Importance of the Holy names of the Supreme Lord.....

Vishnudutas Rescuing Ajamila from the Yamadutas

(SB CANTO 6th)

 As per Srimad Bhagavatam, Ajamila was a sincere Brahmana initially. But had an unexpected fall down in his spiritual life due to carried away by the strong senses (daivi hi esha gunamayi mama maya duratyaya - BG).

But due to Krishna's causeless mercy, late in his old age sadhus came to his home and told his wife to name their new born 10th child as "Narayana". This was the causeless mercy of Krishna and the Vaishnavas who came to his home. By obeying to that only one order of the Vaishnavas (i.e. by keeping his sons name as Narayana) he was engaged in chanting the Lords holy name and finally he had the darshans of Vishnudutas on the verge of his death due to chanting of the most powerful holy name of Narayana. Even though he was calling his son "Narayana" but still he got the eternal benefit of associating with Vishnudutas and also was taken back to godhead in due course of time.

Srila Shukadeva Goswami explained this immense power of the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna to Parikshit Maharaja.

Why not we take the benefit of holy names of Lord?

सांकेत्यं पारिहास्यम् वा स्तोभं हेलनमेव वा ।

वैकुण्ठनामग्रहणमशेषाघहरं विदुः  ॥  

sänketyam pärihäsyam vä

stobham helanam eva vä

vaikuntha-näma-grahanam

asheshägha-haram viduh

One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else], jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the scriptures.

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Ultimate Self realisation course 24.03.2015 (Q&A).....

Question: Benefit from Chanting Japa on a Clicker?

Hare Krishna 

Please accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I want to know that, as we saw the devotees are chanting with clicker machine, what profit they will get by chanting with clicker?

Your servant,

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Answer: Prabhupada Did Not Ask Us To Chant 1,728 Clicks Thank you very much for your sincere inquiry to get a clear understanding of how we are supposed to properly practice Krishna consciousness.  Because Krishna's name is absolute any chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is good. Whether one counts his mantras on japa beads or a clicker or does not count them at all, it is all beneficial. However, since Srila Prabhupada has ordered us to chant Hare Krishna round the beads, to fulfill our daily vow of chanting at least sixteen rounds, this has to be done on japa beads, not on a clicker. Any mantras chanted on a clicker do not count towards fulfilling our vow to chant at least sixteen rounds daily. Sixteen rounds is sixteen times 108 repetitions of the Hare Krishna mantra, which comes to 1,728 repetitions of the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore some misinformed devotees have speculated a conclusion that as an alternative to chanting on beads they can instead do 1,728 clicks on a clicker to fulfill their daily sixteen rounds vow. But this is not true. Round means around the beads. You can't go around a clicker, but you can go around a string of japa beads. Not only did Srila Prabhupada instruct us to chant round the beads. He also handed us japa beads at the time of initiation. There is no instance of his handing a clicker to someone at the time of initiation. We vowed to Srila Prabhupada to chant at least sixteen rounds daily, not 1,728 clicks. So in accordance with our vows to the spiritual master we must chant our daily sixteen rounds on japa beads, not on a clicker. Srila Prabhupada Taught Us to Chant on Japa Beads

Clickers Are For Chanting Japa? Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Ultimate Self realization course 24.03.2015.....

Sweet Memories of Copenhagen uploaded from Copenhagen, Denmark

Our stopover in Copenhagen, Denmark from 19 through 23 March 2015 was short but super sweet. I gave seven lectures; plus I was interviewed by a Christian magazine. The Sunday Feast lecture was especially relishable. There was a nice, super-interested crowd who responded well to every point I made. A Muslim lady also attended the program along with her son. So I emphasized in my lecture that one can chant either the name of Allah or the name of Krishna. After the lecture my wife, Vishnupriya devi dasi, sat and preached to the Muslim lady who turned out to be very receptive asking many sincere questions. We look forward to our return visit to Copenhagen next year around the same time. Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Pridelessness of Vasudeva Leper.....

O Vasudeva! You are Pralhada Maharaja..... (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says in Chaitanya Charitamrita)

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Ultimate Self Realization course 23.03.2015 (Q&A).....

Question: Difference Between Raganuga and Prema Bhakti?

Dear Srila Gurudeva

Please accept my humble obeisance. All Glories to you and to Srila Prabhupada.

What is the difference between Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti and Prema Bhakti? My understanding was that the advancing stages can be listed like this:

Vaidhi Sadhana Bhakti

Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti

Bhava Bhakti

Prema Bhakti

Srila Prabhupada writes in his books many times that the Vraja Vasis were Raganuga bhaktas. He also writes that they were Prema bhaktas. So what is the difference between Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti and Prema Bhakti? If there is no difference, then please point out the defect in my understanding of the advancing stages listed above.

Thank you.

Your servant

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Perfection and Following a Perfect Brijabasi

Your question is clearly answered in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 22, Text 154 as follows:

virājantīm abhivyaktāṁ

vraja-vāsi-janādiṣu

rāgātmikām anusṛtā

yā sā rāgānugocyate

“Devotional service in spontaneous love is vividly expressed and manifested by the inhabitants of Vrindavana. Devotional service that accords with their devotional service is called raganuga bhakti, or devotional service following in the wake of spontaneous loving service."

The devotional service manifested by the inhabitants of Vrindavan is called prema bhakti or ragatmika bhakti. And the devotional service that follows in the wake of prema bhakti is called raganuga bhakti. This is also described in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 22, Text 149 as follows:

rāgātmikā-bhakti—‘mukhyā’ vraja-vāsi-jane

tāra anugata bhaktira ‘rāgānugā’-nāme

“The original inhabitants of Vrindavana are attached to Krishna spontaneously in devotional service. Nothing can compare to such spontaneous devotional service, which is called ragatmika bhakti. When a devotee follows in the footsteps of the devotees of Vrindavana, his devotional service is called raganuga bhakti."

The stages of bhakti are described as follows in the Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 23.14–15:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-

saṅgo ‘tha bhajana-kriyā

tato ‘nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt

tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ

athāsaktis tato bhāvas

tataḥ premābhyudañcati

sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ

prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

"In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Krishna consciousness."

Raganuga sadhana bhakti is not for the neophytes. One has to be a pure devotee to practice raganuga sadhana bhakti. It is not that a devotee who is still contaminated by lust, greed, anger, and envy can engage in this type of bhakti. Such neophytes should engage in vaidhi-bhakti by following the orders of the spiritual master so that they can be gradually elevated to the asakti platform, the bhava platform, and ultimately the prema platform.

At the stage of asakti (attachment) one is still within the realm of sadhana. But at this stage he has realized what is his eternal relationship with Krishna. This is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to Narada Bhakti Sutra 2 as follows:

"Every living entity is eternally related to the Supreme Lord, and this relationship may be in any one of many transcendental humors. At the stage called asakti, attachment, a person can understand his relationship with the Supreme Lord. When he understands his position, he begins reciprocating with the Lord. By constant reciprocation with the Lord, the devotee is elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead, prema.”

At this asakti stage the devotee practices raganuga sadhana bhakti which then elevates him to bhava bhakti and from there to prema bhakti, the perfectional stage. Regarding bhava bhakti and prema bhakti, Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport to CC Madhya 23.13 as follows:

"Bhava-bhakti is the first seed of love of Godhead. This emotional stage is there before one attains pure love. When that emotional stage intensifies, it is called prema-bhakti, or transcendental love of Godhead.”

It is not that after reaches the asakti stages and engages in raganuga sadhana bhakti following in the footsteps of an inhabitant of Vrindavan that he abandons serving his spiritual master. He forever remains the completely sold out servant of his initiating spiritual master. This is confirmed as follows by Srila Prabhupada in his description of the guru/disciple relationship:

"He lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him.”

—from the Srimad Bhagavatam Dedication

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Ultimate Self Realization course 23.03.2015.....

