Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

A survey conducted by Sunday Times of India (March 6, 2011) threw up a surprise. Contrary to the perception that young people in India are becoming disinclined towards spirituality the survey shows that younger people are more & more becoming interested in spirituality.

A person may own a palatial bungalow, may own a fleet of cars, may possess all the latest technological masterpieces, is a renowned scholar and his coffers are brimming with the gold, silver and liquid cash but still the person may feel hollow from within.

Suppose that we take a fish out of the water & put it in an aquarium made of gold but no water in it. Will the fish be satisfied & happy just being in gold plated aquarium? The answer is ‘NO’. A fish can be happy only in water.

Similarly no matter how much comfort we provide to our body unless & until we nourish our real self we will not get the satisfaction. We need to understand that we are not this body but we are souls presently in a human body. As a soul we are sac-cid-ananda i.e. eternal, blissful & full of knowledge. The nature of the soul is to be in constant association of the Lord. So, when we endeavor to connect to the Lord we feel a sense of inner satisfaction & bliss from within. In an article published in the Reader’s Digest (‘Searching for the Divine’, Jan 2002) Prof Andrew a neurologist explains that at peak moments of prayer & meditation a person goes to a state of complete relaxation and deep satisfaction and experiences a higher reality.

The following story of a Polish girl illustrates how spirituality can help a person to tolerate a great pain.

The girl was 16 when she discovered that she has cancer & the cancer had already spread all over her body. The girl was undergoing through tremendous physical pain but fortunately she had discovered a medicine which would help her to bear the unbearable pain. She would find solace & comfort in singing the Hare Krishna kirtan (song). Slowly her condition deteriorated further & it became impossible for her to even speak. Then she requested her brother to sing the kirtan for her. Her brother who was studying in a college used to phone her and sing the kirtan for her everyday from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. It continued for 2 months. And one fateful night the girl left this world while her brother was singing the kirtan for her. Her brother was not aware of this fact. He came to know about her sister’s death only when his mother picked up the phone and informed him that his sister is no more. Her death was peaceful. (Reference: travelingmonk.com, I-never-Cry, Volume 11, Chapter 10, Oct 11, 2010).

The girl was able to withstand the tremendous physical pain because she was able to connect herself with the Supreme Lord which enabled her to experience a higher taste and a higher level of satisfaction which was beyond the body, mind & senses

Spirituality not only purifies our consciousness but also helps us to understand our real self. So, we should re-spiritualize our lives & develop a harmonious relationship with the Lord. Just like Arjuna we too should take the shelter of the Lord & perform our prescribed duties in a righteous manner.

Yes on 30th March 2011, when the much hyped cricket match will be played then it would make either millions or billions of people brokenhearted.

We love to claim that we are a cricket crazy nation and very shamelessly chant ‘Cricket is our Religion’. Millions of Indians have very submissively surrendered themselves to the 11 mortal cricket players & their happiness or sorrow is totally dependent on them.

Why we fail to understand that cricket is a mere sport and it should be watched in a sporting spirit. If 2 teams are playing then one will win & the other will lose and also victory or defeat is not just dependent on the skills & expertise of the players but it is dependent on many external factors like weather conditions, light condition, amount of moisture in the pitch, psychological condition of the players etc. Even though the players will try their best but still they cannot guarantee that they will definitely win for the nation and we cannot blame them.

What if India loses & what if India wins. If India wins then what difference is it going to make to our lives? Around 2 lakhs farmers in our country have been forced to commit suicide in the last 13 years, what difference the win is going to bring to the lives of the bereaved farmers’ family.

There are instances where people even get heart attacks or even commit suicide upon knowing the outcome of the match. This is nothing but a sheer madness. It is really surprising that we are ready to waste this valuable human life for such a flimsy thing. Sastras explains that this human form of life which we have got is very precious and we should utilize it to revive our love for Lord Krishna.

Human body is just like a boat using which we can cross this material ocean. Out of the 8.4 million species this is the most opportune moment for us to revive our love for God. If we waste this opportunity then we might again have to wait for millions of years to again get this human body. We should realize the importance of this human life and make an endeavor to get rid of this vicious cycle of birth and death and go home Back to Godhead.

Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad – Gita:

So, if we remember Krishna always then we will go back to his abode from where we will never have to come back to this material world.

Krishna asks us to remember him always & we are foolishly remembering cricket. We can remember Krishna always if we regularly chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra :

So, instead of surrendering to these 11 cricket players we should surrender to Krishna, instead of remembering them we should always remember Krishna and instead of chanting cricket we should chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. By doing this our life will be successful.

