Letters

Chanting as Sacrifice

I am currently reading the excerpt from the Srimad-Bhagavatam in this month’s BTG (January/February): “Sati Gives Up Her Body.” On page 32 of the magazine, Srila Prabhupada’s purport states that it is a sacrifice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra in this age. Why is the chanting process considered a sacrifice? My understanding is this: To sacrifice means to give up something, usually to obtain something else for oneself or for another. What are we giving up when we chant? I know what we are obtaining—that is clear.

Emily Benjamin Via the Internet

Our Reply: We are sacrificing our time to fix our ears, tongue, and mind on Krsna in the form of His holy name. We are giving up whatever we previously spent the 1½–2½ hours doing each day instead of chanting sixteen rounds of the Hare Krsna mantra. And Krsna is very pleased to see we are giving up some useless activity to focus our consciousness on Him. Perfection in Krsna consciousness means to do all our activities for Krsna’s pleasure without any other consideration.

Why “Servant”?

Why does Krsna want us to be His servant? Isn’t that a bit cruel? Why does He say “surrender” unto Him? I don’t get it.

Sonul Via the Internet

Our Reply: Existentially, God is always in a superior position to us, so we’re naturally subservient to Him. In the material world, people might mistreat their servants, but God treats His servants so well they enjoy serving Him and are completely satisfied in His service.

Besides, the master-servant relationship is just one of the ways we can serve Krsna, all of them fully satisfying for us. We can also be His “servant” by being His friend, superior (such as a parent), or lover.

Because Krsna’s intelligence is superior to ours, to surrender to His direction is our true self-interest. Or, to put it another way, Krsna is asking us to surrender to, or accept, His love, because that’s the best thing for us.

Smoking and Chanting

I want to chant the maha-mantra, but I smoke cigarettes. I want to quit smoking. Do I need to wait until I have quit before I start chanting?

Ellie Via the Internet

Our Reply: You may immediately begin chanting the unlimitedly auspicious Hare Krsna mantra, and you might find that you automatically quit smoking cigarettes. Many people have. Just keep in mind that as long as we maintain attachments to material things, we cannot achieve the perfection of chanting, so ultimately we have to give up such things. If you chant with great concentration, you will find it more effective.

Which God?

I am a Hindu and religious. I belong to a group of about twenty-five young people who do bhajanas and kirtanas together.

We are having some problems between us about the right track to follow. I just want you to give me some advice about which god to pray to and follow.

Sanjeet Ramanaick Mauritius

Our Reply: It is not difficult to select a worshipable deity if you accept Bhagavad-gita as truth. Krsna says in verse 7.7 that there is no truth superior to Him. In verse 10.8, He says that He is the source of all spiritual and material worlds and that the wise who know this worship Him with all their hearts. In verse 18.66, He says, “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender to Me. I will protect you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” In verses 9.34 and 18.65, He states that the most confidential knowledge is to always think of Him, become His devotee, bow down to Him, and glorify Him. In verse 9.23, He states that the worshipers of the demigods, or devas, get impermanent results by their worship, but His devotees attain His supreme eternal abode.

Troubling Studies

I study in the field of bioinformatics. I know that the soul forms the body of the organism. Then how do I concentrate on bioinformatics, which deals with amino acid and protein. This causes lots of trouble for me.

Prasad Dehedkar Mumbai, India

Our Reply: We should all try to use our situations to glorify Krsna. You can do this by looking at your field of study in a Krsna conscious way. How is it that the amino acids are so nicely arranged into proteins and the proteins are arranged into cells so that cellular growth, maintenance, and reproduction are going on? It is so complicated that only a fool could deny the arrangement of God. Otherwise, how without guidance could such a complicated arrangement take place. Who but God has constructed machines (living organisms) that change size while they are operating and can produce copies of themselves? Truly miraculous—an opportunity to meditate on the wonder of Krsna.

When you finish your degree, you can get a job and support your favorite Krsna temple. Unless you would really rather study the scriptures and teach them to others as a lifetime monk and you have the determination to do it, then your situation is not so bad. You have to perform some kind of work. Why not stick it out?

Narayana and Krsna

Why did Prahlada Maharaja teach Narayana consciousness and not Krsna consciousness?

Anuradha Via the Internet

Our Reply: There is no significant difference between Narayana and Krsna because They are both Visnu-tattva, God Himself. Technically Krsna is the source of Narayana, and Krsna has some uniquely attractive qualities. Still you should know that Prahlada Maharaja also spoke of Krsna consciousness in addition to Narayana consciousness. One of his more famous verses begins matir na krsne (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.30). In this verse he explains how people too addicted to sense enjoyment can never become Krsna conscious.

Fear and Fearlessness

I have a question in regards to fear and fearlessness in spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada quotes, padam padam yad vipadam: “There is danger at every step.”

How to see this warning through the eyes of scripture? In Bhagavad-gita, it is said that one should be devoid of fear (6.14) and that fearlessness belongs to godly men endowed with divine nature (16.3); and, of course: “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” (18.66)

How can one be fearless and fearful at the same time? What is the happy medium at which one must arrive for success not only in the spiritual life but also in the day to day drudgery of, as Srila Prabhupada puts it, the hard struggle for existence.

How can one both love and fear God? What is feared is certainly not loved.

Bruce Gatten Via the Internet

Our Reply: Lord Krsna says, “O son of Prtha, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness.” (Bhagavad-gita 18.30)

In the mode of goodness spiritual knowledge becomes manifest, so there must be a good kind of fearfulness. A godly person fears degrading his soul. As Srila Prabhupada says in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1, “In all the schools, colleges, and universities, and at home, all children and youths should be taught to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, they should be taught to hear the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, to put them into practice in their lives, and thus to become strong in devotional service, free from fear of being degraded to animal life.” This same idea is also mentioned in Bhagavad-gita (2.40), “Even a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.”

It is not a question of fearing God. God is all good, so a devotee never fears Him. Still he knows that the uncontrolled mind can lead him away from devotion to Krsna for many lives, and he does not want to take the risk. So out of fear of his uncontrolled mind he takes shelter of the devotional service of the Lord, and by so doing he becomes convinced of the Lord’s protection and thus becomes fearless.

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Replies to the letters were written by Krsna-krpa Dasa.