of these senses. This proves that we living entities do not have power to do anything. Everything comes from the Supreme Lord. Therefore we must seek guidance from the Supreme Lord for everything just as the demigods did. We must align our plans with His plan. The Lord can reveal Himself only to a person who is submissive and who engages in His transcendental loving service. The demigods controlling the elements and ingredients of universal affairs prayed to the Lord for guidance, and thus He manifested His gigantic form, as He did at the request of Arjuna.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

According to the Vedic principles, there are three stages of spiritual advancement, namely, sambandha-jnāna, abhidheya and prayojana. Sambandha-jnāna refers to establishing one’s original relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead; abhidheya refers to acting according to that constitutional relationship; and prayojana is the ultimate goal of life, which is to develop love of Godhead (premā pum-artho mahān). If one adheres to the regulative principles under the order of the spiritual master, he very easily achieves the ultimate goal of his life. A person who is addicted to the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra very easily gets the opportunity to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. (CC Adi 7.73P)

Sambandha-jnana basically means knowledge of one’s spiritual identity and his eternal relationship with Sri Krishna. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Madana-mohana, Sanatana Gosvami’s Deity, helps us progress in Krishna consciousness. In the execution of Krishna consciousness, our first business is to know Krishna and our relationship with Him, which we can learn by worshiping the Madana-mohana vigraha.”

In essence, our relationship with Krsna is like that of servant and the served (or master). A jiva is a servant of the Supreme Lord who is the Supreme Master. He is the Lord of everything.

ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya

yāre yaiche nācāya, se taiche kare nṛtya

Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so. (CC Adi 5.142)

In the prayers of the demigods, we see that the same mood of service is highlighted. They are very much aware of the fact that they are the servants of the Supreme Lord.

In SB 3.5.49, the demigods pray, “O unborn one, please enlighten us regarding the ways and means by which we can offer You all enjoyable grains and commodities so that both we and all other living entities in this world can maintain ourselves without disturbance and can easily accumulate the necessities of life both for You and for ourselves.”

This is the mood of the servant. The demigods want to offer their service to Krsna. In the purport, Srila Prabhupada remarks, “Such demigods are always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord because they are perfectly aware of the fact that every living entity is constitutionally an eternal subordinate servitor of the Lord. They also know that it is the Lord only who can maintain all living entities with all the necessities of life.”

In the next verse (SB 3.5.50), the demigods pray, “You are the original personal founder of all the demigods and the orders of different gradations…” This again shows that the Lord is the original father of all living entities. Srila Prabhupada again highlights the sambandha-jnana, “Every living entity, however great he may be, even up to demigods like Brahmā and Indra, is an eternally subordinate servitor of the supreme father.”

In the next verse (SB 3.5.51), it is mentioned that the jīva-tattvas are separated expansions of the viṣṇu-tattvas, and although the jīvas have different potencies, they are all meant for the transcendental sense gratification of the Supreme Lord. Keeping this in mind, the demigods are asking the favor of the Lord for the intelligence and power to carry out their task.

The key takeaway for me from the demigods prayers is how to exercise my free-will. Should I use it for my own sense gratification or for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord? There is no running away from the fact that we all have to serve. Question is, who do we serve? We serve our family, our society, our nation, our senses, etc. But if we serve those who are related to us through our temporary body, we come under the illusory energy of the Lord and become subjected to the sufferings instigated by the three modes of material nature. However if we serve the Supreme Lord, we come under His internal energy where maya (illusory energy) has not jurisdiction. As a result, we become free from material entanglement and eventually achieve a state of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.

“Any conditioned soul may also engage in the service of the Lord under the guidance of an expert spiritual master and thus gradually become freed from the entanglement of material existence. The spiritual master is the manifested representative of the Lord, and anyone who puts himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and acts accordingly is said to be acting in terms of buddhi-yoga.” (SP Purport on SB 3.5.51)

Therefore, the answer is obvious. We are eternal servants of the Supreme Lord and our constitutional duty is to serve Him. This is what the prayers of the demigods is conclusively establishing the sambandha-jnana.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

It is a matter of divine coincidence that over the last few days as I have been trying to meditate on Krsna’s lotus feet and the various divine signs on Their soles, our teacher posted this meditation topic (as well as the picture of Krsna’s lotus feet with Their signs). As I am still in the process of compiling what each sign is means, I think it will be premature to list them all in this forum post. When I am done with my notes, I will post them in some future relevant forum post.

From meditation on the Lord’s lotus feet standpoint, one harsh truth I realized is that as I try harder to meditate on Krsna’s lotus feet, maya attacks even more. It is as if she doesn’t not want me to achieve the ultimate perfection of attaining shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet that every pure devotee aspires for. I know maya is kind and is just trying to test me. Hope my determination will come out successful. I pray for all you devotees’ blessings and mercy so that I may be successful in meditating on our Lord’s beautiful lotus feet.

Srimad Bhagavatam is full with the descriptions and benefits of the meditation on Lord’s lotus feet. Below are some of my favorite quotes on His lotus feet.

• When a devotee wants to see the transcendental form of the Lord, he begins his meditation on the Lord’s body by first looking at the feet of the Lord. (SB 4.24.52p)
• By his constitutional position, Lord Siva is always great and auspicious, but since he has accepted on his head the Ganges water, which emanated from the lotus feet of the Lord, he has become even more auspicious and important. The stress is on the lotus feet of the Lord. A relationship with the lotus feet of the Lord can even enhance the importance of Lord Siva, what to speak of other, ordinary living entities. (SB 3.28.22p)
• The pure devotees are always hankering after the lotus feet of the Lord. The lotus has a kind of honey which is transcendentally relished by the devotees. They are like the bees who are always after the honey. Srila Rupa Gosvami, the great devotee acharaya of the Gaudia-Vaishnava-sampradaya, has sung a song about this lotus honey, comparing himself to the bee: “O my Lord Krishna, I beg to offer my prayers unto You. My mind is like the bee, and it is after some honey. Kindly, therefore, give my bee-mind a place at Your lotus feet, which are the resources for all transcendental honey. I know that even big demigods like Brahmä do not see the rays of the nails of Your lotus feet, even though they are engaged in deep meditation for years together. Still, O infallible one, my ambition is such, for You are very merciful to your surrendered devotees. O Mädhava, I know also that I have no genuine devotion for the service of Your lotus feet, but because Your Lordship is inconceivably powerful, You can do what is impossible to be done. Your lotus feet can deride even the nectar of the heavenly kingdom, and therefore I am very much attracted by them. O supreme eternal, please, therefore, let my mind be fixed at Your lotus feet so that eternally I may be able to relish the taste of Your transcendental service.” The devotees are satisfied with being placed at the lotus feet of the Lord and have no ambition to see His all-beautiful face or aspire for the protection of the strong arms of the Lord. They are humble by nature, and the Lord is always leaning towards such humble devotees. (SB 1.11.26p)
• One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord need not cross over the ocean, for he has already crossed it by virtue of his position at the Lord’s lotus feet. (SB 4.23.39p)
• To meditate upon the lotus feet of the Lord means to become free from the effects of all previous sins. The principle is that one should not willingly commit any sin in his life and should constantly remember the lotus feet of the Lord without deviation. Only in such a mood will the Lord help the devotee make regular progress toward the path of liberation and thus attain the lotus feet of the Lord. (SB 1.19.7p)
• By hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord or the Lord’s devotee, one can become firmly fixed in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord. (SB 4.23.39p)

Devahuti prays, “As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You have taken birth from my abdomen. O my Lord, how is that possible for the supreme one, who has in His belly all the cosmic manifestation? The answer is that it is possible, for at the end of the millennium You lie down on a leaf of a banyan tree, and just like a small baby, You lick the toe of Your lotus foot.” (SB 3.33.4)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

I was just meditating on the fact that just as the glance of the Supreme Lord is the active ingredient that creates the five gross elements, the same glance of the Lord transforms material to spiritual. For example, the bhoga we offer to the Lord is transformed from mundane food to spiritual remnants (prasadam). Speaking about the five gross elements, I have heard in one class (I do not remember which class) that the offering of five ingredients to the Lord during the arati ceremony also involves these five gross elements. The offering of incense (dhoop) and flower (pushpa) denotes offering of the earth element through fragrance (smell). The offering of water denotes the offering of the water element. The offering of lamp (dipa) denotes the offering of the fire element. The offering of chamar (yak-tail) denotes the offering of the air elements. The offering of the handkerchief denotes the offering of the ether element. The sound of conchshell and bell denotes the offering of the ether (sound) element. I could not understand how the offering of these five gross elements to the Lord transform them from material to spiritual. This arcanam process also transforms the devotee from mundane platform to spiritual platform. All by the merciful glance of the Lord. Bhakti-yoga is such a beautiful and perfect process that everything can be dovetailed in the service of the Lord. The result is that we get purified, satisfied, and transformed to a better devotee.

The merciful glance of the Lord is, therefore, so desirable and pleasing. If we earnestly pray to Krsna for His merciful glance, He can transform our material conditioned existence to a pure transcendental existence. This merciful glance of the Lord reminds of the Bhismadeva’s prayers in the first canto.

In one of the prayers, Bhismadeva prays: In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the arena of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind be fixed upon that Kṛṣṇa. (SB 1.9.35)

Lord Krsna’s merciful glance is considered as cool as a lotus flower. In the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, Bilvamangala Thakura wrote, “If I become thoroughly bathed by Your merciful glance, then I may be saved. Therefore, my Lord, I am requesting You to please bestow upon me Your merciful glance.”

In the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta it is also said, “My dear Lord, You are the ocean of mercy. With my arms placed upon my head, I am bowing down before You with all humility and sincerity. I am praying unto You, my Lord. Would You be pleased just to sprinkle a little of the water of Your glance upon me? That will be a great satisfaction.“

Therefore, one must always hanker for the merciful glance of Krsna. The best method to beg Krsna for such mercy is to constantly chant His holy name – kirtaniya sada harih – in a humble mood.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Unlike material scientific knowledge where existence of matter is considered as the first principle of creation, the science of Krsna consciousness conclusively establishes that the first principle of creation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In the first verse of Catuh-sloki, the Personality of Godhead is addressing Lord Brahmā and specifying with great emphasis Himself, pointing out that it is He, the Personality of Godhead, who existed before the creation, it is He only who maintains the creation, and it is He only who remains after the annihilation of the creation (SB 2.9.33). Therefore, we need to be firmly convinced of the principle that the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, is the source of all creation. At various places in the scriptures, the following evidence is provided.

BG 10.8: aham sarvasya prabhavo (I am the source of all material and spiritual worlds),

Brahma-Samhita 5.1: isvarah parama Krsna (Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes.)

SB 1.1.1: janmady asya yatah (the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of all emanation.)

Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Kathopanisad)

The transcendental Lord with all His name, fame, quality, and paraphernalia exists eternally.

Our teacher has made an important point in the forum topic – the Lord existed prior to the material creation produce a thread of knowledge weaved throughout descriptions of the creation itself. Without accepting this fact, it will be difficult to follow the descriptions of the creation that we will study in the upcoming lessons. As a single thread can be used to produce an entire garment, such wisdom of the Lord’s existence prior to the creation is essential to unfold and reveal the entire pattern of the material cosmos.

In BG 7.7. Lord Krsna addresses Arjuna: O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

“There is no truth superior to that Supreme Person, because He is the supermost. He is smaller than the smallest, and He is greater than the greatest. He is situated as a silent tree, and He illumines the transcendental sky, and as a tree spreads its roots, He spreads His extensive energies.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.9)

In summary, we need to accept two principles of creation – (a) The source of all creation is the Supreme Absolute Truth, (b) The Supreme Absolute Truth is a transcendental person.

SB 3.5.23: The Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, existed prior to the creation as one without a second. It is by His will only that creation is made possible and again everything merges in Him. This Supreme Self is symptomized by different names.

“Because everything that be is an emanation from the Personality of Godhead, He always exists alone without a second. He can so exist because He is all-perfect and omnipotent. Everything other than Him, including His plenary expansions, the viṣṇu-tattvas, is His part and parcel. Before the creation there were no Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī or Garbhodakaśāyī or Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇus, nor was there Brahmā or Śaṅkara. The Viṣṇu plenary expansion and the living entities beginning from Brahmā are separated parts and parcels. Although the spiritual existence was there with the Lord, the material existence was dormant in Him. By His will only is the material manifestation done and undone. The diversity of the Vaikuṇṭhaloka is one with the Lord, just as the diversity of soldiers is one with and the same as the king. As explained in Bhagavad-gītā (9.7), the material creation takes place at intervals by the will of the Lord, and in the periods between dissolution and creation, the living entities and the material energy remain dormant in Him.” (SB 3.5.23 Purport)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The symptom of a pure devotee is that he is always engaged in hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord, Krsna. He has no other devotee than constantly hearing Krsna katha.

BG 10.9: The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.

Vidura is truly a pure devotee because to come to a platform where one does not want to hear about mundane topics of this material world anymore but wants to hear about the Lord and His transcendental pastimes is not easy. Srila Prabhupada, in his earthly manifestation, was always engaged in speaking Krsna-katha.

Theologically, hearing mundane topics entangle us in this material world; these topics are products of the three modes of material nature. On the other hand, Krsna katha liberates us because transcendental topics about Krsna and Krsna Himself are non-different. In Chapter 5 of Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Narada explains the difference between material and spiritual literature.

SB 1.5.10: Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there.

SB 1.5.11: On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.

Srila Prabhupada, being the most munificent representative of the Lord, spent his lifetime writing and publishing Krsna conscious literatures for us. He has given us more than we could probably consume in this lifetime. He did this because he is very compassionate to conditioned living entities like me. He desires for us nothing less than going back home, back to Godhead to associate with Krsna and His associates.

But personally speaking, I am so unfortunate and ungrateful. I understand philosophically that hearing and chanting topics about Krsna should be my only duty. But I am not yet practically applying it. Due to my conditional nature, I am still drawn to mundane news about politics, sports, etc. This means I have jnana but not vijnana yet. I sincerely desire that I want to be absorbed in hearing topics about Krsna and nothing else. Therefore, forums such as sadhu sanga online gives me the opportunity to hear about Krsna all the time. Hearing the lectures, meditating upon them, sharing our realizations, and attending the weekend review sessions is a wonderful way to practice hearing Krsna katha. I am thankful to our dear teachers for that.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

It is a common understanding in Gaudiya theology that the spirit soul is Ananda-mayo-bhayasat. We are hankering after pleasure. The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Supreme Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasures. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.

Unfortunately, the conditioned living entities, out of ignorance and illusion, is searching for happiness in the wrong place. Rather they have a wrong understanding of happiness.  These living entities do not understand the difference between the happiness and bliss (Ananda). Happiness is just a temporary absence of misery. We eat a nice, sumptuous food and we feel happy for a short time. The hunger returns again. We watch TV for a short time, we feel good temporarily, and the miseries reappear. This is the cycle of so-called happiness in this material world. Actually we should be desiring ananda and not mere happiness. This happiness is derived from sense enjoyment – by the contact of the material senses with the sense objects. Since the material body and senses are temporary and not perfect, the happiness gained through this body is also temporary. We should actually be focusing on the need of the soul; the soul craves for pleasure and bliss. Since the Supreme Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasures and bliss, it is natural that we derive such pleasure from the Supreme Source, Krsna.

In BG 1.5.18, it is mentioned that as far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in due course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that the philosophically inclined person must not be tempted by such temporary material positions. He should try to get into the permanent life of bliss and knowledge where he will not be forced to come back again to the miserable material world, either in this or that planet. Miseries and mixed happiness are two features of material life, and they are obtained in Brahmaloka and in other lokas also.

Since the conditioned living entities are clueless as to where to find real happiness, the Lord sends His great philanthropic souls (such as Srila Prabhupada) who travel on the earth in behalf of the Lord to show compassion to the fallen souls, who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and are thus suffering. (SB 3.5.3) They teach that real pleasure can be obtained when one renders devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Krsna. By devotional service only does one’s heart become completely purified from all material coverings like karma, jnana and yoga  – concepts that do not lead to real happiness. Only in such a purified stage does the Lord, who is seated in everyone’s heart with the individual soul, give instruction so that the devotee can reach the ultimate destination of going back home, back to Godhead, and attain a state of ultimate bliss. Devotional service is su-sukham kartum avyayam. It is everlasting and is joyfully performed.

It is important that we chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra sincerely and regularly to remove all material contaminations from our heart. This material contaminations cover the true knowledge of where we can find real happiness and bliss.

SB 1.2.19: As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature’s modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

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Hare Krsna!

Why Uddhava alone remained behind can be understood from the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam.

SB 10.2.31: O Lord, who resemble the shining sun, You are always ready to fulfill the desire of Your devotee, and therefore You are known as a desire tree [vānchā-kalpataru]. When ācāryas completely take shelter under Your lotus feet in order to cross the fierce ocean of nescience, they leave behind on earth the method by which they cross, and because You are very merciful to Your other devotees, You accept this method to help them.

In the purport to above verse, Srila Prabhupada explains that the acarya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord’s lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called acarya sampradaya.

In this lesson, we see that the Supreme Lord left behind His pure devotee Uddhava to help the conditioned souls cross over the dark ocean of material existence. The Lord entrusted Uddhava to disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. These great devotees teach the conditioned soul the purpose of human life, they are not the material bodies but spirit souls, they have eternal transcendental existence in the spiritual world, and there is a process to go back home, back to Godhead. The process is bhakti-yoga – loving devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Krsna.

