August 31,2013.Day 192. Srimad Valmiki Ramayan - The First Epic Poem Of India. (Continued)

Bala Kanda - The Youthful Majesties  

Chapter  18

Rama,Bharata,Lakshmana and Shatrughna took birth

भरतस्य अपि शत्रुघ्नो लक्ष्मण अवरजो हि सः || १-१८-३२
प्राणैः प्रियतरो नित्यम् तस्य च आसीत् तथा प्रियः |

32b, 33a. lakshamaNaa varajaH = Lakshmana's, born along with - younger brother; saH shatrughnaH = he that, Shatrughna; bharatasya api = to Bharata, even; nityam praanaiH priyataraH = always, by lives, dear one; [Bharata also]; tasya cha = to him [to Shatrughna,] even; tathaa aasiit priyaH = like that, he is, a dear one.

Lakshmana's younger brother Shatrughna is a dear one to Bharata, like that Bharata too held Shatrughna dearer than his own lives. [1-18-32b, 33a]

स चतुर्भिः महाभागैः पुत्रैः दशरथः प्रियैः || १-१८-३३
बभूव परम प्रीतो देवैः इव पितामहः |

33. saH = he, Dasharatha; mahaa bhaagaiH chaturbhi priyaiH putraiH = with highly fortunate, four, dearest, sons; pitaamaha devaiH iva = Forefather, Brahma, with gods, as with; parama priitaH babhuuva = highly, glad, he became.

King Dasharatha is highly gladdened with four of his highly fortunate sons like the Forefather Brahma with gods in heaven. [1-18-33]

ते यदा ज्ञान संपन्नाः सर्वैः समुदिता गुणैः || १-१८-३४
ह्रीमन्तः कीर्तिमन्तः च सर्वज्ञा दीर्घ दर्शिनः |
तेषाम् एवम् प्रभावाणाम् सर्वेषाम् दीप्त तेजसाम् || १-१८-३५
पिता दशरथो हृष्टो ब्रह्मा लोकाधिपो यथा |

34b, 35, 36a. te sarvaiH guNaiH samuditaa = with all, merits, having - gifted with; yadaa j~naana sampannaaH = they [four princes,] when, practical wisdom - prudence, prospering with; hriimantaH = bashful ones - self-conscious [to do wrong deeds]; kiirtimantaH cha = well-know ones [for their gentility,] also;sarva j~naa = all, knowing ones [knowers of pros and cons]; diirgha darshinaH = foresighted - conscientious; [when they have become thus, then]; evam prabhaavaaNaam = with this kind of, potentiality having; diipta tejasaam = radiantly, brilliant ones; teSaam sarveSaam = all, in respect of; pitaa = father; Dasharatha; loka adhipaH yathaa = world, presiding deity - Brahma, as with; hR^iSTaH = is contented.

When all of the four sons are thus prospering with prudence, gifted with all the merits, self-conscious to do wrong deeds, well-known for their gentility, knowers of pros and cons and even the conscientious princes, then their father Dasharatha is contented in respect of all of them who are such radiantly brilliant and potential princes, like Brahma. [1-18-34b, 35, 36a]

ते च अपि मनुज व्याघ्रा वैदिक अध्ययने रताः || १-१८-३६
पितृ शुश्रूषण रता धनुर् वेदे च निष्टिताः |

 36. te manuja vyaaghraaH api = they, manly, tigers, even; vaidika adhyayane rataaH = Veda, studies, engrossed in; pitR^iu shushruuSaNe rataaH = in father's, service, delighted in; dhanurvede cha niSTitaaH = in art of archery, also, experts.

Even those tigerly-men, namely the princes, are engrossed in the studies of Veda-s, delighted to render service to their father and they are also the experts in art of archery. [1-18-36b, 37a]

अथ राजा दशरथः तेषाम् दार क्रियाम् प्रति || १-१८-३७
चिंतयामास धर्मात्मा सह उपाध्यायः स बान्धवः |

37b, 38a. tataH = then; dharmaatmaa raajaa = noble souled, king Dasharatha; saH upaadhyaayaH sa baandhavaa = along with, teachers, with, relatives;teSaam daara kriyaam prati = of their, matrimonial, works [alliances,] about; chintayaamaasa = contemplated.

Then the noble souled Dasharatha contemplated along with his priestly teachers and relatives about the matrimonial alliances of his sons. [1-18-37b, 38a]

तस्य चिंतयमानस्य मंत्रि मध्ये महात्मनः || १-१८-३८
अभ्यागच्छत् महातेजा विश्वामित्रो महामुनिः |

38b, 39a. maha aatmanaH tasya = great, souled one, his Dasharatha; chintayaa maanasya = while he is thinking so [discussing so]; mantri madhye = ministers, among, mahaa tejaa = great resplendent one - highly powerful; visvaamitraH mahaa muniH = Vishvamitra great sage; abhyaagacChat [abhi aa gacChat]= arrived.

While the great souled Dasharatha is discussing the marriages of princes among his ministers, the highly powerful sage Vishvamitra arrived. [1-18-38b, 39a]

स राज्ञो दर्शन आकांक्षी द्वार अध्यक्षान् उवाच ह || १-१८-३९
शीघ्रम् आख्यात माम् प्राप्तम् कौशिकम् गाधिनः सुतम् |

39b, 40a. saH = he, Vishvamitra; raaj~naH darshana aakaankshii = king, to see, desirous to; dvaara adhyakshaan uvaacha ha = to the door, keeper, said to;gaadhinaH sutaH = Gadhi's son; kaushikam = belonging to Kushi's dynasty; maam praaptam = me, as arrived; shiighram aakhyaata = quickly, inform [to king.]

Desirous to have an audience with king Vishvamitra said to the doorkeeper, "Let the king be informed quickly that I, the son of Gadhi from the dynasty of Kushi, have come" [1-18-39b, 40a]

The content of this page has been taken from

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August 31,2013.Day 271. BHAGAVAD GITA - As It Is.Original by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Chapter 7.TEXT :4

Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute

TEXT 4

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh 
kham mano buddhir eva ca 
ahankara itiyam me 
bhinna prakrtir astadha

SYNONYMS

bhumih--earth; apah--water; analah--fire; vayuh--air; kham--ether;manah--mind; buddhih--intelligence; eva--certainly; ca--and;ahankarah--false ego; iti--thus; iyam--all these; me--My; bhinna--separated; prakrtih--energies; astadha--total eight 
.

TRANSLATION

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego--all together these eight comprise My separated material energies.

PURPORT

The science of God analyzes the constitutional position of God and His diverse energies. Material nature is called prakrti, or the energy of the Lord in His different purusa incarnations (expansions) as described in theSatvata-tantra:

visnos tu trini rupani purusakhyany atho viduh 
ekam tu mahatah srastr dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam 
trtiyam sarva-bhuta-stham tani jnatva vimucyate

"For material creation, Lord Krsna's plenary expansion assumes three Visnus. The first one, Maha-Visnu, creates the total material energy, known as mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramatma, who is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Visnus can be liberated from material entanglement." 
This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are directed by these three Visnu expansions of Lord Krsna. These purusas are called incarnations. Generally one who does not know the science of God (Krsna) assumes that this material world is for the enjoyment of the living entities and that the living entities are the causes (purusas), controllers and enjoyers of the material energy. According to Bhagavad-gita this atheistic conclusion is false. In the verse under discussion it is stated that Krsna is the original cause of the material manifestation. Srimad-Bhagavatam also confirms this. The ingredients of the material manifestation are separated energies of the Lord. Even the brahmajyoti, which is the ultimate goal of the impersonalists, is a spiritual energy manifested in the spiritual sky. There are no spiritual diversities in brahmajyoti as there are in the Vaikunthalokas, and the impersonalist accepts this brahmajyoti as the ultimate eternal goal. The Paramatma manifestation is also a temporary all-pervasive aspect of the Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The Paramatma manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world. Therefore the factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses different separated and internal energies. 
In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and false ego, are neglected by the materialists. Philosophers who deal with mental activities are also not perfect in knowledge because they do not know the ultimate source, Krsna. The false ego--"I am," and "It is mine," which constitute the basic principle of material existence--includes ten sense organs for material activities. Intelligence refers to the total material creation, called the mahat-tattva. Therefore from the eight separated energies of the Lord are manifest the twenty-four elements of the material world, which are the subject matter of Sankhya atheistic philosophy; they are originally offshoots from Krsna's energies and are separated from Him, but atheistic Sankhya philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge do not know Krsna as the cause of all causes. The subject matter for discussion in the Sankhya philosophy is only the manifestation of the external energy of Krsna, as it is described in the Bhagavad-Gita.

 

 

RADHANATH SWAMI ADDRESSING SENIOR BANKERS IN KOLKATA

On July 16^th, Radhanath Swami addressed 25 senior managers and bankers of the State Bank of India (SBI), in Kolkata (Calcutta). SBI is the largest banking and financial services company in India. Ranked amongst the top 30 reputed companies in the world by Forbes 2009 rankings, and the only bank featured in the “top 10 brands of India,” SBI has a mammoth 20% market share in deposits and loans among Indian commercial banks.

Radhanath Swami spoke on “Balancing the Balance Sheet of Life.” He recollected a similar program he attended with the HSBC in London. “I find it quite humorous and fascinating that you are asking me to speak to you because I have not had a bank account or signed a check since 1969. Someone asked me in London, ‘How do you survive without having bank accounts, and without signing checks?’ and my reply was, ‘Very happily.’”

Radhanath Swami emphasized how money is sacred when seen from the proper perspective. “The difference between material and spiritual is the consciousness in which things are utilized. If a knife is in the hands of a thief it will be used to cut the throat of a person. But in the hands of a surgeon it can save a life.”

In his talk, Radhanath Swami explained that the secret to balancing one’s life is to see the sacredness of our occupation, to realize, “I have certain boundaries of values and ethics within which I earn, and the money I get I understand is what God has entrusted me with, and real fulfillment is when I use it with compassion.”

He also presented a refreshing insight on ‘evolution’ by sharing his thoughts that human evolution really takes place when we progress from our tendency of ‘need to get’ to the ‘joy of giving.’

“And Bhakti Yoga helps us to reconnect with our inner nature,” concluded Radhanath Swami. “When we gain inner fulfillment through a balanced spiritual life, then temptations and fears cannot disturb our values. We then truly leave a legacy of which we can be proud.”

The bankers unanimously expressed feeling enlightened and enriched by the experience. All also got their copies of The Journey Home signed by Radhanath Swami.

http://www.radhanathswami.com/2013/08/addressing-senior-bankers-in-kolkata/

Who is Radhanath Swami

Radhanath Swami is a Vaishnava sanyassin (a monk in a Krishna-bhakti lineage) and teacher of the devotional path of Bhakti -yoga. He is author of 'The Journey Home', a memoir of his search for spiritual truth. His teachings draw from the sacred texts of India such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Ramayana, and aim to reveal the practical application of the sacred traditions, while focusing on the shared essence which unites apparently disparate religious or spiritual paths.

Born Richard Slavin, on December 7, 1950, in his teens he came to confront a deep sense of alienation from suburban Chicago life and the civil injustices of mid-century America. At the age of nineteen, while on a summer trip to Europe, his internal struggles culminated in a commitment to search for God wherever it might lead him. Meditating on the Isle of Crete, he felt a supernatural calling and the next morning set off alone to find spiritual India. The Journey Home documents his odyssey as a penniless hitch-hiker though Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally India. There he lived as a wandering ascetic, first amongst the forest dwelling Himalayan yogis and later amongst a wide variety of gurus and spiritual practitioners throughout India and Nepal. Ultimately, he was led to the holy town of Vrindavan, where he found his path amongst the Bhakti-yogis.

In Vrindavan he found the teacher he was searching for in A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and representative of Gaudiya Vaishnavism (the Krishna-bhakti tradition stemming from the 16th century mystic avatar Sri Chaitanya). In choosing Bhaktivedanta Swami, as his guru, Radhanath Swami felt compelled to shear his matted locks and reenter Western society with a mission to share the sacred wisdom he had received. This return exemplifies the form of devotional yoga which is at the heart of Radhanath Swami’s teachings, a spiritual practice expressed as tangible action meant to bring about personal fulfillment and benefit the world.

At the the age of 31 he took the monastic vows of a Vaishnava sanyassin and became known as Radhanath Swami.

