# Back to Godhead Magazine #59 *2025 (02)* Back to Godhead Magazine #59-02, 2025 PDF-View Welcome When Śrīla Prabhupāda arrived in London in September of 1969, a reporter asked him what he was trying to teach. “I am trying to teach what you have forgotten,” Prabhupāda replied. “Which is what?” the reporter asked. “That is God.” Prabhupāda went on to explain that the world had forgotten God, and that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was “a challenge to the atheistic people.” Prabhupāda taught not only that God exists, but that He is a person and His name is Kṛṣṇa. In his Founder’s Lecture in this issue, Śrīla Prabhupāda points to Kṛṣṇa consciousness as the ultimate goal of the *Upaniṣads* and the *Vedānta-sūtra*, the most philosophically challenging parts of the Vedic literature. In “The Essence of the Essence,” Jagannātha Gopāla Dāsa shows how Lord Kṛṣṇa presented the essential teachings of the *Upaniṣads* in His instructions to Arjuna. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission to bring people to Lord Kṛṣṇa traces back at least some five centuries, to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation who descended to teach devotion to Himself. In this issue, Satyarāja Dāsa presents an episode from Lord Caitanya’s life that shows His transformation while visiting the holy place known as Gaya to perform sacred rituals for the benefit of His departed father. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Q&A Doesn’t spirituality demand blind faith? No. Spirituality requires not blind faith, but intelligent doubt: doubt in our assumed and unexamined faith in materialism. Materialism requires us to believe that material trappings like money, sex, and luxuries will make us happy. But is this belief grounded in facts? Let’s analyze the facts of life. 1. *Doomed at death*: The first fact that problematizes materialism is death. If we wed our future to materialism, then everything we toil to acquire and achieve will be ruined when death ends our existence. In marked contrast, spirituality offers us principles and techniques that enable us to carry intangible assets beyond death into our future lives. Is faith in an afterlife unscientific? No more unscientific than faith in materialism; there is no scientific evidence for the premise of materialism that matter produces life. And there is significant scientific evidence for the premise of spirituality that life exists before and beyond the lifespan of our material, biological body. This evidence comes from systematic research in fields like near-death experiences and past-life memories by rigorous researchers such as Michael Sabom and Ian Stevenson. 2. *Miserable during life*: Materialism offers us a raw deal even in this life, as demonstrated using telling facts and revealing statistics in books like *The American Parado*x: S*piritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty*, by David G. Myers. Here are some researched statistics about American society that show the ugly face of materialism behind the seductive mask shown on TV. Since 1960: • The divorce rate has doubled. • The teen suicide rate has tripled. • The recorded violent-crime rate has quadrupled. • The prison population has quintupled. • The percentage of babies born to unmarried parents has sextupled. 6. Depression has soared—to ten times the pre–World War II level. Due to this social disaster brought about by materialism, millions of Americans are turning for relief to spirituality—and Indian spirituality at that, as documented in books like *American Veda*, by Phillip Goldberg. This book outlines the astonishing penetration of Indian spirituality into the American mainstream, as demonstrated by the twenty-five million Americans who have adopted Indic spiritual practices like yoga, meditation, and chanting. Thus the facts indicate that spirituality offers us better prospects than materialism not just in the next life, but also in this life. And as we have to put faith somewhere—either in materialism or in spirituality—let’s use our God-given skepticism to doubt the prevalent propaganda that demands unthinking faith in materialism. If we have the courage to doubt thus, we may well discover that, in contrast to faith in materialism, faith in spirituality is the better-informed and better-reasoned choice. Does chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra do any practical good for the world? Certainly. As most of us know, the fundamental problem in economics is to reconcile the unlimited desires of people with the limited resources of the world. All of us perpetually seek happiness by fulfilling our desires. Two conflicting forces within our hearts determine our desires: the centrifugal force that allures us to external objects, and the centripetal force that draws us inward to the Lord within. The centrifugal force is multiplied manifold by Western culture, in which ads, billboards, music, and movies all seduce us toward external pleasure. So the centrifugal force often becomes the driving force of our lives. Consequently, the haves exploit the resources of the world disproportionately, leaving little resources for the have-nots. For example, the US has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources and produces 30% of the world’s waste. If the whole world consumed the way the US did, we humans would need three to five planets. Needless to say, we have only one planet. Can political changes like, say, displacing the US from its present unilateral superpower status solve this problem? No. Because the US has already exported its consumer culture all over the world. So whoever gains financial and political power will end up doing what the US is doing now. We see this in India already to some extent. Those who have made it big over the past two decades of globalization have increased their consumption dramatically (perhaps “disastrously” would be a more appropriate word). The only real solution to the current economic and ecological mess is to recognize and address its cause: the aggravated centrifugal force. Throughout the world, India is famed as the motherland of deep spiritual wisdom and profound mystical experience. Why? Because the Vedic wisdom-tradition of India has developed time-tested spiritual technologies like meditation, prayer, and yoga for activating the centripetal force and thus gaining access to inner happiness. The Vedic wisdom-tradition declares that chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra* is the most practical and potent way to connect us with the Lord, who is an inexhaustible source of ever-increasing happiness. Today, to avoid self-destruction, humanity critically needs to equip itself with nonmaterial forms of enrichment. Therefore people should be encouraged to learn and share the spiritual technology of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, which can do the greatest practical good for the world. Founders Lecture: Vrindavan, India—March 13, 1974 *The Price for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness* Attaining pure love for Kṛṣṇa requires something other than scriptural knowledge and the execution of difficult spiritual practices. > bhāla haila, pāile tumi parama-puruṣārtha > tomāra premete āmi hailāṅ kṛtārtha > nāca, gāo, bhakta-saṅge kara saṅkīrtana > kṛṣṇa-nāma upadeśi’ tāra’ sarva-jana [Īśvara Purī said to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his disciple:] “It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You. My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing *saṅkīrtana* in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting *kṛṣṇa-nāma*, for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.” *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā* 7.91–92 When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was visiting Benares, the Māyāvādī *sannyāsīs* there, who are impersonalists, asked Him why He was not engaged like them in reading the *Vedānta-sūtra*, and why He was indulging in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The fact is that in this age, Kali-yuga, to study the *Vedānta-sūtra* and understand its purport is very difficult. The *Vedānta-sūtra* is Śrīla Vyāsadeva’s commentary on the *Upaniṣads*. To understand it requires very good Sanskrit scholarship. It is not very difficult to understand if it is taken in the *paramparā* system, the authorized lineage of spiritual masters in the line of Śrīla Vyāsadeva. But because people try to understand the *Vedānta-sūtra* by scholastic demeanor, it becomes difficult. It was discussed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a very learned scholar. The Māyāvādī **sannyāsī*s* everywhere are very proud of their Sanskrit education. Sometimes people ask our students, “Have you learned Sanskrit?” But understanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not depend on Sanskrit scholarship. That is the teaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He said to the Māyāvādī *sannyāsī* Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, “My Guru Mahārāja considered Me a great fool.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was presenting Himself in a humble way. He was a learned scholar, undoubtedly, a very learned scholar. In His youth He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. *Brāhmaṇas*, especially, are given this Paṇḍita title. But He was specifically known as Paṇḍita—Nimāi Paṇḍita. He was a very good scholar. He defeated Keśava Kāśmīrī, a great, renowned scholar of Kashmir. Kashmir is mentioned in *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. It is a very old country. There were many learned scholars there at the time of Lord Caitanya, and one scholar came to Nabadwip to defeat the *paṇḍitas*, the learned scholars of Nabadwip, but he was defeated by a young boy, Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Nimāi Paṇḍita was at that time only sixteen years old. But He defeated the great scholar from Kashmir in Sanskrit composition, in which there are many rules. He pointed out many defects in verses composed by Keśava Kāśmīrī. So Keśava Kāśmīrī was defeated. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a great scholar. There is no doubt of it. But in spite of His being a great scholar, here He is presenting Himself as a great fool. He says, “My Guru Mahārāja saw Me as a great fool.” Even if one is a very great scholar, he has to abide by the decision of his spiritual master. If his spiritual master says, “You are a great fool,” he should accept it. This is called full surrender. I’ll give you a practical example. My Guru Mahārāja was very great scholar, and his Guru Mahārāja, Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, from the literary point of view could not even sign his name. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura asked Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura to accept Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja as his spiritual master. “Go and take your initiation from Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja.” So my Guru Mahārāja thought, “I am a great scholar, and I am the son of a magistrate, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and a great Vaiṣṇava. He’ll be very much pleased to accept me.” Of course, Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja *was* very much pleased, but in the beginning he refused. Of course, that is only a show. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī *was* not proud; he is just teaching us. He explained, “I *was* a little proud, so I *was* thrice refused by Guru Mahārāja.” Eventually he became Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja’s only disciple. Scholarship is not a qualification for becoming a devotee. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teaching. Scholarship may help, but it is not necessary. The real necessity is that one should be humble and meek and follow the instructions of the spiritual master. This is the real qualification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught: > tṛṇād api Sunīcena > taror api sahiṣṇunā > amāninā mānadena > kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ “One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi* 17.31) *Bhakti* does not depend on any material qualification. *Bhakti* is a different subject matter. It is *aprakṛta*, transcendental. *Mahāprabhu’s Gift* Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained His position to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. “My Guru Mahārāja, studying My character, found Me to be a great fool. Therefore he advised Me to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*.” The idea is that to achieve the transcendental position of devotional service by studying the *Vedānta-sūtra*, by becoming a very great scholar, is very, very difficult nowadays. Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s gift is that whatever you may be, if you chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra* offenselessly, then everything is achieved, without any difficulty. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, *ihā haite sarva-siddhi haibe sabāra*: “By doing so, everyone will attain all perfection.” (*Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya* 23.78). *Siddhi* means perfection. That is His teaching. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented Himself as a fool to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. His purpose was to teach that the general mass of people are not fit to become very great Sanskrit scholars or very good philosophers or students of Vedānta. That is not possible in this age, Kali-yuga, when the mass of people are almost all *śūdras*, which means they lack sufficient intelligence to study Sanskrit or the *Vedas* and *Purāṇas*, which are meant for the *brāhmaṇas*. But Kṛṣṇa is so merciful that you can take the shelter of His lotus feet, whatever you may be. You may be scholar or not a scholar. You may be *pāpa-yoni*, which means born in a low-grade family. It doesn’t matter. You can become purified. This is the verdict of the *śāstra*, the Vedic scriptures. *Bhakti* does not depend on any kind of material qualification. You simply have to become very sincere and serious. That is the only price. Rūpa Gosvāmī also recommended like that: > kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ > krīyatāṁ yadi kuto ’pi labhyate > tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ > janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate “Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price—that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.” (*Padyāvalī* 14) Rūpa Gosvāmī advises, “Purchase Kṛṣṇa consciousness anywhere it is available.” That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s advice, that one should be eager to purchase Kṛṣṇa consciousness at any price. Generally we think of price in terms of money, say a hundred pounds or two hundred pounds or a million pounds or a billion pounds, like that. The price for Kṛṣṇa consciousness is different. Here Rūpa Gosvāmī says, “Purchase it at any price.” But what is that price? *Tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ*. *Laulyam* means eagerness. That is that price. That is the only qualification. You must be very, very eager to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in this very life. You must be very eager to talk with Kṛṣṇa in this very life. But not to become like the *sahajiyās*, who take Kṛṣṇa consciousness as some cheap thing that is easily gotten. You must show your eagerness by service. Kṛṣṇa talks with the devotee, but not with the nondevotee. He says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.10), > teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ > bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam > dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ > yena mām upayānti te “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Kṛṣṇa talks only with persons who are always engaged in His service. He has no other business. *Satata* means twenty-four hours a day. He has no other business. *Bhajatām* means in service. You must always find out some opportunity to render service to Kṛṣṇa. That is the qualification. It doesn’t matter what you are. You may be this or that. It doesn’t matter. But this eagerness for service can be acquired by anyone, simply by sincerity. That is the price. You may think, “I have so much eagerness.” But no. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī warns, *janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate*. This eagerness to achieve Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, to approach the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in this life, this determination that “I shall do anything, I shall sacrifice anything”—this kind of determination is not very easily obtained. *Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate. Sukṛti* means pious activities. Without being pious, nobody can approach Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not so cheap. You may show yourself that you have become a great *sannyāsī* or Vaiṣṇava or whatever it may be, but as long as you are engaged in sinful activities, there is no question of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sinful activities means illicit sex, intoxication, gambling, and meat-eating. These are the pillars of sinful activities. So one must be purified. *Janma-koṭi-sukṛaiḥ.* To purify oneself of the resultant action of sinful activities takes many, many births of counteracting the sinful activities. And one must engage oneself only in pious activities. Pious activities include celibacy, austerity, controlling the mind and senses, and so on. But who is going to do these things? It is very difficult. But if we offenselessly perform *nāma-saṅkīrtana*, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s holy names, everything is accomplished. *Dissipating the Fog of Sinful Reactions* Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented Himself as a fool before His Guru Mahārāja, who advised Him, “It will be difficult for You to study the *Vedānta-sūtra* or practice austerity, celibacy, control of the mind and senses . . .” It is possible for a human being to do all these functions, but in Kali-yuga it is difficult. Therefore the process of *bhakti-yoga* is recommended. When there is fog, all the fog is decimated as soon as the sun rises. Otherwise, it requires so many arrangements to counteract. The railway train cannot move. The ships in the sea cannot move. It is a very difficult position. Similarly, our sinful activities have covered our heart just like a fog. We cannot see anything. But by *bhakti-yoga* they can be immediately dissipated. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was thus advised by His spiritual master to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and He got perfection. That was explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. His spiritual master congratulated Him: > bhāla haila, pāile tumi parama-puruṣārtha > tomāra premete āmi hailāṅ kṛtārtha “It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi* 7.91) When a disciple becomes perfect in spiritual advancement, the spiritual master feels very, very happy. “I am a nonsense, but this boy has followed my instruction and has achieved success. That is my success.” This is the spiritual master’s ambition. Just like a father. This is the relationship. Nobody wants to see anybody more advanced than himself. That is the nature of things. If anybody becomes advanced in any subject, then I become envious of him. But the spiritual master or the father does not become envious. He feels himself very, very happy. “This boy has advanced more than me.” This is the spiritual master’s position. Caitanya Mahāprabhu expresses, “When I chant and dance and cry in ecstasy, My spiritual master thanks Me in this way: *bhāla haila*, ‘It is very, very good’; *pāile tumi parama-puruṣārtha*, ‘Now You have achieved the highest success in life.’ *Tomāra premete*, ‘Because You have advanced so much,’ *āmi hailāṅ kṛtārtha*, ‘I am feeling so much obliged.’” This is the position. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s spiritual master encourages, > nāca, gāo, bhakta-saṅge kara Saṅkīrtana > kṛṣṇa-nāma upadeśi’ tāra’ sarva-jana “My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing *saṅkīrtana* in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting *kṛṣṇa-nāma*, for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi* 7.92) “Now go on. You have achieved so much success. Now, again, go on.” *Nāca*: “Dance.” *Gāo*: “Sing and chant,” *bhakta-saṅge*, “in the society of devotees.” Not to make a profession, but *bhakta-saṅge*, among devotees. This is the real platform for achieving success in spiritual life. Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura also says, > tādera caraṇa-sebi-bhakta-sane bās > janame janame hoy ei abhilāṣ “This is my desire: that birth after birth I may live with those devotees who serve the lotus feet of these six Gosvāmīs.” He says “birth after birth” because a devotee does not aspire to go back home, back to Godhead. No. Any place, it doesn’t matter. He simply wants to glorify the Supreme Lord. That is his business. It is not the business of the *bhakta* to chant and dance and execute devotional service for going to Vaikuṇṭha or Goloka Vṛndāvana. That is up to Kṛṣṇa. “If He likes He’ll take me.” The devotee does not request Kṛṣṇa, “Please take me back to Vaikuṇṭha or Goloka Vṛndāvana.” No. “If You think that I must take birth again, that’s all right. But my only request is that You give me birth in the house of a devotee, that’s all—so that I may not forget You.” This is the only prayer of the devotee. *The Fortunate Children of Vaiṣṇavas* Just like this child here. She has been born of a Vaiṣṇava father and mother. So she must have been a Vaiṣṇavī or a Vaiṣṇava in her previous life. All our children, those who are born of a Vaiṣṇava father and mother, are very, very fortunate. From the very beginning of life they are hearing the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*. They are associating with Vaiṣṇavas, chanting, dancing. Imitation or fact, it doesn’t matter. They are very, very fortunate children. They are not ordinary children. They’re always hankering after associating with devotees, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, coming to us. So they are not ordinary children. This is their very good opportunity, *bhakta-saṅge vāsa,* the association of devotees. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness society is a *bhakta-saṅga*, a society of devotees. Never try to go away. Discrepancies there may be. You should adjust. This chanting and dancing within the society of devotees has got great value. Here it is confirmed, and all the Vaiṣṇavas have confirmed. > tādera caraṇa-sebi-bhakta-sane bās > janame janame hoy ei abhilāṣ *Janame janame* means that Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura doesn’t want to go back to the spiritual world. That is not his desire. “When Kṛṣṇa will desire, He will allow me. That is a different thing. Otherwise, let me go on in this way. Life in the society of devotees and chanting and dancing is my business.” This is required. Not anything else. A devotee should not desire anything except this: “Let me live in the society of devotees and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*.” This is our life. Thank you very much. “Their So-called Culture Is Ignorance” This exchange between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and some of his disciples took place on October 18, 1975, during a morning walk in Johannesburg, South Africa. Disciple: Śrīla Prabhupāda, people sometimes criticize by saying, “Your Vedic culture was most solidly established in India. And India is now considered relatively poor and unfortunate. So why should we respect the Vedic culture?” Śrīla Prabhupāda: The thing is, when you Westerners went to India you curbed down the original Vedic culture. The people in India could not take to your rascal Western culture, and thanks to you they have lost their own culture. This is India’s bad luck. The British did not teach them how to actually take up the Western culture, but they killed the Eastern culture. You understand? Disciple: Yes. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Now India has no position. She cannot take to the Western culture fully, and she has lost her own culture. This is India’s bad luck. The British never taught Indians how to become actually Westernized. No. They did not give them sufficient education. Especially in the beginning, the British were against giving the Indians higher education. They wanted some clerks to conduct their affairs—some third-class, fourth-class men for their mercantile and government bureaucracies. “Educated” meant ABCD. That’s all. “Let the Indians know ABCD, then take fifty, sixty rupees’ salary, go home to their little neighborhoods outside the city, and return the next day on the train. Let them work hard in our city and get just enough money to maintain themselves.” Nothing more. No money, no education, no real knowledge of industry. The Indian people were not taught properly. In America, for instance, I see the factories, and the arrangement is so nice. But go to those Indian factories—it is hell. Hell. Simply hell. The Britishers exploited the Indians, and the mercantile class of India—they have learned simply how to exploit. Disciple: Exploit their own people. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That’s all. Formerly, the Manchester people were exploiting the Indians. And now the Ahmedabad people—they have learned how to exploit. And the government is satisfied, because the exploiters pay taxes: “Never mind. The workers may go on suffering.” This is going on. And the Indian people have lost their own culture. They have been taught how to drink alcohol, how to eat flesh. Aside from all this, Indians cannot work as hard as Westerners. The hot climate does not allow it. India’s climate is good for living peacefully, not working so hard, and instead engaging the brain in spiritual advancement. That is India’s gift. Her people are not meant for hard work. Actually, hard work is not required for anyone. This is animal civilization—simply to work very hard. If a man works hard like an animal, then what is the difference between the man and an animal? Here in the Western countries the climate is more suitable for heavy industry, and as one would expect, the people are being taught to work very hard like animals, and they do that. Therefore, materially they have become so-called advanced, to the point that spiritually they are committing suicide. Is it not? Disciple: This is true. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Materially advanced, spiritually suicidal. Am I right or wrong? Disciple: Right, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Another dimension also comes to mind. In your commentary on *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* you write that if people want to increase their material advancement, then they should also increase their sex lives. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Without sex one cannot be materially enthusiastic. And if you stop sex, then you become spiritually advanced. This is the secret. If you stop sex, then you will become spiritually advanced, and if you indulge in sex, then you will become materially enthusiastic. That is the difference between Western and Eastern culture. The whole Eastern culture is based on stopping sex, and here in the Western countries on how to increase sex. The people here are eating meat, eggs, drinking wine. These things increase sex desire. And as soon as you get a very satisfactory sex life, you become enthusiastic to work hard. Therefore for *karmīs*, or those seeking material advancement, marriage is necessary, because without sex they cannot work. And for those seeking spiritual advancement, sex is prohibited. Actually, in this Western culture, people do not know the science of life. For them, “life” means this body. Their life is this body. That means they do not know what life is. After all, when the living person has gone, the body they thought he was is lying there. They are very proud of their scientific advancement, but in reality, do they know who the person was? They cannot explain. This is their ignorance. And yet they are very proud of their advancement. But once this person’s life span has come to an end, can they bring him back to life? That they cannot do. That means the whole basic principle of their so-called culture is ignorance. *Mūḍho ’yam nābhijānāti*: Kṛṣṇa says, “Fools and rascals can never understand the soul or the Supreme Soul.” And *moghāśā *mogha-karmāṇo* *mogha-jñānā* vicetasaḥ*: “Their material cleverness—their so-called knowledge—leaves them spiritually baffled.” Why? *Rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva *prakṛti*ṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ*: “Those who take shelter not of My divine nature but of *prakṛti*, the material nature, become so bewildered that they do not know life’s real aim.” *Moghāśā*: “They are utterly baffled.” And therefore, *mogha-karmāṇo*: “Whatever they are doing—that will be useless.” Again, *mogha-jñānā*: in this so-called advanced culture, there is no spiritual knowledge. So actually there is no knowledge. Disciple: So with their advancement of knowledge they are increasing their sex lives, but if they were really advanced in knowledge, they would be decreasing their sex lives. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. They do not even know what knowledge is. To these fools and rascals, knowledge means sex. That is their knowledge. Advancement of knowledge means how to enjoy sex. How to take shelter of abortion—child killing. And how to perfect their contraceptive method. The whole thing is on the basis of sex. That’s all. They do not know anything except these things. They know that after sex there is so much botheration. But they cannot give sex up. Therefore they make all these arrangements: take contraceptives, or kill the child. That means their whole so-called civilization, their whole culture, is based on sex. That’s all. But *yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ/ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha duḥkham*: “Sex is like the rubbing of two hands to relieve an itch. Those with no spiritual knowledge consider this itching the greatest happiness, although actually, from start to finish, the whole business is distress—and it is most abominable.” Is that pleasure? These supposedly advanced rascals think it is pleasure to unite the urine-passing parts. [Laughter.] And we have to believe this is pleasure—a standard of pleasure utterly third-class, fourth-class. *Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham*. Very abominable. *Tuccham*: the Vedic literature says, “Sex is most abominable.” And yet these fools take it as the highest goal, and they make all sorts of elaborate arrangements for this abominable pleasure. When dogs have sex, everyone knows that their whole “enjoyment” is abominable and insignificant. Therefore dogs are allowed to do it on the street. And people can see it. Is that a very nice scene? Yet when the same abominable and insignificant thing is done by the human beings, they are taking it that “This is the highest.” This is the basic principle of their happiness. That’s all. *Mohinīm*—captivation by the opposite sex. And this is real captivation. For instance, nature has already made women’s faces, breasts, and hips beautiful, their singing and talking and walking all very attractive. And now, thanks to this rascal culture, the women are walking around virtually naked. This is going on. The whole thing is based on sex, and that is *tuccham*, most abominable. *Prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ*: people are being taught to take shelter of the material nature’s potency for bewilderment. It will take them three hundred births to understand that sex pleasure is actually abominable. Therefore, in the *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa says, *bahunāṁ janmanām ante*: “A rascal gains the wisdom to surrender to Me only after many, many births.” Not that immediately, simply by hearing our *Gītā* lecture, people will give this abominable pleasure up. It will take many, many births to understand. A Pause for Prayer Śrī Rudra said: You alone are the Absolute Truth, the supreme light, the mystery hidden within the verbal manifestation of the Absolute. Those whose hearts are spotless can see You, for You are uncontaminated, like the sky. O almighty one, just as the sun, though hidden by a cloud, illuminates the cloud and all other visible forms as well, so You, although hidden by the material qualities, remain self-luminous and thus reveal all those qualities, along with the living entities who possess them. One who has attained this human form of life as a gift from God, yet who fails to control his senses and honor Your feet, is surely to be pitied, for he is only cheating himself. That mortal who rejects You—his true Self, dearmost friend, and Lord—for the sake of sense objects, whose nature is just the opposite, refuses nectar and instead consumes poison. I, Lord Brahmā, the other demigods and the pure-minded sages have all surrendered wholeheartedly unto You, our dearmost Self and Lord. Let us worship You, the Supreme Lord, to be freed from material life. You are the maintainer of the universe and the cause of its creation and demise. Equipoised and perfectly at peace, You are the true friend, Self and worshipable Lord. You are one without a second, the shelter of all the worlds and all souls. – Lord Śiva to Lord Kṛṣṇa *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 10.63.34, 39, 41–44 Lord Kṛṣṇa: Partial, Impartial, and Beyond Both By Brajanātha Dāsa *If Kṛṣṇa is, as He says, equal to all, why does He seem to favor some over others?* Every living entity is an integral part of Kṛṣṇa, tied to Him by an eternal connection that is unbreakable under any circumstances. This everlasting bond fosters an inherent intimacy between us and Kṛṣṇa. He resides in our heart as the Supersoul, compassionately guiding us on our journey throughout the universe, from one life to the next, in pursuit of enduring joy. As a true friend, He demonstrates kindness by enabling us to understand, through our own experiences, the futility of our efforts, and He gently redirects our focus back to Himself, the source of all joy. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.29) Lord Kṛṣṇa declares, “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” Though He is equal to all, He nevertheless shows a special affinity for His devotees, essentially being partial to them. The first statement of the verse is assertive and clear-cut, whereas the subsequent statement is open to interpretation and may lead one to question how Kṛṣṇa can be equal to all while displaying partiality toward His devotees. This seems to be a contradiction, because one can either remain impartial to all or favor some, but one cannot simultaneously be both impartial and favoring. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (14.4) Kṛṣṇa declares Himself the seed-giving father of all living beings, signifying that He is the progenitor of all and suggesting impartiality. As the equitable father, Kṛṣṇa ensures that material nature provides for the necessities of all living entities, including animals and plants, even without their supplication. He offers equal opportunities to all and rewards them as they approach Him (*Gītā* 4.11), and through His material energy He takes care of even those who don’t approach Him favorably. The solution to the seeming paradox of Kṛṣṇa’s partiality and impartiality is that His dealings are all transcendental, confidential, and reciprocal. He declares His partiality toward those who render Him service with devotion. Even in His partiality, He remains impartial. For example, He encourages everyone in *Gītā* 9.34, “Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” To those souls who do these things, Kṛṣṇa bestows His intimate eternal friendship and even comes under their control. In *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* (9.4.63) He confirms to Durvāsā Muni, who had offended Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, “I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me.” So Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is impartial to all, offering everyone an equal chance to become His devotee. Each of us can then choose to seek or disregard the auspicious rewards of eternity, knowledge, and bliss that Kṛṣṇa is ready to bestow upon those who take shelter of Him. That He is equal to all means He gives equal opportunity to all; His reciprocation depends on how we approach Him. He declares in the *Bhagavad gītā* that four kinds of pious people seek Him (7.16) and four kinds of miscreants do not (7.15). *Kṛṣṇa’s Protection* Kṛṣṇa never interferes with the free will of any living entity, yet if someone attempts to harm His devotees, He sides with the devotees and offers them protection. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (4.8) He declares the purpose of His periodic descents: “To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” He appeared for these purposes as Matsya among the aquatics, as Varāha among the animals, as Haṁsa among the birds, as Lord Rāmacandra and *svayam bhagavān* Kṛṣṇa among humans, and as Vāmana among the *devatās*. To restore dharma and deliver the devotees, the Lord appeared among the *Vedas* as the crown jewel of the scriptures, *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. Furthermore, in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (4.9), He states that those who truly comprehend His divine activities reach His divine abode. In the following pastimes, Kṛṣṇa demonstrated His equality and partiality, as well as a quality beyond these—His being controlled by His devotees. *Equal in Reciprocation* In the city of Mithila, within the kingdom of Videha, lived two great devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa: Śrutadeva, a poor *brāhmaṇa*, and Bahulāśva, the king. Kṛṣṇa journeyed from Dwarka to Mithila with a retinue of sages. Upon His arrival, King Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva each bowed at the Lord’s lotus feet and invited Him and the sages to their homes. Wishing to please both hosts, the Lord agreed to their requests. Thus He simultaneously visited both of them, and neither host saw Him enter the other’s dwelling. The Lord’s impartiality toward Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva was shown by His equal acceptance of the simple offerings of one and the opulent offerings of the other. *Equal to the Kuru Dynasty, Yet Partial to the Pāṇḍavas* The Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas were both part of the Kuru dynasty. But Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s attachment to the throne and his envy of the Pāṇḍavas led him to view his sons as the legitimate heirs to the dynasty, and thus he considered them alone worthy of the title “Kurus.” Duryodhana, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s eldest son, grew increasingly envious of his cousins the Pāṇḍavas because the citizens favored them and praised them for their righteousness. Yudhiṣṭhira, the eldest of the Pāṇḍavas, had the right to inherit the throne, but Dhṛtarāṣṭra denied him any portion of the kingdom, which would have been Yudhiṣṭhira’s had his father been able to accept it (Pāṇḍu died prematurely). Dhṛtarāṣṭra was not inherently evil, yet his weak will and excessive affection for his eldest son led him to become complicit in Duryodhana’s malevolent plots against the Pāṇḍavas. The fraternal rivalry between the virtuous Pāṇḍavas and the evil Kauravas continued until the Kauravas’ demise. The Pāṇḍavas acknowledged Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surrendered to Him, and became His unalloyed devotees. In contrast, the Kauravas sought refuge in His material energy and regarded the Lord as partial to the Pāṇḍavas because He was protecting them. Since all the plots to kill the Pāṇḍavas failed, Duryodhana managed to deceive them in a dice game, winning their share of the kingdom and banishing them for thirteen years. When the Pāṇḍavas returned from exile to reclaim their rightful share of rulership, he refused, saying that he would not grant them even as much land as could be covered by the point of a pin. Efforts by Kṛṣṇa and other negotiators to settle the dispute between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas were unsuccessful, making the battle between them unavoidable. In the lead-up to the battle, Duryodhana and Arjuna happened to seek Kṛṣṇa’s support within moments of each other. The Lord chose to aid both parties by positioning His army on one side and Himself alone on the other, declaring that He would not engage in the battle but would only serve as an advisor. Arjuna’s choice of Kṛṣṇa over His army led to his victory, while Duryodhana, despite selecting the Lord’s forces, was defeated. Kṛṣṇa participated strictly as a noncombatant, as the driver of Arjuna’s chariot, and He charioteered Arjuna to victory. The victory of the Pāṇḍavas demonstrates Lord Kṛṣṇa’s special reciprocation with His devotees. Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotee, preferred Kṛṣṇa’s presence on his side. Rather than being separated from Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna preferred to face Kṛṣṇa’s powerful army, which fought on the side of the opposing coalition. But although Kṛṣṇa served only as Arjuna’s advisor and chariot driver, His instructions in the *Bhagavad-gītā* were essential to the Pāṇḍavas’ victory. The *Gītā*’s concluding verse confirms that wherever Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are present, there will be certain victory, as well as opulence, extraordinary power, and morality. *Beholden to His Devotees* In the auspicious month of Kārtika, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was observing the Ekādaśī fast, a Vaiṣṇava tradition that necessitates breaking the fast within a specific time-frame on the following day, known as Dvādaśī. After worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in the Madhuvan forest of Vrindavan, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was about to break his fast when Durvāsā Muni arrived. When Sage Durvāsā became the guest of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, Vedic custom required the king to serve the sage first, before taking his own meal. Durvāsā Muni went to bathe in the Yamuna River before the meal, but was delayed. As the propitious moment for the king to end his fast approached, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, on the advice of wise *brāhmaṇas*, drank a little water to formally conclude his fast and continued to wait for Durvāsā Muni’s return. In this way he broke his fast at the proper time (by drinking water), without violating the etiquette of serving the meal to Durvāsā Muni before partaking himself. Through his mystical powers, Durvāsā realized that Ambarīṣa had consumed water without his consent. Upon returning, an enraged Durvāsā tore out a lock of his hair and summoned a fiery demon to assail Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. Lord Kṛṣṇa, protector of His devotees, had previously deputed His disc, the Sudarśana *cakra*, to protect Ambarīṣa. Sudarśana destroyed the demon and then pursued Durvāsā, who fled in terror to various celestial realms, seeking protection by their ruling demigods. All of them, including Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, declared their inability to shield him from the Sudarśana *cakra*’s fury. Durvāsā then sought refuge in the spiritual world, approaching Kṛṣṇa in His manifestation as Lord Nārāyaṇa. But Lord Nārāyaṇa told him to return to Mahārāja Ambarīṣa immediately, stating that unless Mahārāja Ambarīṣa forgave him, even He Himself could not save him. Lord Nārāyaṇa said, “I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent.” (*Bhāgavatam* 9.4.63) Consequently, to save his own life, the esteemed mystic Durvāsā Muni was compelled to yield to Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. Being a saintly devotee, Ambarīṣa forgave Durvāsā, and they became friends. This incident shows that the Lord does not tolerate transgressions against His devotees. *Lessons* Kṛṣṇa is impartial to all, yet He favors those who love Him. His partiality is not based on personal preference. Like us, He shows the natural inclination to reciprocate love and affection. Although He is equal to all, He reciprocates according to how we approach Him. Nondevotees, as they struggle against one another for dominance, experience good and bad fortune according to their fruitive endeavors and the appropriate reactions. But for those who approach Kṛṣṇa in steady devotion, there is a personal reciprocation that is transcendental, and in that transcendental, reciprocal relationship, the Lord becomes purchased by the devotees’ pure love. That is how He shows His impartiality to the living entities under the control of His external and internal energies. For devotees, even so-called good fortune is considered bad if it doesn’t aid their loving service to Kṛṣṇa. The real good fortune is a loving personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, which is eternal and infinitely superior to anything else. To please His devotees, Kṛṣṇa does not hesitate to undertake any action, including replicating Himself. This opulence of the Lord is technically known as *vaibhava-prakāśa*, and He exhibited it in His visits to Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva. In regard to Arjuna and Duryodhana, Kṛṣṇa was impartial to both, but their attitudes toward Him differed. The Lord gave ample opportunities to Duryodhana to rectify his offenses against the Pāṇḍavas. Duryodhana, however, devoid of good fortune, was unable to correct himself, in contrast to Durvāsā Muni, who saved his own life by seeking forgiveness for his offense. Kṛṣṇa chose to destroy Duryodhana and his brothers due to their heinous acts against the Pāṇḍavas, His devotees. They tried to murder the Pāṇḍavas in various ways; they deceived them by cheating in a dice game that resulted in their exile; one of them dragged Draupadī by the hair into the royal assembly and tried to disrobe her; and after the Pāṇḍavas’ term of exile had concluded, Duryodhana and his brothers went to war against the Pāṇḍavas instead of restoring their kingdom. Kṛṣṇa may forgive transgressions against Himself, but He does not tolerate offenses against His devotees. Because the Pāṇḍavas and their mother, Kuntī, were His pure devotees, Lord Kṛṣṇa protected them from a series of dangers orchestrated by Duryodhana. Queen Kuntī revealed her pure devotion by praying for calamities to come again and again so that she and her sons could repeatedly gain Kṛṣṇa’s personal presence, which she preferred to peace and safety outside of His association (*Bhāgavatam* 1.8.25). Although Kṛṣṇa defeated Duryodhana through Bhīma, He was not pleased to see Duryodhana fallen on the battlefield (*Bhāgavatam* 3.3.13, Purport). Kṛṣṇa aims to reform the mindset of wrongdoers, and when they grow overly obstinate, He disciplines them or ends their lives, not for retribution, but to free them from their demonic mentality. Indeed, Lord Kṛṣṇa is compassionate toward all living beings, which is why He descends into the material world. His love is available to all, yet not everyone chooses to embrace it. He is just and discreet, bestowing rewards according to each individual’s circumstances, as described in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.29). Although Durvāsā Muni was not a devotee of the Lord, the merciful Lord suggested that he become a devotee of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. By becoming a devotee of the Lord’s devotee, he would also become beloved to the Lord. We are all servants of Kṛṣṇa, and approaching Him should always be done with an attitude of service. Just as the Lord, in His kindness, continually arranges for the happiness of His devotees, we too should strive to act for His delight. This marks the start of true love. We suffer no loss by choosing to nurture our devotional feelings. Whether Kṛṣṇa is equal, partial, or beyond, serving Him is such a delightful experience that Kṛṣṇa descended to earth as Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a devotee of Himself, to savor this joy and demonstrate that there is no higher goal than attaining Lord Kṛṣṇa’s friendship. *Brajanātha Dāsa, PhD, and his wife, Suvarṇa Rādhā Devī Dāsī, PhD, both disciples of His Holiness Rādhānāth Swami, live in Longmont, Colorado, with their two daughters. They are active in book distribution and in serving Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda at ISKCON Denver.* Sītā after Being Abducted: Resourcefulness amid Helplessness by Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa *Sītā Devī responded to her adversity with qualities that can help us amid the challenges of life.* When things go wrong, our mind often reacts with a prognosis of gloom and doom. Generally, things can go wrong due to three main causes: others’ mistakes, our mistakes, or factors beyond human control. When things go wrong due to others’ mistakes, we tend to blame them for being foolish or irresponsible. When things go wrong due to our own mistakes, we tend to beat ourselves up as worthless losers. When things go wrong due to factors beyond human control, we tend to become cynical and deem the whole world cruel or even evil. When things go wrong due to these three causes combining sequentially or, worse still, simultaneously, we may be overwhelmed by feelings of resentfulness and hopelessness. Such were the series of adversities that befell Sītā when she was abducted by Rāvaṇa. How she remained positive and resourceful can be instructive for all of us. Let’s quickly review those incidents from her perspective. *When Everything Seems to Go Wrong* When Sītā insisted on accompanying Rāma to the forest, He alerted her to the many dangers in the wilderness, including especially the danger of deadly demons. During the forest stay, she learned to take the necessary precautions and survived unhurt for nearly thirteen of the fourteen years. Even when an occasional demon appeared suddenly and seized her, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa promptly rescued her. After enduring an austere forest exile for thirteen years, Sītā allowed herself to indulge a little. But even that indulgence was motivated not by the desire for selfish pleasure, but for selfless service. When she spotted an extraordinarily attractive deer frolicking near their hermitage, she asked Rāma to catch it—not just as a pet for her, but also as a memento for her mother-in-law, Kauśalya, whom they were likely to meet when their exile ended. When Rāma chased after the deer and was away for a long time, she worried that her desire for the deer would inconvenience her Lord or, worse still, get Him into unmanageable trouble. Though she knew about Rāma’s matchless prowess, her natural love for Him created fear for His well-being and safety. Her worst fears seemed to come true when she heard a voice that sounded exactly like Rāma’s, desperately calling out for help to Lakṣmaṇa and to her. She fervently requested, and then forcefully insisted, that Lakṣmaṇa go immediately to His brother’s aid. When He utterly refused to even consider her request, saying that Rāma could be in no danger whereas she would be in danger if He left, she became desperate. Wanting to do something to help Rāma in case He was in danger, she flung on Lakṣmaṇa an accusation of dishonorable intentions toward her. Unable to bear those hurtful words, He left to go to Rāma. Sītā then remembered the shock and horror on Lakṣmaṇa’s face that her accusations had created. The thought brought severe pain to her heart. She cared for and respected and trusted Him, yet she’d had a terrible altercation with Him that left a bitter taste in her mouth and heart. Had she been wrong in sending Lakṣmaṇa to aid Rāma by whatever words were necessary to goad Him into action? While she waited in the hermitage alone and worried about Rāma’s and Lakṣmaṇa’s safety, she had no thoughts about her own safety. When a sage approached the hermitage for alms of food and insisted that she serve him immediately, she unsuspectingly stepped outside the protective boundary that Lakṣmaṇa had created around their hermitage. To her utter horror, her goodness was exploited by the wickedness of this so-called sage, who turned out to be the demon Rāvaṇa on a dark mission to abduct her. While being abducted, she called out for help to anyone who might intervene. As she was being whisked away by Rāvaṇa in his airplane, she spotted the elderly vulture Jatāyu resting atop a tree. Being a warrior’s daughter and a queen, she immediately surmised that the bird would be no match for the powerful and ruthless Rāvaṇa. She told Jatāyu not to try to stop Rāvaṇa, but to just inform Rāma about what had happened to her. Why, oh why, did Jatāyu not listened to her? Why did he rush to stop Rāvaṇa and meet a horrible end? Would Rāma ever come to know where she was? Was she doomed to be abducted and lost forever? Almost everything that could go wrong went wrong that day. She had all reason to panic; she could have fallen apart in terror and despair. It would have been so easy to just give up hope. And yet she didn’t. Why not? Because she had faith that Rāma loved her and would come to protect her. *A Tiny Opening* With that faith, she kept her wits about her and stayed on the lookout for some opportunity to leave clues about her whereabouts for Rāma, who she was sure would come searching for her. When Rāvaṇa was taking her through the skyways, she saw far below a group of strange beings who looked like a cross between humans and monkeys. Hearing her cry for help, they looked up. They had a kindly look about them, though they didn’t seem equipped to stop the mighty demon king who was streaking through the sky high above them. Yet seeing their concerned expression, Sītā intuited that they would help her as much as they could. She promptly removed some of the jewels ornamenting her, tied them in cloth, and dropped them. Those beings were celestial apes known as Vānaras. They were headed by Sugrīva, the Vānara prince-in-exile, flanked by, among others, the heroic Hanumān as his chief advisor. They picked up the jewels and preserved them safely in their cave. Later, when they met Rāma, Sugrīva brought out the jewels to show Him. He broke down in the agony of separation. But from that agony emerged a greater eagerness to find Sītā. “If Sītā’s abductor had wanted to devour her,” Rāma thought, “he would have done so. That the demon carried her with him indicates that he wanted her alive.” Rāma felt the hope of finding Sītā rising within Him. *Three Steps to Go FAR* Sītā’s gesture in dropping the ornaments was undoubtedly a tiny one, yet it pointed to a mighty faith, a faith that she would not be abandoned by Rāma, who would come to look for her. How can we remain faithful and do what we can when life seems to suddenly and severely work against us? When most people may tend to crumble and crash, giving up hope, how can we ensure that we keep moving forward? By focusing on three things we can do, which can be conveyed through the acronym FAR: Faith, Acceptance, Resourcefulness. These empower us to go as far as we need to until we come to light at the end of the tunnel. *Faith* If we look at only the particular set of reversals that have happened recently, then it’s easy to lose faith. But if we look at the bigger picture of our life, we can see that many things could have gone wrong in many ways. The very fact that we are alive is itself a miracle, considering how fragile our bodies are and how many people die long before they even get to our age. We may have done our part in ensuring that we survive and progress. Still, it is ultimately God who has kept us safe and brought us to our present place. And He has not brought us this far to abandon us now. The same Lord who has seen us through our many past troubles—not just the ones we knew about, but even the ones we didn’t know about—will take us through our present troubles as well. *Acceptance* Faith helps us accept and acknowledge that whatever we are able to do is ultimately by our Lord’s arrangement and within His plan. And His plan, formed according to His infinite wisdom, is often inconceivable to our finite minds. According to His plan, sometimes our role may expand and sometimes it may shrink. Sometimes the ability we have to change our externals may increase, and sometimes it may dramatically decrease. When our power to play our part has shrunk substantially, and indeed when our part itself has shrunk substantially, it is our faith that can help us accept our humbler situation. We gracefully accept the situation that has come upon us within the Lord’s plan, and we seek to play our modified part accordingly. What if our present situation has been created by causes that seem to be nondivine—such as our own mistakes or the mistakes of the people around us? Is our situation still within the Lord’s plan? Yes, no human mistake can ever be so big as to disturb, let alone disrupt, God’s plan. His plan is so expert and so subtly inclusive that it can continue to work even through the ill-advised choices of the human participants in His plan, be they us or others. By accepting that we are always part of God, as stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (15.7), and therefore always have a part in Kṛṣṇa’s plan, we can accept our constrained situation. Rather than fixating on why our externals have changed so adversely, we can focus on using those externals to find a path ahead. *Resourcefulness* Once we faithfully accept the smaller, humbler part we presently have, then we can resourcefully direct our attention and energy toward playing that part as well as possible. Even if everything around us seems dark, we can still find some way to do something to decrease that darkness. If we feel we can do absolutely nothing to improve our situation, if we feel we are utterly powerless to do anything about it, then we can jolt ourselves out of that stupor of illusion by asking ourselves a counterintuitive question: “Can I make things worse?” Obviously we don’t want to make things worse, but if we answer this rhetorical question honestly, we can acknowledge that we can indeed make things worse. No matter how bad things are, we never lose the power to make them worse. And if we can make things worse, then we can make them better too; we are not as powerless as we think. The least we can do is think about ways we could make things worse and ensure we don’t do any of those. Even if we are in a situation of utter external powerlessness, we are never in a situation of utter internal powerlessness. No matter how bad things are, our conscious awareness and our presence of mind are our resources that no one can steal from us—unless we let them. But we may unwittingly let our mind steal those resources. When things go out of control, our mind does too—by dwelling on those out-of-control things, thus sabotaging our capacity to respond constructively. If we keep the resources within our control steady and ready, we can tap whatever opportunity comes our way. Just as Sītā showed Rāma her desire to be rescued by dropping her jewels, we can show God our desire to be helped by doing whatever we can to make things better. Therefore, just because we seem helpless doesn’t mean we should help ourselves less. Rather than lamenting or blaming or resenting, we can focus on praying and improvising. Praying attracts the supreme power to arrange things beyond our control for our ultimate good; and improvising allows us to use the few things in our control creatively and constructively. Such praying and improvising become easier when we have practiced directing our thoughts toward realities higher than the material and toward purposes higher than our material comforts and pleasures. When we direct our thoughts thus, spirituality can offer us extraordinary empowerment. Spiritual wisdom helps us understand that in our inner world we always have access to an inexhaustible source of energy, clarity, and positivity: our indwelling Lord. And He is just one thought away from us; we can connect with Him simply by directing our thoughts toward Him. Devotional directives to always remember the Divine are not mindless rituals; they are time-tested strategies for inner empowerment by providing us an ever-available enriching and empowering object of thought. The more we are resourceful in connecting internally with our indwelling Lord through remembrance, the more we will be guided by Him to become resourceful externally for acting constructively (*Gītā* 10.10). On the path of our life journey, even if life shuts down the streetlights, we can still turn on the flashlight of our devotional-service attitude and keep moving forward one step at a time. Each step in the darkness of adversity can be guided by simple questions that will become our sources of light: “My dear Lord, how can I serve You in this situation? In Your service, how can I act to make things better? And what can I learn through this situation so that I can become a better human being?” It is by such devotionally pragmatic driving questions that each one of us can become resourceful and go through and grow through life’s toughest adversities. When, by doing whatever we can to help ourselves, we show that we want to be helped, we attract from those around us help in ways we can foresee—and from the One we can’t see, help in ways we can’t foresee. *Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa serves full time at ISKCON Chowpatty, Mumbai. He is a BTG associate editor and the author of more than twenty-five books. He has two websites: gitadaily.com and thespiritualscientist.com (the source for BTG’s “Q&A”).