Hare Krishna Society

Devotee means the first sign will be happy….
April 24 1974 Melbourne

Devotee (3): Often the devotee thinks that he’s more unhappy than the karmīs because he knows he’s unhappy.

Prabhupāda: Then that means he is not a devotee.

Devotee (3): He’s not a devotee.

Prabhupāda: Yes. He’s not devotee. Devotee means the first sign will be happy, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54]. If he’s not prasannātmā, he’s a rascal. He has not entered even devotional life. He’s outside. That is the test. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. When he saw Viṣṇu, he said, “Everything is all right. I don’t want anything.” Svāmin kṛtārtho ‘smi. That is Vaiṣṇava. And if he is still in want or unhappiness, that means he has no spiritual life at all. He is simply making a show.

Guru-kṛpā: Our unhappiness is our lamentation for our past sinful activity, and because we’re not committing any more…

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“Chant the Holy Names, chant the Holy Names, chant the Holy Names. There is not other way, no other way, no other way to become happy in this age.”

TLC-18 In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is stated:eṣo vedāḥ ṣaḍ–aṅgāni chandāṁsi vividhāḥ surāḥ sarvam aṣṭākṣarāntaḥsthaṁ yac cānyad api vāṅmayam sarva–vedānta-sārārthaḥ saṁsārārṇava-tāraṇaḥ

“All Vedic rituals, mantras and understanding are compressed into eight words: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare.”

Similarly, in the Kalisantaraṇa Upaniṣad it is stated: hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma

rāma rāma hare hare iti ṣoḍaśakaṁ nāmnāṁ kali–kalmaṣa–nāśanam nātaḥ parataropāyaḥ

sarva–vedeṣu dṛśyate

“The sixteen words-Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare-are especially meant for counteracting the contaminations of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali, there is no alternative but the chanting of these sixteen words.”

Lord Caitanya informed Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī that when His spiritual master understood Him, he said, “It is the transcendental nature of the holy names Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare to transport a man into spiritual madness. Anyone who sincerely chants this holy name very soon attains elevation to the platform of love of God and becomes mad after God. This madness arising from love of God is the first perfectional stage for a human being.”

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Hare Krsna-below in a few short sentences Srila Prabhupada explains the whole philosophy of Krsna Consciousness.

April 1, 1975

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: If they don’t accept the medicine, then they can’t be cured.

Prabhupāda: Then they must suffer. A man, diseased, and he doesn’t want to take medicine, then where is the…? He must suffer. Where is the cure?

Pañcadraviḍa: They say we are the ones who are diseased. They say, every one of us, we are diseased, not them.

Prabhupāda: Yes. The deaf man thinks all others deaf. (Laughter) That means they are not even human beings. Animals. They do not come to reason, that “Whether we are diseased, or you are diseased. Sit down. Talk.” That also, they are not ready. Then? What we can do with animals?

Pañcadraviḍa: They say we are old-fashioned. They don’t want to bother with us anymore.

Prabhupāda: Hm? Then why do you bother with the problems? Why do you bother with the problems of society? You bother, but you cannot make a solution. All over the world, the newspaper is full, simply throbbing.

Viṣṇujana: Śrīla Prabhupāda, can you make them reasonable? If they’re unreasonable, is there some way to make them reasonable?

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SB 3.31.47 purport.…While discharging devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should not be miserly. He should not unnecessarily show that he has renounced this world. Actually, renunciation is not possible. If one renounces his palatial building and goes to a forest, there is actually no renunciation, for the palatial building is the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the forest is also the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he changes from one property to another, that does not mean that he renounces; he was never the proprietor of either the palace or the forest. Renunciation necessitates renouncing the false understanding that one can lord it over material nature. When one renounces this false attitude and renounces the puffed-up position that he is also God, that is real renunciation. Otherwise, there is no meaning of renunciation. Rūpa Gosvāmī advises that if one renounces anything which could be applied in the service of the Lord and does not use it for that purpose, that is called phalgu-vairāgya, insufficient or false renunciation. Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore everything can be engaged in the service of the Lord; nothing should be used for one’s sense gratification. That is real renunciation. Nor should one unnecessarily increase the necessities of the body. We should be satisfied with whatever is offered and supplied by Kṛṣṇa without much personal endeavor. We should spend our time executing devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the solution to the problem of life and death.

SB 3.31.48 purport–It is sometimes misunderstood that if one has to associate with persons engaged in devotional service, he will not be able to solve the economic problem. To answer this argument, it is described here that one has to associate with liberated persons not directly, physically, but by understanding, through philosophy and logic, the problems of life. It is stated here, samyag-darśanayā buddhyā: one has to see perfectly, and by intelligence and yogic practice one has to renounce this world. That renunciation can be achieved by the process recommended in the Second Chapter of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

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SB 3.31.44–In this way the living entity gets a suitable body with a material mind and senses, according to his fruitive activities. When the reaction of his particular activity comes to an end, that end is called death, and when a particular type of reaction begins, that beginning is called birth.

PURPORT-…We can see that because of different reactionary activities, one man is born in a rich family, and another is born in a poor family, although both of them are born in the same place, at the same moment and in the same atmosphere. One who is carrying pious activity with him is given a chance to take his birth in a rich or pious family, and one who is carrying impious activity is given a chance to take birth in a lower, poor family. The change of body means a change to a different field of activities. Similarly, when the body of the boy changes into that of a youth, the boyish activities change into youthful activities.

It is clear that a particular body is given to the living entity for a particular type of activity. This process is going on perpetually, from a time which is impossible to trace out. Vaiṣṇava poets say, therefore, anādi karama-phale, which means that these actions and reactions of one’s activity cannot be traced, for they may even continue from the last millennium of Brahmā’s birth to the next millennium. We have seen the example in the life of Nārada Muni. In one millennium he was the son of a maidservant, and in the next millennium he became a great sage.

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SB 3.31.21-Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu in my mind, I shall be saved from entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.

PURPORT-The miseries of material existence begin from the very day when the spirit soul takes shelter in the ovum and sperm of the mother and father, they continue after he is born from the womb, and then they are further prolonged. We do not know where the suffering ends. It does not end, however, by one’s changing his body. The change of body is taking place at every moment, but that does not mean that we are improving from the fetal condition of life to a more comfortable condition. The best thing is, therefore, to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Here it is stated, upasādita-viṣṇu-pādaḥ. This means realization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One who is intelligent, by the grace of the Lord, and develops Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is successful in his life because simply by keeping himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be saved from the repetition of birth and death.

The child prays that it is better to remain within the womb of darkness and be constantly absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness than to get out and again fall a victim to the illusory energy. The illusory energy acts within the abdomen as well as outside the abdomen, but the trick is that one should remain Kṛṣṇa conscious, and then the effect of such a horrible condition cannot act unfavorably upon him. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that one’s intelligence is his friend, and the same intelligence can also be his enemy. Here also the same idea is repeated: suhṛdātmanaiva, friendly intelligence. Absorption of intelligence in the personal service of Kṛṣṇa and full consciousness of Kṛṣṇa always are the path of self-realization and liberation. Without being unnecessarily agitated, if we take to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by constantly chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, the cycle of birth and death can be stopped for good.

It may be questioned herein how the child can be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious within the womb of the mother without any paraphernalia with which to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not necessary to arrange for paraphernalia to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. The child wants to remain within the abdomen of its mother and at the same time wants to become free from the clutches of māyā. One does not need any material arrangement to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One can cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness anywhere and everywhere, provided he can always think of Kṛṣṇa. The mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, can be chanted even within the abdomen of one’s mother.One can chant while sleeping, while working, while imprisoned in the womb or while outside. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be checked in any circumstance. The conclusion of the child’s prayer is: “Let me remain in this condition; although it is very miserable, it is better not to fall a victim to māyā again by going outside.”

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“Dog is untouchable”—SP

Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada who is trying to wash off all our kali yuga DIRT !!

Below you will find 6 very potent statements by Srila Prabhupada regarding the keeping of dogs

and cats in ones home or in his/her life. Some devotee still we find are keeping cats/dogs at their homes along with Deities of Lord Krsna. I heard from one such devotee recently that she finally (after some 40 years) realized it was unclean to keep her dogs in her house along with her deities. After how many years, it took to realize this simple concept? These things are going on, and when you point them out, you become– their enemy…… When you look at the picture above with the dog urinating on a tree with a sign that says no dogs allowed, it “should” make perfectly clear why these animals are not allowed according to Vedic civilization in such close proximaty as human beings.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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1) SB 7.14.11 P Ideal Family Life 63694/530501
Although in modern society the dog is accepted as part of one’s
household paraphernalia, in the Vedic system of household life the dog
is untouchable; as mentioned here, a dog may be maintained with proper
food, but it cannot be allowed to enter one’s house, what to speak of
the bedroom. Outcastes or untouchable candalas should also be provided
with the necessities for life. The word used in this connection is
yatha, which means “as much as deserved.” The outcastes should not be
given money with which to indulge in more than they need, for otherwise they will misuse it.

(Note-It is interesting that Prabhupada above includes the outcastes or untouchables in the same category as dogs-they can be fed, but are not allowed inside the house or close quarters with cleaner human beings-namely the 4 varnas and ashrmas.)

2) 741009SB.MAY Lectures 214710/530501
Canakya Pandita says, candala-vesmani. Candala means untouchable, the
dog-eaters. In the Vedic conception, the dog-eaters are untouchable.
Actually they should be untouchable. Meat-eaters are untouchable.

(Note-this means when a devotee comes in close physical contact with meat eaters, they should not be allowed to touch your feet and to take bath immediately following any physical contact-this is not fanaticism, but common sense if you want to remain clean)

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Hare Krsna-Below is a very nice conversation exchange with Srila Prabhupada whereby Jaydvaita reveals his in-ability to understand what is perfection. He obviously has not understood still up to the present what Prabhupada means, otherwise he would not have without authority changed thousands of the words of his spiritual master. There are also some other points about concocted kirtans and personal relationships with ones spiritual master, another point Jayadvaita still does not understand. The first principle is to obey the guru, which he obviously has not, after which all spiritual knowledge is lost. We should learn from these early examples of what to do and what not to do.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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April 8 1975 Mayapur

Jayādvaita: …names of Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master or the ācāryas have chanted them, but sometimes I’ll hear that our devotees will be chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name in different ways that I haven’t heard, in kīrtana.

Prabhupāda: I do not follow what you say.

Jayādvaita: Just like sometimes we’ll hear our men. They’ll be chanting… Like yesterday I heard that someone was chanting, “Nitāi-Gaura, Nitāi-Gaura, Nitāi-Nitāi-Gaura.” Like that, I’ll hear different mantras. Someone is chanting: “Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe,” like that, at kīrtana.

Prabhupāda: Well, that is not done by the ācāryas. But there is no harm chanting “Rādhe.” But sometimes it is degraded to make something new, invention. Therefore better to stick to “Hare Kṛṣṇa” and to “Śrī-Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhupāda-Nityānanda.” Otherwise… Just like the sahajiyās, they have invented: “Nitāi-Gaura Rādhe Śyāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma.” These things will come gradually. But they are not approved. They are called chara kīrtana (?), means “concocted kīrtana.” But there is no harm chanting “Rādhe, Nitāi-Gaura.” So better stick to this Pañca-tattva, and mahā-mantra. Just like “Nitāi Gaura Rādhe Śyāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma.” There is “Nitāi-Gaura, Rādhe Śyāma,” but it is not approved. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. We have to follow the mahājana. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta you’ll find “Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu-Nityānanda, Śrī-Advaita Gadādhara…,” never “Nitāi Gaura, Rādhe Śyāma.” So why should we do that?

Jayapatāka: The concocter of the “Nitāi Gaura Rādhe Śyāma,” previously he was a follower of Bhaktisiddhānta, but then he was rejected, and then he started his own camp.

Prabhupāda: No, yes, he was meeting Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So… What is called? Carana dāsa Bābājī.

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, sometimes during ārati, many bona fide bhajanas are sung, but not much Hare Kṛṣṇa. Is that not a good tendency, that maybe just two or three minutes of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and many other bhajanas?

Prabhupāda: No. We should stick to Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu-Nityānanda, jīva jāgo jīva jāgo…, these are authorized. But Hare Kṛṣṇa is the mahā-mantra. What is sung by mahājana, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, that can be sung. [break]

Jayapatāka: …you say is back to Godhead. But when one is situated in pure, transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa, then that’s, then wherever he may be, that’s back to Godhead. Isn’t it?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Jayapatāka: So then we should desire not to go back to Vaikuṇṭha but to go back to…, to be situated in our pure service to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Pure devotee does not aspire anything, simply to be engaged in loving service of the Lord, wherever it may be. It doesn’t matter. [break]

Jayādvaita: …they know everything and they’re perfect in everything. But sometimes, from our material viewpoint, we see some discrepancies. Just like we think that...

Prabhupāda: Because material viewpoint. The viewpoint is wrong; therefore you find discrepancies.

Jayādvaita: So we should think that we have the defect.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Ācārya is explained, bhakti-saṁsanaḥ: “One who’s preaching the cult of devotional service, he’s ācārya.” Then why should you find any discrepancy?

Jayādvaita: Because we see… For instance, sometimes the ācārya may seem to forget something or not to know something, so from our point of view, if someone has forgotten, that is…

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. Then…

Jayādvaita: …an imperfection.

Prabhupāda: That is not the… Then you do not understand. Ācārya is not God, omniscient. He is servant of God. His business is to preach bhakti cult. That is ācārya.

Jayādvaita: And that is the perfection.

Prabhupāda: That is the perfection. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

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SB 3.29.14 purport-… One who is not affected by the three modes of material nature is called a liberated soul, or brahma-bhūta soul. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54] is the stage of liberation. : “I am not this body.” This is applicable only to the person who constantly engages in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa and is thus in the transcendental stage; he is above the influence of the three modes of material nature.

SB 3.29.16-The devotee should regularly see My statues in the temple, touch My lotus feet and offer worshipable paraphernalia and prayer. He should see in the spirit of renunciation, from the mode of goodness, and see every living entity as spiritual.

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June 24 1976 Vrndavana lecture

…. So gṛheṣu saktasya. Generally, people become too much attached to family life. I sometimes say that in the Western countries the young boys, they come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, their only one great asset is they are not family-wise attached. That is very good qualification. Someway or other, they have become. Therefore their attachment to Kṛṣṇa becoming staunch.In India they have got organized family attachment. They are not interested. They are after money now. That I have experienced. Yes.

So family attachment is the greatest impediment in the matter of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but if the whole family is Kṛṣṇa conscious, that is very nice. Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He was a family man, but all of the, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, his wife, his children—and the best children is our Guru Mahārāja, best child… So he has sung by his experience, ye dina gṛhe bhajana dekhi gṛhete goloka bhaya. If family-wise, everyone is engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, that is very nice. That is not ordinary family. That attachment is not ordinary attachment. But generally people are attached materially. That is condemned here. Śeṣaṁ gṛheṣu saktasya pramattasya apayāti hi. They are called pramatta. Everyone is thinking that “My family, my wife, my children, my nation, my community, that is everything. What is Kṛṣṇa?” This is the greatest illusion imposed by māyā. But nobody will able to give you protection.

dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv

ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api

teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanaṁ

paśyann api na paśyati

[SB 2.1.4]

Everything will be finished. Nobody can give us any protection except Kṛṣṇa. If we want to be freed from the clutches of māyā-janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg. 13.9]—we must take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa through the spiritual master and live with devotees who have engaged themselves for the same purpose. It is called… What is that exact word? Sakhi or something. Now I am forgetting. But in the same category we must live and execute our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then these impediments, gṛheṣu saktasya pramattasya. Anyone who is…, all the karmīs, they are attached to this family life, but family life is good provided there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Gṛhe vā vanete thāke, hā gaurāṅga bole dāke. It doesn’t matter, either he is in family life or he’s in sannyāsī life, if he’s a devotee, then his life is successful. Thank you very much. (end)

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Hare Krishna Society

devotee means the first sign he will be happy-SP

The Transcendental effects of chanting Hare Krsna mantra

Yes. By nature I am happy. And who is happy, this body or the soul?–SP

That is the solution to the problem of life and death–SP

How many births have we taken and how many more yet to take?

How the child can be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious within the womb of the mother without any paraphernalia with which to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness??

Dogs and their place in the Vedic civilization

A lesson from Jayadvaita of what NOT to do-taught to us by SP

Who is a liberated soul and who is progressing nicely along the path of bhakti?–SP kindly explains

Family attachment vs attachment to Lord Krsna’s Seva