SHIVA MAHA PURANA

 The Shiva Purana has twenty-four thousand shlokas.  These are divided into six samhitas or sections.  The names of the section are jnana samhita, vidyeshvara samhita, kailasa samhita, sanatkumar samhita, vayaviya samhita and dharma samhita.  Each samhita is further subdivided into chapters (adhyaya).  Jnana samhita has seventy-eight chapters, vidyeshvara samhita sixteen, kailasa samhita twelve, sanathkumar samhila fifty-nine, vayaviya samhita thirty and dharma samhita sixty-five.
 The Shiva Purana was recited by Vedavyasa's disciple Romaharshana, alternatively, Loma-harshana.

SHIVA

Q: If every formless is Shiva and every form is Shakti, then what is breath, which is both form and formless?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, the formless is Shiva and the form is Shakti. You can define it in any manner. Prana (life force energy obtained from breath) is also known as Mukhyaprana. Hanuman is connected with prana, air (Vayu Tattva) is connected with prana, Omkar is connected with prana. So everything is prana in the universe. We are in an ocean of prana, and prana is both Shiva and Shakti.
A point comes where you cannot distinguish between Shiva and Shakti. The border vanishes, it becomes invisible. Shiva and Shakti become one. That is when it is called Brahman, which means it is all one; there is no second.
Advaita means, no second, no two (even to count to one, there must be two. That is why it is said, 'There are no two things, just one'). It is one field of energy. Nothing other than that exists. Advaita means non-dual, it is the non-dual power in the universe.
This is the ultimate knowledge, i.e., non-dual, there are no two things. The whole universe is made up of one thing.
When you come one step below; it is like Quantum Physics. One more step below, and then it is like the Periodic Table in Chemistry. Do you know the Periodic Table? You have different elements, different aspects; these are all the different devas and devatas(specific divine energies).

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A RELIGION OF FREEDOM

Hinduism, unlike other religions, does not dogmatically assert that the final emancipation is possible only through its means and not through any other. It is only a means to an end and all means which will ultimately lead to the end are equally approved.
Hinduism allows absolute freedom to the rational mind of man. Hinduism never demands any undue restraint upon the freedom of human reason, the freedom of thought, feeling and will of man. It allows the widest freedom in matters of faith and worship. Hinduism is a religion of freedom. It allows absolute freedom to the human reason and heart with regard to questions such as nature of God, soul, creation, form of worship and the goal of life. Hinduism does not lie in the acceptance of any particular doctrine, nor in the observance of some particular rituals or form of worship. It does not force anybody to accept particular dogmas or forms of worship. It allows everybody to reflect, investigate, enquire and cogitate. Hence, all sorts of religious faiths, various forms of worship or Sadhana, and diverse kinds of rituals and customs, have found their honourable places side by side within Hinduism and are cultured and developed in harmonious relationship with one another.
Hinduism does not condemn those who deny God as the creator and ruler of the world, who do not accept the existence of an eternal soul and the state of Moksha or state of liberation. Hinduism does not render the upholders of such views unfit to be recognised as pious and honourable members of the Hindu religious society.
The religious hospitality of Hinduism is proverbial. Hinduism is extremely catholic and liberal. This is the fundamental feature of Hinduism. Hinduism pays respects to all religions. It does not revile any other religion. It accepts and honours truth—wherever it may come from and whatever garb it may put on.
There are considerable numbers of the followers of other religions in India. And yet, the Hindus live in perfect harmony, peace and friendship with all of them. Their tolerance and fellow-feeling towards the followers of other religions is remarkable.
Despite all the differences of metaphysical doctrines, modes of religious discipline and forms of ritualistic practices and social habits prevalent in the Hindu society, there is an essential uniformity in the conception of religion and in the outlook on life and the world, among all sections of Hindus.

SHIVMAHAPURAN : RITES PERFORMED ON COMPLETION OF OBSERVANCE

 
After the methodical completion of the Katha, a devotee should perform UDDYAPAN (Conclusion of the Katha), which is similar to the CHATURDASHI UDDYAPAN. The devotee should also Charitably make donations to all the brahmins who have helped in the performance of Katha. On the next day the 'Path' of SHIV GITA should be performed. If the devotee (listener of the Katha) is a householders, then he should perform 'Havan' with the ghee prepared from Cow's milk, for the pacification of the unhindered completion of the Katha. The Havan should be performed, either with the help of 'Rudra Samhita mantras' or 'Gayatri Mantra' or with the shlokas of Puran.
 

SHIVMAHAPURAN : AUSTERITIES TO BE FOLLOWED

 
A devotee who has taken the vow of listening to the Katha of Shivmahapuran, should follow a celibate life. He should sleep on the floor and should have only fruits in the diet. He can have his normal dinner only after the completion of the Katha. The diet should be fresh and pure. He should also try to avoid sinful tendencies like lust, anger, greed, attachment and condemning other, etc. Making donations of even meager things give undiminishing virtues.

RIGHT OF LISTENING TO SHIVMAHAPURAN:-

 
An uninitiated person does not have the right to listen to the Katha of Shivmahapuran. So a man desirous of listening to Shivmahapuran should first get initiated.

Vinod b bajaj

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF HINDUISM

A Revealed Religion
Hinduism is the religion of the Hindus, a name given to the Universal Religion which hailed supreme in India. It is the oldest of all living religions. This is not founded by any prophet. Buddhism, Christianity and Mohammedanism owe their origin to the prophets. Their dates are fixed. But no such date can be fixed for Hinduism. Hinduism is not born of the teachings of particular prophets. It is not based on a set of dogmas preached by a particular set of teachers. It is free from religious fanaticism.
Hinduism is also known by the names Sanatana-Dharma and Vaidika-Dharma.
Sanatana-Dharma means eternal religion. Hinduism is as old as the world itself. Hinduism is the mother of all religions. Hindu scriptures are the oldest in the world, Sanatana-Dharma is so called, not only because it is eternal, but also because it is protected by God and because it can make us eternal.
Vaidika-Dharma means the religion of the Vedas. The Vedas are the foundational scriptures of Hinduism. The ancient Rishis and sages of India have expressed their intuitive spiritual experiences (Aparoksha-Anubhuti) in the Upanishads. These experiences are direct and infallible. Hinduism regards the spiritual experiences of the Rishis of yore as its authority. The priceless truths that have been discovered by the Hindu Rishis and sages through millennia constitute the glory of Hinduism. Therefore, Hinduism is a revealed religion.

HINDU RELIGION

Purpose Of Religion

The word Religion comes from the Latin word religio which consists of two words, viz., re (back) and ligare (to bring or bind). That which binds the soul back to God is religion. Religion shows the way for the attainment of God-realisation.

Religion satisfies the deep inward craving in man who is not always content with leading merely an animal existence and wants spiritual consolation, solace and peace. Man cannot live by bread alone. A time comes in the life of many of us when mere worldly prosperity does not satisfy us and we hanker after something more. In the case of many more, trials and tribulations of life turn their attention to spiritual solace.

SHIV MAHA PURANA

PROPER METHOD OF LISTENING TO

SHIVPURAN Sage Shaunak requested Sutji to tell about the proper method of listening to Shivpuran, so that the man kind gets complete benefit. Sutji replied-

"First of all, an auspicious moment should be determined by an Astrologer. After that, friends and relatives should be invited, especially those who have the tendency of being away from such occasions. The sages and the virtuous people should be invited too. The 'Katha' must be help in scared places like Shiva temple, any place of pilgrimage or in one's home after doing a Bhumi Pujan of the land Where one intends to held the Katha of Shiv Puran. The canopy should be well decorated." "After making a resolution and doing worship of Ganapati - the destroyer of all hurdles and obstacles the Katha should be commenced. The person who is telling the 'Katha' should be facing north and all the listeners should sit facing east. The person who is telling the 'Katha' should be a scholar and should be capable of clearing all the doubts from the listener's mind. There should be no kind of distraction during the 'Katha' period. A devotee, who listens to the Katha leaving behind all of his worldlys worries get complete benefits. A devotee should also make donations and offerings according to his capacity and capability otherwise he would become a wretched man. The Mantra 'OM NAMAH SHIVAY' should be chanted through out the period of Katha.

