Ultimate Self Realization

At the conclusion of a lecture that Srila Prabhupada gave in Los Angeles on 20 July 1971 my godbrother, Nanda-Kiśora Prabhu asked Srila Prabhupada the following question: "What happens to a person if we just give him out on the street one Simply Wonderful or some prasādam, one piece of prasādam?" Srila Prabhupada replied, "That is wonderful, simply wonderful. (laughter) 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." The devotees chanted, "Jaya!" And then Prabhupada said, "Therefore it is simply wonderful. So go on distributing this Simply Wonderful. Your philosophy is simply wonderful. Your prasādam is simply wonderful. You are simply wonderful. And your Kṛṣṇa is simply wonderful. The whole process of simply wonderful. And He acts wonderfully, and it is acting wonderfully. Who can deny it?" One devo

In his purport to Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 8, Text 246 Srila Prabhupada has shared us with this most amazing information: "In the Itihāsa-samuccaya, Nārada tells Puṇḍarīka: janmāntara-sahasreṣu yasya syād buddhir īdṛśī dāso ’haṁ vāsudevasya sarvāl lokān samuddharet 'After many, many births, when a person realizes that he is the eternal servant of Vāsudeva, he can deliver all the worlds.'" Let us take full advantage of this by now fully realizing that we are the eternal servants of Vāsudeva so that we can now make all the worlds Krishna conscious. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Great Narada Muni Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Prabhupada's or Krishna's Potency? Respected Prabhuji, My humble obeisances to you and your Gurudeva, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. My questions are: "How did Srila Prabhupad successfully create the spiritual revolution of the Krishna Consciousness Movement when there was no hope from governm

One of my greatest treasures is the letter that you will find below. (The typist with the initials "adb" made a typing mistake misspelling my name as "Samkarsan".) It is the first personal letter I received from Srila Prabhupada. In a letter from London dated 12 August 1971 Srila Prabhupada accepted me and two other boys (Parasara Das and Pulastya Das) as his disciples. Visnujana Swami performed the initiation in Austin in the front yard of our center at 2906 Dancy Street. The mayor of Austin, Roy Butler, attended this very important ceremony, which was a first for ISKCON to a have a mayor attend an ISKCON function. At the ceremony I collected some guru daksina which I then mailed to Srila Prabhupada with a letter I wrote on 2 September. The mail across the Atlantic was pretty quick because Srila Prabhupada wrote me back on 7 September in the letter below which contained the most encouraging words: "I can see also that you are a very sincere and enthusiastic bo

The most important thing we do each day is to chant at least 16 rounds of Hare Krishna mantra japa on our japa beads. Srila Prabhupada has given us many instructions about chanting japa. Here are a few of them: "While chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna you should always feel the presence of Krishna in Person and as soon as you remember Krishna in Person you can remember also about His talks with Arjuna. If you cannot remember Krishna in Person you should try to hear attentively the word Krishna, Hare as you go on chanting." "As soon as the mind wanders, we should immediately drag it back to concentrate on Krishna. While chanting, our mind sometimes wanders far away, but when we become conscious of this, we should immediately bring the mind back to hear the sound vibration of "Hare Krishna." That is called yoga-abhyasa, the practice of yoga. We should not allow our mind to wander elsewhere. We should simply chant and hear the Hare Krishna mantra, for that is the

Are you completely convinced that you are not your body, that you are an eternal spiritual being, the servant of Lord Sri Krishna? Or do you still think that maybe that body which is born, gets sick, gets old, and dies is you? Over the last half a century I have seen many people take the path of Krishna consciousness even to the point of accept initiation and then after some time because they are not fully convinced of their spiritual identity they give it up. I hope that is not you. I hope that you are completely, totally, unflinchingly convinced of your eternal spiritual identity. When I go back to the spiritual world. I very much want that I will find you there too, not that you continue rotting in this miserable cycle of birth, death, old age, and disease. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Who Am I? Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: I Am Depressed. What to Do? Hare Krishna. I am very depressed. My thoughts are going very negative. What should I do? Pooja K. Answer: See All Mi

The key for attaining the topmost perfection of self-realization is to always remember Krishna and never forget Him, not even for a moment. Thus we have to train ourselves to always see Krishna within everything and everything within Krishna. It's really just as simple as that. Krishna consciousness is simple for the simple and difficult for the crooked. Our difficulty is that we are crooked. Thus it's time now that we straighten ourselves out. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Unforgettable Krishna Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Should I Always Listen to Parents? Dear Guruji, Please accept my humble obeisances. My obeisances to Gurumataji. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thank you for taking some time to read about my impurities and showering light on the darkness that i have been surrounded by. Sure Gurudeva, I will follow your instruction in future. I am little bit disappointed that my action was rejected. I personally feel you

Our actual position is that we are creatures of the spiritual world. Therefore our being here in this material world is a most unnatural, unhealthy situation just like a fish who has been cast by the waves of the ocean up onto the beach. He is in a miserable most pathetic situation. He will die because he cannot breathe there. He must be in the water to breathe. Unlike land animals, which have lungs to take in oxygen from the air, fish have gills to breathe in the oxygen contained in water. What is the poor fish going to do? He can't swim back into the water. The high tide dumped him on the beach and will not return for another 12 hours to take him back into the water. He will die before that. But if some kindhearted soul sees him in agony on the beach and tosses him back into the water he will saved. We are like that fish. And the spiritual master is that kindhearted soul who picks us up and throws us back into our natural spiritual existence. Therefore we always offer our respect

When our computer software ceases to operate properly we are advised to reboot our computer to bring the software back to proper functionality. Similarly, at the present moment due to our entanglement since time immemorial in this prison house of material existence we have become hopelessly dysfunctional. Thus in order to come back to proper functionality we need to reboot our lives. The reboot is very simple. We can easily reboot our lives by chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra with love: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Sankarshan Das Adhikari What Are You Waiting For? Reboot Your Life Right Now! Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How to Understand These Statements? Hare Krishna. My dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet 🙇‍♀️ All glories to you and to Srimati Gurumataji. All glories to Srila Prabhupada 🙏 Srila Gurudeva, I just read in Srimad Bhagavatam 11. 2.39 purp

You are an eternal spiritual being qualitatively one with God. Your factual constitutional position is that you are full of knowledge and full of bliss. So do not cheat yourself and torture yourself by misidentifying with your temporary material body, which is full of ignorance and full of misery. To revive your original divine consciousness regularly chant the holy names of God. The most recommended names in this age are: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Sankarshan Das Adhikari Chant and Be Happy! Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Can You Guide Me Out of My Misery? Sir, My age is 63 years. I am in too much problems of all kinds from the last 45 years due to unavoidable circumstances / conditions. I have had huge losses. In my joint family business my brother took advantage and threw me out of the business. Also I had health issues at the age of 18-19 for which I did many kinds of treatments including mo

Click this link to hear Srila Prabhupada speaking very wonderfully about the appearance day of Lord Ramacandra. Srila Prabhupada instructed us to fast until sunset on this day. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Lord Ramacandra and Sita Devi in the Forest Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How Can I Join ISKCON? I want to join the Krishna Consciousness Movement. How can I? Pooja Kumari Answer: Here is How My Dear Pooja, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. We welcome with open hearts to join our Krishna consciousness movement. Kindly adopt these principles: https://krishnaconsciousness.com/at-home and associate with and serve the ISKCON devotees in your area. Here is a list of the ISKCON centers all over the world: https://centres.iskcon.org I hope this meets you in the best of health.   Your ever well-wisher, Sankarshan Das Adhikari Sankarshan Das Adhikari is one of the spiritual masters of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement. He has dedicated the last

The sinful Ajamila was being approached by the Yamadutas at the time of his death to take him away for punishment. But somehow at the time of death he uttered the name "Narayana". Thus he was saved from death and was able to cultivate devotional service and attain the spiritual world. This shows us the great power of Lord Krishna's holy name. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Ajamila Was Saved by Uttering "Narayana" Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Have You Ever Witnessed a Miracle? Guruji. Accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I want to know about you that in your devotional life have you ever witnessed Krishna or any miracle played by Lord? Sorry for my any mistakes and if my question is wrong. Hare Krishna Hare Rama. Aryan Rupaank Answer: The Power of the Holy Name My Dear Aryan, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I have seen the great power of the Lord's holy name. When I was a young brahmacari serving

The whole world is waiting to be awakened to Krishna consciousness. And those most fortunate souls who take the world deliverance mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as their very life and soul will go down in history as the liberators of the world. So what kind of life do you want to live? A life of mediocrity or a life of great spiritual and historical significance? The choice is yours. You can live either way. It is simply a matter of your choice. I hope you make the right choice of telling everyone you meet about Krishna. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Lord Caitanya is Ordering Us to Deliver the World Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Meaning of "Failure is the Pillar of Success"? Thanks for your email. You mentioned, "Failure is the Pillar of success." Do you mean if we practice Krishna consciousness at home in this life and we cannot go to Krishna's heaven after this life, then we can continue in our next life? Will we be born in a family who is prac

In ancient times a devotee named Jada Bharata was forced to carry the king's palanquin. He did not carry it smoothly because he was very careful not to step on any ants. This disturbed the king greatly because he got a rough ride. In his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto, Chapter 10, Text 2 Srila Prabhupada describes this: "Although Jada Bharata was forced to carry the palanquin, he did not give up his sympathetic feelings toward the poor ants passing on the road. A devotee of the Lord does not forget his devotional service and other favorable activities, even when he is in a most distressful condition. Jada Bharata was a qualified brahmana, highly elevated in spiritual knowledge, yet he was forced to carry the palanquin. He did not mind this, but while walking on the road, he could not forget his duty to avoid killing even an ant. A Vaisnava is never envious or unnecessarily violent. There were many ants on the path, but Jada Bharata took care by looking ahead three f

Srila Prabhupada's magazine, Back to Godhead, in it original North American edition will be publishing this year the story of how I became a devotee. Srila Prabhupada said that Back to Godhead Magazine is the backbone of our movement. So if you want to have this backbone to support you nicely in your spiritual life a subscription to Back to Godhead Magazine is recommended. You can get a subscription, by clicking on this link: http://btg.krishna.com/subscriber-services . Sankarshan Das Adhikari Subscribe Now to Back to Godhead Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Solution for My Problem? I'm Vasavi from India. I have lost my peace of mind and I am very depressed because of one person. I do not want that person in my life, but every time I think about that person. Can you please tell me the solution for my problem? Answer: Give Your Love to Krishna My Dear Vasavi, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. There is one person to whom we can give our

Srila Prabhupada states in his book, The Perfection of Yoga, as follows: "There is the famous proverb that 'failure is the pillar of success.' In the spiritual life especially, failure is not discouraging. Krisna very clearly states that even if there is failure, there is no loss either in this world or in the next. One who takes to this auspicious line of spiritual culture is never completely vanquished." One this pathway of Krishna we sometimes or even often experience failures in our practice of Krishna consciousness, our relationships, and our attempts to preach Krishna consciousness. But we should not become depressed by these failures. If we take each failure as a learning experience instead of as a failure, they will all be stepping stones to our ultimate success. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Stepping Stones to Ultimate Success Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Duty Towards Spiritual Master? 1) Can we ask mercy from spiritual master without discharging

The modern day materialistic society is based on the bodily concept of life. "I am this body." But if we use a little common sense, we can see that is fallacious. Ask yourself these simple questions, "Do my eyes see, or am I seeing through my eyes? Do my ears hear, or I am my hearing through my ears?". It becomes obvious by simple observation that the seer/hearer is not the material elements of which the eyes and the ears are made. These are simply tools that the non-material self is using to see and hear. Therefore the actual self is no material. It is spiritual. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Who Am I? Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Does the Bible Say that Jesus is God? Hare Krishna Gurudev Dandavat Pranams Please accept my respectful obeisances at your lotus feet Thanks a lot for the online classes and the enlightenment to all the conditioned souls like me. Recently I tried to donate a Bhagavad-gita As It Is to a practicing lady doctor, but she denied t

