RAJA KNOWLEDGE

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Caitanya Mahaprabhu divided the

living entities into two major categories: those that are moving

and those that are not moving. Trees, grass, plants, stones, etc., do not

move because they do not have sufficiently developed

consciousness. Their consciousness is there, but is covered. If a living being does

not understand his position, he is stonelike, although dwelling in a

human body. The living entities-- birds, reptiles, animals, insects,

human beings, demigods, etc.--number over 8,000,000 species, and of these

a very small number are human beings. Lord Caitanya further points

out that out of 400,000 species of human beings, some are civilized;

and out of many civilized persons, there are only a few who are devoted

to the scriptures. In the present day most people claim

to be devoted to some religion--Christian, Hindu, Moslem,

Buddhist, etc.--but in fact they do not really believe in the

scriptures. Those who do believe in the scriptures are, by and large,

attached to pious philanthropic activities. They believe that

religion means yajna (sacrifice), dana (charity) and tapas (penance). One

who engages in tapasya undertakes voluntarily very rigid regulations,

such as brahmacari students (celibates) or sannyasis (renounced

order) undertake. Charity means voluntarily giving away one's

material possessions. In the present age there is no sacrifice, but from

historical literatures like the Mahabharata we get information that

kings performed sacrifices by distributing rubies, gold and

silver. Yajna was primarily for kings, and charity, on a much smaller scale,

was meant for householders. Those who actually believed in scriptures

usually adopted some of these principles. But generally in this

age people simply say that they belong to a religion but in actuality do nothing.

Out of millions of such people, a very small number actually

perform charity, sacrifice and penance. Caitanya Mahaprabhu further

points out that out of millions who perform such religious principles

all over the universe, only a few attain perfect knowledge and

understand what they are. Just knowing "I am not this

body but am spirit soul" is not sufficient. We have to escape this

entanglement of material nature. This is called mukti, liberation. Out of

many thousands of persons who are in self-knowledge as to what and who

they are, only one or two may be actually liberated. And out of many

thousands who are liberated, only one or two may understand what and

who Krsna is. So understanding Krsna is not such an easy job. Thus in

this age of Kali, an age characterized by ignorance and chaos, liberation

is out of the reach of practically everyone. One has to go through the

whole ordeal of becoming civilized, then religious, and then one has to

perform charities and sacrifices and come to the platform of knowledge,

then to the stage of liberation, and finally, after liberation, to the

understanding of what Krsna is. This process is also indicated in

Bhagavad-gita: brahma-bhutah prasannatma

na socati na kanksatisamah sarvesu bhutesumad-bhaktim labhate param

"One who is thus

transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments or

desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living

entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me."

(Bg. 18.54) These are the signs of liberation.

The first symptom of one who is liberated is that he is very happy.

It is not possible to find him morose. Nor does he have any

anxiety. He never frets, "This thing I don't have. Oh, I must secure this

thing. Oh, this bill I have to pay. I have to go here, there." One

who is liberated has no anxieties at all. He may be the poorest man in the

world, but he neither laments nor

thinks that he is poor. Why should

he think that he is poor? When we think that we are these material

bodies and that we have possessions to go with them, then we think that we

are poor or rich, but one who is liberated from the material

conception of life has nothing to do with possessions or lack of possessions.

"I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain," he thinks. "I am

completely separate from all this." Nor does he see anyone else as rich or poor,

educated or uneducated, beautiful or ugly, etc. He does not see any

material dualities, for his vision is completely on the spiritual

platform, and he sees that every living entity is part and parcel of Krsna.

Thus seeing all entities in their true identity, he tries to take them

back to Krsna consciousness. His viewpoint is that everyone--whether

he be brahmana or sudra, black or white, Hindu, Christian, or whatever--should

come to Krsna consciousness. When one is situated

in this way, then: mad-bhaktim labhate param--he becomes eligible

for becoming a pure devotee of Krsna's. Practically speaking, this process

is not very easy in this age of Kali. In Srimad-Bhagavatam a

description is given of the people of this

age. Their duration of life is said

to be very short, they tend to be phlegmatic and slow and to sleep a

great deal, and when they're not sleeping, they are busy earning

money. At the most they only have two hours a day for spiritual

activities, so what is the hope for spiritual understanding? It is also stated

that even if one is anxious to make spiritual progress, there are many

pseudo-spiritual societies to take advantage of him. People are also

characterized in this age as being unfortunate. They have a great deal

of difficulty meeting the primary demands of life--eating, defending,

mating, and sleeping--necessities which are met even by the animals.

Even if people are meeting these necessities in this age, they are

always anxious about war, either

defending themselves from aggressors

or having to go to war themselves. In addition to this, there are

always disturbing diseases and economic problems in Kali-yuga. Therefore

Lord Sri Krsna considered that in this age it is impossible for people to

come to the perfectional stage of liberation by following the

prescribed rules and regulations. Thus out of His causeless mercy, Sri

Krsna came as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and distributed the means

to the highest perfection of life and spiritual ecstasy by the

chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare

Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This process of chanting is most

practical, and it does not depend on whether one is liberated or not, or whether

one's condition is conducive to

spiritual life or not--whoever takes

to this process becomes immediately purified. Therefore it is called

pavitram (pure). Furthermore, for one who takes to this Krsna

consciousness process, the seeds of latent reactions to his sinful actions are

all nullified. just as a fire turns whatever we put into it to ashes,

this process turns to ashes all the sinful reactions of our past lives. We must understand that our

suffering is due to our sinful

activity, and sinful activity is due

to our ignorance. Sins, or transgressions, are committed by

those who do not know what is what. A child, for instance, will naively

put his hand in a fire because of ignorance. He is thus burned

immediately, for the fire is impartial and does not allow any special

consideration for the innocent child. It will simply act as fire. Similarly, we do

not know how this material world is functioning, who its controller is,

nor how it is controlled, and due to our ignorance we act in foolish

ways, but nature is so stringent that she does not allow us to escape the

reactions to our actions. Whether we commit an act knowingly or

unknowingly, the reactions and consequent sufferings are there. However,

through knowledge we can understand what the actual situation is, who God is,

and what our relationship with Him is. This knowledge by which we can gain

release from suffering is possible in the human form of life,

not in the animal form. To give us knowledge, to give us proper

direction, there are scriptures written in various languages in all parts of

the world. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that people are

forgetful from time immemorial about their relationship with the Supreme Lord;

therefore Krsna has sent so many representatives to impart the scriptures

to man. We should take advantage of these, especially of

Bhagavad-gita, which is the prime scripture for the modern world. Krsna specifically states that this

process of Krsna consciousness is susukham, very pleasant and easy

to practice. Indeed, the devotional process is very pleasant; we melodiously sing with instruments, and someone will listen and also join

(sravanam kirtanam). Of course the

music should be in relation with the

Supreme Lord, in glorification of Him. Hearing Bhagavad-gita is also

part of devotional service, and in addition to hearing it one should be

eager to apply it in his life. Krsna consciousness is a science and

should not be accepted blindly. There are nine processes of

devotional service recommended (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping,

praying, serving, engaging as a servitor of the Lord, establishing

friendly relations with the Lord, offering everything to the Lord).

These are all easy to practice and should be joyfully performed. Of course if one thinks that

Bhagavad-gita and the Hare Krsna mantra are part of the Hindu system

and doesn't want to accept them because of this, he can nonetheless

attend the Christian church and sing there. There is no difference

between this process and that process; the

point is whatever process one

follows, he must become God conscious. God is neither Moslem nor Hindu nor

Christian--He is God. Nor are we to be considered Hindu, Moslem or

Christian. These are bodily designations. We are all pure spirit, part and parcel

of the Supreme. God is pavitram, pure, and we are also pure. Somehow

or other, however, we have fallen nto this material ocean, and as the

waves toss, we suffer. Actually wehave nothing to do with the tossing

waves of material miseries. We must simply pray, "Krsna, please

pick me up." As soon as we forget Krsna, the ocean of illusion is there, and it

at once captures us. The chanting of

Hare Krsna is most important in

order to escape from this ocean. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare

Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is a sound (sabda)

that is non-different from Krsna. The sound Krsna and the original Krsna

are the same. When we chant Hare Krsna and dance, Krsna is also

dancing with us. Of course we may say, "Well, I do not see Him,"

but why do we put so much stress on seeing? Why not hearing? Seeing, tasting,

smelling, touching, and hearing are all instruments for experience and

knowledge. Why do we put such exclusive stress on seeing? A

devotee does not wish to see Krsna; he is satisfied by simply hearing of

Krsna. Seeing may eventually be there, but hearing should not be considered

any less important. There are things which we hear but do not

see--the wind may be whistling past our ears, and we can hear it, but there

is no possibility of seeing the wind. Since hearing is no less an

important experience or valid one than seeing, we can hear Krsna and

realize His presence through sound. Sri Krsna Himself says, "I am not

there in My abode, or in the heart of the meditating yogi but where my pure

devotees are singing." We can feel the presence of Krsna as we actually

make progress. It is not that we should simply take

things from Krsna and offer Him nothing. Everyone is taking

something from God, so why not give something? We are taking from Krsna

so much light, air, food, water and so on. Unless these resources are

supplied by Krsna, no one can live. Is it love to simply keep taking and

taking and taking without ever offering anything in return? Love

means taking and giving also. If we just take from someone and give him

nothing in return, that is not love- -it is exploitation. It is not that

we should just continue eating without ever offering anything to

Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says: patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchatitad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami prayatatmanah yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad arpanam "If one offers Me with love and

devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it. O son of

Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give

away, as well as all austerities that you perform, should be done as an

offering unto Me." (Bg. 9.26-27) In addition to giving and receiving,

in the execution of devotional service one has to submit to Krsna

whatever distress or confidential

problem he has. He should say,

"Krsna, I am suffering in this way. I have fallen in this tossing ocean of material illusion. Kindly pick me up. I understand now that am simply

put here, as if thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. I may not in any way identify with

the Atlantic

Ocean, but I am subject to the tossing of

the ocean. Actually I am a spiritual spark, a fragmental part of

You." To our misfortune, we try to identify with this ocean and stop its

tossing. We must not try to stop the tossing. It is not possible. In any

case, the tossing will go on, for that is the law of nature. Only the

foolish try to adjust to this world; the real problem is how to get out

of it. Those who do attempt to adjust and who never turn to Krsna are

continually subject to transmigration in

the ocean of birth and death. asraddadhanah purusa dharmasyasya parantapa aprapya mam nivartante mrtyu-samsara-vartmani "Those who are not faithful on

the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of

foes, but return to birth and death in this material world." (Bg. 9.3) By definition, religion is that

which connects us with God. If it is not capable of connecting us with

God, it is no religion. Religion means searching for God,

understanding God and establishing a relationship with God. This is

religion. Those who are engaged in devotional service are acting for

Krsna or God, and since in this way there is connection with God, Krsna

consciousness is a religion. It is not possible to manufacture a

religion. A true religion must come from an authorized source, and

that source is either God or His representative. Religion has been

called the law of God. It is not possible for a person to manufacture

a State law. The law is there, and it is given by the State. One may

create some bylaws for his own society, but these laws must be

sanctioned by the law of the State. Similarly, if we wish to make some

principle of religion, it must be sanctioned by the Vedic authority.

Bhagavad-gita is also religion.

Great authorities like Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya,

Visnusvami, Lord Caitanya, Sankaracarya, and so many others have accepted

Bhagavad-gita as the supreme principle of religion and Krsna as the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt about it. In the West also

Bhagavad-gita is accepted as a great book of philosophy, and many great

scholars and philosophers in the West have read it and commented upon it.

Despite acceptance by the scholars and acaryas, there are persons who

do not accept Bhagavad-gita and who have no faith. They do not accept it

at all as authority, for they think that it is some sentimental

exaggeration by a man known as Krsna. Thus Krsna states in the above quoted

verse that those who reject Bhagavadgita as authority cannot have any

connection with Him, and because they have no relation to Him, they remain

in the cycle of birth and death.CHECK THE ATTACHMENT FOR COMPLETE BOOK RAJA VIDYA:KING OF KNOWLEDGEALWAYS CHANT HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE/ HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

 

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