Radha Krishna Consciousness

Lord Krishna is the supreme God & Radha Rani is the devotional energy of Lord Krishna. Radha Rani is not different from Lord Krishna & both are one & the same being.That is the reason that both are also addressed as RadhaKrishna. Lord Krishna is eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful and all-attractive God. He is the seed-giving father of all living beings and is the sustaining energy of all the universe. He is the source of all incarnations of God. So whatever, we eat should first be offered to Lord Krishna with a prayer to Him. In this way Lord Krishna accepts the offering and blesses us. So let’s don’t live in a self-cantered way & let’s do all our acts for the pleasure of Lord Krishna. This is known as Bhakti-Yoga, the science of Devotional service.

As said above that Radha Rani is the devotional energy of Lord Krishna so we should pray her to get the devotion towards Lord Krishna. So let's have our emotions towards God & have Him in our life. Let's understand Him. If we are able to generate feelings or emotions towards the God then such "Spiritual Emotion" is called "Bhaav or भाव". When one is in a state of Spiritual Emotion, one’s sub-conscious mind merges with the God for the time being & experiences communion with God. Spiritual Emotion is a state experienced in the Path of Devotion (Bhaktiyoga). During the state of "Bhaav" or "Spiritual Emotion" there is an intense awareness about the existence of God while carrying out day-to-day life activities. Spiritual Emotion is also a state of experiencing God’s presence everywhere.

Gopis & Radha's love for Lord Krishna was so strong that in His absence their mind always yearned for Him. Below are described the "Bhaav" or "Spiritual Emotions" of one Gopi who is yearning to meet God - Lord Krishna :

"O Krishna! You are Lord of my life. You always remain so in my life. O Lord, don't keep me out of your mind. O Lord, pl. don't forget me."

"O Krishna! My heart is crying for you, pl. do come. My soul is crying for you, pl. do come. O God, there is burning desire in my heart to meet you, pl. do come. Now pangs of separation are unbearable. Now even if I die Krishna, but see, even after death, my desire to meet you shall not die, as all my such desires are indestructible like You only. It shall live on forever till You meet me."

Sri Radha Rani is the greatest devotee of Lord Shri Krishna. It is said that Sri Radha is herself the "Devotional energy" of Lord Shri Krishna who is the Lord of the universe. Her name always comes before the name of Lord Krishna that is why God's one name is "Radha Krishna" also. As Sri Radha Rani is always in the thought of Lord Shri 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

Real Seekers of God

In Indian culture, Satsang or a religious congregation where thousands of spiritual or religious people assemble together is a very common sight. Such Satsang or religious congregations generally happen regularly in Indian cities where spiritual discourses are given by a Guru & thousands of people listen to such discourses. Have you ever thought, how many of these thousands of people assembled there really have a true desire to know God? In fact most of these people are worldly people who have their mind deeply engrossed in their family affairs. Very few in the crowd are there who have a true desire to know God in reality.

In such a crowd of religious congregation, out of 10,000 people you may find only one who is a true seeker of God. Out of such 10,000 true seekers you may find only one who has a true knowledge of God. Out of such 10,000 people who have a true knowledge of God there is only one who has seen God & is a True Saint. So there is a rare person who has seen God & who live in true bliss of God.

In Bhagwat Gita also the Great Lord, Sri Krishna says the same about this matter. Below is a good verse, "Verse - 3, Chapter Seven of Bhagwat Gita"teaching the same thing.

"Manush-yanam sahes-tresu
kashchid yatati siddhyaye
yat-taam api siddhanam
kashchin mam vetti tatvatah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter VII verse 3)

“Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Of thousands of men some rare soul strives to realize Me & endeavour for perfection, and of those striving Yogis, again, someone rare one (devoting himself exclusively to Me) knows Me in reality."

Devotees are of different types. Some remember God when they are in distress & want to get rid of their grief. Some want to know God due to their inquisitiveness about Him. Some pray God to attain wealth in life while some wise men want to have true knowledge of God. As per Bhagwat Gita there are 4 types of devotees of God.

1) First one are those people who are in distress. In our bad times when we are in distress or when we are going through physical or mental agony, at that time we generally remember & pray to God. Such people devote themselves to God because they wish to be liberated from grief.

2) Second one are those people who want to know about the God. Such people have faith in God & want to know more about Him. Such people due to their inquisitiveness, debate about the God, read books etc. to know more about the God.

3) Third one are those people who want to gain wealth in life. There is no end to such people in this world. You can find such people generally in temples etc. asking God to give them wealth, money etc. Such people are those one's who do their appointed task for money because doing it will bring good fortune to them. So such people are the doers of selfish action in life.

4) Fourth one are those people who are people of True knowledge. Such people are really the wise men.They have true knowledge to God. They are the realized sages, who have attained to the stage of reaching the supreme goal.

Below are the verses of Bhagwat Gita which explain about the above said 4 types of devotees.

"chatur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukritino ’rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani cha bharatarsabha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the inquisitive, the desirer of wealth, and the one who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute."

"udarah sarva evaite
jnani tv atmaiva me matam
asthitah sa hi yuktatma
mam evanuttamam gatim" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me, I consider to be just like My own self. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he/she is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal."

So just check, which type of devotee of God are you? If you are not the fourth one i.e. a person of True knowledge, a really wise person, then just strive to be the one. Just devote yourself to God, read religious literature, join the company of saintly people, give charities, alms to the people. Doing all such good works & having a yearning for God, you shall certainly become a wise person, a true devotee of God & shall ultimately attain to Him.

Also if you have some Guru or you know of a great soul whom you revere as Great Godly person, then be sure that your Idol person, really has knowledge of God & has realized Him in life. Just check, whether he is the real rare Gem who knows God in reality & can lead you also to God.

Jai Shri Krishna