The Ideal Relationship

“Loving attachment for Me is entirely absorbed in Vaidehi, and loving attachment for Sita is well absorbed in Me.” (Lord Rama speaking to Lakshmana, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 1.52)

This one statement tells us all we need to know about God and the relationship He has with His devotees. Through this one undeniable truth given to us by Lord Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we get insight into the thought patterns of the Supreme Lord and also of those who depend upon Him for everything. Sita Devi, who is also known as Vaidehi, the princess of Videha, is the wife of Lord Rama and during her time on earth, she was faithfully engaged in the service of her husband. This devotion is known as anuvrata, and it showed that Sita was always thinking of Rama and dedicated to His welfare. From the Lord’s statement, we see that He was equally as devoted to her.

The concept of God conjures up different images in the minds of different people. Some take Him to be an old man, while others believe the Divine is a giant void, an all-powerful energy from whence this entire creation sprung. The Vedas, which emanate from India and are the oldest scriptures in existence, give us a different picture of the Supreme. As ananta-rupam, God can take to as many different forms as He chooses. This means that He can assume the guise of an old man, and also that of an impersonal energy. One of the ways to realize God is through understanding Brahman, the impersonal effulgence that emanates from the spiritual world. When we speak of effulgence, we refer to a light or sparkle, something similar to sunshine. While sunshine is certainly wonderful to behold, one cannot understand its nature without understanding its source: the sun. In a similar manner, one cannot understand Brahman without knowing where its properties descend from.

What does God look like? What are His features? Is He even a man? Vedic information states that of all the different expansions and forms, the original Godhead is Lord Krishna. His form is that of a young child, Shyamasundara. He has the complexion of a dark raincloud and is exquisitely beautiful. The word Krishna itself can mean blackish or all-attractive. The Lord is dark skinned, and His beauty attracts everyone. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a result, objects of beauty such as jewelry and ornaments may only appeal to certain people. Since God is all-attractive, He is appealing to everyone. He even attracts the atheists, or the non-believers. Since Krishna can take so many different forms, He has an expansion that suits every person’s desires. The atheists are attracted by matter, which is nothing more than an expansion of Krishna’s external energy.

“The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Radharani. Krishna is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But Radharani is still more attractive, for She can even attract Krishna. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohini-the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.” (Shrila Prabhupada, The Nectar of Devotion, Ch 1)

When we see pictures of Krishna in His original form, there is usually a woman by His side. This woman is Shrimati Radharani, and she is more than just Krishna’s wife or girlfriend. Lord Krishna attracts everyone, but Radharani is so great that she even attracts Krishna. How does she do this? Since Radharani is a pure manifestation of the Lord’s energy, her devotion to the Lord is what catches His eye. Her heart is pure and everything she does is aimed at giving satisfaction to Krishna. In this regard, she is worthy of respect and worship from those seeking Krishna’s association.

Radha and Krishna represent the meeting of the energy with the energetic. Krishna is the original, so He is the source of all energy. In order for there to be an energetic, there must be energy. Radha is that energy, which is technically known as hladini-shakti, or pleasure potency. These terms are important to know because they can relate to us. God is the only energetic, but there are unlimited energies. As energy expansions of the Lord, we too are meant to give Krishna satisfaction. Currently we are in a separated state, unaware of our true nature and purpose.

Though Krishna is the original form of Godhead, He is kind enough to expand into other forms to attract devotees. If Krishna is all-attractive, why would He need other forms to attract people? The reason is that each one of us has a tendency to worship the Supreme Lord in a different way. Some of us like to think of the Lord in terms of a law-giver, the epitome of piety and virtue. Others like to think of Krishna in terms of a lover, a supreme object of pleasure. There are yet others who want to offer their service to God through parental affection, taking care of the Lord and making sure He is given every comfort.

To facilitate the desires of the devotees, God takes to different expansions. Many of these expansions make appearances in the material world. These forms are known as avataras, meaning those who descend from the spiritual world. The avatara has an eternally existing spiritual body which transcends material nature. One of Krishna’s most famous avataras is Lord Rama, the handsome and pious prince of Ayodhya. Lord Rama especially appeals to those who worship the Lord in the mood of chivalry and piety. Taking birth in the famous Ikshvaku dynasty, Rama gave special attention to dharma, or religiosity. He always wanted to set a good example for the citizens of Ayodhya, showing them how to abide by one’s prescribed duties in life.

While Krishna came to earth as Lord Rama, at the same time, Radha appeared as Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. One of Krishna’s primary incarnations in the spiritual world is that of Lord Narayana, the four-handed form of God who resides on the Vaikuntha planets. Narayana is very opulently dressed and full of awe-inspiring splendor, so He attracts those who view God as being all-powerful. Narayana’s wife is Lakshmi Devi, an expansion of the perfected pleasure-giving potency. Technically, Sita and Rama were incarnations of Lakshmi and Narayana, but there is really no difference between the forms of the various personal expansions and pleasure potency expansions. Vaishnavas, or devotees of Vishnu, generally worship Lakshmi-Narayana, Sita-Rama, or Radha-Krishna.

Since Lord Rama was so pious, it made sense that His wife Sita would be the same way. If one were to carefully study Sita’s life’s activities, they would be astonished by her behavior. Her kindness, generosity, and dedication to her husband were unmatched, firmly establishing her as a person not of this material world. To this day, Sita is an authority on issues pertaining to women’s rights, the proper role of a man and woman in a marriage, serving the elderly, raising children, worshiping the saintly class, and devotional service to God. Sita was a surrendered soul who did everything for the pleasure of her husband. This devotion would be put to the test on many occasions, the most notable of which was when she was forced to live as a prisoner on the island of Lanka.

Lord Rama was so nice that He never wanted anyone to suffer on His account. The Lord’s father, Maharaja Dasharatha, had a lapse of judgment which led to Rama’s exile from the kingdom for fourteen years. The Lord took this unpleasant turn of events in stride, but Sita and His younger brother, Lakshmana, refused to live without Rama; thus they came along to the forest with Him. While in the forest of Dandaka, Sita would be kidnapped by Ravana, a powerful demon that was capable of assuming different guises at will. While Rama and Lakshmana were searching for Sita’s whereabouts, they were advised to visit a beautiful lake called Pampa. When they reached the lake, springtime was approaching, so Rama started pointing out the different signs of the season to Lakshmana.

While discussing the natural beauty of the surroundings of the Pampa Lake, Rama remarked how Sita especially loved the spring season and how it increased her devotion to the Lord. She would see nice flowers coming to bloom and point them out to her husband. From Rama’s above referenced statement, we see that not only did Sita always think about Him, but the Lord also always thought about her. The lessons we can take away from this one statement are too many to count, but there is one issue that really stands out. There are many varieties of religion and worship, and if we take to one of these methods, we may not be sure if the Lord is watching us. “Is my worship really successful? Can God hear me? Can God see me?” From Lord Rama’s statement, we can understand that He most certainly does see and hear His devotees.

“When one is firmly convinced that Vishnu is the only object of love and worship and that there is no one else-not even a demigod-worthy of receiving devotional service, one feels intimacy in his love relationship with God, and this is approved by such personalities as Bhishma, Prahlada, Uddhava and Narada.” (Narada-pancharatra)

The ingredient that gives devotional service its potency is love. If we are genuine in our loving feelings towards the Lord, He will most certainly reciprocate. He will never leave us hanging. He will never leave us lonely. Now that we understand this, what is stopping us? Let us all take up devotional service. Let us chant the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, as often as possible. This transcendental sound vibration is so powerful that not only does Lord Rama hear it, but Sita does as well.

Eventually Sita and Rama would be reunited after a fierce battle which saw the defeat of Ravana and his band of Rakshasas. After spending thousands of years together, Sita would have to spend her remaining time on earth separated from Rama. Nevertheless, Sita and Rama are always worshiped together, because no matter where they are or what they are doing, they are always in each other’s thoughts. In this way, they have the most beautiful relationship. We too can have this same relationship with the Lord, but we shouldn’t focus our worship on Him alone. If we worship Sita and Rama together, we stay connected with the energetic and the energy. Just as God is an object of pleasure, so are His pleasure potency expansions. They give pleasure to the devotees through their activities and their kind service offered to the Lord

Success in spiritual life comes through controlling the mind. From the words of Shri Rama, we see that Sita was the perfect yogi in that her thoughts were always focused on Rama. One of Krishna’s names is Yogeshvara, which means the master of all mysticism. Yoga practice generally brings about many perfections, or siddhis. The greatest perfection, however, is to be able to always focus the mind on God. In this way, Sita was also a master of mysticism. Sita directed all her affection towards Rama, and Rama directed all His affection towards Sita. We should be equally as kind and direct all our affection towards both of them. They are the root of the giant tree known as the spiritual and material worlds. By giving them our love and devotion, all the leaves and branches represented by the innumerable universes also become benefitted, and thus we can all live happily ever after.

Angels From Above

“When Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami went to Vrindavana, there was not a single temple, but by their preaching they were gradually able to construct various temples.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 7.164 Purport)

It is quite common to see people bemoaning the present condition of society. The complaints cover all different areas such as population size, government leadership, and the state of the environment. Because people understand that the current situation isn’t ideal, they lament the fact that they have little power to bring about change. In the grand scheme of things this is most certainly true, as the most an average citizen can do is go to the ballot box at the time of an election. In this way, individuals are dependent on their fellow man to straighten out problems. For sincere devotees of God, the situation seems even bleaker. Issues relating to economics, environment, poverty, and defense are paltry in comparison to the grander purpose of life. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, provide intricate detail into the nature of the soul and its constitutional position. Devotees study Vedic literature and through samadhi [meditation and trance directed at the Supreme Lord], they come to understand the meanings contained within. Yet upon seeing that the majority of society is uninterested in adopting measures to remediate the present unfavorable condition of their soul, the devotees become dejected and fearful. “What will happen to the science of self-realization? How will society survive in the future without God consciousness?” In reality, Krishna [God] takes care of everything, so there is no cause for such fears.

It must be acknowledged that this attitude of the devotee is quite a noble one. By default, man is born ignorant; he identifies solely with the outer covering of the soul; a covering which is known as the body. Since most everyone adopts this type of identification, enjoyment of said outer covering is taken to be the topmost engagement in life. Man’s dharma, or occupational duty, essentially becomes the satisfaction of the body through fruitive activities. Even if religion or spirituality is brought into the mix, at the beginning stages the ultimate objective is still the same. Spirituality is seen as a vehicle for satisfying the senses and alleviating the concerns relating to the future well-being of the body. It takes steady practice in the art of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, to elevate one’s consciousness to the point where they see Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the only enjoyer.

Who we identify as the ultimate enjoyer is important because this then drives our activities. Normally we view ourselves as the enjoyers. Sometimes we’ll look to satisfy the needs of others, such as our family members, friends, and pets, but even in this scope, the enjoyer is still the self. Acts of altruism serve to satisfy the desire of the person acting charitably. The only engagement which brings spiritual benefit to two distinct entities is devotional service. The parties benefitted in such an exchange are the individual soul and the Supersoul, or the Supreme Lord. Vedic information states that the entity we normally refer to as “God” is actually a person, or purusha, just like us. Though He is similar in quality to the individual, His quantitative powers are much greater. Since God is great, it is the duty of the subordinate living entities to pay tribute to that greatness. For this service to be truly effective in providing transcendental happiness, it must be offered in a mood of love and devotion. The only way for this mood to be adopted in earnest is for the individual soul to view the Supreme Soul as the ultimate enjoyer. Otherwise, the mode of worship will be similar to a business transaction, wherein the individual is looking for some return on their investment of spiritual service. Even if this business mentality is absent, there is still the possibility of the service being offered in a fearful mood, similar to slavery. The Supreme Lord, being the ever-blissful and fully satisfied Supreme Entity, is not inclined towards any trade activity, nor is He in the business of scaring anyone. A business transaction occurs when two parties are both interested in some sort of profit. Krishna, or God, is the most fortunate person in the world, so He is in need of nothing. In addition, God knows that He’s God, so He doesn’t need to scare people into serving Him.

If Krishna is completely satisfied, what need does He have to engage in loving interactions with anyone? The answer points back to the issue of enjoyment. When service is offered to the Divine Energetic, Shri Krishna, in a loving manner, there is enjoyment both for the entity offering the service and the Offered. This ideal relationship is derived from the ultimate conclusion in life, achintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which was expounded by none other than Krishna Himself when He appeared on earth around five hundred years ago in the guise of a brahmana sannyasi named Krishna Chaitanya. Lord Chaitanya’s philosophy, which is simply a description of an eternally existing condition, stipulates that the living entities are simultaneously and inconceivably one with and different from the Supreme Divine Force, that entity that we know as God. This ultimate conclusion goes hand-in-hand with the ideal relationship, wherein pure love is exchanged between the individuals and the whole. The two entities are meant to always be together, at least in consciousness. In reality, we can never be separated from Krishna, for He is always residing within our heart as the Supersoul. The issue of separation relates to consciousness. By adopting the false identification that results from body consciousness, we become forgetful of the ultimate conclusion and the ultimate relationship.

So how do we reawaken the purified consciousness? This is where bhakti-yoga comes in. The devotees, the purified souls who have reached the transcendental platform through deep study, meditation, and service to their spiritual guides, have realized the ultimate conclusion. After ascending to this platform, devotees seek to maintain their close relationship with God through activity. Yet devotees are so kind that they don’t hoard information about the Truth to themselves. Rather, they kindly offer to teach anyone who will listen. Lord Chaitanya Himself inaugurated this preaching tradition in the modern age. In addition to being the most effective method for attaining the platform of Krishna consciousness, the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, is also the most effective way to preach the transcendental, imperishable, and supreme science of devotional service throughout the world. This congregational chanting process is known as sankirtana.

Since the sound vibrations of Krishna and Rama are non-different forms of the original Personality of Godhead, they inject the creeper of devotional service into the hearts and minds of whoever hears them. Once this creeper is established, it can grow into a full blown tree of devotional service. This growth takes place through the association of sadhus, or saintly members of society. Every notable spiritual personality of the past achieved success through this good association. In this way, we see that the highest welfare activity is to pass this transcendental sound vibration on to every person alive.

Lord Chaitanya’s formula seems simple enough, right? While sankirtana is simple and straightforward, the results aren’t always what the preacher hopes for. The attachment to matter amongst the populace is very strong. Not everyone will want to hear about Krishna. Even if they do hear about bhakti-yoga and the science of self-realization, they may be prejudiced and biased towards their own sectarian views. They will think in terms of “My God” and “Your God” instead of taking to logic and reasoning. The achintya-bhedabheda philosophy is the highest conclusion in life, so understanding it properly can take some time. In many spiritual disciplines, the soul is not even given much credence. Thus many of the concepts contained within the Vedas are foreign to others. Elevation to Krishna consciousness requires a new way of thinking, and for many people, change is not a welcome thing.

All of these conditions can certainly dampen the hopes and dreams of the preaching devotee. Fears will inevitably creep in regarding the future. “What if Krishna consciousness dies? How will future generations be saved? It seems as though no one is interested in chanting today.” This is actually a nice attitude to have because it shows the deep love that the devotees have for their fellow man and his future. Devotees know that Krishna is not only the ultimate enjoyer, but that He is also the giver of the greatest pleasure in the world. This pleasure can only be experienced through intimate association with Him.

“Unseen and indefinite are the good and bad reactions of fruitive work. And without taking action, the desired fruits of such work cannot manifest.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.17)

To allay our fears, we simply have to remember that Krishna is the original cause of everything. The Brahma-samhita states that Krishna is the cause of all causes, sarva-karana-karanam. Every result has a root cause. This cause may not be visible to us, as sometimes the results aren’t even visible. Shri Lakshmana, the younger brother of Lord Rama, teaches us that the results of action, both good and bad, are unseen and indefinite. Yet at the same time, no desired result can be achieved without some action being taken. This means that if we perform an action for some intended benefit, we may not see the result. Either we will quit our body before the result bears fruit, or the fruit itself doesn’t last very long, thus coming and going before we even notice it. But at the same time, no matter the length and nature of the result, there was some action which caused it.

What does all this mean? One of the holiest pilgrimage sites in the world is Vrindavana-dhama, which is located in India. This is the area where Shri Krishna enacted the most memorable and pleasurable of His pastimes during His time on earth some five thousand years ago. We see that museums and monuments are erected at the sites where famous personalities conducted their business. In the same manner, the areas where God and His various expansions performed activities are turned into places of pilgrimage, or tirthas. Vrindavana is a great spiritual tourist attraction today, containing over 5,000 temples and many wonderful sites such as Shyama-kunda and Radha-kunda, two ponds which were created by Krishna and His eternal consort Shrimati Radharani. Govardhana Hill, which is considered Krishna’s land and thus non-different from Him, is also found in this area.

Going to Vrindavana is certainly a beneficial experience for the transcendentally conscious soul, but was Vrindavana always such a great attraction? Actually, around five hundred years ago it wasn’t. Prior to Lord Chaitanya’s advent, the place was essentially a wilderness. This doesn’t mean that Vrindavana had lost its intrinsic value. It was still the same land that Krishna had roamed. Vrindavana is considered a replica of the transcendental abode that exists in the spiritual sky of Krishnaloka. Anyone who lives and dies in Vrindavana is deemed to be a liberated soul; they are on the path towards salvation, which is represented by the cessation of the cycle of birth and death.

So how did Vrindavana change from being a deserted land to a popular pilgrimage site? As Krishna is the cause of all causes, He was also the cause behind the changes in Vrindavana. Lord Chaitanya, while spreading the cult of devotional service throughout India, ordered His two dearmost disciples, the brothers Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, to excavate Vrindavana and establish a preaching center there. Lord Chaitanya Himself discovered the lost sites of Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda. Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami wrote countless books about devotional service; from poems and dramas to handbooks and guides covering every aspect of devotional life. We are forever indebted to these two great saints, along with Lord Chaitanya and everyone who follows in His line, for turning Vrindavana into what it is today.

“As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, similarly the learned may also act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.25)

The point to all of this is that we should perform our prescribed duties without attachment to the results. Krishna will always survive no matter the condition of society. This entire world is His land after all, so He can do with it as He pleases. If there is a lull in the practice of devotional service or if there is a precarious plaguing the world, we can be rest assured that the Lord will take the necessary steps to alleviate the situation. If we continue with our devotional practices and try to help as many honest souls as possible, we will be performing the highest service for our dearmost, ever well-wishing friend: Shri Krishna.

Fruits of the Forest

“O best among men, thus I was spoken to at that time by those greatly fortunate sages. O best among men, indeed for Your sake I have collected a variety of forest fruits which were growing on the banks of the Pampa Lake, O tiger among men.” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.17)

For those new to Vedic traditions, one of the first noticeable practices is the reverence shown to the spiritual master, or guru. We may be accustomed to worshiping God in our minds and offering Him our prayers, but followers of the Vedic tradition offer dandavats when approaching exalted personalities. Dandavats refers to falling on the ground like a rod, or danda, and it is the greatest sign of humility. This obeisance is offered not only in the presence of the guru, but also in the temple to the deity and to pictures of the guru. This style of surrender may seem off-putting to some, but it has a unique purpose. The spiritual master is the via-medium, the boatman who can rescue us from the ocean of misery. The guru has seen the light, and he is kind enough to show others what he has learned. His instructions are actually quite simple, but following through on them without reservation is not.

Since we are born ignorant and helpless, we have all followed the instructions of someone at some point in our lives. Parents guide us through the early years, so they usually remain our primary source of knowledge and instruction. The mother-daughter relationship is certainly unique. Fathers love to spend time with their sons and maybe pass along some words of advice, but the mothers take the role of teacher much more seriously when it comes to their daughters. Any good parent wants to one day marry off their daughter to a nice family, finding a husband who matches well with the daughter’s needs and desires. Once the girl leaves the family, she is technically on her own, so it is important that she be imbibed with the fundamentals of life and good values in her youth.

In the Vedic tradition, mothers teach their daughters how to survive in a marriage. Marriage is known as a religious institution, the grihastha ashrama. The husband and wife are to live together for the purpose of cultivating spiritual knowledge. It’s uncommon to find both the husband and wife dedicated to spirituality, so usually the burden falls upon only one of them. In modern times, it is common to see the women take charge of the day-to-day religious duties relating to the family. The wives make sure to perform arati [the offering of a lamp in front of the deity] in the home at least twice a day, offering and distributing prasadam at the same time. The deity shouldn’t be mistaken to be an idol. God is one, so He is the Supreme Lord for every single living entity in this world. Since we don’t have the eyes to see Him in our conditioned state, the Lord is kind enough to take other forms that are more conducive for worship. A person’s identity doesn’t change throughout their lifetime, but we see that we treat them differently depending on their current body. We treat a young child much differently than we treat an elderly person. We like to hold babies, kiss them, and make funny faces at them. We wouldn’t dare repeat the same behavior with the same children when they become adults. Therefore we can conclude that the childhood form of the living entity is the one most conducive for the offering of love.

In a similar manner, God is Absolute, but He takes certain forms that make it easier for the living entities to offer worship. The deity is an incarnation of God known as the archa-vigraha, or worshipable body. Deity worship can involve large statues and elaborate rituals, but it can also be very simple. In a typical Vaishnava family, one will find an altar set up somewhere in the home to allow family members to offer worship.

The women usually take charge of this process inside of family life. But where do they learn the correct procedures and prayers to be used in such worship? Where do they learn how to prepare the proper offerings such as ghee and panchamrita? Where do they learn the sacred formulas to chant? This information is taught to young girls by their mothers. When these girls get married and eventually have their own daughters, they then pass down the same information. In this way, we see that the women of the Vedic tradition have their own parampara, or disciplic succession.

Mothers teaching their daughters is but one example of the guru-disciple relationship. This system only works when there is humble submission. What’s interesting to note is that the instructions given are usually quite simple. A good teacher will stick to a few key points and focus on them. The disciple in this relationship doesn’t have to be a close friend, family member, or one of a higher caste. It can be anyone who is in need of help. The guru is willing to help anyone who is sincerely interested in reforming themselves. An example of this mercy was seen with the great Narada Muni a long long time ago. The Vedas tell us that the bona fide spiritual master is one who is completely devoted to Lord Krishna, or God. This means that they are free from all other defects and desires. Sometimes someone will seriously take up religious life, but since they have accumulated so many attachments from their material life, their devotional life will be mixed. They may enjoy worshiping God, but at the same time, they’ll have other material causes they will spend their time on. The best spiritual master is one who has completely given up all hopes of happiness in material life. Krishna is one who is all-attractive, thus His devotees receive all the happiness they need through associating with Him. Since Krishna provides the highest form of happiness, devotees have no reason to look for happiness anywhere else.

What’s so wonderful about Krishna’s adherents is that they are not misers. They are liberated souls, but they are not content with just having Krishna for themselves. They know the Truth, so they are not afraid to tell it to others, especially those who are trapped in a miserable condition. Narada Muni is one of the most famous gurus in history. His disciples are the who’s who of transcendentalists. On one occasion, Narada was wandering through a forest when he saw a bunch of animals half-killed. They had been shot by a hunter and were on the verge of death. Narada approached the hunter and asked him why he was engaged in such abominable activity. “Either leave the animals alone or just kill them outright. Why are you letting them suffer?” The hunter replied that he was deriving enjoyment from this half-killing and that this was the way he was taught to hunt from his childhood.

