Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 143, Gravity and Silence -

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Digest 143, November 6th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Gravity and Silence - Thinking of Self-Realization

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Question:

I couldn't follow one sentence in the purport of Bhagavad Gita verse (10.38):

"Among the confidential activities of hearing, thinking and meditating, silence

is most important because by silence one can make progress very quickly". Could

you please elaborate this?

 

Answer: Krishna describes silence or "maunam" - also translated as gravity --

as one of the austerities of the mind in BG 17.16. Srila Prabhupada explains

there what this silence is: "Silence means that one is always thinking of

self-realization. The person in Krishna consciousness observes perfect silence

in this sense."

 

Unless one refrains from the urge to talk mundane topics, it is not possible to

completely think about and meditate on the activities and glories of the

Supreme Lord.

 

But the so-called vow of silence adopted mostly by impersonalists -- without

any positive engagement -- is not very much appreciated by great devotees such

as Prahlada Maharaja; following this Prabhupada also often criticized this

mundane silence as he did meditation on void, but for the transcendentalists,

silence means to speak only about Krishna and not otherwise. As with every

negative injunction there is also a positive injunction, we are recommended to

refrain from prajalpa and simultaneously practice talking only in service to

Krishna.

 

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