Bharata Varsa or India

 

Bharata Varsa or India, by Haripada dasa

Formerly India was called Bharata Varsa, in honor of the great Holy King Bharatha Maharaja, in the 18 chapter of the Nectar of devotion the great Holy King is glorified.

There is a good example of this detachment in relation to the character of King Bharata. In the Fifth Canto, Chapter 14, verse 43, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said: "Emperor Bharata was so attracted by the beauty of Kṛiṣhṇa's lotus feet that even in his youthful life he gave up all attachments to family , children, friends, kingdom, etc., as if they were untouchable feces”.

I remember a walk by Srila Prabhupada who said that this planet Earth is very good for spiritual unrealization, and the best place for spiritual life is India, and the best of India is Bengal, there is a saying that what it is done in Bengal, it is done all over India, and this is because Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared there more than 500 years ago, He is Krishna Himself playing the role of Krishna's devotee, to teach us all to be Krishna's devotees.

The entire spiritual culture of India was destroyed by the caste brahmanas, they invented that no one can be a brahmana if one is not born into a brahmana family, Srila Prabhupada and all the guru parampara destroyed this invented idea, in the sastras or scriptures it is said that If one is a brahmana but is not a devotee of Krsna, he is the lowest of mankind, and if one is born in a dog-eating family but becomes a devotee of Krsna, he is the most glorified and fortunate person.

The Three Kinds of Happiness

 The Three Kinds of Happiness, by Haripada dasa

This information is in the Nectar of Devotion, chapter 1:

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has analyzed the different sources of happiness. He has divided happiness into three categories, which are: 1) happiness derived from material enjoyment, 2) happiness derived from identifying with the Supreme Brahman, and 3) happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In Tantra-śāstra, Lord Śiva speaks to his wife, Satī, in this way: "My dear wife, a person who has surrendered to the lotus feet of Govinda and who has developed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can receive easily all the perfections desired by impersonalists; and beyond this, he can enjoy the happiness attained by pure devotees. "

Happiness derived from pure devotional service is the highest because it is eternal. But the happiness derived from material perfection or from understanding oneself as Brahman is inferior because it is temporary. There is no way to prevent one from falling from material happiness, and there is even every chance of falling from spiritual happiness derived from identifying with impersonal Brahman.

And in the Bhagavad-Gita, 18, 37 to 39 it is said that what at first may be like poison but which in the end is like nectar, and which awakens one in self-realization, is said to be happiness in the plane of the mode of goodness. The happiness that comes from the contact of the senses with their objects, and which at first appears to be nectar but at the end appears to be poison, is said to be of the nature of passion, and happiness that ignores self-realization, that it is a delusion from beginning to end, and that it proceeds from sleep, laziness, and illusion, is said to be of the nature of ignorance.

Our mission

 Our mission, by Haripada dasa

As I understand it the mission of those people who have full faith that Srila Prabhupada is the way, the truth and the life, and if someone goes back home back to God or Krishna, it is by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada It is helping each other to obey Srila Prabhupada's instructions and free ourselves from doubts, the result of doing this is that we will live with Srila Prabhupada, acquire his qualities and qualify ourselves to go back home, back to Godhead. In relation to this it is very interesting what Srila Prabhupada says in the Bhagavatam, 5, 12, 13, there he says that this movement for Kṛishṇa consciousness has been founded to engage people in the service and glorification of the Lord the twenty-four hours of the day. In this institution, students engage in Kṛishṇa consciousness cultivation from five in the morning until ten at night. That way they don't have a chance to waste time unnecessarily talking about politics, sociology and current affairs. All this follows its own course. The devotee is only interested in serving Kṛishṇa in a serious and positive way.

Another point is that we always have to emphasize strictly following the spiritual standards given by Srila Prabhupada, here everyone chants his 16 offense-free rounds of the Maha Mantra Hare Krishna, everyone follows the 4 regulative principles very strictly, 1, do not eat meat, fish or eggs, 2, no illicit sex, only sex is allowed to procreate and with one's wife, 3, no gambling, and 4, no tea, coffee, alcohol, drugs, etc., all sing the three gayatris daily, everyone follows Ekadasis, Purusottama month, Chaturmasya, Kartika Vrata, appearances and disappearances of the Supreme Lord and His devotees, everyone avoids bad association and is always happy and eager to associate with serious and sincere devotees of Srila Prabhupada, they always wear the tilaka marks on their body, they always have Srila Prabhupada at the center of their lives and they help people to put Srila Prabhupada at the center of their lives and every day they read in the morning and p Hearing Srila Prabhupada's books at night, they only eat Krishna prasada, food offered to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Here everyone obeys the instructions given by Srila Prabhupada in his books on how we should use our hard earned wealth, Srila Prabhupada gives the example of Srila Rupa Goswami, when he retired from service to the Muslim government and surrendered to the lotus feet of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu divided his wealth into three parts. 1-50 percent gave it to the Brahmanas and Vaisnavas, 25 percent for their relatives and the other 25 percent for personal emergencies, by practicing this a transcendental atmosphere is created and egoism is destroyed. Here nobody speculates, we understand and accept that a person is speculating, when he does things in a capricious way without relying on the Guru, Sadhu and Sastra.

In the Iskcon as it is only the original books of Srila Prabhupada are used, we are totally against all the changes that have been made to the original books of Srila Prabhupada.

The authentic anti-system

 The authentic anti-system, by Haripada dasa

Everyone thinks that I am this body and that the goal of life is to satisfy my senses to the fullest, the authentic anti-system for this is that I am not the body but an eternal spiritual soul, and that the mission of human life is know God or Krishna and love him and go back to Godhead.

Nobody believes in God, that is why it is said that the only God that does not have atheists is money, the authentic antisystem for this is to fulfill the vow of the initiate and chant at least 27,648 Holy Names of God every day. This with practice takes an hour and a half to two.

Everyone has sex like dogs, pigs, camels and donkeys, the real anti-system for this is celibacy, the result of practicing celibacy is that one has a lot of body shine, health, a lot of memory and longevity.

To forget the suffering or to extinguish the penalties, everyone takes alcohol and drugs, we are already quite intoxicated by being in contact with the matter, the real antisystem for this is to drink only mineral water.

Everyone lusts for money and that is why everyone plays games of chance, the real anti-system for this is to get used to depending on God, in the end everyone has what they deserve.

Almost everyone eats meat, fish and eggs, the real anti-system for this is to have a vegetarian diet, personally I have been on this diet since 1983 and I do not know what it is to be sick, and to spiritualize food I offer it to God or Krishna in my temple.

After evacuating almost everyone cleans the anus with toilet paper, the real anti-system for this is to clean the anus with water, it is cleaner than the mouth, in India everyone does that.

On politics, Srila Prabupada always said that if the political heads or executives of the state are only interested in themselves, they will never be able to look after the well-being of the citizens. Srila Prabhupada always said that those who fear these hellish politicians take refuge in the Krishna consciousness process.

Another point that we have to understand is that to know and love God the person must be pure and without sins, sinful people only understand that suffering is happiness.