A Religion For Everyone

By Krishna's Mercy

Daily articles from December 2009

Staying the Course
Taxation
Tagging Along
Incarnating in the Devotee
About
Sound Advice
The End of the Line
The Power of Service
The Hard Earth
Key to the Mint
Tis The Season
Dust to Dust
Pre Game
For The Rest Of Your Life
A Beautiful Morning
Tidings Of Comfort And Joy
Serving the Devotee
Tourism
Attachment to Family
We Get What We Want
Friend to All
A Religion For Everyone
Fearlessness
Steady Under Pressure
Sankirtana Yajna
Worship in Goodness
Humility
Detachment Through Attachment
World Peace
A Defining Attribute
Hare Krishna
The Supreme Controller

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krishna's Mercy
• Release date: Sep 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223580300

Book preview

Krishna's Mercy

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A Religion For Everyone

Daily articles from December 2009

Copyright Krishna’s Mercy 2023

www.krishnasmercy.com

Contents

Staying the Course

Taxation

Tagging Along

Incarnating in the Devotee

Sound Advice

The End of the Line

The Power of Service

The Hard Earth

Key to the Mint

Tis The Season

Dust to Dust

Pre Game

For The Rest Of Your Life

A Beautiful Morning

Tidings Of Comfort And Joy

Serving the Devotee

Tourism

Attachment to Family

We Get What We Want

Friend to All

A Religion For Everyone

Fearlessness

Steady Under Pressure

Sankirtana Yajna

Worship in Goodness

Humility

Detachment Through Attachment

World Peace

A Defining Attribute

Hare Krishna

The Supreme Controller

Staying the Course

He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me. (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.8)

One must take to a particular path in spiritual life and be devoted to it. Jumping from one discipline to another will only leave the mind vulnerable to attack from maya.

Maya Devi is Lord Krishna’s humble servant, deputed to illusion the living entities during their time on earth. The material world actually isn’t our natural home. As spirit souls who are part and parcel of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, our real home is in Vaikuntha or Krishnaloka. This material world is full of miseries and anxieties. Vaikuntha is the spiritual world that is free of anxieties. Since God and His various forms reside there, there is no hint of misery. God is pure bliss and happiness. For this reason, His body is described as sach-chid-ananda, meaning it is full of bliss and knowledge.

When one acts in complete knowledge, there is no chance of falling down into despair or depression. Yet since we desire to remain in this material world where we accumulate karma, there must be a force that clouds our intelligence. This energy is known as maya, and she is constantly telling us that we’ll be happy if we try to satisfy our senses. For this reason, we keep jumping from one karmic activity to another. One day we may be passionate about gambling, while another day we long for intoxication or meat eating. Jumping from one sinful activity to another, we become further bound to this material world. Since material activity has karma associated with it, the living entity is forced to remain in this world after the current life is finished. God is only fair after all. If we want to stay here and falsely enjoy nature, He will happily oblige and give us the chance to take birth again.

Religion, more appropriately known as sanatana dharma, is God’s gift to us, for it represents our chance to get out of this perpetual cycle of birth and death. The original scripture for mankind is known as the Veda, which means knowledge. This original knowledge was passed down by Krishna Himself at the beginning of creation. If one adheres strictly to the injunctions of the Vedas, they will be acting in complete knowledge, meaning they will be immune to the effects of maya. Since every person has a different level of intelligence and different desires, the Vedas prescribe various methods for self-realization. In the Bhagavad-gita, these methods are all referred to as yoga. Not to be confused with the secular exercise discipline, yoga actually means achieving union of the soul with God. There are different types of yoga, but today it is most often equated with the hatha-yoga system, which calls for various breathing exercises and sitting postures. These are all very nice since they enable one to become detached from their gross senses. If the effects of the senses are nullified, it becomes easier for one to connect with the Supersoul, known as the Paramatma. God can be realized in three distinct features. Paramatma is His expansion as the Supersoul, residing in the heart of each and every living entity. The individual spirit soul is full of knowledge, but its capabilities are limited. For example, we only know about our own life experiences, but God is more powerful than us because He has expanded Himself into every living entity.

Hatha-yoga is one system, with the other primary disciplines being jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga. We see in society that there naturally exists an intelligentsia. There are always people who take an interest in philosophy and postulate their own theories on a variety of subjects. They love to acquire knowledge through deep study and analysis. Knowing this, God created the jnana-yoga system, whereby one can acquire knowledge of the Supreme by studying various books and understanding the difference between matter and spirit. Bhakti yoga, known as devotional service, is the system whereby one dovetails all their activities with service to Krishna in a loving way. This is not only considered the highest form of yoga, but it is actually the constitutional position of the soul. God is great, and we are His servants. This fact is very easy to understand, yet most of us spend our whole life ignoring it.

Perfect knowledge has to be learned from authority. Mankind’s knowledge is limited and flawed. We need only visit a bookstore to see evidence of this truth. When entering large chain bookstores, one will see all the latest releases and best-sellers on display right at the front of the store. These books are always about the same topics: politics, cooking, diet, self-help, etc. The self-help books are very popular. People are always looking for ways to be happy. One person has their prescription for success in life, while another person has a completely opposite view. These books rarely reference the Vedas, or any religion for that matter, as the basis for their theories. For this reason, people who read these books will always be left wanting more. It’s not a knock on the authors, for their efforts are certainly noble. Yet their knowledge is imperfect, whereas Vedic wisdom comes from Krishna, who is known as Achyuta, meaning infallible. If the prescriptions in these self-help books actually worked, there would be no need to keep coming out with new books. Yet we are guaranteed to find new titles released on a weekly basis, all on the same topics. This phenomenon can be described as chewing the chewed.

If we keep jumping from one book to another, our minds will get distracted. Too much information can be a bad thing, especially if we are only consuming the thoughts and ideas of mundane mental speculators. The key to success is to find a discipline that works, and then to become completely dedicated to that path. For spiritual realization, bhakti yoga is the only path that works every time it’s tried. There are thousands of historical examples to back up this assertion. Many millions of years ago, there was a great devotee by the name of Prahlada, born as the son of a demon king named Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada’s mother took spiritual instruction from the great sage Narada Muni while she was pregnant. Prahlada, hearing this instruction while in the womb, was thus born a devotee. His knowledge of bhakti yoga was so perfect, that he would regularly lecture his fellow classmates about Krishna during their recess periods. This all happened when he was just five years old. Hiranyakashipu didn’t like Prahlada’s devotion at all. He wanted his son to worship him instead of God. Prahlada wouldn’t budge however, so Hiranyakashipu attempted to kill his son in various ways. Each attempt was unsuccessful due to Prahlada’s unflinching devotion to Krishna. This is the Lord’s promise to us. Just think of Him always, and He will protect us from any and all calamities. Finally, the Lord had enough so He incarnated as a half-man half-lion, Narasimha Deva, and killed Hiranyakashipu.

Lord Hanuman is another example of a great devotee who perfected the practice of bhakti yoga. A great devotee of Lord Rama, who was Krishna’s incarnation during the Treta Yuga, Hanuman was a Vanara (monkey with human-like characteristics) by birth. Rama enlisted Hanuman as His chief warrior in His quest to rescue His kidnapped wife Sita Devi from the clutches of the demon Ravana. Hanuman met extraordinary challenges while searching out for Ravana, but He always stayed true to his mission. His only business was to serve and please Rama. In posters and photos, Hanuman is often seen chanting Rama’s name or reading from the Ramayana. Even though He succeeded in helping Rama, his devotion never waned. In this way, we see that bhakti yoga is an eternal occupation, something that one should never give up.

Devotional service involves the nine distinct processes of hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering prayers, carrying out the orders of the Lord, becoming friends with Him, and surrendering everything to Him. Prahlada and Hanuman both engaged in many of these processes, but perfecting only one of them is sufficient enough. In this age, the prescribed method is chanting and hearing, sravanam and kirtanam. The path is laid out for us; we simply have to commit ourselves to following it. Unlike with other types of yoga, taking the first step in bhakti yoga means taking the last first step in our search for eternal peace and happiness.

