Tag Archive for: SeeingKrishna

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Most all of the 8,400,000 species of life have eyes to see the reality they live in. It is only human beings, however, that have the eyes to see God, Bhagavan Sri Krishna.

In Gita, Sri Krishna describes the vision of the perfect person who sees Krishna everywhere. By such divya -drshti, divine sight, one captures Krishna in the heart, and keeps Krishna forever bound in the embrace of one’s loving eyes.

Sri Krishna explains this point in Bhagavad-gita (6.30):

yo –mam –pashyati -sarvatra
sarvam -ca -mayi -pashyati
tasyaham -na –pranashyami
sa -ca -me -na -pranashyati

Bhagavan Sri Krishna says, “One who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, never loses sight Me, nor do I lose sight of him.”

Sri Sridhar Swamicharan: In other words, Sri Krishna is saying, ‘Since I am continually present before one, one is never lost to Me.’

There are two levels of seeing Bhagavan Sri Krishna everywhere.

1- With eyes coated with pure spiritual love, Krishna prema, like the cowherd damsels of Vrajabhumi and sadhana-siddha Krishna premi-bhaktas.

2- With eyes coated with desire and eagerness to see Sri Krishna everywhere.

At this level, one has not yet attained Krishna prema, but one does have a strong, focused and continuous desire, backed by intense eagerness to see Sri Krishna. One thinks, “I really, really want to see Krishna. No matter what it takes, I MUST SEE KRISHNA in this very life!”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, “A devotee is one who firmly believes Krishna will show His mercy, krishna –krpa-karibena- drdha- kari-jane.” (Caitanya-caritamrta 2.23.28)

Having a genuine, driving desire and eagerness to see Sri Krishna will automatically make one detached from maya and one’s unlimited material desires. Srila Prabhupada said that eagerness is absolutely essential to make tangible spiritual advancement.

Srila Prabhupada says, “We must be very, very eager to see Krishna; then you can see Krishna. Whether you are lusty or a thief or whatever, somehow you must develop this eagerness, this desire: ‘I MUST SEE KRISHNA!’ Then KRISHNA WILL BE SEEN!” (Journey of Self Discovery 2.2)

Sri Ananta Dasa Babaji Maharaja says, “Eagerness is the very LIFE FORCE OF BHAJAN! A devotee with loving eagerness will receive abundant grace from Sri Krishna. Eagerness is always the best means to fulfill our desires. Without it, there is no taste in sadhana and one can’t attain anything!”

Out of His infinite love and compassion, Sri Krishna personally teaches how anyone, even without Krishna prem, can always see and remember Krishna everywhere throughout the day and night. All it takes is the desire to see Krishna, and the eagerness to sincerely try.

By reading and remembering the following simple Gita verses, one will easily SEE KRISHNA EVERYWHERE day after day, until the last when Sri Krishna Himself will appear, and take you to Vraja Dham to see and be with Krishna forever!

We have arranged the following verses, all personally spoken by Sri Krishna in Gita, in a logical sequence of time and category that follow one’s daily activities beginning with waking.

Time: I am time, kala -asmi. 11.32

Existence: I am the life of all that lives, jivanam –sarva –bhuteshu. 7.9

Speech: I am the letter A, aksharanam –aksharo –asmi. (10.32) I am the sound in ether, shabdah –khe –aham. 7.8

Water: I am the taste of water, rasa -aham -apsu. 7.8

Chirping Birds: Of birds, I am Garud, vainateyash -ca -pakshinam. 10.30

Trees: Of trees, I am peepul, ashwattah -sarva -vrkshanam. 10.26

Nama/Diksa: I am japa, japa –yagya- asmi. 10.25

Beauty, Wealth, Strength: All beauty, wealth and strength is just a spark of My splendor, yad -yad –vibhutimat- sattvam, srimad -urjitam -mama -tejah -amsha. 10.41

Perfumes: I am the beautiful fragrance of the earth, punyo –gandha –prthivi -asmi. 7.9

Food: I am the fire of digestion, aham -vaishvanaro, (15.14) I am the heat in fire, asmi –vibhavasau. (7.9)

Sunshine, Moonshine: I am the light of the sun and moon, prabha –asmi –shashi- suryayoh. (7.8) Of all bright things, I am the radiant sun, jyotisham –ravih -asmi. 10.21.

Exercise: I am the strength of the strong, balam –balavatam –aham. 7.11

Wind: Of purifiers, I am the wind, pavana –pavatam –asmi. 10.31

Months: I am November-December, masa -margashirsha -aham. 10.35

Seasons: I am spring, rtu –kusumakara. 10.35

School: I am the intelligence of the intelligent, buddhi –buddhimatam –aham. (7.10) Of all knowledge, I am knowledge of the self, adhyatma –vidya –vidyanam.

Intelligence: I am the knowledge of the wise, gyanam –gyanavatam –aham. 10.38

Work: I am the ability in persons, paurusham –nrshu. (7.8) I am the beginning, middle and end of all creations, sargan –adir –madhya- anta. 10.32

Animals: Of all animals, I am the lion, mrganam –mrgendra –aham. 10.30

Ocean: Of all water bodies, I am the ocean, sarasam -asmi -sagarah. 10.24

Rivers: I am Ganga, asmi -jahnavi. 10.31

Fish: I am the shark (dolphin ?), jhashanam -makara -asmi, 10.31

War: Of generals, I am Skanda (son of Siva), senaninam -aham -skanda. 10.24

Moon: Among all the stars, I am the moon, nakshatranam -aham -shashi. 10.21

Intimacies: I am union that is not against religious principles, dharma –aviruddha –kama –asmi. 7.11

Secrets: Of secrets, I am silence, maunam -asmi -guhyanam. 10.38

In all these simple everyday ways, you can always remember Krishna everywhere, and see His beautiful sweet and charming, smiling face in everyone’s heart and everything that you see throughout the day.

Seeing Krishna everywhere ki jai!

Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Sometimes we hear someone say, “O so and so is self-realized” which is the goal of all spiritual practices. But exactly what does it mean to be a self-realized soul? There is a common saying, “it takes one to know one” which means that the self-realized one is the best person to answer this question.

Thus, we turned to Srila Prabhupada’s direct words describing self-realization because he is a perfectly self-realized soul, and liberated pure devotee of Sri Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. All the sincere Krishna bhaktas striving for self-realization and Radha-Krishna prema will greatly benefit by studying these words of Srila Prabhupada, and trying to embody these qualities and actions in their personal lives.

The following statements are taken from the BBT Folio collection of Srila Prabhupada’s personal words.

16 DEFINITIONS of SELF-REALIZATION

Srila Prabhupada said:

– Self-realization means understanding Krishna and one’s eternal relationship with Him.

-Self-realization means “I am dependent on Krishna. I am eternal servant of Krishna. Let me engage myself to the service of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.”

-Self-realization means becoming indifferent to the needs of the gross and subtle bodies and becoming serious about the activities of the self.

-Self-realization means becoming a pure devotee of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.

-Self-realization means seeing one’s proper identity as the infinitesimal jiva. At the present moment, we are seeing the body, but we have no vision of the real person occupying the body.

-Self-realization means that energy should be transferred for Krishna.

-Self-realization means to know that “I am not this body. I am spirit soul. I am part and parcel of God.”

-One who is self-realized knows that all mundane emotions have nothing to do with the pure soul, whose natural propensity is to engage in the loving service of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.

-One who is self-realized is not bewildered by the birth and death of the material body, knowing himself to be eternal.

-When one becomes self-realized, two things are conspicuous by absence: no more hankering and no more lamenting [for material things].

-A self-realized person knows that this material cosmic manifestation is a temporary, illusory representation appearing to be truth.

-A self-realized person knows quite well that material happiness is the very cause of continued material existence and forgetfulness of one’s own constitutional position.

-When one is self-realized he becomes joyful because he is free from the material contamination of lamentation and hankering.

-A self-realized person automatically gives up everything irrelevant to his spiritual advancement.

-A self-realized person sees all living entities equally.

-A self-realized person is always engaged in Krishna consciousness.

By the blessings of Sri Sri Guru, Nitai-Gaura Sitanatha and Sri Hari Nama Prabhu may we all very quickly become self-realized, pure loving devotees of Sri Sri Radha Govindadeva.

Giriraja Baba ki jai! Srila Prabhupada Pure Devotees ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!