MAHAMANTRA

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Why we should not follow Vedas?

Krishna repeats Himself two times to enforce why we must not get to much involved with various Vedic injunctions.

Chapter 2, Verse 42-43.
Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.

Chapter 2, Verse 44.
In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.

Further

Chapter 2, Verse 53.
When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness.

Krishna elaborates more on it in:

Chapter 2, Verse 45.
The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self.

Chapter 2, Verse 46.
All purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.


To summarize when Krishna is directly given knowledge why we need to read Vedas. That’s why Gita is above Vedas. Whatever a person achieves by reading Vedas is automatically achieved by Krishna’s instruction in Gita.

Question arises why then anyway Vedas are required and why in other Yuga’s people were studying them. Answer is again hidden in above verses – “Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas”.

Secondly we have to think of how practical it is to read Vedas. Is 100 years of lifespan enough for that? To read and understand Vedas one must be very good in Sanskrit. So first we must learn Sanskrit and then we have to study Vedas. Again Vedas are vast and hence Vyasa Deva divided them into four at the beginning of this Yuga and each of these streams was further sub-divided. Each sub-stream was experted by various disciples and disciples of disciples of Vyasa Deva.

In Satya Yuga with lifespan of one lakh years it was possible but not now.

However, ultimate aim of Yoga is to know God, Krishna. If one already knows this directly from Krishna then why take trouble of reading Vedas. But this doesn’t in any way de-mean the importance of Vedas. Vedas are also words of wisdom imparted to Brahma by Vishnu and only after that Brahma can start the creation. There are various Vedic reference we quote to substantiate various facts. Vedas are meant for all classes. Even for lowest grade of man there are Vedic injunctions to slowly elevate his position to topmost level. That’s why many time Vedas indicate the material benefits person will get out of certain yajnaya (fire sacrifice). Any way further in Gita Krishna says that ultimately he takes that sacrifice and provided the desired result to people performing yajnaya but He doesn’t recommend it as the ultimate aim is forgotten in such activities.

Yoga as defined by Krishna in Gita

Now a days people talk about YOGA --- sort of fashion. What actually they talk about is Yog-Asana not YOGA. YOGA actually means adding or joining oneself to Supreme.
Krishna defines YOGA in Gita chapter two verses 40-53 as follows :

Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.

Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.

In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.


The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self.

All purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

Be steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. Such evenness of mind is called yoga.

O Dhananjaya, rid yourself of all fruitive activities by devotional service, and surrender fully to that consciousness. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.

A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is the art of all work.

The wise, engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord, and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of action in the material world. In this way they can attain that state beyond all miseries.

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.

When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness.

Getting to magic figures of 16

Finally it was 16 on Tuesday, the Chinese New Year day 2. It took me around one hour forty five minutes which is same as it used to be before. Next steps should be to continue it, reduce on TV, movies, etc. easily said then done. Today I got late and will have to chant in evening after office. Seems I am forcing on myself but the beauty of chanting is that it makes you responsible towards itself and you don’t want to break the daily pattern.
For time being I can continue chanting to get the sense of achievement on daily basis without worrying about whether I like it or not or I am forcing it on myself or not. Anyway I am forcing my job on myself, I am forcing so many other things on my myself which I don’t like and I am avoiding many thing I like again forcing myself not to do those things. If I compare all of these forcing chanting on myself is very good option apart from the fact within those two hours of chanting some pleasure also comes. One has to only start it once reaching the end of 16th round becomes very easy then. That doesn’t means that 16 is the one I myself believe in but I have conditioned myself to do 16 round in past should at least become consistent in that.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Day 2 chanting

