Gradual Reawakening of the Enlightened Self

There is a common misconception that spiritual enlightenment comes like a flash of lightening out the sky. This is not the case. The way spiritual enlightenment happens is just like the gradual rising of the sun within the sky of one's heart. If ones seriously sticks to the ultimate self-realization path, the bhakti yoga path, by remaining steadily engaged in Krishna consciousness, he will experience the factual gradual reawakening of his original enlightened consciousness. He will revive his original identity that he once had before he fell into material existence. This is the special mercy of Lord Sri Krishna upon that person who is sincerely trying to surrender to Him. Lord Krishna confirms this as follows in the Bhagavad-gita:

tesam evanukampartham
aham ajnana-jam tamah
nasayamy atma-bhava-stho
jnana-dipena bhasvata

"To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance." Bhagavad-gita 10.11

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: Vishnu, the Source of Krishna?...

Sir, why is Lord Krishna's name greater, more powerful than Lord Vishnu's names though Lord Vishnu is source of Lord Krishna?

Warm regards,

Sunil

Answer: No. Krishna, the Source of Vishnu...

It is a very common misconception in India that Vishnu is the origin of Krishna. This indicates how much how out of touch modern day Hindus are with their own scriptures.

The actual fact is that Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. All other incarnations emanate from Him.

It is very clearly stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:

aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate

"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me." Bhagavad-gita 10.8

Lord Brahma states in the Brahma-samhita:

isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes." Brahma-Samhita 5.1

It is furthermore stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

ete camsa-kalah pumsah
krsnas tu bhagavan svayam

"All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead." --SB 1.3.28

Some people think that because the Lord first appeared as Vishnu within the prison of Kamsa and then took the form of baby Krishna that Vishnu is His original form. This is not a fact as confirmed by the authoritative Vedic literatures. Krishna spoke to His mother Devaki shortly after His birth revealing to her why He had manifested the Vishnu form:

etad vam darsitam rupam
prag-janma-smaranaya me
nanyatha mad-bhavam jnanam
martya-lingena jayate

"I have appeared in this Vishnu form just to convince you that I am the same Supreme Personality of Godhead again taken birth. I could have appeared just like an ordinary child, but in that way you would not have believed that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had taken birth in your womb."
--SB 10.3.44

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Misguided Fools Say that Masturbation is Healthy

Image
Foolish modern day materialists recommend masturbation as follows: "Masturbation is a common activity. It’s a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension. It occurs among people of all backgrounds, genders, and races. Despite the myths, there are actually no physically harmful side effects of masturbation." They are wrong. To get a proper understanding on this this topic read the question and answer section below. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What are the Ill Effects of Masturbation? Since you answered questions related to understanding the real need of sex in a human being's life, so I also request you to please enlighten us with the knowledge about semen conservation, it's importance, and the consequences of frequently releasing it thorough sex or masturbation. Since today most of the youth are indulged in mansturbation and they think it to be good in comparison to doing sex with some female for
Read more