Sweet Malaysia Memories

The few days we spent in Malaysia were very blissful. The devotees took such nice loving care of us and arranged so many wonderful speaking engagements that it made our hearts melt. They have requested us to stay longer when we come back next year. Although the schedule on our around-the-world lecture tours is very tight, we will do our best to try to squeeze in some extra time for our Malaysia visit in 2011. It's the least we can do to try to reciprocate with the wonderful loving kindness of the devotees in Malaysia.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Final Questions and Answers at the Airport
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--15 June 2010Sankarshan Das Final Questions and Answers at the Airport

Ecstatic Farewell at the Airport
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--15 June 2010Ecstatic Farewell at the Airport

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: A Fundamental Misconception

I have spoken to many Hindus about the Gita. They all tell me that the Me or I in the Gita does not refer to Sri Krishna but only to the Parabrahman within Krishna. How do I refute this?
First of all how did this representation or misrepresentation crop up? Does Krishna say anywhere that He is not referring to himself?

Thanks
Best Regards, Amar

Answer: Krishna Is Both Within and Without

Their claim that when Krishna says "I" He is not referring to Himself is patently absurd. Krishna never says this. If I ask you to bring me a glass of water, who do I want you to bring the glass of water to? The answer is that obviously that I want you to bring the glass of water to me. If I had wanted you to give it to someone else, I would have explicitly told you to give it to that person. So when Krishna says, "Surrender to Me" He is saying that we should surrender to Him, to not someone else. If He had wanted us to surrender to someone else or something else, He would have directly named that person or thing. But He did not do so. When a statement is clear, there is no need for interpretation.

There is no question of the Parabrahman (Supreme Spirit) being within Krishna and separate from Him because Krishna is Himself directly the Parabrahman and the source of all existence. Because Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth, there is no difference between His within and without. Therefore this idea that Krishna is not the Parabrahman is complete and utter rubbish. Arjuna directly states in the Bhagavad-gita that Krishna is the Parabrahman.

This misinterpretation of the Vedic teachings was popularized by Sripad Sankaracharya many centuries ago for the purpose of defeating Buddhism. Then after he drove Buddhism out of India, He taught the principle that we should worship Krishna directly as the Parabrahman. Unfortunately his less intelligent followers did not accept his final message and have continued to this very day to hold on to the misconception that the ultimate truth is the impersonal, formless Brahman within. This impersonal Brahman is not the Supreme Brahman or Parabrahman. It is an inferior Brahman conception for those who are less intelligent to facilitate their gradually understanding the personal nature of the Supreme Spirit. Those who intelligently accept Krishna as Parabrahman immediately attain a higher platform of spiritual enlightenment than even the most advanced impersonalists.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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