Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances ! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!
It was an excellent mail from H.G Sudarshana Devi Dasi - titled "Make Sure to Remember Krishna", wherein the importance of the consciousness with which we perform any activity was specified. I would like to add few words to it. In one of the Bhagavad Gita class that was held here, I gathered the following point as to what consciousness is. It is the energy of the soul that pervades the whole body. Till the time the soul is within the body, everything is perfect, the senses are alive, the hands are working and for that matter all the limbs of the body are doing their prescribed duties. But the moment the soul leaves the body, even though the limbs are present, they are of no use and that is because the energy that was linking all the limbs is absent there.
What is sub-conscious & Supreme Conscious?
We, (the living entities) are sub-conscious because I know only about my body whereas Krishna is Supreme conscious because he knows every BODY as He is situated within everybody. In Bhagavad Gita 13.3 Lord Krishna says,
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion.
In the introduction to "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" , His Divine Grace, Srila Prabhupadaclearly explains that, 'The Lord is kṣetrajña, conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies.' So, we have to raise ourselves from the platform of sub-conscious to the level of the Supreme conscious. That's the reason why Prabhupada named the movement as Krishna Consciousness & not God Consciousness because He (Krishna) is the Supreme & has a Personal form.
How can one remain in Krishna Consciousness?
By doing divya karma (Transcendental Acts), the above can be achieved. Remembrance of other things except Krishna, entangles us into Kartavya Karma & Vikarma, for which we have to suffer the consequent reactions. Getting up early in the morning to perform the Arati, offering flowers, obeisances etc are all transcendental acts. Regular attendance of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam class is also one of the divya karma.
Our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj so humbly requests all of us to remember Krishna in whatever we do. But for a dull-headed brain like mine, the concept is hard to digest. Before the start of any activity, for e.g, going out of the house to buy the grocery, taking a cab & other such activities, I pay obeisances to Lord Krishna but when the activity is over, my consciousness of Him is lost. Entering the flight, I remember Him but the moment I reach my destination, I don't remember to thank Him for the safe journey. Maharaj says that in the aeroplane, the 3 things - Water , Fuel and Electricity that are inimical to one another, are kept at their place by the inconceivable power and mercy of Krishna.
Be it a bullock cart or any other car(t) that we are travelling, chanting the Hare Krishna Maha mantra is a must . I hope some day, I can imbibe this in my mind.
My sincere prayer to Vaishnavas, Gurudev & Krishna that I may achieve the above.
Your humble servant,
Nayana Priya devi dasi
Abu Dhabi.
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.