Ultimate Self Realization

God cann0t be understood by mental speculation. The most you can understand by mental speculation is what God is not. If you actually want to understand what is God positively, this is only possible when He reveals Himself to you. And this He will only do to the extent that you awaken your dormant love for Him. That supreme munificent person gives you all facility to awaken our love for Him. Now it is up to you to take full advantage of His unlimited mercy. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: What Does Your Name Mean? What does your name "Sankarshan Das Adhikari" translate to in English? Jurgen Answer: Supreme Attractor's Empowered Servant Sankarshan Das Adhikari means "the empowered servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the attractor of all living entities." On 12 August 1971, while in London, England Srila Prabhupada wrote me a letter accepting me as his disciple and giving me the name Sankarshan Das

There is no sense in dreaming that we can live forever. The clock is ticking away at every second bringing us closer and closer to death. Pretending that death is not coming will not make it go away. The inexorable time juggernaut keeps right on rolling along crushing everything in its path. Sooner or later it will be our turn to succumb. Therefore the intelligent person prepares himself now for the inevitable by reviving his Krishna consciousness to prepare himself for eternal, all-blissful, full cognizant existence in that wondrous spiritual sky. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Objection: There Are Not Two Caste Systems Dear Gurudeva, Pranams. I am sorry to partially refuse the view point you stated yesterday regarding varnashram. I think there are not two caste systems. Please give me some Vedic proof for the same. As per my understanding, a birth of a living entity is decided by his quality (and capacity) at the time of death. So a living enti

In Krishna's service, we do not mind struggle. We do not shy away from struggle. In fact, we embrace struggle with great enthusiasm. We have two struggles: the struggle to make ourselves Krishna conscious and the struggle to make the entire world population happy by enlightening them in the science of Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Justify Caste System? I have read in the Bhagavad-gita that the Lord Himself created the caste system consisting of four classes: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. How could this be justified? Santosh K. Answer: To Create Heaven on Earth The caste system is created by Krishna for the purpose of enabling the human society to function in a healthy, progressive manner. Now the caste system is stifling. Why is this? The first thing to understand is that there are two different caste systems. One is the divine caste system, and the other is the demoniac caste system. Krishna i

No matter what transpires in the devotee's daily life, he remains steady in rendering service to his spiritual master and Krishna. In this way, no matter what happens in this material world the devotee is always happy in Krishna consciousness and is the most powerful, successful, and wealthy person in this world. His opulence is his Krishna consciousness. He does not depend on material circumstances for his happiness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Blissful Vishnupriya Mataji (wife of Sankarshan Das Adhikari) Teaching the Science of Krishna Consciousness Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Excessive Krishna Consciousness? Gurudeva, Please accept my obeisances. Please guide me. It is said that excess of everything is bad. Is it true in case of devotional service to Lord Krishna? Ravi Answer: There Is No Such Thing. The principle "excess is bad" applies only to material things. There is no such thing as having too much Krishna consciousness. No matter how

There is one certain thing about this material world. It is a place of death. We never know when death will strike. We hope it will never happen to us. But sooner or later each of us will face the ultimate inevitable disaster, death. It may come with a warning, as in the case of someone who succumbs to a terminal disease. Or it may come unexpectedly like the earthquake which several days ago ravaged Christchurch, New Zealand killing so many people. This is why there is no greater necessity than coming to the platform of deathlessness by reviving our dormant Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari P.S. ISKCON's temple and deities in Christchurch were destroyed by the earthquake. For more information about ISKCON Christchurch go to: http://news.iskcon.org/node/3451 Powerful Earthquake Brings Death to Many in Christchurch, New Zealand Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Simultaneously Humble and Respected Please accept my humble obeisances. May your mercy a

