Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

Where does God live according to Vedic scriptures?

You live in your home. I live in my home. But where does God live? Does God have a personal home? If yes, then where?  This information is given in the Vedic scriptures.

God, Krishna, lives in Goloka Vrindavan

Brahma-Samhita 5.37 explains that God resides in his own transcendental abode called Goloka Vrindavan which is situated in the spiritual sky.

The Supreme Lord Krishna is the source of spiritual and material world. The material world where you and I currently reside is one – fourth of God’s entire creation. The spiritual world where Lord Krishna and his plenary expansions reside with the pure devotees is three-fourth of his entire creation.

Just like you and I feel comfortable at home, similarly the Supreme Lord feels comfortable at his home.  Just like we enjoy loving reciprocation with our family members, similarly God too wants loving reciprocation with his devotees.  God too has feelings and emotions, likes and dislikes like us.

In fact, the feelings and emotions which You and I experience comes from God only because we are his parts and parcels.  God always likes to be with his devotees. In Goloka Vrindavan, he enjoys living with his parents – Yashoda and Nanda Maharaj, with his eternal consort – Radha and he has many friends – gopis and gopas.  God enjoys many pleasurable pastimes in his transcendental abode.

In the spiritual sky there are unlimited spiritual planets. The topmost amongst all the spiritual planets is Goloka Vrindava – the abode of Lord Krishna. There is also Mayapur, Mathura, Ayodhya, Jagannath Puri and Vaikuntha planets.

Does God live only in the spiritual world?

Material world is away from the spiritual world, but it has been created by Lord Krishna only. This material world, which is temporary, has been created for those souls who decided to live away from Krishna. Although we decided to turn away from Krishna, but Krishna did not leave us.

To be with us, he expands himself and enter this material world. As Supersoul, Parmatama, he resides in your heart and in my heart as long as we are in this material world. As Supersoul he accompanies us even when we get any non-human body because of our karma.  Krishna as Parmatma is always there with us but because of our impure consciousness you and I are not able to see him in our hearts.

He is not just present within us, but he is present outside too. He is the source of all animate and inanimate objects of this world.  the Lord is present in every molecule and in every atom. Nothing in this world exist without him.

Srila Prabhupada explains. “In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.35) it is said that Govinda, the primeval Lord, enters everything by His plenary portion. He enters the universe as well as all the atoms of the universe. He is outside in His virāṭ form, and He is within everything as antaryāmī.”

Isopanisad says God is far away and also very near

In Sri Isopanisad Mantra 5 it is mentioned: The Lord is far away (tad dure) i.e. he is present in the spiritual world which is very far away from this world. But he is also very near (tad v antike) because he is present in this ephemeral world too. He is within everything (tad antar asya sarvasya) i.e he is present in each and every living being (as Supersoul) and in each and every atoms and molecules. And since he is the source of everything, so he is outside of everything as well (tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ).

God is present everywhere, but we are not able to see him because of our impure consciousness. When his pure devotees call for him then he immediately appears.

• When Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada, “Is your Lord present in this concrete pillar?” Prahlada said yes. In rage, the demon tried to smash the pillar with his powerful club. From the Pillar appeared Lord Narasimhadev. The Lord appeared not at the call of Hiranyakasipu but at the request of Prahlada.

• When Draupadi was being disrobed by evil Dushasana, she helplessly called the name of Krishna. Krishna was not present in the assembly hall where she was being dishonored, but he heard her plea. He immediately supplied unlimited quantity of sari to protect Draupadi’s honour.

• Gajendra was being dragged by a crocodile into the water. He was helpless, in great pain and was on the verge of death. In utter desperation he pleaded the Lord to save him. The Lord who is swifter than the mind immediately came to rescue him.

God appears as deity

Since our eyes are impure, we cannot see him everywhere. So, God mercifully appears as archa – vigraha i.e. as deity. The deity of Krishna which we see in the temple is non-different from Krishna.

Material elements like wood, stone, marble etc. are used to make the deities. But it becomes spiritual when the Supreme Lord decides to appear in that form.

Vedic scriptures give detailed explanation to make Lord’s archa – vigraha. Once the form of the Lord is carved, devotees invite the Lord to reside in the archa – vigraha by chanting Vedic mantras. Lord who can expand into innumerable forms appears in the deity. This is called prana pratishtha ceremony.

The deity reciprocates with us as per our consciousness. When we serve the deity sincerely, our heart gets purified and we develop love for God.

Once Srila Prabhupada went to one of the Iskcon temples. He paid obeisances to the deities. He immediately said, “Deities look too weak. No one is offering proper bhoga (vegetarian food) to the Lord, it seems.” Later devotees found that because of mismanagement deities were not offered right quantity of food on time. The pure devotees see Krishna when they see his deity.

In fact, people like us, who are struggling to purify consciousness, too experience divinity when we go in front of the deity.  I remember whenever I go to Mayapur, I eagerly wait for the morning to see Sri Sri Radha Madhav with asta sakhis during Mangala Arati. The divine couple looks so beautiful. It’s so pleasing to the heart. I feel that time should stop there, and I continue seeing that beautiful form of the Lord forever. The experience cannot be captures in words.

Vedic scriptures say God lives everywhere.

So where does God live as per the Vedic scriptures? He lives everywhere. Nothing exists without him. Krishna says to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita 7.7,

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

“O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”

Krishna is in the spiritual world enjoying pastimes with his pure devotees and he is also present in this material world for you and me. Once we cleanse our hearts of the dust of lust, greed, pride, anger, envy, illusion, false ego and develop love for him, we will be able to see him everywhere. This is what the revealed Vedic scriptures say.

Why to always pray to Lord Narasimhadeva for protection?

Lord Narasimhadeva protects all the devotees who takes his shelter. Other than Lord Narasimhadeva no one can give us complete protection in this world. So, we should always pray to Lord Narasimhadeva for protection. Lord Narasimhadeva is plenary expansion of Lord Krishna. To protect his dear devotee Prahlada, the Supreme Lord Krishna appeared as Lord Narasimhadeva. He had the form of half man, half lion.

His ferocious form was instilling fear in the hearts of all. Just like a father begins seething in anger seeing someone harming his child. Similarly, Lord Narasimhadeva was extremely angry because Hiranyakashipu had tried to destroy Prahlad. 

Lord Narasimhadeva appears to give joy to Prahlada

In few moments, he ripped apart the demon to pieces. He pulled out the intestine of the ruthless king and wore it as a garland. His hands, nails and mane were soaked in blood. With bloodthirsty eyes he looked around challenging anyone who had dared to inflict pain upon Prahlada.  The greatest of the personalities like Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and even his wife Goddess Lakshmi feared to go in front of him.

But he was giving pleasure (āhlāda) to Prahlada: prahlāda āhlāda-dāyine. As soon as Lord Narasimhadeva saw little innocent Prahlada he was pacified. When Prahlada started offering prayers, the Lord of the Universe became extremely pleased. He started showering unlimited blessings upon his dear devotee.

The Supreme Lord had appeared at the request of Prahlada and to show to people like us that he is always there for us. He gives complete protection to those who seeks his shelter. Even before he appeared from the pillar, he was protecting Prahlada from all the dangers. Prahlada was aware about Lord’s unconditional love towards all the living beings who are his own children.

