Krishna Consciousness !

Once a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada that what is required for me to become Krishna Conscious?

Srila Prabhupada gave one word answer, desire. 

That is what required to become Krishna conscious. 

Everything is based on our desire. Even when we chant the holy names, Krishna responds according to our desire. When we are reading Shrimad Bhagvatam, Bhagvad Gita, Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Krishna reveals the essence of these messages according to our desire. By associating with devotees and hearing the glories of great devotees, it nourishes our desire.Desire to serve the Lord, desire to please the lord. When their is strong desire, Krishna empowers us to overcome all obsatcles. What was Srila Prabhupada's desire? At the age of 70, arriving at New York city after several heart attacks with no money, with no body, and even his god- brothers and his well wishers telling him come back, come back, it is impossible you cannot do it, you are too old. Sumati Moraji, she denied him passage on board, again and again. She said its impossible , its too cold and you are too old. Srila Prabhupada crossed over every possible obstacle; because of his desire. Krishna says those are on this path they are resolute and determined and their aim is one; desire. By the association we keep our sadhana, by our prayers we must cultivate this desire. Without that strong determined desire, their will so many conditioning come upon us; they will disturb out faith and disturb the execution of our service. So, this was Prabhupada's single answer. If you have that strong desire, if you have the right desire, Krishna will empower you to do everything. That is the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. Lord Chaitanya delivered Jagai and Madhai when they developed that desire. When he was travelling from Jaganath Puri to Vrindavan, through the Jharikhand forest, he awakened desire. A tiger was sleeping in the pathway. He kicked the tiger on the head. Jiv Jago! Jiv Jago! Because he was touched by the foot of Lord Chaitanya, a desire awakened in his heart by the association. Shri Chaitanya ordered the tiger, chant Haribol! The tiger lifted his arms and chanted Haribol! Tears pour from his eyes. He became a paramhamsa devotee. Mahaprabhu awoke that desire. He went to some tribal jungle and villages. From social point of view these people were out caste. They were considered people with no culture, with very little ethics and morality; practically not even allowed in the cities and villages. They were considerd untouchables by the society, but Lord Chaitanya, he awakened within their heart a desire. And because they had that desire, to be Krishna conscious just by his association, he gave them prema bhakti; Krishna prema, the highest perfection. No other incarnation has given such a high spiritual esctasy, so profusely. And all is required is the desire to accept it. Faith in the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda and his Guru Maharaja , gave Srila Prabhupada the determination to travel all over the world. He give Gaur Nitai to everyone. 99% of the population in Bombay did not know who Lord Chaitanya was. But yet Srila Prabhupada had thousands of people worshipping Gaur Nitai in Africa, America, Russia, Ukraine, Khazakistan, Australia, Japan, Korea. 

Why is Maya so strong?

A young hippy asked Srila Prabhupada, "If our purpose is to go back to Godhead, why is Maya so strong?" Without the slightest hesitation Srila Prabhupada profoundly and poetically answered, "Because your purpose is not strong."

In other words Maya, the Lord's illusory energy, only has power over us to the extent that we are not determined to go back to home, back to Godhead. If we are determined to become fully Krishna conscious and not take birth here again in this material world, the material energy will be powerless to do anything to stop us from achieving our goal.

So instead of being weak in our determination, we must become powerful in our determination. How to do that? Srila Prabhupada taught us that over-indulgence in sense-gratification, especially sex life, makes us weak in our determination. This is why one of the most important regulative principles followed by a Krishna conscious person is "No illicit sex life." By limiting our sexual activities only to procreation we gain a great power of determination that makes us solidly fixed on the transcendental platform.

The great example of a devotee so fixed is Srila Haridas Thakur. He was engaged in chanting 300,000 names of God daily in a secluded hut. This was about 500 years ago in India. The Muslim political leaders were not happy to see that a converted former Muslim had now become recognized as a great Vaisnava saint. So they conspired to ruin his reputation by sending a beautiful prostitute to seduce him in the dead of night. The prostitute undressed herself before the sage and begged him for sexual intercourse. He tactfully told the lady that first he had to finish his chanting and he would then satisfy her desire. So he chanted all night without fulfilling her desire on the plea of not having finished his chanting. He then apologized telling her to come again on the 2nd night, that he would then satisfy her. The same thing happened on the 2nd night because he still had not completed his chanting. This time he assured her that if she came again on the 3rd night he would definitely fulfill her desire. On the third night the prostitute had become so purified by hearing the constant chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra from the lips of Haridas Thakur that in great shame she fell at his feet and begged forgiveness by having tried to pollute him. In this way by the great determination of Haridas Thakur to remain firmly fixed in his vows of chanting, he was able to withstand the attack of the material energy in the form of the prostitute.