Here's where it all began. Just imagine an old man with no money who had just suffered two heart attacks launching a worldwide spiritual revolution by chanting a simple mantra in the park! What could be more astoundingly amazing that this? And we are most fortunate recipients of his unlimited loving mercy! Watch the video below to see how it happened. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada in Tompkins Square Park New York 1966 Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Can You Teach Me to Be Happy? Can you teach me, please? I’m so miserable I can’t take it anymore. Please, I’ve applied to your course. Please help me! R.E. Answer: The Insider's Secret How to Always Be Happy My Dear R.E., Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am very sorry to hear that you are miserable, and I am now praying to Lord Krishna to flood with unlimited torrents of happiness for all of eternity. Here's the insiders secret of how to be always be happy: Inside of try

In the early days of ISKCON when my godbrother, Guru Das, became depressed in his devotional service he got the following most wonderful, inspiring instruction from Srila Prabhupada in a letter dated 29 August 1972 from Los Angeles: "Do not be depressed. All along my godbrothers gave me only depression, repression, compression -- but I continued strong in my duty. So never mind there is some discouragement, continue with your work in full enthusiastic Krishna Consciousness attitude of service." Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada and Guru Das Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Should I Read Krishna Conscious Books? Respected Sir, Hare Krishna! I'm a 17 years college student from India. I have hereby written to you in order to know an answer to my query. Will knowledge of Krishna be beneficial for me? I, being a science student continuously read Srila Prabhupada's books and many others related to Krishna, and I have a very good faith in Him also. But

In today's modern day highly materialistic world even those people who are God conscious such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Jews take God in the wrong way. Instead of being in the mood of fully surrendering to God as taught by Lord Jesus and the great Vaisnava acharyas, they take Him as the big Santa Claus in the sky Who will fulfill your material desires. I have first hand experience of this being raised as a Christian. My mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her I wanted a pair of cowboys boots. So every night before I went to sleep my mother came to my bedside to see whether or not I had prayed to God for my cowboy boots, and I would tell her that I had. Sure enough what was there under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning? A brand new pair of cowboy boots. This is how my mother taught me to believe in God. But we are meant to be in the mood of lovingly serving God, not asking God to serve us. It is only this mood of fully surrendering to Krishna or God i

On 5 July 2019 in Melbourne, Australia I told the true story of how I came to Krishna consciousness. It was recorded and posted on Youtube. You can see and here it here: https://youtu.be/_38_VCuClUU Sankarshan Das Adhikari Speaking in Melbourne, Australia Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Request: Present Krishna's Teachings Through Best Books Hare Krishna. Please guide Krishna teachings through the best literature books. Regards Srikanta Rout English Teacher Rourkela, Odisha Reply: That's Exactly What We Are Doing My Dear Srikanta, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. That's what we are doing. The two topmost world literatures are the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Bhagavad-gita is the words spoken by Krishna and the the Srimad Bhagavatam is the words spoken about Krishna. I hope this meets you in the best of health.   Your ever well-wisher, Sankarshan Das Adhikari Bhagavad-gita Srimad Bhagavatam Sankarshan Das Adhikari is one of

Who can be more astonishing than Krishna? All of the most amazing things of this world are only a mere fraction of a fraction of a fraction of His unlimitedly astonishing glories. All of the attractive things of this world such as a ravingly beautiful woman or a magical, splendorous sunrise are only attractive because Krishna has invested them with a slight portion of a portion of a portion of His unlimited attractiveness. This is why when a person becomes fully Krishna consciousness he is unlimitedly satisfied by relishing the most astonishing attractiveness of Lord Sri Krishna twenty-four hours a day in all times, places, and circumstances. There can indeed be no one more attractive than Krishna because He is the source of all attractiveness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna: the Source of All Attractiveness Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Who is the Supreme God? Who is the supreme god, Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna? Please explain in detail. Padmanabham Vasudev Answer: