The Ecstatic Pandharpur Yatra!

Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath (ISKCON Pandharpur)

---

December 18, 2007.

So far, I have received two enquiries from the readers of this particular article regarding directions for staying in Pandharpur. So, I thought I should mention that information on this page itself. For anyone who is looking for a place to stay in Pandharpur, I recommend the Sri Sri Radha Pandharinath Temple - the ISKCON temple in Pandharpur). For bookings, kindly call the following number : (India) 02186-267242/266. In case this doesnt work out, please email me at toleyabhijit at yahoo dot com. Thank you for engaging me in Lord Vitthal's service in this way.

---

May 19-20 (Sat-Sun), 2007

Dear All,

After an ecstatic Dehu Yatra a couple of months ago, it was time for another ecstatic Yatra, this time to the holy Dham of Pandharpur! I was looking forward to it so much. After coming to Krishna Consciousness, there are now so many activities and events to look forward to. Life has become a continuous sequence of blissful activities in the service to Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Yes, definitely there are austerities along the way, but as long as I remember that nothing is too big a price to pay for attaining Love of God, I am alright.

We started from the Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari temple at around 0800. We were around 22. I asked H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu if 22 is a good number for the trip. And he said "Any number is good for a trip to Pandharpur! Only the most fortunate can go to Pandharpur and that too in the Adhika Maas (also known as the Purushottam Maas)". I was quite thrilled with his answer. I suddenly realised that this was more than just a mundane picnic. We were going to one of the holiest places on earth.. a place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Sri Vitthala had enacted one of His eternal pastimes! And the mood for the rest of my trip was set.

Pandharpur is about 250 kms from Pune. We stopped along the way for an hour for snacks. Well, it was more than lunch for me! I also met some wonderful devotees during that break. Ajay Chandak Prabhu, Nishant Prabhu, and Dheeraj Prabhu. We talked a lot (especially Nishant Prabhu and I) most of the trip. Nishant Prabhu was kind enough to listen to whatever I was speaking :-) In the bus we started singin Kirtans and Bhajans with each one leading successively. The star of the show was without doubt dear sweet Piyush Prabhu who is the most amazingly enthusiastic devotee I have known. He is always jolly and always serving. I pray that I can also develop such a service attitude that he has. Not only is he a wonderful devotee, he is a wonderful singer too and he sings from his heaert! He captivatesd all of us by his sweet and melodious Kirtan where one could feel the intensity with which he was calling out to the Lord.

We reached the holy Dham of Pandharpur at around 1500. The first thing I did after alighting the bus was offer my full obeisances to this holy land whose each dust particle I considered to be Chitamani. Then I took some of the dust and put it one my head. I was feeling so so blissful! When I had first time come in touch with devotees, I had said to myself "I'll never offer such complete obeisances to anyone".. Well, by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada through devotees like GaurHari Prabhu and Amol Katkar Prabhu, I now love to offer obeisances to everything related to Krishna. What unimaginable mercy! What would I do without dearest Srila Prabhupada...

It is totally different to be in a Dham. And especially when you are in an ISKCON temple under the protection of Srila Prabhupada. Yes! The first step I took in the land of Pandharpur was inside the simple and picturesque and serene premises of the Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple (ISKCON Pandharpur)! Yes, Srila Prabhupada is there! And where he is present, there is Krishna present. Because dearest Srila Prabhupada carries Krishna in his heart.

The temple had made very nice arrangements for us all. We had 5 rooms in total. The room in which I spent some time directly faced the holy river Bhima. It is known in Pandharpur as the Chandrabhaga (the crescent of the moon) because of the path is traverses. It was such a beautiful site. From my room I could see the river running across from left to right. On the
opposite bank the pilirims were taking a bath in the river. One can easily experience a certain kind of serenity in the Dham. No one can explain it to you and you cannot explain it to anyone else :-) You have to experience it yourself. In fact, the Dham is as good as the Spiritual World...

The Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath temple is a relatively new temple. Only a few Brahmacharis stay there. The deities are gorgeous. I cant explain thier beauty. The temple is especially a good place for Sadhana. It is situated amidst fields on one side and the Chandrabhaga on another. There are no multistory buildings seen anywhere and thus the breeze is always flowing carrying a certain freshness in it that sweeps away all weariness from a tired man.

Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple, ISKCON Pandharpur

After we had Prasadam at around 1530, we went to have a dip in the holy river. We went to the otehr side on a boat though the river was only waist high all the way :-) But it was fun! We were in the river for about an hour I guess... When on such transcendental picnics, I do not keep track of time. I just like to soak in the atmosphere and think of what it means to be in the place where the Supreme personality of Godhead had come once! Its awesome once we get to think about it...

In the evening we went to a nearby place alled Gopalpur where there is a nice temple of Lord Gopal. We were harassed a bit by the pujaris there but we were in no mood to let that spoil our mood :-) A discussion ensued about the behavior of such pujaris and finally H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu resolved it all by giving the final judgement : "If one really wants to serve the Lord, then he/she must use his/her money appropriately by helping in spreading the teachings of Srila Prabhupada." That answer satisfied my heart to the fullest!

Well, thats not the end of the day! At night we slept on the terrace! And boy, what a night it was. So many starts twinkling is the sky. Such a strong and cool breeze intoxicating us with its playful behavior. And I was especially in a blissful ecstatic mood. I love to travel and I love to sleep outdoors and I love to be in natural surroundings... and getting all of this combined with the association of devotees! What else can anyone want in life? H. G. RamRati Prabhu and Nishant Prabhu and I were discussing Prabhupada pastimes and Nishant Prabhu told me it was the best night of his life!

We all got up at around 0330 and got ready around 0500. There was some water problem and so on but who cares for so-called inconveniences when one is in th eecstacy of bieng in a Dham? Especially in the associtation of most enthusiastic devotees like Piyush Prabhu, one seldom feels inconvenienced. Some of us attended the Mangal Arati.

We reached the main Sri Sri Vitthal Rukhmini Temple of Pandharpur around 0630 I think. I dont remember. We were prepared to wait for 3-4 hours in the queue to get Darshan. But fortunately there was an option of giving some Rs 125 per head for a quicker Darshan. Obviously we opted for that. We were the most fortunate people in the whole creation because we touched the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that day. It is a very very rare opportunity. I cant possibly describe the magnitude of this good fortune that we had..

While coming back, we visited a place known as Vishnupad where the lotus footprints of Lord BalGopal, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Krishna in His three-fole bending form are imprinted. That place is right on the bank of teh Chandrabhaga. We took a boat thre too and paid a visit to the temple of Naradji which is in the middle of the river. It is inside water for 6 months of the year.. At Vishnupad, Piyush Prabhu led another sweet and melodious Kirtan.

Piyush Prabhu leading a melodious Kirtan
L to R : H. G. ShyamRas Prabhu, H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu

After coming back to Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple, we had some Prasadam and then we all sat together near the GoShala. Ya, there is a GoShala too! It was very special to be with the cows who were calmly relaxing on the ground and having a nice time :-) The children were especially thrilled to be around the cows and bulls and were happily feeding them some fodder and the cows were reciprocating nicely by accepting it.

ISKCON Pandharpur Go-Shala

H. G. JaiNarsimha Prabhu read out the pastimes associated with Pandharpur, especially those regarding Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu. That day also happened to be the Vyasa Puja of H. H. Indradyumna Swami Maharaj! And we had the great good fourtune of having H. G. RamRati Prabhu and his good wofe H. G. KamalShree MAtaji with us. They shared their loving rememberances of H. H. Indradyumna Maharaj and we were all thrilled and glad to hear them.

There is so much to write but all of it cant be put on paper. So many streams of thought crossed my mind and I was planning to write all of them.. but maybe some other time in some other context. Let this article be just an advertisement of the Pandharpur Dham :-) I urge you all to please visit Pandharpur and experience the experience yourself :-)

Sri Sri Vitthala Rukhmini in Sri Sri Radha PandhariNath Temple Pandharpur

Yours in the service of Krishna,
Abhijit.

What Is Morality?

