Krishna is the source of pleasure

Bhagavan Shree Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate source of pleasure. Rather, he is pleasure, or Ananda, as it is called in Sanskrit. Just chant the maha mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I will elaborate on this more tomorrow.

Coming back.... again!

Hare Krishna everyone. Sooo sorry for the long absence. I am trying to make Krishna Consciousness a central part of my life, hence a more determined effort to work on this blog. I am posting the first part of an interesting article written by the author of The Teachings of Bhagavad Gita,  Dr.Laxmi Narayan Chaturvedi, on Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita:

Chapter 15

                        Shri,bhagavan uvaach,

                         Urdhva mula adhah-shaakhaam,ashvastham praahur avyayam

                         Cchandaamsi    yasy   parnaani,    yas   tam  veda   sa   veda-vit.

                                                                                                               Bh.GH.15-1

                         Adhashchordhvam prasrtaas tasya shaakhaa

                                                  Gunapravradhaa vishya pravaalaah

                          Adhashcha mulaani anusantataani,

                                                   Karmanubandhaani manushya-loke Bh.G 15-,2

    

Throughout the Bhagavat Gita, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord  Krishna, has emphasized the importance of bhakti yoga, by practice of which, one can easily detach from material entanglement and win the favor of the Lord. Knowledge of this material world is very essential to get out of its clutches. In the 15^th Chapter of Bhagavat Gita, Krishna explains the nature of material entanglement and the material world, which He compares to a banyan tree oriented upside down.  All of us have the experience of such a tree situated on the riverbank. The reflection of a real tree in the water shows the roots pointed upwards and the branches growing downwards.  The Material world or the material tree in reality is a reflection of the original spiritual world, the Vaikuntha lokas, which have the same variegated life as we have here. The difference is that the spiritual world is made up of the spiritual or the yogamaya potency of the Lord and the material world is made up of the external or the Maayaa potency of the Lord. “go gochara jaha lagi mana jaai,  so saba maayaa jaananhu bhai” (Ramayan) meaning that “whatever one can think or perceive through all of his five senses and the mind is entirely made up of maayaa.” The cause or the medium of reflection is the “desire” of the living entity (this will be explained later). Here the roots  pointing  upwards means that its origin is the Supreme Lord or Brahma, the creator of this universe situated on the topmost planet. The branches spread out in all directions and grow downwards in the form of 14 planetary systems like bhuloke, bhuvaha-loke, svaloke, mahaloke, janaloke, tapaloke and satyaloke (brahmaloke). Together these constitute the upper planetary system. Then Earth is in the middle while atala-loke, vitalala-loke,sutala-loke, talaatala- loke, rasaatal-loke, mahaatala-loke and patala loke  constitute the lower planetary system. In these are situated the various living entities.

Krishna, the Supreme

Krishna, the Supreme, is the original cause of all causes. This is confirmed in the Katha Upanishad(2.2.13), Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam.

Chanting Hare Krishna

Whenever you are feeling anxious or depressed, chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra. It will calm your racing mind and make it steady. Just visualize Radha-Krishna in front of you, and chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The Maha Mantra

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

This sixteen worded mantra is the most powerful mantra in the universe. Why is it so powerful? Because it releases one from material bondage. This mantra has all the power and potency of all the vedic mantras of all the different vedic dieties combined. Whether one is after material desires, or wanting moksha(liberation), or is curious about God, or simply wants Shri Krishna's(God) mercy and bhakti, this mantra with suffice for all of those purposes and more.  It is the best mantra for this degraded age of Kali Yuga. I will be posting more about this wonderful mantra in the coming days. Stay tuned!

Lord Chaitanya

The Chaitanya Charitamrita is one of the three main biographies detailing the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Krishna as a devotee, and revivor of the Gaudiya Vaishnava culture. It was composed by Srila Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami (1496), in Bengali language, but also includes some Sanskrit verses within the composition. Twining together with the pastimes of Mahaprabhu's life are deep philosophical teachings detailing the process of Bhakti Yoga, with focus given to the chanting of Krishna's names, mainly the Hare Krishna mahamantra. It is accepted as a holy scripture by practitioners of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

In composing this great peotry-form literature, Srila Krishna Dasa Kaviraj Goswami also got many details from the diaries of Murari Gupta and Swarupa Damodara, both of whom were personal associates of Lord Chaitanya. The words chaitanya-charitamrta may be translated as "the character of the living force in immortality."

Sri Caitanya inaugurated a great social and spiritual movement in Bengal, Puri and in other places while He traveled South India after taking to the renounced order of life over five hundred years ago, which today the Hare Krishnas continue to spread throughout the world. While man in the West was sending shuttles outward in the physical universe, in India Sri Krishna Caitanya was diving inward, exhibiting unparalleled spiritual potency, and teaching the truths of about consciousness and transcendental reality. As a young boy he defeated renowned scholars and establishing his own school at the age of sixteen. Within his lifetime, Sri Caitanya transformed India in four respects: philosophically, by defeating the greatest philosophers of his day who were against vaishnava philosophy; socially, by opposing the blindly rigid caste system devoid of devotion; politically, by organizing India's first civil disobedience movement against repression by the Muslim government; and spiritually, by distributing to oeveryone nonsectarian pure love of God. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta presents Sri Caitanya as the Golden Avatar, the incarnation of Krishna in this age as a devotee.

Lord Caitanya instructed the mass of people in the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which explains that everything is simultaneously one and different. Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of Krishna in this age and that since the Lord is the absolute truth, there is no difference between His name, form, qualities and pastimes. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord through the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. As one practices this sound vibration, one progresses through three stages of spiritual development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage one may still want different types of material happiness and in the second stage one becomes purified of all material contamination. But when one is situated on the transcendental platform, one attains the most exalted position--the stage of pure love of God. Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest perfection of life.

In the 1970's His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translated and published a deluxe 17-volume English edition of the work through the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust with his own commentary which is in line with those of the previous spiritual masters of the Gaudiya parampara. This edition has been distributed in mass worldwide by ISKCON and is arguably the best-known and most influential English-language edition of Chaitanya Charitamrita today.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books. You can find the best marketplace for Krishna art, religious gifts from India, and Hare Krishna books at these sites for used Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Charitamrita, and Caitanya Caritamrita books. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Victor_Epand