The whole world is waiting to be awakened by Krishna's devotees. Even though it has advanced materially in so many ways, people are still not satisfied. The illusioned souls of this age are simply awaiting that opportune moment when their hearts will be touched by a devotee of Krishna and they can revive their dormant Krishna consciousness. Therefore there is no greater welfare work than sharing the teachings of Lord Krishna with everyone that you meet. So don't remain stone-hearted and selfish by keeping Krishna to yourself. Tell everyone about Krishna as much as possible whenever and wherever you get the opportunity. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Upendra Das Tells Interested Lady About Krishna Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Get Free from Birth and Death? Please explain how to get free from the cycle of birth and death. Amit Gupta Answer: Implement the Many Instructions All you have to do is fully surrender to Krishna according to the instructions

Because of the profusion of false incarnations of God in this dark materialistic age of Kali, when the Supreme Lord appears in this age He does not present Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He instead presents Himself simply as a devotee of the Lord. In 1486 Lord Sri Krishna appeared in India as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who were highly learned in Vedic wisdom and advanced in transcendental realization could understand that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was indeed God Himself. But to curb down the charlatan pretenders He would not accept being worshipped as God. This is further described by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapter 2, Text 16 as follows: "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was God Himself according to the indication of the revealed scriptures, but He played the part of a devotee. People who knew Him to be God addressed Him as God, but He used to block His ears with His hands and chant the name of Lord Vishnu. He strongly proteste

Yesterday we reported a bogus incarnation of Lord Rama who was asking us for a loan of 50 lakhs of Indian rupees to help him to be recognized in the world as Lord Rama. This was mistakenly noted as being the equivalent of US$1,100. But the actual amount our so-called Lord Rama was requesting was US$110,000. The sad state of affairs in this Kali yuga is that such bogus incarnations and charlatan gurus are able to attract followers and build movements. Our so-called Lord Rama, though, did not get anywhere with us because we have been well trained by our spiritual master to easily spot such bogus incarnations and gurus. Since unfortunately, most people are not so well trained, they often fall victim to such charlatans. For want of enlightened governments such cheaters who speak all nonsense in the name of truth are able to perpetuate their crimes against humanity without being checked. Even during Lord Krishna's time there was a bogus incarnation named Paundraka, who challenged Lord

We live in world in which people are suffering greatly because of one problem only: They are not Krishna conscious. All of their other problems such as disease, food shortage, water shortage, crime, terrorism, air pollution, water pollution, and global warming are not the actual causes of their suffering. Rather these are simply symptoms of their lack of Krishna consciousness. If Krishna consciousness can be universally accepted as the foundation of the human civilization, this ever-increasingly more hellish planet will be transformed into a heaven on earth. Therefore there is no greater welfare work that one can dedicate his life to than spreading the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world for the deliverance of the entire human society from illusion and misery. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Request: I Am Rama. Send Me 50,000 Rupees I am Lord Rama. And I am here to implement a new strategy of loving and caring for everyone without any

Don't be a crazy fool who allows himself to be carried away by the misguided material civilization. It is sometimes said that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. So one should be careful what he dedicates his life to. If we simply dedicate our lives to taking care of our bodily needs, at the time of death when we are forcibly separated from our material body by the cruel laws of the material nature, we will be nowhere. Therefore the intelligent, philosophically inclined person fully dedicates his life for the reawakening of the actual self, the eternal spiritual being who resides within the body. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Who Should I Accept as Guru? What if I have still not found my guru? Whom shall I seek help to enlighten me? Please guide me. Deea. Answer: He Who Teaches Surrender to Krishna When you find that person who is presenting to you the Bhagavad-gita as it is without any interpretation, addition, or subtractio

Our situation in this material world is very precarious. Just as a drop of water on a lotus leaf can easily fall off at any time, we have no security in this material world. We can be vanquished by the all-powerful material energy within a second. But if we take complete shelter of Krishna, fully depending on Him, by His grace we will always be protected in all times, places, and circumstances. Therefore the great Vaisnava poet and philosopher, Govinda Das, has very nicely sung as follows: e dhana, yaubana, putra, parijana ithe ki āche paratīti re kamala-dala-jala, jīvana ṭalamala bhajahū hari-pada nīti re "What assurance of real happiness is there in all of one's wealth, youthfulness, sons, and family members? This life is tottering like a drop of water on a lotus leaf; therefore you should always serve and worship the divine feet of Lord Hari." If we heed these words of Govinda Das, we will no longer be afraid of the material energy. We will always feel safe in Krishn