Prahlada says – In any danger pray to Lord Narasimhadeva

The Supreme Lord creates the world, controls the world, maintains the world, and pervades the world. He is present everywhere. If we look for him within our heart, we will see him there too.

Prahlada saw him everywhere – within his heart and outside as well. So, he was free from all fear, free from all anxieties. He had complete faith that Lord Narasimhadeva will protect him because he had taken complete shelter of the Lord. To save himself from the wrath of his demoniac father he did not take shelter of anything material. Because all material solution simply aggravates the problem.

Prahlada explains it, “Although there are many remedies by which to get out of miserable life, any such remedies in the material world are more miserable than the miseries themselves. Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.17

Prahlada gives us a message too. If we are in any danger, we should immediately pray to Lord Narasimhadeva for protection.

Father prays to Lord Narasimhadeva to save his daughter

Sometimes when we read these pastimes of the Lord then it does not look relevant to us. We think that these pastimes happened thousands of years ago and in today’s time it is not applicable. We have doubt in our mind, “Will the lord appear similarly from pillar as he appeared to protect Prahlada.” But if we look around, we would find that there are many devotees who have experienced the mercy of the Lord.

One of the incidents which is widely discussed among the devotee community in ISKCON is of a little girl who was saved by Lord Narasimhadev. The girl was very small may be 2-3 years old. Once she went with her father to the fields. While her father had some work to do, the girl started playing nearby.

While playing she went on the road. When his father looked around, he did not find her. To his utter dismay, he saw his daughter almost on the middle of the road.  It was highway so heavy vehicles plied there.

He saw a big truck at a very high-speed coming towards the girl. He was quite far from her. The girl was too small to understand anything. Since the truck was speeding so for the driver to immediately apply the brakes would have been risky.

Father expected the worst. He folded his hands and started praying to Lord Narasimhadev to save his child. He closed his eyes because he did not want to see that gruesome moment. After few frightful moments he opened his eyes. His heart was pounding , eyes were filled with tears and his body was shivering. With great fear he looked towards the road.

Lord Narasimhadeva appears to protect the little girl from the jaws of death

And surprisingly he saw the little girl standing by the side of the road!

The way the truck was approaching towards the child, it would have crushed even a grown-up person. He ran towards her and picked her up in his harms, “Are you alright? How you came here? How did you save yourself from the speeding truck?”

The little girl said, “I am fine. As that big thing was coming towards me a man who had head of a lion came in front of me, picked me up and put me here.”

The man could not believe her words. She might have heard some story and that is what she is saying now. But he saw something unusual. On the girl’s shoulder there were some marks.  He was confused. He decided to take the girl to a doctor.

The doctor examined the girl and said that these marks are rather strange. These are not of any humans. But looks like that of a lion. Father did not say anything much. But within the core of his heart, he knew that it was Lord Narasimhadev who merciful appeared to save his little daughter. He thanked the Lord again and again.  

Always pray to Lord Narasimhadeva for complete protection

When devotees in Mayapur were attacked by miscreants then devotees asked Srila Prabhupada how they can protect themselves from these ruffians. Srila Prabhupada asked them to install the deity of Lord Narasimhadeva and worship him with love.  The devotees installed the beautiful deity of Lord Narasimhadeva in Iskcon Mayapur temple and began worshipping him.  And the Lord has been protecting the devotees in Mayapur from all difficult situations.

In all the Iskcon temples of the world, Narasima arati is daily sung in the morning and in the evening. Devotees also worship Lord Narasimhadev at home and daily sing Narasimha arati. This beautiful prayer has been written by Vyasdeva which glorifies the wonderful qualities of the Lord.

In this world there are miseries at every step – padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.58). And if we want to save ourselves from all these sufferings then we should always remain under the shelter of Lord Nrsimhadeava. Let us bow down at his lotus feet again and again. We should offer him our heartful prayers. And let us bathe him with our tears of love. He is our only saviour. Other than him no one can protect us.

ugram viram maha-vishnum

jvalantam sarvato mukham

nrisimham bhishanam bhadram

mrityur mrityum namamy aham

Prayers to Lord Narasimhadeva

“I bow down to Lord Narasimha who is ferocious and heroic like Lord Vishnu. He is burning from every side. He is terrific, auspicious and the death of death personified.”

Seeking forgiveness from God for all the sins

You and I have committed so many sins in this life and in many previous lives. Because of those sins we suffer in this world. We may blame other people or situations or circumstances for our sufferings, but the Vedic scriptures tell that we suffer because of our own karma. What we did in the past is haunting us today.

When an executioner executes a prisoner then he is not committing the crime of killing. As a representative of the government, he is just following the order of the State. He is doing his duty. If he will refuse to do then someone else will do it.

We suffer for our own sins

Similarly, if some people are giving us pain today then that person is not the cause of our suffering. We were to be punished for the wrongs we did in the past. And today someone has been arranged to give us pain. If we try to run away from the person who is giving us sorrow, then somewhere else someone will be arranged to give us sorrow.

• We would have hurt someone’s feelings before so today someone is hurting our feelings.
• We would have cheated someone before, so we are getting cheated today.
• We would have been harsh or arrogant or insensitive with someone so the same we are experiencing today.
• We would have given pain to someone before, so others are giving pain to us today.
• We would have taken others for granted so others are taking us for granted today.
• We would have misused wealth before so today we are in poverty.

Unless and until our quota of suffering is exhausted, we will be subjected to miseries. So, let us stop blaming others for our misfortune. Let us also stop complaining God for our miseries. Instead, we should think how to free ourselves from past sins which is causing us so much trouble.

On our own we cannot free ourselves from the sins. A person convicted of death simply cannot run away from the prison. His only hope is to get mercy from the Supreme Court or from the Government. After being convicted of the crime by the highest court, the convict does not argue that he is innocent. He accepts his mistake and seeks mercy on humanitarian ground. His mercy plea may be accepted or rejected. But this is his only hope.

Seeking forgiveness from God

Similarly, we should write a mercy petition to the Supreme Lord. We should seek forgiveness from him for all the sins we have committed in all the lives. The President, the Prime Minister or the Judge of the highest court may accept or reject a plea. But the Lord of the Universe who is our Supreme Father will never reject us. If our prayers are sincere and we genuinely feel sorry for whatever mistakes we have done, then he forgives us. In fact, he forgets all our blunders and is ready to welcome us with open arms.

We should pray to the Lord, “O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be no hindrance to my progress.” Sri Isopanisad Mantra 18

So, when suffering comes to us then instead of blaming others, we should blame ourselves. We should humbly accept that we did something terrible and so we are in difficult situation now.

Many times, we commit sins because of ignorance. But that is not an excuse. The laws of nature are very cruel. Whether we do things knowingly or unknowingly we have to face the consequences. If a child puts his finger in the fire, then his finger will burn. The fire will not think that since he is a child let me not burn his finger.

Chanting the names of Krishna burns all sins

So, it is important that we should live as per the laws given to us by God. We should learn what is righteous behaviour and what is unrighteous behaviour. What is sin and what is not sin. All this information we can get from Vedic literatures. Srila Vyas Deva has written volumes of Vedic literatures to tell us how to lead a God centred happy life which will save us from so many sufferings. Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are most important Vedic books which helps us to lead a sin free happy life.   

