A DIVINE MESSAGE
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2012 New Year
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Philosophy
How Does God's Descension Benefit Us? |
Philosophy
Prem Mandir Inauguration Significance |
Kids Story
Beggar Donates a Penny |
Philosophy
In fact, all the pastimes in during Ram's descension and Krishna's descension were such that let alone believe that He was God, common man could not believe that he was a normal human being. For example, when Sita Ji was abducted by Ravan, Shri Ram was so deluded that He started asking the trees, mountains, animals and birds the whereabouts of Sita Ji.
रे वृक्षाः पर्वतस्थागिरिगहनलतावायुना वीज्यमाना, रामोऽहं व्याकुलात्मा दशरथतनयः शोकशुक्रेण दग्धः ।
बिम्बोष्ठी चारूनेत्री सुविपुलजघना बद्धनागेन्द्रकाञ्ची, हा सीता केन नीता मम ह्0र्दयगता को भवान्केनदृष्टा । बा. रामायण
बिम्बोष्ठी चारूनेत्री सुविपुलजघना बद्धनागेन्द्रकाञ्ची, हा सीता केन नीता मम ह्0र्दयगता को भवान्केनदृष्टा । बा. रामायण
If a family member is kidnapped, even an ordinary person would not ask the speechless trees and mountains the whereabouts of the missing person. Ram is God, Almighty, Omnipresent and Omniscient! He should have known the abductor and the location of Sita Ji.
Although, it was just a pastime of almighty Shri Ram and this fact was revealed when He recognized Parvati Ji (1) immediately when She appeared in the guise of Sita Ji. Yet it creates a doubt in our mind about His divinity and these doubts result in hellish sufferings (2).
Shri Krishna’s pastimes of stealing butter, cheer haran (stealing the clothes of Gopis) (3) and Maharas etc. create the same kind of doubts in our mind. This is the only reason that we could not benefit from His divine presence in both descensions.
The third and the most authentic reason of the descension of God is His nature of mercy on us. He graces those who got deluded upon seeing the divine pastimes of God during His descension period. Hence the Bhagavat says -
Although, it was just a pastime of almighty Shri Ram and this fact was revealed when He recognized Parvati Ji (1) immediately when She appeared in the guise of Sita Ji. Yet it creates a doubt in our mind about His divinity and these doubts result in hellish sufferings (2).
Shri Krishna’s pastimes of stealing butter, cheer haran (stealing the clothes of Gopis) (3) and Maharas etc. create the same kind of doubts in our mind. This is the only reason that we could not benefit from His divine presence in both descensions.
The third and the most authentic reason of the descension of God is His nature of mercy on us. He graces those who got deluded upon seeing the divine pastimes of God during His descension period. Hence the Bhagavat says -
यश्च मूढ़तमो लोके यश्च बुद्धे: परं गत:। तावुभौ सुखमेधेते क्लिश्नात्यन्तरितो जनः ॥ भा 3.7.17 ॥
"It is easy to deliver the most intelligent ones or the most innocent ones, but the average people suffer without any remedy". Because the brilliant ones can easily assimilate the philosophy, yet they are rare like Shankaracharya, Vallabhacharya etc. On the other hand the most ignorant people can admit their incompetence. They easily trust others and tend to follow the advice of others. Therefore, those naïve ones too can be easily delivered.
For example, there was a boy, who was very naïve and poor. Once he asked a priest of a temple, “I see you serving these idols every day. Why do you do all this?” The priest replied, “He is God, That’s why I serve Him everyday”. “Why?” asked the little boy.
The priest replied “If He gets pleased by my service, He will give me everything and I will become happy forever.”
The boy asked again with great astonishment, “Really? Can He make me happy too?”
The priest said,” Of course, if you also worship Him like me.” The innocent boy insisted that the priest give him an idol. The priest knew the boy cannot afford to buy an idol of God. So, just to get rid of him, the priest gave him an old toy idol of Shri Krishna and said to him, “He is your friend. If you please Him, He will provide you everything”.
The boy asked, “What should I do to please my friend?”
The priest, considering his ability, said, “Just burn one incense everyday in front of Him; He will be pleased very soon”. The poor boy brought the idol home and managed to buy a packet of incense. He faithfully burnt one incense everyday but he did not find any difference in his poor condition. After ten days the boy warned God, “I made you my friend based on the advice from the priest, since he assured me that you would help me as a good friend. But, it seems you are not a good friend at all. I will watch for couple of more days. Then I will bring another friend”.
But again the situation was same. In his disappointment he managed to bring another idol of Shri Krishna and replaced the old one with the new one. He put the older one aside as if it was now rejected. But when he burned the incense the scented fumes continued to go towards the older one. He changed the direction of incense and also the direction of the older idol several times, saying, “No, You can’t enjoy the fragrance anymore. I burned it for my new friend only.” Yet the fumes still went towards the older idol. Then He thought, Krishna is very stubborn and selfish so Krishna would not listen to me. He brought some cotton and inserted it in the nose of the older idol. Still the fume continued to go in the same direction. Being extremely displeased he brought more cotton and kept inserting it in the nose of older one. Eventually, Shri Krishna was pleased with the boy’s innocence and the firm faith that the idol was God himself and He appeared from the idol. He held the boy’s hand and said “What are you doing yaar! Do you want to kill your friend?
Thus his innocence and faith made him realize God.
But most of us, who neither accept our ignorance due to ego, nor are competent to comprehend the abstruse philosophy of the Vedas get stranded. It is for such people that God descends on earth. We do not get any benefit at the time of His descension but when He leaves this mortal world, He leaves behind His names, forms, pastimes, attributes, abodes and also His devotees. These devotees educate us of His divine relationship with us, the need to know Him, the path and methods to get to know Him to attain unlimited bliss. Then we, with the help of all what belongs to Him, remember God, practice devotion and become free from Maya. Most of His devotees such as Soor, Meera, Tulasi, Kabir, Nanak, Tukaram etc, realized God only by remembering His pastimes and names etc.
Thus, His descension makes it easy for ordinary beings to worship Him.
First, if God were to not take a form and descend, we would have to worship formless God, which is very difficult. The path of gyan teaches to worship formless God. The prerequisite to tread on this path is to be completely detached from the world. In other words, even the sudden loss of family, wealth, and job at the same time, must not perturb the devotee on the path of gyan (4). He should be completely neutral. It is very difficult for any material human being to be so.
Second, formless God has no name, form, attributes or pastimes. How can a person focus on Him? Lord Krishna said in Gita -
For example, there was a boy, who was very naïve and poor. Once he asked a priest of a temple, “I see you serving these idols every day. Why do you do all this?” The priest replied, “He is God, That’s why I serve Him everyday”. “Why?” asked the little boy.
The priest replied “If He gets pleased by my service, He will give me everything and I will become happy forever.”
The boy asked again with great astonishment, “Really? Can He make me happy too?”
The priest said,” Of course, if you also worship Him like me.” The innocent boy insisted that the priest give him an idol. The priest knew the boy cannot afford to buy an idol of God. So, just to get rid of him, the priest gave him an old toy idol of Shri Krishna and said to him, “He is your friend. If you please Him, He will provide you everything”.
The boy asked, “What should I do to please my friend?”
The priest, considering his ability, said, “Just burn one incense everyday in front of Him; He will be pleased very soon”. The poor boy brought the idol home and managed to buy a packet of incense. He faithfully burnt one incense everyday but he did not find any difference in his poor condition. After ten days the boy warned God, “I made you my friend based on the advice from the priest, since he assured me that you would help me as a good friend. But, it seems you are not a good friend at all. I will watch for couple of more days. Then I will bring another friend”.
But again the situation was same. In his disappointment he managed to bring another idol of Shri Krishna and replaced the old one with the new one. He put the older one aside as if it was now rejected. But when he burned the incense the scented fumes continued to go towards the older one. He changed the direction of incense and also the direction of the older idol several times, saying, “No, You can’t enjoy the fragrance anymore. I burned it for my new friend only.” Yet the fumes still went towards the older idol. Then He thought, Krishna is very stubborn and selfish so Krishna would not listen to me. He brought some cotton and inserted it in the nose of the older idol. Still the fume continued to go in the same direction. Being extremely displeased he brought more cotton and kept inserting it in the nose of older one. Eventually, Shri Krishna was pleased with the boy’s innocence and the firm faith that the idol was God himself and He appeared from the idol. He held the boy’s hand and said “What are you doing yaar! Do you want to kill your friend?
Thus his innocence and faith made him realize God.
