Religion and Spirituality

“Loving God is the natural function of every living entity. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian or a Hindu or a Muhammadan. Just try to develop your love of God. Then your religion is very nice.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Journey of Self-Discovery, 2.6)

Comment: “I just want to state that religion and spirituality are TWO DIFFERENT things, which most religions are far from spiritual (especially Catholics and Christians). Also, A LOT of what people claim is a religion, like Hinduism and Buddhism, ARE NOT religions, but mere ways of life… ways of viewing and experiencing.”

Response: Religion certainly means different things to different people. The ancient scriptures of India, the Vedas, actually don’t have a term that matches up with religion. The closest thing we can find is the term “dharma”, which is a much more concrete definition of what spiritual life really means. Dharma is that which is the essential quality of something, and when it is applied to the living entities, it means that the living entities’ natural occupation is that of being a loving servant of the Supreme Lord. Religion generally means a kind of faith; a set of guidelines which certain groups of people adhere to, while others do not. Faith can change at a whim, and we see that the religious beliefs of various sects around the world have certainly morphed over the years. It is for this reason that many people are justified in viewing the term “religion” with contempt.

Religion is also equated today with the practice of organized establishments, similar to how political organizations operate. The major established religions of the world today are run by governing bodies, with policies determined by the votes of the higher members. Now there is certainly some merit to having a governing board which oversees basic doctrine, but as we see in the arena of politics, things can get muddied fairly quickly through influence-peddling and corruption. People start holding strong to their positions and end up fighting with each other simply to advance their own personal agenda.

A great example of this can be seen with the practice of meat eating. The Ten Commandments clearly state that “Thou Shall Not Kill”, yet we see that religious leaders of today have no problem with the existence of slaughterhouses. The Vedas tell us that every living entity, from Lord Brahma all the way down to an ant, has a spirit soul residing within that forms the basis of their identity. This means that even animals have souls. This concept isn’t very difficult to understand if we apply a little intelligence. We human beings have souls because we know that as soon as we die, our bodies become useless. Our bodies don’t necessarily change at the time of death, but what causes our life to end is the exit of the soul from within the body. This means that our real identity, the guiding force, the master of the ship, is the soul within.

Animals are no different in this regard. Their bodies are very similar to human beings. Like us, they eat, sleep, mate, and defend. They may not have the same level of intelligence as humans, but they still perform many of the same activities. Their physical makeup can be so similar to those of humans that many scientists perform research on lab animals to test the effects of drugs and other therapies. Since even animals are living entities, the Vedas advise that we shouldn’t unnecessarily kill them. Formerly animals used to only be killed during elaborate sacrifices which were performed with the aim of achieving great material benefit and not simply as an excuse to eat meat. These sacrifices would test the mantra recitation capabilities of the brahmanas, or priests. Gradually over time, the practice degraded to the point where brahmanas were performing animal sacrifice simply as an excuse to eat animal flesh. Thus the practice was completely abolished, though the principle of non-violence towards innocent animals never actually changed.

Contrast this with today’s situation where millions of innocent animals, including cows, are sent to the slaughterhouses every year simply to satisfy the taste buds of the general public. Such a practice should never be sanctioned by any serious religious leader, but we see that this is not the case. In order to justify their sanction of meat eating, these same religious leaders have concocted the idea that animals don’t have souls. “Even if they do have souls, they are not the same as those of human beings”. Now this notion is actually quite silly, for a soul is a soul; there is no difference in quality between the souls of various living entities.

The only difference can be found with the soul of the Supreme Lord, who is known as maha-purusha, while we living entities are just ordinary purusha. Purusha means spirit, male, or controller. Matter by itself is dull and incapable of motion or action. It needs the hand of purusha in order for it to move. The example of the body can be used again. If it weren’t for the spirit soul, or purusha, residing within, our body would be completely useless. Death is the event of purusha exiting a material body (prakriti). The same principle holds true in the body of an animal. The components of the body of a cow are simply matter, or prakriti. It is the soul within, purusha, which causes the machine known as the body to function. Killing the animal means forcing the purusha to exit.

Another excuse given for animal killing is that animals lack the intelligence of human beings. Even this reasoning can be refuted quite easily. When a human being is an infant, its intelligence is actually less than that of many animals. Moreover, we don’t just kill a human being simply based off its intelligence. In life we meet many smart people and many unintelligent people, but we would never decide who should live and who should die based on this characteristic. Yet that is precisely what is done with animals. For example, cats and dogs aren’t sent to slaughterhouses. On the contrary, they are held in high esteem by their owners, for many people treat their pets better than they do their own family members. Yet what is the difference between a dog and a cow? A cow is so kind and compassionate; it doesn’t bother anyone. It simply requires some grass to eat and a place to stay. In exchange for this protection, the cow kindly offers us milk which can sustain our lives. The same can’t be said of a dog.

Yet just because the meat of a cow tastes palatable, people have taken to sending them to slaughterhouses by the millions each year. Religious leaders, not wanting to give up their meat eating habits, make up excuses for this animal killing by changing their established principles, for even many years ago the Catholic Church advised its members to refrain from eating meat on Fridays. So this is where people get turned off by religion. It is certainly a fact that animals have souls, but established religions around the world say otherwise, thus people have a hard time taking such religions seriously. As mentioned before, real religion is something that should never change because the relationship between the living entities and God never changes.

“The English word ‘religion is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanatana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Introduction)

We can also see the degradation of religion by studying how religious leaders are elected today. For example, when the Pope dies, there is a vote that takes place to determine the new pontiff. The worldwide media coverage of these votes is quite insightful. There are roundtable discussions held with “experts” speculating over what the new Pope’s policies might be. “Will they allow gay marriage? Will they still hold firm on the issue of abortion, taking it to be a sin?” Thus we see that politics plays a huge part in established religion today. The principles of spiritual life should never change because spirit itself is unchanging, as is God.

“It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.25)

Many people prefer the term “spirituality” over “religion”. Spirituality refers the true nature of the living entity, that of a spirit soul. Yet just knowing that we are spirit souls is not enough. As we see with all living entities, there is an inherent desire for activity. The exact nature of this activity certainly varies, but we still see that everyone wants to do something. Everyone has to be somewhere, doing something. So what is that something that we should be doing? The Vedas tell us that it is our nature to be servants. This may seem strange to hear at first, for we all love the concept of independence. It is certainly more pleasing to act on our own whims instead of listening to others, but this doesn’t mean that we still aren’t servants.

Our service mentality manifests through love. We love our country, our fellow man, our friends, spouse, and children. Loving someone means wanting more for the other person than you want for yourself. This love comes out in a variety of ways. Some of us love through intimate association, while others love through teaching and providing counsel. Even something as simple as filling up the gas for our spouse’s car can be considered an act of love. So we see that the commonality in all these activities is service. The Vedas tell us that this service mentality is actually an outgrowth of our original constitutional position as loving servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.

“…the tendency to love and serve others is your dharma, or your religion. This is the universal form of religion. Now, you have to apply your loving service in such a way that you will be completely satisfied. Because your loving spirit is now misplaced, you are not happy.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Journey of Self-Discovery, 2.6)

Spiritual life means directing our service to the Supreme Lord. This service also must be performed voluntarily and with love, otherwise it is not pure. Real religion means serving God in a loving way, with all our hearts. So how do we practice this service? This is the million dollar question. Along with dharma, the Vedas give us the term “yoga”. Not to be confused with gymnastics exercises, real yoga means linking our soul with the Supreme Soul, or God. There are different ways to practice this linking, but the topmost system is known as bhakti yoga, or devotional service.

Devotional service involves nine different processes, the perfection of any of which can provide spiritual union with God. Though there are nine processes, two of them are recommended for the people of this age: chanting and hearing. These two processes can be simultaneously executed by regularly chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” out loud with our friends and family, or simply to ourselves.

In order to achieve success in yoga, one must practice it all the time. This means that bhakti yoga should be a way of life, not something we do for five minutes a day, as is the case with many pseudo-yogis and gurus. These spiritual leaders sit in meditation for a few minutes each day and then spend the rest of their time smoking cigarettes, eating meat, and indulging in other forms of sense gratification. Even the animals engage their time in sense gratification, so it is incumbent upon human beings to make the most of their intelligence by rising above animalistic tendencies. Understanding that we are spirit soul is one thing, but practically realizing it is a different matter. We can be a believer of the tenets of the Vedas, but this doesn’t mean that we should stop there. As previously mentioned, it is our nature to always be active. If we aren’t practicing yoga, then we are more likely to fall back into the pit of animalistic life. Living life without following the guidelines of a bona fide spiritual discipline is akin to animal life.

The term “spirituality” certainly describes dharma more accurately than does the term “religion”. But as we see, spirituality must be matched up with a full-time discipline in order for one to be considered on the path of dharma. Thus we can say that “spirituality as a way of life” is a more accurate translation for dharma. At this point one may ask, “Why even use the term religion if it is so inaccurate? Wouldn’t you be better served just using terms like dharma, spirituality, yoga, way of life, etc?” There is validity to these concerns, but we have to keep one underlying principle in mind. The Vedas themselves were originally transmitted in the Sanskrit language, which is also known as the language of the gods. These Sanskrit verses were carefully crafted and are very intricate, meaning even people born and raised in India have a hard time understanding them. We currently live in the Kali Yuga, which is known as the dark age of quarrel and hypocrisy. This means that people’s mental capabilities are greatly diminished from those who lived in ages past. It is for this reason that translation of the Vedas into other languages is required.

Regardless of what we may think of the term, “religion” is the word that most people associate with spiritual life. Thus in order to properly convey ideas and thoughts contained in the Vedas, we must make use of the term religion from time to time, as flawed as it may be. The same issue occurs with the term “God”. God can mean so many different things to different people, and the Vedas themselves don’t have any term that directly matches up to it. The Vedas tell us that the Supreme Lord’s opulences and powers are unlimited, thus He is given thousands of names. His primary name is Krishna, meaning one who is all-attractive. Krishna is also referred to as Bhagavan, meaning one who possesses all opulences. We are also supplied with others names such as Rama (one who gives transcendental pleasure), Parameshava (the supreme ishvara, or controller), Achyuta (one who is infallible), Govinda (one who gives pleasure to the senses and the cows), etc. Since these terms can’t really translate directly to God, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada invoked the term “The Supreme Personality of Godhead” to describe Krishna. This term is still limited in a sense, but it is certainly more descriptive than the term “God”.

“The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.6)

When describing God’s glories to others, issues of translations, vernacular, and semantics will certainly come up from time to time, but we must remember that the ultimate goal is to awaken every person’s dormant love for the Lord. Words exist for the purpose of communication, and the highest message we can communicate to our fellow man is that we should all reacquaint ourselves with our original friend, the Supreme Lord. That is the universal religion. We should all make a sincere effort to take up spirituality as a way of life. People of all ages and all cultural backgrounds can follow the simple formula of regularly chanting Hare Krishna and abstaining from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex. This will lead us towards loving devotional service to Krishna, which is the supreme occupation for all of humanity.

Praiseworthy

“In one who has unflinching devotional faith in Krishna, all the good qualities of Krishna and the demigods are consistently manifest.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 5.18.12)

Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama, and the female sage Anasuya, mother of Dattatreya and sister of Lord Kapila, had a wonderful conversation many many years ago which is documented in the Ramayana of Valmiki. Lord Rama, an incarnation of God, was passing His time in the forest with His brother, Lakshmana, and His wife, Sita. The group visited various places throughout India, stopping by the hermitages of the great saints.

These events all took place during the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation. Man was still generally pious during that time so it was not uncommon to find great sages living in the forests. City life is sufficient for most people since it reinforces a community mentality, where goods and services are easily available. Yet for those seeking higher knowledge, or information of the Absolute Truth, the peace and quiet of the forest is preferable. The highly advanced brahmanas, the priestly class of men, would renounce city life to go live in the forests. Generally the wilderness is reserved for the animal kingdom since man is usually too attached to sense gratification to survive such an austere lifestyle. But the performance of austerities for religious purposes is actually one of the important practices recommended by the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. These austerities are referred to as tapasya, and the sages living in the forest were well accustomed to performing them.

While the sages lived in the forest, contemplating the meaning of life and performing various sacrifices for Lord Vishnu, they would often times receive guests in the form of travelers or pilgrims. This is still the case today as millions of people each year visit the famous tirthas in India. It is beneficial for one to visit these sacred places since saintly people usually reside there. The purpose of the priestly class is not only to perform religious functions for themselves, but to also guide the rest of society on the proper execution of dharma. This human form of life is meant for God realization, thus becoming purely God conscious is the ultimate objective. Man has a natural propensity to sin, thus it is the duty of the saintly class to steer society in the right direction.

Lord Rama and His family members were all very pious. Since He was God Himself, Rama was the embodiment of virtue and chivalry. Nevertheless, since He took birth in the kshatriya race, Rama followed standard protocol by taking instruction from brahmanas on all matters. The Vedas declare that the highest reward in life is to have the association of a saintly person. This means that if one is fortunate enough to meet face-to-face with a devotee, they should take full advantage. Rama was well aware of this tenet, so He and His group made sure to visit all the great sages residing in the forest. On one particular occasion, the group stopped at the hermitage of Atri Rishi and his wife Anasuya. At the time, both Sita and Rama were very famous throughout the world. Kings during those times were referred to as the lords of earth. Rama’s father, King Dasharatha, was held in very high regard. Rama actually took birth in the Ikshvaku dynasty. Ikshvaku was the son of Manu, the first man on earth.

“At the time of a great sacrifice performed by Daksha, with affection the very intelligent Varuna gave Devarata an illustrious bow along with quivers which would never run out of arrows. Incapable of being moved on account of its weight, the kings could not even dream of bending the bow. Having obtained the bow, my truthful father first invited all the princes of the world to an assembly of great rulers of men, and spoke to them as such: ‘Whichever man is capable of lifting and string this bow will receive my daughter’s hand in marriage. Of this there is no doubt.’” (Sita Devi speaking to Anasuya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.39-42)

When Anasuya welcomed Rama and His family, she immediately struck up a conversation with Sita Devi. This practice is customary even today in social situations, where we see women huddling together and the men separating to go have their own conversations. Anasuya knew all about Sita’s family history but she was nevertheless very eager to hear Sita’s narration of the events surrounding her marriage. The above referenced statement was part of Sita’s telling of the story.

Maharaja Janaka, the king of Mithila, one day found a little girl in a field that he was intending to plough. A bond was immediately formed and Janaka decided to take the girl in as his own daughter. He named her Sita since she came out of the ground. Sita Devi was actually an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune and wife of Lord Narayana. According to the Vedas, Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He has many direct expansions. Lord Narayana is one of the primary expansions, meaning He can be considered to be God. Rama is also an incarnation of Krishna thus He is also taken as God. Therefore Sita Devi is to known as the eternal consort of God. Janaka was unaware of her divinity, but he could still tell that she was something special. Her behavior was perfect in every regard. Though she never attended school, her knowledge of the Vedas was perfect. This shouldn’t be surprising to us. A pure devotee of God naturally acquires all good characteristics and knowledge of the scriptures.

“An advanced devotee situated on the platform of spontaneity is already very expert in shastric instruction, logic and argument.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 22.153 Purport)

Janaka was in a quandary. He didn’t think there was any man worthy of Sita’s hand in marriage, but he knew it was his duty, as the father, to get her married. As a compromise, Janaka decided to hold a self-choice ceremony (svayamvara), where princes would come and try to lift the illustrious bow of Lord Shiva. A long time back, the great Prajapati Daksha performed an elaborate sacrifice. As a result of the events that occurred relating to this sacrifice, the celestial bow of Lord Shiva was given to Devarata, a great king. This same bow was eventually passed down to King Janaka. Its weight was enormous and no king could dare think of even moving it. Ironically, in her youth Sita Devi was once lifted this very bow without a problem. Knowing all these facts, Janaka decided that Sita would only marry the prince that could lift this great bow. In essence, he was confident that no one would be able to lift it and even if they did, that person would surely have to be a celestial.

Herein we get another glimpse into Sita Devi’s greatness. Every person born in this world has certain attributes based on their guna and karma, or qualities and work. When it comes to marriages in the Vedic tradition, these qualities are compared between boys and girls in order to find a suitable match. From Janaka’s decision, we can understand that the only match for Sita was Lord Rama Himself. Only Rama had the necessary strength to move the bow.

Greatness can be described in many ways. We can praise someone based on their qualities and their different accomplishments. Sita Devi’s greatness can surely be characterized along these lines, but her most outstanding feature is that Lord Rama is the only suitable husband for her. This distinction is reserved for only the purest of devotees. God doesn’t just accept anybody as a wife or intimate associate.

When we make friends with someone, it is usually because the other person is nice to us or has our best interests at heart. We don’t make friends with people that are mean to us or who envy us. We still may be kind to everyone we meet, but that doesn’t mean we’ll befriend every single person. God is similar in this regard. By default, He views every living entity equally.

“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.29)

The exception to this rule applies to the devotees. The bhaktas love God purely and without any motive. This is the definition of true love. For God to accept us as His friend or life companion there must be an exchange of love. This love may be of different varieties, but the sentiment must be genuine.

God is so great. He is kind, compassion, and very sweet. Rama means one who gives pleasure to others and this was certainly true throughout Lord Rama’s time on earth. As great as Lord Rama is, Sita Devi might even be greater, for she loves the Lord and all His devotees so much. She is the standard bearer for the perfect execution of devotional service.

Hooked Into This Deceiver

“The Blessed Lord said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world.” (Bhagavad-gita, 3.37)

Lust is so strong that it devours all good judgment. An outgrowth of the mode of passion, lust can lead to anger, which can then lead to bewilderment and loss of rationale. This was the case with the Rakshasa demon Ravana many thousands of years ago. His lusty desire to enjoy another man’s wife cost him dearly in the end.

During the Treta Yuga, one particular Rakshasa was ascending to power. Known by the name of Ravana, this demon had ten heads and invincibility in battle. He had achieved this strength and fame through the performance of great austerities. He underwent severe penances, or tapasya, and pleased various demigods. They gifted him with several boons, one of which was that no celestial, animal, or other elevated living entity could defeat him in battle. In his haste, Ravana forgot to ask for immunity from ordinary human beings. The demigods used this loophole to put the pieces into place for his demise.

Ravana was granted all these boons and he in turn used them against the same class of people whom he had worshiped. Ravana took on and defeated his own brother, Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods. Fearing worldwide domination by the Rakshasas, the demigods petitioned Lord Vishnu to come to earth and kill Ravana. Lord Vishnu is God’s personal expansion. There are actually several different forms of Lord Vishnu, with each one of having a specific purpose. The Vedas tell us that God’s original form is that of Lord Krishna, but that Krishna then personally expands into several forms to carry out various functions. Lord Vishnu incarnated on earth as a human being by the name of Rama. When Vishnu comes to earth, his closest associates from the spiritual world usually come with him. Lord Vishnu’s eternal consort in the spiritual world is Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune.

Aside from being exquisitely beautiful and extremely pious, Lakshmi’s trademark characteristic is her devotion to Narayana, or Vishnu. When she came to earth, she played the same role as God’s pleasure potency. Lakshmi incarnated as Sita Devi, the daughter of the pious king of Mithila, Maharaja Janaka. When They reached an appropriate age, Sita and Rama were united through the bonds of holy matrimony. In order to compass Ravana’s death, Rama needed an excuse to attack Ravana. To this end, the Lord accepted a fourteen year exile punishment to the forest handed out by His father. Sita and Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, insisted on accompanying Rama on His journey. On one occasion while the group was in the forest of Janasthana, Rama was visited by Ravana’s sister, Shurpanakha. An argument ensued which resulted in Shurpanakha being disfigured by Lakshmana. She immediately went to Ravana and explained what had happened. Ravana then sent 14,000 Rakshasas to attack Rama, but the Lord easily killed all of them.

“I am your dear friend and ask you again to desist from this plan. If you should aggressively take Sita away by force, you and your relatives will lose your life and be taken to the abode of Yamaraja, being destroyed by Rama’s arrows.” (Maricha speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 38.33)

One of the Rakshasas, Akampana, managed to escape and relayed to Ravana what had happened. He advised Ravana not to attack Rama, but to devise a plan to kidnap Sita. He believed that since Rama loved Sita so much, He wouldn’t be able to live without her. Ravana was greatly intrigued by this idea. Just by hearing about Sita’s beauty, he had to have her. He immediately went to his advisor, Maricha, and proposed the idea to him. In the above referenced quote, Maricha is strongly advising Ravana against such a plan. Maricha was no fool. On a previous occasion, he had tried to attack the venerable Vishvamitra Muni while in Rama’s presence. The Lord punished Maricha so badly that he was lucky to still be alive afterwards. Maricha warned Ravana not to mess with Rama, for that would lead to his destruction.