HINDU RELIGION

HINDU RELIGION

Silent adorations to Satchidananda Para-Brahman, Who is the silent Witness of all minds, Who is the Indwellers in all beings, Who has projected this world for His ownLila or sport, Who is the support for this world, body and mind and all movements, and Who is the foundation for all societies and their activities.

SHIV MAHA PURANA

First of all, Sage Shaunak expressed his desire to Sutji about knowing the means, which could help a man in this era of Kali to attainment lord Shiva, by cleansing all the impurities of his mind and rectifying his inherent demonic tendencies. Sutji then described about Shiv Mahapuran - the supreme of all the puranas, which was narrated by Lord Shiva himself and which was later on retold by Sage Vyas with the permission of Maharshi Sanatkumar, for the benediction of common man. Sutji said, "By understanding the mysteries of Shivmahapuran and singing its praises, a man attains greater virtues than that which could be attained by being charitable or by the performance of all the `yagyas'. Contemplating on the subject matters of Shivmahapuran give auspicious fruits just like a 'Kalpa-taru' (A mythological tree which fulfills all the wishes). Shiv Mahapuran contains twenty-four thousand shlokas and seven.

Shivmahapuran is the best means for man's liberation.

to be continued...

The Meaning of the Hare Krishna

Now, some of you members have asked me to explain the meaning of this chanting, Hare Krishna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Now, this sound is transcendental sound, transcendental sound, incarnation, sound incarnation of the Absolute Truth. Just try to understand what is incarnation. Incarnation means… The Sanskrit word is avatara, and that is translated into English as “incarnation.” Of course, the root meaning of incarnation I cannot exactly explain to you, but the root meaning of the… (aside:) Somebody stop. Yes. The root meaning of avatara is “which comes from the transcendental sky, the spiritual sky to the material sky.” That is called avatara. Avatarana. Avatarana. Just like… Avatarana means “coming from up to down.” That is called avatarana. And avatara is understood that when God or His bona fide representative comes from that sky to this material plane, that is called avatara.
So this sound, this Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. The sarvam khalv idam brahma. The whole thing, either material or spiritual, whatever we have got experience, nothing is separated from the Supreme Absolute Truth. Nothing is separated. Everything has emanated from the Absolute Truth. (aside:) Come on. Sit down. But just like… The example… Just like earth. Earth, then from earth, you have got wood, fuel. From fuel, when you get fire, first of all there is smoke. Then, after smoke, there is fire. And the fire, from fire, you can take work. Now, beginning from earth, from earth there is wood; from wood there is smoke; from smoke there is fire. There is a link between the fire and the earth. But the work of the fire, the benefit of the fire, can be had at the last stage, when there is real ignition of fire. Similarly, there is link. The whole material cosmic situation, manifestation, what we see, it is just like the smoke. The fire is behind it. That is spiritual sky. But still, in the smoke, you can feel some heat also. So similarly, this sound vibration of the spiritual world is here so that even in this material world, where there is a scarcity of that spiritual fire, we can appreciate, we can feel, the warmth of that fire.
So this is the meaning of, in a nutshell, meaning of this, I mean to say, spiritual vibration. And grammatical meaning is these, all these words, sixteen words: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, sixteen… Now, according to grammatical rules, when somebody is addressed… Just like in your English language it is, note of address is, “O Mr. such and such,” similarly, in grammar, Sanskrit grammar, the same note of address, which is called sambodhana, that is expressed in this way. So Hare, Hare is the note of address form of the sound Hara. Hara. Hara means the potency of the Supreme Lord, potency. The Supreme Lord is represented everywhere by His potency. There is a nice verse in the Visnu Purana. It is said like that: Just like a fire, the fire situated in one place, it distributes its heat and light. Just like… Take the example for the sun. The sun is located at a certain fixed-up place. That we can see. But the heat of the sun and the light of the sun is distributed all over the universe. Ekadesa-sthitasyagneh. Ah, yes. The verse is like…

ekadesa-sthitasyagner
jyotsna vistarini yatha
tatha sarvam akhilam jagat
brahmanah saktih brahmanah

Akhilam jagat. In this world, whatever you are seeing, it is nothing but distribution of the energy of the Supreme Lord. Just like you can feel the light and the heat of the sun. This light and heat of the sun are different energies of the sun. The energy and the energetic, the thing from which the energy is generated and the energy, they are nondifferent. The sunshine or the sun heat is not different from the sun. Because there is heat in the sun, therefore we feel the heat of sunshine. And there is light in the sun, therefore we see the sunshine. So this sunshine and sun heat is not different from the sun as it is. But still it is different. Still it is different. You cannot say that “Because I am feeling the heat of the sun, therefore I have approached sun.” No. Sun is far, far away from you. And because the sunshine has entered your room, you cannot say that “Sun has entered my room.” No. Still, sunshine and sun heat is not different from the sun.
Similarly, the whole creation, anything… Generally there are three things: the potent, God, and His three energies. This is the sum total: internal energy, external energy, and marginal energy. External energy is this material manifestation. Just like this body is my external energy. I am soul, so my external energy is this body. Similarly, I have got my internal energy. That is my consciousness. Consciousness is my internal energy, and this body and the mind and this material demonstration, or manifestation, is my external energy. The body has developed, the mind has developed, from me, soul, not that I, consciousness, is developed from this body. No. That is a wrong conception. That is a wrong conception. You cannot develop consciousness from this body. Otherwise a dead man could have been again revived to consciousness. Because if matter is the cause of consciousness, then the whole matter is there already. Whole matter. The dead body means, so far material substance is concerned, everything is there, present. Nothing has disappeared. If you say there is no blood–oh, that is not very difficult thing, blood, a red substance. Do you mean to say something red injected within this body will bring back the life? No. If redness is the cause of life or consciousness, then modern chemical can make immediately by chemical combination the whole thing red. Or take example: there are many natural stones, they are by nature red. If you say that “This artificial redness cannot give life; the natural redness is the cause of life,” then you take the stone. It has got natural redness, but there is no life. But there is no life. So redness is also not the cause of consciousness of life. That is a wrong theory. That is a complete… Consciousness is completely different thing, qualitatively different. Nothing is different from one to another, just like I have explained already that the earth, wood, then smoke, then fire–everything is linked up, but everything is also different from one another.
So the whole thing… The Supreme Lord is represented throughout everything, whatever you see, matter or spirit or anything, physical, chemical–whatever you can give name–there are so many things. But they are not separated from God. God is linked up in everywhere. Isavasyam idam sarvam. Just like our Bhagavad-gita, we have begun that yena sarvam idam tatam: “That thing which is present all over the body, that you are.” So this is individual consciousness: “I am present all over my body.” Similarly, the supreme consciousness, he is present all over the universe, all over. This is only a small manifestation of God’s energy, very minute. In the Bhagavad-gita you will find, ekamsena sthito jagat. This jagat… Jagat means this material manifestation. This material manifestation is a one-fourth part demonstration of this whole energy of the Supreme Lord, one-fourth part. So nothing is different from God. But there are certain philosophers, they say, pantheist or monotheist… There are so many theists. They are also be… They believe in the Supreme, but impersonal. But we followers of this Krsna philosophy, Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavata, we do not follow that philosophy. What is that philosophy? The other sections, they say that “Because God is distributed all over everywhere, therefore there is no separate existence of God.” But we do not say that. We say that, the example, that because the sun is distributing his heat and energy, therefore you cannot say that there is no existence of sun. Sun is separately existing. In spite of distributing for millions of years heat, the reservation of heat in the sun is intact. It is not diminished. But everyone knows that for millions and billions of years the sun is distributing heat. Nobody knows the history, how long. Your distributing center, the powerhouse, if you fail to supply coal or oil, then after one hour the whole New York City will be dark. So just you can imagine who is supplying the fuel in the heat of the sun so that for millions and billions of years the heat of the sun is in the same temperature. So this is only one of the creation of the God, God’s creation. But just imagine. If God’s creation is so unlimited and so much energetic, then how much energetic and how much powerful is the creator? That is to be… These things are to be thought. In everything, everything, we can have God consciousness. If this watch is so wonderful workmanship and we are struck with wonder how nicely it is giving time, how the machine is adjusted, now, before appreciating this watch, how much we have to appreciate the person who has discovered this watch, how much brain he has got? Before appreciating a powerful brain in this world, one should appreciate who has given him this powerful brain. If the man has attained that powerful brain out of his own accord, then great powerful brain like Professor Einstein, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, they could create another brain like them so that in their absence there would not have been scarcity of scientist and powerful brain. But they could not do that. Therefore they are not creator of the powerful brain. The powerful brain is gift of the supreme powerful brain.
So in every respect, if we think… This is called philosophy. If we have got thoughtful propensities, if we can little think over every matter, you will find that God is present everywhere, and still, He is personally present in His own place. The same example: the sun is present everywhere by heat and light; still, sun, the sun, has its own location. That you cannot deny. Similarly, God is present everywhere. Not only everywhere… We learn from Brahma-samhita,

