Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

72 Pieces of Love

I will die for you, will you die for me? I can do anything for your pleasure. I can even pluck the stars for your pleasure. These are some of the well known slogans often reiterated by people who claim to be in love with each other. To be with his or her beloved these love birds are ready to risk their career , their lives and are even ready to abandon their home, their parents, relatives, friends….

They have an imagination that once they are united with their beloved, their lives will change forever. They will experience the same joy & happiness which a residence of Vaikuntha loka experiences. So they finally get married. However within a short span of time they find that their world of fantasy remains a distant dream. The amount of so called love they had for their beloved starts showing downward trend.

Even the statics shows that most of the time the culmination of the love marriage is divorce. The same 2 people who were desperate to live together become desperate to get separated. The recent incident when a man chopped his wife’s body into 72 pieces is a telling example as how sour the modern day love turns into.

Today’s love is not actually love but it is lust or physical attraction. Once the physical demand is satisfied the utility factor of the individual decreases and the person starts searching for some more better means which will satisfy their physical needs.

Modern society has made the word ‘love’ very vague. True love means sacrifice. True love means giving everything without expecting anything. A mother’s love for her child and a soldier’s love for his motherland are examples of selfless love. A mother dedicates her life for her beloved children and a soldier gives his life for his beloved motherland.

The selfless & true love exhibited by the gopis of Vraja for their beloved Lord Krishna is unparalleled.

To glorify the love which the Gopis had for Lord Krishna, Krishna enacted a pastime. He asked Narada Muni to go to different places, and tell people that I am having headache & my headache will subside only if someone gives the dust of their feet which in turn I will apply on my head. As per the instruction Narada Muni went to different places, met different people including great sages, learned scholars, philosophers, temple priests and requested them for the dust of their feet which Lord will apply on his head which in turn will cure his headache. Everyone refused; they argued if Lord smears his head with the dust of our feet then we will go to hell. They said to Narada Muni, Don’t think that we are fools, please forgive us, we don’t want to go to hell and suffer.

Narada Muni got disheartened, finally he went to Vraja, there he met the gopis and told them about Krishna’s headache and its cure. The moment the gopis heard about this they immediately started collecting dust of their feet. They even soaked their feet in the water so that their feet can gather more dust. Seeing this Narada Muni asked the gopis, “Don’t you know that if Krishna applies the dust of your feet on his head then you all will go to hell?” Hearing this the gopis replied, “If we are able to provide even a moment of pleasure to our beloved Krishna then we will consider our lives to be worthy and for this if we have to suffer in hell for eternity then we are ready for it. For us Krishna’s happiness is the most important thing.”

Narada Muni understood that the gopis selfless love for the Lord is supreme.

11 Krishna Conscious Capsules

As per the Vedic literature the duration of this material universe is limited. The creation of the material universe and its annihilation occurs in cycles of Kalpas.

The details are provided below: 

•  What is a kalpa :- One day of Brahma is called a Kalpa.
•  Duration of Satya-yuga :- 1,728,000 years. 
• Satya – yuga is characterized by virtue, wisdom & religion
• Duration of Treta – yuga :- 1,296,000 years
• In Treta-yuga the characteristics of Satya -Yuga starts declining.
• Duration of Dvapara – yuga:- 864,000 years.
• In Dvapara-yuga there is further decline in virtue, religion & wisdom
• Duration of Kali – yuga:- 432,000 years.
• In Kali- yuga decline in the religious principles reaches its pinnacle.
• These 4 yugas rotating a thousand times makes 1 day of Brahma. Similarly these 4 yugas rotating a thousand times makes 1 night of Brahma.
• Brahma lives for 100 years. So, by our calculation Brahma’s total life is 311 trillion and 40 billion earth years.

At the end of Brahma’s life annihilation takes place.

Education – of No Use

Exasperated with the quantity & quantum of scams today people are desperate to find a solution which will put an end to it. Government changes, politicians’ changes, political parties’ agenda changes but still the end result is the same.

It is said that knowledge has the power to bring revolution, it can usher us in an era of peace, prosperity and happiness. Education changes a person’s life forever. It is said that knowledge is power and with this power one can conquer the entire world.

If education is considered to be the only instrument which dispels darkness, brings meaning to a person’s life, makes him a responsible citizen, makes him understand what is right & what is wrong, teaches him his duty towards the nation, towards the society and towards his fellow beings then why is that almost all (no exceptions) who had been & have been caught in the scams are highly educated people.

All those who are implicated are well known industrialist, media tycoons, high profile government officials and off course our very dear lovable politicians.

Education provides enlightenment. If it is so then why everyone caught in the scams are only highly educated people? I did not find even a single person who is neck deep in corruption as someone who was illiterate & had not had any basic education. If education is considered to bring enlightenment then why do these scamsters are still not enlightened? If education is considered to make them more civic and more responsible then why did it not happen? If education is considered to make people responsible then why did it not happen?

Our current education system is lacking something.

Today corruption is deep rooted in our society. Be it a traffic havaldar, a peon, a clerk, a teacher, a government official, a lawyer, a businessman, a journalist, politician, judges , men or women in fact almost everyone is involved in it. In nutshell whoever gets an opportunity they encash it.

