Bhagavad Gita: Entire universe is pervaded in my unmanifested form (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 4, Chapter 9)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
na caham tesv avasthitah

 (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 4, Chapter 9)

Meaning: By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

*** One can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, always within himself and outside himself if one has developed the transcendental loving attitude towards Him.

Bhagavad Gita: Entire universe is pervaded in my unmanifested form (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 4, Chapter 9)

Bhagavad Gita: Faithful in this devotional service (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 3, Chapter 9)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

asraddadhanah purusa
dharmasyasya parantapa
aprapya mam nivartante
mrtyu-samsara-vartmani

 (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 3, Chapter 9)

Meaning: Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.

Bhagavad Gita: Faithful in this devotional service (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 3, Chapter 9)

Bhagavad Gita: King of all education (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 2, Chapter 9)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

raja-vidya raja-guhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su-sukham kartum avyayam

                             (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 2, Chapter 9)

Meaning: This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.

Bhagavad Gita: King of all education (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 2, Chapter 9)

Bhagavad Gita: Knowing most confidential knowledge, You shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 1, Chapter 9)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca


idam tu te guhyatamam
pravaksyamy anasuyave
jnanam vijnana-sahitam
yaj jnatva moksyase subhat

(The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 1, Chapter 9)

Meaning: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.

Bhagavad Gita: Knowing most confidential knowledge, You shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence (The Most Confidential Knowledge, Text 1, Chapter 9)

Bhagavad Gita:A person who accepts the path of devotional service,reaches the supreme eternal abode (Attaining the Supreme,Text 28, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca


vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva
danesu yat punya-phalam pradistam
alyeti tat sarvam idam viditva
yogi param sthanam upaiti cadyam

  (Attaining the Supreme, Text 28, Chapter 8)

Meaning: A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the vedas, performing austere sacrifices, 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.

Bhagavad Gita: A person who accepts the path of devotional service,reaches the supreme eternal abode (Attaining the Supreme,Text 28, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Always fixed in devotion (Attaining the Supreme,Text 27, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

naite srti partha janam
yogi muhyati kascana
tasmat sarvesu kalesu
yoga-yukto bhavarjuna

   (Attaining the Supreme, Text 27, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Although the devotees know these two paths (According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world-one in light and one in darkness.When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns), O Arjuna, they are never bewildered. Therefore be always fixed in devotion.


*** Krsna is here advising Arjuna that he should not be disturbed by the different paths the soul can take when leaving the material world. A devotee of the Supreme Lord should not worry whether he will depart by arrangement or by accident. One should be unattached in material affairs and do everything in Krsna(divine) consciousness.By this system, which is called yukta-vairagya, one attains perfection. Therefore the devotee is not disturbed by these descriptions, because he knows that his passage to the supreme abode is guaranteed by devotional service.

Bhagavad Gita: Always fixed in devotion (Attaining the Supreme,Text 27, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Two ways of passing from this world (Attaining the Supreme,Text 26, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

sukla-krsne gati hy ete
jagatah sasvate mate
ekaya yaty anavrttim
anyayavartate punah

   (Attaining the Supreme, Text 26, Chapter 8)

Meaning: According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world-one in light and one in darkness.When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.


*** Those who are fruitive laborers and philosophical speculators from time immemorial are constantly going and coming. Actually they do not attain ultimate salvation, for they do not surrender to Krsna (Divine)

Bhagavad Gita: Two ways of passing from this world (Attaining the Supreme,Text 26, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death (Attaining the Supreme,Text 25, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

dhumo ratris tatha krsnah
san-masa daksinayanam
tatra candramasam jyotir
yogi prapya nivartate

  

  (Attaining the Supreme, Text 25, Chapter 8)

Meaning: The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the fortnight of the waning moon, or the six months when the sun passes to the south reaches the moon planet  but again comes back.

*** Those who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death. and enjoy life on moon by drinking  soma-rasa. They eventually return to earth. This means that on the moon there are higher classes of living beings, though they may not be perceived by the gross senses.

Bhagavad Gita: Expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death (Attaining the Supreme,Text 25, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Knower of Supreme Brahman (Attaining the Supreme,Text 24, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

agnir jyotir ahah suklah
san-masa uttarayanam
tatra prayata gacchanti
brahma brahma-vido janah

  

                                     (Attaining the Supreme, Text 24, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Those who know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of the day, during the forthnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when the sun travels in the north.

Bhagavad Gita: Knower of Supreme Brahman (Attaining the Supreme,Text 24, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come back (Attaining the Supreme,Text 23, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

yatra kale tv anavrttim
avrttim caiva yoginah
prayata yanti tam kalam
vaksyami bharatarsabha

  

 (Attaining the Supreme, Text 23, Chapter 8)

Meaning: O best of the Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come back.

*** The unalloyed devotees of the Supreme Lord, who are totally surrendered souls, do not care when they leave their bodies or by what method. They leave everything in divine (Krsna's) hands and so easily and happily return to Godhead.But those who are not unalloyed devotees and who depend instead on such methods of spiritual realisation  as karma-yoga, jnana yoga and hatha yoga must leave the body at a suitable time and thereby be assured whether or not they will return to the world of birth and death.

Bhagavad Gita: Different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come back (Attaining the Supreme,Text 23, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Attainable by unalloyed devotion (Attaining the Supreme,Text 22, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

purusah sa parah partha
bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya
yasyantah-sthani bhutani
yena sarvam idam tatam

          

 (Attaining the Supreme, Text 22, Chapter 8)

Meaning: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present  in His abode, He is all -pervading, and everything is situated within Him.

Bhagavad Gita: Attainable by unalloyed devotion (Attaining the Supreme,Text 22, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Supreme destination (Attaining the Supreme,Text 21, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

avyakto ' ksara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na  nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama

          

    (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 21, Chapter 8)

Meaning: That which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns-that is My supreme abode.

Bhagavad Gita: Supreme destination (Attaining the Supreme,Text 21, Chapter 8)

ISKON: Killing Time

Killing Time

Modern man is preoccupied with time. Big time. We race against it. We want to “kill” it. We create unlimited gadgets to save it. In 1965 Srila Prabhupada wrote an article entitled, “No Time Is a Chronic Disease of the Common Man.” It’s food for thought.

Prabhupada writes:

“The busy man should try to know as to where he is going. This life is but a spot in his longest sojourn, and the sane person should not be busy with a spot only. Nobody says that the body should not be maintained – but everyone should know from Bhagavad-gita that the body is the outward dress and the ‘soul’ is the real person who puts on the dress. So if the dress is taken care of only, without any care of the real person – it is sheer foolishness and a waste of time.”

Often times, even those who appreciate the spiritual dimension in life have trouble finding time for quality practice; worldly demands tend to occupy our attention and sap our energies. Many resign themselves to defeat and instead resolve to deepen their spirituality later in life when duties and demands have eased. But will life ever be free of unexpected distractions and pressing responsibilities? Cars break down, family feuds need to be mediated, work demands drain our free time, homes need improvement, friends seek advice and attention, and health problems slow us down. It will always be a challenge to find time.

Thus, putting our spirituality ‘on hold’ in anticipation of a ‘better’ situation is a risky strategy. There’s no need to wait and no time to lose. As the American poet Longfellow said, “trust no future, however pleasant!” The external reorganization of our life and the internal cleansing of our consciousness need not be mutually exclusive activities. Like the two rails of a train track, they must be placed side-by-side. We can re-engineer our lifestyle and simultaneously intensify our spirituality; it just requires determination and organization.

Everyone can improve in time management skills. Identify and eliminate the usual ‘time-killers’ such as television, internet browsing, unnecessary phone talk and the like. Have clear goals and schedules, carefully avoiding procrastination and lethargy. Learn

to strike a proper work-life balance, where you meet your financial needs and worldly responsibilities, yet simultaneously factor in quality time for meditation, wisdom study and introspection. Schedule in a time for these direct spiritual practices, and guard those hours with your life! The famous Biblical verse (Mark 8.36) reminds us:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Bhagavad Gita: Unmanifest nature of Supreme (Attaining the Supreme,Text 20, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

paras tasmat tu bhavo ' nyo
' vyakto ' vyaktat sanatanah
yah sa sarvesu bhutesu
nasyatsu na vinasyati

          

   (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 20, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter.It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.

Bhagavad Gita: Unmanifest nature of Supreme (Attaining the Supreme,Text 20, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Use human life fully in the devotional service of the Lord (Attaining the Supreme,Text 19, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

bhuta-gramah sa evayam
bhutva bhutva praliyate
ratry-agame vasah partha
prabhavaty ahar-agame

          

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 19, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Again and again, when Brahma's day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma's night they are helplessly annihilated.

****Intelligent persons who take Krsna(Divine) consciousness use the human life fully in the devotional service of the Lord.

Bhagavad Gita: Use human life fully in the devotional service of the Lord. (Attaining the Supreme,Text 19, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Brahma's day (Attaining the Supreme,Text 18, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah
prabhavanty ahar-agame
ratry-agame praliyante
tatraivavyakta-samjnake

          

   (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 18, Chapter 8)

Meaning: At the beginning of Brahma's day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again.

Bhagavad Gita: Brahma's day (Attaining the Supreme,Text 18, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: The duration of the material universe is limited (Attaining the Supreme,Text 17, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmano viduh
ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
te' ho-ratra-vido janah

          

    (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 17, Chapter 8)

Meaning: By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.

****The duration of the material universe is limited. By calculations the life of Brahma seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lighting flash. In the material universe not even Brahma is free from the process of birth, old age, disease and death.

Bhagavad Gita: The duration of the material universe is limited (Attaining the Supreme,Text 17, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Never takes birth again (Attaining the Supreme,Text 16, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino ' rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

                 

    (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 16, Chapter 8)

Meaning: From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth  and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.

Bhagavad Gita: Never takes birth again (Attaining the Supreme,Text 16, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Attain highest perfection (Attaining the Supreme,Text 15, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

Mam upetya punar janma

duhkhalayam asasvatam

napnuvanti mahatmanah

samsiddhim paramam gatah

                 

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 15, Chapter 8)

Meaning: After Attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary  world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.

Bhagavad Gita: Attain highest perfection  (Attaining the Supreme,Text 15, Chapter 8)

What is Love - Art of living

What is Love - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Defines Love

The basis of all existence. All the cells in your body love each other, that is why they are together. The day they stop loving each other, it all disintegrates. Got it?

If there is one substances by which everything is held together and you want to give it a name, you can call it love. It is the basis of all existence. All the cells in your body love each other, that is why they are together. The day they stop loving each other, it all disintegrates.

Love is not all wiggly wiggly and mushy mushy, "Oh I can’t live without you, I love you so much", and so on. It is not that. That is just an emotional something. Love means (silence)… that is it.

Love is indescribable. You can’t describe it. And there is not a creature on this planet who doesn’t know it. From the insect to the lion, from a chicken to an enlightened person, everybody has experienced love. Love for life is what we think it is, but life itself is love. So see, through this knowledge, that the whole universe is love.

Love is not just an emotion, it is your very existence. The earth loves the sun, that is why it keeps going around the sun. The moon loves the earth, that is why the moon goes around the earth. Wherever there is a force, or there is energy, or a pull, or attraction, you call it love. And where there is repulsion that is also love in the opposite direction.

Why are you are drawn to somebody or something? It is because you love them. You see a cheesecake and you are drawn to it; you experience a pull, isn't it? You see a beautiful girl, or a girl sees a beautiful boy, there is a pull, and what do you call that? You call it love! Why? Because there is a pull, there is an attraction, there is a force. And that force is what manages the whole universe

Some places it is more obvious and some other places it is not obvious. The day the earth stops loving you, you will start flying. The earth loves you so much that the gravitational force keeps you glued to the earth. So love is that force in human life.

All the negative emotions are just a distorted form of love. In anger there is love. Ask me how? You love perfection and that is why you get angry. Greed is love. Greed is when you love something much more than life. When you love objects more than life, it is called greed. Hatred is love upside down. Fear is love upside down.

Bhagavad Gita: I am easy to obtain (Attaining the Supreme,Text 14, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

ananya-cetah satatam
yo mam smarati nityasah
tasyaham sulabhah partha
nitya-yuktasya yoginah

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 14, Chapter 8)

Meaning: For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Prtha, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.

Bhagavad Gita: I am easy to obtain (Attaining the Supreme,Text 14, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: He will certainly reach the spiritual planets (Attaining the Supreme,Text 13, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

om ity ekaksaram brahma
vyaharan mam anusmaran
yah prayati tyajan deham
sa yati paramam gatim

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 13, Chapter 8)

Meaning: After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable om, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.

Bhagavad Gita: He will certainly reach the spiritual planets (Attaining the Supreme,Text 13, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: One establishes himself in yoga (Attaining the Supreme,Text 12, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

sarva-dvarani samyamya
mano hrdi nirudhya ca
murdhny adhayatmanah pranam
asthito yoga-dharanam

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 12, Chapter 8)

Meaning: The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga.

**** To practice yoga as suggested here, one first has to close the doors of all sense enjoyment (withdrawing the senses from the sense objects).In this way the mind focuses on the Supersoul in the heart, and the life force is raised to the top of the head. This practice is not practical in this age. The best process is Krsna (divine) consciousness. If one is always able to fix his mind on Krsna in devotional service, it is very easy for him to remain in an undisturbed transcendental trance, or in samadhi.  

Bhagavad Gita: One establishes himself in yoga (Attaining the Supreme,Text 12, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Process by which one may attain salvation (Attaining the Supreme,Text 11, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

yad aksaram veda-vido vadanti
visanti yad yatayo vita-ragah
yad icchanto brahmacaryam caranti
tat te padam sangrahena pravaksye

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 11, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the renounced order enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation.

Bhagavad Gita: Process by which one may attain salvation (Attaining the Supreme,Text 11, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Attaining the Supreme,Text 10, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

prayana-kale manasacalena
bhaktya yukto yoga-balena caiva|
bhruvor madhye pranam avesya samyak
sa tam param purusam upaiti divyam

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 10, Chapter 8)

Meaning: One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavad Gita: Certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Attaining the Supreme,Text 10, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: One should mediate upon the Supreme Person (Attaining the Supreme,Text 9, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

kavim puranam anusasitaram
anor aniyamsam anusmared yah
sarvasya dhataram acintya-rupam
aditya-varnam tamasah parastat

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 9, Chapter 8)

Meaning: One should mediate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature

Bhagavad Gita: One should mediate upon the Supreme Person (Attaining the Supreme,Text 9, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Sure to reach Me (Attaining the Supreme,Text 8, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam
yati parthanucintayan

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 8, Chapter 8)

Meaning: He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach Me.

Bhagavad Gita: Sure to reach Me (Attaining the Supreme,Text 8, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: You will attain Me without doubt (Attaining the Supreme,Text 7, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

tasmat sarvesu kalesu
mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mam evaisyasy asamsayah

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 7, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without  doubt.

*** This instruction to Arjuna is very important for all men engaged in material activities. The Lord does not say that one should give up his prescribed  duties or engagements. One can continue them and at the same time think of Krsna(Supreme) by chanting his name. This will free one from material contamination and engage the mind and intelligence in Krsna. By chanting Krsna's names, one will be transferred to the supreme planet, Krsnaloka, without a doubt. 

Bhagavad Gita: You will attain Me without doubt (Attaining the Supreme,Text 7, Chapter 8)

Bhagavad Gita: Process of changing one's nature at the critical moment of death (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 6, Chapter 8)

Sri-bhagavan uvaca

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

 (Attaining the Supreme ,Text 6, Chapter 8)

Meaning: Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.

Bhagavad Gita: Process of changing one's nature at the critical moment of death (Attaining the Supreme, Text 6, Chapter 8)