Murari Das Blog

Krishna is God, He is the personification of Godhead, He is independent and eternal as Himself. Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. Bg 2.12 He clearly says that He has always existed. That doesn’t mean that at one time He was formless and then assumed a form and then lost it again, it means that He, the person, an individual being has always existed. He reinforces this again and again throughout Bhagavad Gita. He says that many years ago He instructed Vivasvan, the sun god. (4.1) This means at a rough estimate Krishna spoke Gita at least 120,400,000 years ago. How is that possible if Krishna was just an enlightened human? He clarifies how. 4.6 - Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. Bg 4.6 Krishna’s body is transcendental and never deteriorates. Does t...

We should read Bhagavad Gita because Sri Krishna is God and the creator, maintainer and destroyer of this universe. He is the owner and controller of everything that exists, so it’s important to know what He says about life, the universe and everything. If you read Bhagavad Gita As It Is at least once you will be in a position to chose to follow the recommendations of Krishna or ignore them. That is the facility of human life. Humans are different to animals because humans can understand the concept of God and make choices as a result. Animals are not given this option. It is the most important distinction between a human and an animal or any other lower species. It is a valuable opportunity to enquire into the Absolute Truth, and failure to take advantage of it is a great waste. If one reads Bhagavad Gita one will be able to hear, directly from the Supreme Lord Himself, what He suggests, what His opinion is, what He recommends and what He doesn’t recommend. There are 700 verses arrang...

In my case it’s not most of the time, it’s all the time. Trying to figure out God’s plan is harder for me than trying to figure out the moves of a chess grandmaster, and I don’t play chess. That’s not to say I don’t see what causes what, and in retrospect marvel at the ingenuity of some arrangements, but there’s no way I can predict what’s going to happen next. One of Krishna’s areas of expertise is that He can achieve many things through one action. There are immediate consequences and long-term consequences. It’s way beyond our powers of calculation to foresee the knock-on effect of a particular action. Even great devotees of the Lord don’t fully understand the Lord’s plan. Prabhupada went to America as part of the Lord’s plane. He once said: "I thought, "I don't know why I have come here. The language is different, the idea is different. They are all after sense gratification. I don't know why I've come here.' But now I have got some boys, and even if I am ...

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. Bg 18.66 After giving so many instructions to Arjuna, after describing the importance of Dharma and activities, the nature of the world, what is this, what is that, this is Krishna’s very last instruction. He ends all His teachings at this point. “Surrender unto Me.” Now what? Well as someone who has tried to follow this instruction, I can tell you it’s not easy and it’s not quick, and whatever you think it is, it’s not that either! It is a journey into new territory, there are a lot of unexpected things that come up and many obstacles between us and full surrender. In fact no one ever thinks they have surrendered completely to Krishna. The more advanced a person becomes in surrendering, the more useless they feel. It is not a ladder that we climb up by our own ability, it is a ladder that we descend. We descend from the point of thinking I have some value and I can...

Actually the soul doesn’t bear any karmic reaction, it’s the ahankara or false identification with the body which bears the impressions. The soul remains always uncontaminated by matter, but because we identify with the false ego we experience what happens to the false ego. Similar to a parent suffering when their child suffers. The living entity desires and then the three modes of nature take it from there. We are a tiny particle of spirit floating in the five life airs in the region of the heart. We cannot manipulate matter, but we can desire. According to our desires material nature acts. Thus we are responsible for the activities carried out by material nature. Sometimes the desire is sanctioned and sometimes not. This demonstrates that is not us who are the sole doers. We are just a part of what happens. When the leader of a country declares war, even though he doesn’t do any fighting, bombing or killing himself, he is responsible for what happens b...

Krishna explains who we are. We are not a material body but an eternal fragmental part of Him. Knowing who we are is practical because then we can act accordingly. So then Krishna explains karma (action). Humans act, (no, not just actors in productions) everyone performs activities. Bhagavad Gita describes the results of our actions according to the three modes of nature. Krishna doesn’t describe results in terms of what will happen immediately, like what will happen if I accept a job offer or not, but in long term results, for our ultimate benefit or detriment based on who we are. (see above). Krishna also explains who is charge. When frustrated or confused, people often say, “Who’s in charge around here?” This is a good question because when we know who is in charge we can go to them to sort out what’s what. Why deal with bureaucrats and minions if we can go straight to the top? So Krishna makes it clear that He is in charge. Then we can learn from Him why there is evil; why people s...

I have understood that the Supreme is personal and has form. He is called Krishna and looks like a beautiful young boy in the prime of His youth. He is very hard to understand. Even when your heart is breaking with anguish and your legs can hardly hold you up, He just smiles at you, or sometimes looks right through you. He never looks worried or concerned, He just smiles and shows you that He is there if you can make the grade. When we are in a mess, we created the mess we are in, not Krishna, it’s not His job to get us out. He is happy to assist, but the effort has to be ours. He never indicates that a person must do something or has to do something, He is just here, there and everywhere if we want to find Him. He is hidden no doubt, but it is our defects that hide Him. He says you can see me here, and here, if you look closely. He says you can know me in full if you do this and this, but He doesn’t mind if we ignore Him. Our suffering is not pleasant for Him, but it is self-induced a...

Chanting 16 rounds is an instruction from Srila Prabhupada. It’s not a Vedic injunction nor a demand from Sri Krishna or even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who want to approach Krishna through the disciples of Srila Prabhupada are most likely going to have to agree to chant 16 rounds because that is the instruction from Prabhupada. It is not there is some magic in the number 16. This number is given because a minimum amount of time should be spent chanting everyday. Chanting Hare Krishna is an art as well as a science. Although it is said there are no hard and fast rules, that should be understood in context. For chanting many mantras there are specifics that must be observed. For instance the time of day, being clean, our location and company, the direction we are facing, if we have undergone purificatiory samskars, and so on. For chanting Hare Krishna, none of these apply. This mantra can be chanted by anyone, at any time, in any place, in any condition. That is what no hard and...

The living entity in the material world has desires. Those desires change as a result of contact with the modes of nature. The more a person is in contact with the modes of passion and ignorance, the closer to evil their desires will be. Stretching over multiple lifetimes a person can sink lower and lower into the mode of ignorance and entertain evil desires that a decent person would reject outright. Once these desires take root then in due course of time an opportunity will be arranged to indulge them. That will continue the chain of action and reaction. Whatever evil a person does to another person will be done to them in the future. When we suffer from the evil actions of others it’s because we have caused the same suffering to others else previously. In this ongoing chain of cause and effect, the Lord stays neutral. The laws are in place and the Lord’s representatives oversee the running of the universe. We are allowed to indulge our desires and must accept the consequences. It’s ...

Krishna is not an incarnation of Vishnu according to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, He is the origin of Vishnu and He doesn’t have a weak spot on the toe. (Not even on His heel). His only weakness is His love for His pure devotees. When He appears on the Earth, He does so a little bit like a human being although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He acts like a human and has fun with His devotees. When it’s time to leave, He leaves a bit like a human being, so that those who want to think He is a human being, can do so and not be bothered by thoughts of God. Therefore like an actor, He acts out dying by being shot in the foot, but it’s just an act, to conclude His appearance on the Earth. Devotees know what is going on, but the foolish think that Krishna is a human being and dies because His form is like a human’s form. Actually, it’s the other way round, our form is like Krishna’s form. Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as ...