Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 11

How parampara works

TEXT: When someone heard the chanting of the holy name from the mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and someone else heard this chanting from that second person, and someone again heard this chanting from the third person, everyone in all countries became a Vaisnava through such disciplic succession. Thus everyone chanted the holy name of Krsna and Hari, and they danced, cried and smiled.

PURPORT: The transcendental power or potency of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is herein explained. First, the holy name is vibrated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When someone hears from Him directly, he is purified. When another person hears from that person, he also is purified. In this way the purification process is advanced among pure devotees. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no one can claim His potency. Nonetheless, if one is a pure devotee, hundreds and thousands of men can be purified by his vibration. This potency is within every living being, provided he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra offenselessly and without material motives. When a pure devotee chants offenselessly, another person will become a Vaisnava, and from him another Vaisnava will emerge. This is the parampara system.

Srila Prabhupada; Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 17.48-49

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The sacrifice for Kali-yuga

The sacrificial fire kindled by the sages of Naimisaranya was certainly full of smoke and doubts because of so many flaws. The first flaw is that there is an acute scarcity of expert brahmanas able to carry out such performances successfully in this Age of Kali. Any discrepancy in such sacrifices spoils the whole show, and the result is uncertain, like agricultural enterprises. The good result of tilling the paddy field depends on providential rain, and therefore the result is uncertain. Similarly, performance of any kind of sacrifice in this Age of Kali is also uncertain. Unscrupulous greedy brahmanas of the Age of Kali induce the innocent public to such uncertain sacrificial shows without disclosing the scriptural injunction that in the Age of Kali there is no fruitful sacrificial performance but the sacrifice of the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.18.12 purport

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Bad money

Ramesvara: There was one question I had, Srila Prabhupada. You have written in the Third Volume of the First Canto [ SB 1.17.39] different instructions for the Age of Kali, how there’ll be compulsory marriage and so on and so on. And you mentioned about the gold standard, that this is very bad, this artificial standard of monetary exchange.

Prabhupada: Oh, yes. It is very bad.

Ramesvara: In the future this is something that we should try to correct.

Prabhupada: You should introduce coin, real money.

Hari-sauri: Real gold coins. No paper.

Prabhupada: Anyone has got money… It is fact. And what is this nonsense, keeping some paper and thinking he has got money? How cheating it is going on, from government’s side. And therefore artificial inflation. You can print, so the price is increased. Because you haven’t got to pay him real money, you print and pay him, and he will ask, “Give me this money. Then I’ll supply.” “All right, take.” You print and pay.

Ramesvara: It’s definitely a means that the government has for controlling. Because they can withdraw money, pull it back out of circulation by increasing the interest the banks give, or they can get more money in…

Prabhupada: Anything done artificially.

Ramesvara: They control the amount of interest on loans. It’s all standardized from what they call the Federal Reserve system. This was introduced during the Depression by the bankers.

Prabhupada: Whatever they do, when you receive money in the paper it has no value. Bad money. It is bad money. It is not good money. If you introduce real metal coin, then there will be no inflation.

January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara, Room Conversation

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Don’t worry about this material world

Instead of contemplating what will happen to this world — you have got a short duration of life, say fifty, sixty years — you should chant Hare Krsna and go back to home, back to Godhead. Don’t consider what will happen to this world. Nature will take care of it. Don’t puzzle your brain with these thoughts. You utilize whatever time you have in your possession and go back to home, back to Godhead.

Srila Prabhupada; morning walk in Caracas, February 21, 1975

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Just love Krsna, be happy

How you can offer your love? Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati, tad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami [Bg 9.26]. And if God accepts your things and eats, then what do you want more? He becomes your the most intimate friend. Yam labdhva caparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah [Bg 6.22]. If you can make God as your intimate friend then there is no, I mean to say, nothing wanted. You’ll be fulfilled. You’ll find yourself that “I have got everything.” Yasmin sthito na gurunapi duhkhena na vicalyate [Bg 6.22]. And if we become convinced that “God is my protector; Krsna is my protector,” then how much happy and peaceful we will be.

So this process Bhagavad-gita recommends, that you offer. Doesn’t matter. Even if you cannot offer this patram puspam phalam toyam, then in the next sloka it is explained then whatever you can offer, offer something. Offer something. Just be in love with Him. Then just see how much peaceful you feel, how much tranquility you feel and how you are protected by Krsna, how you avoid insufficiency, how you become pure and how you make your progress in spiritual life.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 9.24–26 – December 14, 1966, New York

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Preaching everywhere

A person, though he be even the most sinful man, can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaisnava…. So by the order of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the cult of Srimad-Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-gita can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult. Such cultural propaganda by the devotees will certainly be accepted by all persons who are reasonable and inquisitive, without any particular bias for the custom of the country.

Srila Prabhupada Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18 purport

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Srila Prabhupada on sex education

“Sex life is already known to the people. Where is the necessity of education?”
— Lecture, Dec 16, 1971

“They are giving sex education to the children. This is the way of destruction.”
— Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.17 Lecture, Los Angeles, September 26, 1972

“Sex education means: ‘You go on enjoying, and here is how you enjoy.’ That’s all. It is not civilization. Civilization means restriction.”
— Room Conversation, June 4, 1974

“Sex life is not meant for human beings. It is meant for animals. And now in the modern days they are giving sex education — how to become animals.”
— Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 16.10–12, Los Angeles, February 3, 1975

“From childhood they are being taught sex. Then how will they remain pure?”
— Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 1.26–27, London, July 21, 1973

“The modern so-called civilization is simply encouraging sex lifei Sex education means to become more sinful.”
— Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 13.8–12, Bombay, October 5, 1973

“Now they are giving sex education to young boys and girls. This is demoniac.”
— Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 16.8, Hawaii, February 5, 1975

“Nowadays the government is introducing sex education. This means they are degrading the character of the children from the very beginning of life.”
— Letter to: Madhudvisa, Melbourne, May 9, 1975

“Sex education… They are born with it. You don’t require to teach it.”
— Morning Walk, January 22, 1976, Mayapur

“They are teaching sex education. What is this? This is not education; this is degradation. Even the animals don’t require sex education.”
— Room Conversation, London, July 26, 1976

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Governments should support this movement

In modern times, the Krsna consciousness movement is trying to introduce the right principles of management for human society, but unfortunately the governments of Kali-yuga do not properly support the Hare Krsna movement because they do not appreciate its valuable service.  The Hare Krsna movement is the right movement for ameliorating the fallen condition of human society, and therefore governments and public leaders in every part of the world should support this movement to completely rectify humanity’s sinful condition.

Srila Prabhupada SB 6.2.4, ppt.

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Easy way to control the mind

The Perfection of Yoga
The mind is cancala, flickering, and it changes very strongly. Therefore Arjuna admitted that controlling the mind is not at all possible; this would be as difficult as controlling the wind. For example, if one were in a boat moving according to the wind on a river or the sea, and the wind were uncontrollable, the tilting boat would be very much disturbed and extremely difficult to control. It might even capsize. Therefore, in the bhava-samudra, the ocean of mental speculation and transmigration to different types of bodies, one must first control the mind.

By regulative practice one can control the mind, and this is the purpose of the yoga system (abhyasa-yoga-yuktena [Bg 8.8]). But there is a chance of failure with the yoga system, especially in this Age of Kali, because the yoga system uses artificial means. If the mind is engaged in bhakti-yoga, however, by the grace of Krsna one can very easily control it. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended, harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam [Cc Adi 17.21]. One should chant the holy name of the Lord constantly, for the holy name of the Lord is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Person.

By chanting the Hare Krsna mantra constantly, one can fix the mind on the lotus feet of Krsna (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh [SB 9.4.18]), and in this way achieve the perfection of yoga. Otherwise, the flickering mind will hover on the platform of mental speculation for sense enjoyment, and one will have to transmigrate from one type of body to another.

Srila Prabhupada; Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.1.42 purport

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No better than a foolish animal

Even though one may be very learned and wise, he is mad if he does not understand that the endeavor for sense gratification is a useless waste of time. Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries. In this way one is no better than a foolish animal.

Srila Prabhupada SB 5.5.7 Purport

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