Today Radhanath Swami travels regularly throughout India, Europe and North America, sharing the teachings of Bhakti-yoga. He resides much of the year at the Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai. For the past twenty-five years he has guided the community’s development and has directed a number of acclaimed social action projects including Midday Meals, which daily serves more than 260,000 plates of sanctified vegetarian food to the children of the slums of Mumbai. He has also worked to establish missionary hospitals and eye camps, eco-friendly farms, schools and ashrams, an orphanage, and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.

 

 

 

Osho : Post Freudian Krishna

Krishna has a great future, says OSHO, because he stands out as the very personification of unconditional love and so transcends all duality

Albert Schweitzer made a significant remark in criticism of religion in India. He said that the religion of this country is life negative. This remark is correct to a large extent — if Krishna is left out. But it is utterly wrong in the context of Krishna. If Schweitzer had tried to understand Krishna he would never have said what he said. Krishna alone accepts the body in its totality. And he accepts it not in any selected dimension, but in all its dimensions. 

The old religions taught suppression as the way to godliness. Man was asked to suppress everything — his sex, his anger, his greed, his attachments — and then alone would he find his soul, would he attain to godliness. This war of man against himself has continued long enough. And in the history of thousands of years of this war, barely a handful of people, whose names can be counted on one’s fingers, can be said to have found God. So in a sense, we lost this war, because down the centuries billions of people died without finding their souls, without meeting God.Undoubtedly there must be some basic flaw, some fundamental mistake in the very foundation of these religions.

The old religions taught suppression as the way to godliness. Man was asked to suppress everything — his sex, his anger, his greed, his attachments — and then alone would he find his soul, would he attain to godliness. This war of man against himself has continued long enough. And in the history of thousands of years of this war, barely a handful of people, whose names can be counted on one’s fingers, can be said to have found God. So in a sense, we lost this war, because down the centuries billions of people died without finding their souls, without meeting God.Undoubtedly there must be some basic flaw, some fundamental mistake in the very foundation of these religions.

It is as if a gardener has planted 50,000 trees and out of them only one tree flowers — and yet we accept his scripture on gardening on the plea that at least one tree has blossomed. But we fail to take into consideration that this single tree might have been an exception to the rule; that it might have blossomed not because of the gardener, but in spite of him. The rest of the fifty thousand trees, those that remained stunted and barren, are enough proof the gardener was not worth his salt.

Krishna alone seems to be relevant to the new awareness, to the new understanding that came to man in the wake of Freud and his findings. It is so because in the whole history of the old humanity, Krishna alone is against repression.

He accepts life in all its facets, in all its climates and colours. He alone does not choose. He accepts life unconditionally. He does not shun love; being a man, he does not run away from women. He is full of love and compassion, and yet he has the courage to accept and fight a war. His heart is utterly nonviolent, yet he plunges into the fire and fury of violence when it becomes unavoidable. 

 Krishna accepts the duality; the dialectics of life altogether and therefore transcends duality. What we call transcendence is not possible so long as you are in conflict, so long as you choose one part and reject the other. Transcendence is only possible when you choicelessly accept both parts together, when you accept the whole.

That is why Krishna has great significance for the future. And his significance will continue to grow with the passage of time. For the first time, man will be able to comprehend him, to understand him and to imbibe him. And it will be so because, for the first time, man will really deserve him and his blessings.

It is really difficult to understand Krishna. It is easy to understand that a man should run away from the world if he wants to find peace, but it is really difficult to accept that one can find peace in the thick of the marketplace. It is understandable that a man can attain to purity of mind if he breaks away from his attachments, but it is really difficult to realise that one can remain unattached and innocent in the very midst of relationships and attachments, that one can remain calm and still live at the very centre of the cyclone. Krishna: Man And His Philosophy, courtesy Osho International Foundation, www.osho.com 

August 30,2013.Day 270. BHAGAVAD GITA - As It Is.Original by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Chapter 7.TEXT :3

Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute

TEXT 3

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah

SYNONYMS

manusyanam--of men; sahasresu--out of many thousands; kascit--someone; yatati--endeavors; siddhaye--for perfection; yatatam--of those so endeavoring; api--indeed; siddhanam--of those who have achieved perfection; kascit--someone; mam--Me; vetti--does know;tattvatah--in fact.

TRANSLATION

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.

PURPORT

There are various grades of men, and out of many thousands one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what is the self, what is the body, and what is the Absolute Truth. Generally mankind is simply engaged in the animal propensities, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating, and hardly anyone is interested in transcendental knowledge. The first six chapters of the Gita are meant for those who are interested in transcendental knowledge, in understanding the self, the Superself and the process of realization by jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, and discrimination of the self from matter. However, Krsna can only be known by persons who are in Krsna consciousness. Other transcendentalists may achieve impersonal Brahman realization, for this is easier than understanding Krsna. Krsna is the Supreme Person, but at the same time He is beyond the knowledge of Brahman and Paramatma. Theyogis and jnanis are confused in their attempts to understand Krsna, although the greatest of the impersonalists, Sripada Sankaracarya, has admitted in his Gita commentary that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But his followers do not accept Krsna as such, for it is very difficult to know Krsna, even though one has transcendental realization of impersonal Brahman. 
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the primeval Lord Govinda. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam. It is very difficult for the nondevotees to know Him. Although nondevotees declare that the path of bhakti or devotional service is very easy, they cannot practice it. If the path of bhakti is so easy, as the nondevotee class of men proclaim, then why do they take up the difficult path? Actually the path ofbhakti is not easy. The so-called path of bhakti practiced by unauthorized persons without knowledge of bhakti may be easy, but when it is practiced factually according to the rules and regulations, the speculative scholars and philosophers fall away from the path. Srila Rupa Gosvami writes in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu:

sruti-smrti-puranadi-pancaratra-vidhim vina 

aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate

"Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas, Narada-pancaratra, etc., is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society."
It is not possible for the Brahman realized impersonalist or the Paramatma realized yogi to understand Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yasoda or the charioteer of Arjuna. Even the great demigods are sometimes confused about Krsna: "muhyanti yat surayah," "mam tu veda na kascana." "No one knows Me as I am," the Lord says. And if one does know Him, then "sa mahatma su-durlabhah." "Such a great soul is very rare." Therefore unless one practices devotional service to the Lord, he cannot know Krsna as He is (tattvatah), even though one is a great scholar or philosopher. Only the pure devotees can know something of the inconceivable transcendental qualities in Krsna, in the cause of all causes, in His omnipotence and opulence, and in His wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, because Krsna is benevolently inclined to His devotees. He is the last word in Brahman realization, and the devotees alone can realize Him as He is. Therefore it is said:

atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih 

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah

"No one can understand Krsna as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him." (Padma Purana)

Why should we chant 16 rounds ? what pleasure Krishna derives from it?

The chanting of the maha-mantra is to purify ourselves so we can become eligible to go to Goloka. In this struggle for material existence, we need something to connect us back to Krsna, something that is very powerful and will not be broken by Maya. Of course, nothing material fits the description - so we turn to something spiritual. Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so he is all powerful, but only the names of Krsna are more powerful and more merciful than Krsna. Thus we take shelter of the Mahamantra to keep us afloat while we journey around this material ocean of birth and death.

Since we are constantly thinking about Krsna and remembering Krsna and chanting Krsna's name, this is the pleasure Krsna gets, because you are reciprocating the affection Krsna has for you.

Think about it this way - if a child's first word is "Mommy" or "Daddy" ... and he/she continues to say that word over and over... the Mother or Father isn't going to be annoyed and tell the child to be quiet... rather they get even more happy as the child continues to repeat that word. So in this sense, Krsna becomes very excited when you chant the Mahamantra, because you are calling out to Him.

I was looking around for something interesting things to share and came across this:

"Srila Prabhupada says, "The Krsna consciousness movement prescribes sixteen rounds daily because people in the Western countries cannot concentrate for long periods while chanting on beads. Therefore the minimum number of rounds is prescribed. However, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati used to say that unless one chants at least sixty-four rounds of japa (one hundred thousand names), he is considered fallen (patita).  According to his calculation, practically every one of us is fallen, but because we are trying to serve the Supreme Lord with all seriousness and without duplicity, we can expect the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is famous as patita-pavana, the deliverer of the fallen."

- See more at:http://harekrishnajapa.com/why-chant-16-rounds/#sthash.PMR9kjyn.dpuf"

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