Dear All,

Even the most degraded person is careful that at least externally he acts in a "moral" way. The most vicious criminal who is full of anger against humanity, when amongst people will act very morally, i.e. he will externally suppress his lust, greed, anger, inclination to hurt others and so on. Moreover, you would have noticed that even a great liar feels offended when someone calls him a liar. The point I want to make is that morality is still considered even today in the dark age of Kali a good quality to exhibit. Meat eaters boldly accept that they eat meat, drinkers boldly admit that they drink, and even lustful people boldly declare that womanizing is a stylish thing to do! But, a liar will never say (at least as of today) that he is a liar! Afterall, people's opinion of his morality is at stake. He is indulging in all other sinful activities, but thats alrigtht as far as he is still considered moral by social standards!

In short, morality is close to people's hearts.

But, what is morality?

According to dictionary.com:

- conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.
- The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.
- concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct.

If one really studies these definitions, they are quite vague. They dont really define morality because they do not define what is "right" and what is "wrong". Unless there is a common definition of right and wrong, where is the question of the definition of morality?

Something vague like "being good and doing good" does not constitute a definition. What is good for me might not be good for someone else and what is bad for me might not be bad for someone else. Infact, my right could be wrong for others and vice versa! So, how can everyone be moral in such a setting? Eating meat is immoral and wrong for some and not wrong for others. Illicit sex (sex before marriage) is immoral for some but nothing to worry about for some (especially westerners). So then who is moral and who is not moral? If I change my country from India to USA, does my illicit sex stop being immoral? Does morality depend on national boundaries?

It is impossible to be moral unless one first defines morality precisely and everyone agrees to that definition. Therefore, I challenge the great and pompous exponents of morality to kindly define morality such that everyone agrees to that definition.

According the the ancient flawless Vedic wisdom, morality (as everything else) must always be considered in relation to God. The codes of right and wrong are given by God. Whatever pleases God is moral and whatever doesnt please Him is immoral. Who can deny this definition. It is simple and it is just perfect! There is no confusion. God instructs us that "to serve Him is the highest morality". To please Him is the highest morality. The highest morality is not to please other imperfect living entities (whose definition of good is self-centered), but to please the Supreme Living Being whose definition of good is all encompassing. If He is pleased, so are everybody else. That is God!

With this background, I would like to come to another important point. With this definition of morality in mind, we can clearly see that God Himself is outside the codes of morality. Why? Because He does not have to please anyone else but Himself. That is God. The Supreme Enjoyer and the Supremely Independent. However, He is so merciful that anyone who just starts serving Him with love and devotion at once comes under the shelter of the Infallible Supreme Personality Of Godhead! What better "good" can there be than coming under the protection and loving care of the Supreme Protector? And then, what else can be a higher morality than serving and pleasing the Supreme Good?

Once seen in this light, the extraordinary activities of God can be appreciated even more! However, if one tries to fit God inside our vague definitions of morality, we will never understand God and His inconceivable and extraordinary activities. God is outside the system of laws created by insignificant human beings like us. In fact, as I have already said, the goal of all laws must be to please Him, and not to consider Him subordinate to the laws. Unless one comes to this basic understanding and stops judging God by ones tiny intelligence, one will continue questioning the extra-ordinary activities of God and thus commit offenses at His lotus feet.

Therefore, I implore everyone to please consider the extraordinary position of God and stop judging His activities according to ones limited intelligence. Instead, lets approach a bonafide Spiritual Master and render loving service to him. Ask questions to him submissively and gradually the splendour of God will be revealed to us. We will start appreciating how much God loves us all. And then we will start understanding that God does some activities just for the pleasure and protection of His devotees no matter what mundane moralists think of these activities. But we must never even dream of imitiating those extraordinary activities because we are not supremely independent, but He is!

Thanking You,
Abhijit.

The Unfortunate Non-Changers!

Dear All,

Suppose I am following a certain way of life. And someone comes and says that my way of life is wrong, or that it could be improved. Now, what should I do? What should be my reaction to this? Should I say a bit agitatedly "Well, I live life this way, you may live life some other way. Why do you want to impose upon me your way?" Or should my reaction be "OK. Let me see what you have to say, and then I will think about it and compare it with my way of life and see if it makes sense to me.. Thanks."

What a stark difference in the two approaches. The first betrays my lack of motivation to improve my life. It also betrays that I dont really know why I am living a certain way of life. What is the goal of my life and so on.. If I were very clear about why I am following a certain way of life, and what I want to achieve by doing so, then when presented with an alternative, I will certainly have something to compare it with. I certainly wont say that you do your thing and I'll do mine. Instead, I will try to understand the goal of the alternative way of life. Then I'll compare it with my current goal of life and then come to a conclusion whether the alternative path is better or not.

Makes sense?

I get flabbergasted when people just say "well, there are different ways to live life.... " and some such philosophical sounding but vague concepts.. Agreed that there are different ways of living life, but isnt one way better than the other? Isnt leading a virtuous life better than leading a criminal life? Well, this is a gross example because it compares two extremes, but this is just to bring forth the point that one way of life can definitely be better than another!

And shouldnt one be eager to lead a better way of life?

Another quite illogical argument I have to face when speaking to people who dont really want to make any change in their lifestyle (because it will disrupt their daily routine of getting up late, rushing to a newspaper, drinking a couple of cups of tea and so on...), is that "Abhijit, you say your philosophy is better than the others! How can you say that? How can you be so close-minded?"

I find this response so absurd and illogical that I cant possible refute it with logic :-) Because ya, I might say that this is the best way to live life, but as long as I am justifying every statement I make with sound logic, how can anyone say that it is "close-minded"? Its quite a no-win situation when talking to people who cant talk logically.

The conclusion I have come to with such people is that they do not want to change their lifestyle even if it is recommended by the great saints. They say it is impractical though there are thousands of live examples in front of their eyes. And the reason is that these people are attached to their sense enjoyment so much that they cant give it up even if there is a promise of wonderful things. In fact, they say that they are already following some way of life, but if one looks a little closely, one can see that they are not following even that path seriously!

What an unfortunate situation? Who can help these miserable people if they do not want to be helped? Who can wake up a person feigning that he is asleep?

May God be merciful upon such unfortunate souls.

Abhijit.

Is Bhakti Predestined?

Dear All,

I had asked the following question to His Holiness Romapada Swami, and he has kindly responded. I have pasted his response below.

Question:

Was it destined when I was born that I would one day become associated with ISKCON and do all these spiritual activities? If yes, then why do we preach? Won't people destined to join ISKCON join it, and those not destined to join ISKCON not join it? If no, then does it mean that joining ISKCON is outside the influence of destiny?

Answer:

Bhakti is supreme, causeless and fully independent - no material cause can either induce or impede bhakti from appearing in one's heart. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarthi Thakura analyses this as follows: if material pious deeds, suffering, blind fortune or any such material condition could guarantee or give rise to bhakti, then that material cause would be considered more powerful than bhakti - this is contradictory and cannot be true.

It is therefore understood that bhakti is attained only by the mercy of bhaktas, who carry pure devotion for Krishna in their heart. In other words, bhakti (present in the heart of devotees) is the cause of bhakti.

Lord Caitanya taught that a rare and fortunate soul achieves the seed of bhakti through the mercy of a pure devotee.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva,
guru-krishna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service." (Cc Madhya 19.151)

Devotional service is thus not predestined. It is by the causeless mercy of devotees that one attains the opportunity for pure devotional service and to revive one's forgotten relationship with the Supreme Lord. Therefore the pure devotees of the Lord move here and there out of great compassion, taking great troubles to create opportunities for people in general to render devotional service.

Even upon receiving the mercy of the devotees, and getting the seed of this devotional creeper (bhakti-lata-bija), it is the choice of the living entity to take up the process of devotion. In other words, it is a matter of individual freewill. At every point, the conditioned living entity has full freedom of choice to turn his misdirected attention back to the Supreme Lord or not - otherwise there would be no meaning to the term freewill at all. (We have previously discussed freewill and predestination at some length - please see Digest 4 and Digest 12 Q 117)

Thus, it is only by the causeless mercy of devotees, when received and accepted by a conditioned living entity by proper use of their freewill, results in their taking up pure devotional service.

It is sometimes seen that certain individuals take to the process of devotional service very quickly and effortlessly, upon coming in contact with devotees - just like dry wood catching fire. In such cases, it can be understood that they are continuing or resuming their spiritual progress from a previous life. One who takes up the path of spiritual realization, or devotional service, but does not achieve complete success in this lifetime is given a further chance in the next life - this is confirmed by Krishna in BG 6.41-44. The Lord arranges in the lives of such persons an environment or an opportunity that is conducive to once again take up the process from where they left. But even in such a case, it is not quite a matter of predestination - the individual still has the full freedom to choose or reject the opportunity given to them, to misuse or to properly utilize it.

Also, Krishna is fully independent, and so is Bhaktidevi - thus, it cannot be expected that bhakti is obliged to appear because of one's previous devotional practices. Srila Prabhupada explains how the transcendental system of devotional service is fully independent -- it may or may not develop in a particular person even after he undergoes all the detailed formulas. Similarly, the association of devotees is also free from material causes. One may be fortunate to have it, or one may not have it even after thousands of endeavors. Thus, freedom is the main pivot in all spheres of devotional service. (Cf. SB 1.6.37 p) By sincerely surrendering to the Lord through the transparent medium of the spiritual master, we can hope to attract His causeless mercy.

Sincerely In Search Of Truth!

Dear All,

I have a very intense desire to know the Truth. I am ready to take it even if it is painful to digest. I wont say that I am not hurt by pain, but I will surely say that I would welcome that pain if that’s what is required to know the truth. All my childhood life, I had been subconsciously searching out for the truth and after that in my youthhood, I have been very consciously searching out for the Truth. I just have to know the Truth! Perhaps such a quest is termed as philosophical, but I don’t really care what it is termed as by others. All I know is “I want to know the Truth”.

With this background, perhaps my readers can now appreciate why I painstakingly right logical arguments in a lot of articles. However, I would like to add that understanding God is by definition of God, beyond logic. This statement suddenly seems to deflate all the high sounding things I have written in the first para.. but if you think deep enough, it just gets us back to the question “am I ready to accept the truth even though it doesn’t make sense to me at this moment?” Note that we are talking about truth, that which exists without any other support. Truth is truth whether one likes it or not.

However, it also does not mean that one cannot understand anything about God. Saying that it is beyond logic does not mean that there are no other means. The other means we will come to later once there is an honest acceptance of the limitations of logic to understand or express something beyond its domain. Any elementary logician will accept that. One cannot prove properties on fractions in a logical system that defines only integers and transformations on them. Similarly, one cannot prove properties of the inconceivable potencies of God with a logical system that only defines conceivable things and their conceivable transformations. Unless one accepts the limitations of contemporary scientific logic, how can one wholeheartedly focus on a superior logic that explains God quite easily. Why? Because that logic is based on the axiom that God exists and has inconceivable qualities!

No logician can logically argue against an axiomatic system for the simple reason that all practical logical systems are axiomatic. The number theory (who has not heard about it?) is based on the undefined axiom of the point. So, does that mean arithmetic is not a valid truth? In fact, throughout the (quite short) history of modern science, the observations have come first, the hypothesis next, and then the logical systems that were built around the observations so as to mathematically model the perceivable observations. And remember, these logical systems are all based on unverifiable or undefined assumptions which are called axioms!

Modern science accepts (should accept) a theory (or a logical system) only when that theory explains all observable events in that particular domain. Even if the theory is based on axioms (which it always is), as long as it can explain all observations in the particular domain, that theory has some merit. However, as soon as the theory falls short in explaining an event in that domain, the theory is no longer valid and has to be either totally rejected or modified to incorporate the new observation while still able to retain the other observations in its provables. A well known example of how well established logical and mathematical systems can prove ineffective in certain circumstances is how the laws of linear geometry don’t apply in curved spaces. For example, in curved spaces, parallel lines can meet!

But truth, by definition, is unchangeable.

What this means is that a theory constructed by a human being does not represent the truth. It represents a mathmatization (or philosophization) of the observations so far in a limited domain of human perception. And what to speak of the realm of the imperceptible? No scientist or philosopher can claim that his theory or philosophy is the last word in realizing the truth. Any theory or philosophy has to always by definition lag the truth!

This is what I want to establish by this article. That a theory or a system of logic coming out of the human brain can never claim that it is perfect. In fact such a theory will kill the modern understanding of scientific research! How will scientists earn a living if the perfect scientific theory is discovered? Perhaps this is one of the concerns of modern scientists in not accepting the perfect science of God as it is given by the spiritual masters (scientists) of the ancient times. The truth never changes and thus the science given by them is equally valid even today and will always be valid in the future eternally.

So then, is scientific research or philosophical research a waste of time? Yes and No. Yes, if one is concocting a hypothesis based on observations made by undoubtedly limited and imperfect senses, and then constructing a scientific theory or philosophy around it just to satisfy ones intellectual hankering and/or perhaps to get some fame. No, if the scientific research and philosophical understanding is directed towards trying to better understand the already well known and universally accepted Absolute Truth – The Supreme Personality of Godhead!

Having said this, I want to assert that the intent of this particular article is not to prove that God exists or to get into an argument with those who believe otherwise. As I have already mentioned clearly earlier in this article, any theory, whether proposing the existence of God or proposing His non-existence, coming from the limited human intellect, is bound to be imperfect. However, the truth remains irrespective of whether we have a theory that supports it or not. And the human endeavor should be to find out what it is!

Once reaching this mutual understanding that there in no evidence that any theory coming from human intellect can possibly explain all that exists, all the parties involved will be forced to think of alternative ways to find out the truth. This I am saying assuming that all parties are really interested in the truth and not in personal fame and/or in gratifying their own intellectual hankerings.

So, what is the way to get perfect knowledge? The Bhagavad Gita comes to our rescue! Just ask someone who knows it, a bona fide spiritual master, because he has seen the truth! He has seen it because he followed the instructions of his own spiritual master. And so on.. And the original spiritual master is? Yes, you guessed it – God! In the absence of any evidence contrary to this, one has no choice but to accept this method. It saves time too! For a person eager to know the Truth, this is exactly the method. If one carefully analyses this system of ways and means and the ultimate goal (achieving love of God), and carefully studies under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, then that person will no doubt realize that this system is more robust than any that has ever been built by modern science. He will realize that this is as scientific (or even more so) than the so called scientific theories of modern science.

But, that initial step forward is required. One has to start following the process to appreciate the system and the philosophy. Any sincere seeker of the truth will take this step, but not those who are not really looking for the truth.

Let me conclude with this : I am not against science. But I am also very much eager to know the truth. And I rather take it from a source that has never got amended (Vedic literature) as instructed by a pure saintly person than from a source that has always proven to be inadequate (modern science with its innumerable amendments) practiced by people full of desires for personal fame and glory and who would not hesitate to change their experimental observations just to prove a theory that they have proposed.

Thank you,
Abhijit.

Miracles? or Reciprocations?

Dear All,

Most of the people take to some kind of faith after they experience some kind of miracle. Either their disease (which the doctors couldn't heal) got cured by some Baba, or their dwindling business started flourishing by worshipping some demigod, and so on.. However, because of such a propensity of the people to invest their faith in people exhibiting so-called miracles, the people are very much prone to being being cheated by cheaters who can somehow show others that they have some miraculous powers, even though they might not have any.

The points I want to make in this article is: there is a difference in the way devotees of God look upon so-called miracles, and the way the worshippers of other so-called powerful personalities look upon miracles.

Note that how I have qualified the miracles and other powerful personalities by the word "so-called". Why have I done that? First lets talk about the other powerful personalities. Where are they getting their power from? From God! Therefore, actually they are not powerful, but the Supreme Powerful God has given them their powers.

Coming to the so-called miracles. Well, typically a miracle is a feat that is impossible for anyone to perform, but if someone actually performs that feat, then that feat is called a miracle. But what is impossible for the Supreme Lord to perform? He can do everything and anything effortlessly! So then, what is miraculous about His activities?

The worshippers of other personalities are quite evidently and unfortunately unaware of the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, they worship someone who can temporarily relieve them from some material miseries. Such is the ignorance of their followers and such is the ignorance (or cunningness) of the so-called miracle man, that the followers dont appreciate the temporary nature of the material world and dont aspire for attaining the eternal spiritual world. So much are they seeped in the bodily conception of life, that they think getting relieved from bodily and mental pains is the goal of life and whoever is providing that is God!

What misfortune! What a waste of human life! What blatant disregard for the timeless wisdom of the scriptures!