“Uddhava was considered to be the best amongst all devotees of that time, and therefore he was directly instructed by the Lord’s grace, so that people might take advantage of Uddhava’s knowledge after the disappearance of the Lord from the vision of the world. This is one of the reasons why Uddhava was advised to go to Badarikāśrama, where the Lord is personally represented by the Nara-Nārāyaṇa Deity. One who is transcendentally advanced can gain direct inspiration from the temple Deity, and thus a devotee of the Lord always takes shelter of a recognized temple of the Lord in order to make tangible advancement in transcendental knowledge by the grace of the Lord.” (SB 3.4.30 P)

We have seen this example of the Lord sending or keeping behind His pure representatives since time immemorial. Even more recently, we have seen how Srila Prabhupada, a pure and bonafide representative of the Lord, continued the mission of his spiritual master to bring the transcendental knowledge about the Supreme Lord to the English-speaking world. Similarly, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu entrusted the Six Goswami to write books on devotional service and spread the glories of bhakti-yoga to the world. Rūpa Gosvāmī, for example, in order to help subsequent devotees, published such devotional books as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Thus it is the duty of the ācārya to publish books that will help future candidates take up the method of service and become eligible to return home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord.

Why is the Supreme Lord so eager to disseminate transcendental knowledge about Himself? That’s because, as the Lord Himself said in Bhagavad Gita, one who knows the transcendental nature of His appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains His eternal abode (BG 4.9)

One who can understand the truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he returns to the kingdom of God immediately after quitting this present material body. The devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the risk of returning to this material world.

The qualification for becoming a representative of the Lord is to be transcendental to the three modes of material nature. As the Lord is not affected by the modes of material nature, so a pure devotee of the Lord is also not affected by the modes of nature. That is the primary qualification for being one with the Lord. A person who is able to attain this transcendental qualification is called jīvan-mukta, or liberated, even though he is apparently in material conditions. Uddhava was in such a transcendental position, and thus he was selected to be the factual representative of the Lord in His bodily absence from the vision of the world. Such a devotee of the Lord is never affected by material strength, intelligence or even renunciation. Such a devotee of the Lord can withstand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as gosvāmī. Only such gosvāmīs can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord’s transcendental loving relationships. (SB 3.4.31 P)

Therefore one must accept the ācārya sampradaya such as Uddhava; otherwise one’s endeavor will be futile. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sings:

tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta sane vāsa

janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa

One must worship the lotus feet of the ācārya and live within the society of devotees. Then one’s endeavor to cross over nescience will surely be successful.

In this age, the best way to cross over the nescience of material existence is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. This is taught by none other than Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is none other than the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself. This time Krsna Himself appeared as Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu to teach us the yuga-dharma of this age which is the congregational chanting of the holy name.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna!

This forum topic is timely. This month we are celebrating Gita Jayanti – the day when Lord Krsna spoke Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield. Arjuna was bereaved and confused due to his bodily relationships; he was lamenting about the possibility of killing his friends, relatives, and teachers. Unable to deal with this bereavement and confusion any longer, he surrendered to Krsna.

“Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.” (BG 2.7)

And thus Lord Krsna spoke the transcendental messages of Bhagavad Gita that ultimately got Arjuna out of his anxiety and confusion. This is one example of subduing bereavement with transcendental knowledge.

Another example comes from the 9^th chapter of 2^nd Canto. Lord Brahmā, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation. (SB 2.9.5) After years of penance and finally obtaining vision of the Supreme Lord, Lord Brahma requested the Lord to instruct him by which he can generate living entities, without being conditioned by such activities. (SB 2.9.29) Thus, the Supreme Lord spoke the famous Catuh-sloki verses of Srimad Bhagavatam. After the Lord left, Brahma began to re-create the universe, full with living entities.

Therefore gaining transcendental knowledge is the goal of human life. Athato brahma jijnasa. One must inquire about the Absolute Truth. We struggle in this material world because we are driven by false ego. We think this material world is a place of real enjoyment and happiness. We do not know how to navigate the various sufferings in this material world. We have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Our memory is lost because we are now covered by His material energy.

The entire process of devotional service is to purify oneself of the contamination of material nature and put oneself on the spiritual platform, where he is qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. The living entity is liberated. His material contamination is temporary, and his actual position is that he is liberated. This liberation is achieved by Krsna consciousness, which begins from the point of surrender to Krsna. This understanding is reached through the power of the transcendental knowledge and the mercy of Supreme Lord and His devotees.

When a conditioned soul is seriously anxious to get of the influence of the material clutches, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated with him as Paramatma, gives him this knowledge. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-Gita, “Give up all other engagement. Just surrender unto Me.” It is to be accepted that the source of knowledge is the Supreme Person. This transcendental knowledge cannot be imparted by anyone other than the Supreme Lord or His representative.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta Lord Caitanya instructs Rūpa Gosvāmī that the living entities wander in life after life, undergoing the miserable conditions of material existence. But when one is very anxious to get free from the material entanglement, he gets enlightenment through a spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. This means that Kṛṣṇa as the Supersoul is seated within the heart of the living entity, and when the living entity is serious, the Lord directs him to take shelter of His representative, a bona fide spiritual master. Directed from within and guided externally by the spiritual master, one attains the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is the way out of the material clutches.

As it is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, after many, many births the knowledge comes to the conditioned soul that Vasudeva is great, He is master, and He is Lord. The individual soul is servant, and therefore he surrenders unto Him. At that time he becomes a mahatma, a great soul. Therefore a fortunate living being who comes to this understanding, through the power of transcendental knowledge, has his liberation assured.

That’s why we should be eternally grateful and indebted to Srila Prabhupada, who appeared to give this transcendental knowledge to us. He reminded us who Krsna is, our relationship with Him, our actual position in this material world, and how we can go back home, back to Godhead.

cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei | divya-jnan hrde prokasito | prema-bhakti jaha hoite | avidya vinasa jate | vede gay jahara carito

“He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth. From him ecstatic prema emanates; by him ignorance is destroyed. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.” (Sri Guru-vandana 3)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna!

This forum topics needed good amount of reflection. I have many spiritual desires, but I was not sure about my core desire. Because of deep material conditioning, my core desire does not manifest clearly in my heart yet. When I started in the Krsna consciousness movement, I had lofty goals. But as my devotional journey progressed and as I continued to chant the holy name, my shortcomings started becoming manifest. I gradually started to realize how fallen, insignificant, and unqualified (for devotional service) I am. This is the potency of chanting the holy name. Ceto Darpana marjana. Our hearts become cleansed as we chant the holy name. In the early days of bhakti, I might have been foolish to desire the personal association of Lord Krsna. But now I feel too distant and unqualified to even aspire for this goal. I am not like Uddhava who particularly desired to achieve the Lord’s association.

“O Vasu, I know from within your mind what you desired in the days of yore when the Vasus and other demigods responsible for expanding the universal affairs performed sacrifices. You particularly desired to achieve My association. This is very difficult for others to obtain, but I award it unto you.” (SB 3.4.11)

In the purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada writes that everyone is at liberty to desire as he likes, but the desire is fulfilled by the Supreme Lord. Everyone is independent to think or desire, but the fulfillment of one’s desire depends on the supreme will. Only the pure devotees can know, by the mercy of the Lord, that the personal association of the Lord is the highest perfection of life. The Lord assured Uddhava that He would fulfill his desire.

Yes, so desiring the personal association of the Lord is our ultimate goal. But achievement of this goal is realistically too far away because of my existing anarthas and not being fully Krsna consciousness yet. There are many milestones I need to cross to get to the ultimate goal. I need to be a better devotee. I need to aspire to be a pure devotee. I need to learn how to serve the devotees better. I need to learn how to practice kindness, love, tolerance, and compassion. I need to learn how to please my spiritual master. I need to transform my heart. I need to learn how to love Krsna more. I need to learn how to practice gratitude. I need to learn how to practically apply the teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam. I need to learn how to even chant the holy name properly.

Therefore, if I am asked what my core desire at this stage of my bhakti life is, I will say that it is to chant the holy name of the Lord offenselessly. I want to chant the suddha-nama at least once in this lifetime. This is my core and most urgent desire. I understand everything else can be achieved by the pure chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna. I want to chant more and chant better. This is the goal of my life. Other complementary desires are, I want to always stay in the association of advanced devotees (like our teachers of this course), I want to serve the devotees, and I want to always study and imbibe the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in his books.

“My dear king, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore, the chanting of the saṅkīrtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. One who constantly hears and chants the holy name of the Lord and hears and chants about His activities can very easily attain the platform of pure devotional service, which can cleanse the dirt from one’s heart. One cannot achieve such purification merely by observing vows and performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.” (SB 6.3.31-32)

I therefore pray to my dear teachers and all my Vaisnava classmates in this study group to bless me so that my core desire is fulfilled.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!