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Thread: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

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    How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Hari Bol!
    All glories to Guru and Gaura!

    It may sound weird, but how do i focus on Radha-Krsna while chanting Mahamantra? What do i do? I try hard, but my mind goes off in all directions and anarthas. I have tried to think of Radha-Krsna as an image in my mind, it's very hard and often it fails, i have tried telling in my mind "Krsna, please give me a drop of mercy" and done both with a hat. Is there any way to focus on Sri Radha-Krsna? I have only begun chanting about half a year ago. Do i just continue visualizing and telling Krsna in my mind. Or is there another way? Thank you

    Hare Krishna!
    Last edited by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya; 10 June 2014 at 12:18 AM.

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Namaste
    The word Krushna is derived from two words 1)Krshi or bhu vachaka the central crux for the whole cosmos and 2)na or nivritti -turning back. So He is the the central recess to which the souls return to after breaking their karmic bonds..Krisa also means “to be” or “to exist”which means the bhaktas say they exist because He exists. That is He is the life of all lives, the sustainer of the all that sustained. Krisa also means dark, The dark void, the void devoid of any colour of maya.
    Radha Ra means vahni fire or carrier Dha means preserver or father or dhaata. Radha is the carrier of our devotion to God or Dhaata.
    His/Her forms are symbolic and not literal. The reason why He appeared even in an animal form is to validate His existence as Vishnu who pervades all beings.The same reason why Krishna showed His vishwaroopa to Arjun when Arjun was deluded by thinking of Him as a two armed butter boy.Now the same Krishna not even for once told Arjuna to meditate on the two armed form. Ever. Even in Uddhava Gita He told Arjuna to meditate on the Narayana form in all the atoms. Love without understanding is just emotional confusion and pretence. Now if we try to love Krishna without understanding His position as the Brahman it as good as loving a Superman or a Harry Potter.
    And going by your philosophy IF Krishna has a form and is an individual then there can be no one else with the same form. We know how Bill gates looks like and no one else can look like him and we dont call any guy with a suit as Bill gates. And if i make a statue of Bill gates it should look like him. I just cant make a statue with two arms and a suit and call it Bill gates. Like wise if your philosophy says Krishna is an individual one without a second and has a form then how can your imagination be Him just because you imagine two arms with a flute? Have you seen Him or do you know how He looks in reality?That means if i paint myself blue and hold a flute do i become Krishna? How then statues made with the imagination of the sculptor represent God? Likewise any female form/picture/deity with two arms doesn’t become Radha just because it has a lehenga!! Radha Krishna can never be imagined in a form because pure love cant be restricted in a form. If you limit yourself to the two armed forms then you are bound by maya for sure and become the same “mayavadi” that you accuse advaitins of.
    I come from Andhra Pradesh in India and there we have a big tollywood superstar whose name is Krishna. Now if doing kirtan/japa of names without understanding the gita is what it takes to be liberated a lot of tollywood fans shout Krishna Krishna watching the superstars movies. Do they get liberated too? Just ask yourself? Logic is not a sin.
    By crying to give drops of mercy you forgot about the greatest drop of mercy Krishna gave us- Gita. Follow Gita first and you will automatically be enlightened and i dont think Krishna proclaimed anywhere in Gita to worship Him in a form. In uddhava gita He does talk of deity worship but He even states that deity worship is the lowest form of all and seeing Him in all beings is the highest. Problem with most of us is we worship a human guru as a God and then reduce the actual God to a human as if He is that easy to attain and imagine. And we ignore Gods words but take the Gurus words as if they are Gods.
    Gita talks of self control, discipline, truthfulness, fearlessness, non envy,non violence as the primary qualities. Krishna specifically talks a lot about the divine nature and how the divine behaviour works in a human being. Try to cultivate all of them. He talks of ashtanga yoga and also asks you to focus in the centre of the eyebrows. Your consciousness will change one you meditate on the third eye chakra and truth about forms will be revealed automatically

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Namaste
    Quote Originally Posted by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya View Post
    Hari Bol!
    All glories to Guru and Gaura!

    It may sound weird, but how do i focus on Radha-Krsna while chanting Mahamantra? What do i do? I try hard, but my mind goes off in all directions and anarthas. I have tried to think of Radha-Krsna as an image in my mind, it's very hard and often it fails, i have tried telling in my mind "Krsna, please give me a drop of mercy" and done both with a hat. Is there any way to focus on Sri Radha-Krsna? I have only begun chanting about half a year ago. Do i just continue visualizing and telling Krsna in my mind. Or is there another way? Thank you

    Hare Krishna!
    The point is that you don't really need to focus on Radha-Krsna while chanting.
    What does this mean?
    This means that during the chanting you need to focus only on the sound of the holy name which you pronounce. That's all you need to focus on.
    You do not need to visualize Radha-Krishna as an image in your mind!!!
    You do not need to visualize anything. Just focus on the sound. That's all you need to do.

    Now, you could say that even this focusing on the sound is difficult to achieve. But this is due to inexperience. Be patient, you're still young. The whole life is ahead of you. Over time, perhaps much later in the future, it will be easier.


    regards

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Hare Krishna
    Thank you so much Ganesha for your time and long, detailed and no doubt helpful explanation and thank you Brahma for explaining that i must focus on the sound, that was also very helpful, btw, it is a little easier than visualizing! Although my mind goes off in all materialistic directions, but this is, as you said, due to my inexperience!

    we ignore Gods words but take the Gurus words as if they are Gods.
    I don't really understand what you mean here, you say this, but isn't Guru a perfect soul, a divine messenger to us, The Guru is God Himself manifesting in a personal form to guide the aspirant. Grace of God takes the form of the Guru! Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu even says himself (I cant remember of the top of my mind but it goes something like this) "If one neglects my Vaishnavas and one who comes to me with offerings, it is like a shower of burning cider" So, why should we not take the word of Guru? By the mercy of Krsna one finds a bonafide spiritual master and by the mercy of the spiritual master, one finds Krsna.

    There is a sanskrit verse:
    saḿsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-
    trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam
    prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya
    vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

    "The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities." So why would we not take the word of such a soul?


    In the beginning of creation the science of devotional service was received by the four-headed Brahma from the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, the parampara line succeed all the way to Mahaprabhu and to Swami Prabhupada carrying the same words as four headed Brahma which is identical to Krsna's teachings himself. When the Parampara stops, Krsna himself will come and re-establish it.

    I am certain that we should take the word of Guru, only through Guru can one attain God.

    How then statues made with the imagination of the sculptor represent God?
    The process of jāna-yoga, although ultimately bringing one to the same goal, is very difficult, especially in this Kali Yuga, whereas the path of bhakti-yoga, the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. The idol is a symbol, a form in which the mind can focus on and connect upon, the energy of god is within that idol as is in everything, everything is part and parcel of Krishna and his energy but in the idol there is more. I am not sure there is anything wrong in what i am doing, is there?

    If you limit yourself to the two armed forms then you are bound by maya for sure and become the same “mayavadi” that you accuse advaitins of.
    Can you please clarify this and i do not represent Gaudiya Vaishnavisim or ISKCON, i am still very ignorant and have much to learn.

    Thank you very much

    Jai Sri Radhe-Syam!
    Last edited by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya; 05 July 2014 at 11:06 PM.

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Dandavata Pranams Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya,

    Sri Krsna says in Gita that the mind is strong, defiant and to control the wind is more easy. In Buddhism they talk about the monkey mind, the mind is always jumping from one thought to another, one distraction to another, this is the nature of conditioned mind. So we notice the nature of mind and dont get to confused by inattention, practice makes perfect.

    Below are the 9 process of devotional service, in many places in shastra any of the 9 forms of practice can end in the supreme spiritual goal, prema rasa of Bhagavan Sri Krsna and His devotees.

    1. HEARING (sravanam)
    Maharaja Pariksit(the last seven days of his life, he constantly heard the Srimad Bhagavatam).

    2. CHANTING (kirtanam)
    Sukadeva Goswami(spoke the Bhagavatam to Maharaja Pariksit)

    3. REMEMBERING( visnu smaranam)
    Prahlada Maharaja(never forgot Krsna despite constant tortures from his father- Hiranyakashipu)

    4. SERVING THE LORD'S LOTUS FEET (pada sevanam)
    Laxmi, the Goddess of Fortune, is always engaged in serving the lotus feet of the Lord.

    5. DEITY-WORSHIP (arcanam)
    Maharaja Prthu used all of his royal possessions in order to offer them in pure devotion to the Lord.