Even if we are not so strong in our determination to chant 300,000 names of God daily and spend three nights all alone with a naked beautiful young prostitute without falling down, at least we can we chant 16 rounds daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles:

1. No illicit sex
2. No intoxication
3. No meat eating
4. No gambling

This will give us sufficient strong to remain fixed solidly in Krishna consciousness 24 hours daily and become fully qualified for going back to home, back to Godhead at the time of death.

KRSNA!

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna!

Krsna Krsna Hare Hare!!

Hare Ram Hare Ram! 

Ram Ram Hare Hare!!

HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA ! KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE!! HARE RAMA HARE RAMA! RAMA RAMA HARE HARE !!

Hare Krishna Maha-mantra
Srila Prabhupada once announced, "The chanting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's name is more essential than the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra." (1) One smart devotee then inquired whether we should therefore chant rounds of the Panca-tattva mantra to which Srila Prabhupada replied, "No — because Lord Caitanya's instruction was to chant Hare Krishna."

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is a very simple mantra consisting of only three words: Hare, Krishna, and Rama.
Hare means unto Mother Hara (i.e. Lord Krishna's personal pleasure potency, Srimati Radharani).
Krishna means the all-attractive Lord.
Rama means the source of all enjoyment.
When we chant Hare Krishna we are praying: "O energy of the Lord (Hare), O Lord (Krishna and Rama) please engage me in Your service!"
Maha-mantra means it is the Great Mantra Of Deliverance.
Lord Caitanya and the Vedas both recommend this process:

hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare
iti sodasakam namnam
kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah
sarva-vedesu drsyate

The sixteen words of the Hare Krishna mantra are especially meant for counteracting the contaminating influence of the age of Kali. After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a better method.

Footnote

(1) There are offenses to be considered in chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but there are no such considerations in chanting the names of Gaura-Nityananda. Therefore, if one chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra but his life is still full of sinful activities, it will be very difficult for him to achieve the platform of loving service to the Lord. But if in spite of being an offender one chants the holy names of Gaura-Nityananda, he is very quickly freed from the reactions to his offenses. Therefore, one should first approach Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, or worship Guru-Gauranga, and then come to the stage of worshiping Radha-Krishna.

One should first take shelter of Gaura-Nityananda in order to reach, ultimately, Radha-Krishna. … It should be noted in this connection that the holy names of Lord Krishna and Gaurasundara are both identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore one should not consider one name to be more potent than the other. Considering the position of the people of this age, however, the chanting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s name is more essential than the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the most magnanimous incarnation and His mercy is very easily achieved. Therefore one must first take shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting Sri-Krishna-Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaura Bhakta-Vrnda. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 8.31 purport)

~HARE KRSNA~ !!

"The wise inhabitants of the heavenly regions know that the perfection
of the head is to offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord, the perfection
of the life-breath is to worship the Lord, the perfection of the mind
is to ponder the details of His transcendental qualities, and the
perfection of speech is to chant the glories of His qualities."

~HARE KRSNA~ !

hare krsna

One should try to keep himself satisfied in any condition of

life—whether distress or happiness—which is offered by the supreme

will. A person who endures in this way is able to cross over the

darkness of nescience very easily.

Hare Krsna,Hare Krsna! Krsna Krsna,Hare Hare!! Hare Ram,Hare Ram! RamRam,Hare Hare!!

Hare Krsna,Hare Krsna! Krsna Krsna,Hare Hare!! Hare Ram,Hare Ram! RamRam,Hare Hare!!

Krishna consciousness.

Fate can be changed by Krishna consciousness.  
Krishna says, "I shall give you protection from all the resultant actions of your sinful life."  
That is fate changed.  When you surrender to Krishna, 
He takes charge of squaring up all your sinful activities and their reaction.  
Surrender to Krishna; then your fate is changed.

KRSNA

Who is Krishna?

Radha and Krishna in the Spiritual World

Krishna is the Supreme Person, the Godhead. Krishna is the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita, which is recognized throughout the world as one of mankind’s greatest books of wisdom. In the Gita, as it is also known, Krishna says repeatedly that He is God Himself, the source of everything. Arjuna, to whom Krishna is speaking, accepts Krishna’s words as true, adding that the greatest spiritual authorities of that time also confirm that Krishna is God.

Traditions that follow in the line of these authorities have carried Krishna’s teachings down to the present day.

“Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.” —Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 7.24

God, A Transcendental Person

The personhood of Krishna is not an idea invented by human beings naively creating a God in their own image. Nor is personhood a limiting concept when applied to God, or the Absolute Truth. As the source of everything, Krishna naturally has His own personal identity, just as each of us does. The Vedas define God as the one supreme conscious being among all other conscious beings. He is infinite, we are finite, and He maintains us all.

Naturally, the best way to understand God is to learn from Him. In the Bhagavad-gita (“The Song of God”), Lord Krishna—a real person—tells us that He is God and reveals many things about Himself.