eko ‘py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim
yac-chaktir asti jagad-anda-caya yad-antam
andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

This Govinda, anadir adir govindah. So the prayer is, “I worship that Govinda,” sarva-karana-karanam, karana, “who is the cause of all causes.” Cause of all causes. Now, in this verse of Brahma-samhita we find that one of His plenary portion… In the Vedic hymns we find that God has become many. Eko bahu syam. God is one without second, but He has become Himself many. We are also God. Out of that many, we are one. We are one. We are not separate from God. So, but there are amongst the “many”s there is a difference of potency, difference of potencies. Just like what you can do, I cannot do. Your workmanship may not be equal with my workmanship. Your brain work may not be equal to my brain work. There are differences. Each and every living entity, they are different from each other so far individual capacities are concerned. So in spite of many… That is God’s creation. In spite of many, each and every thing, you will find there is some difference. You can sit down at a place in New York and go on counting and seeing all people passing before you–you won’t find one man is exactly like the other man. Not only that, in court, you know, every one of you know, that they take impression of the left hand thumb impression. Now, this thumb impression… You go on taking millions and millions of thumb impression, and you won’t find one thumb impression is exactly like the other. And because there is difference of thumb impression, therefore the identity is taken in that way, that “This particular man’s thumb impression, even if he denies his signature, the thumb impression will collaborate that his signature is this.” So that is God’s creation.
Similarly, there are two kinds of expansions of the Lord. One kind of expansion is called Visnu-tattva. Visnu-tattva means the expansion, they are as equal as the God Himself. And there are expansions which are called the jiva-tattva, the living entities. This expansion of the living entities, they are not equally powerful, but the expansion of Visnu-tattva is equally powerful, as good as God Himself. So the incarnation… Incarnation of God means the expansion which is as good as God Himself. That is called incarnation. So this, I mean to, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the expansion, incarnation, sound incarnation, of God. It is expansion and a plenary expansion, sound, sound representation… Not representation. God, present Himself in this form of sound. Because we cannot see God with our present eyes, present eyes, because this is not our proper eyes. They are material eyes. You don’t think that this eye, the transparent thing which is floating in this, I mean to say, hole… That is not seeing. Similarly, if you can present, or if you take this eye… You cannot see. That cannot see. It is simply a lens only. It is only lens. So none of this body, bodily part, is actually the thing which is taking part. So therefore with these eyes, with these material eyes, you cannot see. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. The present senses, the present senses cannot have any knowledge of the Supreme God. But how then we can have knowledge? If my senses are unfit, then how can I make it fit? Oh, that is the thing. That is the thing, that you have to spiritualize, spiritualize these material sense, I mean to say, organs. And then, when you spiritualize, then you can have the spiritual vision and see God and yourself. The same example which I have recited many times: just like the iron rod. Iron rod, you put into the fire. It gets warm–warm, warmer, warmer. And when it is red hot, then it is no longer iron. Iron it is, but it does not act as iron, but it acts as fire. That iron rod which is red hot in association with fire, you can take that rod and touch anything; it will burn. That means it is no longer acting as iron; it is acting as fire. Similarly, if you associate with this transcendental incarnation, sound incarnation of God, then you will be gradually godly. You will be godly. You can become godly with God’s association, not by any other material, extraneous things. No. Just like you can have fire only in association with fire, not with water. If you want to get yourself warm, then you have to associate with fire, not with water, not with air. Similarly, if you want to spiritualize your vision, if you want to spiritualize your action, if you want to spiritualize the whole constitution of your existence, then you have to associate with the supreme spirit. And that supreme spirit is very kind because He is everything. That we have already explained. Everything is interrelated with the Supreme; therefore He is interrelated with sound also. So by God’s inconceivable potency, He can present before yourself in sound incarnation. That is His potency. That is His potency. He can do that. And therefore this name, Krsna, and the Supreme Lord Krsna, there is no difference.
So our, this sound representation of the Supreme Lord constantly will make us… Just like our association with the fire, the, I mean to say, iron rod’s association with the fire makes the rod equally qualified, exactly–not equally qualified, but almost the quality of burning it gets–similarly, by our constant association with Lord… Lord is not only incarnation in a sound form. He is incarnated in many other forms, in many other forms. Just like arca. Arca means the form of the Lord situated, I mean to say, established in some temple and worshiped. That is also incarnation of God. That is not idol worship. People do not know that this is an authorized process of realizing God, or they have never tasted or practiced it. They cannot understand. They say it is idol worship. No. It is not idol worship. It is not idol worship. I’ll give you one example. Just like in the front of your door there is a box–”U.S. Mail,” it is written. And you put your letters within that box, and after few days you get reply from your friend that “I have received your letter, and this is such and such, such and such.” Now, if somebody puts another box like that, exactly imitation: “Then why shall I spend postage to putting letters in this box, U.S. Mail? I require postage. But then why shall I not put up a box like that? Let me prepare a box like that so that it can go without postage. I want to save postage.” Now, he is going on, putting letters in that without postage. And after some times he sees all the letters are lying there; it has not been dispatched–because it is imitation. And the box which is supplied by the post office, that is authorized. In the matter, in material, you will find this box and that imitation box is the same thing. So this is a science. You see. Although we find that “This form of the Lord… The Hindus, they have established one statue in the temple, and they are worshiping as the Lord? How is that? Is it Lord is a stone? It is wood?” But he does not know that because it is authorized, because it is authorizedly worshiped, therefore even it is stone or wood, it can act. It can act. Just like the authorized post office, although seemingly it is a box which I can prepare, but it is acting because it is authorized, similarly, the authorized, authorized symbol or representation of God is also God. He’s not different from God. Then why God is like that? It is His mercy. Because I cannot see God with my these eyes–I can see stone and wood and material things–therefore God is kind enough (to appear) in a form suitable to my seeing and accept my service. It is His kindness. And besides that, if everything is God, because everything has link with the God, with the Supreme Truth, then God, being omnipotent, why He cannot represent Himself in everything? If everything is God, everything is emanation of God, then God has got the power to manifest Himself in everything. That is His omnipotency. So these are consideration.
So the explanation of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is addressing, addressing the Supreme Lord through the energy, Hara. Hara is the energy, internal energy. Just like when there is… Of course, in your country there is no sun worship, but in India there are persons who are sun worshipers. So they worship sun with so many things. And there is a lamp also. Now, this lamp is a light, but it is being offered for satisfying the sun. Now, sun is so lightful, this light is merely insignificant before the sunlight. But still, because I have no other means, I am getting a sunlight, imitation of that light, and offering, and that offering is accepted. So these are spiritual conception. When we gradually make our progressive advancement, these things will be realized. But for the present we can take this instruction from authorized scripture that,

atah sri-krsna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah

The God’s name, God’s form, God’s quality, God’s paraphernalia, God’s entourage, like that, and anything in relation to God cannot be realized with our present senses. But when we are in service attitude, then God is so merciful, He is so pleased, that our tiny efforts to realize Him attracts Him, and He becomes manifested gradually as we make our progress in spiritual service or devotional service.
So this method, chanting, chanting of the transcendental name of the Supreme Lord, is a part of devotional service. There are nine kinds of devotional services, of which

sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam

These are different, nine processes. Sravanam kirtanam. Sravanam means hearing, and kirtanam means chanting, chanting. So by this process… Just like I chant and you hear, and you chant and I hear. Parasparam. Bodhayantah parasparam. This is the factual activities of devotion in devotional society. This bodhayantah parasparam: I chant, you hear, and you chant, I hear. So by this process, the transcendental name, the sound incarnation of the Supreme Lord, becomes manifest, manifest so that we can realize God simply by chanting and hearing. Simply by chanting and hearing that will be realized. Of course, there are some rules and regulations for chanting, but in the beginning we haven’t got to observe those rules and regulation at the present. First of all let us have the taste for chanting; then we shall be little careful that the rules and regulations are followed. In the beginning, if we stick up to the… Rules and regulations are subordinate, subordinate thing. Just like you enter into an office. You are appointed in some office to work. So on the very day, you do not know all the rules and regulations. But because you do not know all the rules and regulation, that does not mean that you cannot be appointed. First of all let yourself be appointed. Now, working, working, yourself you will know that rules and regulations: “This is the rules, and this is the regulation.” Just like in my life, I will say one instance. When I met my spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, so as a gentleman meets as a gentleman, so he was sitting in a couch like that. So, and I also sat down on that very couch. So I did not know that what are the rules and regulations. Now, when I saw that his other disciples are coming, and they are sitting down, (laughs) so I thought myself, “Oh, I have done this wrong. I should not have sat with His Divine Grace.” So of course, I did not get down immediately, but I took it, and from next day I did not sit. So rules and regulations automatically was taught. So that rules and regulations is not very important. The important is… The thing is that we must take up. The first rules and regulation is that we must have some attachment for this. Attachment for this. Then, automatically, rules and regulation we shall learn. There will be no difficulty.
So this transcendental sound, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, you don’t think that I have come here–it is my personal manufacture. No. It is not. No. It is not my personal manufacture. It is authorized just like the post box is authorized, because all previous acaryas, all previous authorized persons in this line, they have done it. Just like see Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is chanting and dancing, chanting and dancing, you see, the same thing. This picture is before you so that gradually, when you feel ecstasy, you will also dance like Him. And when you automatically dance, then you will know that the thing is already realized. Not artificially, but when you feel, “Oh, let me dance. It is so much ecstatic. Let me dance.” Nothing should be done artificially. Let everything come automatically. And only we have to follow. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. Dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. This is a verse from scripture, that tarko apratisthah, if you simply go on arguing about spiritual matters–”This is not, this is not, this is not, yes, this is not…” I say something; you say something. No, no, no. You cannot realize spiritual objects simply by this speculation, argument. Our argument or logical, I mean to say, strength has no access in the spiritual world. The Vedic mantra says, nayam atma pravacanena labhyo na medhaya na bahuna srutena: “Atma, the supreme self, cannot be realized pravacanena.” Suppose I am very expert speaker, I can present things very nicely–but without any substance. Oh, that won’t help you. Simply by jugglery of words, if I can captivate you, oh, that won’t help you. Nayam atma pravacanena. This is pravacana.
Of course, we are delivering speeches from authoritative book, Bhagavad-gita. I am not speaking before you of my own imagination. I am speaking from the authorized book. Therefore it is not exactly pravacana, neither I am squeezing out some meaning for my purpose. I am just presenting you the same principle. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. As Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu preached, I am trying to present the same thing before you in a different language only. That’s all. Because in India He preached in Sanskrit. He was a very learned scholar in Sanskrit. Formerly, any big man, any big scholar, they would be big scholar in Sanskrit. Sanskrit was the written language. Even in the beginning of the British period, Sanskrit was written language. It is the policy of Lord McCauley that he transformed the whole attitude. They made a plan that “If Indians remain as Indian, then we cannot rule over. Then we cannot rule over. We must make them Anglicized.” So that policy was followed for two hundred years, so India has lost its original culture. So therefore the original point is that tarko apratisthah. We cannot realize the Supreme Truth simply by argument or logical presentation or philosophical speculation. No. Tarko apratisthah srutayo vibhinna. Srutayo means scriptures. Now say, for example, Bhagavad-gita and your Bible and the Muhammadans, they’ll present Koran. So of course, this Bhagavad-gita is little different from Vedic scripture. That we have already explained. It is an independent something, universal. So Vedic scripture, Koran, Bible, or Zoroastrian… There are so many religion, Buddhist religion, so many. So there may be some difference of opinion. Srutayor vibhinna. Vibhinna means different. Now, you cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by your mundane arguments and by your logical strength, neither you can catch up the right thing by reading different scriptures. Srutayor vibhinna. Nasau munir yasya matam na bhinnam. And if you follow great philosophers, great thinkers, then also you will find one thinker is different from another thinker, one philosopher is differing from another philosopher. So whom to follow? This philosopher says that God is a person; another philosopher says God is imperson; another philosopher says that God is everywhere and there is no separate existence of God. So many philosophies there are in the world. And one person is not actually philosopher if he does not differ from other philosophers. That is the philosophical basic principle. You are a philosopher. If I cannot make your philosophical conclusion null and void and make my philosophy established, then I am not a philosopher. You see? That is the way, going on. Nasau munir yasya matam na bhinnam: “He is not a philosopher if he cannot present a separate theory.” He is not a philosopher.
Then how to catch up the Absolute Truth? What is the way? Now, dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam: “Therefore the Absolute Truth is concealed within your heart.” Nihitam guhayam. Now, mahajano yena gatah sa panthah: “You just try to follow the great personalities, what they are doing, what they are doing.” Now, about this mahajana, there is also difference of opinion who is mahajana. But so far our Vedic culture is concerned, there are specific mention, mahajana. And so far Lord Krsna is concerned, so there is no two opinions about His authority throughout the whole world. And so far we are concerned, Hindus, or the followers of the Vedic religion, there is no difference of opinion so far Krsna’s authority is concerned. There are five authorities, recognized authorities, in India so far this is…, spiritual life is concerned. One of them is Sri Ramanujacarya and other is Sankaracarya. The other is Madhvacarya, other is Visnuswami, and other Nimbarka, Nimbaditya (?). Principal. The whole, I mean, some of them flourished, say, two thousand years before; some of them 1,500 years before; some of them eleven hundred years before. Just like there are different ages, they have come. But all of them, in spite of their coming in different ages, they all are in one opinion–krsnas tu bhagavan vayam: “Krsna, Lord Krsna, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Just like we have cited, isvarah paramah krsnah: “The supreme controller, the Supreme Lord, is Krsna.” Now, we can see from His presentation of this Bhagavad-gita how supreme He is. He spoke this truth five thousand years before, and continually, for five thousand years, all scholars are studying this scripture, and studying very devotedly to understand it. You know our present president in India, Dr. Radhakrishnan. He is a renowned scholar of the world, Dr. Radhakrishnan. When he came to your country, your president, late Mr. Kennedy, oh, he welcomed him as his own teacher, because when Mr. Kennedy was a student in the Oxford University, Dr. Radhakrishnan was a visiting professor. In the open meeting Mr. Kennedy admitted that “Now Dr. Radhakrishnan has come as the president, but he is always my teacher. He is still my teacher.” It was very kind of him that he received him as a teacher, not as contemporary. So even that Dr. Radhakrishnan, he is also studying this Bhagavad-gita very, I mean to say, profoundly. You know your Professor Einstein. Oh, he was a profound, I mean to say, student of this Bhagavad-gita. Hitler was a great student of Bhagavad-gita. So many, in all the countries. There are so many Muhammadans in India, oh, they are devout student of Bhagavad-gita. I know one Dr. Inrai(?) of Allahabad University. Oh, he is so devoted to Lord Krsna that on the birthday of Lord Krsna he must write one nice article and publish in the paper. So this instruction, that mahajano yena gatah sa panthah… We cannot have the knowledge of the Absolute Truth simply by argument or simply by philosophy or simply by big brain or speaking power. No, no. All these things will not do. Simply we have to follow the great authority.
So Lord Krsna, Lord Caitanya, He introduced this Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare for this age. And He recommended, kalau… Not recommended by His own brain, but it is recommended in the scriptures:

harer nama harer nama harer nama eva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

If you want to realize the Supreme Truth, then you must realize this: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, whenever you get… Harer nama harer nama harer nama eva kevalam: “Only this.” And if you think, “Oh, only this? Why not other?” No. Kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. Nasty eva means “There is no alternative.” And He repeats this: “no alternative, no alternative, no alternative,” three times. Three times. That means He is giving too much stress. So our process is like that, that we are following a great personality, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He introduced from the scripture, not in His own way. Nothing should be accepted which is not recognized. You see? So this is recognized method. Now it depends on us. Let us follow this process and see how we are making progress in the spiritual path. You see?

Police Arrest Devotees for Chanting Hare Krishna on Oxford Street

It was the Thursday before Christmas, and London’s Oxford Street was brimming over with Christmas shoppers. Twice already that week plainclothes police had arrested devotees chanting Hare Krishna there, but today we were intending to avoid any trouble…
“Come on!” the constable said. “You know as well as I do you’re causing an obstruction. Down to the station; you’re all under arrest! “Obstruction?” we protested. “All around you there’s drug addiction, prostitution, crime, and violence, and you can’t find anything better to do than arrest us for chanting the names of God! What kind of policemen are you?

The Arrest

It was the Thursday before Christmas, and London’s Oxford Street (the longest shopping street in the world) was brimming over with Christmas shoppers. Twice already that week plainclothes police had arrested devotees chanting Hare Krishna there, but today we were intending to avoid any trouble. The five of us took a new route, profusely distributing the holy name to everyone within earshot. As we made our way through Piccadilly Circus (London’s “Times Square”) and then along crowded Regent Street, we brought smiles to many faces and raised eyebrows on many others. Finally we reached Oxford Circus, where we reluctantly stopped chanting and started back along Oxford Street toward the temple.
But all the shops were staying open late, so the street was still filled with pedestrians, though traffic had died down. The rustle of hundreds of footsteps filled the air. With so many materially conditioned souls surrounding us, there we were, chanting quietly to ourselves on our beads, and just holding our karatalas (hand cymbals) and mrdanga drums! It was hard to restrain ourselves from the loud glorification oi the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. In fact, it was impossible! Casting aside any thoughts of our inevitable arrest, we launched into the most ecstatic chant ever! The tall buildings echoed to the sounds of Lord Caitanya’s sarikirtana party while dumbfounded shoppers stood open-mouthed and bus lines of bewildered souls turned their heads to see the source of the transcendental sound vibrations. Single file, we chanted and danced along the clear space at the edge of the pavement, which widened as the crowds thinned out. Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, the end of the gauntlet, loomed up ahead. We were almost there, with no police trouble, when three highly suspicious figures suddenly appeared, blocking our path a few yards ahead.
“All right, lads, yer nicked!” said the young “student,” flashing his police I.D. card with immense relish.
“What! How can you arrest us? We’re not doing anything illegal.”
His two hard-faced confederates, similarly disguised, moved in closer.
“Come on! You know as well as I do you’re causing an obstruction. Down to the station; you’re all under arrest!”
“Obstruction? The pavement’s fifteen feet wide, we’re walking in the gutter, and there’s hardly anybody to ‘obstruct’!” we protested. “All around you there’s drug addiction, prostitution, crime, and violence, and you can’t find anything better to do than arrest us for chanting the names of God! What kind of policemen are you?”
The retort seemed to catch him by surprise, but he quickly regained his composure and barked, “Look lad, you’re under arrest. Anything you say may be used as evidence. Now move!” Then, adding a liberal quantity of unsavory words (quite unbefitting a constable of Her Majesty’s Police Force), he joined his two colleagues in forming a rear guard, and the three of them escorted us toward the police station.
We were thinking of how unfortunate they were. Not only were they obstructing Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana party and harassing devotees, but these were the same policemen who had arrested the chanting party twice earlier that week! What demons! For protection we started chanting the glories of Lord Nrsimhadeva–Krishna’s half-man-half-lion incarnation–very softly at first, and then a little louder. The mrdanga crept in, marking the rhythm, and the karatalas soon followed. With no complaints from our police escort as yet, we chanted louder and louder until the street once more resounded with the holy names. Amazed that they made no objection, we turned and saw that the three policemen were grinning from ear to ear! We were incredulous. Here was the mercy of Lord Caitanya! By repeatedly arresting the chanting party, these previously offensive policemen had become purified by associating with devotees, and now they were taking great pleasure in the chanting of the holy names!
“Now stop or you’ll cause an obstruction,” directed our police guide as we approached a large bus line, which engulfed the pavement. We obediently stopped, considering it our good fortune that we had been allowed to chant at all.
Then something totally unexpected happened. After we had passed the bus line, our captor definitely proved himself to be no ordinary police constable when he ordered, “Okay, start chanting again.”!!
So we did, all the way to the police station, accompaned by the three blissful police constables, who, grinning from ear to ear, made no objection as the ecstatic sankirtana party passed right into the police station, past the main doors, through the hallway, and into the charging room itself!!!
Everyone was thunderstruck. Arrestors and arrested alike couldn’t believe it. Shaven-headed Hare Krishnas chanting their way into the cop shop? With drums and cymbals? It was unthinkable! The sergeant on duty turned a vivid scarlet and exploded in a fit of anger, threatening to “throw the book” at us and charge us with all manner of subversive criminal activities. We apologized profusely, pleading that we didn’t quite realize where we were, and he became somewhat pacified. As we answered philosophical questions from some of the interested constables, the sergeant charged us with obstruction, one by one, and we had to wait as he filled in numerous forms.
“All right, boys, tomorrow morning at ten o’clock you’ll be appearing in the Magistrates Court,” said the sergeant, now quite amiable. And with that he allowed us to go. Feeling very blissful at the way things had turned out, we filed into the hallway and prepared to return to the temple for the evening arati (temple worship) of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-London-isvara. (London-isvara means “Krishna, the Lord of London.”) On our way out of the station, we passed a high-ranking plainclothes detective inspector. He paused and turned in our direction. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised when he glanced over us in an almost fatherly way and said in a concerned voice, “Don’t be discouraged, lads; keep up the good work!”
Next morning in court we pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against us, and the judge deferred our case to February 2. At the time, we were unaware of the significance of the appointed date. Our trial was to be on the appearance day of Lord Nityananda–the incarnation of God who helped spread Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement, and who personifies His mercy.

The Trial

As is customary on such holy days, the five of us fasted through the morning of Lord Nityananda’s appearance day and chanted His glories. At noon we attended a blissful arati and then broke our fast with a splendid feast. Afterward, we set off for Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court, confident that Lord Nityananda would protect us. We were accompanied by a new and enthusiastic visitor to the temple, the Reverend Norman Morehouse (second only to the Bishop of Norwich), who came along to observe the court proceedings.
We arrived at the courthouse a few minutes before our appointed time of 2:00 P.M. and waited in the big hallway while the Reverend went through to the public gallery. The plainclothesmen who arrested us soon turned up, now in uniform, and waited with us. (It took a little persuasion before they cautiously took some of the hazelnut cookies we had earlier offered to Lord Nityananda.) At last we were beckoned into the courtroom itself and ushered into the dock. A stir went through the assembly. Shaven heads and saffron robes were the last thing anyone expected to see i
n Magistrates Court on a Tuesday afternoon. The Magistrate (a balding, portly man in his late middle age, sporting a red rose in the lapel of his dark grey suit) surveyed us over the top of his goldrimmed spectacles. After we reaffirmed our plea of “not guilty” to the court clerk, one of the constables, who had been sworn in at the witness box, proceeded to report the alleged conditions of our arrest.
In the constable’s version of the story, the chanting party miraculously grew from the original five members to seven–and later to eight when he described how three devotees “ran off and escaped arrest.” According to his description, it seemed that there were many more people on Oxford Street than we had been aware of. Indeed, we had supposedly forced unlimited numbers of pedestrians into the road and had exposed them to the grave risk of being run over by the almost nonexistent traffic! The judge listened impartially and then, since we had no lawyer to speak on our behalf, he asked us if we would like to comment on the policeman’s evidence. We humbly pointed out that the constable, like everyone else, had imperfect senses, and that he had contradicted himself in assessing the number of devotees on the chanting party. The judge politely suggested the constable had made “a mathematical error.” At this a titter of laughter rippled through the courtroom, while the constable shuffled his feet and looked embarrassed.
The magistrate then asked if we would like to speak in our own defense. Having been previously chosen as spokesman, I stepped forward to be sworn in at the witness box–and was taken aback when the usher asked me to hold a copy of the Bhagavad-gita in my right hand. He handed me a card, and I read out the words: “I swear by almighty Sri Krishna that the evidence I give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
Heartened by smiles from the devotees in the dock, I began to describe the circumstances of our arrest–this time as they actually had happened. The magistrate listened as I went on to say, “We understand that the police have a duty to perform, sir; but we also have a duty. We have been instructed by our spiritual master–indeed, we are instructed by all the principle scriptures of the world–the Koran, the Torah, the Bible, and the Vedas–that we should glorify God by chanting His holy names. Whether you know the Lord by the name of Allah, Jehovah, Rama, Govinda, or Krishna, God is one.”
“Oh, quite so, quite so,” affirmed the magistrate.
Encouraged, I went on: “In the Vedic scriptures, in the Brhan-Naradiya Purana, it is said, harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam–
“In English–but what does it mean in English, please?” he interjected.
“–Kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. This was written in the Sanskrit language five thousand years ago. It means, ‘In this age of Kali [the present age of materialism and quarrel] there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative for making positive spiritual advancement but the chanting of the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.’”
The judge–in fact the whole courtroom–sat there fascinated. I remembered Srila Prabhupada’s introduction to the Srimad-Bhagavatam and began to speak further.
“Although mankind has made great material advancement in so many spheres, we can see that factually there is a fault in the social body at large. People are not happy with their day-to-day activities, and there is an increasing disturbance of drug addiction, prostitution, violence, and crime. The root of the problem is lack of God consciousness. People are unaware of the actual purpose of life.”
Intrigued by this sound philosophy coming from the witness box, the judge relaxed his judicial appearance, sat back, and took a sip of water from his glass.
Even more encouraged, I asked, “Sir, with your permission, I would like to read a short passage that appeared in the London Observer in October 1972. It is an excerpt from an article written by that eminent English historian, Arnold Toynbee.”
Upon hearing the name of such a distinguished personality, the judge smiled slightly, and nodding his head in approval, he asked that I continue.
“‘The cause of it [the world's malady] is spiritual. We are suffering from having sold our souls to the pursuit of an objective which is both spiritually wrong and practically unobtainable. We have to reconsider our objective and change it. And until we do this, we shall not have peace, either amongst ourselves or within each of us.’”
I continued, “As devotees of the Lord we strictly follow four principles: mercifulness, truthfulness, cleanliness, and austerity. These are the higher qualities of human life, and the absence of these qualities means the degradation of society. So the spreading of spiritual understanding among humanity at large is the highest welfare work. And an essential part of this program is the distribution of literature, and the congregational chanting–in the street–of the holy names of God.”
“Is that all?” inquired the judge.
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
“Then you may step down.” Adjusting his spectacles and regarding the devotees, who were once more assembled in the dock, the judge then said in a very firm yet amicable manner, “In legal terms you are guilty of obstruction, although it is of a very minor degree. Taking this into consideration, and seeing your obvious sincerity, I have decided to dismiss the case.”
We smiled jubilantly, thanked the magistrate, and were about to step down, when Kr na prompted me to add, “Sir, we were wondering if you had a court library here, in which case we would like to present a book for addition to the collection.”
“Thank you,” he replied. “I am quite sure we can accommodate it.”
I gave a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Sri Isopanisad to one of the clerks, who promised to pass it on to the judge. Then we left the courtroom, thanking Lord Nityananda for His mercy.
Outside, our friend Reverend Morehouse greeted us with an ecstatic “Hare Krishna!” Beaming from ear to ear, he took each of us warmly by the hand. “Congratulations!” he exclaimed. “It was wonderful! I am so proud of you all. I must say, though, I was somewhat surprised at the decision of the judge. In the cases before yours he had been quite severe. I’m sure that the Lord must have had a hand in the matter.”
And so were we. Sankirtana is always successful, but it is especially so on Lord Nityananda’s appearance day: even a judge will take a book!
On the way back to the temple, I read one verse in Srila Prabhupada’s Caitanya-caritamrta that summed up our whole wonderful experience:

aparadha ksamaila dubila prema-jale
keba edaibe prabhura prema-mahajale

“Lord Caitanya excused all the offenders, and they merged into the ocean of love of God, for no one can escape the unique loving network of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu” (Cc. Adi-lila, 7.37).

The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krishna

This is transcendental sound vibration. It will help us to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind. At the present moment we have accumulated so much material dust on the mirror of the mind, just as on Second Avenue (New York City) there is dust and soot over everything due to the heavy traffic….

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This is transcendental sound vibration. It will help us to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind. At the present moment we have accumulated so much material dust on the mirror of the mind, just as on Second Avenue (New York City) there is dust and soot over everything due to the heavy traffic.

Due to our manipulation of material activities, a great deal of dust has collected over our mind’s clear mirror, and as a consequence we are unable to see things in perspective. This vibration of transcendental sound (the Hare Krsna mantra) will cleanse away this dust and enable us to see clearly our real constitutional position. As soon as we come to understand “I am not this body; I am spirit soul, and my symptom is consciousness,” we will be able to establish ourselves in real happiness. As our consciousness is purified by this process of chanting Hare Krsna, all our material miseries will disappear.

There is a fire that is always blazing over this material world, and everyone is trying to extinguish it, but there is no possibility of extinguishing this fire of the miseries of material nature unless we are situated in our pure consciousness, in our spiritual life.

One of the purposes for Lord Krsna’s descent or appearance in this material world is to extinguish the fire of material existence for all living entities by setting forth the dharma.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Bg. 4.7–8)

In this verse the word dharma is used. This word has been translated into English in various ways. Sometimes it is translated as “faith,” but according to Vedic literature, dharma is not a kind of faith. Faith may change, but dharma cannot be changed. The liquidity of water cannot be changed. If it is changed—if, for instance, water becomes solid—it is actually no longer in its constitutional position. It is existing under a certain qualifying condition. Our dharma or constitutional position is that we are part and parcel of the Supreme, and this being the case, we have to dovetail or subjugate our consciousness to the Supreme.

This position of transcendental service to the Supreme Whole is being misused due to material contact. Service is implicit in our constitutional position. Everyone is a servant, and no one is a master. Everyone is serving someone or other. Although the president may be the chief executive of the state, still he is serving the state, and when his services are no longer required, the state disposes of him. To think to oneself,“I am the master of all I survey,” is called maya, illusion. Thus in material consciousness our service is being misused under various designations. When we can become free from these designations, that is to say when the dust has been cleared from the mirror of the mind, we will be able to see ourselves in our actual position as eternal servants of Krsna.

One should not think that his service in the material world and his service in the spiritual atmosphere are the same. We may shudder to think, “Oh, after liberation will I still be a servant?” This is because we have experience that being a servant in the material world is not very enjoyable, but transcendental service is not like this. In the spiritual world there is no difference between the servant and the master. Here, of course, there is distinction, but in the absolute world everything is one. For instance, in Bhagavad-gita we can see that Krsna has taken the position of servant as the chariot driver of Arjuna. In his constitutional position, Arjuna is the servant of Krsna, but in behavior we can see that sometimes the Lord becomes the servant of the servant. So we should be careful not to carry materialistic ideas into the spiritual realm. Whatever we have materially experienced is but a perverted reflection of things in spiritual life.

When our constitutional position or dharma is deteriorated due to the contaminations of matter, the Lord Himself comes as an incarnation or sends some of His confidential servitors. Lord Jesus Christ called himself the “son of God,” and so is a representative of the Supreme. Similarly, Mohammed identified himself as a servant of the Supreme Lord. Thus whenever there is a discrepancy in our constitutional position, the Supreme Lord either comes Himself or sends His representative to inform us of the real position of the living entity.

Therefore, one should not make the mistake of thinking that dharma is a created faith. In its proper sense, dharma cannot be divorced from the living entity at all. It is to the living entity what sweetness is to sugar, or saltiness is to salt, or solidity is to stone. In no case can it be cut off. The dharma of the living entity is to serve, and we can easily see that every living entity has the tendency to serve himself or others. How to serve Krsna, how to disentangle ourselves from materialistic service, how to attain Krsna consciousness and become free from material designations is all taught as a science by Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita.

The word sadhu in the verse quoted above, beginning paritranaya sadhunam refers to a holy man or a saintly person. A saintly person is tolerant, very kind to everyone, is a friend to all living entities, is no one’s enemy and is always peaceful. There are twenty-six basic qualifications for a holy man, and in the Bhagavad-gita we find that Sri Krsna Himself gives the following verdict:

api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah

“Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.” (Bg. 9.30)

On the mundane platform, what is morality for one person is immorality for another, and what is immorality for one person is morality for another. According to the Hindu conception, the drinking of wine is immoral, whereas in the Western world, wine drinking is not considered immoral but is a common thing. So morality is dependent on time, place, circumstance, social position, etc. There is, however, a sense of morality and immorality in all societies. In this verse Krsna points out that even if one is engaged in immoral acts but at the same time is fully in Krsna consciousness, he is to be considered a sadhu or a saint. In other words. although a person may have some immoral habits due to his past association, if he is engaged fully in Krsna consciousness, these habits are not to be considered important. Whatever the case, if one becomes Krsna conscious, he will gradually be purified and will become a sadhu. As one progresses in executing Krsna consciousness, his bad habits diminish, and he attains to saintly perfection.

In this regard there is the story of a thief who went on a pilgrimage to a holy town, and on route he and the other pilgrims stopped to rest overnight at an inn. Being addicted to stealing, the thief began making plans to steal the other pilgrims’ baggage, but he thought, “I’m going on a pilgrimage, so it doesn’t seem appropriate that I should steal this baggage. No, I shall not do it.” Nonetheless, due to his habit, he could not keep his hands off the baggage. So he picked up one person’s bag and placed it in another place, and then another person’s bag and placed it elsewhere. He spent all night placing different bags in different places, but his conscience bothered him so that he could not take anything from them. In the morning, when the other pilgrims awoke, they looked around for their bags and couldn’t find them. There was a great row, and eventually, one by one, they began to find the bags in various places. After they were all found, the thief explained: “Gentlemen, I am a thief by occupation. Being that I am habituated to stealing at night, I wanted to steal something from your bags, but I thought that since I am going to this holy place, it is not possible to steal. So I may have rearranged the baggage, but please excuse me.” This is the characteristic of a bad habit. He does not want to commit theft anymore, but because he is habituated, sometimes he does. Thus Krsna says that one who has decided to refrain from his immoral habits and make progress in Krsna consciousness is to be considered a sadhu, even if out of past habit or by chance he yields to his fault. In the next verse we find that Sri Krsna says:

ksipram bhavati dharmatma
sasvac-chantim nigacchati
kaunteya pratijanihi
na me bhaktah pranasyati

“He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” (Bg. 9.31)

Because one has committed himself to Krsna consciousness, it is proclaimed here by Sri Krsna that within a very short time he will become saintly. One may pull the plug out of an electric fan, and the fan may still go on even though the juice has been disconnected, but it is understood that the fan will soon come to a stop. Once we take shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna, we turn the switch off for our karmic activities, and although these activities may still revolve, it is to be understood that they will quickly diminish. It is a fact that whoever takes to Krsna consciousness does not have to endeavor independently to become a good man. All the good qualifications will automatically come. It is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam that one who has attained Krsna consciousness has simultaneously attained all good qualities. On the other hand, if a person is devoid of God consciousness and yet has many good qualities, his good qualities are to be considered useless, for he will not in any way be prohibited from doing that which is undesirable. If one is devoid of Krsna consciousness, he is sure to commit mischief in this material world.

janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Bg. 4.9)

The mission for which Krsna appears is here further explained. When He comes with some mission, there are some activities. Of course there are some philosophers who do not believe that God comes as an incarnation. They say, “Why should God come to this rotten world?” But from Bhagavad-gita we understand otherwise. We should always remember that we read Bhagavad-gita as scripture, and whatever is spoken in Bhagavad-gita must be accepted, otherwise there is no reason in reading it. In Gita Krsna says that He has come as an incarnation with a mission, and along with His mission there are some activities. We can see, for example, that Krsna is active as chariot-driver for Arjuna and engages in so many activities on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. just as when there is war one person or nation may side with another person or nation and show partiality, Lord Krsna on the battlefield shows some partiality and sides with Arjuna. Actually Krsna is not partial to anyone, but externally it appears that He is partial. This partiality, however, should not be accepted in the ordinary sense.

In this verse Krsna also points out that His descent into the material world is transcendental. The word divyam means transcendental. His activities are not in any way ordinary. Even today, in India, at the end of August the people are accustomed to celebrating Krsna’s birthday, regardless of sect, just as in the Western world Jesus Christ’s birthday is celebrated at Christmas. Krsna’s birthday is called Janmastami, and in this verse Krsna uses the word janma in referring to “My birth.” Because there is birth, there are some activities.

