# Back to Godhead Magazine #48 *2014 (01)* Back to Godhead Magazine #48-01, 2014 PDF-View ## Welcome In 1973, Piggots Manor near London became Bhaktivedanta Manor after George Harrison bought it for Śrīla Prabhupāda and the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness (ISKCON). That same year, during the celebration of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance in this world fifty centuries ago, Śrīla Prabhupāda conducted the installation of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gokulananda at the Manor. After offering the first *arati* to the Deities, Prabhupāda danced around Them in spiritual ecstasy, transporting his disciples to new levels of spiritual joy as the *kirtana* (chanting) of the Lord's holy names filled their hearts. Now situated on eighty acres (originally seventeen), Bhaktivedanta Manor is a major pilgrimage destination in the UK. Seventy thousand people attended the 2013 two-day Janmastami festival to the honor the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa as well as Śrīla Prabhupāda, whose birthday falls the day after Janmastami. Festival organizers recruited a group of photographers from the congregation to document the event. We especially thank photographer David Crick, who coordinated the photography and then sifted through thousands of photos to help BTG narrow down the final selection. We also thank Tattvavit Dāsa, who wrote the captions and assisted greatly in other ways to put together the photo overview for this issue. Hare Kṛṣṇa.—*Nagaraja Dāsa, Editor* Our Purposes > • To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary. > • To expose the faults of materialism. > • To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life. > • To preserve and spread the Vedic culture. > • To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. > • To help every living being remember and serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. ## Letters *Perfect Love* What is the perfect love for Kṛṣṇa, and how can one generate it? Sachin Sharma Via the Internet *Our reply:* You can read in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books about the activities of the residents of Vṛndāvana, where Kṛṣṇa lives eternally with His most dear devotees. In the example of these devotees, you will see what is perfect love for Kṛṣṇa. The devotees in Vṛndāvana have no desire for their own enjoyment but want only to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. They don't forget Him for a moment, and when He is out of their sight, they feel intense separation from Him, which makes them think of Him even more. Their meditation on pleasing Kṛṣṇa generates intense love in all their actions. They are always thinking what to cook for Him, how to decorate Him, how to tease Him, how to see Him, and so on. Śrīla Prabhupāda has given us the program by which we can gradually generate—or, rather, awaken—such love within ourselves. He has designed a program that promotes constant meditation on how to serve Kṛṣṇa. That devotional service leads to attachment, and ultimately pure love. *Where's the Soul?* I want to know where the soul of the human being is located in the body. Bakosi Via the Internet *Our reply:* Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the soul is located in the region of the heart. The soul is not attached to the heart, but merely resides there. Not only do we, the individual spirit soul, reside in the heart but the Lord resides there as well. Therefore, we should keep our heart pure, making it a temple where Kṛṣṇa will be happy to reside. The *Svetasvatara Upanisad* compares the Lord and the individual soul residing in the heart to two birds sitting in a tree. One bird is trying to enjoy the fruits of the tree, and the other is witnessing. The bird attempting to enjoy is the individual soul (the *jiva*) in the material world. The witnessing bird is the Supreme Soul, or Paramatma, who is waiting for the *jiva* to stop trying to enjoy the material body and senses and turn toward Him. *Bad Parents* I was never able to get along with my parents. My dad was a womanizer. Sometimes he was a threat to my womanhood even. And my mom was totally hysterical and hostile because of him. As a result, I hated them and never cared for them. Is it still advisable to worship parents who suck out your life, who make you go mad and wreck your life? T. Venkat Via the Internet *Our reply:* It is unfortunate that you had such a negative experience with your parents. It seems they have not met their responsibility as parents and are therefore not worthy of worship. That said, however, for your sake it would be good to pray for their welfare and remove the hate and resentment from your own heart. The best thing would be to find in your heart the willingness to pray for the elevation of their consciousness. If you keep hate or negativity in your heart, that is like drinking poison and expecting them to die from it, while in reality it is killing you. *Sensing the Soul* How can I feel the soul in the body? I think that in my body the feeling of "I" is the soul. Am I right or not? Amit Talukdar Via the Internet *Our reply:* We can understand the soul in the body in several ways. If we have a loving relationship with someone and that person dies, the body is there, perhaps lying on the bed, yet we fully understand that something, that thing we loved, is no longer there. We are anxious for the body to go away, and at the same time we miss the person we loved. So obviously that body and the person (soul) are different. Also, the body is constantly changing, but the soul is the unchanging observer. Once you had the body of a baby, then you had the body of a child, and now your body is older. When you look upon the bodies you had when you were a baby or a child, it is difficult to identify with them. At the same time it is obvious that the same person was in those different bodies. This too shows that the body and the person (soul) are different. We are soul and are within any given body for a short time. But we are thinking we are the body and spend much time, money, and energy trying to make the body happy—acting as if the happiness of the body will give us the satisfaction we always anxiously seek. Unfortunately, we are never really satisfied because we are soul and are not offering our real self the opportunity to be happy. The soul does not find happiness in contact with matter. If we keep connecting with matter in seeking opportunities to obtain happiness, we will always feel disappointed. To find true satisfaction, the soul requires connection with Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul. Until we, the soul, begin to engage in spiritual practices and seek our happiness in the spiritual realm, we will find that we are never satisfied. *Retrieving Kṛṣṇa Consciousness* How to retrieve my Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Vinodsingh Via the Internet *Our reply:* It is interesting that you use the word *retrieve,* because actually that is just what is happening. We are by nature Kṛṣṇa conscious, but we have forgotten that. Because we have become enamored of material things and the quest for happiness separate from Lord Kṛṣṇa, we are always unhappy and bewildered. The solution is to uncover our consciousness and retrieve our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We do that by hearing and reading about Kṛṣṇa, by associating with Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, by eating only food that has been prepared for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure and offered to Him (*kṛṣṇa-prasada*), and by chanting His holy name, as in the *maha-mantra:* Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Doing these things regularly, even a little bit each day, will help us regain our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. *How to Control the Mind* What can a devotee do, along with chanting and book reading, to fully control the mind? Vipin Kumar Via the Internet *Our reply:* There are many choices you can make daily that will help you control your mind, including living a regulated life, rising early, going to bed early, not eating heavy meals at night (so you can wake up easily and concentrate on your chanting), keeping good association (even on the Internet), and avoiding commercial media and other materialistic association (very important). Strictly follow the four regulative principles: no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, and no gambling. Be very careful what you eat. Eating food cooked by people in the modes of passion and ignorance will adversely affect your consciousness. Doing just these few things will be very good for you and will help you a great deal in controlling your mind. May Lord Kṛṣṇa give you strength. Founder's Lecture: Fill Your Ears with the Transcendental Message Los Angeles, June 17, 1972 *Anyone serious about spiritual progress must choose carefully which sounds to hear.* By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-*Ācārya* of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness > bile batorukrama-vikraman ye > na srnvatah karna-pute narasya > jihvasati dardurikeva suta > na copagayaty urugaya-gathah "One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog." —*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 2.3.20 **Uru*krama* refers to Kṛṣṇa. *Krama* means activities. *Uru* means great. *Vikraman* means chivalrous activities, very brave activities. Those who do not hear about the brave activities of Kṛṣṇa are satisfied with tiny activities of this material world. People give credit to an ordinary man who claims to have become God. How has he become God? Meditation. Now, what are his wonderful activities? Simply by meditation he has become God? This is the foolishness. God must act very wonderfully, otherwise how is He God? Because an ordinary man has a big beard he has become God? How foolish this idea is. People do not know what God is because they have not heard about God—how powerful He is, what brave activities He performs. When Kṛṣṇa was seven years old He lifted a great hill, Govardhan Hill. And He kept it on His finger for seven days. That is God. Kṛṣṇa married sixteen thousand wives. Who can maintain sixteen thousand wives? One cannot maintain even one wife. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is called Urukrama, "one who performs great activities." When He had sixteen thousand wives, He expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms so that no wife would be displeased. If I am one and I have many wives, every one of them will be displeased. Kṛṣṇa provided sixteen thousand palaces, and in each palace there were many thousands of servants and maidservants, and each wife was blessed with ten sons. This is called *urukrama,* great activities. Lord Ramacandra killed Ravana, who was so powerful that all the demigods in higher planetary systems were afraid of him. Ravana had become so powerful. Ravana's brother reigned in Brazil. There was a subway from Ceylon to Brazil. We get information from the *Ramayana.* Such powerful demons. Who now can make a subway from one country to another country? They can make a subway from one city to another, utmost. But at that time, Ravana was able to make a subway from one continent to another. In Brazil still there are big stocks of gold. Ravana used these gold mines to construct his city Svarna-lanka, "Golden Ceylon," as it was known at that time. Ravana was very advanced in material science, even at that time. And he was also a good scholar in Vedic literature. He was a great devotee of Lord Siva. By the blessings of Lord Siva he got so much opulence. And he became so powerful that he dared to kidnap the wife of Ramacandra. Such a powerful demon was killed by Ramacandra, who approached Ravana's kingdom on a stone bridge. The stones were floating on the water. Where was the law of gravitation? The law of gravitation—the so-called scientists' imagination—does not act when Urukrama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acts. He wanted, "There should be no law of gravitation. Let the stones float on the water." This is called *urukrama.* We accept Lord Ramacandra as God, Lord Kṛṣṇa as God—not these petty dogs and cats. We have no business with these petty dogs and cats. All rascals are declaring, "I am God." No. Because people do not know what God is, you have to inject within their earholes the message of God. That is your business. As we read in the previous verse, these rascals are compared to dogs, hogs, camels, and asses. They have no information of God, and therefore their earholes are compared to snake holes. Those of you who have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness very seriously have got a very responsible task: to inject within their ears the chivalrous activities of God. Otherwise, their earholes remain as snake holes. As I explained yesterday, nobody puts their hands or legs into the snake holes. If these earholes remain empty, without aural reception of the great activities of the Lord, they are as good as snake holes. People have decided, "There is no God. God is dead. God has no personality. He's zero." Therefore they have no opportunity to hear about God. These earholes are meant for giving aural reception to the message of God. But people will not do that. Therefore your mission is to go home to home, village to village, town to town, and give them an injection in the ear: "Hear." Make arrangements, with nice dancing, nice chanting, *prasada* distribution. Why? Just to inject into their snake holes the words of Kṛṣṇa. This is your mission. For those who have taken *sannyasa*, it is especially their duty. *Sat-nyasa* means to sacrifice everything for the Supreme. *Sacrificing the Doggish Mentality* Actually, we have nothing to sacrifice, but we must sacrifice the sense of "I am the Lord." That's all. What do you have that you can sacrifice? This is simply a bluff-sacrifice. We cannot sacrifice. What have we got that we can sacrifice? There is no question of sacrifice, but sacrifice means to give up the doggish mentality that "I am the Lord, I am God, I am the enjoyer." This doggish mentality has to be sacrificed. Otherwise, what can you sacrifice? What have you got? We speak of renouncement, but there is no question of renouncement. You haven't got anything, so what is there to renounce? You come naked and you go naked. Simply by a false, illusory conception you think, "This is mine, this is mine, this is mine." Actually, when you take your birth you do not bring anything with you. And when you go away you do not take away anything. The things were there, and the things will be there. You come and go. Then where is the question of sacrifice? Where is the question of renouncement? These are illusions. *Isavasyam idam sarvam* (*Īśopaniṣad, Mantra* 1). Everything belongs to God; nothing belongs to you. So what is the meaning of renouncement? And what is the meaning of enjoyment? You cannot enjoy others' property, nor is it a very nice thing if you say, "I renounce it." Suppose you are passing through the Bank of America. If you say, "I renounce this," what is the renouncement? The Bank of America belongs to you? This is craziness. You cannot enjoy the Bank of America. If you go and try to enjoy it, then you'll be a criminal. And if you say, "I renounce it," then you are a madman. This is your position. But people are going on under two impressions. The *karmis* are thinking, "I am the enjoyer. I am the lord of all I survey. This America is mine. You cannot enter." This is the *karmis*' position. Falsely they are claiming proprietorship of what does not belong to them. They are thieves, rogues. There is a story that a group of thieves plundered some booty, some property, and then outside the town they were dividing it. So one of the thieves said, "Please divide the property morally." Now, the property's stolen property, and they are speaking of "morally." The devil cites scripture. Similarly, you Americans have come from Europe and have stolen this property. Now you are speaking of morality. Nothing belongs to us. There is no question of morality unless one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. Everything is immoral for a person who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious. Therefore *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Antya* 4.176) says, > 'dvaite' bhadrabhadra-jnana, saba—‘manodharma' > 'ei bhala, ei manda’—ei saba 'bhrama' In this material world, which is called "duality," we say, "These things are good; these things are bad." *Bhadra* means good. *Abhadra* means bad. But these things are all the same. Seeing good and bad is simply mental concoction. Here the so-called morality and ethics are all nonsense, because you are trying to lord it over the property of somebody else. So where is your morality? These sentiments—morality, immorality, good, bad—are simply manufactured. Unless one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, there is no question of ethics and morality. In our philosophical class we are now discussing Huxley's morality. These are all a crazy man's proposals. There is no morality without surrender to Kṛṣṇa. *Full Use of Our Time* We can understand things as they are if we receive the message of Urukrama, Kṛṣṇa, if we give aural reception to the activities of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, you should not waste even a moment in nonsense talk. You have got so many books about Kṛṣṇa. Either chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, or read books and discuss amongst yourselves. We do not read any rascals' books. They are manufacturing so many ideas. We read *Bhagavatam,* we read *Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā,* we read *Brahma-saṁhitā.* Authorized books—not any rascal's book. What can these rascals write? They're imperfect. So don't waste your time. Simply always pour in—give aural reception to—the message of Urukrama. Don't waste a single moment. This should be your life's policy. Rupa Gosvami advises that an advanced devotee should always look to see whether his time is being wasted. *Avyartha-kalatvam.* That should be one of the targets of devotees, to consider whether I am wasting my time. Don't waste your time. Always pour in the activities of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Always, twenty-four hours. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says *sada. Sada* means always, twenty-four hours. *Kirtaniyah sada harih:* Always hear and chant about Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, the ears are like snake holes. Similarly, *jihvasati *dardurikeva*. Jihva* means the tongue, and *dardurikeva* means like that of a frog—*ka-ka-kanh, ka-ka-kanh.* No. *Urugaya:* We should sing the glorious activities of the Lord. This should be our motto of life. Now read the purport. Pradyumna Dāsa: "Purport: Devotional service of the Lord is rendered by all limbs or parts of the body. It is the transcendental dynamic force of the spirit soul; therefore a devotee is engaged one hundred percent in the service of the Lord. One can engage in devotional service when the senses of the body are purified in relation with the Lord, and one can render service to the Lord with the help of all senses. As such, the senses and the action of the senses are to be considered as impure or materialistic as long as they are employed in sense gratification only. The purified senses are engaged not in sense gratification, but in the service of the Lord *in toto.* The Lord is the Supreme with all senses, and the servitor, who is part and parcel of the Lord, also has the same senses. Service of the Lord is the completely purified use of the senses, as it is described in the *Bhagavad-gītā.* The Lord imparted instructions with full senses, and Arjuna received them with full senses, and thus there was a perfect exchange of sensible and logical understanding between the master and the disciple. "Spiritual understanding is nothing like an electrical charge from the master to the disciple as it is foolishly claimed by some propaganda-mongers. Everything is full of sense and logic, and the exchange of views between the master and the disciple is possible when the reception is submissive and real only. In the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* it is said that one should receive the teaching of Lord Caitanya with intellect and full senses so that one can logically understand the great mission." Prabhupāda: > sri-krsna-caitanya-daya karaha vicara > vicara karile citte pabe camatkara The exact language is there. The *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* author, Kaviraja Gosvami, says, "Put your logic to the mercy of Lord Caitanya. I request you. Consider. Don't accept it blindly. If you accept the mercy of Lord Caitanya by systematic deliberation, then you'll feel that it is wonderful." [*Cc Ādi* 8.15] Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not about pushing something forcibly on anyone. There is complete judgment. But unfortunately if one cannot understand, that is not our fault. One must have the intelligence to understand. Otherwise, logically, philosophically, it is perfect. Go on. Pradyumna Dāsa: "In the impure state of a living being, the respective senses are fully engaged in mundane affairs. If the ear is not engaged in the service of the Lord by hearing about Him in the *Bhagavad-gītā* or in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam,* certainly the holes of the ears will be filled up with some rubbish." Prabhupāda: Yes. This is the secret. We have got the ears, and we have got the sound also. We are reading this book. So if we don't fill up our ears with this transcendental sound, then they will be filled up with some rubbish things. They cannot remain empty. Either you fill up with the transcendental message, or you fill up with rubbish nonsense. Two ways. If you take care that your earholes are always filled up with the transcendental message of Kṛṣṇa, there will be no scope for rubbish things to enter into them. Therefore our attempt should be for twenty-four hours of hearing. *Kirtaniyah sada harih.* Twenty-four hours. As soon as you get time, read books, discuss amongst yourselves. Don't fill up the ears with rubbish things, because then your advancement will be choked. Go on. Pradyumna Dāsa: "Therefore the messages of the *Bhagavad-gītā* and the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* should be preached all over the world very loudly. That is the duty of a pure devotee who has actually heard about them from perfect sources. Many may want to speak something to others, but because they are not trained up to speak on the subject matter of Vedic wisdom, they are all speaking nonsense, and the people are receiving them with no sense. There are hundreds and thousands of sources for distributing mundane news of the world, and people of the world are also receiving them. Similarly, the people of the world should be taught to hear the transcendental topics of the Lord, and the devotee of the Lord must speak loudly so that they can hear. The frogs loudly croak, with the result that they invite the snakes to eat them. The human tongue is especially meant for chanting the Vedic hymns and not for croaking like the frogs. The word *asati* used in this verse is also significant. *Asati* means a woman who has become a prostitute. A prostitute has no reputation for good womanly qualities. Similarly, the tongue, which is given to the human being for chanting the Vedic hymns, will be considered a prostitute if it is engaged in the matter of chanting some mundane nonsense." *Engaging the Tongue* Prabhupāda: Yes. Our spiritual life begins with the tongue. > atah sri-krsna-namadi > na bhaved grahyam indriyaih > sevonmukhe hi jihvadau > svayam eva sphuraty adah "Therefore, [because Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, and qualities are all on the absolute platform,] material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities, and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is." (*Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu* 1.2.234) These mundane, blunt senses cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa’s name, what is Kṛṣṇa’s form, what are Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, what are Kṛṣṇa’s paraphernalia, what is Kṛṣṇa’s word. These senses cannot do it. But when one sense—the tongue—is engaged in devotional service, then one can understand Kṛṣṇa. The tongue is engaged in devotional service by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This tongue is especially given to you. The dog, the cat cannot chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but you can. God has given you the opportunity. Just as a chaste woman is meant for her husband, a chaste tongue is meant for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and tasting **kṛṣṇa-prasada*.* If you can simply engage your tongue in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and tasting **kṛṣṇa-prasada*,* you become perfect. Simple thing. There is no difficulty. Whenever there is time, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And when you feel hungry, take **kṛṣṇa-prasada*.* And live here peacefully. Don't talk rubbish. Then life is successful. Is there any difficulty? We are trying to give you **kṛṣṇa-prasada*.* We are giving you the chance to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is our duty. So take advantage of it, and make your life successful. Otherwise, it is *jihvasati dardurikeva.* The frog's tongue is very busy in croaking. But it is inviting death: "Please come here. I am sitting here." Similarly, by talking nonsense we allow our span of life to be diminished by the sunrise and sunset. But if we talk about Urugaya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then our life cannot be taken away. It cannot be decreased. It will be eternal—simply by doing these two things. If we engage the tongue in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, then we can see God eye to eye. Thank you very much. ## Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out *Metaphysics and Meat-Eating* *The following conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and Cardinal Jean Danielou took place in Paris in 1974.* Śrīla Prabhupāda: Jesus Christ said, "Thou shall not kill." So why is it that the Christian people are engaged in animal killing and meat-eating? Cardinal Danielou: Certainly in Christianity it is forbidden to kill. But we believe that there is a difference between the life of a human being and the life of a beast. The life of a human being is sacred because man is made in the image of God. Therefore, to kill a human being is forbidden in the Bible. Śrīla Prabhupāda: But the Bible does not simply say, "Thou shall not kill the human being." It says broadly, "Thou shall not kill." Cardinal Danielou: It is necessary for man to kill animals in order for him to have food to eat. Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. Man can eat fruits, vegetables, and grains and drink milk. Cardinal Danielou: No flesh? Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. Human beings are meant to eat vegetarian food. The tiger does not come to eat your fruits. His prescribed food is animal flesh. But man's food is vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk products. So how can you say that animal killing is not a sin? Cardinal Danielou: We believe it is a question of motivation. If the killing of an animal is for giving food to the hungry, then it is justified. Śrīla Prabhupāda: But consider the cow: we drink her milk. Therefore she is our mother. Do you agree? Cardinal Danielou: Yes, surely. Śrīla Prabhupāda: So if the cow is your mother, how can you support killing her? You take the milk from her, and when she's old and cannot give you milk, you cut her throat. Is that a very humane proposal? In India those who are meat-eaters are advised to kill some lower animals like goats, pigs, or even buffalo. But cow-killing is the greatest sin. In preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness we ask people not to eat any kind of meat, and my disciples strictly follow this principle. But if, under certain circumstances, others are obliged to eat meat, then they should eat the flesh of some lower animal. Don't kill cows. It is the greatest sin. And as long as a man is sinful, he cannot understand God. The human being's business is to understand God and to love Him. But if you remain sinful, you will never be able to understand God—what to speak of loving Him. When there is no other food, someone may eat meat in order to keep from starving. That is all right. But it is most sinful to regularly maintain slaughterhouses just to satisfy your tongue. Actually, you will not even have a human society until this cruel practice of maintaining slaughterhouses is stopped. And although animal killing may sometimes be necessary for survival, at least the mother animal, the cow, should not be killed. That is simply human decency. In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement our practice is that we don't allow the killing of any animals. Kṛṣṇa says, *patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati:* "Vegetables, fruits, milk, and grains should be offered to Me in devotion" [*Bhagavad-gītā* 9.26]. We take only the remnants of Kṛṣṇa’s food (*prasada*). The trees offer us many varieties of fruits, but the trees are not killed. Of course, one living entity is food for another living entity, but that does not mean you can kill your mother for food. Cows are innocent; they give us milk. You take their milk—and then you kill them in the slaughterhouse. This is sinful. Disciple: Śrīla Prabhupāda, Christianity's sanction of meat-eating is based on the view that lower species of life do not have a soul like the human being's. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That is foolishness. First of all, we have to understand the evidence of the soul's presence within the body. Then we can see whether the human being has a soul and the cow does not. What are the different characteristics of the cow and the man? If we find a difference in characteristics, then we can say that in the animal there is no soul. But if we see that the animal and the human being have the same characteristics, then how can you say that the animal has no soul? The general symptoms are that the animal eats, you eat; the animal sleeps, you sleep; the animal mates, you mate; the animal defends, you defend. Where is the difference? Cardinal Danielou: We admit that in the animal there may be the same type of biological existence as in man, but there is no soul. We believe that the soul is a human soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Our *Bhagavad-gītā* says *sarva-yonisu,* "In all species of life the soul exists." Cardinal Danielou: But the life of man is sacred. Human beings think on a higher platform than the animals do. Śrīla Prabhupāda: What is that higher platform? The animal eats to maintain his body, and you also eat in order to maintain your body. The cow eats grass in the field, and the human being eats meat from a huge slaughterhouse full of modern machines. But just because you have big machines and a ghastly scene, while the animal simply eats grass, this does not mean that you are so advanced that only within your body is there a soul, and that there is not a soul within the body of the animal. That is illogical. We can see that the basic characteristics are the same in the animal and the human being. Cardinal Danielou: But only in human beings do we find a metaphysical search for the meaning of life. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. So metaphysically search out why you believe that there is no soul within the animal—that is metaphysics. If you are thinking metaphysically, that is all right. But if you are thinking like an animal, then what is the use of your metaphysical study? Metaphysical means "above the physical" or, in other words, "spiritual." In the *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa says, *sarva-yonisu kaunteya:* "In every living being there is a spirit soul." That is metaphysical understanding. ## Writing for Kṛṣṇa: The Price and the Prize *by Caitanya Carana Dāsa* *Advice and encouragement for anyone who wants to write articles for Śrīla Prabhupāda's magazine.* I received an email from a budding, but discouraged, devotee writer. He had submitted articles to this magazine but had repeatedly received negative reviews from the editors. "How is it possible to get an article published in BTG?" he asked. I thought, "Many other devotee writers are likely to have the same question and may not be resubmitting improved versions of their articles. To perform a service in a public forum, devotees need to come up to certain standards. Through the challenges faced in the service of writing, they can learn general principles for facing the challenges in their regular services." That thought gave birth to this article, which is a slightly modified version of the letter I wrote in reply to the above email. Dear Prabhu, Thank you for your sincere enquiry. I will share some of my own experiences about how my first article was published in BTG and how the review process has helped me in my writing. *There Is No Black Hole Here* I wrote dozens of devotional articles before I submitted one to BTG—indeed, before I even came to know that I could submit articles to BTG and that they might be published there. In 2000, I started writing an article every week for my e-zine, *The Spiritual Scientist.