# Back to Godhead Magazine #48 *2014 (06)* Back to Godhead Magazine #48-06, 2014 PDF-View ## Welcome When His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda left India for American in 1965, his mission, as described in the standard prayer to him, was to deliver "the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism." In this issue, Śrīla Prabhupāda refutes the idea, central to impersonalistic philosophies, that we are all God—a fallacy promoted by many teachers from India before and after him. By understanding the difference between "Limited and Unlimited Consciousness," we can quickly disabuse ourselves of any notion that we might be God. Śrīla Prabhupāda worked tirelessly to save people from the spiritually devastating effects of impersonalism and voidism, and he encouraged his disciples to do the same. He had many plans for grabbing people's attention and drawing it to Lord Kṛṣṇa's unadulterated teachings. One plan was the building of a magnificent temple—The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium—near the birthplace of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in West Bengal. Here we present an update on that project, the completion of which will surely inspire countless souls to ask, "What's this all about, anyway?" With that inquiry, they'll move one step closer to a reunion with Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person and the soul of all souls. 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 *Life in Svargaloka* All glories to your service to *Back to Godhead* magazine! I love to read it from the first to the last word every time. I especially appreciated your reply in the Letters section of the March/April 2014 issue entitled "One-on-One Spiritual Master." It is very valuable advice. I think it is the need of the day that the new generations of devotees join ISKCON through Śrīla Prabhupāda; it will be very auspicious for strengthening ISKCON. I have a few questions. Is there any type of *varnashrama* system in the Svargaloka planets of the demigods who manage universal administration (such as Indraloka)? If yes, then how do we explain the descriptions of one celestial personality enjoying with many beautiful women in the gardens? What is the role of women in that system? Some women are mentioned as wives of demigods, but there are others, like society girls, who seem to be there for the entertainment of the male section. If there is no *varnashrama,* then it seems even more difficult to have any regulative principles in their society. Does the law of *karma* work on demigods? In Indraloka, it is said that there are thirty-three million demigods and demons. How do these demons contribute in the universal administration? What is their role in Indraloka (other than competing with demigods)? Govindanandini Devī Dāsī New Jersey *Our reply:* We'll answer according to our general understanding of the heavenly planets, although there may be some exceptions to these points. Although Indra can be considered a king, and his *guru*, Brihaspati, a *brahmana,* there is no *varnashrama* system in Svargaloka. *Varnashrama* is meant for human beings on earth, from which one goes up or down after death. Human beings are supposed try to elevate themselves, especially to the platform of liberation, and *varnashrama* is Kṛṣṇa's system for organizing human society to do that. To understand Svargaloka, keep in mind that it is the place where one enjoys the results of one's good *karma*. That's its primary purpose, and it's especially the goal of followers of the *karma*-kanda sections of the *Vedas.* Everyone there is enjoying, and sexual enjoyment is prominent (for both men and women, naturally). The society girls must also be enjoying, even though from our perspective it might seem that they are being exploited. The four regulative principles followed by members of ISKCON are for human beings to make spiritual progress, which is not the primary purpose of Svargaloka. In the heavenly planets, the residents are allowed to enjoy things like sex and intoxication as the results of their good *karma* accumulated on earth. Again, it's the place for enjoying, not for undergoing *tapasya,* or austerity for spiritual elevation. When the results of the Svargaloka residents' good *karma* run out, they return to earth. Strict followers of the *karma*-kanda path think that this is the goal of life: to accumulate *punya* (good *karma*) on earth and then enjoy in heaven. They desire to do this eternally, in a continuous cycle, and have no thought of liberation from repeated birth and death. Generally the demigods don't incur new *karma* but are only working off (through enjoyment) the results of their old (good) *karma*. Of course, we never work off all of our *karma*, which traces back many lifetimes. So when they return to earth, they still have good and bad *karmic* results to suffer and enjoy. Ordinarily, there are no demons in Indraloka, except in times such as when Bali Mahārāja conquered it. The number thirty-three million refers to administrative demigods who perform various functions all over the universe, not just in Indraloka. One final note to help clarify things: The heavenly planets include both "the staff" and "visitors." It's a playground, with Indra (and probably the society girls) being part of the staff that provides for the enjoyment of the visitors. *Solving Problems by Chanting* Can chanting help in reconciling with my ex-husband? I am chanting sixteen rounds on my beads almost every day. I understand that chanting helps in purifying the soul, the heart, and the mind. Is it possible that chanting can help in solving emotional problems? I have been divorced for one year, and I am thinking of reconciling with my ex-husband. I am not chanting with the hope of expecting something in return. Yashoda Via the Internet *Our reply:* As you undoubtedly know, the Hare Kṛṣṇa *maha-mantra* you are chanting is a prayer in which the chanter is asking, "O Lord, or energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service." If your motive in chanting is not to get something from Kṛṣṇa but to serve Him, He will do whatever is best to help you reach that goal. He will know whether reuniting with your ex-husband will be spiritually helpful or not, and He will arrange things in the way that will be most spiritually beneficial. There's no definitive answer to your question. Kṛṣṇa will judge your needs and desires. If your true desire is to be united with your ex-husband even if it hurts your spiritual life, Kṛṣṇa may say, "Okay, this person is not serious about devotional service; I'll let her reunite with her husband and stay in illusion if that's what she really wants." Kṛṣṇa is a person, and being supremely intelligent, He can take many variables into consideration. The best advice we can give is to chant sincerely and let Kṛṣṇa decide what is best for you, whatever that may be. *Correction* The painting accompanying the article "Death Scenes with a Message" in the July/August issue was inaccurate. The painting shows three Vishnudutas coming to rescue the dying Ajamila from the hands of the Yamadutas. The *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* says, however, that there were four Vishnudutas. Śrīla Vishvanatha Chakravarti Ṭhākura writes in his commentary that four Vishnudutas arrived because Ajamila had chanted a name of the Lord containing four syllables: Narayana. Founder's Lecture: Limited and Unlimited Consciousness Visakhapatnam, India, February 19, 1972 By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-*Acarya* of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness *Lord Kṛṣṇa teaches that the individual living entity, though possessed of the attributes of God, is never equal to Him.* What is the objective of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement? It is a process for purification of consciousness. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (2.17) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, *avinashi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam: "*That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible." There are two kinds of consciousness. One consciousness is limited, and the other consciousness is unlimited. The unlimited consciousness is there in God, and the limited consciousness is there in you, in me, and in all living entities. If I pinch your body you feel pain. This is consciousness. "Somebody is pinching me." But if I pinch somebody else, you cannot feel it. Therefore your consciousness or my consciousness is limited to this body. Similarly there is another consciousness, which is Kṛṣṇa's consciousness, or universal consciousness. If I pinch your body, Kṛṣṇa as Paramatma, the Supersoul, feels that I am pinching somebody. These things are explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā.* Kṛṣṇa in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* Chapter 13, mentions *kshetra-*jna*. Kshetra,* which means field, refers to the body, and *jna* means knower. So kshetra-*jna* means the knower of the body. Kṛṣṇa says that in every body there is a kshetra-*jna*. I know the pains and pleasures of my body; you know the pains and pleasures of your body. Kṛṣṇa says, > kshetra-jnam capi mam viddhi > sarva-kshetreshu bharata "O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies." (*Gita* 13.3) Kṛṣṇa is present in everyone's body: > ishvarah sarva-bhutanam > hrid-deshe ’rjuna tishthati "The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna." (*Gita* 18.61) Therefore He knows the pains and pleasures of all bodies. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa, or God, and us. That is the test. Somebody is claiming, "I am God." How can you be God? You cannot know the pains and pleasures of others. But Kṛṣṇa knows. That is the difference between God and the living entity. God is conscious and we are conscious, but our consciousness is limited and God's consciousness is unlimited. That is the difference. Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, "I explained this *yoga* system to the sun-god." And Arjuna inquired, "How is that, Kṛṣṇa? Both You and I were born recently. How can You say that You explained this knowledge to the sun-god long, long ago—forty million years ago?" Kṛṣṇa answered, "My dear Arjuna, you are My eternal friend. You are always with Me. When I instructed the sun-god, you were also present, but you have forgotten. I do not forget." That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. *Vedaham samatitani* (*Gita* 7.26): Kṛṣṇa knows everything. He knows whatever has happened in the past, whatever will happen in the future, and whatever is happening at present, but we do not know. First of all we should understand that this is the difference between God and the living entity. *Understanding the Difference* The *jiva,* or individual soul, is explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā* as being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. The example is given of a big fire and its sparks. The sparks are small, but in quality they are fire. They are not different from fire. If a spark of the fire falls on your cloth, it will immediately burn the cloth. The burning quality is there, either in the big fire or in the small fire. Therefore, qualitatively we are one with God. Another example is the drop of ocean water. The chemical composition of the drop of ocean water is the same as the chemical composition of the big mass of water. Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful; we are also powerful. Kṛṣṇa can create; we also can create. Kṛṣṇa can create innumerable planets floating in the air; we can create a tiny airplane or Sputnik flying in the air. You see? So the creative power is there in both God and the *jiva,* but there is far difference between Kṛṣṇa's creative power and my creative power. *The Brain Behind Nature* In the *Vedas* (*Svetashvatara* *Upanishad* 6.8) it is said, > na tasya karyam karanam cha vidyate > na tat-samash cabhyadhikash cha drishyate > parasya shaktir vividhaiva shruyate > svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca "The Supreme Lord has nothing to do, and no one is found to be equal to or greater than Him, for everything is done naturally and systematically by His multifarious energies." Suppose I want to paint a nice flower. I require the brush, I require the paint, I require the intelligence, I require the time, and somehow or other, in a few days or a few months, I paint a very nice flower. But Kṛṣṇa's energy is so experienced that by working His energy, many millions of colorful flowers come at once. The foolish scientists say that this is the work of nature. No. Nature is instrumental. Behind nature is the brain of God, Kṛṣṇa. This understanding is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One who is Kṛṣṇa conscious understands that this flower has not come about blindly. These varieties of flowers, trees, and leaves are developing under the direction of Kṛṣṇa, but His direction is so powerful that the development comes at once—*svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca.* A great scientist pushes a button on a machine, and immediately something wonderful happens. But it is not that the machine is working independently; the scientist is pushing the button. Similarly, don't accept this nonsense idea that nature is producing independently. No, nature cannot produce. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.10), > mayadhyakshena prakritih > suyate sa-caracaram > hetunanena kaunteya > jagad viparivartate "This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again." *Mayadhyakshena:* "Under My supervision" nature is working. Not blindly. To think nature is working independently is crude knowledge. A child sees an airplane flying in the sky, and he may think the airplane is flying automatically, by itself. No. Without the touch of the pilot, the machine cannot work. The machine may be perfect, but the pilot is required. At the present moment civilization is trying to avoid God, the brain of God. That is foolishness. Kṛṣṇa says *mayadhyakshena prakritih:* "Nature is working under My supervision." The Kṛṣṇa conscious person sees the hand of God behind nature. That vision is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The *Vishnu Purana* (1.22.53) states, > eka-desha-sthitasyagner > jyotsna vistarini yatha > parasya brahmanah shaktis > tathedam akhilam jagat "Whatever we see in this world is but an expansion of various energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is like a fire that spreads illumination for a long distance although it is situated in one place." This verse explains the manifestation of this world. The sun, an emblem of fire, is situated ninety-three million miles away, but because it is a fiery planet, its heat and light is expanded, and in that heat and light everything is being generated. We have got practical experience. In Western countries where there is not sufficient heat and light, the trees and flowers do not grow so luxuriously. And when there is snowfall or no sunlight, the trees become dry and leafless. So, as the heat and light of the sun are the cause of the different leaves and flowers and fruits, similarly Kṛṣṇa has got two kinds of energy, like heat and light. That heat and light is the spiritual energy and the material energy. The material energy is practically darkness; there is no light. The Vedic instruction is therefore *tamasi ma jyotir gamah:* "Don't keep yourself within this darkness; go to the light." Besides this material sky of our experience, there is another sky, the spiritual sky. This material sky is naturally in darkness; therefore Kṛṣṇa has created the sun. The *Brahma-saṁhitā* (5.52) states, > yac-cakshur esha savita sakala-grahanam > raja samasta-sura-murtir ashesha-tejah > yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrita-kala-cakro > govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami "I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, under whose control even the sun, which is considered to be the eye of the Lord, rotates within the fixed orbit of eternal time. The sun is the king of all planetary systems and has unlimited potency in heat and light." The scientists say that the sun is rotating in its orbit so carefully that if it moves toward one side the whole universe will be immediately turned into ice, and if it moves toward the other side then immediately the whole universe will be ablaze. The scientists have seen so far that the sun is moving very carefully. Neither this side, nor that side—exactly in its orbit. Who has planned this orbit? The *Brahma-saṁhitā* informs us, *yasya-ajnaya:* "by whose order" the sun is rotating exactly in its orbit (*bhramati sambhrita-kala-cakro*). Lord Brahma says, "I am offering my worship to that person: *govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami.* That person is Govinda, Kṛṣṇa. Lord Brahma is not struck with wonder by the arrangement of the material world—how the sun is moving, how the moon is moving, how nature is working. He knows that there is a big brain behind it all: Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.8): > aham sarvasya prabhavo > mattah sarvam pravartate > iti matva bhajante mam > budha bhava-samanvitah "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts." Anyone who has understood Kṛṣṇa rightly, in truth, is Kṛṣṇa conscious. He is *budha,* actually in knowledge. Kṛṣṇa is so great. Kṛṣṇa's great power is so great. *Understand Kṛṣṇa the Right Way* Generally people take Kṛṣṇa very slightly. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa danced with the *gopis*." They do not know what Kṛṣṇa is. Therefore they go to hell by hearing Kṛṣṇa's *rasa-līlā* from unauthorized sources. We have to face so many questions sometimes: "Why did Kṛṣṇa act like this?" People ask this because they are listening to professional *Bhagavata* readers. When these professional narrators read the Śrīmad-*Bhagavata*m in public gatherings, they immediately open to the *rasa-līlā* chapters. Because they have no other knowledge, they cannot explain the *Bhagavata*. They have no brain to explain all the intricate verses in the Śrīmad-*Bhagavata*m, beginning with the first verse: *janmady asya yatah.* Therefore they do not know Kṛṣṇa. They jump to the spiritual *rasa-līlā*, and people misunderstand. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (7.3) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, > manushyanam sahasreshu > kashcid yatati siddhaye > yatatam api siddhanam > kashcin mam vetti tattvatah "Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." One has to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth; then his Kṛṣṇa consciousness will help him become *budha bhava-samanvitah:* a learned person who feels the presence of Kṛṣṇa everywhere. Then he'll be fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How can one understand Kṛṣṇa in truth? That is stated by Kṛṣṇa: > brahma-bhutah prasannatma > na shocati na kankshati > samah sarveshu bhuteshu > mad-bhaktim labhate param "One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me." (*Gita* 18.54) After Brahman realization, after being freed from material contamination, when one becomes actually happy and without anxiety, at that time one engages in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa especially mentions in the next verse (*Gita* 18.55), > bhaktya mam abhijanati > yavan yash casmi tattvatah > tato mam tattvato jnatva > vishate tad-anantaram "One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." Kṛṣṇa should be understood as He is—not by fiction, not by speculation, not by so-called scholarly, foolish commentation. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa as He is. That is right Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then one will be able to understand how Kṛṣṇa is working, how the whole world—the material atmosphere, the material cosmic manifestation—is working. Kṛṣṇa says, *mayadhyakshena:* "under My supervision." Of one who understands Kṛṣṇa scientifically, Kṛṣṇa says, > janma karma cha me divyam > evam yo vetti tattvatah > tyaktva deham punar janma > naiti mam eti so ’rjuna "One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." (*Gita* 4.9) Not the foolish man, but the intelligent man who knows Kṛṣṇa actually—he immediately becomes liberated. After giving up this body, he never comes back to accept another material body. He goes back home, back to Godhead. *Our Original Glowing Quality* How has the living entity, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, gotten this condition of material life? That can be explained in this way: Like the spark, as long as the *jiva* is in the "fire"—connected to Kṛṣṇa in devotional service—it is just like fire; it is glowing, glowing. It is only a spark, but it is glowing. But if it falls from the fire, then immediately it becomes extinguished. The glowing quality becomes extinguished. There are three positions of the living entity according to the quality of the material nature with which he associates. The living entity is of one type, but when he comes into this material world he associates with three kinds of material qualities: *sattva-guna, rajo-guna,* and *tamo-guna,* or the qualities of goodness, passion, and ignorance. One who is in *sattva-guna* has brahminical qualifications. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, > shamo damas tapah shaucam > kshantir arjavam eva ca > jnanam vijnanam astikyam > brahma-karma svabhava-jam "Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom, and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the *brahmanas* work." (*Gita* 18.42) One who has the brahminical qualities can understand his relationship with the Supreme Lord. The example of a spark is given to explain the situation of the *jiva* under the influence of each of the three qualities: When a spark falls on dry grass, the grass becomes blazing. If the spark falls on wet ground, the glowing quality may remain for some time, but it will be extinguished. And if the spark falls on water, it is extinguished. Similarly, when the living entity comes to this material world, if by chance he is in the association of the quality of goodness he keeps his God consciousness. If he is in the association of passion, he is materially busy. And if he associates with the quality of ignorance, he becomes an animal or an animal-like man. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving everyone the chance to glow again by association with Kṛṣṇa. If you put that spark—or that extinguished charcoal—into the fire, it will again light. Similarly this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to bring forth again the dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness in every living entity. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has said, > nitya-siddha Kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya > shravanadi-shuddha-citte karaye udaya "Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens." (*Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya* 22.107) We are just trying to revive people's original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are trying to awaken human society to come to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and live this life successfully. That is the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out: Chewing the Chewed *The following conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and some of his disciples took place in May 1974 during a morning walk in Rome.* Śrīla Prabhupāda: *Adanta-gobhir vishatam tamisram punah punash carvita-carvananam.* Life after life, people are simply trying to enjoy their senses. Life after life, the same thing over and over again. The same eating, the same sleeping, the same sexual intercourse, and the same defending, either as man or as dog. *Punah punash carvita-carvananam:* again and again, chewing the chewed. Whether you become a demigod or a dog, in the material world everyone is given the facilities for these four things: eating, sleeping, having sexual intercourse, and defending. Actually, if some danger were to come now, we humans might be victims, but a bird would immediately fly away. So the bird has better facility for defense. Is it not? Suppose all of a sudden a car came directly at us. We would be killed. We could not do anything, but even the smallest bird— “Hut! I'm leaving!” He can do that. Is it not so? His defensive measures are better than ours. Similarly, if we wanted to have sex, we would have to arrange for it. Find out some mate and a suitable time and place. But the female bird is always around the male bird, at any time. Take the sparrows, or the pigeons. Have you seen? Immediately they are ready for sex. And what does the bird do about eating? "Oh, there is some fruit." Immediately the bird can eat. And sleeping is also easy and convenient. So these facilities—don't think that they are available only in your skyscrapers. They are available for the birds and the beasts. It is not that unless you have got a very nice apartment in the skyscraper, you cannot have all these facilities of eating, sleeping, defending, and having sex. You can have them in any material body, in any species: *Vishayah khalu sarvatah syat. Vishayah* means the facilities for material sense enjoyment. Our process is *vishaya chadiya se rase majiya.* One has to give up this unsatisfying material enjoyment and relish transcendental bliss, the taste of spiritual enjoyment. It is enjoyment on a different platform. But today people are so befooled by the bodily concept of life that their only enjoyment is this material, so-called enjoyment. So the scriptures advise, "This temporary, inferior enjoyment is available in any form of material life—either as man or as bird or as beast. Why are you repeatedly going after this same unsatisfying enjoyment in all these different species of life? *Punah punash carvita-carvananam:* In all these different forms, again and again, you are doing the same stupid, unsatisfying thing." But *matir na krishne paratah svato va:* those who are befooled by material sensual enjoyment cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious, by their own endeavor or even by instruction from a spiritual master. And *mitho ’bhipadyeta:* these foolish people may hold many conferences and meetings to inquire, "What are the problems of life?"—but still they cannot take to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Why? **Griha*-vratanam:* as long as they have got this determination—"We shall be happy in this material world"—they cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. *Griha* means "home" and also "body." Those who are trying to be happy within this material body—they cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because *adanta-gobhih:* their senses are so uncontrolled. Therefore these people must repeatedly undergo the ordeal of chewing the chewed. Again and again, the same sensual enjoyment: eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Disciple: So our task is to convince people that they can't be happy in the material world? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. And they have already got very convincing experience. Daily they are founding so many parties, manufacturing so many means and plans and this and that, but still they are not happy. And yet they are such great fools that in spite of being repeatedly baffled, still they are chewing what they have already chewed—the same thing all over again, in somewhat different forms. What is the difference between the communists and capitalists? After all, both groups are simply looking after how they can make things into a better arrangement for their own sensual enjoyment. The two groups are fighting, but everyone's aim is *griha-vratanam:* "We shall remain within this material world and be happy here." Disciple: The idea is, if we can get enough food and sex, we will be happy. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That's all. And then people become impotent. And they beg the doctor, "Give me some sex medicine." You see? *Punah punash carvita-carvananam.* Chewing the same old tired thing. And when they feel disgusted with sex at home: "Let us go to the prostitute. Let us go to the naked dance." They have no other ideas. So this class of men cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. First of all, one must be in knowledge—"I am not anything of this material world. I am spirit soul. My happiness is in the spiritual world." Then he is a real human being and he can make spiritual advancement. So the next question is, "How can one become interested in the spirit soul or Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" How? This is the question. Animals—and people like animals—cannot become interested. > naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ > spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ > mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ > niṣkiicanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat The *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (7.5.32) says, "The consciousness of these rascals and fools cannot be turned toward the lotus feet of Lord ¸ri Kṛṣṇa, who acts wonderfully, until they touch their heads to the lotus feet of a devotee of the Lord who is *nishkincana,* who has nothing to gain in this material world and is simply interested in Kṛṣṇa." If you get the opportunity of touching your head to the lotus feet or even the dust of the lotus feet of such a great devotee, your spiritual advancement is possible. Otherwise, it is not. The dust of the lotus feet of a great devotee can help you. ## TOVP: The Future in the Making *by Ajita Nimai Dāsa* *Metaphorically, prominent acharyas in Lord Chaitanya's line laid the foundation for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.