Srila Prabhupada has made things much easy for us. He says that we should just follow 4 regulative principles of no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication and no illicit sex. And we should also chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. If we do this then sins will not touch us. And what about the previous sins. Chanting the holy names of Krishna is so powerful that it burns all the past sins.

“As a fire burns dry grass to ashes, so the holy name of the Lord, whether chanted knowingly or unknowingly, unfailingly burns to ashes all the reactions of one’s sinful activities. Awakening Love of God

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also says in his Sri Siksastakamprayers that chanting frees us from all the sins and extinguishes the fire of conditional life of repeated birth and death.

God protects surrendered souls from all the sins

So, the best way to live an auspicious life which is free from all sufferings is to take shelter of the Lord. We should again and again beg Lord to forgive us for all the sins which we have committed knowingly or unknowingly. And we should take a vow not to commit any more mistakes. Along with that we should pray to Lord sincerely to guide us on the righteous path so that we do not commit any sins in our life.  

Once we take shelter of the Lord he protects us from all the sufferings by freeing us from past sins and giving us intelligence and determination to not commit any more sins.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “To err is human. A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls. The Lord takes charge of fully surrendered souls; thus all problems are solved simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of His directions,” Sri Isopanisad Mantra 18 purport

How Vedic wisdom helps to give up grudge easily?

Grudge is not easy to give up. But Vedic wisdom helps to give up grudge easily. Let us try to see how this is possible.  

What is grudge?

Dictionary defines grudge as “a persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past insult or injury.” Most of the time grudge is towards those who were once close to us or are still around us. We might have been emotionally attached to them once, might have wanted good relationship with them, would have even tried our best to please them. But in spite of our good intentions, they would have willingly given pain to us.

They would have back stabbed us, would have spoken ill about us to others and would have tried their best to harm us. But all through the trauma we would have wanted their happiness. We might have even confronted them asking, “why are you doing this to me?” They would have smiled and said, “I have done nothing wrong. You are miserable because you deserve it.”

Our desire of preserving relationship with them would have crumbled into pieces. We might have cried in silence for days. Just like a tree loses all its leaves in fall, we would have lost all hope of happiness in our life.

“What good life has done to me. I wanted happiness for him (or her) but I got only pain.” This thought would have given us many sleepless nights.  

Grudge does not allow us to grow in life

After being taken for a ride and having suffered sufficiently one day we would have mustered courage and decided to march ahead in life.

But in spite of our courageous decision to start afresh, the past does not leave us.

The feelings of betrayal keep on haunting us. We might be totally justified in having grudge towards the wrongdoer. But the hate in our heart is causing us great harm. And interestingly, it hardly has any consequence on the life of the person who gave us pain.

Grudge is like slow poison

Like slow poison, grudge slowly destroys us from within. It does not allow us to forget past and move ahead in life. Since we are always overwhelmed with the thoughts of betrayal, we stop trusting people. We fear making new friends. Grudge eventually steals happiness from our life.

It is said, grudge is like constantly holding a burning charcoal in our hand with a desire to hit the person who gave us misery. We do not know when we will get a chance to throw the red-hot charcoal on the perpetrator. In fact, we are not sure of even getting a chance. But the charcoal always keeps on burning our hand.

Similarly, the feeling of hate in our heart constantly gives us pain. Someone might have wronged us once or twice or may be a dozen times, but we are punishing ourselves all the time.

So, for our own benefit we should give up grudge. If we seriously want to grow in our life, then we should shun the feeling of hate. If we want to experience joy in life, then we should forcibly free our hearts of all negativity. It is true that forgetting bad phase of life is not easy. But unless we let it go, we won’t be able to carve a better destiny for ourselves.  

If we study the life of great personalities, we find that they too had all valid reasons to let the feelings of hate reside in their hearts.  But they thought differently. They proactively took charge of their life and instead of fretting about the past they carved a better future for themselves.

How Vidura handled Duryodhana’s insult? 

In Mahabharata we see Vidura tried his best to serve Dhritarashtra throughout his life. But despite all his selfless service he was badly insulted by Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra’s son. And the blind king remained silent.  Vidura was heartbroken, he had tears in his eyes. He had no option but to leave the kingdom, leave his home.  Harsh words and insults had pierced his heart. But he did not allow the feelings of hate to take control of his life.

He did not spend a moment of his life in regretting and fretting about what had happened. He did not blame anyone for the insults. He did not ask God, “Why did you do this to me?”  Instead, he proactively took control of his life. He decided to visit sacred places and meet revered saintly personalities like Uddhava and sage Maitreyi. He went deep into his spiritual life and elevated his consciousness. Thus, he enjoyed unlimited transcendental bliss.

Meanwhile those who gave pain to him suffered badly. Bhima killed Duryodhana and Dhritarashtra was living at the mercy of the Pandavas whom he had tried his best to destroy.

See this world through the eyes of the scriptures

Vidura did not choose grudge but instead he made all the right choices in his life based on the teachings of the Vedic scriptures. So, he ultimately emerged victorious. Vedic wisdom helped Vidura to give up grudge easily.

Similarly, we should also not allow ourselves to be knocked down by the feelings of grudge. It is true that it is not possible to simply forget the ill treatment, harsh words and betrayal. If we try to stop from thinking about the wrongs done to us, then it may not work. It will be difficult to forgive someone who has hurt us. Because it has affected us emotionally. But if we start seeing the world through the eyes of the scriptures then this could be possible. Vidura followed this approach only.

We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking and understanding that created it according to Einstein. So, if we try to solve the problem created in this material world with material thinking then we may not find a perfect solution. But if we try to solve the problem of this world with spiritual thinking then we will get a better solution.

Vedic wisdom helps to give up grudge easily

Scriptures explain that all the people living in this world are rebellious souls including you and me. All the living entities living in this material world had once rebelled against God, Krishna, in the spiritual world. They did not want to cooperate with Krishna’s plan, but they had their own plan. All are here to fulfil their desires. And they want everyone else including Lord Krishna to assist them in enjoying their life. They want you and me to help them to fulfil their personal desires.

They are not here to fulfil our dreams; they are here to fulfil their dreams. They are not here to give us enjoyment, they are here to enjoy their own life. They are not here for our needs, wants and desires but they are here for their needs, wants and desires.

They do not like those people whom they feel are creating hurdle for them in realizing their personal desires. They feel offended. For their personal enjoyment they can even go against anyone. And we should not be surprised. If they did not hesitate in going against the desires of God, then why should we be surprised if they are going against us.

It will be correct to say that people in this world with material consciousness are spiritually sick. Their hearts are filled with different degrees of lust, anger and greed. And this is the reason they do not feel pain while inflicting pain upon others. In a hospital we cannot expect patients to behave in a healthy way similarly in this material world we should not expect spiritually sick people to have saintly behaviour.

And so, we should not have too much expectation from people in this world. We are expecting love and compassion from those people who are devoid of love and compassion.

Heal your heart by giving heart to Krishna

The sufferings which we undergo in this world is because of material consciousness. If we start seeing the person who gave us pain as a spirit soul who because of being away from Krishna is now afflicted with lust, anger and greed then instead of feeling offended by his/her behavior we will feel sorry for them.

