The Spiritual Doctor

“O best of men, what is the use of Your destroying the entire world? After finding out Your sinful enemy, You should uproot him alone.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.21)

Not only does love work in mysterious ways, but it makes us do crazy things. There is no denying this fact. The affection we feel for our loved ones can be so strong that it drives us to completely overlook rationality and the rules of propriety. When our feelings of attachment drive us close to the edge, we need someone who can help bring back our sanity. This person is our ever well-wishing friend, someone who saves us from ourselves.

Why does love lead us to madness? The ways of this world are quite mysterious, but it is undoubtedly true that love is the strongest emotion that we know. Love is an outgrowth of service; offering something of ourselves to someone else. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that this penchant for service is derived from our natural disposition as loving servitors of the Supreme Lord. The soul residing within is inherently a part and parcel of the supreme whole known as God. Just as the sunshine has an original source, the sun, we living entities are like fragmental sparks emanating from the huge spiritual fire of energy known as God. These two entities, God and His fragmental parts, aren’t two randomly disjointed entities. There is an explicitly defined relationship between the two. One is superior, while the other is inferior. Thus it is the natural disposition of the inferior to be a servant of the superior. When this natural order of things is in place, both the inferior and the superior live together in harmony.

In our current condition, we are unaware or forgetful of this natural order. Thus our penchant for service gets shifted elsewhere, i.e. to friends, family, and paramours. Since this desire for service is so strong, it leads to the formation of attachment and bonds that are tough to break. Along with the desire for service comes the desire to please the object of our affection. There are two primary effects of our strong attachments. The first effect is seen through our desire to protect our loved ones and to ensure their well-being at all times. A poignant example of this was seen with the kshatriya warrior, Arjuna, some five thousand years ago.

“It is better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though they are avaricious, they are nonetheless superiors. If they are killed, our spoils will be tainted with blood.” (Arjuna speaking to Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.5)

The Bhagavad-gita is one of the most famous religious books in history. Known as The Song of God, the Gita contains the essence of Vedic wisdom. Though the Gita is considered a religious scripture, it is essentially just a transcript of a conversation that took place in real life between Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His cousin Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. On the eve of a great war that was to see millions of soldiers killed, the lead warrior for the side of the Pandavas, Arjuna, gave way to lamentation and fear. Arjuna became hesitant to fight because he didn’t want to see his friends and family members, who were fighting for the opposing army, put into any type of danger or discomfort.

For a warrior, this wasn’t customary behavior. Being in an army means having to kill the enemy in fair combat. If a fighter is reluctant to fight, it stands to reason that he won’t be very successful in killing enemies, which is the essence of war. War is a terrible thing that should be avoided at all costs. However, once a war starts, the objectives are quite simple: kill people and break things. The more people you kill from the opposing side and the more of their stuff you break, the more likely you are to win. Why would Arjuna, the greatest bow warrior of his time, not want to fight? The opposing side, the Kauravas, consisted of Arjuna’s cousins, grandfather, and spiritual guide. Arjuna didn’t want to hurt loved ones simply to gain a kingdom. His affection for the material well-being of his family members superseded his desire for victory.

In Arjuna’s case, the negative effect of love and affection was unnecessary soft-heartedness. The other negative effect of intense love is extreme anger and rage, which is the polar opposite of extreme kindness. While love makes us feel for our fellow loved ones, it also makes us angry at anyone who causes them any harm. An example of this was seen with Lord Rama many thousands of years ago. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna unequivocally establishes that He is the Supreme Lord and that all other forms of Godhead emanate from Him. In fact, He displayed His terrible universal form to Arjuna; a form which was so awe-inspiring that Arjuna, out of fear, asked Krishna to reassume His original two-handed form.

Though Krishna is the original form of Godhead, He personally descends to earth in other forms from time to time. During the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, the Lord appeared as a handsome and pious kshatriya warrior named Rama. Since Rama was God, it made sense that His fighting abilities were unmatched. Though a great warrior, Rama underwent many hardships throughout His life. This was all done for the benefit of others, thus showing Rama’s magnanimous nature. On one occasion, Rama’s beautiful wife, Sita Devi, was kidnapped while the couple was residing in the forest. If a person is in God’s company, no one can harm them. This is because God is the ultimate protector, someone who is undefeated in battle. This was also the case with Rama, but due to a diversion set up by the demon Ravana, the Lord was somehow lured away from Sita’s side. In Rama’s absence, Ravana came and forcibly took Sita away.

It should be noted that Sita’s kidnapping actually occurred due to the desire of the demigods. Ravana was a great demon, and though Rama appeared on earth to kill him, the Lord still needed an excuse before He could attack. Lord Rama’s vow was to always abide by dharma, or established religious codes. This meant that He never wanted to act in an impious manner, for as the eldest son of a great king, others would follow His example. With Sita’s kidnap, Rama had the excuse He needed to go after Ravana and kill him. In the meantime, however, Rama played the part of an ordinary human being, giving way to lamentation and anger after realizing that His wife was missing.

Upon returning to the couple’s cottage, Rama noticed that Sita was missing, and immediately He gave way to lamentation. He started roaming through the neighboring woods, asking the trees and flowers if they had seen His beloved wife. The Lord is so kind and sweet that He never allows anyone’s love for Him to go in vain. No one in this world can love Rama more than Sita does, and by the same token, no one can love Sita more than Rama does. Thus the Lord kindly reciprocated the love shown to Him by Sita by giving way to excessive lamentation. After the sadness came anger. The Lord was ready to destroy the entire world as revenge for Sita’s kidnap. In His mind, all the neighboring creatures and celestial figures just sat idly by and allowed Ravana to perform his dastardly deed. Thus every living entity in the world was liable for Sita’s kidnap.

We can certainly relate to the incident with Arjuna. In today’s day and age, it is becoming fashionable for parents to be friends with their kids. Children are seen as equals, being allowed to have televisions and video game systems in their room. Children can talk back to their parents, as that is all part of the friendly relationship. This desire to be friends with your children is an outgrowth of the strong affection that parents feel. Being a parent means having to impose strict rules, a practice which results in your kids hating you from time to time. No one wants to see their loved ones in pain, so being a good parent requires emotional strength and the doling out of tough love.

By the same token, we can also relate to the incident involving Lord Rama. It just takes one bad experience to turn our moods sour. If something bad happens to us or to a loved one, we can lose rationality and start to blame others for our problems. For example, say we are travelling to a foreign country like France. If we have a bad experience at a hotel or in a restaurant, we might be tempted to lump all French people with the incident. “Oh I hate French people. I’m never going to France again.” Now obviously this isn’t rational thinking because there are bad apples wherever you go. Moreover, it is this type of irrational thinking that leads to destructive practices such as racism, bigotry, and sexism.

“O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.30)

In the end, both Arjuna and Rama ended up regaining their senses and continuing with their prescribed duties. How were they able to collect themselves? They enlisted the help of their spiritual guides. In Arjuna’s case, his spiritual master was Lord Krishna. The Lord advised Arjuna to give up his false attachment, born out of unnecessary affection. It was surely a nice gesture on Arjuna’s part, but in reality, nothing would be gained by not fighting. It was Arjuna’s duty as a warrior to fight nobly for his side, for his family had the rightful claim on the kingdom. Moreover, every person’s karma is determined by their own deeds, so there is no need to worry about whether a person will be materially benefitted by a specific action or not. Even if his enemies were to die in battle, Arjuna still wouldn’t be to blame, for the soul is eternal and can never be slain. Armed with these facts, Arjuna decided to stand up and fight.

In Lord Rama’s case, His spiritual master was His younger brother Lakshmana. It is quite ironic actually, for Lakshmana viewed Rama as a father. Nevertheless, true love sometimes involves saying unpleasant things for the benefit of your loved one. This was the case with Lakshmana. In the popular American television sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the main characters on the show, Frank Barone, is known for being outspoken and unafraid to say what’s on his mind. Playing the grandfather on the show, Frank believes in toughness and calling it like it is. If a person is acting weak or is hesitating unnecessarily, Frank will tell them to quit their crying and to suck it up. “Stop your pitter patter, Nancy. Stop crying and get back to work.”, are two of his famous phrases.

This was essentially the instruction that Lakshmana gave to Rama, but in a sweeter way. As the ever well-wishing younger brother, Lakshmana would have been justified in sitting back and letting his brother go off the deep end. But as a great devotee of the Lord, Lakshmana loved Rama so much that he wouldn’t let Him deviate from the virtuous path. Lakshmana offered some sound words of advice, basically telling Rama that there was no reason to lament. Even if Sita were dead, there would be no justification for giving up the performance of prescribed duties. Even the great celestials suffer defeat every now and then, what to say of ordinary men.

In the above referenced statement, Lakshmana is concluding His words of wisdom. Here he is putting forth a rhetorical question relating to Rama’s desire to destroy the whole world. If the Lord did kill everyone in revenge, what would be gained? It still wouldn’t bring Sita back, and it would also put a black mark on Rama’s reputation and that of His family. Rama very much appreciated this advice, since He knew that Lakshmana only had His best interests at heart. In fact, Lakshmana even reiterated the fact that the things he was saying actually originated from Rama. This is most certainly true, for God is the original spiritual master, the fountainhead of all instruction. Formerly, Rama had offered the same instruction to Lakshmana and His three other brothers. Thus we see that Lakshmana was both a great student and a great teacher.

The lesson here is that we all fall down from the righteous path every now and then. Our great affection and natural inclination to serve others will result in these momentary lapses of judgment. As we saw with Arjuna and Rama, it is very important to surround ourselves with godly people. Lord Krishna is God, and anyone who acts on His behalf and serves Him in a loving way can be considered godly. Krishna is Bhagavan and those who serve Him are bhagavata. It is very important to always surround ourselves with Bhagavan if we can or, at the very least, bhagavata. Our attachments are difficult to give up, so it’s always good to keep a spiritual doctor on hand to cure us of our ailments.

The Messenger With The Message

“Krishna is violent to demons, and to attempt to prove that Krishna is not violent is ultimately to deny Krishna.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 7.128 Purport)

The truths contained within the Bhagavad-gita are quite profound. Those who read the book for the first time will find loads of information not found in any other religious doctrine, philosophical treatise, or even Vedic text. The Vedas are the spiritual tradition of India, the ultimate truths of life passed down from generation to generation since the beginning of time. Any scripture which follows the conclusions of the original Vedas can be considered Vedic literature. The Bhagavad-gita certainly meets this criteria. In this wonderful work, which is known as the Song of God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the person we refer to as God, Lord Krishna, delivers a beautiful discourse on the meaning of life, the role of the living entities in this world, and how one can go about performing their activities while simultaneously remaining on the path towards transcendental perfection

Since this work is so wonderfully composed and contains descriptions of many astounding truths of life - such as reincarnation, the consciousness of the living entity at the time of death, the laws of karma, and the temporary nature of material happiness - it is quite common for non-devotees, those who don’t necessarily believe in a God or in Krishna, to take to reading this book and expounding on it. So many commentaries and translations of the Gita are available, with each work presented in terms of the author’s worldview, their ultimate conclusion. Since only Krishna, or God, can be everything, it shouldn’t surprise us that His teachings would hit home with a large cross-section of people. Those who take the ultimate conclusion in life to be material enjoyment can find what they need in the Gita. There are others who don’t believe in a personal God, an Absolute Truth who possesses an eternal, transcendental form. For them, the Gita contains much discussion about Brahman and the impersonal nature of the Absolute Truth. There are others who believe in meditational yoga as the topmost practice, the ultimate activity derived from the ultimate conclusion. For them, there is an entire chapter in the Gita dedicated to such yoga practice.

Ironically enough, even believers in nonviolence – those who view the complete abstention from the arousal of conflict, physical and mental, to be the ultimate activity in life - take to reading the Gita. We say “ironically” because the setting of the Bhagavad-gita - the podium, if you will, from which Krishna provides His instructions - is a battlefield. Moreover, the Gita concludes with the commencement of one of the greatest wars in history. The death toll from the Bharata War, the war Krishna urged His cousin and disciple Arjuna to fight in, saw the deaths of millions upon millions of soldiers. It is said that the burden of sinful men was too great on the earth at the time, and thus the Lord Himself was petitioned to descend from the spiritual world and rid that burden. This is one of the causes for the tremendous bloodshed that took place. Yet even though the Gita has this backdrop, some use the work to justify their view that nonviolence should be employed under any and all circumstances. While the idea of nonviolence under all circumstances is certainly ideal, basing this conclusion off the Gita is quite faulty. Lord Krishna, or God, is certainly violent from time to time. This violence is not an inconvenient truth, but rather a beautiful activity that speaks to the Lord’s all-merciful nature. Krishna is the messenger in the Bhagavad-gita, but we shouldn’t make the mistake of separating the message from the messenger. The message is secondary; the messenger is more important. The message is actually meaningless without the messenger. Only when we see the message as being part and parcel of the messenger can we truly understand its meaning.

“The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one's existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.” (Bhagavad-gita, 16.1-3)

Let’s quickly review the issue of nonviolence. This principle is known as ahimsa in Sanskrit and it is even addressed by Krishna in the Gita. The Lord states that a realized soul, an upper echelon transcendentalist, abides by many principles and exudes many characteristics. The most important principles and characteristics are listed in the Gita so as to allow those on the lower platform of knowledge, the aspiring devotees, to be able to better gauge who is a devotee and who isn’t. One of the characteristics listed by Krishna is nonviolence. The justification for this is quite obvious. Every living entity, every form of life, is equal in their constitutional position. There is a famous saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” With human beings and other life forms, the covers may be different, but the individuals inside the covers are the same. If we observe two people, where one person is wearing fancy clothes, while another is wearing simple rags, we can’t say that one person is better than the other. One person may have more wealth and pay more attention to detail, but we can’t say that they are any different on the inside. Expanding this idea to an even grander scale, we can think of every living entity as wearing a different set of clothes. These clothes manifest through the different qualities of the body: eyes, legs, hair, ears, height, weight, etc. Not only do the outward features make these “clothes”, but so do the inward features such as temperament, personality, likes, and dislikes. The outward covering is known as the material body, and it is something that gets created, developed, and then ultimately destroyed. The spirit soul within does not change throughout this process, thus making it the basis for identity.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.20)

Since every soul is the same, a spiritual spark emanating from the giant energetic fire known as God, there is no reason to be envious of or to act malevolently towards another human being. We are all in the same boat, so to speak, thrown into this ocean of nescience. We’re all trying to find our way out of this suffering. Some of us are further along in the process than others, but our ultimate objective is the same regardless. Therefore there is no reason to be violent towards another living entity. There is no reason to unnecessarily kill another living entity, regardless of whatever personal justification we may have. This position is universally held, for even one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shall not kill”. This has since been purposefully misinterpreted by many to mean “Thou shall not murder”, but the principle of nonviolence is still there just the same.

So does this mean that we should always be nonviolent? Should violence never be used under any circumstance? Though we should never kill another living entity, sometimes it is required. If a human being has no other means of food other than to kill an innocent animal, then it is generally allowed. The reasoning behind this has nothing to do with sense gratification. Say the human being starves to death and thus leaves the animal all alone. Can the animal do anything to further its condition? If the human being remains alive, it is capable of maybe sustaining life around it and saving other living entities. The human being has a higher level of intelligence, so it is granted dominion over the animal kingdom. This shouldn’t be taken as a sanction for unnecessary animal killing, as currently takes place with the practice of slaughterhouses.

