Welcome to the KrishnaSoft's Electronic Newsletter.
This is the August 2001 issue entitled: "Only Lord Krsna Should be Served!"
WEB: http://www.krishnasoft.com; EMAIL: krishna@krishnasoft.com or vdayal@castle.net
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
This newsletter goes to over 1100 people who either have an interest in Vedic science and/or spiritually entertaining multimedia technology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
(1) Only Lord Krsna Should be Served!
(2) The Forest of Material Enjoyment, Part III
(3) Editorial Policy and Product List
1. ONLY LORD KRSNA SHOULD BE SERVED!
We are not the gross or subtle bodies but spirit souls-- servants of Lord Krsna. Because of identifying with the material and subtle bodies, our activities become those of a selfish nature. Some people want to serve their mental speculations that serving their nation is the highest goal. Some people think serving their families is the ultimate goal. Some people think serving their gross and subtle bodies is the ultimate goal in the form fruitive activities, making theories, or trying to achieve some mystic perfections. Some people think that there is no ultimate goal. However, all of these mental speculations come and go but the suffering goes on in the material world. The fact is serving Lord Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is the ultimate goal of life. This devotional service to Lord Krsna can stop our miseries and take us back to Godhead.
"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." (Bhag. 1.2.8)
"There are different occupational activities in terms of man's different conceptions of life. To the gross materialist who cannot see anything beyond the gross material body, there is nothing beyond the senses. Therefore his occupational activities are limited to concentrated and extended selfishness. Concentrated selfishness centers around the personal body-- this is generally seen amongst the lower animals. Extended selfishness is manifested in human society and centers around the family, society, community, nation and world with a view to gross bodily comfort. Above these gross materialists are the mental speculators who hover aloft in the mental spheres, and their occupational duties involve making poetry and philosophy or propagating some ism with the same aim of selfishness limited to the body and the mind. But above the body and mind is the dormant spirit soul whose absence from the body makes the whole range of bodily and mental selfishness completely null and void. But less intelligent people have no information of the needs of the spirit soul." (Bhag. 1.2.8)
"Because foolish people have no information of the soul and how it is beyond the purview of the body and mind, they are not satisfied in the performance of their occupational duties. The question of the satisfaction of the self is raised herein. The self is beyond the gross body and subtle mind. He is the potent active principle of the body and mind. Without knowing the need of the dormant soul, one cannot be happy simply with emolument of the body and mind. The body and the mind are but superfluous outer coverings of the spirit soul. The spirit soul's needs must be fulfilled. Simply by cleansing the cage of the bird, one does not satisfy the bird. One must actually know the needs of the bird himself." (Bhag. 1.2.8)
"There is a dormant affection for God within everyone; spiritual existence is manifested through the gross body and mind in the form of perverted affection for gross and subtle matter. Therefore we have to engage ourselves in occupational engagements that will evoke our divine consciousness. This is possible only by hearing and chanting the divine activities of the Supreme Lord, and any occupational activity which does not help one to achieve attachment for hearing and chanting the transcendental message of Godhead is said herein to be simply a waste of time. This is because other occupational duties (whatever ism they may belong to) cannot give liberation to the soul.... The hankering soul must be satisfied by the perfect scientific process of perfect devotional service." (Bhag. 1.2.8)
When we identify in terms of the gross and subtle bodies, we are materially contaminated and are affected by the material qualities such as envy, greed, illusion, etc. For example, if someone concocts his theory about the universe and someone else disagrees with it, the two people find it hard to get along with one another. If someone treats his own nation or society as more important than other nations or societies, it leads to conflicts between nations and societies when something goes wrong.
"In the revealed scriptures there are two nomenclatures for the householder's life. One is grhastha, and the other is grhamedhi. The grhasthas are those who live together with wife and children but live transcendentally for realizing the ultimate truth. The grhamedhis, however, are those who live only for the benefit of the family members, extended or centralized, and thus are envious of others. The word medhi indicates jealousy of others. The grhamedhis, being interested in family affairs only, are certainly envious of others. Therefore, one grhamedhi is not on good terms with another grhamedhi, and in the extended form, one community, society or nation is not on good terms with another counterpart of selfish interest. In the age of Kali, all the householders are jealous of one another because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth. They have many subject matters for hearing-- political, scientific, social, economic and so on-- but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. Factually, the human life is meant for making an ultimate solution to birth, death, old age and disease, but the grhamedhis, being illusioned by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. The ultimate solution to the problems of life is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16), the miseries of material existence-- birth, death, old age and disease-- are removed." (Bhag. 2.1.2)
Just by serving Lord Krsna, we can remove our miseries and be perfectly satisfied as well as satisfy everyone else. There is no need to make multiple goals of service to the family, nation, mind, body, etc. along with service to Lord Krsna since just by serving Lord Krsna all the other things are automatically satisfied. In other words, everything else either becomes dovetailed in the service of Lord Krsna or is rejected as unfavorable to the progress of devotional service which is the ultimate goal of life. Since those things which are unfavorable to devotional service will only lead to material miseries or delay the achievement of the goal, they need not be served. When we are fixed in the devotional service of Lord Krsna, we see everything else in relation to our devotional service which as we explained in previous newsletters is coming down from the Supreme Lord via disciplic succession.
"Everyone is created, constitutionally, for serving Krsna. Here the Gandharvas acknowledge that although the demigods may represent themselves as the Supreme, actually they are not supreme. Real supremacy belongs to Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam is the statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam: "Krsna is the only Supreme Lord." Worship of Krsna alone, therefore, includes worship of all the parts and parcels, just as watering the root of a tree also waters all the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers." (Bhag. 4.7.43)
"Krsna is the root of everything; therefore rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna (krsna-seva), means automatically serving all the demigods. Sometimes it is argued that karma and jnana require a mixture of bhakti in order to be successfully executed, and sometimes it is argued that bhakti also requires karma and jnana for its successful termination. The fact is, however, that although karma and jnana cannot be successful without bhakti, bhakti does not require the help of karma and jnana. Actually, as described by Srila Rupa Gosvami, anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam: pure devotional service should not be contaminated by the touch of karma and jnana. Modern society is involved in various types of philanthropic works, humanitarian works and so on, but people do not know that these activities will never be successful unless Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is brought into the center. One may ask what harm there is in worshiping Krsna and the different parts of His body, the demigods, and the answer is also given in this verse. The point is that by supplying food to the stomach, the indriyas, the senses, are automatically satisfied. If one tries to feed his eyes or ears independently, the result is only havoc. Simply by supplying food to the stomach, we satisfy all of the senses. It is neither necessary nor feasible to render separate service to the individual senses. The conclusion is that by serving Krsna (krsna-seva), everything is complete. As confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.62), krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya: if one is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is automatically accomplished." (Bhag. 4.31.14)
"Herein it is suggested that anyone who wants to make an end to these miseries of life, namely repetition of birth, death, disease, and old age, must take to this process of worshiping the Supreme Lord and not others, as it is also ultimately suggested in the Bhagavad-gita (18.65). If we at all want to end the cause of our conditioned life, we must take to the worship of Lord Sri Krsna, who is present in everyone's heart by His natural affection for all living beings, who are actually the parts and parcels of the Lord (Bg. 18.61)." (Bhag. 2.2.6)
As explained in our May 2001 newsletter, without Lord Krsna's sanction one cannot do anything this includes the demigods, humans of the material world, animals, plants, etc. And Lord Krsna can fulfill even our material desires although they are not helpful for achieving the ultimate goal of life:
akamah sarva-kamo va
moksa-kama udara-dhih
tivrena bhakti-yogena
yajeta purusam param
"A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead." (Bhag. 2.3.10)
"Udara-dhih means one who has a broader outlook. People with desires for material enjoyment worship small demigods, and such intelligence is condemned in the Bhagavad-gita (7.20) as hrta jnana, the intelligence of one who has lost his senses. One cannot obtain any result from demigods without getting sanction from the Supreme Lord. Therefore a person with a broader outlook can see that the ultimate authority is the Lord, even for material benefits. Under the circumstances, one with a broader outlook, even with the desire for material enjoyment or for liberation, should take to the worship of the Lord directly. And everyone, whether an akama or sakama or moksa-kama, should worship the Lord with great expedience. This implies that bhakti-yoga may be perfectly administered without any mixture of karma and jnana. As the unmixed sun ray is very forceful and is therefore called tivra, similarly unmixed bhakti-yoga of hearing, chanting, etc., may be performed by one and all regardless of inner motive." (Bhag. 2.3.10)
2. THE FOREST OF MATERIAL ENJOYMENT, PART III
"The descriptions of the Bhagavatam are so precise and accurate that whatever has been predicted in this great literature about five thousand years ago is now exactly happening." (Bhag. 1.5.13)
"The path of this material world is full of material miseries, and various troubles disturb the conditioned souls. Sometimes he loses, and sometimes he gains. In either case, the path is full of danger. Sometimes the conditioned soul is separated from his father by death or other circumstances. Leaving him aside he gradually becomes attached to others, such as his children. In this way, the conditioned soul is sometimes illusioned and afraid. Sometimes he cries loudly out of fear. Sometimes he is happy maintaining his family, and sometimes he is overjoyed and sings melodiously. In this way he becomes entangled and forgets his separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead since time immemorial. Thus he traverses the dangerous path of material existence, and on this path he is not at all happy. Those who are self-realized simply take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to get out of this dangerous material existence. Without accepting the devotional path, one cannot get out of the clutches of material existence. The conclusion is that no one can be happy in material life. One must take to Krsna consciousness." (Bhag. 5.14.38)
"Saintly persons, who are friends to all living entities, have a peaceful consciousness. They have controlled their senses and minds, and they easily attain the path of liberation, the path back to Godhead. Being unfortunate and attached to the miserable material conditions, a materialistic person cannot associate with them." (Bhag. 5.14.39)
"There were many great saintly kings who were very expert in performing sacrificial rituals and very competent in conquering other kingdoms, yet despite their power they could not attain the loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is because those great kings could not even conquer the false consciousness of "I am this body, and this is my property." Thus they simply created enmity with rival kings, fought with them and died without having discharged life's real mission." (Bhag. 5.14.40)
"The real mission of life for the conditioned soul is to reestablish the forgotten relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage in devotional service so that he may revive Krsna consciousness after giving up the body. One doesn't have to give up his occupation as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra or whatever. In any position, while discharging his prescribed duty, one can develop Krsna consciousness simply by associating with devotees who are representatives of Krsna and who can teach this science. Regretfully, the big politicians and leaders in the material world simply create enmity and are not interested in spiritual advancement. Material advancement may be very pleasing to an ordinary man, but ultimately he is defeated because he identifies himself with the material body and considers everything related to it to be his property. This is ignorance. Actually nothing belongs to him, not even the body. By one's karma, one gets a particular body, and if he does not utilize his body to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all his activities are frustrated. The real purpose of life is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.13):
atah pumbhir dvija-srestha
varnasrama-vibhagasah
svanusthitasya dharmasya
samsiddhir hari-tosanam
"It really doesn't matter what activity a man engages in. If he can simply satisfy the Supreme Lord, his life is successful." (Bhag. 5.14.40)
As we explained in the July 2001 newsletter, Lord Krsna is only satisfied by our loving service. He is not in need of anything since He Himself is the source of everything including the eternal spiritual world.
[See multimedia Krsna CDROM for a demonstration of Lord Krsna being the source of everything.]
3. EDITORIAL POLICY AND PRODUCT LIST
"One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Krsna consciousness movement, *ALL* our activities are concentrated upon distributing Krsna literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Krsna literature so that in the future he also may become a devotee.... By fully concentrating on distributing books for Krsna, one is fully absorbed in Krsna."
Our newsletters are geared to show you the benefits of the instructions contained in the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada so you can judge for yourself the value of these books and obtain them in book or CDROM format. We also have video demos of the Gita CDROM and Bhagavatam CDROM available for those without computers or those who want to get a glimpse into what is on the CDROM.
Krishna Software Inc. has produced some multimedia CDROMs and all the details and reviews of these CDROMs can be found at our website http://www.krishnasoft.com. Here is our current list of products:
(a) Multimedia Bhagavad-gita As It Is CD: Lord Krsna's eternal instructions to Arjuna and the rest of the world about Isvara (Supreme Lord), jiva (the soul), karma (activities), kala (time), and prakrti (nature). This is a 30-hour audio-visual CDROM. Also available with Hindi translations.
(b) Multimedia Srimad-Bhagavatam CD: An encyclopedia on the science of Krsna consciousness. This CDROM deals in detail with bhakti-yoga and covers various subjects-- the creation of the universe, Vedic astronomy, transmigration, birth-death, etc. This is about 35 hours of audio-visual presentations.
(c) Multimedia Krsna CD w/Vedic Astronomy: This is a 51-hour audio-visual presentation of the Krsna book and a Vedic Astronomy simulation based on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. All on a single CDROM. Free sample demo downloadable from our website.
(d) Multilingual Word Processor CD [version 4.00]: Type in diacritics, Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Assamese without knowing the alphabet. This is for those who want to write articles using multiple languages. Free demo downloadable from our website.
All of the above software was tested on various Intel 486 and Pentium processors running Windows 3.1, Windows '95, Windows '98, Windows Me, and Windows NT (client and server).
Latest information and secure ordering is available at our web site: http://www.krishnasoft.com. Any upgrades can be downloaded from this website as well.
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End of Newsletter- written and edited by KSI staff; (c) 1998-2001 Krishna Software Inc.
Our staff consists of: Hari Rama Dasa, Virender Dayal, Rajni Dayal, and volunteers.
Any words appearing in CAPS in this newsletter is the editor's emphasis of a particular point.
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All glories to Lord Sri Krsna and His transcendental potencies! All glories to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna!