i ii

SPIRITUALITY FOR THE MODERN YOUTH Series Readers interested in the subject matter of this book are invited by the
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) to
correspond with our Secretary at the following address:
Sales Manager: Krishnakishore das

Your Best A-102, Bharati Vihar, Katraj, Pune – 411 046

Phone: +91-020-24306330
Email: krishnakishoredas@gmail.com

Friend Web: www.iskconpune.in

Edited by Chaitanya Charan das
AA lqâna loZwrkuke~AA Cover design by Jaigopal das, Sunny, Hitesh
Layout by Sankirtananand Das, Sridhar das and Jagannath Kirtan das

Previous Printing: 8,000 copies

Fifth Edition: September, 2008 / 2000 copies
Compiled by :
©2001, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Radheshyam Das M.Tech., IIT Mumbai All rights reserved.
VOICE Pune expresses its gratitude to the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
(BBT) for the use of verses, purports and pictures from the books of
Srila Prabhupada. All such verses, purports and pictures are © BBT.
COVER: How will I cross over this samsara that is like a vast ocean?
Am I all alone in this dangerous world or my Lord is always there with
me as a silent witness to protect me, guide me, nourish me at every
moment? How soothing is the company of the Supreme father and how
miserable it is to live alone in wilderness with no one to love us, care for
Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love
us and give us warmth? Who is that Supreme Lord that all great world
religions like Sanatana Dharma, Christianity, Islam etc adore as the one
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE)
Supreme? The cover page signifies the tiny nature of jiva and the
ISKCON, 4, Tarapore Road
magnificent nature of God, the Supreme father and the loving
Next to Dastur Boys’ School, Pune – 411 001,
relationship between both.
Phone: (020) 26332328, 410 33225
publications@voicepune.com, info@voicepune.com
Published by Radheshyam das for
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Printed at : Unique Offset, Pune Ph: 24466401
 iii
Critics
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series is a lucid
explanation of the most profound Truths revealed to mankind
through various religions. An all-encompassing presentation
written in a very rational and scientific manner. VOICE has been
doing a fantastic job in courageously and convincingly
establishing the supremacy & ultimate control of God in every
minute part of our lives, and how we can build a loving and
eternal relationship with our Creator as our best friend.”
Hrishikesh Mafatlal,
Chairman and Managing Director,
Mafatlal Group of Industries.
“Radheshyam Das has used a systematic approach to the subject
of the Vedic philosophy as is done in contemporary academic
circles. Your Best Friend is one of the priceless pearls that have
come out from his exploration of the ocean of the Vedic
literature.”
Dr Sudipto Ghosh, M Tech & Ph D, IIT Kanpur
Scientist, Tata Research Development and Design Center,
Pune – INDIA
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series comes right down to
where the reader is - lost amidst a plethora of philosophies and
beliefs and elevates him step-by-step to the highest understanding
of the fundamental truths of life.”
Dr M. K. Patel, M.D., D.G.O., F.I.C.O.G.,
Consulting Obstetrician and Gynecologist,
Coordinator, Dept. of Bio-Ethics,
BhaktiVedanta Hospital, Mumbai.
iv
“To present pristine spirituality to the modern scientific mind is no
easy task. Coming from a dynamic spiritualist with a distinguished
academic background, the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series
meets the challenge wonderfully.”
Dr Bhaskar Hosangodi
Emeritus Prof and HoD,
Chemistry Dept.,Bombay University
“I recommend these books for all brilliant students who aspire to
go beyond mere atoms and molecules into the search of the
ultimate realities of life— soul, God and the attainment of pure
love for God and every living being — which are so lucidly
explained in a language understandable to their modern way of
thinking……..”
Dr R. M. Jalnekar,
PhD, Power Electronics,
Prof and HoD, Dept. of Computer Engg.,
Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, Pune
“Although so much research has been going on in the field of
science and technology, even the most educated students of today
hardly know the sublime truths about life because they cannot
accept a dogmatic approach to understanding God. The
Spirituality for the Modern Youth series uses the analytical
approach to present the profound philosophy of the Vedas in a
way appealing even to the skeptical youth of today. A must-read
for every scientifically-minded person with an interest in
spirituality.”
Ganesh Ramkrishnan,
Ph D Student,Comp. Sc., IIT Mumbai.
 v vi
Foreword
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth is a well illustrated,
easy to understand series of books and I know the author to have a
genuine care for the well being of the young people of India,
making him the true representative of the best friend of youths
today. Using his years of experience in this field, Radheshyam
Prabhu has managed to produce a systematic, highly effective
study of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.
I strongly recommend that a serious study of these books be
done to discover India’s ancient heritage and wealth of Vedic
wisdom. I am confident this study course will inspire and motivate
many to delve more deeply into the fathomless purports of Srila
Prabhupada’s books.”
His Holiness Lokanath Swami Maharaj,
ISKCON Padayatra Minister
Introduction
The Vedic texts are the panacea for all problems for all times;
they give a crystal clear understanding of all the fundamental and
essential truths of life including who we are, what the true goal of
life is and how we can attain permanent happiness.
Unfortunately however, in the modern times, the Vedas have
generally been misunderstood to be books of sentiment, blind faith
or a bunch of empty rituals. And due to such preconceived
misconceptions, the scientifically minded youth have reservations
in even approaching them. Also, these texts being in intricate
Sanskrit are not easily accessible to them.
With these considerations in mind, a need was felt for a
systematic and scientific presentation of the five essential themes
of the Bhagavad-gita ishvara (the Lord), jiva (the living entity),
prakriti (nature), kala (time) and karma (activity). A humble
attempt towards making such a compilation was first made in
1994. These notes were based on the teachings of Srila
Prabhupada, who is internationally acclaimed as an erudite Vedic
scholar and as the greatest exponent of Krishna consciousness in
the modern times. References were also taken from Back to
Godhead magazine articles and from discourses by senior
devotees of ISKCON like His Grace Devamrita Prabhu, His Grace
Radha Gopinath Prabhu and His Grace Krishna Smaran Prabhu.
Those notes were refined over the years as we came to know more
about the nature of doubts and questions that youths generally
have.
Now we are presenting those refined notes in a handy form as
a series of five books, entitled the Spirituality for the Modern
Youth (SMY) series. The books in this series are Discover
Yourself Your Best Friend (the present volume), Your Secret
Journey, Victory Over Death and The Yoga for the Modern Age.
 vii
We have been using these notes for vigorous youth preaching
in Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE),
Pune. Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE),
Pune was started and is being run by the divine inspiration and
blessings given by H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj,
H.H.Gopalakrishna Goswami Maharaj, H.H. Lokanath swami
maharaj, H.G. Devamrita Prabhu, devotees of Shri Shri Radha
Gopinath Mandir, Chowpatty, Bombay and Shri Shri Radha
Kunjabihari Mandir, Pune.
The approach of having a systematic presentation of the
Bhagavad-gita has produced amazing results in effectively
conveying the message to the youth and inspiring them to take to
Krishna consciousness seriously. VOICE presently has hundreds
of engineering students, who are chanting Hare Krishna and
leading a pure life free from all bad habits like meat-eating,
intoxication, illicit sex and gambling.
We hope that this book will therefore act as a beacon light for
every sincere seeker of the truth, especially among the youth and
the young at heart. It is our hope that the book will also serve as a
useful guide for all preachers throughout the world in their
attempts to take Krishna consciousness to the youth in particular
and to the masses at large.
This book is nothing but a systematic presentation of the
remnants of the bold preacher, Srila Prabhupada, and my beloved
spiritual master. It is therefore a humble offering at their lotus feet.
We will consider our humble efforts successful if this endeavor
can assist in fulfilling their pure desire to flood the entire world
with Krishna consciousness.
Radheshyam Das
President,ISKCON, Pune.
Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education
(VOICE), Pune.
viii
PREFACE to the second edition
We are happy to note that the first edition of ‘Discover Your
Self’ and ‘Your Best Friend’ was received with great appreciation
by all levels of educated community. This series presents the same
knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita in a way suitable to the modern
mind. Many people therefore like giving these books as gifts to
their ‘best friends’ who may be superficially little averse to
religion and then see them turning into devotees!
In this second edition we have made some changes in
layoutting and appendices in order to keep the cost of this book
economical for the readers and to give them an opportunity to read
Srila Prabhupada’s books. In the appendices we have given some
references to Srila Prabhupada’s books instead of reproducing the
material from there as it is, as was done in the first editon. Also
in the chapter ‘The Most Confidential Knowledge’, we had
explained the different platforms of worshiping God: fear, duty,
desire and love. Although this holds true from a material
viewpoint, in this edition, we have presented Bhaktivinoda
Thakur’s explanation on different types of worship with their
respective Sanskrit equivalents.
One of the main purposes of this publication is to provide the
preachers with materials that would answer the most common
questions asked by people from educated circles. Although the
preacher may study this book, prepare some hints and give a
presentation, it would also be equally, if not more, easy to take
just one heading for a session, read it out and elaborate on it for a
small audience. We were very happy to know that such an
approach in using this book has been greatly successful in
Bhaktivriksha programs. We hope and pray that this book will
inspire the reader to delve into the depths of the ocean of wisdom
given by Srila Prabhupada in his books.
 ix
For this second edition I would like to thank Sankirtananand
das, Sridar das and Jagannath Kirtan das for formatting the book.
Also I would like to thank Shriman Deepak Agarwal and Shriman
Mukesh Agarwal for partly sponsoring the printing of this edition.
Your suggestions for the improvement of the book are most
welcome. We pray that our insignificant efforts be of some use to
the worldwide community of present and future Vaishnavas.
Radheshyam Das
President,ISKCON, Pune.
Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education
(VOICE), Pune
x
Acknowledgements
The book has come out successfully by dint of the untiring
efforts of many VOICE members. Mr.Shekhar, Prema Nidhi das,
Jai Gopal das and Vrajanand das together conceived and designed
the fascinating front cover. Special thanks are due to Vrajanand
das for his unflinching dedication to this project in coordinating
the entire publishing work and for personally executing as well as
overseeing and guiding all the computer work. Sundarvar das did
the layout for the book and Sankirtananand das enhanced its
appeal by adding many attractive pictures. Just as the Shrimad
Bhagavatam became sweeter because it emanated from the lotus
lips of Srila Shukadeva Gosvami, similarly Your Best Friend has
become more refined due to the thorough proofreading and editing
of Chaitanya Charana das. All these devotees have toiled a lot to
bring out this book. Our heartfelt thanks to His Grace Jagat
Purusha das for giving invaluable guidance in editing to improve
the subject presentation. His Grace Jaya Nrsimha das and Shriman
Rajesh Bajaj also deserve special mention for their generous
donations for assisting in the publication of this book.
I also express my heartfelt gratitude to the many other
devotees who assisted us in bringing out this book. I also thank all
the VOICE sector and core-group members who encouraged me to
take up this task of bringing out the lessons in the form of a book.
Their encouragement is their practical surrender and dedication to
youth preaching and to using these lessons effectively.
Radheshyam Das
President, ISKCON, Pune.
Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education
(VOICE), Pune
 xi
Contents
Chapter 1
Definition of God ..................................................................... 1
Discovering the Root of all Existence: God.............................. 2
Problems: Real and Relative ..................................................... 2
Solutions: Patch-up and Actual....................................................... 6
Are You a Theist or an Atheist?................................................ 7
Proof of God’s Existence .............................................. 8
Various Misconceptions About God ....................................... 10
God-The one supreme among many subordinates .................. 11
God: The Source of Everything ................................................... 11
God: The Supreme Controller....................................................... 13
God: The Supreme Proprietor ...................................................... 14
God: The Supreme Enjoyer........................................................... 15
Conclusion............................................................................... 16
Chapter 2
Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? .................................... 19
Vedas: The only Source of Perfect Knowledge ...................... 20
Parallels in Vedas and Modern Science .................................. 21
Vedic Predictions That Have Come True................................ 23
Seeing with the Ears ............................................................... 24
Vedas: Our Real Mother.......................................................... 26
Modern Science – A Treacherous Witch ................................ 27
Relevance of the Vedas today ................................................. 32
The Vedas: A Manual for Life ................................................ 33
Chapter 3
Qualifications of Guru .......................................................... 35
Why Do I Need A Guru?......................................................... 36
The Absolute Necessity of a Spiritual Master ........................ 39
How to Recognize the Spiritual Authority ? ........................... 40
xii
The Guru and the Parampara................................................... 42
Qualifications of the Guru....................................................... 44
Check and Balance Through Guru-Sadhu-Shastra.................. 51
Chapter 4
Qualifications of Disciple .................................................... 53
Humble Surrender ................................................................... 54
Submissive Inquiry.................................................................. 56
Open-Mindedness.................................................................... 60
Service Attitude....................................................................... 60
Devotion to the Supreme Lord ................................................ 63
Faith in the Spiritual Master.................................................... 63
Avowed Truthfulness .............................................................. 66
Conclusion............................................................................... 66
Chapter 5
The Most Confidential Knowledge ...................................... 69
Religion – A Global View....................................................... 70
Different Religions Teach According to
Time-Place-Circumstance ....................................................... 71
The Essence of All Religions .................................................. 72
Different Platforms of Worshipping God:
Fear, Desire, Duty and Love ................................................... 75
Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions ................. 78
Worship According to Propensities......................................... 80
The Absolute Truth - A Conclusive Understanding................ 82
God: One Person Called by Different Names .............................. 82
Who Is God ?........................................................................... 83
Is God Personal or Impersonal? .............................................. 84
The Most Confidential Knowledge: God is a Person ............. 86
 xiii
Chapter 6
Krishna - The All-Attractive ................................................ 91
Krishna - All-Beautiful............................................................ 93
Krishna - All-Knowledgeable ................................................. 95
Krishna - All-Strong................................................................ 96
Krishna - All-Famous.............................................................. 98
Krishna - All-Wealthy ........................................................... 100
Krishna - All-Renounced....................................................... 101
Krishna - The All-Attractive ................................................. 104
Chapter 7
Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy ................................. 105
Krishna: Father of All Beings .............................................. 106
Krishna: Source of All Demigods ......................................... 107
Krishna: Source of the Impersonal Brahman ........................ 109
Krishna: Fountainhead of All Avatars................................... 110
Is Krishna an Avatar of Vishnu? ........................................... 112
Krishna’s Supremacy Confirmed .......................................... 115
Lord Krishna’s Appearance and Activities ........................... 117
1. Krishna Knows Past, Present and Future ................................ 118
2. Krishna and His Body are Non-different ................................ 118
3. Krishna is Eternally Youthful ................................................. 120
4. Krishna Neither Takes Birth nor Dies; He
Appears and Disappears......................................................... 120
Chapter 8
The Singular Supreme and The Plural Subordinates..... 123
God and gods......................................................................... 124
Jiva Tattva ............................................................................. 126
Do demigods really exist?........................................................... 127
Do Things not Happen by Chance ? ........................................... 130
Vishnu Tattva ........................................................................ 133
Shambhu Tattva .................................................................... 135
Krishna - The Singular Supreme Personality of Godhead .... 136
The Supreme Opulence of Krishna ....................................... 139
xiv
Chapter 9
The Controller of all Controllers ....................................... 141
Demigods Seek Help from Krishna....................................... 142
The Demigods cannot comprehend Krishna’s
Divine Qualities and Activities ............................................. 144
The Bewilderment of Lord Brahma,
the Chief of the Demigods..................................................... 145
The Bewilderment of Indra, the King of Heaven.................. 153
Lord Krishna delivers Lord Shiva ........................................ 157
Krishna - The Supreme Controller ........................................ 161
Chapter 10
Worship: Divine and Mundane.......................................... 163
Relationship of Krishna and the demigods............................ 164
Demigods Run to the Supreme Lord for Help ...................... 165
Differences between Krishna worship
and demigod worship ............................................................ 166
Demigods give what you Want;
Krishna gives what you Need ..................................................... 168
Demigods Cannot Award Liberation; Only Krishna Can ........... 170
Demigod Worship is Ultimately Futile;
Krishna Worship is Ultimately Successful ................................. 172
Demigod Worship is for the Less Intelligent;
Krishna Worship is for the Truly Intelligent............................... 176
If Demigod Worship is condemned, why do the Scriptures
prescribe it? ........................................................................... 174
How should devotees deal with the demigods?..................... 176
Chapter 11
Your Heart - To - Heart Friend ......................................... 179
Krishna’s Program for the Living Entities ............................ 180
Paramatma - The True Friend of the Jivatma........................ 182
Who is the Paramatma? ......................................................... 186
The Role of the Paramatma in our Life ................................. 186
1. Paramatma – The Giver of Forgetfulness ............................... 187
 xv
2. Paramatma – The Giver of Knowledge................................... 190
3. Paramatma – The Giver of Remembrance .............................. 191
4. Paramatma – The Giver of Inspiration.................................... 193
Perceiving the Paramatma ..................................................... 196
Attitude of Devotees and Demons
towards the Paramatma ......................................................... 199
Paramatma is the Real Doer .................................................. 199
Chapter 12
Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You...... 203
Paramatma - Director of the Wanderings of
the Living Entity.................................................................... 204
Paramatma fulfils the Desires of the Living Entity............... 206
The Paramatma sanctions Pleasure and Pain ........................ 209
The Paramatma : Overseer And Permitter ............................ 211
The Paramatma: The Supreme Proprietor ............................. 212
Is the Paramatma Responsible for our
Good and Bad Acts?.............................................................. 214
Role of the Paramatma at the Time of Death ........................ 217
The Culmination - Surrender to Krishna............................... 218
Chapter 13
The Infinitesimal and The Infinite..................................... 219
Am I God? ............................................................................. 220
Differences between the living entity and Krishna ............... 224
The living entity is Infinitesimal, but Krishna is Infinite............ 224
The living entity is the Knower of his own body,
but Krishna is the Knower of all the bodies................................ 226
The living entity is the Proprietor of his body,
but Krishna is the Proprietor of all the bodies............................. 227
The living entity can be put to Forgetfulness,
but Krishna can never be put to Forgetfulness.............................. 22
The living entity has only Direct Awareness,
But Krishna has both Direct and Indirect Awareness ................. 231
Consciousness of the living entity is Limited,
Consciousness of Krishna is Unlimited ...................................... 233
xvi
Different States of Consciousness of the Living Entity ........ 233
Chapter 14
Love of God:The Culmination of Religion........................ 239
Love of God – The Ultimate Goal Of Religion .................. 242
Unalloyed Devotional Service............................................... 243
How Can One Achieve Pure Love for Krishna? ................... 245
Practical Steps to Achieve Love for Krishna ........................ 247
Chanting the Holy Name : Meditation for
the Modern Age..................................................................... 250
Different Yugas – Different Prescribed Methods ................. 251
Spiritual Sound and Material Sound .................................... 253
Krishnaizing Everything ....................................................... 255
Appendix 1
Krishna’s Rasa Dance: Can We Imitate ? ........................ 257
What is the Rasa Dance ? ...................................................... 257
Is Krishna’s Rasa Dance Not an Immoral Act? .................... 258
Can We Imitate Rasa Lila?.................................................... 258
From Whom Should We Hear Rasa Lila ?............................ 258
Developing Faith ................................................................... 255
Philosophy behind Rasa Dance ............................................ 261
Lord Krishna’s body is Transcendental ...................................... 261
The Lord is the Real Enjoyer ..................................................... 263
How should we approach the rasa-lila?................................. 268
Appendix 2
Avatars : Genuine and Fake............................................... 271
Purpose of Avatar.................................................................. 272
The Real Purpose Of Avatar ................................................ 273
Genuine Avatar vs. Fake Avatar ........................................... 274
An Avatar should be mentioned in scriptures
before He appears ....................................................................... 275
The Avatar is able to reveal the Cosmic Universal Form ........... 275
The Avatar performs extraordinary activities
 xvii

that cannot be imitated ................................................................ 275

Every Avatar has a Unique Message or Mission ....................... 275
Specific Markings on Hands and Feet of the Avatar .................. 276
Types of Avatars .................................................................. 276
Appendix 3
The Position of Lord Shiva ................................................. 277
Lord Shiva - One of the Twelve Mahajanas.......................... 277
Lord Shiva and Durga ........................................................... 278
Lord Shiva – Ashutosha, quickly pleased ............................. 279
Lord Shiva – Protector of Dhama ........................................ 280
Lord Shiva Bewildered by Mohini Murti ............................. 281
Why does Lord Shiva live in Graveyards and
Roam with Ghosts and Hobgoblins? ..................................... 282
Why did Lord Shiva preach Mayavada? ............................... 282
How should Vaishnavas Worship Lord Shiva? .................. 284
Appendix 4
The Golden Incarnation For The Iron Age...................... 285
Who Is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? ........................................... 285
A Short Life History of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu .......... 288
Predictions about Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s
appearance in Atharva Veda.................................................. 288
Appendix 5
Meditation for the Modern Age ------------------------------- 293
Appendix 6
Srila Prabhupada - The Ambassador of
The Kingdom of God ------------------------------------------- 297
Appendix 7
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture &
Educaton (VOICE) ---------------------------------------------- 301
Appendix 8
Course offered by VOICE---------------------------------------326
Definition of GOD 1 2 Your Best Friend

Search for Happiness

Chapter 1 In the modern times, whenever someone starts talking about
God, people tend to put off the subject by saying, “What is the
need to know anything about God – whether He exists or not, who
He is etc? I am not interested; I have many other things to do in
life.” But actually knowledge of God is not a matter of interest or
intellectual gratification; it is an absolute necessity for every sane
human being.
To understand why spiritual knowledge is necessary, we have

Definition of to first understand that all of us are searching for happiness at

every moment in our lives. But unfortunately, this world is a place
where our attempts to become happy are inevitably frustrated; we

GOD usually don’t get the things we want and we get the things we
don’t want.
Group Work: Divide the class into groups to answer the
following two questions
1. Things we want but don’t get. Things we don’t want but we
get.
2. What are the problems that fulfill the three criteria
It is common to all
Nobody wants it
Nobody can avoid it
In this light, the real problems of life are birth, old age, disease
and death and the threefold miseries – miseries caused by one’s
own mind and body, miseries caused by other living entities and
miseries caused by nature

Refer VTE Manor guide for QUIZ on Miseries

Birth: Birth is an extremely painful experience for the living

entity. For ten long months, the human fetus lies cramped within
 Definition of GOD
the darkness of the womb, suffering severely, scorched by the
mother’s gastric fire, continually jolted by sudden movements, and
feeling constant pressure from being contained in the small sack,
which surrounds him in the womb. This tight, constricting pocket
forces the child’s back to arch constantly like a bow.
Furthermore, hungry worms in the abdominal cavity torment the
unborn child. The child passes stool and urine in the same pocket.
Such is the misery of birth.
Old Age: There is indescribable suffering in old age. No one
wants to grow old. But by the force of inevitable time everyone is
forced to grow old. No one cares for an old man. His relatives are
constantly thinking: “When will this old man pass away? ” This is
the harsh reality. An aged person becomes an unwanted property
in the family. These days many youngsters prefer putting their old
parents and grandparents in old age homes. There these old people
don’t get any love. So they try to love cats and dogs in order to
have something to live for. Besides having to helplessly endure
the intolerable mental agony of neglect people are also inflicted by
their bodies with an ever-increasing variety of painful and
debilitating diseases.
Disease: Today people are proud that medical science has
prolonged the average human life span. But although we may be
living longer than our ancestors, we are not happier than them. By
prolonging our life, we are only increasing our pain. There are so
many different kinds of diseases and medical science is trying to
find out remedies for them. But medical history shows that by the
time science finds the cure for one disease, another even more
deadly disease comes up, as has happened in the case of cancer,
syphilis, gonorrhea, AIDS etc. We may cure one disease for some
time, but we cannot cure disease per se. The pain suffered through
disease is a common experience for everyone and needs no
explanation.
3 4 Your Best Friend
Death: In the Garuda Purana, one of the ancient Vedic
scriptures, it is mentioned that death is extremely painful and the
dying person experiences a pain that is equivalent to 40,000
simultaneous scorpion bites. The great sage Kapiladev informs his
mother about the ghastly nature of the experience of death, “In
that diseased condition the dying person’s eyes bulge due to the
pressure of air from within, and his glands become congested with
mucus. He has difficulty in breathing, and there is a rattling sound
within his throat…Thus he dies most pathetically.” (Shrimad
Bhagvatam 3.30.16-18). The soul is so habituated to living in the
body that he must be forced out by the laws of nature at the time
of death. Just as a person suffers greatly when he is evicted from
his home, similarly the soul suffers immensely when he is forcibly
kicked out of the body. In nature, we see that even the tiniest
creatures display amazing abilities and techniques for escaping
death when their lives are threatened. But as death is inevitable for
all living beings, so are the fear and pain associated with it.
So it is very important to perceive the evils of birth, old age,
disease and death.
Some people may argue, “The problems of birth, old age,
disease and death come only once in a while. We can just ignore
them and enjoy life for the remaining time.” But at every moment
everyone is suffering due to at least one of the threefold miseries.
These are:
Miseries caused by one’s own mind and body
(adhyatmika klesha) : The body and the mind give rise to
innumerable problems. In America, for example, one out of three
people is forced to consult a psychiatrist due to mental frustration.
In old age, the deteriorating body gives varieties of problems. For
example, once a person grows beyond 80 years, generally he can’t
even sit or stand without backpain.
 Definition of GOD
Miseries caused by other living entities (adhibhautika
klesha) : Even if you have a healthy body and mind, others will
not let you live in peace. Even if everything is nicely arranged in
your life, some other living entity, such as your enemy, boss,
colleague, relative, family member or friend, or, if no one else,
then a mosquito or a virus is sure to make your life miserable.
Sometimes we see even so-called educated people living in
apartments in cities fighting for a common verandah in the
building in the court for years together. Thus their lives become
miserable due to unnecessary anxiety caused by each other.
Miseries caused by nature (adhidaivika klesha): Floods,
droughts, famines, earthquakes, hurricanes etc are devastating
calamities imposed upon us through the agency of nature. Even if
these come only occasionally, they wreak havoc whenever they
come. And moreover, we are being constantly tormented by the
changes in the weather such as scorching heat, freezing cold,
untimely rains. The sunami disaster claimed over Ewnel lac river.
scientists with all their latest technologies could not stop the
sunami tide.
Who can say that they are not being harassed twenty-four
hours by these problems? The very fact that more than a dozen
tranquilizers or painkillers are advertised on TV shows that there
must be some suffering.
Solutions: Patch-up and Actual
Can modern science solve these problems? Science may find
techniques to patch up grey hair with dyes, smoothen out the
shriveled skin with a face-lift and thus cover up old age, but it
cannot remove old age per se. Hence the scientific solutions are
not actually solutions; they only ‘cover up’ the harsh realities of
life.
5 6 Your Best Friend
We can arrive at the solution to these problems only when we
know the root cause of all existence-God. There is no other way to
get out of these sufferings permanently. God is the Designer of
cosmic machine. He knows best.
If you want to know USA, make friendship with president of
US. Simillarly Krishna Arjuna. When we understand God, we also
understand His creation and our position in it as His eternal
servants. We also understand that all our problems are due to our
not rendering loving service unto Him. When we are reinstated in
our constitutional position, our problems are solved once and for
all and we attain eternal happiness.
Religion without Philosophy is sentimentalism
Most people don’t have proper knowledge about God and so
they neither disbelieve in Him, nor have complete faith in Him.
Even those who profess to be theists maintain some faith only due
to:
• Fear of the unknown: Some people practice some set of
religious principles due to some superstitious fears that they
may face some dangers or inauspiciousness if they do not
fulfill some religious rituals or formularies.
• Considerations of mundane piety: Some people feel ‘good’
to display their religiosity for others to see. They perform
sacrifices for name and fame. They may like to be seen or
called by others as pious. Some follow family traditions out of
orthodoxy.
• Social pressure: For example, we find some people engaged
in the so-called worship of Kali or Ganesh due to social
pressure. They celebrate pompous festivals in which rock
music is played, and where people of similar social status
come together to share food and drinks with no discussion
whatsoever about God or the purpose of life. How unfortunate
it is – blatant enjoyment in the guise of religion!
 Definition of GOD 7 8
• Family tradition or habit from childhood: Though they are
certainly better than the downright atheists who deny the
existence of God, their ignorance in the matter of a scientific
understanding of God will make them follow some set of
principles without knowing their meaning. Owing to poor
understanding of God, they get swayed away by allurements of
maya like the comforts and luxuries of modern life and forget
the actual goal of life, which is to go back to Godhead
Thus Srila Prabhupada said, “Religion without philosophy is
sentimentalism or fanaticism; Philosophy without religion is
mental speculation.” We can see that a superficial understanding
about God is not of much use. We should have proper knowledge
of the science of God so that we can develop a deep-rooted faith
and lead a pure life of principles that will eventually bring us to
the point of seeing God face to face.
Philosophy without Religion is Mental Speculation
Many so-called philosophers have concocted speculative
theories about God, which were born from the fertile imagination
of the few grams of their brain substance. Some of the theories are
“God is Light”, “God is the imagination of man”, “God created
this complicated universe, but when He was unable to control it,
He ran away out of frustration”, etc. Many philosophers come,
speculate and go, leaving behind bogus theories, which increase
the confusion of the masses and take them further away from God.
Some impersonalists speculate, “ I am God” or “Everyone is
God”; but when they suffer from a toothache, they can do nothing
about it except moan in pain. And when they get the urge to
respond to the calls of nature, they cannot control themselves even
for a moment; they have to run helplessly to respond. God is the
supreme controller. How then can He come under the control of a
Your Best Friend
toothache or the call of nature? We are tiny living entities who are
not God, but eternal servants of God.
The Vedantists who pound on the table and argue on the topic
of God are no better than armchair speculators who do no practical
devotional service to God. Their debates are no better than
someone licking a honey bottle from the outside to taste the
honey. Their dry philosophy without the religious formularies of
devotional service is simply mental speculation. They are
confused and are expert in making the masses confused and
bewildered.
Science of God
* SP taking churches / pigeons
* ‘Hippies’ into ‘Happies’
* Transformation of heart
God –
The one Supreme among many subordinates
If God created erveryone & everything then who created
God?
In this world, everything and everyone has some source. For
example, you were born from a father; he had a father; and he also
had a father. In this way, if one goes to the root of all existence,
one will come to God. Thus, one can understand that God is the
Supreme Father of every living entity.
Somebody may ask, “Who created God?” But God was never
created. Because we are inside the time domain, our bodies are
created and destroyed again and again. God exists outside the time
domain; He has been existing eternally and will continue to exist
 Definition of GOD
eternally. In the search for the source of one object after another,
God is like the fullstop – the source of everything. In fact, the
definition of God is janmady asya yatah “God is the one from
whom everything emanates.” anadir adir govinda sarva karana
karanam… “Govinda, Lord Krishna, is the cause of all causes, but
He Himself has no other cause.” (Brahma Samhita 5.1)
Now, if we can know God and see Him, we can ask, “O God,
why did You create this universe? How can I get out of all
sufferings?” God is watching our movements exactly like a rich
man is watching the movements of fishes in his mini-aquarium;
the fishes may not be aware of him, but he is aware of their
movements.
God: The Supreme Controller
God is the controller of all controllers and He is not controlled
by anybody. tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram “The Supreme
Lord is the controller of all other controllers” isvara parama
krishna sac cid ananda vigraha “Krishna is the supreme
controller and He has a transcendental form of eternity, bliss and
knowledge.”
Isvara means controller. Even an ant may be the controller of a
long queue of ants. A person may be the controller of a family,
state or country. But our range of control is very limited like the
range of movement of a cow tied to a pole. We cannot even
control our own body and mind. The position of the householder,
who is supposedly the lord of his house, is graphically described
by the statement: “I am the master of the house and I have my
wife’s permission to say so”. All of us are controlled by somebody
above us, but God is the controller of all controllers; He is not
under anybody.
Once a man, who had a desire to serve the greatest personality in the
world, went to the sarpanch, the head of the panchayat of his village and
9 10 Your Best Friend
begged for service. He was appointed as the sarpanch’s servant. But one
day he observed the panchayat head going to the tahsildar, the head of
the taluka, to submit reports of his activities. This man thought, “Why
not serve a greater personality- the tahsildar?” He got appointed as the
tahsildar’s servant. But again he observed that the tahsildar was
subordinate to the collector, the head of the district. He therefore became
the collector’s servant. But then he found that the collector had to report
to the king of the country. This man then became the king’s servant. But,
to his great surprise, one day he found the king going to the temple of
Radha and Krishna and bowing down before Their Lordships. The man
exclaimed to the king, “I thought that you are the greatest personality
and that there is no one above you!” The king humbly admitted, “There
is nobody except God who is not controlled by others. If you want to
serve the greatest personality, you should serve God”. The man went on
to become a great devotee of God. Thus his desire to serve the greatest
person was fulfilled when he engaged in the devotional service of the
Supreme Lord.
Through this story, we can clearly understand that God is the
supreme controller of all controllers.
God: The Supreme Proprietor
The real proprietor of a place is one who owns the place for all
time to come and no one else can usurp his proprietorship. We can
easily see that everything we possess in this world is temporary;
all our possessions remain with us for a brief period. Then how
can we claim to be proprietors? Although an ant may imagine that
it is the owner of a hole in the floor, its ownership can be finished
simply by throwing a bucket of water on the hole. What about us?
Tenants are thrown out after 11 months of contract. Even if we
own a house on paper, can we actually claim proprietorship of the
house? No. A real life example explains this point. A few years
ago, the government made an announcement in Belgaum, “We are
making a ring road. All the houses lying on the route of the ring
road should be vacated.” And these people were given
 Definition of GOD 11
replacement houses in some remote far away place. Does that
mean that the government is the proprietor? No. Even
governments keep changing. For example, in the last few
centuries, the Indian government has changed from the Mughals to
the Britishers to Indians of various parties.
Moreover our proprietorship of anything is only in the mind; it
has no actual connection with the thing we claim to possess. For
example, two men may fight in the train for the same seat or two
brothers may fight for the same piece of land and kill one another;
they come and go, but the seat and the land both remain there
unaffected. Thus, it is clear that we are not the proprietor of
anything.
Everything in this world belongs to the person who has
originally created it, viz., God. This is confirmed in the
Ishopanishad (Mantra 1) isavasyam idam sarvam “Everything
animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and
owned by the Lord.” How the Lord is the proprietor of everything
can be easily understood through an example. Take, for example,
our dwelling, which is made of earth, wood, stone, iron, cement
and so many other material things. We must know that we cannot
produce any of these building materials ourselves. We can simply
bring them together and transform them into different shapes by
our labor. A laborer cannot claim to be a proprietor of a thing just
because he has worked hard to manufacture it.
Similarly we cannot claim proprietorship over anything just
because we have used our labor, intelligence etc to make it; the
raw materials for everything including our brain, talents and
abilities come from nature, which was created by God. Hence God
alone is the proprietor of everything that exists for all time – past,
present and future.
God: The Supreme Enjoyer
12 Your Best Friend
The enjoyer of an activity is one who gets the ultimate benefit
of that activity. The only true enjoyer is God as is confirmed in
the Bhagavad-gita (9.24): aham hi sarva yajnanam bhokta ca
prabhur eva ca “I am the only enjoyer and master of all
sacrifices.” and also in Bhagavad-gita (5.29): bhoktaram yajna
tapasam “I am the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and
austerities.” For example, the owner of a hotel is an independent
enjoyer and his servants, the waiters, are dependent enjoyers; the
profit goes to the owner and the waiters get a fixed salary and food
thrice a day. In the same way God is the supreme enjoyer; we are
dependent on Him for our enjoyment.
Also a person can be truly considered to be an enjoyer only
when he himself does not have to do any work. Even by this
definition, God alone is the enjoyer as stated in the Shvetashvatara
Upanishad (6.8) : na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. “The
Supreme Personality of Godhead has no work to do.” Lord
Krishna also says in the Bhagavad-gita (3.22): na me parthasti
kartavyam trishu lokeshu kincana. “O son of Pritha, there is no
work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems.”
For example, the owner of the Tata steel company can simply
relax and enjoy in Switzerland, but his employees have to work.
He, being the owner, may have nothing to do; he is, therefore, an
independent enjoyer. But his employees are all dependent
enjoyers.
Thus God is the supreme enjoyer. Although we may try to
enjoy, we derive only flickering pleasure from our so-called
enjoyment. This is because we, living entities, are all parts of God.
Therefore, we are neither creators nor enjoyers, but we are simply
cooperators or servants. Our enjoyment comes by serving our
master, God. Thus, God is the independent enjoyer and we are
dependent enjoyers.
 Definition of GOD 13 14 Your Best Friend

yathä taror müla-niñecanena controller. And since the whole universe is obviously not moving
tåpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaçäkhäù under his control, his claim is clearly baseless. (For further
präëopahäräc ca yathendriyäëäà understanding of this subject, refer to Appendix 2)
tathaiva sarvärhaëam acyutejyä
As soon as one is controlled by someone or something he is
Translation
not God. thus all mortals who are subjected to old age, disease and
“As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk,
death cannot claim themselves as God or some Avatar.
branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the
stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply
Lord Krishna goes Yamaloka
worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through
aamam puranam purusham nav yovanm
devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are
As soon as one’s freedom to enjoy is stunted, we can know he
parts of that Supreme Personality.”
is not God. for example all living beings are subjected to 6
whips.... they struggle for even survival. Even TATA or Bill Gates
Just as the branches, leaves, fruits etc of a tree get nourishment
cannot go on enjoying without getting old age, disease and death.
by watering its root; just as all the parts of the body like the hands,
Therefore we should not accept anyone to be God – the supreme
legs etc get nourishment by serving the stomach, similarly we can
enjoyer, proprietor and controller – without gaining proof from
achieve true happiness only by serving God with love,
authentic sources.
understanding Him to be the ultimate enjoyer.

Conclusion

O nly if a person possesses the attributes mentioned above –

he is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the

supreme controller – can he be said to be God.
If we meet an ordinary person claiming to be God, how can we
refute his claim? We can check whether he meets the definition of
God which we have studied in this chapter. We can ask him, “Are
you the supreme enjoyer of everything?” Even if he foolishly
claims that he is, we can ask him to prove his claim, How can we
know that a person is actually the enjoyer of a thing? First of all,
he has to be the proprietor of that thing. And what is the proof that
he is indeed the proprietor of a particular thing? He should be its
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 19 20 Your Best Friend

Vedas: The only Source of Perfect Knowledge

Chapter 2 I n the previous chapter, we discussed the basic definition of God

- how He is the supreme enjoyer, proprietor, and controller. But
how can we acquire further knowledge about Him? There are
three ways of acquiring knowledge: pratyaksha pramana (direct
sense perception), anumana pramana (mental speculation) and
shabda pramana (hearing from Vedic authority) (These are
discussed elaborately in the first level course book ‘Discover
Yourself’ in this ‘Spirituality for the Modern Youth’ series. We
present only a brief summary here.)

Vedas –
All living beings suffer from four inherent shortcomings:
imperfect senses, tendency to be illusioned, tendency to commit
mistakes and propensity to cheat. Since man cannot overcome

Are They Relevant these drawbacks, no matter what he does, pratyaksha pramana
(direct sense perception) and anumana pramana (mental
speculation) cannot provide him with perfect knowledge. All

Today? knowledge acquired through modern science falls in these two

categories only and so is bound to be imperfect.
Shabda pramana is based on hearing from the Vedic authority.
The knowledge of the Vedas is coming down the ages since the
dawn of creation. The knowledge taught in the Vedas is perfect,
being given by God Himself (who is free from the above
mentioned four defects). This knowledge has come down in a
disciplic succession from Krishna to Brahma to Narada to Vyasa
to Madhvacarya to……. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu…… to
…..Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati to A C Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON. Thus through the
unbroken disciplic succession, the original Vedic knowledge is
available to us even today.
That material knowledge is imperfect is self-evident from the
fact that it undergoes amendments every now and then. Even in
the field of science, scientists keep changing their opinions. For
example, Dalton said that the atom cannot be split, Rutherford said
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 21
that it can be split and Bohr gave a new model. Thus material
knowledge is relative; it is constantly being revised, modified and
updated. On the other hand, the Vedic knowledge is absolute; it
never changes. The Vedas have stood the test of time since time
immemorial.
Parallels in Vedas and Modern Science
W e can cite innumerable instances from the Vedas, which
illustrate concepts similar to concepts from modern science.
Modern scientists are wonder-struck on seeing these striking
similarities and they cannot even imagine how such great truths
were written down at a time when there were no sophisticated
instruments. A few examples showing similarities in the
knowledge obtained from science and the Vedas are:
The Mahabharata describes how once when Gandhari was
pregnant, in a fit of anger, she struck her womb and
consequently had a miscarriage. The lump of flesh that came
out of her womb was cut into 100 pieces. The great sage
Vyasadeva instructed her to place these pieces in 100 ghee
pots. And that is how the Kauravas were born. (“The
Mahabharata actually describes how Vedavyas created the
Kauravas from a single embryo from Gandhari” states Dr B G
Matapurkar, a surgeon with Maulana Azad Medical College in
New Delhi. Dr Matapurkar holds a US patent on an organ
regeneration technique that he developed ten years ago. He
further states, “they not only knew about test tube babies and
embryo splitting but also had the technology to grow human
fetuses outside the body of a woman — something that is not
known to modern science.” (The Times Of India, May 5,
2002; The Indian Express, May 4, 2002))
The Shrimad Bhagavatam describes the birth of King Pruthu,
His consort Arci and the demon Bahuka by churning the body
of Vena (This is also similar to cloning)
22 Your Best Friend
In the Ramayana, it is described how Ravana would fly from
one place to another in a vimana (Similar to the aeroplane
devised by the Wright brothers)
In the Mahabharata , Ashvatthama sent a brahmastra at Uttara,
which killed the fetus in her womb without causing any injury
whatsoever to her. (The brahmastra is far more powerful and
accurate than the nuclear bombs of today)
The Kurukshetra war involved many subtle celestial weapons
like shabdabhedi, vayavya, parthavya, bhaumya, anthardana
etc, which are far more sophisticated than the gross weapons
known to scientists today.
The Shrimad Bhagavatam, canto 9, describes Kakudmuni’s
experience of relativity of time (This resembles Einstein’s
theory of relativity)
In addition to these similarities, there are many facts which
were stated in the Vedas since time immemorial, but which
modern science has started discovering only recently. Some of
them are:
Using a variety of complicated instruments, gynecologists
have gradually come to know how the embryo grows during
the period of pregnancy. But the Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3rd
canto, 30th chapter, gives a vivid description of the growth of
the embryo in the mother’s womb. If we compare the
information given therein with the information given in a
standard textbook such as the embryology section of Gray’s
Anatomy, there are striking similarities in the information
obtained from the two sources.
The Vedas claim that there are living entities everywhere -
even in fire. Modern science, however, presumed that no life
could exist in fire. This presumption is in fact the basis for the
process of sterilization. But recent advancements in the field of
medicine have shown that microbes called ‘fire bacteria’
survive even in fire.
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 23
The Vedas state that cow dung, in spite of being the stool of an
animal, is pure. It was only in 1940 that the antiseptic qualities
of cow dung were discovered.
The Vedas state that plants have life. But till Jagadish Chandra
Bose proved that plants have feelings, scientists believed that
they were inanimate.
Vedic Predictions That Have Come True
T he Vedas also make accurate predictions of incarnations
or great personalities who will appear in the future. Some of
the personalities predicted along with the text in which they are
predicted are given below:
Buddha (Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24),
Chanakya (Shrimad Bhagavatam 12.1.11),
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Mahabharata 127.92.75, Shrimad
Bhagavatam 11.5.32)
Chandragupta and Emperor Ashoka (Shrimad Bhagavatam
12.1.12)
Jesus and Mohammed (Bhavishya Purana, Atharva Veda,
Kanda 20, Shukta 127, 1-3)
There are also vivid predictions about the degradations that will
occur in Kali Yuga (the current age). Some of them are:
Food will be sold publicly in market places (In the past, food
was never sold; it was only given in charity. But nowadays
every third shop sells food items).
People will eat the flesh of their own fetus (In the past, the
child would be revered and loved as a gift of God. But
nowadays in China, Japan and several other countries, people
consider the aborted fetus a special delicacy and eat it with a
bestial relish.)
Man-woman relationship will be based only on sex and not on
any other higher goal (Previously marriage would be
considered a sacred duty meant not for enjoyment but for
24 Your Best Friend
increasing one’s service to God. But one can note the growing
frequency of common law marriage without any actual
ceremony or agreement and of ‘living together’. Both of these
are more prominent now in the west than even in the ’60s).
Might will be right (In the past, a person was respected for his
learning. But nowadays it is only wealth or brute force that
commands respect).
lavanyam kesha dharanam Men with long hair will be
considered beautiful.
A brahmana will be known simply by the thread he wears (A
real brahmana is one who actually possesses the qualities of a
brahmana such as peacefulness, self-control, austerity etc)
If the Vedas are of mundane origin, then how is it possible for
them to state profound truths which modern science has only
recently started discovering? And how can they make accurate
predictions about future happenings? The conclusion is
unmistakably obvious: the Vedas are coming from a person who is
all knowing, who knows past, present and future. In other words,
the Vedas are the words of God.
Seeing with the Ears
S uppose you are sleeping in your apartment and a thief
breaks in, with the intention of murdering you and stealing all
your wealth. In such a moment of danger, which of the five senses
is most likely to help you? You certainly cannot smell the thief,
nor taste him with your tongue, nor feel him with your skin, nor
see him with your eyes. But if the thief makes a noise, you might
hear it, wake up and be able to save yourself. This is a simple
experience that we can easily relate to, but it has much broader
implications.
Suppose I hand you a glass of liquid. How would you go about
determining what it is? Most men of science would suggest doing
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 25
some chemical tests. First of all, we have to recognize that this
involves seeing, smelling, tasting and touching, perhaps with the
help of instruments. But all these methods fall
in the category of sense perception, which is
inevitably fault-prone. Furthermore, chemical
tests can be misleading. What if the liquid is
one for which the testing reagents have not been
developed? And even if you do all the tests,
perhaps it may be a mixture of two or more
liquids. How can you determine which? After
all there are practically unlimited possibilities.
Where will you begin? And after all your tests,
you might discover that the liquid contained a
valuable ingredient capable of curing cancer, and that you have
just about wasted all of it in mere testing!
Therefore let us step back and consider something altogether
different, something radical for modern science. Why not simply
ask the person who handed us the liquid, “What did you give me?”
That might just solve all our problems.
From the above two examples, we understand the potency of
hearing as a reliable way of acquiring knowledge. Hearing is, in
fact, the basis of all our knowledge. From the cradle to the
crematorium, our whole life is based on
hearing. Just think of any five common items
of knowledge and backtrack how you learned
about them in the first place. How did you get
into engineering college? How did you learn
about GRE and TOEFL exams? How did you
learn ABC? How did you come to know the
way to the nearby movie theater? How did
you come to know about Einstein? Everything
we know begins from hearing. Books are also
in the category of recorded sound.
26 Your Best Friend
Thus all knowledge – whether mundane or Vedic – has to be
acquired by hearing from a proper authority. Everyone is born in
ignorance; otherwise what would be the need of schools or
colleges? We go to educational institutions to gain more
awareness about the world around us and to improve our life.
But how do we know from whom to hear in order to obtain
perfect knowledge? In the modern times, modern science is not
the only source of knowledge, which we hear and accept.
Everyday we are bombarded with dozens of newspapers, TV
commercials, magazines of all description, journals and so forth.
We are overflooded with so much useless and questionable
information that we have a hard time deciding which one to
accept. How can we judge the degree of authenticity of all that we
hear?
Vedas: Our Real Mother
H ow do you know who your father is? By imagination or
mental speculation nobody can arrive at an answer. Someone
may suggest doing genetic finger printing. But just imagine the
sheer effort required. Assuming that only ten percent of the
world’s males would be capable of having fathered you, still you
have to do massive amount of testing of around 250 million adults.
Assuming a ridiculously low average test time of 100 seconds per
individual, it would still take you a minimum of 800 years of non-
stop testing. Can you imagine the enormous expense and the
mind-boggling record keeping involved? Even if you somehow
managed to do it and assuming that you somehow remained alive,
still the people who might have fathered you would be dead and
gone by that time.
The actual solution is simple: just ask your mother; she will
tell you. Even if 10,000,000 other people were to contradict the
words of your mother, still her words have more weight for you
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 27
than the words of all the others put together. That is the power of
proper authority.
God, the Supreme Father, has created the complicated universe
around us as well as the complicated body which we have. We
don’t understand what the purpose behind this vast creation is and
why we are suffering. Vedas, the divine mother, carry all the
necessary information about God, the Supreme Father and
everything that is needed to revive our lost relationship with Him
so that we can attain eternal happiness. All we need to do is to
hear from our mother, the Vedas.
Modern Science – A Treacherous Witch
O ur misfortune, however, is that we have no faith in our
divine mother, the Vedas. Instead we choose to have blind
unquestioning faith in modern science, which is actually like a
treacherous witch. A witch allures a person by various
temptations, but ultimately inflicts great pain on all those who fall
prey to her false promises. The deceitful nature of a witch is
illustrated in an instructive pastime from the life of Lord Krishna.
Once when Lord Krishna was just an infant three months old, His
envious uncle Kamsa, sent Putana, a hideous witch, to Vrindavana to
kill baby Krishna. Putana disguised herself as a beautiful woman and
entered Vrindavan holding a lotus in her hands; nobody – not even
Rohini or Yashoda – doubted her; everyone thought that she might be
the Goddess of Fortune. Apparently with great love, She fed milk to
Krishna from her breast, but actually she had smeared her breast with a
deadly poison, in order to kill Him; Krishna, however, sucked her life
air along with the milk. Just before her death, the real identity of Putana
as a ghastly witch was disclosed in front of everyone. Thus Putana was
like a sharp sword concealed within an attractive embroidered sheath.
Similarly, the glitz and glamour associated with technological
advancement makes it appear very attractive, but its ultimate
28 Your Best Friend
results are disastrous. Modern cities are full of countless hi-tech
gadgets produced by modern science, which make life appear very
easy. But they also lead to multifarious problems, far more
complicated than what they were originally meant to solve. There
is no shortage of examples to illustrate this.
Automobiles and factories have apparently increased the
facilities in our life, but the air pollution they have caused has
become a deadly health hazard. Surveys have revealed that just
breathing the air in a polluted city like New Delhi is equivalent
to smoking several cigarettes a day. Such cities are therefore
full of chronic asthma and lung cancer patients.
Water now seems to be so easily available at the turn of a tap,
but little do we know that it is greatly contaminated due to
chemicals and effluents added during its transit from the river
to the tap, thus leading to epidemics of water-borne diseases.
Advancement in technology has led to a culture of sedentary
occupations, fast foods, cold drinks, high speed and high
pressure lifestyles, all of which lead to a variety of debilitating
bodily and mental diseases.
Modern medicine appears to provide quick and easy cures to
diseases; all that you have to do is put a pill into your mouth.
But these inevitably have harmful side-effects on the body,
which soon leads to a vicious cycle of illness and medicines.
Modern scientific education promises lucrative future careers,
but even the best products of this educational system, namely,
the doctorate degree holders in various fields of knowledge,
are addicted to many abominable habits like smoking,
drinking, drugs, woman-hunting, gambling etc.
Lost are the days when the students would hold their teachers
in great esteem; most Indians will be shocked to know that it is
not uncommon for school students in the Western world to
shoot their teachers over the slightest difference of opinions.
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 29
These are just a few gross examples of the destructive
consequences of an indiscriminate acceptance of scientific
knowledge.
Despite this, people are completely enamored by the razzle-
dazzle of the technological gadgets offered by modern inventions
and the apparent comfort and ease that they seem to bring to life.
And as their enjoyment is facilitated, they have developed an
innocent, unflinching, blind faith in the atheistic scientists, just
like a small child has in his mother. People, however, fail to
notice the reality that all these facilities have an inbuilt pernicious
effect. They cast aside all discrimination and just blindly accept
whatever is certified and promoted by modern scientists. Their
attitude is, “Scientists have certified this facility. Therefore it must
be wonderful. Let us enjoy it.”
But such blind use of scientific advancement often wreaks
total havoc as can be substantiated by the following examples:
Recently scientists invented a drug, which, when injected into
cows, lead to a considerable increase in their milk yield. The
drug injection was
widely used by dairy
farmers in Gujarat, till
it was detected that the
milk produced by such
injected cows caused a
deadly disease in the
human beings who
consumed it. The
government subsequently banned the use of that drug
injection, but still its production continues underground in the
form of tablets and many greedy dairy farmers continue to use
it without caring for its disastrous consequences on the health
of the general populace.
A few years ago, in Europe, scientists prepared a new type of
cattle-feed, which greatly increased their mass. This appeared
30 Your Best Friend
to be a very lucrative arrangement for everyone involved in the
cow-slaughter trade as these artificially fattened cows were
yielding more beef. But the cattle-feed was prepared using the
bones, horns and other remnants of cow slaughter in a
pulverized form. This unnatural food fed to the naturally
vegetarian cows led to a severe disease in them. And when
man consumed the beef of such diseased cows, it led to the
deadly BSE disease in him, which caused holes in his brain.
Thus what started off as just an improved food for the cow
ended up in hundreds of people being afflicted by a terrible
disease and in millions of diseased cows being slaughtered to
prevent further spread of the disease. Although the disease was
called ‘mad cow disease’, it should rightly be known as the
‘mad man disease’ because it was the mad greed of man that
caused the disease; the cow was just a helpless victim.
In grape farming, cultivators often use artificial fertilizers to
increase the fertility of the soil and speed up the yield.
However, the grapes produced using such fertilizers are of a
poor quality, so the farmers resort to external phosphate
bathing of the grapes to enhance their appearance and give
them a sugar coating to increase their sweetness. Thus not only
do the grapes have no natural sweetness, but also the
phosphates used have injurious effects on the human system.
By using synthetic fertilizers, farmers can produces huge
bright red tomatoes or watermelons. These appear to be very
impressive, but if we cut them open, they are full of air and
have very little nutrition value.
In modern society, peace is conspicuous by its absence and
infatuation caused by the scientific and technological
advancement has led to this sorry state of affairs. The dove is
traditionally considered to be a symbol of peace, but a picture
of a dove carrying a slaughtered calf and an aborted fetus in its
two claws graphically portrays the situation of modern society
with its misdirected scientific advancement. Science has made
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 31
man very powerful, but since man, being infatuated by
science, is using this power not to serve God, but to promote
his own selfish enjoyment, he has become a powerful
ferocious beast. When man has become so merciless and
ruthless towards other living entities as to slaughter thousands
of innocents calves in organized slaughter houses just to
satisfy his uncontrolled tongue and to abort millions of
innocent infants just to continue unrestrictedly with his
irresponsible sexual enjoyment (all using the most
sophisticated technology), how can his so-called peace
conferences be expected to be of any avail?
Thus science only serves to superficially inflate the ego of man,
but in actuality it divests his life of all meaning, substance and
happiness. Modern scientific advancement, which has arisen from
32 Your Best Friend
the research and speculation of man, in defiance of the laws of
God, is certainly a cure worse than the disease itself.
The Vedas, on the other hand, are meant to gradually guide the
suffering soul away from his sinful life in the right direction
towards God. It is only due to the deep-rooted Vedic culture that
even a simple illiterate Indian villager hesitates to commit any
sinful activity, being aware of the law of karma and lives a very
peaceful life. In marked contrast, even a highly educated modern
man blinded to all concepts of morality due to his belief in the
atheistic scientists, is addicted to various sinful habits and lives an
utterly miserable life, being torn apart by immeasurable anxieties.
Therefore it is high time for us to awaken to the reality that
Vedas are our real mother and the secret of true happiness lies in
understanding them and following them under the expert guidance
of a bona fide spiritual master.
Relevance of the Vedas today
S ome people with a poor fund of knowledge reject the Vedas,
considering them to be an outdated text left by some primitive
men of the stone age. However, the knowledge of even the
scholarly historians about world history is limited to only a few
thousand years; naturally therefore, their opinions about the
ancient Vedas are of no value. The fact is that the Vedas constitute
a complete wisdom handed over by God Himself at the dawn of
the creation of the universe. The Vedas are perfect; they are called
apaurusheya, indicating that they are not man-made. They are not
meant for casual study like a novel or for idle armchair
speculation; their injunctions are meant to be heard and practiced
in our daily lives so as to save ourselves from the continuous
onslaught of material miseries and to achieve the eternal world.
People generally believe that modern science has brought a
sophisticated brand of knowledge that makes the Vedas obsolete.
 Vedas – Are They Relevant Today? 33 34 Your Best Friend

