One Thousand Devotees at Mangala Arati
What is more auspicious than rising early in the morning to attend mangala arati, the early pre-dawn religious service held in all ISKCON temples? To rise early in the morning and attend mangala arati will one thousand devotees as we are doing here every day at the Baltic Vaisnava Summer Festival. Even though is unseasonably cold here with temperatures going to the mid forties (Fahrenheit) or 8 degrees Celsius, the devotees spirits are very warm and enlivened. There is nothing more sublime than reconnecting with the original identity of the self qualitatively one with God.
Super Ecstatic Multi-Pujari Mangala Arati
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I humbly ask you to enlighten me on these questions. Thank you.
1. Krishna is ultimately good. On the other hand, Krishna is the source of everything, including both good and bad. In other words, all the bad things we see in this world -- greed, envy, madness, brutality, hatred -- all come from Krishna. It seems contradictory. How do we understand this properly?
2. Is it required to pronounce the mahamantra accurately? Different people have different accents; just as we hear many kinds of English, sometimes there are accents in pronouncing the mahamantra. Recently I'm carefully hearing and imitating Srila Prabhupada's chanting so as to remove accent or any inaccurate pronunciation and to pronounce the Sanskrit accurately. Is it required to pronounce the mahamantra accurately?
Your humble servant
Jeffrey
In former ages in sacrificial ceremonies the mantras had to be chanted with absolute perfection in order to achieve the desired result. This precise pronunciation was so essential that there were referee brahmanas observing the yajna, the sacrificial ceremony, to make sure that every syllable of the mantras were chanted with absolute precision.
But since in this age no one is qualified to chant the mantras perfectly, Krishna very kindly accepts our sincerity in spite of the fact that our chanting is not precisely correct. This is like the parents who appreciate the broken language of their small children who have not yet learned how to talk properly.
It is good to try to model your chanting after Srila Prabhupada. But the most important thing is that you lovingly call out to the Lord and His energy, Srimati Radharani, that they kindly engage you in their service. This sincere begging is more important than precision in Sanskrit pronunciation.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Super Ecstatic Multi-Pujari Mangala Arati
at the Baltic Summer Vaisnava Festival-20 July 2012
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version
Question: Does Krishna Create Evil?
Dear Guru Maharaja,Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I humbly ask you to enlighten me on these questions. Thank you.
1. Krishna is ultimately good. On the other hand, Krishna is the source of everything, including both good and bad. In other words, all the bad things we see in this world -- greed, envy, madness, brutality, hatred -- all come from Krishna. It seems contradictory. How do we understand this properly?
2. Is it required to pronounce the mahamantra accurately? Different people have different accents; just as we hear many kinds of English, sometimes there are accents in pronouncing the mahamantra. Recently I'm carefully hearing and imitating Srila Prabhupada's chanting so as to remove accent or any inaccurate pronunciation and to pronounce the Sanskrit accurately. Is it required to pronounce the mahamantra accurately?
Your humble servant
Jeffrey
Answer: Turning Away from Krishna We Create Evil
Just as the government does not create criminals but yet facilitates them with a place of residence in the prison, in the same way Krishna does not create evil but yet facilitates those who choose not to serve him by giving them a place of residence where they can totally forget Him.In former ages in sacrificial ceremonies the mantras had to be chanted with absolute perfection in order to achieve the desired result. This precise pronunciation was so essential that there were referee brahmanas observing the yajna, the sacrificial ceremony, to make sure that every syllable of the mantras were chanted with absolute precision.
But since in this age no one is qualified to chant the mantras perfectly, Krishna very kindly accepts our sincerity in spite of the fact that our chanting is not precisely correct. This is like the parents who appreciate the broken language of their small children who have not yet learned how to talk properly.
It is good to try to model your chanting after Srila Prabhupada. But the most important thing is that you lovingly call out to the Lord and His energy, Srimati Radharani, that they kindly engage you in their service. This sincere begging is more important than precision in Sanskrit pronunciation.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Comments
Post a Comment