Krsna’s birth and activities are transcendental, which means they are not like ordinary births and activities. One may ask how it is that His activities are transcendental. He is born, He takes part in a battle with Arjuna, he has a father by the name of Vasudeva and a mother Devaki and a family—what can be considered transcendental? Krsna says, evam yo vetti tattvatah—we must know of His birth and activities in truth. When one knows of Krsna’s birth and activities in truth, the result is: tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ’rjuna [Bg. 4.9]—when he leaves this material body, he is not born again but goes directly to Krsna. This means that he becomes a liberated soul. He goes to the eternal spiritual world and attains his constitutional position full of bliss, knowledge and eternality. All this can be obtained simply by knowing in truth the transcendental nature of Krsna’s birth and activities.

Ordinarily when one quits the body he has to take up another body. The lives of the living entities are going on simply due to the living entities’ changing dress from one body to another—transmigration of the soul—according to the work of the living entities. At the present moment we may think that this material body is our actual body, but it is like a dress. In reality we do have an actual body, a spiritual body. This material body is superficial compared to the real spiritual body of the living entity. When this material body becomes old and worn out, or when it is rendered useless by some accident, we put it aside as we might put aside a soiled or ruined suit and take up another material body.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
navani grhnati naro ’parani
tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany
anyani samyati navani dehi

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Bg. 2.22)

In the beginning the body is the size of a pea. Then it grows to become a baby, then a child, a young boy, a youth, a grown man and an old man, and finally, when it becomes useless, the living entity changes into another body. The body is therefore always changing, and death is simply the ultimate change of the present body.

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.13)

Although the body is changing, the dweller within the body remains the same. Although the boy grows into manhood, the living entity within the body is not changed. It is not that the self who was there as a boy has gone away. Medical science agrees that at every moment the material body is changing. just as living entities are not bewildered by this, an enlightened man is not bewildered when the body undergoes its ultimate change at death. But a person who does not understand things as they are laments. In the material condition we are simply changing bodies all the time; that is our disease. It is not that we always change to a human body. We may change to an animal body or a demigod body depending on our activities. According to the Padma Purana there are at death. But Krsna promises that one who knows His birth and activities in truth is freed from this cycle of transmigration.

How does one understand Krsna’s birth and activities in truth? This is explained in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita:

bhaktya mam abhijanati
yavan yas casmi tattvatah
tato mam tattvato jnatva
visate tad-anantaram

“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” (Bg. 18.55)

Here again the word tattvatah, “in truth,” is used. One can understand the science of Krsna in truth by becoming a devotee. He who is not a devotee, who does not strive for Krsna consciousness, cannot understand. At the beginning of the Fourth Chapter also Krsna tells Arjuna (Bg. 4.3) that He is explaining this ancient science of yoga to him because Arjuna is “My devotee and My friend.” For one who simply makes an academic study of Bhagavad-gita, the science of Krsna remains a mystery. Bhagavad-gita is not a book that one can just purchase from the bookstore and understand by scholarship alone. Arjuna was not a great scholar, nor a Vedantist, nor a philosopher nor a brahmana, nor a renunciate; he was a family and military man. But still Krsna selected him to be the recipient of Bhagavad-gita and the first authority in the disciplic succession. Why? “Because you are My devotee.” That is the qualification to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is and Krsna as He is—one must become Krsna conscious.

And what is this Krsna consciousness? That is the process of cleansing the dust from the mirror of the mind through the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. By chanting this mantra and by hearing Bhagavad-gita, we can gradually attain to Krsna consciousness. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam [Bg. 18.61]—Krsna is always present within our heart. The individual soul and the Supersoul are both sitting in the tree of the body. The individual soul (jiva) is eating the fruit of the tree, and the Supersoul (Paramatma) is witnessing. As the individual soul begins the process of devotional service and gradually begins to develop his Krsna consciousness, the Supersoul who is seated within begins to help him dust all the impurities from the mirror of the mind. Krsna is a friend to all saintly persons, and the attempt to become Krsna conscious is a saintly endeavor. Sravanam. kirtanam—by chanting and hearing one can come to understand the science of Krsna and thereby come to understand Krsna. And upon understanding Krsna, one can, at the moment of death, go immediately to His abode in the spiritual world. This spiritual world. is described thus in Bhagavad-gita:

na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama

“That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.” (Bg. 15.6)

This material world is always dark; therefore we require the sun, moon and electricity. The Vedas enjoin us not to remain in this darkness but to transfer ourselves to the world of illumination, the spiritual world. The word darkness has a twofold meaning; it not only means without light, but it means ignorance.

The Supreme Lord has manifold energies. It is not that he comes to this material world to perform activities. It is stated in the Vedas that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do. In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna also says:

na me parthasti kartavyam
trisu lokesu kincana
nanavaptam avaptavyam
varta eva ca karmani

“O son of Prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in work.” (Bg. 3.22)

We should therefore not think that Krsna is required to descend upon this material world and engage in so many activities. No one is equal to or greater than Krsna, and He has all knowledge naturally. It is not that He has to undergo penances to acquire knowledge or that He at any time has to receive knowledge or attain knowledge. At all times and in all conditions He is full of knowledge. He may be speaking Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, but at no time was He ever taught Bhagavad-gita. One who can understand that this is Krsna’s position does not have to return to the cycle of birth and death in this material world. Being under the influence of illusion, we spend our lifetimes trying to make adjustments to this material atmosphere, but this is not the purpose of human life. Human life is meant for understanding the science of Krsna.

Our material needs are these: the problem of eating, of mating, of sleeping, of defending ourselves and of acquiring sense gratification. These are common both to human beings and to animals. The animals are busily engaged trying to solve these problems, and if we are also only engaged in solving them how are we any different from the animals? The human being, however, has a special qualification whereby he can develop transcendental Krsna consciousness, but if he does not avail himself of this, he is in the animal category. The defect of modern civilization is that it puts too much stress on solving these survival problems. As spiritual living beings it is incumbent upon us to extricate ourselves from this entanglement of birth and Death. We should therefore be careful not to miss the special opportunity of human life. Sri Krsna Himself comes to deliver Bhagavad-gita and to help us to become God conscious. Indeed, this very material creation is given to us to utilize for this cultivation. But if after receiving this chance and this gift of human life we do not utilize them to develop Krsna consciousness, we shall be missing this rare opportunity.

The process for cultivation is very simple: sravanam kirtanam—hearing and chanting. We have nothing to do other than listen, and by listening carefully, enlightenment is sure to come. Krsna will surely help, for He is seated within. We only have to make the effort and spare a little time. We will not need anyone to ask us whether we are making progress. We will know it automatically, just as a hungry man knows that he has been satisfied by a full meal.

Actually this process of Krsna consciousness or self-realization is not very difficult. Krsna taught it to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita, and if we understand Bhagavad-gita just as Arjuna did, we will have no problem in coming to the perfectional state. But if we try to interpret Bhagavad-gita according to our own mundane academic mentality, we spoil it all.

As stated before, this chanting of Hare Krsna is a process by which all contaminations due to material association are removed from the mirror of the mind. There is no need for external help in reviving our Krsna consciousness, for Krsna consciousness is dormant within the self. In fact, it is the very quality of the self. We have only to invoke it by this process. Krsna consciousness is an eternal fact. It is not a doctrine or set of beliefs imposed by some organization. It is within all living entities, whether they be human being or animal. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was passing through the jungles of South India some five hundred years ago, He chanted Hare Krsna, and all the animals—the tigers, elephants and deer—joined Him in dancing to the holy names. Of course this depends on the purity of the chanting. As we progress in chanting, purification is sure to come.

From: On The Way To KRSNA Ch 2. “The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna”