How to Enter Vrindavana
It is indeed wonderful to be here in Vrindavana, the holy land of Krishna, manifested here on the material plane, perceivable by our blunt material senses. Even though physically one may be in Vrindavan, unless he is blessed by the dust from the feet of a bona fide spiritual master he cannot actually enter into Vrindavana, the spiritual abode of Lord Sri Krishna. Without bhakti he can only approach the shadow of Vrindavana. Taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master is the ticket that allows us to enter into this wonderful land which contains the doorway to that unlimitedly sweet dimension of pure selflessness in the wondrous spiritual sky where the inhabitants live eternally in blissful youthfulness in the direct association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Please accept my humble obeisances,
Kindly note the following verse translation by Prabhupada:
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
--Bhagavad-gita 13.22
Translation: "The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species."
My point is I think Prabhupada has mistaken "yoni" for "species" instead of "womb". Somewhere else in Bhagavad-gita he translates "yoni" as "womb".
So the translation of the verse would be "Thus he meets with good and evil having taken birth in a womb".
However in the purport to the verse, Prabhupada clearly states "Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on." My question would be here: What kind of person would have a material desire to be a bug? How can one desire to be a beast?
What is your opinion on this?
And I would like to say maybe Prabhupada was mistaken about transmigration of the soul through 8,400,000 species. It looks ghastly a concept, what would one have done to deserve incarceration in the animal kingdom or plant kingdom?
Also I would like as ask what qualifies a Guru's opinions to be the best? How do we know you or Srila Prabhupada are free from defects and have absolute answers to our questions? In other words, how do we know you are Seers of Truth?
Kindly explain Guruji, this concept seems impossible to accept.
With many thanks and dandavats.
Nithin
My Dear Nithin,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As bugs are attracted to dirty places, a person who is habituated to dirtiness is cultivating the mentality suitable for being a bug in his next life. Similarly someone whose only interest is the animalistic propensities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending with no interest in awakening his dormant Krishna consciousness is preparing himself for an animal birth in his next life.
So, Srila Prabhupada is not mistaken. You are mistaken. You are thinking that he is wrong and you are right. Srila Prabhupada does not speak from the platform of mental speculation as you are speaking. The bona fide spiritual master simply repeats verbatim what is given in the revealed scriptures. The transmigration of the soul through the 8,400,000 species is repeatedly confirmed throughout the Vedic literature. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita (2.24) it is explicitly stated sarva-gataḥ, the soul is situated everywhere:
acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam
akledyo 'śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur
acalo 'yaṁ sanātanaḥ
"This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same."
This clearly indicates that soul is present both in the human form and in the animal and plant forms. The scientists do want to face up this reality because if they were to do so, they would realize that because of their neglecting their duty of surrender to the Lord their future is very dark. They are headed for the lower species in their next life.
You cannot understand how a human being could desire to be an animal, while all around us we see that so many human beings are already living like animals and preparing themselves for animal bodies in their next lives. A popular songwriter has even sung, "Dogs run free, why not me?".
The bona fide spiritual master never gives his opinion as you are doing because he knows that the senses and speculative mind will always be imperfect sources of knowledge. Therefore he only accepts the authoritative knowledge given by Krishna to be the truth and he only speaks according the this truth. Therefore his knowledge is perfect.
Whether we understand the Sanskrit word 'yoni" to mean "womb" or "species", the end conclusion is the same because in each species we take birth in a different type of womb.
In conclusion, if you want to awaken your dormant enlightened Krishna consciousness and escape the cycle of birth and death, you have to stop speculating and learn to put your full faith in the authoritative words of Guru and Krishna. As it is stated in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23:
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
"Only unto those great souls who have unflinching faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.
Always your well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Sacred Yamuna River in Vrindavana
ISKCON's Beautiful Krishna Balarama Temple in Sri Vrindavana Dhama, India
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: Is Guru a Seer of the Truth?
Dear Gurudeva,Please accept my humble obeisances,
Kindly note the following verse translation by Prabhupada:
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
--Bhagavad-gita 13.22
Translation: "The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species."
My point is I think Prabhupada has mistaken "yoni" for "species" instead of "womb". Somewhere else in Bhagavad-gita he translates "yoni" as "womb".
So the translation of the verse would be "Thus he meets with good and evil having taken birth in a womb".
However in the purport to the verse, Prabhupada clearly states "Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on." My question would be here: What kind of person would have a material desire to be a bug? How can one desire to be a beast?
What is your opinion on this?
And I would like to say maybe Prabhupada was mistaken about transmigration of the soul through 8,400,000 species. It looks ghastly a concept, what would one have done to deserve incarceration in the animal kingdom or plant kingdom?
Also I would like as ask what qualifies a Guru's opinions to be the best? How do we know you or Srila Prabhupada are free from defects and have absolute answers to our questions? In other words, how do we know you are Seers of Truth?
Kindly explain Guruji, this concept seems impossible to accept.
With many thanks and dandavats.
Nithin
Answer: Yes, Because He Only Repeats What is Given in the Scriptures
From: Sri Vrindavana Dhama, IndiaMy Dear Nithin,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As bugs are attracted to dirty places, a person who is habituated to dirtiness is cultivating the mentality suitable for being a bug in his next life. Similarly someone whose only interest is the animalistic propensities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending with no interest in awakening his dormant Krishna consciousness is preparing himself for an animal birth in his next life.
So, Srila Prabhupada is not mistaken. You are mistaken. You are thinking that he is wrong and you are right. Srila Prabhupada does not speak from the platform of mental speculation as you are speaking. The bona fide spiritual master simply repeats verbatim what is given in the revealed scriptures. The transmigration of the soul through the 8,400,000 species is repeatedly confirmed throughout the Vedic literature. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita (2.24) it is explicitly stated sarva-gataḥ, the soul is situated everywhere:
acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam
akledyo 'śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur
acalo 'yaṁ sanātanaḥ
"This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same."
This clearly indicates that soul is present both in the human form and in the animal and plant forms. The scientists do want to face up this reality because if they were to do so, they would realize that because of their neglecting their duty of surrender to the Lord their future is very dark. They are headed for the lower species in their next life.
You cannot understand how a human being could desire to be an animal, while all around us we see that so many human beings are already living like animals and preparing themselves for animal bodies in their next lives. A popular songwriter has even sung, "Dogs run free, why not me?".
The bona fide spiritual master never gives his opinion as you are doing because he knows that the senses and speculative mind will always be imperfect sources of knowledge. Therefore he only accepts the authoritative knowledge given by Krishna to be the truth and he only speaks according the this truth. Therefore his knowledge is perfect.
Whether we understand the Sanskrit word 'yoni" to mean "womb" or "species", the end conclusion is the same because in each species we take birth in a different type of womb.
In conclusion, if you want to awaken your dormant enlightened Krishna consciousness and escape the cycle of birth and death, you have to stop speculating and learn to put your full faith in the authoritative words of Guru and Krishna. As it is stated in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23:
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
"Only unto those great souls who have unflinching faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.
Always your well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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