Taxation

May that person that had approved the exile of the noble one (Rama) to the woods, reap the sin of his that having taken a sixth part of their incomes, does not protect his subjects! (Bharata speaking to Kausalya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 75)

This statement is part of a conversation between Bharata and his step-mother Kausalya, over the banishment of Lord Rama, Kausalya’s son, from the kingdom. After being away on business, Bharata had just returned to the kingdom only to find that His father, King Dashratha, had died and that Rama had been banished to the forest for fourteen years.

Lord Rama was an incarnation of God who appeared many thousands of years ago in Ayodhya, and Bharata was His younger half-brother. Maharaja Dashratha, the king of Ayodhya, had performed a great sacrifice in order to beget progeny, and he was subsequently rewarded with four beautiful sons. Rama was the eldest and his favorite. All the plans were in place for Rama to succeed Dashratha as king, but the plans changed at the last minute due to a request made by Kaikeyi, Dashratha’s youngest wife. She wanted her son, Bharata, to be installed as the new king. Dashratha had to agree to these requests since he had granted Kaikeyi any two boons of her choosing on a previous occasion. Fearing that Rama might try to take over the kingdom by force, Kaikeyi used her second boon to ask for Rama’s banishment to the forest for fourteen years. After both requests were made, Kaikeyi anxiously awaited the arrival of Bharata so that she could reap the rewards of her handiwork.

Meanwhile, Rama left for the forest along with His younger brother Lakshmana and His wife Sita Devi. Dashratha couldn’t bear the separation pains, and he eventually quit his body. Bharata came home to find his father dead and his favorite brother banished from the kingdom. After being informed of all the prior events, Bharata stiffly rebuked his mother. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not only came to earth in the form of Rama, but also in the form of His three brothers, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna. All four brothers were expansions of God, with Rama being the primary incarnation. For this reason, all the brothers were close friends, and they were especially devoted to Rama. Bharata had no desire to the rule kingdom, especially if it meant going against the proper rules of conduct. The line of succession declared that Rama should be the next king. By having the kingdom bequeathed to him, Bharata felt extremely guilty. He never wanted to harm Rama in any way. After chastising Kaikeyi, Bharata went to talk to Rama’s mother, Queen Kausalya. She was initially very upset with Bharata, thinking that he might be happy with the current situation. She uttered some harsh words to him, and Bharata replied with a speech stating that he believed those who orchestrated the exile of Rama were all guilty of grievous sins. The above referenced statement was part of that speech.

According to Vedic information, the universe is constantly being created and destroyed. In each creation, there is a first man, and he is known by the name of Manu. From him come the Laws of Manu, which serve as the guidelines for all areas of life, including how governments should run. In the Vedic system, there are four castes, or varnas. The second class, the kshatriya, are required to provide protection to the rest of society. They are the warriors, similar to today’s military men and police. All governments of the past were monarchies, ruled by pious kshatriyas who governed at the advice and consent of learned brahmanas, the priestly class of men. Dashratha and all his sons belonged to the kshatriya race. The Laws of Manu give guidelines on every aspect of ruling a kingdom. One thing required by all governments is the collection of taxes. The third class men, the vaishyas, are involved in agriculture and trade. They can be equated with today’s capitalists. Only the vaishyas are allowed to seek after wealth and prosperity through trade and business. The kshatriyas are to spend all their time providing protection to the citizens, so they have no other way of raising money other than through the collection of taxes. The Vedas declare that a king, in normal circumstances, should never take more than one sixth of a citizen’s income. Taxes are required for the government to properly function, but that money is supposed to be used in the proper way. Government only exists to provide protection to society at large. Just as each one of us has a natural right to defend ourselves and our property, the government represents the collective right of self defense of a large group of people.

As declared by Bharata, a king who takes one sixth of a person’s income and still fails to provide sufficient protection, is guilty of committing sin. This is very easy to understand. If a king fails to provide protection, then what is the point of even collecting taxes? A person has a right to keep what they earn. If a government takes too much of a person’s earnings for no reason, they are actually committing theft. A quick study of today’s governments shows that almost half of people’s incomes are going to taxes. In