Onwards to Sri Vrindavana Dhama uploaded from Copenhagen, Denmark

After a most wonderful and delightful few days of teaching the science of Krishna in Copenhagen, today we are heading for the holiest of all places in the universe, Sri Vrindavana Dhama. We are going to be staying for several weeks in the place where 5,000 years ago Lord Sri Krishna displayed His intimate loving pastimes with the inhabitants of Vrindavana. Where is there a fortune greater than this, to be living in the very place of Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental pastimes? Every particle of dust in Vrindavan is more valuable than the vast wealth in the treasury of Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods in the heavenly planets. Sri Vrindavana Dhama--The Holiest Place in the Universe Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Darshans.....

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Ultimate self realization course (Q&A)....

Question: How Can There Be Envy in the Spiritual World?

Respected Gurudeva, So far as I understand envy is a product of Maya or illusion. Since Maya doesn't exist in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world, then how can jiva, the living being, become envious of God? Thanks for your guidance. Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: There Is No Envy in the Spiritual World It is a fact that envy does not exist in the spiritual world, the Vaikuntha world. If envy arises in the heart of living being, which happens due his misuse of his independence, he is already in the material world.  Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Ultimate Self Realization course 22.03.2015.....

Put God Back in the Center

uploaded from Copenhagen, Denmark

The present day world civilization is gradually disintegrating into total chaos due to its not having God in the center. People either deny God's existence or use Him as a tool to facilitate their own concentrated or extended self-centered lifestyle. This deficiency of non-God-centeredness simply does not work. With no center to hold things together we are every day moving step by step closer and closer to total anarchy. The Krishna consciousness movement is giving the real solution for this collapsing world civilization quagmire. Those who are intelligent will accept this solution and adopt it wholeheartedly, while those who are fools and rascals will reject it and continue to contribute every day to the demise of human civilization.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada Teaches How to Put God Back in the Center

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Darshans.....

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Ultimate Self Realisation course (Q&A).....

Question: How Can I Serve You?

Dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

How can I serve You?

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Become Pure Devotee and Deliver the Fallen Souls

I want you to become a completely pure devotee of Krishna and to fully absorb your life in delivering the fallen, conditioned souls of this material world back to home, back to Godhead. If you can do these two things, I will be absolutely delighted with you.

-- Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Ultimate Self Realization course 21.03.2015.....

Sign Installed at Austin Hare Krishna Land

uploaded from Copenhagen, Denmark

Thanks to my disciple Atmamedha Das, an expert artist from ISKCON Kaunas, Lithuania who skillfully designed the sign, there is now a beautiful, informative sign at our newly acquired Hare Krishna Land in Austin, Texas USA. Now anyone who drives by our land on Ida Ridge Drive will be invited to our weekly program here at this auspicious site. We hope that thousands of people will be attracted to come and chant, dance, and feast with us.

-- Sankarshan Das Adhikari

The Sacred Hare Krishna Land Awaits a Temple

Close Up of Austin Hare Krishna Land Sign

 Sign Being Installed at Austin Hare Krishna Land

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Darshans.....

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Bhagvadgita As it is (Srila Prabhupada) 7.2.....

ज्ञानं तेहम सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः  । 

यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते  ॥

jïänam te 'ham sa-vijnänam

idam vakshyämy asheshatah

yaj jnätvä neha bhüyo 'nyaj

jnätavyam avashishyate

SYNONYMS

jnänam—phenomenal knowledge; te—unto you; aham—I; sa—with; vijnänam—numinous knowledge; idam—this; vakshyämi—shall explain; asheshatah—in full; yat—which; jnätvä—knowing; na—not; iha—in this world; bhüyah—further; anyat—anything more; jnätavyam—knowable; avashishyate—remains.

TRANSLATION

I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know.

PURPORT

Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world, the spirit behind it, and the source of both of them. This is transcendental knowledge. The Lord wants to explain the above-mentioned system of knowledge because Arjuna is Krishna's confidential devotee and friend. In the beginning of the Fourth Chapter this explanation was given by the Lord, and it is again confirmed here: complete knowledge can be achieved only by the devotee of the Lord in disciplic succession directly from the Lord. Therefore one should be intelligent enough to know the source of all knowledge, who is the cause of all causes and the only object for meditation in all types of yoga practice. When the cause of all causes becomes known, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remains unknown. The Vedas (Mundaka Upnishad 1.3) say, kasminn u bhagavo vijnäte sarvam idam vijnätam bhavati. 

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Ultimate Self Realization course (Q&A).....

Question: Is Krishna Forcing Us to Love Him?

Dear Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I have one doubt in the context of Lesson 196 in your e-course: You are saying that the jiva has the independence to love or not to love Krishna. The Lord does not want to force love on us. But at the same time it is also stated that if a jiva chooses not to love, he is not allowed to stay in Vaikuntha and is sent to the material world that is full of misery. How then can we say that the Lord is not forcing us to love him? The real freedom would mean that we are allowed to stay in Vaikuntha whether or not we love God, or else God is like any other king, who is always right and his citizens have to follow his rules else they are expelled or executed. Please forgive me if I have asked an offending question, but I really have this doubt.

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: 

Love Cannot Be Forced

There is no such thing as forcing someone to love you. Krishna gives us His love with the hope that we will reciprocate love with Him. When the jiva becomes envious of Krishna it the jiva's desire to not be in a place where Krishna is the Supreme, to be instead in a place where the jiva can consider himself to be God. So Krishna fulfills the jiva's desire by giving him a place where he can consider himself to be the Supreme. Since the jiva is unhappy in the Vaikuntha world, the spiritual world, Krishna kindly gives him a place that will satisfy his desire. 

Sankarshan Das Adhikari 

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Ultimate Self realization course 20.03.2015.....

Today's Thought--Do You Want to Taste the Bliss?

Uploaded from Copenhagen, Denmark

Do you want to taste the real, unlimitedly sweet bliss of your existence? Are you tired of the up and down rocky road of material existence on which you experience happiness and distress, thrill and boredom, honor and dishonor, poverty and wealth, sickness and health, with emphasis on the negative side of things most of the time? It you want to taste the real bliss, the solution is very simple. All you have to do is absorb yourself as much as possible in chanting the holy names of God. Try it; you'll love it. Don't punish yourself by neglected the unlimitedly auspicious boon of the holy names of God.

-- Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Diving Deep into the Nectar of Hare Krishna in London

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Darshns.....

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Ultimate Self Realization course (Q&A).....

Question: We Are God. Correct Me If I Am Wrong.

I have read your post that we are not God, and I have a doubt about this.

That we are all God is the essence of advaita (non-dual) philosophy. Advaita (non-duality) is on the spiritual level, not on the physical level.  For example even though all humans are different having unique personalities, they are one because they are all humans. Another example is that of the supreme court and the normal court. Although physically there is difference, internally they are the same because the basic quality of all courts is to give justice.

Similarly while we and God are different on the physical level, how we are different on the spiritual level?  So I feel that we are all one of the spiritual level and different on the physical level.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Qualitatively God--Quantitatively Not God.

God is different from us both physically and spiritually. Regarding the physical level, when Krishna was here on this earth 5,000 years ago, once He reached His teenage years He maintained the body of a 16 year old youth throughout His entire time span on this planet of 125 years. We are not able to that. We are forced to age by the laws of material nature. Krishna, not being under the laws of material nature, is completely free to do whatever He pleases without any restraints.

And spiritually there is also a gulf of difference. In essence we are all spiritual. We are not material. These material bodies are just coverings of our actual unique spiritual identities. Krishna is the Complete Whole. All of existence is present within Him. And we are the tiny parts and parcels of that Complete Whole. Krishna is like the fire, and we are like the sparks.  The qualities of heat and light are present in both, but the quantity is vastly different. You can cook a meal on a fire, but you cannot do so on a spark.

Lord Caitanya taught the sublime philosophy which is combination of dualism (dvaita) and non-dualism (advaita).  His philosophy is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, that the Absolute Truth is simultaneously one and different. This can be understood in the following way:

God is eternal, full of bliss, and full of knowledge. We are also eternal, full of bliss, and full of knowledge. Therefore qualitatively we are God.

But God is also the supplier of all the necessities of all the living beings. God is the maintainer, and we are the maintained. You cannot say that you are feeding all living beings throughout all of existence. Only God can do this. Therefore, quantitatively we are not God.

It is just like a drop of water and the ocean. The drop of ocean water is also ocean. But is not THE ocean. It is qualitatively one with the ocean because the chemical composition of the drop and the chemical composition of the entire ocean is the same. But quantitatively there is a gulf of difference. You can float a battleship on the ocean, but you cannot float it on a drop of water.

You will realize your relationship with God not by thinking that you are God. You will only realize your qualtiative oneness with God when you realize that quantitatively you very tiny and He is very, very. You are His eternal servant. When you fully absorb yourself in His service, then you are liberated.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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Ultimate Self Realization course 19.03.2015...

The Only Solution for the World's Problems

uploaded from London, UK

We hear many people giving their opinions as to what will solve the world's problems, and we certainly applaud them for thinking in terms of what will benefit the entire human society. But the fact of the matter is that unless we penetrate to the root cause of the world's problems any solution that we may implement will have benefits that are at best only temporary. Just as an electric lamp produces no light if it is not plugged into electricity, in a similar way because the present global society is unplugged from its source, it is totally enveloped in darkness. That source is the Supreme Person, who is described in all revealed scriptures and who is personally experienced at every minute by those who have awakened their inner consciousness, their Krishna consciousness. Only when the world society harmonizes itself with that Supreme Person by hearing, understanding, and following His teachings as He so clearly reveals them in the Bhagavad-gita, will there emerge a world society in which all people can be peaceful and happy.

Until then everyone must suffer like anything. Isn't it a pity? So now do something about it. Please help us save the world.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada and Disciples Offering a Global Solution

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Ultimate Self Realization (Q&A).....

Question: Veganism and Krishna Consciousness

I was wondering about veganism. I know traditionally in the Hare Krishna movement dairy is served. But it seems in today's world, with farming practices the way that they are, that it would be better to abstain from dairy. 

I was wondering what you thought about that.

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Using a Thorn to Remove a Thorn

In a lot of ways veganism makes a lot of sense. One thing, however, that vegans are not aware of is that the consumption of cow's milk and cow's milk products is necessary for the development of finer brain tissues in order to gain higher level philosophical understanding. This puts the devotee of Krishna in an awkward position. He needs milk to understand the subtleties of Vedic wisdom, but yet he is vehemently opposed to the abuse of cows. The solution for this dilemma is to only take milk from protected cows, cows that are not being abused, like those on Krishna conscious farms. This is called ahimsa milk (non-violent milk).

But what should the devotee do if there is no ahimsa milk available?  Should he take non-protected cow's milk or should he abstain completely from milk?  His duty is to do everything possible and necessary to awaken his dormant Krishna consciousness and talking milk just happens to be one of those necessary items. Therefore he can take milk from cows that are not protected.  This will help him to develop mature Krishna conscious understanding and will also help him to devise the ways and means to put a stop to the abuse of cows. This is called, "Using a thorn to remove a thorn." Just like if someone is hiking in the forest and he gets stuck with a thorn and he does not have a pair of tweezers to remove the thorn, he can use a second thorn to remove the first thorn. In other words the devotee uses the thorn of non-protected cow's milk to get the brain power for stopping the abuse of cows.

Another benefit is that the cow whose milk is offered to Krishna will get the blessing of being engaged in the devotional service of Lord Sri Krishna. This will accelerate that soul's evolution in the cycle of birth and death and help the cow to gain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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