hare krishna

He who took my maidenhood is verily
he who is today my groom,
and these the same spring evenings
when the impetuous, fragrant breezes
are heavy with scent of newly blossoming jasmine.
And I too am the same person-
yet my heart yearns for the reedbeds
by the banks of the stream
where we were initiated into
the joyful games of love.

 

Dearest Pedro,

What is Krishna? Krishna is a name and an image for God...but so are so many... many wise people have often said to me...that their are many rivers, but all ultimately lead to one ocean. And I ask you that if a love of God is strong enough...why can't one see God in all ways...and dip their feet in all of the rivers...is that wrong? I don't think so... I have been on this spiritually journey for almost half a year...and I must say that the conclusion that is on me in this moment is that if we are honest, with open hearts and open minds, than God will help us find him in the correct way that He sees fit for us...perhaps its one...perhaps its more than one...no one knows...sometimes not even us...

To tell me not to comunicate with these men would be foolish...as I have learned things from you so have I learned many things from Kumar, Andrew (BBB), and ChiefCowPie... I wouldn't change any of these things for each of them has helped me to get closer to God, as well as books by Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, personal meditation and prayer, and reexploring the religion of my birth...

Nothing, I think, is black and white except that God exists...how and what form...perhaps it will be revealed to us in time...perhaps based on our karma, perhaps on our desire for it, or perhaps on our love...these things I don't know...I just must say that I don't live my life or my love in black and white terms...and I ask that you perhaps reevaluate...but the choice is totally up to you....


I must go...because my computer is still broken...but I wish you all much light, love, and God's blessings.

Hare Krishna!

*Peace and Love*
Nicole

 

Hare Krishna!


Dear SGB,

Nice to hear from you and see you're still with us. Sorry to hear your computer problems aren't yet fixed.
What you say is right - we just have to be open to God, and if we get teachings from whatever or whomever that are helpful, we should be grateful.
Its a shame Sleeping Jiva feels the way he does. He seems now to have quit posting here. Thats a great shame. I wish he'd be a bit more flexible in attitude.
Anyway - hope you get your machine fixed soon. Your input here is valued and at present sadly missed.

Love,

BBB.

 

A disciple went to his master and said to him, "Sir, I want religion." The master looked at the young man, and did not speak, but only smiled. The young man came every day, and insisted that he wanted religion. But the old man knew better than the young man. One day, when it was very hot, he asked the young man to go to the river with him and take a plunge. The young man plunged in, and the old man followed him and held the young man down under the water by force. After the young man had struggled for a while, he let him go and asked him what he wanted most while he was under the water. "A breath of air", the disciple answered. "Do you want God in that way? If you do, you will get Him in a moment," said the master. Until you have that thirst, that desire, you cannot get religion, however you may struggle with your intellect, or your books, or your forms. Until that thirst is awakened in you, you are no better than any atheist; only the atheist is sincere, and you are not.



A great sage used to say, "Suppose there is a thief in a room, and somehow he comes to know that there is a vast mass of gold in the next room, and that there is only a thin partition between the two rooms What would be the condition of that thief? He would be sleepless, he would not be able to eat or do anything. His whole mind would be on getting that gold. Do you mean to say that, if all these people really believed that the Mine of Happiness, of Blessedness, of Glory were here, they would act as they do in the world, without trying to get God?" As soon as a man begins to believe there is a God, he becomes mad with longing to get to Him. Others may go their way, but as soon as a man is sure that there is a much higher life than that which he is leading here, as soon as he feels sure that the senses are not all, that this limited, material body is as nothing compared with the immortal, eternal, undying bliss of the Self, he becomes mad until he finds out this bliss for himself. And this madness, this thirst, this mania, is what is called the "awakening" to religion, and when that has come, a man is beginning to be religious. But it takes a long time. All these forms and ceremonies, these prayers and pilgrimages, these books, bells, candles, and priests, are the preparations; they take off the impurities from the soul. And when the soul has become pure, it naturally wants to get to the mine of all purity, God Himself. Just as a piece of iron, which had been covered with the dust of centuries, might be lying near a magnet all the time, and yet not be attracted by it, but as soon as the dust is cleared away, the iron is drawn by the magnet; so, when the human soul, covered with the dust of ages, impurities, wickednesses, and sins, after many births, becomes purified enough by these forms and ceremonies, by doing good to others, loving other beings, its natural spiritual attraction comes, it wakes up and struggles towards God.

