Ultimate Self Realization

Lord Sri Krishna is the supreme flute player because nobody can surpass Him in His enchanting ability. In the Krishna Book, a gopi girl describes Krishna's flute playing as follows: "When He plays His flute, all the cows and other animals of Vrindavana, although engaged in eating, simply take a morsel of food in their mouths and stop chewing. Their ears raise up and they become stunned. They do not appear alive but like painted animals. Krishna's flute-playing is so attractive that even the animals become enchanted, and what to speak of ourselves." And in the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the following verses: "O pious mother Yasoda, your son, who is expert in all the arts of herding cows, has invented many new styles of flute-playing. When He takes His flute to His bimba-red lips and sends forth the tones of the harmonic scale in variegated melodies, Brahma, Siva, Indra and other chief demigods become confused upon hearing the sound. Although they are the most

Srila Prabhupada has ordered his disciples that they must deliver the world from ignorance and suffering by the wide scale dissemination of transcendental knowledge and the chanting of the holy names of God. Therefore it is our duty to obey Srila Prabhupada and be compassionate upon all the fallen, suffering souls of this age by bringing them to Krishna consciousness. It is not that we want to impose Krishna consciousness upon them. This is not required because everyone already has Krishna consciousness within them. Therefore our mission is liberate the people from all the unnatural, artificial mentalities which are clogging their ability to be who they are actually are, the eternal servants of Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada is Saving the World Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Why Is Guru Indebted to His Disciples? Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada! You wrote me that you are eternally in

Sometimes people criticize the bona fide spiritual master for being a fanatic. So is he is a fanatic or is he not a fanatic? To answer this question we must first see what is the dictionary definition of the word "fanatic." The dictionary says that a fanatic is a person filled with excessive zeal. So the test of whether the spiritual master is a fanatic or not is whether his being totally dedicated to Krishna is something excessive or not. In this connection we have to ask if there is any such thing as being too devoted or excessively devoted to Krishna. While a materialist may think so, the correct answer is that no matter how much we are devoted to Krishna we are never devoted enough. Therefore it is impossible to be excessively devoted to Krishna, and therefore the bona fide spiritual master is not a fanatic. He is not excessively devoted to Krishna. He is properly devoted to Krishna, and his proper devotion is manifested in all of his thoughts, words, and deeds in all

The Srimad Bhagavatam states that one should not become a leader unless he can deliver his dependents from the cycle of birth and death. Sadly, the modern day governments do just the opposite. Instead of delivering their citizens from the clutches of birth and death, they guide them in such a way that they become even more tightly bound up in this material existence. Therefore the greatest necessity of the modern day world society is that there should now emerge a new class of saintly, enlightened leaders in all spheres of human activity who can do the greatest good for the suffering humanity by guiding everyone both by words and example how to utilize the human form of life for going back to home, back to Godhead. The mission of the Krishna consciousness movement is to train up such a new enlightened class of leaders. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada Gives Training at a University Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Request: Seeking Blessings to Distribute More Books

The highest perfectional stage of Krishna consciousness is easily attainable in the human form of life if one is fully surrendered to the bona fide spiritual master. However, if one holds himself back from full surrender due to material attachment, he will have great difficulty on the path of spiritual awakening. Therefore, while the unfortunate fools wallow in ignorance, those who are actually intelligent take full advantage of the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master and thus quickly and easily attain the topmost spiritual perfection of pure Krishna bhakti. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada With a Small Child Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How Long to Work Until Retirement? Respected Sir, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Can you please let me know till how long a person is allowed to earn money for his living according to Vedic culture? Is there any age limit after which a person should stop earning and take hi

Existence or being itself is the most wonderful, exciting, thrilling, adventurous experience. One simply has to know the art of how to do it properly. This art is learned from the bona fide spiritual master, who has mastered the art of being connected with Krishna or God at every minute. Because the spiritual master is fully connected with Krishna, he can train you how to also be fully connected with Krishna and taste the highest bliss in all times, places, and circumstances. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Connecting With Krishna in Mauritius By Chanting His Holy Names Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Get Out of Depression? Hare Krishna. In this world sometimes we forget the unreal nature of things. I find myself caught up in day to day sadness of the news, my partnership, frustration in all things I am seeing and hearing. Depression surrounds me, and I'm seemingly gone. How can I see what is real? Feel what is real, be real? Depression is engulfing and I wa

This human form of life is especially meant for spiritual awakening. In human life you are meant to re-establish your lost loving relationship with Krishna or God. If you don't do this, you will be forced by the material modes of nature to pursue the hellish pathway of material sense gratification, which will drag you down into the animal kingdom in your next birth. In other words, if you do not busy yourself with being born spiritually, you are killing yourself. And there is not much more to be said in this connection. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Freedom From Stress Through Spirituality Seminar Round Rock, Texas--22 November 2014 Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: What Happens in the Spiritual World? Hare Krishna! I have a some questions regarding the spiritual world: What is Krishna like in the spiritual world? Is He like a young cowherd boy, or is He like an adult who is a king or something else? Also, in the spiritual world, what kinds of activities do

Of the all the senses the tongue is the most voracious and uncontrollable. It is very difficult to conquer over the tongue in this world. While an uncontrolled tongue is our worst enemy because it drags us down to the animal platform, the properly controlled tongue, which takes only Krishna prasadam, is our best friend because by taking only Krishna prasadam as our food we become elevated to the transcendental platform and delivered from the cycle of birth and death. Out of His unlimited compassion upon us Krishna has given us prasadam to help us conquer over our tongues. Prasadam means those foods which have been offered to Krishna with love and devotion. The only foods that Krishna accepts are from the category of fruits, vegetables, daily products, and grains. Meat, fish, eggs, onions, and garlic are not accepted by the Lord. By taking prasadam we become purified, and by eating foods, even vegetarian foods, which have not been offered to Krishna we become contaminated. Therefore w

In Krishna's service we should always be bold. Since our mission is to achieve cultural world domination, to enlighten the entire world in the science of Krishna consciousness, we must always be the boldest people on this planet while we are facing and challenging the myriad of nonsense misguided philosophies, which are so prominent now all over the world and completely ruining people's lives. Our mission is to firmly establish in the conviction of all that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that we are all His eternal servants. Since this and only this will bring true and lasting happiness to everyone, this is the highest welfare work, and we must always be boldly undeterred when we present the sublime teachings of the Bhagavad-gita to the people of this world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari An Elephant Taking a Bath An Elephant Dries Himself Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Instant Liberation from Material Existence? I have heard from devotees t

Always depend on Krishna because He will never let you down. He is the one and only person you can always trust to always be acting purely for your welfare. He is your ever well-wishing best of all friends. Therefore if you will put your faith totally in Him, you will never ever be bewildered or unhappy in any situation. Indeed this will be the absolute perfection of your consciousness. This highest stage of self-realization is called Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna Embraces Gopa Kumar Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How Can A Devotee Be Greater Than Krishna? Hare Krishna! I was watching one of your videos on YouTube when you were in Estonia. You mentioned that a devotee can be greater than Krishna. Aren't we part of Krishna? Isn't Krishna the primeval Lord? I always thought of myself as under Krishna. What do you mean by that a devotee can be greater than Krishna? Kartik P. Answer: By Fully Surrendering to Krishna It is a fact

Here are the lyrics to a song I wrote to Srila Prabhupada on 16 September, 1983 in Norman, Oklahoma, USA: My dear Srila Prabhupada Won't you please set me free. Give your loving mercy to me I'm so blind I cannot see Drowning in this ocean of hopelessness. Please pick me up, put me on the path I've veered out of the way I've gone so far astray That there's no telling of my whereabouts. My dear Srila Prabhupada Please put me back on my feet Get me back out on the street Telling everyone I meet That here's the way we can go back to Godhead. Yes, I'm ready to go anywhere I'm ready now to preach Bhagavad-gita I will teach To anyone who has the ears to hear. My dear Srila Prabhupada You've been so kind to me You've come and set me free Now I'm ready to do the same for others. I don't need anything except your order That's my life and soul Your pleasure is my goal Eternally let me remain as your servant. My dear Sr

Srila Prabhupada once told a group of his disciples in London that they were all brahmanas in their previous lives and that they had been ordered by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur to take birth to help Srila Prabhupada to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. He said that was why they were able to take to Krishna consciousness so quickly. Srila Prabhupada looked at each devotee in the room and said, "Now we are all together again," with a beaming smile. It was such a powerful moment that some of the devotees began to cry. On 26 August 1972 Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter to all of his disciples in which he stated: "My Spiritual Master knew it that alone I could not do this great work. Therefore He has very kindly sent you all to help me in this task. I accept you therefore as representatives of my Guru Maharaja playing as my affectionate disciples." Considering Srila Prabhupada's words I sometimes wonder where I was in my previous birth and how i

For many years I have been nicely received at ISKCON Helsinki and have given many lectures there. I also have initiated disciples from ISKCON Helsinki. After losing their lease on a very nice downtown Helsinki location for their temple they went through great endeavor to find a new location. Now by Krishna's grace the city of Helsinki, in appreciation for the valuable contribution they are making to Finnish society, has offered to sell them a wonderful facility at a mere fraction of what it is actually worth. But they do not have sufficient funds to purchase it. If all the devotees all over the world will chip in and give whatever they can, ISKCON can easily purchase this wonderful facility for spreading the mercy of Lord Caitanya in Finland. So we are requesting all of our 16,000+ readers to give whatever they can for this very important project. There is a beautiful video which tells more at the following website. Your contributions should be made through the following website.

In his purport to Bhagavad-gita 2.56 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully describes the mentality of someone who is fixed in Krishna consciousness. You will find his sublime description quoted below. Kindly carefully study this and make this the guiding principle of your life. "The sthita-dhīr muni is always in Krishna consciousness, for he has exhausted all his business of creative speculation. He is called praśānta-niḥśeṣa-mano-rathāntara (Stotra-ratna 43), or one who has surpassed the stage of mental speculations and has come to the conclusion that Lord Sri Krishna, or Vasudeva, is everything(vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ). He is called a muni fixed in mind. Such a fully Krishna conscious person is not at all disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries, for he accepts all miseries as the mercy of the Lord, thinking himself only worthy of more trouble due to his past misdeeds; and he sees that his miseries, by the grace of the Lord, are minimized to the lowest

Sometimes we see that neophyte devotees do not appreciate the older devotees who are mercifully training them how to become fixed up in Krishna consciousness. Instead of dutifully serving and learning from their seniors with love and respect, which is what the scriptures instruct them to do, the foolish neophytes sometimes find fault and criticize their seniors, especially when their seniors correct them. This is known as hati mata, the mad elephant offense. Just as when a mad elephant enters into your garden he destroys all of your plants, such an offense can completely destroy one's Krishna consciousness. This is confirmed as follows in the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 19.156: yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi' yāya pātā "As a mad elephant may trample all the plants in a garden, so by committing one offense at the lotus feet of a Vaisnava one may spoil all the devotional service he has accumulated in his life." Therefore the neophyte

If you would like to know the secret of success on the path of Krishna consciousness, kindly note that your spiritual master is your connection with Krishna. By pleasing him you are pleasing Krishna. Therefore you must always please him by a humble and sincere service attitude never considering him to be an ordinary man. To displease him causes great havoc on your path of spiritual awakening. Therefore you should carefully monitor your thoughts, words, and deeds in all times, places, and circumstances to make sure that you are always in harmony with your guru, which brings you into perfect harmony with Krishna and the revealed scriptures. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada in the Airport Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: What Forces Jiva to Desire Separate Enjoyment? Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Guru Maharaja, Thank you for sharing a very nice explanation by Srila Prabhupada on why the jiva falls down from spiritual

When I was a young spiritual seeker back in 1971 here in Austin, Texas USA I received the most valuable lesson from His Holiness Vishnu Jana Swami Maharaja. He taught me that I must please my spiritual master and surrender unto him fully. I am eternally indebted to Vishnujana Swami for this lesson, because he helped me more than anyone else to take shelter of the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, my eternal spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Vishnujana Swami in the Ecstasy of Hare Krishna Kirtan Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Know If I Have the Right Guru? Your Grace, how do I know if I have the right guru for me. Russell P. Answer: Find the Guru Who Teaches Bhagavad-gita As It Is If you have found a guru who purely teaches the Bhagavad-gita exactly as it was spoken by Lord Krishna without the adulteration of additions or subtractions, then you can know that you found the proper guru who can deliver you from the cycle of birth and

Krishna says that unless we are devotees of His devotees that we are not His devotees. Therefore we must always be respectful towards His devotees without deviation. The more we become mature in respectfulness towards Krishna's devotees, the more the ultimate perfection of pure love of Godhead becomes awakened within our hearts. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna's Devotees Are the Most Wonderful People in the Universe Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Difficult to Become Krishna Conscious? Why is it so difficult to become Krishna Conscious? Your servant, Bhakta Shashank Answer: Only Difficulty Is That We Think It Is Difficult It is not at all difficult to become Krishna conscious. It is actually the easiest thing in the world. The only difficulty is that we think that it is difficult. Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sometimes I am criticized as being weird, fanatical, or a bad person for following the orders of my spiritual master. So should I try to please my critics by disobeying my spiritual master? Or should I choose to please my spiritual master even at the expense of displeasing my critics? By pleasing my spiritual master I am pleasing Krishna and achieving the topmost perfection of going back home, back to Godhead. By disobeying and thus displeasing my spiritual master I am an ignorant, miserable fool and rascal who will remain perpetually bound up in the cycle of birth and death. To anybody with even half a brain the answer is obvious that I must always please by spiritual master even at the expense of being criticized. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Loyalty to Srila Prabhupada Brings Great Joy to the Heart Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Do You Have Mystic Power? Do you have mystic power? R.T. Answer: Our Mystic Power Is Purely Repeating Krishna's Words Our mystic p

The most essential requirement to be happy and make progress in spiritual life is to please your spiritual master. In this connection Srila Prabhupada has written: "The spiritual master is described in the scriptures as good as Krishna because he is the most confidential servitor of Krishna. To please the spiritual master is to please Krishna. On this principle we must advance our Krishna Consciousness, and there is no danger." "The key to success in spiritual life is to always endeavor to please the spiritual master, and follow his instructions. One who is determined in this effort will advance very quickly in Krishna consciousness." "Presently our consciousness is clouded just like a mirror becomes covered with dust So the cleansing process is this chanting and hearing and doing some service and trying to please the spiritual master. By this process our consciousness becomes clear and we are able to understand everything." "One should always be

We read in Srila Prabhupada's purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 2.2.30: "There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord. The first stage is the offensive chanting of the holy name, and the second is the reflective stage of chanting the holy name. The third stage is the offenseless chanting of the holy name of the Lord. In the second stage only, the stage of reflection, between the offensive and offenseless stages, one automatically attains the stage of emancipation. And in the offenseless stage, one actually enters into the kingdom of God, although physically he may apparently be within the material world." This is truly amazing! Even while apparently being situated in his material body the offenseless chanter of Krishna's holy names is actually situated in Krishna's pastimes in the spiritual world. What this means is that the devotee does not have to wait for the demise of his material body to go back to Godhead. He can gradually attain the perfection

Srila Prabhupada has taught us that we should take the order of our spiritual master as our very life and soul. In this connection he has stated in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.24.13 as follows: "Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has stated that the order of the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples. As a man cannot separate his life from his body, a disciple cannot separate the order of the spiritual master from his life. If a disciple follows the instruction of the spiritual master in that way, he is sure to become perfect." So what is Srila Prabhupada's order? Just as Srila Prabhupada received in 1922 the order from his spiritual master to give Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world, he gave to his disciples on 17 December 1973 this instruction, "Just become perfect in the understanding of this science and become guru and deliver the whole world." Therefore as his disciple it is my duty to embrace this instruction as my very

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra Arjuna became depressed due to his bewilderment as to what was his duty. Thus he spoke to Krishna the following words: kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam "Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me." --Bhagavad-gita 2.7 Then he patiently and submissively heard from Sri Krishna the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita and thus gained the understanding that his duty was simply to follow the instructions of Krishna. In this way he became completely relieved from his bewilderment, confusion, and depression, ecstatically situated in loving service to His most beloved Lord. From Arjuna's profoundly shining example of taking help from his sp