* The Essence of the Essence by Jagannātha Gopāla Dāsa *A handful of verses in the* Bhagavad-gītā *reveal the crux of the* Gītā *and thus of the* Upaniṣads*, the philosophical core of the Vedic literature.* For many spiritual practitioners around the world, the *Bhagavad-gītā* holds a place of primary importance. Many see it as a guidebook for life, others as a book of yoga, and yet others as a philosophical masterpiece. In the Vedāntic schools of thought, it is one of the three canonical texts (along with the *Upaniṣads* and the *Vedānta-sūtras*) considered primary authoritative sources of spiritual knowledge (*prasthāna-traya*). Also known as *Gītopaniṣad*, it is considered the essence of the *Upaniṣads*, which themselves are considered the philosophical essence of all Vedic knowledge. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya, in his work of poetic brilliance extolling the glories of the *Gītā*, writes (*Gītā*-māhātmya 6): > sarvopaniṣado gāvo > dogdhā gopāla-nandanaḥ > pārtho vatsaḥ su-dhīr bhoktā > dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat Śaṅkarācārya here draws a metaphor. The *Upaniṣads* are compared to a cow. Kṛṣṇa, who is famous as a cowherd boy, is compared to the milker of the cow. Arjuna, being the direct recipient of the milk, is the calf. Learned scholars and pure devotees are further recipients of the milk. Finally, the nourishing milk that Kṛṣṇa is drawing is the *Bhagavad-gītā*. Through this metaphor, Śaṅkarācārya beautifully brings out the supreme position of the *Gītā*. Numerous sincere readers of the *Gītā* continue to experience fulfillment and satisfaction upon reading it and reflecting upon its message. The *Gītā* contains seven hundred verses, most of which are words of wisdom spoken directly by the Absolute Truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. These verses describe multiple paths of yoga, levels of God realization, and important themes like time, the spirit soul, the Absolute Truth, karma, and material nature. In comparison with the entire Vedic cannon, the *Gītā* is succinct. Yet it is replete with many details. That raises the question “What is the essence of the *Gītā*?” Expanding upon a theme to come up with details is certainly a challenge. But a greater challenge is to distill the essence of a book into a single principle, verse, or set of verses. The process is often fraught with possibilities of misinterpretation. Therefore, in regard to the *Gītā*, only highly realized souls can decipher its essence and make that available and accessible to people in general. In his *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* purports, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes about the *Gītā’s* essence in multiple places. This article tries to uncover that essence in light of Prabhupāda’s purports, which follow in the line of the previous Vaiṣṇava commentators and *ācāryas*. Devotional Service (9.34, 18.65) and Surrender (18.66) The overarching theme that Prabhupāda focuses on throughout his *Gītā* commentary is devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, or **bhakti-yoga*,* and the subsequent surrender by the practitioner unto God, Kṛṣṇa. The *Gītā* talks about three other types of yoga, namely *karma-yoga* (the path of detached action), *jñāna-yoga* (the path of knowledge), and *aṣṭāṅga-yoga* (the path of physical and mental discipline). However, Prabhupāda focuses significantly on the process of **bhakti-yoga*,* even in sections where it is not explicitly discussed by Kṛṣṇa. Some may see Prabhupāda’s presentation as biased or even hasty. Far from being so, however, Prabhupāda’s emphasis on *bhakti-yoga* is in line with Kṛṣṇa’s emphasis on it. At two distinct places in the *Gītā*, Kṛṣṇa qualifies devotional service, *bhakti-yoga,* as the most confidential of all secrets. In the first two verses of the ninth chapter, He declares that the knowledge He is about to impart is the most confidential of all knowledge (*guhya-tamaḥ*), the king of all education (*rāja-vidyā*), and the king of all secrets (*rāja-guhyam*). He ends the ninth chapter with the following important verse, which He repeats almost verbatim in the eighteenth chapter: “Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (9.34) Toward the conclusion of Kṛṣṇa’s instructions to Arjuna in the eighteenth chapter, verses 64–66 are as follows: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. In the eighteenth chapter (in verses 18.65 and 18.66), Kṛṣṇa describes His instructions to Arjuna with two significant terms: *sarva-guhya-tamam* (the most confidential of all) and *paramaṁ vacaḥ* (supreme instruction). Therefore it is reasonable, or even essential, to consider these instructions the *Gītā’s* essence. Prabhupāda writes: The Lord has given Arjuna knowledge that is confidential (knowledge of Brahman) and still more confidential (knowledge of the Supersoul within everyone’s heart), and now He is giving the most confidential part of knowledge: just surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the end of the Ninth Chapter He has said, *man-manāḥ*: “Just always think of Me.” The same instruction is repeated here to stress the essence of the teachings of *Bhagavad-gītā*. (18.64, Purport) Further, he writes: “In other words, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, in full consciousness, is the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole *Bhagavad-gītā*.” (18.66, Purport) Prabhupāda quoted 18.66 very often in his lectures and books. Considered by Śrīla Rāmānujācārya one of the *carama-ślokas* (ultimate verses) of Vedic literature, it calls for direct surrender unto Kṛṣṇa as the highest expression of love and devotion. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, two great spiritual teachers in the preceptorial line of Lord Caitanya, also considered this verse pivotal to *bhakti* philosophy and practice. The beautiful part about devotional surrender unto Kṛṣṇa by the *bhakti-yogī* is that it is reciprocal. Kṛṣṇa promises Arjuna in 18.66 that He will take care of all his sinful reactions, and He ends the verse with the words *mā śucaḥ*: “Do not worry.” Referring to the Lord’s taking charge of the life of a surrendered devotee, Prabhupāda writes in his purport to text 10.11: The pure devotee does not have to worry about the material necessities of life; he need not be anxious, because when he removes the darkness from his heart, everything is provided automatically by the Supreme Lord, who is pleased by the loving devotional service of the devotee. This is the essence of the teachings of *Bhagavad-gītā*. By studying *Bhagavad-gītā*, one can become a soul completely surrendered to the Supreme Lord and engage himself in pure devotional service. As the Lord takes charge, one becomes completely free from all kinds of materialistic endeavors. Prabhupāda’s stress on full surrender in devotion as being the essence of the *Gītā* is also evident in his purport to the last verse of the *Gītā*, where he writes, “From *Bhagavad-gītā* we can understand that to realize oneself by philosophical speculation and by meditation is one process, but to fully surrender unto Kṛṣṇa is the highest perfection. This is the essence of the teachings of *Bhagavad-gītā*.” *Chapters Seven through Twelve* Kṛṣṇa talks about *bhakti*, devotion, throughout the *Gītā*, but He heavily focuses on it in chapters seven through twelve. Prabhupāda writes: Chapters Seven through Twelve are the essence of *Bhagavad-gītā*. The first six and the last six chapters are like coverings for the middle six chapters, which are especially protected by the Lord. If one is fortunate enough to understand *Bhagavad-gītā*—especially these middle six chapters—in the association of devotees, then his life at once becomes glorified beyond all penances, sacrifices, charities, speculations, etc., for one can achieve all the results of these activities simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (8.28, Purport) Pertinently, Kṛṣṇa categorically states in the beginning of the seventh chapter, “I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know.” (7.2). This declaration by Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of the middle six chapters is significant, indicating that what follows holds utmost importance. The Way to Kṛṣṇa (11.55) Prabhupāda writes that the essence of the *Gītā* is embedded in a single verse: > mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo > mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ > nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu > yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava “My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being—he certainly comes to Me.” (*Gītā* 11.55) Prabhupāda writes in the purport: “Anyone who wants to approach the supreme of all the Personalities of Godhead, on the Kṛṣṇaloka planet in the spiritual sky, and be intimately connected with the Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṇa, must take this formula, as stated by the Supreme Himself. Therefore, this verse is considered to be the essence of *Bhagavad-gītā*.” In a lecture, Prabhupāda said: Now, this one verse [11.55] is sufficient to teach the essence of *Śrīmad *Bhagavad-gītā**. “Anyone who is engaged in My work . . .” “In My work”—*mat-karma-kṛt*. Then what is that “My work”? That “My work” is explained in the last word and the last instruction of the *Bhagavad-gītā*: *sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja* [18.66]. Arjuna is taught—and with the example of Arjuna, every one of us is taught—that we have to work only that which is sanctioned by Kṛṣṇa. *Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja* [18.66]. (New York, August 1, 1966) In this way, 11.55 encapsulates the essence of the *Gītā* by giving the practitioner practical principles to act upon and thus progress in spiritual life. Therefore we see not only that the essence of Vedic knowledge is embedded within the *Gītā*, but that it is protected in the middle six chapters and revealed clearly and directly in verses such as 11.55, 9.34/18.65, and 18.66—verses we might call “the essence of the essence.” *The Gītā’s Essence in Practice* Important to note is that one needs to approach a spiritual guide (4.34) to understand how these principles play out according to specific times, places, and circumstances. Only when we understand the **Gītā*’s* essence can we mold our lives accordingly and make swift progress in our spiritual practice. Despite its being a philosophical book, the way to truly understand the *Gītā* is not through mere scholarship or intellectual endeavor but with an underlying mood of devotion, as exhibited by Arjuna, the first and direct recipient of the *Gītā*. Therefore, as an expert teacher, Prabhupāda taught us not only the essence of the *Gītā*, but also the disposition required by the seeker to understand and realize that essence. In the introduction to his commentary on the *Gītā*, Prabhupāda writes: So according to the statements of *Bhagavad-gītā* or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the *Bhagavad-gītā*, we should at least theoretically accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand the *Bhagavad-gītā*. Unless one reads the *Bhagavad-gītā* in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand *Bhagavad-gītā*, because it is a great mystery. Further, in the purport to 10.14, Prabhupāda writes: “The acceptance by Arjuna of all that Kṛṣṇa says should be emulated; then we can understand the essence of *Bhagavad-gītā*, and then only can we understand that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” The disposition described above will yield maximum benefit from the practice of **bhakti*-yoga*. What does that practice look like? Although the activities of *bhakti* are described in detail in *Śrīmad-*Bhāgavatam**, Kṛṣṇa mentions some of them in the *Gītā*. For example: “Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (9.14) And: “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (10.9) Among the various processes of *bhakti* mentioned by Prahlāda Mahārāja (*Bhāgavatam* 7.5.23), chanting Kṛṣṇa’s holy names and glories (*kīrtayantaḥ*) is considered especially powerful during the present age, Kali-yuga. In its essence, the *Bhagavad-gītā* brings us to *bhakti*, or loving devotional service, which forms the basis of the interactions between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. Those interactions have been recorded in detail in texts like **Śrī*mad-Bhāgavatam* and other *Purāṇas*, as well as in biographies like *Śrī* *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*. When Thomas J. Hopkins, a professor of religious studies and an expert in Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism, asked Prabhupāda about the relationship of the *Bhagavad-gītā* to *Śrīmad-*Bhāgavatam*,* Prabhupāda replied that the *Bhāgavatam* was like the graduate study of the *Gītā*, beginning where the *Gītā* left off. In this way, the essence of *bhakti* presented in the *Gītā* expands to become the ripe fruit of Vedic knowledge, in the form of Śrīmad-*Bhāgavatam*. *Jagannātha Gopāla Dāsa got connected to Kṛṣṇa consciousness through ISKCON Pune’s youth forum. He holds a master’s degree in computer science. He lives in New Jersey and works in the technology division of Goldman Sachs.* The Essential King by Karuṇā Dhārinī Devī Dāsī *In a small book, Śrīla Prabhupāda elaborates on Lord Kṛṣṇa’s revelation of “the king of knowledge.”* *Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge* is a small book prepared from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s 1966 lectures in New York City. It discusses mostly the ninth chapter of the *Bhagavad-gītā*, addressing what is knowledge and what its purpose is. The term *rāja-vidyā* is found in the second verse of the ninth chapter: “This knowledge is the king of education [*rāja-vidyā*] , the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, and it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting and it is joyfully performed.” *Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge* is a bold presentation, as bold as Śrīla Prabhupāda, who was sharing this confidential knowledge with Americans who had no background in Vedic culture. In California I have visited old missions with colossal hanging brass bells for declaring different events throughout the day. Their vibrations are loud and long. Some bells have a name, such as Truth or Mercy. With his unique voice, Prabhupāda’s bold talks to his newly gathered Western aspirants ring as clear as a bell to this day. The information presented in *Rāja-vidyā* is a condensed paraphrase of Prabhupāda’s words from some of those talks. This article is the second of a three-part series attempting to unveil the powerful effect of reading this book and two other potent small books: *On the Way to Kṛṣṇa* and *Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness*. *Knowing the Proprietor* The book begins with Śrīla Prabhupāda explaining why Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is addressed in the *Bhagavad-gītā* as Bhagavān, which means one who possess six primary opulences in full: beauty, wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, and renunciation. He possesses absolute and perfect knowledge, which He presents in the *Bhagavad-gītā*. Only God can possess the six major opulences in full. We humans possess them in varying degrees and in temporary manifestations. Still, we entertain ideas about ourselves that do not tally with this truth. “In India, for instance, at any time, one has no difficulty finding at least one dozen people claiming to be God. But if you ask them if they are the proprietor of everything, they find this question difficult to answer.” (*Rāja-vidyā*, Chapter 1) *Don’t Try to Stop the Tossing* Like the dozen people claiming to be God that Śrīla Prabhupāda referred to, we think ourselves the proprietors of things in this world. This is possibly our biggest obstacle to attaining absolute and perfect knowledge. We spirit souls have accepted the environment of the material world, along with the covering of a material body, mind, and false ego. We accept all this in order to live separately from God, but we are not fully satisfied by doing so, because it is against our true nature. We are meant to relish life with Kṛṣṇa in a spiritual body in His eternal spiritual domain. However, to experience independence, we opt out of our relationship with Him and in doing so lose our natural cognizance and become ignorant of the nature of reality. We are thereby thrown into turmoil, which is compared to the tossing of the sea. We find ourselves in the middle of a sea, and our education, research, technology, and so on are all meant to improve the material world, but these are not the solution recommended in *Rāja-vidyā*. “So I am being tossed. Don’t try to stop the tossing. That is not possible. If you want to make a solution of the tossing waves of the Atlantic Ocean when you have fallen there, it is useless foolishness. Don’t be foolish in that way. That is the Atlantic Ocean’s nature. You cannot stop it. You have to get out of it.”