Swami Vivekananda.

 

hey nice post man. Someday hopefully soon, I'll become truly mad for God. I certainly have felt the thirsting part, though.

 

"Until that thirst is awakened in you, you are no better than any atheist; only the atheist is sincere, and you are not."

very nice bbb

 

From Mystic Poetry: Rupa Goswami's Uddhava-sandesa & Hamsadutta by Jan Brzezinski

"Sri-Chaitanya-mano bhistam

The contributions of Rupa Goswami to the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya are manifold. Narotatama dasa;s famous invocatory prayer to Rupa in his Prema-bhakti-cnadrika tells us that Rupa understood Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mission and was successful in establishing it on this earth (sri-chaitanya-mano bhistam stapitam yena bhutale). In his Chaitanya-caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja writes in several places that Rupa Goswami was granted access to Mahaprabhu's innermost emotional state.

The event which confirmed this special status took place when Rupa was residing in Puri, probably in AD 1517. That year, during the Rathayatra festival, Rupa was amongst the many devotees of Mahaprabhu who watched him as he stood before Jagannatha's chariot, gazing in the mood of Radha upon the Lord of the Universe. At that time, Mahaprabhu began to recite a verse from the Kavya-prakasa, which though superficially having nothing to do wtih Krishna, put him into a divine trance and made hime dance ecstatically.

That verse, much discussed in the literature of the poeticians, was as follows:

Other than Mahaprabhu's secretary, Svarupa Damodhara Goswami, no one was able ot understand the meaning of this verse in the context of the Rathayatra festival. Rupa Goswami, however, had an insight into the Lord's state of mind and later composed a verse which brought this vision out into the open. He wrote it down on a palm leaf and tucked it into the thatched roof of his cottage. When he was off taking his bath in the sea, Mahaprabhu came by and fortuitously discovered the palm leaf. When he read the verse, he was astonished to see Rupa's clear intuition into his innermost feelings. Rupa's Krishna-centered pastiche was as follows:

O companion. This is the same beloved Krishna
meeting me here in Kuruksetra,
and I the same Radha;
both of us feel that same joy of meeting.
Even so my mind hankers for the forest
by the banks of the Yamuna,
where the fifth note of his flute
reverberated sweetly within my heart

When Rupa returned home from bathing, Mahaprabhu gave him an affectionate slap and said, "How did you know what was in my mind?" He then embraced him tightly. The Lord subsequently took the verse and showed it to his secretary, Swarupa Dhamodhara, asking him, as was his wont, to examine it for any possible faults. He asked him the same question he had asked of Rupa. Swarupa answered, "It could only be as the result of your special benediction."

and the rest is Gaudiya Vaisnava history

 

Hare Krishna!


Thanks to 'God' and Chief Cowpie for kind words. Here is more of the same.

Bhakti is a religion. Religion is not for the many, that is impossible. A sort of knee-drill, standing up and sitting down, may be suited for the many; but religion is for the few. There are in every country only a few hundreds who can be, and will be religious. The others cannot be religious, because they will not be awakened, and they do not want to be. The chief thing is to want God. We want everything except God, because our ordinary wants are supplied by the external world; it is only when our necessities have gone beyond the external world that we want a supply from the internal, from God. So long as our needs are confined within the narrow limits of this physical universe, we cannot have any need for God; it is only when we have become satiated with everything here that we look beyond for a supply. It is only when the need is there that the demand will come. Have done with this child's play of the world as soon as you can, and then you will feel the necessity of something beyond the world, and the first step in religion will come.



There is a form of religion which is fashionable. My friend has much furniture in her parlour; it is the fashion to have a Japanese vase, so she must have one even if it costs a thousand dollars. In the same way she will have a little religion and join a church. Bhakti is not for such. That is not want. Want is that without which we cannot live. We want breath, we want food, we want clothes; without them we cannot live. When a man loves a woman in this world, there are times when he feels that without her he cannot live, although that is a mistake. When a husband dies, the wife thinks she cannot live without him; but she lives all the same. This is the secret of necessity: it is that without which we cannot live; either it must come to us or we die. When the time comes that we feel the same about God, or in other words, we want something beyond this world, something above all material forces, then we may become Bhaktas. What are our little lives when for a moment the cloud passes away, and we get one glimpse from beyond, and for that moment all these lower desires seem like a drop in the ocean? Then the soul grows, and feels the want of God, and must have Him.



The first step is: What do we want? Let us ask ourselves this question every day, do we want God? You may read all the books in the universe, but this love is not to be had by the power of speech, not by the highest intellect, not by the study of various sciences. He who desires God will get Love, unto him God gives Himself. Love is always mutual, reflective. You may hate me, and if I want to love you, you repulse me. But if I persist, in a month or a year you are bound to love me. It is a wellknown psychological phenomenon. As the loving wife thinks of her departed husband, with the same love we must desire the Lord, and then we will find God, and all books and the various sciences would not be able to teach us anything. By reading books we become parrots; no one becomes learned by reading books. If a man reads but one word of love, he indeed becomes learned. So we want first to get that desire.



Let us ask ourselves each day, "Do we want God" When we begin to talk religion, and especially when we take a high position and begin to teach others, we must ask ourselves the same question. I find many times that I don't want God, I want bread more. I may go mad if I don't get a piece of bread; many ladies will go mad if they don't get a diamond pin, but they do not have the same desire for God; they do not know the only Reality that is in the universe. There is a proverb in our language — If I want to be a hunter, I'll hunt the rhinoceros; if I want to be a robber, I'll rob the king's treasury. What is the use of robbing beggars or hunting ants? So if you want to love, love God. Who cares for these things of the world? This world is utterly false; all the great teachers of the world found that out; there is no way out of it but through God. He is the goal of our life; all ideas that the world is the goal of life are pernicious. This world and this body have their own value, a secondary value, as a means to an end; but the world should not be the end. Unfortunately, too often we make the world the end and God the means. We find people going to church and saying, "God, give me such and such; God, heal my disease." They want nice healthy bodies; and because they hear that someone will do this work for them, they go and pray to Him. It is better to be an atheist than to have such an idea of religion. As I have told you, this Bhakti is the highest ideal; I don't know whether we shall reach it or not in millions of years to come, but we must make it our highest ideal, make our senses aim at the highest. If we cannot get to the end, we shall at least come nearer to it. We have slowly to work through the world and the senses to reach God.

Swami Vivekananda.

 

Dearest BBB,

Wow...that was an amazing post as was your previous... really something to think about...

Here's my story to share...it was sent to me by Kumar a few days ago...its been constantly on my mind for the last couple of days:

Even Debarshi Narada, the greatest devotee of the Lord, was never sure of
Bishnu's Lila and very seldom he understood it. Once Bishnu told Narada, "Let us
go to the earth and take a walk around." Both of them came to the earth and
after whole day's walking around the Lord said, " Narada, let us go to the
Zemindar's house. He is a rich man. We will have some food and rest there." They
went to the zeminder's big house as two ordinary villagers and told the
zeminder(Rich land owner), "Sir, we are very hungry and tired.Please give us
some food and water, God will bless you." That zeminder was very miser and an
unkind man. He told them in a very brusque manner, "Go away from here right now,
don't you feel ashamed to ask for food ? I did not earn money to feed beggars
like you." Narada was furious with rage but Bishnu calmed him down and they
walked away from that place. Narada was very angry and annoyed and said,
"Prabhu, you must do something and punish him." Bishnu said, "Well Narada, I
wish him plenty more money and wealth." Narad was perplexed at this and said
very unhappily, "I will never understand you, my Lord." Bishnu just smiled and
kept quiet. After sometime they reached one very wretched looking small hut of a
very poor old lone man having only one cow as his only property. Before they
could say anything, the old poor man with folded hands greeted them, " Both of
you are looking very tired, you are my guests. I am a very poor man, cannot do
much but please come inside, have some water to drink and then take rest for a
while." After entering his dilapidated hut Bishnu asked him, "We are very
hungry, can you please give us some food." The poor man was in shame but then he
managed to find one earthen glass. He went outside, milked his cow and came back
to them, "I am sorry, I could get only this much milk, please share it. I have
nothing else to offer." Bishnu and Narad shared the milk and came out. Narada
told Bishnu, "Now Prabhu, this man is so nice and kind, please do something for
him. He is so poor." Bishnu said, " Well, let his cow die." Narada screamed at
this, "What is this Prabhu, you gave more money and wealth to the wicked and
rich zeminder but now you killed the cow of this old pious man ! I don't know
what is happening and I don't want to understand." Narada was very annoyed.
Bishnu then told Narada, "Dear, please do not be upset. What can I do ! As
people desire, so they get. The zeminder is not a happy man but he never wanted
me, he always wanted more and more money bringing more and more unhappiness for
himself. So I gave him more money. This poor pious man, on the other hand is a
devotee of mine and in spite of being very poor he always wanted me alone and
nothing else. His cow was his only attachment on this earth, so I gave death to
his cow to fulfil his desire. Today itself he will get me." Then Narada
understood and they went back to their own place.

 

Thanks for that, a great story. As well as showing the need for non-attachment, it also illustrates that one can't judge by worldly appearances. What seems like a setback or misfortune can sometimes have another significance if its viewed from a spiritual perspective.

Hare Krishna!

 

yes, nice story... and another narada muni story

Narada Muni asks Sri Krsna if he can see His Maya potency.

"Maharaj explained that, so long as Narada Muni remembered Krsna, there could be no possibility of Krsna showing him His Maya but, to demonstrate His Maya as per Narada's request, Krsna arranged a very complicated scenario. Catching Narada Muni off guard, Krsna bids Narada to bathe in a beautiful lake. Narada submerges himself and when he resurfaces, Krsna has disappeared. Narada, himself, has been transformed into a woman. "She" cannot remember Krsna. She cannot even remember who she, herself, is. The woman finds herself drowning in a sea of rocky waves. "Who will rescue me?! Who will rescue me?!" she cries. A king comes along and saves her. He is immediately captivated by her beauty. Ultimately, Narada as a woman takes shelter of this king and his kingdom. He marries her and they have 50 sons. She is so attached to her husband, her sons and her role as queen that she has no time to go to the temple or perform bhajan. Over time, the sons marry and, due to internal jealousies among the wives of the sons, war breaks out among the sons over land disputes. Eventually, all the sons are killed.

Narada as the queen is devastated. She is suicidal over the loss of her sons. Krsna comes to her in the form of a brahmin. She does not recognize Him, but only sees a brahmin. She cries to Him that the Supreme Lord must be very stupid. "He is a dunderhead!" Maharaj quotes. If He takes away everyone's sons in this fashion, then creation will cease because who will want to have children just to suffer this pain? Krsna as the brahmin requests the queen to perform some ablutions at the lake so that she might gain some peace of mind. After some persuasion, she goes to the lake. As she picks her head up from the waters, "she" is now "he" once again, and Narada sees Krsna standing on the bank of the lake.

The moment Narada sees Krsna, he remembers who Krsna is, who he himself is and also all that had just transpired. With some amount of embarrassment, he relates to the Lord all that he had experienced.

"So," Krsna says, "That is my Maya! As soon as you forget Me, Maya comes. If you remember Me, Maya cannot come. Do you want to see it again?"

"Oh no! No!" Narada replies emphatically. "Please, I do not want to see it again."

 

Another great story Chief. Narada seems almost omni-present at times, he appears in so many stories.

Here is something else I thought might be of interest.

Chant The Name Of The Lord. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.



This is an alternative rendering in English of Sri Chaitanyadev’s verses, by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. It is taken from the book ‘Vedanta for the Western World’.



Chant the Name of the Lord and His Glory unceasingly
That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean
And quenched that mighty forest fire,
Worldly lust, raging furiously within.
Oh Name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus-heart,
Opening its cup to knowledge of Thyself.
Oh self, drown deep in the waves of His bliss,
Chanting His Name continually,
Tasting His nectar at every step,
Bathing in His Name, that bath for weary souls.

Various are Thy Names, Oh Lord,
In each and every Name Thy power resides.
No times are set, no rites are needful for chanting of Thy Name,
So vast is Thy mercy.
How huge then, is my wretchedness
Who find, in this empty life and heart
No devotion to Thy Name!

Oh my mind!
Be humbler than a blade of grass,
Be patient and forbearing like the tree,
Take no honour to thyself,
Give honour to all,
Chant unceasingly the Name of the Lord.

Oh Lord and Soul of the universe,
Mine is no prayer for wealth or retinue,
The playthings of lust or the toys of fame;
As many times as I may be reborn
Grant me, Oh Lord a steadfast love for Thee.

A drowning man in this world’s fearful ocean
Is Thy servant, Oh Sweet One.
In Thy mercy
Consider him as dust beneath Thy feet.

Ah, how I long for the day
When, chanting Thy Name, the tears will spill down
From my eyes, and my throat will refuse to utter
Its prayers, choking and stammering with ecstacy,
When all the hairs of the body will stand erect with joy!

Ah, how I long for the day
When an instant’s separation from Thee, Oh Govinda,
Will be as a thousand years,
When my heart burns away with its desire
And the world, without Thee is a heartless void.
Prostrate at Thy feet let me be, in unwavering devotion,
Neither imploring the embraces of Thine arms,
Nor bewailing the withdrawal of Thy presence
Though it tears my soul asunder.

Oh Thou, who stealest the hearts of Thy devotees,
Do with me what Thou wilt –
For Thou art my heart’s beloved, Thou and Thou alone.

Sri Chaitanya (1485 – 1533)

 

By Jagadananda dasa

The kanistha wants certainty at any price. This is because he really is NOT certain. But he does not really think that if he falls of the edge of a cliff, Krishna will catch him.

Of course, that last comment is figurative: A kanishtha is in fact MORE likely to jump off a cliff thinking that Krishna will catch him. Or blow himself up in a crowded market place to martyr himself for a religious/political cause. That is precisely because he has to PROVE to himself and others that he really believes, and he has to challenge his God to prove His truth to him.

The madhyama adhikari is intellectually driven, in the sense that he is more conscious of the real problems of faith and does not look to paper them over with scotch tape solutions. He therefore cultivates the kinds of association (whether out of ruchi or vichara) that nurture his faith, but he is also more aware of the transcendental objective in real terms. In other words, he is progressively more aware of the universal, mystical nature of bhakti, rather than seeing it in limited, "religious" terms.

The uttama adhikari's vision is completely different. For him there is no more intellectual exercise involved in his faith. Indeed, faith itself is barely a question any longer. Prema is uncertain by nature--kabhu mile, kabhu na mile, daivera ghatana. "Sometimes Krishna and I are together, sometimes we're not. It's out of my hands." But this is floating on top of a constant consciousness of Krishna that flows "like the Ganges to the sea."

Consciousness of Krishna is the mental universe in which he lives, almost like an animal without critical awareness. So suffering, pain, uncertainty, emotional turmoil, these are the waves on his ocean, but he takes no steps to counter them, except to look under the next rock or behind the next tree for Krishna.


--------------------

Shaped through and through by Gaura's love--
that is a Gaudiya Vaishnav.

 

To the Bhakta these dry details are necessary only to strengthen his will; beyond that they are of no use to him. For he is treading on a path which is fitted very soon to lead him beyond the hazy and turbulent regions of reason, to lead him to the realm of realisation. He, soon, through the mercy of the Lord, reaches a plane where pedantic and powerless reason is left far behind, and the mere intellectual groping through the dark gives place to the daylight of direct perception. He no more reasons and believes, he almost perceives. He no more argues, he senses. And is not this seeing God, and feeling God, and enjoying God higher than everything else? Nay, Bhaktas have not been wanting who have maintained that it is higher than even Moksha — liberation. And is it not also the highest utility? There are people — and a good many of them too — in the world who are convinced that only that is of use and utility which brings to man creature-comforts. Even religion, God, eternity, soul, none of these is of any use to them, as they do not bring them money or physical comfort. To such, all those things which do not go to gratify the senses and appease the appetites are of no utility. In every mind, utility, however, is conditioned by its own peculiar wants. To men, therefore, who never rise higher than eating, drinking, begetting progeny, and dying, the only gain is in sense enjoyments; and they must wait and go through many more births and reincarnations to learn to feel even the faintest necessity for anything higher. But those to whom the eternal interests of the soul are of much higher value than the fleeting interests of this mundane life, to whom the gratification of the senses is but like the thoughtless play of the baby, to them God and the love of God form the highest and the only utility of human existence. Thank God there are some such still living in this world of too much worldliness.

Bhakti-Yoga, as we have said, is divided into the Gauni or the preparatory, and the Parâ or the supreme forms. We shall find, as we go on, how in the preparatory stage we unavoidably stand in need of many concrete helps to enable us to get on; and indeed the mythological and symbological parts of all religions are natural growths which early environ the aspiring soul and help it Godward. It is also a significant fact that spiritual giants have been produced only in those systems of religion where there is an exuberant growth of rich mythology and ritualism. The dry fanatical forms of religion which attempt to eradicate all that is poetical, all that is beautiful and sublime, all that gives a firm grasp to the infant mind tottering in its Godward way — the forms which attempt to break down the very ridge-poles of the spiritual roof, and in their ignorant and superstitious conceptions of truth try to drive away all that is life-giving, all that furnishes the formative material to the spiritual plant growing in the human soul — such forms of religion too soon find that all that is left to them is but an empty shell, a contentless frame of words and sophistry with perhaps a little flavour of a kind of social scavengering or the so-called spirit of reform.

The vast mass of those whose religion is like this, are conscious or unconscious materialists — the end and aim of their lives here and hereafter being enjoyment, which indeed is to them the alpha and the omega of human life, and which is their Ishtâpurta; work like street-cleaning and scavengering, intended for the material comfort of man is, according to them, the be-all and end-all of human existence; and the sooner the followers of this curious mixture of ignorance and fanaticism come out in their true colours and join, as they well deserve to do, the ranks of atheists and materialists, the better will it be for the world. One ounce of the practice of righteousness and of spiritual Self-realisation outweighs tons and tons of frothy talk and nonsensical sentiments. Show us one, but one gigantic spiritual genius growing out of all this dry dust of ignorance and fanaticism; and if you cannot, close your mouths, open the windows of your hearts to the clear light of truth, and sit like children at the feet of those who know what they are talking about — the sages of India. Let us then listen attentively to what they say.

Swami Vivekananda.

 

If your Ishta Devta is Krishna, then the following mantra is for you:



Krishnaaya Vaasudevaaya Haraye Paramaatmane

Pranatah Klesha naashaaya Govindaaya namo namaha

Which means:

O Krishna! Son of Vaasudeva, You are the Supreme Lord, remover of miseries.

You destroy all evil, O Govinda!

I repeatedly bow to You!

 

really great poem, Billy.

 

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

Hare Krishna!

 

Just re-read the poem. Amazing, the second time. Thanks again.

 

It is the only thing Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote. Somewhwere a few pages back, I posted Srila Prabhupada's version of it. I wanted to post this because I think it brings out other elements, and is generally more poetic.

Once again, thanks for your appreciation.

Hare Krishna!

 

From ‘Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita’



M. — Is daya (kindness) also bondage?



Sri Ramakrishna — That is a very distant concept. Kindness results from sattvaguna. Sattvaguna preserves, rajoguna creates and tamoguna destroys. But Brahman is beyond all the three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas. It is beyond prakriti (nature).

“The gunas cannot really reach where Brahman abides. They are like robbers who cannot go out in the open. They are afraid lest they should be arrested. Sattva, rajas and tamas all the three gunas are robbers. Let me tell you a story;

“Once a man was going through a forest when three robbers came and caught hold of him. They robbed him of all he possessed. One of the robbers said, ‘Why keep this man alive now?’ Saying so, he came forward with a sword to hack him. The second robber then said, ‘No brother, what use killing him? Let us tie his hands and feet and leave him here.’ Then tying his hands and feet the robbers left him there and went away. After a while one of them returned and said, ‘Ah! you are suffering a lot! Let me free you from the knots.’ Untying his bonds he said, ‘Come with me, I will take you to the main road.’ After a long time when they reached the main road, the robber said, ‘Take this road. See that is your house.’ This man then said to the robber, ‘Sir, you have been very good to me. Please come with me to my house.’ The robber said, ‘No, I cannot go there. The police will come to know of it.’



“The world itself is a forest. In this forest sattva, rajas and tamas all the three gunas are robbers. They rob the jiva of his tattva jnana (spiritual knowledge). Tamoguna destroys the jiva, rajoguna binds him to the world. But the sattvaguna saves him from rajas and tamas. By taking refuge in sattvaguna one is saved from lust, anger and such other evils of tamas. Besides, sattvaguna cuts asunder the bonds of the world also. But even the sattvaguna is a robber, it cannot give the tattva jnana (highest knowledge). However, it puts you on the road to the Supreme Abode. Putting you on the road it says, ‘Just see, this is your house.’ Sattvaguna remains at a great distance from the Brahmajnana (knowledge of Brahman, God, the Supreme).”