Indescribably Sweet Bath in the River Yamuna
On 8 September 2012 we were blessed with the most nectarean visit to the River Yamuna. Sadly nowadays the real Yamuna is practically absent from Vrindavan. Eighty-five per cent of Yamuna is captured by a dam upstream for irrigation purposes and all that Vrindavan gets is toxic sewage water flowing down the Yamuna bed from New Delhi.
(for more information:
http://news.iskcon.com/node/3695)
During Krishna's manifest pastimes here 5,000 years ago Yamuna was similarly polluted by the presence of the poisonous snake Kaliya. At that time Yamuna was so polluted that nothing could live along its banks. Even a bird flying over it would drop dead from its poisonous fumes.
But right now due the recent monsoon season a huge quantity of Yamuna water was released and now Yamuna is broad and clean. We hired a boat and sang Hare Krishna kirtan while we enjoyed a ride across the Yamuna. We began our boat ride from Kesi Ghat, a sacred place of Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental pastimes. And then on Yamuna's pristine opposite bank we all took our baths. It was the most indescribably sweet bath I have ever had in the Yamuna. It was astoundingly refreshing, purifying, and invigorating.
I was reading the 2nd chapter in the Bhagavad-gita. My questions are:
-Just as the body has cells, is the soul made of spirit molecules or is the soul a single spirit molecule?
-What is the relationship between the Supersoul, the soul, and Krishna?
-How is it beneficial to sentence a person who has committed a great crime like murder to death row, rather than to just to punish him?
Rosie
An individual soul is present in each and every body. The Supersoul is an expansion of Krishna. He is present in the heart of all living beings. Krishna, in His original form, is enjoying His eternal pastimes with His intimate associates in Goloka Vrindavana, the topmost planet in the spiritual sky.
If one commits a murder, his karma is that he must be murdered. If he is given a life sentence instead of capital punishment, he will have to take birth again to be murdered in his next life. This is why in Vedic culture out of kindness the poor fellow is put to death by capital punishment so that he can get his karma from that murder over with as soon as possible and start off with a clean karmic slate in his next life. Otherwise he will live his entire life in a miserable consciousness with the specter of the murder he committed always haunting his heart. And in his next life he will still have to be murdered as a karmic reaction. So instead of the poor soul tortured by his karma, the Vedic culture helps him to get free from his karma as soon as possible by capital punishment.
Just like a naughty child is in the anxiety of being detected but when discovered and punished feels relief from the guilt of his or her misbehavior, in a similar way capital punishment is beneficial for the murderer.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
(for more information:
http://news.iskcon.com/node/3695)
During Krishna's manifest pastimes here 5,000 years ago Yamuna was similarly polluted by the presence of the poisonous snake Kaliya. At that time Yamuna was so polluted that nothing could live along its banks. Even a bird flying over it would drop dead from its poisonous fumes.
But right now due the recent monsoon season a huge quantity of Yamuna water was released and now Yamuna is broad and clean. We hired a boat and sang Hare Krishna kirtan while we enjoyed a ride across the Yamuna. We began our boat ride from Kesi Ghat, a sacred place of Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental pastimes. And then on Yamuna's pristine opposite bank we all took our baths. It was the most indescribably sweet bath I have ever had in the Yamuna. It was astoundingly refreshing, purifying, and invigorating.
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version
Question: Capital Punishment Benefits Murderers?
Dear Gurudeva,I was reading the 2nd chapter in the Bhagavad-gita. My questions are:
-Just as the body has cells, is the soul made of spirit molecules or is the soul a single spirit molecule?
-What is the relationship between the Supersoul, the soul, and Krishna?
-How is it beneficial to sentence a person who has committed a great crime like murder to death row, rather than to just to punish him?
Rosie
Answer: It Gives Speedy Karmic Relief
The soul is a single particle, but its consciousness is spread throughout the entire body.An individual soul is present in each and every body. The Supersoul is an expansion of Krishna. He is present in the heart of all living beings. Krishna, in His original form, is enjoying His eternal pastimes with His intimate associates in Goloka Vrindavana, the topmost planet in the spiritual sky.
If one commits a murder, his karma is that he must be murdered. If he is given a life sentence instead of capital punishment, he will have to take birth again to be murdered in his next life. This is why in Vedic culture out of kindness the poor fellow is put to death by capital punishment so that he can get his karma from that murder over with as soon as possible and start off with a clean karmic slate in his next life. Otherwise he will live his entire life in a miserable consciousness with the specter of the murder he committed always haunting his heart. And in his next life he will still have to be murdered as a karmic reaction. So instead of the poor soul tortured by his karma, the Vedic culture helps him to get free from his karma as soon as possible by capital punishment.
Just like a naughty child is in the anxiety of being detected but when discovered and punished feels relief from the guilt of his or her misbehavior, in a similar way capital punishment is beneficial for the murderer.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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