It’s natural to be angry with a person who hurts us. If the pain caused by someone’s actions is too severe, one might even consider punishing them. But how appropriate is it to condemn or punish an entire community or family for one person’s mistake? Here are some examples from Srimad Bhagavatam to explore more on this topic.

There comes a time, sometimes regularly, where we may feel, Oh, Krishna. I can’t do this anymore. This ‘this’ will be different for everyone. It happened to Arjuna in the Gita – he wanted to give up, not to fight, and go off to the forest to be alone. He did not want to deal with people and life’s problems. He told Krishna: I’m not fighting, I can’t do it, I can’t see the point, better if I don’t act and move to the side. If it can happen to Arjuna, who had ev...

The phenomenon of something changing from material to spiritual is an extraordinary one, but it is something we as devotees are involved in daily—often several times a day. It happens when prasadam (unoffered food) becoming prasadam, or food sanctified by the Lord. When I was a new devotee in Montreal, we arranged a program that was to be given on campus at McGill University. The leaflet advertising the program read, “See matter transformed into spirit before you...

Many geneticists view that modern man developed and came out of Africa where they migrated across lands to settle in ancient India. From there they spread out in all directions, even into Europe. This is called the “Out of Africa” theory. This certainly helps contradict the Aryan Invasion Theory, which proposes that the Vedic Aryans were not indigenous to the region of India, but came from the Caucasus Mountains, bringing their culture into India. However, over the past several years, ...

I always wondered why Srila Prabhupad said we are Krishna’s dog. This thought always bothered me why he chose a dog. Few days ago one of a very old friend of my family engaged himself and me in a long conversation. This uncle mentioned about qualities of Dog. He said a dog has up to 40 qualities; out of which one of the most important qualities is his humility. No matter how much you hit your dog, scold them, be rude to them they will still wag their tails on seeing you.

“I am my worst enemy.” Some of us may have felt like this when we came under the grip of sudden, irrational impulses, and spoke and acted in ways that hurt others or ourselves or both. We make plans and efforts to change our illogical, uncongenial behavior, yet the heat of the moment often overpowers us. When we repeatedly succumb to the same self-defeating behavior, we may become possessed by the gloomy thought: “Maybe this is just the way I am; maybe this is my unchangeable nature.”

Nedzad was born in a family of practicing Muslims in the city of Tuzla in present day Bosnia in the year 1965. His father was from Tuzla, but his mother was born in Montenegro. His father was not very strict in his practices and was into music. But his mother was a very strict Muslim and she had attended Muslim school. “My mother was from a strict family tradition wherein the girls were trained in high standards. They were much regulated with no illicit sex even in mind and they knew ...

He was always charitable to brahmanas and equally befriended other castes. He never showed pride, and his amiable disposition was a characteristic feature of his life. He never accepted gifts from anyone; he even declined all honors and titles offered by the government to him on the grounds that they might stand against his holy mission of life. He was very strict in moral principles, and avoided the luxurious life; he would not even chew betel. He disliked theaters because they were frequented by "public women." He spoke Bengali, Sanskrit, English, Latin, Urdu, Persian, and ...

We cannot calculate the debt which we owe to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura Practically this Krishna consciousness movement is based upon his design because it is he who revived the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and who gave it a modern outlook towards expanding the preaching mission worldwide.

No matter whenever and wherever I happen to take birth, let my loving affection and attachment remain unshaken throughout each and every lifetime for the following things: for my divine spiritual master, for Sri Gauranga, for the detailed topics of pure devotional service (and the methods of its execution) as personally instructed by Him, for the holy places of pilgrimage such as Sri Navadvipa, Sri Kshetra, Sri Vrndavana, etc. , which are all blooming with divine sanctity due to His performance of wonderful pastimes therein, for the diksa mantra bestowed upon m...

Krishna steals the minds of everyone, yet Radha steals even His mind by Her divine expertise. Thus She is known as Haraa. When the residents of Gokula were crying due to fear of the forest fire, Krishna immediately swallowed it and gave His devotees great joy. In this way, He is known as Rama. In order to please Sri Radha, Krishna manifested the most wonderful lake (Syama-kunda) in Vrndavana. He then called all the holy rivers to fill it. He is thus known as Krish...

When Alexander the Great lead his men through the Gedrosian Desert, the loss of life was colossal. He sent phalanxes of his army in search of water. After many hours they came back with just enough to fill a helmet. The parched army handed over the precious liquid to their commander. He clasped the helmet in both hands and to the dismay of his troops, poured its contents onto the sand. Alexander proclaimed, “If the men don't drink, then I don't drink”. This selfless act forever forged an impenetrable bond between the commander-in-chief and his men. He inspired the...

“The Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu is the Absolute Truth, whose lotus feet all the demigods are always eager to see. Like the sun god, He pervades everything by the rays of His energy. He appears impersonal to imperfect eyes.”

It was the Thursday before Christmas, and London's Oxford Street (the longest shopping street in the world) was brimming over with Christmas shoppers. Twice already that week plainclothes police had arrested devotees chanting Hare Krsna there, but today we were intending to avoid any trouble. The five of us took a new route, profusely distributing the holy name to everyone within earshot. As we made our way through Piccadilly Circus (London's "Times Square") and then along crowded Regent Street, we brought smiles to many faces and raised eyebrows on many others. Finally ...

Worshiping the cows: The Vedic scripture states that all the demigods and demigoddesses reside in the body of a cow. This explains why the body of a cow is divine and holy. If we worship Mother Cow, we attain the same material benefits we'd get by worshiping the demigods and demi-goddesses individually. The Garuda Purana says that anyone who has even once worshiped Mother Cow will be saved after death from the great suffering of hell (Naraka). Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, gave more importance to the worship of the cows than to the worship of ...

For anyone interested in spiritual progress, gambling is more than just a harmless amusement. How does gambling erode truthfulness? I think back to one of my first psychotherapy clients. Joe, in his late thirties, had recently married for the first time and desperately wanted the marriage to work. But every time he got his paycheck, he'd secretly go to the Atlantic City casinos. Using an elaborate web of lies, he'd explain his absence to his wife. If he lost ...

There are many things which we aspire for and even worship, which have no intrinsic value. They have value inasmuch as they are attached to values, and thus can serve perverted or promoting aims. Thus, though they have no value, they have a use. These things which we attach value to, are actually tools for values to be attached to. For example, a knife is neither good nor evil, but can be used for good or evil. It has a use, but no value. What is it that we worship as human bei...

The modern caste system is seen to usually dictate one’s varna or caste merely by one’s birth family, as if one automatically inherits the caste of one’s father, which is why there is a growing dislike for it. This is not the traditional Vedic system of Varnashrama. This is the difference and the problem. The traditional Vedic system calculated one’s occupational class by recognizing one’s natural talents, interests, tendencies, and abilities. It was similar to the modern system of having h...

In November of 1969 while speaking in London's Conway Hall, Srila Prabhupada stated the following: "The process is very simple. Just keep a picture of Lord Caitanya with His associates. Lord Caitanya is in the middle, accompanied by His principal associates—Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara, and Srivasa. One simply has to keep this picture. One can keep it anywhere. It is not that one has to come to us to see this picture. Anyone can have this picture in his home, chan...

RABBI: In the Torah, Moses describes to the people some of the requirements of a king. One of the requirements is, "When [the king] is established on his royal throne, he must write a copy of the Torah as a scroll edited by the Levitical priests. [This scroll] must always be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life. He will then learn to be in awe of God his Lord, and carefully keep every word of the Torah and these rules. He will then [also] not begin to feel superior to his brethren, and he will not stray from the mandate to the right or the left. He and his ...

When Lord Caitanya finished His instructions to Srila Sanatana Goswami, Sanatana, being empowered and enlightened, was so transcendentally pleased that he at once fell at the feet of Lord Caitanya and said: "I am born of a very low family, and I have always associated with lowly people; therefore I am the lowest of sinners. Yet You are so kind that You have taught me lessons which are not even understood by Lord Brahma, the greatest being in this universe.