Stay the Course
Once you make a commitment to give your life to Krishna you must be completely unwavering in your determination. Don't let anything break your enthusiasm and your momentum. You must stay the course all the way up until the last moment at the time of death. Then you will be rewarded with entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Lord as a participant in His divine pastimes. There will be so many attempts coming through the agency of the material energy to divert you from the path. You must fight off all of them with great determination. In this way, if you always remain focused, your complete, total victory over the material energy will be assured.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Spread the Bliss/ Taste the Bliss!
If you could take a moment to help me understand a couple of points...
On the 26/01/08 in the Question and Answer section of your "Thought for the Day" you wrote the following...
"Another point is that if someone is not tasting the bliss of Krishna consciousness, they are doing something wrong."
This seems to my understanding to 'apparently' contradict what Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita. Krishna says many times (2.14, 14.23, 6.7, 15.5, 12.13, 12.15, 12.18 etc.) that happiness and distress are dualities that should be tolerated.
As far as I know, Krishna did not say "My dear Arjuna, if you are distressed you are doing something wrong". Please can you explain my error.
On 28/01/08 in your "Thought for the Day" you said that we can understand Krishna as the Supreme by seeing that he posses the following opulences in full:
1. Power
2. Beauty
3. Renunciation
4. Knowledge
5. Wealth
6. Fame
Well, going by this I'd say that Krishna is not the supreme because...
Fame: Not many people know about Krishna, in fact more people know about Jesus than Krishna.
Wealth: Krishna was a poor cowherd boy.
Knowledge: How can I determine Krishna's knowledge?
Renunciation: Krishna was not a renunciate he was a Ksatriya, Raghunath das Goswami was a lot more renounced than Krishna.
Beauty: How can I determine Krishna's beauty?
Power: How can I determine Krishna's power?
So how is it possible for me to conclude that Krishna is the most full of these opulences?
You said "If we study all the great personalities throughout all of existence we will see.." - but very quickly I find people that are more famous and more renounced.
Thank you very much for your time,
Alex
The distress that Krishna says we have to tolerate is what happens on the external plane. One who has fully absorbed himself on the internal, spiritual plane experiences unlimited happiness even while simultaneously tolerating the misery which is always happening out there in the external energy.
In regards to the six qualities we have to consider from the perspective of the entire history of this universe. Krishna has been famous since the beginning of the universe 155 trillion years ago when the creator of the universe Lord Brahma glorified Him like anything in the Govinda prayers. In fact He is so famous that greatly famous persons such as Lord Jesus pray to Him as the Supreme Father.
Krishna is certainly a cowherd boy, but He is also fabulously rich. He owns everything because everything that exists is an emanation from His transcendental body.
Regarding knowledge, Krishna confirms in the Bhagavad-gita that He knows everything:
vedaham samatitani
vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani
mam tu veda na kascana
"O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows."
--Bhagavad-gita 7.26
Regarding beauty, there is no one more attractive than Krishna. Who else in the history of the world has married 16,108 women? Has anyone else even come close to being that attractive?
Regarding strength, not even a blade of grass can move without His sanction. There is nobody else with that much power.
Regarding renunciation, that great personality Bhismadeva, who is widely celebrated for his renunciation, certified in the rajasuya sacrifice that Krishna is the greatest of all brahmacaris because even though he was a young boy with so many young girlfriends, He was never sexually agitated.
If want to understand these wonderful qualities of the Lord first hand you must qualify yourself to meet him face to face through the wonderful process of devotional service. In this connection Srila Rupa Goswami has stated in the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu as follows:
atah sri-krsna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
"No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Krishna through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234)
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Spread the Bliss/ Taste the Bliss!
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: Doing Something Wrong and the Six Opulences
I hope all is well with you and that God is lifting you above any troubles that you maybe encountering in your tremendous preaching work.If you could take a moment to help me understand a couple of points...
On the 26/01/08 in the Question and Answer section of your "Thought for the Day" you wrote the following...
"Another point is that if someone is not tasting the bliss of Krishna consciousness, they are doing something wrong."
This seems to my understanding to 'apparently' contradict what Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita. Krishna says many times (2.14, 14.23, 6.7, 15.5, 12.13, 12.15, 12.18 etc.) that happiness and distress are dualities that should be tolerated.
As far as I know, Krishna did not say "My dear Arjuna, if you are distressed you are doing something wrong". Please can you explain my error.
On 28/01/08 in your "Thought for the Day" you said that we can understand Krishna as the Supreme by seeing that he posses the following opulences in full:
1. Power
2. Beauty
3. Renunciation
4. Knowledge
5. Wealth
6. Fame
Well, going by this I'd say that Krishna is not the supreme because...
Fame: Not many people know about Krishna, in fact more people know about Jesus than Krishna.
Wealth: Krishna was a poor cowherd boy.
Knowledge: How can I determine Krishna's knowledge?
Renunciation: Krishna was not a renunciate he was a Ksatriya, Raghunath das Goswami was a lot more renounced than Krishna.
Beauty: How can I determine Krishna's beauty?
Power: How can I determine Krishna's power?
So how is it possible for me to conclude that Krishna is the most full of these opulences?
You said "If we study all the great personalities throughout all of existence we will see.." - but very quickly I find people that are more famous and more renounced.
Thank you very much for your time,
Alex
Answer: Do It Correctly and Realize Krishna
Thank you very much for your appreciation of my humble attempt to serve my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.The distress that Krishna says we have to tolerate is what happens on the external plane. One who has fully absorbed himself on the internal, spiritual plane experiences unlimited happiness even while simultaneously tolerating the misery which is always happening out there in the external energy.
In regards to the six qualities we have to consider from the perspective of the entire history of this universe. Krishna has been famous since the beginning of the universe 155 trillion years ago when the creator of the universe Lord Brahma glorified Him like anything in the Govinda prayers. In fact He is so famous that greatly famous persons such as Lord Jesus pray to Him as the Supreme Father.
Krishna is certainly a cowherd boy, but He is also fabulously rich. He owns everything because everything that exists is an emanation from His transcendental body.
Regarding knowledge, Krishna confirms in the Bhagavad-gita that He knows everything:
vedaham samatitani
vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani
mam tu veda na kascana
"O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows."
--Bhagavad-gita 7.26
Regarding beauty, there is no one more attractive than Krishna. Who else in the history of the world has married 16,108 women? Has anyone else even come close to being that attractive?
Regarding strength, not even a blade of grass can move without His sanction. There is nobody else with that much power.
Regarding renunciation, that great personality Bhismadeva, who is widely celebrated for his renunciation, certified in the rajasuya sacrifice that Krishna is the greatest of all brahmacaris because even though he was a young boy with so many young girlfriends, He was never sexually agitated.
If want to understand these wonderful qualities of the Lord first hand you must qualify yourself to meet him face to face through the wonderful process of devotional service. In this connection Srila Rupa Goswami has stated in the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu as follows:
atah sri-krsna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
"No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Krishna through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234)
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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