    6.PRAYING (vandanam)
    Akura offered prayers to Krsna when he was traveling to Vrndavana in order to see Krsna.

    7. EXECUTING ORDERS (dasyam)
    Hanuman, the intimate servant of Ramacandra executed all of Sri Ramacandra's orders despite all kinds of difficulties.

    8. SERVING AS A FRIEND (sakhyam)
    Arjuna was so close to Krsna, that the Lord offered Himself to become his chariot driver and serve Arjuna and his brothers in various ways.

    9. COMPLETE SURRENDER (atma nivedanam)
    Bali Maharaja gave Sri Vamanadeva his entire kingdom, his possessions as well as his own body, although his own spiritual master was against it.

    Ys

    Md

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Quote Originally Posted by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya View Post
    Hare Krishna

    I don't really understand what you mean here, you say this, but isn't Guru a perfect soul, a divine messenger to us, The Guru is God Himself manifesting in a personal form to guide the aspirant. Grace of God takes the form of the Guru! Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu even says himself (I cant remember of the top of my mind but it goes something like this) "If one neglects my Vaishnavas and one who comes to me with offerings, it is like a shower of burning cider" So, why should we not take the word of Guru? By the mercy of Krsna one finds a bonafide spiritual master and by the mercy of the spiritual master, one finds Krsna. The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities. So why would we not take the word of such a soul?

    Thank you very much

    Jai Sri Radhe-Syam!

    Namaste
    Yes but the point is who is the spiritual master? Is it a person who spreads fanaticism,calls the earth flat and arrogantly sticks to the moon is father away from earth than the sun,brain of women is half that of men?

    A spiritual master speaks the truth and avoids speaking on things he has no idea upon. But if a person behaves as if he knows everything even issues he has no clue on then he is a materialistic egoist and nothing but that.
    And whether that person will take his disciple to Krishna or to hell only time will tell. Because ignorance is a worse form of hell and fanaticism is a step ahead of that.

    It is very easy to put beautiful words in praise of a spiritual master. But what are the qualities in a person that make him a master?
    As far as i know in a person who is a true devotee of God the knowledge of Gods creation and also of Gods powers automatically rest in him
    In a devotee of Krishna like Prahalada there were the powers of the Para brahman which made him immune to fire and death.
    Tulasidas restored a dead man back to life. Meerabai was immune to poisoning by her husband.


    So please read up Uddhava gita and understand what Krishna says about how His devotee should behave and what are the characteristics of His devotee.
    If a person doesnt meet the requirements of what Krishna gives,, it means he is a cult leader and not a spiritual leader.

    And coming to Sri chaitanya you can follow him and consider him to be God if you think that improves your devotion.. just make sure you check the sources that back those statements.
    Last edited by ganeshamylord; 06 July 2014 at 05:26 PM.

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    CHANTING (kirtanam)
    Sukadeva Goswami(spoke the Bhagavatam to Maharaja Pariksit)
    Hari Bol!

    Wouldn't Sukadeva Goswami's 7 day class to Pariksit Mahraja be considered Sravanam kirtanam rather than chanting or is chanting the meditation on the lord?
    Can someone please clarify this?

    in many places in shastra any of the 9 forms of practice can end in the supreme spiritual goal, prema rasa of Bhagavan Sri Krsna and His devotees.
    So even one of those that you stated above can liberate one and bring him to god? If this is so, what are the 9 Stages of Bhakti?
    From Chaitanya Charitamrta
    "In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is inititated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes finally fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Krsna consciousness."

    Are these used attain mastery? Below are the 9 stages, can someone please clarify this.

    1. sraddha: faith in the lord
    2. sadhu-sanga: association with sadhus and other vaishnavas
    3. bhajana-kriya: performance of devotional service
    4. anartha nivrtti: decreasing of unwanted attachments
    5. nistha: steadiness, firm faith, unbreakable devotion
    6. ruci: taste for Krsna
    7. asakti: attachment for Krsna
    8. bhava: emotion
    9. prema: pure love for Krsna


    Thank you very much,

    Jai Sri Radhe-Syam
    Last edited by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya; 06 July 2014 at 01:30 AM.
    "Hare Krisha Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare" ¬ The Glorious Mahamantra. Chant this 108 times a day and keep Samsara away

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Double post, sorry.
    Last edited by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya; 06 July 2014 at 01:30 AM.
    "Hare Krisha Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare" ¬ The Glorious Mahamantra. Chant this 108 times a day and keep Samsara away

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Quote Originally Posted by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya View Post
    Hare Krishna


    The process of j�āna-yoga, although ultimately bringing one to the same goal, is very difficult, especially in this Kali Yuga, whereas the path of bhakti-yoga, the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. The idol is a symbol, a form in which the mind can focus on and connect upon, the energy of god is within that idol as is in everything, everything is part and parcel of Krishna and his energy but in the idol there is more. I am not sure there is anything wrong in what i am doing, is there?

    Jai Sri Radhe-Syam!
    Namaste
    scriptures do talk of bhakti yoga being easier but what is bhakti? Is it worshipping deities without understanding their position?
    Check thge following quotes from bhagavatam by Krishna Himself

    SB 11.29.12 — With a pure heart one should see Me, the Supreme Soul within all beings and also within oneself, to be both unblemished by anything material and also present everywhere, both externally and internally, just like the omnipresent sky.
    SB 11.29.13-14 — O brilliant Uddhava, one who thus views all living entities with the idea that I am present within each of them, and who by taking shelter of this divine knowledge offers due respect to everyone, is considered actually wise. Such a man sees equally the brāhmaṇa and the outcaste, the thief and the charitable promoter of brahminical culture, the sun and the tiny sparks of fire, the gentle and the cruel.
    SB 11.29.15 — For him who constantly meditates upon My presence within all persons, the bad tendencies of rivalry, envy and abusiveness, along with false ego, are very quickly destroyed.
    SB 11.29.16 — Disregarding the ridicule of one’s companions, one should give up the bodily conception and its accompanying embarrassment. One should offer obeisances before all — even the dogs, outcastes, cows and asses — falling flat upon the ground like a rod.
    SB 11.29.17 — Until one has fully developed the ability to see Me within all living beings, one must continue to worship Me by this process with the activities of his speech, mind and body.
    SB 11.29.18 — By such transcendental knowledge of the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, one is able to see the Absolute Truth everywhere. Freed thus from all doubts, one gives up fruitive activities.
    SB 11.29.19 — Indeed, I consider this process — using one’s mind, words and bodily functions for realizing Me within all living beings — to be the best possible method of spiritual enlightenment.


    So Krishna clearly says viewing Him in all living entities is bhakti. He never for once stated to worship Him in a limited form. Yes jnana yoga is difficult but does it mean we should remain stuck to 1+1=2 level forever? Bhakti yoga liberates us only when we get the real jnana. Infact the destination of all four schools of yoga is jnana. Bhakti yoga is easier but it also takes a lot of lifetimes to achieve liberation via that path and liberation wont happen unless you make an effort to understand what the lord wants you to understand
    Namaste
    Last edited by ganeshamylord; 06 July 2014 at 02:17 AM.

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    Re: How to focus on Sri-Radha Krsna while chanting the Mahamantra

    Namaste
    Quote Originally Posted by Samraat Bhismadeva Maurya
    The idol is a symbol, a form in which the mind can focus on and connect upon, the energy of god is within that idol as is in everything, everything is part and parcel of Krishna and his energy but in the idol there is more. I am not sure there is anything wrong in what i am doing, is there?
    The point is not that God's energy is present there in the form of a deity on the altar (murti), but in fact it is that God is all-pervading which means that He is present there in the form of a deity on the altar (murti)!
    Actually the Lord's personal name is Vishnu meaning "all-pervading".

    Wouldn't Sukadeva Goswami's 7 day class to Pariksit Mahraja be considered Sravanam kirtanam rather than chanting or is chanting the meditation on the lord?
    Can someone please clarify this?
    Shukadeva Goswami's 7 day class to Parikshit Maharaja in the form of recitation of the Srimad Bhagavatam is considered to be kirtanam (recitation), but is also shravanam (listening) as Parikshit Maharaja listened to.
    Everything is meditation on the Lord, when you think of Him, when reciting verses about Him or His holy name, but also when listening to something that relates to Him. All that is called "meditation".

    So even one of those that you stated above can liberate one and bring him to god? If this is so, what are the 9 Stages of Bhakti?
    Yes, any of the 9 processes can liberate one and bring him to God.
    These 9 stages are description of the gradual progress on the path of bhakti. Every next step is a more advanced level in the progress on the path of bhakti.


    regards

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