I hope to lose this track soon. Because it should come natural to me than me keeping track of it. Down from 8 to 6 rounds. I was awake at right time but sleep was to over powering. As it was yesterday I slept till 9 after chanting. Last week I thought of reaching office by 9 and I achieved it for a week. For time being I will condition myself to get up early and reduce sleeping slowly. Luckily there is long weekend for Chinese New Year which I can hopefully utilize to regularize my day. Probably year of Ox will be fortunate for me. Hopefully my senses will come under control and mind will become more peaceful. I seems to loose my control quite often now in office and home whenever people don’t understand my view or do things incorrectly and glorifying them. Probably I need anger management and let sink the others perspective in me. Anyway it has nothing to do with chanting. But chanting will take me towards Krishna and I will automatically give less importance to all other rubbish I am doing in world. Aim should be to chant irrespective of the surrounding ---- job no job, work tension or no work tension. If there is seat then sit and chant, if there is nothing to sit then stand and chant. Material situation, surrounding and other cannot influence my chanting. It’s me who can control it. I say me because even Krishna will not stop me I want to chant His name. Because He loves it. Unlike material activities whenever I can never claim to be ultimate controller. But for chanting Krishna have given me ultimate control (free will) to chant His name. He will help me always. It is said that if you take one step He take 100 steps towards you. Probably I am trying to lift my leg to take that step. May Krishna help me.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Chant and be Happy

Finally after many months I chanted 8 rounds in morning. I took the resolution to slowly give up all mundane activities which I don’t need to do for my sustenance in this world. CNY was the date and for last few days I am thinking why not get some lead earlier. Peaceful environment with cool breeze across balcony and to engage your mind in listening to Hare Krishna Mantra is itself a big enjoyment. It’s really a type of game. While I was chanting and listening my mind was telling me yes I am listening to what I am chanting and slowly it goes to other thoughts and suddenly you realize you have chanted so many times without listening as you were thinking of something else. Again you bring back your mind to listening mode and again it goes away. Devotees used to tell me and Prabhupada have also mentioned at many places that this happen because we have not developed the taste for Holy Name. Anyway the bottom line was that I enjoyed it. Hopefully that will be the case tomorrow also. Again it is my practical experience that initial you feel good when you start chanting but after few days that initial thrust goes away. It already happened to me before hopefully things will be better this time. However, the best part is now it comes so naturally that after one round my way of chanting is same as it used to be some 10 years ago. Once you learn how to chant you never forget it and as per scriptures even after you give up current material body. So seems to be very good day. I feel I have done something. There is sense of achievement which I realized after so many days and even I don’t remember when I had such feeling last time. It's sort of returning home. I was away from home for so many different reasons, ritvik issue, other devotees’ behavior or my own passion. All of them seem very small in front of what I feel today. I am home and comfortable here. The world appears good and things are simple and straight forward. As one of Prabhupada’s book title says“Chant and be Happy”

Defining Soul - verses from Gita

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.
O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both.
Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.
Only the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is subject to destruction; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain, does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain.
For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable, kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
If, however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.
For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.
All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?
Some look at the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.
O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature.

Wake up call

Wake up! This human form is meant for self realization first lesson Vedas teaches. Until you do that you are not human. Just wondering about what’s happening in world around me. Market up market down, banks declaring big losses, companies going bankrupt, people losing jobs, insecurity everywhere. And if that was enough people killing each others in war or in name of holy war. Big shots making big statements and planning and making strategy and within a year or so redefining everything. Well single word for everything – chaos. Total mess. Confusion, nobody knowing what to do. Bind leading blind and all falling in pit.
This is what Vyasadev had foreseen and mentioned about age of Kali --- Kalyuga.
Other day I was reading some expert mentioning that few things which we never thought of will be common for new generation. For them bomb blast will be normal phenomenon. In Kashmir, for small kids saving yourself from flying bullets is part of life. Till 19th century there was no incident of countries killing innocent citizen for power. Kings and monarch used to go to battle field far away from cities and fight out battle. Now leader use people to come to power by manipulating them in name on democracy and blah blah.
On personal front it just reminds of my good old ISKCON days when I was always thinking of my chanting, going to temple early morning and attending Aarti and doing service. What a life that was. Still I do think I am clear with theory but practical I am unable to implement it because of passion which probably has increased in me 1000 folds since I came to Singapore.
Passion ----- that is what leads us to enjoyment. Enjoyment out of something. There are two verses in Gita where Lord Krishna tells Arjuna how a person falls deep down into material world “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool”.
Senses need enjoyment ---- tongue good taste, eyes want to see beautiful form, nose nice fragrances. Its different object which will lead different people to final state.
Our memory is bewildered and we have lost our intelligence and are involved in meaningless activities but good thing I am not alone whole world is there in same state. Thank god it Kalyuga not Satyuga otherwise I would have been in minority.
There is one nice example about this world which devotes in ISKCON used to quote. For his mischievous children He has created this toy world and given it to us to play with. We are playing here building house, holding good job, and one day everything gone. Again take birth and do same thing like a kid since on sea-shore making sandcastle which get swept by wave and he keeps building them again and again. Good for kids to pass time. Some of us are playing monopoly. This money belongs to me; I invest like that I earn more ----- another time pass. But once you grow up you need to do better thing. In short this is what we are doing in this world – time pass.
Another such example or rather story was of brahamachari – who gets cat to drive away rat to protect his dhoti and finally land up as a big businessman man with family of five children. We in modern world are also in same position. To improve our life we try to find solution which creates new bigger problem and to solve these bigger problems we end up having even bigger problem like global warming. What was the concept of bank ---- institution which will borrow money (safeguard it) from people having it in excess and lend it to those in need. From surplus interest earn versus paid they can maintain the institution going. Concept like these came up to get rid of loan sharks or money lenders who used to charge people hefty interest and person will be trapped forever in paying interest without ever clear principal. Anyway coming to banks people thought of improving services and making things better by things like automations etc. result more complex product created and more people getting involve ----- for what. Support software, develop codes and we claim we have progressed – have we made our life simpler or complicated like stories brahamachari it appears more complicated whose objective was Sadhana but ended up in doing farming. Similarly human life was meant for something and we end up doing everything else.
To continue with examples, another good one was which I thought myself and did made quite good impression on those to whom I narrated ( probably because I used to were dhoti kurta which made me appear like devotee) of our travel from Bangalore to Delhi in train. Something we do land up in situation to travel without reservation and then you are on TC’s mercy if he can allot any berth to you. Similarly our life has ultimate aim and some short term aims which normally we do have in everything short term and long term objective. Our main aim is to reach Delhi ---- reach Krishna’s abode but there are some short term aims like getting berth to have proper rest in train. Suddenly the train stops at a station and you find out people are offering you free resting place outside the train. You wonder why I am struggling for berth in train why not step out and rest there. You step out and train goes away. You achieved you short term aim but lost your ultimate aim, missed the opportunity. Now you have to wait for next train and you will again be traveling without reservation. That’s what is happening life after life. We are missing opportunity. That’s what we are doing in this world in human form.
Finally to conclude with final example: you buy a scientific calculator but use it for addition, subtraction only then you are wasting it. Now mobile phones come with so many features and we buy them for that but seldom use them. Some of us don’t read the manual and may even don’t know how to use particular feature. Some do read it after they face problem and then are able to use those features. These are categories of humans. It’s not only for sleeping, eating, mating and defending. That animal can also do. That why first verse athato brahamjigyasa. In human form start to enquire about your existence. Read the manual (scriptures) to utilize your human birth. Unfortunately laws of Karma’s are acting on us and if we don’t utilize the opportunity properly we will again have to go into miserable form of life. So wake up and start Human life now.

Quotes

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's order in Chaitanya Caritamrita was everyone should practice Krishna Consciousness and give it to everyone. Take up Krishna Consciousness and distribute it to everyone we meet.
yare dekho tare kaho Krishna
updesh
Whoever you meet, tell them about Krishna

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iha yasya harer dasye
karmana manasa
gira
nikhilasv apy avasthasu
jivan-mukta sa ucyate

A person acting in the service of Krsna with body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities. (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.187)

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anyabhilasita-snnyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam.

Pure devotional service can be attained only when it is uncontaminated with jnana and karma.

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anasaktasya visayan
yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe
yuktah vairagyam ucyate
prapancikataya buddhya
hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago
vairagyah phalgu kathyate


When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Krsna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krsna is not as complete in his renunciation.

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