At the time, Ravana was living in a sinner’s paradise. The Sundara-kanda of the Ramayana gives us a vivid description of Ravana’s city of Lanka, and all the beautiful palaces contained within. Lord Hanuman, Rama’s eternal servant, later travelled to Lanka in search of Sita after she was kidnapped. He saw first-hand what life was like for Ravana. Ravana and the other Rakshasas were always drunk. They would stay up late into the night and enjoy drinking wine and having sex. Ravana had many beautiful wives and they used to drink with him too. When Hanuman travelled through the palaces, he saw the women were all passed out from drinking and that some had fallen asleep on each other. Meat eating was also very common, for Rakshasas even ate human flesh.

With all this opulence, what need did Ravana have for Sita? His desire to steal another man’s wife shows the illusory nature of material sense gratification. Our material senses can actually never be satisfied. Our body is a deceiver in a sense, and we are hooked into this deceiver, thinking that the more we satisfy it, the happier we will be. The Vedas tell us that true happiness can only be found in the spiritual world. To this end, they recommend that we strictly control our sense gratification through the practice of tapasya.

“And that sacrifice performed in defiance of scriptural injunctions, in which no spiritual food is distributed, no hymns are chanted and no remunerations are made to the priests, and which is faithless—that sacrifice is of the nature of ignorance.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 17.13)

Yet we see that Ravana performed many great austerities in his early life and still ended up being extremely addicted to sinful activity. What happened? The Vedas tell us that the material world is governed by three gunas, or modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. Every activity we perform can be categorized into one of these three modes. This applies to religious activity as well. Ravana’s austerities were performed in the mode of ignorance, meaning they were detrimental to his future well-being. He only performed religious activities so that he could engage in sinful life. This is not the purpose of religion. Sacrifice and austerity are meant for bringing one closer to God. By regulating the senses, our minds remain at ease and thus it becomes easier to learn about God.

Trying to steal Lakshmi is one of the most grievous sins. Lakshmiji is meant to be enjoyed only by God Himself. Yet since she is the goddess of fortune, she is still kind enough to send material opulence our way from time to time. In fact, Ravana even had a fountain of Goddess Lakshmi in his kingdom. This illustrates another folly on his part. Though technically considered a demigod, Lakshmi is God’s pleasure potency expansion, hladini-shakti. She is actually a great devotee and an example of how to achieve perfection in life. God is the master and we are His servants. Those who realize this fact will be happy, and those who don’t will be forever miserable. As part of her duties, Lakshmi bestows wealth and fortune to those who please her. She is often depicted seated on a lotus flower and distributing gold coins from her hands. But this wealth must be used for the right purposes, otherwise it will lead to our downfall.

Lakshmiji provides us good fortune so that we may use it for serving God. If we use money for nefarious purposes, we are essentially stealing Lakshmi. This is exactly what Ravana did. He kidnapped Sita and tried to keep her for himself, but this can never happen. Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and the rest of the Vanara army would eventually march to Lanka and rescue Sita.

Maricha’s warning would serve as a foreshadowing of events to come. As a spiritual guide to Ravana, Maricha gave him sound advice on what to do. He had seen God’s power firsthand, so he was relaying that information to Ravana. Not only did he describe Rama’s glories to Ravana, but he also advised his ten-headed friend to use that information to avoid acting sinfully. In a similar manner, the great Vaishnava acharyas and saints have written many books about Krishna and devotion to Him. They too have seen the Lord’s opulences firsthand. These saints advise us to give up sinful life and to take up devotional service to the Lord. If we follow their advice, we can be assured of not ending up like Ravana.

A Match Made in Heaven

“Knowing me to be one not born of any mother’s womb, the king, after great thought, was unable to find a suitable husband for me. After reflecting thus, this thought occurred to the wise king, ‘I shall hold a svayamvara (self-choice ceremony) for my daughter’s marriage. ’” (Sita Devi speaking to Anasuya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.37-38)

In the Vedic tradition, marriages are arranged by the parents of both the bride and groom. Marriage itself is known as the grihastha-ashrama, meaning it is meant to be a spiritual institution. For this reason, the covenant of marriage is not something that should be entered into lightly. Great care must be taken to ensure that the bond will be a lasting one.

For marriage arrangements, the primary instrument used by parents of the Vedic tradition is the horoscope. Today the idea of horoscopes and astrological charts bring justifiable skepticism from the general public, but real astrology has its origin in the Vedas. The original scriptures for mankind come from India and they are referred as the Vedas, which mean knowledge. The primary purpose of the Vedas and religion in general is to give mankind a set of guidelines which can help them fulfill their true destiny in life, that of returning back home, back to Godhead. This earth is not our actual home. All the planets of the solar system and even those of other universes constitute the material creation.

“The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.8)

By rule, anything created must be also be subject to destruction. Thus everything in this world is temporary, including our bodies. However, the spark that illuminates this body, the individual spirit soul, is eternal. The soul has no birth or death but due to association with material qualities, it is currently in an embodied form. The Vedas give us sanatana-dharma, or the eternal occupation of man, which is a set of guidelines that will help us break free of the repeated cycle of birth and death. The biggest hindrance towards spiritual perfection is sex life. The highest of material pleasures, sex life can lead to an attachment that keeps us bound to this material world, forcing us to repeatedly take birth, life after life. Marriage was created by God so as to allow us to control our sex desire. If we live a regulated life, free of attachment to fruitive activity (karma), it will be easier for us to think of God.

Since marriage is an institution where regulated sex life is allowed, an unmarried person desirous of sexual activity should enter into it as soon as possible. The current model where men and women freely intermingle is not recommended by the Vedas. God doesn’t want to explicitly punish us in any way, for having to live here is cause for misery by itself. The Lord would much rather help us along in our journey towards self-realization. In the Vedic tradition, parents are required to get their children married as soon as there is any inkling for sex desire. This way other problems such as single-parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, adultery, etc. are all eliminated. When searching for a suitable husband or wife for their child, parents compare the astrological chart of both their own child and that of the potential spouse. The alignment of the planets at any given time signifies certain characteristics of the people born during such a time. There are auspicious signs and inauspicious signs. Expert brahmanas can predict the future of a young child simply by studying their astrological signs.

“After the birth of a child, the astrologers calculate the moment of the birth and make a horoscope of the child’s future life. Another ceremony takes place after the birth of the child: the family members take baths, cleanse themselves and decorate themselves with ornaments and garlands; then they come before the child and the astrologer to hear of the future life of the child.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 5)

Parents will never agree to a marriage if their child’s astrological signs don’t match those of the potential spouse. It’s not that the characteristics of both children have to be the same, but rather they must be compatible. We see that this formula holds true even in love-marriages. The husband and wife rarely have the same personality type or interests. The husband may be quiet and calm while the wife is very talkative and friendly. Yet these relationships can work since the characteristics of each person match well together.

More than anything else, the husband and wife should have the same value system. A marriage is a partnership where both parties are required to work for the same goal. Friction will naturally arise in any relationship, but if there is a dedication to dharma, there is no risk of separation or divorce. The common goal should be that of serving Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A householder has clearly delineated duties as outlined by the shastras. They are to offer as much food as possible to the Lord. The resultant prasadam should then be distributed to as many people as possible. “Feed God and guests”; these are the two simple rules for householders. A husband and wife share in the accumulated spiritual merits, thus it is in both of their interests to stay committed to the path of dharma.

Many thousands of years ago, there was a great king by the name of Janaka who ruled over Mithila. One day while ploughing a field for the purpose of performing an elaborate religious sacrifice, he found a little girl coming out of the ground. He picked her up and immediately accepted her as his daughter. This girl was none other than the goddess of fortune, Lakshmiji. Janaka immediately felt affection for her. He named the girl Sita since she was born of the ground. Being a pious king, Janaka knew that some day he would have to find a suitable husband for Sita. When the time came, he was in a quandary. Knowing that Sita had no parents, he couldn’t find a suitable husband for her. Simply based on her qualities as a person, he knew that there was no ordinary man who was worthy enough to receive her as a wife.

Nevertheless, Janaka knew that he would face much scorn and ridicule if he were to keep Sita from getting married. To allay his fears and mollify potential critics, Janaka decided to hold a svayamvara, or a self-choice ceremony. On a previous occasion, he had been given a bow of Lord Shiva which was impossible to lift. Janaka decided that he would call princes from around the world and that whoever could lift and string the bow would win Sita’s hand in marriage. This satisfied all of Janaka’s conditions, for he knew that no one would be able to lift it. Even if someone could, that person surely would have to be a celestial or a highly advanced soul.

As it turned out, only Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, could lift and string the bow. He not only lifted it, but He broke it in half. This wasn’t surprising since Rama was an incarnation of Lord Krishna, God Himself. The fact that Rama was chosen as Sita’s husband definitively reveals her true identity as God’s wife. As the Lord’s eternal consort, Sita can never have any other husband except God. Most of the world’s major religions give us some conception of God. They tell us that He is great. This is most certainly true, but the Vedas go one step further by enlightening us as to just how great He is. The Vedas tell us that Lord Krishna has thousands of names. Actually the entire list of names is impossible to count since God is all-powerful and all-attractive. Nevertheless, each of the provided names describes a specific personal feature. These names also prove that God is a person. An impersonal spirit can never be classified by different names because something that is impersonal, by definition, must be free of attributes. God has attributes, but they are not of this material world. He is completely spiritual, possessing an eternal body full of bliss and knowledge, sach-chid-ananda-vigraha. A few of Krishna’s names are Shripati, Madhava, and Shridhara. These all reference His eternal bond to Goddess Lakshmi. In Sanskrit, the word for husband is pati, which directly translates to lord or master. Krishna is the lord and master of Lakshmi.

God is known as the energetic, while His eternal consorts serve as His energy. They are considered part of His pleasure potency, hladini-shakti. We living entities are part of the Lord’s marginal energy. While we are elevated in a sense, Sita Devi is at the topmost level since she directly pleases God. For this reason, she is given the same respect as God Himself. Whenever we see pictures of Lord Krishna or His expansions such as Lord Vishnu or Lord Rama, They are always seen with Their pleasure potency expansion. Radha and Krishna, Lakshmi and Narayana, Sita and Rama; these are the deities that are worshiped by Vaishnavas.