Long story short, Narada advised the hunter to give up killing for a living and instead take to worship of Tulasi Devi, the sacred plant and beloved maidservant of Krishna. The hunter was a little worried though. If he gave up hunting and simply took to worshiping a plant, how would he eat? How would he survive? Narada told the hunter not to worry about it; that he would take care of all the arrangements. How kind is Narada Muni? Since the time of our youth, we are taught all these lessons in life about how to do things the right way and how we should be self-sufficient, but Narada didn’t discuss any of these details. He told the hunter to simply worship Tulasi Devi and not worry about anything else.

The hunter took his advice and, to his surprise, people came to see him, offering large quantities of food as a gift. Narada Muni had told the neighboring residents that a saintly man had come to the forest and was taking up worship of Tulasi Devi. The residents wanted to show respect to such a person, so they brought him more than enough food. And what was the result of this change in lifestyle? The hunter soon became so kindhearted that he would hop around instead of just walking. He didn’t want to hurt a single ant on the ground. This shows the true power of a spiritual master. Following their simple instructions, one can go from being a ruthless hunter to the most harmless person.

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

Many thousands of years ago, Lord Krishna incarnated on earth as a handsome prince named Rama. During one period in His life, the Lord was roaming the forests with His younger brother Lakshmana. At the time, a great female sage by the name of Shabari was also residing in the forest. As mentioned before, women in the Vedic tradition are usually trained up to be devoted wives, caretakers of the family. Shabari, however, was an ascetic, so she transcended all the rules and regulations of material life. She was dedicated to asceticism, and as a reward, her spiritual guides gave her instructions on how to achieve liberation from the cycle of birth and death. They told her that Lord Rama was coming to visit her soon and that she should welcome Him hospitably and offer Him nice food to eat.

In the above referenced statement, Shabari is explaining what her gurus taught her and how she was following their advice. We should take note of the type of offering she made to Rama, that of fruits and berries of the forest. Living the life of a brahmana, Shabari was non-violent by nature and also renounced, so she had no possessions. In this case, what could she offer God? Based on the results of her action, we can see that her offering to Rama was first class. Lord Rama was greatly pleased with her hospitality, and He granted her liberation from the cycle of birth and death as a reward. Shabari ascended to the imperishable spiritual planets after meeting Rama.

How was Lord Rama satisfied with some wild fruits? After all, Rama and Lakshmana were accustomed to eating meat. God transcends any and all material designations, but when He comes to earth, He plays the part of a person belonging to a specific class of society. Rama and Lakshmana were members of the kshatriya caste, i.e. they were warriors and administrators by trade. In those times, kshatriyas were allowed to kill certain animals as a way of practicing their fighting skills. As a result, they also ate meat from time to time. We shouldn’t mistake this type of meat eating with the modern day practice of slaughterhouses. All the animals killed by Rama and Lakshmana were offered up in a religious sacrifice prior to eating. This means that the souls of the animals were promoted to a higher species in the next life.

Though Rama and Lakshmana ate meat, we see that Shabari’s spiritual guides didn’t advise her to kill any animals. On the contrary, they told her to gather whatever she could and then offer it with love and devotion. This is the most important factor in religious life. God is the most fortunate; He has all the wealth in the world. So what need does He have for our wealth? He’s not looking for quantity, but quality. Offering whatever we have at our disposal with love and devotion is enough to make the Lord happy.

Lord Chaitanya gave all the people of this age the simplest formula for achieving success in spiritual life. He advised everyone to simply chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, as often as possible. Lord Chaitanya was a perfect spiritual master and, being an incarnation of Krishna, He also empowered future generations of disciples to offer spiritual guidance to mankind. Anyone can follow this simple formula of chanting God’s names and eating Krishna prasadam. There is no loss on our part, and as we saw with the examples of the hunter and Shabari, by following the guru’s instructions, all other issues in life are taken care of automatically.

Passive Aggressive

“Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has very favorably stressed the importance of this process of hearing. According to His method, if people are simply given a chance to hear about Krishna, certainly they will gradually develop their dormant awareness or love of Godhead.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 7.141 Purport)

Who would have thought that one of the most passive activities could prove to be the most potent form of spiritual activity? Something as simple as hearing can actually aggressively attack the wall of nescience surrounding the conditioned soul. This wall of ignorance precludes one from rekindling their original purified consciousness. Since consciousness, or one’s state of mind, is the driver of activity, if it is clouded or lost in a bottomless pit, naturally the activities that result from such a condition will also be of the lowest variety. In order for activities to be purified, a better way of thinking must be adopted. This mindset can be quickly achieved through the hearing process. Of all the topics that aural reception can focus on, none is more pleasing to the mind than the transcendental subject matter of Shri Krishna. Simply by hearing about Krishna regularly, one can remove all unwanted things in life.

We are already accustomed to the hearing process. Though television and internet have gained in popularity, the hearing process is still at the forefront of the exchange of information. When watching a television newscast, we are taking in information through the words delivered by the news anchor. When watching a sporting event on television, the broadcasters are feeding information to us constantly. Music is also a form of the hearing process; a way to give pleasure to the mind through the reception of sequences of notes.

Though hearing is a passive activity, it has long lasting results. If we hear of a tragic news story, we will likely talk about it with others. Most people remember where they were and what they were doing when the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked on September 11th, 2001. Immediately upon hearing the news, people started talking about the event with others. The same sequence of activity occurs with anything else that is heard, either intentionally or unintentionally. In this way, we see that hearing plays a vital role in the exchange of information.

Since we hear about so many different topics and subjects, which one is superior? What should we focus our attention on? Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is also known as Gaurahari, recommends that we listen primarily to topics relating to Krishna. In the Vedic tradition, there is no equivalent term for the English word “God”. Rather, the Supreme Divine Entity is described in terms of His limitless attributes. His original form is known as Bhagavan Shri Krishna. Bhagavan refers to the Almighty’s possession of every opulence imaginable to the fullest degree. The word “Krishna” speaks to the Lord’s all-attractive nature. Taking the two words together, the Supreme Lord is taken as the most attractive person who possesses every desirable attribute at the same time.

Lord Gaurahari is a famous historical personality, preacher, and exponent on the science of self-realization known as bhakti-yoga. Gaurahari is also considered an incarnation of Krishna by His devotees. Another name for the divine in the Vedic tradition is Hari, which means one who removes distresses. No one is more capable of removing all unwanted things from a person’s life than Krishna. Hari, Krishna, and Vishnu are interchangeable names for the original Personality of Godhead. What these forms have in common is that they possess a transcendental body which is of a bluish complexion. Therefore Krishna is commonly addressed as Shyamasundara, or the beautiful one possessing the complexion of a dark raincloud. Lord Chaitanya is known as Gaurahari because He is the same Hari who appeared on earth with a fair complexion.

Lord Chaitanya’s recommended spiritual practice is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. While chanting is an active engagement, hearing is more of a passive activity. Lord Chaitanya stated that simply by hearing, just by sitting down and listening to the transcendental sound vibrations of Krishna’s names and descriptions of His activities, one can achieve perfection in life.

What is that perfection? As mentioned before, consciousness drives activity. When consciousness becomes purified, when it returns to its original constitutional position, it drives one towards spiritual activities. By their outward appearance, activities of the spiritual variety aren’t very different from normal activities. The difference lies in the identification of two key entities: the enjoyer and the enjoyed. By default, the living entities take themselves to be the enjoyers. This identification drives them towards activities that will satisfy the self. These activities can either involve the acquisition of material objects, relationships, or pleasures. Sometimes the activities can also be deemed as unselfish; engagements where the intended recipient of such service is someone besides the self. Yet even in these situations, the ultimate enjoyer is taken to be the individual performing the activities.

Spiritual activities are inherently different because they are performed for the pleasure of Krishna. Knowing that Krishna is the ultimate enjoyer and acting off this information are two different things. In order for a person to be considered truly religious, they must abide by the principles of the faith they espouse. If we outwardly acknowledge that Krishna is the only enjoyer, our activities must back up this claim. But due to the cloud of nescience which envelopes us, taking to spiritual activities is not an easy thing. It requires a change in consciousness; something which can easily be acquired through hearing about the Lord.

Why should we hear about Krishna in lieu of other topics? What if we don’t believe in Krishna? What if we have our own God or are not even religious? In truth, every single person in the world is religious. Being spiritually inclined simply means acknowledging a higher power, an authority who serves as the ultimate object of worship and also the ultimate enjoyer. This object doesn’t have to be a divine figure in order for the principle of religiosity to remain valid. For example, one person may take to worshiping their dog by humbly offering it service on a daily basis. The faithful dog owner will rush home to walk their “best friend” on a timely basis, scooping up whatever waste deposits are left by the dog during its walk. The faithful servant of the dog will gladly bend down and offer obeisances in the form of setting up food, cleaning up after accidents, and playing with the dog on the floor.

Others follow a similar mindset. Fans of fictional movie series such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings will camp outside movie theaters in anticipation of getting tickets. They will also dress up as their favorite characters and imitate their activities and speaking patterns. This is all a form of worship which involves some sort of hearing. Lord Chaitanya’s recommendation is that we should simply shift the focus of our hearing towards topics relating to Krishna. Since He is the Supreme Pure, He will provide all the happiness that we already get from hearing about other topics and so much more.

So what do topics relating to Krishna deal with? The Lord has been kind enough to appear on earth many times in the past in various guises. During such times, Krishna took on many roles that are familiar to us, such as father, son, husband, prince, king, preacher, spiritual master, warrior, brother, etc. Simply by hearing of His activities in these various roles, we can relate to the Supreme Lord and garner an attachment to Him. This attachment helps change our consciousness. If we constantly hear about Krishna, we will naturally talk about Him with others. Information relating to the Lord is perfect in every respect, for one of Krishna’s names is Achyuta, which means infallible.

“Listen Rama, I will now tell You where You, Sita, and Lakshmana should reside. Those whose ears are like oceans which are constantly replenished by, and never overflow from, streams represented by stories of Your wonderful activities – in their hearts You should make Your charming abode.”  (Maharishi Valmiki speaking to Lord Rama, Ramacharitamanasa, Ayodhya Kand, 127.1-2)

During one of Krishna’s most famous advents on earth, the Lord took on the guise of a handsome prince named Rama. While travelling through the forests of India alongside His wife Sita Devi and younger brother Lakshmana, Rama came upon the hermitage of the illustrious sage Valmiki. Asking the sage if he knew of a good place to set up a camp, Rama was greeted with a description of the qualities of a pure devotee of God. Upon listing each characteristic, Valmiki asked Rama to live in the heart of any person who possessed such noble traits. One of the first characteristics mentioned by Valmiki was the insatiable appetite for hearing about the Lord. The great sage was saying that Lord Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, should reside in the hearts of those who eagerly anticipate hearing about God and His glories. Not only do such people take pleasure in hearing of transcendental topics, but they relish every word they are fortunate enough to take in. They also never tire of hearing such stories, no matter how many times they are heard.  These stories are like rivers which flow into an ocean that can never overflow. This means that God rewards those who take the hearing process to be their life and soul. This fact alone should be enough to convince us of the potency of hearing about Krishna.

We should most certainly heed Shri Gaurahari’s advice. Since hearing is a simple and passive activity, there is no reason to shun it. We simply need to spend a few minutes every day to listen to Krishna or descriptions of Him given by great devotees. Hearing can also take place through reading great texts such as the Bhagavad-gita, Ramayana, and Shrimad Bhagavatam. The transcendental descriptions contained within these texts represent the sword of knowledge which can help us cut away the cloud of ignorance that surrounds us. By holding on to Krishna, His name, and the transcendental sound vibrations which describe Him as our most valuable possessions, the Lord will make sure that such precious commodities remain protected and ever-increasing in value.

The Imperishable Realm

“Those great saints, who are knowers of dharma and greatly fortunate, spoke these words to me: ‘Rama will visit your very pious ashrama. Along with Saumitra [Lakshmana], you should offer Rama the greatest hospitality as your guest. Thus after seeing Him, as a benediction, you will ascend to the eternal realm.’” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.15-16)

This one passage from the famous Ramayana succinctly explains the purpose of life. Due to the individuality of the spirit soul, different priorities and philosophies will develop over the course of a lifetime of a living entity. Acting on these desires and aims, individuals take to different activities. One will either succeed or fail in their endeavors, but since none of the objectives are focused on the imperishable, aims and desires will have to be constantly adjusted. For an objective to be considered supreme, it must provide a result which transcends all other results. In the above referenced passage, we are privy to instructions provided by bona fide spiritual guides which aim to produce the highest benefit of life, that of ascension to the imperishable realm, that abode where having gone once, one never returns.

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

God, the divine creator, the Lord of lords, can assume many shapes and sizes. Since He is so great, some take God to be a man-made creation. This thought process is understandable since the human mind is incapable of conceiving of a perfect entity, someone who is flawless and never falls down. But by carefully studying the workings of this world, we can reach no other conclusion except that which acknowledges God’s existence. How do we know this? For starters, let’s analyze the terms “flawed” and “temporary”. For the concept of fallibility to exist, there must be something which is infallible. If there wasn’t something infallible already in existence, then the concept of fallibility would have no meaning. The same holds true with permanence and mutability. We can only understand what “permanent” means by studying things which are not permanent.

“Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 3.21)

Simply based on these facts, we can logically deduce that there must be a single infallible and permanent source for everything that we see in this material world. God is that source, but since the concept of “God” is quite abstract, the authoritative scriptures give us more details about the Supreme. When we say a certain set of scriptures is authoritative, it means that people of authority have declared them to be so. And who are the authority figures? Starting from the time of our birth, the first people we hand control over to is our parents. Next come the spiritual leaders, or gurus. We trust these people because they are in charge of our well-being, and they really have no reason to guide us astray. Should our authority figures happen to be flawed, we can still study the example set by those who are virtuous and well-respected. In any society, there will naturally be a leader or group of people that everyone else follows.

When it comes to understanding God, we must consult spiritual leaders, people who know what they are talking about. The saintly class tells us that God exists and that information about Him can be found in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. The Vedas are the oldest religious books in existence, for one cannot even accurately date their origin. Vedic wisdom was initially passed down through aural reception.  This wisdom states that God has many names, forms, and features, even though He is a singular entity.

This divine leader, the Supreme Lord of creation, kindly appears on earth from time to time to help the fallen souls rekindle their forgotten relationship with Him. One such appearance took place many thousands of years ago during the Treta Yuga when Lord Rama, the handsome and pious prince of Ayodhya, roamed the earth. Lord Rama is one of God’s most famous incarnations as He is worshiped to this day by millions around the world. Rama especially draws the attention of devotees because, as His name so aptly describes, He gives pleasure to all He comes in contact with. Not only does Rama please by His smile and His nature, but also through His glorious activities.

The activities performed by Rama during His time on earth are so famous that they are chronicled in many Vedic texts. Since Rama appears on earth in every millennium, the exact nature of the events pertaining to His life sometimes differs, but the general sequence is usually the same. The most detailed description of His life and pastimes can be found in the Ramayana, which was compiled by Maharishi Valmiki. The above referenced statement from the Ramayana describes an incident where Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana visited the hermitage of the exalted female sage Shabari.

At the time, Rama and Lakshmana were looking for Rama’s wife Sita Devi, who had gone missing. Sita had been kidnapped by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Lest we think this was a slight on Rama’s part, Sita’s kidnap was in the cards, part of the great equation that would lead to Ravana’s demise. In fact, defeating Ravana was one of the primary reasons for God’s advent on earth as a pious and powerful warrior. While roaming the forests looking for Sita, Rama was told to visit Shabari, for the female sage was pious and ever dedicated to performing austerities. Upon approaching the ashrama, Rama and Lakshmana were greeted very kindly by Shabari. The gentle lady kindly touched their feet and welcomed them very hospitably. After exchanging pleasantries, Shabari praised Rama as being the foremost of gods and also told Him of what her spiritual guides had previously told her.

From the statements of Shabari’s spiritual guides, we can understand how to achieve perfection in life. In the first part of their instructions, the sages told Shabari to welcome both Rama and Lakshmana hospitably. Hospitality means kindness. This kindness wasn’t of the ordinary variety either, for it was to be directed at God and His younger brother. Can God have a brother? Surely He can. Vedic information tells us that God, whose original form is that of Lord Krishna, does not reside in the spiritual world alone. We know from our own lives that we have more fun when our friends and family are with us. In a similar manner, Krishna is the greatest enjoyer, so this means that His enjoyment comes through association with the most exalted souls. These pleasure-givers are a representation of one of Krishna’s potencies, namely hladini-shakti. The topmost pleasure-giver to Krishna is Shrimati Radharani, the fountainhead of all goddesses of fortune, or Lakshmis. Sita Devi was in fact an incarnation of Lakshmi, i.e. she was the very same Radha from the spiritual world.

There are different moods, or mellows, through which one can have association with Krishna. Pleasure doesn’t always have to come through conjugal love. Krishna also has other associates who give Him pleasure through friendship, fraternity, and parental affection. In this regard, Baladeva, or Lord Balarama, is Krishna’s expansion who offers fraternal love and affection. Balarama is actually the embodiment of the spiritual master, God’s greatest protector. Just as Rama was an incarnation of Krishna and Sita an incarnation of Radha, Lakshmana was an incarnation of Baladeva.

Shabari was advised to act kindly towards God and His brother. The nature of this kindness is also important to note. Shabari was not advised to simply view Rama and Lakshmana with awe and reverence. She was not told to respect them because of their great fighting ability or the fact that they were of the princely order. Instead, she was advised to treat Rama and Lakshmana on the same level as she would treat her own family members. After all, the greatest form of hospitality is to treat a fellow stranger on the same level as we would treat a member of our own family. If a relative comes to visit us after a long time, we go to great lengths to make sure they are happy staying in our home. We will clean up the house and whip up the best food preparations in anticipation. The aim of hospitality is to make the guest feel as if they are residing within their own home. This is how Shabari tried to treat Rama and Lakshmana.

The second part of the instructions given to Shabari is a complement to the first part. The first part details what actions are to be taken. The second part deals with the results, the reward Shabari would gain from performing the prescribed set of actions. The nature of this reward is interesting to note. The sages told Shabari that by serving Rama and Lakshmana, she would ascend to a spiritual realm which is imperishable. We should note that Shabari was not told that she would merge into any energy, nor was she told that she would assume a body just like Narayana’s. On the contrary, her reward would be ascension to a new home.

For there to be ascension, there has to be movement. But what is actually moving? Is Shabari being carried away to a different location? The ascension in this context refers to the soul. The place we currently inhabit, the material world, is temporary and full of miseries. Not only are our surroundings temporary, but so is the body that we currently occupy. The soul within the body forms the basis of our identity, and thus it is only the soul that remains after our current body is destroyed. It is this soul that moves from one body to the next through the process of transmigration, or what is commonly referred to as reincarnation.

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

This transmigration process happens automatically; we really have no control over it. However, we do have a say in where the soul will end up next. By studying the instructions given to Shabari, we see that there is a place where the soul can go and never have to return from. If we never return from this place, then it surely must not be part of the material world. After all, the material world is temporary and destined for destruction. If we live in an area forever, then it must exist forever. Not only must this realm always remain in existence, but so must the body that we occupy while living in this place. Hence, we can understand that those who ascend to this spiritual realm must also be given a body which is imperishable.

The spiritual world must be imperishable because for something to be perishable there must also be a place which is never subject to creation or destruction. The authorized scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam inform us that this ever-existing realm is known as the spiritual world. This shouldn’t be confused with the concept of heaven. Heaven is a place of elevated sense pleasure, a place which allows for enjoyment on a higher level than we are currently accustomed to. The heavenly planets are also considered to be part of the perishable world; so ascension to this realm cannot be considered the highest achievement in life.

The Vedanta-sutras state that everything in this world emanates from the Absolute Truth, or God. The variegatedness of this world is simply a reflection of those things found in Krishna’s realm. If something is considered a reflection, it means that the real thing must exist somewhere. If the real object didn’t exist, there would be no meaning to the concept of reflection.

The instructions given by the sages to Shabari actually apply to every single person in this world. Though Rama and Lakshmana aren’t roaming the earth today in their original forms, they have kindly incarnated in the form of a transcendental sound vibration. This vibration is known as the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Anyone who treats this mantra with love and respect, who honors this sacred formula by regularly chanting it, will surely receive the same benedictions that were bestowed upon Shabari. This is the magic of devotional service. We should all welcome God into our homes by reciting His name, worshiping His deity, and always remembering His glorious pastimes.

Praise The Lord

“When the horse was dead, his mouth became loose and Krishna could extract His hand without difficulty. He did not feel any surprise that the Keshi demon was killed so easily, but the demigods were amazed, and out of their great appreciation they offered Krishna greetings by showering flowers.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 36)

This passage describes the conclusion of an incident where a demon had assumed the form of a horse and attacked Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The original Lord of mankind, the one and only God, descended to earth in His original, transcendental, and blissful body around five thousand years ago in Vrindavana. Especially during His childhood, this original form of Godhead, known by the name of Krishna, took to killing demons that attacked the innocent. A learned man may question the need for God to fight demons. After all, if He is the Supreme Lord, He is most certainly in charge of creating every circumstance and every favorable and unfavorable condition in the world. Therefore the initial attack of any demon must be caused by Krishna in the first place, so why would He want to create such a situation? Is He simply after praise from others? Normally, such a personality trait would be considered a defect, but with the Supreme Lord it isn’t. The praise offered to Krishna actually purifies those who offer it, rather than Krishna Himself. The Lord is the Supreme Pure, atmarama, so He is in need of nothing.

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.7)

The Bhagavad-gita, the most concise and complete exposition on the original theistic doctrine put in place for all of mankind, states that the Supreme Absolute Truth, the original Personality of Godhead possessing a full form, descends to earth whenever and wherever there is a steep decline in religious practice and the prominent rise of irreligion. Religion can be thought of as any set of guidelines and procedures which enable one to remain connected with God. Irreligion is thus anything which leads to the opposite condition. When there is a rise in irreligion, it means that the practice of activities which keep one separate from God rise to prominence. This situation certainly isn’t favorable for anyone, including those who espouse the belief in a formless God or the absence of an almighty creator. Regardless of the motivations behind irreligious activities, the actions themselves can never lead to any beneficial condition. Since religion is derived from the pure, transcendental, and blissful relationship that exists between the liberated living entities and their supreme object of pleasure, God, religious activities, when practiced properly, automatically keep one in a blissful state. Activities of irreligion, therefore, must inevitably lead to unhappiness since they ensure that the link to the transcendental realm remains broken.

If the irreligionists rise to any sort of prominence, naturally society’s chances for reconnecting with the Supreme Spirit will diminish. Therefore in extreme circumstances, the Supreme Lord personally descends to earth. He takes on the greatest enemies of the theists, thus giving protection to the devotees who aim to remain in God consciousness. One such descent of the Divine took place around five thousand years ago. Lord Krishna, who is God in His original form and possesses all attractiveness and beauty, appeared from the womb of Mother Devaki in Mathura, but was then subsequently transferred to the nearby town of Vrindavana. It was in Vrindavana that Krishna enacted the pastimes which devotees relish the most. The king of Mathura at the time, Kamsa, sent demon after demon to kill Krishna in Vrindavana. Since Krishna is God, these demons didn’t stand a chance when facing Him.

In the above referenced passage, Lord Krishna has just finished killing a demon named Keshi. This demon assumed the form of a horse, and at the behest of Kamsa, went to Vrindavana to attack Krishna and His cowherd friends. Vrindavana was a farm community, so Lord Krishna decided to fit into the society by playing the role of a cowherd boy. Since Krishna is so attractive, He was the center of attention in Vrindavana. The Lord had many friends who would go out to the pasturing grounds with Him on a regular basis. It was during these outings that the demons would usually choose to attack. Krishna appeared to be an ordinary child to the demons, so they didn’t think they would have any trouble taking on the Lord or any of His childhood friends. This Keshi demon charged at Krishna, but the Lord easily caught hold of him and threw him to the ground. Regaining his senses, the horse charged at Krishna again, but this time the Lord forced His hand into Keshi’s mouth. While in the horse’s mouth, Krishna’s hand began to gradually increase in size. The demon couldn’t take the pain and eventually died as a result.

Upon the death of the demon, the demigods in the sky showered flowers in praise of Krishna. Narada Muni, the great saint, was also on hand to offer kind prayers to Krishna, praising the Lord for His wonderful feats. These demons were very powerful, so it was quite astonishing to see someone in the form of a child killing them so easily. Demigods are known as celestials; they are elevated living entities who reside in the heavenly planets. Since they are devotees of Krishna, they are also known as suras. Since demons are enemies of Krishna and the demigods, they are known as asuras.

Krishna, as God, is deserving of praise and adoration at all times, regardless of the circumstance. Yet it is certainly interesting to see that during His childhood, the Lord would accept all of the praise that came to Him as a result of situations that He was technically responsible for creating. For instance, the demons that came to Vrindavana were only there to kill Krishna. They only came to kill Krishna because Kamsa had asked them to. Kamsa only wanted Krishna dead because a prophecy had stated that the king would die at the hands of Devaki’s eighth son. If Krishna had not appeared as Devaki’s child, Kamsa would have had no need to try to kill him. The inhabitants of Vrindavana would have been spared the attacks of the demons if Krishna had not been born.

So does this mean that Lord Krishna, God Himself, simply came to earth to receive praise? Is He so petty that He needs to be loved and adored by everyone in order to feel happy? To answer these questions, let’s first review how similar situations play out in ordinary dealings. Young children and spouses serve as good examples in this regard. A typical child will ask for toys, games, and money from time to time. A good parent will hold back in these situations, not wanting to spoil the child. If a child is given whatever they want, whenever they want, they won’t learn the value of money and hard work. When they grow older, they will start to expect others to meet their needs and thus have a difficult time in life.

But as we all know, sometimes parents just can’t help it. Their child will desperately want something, like a bike or a state of the art video game system, and the parent will budge and purchase the item, usually giving it as a gift for Christmas or a birthday. When the child receives the gift, the reaction will be quite predictable. “Oh Dad, I love you so much! I can’t believe you bought this for me. You’re the best dad in the whole world!” Naturally this will make the parent feel quite happy and satisfied. In these situations, the parents will hardly remember that the toy itself was the impetus for the love and affection shown to them. The child was made happy, and the parent was satisfied at the same time. The psychological reasons for such an exchange of emotion are not taken into account.

Husbands and wives have similar experiences. Valentine’s Day, the wedding anniversary, and the birthday are the three most important days of each year that the husband must make sure to not forget about. From the wife’s perspective, there is usually an expectation of receiving a gift on these special days. A good husband will not only remember these occasions, but he will go above and beyond the call of duty to try to meet or surpass the expectations of the wife. If he comes through with the perfect gift, the wife will surely be happy. “Oh honey, I love you so much. I can’t believe you put so much thought into my gift. I love it, and I love you.” The same cause-and-effect is seen when the wife buys a gift for the husband. If the wife purchases a new electronic device, tickets to a popular sporting event, or cooks an elaborate meal, surely the husband will be very pleased. He, in turn, will offer similar loving sentiments back to the wife as a way of thanking her.

In this paradigm, the loving sentiments directed at the spouse have a root cause, namely the elaborate, thoughtful, and well-timed gift. Ideally, the husband and wife should already love each other completely and without motive. The exchange of loving sentiments shouldn’t be dependent on the giving of gifts. But these situations are commonplace nonetheless. Just as with the giving of gifts to children, the root cause of the resulting happiness and love is ignored, for all the giver cares about is seeing their beloved happy.

This same principle can be applied to the devotees who offer praise to the Lord. Regardless of whether or not the Lord created the perilous situation for His own satisfaction, the wonderful activities He performed as a result are certainly worthy of praise. More importantly, the offering of praise from the devotee serves to purify their consciousness. It is this purified consciousness, when adopted and maintained permanently up until the time of death, that allows a conditioned soul to become liberated.

Liberation results in the end of the cycle of birth and death. The conditioned soul is meant to always reside with Krishna, but upon taking birth in the material world, it looks for association with anything except Krishna. Therefore, the real purpose behind Krishna’s appearances on earth is to allow the lost souls a chance to reconnect with Him. By witnessing the Lord’s wonderful activities and transcendental pastimes, the living entities become inspired to offer praise to their supreme object of pleasure. In this way we see that Lord Krishna performs a great service for all of humanity by creating situations where He can protect the innocent from the attacks of demons.

If the Lord didn’t create these situations, our praise would be misdirected towards ordinary human beings. These people may possess great attributes and personality traits, but worshiping them doesn’t really advance the plight of the soul. The only living entities actually deserving of praise are those who take to praising Krishna at all times. Therefore great devotees like Narada Muni and the demigods in heaven serve as objects of worship. They constantly praise Krishna for His exploits, thus setting a good example for the rest of society. Their association helps us in the long run.

We should take advantage of the accounts of Krishna’s activities found in Vedic texts such as the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Ramayana. The calamitous situations, and their subsequent resolutions brought about by Krishna’s transcendental activities, described within these books were created for our benefit. God is self-satisfied, so He is lacking nothing. Rather, it is the conditioned souls who are in need of something; an ultimate object of worship, a hero that will never let them down. That hero is Lord Krishna.

Comparing Ramayanas

“O best of men, today, by worshiping You, Rama who is the greatest of all the gods, my religious practices have become fruitful and my ascension to the heavenly realm will surely take place.” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.12)

The Ramayana is one of the most famous literary works in history. More than just a book, it is a wonderful Sanskrit poem which describes the life and pastimes of Lord Shri Rama, a pious prince and celebrated avatara of the Supreme Lord. The Ramayana is so famous that it has sprung many spinoffs and offshoots, other variations of the poem which describe the same events in different levels of detail. Since the Ramayana is so old – old enough that we can’t accurately date its composition – it has been studied for centuries. In modern times, scholars, academics, and inquisitive non-devotees have taken to studying the work. They have compared several popular versions and have concluded that the original Ramayana, penned by Maharishi Valmiki, hardly makes any reference at all to Rama being a divine figure, an incarnation of God. Rather, they believe that Rama only became known as a deity many years later. This erroneous conclusion based off mental speculation is refuted many times in the actual text of the Ramayana, including in the section describing the incident where Lord Rama meets the great female sage Shabari.

In order to put things into proper context, familiarity with the nature of some of the other Ramayanas that have come into existence is required. Probably the most famous alternate version, or supplement to Valmiki’s Ramayana, is the Ramacharitamanasa, a poem written by Goswami Tulsidas during the sixteenth century. This work is often referred to as the Tulsi Ramayana, but it should be noted that Tulsidas never intended for his work to be taken as the original Ramayana. Rather, he named his book the Ramacharitamanasa, which refers to the mind always contemplating the transcendental activities of Lord Rama. Tulsidas’ work is a poem composed in Awadhi, which is a dialect of Hindi. It is funny to see that some scholars have taken up the task to determine whether or not the Ramacharitamanasa is a translation of the original Ramayana. This is humorous because the Ramacharitamanasa was never intended to be a translation, nor has the author claimed that it is one. Rather, it is simply a beautiful poem extolling the virtues of Lord Rama, with a brief summary of His life’s activities included.

What was the need for this great work? After all, the Ramayana is one of the holiest scriptures, complete in and of itself. The completeness is what is important in this regard. The Valmiki Ramayana is very long, consisting of thousands of Sanskrit verses. Included are detailed conversations and blow by blow accounts of the fighting that took place between Lord Rama’s Vanara army and Ravana’s band of Rakshasas. In recent times, several movies have been made of the Ramayana. Obviously the entire work could never be accurately portrayed in a single movie, so each film depicts only a summary of the events. From our personal experience, when we were six years of age, we visited India and through good fortune were exposed to the Ramayana and Lord Rama. When we heard that there were movies made of this Ramayana, we pestered the elders to take us to see one. Our guardians and relatives told us of different Ramayana movies that were in the theaters at the time, but we insisted on seeing whichever one was the longest, which at the time was the Sampoorna Ramayana.

The point of all this is that the Valmiki Ramayana is quite lengthy. Even a movie that claims to be sampurna, or complete, surely isn’t. Taking this into consideration, Tulsidas took to writing his own poem about Lord Rama. It should also be noted that we currently live in the age of Kali. This age is known for rampant quarrel and hypocrisy; hence people generally don’t have an affinity for spiritual life. Therefore presenting the original Ramayana to society at large is a difficult task. Tulsidas, being a surrendered soul and pure devotee of Lord Rama, wanted to spread the glories of the Lord to everyone, making the pastimes and activities of Rama presentable to a larger audience.

One will notice many differences between the Ramacharitamanasa and the original Ramayana. The narration itself is different, with Tulsidas’ version being told from the perspective of a conversation between Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati. This conversation appears in the Brahmanda Purana in a section which is known as the Adhyatma Ramayana, or the spiritual Ramayana. Since this version is from a Purana, its author is Vyasadeva, the great compiler of all the Puranas, Mahabharata, and Vedanta-sutras. The Supreme Lord descends to earth in every creation, but the exact sequence of His activities can vary in each kalpa. The events in the Adhyatma Ramayana are described a little differently, with certain key elements deviating completely from the original. For example, one of the major differences is that the form of Sita, Lord Rama’s wife, that is kidnapped by Ravana is only a material version. The Ramacharitamanasa tells us that the real Sita entered the fire just prior to her kidnap, leaving an illusory form for Ravana to take. Upon Ravana’s death and Sita’s rescue, the original form of Rama’s wife reappeared from the fire.

“When Ravana came to kidnap mother Sita and she saw him, she took shelter of the fire-god, Agni. The fire-god covered the body of mother Sita, and in this way she was protected from the hands of Ravana.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 9.202)

Tulsidas is often criticized for this and other deviations in his work. The harshest critics say that he made his events up, wanting to protect Sita. Lord Chaitanya, Krishna’s most recent incarnation to appear on earth, actually corroborated Tulsdias’ version of Sita’s illusory form being kidnapped. Lord Chaitanya, who roamed the earth prior to Tulsidas’ advent, specifically found evidence relating to Sita from the Kurma Purana and showed the original page to a brahmana named Ramadasa Vipra. Ramadasa was a great devotee of Lord Rama and was upset about Sita being kidnapped. Lord Chaitanya, being the original Hari Himself, alleviated the distress of the brahmana by showing him evidence from authorized scripture about the illusory Sita.

The criticisms of Tulsidas are humorous in a sense. Since the saint was so kind and humble, it is understandable that some people would mistake his simple and faithful behavior for lack of intelligence. Yet does anyone seriously believe that Tulsidas didn’t know his version was different from the original Ramayana? The saint was a highly learned scholar who had a firm grasp of all Vedic literature, including the Valmiki Ramayana. According to the statements of various saints, Tulsidas is considered to be an incarnation of Valmiki. The Maharishi was disappointed that his original Ramayana failed to properly extol the virtues of Hanuman, thus he decided to come back and praise Rama’s devotee to the fullest. Tulsidas did just that by writing the famous Hanuman Chalisa, a devotional poem praising Hanuman which is recited by millions of devotees on a daily basis. In fact, Tulsidas took spiritual instruction from Hanuman and can thus be considered his disciple.

