hare krishna

Here is Swami Sivananda's chapter on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, from his book Lives of Saints...

http://www.dlshq.org/saints/gauranga.htm

 

'And when he sees me in all and sees all in me,
Then I never leave him and he never leaves me.
And he, who in this oneness of love
Loves me in whatever he sees,
Wherever this man may live,
In truth, he lives in me...'

Bhagavad Gita, VI:30,31

 

Thanks Bhaskar - I'll check that out. I like Swami Sivanada - I think his works are very clear, easy to read and inspiring.

 

In the individual existence, the spirit is what makes all the difference; so long as one just speaks of the spirit and it is something one has read about, whose existence one vaguely knows about, but not a very concrete reality for the consciousness, this means that one is not born into the spirit. And when one is born into the spirit, it becomes something much more concrete, much more living, much more real, much more tangible than the whole material world. And this is what makes the essential difference between beings. When that becomes spontaneously real – the true, concrete existence, the atmosphere one can freely breathe – then one knows one has crossed over to the other side. But so long as it is something rather vague and hazy – you have heard about it, you know that it exists, but…it has no concrete reality – well, this means that the new birth has not yet taken place.



Sweet Mother in “ The Sunlit Path”

 

I was feeling earlier on that at times, the going can get tough. I picked up the book ‘Yogi Sri Krishnaprem’ by Dilip Kumar Roy, it opened at p.207, and I read the following passage from one of Krishnaprem’s letters:



“You say you find it hard to go on. That is a good sign. This path is the hardest in the world and as long as we find it easy we may be sure we are not getting very far but just free-wheeling easily along a level road. Oh yes, we may be happy and peaceful for a time but that happiness or peace is illusory; anything can disturb it and we achieve nothing. His peace is something quite different, something that has its being in the very heart of tremendous winds. Winds which would shatter us to atoms. It is only when the strain begins to tell on us, when the breath comes short, that we can know we are really climbing. Till then, all that we have done at most is to go over rapidly the ground we covered in a previous life. This life begins when the strain comes on – scarcely before. There is no attainment of Him until the egg-shell of self is broken. Why then should we complain when the breaking-strain begins to come on? With pain we are born both physically and spiritually, but it is the inner life we seek and not the self-enwrapped bliss of uterine existence.

Fill yourself with Krishna, occupy your thoughts with Him, and let all your actions be for Him. Surely you will find Him……………………..

…..Why worry over what your fellows around you say or do? Each of us has his or her own egg-shell cracked. Some are cracked in one way, some in another, but all are broken in the end…….

…………..See Krishna, think of Krishna, act for Krishna and, if you believe me, you will find Krishna with the uttermost certainty though the world should crack and open up beneath your feet. This is the truth. All else but Him is nothing, absolutely nothing”.

 

Wow...that was beautiful...thank you Andrew...

 

The beauty of the lord is that he is available to all of us, in whichever form we choose to see him.

 

And beyond form too.

 

If you want a clear and easy to read translation of the tenth canto of the Bhagavatam, where the stories of Sri Krishna's earthly pastimes are related, I would recommend this book.



The Beautiful Legend of God. Edited & translated by Edwin F. Bryant, published by Penguin Classics.

Jai Govinda!

 

Wow...I didn't know that there was one out for the "western front" that wasn't by Srilla Prabhupada...thank you for that...I will def. look into it. I really like Penguin Classics...they put out some nicely done books.

 

Thanks Nicole. It's the only other version that's readily available so far as I know.

 

This is a version by Swami Chidananda Saraswati, available through the chinmaya publications webpage at https://www.cybermatics2.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=150&CATID=45

It is not a translation so much as a narration of the same contents of the bhagavatam.

If someone is interested I very strongly recommend taking a week off to go to Chicago, July 4th to 11th, for Swami Tejomayananda's bhagavatam week. I speak form personal experience of his bhagavat saptahas. Guruji is truly a wonderful story teller and he sings wonderful bhajans and brings out all the beauty, the emotion, the love while maintaining a strong focus on the philosophical symbolism, the import of the stories of the lord.

 

Thanks Bhaskar. That looks good. But I meant that the book to which I referred is an actual verse by verse translation, with no commentary (other than explaining sanskrit words etc) and as Nicole said in her post, the only other version generally available in western countries is Prabhupada's

Since the stories of Lord Krishna's lila are so great, it seems a pity that they aren't more widely known outside India, but the fact is that most people don't know them, or even that they exist. It is true that one can read Prabhupada's translation, although there are voluminous (and in my opinion misleading) commentaries. There is also his 'Krishna' book, a re-telling based on the Purana, which is OK, but once again is slanted in favour of SP's own interpretation, which is very literalist.

For someone wanting to find out the basics about Krishna, these stories are indispensible.

One other thing: there is an Indian TV version of 'Mahabarata', which was shown on British TV some years ago, and is now available on DVD - although since it covers over 90 hours it is also rather expensive - but it contains all of Krishna's pastimes, and of course, a great deal more.

 

Yea...the Krishna book is the one I read because someone at the GeorgeHarrison forum sent the website to me... but the stories were good nonetheless...(they make good stories when babysitting ...esp. the one where Krishna steals the Gopis clothes... )...but I do want to see that other book...

That tv/dvd thing sounds cool...but those dvds (even if I had the money) don't usually work on American dvd players (I tried to buy Palin's Travel's off the BBC store online and the format is different)...but I'll bet it was really cool to watch...somethings are sometimes even better in AV (and that is from a book lover to the extreme! )

 

Yes, they're excellent stories alright!


Actually, the 'Krishna' book is probably one of Prabhupada's most readable, despite the limitations.

Your right about DVDs - there are different formats in the USA and Europe - however, many TV sets and DVD players these days will play both - but I just looked on Amazon, and the version I had in mind isn't on there, although there's a shortened version (only 5 discs!), but it is in PAL (Euro) format.
Here's the cover anyway.

 

Couldn't resist posting this...........



Jai Mirabai!

 

Oh...what a pretty picture. I <3 Mirabai.

 

I watched the entire Mahabharat TV series and the Ramayan TV series as well. I was not very happy with it, although it tells the stories accurately and well, the actors themselves are not very skilled andthe special effects are comical almost. I especially didnt care for the guy who acted as Sri Krishna, he was far too effeminate. All the same, HAri katha is hari katha, whatever defects it may have in presentation, it brings our minds to rest on the lord, which is the whole point anyway.

 

I haven't seen Ramayana, so I can't comment on that. But I agree that there are flaws in Mahabharata, although I thought the actor playing Krishna was great. And overall. I wouldn't criticize the quality of the acting. The special effects though are rather pathetic but as you say, it tells the story accurately, and I know I enjoyed it despite the defects. The thing is so powerful, it comes through anyway.