Sita and Rama both had specific duties to perform during Their time on earth. One can only imagine how exalted a person Janaka was to have to Sita as a daughter. Through his piety and devotion, he had the wisdom and foresight to figure out how to find just the right husband for Sita Devi. Nothing makes devotees happier than to see Sita and Rama always together. Even though they were separated from each other several times due to the course of events, God actually never lives apart from His devotees.

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 6.30)

May King Janaka forever be praised for bringing the divine couple together. May the beautiful image of the marriage of Sita and Rama forever be imprinted in our minds.

Bitter Clingers

“Generally, the wealth of misers never allows them any happiness. In this life it causes their self-torment, and when they die it sends them to hell.” (Lord Krishna, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 11.23.15)

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that religion is just for those who are poor, or for those who are distrusting of others. “These people are unsuccessful in life, so in order to feel better, they took to religious life.” Some famous politicians refer to these types of people as “bitter clingers” who hang on to their guns and God as a way of coping with life. In reality, religion is for everyone, including those who are well-off.

It is the consensus opinion that material life should be considered successful if one becomes financially well-off. The entire school system is geared towards achieving this end. “Go to school, get into a good college, land a high paying job, and sustain you and your family with a nice salary. This is the path to success and happiness.” The World War II generation suffered through great hardships during their lifetime, including two world wars and a great economic depression. Times were tough, and the good life was never taken for granted. Having any steady job was considered a great reward. For this reason, future generations have tried their best to avoid suffering financial hardships. Politicians and societal leaders try their best to help the “little guy”. Economic policies all revolve around increasing growth and employment and enabling people to get high paying jobs.

Strangely enough, many followers of religion have also adopted this mindset. Religious leaders around the world extol the virtues of prayer. “If you want something, pray for it sincerely and maybe you will get it. Attend church, behave virtuously, and God will reward you with material success.” God is viewed as an order supplier; a person who can heal us and deliver our necessities. Religion is seen as the path to good fortune.

The modern day situation has thrown a monkey wrench into this view of religion. Due to the influence of Kali Yuga, more and more people today have no interest in religion. Strangely enough, it appears that this tendency towards adharma has not resulted in any negative consequences. Though economic times have been tough recently, the standard of living in America is as high as it has ever been. Even the average poor person today owns a house, a car, a few television sets, and an iPod. There is such an abundance of food that the federal government subsidizes farmers and advises them to limit crop production as a way of stabilizing prices.

With the current situation as it is, many people are led to ask the question, “Why do I need religion? I have a nice house, a good paying job, and a happy family life. I have been able to achieve all this success without any need for religion. Therefore spiritual life must not be very important. It only gives poor people false hope.” In reality, this line of thinking is actually correct when it comes to how religion is portrayed today. If God is viewed as an order supplier, and at the same time others can procure wealth without praying to Him, what need is there to be religious?

The Vedas give us the answer to this. Emanating from India, the Vedas are the original religious doctrine for all of mankind. Since each person possesses different qualities and attributes, the Vedas have separate branches, or departments, tailored for specific groups of people. Most of us are karmis by default. Karma is fruitive work done under regulative principles. Whatever my occupational duties are, I perform them to the best of my ability, and then enjoy the results of such work. In a broader sense, karma can also refer to any type of activity or action taken which is either performed for a desired result, or which has material reactions associated with it. By rule, every action we perform on the material level means there is a commensurate reaction. Sometimes we’ll see that certain people are prone to stealing and to cheating others. The laws of karma dictate that these same people will be cheated and stolen from in the future. Their impious deeds have negative reactions.

On the flip side, pious deeds have positive reactions attached to them. Similar to how religious leaders today recommend the process of prayer, the Vedas advise those seeking the four rewards of life: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, to take to the performance of yajna, or sacrifice. The Vedas tell us that there is only one God and that His original form is that of Lord Shri Krishna. Krishna then deputes elevated living entities known as demigods to manage the affairs of the material world. Through sacrifice, the demigods are propitiated. They then reward the performers of sacrifice with rain, which in turn is used for food production, which enables us to eat and maintain our lives.

“Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.22)

One may wonder how America can have such an abundant food supply when almost none of its citizens perform such sacrifices for the benefit of the demigods. The answer is that demigods certainly do provide us boons, but these rewards must be sanctioned by Krishna first. Moreover, all of our material fortunes and misfortunes are a result of our past karma and the karma of others. If we are well-off in this life, it must mean that we performed many great deeds in previous lives. Just as we make plans for the next day while falling asleep at night, every action we perform in our current life serves as preparation for our next life. Our desires at the time of death, along with the work we performed during our lifetime, determine what type of body we will receive in our next life. The Vedas tell us that our souls are eternal, but that our bodies are not. Death is actually just the changing of bodies, similar to how we change clothes after taking a shower.

Krishna, or God, not only supplies food to us humans, but He also maintains all the animals and plants of the world. The animal kingdom certainly doesn’t perform any sacrifices. They have absolutely no idea who God is, for their brain powers are limited. We human beings, the more intelligent species, are so puffed up with pride that we have the nerve to think that we are responsible for our wealth and good fortune. In essence, we think that we are God, since we take ourselves to be creators, proprietors, and destroyers. The reality is that we will be forced to die some day. All these same materials, which make up our possessions, existed on this earth for billions and billions of years prior to our birth, and they will continue to exist long after we are gone. In the grand scheme of things, our time on earth is tiny compared to the age of the universe. Our insignificance cannot be understated. Yet knowing these facts, many of us still think that God is just for the poor or for people who are in need of help in a material sense.

Just because we are well-off financially doesn’t mean that all our problems are solved either. We see that the wealthy are some of the most miserable people. Lord Krishna personally appeared on earth some five thousand years ago to kill the demon Kamsa and to enact wonderful pastimes in Vrindavana. Just prior to returning to the spiritual world, He gave a beautiful discourse on the meaning of life to His good friend Uddhava. Krishna explained that acquiring too much wealth can be very harmful to a person for two reasons. Firstly, the more wealth we acquire, the more we have to defend. A great example of this can be seen with cell phone technology. Competition between cell phone companies is fierce, so there are always new models of phones coming out, each having more and more features. Some of these phones are very nice and valuable, so the people who buy them want to do whatever they can to protect their precious toy. Buying a top of the line cell phone is not enough, for one must have a nice case for the phone that will give good protection. The same holds true with fancy sports cars. One must have a good insurance plan should anything happen to the car. The car also must be washed regularly and checked for nicks and scratches.

This attention to the mode of defense is not very good to us. Money is supposed to make us happy, but we see that the more possessions we acquire, the more miserly we become, as we are always on edge trying to make sure that we don’t lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. This mood of miserliness accounts for the second reason why too much wealth is bad for us. As stated before, every material action that we perform has a commensurate reaction that must bear fruit either in this life or in the afterlife. The Vedas tell us that being charitable is a great virtue. For every dollar we give in charity to a worthy recipient, we receive at least double that amount in a future life. In a similar manner, being miserly brings about negative karma. If we have loads and loads of money and simply hog it for ourselves, we will be forced to suffer in hell in the afterlife.

Thus we see that too much material success can lead to a hellish condition in both the current life and the afterlife. These facts alone should be enough to disprove the notion that religion is just for the poor. The question that may then be asked is, “If religion is not for procuring material benefits, what is it for?” This is the million dollar question. Actually, anyone who sincerely looks for an answer to this question will be guaranteed of success in spiritual life. The Vedas tell us that human life is not meant for driving a nice car, eating sumptuous food, or even enjoying unlimited sex life. Human beings are unique to all other species in that they have a high level of intelligence. This intelligence was given to us so that we could use it to know, understand, and love God.

Athato brahma-jijnasa, “Now is the time for inquiring about Brahman, or God.” Religion is for everyone. All of us should question what the meaning of life is. Material wealth comes and goes, as do our lives. There must be a higher purpose to our existence than the pursuit of mundane sense gratification, for even the animals get to enjoy that. The Vedas tell us that the eternal occupation of the soul is bhagavata-dharma, or devotional service to God. More than just a simple order supplier, God is our dearmost, ever well-wishing friend. He is the reservoir of all pleasure. This means that if we connect with Him, we will feel transcendental bliss. This is spiritual happiness and, unlike material sense gratification, it can last forever.

So how do we achieve this happiness? This blissful feeling comes from Krishna-prema, or love for God. We already have this love in our heart, for we are all originally companions of Krishna in the spiritual world. In order to rekindle that relationship, we need to engage in the processes of devotional service, the simplest of which is the chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Even if we live the most comfortable life, we are destined to give up all our possessions and family relationships at the time of death. Krishna is our eternal friend, and sincere service to Him brings immediate results. Serving Krishna means happiness in this life and the next. The spiritual world is not a pipe dream or some mental concoction, but rather it is where we are meant to live.

Service to Humanity

“The sufferings of humanity are due to forgetfulness of Krishna as the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor, and the supreme friend. Therefore, to act to revive this consciousness within the entire human society is the highest welfare work.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 5.25 Purport)

Comment: “I believe serving humanity is the best way to serve God.”

Response: Sometimes those who are unfamiliar with the true meaning of the Vedas, or those don’t believe that God has a name or a personal form, will take to philanthropy and other charitable work as a way of life. Viewed as service to humanity, this kind of welfare work seems appealing on the surface, but the Vedas tell us that the best way to serve all of mankind is to directly serve the Supreme Lord.

“A person engaged only in ministering to the physical welfare of human society cannot factually help anyone. Temporary relief of the external body and the mind is not satisfactory.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 5.25 Purport)

Service to humanity has limits. This is because at the core, philanthropy and other charitable acts all aim to please the body. In the Vedic discipline, the first instruction given to aspiring transcendentalists is that we are not our bodies, aham brahmasmi. We are spirit souls, part and parcel of God. The body is just a temporary covering composed of material elements made up of the qualities [gunas] of goodness, passion, and ignorance. This is the first instruction given to religious students because understanding this truth presents the biggest hurdle towards making real progress. By default, we all associate and identify with our body. We don’t know anything else, so why shouldn’t we think this way? However, if we apply a little intelligence, we see that our body keeps changing. We started off as a small pea inside the womb of our mother, and through the course of time we developed into full grown adults. Our bodies constantly go through changes, but our identity remains the same. This is because our true identity comes from the soul inside, atma. The soul is eternal, and does not go through birth or death.

“Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.17)

At the time of death, our current body is discarded and we are quickly given a new one. Therefore any intelligent person will not ascribe much importance to the gross material body since it is subject to destruction. Yet philanthropy and general service to humanity work solely on the material platform, aiming to please the demands of the body. The core of animal life consists of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Human beings also engage in these activities, though they manifest in different forms. Humans eat elaborately prepared meals, whereas animals eat whatever they can find in the forest or in the water. Human beings sleep on cushy mattresses while animals sleep on the bare ground. However, the humor is the same. There are varieties of dishes that one can eat, but the resulting pleasure doesn’t vary much at all.

If we study some of the common welfare activities of today, we’ll see that they primarily address the animalistic concerns of the human body. Feeding the hungry and the poor is a very common welfare activity. In America, some people are homeless and in need of a good home-cooked meal. Soup kitchens and food banks do their best to try to make sure that no one in America goes hungry. These are very noble intentions, but what is the result of such activities? If a hungry person is given food, it will certainly give their body pleasure and relief for a brief period of time, but then what? Are all of their problems solved? The animal kingdom actually has no worries for food since God provides everything they need to eat. Human beings are supposed to have a higher level of intelligence, so why would they worry so much about eating?

Another factor to consider is the type of food that is given in charity. The Vedas tell us that every activity done on the material platform, including eating, has karma associated with it. The material platform refers to the material world in which we live. It is classified as material because it has gunas, or qualities, associated with it. Also it is a temporary place full of miseries. The spiritual world is just the opposite since it is composed of God’s superior energy. Spirit is superior to matter because spirit is eternal, whereas matter is not.

“Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.20)

One may make the argument that since we are spirit souls living in the material world, how can this place be considered part of God’s inferior energy? The reason is that since we are constitutionally spirit, our natural home is in the spiritual world. Yet we are technically considered a separate expansion of God, jivatama. We are part of God’s marginal energy, meaning we have a choice as to whether we want to associate with His inferior or superior energy.

Material activities refer to anything that keeps one attached to this temporary material world. At the time of death, our work and our desires are measured, and we are given a new body in the next life. Performing material activity means doing things which cause us to take birth again in the material world. By default, all activity is considered material if it is done to satisfy our senses. Eating is included in this category. Therefore everything we eat has karma associated with it. If we feed the hungry with meat and other animal flesh, there is a negative karma that follows. Meat eating involves unnecessary violence towards animals. This naturally has negative karma associated with it, for one must suffer the consequences of the sin of unnecessary violence. These negative consequences don’t just attach to the killer of the animal, but also to the distributor and the eater of the animal flesh. Thus by feeding the hungry with meat, we are actually doing a disservice to them. Other activities such as opening hospitals, helping the poor with money, and searching for cures to common diseases also fall into the material category since they aim to please the body.

“It seems that all welfare activities are bad? What should we do with our time then? How do we help people?” The Vedas tell us that this human form of life is meant for understanding God. The consciousness at the time of death determines the next type of body for the spirit soul. If one elevates their consciousness to the spiritual platform, they are guaranteed to assume a spiritual body in the next life. Spiritual bodies reside in the spiritual world, i.e. God’s home. Once a spirit goes there, it never returns to the temporary material world.

“That supreme abode is called unmanifested and infallible, and it is the supreme destination. When one goes there, he never comes back. That is My supreme abode.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.21)

So how do we elevate our consciousness? The Vedas recommend that we practice bhakti yoga, or devotional service. Though it can be classified as a method of self-realization, the spirit soul is actually naturally inclined to serve God in a loving way. Every person believes in God at their core, but this belief and love is currently in a dormant state due to the effects of material nature. By following the regulative principles of bhakti yoga in the beginning stages, this love for God can slowly be aroused. Bhakti yoga is not just a religious practice, but a way of life. Religious leaders around the world recommend that we attend church once a week. Well if thinking about God once a week is a good thing, wouldn’t it be even better to think about Him every day? This is what will truly make us happy. Our life should be adjusted in such a way that we can always be thinking about God.

“If we engage in religious activity all the time, how will we maintain our lives? Don’t we have to work to maintain our families?” The beauty of devotional service is that it doesn’t require renunciation of activity. Bhakti yoga is very comprehensive and can entail many different processes, but the recommended method for this age is the constant chanting of the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Krishna and Rama are names of God and Hare refers to His energy potency; Radharani, Sita, Lakshmi, etc. Chanting is so nice because anybody can do it, at any time, and at any place. Thus we can continue our occupational duties and still remain fixed on the transcendental platform.

Not only should we chant to ourselves, but we should induce others to connect with God through the bhakti yoga process. In addition to regular chanting, devotees are advised to avoid the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex. These principles can be taught to any person, regardless of their religious affiliation, skin color, or nationality. God is one, so chanting His name is something anyone can do. The Vedas tell us that Krishna is God’s original name, meaning He who is all-attractive. Inducing others to take up devotional service is the highest benefit to mankind since it helps souls return to the spiritual world.

“The rewards of your service to humanity can only be seen in the afterlife, which is something we can’t even be sure of. Ordinary service to humanity, such as charity and feeding the poor, produces immediate results that we can see.” Actually, we don’t have to wait for the afterlife to see the benefits of bhakti yoga. Since God is the creator of everything, He is the source of the humanity that we aim to please. By serving God, we automatically serve all things related to Him. It is similar to how we feed plants. We pour water on the roots of a plant since this means that all the branches and leaves will automatically be fed. To serve the body, we must supply food to the mouth, which transports the food to the stomach. The stomach then evenly distributes nutrients to the rest of the body. Our arms and legs are certainly parts of our body, but we would never think of trying to intake food through these body parts, for they wouldn’t know what to do with the food we were giving them. In a similar manner, the material creation, which includes humanity, the animal kingdom, plants, and aquatics, can only be properly served by bhakti yoga, or devotional service.

“How does bhakti yoga solve problems such as infidelity, violence against women, poverty, etc.?” If we study any common problem in the material world, we will see that the root cause is mankind’s forgetfulness of God. For example, divorce, abortion, and teenage pregnancy all are caused by illicit sex life. Illicit sex is strictly prohibited for devotees, meaning that those who practice bhakti yoga will never have to deal with the resulting problems. If we study the poverty rates in America, we see that the chances of ending up poor are greatly diminished if a person graduates high school, waits until they are married before they have children, and then remains married.

Service to God automatically addresses these issues. The Vedas consist not only of religious sentiment, but are themselves a comprehensive intellectual pursuit. Great scholars and academics have studied important Vedic texts for thousands of years. Vedic guidelines recommend that a person get married as soon as there is any inkling for sex life. Instead of the misery that results from free intermingling between men and women, getting married early on in life under religious principles ensures a happy and successful marriage. Householder life is actually referred to as a spiritual institution, the grihastha-ashrama, in the Vedas. The husband and wife are advised to focus their attention on God, and to perform all religious activities together in the hopes of advancing in spiritual life. Married couples are advised to only have sex for procuring children. In this way, we see that following the regulative principles of bhakti yoga can help people avoid the major problems of the day.

“But why should we worship one particular God, Krishna, when we can worship and serve the entire whole, which is represented by all of mankind?” God is a person. Since He is the source of everything spiritual, He himself is also a spirit. Therefore we are equal to God in a qualitative sense, yet different in a quantitative sense. This simultaneous oneness and difference is referred to as achintya-bhedabheda-tattva by Lord Chaitanya. The complete whole of mankind and material creation, as we see it, is only one of God’s features, known as Brahman. Impersonalists mistakenly believe that Brahman is the highest spiritual realization, but actually Brahman itself has a guiding force, the Supreme Soul.

“The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O son of Bharata.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 14.3)

Paramatma is God’s expansion as the Supersoul residing within the hearts of every living entity. The Supersoul acts as an impartial witness. Since it is a direct representation of God, it is not subject to the bewilderment or illusion caused by material nature. Paramatma is an expansion of God, meaning it has a source which expanded to create it. This source is Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhagavan is God; the supreme person who has forms, pastimes, and spiritual qualities. The beauty of chanting Hare Krishna is that it directly addresses Bhagavan in a loving way. Impersonalists love to recite om instead of Hare Krishna because they refuse to believe that God has a name or a form. Om is certainly a spiritual vibration, but it also was created by God to be used in Vedic mantras and hymns.

“O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 7.8)

The best way to serve humanity is to chant God’s names, induce others to chant, and to distribute as much Krishna prasadam as possible. As God is worshipable, so is His food. Prasadam is food in the mode of goodness, prepared specifically for the Lord. Offered with love and devotion, this food is then returned to us by God for us to enjoy. This simple formula of chanting and prasadam distribution will benefit all of mankind.

A Suitable Husband

“O supreme eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Maharaja, Krishna.” (Gopis praying to Goddess Katyayani, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 22)

When a young girl reaches an age suitable for marriage, it is natural for her father to feel apprehension. Fathers generally have great affection for their daughters since it is their duty to provide full protection to the girl in her youth. In the Vedic tradition, when a girl gets married, she is given away to the husband and her family. In essence, she relinquishes ties to her birth parents and creates new ones with her husband’s family. Thus it is imperative for a father to find a husband who will provide complete protection for his daughter.

In any civilized society, it is seen that the women and children are catered to first. There is even a saying for this, “Women and children first”. This rule applies to emergency situations. If there is a fire or other major emergency relating to life and death, it is the standard etiquette to first ensure the safety of the children and then the women. By nature, women are the fairer sex and also the mothers of society. If we see a family where the children are well behaved and pious, it is to be understood that their mother must have done a good job in raising them. The mother carries the child in the womb for nine months and then looks after the child during the crucial early years. A peaceful society can only come about if there are good parents to guide the children. At the same time, women must be protected; otherwise there will be major problems.

“When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vrishni, comes unwanted progeny.” (Arjuna speaking to Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 1.40)

If the women in society are not protected, one of the negative consequences is the unnatural rise of illicit sex. In the Vedic definition, there are many categories of sins and various definitions of what activities constitute sin. Nevertheless, there are four primary activities which are considered most sinful. By sins, we mean anything that keeps us bound to the repeated cycle of birth and death; something that keeps us away from the righteous path. Our current life is by no means our first one. The gross material body is temporary. It has a time of creation which we refer to as birth. The body also has a time of destruction which we know as death. Throughout this time, our original identity as spirit soul is unchanged. The soul is eternal, but the body is not. The type of birth we have is determined by our qualities and desires. In a nutshell, if we want to remain in the material world, God lets us do so. A sober person will realize that true happiness can never be achieved through mundane sense gratification. The spiritual realm is our true home. If we have a sincere desire to return back to home, back to Godhead, then God will gladly take us there. In this regard, sinful activity is anything which keeps us from achieving the ultimate perfection of life, that of becoming God conscious.