But most of us, who neither accept our ignorance due to ego, nor are competent to comprehend the abstruse philosophy of the Vedas get stranded. It is for such people that God descends on earth. We do not get any benefit at the time of His descension but when He leaves this mortal world, He leaves behind His names, forms, pastimes, attributes, abodes and also His devotees. These devotees educate us of His divine relationship with us, the need to know Him, the path and methods to get to know Him to attain unlimited bliss. Then we, with the help of all what belongs to Him, remember God, practice devotion and become free from Maya. Most of His devotees such as Soor, Meera, Tulasi, Kabir, Nanak, Tukaram etc, realized God only by remembering His pastimes and names etc.
Thus, His descension makes it easy for ordinary beings to worship Him.
First, if God were to not take a form and descend, we would have to worship formless God, which is very difficult. The path of gyan teaches to worship formless God. The prerequisite to tread on this path is to be completely detached from the world. In other words, even the sudden loss of family, wealth, and job at the same time, must not perturb the devotee on the path of gyan (4). He should be completely neutral. It is very difficult for any material human being to be so.
Second, formless God has no name, form, attributes or pastimes. How can a person focus on Him? Lord Krishna said in Gita -
क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् || अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दु:खं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते || गीता 12.5||
The human beings are endowed with a form. They have a natural habit of loving things with form only. Therefore it is almost impossible for them to love formless entity.
Third, the final result after perfection of formless devotion is liberation, in which the devotee merges into the Supreme Being and thus becomes one with God. Then despite remaining in the ocean of bliss forever, he cannot enjoy the ever increasing divine bliss, because he becomes bliss himself. Then who will enjoy the bliss? He gets rid of miseries of the world forever, yet he has no possibility of enjoying the bliss. Thus the path of knowledge, which teaches to worship formless God, fulfills only half the goal of life. The more significant goal of enjoying ever increasing bliss remains unfulfilled.
So, God descends to bestow ever increasing divine love bliss, which is the highest goal of human life. Otherwise how could we know about personal forms of God and then how could we, who cannot be fully detached before commencement of practice of God-realization, cross the ocean of Maya?
In other words, God realization was quite impossible for an ordinary man. This is His mercy that He descends as a human being, acts like us to uplift us, gives us knowledge that He is formless but He can reveal Himself in countless forms. All His forms are divine with ever new and ever increasing bliss. He also tells us that constant remembrance of His divine names or pastimes or forms etc. may enable one to traverse the ocean of Maya.
The path of devotion needs no other knowledge, rituals or material aids. Just love God exclusively by heart and realize Him. He brings forth many other parts of philosophy through his pastimes or lifestyle to establish peace in life.
Third, the final result after perfection of formless devotion is liberation, in which the devotee merges into the Supreme Being and thus becomes one with God. Then despite remaining in the ocean of bliss forever, he cannot enjoy the ever increasing divine bliss, because he becomes bliss himself. Then who will enjoy the bliss? He gets rid of miseries of the world forever, yet he has no possibility of enjoying the bliss. Thus the path of knowledge, which teaches to worship formless God, fulfills only half the goal of life. The more significant goal of enjoying ever increasing bliss remains unfulfilled.
So, God descends to bestow ever increasing divine love bliss, which is the highest goal of human life. Otherwise how could we know about personal forms of God and then how could we, who cannot be fully detached before commencement of practice of God-realization, cross the ocean of Maya?
In other words, God realization was quite impossible for an ordinary man. This is His mercy that He descends as a human being, acts like us to uplift us, gives us knowledge that He is formless but He can reveal Himself in countless forms. All His forms are divine with ever new and ever increasing bliss. He also tells us that constant remembrance of His divine names or pastimes or forms etc. may enable one to traverse the ocean of Maya.
The path of devotion needs no other knowledge, rituals or material aids. Just love God exclusively by heart and realize Him. He brings forth many other parts of philosophy through his pastimes or lifestyle to establish peace in life.
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(2) Namaparadh
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(3) Does God Exist?
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Philosophy
Vrindavan Dham, situated at the banks of holy river Yamuna, has always been the exclusive place of Shri Krishna Bhakti. Even the birds, animals and trees in Vrindavan, seem to chant the name of Shri Radha constantly. Great saints, sages, seers and scholars dwell secretly in the form of trees and creepers to get immersed in the pious dust of Vrindavan. It is in these serene surroundings that the greatest Rasik saint of modern times, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj has established Prem Mandir, thereby exemplifying the beauty and prestige of Braj Dham even further.
Even though, Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj hails from the region of Avadh in Northern India, He has composed 1008 devotional songs in His book “Prem Ras Madira” in Braj dialect. These hymns are outstanding from the viewpoint of magnificence of language and depth of sentiments.
When such an esteemed Rasik saint resolves to establish a Radha Krishna temple in Vrindavan Dham and decides to call it Prem Mandir, who can describe the spiritual significance of such a great temple!
Even then, one has to say something about its glory!
Shri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. He is the Master of innumerable, unintelligible and divine powers. “Hladini Shakti” is the supreme amongst them. The essence of Hladini Shakti is the power of love. The highest form of love is Mahabhav and the supreme form of Mahabhav is Adhiroorh Mahabhav which at its peak converts into Maadan Mahabhav. This state of love is addressed with the most respected name of Shri Radha, the most intimate power of Shri Krishna. Hence, the place, where Shri Radha Krishna both rejoice in their highest form and where they abundantly distribute their infinitely selfless love, is Prem Mandir. This is that favorite abode of Shri Radha Krishna where they joyously dwell permanently and shower the nectar of love day and night.
Prem Mandir is also blessed with the presence of Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, who has been gracing the mankind by enlightening them on the secrets behind becoming a deserving soul for Maharas, which is attainable only by the grace of Shri Radha. Shri Maharaj Ji has been providing practical training on devotion to acquire those inner qualities that are essential to participate in Maharas.
The Inauguration of Prem Mandir will be held on February 15, 16 & 17, 2012. Who can wait for this celebration of Braj? All the divine associates of Shri Radha Krishna, the Rasik saints, Brahma, Shankar, Sanakadik Paramhansa and the celestial dancers present in an invisible form, must be eagerly waiting to reveal their excellent talents of fine arts. Their invisible presence, echo of the recitation of Vedic hymns by the veritable Vedas, the huge crowd of enthusiastic devotees from around the world and the decoration of Vrindavan will create a spectacular view that will be remembered for ages to come.
The fortune of those devotees, who will witness this divine celebration, cannot be described, even if the Guru of the heavenly gods, Brihaspati states them with several thousand mouths.
This is the limit of visualization of my insignificant material mind. The divinity and grandeur of this event can only be described by a Rasik saint. I wish to attain a drop of grace of my Gurudev Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj to get a real idea of this upcoming divine scene and its vibrations, which will be enough to drown me in the ocean of nectar of love-bliss.
On behalf of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat (JKP), I invite all aspirants who desire for the divine grace of Shri Radha Krishna to attend this great event in Braj to celebrate the auspicious occasion of inauguration of Prem Mandir, Vrindavan.
Even though, Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj hails from the region of Avadh in Northern India, He has composed 1008 devotional songs in His book “Prem Ras Madira” in Braj dialect. These hymns are outstanding from the viewpoint of magnificence of language and depth of sentiments.
When such an esteemed Rasik saint resolves to establish a Radha Krishna temple in Vrindavan Dham and decides to call it Prem Mandir, who can describe the spiritual significance of such a great temple!
Even then, one has to say something about its glory!
Shri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. He is the Master of innumerable, unintelligible and divine powers. “Hladini Shakti” is the supreme amongst them. The essence of Hladini Shakti is the power of love. The highest form of love is Mahabhav and the supreme form of Mahabhav is Adhiroorh Mahabhav which at its peak converts into Maadan Mahabhav. This state of love is addressed with the most respected name of Shri Radha, the most intimate power of Shri Krishna. Hence, the place, where Shri Radha Krishna both rejoice in their highest form and where they abundantly distribute their infinitely selfless love, is Prem Mandir. This is that favorite abode of Shri Radha Krishna where they joyously dwell permanently and shower the nectar of love day and night.
Prem Mandir is also blessed with the presence of Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, who has been gracing the mankind by enlightening them on the secrets behind becoming a deserving soul for Maharas, which is attainable only by the grace of Shri Radha. Shri Maharaj Ji has been providing practical training on devotion to acquire those inner qualities that are essential to participate in Maharas.
The Inauguration of Prem Mandir will be held on February 15, 16 & 17, 2012. Who can wait for this celebration of Braj? All the divine associates of Shri Radha Krishna, the Rasik saints, Brahma, Shankar, Sanakadik Paramhansa and the celestial dancers present in an invisible form, must be eagerly waiting to reveal their excellent talents of fine arts. Their invisible presence, echo of the recitation of Vedic hymns by the veritable Vedas, the huge crowd of enthusiastic devotees from around the world and the decoration of Vrindavan will create a spectacular view that will be remembered for ages to come.
The fortune of those devotees, who will witness this divine celebration, cannot be described, even if the Guru of the heavenly gods, Brihaspati states them with several thousand mouths.
This is the limit of visualization of my insignificant material mind. The divinity and grandeur of this event can only be described by a Rasik saint. I wish to attain a drop of grace of my Gurudev Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj to get a real idea of this upcoming divine scene and its vibrations, which will be enough to drown me in the ocean of nectar of love-bliss.
On behalf of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat (JKP), I invite all aspirants who desire for the divine grace of Shri Radha Krishna to attend this great event in Braj to celebrate the auspicious occasion of inauguration of Prem Mandir, Vrindavan.
- A particle of the foot dust of Shri Gurudev Braj Banchary
Kid's Story
Once there was a beggar. He used to beg all day on the streets near the king’s palace. Still, he did not manage to get enough to feed his family.
One day as he was sitting on the side of road to beg for alms, he heard the king’s procession will pass through the streets of the town today. He was excited about seeing the king. He picked up his mat and went to sit on one of the streets though which the king’s convoy was to pass. As the convoy passed in front of him, the king dismounted from his horse and approached him and humbly begged for alms from him.
The beggar was dismayed. He asked O King! Why do you seek alms from a beggar like me? The king replied humbly, “I had a dream that unless I ask for alms from a beggar, some miseries are going to befall on me. O beggar! Please give me something, whatever you can and save me from the miseries that are coming my way.” The beggar had a few coins in his bag. He picked them them and was about to give all of them to the, then he thought, if I give so much I won’t have enough to feed my family tonight. Thinking so he dropped a couple of coins. As he was about to give those he again thought, if I give this much then I won’t be able to get even a loaf of bread. Likewise he kept reducing the amount and finally took a penny and gave it to the king. The King thanked him profusely and left.
The beggar stayed there all day and left for home in the evening. Upon reaching home his wife looked thru his bag. Lo and behold! She found a gold coin in the bag. She was surprised and asked her husband about it. The beggar now realized that he had given the king a penny and he got a gold penny back. If he had given all the pennies then he would have a fortune right now. But his opportunity is lost!
Thus, God gave a lesson to all of us that wealth grows by sharing. The reason of poverty is the tendency of not giving alms for the good cause. The scriptures say
One day as he was sitting on the side of road to beg for alms, he heard the king’s procession will pass through the streets of the town today. He was excited about seeing the king. He picked up his mat and went to sit on one of the streets though which the king’s convoy was to pass. As the convoy passed in front of him, the king dismounted from his horse and approached him and humbly begged for alms from him.
The beggar was dismayed. He asked O King! Why do you seek alms from a beggar like me? The king replied humbly, “I had a dream that unless I ask for alms from a beggar, some miseries are going to befall on me. O beggar! Please give me something, whatever you can and save me from the miseries that are coming my way.” The beggar had a few coins in his bag. He picked them them and was about to give all of them to the, then he thought, if I give so much I won’t have enough to feed my family tonight. Thinking so he dropped a couple of coins. As he was about to give those he again thought, if I give this much then I won’t be able to get even a loaf of bread. Likewise he kept reducing the amount and finally took a penny and gave it to the king. The King thanked him profusely and left.
The beggar stayed there all day and left for home in the evening. Upon reaching home his wife looked thru his bag. Lo and behold! She found a gold coin in the bag. She was surprised and asked her husband about it. The beggar now realized that he had given the king a penny and he got a gold penny back. If he had given all the pennies then he would have a fortune right now. But his opportunity is lost!
Thus, God gave a lesson to all of us that wealth grows by sharing. The reason of poverty is the tendency of not giving alms for the good cause. The scriptures say
अदत्तदानाच्च भवेद दरिद्राे । दरिद्रभावाच्च कराेति पापम्।
पापप्रभावात्। नरकं प्रयाति । पुनर्दरिद्रः पुनरेव पापी ॥
पापप्रभावात्। नरकं प्रयाति । पुनर्दरिद्रः पुनरेव पापी ॥
The habit of not donating invites poverty. State of poverty compels to perform unrighteous deeds to survive. The unrighteous deeds result in sufferings of hell. Then he becomes a beggar again and again.
Hence, Kids! Develop your habit of sharing to fulfill the needs of others and to attain a peaceful life.
Hence, Kids! Develop your habit of sharing to fulfill the needs of others and to attain a peaceful life.
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