* Chapter Two of *Rāja-vidyā* identifies us as living spiritual persons helplessly tossed about in the cycle of *saṁsāra*, repeated birth and death in the material world. All the assumptions we make about ourselves without awareness of our position in *saṁsāra* are like a long mathematical formula missing its essential components. *Full Knowledge* The opportunity to read the ninth chapter of the *Bhagavad-gītā* is a confidential one, Śrīla Prabhupāda tells us, because Kṛṣṇa is speaking to His devotees only. Considering this, we can understand that *Rāja-vidyā* is no small treatise, despite its apparent size. It offers an insider’s view. *Rāja-vidyā* was compiled and published on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions. “I like your idea that some small books should be published especially for the layman.” The layman was Prabhupāda’s chosen audience. Chapter Two of *Rāja-vidyā* offers a case in point because it describes the contrast between an innocent “layman” and someone less so: a cobbler and a learned *brāhmaṇa* respectively. The *brāhmaṇa* lived a life of study, austerities, and sacrifices. The cobbler made and mended shoes. When the *brāhmaṇa* happened to see Nārada Muni when Nārada was on his way to visit Vaikuṇṭha, the *brāhmaṇa* asked him to inquire from Lord Nārāyaṇa when he would get liberation from the material world. The cobbler also met Nārada and made a similar inquiry. When Nārada asked the Lord about the liberation of the two men, the Lord’s reply astonished him. The *brāhmaṇa*, the Lord said, would remain in the material world for a number of lifetimes. Regarding the cobbler, the Lord said, “After leaving his body, he shall come to Me.” “I cannot understand the mystery of this,” said Nārada. “That you will see,” Nārāyaṇa replied. “When they inquire from you about what I have spoken, tell them I was threading a needle with an elephant.” Upon meeting Nārada, the righteous *brāhmaṇa* inquired, “Do tell me what Nārāyaṇa had to say regarding my liberation.” “The Lord was busy threading an elephant through the eye of a needle,” said Nārada. “I don’t believe such nonsense,” replied the *brāhmaṇa*. Nārada could understand that the man had no faith and was simply a reader of books. Nārada then went to the cobbler, who asked, “Have you seen my Lord? Please tell me what was He doing?” Nārada replied, “He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle.” The cobbler began to weep, and he exclaimed, “My Lord can do anything!” “Do you really believe that?” Nārada asked. “Why not? I’m working under this great banyan tree, and you can see that so many fruits are falling every day, and in each seed there is a banyan tree like this one. If within such a small seed there can be a banyan tree like this, is it difficult to accept that the Lord is pushing an elephant through the eye of a needle?” Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: “So those who are devoted, just like the cobbler, they believe everything. And those who are not devotees, they will say, ‘Oh, these are all bluffs.’ But they are not bluffs. It is simply meant for the devotees. They can understand. The nondevotees, they cannot understand. If by Kṛṣṇa’s process, or nature’s process, such a big tree can be put within the small seed, is it very impossible to keep all of the planets floating by His energy?” Kṛṣṇa’s devotees perceive His presence in all aspects of this world. In the concluding verses of the *Bhagavad-gītā’s* ninth chapter, Kṛṣṇa describes and glorifies great souls like the cobbler. This is also a topic of *Rāja-vidyā*. *The Mahātmās Advocate for Kṛṣṇa* Not only does Kṛṣṇa reveal the king of knowledge to Arjuna, but He makes sure it is complete with a description of great, broadminded persons steeped in confidential knowledge and devotion. The great souls (*mahātmās*) understand the truth about the Personality of Godhead and want to glorify Him in many ways. When we think about the literature, art, music, architecture, cuisine, outreach projects, and deity worship that have been the effort of so many devoted servants of Kṛṣṇa in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s ISKCON mission, this only makes sense. “O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of My divine energy. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (*Gītā* 9.13) It is the nature of the soul to want to glorify the Lord, and the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is a grand, ecstatic facility to channel the devotees’ ambitions to do so effectively and appropriately. Conversely, the Lord describes those souls who plainly do not want to acknowledge Him, much less abide by His instructions for living in this world: “Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.” (*Gītā* 9.12) While some people make a career of plotting how to remove self-realization from human endeavor, soft-hearted devotees who cannot see anything but God in every leaf, seed, and tree still walk the earth. They find Kṛṣṇa even in sprawling cities, which they regard as opportune places to reach out to people with pleasing songs and words about Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda did just that. “You are speaking, ‘I do not believe in God,’ but as soon as you cannot speak, everything is stopped. So who has given you this speaking power that you dare to say, ‘I do not believe in God’? Will you not think, ‘How am I speaking? Who has given me this power?’ Do you mean to say that this speaking power has come automatically from stone? As soon as the speaking power has been withdrawn by the supreme authority, you are as good as stone.” The perfection of one’s God-given speaking ability is to use it for Him in His service, and that requires hearing about Him and submitting to His representatives. Unless we are humble and are submissive to a great soul, there is no use in taking the trouble to try to acquire knowledge. By becoming submissive, we become aware of our own imperfections. This is where the path of knowledge begins. Due to its imperfect nature, knowledge gathered by our imperfect sense perception cannot be admitted into the court of the king of knowledge. The servants of *rāja-vidyā*, all broadminded *mahātmās*, do not allow it. *Faith in Guru* The last two chapters of *Rāja-vidyā* discuss surrender to a bona fide spiritual master and action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness as the natural corollaries to the king of knowledge. They follow behind the king of knowledge as his natural confidants. In other words, one who has understood the confidential teachings of the *Bhagavad-gītā* will want to take instruction from a guru and engage in the recommended activities of devotional service. Why is obtaining knowledge and training from a bona fide spiritual master the best of sacrifices? The sacrifice of our possessions in charity may help us recognize who is the proprietor of the possessions we’re giving away. Beyond that, however, the sacrifice of knowing the supreme proprietor and how best to serve Him elevates us in spiritual life by inspiring us to perform activities that best serve Him. *The True and Noble King* The path of the *bhakta* is one of joy. When we escape the heavy bonds of our own mental speculation and pass through the secured gates of *māyā’s* soldiers, we gain finer and finer self-perception by the practice of devotional service. We then gain entrance into the highest court of the land to see the most glorious monarch, seated properly with His courtiers and bards in full attendance, all great *mahātmās* who attend to *rāja-vidyā*, confidential knowledge, by communicating the glories of Kṛṣṇa with everlasting joy. “In ordinary life we find one person is king in one subject while another is king in some other kind of subject. This knowledge [*rāja-vidyā*], however, is sovereign to all others, and all other knowledge is subject or relative to it.” (*Rāja-vidyā*, Chapter 1) These are the facts regarding knowledge as delineated in the ninth chapter of the *Bhagavad-gītā*, which includes an analysis of who is a *mahātmā* and who is not. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the proprietor of all knowledge, informs His devotees with His most confidential knowledge. *Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge* is a powerful broadcast of that message based on the first speeches describing *bhakti-yoga* given in the West, from the lotus mouth of the truly broadminded *mahātmā*, Śrīla Prabhupāda. *Quotations in this article presented without citation are from the original lectures that serve as the basis for *Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge*. *Sidebar:* The Chapters of Rāja-vidyā 1. Rāja-Vidyā: The King of Knowledge 2. Knowledge Beyond Saṁsāra 3. Knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s Energies 4. Knowledge by Way of the Mahātmās, Great Souls 5. Paramparā: Knowledge Through Disciplic Succession 6. Knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s Appearances and Activities 7. Knowledge as Faith in Guru and Surrender to Kṛṣṇa 8. Action in Knowledge of Kṛṣṇa *Karuṇā Dhārinī Devī Dāsī, a disciple of His Grace Vīrabāhu Dāsa, serves the deities at ISKCON Los Angeles, where she joined ISKCON in 1979. She has also been distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books since her earliest days in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. She lives with her husband and daughter.* Śrī Caitanya in Gaya: More Than a Footnote By Satyarāja Dāsa *Lord Caitanya’s visit to the holy site of Lord Viṣṇu’s footprint marks a significant transition during His divine descent.* “I offer my respects to the sacred *dhāma* of Gaya, which is decorated with the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu, the visit of the great saint Īśvara Purī, the first teardrop of Śrī Rādhā Bhāva Gaurāṅga, and the Lord Himself [Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu], who took His new birth, *dīkṣā*, in the lineage of *prema*.”—Lalitā Kiśora Dāsa, sixteenth-century poet Gaya, in northeastern India, sits peacefully along the Falgu River, a tributary of the Ganges. The second largest city in Bihar, it is home to a rich history of both Buddhist and Hindu lore, but its place in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition is dominated by the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa Himself in the role of His own devotee. When studying the life of Śrī Caitanya, however, we find that most of His biographers give very little attention to His time in Gaya. Indeed, in Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, the most prominent of the Lord’s biographies, we learn only that Mahāprabhu (as Viśvambhara Miśra, a householder) went to Gaya to perform *śrāddha* (funeral rites) for His father, happened to meet Īśvara Purī there,1 and took Vaiṣṇava initiation from him there—all consequential events, but all told rather abruptly. Almost like a footnote. Still, one thing is clear: something mysterious occurred in Gaya. Mahāprabhu returned to His hometown of Nabadwip completely God-intoxicated.2 To be absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa with a mood of ecstatic love (*prema*) is the very substance of Śrī Caitanya’s avatar. But He chose to exhibit such love for the first time in Gaya, and it is therefore worth exploring what happened there, and why. *Four “Footnotes”* There are four incidents that immediately precipitate Mahāprabhu’s vital transformation. I call them “footnotes,” not only because some of His biographers treat them rather cursorily, but also because these incidents share one thing in common: a reference to holy feet, a common trope in Vaiṣṇava literature.3 The first of our footnotes comes from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, who informs us that Śrī Caitanya desired to make specific holy places even holier than they already are. To accomplish this, He places *His* footprints on such holy ground by visiting the places Himself.4 Gaya is but one example. Commenting on Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura’s *Caitanya-bhāgavata* (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.13), Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī writes, “The second line of this verse indicates that the Lord’s lotus feet came to Gaya; in other words, Lord Śrī Gaurasundara [Caitanya], whose sanctified feet are the source of all holy places, came here in order to purify the holy place of Gaya. In the Lord’s journey to Gaya, all those villages and places that were marked by His lotus feet, which purify the entire universe, became famous as most sanctified holy places.” It is after this initial act of purification that Mahāprabhu would show the external world His internal mood, exhibiting the intense love for Kṛṣṇa that only Rādhā possesses. As Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī writes in his introduction to chapter seventeen of the *Ādi-khaṇḍa* of *Caitanya-bhāgavata*: “It was then that the Lord saw fit to manifest His true nature.” And Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura is even more specific (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.120): “The Master who was extremely grave (*parama-gambhīra*) now became extremely restless (*parama-asthira*) under the impact of love (*prema*).” The next footnote can be delineated as follows. According to the *Caitanya-bhāgavata*: On the way to Gaya, Viśvambhara performs the pastime of catching a fever. (*Ādi* 17.16) In order to instruct people, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha displays illness like an ordinary person. (*Ādi* 17.17) Thus He temporarily interrupts His journey, as His companions try to remedy His physical ailment. (*Ādi* 17.18–19) At this point, He prescribes Himself the water used to clean *brāhmaṇas*’ feet, which He says can remove all suffering; so He drinks the holy water, and His fever subsides. (*Ādi* 17.20–22) In this way He shows the importance of revering the feet of those dedicated to God. His teaching here is both symbolic and literal—it is not just their feet, but service to such holy people in general that is the prescribed method for overcoming the scourge of material existence. With this as a backdrop, the Lord entered Gaya proper, where the footprint of Viṣṇu has its very own temple, the Viṣṇupāda Mandira. Mahāprabhu had ostensibly come to this sacred place to execute His father’s obsequies, and He indeed performed the prescribed rituals in due course.5 But why Gaya? The ceremony can be performed at any number of holy places. With this question in mind, we should briefly look at the history of this temple and why it is important to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition. Mahāprabhu approached the Viṣṇupāda temple with great anticipation. Echoing the words of Vrindavana Dāsa Ṭhākura’s *Caitanya-bhāgavata,* as we will soon see, Locana Dāsa Ṭhākura writes in his *Caitanya-maṅgala*: [Mahāprabhu] set off quickly to see the Viṣṇupāda, His heart full of joy. “I will see with My own eyes the impressions of Viṣṇu’s feet.” Happily He kept telling Himself this as He went along. Saying this, and arriving at His destination, Mahāprabhu washed the Viṣṇupāda, performing *abhiṣeka* to His heart’s content. Revealing His devotion, Lord Viśvambhara Hari showed the world that He was indeed a possessor of *prema*. He began to tremble, and horripilation spread over His body as *prema* commenced. Streams poured forth from His eyes and He suddenly became stunned and motionless. The Lord became overwhelmed upon seeing those lotus feet and He started dancing, initiating a grand festival of *prema*. While at Gaya, He thus performed *piṇḍa-dāna* to those lotus feet, fulfilling His ancestral obligations and being delighted within.6 That Śrī Caitanya experienced ecstatic symptoms upon viewing the Viṣṇupāda imprint in Gaya should come as no surprise. Seeing the distinct marks of the Lord’s feet is called an *uddīpana,* something that kindles devotional sentiment, as stated in the *Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu* (2.1.302): “Kṛṣṇa’s smile, the fragrance of His transcendental body, His flute, bugle, ankle bells and conchshell, the marks on His feet, His place of residence, His favorite plant (*tulasī*), His devotees, and the observance of fasts and vows connected to His devotion all awaken the symptoms of ecstatic love.” The Viṣṇupāda temple is traced to a demon known as Gayāsura, who terrorized the earth in the Tretā-yuga, millions of years ago. The story is retold in the *Vāyu Purāṇa*, the *Garuḍa Purāṇa,* and other Vaiṣṇava literature. To give the essence of a very long story, Lord Viṣṇu killed Gayāsura at this spot by stamping His foot on the demon’s chest. After Lord Viṣṇu pushed him into the earth with His foot, the Lord’s footprint—with its unique markings of *śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma* (conch shell, disc, club, and lotus)—was retained in what is now a sixteen-inch-long imprint in basalt rock. (Although there is only one footprint, the *Caitanya-bhāgavata* and other sources commonly refer to it as “footprints” or “feet.”) A temple was subsequently built around it. Again, why did Mahāprabhu come to this particular place? In general, Hindus of the time, and still to this day, believe that the mourning ceremonies of *śrāddha* achieve a two-fold purpose, propitiating the ancestors and facilitating their approach to heavenly planets. It is important to note that in Vaiṣṇava theology there is a vast difference between heavenly planets and Vaikuṇṭha, or the kingdom of God. This is where the Viṣṇupāda temple comes in. When one performs the *śrāddha* ceremony at this site, one guarantees that the departed ancestor will return to Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa and not merely be promoted to heaven. Jagannātha Miśra, the Lord’s father, was an eternally liberated soul, but to show the world that a Vaiṣṇava desires the supreme abode and not merely higher planetary systems, Mahāprabhu made the pilgrimage to Gaya. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the difference between going to heaven and going to the kingdom of God: So what is the difference between going to the higher planetary system and going back home, back to [Godhead]? Everything is explained. If you go to the higher planetary systems, suppose to the planets of the demigods, Kṛṣṇa says, “Then you will have to again come back.” *Ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna* [*Gītā* 8.16]. Even if you go to the topmost planet, then from there also, after . . . *Kṣīṇe puṇye martya-*loka*ṁ viśanti* [*Gītā* 9.21]. After your resultant action of pious activities is finished, then you have to come back again here. *Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama* [*Gītā* 15.6]. But there is another planet, which is called Go*loka* Vṛndāvana. If you go there, then you’ll haven’t to come back again in this material world, which is described by Kṛṣṇa Himself: *duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam*. Mām upetya punar janma *duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam* *nāpnuvanti *mahātmā*naḥ*. [*Gītā* 8.15] No ordinary person can go to Kṛṣṇa’s *loka*, back to home. Who can go? *Mahātmānaḥ*, those who are great souls. And who are great souls? They are called **mahātmā*s*. Who are **mahātmā*s*? *Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ, bhajanty ananya-manasaḥ*. [*Gītā* 9.13] This is *mahātmā*. Those who are fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, absorbed in the service of Kṛṣṇa, they are called *mahātmā*.7 The rituals for the deceased are part of the *karma-kāṇḍa* section of the *Vedas*, which prescribes the performance of rituals and sacrificial rites for material benefits or for liberation. As Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “In the *Vedas* there are three *kāṇḍas*, or divisions: *karma-kāṇḍa*, *jñāna-kāṇḍa*, and *upāsanā-kāṇḍa*. The *karma-kāṇḍa* portion stresses the execution of fruitive activities. But ultimately it is advised that one abandon both *karma-kāṇḍa* and *jñāna-kāṇḍa* (speculative knowledge) and accept only *upāsanā-kāṇḍa*, or *bhakti-kāṇḍa*.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya-līlā* 9.263, Purport) The *Nārada Paṇcarātra* states: “The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity [*karma-kāṇḍa*, *jñāna-kāṇḍa*, and *upāsanā-kāṇḍa*], the *chandas*, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the reality of all Vedānta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.” (quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Ādi-līlā* 7.76, Purport) To be sure, Vaiṣṇavas need not perform *śrāddha* at all. As Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (8.28): “A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, undergoing austerities, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. Simply by performing devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode.” This is the teaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If one intends to perform the *śrāddha* ceremony, it should be done in the tradition of the Viṣṇupāda temple, where the ritual performed is called *Vaikuṇṭha-samārādhanā*, meaning that it focuses on the Supreme Lord and entering His abode. So it should be clear: Mahāprabhu’s reason for being in Gaya, at least in terms of His father’s funeral services, was to show that such ceremonies are valuable only if they are directed toward Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa and the ultimate goal of life. Thus, as He approached the transcendental footprint enshrined in that temple, He experienced divine love in full. The *Caitanya-bhāgavata* tells us: “As the Lord looked at those lotus feet, tears flowed from His lotus eyes, His hairs stood on end, and He began shivering.” (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.43) “Lord Gauracandra then began to manifest ecstatic devotional service for the benefit of the entire world.” (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.44) “The *brāhmaṇas* were all startled to see tears flow from the Lord’s eyes like the unbroken flow of the Ganges.” (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.45) Nonetheless, soon thereafter, Mahāprabhu would encounter the fourth and ultimate footnote, surpassing even His profound experience in the Viṣṇupāda temple: “By the divine will of the Supreme Lord, at that moment [while Mahāprabhu was conducting funeral services at the Viṣṇupāda temple] Śrī Īśvara Purī arrived at that same place.” (*Ādi-khaṇḍa* 17.46) Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī comments on this verse: “When Lord Śrī Gaurasundara’s hair stood on end due to love of God while seeing His own lotus feet, by the will of the Lord and by providence, Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda arrived there as a *mahānta-guru* in order to serve the Lord by assisting Him in His pastimes.” *The Ultimate Footnote* The nonpareil Gaya experience occurs soon after seeing Viṣṇupāda: Mahāprabhu surrenders to the feet of his guru, Īśvara Purī: “The Lord said, ‘My journey to Gaya became successful the moment I was able to see your lotus feet.’” (*Caitanya-bhāgavata,* **Ādi*-khaṇḍa* 17.50) And as the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Ādi* 17.9) tells us: “In Gaya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was initiated by Īśvara Purī, and immediately afterwards He exhibited signs of love of Godhead. He again displayed such symptoms after returning home [i.e., to Nabadwip].” Mahāprabhu explains why meeting His guru outshines even His intense experience at Viṣṇupāda: “If one offers oblations to the forefathers in a holy place, then the forefathers are delivered. But one delivers only him to whom the oblation was offered. If one sees you, however, millions of forefathers are immediately freed from material bondage.” (*Caitanya-bhāgavata,* *Ādi* 17.51–52) In his introductory remarks to *Caitanya-bhāgavata*, *Ādi*, chapter 17, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī writes that Īśvara Purī initiated Mahāprabhu with the Kṛṣṇa mantra, the attainment of which is itself among the highest goals of human life. The Lord personally served all the foodstuffs that He cooked for Himself to Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda, and by directly serving His spiritual master, Purīpāda, with His own hands, He displayed the ideal example of serving the spiritual master. On another day, in a solitary place, Mahāprabhu offered obeisances to Īśvara Purī and requested him for mantra initiation. Then the Lord received the ten-syllable mantra from His spiritual master and surrendered everything unto his lotus feet. We find this initiation confirmed in the text itself (*Caitanya-bhāgavata*, *Ādi* 17.107): “Then in order to instruct everyone, the Lord accepted the ten-syllable mantra from Īśvara Purī.”8 This lesson is important, particularly the phrase “in order to instruct everyone.” Indeed, one may ask why Śrī Caitanya, God Himself, would have to serve a spiritual master and accept mantra *dīkṣā* from him. The tradition responds by saying that Mahāprabhu was God in the form of a devotee and was showing by example how a devotee should act: the disciple should render loving service to the guru and take initiation from him. The great *ācārya* Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura confirms this: “Thereafter, He went to Gaya and accepted spiritual initiation in the ten-syllable Gopāla mantra from Śrīpāda Īśvara Purī, a great servant of the Lord and torch-bearer of the disciplic succession coming down from Lord Brahmā to Madhv*ācārya*. *The Lord’s wish was to teach the living entities their duty of taking shelter of a self-realized spiritual master, as instructed by the scriptures*.”9 We conclude with a well-known prayer of Śrīla Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura: “The lotus feet of our spiritual master are the only way by which we can attain pure devotional service. I bow to his lotus feet with great awe and reverence. By his grace one can cross the ocean of material suffering and obtain the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.” As should by now be clear, none of the above incidents or teachings can be relegated to mere footnotes. Rather, they speak to the essence of Vaiṣṇava philosophy.10 *Notes* 1. Among Mahāprabhu’s various authorized biographies, only the *Caitanya-bhāgavata* says that He had once met Īśvara Purī earlier, while Śrīla Purīpāda traveled through Nabadwip as a wandering mendicant. Thus, when Mahāprabhu saw him in Gaya, they already knew each other. See especially *Caitanya-bhāgavata*, *Ādi-khaṇḍa,* chapter eleven. 2. It was at this point that He was overcome with ecstatic love (*prema*), absorbed in Kṛṣṇa’s holy name and unable to divert His mind for even a moment. 3. In Vaiṣṇava traditions, bowing to the feet of devotees and to those stationed highly in spiritual life, such as *brāhmaṇas* and *sannyāsīs*, is considered an act of humility. The feet represent the lowest part of the body, and thus bowing to another person’s feet is a statement of subservience and submission. Indeed, meditation on the deity form of the Lord begins by focusing on the feet, which is considered a humble and much desired way to approach God. 4. To commemorate this phenomenon, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and his disciples installed numerous *pāda-pīṭhas*, replicas of Śrī Caitanya’s footprints, at sacred locations He visited. 5. The complex ritual known as the *śrāddha* ceremony is essentially an offering of *prasādam* to one’s forefathers to make sure they arrive at a better place in the next life. The ceremony involves balls of cooked rice mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds (a preparation called *piṇḍa*, and so the ceremony is also known as *piṇḍa*-dāna). According to the *Garuḍa Purāṇa*, offering a *piṇḍa* to a recently departed soul helps that soul to unite with its ancestors and guarantees a gradual promotion to heaven. 6. See Locanadāsa Ṭhākura, *Śrī Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala*, edited by Mahānta Śrī Bhagavān Dāsa (Navadvīpa, Nadiyā: Śrī Ānanda-gopāla Śāstrī, 1981), *Ādi-khaṇḍa*, Chapter 7, *Payārs* 487–493. Special thanks to Śrīvāsa Prabhu for his help with translation. 7. See *Bhagavad-gītā* 7.3, lecture—London, March 11, 1975 (https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/750311bglon/). 8. In the Gauḍīya tradition, the eighteen-syllable Gopāla mantra is sometimes shortened to its last ten syllables—*gopījana-vallabhāya svāhā*—when given to disciples during mantra *dīkṣā*. 9. Commentary on *Śikṣāṣṭaka*, Text 8, *Śrī Sanmodana Bhāṣyam* (https://nbsarticles.blogspot.com/2017/03/sri-sanmodana-bhasyam-on-sri-siksastaka.html?view=classic). 10. It should be mentioned here that the Lord’s ecstasy increased steadily for the duration of His manifest pastimes. This is the principle known as *sadā-vardhamānānandam,* or “ever-increasing bliss.” In fact, after His visit to Gaya, on His return journey to Nabadwip, He passed through Kanai Natshala. While there, He is said to have experienced a mystical vision of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, thus attaining a level of spiritual ecstasy that few ever achieve. His outpouring of beatific glorification upon seeing that form has been preserved in *Caitanya-bhāgavata,* *Madhya-khaṇḍa*, chapter two, and *Prema-vilāsa*, chapter eight. How to Achieve the Highest Perfection By Suvarṇa Rādhā Devī Dāsī *Human life has one overriding purpose, and old age is a reminder to take that purpose seriously.* My husband’s parents and my parents, who are all over eighty years old, were among those we spent time with recently. They are married couples who practice spiritual life. When we asked them to share their lessons about life, we were startled when their first response was that their eighty years had passed in the blink of an eye. They added that they know that their bodies are moving inexorably toward the end, and that just as a student prepares for a test and awaits its date, so too are they getting ready for the ultimate test of their lives. They reached that understanding by having the seed of devotional service planted in their hearts and nourishing it by reciting the holy names of the Lord. “Govinda,” “Kṛṣṇa,” and “Nārāyaṇa” are common words in their households. Despite their responsibilities, they complement every activity by saying these names. As they have aged, they have served the Lord and become more and more blissful by chanting His holy names even in painful situations due to old age. Their examples reminded me that although we get tests such as sickness, setbacks, and various hardships along the way, we must remember the Lord if we want to pass life’s final exam. They further explained that as soon as they got married, they began to love and serve each other unconditionally and have tried to love and serve the Lord in the same way. *Our Temporary Lives* Because of stability in our day-to-day routines, we tend forget the temporary nature of life, lulled into the false belief that our life in our current body is somehow permanent. But old age is there to remind us of the temporary nature of this life and of the inevitability of death. We are much more than the bodily and social designations we have. The *Bhagavad-gītā* (2.13) explains that we are souls, spiritual beings distinct from our bodies. We stay in one body for a short lifetime and then move on to another body, just as a person gives up worn-out clothes and puts on new ones (*Gītā* 2.22). Within the physical body is the subtle body, consisting of mind (*manas*), intelligence (*buddhi*), and false ego (*ahaṅkāra*). The subtle body carries the soul from one body to another. The only way to stop this endless migration is to achieve pure love for Kṛṣṇa, which qualifies us to enter His eternal abode. Throughout our lives, we make numerous choices that either elevate or degrade us. Only a few people learn how to make wise decisions about their relationships, careers, health, finances, and spiritual and emotional wellbeing. The most important decision we can make is to decide to strive to go to Kṛṣṇa at the end of this life or at least achieve a situation that’s favorable for our spiritual progress toward that goal. We achieve our next body according to our consciousness at the time of leaving our current body. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (8.6), “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.” The scriptures describe that at the time of death, we experience severe bodily pain as well as the mental pain of regrets over mistakes and unfulfilled desires. It is very difficult to remember the Lord in those circumstances. In stanza thirty-three of the *Mukunda-m**ālā-stotra*, King Kulaśekara, while in a healthy condition, sings of how difficult it will be to remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death: “My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?” *Learning to Love* When we come to know ourselves as souls who are a part of Kṛṣṇa, we learn to love Him, accepting Him as our only shelter. We also comprehend that His abode is our eternal home. If our love for Him becomes pure in this lifetime, we will know that death is not the end but rather a transition—another stage in the journey that takes us to our eternal home. Eternal love for the Lord is best reciprocated in the spiritual realm, in His own abode. Our life here is meant to prepare us for that life of love. Therefore our very existence, our desire to love and be loved, and our chances to fulfill that love for eternity are God’s gifts to us. The *Bhagavad-gītā* (8.7) exhorts us to engage in *bhakti-yoga* to cultivate remembering Kṛṣṇa throughout our lives. Remembering the Lord is one of the primary practices of *bhakti-yoga*. It develops especially when we diligently perform the practices of *śravaṇam* (hearing Kṛṣṇa’s holy names and topics about Him) and *kīrtanam* (chanting His names and glorifying Him in other ways). In the current age, when our minds are always disturbed, *kīrtanam* is especially important. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.14) Lord Kṛṣṇa says that great souls always chant His glories. Lord Kṛṣṇa also instructs us to always remember Him, and Lord Caitanya, the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa for the current age, taught, *kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ*: “Always chant the holy name of Hari (Kṛṣṇa).” There is no difference between the two instructions, because Lord Kṛṣṇa’s command in the *Bhagavad-gītā* to always remember Him is fulfilled by chanting the *mahā-mantra*: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names is the simplest and most effective way to remember Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught us the secret of how to be able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa constantly with ever-increasing taste: > tṛṇād api sunīcena > taror api sahiṣṇunā > amāninā mānadena > kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ “One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” (*Śikṣāṣṭaka* 3). When we cultivate these qualities—humility, tolerance, and respect for others—then we can chant Kṛṣṇa’s name always, at every moment. We should always respect others even if they disrespect us. This humble mood will allow us to taste nectar when we chant the holy names of the Lord. When this is our humble attitude in life, Kṛṣṇa empowers us to always chant His holy names and thus always remember Him. As Śrīla Prabhupāda said, chanting the holy name of the Lord is not “an artificial imposition on the mind.” It awakens the natural energy of love for Kṛṣṇa that we have within us at this very minute. In this regard it is stated in *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya* 22.107): > nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya > śravaṇādi-śuddha-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.” The only truly lasting relationships we have—eternal relationships—are with the Lord and His devotees*.* Let us therefore focus on the Lord, who has given us this life (“I am the seed-giving father,” *G**ītā* 14*.*4) and will take it away from us in the future (*mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham*, “I am all-devouring death, *G**ītā* 10*.*34)*.* Whatever our life’s journey may be, we need only accept Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings and follow His prescribed process*.* We can thus perfect our human life*.* We never know when the time will come for us to leave this world. Therefore we must focus on our goal, which is to develop our love for the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa and achieve His abode, our real home. By remembering Him always, we can achieve the highest perfection. Suvarṇa Rādhā Devī Dāsī, PhD, and her husband, Brajanātha Dāsa, PhD, both disciples of His Holiness Rādhānāth Swami, live in Longmont, Colorado, with their two daughters. They are active in book distribution and in serving Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda at ISKCON Denver. The Liberation Code: Lord Viṣṇu’s Secrets to Eternal Freedom by Tanay Shah *The key to experiencing real freedom even while living in the material world lies in a shift in consciousness.* One of the most extraordinary flowers on earth is the lotus. Beyond its unique beauty, what sets it apart is the remarkable ability of its leaves to rest gently on water without their upper surface getting wet, the texture of the leaves causing water to bead up and roll off. Now envision the prospect of acquiring a parallel ability—the art of being in this world but liberated from its entanglements, mirroring the grace of the lotus leaf. This article delves into the teachings of Lord Viṣṇu to King Pṛthu, revealing lessons that can be seamlessly integrated into our lives to enable us to remain in this world and yet liberated from it. *An Introduction to the Story* Long ago, King Pṛthu, an exemplary ruler, aimed to conduct one hundred sacrifices for his kingdom’s well-being. After completing ninety-nine, interference arose from Indra, the ruler of the heavenly planets, who felt threatened and insecure by Pṛthu’s growing power. Indra tried to thwart the final sacrifice by repeatedly stealing the horse that was an integral part. Each time, Pṛthu’s son managed to retrieve it. The drama escalated tensions and prompted Pṛthu’s priests to suggest using mantras to kill Indra by casting him into fire. Lord Brahmā intervened, however, advising against violence and proposing that Pṛthu cease the sacrifice, which he did. Shortly afterward, Lord Viṣṇu appeared, urging Pṛthu to forgive Indra. Displaying great magnanimity, Pṛthu did so. *Living Beyond the Body* Expressing gratitude, Lord Viṣṇu, showered Pṛthu with wonderful blessings and for his benefit shared profound wisdom on the art of liberation from entanglement in material existence. Those who are in full knowledge of the bodily conception of life, who know that this body is composed of nescience, desires and activities resulting from illusion, do not become addicted to the body. . . . Although within the material nature, one who is thus situated in full knowledge of the Param*ātmā* and *ātmā* is never affected by the modes of material nature, for he is always situated in My transcendental loving service. . . . Anyone who knows that this material body, made of the five gross elements, the sense organs, the working senses and the mind, is simply supervised by the fixed soul is eligible to be liberated from material bondage. (*Bhāgavatam* 4.20.5, 8, 11) The initial step toward liberation from this world involves understanding our innate identity as the soul. This understanding is not as challenging as it may seem. If we look at photos of ourself from childhood to the present, we can understand that our essence has remained the same despite our changing bodies. Exploring cases of reincarnation can also provide insight. It is crucial that we realize that the soul is distinct from the temporary physical body. When we realize our standing as an eternal soul, we remain unperturbed by the ebb and flow of the modes of material nature, which manifest as joy and sorrow. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* Lord Kṛṣṇa advises that although happiness and distress transpire due to the influence of the modes of nature on the body, one should not be disturbed by these external fluctuations. Even when momentarily engrossed in them, one must cultivate the ability to endure them by recognizing their transitory nature. *Transcendence Through Devotion* A natural question may arise: “This wisdom sounds good in theory, but what is the practical way to live one’s understanding of the soul and maintain equanimity?” The Supreme Lord said, “My dear King Pṛthu, when one situated in his occupational duty engages in My loving service without motive for material gain, he gradually becomes very satisfied within. . . . My devotee who is connected with Me in intense friendship and affection, being completely in knowledge, is never agitated by material happiness and distress.” (*Bhāgavatam* 4.20.9, 12) To act from the soul’s elevated position and maintain a serene equanimity, the practical process is provided here—a dedicated immersion in spiritual consciousness. By consistent cultivation of devotional activities, one can attain liberation even while in this world, that liberation symptomized by indifference to the actions and reactions of the body. A man immersed in a singular thought may be completely unaware of the bustling activities around him. Similarly, devotees engrossed in their devotional pursuits remain unaffected by the fluctuating tides of material circumstances. Another question arises: “We have to be conscious of the activities we perform, so how can we be indifferent to them?” Consider a businessman being chauffeured in a car. He observes the intricacies of its operation and guides the driver, yet his focus transcends the mechanical details. His thoughts soar to his office and his business concerns. Though present in the car, he’s detached, absorbed in the higher purpose of his enterprise. Similarly, devotees immersed in thoughts of rendering loving service to the Lord can maintain a separation from the activities of the material body while sustaining a spiritual consciousness. To focus on higher goals while performing our immediate duties, we need to try to Kṛṣṇa-ize our lives. We may not have to change what we are doing, but we should try to add the magical Kṛṣṇa element. In this way we’ll perform our duties diligently and still maintain a spiritual connection with the Lord. For example, we can set the passcodes of our gadgets in relation to Kṛṣṇa; while traveling, we can listen to spiritual wisdom or sing spiritual songs; we can offer our food to Kṛṣṇa and express gratitude through prayer; we can channel into Kṛṣṇa’s service the talents and power we’ve gained through our work. Essentially, we need to recognize that although the Lord is present everywhere, we can’t see Him only because our vision isn’t developed enough. To develop that vision, we must strive to be innovative and infuse the Kṛṣṇa element into everything we do. The intelligence to do this arises when the Lord showers His mercy on us, which He will do only when He sees our strong desire to see Him everywhere. As Kṛṣṇa’s presence becomes more apparent in every facet of our life, we establish a harmonious connection—an enchanting bond where we don’t forget Kṛṣṇa and He can’t forget us. When we are consistently connected to Kṛṣṇa, we are already situated on the spiritual plane even in the material world. The qualities of the material world do not affect us, thus highlighting the resilience and transcendence achieved through a dedicated spiritual connection. *Journeying with Divine Wisdom* Lord Viṣṇu continued to counsel the king with gentle wisdom: My dear King Pṛthu, if you continue to protect the citizens according to the instructions of the learned *brāhmaṇa* authorities, as they are received by the disciplic succession—by hearing—from master to disciple, and if you follow the religious principles laid down by them, without attachment to ideas manufactured by mental concoction, then every one of your citizens will be happy and will love you, and very soon you will be able to see such already liberated personalities as the four Kumāras [Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumāra]. (*Bhāgavatam* 4.20.15) The last principle we need to embrace is to try and align our lives with the wisdom of spiritual texts and teachers. When we mold our lives in accordance with these timeless principles, we needn’t worry whether we’ll be liberated or not, because we are already situated in a liberated state. On witnessing the vast array of towering principles the scriptures suggest and our current position as struggling *sādhakas*, we needn’t get bogged down or feel depressed. Little by little we can immerse ourselves in the study of these wisdom texts, contemplate their essence, engage in enriching discussions, and try to apply them in our daily life. Even if we aren’t perfected until the end of life, we can find satisfaction in the fact that we haven’t squandered a moment in our pursuit of spiritual growth. There’s no requirement to change our external positions. While maintaining our designated roles, we can conscientiously perform our duties and concentrate on learning from authentic sources. By integrating spiritual principles into our day-to-day life, we can achieve the highest perfection and reach the spiritual world. In essence, the key to liberation while existing in the material world lies in a shift in consciousness. By recognizing our eternal identity, nurturing a spiritual mindset, and aligning with divine principles, we can reach the ultimate goal of life in a journey filled with beauty and fulfilment. Just as the lotus leaf is untouched by the water it rests on, we can experience liberation from the entanglements of this world while gracefully living within it. *Tanay Shah is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in financial management. He holds a diploma in* Bhagavad-gītā *and a Bhakti Shastra degree. He writes articles, edits books for children and adults, and is an international yoga teacher. He lives in Mumbai.* A Dichotomy of Freedom: Free Will and the Will to Be Free by Thomas Mallery *Our free will gets us in trouble; our will to be free can get us out of it.* It is sometimes said that life is like a game of cards in that the hand we’re dealt is determinism and the way we play it is free will. In his book *The Four Questions*, Vaiśeṣika Dāsa urges readers to ask, “Where should I place my attention right now?” This question implies the fulcrum of free will: our minute independence to choose to focus on Kṛṣṇa’s material energy or His spiritual energy. When we focus on material life, we’re driven by our conditioning, desires, and attachments. When we focus on spiritual life, we’re guided by God in the heart, as explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.10): “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Free will alone cannot disentangle us from the bondage of the material world—it must be enlivened by spiritual knowledge. When we’re in the state of ignorance (our default condition in the material world), our free will is subservient to material desires (*Gītā* 3.36–40); but when we’re in knowledge of our original, spiritual constitution, we can activate the will to be free. For most of us “the hand we’re dealt” entails being predominated by the lower modes of material nature (passion and ignorance) and thus controlled by selfish desires. In this state we’re guided by flawed intelligence, and we lack the faith and knowledge that we’re spiritual sparks, now adrift from the great fire of the Supreme Lord. Free will is implicated in our materially conditioned mind’s motive to always gratify the senses, which causes us to be bound by the material energy. The alternative path is the will to be free, enacted from the spiritual platform and guided by God in the heart and by His bona fide representatives. From its inception, acting from the will to be free is liberating: “One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by perfect knowledge.” (*Gītā* 4.19). Within all of us is a dichotomy of freedom. The dictionary defines dichotomy as “division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups.” To clarify this particular dichotomy—the dichotomy of freedom—we should first compare our independence to that of the Supreme Person, Lord Kṛṣṇa. This comparison will naturally reveal the binding influences that cloud our independence. These influences can lead us to misuse our independence, but they can easily be overcome simply by surrendering to the all-attractive Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Free will implies we have some independence in how we choose to live our life. Two questions should be asked: (1) How much independence do we actually have? and (2) How do we use that independence to get out of the cycle of birth and death? Śrīla Prabhupāda addresses these questions in his purport to *Gītā* 15.7: “As fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the living entities also have fragmental portions of his qualities, of which independence is one. Every living entity, as an individual soul, has personal individuality and a minute form of independence.” Our independence is qualitatively the same as God’s, but quantitatively a fraction of His. This implies we don’t have complete freedom to play our hand any way we want. Then the question of what to do with that little bit of independence arises. Śrīla Prabhupāda continues: By misuse of that independence one becomes a conditioned soul, and by proper use of independence he is always liberated. . . . In his liberated state he is freed from this material condition, and is under the engagement of transcendental loving service unto the Lord; in his conditioned life he is dominated by the modes of material nature, and he forgets the transcendental service of the Lord. As a result, he has to struggle very hard to maintain his existence in the material world. Prabhupāda is telling us there is a way to play our hand and a way not to play our hand. With free will, we may misuse our independence by acting mainly for sense gratification. Our little bit of freedom is taken away almost completely under the spell of the modes of material nature, or what Kṛṣṇa labels His “inferior energy.” Our compulsion to indulge in sense pleasures leads only to our endless condition in the material world, where pleasure is always accompanied by pain. As examples, even the sweet desire to have a child can instantly turn painful if the child is born unhealthy, and romantic relationships quickly turn bitter if one party feels dissatisfaction. *A False Sense of Control* Material pleasures derive from a false sense of control. We should never think they are sustainable, because we are never in control. We may proclaim, “I’m the doer in everything I do; therefore I’m free.” But Kṛṣṇa points out how misguided we are. He says, “The spirit soul bewildered by the false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.” (*Gītā* 3.27). From birth, these modes of nature play our hand for us, dictating how much free will we have available. The lower two modes are passion and ignorance. Unlimited desires enslave people controlled predominantly by the mode of passion, and cities architecturally reflect their desires. They endeavor to crowd the atmosphere with symbols of opulence that speak of their limitless capacity for sense enjoyment. On the other hand, in the city’s narrow, dark alleys you’ll find people slumbering in the mode of ignorance, their minds always in the grip of delusion. They live a completely unregulated existence, indulging in sex, intoxicants, and anything else that will debase their consciousness. The dual conditions impelled by the modes of passion and ignorance have us vacillating between insatiable hankering and maddening delusion, making our free will the impetus for continued spiritual transgression. There is, however, the mode of goodness, which not only protects us from transgressions and their reactions, but prepares us to receive the merciful blessings of perfect knowledge (*Gītā* 14.6). People in this mode are regulated on every level of consumption. Their indulgences are found in what brings balance and peace to the mind and heart. Members of the *brāhmaṇa* class are said to be in the mode of goodness due to their simplifying every aspect of life. They play their hand with self-control and detachment, staking their life on the mercy of the Supreme Lord. The mode of goodness brings real potential for our faith to be placed in what is eternal, blissful, and transcendental to all material conceptions. Only someone with control over the senses can properly utilize independence. Disciplining the senses may feel like revocation of our freedom at first, but it is indispensable to acquiring real knowledge, which is intrinsically liberating. *Directing Our Attention* Oscar Wilde’s quote “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” is a fitting analogy for those who have resided mainly in the lower modes but who aspire to elevate themselves to the mode of goodness and beyond—to transcendence. This can certainly seem like a lofty aspiration from the perspective of “the gutter,” but it is entirely possible through enlightened surrender. To surrender to something or someone means to seek shelter there. As Vaiśeṣika Dāsa writes in his book referred to earlier, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” Our attention is everything. In effect, we are surrendering to whatever we direct our attention to at any given moment. Placing our attention on Kṛṣṇa is the most auspicious form of surrender. He assures us, “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (*Gītā* 7.14) Giving undivided attention to Kṛṣṇa can seem untenable to someone being dragged by the lower modes. At that stage it can feel like a massive sacrifice. But it requires only a slight shift in consciousness from the misconception “I’m completely independent” (free will) to “I’m perpetually in bondage” (the will to be free). This tiny shift in perception can recalibrate our will from whatever position we’re in to ensure that our path forward is liberating rather than binding. In *Gītā* 15.5 Kṛṣṇa gives us an internal road map for the process of surrendering to Him. He says that by understanding our eternal nature, giving up false prestige, illusion, false association, and material desires, and being free from the dualities of happiness and distress—in other words, giving up the things that take our attention away from Kṛṣṇa—we can fix our mind and heart squarely on the path of surrender to Him. *Two Prisoners* We can look at the path to surrender through an analogy of two prisoners: one who acts from free will, the other from the will to be free. The first prisoner refuses to surrender to institutional authority. He disregards the stipulations of his future release set by the ruling authorities and instead desires a speedier path to freedom. Hankering for material enjoyment drives his intelligence to devise a plan of escape from prison. He executes the plan flawlessly, breaching the outermost perimeter walls. As the silhouette of the prison fades in the distance, pride at his achievement wells up in him. He is guided entirely by enlivened senses now liberated from the restrictions of prison life. His ability to evade and outwit the authorities inflates his prideful independence, convincing him he’s the master of his own destiny. As a fugitive on the run, he must assume a false identity to conceal his true nature, and so every relationship he takes up is fraudulent, being founded on untruth. The freedom he feels is nothing but an illusion, as every step is a new transgression that only increases the likelihood of a harsh future sentencing. His vacillations of happiness and distress are the adverse effects of living attached to the results of his harrowing exploits. Although externally he has avoided surrender, internally he has already been captured by the marshals of stress, fear, and anxiety. There is not a moment of peace for the fugitive, who is always peering over his shoulder, anticipating the inevitability of his capture. Like this prisoner, the person who acts by his own free will spoils all his efforts, which end in vain as the authorities in the form of time eventually remand him back into the custody of death. The second prisoner acts from his will to be free. He has elevated his consciousness to the mode of goodness, which allows for his intelligence to properly analyze his position within the institution. He understands the nature of his sentence and the requirements for release, and he surrenders to the process without hesitation. His vision of a life extending far beyond the limits of the prison walls helps him cultivate an attitude of patience and tolerance. Because he has chosen to surrender to his authority, he is inclined toward cooperation, and he abandons all desire for false prestige, knowing himself to be in an inferior position. His acknowledgment of his dependence on his institutional authority gives rise to humility and peace of mind. By engaging his senses in fulfilling the goals and standards set by his authority, he avoids the deviations of forbidden desires. Due to his good behavior, he earns early release from prison. Once freed, he is acutely aware of harmful association and takes care to avoid it, knowing it to be a prime cause of degradation and a return to the prison system. The work he takes up in freedom is compassionate and purposeful and aimed at deterring others from going down a similar path of pain and suffering. Like the second prisoner, for one who acts from the will to be free, the taste of freedom is sweet enough to inspire him to abandon all other methods of attaining happiness. *Our Path to Liberation* By our free will we can create only the illusion of freedom gained by enjoying all the material world has to offer. Under the direction of free will, we misuse our minute independence for self-aggrandizement and thus remain in the custody of material nature. Abiding by the processes of devotional service can keep one’s attention fixed on the Supreme Lord, protecting one from the impulses that perpetuate the cycle of birth and death. Real freedom is freedom from that cycle. Our independence may reach its full potential only under the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet. Rendering devotional service to the Lord is our path to liberation, and devotional service is initiated by our will to be free. Kṛṣṇa says, “With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” (*Gītā* 8.7) Since the Lord is completely transcendental to this entire cosmic manifestation, our attainment of Him implies complete transcendence, or liberation, as well. *Gambling with Our Life* So how do we play this hand we’ve been dealt? If we play it with our free will, the odds of us winning, as we can see, will be greatly stacked against us. Betting on finding eternal happiness and bliss by indulging in sense gratification is a bad bet. Despite the prohibition against gambling, there is no avoiding gambling in life. Śrīla Prabhupāda remarked that devotees do in fact gamble—they gamble this one life for Kṛṣṇa. In this regard, Satsvarūpa Dāsa Goswami recalls his indecision in 1966 when considering being initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda. A devotee friend offered this advice: “Say it’s a gamble. So gamble that it’s the right thing to do with your life—that there is God and that He is the truth and that He is Kṛṣṇa. We’re staking our whole life on that. So what the heck? Go for it. There’s always some risk or gamble in life, but this risk is worthwhile.” Satvarūpa Dāsa Goswami writes, “His line of reasoning was appealing to me. I had been willing to risk my life taking LSD and other crazy things, so why should I become hesitant to be initiated just because I couldn’t see a guarantee? In fact, if someone had given me all guarantees, it would have been hard to accept. I took it as an adventure, ‘Go for it—get initiated by Swamiji.’” Taking a gamble on Kṛṣṇa is a good bet. He even says in *Gītā* 2.40 that on this path there is no loss or diminution. Betting against Kṛṣṇa is like—as the saying goes—betting against the house (i.e., the odds are stacked against you). You may experience some temporary pleasure as a result of feeling like a winner, but your luck (good karma) will eventually run out. In regard to the prisoners analogy, prisoners often pass the time in prison by playing cards. They wager whatever they have left in their possession. Prison leaves one with very little: just a tiny fragment of independence. Similarly, we all have some temporary possessions, the most important of which is our lifetime itself. With our little independence, we might as well bet it on Kṛṣṇa. Our free will is of little help, since from the very beginning of life it is tied up by the false ego and heavily influenced by passion and ignorance. Under their control we are driven into one aimless sensual engagement after another, with no knowledge of the precious jewel of the soul. If our only aim in life is to enjoy the fruits of our activities, then we should expect not only to suffer unwholesome reactions, but to suffer them perpetually. We have to transmute the desires of the body into desires of the soul, and seek out knowledge of the Absolute Truth—who is always a person, whose body is transcendental, eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and who desires to free us from material bondage. All He asks is that we engage our intrinsic will to be free. *Thomas Mallery is an aspiring disciple of Her Grace Nārāyaṇī Devī Dāsī and is an active member of the ISKCON community in Philadelphia, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.* An Evolution of Questions by Viśākhā Devī Dāsī *By clearly and authoritatively answering Arjuna’s series of questions, Kṛṣṇa leads him to a doubtless decision.* One of the pivotal instructions Śrī Kṛṣṇa offers His friend and devotee Arjuna in the famed *Bhagavad-gītā* is to accept a spiritual guide. Kṛṣṇa is definite when He speaks about this; He emphatically tells Arjuna, “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.” (*Gītā* 4.34) This instruction is not for Arjuna alone; rather it’s for every person who sincerely wants to understand transcendental knowledge. In the same verse, Kṛṣṇa mentions the requirements for success in this all-important endeavor: submissive inquiry from and service to the spiritual master. In other words, the spiritual students’ mindset is one of humble inquiry, and their activity is service. These simple prerequisites qualify them to receive transcendental knowledge when they approach qualified persons, as Kṛṣṇa indicates in the last part of the same verse: “The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” Inquiry is an integral aspect of learning. Thoughtful inquiries are evidence of a searching and curious mind, a mind that’s wrestling with new information and weighing it against existing information. Sincere questions are a sign of pridelessness, of doubt, of introspection, of deep reasoning. And such freely asked questions are subjective—they’re clearly indicative of the questioner’s mentality. For example, in the *Gītā’s* first verse Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks his secretary, Saṣjaya, “What did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do on the battlefield?” Śrīla Prabhupada explains that this question shows Dhṛtarāṣṭra‘s sorry mentality—he sees his own sons and his brother’s sons (the sons of Pāṇḍu) as part of two different dynasties. By contrast, Arjuna’s first questions in the *Gītā* reveal his all-embracing, if misguided, sense of virtue and compassion, and his lack of avarice. He refuses to fight with his relatives and friends over paltry material possessions. He addresses Kṛṣṇa: Of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield? When teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me? O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth. What pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra? (*Gītā* 1.32–35) To Arjuna, the path to happiness is not through fighting but by either leaving the battlefield or dying on it without fighting. “Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors,” Arjuna says. “Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and our friends. What should we gain, O Kṛṣṇa, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?” (*Gītā* 1.36) Without intending to, through his questions Arjuna reveals his noble and valorous nature. He says, “Why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin?” (*Gītā* 1.38) Clearly, Arjuna is not callous or greedy; clearly, he feels deeply obliged to his superiors and responsible for preserving his rich cultural heritage. *Ignorance Disguised as Compassion* Kṛṣṇa, responding with a powerful and profoundly instructive rhetorical question, indicates that Arjuna’s goodness is misplaced. He says, “My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you?” (*Gītā* 2.2) Arjuna’s compassion, based on a bodily concept of life, is actually ignorance and is blocking his understanding of his actual self, a spiritual being. By posing such a telling question, Kṛṣṇa reveals His own mentality, namely that He wants to get to the heart of the matter—Arjuna’s ignorance—and eradicate it as quickly as Arjuna will allow. After all, Kṛṣṇa says, if a person knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn, and immutable, then how is it possible for that person “to kill anyone or cause anyone to kill” (*Gītā* 2.21)? Through instructions and prodding, Kṛṣṇa is elevating Arjuna’s consciousness and enabling him to view his situation from a completely fresh angle. Affected by Kṛṣṇa’s teachings, Arjuna reveals his evolving understanding when he asks about great sages and devotees who have freed themselves from material influence. Arjuna says, “O Kṛṣṇa, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?” (*Gītā* 2.54) Arjuna has gathered some rudimentary knowledge of transcendence and now wants to know what that knowledge looks like in practice—that is, when it’s lived by one who’s realized it. As Kṛṣṇa continues His teachings, He explains two processes for self-realization. One favors experimental knowledge and philosophy and relies on the analytical study of the nature of spirit and matter. The other relies on working by the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But this distinction is unclear to Arjuna. He questions Kṛṣṇa, “Why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?” (*Gītā* 3.1) Arjuna thought he could avoid the fight by retiring to a secluded place to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In response, Kṛṣṇa explains that the soul is always active. How it acts is determined by the forces of material nature. It’s useless, He says, to artificially retire if one’s mind is disturbed by unfulfilled desires. Better to engage the senses in His (Kṛṣṇa’s) service—that is, to do one’s duty not for one’s own pleasure but for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction. In this way we act as a matter of duty and remain detached from the fruits of our activities. By working without attachment, Kṛṣṇa says, we’ll attain Him. (*Gītā* 3.19) This line of thinking evokes another question in Arjuna. He wonders why most of us act against our own best interests. Why are we, he asks, “impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force” (*Gītā* 3.36)? Perhaps at this point Arjuna is trying to understand the mentality of his evil-minded cousins who are hell-bent on destruction. From Arjuna’s questions we can see the shift in his consciousness. He’s gone from opposing his involvement in the war, to trying to understand the characteristics of a devotee, to what he should be doing, and to why doing what one is supposed to do can easily be derailed. *More Questions, More Teachings* As the *Gītā* progresses, so do Arjuna’s questions. In the fourth chapter he wonders about the historicity of the *Gītā*, asking how Kṛṣṇa could have taught it to Vivasvān, who appeared in this world millions of years before Him (*Gītā* 4.4). Kṛṣṇa clears this doubt by explaining that He is eternal and, unlike all of us, never forgets the *Gītā*’s teachings. On the contrary, He repeatedly comes to this world to offer those teachings to qualified people. Kṛṣṇa’s teachings on action evoke yet another question. Arjuna says, “First of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?” (*Gītā* 5.1) At this point Kṛṣṇa unequivocally clarifies that although both forms of action are good, working with devotion is superior. He says, “Merely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy. But a thoughtful person engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay.” (*Gītā* 5.6) Satisfied with that answer, Arjuna asks about the fate of one who engages in devotional service with faith “but who later desists due to worldly-mindedness and thus does not attain perfection in mysticism” (*Gītā* 6.37). Arjuna is concerned that such a person has no position materially or spiritually (*Gītā* 6.38). Kṛṣṇa assures Arjuna that persons who engage in devotional service receive eternal benefit. Their future is bright. *How to Remember Kṛṣṇa* The entirety of the **Gītā*’s* eighth chapter is inspired by eight questions from Arjuna, seven of which Kṛṣṇa answers summarily. He then responds in depth to the eighth and last question: “How can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?” (*Gītā* 8.2) Kṛṣṇa assures Arjuna that those who remember Him will attain Him, and He explains how to remember Him both during this life and at its end. To more fully understand how to remember Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna asks, “O Kṛṣṇa, O supreme mystic, how shall I constantly think of You, and how shall I know You? In what various forms are You to be remembered, O Supreme Personality of Godhead?” (*Gītā* 10.17) In response, Kṛṣṇa explains how to see Him in specific things of this world, as well as how to see Him everywhere. As He says later, “I pervade and support this entire universe.” (*Gītā* 10.42) Convinced of Kṛṣṇa’s greatness and immeasurable power, Arjuna next asks questions that probe into a fuller understanding of Kṛṣṇa’s energies, His mission, and the various paths of self-realization. In responding to them, Kṛṣṇa reveals more detailed knowledge of spirit and matter. In the twelfth chapter, to clarify a contentious point, Arjuna asks, “Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?” (*Gītā* 12.1) Again replying unequivocally, Kṛṣṇa says: For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied. But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. (*Gītā* 12.5–7) *The Finale* In the final chapters, Arjuna’s inquiries explore Kṛṣṇa’s external, internal, and marginal energies, as well as how one can transcend material energy’s influence. And they delve into the behavior and characteristics of persons who have done so. Arjuna asks about faith, renunciation, and the renounced order of life, and Kṛṣṇa patiently responds to each question. As the *Gītā* concludes, Kṛṣṇa again asks Arjuna a question, but this time it’s not rhetorical. He asks, “Have you heard this with an attentive mind? And are your ignorance and illusions now dispelled?” (*Gītā* 18.72) Kṛṣṇa is ready to expand on His explanations of whatever Arjuna has not yet grasped. In his reply, this time Arjuna is unequivocal: “My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.” (*Gītā* 18.73) Asking thoughtful questions of a qualified person and imbibing that person’s answers can bring each of us to the same coveted mindset that Arjuna has at the *Gītā’s* end: we too can be free of illusion and prepared to act in a transcendentally virtuous way. This is the immeasurable benefit of questions sincerely asked and properly answered. *Visakhā Devi Dasi has been writing for BTG since 1973. The author of six books, she is the temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK. She and her husband, Yadubara Dāsa, produce and direct films, most recently the biopic on the life of Śrīla Prabhupāda* Hare Kṛṣṇa! The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It All*. Visit her website at OurSpiritualJourney.com.* From the Editor *Śrī Caitanya’s Matchless Teachings* When Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Bengal as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu 539 years ago, one of His main purposes was to rigorously teach the *science* of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. To understand the meaning of *science* in this phrase, we can turn to the conceptualization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in three aspects: *sambandha*, *abhidheya*, and *prayojana*. *Sambandha* refers primarily to understanding three things: our identity as spirit souls, our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and the goal of human life—realizing that relationship. *Abhidheya* comprises the practices of *bhakti-yoga*, which lead to the attainment of that goal. And *prayojana* is the realization of the goal, pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Although Lord Caitanya is God Himself, He didn’t present Himself as the supreme authority whose words must be accepted without question. Rather, in the mood of a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, He supported everything He taught with extensive citations from scriptures, especially *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, which presents unparalleled theological concepts, one of the most important being the identity of God. This is a major contribution of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, the tradition descending from Lord Caitanya. By taking advantage of the revelation that Kṛṣṇa is God, the world can access a broad and deep understanding of God. We learn, first of all, that God is a person in the fullest sense of the word. Kṛṣṇa is a real person—the all-attractive cowherd boy who eternally reciprocates His devotees’ love in His eternal home, Goloka-Vṛndāvana. The exchanges between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees are at the heart of what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is all about. *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, along with the *Bhāgavatam-*derived teachings of Lord Caitanya and His followers, provide privileged access to the most intimate spiritual dealings between God and His devotees. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism teaches that while God, being the creator, is by definition the father of everyone, He is not limited to that role. As the Supreme Person, He wants to enjoy sweet relationships, so He invites us spirit souls, integral parts of Him, to love Him in the various moods we find in relationships in this world, namely as servants, friends, parents, or lovers. Lord Caitanya’s highest teachings reveal Kṛṣṇa’s relationship with the *gopīs*, the cowherd maidens of His village. On the surface, Kṛṣṇa’s romantic dealings with the *gopīs* may seem immoral to the uninformed, but they are in fact the pinnacle of pristine divine love. Among the *gopīs*, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the dearest to Kṛṣṇa. Ontologically, She is the personification of His *hlādinī-śakti*, or “pleasure potency.” That fact alone justifies His enjoying a romantic relationship with Her: in reality, He is simply enjoying an aspect of Himself. That philosophical understanding, however, shouldn’t lead us to conclude that Their relationship is less than optimal. Lord Caitanya’s private secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara, taught that although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are essentially one person, They have separated Themselves eternally to enjoy pastimes together. And what They taste in these pastimes is *mahābhāva*, the most intense ecstasy—another theological topic that is a unique contribution of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism. Lord Caitanya’s teachings contain many spiritual subtleties understood and appreciated only by the pure of heart. To truly enter the more esoteric aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is impossible for souls conditioned by the material energy. Fortunately, Lord Caitanya has given us the means to qualify to enter the realm of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes: the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*. Śrīla Prabhupāda compared the *mahā-mantra* to the key to crack a code. Offenseless chanting unlocks the deepest spiritual secrets, enabling us to enter the world revealed to us by the mercy avatar, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Bhakti Wisdom 59/2 The whole Vedic adventure is to draw one’s attention entirely unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa without any diversion. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 2.4.1, Purport *Śrī Bhagavad-gītā* and *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* are the crest jewels of all scriptures. They are as great as Kṛṣṇa and as worthy of taking shelter of as Kṛṣṇa. They are the transcendental manifestations of *śrī-kṛṣṇa-kīrtana*. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Commentary on *Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa* 2.72 The goal of love of Godhead is not to become materially rich or free from material bondage. The real goal is to be situated in devotional service to the Lord and to enjoy transcendental bliss. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā* 20.142 My dear Uddhava, I am personally the ultimate shelter and way of life for saintly liberated persons, and thus if one does not engage in My loving devotional service, which is made possible by associating with My devotees, then for all practical purposes one possesses no effective means for escaping from material existence. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 11.11.48 You who know that the Lord’s name is spiritual should chant it. *Ṛg Veda* 1.156.3 Devotees attracted to *bhakti* have the nature of a merchant greedy for a great treasure. Just as the wealthiest merchant, thinking himself to be poor, crosses the ocean to earn money, the devotee makes all efforts to gain *bhakti*. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Commentary on *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 9.5.27 Just as water is said to be the life of all living beings, so too *bhakti* is acknowledged as the life of all perfections. *Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa* Love is natural for all living beings. It is seen even among the least spiritual of materialists, those who have destroyed their spiritual life. How can the soul give up its nature? Therefore every soul seeks someone to love. That search for love finds its final culmination when one falls in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore falling in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the highest goal of life. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī *Prīti-sandarbha, Anuccheda* 1 Activities dedicated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even if performed in small measure, never go in vain. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being the supreme father, is naturally very dear and always ready to act for the good of the living entities. Demigods led by Brahmā *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 8.5.48 BTG59-03, 2025