What could be more sublime than reality? Existence is itself the most wonderful, auspicious experience. It is only when we become covered by the illusion of bodily identification that we experience existence as something less, as something miserable. Therefore, for one who is in illusion there is nothing more important and essential than the reawakening of his original, divine, enlightened consciousness. One who is thus awakened is the most fortunate person in the entire universe, and out of compassion he naturally dedicates his life fully to the reawakening of all living beings. This is his sublime mission. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Circled the Globe Thirteen Times to Deliver the Human Society from Illusion Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Demon Threatens to Steal My Next Body Dear Spiritual Teacher, I have been having some bad dreams. In these dreams a tall and aggressive female, Victoria, tells me she will steal the body intended for me in the

Today is the sublime appearance day of the most merciful Lord Nityananda. In the following excerpt from his introduction to the Srimad Bhagavatam Srila Prabhupada describes the wonderful mercy of Lord Nityananda: Once Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Haridasa Thakura were walking down a main road, and on the way they saw a roaring crowd assembled. Upon inquiring from passers-by, they understood that two brothers, named Jagai and Madhai, were creating a public disturbance in a drunken state. They also heard that these two brothers were born in a respectable brahmana family, but because of low association they had turned into debauchees of the worst type. They were not only drunkards but also meat-eaters, woman-hunters, dacoits and sinners of all description. Srila Nityananda Prabhu heard all of these stories and decided that these two fallen souls must be the first to be delivered. If they were delivered from their sinful life, then the good name of Lord Caitanya would be even still more gl

Why ignorantly suffer, wasting valuable time trying to be something that you are not, when you can instead live in your all-blissful all-cognizant identity as the eternal servant of the original source of all existence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead? To come to this perfectional stage of being is real intelligence, which goes far, far beyond the so-called intelligence of the empirical scientists and the mental gymnasts. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Blissful Hare Krishna Devotees Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Is There Any Reason for Hope? Your Grace, I want very badly to somehow get back home to God despite my ignorance and confusion (and endless questions). I fully understand that this will never happen without the help of the Holy Master. But, you know, it seems that I've spent my whole lifetime TRYING to grasp the Lord's will, and yet miserably failing to do so. I must have read the Gita at least several hundred times trying my best to understand th

Srila Prabhupada explains that our first duty in life is to find a bona fide spiritual master because this is the only way that we can solve life's ultimate problem, death. Most people are too much preoccupied with solving the temporary problems such as making money and getting ahead in the material world. The majority of the population is so dull that practically no one is interested in solving the death problem. Those most fortunate rare souls who are inclined to solve the death problem are enjoined by the Vedic wisdom to seek out and take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master because he is the only one who can solve this death problem for us. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Gives Immortality Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Everyone Goes Back to Godhead? Will all living entities eventually make it back to Godhead? Is there a need of a material world eternally? D.P. Answer: Yes, But Others Will Still Come Here All the living entities who are c

On 27 September 1967 Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter to Devananda das, "Guru and Krishna are two parallel lines on which the spiritual express runs very smoothly." This is a most appropriate example because to advance in Krishna consciousness we must faithfully stick to both tracks: the spiritual master and Krishna. We must serve both of them simultaneously. If either of them is neglected, we become derailed from the pathway of Krishna bhakti. It is only by the mercy of Krishna that we get a bona fide spiritual master. And it is only by the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master that we can advance in Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari A Train Runs Smoothly on Two Tracks But When Derailed, It Is Finished Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Can Krishna Trace When We Fell? Hare Krishna, Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. While reading "Easy Journey to Other Planets", this ques

