Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Why did he remain only in India and not travel around the world to make more people aware of Him? It seems as if He had done so, Vaisnavism would have truly become a world religion instead of a Hindu religion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxyzptlk Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 This is an intelligent question, IMO. Lord Krsna appeared in the previous age, Dvapara Yuga, 5000 years ago. His primary purpose for descending to this world at that time was to engage in pleasure pastimes with his devotees, as well as to attract the minds of the conditioned souls everywhere by allowing them (us) to hear about these pastimes. In the Spiritual Sky, time is conspicuous by its absence. Thus, even though by mundane calculation it may seem that we are 5000 years removed from Krsna's presence, in reality, we need only hear and chant Krsna's names and pastimes to be in His presence, now. In other words, he allows His devotees to receive all the credit for bringing the fallen conditioned souls back to Him. This is why accepting a fully realized soul as Guru (when the time is right) is necessary within the Vaishnava tradition. The devotee's aspiration is to become the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna's devotee. "Dasa dasa dasa anudasa." And Krsna states that He manifests as the Acarya. "Acaryam mam vijnanayan." Also, it should be pointed out that during Krsna's Appearance, only a few actually knew Him as God. His pure devotees were usually free from the awe and reverence mood normally associated with worshiping God. Instead, they engaged in the five primary rasas such as friendship, parental, and conjugal. In this particular age, Kali Yuga, Krsna came in disguise, in the form of a devotee, as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Chaitanya preached throughout India just 500 years ago, and instructed his followers to preach Krsna's glories throughout the world, something which we are most fortunate in being able to witness during this present lifetime. Also, Krsna has incarnated within His holy name, Sri Nama Prabhu, and simply by chanting His names, we can have His direct association. Of course, some training is necessary (sadhana bhakti) so that we may learn to chant without offense, which is why Guru is required. However, in the beginning, we may simply chant and study the books of the Acaryas in our line. In other words, to answer your question in simpler terms, Krsna does preach throughout the world, but He does so through His devotees. He even states in the Bhagavad Gita "No one is more dear to Me, than he." (A devotee who preaches.) This may not be the most eloquent of answers, but at least it's a start. I'm sure that the devotees here can elaborate further and perhaps offer some scriptural reference where needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Another answer could be that Krishna is, in fact, God. He's just one of many manifestations of Him. Some people in the Vedanta faith (Sri Ramakrishna order) believe that there are many manifestations of God called Avatars. Krishna was one of them. If this is the case, then God could very well have made Himself known throughout the world and not just in India by manifesting Himself in different forms, at different times and in different places. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Krsna has already all over the world in His form as Bhagavad-gita, which enjoys world-wide fame and in His names which are being chanted everywhere from Africa to Zurich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 God can appear in any form for the pleasure of his devotees.All his forms are original and they are non different from one another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 God is Radha-Krsna, not simply Krsna. Krsna always implies Radha also. Neglecting Her, He can never be genuinely realized, let alone personally related to. Radha and Krsna interact together everywhere, in everyone and everything. This is understood through Radha and Her personal associates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Yes we are servants of divine mother Srimati Radharani.By approaching her God's mercy is easily available! Joy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaishnava_das108 Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Jai! /images/graemlins/smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhav Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 so you doubt about krishna being god. no one an figure god fully. when he came, i think pandavas/ parikshit reluled almost whole world. over time, othe religions came up and took over distant lands from bharat. recently the hindus foolishly lost pak and BDesh in 1947. still, thanks to hindu aacharyas like Pabhupada, K C is spread all over the world. when you feel krishna is not god, then why you worryy about K C (vaishnavism) not spread all over the world? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I don't have first hand experience that Krsna is God. I am told that Krsna is God, and I accept it. I have never experienced or seen anyone lift a hill with one finger. How do I know that is not a fairy tale like so much of the other mythological feats exhibited in our scriptures? If he really wanted everyone to return to Him, why not stay longer than 125 years so people can have first hand experience of Him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxyzptlk Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 If he really wanted everyone to return to Him, why not stay longer than 125 years so people can have first hand experience of Him? Perhaps the real question should be: "How come we are so disinterested in Krsna that we cannot even perform Bhakti Yoga for 30 or 40 years so that we may return to and spend all of eternity with Him?" "Show me God, then I'll surrender." It doesn't work that way. There must be some merit, some qualification (sukriti). Without proper sukriti, one may be in Krsna's personal presence and scoff, thinking him to be an ordinary cowherd. Sisupala received Krsna's presence, but instead of appreciating Him, began to insult Him and call Him foul names, even with the Pandavas and other devotees in attendance. If you want to obtain a precious jewel, there is a price to pay. If you desire Krsna's personal presence, same thing. Besides, as has been discussed a little already, Krsna does indeed manifest Himself even now, in the form of the Acarya. The pure devotee carries Krsna in his heart, along with Vrindavana, and if you are fortunate enough to meet such a maha-bhagavata, then you will sense this presence. Many Prabhupada disciples will tell you that they experienced uncontrollable ecstatic symptoms when they met Srila Prabhupada for the first time. I believe that Bhabru prabhu shared just such an experience not too long ago. Many of the sadhana-siddhas who obtained Krsna's direct association 5000 years ago spent thousands, if not millions, of years engaging in Krsna's service (in separation) before they finally received the opportunity to take birth at the time Krsna appeared. In this particular Kali-Yuga, Lord Chaitanya has given us a process whereby it is quite possible for us to attain Him in one lifetime, simply by chanting Hare Krsna, which is a very small price to pay in comparison. So, the ball is in our court: do we really want Krsna? Or do we still prefer Maya? Krsna won't interfere with our free will to accept or reject Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Excellent response Mxyzptlk, you have put my doubts to rest. Even though I love Krsna with all my heart, it seems as if though these doubts creep up on me from time to time. Hare Krsna ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxyzptlk Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hare Krsna! As I mentioned in my earlier message, your question was good. Also, I sensed that you were inquiring due to your natural love for Krsna. Most of us have had the same doubts at one time or another and it is important that we clear them so that our faith and love increase. So, please don't hesitate to share your doubts. I am touched that I was able to be of some small service with my feable reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul108 Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 If you were to see Krishna today, how would you react? If your only desire is to serve Krishna because your only feeling is pure love of Him, then I'm sure He would take great pleasure in revealing Himself to you. If, however, you have any other desires at all, then Krishna would cheat you by offering you the other things that you want so that you would forget Him. This is exactly like the plight we are already in. We formerly were well-acquainted with Krishna, but somehow a little selfish desire entered our hearts, and Krishna fulfilled that desire, and gradually we have forgotten Krishna, pursuing His gifts instead of Him. So if your heart is pure, having only one desire - to serve Krishna with pure love, then it should be fine for you to see Him, you would not even have to try. It is no more difficult for His pure devotees to see Him now than it was 5000 years ago, but He does not care to be seen by selfish people. Some selfish people saw Him then, but they could not recognize Him as He is. The best advice I can give is to just try to serve Krishna's devotees, who can help you restore your pure condition without such danger of getting mixed up with Krishna's opulence. The goal is not to see Krishna; rather it is to offer Him your love. Hare Krishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhav Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 "..kaunteya pratijaanihi na me bhaktah praNashyati" says krishna. how grand a guarantee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul108 Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 I probably should not have extrapolated my experience with Krishna to others, because it is only my own experience that I know. Even that is quite a mystery to me. Sometimes I think I have some understanding, and other times I feel totally clueless about Him. If only I could always live up to the advice I give, but perhaps that is not Krishna's plan. Krishna remains a mystery to me. As I follow my various desires, Krishna follows me. I think Krishna finds this amusing. When He recruited me to associate with His devotees, He was laughing at my foolishness. "You think you're a yogi," He said, just before showing me who is yogesvara. Oh what a fool I am. Hare Krishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theist Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Do you all know that picture where Krsna and the young gopis are standing chest high in the Yamuna and splashing each other with a bright moon glowing in the black night sky? Ok there are many like that. But there is this one that depending on my initial reaction to glancing at it I can't hardly pull away from gazing at it or I feel I have to turn away quickly as I feel this intense envy and remorse well up inside me. Envy that that is not me there as the unltimate male and remorse for the knowledge that it can never be. My material life now is just the reaction to that same envious and remorseful feeling. I am now caught suspended in that turned away state, considering turning back but unsure. So I could go either way and embrace the very sight of the Lord or... tatashta to the core Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anveshan Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Iso vasyam idam sarvam. The Cause and at the same the Effect. The Formless who takes forms. The Reality Ultimate. The Fathomless Mystery. We are simply ignorant of It. Krishna was not, to my mind, God, the concept. He is part of It, as we all are. The ant, the elephant, Gautama, the Buddha and Socretes and Zarathushtra all are part of It. Great and small, light and dark, that is Nature. There is no religion called Hinduism. Only Sanatana Dharma, the path to eternal values. As all the rivers has to reach the ocean ultimately, so we have to. Whether the great Krishna was God Itself or not, I am sure that he did not belong to India or the Hindus only. Such a sublime and profound philosophy nobody else has given. " Never was there a time When you or I Or these chieftains and kings were non-existent Nor shall ever come a time When any of us will cease to exist" (2.11-12) He includes us all, including himself. And he reasons: " That which is non-existent never can come into beingnor it can ever cease to be" (2.16) "One is never born nor dies at any time Nor once he comes to be , ever ceases to be" The Ultimate Reality is, he says " Unborn, immutable, eternal and ageless...It is unmanifest, unthinkable and inconceivable" Such a lofty philosohy is not seen anywhere. It is scientific and logical. Not attached to any religions. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms. If anybody could be adored and worshipped for the philosophy he expounded, it is only Krishna. =anveshanam= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 I don't have first hand experience that Krsna is God. I am told that Krsna is God, and I accept it. I have never experienced or seen anyone lift a hill with one finger. How do I know that is not a fairy tale like so much of the other mythological feats exhibited in our scriptures? If he really wanted everyone to return to Him, why not stay longer than 125 years so people can have first hand experience of Him? Got cannot be known by blunt senses.(sevonmukhe hi jihvadau, swayam eva sphuraty adhah - If you serve him by chanting His name, He'll reveal Himself to you!). So you should have the love-annointed eyes to see Krishna (premanajanachurita bhakti vilochanena santa sadiva hrdeyeshu vilokayanti).. Please try to be submissive and chant, then everything becomes clear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Fantastic answer Paul. Hare Krishna! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Well I do have first hand experience that Krishna is God, In the Gita Krishna says that He reveals himself, to his devotee. this is the only way to truly understand the truth, If Krishna desires, it is so. the Advaitans and other impersonalists believe that due to their efforts they will attain the highest reality. That is a mistake, the highest reality is given,not taken, As Krishna states, "if someone claims to be my devotee, he is not my devotee, if someone claims to be the devotee of my devotee,he is my true devotee." this is the process, by the mercy of Krishna one gets Guru, by the mercy of Guru one gets Krishna. all other methods are inneffective to understand and appreciate the highest reality, that reality, is a gift, given to the devotee, by the Guru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhav Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 guru govind dono khade kise laagun paay balihaari guru aapaki govind diyo mailaai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 it is nice to see that this forum is becoming increasingly devotional Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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