In a hospital if a patient suffering from stomach infection starts vomiting then we do not become angry, but we pray for his recovery. Similarly, if spiritually unhealthy person is behaving in a lustful, angry or greedy way then we should not become agitated, but we should have compassion for them.

So, instead of having grudge against people who have wronged us, we should focus on the activities which are constructive, and which will ensure better future. Like Vidura we should not allow hate to take control of our life. But we should put in our best efforts to reconnect with Krishna and surround ourselves with those who are sincerely trying to develop strong relationship with Krishna.

Relationship free from contamination of lust, anger and greed can be possible only with Krishna and with those who are pure devotees of Krishna.  

And for those who have hurt us, we should pray for them for their speedy recover from material disease.

Heart hurts when someone hurts us. But if we give our heart to Krishna then we will never feel hurt because our heart will always enjoy the joy of being with Krishna.

Does God forgive us for all our mistakes?

Will God forgive You and me for all our mistakes? Knowingly and unknowingly, we commit so many sins. So, we are always fearful of the consequences. But if we study the holy books, we find that God is so merciful that he forgives the sinners for all the mistakes. In Ramayana we find that although Kaikeyi committed an unpardonable mistake but still Lord Rama forgave her.

Lord Rama could have hated Kaikeyi, his stepmother, forever. And no one would have blamed him. She had brought great calamity in his life and in the lives of everyone who were close to him. The entire city of Ayodhya had immersed into celebration when they had heard that their beloved Rama is going to be crowned as the emperor of Ayodhya.

But Kaikeyi whom Rama loved like her own mother was seething in anger. Manthara, her personal and trusted maidservant, had convinced her mistress that if Rama becomes the king, she will be forced to live like a maidservant of Kaushalya, Rama’s mother.  

Kaikeyi desperately wants her son, Bharath, to be the king

Kaikeyi felt deeply hurt. She became petrified. Just like a wounded serpent starts spitting poison everywhere, Kaikeyi whose heart had been poisoned by Manthara started spitting words laced with hate, envy and arrogance.  “I want Bharath, my son, to be the king and Rama to be banished to forest for 14 years.”  Dasarath, Rama’s father, was flabbergasted. With tears in his eyes, he begged his wife to not to be so cruel. 

But she was so callous that the tears of her husband did not melt her heart. She saw him dying but she did not care. She thought “If my son is the king, I will be rajmata (king’s mother) and will enjoy all royal privileges.” She was obstinate. Her feelings, her emotions, her desires, her satisfaction was more important to her than anything else in the world. Lord Rama, mother Sita and Lakshman had to leave their own home.  Dasrath ultimately died in separation of Lord Rama. She was the only cause of all the sufferings in Ayodhya. 

Furious Bharath blames Kaikeyi for all the sufferings in Ayodhya

Bharath was outraged when he came to know her mother’s cruel deeds. In utter disgust he said, “You brought great misfortune upon Ayodhya. You killed my father. You gave so much pain to Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. I am so ashamed that you are my own mother.”

Bharath went to forest to beseech Lord Rama to return back to Ayodhya and become the king. He begged forgiveness for everything. But Rama refused, “I have given my words to our departed father to be in the forest. I cannot break the vow.” Bharath was in tears. “My mother is the cause of this great misfortunate,” noble Bharath lamented. But Rama disagreed. 

Kaikeyi felt ashamed for her behaviour but Rama embraced her

Despite her wicked behavior, Lord Rama had no bad feelings for Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi who had acted insanely was in tears. She felt ashamed of herself. She had realized her grave mistake. She felt at the feet of Rama, but Rama immediately picked her up and embraced her and said, “O Gentle Lady, you are not to be blamed. I am not at all angry with you.”

After a long time, she had heard such sweet words. Everyone hated her for what she did. No one respected her anymore. 

She had once thought that Rama will take away all happiness from her life if he becomes the king. She had thought him to be her enemy. But today she realized that Rama is her best well-wisher. After being rejected and shamed by all including her own son, she got shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Rama.

Crying pitifully, she said, “No one in the three worlds would have forgiven me for my cruel behaviour. You are not an ordinary person. Now I understand that you are the Supreme Lord. And so, you are so merciful, so generous and so forgiving. Please guide me to the path of righteousness.”  Lord Rama smiled and said, “Meditate upon me and you will be freed from all the attachments of this ephemeral world. You will live peacefully, and you will attain me.” Kaikeyi felt relived. She was now happy. She understood the goal and purpose of her life. She paid her obeisances to the Lord of the universe and circumambulated him.

God never leaves us, he always resides in our heart as Parmatma(Superosul)

The Supreme Lord, our eternal father, is magnanimous. He does not hate anyone. He loves all. We the living entities may dislike him, disobey him, and may even despise him. But still, he never leaves us. We commit so many abominable activities but still he does not abandon us. Scriptures tell that the Supreme Lord as Parmatma(Superosul) accompanies us in any species of life we get. If because of our sinful activities, we get the body of a dog or a hog or we become an insect in the stool still he is present there with us. Wherever we are, he is with us. As Supersoul he always resides in our heart.

Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad explain that the living entities (soul) and the Parmatma (Supersoul) are like two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One bird is the soul and the other Supersoul. The soul wants to enjoy independently from the Supersoul. The Supreme Lord (Supersoul) who is the creator of the soul allows the soul to enjoy the material world.  The soul turns away from the Lord and suffer immensely while trying to enjoy the material world. In spite of being neglected, the Supreme Lord never leaves the living entities (soul).  The Lord desperately wants us to return back to him. He anxiously waits for the moment when we will turn towards him and express our feelings of love to him.  

God forgets and forgives us for all our sins and mistakes

As soon as we consciously take a decision to bring the Supreme Lord in our life, he forgets all our misdeeds. He forgives us for all our mistakes. Not just that, he burns all our sins so that we get freedom from all physical and mental sufferings. Our life becomes an ocean of bliss.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls.”, Sri Isopanisad Mantra 18 purport.

स्वपादमूलं भजत: प्रियस्य
त्यक्तान्यभावस्य हरि: परेश: ।
विकर्म यच्चोत्पतितं कथञ्चिद्
धुनोति सर्वं हृदि सन्निविष्ट: ॥ ४२ ॥

sva-pāda-mūlam bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ

“One who has thus given up all other engagements and has taken full shelter at the lotus feet of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is very dear to the Lord. Indeed, if such a surrendered soul accidentally commits some sinful activity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated within everyone’s heart, immediately takes away the reaction to such sin.” Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.42

When we turn turn towards God, we attain Supreme Joy & Complete Satisfaction

Kaikeyi suffered because she exiled Lord Rama from her life. She desired to enjoy the kingdom of God without God.

You and I are also trying our best to enjoy in this world. But in spite of our best efforts, we fail to find joy in our life. Sufferings accompany us like a shadow. Most of the time we live in fear and anxiety. We always remain dissatisfied.

So, let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves, “Why are we not getting the happiness which we are looking for? Why we feel incomplete. Why we suffer again and again?”

Kaikeyi understood her folly. She welcomed Lord Rama back in her life for her own benefit and felt blissful and complete.

You and I have also exiled the Supreme Lord from our life. This is our biggest mistake. And this is why we always suffer.  Let us turn towards the Lord and invite him to reside in our hearts. The Supreme father will accept us. He is our best friend and best well-wisher (suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ, Bhagavad Gita 5.29). No matter how abominable our sins may be, he will forgive us and purify us.  We will then experience the joy and satisfaction we are looking for!

Why do Krishna devotees suffer? A devotee’s complain.

When I am suffering, I always ask myself again and again, why is Krishna not helping me?  Why do Krishna devotees suffer?

“I have been trying to chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra and am trying to dovetail all my activities in Krishna’s service but why suffering comes to me.”

Why is Krishna not protecting his devotees? Why Krishna is allowing his devotees to suffer?

It is easy to say to others to take shelter of Krishna when in misery but when misery befalls upon us, we question, why me Krishna? It is easy to preach but difficult to practice.

And many times, we fail to find anything wrong we did. We wanted happiness but what comes is suffering. We wanted peace but what comes is mental agony. We wanted good relationship but what comes is terrible reciprocation. We want good for others, but the other person wants bad for us.

So, we ask again and again, why its happening to me?

The answer given is, “You are suffering because of your karma.”

But I do not recollect doing anything terrible this life.

“Then you must have done something bad in your previous lives.”

But I do not remember my earlier lives.

“So what? This is how karma works.”

But what about me at least trying to practice devotion to Krishna.

“It means Krishna has reduced your karma else you would have suffered even more.” 

Most of the devotees who have basic understanding of Krishna Conscious philosophy knows this answer. In fact, when any other person will approach us with their set of problems you and I will give the same answer.

But when similar situation arises in our life we are terribly shaken.

How should a devotee of Krishna handle suffering?

So, what is the solution? How should a devotee of Krishna handle suffering? And in suffering how to practice devotional life? 

We get so overwhelmed with suffering that while chanting instead of focusing on Krishna’s holy names our mind forces us to think only about the pain. Deity worship becomes a ritual because our mind is filled with agony. Future looks bleak. We are told to have faith in Krishna. But we develop faith that Krishna will not resolve our problem. It is not that Krishna cannot resolve our problem. But we think we are too insignificant for Krishna and so Krishna does not care for us and so he does not free us from our sufferings. 

Krishna frees us from all sufferings when we take his shelter

But scriptures say something else. Anyone who takes shelter of Krishna gets freedom from all the miseries. In Bhagavad Gita Krishna himself says, “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” Bhagavad Gita 18.66

So why our suffering is not taken care. Is it because Krishna has some different plan? Is it because through our suffering Krishna wants to teach us an important lesson? Or is it that Krishna wants to make it clear to us that no matter how hard we try we cannot become happy in this world.

No matter how hard a prisoner tries he cannot remain peaceful and happy in the prison cell. He may do all the things right. But his other inmates will be ruffians and hardcore criminals who will make his life hell. Similarly, in this material world which is compared to a prison house we are surrounded with people who are filled with envy, arrogance, pride, greed, lust, anger and tons of false ego. And these people are never going to allow us to live in peace and allow us to be happy. So, Krishna devotees suffer as long he is attached to the people of this material world who have material consciousness and have desire to enjoy this world.

Return back to kingdom of Krishna

People living in this world are rebellious souls. You and I are also rebellious souls. But at least because of the mercy of Srila Prabhupada we now understand that we have to give up our envy towards Krishna and we should try our best to reunite with Krishna.  We are at least trying.

But there are people who do not even think so. They think they are too great. These people can be hardcore materialists or can be even donning a devotee dress.  So, such people will continue creating trouble for us.

So, what is the solution? If a prisoner wants to save himself from the wrath of the fellow prisoners, then what is the best solution? To come out of the jail.

Similarly, if we want to save ourselves from terrible people of this world then we should get out from the material prison house. Just like a prisoner cannot run away from the prison cell.  Similarly, we cannot simply run away from this world.

A prisoner instead of making plans to improve his life in prison should focus on how to get out of the prison. By good conduct and behavior, he can please the jail authorities and can get his jail term reduced.

Similarly, instead of focusing on how to become happy in this world, we should focus on how to run away from this material world. No matter how hard we try this world will continue to give us suffering, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, Bhagavad Gita 8.15. Either we will suffer physically or emotionally. This is why Srila Prabhupada focused too much on returning back to godhead. This is the only solution to get freedom from all the sufferings.  So, we should put in our best efforts to return back to the kingdom of Krishna.

Read: Brihad-bhagavatamrita tells the journey of Gopa Kumara to Goloka Vrindavan

Always take shelter of Krishna in suffering, he is the only hope

We may be suffering because of our past karma or this life’s karma or it could be Krishna’s plan, we may never come to know.  So why Krishna is not freeing you and me from suffering? Why Krishna devotees suffer? Because Krishna wants to show us that this world is filled with suffering. So we should make plans to get out of it.

But no matter whatever may be the reason for our suffering and whatever may be the intensity of our suffering we always have an opportunity to be Krishna Conscious. In fact, suffering helps us to go deeper in our life and reflect upon the blunder we committed in our life.  Some of the blunder may be too severe and too late to rectify. But it teaches us an incredible lesson.  But in such a situation too we should take shelter of Krishna.

Devotees suffering ends once they attain Krishna

Because Krishna is our only hope. He is our only saviour. We should never leave him.

ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam
adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

“I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.” Siksastakam, Text 8

So, in spite of all our sufferings, we should always try our best to take shelter of Krishna. A doctor knows what is best for the patient. The medicine he gives may be bitter, but it will cure the suffering.

Similarly, Krishna knows what is best for us. The suffering(medicine) which we are getting may be too bitter for us. But it will ultimately cure us from all the material diseases and will help us to attain Krishna.  

Once devotees of Krishna attain Krishna all the sufferings end. There will only be happiness which you and I are always looking for.

Bhagavad Gita Quiz

If you want to know how much you know about Bhagavad Gita, then attempt this quiz. The Bhagavad Gita Quiz will assess your knowledge and understanding about this sacred literature. Bhagavad Gita is an important Vedic literature.  

In Gītā-māhātmya 7, it is mentioned that let there be only one scripture for the whole world, Bhagavad Gita which was spoken by Sri Krishna – ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam. Let there be only one God, Lord Krishna – eko devo devakī-putra eva. One mantra which can deliver the whole world – eko mantras tasya nāmāni yāni. Mantra for this age is the Hare Krishna Mahamantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.  And everyone should be engaged in only one activity i.e. the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna – Karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevā.

If we know Bhagavad Gita, we will know how to live happily in this world. This holy book teaches us who we are, what is the purpose of our life, who is God, what is our relationship with God and how we can develop permanent relationship with God. Bhagavad Gita since time immemorial has been guiding the entire humanity.

Arjuna the greatest warrior of his time was completely bewildered at the start of the Mahabharata war. He was overwhelmed with emotions and was thinking of running away from the battlefield. Krishna at that time spoke to him and removed all his ignorance. After hearing Krishna, Arjuna got motivated to fight the war with enthusiasm and grit. Under his guidance, he won the most important war of his life. He is considered as the hero of the epic war.

In our life too if we follow the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, we will get knowledge and intelligence to deal with various challenges of our life. And if we act according to its teachings, we will become victorious in our life.

So do read Bhagavad Gita and test your knowledge by giving this Bhagavad Gita Quiz. All the best!

How prayāsaḥ spoils bhakti i.e. devotion to Krishna?

In Text 2 of Nectar of Instruction (Upadeshamrita), Srila Rupa Goswami writes that prayāsaḥ (over-endeavoring ) spoils bhakti i.e. devotion to Krishna.  Srila Prabhupada translates  prayāsaḥ as “over-endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain.”

Srila Prabhupada further writes in the purport of the verse, “The first step in human civilization consists of occupational engagements performed according to the scriptural injunctions.” And scriptures teach us not to get greedy for material gain but asks us to always work with proper consciousness.

How present-day society spoils our bhakti?

But sadly, present-day society teaches us to only focus on material achievement.

Since childhood we are taught to work extremely hard only for worldly success. “If you have a big bungalow, big car, big bank balance then you will enjoy unlimited happiness in this world.” Our mind is impregnated with this philosophy.

As soon as we see people who are rich or powerful or popular, we get attracted to them. Society calls them celebrities. They are called “celebrity” because everyone thinks that they are the ones who are celebrating their lives.

Since we too want to celebrate our lives, so we want to be like them. They become our role models. We think, “If we get name, fame, power, prestige, wealth like them we too can enjoy our lives.”

So, we spend all our time and energy in acquiring mundane things which spoils our bhakti.  We become desperate for material success. We start putting our best efforts for it. But it is not guaranteed that our efforts will bring desired results. Because working hard is in our hands but whether we will get success is not in our hands.

Just like a farmer can plough his fields to the best of his ability but whether it will rain or not is not in his hands.

There are higher authorities in this material creation who oversee what we should get and what we should not get. Our result is not based on the actions we perform in this life, but it is also based on our past life’s actions as well.

Can we fulfill all our dreams in this world?

And suppose that even if we get the expected result then that success will not remain with us forever. There will be someone who will outdo us one day. And most importantly death will take away everything from us. Whatever we accumulate will remain here only. We do not carry it to our next life.

In fact, it is not even guaranteed that in next life we will get a human body. If entire life is spent in gratifying animalistic pleasure of eating, sleeping, mating and defending then in next life we will get an animal body. It will be so unfortunate.

We live for 70 -80 years in this world. And because of ignorance we only focus on this life. We put all our time, energy and efforts to make this life better. There is nothing wrong in that. But should we also not think what will happen to us when we leave this body? What is going to be our future destination? The undeniable reality is that each and every one of us has to leave this world one day. A child may work hard to build a castle of sand near a seashore, but one whiff of wind will destroy all his endeavor. Similarly, we try to actualize all our dreams in this world, but the ruthless time can knock at our door anytime and force us to leave this world.  It is almost impossible to fulfill all our dreams in this world.

Have you thought about your future destination?

In this life too whatever little success we get, we need proper planning for that. If we fail to plan, we will have bleak future. Similarly, if we have not planned for our next life then our next destination could be too bad. The animals, the trees, the insects, the worms, the fish and other non-human species which we see in this world also once had human body but because of bad karma they are now having non-human bodies.

I do not think you will want to become an insect or worm or cockroach or crow or lizard or a hog or anything like that in next life. Neither will I want. Animal life means unlimited suffering.

In fact, all the efforts we do in this world is to ensure we lead a happy life. But if the actions which we are performing in this life is creating a bad destination in next life then we should be alarmed.

An intelligent person will not focus on things which are temporary and definitely not on activities which are sinful.

A wise man will focus on things which are permanent, and which will ensure better present and better future. Srila Prabhupada writes “Human life is meant for God realization, and the human being is given higher intelligence for this purpose.” Nectar of Instruction Text 2 Purport.

And what is that highest purpose. It is to free ourselves from material bondage and attain complete liberation. Complete liberation is only possible when we return back to the kingdom of God.

So the devotees of the lord do not waste their time in working hard for material things which are temporary and very difficult to obtain. But he works intelligently so that he has a better future destination.

Do devotees of Krishna do not work hard?

Does it mean that devotees do not work hard in this world? Definitely not. Once someone complained to Prabhupada that devotees of the Lord are lazy. Prabhupada immediately said that devotees are hard working. He said that two most famous war in the entire human civilization, Ramayana and Mahabharata, were fought by devotees. But they fought not for themselves but for the pleasure of the Lord.

The monkey warriors worked extremely hard for the pleasure of Lord Rama. They did not have any personal motive. Hanuman put his life on stake and went all alone to the enemy kingdom. He did it for Lord Rama. All the monkeys came together and worked extremely hard to build a bridge to Lanka. And without caring for themselves fought on behalf of Lord Rama.

Similarly, the Pandavas led by Arjuna fought for Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna wanted to establish dharma and Pandavas assisted Krishna in his mission. Pandavas as per the desire of Lord Krishna converted a barren land Khandavaprastha to Indraprastha which looked as beautiful as a paradise. Over endeavor to fulfill mission of the Lord brings glory and joy. But prayāsaḥ (over-endeavor) for material profit spoils bhakti i.e. devotion to Krishna.

How Srila Prabhupada was an ideal grihasta, householder?

If we study the lives of great devotees, we will find that they work harder than the materialistic people. Srila Prabhupada used to get up in the middle of the night and write books. Then in the morning he used to get into preaching activity. He hardly had time to sleep and he never cared for his own comfort. He was instructed by his spiritual master to spread the teachings of Lord Chaitanya all over the world. And he dedicated his entire life in fulfilling the instruction of his spiritual master.

Before taking sannyasa Srila Prabhupada was a householder, a grihasta. And as a grihasta, he did his work responsibly and intelligently. He owned a chemical factory. In today’s language we can say that he was an entrepreneur. He was quite well to do financially. He even owned a car. In pre-independence India to have a car is like having a helicopter today. But Srila Prabhupada worked in such a way that he had ample amount of time to practice devotional life. During his grihasta life also he used to regularly associate with the devotees. Whenever he got an opportunity he went and met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, his spiritual master. And financially also he helped the devotees to establish temples and in other preaching activities.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura – a judge, a writer, a preacher, a loving father, an ideal husband

Similarly, there is the example of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great devotee of Lord Krishna. He was judge by profession. And a great Vedic scholar. He used to do his duty efficiently. He used to go for his work on time and while in office he used to be completely focused on his work.

In the book “The Seventh Goswami” which is the biography of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, it is mentioned that his other colleagues took hours to decide a case in the court, but he used to do it in matter of minutes. So, the other judges of the court may be working for more number of hours but their output was less than that of Bhaktivinod Thakura. His judgement was always perfect.  Everyone would be satisfied. He did justice to his profession. His superior authorities were extremely happy with his work.

When he was posted in Jagannath Puri as magistrate he made sure that service to Lord Jagannath happens properly. There were complaints that proper bhoga (food) is not being offered to the Lord at right time. Bhaktivinod Thakura with the help of the temple priests set everything right as per the guidelines of the scriptures.

He handled sensitive cases intelligently. There were communal riots between Hindus and Muslims and the cases would come to him. He expertly handled such matters and tried his best to bring peace and communal harmony in the society.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura had ten children and a virtuous wife.  He took care of his household responsibilities and made sure that at his home there is spiritual culture and everyone serves Krishna and worships Krishna with love.  He made his home a temple of Lord Krishna.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura is the architect of present-day Krishna Consciousness movement

While taking care of his occupational duty and family responsibilities he made sure that he had sufficient time to practice devotion to Krishna. He wrote several spiritual literatures which were appreciated by many scholars. After the disappearance of great Vaisnava acharyas like Narottama Das Thakura, Shyamananda Pandit and Srinivas acharya there was no one to lead the Krishna Consciousness movement.

People had almost forgotten the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. Some unscrupulous people had misinterpreted the teachings of Lord Chaitanya and were misguiding people for their ulterior motives. Bhaktivinoda Thakura worked tirelessly to revive the original Krishna Consciousness movement started by Lord Chaitanya. He would actively and vigorously preach the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. In fact, he is the architect of the present-day Krishna Consciousness movement which has spread all over the world. 

Devotees work hard without giving up spiritual duties

So, we see that devotees work extremely hard. But they never give up their spiritual duties. They never compromise with their spiritual life. There work is not for material positions and possessions and not for name, fame and money. They work as per the scriptural injunctions and most importantly for the pleasure of the Lord.

Our work should bring us closer to Krishna. But if we over endeavour (prayāsa) for mundane things we will always be miserable because material things are difficult to get. And even if we get after hard labour it won’t satisfy our hearts. It will also take away all our time and energy and we will hardly have time to practice spirituality.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.9) Srila Suta Gosvami says that our occupational engagement should free us from material bondage. We should not work hard for sense gratification because it will entangle us in this world.

dharmasya hy āpavargyasya
nārtho ’rthāyopakalpate
nārthasya dharmaikāntasya
kāmo lābhāya hi smṛtaḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.9)

“All occupational engagements [dharma] are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service [dharma] should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification.”

Devotees endeavor (prayāsa) is not for material gain but for spiritual gain

We should do our worldly duties to the best of our capability and with sincerity. And we should also do our work smartly, and in a responsible way. But we should not compromise with our spiritual life. If we study the lives of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura and Srila Prabhupada then we will get to know how to work in this world efficiently and not get entangled.

Prayāsaḥ for material things spoils bhakti i.e. devotion to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada cautions us, “If our endeavor (prayāsa) is not to inquire about the Absolute Truth, we will simply increase our endeavor to satisfy our artificial needs. A spiritual aspirant should avoid mundane endeavor.” Nectar of Instruction Text 2 Purport.

So as devotees our endeavor (prayāsa) should not be for material gain which is temporary but for spiritual gain which is everlasting.

Quiz on Vedic Yuga Cycle

How much are you aware about the Vedic Yuga Cycle? Attempt this “Quiz on Vedic Yuga Cycle” and test your knowledge about the different yugas.

It is important that we have good understanding of the Vedic scriptures. Vedas are the words of God. So, if we know the Vedas we will know how to live in harmony with God. We will always be peaceful and happy in this world. And when we leave this world, we will have a better destination.

What were people’s life duration in different Vedic yugas?

There are 4 Yugas mentioned in the Vedas – Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga and Kali-yuga. In Satya–yuga people lived for around one hundred thousand years. Treta-yuga follows Satya-yuga. In Treta–yuga people’s life duration was ten thousand years. After Treta-yuga comes Dvāpara-yuga. In Dvapara yuga people used to live for one thousand years. Kali-yuga comes after Dvāpara-yuga. In Kali – yuga people live maximum for 100 years. But as Kali-yuga progresses people’s life span further reduces. The present age in which we are living is Kali-yuga.

Scriptures explain that in Satya-yuga almost all the people are God conscious. They are virtuous and have many good qualities like honesty, truthfulness, kindness. But as the Vedic Yuga cycle progresses people’s virtuous quality start diminishing. People become more materialistic and less God Conscious. Their life span, memory and intelligence also start reducing.

What are the Yuga Dharma for self realization in different yugas?

In different Vedic yugas different processes are there for self- realization. This is called Yuga Dharma. In Satya-yuga the recommended process is meditation on the transcendental form of Lord Vishnu. During Treta-yuga people performed yagnas i.e. fire sacrifices. In Dvāpara-yuga people do elaborate deity worship to attain self-realization. And in Kali-yuga the Yuga Dharma is chanting the holy names of the Supreme Lord such as the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. By chanting this maha-mantra we can attain complete perfection.

The “Quiz on Vedic Yuga Cycle” will help you to know in detail about different Vedic yugas. All the best!

How atyāhāraḥ will destroy your bhakti?

Srila Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Instruction or Upadeshamrita Text 2 writes that there are six activities which have the potential to destroy our bhakti i.e. devotion to Krishna and atyāhāraḥ is one such activity.

In this article we will discuss how atyāhāraḥ can destroy our spiritual life and how to give up atyāhāraḥ.

Srila Prabhupada gives two meaning to the word atyāhāraḥ

1. Eating more than necessary
2. Collecting more funds than required

How overeating (atyāhāraḥ) destroys our bhakti?

Overeating or Overaccumulation:  If we overeat and are not regulated in our eating habits then it will spoil our devotional life.  In devotional life it is important that we regulate our material senses and engage it in a systematic way in the service of Krishna.  Krishna in Bhagavad Gita has underlined the importance of regulating one’s eating habit.

नात्यश्न‍तस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्न‍त: ।
न चातिस्वप्‍नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन ॥ १६ ॥

Bhagavad Gita 6.16 Sanskrit Verse

nāty-aśnatas tu yogo ’sti
na caikāntam anaśnataḥ
na cāti-svapna-śīlasya
jāgrato naiva cārjuna

Bhagavad Gita 6.16 Verse

Translation

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough. Bhagavad Gita 6.16

Our mind and senses control us now. So, when our mind asks us to overeat, we eat a lot. When our mind instructs us to not eat, we don’t eat. We always look for palatable food to satisfy our tongue and belly. They drive us crazy. But tongue and belly should not control us and compel us to overeat. Overeating makes us lazy, obese and become the cause of so many diseases.

Even in material life too those who want to become successful regulate their eating habits. They even give up their favourite food items if it is not good for their health. In one interview Virat Kohli, the captain of Indian Cricket Team said that if given an opportunity he would like to eat chole bhature but he has given it up because it will spoil his health.

Develop the habit of saying ‘no’ when mind asks you to overeat

During our spiritual journey too, we have to give up overeating. Initially we will face difficulty in resisting temptation of the food items we like but if we start making conscious efforts then we will succeed.  For example, if we have fondness for pineapple cake and if someone brings it in front of us then it will require tremendous amount of determination to say no to it.  Most of the time we end up eating and later regretting.  

So, next time when mind asks us to overeat then with determination we should say no to the mind. Initially mind will rebel and put forth all logic to convince us to overeat, but we should not give in to our mind’s demand.  We should develop the habit of saying no to the demands of our mind.

In one of the lectures HG Radheshyam Prabhu, President Iskcon Pune, was saying that devotees get lots of mahaprasad and throughout the day they keep on eating varieties of sweet items. Devotees think that since its mahaprasad so we should eat a lot. But Prabhuji said that it is not required. We should definitely respect mahaprasad and honour it. But we should take little amount of it and distribute rest to others.