A messiah is defined in the dictionary as someone who is a savior or liberator. There are many concepts of liberation in this world. People seek to be liberated from poverty, from disease, from political oppression, etc. But what most people fail to realize is that the only true liberation is liberation from death. Unless one is liberated from death he remains a slave. Although a person may think that he is free, death will come and take away everything. Therefore the true messiah or liberator is that person who liberates others from death. How do that? Anyone who surrenders fully unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna becomes liberated from death and then liberates others by making them Krishna conscious also. Srila Prabhupada stated in Mumbai, India on April 15, 1977 that anyone who is Krishna conscious is the messiah. What the world needs now more than ever is an abundance of such real messiahs who deliver people from the clutches of death by enlightening them in the science of Krishna

In this material world everyone is under the sway of Cupid or Madana. Even the powerful Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, his heart pierced by the arrows of Cupid, became controlled by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Although Cupid is so powerful that he captivates everyone, he is captivated by the beauty of Krishna. Therefore Krishna is called, Madana-mohana, the attractor of Cupid. And even though Krishna is so attractive that he attracts the attractor of everyone, He is attracted by Srimati Radharani, who is therefore known as Madan-mohana-mohini, the attractor of the attractor of Cupid. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna, the Amazing Madana Mohana Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Bhagavad-gita at Start of Battle? In the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gita it says that the conch shells were blown by the warriors on both sides. When the conch shell is blown the war begins the very next moment. The attendance was four million soldiers (1.6 million Pandavas and 2.4 millio

Today is the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya. Srila Prabhupada nicely describes Advaita Acharya as follows: "Advaita Acharya was a contemporary of Lord Caitanya's father. He felt sorry for the condition of the world because even after Lord Krishna's appearance, no one had interest in devotional service to Krishna. This forgetfulness was so overwhelming that Advaita Prabhu was convinced that no one but Lord Krishna Himself could enlighten people about devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Therefore Advaita requested Lord Krishna to appear as Lord Caitanya. Offering tulasi leaves and Ganges water, He cried for the Lord's appearance. The Lord, being satisfied by His pure devotees, descends to satisfy them. As such, being pleased by Advaita Acharya, Lord Caitanya appeared." He is also described in the following verse from the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita: advaitaṁ hariṇādvaitād ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt bhaktāvatāram īśaṁ tam advaitācāryam āśraye "Because

The illusory energy is always there testing our determination to be Krishna conscious. Just as a boat on the water can be swept away by a strong wind, if our mind becomes attracted by a material sense object, our intelligence can become completely carried away. Therefore, just like a soldier on the battlefield, we must always be vigilant not to fall under the sway of Maya's charms. In this world of many dangers we must beg Krishna to keep us always in the shelter of His divine lotus feet. In this way we will be safely situated on the transcendental platform, and Maya will not be able to allure us. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Choose My Guru? How to choose one's spiritual master from amongst a large number of ISKCON sannyasis who being staunch disciples of Srila Prabhupada are more or less equally qualified. Does one's inclination have any role to play in this regard? Look forward to receiving your blessings in the sh

In the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Chapter, verse 33 it is stated: yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam "Whenever a person experiences, by self-realization, that both the gross and subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self, at that time he sees himself as well as the Lord." So just see how important it is for the aspiring transcendentalist to be firmly convinced that he is not his gross body or his subtle body, which consists of the mind, intelligence, and false ego. This transcendental conviction gives him the all-important and essential access to realize his true self as an eternal spirit-soul servant of God and to realize the Supreme Self, as his eternal master, Lord Sri Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Karma and Free Will Please explain what is karma and what is free will. When we consider these words it seems that they are contradictory. Bu

Srimati Mayadevi has done an incredibly good packaging job to razzle-dazzle or delude the minds of the lost, confused souls in this material world. She has bundled birth, death, old age, and disease in such a way that the common unenlightened man is very much attracted to continue lifetime after lifetime his incarceration within the prison of this material existence. Those who are actually wise are not deluded by Mayadevi's expert marketing job. They can see through the hype and are therefore not mislead and cheated by Maya's charms. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to Attain Krishna Consciousness? What does one have to do to attain Krishna consciousness. I chant rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day on japa beads. What else should I be doing to move towards Krishna consciousness? Another question is: How does one know that he is self-realized? In other words, what happens when one becomes self realized, like what does h

If a musical instrument is not properly tuned, when it is played it sounds horrible. Similarly when the living being is not in tune with the source of his existence, no matter what he may do to try to become situated in lasting happiness, he will be unsuccessful. Of course, if he has good karma, he may be able to go on for some time falsely thinking that he is happy in this material world. But time and tide wait for no man. Sooner or later he will be crushed by the inexorable wheel of time, and he will find that his material happiness has been completely ruined. Therefore if one wants enduring happiness, he must perfect his existence by bringing himself back into harmony with the source of his existence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Can You Be My Spiritual Master? Thanks for your blessings. I am a fallen soul. Therefore I have taken birth in this materialistic age known as the Kali-

Who can deny that there is a total energy and that each one of us is a fragmental portion of that total energy? Srila Prabhupada has revealed to us that the total energy is Krishna or God. Hopefully those who try to prove that everything is an illusion, will realize now that it is their philosophy which is the illusion, not the total and fragmental energies. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Can a Soul Leave Vaikuntha? Dear Gurudeva, You have told us that those souls in the spiritual world who have the desire to become God will come to this material world. If a soul is completely satisfied in the company of God in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world, how can he have an unsatisfied desire? If a perverted desire can come to the soul even while he is the company of God, what is the assurance that we will not fall back to the material world after reaching the spiritual world, Vaikuntha? Satheesh Answer: Misuse of Independence Because the minute

The pure devotees, those who are fully enlightened with transcendental knowledge, are not carried away by the phantasmagoria, the illusory attractive nature, of this material existence. Rather they stay constantly absorbed in their original existential nature of devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original energetic source of all manifestations. In this way they are already liberated from all material conceptions of pleasure and distress and they are factually liberated even in the material world. This means that the pure devotees of the Lord are engaged in a transcendental existence, namely in the loving service of the Lord, both in the material world and in the spiritual world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Krishna Conscious Twenty-Four Hours Most of my life goes into thinking about my body, even if I try to avoid it. I work for ten hours every day. I take time to sleep. And I do a daily Krishna conscious program every

In this dark materialistic age of Kali the overwhelming predominance of ignorance and out-and-out madness can be very discouraging and depressing at times. But there is no reason to be affected by all of this negativity. All we have to do to destroy this ocean of darkness is turn on the light of transcendental knowledge by reading the Bhagavad-gita carefully, seeing everything in its light, and then living every day in accordance with its amazingly lucid principles. In this way we will live in an eternal, blissful enlightened adventure always doing the highest good for all living beings throughout this universe and all the universes. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Hoping for a Miracle In one of the daily thoughts I read this question about chanting and being pure, that one should chant when pure, but even while impure one should start with the chanting because the chanting is purifying. Now I read that one has to reach the nistha stage, f

To be sanctimonious is to make a false show of being very spiritually advanced. And sanctimoniousness is the foolish attitude of the sanctimonious person. In the material world where even the pauper is proud of his penny, everyone has the tendency to be proud of whatever he or she possesses. Therefore an aspiring transcendentalist has to be very careful not to fall into the trap of sanctimoniousness. He has to be very careful not to become proud of whatever spiritual progress he has made or whatever talents or opulences he possesses. If he does not check his pride, his pride will check him. To conquer over pride he should always feel himself to be lower than the straw in the street and offer all respect to others without demanding any respect for himself. This is one of the most sublime teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared in the form of His most merciful devotee 500 years ago in India. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,

When after careful study of the revealed scriptures and due deliberation we accept someone as our spiritual master, we must be very careful to always faithfully follow his instructions because Krishna measures our devotion to Him by how much we are dedicated to our spiritual master. It is not that we simply use our spiritual master as a ladder to attain the transcendental platform and then after attaining it kick him away. No. We must always remain fully dedicated and surrendered to our spiritual master because it is by his mercy that we are being delivered from the vicious cycle of birth, death, old age, and disease. Even after going back to home, back to Godhead one still remains the eternal servant of his spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Stop My Personal Projects? Is it necessary to leave one's studies or personal projects to be able to practice Krishna consciousness? What influence does it have if I have thoughts