“For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pritha, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 12.6-7)

The four biggest impediments to spiritual advancement are meat eating, intoxication, gambling, and illicit sex. Of these four, illicit sex is the biggest obstacle since sex represents the highest form of material sense gratification. For this reason, illicit sex should be avoided at all costs. Sex desire naturally exists, so it doesn’t have to be completely eliminated, but rather it should be controlled. Regulated sex life is allowed through the institution of marriage. In novels and cinema, marriage is depicted as an institution of romantic love, but in actuality it is a completely religious institution, aimed at providing spiritual enlightenment. In the Vedic system, a person’s life should be divided into four stages. These stages are called ashramas since they are meant to provide gradual spiritual enlightenment. Married life is the second time period, known as the grihastha-ashrama. If people are married as soon as they have any inkling for sex desire, there is no question of illicit sex. Today, however, this situation doesn’t hold true. Men and women have the independence to freely intermingle. While on the surface this may seem like a good thing, its major pitfall is that illicit sex becomes rampant.

Sex desire is especially strong in men. The idea of men wanting to “sow their wild oats” is not just a myth. Sex desire is very strong and it is also very hard to satisfy. In today’s world, it is quite common to see men jumping from one sex partner to another. In many instances, a person is lauded for his ability to “score” with girls. These “ladies men” actually cheat other women since all they are looking for is sex. A man meets a woman and then tries his best to woo her into having sex with him. After having sex, the man feels no obligation to ever talk to the woman again. If the woman should accidentally get pregnant, she is left to beg for child support or money from the government to help her raise her child. This type of behavior isn’t even seen in the animal society. Animals have no care for decorum or rules of propriety. They will have sex with pretty much anyone and everyone. Nevertheless, we still see that the male animals will often take care of their consorts should the female get pregnant.

The human society is supposed to be a civilized one. We have a much higher level of intelligence than the animals. This heightened brain power should be used to cultivate spiritual knowledge. In Sanskrit, the scriptures are referred to as the shastras, meaning that which governs. It is man’s duty to act in a regulated manner; otherwise he is no different than the animals.

“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 6.16)

It is quite common to see that those who are expert in scoring with women are also expert in lying. Great politicians have become notorious for their philandering ways. This shouldn’t be surprising. These same politicians are experts at lying to their constituents and cheating others out of their hard earned money. It makes sense that they would have no respect for their wives or the women they use for sex.

Fathers are men after all. They know better than anybody else just how vulnerable unmarried women are. This underscores the importance of finding a suitable husband for the daughter and getting her married as soon as possible. This was the situation presented before Maharaja Janaka of Mithila many thousands of years ago. Through his good fortune, he found a young girl one day while ploughing a field. The girl was none other than the goddess of fortune herself, Lakshmiji, appearing on earth in human form. Janaka immediately took the girl in as his daughter and named her Sita since she was born of the earth.

“After seeing that I had reached an age suitable for giving me away to a proper husband in marriage, my father became overcome with fear and anxiety, like a man who was about to become poor. Even if a father be like Indra himself on this earth, he obtains ill treatment from the people in general, both subordinates and superiors, if he keeps his daughter unmarried. Realizing that this precarious situation was not too far off, the king became lost in an ocean of anxiety and could not cross it, like one who has no raft.” (Sita Devi speaking to Anasuya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.34-36)

Sita Devi was perfect in every regard. She was actually a devotee all her life. People may have different standards for judging character and for rating another person’s piety, but in the Vedic tradition, those who are pure devotees of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are viewed with the highest respect. Pure devotion to God doesn’t come easily, so those who exude such characteristics should be considered first class. Janaka didn’t know that Sita was Lakshmi, but he still understood just how great a daughter he had. For this reason, he found it very difficult to find a suitable husband for her. He thought to himself, “My daughter is perfect in every regard. I can’t think of anyone who would be a suitable husband for her. She is also my life and soul, and if I lose her, I will have nothing. Nevertheless, if my daughter is of age and still remains unmarried, I will be ridiculed throughout society.” Since the kings belonged to the kshatriya class, it was their duty to provide protection for all the citizens and to also set a good example. Honor and reputation meant everything to the kings. Janaka didn’t think anyone was worthy of marrying Sita, but he resolved to get her married anyway since that would maintain the good reputation of his kingdom and all his ancestors.

For her marriage, Janaka decided that he would hold a grand ceremony where princes would be called to come and try to lift the bow of Lord Shiva. The bow had been given to Janaka on a previous occasion and it was considered impossible to lift and string. This way, even if no one were to lift the bow, at least Janaka would be saved from ridicule. The result of this plan was that Janaka received Lord Rama as a son-in-law. Lord Krishna had incarnated at the same time as Lakshmi, appearing as the pious prince of Ayodhya named Rama, the eldest son of Maharaja Dasharatha.

Among many other things, God is the ultimate protector. One who takes shelter of His lotus feet will never have to worry about anything ever again.

"Give up all varieties of religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear." (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.66)

Due to his love and affection for Sita, Janaka found the ultimate protector for his daughter. The lesson here is that we should all follow Janaka’s example by leading our dependents towards God. Though it may not be possible to receive Lord Rama as a husband, Lord Krishna in His original form can accept an unlimited number of wives. All women should accept Krishna as their husband, and thus they will always be protected. This was the behavior of the gopis of Vrindavana. As young girls, they visited the temple of Goddess Durga and prayed to have Lord Krishna as their husband. Though they were never formally married, through their personal dealings with the Lord, they had a relationship far more intimate than that of a ordinary marriage.

Janaka was a great king and great devotee of God. His affection for God and His devotees gave him the intelligence to find the perfect husband for Sita. If we are devoted to God, we can rest assured that we will always find Him wherever we turn.

Easily Illusioned

“O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy [maya], that reflection which appears to be in darkness.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.34)

One of the most harmful aspects of material life is that it can never be satisfying enough. Material life means associating with maya, or God’s energy which pervades the material creation. Maya tells us that we will be happy trying to satisfy our senses through various activities, thus tempting us into taking up sinful activity. Not only do sins carry negative future consequences, but they have an inherent illusory aspect. This illusion clouds our minds and leads us astray from the path of righteousness, or dharma. If sinful activity continues unchecked, it can lead to our demise.

Dharma means religion, religiosity, or righteousness. There can be different duties for different people based on time and circumstance, but the underlying system of spiritual life is known as sanatana-dharma, or the eternal occupation of man. The Vedas tell us that the eternal dharma is something that never changes, meaning man has only one primary duty in life; that of reconnecting with God. Sometimes people shy away from religion or religious life because they don’t like the rules and regulations associated with it. On the surface, it appears that religion punishes people for no reason. “All the pain and suffering that goes with religious life, why would I want to subject myself to that? Life should be fun, and I don’t want to waste my time punishing myself.” In reality, dharma exists to make our life fun. What we currently view as fun, material life and sinful activity, actually causes us great harm in the end.

There are various definitions for what actually constitutes sinful activity or sinful life, but at its core, a sin is something that goes against scriptural injunctions. Sins have negative reactions attached to them, such as punishment in hellish planets in the afterlife, but the most detrimental part of sinful life is that it causes one to be bound to the cycle of birth and death. Our soul is eternal, but our body is not. The activities of this life are a preparation for the next life. In the same way that we make plans for the next day, week, and month in our day-to-day affairs, the aggregate total of our actions in this life works towards developing the type of body we receive in the next life. Our consciousness, developed by our work and desires, at the time of death determines where are soul will next end up.

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

At the time of death, if our consciousness in on the spiritual platform, i.e. things relating to Krishna or one of His expansions, we assume a spiritual body in the next life. A spiritual body is a requirement for those desiring residence on a spiritual planet. Spiritual planets are free of miseries and suffering, and they are eternal. Just the opposite is true with the material planets. The repeated performance of sinful activity causes our consciousness at the time of death to be on material things. The four primary sinful activities are meat eating, intoxication, gambling, and illicit sex. The negative reactions to these activities are easily perceptible. Meat eating involves unnecessary violence towards animals, gambling involves some sort of cheating, intoxication removes our cleanliness both within and without, and illicit sex causes us to be attached to sex life. These four activities are the most harmful because they keep the mind attached to the temporary, miserable world.

“The material atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called maya, or illusion. Maya means "that which is not." And what is this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the all-powerful master, he is said to be in illusion.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Science of Self-Realization, Ch 5c)

Maya is known as God’s illusory energy because she entices us into acting sinfully. Illusion means taking something to be what it is not. Since maya causes us to be bound to the cycle of birth and death, she is the cause of misery. However, her true illusion lies in the fact that she makes us think we’ll be happy by associating with her. Modern society is a perfect illustration of this fact. As time continues to pass from the beginning of creation, man’s affinity for adharma, or irreligion, steadily increases. We are currently in the last of the four Yugas, Kali Yuga, so we see that adherence to dharma is minimal. This means that sinful activity is rampant. Due to our rebellious nature, we are constantly trying to introduce more and more sinful activity into our daily lives.

Modern society is practically a sinner’s paradise. Many people think that Christians or other religious groups are on the rise today, but one look at the current situation in America disproves this notion. Millions of animals are killed in the slaughterhouses each year, including poor innocent cows. Religious leaders raise no objection to these activities. Gambling is so rampant that many state governments actually promote it since it brings in higher tax revenues. Intoxication is so widespread that there are growing movements to legalize more forms of it, such as marijuana use. Illicit sex is not restricted in any way. Men and women freely intermingle, and if a woman happens to get pregnant by accident, there is no hesitation in killing the unborn child in the womb through the abortion process. In many states, men can marry men and women can marry women without a problem. Marriage is actually a religious institution created by God as a way to curb sex life, but modern society has made up its own definition and use for it.

The atheists and those committed to adharma should be thrilled with the current situation. They’ve gotten everything they wanted. Since there is virtually no self-policing with regards to sinful activity, everyone should be happy, no? Well we see that this is obviously not the case. If anything, people are more unhappy today than they have ever been. The political landscape proves this notion. The country has jumped from one party to another. The State of the Union Addresses given by presidents are eagerly anticipated, for people are looking for anything to bring them out of their misery. Others are constantly worrying that all of their wealth and possessions will disappear in an instant through economic forces. Others are worried their life of sense gratification will come to an end.