If education has not been successful in bringing the desired result then is it not the time for us to introspect & find the root cause for its failure?

The present education system is just loading the students with plethora of information. It is not emphasizing in uplifting the conscience of the people, the hearts and the minds of the beings are not being transformed in schools and colleges. Instead they are thought that material possession is the most important thing for a person.

In pursuit of modernity we are shunning spirituality. We are spiritual beings not a bag of chemicals. Real education is that which nourishes the soul, which cleanses our conscience so that we can understand the real and the absolute truth. Once our conscience is purified we would understand the world in its true color, we would realize the meaning of real happiness, we would understand the real purpose of a human life, we would understand that all living beings are our own brothers and sisters, we would understand that real happiness is in selfless love, is in giving not in taking.

Bhagavad – gita clearly states that those in the modes of ignorance are bound to act in such a way which is harmful for the society. It says that a person should endeavour to come to the mode of goodness, once situated in the mode of goodness a person will work for the betterment of the society.

Krishna clearly articulates that person in the mode of ignorance will commit such heinous crimes. Unless there is transformation from the modes of ignorance to modes of goodness there is no chance that the person will do any good to the society.

So, if we are really serious about transforming the society then at first we need to transform the education system. Our education system should not shun spirituality but should embrace it. The purpose of education system should not be to just provide information but it should also transform pupils’ heart & cleanse their conscience. Schools & colleges should not be just a temple of education for namesake but in true sense it should bring a person closer to Lord which will ensure that the person is situated in the mode of goodness.

It can only be possible if we take the shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna & chant the mantra:

If it happens then we will have peace, prosperity and happiness everywhere.

Searching the ‘NEW’

What changes from 31st Dec to 1st Jan? On 31st Dec too sun rises from the east & sets in the west so happens on 1st Jan; the sky still continues to remain blue; the water of the rivers, the lakes & the oceans continues to flow as it did on the 31st; the color of the leaves, the aroma of the flowers is still the same; schools, colleges & workplaces will also remain unchanged; jobs & professions will also be the same. Scientifically also the earth will continue to rotate around its own old axis and will revolve around the same old orbital path.
So, scientifically speaking & logically speaking there is nothing new which happens on 1st. If nothing changes & everything remains the same then what do we celebrate on 1st Jan? But still we celebrate on 1st, still we enjoy. Our celebration isn’t hollow, it’s not artificial. In fact we impatiently await the arrival of 1st Jan as a groom impatiently awaits the arrival of the new bride.
So if there is nothing for us to rejoice on 1st Jan then why we desperately wait for it? What do we celebrate on this very day? The answer to this question is too simple. On 1st Jan neither we celebrate any success nor do we expect something extraordinary to happen in our life. Celebration is confined to the passing of a previous year and the arrival of the New Year.
We can’t do anything about the year which is gone & we cannot celebrate for a year which is still to unfold. We just have a hope that the New Year which begins on 1st Jan will usher us in an era of unflinching joy & happiness. No matter whether we belong to haves or haves not category we all eagerly await the dawn of New Year.
The word ‘New’ in New Year has great significance in our life. Since, we always experience a void in our life so we have a hope that the ‘New’ will be able to fill the void.
What is the void which we try to fill? Each & every individual – rich or poor, young or old, men or women, black or white, Hindus or Muslims, Christians or Jews, Indians or Americans, Pakistanis or Australians – wants a particular thing in their life & that priceless thing is ‘bliss’; yes every being knowingly or unknowingly is looking for bliss in their life.
To be blissful is our fundamental right, every one of us seek for bliss in our lives because as a soul we are sac-cid-anand i.e. eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. So, we impatiently wait for the ‘New’ in the New Year with a hope that the New will fill our void and help us to lead a blissful life.
However our quest for something new always boils down to 4 things: eating, mating, sleeping & defending. The Srimad Bhagavatam describes: punah punas carvita carvananam “Chewing the chewed”. Since, we have been indulging in these 4 activities since time immemorial, so we find nothing new in these activities. So, sooner than later we find that the bliss for which we were looking for is missing.
Although we try all possible means to lead a blissful life but still we always find there is something which is lacking in our endeavor. If it’s so then this New Year, why don’t we try something really ‘NEW’? As a seeker of bliss why don’t we turn towards the giver of bliss?
Lord is infinite & is eternally new (nitya navanavayamana), so when we love the Lord then it is always a new blissful experience for us. This is why great souls like Narada Muni, Prahlada, Haridas Thakur, Meerabai, Surdas, Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami and other great sages always meditated on the Lord & were transcendentally blissful. They never sought after for any external pleasure because internally they were totally satisfied.
So this New Year why don’t we take a resolution that we will endeavor to re-awaken our dormant love for the Lord. As Srila Prabhupada says, “The rich father does not like to see his son become a crazy fellow loitering in the street. But if his son does not come home, there is no loss for the father. And if the son comes back to the home of his rich father, it is in the son’s interest. “
So Krishna, our eternal father, is eagerly waiting for us, we just have to take a small step in that direction. A small endeavor from our side will ensure that we eternally enjoy a blissful life.