Ultimate Self Realization

After transmigrating through the 8,000,000 subhuman species and having been blessed with the attainment of this rare human form of life we have now have the most auspicious opportunity to become spiritually awakened and thus regain our original eternally liberated identities in the all-blissful spiritual world. Unfortunately instead of doing this 99.99% of the human population is totally engrossed in material sense gratification and thus qualifying themselves to return to the lower species in their next lives. Those rare souls who have awakened their intelligence and have thus become serious to regain their original constitutional identities as servants of the Supreme Person are the most fortunate persons in the entire universe. If you are blessed by finding yourself in this category, take full advantage of your unlimited good fortune and fully surrender yourself unto Lord Sri Krishna under the guidance of the bona spiritual master. This will insure your deliverance from this hellish

Srila Prabhupada writes as follows in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fourth Canto, Chapter 12, Text 36: "A Kṛṣṇa conscious being is always engaged in planning how to take all of suffering humanity back home, back to Godhead. Even if one is not successful in reclaiming all the fallen souls back to Godhead, still, because he is Kṛṣṇa conscious, his path to Vaikuṇṭhaloka is open. He personally becomes qualified to enter the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, and if anyone follows such a devotee, he also enters into Vaikuṇṭhaloka." So this is the actual meaning of being Krishna conscious. A person who is actually Krishna conscious is always engaged in planning how to take all of suffering humanity back to Godhead. So each of us can judge to what extent we are actually Krishna conscious to be the extent that we have fully embraced Lord Caitanya's world deliverance mission within the core of our hearts. Even if we are not this highest standard, if we sincerely, carefully follow the instructi

So far this year there have been over 20 million babies murdered by abortion on this planet. This a symptom of the gross ignorance of the modern day society. They do not realize that a spirit-soul is present within the womb of the mother from the very moment of conception. (The spirit-soul is present in the male semen and develops a body when injected into womb of the mother.) Those who abort/murder their babies will suffer the karmic reaction of being aborted/murdered in a future lifetime. If this was widely known nobody would abort their babies. Therefore we desire to educate everyone regarding how the law of karma works. If pregnancy is not wanted in the family, this can easily be accomplished by abstaining from sex which is the natural form of birth control. Sankarshan Das Adhikari These Women Want the Right to Murder Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Has My Devotion Reached Krishna? Hare Krishna 🙏 How to know if my devotion has reached Lord Krishna? I'm sad ri

My spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is unlimitedly glorious because he is fully surrendered to his spiritual master and to Lord Sri Krishna. I cannot even begin to comprehend how unlimitedly fortunate I am that in my spite of my innumerable disqualifications he most mercifully accepted me as his disciple on 12 August 1971. I am begging Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to bless me that I may give unlimited pleasure to my beloved Srila Prabhupada in all times, places, and circumstances with my every thought, word, and deed. And I am begging Srila Prabhupada that in spite of my total incompetency I may be able to successfully carry out the order that he gave to me and his other disciples in Los Angeles on 17 December 1973: "Just become perfect in the understanding of this science and become guru and deliver the whole world." Sankarshan Das Adhikari My Most W

The whole world is in a suffering condition because instead of serving Krishna or God people are just trying to gratify their senses as much as possible thus keeping themselves bound up in the chains of birth, death, old age, and disease. In this way they are preparing themselves to go down to the lower species such as dogs, hogs, camels and asses in their next lives to suffer even more. This is a pitiful shame because if they would just accept devotional service to Krishna or God they would become liberated from this material existence and regain their original, eternal, all-blissful, ever-youthful identities in the spiritual world. So our mission given to us by Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada is to deliver them by teaching them how to be Krishna conscious. There are millions and billions of such suffering people out there simply waiting to be delivered from illusion. It is our divine duty to save them. We need all the help we can get in this humongous mission. Therefore we are f

Fix your mind always on Krishna in all times, places, and circumstances. In this way you will attain the perfection of awakening your dormant Krishna consciousness and become qualified to go back to home, back to Godhead at the time of passing out from your present material body. There is no greater achievement than this. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Qualify Yourself to Go Back to Godhead Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Body, Mind, and Spirit? What's the difference between mind, body, soul, and spirit? Cynthia Osuri Answer: Surrender Them Fully to the Lord Soul and spirit are the same. The body is like a garment that the soul is wearing. And the mind is like an undergarment that the soul is wearing. To become perfect engage everything mind, body, and spirit in the service of God. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Most Urgent World Deliverance Mission ISKCON Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ordered his disciples to become gurus and delive

We do not have to go back to the spiritual world to be blessed with Krishna's association because Lord Sri Krishna is fully present with us right here, right now in the form of His holy name. In this connection the Padma Purāṇa wonderfully states as follows (as quoted in the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 17, Text 133): nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto ’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ “‘The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because t

On April 8, 1975 in Mayapur, West Bengal, India Srila Prabhupada very explained as follows on a morning walk: "So a disciple is always in deficiency before his spiritual master. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, guru more murkha dekhi karila śāśana [Cc. Ādi 7.71]. 'My spiritual master saw Me a fool number one. Therefore he has chastised Me.' So disciple should be always ready to be chastised. He should not think that he has become perfect. That is perfection. So long he thinks that he is not perfect--he's to be chastised—then he's perfect. And as soon as he thinks that he has become perfect, he's nonsense immediately, nonsense number one." Therefore, every disciple should always be ready to be chastised by his or her spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Prabhupada Instructs Us How to Be Krishna Conscious Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: How to Find Bona Fide Guru? Hare Krishna 🙏🏻💐👏 How to find bona fide master's and how to c

After transmigrating through 8,000,000 different species of life in the germ, worm, plant, aquatic, bird and animal kingdoms you have now been blessed with the opportunity to escape the vicious cycle of birth, death, old age, and disease in this extremely rare human form of life. So do not foolishly misuse this rare opportunity by dedicating your life for sense gratification. Rather you should take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and fully absorb yourself 24 hours daily in loving service to Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Source of all existence. In this way you will perfect your existence and become qualified upon leaving your present body to regain your original form and identity that you once had in the spiritual world before you fell down into this hellish material existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari This is Your Real Home Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What is True Religion? Dear Gurudeva, I was wondering why should we follow any

Here's our travel schedule for our upcoming visit to India: Arrival: 30 September 2022 from Doha at 2:45am in Mumbai 3 October-Pune to New Delhi--Air Vistara #972--11:15am to 1:30pm 10 October-New Delhi to Kolkata--Air Vistara #705--7:30am to 9:35am 15 October-Kolkata to New Delhi--Air Vistara # 706-10:15am to 12:40pm 20 October-my disciples celebrate my Vyas Puja in Vrindavan Depart 2 November for Kuala Lumpur Sankarshan Das Adhikari We Look Forward to Returning to the Holy Land Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Meaning of "Sarva Ga"? Hare Krishna Prabhu, Can you please explain in details what does "sarva ga" mean? Sarita Arya Answer: One Who Can Go Anywhere From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dear Sarita, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. In a lecture given in London on 29 August 1971 Srila Prabhupada has very nicely answered your question as follows: "A living entity's name is sarva-gah. Sarva-gah means

If we want to achieve the perfection of going back to Home, back to Godhead we must learn how to master the art of hearing submissively from the bona fide spiritual master. The bona fide spiritual master does not concoct his own teachings. If he does so, he is not bona fide. The bona fide spiritual purely presents without any addition or subtraction the pure teachings that are going down in disciplic succession from previous acharyas. This process of now the authorized knowledge is coming to us is described in the Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 4, Text 2: evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost." Those who take their training from the bona fide spiritual become liberated from this material existence. Th

Even though we routinely say the age of our bodies when we are asked how old we are, this is not actually true. Our actual age is infinity. But in the spite of this we are ever-fresh youths. This is of course on the spiritual platform, the plane of our factual identities. If we become Krishna conscious, we can return to our original identities. Otherwise we suffer here in this material existence misidentifying with these temporary material bodies which suffer birth, death, old age, and disease lifetime after lifetime through the 8,400,000 different species of life. Sankarshan Das Adhikari We Are Inhabitants of the Spiritual World Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why 16 Rounds? Jay Shree Krishna I am in the UK and I love reading your Thought for the Day first thing in the morning to start my day. Could you please explain why the specific number of 16 rounds? And when you say 16 rounds do you mean 16 times about the string of chanting beads or 16 times of chanting t

Here's our schedule: Sept 9 -- Sept 12 -- Toronto, Ontario, Canada Sept 13-- Sept 21 -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (details later) Sept 22-- Sept 28 -- Mauritius Sept 30-- Nov 2 -- India (details later) Oct 20 -- Vyas Puja Celebration in Vridavan Nov 3 -- Nov 7 -- Kuala Lumpur Nov 7 -- Nov 11 -- Melbourne Nov 12 -- Nov 28 -- Fiji Nov 28 -- Nov 29 -- Los Angeles Nov 29 -- Return to Austin Sankarshan Das Adhikari Lecture in Vrindavan Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Request: Accept Me As Your Disciple Hare Krishna Please accept my humble obeisance unto your lotus feet! I have been looking for a bona fide spiritual master and I have got one now! I truly need a spiritual master in order to grow more in Krishna consciousness. I beg you to please accept me as your disciple, I will follow all your instructions strictly! Please accept me as your disciple.🙇‍♀️ Your servant. Shreya Answer: Are You Following These Principles?! From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dear Shreya, P

Srila Prabhupada explains al follows in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, Fourth Canto, Chapter 21, Text 37 how the most grievous of offenses is guru-aparadha, to offend the spiritual master: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while instructing Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, has compared the devotional service of the Lord with a creeper. A creeper has a feeble stem and requires the support of another tree to grow, and while growing, it requires sufficient protection so that it may not be lost. While describing the system of protection for the creeper of devotional service, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has especially stressed protection from offenses unto the lotus feet of Vaiṣṇavas. Such offenses are called vaiṣṇava-aparādha. Aparādha means "offense." If one commits vaiṣṇava-aparādhas, all of his progress in devotional service will be checked. Even though one is very much advanced in devotional service, if he commits offenses at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava, his advancement is all spoiled. In the śāstras i

On our upcoming around-the world lecture tour we are departing from Sydney, Australia on 25 November at 11:20am and are arriving in Los Angeles on the same day at 6:05am. In other words we are arriving in Angeles five hours and fifteen minutes before we depart from Sydney. By ordinary understanding this would be impossible. But when we note that we are crossing the international date line going east and thus losing a day it becomes comprehensible. So just consider what will be our experience of time when we cross the Virajā River, which is the marginal line between the material world and the spiritual world. In the spiritual world there is no past, present and future. In the spiritual world time is conspicuous by its absence. This means that when cross the Virajā River going back to Home, Back to Godhead there will be no time that we were not there. It will be just as if we never fell down into material existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Crossing the Viraja River Answers According t

Here is Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 5, Text 20: na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam sthira-buddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ The synonyms are as follows: na—never; prahṛṣyet—rejoices; priyam—the pleasant; prāpya—achieving; na—does not; udvijet—become agitated; prāpya—obtaining; ca—also; apriyam—the unpleasant; sthira-buddhiḥ—self-intelligent; asammūḍhaḥ—unbewildered; brahma—vit—one who knows the Supreme perfectly; brahmaṇi—in the transcendence; sthitaḥ—situated. Here is the translation: "A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence." And here is Srila Prabhupada's wonderful purport: "The symptoms of the self-realized person are given herein. The first symptom is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perf

Here's a poem called "We Should Not Kill Cows" that that I finished writing on 12 June 2022: The cow is our mother She gives us her milk after first mother no longer can. So how can we kill her and eat her? This crime must now totally be banned. And if your compassion I can somehow arouse, I’ll convince you that we should not kill cows. As you sow, so shall you reap. The meaning’s not cheap. What goes around surely comes around. Cruelty begets cruelty. That’s what we’re now doing. The carnage now profusely abounds. And if your compassion I can somehow arouse, I’ll convince you that we should not kill cows. We butcher the cow and feast on her meat ignoring her suffering and pain wondering why so many mass shootings. The connection escapes our dull brains. And if your compassion I can somehow arouse, I’ll convince you that we should not kill cows. And if your compassion I can somehow arouse, I’ll convince you that we should not kill cows. (Completed on 12 June 2022) Do any

In the Nectar of Devotion Srila Prabhupada describes the most amazing true story. Here it is: In some of the Purāṇas the evidence is given that if someone is simply meditating on devotional activities, he has achieved the desired result and has seen face to face the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this connection, there is a story in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa that in the city of Pratiṣṭhānapura in South India there was once a brāhmaṇa who was not very well-to-do, but who was nevertheless satisfied in himself, thinking that it was because of his past misdeeds and by the desire of Kṛṣṇa that he did not get sufficient money and opulence. So he was not at all sorry for his poor material position, and he used to live very peacefully. He was very openhearted, and sometimes he went to hear some lectures delivered by great realized souls. At one such meeting, while he was very faithfully hearing about Vaiṣṇava activities, he was informed that these activities can be performed even by med

My beloved Godbrother, Giriraja Maharaja has described as follows a most wonderful lesson he learned from Srila Prabhupada when he was walking one morning with Srila Prabhupada on Juhu Beach: Every morning when Srila Prabhupada was in Bombay he used to walk on Juhu Beach. One morning I had been feeling especially wretched and miserable. Although so many other devotees were present, Srila Prabhupada began to speak as if addressing me personally. He quoted a Sanskrit verse and spoke about two words anatha and sanatha. Natha means “master,” so a-natha means “without a master” and sa-natha means “with a master.” The whole goal of life is to become sanatha, “with a master.” In the morning on Juhu Beach many gentlemen used to walk their dogs. Srila Prabhupada pointed to a fat and fit gentleman walking with an equally fat and fit dog. The man was walking briskly and confidently with his dog on a leash, and the dog was walking equally briskly and confidently with his master by his side. Srila

We have gotten this rarest human form after transmigrating through 8,000,000 different species of life in the germ, worm, plant, fish, bird, and animal kingdoms. So we should not misuse this rare opportunity to escape the cycle of birth and death. In this connection the first aphorism of Vedānta-sūtra very poignantly and wisely advises us "athāto brahma jijñāsā--Now that we've got this human form let us begin to inquire about the Supreme Absolute Truth." It is only when we take to the path inquiring about the Absolute Truth that we can gain access to escaping the cycle of birth by becoming qualified to go back to Home, back to Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Take Full Advantage of Getting a Human Form Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Hare Krishna in Bollywood Movies? Dandavats 🙏🙏🙏 All Glories to Srila Prabhupada Dear Guru Maharaja, Sometimes in Bollywood (Hindi) movies, they will use the Hare Krishna mantra in their songs. Like in one song, the singe

I am happy to report that we have now gone from 28,000 to more than 29,000 people enrolled in our e-course, The Ultimate Self Realization Course. Kindly tell everyone you know about this most important course. Let's get more and more people enrolled. Our goal to is to have at least one billion subscribers. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Let's Make the Whole World Krishna Conscious Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why Do We Have a Selfish Nature? Hare Krishna 🙏 Obeisances to Sankarshan Das Adhikari. My query has been a concern for a very long time. We are fragments of Krishna and we are trying to develop Krishna consciousness to liberate from the material 3 modes of nature. Yet I do try to follow, meditate, study and associate with Krishna conscious devotees, although I am vexed by why within in me there is a selfish nature that is capable of forgetting Krishna or all life itself. I don't understand where this selfish nature originates from, why a person can bre

In a most auspicious letter that I received from Srila Prabhupada dated 12 August 1971 from London he accepted me as his duly initiated disciple and giving me the name "Sankarshan Das." This means "the servant of that Supreme Person Who attracts everyone." I am most pleased with this name because that is my life's ultimate goal. I want to attract the whole world to Krishna. One may argue that this is a foolish impossible dream. But Srila Prabhupada said, "Impossible is a word in fool's dictionary." Srila Prabhupada also said, "We should always be enthusiastic to try for shooting the rhinoceros. That way, if we fail, everybody will say, 'Never mind, nobody can shoot a rhinoceros anyway,' And if we succeed, then everyone will say, 'Just see, what a wonderful thing they have done.'" So I am a rhino hunter shooting for the impossible dream of attracting the world to Krishna. My dear, , if will you kindly assist me in mak

Srila Prabhupada told us that our movement will go down in history for having saved the world in its darkest hour. So can you imagine any thing more satisfying and fulfilling than dedicating one's life for being Krishna conscious and giving Krishna consciousness to others? There is truly no life style more exciting and thrilling than this. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Prabhupada is Flooding the World with Pure Transcendental Bliss Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Why Not Enjoy Without Krishna? I have a question about Krishna. What is wrong with enjoying without Krishna? We also have different desires. Right? Not every time what Krishna likes can make us happy. Right? It is like sacrificing everything for Krishna, which makes us lose ourselves. Then where is the individuality? Forgive me if I asked anything wrong. Just want to clarify my doubts. Hare krishna. Shamini Subramaniam Answer: That is Illusory Happiness From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dear Shamini,

As on the surface of the ocean there is sometimes turbulence, similarly in this material world we sometimes experience disturbing situations which make us unhappy. But if we dive deep into that turbulent ocean, we will find it be very calm and serene in its depths. Similarly if we dive deep into the ocean of our hearts by careful, attentive chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, we will discover the unlimited treasure of pure love of God there and we will relish unlimited bliss. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Ocean's Surface is Sometimes Turbulent But Deep Within It Is Peaceful and Serene Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: Evidence of Our Fall Down? Where is this given that we were originally in the spiritual world and from there we have fallen down? Can you give any scriptural evidence? Sarita Arya Answer: Our Constitutional Position. From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA My Dear Sarita, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. It is confirmed in the Sri