Not a blade of grass moves without God's consent - Tenavina Trunamapi Na Chalati
Hare Krishna!
I was reading the The Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10.16.42/43 this morning. It states,
"Obeisances unto You, who are the ultimate soul of the physical elements, of the subtle basis of perception, of the senses, of the vital air of life, and of the mind, intelligence and consciousness.
'By Your arrangement the infinitesimal spirit souls falsely identify with the three modes of material nature, and their perception of their own true self thus becomes clouded'.
We offer our obeisances unto You, the unlimited Supreme Lord, the supremely subtle one, the omniscient Personality of Godhead, who are always fixed in unchanging transcendence, who sanction the opposing views of different philosophies, and who are the power upholding expressed ideas and the words that express them".
When we realize that nothing happens outside the will of Krishna, then we understand that we, the spirit souls, by His arrangement, are helplessly doing His will.
In the Ramayana, Manthara was helplessly doing God's will to instigate Keikayi whose mind becomes so clouded that she forces Dasharatha to send Lord Rama in exile to the forest. But this was a divine plan as the demigods were being harassed and overpowered by the asuras headed by Ravana that he had to be stopped. Hence by divine arrangement everything was planned to send Rama stop the likes of Ravana.
Even in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas being sent to exile and the eventual Kurukshetra war to remove the Kauravas was also a divine plan. Krishna could have stopped Kauravas Himself, but He didn't. He allowed Arjuna and his brothers to do the deed. Krishna gives Arjuna Diyva Dhrishti (Divine Vision) to show him that Kauravas were already dead and He had made Arjuna His instrument in killing them.
So everything is Krishna's Lila and to judge or criticize others because they do not see things our way is like criticizing Krishna, because not even a blade of grass can move to left or right without His consent.
If we see the world as a mess, and criticize others because they follow a different philosophy or ideology than our own or are of a different color, caste, religion, etc, it is our own lack of divine vision and understanding and seeing God's perfection in every thing happening in this world. What happens when a person wearing glasses removes them? He sees the world as a blur, a mess. Similarly, when we see with the eyes of knowledge we will see the perfection in the world while a person with no knowledge sees the same world as a mess and sees every one who does not see things his way as his enemy.
The purpose of a Guru is to show us what transformation happens within us as a result of the events happening around us. Are we becoming humble, selfless, self-controlled, tolerant of others, content, non-violent in thoughts, words and behavior? If we are, then we are right on path to becoming spiritually evolved. If we find such a Guru, then we must hold on to him like a shadow, as he will help us remove all the impurities from within us for divinity to shine through us. We shall be transformed from being human to being pure spirit that we are, a part of this pure Divine Spirit, God, Lord Shri Krishna.
Then we shall joyfully perform any role Krishna wants us to play.
We have to remember that at the end of the Mahabharata war, Bhishma was the only one who went back to Godhead, though he was fighting on the wrong side and who lifted a weapon to attack Krishna in what is called a 'Virya Rasa'.
Hare Krishna!
Replies
Srila Prabhupada: “Somebody was criticizing me that “Swamiji, you are introducing this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. People are becoming coward. They simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.” So I replied that “You will see the power of Hare Kṛṣṇa movement in due course of time.” He required… Because there were two battles in India: the battle between Rāvaṇa and Rāma, Rāma-Rāvaṇa, the battle of Rāmāyaṇa; and another battle was Battle of Kurukṣetra. And in these two battles the hero was Vaiṣṇava and Viṣṇu. In the Rāma-Rāvaṇa battle Lord Rāmacandra was there and His devotee Hanumān, Vajrāṅgajī. Similarly, in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Kṛṣṇa was there and His devotee Arjuna was there.
So Vaiṣṇavas, they do not simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. If there is need, they can fight under the guidance of Viṣṇu and become victorious. A Vaiṣṇava’s one qualification is… Out of the twenty-six qualifications, one qualification is dakṣa,expert. If there is need of fighting, they can fight like very expert. That is also needed. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean one-sided. Kṛṣṇa as all-pervading, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement also should be all-pervading. It should touch everything, even politics, sociology, everything, if required. That is the aim. Because Kṛṣṇa’s mission is: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7], paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8].
Srila Prabhupada has told us:
"Machines mean unemployment for the many. The tractor they're using means unemployment for bulls and plowmen. Then the bulls must be killed. This is going on. Unemployment, then kill them. Send all the men to fight in Vietnam and kill them. As soon as there is overpopulation of unemployed, they declare war so that people may be killed."
(Morning Walk, Mayapur, February 12, 1976)
So these wars are not right wars, righteous wars. No. They are play of the diplomats, politicians--they engage. When they cannot manage things very nicely, they engage people into war. That's all. Divert the attention. But war is not meant for that.
[Bhagavad-gita Lecture 2.32 London, September 2, 1973]
>(Srila Prabhupada Evening Darsana February 15, 1977, Mayapura) Don't be disappointed. Kṛṣṇa will act through His movem...ent and kill them, these demons. How it will be done, that you cannot know now, but it will be done. Let us remain true soldiers. That's all. And if it is a fight, suppose we die in the fight. The fight means with vow, with determination either to gain victory or die. Because it is fight against māyā, why we shall be afraid of being killed? Where there is fight, one must know that "Either I am going to be killed or gain victory." Jīvo vā māro vā. Those who are devotees, either they live or they die—the same thing. While they live they are serving Kṛṣṇa; when they die they will serve Kṛṣṇa. Jīvo vā māro vā. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). He goes to Kṛṣṇa. (laughs) So what is the loss? We are working for Kṛṣṇa, and if we die we go to Kṛṣṇa. So what is the loss? Same business.
Srila Prabhupada
" Make your own field and .... act on my behalf." - Śrīla Prabhupāda: July 31, 1977.
Srila Prabhupada said that the Hare Krsana Movement must launch strong protests against misleaders and the dogs hogs camels and asses. We are not for sitting in Radha kunda chanting 64 rounds. We are for sankirtana, for world wide social reform and revolution. Thank Krsna we are not in the last age, we are in Kali yuga, where we can get the mercy of Mahaprabhu. And how is that gotten? By spreading the holy Names widely. Many will go back to Godhead.
If someone stops the sankirtana Movement, not only should they be bypassed, but killed if necessary. Just as the nagar kirtana came to the Khazi's house, so we will come to the houses of the evil elites trying to stop spiritual life on this planet. There, they will capitulate or die.
Impersonalists and voidists try to say all is one, there is nothing to be done, but that is not our instructions from Srila Prabhupada, who called out the rascals and defeated them, even to the point of being martryed for it by raksasas. If the devotees sit back and take it, then we are all doomed. Perverts and raksasas are taking over the whole planet totally, and the itsacon corps is one such example. Vedas say aggressors and attackers should be killed, what to speak of those who poison the spiritual master and thus try to stop the sankirtana movement.
Respectful obeisances, Mahesh Prabhu!
I wish to point out that since our spiritual master was poisonned and we were all systematically kicked out of the organization we built for Srila Prabhupada, nothing is anymore normal. It is war emergency. The niceness of the mood expressed is very good ideally, but pacifists at time of war are less appreciated due to the circumstances. To preach peace to soldiers is likely not a policy in line with the army's goals, however idyllic that might be in idyllic times.
Hare Krishna!
Thank you for your input.
The beauty of the Krishna's Gita is that it teaches us appropriate behavior. There is no right or wrong in Krishna's world, there are only consequences to the actions. Krishna has made perfect set of Universal Laws which can never be broken or bypassed.
The divine dichotomy is that nothing is done outside of God's plan though it doesn't seem so.
Krishna states that the four classes - Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishnava and Sudra are all His creations.
And each acts according to the Guna (nature) and Karma(past actions) one is born with.
If you are a kshatriya, fight like a kshatriya, don't leave the battle. When all the paths to peaceful agreement failed then Krishna asks Arjuna to go to war for Svadharma, cause that was the essence of being a kshatriya to rule, to protect and to fight.
We are all performers in the Krishna's drama. Play your role to perfection. But think not you are the doer (BG 3.27)
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Krishna never tells Arjuna to passively surrender to Him and become a mendicant.
He tells Him to surrender his mind, intelligence and false ego and fight. He asks Arjuna for active surrender.
BG Ch 18.57/58
There is a beautiful Hollywood movie 'Sliding Doors' which depicts two parallel stories in the life of the heroine, one where she gets on the train and the other where she misses the train by a few seconds. Both stories go along the different path but they end with the same result because her Prarabdha written as per her past karma.
This life is also likened to a interactive CD rom game where all the moves and endings are already fixed on the CD, but every time we play differently, the game moves along a different path which ends differently. And we think we have won or lost. But the paths and results were already embedded on the CD. We just didn't know. We thought our action brought on the result.
Hare Krishna!
Hare Krishna!
We are three part beings - body, mind and soul
And since we are embodied souls, this body has to perform action. And the mind creates our world which we have shaped according to our past samskaras. We think, this is right and that is wrong. So we have likes and dislikes (Raag and Dvesha). We hate those who disagree with our line of thinking and love those who agree to it.
But we are neither the body nor the mind. We are the pure spirits, parts of Supreme Spirit, Lord Shri Krishna.
Krishna has given us this body and mind as tools to connect with Him by connecting with others. He is that invisible thread on which we, the pearls, rest.
We may realize that we are not this body, but at a subtler level we start thinking we are the mind.
The problem occurs when we think we are that mind. But the mind is the instrument, given to us by God, which when played (used) to perfection, plays sweet music. But when we think we are the mind, then we sit like a dumb instrument for others to press the buttons and we get excited or agitated by others who play us by pressing our buttons.
The duty of the soul to is to connect with the Supersoul by connecting with other souls by reminding others of their true identity.
Hare Krishna!