As in the present day, throughout history many cheaters have falsely claimed to be incarnations of God, and naive followers have acclaimed them. This excerpt from Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna Book tells of the fate of one such fraudulent incarnation.
This beautiful Bhagavatam is sufficient in itself for God realization. As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, he becomes attached to the Supreme Lord.
On the Battlefield of Kuruksetra all the members of Arjuna’s family were present before him, and he had to kill them. Since the Battle of Kuruksetra was a family fight, some of the family members were on the other side as well as on Arjuna’s side, Arjuna was even faced with his superiors, his uncles and teachers on the other side.
The Hare Krishna mantra is for everyone, regardless of one’s religious faith, nationality, race, creed or occupation. This sound vibration is transcendental to all boundaries because it cannot be affected by material conditions; therefore anyone can chant it freely, at any time, in any place or under any circumstances.
Most forms of meditation are virtually impossible to perform in the modern world, and therefore one should learn to meditate by the simple method of chanting and hearing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Distributing Back to Godhead, I could see many people around me in the position I used to be in–depressed, despite having made all arrangements for pleasure through music and drugs–and this made me more eager to give everyone the transcendental knowledge of my spiritual master’s magazine.
Long before the creation, personified Vedic knowledge existed. Great saintly persons accept these descriptions and the Vedic literature is still going strong all over the world. So where is the evidence that it has any cessation? Actually, there is no evidence of a beginning to it and no evidence of its end.
The bodily effulgence of Krishna generates millions of universes. In this solar system the sun produces many planets, and due to sunshine the planets are warm and the seasons change. Due to the sun there are trees, green foliage, fruits and flowers. Similarly, whatever we see in creation is all due to Krishna’s bodily effulgence.
There is enough energy–but we do not know where to get it or what nature’s laws for its distribution are. And by wastefully exploiting whatever sources of energy we have found, we have technologically outfoxed ourselves, like the man who cuts off the branch of a tree, not realizing, until he hits the ground, that he was sitting on the branch.
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS has recently opened centers in Birmingham, Alabama; Capetown, South Africa; Caracas, Venezuela; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ottawa, Canada; Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Suva, Fiji; Stockholm, Sweden; and Geneva, Switzerland.
Five hundred years ago, Sanatana Gosvami was a central figure in the government of Bengal, but by leaving his governmental responsibilities to surrender to Lord Caitanya, he fulfilled a far more important responsibility to both himself and humanity in the service of the Supreme Lord.
Everyone is a servant of eternal time, and therefore no one can be king in this material world. A king is a person who can order. However, even a king cannot order time and tide. Therefore one is only a false king in this material world
Whatever your interest, it can be satisfied here because the subject of Back to Godhead is Krishna. Krishna, which literally means “the All-attractive,” is a name of the original form of God.
Although they may think themselves independent, the living entities in the material world act as puppets of the three qualities of maya or illusion. One can cut oneself free from maya’s strings only by surrendering to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He is maya’s ultimate controller.
Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, became the charioteer of His friend and devotee, Arjuna, to whom He spoke the immortal spiritual instructions of Bhagavad-gita 5,000 years ago on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra . This is the cover illustration of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. All glories to Lord Sri Krishna!
What thoughts cross your mind when you are asked what you think or know about a Hare Krishna devotee? What is his background? Why is he a devotee? What are his cherished goals? How does he live his private life? What is a typical day for a devotee? Most people do not know the answers to these questions. In order to clear up these questions for a large number of people, we would like to present a typical devotee.
On behalf of the members of the Rotary Club of Hyderabad and on my own personal behalf, I convey to Your Divine Grace, as well as to your international devotees who accompanied your good self, our thanks for having been so kind as to visit our club at the Ritz Hotel, when you graciously gave us all the benefit of listening to your highly spiritual program, including sankirtana and discourses.
When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we can see that everything is working under the control of a supreme brain. The arrangements in nature are perfectly ordered. Things would be at random without the careful planning of a scientific and engineering brain.
The characteristic of this Kali-yuga age is men become inclined toward four basic sinful activities that break the four pillars of religiosity, leading men into the darkness of passion and ignorance. These four degrading activities, are gambling, intoxicating habits, illicit sex, animal slaughter and eating of animal foodstuffs.
The other day I was reading the paper, Moscow News. There was a Communist congress, and the President declared, “We are ready to take others’ experience to improve.” So I think the Vedic concept of socialism or communism will much improve the idea of communism.