Welcome to the KrishnaSoft's Electronic Newsletter.
This is the September 2001 issue entitled: "Krsna Consciousness is Conservative and Liberal!"
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Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
(1) Krsna Consciousness is Conservative and Liberal!
(2) Srimad-Bhagavatam is Completely Transcendental, Part I
(3) Editorial Policy and Product List
1. KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS IS CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL!
In our July 2001 newsletter, we described how pure devotees can dovetail things in service to Lord Krsna and thus purify those things. One might then think that since so many pure devotees and incarnations of Lord Krsna have visited the earth, the entire planet should now be spiritualized. However, since every living entity has independence to act in service to Lord Krsna or for his own satisfaction, a materially contaminated living entity can create an unholy atmosphere even in a holy atmosphere:
"So by their actions the pure devotees of the Lord can render any place into a place of pilgrimage, and the holy places are worth the name only on their account. Such pure devotees are able to rectify the polluted atmosphere of any place, and what to speak of a holy place rendered unholy by the questionable actions of interested persons who try to adopt a professional life at the cost of the reputation of a holy place." (Bhag. 1.13.10)
"When the mind is materialistic, or absorbed in material contact, it acts for material advancement of knowledge, destructively ending in discovery of nuclear weapons. But when the mind acts under spiritual urge, it acts wonderfully for going back home, back to Godhead, for life in complete bliss and eternity. Therefore the mind has to be manipulated by good and unalloyed intelligence. Perfect intelligence is to render service unto the Lord." (Bhag. 2.2.16)
"Now a question arises: If the Lord is sitting in the hearts of nondevotees, why are they not moved to become devotees? It may be answered that the stubborn nondevotees are like the barren land or alkaline field, where no agricultural activities can be successful. As part and parcel of the Lord, every individual living entity has a minute quantity of independence, and by misuse of this minute independence, the nondevotees commit offense after offense, to both the Lord and His pure devotees engaged in missionary work. As a result of such acts, they become as barren as an alkaline field, where there is no strength to produce." (Bhag. 3.9.12)
As we explained in our August 2001 newsletter, this service should be rendered only to Lord Krsna. One has to be conservative so that nothing is done outside of the service of Lord Krsna. In other words, one should not compromise his devotional service by engaging in non-devotional activities:
"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)
"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)
Every living entity's constitutional position is to serve. Either the living entity has to serve under the modes of material nature or in the transcendental service of the Lord.
"The svabhavika, or one's natural tendency, is the most important factor in action. One's natural tendency is to serve because a living entity is an eternal servant of God. The living entity wants to serve, but because of his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Lord, he serves under the modes of material nature and manufactures various modes of service, such as socialism, humanitarianism and altruism." (Bhag. 6.1.53)
"Not a single living entity can remain unengaged even for a moment. One must act by his natural tendency according to the three modes of material nature because this natural tendency forcibly makes him work in a particular way." (Bhag. 6.1.53)
"The pure devotee is not for a moment unengaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. Execution of the Lord's service is the main occupation of the pure devotee. Uddhava's separation from the Lord was unbearable, and therefore he started to Badarikasrama in obedience to the Lord's order because the order of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical. As long as one is engaged in the execution of the order of the Lord, there is no factual separation from Him." (Bhag. 3.4.21)
It may seem like a difficult thing and extremely conservative that the goal is to stick to one's devotional service 100% of the time. What will happen to one's family? How will one maintain himself? It is made easier by dovetailing things in the the service of the Lord. One need not renounce everything that one has.
"Those who are engaged in auspicious activities in devotional service certainly understand that the ultimate enjoyer or beneficiary of all activities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus when one acts, he offers the results to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and passes life always engaged in the topics of the Lord. Even though such a person may be participating in family life, he is not affected by the results of his actions." (Bhag. 4.30.19)
"Generally a person living in a family becomes overly attached to fruitive activity. In other words, he tries to enjoy the results of his activities. A devotee, however, knows that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer and the supreme proprietor (bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram). Consequently, the devotee does not consider himself the proprietor of any occupation. The devotee always thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the proprietor; therefore the results of his business are offered to the Supreme Lord. One who thus lives in the material world with his family and children never becomes affected by the contaminations of the material world." (Bhag. 4.30.19)
"If one engages himself in the service of the Lord through his life, wealth, words, intelligence and everything he possesses, he will always be liberated in any condition. Such a person is called a jivan-mukta, one who is liberated during this lifetime. Devoid of Krsna consciousness, those who engage in material activities simply become more entangled in material bondage. They have to suffer and enjoy the actions and reactions of all activity. This Krsna consciousness movement is therefore the greatest boon to humanity because it keeps one always engaged in Krsna's service. The devotees think of Krsna, act for Krsna, eat for Krsna, sleep for Krsna and work for Krsna. Thus everything is engaged in the service of Krsna. A total life in Krsna consciousness saves one from material contamination." (Bhag. 4.30.19)
So in one sense devotional service or Krsna consciousness is extremely conservative that one should stick to his devotional service 100% of the time but on the other hand it is extremely liberal that if one can dovetail all of one's material activities in devotional service to Lord Krsna, they become spiritual and one need not renounce anything.
"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)
"If one is so expert that he can engage everything or dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, to give up the material world would be a great blunder. One should learn how to dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, for everything is connected to Krsna. That is the real purpose of life and secret of success." (Bhag. 4.30.19)
So in the Krsna consciousness movement, one should be very careful and strict not to do anything but devotional service. Also, in the Krsna consciousness movement one can be completely free and do anything one feels like in the service of Lord Krsna:
"Material activities for sense gratification are the cause of material bondage, whereas the very same activities for the satisfaction of Krsna are the cause of liberation." (Bhag. 4.30.19)
As we explained in our December 2000 newsletter, reading Srila Prabhupada's books is also chanting. Srila Prabhupada's books are not ordinary books. This is because the writing of these books was performed under the order of the Supreme Lord Krsna and therefore the resultant books are nondifferent from the Lord just as chanting the Hare Krsna mahamantra is nondifferent from the Lord.
"The Lord is absolute; there is no difference between His words, His perspiration or His pastimes. The water of the Ganges, the narrations of His pastimes and the words spoken by Him are all on the absolute platform, and thus taking shelter of any one of them is equally good. Srila Rupa Gosvami has enunciated that anything in relationship with Krsna is on the transcendental platform. If we can dovetail all our activities in relationship with Krsna, then we do not stand on the material platform, but always on the spiritual platform." (Bhag. 3.20.5)
Note the word, "If" in "If we can dovetail all our activities in relationship with Krsna..." If some things cannot be dovetailed in the service of Lord Krsna, they should be rejected. Srimad-Bhagavatam contains narrations that are completely related with Lord Krsna; therefore, they are not to be treated like stories found in ordinary books written without any sanction from the Supreme Lord.
"The reason is that the Supreme Lord is the Absolute Truth, and anything earnestly dovetailed with the Absolute Truth attains the same transcendental quality." (Bhag. 2.6.34)
2. SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM IS COMPLETELY TRANSCENDENTAL, PART I
As explained in the above article "Krsna Consciousness is Conservative and Liberal!", all literatures that are written to fulfill the order of the Supreme Lord or written in a relationship with the Supreme Lord are transcendental. By associating with such literatures by attempting to read them one is gradually being purified from material contamination:
"On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest." (Bhag. 1.5.11)
"But a saint is far above the level of an ordinary man. He is always absorbed in glorifying the Supreme Lord because by broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord, the polluted atmosphere of the world will change, and as a result of propagating the transcendental literatures like Srimad-Bhagavatam, people will become sane in their transactions." (Bhag. 1.5.11)
However, to realize the Srimad-Bhagavatam, one has to be engaged in devotional service:
"The Personality of Godhead said: Knowledge about Me as described in the scriptures is very confidential, and it has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me. You may take it up carefully." (Bhag. 2.9.31)
"Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart." (Bhag. 1.1.2)
"...In the Vedas, the above-mentioned four activities are prescribed in the regulative way so that there will not be any undue competition for sense gratification. But Srimad-Bhagavatam is transcendental to all these sense gratificatory activities. It is purely transcendental literature which can be understood only by the pure devotees of the Lord who are transcendental to competitive sense gratification." (Bhag. 1.1.2)
"Narayanah paro'vyaktat: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is in a transcendental position, above everything created within this material world. His opulence, His riches, His beauty, His wisdom, His knowledge, His renunciation and His reputation are all jagat-pavitram, universally purifying. The more we discuss His opulences, the more the universe becomes purer and purer." (Bhag. 4.21.38)
The innocent people by associating with transcendental literatures can purify themselves whereas one who is engaged in devotional service can realize the knowledge in the transcendental literatures. There are also the envious people who have no access to such transcendental literatures due to their complete aversion to the service of Lord Krsna:
"He is undoubtedly known as partial to His pure devotees, but in fact He is never partial, as much as the sun is never partial to anyone. By utilizing the sun rays, sometimes even the stones become valuable, whereas a blind man cannot see the sun, although there are enough sun rays before him. Darkness and light are two opposite conceptions, but this does not mean that the sun is partial in distributing its rays. The sun rays are open to everyone, but the capacities of the receptacles differ. Foolish people think that devotional service is flattering the Lord to get special mercy. Factually the pure devotees who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are not a mercantile community. A mercantile house renders service to someone in exchange for values. The pure devotee does not render service unto the Lord for such exchange, and therefore the full mercy of the Lord is open for him. Suffering and needy men, inquisitive persons or philosophers make temporary connections with the Lord to serve a particular purpose. When the purpose is served, there is no more relation with the Lord. A suffering man, if he is pious at all, prays to the Lord for his recovery. But as soon as the recovery is over, in most cases the suffering man no longer cares to keep any connection with the Lord. The mercy of the Lord is open for him, but he is reluctant to receive it. That is the difference between a pure devotee and a mixed devotee. Those who are completely against the service of the Lord are considered to be in abject darkness, those who ask for the Lord's favor only at the time of necessity are partial recipients of the mercy of the Lord, and those who are cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord are full recipients of the mercy of the Lord. Such partiality in receiving the Lord's mercy is relative to the recipient, and it is not due to the partiality of the all-merciful Lord." (Bhag. 1.8.29)
In our January 2001 article "Some Vegetarians are Worse than Some Meat-eaters!", we explained how some meat-eaters who are indifferent to preaching are better than some vegetarians who are opposed to preaching. The fact is that the material world is full of miseries and only by associating with transcendental things can one purify himself and become free from the miseries. Anything done by a nondevotee will only keep people suffering in the material world since the result will not be transcendental; therefore, a nondevotee is ALWAYS harmful whereas anything done by a devotee can only help to purify the atmosphere of this material world:
"A devotee is always in the mode of unalloyed goodness; therefore he harms no one. But the nondevotee, however educated he may be, is ALWAYS harmful. A devotee is neither foolish nor passionate. The harmful, foolish and passionate cannot be devotees of the Lord, however they may advertise themselves as devotees by outward dress. A devotee is always qualified with all the good qualities of God. Quantitatively such qualifications may be different, but qualitatively both the Lord and His devotee are one and the same." (Bhag. 1.2.19)
"But due to the age of quarrel, Kali, which we have discussed, there is always a chance of quarrel on slight provocation. This is due not to the issue in question, but to the polluted atmosphere of this age: systematically there is propaganda by a section of people to stop glorification of the name and fame of the Supreme Lord. Therefore, there is a great need for disseminating the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam all over the world." (Bhag. 1.5.11)
"Political adjustments, social welfare work, medical assistance and the other programs we have manufactured for peace and happiness will never endure. We shall have to undergo the sufferings of material life one after another. Therefore material life is said to be duhkhalayam asasvatam; it is a reservoir of miserable conditions." (Bhag. 6.15.3)
The altruistic and philanthropic work done without any relationship with the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna also does not help to purify the atmosphere of the material world what to speak of economic and sense-gratificatory activities. Most of the literatures of the world are written for the purpose of sense-gratification, economic development, and/or mental gratification. So since more and more books are appearing for the purposes of subtle or gross material enjoyment, the more urgent it becomes to spread the transcendental literatures like Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Srimad-Bhagavatam to reduce the polluted atmosphere of the material world.
"When there are too many materialistic activities by the people in general all over the world, there is no wonder that a person or a nation attacks another person or nation on slight provocation. That is the rule of this age of Kali or quarrel. The atmosphere is already polluted with corruption of all description, and everyone knows it well. There are so many unwanted literatures full of materialistic ideas of sense gratification. In many countries there are bodies appointed by the state to detect and censor obscene literature. This means that neither the government nor the responsible leaders of the public want such literature, yet it is in the marketplace because the people want it for sense gratification. The people in general want to read (that is a natural instinct), but because their minds are polluted they want such literatures. Under the circumstances, transcendental literature like Srimad-Bhagavatam will not only diminish the activities of the corrupt mind of the people in general, but also it will supply food for their hankering after reading some interesting literature. In the beginning they may not like it because one suffering from jaundice is reluctant to take sugar candy, but we should know that sugar candy is the only remedy for jaundice. Similarly, let there be systematic propaganda for popularizing reading of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which will act like sugar candy for the jaundicelike condition of sense gratification. When men have a taste for this literature, the other literatures, which are catering poison to society, will then automatically cease." (Bhag. 1.5.11)
One way to understand that a nondevotee is always harmful is by understanding that anyone who writes books that are non-transcendental in nature is just increasing the probability that an innocent person searching for something to read will pick up one of the non-transcendental literatures from the set of all books and thus prolong his material miserable life. Obviously, it follows that a person who suppresses the distribution of transcendental literatures is also reducing the probability that an innocent person searching for something to read will pick up one of the non-transcendental literatures. Therefore, it follows easily that a meat-eater who does not preach against the spreading of the Krsna consciousness movement nor writes non-transcendental litertures is much better than a vegetarian who either writes non-transcendental literatures and/or suppresses the distribution of transcendental literatures. Although the meat-eater is himself a bad example, he is not actively preaching his materialism whereas the vegetarian who preaches materialism and/or suppresses preaching of Krsna consciousness is like a virus who spreads his contamination wherever he goes promoting the age of Kali.
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.
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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!