Bhagavad Gita Series

Gaudiya Vaishnava is a religious movement within Vaishnavism, one of the main Hindu schools of thought. It is also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism as this movement originated with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna. Worship of God in Gaudiya Vaishnavism is through Bhakti yoga or devotional service. The philosophy explains that the jiva (self or soul) is identical to God...

Ramayana is the pride of every Indian, the history which happened ages ago (Ramayana) is still as popular and as new as ever, and Shri Ram and Mother Sita are the life and soul of an Indian. Whenever it comes to an ideal government, the most appropriate example is Rama-Rajya. Although Lord Rama was an ideal King, Lord Ram left Sita. Why? In Bhagavad Puran (9.10.54) it is said: eka-patnī-vrata-dhar...

Krishna's complexion is as polished as a powdered eye ointment. It surpasses the beauty of a newly formed cloud and is softer than a blue lotus flower. Indeed, His complexion is so pleasing that it attracts the eyes and minds of everyone, and it is so powerful that it defies all comparison. [CC.AN.64] The luster of Kṛṣṇa’s body is more brilliant than that of a newly formed cloud, and His yellow dr...

Srila Prabhupada says "As far as controlling "Kam" or lust, the best thing is don't eat any highly spiced foodstuffs and always." According to Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, lust results from a mode of passion, and he describes what causes us to develop a mode of passion and its symptoms. Krishna then describes what type of food one eats when one associates with passion, which is spicy, hot, causes...

Who was the first created being? Modern understanding is that our predecessors were less intelligent and uncultured. They were not having any scientific understanding of the world like we have today. Quite averse to this Vedas states "The first created living being is endowed with perfect knowledge and intelligence by the Lord." Let us understand: Who is this first created Being? How he takes birt...

When we talk about Bhagavad Gita, we often hear this word "Renunciation". General understanding of Renunciation is to give up one's property, wealth, belongings etc. That is why many people shun away from Bhagavad Gita considering they have to leave everything in order to understand Gita. Srila Rūpa Gosvāmī one of the foremost Vaishnava Acharya talks about the real understanding of renunciation. O...

Śrīla Madhvācārya states that the Lord is turya-sthitaḥ, always situated in transcendence. He is not at all effected by the modes of nature. Even if He sleeps He is not in ignorance. He is situated in different dimensions. Just by His exhaling millions of universes are getting produced. He manages this creation with three kinds of Vishnus. Let us understand: 1. How does Lord Sleep? 2. How these 3...

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, one of the great Vaisnava Acharya has sung __keśava tuyā jagata vicitra__: "My dear Lord, Your creation is full of varieties." The varieties are one and at the same time different. Indeed it is not easy to understand how this material world is working? This world is full of causes and effects. The effect of a particular cause itself is a cause for some other effect. The...

"Being Moral" is considered as a very nice quality from the social point of view. But if a person does not understand the real purpose of morality he will be considered a "Mundane Moralist". If one simply sticks to moral principles, ethics and morals, then he will be entrapped by the prideness that "Oh, I am very moral. I do not speak lies. I do not steal.   There are many examples where a devotee...

The Bhagavad-gita can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour. If one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, one can be freed from all miseries and anxieties in this life, and one's next life will be spiritual. Let's discuss - How to understan...

To Desire is one of the essential characteristic of a living entity. This ability to desire can be a boon or a curse. Since people don't know how to use this ability to desire they end up making their lives miserable. Some people out of frustration propose to become "desireless" or to "banish all desires altogether" but both are impossible. As long as one continues to try to artificially stop the...

What Is the Point of Spirituality? The rational intellect can’t make a person a better human being on this earth. It may be good for gaining material wealth but the qualities like unconditional love, self-honesty, joy, humility, and modesty in a human being are achieved only through spirituality. If you want to understand yourself better then spiritual lessons are the best way to achieve it. Once...

The living beings in different species of life are undergoing different terms of engagement according to their fruitive actions and reactions. But in the execution of different activities, one who secures some resources in bhakti-yoga can understand the importance of service to the Lord through the causeless mercy of the Lord, as well as that of the spiritual master. Let us understand in this sess...

Worshipping deities in the temple, meditation and scholarship of Vedanta doesn't necessitate or ensure spiritual life. Rather at times they may even take a person far away from spirituality.  So what exactly is Spirituality?   Let us explore this and more in the 1st episode of QnA Live...

As one cannot stop a blazing fire by constantly pouring ghee upon it, one cannot satisfy oneself by increasing plans for sense enjoyment want to be happy in the material world, but this will never be possible; we shall simply increase the blazing fire of desires. In order to become happy we have to follow the instructions of Lord Krishna. Otherwise in the name of happiness we will simply receive a...

Chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the most effective way of Self-Realization in this age of Kali but there are ten offences against the holy name that one should avoid while chanting. Every devotee of Sri Krishna must take note of these offences and carefully avoid them in order to make progress. Let us understand: What are the 10 Offences? How to avoid them? How to Chant effectively? Importa...

Intelligence refers to the power to analyze things in their proper perspective, and knowledge refers to understanding what is spirit and what is matter. Mind is the instrument for feeling different material experiences, but intelligence is deliberative and can change everything for the better. The intelligent person, therefore, can attain salvation from the illusion of material existence by proper...

In this material world, We are being crushed by the wheel of time with sixteen spokes. At the same time, we are thinking that we are very happy. This is called māyā. This is māyā's grace, that in any condition of life, the suffering is very, very acute, but the living entity who is suffering, he thinks, "I am enjoying." This is called māyā. Illusory energy of the Lord keeps everyone always busy. A...

We cannot see spirit, and God is the Supreme Spirit. Actually, He is everything—spirit and matter—but we cannot see Him in His spiritual identity. Therefore, to show kindness toward living entitles, He appears out of His unbounded mercy in the form of a wooden or stone Deity so that we can see Him." Atheists say Deity is simply a stone but they don't know that this so-called stone can talk, walk,...

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul within the core of everyone's heart, gives inspirations for action according to one's mentality. All of these mentalities are merely facilities given by Krishna to the person acting. Bhagavad-gitā therefore says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: [Bg. 15.15] everyone works according to the inspiration given by the Supersoul. Because everyone has a...

The Lord says in Bhagavad-gitā (9.31), kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati: "O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes." Therefore, unless one is protected by the mercy of the Lord, no remedial measure can act effectively. One should consequently depend fully on the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although as a matter of routine duty one must of course accept other re...

Lord Ramchandra is called as Maryada Purushottam. His behaviour was ideal on all the respects. Let us understand some of the teachings from Ramayana and also hear some of the glories of Lord Ramchandra.

In the Padma Purāṇa it is said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ. There are four sampradāyas, or disciplic successions, which are authorized for delivering transcendental knowledge . If one wants to advance in spiritual power, one must receive his mantras from one of these bona fide sampradāyas; otherwise he will never successfully advance in spiritual life. All of the four original...

Every year the world spends more money on crime prevention and control. Yet despite these efforts, crime rates are soaring. Big think-tankers of the world are giving various 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 to mitigate the miseries of the world, but the fact is that these solutions are something like 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. The entire world i...

The Lord is described in the Vedānta-sūtra (1.1.12) as ānanda-mayo ’bhyāsāt. He is by nature the reservoir of all pleasures, full of bliss and satisfied within Himself. He is not dependent on anyone else for His happiness. There is no moroseness, no unhappiness for the Lord. Anyone who comes in touch with Lord also ultimately attains this same nature. But there is one reason because of which Lord...