The present world population, due to gross miseducation, is locked into a unidimensional view of reality when in fact reality is actually biodimensional. In other words instead of seeing the two dimensions, the material world and the spiritual world, they see only one dimension, the material world. Because everyone originates in the spiritual world, deep down within their heart they all desire the eternal, all-blissful, fully cognizant existence found in the spiritual world. Therefore this temporary, miserable, full of ignorance material world, which is just the opposite of their original, natural habitat can never satisfy them just as a fish can never be happy while out of the water. This is why everyone is more or less frustrated in this material existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna is Waiting for You to Return to Goloka Vrindavan Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How Could a Human Being Devolve to Animal Birth? I notice that in several of your answers you s

On the evening of 4 November 2014 we arrived back in Austin after two super ecstatic months of traveling and preaching in India and Europe. My aspiring disciple, Bhakta Anil, picked my wife, Vishnupriya Mataji, and I up at the airport. I was riding in the back seat on the way from the airport to the ISKCON Austin center remembering Srila Prabhupada's instruction that at every spare moment we should read his books. So I immediately without any hesitation grabbed my iPad and began reading the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 1. When I got to verse 29 I was awed. 'caitanya' seva, 'caitanya' gāo, lao 'caitanya'-nāma 'caitanye' ye bhakti kare, sei mora prāṇa "Nityananda Prabhu requested everyone to serve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, chant His glories and utter His name. Nityananda Prabhu claimed that person to be His life and soul who rendered devotional service unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I strikingly realized that all those who have at

There is no more merciful manifestation of Krishna that Krishna prasadam, vegetarian foods which have been offered to Krishna with love and devotion. Any person who takes even one bite of Krishna prasadam during his life will be eternally blessed by this contact with Krishna. In the following conversation recorded in Los Angeles on July 20, 1971 Srila Prabhupada stresses the great potency of Krishna prasadam: Nanda-Kisora: What happens to a person if we just give him out on the street one Simply Wonderful or some prasadam, one piece of prasadam? Prabhupada: That is wonderful, simply wonderful. He has not tasted such wonderful sweet in his life. Therefore you give him wonderful, and because he's eating that wonderful sweet, one day he'll come to your temple and become wonderful. Devotees: Jaya! Prabhupada: Therefore it is simply wonderful. So go on distributing this Simply Wonderful. Your philosophy is simply wonderful. Your prasadam is simply wonderful. You are simply wond

There is nothing more ecstatic, enlivening, and fulfilling than a life of Krishna consciousness. It does not require any great austerities. All you really have to do is just be who you are. Recognize that you are not your body, that you are instead the eternal spirit-soul servant of Krishna, and then mold your life accordingly in harmony with this principle. It's just as simple as that. Sincerely try this, and you will experience a fully satisfying eternal lifestyle of ever-increasing, unadulterated happiness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sunday Feast Lecture--Tallinn, Estonia--2 November 2014 Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: When A Family Member Dies? Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I would like to know why when a family member has just deceased, for first few weeks we are not allowed to even pray at home, that is not lighting of incense sticks and oil lamps. Also within a year why we are not allow

On Saturday 1 November after an ecstatic morning program at Tallinn's Hare Krishna temple capped off by my giving a lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam, we drove 210 kilometers east from Tallinn to Estonia's border with Russia, to the border city of Narva to do a home program for the local Hare Krishna community. The cold weather was more than offset by the wonderful, warm welcome we received from the devotees upon our arrival. The living room of Anton's small Soviet era apartment could hardly accommodate the many guests. So everyone squeezed in as tightly as possible utilizing every square inch of space. In this way we were able to get almost everyone into the room leaving only a few to join the kirtan and hear the lecture from outside in the hall. After a rousing Hare Krishna kirtan I explained to the assembled devotees how the Krishna consciousness movement must now take the leadership role on this planet to guide the human society in all spheres of activity since the curre

The current world leaders are completely incompetent to bring peace and happiness to this planet because they are personally bereft of their own peace and happiness due to their mistaken identification of the self with the body. Therefore for the sake of the suffering human population it's time now for the self-realized persons, those who are actually Krishna conscious, to step forward and become the leaders of this planet within every sphere of society: political, economic, educational, cultural, etc. Unless the Krishna conscious men take the leadership on this planet it is not possible for the human society to be happy. A society bereft of Krishna conscious leadership is like a decapitated body, a body with its head cut off. There is a burning need now for the modern day decapitated society to get its head back, the head it once had during the Vedic age when spiritually enlightened men were the leaders of the world society. This will solve all the problems of the world and bring