From his father, Lord Brahma, Narada Muni inquired about the manifest world — how it is created, how it is conserved, and who is controlling it. Any intelligent person who observes the living beings, the manifest world, and the ultimate control over them can see that the living beings and the manifest world are not creations of chance.
Rather than seek transcendental knowledge from an authoritative source, materialistic scientists pursue contradictory theories by assuming the world operates as a machine. But, in doing so, they have excluded consciousness and human experience.
When Newton formulated his mechanistic laws, he did not exclude the rational Being behind such functioning. He understood that there was a constant need for adjustments to made in the background, and was therefore unable to come up with a completely mechanical explanation. This has been confirmed by studies which show that the universe would self-destruct if it were to rely solely on Newton’s Law to maintain order.
There is another type of problem with the Big Bang theory as it does not account for the initial matter and anti-matter which must have existed prior to the explosion. Any intelligent person would ask where such particles came from.
Sripad Puri Maharaja explains that science has been helpful in the short run, but the ultimate cause must still be sought out. In Aristoteleian philosophy there are four causes; in Sankhya philosophy there are six. As for the Absolute Truth, the original cause behind all creation, there are no laws or existence outside of itself. Hegel realized that the Absolute Truth exists for Itself and by Itself.
Every living being is producing offspring. There are many archetypal living entities. All forms of life exhibit universal, individual and particular aspects. Particularity may vary considerably among individuals, but such variability never results in a change in the universal.
Ahangrahopasana, the act of worshipping oneself, may be one of the processes for transcendental realization, but the ahangrahopasita can never be God Himself. No one becomes God by undergoing a process of transcendental realization.
Bewilderment in the minds of devotees such as Narada and Arjuna takes place by the will of the Lord so that non-liberated persons may come to realize the truth about the Lord.
There are many paths described in the Bhagavad Gita. If such paths are directed toward surrender, then we can accept them as valid methods of spiritual development. One who has realized knowledge can be an active source of guidance. In all cases, the ultimate objective is the development of love, devotion, and a mood of service.
Srila Rupa Goswami also wrote many books including Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu. From here, one can understand the essence of devotional service and the transcendental mellows derived from such service. He also compiled Ujjvala-nilamani from which we can understand the loving affairs between Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.
The great scholar Srila Jiva Goswami was Srila Rupa Goswami’s younger brother. He also wrote many important books, including Bhagavata Sandarbha and Gopala-campu, thus expanding 400,000 verses of scripture in the process.
Sri Krsnadas Kaviraja often mentions Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, our abhideya and prayojana acharyas, who defined the means and the goal of devotional service.
Pradyumna Misra visited Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to hear topics about Lord Krsna. Sri Chaitanya directed him to Ramananda Raya to hear such topics from him. Upon his arrival, a servant explains that Ramananda Raya is busy teaching two young girls to sing and dance for the pleasure of Lord Jagannatha.
Ramananda Raya cleansed and dressed the two beautiful girls with his own hand, yet he remained undisturbed because he considered himself to be a maidservant of the gopis. One must understand this very seriously and never attempt to imitate such activities.
Ramananda Raya then offered respects to Pradyumna Misra who then took leave because it was late. The next day Pradyumna Misra explained the activities of Ramananda Raya to Lord Chaitanya. The Lord then explained that He Himself was affected by the presence of a woman even though he was a sannyasi. He then praised Ramananda Raya for the constancy of his mind, his body being completely transformed into a spiritual entity.
If a transcendentally-situated person, following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, hears and speaks about the rasa-lila dance of Krsna and is always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna, while serving the Lord day and night within his mind, such a person is an eternally liberated associate of the Lord, and his body is completely spiritualized.
On the next day, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent Pradyumna to Ramananda Raya again to hear topics about Lord Krsna. When asked what topics he would like to hear, Pradyumna Misra asked to hear about the topics spoken at Vidyanagara. Ramananda Raya then spent the entire afternoon posing and answering questions about Lord Krsna.
Sripad Puri Maharaja recalls that Ramananda Raya was the name given to Thoudam Singh’s friend in Irvine, California. After receiving such an auspicious name, Ramananda Raya invited Thoudam to meet Srila Prabhupada. However, Thoudam declined because he had seen so many holy men throughout his life. Finally, Thoudam changed his mind after Ramananda Raya declared that he would never see Thoudam again unless he met Srila Prabhupada. When Thoudam finally met Srila Prabhupada, he immediately became converted. Taking the name Swarupa Damodara, Sripad Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Maharaja founded the Bhaktivedanta Institute and then traveled all over the world preaching to the scientists and the educated portion of society.
Kirtanam, glorification of the Lord, can be performed in many ways — chanting the Holy Names, preaching Krsna consciousness, reciting the Lord’s pastimes, and speaking about Krsna and His devotees. The performer of offenseless kirtanam has positive association with the Lord through His devotees, and thus becomes purified. However, one must remain on guard against committing sins willfully while chanting, as this is the greatest offense in the discharge of devotional service.
In the last phase of His instruction to Arjuna, Lord Krsna revealed the most confidential part of His instructions: “become a pure devotee of Mine and give yourself unto Me only, and I promise you full spiritual existence, by which you may gain the eternal transcendental loving service unto Me.”
The culmination of the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita is sharnagati, surrender to Krsna, and when one attains this stage, he naturally becomes a devotee of the Lord to render loving transcendental service. Bhakti-yoga is the highest quality of perfection to be achieved by the intelligent person in lieu of performing a large quantity of pious or religious activities.
Kirtanam, and especially sankirtanam, are the recommended processes for becoming God-conscious in this Age of Kali. This consists principally of chanting Harinama and reading Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. It is by direct association with the Lord through His devotees, via sound vibration, that we become purified of our lust, anger, greed and pride, and develop actual love of God.
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that, “advancement of learning, a charitable disposition, political, social or religious leadership of human society, philosophical speculations, the practice of the yoga system, expertise in the Vedic rituals, and all similar high qualities in man serve one in the attainment of perfection only when they are employed in the service of the Lord.” Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts can be purified if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord.
The Supreme Lord is knowable only by those who are above all pretensions — desire for material enjoyment, desire for liberation, and desire for material perfection. A living entity, by his constitutional position, cannot be void of all desires, but the niskam devotees of the Lord overcome this by desiring everything for the satisfaction of the Lord.
