Guest guest Posted May 3, 2001 Report Share Posted May 3, 2001 Hare Krishna !! Special announcements: i) Romapada Maharaja will be giving a seminar on the 'Srimad Bhagavatma, Pastimes and Philosophy' at the ISKCON, Potomac temple on May 5th and 6th (Sat and Sun) from 9:30AM to 4:30PM. This is a great opportunity to begin the systematic study of this nectarean scripture. Devotees who can, are encouraged to take advantage of this special facility. ii) Please continue to send your inquiries for Romapada Maharaja at this address. Questions of general interest will be posted in the digest, specific questions will be taken up individually. Thank you for all the words of encouragement and appreciation sentto us by devotees the from all over the world. Digest 3, May 3, 2001. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami **************************************************************** Spiritual advancements ******************* Q 3.1 I have very strong faith in Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy. but I am scared that too much spiritual involvement will affect my material life unfavorably. What should be done? Ans: It is natural that with the awakening of attachment to Krsna, one will gradually develop detachment from worldly things. However this does not mean that a devotee will give up his worldly responsibilities; rather he would do those same duties more meticulously, as long as they are not detrimental to the cultivation of devotional service, but he would do them as a service to the Lord and without attachment for profit and recognition. There are innumerable examples of great Vaisnava devotees who were householders and held very responsible social positions. Bhaktivinoda Thakur was an ideal example, he was a magistrate and had ten children! But he used all his position, wealth, family and abilities in the service of the Lord. When we take up some spiritual activities, even if in small incremental steps in the beginning, we will find that the Lord gives us more time and ability to perform our duties nicely and to take further steps. Q 3.2 Once a person is fortunate enough to hear about Lord Krishna and starts on spiritual path, does God help him to advance rapidly? I find many cases were people wishing to advance on spiritual path are suffering from their inability to control their sense? If one strongly wishes to take to lotus feet of Lord why doesn't God immediately help him control his senses? Ans: In the Bhagavad Gita (10.10) Krsna says, “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Krsna is situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul (paramatma). As soon as one takes to Krsna consciousness, Krsna helps him. If he comes forward one step, Krsna comes forward ten steps. The second part of the question (why doesn't God immediately help him control his senses) goes back to the issue of free will. If Krsna did everything for us, then where would be our desire, our effort, our love? A genuine desire manifests itself as a sincere effort and Krsna will undoubtedly reciprocate when He sees that sincere effort. Q 3.3 How should one learn to accept happiness and sufferings equally? What does rapid sufferings of an initial beginner in spiritual path indicate? Does God give material benefits to a neophyte or does he give rapid sufferings to test him? Ans: In Bhagavad Gita (5.15) Krsna says that, ‘Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.’ Being in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies himself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life. Real knowledge is our understanding of our relationship to Krsna and attempting to re-establish it. With such knowledge one becomes equipoised, without any attachment to success or failure. Regarding your point about ‘rapid sufferings,’ – Srila Rupa Goswami mentions in the Nectar of Devotion that ‘bhakti is klesaghni subhada,’ that it provides immediate relief from material distress. Srila Prabhupada gives the analogy of a fan that continues to rotate even after the plug is pulled out. Similarly one may suffer from past reactions in the early stages of bhakti, but gradually this will also cease. With respect to the third part of your question, Krsna reciprocates according to the desires and advancement of the devotee. He gave unlimited oppulences to Sudama and put Queen Kunti into so much distress, both very dear devotees, and in both cases the end result was bringing them closer to Him. Q 3.4 Please help me solve one of the mysteries that panic me often. I do wish to be in the service of the Supreme Lord. But I am often disturbed by the sufferings like poverty that exists in the world. Should we just leave all this saying that its the result of karma? And how do you preach a person, who is not getting even a meal a day, about Krsna ? Ans: A devotee is compassionate by nature. However equipped with the higher truth, he tries to provide ultimate relief – relief from material existence. If one is disturbed to see people starving, then he should try and feed them Krsna prasada. The food will alleviate their material distress and the fact that is sanctified food will also provide them with spiritual relief. Similarly hospitals, orphanage, schools can be operate that take care of the material and spiritual needs. Q 3.5 It is said that spirit is very tiny invisible to the gross material eye! but for any person willing to do bhakti, he should first understand distinction between body and spirit! For a neophyte how is it possible to know about something(spirit) which is not visible to gross material senses! For the gross materialists won't this be an easy argument for atheism? Ans: The spirit soul can be detected by inference, since there is no change in the material composition of a body at the time of death. So one may inquire from the gross materialist as to what is the cause of consciousness? However this debate can and will go on forever. Our senses are far from perfect and even with all the material advancements we cannot even solve the mysteries of the material world - trying to reach or even understand Krsna, or even the spirit soul, with our imperfect senses is impossible. The basis of spiritual advancement is to have faith in the scriptures. The ultimate proof of the existence of the soul is that Krsna affirms it in the Bhagavad Gita. Devotional practices ******************** Q 3.6 Maharaja, could you explain the significance of Tulasi worship? Ans: Tulasi devi is a very dear and intimate associate of Sri Krsna. She has the benediction of being able to impart Krsna-bhakti to one who prays to her sincerely. Vaishnavas pray to Tulasi devi to engage them in the loving service of Radha-Krsna. Q 3.7 Stories abound on the origin of the Ekadasi day. Even more stories are told on the benefits and warnings given for breaking this fast. My question is why we break fast on the Dwadasi at a particular time and what might be the 'result' of breaking ones fast after the allotted time has passed, say if you are traveling or something like that or have just simply forgotten to break fast at the appropriate time. Ans: In the stage of regulative sadhana bhakti, several do’s and do not’s are prescribed. One such set of rules applies to the Ekadasi vrata, and it is said that to get the full benefit of observing the fast, the fast has to broken within the prescribed time; if not, the benefit of fasting would be minimized. While it is certainly important for us to follow these rules as meticulously as possible, we have to keep in mind that the rules are not the be-all and end-all. The higher prerogative is the mood of devotion in pleasing the Supreme Lord. We endeavor to follow the rules meticulously to please the Lord. All rules are servants of this one rule. Q 3.8 Can you explain me the significance of the mahamantra? Is it more effective than devotional songs and Vedas? Ans: The sixteen syllable Hare Krsna mahamantra is a plea to the internal potency (Hare) of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Krsna, Rama) – namely to Srimati Radharani, to be engaged in the service of Krsna. The Upanisads mention this mahamantra as the means of perfection especially in this age of Kali. Singing devotional songs or chanting Vedic hymns are also forms of devotional service. However, the mahamantra has been empowered by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is non-different from Sri Krsna and is the yuga avatar, and is therefore considered to be most potent. Q 3.9 What is meant by Bramhacharya? Who is a bramhachari? How he should behave? What are his characteristics? I want to follow bramhacharya perfectly. Please give explanation. Ans: There are four stages of life namely:brahmacarya, grastha, vanaprastha and sannyas. The word ‘brahmacarya’ indicates one who is situated in cultivation of knowledge of Brahman. In the stage of brahmacarya one follows the vows of celibacy, takes shelter of and serve the instructing gurus and immerses completely in the systematic study of the scriptures and their implementation. It will not be possible for me to do justice to this question within the scope of this format. Please correspond to me separately. Q 3.10 I would appreciate if you can elaborate on why we should not consume or eat either onion or garlic. Is it stated in any Sastra? Please help me this question will be helpful for my preaching purpose. Ans: In Bhagavad Gita (17.9) Krsna states that ‘Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease.’ Onion and garlic fall in this category. They excite the baser instincts and make it difficult for one to control the senses. The prohibition on onion, garlic etc. is implicit, by virtue of their characteristics. Follow-up questions **************** Follow up question on free will (Digest 1, Qn 3): How is it that Srimati Radharani, who doesn't have the inherent freedom to turn away from Krsna as the jivas do, can still be considered a Person who experiences love for Krsna? As Maharaja states, if the jivas didn't have this free will our forced love wouldn't be considered love at all, yet when it comes to Radharani, who by nature doesn't have this freedom, Her experience is still called love. Would you please explain this apparent contradiction? Ans: There are three principal categories of energies of the Supreme Lord: internal potency, external potency and marginal potency (antaranga, bahiranga and tatastha sakti). The jivas are by constitution the marginal potency of the Lord; as the name indicates, they are marginal in the sense that they can go either way, i.e. take shelter of either the internal or external potency. Srimati Radharani and other eternal personal associates of the Lord, however, are in the category of internal potency. It is not that they have no free will, but being ‘not marginal’, they ALWAYS choose to serve Krsna, and never become subject to the external energy. This is due to the constitutional difference between the two types of energies. A crude analogy would be that of the fire and spark, as explained previously. The blazing fire is never separated from its heat and light, or for that matter, a big log in the fire blazes with the fire, but a small spark of that fire can easily drift away. ---- Thursday, May 3rd, 2001 Ekadasi Mohini (Break fast 05:07-09:46 USA EST) Sunday, May 6th, 2001 Narsimha Caturdasi, Appearance day of Lord Narasimhadev. Fast until dusk. ---- Web Address : http://www.iskcondc.org Email : mail (AT) iskcondc (DOT) org ---- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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