Comings And Goings

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.9)

Question: “There are several prevailing opinions regarding Krishna’s departure from the material world. Can you shed light on the issue?”

Answer: Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, periodically appears and disappears on this earth. This isn’t to say that He is a magician performing illusory acts to entertain the individual souls, but rather, He is never capable of taking birth or dying. The same actually holds true with the individual spirit souls as well, as the concepts of birth and death are created from the conditioned angle of vision. When one’s mindset is purified, i.e. when they regain their natural consciousness, they see things as they are instead of as they are not. In the conditioned state, the individual is clouded by ignorance borne of the illusory energy known as maya. We have no control over the circumstances of our birth, yet we somehow lament over death. If we’re going to feel sad, why not lament over birth, something just as uncontrollable as our death? Krishna’s appearances on earth, both in the personal form and those of His various avataras, are certainly well celebrated and marveled over. Yet the same is not true for His disappearances, His subsequent departures to the spiritual world. Shri Krishna’s return to the spiritual world is especially a topic of controversy, for the non-devotees and gross materialists love to use this event as proof that Krishna is not a divine figure and certainly not the original form of Godhead. From basic analysis of the descriptions of this event, we can see that the Lord’s ascension to the spiritual sky certainly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Him, nor was it an indication of any sign of fallibility. Rather, Krishna’s ascension to the spiritual sky was just another sign of His causeless mercy shown towards every living entity.

God is one; He cannot be the exclusive property of any set of individuals. The concept of a Supreme Lord implies that no one can be above Him. Since it is impossible for anyone to successfully challenge the Lord’s supremacy, it means that God is the fountainhead, the original source of everything. Therefore, all forms of life, regardless of their outward dress, can trace their lineage back to the original Divine Being. In the Vedic tradition, details pertaining to the Lord’s appearances, activities, and transcendental forms are provided. Since there are innumerable forms, there is often confusion as to which is the original and which isn’t. The sacred and flawless Vedic texts declare the fountainhead to be an entity who has a transcendental, eternal, and blissful body.  Since this entity is all-attractive, He is known as Krishna, whose immediate expansion, or other non-different form, of Lord Narayana is also often taken as the original. Even the Ramayana, the epic poem detailing the transcendental activities of Lord Rama, doesn’t contradict this fact. Rama is no different from Narayana, so the ultimate conclusion of who is the original form of Godhead remains the same. Since there is no difference between Narayana and Krishna, we can use the two names interchangeably and thus consider the two forms to be the same.

Around five thousand years ago, Narayana came to earth as Krishna. This is the information given to us by the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Mahabharata. In other texts, Krishna is taken as the original form who personally descended to earth. In either case, the original Lord of mankind made a divine appearance for the sake of annihilating miscreants and pleasing the purified souls, the devotees who have no other business than serving the Supreme Loveable Object in thoughts, words, and deeds, at all times. Krishna’s visible form was first seen in the town of Mathura. Immediately after appearing from the womb of Mother Devaki, the Lord was transferred to the neighboring town of Vrindavana, where He grew up as a child and tended to cows. In His adult years, Krishna returned to Mathura and then subsequently formed His own kingdom of Dvaraka. The most notable incident of Krishna’s adult life was His role in the Bharata War, a massive fight that saw the death of millions of valiant soldiers. Not surprisingly, the side that Krishna was on, the Pandavas, won.

Devotees usually discuss and relish the pastimes performed by Krishna in Vrindavana. From His adult years, the famous discourse given on the battlefield to Arjuna, the lead Pandava warrior, is similarly a topic of great interest. This sublime set of instructions, which was personally delivered by Krishna, forms the basis of the illustrious Bhagavad-gita, the most concise and complete exposition on Vedic philosophy. While devotees focus on Krishna’s activities and His teachings, the non-devotees and atheists like to discuss the Lord’s activities that made Him appear to be human. After all, Krishna did roam this earth in the guise of an ordinary living entity, so naturally He would perform some activities that didn’t seem to be of the divine nature. The key point to understand is that these activities gave the appearance of fallibility. The Supreme Lord is Achyuta, which means one who is infallible. Fallibility is the quality of the conditioned soul who lives under the dictates of nature. God is the creator of nature, so He is incapable of being controlled by it.

These facts are difficult to understand for the gross materialists. They live strictly off true and false concepts, wherein all conclusions are derived off of personal experience. Since the scientific community has never seen a person appear out of the womb of a mother without the prior act of conception, they take the descriptions of Krishna’s appearance found in the Shrimad Bhagavatam to be mythology, some ordinary event which was later hyped up into something it wasn’t. To substantiate their claims, the atheists will point to Krishna’s activities with the young cowherd girls of Vrindavana and His ultimate disappearance from the earth, which saw Him being shot in the foot by a hunter named Jara.

So are the atheists correct in their assessment? If not, why then would Krishna give this appearance of fallibility? The answer is that every individual soul has independence and free will. This is not something given to us by God, but rather, something we always possess. Just as God is the Supreme Controller who never assumed that title, as individual sparks emanating from the original spiritual fire, we naturally inherit the quality of freedom. The difference between God and ourselves is that the activities we can take up based off our freedom are limited. The root cause of the material creation is the misuse of the free will property. The individual spirit souls, desiring to imitate their loveable master, were given a temporary and miserable playing field. This field is temporary because it has to be created. Since it manifests at the will of the hand of Supreme Spirit, it most certainly must be destroyed at some point as well. Since there is both creation and destruction, the end result of any activity performed on such a turf is misery.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

If the material world is so miserable, why would Krishna create it? The desires of the individual souls are never denied. The wished-for objects of sense gratification may not always come to fruition, but the desires themselves are not thwarted. Since the individual souls wish to remain apart from Krishna, they are allowed to remain in the material world perpetually. When the Lord makes His divine appearances on earth, His aim is to take back those souls looking for liberation, the jivatmas who have had enough of the pretend life. Krishna is kind enough to enact His sweet pastimes for the satisfaction of such purified souls. By relishing these transcendental activities, one’s consciousness gradually becomes purified to the point where the ultimate enjoyer is seen as Krishna instead of the gross senses. When this purified mindset is maintained up until the time of death, release from the cycle of birth and death is granted.

Even with all of this information available to them - knowledge which mind you costs nothing to acquire - the majority of the conditioned souls will not take to Krishna consciousness. Rather, they remain steadfast in their challenge to the Lord’s authority. Obviously such an effort will be futile, for every conditioned soul is a slave to the forces of nature. Mother Nature’s most powerful agent is all-devouring death, which appears on the scene through the agent of change known as time. No conditioned entity is immune from the effects of time; thus the pursuit to surpass God in strength, stature, and level of enjoyment will eventually fail.

“I have heard Your instruction on confidential spiritual matters which You have so kindly delivered unto me, and my illusion is now dispelled.” (Arjuna speaking to Krishna, Bg. 11.1)

A gross materialist, an asura, or non-devotee, will have trouble convincing others, and even themselves, of the supremacy of their way of life dedicated to sense gratification. The truths found in the Vedas are quite logical and profound, so anyone who honestly and sincerely hears them from the right sources will be firmly convinced of the supremacy of the engagement of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. The quintessential act of bhakti is the chanting of the names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The non-devotees, not wanting to chant or take part in any activity of bhakti, hold steadfast to karma. To support their ingrained attitude, they will look for any piece of information that debunks the notion that Krishna is God. Though the classic Vedic texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Shrimad Bhagavatam are filled with hundreds of thousands of profound verses, the asuras will scour these pages for one tiny little quote or incident that, when taken out of context, can allay their fears of God’s existence and supremacy. This behavior is indeed sad but true, as the atheists are afraid that Krishna might actually be God, for if that were the case, it would mean that the sinful way of life is the wrong one.

Due to His kind mercy, the Supreme Lord gives the asuras all the evidence they need. The Lord first exhibits qualities of strength which are impossible for an ordinary person to believe. Not only does He appear on this earth without the act of conception, but He kills powerful demons and lifts gigantic hills with just one finger. Since the asuras can’t imagine a tiny child performing such wondrous feats, they take Krishna to be a myth. Then there are some non-devotees who accept the idea of Krishna’s appearance, but who still don’t want to devote their lives to Him. They will look to Krishna’s intimate activities with the gopis of Vrindavana as evidence of Krishna’s fallibility. “How can God dance around with young girls? This is who we are supposed to worship?” Of course, thought is never given as to why God should forbid Himself from dancing with young girls. The Supreme Lord is self-satisfied, and He is the object of dharma, or religiosity. Piety and virtue only exist to help the individual understand Krishna. The Lord has no need to abide by these rules which are intended for the conditioned souls, those whose flawed desire in life is to challenge God. In addition, the interaction with the gopis actually proves Krishna’s divine nature. As the Supreme Lord, He will grant whatever anyone wants, provided that their hearts are pure and their motives properly situated. The gopis are the greatest lovers of the Supreme Spirit, so if they desire to dance with Krishna, the Lord will most certainly accede to their request.

There is yet another class of asuras who accepts Krishna’s appearance and His activities with the gopis but still doesn’t take Him to be God. They will point to His disappearance, an incident where the Lord was shot in the foot by a hunter. Never mind the fact that the Mahabharata explicitly states that Krishna was willingly ready to return to the spiritual world and that He knew what was going to happen, the asuras will ignore any evidence that goes against their central religious belief, the notion of Krishna being fallible. These are all the workings of Krishna’s divine energy known as maya, an illusory force which clouds the intelligence of the conditioned souls who desire to remain in the material world. The workings of maya prove that the Lord is the most munificent of all devas, or gods.

The question may be raised as to why Krishna would leave the earth in such a manner, especially since it runs the risk of deluding the minds of the pure-hearted devotees. The answer is that even devotees sometimes fall victim to the influences of power, greed, resentment, and anger. But since they are pure at heart, the Lord doesn’t hold such actions against them. Rather, He takes the necessary steps to ensure that the powers they believe they possess remain intact. As an example, Narada Muni, the great saint and devotee of Narayana, once cursed the Lord to take birth on earth and become separated from His beloved wife. Narada had prayed to Vishnu to allow a beautiful princess to choose him for marriage. Narada is a sannyasi, so he has no business intimately associating with women. Bhagavan always protects His devotees, so He most certainly wasn’t going to allow Narada to fall down from his exalted position. Therefore the Lord, in a very slick way, appeared to grant Narada’s request, but in reality didn’t. When the princess chose another man for marriage, Narada realized that it was Vishnu’s fault and then subsequently cursed Him.

Of course God can never be cursed. No one is capable of telling Him what to do. But the Lord, as a great father is apt to do, plays along since the person doing the cursing doesn’t know any better. It is similar to how a parent will make wagers with their children while playing certain games. If the parent loses, they agree to the terms of the wager, even though the young child has no say so in the matter. The adult remains superior regardless of whatever action is taken. Since Narada is so kind and pure, Vishnu decided to wholeheartedly abide by his curse. Vishnu agreed to appear on earth as Lord Rama, the beloved prince of Ayodhya. He would most certainly be separated from His innocent wife Sita for an extended period of time, but the goals set out prior to His appearance were still met.

When Krishna roamed the earth, similar behavior towards the Lord was exhibited by other exalted figures. When Krishna was residing in Dvaraka, His chief queen was Rukmini Devi. The divine couple was once visited by the brahmana Durvasa Muni. The brahmanas, or priestly class, are loved by Krishna very much. In the Vedic tradition, a guest is to be received very hospitably, especially if he is a brahmana. Durvasa decided to test Krishna’s level of dedication to the brahmanas and the etiquette of hospitality by making one outrageous request after another during his visit. Yet every outlandish request he made was met by both Rukmini and Krishna. One of the requests involved spreading frumenty, or payasa paste, all over their bodies. Krishna and Rukmini agreed to do this, but the Lord neglected to spread the paste on the sole of one of His feet. Durvasa, after admitting that he was just testing the couple, granted them the boon that whichever part of the body they spread the paste on would be immune from the attacks of others. Noticing that Krishna had missed the spot on the sole of His foot, Durvasa remarked that he was disappointed in Krishna.

“There is no one in the world, except for Myself, who is capable of ridding the world of the Vrishnis. I am very well aware of this, as I am trying to bring this destruction about. By cursing Me and the Vrishnis in this way, O you of excellent vows, you have helped Me in accomplishing My task. The Vrishnis are incapable of being slain by any other entities, including human beings, devas, and Danavas. Therefore, the Yadavas will end up destroying each other.” (Krishna responding to Gandhari after she had cursed the Vrishnis, Mahabharata, Stri-parva)

After the Pandavas won the bloody Bharata War, the mother of the leading fighters for the defeated party, Gandhari, began to bewail her plight. Saddened by the death of her hundred sons, she immediately blamed Krishna. As a result of her anger, she cursed the Lord and His Vrishni dynasty to be destroyed after thirty-six years. The Lord, instead of yelling at her or laughing at her gall in imprecating this curse, kindly accepted it. He told Gandhari that He was looking for an excuse to leave this earth and put an end to the Vrishnis and that the curse had now given Him one. Sure enough, when the time came, all the Vrishnis would be destroyed due to a terrible internal quarrel. Krishna and His brother Balarama left the scene and retired to the forest. Balarama, after entering a deep meditational trance, assumed His form of Ananta Shesha Naga and returned to the spiritual sky. Krishna similarly laid down for meditation after remembering the words of Durvasa and Gandhari. At this time, a hunter named Jara came and accidentally shot Krishna in the foot. Touching the Lord’s feet, the hunter felt remorseful. Immediately after this, Krishna ascended to the spiritual world, where He was greeted by all His divine associates.

“Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demon becomes envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in his own body and in the bodies of others, and blasphemes against the real religion.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 16.18)

The Mahabharata really doesn’t leave much room for doubt as it pertains to Krishna’s return to the spiritual world. Nowhere does it say that the Lord was taken by surprise or that He died like an ordinary man. He returned to the spiritual world in His transcendental body, the way that He always returns after appearing in the material world. As mentioned before, the controversy is only from the side of the asuras and gross materialists. But this disagreement will always be there. Even during Krishna’s time, there were many demons who refused to acknowledge His supremacy. Enemies such as Shishupala would make fun of the Lord for associating with the cowherd community during His childhood. These enemies thought Krishna was not fit to be a king, for it was beneath the royal order to engage in agriculture. The Shishupalas of the world will always be around, for that is the root cause of this material existence. For the devotees, Krishna’s appearances and disappearances are easy to understand. Armed with this proper understanding, the purified souls liberate themselves from the cycle of birth and death.

Best Man For The Job

“Sugriva in particular broached the subject of finding Sita with Hanuman, for he was convinced that Hanuman, the best among monkeys, was capable of accomplishing the desired purpose.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.1)

“I’ve got my best man on it”, is an assurance we’ve likely heard when seeking out help in the accomplishment of a difficult task. Everyone is a dependent in this world, either to another living entity or to nature. The only truly independent entity in the universe is the Supreme Lord. Since we are similar to Him in quality, we also have the ability to create, maintain, and destroy on a small scale. Yet to live a peaceful life, to have all of our needs and desires fulfilled, we need the cooperation and help of other living entities. This holds especially true in the arena of spiritual life. Stimulation of the spiritual senses, which is the polar opposite of material sense gratification in terms of the reward it brings, can only be accomplished through association with the Supreme Spirit. Where to find this Divine Entity and how to go about connecting with Him are known only to the most exalted and purified of souls. Of all the saints and divine servants of Bhagavan, none can be considered greater than Shri Hanuman.

Some of the basic problems encountered in the life of a karmi, or fruitive worker, involve repairs and renovations. If there is damage to our automobile, we will likely take it to an auto body shop or the dealer’s repair facility. Aside from the cost concerns, the owner of the car wants to make sure that their car will be fixed up properly. With all the money that is going to be spent, the owner needs assurance that their hard earned wealth doesn’t go to waste and that the car will be safe to drive later on. The same expectations are present in construction and renovation projects. There is typically a leader of the repairing party, the group that is to perform the renovations and do the gritty work to repair whatever needs to be fixed. The leader not only provides the estimate, but also gives assurances as to the quality of the delivered product. To allay the fears of the apprehensive customer, the leader will often say things like, “Don’t worry. I’ve got my best man on the job. He never lets me down. He will surely come through for you.”

Often times this could just be the proprietor blowing smoke, but the principle behind the statement is certainly valid. The tougher the project, the more important it is to put the right people to work. It is said that a good leader or manager is one who does the least amount of work. This doesn’t mean that they are lazy, but rather, they know how to delegate. If a leader is constantly involved in the minutia of the project, performing hard labor and taking to various tasks, who will manage the operation? A good manager is one who can assess the skills of the members of the team and then assign tasks based on these qualifications. For the toughest tasks, those aspects of the project requiring the most attention and skill, the leader relies on their all-stars, their representatives, servants, workers, etc., who shine under pressure. Such dedicated servants, reliable workers, make the boss proud and feel confident that the task at hand can always be accomplished.

While this principle applies to all areas of endeavor, including police work, military operations, and housing projects, we’d be hard pressed to find a tougher task than that of the rescue of a kidnap victim. Yet this is precisely what a powerful king faced many thousands of years ago. Luckily for this leader, he had the all-star of all-stars, the most reliable living entity to have ever graced this earth, acting as his chief emissary. This superstar was none other than Shri Hanuman, and through his wondrous acts he proved to be the most reliable servant of not only his king, but of the Creator of the universe.

Many thousands of years ago, a beautiful and pious prince took birth in the royal dynasty of the Ikshvakus. This dynasty ruled the world, for the progenitor of their line, Maharaja Ikshvaku, was actually the first king on earth. Though the royal family’s supremacy spread far and wide, the base of their operations was stationed in the city of Ayodhya, which is located in the land today known as India. The splendorous prince born to Maharaja Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya at the time, had every auspicious feature and measurement. In the Vedic tradition, the time of birth and facial and bodily features of a newborn are judged by expert priests. Based on the measurements and time of birth of Dasharatha’s new child, the priests concluded that He must be a divine figure. Only Lord Narayana, the Supreme Lord Himself, could possess all of these qualities.

“I am faithfully engaged in the service of Rama, who is greatly fortunate, fixed in truthfulness, gifted with all auspicious marks, and has the bodily measurements of a banyan tree [nyagrodha-parimandala].” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 47.34)

What was unknown to the residents of the town at the time was that this child was indeed Narayana appearing on earth in human form. Narayana is a Sanskrit word that means “the source of all naras”, or human beings. Hence the word is an appellation for God. The word “God” can mean so many things to different people. To some, it symbolizes the greatest order supplier, one who can provide anything to anyone. In this way, we see how other “gods” are created based on the arena of activity and the ability of the entity to provide for various necessities. Over the course of human history, many governments have tried to act as “God” to their citizens. They took over control of all producing capabilities and thus required the citizens to go through government for all of their needs.

In the Vedic tradition, the concept of God is certainly described through the ability to meet demands and wants. Narayana references the Almighty’s fixed position as the source of all creation. Since man is a kind of god of his own body, whoever created man would certainly be the owner of everything. So in this way, Narayana automatically means God. At the same time, there is another aspect to being the origin of all man and the greatest order supplier. Mankind seeks out different rewards and desires, and thus they view whoever can meet the majority of these demands as their worshipable object. Yet there is an end-result to these desires being met: enjoyment. By default, the conditioned entity views itself as the ultimate enjoyer. The acknowledgment of this viewpoint may appear baffling. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m the enjoyer. I’m the only one living in my body. Who else could be the enjoyer?”

It is with respect to this particular issue that the Vedas stand out from any other spiritual discipline. Not only is God deemed to be the ultimate order supplier and the source of all men, but He is also the ultimate enjoyer. Based on this information, the aim of human life becomes to seek out the most powerful divine entity and provide for His enjoyment. Such an endeavor speaks to the constitutional position of the soul as being the “enjoyed”. In Sanskrit terms, purusha refers to the enjoyer and prakriti refers to the enjoyed. In the material world, the living entities, the spirit souls, are purusha in that they seek to enjoy their senses through association with dull matter, or prakriti. But in the grander scheme of things, individual life forms are actually prakriti. Whoever can realize this by the time they quit their body is deemed to have achieved perfection in life. At the expiry of the current life, such a knowledgeable individual immediately returns to the spiritual world, where they get to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord for eternity. The Divine Spiritual Entity, whose original name and form is that of Shri Krishna, enjoys with the living entities and thus provides the enjoyed with a level of satisfaction never before seen.

Realizing that God is the Supreme Enjoyer is not easy. Therefore, the Lord kindly appears on earth from time to time to exhibit His transcendental beauty and allow others to associate with Him. Shri Rama’s birth was one instance of this benevolence. As a warrior prince, Rama spent many years on earth putting forth the principles of dharma, or religiosity, and enacting wonderful pastimes. During one particular lengthy sojourn into the forest, His beautiful wife Sita Devi happened to get kidnapped by a Rakshasa demon named Ravana. Not knowing her whereabouts, Rama, along with His younger brother Lakshmana, eventually came to the forest of Kishkindha. There they met the monkey-king Sugriva, who agreed to help Rama find Sita.

It should be noted that Sugriva and the members of his kingdom are often referred to as monkeys, but this is not entirely accurate. The Sanskrit word for their species is “Vanara”, a term which refers to “vana”, which means the forest. So the Vanaras are essentially living entities of the forest. Based on many statements found in the scriptures, including ones made by Sugriva and his associates, the features of the Vanaras closely resemble those of monkeys. They have tails, they like to jump around, they like to steal people’s fruits, they like to drink honey to their satisfaction, and they also have an insatiable appetite for sex life. These descriptions certainly do point to the monkey species, hence the reason for the reference to Sugriva as a monkey. Since they were technically monkey-like, the Vanaras had many human-like features as well, such as the ability to talk, think, etc.

Sugriva had an army of powerful Vanaras at his disposal. Since no one knew where Sita was, a sort of scavenger-hunt of the entire world was required. This would be difficult even in today’s advanced technological age, but back during those times, it was even harder. Sugriva had thousands of monkeys ready to serve him, but finding Sita was the most important of tasks. Faced with this difficult situation, Sugriva turned to his trusted aide, the one person he knew wouldn’t let him down, Shri Hanuman.

In the above referenced verse from the Ramayana, Sugriva is about to address Hanuman and entrust the success of the mission with him. We see that Sugriva had no doubt that Hanuman could accomplish this task. Hanuman was the best man for the job. Since he would go on to validate Sugriva’s intuition, it shouldn’t surprise us that Shri Hanuman today is one of the most widely celebrated divine figures. Though he faced many obstacles in the form of land masses, oceans, and demons, Hanuman was eventually able to find Sita, relay information to her about Rama, and then return to Sugriva. Not only did he help in finding Sita, but Hanuman also played an integral role in the subsequent battle between Rama, who was accompanied by Sugriva’s army, and Ravana and his Rakshasa clan. Due to his bravery courage, and dedication, Hanuman is considered Rama’s greatest servant, the person who never loses and never fails to accomplish the tasks assigned to him.

The aim of human life is to change our consciousness from that of material enjoyment to that of spiritual enjoyment. Lord Narayana certainly helps us out by coming to earth from time to time and performing activities, the descriptions of which are recorded in wonderful books for future generations to cherish. Yet consulting God directly is not recommended. Rather, it is better to approach one of His servants. The devotees, or bhaktas, are the most qualified for the job of reclaiming the lost conditioned souls who are seeking their return to the spiritual world. Since this task is also a spiritual one and in the interests of Shri Rama, Hanuman once again stands tall as the best man for the job.

Goswami Tulsidas, the great Vaishnava poet and devotee of Lord Rama, declares that Lord Hanuman can provide anything to anyone who kindly approaches him. When Tulsidas was in distress or pain, he would often call out to Hanuman or at least remember him. While Hanuman is certainly capable of providing us any benediction, the greatest reward he can give us is devotion to Shri Rama. He is the gatekeeper to the spiritual world, and anyone who kindly pleases him will surely be allowed in. Hanuman is the best man for the job of helping us cross over the ocean of nescience that separates us from the spiritual world. Sugriva was eternally benefitted by coming through for Shri Rama, but this success never would have been achieved without Hanuman. In a similar manner, if we put our full faith and trust in the son of the wind-god, the greatest of the Vanaras, Shri Hanuman, we can be assured of success in our spiritual endeavors.

Dead Inside

“Lord Krishna is the self-sufficient Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet because He was playing the role of a human being, He became very depressed for a moment, as if He had actually lost His father. But at the next moment He could understand that the arrest and killing of His father were demonstrations of the mystic powers which Shalva had learned from the demon Maya.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 22)

One of the more intriguing aspects to the Lord’s pastimes performed on earth is His outward display of affection, which includes both elation and lamentation. After all, emotions swing in both extremes. If there is great joy as a result of an auspicious moment, surely there will be tremendous grief over a tragedy. These are the workings of ordinary human beings, so if the Lord is to play the role of one of us, He must do so to perfection. Yet how could Krishna, the purported Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of the universe, take to lamentation like an ordinary man? Doesn’t this prove that He cannot be God? To find the answer, we can look to the behavior of saintly people, those who have become detached from the workings of the senses. These sages, who are above hankering and lamenting, spend all of their time worshiping the Supreme Lord, the one and only God of the universe. If these exalted personalities are renounced, how then can their supreme object of worship be of a lower stature?

“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.54)

Film, television, and theater often do a wonderful job at portraying ordinary events and sentiments in a humorous manner. The hit television sitcom Friends certainly had many episodes which depicted the workings of the average person very well. One episode in particular dealt with the issue of crying and the emotions shown after a tragic event. For those unfamiliar with the show, the basic plotline of each episode deals with the day-to-day goings on of a group of six friends who are all around thirty years of age. The character of Chandler is known for being particularly witty, as he takes to humor as a defense mechanism. In one episode, the other friends discover that Chandler is unable to cry. No matter the occasion, joyous or somber, Chandler cannot bring himself to tears. This leads Joey, Chandler’s best friend, to declare that Chandler is “dead inside”. Monica, who is Chandler’s significant other, then attempts to make Chandler cry by creating several hypothetical situations, scenarios which have her dying in the future and leaving a note from the beyond, or the couple witnessing the birth of their new child. Even after being presented with both cases, Chandler is unable to get himself to cry. He doesn’t necessarily feel ashamed over his unique ability, but at the same time, he knows that he is out of the ordinary in this area.

The episode’s humor comes from the fact that it is very difficult for anyone to become detached from the effects of the senses. Indeed, emotion is the essence of life, and a lack of it signals a dormant state of consciousness, or does it? The Vedas, the original scriptural tradition of India and the world, accurately state that one’s identity comes from the spirit soul, which is Brahman. Aham brahmasmi is a Sanskrit phrase which says that a person comes to a proper understanding when they realize that they are a spirit soul, part and parcel of the sum total of spirit known as Brahman. Brahman is truth; it is beyond duality, change, loss, or gain. It is important to understand Brahman because the faulty identification that we assume at the time of birth has nothing to do with Absolute Truth. Thinking in terms of “I” and “Mine”, the conditioned living entity, one who is uneducated in spiritual matters, takes the outer covering of the soul to be the permanent and unchanging truth. This, of course, is a faulty identification because the body is constantly changing. It is subject to creation and destruction.

“The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.” (Bg. 2.11)

A wise person, realizing the temporary nature of everything in this world, including their own bodies, understands that grieving over temporary losses is not a productive activity. Even an event as horrible as death only represents a temporary change; the shedding of a set of clothes for the soul. The soul can never be killed, cut, or dried up. It is always in existence; hence it is known as truth, or Brahman. The soul inherits its properties from the Supreme Absolute Truth, Parabrahman. This Supreme Truth has a personality and a transcendental form. Though He may be addressed differently depending on time, circumstance, and geographic location, He is still a singular entity.

In the Vedic tradition, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Krishna, or Vishnu. The learned man, a pandita, takes to worshiping Krishna through acts of charity, sacrifice, and renunciation. The goal of renunciation is to become detached from the senses. How does one break free of the influence of the senses that it must interact with? Every emotion we experience is based on some exchange of information that relies on sense perception. We either hear something, see something, smell something, touch something, or taste something and feel good or bad. Depending on the intensity of the emotion, the result can be elation or depression. Is it possible to actually transcend these emotions?

From the example of Chandler in Friends, we see that there are certainly people who can avoid crying over tragic events. The saintly individuals, those who are aiming to achieve perfection in spiritual life, actually make ascension to this superior level of detachment a goal. Based on perceived worldly experiences, we see that often the greatest source of distress relates to sexual relations, the dealings between a man and a woman. Under the flawed bodily identification that we all inherit at the time of birth, an individual becomes attached to another individual’s outward features. Sex life is entirely based on sense pleasures and attraction to bodies which are ever changing. Therefore the serious transcendentalist will make controlling his sexual urges his top priority. Civilized spiritual life, one following the flawless law codes instituted by the Supreme Lord, calls for one’s duration of life to be divided into four distinct stages, or ashramas. In every stage except one, married householder life, sex life is strictly prohibited.

In days past, even the women of the Vedic tradition would chide men who were overly attached to sex life. If a man was seen falling victim to the urges of his senses, he would be rebuked by others in society, including chaste women. Goswami Tulsidas, one of the most celebrated devotional poets in history, was so attached to his wife that he refused to allow her to leave home and spend time with her family. When she happened to leave one night to her parents’ home, he travelled through a storm just to go see her. Rather than praise Tulsidas for his great affection and attachment to her, his wife sternly rebuked him for being attached to a body which was nothing more than flesh, blood, and stool. As a learned man, a brahmana, Tulsidas was supposed to be detached from conjugal attraction and instead focused on serving God. He indeed took this lesson to heart, turning his back on married life immediately and dedicating the rest of his life to serving Lord Rama, an incarnation of the original Personality of Godhead.

So not only is it possible to become detached from the senses, it is actually considered beneficial behavior. Saintly men are the spiritual leaders of society. They teach others about bhakti-yoga, or devotional service to God. If they were to overly lament over death, which is nothing more than the dissolution of a body which is destined for destruction, where would the common man go for strength? Through their exemplary behavior, the sages prove to be the greatest teachers and welfare workers. Since they lead by example, they are known as acharyas.

This makes Krishna’s behavior during His time on earth all the more puzzling. Around five thousand years ago, the Supreme Lord descended to earth in His original form to take on demons and enchant the hearts and minds of the purified souls looking for liberation in the form of sublime pleasure. While the soul is eternal, it can assume temporary material bodies in a perpetual cycle. This transmigration, known as reincarnation, continues until the individual has had enough and wants out. Liberation doesn’t simply signal the end of the cycle, but rather, it marks the beginning of a new way of life, one involving the association of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world.

“But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.22)

For those sincerely looking to rekindle their forgotten relationship with Krishna, the Lord provides what they lack and preserves what they have. Who would try to take away what the saints possess? The answer, of course, is demons; the lowest of mankind who have no desire for release from the attachment they have to their senses. When Krishna descends to earth, He especially takes to dealing with these seedy characters who harass the innocent. One such demon was named Shalva, a miscreant so puffed up with false pride that he directly attacked Krishna while the Lord was ruling over Dvaraka.

God can never take birth or die, but when He appears on earth, He accepts exalted personalities as parents. Krishna’s parents during His advent five thousand years ago were Vasudeva, who was of the warrior caste, and Mother Devaki. Though Krishna spent His youth under the care of His foster parents in Vrindavana, when He was a grown man, He ruled over the kingdom in the sea, Dvaraka, where Devaki, Vasudeva, and other close family members lived with Him. Obviously as a powerful king, Krishna was attacked on many occasions by demons. In fact, the root cause behind the existence of the temporary and perishable realm is the envy of the conditioned souls, those who are jealous of God’s abilities in the areas of creation, maintenance, and destruction. More than anything else, they are jealous of Krishna’s ability to enjoy. Rather than take part in that enjoyment with the Lord, i.e. take to devotional service wherein one regularly chants, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and worships the deity, the foolish will take to their own concocted path to pleasure, while denying the existence of God at the same time.

The demons who fought with Krishna were especially powerful. One of the noteworthy benedictions given to miscreants killed by Krishna is that they receive liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Since these nefarious characters, though possessing every undesirable personality trait known to man, think of God at the time of death, they are ultimately rewarded. Since their minds are focused on the Supreme Lord at all times, they transcend the attachment one has to the senses. The behavior of such demons shouldn’t be imitated, but it should serve as a reminder of the benevolent nature of Krishna. If even demons are granted such benedictions, one can only imagine what is in store for the saintly person who thinks of Krishna in a loving way at all times.

Shalva was expert at black magic and illusion. While fighting with Krishna, the demon was getting his butt handed to him, so instead of fighting honorably, he decided to take shelter of illusory powers. Shalva was able to conjure up an illusion where a crying person approached Krishna and informed the Lord that Vasudeva had been taken prisoner of Shalva. The demon then appeared on the scene with Vasudeva in his custody. Right in front of Krishna, Shalva then cut off the head of the Lord’s father. Seeing such a horrible scene, Krishna immediately gave way to excessive lamentation. This display of emotion didn’t last for very long, as the Lord eventually realized that what He had seen was just an illusion. Regaining His senses, Krishna would go on to defeat and kill Shalva.

So why did Krishna lament? As Bhagavan, the Lord possesses every opulence imaginable, including that of renunciation. Yet if He was able to cry over an illusion showing His father’s death, how could He claim to be God? A similar question was pondered by Mother Parvati, the controller of the material nature and wife of Lord Shiva, an exalted divine figure and greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. Many thousands of years prior to Krishna’s advent, the Lord came to earth as Rama, an adept and pious prince. On one occasion, Rama’s wife Sita was kidnapped by a Rakshasa demon named Ravana. Seeing that Sita was missing, Rama similarly gave way to lamentation and grief. Parvatiji, who was accustomed to viewing her husband as the Supreme Lord of the universe, couldn’t understand why he took to worshiping Lord Rama. Of all of Lord Vishnu’s forms, Rama is Shiva’s favorite.

Lord Shiva could understand what Mother Parvati was thinking, so he immediately dealt with her concerns. He told her to never think that Rama was an ordinary man, because even though He was in the guise of a fallible human being, He was still the Supreme Lord, the original form of Godhead for all of humanity. His displays of emotion were simply part of His pastimes, a way to show everyone His human side. When we worship the Lord by hearing of His activities, we can’t just label some of His pastimes as transcendental and discard the others. Krishna’s displays of emotion actually don’t need to be excused or explained away. Whether Krishna is killing demons, teaching others about the Vedas, or crying over tragic events, all of His activities are transcendental and worth hearing about. Krishna’s crying is as important as His defense of the innocent.

For those bewildered by the Lord’s behavior, understanding the innate relationship between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul can help shed some light on the issue. Dharma is one’s occupational duty borne of the inherent characteristic of the soul. The soul, being the driving force to all activity, is an autonomous entity that is both knowledgeable and blissful. Yet this spiritual entity is not meant to reside alone; it has a life partner. That complementary entity is the Supreme Lord, the eternal loveable object of the soul. For love to be valid, the affectionate emotions must exist between both entities involved in the relationship. The purified souls such as Vasudeva certainly show their love to Krishna through activities, thoughts, and words. The Supreme Lord, for His part, does not simply take in this love and not offer any in return.

Lord Krishna’s crying over the apparent death of Vasudeva shows that God loves His devotees just as much as they love Him, if not more. Though an ordinary man may cry over the death of a loved one, Krishna will cry in a manner more intense than has ever been witnessed on this earth. As the reservoir of all pleasure and energy, Krishna can display emotions to the extreme. His exhibitions of lamentation and worry only substantiate the claims of the devotees who take Krishna to be the Supreme Lord. The renounced saints are able to transcend the effects of the senses, essentially deadening the internal attachments formed over many lifetimes. Yet the only way to become truly “dead inside” from a material perspective is to become completely alive by taking to devotional service. Sharanagati, the bliss resulting from total surrender unto the feet of the Supreme, secures great pleasure for the soul. Annihilation of misery and sense attachment is only one piece of the puzzle. The rest can be filled in by hearing of Krishna’s glorious activities and developing a loving attachment to Him.

Kripana

“O best among the glorious ones, all of this has been achieved by me through the divine grace of You and Your brother. One who does not repay the favors offered to him certainly is considered a disgrace among men.” (Sugriva speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 38.26)

Miserly behavior is generally not appreciated. “Cheapskate”, “penny-pincher”, “Grinch”, etc., are all unflattering terms used to describe those who are not very willing to part with their time or money. Miserliness is based off of ignorance; an outgrowth of the mindsets of “I” and “Mine.” The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, consider this way of thinking to be very detrimental towards the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. Knowledge of the Absolute, or at least some inquisitiveness about the highest authority figure, greatly aids the conditioned individual in ascending to the highest platform of consciousness, Krishna consciousness. This purified mindset, that of always thinking about and remembering God, allows the soul to transcend the stringent laws of nature, the codes that force one to be bound to the cycle of birth and death. While miserliness is bad in a spiritual sense, it also hurts those who are only worried about losing their illusory possessions.

“O daughter of Gargacharya, he who leaves this world without learning about the infallible Supreme is a kripana, or miser.” (Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, 3.9.10)

Why are worldly objects considered illusory? An illusion is something unreal, that which is not. For example, if we travel through the desert, the temperature is often so hot that it causes steam or hot air to hover above the surface of the ground. From a distance, this heat gives the visual of an oasis, or a pool of water. In the scorching heat, just the sight of water is enough to make one anxious, giving them hope of relief from their distressful condition. Yet since the image of an oasis is merely an illusion, it is known as a mirage.

Our possessions can be thought of in the same light. This really isn’t so difficult to understand. The term “possession” implies ownership; the act of acquiring an object of importance, something to derive happiness from. If we purchase a house from someone else, the ownership of the land and the building that resides on it changes hands. One person, the original owner, parts with their possession, the house, in exchange for money. The other person, the buyer, parts with their money in exchange for the possession of the house. Though the buyer is acquiring something, the house, they are simultaneously separating from something else; their hard earned money. This money is gathered through work or through the sale of some other object of value. Therefore money is not to be taken lightly. Throwing money around isn’t a common practice, for the wise remember the initial effort required to earn it.

What if the house wasn’t bought from someone else, but rather, built from scratch? Again, the same exchange, the parting and acquiring of a good, is visible. In order to build the house, trees must be cut down, brush must be cleared, and nails must be hammered. All of these objects must come from somewhere, for human beings are incapable of producing matter. All that humans can create is new life, but even then, it is the presence of the soul within the body that causes its growth. When the new house is built, other elements are shifted, transformed, and eventually parted with. After the house is erected, we may live in it for upwards of thirty or forty years, but eventually either the house or our body will be destroyed. Therefore, based on the house example, it is accurate to describe the nature of material possessions as illusory, or at least temporary.

While these facts are quite obvious to many, they are easily forgotten by those who are miserly. A miser is constantly in the mode of defense. They have certain possessions that they refuse to part with, be it money, a house, or even time. The miser forgets that they will have to part with all of their possessions eventually anyway, so there is no real claim to any of the property. On a higher level of thought, everything in this world originally belongs to God. We most certainly can lay a rightful claim to the property that we acquire peaceably and voluntarily, but technically, such property is simply on loan from the original Divine Being, the Creator of all things matter and spirit. If we mistakenly take everything in this world to be ours, we are essentially saying that we are God. It is precisely this mindset that leads to the repetition of birth and death.

The acharyas, the authority figures following the tenets of the Vedas, advise us to shed this flawed view of our worldly possessions. In addition to taking to direct worship of the Supreme Lord, a good practice is to avoid miserliness. The opposite of being cheap is being liberal. This doesn’t mean that we should spend our money with reckless abandon, but rather, we shouldn’t refrain from being kind and charitable to others. This is especially true when others have offered us some service in the past. It is bad enough to be an ordinary miser, or kripana, but it is even worse to be stingy when someone else has been kind and charitable towards us already. The more we repay our debts, the more we purify ourselves. The purer the individual, the greater their chances are for liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

While we certainly owe a debt to our friends, family, and fellow man for the kind services they provide us, no one is more deserving of our gratitude and kindness than Bhagavan, the original proprietor. This was the point raised by Sugriva, a famous Vanara warrior and king. During the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, the forest dwellers were known as Vanaras, which were a human-like race of monkeys. These monkeys had the great fortune of meeting Lord Rama, an incarnation of Godhead. Though Rama is declared to be a primary incarnation of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the authoritative Vedic literatures, one doesn’t need to believe that Rama is Divine in order to derive a great lesson from His dealings with Sugriva and the Vanaras.

Shri Rama was playing the part of a human being, a fallible living entity who had to suffer through the ups and downs of ordinary life. Yet Rama was a qualified incarnation of Godhead, so if He was going to show suffering, He couldn’t undergo any ordinary calamities. Depending on age and surroundings, one’s definition of what constitutes suffering will vary. In our youth, having to wake up early and sit in school all day is a great form of suffering. As we get older, dealing with romantic relationships is the greatest source of distress. As the famous song says, “Breaking up is hard to do”, getting together and parting with a significant other are not easy things to deal with. As we mature a little bit, having to take care of our own children, watching them grow, worrying about them constantly, and hoping that they won’t fail in life are the greatest forms of suffering. Finally, in the latter stages of life, the greatest source of distress is the fear of death, an end to the way of life we have grown accustomed to.

In order to garner the attention and attachment of His fellow sons and daughters, Bhagavan decided to put Himself through some of the most troubling situations during His time on earth as Rama. Shri Rama lost His kingdom on the day He was to be coronated as the new king. He lost His riches and claim to His kingdom at the same time. Worst of all, Rama lost the association of His wife Sita Devi when she was kidnapped by a Rakshasa demon in the forest. In trying to find her whereabouts, Rama made His way to the Kishkindha forest, where He met up with Sugriva and formed an alliance.

The arrangement with Sugriva was pretty straightforward: Rama would help him regain his kingdom by killing Vali, and Sugriva would in turn help the Lord find Sita. Rama did His part by killing Vali while the monkey was engaged in a fight with Sugriva, his brother. Upon Vali’s death, Sugriva regained his lost kingdom and subsequently took to celebration. Being a monkey, he had a natural penchant for intoxication and sex life. After months of enjoyment on the part of the Vanaras, Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, grew irate. The monkey king had made a deal after all, and now he wasn’t coming through. Sita still wasn’t found, while Rama was left to sit and wait. Lakshmana angrily approached the monkey, and through the good graces of Hanuman, Sugriva finally came to his senses.

In the above referenced statement, Sugriva is offering kind words to Shri Rama. All the monkeys had approached the Lord and offered to serve Him. Sugriva is remarking that any person who fails to repay the good deeds performed for him by a friend or well-wisher is certainly a disgrace. In this way, Sugriva is openly admitting that it was his duty to meet his end of the bargain, to help Rama find Sita. Eventually, the Vanaras would be successful in this mission, with Hanuman leaping his way to the island kingdom of Lanka and finding Sita. Rama would regain His wife, kingdom, and peace of mind. Sugriva and the rest of the monkeys ended up being some of Rama’s closest associates, His beloved friends.

Aside from avoiding miserliness in our ordinary dealings, we should also avoid being stingy in spiritual life. God has already given us the tools with which to work, the necessary procedures, guidelines, and practices to achieve perfection in life. Of all of Bhagavan’s gifts to us, the greatest is the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. This sacred formula allows us to produce the sound vibration representation of the original Divine Being. After being universally empowered by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this mantra was passed down to allow any person to make progress in spiritual life, allowing them to become free of their flawed mindset brought about by association with illusory material objects. Let us repay this kind favor by regularly chanting this most sacred mantra, at least sixteen rounds a day on a set of japa beads. The Lord doesn’t want our money or our possessions, just our sincere and loving thoughts. Let us not be misers in this area, for the greatest human beings are those that repay the good deeds done in their favor.

Intoxication

“An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.“ (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.22)

Intoxication brings temporary feelings of bliss, followed by unpleasant side effects. Sometimes the short bursts of good feelings are deemed palatable enough to endure the long lasting negative effects. After all, nothing else seems to bring escape from the rigors of material life, so if there is even a brief bit of relief, then the action is good enough to take up. There is one discipline, however, which brings natural highs, elongated feelings of bliss without any of the negative consequences. Not only are the unpalatable conditions removed, but at the time of death, the time when the individual’s consciousness is measured by higher authorities, the provided reward is unmatched in its splendor.

Why is intoxication harmful? Why is it considered one of the four primary sinful activities by followers of Vedic traditions? Supporters of intoxication will argue that their indulgences in adult beverage consumption and recreational drug use aren’t doing any harm to anyone. They are just trying to have fun after all, so why should anyone else raise objections? There is some validity in this argument, especially as it pertains to sense pleasures. If you take two groups of people, with one taking to ordinary sense gratification, and the other taking to intoxication, there really isn’t much of a difference between the overall effects of the two activities. Each side is simply looking for pleasure in the end, so the nature of how that pleasure is sought shouldn’t really be a cause of concern.

But even on the platform of sense gratification, intoxication brings many unwanted and unintended side effects. Inebriation from excessive alcohol intake has too many negative side effects to count. First, there is the loss of motor skills, the lowering of inhibitions, and unpleasantries relating to health. A drunk person is more apt to vomit in places other than a bathroom. They are more likely to get into fisticuffs without cause, hurl insults at others, and even overeat. Drunk driving is also a major concern, as a motor vehicle can turn into a deadly weapon when operated improperly. Driving requires attentiveness and quick reaction time, two things which are greatly diminished in the intoxicated individual. There are also issues relating to overdoses. One can actually die from alcohol poisoning or from taking too much cocaine, heroin, or other narcotic.

It’s interesting to observe how these unpleasant issues are dealt with. There is the classic case of the drunk who gets so intoxicated that he swears he will never drink again. It takes just one night of constant vomiting or one day of an intense hangover to make a person question the soundness of getting drunk. Nevertheless, such promises are mostly empty, for the same person will likely take to intoxication again the next time they are in the mood for a good time or when they are feeling the pressures of life.

Even with all this established, credible, and readily perceptible evidence about the harmful effects of intoxication, the remedies for such problems hardly ever tackle the root issue. For example, even though drunk driving is such a major problem, the common solutions put forth to stop it deal only with driving, while neglecting drinking altogether. A designated driver is deemed the best solution for those wanting to drink without having to drive later on. Additionally, moderation and certain rules of precedence pertaining to wine and beer drinking are suggested so as to minimize illness. The humor lies in the fact that the suggestions are given to those who are contemplating intoxication, which, by definition, brings about a loss of rationality and cognitive thought. This means that any suggestions given to a sober person immediately get forgotten or pushed back to the dormant part of the consciousness once said person actually becomes intoxicated. You can suggest that a designated driver be assigned, but once a person is totally “bombed”, they won’t be able to think clearly in any way. Therefore there is nothing holding them back from stepping behind the wheel of a car.

Another way to tackle the problem of intoxication is to find other activities, those engagements which bring natural highs. These activities can include watching television, attending sporting events, reading books, etc. These “natural” options are generally ignored because the sense gratification they provide is subpar compared to the high achieved from intoxication. Getting drunk equates to an escape from the senses, a forgetfulness of reality. The precarious condition of material life can be summed up in two activities: hankering and lamenting. The mind is always either wanting something or distressing over the things which it doesn’t have. The inebriated state is one of ignorance wherein hankering and lamenting are minimized.

For these reasons, intoxication continues to be a popular form of sense escape. There is one set of activities, however, which brings tremendous natural highs, feelings of bliss which far exceed those felt from intoxication. Not only are these feelings of joy superior, but there are absolutely zero negative side effects associated. The most ecstatic emotions can only be brought on by acts of devotion dedicated to the Supreme Lord. This discipline is known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Bhakti brings spiritual pleasures, those feelings which don’t fade out and which don’t have negative consequences. Therefore sense pleasures automatically become subordinate to spiritual pleasures. Since bhakti-yoga is the only discipline which aims to acquire spiritual pleasures, it thus becomes the topmost discipline, the only set of activities worth adopting.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the one who enlivens the senses of everyone by His personal bodily rays, resides in His transcendental abode, called Goloka. Yet He is present in every nook and corner of His creation by expansion of happy spiritual rays, equal in power to His personal potency of bliss.” (Brahma-samhita, 5.37)

Just as there is a thin line between love and hate, the difference that separates those who take to intoxication and those who take to bhakti is actually quite small. Both parties are fed up with the pressures of material life, the incessant pain brought on by the senses. Both groups are looking for an escape, but one side takes the proper path towards freedom, while the other further binds themselves in the perpetual cycle of misery. The life of the inebriated person certainly burns faster, as their opportunities for realizing the highest knowledge and subsequent pleasure rapidly dwindle. Bhaktas go in the opposite direction, using their precious time to slowly but surely find eternal spiritual life. The devotee aims to please the senses of the Supreme Lord by regularly chanting His names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Krishna and Rama are names for God which are not sectarian in any way. Though they may be well known to the people of the Indian subcontinent, Krishna and Rama are simply Sanskrit words which describe the transcendental features of the Supreme Lord.

God most certainly does exist, even if we fail to acknowledge His presence and supremacy. Matter is dull; its only quality is that of inertia. In order for this inertia to be broken, the hand of spirit is required. The power to move matter belongs to the individual spirit souls, or purushas, and it also belongs to the greatest purusha, the Supreme Spirit. No matter what a scientist may say, nothing can occur in this world without the hand of spirit. Life comes from life, and the origin of life can be found in the spiritual world, a place where dull matter does not exist.

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.15)

Bhakti is so nice that it even benefits the atheist. For example, let’s say that a person is a staunch believer in the power of matter and chemicals. They don’t believe in God and they think that once life is over, everything becomes finished. This belief still doesn’t take away from their natural desire to enjoy, their daily search for happiness and peace. The natural inclination of the non-believer is to take to sense gratification at all costs. Yet as we see from intoxication, which represents a temporary escape from the senses, there are many harmful side effects. Since the intensity of the negative effects is greater than the magnitude of the positive effects, we can say that intoxication ultimately leads to a worse off condition for the seeker of sense gratification. Since the aim of the karmi, the fruitive worker not caring about a higher authority, is to reach a positive condition, a general progression in the search for a panacea of happiness, intoxication must be deemed an overall negative activity.

If the same atheist were to take to bhakti by regularly chanting God’s name, hearing stories about Him, and offering obeisances to His deity, there would be many positive side effects. Just by refraining from intoxication, gambling, illicit sex life, and meat eating, the non-devotee going through the motions of spiritual life stays away from the most harmful activities, those engagements which lead to the most intense harmful side effects in this life and the next. In addition, bhakti is a much more peaceful engagement, one consisting of singing, dancing, reading, writing, and eating. One who practices bhakti perfectly no longer has to lament or hanker; life becomes pretty simple. In this streamlined way of living, the strong influence of the senses is quelled, and thus the initial objective of pleasure is actually achieved.

The wise view intoxication and other acts of pure sense gratification as maya, or illusion. When something is illusory, it is taken to be something that it is not. Intoxication represents one of the greatest illusions because it carries the allure of happiness, when in reality it only leads to misery. Bhakti, on the other hand, is completely lacking in deceit. It is so simple, pure, and straightforward that even the non-believers are benefitted by it. The same can’t be said of intoxication or any other act of sense gratification. One who is not a believer in drinking, smoking, or eating meat surely is never benefitted by dedicating their lives to such activities.

Since bhakti proves to be the most beneficial engagement, surely its founder, the person who instituted it, must be very intelligent. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that bhakti comes from God, whose original form is that of Lord Krishna. Indeed, bhakti’s effectiveness comes from its target of interest, the satisfaction of the senses of the Lord. If the atheist takes to bhakti and is benefitted as a result, surely the creator of the system would have to be credited for the successful outcome. Since the system comes from Krishna, the atheist would have to acknowledge the Lord’s greatness and intelligence. Since Krishna gave us bhakti, surely His other prescriptions would have to be equally as valid. Krishna’s most succinct set of instructions can be found in the famous Bhagavad-gita, also known as the Song of God.

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.66)

Krishna’s final instruction in the Gita is that Arjuna, His cousin and disciple, should simply surrender unto and dedicate all his activities to God. This will ensure happiness, relief from all sinful reactions, and ascension to the imperishable realm in the afterlife. In this way, bhakti not only represents a natural high in terms of stimulation of the spiritual senses, but it represents a true elevation in terms of where it takes the spirit soul. The secret to the success of bhakti lies in its dealings with the spirit soul. The soul of an individual has a constitutional makeup, a natural inclination towards a specific set of activities. These activities have a beneficiary, an ultimate object of worship. In the realm of the material world, the natural loving propensity is misdirected to the sense objects. In spiritual activities, acts of devotion, the loving propensity is directed at God. This is the natural disposition of the liberated soul. It is a lover of God through and through.

“A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.71)

Only bhakti brings the natural high of association with Krishna. No other discipline, theistic or atheistic, can secure the same reward. Taking up devotional service can solve any and all problems. At the time of death, the individual whose mind is completely fixed on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord will immediately return to the spiritual realm, a place wherefrom they never have to return. This brings liberation from the cycle of birth and death, which also means that one will never have to be a slave to the senses again. The natural high of association with Krishna, as is experienced by the liberated souls residing in the spiritual world, brings all the glory and happiness without any of the worry.

On one side you have activities which bring some pleasure along with many negative effects. On the other side you have activities which bring tremendous pleasures without any of the unwanted consequences. A sober person, one who can objectively weigh the two options, will surely choose the latter. The claims of the bhaktas are not false promises that only bear fruit in the afterlife. Everyone is looking for pleasure after all, so those who are already faithfully engaged in the service of Krishna would not take to such activity if it didn’t bring them happiness. “The proof is in the pudding” as they say, so one should at least adopt the chanting process and see what effect it has.

Krishna’s Mercy Newsletter – January 2011

New eBook Published:

We have taken our collection of past articles pertaining to Sita’s meeting with Anasuya and created an eBook titled, How We Met: Sita Describing Her Marriage to Rama. The eBook is available in a variety of formats, including pdf, epub, and mobi. It can be accessed and downloaded for free from Smashwords at the link below. In addition, the eBook is available in the Apple iBookStore on the iPad and iPhone, the Amazon Kindle store, and the Barnes and Noble Nook store. Kindle and Nook books can be read on their respective standalone devices, on a PC, and on a wide variety of mobile devices through the Kindle and Nook Apps. How We Met is free everywhere except at the Kindle store, where it is $0.99. Amazon would not allow us to set a lower price. To download the iBooks version, you have to enter the title of the book into the search box of the iBooks app. Here are links to the other versions:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/33978

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Met-Describing-ebook/dp/B004G8R096/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1293571322&sr=1-2

Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/How-We-Met/Krishnas-Mercy/e/2940011156113/?itm=1&USRI=how+we+met

Book Recommendation

Title:  Sri Jagannath (The Pastimes of The Lord of The Universe)

Author:  Bhakti Purusottama Swami

Synopsis:  Worship of Shri Jagannatha, another non-different form of Lord Krishna, is very popular throughout the world, but information pertaining to His pastimes and the advent of the original temple in India is difficult to find. This book provides very nice information and includes wonderful, heartwarming stories pertaining to different past incidents of Shri Jagannatha and His devotees. The chapters aren’t very long, and the subject matter is presented in a very readable and easy to understand manner. If there are any negatives, they are minor, as diacritic marks aren’t included and there are a few typographical mistakes here and there. On the whole, however, the content of the book is enough to bring tremendous enjoyment.

From the Archive

Here is one of our past favorite articles:  God Is Nice

“No one is envied by Me, neither am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all; yet whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me; and I am a friend to him.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.29)

We often see God depicted as being very vengeful and someone we should fear. Many of us have passed by the people on the street who sternly warn us to surrender to God or suffer eternal damnation in hell. Natural disasters are viewed by many as God’s way of getting revenge on us for our sins. Because of this, many modern organized religions survive by instilling fear in their members. They say that we should fear God and surrender unto Him if we want to be absolved of our sins.

In actuality, God is our dearmost well-wishing friend. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the Vedic tradition, tells us in the Bhagavad-gita that He is actually neutral to everyone in this material world. This material world was created out of the desire of the spirit souls to lord over nature. We wanted to pretend to be God, so He granted our wish by allowing us to come to this universe. Due to the influence of maya, Krishna’s illusory energy, we are all identifying with our bodies and thinking that we are the doer of our activities. We think that the results that we achieve are all due to our own efforts. Deluding ourselves in this way, we spend our lives going further and further away from God.

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 3.27)

According to the laws of material nature, the living entity is constantly going through the cycle of birth, death, old age, and disease. Due to our work and desires, we accept new bodies after we are finished with our current one. This is the law of karma. We enjoy happiness or suffer through misery due to the karma accumulated in this life and in previous ones. Each individual has their own desires and wants, and the material world is the playing field where the desires of all living entities collide head on with each other. The world stock markets are a good example of this principle in action on a very small scale. On any given day, millions of traders compete with each other to make money through the buying and selling of stocks. Traders all have different temperaments, personalities, and levels of intelligence. Each person has their own goals that they set out to achieve. The trading floor is the arena where all these goals and desires collide and because of this, we see that some people are very successful, while others lose millions and become bankrupt.

These collisions exist in the material world on a much greater level through the three qualities of nature: goodness, passion, and ignorance. Every living entity possesses these qualities in some varying combination. Since not everyone possesses these qualities at the same levels, we see variegations in the species, to the point of 8,400,000 different varieties. Everyone is competing with each other to satisfy their desires, so naturally there will be collisions of varying magnitudes. As a result, from time to time we see horrific tragedies, such as mass murders, terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. Lord Krishna is not to blame for this, for He is not directly involved with the day to day affairs of the material world.

“As there are constitutional laws in the material world stating that the king can do no wrong, or that the king is not subject to the state laws, similarly the Lord, although He is the creator of this material world, is not affected by the activities of the material world. He creates and remains aloof from the creation, whereas the living entities are entangled in the fruitive results of material activities because of their propensity for lording it over material resources.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bg 4.14 Purport)

Through His energies, this material world was created and through His deputies, the demigods, material affairs are managed. The demigods handle all issues of fairness with regards to karma. God personally has no stake in our material fortunes.

Lord Krishna makes an exception however when it comes to His devotees. Krishna is very partial towards His devotees and He will do anything to protect them and make them happy. Examples of this affection can be found throughout the historical incidents documented in the great Vedic literatures. In the Treta Yuga, Krishna incarnated as Lord Rama specifically to save His devotees who were being harassed by the demon Ravana. In a previous time, there was a young boy by the name of Prahlada who was a great devotee of the Lord. Though he was born into the family of the Daityas, who are atheistic by nature, Prahlada was a completely surrendered soul from his very birth. His atheistic father, Hiranyakashipu, very much disliked his son’s devotion to God. He tried to kill Prahlada through various means, but Prahlada miraculously survived each and every attack. It was actually no miracle, for the boy simply thought of Lord Krishna during each attack, which is the best way to guarantee one’s safety. The Lord always protects His devotees no matter what. Even if they are put into difficult or painful situations, He guarantees that they will return to His abode after quitting their present bodies.

“Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 8.5)

Finally, the Lord had enough of Hiranyakashipu’s deplorable behavior, so He personally incarnated as Narasimha Deva to kill him. This also represents the reverse side of the Lord’s favoritism. As kind as He is to His devotees, He is equally unkind to the enemies of His devotees. He will dole out the most severe punishment to the miscreants who dare harm His bhaktas.

This material world is a cause of constant fear. We have so many possessions and relationships that are all destined to end. We try very hard to defend and hold on to these ties, knowing that one day we won’t have them. In the spiritual world, such fear doesn’t exist. Our relationship with Krishna is eternal, and realizing that relationship means never having to be afraid again. God is not someone that we need to fear. If we learn to love Him, then He will reciprocate times ten. The best way to love God is through the process of bhakti yoga, or devotional service. If we constantly engage ourselves in hearing stories about the Lord, offering Him prayers, and chanting His name, then He will surely notice us. God resides in all of us through His Paramatma, or Supersoul, expansion. By practicing devotional service, we slowly move our consciousness from the material to the spiritual platform, where we can dovetail it with the Supreme Consciousness. Let us all become devotees of Krishna, not out of fear, but out of love for Him and His causeless mercy. He will always love us and never let us down, so we have nothing to fear.