It is for this reason that Srila Prabhupada never recommended that preaching be done on the basis of the so-called miraculous reciprocations of the Supreme Lord Krishna and His devotees. He said that teaching through miracles is for the less intelligent class of people. Because, if preached that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He has done so many so-called miraculous feats, the followers of the other so-called miracle personalities will claim that their worshipable is also God! And this is an offense at the lotus feet of Krishna!

Some ugly looking person, who just fixes some material problems like body ache, or who produces some ash or gold, or who doesnt refer to scriptures for his teachings, who doesnt condemn meat eating, smoking, drinking, illicit sex, gambling etc. strongly, ... saying that such a person is God is a great offense at the lotus feet of the most beautiful Lord Sri ShyamSundar who is unlimitedly full of all opulences eternally.

However, the devotees do constantly discuss and relish the sweet reciprocations of the Supreme Lord with His devotees. They discuss how He lifted the huge Gowardhan Hill on the tip of the little finger of His left hand! How he danced on the hoods of the venomous serpent Kaliya! How He killed so many huge demons! How He made the Sun rise again from the west after it had set! And there are unlimited glories of the Supreme Lord! But the devotee doesent think these are miracles. The Lord is all powerful, He can do anything effortlessly. But what the devotee rejoices in is how the Supreme Lord reciprocated with His devotees! How sweet is that exchange. How He always protects them..

And when the Lord reciprocates with us, we get ecstatic. Any sincere devotee can easily feel the presence of the Lord in his life. Lot of devotees have had such reciprocal dealings with the Lord. Such dealings are not miracles as they might seem to the ordinary people. For example, if Lord Narsimha of Mayapur Dham cures the chickenpox of a devotee in one day (whereas the doctors had told it would take 21 days), then to the ordinary non-devotee, this would seem the same as some other so-called miracle person curing the diseases of his followers.. but there is a gulf of difference!

The devotee sees this as a loving reciprocation from the Lord and gets ecstatic in joy! That the Lord has lovingly and personally reciprocated with him! What unimaginable mercy! The devotee's happiness is not because his material condition has improved, but because the Supreme Lord has reciprocated with him! However, a non-devotee follower of the so-called miracle person sees this as merely a miracle and is happy because his material condition has improved! Thats the main thing he is concerned about! If the desired material result is not obtained, he will stop worshipping that particular personality..

Just to put things into perspective... there is no comparison between the so-called power of the other personalities and the power of God! The Lord creates and destroys unlimited universes in His one breath! Need I say more?

How can anyone in his right senses neglect the service to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna who are the Supremely independent divine couple, and worship the insignificant so-called powerful personalities of this mortal world?

Abhijit.

Refuting Atheistic Scientists By Common Sense

Dear All,

No matter how strongly one puts forward atheistic arguments, even the staunchest atheist cannot claim that there is proof that there is no God. In fact, they will easily agree that their claim cannot be proved. Thus, atheism is also a kind of faith without strong justification. The athiests very frequently claim that theism is just a baseless faith.. but they conveniently forget, that so is atheism!

Ofcourse, there are lot of atheists trying to give a lot of scientific basis to their claims. However, the whole theological literature already exists to give the scientific understanding of God! The prime example is the Bhagavad Gita.

If one comes across a scientist who is very excitedly claiming that there is no God, then there is no need to get agitated. Because there have been scientists like Newton and Einstein (do we need bigger names?) who believed in God. And even today there are many scientists who believe in God.

The point is, that there is no point in getting disturbed about such scientific upheavals. Scientists will be the first to agree that science has limitations. Also, scientists will have to accept that gross mistakes have been made by scientists throughout history even about material things. So, no thoughtful neutral person will blindly believe what scientists say about God.

All this takes us back to the most important question : Does God exist? :-) How do we know the answer?

Just follow the scriptures as explained by great spiritual authorities, whose lives, if one studies, will leave no doubts in our minds that a supremely beautiful and powerful person, God, exists. The great saints carry Him in their hearts and mercifully tell others about Him too!

Only a foolish person who is not concerned about his own well-being will reject the teachings of such saints (who have proved the existence of God by their behavior), and will entangle himself/herself in the (historically proven) erroneous judgements of scientists on God.

Abhijit.