* The construction of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP)—the biggest Vedic temple in the world—is well underway in the holy town of Māyāpur, West Bengal. Lord Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself in the role of His own devotee, appeared in Māyāpur in 1486 CE and inaugurated the *sankirtana* movement of the congregational chanting of God's names. His movement has since spread all over the world through the unyielding dedication of His devotees. The most notable recent devotee was His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. While the movement he founded, the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness (ISKCON), continues to expand the *sankirtana* movement’s enlightening influence in various ways, the TOVP is its biggest construction project today. *The Future Rests on the Past* The TOVP is far from complete, and the same can be said of the astronomical mission of the *sankirtana* movement. But their current state points to a magnificent future for both. The future rests on the past, and deep appreciation of the past Vedic culture can inspire a stupendous future for Vedic projects today. The Vedic literature asserts that the Vedic tradition is not only old, but timeless. When introducing to Arjuna the topic of transcendental knowledge, Lord Kṛṣṇa tells him: > imam vivasvate yogam > proktavan aham avyayam > vivasvan manave praha > manur ikshvakave ’bravit "I instructed this imperishable science of *yoga* to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku." (*Gita* 4.1) Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in his purport that this knowledge has been extant in human society for at least two million years. The sacred system of *parampara* (disciplic succession) keeps the knowledge flowing from one generation to the next. But this current of spirituality must not be taken for granted. Its carriers at any time in history are always up against the opposing undercurrent of materialism that characterizes the material world. Time and again this untiring, sinister current sidelines the spiritual current and becomes prominent in the world, creating tough times for the bearers of the *parampara* system. To set things right, sometimes Kṛṣṇa descends to reveal spiritual knowledge. About five thousand years ago He spoke the *Gita* to Arjuna in the dramatic setting of a world war. > sa evayam maya te ’dya > yogah proktah puratanah > bhakto ’si me sakha ceti > rahasyam hy etad uttamam "[Because it has been lost in the course of time,] that very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science." (*Gita* 4.3) And then five hundred years ago Lord Chaitanya revealed the same knowledge once again by teaching and exemplifying the practical message of devotion. At other times, the **acharyas*,* prominent links in the *parampara* chain, keep the message alive and distribute it profusely. The TOVP is a tribute to the glorious *acharyas* of Lord Chaitanya's Gaudiya Vaishnava *parampara*. It’s not easy to keep a flame burning amidst turbulent winds. It's tougher still to light more lamps in the process. While all links in the *parampara* are praiseworthy, those who operate in turbulent anti-spiritual times to create a blazing spiritual movement are extra special. After Lord Chaitanya and the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan left this world, by an inconceivable arrangement of the Lord the *sankirtana* movement gradually disintegrated. By the 1700s, the ruling Moghul invaders had wantonly destroyed many temples in Vrindavan. Devotees were living under the constant threat of Moghul cruelty. During these oppressive times, Śrīla Vishvanatha Chakravarti Ṭhākura held the fort for Gaudiya Vaishnavism in Vrindavan. Despite the times, he produced literary works full of deep spiritual realizations about Vrindavan. When the very authenticity of Gaudiya Vaishnavism was under attack, Vishvanatha's ardent follower Śrīla Baladeva Vidyabhushana produced a landmark commentary on the *Vedanta-sutras:* the *Govinda Bhashya.* Despite determined opposition, these *acharyas* not only kept the tradition alive, but also produced literature that is today a signature of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. By the 1800s, the British were ruling India. Their goal was to obliterate Vedic literature and culture. The British-run educational system taught that the Vedic literature is full of fantastic mythological narrations with no connection to reality. This message encouraged many young Indian intellectuals to reject Vedic schools of thought, including Gaudiya Vaishnavism, then in a pathetic state. Many groups proclaiming to be Gaudiya Vaishnavas had cropped up. But their behavior and philosophical understanding were far removed from the pure teachings of Lord Chaitanya. Like the mud-born lotus, amidst such harsh, filthy, anti-spiritual circumstances appeared Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He struggled hard against the strong opposing currents to establish the pure original teachings of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He wrote extensively, preached door-to-door in villages, and published authentic philosophical works of the Six Goswamis. His son Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura carried forward his father’s mission with fiery zeal, establishing sixty-four Gaudiya Matha temples all over India. His foremost disciple, Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, established ISKCON. Volumes of books describe his monumental life and spectacular success. But we must not forget the hardships he underwent to serve his spiritual master and Lord Chaitanya, driven by his compassion for us. If we deeply appreciate what these exalted *acharyas* have done for Kṛṣṇa, the world, and us, we will always worship them within our hearts with gratitude and affection. The TOVP will express these highly elevated spiritual feelings by placing fifteen *acharyas*—from the Six Goswamis to Śrīla Prabhupāda—on the main altar. This will be the first time in Gaudiya Vaishnava history that so many past *acharyas* reside on the main altar of a temple. Dedicated artists are using the latest technology and careful research to create lifelike Deities portraying the mood and personality of each *acharya.* Unlike the Lord, who can accomplish everything effortlessly, these *acharyas* toiled unimaginably hard. They used their spiritual acumen while depending on the Lord’s mercy alone. They accomplished what is ordinarily impossible. The TOVP is a salute to their sacrifices and contributions. Indeed, the TOVP and the *sankirtana* mission are growing all over the world on the philosophical, institutional, literary, and cultural foundation they laid. *Taking Shape* Phase One of the TOVP construction is near completion. It consists of the RCC (reinforced cement concrete) framework of columns, the brickwork, and the massive domes that will be the most striking feature of the temple. The RCC framework is complete. The spaces are now well defined, the structure's immensity apparent. The brickwork is defining the edges of the building, which has started looking more like a temple than a construction site. The third ring of concrete and steel forming the central dome is under construction. The domes will be ready by the first quarter of 2015. The best waterproofing company in the world is using the best technology to protect the superstructure against cracks and water seepage. The goal is to construct a building that will last for at least a thousand years without needing renovation. The massive structure of the TOVP is already visible from miles away. Residents of the area, who could already see Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Samadhi, can now see his gift to Lord Chaitanya. Phase Two will be all about the finishing, interior and exterior. There will be at least twenty-two types of finishing work, including carpentry, woodwork, flooring, doors, and windows. Also included are the astonishing gold work and marble cladding, and the *kalasha* ("pitcher") on top of each of the three domes. Apart from the gold inlays inside the temple, the domes will be decorated on the outside by a mesh of gold work. Spotless white marble for the interiors and the exteriors of the temple has started arriving from Vietnam. Exquisite, rare dark-blue marble has arrived from Bhutan for embellishing the gorgeous altar in the central dome. Work has started on the design of the *kalasha*, which symbolizes abundance, growth, and new life. The *kalasha* on top of the central dome will be four stories (sixty-eight feet) tall. It will be coated with the extremely hard ceramic material known as titanium nitride (TiN), which looks like gold, lasts very long, and will make the *kalasha* maintenance free. A team of artists considers every detail of the various aspects of the design. Each component gets painstaking attention before getting finalized. The temple site is clean. The construction work is of the highest quality, ensured not only by strict monitoring of the work but also by inspiring the workers. Recently all the workers attended a class on the importance and significance of the project. From the top of the central dome will hang the world’s largest chandelier, one of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s most cherished ideas for the temple. It will depict the structure of the universe as described in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam,* as well as the spiritual world beyond, up to the highest spiritual planet, Goloka Vrindavana. Visitors will be able to study the universe from multiple levels. Galleries and exhibits at each level will explain the purpose of the universe and its various aspects. The highest level will take visitors on a tour of the spiritual world. *Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Desire* Śrīla Prabhupāda used to say that Bombay was his office, Vrindavan his home, and Māyāpur his place of worship. On Lord Chaitanya’s order, the Six Goswamis discovered and excavated many holy places in Vrindavan, Kṛṣṇa’s town. Similarly, recent Gaudiya *acharyas* contributed immensely to Māyāpur, Lord Chaitanya’s town. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura discovered Lord Chaitanya’s birthplace. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura discovered many pastime places of Lord Chaitanya and founded the Gaudiya Matha, with a prominent branch—the Śrī Chaitanya Matha—in Māyāpur. Similarly, the TOVP will be Śrīla Prabhupāda’s most striking contribution to Māyāpur, his place of worship. Centuries ago, devoted kings built grand temples. For example, the massive temple of Ranganath Swamy (a reclining form of Lord Vishnu) in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, was built between the eleventh and seventeenth centuries CE. During this period, the rulers of the region changed, but all of them gave paramount importance to the temple's construction. Times have changed. The rulers of the India don’t build temples anymore. Temples are now built by raising funds from the public. Māyāpur is the international headquarters of ISKCON. Consequently, the TOVP is not a local temple of Māyāpur or even India. Due the interconnected nature of modern times, and the international outreach of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s ISKCON, the TOVP is an international temple for the entire population of the earth. Śrīla Prabhupāda taught his followers to desire big for the service of Kṛṣṇa. The TOVP was one of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s grandest desires. The desires of pure devotees are fulfilled by the Lord Himself. For example, years before Śrīla Prabhupāda started ISKCON, he had a desire to build a grand temple in Juhu, Bombay. Years later the landmark Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari Temple manifested. The TOVP team would like to move the Deities—the Panca Tattva, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Madhava and the Eight Gopis, and Lord Nrisimhadeva—into the TOVP by 2022. When devotees of the Lord come together and cooperate in the spirit of gratitude and love, anything is possible. *Ajita Nimai Dāsa is a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānath Swami. He is a member of the congregation of the Śrī Śrī Rādhā Vrindavan Chandra Temple (aka NVCC) in Pune, India. He has a master's degree in computer science from IIT Bombay and works with Symantec Corporation as a senior manager.* Website: www.tovp.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo ## Beyond the Resplendent Rainbows *by Damodara Nityānanda Dāsa* *Considering that rainbows are visible only when certain conditions are met, one may reasonably ask, "Who set the conditions?"* In 1666 Newton demonstrated that normal white light is composed of all the colors. By refracting (bending) light through a glass prism, he separated it into its component colors. Then, by sending the refracted light back through another prism, he combined the components back into white light, proving that the prism itself wasn’t creating the colors. He also figured out that many materials refract light, including water. Raindrops refracting and reflecting light are the key to producing a rainbow, which, he concluded, is a successful collaboration between the sun, zillions of tiny raindrops (sometimes less than one millimeter across), and our eyes, which must be observing those raindrops at just the right angles. Three conditions are mandatory to see a rainbow. First, the sun needs to be behind us. Second, there must be raindrops ahead of us, whether miles or a few hundred feet away. Third, the sunlight must reach the raindrops without any obstruction, such as clouds. When a ray of light enters a raindrop and refracts, it separates into component colors. Red light refracts, or bends, the least, while violet light refracts the most. The different-colored rays travel toward the back of the raindrop. Some of the light exits, but some of it bounces back at an angle, towards the front of the raindrop. Some of the light reflects more than once, but to keep this discussion simple, I'll restrict it to the light that reflects just once. When light exits the front of the drop, some of it again refracts, separating the colored rays still further. Key to why we see a rainbow is that red light exits the raindrop at angles that are always smaller than 42 degrees from the direction of the sunlight entering the drop. And this is the same for all raindrops, for the sun is very far away. The angle at which the red light exists can be anything less than 42 degrees, and the maximum angle is different for different colors. For violet light, the maximum angle is about 40 degrees. The different maximum angles for each color account for the stripes in the rainbow. How does one spot a rainbow under the right conditions? Facing the rain, imagine a line from the sun, through your head, and to the far end of your shadow. The higher the sun, the steeper this line is and the shorter your shadow. At about 42 degrees away from that line—straight up, to the right or left—one can see the red band. At about 40 degrees away from it—up, right or left—one can see the violet band. Since the 40-degree band is closer to the imaginary line than the 42-degree band, the violet band is on the inside of the red band, with the other colors in between. Now you might wonder, at the maximum angle for violet light, do we see only violet light? After all, red light can also emerge at 40 degrees, as it is smaller than 42 degrees. The answer is that at the maximum angle for any color, that color dominates. And why is the rainbow a bow and not straight? Go back to that imaginary line from your head to the end of your shadow. When you measure 42 degrees in all directions—away from the imaginary line—you are tracing an arc of color. But not all rainbows are full arcs; some are just little pieces. That happens when there aren’t enough raindrops in all directions or when certain parts of the rainbow are in the shadow of obstructing clouds. When the sun is high, the rainbow may just peek above the horizon, whereas just before sunset or around sunrise, when the sun is low and your shadow is long, then a rainbow may be enormous. *The Challenge of Universal Constants* Modern science can't explain why the physical laws are as they are, or why the universal constants have the values they have. However, when we look closely at the Vedic scriptures we get much insight. When I said that we cannot see the light from the raindrops beyond 42 degrees, did it occur to you that it is 42 degrees because that’s how it is ordained by the Supreme Lord’s inconceivable energy? If yes, then you are fortunate, for you can easily learn all there is to know about rainbows and beyond. If no, then while you can find out experimentally that it is indeed 42 degrees, you may erroneously infer that it randomly happens under “right conditions” for the rainbow to be visible to your eyes. That inference is precarious, for you would explore ways to deny the supreme intelligent designer, who through His diverse energies creates wonderful precise art like a rainbow. And not just rainbows; there is a perfect brain behind all the natural physical laws. “Brain” implies a person. That person, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the supreme scientist under whose will the whole cosmos works. In *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.8) He says, *prakritim svam avashtabhya visrijami punah punah:* "The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again." A rainbow governed by precise scientific laws of reflection and refraction is also a work of art. When the right conditions are met, a rainbow can manifest by the subtle energies of the Supreme Lord, just as a rose can bloom overnight because of those same energies. Kṛṣṇa is the greatest artist. When we observe the artistic work in a rainbow, we can understand that the color adjustment, the shape, and so on, have demanded the minute attention of an intelligent designer, for if the rainbow were truly random, why would it follow exact laws of certain angular shifts? But the gross materialist, not seeing the hand of God in such manifestations, concludes that the Absolute Truth is impersonal. Actually, the Absolute is personal, but independent. Unless engaged in His service one cannot fathom how He acts. Everything is revealed in loving devotional service. *Indra and the Sun-god* The Supreme Lord does not personally paint the rainbows, for His energies in the form of demigods such as the sun-god and the rain-god (Indra) act in unison. Rainbows only appear to come into being without an artist’s aid. In the normal course, Lord Indra and the sun-god are involved together in the creation of rainbows, which occur under prescribed laws. But since Indra and the sun-god are specially empowered, there is exception to the laws if these demigods so desire. For instance, at the outset of the battle between Indra's son Arjuna and the sun-god's son Karna, an interesting symbolic confrontation took place between Indra and the sun-god. Thundering clouds that flashed with lightning suddenly covered the sky, and without the cooperation of the sun, a profusion of rainbows appeared. Seeing Lord Indra affectionately sending his signs to encourage his son Arjuna and forecast his victory, the sun vanquished the clouds that came too near his son Karna. Thus Arjuna was covered by the shadow of Indra’s clouds, whereas Karna was fully exposed, bathed in the rays of the sun. The word *guna* can mean "string" or “mode.” Just as a rainbow has no string, the appearance of the Personality of Godhead has nothing to do with the modes of material nature. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (10.20.18) states: "When the curved bow of Indra [the rainbow] appeared in the sky, which had the quality of thundering sound, it was unlike ordinary bows because it did not rest upon a string. Similarly, when the Supreme Lord appears in this world, which is the interaction of the material qualities, He is unlike ordinary persons because He remains free from all material qualities and independent of all material conditions." In their purport to this verse, the disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda quote his commentary: Sometimes, in addition to the roaring thunder of the clouds, there is an appearance of a rainbow, which stands as a bow without a string. Usually, a bow stays in the curved position because it is tied at its two ends by the bowstring; but in the rainbow there is no such string, and yet it rests in the sky so beautifully. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends to this material world, He appears just like an ordinary human being, but He is not resting on any material condition. In the *Bhagavad-gītā,* the Lord says that He appears by His internal potency, which is free from the bondage of the external potency. The bow of the Supreme Lord or His intimate devotee like Arjuna is often compared to a rainbow. When Hanuman met Rama and Lakshmana at the edge of the lake by Rishyamukha Hill, he prostrated himself before the princes and inquired respectfully, “What brings you two shining ascetics to this region? You appear like a pair of royal sages fit to rule the entire world, and Your massive bows glow like rainbows.” Now, consider what *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (1.11.27) states: “As the Lord passed along the public road of Dvaraka, His head was protected from the sunshine by a white umbrella. . . . His yellow garments and garlands of flowers made it appear as if a dark cloud were surrounded simultaneously by the sun, moon, lightning, and rainbows.” How is a magnificent rainbow possible when dark clouds surround the sun? As if anticipating this question, Śrīla Prabhupāda answers: The sun, moon, rainbow, and lightning do not appear in the sky simultaneously. When there is sun, the moonlight becomes insignificant, and if there are clouds and a rainbow, there is no manifestation of lightning. The Lord's bodily hue is just like a new monsoon cloud. He is compared herein to the cloud. The white umbrella over His head is compared to the sun. The movement of the bunch-hair fan of flukes [hair] is compared to the moon. The showers of flowers are compared to the stars. His yellow garments are compared to lightning. And the flower garlands on His chest are compared to a rainbow. So all these activities of the firmament, being impossible simultaneous factors, cannot be adjusted by comparison. The adjustment is possible only when we think of the inconceivable potency of the Lord. The Lord is all-powerful, and in His presence anything impossible can be made possible by His inconceivable energy. But the situation created at the time of His passing on the roads of Dvaraka was beautiful and could not be compared to anything besides the description of natural phenomena. All laws are subservient to Him. *One Among Countless Stars* Given that mere reflections and refractions of sun rays create splendors like rainbows at certain conditions, fathom this: the sun is only one of the countless stars in the sky. By using thermal, electrical, and nuclear powerhouses, the scientific brain supplies heat, light, and energy to some extent, but Lord Kṛṣṇa provides the whole planet with unlimited energy from just one sun. He says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (15.12), “The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me.” The light of the sun originally emanates from the *brahmajyoti,* the effulgence of the Lord. Everything is ultimately an expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore there is no other object of meditation besides Kṛṣṇa. A *bhakti-yogi* is fixed in devotional service at all times, and whatever he sees, such as the resplendent rainbows, contributes to his appreciation of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and meditation on Him. The exquisite beauty of rainbows and the precise reflections and refractions involved in their formation remind him of the Supreme Lord’s perfect design. Kṛṣṇa is the source of all rainbows. Scientists are accorded great acclaim for a few spaceships, while Kṛṣṇa effortlessly creates gigantic planets and stars, and perfectly maintains them. He says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (15.13), *gam avishya cha bhutani dharayamy aham ojasa:* “I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit.” The laws made by the supreme brain are perfect. The sun never rises in the west and never sets in the east, nor is the colorful rainbow seen when the sun is ahead of us. Indeed, majestic rainbows remind us of the supreme inconceivable intelligence and the ability of the supreme scientist, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, let us glorify the source of rainbows through the second stanza from *Śrī Vraja-Raja-Sutashtakam* ("Eight Prayers Glorifying the Son of the King of Vraja"): > bhru-vishankita-vankima-shakru-dhanum > mukha-chandra-vinindita-koti-vidhum > mridu-manda-suhasya-subhashya-yutam > bhaja Kṛṣṇa-nidhim vraja-raja-sutam "He whose broadly bending eyebrows appear like arched rainbows, whose pure moonlike face belittles millions of moons, who is endowed with sweet gentle smiles and pleasant speech—just worship Kṛṣṇa, the dark jewel, the son of the King of Vraja." *Damodara Nityānanda Dāsa (Dr. Dipankar Deb) is a disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Vikasha Swami. He holds a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia and is the author of an upcoming book,* Science, Nescience and Perfect Design. ## How I Came to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness *My Metamorphosis from Judaism to Vaishnavism* *by Len Cohen* "Merciful music and Kṛṣṇa’s transformative power saved me from a life of impersonalism." What was I, a nice Jewish fellow, doing in front of the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple? I didn’t fit in there with the Indian culture. I couldn’t relate to the women in *saris*. I wasn’t wearing a *dhoti*. I wasn’t wearing *tilaka*. I didn’t belong there. Maybe I should have gone back to my local synagogue and looked for God there. That’s where I belonged. But I didn’t go there. I persisted in looking for my self-realization at this ISKCON Temple in Philadelphia. My spiritual journey included Conservative Judaism, Native American Vision Quests, and various forms of Hinduism. Eventually I found true meaning in being a Vaishnava. When I was eight years old I began going to Hebrew School to prepare for my Bar Mitzvah. I didn’t know what God looked like or what He did, and I didn’t care much for God at the time. At Hebrew School we studied the Torah, the holy book worshiped by Conservative Jews. But the best part of my experience there was when a man named Schlomo came to our classroom with his accordion to sing Israeli folk songs. His short red hair gleamed with sweat as he belted out his songs in Hebrew. We all sang along vigorously. Finally something in Hebrew School meant something to me: music. I could understand it. Unable to name more than three of the Ten Commandments, I flunked my Bar Mitzvah test. I wasn't interested in religious things. My parents rarely went to synagogue. When Chanukah came around, they embarrassed me by displaying a plastic electric menorah in our front window. They were not devout, religious Jews, but like the rest of my neighbors, they liked to keep up the appearance of Judaism. They were “show-bottle” Jews. *My Bar Mitzvah* It was November 1963, and President Kennedy had been assassinated the week before. The whole country was in mourning. Kennedy pieces filled the newspapers, magazines, and television. But I had passed my Bar Mitzvah exam on retake, and I was concerned only about myself. Would I still be Bar Mitzvahed that weekend? The answer was yes. Soon I was on the *bimah,* the raised platform with a desk for reading the sacred Torah. Standing in front of the congregation and next to the rabbi, I sang the *shema,* the most important prayer in Judaism, and took my *aliyah,* reading from the Torah. I enjoyed being the center of everyone’s attention, and I was excited to be so close to the holy book. At the end of the service, the rabbi handed me something packaged in an ornate box on behalf of the congregation’s sisterhood. What wonderful object could be inside? In the privacy of my home I opened the gift. It was a *kiddush* cup for drinking wine. *I suffered in Hebrew School for five years,* I thought, *and* *all I got for my Bar Mitzvah was a lousy* kiddush *cup?* That evening, with my parents in tow, I went to the premier hotel in Philadelphia for my Bar Mitzvah celebration. All the men wore tuxedos, even me. Music still appealed to me. The bandleader said it was time to dance to a tune called “Who’s Got the Bug?” I'd been looking forward to this Bar Mitzvah tradition. It had little to do with spirituality, and more to do with me getting to show off a little. I took center stage. When the wild music started, I danced like a monkey with a severe case of fleas. I scratched and jumped, grimaced, and flung my arms out wildly—a brave performance for such a shy, nerdy kid with black-framed glasses. My braces-filled mouth grinned as I whirled around. This was fun! Eventually, I got tired and someone else “got the bug.” Music had saved me again. Thank you, Schlomo, and thank you, Bar Mitzvah. *Vision Quest* After I finished graduate school, I worked as a counselor in many schools, but I felt I was only going through the motions in my job. There was a hole in my heart, and I didn’t know how to fill it. Something was missing. After exploring mystical Judaism and Tibetan Buddhism, in August of 1997 I went on my first Vision Quest. I went to find out who I was and what my service to God was. The Vision Quest was a wilderness rite of passage involving purification in a sweat lodge and then sleeping and fasting on an isolated mountaintop for four days. I was badly in need of an emotional tune-up to get some direction in my life. I was forty-seven years old and firmly in the grip of a midlife crisis. I had gone through two marriages, had a daughter in California I barely knew, and had tried various drugs without finding happiness. The idea of climbing a mountain and fasting to seek answers to the question of my life appealed to my biblical sensibilities. Maybe this was what a Jew should do. I would suffer as Job did, submit myself to a lot of austerities, and hope for a mystical vision. I flew to Telluride, Colorado, and drove past majestic Mount Wilson, my ultimate destination. Rising up 14,252 feet in a symmetrical line of jagged peaks, Mount Wilson was framed by a beautiful cloudless turquoise sky. The pyramidal snow-dusted summit reflected the silver beams of a full moon. It was a magnificent sight. The next day, after being purified in the sweat lodge, I hefted my fifty-pound backpack and began to hike up Mount Wilson with my fellow Vision-Questers. On the way up I wondered: Will I actually see God up there? What will He or She look like? Will He look like the bearded old man in Michelangelo's painting? Maybe God will take on the appearance of a burning bush or a cloud overhead, as in the Old Testament. I didn’t have a clue what God looked like or how He spent His time. I reached the summit, found an isolated place to camp, and began my fast. After four days, when returning to base camp I had a mystical experience. (Maybe starving for four days had something to do with it!) For hours I heard a heavenly choir singing in a high pitch. I didn’t know who was singing or what they were saying, but I was impressed. Gradually, this divine singing faded away, and I went back to my life in the material world. While this “heavenly choir” was a revelation to me, in the end I found that the Vision Quest path was too impractical. I had to undergo severe austerities to achieve any result. How could I go to work after fasting and hallucinating for days? And I still didn’t know what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. *Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Temple* I was just another lost soul in *maya,* still searching for that elusive God. I didn’t know what else to do, so I kept doing what I had always done: I worked in the material world. Every day I passed the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple on my way home from work as an elementary school counselor, but I was afraid to go in. What would I do there? I didn't identify with the dark-skinned men who sometimes wore extra-long shirts and Gandhi-esque pants. I clearly didn’t belong. Still, I became interested in Indian culture, so I began to take sitar lessons from a talented Muslim musician. He played sitar, tabla, and a bass sitar his uncle invented, called the surbahar. I took lessons for several years; music was still very important to me. One day I met the head *pujari* of the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple. She was taking voice lessons from my sitar teacher, and she invited me to the temple for lunch. Finally, here was my in! I went to the temple the next afternoon, and soon I was going there every Friday night. We sang *bhajanas*, the *pujari* leading, accompanying herself on the harmonium. Even though I didn’t know the meaning of the Sanskrit and Bengali words, I would sit on the floor, face the Deities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and repeat with my heart what I heard. I connected with the spiritual aspect of the music. I could see God up there on the altar. He and His consort looked beautiful. Finally I knew what God looked like. The *bhajanas* transported me to the spiritual realm even though I didn’t know what I was singing. For the short time I chanted, I could taste bliss and happiness. I was finally communing with God, a God with a real face, a bluish cowherd boy who dressed in yellow, played a flute, and wore a peacock feather in His turban. The temple was immaculate. The marble floor was checkered in black and white, and the life-sized statue of Śrīla Prabhupāda, the founder of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, sat on his raised seat with a great view of the Deities. He wore a knitted wool cap to keep out the November chill. His meditation bag was close at hand. In our *bhajana* band I played my sitar, the head *pujari* was on vocals and harmonium, the temple president’s son was on tablas, and a female devotee played the esraj. Soon we performed for the entire Hare Kṛṣṇa community. We sang about Kṛṣṇa, the beautiful boy who is also God. In my soul, singing about the Lord seemed right. After our performance, we joined everyone in an exuberant *kirtana,* followed by a delicious feast of Kṛṣṇa *prasada.* Surely the music and the food were central to my attraction to the temple. Through the music, I discovered I had a connection to God that we all have in our heart. I had completed my journey and found what I was looking for all of this time: Kṛṣṇa. Before Kṛṣṇa consciousness, I was lost in the material world, but now I felt more peaceful and had a genuine spiritual grounding. My life was uplifted. My wife and I were married in a Vedic ceremony in my home a year later. We have now been married ten years. We have a beautiful temple room in our house and regularly read from *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam.* Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa has made me more self-realized, and I hope I can become a selfless servant of God. Additionally, I chant with devotees in public, attend Rathayatras, Sunday feasts, and major temple festivals, and I think about how best to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is the story of how one Conservative Jew transformed into a devotee of Kṛṣṇa*. Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa sankirtana!* ## A Back to Godhead Distributor’s Inspiring Journey *by Chaitanya Charana Dāsa* *A retired college principal dedicated to delivering Kṛṣṇa's teachings passes away in the most favorable atmosphere for remembering the Lord.* “If Śrīla Prabhupāda could go door to door distributing *Back to Godheads* in the burning heat of Delhi despite his advanced age, why can’t I serve similarly in my own small way?” This thought galvanized Bhagavan Malwadkar, a retired college principal in Maharashtra. He hand delivered *Back to Godhead* (BTG) magazines to 170 subscribers in 10 cities, going to each of them month after month for thirteen years. He served the recipients of the magazine not just as a humble subscription deliverer, but also as a venerable spiritual mentor. Thus Baladeva Dāsa (his initiated name) offered the tireless labor of the later half of his life to Kṛṣṇa’s service. He had also offered the best fruits of the earlier half of his life—including a lion’s share of his savings, as well as two of his sons, who serve as *brahmacharis* in ISKCON. In reciprocation for his service, Kṛṣṇa arranged for both of Baladeva Dāsa’s sons to be by his side chanting the holy names as he breathed his last on March 23, 2014, in the auspicious morning hours. *A Principal with Principles* This remarkable life journey began in the pious land of Solapur, Maharashtra, close to Pandharpur, the abode of Vitthala, a celebrated, immensely loved form of Kṛṣṇa. From childhood, Bhagavan grew up hearing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and relishing the devotional songs of exalted Marathi saints such as Tukarama Mahārāja. An excellent student, Bhagavan chose to dedicate his life to education, becoming an exemplary teacher at the Chintamani Vidya Mandir, a college in Pune. Malwadkar Sir, as the students called him, soon became respected for his competence at teaching, his concern for his students, and his courage of conviction in maintaining his incorruptible integrity. In a country where education is worshiped with an almost religious frenzy, and where educational failure is a social stigma, students and parents often seek good grades by any means, including bribing or even threatening teachers. Amidst it all, Malwadkar Sir stood tall, remaining unfazed and uncompromising even when goons sent by disgruntled parents of underperforming students threatened him. Once, when the disconsolate mother of a failed student sent her gold bangles with her son, asking that he be passed, Malwadkar Sir gently but firmly told the boy, “You don’t have to give me anything. Just give your studies more time. And if you have any difficulties in your studies, I will give you more time.” Due to his sterling qualities and his commitment to serving the student community, he went on to become the principal of the college till he took voluntary retirement in 2002 at the age of fifty-four, wanting to devote himself more to spiritual growth. *“A Good Spiritual Institution” Becomes “My Spiritual Calling”* On the home front, he married a pious lady, Shailini Upale (who later became Sura-priya Devī Dāsī), and had three sons: Prashant, Siddhnath, and Santosh. In the housing complex where he lived, Malwadkar would organize *kirtana* programs every Saturday evening, inviting different devotional groups to sing. Siddhnath was my classmate at the Government College of Engineering, Pune, and was introduced to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in 1997 through the weekly *Bhagavad-gītā* program conducted at my hostel room. Both he and his younger brother Santosh became immensely inspired by the spiritual wisdom of the *Gita* and desired to dedicate their lives to sharing it by becoming *brahmacharis.* They told their father of their aspiration. Many fathers—perhaps most—would have been infuriated or devastated, unable to tolerate the idea of their son's becoming the antithesis of their dreams: a shaven-headed robe-clad monk. In contrast, Malwadkar replied with equanimity. “As a father I am sad, but as a spiritualist I am happy. And if doing this makes you happy, that will be my happiness.” As a responsible father, he had already visited ISKCON when his sons started going there and had endorsed it as “a good spiritual institution.” From that level of distant appreciation, ISKCON rose, in his eyes, to the level of his spiritual calling when he read the condensed biography of its founder, Śrīla Prabhupāda. The tireless, fearless, and peerless struggles of Śrīla Prabhupāda to share *Kṛṣṇa-bhakti* all over the world became a life-transforming inspiration for Malwadkar. Becoming committed to serious spiritual practice, he soon received initiation from His Holiness Lokanath Swami, receiving the name Baladeva Dāsa. *Personalized and Personal BTG Distribution* Inspired by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s BTG distribution in Delhi, Baladeva Dāsa took up—as his life’s mission—the distribution of BTG’s Marathi avatar, *Jau Devachya Gava.* He distributed thousands of BTGs not only to the hundreds of people he knew from his earlier life as a principal, but also to hundreds of strangers attracted by his gentle and dignified presentation. Additionally, he felt inspired to make annual subscriptions for BTG so that people would have a regular monthly connection with Kṛṣṇa. Within a short period, he made hundreds of subscribers. But the infamous unreliability of the Indian postal system made the delivery of the BTGs erratic. Greater than the subscribers' dissatisfaction at not getting their money’s worth was Baladeva Dāsa's dissatisfaction at not being able to keep his promise to share Kṛṣṇa’s magazine regularly. In his typical roll-up-your-sleeves get-on-with-the-job attitude, he came up with a bold quintessentially do-it-yourself solution: “I will deliver BTG each month myself.” That many of his subscribers lived in cities several hours away from Pune was no deterrent. That he would have to spend his own pension money to finance his distribution journeys was no deterrent. That he would have to travel in noisy, stuffy, bumpy buses for several days each month was no deterrent. Month after month, for over a dozen years, he hand delivered BTG to 170 subscribers. For most of them, he became a loved elderly relative and a revered messenger of Kṛṣṇa. He continued his personalized and personal distribution till nearly the last year of his life—even after a deadly abdominal cancer eroded his vitals, and even after a major surgery sapped his remaining energy reserves. *A Family United Spiritually Amidst Calamity* Over a decade before cancer afflicted him, it took another toll in his family. In 2001, his wife was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer that had spread through the bones all over her body. He and his sons gallantly stood by her side in the last leg of her life, doing everything possible to assist her in departing with dignity in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* Following India’s time-honored tradition of focusing on God in the later part of life, Baladeva Dāsa had started minimizing his worldly entanglements, even before he came to know about his cancer. He sold both his houses and distributed the money equally among his three sons. As two of his sons were *brahmacharis* (Siddhnath had become Sankirtana Ananda Dāsa, and Santosh had become Sundara Vara Dāsa), he gave their share as a donation to the Pune temple. Wanting to live in the temple’s sanctified atmosphere and attend *mangala-arati* daily, he started staying in the temple’s crowded dormitory, as the small temple had no private room to offer him. Although this was a great austerity for him, given his advanced age and frail health, he accepted it gracefully and gratefully, focusing his mind on Kṛṣṇa and preparing for the final exam of death. During Baladeva Dāsa’s last months, Sundara Vara Dāsa took off from most of his services as a senior *brahmachari* at ISKCON Pune and focused on taking care of Baladeva. To offer better care than what was materially possible in the temple and spiritually possible in a hospital, Sundara Vara arranged for his father’s stay at the hospital-cum-home of Niraj Kamthe, an Ayurvedic doctor (Ayurvedacharya) and devotee, in Saswad, a suburb near Pune. Niraj Kamthe arranged one room with the necessary medical facilities for Baladeva Dāsa and another for his caregiver. In the last month of Baladeva's life, Sankirtana Ṛnanda Dāsa, who was now serving as a temple manager at ISKCON’s Kolkata temple, came to Pune, and both sons served as caregivers for their father in the improvised hospice. Though his disease had now become devastating, Baladeva Dāsa, far from feeling sorry for himself, remained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, requesting several of his counselees to continue his program of personal delivery of BTG. He told Sundara Vara, “You are *brahmacharis,* meant to serve Kṛṣṇa. You shouldn’t be serving me like this, nor should I be taking service from you.” Sundara Vara replied, “If it had not been for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings, I would not be serving you. But having been blessed by those teachings, I cannot not be serving you.” *Spiritual Success Amidst Material Distress* Sarasvati Devī Dāsī (Dr. Jadhav), the surgeon who operated on him as a last-ditch effort to check the cancer, noted that though his cancer was at an advanced stage where the pain becomes unbearable and even drives people mad, Baladeva Dāsa remained stoic and focused on Kṛṣṇa. All who came to see Baladeva during his last days, he encouraged to take spiritual life more seriously. On his last Gaura Purnima, the appearance day of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, he fasted fully and remained peaceful throughout the day. When asked about his apparent serenity, he replied, “I just couldn’t come out of Shantipura.” His sons understood. He had felt himself spiritually transported to Shantipura. During his pilgrimages to Lord Chaitanya's birthplace in Māyāpur, West Bengal, Baladeva had felt a mystical connection with Shantipura (about thirty-five kilometers from Māyāpur), the abode of Adwaita Ṛcarya. It was in response to Adwaita Ācārya's fervent petitions that Lord Chaitanya's descended. About a week before his departure, Baladeva offered his last good wishes and farewells to his relatives. “Please don’t allow any material relatives to come to see me," he requested. "From now onwards I want to focus on Vitthala alone.” On his last night, he told his sons, “I feel as if an electric stove is burning in my body. Please help me remember Kṛṣṇa.” Sankirtana Ananda Dāsa described the spiritual world by reciting and explaining *Brahma-saṁhitā* verses, and described Kṛṣṇa’s sweet glories by reciting and explaining the *Gopi-gita* of the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam.* Becoming spiritually absorbed, Baladeva Dāsa transcended the pain and remained in devotional consciousness till morning, when he told Sankirtana Ṛnanda, “Now it’s morning—go and chant your rounds.” Recognizing signs of impending death, as described in Ayurvedic guidebooks, his sons knew that the end was now just minutes away. They called several more devotees for *kirtana.* Then they arranged to phone His Holiness Lokanath Swami, who chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* and encouraged his disciple: “Please remember Kṛṣṇa.” Three minutes later, at 6:57 A.M., Baladeva Dāsa departed from the world amidst the chanting of the holy names, leaving behind a legacy of hundreds of hearts that had come closer to Godhead, inspired not just by his vigorous distribution of *Back to Godhead,* but also by his dedicated living and leaving on the path back to Godhead. * An article about her appeared in BTG and can be read here. *Chaitanya Charana 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 Vulture Is Cursing the Cow: Prabhupāda and the “God Is Dead” Controversy *By Satyaraja Dāsa* *“God is dead. . . . And we have killed him.” —Nietzsche* Although Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was not the first philosopher to proclaim that “God is dead”—indeed, his predecessor Hegel had used the same phrase almost twenty years earlier—it was Nietzsche who brought the idea into public consciousness. In *Die frṭhliche Wissenschaft* (usually translated as *The Cheerful Science* or *The Gay Science*), published in 1882, Nietzsche puts the words in the mouth of a fictional character known simply as “the madman.” After entering a busy marketplace, the character asks, “Where is God?” Reacting to his audacity, mobs of people ridicule him, prompting him to respond to his own question: God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?1 Thus, Nietzsche’s decree was not a denial of God but a proclamation that the modern world (for him, nineteenth-century Germany) had moved beyond the traditional God of Christianity and the sense of morality that had come from the Bible. When Nietzsche wrote, “God is dead,” he was referring to the plight of modernity, indicating that its people had outgrown contemporary European society, its laws, customs, and religious institutions. But now what? Through the mouth of a madman, Nietzsche questions what we should do now that society has taken God—at least as He was previously understood—out of the equation. Nietzsche does not mean that God has experienced a physical death (since God is not a physical being). Instead, he hypothesizes that if a Christian society starts to doubt the existence of a spiritual being, the moral fabric of such a society will be pulled apart. Nietzsche is not trying to kill God himself; society had already done that. He is trying to posit a way for humanity to reconstruct itself in the vacuum left by the destruction of Christian morality.2 *“God is Dead” Reprise* After Nietzsche’s time, the “God is dead” notion died down—until the 1960s, when it reincarnated by way of an informal group of Protestant theologians, including Thomas Altizer, Gabriel Vahanian, Paul van Buren, William Hamilton, and others. They expressed the need to make God more relevant in the modern world. Preferring Paul Tillich’s conception of the divine as “the ground of Being” (as opposed to a personal Deity), and heeding Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s insistence that Christians “come of age,” these theologians wanted to recreate religion from the ground up, beginning with the “death of God” as we know Him. Theirs was an attempt to accommodate secularization and a world enamored more by science than by spirituality. To this end, they made prodigious use of Nietzsche’s phrase. Their modernist position garnered considerable popularity in the West, reaching a highpoint with *Time* magazine’s cover story on April 8, 1966: “Is God Dead?” The article addressed possible reasons for America’s growing atheism and the work of the “God is dead” theologians. Just a few months earlier (January 9, 1966), The New York *Time*s had run a similar story that also focused on the new Protestant theology. Nietzsche would have been proud. But not everyone bought the idea, then or now. For example, theologians such as Karl Barth and John Warwick Montgomery countered “God is dead” theology to good effect. More currently, Michael Shermer’s article “Why Nietzsche and Time Magazine Were Wrong”3 pokes holes both in Nietzsche’s prediction of increasing secularization and in the philosophical position of the “God is dead” theologians. As evidence, he cites the fact that an ever-increasing number of people in the West are still religious or spiritual, despite the emphasis on science. Additionally, Shermer notes, statistics indicate that few have felt the need to shift their belief to a depersonalized God or to nontraditional forms of religion. *Bringing God Back to Life* In the spring of 1966—when *Time* and other news media were rife with “God is dead” coverage—Śrīla Prabhupāda was starting his movement in New York City. Judging by how frequently he used the phrase “God is dead,” he was aware of the relevant news items. His first documented use of the phrase, in fact, occurred in April of 1966, just as national periodicals were first apprising people of this new trend in Christian theology.4 From then on, it would consistently arise in his public lectures: “In America,” he said, “when I first went, they were popularizing the theory that ‘God is dead.’ But they again accepted and said: God is not dead, but He is here with Swamiji.”5 Prabhupāda seemed to know about the Protestant dimension, too, or at least that the idea had penetrated the Christian tradition: “At the present moment in many Christian churches, this philosophy is being taught that God is dead. But so far we are concerned, we cannot accept this philosophy, that God is dead. But we preach on the other hand that God is not only not dead, but He can be approached finally face to face. And the method is very simple, chanting the holy name of God.”6 Prabhupāda’s *guru*, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, had briefly referred to the “God is dead” theme in his introduction to the *Brahma-saṁhitā*,7 written in the 1930s. Since this predates the *Time* magazine article by several decades, he was likely recalling Nietzsche, but Prabhupāda’s usage seems to suggest his awareness of the theme's more contemporary manifestation. As for Prabhupāda’s books, “God is dead” appears in his *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīmad-Bhagavatam, Beyond Illusion and Doubt, Mukunda Mala Stotra, Quest for Enlightenment, Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, A Second Chance, *The* Laws of Nature*, and several others. It appears most frequently in books generated from lectures and conversations, such as *The* *Science of Self-Realization* and *The* *Journey of Self-Discovery*, indicating that he found the topic useful when speaking in public. An online search reveals that he used the phrase well over a hundred times in dialogues, lectures, and letters. *Why Was Prabhupāda So Concerned?* The phrase “God is dead” encapsulates much of what Prabhupāda came to correct in the western world. For example, consider the last sentence uttered by Nietzsche’s madman: “Must we ourselves not become gods . . .?” Prabhupāda equates the notion of “God is dead” with the attempt to usurp God’s position. After all, why kill off the Supreme if we don’t want, at least on a subliminal level, to replace Him? Prabhupāda says, “So these atheistic theories, that ‘Everyone is God,’ ‘I am God’ ‘You are God,’ ‘God is dead,’ ‘There is no God,’ ‘God is not a person’—we are fighting against these principles. We say, ‘God is Kṛṣṇa. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. He is a person, and He is not dead.’ This is our preaching. Therefore it is a fight.”8 Implied in "God is dead" is this: “If God is dead, then I can do as I please. I answer to no one. I am, in effect, God.” In Prabhupāda’s words: There is a nice Bengali proverb, *shakuni svape garu more na. *Sakuni** means the vulture. The vulture wants some dead carcass of an animal, a cow especially. So for days together it does not get it, so it is cursing some cow. "You die." So does it mean that by his cursing the cow will die? Similarly, these vultures, *shakuni,* they want to see God is dead. At least, they take pleasure. "Oh, now God is dead. I can do anything nonsense I like." This is going on. *Sakuni* is cursing. The vulture is cursing the cow.9 Many of the “God is dead” theologians based their work on the prominent twentieth-century Protestant philosopher Paul Tillich, who famously referred to God as the “ground of Being,” as opposed to a Supreme Person, or as a “God who is above the God of theism.” Thus, he perpetuated the Mayavada doctrine of an impersonal Absolute, albeit in Western terms. In fact, the word *Brahman,* the Sanskrit term for the impersonal Godhead, is often translated as “ground of being,” the phrase popularized by Tillich. Prabhupāda came to the West to show the limitations of this impersonalistic conception. For God to be complete, Prabhupāda taught, He must have both impersonal and personal features. This whole cosmic manifestation is nothing but the expansion of the potency or energy of Kṛṣṇa. This is the conclusion. This expansion of energy is impersonal. Kṛṣṇa . . . He is the original source. The sunshine is coming from the sun globe, but the sun globe is more important than the sunshine. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa’s personality is more important than His impersonal feature, the expansion of His energy. If we understand the example of the sun, then it is very easy to understand the difference between the impersonal and the personal features of the Absolute Truth.10 Prabhupāda saw the “God is dead” philosophy as a simple lack of intelligence, or at least a lack of the kind of intelligence that allows one to distinguish matter from spirit. God is not dead; your intelligence is dead. You have a dead body, and you’re proud of it. The body is just like a motorcar. A motorcar is dead, and if there is no driver it does not work. Similarly, the body is dead, and as soon as you, the soul, leave the body, it stops working. That means you are occupying a dead body. It is working only as long as you are there, but actually the body is dead. And you are decorating a dead body. All your acquisitions are simply decorations on a dead body. *Apranasyaiva dehasya mandanam loka-ranjanam.* Some rascal may applaud, “Oh, you are so intelligent; you are decorating your body so nicely.” But an intelligent man will say, “What a fool he is, that he’s decorating a dead body.”11 *An Inaccurate Conception, to Say the Least* In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (2.27) Kṛṣṇa declares, “One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” Consequently, the death of God is necessarily an inaccuracy, to say the least, since He never took birth. He says this Himself later in the *Gita* (7.25): “I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.” Of course, proponents of the “God is dead” doctrine do not literally say that God suffers conventional death. But their conception has many other flaws, as Prabhupāda has shown in the few examples cited above. Hari Sauri Dāsa, who served as Prabhupāda’s secretary and traveled with him extensively in 1975 and 1976, documented how Prabhupāda spoke about “God is dead” while in his presence: In class, Śrīla Prabhupāda continued to preach on points raised during the walk, especially the idea that “God is dead.” . . . Once again Śrīla Prabhupāda’s common sense logic revealed the narrow and limited thinking of atheistic philosophers. “This is our position. . . . God is not dead; God is coming very soon. Wait a few years. . . . You rascal, God is not dead. God is coming to kick you, to kill you. . . . What is death? You have to change your body. It may be lower degree or higher degree, but you have to change your body. There are 8,400,000 species of life, forms of life. You have to accept one of them. That is our real problem. If we forget the real problem and blindly or foolishly say that God is dead—God may be dead—but God’s law is not dead. Suppose a king dies, does it mean the government dies? Hmm? The government will go on. You can say God is dead—God is not dead, neither you are dead—but if you foolishly say that God is dead that does not mean His law is also dead. The law will go on. One king may be dead. The next, his son or somebody will become king and the government law will go on. So what is the use of talking foolishly like God is dead. God is never dead. This is going on. . . .” Prabhupāda declared that anyone who proclaims such a philosophy is actually dead, because he identifies with the gross physical body, which is always dead. It is simply a machine and moves only due to the presence of the soul. As Kṛṣṇa chastised Arjuna in the beginning of the *Bhagavad-gītā* for his bodily concerns, Śrīla Prabhupāda similarly criticized the modern-day thinkers. “So all these rascal philosophers they are writing about this body. That's all. But this is not the subject matter for the learned scholars. What is this body? A combination of matter. It is moving and as soon as the living soul is out of the body it is useless. So what is the importance of talking about this dead body?” His conclusion was as crushingly final to the foolish philosopher’s speculative talk as death itself. “When death will come no one will save you. You are challenging God is dead. When God will come and make you killed, nobody can save you. We are so foolish for thinking that God is dead and I shall continue my life and my wife, my children, my countrymen, my nation will save me. That is not possible.”12 In his “God is dead” philosophy, Nietzsche was reacting to the rule-bound Christianity of his rigid era, as were the Protestant theologians of the 1960s. But they went too far. Prabhupāda came to set the record straight through a devotional process of chanting and dancing. Nietzsche, in fact, would have appreciated Prabhupāda’s process, for it is said that the German philosopher showed his appreciation of the sacred through dance. Indeed, Nietzsche danced daily, saying it was his “only kind of piety,” his “divine service.”13 To conclude, then, I'll invoke one of Nietzsche's most famous sayings: “I should only believe in a God who knows how to dance.”14 – *Endnotes* 1. *Nietzsche, The Gay Science,* Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann (NY: Random House, 1991, reprint). The title of this book is sometimes rendered *The Cheerful Science,* as I do earlier in this article. 2. Davis, Lane. Berkow, Jordan ed. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra Study Guide: The Death of God and Modern Theology". GradeSaver, 10 November 2007; Web, 2 May 2014. 3. *Skeptic* magazine (Volume 6, No. 3), November 1998. 4. The pertinent portion of the lecture: “In Russia they are preaching godless civilization: ‘There is no God.’ Here also there are even some churches. I know they are preaching that God is dead. You see? They are preaching like that. So the condition is very precarious at the present moment. And we are preaching *Bhagavad-gītā* and the formula, but the formula is practically very difficult to apply in the present circumstances. You see?” 5. Room Conversation, December 13, 1970. This is also confirmed in a letter to Madhukantha Dāsa dated November 16, 1970: “When I first went to your country in New York, I found everyone imbibed with the idea that God is dead. Now gradually people are understanding that God is not only not dead, but He is factually present with us at every moment. If we have the necessary qualification, to see God eye-to-eye is quite possible.” 6. Letter to Kirtanananda Swami, June 30, 1968. 7. The pertinent portion of the Introduction: “People are so much apt to indulge in transitory speculation even when they are to educate themselves on the situation beyond their empiric area or experiencing jurisdiction and almost foolishly they dare to declare that God is dead.” 8. Room conversation, December 13, 1970. 9. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* class, 7.9.12, Montreal, August 18, 1968. 10. Class on *Śrī Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya* 20.110, New York, July 17, 1976. 11. Room conversation, June 1974, Paris. See http://www.Kṛṣṇa.com/vision-see-life-stone. 12. Hari Sauri Dāsa, *A Transcendental Diary,* *Volume Two.* 13. http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2010/12/11/why-did-nietzsche-love-to-dance/ 14. *Thus Spoke Zarathustra* 1.7. See http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1891nietzsche-zara.asp *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.* ## Freedom? *Is there a conception of truth or freedom beyond the bars of race, religion, nationality, and political affiliation? Is there something higher we can strive for?* *By Devamrita Swami* *This is the second annual Bhaktivedanta Swami Lecture, given at Wits University in Johannesburg under the auspices of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Africa. The lecture was given last March.* Freedom is a topic that resonates with all human beings. You can approach the concept from many angles: political freedom, economic freedom, intellectual freedom, religious freedom, academic freedom, artistic freedom, and so on. People are enamored by freedom of movement, freedom of assembly. Whenever you hear that something is free, you get the sense that there are no boundaries, no limitations: free elections, free markets, free love, free thinking. Marketers tap into humans’ love of freedom and things free. You go to a store and what do you see: “Buy two, get the third one free.” Marketers know you don’t need two but you can’t resist the temptation of getting something for free. You rationalize: “I came to the store to get one, but maybe I could store the other two or give them away.” My point is that there is something attractive about freedom and things that are free. Yet we need to try to broaden our understanding of the concept of freedom. I’m attracted to a statement by Nelson Mandela: “There’s no such thing as part freedom.” But "part freedom" is what our economic and political leaders have been offering the world. We need to go much deeper; we need to have a broader understanding of freedom, based not simply on materialism but on the spiritual reality. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda came to South Africa twice. He also went to Kenya, where he exhorted the students, the general population, and the leaders to build their nation on the spiritual platform. What I’m going to propose to you tonight is that indeed, if we’re going to have real progress, we need to consider the spiritual platform, and then we can understand full freedom in contrast to partial freedom. I’m going to touch upon a thirst that cannot be quenched by politics and economics. I’d like to introduce the most important human right that distinguishes us from the birds, the bees, and the beasts. After World War II, many nations of the world came together in the United Nations and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The world was still traumatized by the horrors of WWII, in which 55 million people died. The consciousness at that time was “Never again! Let us make this Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in that way clear a path forward for the progress of humanity.” *Five Myths of Human Progress* There are five great myths of human progress, and they have all turned out to be suspect. Myth number one: Money brings happiness. I spoke about this a few years ago at the University of Cape Town, to an audience of two hundred students and professors. I asked them: “I’m sure you’re familiar with the current science of happiness—now about twenty years old. You’re familiar with the research showing that beyond a middle-class level of financial attainment, any further increase in wealth will not make you any happier.” I asked for a show of hands. About eighty percent were aware of the finding. Academics will quibble about details, but the general concept is accepted. So then I said, “Knowing this, and knowing your level of intelligence and potential success, how many of you are prepared to live your life on a basic middle-class standard?” No hands were raised. So what we see is a disconnection between knowledge and lifestyle. From the viewpoint of the ancient Vedic wisdom of India, the problem is that it's not real knowledge. Real knowledge is evidenced in our actions. If we don't demonstrate knowledge in our actions, we actually don’t know. Now myth number two: Technology brings well-being. Are our technologically complicated lives actually better in terms of freedom from anxiety, freedom from stress? Yet we seem to have bought very deeply into the money goals, the technology goals. And that brings us to myth number three. Perhaps this myth is not as prevalent in South Africa as in other places. Still, myth number three has a major impact on the whole world: Weapons bring security. In some revered nations of the world, at least fifty percent of the government revenue is spent on the military. And the taxpayers are convinced: “All this spending on the military is for the security and protection of humanity.” Myth number four: The earth provides virtually unlimited resources for our exploitation. And myth number five: The earth provides limitless room for disposal of waste after we’ve done our exploiting. *Replacing the Myths* These myths are being punctured these days, but what are we going to put in their places? Unless we have a deep spiritual understanding of what the self is, we’ll never be able to escape these material traps—economics, politics, and so on. These are necessary, but we’ve come to a time when the greatest concepts of material life are shaky. Even the whole idea of democracy and its emphasis on economic growth as a cherished destination is shaky. A few weeks ago *The Economist* magazine ran a special report on democracy. *The Economist*, published in the UK and distributed around the world, is known to be the party line for many news publications around the world. Social scientists contributing to the special report said, "We have to be honest: democracy is in trouble." The twentieth century was the great peak for democratic motivation. The fall of the Soviet Empire, the fall of apartheid—these events and others brought exhilaration. But as we go into the twenty-first century, for the past eight years, according to political studies, democracy has been receding in the world. There are two main causes for that. These causes are important to understand because many of our concepts of freedom are tied to the democratic process. Hundreds upon hundreds of years ago Plato pointed out that the Achilles heel of democracy is that the people can be easily bought off with populist proposals that just focus on short-term gain, short-term stimulations. *The Economist* admitted that Plato had it right. What has upset the applecart? The global financial crisis: democracy could not prevent that. It could not reform the banking system. But there’s an even greater reason: China. China is showing that what is important is not freedom of expression, of speech, of thought. What is important is growth—economic growth achieved by any means. When America was at its economic peak, for it to double the standard of living took thirty years. China does that every ten years. And their leaders are now quite upbeat: "What is all this talk about freedom? Where’s your economic growth? Look at our example! We have a tightly controlled society run by professional managers. We decide what’s good for the people." Go to China and you will see gleaming airports, brand new highways, superfast transport systems. People around the world are thinking: “This is what we want—the fruits of rapid economic acceleration. We can do without the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of thought, if we have the temporary stimulations that an advanced consumer society can give.” What can we say to that, if the goal is rapid economic acceleration? If that is what will satisfy the human being, then let us do whatever is necessary to get that. If prosperity is more important than freedom, then we should restructure our political economies. The Chinese are saying that this is the way. “What is the use of your democratic systems?” Their leaders openly say that. "You elect incompetent leaders; you elect sweet-talkers. Look at us! We assemble the brightest, most competent people, and we tightly control society. Look what we’re able to provide the people. Look at our standard of living and how rapidly it increases!" *The Need for Precise Spiritual Knowledge* I point this out because what we’re seeing is a misguided, mistaken understanding of what is best for the human being. Forgetting our nonmaterial identity, we’re struggling to seek fulfillment through matter. Sentimentally, we may talk about our spirituality, our spiritual self, but where is the precise scientific knowledge of the spirit soul? In the prime Vedic text, *Bhagavad-gītā,* Kṛṣṇa—presented as the supreme source, the Absolute Truth, the ultimate reality—says that as long as we think we are matter, as long as we have no precise understanding of our spiritual identity, we must be subject to illusion. Our efforts for progress must be thwarted because we actually don’t know that our number one priority is enlightenment. Yes, we must take care of our material needs, and certainly there has been great injustice in the distribution of economic prosperity and in the political sphere. While taking care of those, dare I say, external priorities, we have forgotten how powerful our spirit soul is, and we have forgotten our connection to the Supreme Soul. Unless we have a class of leaders who can uplift the people with spiritual knowledge, we will always see society declining, despite so many revolutions, so many restructurings of the political economy. We'll see that actually not much changes. There seems to be a potential for change, a great hope, and yes, in terms of the externals, there is adjustment. But then, again and again, the people become disappointed. Often political change means the ins become the outs and the outs become the ins. Is there a way we can focus on the real needs of the human being? *Five Levels of Experiencing the Supreme* Perhaps we’ve become distracted. I’d like to present to you a possible way we can visualize the Supreme Absolute Truth in our daily life. Five levels—three are just about material nature, ordinary material existence, but two are transcendental, beyond matter, beyond time and space. Without a grasp of the top two levels of the five, we cannot benefit humanity. I'll list these levels using Sanskrit terms. You see, Sanskrit is a language particularly appropriate for discussing enlightenment. Every language has its strength: English is the business language; German is still known as the scientific language, especially for engineering; French supposedly is the language of love; Sanskrit is the language of spiritual science. The first level of our experiencing the presence of the Supreme in our life is called *anna-maya:* realization of God based on food. The fact that I’m being maintained—that I can eat, and there’s food for me—is a very preliminary realization of God. We cannot maintain ourselves. We do not control nature, despite our technology. Someone who appreciates the Supreme simply because he or she can eat is noteworthy, even though the appreciation is rudimentary. People say, “Food on my table, I know God is able.” That is correct. It is the very beginning of God-realization. I’m reminded of a commendation by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization upon the passing of Nelson Mandela. They complimented him on understanding that so much of freedom depends on food, not simply in growing food but in distributing food. So this first level of God-realization, *anna-maya,* is indeed important. We can’t live without food. Yet the UN has calculated that one third of all the food produced in the world is wasted: 1.3 billion metric tons annually. Of all the fruits and vegetables grown in the UK, thirty percent is wasted for cosmetic reasons: the fruits and vegetables don’t look good enough for the consumers. If we have so much trouble on the first level of God-realization, how can we proceed any further? Think of the little baby being nursed at the mother’s breast: the child is simply focused on being fed. So much of the world has problems just eating. One billion people in the world are starving, and one billion people are obese. Obviously, there’s a crisis in distribution and in how human beings view simple living. Moving beyond this first level of God-realization we go to **prana-maya*:* understanding God through the fact you’re alive. In churches children get up and give testimony: “I thank God for my mother, I thank God for my father, I thank God that I’m alive today.” That is noteworthy. That is the second level of God-realization given in the ancient Vedic texts. There are many places in the world where you’re afraid what tomorrow will bring: “Will my life be taken away? Will I be incarcerated? Will I be brutalized?” So we don’t want to minimize the *prana-maya* level—thankfulness to God for being alive—just as we don’t want to minimize the first level, *anna-maya*—thanks to God for food on the table. These are preliminary levels of God-realization. You see your dependency, your helplessness. Whether you’re rich or poor, your life is very fragile. The world’s food supply is very fragile. A pious person can see the presence of God in these preliminary levels of existence. Another preliminary level is called *jnana-maya.* It’s appropriate that we discuss that level here at the university. The third level, *jnana-maya,* refers to appreciating God because you can think, you can intuit; you have cognition, you can get an education, you can be cultured. The university is an active place for the intelligence. It’s an active place for acquiring knowledge. But what is the purpose of that knowledge? Bhaktivedanta Swami, Śrīla Prabhupāda as his followers affectionately refer to him, pointed out that if we become so caught in knowledge of material adjustment, knowledge of material alteration, and we forget the most important knowledge, of the unit of spiritual consciousness known as the *atma* in Sanskrit, we’ve wasted our human form of life. So yes, human beings need intellectualism, art, culture. And they can appreciate the presence of the Supreme Absolute Truth just in their thought processes: I think, therefore I am. *Beyond the Material* But there are levels of God-realization beyond these three material levels. The classic spiritual text *Bhagavad-gītā* tells us that we must go to level number four, known as *vijnana-maya:* understanding that we have a spiritual identity different from the body and mind. When we enter the spiritual laboratory, we can begin to experience the power of our soul in relation to the Supreme Soul. The culmination of the different levels of God-realization is number five, known in Sanskrit as *ananda-maya.* It is the crown of human achievement: relishing the love supreme, the relationship between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, of which the individual soul is part. In *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa explains that this relationship will satisfy your core being. No amount of material adjustment, of material construction, deconstruction, reconstruction, will satisfy you or society, because our real problem is disconnection from the Supreme Absolute Truth, disconnection from God. When we say *Kṛṣṇa*, we’re referring to God. The precise meaning of the word *Kṛṣṇa* is "the unlimited all-attractive source of pleasure." In *Bhagavad-gītā* He claims that all living entities, no matter what species, are all His parts, His children. Yet we’ve become distracted by existence in the material world and have forgotten our purpose in life: how to be truly free. I was reading about Robben Island [where Nelson Mandela spent eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison], and I noted the prison system in the apartheid days. According to your perceived ethnicity—white, Indian, mixed, or African—you'd receive a certain standard of food. Moreover, based on periodic evaluations of your tractability, you would be designated as a class D prisoner, class C prisoner, class B, or class A. What would you do in those circumstances? Would you try to improve the prison conditions? Of course, and those political prisoners, those anti-apartheid fighters, certainly acted in such a way that their privileges within the prison would increase. But, while focusing on the struggle within the prison, they always kept their vision on the struggle without. And this is what the ancient Vedic texts advise us—how to live in this temporary world of matter. We are spirit souls entrapped in temporary material bodies in a temporary material world. Yes, we should live comfortably; we should live with justice and dignity. But at the same time, we should know that real freedom is not on the material plane. Real freedom is in the spiritual reality. Until we can act on that, we’ll always be frustrated. I’m reminded of another statement by Nelson Mandela: “Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.” How good is the human being? We need transcendental knowledge to inform us, knowledge beyond matter; then we can understand the true potential, the true goodness of the human being. Then we can truly understand that flame, which is hidden, because after all, by material methods we can’t see our spiritual identity, and therefore we forget all about it. We are then easily manipulated by external material desires. People need to be educated in spiritual knowledge. I’m not talking about religious belief. Whatever religion you may call yourself, fine, but what is the nature of the self? Am I material or spiritual? And what is the ultimate reality I’m part of? This knowledge is essential. If the people get this kind of knowledge, they won’t be so manipulated by temporary promises of economic acceleration, which won’t satisfy them anyway. *Three E's* Three E’s are troubling humanity today: the environment, energy, and economics. Problems on these fronts are eluding solution. You see, no amount of material gain will contribute to your deep and crucial satisfaction. There are not enough resources in the world to fulfill the ever-increasing material desires of the people. Nor is there enough space for disposing the waste. Just this fact alone should tell us we need to adopt a different approach. It’s not just a good idea—it is absolutely necessary. My request is that you all consider how to go another route. Yes, we need to correct corruption and faulty political and economic systems. But while we’re trying to survive in the prison, let us not forget what full freedom is: the freedom of the spirit self in relationship to the Supreme Self. This is the knowledge Kṛṣṇa gives. It’s this knowledge Bhaktivedanta Swami came to give: build your nation on the spiritual platform. Amidst all your economic and political endeavors, don’t forget the real you—the spirit soul—and your relationship to the Supreme Soul. Don’t succumb to the global materialistic *mantra*. I was in China last year, and I explained to my audience of psychologists that China has a *mantra*, the same *mantra* that has shackled the whole world: "Work, buy, consume, die." This is the tragedy. And if our leaders cannot offer anything higher than this as the main goal, the main lifestyle of the human being, there will be no solution to the problems of today. I appeal to you all to please consider another route. Yes, live comfortably. Yes, take care of your body and mind. But understand that such endeavors are external; they’re not the main goal of life. We want the full freedom, not the part freedom. Full freedom can happen only on the spiritual platform. Thank you very much. *Devamrita Swami was born in New York City and came to Śrīla Prabhupāda's service after graduating from Yale University in 1972. He accepted the renounced order in 1982. He is a member of ISKCON's governing body commission, with responsibilities in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.* ## e-Kṛṣṇa www.howicame.com collects stories from around the world about how ISKCON devotees came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. An initiative of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission Outreach Committee, it is designed to inspire devotees in their practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by revealing the many ways people discover Kṛṣṇa on the way to devotional service. The website's secondary purpose is to help ISKCON devotees evaluate different forms of outreach and help them better serve the needs of people just beginning to learn about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. To analyze the effects of different forms of outreach, howicame.com has an anonymous online survey where you can check boxes to answer questions about the influences that drew you to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and which parts you found most or least appealing. If you have your own inspiring story about how you came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, click on Submit Your Story and fill in the details. Your story may be inspiring to other readers. Stories about how devotees came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness have long been a popular feature in *Back to Godhead*. You can browse the site in a number of ways to see how others were inspired over the years. Tools in the right-hand column help you find interesting stories. Under Browse By, click on Media to choose to read, listen to, or watch devotees telling their stories. Or you can click on the Year of Joining button to browse stories by time frame. This way you can look at stories "back in the day" or choose to hear from those who have found Kṛṣṇa more recently. In this same section you can type the name of a devotee into the search box to look for the stories of particular people. You can also browse a list of Major Influences to find stories grouped according to the reasons devotees were attracted to Lord Kṛṣṇa. —Antony Brennan ## A Pause for Prayer O Supreme Lord, the living entities in this world are bewildered by Your illusory energy. Becoming involved in the false concepts of "I" and "my," they are forced to wander along the paths of fruitive work. I too am deluded in this way, O almighty Lord, foolishly thinking my body, children, home, wife, money, and followers to be real, though they are actually as unreal as a dream. Thus mistaking the temporary for the eternal, my body for my self, and sources of misery for sources of happiness, I have tried to take pleasure in material dualities. Covered in this way by ignorance, I could not recognize You as the real object of my love. Just as a fool overlooks a body of water covered by the vegetation growing in it and chases a mirage, so I have turned away from You. My intelligence is so crippled that I cannot find the strength to curb my mind, which is disturbed by material desires and activities and constantly dragged here and there by my obstinate senses. Being thus fallen, I am approaching Your feet for shelter, O Lord, because although the impure can never attain Your feet, I think it is nevertheless possible by Your mercy. Only when one's material life has ceased, O lotus-naveled Lord, can one develop consciousness of You by serving Your pure devotees. — Śrī Akrura *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 10.40.23–28 ## From the Editor *The Gold Standard for God Knowledge* Certain phrases and ideas tend to be especially memorable for devotees who regularly read Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. One such idea is that we must know not only that God is great but also *how* He is great. Here's one example of Prabhupāda making this point. The highest summit of spiritual perfection is knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless one is firmly convinced of the different opulences of the Supreme Lord, he cannot engage in devotional service. Generally people know that God is great, but they do not know in detail how God is great. Here [in **Bhagavad-gītā*,* Chapter 10] are the details. If one knows factually how God is great, then naturally he becomes a surrendered soul and engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord. When one factually knows the opulences of the Supreme, there is no alternative but to surrender to Him. This factual knowledge can be known from the descriptions in *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* and *Bhagavad-gītā* and similar literatures. (*Bhagavad-gītā* 10.7, Purport) Too many people today don't think about God at all, and those who do have little information about Him. But the information is available. The Vedic literature teaches so much about God that even after studying it for more than forty years I'm still learning new things. Śrīla Prabhupāda's writings, all derived from Vedic authority, contain an abundance of material about God, and now his faithful disciples and granddisciples are producing English translations of other books, including the incomparable works of the Six Goswamis. The Goswamis and other prominent devotees in Lord Chaitanya's line exhaustively studied the vast Vedic literature to uncover things about God hidden from all but the most determined and qualified researcher. The vagueness of the ill-informed conception of God hinders His appeal. Lord Chaitanya and His followers presented abundant Vedic evidence to establish that Kṛṣṇa is God—the original person and the source of everyone and everything. They cleared up misconceptions about other divine beings and presented encyclopedic details of Kṛṣṇa's innumerable forms. Not only can we learn about Kṛṣṇa's transcendental home, family, friends, activities, and so on, but we can also learn about these same realities in reference to His innumerable expansions and avatars. A lifetime of study is not enough to learn all there is to know about God. The goal, of course, is not just the scholarly pursuit of information on God. Lord Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that knowledge of Him inspires surrender to Him. "Knowledge" here implies true understanding, which can be achieved only with some faith. But anyone who truly understands how God is great will feel the stirrings of devotion. One prominent obstacle to taking advantage of the exhaustive knowledge of God in the Vedic literature is to devalue the *Vedas* by labeling them a product of India, without universal relevance. The world is shrinking, however, and cultures, for better or worse, are merging. While much of value can be lost with the demise of traditional cultures, one gain may be an increased openness to "foreign" ideas. The Vedic message only seems foreign outside India. As Prabhupāda would point out, gold is gold, no matter where it's mined or minted. The treasury of Vedic wisdom is always open for withdrawals by anyone with the desire for eternal profit. —Nagaraja Dāsa ## Vedic Thoughts Everyone has a tendency to love someone. That Kṛṣṇa should be the object of love is the central point of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By constantly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* and remembering the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, one can be fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus make his life sublime and fruitful. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,* Chapter 35 A person who gives up all fruitive activities and offers himself entirely unto Me, eagerly desiring to render service unto Me, achieves liberation from birth and death and is promoted to the status of sharing My own opulences. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 11.29.34 *Pranava,* or *omkara,* is an indirect name of Kṛṣṇa, the original sound of the *Vedas, shabda brahma.* The noun **pra*nava* is formed from the verb **pra*nu* ("to sound"), made from the prefix *pra* ("very much") and the verb nu ("to *pra*ise"). Therefore **pra*nava*, or *omkara,* is the sound incarnation of the Supreme Brahman, the person worthy of our *pra*ise and worship. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura *Śrī Chaitanya Sikshamrita,* Chapter One, Part 5 In this Kali-yuga, of what use is a collection of hundreds or thousands of other scriptures in the home of someone who does not have the scripture *Bhagavatam*? *Skanda Purana, Vishnu-khanda* 5.16.40 When transcendental devotional service, by which love for Kṛṣṇa is attained, is executed by the senses, it is called *sadhana-bhakti,* or the regulative discharge of devotional service. Such devotion eternally exists within the heart of every living entity. The awakening of this eternal devotion is the potentiality of devotional service in practice. Śrīla Rupa Goswami *Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu* 1.2.2 With their words, they offer prayers to the Lord. With their minds, they always remember the Lord. With their bodies, they offer obeisances to the Lord. Despite all these activities, they are still not satisfied. This is the nature of pure devotees. Shedding tears from their eyes, they dedicate their whole lives to the Lord’s service. *Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya* Quoted in *Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya* 23.23 We can accept either that which is immediately appealing (*preyas*) or that which is permanently beneficial (*shreyas*). The wise, after careful consideration, accept that which is enduringly salutary, whereas those whose judgment is poor prefer fleeting gain and pleasure. *Katha Upanishad* 1.2.2 2015 Fulfilling Our Longing for Love