• Lord Krishna has a transcendental form.
• When he descends in this material world he does not accept a material body.
• Krishna’s mind, body & soul are one and the same.
• In Sri Isopanisad Krishna is described by the word akayam meaning unembodied i.e. Krishna does not have to accept a material body as a living entity.
• A living entity has to accept a material body in this material world.
• A living entity has to accept a body as per the laws of nature.
• In Brahma – samhita Lord is described as sac-cid-ananda – vigraha i.e. he is eternal, blissful & full of knowledge.
• Krishna is not bound by the laws of the material world because he is the architect of these laws.
• Srila Prabhupada in his commentary explains that Krishna is also described as formless.
• Srila Prabhupada further explains that this does not mean that he does not have a form but it implies that he has a form which we cannot conceive with our material senses.
• Lord Krishna can perform any activity with any parts of his body i.e. he can eat with his eyes, see with his hands etc. 

•  Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is situated in his internal potency which is called as svarupa – sakti or atma – sakti.
• Lord Krishna expands himself in multiple forms. His expansions are of 2 types: Personal expansion & separated expansion.
• Through these expansions he dwells simultaneously in the entire spiritual world & the entire material world.
• The living entities (human beings, animals, plants, trees etc.) are his separated expansions.
• These living entities are of 2 types: eternally liberated & eternally conditioned.
• Those who are eternally liberated are the personal associates of the Lord & they are always Krishna Conscious.
• These eternally liberated souls assist the Lord in his pastimes which take place in different universes.
• Eternally conditioned living entities have a desire to enjoy separately from the Lord.
• Thus these conditioned living entities are provided gross & subtle bodies & they fall down to the material world.
• These conditioned souls or living entities thus transmigrates though the cycle of repeated birth & death in different species in different universes.
• These conditioned souls continuously suffer in the material world. However the moment the conditioned souls realizes the fallacy of the material world & takes up to Krishna Consciousness he becomes eligible to go back home, Back to Godhead.

• Mind is like a reservoir where all the ideas for sense gratification are stored.
• Polluted mind adversely influences the intelligence & thus intelligence fails to distinguish between righteous & non – righteous activities.
• Such polluted intelligence negatively influences the spirit soul.
• Under the influence of polluted mind & intelligence the soul starts identifying himself with the matter.
• Thus the soul starts enjoying the material senses & mistakes it for true happiness.
• As the soul starts considering the temporary gross material body as permanent so he starts focusing on satisfying the bodily needs.
• Since, the soul starts identifying himself with the matter, so he starts considering the material body, the by products of the material body (i.e. his children, his family members) & this material world to be permanent.
• Soul completely forgets his real identity that he is the part & parcel of the Lord.
• Thus the soul never sincerely endeavors for self realization.
• So, Lord Krishna advises in Bhagavad – Gita to regulate the senses from very beginning.
• Senses should be controlled as per Vedic injunctions, this will ensure one understands the real purpose of life and endeavors for self realization.

• The nature of the soul is that it is always active.
•  The body is like a vehicle without a driver. As a driver is required to move the vehicle, similarly it is the soul which provides life to the dead body.
• The soul gets a human body, an animal body or a plant body based on his previous karma (past deeds).
• The moment the soul leaves the body the body becomes inactive & useless.
• Since the soul is always active, so every living entities be it human beings or animals are forced to act helplessly according to their modes of nature.
• When a soul gets a human body then there is a chance to realize the real purpose of the life.
• The human body provides rarest of the rare opportunity to purify one’s existence.
• In order to be purified it is important that the soul takes up to Krishna Consciousness.
• This will provide an opportunity to go back home, Back to Godhead.
• If one misses this golden opportunity then one again gets entangled in the never ending cycle of birth & death.
• Once the soul reaches the eternal abode i.e. the spiritual world he never comes back to this material world.

• Arjuna was disturbed to see the universal form of the Lord Krishna.
• So, he desired to see the four handed form of the Lord.
• Upon the request of Arjuna, Lord showed his 4 handed form of Vishnu & later 2 handed humanlike form.
• Pure devotees of the Lord are actually interested in seeing 2 – handed form of the Lord which is very beautiful.
• In the Brahma – samhita (5.38) it is said ‘premanjana – cchurita – bhakti – vilocanena (5.38)’ i.e. a person whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of love can see the beautiful form of Sri Krishna.
• Arjuna was very much pleased to see the humanlike form of the Lord.
• Thus the Lord of the Universe showed his universal form, 4 – handed form & 2 handed form to Arjuna.
• Krishna’s 2 – handed form is very pleasing & even demigods like Lord Siva & Lord Brahma desire to see it.
• Krishna is not visible to those people who deride him.
• Krishna’s body is not made of matter.
• Krishna’s body is completely spiritual & is full of knowledge, bliss & eternity.