* Since my school days, I used to read the daily spiritual column in a prominent Indian newspaper. So after I had been writing regularly for over a year, in August 2001 I ventured to submit an article about Janmastami to that paper and was pleasantly surprised (in fact, immensely delighted) to find it published in its national edition on Janmastami. I continued submitting one article each month. Some of them were published, and many were rejected, usually without any explanation or even a hint. If the article didn't appear in the paper in the few weeks after submission, I would sadly infer that it had entered into a black hole, never to see the light of publication. After a year or so, the black hole started swallowing all my articles. Later I came to learn that the newspaper had adopted the policy of focusing on publishing popular *gurus'* writings to maximize readership. Soon after this disappointment, I was informed about the possibility and the process of submitting an article to the international edition of BTG, published in the USA. While emailing an article to the editor, I half-expected that my submission would disappear forever into a black hole. So when I got a response email from Nagaraja Dāsa within a fortnight, my first reaction was relief: There was no black hole here! On reading the email, my reaction changed to a sense of awe: Five editors had gone through the article scrupulously, appreciated some points in it, and given several suggestions for improvement. I felt honored that five senior devotees—all of them deeply learned in the philosophy, as was evident from their comments—had used their valuable time to so carefully read an article written by an unknown somebody in some part of India. Not only that, they had even clearly pointed out what needed improvement and how to improve it. What a delightful difference from my earlier experience! As I got down to work implementing their suggestions and saw my article becoming more persuasive and penetrating, I felt grateful for their guidance. After the article was approved for publication, the chief editor, Nagaraja Dāsa, sent me a meticulously edited draft of my article, pointing out several small instances of inconsistent reasoning, non-standard English usage, and unclear writing. All these were minute matters, but his attention to these was precisely what impressed me. I was inspired to see that he had put in so much painstaking effort to improve my article—and all the more so to know that he similarly refined each article published in BTG. Thereafter, I started reading each BTG article with much greater attention, even respect. Subsequently, the article "Does Religion Cause War?" was published in the Nov/Dec 2002 issue of BTG. I was delighted to see that my service to Kṛṣṇa had borne fruit. And when I found in the next issue a reader's letter expressing how my article had provided a clear understanding of the nonsectarian nature of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the resulting fulfillment sealed my fate; henceforth I would be hooked lifelong to write for BTG. Since then, many of my articles have been published in BTG, but only after they passed successfully through the same rigorous examination by all the reviewers. In 2009, Nagaraja Dāsa invited me to join the panel of editors, and I started reviewing the articles of upcoming devotee writers to help improve their writing by offering my review of their submissions. Most aspiring devotee writers are surprised to know that, although I am a BTG editor, still my submissions go through the same review process as theirs. They feel that the review process is a price they have to pay for the prize of getting their article published, and assume that as I am an editor, I wouldn't have to pay that price. When I inform them that I would not bypass the review process even if I were given that option, they are intrigued. Let me explain why I don’t want the prize without the price. *Substandard Deity Worship?* For me, writing is a way to worship Kṛṣṇa. When we write, we are decorating with our words the Deity of Kṛṣṇa manifested as His message. When we try to get our first article published in a public magazine like BTG, we are like neophyte priests (*pujaris*) doing their first Deity dressing in a temple. The editors who offer feedback to improve the writing are like expert *pujaris* who offer feedback to improve the dressing. Improving our service according to their feedback requires our time, endeavor, and perseverance. So we may sometimes feel reluctant and even resentful. Our eagerness to get our first article published is natural, understandable, and desirable, like the eagerness of the new *pujaris* to complete their first Deity dressing. But let’s think from the audience’s viewpoint: If we were waiting to see the Deity, would we like to see Kṛṣṇa dressed hastily, shoddily, or carelessly? Such a sight would distress our devotional sensibilities. If we devotee writers expect our below-par articles to be published, won’t we be subjecting those who see Kṛṣṇa in His magazine to similar distress? And, more importantly, would Kṛṣṇa be pleased by such substandard devotional service—pleased either with the writers who rendered it or with the editors who allowed it? The devotee editors have no desire to discourage any upcoming writer. But like responsible senior *pujaris*, they have to maintain the standard of worship. Like responsible junior *pujaris*, we need to raise the quality of our service to come up to that standard. This brings me to an important benefit I have accrued from the review process. *Writing: Short-term and Long-term Goals* The review process is not always enjoyable, but it is always beneficial. Like everyone else, I don’t like faults to be pointed out in my articles. But I know that the way to avoid that unpleasant feeling is by writing my articles so carefully that they don’t contain any faults—and not by wishing that there be no one to point out faults. If my articles get published even while they contain faults, then how will my writing ever improve? I may succeed in my short-term goal of getting my article published, but I will fail in my long-term goal of becoming a better writer through the writing and publication of each article. Over the years, my writing has benefited immensely from the review process and continues to benefit with each review. Why should I lose a long-term gain for a short-term gain when with a little effort I can gain both? *Feel Honored, Not Burdened* The review process, in addition to the opportunity for self-improvement, also offers us the association of several senior devotees. Writing is like speaking in that both are ways to share our faith with others. But writing is like delivering a class with an opaque partition between the speaker and the audience; the speaker can’t immediately see if and how the audience is reciprocating—or if any audience is even present. But I know that if I write and submit an article for BTG, I have a guaranteed audience of at least five individuals—and five senior devotees at that. Imagine if we were giving a class with five veteran devotee scholars in the audience. We would feel honored by their presence and would feel grateful if after the class they gave us some feedback. The same opportunity beckons all of us each time we submit an article to BTG. Why should we let ourselves feel burdened instead of honored by the reviews? *Assistance, Not Interference* Moreover, the review process helps us in our responsibility. If we were nondevotees writing our own ideas for a nondevotional magazine, it might be okay for our article to be published without thorough scrutiny. But when writing for Kṛṣṇa in His magazine, we are presenting His message and so are responsible to Him as well as to the disciplic succession that has brought His message into our lives. This is no small responsibility; we need all the help we can get to discharge it diligently and competently. When the review process offers us the very help we need—and offers it free—why should we mistake the assistance to be interference? I try my best to read, edit, and refine my articles before I submit them to BTG, but very few are the occasions when an article gets approved without needing any improvement. No doubt, over the years the things needing improvement have become fewer, but still I feel it is better to be safe than sorry and so am grateful for the review process. *Inspiration from Śrīla Prabhupāda* Modifying our article according to the review suggestions requires time. Many devotee writers have to struggle to find time to write amidst a busy schedule. Where can we get the inspiration to gently but firmly ward off all the demands that encroach on our writing time? From Śrīla Prabhupāda. He was busier than all of us—thousands of times busier. And his responsibilities were also millions of times heavier than ours. Yet he took time out to write his books. Obviously, our writing is not as important as his—nowhere near. But that is not the point. The point is that he showed us by his example how to make time for writing. Moreover, though he knew we were unlikely to be very spiritually advanced or have much capacity to write, he persistently and insistently requested, even instructed, us to write. Here are two of his many quotes to that effect: "I want all our students to write articles for our transcendental magazine." (Letter to Satsvarupa Dāsa, January 11, 1971) "Regarding articles for BTG, I have already issued instructions to all centers requesting my disciples to send articles every month, and I am going to repeat it again for the second time." (Letter to Hayagriva Dāsa, July 12, 1969) We may have many other services in our devotional life. Therefore to be able to invest our time in writing, we need, in addition to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s inspiring example and words, encouragement from ISKCON devotees today. Different devotees have different definitions of success in terms of their specific form of devotional service. Some devotees see distributing huge number of books as success; some, building magnificent temples; some, cultivating a vibrant devotee community. All such definitions of success are valid, for they are given by Śrīla Prabhupāda. If we wish to focus on a particular service, we need to associate with those whose definition of success is wedded to that service. The *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya* 22.131) points to this when it urges us to seek association that is **sa*jatiya*sa*ye,* translated as "endowed with a similar type of affection for the Lord." The word translates literally as those having the *sa*me (*sa*) category (jatiya) of desires (a*sa*) or, put in contemporary idiom, the *sa*me definition of success. So, if we want to improve our writing, we should seek the association of those devotees whose definition of success is high-quality writing for Kṛṣṇa. Of course, good writers are few in any cross-section of the population—and so they are few even within the devotee community. That’s why we need to treat each devotee writer’s association as precious. I was fortunate that in the initial years of my Kṛṣṇa consciousness, I got the priceless guidance of Jayadvaita Swami, who is my writing-*guru*. When I told him I was feeling torn between various services like writing, managing, and counseling, he replied immediately and emphatically, "Let others manage and counsel; you focus on writing." For me, his response was life-defining. Its rationale has stayed with me forever: As writing is a specialized service that not many devotees can do, those devotees who have the inspiration, inclination, and talent to write need to focus on it if Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire to have devotee writers in his movement generation after generation is to be fulfilled. *Playing Our Part in Fulfilling Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Dream* Śrīla Prabhupāda has expressed his fond dream for BTG: "As I have told you several times, I am awaiting for the day when this paper will take the shape of *Life* magazine or similar other magazines in the matter of its popularity." (Letter dated June 1968) The popularity of BTG depends on many factors: for example, the reach and appeal of our movement; the magnitude of the efforts to distribute BTG; the format, feel, and cost of the issues. But the most important factor, the factor I can influence, is its core content—the quality of its articles. The only way I can improve the quality of my articles is by improving the quality of my writing. The BTG review process has been a time-tested aid for me in directing my writing-quality graph upward. In fact, this review process—with one dedicated chief editor and several associate editors having broad scriptural learning and wide outreach experience—is, in many ways, already on par with the review process of the world’s best magazines. Now the onus is on me to benefit from it, raise my writing quality, and thereby play my part in fulfilling Śrīla Prabhupāda’s dream. The price of having to conscientiously improve my writing is well worth the prize of pleasing Kṛṣṇa and Śrīla Prabhupāda, and becoming a competent instrument for sharing their message with the world through their magazine. In fact, the prize is worth much more than the price—definitely, massively, infinitely more. Every upcoming writer is precious to Kṛṣṇa and His mission. You have good potential for writing. I hope and pray that this letter will aid you in tapping your potential and will help you see how the review process that might seem discouraging is actually helping you in tapping that potential. With best wishes, Your servant, Chaitanya Charan das *Caitanya Carana Dāsa is a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānatha Swami. He holds a degree in electronic and telecommunications engineering and serves full time at ISKCON Pune. He is the author of eleven books. To read his other articles or to receive his daily reflection on the* Bhagavad-gītā, *"*Gita-daily,*"* visit thespiritualscientist.com. ## The Vaisnava Path in George Harrison’s Songs *by Gauri Dāsa* *Forty years ago, George Harrison was already giving the world the gift of spiritual inspiration through his music when he donated the Bhaktivedanta Manor to Śrīla Prabhupāda.* George Harrison released "My Sweet Lord," his first solo single, in America in November 1970. Internationally, sales soon exceeded five million copies. The biographer Simon Leng calls the release of "My Sweet Lord" one of the “boldest steps in the history of popular music,” because it risked ruining Harrison’s career. In *I, Me, Mine,* George writes, “I thought a lot about whether to do "My Sweet Lord" or not, because I would be committing myself publicly, and I anticipated that a lot of people might . . . fear the words ‘Lord’ and ‘God’—makes them angry for some strange reason.” Leng, in *The Music of George Harrison,* characterizes the song as “gospel incantation with a Vedic chant” and a “triumph” because it was “obviously genuine. . . . The power of the song comes from the emotion it transmits. . . . His tone was beguilingly sweet, but also sad.” "My Sweet Lord’s" repetitive, emotional appeal, laced with self-pity, certainly is “beguilingly sweet, but also sad.” For the song expresses an aesthetic quality characteristic of Vaisnava theology. That quality, technically known as *viraha bhakti,* is a soul-stirring love for God arising from the anguish of distance and separation. Such love in separation is a precursor of unfettered unity, for God responds and makes Himself known by His embrace. Śrīla Rupa Gosvami (c. 1550 CE) describes the sweet-sad melange of separation from God in this comment: “If one develops love of Godhead, love of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, all the bitter and sweet influences of this love will manifest in one’s heart. Such love of Godhead acts in two ways. The poisonous effects of love of Godhead defeat the severe and fresh poison of the serpent. Yet there is simultaneously transcendental bliss, which pours down and defeats the pride of nectar and diminishes its value.” (quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 2.52) The bittersweet aesthetic of "My Sweet Lord" touched the hearts of millions. Love in separation is one of many aesthetic qualities in Vaisnava theology, and some of these qualities are illustrated in George’s other lyrics. In making observations about George’s songs, I am not arguing that he attained the highest states of *bhakti*, nor do I want to pass judgment on anyone. George was seriously spiritual-minded. The Vaisnava journey to Kṛṣṇa, in progressive stages of love, is reflected in his songs. He struggled in life, found some balance, and never departed from his convictions. Westerners especially can easily learn something about the theology of *bhakti* as George expressed it. *They say I’m not what I used to be All the same, I’m happier than the willow tree . . . I know something so dear to me Beyond words, beautiful feeling in my soul.* *—*from *"*Mystical One*"* (1982) How did George’s interest in Eastern spirituality grow? At the height of the Beatles’ fame, George’s LSD experiments and interest in Indian music drew him into an experience of the all-pervasiveness of God in music (*nada brahma*). His friendship with the sitarist Ravi Shankar led him to India. John Barham, another student of Shankar’s, recalled, “The meditative aspect of some Indian music touched George in a way that no other music did, and this did influence the development of his own identity in a profound way.” Upon returning to record with the Beatles, George’s realizations were set to an Indian rhythm and melody in "Within You Without You" on the *Sgt. Pepper* album (1967): “When you see we’re all one, and life flows on within you and without you.” That August, George attended a lecture in London by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and then went on a retreat with him in Wales. Next, along with the other Beatles, George stayed in Rishikesh with Maharishi for three months. By July of 1968, George’s quest was portrayed in the film *Yellow Submarine:* He was the mystical Beatle, wearing wooden beads and seated in a lotus position. In London in November 1969, George met a small group of Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees. Gathering the group in Apple’s Abbey Road studio, he recorded the single "Hare Kṛṣṇa *Mantra*," which quickly became the number one song in Britain and several other countries. Then George met Śrīla Prabhupāda in England and received his encouragement to write songs about Kṛṣṇa. George next donated twenty thousand dollars to publish Śrīla Prabhupāda’s book *Kṛṣṇa,* a narration of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental life from the *Bhagavata Purana’s* Tenth Canto. In the foreword, George mentions reconciling all things in *Kṛṣṇa,* or God. Interviewed about the success of "My Sweet Lord" and his triple album *All Things Must Pass* (1970), George said, “I want to be God conscious. That’s really my only ambition, and everything else in life is incidental.” It appears from the lyrics in the album *Dark Horse* (1974) that George, though making spiritual progress, relapsed and had to struggle with unwanted habits. He writes about this with stark honesty in these songs. However, from then on he apparently found a steady balance between worldly existence and his commitment to a spiritual path. His resolve became firmer. This is evident from his final songs and from his widow Olivia’s descriptions. George's spiritual resolution rarely decreased for the rest of his life. Olivia said about her late husband: “The issue of possessions, attachment, and identification with the ego were in the forefront of our awareness, and George was always quick to point out that in reality there is no I, me, or mine. George was relentless at keeping our spiritual aim.” In the obituaries, his most often recurring quote was “Everything else can wait, but the search for God . . .” *The Vaisnava Path* The doctrinal focus of the *Bhagavad-gītā* is devotional service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa*,* and the devotion of intense love and separation (*viraha bhakti*) is found in the Caitanya Vaisnavas’ most influential devotional text*,* the *Bhagavata Purana* (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*)*,* and in the South Indian songs of the Alvars. In *Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Alvars,* S.M.S. Chari presents Śrīla Ramanuja’s understanding of devotion in four phases. The first phase, **bhakti*,* is sincere devotion, with a keen desire to see God. When *bhakti* is nurtured and made steady through meditation and practice, as outlined in the *Gita,* it is called para-**bhakti*,* the second phase. Then come initial experiences of God, temporary glimpses of God within*—*the third phase, *para-jnana.* Having had glimpses, the devotee feels an intense anguish of separation and ardently yearns for a full, uninterrupted vision of God. This fourth phase, called parama-**bhakti*,* in due course delivers one from worldly existence through direct realization of God. The joy of union and the anguish of separation alternate, arousing unceasing and ever-increasing ecstasy and contemplation. Prominent followers of Śrī Caitanya reflected on His life and teachings with extensive references to the *Bhagavata Purana*. The first of them to identify chronological stages of devotional achievement was Rupa Gosvami, who outlined nine stages: faith (*sraddha*), the association of saints (*sadhu-sanga*), devotional practices (*bhajana-kriya*), purification (*anartha-nivrtti*), resolve (*nistha*), relish (*ruci*), attachment (*asakti*), love (*bhava*), and pure love (*prema*). (*Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu* 1.4.15–16) Two centuries after Rupa, Śrīla Visvanatha Cakravarti wrote *Madhurya Kadambini* to elaborate on Rupa’s stages. Later, in *Śrī Bhajana-rahasya* Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (c. 1850) correlated the nine stages with the eight verses of Caitanya's *Śikṣāṣṭaka.* With respect to their descriptions of the Vaisnava path to Kṛṣṇa, we now turn to George’s songs. *“Awaken and See”* The earliest sign of *bhakti,* says Rupa, is faith: a trust or interest in the path. Visvanatha mentions a firm trust in devotional scriptures and a genuine desire to practice their prescriptions. Bhaktivinoda presents the first act of faith as remembering God by the continued repetition of His names, which subdues ignorance. In George’s songs, faith appears in "Awaiting on You All*,"* wherein George humorously excludes any requirements other than chanting: “You don’t need no passport. And you don’t need no visas.” He asks you to “open up your heart” to recognize that we are “polluted” and “fallen” and take the solution: “Now here’s a way for you to get clean.” *By chanting the names of the Lord and you’ll be free. The Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see.* The words “awaken and see” express George’s early faith and encouragement to others. The song embodies his understanding of scriptural lessons he learned from Śrīla Prabhupāda, both in person and through his books. *“I Look for the Pure in Heart”* Next Rupa speaks of three stages: saintly association, practice, and purification. He explains that saints and *gurus* are respectfully approached for instruction on proper conduct. This is also important to Visvanatha, who explains how unsteadiness is overcome as obstacles are surmounted. Bhaktivinoda includes in his second division both good association and overcoming obstacles. For him, the separation of the soul from Kṛṣṇa and its misidentification with matter (*maya*) are unwanted. Other obstacles (weakness of heart, offenses) can be overcome by chanting, by following a *guru’s* direction, and by receiving the mercy of saints. He advises shunning bad company and desires for fame. George’s rejection of fame and possessions is identifiable in *"*I, Me, Mine,*"* the last song the Beatles recorded*.* George, in *"*Help Me Lord,*"* petitions God to snuff out his mundane desires*.* In "Beware of Darkness*,*" he warns*,* “Watch out now*,* take care*,* beware of the thoughts that linger*,* winding up inside your head. . . . each unconscious sufferer wanders aimlessly; beware of Maya.” In "The Day the World Gets ’Round," he describes a deluded world and the foolishness of people, while himself aspiring for good company: “I look for the pure of heart, and the ones who have made a start. . . . But Lord, there are just a few, who bow before you.” *“Your Love and Nothing More”* Steady resolve and resolute practice constitute Rupa’s fifth stage. Visvanatha says that although impurities are still somewhat present, they no longer distract one from direct devotional practices, and one develops qualities favorable to the practice, such as humility. Bhaktivinoda emphasizes the necessity of self-surrender, eagerness for *bhakti,* and profound humility. "That is All," George’s final track on *Living in the Material World*, illustrates these qualities: “That is all I’m living for, your love and nothing more, and that is all . . . that is all I want to do, to give my love to you. . . . Please let me love you more, and that is all.” In "Give Me Love," a full commitment is expressed: “Trying to touch and reach you with heart and soul.” George’s humility is evident in "Hear Me Lord": “please, please hear me, Lord, . . . forgive me, . . . help me rise a little higher.” *“He Whose Sweetness Flows”* Rupa’s sixth stage, relish, implies a taste of the nectar derived from resolute practices. For Visvanatha, relish results from taking the “golden medallion” of *bhakti* deep into the heart. An unimaginable bliss, “taste” acts like a dance instructress who takes the devotee by the hands. At this stage Bhaktivinoda emphasizes total uninterest in worldly affairs, owing to a taste for the holy name. With one’s attention undivided, worldly interests dwarf before *bhakti*’s sweetness. During a visit to Vrindavan, the sacred village where Kṛṣṇa grew up, George illustrated *bhakti’s* sweetness in a song he wrote there: "It is ‘He’ (Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa)." The song mainly repeats and relishes names of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, His consort. The tempo and lyrics delight the listener: “He whose sweetness flows to any one of those that care to look his way, see his smile. . . . He who is complete, three worlds at his feet, cause of every star. It is ‘He’: Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” George also used “sweet” to describe God in "My Sweet Lord," accompanied by the significant, repetitive sound of “Hmm,” as if encouraging listeners to taste the sweetness. *“You are the breath of life”* In Rupa’s seventh stage, strong attachment appears. Visvanatha says that although “taste” has Kṛṣṇa as its subject, the subject becomes profoundly Kṛṣṇa at the stage of attachment. This attachment reaches an “extreme depth,” and it polishes the mirror of the heart so that the Lord’s reflection is almost visible. Such absorption requires no effort, whereas remaining conscientious about normal worldly dealings does. The devotee may call out, “Will I ever see Kṛṣṇa ? Where shall I go? What shall I do to attain my desired object?” Bhaktivinoda explains that this stage is attained by chanting without offenses and makes one feel insignificant and full of anguish. George’s song "Life Itself" suggests some awareness of this sort of attachment: You are the One You are my love You send the rain and bring the sun You stand alone and speak the truth You are the breath of life itself, Oh yes you are, you are the One. I need you more each step I take You are the love in life itself . . . You are the one that I'd die for And you're all that is real You are the essence of that which We taste, touch and feel . . . You are my friend and when life's through You are the light in death itself, oh yes you are. In Ramanuja’s third and fourth stages, glimpses of God are achieved and relieve a devotee’s feeling of separation from God. The joy of union and the anguish of separation alternate. This is also represented in George’s lyrics: It’s been a long, long, long time. How could I ever have lost you When I loved you? It took a long, long, long time. Now I’m so happy I found you How I love you So many tears I was searching . . . How I want you Oh, I love you You know that I need you Oh, I love you Devotional heights akin to a madness of extreme emotion and unusual bodily symptoms are not identifiable in George’s songs. As described in Rupa’s eighth and ninth stages, there is a meltdown of the heart and mind, as God’s beauty overwhelms the devotee. Such love exhibits possessiveness of God and marks the stage of *prema*. God, powerless before such love, reveals Himself in all His beauty and charm. Both Visvanatha and Bhaktivinoda cite examples and verses that convey the nature of these stages. The condition is best portrayed in the life of Caitanya: Paralyzed and then shaking, sweating, and turning pallid, Caitanya wept and uttered indistinct sounds. His bodily hairs stood on end. He laughed, wept, danced about, and sang. He jumped up and ran about, and the next moment fell on the ground unconscious. George remained detached from the wealth and fame that surrounded him. His catalogue of songs honestly illustrates what he learned about the devotional path and could express in the grammar of a contemporary rock star. Gauri Dāsa joined ISKCON in 1984. Originally from Scotland, he lived ten years in India and is now Head of Development at Bhaktivedanta Manor. *The George Harrison Memorial Garden* In 2001, on receiving the news of George’s death, the devotees at Bhaktivedanta Manor, which George had bought for ISKCON in 1973, felt the importance of honoring George’s contributions to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s movement over many years. To his memory, they immediately dedicated a part of the Manor garden, a sunken dell that George particularly liked. Mukunda Goswami, George’s old and dear friend, planted the first tree in the George Harrison Memorial Garden, a weeping atlas cedar. George's widow, Olivia, chose the plants, selecting ones that conformed to George’s taste. Through eight art pieces, the garden displays lyrics by George (highlighted in this article) that encapsulate the progressive steps on the path of devotion. Olivia opened the garden and dedicated it to George’s memory in May 2013, during the fortieth anniversary of Bhaktivedanta Manor. ## Kṛṣṇa, the Chief Enjoyment Officer (CEO) *by Kṛṣṇa nandini Devī Dāsī* *Though our desire to find happiness is natural, our attempt to find it in this world is not.* During a radio interview in London in July 1976, Mike Robinson of the London Broadcasting Company asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, "Can you tell me what you believe to be the meaning of life? Why do we exist in the first place?" Śrīla Prabhupāda replied, "The meaning of life means to enjoy, but we are in a different platform of life. Therefore we are suffering instead of enjoying. But if you come to the real platform, then you enjoy. Because here we see struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling, but what is the aim? For enjoyment of life. Therefore life means enjoyment. But at the present moment our life is not enjoyment." While Śrīla Prabhupāda could have given any number of correct answers from his veritable storehouse of spiritual wisdom, he chose to state the ultimate reality in succinct, unequivocal terms: We all want pleasure, we want to enjoy, we want to be happy. The reality is that everyone tries to avoid illness, distress, and poverty; no one seeks misery or pain. This drive to be happy, to enjoy, is an inherent part of our nature. The *Vedanta-sutra* (1.1.12) proclaims, *anandamayo ’bhyasat:* "[the living entity] is joyful by nature." Lord Kṛṣṇa in the *Bhagavad-gītā* claims every living being in every body as a part of Himself. This truth—that every soul is a part of the Personality of Godhead—means that every soul has the same nature as God. We find this information in the *Brahma-saṁhitā* (5.1): “Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body." Since God is *sac-cid-ananda,* full of eternity, knowledge, and bliss, every part of Him has the same transcendental composition. A piece of gold, no matter how small, is not just golden—it is gold. Because we are part of God, we are also *sac-cid-ananda.* *Our Relentless Quest for Enjoyment* Therefore, our quest for enjoyment is unavoidable and has been going on for a long, long time in different bodies, in different ages, on different planets. We’ve tasted sweet, sour, bitter, and salty foods. We’ve touched, handled, and held an uncountable variety of things. Our eyes have sought the attractive, the big, the small, the expensive, the colorful, and still hanker for more. Our ears have given aural reception to sounds that are loud, shrill, quiet, crashing, banging, squeaking, cooing, harsh, pleasing. Life after life, each of our senses has pushed and pulled us in many directions as we try to enjoy, to find pleasure. We’ve been tricked, deluded again and again. “Maybe this time this situation I’ve tried before will give me happiness." If I just have more money, more fame, if I just get the other job, if I get the other lover … Is there pleasure to be found here in the material world? Some would say yes. “I just enjoyed a delicious meal.” “I live with the love of my life.” “That sunset gave me immense pleasure.” “That book stimulated my mind.” We don’t want these pleasures to end. But they do. We can eat only so much. Our bodies inevitably age. Romances break up. People die. The sunset fades into darkness. The very material body with which we seek pleasure diminishes in its ability to enjoy, while the desire to enjoy remains. The lasting, enduring joy we desire is ever elusive. And just as a thirsty person can never be satisfied by a single drop of water (or even three or four drops), so the soul cannot be satisfied by the nonpermanent pleasures found on the material plane. What passes for enjoyment or happiness in this world is often only the cessation of frustration, the relief of pain, or the absence of annoyance. If someone’s tooth is aching, is relief from the toothache happiness? Throughout the ages, songwriters and poets have expressed their realizations about the flickering nature of happiness based on material things. Songs with lyrics like “The love I saw in you was just a mirage” and “Happiness is just an illusion, filled with sadness and confusion” reflect their verdict. Or they’ve written about how happiness is derived from nonmaterial things. For example, the nineteenth-century Scottish writer Alexander Chalmers wrote, "The three grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for." According to the *Bhagavad-gītā* and the Vaisnava preceptors, the "someone to love" is Kṛṣṇa, the "something to do" is serve Kṛṣṇa, and the "something to hope for" is pure, unmotivated, uninterrupted devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. In the introduction to *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is,* Śrīla Prabhupāda addresses the issue of happiness: “The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world.” *The Reservoir of Pleasure* Real pleasure, real joy lasts forever. It’s eternal, spiritual, and available when we are in contact, through devotional service, with the person whose very essence is joy, who emanates joy from every pore of His being. And that is why the Supreme Lord is the Chief Enjoyment Officer (CEO).* One of His names in this regard is Govinda, "the one who gives pleasure to the cows and senses." He is the reservoir of pleasure. He is always enjoying. He is always blissful, and those who connect with Him through pure devotional service taste the same bliss. Therefore, many names of the Supreme Lord refer to His joyful nature and pastimes, including Rama, Gokula Ranjana, Kunjavihari, and Rādhā-ramana, to cite a few. *Love in Person* “God is love.” My mother and grandparents said this time and time again when I was growing up. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness we have a refined understanding of that laudable sentiment: Kṛṣṇa, being absolute, is identical with His quality of infinite love. Absolute Love. Absolute Truth. Absolute Knowledge. Absolute Joy. To rework a Christian saying: "Know Kṛṣṇa, know joy; no Kṛṣṇa, no joy." How can there be happiness without a connection with the Personality of Happiness? How can there be joy without a relationship with the one whose very nature is complete joy? *We Can Be Joyful Here and Now* The Chief Enjoyment Officer, Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, wants us to be happy. After all, each of us is a spiritual being, part of Him, and His eternal relative. Here are a few suggestions for claiming joy now: * Try to see and acknowledge God in all things. The *Bhagavad-gītā* provides many clues for accomplishing this: When we drink water, we can acknowledge that the taste of that water is Kṛṣṇa ("I am the taste of water"). When we observe superb talent or artistry or ability in anyone, we can remind ourselves that this remarkable ability is Kṛṣṇa (“I am ability in man”). We can pray for the vision to realize that Kṛṣṇa is in every atom and in the heart of every living being. Kṛṣṇa says that as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart He directs the wanderings of every living being. Pray to see the hand of God even in so-called negative things. What lesson can we learn? The Bible informs us, “Everything worketh together for the good of they that love the Lord.” * When seeing the sun and moon, we can appreciate that their light is Kṛṣṇa’s energy. * Chant the holy names of the Lord loudly in congregation and more quietly in *japa* every day. Calling Kṛṣṇa’s names, any of them, purifies the heart and brings joy. “The whole world becomes joyful upon hearing Your name.” (*Bhagavad-gītā* 11.36) In the Qur'an we learn, “The most beautiful names belong to God, so call upon Him by them.” In the Bible we find, “He that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Lord Caitanya, the great apostle of love, proclaimed in His *Śikṣāṣṭaka:* “Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa **sankirtana*,* which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This *sankirtana* movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious." We should accept the profound and prophetic instruction of Śrīla Prabhupāda to “chant and be happy.” * Associate as much as possible with the sincere servants of the Lord, who consciously hear and chant about Him, remember Him, serve His lotus feet, worship Him, offer Him prayers, consider Him their best friend, and surrender everything unto Him by carrying out His instructions as given by the scriptures and His pure representatives. Kṛṣṇa’s pure-hearted servants are carriers of joy and instruments of peace. * Give service, time, and money to devotees and devotional causes. Use your talents and gifts in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Selfless giving purifies the heart and brings peace and contentment. We cannot have happiness or joy without peace. * Claim the victory! In his commentary on *Bhagavad-gītā* 1.14, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes that "victory and fortune were awaiting Arjuna, as indicated by the transcendental sound produced by the conchshell of Visnu, or Kṛṣṇa." Like Arjuna, victory awaits all sincere souls who accept the shelter of the all-merciful Lord. There is much sadness, depression, pain, and suffering in our contemporary world. Yet, Lord Kṛṣṇa desires our happiness. We have just forgotten how to find it. Therefore, Govinda, the Chief Enjoyment Officer, has sent His name and His devotees to remind us of our natural birthright of happiness and joy. *The acronym CEO can equally apply to the Supreme Lord as the Chief Executive Officer of all material and spiritual manifestations. He is the director, maintainer, and controller of everything. Kṛṣṇa is also the Chief Employment Officer, since we must engage either in His service or in the service of His illusory energy, *maya.* *Kṛṣṇanandini Devī Dāsī, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), a licensed minister of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the state of Ohio, president of ISKCON’s Grihastha Vision Team, and co-director, along with her husband, Tariq Saleem Ziyad, of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.* ## Vedic Observer Meat, Shmeat: You Are What You Eat *By Satyaraja Dāsa* On May 16, 2013, a particular news item caught my eye: “Shmeat: Reducing Animal Cruelty or Defeating the Purpose of a Sustainable Diet?” written by Sarah Jugovic (http://pghenvironmental.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/shmeat-reducing-animal-cruelty-or-defeating-the-purpose-of-a-sustainable-diet/). The article explains that shmeat, also known as “in vitro” meat (i.e., test-tube flesh), is cruelty free—it is a lab-grown food product using animal stem cells to create an edible solid without killing the creature. Or so they say. Shmeat has been in the works for more than a decade, the article tells us, and was conceived, in its present form, by Dr. Mark Post, a professor in the physiology department at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, with funding from Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The process is complicated: Post initially takes stem cells from the neck muscle of discarded cattle found at slaughterhouses. After this, he uses a serum from fetal calves to grow and nurture muscle cells that are stabilized on a sheet (hence, “shmeat”) with nutrients and protein. After billions of cells are thus developed, they synthesize a protein on their own, which eventually becomes shmeat. Or, as some call it, “Frankenburger.” This almost sci-fi–like scenario piqued my interest, and so I researched it further, finding a more informative article from a week earlier in *The New York Times* (May 12, 2013), entitled “Building a $325,000 Burger.” There, author Henry Fountain informs us that there is much to praise in laboratory-produced meat, for it would significantly reduce the wasteful amounts of water, land, and energy used in cultivating real animals for their flesh and byproducts. Further, it would reduce the emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, helping us fight global warming. Such environmental arguments, writes Fountain, will become more pronounced as the demand for meat increases worldwide. Sure, each piece of meat costs six figures, but the price will come down as the process catches on. That being said, all is not so easy: Post’s cultured meat will always depend on muscle tissue to obtain new cells. The implications here are far-reaching, as journalist S. E. Cupp reports in the New York *Daily News* (August 7, 2013). Her article, “The Raw Truth About Lab Meat,” reveals the loopholes of shmeat, letting us know that it is hardly cruelty free and, more, that there are numerous risks involved in its consumption. “But as of now,” she writes, “the petri meat (which I will now call ‘meatri’) requires fetal calf serum, which is obtained by slaughtering pregnant cows.” *Discover* magazine concurs: In fact, of all the fantastic claims of lab-grown meat, the most far-fetched given current technology is that in vitro meat will be cruelty-free. In vitro meat proposals imagine a “donor herd” of cows that will give some cells to make meat without having to be slaughtered, so yes, the first in vitro hamburger . . . will be made of cells that started out as just a few cow muscle stem cells from a still-living cow. But the donor cells aren’t the only animal product needed to grow in vitro hamburgers; the growth medium that provides nutrients, vitamins, and growth hormones to the cells is currently made with a mixture of sugars and amino acids supplemented with fetal bovine serum—literally the blood of unborn cows. So what is the advantage here? Murder is still murder. Let it be clear: Post uses regular cell-culture to grow his animal myosatellite cells—and these necessarily come from slaughtered cows. Some may argue that Post’s pseudo burger, while still causing harm to sentient beings, will kill fewer animals than conventional meat-eating. But if it is wrong to eat meat, then killing fewer animals might be better in some ways, but it’s still wrong. Whether one is a diamond thief or a cucumber thief, he is still a thief, and he is still misusing God’s creation by harming His creatures. Is it wrong to kill animals for food? Of course it is. As Prabhupāda says, “Why should you kill the cow? Let the cow be protected. You can take the cow's milk and use it for making so many nutritious, delicious preparations. Aside from that, as far as meat-eating is concerned, every cow will die—so you just wait a while, and there will be so many dead cows. Then you can take all the dead cows and eat. So how is this a bad proposal? If you say, ‘You are restraining us from meat-eating’—no, we don’t restrain you. We simply ask you, ‘Don't kill. When the cow is dead, you can eat it.’ ” Shmeat is still killing, and killing is wrong. *Unnatural, No Matter How It's Made* Additionally, the product contains antibiotics and anti-fungal agents harmful to humans. So although shmeat is grown in the antiseptic environment of a laboratory, it is still problematic. And Post’s proposed future resolutions (Post-dated checks, we might say) may never come into being. For example, some say that in the future it might be possible to make shmeat by using algae, thus avoiding the killing of animals altogether. But this is another post-dated check, and there is little reason to expect it to happen. In any case, shmeat will always be an unnatural, scientifically contrived product, no matter how it is made. According to the *Bhagavad-gītā* (17.10), such highly artificial foods are in the mode of ignorance and thus disadvantageous for those on the spiritual path. Meanwhile, shmeat producers still have to kill animals. “Killing cows and spoiling the land,” Prabhupāda tells us, “will not solve the problem of food. This is not civilization. Uncivilized men living in the jungle and being unqualified to produce food by agriculture and cow protection may eat animals, but a perfect human society advanced in knowledge must learn how to produce first-class food simply by agriculture and protection of cows.” Besides, shmeat is just creepy. Catherine Mayer, writing in *Time* magazine (August 5, 2013), suggests that shmeat is only one step removed from Soylent Green. This refers to a futuristic sci-fi movie from the 1970s in which over-population, poverty, and food shortages force hungry workers to depend on a highly processed food known as Soylent Green. Eventually, the main protagonist discovers that the miracle food saving their lives is created from the remains of human corpses. In fact, Mayer writes, Kenneth A. Cook, president of the U.S. health organization known as the Environmental Working Group, says that lab-produced flesh may never catch on because of the “ick factor.” In other words, who wants to eat food produced in a test tube? It is simply, well, icky. Those who pursue progressive values in life would never think of eating test-tube meat—or any meat for that matter. It is simply inappropriate for humans. As Prabhupāda says, “Scientifically, your teeth are meant for eating vegetables. The tiger has teeth for eating meat. Nature has made it like that. It has to kill another. . . Therefore he has got nails, he has got teeth, he has got strength. But you have no such strength. You cannot kill a cow like that, pouncing like a tiger. You have to make a slaughterhouse and sit down at your home. Somebody may slaughter, and you can eat very nicely. What is this? Do like the tiger. Pounce upon a cow and eat it. You cannot do that.” *Cow Protection in Action* The first cow-protection program Śrīla Prabhupāda established in the Western world was in the rural community of ISKCON New Vrindaban–named after Kṛṣṇa’s village in north India and nestled in the hills of West Virginia. Prabhupāda wrote to his disciple Hayagriva in June 1968: “Kṛṣṇa by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban.” Similar ISKCON projects are underway in Gita-nagari (in Pennsylvania), in the UK and Ireland, and in Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden, and Hungary, among other places. Far from looking for new ways to exploit animals and eat their flesh, a la shmeat, ISKCON seeks to protect them, recognizing that the same life force exists in their bodies as it does in ours. In pursuit of this realization, Prabhupāda suggested a life close to the land: “So these duties are there in New Vrindaban, and we shall live there independently, simply by raising cows, grains, fruits, and flowers.” This is the natural life of a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee. Whether in a rural environment or in a big city, he or she lives in goodness. No need to manipulate nature to create unnatural products—the devotee enjoys Kṛṣṇa’s natural bounty and uses it in divine service. *Satyaraja Dāsa, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a BTG associate editor and founding editor of the* Journal of Vaishnava Studies. *He has written more than thirty books on Kṛṣṇa consciousness and lives near New York City.* ## A Pause for Prayer O my Lord, there is no limit to the unwanted orders of lusty desires. Although I have rendered these desires so much service, they have not shown any mercy to me. I have not been ashamed to serve them, nor have I even desired to give them up. O my Lord, O head of the Yadu dynasty, recently, however, my intelligence has been awakened, and now I am giving them up. Due to transcendental intelligence, I now refuse to obey the unwanted orders of these desires, and I now come to You to surrender myself at Your fearless lotus feet. Kindly engage me in Your personal service and save me. Author Unknown Quoted in *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya* 22.16) ## e-Kṛṣṇa According to Director Hari Sauri Dāsa, the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC), situated in Kolkata, India, is the result of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire to preserve for future generations the works of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and other *acaryas.* The aims of the center are to perform extensive research in historic Sanskrit and Bengali texts of Vaisnavism, to promote Vedic research, and to collect, preserve, and digitize the literature of Gaudiya Vaisnavism from the period of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the present. The library holds more than 15,000 titles and contains nearly all the major works by *acaryas* in the Gaudiya Vaisnava line, all the way back to the six Gosvamis of Vrindavan. It includes most of the works of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. The library holds many ancient manuscripts handwritten on leaves, including a four-hundred-year-old copy of the *Madhya-līlā* of *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.* By clicking on the About Us tab on the site menu, you can read a brief history of the project going back to 1972 when Śrīla Prabhupāda asked devotees to make film copies of manuscripts for preservation. You can also read the complete aims and objectives of the center. The research center is home to a guesthouse, which you can read about and see under the Guest Rooms tab on the menu. There are photos of the rooms and contact details. Under the Library tab on the menu are two options: Books and Manuscripts. Under the Books option you can browse a list of many of the books held at the center. The list provides authorship and publication details and includes the shelf location at the library. Under the Manuscripts option you can view photographs of some of the handwritten manuscripts held at the library. Click on the Contact tab for an email address to request to receive the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre newsletter. —Antony Brennan ## Adhoksaja Kṛṣṇa : Beyond the Limits of the Alphabet Kṛṣṇ*a* is **a*dhoks*a*j*a*,* which me*a*ns th*a*t even persons *a*dv*a*nced in knowledge c*a*nnot underst*a*nd Kṛṣṇ*a*. Knowledge is m*a*nuf*a*ctured from words *a*nd syll*a*bles *a*nd from the letters A to Z. Th*a*t’s *a*ll. ABCD. We compose words with these twenty-six letters. And in S*a*nskrit, *a*s in English, it is *a* to ks*a*. The end is ks*a*. So *a* *a*nd ks*a*, th*a*t is c*a*lled *a*ks*a*. Then there is *a*ks*a*-j*a*, *a*nd j*a* me*a*ns “gener*a*ted.” S*a*nskrit schol*a*rs compose words from *a* to ks*a*, just *a*s in English people compose words from A to Z. Our ment*a*l specul*a*tion *a*nd *a*dv*a*ncement of knowledge is limited between this *a* *a*nd ks*a*, *a*ks*a*. Aks*a*-j*a*. But Kṛṣṇ*a* is **a*dhoks*a*j*a**. *Adhoks*a*j*a** me*a*ns where these kinds of specul*a*tion beginning from *a* to ks*a* will not *a*ct—Kṛṣṇ*a* is beyond *a*ny conjectures th*a*t c*a*n be constructed from the whole S*a*nskrit *a*lph*a*bet. Adh*a*h krt*a* me*a*ns “cut down" [lit. “m*a*de to be down"]. Therefore Kṛṣṇ*a*’s n*a*me is *Adhoks*a*j*a**. Kṛṣṇ*a* is beyond the r*a*nge of our sense perception *a*nd ment*a*l specul*a*tion. This is Kṛṣṇ*a*’s position. Is Kṛṣṇ*a* so e*a*sy to underst*a*nd th*a*t we c*a*n comprehend Him by sense perception *a*nd ment*a*l specul*a*tion? No. People *a*re mostly influenced by p*a*ssion *a*nd ignor*a*nce, not the light of spiritu*a*l knowledge, *a*nd they *a*re *a*lso covered by the v*a*st curt*a*in of m*a*y*a*, or the illusory energy. But there is *a* process for knowing Kṛṣṇ*a*. The process is to he*a*r *a*bout Kṛṣṇ*a* *a*nd ch*a*nt the holy n*a*mes: H*a*re Kṛṣṇ*a*, H*a*re R*a*m*a*. So if we do not *a*dopt the process, how c*a*n we underst*a*nd Kṛṣṇ*a* ? —*From a talk on* Śrīmad-Bhagavatam *(1.8.19) by Śrīla Prabhupāda, adapted by Tattvavit Dāsa* ## From the Editor Three Spiritual Authorities When I first came in contact with Śrīla Prabhupāda's *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is,* I was excited about my discovery. I'd been searching for answers to life's great questions, and after only a short time in the company of the philosophy of the *Gita,* I had to concur with Henry David Thoreau, who called it "stupendous" and said that compared to the *Gita,* "our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial." When I shared my enthusiasm for the *Bhagavad-gītā* with my coworkers, a young woman in the office expressed skepticism. So I asked her a question meant to capture in a simple way what the *Gita* teaches. "How do you know what's right and what's wrong?" I asked her. "My mother tells me." "How does she know?" "I don't know—she just does." While I appreciated her respect for her mother, her answer struck me as, well, trivial. Seeing a devotee's conviction about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, people may ask, "But how do you know it's true?" The answer can be summed up in three words: *sadhu*, *sastra,* and *guru*. These three authorities–saintly persons, Vedic scriptures, and the spiritual master–tell us what most mothers (and everyone else) can't tell us about the nature of reality and how to live in harmony with it. Śrīla Prabhupāda compared **sadhu*-*sastra*-*guru** to three parallel tracks that carry us forward to the supreme destination: Lord Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world. The primary authority is **sastra*.* In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (16.23) Kṛṣṇa says, "He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination." The spiritual authority of the *sadhu* and the *guru* derives from their living according to the injunctions of *sastra* and citing *sastra* as the unerring authority. Furthermore, the *sastra* includes the realizations of sadhus. For example, in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* we hear not only from incarnations of God, but also from many self-realized souls fully dedicated to God. Twelve primary *sadhus,* beginning with Lord Brahma, the first created being in the universe, are known as the *mahajanas,* or "great persons." The *Mahābhārata* tells us we should avoid the opinions of speculative philosophers and follow the path of the *mahajanas,* in whose hearts are hidden the truth of religious principles. They unanimously champion devotional service to Kṛṣṇa as the supreme occupation for humanity. The *sadhu* and *guru* validate *sastra.* Śrīla Prabhupāda and the previous *acaryas* (*sadhu*s) in his line accept the Vedic scriptures as sources of perfect knowledge, as do many other spiritual lineages tracing back into the remote past. If the authority of *sadhu-sastra-guru* seems like an endless self-validating circle, understand it instead as a system of checks and balances. We see the same dynamic operating in modern life. If we want to know whether a certain book is a valid law book, we ask a lawyer. The same principle applies to medicine, engineering, education, and many other fields. And the books in various fields help us understand the qualifications of the practitioners of those professions. I have no doubt that my initial encounter with the *Bhagavad-gītā* would have been less profound—and possibly fruitless—had the introduction been made by someone other than Śrīla Prabhupāda. I'd even say that although *sastra* is the fundamental authority, my faith in Kṛṣṇa consciousness rests primarily on my faith in Prabhupāda. I know Kṛṣṇa consciousness is reality because I know Śrīla Prabhupāda, through his teachings and example. His integrity is unimpeachable, his depth of spiritual realization clearly evident. So, when Prabhupāda speaks about the highest truth, I feel compelled to believe him. —Nagaraja Dāsa ## Vedic Thoughts There is no difference between the kingdom of God and the devotional service of the Lord. Since both of them are on the absolute plane, to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is to have attained the spiritual kingdom. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* 2.72, Purport One who is not connected with the Supreme [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace? Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Bhagavad-gītā* 2.66 Lord Kṛṣṇa, the one master and the Lord of the universe, is worthy of being served by everyone. Indeed, everyone is but a servant of His servants. That same Lord Kṛṣṇa has descended as Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone, therefore, is His servant. Śrīla Kṛṣṇadasa Kaviraja Gosvami *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi* 6.83–84 Wherever women are respected, even the demigods like to reside there, and wherever women are not respected, all actions are fruitless. *Manu-samhita* 3.56 The study of the *Vedas* and the *Puranas—*verily, the study of all scriptures—is completed in all respects by one who studies the *Gita* with devotion. *Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā-mahatmyam* From *Śrī Vaisnaviya-tantra-sara* O my Lord, all the great sages headed by Śrīla Vyasadeva are most experienced regarding the transcendental truth. This is because they discuss and deliberate on the revealed scriptures again and again. Thereby they manifest these sacred books, which reveal Your eternal personal form abounding in all virtuous qualities, and Your divine activities, which are the essence of ambrosial nectar. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura *Śrī Gita-mala* 1.3.1 It is the first duty of the most compassionate souls to divert the wretched taste of the living entities. It is more beneficial to save even one soul from Mahamaya's prison than to open millions of hospitals. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura *Amrta Vani,* 108 Instructions (#21) I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love. Lord Brahma *Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā* 5.38