On the Road to Sri Mayapur Dhama

Today in great joy we are heading out to Sri Mayapur Dhama, apparently situated according to mundane vision in West Bengal, India. We will spend two weeks there at ISKCON's world headquarters situated on the bank of the sacred Ganges river attending leader's meetings. Because the USA is in such a remote corner of the world so far from Mayapur, the center of the universe, it will take us two-and-a-half days to get there. The austerity of getting there is certainly well worth it. Entering into Sri Mayapur Dhama is non-differnet from entering into the spiritual world because it is a manifestation of the spiritual world here within this material existence.

World's Largest Vedic Temple Under Construction in Mayapur

World's Largest Vedic Temple Under Construction in Mayapur

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Do the Pictures of Krishna Accurately Depict Him?

My Dear Guruji,

Are the pictures that we see of Krishna showing us the actual form of Krishna? Does Krishna really look like how we see Him in these pictures? Does the ultimate God Krishna have any shape, or is He formless and shapeless? I would be grateful if you could enlighten me on this.

Thanking you very much,
RamKumar
Chennai, India

Answer: They Most Certainly Do

Pictures that are based on the description of Krishna given in the scriptures and confirmed by fully realized devotees, who can personally see Krishna at every minute, are authentic depictions of what Krishna actually looks like. It is confirmed in the Vedic scriptures and by self-realized souls that Krishna has a form. For example it is stated as follows in the Brahma Samhita, Chapter 5, Text 32:

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.

So as you can see from the above verse, Krishna does have a form. Sometimes when it is described that God is formless this means that He does not have a limited material form. His form is purely spiritual and is thus not limited by any mundane constrictions.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Misguided Fools Say that Masturbation is Healthy

Image
Foolish modern day materialists recommend masturbation as follows: "Masturbation is a common activity. It’s a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension. It occurs among people of all backgrounds, genders, and races. Despite the myths, there are actually no physically harmful side effects of masturbation." They are wrong. To get a proper understanding on this this topic read the question and answer section below. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What are the Ill Effects of Masturbation? Since you answered questions related to understanding the real need of sex in a human being's life, so I also request you to please enlighten us with the knowledge about semen conservation, it's importance, and the consequences of frequently releasing it thorough sex or masturbation. Since today most of the youth are indulged in mansturbation and they think it to be good in comparison to doing sex with some female for
Read more