But nothing could be further from the truth; neither are the Vedas he may understand how to most effectively utilize his human form
obsolete nor is the modern scientific knowledge new as can be of life to achieve an eternal life full of knowledge and bliss.
seen from the following incident from the Mahabharata. The Vedas teach us who we are, who God is and what our
relationship with Him is. They also teach us the method by which
When Arjuna saved Maya danava from the burning Khandava we can revive our lost relationship with God. We should learn all
forest, the danava offered to give Arjuna yantra-vidya (knowledge of these things from the Vedas and put them into practice to achieve
machines and industry) in gratitude. But Krishna stopped him, saying
the ultimate goal of life.
that the introduction of machine technology would cause the entire
human society to be spoiled and that this technology was to be reserved
Hence a sincere seeker of truth, who wants to know more
for the dark age of Kali. about himself and God should not waste his valuable time in
researching with his own limited brain; rather he should cultivate
Thus gross technology was not unknown at any time, but in the knowledge of the Vedas by approaching a guru. The guru or
the Vedic society it was known to be low class and destructive and spiritual master is like a walking scripture; he has thorough
was therefore never introduced. knowledge of the essence of the Vedas and he can impart this
Moreover, modern science teaches only jada vidya, knowledge wisdom to a sincere disciple, who hears from him submissively
about dead matter (earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and serves him.
and ego). It does not help one to get out of the sufferings of birth,
death, old age and disease. The Vedas, on the other hand,
prescribe practical methods of spiritual practice for every age,
including the present age of Kali. They are not bound by time,
place or circumstance. Advancement in science and technology
has no bearing on the Vedic knowledge, as the Vedas are meant to
deliver a suffering man from the ocean of nescience in the past, in
the present and in the future. Anyone, at any point of time, can
hear the Vedic knowledge, practice it, purify his life and return to
the kingdom of God. It is therefore the duty of every sane human
being to take advantage of the knowledge of the Vedas and
achieve perfection.
The Vedas: A Manual for Life

J ust like an instruction manual always accompanies a washing

machine, a cooker or any other instrument to explain how it is
to be operated, similarly the Vedas are the word of God which
come along with the creation and which are given to man so that
Qualifications of Guru 35 36 Your Best Friend

T o learn more about shabda-pramana, we should examine the

Chapter 3 Vedic conception of the teacher (guru) and the student

(shishya). To get perfect knowledge, not only must the student
turn to Vedic literature as we saw in the previous chapter, but he
must also receive knowledge personally from a qualified teacher
with whom he has a special relationship. Technically the word
‘guru’ means ‘heavy’ and the qualified guru must be heavy, or
grave, with knowledge.
Why Do I Need A Guru?

T he Bhagavad-gita presents the ideal teacher-student relation-

ship. Faced with fighting a battle against his friends and

Qualifications
relatives, Arjuna broke down. Therefore, he approached his guru,
Lord Sri Krishna who is
accepted throughout the Vedas
of Guru as the Supreme Person, the
knower and compiler of the
Vedas. Arjuna told Lord
Krishna, “Now I am confused
about my duty and have lost all
composure because of miserly
weakness. In this condition I
am asking You to tell me for
certain what is best for me.
Now I am Your disciple, and a
soul surrendered unto You.
Please instruct me.”
(Bhagavad-gita 2.7).
By nature’s design the
complete system of material activities is a source of perplexity for
everyone. At every step there is perplexity and therefore it
behooves one to approach a bona fide spiritual master who can
 Qualifications of Guru 37 38 Your Best Friend

give one proper guidance for executing the purpose of life. All
Vedic literatures advise us to approach a bona fide spiritual master
to get free from the material perplexities of life which happen
without our desire. They are like forest fire that somehow blazes
without being set by anyone. Similarly the world situation is such
that perplexities of life automatically appear, without our wanting
such confusion. No one wants fire to break out, and yet it does,
and then we become perplexed. The Vedic wisdom therefore
advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life, one must
approach a spiritual master who is in disciplic succession.
Who is the man in perplexities? It is he who does not
understand the problems of life: birth, old age, disease and death.
The kripana (miser) thinks that he is able to protect his family
members from death; or thinks that his family or society can save
him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found
even in the lower animals who take care of their children also.
Being intelligent, Arjuna could understand that his material
affection for the body of family members and his wish to protect
them from death were the causes of his perplexities.
Krishna wanted the Kurukshetra battle to take place as a part of
His divine plan to
Place King Yudhishtira on the throne
Re-establish religion in the world
Deliver Bhagavad-gita for the benefit of all humanity.
Arjuna was a kshatriya. Although he could understand that his
duty to fight was awaiting him, still, on account of miserly
weakness, he could not discharge his duties. He therefore offered After hearing the Bhagavad-gita from Lord Krishna, Arjuna
himself to Krishna, the supreme spiritual master, as a disciple. was freed from all illusion. He fought the war according to the
He wanted to stop friendly talks. Talks between the master and the instructions of Lord Krishna, won the kingdom of the entire world,
disciple are serious. Krishna is therefore the original spiritual and finally went back to the kingdom of God at the end of his life.
master of the science of the Bhagavad-gita and Arjuna is the first Thus the example of Arjuna shows that, in order to attain true
disciple for understanding the Gita. success in life, one must take shelter of a bona fide spiritual
master. Therefore the Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) enjoins:
 Qualifications of Guru 39
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
“In order to learn the transcendental science, one must
submissively approach a bona fide spiritual master, who is coming
in disciplic succession and is fixed in the Absolute Truth.”
The Absolute Necessity of a Spiritual Master
S ometimes when we quote from scriptures, people admonish us
saying that we should not have blindly surrendered our
independent thinking to some authority. They think, “Will it not
be much better if I were to think for myself, relying on my own
power of analysis, rather than merely accept someone else’s
opinions as gospel truth? Why should Truth be the monopoly of
some particular authority? And moreover, why accept everything
that any particular authority says? We should just accept what we
think is right or good and reject the rest.” In this way they want to
be free from surrendering to any authority and yet get the best
from what all authorities have to say.
Before being so apprehensive about accepting spiritual
authority, let us see a few examples from everyday life, where we
accept authority without questioning :
We are consciously or unconsciously accepting authority while
seeking help from a doctor. By accepting the advice and
medicines from a qualified physician, are we not putting our
faith in him as a medical authority?
As soon as we board a bus, we are entrusting our lives to the
bus-driver. Do we check the driver’s credentials every time we
board a bus? Thus are we not, almost blindly, accepting him as
an authority in bus driving?
An engineering student who wants to study electrical
engineering accepts the authority of B L Theraja. And in
general, every science student accepts the authority of the
books published by scientists.
40 Your Best Friend
A child accepts his mother as an authority and comes to know
of everyone around him - his father, brother, sister etc. - only
through her.
From newspapers, radio etc, we come to know about events
taking place in China, Africa and various parts of the world.
Neither are we experiencing those events directly, nor do we
know whether they are actually taking place. Yet we accept
them to be a reality on the authority of the media.
Thus, we see that we have no choice but to believe authorities in
order to get knowledge.
Even if we want to learn dance or music or athletics or karate
or, for that matter, anything, we take training under a teacher or a
coach. In other words, in order to gain mastery in any field, we
agree to become an apprentice under an expert advanced in that
field. Thus, we accept a teacher in every walk of life; then why not
accept a teacher in spiritual life?
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna
descended to this world, he also set an example for us by
accepting Sandipani Muni as His guru. Lord Ramachandra also
accepted Vashishtha Muni as His guru to set an example. So, even
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the source of all
knowledge and wisdom, accepts a guru to demonstrate the
absolute necessity of accepting a guru.
How to Recognize the Spiritual Authority ?
I f you approach a group of common people and ask one of them,
“Sir! Can you tell me something about solving a diagonal
matrix in a Finite Element Analysis problem?” he will blink and
say, “Sorry, that is not my subject.” If you ask another person,
“Sir! Can you explain the importance of the medulla oblongata?”
he will immediately admit, “Sorry, my background is not
medicine”. But if you ask them, “Can any of you tell me about
God?”, every one of them will croak foolishly, like a frog, “God
 Qualifications of Guru 41 42 Your Best Friend

may be like this, may be like that, bla bla bla...” This is the real and so does not accept the knowledge given by pratyaksha and
problem. An intelligent man should ask, “What is your authority anumana. He only accepts statements spoken by God Himself,
in speaking about God?” who alone is capable of delivering perfect knowledge. And
Suppose you go to a jeweler’s shop to purchase a diamond. because we have no ability to approach God directly, anybody
Would you just jump at the first piece that you see? Surely not. who has surrendered to God and is repeating His message without
You would perform detailed research before executing the actual adulteration, can be accepted as God’s representative, from whom
transaction. Perhaps you would consult with some friends and perfect knowledge can be obtained.
experts in the business. Even after such consultation, you would
The Guru and the Parampara
try to get some warranty on the product to ensure that you are not
cheated. Similarly, if we wish to become an engineer or doctor,
we would consider the reputation and authenticity of the institute
that we plan to join.
T he only recommended and
safe way of receiving
Vedic knowledge is by the
But strangely enough, according to many, spiritual science is
descending process from the
meant to be imbibed from one’s grandfather or grandmother at
Vedas and through the g uru.
home without any formal study or research in a university. Is that
This chain of transmission is
all that is there to shabda pramana? Is it just a matter of listening
to your grandmother, seeing some movie on Ramayana or called guru parampara, the
Mahabharata or hearing some stories. Such childish conceptions disciplic succession. In the
about spiritual science not only allow the standards of this most Bhagavad-gita (4.2) Krishna
exact science to be drastically watered down, but also allow tells Arjuna, evam parampara
pretenders and unscrupulous parties to take advantage of praptam: “This supreme
credulous and naive followers. The Vedic literatures, especially science (bhakti yoga,
the Shrimad Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita, give detailed knowledge through devotional
descriptions of how to avoid such pitfalls and receive true service) was thus received
knowledge of shabda-pramana. through the chain of disciplic
Earlier, we learned that we are subject to four defects, and we succession.” Because God, the
were convinced that the senses cannot give us perfect knowledge originator of the parampara, is
of even this material world, then what to speak of things beyond perfect, He can give perfect
matter, i.e., spiritual matters? No one should dare speculate about knowledge. And because every
spiritual subject matter; it is beyond our mind and senses. guru in the parampara simply
Speculation in spirituality can only provide us with imperfect, and repeats the words of his
therefore useless, ideas about God. But an intelligent person is not predecessor, and ultimately
interested in such vague ideas; he wants to know the facts about God, the knowledge received
the Absolute Truth. He understands the limitations of the senses,
 Qualifications of Guru 43
through parampara is perfect, even though the gurus themselves
may be imperfect. Thus, in the parampara, the student’s
relationship is not just with his own spiritual master but also with
the spiritual master of his spiritual master and the spiritual master
of that master and so on, in an unbroken chain of masters. This
chain of masters in which a particular guru hears and speaks the
truth is called his sampradaya.
For instance, in the Brahma sampradaya (in which ISKCON is
a branch), Vedic knowledge descends from Brahma. Brahma gave
this knowledge to Narada, Narada delivered it to Vyasa and so on.
This disciplic succession has come down without any break and
even today it is continued by the disciples of His Divine Grace A.
C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of
ISKCON.
It is mentioned in the Padma Purana:
sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah
atah kalau bhavishyanti chatvarah sampradayinah
sri-brahma-rudra-sanaka vaishnava kshiti pavana
chatvaras te kalau bhavya hy utkale purushottama
ramanujam-shrihi-svichakre madhvacharyam-chaturmuhash
shri vishnuswamino-rudro nimbadityam chatuksanaha
The above verses explain that if one is not connected with one
of the four bona fide disciplic successions, namely, Shri, Brahma,
Rudra and Kumara sampradayas, whatever mantras one chants
will not bring the desired result. Originally the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krishna, delivered the message of the
Vedas to Shri (Lakshmi), Brahma, Rudra (Shiva) and the four
Kumaras (Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanat and Sananda) and this message
was carried on in Kali yuga (the present age) by Ramanujacharya
(Shri sampradaya), Madhvacharya (Brahma sampradaya),
Vishnuswami (Rudra sampradaya) and Nimbarka swami (Kumara
sampradaya). These four sampradayas are the authoritative
44 Your Best Friend
institutions which deliver the pure unadulterated message of the
Vedas, because the source of this knowledge is Krishna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Himself, who is free from all
defects or imperfections. So a spiritual master who has taken
shelter of any of these four sampradayas and is living according to
the teachings of the Vedic scriptures is a bona fide spiritual
master. One should therefore hear Bhagavad-gita from such a
bona fide spiritual master only.
Qualifications of the Guru
S ince the guru must transmit the truths of Vedic knowledge
perfectly, he plays a crucial role. It is therefore necessary to
first understand the symptoms of a bona fide guru, that is, a
spiritual master who has received and can impart pure knowledge.
We should know who is not a guru and who is a guru.
Regrettably, in the modern times, we have countless
professional gurus (fake holy men) who deceive their followers in
one or more of the following ways:
Charge fees for revealing secret mantras and give false
promises that one can become God by chanting those mantras
(If one can actually become God by chanting those mantras,
then why don’t these gurus simply become Gods themselves?
If they are already God, then why do they need the money of
their disciples?)
Teach so-called meditation while allowing their students to
disregard all the Vedic regulative austerities (Regulative
austerities like avoiding gambling, meat eating, intoxication
and illicit sex constitute the basic beginning of spiritual life.
Meditation without practicing these austerities is simply a
farce.)
Teach a set of gymnastic exercises in the name of yoga and
maintain that yoga is meant for material well being and
enjoyment (The word ‘yoga’ comes from the Sanskrit word
 Qualifications of Guru 45
‘yuj’ which means ‘to connect with God’. Thus actual yoga is
meant to re-establish one’s lost relationship with God.)
Defy the Vedas by declaring: ‘I am God; You are God;
Everyone is God’ (The Vedas very clearly declare that there is
only one God and that we are all His eternal servants)
Have their disciples worship them as God (The Vedas declare
that only the Supreme Lord should be worshipped as God and
that the guru should direct his followers to worship that
Supreme Lord)
Although we have to accept spiritual authority, we should do so
only after due testing; otherwise we may be cheated. For example,
a person who accepts medicine from a quack is unintelligent and
is inviting trouble and suffering. One should consult only a
qualified doctor, who has graduated from a recognized medical
college, has good clinical experience, and can help in curing the
ailment.
One cannot test the genuineness of a spiritual authority by the
language he speaks, by his physical appearance or by his
nationality. Just like the genuineness of gold can be determined by
certain specific tests, there are also tests to determine the
genuineness of spiritual authority as stated below:
The Shrimad Bhagavatam (11.3.21) explains the basic
qualifications of a guru:
tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh shreya uttamam
shabde pare ca nishnatam brahmany upasamashrayam
“Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must
seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by
initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has
realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is
able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great
personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead,
leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to
be bona fide spiritual masters.”
46 Your Best Friend
The important qualifications of the guru are as follows:
The guru must be a devotee of the Lord. He must have
realized the conclusions of the scriptures and must be fixed in
devotional service to the Supreme. A guru must have realized
the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation. Because he
has heard, understood, practiced, and realized the Absolute
Truth, he should be fixed in devotional service to the Supreme.
He should be able to confirm the authenticity of the message
he is presenting by the support of the scriptures and the
teachings of the great seers of truth of the present and the past.
In this connection, the Padma Purana states:
shat karma nipuno vipro mantra-tantra visharadah
avaishnavo gurur na syad vaishnavah sva-paco guruh
“A scholarly brahmana expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge
is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a
Vaishanva, or expert in the science of Krishna consciousness.
But a person born in a lower caste can become a spiritual
master if he is a Vaishnava, or Krishna conscious.”
The bona fide guru should have heard the Absolute Truth
in a disciplic succession. The disciplic succession comprises
of spiritual masters and disciples, coming from God Himself.
That is why the words of the guru are perfect, being free from
the defects of a common man (imperfect senses, tendency to
be illusioned, tendency to commit mistakes and propensity to
cheat)
The guru imparts spiritual knowledge, not mundane
knowledge. There are different types of knowledge. We are
interested in ordinary knowledge for economic benefit, but
that is not actual knowledge. That is the knowledge used for
earning a livelihood. One may study to be an electrician and
earn his livelihood by repairing electric lines. Real knowledge
however, is Vedic knowledge, which involves knowing
oneself, knowing God and understanding one’s relationship
with God, and one’s duty towards Him. Knowledge begins
 Qualifications of Guru 47
with the inquiry athato brahma jijnasa. “What is Brahman?”
Knowledge also begins by understanding the threefold
miseries of the material world. It is this knowledge that the
guru is meant to teach.
The guru gives God conscious knowledge, which is not a
passing phase. To learn karate, kung-fu, athletics, exercises,
or any other similar skill properly, we need a guide. We may
learn these things for entertainment or time pass or for
demonstrating our abilities to the world. But such things
usually come as a passing phase in our life; our attraction to
them is short-lived. Even if we take them seriously throughout
our life, they do not carry much meaning as everything
material is finished at death. But the spiritual master enlightens
us with true spiritual knowledge or God consciousness. God
consciousness is not a passing phase in our life performed for
entertainment or as a hobby; it is actually an absolute necessity
for all living beings because it is the eternal activity of every
soul. Thus what the guru offers us is a matter of eternal
blissful life or repeated suffering and death. So the spiritual
master who puts us back in our eternal constitutional position
is our eternal friend and wellwisher. Therefore his position is
much higher and different from other guides who teach us
some material skills, which we may or may not take seriously.
A guru should be known by his understanding of the
science of God. We should not judge a guru based on his
caste, creed, color, nationality etc. We should never think, “He
is after all an African guru or an American guru—not Indian.”
or “He was after all born in a shudra family.” This is
offensive. When you employ a civil engineer to construct a
house, do you ask him, “Are you a brahmana engineer or a
shudra engineer?” Or when you go to a doctor, do you ask
him, “Are you a brahmana doctor?” You only see whether he
is a qualified B.E. or M.B.B.S. Similarly, yei krishna-tattva-
vetta sei ‘guru’ haya “One who knows the science of Krishna
48 Your Best Friend
should be accepted as a guru” (Chaitanya Charitamrita
Madhya 8.128). Instruction has to be taken from one who is in
knowledge. It does not matter what his position is, whether he
is a son, a boy, a shudra, a brahmana, a sannyasi, or a
grihastha. Although Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself was a
brahmana (considered to be the highest varna or social order)
and a sannyasi (considered to be the highest ashrama or
spiritual order), He took instructions from Ramananda Raya,
who was a shudra and grihastha but nonetheless very exalted
spiritually. Whoever is qualified in Krishna consciousness can
become a guru; his family or material identity does not matter.
His only qualification is that he must know the science of
Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the yuga-avatara for Kali-
yuga, wanted everyone in India to know the science of
Krishna, become a guru, and preach Krishna consciousness.
A guru cannot be purchased with any amount of money;
he is not after wealth, women, or followers. One should not
treat the guru like a dog. Sometimes wealthy people invite
their guru to their home once a year to just show (or ‘show
off’ to) their relatives that “I am also very pious.” One should
not just keep a photo of the guru on the wall of the house, and
never take instructions from him. This is exactly how some
fake godmen allow their disciples to deal with them. But a real
guru is meant to give instructions and deliver us from the
ocean of material existence.
A graphic example of this comes in the life of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakura, the spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada. Once
a wealthy man, who would give regular donations to
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, was attending his discourse. But instead
of hearing attentively, he started talking with the person sitting next
to him. At once Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati rebuked him, “Do you
think you have purchased me with your donation, that you can do
whatever you like during the discourse?”
 Qualifications of Guru 49
The guru bestows not material benefits, but spiritual
knowledge to his disciple. A guru is one who helps the
disciple to come out of the darkness of ignorance with the
torchlight of transcendental knowledge. He is meant to help
the disciple cross over the ocean of nescience. He is neither
meant for giving blessings to get gold, money etc., nor giving
some relief from some bodily disease.
The guru should not flatter his disciple for material
facilities or material security. He should neither try to gain
some material facilities from him nor should he increase
materialistic followers for material security. The word ‘sadhu’
means ‘one who cuts’. So the guru, being a genuine sadhu,
should be straightforward in cutting the knots of material
attachments of his disciple through chastisement and good
instruction, however unpalatable it may be.
The guru should know the essence of the scriptures, but he
need not be a Sanskrit scholar. He should be able to
establish the true principles of religion based on the scriptures,
but he is not expected to be a great reciter of Vedic mantras or
a learned scholar capable of complicated word jugglery. He
needs to know the essence of all scriptures as explained in the
Bhagavad-gita (15.15) vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah
“The essence of the Vedas is to know Me (Krishna).” If he
knows this essential principle of the teachings of all scriptures
and lives according to this principle, he knows everything
necessary to deliver his disciples. A nice story from the life of
Srila Prabhupada illustrates this principle.
Once Srila Prabhupada met two Vedic scholars in Vrindavan. After
the formalities Srila Prabhupada asked them, “Can you say who is
God?” On hearing this, both of them started blinking and saying
that the Absolute Truth is very difficult to comprehend and it is not
possible to explain it so easily. Srila Prabhupada then called a
gurukula boy and asked him the same question. The boy promptly
answered, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Srila
50 Your Best Friend
Prabhupada gifted him a cake and the boy ran away dancing
joyfully to play with the other children. Srila Prabhupada then
remarked, “Just see! Even this small child knows Krishna to be God
whereas these Vedic scholars, after years of study, have no
knowledge of the essence of all the Vedas.”
There are many professional reciters, who recite the Shrimad
Bhagavatam with great dramatic pathos, intricate word jugglery
and profuse Sanskrit verses, but they are neither aware of nor do
they teach others the conclusion of the scriptures - love of God.
They teach scriptures only to earn their livelihood, not to enlighten
the people in the true principles of religion. Such people though
they may be very popular, respected and learned, are not genuine
gurus.
The guru should preach by example. He should not only be
teaching perfect knowledge but he should also be an acharya,
that is, one who teaches by personal example. One who
smokes cigarette has no right to preach to others to avoid
cigarettes. The guru should be a walking scripture and should
exemplify all the teachings of the scripture in his life. And he
should thus inspire everyone to follow them by his personal
example.
The guru must be sense-controlled. If a guru’s senses are
not controlled and he does not teach his disciples to control
their senses, then he is not a qualified spiritual master. The
scriptures list six symptoms of guru: “A sober person who can
tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of
anger, and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is
qualified to make disciples all over the world.”
(Upadeshamrita 1)
The guru should be decorated with all saintly qualities.
The Shrimad Bhagavatam (3.25.21) explains:
titikshavah karunikah suhrudah sarva-dehinam
ajata-shatravah shantah sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah
 Qualifications of Guru 51 52 Your Best Friend

“The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and hearing from a bona fide guru and make our life successful. It is
friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he the duty of every civilized human being to accept such a bona fide
abides by the scriptures and all his characteristics are sublime.” authority, gain spiritual knowledge, and thereby make his life
The guru should be engaged 24 hours in the service of perfect. Just like a dark room becomes illumined by switching on
Krishna. He should not waste a single moment doing anything the light, so also our ignorance is removed by the light of
which is not connected with Krishna and His service, as stated transcendental knowledge. Having obtained such knowledge, we
in the Bhakti rasamrita sindhu, avyartha kalatvam. The attain eternal happiness.
Bhagavad-gita (9.14) confirms this satatam kirtayanto mam
“The pure devotee is constantly engaged in glorifying the
Supreme Lord.” A nice incident from the life of Srila
Prabhupada illustrates this.
Once when Srila Prabhupada met the famous musical group, the
Beatles, in London, one of them George Harrison asked him,
“Among the many preachers of the Bhagavad-gita who is bona
fide?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The Bhagavad-gita is the word
of Krishna. So to recognize who is the bona fide preacher of
Bhagavad-gita, you should check who is most addicted to Krishna.”
Check and Balance Through
Guru-Sadhu-Shastra

I n the Vedic method of receiving knowledge, there is also a

check-and-balance system called guru-sadhu-shastra. The
teachings of the guru must correspond with the teachings of the
sadhus (the past and present spiritual masters in the disciplic
succession), which, in turn, must all correspond with the direct
meanings of shastra (the scripture). This is the proof of perfect
knowledge.
Intellectual brilliance notwithstanding, a man of dubious
personal character, who is attached to selfish gratification and self-
interest, cannot be a spiritual master. The origin of disciplic
succession is God, who alone is capable of giving absolute
knowledge. And because the knowledge comes down through the
disciplic line without adulteration we can understand the Truth by
Qualifications of Disciple 53 54 Your Best Friend

J ust as qualifications are required for the guru, there are some

Chapter 4 requirements to be met by the recipient of Vedic knowledge

also. The qualifications expected of a disciple are stated in the
Bhagavad-gita (4.34)
tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya
upadekshyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva darshinah
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.
Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The
self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they
have seen the truth.”
Humble Surrender

Qualifications A disciple should submissively and humbly surrender to the

spiritual master. One should consider oneself a fool in front
of the guru and should put aside all preconceived notions learnt
of Disciple earlier from unreliable sources.
The ideal way to surrender to the spiritual master is the way in
which Sanatana Gosvami, a great scholar and devotee of the
sixteenth century, surrendered to his spiritual master, Lord
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sanatana Gosvami was a cabinet minister for Nawab Hussain Shah,
who was then the king of the whole of Bengal. Due to his high position,
Sanatana Gosvami had several magnificent palaces, fabulous wealth,
multitudes of servants, and the finest luxuries of life. He had a highly
respected lineage; he was born in a Saraswat Brahmin family. He was
learned not only in Sanskrit, the traditional language of India, but also
in many other contemporary languages including Arabic and Persian.
Yet, in spite of having such extraordinary material attributes, when he
approached Lord Chaitanya to surrender his life to him, he fell at the
Lord’s lotus feet in utter humility with a straw in his mouth and a cloth
around his neck. (These are traditionally considered to be signs of
humility) Submitting himself to Lord Chaitanya, he inquired, “My
associations are all abominable, and I am fallen, the most wretched of
mankind. I was suffering in the dark well of material enjoyment, and I
 Qualifications of Disciple 55
never knew the actual goal of my life. Indeed, I do not even know what is
beneficial for me. Although I am what is known in the world as a great
learned man, a pandita, I am in fact so much of a fool that even I myself
think that I am learned. You have accepted me as Your servant, and You
have delivered me from the entanglement of material life. Now please
tell me what my duty is in this liberated state. Who am I? Why are the
threefold miseries always giving me trouble? And finally, tell me how I
can be relieved from this material entanglement?”
This is the process of accepting a spiritual master. One should
approach a spiritual master, humbly submit to him, and then
56 Your Best Friend
inquire from him about how to progress in spiritual life.
Just as a seed planted in fertile land can germinate and a potent
man can impregnate a fertile woman to beget a child, a bona fide
guru can enlighten the heart of a receptive disciple with
transcendental knowledge. But if the disciple maintains his own
reservations then such a disciple’s heart is like a barren land where
the seed cannot sprout or like a barren woman who cannot beget a
child. An instructive story illustrates the position of such an
unreceptive disciple
Once a boy approached the best mridanga teacher in his town to
learn how to play mridanga. The teacher asked him, “Do you know any
beats in mridanga?” “Oh yes! I have learnt a few beats myself”, the
student replied enthusiastically. On hearing this, the teacher told him,
“OK, your fees will be Rs 200/-.” After some time, another student, who
knew nothing about playing mridanga, enrolled and was charged only
Rs 100/- by the teacher. When the first student came to know about this,
he asked his teacher in great surprise, “Dear Sir, I already know some
beats in playing mridanga. Then how is it that I am being charged more
than this new student, who knows nothing about this art?” The
intelligent teacher replied, “Your problem is that you have already
acquired some hodge-podge about mridanga. So first, I will have to
undo all the wrong beats that you have learnt earlier and then I can
teach you the correct beats. But the other student is like a blank slate
and is capable of learning all beats easily from the start. So I charged
you more fees than him.”
Similarly people in the modern times are filled with many
misconceptions about religion and they think they know
everything. Without an open mind it is difficult for one to learn
anything or achieve any tangible realization.
Submissive Inquiry
A disciple should be sincerely inquisitive about the ultimate
goal of life. tasmat gurum prapadyeta jijnasu sreyah
uttamam. (Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21) “Any person who
 Qualifications of Disciple 57
seriously desires real happiness must seek a bonafide spiritual
master and take shelter of him by initiation.” A disciple must be
sincerely inquisitive about the topmost long-term goal of life. The
highest long-term welfare is spiritual welfare and one should be
serious about it.
Even animals like cats, dog and birds are inquisitive about
food, shelter, sex etc. So inquisitiveness about how to improve
eating, sleeping, mating and defending is not appreciated in the
scriptures because such inquisitiveness only makes us more
sophisticated two-legged animals.
58 Your Best Friend
The short-term goals of life (called preyas) are to gain wealth,
name, fame, a posh apartment, a promising career etc. Even if
achieved, such things are temporary and will be taken away at the
time of death. The long-term goal of life (called shreyas) is to
become Krishna conscious and achieve the kingdom of God. The
disciple must be inquisitive to know, “Why am I suffering? What
is the meaning and ultimate destination of life?”
In the modern times, people are not at all interested in spiritual
subject matters and are heading full-speed towards self-destruction
by pursuing short-term goals, which may be very sweet but are
 Qualifications of Disciple 59
painfully short-lived. The long-term goal may demand some
penance in the beginning but the fruit is eternal bliss with full
knowledge. A simple example will clarify this point. Given a
choice, what would a child choose between a chocolate and a
hundred-rupee note? An unintelligent child will probably choose a
chocolate to get immediate pleasure, but an intelligent child knows
that he can get hundreds of chocolates by using the hundred rupee
note, provided he is patient enough to go to a shopkeeper with it
and purchase the chocolates. Similarly, we have to ask ourselves:
Do I want flickering material pleasures or everlasting spiritual
happiness in the kingdom of God?
The Vedas enjoin: tamaso ma jyotir gama “Go from darkness
to light.” The darkness mentioned here refers to the material
world, because the material world is an inherently dark place.
Otherwise why would we need the sun, moon, electricity, fire etc
for providing light? Therefore the Vedas urge a human being to go
from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge) or from the
material world to the spiritual world.
A disciple should never be proud of his material qualifications
like education, bodily beauty, wealth, high birth etc. Such
qualifications have no connection with spiritual life. In fact, they
may even have an adverse effect like a heavy gold crown on the
head of a drowning man because they may increase the false pride
of a prospective disciple and obstruct his spiritual advancement.
So a disciple should never present his material qualifications in
front of the spiritual master. For example, His Divine Grace
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was highly educated; but he took
initiation from Gaurakishore Das Babaji Maharaj who was
illiterate, but was greatly enlightened in the conclusions of the
scriptures.
60 Your Best Friend
Open-Mindedness
A disciple should approach the spiritual master with an open
mind. He should think, “I know nothing about God. I should
hear submissively from my guru.” If he thinks he knows
everything, it should be understood that he knows nothing.
Once a young man came to inquire about God from a guru. But
when the guru began to speak, the young man immediately interrupted
him saying, “I know this, I know this.” When this happened several
times, the guru decided to teach the young man a lesson. He gave him a
glass in his hand and started pouring hot milk into it. He went on
pouring even after the glass had become full. When the milk started
overflowing and falling on the hand of the young man and burning it, he
started shouting, “Stop! Can’t you see the milk overflowing? Why don’t
you stop?” The guru smiled and replied, “This is your condition.
Because you’re filled up with so many pre-conceived notions you are not
in a position to hear what the scriptures say.” The young man realized
his mistake.
So, while hearing from the spiritual master, one should be
submissive and open-minded.
Service Attitude
A disciple should render menial service to the guru, irrespec-
tive of his material position. An instructive story from the
life of Yatiraja Ramanujacharya, one of the important acharyas of
the Sri sampradaya teaches the importance of this quality.
Ramanujacharya had a disciple and nephew named Dasharathi,
who was famous for his knowledge of the Vedas. One day
Dasharathi approached Ramanuja and requested him to reveal the
full meaning of the supreme verse of the Bhagavad-gita (18.66):
sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja
aham tvam sarva papebhyo mokshayishyami ma shucah
 Qualifications of Disciple 61
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto me. I
will deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”
Ramanujacharya told him, “You are my relative, and therefore it is
my desire that you understand this verse by hearing from the great
devotee, Gosthipurna. Even though there may be some fault in you, I
will tend to overlook it because you are my family member. The duty
of the guru is to remove all taints from the heart of the disciple.
Therefore it is better that you take instruction from Sri
Gosthipurna.”
Dasharathi was famous as a great scholar and was a little proud
of his learning. It was for this reason that Ramanuja directed him to
approach Gosthipurna. Dasharathi went to Tirukoshtiyur and served
Gosthipurna faithfully for six months. But the acharya did not
explain the meaning of the verse.
Finally, taking pity on the young man, Gosthipurna told
Dasharathi, “You are certainly a most brilliant scholar; I know that
well. However, you must understand that education, wealth, and
birth in an aristocratic family can cause pride to arise in the heart of
a small-minded man. In those who are virtuous, great learning
brings self-control and thus gives rise to good qualities, not
blemishes. Understanding these instructions, now return to your own
guru; he will reveal the meaning of the verse as you desire.”
Dasharathi then returned to Sri Rangam and reported to
Ramanuja all that had taken place in Tirukoshtiyur. At that same
time, Attulai, the daughter of Mahapurna (the guru of Ramanuja)
came there in great distress. When Yatiraja inquired from her about
the cause of her unhappiness, she replied, “Dear brother, my father
has sent me to you. I live at the house of my father-in-law and every
day, both morning and evening, I have to bring water from a lake,
which is over two miles from the house. The road there is lonely and
difficult to traverse and as a result I have become overwhelmed by
fear and physical exertion. When I told my mother-in-law of these
difficulties, rather than sympathizing with my plight, she flew into a
rage, saying, “Why did you not bring a cook from your father’s
house? Can I afford to employ a servant while you sit idly at home?”
Being very unhappy at this treatment, I returned to my father’s house
and he has instructed me to come to you for help with this problem.”
62 Your Best Friend
To this request Ramanuja immediately responded, “Dear sister, do
not worry. Here I have one brahmana whom I will send with you. He
will do the work of fetching water from the lake and the cooking as
well.” So saying he glanced at Dasharathi, the great scholar.
Although working as a servant in the kitchen was an occupation he
might have considered unbefitting for a renowned pandit such as
himself, Dasharathi understood the desire of his guru and gladly
followed Attulai to her father-in-law’s house. There he began to do
all the work in the kitchen with great care and devotion. In this way
six months passed.
One day a Vaishnava came to the village and, during his
discourse, started explaining a verse to the assembled villagers.
Dasharathi was among the audience and, when he heard the
speaker’s presentation tinged with impersonalist misconceptions, he
could not restrain himself from pointing out these errors. At this the
speaker became very irritated and shouted out, “Stop, you fool! Has
anybody heard a cook explaining scriptures? Go back to the kitchen
and display your talents there.”
Without showing the least sign of annoyance at these harsh words,
Dasharathi calmly went on with his explanation of the verse. His
presentation, based on many different scriptures, was made so
perfectly that everyone who heard it was astounded. Even the
speaker begged pardon from him by touching his feet and asked him,
“How is it that such a sincere devotee and learned scholar as your
good self is engaged in doing menial work in the kitchen?”
To this Dasharathi replied that he was simply acting in accordance
with the order of his guru, which was his life and soul. When the
people came to know that he was Dasharathi, the renowned devotee-
scholar, all of them rushed to Sri Rangam. They presented their
petition to Ramanuja, saying, “O Mahatma, it is not proper that your
worthy disciple should be engaged as a cook any longer. He has not
a trace of pride in his heart and is certainly an exalted
paramahamsa. Please order us so that we may bring him respectfully
to your lotus feet once again.”
Ramanuja was so pleased to hear the people describing the
humility of his disciple in this way that he went with them to their
village. When he met Dasharathi, he embraced and blessed him.
 Qualifications of Disciple 63 64 Your Best Friend

After returning to Sri Rangam, Ramanuja explained to him the full
significance of Lord Krishna’s final instruction to Arjuna in the
Bhagavad-gita, which reveals the essence of a devotee’s surrender to
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And because Dasharathi had
fulfilled the desire of his spiritual master by rendering service to the
devotees, from that day he was known as Vaishnava das.
Devotion to the Supreme Lord
yasya deve para bhaktir yatha-deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakashante mahatmanah
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the
Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic
knowledge automatically revealed.”
Faith in the guru is the subject matter in a narration about Sri
Krishna in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.80). While recalling His
boyhood pastimes, Krishna recollects that, when He once went to

T he disciple should be a devotee of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-

gita (4.3), Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna,
sa evayam maya te ‘dya yogah proktah puratanah
the forest to collect firewood for his guru, Sandipani Muni, He
and His friend were lost in the forest during a great rainstorm and

bhakto ‘si me sakha cheti rahasyam hy etad uttamam

“That very ancient science of the relationship with the
Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee
as well as My friend and can therefore understand the
transcendental mystery of this science.”
There are two classes of men, namely the devotee and the
demon. The Lord selected Arjuna as the recipient of the great
science of Bhagavad-gita, the essence of the Vedic literature,
owing to his being a devotee of the Lord. But for the demon it is
not possible to understand this great mysterious science. Arjuna
accepted Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and
any commentary on the Gita following in the footsteps of Arjuna
is bona fide. The demonic, however, do not accept Lord Krishna
as He is. Instead, they concoct something about Krishna and
mislead general readers from the path of Krishna’s instructions. A
disciple must be a devotee of Krishna in order to be able to
understand Bhagavad-gita.
Faith in the Spiritual Master

T he disciple must have unflinching faith in the spiritual mas-

ter and must make his instructions his life and soul. The
Shvetasvatara Upanishad (6.38) states:
 Qualifications of Disciple 65
spent the whole night wandering about. In the morning, when the
guru and the other disciples finally found Krishna, the guru was
very pleased, and he blessed Krishna:
“It is very wonderful that You have suffered so much trouble for me.
Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first consideration, but
You are so good and faithful to Your guru, that without caring for
bodily comforts, You have taken so much trouble for the satisfaction
of the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life
to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born,
I am greatly pleased by Your action, and I bless You: may all Your
desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of the
Vedas, which You have learned from me, always continue to remain
in Your memory, so that at every moment You can remember the
teachings of the Vedas and quote their instructions without difficulty.
Thus You will never be disappointed in this life or in the next.”
Krishna recalled the incident in this way: “Without the
blessings of the spiritual master, no one can be happy. By the
mercy of the spiritual master, and by his blessings, one can
achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission of
human life.
The faith described herein is not simply intellectual agreement
on some theological matter. Rather, the disciple must completely
surrender himself as the servant of the guru and take up the guru’s
instructions as his life’s mission. It is then, no overstatement that
“selection of a guru is more significant than the selection of a
spouse.” After all, the guru acts as the disciple’s savior. He alone
can impart Vedic knowledge and thus lead him to liberation. The
disciple therefore owes a debt to his guru, who has personally
lifted him out of conditioned ignorance and blessed him with the
perfection of eternity, bliss and knowledge. In his turn, the guru
must execute his duties humbly as a servitor of the Supreme and
of his own guru in the disciplic succession.
66 Your Best Friend
Avowed Truthfulness
A sincere desire for enlightenment and avowed truthfulness
to the spiritual master and not birth in a particular caste, race,
religion etc. are the essential qualifications of a disciple. If one
satisfies his guru by sincere service and actually understands the
Vedic conclusion, he receives initiation as a brahmana. A
brahmana is a learned person who is responsible enough to
enlighten others. In India there are many caste-conscious
brahmanas, who insist that one cannot be elevated to brahminical
status unless he is born in a brahmana family. The brahmana-by-
birth conception is decidedly non-Vedic. According to the Vedic
standard, anyone can be elevated by training.
In this connection, there is a popular story in the Chandogya
Upanishad about a boy named Satyakama, who approached a guru for
enlightenment. “Are you the son of a brahmana?” the guru asked. The
boy said that he didn’t know who his father was. The guru then asked
him to inquire from his mother, but the boy’s mother frankly told him
that, since she had known many men, she wasn’t sure who his father
was. The boy then returned to the guru and said, “My mother doesn’t
know.” Pleased with the boy’s honesty, the spiritual master concluded,
“You are a brahmana.”
Conclusion
To summarize, the qualifications of the disciple are:
Humble surrender to the spiritual master
Submissive inquiry about the long term goal of life
Open-mindedness
Service attitude
Devotion to the Supreme Lord
Faith in the spiritual master
Avowed truthfulness
 Qualifications of Disciple 67 68 Your Best Friend

Thus one who feels the need to cross the dark ocean of
nescience, which is material existence, requires a guru. We must
inquire about that portion of God’s creation, which is beyond this
darkness. The Upanishads and the Bhagavad-gita describe another
world, beyond this material nature. According to Krishna in
Bhagavad-gita (15.6)
na tad bhasayate suryo na shashanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama
“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.”
It is not possible for us to go to that paravyoma (spiritual sky)
by material means. By great fortune, a soul wandering life after
life in this material world is guided by the Supreme Lord to a pure
devotee, who can become his spiritual master and deliver him
knowledge of his real identity, God and the transcendental
relationship between him and God. Therefore Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu has said,
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru krishna prasade paya bhakti lata bija
“The fallen, conditioned living entity, trapped by the external
energy, loiters in the material world, but by the mercy of the Lord,
he meets a bona fide representative of the Lord, and if he takes
advantage of such a guru, he receives the seed of devotional
service.” (Chaitanaya Charitamrita, Madhya 19.151)
Therefore one should not waste the valuable human form of
life; rather one should elevate oneself by surrendering to a bona
fide spiritual master and by following his instructions carefully.
Thus one can become completely purified by serving him and
become eligible to enter the kingdom of God in this very life.
The Most Confidential Knowledge 69 70 Your Best Friend

Religion – A Global View

Chapter 5 M any times a seeker of Truth is troubled by the perplexing

questions, “Common sense says that there can be only one
supreme. But if there is only one God, then why are there so many
religions, so many scriptures and so many gods mentioned in
them? And whom should I follow? Which is the perfect path back
to the kingdom of God?”
God is one. Therefore all scriptures being the word of that one
God, teach the same truths in essence. But God gives His message,
directly or through His messenger, according to the capacity of the
individuals who receive it. If the message is for the spiritually
advanced, then it may be given in an undiluted pure form. If the

The Most message is for the morally and spiritually degraded it is suitably
modified to preclude rejection and yet help them to make limited
spiritual progress. Unawareness of this fundamental principle,
Confidential which underlies and unifies the diverse religions of the world, has
resulted in religious conflicts, confrontations, wars and so on

Knowledge throughout history. An example explains this.

In elementary school Mathematics, a child is taught basic addition
and subtraction such as 5 - 2 = 3. But if he is asked, “What is 2 - 5 =
?”, he will say that it is not possible to subtract a bigger number from a
smaller number. But when he goes to high school, he learns 2 - 5 = -3.
That is also Mathematics. When he goes to college, he learns differential
calculus, integral calculus etc. which is also Mathematics. Although the
knowledge he has acquired at each level comes under the subject of
Mathematics, still there is a difference of standard between elementary
school Maths and M.Sc. Maths. The teacher may himself be a Ph.D. in
Maths, but he teaches according to the level of understanding of the
student, depending on whether he is in an elementary school, high
school or college.
 The Most Confidential Knowledge
Different Religions Teach According to
Time-Place-Circumstance
T he prophets and messiahs have always given their message
after assessing the ability of their audience to digest and
follow the teachings. We can understand that when Prophet
Mohammed preached the message of the Koran as revealed to
him, his audience consisted of degraded people. This is apparent
from the nature of the instructions given in the Koran. For
example, in the 4th Surah, verse 23-24, the Koran says, “Do not
have sex with your mother and sister.” If Mohammed had been
speaking to civilized people, such an injunction would have been
unnecessary. Mohammed himself was a God realized soul and had
been selected by God to be a prophet. But since he was speaking
to perverted tribesmen of that desert land, who were engaging in
such sexual practices, he had to give such instructions.
In the Christian religion, the Ten Commandments are
considered to be among the most important instructions and one of
them states: “Thou shalt not kill.” What kind of person needs to be
71 72 Your Best Friend
instructed to not kill? Only a killer. Jesus Christ preached such
basic religious principles only for three years, but even that
aroused so much opposition from the people at that time that they
mercilessly crucified him because of his teachings. Not only was
the general populace so degraded, but even amongst his most
intimate disciples, one sold him for 30 pieces of silver and another
denied that he had ever seen him.
The Bhagavad-gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, an
individual of spotless character and a product of the Vedic
civilization, when it was at its zenith. The Shrimad Bhagavatam
was spoken by Suta Gosvami to the sages at Naimisharanya, who
were ascetics and who had dedicated their lives to performing
sacrifices for the welfare of humanity. This was the quality of the
audience hearing the Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. Is
it surprising then that the Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad
Bhagavatam appear to be different from the Bible or the Koran?
The Essence of All Religions
V eda Vyas, Jesus Christ and Mohammed were all equally
divinely empowered and inspired. Yet with divine discretion
they revealed only as much as their audience could digest. So
although the major religious scriptures may appear to be teaching
different principles, their essence is the same. For example,
1. All scriptures recommend the chanting of the holy names
of God.
The Bible states: O Lord, Thou art in heaven, hallowed be Thy
name.
Islam teaches the regular chanting of the 99 names of Allah.
The Mahabharata recommends the chanting of the thousand
names of Lord Vishnu (called the Vishnu-sahasra-nama).
2. All religions teach that love of God is the ultimate
perfection.
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 73
The Bible states: Love Thy God with all Thy soul and all Thy
might.
The very word ‘Islam’ means ‘complete surrender’ (Koran)
The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) states: sarva dharman parityajya
mam ekam sharanam vraja “Abandon all varieties of religion
and just surrender to Me.” (This kind of complete surrender is
never possible without love)
An analysis of the various religious scriptures reveals the
following common essential principles:
1. There is only one God and He is the supreme object of our
love.
2. Obedience to God is the ultimate religious principle.
3. Service to God is the nature of all living entities.
4. The kingdom of God is the ultimate shelter for everyone.
74 Your Best Friend
5. To approach God, sinful activities must be given up.
6. Chanting the Holy Names of God is the easiest way of
reviving God consciousness.
7. One should renounce flickering material pleasure to
experience everlasting spiritual happiness.
8. One needs the guidance and the mercy of a bona fide spiritual
master to achieve God.
Let us now try to understand the seeming differences in the
various religious scriptures. For example, consider what different
religions say about meat eating. In every religion there are
restrictions against meat eating. In Islam, all animals may be eaten
after ritual sacrifice except the pig and the dog. The Roman
Catholics used to take meat every day except Friday. Today
because people are unwilling to follow even this minimal
restriction, it no longer exists. In Shrimad Bhagavatam, on the
other hand, it is clearly stated that meat eating is a pillar of sinful
life and that true spiritual life cannot begin until we show mercy
towards all the children of God.
How does one explain these differences? It is very simple.
Although all empowered messengers of God have the same
message they restrict their teachings to what their audience can
digest. For the little that Mohammed taught, he had to flee from
Mecca due to threat to his life. For the three years that Jesus
preached, he was crucified. Little wonder therefore that in the
Bible, He says: “There is much that I have to tell you but you
cannot bear it now .” But Lord Sri Krishna tells Arjuna in the
Bhagavad-gita that He is giving him perfect knowledge:
jnanam te ‘ham sa-vijnanam idam vakshyamy asheshatah
yaj jnatva neha bhuyo ‘nyaj jnatavyam avashishyate
“I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge both
phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further
shall remain for you to know.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.2)
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 75
Different Platforms of Worshipping God: Fear,
Desire, Duty and Love
A lthough we understand that the God addressed as the one
supreme in all religions is the same person, still different
religions approach Him at different levels:
1) Bhaya (out of fear) :
Majority of the religions teach worship on the platform of fear.
They portray God as the all powerful, grave chastiser of
wrongdoers, the one who casts the atheists in the blazing fire of
hell for eternal damnation. People who worship the Lord out of
stimulation of fear, bhaya, include those who are afraid of hell,
poverty, pain, and death. This understanding of God as a
frightening person is not a very advanced level of understanding
because it focuses on only one small aspect of God as a judge who
punishes the sinful; but God is much more than that.
2) Asha (for satisfying material aspirations) :
At a higher stage, one begins to realize that all of one’s desires
can be fulfilled only by pleading from a higher authority. When
one understands that the sanction of the Lord is required to
achieve one’s desired end, one begins to follow the injunctions of
the scriptures by performing sacrifice, giving charity and taking to
strict vows and austerities for the fulfilment of one’s desires. One
may thus aspire for material benefits like bountiful harvest,
abundant wealth or progeny. At a higher stage, one may aspire
for elevation to heavenly planets. Even those working for
achieving mystic power through eight-fold mystic yoga or those
aspiring to merge into brahman are said to be devoid of peace,
because all these material desires can never satisfy the soul until
he reaches the platform of loving God without any motivation.
For example Dhruva aspired for a kingdom greater than his great
grandfather, Brahma, and thus performed severe austerities at
76 Your Best Friend
Madhuvan. After he achieved the darshan of Lord Vishnu, all his
material desires were vanquished.
3) Kartavya buddhi (out of a sense of duty) :
There are those who worship the Lord with feelings of gratitude
arisen from conceiving of Him as God, the creator of everything.
The sense of duty makes them acknowledge the authority of God
and be grateful to Him for providing all the necessities of life –
food, grains, fruits, air, water, sunlight, minerals etc – so that we
may live happily in this world. This type of worship out of a sense
of duty is certainly superior to worship out of fear or desire
because, on this duty-bound platform, a person understands God
to be a loving father who provides him all that he needs for his
sustenance and protection.
4) Raga (out of genuine attraction to the Lord) :
The real platform of religion, however, is love of God, where
one worships God only out of love for Him. Such a devotee does
not consider God to be an order-supplier; rather he offers
everything he has to God out of unmotivated and uninterrupted
love.
It is immaterial whether one is a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian.
The ultimate goal of religion is to achieve pure love for God. This
love is characterized by selflessness, for we are not speaking of
the love one feels toward someone who has satisfied one’s needs.
It is actually the opposite; this love is an expansion of oneself, an
outward flow marked by selflessness in action, speech and
thought. It seeks no reward or return; the devotee only desires to
satisfy the senses of the Lord. The more one practices this type of
love for God, the more one achieves complete freedom from all
bondage and develops an intimate relationship with God.
On the previous platforms, the worshiper is interested in God
mainly as a facilitator of his material life, but on this platform, one
serves God simply out of love without expecting any material
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 77
benefit. It is this pure philosophy of unmotivated love of God that
the Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.2.6) teaches: “The supreme
occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can
attain to loving devotional service to the transcendent Lord. Such
devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to
completely satisfy the self.”
This unconditional selfless love of God naturally evokes similar
selfless love for every living entity because every soul is a beloved
son of God. The Shrimad Bhagavatam abounds with examples of
such pure devotees of the Lord. For example, Bhakta Prahlad, the
exalted devotee of Lord Narasimhadeva, remained unshaken even
in the face of great adversities and desired the good of his father,
the demoniac Hiranyakashipu, though the latter tried to brutally
murder him in numerous ways. The Bhagavatam also teaches the
process by which every one of us can be elevated to this platform
of loving God and having a direct eternal relationship with Him.
Human beings can be divided into two classes – devotees and
demons. The demons do not know the laws of God and they do
not want to know the laws of God. They thrive in sinful activities
by deliberately disobeying God by disregarding His proprietorship
of everything. Sometimes they concoct something about the
unfathomable God with the few grams of brain substance and
mislead the general populace from the
path of His instructions. A devotee, on
the other hand, accepts the authority of
God and follows His instructions
according to the authorized scriptures
like Bhagavad gita and Srimad
Bhagavatam. Therefore, for a seeker
of truth, the first step is to accept the
authority of God. Then he can understand the different types of
worshiping God, namely, fear, desire, duty and love.
Thus all religions are ultimately meant to gradually elevate the
follower to the highest platform of love of God. This higher
78 Your Best Friend
understanding of the common purpose of all religions – love of
God – resolves the superficial contradictions among them.
Consider two dictionaries – a small pocket dictionary and a big
bulky Chamber’s dictionary. Just as small words like ‘come’, ‘go’, ‘eat’
etc. can be found in both the pocket and the Chamber’s dictionaries,
similarly basic instructions in the mode of goodness like ‘Do not steal’,
‘Love everyone’, ‘Forgive your enemy’, ‘Always do good to others’ may
be found in all religious scriptures. And just as big words like
‘cataclysm’, ‘corroborate’ will not be found in the pocket dictionary, but
can be found only in the Chamber’s dictionary, similarly instructions in
the mode of pure goodness, like ‘Surrender to the will of Lord out of
unmotivated uninterrupted love’, ‘Think of God and serve Him twenty-
four hours a day’ and ‘Renounce all worldly pleasures and have a
desire to serve God birth after birth without desiring even liberation’
can be found only in the most advanced scriptures. Therefore authorized
religions like Christianity, Islam etc are like pocket dictionaries (where
there is a partial revelation of the Truth according to the level of the
audience) and the scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and the Shrimad
Bhagavatam are like the Chamber’s dictionary (which claim to give
complete knowledge by knowing which nothing further remains to be
known).
Yet all scripture is perfect. In Islam, Sufi saints abstain from
meat and intoxicants and, by following the Koran, achieve a
spiritually exalted status. In Christianity, Franciscian friars and
Benedictine monks, following strict vegetarianism, sobriety and
celibacy achieve a similar exalted spiritual status.
Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions
T he Vedic texts are not sectarian Hindu scriptures, as is
commonly misunderstood. The Vedic literature is meant for
all mankind since time immemorial, whereas the word ‘Hindu’ has
come up only a few centuries ago. When the Muslims invaded
Bharata-varsha (as India was known in those days), they started
calling the followers of the Vedic culture ‘Sindhus’ because they
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 79
lived on the banks of the Sindhu river. However due to the
difficulty they had in pronouncing the initial ‘s’ in the word
‘Sindhu’, they mispronounced it as ‘Hindu’. And since then the
followers of the Vedic religion have been known as ‘Hindus’ and
the Vedic religion as ‘Hinduism’, although the people themselves
did not use this term. So there is no reference whatsoever to any
‘Hindu’ religion in the Vedic scriptures, nor is the word found in
the Vedic dictionary. The proper term for the teachings of the
Vedic scriptures, as mentioned in these scriptures themselves, is
‘Sanatana Dharma’, the eternal and universal religion, that religion
which is not limited by time, place and circumstance.
A nd this Sanatana Dharma stands strong even today, despite
all kinds of onslaughts from all quarters. If we look back at the
history of the various religions of the world, Islam started about
1300 years ago, Christianity about 2000 years ago and Buddhism
about 2500 years ago. The Bhagavad-gita, on the other hand, was
80 Your Best Friend
spoken about 5000 years ago. And although Lord Krishna spoke
Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna 5000 years ago, He explains in the Gita
itself: “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-
god Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of
mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku .......That very
ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told
by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend;
therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this
science.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.1-3)
Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita was spoken
by the Lord to His disciple, Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the
Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human
society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by
the Lord again to Arjuna about 5000 years ago. That is the
estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and
according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krishna.
Thus Sanatana Dharma being the oldest religion is the
supermarket of religions. This assortment of religions is designed
to suit the nature and the inclination of people who range from the
morally degraded to the spiritually exalted.
Worship According to Propensities
T he Matsya Purana says that there are 18 Puranas (supple-
mentary Vedic literatures). Out of these, there are 6 Puranas
each written for:
People in the mode of ignorance or tamo guna (These Puranas
glorify and recommend worship of Shiva and his consort, Durga).
People in the mode of passion or rajo guna (These glorify and
recommend worship of Brahma and other demigods).
People in the mode of goodness or sattva guna (These
recommend the worship of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna).
This variety in the modes of worship is presented by the Vedic
literature so that anyone and everyone can worship according to
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 81
their natural propensities. Consider, for example, worship of Lord
Shiva. Lord Shiva is an avatar (a guna avatar, to be more specific)
of Lord Krishna and he rules over those in the mode of ignorance.
A few real-life examples graphically illustrate what worship in the
mode of ignorance is.
If you visit Kankeshwar (Lord Shiva’s temple close to
Bombay) you will find sadhus smoking charas. Even if you
suggest to them that a sadhu should be free from intoxicants,
they will smile at you and quote extensively from Shaivite
scripture to prove that the devotees of Shiva must take
intoxicants to worship Him properly! They will further say
that on Maha Shivaratri, the taking of ‘bhang’ is an essential
part of the celebration.
According to tantric worship the worshipers of Durga are
required to have the five M’s: maans (meat) , matsya (fish),
madira (liquor), maithuna (sex), and mura (parched rice) to
worship her properly.
These forms of (regulated) worship are the only means by which
degraded minds can be enticed to glorify God. If this kind of
regulation is not prescribed for them, such people are anyway
going to indulge in such sinful activities day in and day out. If
anyone in such mode of ignorance agrees to follow such basic
regulation (like having these undesirable items only on Maha-
Shivaratri) as given in the scriptures, he will be considered saintly
in his society and others will be inspired to follow in his footsteps.
And when those in mode of ignorance follow these forms of
worship they gradually arrive at a higher state of consciousness.
For example, in the Vedic scriptures, it is advised that animal
sacrifice should be performed to please Kali. This injunction is for
those who are in the mode of ignorance and are addicted to meat
eating. It is designed to wean them from this habit. The sacrifice
of a goat to goddess Kali may be performed only once a month on
amavasya (the moonless night). The devotee of Kali has to
personally cut the throat of a goat while chanting a mantra in its
82 Your Best Friend
ear. The mantra means: ‘My dear goat, in this life I sacrifice you
to goddess Kali, in the next life you may do the same to me(!)’ On
performing this sacrifice several times even the most demonic
worshiper of Kali will wake up. As he realizes that he is creating
terrible future suffering for himself, spiritual wisdom dawns. In
this way arriving at a higher consciousness he abandons the
consumption of meat.
Just as this method of worship elevates those who are in the
mode of ignorance, similarly the Puranas give methods of worship
for elevation of those who are in the modes of passion and
goodness. Thus we see that the Vedic scriptures are scientifically
designed by God to gradually elevate all followers to spiritual
perfection.
The Absolute Truth - A Conclusive Understanding
God: One Person Called by Different Names
By definition, God is the supreme being and is the greatest as
regards any quality, attribute, characteristic etc. In other words,
there is no one equal to or greater than God in any quality,
attribute or characteristic. For each of His qualities, God has a
name.
For example, when we call God as ‘almighty’, it means that
there is no one mightier than Him. And when we call Him as
‘omnipotent’ it means that God is all potent; He has unlimited
varieties of potencies and there is also no limit to the extent of His
potencies. The sun may be called as ‘sun’ by an Englishman, as
‘sooraj’ by a Hindi speaking person and as ‘soorya’ by a Sanskrit
speaking person, yet when they speak these various names, they
all refer to the same object – the sun. Similarly, God is called by
different names like: ‘Jehovah’ meaning ‘The Almighty’, ‘Allah’
meaning ‘The Greatest’ , ‘Rama’ meaning ‘The Reservoir of All
Pleasure’ and so on by different people according to their
cultures, languages etc. All these names undoubtedly refer to the
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 83
same supreme person - God, but each of these names refer only to
a specific quality of God. A simple definition of God is: ‘janmady
asya yatah’ ‘God is the one from whom everything emanates’
(Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1) He is therefore the source of all
qualities. Is there any name of God that encompasses all His
qualities?
The equivalent word in Sanskrit for God is ‘Bhagavan’ and the
meaning of the word ‘Bhagavan’ is explained by the great
authority, Parashara Muni, the father of the great sage Vyasadeva,
as follows: The Supreme Personality of Godhead who
possesses (1) all riches, (2) all strength, (3) all fame, (4) all
beauty, (5) all knowledge, and (6) all renunciation is called
Bhagavan. (Bhaga means ‘opulence’ and ‘van’ means ‘one who
possesses’) There are many persons who are very rich, very
powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very
much detached, but no one can claim that he possesses all riches,
all strength etc. entirely except God. The presence of one or more
of these opulences in a person even in a minute quantity makes
him attractive in the eyes of others. As God possesses al these
wonderful qualities in full, He is naturally the most attractive
person, the all-attractive person. The equivalent Sanskrit word for
‘all attractive’ is ‘Krishna’. Hence Krishna is the name which
gives the most complete description of God.
Who Is God ?
I n the Bible, Jesus calls himself the son and representative
of God. In the Koran, Mohammed calls himself a prophet or a
messenger of God. The question therefore begs itself: who is God?
Only God Himself knows this answer completely, and therefore
we should hear from Him. In the Bhagavad-gita, which is the
summum bonum of all Vedic literatures, Lord Krishna declares
Himself to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He
specifically asserts His supremacy over the well-known gods or
84 Your Best Friend
demigods of the Vedic pantheon. Unfortunately, many people
think of Lord Sri Krishna as an ordinary person, while some admit
that He was an extraordinary person with great mystic powers. But
actually according to scriptures, Lord Krishna is neither an
ordinary person nor an extraordinary person; He is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, the supreme
proprietor, the supreme enjoyer, the one whom no one can ever
equal or surpass in any aspect.
Is God Personal or Impersonal?
W hether God is personal or impersonal has been a sub
ject of raging controversy throughout the ages. You are a
person, I am a person, even the butterfly is a person. In fact, every
living entity is a person. When all of us are persons, then how can
God, the one from whom all of us have originated, not be a
person? Your father is a person, his father is a person, his father is
also a person, then how can the supreme father not be a person?
By definition God is perfect and complete. Being the complete
whole, He must contain everything both within and beyond our
experience, otherwise He cannot be complete. Therefore, to be
perfect and complete, God must be both personal and impersonal.
When we are all persons, why should someone consider that
the Absolute Truth in the ultimate sense is not a person? The
mentality that leads to this sort of impersonal conception is
mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita 4th chapter 10th verse.
It is very difficult for a person who is too materially affected to
understand the personal nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth.
Generally, people who are too attached to the bodily conception of
life cannot understand that there is a transcendental body, which is
imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. In the
materialistic concept, the body is perishable, full of ignorance and
completely miserable. Therefore, people in general keep this same
bodily idea in mind when they are informed of the personal form
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 85
of the Lord. Consequently they feel that the supreme cannot be
personal.
And because they are too materially absorbed, the conception
of retaining the personality after liberation from matter frightens
them. When they are informed that spiritual life is also individual
and personal, they become afraid of becoming persons again, and
so they naturally prefer a kind of merging into the impersonal
void.
The truth that God is a person whose bodily effulgence is the
impersonal brahmajyoti can be well understood from several
scriptural statements.
According to the Shrimad Bhagavatam(1.2.11), God exists in
three aspects: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti shabdyate
“The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding
by the knower of the Absolute Truth, and all of them are identical.
Such phases of the Absolute Truth are expressed as Brahman,
Paramatma, and Bhagavan.”
These three divine aspects can be compared to the sun, which
also has three different aspects, namely the sunshine, the sun’s
surface and the sun planet itself.
Brahman is the impersonal all-pervading brahmajyoti which is
actually the effulgence emanating from the transcendental body of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It can be compared to the
sunshine or the energy of the sun. In trying to understand the sun,
the ordinary students are satisfied by simply understanding the
sunshine – its universal pervasiveness and the glaring effulgence
of its impersonal nature. Such students can be compared to the
jnanis or the mental speculators who can realize only this
Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth.
86 Your Best Friend
Paramatma is the all-pervading localized aspect
of the Absolute Truth. He is the four-handed
form of Vishnu, present in every atom as well as
in the hearts of all living beings. The students
who have advanced further in the study of the sun
can know the sun disc. They can be compared to
the yogis or the meditators who perceive this
Paramatma feature of the Absolute Truth.
Bhagavan is the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth and is
the last word in transcendence. The students who can enter into
the heart of the sun planet are compared to the bhaktas or the
devotees who realize the personal features of the Supreme
Absolute Truth. This Bhagavan aspect
is the all-glorious, all-beautiful
threefold bending form of Lord Shri
Krishna holding a flute in His hands.
Realization of this Bhagavan feature
automatically includes the realization
of the Brahman and Paramatma
features just as a person who has
understood the sun planet
automatically comes to know that the
sun is the source of both the sunshine
and sun disc.
The Most Confidential Knowledge: God is a Person
G enerally people have a notion that the Absolute Truth is some
power or some form of energy, but the actual fact is that God
is a person just like each one of us is a person. He is sentient and
He reciprocates love with His unlimited subordinates, the living
entities, in His own abode, known variously as the kingdom of
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 87
God or the spiritual world. All religions refer to God as a person
and not as a power or a void. For example,
In the Bible, Ezekiel (1.26) describes God as having “the
semblance of a human form.” In Genesis, chapters 18 and 19,
it is stated that God appeared before Abraham in a humanlike
form, although the form is not elaborately described. There are
also many other references to the form of God, such as, ‘under
His feet’ (Exodus 24:10), ‘the eyes of the Lord’ (Genesis
38:7), ‘the ears of the Lord’ (Numbers 11:1), ‘inscribed with
finger of God’ (Exodus 31:18)
In the Koran too, Allah’s face (‘Wajh’ 55.26-27), Allah’s
eyes (‘Aynun’ 11.37) etc are clearly mentioned.
How can an impersonal God have feet, finger, hand, eyes, ears
etc?
The Vedic literatures, which predate the Bible as well as the
Koran and which were written in a highly advanced spiritual
culture, also declares God to be a person, but they go well beyond
that; they specifically reveal His form, His features, His pastimes
and His personality. Of course the attributes of God are infinite,
and words can only hint at His glory.
A few quotes from the Vedic scriptures proving the form of
God are given below:
om shri krishnaya namah om sac cid ananda rupaya
“I invoke Lord Krishna, who possesses a form that is eternal, full
of knowledge and bliss.” (Gopal Tapani Upanishad 1.1, 1.2)
isvarah paramah krishnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam
“Krishna (God) is the supreme controller. He has a form of
eternity, knowledge and bliss. He is the prime cause of all causes”
(Brahma Samhita 1). Here the word vigraha, which means ‘form’,
is explicitly used.
The Vedic literatures also give vivid descriptions of the form of
the Lord. For example,
88 Your Best Friend
alola-candraka-lasad-vanamalya-vamshi-
ratnangadam pranaya-keli-kala-vilasam
shyamam tri-bhanga-lalitam niyata-prakasham
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami’
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is
swinging a garland of flowers beautified with moon-locket, whose
two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who
always revels in pastimes of love and whose graceful threefold-
bending form of Shyamasundara is eternally manifest.” There are
many other similar descriptions about the Lord.
The Vedic literatures thus clearly declare that God has a form.
But they also explain that His form is certainly not like ours –
made of flesh, bone and stool. Our body is temporary, and is the
cause of our ignorance and misery whereas the Lord’s body is
eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. That the Lord’s form is
inconceivable is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.9)
kavim puranam anushasitaram
anor aniyamsam anusmared yah
sarvarsya dhataram acintya rupam
aditya-varnam tamasah parastat
Here the word acintya-rupam clearly indicates that the form of
the Lord is inconceivable.
Thus the form of the Lord is completely transcendental, beyond
the limits of sense perception. Nevertheless He has a form. To
help us understand how His form is completely different from
ours, the Lord perfomed a wonderful pastime which when Lord
Krishna was still a child, His mother, Yashodamai, looked into
His mouth to see if He has eaten mud. What would one expect to
see in the mouth of an ordinary mortal? The oral cavity with teeth,
tongue and palate – nothing worth seeing. Yet when she looked
into the mouth of the Lord she saw the entire universe in His
mouth – all the directions, the mountains, the islands, oceans, seas,
planets, air, fire, moon and stars. In this universe she also saw
herself - looking into Krishna’s mouth. This pastime illustrates
 The Most Confidential Knowledge 89 90 Your Best Friend

This conclusion is the most confidential knowledge taught by

the Vedas. And it was revealed to the world by His Divine Grace
A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who thus opened the lid
of the honey bottle of love of Krishna and made it available for
anyone and everyone throughout the world to drink and relish. To
make the subject free from all ambiguity, he would always refer to
the Absolute Truth, not just as God but as “the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.” This is the English equivalent of the
Sanskrit word Bhagavan, which refers to the ultimate aspect of the
Absolute Truth. When the Lord is addressed as “the Supreme
Personality of Godhead”, it is clearly understood that He has a
form and a personality. And the word Godhead signifies that He is
the supreme God (God with a capital G) heading all the other gods
(god with a small g).

that although Krishna appeared to be just like an ordinary child

standing in front of His mother, He simultaneously contained the
entire universe within Himself.
Thus the conclusion of the Vedic scriptures is crystal clear:
God is a person.
Krishna – The All-Attractive 91 92 Your Best Friend

W e are all persons and, if God is also a person, as we

Chapter 6 understood from the previous chapter, then what is so

special about Him that He should be considered the Supreme
Personality of Godhead? And why should Krishna alone and not
anyone else be considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
The Supreme Lord is referred to in the Vedic literature as
‘Bhagavan’. The Sanskrit word ‘Bhagavan’ is explained by the
great authority Parashara muni, father of Vyasadeva :
aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva sannam bhaga itingana
“Full wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation
– these are the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.” (Vishnu Purana 6.5.47)
Krishna - The To the degree a person possesses one or more of these
opulences, he becomes special or attractive in the eyes of others.
All-Attractive These opulences are present in living beings only in a small

All Riches All Strength

All Fame All Beauty

All Knowledge All Renunciation

 Krishna – The All-Attractive 93 94 Your Best Friend

fraction – and that too only for a very short time, yet we are so Krishna has a beautiful face with eyes like blooming lotus
spontaneously attracted to those who possess them. How petals, lips like bimba fruit, a prominent nose, teeth like
supremely attractive then will that person be who possesses all jasmine buds rendered rosy by the splendor of lips, arched eye
these opulences in full for all of eternity? And it is that person brows and a smile that can dry up the ocean of sufferings of
who is called Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality of Godhead). the living entities (Shrimad Bhagavatam 3.28.18-38)
Hence though God is a person, He can in no way be compared to
any person of this world.
And, if we examine the Vedic literature, we find that among all
the gods described in the Vedic pantheon, Krishna alone is the
possessor of all these six opulences in full eternally, as we shall
see in this chapter. That is why He is called Bhagavan.
Krishna - All-Beautiful
In this world, beauty is an opulence which attracts everyone.
But only the living beings of same species are attracted to each
other; a male human being is attracted only to a female human
being, not to a female hog and vice versa. But Krishna’s
beauty is not limited in this way; He is universally attractive.
In Vrindavan even the monkeys, deer, cows, birds, the river
Yamuna etc are all spontaneously attracted to Krishna. That is
why He has the name Krishna, which means ‘all attractive’.
Thus His beauty is in a class of its own, completely apart from
worldly beauty.
The whole world is attracted by the beauty of Cupid, but
Krishna is so beautiful that thousands of Cupids are attracted
to Him. That is why Krishna is also celebrated as ‘Madan
mohan’ (one who attracts even Cupid). A glimpse of how
beautiful Krishna is can be had from the fact that the gopis of
Vrindavan scolded Brahmaji, the creator, for having created
imperfect eyes which blink after every few seconds and
therefore prevent them from continuously beholding the
beauty of Krishna. They desired eyes which would never blink
so that they could unceasingly drink the nectar of Krishna’s
beauty with their eyes.
 Krishna – The All-Attractive 95
Krishna is adorned with a peacock feather on His head and a
flute in His hands. He wears a vaijayantimala garland
surrounded by humming bees around His neck, and a
pitambar, a yellow color dhoti. He stands in a graceful three-
fold bending form, which charms the hearts of even thousands
of Cupids. (Brahma Samhita 30)
Krishna - All-Knowledgeable
Anyone with a material body cannot remember his past life,
nor can he foretell his future life, nor can he predict the
outcome of his present life; therefore he cannot know what is
happening in the past, present and future. But Krishna says:
vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana
“O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know
everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening
in the present, and all things that are yet to come, I also know
all living entities; but Me no one knows.” (Bhagavad-gita
7.26)
96 Your Best Friend
In the fourth chapter of Gita, Krishna informs Arjuna that He
instructed Vivasvan, the sun god, millions of years ago. But
Arjuna inquired from Krishna, how He could possibly have
instructed Vivasvan, as Vivasvan was senior by birth to
Krishna. Krishna replied as follows:
bahuni me vyatitani janmani tava carjuna
tany aham veda sarvani na tvam vettha parantapa
“Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can
remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the
enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita 4.5)
A living entity forgets everything due to his change of body,
but the Lord remembers because He does not change His sac-
cid-ananda body. He is advaita, which means there is no
distinction between His body and Himself. Anyone who is a
constant companion of the Lord, like Arjuna, is certainly a
liberated person, but he cannot be equal to the Lord. The Lord
is called infallible (acyuta), which means that He never forgets
Himself, even though He is in material contact.
Krishna - All-Strong
In this world, people are attracted to those who are very
strong. Weight-lifters spend their entire lives practicing and,
when finally, after years of endeavor, they manage to lift a
large weight for a few moments, they are deemed by millions
as heroic stars. But what is their strength compared to the
strength of Govardhanadhari Krishna? Krishna, when He was
just 7 years old, lifted Govardhan hill on the nail of the little
finger of His left hand and thus effortlessly protected all the
residents of Vrindavan from the heavy rainfall caused by
Indra. The Govardhan Mountain is still existing today in
Vrindavan and has a circumference of around 22 kms and was
much larger 5000 years ago. But Krishna easily lifted it – not
 Krishna – The All-Attractive 97
just for a few moments, but for seven continuous days and
nights! Such is the extraordinary strength of Krishna.
Once when Srila Prabhupada asked his disciple artist Jadurani
to draw a picture of Krishna as Govardhanadhari, she
portrayed Krishna as a youth with big biceps. Srila
Prabhupada told her that Krishna does not need to have such
muscles to lift Govardhan; His body is spiritual and has
inconceivable potency. He lifted the huge Govardhan hill as
easily as an elephant would lift a mushroom.
Krishna killed the demoness Putana and demons like
Trinavarta, Aghasura and Bakasura very easily without much
endeavor. He killed the gigantic elephant Kuvalayapida, broke
the huge sacrificial bow in Mathura and defeated powerful
wrestlers like Canur and Mushtik, etc.
98 Your Best Friend
In the Bhagavad-gita (7.11) Krishna declares that He is the
strength in every living being: balam balavatam caham “I am
the strength of the strong.”
Krishna - All-Famous
Krishna is constantly glorified in all the Vaikuntha planets.
Therefore one of His names is ‘uttama sloka’, one who is
always glorified by choice poetry.
Ananta shesha, the massive serpent bed of the Lord, has been
glorifying the Lord with His thousands of hoods since time
immemorial and has still not found an end to the Lord’s
glories.
In the tenth canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam the Lord says,
“Even if a scientist may be able to estimate the number of
atoms in the universe, no one will be able to estimate My
glories.”
A poet has sung that even if we use all the sky as paper, all
the trees in the world as pens, all the oceans as ink and write
the glories of the Lord, still they will be inadequate to even
begin to describe the Lord’s glories.
In the Mahabharata, while glorifying Lord Krishna, Bhishma
chanted the Vishnu sahasra nama (1000 names of Lord
Visnu). And each one of these names describes an
inconceivable transcendental glory of the Lord.
Sometimes it is asked, “Krishna is known only to a small
fraction of the people of this world. Then how can He be
considered to be all-famous?” But we have to understand that
as compared to the totality of creation, this entire material
world consisting of millions of universes is just an
insignificant speck. And just because He is not so well-known
at present on a tiny planet in this insignificant material world
does not decrease His fame because He is glorified eternally
throughout the spiritual world by His innumerable devotees.
And even in this material world, he is constantly being
 Krishna – The All-Attractive 99
glorified in the higher planetary systems. yam brahma
varunendra rudra marutah stunvanti divyaih stavaih “The
Supreme Lord is constantly glorified by demigods like
Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Shiva and Maruts.” (Shrimad
Bhagavatam 12.13.1)
Moreover this material world is compared to a prison as those
living entities who are rebellious of God are kept here. If some of
the inmates of a prison in a country do not know about the prime
minister of that country, does that detract from the glory of the
100 Your Best Friend
prime minister? Not in the least. Similarly if a few living entities
in this material world are not aware of the glories of Lord Krishna,
that does not in any way affect His fame.
Krishna - All-Wealthy
Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (10.8):
aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava samanvitah
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds.
Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this
perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me
with all their hearts.” Lord Krishna, being the source of
 Krishna – The All-Attractive 101 102 Your Best Friend

everything, naturally possesses everything both in the spiritual

and the material world. In the material world, one may be a
very rich man; but no one can claim to be so rich that he
possesses everything of the world. In fact, even the richest
men of this world work hard in order to maintain their
positions. But Lord Krishna never has to worry about any
competition. He is eternally the proprietor of everything
everywhere and no one can challenge Him.
In this world people are competing to get the favor of the
goddess of fortune but in the spiritual world thousands of
goddesses of fortune are competing to serve Krishna, as stated
in the Brahma Samhita (5.29) laksmi sahasra shata
sambhrama sevyamanam.
Krishna delivered 16,000 princesses from the clutches of the
demon Bhaumasura and married all of them as per their desire.
And, for each one of them, He build a magnificent marble
palace in Dwaraka lavishly furnished with beautiful gardens,
countless gentle cows, thousands of servants and
maidservants, gorgeous furniture bedecked with priceless
jewels etc.
Krishna - All-Renounced
In the holy place of Sri Ranga-kshetra, a Vaishnava brahmana would
daily visit the temple of Lord Ranganath and recite the entire text of
Bhagavad-gita. However he was not able to pronounce the Sanskrit
words correctly, and so Sanskrit scholars around the temple used to
make fun of him. But, just by reading the Bhagavad-gita, he was
overflowing with great spiritual ecstasy, and so he did not in the least
bother about what people were talking about him.
When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Sri Ranga-kshetra and saw
the brahmana shedding tears of love, He asked the brahmana, “My dear
sir, why are you in such ecstatic love? Which portion of Bhagavad-gita
gives you such transcendental pleasure?”
The brahmana replied, “My Lord, I am illiterate and therefore do not
know the meaning of the words. Sometimes I read Bhagavad-gita
correctly and sometimes incorrectly, but in any case I continue with my
reading because it is the order of my spiritual master.”
The brahmana continued, “Actually whenever I open the Bhagavad-
gita, I only see a picture of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of

W hen someone possesses any of the above opulences, he

naturally becomes very attached and proud of them. But
inspite of possessing all the opulences, Krishna is not in the least
attached to or proud of them. Thus He is also the possessor of the
supreme opulence of renunciation.
In the Chaitanya Charitamrita, the multi-volume treatise on the
life and teachings of Lord Chaitanya, there is a beautiful story of a
South Indian brahmana. It illustrates how Lord Krishna, although
the source of all that exists, is completely renounced and how He
becomes the humble servant of His loving devotees out of His
love for them. This is due to His opulence of renunciation.
 Krishna – The All-Attractive 103 104 Your Best Friend

Godhead. sitting on the magnificent chariot of Arjuna as his charioteer. Krishna - The All-Attractive
With the reins in His hands, Lord Krishna appears very beautiful. When
I see this picture of Lord Krishna driving the chariot of Arjuna, His
beloved devotee, I am filled with ecstatic happiness.” T here are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very
beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much
detached, but no one except God can claim that he possesses all
Thus we see that, though Lord Krishna is Lakshmipati
(husband of the goddess of fortune) He readily took the humble riches, all strength etc entirely. Anyone who possesses all the
position of a chauffeur. For this extraordinary pastime of His, He above six opulences in full is naturally ‘all attractive’. And, as
is glorified even today as Partha-sarthi (the charioteer of Partha or seen from the above discussion, Lord Krishna alone possesses all
Arjuna). In the material world, everyone wants to show off his these opulences in full. That is why He is the all-attractive
greatness to others; nobody wants to become a menial servant. Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate object of our love
This is all the more true for anyone who possesses some opulence. and devotion eternally.
But Lord Krishna, inspite of being the most opulent person ever, is
so renounced that He becomes bound by the love of His devotees
and takes the position of their servant.
In the Mahabharata, when the rajasuya yajna was to be
performed, Maharaja Yudhisthira, after consulting with
Vyasadeva, asked his various relatives to take up different
services. He asked Bhishma and Drona to oversee the
organisation for the sacrifice. Dushashana was put in charge of
food distribution, while Ashwathama was solicited to look
after the brahmanas. Duryodhana was appointed to receive all
the gifts that were brought for Yudhisthira, and Vidura became
the master of the treasury. With a desire to gain the blessings
of the brahmanas and the guests, Lord Krishna, personally
undertook the humble service of washing their feet as they
arrived. In this way Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead exhibited His great renunciation.
Lord Krishna became a simple messenger on behalf of the
Pandavas to negotiate with Duryodhana as stated in the
Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.16.16).
Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 105 106 Your Best Friend

I n the previous chapter, we concluded that Krishna alone is

Chapter 7 Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But declaring

Krishna to be Supreme and all others to be subordinate to Him is
not a matter of sentiment or fanaticism. It is the unanimous and
unequivocal proclamation of all the revealed scriptures. In this
chapter, we shall discuss a few evidences for Krishna’s
supremacy.
Krishna: Father of All Beings

T he entire cosmic manifestation, moving and nonmoving,

is manifested by different activities of Krishna’s energy. In
the material world we create relationships with different living

Evidences for
entities who are nothing but Krishna’s marginal energy; under the
creation of prakrti (material nature) some of them appear as our
father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are
Krishna’s parts and parcels of Krishna. Not only are our father and mother
parts and parcels of Krishna, but even their creators – our
Supremacy grandmother and grandfather, etc. are also parts and parcels of
Krishna. Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (9.17): pitaham
asya jagato mata dhata pitamahah “I am the father of this
universe, the mother, the support, and the grandsire.” Krishna
gives a genealogical synopsis of the universal population in the
Bhagavad-gita (10.6):
maharishayah sapta purve catvaro manavas tatha
mad-bhava manasa jata yesham loka imah prajah
“The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages
and the Manus (progenitors of mankind) are born out of My mind,
and all creatures in these planets descend from them.”
Similarly in the Bhagavad-gita (14.4), He states:
sarva-yonisu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir aham bija pradah pita
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 107
“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti,
are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the
seed-giving father.”
Krishna: Source of All Demigods
K rishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Vishnu is a His plenary portion. Brahma is born on a lotus
flower that sprouts from the navel of Garbhodakashayi Vishnu.
And all the other demigods are created by Brahma. Thus Krishna
108 Your Best Friend
is the source of all the demigods including Lord Shiva and Lord
Br ahma. Lord Krishna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (10.2):
na me viduh sura-ganah prabhavam na maharsayah
aham adir hi devanam maharsinam ca sarvasah
“Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My
origin, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and
the sages.”
All the Vedic literatures agree that Krishna is the source of
Brahma, Shiva and all other demigods. In the Atharva Veda,
Gopal-tapani Upanishad (1.24), it is said,
yo brahmanam vidadhati purvam yo vai
vedams ca gapayati sma krsnah
“It was Krishna who in the beginning instructed Brahma in Vedic
knowledge and who disseminated Vedic knowledge in the past.”
Then again it is said in the Narayana Upanishad (1),
atha puruso ha vai narayano ‘kamayata
prajah srjeya ity upakramya
“Then the Supreme Personality Narayana desired to create living
entities.” The verse continues:
narayanad brahma jayate, narayanad prajapatih prajayate,
narayanad indro jayate, narayanad astau vasavo jayante,
narayanad ekadasa rudra jayante, narayanad dvadasadityah
“From Narayana, Brahma is born, and from Narayana, the
patriarchs are also born. From Narayana, Indra is born, from
Narayana the eight Vasus are born, from Narayana the eleven
Rudras are born, from Narayana the twelve Adityas are born.”
The Narayana Upanishad (4) also states: brahmanyo devaki-
putrah “The son of Devaki, Krishna, is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.”
The Maha-Upanishad (1) states:
eko vai narayana asin na brahma na isano napo nagni
samau neme dyav-aprthivi na naksatrani na suryah sa
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 109
ekaki na ramate tasya dhyanantah sthasya yatra chandogaih
kriyamanastakadi-samjnaka stuti-stomah stomam ucyate
“In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme
Personality Narayana. There was no Brahma, no Shiva, no fire, no
moon, no stars in the sky, no sun. There was only Krishna, who
creates all and enjoys all.”
In the Varaha Purana, it is said:
narayanah paro devas tasmaj jatas caturmukhah tasmad
rudro ‘bhavad devah sa ca sarvajnatam gatah
“Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and from Him
Brahma was born, from whom Shiva was born.”
Krishna: Source of the Impersonal Brahman
K rishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (14.27) that the all-
pervading impersonal brahman effulgence also comes from
Him: brahmano hi pratisthaham “I am the basis of the impersonal
Brahman.”
This is confirmed in the Brahma-Samhita:
yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotishv-ashesha-vasudhadi vibhuti-bhinnam
tad brahma nishkalam anantam ashesha-bhutam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the
source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the
Upanishads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the
mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless,
truth.”
There is sometimes a misconception that Krishna is
undoubtedly the source of all the demigods, but ultimately He
comes from the impersonal Brahman. But those having such an
idea are called as unintelligent by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-
gita (7.24)
110 Your Best Friend
avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddayah
param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttam
“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.”
Even the Upanishads which are sometimes thought of to
support the doctrine of impersonalism, clearly explain that behind
the impersonal light there is the Personality of Godhead. For
example the Ishopanishad (15) says,
hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham
tat tvam pusann apavrnu satya-dharmaya drstaye
“O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered
by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and
exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.”
Thus Krishna does not come from the Brahman; the Brahman
comes from Him.
Krishna: Fountainhead of All Avatars
F rom time to time, the Lord descends to the material world
this is referred to as an avatar. Evidences regarding the
genuine avatars of the Lord are found in the revealed scriptures.
For example, Lord Krishna has been mentioned in the Chandogya
Upanishad as Devaki-nandan Krishna and also in the Rig-Veda
and innumerable other scriptures. Thousands of years before Lord
Buddha’s appearance it was foretold in the Shrimad Bhagavatam
that He would appear in the city of Gaya and the names of His
parents as well as His activities were also accurately predicted.
The Chaitanya Upanishad (see Appendix 3) portion of the
Atharva Veda foretells the appearance of Lord Chaitanya 4500
years before His appearance.
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 111
In the Bhagavatam there is a list of many incarnations of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krishna is described as the
112 Your Best Friend
original Personality of Godhead, from whom many, many
incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand:
ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti yuge yuge
“All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith
are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of
the Supreme Godhead, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Himself.” (Shrimad Bhagvatam 1.3.28)
The Brahma Samhita (5.46) also supports this:
diparcir eva hi dasantaram abhyupetya
dipayate vivrta-hetu-samana-dharma
yas tadrg eva hi ca vishnutaya vibhati
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“When the flame of one candle is expanded to another candle and
placed in a different position, it burns separately, and its
illumination is as powerful as the original candle. Similarly, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (Krishna), expands
Himself in different forms as Vishnu, who are equally luminous,
powerful and opulent. Let me worship that Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Govinda.”
Is Krishna an Avatar of Vishnu?
S ometimes people think that Krishna is one among the ten ava-
tars (incarnations) of Vishnu. But a more complete
understanding is that Krishna is the source of all the Vishnu forms
including Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu and
Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. There are 24 lila avatars like Matsya
avatar, Kurma avatar etc., and all these avatars originate from
Krishna. That is mentioned in Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.3.28):
ete camsa kala pumsa krishnas tu bhagavan svayam
“All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith
are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 113
the Supreme Godhead, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Himself.”
In the Vedic literature names like Narayana and Vishnu may
be found more frequently than the name Krishna. This is because
such names refer to the Lord’s activities in relation to the material
creation (“Vishnu” means “all-pervading” and “Narayana” means
“the shelter of all living entities”) But Krishna never takes any
part in creation, maintenance or annihilation. He always remains
aloof from all these and is always merrily playing in His own
abode.
A practical example can explain the aloofness of Krishna from the
material creation. Suppose you are a big business magnate, say, the
owner of a thousand companies. Though you own all the companies, you
don’t have to go to every company and manage the daily affairs there.
You have already appointed managers for each company and given them
authority to manage the companies. So, although all these companies
are working under you, you can coolly relax in an easy chair and enjoy
life at home. And once in a while you may desire to visit any of those
companies. So you will make a phone call to the managing director of
that company informing him of your visit. When you arrive at the
company, the managing director will warmly welcome you with a
bouquet and will take you inside the company with all due respects.
However the workers in the company may not know you. They will
speculate about your identity and may conclude that you must surely be
some important person, maybe an assistant to their managing director.
They arrive at this wrong conclusion of your identity because, within
their limited knowledge, the managing director is the all-in-all.
Similarly, though Krishna is actually the source of Vishnu,
still He has left all the affairs of the management of the material
world to Vishnu. Therefore the living entities within the material
world consider Vishnu to be the all-in-all. And moreover Lord
Krishna as well as all the avatars who descend into this material
world come through Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, just as you enter
114 Your Best Friend
your company through the company manager. That is why when
Krishna comes to this material world through Vishnu, He is often
mistaken to be one of the avataras of Vishnu.
Around 5000 years ago, when the world was overburdened by
demons, Brahma with all the demigods approached Kshirodakashayi
Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu gave the message that the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, will appear on the earth very
soon along with His supreme powerful potencies.
Thus, from this historical narration, it is clearly established
that Krishna is the source of even all the Vishnu forms.
When Krishna is in His natural mood in Goloka Vrindavana,
He enjoys multifarious loving pastimes with His eternal associates
such as cow-herding, wrestling, singing and dancing. But when He
expands as Maha Vishnu, He takes on a sober role of creating
millions of universes by lying in the Causal Ocean. The difference
between Krishna and Vishnu is like the difference between a
traffic policeman at home and the same policeman on duty. At
home, a traffic policeman plays with his children just like a child.
He may even carry his child on his back like an elephant. But
when he takes the duty of a traffic policeman, he takes on a
serious role, though He is the same person. Similarly, Krishna and
Vishnu are non-different. Only their mellows (or rasas) of
reciprocation are different.
The relationship of the living entities with Krishna is
categorized into five types: shanta (Neutrality), dasya
(Servitorship), sakhya (Friendship), vatsalya (Parental love) and
madhurya (Conjugal love). On the other hand, the relationships of
the living entities with Vishnu or Narayana are confined to the
lower rasas: neutrality, servitude and friendship mixed with sawe
and reverence.
In order to confirm that there is no one superior to Him,
Krishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (7.7)
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 115
mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva
“O conquerer of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me.
Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”
Krishna’s Supremacy Confirmed
I n the Bhagavad-gita (10.12-14) Arjuna proclaims the su
premacy of Krishna:
arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum
ahus tvam rsayah sarve devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah svayam caiva bravisi me
sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah
“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal,
transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the
great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa confirm this
truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O
Krishna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither
the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can understand Your
personality.”
After hearing the Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Krishna as parama brahma, the
Supreme Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the
supreme living being or the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
is the Supreme Brahman. Param dhama means that He is the
supreme rest or abode of everything, pavitram means that He is
pure, untainted by material contamination, purusam means that He
is the supreme enjoyer, divyam, transcendental, adi-devam, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, ajam, the unborn, and vibhum,
the greatest, the all-pervading.
116 Your Best Friend
Now one may think that because Krishna was the friend of
Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all this by way of flattery. But
Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubt from the minds of the
readers of Bhagavad-gita, substantiates these praises in the next
verse when he says that Krishna is accepted as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by authorities like
the sage Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasadeva and so on. These are
the great personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is
accepted by all acharyas. Therefore Arjuna tells Krishna that he
accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect. sarvam etad
ritam manye: “I accept everything You say to be true.” Arjuna
also says that the personality of the Lord is very difficult to
understand and that He cannot be known even by the great
demigods. This means that the Lord cannot even be known by
personalities greater than human beings. So how can a human
being understand Shri Krishna without becoming His devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of
devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna, nor
should he think that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a
very great personality. Lord Shri Krishna is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. So according to the statements of the
Bhagavad-gita or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is
trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should at least
theoretically accept Shri Krishna as the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can
understand the Bhagavad-gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-
gita in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand
Bhagavad-gita, because it is a great mystery.
Thus we see that there are innumerable evidences to establish
the fact that Lord Shri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy
Lord Krishna’s Appearance and Activities
O n understanding that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, one may wonder, “If Krishna is God, how does He
take birth into the material world and behave like an ordinary
child?” However even when He descends into this material world,
His appearance and activities are divine, as confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gita (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna
117 118 Your Best Friend
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and
activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in
this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”
That the appearance and activities of Krishna are
transcendental can be understood from His following superhuman
attributes.
1. Krishna Knows Past, Present and Future
In the Bhagavad-gita (4.6), Arjuna asks Krishna how He could
have instructed Vivasvan, who was apparently millions of years
senior to Him by birth. Krishna explains that although both He and
Arjuna have passed many “births”, the difference is that Krishna
can remember all of them, whereas Arjuna and other ordinary
living entities cannot. If a common man is asked what he did
exactly at the same time one day earlier, it would be very difficult
for him to answer immediately. He would surely have to dredge
his memory to recall what he was doing just one day before. And
yet, men often dare claim to be God, or Krishna. One should not
be misled by such meaningless claims. Lord Krishna is conscious
of all of His previous appearances and disappearances, but a
common living entity forgets everything about his body as soon as
he gets another body.
2. Krishna and His Body are Non-different
We are different from our body, because we are spirit souls
and the body is only a material covering. But as far as Lord
Krishna is concerned, He comes to this material world in His self-
same sac-cid-ananda body. So Krishna and His body are non-
different. The Lord explains this fact in Bhagavad-gita (4.6)
ajo ‘pi sann avyayatma bhutanam isvaro ‘pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya sambhavamy atma-mayaya
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 119
“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never
deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I
still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental
form.”
120 Your Best Friend
The Lord does not change His body, as the conditioned soul
transmigrates from one body to another. Krishna appears in this
material world in His original eternal form, with two hands,
holding a flute. He descends in His eternal body, uncontaminated
and untouched by this material world.
3. Krishna is Eternally Youthful
Whenever Lord Krishna descends into this material world,
despite the fact that He grows from childhood to boyhood and
from boyhood to youth, astonishingly enough He never ages
beyond youth. At the time of the Battle of Kurukshetra, He had
many grandchildren at home; or in other words, He had
sufficiently aged by material calculations. Still He looked just like
a young man twenty or twenty five years old. We never see a
picture of Krishna in old age because He never grows old like us,
although He is the oldest person in the whole creation – past,
present, and future. Neither Krishna’s body nor His intelligence
ever deteriorate or change.
That Krishna is eternally youthful is confirmed by Lord
Brahma in the Brahma-Samhita (5.33): adyam purana purusam
nava yauvanam ca: “Although Lord Krishna is the original
person, the oldest, still He is always a fresh youth.”
4. Krishna Neither Takes Birth nor Dies;
He Appears and Disappears
When Lord Krishna was born, He appeared as a baby with
four hands, holding conchshell, club, disc, and lotus flower,
decorated with the mark of the shrivatsa, wearing the jeweled
necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in yellow silk, appearing
dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a helmet bedecked
with the vaidurya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and similar
other ornaments all over His body and an abundance of hair on
His head. Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva
 Evidences for Krishna’s Supremacy 121 122 Your Best Friend

was struck with wonder: how could a newly born child be so understands this supreme position of Krishna, one can learn to
decorated? Such is the divine nature of the birth of Krishna. serve Him with love and devotion. By such devotional service,
On the other hand, when an ordinary child is born, he is born one can attain krishna-prema, pure love for Krishna. That is the
naked, smeared in amniotic fluid, stool, urine, crying and in total ultimate perfection of life.
ignorance, with filthy worms falling out from the same womb as
his brothers. Thus it is clear that the Lord’s advent is not like an
ordinary child’s painful birth.
Therefore the Lord says that anyone who considers Him to be
an ordinary man is a fool.
avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritah
param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta maheshvaram
“Fools deride Me when I descend in a human form. They do not
know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that
be.”(Bhagavad-gita 9.11)
Krishna’s appearance, activities and disappearance are like the
movements of the sun. When the sun appears in the east one may
think that the sun is born. And when the sun sets in the west, one
may think that the sun is dead. The sun is always existing,
although we see it rise and set, appear and disappear, according
to our position on the planet. Similarly, the Lord’s pastimes are
going on eternally, although we can see them manifest in this
particular universe only at certain intervals. Just like the sun
appears and disappears from the sky, Lord Krishna appears and
disappears in this material world, out of His own sweet will, for
the sake of reclaiming the fallen souls and for giving pleasure to
His devotees. His eternal abode is the supreme planet in the
spiritual world, known as Goloka Vrindavana, and, by His will,
that Goloka Vrindavana is manifested in this universe and in other
universes as well. Thus the Lord is always residing in His supreme
abode, Goloka Vrindavana, and by His supreme will, His activities
are also manifested in innumerable universes.
From the evidences discussed in this chapter, we can clearly
understand that the conclusion of all the scriptures is that Lord
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one
The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 123 124 Your Best Friend

I n the previous chapter, we discussed how Lord Krishna is the

Chapter 8 Supreme Personality of Godhead. One may then wonder,

“Why at all are so many gods mentioned in the Vedic pantheon?
What is their position?” This is the subject matter of discussion in
this chapter.
God and gods

A ccording to the Vedic scriptures, there are countless eternal

living beings throughout the material and spiritual worlds.
All these living beings are conscious, but amongst them one is
supremely conscious. He is the singular supreme, because He is
maintaining all the others. nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam eko

The Singular
bahunam yo vidadhati kaman (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13) And,
according to all the authorized scriptures, that supreme being is
Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Under

Supreme Him, there are many subordinate gods or controllers, called as

‘demigods’.

and
Most people think ‘All gods are equal’ or ‘You can worship
any god; you’ll go to the same destination’ or ‘I am god, you are
god, everyone is god’. But actually these are all misconceptions.
The Plural One should clearly understand the difference between the
positions of the demigods, Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna.