A Complete Conception of God

Many people have a hard time conceiving that God can be an actual person. But the Vedas tell us that God’s unique personal identity is His highest aspect. Here’s an analogy to show how God has three main features.

Looking at a mountain from a distance, we can make out only its size and shape. This is compared to comprehending God only as Brahman, His impersonal energy, which emanates from Him just as light shines out from its source.

As we move closer, we’ll start to make out more of the mountain’s characteristics—the colors of its foliage, for example. This is compared to understanding that God is within our hearts as Paramatma, or the Supersoul.

Finally, when we arrive at the mountain we can explore its soil, vegetation, animals, rivers, and so on. This is compared to understanding God the person, or Bhagavan.

Bhagavan is the source of Brahman and Paramatma and is therefore, in a sense, one with them. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are called the three phases of the Absolute Truth.

What is God Like?

As with anyone in our experience, God is unique and complex. He’s the transcendental Supreme Person, so there’s infinitely more to know about Him than anyone else. The Vedas, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam, supply detailed information about Him.

Everything about God is fully transcendental, or spiritual. Because God is absolute, there is no difference between Him and His name, form, activities, qualities, and so on. Contact with any of these gives the same spiritual benefit, namely purification of our consciousness.

Krishna’s Form

Transcendental Form - The Vedas tell us that spirit is composed of eternity, knowledge (or consciousness), and happiness. Both God and we souls possess spiritual forms, which are free of the limitations of material form. For example, each part of a spiritual body can perform the function of any other part.

Krishna’s body never changes; He is an eternal youth.

Unlike we ordinary souls, who may possess a material body, Krishna and His body are always identical.

A Description of Krishna - The Vedas describe Krishna in this way: He is a beautiful youth with a glowing complexion the color of rain clouds. He plays a flute, attracting the hearts of all. His cheeks are brilliant, His smile enchanting. He wears a peacock feather in His curly black hair and a flower garland around His neck. His beautiful garments are the color of lightning. His toenails resemble the light of the moon.

Not only do the Vedas tell us what Krishna looks like, but pure souls have received His audience and written of their encounters. And fifty centuries ago, Krishna revealed His transcendental form to residents of India when He lived there for 120 years, sometimes showing and sometimes hiding His divinity.

“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.” —Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.29

Krishna’s Nature

Krishna is loving by nature. In our original pure state, we love Him fully. In the exchange of complete love, Krishna considers His devotees greater than Himself. In the spiritual world He always stays with His devotees, and in this world He resides in every heart as the Supersoul. He wants His children in the material world to return to Him to enjoy with Him eternally.

Krishna is completely independent, and we cannot comprehend him completely. He cannot be conquered by knowledge. But He can be conquered—and seen directly—through pure love.

God has feelings: He is satisfied when someone offers Him a nice prayer. Even though He is great, He can be moved by our love. He responds to us according to how we approach Him.

“The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them.” —Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.68

“Even if it were possible to count the atoms after smashing the earth into powder, still it would not be possible to estimate the unfathomable transcendental qualities of the Lord.” —Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavatam, 1.16.26-30, Purport

Krishna’s Qualities

Understanding that God is spiritual, people sometimes conceive of Him as having no qualities. But although Krishna has no material qualities, He is full of unlimited transcendental qualities, and those qualities attract us to Him. Thus great souls who have given up everything cannot give up attraction to Krishna, and they dedicate their lives to finding Him.

The following qualities are considered especially attractive, and Krishna possesses them in full: beauty, wealth, fame, influence, knowledge, and renunciation.

Being God, Krishna has innumerable qualities and seemingly contradictory qualities are resolved in Him.

Hearing of how Krishna shows these qualities can give us a sense of His greatness and of His power to attract all souls.

Krishna’s Activities

While Krishna’s expansions and incarnations perform duties in the material and spiritual worlds, He Himself simply enjoys with His most intimate devotees in His transcendental home, known as Goloka. By His desire, His associates there don’t even consider Him God. They enhance His enjoyment in five loving moods: neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affection, and conjugal love. In other words, Krishna’s life is filled with unending bliss in the company of His associates.

Krishna enjoys Himself with abandon, frolicking as a youth in expansive fields and forests with His friends and cows. He dances, He plays His flute, He relishes whatever activity strikes His fancy at the moment.

To entice souls in the material world to join Him in Goloka, Krishna comes to this world periodically, as He did 5,000 years ago, and shows His confidential, intimate loving exchanges with His ever-liberated devotees.

Krishna’s Relationships

Krishna savors diversity from various kinds of pure, transcendental love. As we enjoy a variety of relationships in our families and society, so does Krishna, but all of His relationships are eternal, transcendental, and completely free of material contamination.

Each of Krishna’s devotees interacts with Him in one of five primary relationships. In ascending order of intimacy, these five are neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affection, and conjugal love. Each includes the primary sentiments of the ones before it, and then adds its own flavor. Pure love of God reaches its summit in romantic exchanges with Krishna.

Each devotee eternally feels one of these main moods predominantly:

• Devotees in the mood of neutrality witness and support Krishna’s pastimes by their presence as plants, animals, streams, and so on, as well as normally inanimate objects like houses—all of which are fully conscious in Goloka.
• Devotees in the service mood run errands for Krishna, pack His lunch, wash His clothes, and perform other demonstrations of love for Him as the moment indicates.
• Devotees in the fraternal mood serve Krishna by being His friends. They are sometimes boastful, considering themselves equal to Krishna. In His company, they herd cows and enjoy games in the beautiful country setting.
• Devotees in the parental mood see themselves as Krishna’s provider and protector. Krishna behaves with them like a dependent child. His mother cuddles Him, carefully prepares His meals, and thinks only of His protection. His father sees that He has all the comforts of a normal home.
• Devotees in the conjugal, or romantic, mood, offer service as Krishna’s girlfriends, relating with Him in the intimacy of lover and beloved.

“The Supreme Lord has nothing to do, and no one is found to be equal to or greater than Him, for everything is done naturally and systematically by His multifarious energies.” —Svetashvatara Upanishad 6.8

Krishna’s Energies

Although Krishna is invisible to us in our present state, we can perceive His presence through His energies, which are everywhere. Although innumerable, His energies fall into three primary categories.

Internal Energy - Krishna’s internal energy expands as the spiritual world in all its variety, including His ever-liberated associates there. The internal energy is eternal and full of knowledge and happiness. Presently beyond our perception, the spiritual world makes up most of reality.

External Energy - Krishna’s external energy consists of all that is matter: the material world, the laws of material nature, material bodies, and so on. The external energy is temporary and full of ignorance and suffering. It is inert by nature and must be moved by spirit. The material world is a tiny fraction of God’s creation.

Marginal Energy - We finite spirit souls are expansions of Krishna’s marginal energy. We can choose to live in the spiritual world or the material world. Or, to put it another way, we can be deluded by matter or illuminated by spirit.

Both the external energy (matter) and the marginal energy (we souls) can become fully spiritualized by contact with the internal energy through acts of devotion to Krishna (Bhakti-yoga).

“That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.” —Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 15.6

Krishna’s Home

God owns everything, so in a sense His home is everywhere. But He Himself resides in the spiritual world in a place known as Goloka, the highest spiritual region. Reaching Krishna there is the highest achievement of human life.

Goloka is self-illuminated, and everyone there is liberated, shining with pure love for Krishna. Because Krishna is the center of everyone’s heart, there is complete unity and peace. Goloka is built of transcendental gems that yield whatever one wants. The natural surroundings are beautiful, full of diversity and opulence. In Goloka, every word is a song, every step a dance, every moment new, fresh, and exciting.

Krishna’s Names

Just a s we may have different names according to our various roles—Mommy, Dr. Jones, Sweetheart, Professor, Your Honor—so does God. And since God is unlimited, He has innumerable names.

The names can be generic terms, such as “God” or “the Absolute Truth.”

They can be in Sanskrit, such as Govinda, Gopala, or Shyamasundara.

They can be in other languages, such as Yahweh and Allah.

The name Krishna, which means “the all-attractive One,” implies that each of us has an eternal relationship with God and we are always drawn either to Him directly or to His energies.

God and His names are identical, so by speaking them we enter His purifying company. Regularly reciting, singing, or chanting His names awakens our innate love for Him and gains us release from bondage to matter.

In contemplating the above, the reader may ask, “Where are you getting this knowledge from?” Apart from Sri Krishna’s own words in His Bhagavad-gita, the ancient Vedas (scriptures) of India extensively describe God in detail, His expansions, incarnations and pastimes.

“Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Srimad-Bhagavatam propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.… This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization.” —Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2

Bhagavatam, A Major Contribution to the Understanding of God

The Vedas deal with many subjects. They are the books of a highly developed civilization and cover all departments of knowledge. Among them, Srimad-Bhagavatam (also known as the Bhagavata Purana) deals exclusively with subjects about God. Srimad means “beautiful” or “opulent,” and Bhagavatam means “related to God.” Hence, Srimad-Bhagavatam can be translated as “The Beautiful Story of God.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam describes God, our relationship with Him, and the process for realizing that relationship. Its 18,000 verses give detailed accounts of God’s names, forms, nature, personality, devotees, activities, residences, and much more.

In one of the opening chapters, the narrator explains that the sage Vyasadeva, who wrote portions of the Vedic literature and compiled the rest, felt dissatisfied despite his accomplishments. Under the order of his guru, he then embarked on writing Srimad-Bhagavatam, considered the ripe fruit of the tree of the Vedas.