Sunday, August 24, 2014

Practice Good Things In Your Life

We read so many good books in our life. We read Bhagwat Gita also & many other spiritual books. We hear so many good discourses, we go to Satsang & hear so many good things but somehow still no change comes in our life. We generally complain that doing good things is not getting them any good. So what is the reason that after doing so many good things, reading so many good books, no great change is happening in your life. Here below is a Story which shall let you understand the reason behind this.

“Once a “Doll Maker” came to the court of a King & showed 3 exactly same Dolls to the King. “Doll Maker” asked all the people in the court & the King to tell & segregate all the three dolls as No. 1 doll, No. 2 doll & No. 3 doll. As all the dolls looked exactly similar, no person could tell the difference & could distinguish these Dolls. After some time a wise man came to the court & saw the Dolls. Though all the Dolls looked same but after little bit of more examining these dolls, he asked the people in the court to bring a wire.

When the wire came, the wise man put the wire in the left ear of the 1st Doll. That wire came out of the second ear of the Doll. So wise man labelled that Doll as No. 1 Doll.
Now the wise man put the wire in the left ear of the other Doll. That wire came out of the mouth of that Doll. So the wise man labelled that Doll as No. 2 Doll.
Then the wise man put the wire in the left ear of the last Doll. That wire went in the belly of the Doll & dropped inside. So the wise man labelled that Doll as No. 3 Doll. So though the Dolls were appearing the exactly same from outside but from inside they were quite different.”

Same is the case with we people. We hear so many good discourses, we go to Satsang & hear so many good things but all those good things enter our one ear & leave out from the other ear. We do not practice those things, we do not imbibe those good things in our life. We are like the first two dolls but we should be like the third doll & whatever good things we hear or read should go inside ourself & we should make that a part of our life.

As per on saying, “Believe what you read; teach what you believe; practice what you teach”. So we should practice in life what we believe in & what we preach.

So we should have full faith in God Also we should devote all our Karmas to God. By devoting all our Karmas to God our mind gets purified of all the impurities & our mind receives the Godly light, Godly grace and Godly knowledge. If we do Service of humanity then also it is the service of God as God sits in the heart of all human beings. Let’s work without attachment and egoism & offer all the good works of ours to God.

By practicing Karma Yoga our heart reaches out to other people & through it we see God in all people’s hearts. By such devotional practice, divine virtues such as love, mercy, tolerance, kindness, patience, self-restraint, etc. are developed in us. Karma Yoga destroys jealousy, hatred, malice and the idea of superiority in us.

Below are verses from "Bhagwat Gita", in which God is asking his disciple Arjuna to do all his actions / activities for Him only. The below verses are firstly, written in, as it is written in original Sanskrit in Bhagwat Gita & below that is English translation of that verse.

' Ye tu srvani krmani
myi sanyasya mat-para
anany-naiv yogen
maam dhyayant upasate '
' Tesham-aham samud-dharta
mrityu-sansar-saagrat
bhavami na-chirat parth
mayy-avesita-chetsam ' (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XII verse 6-7)

'Those people, who worship Me by surrendering all their activities unto Me, are always devoted to Me, always meditate upon Me, Having always fixing their minds upon Me, O Parth - to them, I swiftly rescue from the ocean of birth and death.'

Jai Sri Krishna

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Radha's Devotion to Lord Krishna

Sri Radharani is the Devotional energy of Lord Krishna. Sri Radha Rani is the greatest devotee of Lord Krishna. If any person wants to have devotion in Lord Krishna then that person should first be devoted to Sri Radharani Ji.

Sri Radha Ji & her divine immortal Love with Lord Sri Krishna is well recorded in Srimadbhagvatam & other Puranas. She had incarnated on earth during the time of Lord Krishna. Sri Radharani was a Gopi who was most near to Lord Krishna’s heart. Sri Radha's devotion and dedication towards Lord Sri Krishna was complete, that is the reason that she was most dear to Lord Sri Krishna. Goddess Shri Radha Rani took birth at a place called Barsana in Uttar Pradesh state in India. Goddess Sri Radha was the daughter of Vrishbhanu & her mother was Kirti.

Goddess Sri Radha was not married to Lord Sri Krishna but still she was most dear to Him even more than His wives. It was because, Sri Radha was always full of devotion towards the Lord & never thought of anyone else besides Lord Sri Krishna. In pictures Sri Radha is almost always depicted alongside Sri Krishna.

Sri Radha Rani is considered as the greatest devotee of Lord Sri Krishna. It is said that Sri Radha, herself is the "Devotional energy" of Lord Sri Krishna who is the Lord of the universe. Her name always comes before the name of Lord Sri Krishna that is why God's one name is "Radha Krishna" also. Just take out only one "R" from "Radha Krishna" & it becomes just "aadha Krishna" i.e. "half Krishna" & that is the power of the name "Radha". As Sri Radha Rani is always in the thought of Lord Sri Krishna the Supreme God, so her state of "Spiritual Emotion" is called "Maha Bhaav or महाभाव" i.e. the highest state of Spiritual Emotion or Spiritual Ecstasy.

As per the Bhagwat Gita, devotion is the easiest method to develop "Bhaav" & get close to the God. God himself declares about the glory of devotion in Bhagwat Gita:

"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

"Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

"sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma suchah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 66)

"Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

"ye tu dharmamritam idam
yathoktam paryupasate
sraddadhana mat-parama
bhaktas te ’tiva me priyah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 20)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: O Arjuna, Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me."

"mayy eva mana adhatsva
mayi buddhim nivesaya
nivasisyasi mayy eva
ata urdhvam na samsayah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Just fix your mind upon Me and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt."

So let's have devotion in God. Let's remember God for some time in our daily life so that we too can generate some "Bhaav" or "Spiritual Emotion" towards the God. Once that is developed, we shall always find God near us & our life shall be filled with joy, love & ecstasy.

Jai Shri Krishna



Sunday, August 03, 2014

Karmanye Vaadhika-raste, Maa Phaleshu Kadachana - Meaning

"karmany evadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadachana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango ’stv akarmani" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

"कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन । मां कर्मफलहेतुर्भू: मांते संङगोस्त्वकर्मणि" ।।
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

"श्री कृष्ण भगवान ने अर्जुन से कहा: आप को अपने निर्धारित कर्तव्य का पालन करने का अधिकार है, लेकिन आप कभी कर्म फल की इच्छा से कर्म मत करो (कर्म फल देने का अधिकार सिर्फ ईश्वर को है)। कर्म फल की अपेक्षा से आप कभी कर्म मत करें, न ही आप की कभी कर्म न करने में प्रवृर्ति हो (आप की हमेशा कर्म करने में प्रवृर्ति हो) ।।" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

Here below is detailed meaning of this verse:

1) karmany evadhikaras te: कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते: you have a right to work only
2) ma phalesu kadachana: मां फलेषु कदाचन: but have no right to the fruits thereof
3) ma karma-phala-hetur bhur: मां कर्मफलहेतुर्भू: let not the fruits be the motive of doing karmas
4) ma te sango ’stv akarmani: मांते संङगोस्त्वकर्मणि: let yourself not be attached to inaction.

Below are some quotes from famous personalities across the world on the Bhagavat Gita:

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day." Mahatma Gandhi

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous." Albert Einstein

"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization." Sri Aurobindo

"From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures." Adi Shankara

Jai Shri Krishna