Sri Vyas Puja

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Here at Bhaktivedanta Ashram today is Sri Vyas Puja, the most auspicious appearance day of my spiritual master, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is no accident that Srila Prabhupada appeared the day after Krishna's appearance day. It is a special arrangement of the Lord to see that His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, is especially honored in way that is befitting his position, which is good as that of the Supreme Lord Himself. Of course, it is not that the spiritual master is God. It is rather that he is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why Not Follow a Path Appropriate for Your Birth?

Hare Krishna!

In your previous email I read that worshiping even Shiva or Brahma is not the same as surrendering to Krishna. But then you say that devoting to Jesus or Allah or Krishna is the same? This has confused me. Are you saying that chanting 108 rounds of Allah's name everyday will have same result as chanting Krishna's name? In that case, since you were born Christian, why did you chose to worship Krishna over Jesus or Allah which would be closer to you being of Abrahmic descent?

Hare Ram!

Ankush

Answer: Why Rebind Yourself to Your Source of Bondage?

While it's true that God is one, this does not mean that everyone is God. There are two concepts here. One is fully surrendering oneself unto the Supreme Lord. The other is approaching the demigods for the fulfillment of material desires. There is a gulf of difference between these pathways.

The path of full surrender to the Lord Supreme is the path of pure bhakti. It is also known as nivritti marga, the path of decreasing material enjoyment to the point of nil. The other path of worshipping the demigods for the fulfillment of material desires is known as pravitti marga, the path of increasing material enjoyment.

Although chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the most beneficial of all mantras for achieving the supreme perfection of pure bhakti, one can also chant the names of God as given in other scriptures and gradually achieve the same goal which is achieving quickly by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

There is no question of choosing Krishna over the God Who Christ and Mohammed taught about. There is only one Supreme Lord. The demigods such as Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva are in a lesser position. They are servants of God. I am chanting Hare Krishna because although it is not the only way to realize God, it is the quickest and most effective means of achieving spiritual perfection.

One's choice of a pathway back to home, back to Godhead has nothing to do with one's birth. Simply one should find a bona fide spiritual master and seriously follow his instructions. That's all. Taking our bodily designation as a determining factor regarding our pathway choice is counter-productive because such an approach rebinds us to the very thing that we are trying to become liberated from.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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