What We Believe

Who is Krishna?

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as described by the Vedas, the ancient scriptural texts of India.

Is Krishna a Hindu god?

God is one and is for everybody. Though He may have many different names, there isn’t a separate God for the Hindus, Christians, or Jews. The Bible, Koran, and other texts tell us that God is great, but the Vedas go one step further by telling us just how great God is, what He looks like, and How we can please Him. Krishna Himself incarnates in different forms under different names such as Lord Rama, Narasimha, or Varaha. Of all these forms, Lord Krishna is the original form of God who can be worshipped by everyone.

I’m a Christian, isn’t it against my religion to worship Krishna?

God comes to earth in different forms and teaches different things depending on the time and circumstance and the people’s ability to understand. Though different religions exist, any religion which teaches one how to love God is a bona fide religion. Worshipping Krishna and reading about Him increases our love for God. In turn, we actually become better Christians, Muslims, or Jews. Every religion has their specific dogmas and rituals, and worship of Lord Krishna doesn’t go against any of those. You’ll find that your love for Jesus, Allah, and all of your fellow men will greatly increase through devotional service to Krishna.

What does the term Vedic mean?

Vedic refers to the Vedas, the original scriptural injunctions, passed down since the beginning of time in India. Veda means knowledge, and thus the Vedas contain true knowledge on every subject, including the soul. The terms “Vedas” and “Vedic literature” also refer to any scriptural text whose teachings are in line with the original Vedas. These texts include the Puranas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, and Ramayana.

Do you worship cows?

It is a common misconception that cows are worshipped by Krishna devotees. Cows are respected in the Vedic culture. Since they freely provide sustenance to us through milk production, they are considered on the same level as one’s own mother. All religions teach people to honor one’s father and mother, and thus the cows are honored and protected in Vedic society.

Don’t Hindus worship many gods, like Shiva, Ganesh, Lakshmi, etc?

Just as the government has many deputy officers to carry out day to day affairs, Lord Krishna has many demigods who manage manage the affairs of the material world. The demigods provide material benedictions through the sanction of Lord Krishna. We respect these demigods, but we our focus is on worshipping Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By devoting ourselves to Him, all the demigods become satisfied at the same time.

How come you don’t eat meat?

According to Vedic philosophy, this human form of life is meant for understanding God. Our eating should thus be limited to only that which is necessary to maintain our body. Our bodies can be easily maintained by eating food grains and milk products, so animal killing is unnecessary. Also, we only eat food which can be offered to Lord Krishna, and He doesn’t accept any animal flesh.

Why is chanting so important?

Chanting is the easiest way to connect directly with God. An appropriate analogy is to think of chanting to be like the singing of Christmas Carols. Christmas Carols are sung during a holy time of the year and they put people in a good mood since they are pleasant songs relating to the birthday of Jesus. The Vedas tell us that we should sing songs about God all the time, not just on His birthday. There is no difference between God and His name, so the more we chant, the more we increase our love for Him.

What is prasadam?

Prasadam means the “Lord’s mercy”. It is the remnants of anything that has been first offered to God, but the term is usually associated with food. Similar to the concept of saying grace before a meal, if prior to eating, we prepare and offer food to Krishna, He eats it spiritually. He leaves the rest for us to consume and distribute to others.

So what are you saying? Somehow regular food becomes magical just by offering it to Krishna first?

That’s right. God is eating the food first, so why wouldn’t it gain special powers? Eating prasadam purifies our eating experience and we gradually become awakened to our original spiritual consciousness.

Are you the type of people that point their finger at everyone and tell them they are going to hell if they don’t listen to you?

We would love to do that, but then would be going to hell too : ) All jokes aside, we love Krishna very much and our only mission is to humbly serve Him. If you get to know Him, you will find that He is the kindest and the most merciful. Our organization exists to distribute the Lord’s mercy to everyone in hopes that they will love Him even more than we do.

So please peruse our website and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or comments.

 

Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving the gift of Krishna.

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Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, also referred to as Vyasadeva or Vyasa, is the literary incarnation of Lord Krishna and is known as the father of all Vedic literature. Originally, the Veda, meaning “truth” or “knowledge”, was one doctrine that was passed down through oral tradition in India. Vyasadeva put the Veda into written scripture and divided it into four parts, collectively known as the Vedas. For this reason, he is also referred to as Veda Vyasa.

Vyasadeva appeared as the son of the sage Parashara and his wife Satyavati. His mission was to make the Vedas more understandable to the society at large. Aside from the original Vedas, he wrote almost all the other major Vedic texts including the Puranasa, Vedanta-sutra, and the Upanishads. Aside from the original doctrine, the term “Vedas” also refers to any literature authored by Vyasadeva or any other literature based on his works.  His most famous work is the Mahabharata, also known as the fifth Veda. The Mahabharata means “great India” and contains the history of India revolving primarily around the Bharata War which took place some five thousand years ago. The Bharata War involved two families, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Vyasadeva was the grandfather of Arjuna, the Pandava’s most prominent warrior. The Mahabharata contains many conversations and stories by various sages and touches on many subjects of Vedic wisdom, but the hidden jewel of the work is its inclusion of the discussion between Lord Krishna and Arjuna that took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This conversation is known as the Bhagavad-gita and contains the essence of all Vedic knowledge.

After having written voluminous works on Vedic teachings, Vyasadeva was still not satisfied. At the insistence of his spiritual master Narada Muni, he then wrote the Bhagavata Purana, also known as the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Unlike his previous works, the Bhagavatam doesn’t touch on material subjects but instead deals primarily with Lord Krishna and His activities. The Bhagavatam clearly states that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that devotion to Him is the highest form of religion.

Vyasadeva was the perfect spiritual master. He committed all his works to memory and he taught his disciples to recite them in public. When reading the Puranas in their current form, one will find that they are usually just transcripts of recitations given to an audience by one of his disciples. At the end of the recitation, the poet will usually inform the audience that they originally heard the story from Vyasa. In this way, all the important Vedic texts are attributed to him. He is the original spiritual master, and devotees worship him on the appearance day anniversary of their spiritual master, which is known as Vyasa Puja.

 

Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving the gift of Krishna to one and all.

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Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as described by the Vedas. The Vedas are the eternal truths of life originating in India that have been passed down from time immemorial originally through oral reception, and more recently through written scripture in the Sanskrit language. Though there are many different religions in the world each having their own name for God, God is still one. There isn’t one God for Hindus and another for Christians and Jews.

Even in the Vedic literatures, God has many names and many different incarnations and expansions. Lord Krishna is the original of all other expansions. In Sanskrit, the word Krishna means “all-attractive.” Krishna is the most beautiful, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise and renounced. Since He possesses all these opulences at the same time and in full, He is defined as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Krishna personally appeared on this planet some five thousand years ago in Mathura, India. The reasons behind his advent were many, but they were primarily to kill the demon Kamsa and give protection and salvation to His devotees. Krishna was born as the eighth son of his father and mother, Vasudeva and Devaki. At the time of his birth, Krishna’s parents were prisoners of Devaki’s brother King Kamsa. A prophecy had warned Kamsa that he would one day be killed by Devaki’s eighth son. Thus Kamsa had killed every one of Devaki’s first seven children and was planning on doing the same to Lord Krishna. In order to protect his newborn son, Vasudeva transported Krishna to Vrindavan.

In Vrindavan, Lord Krishna was raised by his foster parents Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda. He enacted many wonderful pastimes in his childhood. Krishna has many different names, such as Govinda, Gopala, Giridhari, Damodara to name a few. These names are all based on His different pastimes and activities. The Lord grew up as a cowherd and He brought joy to all who lived in Vrindavan. In pictures, Krishna is usually seen standing with his eternal consort, Shrimati Radharani. She is Lord Krishna’s pleasure potency and His most beloved devotee. She is always thinking of Krishna, and therefore we worship her along with Krishna.

During Lord Krishna’s time, there was a great war that took place between the Pandava and Kaurava dynasties on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in India. Arjuna was one of the leading warriors for the Pandavas. Since Arjuna was Lord Krishna’s good friend and cousin, the Lord served as his charioteer during the war. Prior to the war’s commencement, Arjuna felt hesitant to fight, and so Lord Krishna stopped and gave him a discourse on the meaning of life. Their discussion has been chronicled in the famous book, Bhagavad-Gita.

The Gita is a highly philosophical book, but its essential instruction is that the true purpose of life is to surrender under Lord Krishna, or God, through the practice of bhakti yoga, or devotional service. Devotional service involves the nine processes of hearing, chanting, remember, worshipping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering prayers, carrying out the orders of the Lord, making friends with Him, and surrendering everything to Him. Engaging in any or all of these processes will surely make our lives perfect.

Vedic literature such as the Bhagavata Purana (Shrimad-Bhagavatam), Hari-Vamsha, Mahabharata, Bramhavaivarta Purana, and many others describe Lord Krishna’s pastimes in much greater detail. Immersing oneself in any of these literatures with faith and devotion to Krishna will guarantee one of bliss and happiness in this life and the next. Krishna’s Mercy is dedicated to serving the lotus feet of Lord Shri Krishna.

 

Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering Krishna prasadam to one and all.

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