I wasn't aware he was 'convicted' prabhu! Haribol Chief Cowpie, In the village of Vrindavana Krishna enjoyed Himself with His mother, brother and friends, and when He played the role of a naughty butter thief, all His associates enjoyed celestial bliss by His stealing. The Lord's fame as a butter thief is not reproachable, for by stealing butter the Lord gave pleasure to His pure devotees. Everything that was performed by the Lord at Vrndavana was performed for the pleasure of His associates there. The Lord created these pastimes to attract the dry speculators and the acrobats of the so-called hatha-yoga system who had come to find the Absolute Truth. Even the speculators and those who outright deny the transcendental pastimes in Vrndavana, are blessed simply by having read about these auspicious activitys. Best wishes, Jaganatha dasa
Lord Krishna was no ordinary being. Everything he did was trancendental. We simply cannot judge Him according to measures, which we use to judge ordinary people. He was playing a ksatrija, just in order to please his devotees.
he is refered to as "Gopala" which translates to butter thief so there are deep and affecionate convictions that he yes, did steal butter jai Govinda! jai Gopala!
Yes prabhu I know he stole butter. I was refering to the term conviction as in being arrested by the police, held in jail, put in front of a jury and sentenced! It brought me to my knees chuckling!
[size=+2]Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare[/size] [size=+2]Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare[/size] http://www.acbspn.com/audio/ Chant with Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ::dances around in a circle:: Thread wide chant!
you must be thinking of his mother and father, Vasusdeva and Devaki...they were arrested and incarcerated in prison on charges of political agitation seeking overthrow of government by association with future unborn son i don't think such charges and arrest by police would have been brought against Krishna...or anyone that age for stealing butter being that he was barely past being called a toddler my though though are similar to yours...the pastimes of Krishna stealing butter often bring a chuckle and joy to my heart ys, Chief
hello, everybody I don't remember the exact words, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that one should be more huble than grass and more tolerant than trees while chanting mahamantra. Those words are really helpful. In that way you are able very easily attain a state of mind, where you are devoid of hatred and jealousy.Just wanted to make you know chant this:
Thank you for posting that Sleeping Jiva. Yes this comes from Sri Caitanya Caritamrata and states ["One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord." (Adi-lila 17.31)]
thanks, prabhu ! oh right. I think it is also mentioned in Bhagavadgita in the purports of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. I just bumped into free download of Complete works of him. Everyone interested, check it out: http://wald.heim.at/sherwood/530002/
Gauranga by Swami Sivananda Talks to Washerman Gauranga with his companions came to a washerman who was beating the clothes upon a piece of plank. He asked the washerman to say 'Hari Bol!'. The washerman thought that the mendicants had come to beg alms from him. He said to Gauranga, "Oh mendicant, I am very poor. I have nothing to give you. Gauranga said, "I do not want anything from you. Say 'Hari Bol!' at least once". The washerman refused. He thought he would be required to pay something to the mendicant. He said, "I am very poor. I cannot give up beating the cloth in order to utter the Name you have given to me". Gauranga said, "I shall do the beating of the cloth. Please say, 'Hari Bol!'". The washerman said, 'Hari Bol!'. Then Gauranga asked him to repeat the same twice. The washerman repeated twice. Then the fire of devotion started. The washerman repeated the name unasked. He began to dance in ecstasy raising both his hands high. The wife of the washerman brought some food to the washerman. She saw her husband dancing with uplifted hands uttering: "Hari Bol! Hari Bol!". She also noticed that her husband had no consciousness of his surroundings. She tried to rouse him by calling him loudly but in vain. She was frightened. She ran to the village and said to the relatives and neighbours, "A ghost has taken possession of my husband. Please help me. Drive away the ghost from him". They all proceeded immediately to see the washerman. He was still dancing in ecstasy. They were afraid to go near him. At last a bold man caught hold of the washerman and tried to stop his dancing. He too caught the contagion and began to dance with the washerman uttering, "Hari Bol! Hari Bol!". He embraced the onlookers. They too caught the contagion and danced in ecstasy. The people of the whole village were affected. Gauranga enjoyed the scene for some time and left the place.
This is not the middle ages. When are people actually going to work towards improving society instead of pretending they know they're going to some kind of heaven after they die? Even if there is a god, heaven, everything--why do you have to pretend that the material world doesn't matter to you? What can you possible gain from this massive self-trickery? Is it actually so comforting to you to just the dismiss slavery, torture, etc. etc. etc. of fellow emotional creatures instead of confront it? If we all believed, and stated firmly that we believe, that absolute equality should be fundamental, we might actually start getting somewhere--no classes, no kings, no prisons, no unemployment, nothing. But it's never going to happen while even one person looks at exploitation from across the national boundaries and thinks, "Well, it happens. At least they'll be happy when they're dead."
Vae Victus. Interesting post. Personally it gives all the reasons I got away from extreme left-wing politics and became a devotee. You clearly believe that everybody who believes in God does nothing to help their fellow wo/man. Devotees feed hundreds of thousands of the worlds most needy people everyday. Whom do you feed? What exactly do you do for the starving, the homeless etc? Sell them a political newspaper to line their cardboard box with for insulation? These desperate people you presume to fight for....did they ask you to? You can't be one of them...you have a computer. PLEASE READ THIS http://www.ffl.org/html/emergency.html You also are under the supposition that everybody pretends they 'know they're going to some kind of heaven' etc. I could say that you pretend you believe in this idilic society we will all live in in the post-revolutionary world. I would add here that history disproves you and that if people in general spent more time being spiritual, searched for the meaning of life, forgot about what happened yesterday and ignored what might happen tomorrow, and concentrated on the right now (because in reality the right now is all there is) then the world could be changed for the better without millions dying in a glorious and righteous revolution. I have seen more action by people of ALL faiths and spirituality to addressing these situations than any revolutionary gung-ho merchant who is apparently willing to kill and die for the wonderous revolution that will set us all free. Again all history has shown us is the opposite to this. With due respect it is obvious from this statement that you have very very little understanding of the subject matter of this particular thread. When I considered myself a revolutionary ( by word AND deed) I spent as much time studying the enemy as I did my own illogical dogma. Atleast that way I had some ammunition that was relevant. I honestly do wish you the best and hope you find the revolution you are looking for. In fact there are many going on right now, in the poorest areas of the world away from the comfort of your nice house and computer. Perhaps you should go see what its like? I did. It wasn't what I was expecting. Best Wishes, Jaganathadasa.
Thank you for this reading...I finally did get to read it. I had once read the conversation with Srilla Prahupada and Father Emmanuel...but I enjoyed reading it again as well as the rest of the liturature that you had posted. Indeed most Christians are blinded by what we are taught (it is mostly Catholics...I know because I myself have been brought up Catholic but I have visited both Lutheren and Methodist programs and they are a bit closer to Srilla Prahupada's point than the Catholic church...). I have definetely saved them...it is indeed to explain to others my interest in the Krsna Consiousness movement but still insist that I am Christian and that it is indeed the same. Thank you once again.
SvgGrdnBeauty. My pleasure. "Peaceful People In Kingdom" Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.6 Mayapura, June 21, 1973 Lecture by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada listen (extract below) So in Maharaja Yudhisthira's time, the government, the government was responsible also to keep people peaceful, without any anxiety. That is government. Without any anxiety. And now the government means full of anxieties. You do not know how to sleep peacefully at night. You have to keep watchmen, just see, enemies are coming or not, with torchlight. You see. This is our position, full of anxieties. Even we cannot sleep at night peacefully. This is government. And here you see, compare the government -- no anxiety, no anxiety. Just compare. So what is the use of this rascal government? The rascal government must be there because we are rascals. You cannot complain against the government. Because we select. It is the days of democracy. We elect our representative. So why you should, I mean to say, blame the government? You have created the government. You have sent your representative, a rascal, another big rascal. You are rascal, and another big rascal, you have voted; so how you can expect good government? You send only big rascals. That's all. So there cannot be. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that in the Kali-yuga, all the people will be rascals, sudras. Simply by manipulation, if one gets vote, he captures the governmental power. Sudra. He's a sudra. He is not a ksatriya like Maharaja Yudhisthira, trained up ksatriya. He is a rascal, third-class man, fourth-class man. He gets the vote and we give vote. So how we can be happy? How we can be carefree or anxiety-free or disease-free? It is not possible. Therefore if the people in general, they become Krsna conscious, they become trained up in Krsna consciousness, they understand the value of life, how to live, then they can send good representative. Krsna conscious man. Then the government will be nice. Without becoming... Harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-gunah. If people are not Krsna conscious, their so-called qualification has no value. Kuto mahad-gunah. There cannot be value. There cannot be any good qualification of a person who is not Krsna conscious, who is not a devotee. This is our conclusion. We have got some test tubes. We can study man. He may become a very good scholar, very good politician, very big minister, but we test whether he has got any sense of Krsna consciousness. If he's not, immediately I understand that "Here is a rascal number one." That's all. We have got test tube, how much he is advanced in Krsna consciousness. If he's not, then he is grouped immediately in four groups: duskrtina, means constantly committing sinful activities; mudha, rascal; naradhama, lowest of the mankind; mayaya apahrta-jnana, although educated with high degrees, his knowledge has been taken away; asuram bhavam asritah, and demon. na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah [Bg. 7.15] Immediately we classify, "Here is a rascal number one, lowest of the mankind," or "always engaged in sinful activities," or "whatever education he has got, that is useless, because his real knowledge..." Just like Professor Kotovsky, such a big professor, he says, "There is no life after death." He's a rascal number one. What is the meaning of this education? He does not know that the soul is eternal, and therefore Bhagavad-gita teaches first, dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam... [Bg. 2.13]. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. "First of all understand this: soul is eternal; you are eternal; you do not die, after the annihilation..." This is the first education. And these rascals, they say there is no life after death. So how much educated they are you can understand. They are all rascals. And you may open big, big colleges, institution, providing some rascal professor, rascal student, and beg the whole life, and sacrifice everything. It is useless. Srama eva hi kevalam, simply wasting time. dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah notpadayed yadi ratim srama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8] Srama eva hi kevalam. You can do your duties very nicely, very good, dharmah svanusthitah, but if you do not develop your, I mean to say, attachment for Krsna... Vasudeva-katha rucih. "Oh, here krsna-katha is going on. Topics on Krsna is going on. Let me hear it." Just like here. We are talking of Krsna; nobody is coming. Nobody is coming. Only few selected. Vasudeva-katha rucih. There is no taste for hearing krsna-katha. So such kind of education, advancement of civilization, is srama eva hi kevalam, simply wasting time. And if you waste your time in such foolish activity, then there will be anxiety, there will be disease, there will be enemies, there will be disturbance -- everything, one after another, one after another. Natural disturbance, disturbance by other living creatures, disturbance by your body. So this world will become hell. This is the position. So just compare the present governmental situation and the time... A king is supposed to be responsible for the citizen's peaceful life, no anxiety, no disease. Adhayo vyadhayah. That is king. Just like one brahmana approached Lord Ramacandra that "In the presence of father the son has died. You are responsible. There must be something wrong in Your kingdom." His son died. That is natural, that son lives, father dies. This is natural death. "And what is this? The father is living and son is dying?" So king was so much responsible, even the death must be systematic. There should be no anxiety. There should be no disease. There should be no scarcity, no famine, no natural disturbance. This is government. This is government. Just try to understand the ideal government during Maharaja Yudhisthira's time. Not only Maharaja Yudhisthira, all the kings. Rajarsayah. Imam rajarsayo viduh. They were all great rsis, although they were ksatriyas. Brahmana and ksatriya, they used to guide the general people. The high caste means who would guide the people nicely. The brahmana by their Vedic knowledge, perfect knowledge, pathana-pathana yajana-yajana dana-pratigraha. By high learning, they would... They were not interested for capturing the government. No. They had no time. But there was consulting body. Even Yudhisthira Maharaja's time, there was consulting body, all the kings. The brahmanas and the rsis, they would form a consulting body and give advice to the king: "My dear king, do like this.' And they will abide. Just like head. Head. Head gives the instruction to the arms. Not the arm gives instruction to the head. Head. Brain. Mukha-bahuru-padebhyah. So brahmana means this portion, head, brain. And ksatriya means this portion, arm. And vaisya means this portion, belly. And sudra means this, leg. So no part is unimportant. Every part is important for upkeep of the body. But comparative study, this part is more important. If my head is cut off, then all other parts may remain. It will not act. Similarly, at the present moment there is no brahmana. All sudras, simply legs. If you keep the legs of the body, what is the value of this body? There must be head. Everything must be there. Everything must be there. The head must be there, arms must be there, the abdomen must be there, the legs must be there. Then it is complete body. Similarly, this scientific division, catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13], the division of the human society according to quality, the brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. Krsna says, maya srstam: "This is My creation for upkeep of the social system." So there is necessity of the sudras and there is necessity of the brahmana. There is necessity of the ksatriya. Everyone is required to do, to function, in his particular position. Then the society will be nadhayo vyadhayah klesah. No more anxiety and no more disease. Everyone is peaceful, cool-minded, cool-brained. Then chant Hare Krsna without any disturbance and go back to home back, to Godhead. Thank you very much. (end)
i take great issue with Srila Prabhupada's anti-demoratic government stance...perhaps in an era of enlightened leaders such as Maharaja Yuddhistira or even in Tibet (until the invasion of China) under the guidance of Dalai Lama, such systems would work but not so today where so many are awakening, the input of the all is the way to go