Since Tulsidas’ work was so devotional in nature, some scholars declared that Valmiki’s version didn’t really claim that Rama was an incarnation of God. To give evidence to this fact, they decided that the initial book of the Ramayana, the Bala Kanda, only came into existence later on and that it wasn’t part of the original Ramayana. They claimed that the rest of the work never mentions Rama as a divine figure, and that He is depicted to be only a great personality who endured many hardships.

Those making these claims aren’t devotees themselves, so they haven’t taken in Vedic wisdom from any authority. If one reads Valmiki’s Ramayana, there is no doubt that Rama is declared to be God. There are many examples of this, including the time the Lord visited the female sage Shabari. Part of Rama’s pastimes involved Him travelling the forests of India as an exile for fourteen years. Rama was of the princely order, and as the eldest son of the king, He was next in line to ascend the throne. Yet due to unfortunate events, Rama was banished from His kingdom for fourteen years. Not able to bear the separation, Rama’s wife Sita, and younger brother Lakshmana, insisted on accompanying Him.

Sita was kidnapped by Ravana while the group was living in the forest. During their search for her whereabouts, Rama and Lakshmana came upon the hermitage of Shabari. Upon seeing the two brothers, Shabari immediately got up and touched their feet. This alone is an indication of Rama’s divinity. Shabari was a brahmana, or one of the priestly class. Rama and Lakshmana were military men, so they were considered subordinate to Shabari according to social etiquette. Nevertheless, Shabari knew who Rama was and thus treated Him appropriately.

After Rama posed some nice questions to Shabari, the sage responded with some kind words of her own. In the above referenced quote, she refers to Rama as deva vare, which means the chief of the devas, or gods. Deva refers to a demigod, or a celestial being. Similar to the Christian concept of saints, the demigods are the elevated living entities who possess extraordinary power. Those growing up in the Hindu tradition are familiar with the many gods. Outsiders sometimes mistakenly take this to mean that Hindus don’t believe in a single God, but this is not the case. The original form of God is Lord Shri Krishna, whose immediate expansion is Lord Narayana, or Vishnu.

There is really no difference between Krishna and Vishnu other than appearance. Krishna has two hands and Narayana has four. The reason for the two forms is that people have different ways of worshiping God. Lord Vishnu is intended to appeal to those who view God with awe and reverence. Is there any other way to view God? Yes. Lord Krishna, being God’s original all-attractive form, is meant to attract those who view the Lord with pure love and affection, not caring for His great powers. In this way, we see there are subtle differences between the two forms, but for all intents and purposes, Krishna and Vishnu are the same.

“The highly renowned Rama rages into a fury against those who dare brave against Him. He is extremely powerful, for He can completely stop the onset of a pulsing river simply by using His arrows. Shriman Rama can bring down all the stars, planets, and the sky itself by use of His arrows. He is even capable of saving the earth if it should collapse. The illustrious Rama, if He wanted to, could deluge the whole world by breaking apart the shorelines of the seas. With His arrows, He can resist the onset of the oceans and the wind. After withdrawing the whole world into Himself, that highly renowned best of men, by virtue of His powers, is capable of again creating the whole world with all its creatures.” (Akampana speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 31.23-26)

Lord Rama is the chief of the gods because He is an incarnation of Vishnu. Evidence of this is given in the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana, which describes how the demigods approached Lord Vishnu to help them defeat Ravana. The Lord agreed to come to earth as the eldest son of the King of Ayodhya, Maharaja Dasharatha. Evidence of Rama’s divinity is also given elsewhere. Akampana, one of Ravana’s assistants, personally witnessed Rama’s fighting power. The Lord was once attacked by fourteen thousand of Ravana’s associates. Rama showed His tremendous prowess by easily killing all the demons. Akampana managed to escape back to Lanka and relay the information to Ravana. In describing the incident, Akampana declared that Rama was capable of swallowing up the entire world and then recreating it with all its creatures. This is a direct reference to Vishnu’s ability to create. Brahman is God’s feature as the impersonal energy, and it is this energy that the Lord impregnates in order to create life on earth.

“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, Bhagavad-gita, 14.3)

Shabari confirms the fact that Rama is Vishnu by stating that He is the greatest of the gods. What does it mean to be the chief god? Demigods can only bestow material rewards. At best, their worshipers can ascend to the heavenly planets, where they remain for some time before returning back to earth. Worshipers of Vishnu, however, aren’t looking for any material benefits, and as such, they ascend to the spiritual world after death. The spiritual realm represents an eternal abode, a place where we can check in anytime but never have to leave.

Rama’s divinity is not some concoction. Maharishi Valmiki meditated for thousands of years before he took up devotional service and decided to compose the Ramayana. He wouldn’t waste his time crafting such a wonderful poem if Rama were just an ordinary human being. We should always try to take in Vedic wisdom from the proper sources. Since Krishna is so attractive, everyone is enamored by Him, even the non-devotees. Yet if someone doesn’t have the eyes to see Krishna, they will never be able to properly understand literature which describes Him. Therefore we are advised to learn from devotees. This makes sense because the devotees are Krishna’s greatest fans, and as such, they have an eagerness to hear about God. This eagerness results in a desire to study all the great Vedic texts which describe Krishna. Hence devotees know how to take things in their proper context.

The great saints know that people will try to put forth their faulty interpretations of the famous scriptures, so for the benefit of future generations of sincere souls, summary studies and synthesized poetry are written. By consulting works such as the Ramacharitamanasa, we can understand the essence of Krishna and Rama. If an author understands the proper conclusion about life, that of devotional service to God being the highest occupation, their literature will automatically become first class and beneficial to all of society.

Hero Worship

“My dear friends, not only living animals, but even inanimate objects like the rivers and lakes of Vrindavana also become stunned when Krishna passes with peacock feathers on His head and His body smeared with the minerals of Vrindavana. With leaves and flowers decorating His body, He looks like some hero.” (A gopi speaking about Krishna, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 34)

Man, regardless of his age or stage in life, will search for heroes, objects of affection and worship. Usually this search results in the adoration of family members, friends, or notable public figures. But one issue causes this entire system to fall apart:  fallibility. Man is destined to fail, for every human being must suffer through death at some point. Moreover, this fallibility often manifests prior to the end of life, thus dashing the hopes for perfection invested by those offering the worship. One personality, however, has always been infallible and will continue to be so in the future. This person, the most supreme and sublime of individuals, thus becomes the only candidate worthy of our idolatry and our hero worship. The world needs this hero today more than ever.

Does everyone take to some type of hero worship? They most certainly do, even if the worship is of the self. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures in existence, which emanate out of India, describe the nature of the soul in great detail. The soul is taken to be an autonomous entity which is so small that its measurement is akin to the size of a tiny fragment of the tip of the average human hair. Yet this tiny entity is so powerful that it serves as the fuel for the engine of activities in all forms of life. As soon as the soul is present, a body takes on a life and can thus perform activities. Once the same soul exits said body, the entity is deemed lifeless, with the body decaying soon afterwards. Aside from the soul being extremely powerful, it has natural qualities and tendencies. Since this soul originally comes from a more powerful soul, it is not meant to reside alone. Rather, its natural disposition is towards associating with other souls. The nature of this association is meant to be pure and providing of transcendental bliss. Though the soul is geared towards associating with other souls, there is still a leader, or Supreme Soul, to which all subordinate souls direct their affection and activities. This association – the minute souls living in perfect harmony with other similar souls, all the while dovetailing their transcendental activities for the satisfaction of the Supreme Soul – can only take place in a purified environment, the likes of which cannot be found in the individual conditioned soul’s current home.

The place we currently reside, a realm known as the material world in Vedic parlance, is a separate domain from the purified environment where souls are meant to interact. In the material realm, the souls assume various guises known as material bodies. Instead of working in harmony towards pleasing the Supreme Soul, the individuals actually take to competing with one another. In this temporary and miserable world, every living entity is seeking to be the leader, the supreme object of affection and the ultimate enjoyer. Since this pursuit is a flawed one, the end-result is always misery and disappointment.

The original constitutional position of the soul always remains the same, regardless of the soul’s current environment and activities. Therefore, even in the material world, the individual spiritual sparks maintain their penchant for association and the offering of love and adoration. The individuals run into problems, however, in that their affection gets diverted towards other individual spirit souls, who regardless of their makeup and demeanor, can never compare in potency and quality to the Supreme Soul. In more simple terms, we living entities take to worshiping fallible human beings instead of the Supreme Infallible Entity residing in the purified environment of the spiritual sky.

The soul desires association and the exchange of love. Every individual has a desire to love someone or something. One person loves their wife, another their husband, and some even their cats and dogs. Pet owners can develop great attachments to their animals, not worrying at all about having to take their dogs out for walks and cleaning up the bodily fluids that they leave behind. While the most common exchange of love involves direct worship of other living entities, there is also the penchant for hero worship. Taking an ordinary human being who possesses some extraordinary ability, the individual living entities elevate these personalities to hero status. In order for someone to be deemed a hero, they must be the recipient of love, adoration, and fame. The nature of this adoration may vary, with some taking to praising the hero’s efforts in writing and others willfully parting with their hard earned money to purchase whatever the hero is selling. Nevertheless, the hero is praised for their efforts, and they are essentially deemed as infallible. Everyone is looking for this hero, the embodiment of perfection. Everyone wants to worship someone who is a cool customer, someone who never wilts under pressure, someone who has all the answers.

Issues arise, however, when the hero falls down. To ere is human, so naturally whoever we make out to be a hero will eventually fall from grace. After all, even the most exalted figures still put their pants on one leg at a time. The falling down of a hero can be quite disheartening though. The same press that fawned over a particular personality suddenly shifts their emotions to hatred and disgust. We could list specific examples of ordinary human beings who were elevated to hero status only to have their stature torn down later on, but there are too many to choose from. A politician gets praised for their ability to garner votes and pass meaningful policy changes. Yet if the same politician loses an election or goes on to support a failed piece of legislation, they get labeled a bum. A particular star athlete may be very successful in a sport for an extended period, but eventually time catches up with them. The same athlete who once dominated their sport soon has trouble keeping up with the newcomers. Many celebrity figures fall down in their personal lives. They may get caught driving drunk, abusing a spouse or a love one, or even making racial epithets. Suddenly, the bloom comes off the rose, and the person who was once viewed as saintly now doesn’t get the time of day from the average citizen.

So what can be done? Should we stop loving? Should we suppress our natural disposition towards praising and elevating those that we love and adore? Religion exists specifically to address this issue. While religion is generally associated with a type of faith, the nature of the soul and its relationship with the Supreme Soul has nothing to do with sentiment, geographic location, or blindly following a particular spiritual leader. Rather, it is a matter of science that the soul is meant to worship and adore the Almighty God. In the Vedic tradition, the entity we know as “God” is described in more meaningful terms such as Achyuta and Krishna. Achyuta means one who never falls down. Right away this reveals God’s nature as the ultimate hero, the only candidate worthy of our eternal love and adoration. The name Krishna speaks to God’s all-attractive nature. Not only is the Lord the greatest hero, but He also provides the topmost happiness to those who associate with Him. It should make sense to us that the most attractive person would also supply the greatest transcendental bliss to those who are drawn in by His attraction.

So God as Krishna is the most attractive and the supreme object of pleasure, but how does this help us? Obviously Krishna resides in the spiritual world and currently we don’t, so what can we do? How do we associate with the hero that the world so desperately needs? Luckily for us, Krishna, as the only infallible entity in the world, is also the most compassionate. While the wayward spirit souls chose to appear in the material world, wherein their desire to become God could be acted upon, the Lord still put into place a system whereby they could return to the transcendental realm, the land reserved for the purified souls. This system is known as dharma, which can be taken as religiosity, occupational duty, or simple piety. Dharma can be thought of as the ultimate system of right and wrong, the supreme set of guidelines aimed at keeping the individual soul in constant contact with the Supreme Soul. While the individual soul, or jivatma, is so powerful that it can drive the activities of a lifeless body, there is another soul residing side by side within the heart. This soul, known as the Paramatma, belongs to God. As the localized aspect of the Supreme Lord, the Paramatma is actually responsible for the results of all activities. This should make sense as the individual spirit souls are actually quite powerless. They may have a minute amount of independence in how they choose to interact with material nature, but the reactions to such actions cannot manifest without the intervention of divine forces.

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15)

Since the Supersoul resides with the individual soul, there is actually never any separation. This means that God is always with us. The issue at hand, however, relates to consciousness. Upon descending to the material world, the individual consciousness, the supreme thought process of any form of life, shifts from serving and worshiping God towards worshiping the individual along with other manmade heroes. Thinking in terms of “I” and “Mine”, the individual becomes forgetful of the presence of the Supersoul which lives inside its own body. This flawed mindset, which is akin to viewing the self as God, is the root cause behind the existence of the material world. If every living entity shed this mindset, there would be no life on earth, and thus no earth. Every soul would be residing in the spiritual world alongside Krishna.

Dharma was put in place to allow the living entities to purify their consciousness by changing the mindset from “I am God” to “God is me”. Since Krishna is the origin of all matter and spirit, we can all be considered part of Him. Since God is part of us, we are meant to constantly associate with Him in the most intimate way. This level of intimacy is far greater than anything we can experience in our interactions with our fellow man. Even conjugal love, the most potent form of emotional exchange, has no equivalent in the spiritual world, for no material emotion can compare in purity and potency to the pure transcendental love that is exchanged between the liberated spirit souls and the Supreme Soul.

Dharma is aimed not only at elevating one to the platform of Krishna consciousness, but also at keeping one at this heightened level of awareness. Shedding the “I am God” mindset is not easy, for even ordinary hero worship is based off this flawed mentality. Thinking of another fallible living entity as God is the same as thinking of ourselves as God. This is because there is no difference in quality between one individual soul and another. To purify our consciousness, we need to take to activities that keep us connected with Bhagavan, which is a name that describes God’s ultimate feature as the Supreme Entity who possesses every opulence imaginable. Since dharma can vary based on a person’s primary objective, there can be competing definitions of right and wrong, piety and sin. Therefore, the Vedas give us a more specific term to describe that discipline which aims to keep one connected with Bhagavan. This term is bhagavata-dharma, which can be translated as devotional service.

Devotional service is the religion of love, the most purified spiritual discipline. It can consist of nine different processes, with one of them being worship. Instead of worshiping fallible living entities, the discipline of devotional service advises us to adore the Infallible. In order for this worship to take place, there must be a worshipable object, an entity or figure to which we can offer our prayers and obeisances. To facilitate this practice, the Lord incarnates in the form of the deity. Deity worship is apparently forbidden in many of the prominent spiritual disciplines around the world, but there is no valid justification for this. Since worship of God is the quintessential religious activity, it stands to reason that the Lord would have a transcendental form. Worship of God would then surely involve mentally offering obeisances to this transcendental form. If it is beneficial to worship God in our minds, what is the harm in worshiping a carved statue or picture representation of the same transcendental form?

Not only is such worship not harmful, but it is indeed most beneficial. The key to success in spiritual life is to change one’s consciousness. Shedding the “I am God” mentality requires dedication to transcendental activities. Deity worship affords us this opportunity, a way to constantly tend to and worship the Supreme Lord in a body which is fit for the offering of love. God created matter after all, so taking His material elements and crafting a statue representation of His transcendental form is certainly in line with religious practice. In fact, this is a labor of love, an act of pure devotion the likes of which can’t be matched. Not only is the deity beneficial to those who offer their love and worship directly to it, but it also helps others ascend to the platform of Krishna consciousness. Simply professing a religious faith is not enough. One has to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. Deity worship gives credence to our pledge of allegiance to the Supreme Lord, proving to others that the panacea of blissful spiritual life is a reality and not a Utopian myth.

The deity, being a visual representation of Krishna or one of His non-different vishnu-tattva forms, is wholly worthy of our worship. Some may protest that adherents to bhagavata-dharma are simply concocting an infallible hero that doesn’t exist. “They were burned by their own heroes in real life, so they took to worshiping a mythological character, someone whose exploits were simply conjured up by various poets of the past.” Even if one were lured in by this fallacious line of thinking, there is still no harm in worshiping Krishna or His deity. As mentioned before, the individual spirit soul has a penchant for hero worship. Lacking God consciousness, the conditioned soul will take to worshiping itself or some other fallible entity. By definition, this mode of hero worship is destined to secure anguish and heartache. Worship of Krishna, however, will never meet this end. Devotees would rather take their chances with Krishna, who is all-blissful and the giver of the transcendental knowledge found in the Puranas, Ramayana, and Bhagavad-gita, than fall prey to worshiping fallible living entities who are merely assigned hero status by other conditioned souls. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding”, Krishna’s hero status is validated by the visible results seen by those who sincerely take to devotional service.

The lesson here is that if we are going to invest our hopes in anyone, why not Krishna? His deity is so beautiful and flawless that our eyes can never get enough of looking at Him. If we don’t have the benefit of seeing the deity every day, we can still associate with Krishna through the transcendental sound vibration of His holy name. This non-different form of the Lord can be produced by every single person through simply chanting the most sacred of formulas: “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Now more than ever, the world needs Krishna.

Chief of the Gods

“O best of men, today, by worshiping You – Rama who is the greatest of all the gods – my religious practices have become fruitful and my ascension to the heavenly realm will surely take place.” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.12)

Herein we get one of the most concise descriptions about spiritual life and what is needed for success. There are many religious systems, or dharmas, that people adopt over the course of their many lifetimes on earth, but there is one method of worship, and also one object of worship, that stands head and shoulders above all others. Those who worship Lord Krishna, or one of His Vishnu expansions such as Lord Narayana or Rama, achieve all the opulences and benedictions available to those who practice other religious systems. Not only is Narayana the chief among the gods, but the rewards bestowed to His devotees are also foremost.

Why would we want rewards from God? Activity is sparked by personal interest. Unless there is something in it for us, why would we take to a particular activity? Even acts of charity and general altruism have personal motives built into them. “I will give in charity so that one day they can find a cure to cancer or other deadly disease. I will help the downtrodden so that their suffering will end. In this way, I will feel better and so will the recipients of my charity.” Even this perceived unselfishness has a hidden agenda behind it. By the same token, spiritualists also look for personal benefits. The driving force to all activity is the potential for enjoyment.

Enjoyment has two aspects to it. The first part involves the removal of distresses. The Vedas tell us that all miseries in life come from one of three sources. Adhibhautika miseries come from other living entities. Bhautika refers to bhuta, which means a living entity. These miseries are easy to identify. We run into someone during the day that is mean to us, or maybe we see another person that wants to steal our possessions. In extreme cases there is war, government tyranny, or oppression. These are all adhibhautika miseries. The second kind of misery is that which comes from our own body and mind; hence it is referred to as adhyatmika. Adhyamta refers to the soul, the spirit inside of us which causes all of our activities. Every action we perform has a commensurate reaction; hence we feel either happy or sad depending on the nature of the result. Our own body can cause us great grief, either through diseases or through mental agony. If the love of our life suddenly leaves us or if we don’t do well on a test, the resulting sadness is very difficult to overcome. The third kind of misery is that which comes about from Mother Nature. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc. are all part of nature’s workings. The Vedas refer to these miseries as Adhidaivika. This nature has some intelligence behind it though.

The word “adhidaivika” means that which comes from daiva, or the divine. Daiva is derived from the word deva, which means a god or a celestial being. The common misconception associated with Hinduism is that it involves many gods. This is indeed true, but at the same time, it is misleading. There are many devas, but there is only one chief God, or Supreme Personality of Godhead. If there is one God, why are there so many devas? This brings us back to the issue of enjoyment. We experience varieties of enjoyment and happiness in this world, but actually there is a place where the level of enjoyment is much higher. Enjoyment involves the removal of distress and also an object from which one derives pleasure. Normally these objects are of the material variety: clothes, jewels, money, sex life, etc. We see these objects in our everyday life, but they all actually originate elsewhere. We can think of life on earth as a reflection of something that exists in the real form somewhere else. That somewhere is heaven, the planetary system above ours.

The devas reside in heaven. They live a much more opulent lifestyle than we do. Devas also live for much longer than we do. The original deva, the first created living entity, is Lord Brahma. He lives for billions and billions of years. He is the oldest person in the world and his associates are also very old. Since they are elevated living entities, the devas, who are also known as demigods, reside on heavenly planets where there is an abundance of gold, women, jewels, and other opulences. Heaven exists for those who are interested in advanced material enjoyment. Ascension to heaven isn’t easy, for it requires the performance of many great sacrifices, or yajnas, and adherence to piety.

“Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. They take birth on the planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.20)

The desire to ascend to heaven is quite natural. The threefold miseries of life can get to be too much for us after a while. We want a way out, a place to go where we won’t have to feel miserable anymore. In addition, we’d like to have a place where life can be enjoyed to the fullest. In this respect, there are many sacrifices and other activities prescribed for those with heavenly aspirations. Most of these recommendations can be found in the karma-kanda section of the Vedas. Karma refers to fruitive activity and kanda means a section or branch. Other religious systems have similar rituals and practices aimed at delivering one to the heavenly planets.

As mentioned before, there is a chief deva, or celestial figure. This is the person most of us refer to as God. Unlike the demigods, however, God has His own planetary system where He resides. Why is this? God has nothing to do with material life. He is above the so-called enjoyment that comes through association with matter. Just as the enjoyment on earth is a reflection of the enjoyment that exists in heaven, the opulences in heaven are simply a reflection of the imperishable riches that exist in the spiritual world where God resides. This reflection isn’t complete, but rather it is inverted, or even perverted. The distinction is made because real enjoyment can only come through association with God, who is also known as Lord Krishna. The word Krishna means all-attractive, thus anyone who associates with the all-attractive will surely feel the greatest enjoyment. If we are attracted to something, we will naturally derive some enjoyment out of it. The more attractive something is, the happier it will make us once we associate with it. Since God is the most attractive, it stands to reason that association with Him will give us a feeling of bliss that we’ve never felt before.

Based on this information, we can conclude that the highest religious practice is that which takes us towards achieving association with the original God. While we can compare the levels of enjoyment on the different planetary systems, there really is no way to quantify the enjoyment felt on the spiritual platform. There is real enjoyment, that which comes through association with Krishna, and false, or illusory, enjoyment. Currently we only know about the illusory enjoyment. We are so illusioned by objects of matter that we think that going to the heavenly planets of the devas will make us happier than we are now. In the eyes of a conditioned entity the demigods certainly do enjoy on a higher level, but even their time there is limited. Eventually everything in this material creation will be destroyed. The same can’t be said of God’s spiritual world.

So how do we associate with God? We know how to perform sacrifices and offer prayers in hopes of a better condition in life, but how do we take the necessary steps to achieve Krishna’s personal association? Thankfully for us, the Lord is kind enough to appear on earth from time to time to show us the way. Not only does He perform transcendental activities for the benefit of others, but His devotees also show us how to properly worship the Lord and please Him to the best of one’s ability. One such interaction between God and His devotee took place many thousands of years ago in the forests of India. Lord Krishna, who is also known by His four-handed form of Lord Narayana or Vishnu, came to earth in the form of a handsome and pious prince named Rama. Since Lord Rama is an avatara of Lord Vishnu, He is not different from God. Worship of Rama is worship of God. We living entities, bhutas, are separated expansions of God, so we can’t be considered to be on the same level.

Lord Rama performed many wonderful activities during His time on earth. On one occasion, He and His younger brother Lakshmana visited the female sage Shabari. At the time, Rama’s wife, Sita Devi, had just been kidnapped, so the Lord was trying to find her whereabouts. Rama was told to visit the sage Shabari, who was residing in the forest and performing great austerities. Shabari’s teachers had told her that she would one day achieve salvation by meeting Rama and Lakshmana face to face. In the above referenced quote, Shabari is offering a nice prayer to the Lord after having kindly welcomed the two princes to her hermitage.

This one prayer by Shabari sufficiently describes the meaning of life and how to attain perfection. She kindly addressed Rama as deva vare, which means the chief of the devas. Moreover, she said that she could now easily get to heaven or anywhere else since she had worshiped Rama. Shabari here clearly spells out the difference between Narayana and any other deva, or demigod. Since Nara means man, Narayana is He who is the source of all naras. Since God is the source of all bhutas, or living entities, He is also the source of all enjoyment. By worshiping Rama, one can achieve all the opulences and enjoyment available to those who take up other religious practices.

Since worship of Krishna automatically brings about heavenly opulences and other enjoyments, why would we take to any other type of worship? Not only is Rama the best of the devas, but those who worship Him are the best of the dharmacaris, or those dedicated to religious principles. So how do we perform this worship? It is quite simple actually. We have to show the same level of respect and hospitality towards Lord Rama [God] that Shabari did. Immediately questions may arise as to how we can meet Lord Rama. Sure, Shabari got to welcome Him to her home, but how do we bring Rama into our house? Why would He even agree to come visit us?

The key is to have a desire to associate with God. This desire must be pure and without personal motive. The Lord will already give us what we want, so there is no reason to ask Him for enjoyment or any other kind of pleasure. Shabari simply had a desire to see God, to welcome Him, and to reciprocate the feelings of love that He already had shown her. Shabari hadn’t met Rama before, but she knew that God loved her. That love came in the form of her spiritual guides, or gurus. The bona fide spiritual master is a godsend, a person sent from the spiritual world to help us rekindle our forgotten relationship with the Supreme Lord.

“But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.22)

So how do we find our guru? How do we receive Krishna’s mercy in the form of the gurudeva? If we are sincere in our desires, Krishna will certainly bring us the guru we need. Luckily for us, there are many bona fide spiritual masters that we can easily approach today without having to leave our homes. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the foremost teacher of devotional service, or bhakti-yoga, for the people of this age. Though He is no longer present on this planet, His written instructions and recorded words live on. In this way, Shrila Prabhupada never dies.

How do we associate with this great swami? We simply have to follow his instructions, the primary of which calls for the constant chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and abstention from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication. After we steadily follow these regulations for an extended period of time, we can then take up the process of deity worship. Personal association with God is reserved for the great devotees like Shabari, but it doesn’t mean that we are left out in the cold. The deity is the worshipable form of the Lord, hence it is known as the archa vigraha. If we treat the archa-murti with the same love and respect that Shabari showed to Rama, we will most certainly be granted the same benediction of salvation.

The Enjoyer

“On any platform of activities, the principle of sense gratification is there. But on the spiritual platform, sense gratification is for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, whereas on the material platform it is for the performer.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 29)

The term “Mayavada” is thrown around quite often by Vaishnava preachers and those who have an utter distaste for any philosophy that treats individual souls and God as equals. Not only does the Mayavada term describe those who believe in a formless God, or an Absolute Truth which lacks an eternal and transcendental form, but it also applies to any person who views any entity besides God as the ultimate enjoyer. For these reasons, it is not surprising to see the words “Mayavada” and “Mayavadi” invoked quite often. Yet this term only represents the negative side of things, the wrong way to go about viewing spiritual life. The other side of the equation is the positive activity; those guidelines and beliefs that enable one to practice religion the proper way. Though these activities can take on different sizes and shapes, they share a commonality in that the ultimate enjoyer is taken to be Lord Krishna, or God. When we stop looking at ourselves and our fellow man as the ultimate enjoyers, and instead shift this designation to the Supreme Lord, we can go about practicing real religion, the religion of love.

To paint a clearer picture of the issue, let’s analyze how many of us go about our daily lives, taking into account some of the primary activities that we take up and which ones we deem to be the most important. To understand the different philosophies and perceived occupational duties of the world, both theistic and atheistic, we can spend time studying all the faiths that have ever existed and what their ultimate conclusions are. Luckily for us, the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the crown jewel of the Vedic literatures, gives us all the information we need regarding any type of philosophy or religious tradition. A religion is merely a philosophy which describes the ultimate conclusion or the ultimate object of worship in life. In this regard, even atheism can be classified as a religion, for the adherents take man, nature, or chemicals to be the supreme controllers. Aside from the issue of an ultimate controller, or a “God”, the more important aspect to religion relates to enjoyment and service. We may or may not believe in God, but how we act on our beliefs is what really counts. For example, we can pledge allegiance to the flag of a specific nation, but this patriotism doesn’t really take shape until we are called to defend our country in one way or another. In a similar manner, we can go through the various rites and rituals of a particular faith, but our true feelings are exhibited by how we go about our lives. Our consciousness and who we identify as the primary object of worship are what really determine our faith and allegiance.

“The Supreme Lord said, The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called the self. Action pertaining to the development of these material bodies is called karma, or fruitive activities.” (Bhagavad-gita, 8.3)

Under Vedic terminology, most everyone in the world would be described as a karmi. Karma refers to any activity which leads to the development of the outer covering of the soul. This covering, which is composed of various material elements, is constantly going through changes, with the activities and desires of the living entity acting as the catalyst. Karma is generally seen in the light of positive and negative consequences to action, but more specifically, it refers to the development of the material body of the soul. Whether this development is favorable or unfavorable is dependent on the viewpoint of the observer. The real issue lies with the strong attachment that remains between the soul and its outer covering. Since karma leads to the development of the material body, there must be an activity which can stop this development. In this regard, there are two options, two different ways to halt this development. The difference between the two paths relates to enjoyment.

In Vedic terminology, jnana describes the acquisition of knowledge. Since jnana has nothing to do with the development of the body, it is seen as the polar opposite of karma. Jnana is a mental exercise, an activity of the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence, and ego. The pursuit of knowledge can focus on different subjects, but on the highest level it deals with the difference between matter and spirit, body and soul. Through acquiring such knowledge, the soul can be liberated from the cycle of birth and death, thus freeing itself from accepting future bodies.

Jnana and karma actually share one thing in common. They both view the individual as the ultimate enjoyer, the entity which needs pleasing the most. It is for this reason that the Vaishnava seers, those possessing a clear vision acquired through submissive service offered to their guru and the Supreme Lord, view any spiritual discipline, or any religious tradition, which functions only off of karma and jnana to be a Mayavada-like philosophy. The term Mayavada comes from two words: maya and vada. Vada means a conclusion and maya refers to that which is not. Since maya refers to spirituality, it means that which is not God. Any person whose ultimate conclusion is that everything in this world is not God, including God’s words, teachings, and activities, is considered a Mayavadi. Generally the term is applied to those who view Brahman, the formless feature of the Absolute Truth, as the only reality, with everything else in the world being maya. At the same time, those who view themselves as the ultimate enjoyers, which the aforementioned philosophers certainly do, can also be considered Mayavadis, for their ultimate conclusion is that God is not important. If the individual living entity, who is so miniscule and unimportant in the grand scheme of things, is taken as the ultimate enjoyer, then naturally God’s influence is diminished. When God is neglected, the resulting conclusion cannot be classified as anything but Mayavada.

What does this concept of the “ultimate enjoyer” mean? The karmis best illustrate the significance of this term. Let’s say, for example, that a person visits a house of worship at least once a week, be it a church, synagogue, or temple. They go through all the perfunctory rules and regulations, uttering prayers when needed and rising and kneeling at the appropriate times. During the rest of the week, however, they focus completely on satisfying their own senses or the senses of others. They spend their days catering to their dog, taking it for walks, and bowing down to pick up whatever bodily waste it is kind enough to leave on the sidewalks. When this person is not catering to their pets, they’re paying careful attention to their husband or wife. Whatever the spouse wants is what the person will do, for keeping their beloved happy is the primary objective. Husbands have summarized the secret to success in marriage into one simple phrase: “If she ain’t happy, you ain’t happy.” This same principle can be applied to other areas of life such as school, work, or any place where we are interacting with our fellow man.

Though the objects of affection may vary, the enjoyer is still the individual. Even if we are opening hospitals, feeding the poor, or giving in charity, sense gratification is still there. We are either satisfying our own senses through activities such as eating, intoxication, gambling, and sex life, or we are trying to satisfy the same senses of others. Regardless, the individual is still the object of worship, the supreme enjoyer if you will. The jnanis – those who take to the acquisition of knowledge – are similarly viewing the individual soul as the entity which needs to be pleased. The perfection of jnana-yoga is achieved when the soul merges into Brahman, a condition which leads to the loss of individuality. By merging into Brahman, the Absolute Truth, the individual frees themselves of suffering.

So what other choice do we have? What other kind of activity can we take to? The Vaishnava seers, the purified souls, take to activity which is known as bhakti. While jnana and karma see an individual other than God as the supreme enjoyer, bhakti does not make the same mistake. Bhakti can involve activities which on the surface appear similar to jnana and karma, except that the object of enjoyment is different. Bhakti means love or devotion, and when directed at the Supreme Lord, it is known as bhagavad-bhakti. The collective discipline which aims to satisfy God’s senses is known as devotional service. While this sublime engagement can comprise of many activities, the most effective for this age 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”.

This simple chanting process perfectly illustrates the difference between karma and bhakti. The karmi similarly chants, except that they are aiming to please their own senses or those of others. One may sing a nice song to themselves or take to the stage and sing in front of thousands of adoring fans. The bhakta also takes to chanting, but the subject matter is transcendental. The most complete feature of the Supreme Lord is that of Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead possessing every opulence imaginable to the fullest degree. Bhagavan’s power lies not only in His spiritual form, but also in the transcendental sound vibrations used to address Him. Therefore, by reciting the Lord’s name in a loving way, the adherent, the purified devotee, takes to pleasing the Supreme Lord’s senses. Any activity can be classified as bhakti if it follows this formula, that of aiming to please Bhagavan.

The greatest impediment towards advancement in spiritual life is the mindset of “I am God”. This seems silly on the surface, because who would be foolish enough to think that they are God? Aside from the fact that many spiritual leaders have openly boasted of this attribute in public, anyone who views the individual as the ultimate enjoyer adopts a similar mentality. This means that all of us think of ourselves as God by default. This is the true meaning behind being born ignorant. Intelligence is acquired through experience and the instructions offered by others, but this knowledge is meaningless unless and until we shed the “I am God” mentality. Even the jnanis, those spiritualists who take to connecting with Brahman, fail to shed this false identity. They take to the mindset of aham brahmasmi, which means “I am Brahman.” But since they view Brahman as the ultimate feature of the Lord, they essentially take themselves to be God.

The correct translation of aham brahmasmi is “I am a spirit soul, part and parcel of Brahman.” An easier way to understand this is to adopt the mindset of “God is me”, which is more accurate than “I am God”. As fragmental sparks emanating from the original heat, the individual spirit souls taken collectively can be included in the definition of God. At the same time, this doesn’t mean that the individuals are the Supreme Lord, but rather they are meant to be intimately connected with Him. If the Supreme Lord is satisfied, the individuals become satisfied as well. This is the secret to bhakti-yoga. Through satisfying the senses of Krishna, the transcendental senses of the individual are also satisfied.

Everyone should strive to practice the religion of love. This discipline is not the exclusive property of any group of people. Any person, in any country, and at any age, can practice bhakti-yoga, and especially the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Of all the various prescriptions provided for the aspiring transcendentalists of this age, none is more powerful than the constant recitation of the transcendent Lord’s names. This chanting satisfies not only Krishna, but all of His great devotees as well, including the bhakta doing the chanting. The same can’t be said of any other activity, be it of the religious or non-religious variety. Bhakti is the purification of all activity, so it is our primary duty to take to it.