Subordinates Without a proper understanding of this subject, one can never

attain the perfection of life.
Many people argue, “Why do you discriminate between one
god and another god? All paths lead to the same goal. All gods are
one. All gods are equal”. This imaginary philosophy may sound
nice to hear, but the actual reality is completely different. Can you
ask why you discriminate between the Managing Director and the
peon in a company? In a company, there is a natural hierarchy
extending from the owner, the Managing Director, the Works
Manager, the Shop Superintendent down to the supervisors and
workers. In the same way, in the cosmic hierarchy, there is the
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 125
Supreme Lord Shri Krishna, who is the owner and proprietor of all
that exists, and there are innumerable subordinates who serve
Him.
In this connection, some people quote,
akaashath patitam toyam yatha gacchati sagaram
sarva deva namaskarah keshavam prati gacchati
“Just as a drop of water falling from the sky ultimately goes to the
ocean, in the same way all worship performed for all the demigods
ultimately goes only to Lord Keshava (Krishna).”
On the basis of this verse, such people claim, “Whether we
worship Shiva, Brahma, Ganesh, Vishnu or Krishna, it is all the
same. Ultimately everything goes to the Brahmajyoti or the
unknown Absolute Truth.” If the claim of such people has any
substance, then the verse should read as follows: “sarva deva
namaskarah brahmajyoti prati gacchati”. But the actual verse
mentioned above clearly distinguishes between ‘sarva deva’ (all
demigods like Shiva, Karttikeya, Ganesh) and ‘keshavam
prati………” (Lord Shri Krishna). This shows that Lord Keshava
or Krishna has a unique position above all the other demigods.
Although it is true that all our offerings to the demigods are meant
actually for the pleasure of Krishna, still they are not a direct
offering of love to Krishna. Worshipping the various demigods is
like watering the branches, leaves, twigs etc of a tree, whereas
worshipping Lord Krishna directly is like watering the root of the
tree.
In the cosmic hierarchy, all the living entities are divided into
three principal categories:
Jiva tattva
Vishnu tattva
Shambhu tattva
126 Your Best Friend
Jiva Tattva
A ll living entities including the demigods like Brahma, Indra,
Vayu, Varuna, Yamaraja, human beings, animals, birds,
insects, acquatics etc. fall in the category of Jiva Tattva. The
demigods are the empowered administrators of universal affairs.
Though they undoubtedly have great powers, still they are all
ordinary living entities subordinate to Krishna. For example,
Brahma, the chief of the demigods, is a post just as the Prime
Minister of India is a post. And just as it is possible for an
ordinary citizen to become the Prime Minister if he acquires the
necessary qualifications, similarly it is possible for an ordinary
living entity to become Brahma, if he follows the principles of
varnashrama dharma perfectly for 100 lifetimes. The specialty of
the post of Brahma is that he is the first created living being within
the universe and is directly empowered by Krishna to create the
8.4 million species of life
An analogy will explain the relative positions of Krishna and
the demigods. In a big production firm, there are many workers
under a Supervisor. Many Supervisors are controlled by a Shop
Superintendent (SS) Engineer. Many SS Engineers report to the
Works Manager. Many Works Managers report to the Managing
Director. The Managing Directors of several companies present
the overall profit and loss account to the owner. The owner does
not have to take part in the management affairs of the companies.
He can stay aloof from the management by delegating all the work
to the various Managing Directors and just relax and enjoy life.
In the same way, though Lord Krishna is the proprietor of all
the universes, He never takes any part in managing them; He is
aloof from the material world, simply enjoying loving pastimes
with His devotees in the spiritual world – Goloka Vrindavan. Yet
out of His causeless mercy He comes to the material world at
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 127 128 Your Best Friend

scheduled times, to reclaim the suffering souls back to the spiritual

world.
And just as there are so many administrative officials who
look after the management of the company, similarly there are
crores of demigod engineers who manage the affairs of this
universe. For example, Indra is incharge of rainfall, Vayu is
incharge of air and wind, Varuna is incharge of the water bodies
and so on.
Do demigods really exist?
On reading about this elaborate universal administration, one
may wonder, “Is it a reality or is it just the figment of the
imagination of some primitive aboriginal tribes? What is the need
for so many demigods? Can’t everything in nature happen by
itself?” However such questions themselves reveal a fundamental
flaw underlying most modern thought. Everyone unanimously
agrees that even a small experiment conducted in a laboratory
cannot succeed without expert monitoring and control. And yet it
is a very great wonder that these very people readily believe that
all the incredible phenomena happen in nature without any expert
intelligence behind them!
With the so-called advancement of materialistic civilization,
the whole world is trapped in a rat race for money making. The
lives of people are centered around sex and luxury. Having lost
their intelligence due to such sense enjoyment and material
opulence, they imagine that the whole world has been shrunk by
the modern networking communication systems and that
everything in the world is at their fingertips. Infatuated by such
phantasmagoria, they propagate their own (mis)conceptions about
God and religion. They say that all the demigods and their related
histories mentioned in the Puranas are all mythological and that But, despite all their boasted scientific advancement, such people
we don’t have to take the meanings literally. They consider these have not been able to conquer the forces of nature. Far from
valuable Vedic literatures to be outdated. conquering, or even facing, the forces of nature, they are
repeatedly and helplessly smashed by the forces of nature. They
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 129
are like insignificant croaking toads smashed to powder by the
material nature, which is like a majestic elephant. Every now and
then we hear news of cyclones claiming the lives of thousands,
tides wreaking havoc in cosmopolitan coastal cities, thunderbolts
destroying hundreds of houses and so on. Man has no power
whatsoever to control these forces of nature like cyclones,
tornadoes, droughts, floods and famines. Though America is
considered to be the most technologically advanced country in the
world, when there was an earthquake in Los Angeles, one of the
most important cities of America, all the people ran out of their
houses screaming in mortal fear. They were terrified, thinking,
“Now death is coming!”
No one wants such natural calamities. Yet they are imposed
upon us. Who is imposing them? An intelligent person sees,
through the eyes of the scriptures, that these great forces of
nature—water, fire, wind etc - are all presided by demigods who
control them according to the will of the Supreme Lord, Shri
Krishna. The Supreme Lord Himself says in the Shrimad
Bhagavatam (3.25.42) :
mad bhayat vati vatoyam suryas tapati mad bhayat
varshati indrah dahati agnih mrtyus charati mad bhayat
“It is because of My supremacy that the wind blows out of fear of
Me; the sun shines out of fear of Me, and the lord of the clouds,
Indra, sends forth showers out of fear of Me. Fire burns out of fear
of Me, and death goes about taking its toll out of fear of Me.”
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, says in the
Bhagavad-gita that the natural laws are working perfectly because
of His superintendence. No one should think that nature is
working automatically without superintendence. The Vedic
literature says that the clouds are controlled by the demigod Indra,
heat is distributed by the sun-god, the soothing moonlight is
distributed by the moon-god Chandra and the air is blowing under
the arrangement of the demigod Vayu. And above all these
130 Your Best Friend
demigods is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the chief living
entity.
Do Things not Happen by Chance ?
Many people foolishly think that everything in nature goes on
automatically. They don’t accept the scriptural fact that there are
presiding deities (demigods) for controlling water, air, fire etc.
They conclude childishly, “Everything happens by chance.” But
how can anything happen by chance? It is true that nature is
working, but nature, after all, is nothing but matter. Matter cannot
work without being directed by a living being. We cannot say
matter works independently. In the ocean we always see that there
are great waves moving. Water is dull matter, but the air is
pushing these great waves and dashing them onto the earth.
Scientists admit that nature is working in a wonderful way,
but, after all, nature is not under their control. Then under whose
control is nature working? Saying that nature is acting
automatically may be a convenient escapeway, but in reality such
an explanation is utterly childish and foolish, as can be understood
from the following examples:
Suppose a child approaches a door in an airport and the door
suddenly opens. The child may conclude, “The door has
opened automatically!” But the fact is that an engineer has
designed the door-opening mechanism to be controlled with
the help of photocells. However all this is beyond the
understanding ability of the child and therefore he arrives at
his childish conclusion.
In a five-star hotel, as soon you put your hand under the tap in a
wash basin, the water comes from it even without your turning
or pressing it. To the ignorant, it may appear that this is
happening automatically, but a similar mechanism has been
installed by an intelligent engineer.
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 131 132 Your Best Friend

Thus for every action that happens, there is inevitably an
intelligent being behind it. And this is all the more true for every
well-orchestrated action Therefore it would be childish and
unintelligent to think that all the wonderful phenomena in nature
happen automatically, by themselves. We may be knowing how
the rains come – the sun evaporates water from the ocean, clouds
are formed, the winds move the clouds to above the landmasses,
the clouds shower down rains, the rainwater flows as rivers back
into the ocean and the whole cycle keeps repeating itself. But we
do not know why the rains come. To get an answer to this
question, we should consider what would happen if there were no
rains? Without rains, there would be no grains and without grains,
man would starve to death. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-
gita (3.14) annad bhavanti bhutani parjanyad anna sambhavah
“All living beings subsist on
grains and grains are produced
due to rains.” And, despite his
much boasted scientific
progress, man can manufacture
only nuts and bolts in his
factories, not grains; thus for
his basic subsistence, he is
helplessly dependent on the
rains. Therefore we can unders
tand that the rains are a part of
an intelligent design of the
entire cosmos meant to enable
all living beings to survive.
And the same is true for every
aspect of nature; it is designed very intelligently so that the
various life forms can survive. Whenever we talk about intricate
design, a question that naturally follows is: who is the mastermind,
the super-intelligent designer, behind this incredibly complex, yet
perfectly orchestrated, design? It is, as the revealed scriptures
explain, the Supreme Lord acting through the agency of the
various demigods.
We arrive at the same conclusion even if we consider how
things are happening in nature. Even if we want to simulate
rainfall on a microscopic level in our laboratory, we need expert
intelligence. Then when rainfall occurs on a macroscopic level in
nature, does it not require any expert intelligence? Therefore the
logical conclusion is that there are demigod engineers for
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 133
controlling, not just the rains, but every activity happening in
nature. In fact, every one of our bodily limbs is controlled by
demigods. For example,
Soma (the moon god) is the presiding deity of the mind. (It is
interesting to note that some people go mad on full moon
days)
The sun-god is the presiding deity of the eyes.
Brahma is the engineer of the entire universe and he creates all
the 14 planetary systems and the 8.4 million species of life.
Thus Brahma is a very big controller.
Here it is important to note that despite all their powers, the
demigods are still jiva tattva entities, insignificant as compared to
the Supreme Lord, Krishna. The living entities are like small
sparks, whereas Lord Krishna is like the sun, which is the original
source of the sparks. Consider, for example, the position of
Brahma. Though he is the creator of the entire universe, in the
entire material world, there are millions of universes and there are
millions of Brahmas. Therefore in the totality of even the material
sky, the position of Brahma is insignificant. Lord Krishna, on the
other hand, is the supreme controller of not just the entire material
world, but also the entire spiritual world, which is far, far bigger
than the material world.
Vishnu Tattva
T he Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, along with all His plenary
expansions (svamsha) are in the category of Vishnu tattva.
The Vishnu tattva entities are the controllers and the jiva tattva
entities are the controlled. All the universes in the material world
come from the first Purusha avatar, Maha Vishnu. But even Maha
Vishnu is just a portion of a portion of Lord Shri Krishna, who
eternally resides in His own abode, Goloka Vrindavana. Although
Krishna is the supreme controller and owner of everything, He
134 Your Best Friend
never directly controls anything. He delegates all activities to His
agents and simply enjoys in His supreme abode.
The Vishnu incarnation, although master of the mode of
goodness within each universe, is no way in touch with material
nature; He is completely transcendental. Although Vishnu is equal
to Krishna, Krishna is the original source. Vishnu is a part, but
Krishna is the whole. In Brahma Samhita the example is given of
one candle which lights a second candle. Although both candles
are equally bright, one is accepted as the original, and the other is
said to be kindled from the original. The Vishnu expansion is like
the second candle. He is as powerful as Krishna, but the original
Vishnu is Krishna. All the expansions of Krishna like Vishnu,
Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha, Matsya are in the category of Vishnu
tattva. The Brahma Samhita (5.46) explains:
diparchir eva hi dasantaram abhyupetya
dipayate vivrta-hetu-samana-dharma
yas tadrg eva hi cha vishnutaya vibhati
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“When the flame of one candle is expanded to another candle and
placed in a different position, it burns separately, and its
illumination is as powerful as the original candle. Similarly, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (Krishna), expands
Himself in different forms as Vishnu, who are equally luminous,
powerful and opulent. Let me worship that Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Govinda.”
It is also stated in the Brahma Samhita (5.39) :
ramadi murtisu kala niyamena tisthan
nanavataram akarod bhuvanesu kintu
krsnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo
govindam adi purusam tam aham bhajami
“I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda
(Krishna), who is always situated in various incarnations such as
Rama, Nrsimha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 135 136 Your Best Friend

original Personality of Godhead known as Krishna, and who yah shambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad
incarnates personally also.” govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
In the Vedas also it is said that the Lord, although one without “Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but
a second, manifests Himself in innumerable forms. He is like the yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor different from, its cause,
vaidurya stone, which changes color yet remains one. viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the
Brahma and Lord Shiva are obedient servants of the Supreme state of Shambhu is a transformation for the performance of the
Lord, and the Supreme Lord as Vishnu is an expansion of Krishna. work of destruction”.
(For more details, please refer to appendix 2 ‘Avataras – Lord Shiva is known as the topmost Vaishnava (devotee of the
Genuine and Fake’) Lord): vaisnavanam yatha shambhuh (Shrimad Bhagavatam
12.13.16).
Shambhu Tattva (Refer to appendix 3 for more detailed information about Lord
Shiva.)
S
but
hambhu (Shiva) is an
expansion of Lord Krishna,
is
Krishna - The Singular Supreme
Personality of Godhead
subservient to the Lord; He is
non-different from Krishna just
as curd is non-different from
milk (because milk is the
T he Upanishads say : na tat samas chabhyadhikas cha
drishyate “No one is equal to or superior to God.” Lord
Krishna also says, mattah parataram nanyat “There is no truth
source of curd). Ther efore superior to Me.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.7)
Shambhu (Shiva) cannot be Another characteristic of God is that He has nothing to do. In
called a jiva; He is the lord of the material world, when a man is considered very important, he
jiva, but yet partakes of the always has a great number of things to do. The President of the
nature of a separated portion of U.S. is considered to be the supreme person in the world, but as
Govinda. He is the controller soon as there is some disturbance in say central Europe, he
of tamo guna (mode of immediately has to call a meeting to consider how to deal with the
ignorance). The essential situation. In the Vedic literatures, however, we find that God has
nothing to do (na tasya karyam karanam cha vidyate).
difference between Lord
Krishna and Lord Shiva is that In this respect it is interesting to note that once a European
Lord Shiva has a connection gentleman came to Calcutta and visited various temples. He noted that,
with material nature, but Lord Krishna has nothing to do with in the temple of goddess Kali, the deity had a very ferocious form, with a
chopper in hand, cutting off the heads of demons and wearing them as
material nature. In Brahma Samhita (5.45), it is mentioned: garlands. In other temples he saw the deity engaged in similar activities,
kshiram yatha dadhi vikara-vishesha-yogat but when he came to the Radha-Krishna temple, he said, “I find that in
sanjayate na hi tatah prthag asti hetoh
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 137
this temple there is God.” When asked how he concluded this, he said,
“In every temple I saw that the deity was doing something, but here I see
that God is simply playing a flute and enjoying Himself. He obviously
has nothing to do.”This is a very intelligent conclusion; indeed, it is the
Vedic conclusion.
God is always the Supreme; God never has to meditate to
become God. Nowadays, it is becoming fashionable for people to
claim that they are becoming God by meditation. In other words,
they say that God meditates and, by His meditation, He becomes
God. This is all nonsense. God is God, He was always God, and
He will always be God. Even as an infant in the lap of His mother
Krishna is God. No meditation, austerity or penance was required
for Him to become God. While Krishna is playing with His
boyfriends, He is God; while He is dancing, He is God; while He
is fighting at Kurukshetra, He is God; while He is married to His
queens, He is God; and while He is speaking, He is God. Krishna
showed that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in so
many ways even when He was a small child.
Once, when His friends accused Him of having eaten mud, His
mother, Yashodamai, asked Him to open His mouth. When she looked
into His mouth, she saw the entire universe– all the directions, the
mountains, the islands, oceans, seas, planets, air, fire, moon and stars.
In this universe she also saw herself - looking into Krishna’s mouth.
This pastime shows that the whole universe was within
Krishna, even when He was a small child. In other words, He is
always God.
But despite so much evidence proving that Krishna is always
God, still there is a class of people who consider Him to be an
ordinary person. In this connection, Lord Krishna says in the
Bhagavad-gita that only fools cannot understand Him to be the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all creation.
avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritam
param bhavam ajananto mam bhuta-maheshvaram
138 Your Best Friend
“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not
know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that
be.”(Bhagavad-gita 9.11)
This is vividly illustrated in a pastime from the Mahabharata.Before
the Kurukshetra war, out of love for His devotees, the Pandavas, Lord
Krishna took the humble role of a peace messenger and went to meet
Duryodhana. He proposed to Duryodhana, “The Pandavas have now
finished their term in the forest, as per your conditions. Therefore it is
your duty to return Hastinapur back to them.” When Duryodhana
refused, Krishna made another proposal, “If you don’t want to part with
Hastinapura, give the Pandavas at least five villages so that they may
rule. After all, they are kshatriyas; therefore they cannot live by any way
other than by ruling.”
Duryodhana defiantly replied, “Impossible! I will not give them
enough land to even put the tip of a needle through. Let them do
whatever they want.”
On hearing this, Lord Krishna replied, “Then the Kurukshetra war
is inevitable.”
Thus Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, made a
most humble and reasonable request to Duryodhana. But far from
appreciating and reciprocating with the Lord’s kindness, Duryodhana
argued with and offended the Lord. And as if that were not enough, he
even tried to arrest Lord Krishna. When the Lord exhibited His gigantic
universal form, everyone in the court was awe-struck and they all
immediately offered respects. But Duryodhana persisted with his
defiance towards the Lord and said that Krishna was merely displaying
some yogic powers.
Thus inspite of having the personal darshana of the all-
attractive form of Shyamsundara Krishna and inspite of beholding
Krishna’s awesome universal form, still Duryodhana could not
understand the greatness of Krishna. This is because he thought
that Krishna was an ordinary human being.
 The Singular Supereme and The Plural Subordinates 139
The Supreme Opulence of Krishna
I n the Bhagavad-gita (4.8), Lord Krishna tells the reasons for
His descent into the material world.
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya cha dushkrtam
dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as
to re-establish the principles of religion, I Myself appear,
millenium after millenium.”
But these three reasons are only external. The real reason why
Krishna appears is to satisfy His unalloyed devotees, who are
always anxious to see Him. This is due to His great love for His
devotees. Although Krishna is God Himself who is full of six
140 Your Best Friend
opulences – all beauty, all knowledge, all wealth, all fame, all
strength, all renunciation – still He becomes captivated by and
subordinate to the love of His devotees. For example,
He plays the role of the son of Yashoda and Nanda Maharaj.
He plays with His cowherd boyfriends just like an ordinary
cowherd boy.
As Arjuna’s friend, He becomes ‘Parthasarathi’, the driver of
the chariot of Arjuna.
Such is the sublime sweetness of the love of Krishna for His
devotees! He is therefore glorified as ‘bhakta-vatsala’. This –
Krishna’s becoming subordinate to the love of His devotees – is
indeed His supreme opulence!
Thus Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the
ultimate goal, the supreme object of everyone’s love and service,
now and forever.
 The Controller of all Controller 141 142 Your Best Friend

I n this chapter, we will see various historical pastimes, which

Chapter 9 clearly establish that Krishna is the supreme controller of all

controllers.
Demigods Seek Help from Krishna

I t is well known that whenever there is a cosmic disturbance

caused by a powerful demon, all the demigods run to Lord
Vishnu for help. The Tenth Canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam
describes one such incident.
Once when the world was overburdened by demons.Brahma went
with all the demigods and offered the Purusha sukta prayers to
Kshirodakashayi Vishnu on the shore of the ocean of milk. Then Lord

The Controller of all

Brahma personally sat in meditation, and received a message from Lord
Vishnu. Brahma then broadcast the message to the demigods. The
message was: The Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the

Controllers earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as long
as He remains on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating
the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also
remain there to assist Him. They should all immediately take birth in the
 The Controller of all Controller 143
family of the Yadu dynasty, wherein the Lord will also appear in due
course of time.
Soon after this, the Supreme Lord appeared in the womb of Devaki
as her eighth child. When she was pregnant, Lord Brahma and Lord
Shiva, accompanied by great sages like Narada and followed by many
144 Your Best Friend
other demigods, invisibly appeared in the house of Kamsa. They began
to pray to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in select prayers. The
demigods could understand that the Lord had taken His residence within
the womb of Devaki in order to fulfill His vow to descend in this
material world just to protect the pious and destroy the impious. “Our
dear Lord”, the demigods prayed, “It is very difficult to understand
Your eternal form or personality. People in general are unable to
understand Your actual form; therefore You are personally descending
to exhibit Your original eternal form. Somehow people can understand
the different incarnations of Your Lordship, but they are puzzled to
understand the eternal form of Krishna with two hands, moving among
human beings exactly like one of them. This eternal form of Your
Lordship is ever increasing in transcendental pleasure for the devotees.
But for the nondevotees, this form is very dangerous.”
In this way the demigods prayed to and welcomed the
Supreme Lord, who had descended in response to their pleas for
help. In the Ramayana also, it is seen that, when Ravana was
disrupting the universal order and wreaking havoc throughout the
universe, all the demigods headed by Lord Brahma prayed to the
Supreme Lord for help.
The Demigods cannot comprehend
Krishna’s Divine Qualities and Activities
In the Bhagavad-gita (10.2), Lord Krishna says:
na me viduh sura-ganah prabhavam na maharsayah
aham adir hi devanam maharshinam cha sarvasah
“Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My
origin, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and
the sages.”
Here it is stated by the Lord personally that He is the cause of
all the demigods and sages. Even the demigods and great sages
cannot understand Krishna; they can understand neither His name
nor His personality, so what is the position of the so-called
scholars of this tiny planet? No one can understand why this
 The Controller of all Controller 145 146 Your Best Friend

Supreme God comes to earth disguised as an ordinary human Krishna immediately started to search out the calves in the caves and
being and executes such commonplace and yet wonderful bushes. He searched in the mountains and in the forests, but nowhere
activities. We can actually understand Krishna, who is eternal, full could He find them.
of knowledge and bliss, simply by studying His words in At the time when the great demon Aghasura was killed and the
Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. demigods were looking on the incident with great surprise, Brahma, who
was born out of the lotus flower growing out of the navel of Vishnu, also
The demigods are bewildered not only about the position of
came to see. He was surprised how a little boy like Krishna could act so
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but also about their own wonderfully. Although he was informed that the little cowherd boy was
positions. Because they have enormous power and incredibly long
life spans, they tend to become proud and forget that the power
which they have is actually coming from Krishna. Krishna is the
reservoir of all opulences and is like the sun. All living beings,
including the demigods, merely reflect a tiny fragment of the
opulences of Krishna, just as broken pieces of glass reflect a few
rays of the sunlight. So if a living entity forgets this, Krishna
bewilders him, admonishes him and thus brings him back to the
path of devotional service.
In tzhe Shrimad Bhagavatam there are many incidents of how
Krishna established His supremacy and taught lessons to the
demigods, when they forgot their actual positions. One such
pastime is the Brahma-vimmohan lila.
The Bewilderment of Lord Brahma, the
Chief of the Demigods
Once when Lord Krishna was a small child, He had gone to the
forests of Vrindavan along with His cowherd boy-friends to graze the
cows. And while they were having their lunch on the banks of the river
Yamuna, the calves that were pasturing nearby entered into the deep
forest, allured by new grasses, and gradually went out of sight. When
the boys saw that the calves were not nearby, they became afraid for
their safety, and they immediately cried out, “Krishna!” Out of His
great affection, Krishna did not want His friends to give up their
pleasing lunch engagement and go searching for the calves. He
therefore said, “My dear friends, you need not interrupt your lunch. Go
on enjoying. I am going personally where the calves are.” Thus Lord
 The Controller of all Controller 147 148 Your Best Friend

the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he stole all the calves and under the spell of his mystic power. Brahma began to think, “All the
cowherd boys and took them to a different place. boys and calves were taken away by me, and I know they are still
Subsequently in spite of searching for the calves, Lord Krishna sleeping. H ow is it that a similar batch of boys and calves are playing
could not find them, nor could He find His boyfriends on the bank of the with Krishna? Is it that they are not influenced by my mystic power?
Yamuna where they had been taking their lunch. In the form of a Have they been playing continually for one year with Krishna?”
cowherd boy, Lord Krishna was very little in comparison to Brahma, but Brahma tried to understand who they were and how they were
because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could uninfluenced by his mystic power, but he could not ascertain it. In other
immediately understand that all the calves and boys had been stolen by words, he himself came under the spell of his own mystic power. The
Brahma. Krishna thought, “Brahma has taken away all the boys and influence of his mystic power appeared like snow in darkness or a
calves. How can I alone return to Vrndavana? The mothers will be
aggrieved.”
Therefore in order to satisfy the mothers of His friends as well as to
convince Brahma of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead, He
immediately expanded Himself as the cowherd boys and calves. In the
Vedas it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has expanded
Himself into so many living entities by His energy. Therefore it was not
very difficult for Him to expand Himself again into so many boys and
calves. He expanded Himself to become exactly like the boys, who were
of all different features, facial and bodily construction, and who were
different in their clothing and ornaments, behavior and personal
activities. Then Krishna, assuming the forms of the cowherd boys and
the calves returned to Vrindavana at the end of the day and life
continued as usual.
Brahma returned after a moment’s interval according to his
calculation. (The Bhagavad-gita gives information about the duration of
life of Lord Brahma: 1,000 times the duration of the four ages, or
4,320,000 x 1,000, comprise Brahma’s twelve hours. Similarly, one
moment of Brahma is equal to one year of our solar calculation) After
one moment of Brahma’s calculation, Brahma came back to see the fun
caused by his stealing the boys and calves. But he was also afraid that
he was playing with fire. Krishna was his master, and he had played
mischief for fun by taking away His calves and boys. He was really
anxious, so he did not stay away very long; he came back after a
moment.
He was astonished to see that all the boys and calves were playing
with Krishna in the same way as when he had come upon them, although
he was confident that he had taken them and made them lie down asleep
 The Controller of all Controller 149
glowworm in the daytime. During the night’s darkness, the glowworm
can show some glittering power, and the snow piled up on top of a hill
or on the ground can shine during the daytime. But at night the snow
has no silver glitter; nor does the glowworm have any illuminating
power during the daytime. Similarly, when the small mystic power
exhibited by Brahma was before the mystic power of Krishna, it was
revealed to be as insignificant as the shining of the snow or the
glowworm. When a man of small mystic power displays his potency in
the presence of a greater mystic power, he diminishes his own influence;
he does not increase it. Even a great personality like Brahma, when he
wanted to show his mystic power before Krishna, became ludicrous.
Brahma was thus confused about his own mystic power.
In order to convince Brahma that all those calves and boys were not
the original ones, the calves and boys who were playing with Krishna
transformed into Vishnu forms. Actually, the original ones were sleeping
under the spell of Brahma’s mystic power, but the present ones, seen by
Brahma, were all immediate expansions of Krishna, or Vishnu. Vishnu is
the expansion of Krishna, so the Vishnu forms appeared before Brahma.
All the Vishnu forms were of bluish color and dressed in yellow
garments; all of Them had four hands decorated with a club, disc, lotus
flower and conchshell. On Their heads were glittering golden jeweled
helmets; they were bedecked with pearls and earrings, and garlanded
with beautiful flowers. On Their chests was the mark of Srivatsa; Their
arms were decorated with armlets and other jewelry. Their necks were
smooth just like the conchshell, Their ankles were decorated with bells,
Their waists decorated with golden belts, and Their fingers decorated
with jeweled rings. A significant feature of the Vishnu forms was that all
of Them were looking transcendentally beautiful. Their smiling
resembled the moonshine, and Their glancing resembled the early rising
of the sun.
After this manifestation of Lord Vishnu, Brahma saw that many
other Brahmas and Shivas and demigods and even insignificant living
entities down to the ants and very small straws – movable and
immovable living entities – were dancing, surrounding Lord Vishnu.
Their dancing was accompanied by various kinds of music, and all of
Them were worshiping Lord Vishnu.
150 Your Best Friend
When Brahma was thus standing baffled in his limited power and
conscious of his limited activities within the eleven senses, he could at
least realize that he was also a creation of the material energy, just like
a puppet. As a puppet has no independent power to dance but dances
according to the direction of the puppet master, so the demigods and
living entities are all subordinate to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. As it is stated in the Chaitanya Charitamrta, the only master
is Krishna, and all others are servants. The whole world is under the
waves of the material spell, and all living beings are floating like straws
in water. So their struggle for existence is continuing. But as soon as
one becomes conscious that he is the eternal servant of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, this maya or illusory struggle for existence is
immediately stopped.
Lord Brahma, who has full control over the Goddess of Learning
and who is considered to be the best authority in Vedic knowledge, was
thus perplexed, being unable to understand the extraordinary power
manifested in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the mundane
world, even a personality like Brahma is unable to understand the
potential mystic power of the Supreme Lord. Not only did Brahma fail to
understand, but he was perplexed even to see the display which was
being manifested by Krishna before him.
Krishna took compassion upon Brahma’s inability to see even how
He was displaying the forms of Vishnu and transforming Himself into
calves and cowherd boys, and thus, while fully manifesting the Vishnu
expansions, He suddenly pulled His curtain of yogamaya over the scene.
Lord Brahma is not an ordinary conditioned soul. He is far, far
superior to all the demigods, and yet he could not comprehend the
display of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore Krishna
willingly stopped manifesting any further potency. The conditioned soul
not only becomes bewildered, but he is completely unable to understand.
The curtain of yogamaya was drawn so that Brahma would not become
more and more perplexed.
When Brahma was relieved from his perplexity, he appeared to be
awakened from an almost dead state, and he began to open his eyes with
great difficulty. Thus he could see the external cosmic manifestation
with common eyes. He found Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, playing the part of a small cowherd boy; he saw that little
 The Controller of all Controller 151
child with a lump of food in His left hand, searching out His friends and
calves, just as He was actually doing one year before, after their
disappearance.
Immediately Brahma descended from his great swan carrier and fell
down before the Lord to offer respect; and because the complexion of
Brahma is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick lying down
before Lord Krishna. All the four helmets on the heads of Brahma
touched the lotus feet of Krishna. Brahma, being very joyful, began to
shed tears, and he washed the lotus feet of Krishna with his tears.
Repeatedly he fell and rose as he recalled the wonderful activities of the
152 Your Best Friend
Lord. After repeating obeisances for a long time, Brahma stood up and
smeared his hands over his eyes. Seeing the Lord before him, he,
trembling, began to offer prayers with great respect, humility and
attention.
Lord Brahma presented himself to Lord Krishna as the most
presumptuous living creature because he had wanted to examine the
wonder of His personal power. He had stolen the boys and calves of the
Lord in order to see how the Lord would recover them. After his
maneuver, Lord Brahma admitted that his attempt was most
presumptuous, for he was attempting to show off his mystic power before
the master of all mystic power. Coming to his senses, Lord Brahma saw
that although he was a very powerful living creature in the estimation of
all other living creatures within this material world, in comparison to
the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his power was
nothing.
The scientists of the material world have discovered wonders such
as atomic weapons, and when tested in a city or insignificant place on
this planet, such powerful weapons create havoc, but if the atomic
weapons were to be tested on the sun, what would be their significance?
They would be insignificant there. Similarly, Brahma’s stealing the
calves and boys from Sri Krishna may be a wonderful display of mystic
power, but when Sri Krishna exhibited His expansive power in so many
calves and boys and maintained them without effort, Brahma could
understand that his own power was insignificant.
In this way, Brahma, the master of this universe, offered many
wonderful prayers glorifying Lord Krishna in order to beg forgiveness
for his offense and to please the Lord. After offering humble and
respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and
circumambulating Him three times, when he was ready to return to his
abode Brahmaloka, by His gesture, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
gave him permission to return. As soon as Brahma left, Lord Sri Krishna
immediately appeared as He had on the very day the calves and
cowherd boys had vanished.
Thus we see that though Brahma is the chief of all the demigods and
is their spiritual master, he is subordinate to the Supreme Lord, Shri
Krishna.
 The Controller of all Controller 153
The Bewilderment of Indra, the King of Heaven
Once Krishna and Balaram saw that the cowherd men were
preparing a sacrifice in order to pacify Indra, the King of Heaven, who is
responsible for supplying water. Krishna enquired from His father,
Nanda Maharaj what was the need to perform such a sacrifice. Nanda
Maharaj explained to Him, “My dear boy, this ceremonial performance
is more or less traditional. Because the rainfall is due to the mercy of
King Indra and the clouds are his representatives and because water is so
important for our living, we must show some gratitude to the controller
of rainfall, King Indra.”
Krishna spoke to His father and all the cowherd men of Vrindavana
in a way as to make Indra very angry. He suggested that they forego the
sacrifice. His reasons were twofold:
First, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, there is no need to worship the
demigods for any material advancement; all results derived from
worshipping the demigods are simply temporary, and only those who are
less intelligent are interested in temporary results.
But sometimes the demigods become puffed up by the influence of
material nature; thinking themselves to be the all in all, they forget the
supremacy and control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the
Shrimad Bhagavatam, it is clearly stated that in this instance Krishna
wanted to make King Indra angry. Krishna’s advent was especially
meant for the annihilation of the demons and protection of the devotees.
King Indra was certainly a devotee, not a demon, but because he was
puffed up, Krishna wanted to teach him a lesson. He first tried to make
Indra angry by stopping the Indra Puja, which was arranged by the
cowherd men in Vrindavana.
Nanda Maharaj and all the cowherd men were always so captivated
by the sweet words and beauty of Krishna that, for His pleasure, they
were ready to do anything and everything that He wanted them to do.
They asked Him how and for whom they should perform the sacrifice.
Krishna asked them to prepare nice foodstuffs from the grains and ghee
collected for the yajna. He asked them to prepare rice, dahl, halva,
pakora, puri, sandesha, rasagulla, laddu etc and offer them all to the
Govardhana Hill, a beautiful hill in the vicinity of Vrindavana.
154 Your Best Friend
Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, advised the
cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajna and begin the Govardhana Puja in
order to chastise Indra who was very much puffed up at being the
controller of the heavenly planets. The honest and simple cowherd men
headed by Nanda Maharaja accepted Krishna’s proposal and executed in
detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana-puja and
circumambulation of the hill.
When Indra understood that the sacrifice offered by the cowherd
men in Vrindavana was stopped by Krishna, he became angry. As the
director of different kinds of clouds, Indra called for the Samvartaka
Cloud, which is needed only at the time of the devastation of the entire
cosmic manifestation. The Samvartaka was ordered by Indra to go over
Vrindavana and inundate the whole area with an extensive flood.
Demonically, Indra thought himself to be the all-powerful supreme
personality. When demons become very powerful, they defy the
Supreme Controller, Personality of Godhead. Indra, though not a
demon, was puffed up by his material position, and he wanted to
challenge the supreme controller. He thought himself, at least for the
time being, as powerful as Krishna. Indra declared, “These cowherd men
in Vrindavana have neglected my authority on the advice of this
talkative boy who is known as Krishna. He is nothing but a child, and by
believing this child, they have enraged me. The men of Vrindavana have
become too puffed up over their material opulence and their confidence
in their tiny friend, Krishna. I have ordered the Samvartaka Cloud to go
there and inundate the place. They should be destroyed along with their
cows.”
Ordered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds appeared above
Vrindavana and began to pour water incessantly, with all their strength
and power. There was constant lightening and thunder, blowing of
severe wind and incessant falling of rain. The rainfall was accompanied
by great winds, and every living creature in Vrindavana began to
tremble from the severe cold. Unable to find any other source of
deliverance, they all approached Govinda to take shelter at His lotus
feet. At that time all the inhabitants of Vrindavana began to pray to Lord
Krishna, “Dear Krishna, You are all-powerful, and You are very
affectionate to Your devotees. Now please protect us who have been
much harassed by angry Indra.”
 The Controller of all Controller 155
Upon hearing their prayer, Krishna could understand that Indra, being
bereft of his sacrificial honor, was pouring down rain that was
accompanied by heavy pieces of ice and strong winds, although all this
was out of season. Krishna understood that this was a deliberate
exhibition of anger by Indra. He therefore concluded, “The demigods are
My devotees, and therefore it is not possible for them to forget My
supremacy, but somehow or other Indra has become puffed up with
material power and thus is now maddened. I shall act in such a way to
156 Your Best Friend
relieve him of this false prestige. I shall give protection to My pure
devotees in Vrindavana by My mystic power.”
Thinking in this way, Lord Krishna immediately picked up
Govardhanaa Hill with one hand, exactly as a child picks up a
mushroom from the ground. He invited all the residents of Vrindavana
with their property and animals to take shelter under this hill. The
inhabitants of Vrindavana and their animals remained there for one week
without being disturbed by hunger, thirst or any other discomforts. They
were simply astonished to see how Krishna was holding up the mountain
with the little finger of His left hand.
Seeing the extraordinary mystic power of Krishna, Indra, the King
of Heaven, was thunderstruck and baffled in his determination. He
immediately called for the clouds and asked them to desist. When the
sky became completely cleared of all clouds and there was sunrise again,
the strong winds stopped. The demigods showered flowers from the
heavens. All the residents of Vrindavana returned home happily, singing
songs about the glorious pastimes of Lord Krishna.
After this incident, a surabhi cow from Goloka Vrindavana, as well
as King Indra from the heavenly planet, appeared before Krishna. Indra
was conscious of his offence before Krishna and immediately fell down
at His lotus feet. Indra knew about the exalted position of Krishna, but
he could not believe that Krishna could come down and live in
Vrindavana among the cowherd men. When Krishna defied the authority
of Indra, Indra became angry because he thought that he was all in all
within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But after this
incident, his false prestige was destroyed.
Indra offered many prayers glorifying Krishna and asked for
forgiveness. Krishna, smiling beautifully, instructed Indra, “My dear
Indra, I have stopped your sacrifice just to show My causeless mercy
and to revive your memory that I am your eternal master. I am not only
your master, but I am the master of all the other demigods as well. You
should always remember that all your material opulences are due to My
mercy. Everyone should always remember that I am the Supreme Lord.
If I find someone overpowered by false pride, in order to show him My
causeless mercy, I withdraw all his opulences.”
Sometimes it is seen that a person is very opulent materially, but due
to his devotional service to the Lord, he may be reduced to poverty. One
 The Controller of all Controller 157
should not think, however, that because he worshiped the Supreme Lord
he became poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a
pure devotee, but at the same time, by miscalculation, he wants to lord it
over material nature, the Lord shows His special mercy by taking away
all material opulences until at last he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.
After this, the heavenly King Indra, along with the Surabhi cows and
all the other demigods and their mothers, worshiped Lord Krishna by
bathing Him with Ganges water through the trunk of Airavata, the
carrier elephant of Indra, and with the milk of the surabhis. Lord Krishna
was pleased with all of them.
Lord Krishna asked Indra to return to his kingdom in the heavenly
planet and to remember always that he is never the supreme but is
always subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also
advised him to remain as the King of Heaven, but to be careful of false
pride.
Through this pastime, we can see that, although Indra is the
king of the demigods, still he is subordinate to Krishna. We also
see that both Brahma and Indra understood the truth that Lord Shri
Krishna is the Supreme the hard way. If we are to understand that
same truth the easy way without having to go through total
bewilderment, the only way is by submissive hearing about the
supreme controllership of Krishna from a pure devotee coming in
an unbroken disciplic succession .
Lord Krishna delivers Lord Shiva
T he Shrimad Bhagavatam describes the story of Vrikasura,
which illustrates that Lord Krishna is the master of Lord
Shiva too.
Once there was a demon Vrikasura who wanted to get a benediction
from Lord Shiva. He therefore went to Kedaranatha and ignited a
sacrificial fire to please Lord Shiva. After igniting the fire in the name of
Shiva, he began to offer his own flesh, by cutting it from his body to
please Lord Shiva.
158 Your Best Friend
Although Vrikasura continued his sacrifice for six days, he was
nevertheless unable to personally see Lord Shiva to ask for a boon,
which was his objective. On the seventh day, the demon Vrikasura
decided that he should cut off his head and offer it to satisfy Lord Shiva.
Thus he took bath in the nearby lake, and without drying his body and
hair, he prepared to cut off his head.
When the demon was thus preparing to cut off his head, Lord Shiva
became very compassionate. This is natural compassion. Even if a
common man sees someone preparing to commit suicide, it is his duty to
try to save him. He does so automatically. There is no need to appeal to
him. Therefore when Lord Shiva appeared from the fire to check the
demon from suicide, it was not as a very great favor to him.
The demon was saved from committing suicide by the touch of Lord
Shiva; his bodily injuries immediately healed, and his body became as it
was before. Then Lord Shiva told the demon, “My dear Vrikasura, you
do not need to cut off your head. You can ask from me any benediction
you like, and I shall fulfill your desire. I do not know why you wanted to
cut off your head to satisfy me. I become satisfied even by an offering of
a little water.” Out of compassion and sympathy, Lord Shiva then
prepared to give him any benediction he liked.
When the demon was offered this facility by Lord Shiva, he asked
for a very fearful and abominable benediction. The demon was very
sinful, and sinful persons do not know what sort of benediction should
be asked from the deity. Therefore he asked Lord Shiva to be benedicted
with such power that as soon as he would touch anyone’s head,
immediately it would crack, and the man would die. Lord Shiva could
understand the motive of the demon, and he became very sorry that he
had assured him whatever benediction he liked. He would not withdraw
his promise, but he was very sorry in his heart that he was to offer him a
benediction so dangerous to human society.
The demons are described as duskrtinas, miscreants, because
although they have brain power and merit, the merit and brain power are
used for abominable activities. Sometimes, for example, the materialistic
demons discover a lethal weapon. The scientific research for such a
discovery certainly requires a very good brain, but instead of
discovering something beneficial to human society, they discover
something to accelerate the death which is already assured to every man.
 The Controller of all Controller 159
Similarly, Vrikasura, instead of asking Lord Shiva for something
beneficial to human society, asked for something very dangerous to
human society. Devotees of the Personality of Godhead, however, never
ask any benediction from Lord Vishnu or Krishna, and even if they ask
something from the Lord, it is not at all dangerous for human society.
That is the difference between the demons and the devotees, or the
worshipers of Lord Shiva and the worshipers of Lord Vishnu.
The demon Vrikasura, however, being very sinful, immediately
decided that he would use the benediction to kill Lord Shiva and take
away Gauri (Parvati) for his personal enjoyment. He immediately
decided to place his hand on the head of Lord Shiva. Thus Lord Shiva
was put into an awkward position because he was endangered by his
own benediction to a demon. This is also another instance of a
materialistic devotee’s misusing the power derived from the demigods.
Without further deliberation, the demon Vrikasura immediately
approached Lord Shiva to place his hand on Lord Shiva’s head. Lord
Shiva was so afraid of him that his body trembled, and he began to flee
from the land to the sky and from the sky to other planets until he
reached the limits of the universe, above the higher planetary systems.
Lord Shiva fled from one place to another, but the demon Vrikasura
continued to chase him. The predominating deities of other planets, such
as Brahma, Indra and Chandra, could not find any way to save Lord
Shiva from the impending danger. Wherever Lord Shiva went, they
remained silent.
At last Lord Shiva approached Lord Vishnu, who is situated within
this universe on the planet known as Shvetadvipa, the local Vaikuntha
planet beyond the jurisdiction of the influence of the external energy.
Lord Narayana is celebrated as a lover of His devotees, and as soon
as He understood that Lord Shiva was in great danger, He appeared as a
brahmachari and personally approached Lord Shiva to receive him from
a distant place. The Lord appeared as a perfect brahmachari, with a belt
around His waist, a sacred thread, a deerskin, a brahmachari stick and
raudra beads. Dressed as a brahmachari, Lord Narayana stood before
Lord Shiva. The shining effulgence emanating from His body attracted
not only Lord Shiva but also the demon Vrikasura.
Lord Narayana offered his respects and obeisances unto Vrikasura,
just to attract his sympathy and attention. Thus checking the demon, the
160 Your Best Friend
Lord addressed him as follows: “My dear son of Shakuni, you appear
very tired, as if coming from a very distant place. What is your purpose?
Why have you come so far? I see that you are very tired and fatigued, so
I request you to take a little rest. You should not unnecessarily tire your
body. Everyone greatly values his body because with this body only can
one fulfill all the desires of one’s mind. We should not, therefore,
unnecessarily give trouble to this body.”
Lord Narayana in the form of the brahmachari addressed Vrikasura
as the son of Shakuni just to convince him that He was known to his
father, Shakuni. Vrikasura then took the brahmachari to be someone
known to his family, and therefore the brahmachari’s sympathetic words
appealed to him. Before the demon could argue that he had no time to
take rest, the Lord began to inform him about the importance of the
body, and the demon was convinced. Any man, especially a demon,
takes his body to be very important. Thus Vrikasura became convinced
about the importance of his body.
Then, just to pacify the demon, the brahmachari told him, “My dear
lord, if you think that you can disclose the mission for which you have
taken the trouble to come here, maybe I shall be able to help you so that
your purpose will be easily served.” Indirectly, the Lord informed him
that because the Lord is the Supreme Brahman, certainly he would be
able to adjust the awkward situation created by Lord Shiva.
The demon was greatly pacified by the sweet words of Lord
Narayana in the form of a brahmachari, and at last he disclosed all that
had happened in regard to the benediction offered by Lord Shiva. The
Lord replied to the demon as follows, “I myself cannot believe that Lord
Shiva has in truth given you such a benediction. As far as I know, Lord
Shiva is not in a sane mental condition. He had a quarrel with his father-
in-law Daksa, and he has been cursed to become a pishaca (ghost). Thus
he has become the leader of the ghosts and hobgoblins. Therefore I
cannot put any faith in his words. But if you have faith still in the words
of Lord Shiva, my dear king of the demons, then why don’t you make an
experiment by putting your hand on your head? If the benediction
proves false, then you can immediately kill this liar, Lord Shiva, so that
in the future he will not dare give out false benedictions.”
In this way, by Lord Narayana’s sweet words and by the expansion
of His superior illusion, the demon became bewildered, and he actually
 The Controller of all Controller 161 162 Your Best Friend

forgot the power of Lord Shiva and his benediction. He was thus very
easily persuaded to put his hand on his own head. As soon as the demon
did that, his head cracked, as if struck by thunder, and he immediately
died. The demigods from heaven began to shower flowers on Lord
Narayana, praising Him with all glories and all thanksgiving, and they
offered their obeisances to the Lord.
In this way Lord Vishnu in the form of a brahmachari released Lord
Shiva from the impending danger and saved the whole situation.