So we see that addiction to sinful activity actually proves to be more harmful than beneficial. This is proof of the illusion. It is similar to how young children complain about the rules imposed by the parents. Good parents force their children to regulate their eating, sleeping, and leisure habits. Meals must be eaten on time, junk food must be avoided, and television viewing is regulated. The current societal predicament is equivalent to putting the children in charge of the house. If the kids were to run things, they would eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Ice cream, candy, and pizza would be served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Adult movies and video games would be on the television day and night. Everyone would go to sleep very late, for there would be no benefit to sleeping on time and getting up early. This life seems appealing to children, but if they were left in charge, they would soon suffer misery as a result of their unregulated activities. This is how maya works. If we associate with her, we will never be satisfied, and in the end, we will meet with doom.

A great example of this was seen many thousands of years ago, during the Treta Yuga, which is the second time period of creation. A Rakshasa demon by the name of Ravana had ascended to power. After performing great austerities, he pleased the demigods and received material benedictions from them. Ravana became so powerful that no one could defeat him in battle. He set up a kingdom on the island of Lanka where he and his fellow Rakshasas dedicated their lives to sinful activity. Lanka, like society today, was a sinner’s paradise. On one occasion Lord Hanuman, the great devotee of Lord Rama, travelled through Ravana’s kingdom. The Sundara-kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana details what Hanuman saw. Lanka was full of opulence, with many beautiful palaces made of gold. Ravana himself had hundreds of beautiful wives. Everyone was always drunk off wine, with many of the women falling asleep on each other since they were so intoxicated. Ravana himself used to drink wine into the wee hours of the night and enjoy sex life with all his queens. Rakshasas also were dedicated meat eaters. They would range the night and kill great sages and then eat their flesh.

To give protection to the saintly class, Lord Krishna came to earth as Lord Rama, a gallant and brave kshatriya warrior. To protect the sages from the Rakshasas, Rama roamed the forests of India for a brief period of time, accompanied by His wife, Sita Devi, and younger brother, Lakshmana. On one occasion, Ravana’s sister went to Rama’s cottage and propositioned Him. An argument ensued with Lakshmana eventually disfiguring her. She then returned to Lanka and told her brother what happened. Ravana then sent 14,000 Rakshasas to attack Rama. The Lord single-handedly killed all of them without any effort. One of the Rakshasas, Akampana, escaped and returned to Lanka and told Ravana what had transpired. He warned Ravana not to attack Rama, for the demon would be easily defeated in battle. Instead, he advised Ravana to try to kidnap Rama’s beautiful wife, Sita.

“O Ravana, you will see your city of Lanka, which currently is filled with great palatial buildings bedecked with jewels, devastated on account of your desire to kidnap Maithili (Sita).” (Maricha speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 38.25)

Ravana liked this idea and went to his advisor, Maricha, to see if he could help. In the above referenced statement, Maricha is sternly warning Ravana against such a plan. He knew that if Ravana were to kidnap Sita, Rama would march to Lanka and destroy Ravana and his city. This is a great example of how maya works. Ravana had every material opulence imaginable. No demigod could defeat him in battle; he had all the wine he could ever want, and he had hundreds of beautiful queens. Yet simply by hearing of Sita’s beauty, he became deadest of committing the most heinous of crimes. This is the allure of illicit sex, the most dangerous of all sinful activities.

It was all because of one woman that Ravana lost everything. Though Ravana didn’t take his advice, Maricha’s words would hold true, as Rama would indeed end up killing Ravana in retaliation for Sita’s kidnap. Rama destroyed everything that Ravana worked so hard to achieve. The lessons from Ravana’s life are many, the most important of which is that sinful activity should be curbed. Does this mean we should simply sit quietly and renounce all activity? We can certainly try this method, but it will be very difficult to perform. This is because it is the inherent nature of the soul to be active and to want variety in its activities. An easier way to avoid sinful life is to take to bhakti yoga, or devotional service.

The beauty of devotional service is that it not only helps us avoid sinful life, but it reconnects us with God. This is its primary function. Everything directly related to God is spiritual. The Supreme Lord is referred to as Bhagavan, meaning one who possesses all opulences and fortunes. Anything directly related to Him or His service is known as bhagavata. Devotional service is thus known as bhagavata-dharma because of its relation to Bhagavan, or God. There are nine different processes of devotional service, with chanting and hearing being the foremost among them. Hearing about God and regularly reciting His name will make us happier and happier, and help us prepare our spiritual body for the next life. There is nothing illusory about activities in devotional service, for the results come as advertised.

Back on Earth

"The transcendental qualities of Shri Krishna are completely blissful and relishable. Consequently Lord Krishna’s qualities attract even the minds of self-realized persons from the bliss of self-realization.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 17.139)

Question: “Don’t the moon landings and other scientific discoveries debunk Vedic science?”

Answer: The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that demigods, or elevated living entities, manage the affairs of material creation. These demigods possess extraordinary powers, and so they are given extraordinary bodies like planets, stars, etc. The Vedas tell us that each of the major planets in the universe has a presiding deity, including even the sun and the moon. Yet scientific advancements such as the moon landing and the Mars rover seem to go against the authorized statements of the Vedas. Upon landing on the moon, the astronauts did not see a presiding deity nor did they find any life. Regardless, this does not mean that the Vedas are wrong.

Vedic science tells us that the material world is governed by three gunas, or material qualities. There is a difference between matter and spirit. Spirit is the guiding force, while matter itself is dull and lifeless. Spirits souls are expansions of God, and they are thus eternal. Matter, on the other hand, is temporary. The material world was created by God to be a sort of playground for the spirit souls; a place where they could dominate matter. To take birth in the material world, a spirit soul must be placed in a body composed of matter. These bodies are made up of various combinations of the three modes of nature: goodness, passion, and ignorance. The soul transmigrates from one species to another, life after life, due to activities and desires. These two things, guna and karma, determine what type of body, or species, a spirit soul is placed into in its next life.

Human beings are one of the more advanced species due to their possessing a high level of intelligence. Animals can’t really think beyond eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Human beings have the ability to hanker, lament, and more importantly, contemplate the meaning of life and why they are put on earth. Yet human beings aren’t the only advanced species. The Vedas tell us that there are up to 8,400,000 varieties of life forms. The demigods, or devatas, are highly advanced living entities who are given bodies possessing extraordinary powers. Human beings are all equal in a spiritual sense, but physically there are differences. Some are stronger than others, some are shorter, while some have a higher level of intelligence. In a similar manner, other species also have unique features. An eagle has amazing eyesight. It can see something which is hundreds of miles away very clearly. Dogs and other animals have unique abilities to smell and hear. Pet owners often use dog whistles which are nothing more than sound generating devices. These sounds are barely audible to human beings even though the dogs can hear them.

Since we don’t possess the eyesight of eagles, or the hearing ability of dogs, does it mean that their powers don’t exist? Most people would take this to be a faulty conclusion. Dogs can certainly hear the sounds generated by dog whistles, for they immediately stop what they are doing when these sounds are triggered. Each species has certain trademark characteristics because of the type of body they possess. For example, aquatics live in the water, while humans live on land. If we reversed the situation, both species would die. Thus we see that God gives each living entity a body commensurate with their desires and past karma.

The presiding deities of the sun, moon, earth, and other planets also have specific bodies suitable for their activities. The Vedas tell us that there are five primary material elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Depending on the specific planet or geographic location within a planet, one element can be found in abundance over the others. We see that the earth is mostly covered by water. In a similar manner, fire is dominant on the sun. For this reason, the sun-god, Surya, has a body composed of fire. This is something we cannot understand, for if our body were to be covered by fire, we would die instantly. The sun-god and the moon-god certainly do exist, but we do not have the eyes to see them.

“In the Third Canto of Shrimad-Bhagavatam we are informed that those who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death. These elevated souls live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking soma-rasa. They eventually return to earth. This means that on the moon there are higher classes of living beings, though they may not be perceived by the gross senses.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 8.25 Purport)

This may seem like a cop out. “Well isn’t that convenient? The Vedas tell us one thing, material science debunks it, and then you tell us that our eyes aren’t capable of seeing these invisible gods. Why can’t you just admit that the Vedas are wrong?” Actually, the presence of the moon-god or sun-god is not very difficult to believe. For example, we could never live in the water since it is not our natural habitat. We could put on some scuba gear and try to artificially remain in the water, but that would be going against nature. In a similar manner, we’re not meant to live on the moon in our current body. We can certainly go there with spaceships, spacesuits, and oxygen masks, but again this is not natural.

“A karmi may work very hard to acquire a million dollars, but as soon as he gets a million dollars he desires another million. For the karmis, there is no end of desire. The more the karmi gets, the more he desires.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 19.149 Purport)

The Vedas provide very limited information on material science because in reality, such information is useless. Modern science is actually God’s gift to the karmis. Since the material world is a place governed by karma, those who choose to remain here are known as karmis, or fruitive workers. Fruitive action is quite simple. We perform such and such activity in hopes of procuring such and such fruit, or reward. The basis for this activity is our desire to imitate God or simply to satisfy our senses. The Supreme Lord creates, maintains, and destroys, so we have a desire to act in a similar manner. Of course we are not God, so we are incapable of creating in the same way that He does. Nevertheless, since the Lord doesn’t want to stand in the way of our independence, He created this material world. Here we can pretend to create, maintain, and destroy. We build advanced machinery, procure great amounts of wealth to maintain our families, and also destroy other living entities such as cows, chickens, and other animals.

This is actually pretend activity because unlike God, we are forced to die and then take birth again. The Supreme Lord is the creator of the material world, which is governed by His illusory energy known as maya. Therefore He can never associate with maya nor can He be subject to her control. Since we have the faulty desire to imitate God, we are ripe for the picking as far as maya is concerned. Mankind’s flawed desire to imitate God is the driving force behind modern day material science.

“So are you saying that all science is bad?” The issue is not about good or bad. The Vedas give us very limited information as far as the workings of the universe go. Vedic information tells us that Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, expands Himself into various Vishnu forms who then create the universe. Then elevated living entities, the demigods, are put in charge of running everything from generating offspring to managing the food supply. This concise information is not meant to whet our appetite for knowledge, but rather as a way to keep us focused on the real aim of human life. The Vedas tell us that the human form of life is most auspicious because humans have the ability to know, understand, and love God. Those who develop a love for God and think of Him at the time of death never have to return to the material world.

“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.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.9)

Human beings are meant to study spiritual science and not material science. Learning about the soul and its relationship with God brings one closer to achieving perfection in life. Material science, on the other hand, brings one further and further away from Krishna’s eternal abode. God is so kind that He facilitates everyone’s desire. All the major scientific achievements of the recent past actually came from God. Atheistic scientists love to discover new things that prove that man can control nature, so God gladly gives them little discoveries from time to time to maintain their faithless attitude towards Him. The moon landing is a great example of this. God basically says, “Ok, you want material advancement? Go ahead and land on the moon. This will further bewilder you into thinking that I don’t exist. In this way, you can keep trying to pick off other aspects of the material creation and remove Me as the cause. In the end, however, your efforts will come up short because you will be forced to give up your current body and then accept a new one at the time of death.”

This is an important lesson. What do these scientific advancements bring us? A longer life? Material comforts? These things can be acquired without the help of material science. Lord Brahma, the great demigod and creator of everything on this planet, lives for billions of years without the aid of any scientific advancement. Many animals also live very peaceful and happy lives. Pigs spend all their time playing with and eating their own stool. We would never think of doing such a thing, but pigs love it. There is even a common expression that people use which compares their happiness to that of a pig’s while it is in stool.

Material scientists aren’t the only people who endeavor for material perfection or powers. Yoga originated from the Vedas as well. Unlike the gymnastics postures and breathing exercises of today, real yoga means achieving communion of the soul with God. There are different ways to achieve this link, with the meditational yoga system being one of the prominent ones. Meditational yoga, when practiced properly, can reward the practitioner with a variety of siddhis, or perfections. An expert yogi can become minute in stature, very light, or even very heavy.

“Having received the permission of Narada, Shukadeva, the son of the Island-born Vyasadeva, saluted the celestial Narada Muni and once more set himself to performing yoga and entered the element of space. Ascending then from the breast of the Kailasa mountain, he soared into the sky. Capable of traversing through the welkin, the blessed Shukadeva, of fixed conclusion, then identified himself with the element of wind.” (Mahabharata)

Some yogis can actually leave their bodies and travel through space. This was the case several thousand years ago with Shukadeva Goswami, the son of Vyasadeva. In the Mahabharata, there are stories relating to Shukadeva and his yogic perfection. Yet Shukadeva Goswami is not famous for his practice of meditational yoga, but rather for his narration of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, or Bhagavata Purana. Shukadeva Goswami achieved probably the highest material perfection in being able to travel through space, but the happiness he derived from that was short-lived. For this reason, he took to bhakti yoga, or devotional service to Krishna instead. This is man’s real business. We are meant to learn about God, and to then use that knowledge to serve Him in a loving way. Since this is our eternal occupation, it is the only thing that can make us truly happy.

Some people might scoff at the idea of a personal being able to fly through space. They take the authorized statements of the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Mahabharata to be mythology. Even though people might not want to believe that Shukadeva was capable of this yogic perfection, it is still undoubtedly true that material scientists today are working very hard to achieve the very same power. What if they were to get it? What if someone came out with an invention today that would let man go anywhere they wanted to at the speed of the mind? Would this make us happy? We may find it intriguing or fun for a little while, but then what would we do? The problems of birth, old age, disease, and death certainly wouldn’t be stopped. The result would be that material scientists would forge ahead looking for the next big discovery in hopes of finding the permanent happiness which eludes them.

We should take note of the lesson taught to us by Shukadeva Goswami. Real happiness can only come from devotional service. Lord Shiva, Hanuman, Prahlada, Janaka, and other countless Vaishnava authorities all tell us to look to God for happiness. In our spiritual pursuits, we should not get distracted by scientific advancements. Devotional service brings pure bliss and happiness. Taking up the regular chanting of “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” is the best adjustment we can make. Krishna is the long lost treasure we’ve been looking for.

A Good Mother

“I was then placed under the care of the chief queen, the pious Sunayana. That highly-esteemed lady raised me with the love and affection of a mother.” (Sita Devi speaking to Anasuya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.33)

In this passage, Sita Devi is describing the circumstances of her birth and how she became the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Many many thousands of years ago, Janaka ruled over the kingdom of Mithila along with his wife Sunayana. The couple were childless until one day when Janaka found a little baby girl on a field that he intended to plough. The child was none other than the goddess of fortune, Lakshmiji, appearing in human form. Janaka immediately had an attachment to her and decided that he would raise her as his daughter. This was a joyful day not only for Janaka, but also for his wife. It is the dream of every queen to have a nice child to look after and care for. Being gifted with a daughter was a special bonus for Sunayana.

The mother-daughter relationship is one of the more unique relationship paradigms. Nothing can compare to it, for the mother-son, father-daughter, and even father-son relationships are completely different. It is usually the case that mothers care for their sons by smothering them with love. The famous television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond illustrates this phenomenon. The mother on show, Marie Barone, has a special fondness for her youngest son, a thirty-something Ray Barone. She takes her motherly duties very seriously. She involves herself in every aspect of her son’s life, making sure that Ray’s wife is serving him properly. Marie also makes sure that everyone in the family is well fed. Though a fictional television series, the episodes mimic the typical mother-son relationships that exist in real life.

The mother-daughter relationship is usually quite different. Girls face unique challenges while growing up, especially physiologically. The mother is there to guide the daughter and deal with any issues that come up. The mother was once a young girl herself, so she can provide better insights in these areas than a father can. A good mother is also a veteran of married life, so she knows how to properly care for young children and how to maintain a happy home. In the Vedic tradition, these duties take on an added importance since the husband generally takes charge of earning money for the family. Women of the Vedic tradition are perfect in every regard. Though they traditionally never received an education, they were by no means unintelligent. Sunayana especially had a firm grasp of the proper duties of a wife. Her topmost trait however, was her devotion to God. Both she and Janaka focused their lives on service to God.

King Janaka belonged to a long line of pious kings, each of whom was also known by the name of Janaka. During his reign in the Treta Yuga, man was pious for the most part. Kings had specific duties they were entrusted with, the foremost of which was the protection of the citizens. Violence is required on certain occasions, and the kshatriya kings were the ones required to use said violence to maintain law and order. In Sanskrit, the scriptures are known as shastra (pronounced shaah-stra), which means “that which governs”. The Vedic scriptures provide great detail in how a kingdom should be governed. It is the duty of the kshatriya king to abide by the shastras, and to also use shastra (pronounced shuss-tra) to punish those who violate the rules of the scriptures.

On the home front, it was the duty of the queen to manage the affairs of the home. While young boys would go off to be trained with a guru, or spiritual master, the girls would stay at home and remain under the care of the parents until they reached an age appropriate for marriage. Sita Devi’s childhood was no different in this regard. Yet just because she was at home, it didn’t mean that she didn’t get an education. As Stia Devi mentios above, she was raised by Sunayana with the tenderness of a mother. This affection was shown in the form of education on proper etiquette and codes of conduct. Brahmanas, or the priestly class of men, would regularly visit Janaka’s kingdom. Not only would they visit, but they would provide counsel on all matters to the royal order. One of the primary areas of concern for any any parent is the proper upbringing of their children. For this reason, brahmanas would be called to come and look at Sita Devi and predict her future. Sita remembered everything the brahmanas would tell her mother. In this sense, she was the perfect devotee, for she had an eager desire to hear Vedic knowledge. Above all other processes, hearing is the most effective way to transmit and take in knowledge about Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Though this fact may seem controversial in this day and age, the Vedic tradition is that typically the men would learn all about the Vedas by taking instruction from a guru. Women would learn from their parents in their youth and then from their husbands in adulthood. There is no better example of this principle in practice than the marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva is known as Mahadeva, or the great demigod. Though classified as a demigod, he is actually sort of in between a demigod and God Himself. He is considered a great Vaishnava, for he spends all his time meditating on the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu, who is God Himself. Parvati is the daughter of the mountain king, Himavat. In her youth, she performed unprecedented levels of austerity for the sole purpose of having Lord Shiva as a husband. Her wish came true and the two have since enjoyed wedded bliss. From reading the Ramacharitamanasa of Tulsidas, we can see how their relationship is an example of a perfect marriage. One day Lord Shiva decided he would recite the story of the life and pastimes of Lord Rama, Krishna’s incarnation appearing on earth during the Treta Yuga. Mother Parvati took on the role of a disciple, attentively listening to every word from her husband and humbly submitting any questions she had.

This is the behavior of an ideal married couple. The husband makes sure to gain a firm grasp of Vedic knowledge, so that he can then discuss relevant topics with his wife. In this way, the husband and wife forge an eternal bond centered around devotional service to God. Sunayana thus raised Sita Devi to be a perfect devotee, wife, and mother, all by following Vedic traditions. When she reached a suitable age, Sita was married off to Lord Rama in an elaborate ceremony. In marriage, Sita proved to be the most devoted wife and perfect daughter-in-law. There is a common stereotype that a wife and her mother-in-law don’t get along. This sort of makes sense since the wife, in essence, takes over the responsibilities of taking care of the husband. These responsibilities originally belonged to the mother, so naturally there will arise some competition between the wife and mother-in-law in regards to who will better take care of the wife’s husband.

Though this friction is almost always there, it didn’t exist in any sense in the relationship between Sita and Rama’s mothers. Though Rama took birth from the womb of Queen Kausalya, he had two other step-mothers in Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Lord Rama, as kind and sweet as He was, viewed all His mothers equally and never showed favoritism towards any one of them. Sita Devi mimicked Rama’s behavior in this regard.

“One who sees the Supersoul in every living being and equal everywhere does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.29)

Sita Devi’s most important attribute was her pure devotion to God. Since she was Lakshmi herself, she naturally possessed pure devotion as soon as she appeared on earth. Nevertheless, both Janaka and Sunayana raised her properly, telling her to view Rama as her deity. A pure devotee is kind towards everyone, what to speak of family members such as parents and siblings of one’s husband.

King Janaka struck gold the day he found Sita Devi. Since she was God’s wife appearing in human form, Janaka and the queen both treated Sita with the respect she deserved. They raised her to be the most exalted princess, a person we can all look up to as a role model. As the perfect devotee of God, she serves as the guru for the whole world. Janaka and Sunayana had the rare opportunity of having direct association with Sita, and they made the most of it.

In this day and age, Sita and Rama have incarnated in the forms of Their holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. By constantly chanting these names and committing ourselves to the path of devotional service, we can show the same affection towards Sita Devi that Janaka and Sunayana did. Nothing makes devotees happier than bringing other sincere souls to Krishna consciousness. By humbly serving and respecting the pure devotees of Krishna, we make the Lord happy and thus we achieve the highest perfection of life.