During earlier days in Pune temple, the bhoga (food) which was offered to the deities was only available to brahmacharis. But once one brahmachari said to HG Radheshyam Prabhu that you talk about controlling the tongue but lots of mahaprasad is available in the ashram and we all are enjoying it. From that day onwards it was decided that there will be special mahaprasadam counter and it will be available to congregation devotees and to public. HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj once said that devotees should learn how to remain thin from HG Radheshyam Prabhu. He is in charge of all mahaprasad of the temple but still he is thin. In one congregational program one senior congregation devotee said, “We are of the same age but we look old but Radheshyam Prabhu still looks young.”  

If we seriously grow in our spiritual life, then we should control our eating habits.

Great spiritual personalities taught us regulation

Once Srila Prabhupada offered sweets to an elderly person. The elderly person expressed his inability to eat the sweets. He said that during his younger days he liked sweets a lot and so he used to eat lots of sweets. It spoiled his teeth and now he has been advised to give up sweet items. Srila Prabhupada smiled and said, “I also liked sweets a lot, but I ate it in a regulated way.” If we study the life of great acharyas we find that they have been extremely cautious about their eating habits. They never overeat. The ate simple food. Raghunath Das Goswami took only few drops of milk a day.

Regulation is the key. Scriptures do not ask us to give up eating. It asks us to give up overeating. In the first verse of Nectar of Instruction too Srila Rupa Goswami underlines the importance of controlling the urges of tongue and belly. And again, in the second verse he is highlighting the danger of overeating.  So, we have to make conscious effort to give up overeating and give up the desire for eating tasty food.  By this we can understand that to advance in our spiritual life, it is extremely important that we control our eating habits.

How overaccumulation (atyāhāraḥ) of funds destroy our bhakti?

Srila Prabhupada also translates atyāhāraḥ as collecting more funds than required. Here Srila Prabhupada is not saying that “collecting funds” is wrong. He is saying “collecting more funds than required” is wrong. It is because it makes us greedy. And we spend all our time and energy in earning money.  No doubt money is required to take care of our life’s necessities, but we should not get obsessed with it.

In this world we fear future, we feel insecure and money apparently gives us a feeling of security. We assume that if we have bigger bank balance, we will have a better future. And so, we spend all our time and energy in earning money.

Along with that we hoard lots of things which we may not even require. Some people become shopaholic i.e. they become addicted to shopping. They buy things which they do not need in their life. Some people go for window shopping. They do not buy anything, but they look at goods which are displayed at shop windows.  It’s a big wastage of time. In my personal life also, I have seen that many things we buy but we do not even use it. I have few dresses which I bought couple of years back and have not even wore it.

Material things and big bank balance gives us a false sense of security. But if we use our intelligence and look around the world, we see that money or material things does not guarantee happiness. And definitely not immortality. We see that even the wealthiest person gets depressed, take sleeping pills and unfortunately some even commit suicide.

And no matter how much we accumulate all these stuffs are going to remain here only. We are not going to take it with us during our final journey.

Despite all the wealth Alexander failed to save himself from death  

There is a story of Alexander the Great.  He was on his death bed. Some say he was suffering from malaria and he got malaria during his quest to India.  At that time there was no cure for malaria.  He was desperate to save his life. He thought may be the doctors are treating him half – heartedly so he is not getting cured. Let me speak to the doctors. Let me offer some attractive proposals to them, it will motivate them to put maximum efforts in his treatment.  

He called the doctors and told them, “If you all cure me of this disease, I will give you 25% of my wealth.” The assembled doctors who were experts and had come from far of places said, “We are trying our best but as of now there is no cure for your disease, so we are helpless.”  Alexander thought may be 25% is not enough. He increased his offer, “I will give you 50% of my wealth.”  The doctors again said we are trying our best.  Alexander then helplessly said, “I will give you 75% of my wealth.”  The doctors finally said, “Even if you give us 100% of your wealth and your entire kingdom, still we won’t be able to save you.”

Alexander understood he cannot bribe the agents of death by his wealth. And at the time of death all his wealth will remain here only. He won’t be allowed to carry even a penny.

Alexander’s death teaches us an invaluable lesson

So, it is said that he had ordered his minsters that during his funeral procession his hand should be kept out of the coffin so that people could see that the conqueror of the world who had unlimited wealth is leaving this world with an empty hand. He also said that his many beautiful queens and mighty soldiers should be there in his death procession. Alexander wanted to send a message that although he had many beautiful wives and worldly conquering soldiers, but none were able to save him. He died all alone, none of them accompanied him. These stories should be an eye opener. It teaches us an invaluable lesson.

So, instead of focussing on temporary we should focus on permanence. We should not get obsessed with money and with worldly pleasures. These temporary things are not going to be with us forever.

Instead, we should focus on things which are eternal. The allurements of this world will distract us but if we should not deviate from our eternal goal. Our ultimate goal is to attain Krishna and whatever activities we do in our life should be dovetailed in such a way that it takes us towards Krishna.

Offering results of our work to Krishna frees us from material bondage

Anything in this world we do it should be an offering to Krishna. This is what Krishna asks us to do.

यत्करोषि यदश्न‍ासि यज्ज‍ुहोषि ददासि यत् ।
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥ २७ ॥

Bhagavad Gita 9.27 Sanskrit Verse

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Bhagavad Gita 9.27 Verse

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me. Bhagavad Gita 9.27

If we work hard to gratify our senses, we suffer but if we act to satisfy Krishna, we experience satisfaction. If our activities are as per the guidelines of the scriptures and if we offer the results of our actions to Krishna, we will attain Krishna.  Such work frees us from all material bondage and opens the door to kingdom of God.

By giving up atyāhāraḥ we free ourselves from material entanglement

To attain Krishna, it is important we spend sufficient time in practicing devotion to him. We should chant minimum 16 rounds of Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily, follow four regulative principles, worship Krishna in his deity form, read books like Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, hear lectures of Srila Prabhupada and other senior devotees who inspire us.

These spiritual activities remove ignorance from our life which is the root cause of all our miseries. Because of ignorance we consider this world as a permanent place to live. We consider relationship of this world as permanent and get too attached to people of this world. All these causes immense suffering.  But once we start practicing Krishna consciousness, we get enlightened. We understand our true self.

We understand, “I am a soul currently entrapped in this material body. I am part and parcel of Krishna. I have eternal relationship with Krishna. The purpose of my life should be to reunite with Krishna in the spiritual world. And for that I need to sincerely and seriously practice devotion to Krishna.” With this intelligence if we start working in this world then our life will be successful.

So, it is important that we should not get carried away by our material desires. Instead, we should live as per the rules and regulations of the scriptures. Great spiritual personalities advent in this world time and again to teach us how to purify our life.

In Nectar of Instruction or Upadeshamrita Text 2 Srila Rupa Goswami is asking us to give up atyāhāraḥ because it will take us away from Krishna and destroy bhakti. But if we give up atyāhāraḥ and lead a simple life, we will not get entangled in this world. We will also have sufficient time to practice devotion to Krishna and perfect our life.