Questions & Answers
Questions & Answers

Don’t Analyse Līlā by Logic

Question: If Śiva is omniscient, does Satī not know about the plan as a divine energy of Lord? For instance, is she controlled by yoga-māyā potency and thus unable to know the plan of the Lord? Answer: If everybody were to behave as if they were omniscient, then there would be no līlā. So, as

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Questions & Answers

Dīkṣā and Varṇāśrama

Question: If husband and wife take initiation from the same guru, do they become god brother and god sister? How can they be husband and wife?  Answer: This confusion is due to the use of the words, “god brother” and “god sister.” The Sanskrit term is satirtha, which means, “having a common guru.” Initiation is

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Gaudiya Vaishnavas General Questions & Answers Sadhana

Mahamantra and Diksha Mantras

Question: As practicing Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, we chant the Hare Krishna mahāmantra. Did Śrī Caitanya and His associates chant the Hare Krishna mantra? In Caitanya-caritāmṛta or other biographies of Śrī Caitanya, the mahāmantra is not mentioned as the mantra that was chanted. The mahāmantra is itself a legitimate mantra as per Kali-saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad, so I have

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Questions & Answers

Negative Feelings, Preaching, Līlā

Question: I am bombarded by negative feelings (precisely dveṣa) when I have to deal with my extended relatives who are not on the path of bhakti. But when I deal with my work colleagues who are not Indian by birth, I am ok with them. I believe this difference is due to my expectations. How

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Questions & Answers

Vedic Perspective on Sex and Niyoga

Question: Please explain the Vedic perspective on sex within marriage. Is the couple permitted to have a certain amount of sex? Answer: From the Vedic perspective, sex is only for procreation. It is recommended that the husband unites with his wife after the menstruation period and after she has bathed. There is no other recommendation

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Questions & Answers

Beyond Logic: The Law of Karma

Question: It seems to me that the law of karma does not adequately explain individuality and differences in phenomenal existence. We need to invoke the events of the previous life, and so on, ad infinitum, which leads to the logical flaw of infinite regress. But how did the karmic process begin? How do we explain

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Questions & Answers

Worship and Rituals in the Gauḍīya Tradition

Question: I have spent a lot of time looking at the traditions of the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas. Their texts are so much more codified than anything I have ever come across from the Gauḍīyas, which seems to be a spider web of references that don’t really lead to anything consistent. Is this just because it is a

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