Since the human being has a higher level of intelligence, which culminates in the ability to understand God, it has necessary functions to perform. One of these required functions is the providing of protection. Though we should be kind and peaceful towards fellow living entities, not everyone is guaranteed to act the same way towards us. Some people will take to violence regardless of whatever sound counsel is given to them. This was the case with Duryodhana, the illegitimate king of the Kaurava dynasty. Lord Krishna, during His time on earth, tried to broker a peace agreement between Duryodhana and the Pandavas, the five sons of King Pandu who had the rightful claim on the kingdom. Duryodhana rejected this peace proposal, even though it came from God Himself. Goswami Tulsidas, the great Vaishnava poet, mentions this incident in his Dohavali. Tulsidas references Duryodhana’s behavior to remind people to not turn their backs on God. Those who do will have to suffer greatly. How did Duryodhana suffer? Since he rejected the peace offering, the Bharata War was eventually started, with Krishna serving as the charioteer for the leading Pandava warrior, Arjuna. The Pandavas won, Duryodhana and all his army were killed, and the kingdom was returned to the rightful owners.

“If, however, you do not fight this religious war, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.33)

What would have happened if Krishna and the Pandavas took the nonviolent approach? After all, this was the view of Arjuna and many of his brothers. They were hesitant to fight because war meant that their family members fighting for the opposing side would have to be killed. Arjuna did not want to enjoy a kingdom if it came at the expense of people he respected. Lord Krishna, through His teachings in the Gita, informed Arjuna that it was his duty as a military man to provide protection to the innocent. It was his dharma, or religious duty, to fight. This is quite a strong statement. It wasn’t as if Krishna said, “Oh okay, violence is justified sometimes. Maybe this is one of those times.” The Lord went one step further by telling Arjuna that if he didn’t fight, he would be committing a great sin. Simply based off this one fact, we see how silly it is to try to justify the theory of nonviolence from the Gita. Anyone who does so certainly is separating Krishna from His message.

Why is violence required in some instances? If those who are in charge of protecting the innocent don’t do so, where will people go for help? Who will protect them from the attacks of the miscreants? In this way, not only are the kshatriyas [the warrior/administrator class] charged with providing protection, but so is God Himself. Since Krishna is Absolute and all-attractive, everything He does is beautiful. He is beautiful while standing in the forest with flowers and a peacock feather in His hair, playing His flute, and He is equally as beautiful when killing demons.

Not only does Krishna use violence from time to time, but so do His devotees. While fighting in the Bharata War, Arjuna’s chariot was adorned with a flag bearing the emblem of Hanuman. Many thousands of years prior to Krishna’s advent, the Lord appeared on earth in the guise of a warrior prince named Rama. Lord Rama’s wife, Sita Devi, was kidnapped by a demon named Ravana who lived on the island of Lanka. To find Sita, the Lord enlisted the help of an army of monkeys whose chief warrior was a pious individual named Hanuman. Lord Hanuman famously leapt across the ocean and made his way to Lanka, where he eventually found Sita. While in Lanka, Ravana had Hanuman bound up and his tail set on fire. Shri Hanuman, though he is kind, sweet, compassionate, and learned, is anything but nonviolent when it comes to interacting with demons such as Ravana. Hanuman freed himself from the ropes around his body, and then took to battle. Since his tail was still on fire, Hanuman decided to set the entire city of Lanka ablaze. Though this was an act of violence on a grand scale, it was still a thing of beauty. Hanuman’s behavior is indicative of the protection that God’s greatest devotees offer the innocent.

We should not try to separate Krishna from His words or activities. God is the most beautiful person in the world, and this beauty is not limited to His transcendental form. This eternally blissful and knowledgeable form, sach-chid-ananda-vigraha, also takes to activities. It would make sense then that the most beautiful form in the world would have the most beautiful activities. This beauty is not limited to Krishna’s peaceful activities. His defense of the innocent and unflinching protection of the devotees evokes loving emotions just the same.

You Gotta Believe

"O best of the Ikshvakus, considering Your powerful divine and human capabilities, please strive for the destruction of Your enemies." (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.20)

We appreciate the people who believe in us. Life is a constant tug of war between happiness and distress, so there are bound to be ups and downs that we have to go through. The downs can really leave us doubting our abilities and our chances for success. To get through these tough times, we require outside intervention and the support of our friends and family members. Of all our well-wishers, those who believe in our abilities stand out the most. These are the people we are greatly indebted and most obliged to. Though it may not always appear this way, bona fide spiritual leaders actually believe in all of us; they know that each one of us is capable of achieving spiritual perfection. Our business is to trust these leaders to guide us to the promise land, for their belief in us is a prerequisite for success.

To understand this point better, let us look at some of the more popular inspirational movies of recent times. These are the movies that give us goose bumps at the end, the ones that leave us feeling inspired after having watched them. During the 1980s, several of these movies became very popular. Top Gun, The Karate Kid, and Hoosiers were especially inspirational. The storylines were generally the same: an underdog taking on a challenge that seemed too big for him to handle. After struggling and failing several times, the movie dramatically concludes with the underdog emerging victorious. We can relate to these movies because we have been in many situations where we were the underdog. Who among us hasn’t struggled? Who hasn’t felt like giving up when the chips were down? But we know that we can’t give up, because quitters never win.

The characters in these movies go through similar struggles. For example, in The Karate Kid, the main character learns karate in an unconventional manner through interacting with an elderly friend. Eventually the student enters a karate competition, where all his competitors have been trained in top-notch karate schools. There is even a moment when it looks like the character will be unable to continue in the tournament due to an injury. But it is through inspiration and belief that the character finally overcomes all obstacles.

This type of story inspires us because we know that winning isn’t easy. When we are shooting for a lofty goal, many people will come up to us and tell us that we can’t do it. “Oh you’re too small; you’re not smart enough; you don’t have enough talent”, etc. The naysayers seem to outweigh the well-wishers, and as soon as we encounter a little duress and failure, we start to believe what our critics tell us. In order to be successful, we need people in our corner who have faith in us; people who genuinely believe that we have what it takes to be successful. Bereft of such association, success will be hard to come by. Most of us are not born leaders or self-starters. We require motivation, inspiration, and guidance in the initial phases of an endeavor.

When an actor wins a prestigious award, such as an Oscar, they usually thank all the people that helped them in their career. They also will usually thank a specific teacher for believing in them. The same holds true with successful athletes. When a player wins a prestigious title, it is not uncommon to see them cry. This is because, at that moment, they realize how difficult it was to get to the pinnacle of their field. They also realize that if it weren’t for the people who believed in them, they wouldn’t have achieved success.

Though there are varieties of material endeavors, aspiring to become a perfect transcendentalist may be the most difficult task of all. We are currently in an environment which is not conducive to spiritual life. The Vedas tell us that this world is governed by an illusory force known as maya. Maya means “that which is not”; hence the illusion. The world we live in is full of things that appear to be beneficial to us, while in fact they are more harmful than anything else. There are so many examples of maya’s influence, but we can study something as basic as sex life to see the pattern. The desire to have sex is a natural urge for the human being as well as the animal species. Having the urge and acting on it are two different things. When we act on an impulse, it doesn’t mean that there will always be a positive result. For example, if we are stricken with the chicken pox, the urge is to scratch the infected areas on the body. But we also know that if we do scratch, our relief will only be temporary, while we will increase the likelihood of developing scars in the future. Scratching can also increase the risk of acquiring secondary infections to the swollen areas.

Sex life is similar in this regard. If we act on every sexual impulse, we are likely to encounter unintended side effects. The most obvious unintended consequence of sex life is pregnancy. If a young girl gets pregnant, she must completely turn her life around. Raising a child is a full-time responsibility, something which parents have to worry about for at least the first eighteen years of a child’s life. So we see that a simple act of having sex can lead to a much greater, unintended responsibility. This is how maya works. She fools us into taking something to be what it is not.

Though the material world is full of illusion, the spiritual world is not. Everything there is exactly how it seems. This is why God is referred to as the Supreme Absolute Truth, meaning there is no duplicity in His dealings, attributes, or residences. Since we are constitutionally spirit, we are meant to associate with this Truth; our destiny is to free ourselves from illusion. Knowing that we should be with God is one thing, but actually achieving that objective is another. We are currently in a conditioned state and under the spell of maya. This spell is difficult to break out of, so we require some help.

Who can help us? If we want to be successful in theater, sports, or broadcasting, it would make sense to approach someone who is already successful in the field. There are so many naysayers out there, but how many of them are actually successful? The nightly television newscasts are full of “experts” who give their opinions on a wide range of subjects, but how many of them actually know what they are talking about? Many of these experts have advanced degrees and thus acquire the title of “doctor”. There is certainly nothing wrong with receiving a formal education, but if we want to be successful in acting, should we approach someone who only has a PhD in theater, or should we talk to someone who is actually in the business? If we want to be a successful politician, should we take counsel from a person with a political science degree or someone who has actually ran for office and won?

The answers to these questions are fairly obvious, but the reason we ask them is to highlight a larger point. In order to be successful in spiritual life, we must approach someone who is not under the spell of maya. Our goal is to defeat maya and associate exclusively with the spiritual energy, thus it would make sense to consult with someone who has been successful in their fight against illusion. The Vedas tell us that the realized soul is known as the guru, or spiritual master. The term “guru” is used in many different contexts, but one of its meanings is “one who is heavy”. How is a guru heavy? What is the source of their weight? The bona fide guru carries the message of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since God is absolute, there is no difference between Himself and His message. Thus the message of God represents the heaviest truth, or knowledge system, in existence. A person who carries this message also becomes heavy; they possess gravitas, or authority.

Since the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna, they naturally will try to teach others how to become devotees. Since we are currently in a conditioned state, what the spiritual master initially tells us won’t be very pleasing to hear. They will tell us to give up the four primary activities of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex. At first glance, this seems like a harsh restriction. “No drinking? No illicit sex? What am I going to do with my time?” Next, the guru advises the aspiring transcendentalist to take up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. There are many dharmas, or religious systems, but the religion of love reigns supreme. Devotional service is the sublime engagement which automatically provides the rewards of all the other religious systems. This should make sense to us. After all, in the conditioned state, romantic love is held as the most pleasurable activity in life. Though this type of love may seem nice, it is still associated with maya, so there is illusion associated with it. When this love becomes purified, i.e. directed towards Krishna, it goes by the name of bhakti, or Krishna-prema.

Since the guru is heavy, he won’t sugarcoat his language. When reading the books of the great Vaishnava saints, we’ll often see that they refer to gross materialists, impersonalists, and enemies of God as mudhas, or rascals. “Anyone who is not a devotee of Krishna is a fool; Anyone who takes material nature to be the beginning and end of everything is certainly a rascal; Anyone who thinks that God is formless is a great miscreant.” Now these statements may seem off-putting to us at first, but they serve a distinct purpose. The first point that must be stressed is that these statements are all undoubtedly true. It may not be pleasing to hear, for many of these criticisms may apply to us or someone we know, but these statements are all rooted in fact.

“Don’t we need people to believe in us in order to achieve success? So how will any of us make progress if the spiritual master thinks that we are mudhas?” Actually, the bona fide spiritual master has more belief in us than anyone else we know. This may seem strange, but we have to understand the underlying reasoning behind the way the spiritual master teaches. The guru knows how hard it is to break free of the clutches of maya, so they will tell us the truth from the outset. Since the bona fide guru is a paramahamsa, they don’t view all individuals as mudhas and miscreants. They actually view every person as a pure devotee at heart. We are all meant to be God’s eternal servants, but currently we are forgetful of this fact. Thus the spiritual master takes it upon himself to remind us of the truth. They tell us that if we remain non-devotees in thoughts, words, and deeds, we are most certainly not very advanced. But we can quickly go from being a non-devotee to a devotee. In order to achieve this transformation, we have to have faith in the words of the spiritual master; our ever well-wisher.

The spiritual master believes in us, for they know what our true potential is. They know that each of us can achieve perfection in life by taking up devotional service. Cognizant of this fact, they remind us of the great qualities that we have. They don’t just criticize; they also highlight our good traits and tell us to use them to achieve spiritual perfection. This was the practice followed by Lakshmana, the younger brother of Lord Rama, many thousands of years ago.

Liberated transcendentalists tell us Krishna is the Absolute Truth and that He possesses all good qualities. This is nice to hear and we can certainly try to theoretically understand these facts, but it is much easier to learn by example. To facilitate this teaching method, the Lord personally appears on earth from time to time to show how real Truth manifests. One such appearance took place during the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, where Krishna incarnated as the pious prince of Ayodhya, Lord Rama. As part of His pastimes, Rama roamed through the forests for fourteen years alongside His wife, Sita Devi, and younger brother, Lakshmana. On one unfortunate occasion, Sita was kidnapped by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Realizing that Sita was missing, Rama frantically searched for her in the forest, but was unable to find her. Fearing the worse, Rama gave way to lamentation and anger.

At this time, Lakshmana stepped in to offer some sound words of advice. God is the original spiritual master, and He chooses select individuals to impart spiritual instruction to. Lakshmana was one such individual, for as the younger brother, Lakshmana would often be instructed by Rama on all matters of life. But God likes to glorify His devotees from time to time, so He presents opportunities for them to shine. This was one such opportunity, where Lakshmana was afforded the chance to act as spiritual master to Rama. In essence, Lakshmana got to show off all that he had previously learned from Rama.

“One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equiposed in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contamination, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn't care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and engaged in devotional service, is very dear to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.18-19)

What were Lakshmana’s instructions? Initially, he mildly chastised Rama for giving way to lamentation. The first instruction given to aspiring transcendentalists of the Vedic tradition is that we are not our bodies. The soul is eternal and unchangeable, while the body is not. This means that a person is guaranteed to encounter ups and downs, gains and losses, as it relates to the body. The wise person does not let these events affect them. Lakshmana correctly pointed out that even if Sita were killed, it would be no reason to be taken off the righteous path. We should all perform our prescribed duties in life, not being attached to the results of our actions.

In the above referenced quote, Lakshmana is concluding his remarks. We see that even though he chastised Rama in the beginning, Lakshmana is reminding Rama of the great powers He possesses. Lakshmana is essentially telling Rama that he believed in Him. The Lord very much appreciated His younger brother’s words of advice. The Lord would go on to find Sita, defeat Ravana in battle, and triumphantly rescue her. Everything would end well.

All can also end well for us if we follow the advice of the Vaishnava spiritual masters. Our powers certainly aren’t as great as Rama’s, but we do have the ability to achieve spiritual perfection. The path won’t be easy, but we must be confident of the spiritual master’s belief in us. The great devotees of Krishna make no distinction between cast, gender, color, or creed. They know that all living entities are capable of reviving their dormant Krishna consciousness. The guru believes in us, but the question remains: do we believe in him?

Words Mean Things

“There is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself. As such, the holy name is as perfect as the Lord Himself in fullness, purity and eternity. The holy name is no material sound vibration, nor has it any material contamination.” (Padma Purana)

Of all the religious practices that currently exist and have ever existed in the past, the most effective, according to the Vedas, is the chanting of mantras. A mantra is a sequence of words, a set of sound vibrations repeated in order to achieve a desired result, or an effect. The word itself is a compound Sanskrit word consisting of “man” and “tra”. The “man” part refers to the mind and “tra” refers to deliverance or protection. Thus a mantra is something which delivers the mind from an unpalatable condition. While mantras are very popular amongst religionists, yogis, transcendentalists, and devotees of God around the world, not all of them are the same. To understand the difference between the various mantras and to decipher which ones are legitimate, a study of words themselves is required.

Words are important. Words mean things. These facts are quite obvious but sometimes forgotten. Speaking is such a common activity that it is almost performed involuntarily. As soon as a thought comes to our mind, we want to verbalize it. When a person is considered fluent in a particular language, it means they can speak without thinking about the right words to use. Sometimes if we are in a foreign country or forced to speak in a language unfamiliar to us, before speaking we’ll have to pause for a second or two. The beginning of the speech pattern is the same; we’ll have a thought or idea in our head. The difference is that the mind’s language will be that which we are most comfortable with. In order to speak in the required language of the situation, we’ll have to mentally translate our thoughts before speaking.

Once our ideas finally come out in an audible form, the exact words we choose make a huge difference. Words convey ideas, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Some words are so powerful that people refrain from using them. Some words can cause so much offense and harm to others that they are deemed unacceptable for common conversation. There is no area where words play a greater importance than in the discipline of law. Since governments today codify all of their edicts and law codes, the written word plays a significant role. This is because laws can remain on the books for years and years. I may be a member of the government today and come up with a new law, but it is likely that the term of the law will far surpass my time on earth. This is especially true of framework governing documents like the Constitution of the United States of America. The Constitution was written at the time of the country’s founding, 1787, and yet it is still quoted, referenced, and analyzed to this day. Therefore the framers of the Constitution, those deciding which laws were the most important, had to carefully pick and choose just the right words to ensure that their ideas were conveyed properly.

When writing any important document, there is an editing process. When a person or group of people sit down to write an important document, law code, story, book, essay, article, or song, they are bound to make mistakes the first time around. These “errors” are labeled as such by the authors themselves, for there is really no such thing as a mistaken word. Words are just sound vibrations after all, so there is nothing faulty about them. The fault actually lies with the usage of the words in relation to the ideas and tone the author is trying to put forward. After an initial draft is written, the writer will go back and make many edits, which often result in the change of words. Goswami Tulsidas, one of the most famous religious poets in history, paid special attention to meter, rhythm, and tone when composing his devotional poems in praise of Lord Shri Rama, a famous incarnation of Godhead. Tulsidas was a great devotee of Rama, so obviously none of his words of praise for the Lord were faulty. Yet the saint wanted to choose just the right words, the proper sequence of sound vibrations, so as to produce the desired effect of praise for the Lord in a harmonious and emotion-evoking tone.

Since written laws stay on the books for so long, the words that are used are of utmost importance. The legal field involves a form of cheating. Regardless of the nature of a specific law, there are bound to be those who disagree with it. In these instances, the dissenters will hire lawyers to help make the case that the text of the law actually affirms their position. The Supreme Court of the United States hears cases that deal with these issues all the time. For example, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that government cannot take private property from any individual unless the property being taken will be used for public use. The citizen must also be duly compensated for the value of their property. This practice falls under the rubric of eminent domain. It is common knowledge that the framers who authored the amendment did so with the intention that government could only seize land in cases where they needed to build a road, bridge, highway, etc. “Public use” was meant to convey the idea of public property. Recently, however, a specific case relating to eminent domain reached the Supreme Court.  This case, Kelo v. City of New London, dealt with a local government seizing private property for the purpose of allowing a private developer group to build a hotel, health club, and offices on the same land. The local government cited eminent domain as their legal justification for their action. The Supreme Court ended up agreeing that the government was allowed to do what they did because the increased tax revenue that would come from economic development constituted a “public use.” Ironically enough, after the land was seized, the private developer was unable to follow through on their plans.

So we see that just a few simple words interpreted a certain way can provide a completely different meaning. If the framers had provided a little more clarity, maybe the verdict in the Kelo case would have been different. Then again, more words would have given dissenters more opportunities to bend and shape meanings. This is the nature of law, for each side will do whatever they can to win their argument. A good lawyer is one who can ostensibly cheat the written word in his favor.

Words take on an even greater importance in spiritual life. If the Constitution remains the governing document of the United States after several centuries, we can just imagine how much more important the written law codes of the Vedas, which have been around since the beginning of time, are. While there are so many different religious systems in existence, with different ultimate conclusions and prescriptions for achieving perfection in life, the Vedas are unique in that they actually provide us names for the ultimate object of worship, the Supreme Entity. Rather than refer to this Almighty person with a generic name such as “God”, the Vedas give us words, or sound vibrations, which reference different features of the Lord and His different activities. Of all the different names, only one, Krishna, references every opulence and every feature possessed by the transcendent, all-merciful, all-powerful Supreme Lord. Since Krishna is the topmost name, He is referred to as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

“I am the only enjoyer and the only object of sacrifice. Those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.24)

All Vedic rituals involve the chanting of mantras. In the Vedic tradition, a ritual is referred to as a yajna, which means sacrifice; sort of. A sacrifice is the voluntary separation or donation of something valuable. A yajna is a more specific type of sacrifice; a ritual where the objects being sacrificed are given to the Supreme Lord or a heavenly figure. The entire purpose of a yajna is to satisfy Vishnu, or God. Lord Vishnu is just another name for God which references His four-handed form as the all-pervading, all-opulent Lord of the universe. Since there is no difference between Krishna and Vishnu, we can also say that the yajna is done for Krishna’s satisfaction.

There are different kinds of sacrifice. While Vishnu is the ultimate enjoyer of the yajna, the purposes for the performance of the sacrifice can vary. Sometimes a person may want progeny, a beautiful wife, material wealth, or the cure to some disease. Of all the different benedictions one can receive, none is higher than the direct association of the Lord. In material endeavors, romantic love is considered the highest engagement, that activity which provides the greatest enjoyment. The key ingredient in romance is association, the meeting of the parties who are in love. In a similar manner, the highest transcendental activity is the meeting of the subordinate living entity with its ultimate object of pleasure. The Vedic seers, the great saints who devoted themselves to Krishna’s service, have summarized the aim of life into three simple objectives: the realization that Krishna is the original owner of everything, the best friend of the living entities, and the supreme enjoyer. When Krishna enjoys, He does so with other living entities. In this way, not only does God enjoy, but so do those He enjoys with. Thus we see that not only is Krishna the supreme enjoyer, but He is also the supreme object of pleasure for the conditioned living entities trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation.

Based on these facts, we see that service to Krishna, connecting with the Supreme Lord, is the topmost activity. Whichever activity brings the greatest amount of pleasure, the supreme enjoyment, must be considered the most worthwhile. Not surprisingly, achieving this association with the Lord involves the chanting of mantras. These mantras consist of words, the proper selection of which makes all the difference. For yajnas which are aimed at providing subpar results, or inferior enjoyment, the mantras used must also be considered secondary in stature. This points to the fact that not all mantras are the same. A mantra contains words after all, and these words are transcendental sound vibrations which represent various manifestations of the Supreme Lord. God is everything, but everything is not God. God is the dirt on the ground and the rain in the sky, but the rain and the dirt are not God. Therefore one cannot simply chant the words “dirt” and “rain” and expect to be in God’s association. One who does so will be associating with a separated expansion of the Supreme Lord, something which is part of His inferior energy. Association with inferior energy not only brings inferior enjoyment, but it keeps one firmly attached to the grand representation of the inferior energy: the material world.

Krishna is completely spiritual, so in order to associate with Him one must chant mantras which contain words which reference Him or one of His direct expansions. Of all the various mantras, the one considered most efficacious for the people of this age is the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. This mantra consists only of three distinct words: Hare, Krishna, and Rama. Hare refers to God’s energy, the embodiment of pleasure-giving power, the eternal servant of the Lord. Krishna refers to God’s all-attractive, original form. Rama refers to Krishna’s ability to give transcendental pleasure. Rama also references Lord Rama, one of Krishna’s most celebrated incarnations, a divine figure worshiped by millions to this day.

Why is this mantra more powerful than others? Those who chant this mantra are considered practitioners of sankirtana-yajna. Unlike other sacrifices, this chanting sacrifice is not aimed at producing any material results. Material results have unintended negative consequences, the worst of which is attachment to the temporary and miserable material world. Sankirtana-yajna involving the maha-mantra is free of any defects; it does not provide any unwanted results. Moreover, it purifies the chanter of all unwanted desires and feelings. This means that one may start off chanting this mantra with a desire for a personal benefit, but through connecting with Hara, Krishna, and Rama, those desires are soon forgotten. In this way, Hare Krishna ends up being the perfect prayer, the only mantra ever worth reciting. The transcendental sound vibrations contained within are a cry for help, a sincere call to the complete whole, the Lord of the universe, to come associate with the contrite living entities who have spent so much time forgetting such a merciful master. This mantra should be the only religious practice; our lifeline and only means of salvation. This mantra is the mother, the father, the king, the spiritual master, and the giver of pleasure. Those who take this mantra as their life and soul will become fluent in the most important language, the language of transcendental love.

Encouragement

"O best of the Ikshvakus, considering Your powerful divine and human capabilities, please strive for the destruction of Your enemies." (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.20)

It's not so easy to persuade an adult to do something. A child may be willing to take instruction, but the same person as an adult will likely put up more resistance. A mature adult realizes their independence and thus is more skeptical about being instructed. But as we experience with our own lives, the learning process never stops. No matter how old we get, there are still many things that we are unaware of. Thus we require the help of someone in the know, someone who has realized the Truth, to set us straight. Since adults are not as accepting of advice and counsel, the knowers of the Truth have to find different ways to get their message across. Encouragement and flattery are two of the techniques employed by those trying to impart the highest form of knowledge. These techniques prove to be very effective in teaching love and devotion to the Divine.

Most of us know how the basic life cycle works. You are born, play around for a few years, go to school, get married, have kids, and then die. We may know how the system works, but how many of us actually stop to think of why the cycle is the way that it is? For example, why do we have to go to school in our childhood? Most of us hate being trapped in a prison-like environment all day. School proprietors even realize this fact; thus elementary school children are allowed a recess period during the day where they can go out and run around to let out all their pent up energy.

The most obvious justification for our attending school in our younger years is that we are completely ignorant at the time of birth. A baby comes out of the mother’s womb and immediately starts crying. The Vedas tell us that each of us has been on this earth many times before through the process of reincarnation. This is actually not very difficult to understand. We all at one time lived in the tiniest of bodies which was no larger than the size of a pea. We certainly don't remember having this body, but it is undoubtedly true that we survived through such a form in the womb of our mother. Our current body is the result of the maturation of that small pea-like form. In the same way that our current body evolves and changes, prior to our current birth we had a different body which had its own properties. Though the soul remains intact, the coverings constantly change. Thus when we come out of the womb of the mother, we are settling into our new body and surroundings. Essentially we have to get reacquainted with the environment that we have forgotten. Human life is especially beneficial because the potential for acquiring knowledge is great. At the time of birth, an infant is no smarter than a dog, cat, or other animal, yet the difference is that through proper training and guidance, the infant can gradually acquire knowledge that far surpasses that of any animal.

Proper training and guidance are the two key points. We must be taught how to read, write, and do arithmetic. But we see that it is the nature of the child to play all day. If we examine the typical day of an average four year old, we’ll see that almost every waking hour is spent playing, watching television, or eating. So there is no natural desire to acquire knowledge in a formal setting, as there is say in the adult. Many adults often crave learning and being able to take in new information and remember it. Thus they try for advanced degrees and doctorates. But for children, this desire isn’t really there.

If we don’t want to go to school, how do we end up there for twelve consecutive years? Moreover, how do we wake up early every day and spend hours locked up in a classroom? The answer is that we are forced to. In America anyways, school is compulsory for children up until around the age of sixteen. This means that we have to go to school. But what if we say “no”? What if we flat out refuse to go to school? Obviously this situation will occur with some of us, but very quickly we realize that this is a losing battle. This is because, as children, we have no control. We are under the care and guidance of our parents. They are benevolent dictators in a sense; their word is final, though they may be lenient every now and then.

A common saying states that it is a shame that youth is wasted on the young. The meaning behind this is that youthfulness is such a wonderful thing because with it comes innocence, ambition, and lots of energy. The youngsters will always have more energy, stamina, and speed than the older generation. We see evidence of this in the world of sports. In tennis for example, it is not uncommon to see players retiring before they even hit the age of thirty. This is because as a player ages, their agility, stamina, and speed diminish. Moreover, new players arrive on the scene, many of whom are still teenagers. Though they may not have the composure, experience, and strategic intelligence possessed by the older generation, they have something equally as valuable: youth. The younger generation will slowly but surely take over the older generation. For the elderly, there is nothing they can do to stem the tide. “Ah, if only I was nineteen again”, they’ll think.

Attending school in our youth is certainly important due to the energy issue. It is much easier to get up early in the morning, stay in school for hours, and then come home and do homework when we are young than when we are older. But probably more important than the energy issue is the control issue. As youngsters, our parents and teachers can control us, so it is crucially important that this authority be used in the proper way. The Vedas tell us that the purpose of human life is to inquire about the Absolute Truth, Brahman. Brahman is just a fancy name for God that describes His feature as the all-encompassing spiritual energy.

Since the potential of human life can only be reached after one is properly educated, it is important for parents to force us to go to school. But what happens when we get older? As youngsters, if a parent or teacher forces us to do something, we really have no choice in the matter. We have to listen to them. If they tell us to do our homework or study for a test, we can’t really say “no”. With adults, however, the issue is different. In order to convince an adult to do something, an authority figure must use different tactics. Simply yelling and punishing won’t do anything because eventually the adult will fight back. Once the fighting starts, respect is lost, as the authority figure loses their position of dominance. In order for adults to be guided, a teacher must appeal to the student’s attributes, propping up and highlighting the good qualities. This was the technique employed by Lakshmana, the younger brother of Lord Rama, many thousands of years ago.

Lord Rama is one of the primary incarnations of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God reigns supreme over all; He is every person’s dearmost friend. Due to His causeless mercy, He kindly appears on earth from time to time to enact pastimes, give pleasure to His devotees, and punish the miscreants. To increase the enjoyment felt by the devotees, the Lord usually assumes the guise of an ordinary human, one who possesses extraordinary capabilities. This was the case with Lord Rama, who was a prince belonging to the famous Raghu dynasty. Rama’s unique capabilities were His tremendous fighting ability, chivalry, and compassionate nature towards all.

Since the Lord was kind and sweet, He didn’t like to create enmity with anyone, especially His dependents and family members. On one occasion, Rama was asked to spend fourteen years in the forest, living as an exile from His hometown of Ayodhya. Rama was a married adult at the time, so He easily could have objected to the order, but since it was given by His father, Rama took it as His most important duty. Lord Rama never wanted His father to be considered a liar, thus when He was asked to do something, He listened right away. Taking His younger brother Lakshmana and His wife Sita Devi with Him, the Lord embarked for His fourteen year journey through the wilderness.

Unfortunately, while in the forest, Sita would be kidnapped by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. When Rama came to know that Sita was missing, He gave way to lamentation and grief. He started walking around the woods and asking the trees and flowers if they had seen His beautiful and kind wife. Sensing that his brother was falling off the righteous path, Lakshmana stepped in to offer some sound words of advice. He reminded Rama that, as living entities, they were subject to happiness and distress from time to time. Moreover, even the heavenly beings and saints have to suffer losses from time to time, thus there was no reason to lament. Human life is meant for adhering to dharma, or one’s occupational duty.

In the above referenced quote, Lakshmana is wrapping up his statements. Here we see that Rama is being reminded of His extraordinary power, which was both human and divine. Though Rama was in the guise of a human being, in reality He is the Divine Supreme Lord, so His fighting ability is unmatched in the world. Whoever had taken Sita would surely not live for very long if Rama were to find them. This indeed would be the case as Rama would heed Lakshmana’s advice, resume His search for Sita, and eventually defeat and kill Ravana in battle. All would end well.

Yet the happy ending may not have ever happened were it not for the words of wisdom spoken by Lakshmana. Lord Rama was certainly God Himself, so He obviously didn’t need any of this advice. The source of Lakshmana’s wisdom was actually Rama, for the Lord had instructed His younger brothers on the same subject matter on many previous occasions. Even though Rama was God, we see that the Lord likes to elevate the stature of His devotees, so He creates situations where they can shine. This was one of those situations. Lakshmana was a perfect devotee and highly learned soul, even though He belonged to the kshatriya [warrior] class. In this instance, Lakshmana was given the distinct honor of acting as a spiritual guide to Rama.

So which teaching techniques did Lakshmana employ? We see that he didn’t force Rama to do anything. He didn’t threaten his elder brother. These tactics wouldn’t have worked, for Rama was a full-fledged adult. Instead, Lakshmana kindly reminded Rama of His true nature, highlighting the Lord’s great qualities. He advised Rama to use this information to remove any hesitation or trepidation He had in relation to what should be done next. Thus we see that Lakshmana acted as a perfect guru, understanding the nature of his student and using that knowledge to employ the proper teaching technique.

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

So what can we learn from this incident? In today’s day and age, the youth often don’t receive the proper kind of education. Children are most certainly forced to go to school and persuaded to graduate from high school, but this doesn’t mean that they acquire the king of all knowledge, raja-vidya. As mentioned previously, the ultimate objective in human life is to know and understand God. No one can truly understand His complete set of potencies, but through study and aural reception, we can gain a slight understanding. Yet simply acquiring theoretical knowledge is not enough. We have to know what to do with this education. Perfection in life is achieved when we use our spiritual knowledge to take up service to the Lord. This service must be performed voluntarily and with unmotivated love in order to be effective.

In our youth, most of us learn about technology, literature, science, social studies, etc. We don’t learn about the constitutional position of the soul and its eternal nature. We don’t learn about what happens to us after we die or why we die in the first place. Theories are posited and religion is taken as a blind faith adopted by various sectarian groups, but there are no discussions about the soul and the differences between matter and spirit. Does this mean that our chances for success in life are dashed? Hope is never lost in the area of spirituality, but there are certain hurdles we must overcome. The great saints of the past, the non-sectarian Vaishnavas, have written voluminous literature expounding the supremacy of devotional service over any other religious process. We simply have to consult one of these great works or hear from a devotee who follows the bona fide principles of religion.

At the same time, it’s difficult for adults to take instruction from others. A devotee of Krishna may ask us to kindly chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and abstain from meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication, but we won’t want to listen to them. “Who is this person teaching me? I’m an adult now; I have complete autonomy over my activities. I don’t have to listen to anybody.” Thus the task becomes a little more difficult for the supreme welfare worker, the devotee.

From Lakshmana’s example, however, we can see how even independent adults can be nudged in the proper direction. Though we are not God, we have some of His qualities. The Gosvamis of Vrindavana have analyzed the qualities of the Supreme Lord and have declared that we living entities possess seventy-eight percent of the qualities of God. Thus we too have great potencies, especially in the area of acquiring knowledge and intelligence. This means that every single person is a candidate for understanding this supreme science of devotional service. Whether a person is a man, woman, child, high born, or low born, it doesn’t matter. Each of us has some capability to perform some type of work. If we perform this work for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, our activities will be perfect. Therefore it is incumbent upon the knowledgeable spiritual teachers to try to remind people of their great abilities and how those qualities can be used for the right purposes. When the energy meets the energetic, the resulting synergy is a thing of beauty. As living entities, we are meant to be the pleasure giving energy of the Lord. If we take up devotional service, we can turn that potential into a reality.

Vishnu and Krishna

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as long as He remains on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also remain there to assist Him.” (Message of Lord Vishnu to Lord Brahma and the demigods, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 1)

Question: “Why is Krishna's incarnation considered to be an incarnation of Vishnu when Vishnu is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that is Krishna?”

Answer: In the Vedic tradition, the Supreme Divine Being is known as Krishna. He is described as the Supreme Personality of Godhead since there are multitudes of non-different forms of the Divine which can also be worshiped with love and devotion, with the devotee of each particular form reaping the same benefits. This isn’t to say that there are many Gods, but rather that the Supreme Lord isn’t so stingy to limit Himself to only one form. Just as there are different inherent qualities possessed by different individuals, there are different ways to offer love and devotion to the Supreme Divine Entity. Therefore this original Personality, who is known as Krishna, takes to various forms to allow the devotees to worship Him in their preferred transcendental mellow, or rasa. Ironically enough, one of Krishna’s primary expansions is so much loved and respected that He is often taken as the original form of Godhead instead of Krishna. This person is Lord Vishnu, who is also known as Narayana, the source of all men. For millions of years, only Vishnu was known as the original Personality of Godhead. In many sacred texts, Krishna is listed as one of Narayana’s primary incarnations. While there appears to be a contradiction on this issue, there actually isn’t one.

“All these incarnations of Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the purusha-avataras. But Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself [krishnas tu bhagavan svayam]. In every age He protects the world through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of Indra.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.3.28)

First let’s cover the basis for Krishna being taken as the original form of Godhead. The Vedas are the ancient scriptures of India, and they literally mean “knowledge”. Originally, such transcendental information was passed through an oral tradition, with hymns and prayers memorized and verbalized in the Sanskrit language. Later on, this same information was put into written form. Since the attributes and features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unlimited, many books were written, with each one focusing on a particular aspect of the Divine. Of all the texts that were compiled, authorities consider the Shrimad Bhagavatam, or Bhagavata Purana, to be the most important. This text stands apart from other major Vedic works since it focuses almost entirely on Vishnu worship and the life and pastimes of Krishna. Other Vedic texts often deal with the four rewards of life: dharma [religiosity], artha [economic development], kama [sense gratification], and moksha [release from the cycle of birth and death], and how one can go about achieving them. While the alleviation of pains and discomforts are certainly legitimate areas of interest in spirituality, the highest truth is that the individual spirit souls are part and parcel of God. “Eternally separate and almost equal” is the concise definition. God is the Supreme Soul, and we are minute fragments emanating from Him. Due to our constitutional makeup, our natural disposition, or dharma, is to always be engaged in His service, tied to His hip through the bonds of love and devotion.

The Shrimad Bhagavatam states that Lord Vishnu, the four-armed form of the original Personality of Godhead residing in the Vaikuntha spiritual realm, is certainly God. For the benefit of mankind, He kindly descends to earth in various guises from time to time. Though these expansions, known as avataras, appear to be just like ordinary living entities, they are non-different from the original Lord. Therefore they are always completely spiritual, not tinged by the effects of material nature governed by the energy of maya. While the Bhagavatam deals extensively with Lord Vishnu, His pastimes, His attributes, and His features, Lord Krishna, who possesses two arms and an all-attractive transcendental body, is also taken to be the original form of Godhead. His home is in a spiritual land known as Goloka Vrindavana, which is similar in nature to Vaikuntha. Both Vaikuntha and Vrindavana are places where birth and death do not occur, therefore whoever lives there remains liberated from conditioned life.

Lord Chaitanya, who is taken by great authorities to be an incarnation of Krishna, appeared on earth around five hundred years ago and preached worship of Krishna to be the topmost spiritual practice. He was especially fond of the Shrimad Bhagavatam and another Vedic text known as the Brahma-samhita. This treatise was compiled by Lord Brahma, the first created being who lives for billions and billions of years. Brahma is considered a demigod, or an elevated living entity. Since he too must go through birth and death, he is not considered to be on an equal footing with Vishnu. Lord Brahma once compiled a great set of prayers in praise of Govinda, which is another name for Krishna. So simply based off the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Brahma-samhita, we can understand that Krishna is the origin of all forms of Godhead. Lord Chaitanya also discussed in great detail the differences between Krishna, Vishnu, and other avataras. These discussions are found in the Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, and anyone who is further interested in this subject matter is advised to consult this wonderful text.

“Shrimad Bhagavatam has listed the avataras, the plenary expansions of the purusha, and Lord Krishna appears among them. But the Bhagavatam further explains Lord Krishna's specific position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since Lord Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead, reason and argument establish that His position is always supreme.”  (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 2.86 Purport)

Lord Chaitanya inaugurated the chanting of the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, as the topmost religious practice for all the people of this age. Rama refers to Lord Rama, one of Vishnu’s most celebrated incarnations who appeared on earth many thousands of years ago in the guise of a warrior prince. Though He stressed worship of Krishna, Lord Chaitanya never stopped people from worshiping Lord Rama, for in many instances He even helped devotees of Lord Rama increase their level of attachment to the jewel of the Raghu dynasty.

There are many who take Krishna to be an incarnation of Vishnu, for this is actually mentioned in many texts, including in portions of the Shrimad Bhagavatam. In addition, probably the oldest book in the world is the Ramayana, which is a Vedic text which deals primarily with the life and pastimes of Lord Rama.  In chronological terms, Rama and other incarnations of Vishnu appeared on earth prior to Krishna. While the Vedic evidence presented by devotees of Krishna is certainly flawless and completely accurate, the claims of Vishnu being the original and Krishna being an expansion can also be justified by referencing several incidents from Vedic history.

For the Vishnu devotees, the circumstances surrounding Krishna’s advent on earth described in the Shrimad Bhagavatam point to the fact that Vishnu descended to earth as Krishna. Bhumi Devi, the presiding deity of the earth, was feeling a great burden, so she kindly approached Lord Brahma to help her. Brahma then went to visit Lord Vishnu and asked Him to appear on earth. Lord Vishnu then kindly obliged and also arranged to have Ananta Shesha Naga, the eternal servant of Vishnu, come to earth in the form of Lord Balarama. Thus Vishnu and Ananta Shesha Naga appeared on earth as Krishna and Balarama.

When Lord Krishna appeared from the womb of Mother Devaki in the prison cell of King Kamsa, He displayed His four-handed Vishnu form. This was to let His parents know that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead appearing as their son. At the time, simply showing His Krishna form wasn’t enough to convey the idea of divinity. This actually points to another area of importance which we will discuss later on.

When Krishna grew up to be an adult, while ruling as a king in Dvaraka, He spent much time with His cousins, the Pandavas. On one occasion, the Pandavas and Krishna met up with Markandeya Rishi, who was originally a great devotee of Lord Shiva, another powerful divine figure and devotee of Lord Vishnu. Markandeya Rishi explained to the Pandavas that during one particular kalpa, he had the benefit of remaining alive during the destruction of the earth. After everything was destroyed, only one person remained: Lord Narayana in the form of a young boy. Inside Narayana’s stomach, Markandeya saw the universal form consisting of all the universes, planets, stars, and living entities. After finishing his description, Markandeya told the Pandavas that the same Narayana was sitting in front of them as Krishna.

“O universal Lord, I wish to see You in Your four-armed form, with helmeted head and with club, wheel, conch and lotus flower in Your hands. I long to see You in that form.” (Arjuna speaking to Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.46)

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, just prior to one of the greatest wars in history, Krishna took to instructing the leading warrior of the Pandava side, Arjuna. In this discussion, which is chronicled in the famous Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna repeatedly refers to Himself as God and as the divine entity. Yet Krishna at one point shows both the universal form and His four-armed form of Lord Narayana to Arjuna. Again, this speaks to the notion that followers of the Vedic tradition for thousands of years looked to Lord Vishnu as the original personality of Godhead. Since Krishna is non-different from Vishnu, whether one takes Him as the original in lieu of Vishnu is not really important.

This fact is reinforced by the dealings of the other primary avataras of Lord Vishnu. Lord Rama is worshiped as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by millions, and during His time on earth, He too often referred to Himself as God to His confidential associates. In the original Ramayana, the poem compiled by Maharishi Valmiki, Rama mentions that in a future Yuga He will appear on earth as Govinda, which is another name for Krishna. In this way, we see that Rama is non-different from Krishna. Additionally, many sages desired to have intimate relations with Lord Rama, but since the Lord vowed to only have one wife, Sita Devi, He agreed to meet their requests in the future when He would come to earth as Lord Krishna. Similarly, there are devotees who worship other Vishnu forms such as Lord Narasimhadeva. In fact, in the Narasimha Purana, Narasimhadeva is addressed as adim, which means that He is the original Personality of Godhead.

“Lord Narasimhadeva is here, and He is also there on the opposite side. Wherever I go, there I see Lord Narasimhadeva. He is outside and within my heart. Therefore I take shelter of Lord Narasimhadeva, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Narasimha Purana)

So how do we reconcile these differences? Is Krishna the original or is Vishnu? Lord Krishna is certainly the original Personality of Godhead simply based off the teachings of Lord Chaitanya and the statements of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, Brahma-samhita, Garga-samhita, and Brahmavaivarta Purana. Yet those who take Vishnu or any of His other non-different expansions as original are not wrong. This is because the differences of opinion only represent different angles of vision. The end-result is still the same. If there is a difference at all between Krishna and Vishnu, it lies in the sweetness of appearance. Vishnu is viewed as more opulent and thus appealing to those who wish to worship the Lord in reverence. Krishna, on the other hand, is supremely attractive, so He generally appeals to those who wish to worship the Lord more intimately. God is everything, but everything is not God. This means that we can worship anything we want, but the results of such worship will vary. Only by worshiping non-different forms of the original form of Godhead, vishnu-tattva, can we receive the benediction of eternal association with Supreme Spirit. Worship of any other entity or object will not secure such a reward. This means that only by worshiping Krishna, Vishnu, or another non-different form such as Rama, Narasimha, Chaitanya, etc., can we be released from the cycle of birth and death.

If a person takes Krishna as the original form, and neglects Vishnu worship, their spiritual progress is not hindered. In the same way, devotees of Vishnu who neglect Krishna worship also aren’t deficient in their spiritual practice. Let’s think of it this way: Say we have a person who only reads the Ramayana and nothing else. They take Shri Rama to be the only form of Godhead and no one else. They dedicate themselves to performing devotional service, chanting the Lord’s names, and viewing His deity form in the temple. Such a person will surely receive liberation in the afterlife and be spiritually fulfilled in every way. Devotees of Krishna sometimes say that Rama’s name isn’t as powerful as Krishna’s and that Shri Rama can only grant spiritual benedictions up to the point of impersonal liberation, while Lord Krishna can engage in loving association with the devotees in the mood of separation. While this sentiment surely is indicative of the great love and devotion of Krishna bhaktas, there are a few examples which speak to Rama’s complete abilities to provide any and all spiritual benedictions.

Lord Hanuman, the celebrated divine figure of the Vedic tradition, personally offered his services to Rama during the Lord’s time on earth. Hanuman actually doesn’t see God in any other form except Rama. Moreover, Hanuman worships Rama completely in separation. Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana love Hanuman so much that he could receive anything he asks for. Yet prior to Rama’s return to the spiritual world, Hanuman only asked that he be allowed to remain alive on earth for as long as Rama’ story was still being told. In this way, Hanuman is the perfect example of a devotee who worships the Lord through separation. Similarly, Goswami Tulsidas, a saint who took direct instruction from Shri Hanuman, also worshiped Rama in separation. Tulsidas often pointed to the devotion practiced by the Chatak bird towards its beloved raincloud as being the ideal example of how one should go about loving and serving God.

Krishna’s closest associates, including His foster parents, had no clue that He was the original form of Godhead. At best, they thought that maybe He was a demigod appearing in human form. Yet their devotion to Him was fruitful nonetheless. This proves that one doesn’t necessarily have to know all about the different incarnations and expansions to achieve perfection in consciousness. There is no difference between Krishna’s body and spirit, so if we are attached to Him in thoughts, words, and deeds, even if we don’t know that He’s God, the benefit will still be the same. The issue of importance is that we worship and devote ourselves to Krishna, Vishnu, or a non-different expansion. Whether we view Krishna as the original or Vishnu doesn’t matter at the end of the day. The ultimate objective is to be God conscious at the time of death. The residents of Ayodhya all returned to the spiritual world with Lord Rama, for they would follow Him to the ends of the earth. They weren’t concerned with whether or not He was God; they simply loved Him with all their hearts. If we exhibit the same level of devotion to our specific authorized divine object of worship, we too will reap the same reward.