Question: Is diksha necessary on the path of bhakti? Answer: Diksha is compulsory to get the real blessing of Name, which is Krsna prema. Why? Because one must be free from Nama-aparadha to get the blessings of the Name. One of the aparadhas is guroravajna - disrespect to guru. Now, to do that one must
Question: Can Tulasi also be used for consumption, in food and beverages? Answer: Vaisnavas do not use Tulasi plant or leaves as food or beverage. They use it for worship and take it as prasada. Question: Are there any shastric references? Answer: I have not come across any shastric reference prohibiting to use Tulasi leaves
Sancita karma Question: In your last article, you wrote: “Universal dissolution destroys only the gross and subtle bodies of the ātmās, who enter unharmed into the body of Lord Viṣṇu. But the accumulated karma (sancita) of each ātmā persists even during the period of dissolution.” Where is sancita situated? It cannot be in the subtle
Question: I have heard the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa is one of the worst interpolated Purāṇas and I find it important to know which parts are interpolated exactly. The Kṛṣṇa Janma Khaṇḍa contains some shocking vulgar eroticism and even meat hangs out to dry in Nandagrām when Uddhava enters the village. Then there is the following
Adjustments according to Time and Society Question: On Gosvami’s literature, you have recently said: ‘These books were written from a cultural, social and political background which is different from today. Even though their philosophical conclusions are eternal, they need to be studied and applied in the modern context.’ I have not any idea what it
Question: In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, part one, chapter five, text 16-17, Sanatana Gosvami writes in his Digdarsini commentary that “uttamaa visuddhaa vaa prema-laksanaa vaa param kevalam dattaa bhaktih saa ca jnana-mishreti boddhavyam uttaratra shuddham ityukteh. Praak prahlaadena svayameva tathoktatvaac ca saptamyaantas.” Here Prahlada’s devotion is said to be pure and characterized by love but is
Question: I was reading the Tattva Sandarbha edition that was translated by you. In anuccheda 31 you have commented that: “In the Bhagavad-gita (7.5) Lord Krsna tells Arjuna that His marginal energy, the jiva, is superior to His separated, material energy, maya. One may then ask, how does the superior jiva come under the control of the inferior