Krishna - The Supreme Controller

H istories like these give us a proper understanding of the po-

sition of Lord Krishna with respect to the demigods and
illustrate the following points:
Krishna is the supreme controller of everything and everyone
including powerful demigods like Shiva, Brahma and Indra.
All the demigods seek refuge of Krishna in times of danger.
Even the demigods cannot comprehend the divine qualities
and activities of Lord Krishna.
Worship : Divine and Mundane 163 164 Your Best Friend

I n the previous chapter, we discussed how Lord Krishna is the

Chapter 10 Supreme Personality of Godhead and is the only object of

worship for all living entities. Then one may wonder, “Why do the
scriptures recommend many different forms of worship of many
demigods?” The answer to this question is the subject matter of
discussion in this chapter.
Relationship of Krishna and the demigods

T here is a great misconception about the gods or demigods of

this material world, and men of less intelligence, although
passing as great scholars, take these demigods to be various forms
of the Supreme Lord. Actually, the demigods are not different

Worship :
forms of God, but they are God’s different parts and parcels. God
is one, and the parts and parcels are many. The Vedas say, nityo
nityanam: God is one. ishvarah paramah krishnah. The Supreme
Divine and God is one – Krishna – and the demigods are all living entities
(nityanam) endowed with different grades of material power to
Mundane manage this material world. They cannot be equal to the Supreme
God – Narayana, Vishnu or Krishna. The demigods are all
servants of the Vishnu tattva.
In the Vedic scriptures, anyone who thinks that God and the
demigods are on the same level is called an atheist, or pashandi.
Even the great demigods like Brahma and Shiva cannot be
compared to the Supreme Lord. In fact, the lotus feet of the Lord
are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Shiva and Lord
Brahma. (….shiva virinci nutam… Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.33).
Similarly in the Rig Veda (1.22.20)), it is said: om tad vishnum
paramam padam sada pasyanti surayah “The lotus feet of Lord
Vishnu are the supreme objective of all the demigods.” Also in the
Shrimad Bhagavatam (12.13.1), it is said, yam brahma
varunendra rudra marutah stunvanti divyai stavai…. “All the
demigods like Brahma, Varuna, Rudra and Maruts glorify Krishna
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 165
with choice poetry.” The shruti mantras glorify the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krishna, as follows:
tam ishvaranam paramam maheshwaram
tam daivatanam paramam ca daivatam
patim patinam paramam parastad
vidama devam bhuvanesham idyam
“The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and
He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is
under His control. All entities are invested with particular power
only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is
also worshipable by all demigods and is the supreme director of
all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of
material leaders and controllers and is worshipable by all. There is
no one greater than Him, and He is the supreme cause of all
causes.” (Svetashvatara Upanishad 6.7)
Demigods Run to the Supreme Lord for Help
T he demigods are officers and directors in the government of
the Supreme Lord. They are empowered by the Supreme Lord
to have control over different departments in nature. The
demigods like Indra, Vayu, Agni, Varuna, Brahma etc., are all
parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. It is well known that
whenever there is a cosmic disturbance, the demigods headed by
Brahma take shelter of Vishnu. Whenever the earth is
overburdened by powerful demons like Kamsa, Hiranyaksha,
Hiranyakashipu, Ravana etc., the demigods run to the lotus feet of
Vishnu. If the demigods have to seek protection from the Supreme
Lord, how can they be equal to the Lord?
166 Your Best Friend
Differences between Krishna worship
and demigod worship
Demigods give what you Want;
Krishna gives what you Need
A question immediately arises when we understand the su
preme position of Lord Krishna and the subordinate position
of the demigods. If Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and He can give a soul whatever He wants, why don’t
more persons surrender to Him? Why do they worship the other
demigods to fulfill their desires?
One reason for this is that the demigods give their worshiper
whatever he wants, irrespective of whether it is good or bad for
him. They offer material benefits to their worshipers without
worrying about the harmful effects of their benedictions just as a
shopkeeper does not hesitate to sell a sweet surrounded by flies to
a child who pays the due amount for it. But Krishna is a loving
father who does not offer His devotees anything which may be
harmful for their advancement in spiritual life. He only gives His
devotees what they really need or what is their ultimate best
interest.
Greedy people worship demigods to get quick results. They
get the desired results, but do not know that results so obtained are
temporary and are meant for less intelligent persons. The
intelligent person is in Krishna consciousness, and he has no need
to worship the paltry demigods for some immediate, temporary
benefit. The demigods of this material world, as well as their
worshipers, will vanish with the annihilation of this material
world. Human society however is mad after temporary things such
as land, family and enjoyable paraphernalia. But such material
benefits are bound to lead one to frustration sooner or later. There
is no history of anyone enjoying material benefits unlimitedly
without surrendering to the Supreme Lord.
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 167 168 Your Best Friend

Even if one has no faith in the demigods, he will be forced to Demigods Cannot Award Liberation;
“worship” at least the powerful men in human society. If a man Only Krishna Can
gets some ministership in the government by worshiping a
The demigods can offer only material benefits; they cannot
political leader, he considers that he has achieved a great boon. All award liberation. Their position in the universal administration is
of them are therefore kowtowing to the so-called leaders or ‘big similar to that of the various managers in a company. These
guns’ in order to achieve temporary boons, and they indeed
achieve such things. Such foolish men are not interested in
Krishna consciousness for the permanent solution to the hardships
of material existence.
Those who are freed from all material contaminations
surrender unto the Supreme Lord and engage in His devotional
service. As long as the material contamination is not completely
washed off, people are by nature nondevotees. But even those who
have material desires and who resort to the Supreme Lord are not
so much attracted by external nature; because of approaching the
right goal, they soon become free from all material lust. In the
Shrimad Bhagavatam (2.3.10), it is recommended that whether
one is a pure devotee and is free from all material desires, or is full
of material desires, or desires liberation from material
contamination, he should in all cases surrender to Väsudeva and
worship Him:
akamah sarva-kamo va moksha-kama udara-dhi
tivrena bhakti-yogena yajeta purusham param
Anyone who worships Krishna for material benefits also
obtains his desires, but Krishna first purifies his heart. The
purification may take time and therefore material reward may be
delayed. Krishna knows very well that material benedictions may
be harmful for one who is not detached from them. Therefore
Krishna offers them only to a devotee who has achieved maturity
and detachment when such material benefits cannot harm him. For
example, prince Dhruva and Sudama vipra were provided with
ample wealth by the Lord when they were no longer attached to
such opulence.
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 169
managers have only a limited range of authority; for subjects
outside their power of jurisdiction, they have to approach a higher
authority. Similarly, the demigods can give some benedictions in
the material realm, but they cannot give liberation; that can be
given only by the Supreme Lord Krishna.
For the living entity, who is constantly suffering in the cycle of
repeated birth and death, material benefits provide no real respite;
they only temporarily alleviate his problems without providing a
permanent solution. Liberation from this cycle of birth and death
and reinstatement in his constitutional position, as an eternal
servant of the Supreme Lord, is the only truly auspicious
benediction for him. But giving this benediction is beyond the
power of the demigods. This is vividly illustrated in the story of
Hiranyakashipu.
Hiranyakashipu performed severe penance for hundred celestial
years to please Brahma so as to obtain the benediction of immortality.
But Brahma could not fulfil his desire. This is because even though
Brahma has a very long life span, he too has to die one day. So if
Brahma himself is not immortal, how could he have given immortality to
Hiranyakashipu?
Therefore the revealed scriptures direct the true seeker, the
aspirant for liberation, to worship only Lord Vishnu and no one
else, as is stated in the shruti mantras, tam eva viditvati mrtyum eti
nanyah pantha vidyate ayanaya “Only by knowing that Supreme
Lord can one transcend death, there is no other way possible.”
(Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.8) Even Lord Shiva confirms this
unique position of Lord Vishnu mukti pradata sarvesam visnor
eva na samsayah “Only Lord Vishnu can award liberation to the
living entities; there is no doubt about this.”
170 Your Best Friend
Demigod Worship is Ultimately Futile;
Krishna Worship is Ultimately Successful
The boons of the demigods are material and temporary. Both
the material worlds and their inhabitants, including the demigods
and their worshipers, are bubbles in the cosmic ocean; they will
vanish in no time. The futility of demigod worship can be
understood from the following examples:
z A demigod worshiper may hanker for wealth, “I want wealth”
“I want wealth.” Although he may get it, if he does not act
piously, he will be forced to take birth as a dog in the next life.
z Another demigod worshiper may hanker for education and may
even become a reputed scholar. But in his next life, he will
have to begin from learning ABC all over again.
z Even if a demigod worshiper achieves a higher planet - the
abode of a demigod, he still has to return to this mortal planet
again, when the results of his pious activities are exhausted, as
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (9.21) kshine punye martya-
lokam vishanti.
On the other hand, if one achieves the highest planet – the abode
of Lord Krishna, then one will live an eternal life full of bliss and
knowledge there; such a devotee never has to return to this
miserable material world. Since we have to anyway work hard in
the material world; then why not work for the best? Why not fully
utilize this human body, make the best out of bad bargain, to attain
ultimate relief from suffering?
Demigod worship is impelled by material desires. But the
desire for material sense gratification is like an itching sensation.
The more you scratch the itch, the more you will want to scratch.
And the ultimate result of this itching is bleeding and suffering.
Similarly the more we satisfy our material desires, the more they
keep increasing. And such sense gratification ultimately leads only
to misery. Therefore going to the demigods for relief is like going
to a friend when you are having an itch on your back and
requesting him, “Please scratch my back.” The relief that it will
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 171
provide is temporary; it will not actually solve the problem. But
172 Your Best Friend
worshiping Krishna is like going to a doctor who will cure the
itching sensation by proper medicine; it is the only solution.
Demigod Worship is for the Less Intelligent;
Krishna Worship is for the Truly Intelligent
If demigod worship is ultimately futile, why do most people
still worship the demigods? Because demigods give quick material
benefits and that is what most people want.
Therefore in the Vedic scriptures, a person wanting a
particular boon is advised to worship a particular demigod. For
example, a diseased person is recommended to worship Surya, the
sun-god; a person wanting education is recommended to worship
the goddess of learning, Sarasvati; and a person wanting a
beautiful wife is told to worship the goddess Uma, the wife of
Lord Shiva. In this way there are recommendations in the
scriptures for different classes of people.
The nature of the promises given to the demigod worshipers is:
“You do this puja for 8 weeks; you will get a good wife.” “You do
this puja for 14 weeks and you will be successful in your court
case.” For example, the Ganesh stotra states: jape ganapathis
stotram shadbhir maase phalam labhet. “By chanting this
Ganapati stotra one can achieve results within 6 months.” The
stotra continues:
vidyarthi labhate vidyam dhanarthi labhate dhanam
putrarthi labhate putram moksharthi labhate gatim
“A student will get good education, a man desirous of wealth will
acquire wealth, a man aspiring for a son will get a son, and a man
after liberation will achieve a higher destination.”
In this way, many material benefits are dangled in front of
people. Those who want quick results are attracted by such
allurements and thus they worship demigods.
These facilities are given for less intelligent people who are
motivated by material desires. An intelligent person surrenders to
Krishna in order to achieve ultimate liberation. Lord Krishna says
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 173
in the Bhagavad-gita that, although those worshiping the
demigods are actually worshiping Him, such indirect worship is
for the less intelligent people and is worship done in a wrong way.
Why such worship is considered wrong is explained in the
Shrimad Bhagvatam (4.31.14)
yatha taror mula-nisecanena
trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam
tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya
“As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk,
branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the
stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply
worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through
devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are
parts of that Supreme Personality.” When a man pours water on
the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring water on the
root, he does so without sufficient knowledge or without
observing regulative principles. Similarly, the process of
providing nourishment to the different parts of the body is to
supply food to the stomach.
Foolish people confidently propound a sweet-sounding yet
absurd philosophy, ‘All paths lead to the same goal; worship of all
gods is the same.’ This is like saying, “All the nine holes in the
body serve the same purpose. You can put food in any of them and
it will automatically reach the stomach.” Does it make any sense?
If our goal is to supply food to the stomach, in how many ways
can we do so? The only way is through the mouth, and not through
the ears, nose, anus etc. Similarly there is only one way to conquer
death and enter into the kingdom of God, as stated in the shruti
mantras: tam eve viditvati mrtyum eti nanyah pantha vidyate
ayanaya “Only by knowing the Supreme Lord can one conquer
death.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.8) It is clearly stated herein
nanyah pantha, meaning that there is no other way.
174 Your Best Friend
The demigods are, so to speak, different officers and directors
in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the
laws made by the government, not by the officers and directors.
Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord
only. That will automatically satisfy the different officers and
directors of the Lord. The officers and directors are engaged as
representatives of the government, and to offer some bribe to them
is illegal. Similarly the demigods are representatives of the
Supreme Lord and to worship them separate from the Lord is
considered avidhi-purvakam, worship done in a wrong way.
If Demigod Worship is condemned,
why do the Scriptures prescribe it?
A question may be raised at this point, “If the demigods can
not award any worthwhile benediction, then why is their
worship recommended in the scriptures?”
This is because the Vedic scriptures are like a desire tree; they
provide methods of elevation even for the most fallen and
unintelligent so that they can be gradually elevated.
Just as the educational system is designed to gradually educate
even an utterly illiterate man, in the same way the scriptures
prescribe worship of demigods who offer material benefits for
those who are less intelligent and are full of material desires.
Majority of the populace practices religion only for the sake of
fulfilling their insatiable material desires. For such materialistic
people, accepting the authority of the scriptures and following the
standards prescribed for demigod worship is the beginning of
surrender to God.
Demigod worship involves performance of tapa (austerity)
and dana (charity), which helps one to become free from aham
(bodily identification) and mama (false proprietorship). For
example, the mantra used while making sacrificial offerings to
Indra, indraya svaaha idam na mama means “This is not mine. I
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 175
offer it to Indra.” This sort of worship helps one to rise from
bodily, material consciousness gradually so that ultimately the
completely selfless platform of pure devotional service can be
reached.
The worship or the mantras offered to the demigods always
carries the name of Vishnu in the beginning and the end. This is
the spiritual seed (like a bitter medicine coated with sugar all
around) which makes a materialistic demigod worshiper recite the
name of the Supreme Lord and slowly get its benefit over a period
of time. For example, the worshipers of Ganesh recite the
following verse from the Mahabharata (which was written by
Ganesh himself):
kayena vaca manasendriyair va
buddhyatmanava prakrteh svabhavat
karomi yad yad sakalam parasmai
narayana yeti samarpayami
“Whatever I think, speak and do with my mind, intelligence and
senses – I offer them all at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord
Narayana.”
By repeated chanting of the names of Lord Vishnu in such
prayers to the demigods, the consciousness of a demigod
worshiper is gradually awakened. Over a period extending over
several lifetimes, he becomes elevated enough to worship the
Supreme Lord, Krishna. In this way demigod worship is meant to
elevate a soul to the highest form of worship, worship of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, over a period of
many lifetimes. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.19):
bahunam janmanam ante jnanvaan mam prapdyate
vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in
knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all
causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.”
If the ultimate goal of demigod worshipper is to become a
devotee of Lord Vishnu, why not worship Lord Vishnu directly
176 Your Best Friend
and avoid wasting time? Therefore if an intelligent person is
fortunate enough tocome in contact with a devoteeof the Lord, he
can leave all the other rituals and just take to Krishna
consciousness and the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.
This worship of Lord Krishna includes in itself the worship of all
the millions of demigods, exactly as pouring water on the root of
the tree nourishes every part of tree.
How should devotees deal with the demigods?
A devotee of Krishna understands that the demigods are all
empowered servants of Krishna, who are given a particular
service to do. Therefore he is not offensive towards them; he sees
them as parts and parcels of Lord Krishna and offers them due
respect. Thus only a devotee of Krishna knows best how to
actually honor a demigod.
The proper way to deal with the demigods can be understood
from the following example. Suppose you meet a police constable.
He is the representative of the government. If you slap him, you
are slapping the government; it is very offensive behavior. But,
going to the other extreme, if you go and fall at the feet of the
constable and say, “O Lord, you are not only the constable, but
you are also the sub-inspector, the IGP (Inspector General of
Police). You are the all in all; you can give everything”, then that
is untrue flattery. A sincere constable will not be pleased by such
false glorification; in fact he will feel embarrassed. But if you
offer the constable the respect that is due to him as a
representative of the government, then he will be pleased because
that is the proper way of dealing with him.
Similarly the demigods being the empowered servants of
Krishna are His representatives. So if we disrespect, offend or
blaspheme them, then we are disrespecting Krishna. But if we
glorify them to be the Supreme, as some demigod worshipers do,
then we are actually embarrassing and displeasing them. Therefore
 Worship : Divine and Mundane 177 178 Your Best Friend

the proper way for devotees to deal with demigods is to respect

them as the representatives of the Supreme Lord.
And how does a devotee of Krishna worship the demigods?
The mood of a devotee is that he simply wants to serve Krishna
without any motivation or interruption. Therefore when he
happens to go by a temple of Lord Ganesha, he prays, “O Lord
Ganesh! Please remove all the obstacles on my way back to
Krishna.” When he sees a Shivalinga, he prays, “You are the
topmost Vaishnava. Please make me also a devotee of Krishna so
that I may get an opportunity to eternally serve Him.” When he
passes by a temple of goddess Sarasvati, he prays, “O goddess
Sarasvati, please bless me so that I may understand the Bhagavad-
gita and the Shrimad Bhagavatam and become a pure devotee of
Krishna.” A devotee of Krishna can never even dream of going to
the demigods for material benefits. The gopis of Vrindavana, who
are the topmost devotees of Lord Krishna, prayed to goddess
Katyayani (Durga), not for any material benediction, but to get
Krishna as their husband.
Thus the conclusion is that one should aspire to become an
unalloyed devotee of Krishna and worship Him wholeheartedly.
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 179 180 Your Best Friend

I n this world, all of us have an innate hankering for a true friend.

Chapter 11 We appear to have many friends, but ‘a friend in need is a

friend indeed’. We all have the experience that in good times we
are surrounded by many friends, but in difficult times, even those
who appear to be our best friends desert us. And even if they
don’t, at the time of the greatest need – at the time of death, they
can be of no help to us. Then is it possible that our hankering for
true friendship can ever be fulfilled? If yes, who is that true
friend? And how can we develop our friendship with him?
Krishna’s Program for the Living Entities

B efore we can understand the identity of our true friend, first

of all we must understand our own identity. We are not these
Your material bodies, as we generally think. Actually we are all spirit
souls from the spiritual world. That spiritual world is our original
Heart - To - Heart home. There, we are meant to eternally associate with God in
loving reciprocation. In the spiritual sky, there are innumerable

Friend spiritual planets and innumerable spiritual living entities. As stated

in the Gita, all the living entities are minute eternal parts and
parcels of Krishna and are meant for serving Him eternally. And
this loving service to Krishna is the eternal ecstasy of the soul. But
when the individual spirit soul wants to be independent, he
becomes useless, as can be understood from the following
analogy.
In a push button telephone machine, suppose one of the
buttons wants to be independent. You remove it from the
telephone and keep it aside. What is its value? It has absolutely no
value. But when it is put back on the phone, it can be used in
dialing a phone number. Similarly if we desire to be independent
of Krishna, we become utterly useless; our life becomes miserable
and meaningless. But if we again connect ourselves with Krishna,
then our life gains meaning and happiness. It is important,
however, to note that we cannot stretch this analogy beyond what
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 181 182 Your Best Friend

it is meant to convey – the dependence of the living entity on department. Even in the prison house, the government takes care
Krishna. A telephone without a button may be incomplete. But that the prisoners get sufficient food, and that they get hospital
Krishna is not like that. Krishna is complete, perfect and treatment if they become diseased. Thus the government cares for
supremely independent. As stated in the Ishopanishad, Krishna them – but under punishment. Similarly, in this material world,
remains a complete whole even if many, many complete units Krishna has arranged not only for our care, but also for our
emanate from Him; He never diminishes. As Krishna’s eternal punishment. “If you commit this sin, then take this slap.” “If you
parts and parcels, it is we who need Him; He doesn’t need us. But commit that sin then take that kick.” This is going on in the form
if we use our free will for surrendering to Him and to love Him, of the threefold miseries— those caused by our body and mind,
then, out of His great kindness, He reciprocates with us and our those caused by other living entities and those caused by natural
life becomes complete and perfect. Thus we are perfect as long as calamities under the supervision of the demigods. And just as
we are connected to Krishna; otherwise we are useless. when a criminal reforms himself and mends his ways, he is
So when a soul desires to enjoy independent of Krishna, He is released from the jail and can return home, similarly when the
sent to this material world. All the souls in the material world can living entity engages in devotional service to Krishna, he is freed
be divided into two categories – the obedient and the rebellious. from all unwanted misgivings and attains pure love for Krishna.
Those souls who are willing Then he becomes eligible to return to the supreme abode of
to surrender to Krishna by Krishna, Goloka Vrindavan. This is the complete program of Lord
following the instructions Krishna for the living entities.
mentioned in the revealed
scriptures through a bona fide Paramatma - The True Friend of the Jivatma
guru coming in parampara,
are called devotees. Krishna
personally takes charge of
W hen the jivatma (the living entity or the individual spirit
soul) comes to this material world, an expansion of Krishna
called the Paramatma or the Supersoul accompanies him in order
their protection and
maintenance. But for the to escort him to different bodies and to take care of him within
ordinary rebellious living each body. The Paramatma is situated not only in the heart of
entities, Maya devi, every living entity, but also within every atom.
Krishna’s external energy, The relationship between the Paramatma and the jivatma can
takes charge. Maya devi, also be understood with the help of an analogy. Sometimes, a dog
known as Durga devi, is wants to wander in the street to eat bones or filth instead of the
Krishna’s agent for punishing costly and delicious biscuits provided by his master. Seeing his
the conditioned souls. desire, the master catches hold of the rope around the neck of the
This situation is similar to what we see in the state: good dog and escorts him for a walk. In the same way, the jivatma
citizens are taken care of by the government directly, while wants to exploit and enjoy the material world by taking on newer
criminals are taken care of by the government through the prison and newer bodies instead of enjoying unlimited happiness in the
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 183 184 Your Best Friend

spiritual world with Krishna. Seeing his desire, Paramatma although they are the same in quality – one is captivated by the
accompanies the living entity in the material world. This is fruits of the material tree; sometimes he eats bitter fruits and
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (18.61) laments, and sometimes he eats sweet fruits and rejoices, while the
ishvarah sarva bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend.
bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and
is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as
on a machine made of the material energy.”
At this point it is important to note there are two kinds of souls
- namely the minute particle soul (jivatama or anu-atma) and the
Supersoul (Paramatma or vibhu-atma). Jivatma refers to the
individual soul and the Paramatma refers to the individual
Supersoul. Both the jivatma and the Paramatma are individual
persons. The difference between them however is that the jivatma
is present only in one particular place, whereas the Paramatma is
present everywhere. This is confirmed in the Katha Upanishad
(1.2.20):
anor aniyan mahato mahiyan
atmasya jantor nihito guhayam
tam akratuh pasyati vita-soko
dhatuh prasadan mahimanam atmanah
“Both the Supersoul (Paramatma) and the atomic soul (jivatma)
are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of
the living being, and only one who has become free from all
material desires as well as lamentations can by the grace of the
Supreme, understand the glories of the soul.”
Transfer of the atomic individual soul to another body is made
possible by the grace of the Supersoul. The Supersoul fulfills the
desire of the atomic soul as one friend fulfills the desire of
another. The Vedas, like the Mundaka Upanishad, as well as the
Svetasvatara Upanishad, compare the soul and the Supersoul to
two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the
individual atomic soul) is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other
bird (Krishna) is simply watching His friend. Of these two birds –
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 185
Applying this two-bird analogy to the context of the
Bhagavad-gita, we can understand that Krishna is the witnessing
bird, and Arjuna is the eating bird. Although the two souls are
friends, one is still the master and the other is the servant.
Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of
his changing his position from one tree to another or from one
body to another. The jiva soul is struggling very hard on the tree
of the material body. But as soon as he agrees to accept the other
bird as the supreme spiritual master – as Arjuna agreed to do by
voluntary surrender unto Krishna for instruction – the subordinate
bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the
Katha Upanishad and the Shvetasvatara Upanishad confirm this:
samane vrkse puruso nimagno
‘nisaya socati muhyamanah
justam yada pasyaty anyam isam
asya mahimanam iti vita-sokah
“Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is
fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the
fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to
his friend who is the Lord, at once the suffering bird becomes free
from all anxieties.”
The Padma Purana informs us that there are 8,400,000 forms
of species: 900,000 species of aquatic life; 2,000,000 species
amongst plants and trees; 1,100,000 species of insects; 1,000,000
species of bird life; 3,000,000 species of beasts, and 400,000
species of human life. The living entity has been transmigrating
from one body to another through different species for millions
upon millions of lifetimes. But the Supersoul is always patiently
accompanying him, whether he is in a human body or a worm’s
body. In every body, he continues to neglect the Paramatma and
forms numerous relationships with other living entities, but on
every occasion, he is inevitably frustrated. Although he neglects
the Paramatma life after life, still the Paramatma loves him so
much that He constantly accompanies him. The Paramatma is
186 Your Best Friend
ready to give all help to him so that he can attain true happiness
and is just waiting for him to give up his false enjoyment in the
material world.
Who is the Paramatma?
T he Paramatma is not impersonal, as some people wrongly
think. Just as the individual soul has form and personality,
similarly Lord Krishna also has form and personality. It is the
same Lord Krishna who has expanded into the four-handed form
of the Paramatma present in the heart of everyone. The
Paramatma is present in the hearts of every living entity, within
every atom and also the space between the atoms. He is actually
the four handed form of Vishnu called Kshirodakashayi Vishnu.
This is confirmed in the Satvata-tantra:
visnos tu trini rupani purusakhyany atho viduh
ekam tu mahatah srastr dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam
tritiyam sarvabhuta-stham tani jnatva vimucyate
“For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion assumes
three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total
material energy, known as mahat-tattva. The second,
Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create
diversities in each of them. The third, Ksirodakashayi Vishnu, is
diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is
known as the Paramatma, who is present even within the atoms.
Anybody who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from
material entanglement.”
The Role of the Paramatma in our Life
In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), Lord Krishna says:
sarvasya caham hrdi sannivistho
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come
remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 187 188 Your Best Friend

1. Paramatma – The Giver of Forgetfulness remember completely even all the sins we committed and the
pains we suffered in this very lifetime, we would be put into a
At every moment, we are remembering something and
state of utter bewilderment and would not be able to act normally.
forgetting something. Krishna, on the other hand, never forgets
What then to speak of the sins and sufferings of all our past lives?
anything. He remembers everything – past, present and future –
For example, we might have ruthlessly murdered someone in a
about everyone and everything at all times. This is confirmed in
previous life or we might ourselves have met an excruciatingly
the Bhagavad-gita (4.5), where Lord Krishna tells Arjuna:
painful death in a ghastly car accident or we might have been a
bahuni me vyatitani janmani tava carjuna
dumb animal, helplessly slaughtered by a merciless butcher and so
tany aham veda sarvani na tvam vetta parantapa
on.
“Many many births both you and I have passed. I can remember
If all these memories are not suppressed, how much pain will
all of them but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” Why is it
they inflict on our mind? As it is, there are enough painful
that Krishna can remember everything while Arjuna cannot? It is
memories from this very life, which keep agonizing us
because Krishna is infinite; He is God, whereas Arjuna is an
periodically. If all the painful memories of all our past lives are
infinitesimal jivatma, a tiny part and parcel of Krishna. Krishna
added to them, we would be so much haunted by them that there
being God is naturally complete and perfect. He therefore never
would be no question of any enjoyment at all. Therefore the
forgets anything; He remembers everything. The jivatma, on the
Paramatma is very merciful to provide us forgetfulness about our
other hand, being a tiny part and parcel of Krishna, is prone to
previous lives so that we may not be prevented from going ahead
forgetfulness.
with our desires for enjoyment.
It is often asked, “If I am the same spirit soul going through
On hearing this, people incredulously ask, “You mean to say
many, many lives, why am I unable to remember my previous
that Krishna allows us to enjoy in illusion and suffer consequently.
lives?” We forget our previous lives because Krishna, as the
Even an ordinary father checks and corrects his son if he starts
Paramatma, makes us forget. And why does the Paramatma make
treading on the wrong path. Krishna is supposed to be our
us forget? Because unless we forget what we did in our previous
supremely merciful father. If He is allowing us to go ahead with
lives, how can we enjoy? The Paramatma supplies forgetfulness of
this false material enjoyment instead of stopping us, what kind of
our previous lives so that we may not be prevented from going
father is He?”
ahead with our desires to enjoy.
But we cannot blame Krishna; the fault is ours. We were living
Why forgetfulness is necessary for enjoyment can be
an eternal, blissful life of full knowledge with Krishna in our
understood from an example. If a near and dear member of our
original home, the spiritual world. But we insisted on becoming
family has just passed away and, if at that time a friend of ours
independent enjoyers. So Krishna has sent us here to this material
calls us for a movie, will we go? We will be too much grief-struck
world so that we can see for ourselves what it means to be
to even consider the idea of enjoyment.
forgetful of Him and to try to enjoy separate from Him.
Similarly if we were to remember all the dangerous activities
Eventually, after repeated futile attempts for enjoyment, we will
and painful experiences of all our past lives, it would cause us so
realize that we just cannot enjoy separate from Him. Then we will
much anguish that we would be rendered incapable of all activity
surrender to Him and He will take us back to Him.
and enjoyment. Leave alone the past lives, if we were to
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 189
Someone may ask, “What is the need to learn the hard way? If
this material enjoyment is false, why does Krishna allow us to go
ahead with it? Why did He not stop us in the first place?” It is
because the relationship between Krishna and us is based on love.
Love implies freedom; love cannot be forced. If love is forced, it
is artificial; it is not true love. That is why, when we insisted on
enjoying separate from the Lord, He reluctantly allowed us. This
can be better understood through an example.
If a father has a small child, the father loves him very much and
takes great care of him. Whenever the child wants to go anywhere, the
father always catches hold of his finger and safely escorts him. But
sometimes the child gets angry with his father, “Why do you always
catch hold of my finger? I can look after myself. I will go out alone.”
When the child insists, the father allows him, although reluctantly. The
child immediately marches out on to the street determined to be on his
own. He walks a few steps very boldly, but then he looks up and what
190 Your Best Friend
does he find? Everything around him is unfamiliar and threatening, He
sees big hefty men walking by. There are huge lorries roaring along the
street. And he hears a loud horn honking at him. Completely frightened,
he runs back to safe shelter of his father’s arms, who embraces him
joyfully as soon as he comes back.
Similarly, though we were happily living in the spiritual world
with our supreme father, Krishna, we insisted on leaving Him to
enjoy on our own. Krishna therefore reluctantly allowed us to
come to this material world to try to enjoy separate from Him.
And when we try, we will eventually understand that, there is no
enjoyment separate from Krishna; there is only anxiety and
suffering. Then we will turn back to Him and He will immediately
guide us back to our eternal home, the spiritual world.
2. Paramatma – The Giver of Knowledge
The Paramatma gives us not only remembrance, but also
knowledge. Because without knowledge, no one can perform any
activity. Even the atheists cannot go on with their enjoyment
unless Krishna gives them the knowledge of how to enjoy this
material world.
How the Paramatma gives knowledge is vividly seen from the
following example. Do you know what an infant lizard does as
soon as it is born? It throws out its tongue, stretches it, catches an
insect and swallows it. The infant lizard has not been trained by
anybody. How then does it know how to catch its prey? It is
because the Paramatma gives it the required knowledge, “Do like
this”, “Do like that.” In fact, in every species of life, the
Paramatma gives us knowledge about how to go about our
activities for our survival.
Thus a living entity gets the knowledge to live and enjoy in
this world from the Supreme Lord situated locally in the heart.
Moreover, when he has a human body, he also receives the
opportunity to understand the Vedas from Him so that he can
know his own true identity, the cause of his present suffering and
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 191
the way out. If a living entity is serious to understand the Vedic
knowledge, then Krishna gives the required intelligence. Every
individual living entity needs to know about Krishna and the
Paramatma is always waiting to provide him Vedic knowledge as
soon he desires. That is why the Paramatma is called as chaitya
guru. It is said: One gets guru through Krishna (the Paramatma)
and Krishna through guru. When a living entity seeks knowledge
about God and wants to serve God in love, then the Paramatma
directs him to the right guru coming in parampara (disciplic
succession). The living entity thus acquires knowledge about
Krishna and, by practice of devotional service, ultimately attains
pure love for Krishna.
So in this way, the Paramatma not only puts the living entity in
forgetfulness at the time of death and makes him remember about
the purpose of assuming a particular body in his next life, but also
gives him the knowledge of how to go about enjoying in this
world. Thus the jivatma, being escorted by the Paramatma, is
moving in the wheel of samsara for millions of lifetimes.
3. Paramatma – The Giver of Remembrance
Do you know that every morning when we wake up, we are
helplessly dependent on the Paramatma to remember who we are?
When we are asleep, do we remember who we are or who we were
before we went to sleep? No. We completely forget it. So when
we wake up, the Paramatma has to remind us again, “You are so
and so Manager in such and such company. You have to reach
office by 9.00 a.m. So hurry up! It is already 8.30 a.m.” It is only
because the Paramatma gives us memory about who we are every
time we wake up that we are able to carry on with our activities as
if nothing had happened.
Not only in waking up are we totally dependent on the
Paramatma, but also in going to sleep! Sleeping is no easy task, as
those suffering from insomnia (inability to sleep) will certify.
Every night when we lie down to sleep, it is only when the
192 Your Best Friend
Paramatma switches off our consciousness that we are able to
sleep. We all have the experience that sometimes we lie down and
want to sleep, but sleep just doesn’t come. It is because the
Paramatma is not sanctioning our desire to sleep.
The Paramatma plays a crucial role in our dying and being
reborn also. Death and sleep are very similar. In both cases, our
consciousness is covered over. In the first case, it is covered over
for many hours and in the other case, for many months; that is the
only difference. In both cases, it is the Paramatma who puts us to
sleep and it is the Paramatma who wakes us up. After we go to
sleep, unless the Paramatma switches on our consciousness the
next morning, we cannot wake up.
When the time for death comes, the Paramatma instructs us,
“Now your time in this body is over; you have to leave this body
and go to another.” We accordingly go and occupy another body.
And when we are in that body, the Paramatma gives us memory to
go about our past unfinished desires, “See! These were your
desires in the past. Now here is the facility. Come on!” This is
how the Paramatma gives us memory in a new body. The
Paramatma reminds us, “Look! You wanted to enjoy in a dog’s
body. Now I have given you dog’s body. Come on, enjoy!” Thus
He gives us remembrance. This is confirmed in the Vedas: antah
pravistah sasta jananam meaning: “The living entity forgets as
soon as he quits his present body, but he begins his work again,
initiated by the Supreme Lord.” Although the living entity forgets
everything at the time of death, the Lord gives him the intelligence
to renew his work from where he ended in his last life.
The Paramatma is the giver of memory for the living entity
also after he has been in a state of deep sleep for long, long years
during the period between the annihilation of the cosmic
manifestation and its creation the next time. The Bhagavad-gita
explains that this material world is created at a point of time,
maintained for a fixed period of time of 311 trillion years and then
annihilated. Once destroyed, it remains in the unmanifest state for
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 193 194 Your Best Friend

the same period as it was manifest, that is, 311 trillion years. Then Let us consider a few examples involving this mysterious
it is again created and annihilated, created and annihilated ... like element of inspiration.
that it goes on. During the trillions of years between one 1. In the Western world, there was
destruction and the next creation, the jivatmas are kept dormant in a celebrated music composer
the body of Maha Vishnu in deep sleep. And when the universes Mozart, whose compositions
are created again, the Paramatma once again gives them a new are considered to be
body along with memory of their unfulfilled desires. masterpieces even today. In his
This is the way we have been going on in the universe for biography, it is written that he
trillions of years, completely dependent on Krishna in the form of himself would be astounded
the Paramatma. Whether we know it or not, the fact is that the when the music composition
Paramatma is guiding us at every moment. The Lord is guiding would come to him, all of a
both the devotees and the non-devotees. But the non-devotees sudden. Whenever he would
cannot understand how the Lord is guiding them because their get a new music composition
intelligence is impure. he could clearly perceive that it
4. Paramatma – The Giver of Inspiration was as if someone was
revealing it to him.
Let us see how the Paramatma is the source of a wonderful but 2. The greatest scientific discoveries have not been made by the
inexplicable phenomenon, which all of us experience – step-by-step logical process; they have taken place simply by a
inspiration. In all creative activities ranging from the artistic like flash of inspiration. We all know about the great scientist
drawing paintings or preparing musical compositions, the literary Archimedes and how he discovered the law of floatation. He
like composing poems or writing essays, the scientific like had been trying to find out a way to determine the purity of a
deriving a mathematical equation or understanding a new concept particular gold ornament. He had been thinking about it for
to the practical like determining the best way to earn money, several months, but had been unable to arrive at a solution.
success does not come only due to logical thinking or conscious Then one day when he was just sitting in his bath-tub taking a
endeavor. By these one may try to seek a solution, but the crucial bath, all of a sudden, he got the answer and he jumped out of
step is a flash from within, when the entire solution is, as if, the tub shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” meaning, “I have found
revealed by someone to us. This is what we call inspiration. it.” Where did he get that flash of understanding from?
Inspiration refers to something which is difficult to obtain 3. The famous mathematician, Gauss describes how he arrived at
even with a great mental endeavor, but which just comes in our the mathematical formulae, which have been acclaimed as
mind completely in full form as if it is planted in our heart by landmark breakthroughs in science. Although he would put in
someone from outside or from within. It comes all of a sudden great endeavor, he would not get anywhere and then, all of a
unexpectedly, and is not related to how much effort we have put sudden, he would get the answer. Gauss himself wonders how
in. this would happen.
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 195
4. In the contemporary times, there is ‘the mathematical wizard’,
Shakuntala Devi, who can tell the result of the multiplication
of any two random 13-digit numbers in less than a minute. She
once had a competition with a computer on who could
multiply faster and she won – effortlessly. Let us try to
understand how she is able to do such huge calculations at
such a mind-boggling speed. The normal way calculations are
done is by proceeding in a step-by-step manner, but that will
take far more than a minute. Then how is she able to do it? She
herself does not know! She just looks inwards and the answer
is right there. Some people may propose that it is by
permutations and combinations that she is arriving at the
answers. But just consider how many permutations and
combinations are possible with two numbers of 13 digits each.
The probability of arriving at the right answer by this method
is so insignificantly tiny that it cannot be a part of any
scientific explanation. And to say that she is able to do it right
every time thousands of times just by permutations and
combinations is outright ridiculous! Then how is she able to do
it?
And these are just a few examples. Practically every major
advance in science has been due to inspiration. And all of us have
the experience of inspiration in our own lives also. So there is no
question of denying the phenomenon of inspiration.
Once we understand that inspiration does indeed take place, a
question immediately follows: How does it happen? Atheistic
people have stretched their imaginations to the wildest possible
limits to explain it, but they have no worthwhile explanation. But
any intelligent person can easily understand that a super-intelligent
being is supplying the inspiration to the person involved. And that
super-intelligent being is, undoubtedly, the Paramatma.
Let us now consider a few examples from our everyday lives
in which we can practically perceive the Paramatma in action.
196 Your Best Friend
1. Whenever we are about to commit a sinful act, a voice from
within forbids us and warns us of the consequences.
Commonly known as the voice of the conscience, it is actually
the Paramatma urging us to abstain from sin.
2. We also see that some people have photographic memories;
they remember forever whatever they read just once. And, on
the other extreme, there are also some people, who cannot
remember a thing even if they read it hundreds of times. In
both cases it is the Paramatma who is in action based on the
respective past karma of the people involved. In the first case,
it is the Paramatma who is giving remembrance to those who
have photographic memories and, in the second case, it is the
Paramatma who is taking away their memory and not allowing
them to remember.
Perceiving the Paramatma
A fter understanding how the Paramatma plays such an im
portant role in every single one of our activities, a question
naturally arises, “If the Paramatma is actually present in our heart
and is always wanting to help us, why can we not perceive Him or
hear His voice?” It is because we are not pure-hearted. We hear
many voices from within – the voice of the mind, the voices of our
various material desires etc. In this babble of voices, the voice of
the Paramatma is also there: “Come back to Me. Lead a godly life.
Come on the right path.” But because we have so many other
voices in the heart, we are not able to recognize the voice of the
Paramatma from among the various voices.
This situation is similar to the situation when we switch on the
radio at low frequency; we hear many voices coming
simultaneously. Unless we fine tune with a filter, we cannot get
the radio station which we want. Similarly unless we have a pure
heart devoid of material desires we cannot hear the voice of the
Paramatma clearly
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 197
Attitude of Devotees and Demons
Towards the Paramatma
T hus through everything that happens in our life, from the
biggest upheaval to the smallest detail, we can understand
how the Paramatma is acting at every moment. Only a foolish
person will deny the existence of Lord in the heart. Therefore it is
a great irony that although all the scientific discoveries and
inventions have been made using the intelligence and inspiration
given by the Paramatma, non-devotees are using these very
inventions and discoveries for denying the existence of God.
198 Your Best Friend
But devotees are not ungrateful; they know that whatever
ability they have is by the mercy of the Paramatma alone and so
they are grateful to Him. A devotee is well aware that the Lord
may give him as much memory and ability as He wants or He may
take away all his memory and ability if He so desires. In all
circumstances, a devotee knows that he is just an instrument in the
hands of the Lord. A devotee therefore never becomes proud
All devotee preachers have the experience that when they go
for preaching programs, sometimes torrents and torrents of ideas
and words come flowing smoothly from their mouths. And at
other times, though they know so much, still nothing comes out of
the mouth; the right words just do not come. But in both cases a
devotee stays equipoised, understanding that, “Krishna wants to
speak through me today” or “Krishna does not want to speak
through me today.” Thus a devotee stays humble, whatever be the
situation. And even if a devotee becomes proud of his ability to
speak wonderfully, the Paramatma gives him the realization,
“Actually I am not doing anything. It is the Paramatma who is
speaking through me; it is He who is giving me the words to
speak.” That is why at the start of every lecture, devotees chant a
prayer glorifying the Lord and begging for His mercy.
mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krupa tam aham vande paramananda madhava
“O Lord! By Your mercy, even a dumb man can speak eloquently
and a lame man can climb mountains. I offer my respectful
obeisances to you.” A devotee considers himself to be a dumb
man, unqualified to speak anything. Whenever he is able to speak
nicely, he is grateful for the mercy of guru and the Lord, because
they are giving him the words to speak. Similarly a devotee
considers himself to be a lame person incapable of doing anything.
Whenever he is able to do anything nicely, he thanks the
Paramatma for giving him nice direction to act in the right way.
In this way a devotee is always completely dependent and
surrendered to the Lord, and never becomes proud by thinking, “I
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 199
am doing these wonderful things.” Thus a devotee knows that
Krishna is the real doer and that he is just like a puppet in His
hands.
Paramatma is the Real Doer
T here is a wonderful pastime from the life of Lord Shri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which shows how a great scholar got
the realization that he is not the real doer; the actual doer is the
Paramatma.
According to the revealed scriptures Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu is confirmed to be the yuga-avatar of Lord Sri
Krishna in the present age, Kali yuga. In His boyhood days,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being a great scholar of Sanskrit grammar
and logic, was addressed as Nimai Pandit.
Once when Nimai Pandit was living in Navadvipa, a world-
renowned scholar Keshava Kashmiri came there. Keshava Kashmiri had
already defeated many, many great scholars from various parts of the
world in debate. Whenever he would defeat a scholar, he would get it
written from the defeated scholar,“I have been defeated by Keshava
Kashmiri in debate.” He would travel from place to place for debating
with scholars and wherever he would go, terror would strike the hearts
of even the greatest pandits of that place. When he arrived in
Navadvipa, the pandits of Navadvipa were afraid of engaging in debate
with him lest they lose their prestige. So they thought that sixteen year
old Nimai pandit would be best person to face him.
Keshava Kashmiri met Nimai Pandit on the banks of the Ganges.
When challenged by Keshava Kashmiri, Nimai Pandit requested him to
compose a Sanskrit verse glorifying mother Ganges. Keshava Kashmiri
immediately composed one hundred wonderful verses impromptu,
reciting them like a storm and thus showing the strength of his vast
learning. All the onlookers were struck with wonder, “How can a human
being have such scholarship?”
After Keshava Kashmiri finished reciting the verses, he asked Nimai
Pandit, “What is your opinion?” Just by once hearing the verses, Nimai
200 Your Best Friend
Pandit had memorized all of them. He replied, “Sir, can you refer to the
64th verse?” Keshava Kashmiri himself did not remember the verse.
Nimai Pandit remarked that there were 4 strong points and 4 weak
points in that verse. He then stated the 4 strong points. Keshava
Kashmiri became offended to hear that there were any weak points in
the verse. Nimai Pandit pointed out certain rhetorical and literary
irregularities in composing the verses. He particularly questioned the
use of the word bhavani-bhartuh. He pointed out that the use of this
word was redundant. Bhavani means the wife of Shiva and bhartuh
means ‘husband’. Therefore when the word ‘bhavani-bhartuh’ is used, it
is like saying ‘husband of wife of Shiva’, which seems to imply that
Bhavani is an unchaste wife.
Keshava Kashmiri was struck with wonder to see a mere sixteen-
year-old student of grammar so brilliantly point out the literary mistakes
of an erudite scholar. He tried to think of some way to defend himself,
but nothing would come in his mind. Although he had vast knowledge,
he could not think of anything. He was thus humiliated and devastated in
front of several friends of Nimai Pandit who had assembled there. Can
you imagine his humiliation? The greater the ego of a person, the
greater is the pain for him when he is humiliated. And Keshava
Kashmiri had such a big false ego, and he had been totally defeated. He
ran back to the place where he was staying and started weeping and
praying to Sarasvati, “Mother! Why have you done this to me?” That
night, mother Sarasvati appeared in a dream to him and said, “Do not
lament. The person who has defeated you is none other than my
worshippable Supreme Lord. So don’t envy Him; instead go and
surrender to Him.”
When Keshava Kashmiri woke up, he came to his senses. He
immediately went to Nimai Pandit and offered him prostrated
obeisances. Keshava Kashmiri said, “It has been revealed to me that
you are the Supreme Lord.” Nimai Pandit said, “No one knows about
this truth other than you. So please don’t reveal it to anyone.” Keshava
Kashmiri went on to become a great devotee.
Through this pastime, we should understand that, however
great we may be, if Krishna decides not to speak through us, if the
Paramatma decides to take away our intelligence we will become
 Your Heart-To-Heart Friend 201 202 Your Best Friend

completely helpless and incapable of speaking. We should

therefore understand that we are completely at the mercy of the
Lord at every moment. Unless He gives us guidance and
inspiration, there is no question of our being able to do anything in
our life on our own.
Let us therefore become conscious of the presence of the
Paramatma in our heart and pray to Him to make us more and
more Krishna conscious and more and more surrendered.
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 203 204 Your Best Friend

I n this chapter, we will develop further the knowledge of the

Chapter 12 Paramatma, which we acquired in the previous chapter. We will

also get a deeper understanding of the role of the Paramatma in
our everyday lives.
Paramatma - Director of the Wanderings of the
Living Entity

T he living entity, having misused his free will and being

desirous of enjoying separate from the Lord, has come into
this material world. Here he is entrapped in the material elements
– earth, water, fire, air and ether constituting the gross body and
mind, intelligence and false ego constituting the subtle body. The

Well-Wishing Guide
subtle body is like the banian or inside wear and the gross body is
like the outside coat. If the soul, which is by nature sat-cit-ananda
(eternal-full of knowledge-full of bliss), has to lord over matter, he
Who Always has to adapt himself to the material nature, which is foreign to his
inherent spiritual constitution. Just as when we go to a foreign
Accompanies You land (say a cold country), we have to wear clothes suitable to that
land (warm clothes), similarly the soul has to have the coverings
of the subtle body and the gross body as long as he is in the
material world. The soul is placed in a particular type of bodily
machine according to his past desires and karma. And while he is
in that body, the Paramatma sits in his heart and directs him so
that he can fulfill his desires and reap the results of his karma.
When the living entity is placed in a particular type of body,
he has to work under the spell of that bodily situation. Thus a
living entity in a human body can speak various languages,
whereas a living entity in a dog’s body can only bark, although the
living entities in both bodies are similar spirit souls. Their position
is similar to the position of two human beings, one of whom being
in an airplane can fly in the sky, while the other being in a car can
only move along the ground.
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 205 206 Your Best Friend

And at the time of death, when the living entity has to change isvarah sarva bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati
his body, he forgets his past deeds, but the Supersoul, as the bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya
knower of the past, present and future, remains the witness of all
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and
his activities. And by the order of the Supersoul, material nature
is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as
fashions a particular type of body for him to work according to his
on a machine made of the material energy.”
past desires.
Therefore we should not think that we are independent of the
In this way, under the direction of the Supersoul, the living
Supreme Personality of Godhead; we are always under His control
entity has been wandering through the 8.4 million species of life
and are being constantly directed by Him.
for millions of lifetimes.
This is confirmed by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita Paramatma fulfils the Desires of the Living Entity
(18.61):

W e being infinitesimal living entities are always totally

dependent on Lord Krishna and cannot even fulfill our
desires on our own. Therefore when we desire to come to the
material world to enjoy independently, Krishna says, “O.K. I’ll
accompany you to enable you to fulfill your desires.” Just as a
small child, who is adamant to go to a park, is escorted by his
father, we are similarly escorted by the Paramatma in the material
world. Just as there are as many fathers or guardians in the park as
the number of children who have come to the park, similarly
Krishna expands Himself infinitely and accompanies each one of
us. And just as having come to the park, the child plays and, due
to his playing, he sometimes enjoys and sometimes gets hurt and
cries, similarly we engage in material activities in this material
world and, due to our activities, we also sometimes enjoy and
sometimes suffer.
We can only desire, but we have no ability to fulfill our
desires; Krishna as the Paramatma has to sanction them. Someone
may ask, “How can Krishna know our desires?” He can easily
sense our desires, just as we can smell a flower, because He is
situated right next to us in our heart. In fact, He is closer to us than
everyone and everything else. So whenever we desire something,
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 207
He understands our desire and then takes decisions like whether to
fulfill that desire or not, when to fulfill it and how to fulfill it.
We should know that the Paramatma does not fulfill just any
desire. No. He sanctions or does not sanction our desire based on
what we deserve. For example, a poor man may desire to become
a millionaire overnight, but, due to his past karma, he may not be
able to become rich during his entire lifetime. It is not that, simply
by hard work, anyone can become rich. If it were so, then why are
the thousands of workers toiling day and night in the factories not
becoming rich? Only if a person has done good karma in the past
does the Paramatma sanction his desire to become wealthy.
When the Paramatma sanctions our desire, He instructs the
material nature to make the necessary arrangements to fulfill that
desire. Why does the material nature need to be instructed by
Krishna? It is because the material nature is subordinate to
Krishna and cannot function on its own, as is confirmed by Lord
Krishna Himself in the Gita (9.10) mayadhyaksena prakrtih “The
material nature is working under My direction.” In accordance
with the instruction of the Paramatma, material nature acts to
fulfill our desire.
Through this analysis we can understand that the performance
of any activity, from the smallest to the biggest, involves three
performers:
1. The Paramatma or the Supersoul,
2. The Jivatma or the soul and
3. Prakrti or the material energy.
The living entity initiates the activity by his desire, the Paramatma
sanctions the desire and the material nature is the agency, which
executes the action to fulfill the desire.
A foolish person may challenge, “What do I need the sanction
of the Paramatma for? I can do whatever I want.” But the reality is
that he cannot do anything, even something as simple as raising
his hand, without the sanction of the Paramatma. Suppose he gets
a paralytic attack due to his past karma. If, after being paralyzed,
208 Your Best Friend
he wants to raise his hand can he do so? He cannot because the
Paramatma instructs the material nature, “He does not deserve to
raise his hand. Let all the muscles and nerves remain as they are.”
If, because of some pious past karma, he deserves to be cured,
then the Paramatma will make the necessary arrangement to send
him to the right doctor.
That the ability to do anything is not in our hands can be
understood from many examples. Sometimes even while
undergoing a small operation, a person dies. On the other hand,
somebody else undergoes a very dangerous operation in which
there is every possibility of death, but he survives and lives a
healthy life for 20 years after the operation. Thus we can
understand that the Paramatma has to sanction our desires
according to our karma; only then can they be fulfilled.
However our material desires, even if fulfilled, cannot satisfy
us because of our spiritual constitution. Only loving surrender to
the will of Krishna can completely satisfy us. Although the
Paramatma is sitting right next to us, fulfilling our material desires
and waiting for us to turn to Him, He does not force us to
surrender to Him. Someone may ask, “Why does the Paramatma
not force us to surrender to Him, if that is the only truly beneficial
course of action?” It is because the relationship between Krishna
and us is that of love. Krishna wants us to love Him spontaneously
without being forced. Love cannot be forced. If you love someone,
and if he or she doesn’t love you, can you beat that person and
force him or her to love you? Even if you force him or her to love
you, that love will not be natural. But if he or she understands
about you and your love for him or her and chooses to
wholeheartedly reciprocate love with you, then such a
spontaneous love will be pleasing to both the parties. The same is
true for the love between Krishna (the Paramatma) and us.
However we, being in a conditioned state and identifying
ourselves with the body, are so busy in our material pursuits that
we keep ignoring the Paramatma. But despite our repeated neglect
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 209
of the Paramatma, He keeps helping us to fulfill our desires
according to our karma. And when we are finally fed up with this
fruitless material enjoyment, we give up our material desires and
desire to surrender to the Paramatma. He fulfils that spiritual
desire of ours too by immediately providing all the required
guidance to help us to return to Him in the spiritual world.
The Paramatma sanctions Pleasure and Pain
W hen we understand that the pains and pleasures in our life
are coming due to our past karma, a question naturally
arises. Who decides the exact amount of suffering we are
supposed to undergo for every one of our sinful activities? And
who monitors the period of pain or pleasure: when it should start
and when it should end? It is undoubtedly the Paramatma.
Due to our past karma, we have to accept a fixed quantum of
pleasure and pain in a given lifetime and, at just the right time, the
Paramatma arranges to give it to us in such a way that we just
cannot escape. Some examples can give us a better understanding
of this.
Suppose you get a severely painful ulcer in your mouth. You
make plans to go to a doctor several times, but, on each occasion,
you are kept so busy that you completely forget about it. And after
10 days you notice that the ulcer has automatically disappeared.
What can we infer from this incident? If you are supposed to reap
a particular quantum of pain, the Paramatma will ensure that it
comes upon you, and you will have no way out to escape from it.
Not only does the Paramatma arrange to give the living entity
his destined suffering, but He arranges for him to get his destined
enjoyment too. And the living entity cannot escape from that
enjoyment either. The story that follows vividly illustrates this
‘forced enjoyment’.
210 Your Best Friend
Once a young man became totally frustrated due to repeated
disappointments in his life and decided to commit suicide. He therefore
climbed on top of a mountain and jumped off from a high cliff thinking
that the fall from such a great height would surely end his life.
At the foot of the mountain cliff, there was a river and a princess
was bathing there along with her maidservants. All of a sudden, a
crocodile appeared there from nowhere, opened his jaws wide open in a
very menacing manner and was about to gulp the princess down its
throat.
At that very moment, the young man fell into the river very close to
the crocodile. Because he had fallen from such a great height, his fall
created such an enormous splash in the river that the crocodile became
alarmed and fled from the place in fear. The princess, who had been
overwhelmed with fear at the sight of the crocodile, immediately ran out
of the water along with her maidservants. The maidservants told the
guards of the princess who had been standing on the banks how this
‘heroic’ young man had risked his life to save the princess from the
deadly crocodile. The guards promptly rescued the young man, who was
being carried away by the swift current of the river.
When the king came to know how his only daughter had been almost
killed by a vicious crocodile and how the young man had ‘risked his own
life by jumping from the cliff top to save her’, he immediately gave his
daughter’s hand in marriage to him. Not only that, he also gifted him
half of his own kingdom and coronated him as the king of that part of
the kingdom.
Thus we see that, if a person is destined to enjoy, he himself
may want to commit suicide, but the Paramatma will force him to
not just live but to also become the king and enjoy.
The Paramatma’s job is extremely complicated. He keeps
track of every single activity of ours in all of our millions of
lifetimes and decides what reaction we should get for which
activity. He then determines just the right moment for that reaction
to come upon us and orchestrates everything around us so
perfectly that we get the reaction in such a way that we have no
way to escape from it. And He does all this from behind the
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 211
screen, in such a subtle way that, if we are not devotees, we don’t
even come to know that He exists! Ten thousand lifetimes ago we
might have performed a particular activity for which the
Paramatma will give us the reaction through a proper instrument
now. Thus we can imagine – in fact, we cannot even imagine –
what a super, super computer the Paramatma is.
Scientists are usually enraptured when they see an astounding
display of intelligence and technology. So when they understand
how incredibly super-intelligent the Paramatma is, what an
inconceivably super-fast processor he must be having, they should
naturally appreciate His incomparable abilities and spontaneously
become the greatest devotees. Although some scientists surrender
to God, why does the majority of the scientific community not
surrender to Him? Because they have no idea about the
Paramatma. And even if they have knowledge, their knowledge is
stolen by illusion: mayaya apahrta jnana. Even if they have
intelligence, their intelligence is impure because they want to
manipulate matter and lord over it.
What then should the truly intelligent and scientifically
minded person do? He should surrender his intelligence at the
lotus feet of Krishna, purify it and use it for understanding
scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Then he
will become a true scientist capable of understanding and
explaining the topmost science - spiritual science dealing with the
Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna.
The Paramatma : Overseer And Permitter
K rishna explains about the activities of the Paramatma in our
body in the Bhagavad-gita (13.23)
upadrasta anumanta ca bharta bhokta mahesvarah
paramatmeti capy ukto dehe’smin purusah parah
212 Your Best Friend
“Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is
the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and
permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.”
The Paramatma is thoroughly aware of whatever we think, feel
and will, because He is the overseer in the body. So we should not
foolishly think, “ I am alone, I can think whatever I want, I can do
whatever I want.” We should become conscious that the
Paramatma knows even the thoughts that are going on in our
mind. Therefore even in our thoughts we should become pure and
gentle, what then to speak of in our words and actions.
The Paramatma has complete knowledge of the unlimited
desires in our minds and He awards us accordingly. If we desire to
do pious activities, He gives us the necessary directions and takes
us to the heavenly planets. If we perform some sinful activities,
He takes us to the hellish planets. If we are searching for a guru
who will give us blessings for material prosperity, He will take us
to a cheating guru, who will take some money from us and give us
blessings for material prosperity. If we are hankering to know the
ultimate truths of life and are ready to live according to them, then
He will give us direction to approach a bona fide guru coming in
parampara. Thus the Paramatma oversees our desires and
accordingly grants permission.
The Paramatma: The Supreme Proprietor
B ecause the living entity identifies himself with the body, he
thinks that the body as well as everything connected with it
belongs to him. But actually everything belongs to Krishna. If I
claim that something belongs to me, then it necessarily implies
that I should have control over it. We claim this body to be ours,
but do we have complete control over it? Leave alone having
complete control, or, for that matter, having any control at all,
over the body, we don’t even know what is happening in its
different parts. We only put food in the mouth, but what about the
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 213
rest of the activities like its digestion, its conversion into blood
and waste, circulation of blood by the heart to different parts of
the body etc? We are not ‘doing’ all these activities; they are all
being ‘done.’ We are only ‘witnessing’ through the knowledge of
medical science, that these things are ‘taking place’ in the body. If
we don’t even know what is going on in the body, where is the
question of controlling it? If our heart stops beating, can we
control it? (If we could, cardiologists would go out of business!)
And if we can’t control the body or its activities, then how can we
claim to be its proprietor?
If we are not controlling the body, who is controlling it? As we
discussed it, Krishna is the controller of the material nature and
the body is a product of material nature. Therefore Krishna is the
controller and hence the proprietor of the body.
Our position in the body is like that of a tenant in a rented
house. Just as the owner is the supreme proprietor of the house
and the tenant is its secondary proprietor, similarly the Paramatma
is the supreme proprietor of the body and we are its secondary
proprietor. Just as the tenant pays the necessary rent and the owner
allows him to stay in the house, similarly we have paid the rent of
karma and the Paramatma is allowing us to stay in the body. And
just as the owner has the right to ask the tenant to vacate the house
at any time, the Paramatma has got every right to ask us to vacate
the body at any time.
If someone foolishly
challenges you, “You say
that you are not the body,
you are the spirit soul. And
further you say that you are
not the proprietor of the
body either. Then why do
you become fearful and
defend yourself when I
come to stab or kill you?
214 Your Best Friend
After all, you being the soul will not be harmed and, moreover
since the body is not yours, you will not be at any loss either.”
You can politely reply, “If somebody comes to set fire to your
(rented) house, will you not immediately stop him? Why? You are
not the house, nor are you its primary owner. Then why will you
stop him? Because, although you are only a tenant, still the owner
has entrusted the house to you and so you are accountable to him.
Similarly, although the body doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to
Krishna (the Paramatma) and He has given it to me to serve Him.
And as it is under my care, it is my duty to defend it and you have
no right to destroy it.”
Because the Paramatma is the owner and the supreme
proprietor of our body and because He resides in it, the body
should be considered to be a temple of God. It should therefore be
sanctified by decorating it with tilaka and should be maintained
purely like a temple by chanting the mahamantra-- Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare
Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and by abstaining from the sinful
activities of meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex.
Is the Paramatma Responsible for our
Good and Bad Acts?
S ometimes people commit a crime and then say, “Well, not a
blade of grass moves without the sanction of the Lord. So why
do you blame me? God only did it. Why should I be punished?”
The answer is that every activity is initiated by the jivatma by his
desire. That is why he is held responsible – for his sinful desire.
The Paramatma, on the other hand, only sanctions the desires of
the jivatma according to his karma. He is thus neutral and so He is
not responsible.
Lord Krishna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (5.15),
na datte kasyacid papam na caiva sukrtam vibhuh
ajnanenavrtam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 215
“Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious
activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of
the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.”
Thus the Paramatma just fulfills our desire, whether it be good
or bad. So we are punished for our wrong desire.
But if we are working on behalf of the Paramatma, then we are
no more liable, as can be understood from the following example.
When an Indian soldier is fighting in the war against Pakistan, he
may shoot and kill thousands of men. When he successfully
returns from the war, there are hundreds of people waiting to
garland him and glorify him for this heroic act. Even the
government of India glorifies him by giving him a bravery award.
Because he worked on behalf of Indian government, he was
glorified. But if the same person, on a normal day, fights with his
neighbor and murders him, then he will be liable to punishment,
even to death sentence. Similarly, Arjuna killed so many soldiers
in the battle of Kurukshetra. Yet his activities are considered
glorious, because he fought for the pleasure of Krishna. Arjuna
made his will one with Krishna’s will. This is the meaning of the
saying, “O Lord! Let Thy will be done, not mine.”
If we are working for Krishna, whether we are successful or
unsuccessful, it doesn’t matter, because the responsibility for
everything goes to Krishna. But if we desire and work for our
sense gratification, then we cannot blame the Paramatma; we will
be held responsible. For example, if you are working for a
company as a purchase manager, whether there is a profit or loss
in the company, still you will get your salary, because you have
done your duty for the company. But if you act independently, by
taking a bribe, “You take 5%, give me 5%.”, then when you are
caught, you will be punished.
Thus if we work for our own enjoyment, then whether we do
good or bad, we have to bear the reactions. The Paramatma desires
that we become instruments in His hand, but He never forces us. If
216 Your Best Friend
we do not cooperate with Him, we are like the malfunctioning
instrument of a craftsman. Just as a craftsman is happy when his
machine is well oiled and works nicely, similarly the Paramatma
is happy when we surrender to Him and work according to His
directions. Therefore whatever such a surrendered soul, a pure
devotee, speaks and does is all actually done by Krishna. Hence a
pure devotee is not liable for his actions.
However this concept of non-liability for one’s actions has to
be carefully understood; otherwise it may be misused.
A few years ago in Bombay there was a serial killer, Raman
Raghav, who murdered many people, who were lying on the
footpaths. When he was caught and produced in the court, in his
defense, he said, “God was urging me to kill those people from
within my heart. So I am not to be blamed; you should not punish
me.”
Statements of this sort are utter nonsense. Whatever God
wants us to do, He has told in the scriptures. He also sends his
bona fide representatives, the pure devotees who descend from the
spiritual world on-duty just to tell us, based on the revealed
scriptures, what He wants us to do. Unless a person is connected
through a bona fide guru to Krishna, he cannot know the will of
the Lord. Therefore whatever he does is, not according to the will
of the Lord, but according to the concoctions of his own mind.
A question may then be raised, “We sometimes hear a voice
from within our heart. If it is not the voice of the Paramatma, then
whose voice is it?” In the conditioned stage, there are so many
voices of different intensities in our heart competing with each
other. There are the voices of the impure desires of the mind, of
the innumerable material desires, of the plans to cause trouble to
others and so on. Of course there is the voice of the Paramatma
also in this babble of voices. But how are we going to identify
which is the voice of the Paramatma? We have to discriminate
among the voices based on guru-sadhu-shastra (the words of the
 Well-Wishing Guide Who Always Accompanies You 217 218 Your Best Friend

bona fide spiritual master, the words of the previous acharyas and The Culmination - Surrender to Krishna
the words of the revealed scriptures). The Paramatma is certainly
speaking to us, but we are not pure enough to hear Him. So now
we should seek the help of a guru coming in a bona fide disciplic
succession, understand from him the will of the Lord and, under
L ord Krishna is the adi guru, the original spiritual master. In
His expansion as the Paramatma, also known as the caitya
guru, He is always eager to take us back to the spiritual world, but
His direction, perform activities that will please the Lord. Then due to misuse of our minute independence, we continually reject
gradually when we become pure at heart, all the other voices will the spiritual association. This misuse of independence is the cause
subside and only one voice will remain – the voice of the of our material strife in the conditioned nature. The Lord,
Paramatma. therefore, gives instruction from within and without. From
without, He gives instructions as stated in the Bhagavad-gita
Role of the Paramatma at the Time of Death through the voice of a bona fide guru, and, from within, He tries to
convince us that our activities in the material world are not
T he Paramatma has a crucial role to play at the time of death.
He makes arrangements for the living entity to be transferred
to his next body according to his karma. While he is in a gross
conducive to real happiness. He says, “Just give it up and turn
your faith towards Me. Then you will be happy.” Therefore an
intelligent person places his faith in the Paramatma or the
body, his subtle body is already preparing itself for the next gross
Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus begins to advance
body. The Paramatma arranges for the actual transfer of the living
towards a blissful, eternal life of knowledge.
entity along with his subtle body from one gross body to another
Therefore the culmination of all the knowledge about the
by His divine vision – karmana daiva netrena. Lord Krishna
Paramatma that we have discussed in these two chapters is to
confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (15.8) “The living entity in the surrender to Krishna and to be reinstated in our constitutional
material world carries his different conceptions of life from one position as His loving servitor in our original home in the spiritual
body to another as the air carries aromas.” At the time of death, world.
the living entity covered by the subtle body, leaves behind the
gross body and goes to the next womb, under the guidance of the
Paramatma. Although the living entity has no knowledge of what
is happening to him, the Paramatma supervises the transmigration
process of the living entity and, after he attains a new body,
reminds him of what to do and how to do it.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 219 220 Your Best Friend

W hile developing our knowledge about the soul (jivatma)

Chapter 13 and the Supersoul (Paramatma) in a very systematic way, it

is also important to know the misconceptions of people in general
about this subject matter. Some people advocate a new concocted
philosophy. They say that you, the soul, is individual now, but
after death you have to just merge into that one cosmic or
universal consciousness. Some people even go on to say,
“Actually you are that cosmic consciousness even now. You have
to only realize it.” In other words, such people indirectly or
directly tell you that you are God and that you have just forgotten
it.
This type of monist philosophy, “You are God, I am God,
everyone is God” is rampant these days especially in India. It has
The Infinitesimal also become very popular today. Why? Because such a
philosophy does not demand surrender to God and allows

and everyone to go on with their sense gratification. This kind of

philosophy is very comforting to the heart of the conditioned soul

The Infinite
who wants to be the enjoyer and controller. Naturally therefore
people like it. But the consequences of accepting this philosophy
are disastrous. Such a philosophy brushes God aside, puts an end
to all ethics and morals in the lives of people and, worst of all,
kills the propensity to serve which is the essence of the spiritual
life of the living entities and prevents them from returning back to
Godhead to associate with the all beautiful Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Let us therefore examine this philosophy from a
rational, logical as well as a scriptural point of view.
Am I God?

G od, by definition, is supremely independent and is never con-

trolled; He is the supreme controller. In the Isopanisad, the
word ‘Isa’ is used to describe the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. ‘Isa’ means ‘controller’. Do you think you are
controlled or not? Is there any person anywhere within this
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 221
universe who is not controlled? Can anyone say, “I am not
controlled”? Nobody can say that. Why? None of us wants to
grow old, get diseased and die yet its happening to us all the time
and we have no control whatsoever over it. None of us wants to
suffer, but sufferings are constantly coming in our lives and we
222 Your Best Friend
have no control to stop them. Thus we are thoroughly controlled
by the stringent laws of nature. So if you are controlled, then why
do you declare, “I am not controlled, I am independent, I am God”
? Mayavadi impersonalists claim, “I am God, you are God,
everyone is God.” But when they get a toothache it controls them
so much that they can do nothing about it except moan in pain.
And when they get a call of nature, it so completely controls them
that they have to helplessly run to respond. So if they are
controlled, how can they be God? Does this make any sense? God
is never controlled - He is the supreme controller. So if somebody
is controlled, immediately we should know that he is not God.
Now, this is not to say that the living entities are not
controllers to some extent. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.5) Lord
Krishna says that the living entities are His superior energy. The
living entities are superior because they are conscious, whereas
material energy is not conscious. Therefore the living entities can
control the material energy to some extent. For example, before
the Europeans came to America, the land there was mostly vacant
and unutilized. The people who lived there did not fully exploit it.
But when the Europeans came, they developed it into a country
with great industries and roads.
Thus the superior spiritual energy can have some control over
the inferior material energy. But we have forgotten that, although
we are superior to matter, we are still subordinate to God. And so
that superiority is being misused to exploit matter for sense
gratification. That is conditioned life.
The following examples illustrate the relationship between
matter and spirit and the difference between the infinitesimal
living entity and the infinite Supersoul:
• A big airplane can fly nicely in the sky, but if the spiritual
energy – the pilot – is not there, it is useless. The jet plane
may be in the airport for thousands of years; it cannot fly one
inch in the sky unless the small particle of spiritual energy, the
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 223
pilot, comes and touches it. Thus an ordinary living entity can
control an airplane, but God being the supreme controller can
control this gigantic manifestation of material energy, the
entire cosmic manifestation.
• A scientist, a tiny living
entity, can put a satellite in
orbit after years of
research; but God can float
millions of huge planets in
orbit effortlessly.
• A human being, a tiny
living entity, can create a
200-storied skyscraper
building, but God can
create millions of universes (ananta koti brahmanda nayak)
A human being can make a small swimming pool, but God can
make a gigantic swimming pool, the vast ocean.
This is the difference between the living entity and God. The
Bhagavad-gita clearly states that we are not God. It also
unambiguously declares we can never become God even after
liberation.
dvav imau purusau loke ksaras caksaras eva ca
ksarah sarvani bhutani kutastho ‘ksara ucyate
“There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In
the material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual
world every entity is called infallible.” (Bhagavad-gita 15.16).
We, who are unaware of our spiritual identity are fallible. Any
living entity who has come in contact with matter, beginning from
the first created being, Brahma, down to a small ant, is changing
his body and is therefore fallible. But in the spiritual world the
body is not made of matter; therefore there is no change. There is
no old age, no birth, no death. All living entities who are one with
the will of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world are all called
infallible:
224 Your Best Friend
uttamah purusas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah
yo loka trayam avisya bibharty avyaya ishvarah
“Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the
Lord Himself, who has entered into these worlds and is
maintaining them.” (Bhagavad-gita 15.17)
It is clearly stated here that, above the innumerable living
entities, some of whom are conditioned and some of whom are
liberated, there is the Supreme Personality who is also the
Paramatma. Thus we can easily understand that the living being,
in both the conditioned stage and the liberated stage is always
subordinate to God.
Differences between the living entity and Krishna
I f somebody with such a manufactured philosophy, which has
no scriptural basis whatsoever, comes to us for argument, we
should be equipped with sufficient knowledge so as to refute the
bogus philosophy by explaining systematically the differences
between the jivatma (the living entity) and the Paramatma
(Krishna).
The living entity is Infinitesimal,
but Krishna is Infinite
In the Vedas, in the Katha Upanishad as well as in the
Shvetashvatara Upanishad, it is said that amongst all the living
entities, both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme
living personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who
maintains all the other living entities and gives them all the facility
for enjoyment according to their different work. nityo nityanam
cetanas cetananam eko bahunam yo vidhadhati kaman. Krishna is
eternal and the living entities are eternal. Krishna has a sac-cid-
ananda body and the living entities also have a sac-cid-ananda
body. But the difference between Krishna and the living entities is
that Krishna is the Lord, the master and the controller of all the
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 225
living entities, whereas the living entities are eternally the servants
of Krishna. Thus the individual living entities are one with
Krishna only in quality, but as far as the quantity is concerned, the
living entities are infinitesimal, whereas Krishna is infinite. This
is called acintya-bheda-abheda tattva meaning ‘inconceivable
simultaneous oneness and difference’. The ‘oneness’ is the
similarity of quality of the living entity and Krishna and the
226 Your Best Friend
‘difference’ is the difference in quantity between the living entity
and Krishna.
The living entity is the Knower of his own body,
but Krishna is the Knower of all the bodies
The body is called ‘kshetra’ (field of activity) and the knower
of the body, the soul, is called the ‘ksetrajna’. As an individual
soul I may be the knower of my body. Similarly ‘you’, as a
jivatma, may be the knower of your body. But if you have a
headache, unless you tell me I cannot come to know about it.
Conversely, if I am thinking of something, you cannot know what
I am thinking of. But Krishna, who is present as the Supersoul in
all bodies, knows everything about all bodies. He knows all the
different bodies of all the various species of life. That is why Lord
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (13.3)
ksetram-jnam capi mam viddhi sarva ksetresu bharata
“I am also the knower, but I am not the individual knower of the
body. I am the superknower. I am present in every body as the
Paramatma, or Supersoul.”
Just as the individual soul is present by his consciousness
throughout the whole body, so the Supersoul (Paramatma) is
present throughout the whole creation by His super-
consciousness. This super-consciousness cannot be imitated by
the individual soul, who has limited awareness. I can understand
what is going on within my limited body, but I cannot feel what is
going on in another’s body. I am present all over my body by my
consciousness, but I am not present in another’s body by my
consciousness. However, the Supersoul, being present within
everyone, and being situated everywhere, is conscious of the
entire existence.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 227
The living entity is the Proprietor of his body,
but Krishna is the Proprietor of all the bodies
The bodies of all the living entities are made of material
elements, all of which are created by Krishna. Therefore Krishna
is the original proprietor of all bodies. And as a particular living
entity occupies a particular body, he is considered to be the
secondary proprietor of that body. For example, in a kingdom, the
king is the original proprietor of the entire kingdom, and the
citizen is the secondary proprietor of a his small plot of land.
The body consists of the senses. And as the Supreme Lord is
the supreme proprietor of all bodies He is known as ‘Hrshikesha’,
which means ‘controller of the senses’. He is the original
controller of the senses, just as the king is the original controller of
all the activities of the state and the citizens are secondary
controllers. Although the individual soul is the owner and knower
of the body, the Supreme Lord knows both the body and the
owner of the body.
Somebody may say, “The jivatma and the Paramatma are the
same. There is only one soul in this body.” But an intelligent
person should challenge such a baseless statement, “Where is it
mentioned in the scriptures?” We have clear-cut information from
the Upanishads that the jivatma (the individual soul) and the
Paramatma (Supersoul) are like two birds sitting in a tree (body).
There is no question of any confusion about the differences
between the jivatma and the Paramatma. Both the Katha
Upanishad and the Shvetasvatara Upanishad confirm this:
samane vrkse puruso nimagno
‘nisaya socati muhyamanah
justam yada pasyaty anyam isam asya
mahimanam iti vita-sokah
“Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is
fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the
fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to
228 Your Best Friend
his friend who is the Lord – at once the suffering bird becomes
free from all anxieties.” The same truth is confirmed in Mundaka
Upanishad also.
The living entity can be put to Forgetfulness,
but Krishna can never be put to Forgetfulness
In the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna tells
Arjuna that He imparted the same knowledge (of the Bhagavad-
gita) to the sun god, Vivasvan, millions of years ago. On hearing
this, Arjuna at once inquired, “The sun god Vivasvan is senior by
birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You
instructed this science to him?” (Bhagavad-gita 4.4) Lord Krishna
replied, “Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can
remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy.”
(Bhagavad-gita 4.5)
In the Vedas it is said that the Lord, although one without a
second, nevertheless manifests Himself in innumerable forms. He
is like the vaidurya stone, which changes color yet still remains
one. Devotees like Arjuna are constant companions of the Lord,
and whenever the Lord incarnates, the associate devotees also
incarnate in order to serve the Lord in different capacities. Arjuna
is one of these devotees, and some millions of years ago when
Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god Vivasvan,
Arjuna, in a different capacity, was also present. But the
difference between the Lord and Arjuna is that the Lord
remembered the incidence, whereas Arjuna could not remember.
That is the difference between the living entity (jivatma) and the
Supreme Lord Krishna (Paramatma). Anyone who is a constant
companion of the Lord is certainly a liberated person, but he
cannot be equal to the Lord. The Lord is described in the Brahma
Samhita as infallible (achyuta), which means that He never forgets
Himself. Therefore, the Lord and the living entity can never be
equal in all respects, even if the living entity is as liberated as
Arjuna.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 229
Every living entity, being an infinitesimal part and parcel of
Krishna, can be subjected to forgetfulness about himself and about
Krishna. Even the greatest of the living entities Brahma is no
exception to this law. There is an instructive incident described in
the Chaitanya Charitamrita in this connection.
Once Brahma, the lord of the entire universe came to Dwarka to see
Krishna. When Brahma approached Krishna, the doorman informed
Krishna that Brahma had arrived to see Him. Upon hearing this,
Krishna inquired as to which Brahma had come, and the doorman
returned to Brahma and asked, “Lord Krishna wants to know which
Brahma you are.” Brahma was taken aback on hearing this and started
thinking, “Why did Krishna ask such a question?” After some thought,
he informed the doorman, “Please tell Lord Krishna that the Brahma,
who is the father of the four Kumaras and who has four heads, has come
to see Him.”
The doorman informed Krishna accordingly and then Brahma was
given permission to enter the palace. Brahma offered his obeisances
unto the lotus feet of Krishna. After receiving him with due respect,
Krishna inquired about the purpose of his visit. “I shall tell You about
my purpose in coming here”, Lord Brahma replied,”but first I have a
doubt which I ask You to kindly remove. Your doorman told me that You
asked which Brahma has come to see You. Does this mean that there are
other Brahmas besides me?”
Upon hearing this, Krishna smiled and at once called for countless
Brahmas from the countless universes. The four-headed Brahma then
saw many other Brahmas coming to see Krishna and to offer Him their
respects. Some of them had 10 heads, some had 20, some had 100 and
some even had a million heads. Indeed the four-headed Brahma could
not even count the number of Brahmas who were coming and offering
their obeisances to Krishna. Krishna then called many other demigods
from various universes and they all came and offered their respects to
Him.
Upon seeing this wonderful exhibition, the four-headed Brahma
became nervous and began to think of himself as no more than an
insignificant mosquito in the midst of many gigantic elephants. Since so
many demigods were offering obeisances unto the lotus feet of Krishna,
230 Your Best Friend
Brahma concluded that the unlimited potency of Krishna could not be
estimated. All the helmets of the various demigods and Brahmas shone
brightly in the great assembly, and the prayers of the demigods made a
great sound.
“Dear Lord,” the demigods said, “It is Your great mercy that You
have called us to see You. Is there any particular order for us? If so,
we will carry it out at once.” “There is nothing especially required of
you”, Lord Krishna replied, “I only wanted to see all of you together at
one time. I offer My blessings to you. Don’t be afraid of the demons.”
“By your mercy, everything is all right”, they all replied, “There are no
disturbances at present, for by Your incarnation everything inauspicious
is vanquished.”
As all the Brahmas conversed in this way with Krishna, none of
them could see any of the other Brahmas; each Brahma thought that
only he was present there with the Lord and that the Lord was speaking
only to Him. Only the four-headed Brahma could see all the others.
After this incident, Krishna wished all the Brahmas farewell, and, after
offering respects to Him, they returned to their respective universes.
Upon seeing this, the four-headed Brahma at once fell down at the
feet of Krishna and said, “My Lord! What I thought about You at first
was all nonsensical. Everyone may say that they know You in
perfection, but as far as I am concerned, I cannot even begin to conceive
how great You are. You are beyond my conception and understanding.”
Thus through this pastime we can see that even the greatest of
the living entities is put to forgetfulness about Krishna’s position
and his own position. This forgetfulness of the living entity is
reasonable, for the living entity is infinitesimal and can be
overwhelmed by maya although he has the same quality as the
Supreme Lord. Thus the living entity becomes separated from the
association of the Lord, just as sparks of fire, although one in
quality with the fire, are prone to be extinguished when out of the
fire. And even after liberation, the living entity retains his identity
as an infinitesimal individual jivatma, as told by Lord Krishna to
Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 231
In complete contradiction to this simple and logical
understanding, the baseless philosophy of Mayavada states that
the same one Absolute Truth has taken all these bodies. But this
philosophy has a fundamental flaw: If the Absolute Truth were to
come under the clutches of Maya (illusion), then is Maya superior
to God? God can never come under the influence of Maya. If He
would, then He cannot be called God. We should ask this
question to those who advocate Mayavada or those who claim
themselves to be God. Krishna Himself confirms the truth in the
Bhagavad-gita (7.14) that He can never come under the influence
of maya. On the contrary, maya is obediently serving Him: daivi
hy esa gunamayi mama maya duratyaya / mam eva ye
prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. “This divine energy of Mine,
consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to
overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily
cross beyond it.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.14). In this verse, mama maya
means ‘My illusory energy.’ So Krishna claims that the illusory
energy is subservient to Him and is working under His direction.
So what to speak of illusory energy ever subduing the Supreme
Lord, she cannot even subdue Krishna’s surrendered devotees who
travel all over the world carrying the Lord in their hearts.
The living entity has only Direct Awareness,
But Krishna has both Direct and Indirect Awareness
Although we may be proud of the vast amount of knowledge
that modern science has acquired, still it is the reality that we have
only direct consciouness or awareness of certain things. Naturally
therefore there are many, many other things of which we have no
awareness. For example, we have no knowledge whatsoever of
what happens after we put a morsel of food in our mouth: how the
food is transformed into chemicals and blood, how it nourishes the
body, what kind of bacteria live in the body, how the various parts
of the body get their nourishement, how they function etc. We do
not know how the hairs and nails grow although the cells are dead
232 Your Best Friend
(matter can grow on spirit, but life cannot arise from matter). In
other words, we do not have indirect perception.
But, as far as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
concerned, the very first verse of the Shrimad Bhagavatam
(1.1.1) declares: janmady asya yatah anvayat itaratas charteshv
abijna svarat. In this shloka, the word anvayat means ‘directly’
and the word itaratas means ‘indirectly’. So Krishna is
consciously aware of each and every thing going on in the
universe both directly and indirectly at all times. And svarat
means He is ‘supremely independent’. He doesn’t depend on
others for power or knowledge. Krishna controls everything
through the medium of His energies.
In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, it is mentioned: parasya
saktir vividaiva suyate, svabhavaki jnana bala kriya ca meaning
‘Krishna has infinite energies and He is acting through the
medium of His energies’. And He can therefore exercise control
over any part of the universe very naturally. For example, if you
have an itch in your body, you don’t have to make plans to
scratch. You don’t have to plan, “The itch is in my left thigh. So I
should lift up my left hand, move it to my left thigh, place the
fingers on the itching part of the thigh and rub to relieve the itch.”
All this planning is not at all required. Spontaneously (svabhavaki)
your hand scratches the itch. Similarly when Lord Krishna wants
to create the material world, He does not have to make a design, a
model and worry about where to get the ingredients from, how to
mix them together properly, and, on top of it all, how to maintain
everything. He doesn’t have to worry about anything; everything
happens naturally (svabhavaki). He gets everything done through
the medium of His energies. His potency is automatic and
spontaneous. This is the nature of superconsciousness.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 233
Consciousness of the living entity is Limited,
Consciousness of Krishna is Unlimited
Spy novels, which describe how one country tries to uncover
the defense secrets of another country by sending spies to that
country, are very popular as an entertainment literature. But the
very necessity of spies illustrates an important philosophical
principle. Why does one county at all need to send spies to another
country? It is because even the most technologically advanced
countries don’t know what is going on in another country. Putting
it simply, in spite of having the most sophisticated state-of-the –art
technology, each nation is only limitedly conscious. That is why
they need so many electronic gadgets so that they can become
more conscious of what is going on there. During the Iran-Iraq
war, America had launched many satellites to trace, observe and
monitor the nuclear installations of Iraq in order to bomb them.
Thus we can see that just to become conscious of one tiny
nuclear station in one small country, we human beings have to
spend so many millions and trillions of dollars and have to put in
enormous efforts. It is because the consciousness of the living
entity is inherently limited. On the other hand, when Krishna
wants to become conscious of something, he just has to desire. He
doesn’t have to struggle even a little bit to become conscious of
even the tiniest details of the happenings in any remote corner of
the material world. He just resides in the spiritual world, playing
His flute and performing loving pastimes with His devotees and
simultaneously He is conscious of everything everywhere.
Different States of Consciousness of
the Living Entity
O riginally, the living entity has pure consciousness, but when
he comes in contact with the material modes, his
consciousness becomes polluted just like pure rain water becomes
muddy on coming in contact with the soil. In the polluted state, his
234 Your Best Friend
consciousness becomes covered by so many unwanted
designations—’I am an Indian’ ‘I am a boy’ ‘I am fair’ ‘I am an
engineer’ ‘I am rich’ etc. These false designations are called
maya.
While the living entity is in the material world, his
consciousness is in four different states:
1. Jagruti
2. Svapna
3. Sushupti
4. Turiya / Samadhi.
1. Jagruti: In the jagruti state, our consciousness is alert, but still
we identify ourselves completely with the material body and the
material world. This state is therefore also called abhinivesha,
absorption in material energy. For those in the jagruti state, this
material world appears to be all in all and they work hard like
donkeys to settle permanently here. But the pity is that all the
arrangements made by them for a permanent settlement will be
smashed to pieces by the force of time.
2. Svapna: In the svapna state, the consciousness of the living
entity becomes covered and he enters a dream state. For example,
suppose you see a tiger chasing you in a dream. You run, run, run
and run to save your life. But the tiger keeps coming closer and
closer and then it catches you by your thighs. You scream and
jump out of your bed in mortal fear. You fall on the floor with a
thud, wake up and realize that actually nothing had happened; you
were safely sleeping in your bed. But your body is sweating
profusely out of fear. Thus though the dream was imaginary, it
had a real physical effect on your body. This means that when you
are in the dream state you imagine the dream to be a reality. The
following story illustrates this state of consciousness:
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 235
Once a king had a dream. In his dream, he was a butterfly and was
moving from one flower to another sucking the honey. This dream
appeared to go on for a long time and the whole experience of his being
a butterfly appeared to be just like a reality to him. Finally, when the
king woke up in the dead of the night, he was completely confused about
his identity. He at once summoned all his courtiers, told them about his
dream and asked them, “Please free me from my confusion: am I a king
who is dreaming that I am a butterfly or am I a butterfly who is
dreaming that I am a king talking with all of you? If you don’t give a
satisfactory answer to this question I will chop off the heads of all of
you.” On hearing this extraordinary question, all the courtiers were
dumbfounded. They couldn’t figure out which of the two was true – was
he a king dreaming that he was a butterfly or was he a butterfly
dreaming that he was a king?
Actually neither of them is true. The truth is that a spirit soul
has occupied the body of a king. But if he thinks, ‘I am a king’,
that is an illusion. And if he thinks, ‘I am a butterfly’, that is an
illusion in an illusion. The only difference is that the first one is a
dream and the second one is a dream in a dream.
3. Sushupti: In the sushupti state, the consciousness of the living
entity becomes even more camouflaged. He is in such a deep
sleep that he doesn’t even know what is happening around him.
4. Samadhi: Samadhi is the continued meditation to search out
the four-handed Supersoul / Paramatma within one’s heart and to
see Him perpetually in meditation. In all the other three states,
which are like dream for the soul, the living entity is put into
different varieties of dualities and is subjected to a series of
pleasures and pains.
As long as the living entity is in the material world, he lives in
jagruti, svapna or sushupti. And all these states put him into
complete illusion and constant suffering.
236 Your Best Friend
At the time of death, the living entity is put into deep sleep,
sushupti, till he is placed in a new body. During that period, he has
to be in a mother’s womb for many unendurably long months. In
the third canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, Lord Kapiladev
describes how the fetus develops in the mother’s womb around the
soul. The consciousness of the soul is covered for seven months.
During the seventh month, the child wakes up, and looks around
to see where he is. It is pitch dark all around him, worms are
biting his tender skin, the pungent food taken by the mother is also
eating his skin. In that constricted chamber, he is lying upside
down with his back arched like a bow. He passes stool in it and
has to eat the same stool along with his hair. Being in such a
miserable condition, he prays desperately to the Lord, “O my
Lord! Please kindly rescue me from this horrible situation. I will
eternally serve You.” But once he comes out of the womb, he
forgets his promise to Krishna and starts indulging in unwanted
activities and gets entangled in the cycle of birth and death.
We should understand the helpless nature of the living entity.
The living entity cannot perform any activity without the help of
the Paramatma. The living entity is initially in a particular body
and when he sleeps and wakes up, he finds himself in another
body. This is very similar to a person, who is kidnapped in a
blindfolded condition and, when released, he finds himself in an
entirely new and unfamiliar place. In this way the living entity is
helplessly thrown from one body to another according to his
karma. And there is no escape for him unless he surrenders to
Krishna. The living entity has thus been going from one illusion to
another for countless millions of lives, perpetually tormented by
the threefold miseries and repeatedly suffering birth, old age,
disease and death.
One should imbibe the divine vision of being able to see the
suffering of the living entity because of his rebellious nature
against the Supreme Lord. Then the doubt whether the living
entity could be God will never arise in one’s heart.
 The Infinitesimal and The Infinite 237 238 Your Best Friend

And every intelligent person who is aware of his suffering

situation should cultivate a thorough understanding about the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, and about his eternal
servitorship to the Lord. Then, if he performs devotional service
by surrendering to Krishna, he will achieve the highest perfection
in all of creation – freedom from the cycle of birth and death and
return to the kingdom of God.
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 239 240 Your Best Friend

T he three aspects of the Absolute Truth – Brahman, Paramatma

Chapter 14 and Bhagavan – were discussed in the previous chapters. The

jnanis or impersonalists worship Brahman, the yogis worship the
Paramatma situated in the heart of every living being and the
bhaktas worship Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
Although the jnanis may aspire to merge into the brahman,
their position in the brahmajyoti is temporary; they fall back to the
material world in want of some relationship. Their situation is
exactly like a rocket, which falls back without any place to land in
the space. Thus without coming to the point of realizing that Lord
Vasudeva is all that is, the jnanis can never be peaceful.
The perfection of yoga is to achieve the stage of samadhi,
wherein one completely focuses on Lord Vishnu. But before

Love of God : achieving this stage the yogis may achieve various mystic powers
like anima, laghima, prapti etc and become busy displaying these

The Culmination of
powers to become famous in the material world. Although they
can achieve any planet they desire including Vaikuntha, the
spiritual world, still the attraction for mystic powers may keep
Religion them bound in the material world and they can never be peaceful.
The bhaktas however aspire for nothing other than service to
Krishna in love. Even the desire of the bhaktas to return to the
spiritual world and serve the Lord is not a material desire or
selfish desire. If the lost son of a millionaire wants to go back to
his father’s home and be with the father, would anyone consider it
selfishness? Of course, some exalted devotees like Prahlad have
prayed to the Lord that they would like to stay in the material
world and do the missionary work of reclaiming all the suffering
souls and despatching them to spiritual world. This shows the
exalted nature and the compassion of a pure devotee. Such
bhaktas are happily situated in the service of the Lord wherever
He places them – in heaven, hell or spiritual world.
The ultimate purpose of religion is to bring one to the
understanding that everything belongs to God and that every
living entity is an eternal servant of God. When one realizes this,
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 241
at that stage one voluntarily engages all one’s possessions
including one’s body, mind and words in the Lord’s service.
Thus one becomes completely purified and situated in ecstatic
loving devotional service to Lord Krishna. This is the ultimate
dharma or occupation of every living being.
Before one achieves that platform, one may perform various
types of lower dharmas such as serving one’s parents, family,
society, nation, or serving the poor, the demigods and other living
entities. These are all called as ‘upadharma’ meaning
subreligious principles.
At the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.66), Lord Krishna
declared to Arjuna and, in turn, to every one of us:
sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I
shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”
Thus the Lord demands exclusive surrender to His lotus feet
from every living entity. The Lord desires that we use our free
will in the best way by surrendering to Him in love. This is for
our own benefit. It is exactly like a father requesting his son to
not cross a road with heavy traffic on his own but to take help
from him (his father).
In fact, the Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.2.6) states that the
ultimate goal of life is to achieve pure love of God:
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata yayatma suprasidati
“The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by
which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the
transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated
and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.”
And any occupation that does not help one to revive this
dormant love for God is considered a mere waste of time:
dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim srama eva hi kevalam
242 Your Best Friend
“The occupational activities a man performs according to his own
position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke
attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.”
(Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.2.8)
Acting in pure love of God is called bhagavata dharma. Many
great devotees in the past like Prahlad Maharaj, Dhruva Maharaj,
Ambarish Maharaj, Yudhistir Maharaj, Arjuna, Jesus, Haridas
Thakur and the great acharyas or spiritual masters in the disciplic
succession have practically shown us through their personal
example how should one follow bhagavata dharma.
Love of God – The Ultimate Goal Of Religion
R endering service to Krishna is the natural constitutional po-
sition of the living entity: jivera svarupa haya krishnera nitya
dasa “The constitutional position of living entity is that he is an
eternal servant of Krishna”. But when the living entity comes into
this material world, he forgets Krishna and starts serving so many
other fallible soldiers because of which he is put into suffering.
Nobody can refrain from service. A Prime minister serves the
country, parents serve their children, a clerk serves his boss, a old
man who has no companion serves a pet dog. So service is natural
for the living entity. Just as sugar and sweetness cannot be
separated, salt and saltiness cannot be separated, similarly the soul
and his service attitude cannot be separated. The living entity can
utilize his free will to either serve Krishna in love and devotion or
serve Maya by being rebellious of Krishna.
Love of Krishna is in a dormant state in the heart of everyone.
At present, we are not able to experience it due to contamination
by material association. Therefore the heart has to be purified of
the material association, and that dormant, natural love for
Krishna has to be revived. We do not acquire love of Krishna, but
we revive love of Krishna. ‘Acquire’ means to achieve
something, which we did not have. ‘Revive’ means to get back
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 243
what we already possessed. Love of Krishna is like a fiery coal
covered by the contamination of ashes. Once the ashes are blown
off, the fire can be perceived. Similarly when the contaminations
are removed by surrendering to Krishna’s instructions, one can
perceive love of Krishna in one’s heart.
Under the guidance of an expert spiritual master, one should
follow certain principles: one should rise early in the morning,
take bath, enter the temple and offer prayers and chant Hare
Krishna, then collect flowers and offer to the Deity, cook
foodstuffs to offer to the Deity, take prasadam and so on. One
should constantly hear the Bhagavad-gita and the Shrimad
Bhagavatam from pure devotees. This practice of bhakti-yoga,
under the rules and regulations, with the direction of a spiritual
master, will surely bring one to the stage of love of God.
Unalloyed Devotional Service
T he definition of a pure devotee, as given by Rupa Gosvami
in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, can be summarized thus: his
service is favourable and is always in relation to Krishna. In order
to keep the purity of such Krishna conscious activities, one must
be freed from all material desires and speculation.
Any desire except for the service of the Lord is called a
material desire. Many armchair speculators spend their whole
lives researching on Vedanta and Upanishads, without practicing
any spirituality even a bit in their own lives. While smoking on
their hukka, they participate in round table conferences on the
philosophy of the Vedanta and arrive at conclusions of voidism or
impersonalism. This conclusion is useless for a Krishna conscious
person. Only rarely by philosophical speculation can one reach the
conclusion of worshiping Vasudeva, Krishna. This is confirmed in
the Bhagavad-gita itself. The ultimate end of philosophical
speculation, then, must be Krishna, with the understanding that
Krishna is everything, the cause of all causes, and that one should
244 Your Best Friend
therefore surrender unto Him. If this ultimate goal is reached, then
philosophical advancement is favorable, but if the conclusion of
philosophical speculation is voidism or impersonalism, that is not
bhakti.
Karma, or fruitive activities, are sometimes understood to be
ritualistic activities. There are many persons who are very much
attracted by the ritualistic activities described in the Vedas. But if
one becomes attracted simply to ritualistic activities without
understanding Krishna, his activities are unfavorable to Krishna
consciousness.
Srila Rupa Gosvami has also mentioned in this definition of
bhakti the word jnana-karmadi. This karmadi (fruitive work)
consists of activities which are unable to help one attain to pure
devotional service. Many forms of so-called renunciation are also
not favourable to Krishna conscious devotional service.
Lord Krishna is called as a ‘jealous lover’, the lover who
demands exclusive love from the living being. Just as a chataka
bird aspires for water only from the raindrops coming from the
sky, a devotee aspires only for the service of the Lord and forsakes
all kinds of material benefits like wealth, women, aristocracy and
followers. Such a devotee wins the heart of the Lord. The Lord
becomes extremely pleased with such a devotee and becomes
eager to serve him. Although the Lord demands exclusive love
free from motivations, He is also ready to reciprocate with such
love of His beloved servants. A crying child may be pacified by
the mother by giving a balloon, a toy or a tricycle. But if the child
continues crying, his mother admonishes him, “What do you
want?” And if he replies, “I want you and nothing else”, then the
mother realizes that there is no way her child will be satisfied with
anything other than herself. In the same way a devotee rejects all
the temptations of this world and wants only to love Krishna with
no other motivations. This is termed as unalloyed devotional
service.
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 245
There are many, many religious people who aspire for material
profits, heavenly planets, mystic powers, merging into brahman or
becoming God. None of these people can satisfy the Lord, nor
can they themselves become satisfied in such materialistic
pursuits. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can attract the attention
of the Lord and be satisfied in His service.
Devotional service means to prosecute Krishna conscious
activities, which are favourable to the transcendental pleasure of
the Supreme Lord, Krishna. All those activities, which are not
favourable to the transcendental favour of the Lord, cannot be
accepted as devotional service. For example, great demons like
Ravana, Kamsa and Hiranyakashipu were always thinking of
Krishna, but they were thinking of Him as their enemy. This sort
of thinking cannot be accepted as bhakti, or Krishna
consciousness.
How Can One Achieve Pure Love for Krishna?
S rila Rupa Gosvami has also quoted a definition from the
Narada-pancaratra as follows, “One should be free from all
material designations and, by Krishna consciousness, must be
cleansed of all material contamination. He should be restored to
his pure identity, in which he engages his senses in the service of
the proprietor of the senses.” hrshikena hrshikesha sevanam. So
when our senses are engaged for the actual proprietor of the
senses, that is called devotional service. In our conditional state,
our senses are engaged in serving our bodily demands. When the
same senses are engaged in executing the order of Krishna, our
activities are called bhakti.
As long as one identifies himself as belonging to a certain
family, a certain society or a certain person, he is said to be
covered with designations. When one is fully aware that he does
not belong to any family, society or country, but is eternally
related to Krishna, he then realizes that his energy should be
246 Your Best Friend
employed not in the interests of so-called family, society or
country, but in the interests of Krishna. This is purity of purpose
and the platform of pure devotional service in Krishna
consciousness.
This devotional service is a sort of cultivation. It is not simply
inaction for people who like to be inactive or devote their time to
silent meditation. There are many different methods for people
who want this, but cultivation of Krishna consciousness is
different. The particular word used by Srila Rupa Gosvami in this
connection is ‘anushilana’, or cultivation by following the
predecessor teachers (acharyas). As soon as we say “cultivation,”
we must refer to activity. Without activity, consciousness alone
cannot help us.
Krishna’s devotees avoid unfavourable things like overeating,
mundane gossip, accumulating more than necessary, over
endeavouring for mundane achievements, slackness in following
regulative principles, bad company, greed etc. There are positive
favourable things like enthusiasm, determination, patience,
following in the footsteps of previous acharyas, giving up bad
association, following regulative principles like no meat eating, no
gambling, no intoxication, no illicit sex etc.
Those who are cultivating spiritual life and executing
devotional service are always engaged in positive spiritual
activity, seva. Such activity can be performed with the body or
with the mind. Thinking, feeling and willing are all activities of
the mind, and when we will to do something, the activity comes to
be manifest by the gross bodily senses. Thus, in our mental
activities we should always try to think of Krishna and try to plan
how to please Him, following in the footsteps of the great acaryas
and the personal spiritual master. There are activities of the body,
activities of the mind and activities of speech. A Krishna
conscious person engages his words in preaching the glories of the
Lord. This is called kirtana. And by his mind a Krishna conscious
person always thinks of the activities of the Lord – as He is
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 247
speaking on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra or engaging in His
various pastimes in Vrindavana with His devotees. In this way one
can always think of the activities and pastimes of the Lord. This is
the mental culture of Krishna consciousness.
Similarly, we can offer many services with our bodily
activities. But all such activities must be in relationship with
Krishna. This relationship is established by connecting oneself
with the bona fide spiritual master, who is the direct representative
of Krishna in disciplic succession. Therefore, the execution of
Krishna conscious activities with the body should be directed by
the spiritual master and then performed with faith. The connection
with the spiritual master is called initiation. From the date of
initiation by the spiritual master, the connection between Krishna
and a person cultivating Krishna consciousness is established.
Without initiation by a bona fide spiritual master, the actual
connection with Krishna consciousness is never established.
Practical Steps to Achieve Love for Krishna
B hakti-Yoga means connecting ourselves with Krishna and
reviving our relationship as His eternal associate. Accepting
the greatness of God is the beginning of bhakti. Bhakti-yoga must
include three items: the servitor, the served and the service.
There must be a person to accept service, and there must be a
person to render service. The via media is the process of service
itself, bhakti-yoga.
The living entities are the eternal servitors of Krishna. In fact,
in their constitutional position they love to become servant or the
servant of the servants of Krishna. Lord Krishna, the all-attractive
Supreme enjoyer and Personality of Godhead is the object being
served.
As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he also has a
direct relationship with the Lord. A devotee is in a relationship
248 Your Best Friend
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of the five
different ways:
1. One may be a devotee in a passive state - Shanta rasa
2. One may be a devotee in an active state - Dasya rasa
3. One may be a devotee as a friend - Sakhya rasa
4. One may be a devotee as a parent - Vatsalya rasa
5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover - Madhurya rasa
Every living being, out of the many, many billions and trillions of
living beings, has a particular relationship with the Lord eternally.
This is called svarupa. By the process of devotional service, one
can revive that svarupa, and that stage is called svarupa siddhi –
perfection of one’s constitutional position.
In the spiritual sky, everyone serves the Lord according to his
own svarupa with spontaneous love. Even in the material world, a
devotee chants Hare Krishna and fixes his mind constantly on the
lotus feet of Krishna. When he offers Krishna food, Krishna
directly accepts these eatables, and the devotee becomes
Krishnaized by eating the remnants. A devotee performs all
activities connected only to Krishna. In this way he always
remembers Krishna, and never forgets Krishna. Thus a devotee
does not live in a material plane. His position is transcendental
from the very beginning— he lives in Krishna.
“My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your
mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative
principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain
Me.” (Bhagavad-gita 12.9)
In the above verse, two different processes of bhakti-yoga are
indicated. The first applies to one who has actually developed an
attachment for Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by
transcendental love. This is known as ‘Raganuga Bhakti’. And the
other is for one who has not developed an attachment for the
Supreme Person by transcendental love. For this second class
there are different prescribed rules and regulations one can follow
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 249
to be ultimately elevated to the stage of attachment to Krishna.
This is known as Vaidhi Bhakti.
There are nine standard modes of devotional service to the
Lord, and a candidate can choose to adopt any one, two, three,
four or all, however he likes.
All the services rendered to the Absolute are in themselves
absolute, with none of the quantitative or qualitative differences
found on the material platform. On the spiritual platform, there is
transcendental variegatedness. There are instances in history of
great personalities, including sages and kings, who attained
perfection by this process. Some of them attained success even by
adhering to one single item of devotional service with faith and
perseverance. Some of these personalities are listed below:
1. Hearing: Emperor Parikshit attained the spiritual platform
simply by hearing from such an authority as Sri Shukadeva
Gosvami about glories of Krishna.
2. Recitation: Sri Shukadeva Gosvami attained the same simply
by recitation, verbatim, of the transcendental message which
he received from his great father, Sri Vyasadeva.
3. Remembering: Emperor Prahlada attained spiritual success by
remembering the Lord constantly, in pursuance of instructions
given by Sri Narada Muni, the great saint and devotee.
4. Serving: Lakshmiji, the goddess of fortune, attained success
simply by sitting at and serving the lotus feet of the Lord.
5. Worshiping: King Pruthu attained success simply by
worshiping the Lord.
6. Chanting Prayers: Akrura, the uncle of Krishna, attained
success simply by chanting prayers for the Lord.
7. Carrying out the orders: Hanuman, the devotee of Lord
Ramacandra, attained success simply by carrying out the
orders of the Lord.
8. Making friends with the Lord: Arjuna, the great warrior,
attained perfection simply by making friends with the Lord,
250 Your Best Friend
who delivered the message of Bhagavad Gita to enlighten
Arjuna and his followers.
9. Surrendering Everything: Emperor Bali attained success by
surrendering everything unto the Lord, including his personal
body.
Emperor Ambarisha adopted all the above nine items, and he
attained perfect success.
Chanting the Holy Name : Meditation for the
Modern Age
T here are various methods for God realization. In this age of
Kali yuga, according to all the revealed Vedic literatures, the
chanting of the Holy names:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
is prescribed as the most sublime method for reviving our
transcendental consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada speaks about the nature of Hare Krishna
mahamantra in his world-renowned audiotape, “In the material
concept of life we are busy in the matter of sense gratification, as
if we were in the lower animal stage. A little elevated from this
status of sense gratification, one is engaged in mental speculation
for the purpose of getting out of the material clutches. A little
elevated from this speculative status, when one is intelligent
enough, one tries to find out the supreme cause of all causes—
within and without. And when one is factually on the plane of
spiritual understanding surpassing the stages of sense, mind and
intelligence, he is then on the transcendental plane. This chanting
of Hare Krishna mantra is enacted from the spiritual platform, and
thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of
consciousness—namely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is
no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra, nor
is there any need for mental speculation nor any intellectual
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 251
adjustment for chanting this mahamantra. It is automatic, from the
spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in the
chanting, without any previous qualification.
“The word Hara is the form of addressing the energy of the
Lord, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing
the Lord Himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean “the supreme
pleasure”, and Hara is the supreme pleasure energy of the Lord,
changed to Hare in the vocative.
“The material energy called maya, is also one of the
multifarious energies of the Lord. Also we, the living entities, are
also the energy (marginal energy) of the Lord. The living entities
are described as superior to material energy. When the superior
energy is in contact with the inferior energy, an incompatible
situation arises; but when the superior marginal energy is in
contact with the superior energy, Hara, it is established in its
happy, normal condition.
“These three words, namely Hara, Krishna and Rama, are the
transcendental seeds of the mahamantra. The chanting is a
spiritual call for the Lord and His energy, to give protection to the
conditioned soul. The chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a
child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee
achieve the Lord Father’s grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to
the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely. No other means of
spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and
hypocrisy as the chanting of the mahamantra :
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Different Yugas – Different Prescribed Methods
T here are different techniques of God realization taught for
different ages. For example, in
Satya yuga : Dhyana yoga (or) Astanga yoga
Treta yuga : Yajna – fire sacrifices
252 Your Best Friend
Dvapara yuga : Elaborate temple deity worship
Kali yuga : Nama sankirtan or chanting of the holy name
Dhyana yoga involves many many austerities: one has to be a
celibate; one cannot perform this in a fashionable city. One has to
go to forest. One has to eat only dry leaves and roots. One has to
control the breathing process through pranayama and control
mind and senses through pratyahara. One has to make a seat
neither too high nor too low, lay kusha grass, sit on it and meditate
on the Vishnu form in the heart. Since this method is difficult,
even Arjuna rejected it. It is certainly impossible to perform in this
jet age of Kali.
Yajna or fire sacrifices involve enormous expenditures for the
ingredients like ghee, silk, grains, gold etc. Even if one has a lot
of wealth, one may not get brahmanas whose power of chanting
Vedic mantras can invoke fire automatically without the use of
matchsticks.
Elaborate temple worship requires strict rules and regulations
for deity worship. If a brahmana has to follow all the rules given
in Pancaratrika system completely, then probably he can never
come out of the bathroom; such degree of purity is required.
Chanting of the Holy Name or Namasankirtana is the most
merciful and easiest process prescribed for Kali yuga. Chanting
can be done at any place, any time, by anybody (even by the most
fallen) without any restriction.
It is not that chanting the Holy Names of the Lord is done only
in Kali yuga. It has been done in every age:
Satya yuga: Dhruva chanted ‘om namo bhagavate Vasudevaya’
Treta yuga: In the yajna conducted by Nabhi, father of Lord
Rishabhadeva, the brahmanas recited :
atha kathancit….tava guna krta
nama dheyani vacana gocarani…
(Shrimad Bhagavatam 5.3.12)
Also Valmiki chanted the name of Lord Rama….
Dvapara yuga: Draupadi called out Krishna’s name
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 253
In every age chanting of the Holy Name is practised. But over
and above that people would perform various other forms of
austerities according to the scriptures, as they had the strength and
long duration of life to do. In Kali yuga chanting is prescribed as
the only yuga dharma as confirmed by the following scriptural
quotes:
kalau dose nidhe rajan…kirtanat eva krishnasya.. (Shrimad
Bhagavatam 12.3.51)
kali kale nama rupe krishna avatar…’ (Chaitanya Charitamrita
Adi 17.22)
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha’
(Brhan Naradiya Purana 3.8.126)
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
iti shodashakam namnam kali kalmasha nashanam
natah paratarupayah sarva vedeshu drishyate
(Kali Santarana Upanishad 5,6)
Spiritual Sound and Material Sound
In the Padma Purana, it is mentioned:
nama cintamani krishnas caitanya rasa vigraha
purna shuddho nitya mukto abhinnatvam nama naminah
“The Holy name of Krishna is transcendentally blissful. It is
Krishna Himself and bestows all benedictions. It is not
contaminated by material qualities and is always liberated,
because the name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are identical.”
In material world, names have no significance. Some beggar
may possess a name ‘Lakshmipati’ and an ugly looking man may
possess the name ‘Sundargopal’. Their names have no connection
to their characteristics. Similarly the name and the very object are
different in the material world.
254 Your Best Friend
For example no one can quench his thirst by repeatedly
shouting ‘Water’ ‘Water’ ‘Water’ ‘Water’… This is because the
substance water and the word ‘water’ are not the same. This is not
true about things on the Absolute plane. The sound vibration
‘Krishna’ and the Personality Krishna are non-different. This is
the reason why devotees of the Lord perceive the presence of
Krishna as soon as they chant the holy names of Krishna. And
they can go on chanting hours and hours for many, many years
and even lifelong; they never get bored.
If somebody argues that there is no greatness in simply
repeating some name for a few hours per day life long, then we
can ask him to utter ‘Cocacola’ ‘Cocacola’ ‘Cocacola’ ‘Cocacola’
‘Cocacola’ a couple of hours every day for at least a year. One
will get fed up within a day. It is not possible because it is a
ordinary mundane sound vibration; but the Hare Krishna chanting
is a spiritual sound vibration. If one chants Hare Krishna
sincerely, it increases one’s ecstasy of chanting.
Just as a child cannot differentiate between a Rs 500 /-
currency note and a newspaper, a layman cannot understand the
difference between ordinary sound vibration and spiritual sound
vibration. The Hare Krishna chant is a spiritual sound vibration
and its results can be perceived by a sincere chanter.
Thus amongst all the activities performed by a devotee, the
foremost activity is chanting of Hare Krishna everyday. A
devotee of the Lord chants a prescribed number of rounds
everyday. In ISKCON Srila Prabhupada has prescribed minimum
16 rounds of chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra on an everyday
basis and following the regulative principles of no meat eating, no
gambling, no intoxication and no illicit sex. Anyone who chants
in this way can maintain a proper consciousness and further
engage in various services to Krishna by utilizing all his energies.
 Love Of God : The Culmination of Religion 255 256 Your Best Friend

Krishnaizing Everything even while physically being present in the material world and at
last returns home back to godhead, to join the eternal service of

T his cultivation of Krishna consciousness is not material. The

Lord has three general energies—namely the external energy,
the internal energy and the marginal energy. The living entities are
the Lord in the spiritual world.

HARE KRISHNA!
called marginal energy, and the material cosmic manifestation is
the action of the external, or material, energy. Then there is the
spiritual world, which is a manifestation of the internal energy.
The living entities, who are called the marginal energy,
perform material activities when acting under the inferior, external
energy. And when they engage in activities under the internal,
spiritual energy, their activities are called Krishna conscious. This
means that those who are great souls or great devotees do not act
under the spell of material energy, but act instead under the
protection of the spiritual energy. Any activity done in devotional
service, or in Krishna consciousness, is directly under the control
of spiritual energy. In other words, energy is a sort of strength, and
this strength can be spiritualised by the mercy of both the bona
fide spiritual master and Krishna.
For example, if one finds a beautiful rose in his garden, he can
think, “Oh! How beautiful! Let me offer this to Krishna” or he can
think, “Oh! Let me offer this rose to win the heart of my girl
friend.” Thus everything can be used either for one’s own sense
gratification or for Krishna’s service.
In the Chaitanya-Charitamrta, Lord Chaitanya states that it is
a fortunate person who comes in contact with a bona fide spiritual
master by the grace of Krishna. One who is serious about spiritual
life is given by Krishna the intelligence to come in contact with a
bona fide spiritual master, and then by the grace of the spiritual
master one becomes advanced in Krishna consciousness. In this
way the whole jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness is directly
under the spiritual energy—Krishna and the spiritual master. This
has nothing to do with the material world. Thus acting on a
spiritual plane, a devotee gradually transcends the material world,
 257 258 Your Best Friend

Appendix 1
Krishna’s Rasa Dance:
Can We Imitate ?
T he rasa dance is one of the most misunderstood pastimes of
Lord Krishna. Many people are bewildered about this pastime
of the Lord. Some people consider it an immoral act and so reject
Krishna as the Supreme Lord. Others like the Mayavadis take
advantage of the rasa lila for satisfying their own lusty
propensities and imitate the Lord by dancing with young girls. Is Krishna’s Rasa Dance
But what is the rasa dance? Why did the speaker of the
greatest philosophical masterpiece in the world, the Bhagavad- Not an Immoral Act?
gita, act in such an apparently mundane way? Why would the
Refer to Chapter 33 : ‘Description of the Rasa Dance’
Lord, who had advented to establish religion, perform such a
blatantly irreligious act? • Page 314, last paragraph : Sex desire is especially….
All these questions are clarified in our pocket book with the • Read pages 315, 316, 317 and 318
same title as this chapter. In case you do not have it, please refer to
the book ‘Krishna – the Supreme Personaity of Godhead’ by His Can We Imitate Rasa Lila?
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Third
Printing Jan 2001) while going through this chapter. Refer to Chapter 33: ‘Description of the Rasa Dance’
Page number 317, second paragraph: One may also argue….
What is the Rasa Dance ?
Refer to Chapter 29: ‘The Rasa Dance: Introduction’ From Whom Should We Hear Rasa Lila ?
Page 273, second paragraph: From the Vedic literature....
Page 273 and 274 - Lust and Love Refer to Chapter 33 : ‘Description of the Rasa Dance’
• Page 320, last paragraph: How they should….
 259
• Page 322, full para: Shukadeva Goswami concludes the
episode…..
• Page 323, first paragraph
Developing Faith
O ne should hear the message of the scriptures with great
transcendental faith if one desires to advance in spiritual
faith. At the present moment, we are lusty and exploitative and
due to that we think Krishna also must have been lusty and
exploitative. We are unable to appreciate the beauty of the
pastime due to the cataract of lust. By hearing from authorized
sources, this cataract can be cured and we can get the right vision
to understand and appreciate this glorious pastime.
Although it may be difficult for us to fathom this great pastime
of rasa lila, we can at least appreciate the standard of the great
souls who glorified it. By knowing their greatness, we will not
underestimate this pastime to be a mundane dance.
Shukadeva Gosvami was a renunciate of the highest order. All
his senses were completely controlled to such an extent that he
was not in the least agitated even in the midst of the most
tempting sense objects. An amazing incident from his life reveals
his detachment from material enjoyment.
Once the father of Shukadeva Gosvami, Vyasadeva, told him to go to
Maharaj Janaka to learn sense control from him. In accordance with his
father’s instruction, Shukadeva Gosvami went to Mithila and, on
reaching the palace of Maharaj Janaka, he send a message inside. For
three whole days, there was no response whatsoever. But Shukadeva
Gosvami was not at all angered and quietly sat outside the palace
absorbed in Krishna consciousness.
Finally after three days, Maharaj Janaka came out and accorded
him a royal welcome. But it made not the least difference to Shukadeva
Gosvami.
260 Your Best Friend
Then Maharaj Janaka placed a lump of sugar on the tongue of
Shukadeva Gosvami and told him to keep it on his tongue. Maharaj
Janaka was amazed to see that even after quite some time, Shukadeva
Gosvami’s tongue had secreted not a single drop of saliva. He then gave
him a glass filled to the brim with milk and told him to circumambulate
the palace. Throughout the palace, exquisitely beautiful damsels were
dancing and singing and Shukadeva Gosvami passed among them while
circumambulating the palace. When he returned, Maharaj Janaka was
stunned to see that not a drop of milk had been spilled. Not only had
Shukadeva Gosvami not been tempted by the damsels dancing all
around him, but he had been so fixed in concentration that the glass of
milk had not jerked even a bit. On seeing this incredible sense control of
Shukadeva Gosvami, Maharaj Janaka congratulated him and sent his
back to Vyasadeva with the message that his son had already conquered
his senses.
Such is the caliber of the person narrating the rasa-lila!
Another pastime illustrates the liberated position of Shukadeva
Gosvami. When he saw a person, he did not see the external
covering - whether the person was a man or a woman; he just saw
the atma-tattva, he saw the person as a spirit soul.
Once while Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, Shukadeva
Gosvami, some beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked
covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself was not
naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage
inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was
purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male
and female. But the sage made such distinctions.
In the Bhagavad-gita (5.18) it is said that a learned sage looks
equally on a learned and gentle brahmana, a candala (dog-eater), a dog
or a cow due to his spiritual vision. Srila Shukadeva Gosvami attained
that stage. Thus he did not see a male or female; he saw all living
entities in different dress. The ladies who were bathing could understand
the mind of a man simply by studying his demeanor, just as by looking at
a child one can understand how innocent he is. Sukadeva Gosvami was
a young boy sixteen years old, and therefore all the parts of his body
 261
were developed. He was naked also, and so were the ladies. But because
Shukadeva Gosvami was transcendental to sex relations, he appeared
very innocent. The ladies, by their special qualifications, could sense
this at once, and therefore they were not very concerned about him. But
when his father passed, the ladies quickly dressed. The ladies were
exactly like his children or grandchildren, yet they reacted to the
presence of Vyasadeva according to the social custom because Srila
Vyasadeva played the part of a householder.
If a person as renounced as Shukadeva Gosvami is reciting and
glorifying the rasa-lila, how can it be an ordinary lust affair? It
must certainly be a pastime enacted on the spiritual platform.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was universally acclaimed as the
crest jewel of all sannyasis. He was so strict in His dealings that
His woman disciples would offer Him obeisances from a distance;
they would not be allowed to come near Him. Yet the very same
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu declares: ramya kacid upasana
vrajavadhu vargena va kalpita. The most pleasing form of
worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopis of
Vrindavana.
Similarly many other highly renounced sages such as the four
Kumaras and the six Gosvamis glorify and worship the rasa-lila as
the topmost manifestation of love between the Lord and His
devotees. How then can it be equated with the abominable lusty
dealings between ordinary men and women?
Philosophy behind Rasa Dance
Lord Krishna’s body is Transcendental
In the Ishopanishad (mantra 8) it is explained :
sa paryagac chukram akayam avranam
ashnaviram shuddham apapa-viddham
kavir manishi paribhuh svayambhur
yathatathyato ‘rthan vyadadhac chasvatibhyah samabhyah
262 Your Best Friend
“Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the
Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond
reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-
sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone’s desire
since time immemorial.”
The Supreme Lord is not formless. The anatomy of a material
body must have a mechanical construction with veins and so forth,
but the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord has nothing like
veins. There is no difference between His body and His soul. Nor
is He forced to accept a body according to the laws of nature, as
we are.
To confirm that the Lord is always pure and uncontaminated,
this verse describes Him as shuddham (antiseptic) and apapa-
viddham (prophylactic). He is antiseptic in the sense that even an
impure thing can become purified just by touching Him. The word
“prophylactic” refers to the power of His association. The Lord is
also apapa-viddham because sin cannot touch Him. Even if He
acts in a way that appears to be sinful, such actions are all good,
for there is no question of His being affected by sin. Because in all
circumstances He is shuddham, most purified, He is often
compared to the sun. The sun extracts moisture from many
untouchable places on the earth, yet it remains pure. In fact, it
purifies obnoxious things by virtue of its sterilizing powers. If the
sun, which is a material, object, is so powerful, then we can hardly
begin to imagine the purifying strength of the all-powerful Lord.
As Lord Rama, by the mere touch of His lotus feet on a stone,
He delivered Ahilya from her previous sinful activities and helped
her achieve her human body again.
The Lord is pankaja nabhi, which means ‘from whose navel
the lotus appears’ or ‘whose navel has a lotus like depression’.
The first created living being Brahma was born from this lotus
sprouting from the Lord’s navel and the Lord did not need
anybody else’s union for reproduction.
 263
The Lord is the Real Enjoyer
1) The difference between the Real Enjoyer and the Imitation
Enjoyer
Purusha means enjoyer. In the Bhagavad-gita (13.22), the
tiny living entity is also addressed as the purusha :
purushah prakriti-stho-hi bhunkte prakrit-jan gunani
karanam guna-sango ‘sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
“The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life,
enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association
with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among
various species.”
The living entity, who imagines himself to be an enjoyer,
comes into the clutches of the material modes and tries to squeeze
out some enjoyment by accepting different types of bodies –
sometimes a dog’s body, sometimes a bird’s body, sometimes a
human body. How can he be called an enjoyer? He is only an
imaginary enjoyer.
Who then is the real enjoyer? The Bhagavad-gita (15.18)
explains:
yasmat ksaram atito ham aksharad apecottamah
ato smi loke vede ca prathitah purushottama
“Because I am transcendental, beyond the fallible and the
infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in
the world and in the Vedas as purushottamah, the Supreme
Person, the supreme enjoyer.”
The real enjoyer is different from the living entity. His name
is Paramatma or Supersoul. So the Lord is the enjoyer and the
living being is enjoyed. So the living entity is supposed to give
enjoyment to the Lord by cooperating with Him in His enjoyment.
When one artificially tries to imitate the Lord, by assuming the
role of enjoyer, one will be inevitably frustrated.
264 Your Best Friend
2) How is Lord Krishna the Real Enjoyer?
When Lord Krishna and Balarama entered Mathura, they saw a
washer and dyer of clothes. Krishna was pleased to ask him for some
nice clothing. He also promised the washer man that if he would deliver
the nicest dyed cloth to Him, he would be very happy and all good
fortune would be his. Krishna was neither a beggar nor was He in need
of clothing, but by this request He indicated that everyone should be
ready to offer Him whatever He wants.
Unfortunately this washer man was a servant of Kamsa and
therefore could not appreciate the demand of Lord Krishna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the effect of bad association.
Instead of being pleased, he was very angry and refused the Lord’s
request by shouting, “How is it that You are so impudent to ask for
things which belong to the king? You will be punished by the
government men.”
On hearing this, Lord Krishna struck the washer man with the upper
portion of His hand and separated the man’s head from his body. The
washer man fell down dead on the ground. In this way Lord Krishna
confirmed the statement that every limb of His body is transcendental
and capable of doing everything He likes. Without a sword but simply
with His hand, he cut off the head of the washer man. This is proof that
the Supreme Lord is omnipotent.
Somebody may argue that there was nothing wrong in the
behavior of the washer man, because after all he was a servant of
Kamsa. He was obliged to his master Kamsa. This is a narrow
understanding. Just as in a company although different parking
places are allotted to different officials, the owner of the company
may park his car anywhere he likes; nobody can raise any
objection. Because the owner of the company is above the law,
nobody can question him. In fact the owner of the company is the
maker of the laws of company, but he is above the law. If he is
pleased with an employee he may give him two months off with
payment without consulting anybody! That is the freedom the
owner of a company enjoys.
 265
In the same way, Lord Krishna wanted to show through the
pastime of the washer man that He is the supreme enjoyer and one
should abandon all other considerations without any hesitation
when it comes to the question of serving Him. Sri Krishna is the
Supreme Godhead, the well wisher of everyone and the Proprieter
and enjoyer of everything. If one refuses to serve Him, it is like
using a candle of mundane morality to search the sun of Krishna
the personification of all religion.
3) Lord Krishna is the Supremely Pure Lover
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita (14.4) claims Himself to be
the supreme father of all living beings aham bija pradah pita. The
Bhagavad-gita (9.17) further says pitaham asya jagatah mata
dhata pitamah. He is the loving mother, father, relative, friend,
well-wisher and the ultimate resting place for every living being.
This shows that, irrespective of whether one is residing in the
body of a man, woman, animal, bird, and plant, every living being
has an eternal relationship with the supreme well wishing father,
Lord Krishna. He is source of the gopis, gopas, parents of gopis
and gopas and everyone else.
How can He do any immoral act? All His acts are only meant
for the benefit of all living beings. He is apapa viddham ‘sinless’
and pavitram ‘supremely pure’. Just as when the urine is absorbed
by the sun, it doesn’t get contaminated; rather due to the influence
of sunshine, the polluted, contaminated place becomes disinfected
and sterilized. Similarly even if someone with a impure heart
takes shelter of Lord Krishna, he becomes purified at heart and
becomes liberated. How then can Lord Krishna be impure?
The Lord is not enjoying anything outside the purview of what
He has created. In fact, the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita that
everything exists within Him. He even showed His mother
Yashoda the entire universe with all its mountains, oceans, living
beings etc contained within His mouth. Thus when that Supreme
266 Your Best Friend
Lord is dancing with gopis, He is not enjoying anything that is not
owned by Him.
On the other hand, when we enjoy, we are trying to enjoy
something not owned by us. For example, when we are passing in
a street, we may come across a sweet shop. What will happen if
we put our hand in one of the bottles and try to steal a chocolate?
We will be punished, because we do not own the shop. On the
other hand, the owner of the shop may enjoy any chocalate he
likes in his shop without having to be punished, because
everything belongs to him. In the same way, everything has been
created by the Lord; He can reciprocate love with His devotees in
anyway He wants, because He is supremely independent.
4) How does the Lord enjoy?
Lord enjoys the love (bhakti) of His devotees by reciprocating
with them in various moods. Once Lord Krishna defeated the
great demon Bhaumasura and delivered the 16,000 princesses kept
under his custody. After the Lord delivered them, they all desired
to marry Krishna. Krishna fulfilled their desires. We, tiny living
entities, may not be able to satisfy the heart of one woman,
whereas the Lord being the source of all opulences, satisfied all of
the 16,000 princesses by marrying them.
The Lord does not see someone as a girl or a boy; He sees
them all as devotees. We being covered over by the dualities of
the material world, differentiate between man and woman and are
subjected to material attraction and aversion.
In the spiritual sky, there are innumerable devotees of the
Lord, who want to reciprocate with the Lord in varieties of ways.
The gopis are in the mood of conjugal love with the Lord. The
Lord also reciprocates with them by teasing them, dancing with
them and playing jokes with them, but we should know clearly
that there is not even a trace of lust in the spiritual sky as can be
understood from the dealings of the Lord in the following pastime:
 267
When Lord Krishna was entering Mathura, He came across a old
hunchbacked woman named Kubja. She was carrying sandalwood pulp
for king Kamsa. Seeing the beauty of Krishna and Balaram, she applied
it on their bodies taking the great risk of being severely punished by the
king. Krishna was very pleased with her and wanted to reward her. He
pressed the feet of the hunchbacked woman with His toes and capturing
her cheeks with His fingers, gave her a jerk in order to make her
straight. At once the hunchbacked woman became the most beautiful
girl among women. This incident shows that by serving Krishna the
devotee immediately becomes elevated to the most exalted position.
Krishna was attracted to the hunchbacked woman not for her beauty but
for her service; as soon as she rendered service, she immediately
became the most beautiful woman. Similarly if any living entity gives
up the service of Maya and begins to render service to Krishna, that
living entity is freed from all sinful reactions and immediately becomes
beautiful.
When Kubja became a beautiful young girl, she wanted to enjoy
with Krishna; but Krishna promised to pay a visit to her house at a later
time. When Krishna eventually arrived at the house of Kubja, she took
her bath, smeared her body with sandalwood pulp, dressed herself with
nice garments, valuable jewelry, ornaments and flower garlands and
received Him warmly.
Krishna went to her house not for sense gratification, but to turn her
into a pure devotee. Krishna is always served by many thousands of
goddesses of fortune; therefore He has no need to satisfy His senses by
going to a society girl. It is said that the moon does not withhold its
shining from the courtyard of a crooked person. Similarly, Krishna’s
transcendental mercy is never denied to anyone, whether one has
rendered service unto Him through lust, anger, fear or pure love. In the
Chaitanya Charitamrita it is stated that if one wants to serve Krishna
and at the same time wants to satisfy his own lusty desires, Krishna will
handle it so that the devotee forgets his lusty desire and becomes fully
purified and constantly engaged in the service of the Lord.
When Lord sat in the bed, Kubja out of great lust took Krishna’s
lotus feet and placed them on her breasts, which were burning with the
blazing fire of lust. By smelling the fragrance of Krishna’s lotus feet,
she immediately became relieved of all lusty desires. To worship
268 Your Best Friend
Krishna or have association with Him is not a very easy job.
Specifically, there is a warning for devotees who are attracted to
Krishna through conjugal love; it is not good for them to desire to have
sense gratification by direct association with Krishna.
Actually, the activities of sense gratification are material. In the
spiritual world, there are symptoms like kissing and embracing, but
there is no sense gratificatory process, as it exists in the material world.
This warning is specifically for those known as sahajiya, who take it for
granted that Krishna is an ordinary human being. They desire to enjoy
sex life with Him in a perverted way. In a spiritual relationship, sense
gratification is most insignificant. Anyone who desires a relationship of
perverted sense gratification with Krishna must be considered less
intelligent. His mentality requires to be reformed.
How should we approach the rasa-lila?
1) The rasa-lila is a completely spiritual pastime with no tinge of
material lust. So we can begin to appreciate this sublime and pure
pastime only when our heart is purified of all traces of desire for
sense enjoyment. We should therefore perform our prescribed
duties in accordance with the scriptures so as to purify our hearts
and not even dream of imitating the rasa-lila.
But if someone tries to imitate the rasa dance as young people
do in the Dandiya rasa or Holi, he will be completely frustrated in
his futile attempts to enjoy. Such programs pass off as cultural
programs, but they are actually nothing except a naked exhibition
of the lust in young boys and girls.
Lord Krishna declares that in the Bhagavad-gita (16.19-20)
such people will be cast perpetually into the darkest regions of
existence.
tan aham dvisatah kruran samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan asurisv eva yonisu
asurim yonim apanna mudha janmani janmani
mam aprapyaiva kaunteya tato yanty adhamam gatim
 269
“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest
among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence,
into various demoniac species of life. Attaining repeated birth
amongst the species of demoniac life, such persons can never
approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable
type of existence.”
2) Submissive hearing of the rasa-lila pastime is recommended by
Shukadeva Gosvami as the medicine for curing the disease of lust.
vikriditam vraja-vadhubhir idam ca vishnoh
sraddhanvito ‘nushrnuyad atha varnayed yah
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam
hrid-rogam ashv apahinoty acirena dhirah
“Anyone who faithfully hears or describes the Lord’s playful
affairs with the young gopis of Vrindavana will attains the Lord’s
pure devotional service. Thus he will quickly become sober and
conquer lust, the disease of the heart.”(Shrimad-
Bhagavatam10.33.39)
This sort of purification is never possible if one hears from
professional reciters who delve into the confidential pastimes of
the Lord just for entertainment and vicarious pleasure. It is
possible only when one hears from a bona fide devotee of the Lord
coming in disciplic succession. The Krishna book written by Srila
Prabhupada is ideal in this regard. In this summary study of the
tenth canto, Srila Prabhupada’s purports help us to understand the
esoteric pastimes of the Lord in a lucid and authoritative manner.
3) We can appreciate the rasa-lila only when we thoroughly
understand the position of Lord Krishna. We should therefore
perform sadhana-bhakti to enter into an understanding of the
supreme position of the Lord.
The Shrimad-Bhagavatam describes ten tattvas such as sarga
(primary creation), visarga (secondary creation) etc. Nine of these
270 Your Best Friend
tattvas depend on the last tattva, ashraya (the shelter), which is the
Supreme Lord. Only after elaborately explaining the supreme
position of the Lord in the first nine cantos does Shukadeva
Gosvami describe the confidential pastimes of the Lord in the
tenth canto. After we understand that the Supreme Lord is the
source of everything, He is the supreme proprietor, the supreme
controller and the supreme enjoyer, then we can appreciate how
wonderful it is that the same Supreme Lord is playing the role of a
naughty son, an intimate friend or a conjugal lover. For example,
after we come to know how the President of a country has the
whole army, navy, air force and the entire administration at his
fingertips, then if we see a child riding on the back of that same
President, having made him like a carrier elephant, will we not
appreciate it as something wonderful?
In a world that is full of sense-gratification, the only way we
can become free from the propensity for sense-gratification is by
associating with pure-hearted devotees and by serving in their
association. Gradually the venomous tendency to enjoy will die
and the flowerlike tendency to serve will blossom. Only when we
come from the platform of lust to the platform of love can we
begin to respectfully appreciate the exalted pastimes of the
Lord and His dearmost devotees.
 271
Appendix 2 E
Avatars : Genuine and
Fake
T he word ‘avatar’ means “one who descends”, or more
specifically “one who descends from the spiritual sky”. In the
spiritual sky there are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and from
these planets the expansions of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead come into this universe.
In the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), Lord Krishna says:
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutanam adharmasya tad atmanam srjamy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline of religious practice, O
descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion— at
that time I descend Myself.”
Lord Krishna generally appears on a particular schedule, at the
end of Dvapara yuga of the twenty-eighth millennium of the
eighth Manu, in one day of Brahma. The principles of religion are
the direct orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
(dharmam to saksat bhagavat pranitam). The Lord therefore
appears by His own will whenever there is a predominance of
irreligiosity and a disappearance of true religion. Sometimes He
descends personally, and sometimes He sends His bonafide
representative in the form of His son (Jesus), or servant
(Mohammed) or Himself in some disguised form (Sri Krishna
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu).
272 Your Best Friend
Purpose of Avatar
ach and every avatar has a particular mission and they are all
described in the revealed scriptures. It is not a fact that the
Lord appears only on Indian soil. He can advent Himself
anywhere and everywhere, and whenever He desires to appear. In
each and every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as
can be understood by the particular people under their particular
circumstances. But the mission is the same — to lead people to
God consciousness and obedience to the principles of religion.
The whole purpose of the mission of incarnations is to arouse
Krishna consciousness everywhere. Such consciousness is
manifest and non manifest only under different circumstances.
Lord Krishna also says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8):
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca dushkrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
Lord Krishna descends into this world for three purposes:
To deliver the saints (sadhus)
To destroy the demoniac (dushkritam)
To reestablish the principles of religion
A person may appear to be well cultured and educated, but if he
doesn’t care for Krishna consciousness then he is called
‘dushkritam’, foolish and lowest among mankind; whereas another
person, who is hundred percent engaged in Krishna consciousness,
is accepted as a ‘sadhu’, even though such a person may be
neither learned nor well-cultured.
The principles of dharma are direct orders of the Supreme
Lord. The purpose of the Vedas is to establish such principles
under the order of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord directly orders
at the end of the Bhagavad-gita that the highest principle of
religion is to surrender unto Him only, and nothing more. The
Vedic principles push one towards complete surrender unto Him;
and whenever such principles are disturbed by the demoniac, the
 273
Lord appears.
The Real Purpose Of Avatar
A s far as the atheistic are concerned, it is not necessary for the
Supreme Lord to appear as He is to destroy them, as He did
with the demons Ravana and Kamsa. The Lord has many agents
who are quite competent to vanquish demons. But the Lord
especially descends to appease His unalloyed devotees, who are
always harassed by the demoniac.
The demon harasses the devotee, even though the latter may
happen to be his kin. Although Prahlad Maharaja was the son of
Hiranyakashipu, he was nonetheless persecuted by his father;
although Devaki, the mother of Krishna, was the sister of Kamsa,
she and her husband Vasudeva were persecuted only because
Krishna was to be born of them. So the Lord appeared to deliver
the devotee and vanquish the demon miscreants.
After speaking the above two verses Lord Krishna gives the
real reason for His appearance in the next verse:
janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and
activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in
this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”
(Bhagavad-gita 4.9)
The real reason that God appears is to give pleasure to His
devotees. By seeing His beautiful form, chanting His holy Name,
and remembering His wonderful pastimes, His devotees become
greatly inspired and rapidly advance to reunite with Him in
transcendental loving service.
274 Your Best Friend
Genuine Avatar vs. Fake Avatar
I n India, every day a God is being manufactured. Sometimes
even educated people think or talk of some ordinary human
being to be an avatar of God. How do we know whether the
claim of a person to be an avatar is true or not? The following
points can help us to verify an avatar:
An Avatar should be mentioned in scriptures
before He appears
Lord Krishna’s appearance is mentioned in Rig Veda. He has
been mentioned in Chandogya Upanishad as Devakinandana
Krishna and in innumerable scriptures.
Buddha’s appearance was foretold in the Shrimad-
Bhagavatam (1.3.24). It was stated that He would appear in the
city of Gaya. The names of His parents and His activities are
mentioned several thousand years before His birth.
The Chaitanya Upanishad portion of the Atharva Veda
foretells the appearance of Lord Chaitanya thousands of years
before His appearance. His place of birth, activities, and the
mantra that He would propagate are all mentioned.
If anyone claims to be an avatar, the first question one should
ask him is, “Sir, have you been mentioned in the scriptures before
your appearance? If so, which scripture?”
The Avatar is able to reveal the Cosmic Universal Form
In Kali Yuga there appear an entire host of impostors and
frauds who try to pose themselves off as avatars. Knowing this
Lord Krishna specifically revealed to Arjuna the Cosmic
Universal Form to confirm that He was God. An advanced mystic
yogi may get siddhis (mystic powers) that enable him to display to
his gullible devotees the form of Krishna or Rama. Yet no yogi
can display the Cosmic Universal Form. This feat can be
performed only by the master of all mystics — Lord Sri Krishna,
 275 276 Your Best Friend

the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus for a person to be Specific Markings on Hands and Feet of the Avatar
accepted as an avatar, he should display the Cosmic Universal
When Lord Krishna appeared, there were specific markings on
Form that Krishna displayed to Arjuna at Kurukshetra.
His hands and feet that identified Him as an avatar. They were the
The Avatar performs extraordinary activities markings of the flag, the trident, the elephant goad and the
thunderbolt. Similarly when other incarnations appear they too
that cannot be imitated
have specific markings on their hands and feet that identify them
By extraordinary activities one does not mean activities that as incarnations of God.
can be imitated by cheap magical tricks such as producing some
objects from air. Such activities can be performed by magicians
or accomplished yogis who have acquired siddhis. Even faith Types of Avatars
healing is not an evidence of an avatar. These faith healers claim
no divine powers. They are able to use the patient’s own mind to
heal his body.
Some of the extraordinary activities of Lord Krishna are lifting
Please refer chapter 7 ‘Unlimited forms of Godhead’ pages

81
the huge Govardhan Hill, manifesting Himself in 16108 forms
to 93 of the book ‘Teachings of Lord Caitanya’ by His Divine
with every form doing a different activity. Such extraordinary
Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
activities are impossible to imitate.
Every Avatar has a Unique Message or Mission
1) Lord Krishna appears to give the message of the Bhagavad-
gita and to give a glimpse of His eternal pastimes so as to draw the
attention of conditioned souls and attract them back home, back to
Godhead.
2) Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to teach us how an ideal
devotee of God should behave. He came to show that by the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name, we can achieve the
highest goal of life— pure love of God.
3) Kalki Avatar will appear 4,27,000 years from now for the
specific mission of physically destroying the demoniac people
existing at that time and to inspire and deliver the pious that
remain and start Satya Yuga.
 277
Appendix 3 prahlado janako bhishmo balir vaiyasakir vayam
The Position of
Lord Shiva
O ften new devotees have the question, “Why should we wor-
ship only Krishna? Why can we not worship Lord Shiva?”
In India there is a considerable number of followers of Lord Shiva,
but unfortunately they do not have a proper understanding of his
actual position. A brief summary about Lord Shiva and His
relation with Lord Krishna is given below:
Lord Shiva - One of the Twelve Mahajanas
L ord Shiva is known as the greatest devotee of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He is known as the best of all types
of Vaishnavas (vaishnavanam yatha shambhuh (Shrimad
Bhagavatam 12.13.16)). Lord Shiva is a great devotee of Lord
Sankarshana. This is the reason why Lord Shiva is often found in
a chanting or meditating posture. He instructed the Prachetas
about how to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Narayana. This appears as the celebrated Rudra-gita in the
Shrimad-Bhagavatam canto 4, chapter 24. Shiva is one of the
twelve great personalities called as mahajanas, authorities in
preaching Krishna consciousness as stated in the Shrimad-
Bhagavatam (6.3.20) by Yamaraja to the Yamadutas:
278 Your Best Friend
svayambhur naradah shambhuh kumarah kapilo manuh
“Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Shiva, the four Kumaras,
Lord Kapila (the son of Devahuti), Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada
Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhishma, Bali Maharaja,
Shukadeva Gosvami and I myself know the real religious
principles.”
In the Padma Purana, Lord Shiva tells his wife Sati :
sri rama rama rameti rame rame manorame
sahasra namah tat tulyam rama nama varanane
Thus Lord Shiva himself gladly proclaims that he constantly
relishes chanting the holy name of Lord Rama.
Lord Shiva and Durga
L ord Shiva is always accompanied by his material energy. The
material energy – goddess Durga, or goddess Kali – is always
under his control. Goddess Kali or Durga serves him by killing all
the asuras, or demons. Sometimes Kali becomes so infuriated that
she indiscriminately kills all kinds of asuras. There is a popular
picture of goddess Kali in which she wears a garland composed of
the heads of the asuras and holds in her left hand a captured head
and in her right hand a great khadga (chopper) for killing asuras.
Great wars are symbolic representations of Kali’s devastation of
the asuras and are actually conducted by the goddess Kali. Asuras
try to pacify the goddess Kali or Durga, by worshiping her in
material opulence, but when the asuras become too intolerable,
goddess Kali does not discriminate in killing them wholesale.
Asuras do not know the secret of the energy of Lord Shiva, and
they prefer to worship goddess Kali or Durga or Lord Shiva for
material benefit. Due to their demoniac character, they are
reluctant to surrender to Lord Krishna, as indicated in the
Bhagavad-gita (7.15)
 279
na mam dushkrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrita-jnana
asuram bhavam ashritah
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among
mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake
of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.”
Lord Shiva’s duty is very dangerous because he has to employ
the energy of goddess Kali (or Durga). In another popular picture
the goddess Kali is sometimes seen standing on the prostrate body
of Lord Shiva, which indicates that sometimes Lord Shiva has to
fall down flat in order to stop goddess Kali from killing the asuras.
Since Lord Shiva controls the powerful material energy
(goddess Durga), worshipers of Lord Shiva attain very opulent
positions within this material world. Under Lord Shiva’s
direction, a worshiper of Lord Shiva gets all kinds of material
facilities. In contrast, a Vaishnava, or a worshiper of Lord Vishnu
may not become materially opulent, but receives divine
intelligence from the Lord Himself to make progress on the path
back home, back to Godhead. Since a devotee has nothing to do
with any kind of material possession, he does not come under the
control of goddess Kali, or the goddess Durga.
Lord Shiva is also in charge of the tamo-guna, or the mode of
ignorance in this material world. His potency, the goddess Durga,
is described as keeping all living entities in the darkness of
ignorance (yaa devi sarva bhuteshu nidra-rupam samsthita).
Lord Shiva – Ashutosha, quickly pleased
B ecause Lord Shiva is always very very merciful, his name is
Ashutosha. Amongst all the demigods, Lord Shiva can be
pacified even by the lowest class of men, who need only offer him
obeisances and leaves of a bael tree. Thus his name is Ashutosha,
which means that he is pleased very quickly.
280 Your Best Friend
Generally those who are very fond of material prosperity
approach Lord Shiva for such benediction. Lord Shiva, being very
merciful quickly awards all the blessings the devotee asks of him.
The demons take advantage of this leniency and sometimes take
benedictions from Lord Shiva which can be very dangerous for
others. For instance, Vrikasura took a benediction from Lord
Shiva by which he could kill anyone he touched on the head.
Although Lord Shiva sometimes very liberally gives such
benedictions to his devotees, the difficulty is that the demons,
being very cunning, sometimes want to experiment improperly
with such benedictions. For instance, after receiving his
benediction, Vrikasura tried to touch the head of Lord Shiva.
Devotees of Lord Vishnu, however, have no desire for such
benedictions, and Lord Vishnu does not give His devotees
benedictions, which would cause disturbance to the whole world.
Lord Shiva – Protector of Dhama
L ord Shiva is the eternal guardian of the Braja Mandal area.
Because he is the guardian, devotees of Lord Krishna ask his
permission to be able to successfully circumambulate Braja
Mandala. He is, after all, the greatest Vaishnava. There are four
important Shiva temples that surround Mathura. There are four
shiva-lingas that protect the four sides of Mathura, which are
called the dik-pala (protectors) of Mathura. They are
Gokarneshvara Mahadeva in the north, Pippaleshvara Mahadeva
in the east, Rangeshvara Mahadeva in the south, and Bhuteshvara
Mahadeva in the west.
Nandishvara Temple: On the side altar of the Nandagram temple
(a beautiful temple of Krishna Balarama in Vrindavan), there is a
shivalinga called Nandishvara (Nandeshwara), who is said to have
been installed by Vajranabha, the great-grandson of Krishna. This
linga of Lord Shiva resides eternally in Nandagram performing
bhajan (worship) to Sri Krishna. The story behind this temple is as
 281
follows:
Once Lord Shiva in the form of a mendicant came to the house of
Nanda Maharaj to have darshan of baby Krishna. But when mother
Yashoda saw a sadhu with snakes around his neck and ashes all over his
body, she feared that her tiny baby would become frightened on seeing
such a person. So she did not give the mendicant permission to see
Krishna. Lord Shiva pleaded with her but to no avail. Disappointed
Lord Shiva left and went to the forest to meditate on Krishna. In the
house, child Krishna started to cry and no one could stop Him. Mother
Yasoda realized that maybe because she did not receive a guest properly
there was some reaction. She then sent everyone to go find the tantric
yogi who had come to her house earlier. After a short while they
returned with Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva came before Krishna, baby
Krishna immediately stopped crying and smiled brilliantly. Mother
Yashoda then said to Lord Shiva “By your coming, my son has stopped
crying. What can I do for you?” Lord Shiva replied that he just wanted
to be able to see child Krishna and to be able to eat the remnants of His
food. Even today the priests of the Nandagram temple offer the remnants
of what was offered to Lord Krishna to the Nandishvara-linga in this
temple.
Lord Shiva Bewildered by Mohini Murti
Once when Lord Shiva heard about how the Supreme Lord had
appeared in the form of an extremely beautiful woman, the Mohini
murti, he became very eager to see this incarnation of the Lord. But
when on his request, Lord Vishnu appeared in front of him in the form
of an enchanting young damsel, Lord Shiva was totally captivated by
Her beauty. Though his chaste and beautiful wife Parvati as well as his
many followers were standing right next to him, he was so maddened by
lust that he completely forgot himself and started running after Mohini
Murti. He chased her through forests and mountains for a long time
trying to catch her. Finally when he discharged semen, he came back to
his senses.
Although he had been seemingly humiliated, Lord Shiva was not in
the least disturbed. Instead he glorified Lord Vishnu for His
282 Your Best Friend
inconceivable potency by which even a dhira (a sober person) like him
could be illusioned.
Through this pastime we can clearly see that Lord Shiva is a
devotee of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna.
Why does Lord Shiva live in Graveyards and
Roam with Ghosts and Hobgoblins?
E very Vaishnava has the quality of compassion towards the
fallen souls and Lord Shiva, being the topmost Vaishnava has
compassion on the most fallen souls like ghosts, spirits,
hobgoblins, who due to their enormous past sins could not achieve
a human body. Shiva puts on the garb of a mendicant - tiger skin
draped around his body, ashes smeared all over his body, serpents
around his neck and goes to the graveyard to befriend the ghosts
and spirits. By his own association, he elevates them to achieve a
human body. This shows the unlimited compassion of Lord Shiva
as the greatest devotee of Vishnu.
Why did Lord Shiva preach Mayavada?
I n Kali yuga, about a thousand years ago, Lord Shiva appeared
as Shankaracharya and preached the monistic philosophy all
over India. This philosophy, also known as Mayavada, says that
the form, qualities, attributes of the Supreme Lord are all maya
(illusion); the Absolute Truth, in the ultimate analysis, is formless
and impersonal; the living entity and the Lord are equal in all
respects or, in other words, we are all God.
A question naturally arises, “Why did Shankara preach this
philosophy, which, in effect, says that the form of Krishna is
Maya? If Lord Shiva is a devotee of Lord Krishna, will any
devotee blaspheme his worshipable Lord?”
 283
Shankaracharya is called as a covered personalist. He
superficially preached impersonalism to :
bewilder the atheists,
to increase the population in Kali Yuga and
to distinguish and separate the genuine devotees of the Lord
from the pretenders and cheaters who want to merge into
brahman.
This is confirmed in the Padma Purana :
mayavadam asac-chastram pracchannam bauddham ucyate
mayaiva vihitam devi kalau brahmana-murtina
Lord Shiva informed the goddess Durga, the superintendent of
the material world, “In the age of Kali, I take the form of a
brahmana and explain the Vedas through false scriptures in an
atheistic way, similar to Buddhist philosophy.” (Padma Purana
Uttara khanda 25.7)
The Mayavada philosophy, which says that everyone is god, is
an atheistic philosophy, which is soothing to the heart of a
conditioned soul who wants to lord over the material world. At
the time of Shankaracarya, there were many so-called mendicants
moving in the name of devotees of Vishnu, who were actually
pretenders. Shankaracharya preached the twisted philosophy of
Mayavada to separate them from the genuine devotees of Vishnu.
Buddhist philosophy is voidist and Mayavada is covered
Buddhism. Pretenders, cheaters and duplicitous men who want to
become God are quickly attracted to this Mayavada philosophy
and indulge in false argumentation leading to no proper
conclusions of scriptures.
Although Shankaracharya preached such a philosophy
superficially, he maintained his eternal relationship with the
Supreme Lord internally. He wrote Jagannathashtakam in
glorification of Lord Jagannath at Puri. He instructed his foolish
followers at the end of his life to glorify the names of Lord
Govinda (Krishna) loudly without resorting to mental speculation,
because, for a spiritual aspirant, mental speculation and Sanskrit
284 Your Best Friend
word jugglery are of no avail at the time of death.
Thus devotees of Krishna can understand the actual position of
Shankaracharya or Lord Shiva. To prove that he is a devotee of
Vishnu, he established mathas in the holy places of Vishnu such as
Badrikashram, Puri, Kanchipuram etc.
Anyone who worships Lord Shiva with a pure heart devoid of
material desires is directed by Lord Shiva himself to Krishna.
How should Vaishnavas Worship Lord Shiva?
T he ideal way for a devotee to worship Lord Shiva was shown
by Lord Chaitanya, who is Lord Krishna playing the role of
His greatest devotee.
Lord Chaitanya, the leader of all Gaudiya Vaishnavas, visited
temples of Lord Shiva in South India and worshipped him as the
topmost Vaishnava, as stated in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam
(12.13.16).
nimna-ganam yatha ganga devanam achyuto yatha
vaishnavanam yatha shambhuh purananam idam tatha
“Ganges is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Achyuta is the
supreme among deities, Lord Shambhu (Shiva) is the greatest of
all Vaishnavas and Shrimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all the
Puranas.” Lord Chaitanya worshipped him as the topmost
Vaishnava and as one of the twelve mahajanas, great personalities
who always preach the glories of Krishna. Lord Shiva can always
be seen absorbed in meditation or chanting on beads, the glories of
the Supreme Lord.
Thus a devotee approaches Shiva in the same way as the
Prachetas approached him - with the desire of achieving the lotus
feet of the Supreme Lord, Krishna.
 285 286 Your Best Friend

krishna-varnam tvishakrishnam sangopangastra-parshadam

Appendix 4 yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah

“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational
chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly
sings the name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not
blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His
The Golden Incarnation associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions.” (For
other evidences, see the end of this article)
For The Iron Age

Who Is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?

L ord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, who appeared

500 years ago on this earth planet as the Kali Yuga Avatar,
specifically for the purpose of preaching Krishna-Bhakti, love of
Krishna through congregational chanting of the Holy Names:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In other words He is
Lord Krishna Himself teaching the living entities the proper way
to approach Krishna. He is like a teacher who, seeing a student
doing poorly, takes up a pencil and writes, saying, “Do it like this:
A, B, C”. By this, one must not foolishly think that the teacher is
learning his ABC’s. Although He appears in the guise of a
devotee, we should always remember that Lord Chaitanya is
Krishna (God) Himself teaching us how to become Krishna
conscious.
Although Lord Chaitanya Himself never declared that He was
Krishna, the Vedic literature reveals that He was. The Shrimad-
Bhagavatam (11.5.32), for instance, not only identifies Lord
Chaitanya but also describes His mission:
 287
Still, even if we grant that Lord Chaitanya is Krishna, we may
ask, “Why did Lord Krishna appear in this form?” The answer is:
Lord Krishna in His form of Lord Chaitanya most generously
distributes love of God to the fallen people of the age of Kali.
When Lord Krishna appeared on earth five thousands years ago,
He blessed the world with His loving pastimes in Vrindavana and
with His teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. But with the passage of
time, it became more and more difficult for people to fully
appreciate and take advantage of that blessing. The present age,
the age of Kali, is characterized by the deterioration of spiritual
values and understanding. In the course of time, therefore, people
became confused about Lord Krishna’s teachings in the Gita.
Also, the unfortunate people of this age are unable to practice
austerities for self purification in spiritual life. To rescue these
fallen souls, therefore, Lord Krishna has again appeared, but this
time as His own pure devotee, Lord Chaitanya.
The chanting of the holy names of God as delivered by Lord
Chaitanya is not only an easy practice, but it is also the topmost
method for achieving spiritual perfection. No one but the
Supreme Lord Himself could distribute the highest form of
devotional service, and thus Lord Krishna Himself appeared as a
devotee. That is Lord Chaitanya.
Lord Chaitanya is Lord Krishna in His most merciful feature.
Therefore, even if one doesn’t understand Lord Chaitanya’s
identity as the Supreme Lord, but accepts Him as a saintly person
or as a social reformer and philosopher, one can still derive the
highest benefit by chanting the names of God. Without knowing
anything at all about Lord Chaitanya, people throughout the world
have enthusiastically participated in Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtana
movement of chanting, dancing and partaking of spiritual food
(prasadam). Through the growing Hare Krishna movement, Lord
Chaitanya’s prediction that His name would be chanted in every
town and village of the world is quickly coming to pass, and
people all over the world are coming to know the holy name of
288 Your Best Friend
Krishna.
A Short Life History of
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
P lease refer the following article from the book ‘Teachings of
Lord Caitanya’ by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta
swami Prabhupada: Prologue, page xiii to xxv.
Predictions about Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s
appearance in Atharva Veda
T he Chaitanya Upanishad section from the Atharva Veda es-
tablishes Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the Yuga avatara for
the age of Kali. An extract from the same is presented here.
Text 1
atha pippaladah samitpanir bhagavantam brahamanam
upasanno bhagvan me shubham kim atra chakshasveti.
“Once, the sage Pippalada approached Brahma, with joined palms
for instruction. “O Lord,” he said, “Kindly tell me, what would
benefit me in this world?”
Text 2
sahovacha: bhuya eva tapasa
brahmacharyana shashvat ramasva mano vasheti.
“Brahma advised Pippalada, celebrated as a great adherent of the
Supreme Lord, to perform the tapasya of brahmacarya and to
undergo some voluntary hardships to control the sixth sense- the
mind. Subjugating the mind entails withdrawing it from the
pursuit of mundane sense gratification, absorbing it instead in the
transcendence, thereby cleansing it of unwanted material
contamination.”
 289
Texts 3-4
sa tatha bhutua bhuya enam upasanyaha
bhagavan kalau papachchhanah prajah
katham mychyerann it ko va devata ko va mantro bruheti
Having done so, he approached his preceptor and said, “O Master,
how will people become free from sin in Kali Yuga? Which
particular manifestation of the Lord should they adore? What
mantra should they use?”
Text 5
sahovacha:
rahasyam tee vadishyami jahnavee- teere navadveepe
golokaakhye dharni govindo dvibhujo gaurah sarvatma
mahapursho mahatma mahayogee trigunatetah satva- roopo
bhaktim loke kashyateeti tad ete shloki bhavanti
Brahma said, “I shall tell the secret. On the bank of the Jahnavee,
at Navadveepa, called Goloka Dhama, shall Govinda, in a two
armed form, as Gaura, the great one, the great mystic, who is
transcendental to the three modes of material nature, whose form
is eternal, reveal bhakti unto the world. There are a number of
verses in that regard.”
Text 6
eko devah sarva-roope mahatma
gaura raktam shyamala-sheeta roopah
chaitanyatma sa vai chaitanya-shaktir
bhaktakaro bhaktido bhaktivedyah
“That one, Supreme Personality of Godhead whose trancendental
body is of a golden hue, previously appeared with red, black and
white complexions. In this original form, as Sri Chaitanya, He is
veritably the living force, the Personification of Bhakti, and the
Lord and Knower.”
Text 7
namo vedanta-vedyaya krishnaya pramatamane
sarva-chaitanya-rupayah chaitanyaya namo namah
290 Your Best Friend
“I offer my repeated obeisances unto Sri Krishna, the Supersoul,
who is the personification of the total living force.”
Text 8
vedanta-vedyam purusham purananam
chaitanyatmanam vishwa-yonim mahantam
tam-eva viditvati-mrityum-eti
nanyam panthah vidyate’ yanaya
“By knowing Him, who is to be known by the Vedas, who is the
ancient Supereme Godhead, who is the mighty source of the
cosmic manifestation, the Supreme Soul, Shri Chaitanya - by
knowing Him, one may transcend death. There is no other path for
doing so.
Texts 9-10
svanama-mula-mantrena sarvam hladyati vibhuh.
swe shaktee parame tasya hladinee samvid eva cha iti
“The Almighty Lord causes all living beings to taste
transcendental bliss by the Mantra composed of His Holy Names
(the Mahamantra). He possesses two personal spiritual potencies:
bliss-giving Hladini and knowledge-giving Samvit.”
Text 11
sa eva mula-mantram japati harir iti krishna iti rama iti
“He chants the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, which has the names
Hari, Krishna and Rama.”
Text 12
harati hridaya-granthim vasana ropam iti harih
krishih smarane tac cha nas tad ubhaya melanam iti krishnah
ramayati sarvam iti rama ananda-roopahatra shloko bhavati
He who cuts the knots of attachment from the heart and removes
the body got because of material desire is called Hari (“He who
takes away”). The verbal root ‘krish’, used in the sense of
remembrance, meets with the particle ‘na’, (indicating
transcendental ecstasy) and they combine in the name ‘Krishna’
(the remembrance of whom eliminates unlimited unhappiness). He
 291 292 Your Best Friend

who causes all beings to enjoy bliss is known as `Rama’, the Text 18
embodiment of bliss. In this regard there is a verse (that may be ksharaksharabhyam paramah sa eva purushottamah,
quoted).” chaitanyakhyam param tattvam sarva-karana-karanam.
Texts 13-14 “He who is superior to both the perishable and imperishable
mantro guhyah paramo bhakti-vedyah natures, that are maya and jiva, is known as the Supreme
nameny ashtaw ashta cha shobhanani, Personality of Godhead, Purushottama. He is called Chaitanya,
tani nityam ye japanti dheeras te vai mayam atitaranti who is the Absolute Truth and the cause of all causes.”
nanyah paramam mantram parama-rahasyam nityam avartayati Text 19
“This mysterious Mahamantra is the best of all mantras, and is to ya enam rasayati bhajati dhyayati
be known by loving devotion. Those sober minded persons who sa papmanam tarati so puto bhavati
incessantly chant the mantra of eight-by-eight beautiful Names, sa tattavam janati sa tarati shokam
the Mahamantra, can easily transcend the mundane illusory gatis tasyaste nanyasyeti
potency (maya). There is no mantra greater than this most “He who adoringly worships, and meditates upon Shri Chaitanya
confidential of mantras. It causes such liberated souls to immerse is absolved of all sins; he becomes purified, he realizes the
themselves constantly in its recitation.” Absolute Truth and transcends distress. There is no other means of
Text 15 attainment than this.”
chaitanya eva sankarshano vasudevah parameshtee rudrah
shakro brihaspatih sarve devah sarvani bhootani
sthavarani charani che yat kinchit sad asat
karanam sarvam tad atra shlokah
“Verily, Shri Chaitanya is Sankarshana and Vasudeva, from Him
comes Brahma, Rudra, Indra, Brihaspati and the whole host of
devas. He is the cause of all living beings, both moving and non-
moving, of both eternal and non-eternal states of existence. In this
connection there are several verses that may be cited.”
Texts 16 - 17
tat kinchid asad bhunkte ksharam tat karyam uchyate
sat karanam param jeevas tad aksharam itearitem
“Whatever impermanent thing one exploits for one’s sense
satisfaction, that thing and the pleasure derived from it are
perishable, it is said. The jiva, the living being, is ever causing the
creation of the mundane universe, but he is imperishable by
nature.”
 293 294 Your Best Friend

undergoing the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. But,

Appendix 5 as Srila Prabhupada points out, “There is sound in the spiritual

world also. If we approach that sound, then our spiritual life
begins.”
The living being in material life is likened to a dreaming man,
who accepts the situations of happiness and distress within his
dream as ultimate reality. He dreams of finding a treasure, but in
truth he is not a penny richer. He dreams of being attacked by a
tiger, but he is not actually in danger. When he is awakened by the
Meditation for the sound of his alarm clock, he realizes his actual situation. In the

Modern Age
same way, one who chants the transcendental sounds of the name
of Krishna gradually wakes up from the dreamlike condition of
material life to his original spiritual position.
Spiritual sound has special qualities. Hearing the sound “water”
T he different methods of yoga like ashtanga yoga, hatha yoga,
jnana yoga are not prescribed for this age of Kali yuga. This
age is characterised by short life, fast paced life, little time and
reminds us of the taste of the water and its qualities. But because
of the distinct difference between material sound and its object,
the sound “water” cannot quench our thirst. The name Krishna
intelligence to undergo Vedic study etc. The scriptures prescribe a
however is absolute sound vibrated from the spiritual platform and
very simple form of meditation—chanting of Hare Krishna maha
is therefore non-different from Krishna. And because Krishna is
mantra. The sixteen Sanskrit words Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
omnipotent, His transcendental energies are manifested within the
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama
sound of His name. The vibration “Hare Krishna” has the power to
Hare Hare constitute a mantra, or transcendental sound formula.
purify the mind and the consciousness. Since every living being is
This powerful mantra, known as the mahamantra, has been
eternally related with Krishna, the chanting of His names is often
prescribed by the great spiritual authorities as the easiest and most
compared with the natural call of a child for his mother.
effective method of attaining self-realization in the present age.
The word mantra means that which delivers the mind (man
Regular chanting of this maha mantra and hearing this
“mind”, tra “that which delivers the mind from material illusions
transcendental sound vibration purifies the heart of the chanter and
and anxieties”).
establishes pure love for God in his heart. Our entanglement in
Chanting purifies the mind just as medicine prescribed for a bodily
material affairs begins from material sound. Each day we hear
ailment gradually restores the body to its natural, healthy
material sounds from radio and television, from friends and
condition. One who engages in this practice, known as mantra
relatives, and according to what we hear, we think, desire, feel and
act materially. Thus we remain within the material sphere of meditation, gradually develops great mental control and attains a
existence, taking on one material body after another and heightened sense of awareness. In this pure state of spiritual
consciousness, free from inebrieties such as tension, confusion,
 295 296 Your Best Friend

depression, and feelings of envy and hatred, one experiences real

peace of mind. Chanting is simple but should be performed properly for best
results. Chanting should be at least loud enough that a person next
to the chanter can hear it. While chanting, concentrate on hearing
How to chant the maha-mantra. This concentration is mantra-meditation and is
powerful for cleaning our hearts. It is difficult to stop the mind
T ake the japa-mala in the right hand, holding it between the
thumb and the middle finger. wandering but, as with anything else, practice makes perfect. Note
that the mantra should be chanted distinctly so that each syllable
The index (first) finger is not can be clearly heard.
used,as it is considered
The best time to chant is early in the morning (during the
contaminated.
brahma-muhurta, the auspicious period before sunrise). One can
chant in any situation – on a train, while going to work or walking
Start at the bead next to the head
on the street – but it is best to finish our fixed quota of chanting
bead (the biggest bead). with full concentration early in the morning, before starting one’s
routine daily activities.
Before the Hare Krishna maha-
mantra japa, chant the Panca-tattva
maha-mantra:

sri krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara

srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda.

Chanting these names of Lord Chaitanya and His principal

associates helps us become free from offences in chanting.

Now chant the complete maha-mantra on the first bead. Then

move your thumb and middle finger onto the next bead. After
chanting 108 times, you will again reach the head bead and will
then have completed one mala or “round”. Now turn the whole set
of beads around in your hand without crossing the head bead and
start another round by again chanting the panca-tattva mantra
followed by the Hare Krishna maha manta.
Srila Prabhupada – Ambassador of the Kingdom of God 297 298 Your Best Friend

H is Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,

Founder Acharya of ISKCON, appeared in this world in
Calcutta in 1896 on Nandotsav day, the day following

Appendix 6 Janmastami. In his youth in 1922, he met his spiritual master, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, who convinced him to
dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge, especially in the
English language.
In 1944, he single-handedly
started Back to Godhead, an
English fortnightly magazine.
Though practically penniless, his
faith in the order of his spiritual
master took him to New York in
1965 at the advanced age of 70.
After a year of intense struggle, in
Srila Prabhupada - July 1966, he established the
International Society for Krishna
Ambassador of the Consciousness (ISKCON) with its
first centre in New York. During

Kindom of God the next eleven years, before his

passing away on November 14,
1977, he undertook vigorous
preaching tours that took him
round the globe fourteen times.
Under his guidance, he saw the society grow to over 108 centres.
ISKCON continues to expand even now with over 600 centres all
over the world. He taught the individual and the congregational
chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna as the topmost form
of yoga and meditation and millions of people all over the world
have adopted this mantra meditation as an integral part of their
lives.
In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrindavana, an
experimental Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia. In
1972 His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of education
 Srila Prabhupada – Ambassador of the Kingdom of God 299 300 Your Best Friend

in the West by founding a gurukula in Dallas, Texas. Srila drug addictions during the period of the counter-culture in USA in
Prabhupada inspired the establishment of a forum of leading God- the 1960s and 1970s, a feat that was recognized even by Western
conscious scientists named, the Bhaktivedanta Institute (BI). He scholars and sociologists. Srila Prabhupada would stress, “Without
established international cultural centres in Sridhama Mayapur, the awakening of divine consciousness, there is no use of crying
Vrindavana, Mumbai and other places. He also took India’s for world peace.”
festivals, especially Rath-Yatra, to the West. Srila Prabhupada will always be remembered for the selfless
Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution is his books - 70 saintly compassion with which he gave the light of genuine
authoritative renditions of ancient Indian classics, including spiritualism in the darkness of materialism. Thus he built a house
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, the most widely read edition of the in which the whole world can live.
Bhagavad-Gita in English and a multi-volume commentated
translation of the eighteen thousand verse Srimad Bhagavatam.
Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica noted, “A C Bhaktivedanta
Swami astonished scholars by his prolific writing “
“Poverty means poverty of knowledge,” Srila Prabhupada
would often say. His conviction was that humanity was lacking in
spiritual knowledge, which was essential for achieving real
happiness in life. He vision therefore was that of a global East-
West synthesis, based on the proverbial blind man-lame man
story. India has the divine vision of spiritual wisdom, but is
financially crippled due to centuries of foreign exploitation and so
is like the lame man. USA has financial and technological
resources but is lacking in spiritual knowledge and so is like the
blind man. If the blind man and the lame man join forces, both of
them can reach the destination. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada
brought together Indian spiritual wisdom and American
technology to revive God consciousness all over the world
through ISKCON. With this in mind, he trained thousands of
disciples to live a life of pure spiritual principles in the modern
world.
Srila Prabhupada preached that the chanting of the holy names
of God, especially the Hare Krishna maha mantra, is a practical
and powerful way to raise spiritual consciousness – individually
and globally. He demonstrated the liberating potency of mantra
meditation by freeing hundreds of hippies from self-destructive
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 301 302 Your Best Friend

What is VOICE?

Appendix 7 VOICE, the Vedic Oasis for the stressed mind of

modern age
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
touches the hearts and lives of children, teenagers, adolescent
youth, corporates, families. Its motto is rekindling wisdom and
reviving love.
VOICE represents 'Spiritual Sound of Vedas' 'Shabda
brahma' or 'Voicing concern'. Modern world is facing great
degradation of character, culture and values. For a sincere human
Vedic Oasis for being to live a life of pure principles is a great challenge. The
'Vedic Oasis' conveys the idea that it is 'life-giving' centre in a
Inspiration, Culture 'stress-ridden fast-paced rat race society' that is like a desert.
Thus VOICE will provide a facility like an Oasis in the middle of

and Education desert to keep oneself surcharged in remembrance of the Supreme

Lord, Sri Krishna always. The inspiration is spiritual inspiration

(VOICE)
to practice devotion to God with full enthusiasm.
We have different wings of VOICE catering to the needs of
different sections of society :

Children VOICE (for children between 5 yrs to 12 years),

Teenage Boys VOICE (for teenage boys, Age group 13 to 19),
Teenage Girls VOICE (for teenage girls, Age group 13 to 19),
Boys VOICE (for the college students, Age group 19 and above ),
Girls VOICE (for the college girls, Age group 19 and above),
Corporate VOICE (for the company-going men and women),
Senior Citizens VOICE (for members above 50 years of age)
Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 303
Our Motto
The motto of VOICE is ‘Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love’.
Intellectual education influences the head and value-based
education influences the heart. In fact, education that does not
train the heart can be dangerous. If we want to build character in
our offices, homes and society, we must have the wisdom to live a
principle-centered life based on honesty, compassion, courage,
responsibility etc. Steven Muller, President, Johns Hopkins
University said : “Universities are turning out highly skilled
barbarians because we don’t provide a framework of values to
young people, who more and more are searching for it.” Winston
Churchill said, “The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom,
not trade; character, not technicalities.” Educated persons are
those who can choose wisely and courageously under any
circumstances between good and bad, between virtuousness and
vulgarities regardless of the academic degrees they have. The
goal of VOICE is to rekindle the innate wisdom about meaning
and purpose of life.
Peter R.Schemm in his book entitled, ‘Love: Impact on
Physical and Mental Health’ explains that people who live in
relationships in which they do not feel loved, protected, happy or
secure are ten times more susceptible to chronic disease and five
time more susceptible to mental illness. Also studies prove that
love heals diseases. Community, security, protection, sharing,
care and concern for one another – all these are possible only
when people learn to lead a selfless God-centered life. Such a life
awakens the dormant love in our hearts that manifests as respect
for elders, compassion for the youngers, friendliness towards
equals, surrender to the laws of God that matures as love for God
and towards all.
304 Your Best Friend
Objectives
1. Creating a class of people of high character and competence.
2. Saving teenagers from self-destructive habits.
3. Creating communities for counseling and growth in self-
excellence skills as well as spirituality.
4. Use Arts, Culture, Music and Media to propagate the message
of Wisdom literatures.
5. Creating a class of people who respect, trust and love each
other, living as vehicles of wisdom.
6. Use talents for propagating love of God and love for all,
through the divine Voice of God.
7. Distributing spiritual literature at subsidized prices.
8. Training in Science of God, etiquettes and behaviour, prayer
and practices, practical services to God.
Specialised training for children, teenagers, youths
and corporates
Children VOICE
Advisors : Radheshyam das, Radhika devi dasi,
Hemangigopi devi dasi
Co-ordinators : Rasasundari devi dasi,
Krishnakishore das,
Assistant Co-ordinators : Ramananda das, Parthahari das,
Yashodarani devi dasi,
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 305 306 Your Best Friend

Children are trained academics or social

in story telling, creative responsibilities,
exercises, singing, psychological traumatic
dancing, dramas, experiences often ending in
painting, sloka suicide. Our programs are
recitation, fancy dress oriented to train them in
competition, etc. There patience, maturity, self
are books exclusively control, clean habits,
published for these tolerance, respect for elders,
children like ‘Getting to know Krishna’ ‘Wonderful Krishna’ etc meditation to calm the
that are taught by expertly trained teachers to imbibe good raging mind etc. The teenagers perform skits, sing, play
samskars -- character and values in children. There are quarterly instruments, join the spiritual dance, meditate and go for spiritual
‘Balotsav’ programs where these children get opportunity to picnics. They also learn public speaking, studying effectively,
display their talents through drama, art, singing, dancing, developing concentration and avoid bad habits.
performances, display booths – that is open for thousands of
visitors. During summer vacations, special children camps are Boys VOICE
organized for fun and learning experience of the children. There
Director : Radheshyam das, M.Tech. IIT, Powai
are over ten children VOICEs all over Pune that operate once a
Board of Co-ordinators :
week for a couple of hours, generally in the week end. Generally
AcharyaRatna das, B.E.Comp
about 25 children attend each of these programs. The course
Ram Priya das, MBBS, (MD), 9373322501
registration generally starts from June.
VOICE Executive Commitee (VEC) :
Gopal Champu das, BE Comp Dhiraj, M.Tech, IIT KGP
Teenage Boys VOICE Gyanprakash, B.Tech, IIT KGP Chandramouli,B.Tech IITKGP
Publications and Sales Manager :
Advisors : Govinda prabhu (Chowpatty), Krishnakishore das, M.E.
Radheshyam das, Caitanya Charan das Comp., Asst Prof, VIT college.
Co-ordinators : Tulsi das, Varadaraj das 09822451260
Boys VOICE has been
Modern teenagers are attacked by the money thirsty media preaching to youth community
programs that impel them to buy costly mobiles, bikes, sports since 1996 and over 10,000
shoes, pants and wears etc. The movies present perverted themes students have participated in
and cause teenagers to indulge in drugs and drinks, smoking and different courses. Boys VOICE
sex-partners – considering themselves ‘free birds’. But all this also has over a dozen youth
craze ends in self-destructive addictions, depression, failure in hostels across the country close to
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 307 308 Your Best Friend

the colleges like IITKGP, NITWarrangal, NITSuratkal, Mantra Meditation

NITJamshedpur, BVPCOE, Pune, SIT, Pune etc for offering the • Modern man filled with fear, tension, anger, defensive attitude
following training program to empower the modern youth. etc leading to stress.
Personality Development and Character Build Up • The adrenaline hormone secretion leads to disorders like
• Training the students in the application of philosophy, values indigestion, back pain, blood pressure rise etc.
and principles in their personal life. • Mantra Meditation is a powerful tool to alleviate stress and
attain peace of mind.
• Rising early, sleeping early, morning mantra meditation, GD
and interactions • It provides one inner strength, patience, tolerance, vigor,
confidence, power to make decisions etc.
• Training in etiquettes, manners and proper behavior to be
• VOICE Students regularly perform mantra meditation and lead
followed while living in society.
cheerful stress-free lives.
• Training in dealing with equals, juniors, seniors, elders in the
family, parents, teachers. Topping in Academics
• Training in integrity, truthfulness, simplicity, • Spirituality and Academics are given equal importance for
trustworthiness, non-envy, maturity, humility etc VOICE students.
• Training in self-excellence skills like giving presentations, • During JAN/FEB/MAR and APR/MAY/JUN, the students
conflict resolution, empathic listening etc study 10-13-16 hours per week.
• They fill Study cards and report to their Counselors for perusal
Yoga, Meditation and Nutritious Diet and subsequent instruction.
• Vibrant health, peaceful mind, and satisfying loving • The alumni student or professor devotees help the younger
relationships are essential for a life of quality. students by coaching.
• People poison their digestive tract with meat, alcohol,drugs, • For a devotee student, his college studies are not material. It is
sleeping pills and junk-food. Krishna’s service.
• The purpose of food is to increase
the duration of life, purify the Public Speaking and Discussion (PSD)
mind and aid bodily strength. • Students are trained how to deliver lecture presentations.
• At VOICE, the students get • They are taught to face challenges from the audience without
Prasadam, sanctified losing temper.
lactovegetarian sanctified diet. It • They are assessed on the basis of ten criteria and room for
is wholesome, nutritious, improvements are offered to them.
satisfying and nourishing to body • A seasoned preacher gives clarifies all the lingering
and soul. misconceptions.
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Team Playing and Synergising
• Group Discussion Camps (GDC) teaches the students to work
cooperatively in a team.
• They learn to value others opinions, to pool up the talents of
many, to be confident etc.
• They prepare one of their team members to give a
presentation, make a display, put up a skit etc.
Devotional Qualifications
• They are trained in cooking, cleaning, washing, worshiping,
performing arati,
• singing, playing instruments like mridanga, kartals, harmonium,
• purchasing things from market, handling accounts, managing
different departments like kitchen, etc.
• This foundational training is greatly helpful now and in the
future.
Personal Care and Counseling
• Every VOICE student has a Counselor who acts in his life as a
Philosopher, Friend and Guide.
• He answers the student’s questions and shares his experiences.
• He helps him tackle physical, mental, and spiritual problems
and trains him to face future challenges.
• The counselees fill up a sadhana card that acts as a report card
filled up by the candidate.
• The Counselor-counselee meetings are held fortnightly or
monthly to bring about a family atmosphere..
• There are committees that extend their help — marriage
bureau, placement committee, etc.
Preaching Activities
One-time slide show seminars like ‘Stress Management’ ‘Time
Management’ for awareness.
309 310 Your Best Friend
Bring out THE LEADER in you’ Course trains the youth in
Character and Competence skills. It is meant to be a credit course
prescribed by any college for grooming their students in values
and ethics.
Six-session slide show course called ‘Discover Your Self’ for
learning basics of spirituality.
Weekly Study Circles Three courses each lasting for 4 months
are offered for the Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE and Corporate
VOICE members -- ‘Spiritual scientist’, ‘Positive Thinker’, ‘Self
Manager’
Advanced courses : Those who complete the above can join
‘Proactive leader’ and ‘Personality Development’ courses.
Beyond this one is eligible to join the ‘Bhakti Sastri’ course.
Weekend meeting on Saturday evening is open for all boys
between 17 to 30 years of age. It is a gathering addressed by
special speakers on themes relating to modern world and solution
from Vedas.
Cultural Activities: Dramas, Nam rock, Debates, Music, Dance
and Spiritual Camps and picnics.
Prerana Youth Festival : The Boys VOICE organizes a monthly
special youth festival for boys called ‘PRERANA’ where over a
thousand boys participate in program consisting of a seminar,
kirtans, dancing and Prasadam. Special eminent speakers are
invited for this program.
(Teenage) Girls VOICE
Advisors : Radhika devi dasi, Vishaka devi dasi,
Kishori devi dasi (Mumbai),
Radheshyam das, Jaigopal prabhu
Co-ordinators : Anangamohini devi dasi
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 311 312 Your Best Friend

The teenage boys Objectives of Girls VOICE

and girls are trained
Training girls to
separately by male and
• Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for
female teachers
chanting, hearing and seva
respectively. As the
• Values like Overcoming Greed, Anger, Depression, Fear,
psychology of boys and
Inferiority complex
girls are different their
training programs are • Perform devotional
also made suitable to activities like offering
their needs. Woman has puja, maintaining
a vital role to play in any family, in the life of her husband, deity, making garland,
children, and in laws and others. It is said that the hand that pure habits etc
moves the cradle can make or mar the world. Great leaders have • Cultural activities like
had great mothers. Keeping this in view, the girls are trained in singing, playing
various activities to become a ideal wife, a loving mother and a instruments, cooking,
chaste and exemplary housemaker to benefit home, nation and all put rangoli etc.
humanity. • Live a life of chastity, character, modesty, simplicity and
similar values
Objectives of Teenage Girls VOICE • Learn to be a ideal wife, mother, daughter-in-law, -in-law etc
Training girls to • Dealing with guests, elders, family members and others
• Learn Values like politeness, truthfulness, being prayerful, • Learn to celebrate festivals at home
love in action, positive attitude etc • Teaching Children VOICE students
• Learn Self-Excellence skills like Power of Habits etc
• Understand the importance of Dos and Don’ts The Girls VOICE organizes a quarterly special youth festival
• Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for for girls called ‘CHETANA’ where hundreds of girls participate in
chanting, hearing and seva program consisting of a seminar, kirtans, dancing and Prasadam.
• Learn the danger of free mixing, glamour, romance, blue film Special eminent speakers are invited for this program.
watching, internet and media etc. Their special activities are :
• Developing Good habits, behaviour, friendships with fellow
devotees etc. • Seminars like ‘Role of woman in Vedic society’ by senior
• Sloka recitation from BG chapters 7, 9 and 12 ladies
• Assisting in Children VOICE teaching • Group presentations on topic of “Six anarthas”,
• Doing Arati to the Lord,
• Candle making and Pots decoration,
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 313 314 Your Best Friend

• Garland making thus cause a great loss to their health in personal life and leads to
• Singing Bhajans and Kirtans, loss of efficiency, cleavage in relationships, etc in professional
• Cooking recipes, life. Corporate VOICE offers seminars and courses to help them
• Slide show presentations learn :
• Outdoor spiritual picnics and camps
• To bring balance between personal and professional life.
One of the satellite centers of Pune Girls VOICE is at NIT • How to achieve peace of mind to focus on their duties
Warrangal run by a devotee professor’s wife. properly.
• Unique techniques to eliminate stress and negativity.
Corporate VOICE • Simple tips to resolve inner conflicts and improve physical and
mental health.
Corporate Preaching Board members
• Changing attitude and outlook to life for converting distress to
Chairman - Radheshyam das eustress.
Executive Chairman - Vamshi Vadan das • Meditation techniques to go beyond depression and avoid
General Manager-internal operation – Amal Puran das hypertension
General Manager-External operation – Ram Rati das • Developing calm, clear and creative thinking.
Executive Vice-Chairman (Companies) • Secret of Happiness and improving performance.
- Anantashesh das (mobile: 9850 881105)
Executive Vice-Chairman (YOGA) We have three types of programs to cater to the needs of
- Gopal Champu das (mobile: 9325 070111) corporate people :
Manager – Customer relations - Kamal Sri
Lead Trainer - Chaitanya Charan das
1. Corporate Family Programs (CFP) - Age group: after marriage
In today’s fast 2. Corporate Youth Programs (CYP) - Age group 22 to 30
paced and competitive 3. Company Seminars and Workshops (CSW)
corporate world, the organised by the company
executives, managers
and team leaders 1. CFP (Corporate Family Program) – These weekly programs
usually have more are conducted in the following areas: Range hills ( Atharva ),
mental work than Prabhat Road, Wanowrie, Wanowrie ( Sacred Heart Town ),
physical which gives Camp, Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Wakad, Lullanagar,
rise to many stress Salisbury Park, Kothrud, Aundh, Magarpatta city, Viman Nagar,
born diseases like Pashan
hypertension, etc and
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 315 316 Your Best Friend

10. Constructive criticism – How to give it or take it?

2. CYP (Corporate Youth Program) – These programs are
intended for unmarried corporate youths. Over 20 such programs
are held in the weekends, mostly at the temple.
3. YOGA (Youth Of Gods Abode) are Corporate VOICE youth
hostels where working youths live together in software park areas
and practice Krishna consciousness. Contact Gopal Champu
prabhu (9325 070111) for more details.
4. Company Seminars and Workshops – Seminars such as
‘Stress Management’ ‘Time Management’ involving
presentations and activities lasting for about three hours are held
in various companies in and around Pune. We have already
conducted programs in Finolex (170 delegates), Tech Mahindra
(Formerly know as MBT for 140 delegates), Concentric (top 12
managers attended), Hotel Sagar Plaza (40 delegates) and Zensar
(20 delegates).
‘Bring out the LEADER in you’ Seminars on Leadership
For Corporates -- Overview
VOICE offers seminars on topics given below. The pocket
books on all these topics is in pipe line and likely to be completed
before the end of this year.
Seminars :
11. Fate and Free will
12. Karma – the Law of Infallible justice
13. Key to Real Happiness
14. Conflict Resolution
15. Eight Qualities of an Effective Leader
16. Managing our Anger
17. Self Development (flowing of consciousness)
18. Personality development and Character buildup
19. Proactive Leadership
20. Art of Living and Leaving
# All the seminars are designed for a duration of approx 3 hrs
session, making it concise & convenient for corporates to squeeze
in their working hours or to make it after office hrs also.
## These modules also offer great flexibility & could be
“tailor-made” to suit an organization’s particular needs.
For more details you may contact our Executive Vice
Chairman, Mr.Anant (mobile: 9881401814).

1. Stress Management
2. Time Management
3. Art of Self Management
4. Power of Habits
5. Secret of Concentration
6. Mind your Mind
7. Positive mental attitude
8. Team playing and winning trust of others
9. Overcoming Inferiority complex
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
References
1. Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Coming Back and
other books by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada.
2. Life – How did it get here? International Bible Students
Association.
3. Forbidden Archaeology, Michael Cremo & Richard L
Thompson.
4. Origins – Higher Dimensions in Science, Bhaktivedanta
Institute, ISKCON, Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Bombay
5. Consciousness – The Missing Link, BBT.
6. The Scientific basis of Krishna Consciousness, H.H.
Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami, Ph.D.
7. Darwin’s Secret Identity, David Webb.
8. The Spiritual Scientist, No. 2 Vol. 3, article from
Scientific Evidences for the Existence of the Soul by
Benitto F Reyes.
9. The Reincarnation Controversy by Steven Rosen.
10. Twenty cases suggestive of Reincarnation by Dr. Ian
Stevenson.
11. Vedic Paradigm by Danavir swami, Rupanuga Vedic
College.
12. A Homestudy in Krishna Consciousness by Rohininandan
das.
13. Back To Godhead magazine articles.
14. Song of God by Vishakha devi dasi
317 318 Your Best Friend
VOICE Publications
Spirituality for the Modern Youth
This series explains systematically and scientifically how
spiritual life is for the truly intelligent - those who want the best in
life. An eye opener for those who think that spirituality is the
resort of sentimentalists, escapists and oldies.
Discover Your Self: Make the one discovery that
can fill your life with happiness forever: Who am
I?
57 pictures, soft bound, 192 pages
(For preachers who want to use Discover Your
Self as a course book for youth, we also have:
84 attractive colour slides - both hard & soft
copies
Audio tapes for all sessions)
Your Best Friend: Can you understand and
develop a relation with the one Supreme Truth that
stands eternally beyond all barriers of caste, creed,
colour, nationality and religion? Your Best Friend is
the key to a scientific understanding of God.
62 pictures, soft bound, 336 pages
Your Secret Journey: Modern scientists, humbled
in their attempts to create a humanoid robot, are
wondering how a human being is different from a
robot. Is there a spiritual paradigm to explain the
mystery of life? Scientific proof of past life
memories shows that we survive after death. In
fact, we go through a journey from one body to
another until we attain perfection. Your Secret
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Journey explains the secret of action that can free us from all
problems.
86 pictures, soft bound, 322 pages
Victory Over Death: Everyone has to face death
one day. Although you cannot avoid death, you
can conquer it. Victory Over Death explains how
to cultivate life so that you can die triumphantly.
97 pictures, Soft bound, 532 pages
Yoga of Love: The highest form of yoga is
simultaneously simple, sublime and safe.
Moreover it is full of love and joy. Empower
yourself with the Yoga of Love (Coming soon)
Pocket Books
Stress Management : Stress is neither a germ
nor a bacteria to be treated by antibiotics. It is
your outlook to life, a problem of the mind that
needs a holistic solution at the level of body,
mind, intellect and soul. Read this book for
practical tips to tackle the stress problem.
How to Harness Mind Power?: What is the
mind? How does it operate? Can I use it to my
advantage to do positive things in life? Find out
in the Art of Mind Control. 19 pictures, 48 pages
Audio tape and colour slides (hard and soft
copies) also available
319 320 Your Best Friend
Practical Tips to Mind Control: What should
you do when the whole world appears to have
come to an end - everyone appears an enemy,
providence appears cruel, the future appears bleak
and life appears not worth living? Open the doors
to a new life full of joy by applying the Practical
Tips to Mind Control.
10 pictures, 88 pages
Can I Live Forever? A concise pocket book that
gives a scientific understanding of life and death.
It also explains an easy and effective way to end
all suffering and attain an eternal, happy life. Read
and empower yourself to control your present and
determine your future. 12 pictures, 54 pages
Misdirected Love: One out of every three love
marriages in the West ends in divorce within three
years of marriage. Why? Love - What exactly is it?
Love is an emotion that promises to bring the
highest happiness but often brings the greatest
pain. Read Misdirected Love and find new
direction to your love and life.
9 pictures, 48 pages
Other Books
Horizon: A compilation of selected Spiritual
Scientist articles. Contains scientific findings
about spirituality & health, systematic answers to
the fundamental questions of life and spiritual
solutions to contemporary problems. 100 pages,
soft bound
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 321 322 Your Best Friend

The Spiritual Scientist - Selected Newspaper Articles: The Spiritual Scientist II takes you an enlightening tour of the
Make your daily breaks spiritually refreshing! world around you and world within you, offering striking insights
During Tea break, Lunch break, Travel … on:
Browse these brief and Power-packed Articles
• Married Strangers
Published in
• The Cricket of the Life
• Times of India, The Speaking Tree
• The Origin of AIDS
• Maharashtra Herald, The Soul Curry
• God’s gender
• Deccan Chronicle, Festival Message
• Ferocious Love
And rediscover the missing spiritual dimension of
life. The memorable examples, the soothing • God’s Language
language, the eloquent words, the convincing • Break or break-down?
logic, all add spice to the refresher. • God’s message of Love
• Fat or fit?
Essence of Bhagavad-gita: A condensed version • When is Love > Law?
of the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series.
Now the same book is going to appear in a easy-to- The Spiritual Scientist III : (Science & Spirituality)
handle course book format in 5 Courses with the Discover the post secular synthesis
following titles : • Can Spirituality be Scientific?
• Has science discovered God?
1. Spiritual Scientist (Discover Your Self)
2. Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad-gita) • Does science needs spiritual paradigm?
3. Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad-gita)
4. Proactive Leader (Secret of Bhagavad-gita) The tour will -
5. Personality development (Essence of Bhagavad-gita) • Offer you a freash look at your own life through the eyes of
(Available in Marathi & Hindi Language also) spiritual wisdom
• Empower you to march through life with maturity and
confidence
'VOICE preacher's Guide' gives you quick to Come –
understand step-by-step procedure in contacting, Explore the World
cultivating, caring for college youth. It also gives Excavate your Heart
syllabus and materials availability in regard to Experiment with Science
Children, Girls and Teenagers preaching. It will Experience the Transformation
help you like a friend and guide as you proceed in
reaching out to people to give them KC.
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
E.N.E.R.G.Y : Drawing from the insights of
ancient wisdom traditions and modern
management gurus, E.N.E.R.G.Y. presents
powerful principles and practices to:
• Experience the peace and power of
meditation
• Break free from negative attitudes &
habits
• Uncover your spiritual qualities
• Increase your willpower
Filled with easy to remember acronyms, memorable quotes,
striking examples, entertaining stories, revealing statistics,
E.N.E.R.G.Y. will energize you for all-round success.
Bhagavad-gita 7-Day Course: Brief point-wise notes for
conducting 7 day course on the Bhagavad-gita. Spiral bound, 100
pages
Youth Preaching Manual: A practical and detailed guidebook on
how to present the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita to the youth.
13 colour photos, spiral bound, 127 pages
Value Education: Vital values for teenagers and children
explained lucidly through Vedic stories, modern anecdotes and
everyday examples.
Smiling Faces Crying Hearts: Concise Spiritual
Scientist articles exposing superficial modern
civilization & glorifying timeless Vedic wisdom.
323 324 Your Best Friend
Children’s Books
These books were conceived to help children understand and
appreciate the timeless wisdom and culture of Vedas. You will
find stories, songs, scripts for dramas and puppet shows, and art
and craft activities that thrill the children. The books offer
thought-provoking quizzes that relate to their practical day-to-day
life.
My first Krishna Book: The child's first
introduction to Krishna. Read-aloud rhymes and
attractive pictures to colour. 24 pictures, 22 pages
Getting to know Krishna: Children are naturally
curious. Their little minds want to explore the
world around them. Who is God? Why do we go
to the temple? Nurture your child's interest and
help him take his first steps in discovering Krishna
Consciousness. 124 pictures, 47 pages
More about Krishna: Lead the child into the
amazing world of Krishna 's pastimes. Enjoyable
activities and thought provoking discussions
enliven the children and help them to inculcate
good values. 187 pictures, 85 pages
Devotees of Krishna: Packed with stories, dramas
and poems, this book will appeal to older children.
Many basic concepts are made clear through
games, discussions and activities. 86 pictures, 76
pages
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 325 326 Your Best Friend

Wonderful Krishna: Exciting adventures of

Krishna, the protector of His devotees. Group
projects and comprehension exercises suitable for
the growing child. Many fun filled activities add to
their enjoyment.
Appendix 8
82 pictures, 76 pages.

Krishna's Childhood Pastimes: Sweet and

simple description of Krishna's childhood
pastimes. Plus exciting activity sheets important
Bhagavad-gita verses, prayers, Vaishnava songs
and Vaishnava etiquette.

Courses offered by
VOICE

Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love

 Courses offered by VOICE
Courses offered by VOICE common to
Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE & Corporate
VOICE
Essence of Bhagavad gita
Five short-term Certificate courses
Through Weekly Study Circle
Course books:
1. ‘Essence of Bhagavad-gita’ five courses series, for
‘Siddhanta’ or philosophy
2. Vaishnava Etiquette Manual published by
ISKCON, Shri Shri Radha Gopinath mandir, Near
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 7, K.M.Munshi marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai-400 007 Phone: (022) 2369
7228, rgsevaka@vsnl.net
3. ‘Devotional Practice’ and ‘Vaishnava Culture’,
Introductory Course Student Handbook, Contact:
Sita Rama prabhu, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Hilfield
Lane, Aldenham, Watford WD25 8EZ, U.K.
I. Spiritual scientist (Discover Your Self)
Duration: 3 weeks, weekly twice
The course helps one to scientifically discover one’s
real identity and one’s relationship with the
Supreme. A material scientist knows only the atom;
a spiritual scientist knows the soul, which is
spiritual. This knowledge helps him find goal,
mission and vision of life.
.
327 328 Your Best Friend
1. Introduction to Bhagavad gita
2. Material problems, Spiritual solutions
3. Getting the eyes of Knowledge
4. Vedas – the privelege of Humanity
5. Science of Soul
6. Different platforms of Worship
Sadhana and Sadachar topics
--------- NIL ------------
II. Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 4 months, weekly once
This course helps one with the Positive spirit needed
to tap the powerful message of Gita. It helps one to
identify a divine guide in your life and to obtain the
necessary qualifications to become a cheerful
positive thinker in life by knowing the sublime
truths.
1. Identifying my divine guide
2. Spirit of Bhagavad gita
3. Qualifications of an ideal Disciple
4. Reincarnation – fact or fiction?
5. Evolving towards Perfection
 Courses offered by VOICE
Sadhana and Sadachar topics
1. Practical Devotional Service
2. Etiquette within the Temple
3. Habits and Behavior
4. Four Regulative Principles
5. The Four Don’ts to Freedom
III. Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 6 months, weekly once
This course teaches not the art of managing men,
machine, material, market and money, but
managing ones own life by a holistic approach that
combines knowledge of God’s position and practical
application of mantra meditation.
1. Peace Formula
2. Who should be the object of my worship?
3. God and gods
4. Is God Personal or impersonal ?
5. The Art of Self Management
Sadhana and Sadachar topics
1. Hearing and Chanting
2. Deity Worship
3. Tulasi Worship
4. Learning Meaning of Morning program Songs
5. Holy Days
6. Serving and Honoring Prasadam
7. Dress and Appearance
8. Missionary Activities
9. Dealing with Parents, Relatives and Friends
329 330 Your Best Friend
IV. Proactive Leader
(Secret of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 6 months, weekly once
This course prepares one to become a Proactive
Leader. All of us at some moments or the other,
become victims to anger, lust and pride and feel
sorry for our un-exemplary behaviour. The
Proactive Leader is a thoughtful person who gives a
positive spiritual response, by knowing what is
illusion opposed to reality and the resultant effects
of all types of action.
1. The three ropes that bind us
2. Surpassing Maya
3. Our lost home – Kingdom of God
4. Karma – the law of infallible justice
Sadhana and Sadachar topics :
1. ISKCON’s Cultural Identity and its
connection to the Vedas
2. Varnasrama Dharma
3. Ethics and Morality
4. Sadhana
5. Position of women in Vedic culture
6. Relating to Devotees with Due
Respect
 Courses offered by VOICE 331 332 Your Best Friend

V. Personality Development
(Essence of Bhagavad gita) Method of Evaluation and Reward
Duration: 6 months, weekly once

Personality development is not a superficial change.

1) The marking will be done as follows :
We are generally covered over superficially by our
acquired qualities like Experiences, Abilities,
• 50% weightage for the marks obtained from EBG
Memories, Learning, Habits and Beliefs etc. But the
Course Quiz, BG As It Is Quiz, Story Quiz, etc.
innate qualities of the soul like Peace, Love, Truth,
• 30% weightage for the Final Exam
Happiness, Humility, Tolerance are hidden. When
• 20% for Practical lifestyle and behavior,
we awaken the innate qualities of the soul, they
Attendance, Punctuality and Participation in the
come out in the 4 R’s of our life-- in the various
weekly classes
Roles that we have to play, the different Routines
that we go through, the Responsibilities we have to
2) Certificates could be issued based on the
shoulder, and the various Relationships that we care
following criteria:
for. The innate qualities are brought out when one’s
personality is truly developed.
Passing marks : 60%,
Distinction : 80% and above
1. Essence of Bhagavad gita
Honors : 90% and above,
2. Creation and Universal Time
High Honors : 95% and above
3. Different types of Yoga system
4. Practical Application of Bhagavad gita
Candidates who get 60% and above will receive a
5. Passing the Final Exam
Certificate of Recognition.
Sadhana and Sadachar topics :

1. Relating to Seniors, Juniors and Peers

2. Three levels of Devotees * * * * *
3. Dealings with Guests
4. Offenses to the Vaishnava
5. Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee
 Courses offered by VOICE 333

Our Next Book

Your Secret Journey
Sample Topics:
Your Divine Identity - A Product of Chemicals?
Your Glorious Ancestors - A Pack of Apes?
You Never Die - The Verdict of All Religions
Where Reincarnation and Science Intersect
Your Lost Home - The Kingdom of God
The Secret of Action - From Illusion to Reality
Cloning - Modern Miracle or Ancient Method?
And much, much more....