ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

SRI GURU PRANAMA

NAMA OM VISHNU-PADAYA KRISHNA-PRESHTHAYA BHU-TALE

SRI-KRISHNA-CAITANYA PRABHU NITYANANDA

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

The solution to our problems

Lord Sri Krishna personally came as Lord Chaitanya in order to distribute the process of
chanting—the easiest means, in this age, to the highest perfection of life:
Out of many thousands of persons who are in self-knowledge as to what and who they are,
only one or two may be actually liberated. And out of many thousands who are liberated, only
one or two may understand what and who Krishna is. So, understanding Krishna is not such an
easy job.

Thus in this age of Kali, an age characterized by ignorance and chaos, liberation is out of the
reach of practically everyone. One has to go through the whole ordeal of becoming civilized,
then religious, and then one has to perform charities and sacrifices and come to the platform of
knowledge, then to the stage of liberation, and finally, after liberation, to the understanding of
what Krishna is.... Practically speaking, this process is not very easy in this age of Kali. In
Srimad Bhagavatam, a description is given for the people of this age. Their duration of life is
said to be very short, they tend to be phlegmatic and slow and to sleep a great deal, and when
they’re not sleeping, they are busy earning money. At the most they only have two hours a day
for spiritual activities, so what is the hope for spiritual understanding? It is also stated that even
if one is anxious to make spiritual progress, there are many pseudo-spiritual societies to take
advantage of him. People are also characterized in this age as being unfortunate. They have a
great deal of difficulty meeting the primary demands of life—eating, defending, mating, and
sleeping—necessities which are met even by the animals. Even if people are meeting these
necessities in this age, they are always anxious about war, either defending themselves from
aggressors or having to go to war themselves. In addition to this, there are always disturbing
diseases and economic problems in Kali-yuga. Therefore Lord Sri Krishna considered that in
this age it is impossible for people to come to the perfection stage of liberation by following the
prescribed rules and regulations.
Thus out of His causeless mercy, Sri Krishna came as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and
distributed the means to the highest perfection of life and spiritual ecstasy by the chanting of
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,
Hare Hare. This process of chanting is most practical and it does not depend on whether one is
liberated or not or whether one’s condition is conducive to spiritual life or not—whoever takes
to this process becomes immediately purified. Therefore it is called pavitram (pure).
Furthermore, for one who takes to this Krishna Consciousness process, the seeds of latent
reactions to his sinful actions are all nullified. Just as a fire turns whatever we put into it to
ashes, this process turns to ashes all the sinful reactions of our past lives.

Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge

Not This Body

Krishna Consciousness is not a question of belief, it is a science.

The first step is to know the difference between a living body and a dead body. What is the
difference? The difference is that when someone dies, the spirit soul or the living force leaves
the body. And, therefore, the body is called “dead.” So, there are two things: one is this body;
and the other, the living force within the body.

One must first understand that he is a soul, or something other than this body.
For example, as a child grows, he becomes a boy, the boy becomes a young man, the young
man becomes an adult, and the adult becomes an old man. Throughout all this time, although
his body is changing from a child to an old man, he still feels himself to be the same person,
with the same identity. The body is changing but the occupier of the body, i.e. the soul, is
remaining the same.

So, when your body is finished, annihilated, you are not finished. You get another body, just as
you may change your coat and shirt. If you come to see me tomorrow wearing a different shirt
and a different coat, does that mean that you are a different person?

No. Similarly, each time you die, you change your bodies but you, the spirit soul within the
body, remain the same. This point has to be understood. Then, one can make further progress
in the science of Krishna Consciousness.

The spirit soul is invisible to our material eyes. It is atomic in size. After the destruction of the
gross body, which is made up of the senses, blood, bone, fat, and so forth, the subtle body of
mind, intelligence and ego goes on working. So, at the time of death, this subtle body carries
the small spirit soul to another gross body.

The process is just like air carrying fragrance. Nobody can see where this rose fragrance is
coming from but we know that it is being carried by air. You cannot see how but it is being
done. Similarly, the process of transmigration of the soul is very subtle. According to the
condition of the mind at the time of death, the minute spirit soul enters into the womb of a
particular mother through the semen of a father and then the soul develops a particular type of
body given by the mother. It may be a human being; it may be a cat, a dog or anything.
You are eternal. According to your work, you are simply changing bodies. Therefore, you
should want to know how to stop this business, how you can remain in your original, spiritual
body. This is Krishna Consciousness.

Discovery
1. What is the difference between a living body and a dead body?

Understanding
1. Explain with an example, how we can understand that we keep changing our bodies, but we
are the eternal soul.
2. Explain how the soul transmigrates from one body to the next at death?
3. Why do we get different types of bodies?
4. When can we stop changing our bodies?

Application
1. Do you feel relieved to know that you are an eternal soul? Share your impressions.
Preaching is the Essence
The Lord descended as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver the entire
world

Advaita Acharya was always absorbed in the thoughts of how to deliver the fallen souls of the
entire world. “The entire world is full of non-devotees,” He thought. “How will they be
delivered?”

Determined to deliver all the fallen souls, Advaita Acharya decided to cause Krishna to descend.
With this vow, He began to offer Ganges water and tulasi leaves to worship the Lord. Similarly,
Haridasa Thakura chanted in his cave on the bank of the Ganges with the intention to cause
Krishna’s descent. Because of the devotional service of these two persons; Lord Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu descended as an incarnation. Thus, He preached the holy name of the Lord and
ecstatic love of Krishna to deliver the entire world.

Cc Antya 3.223-226
Namaste Narasimhaya

(1)
namas te narasiḿhāya
prahlādāhlāda-dāyine
hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ-
śilā-ṭańka-nakhālaye

(2)
ito nṛsiḿhaḥ parato nṛsiḿho
yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiḿhaḥ
bahir nṛsiḿho hṛdaye nṛsiḿho
nṛsiḿham ādiḿ śaraṇaḿ prapadye

(3)
tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-śṛńgaḿ
dalita-hiraṇyakaśipu-tanu-bhṛńgam
keśava dhṛta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare