Ever Satisfied

“E “ V E R S A T I S F I E D” IN NTRODU UCTION:

Th he word “satissfied” derivess a meaning o of “being fullly content an nd thu us in the statee of bilss. In Bhagavad- G Gita, where Arrjuna asking about the syymptoms of a perrson who is iin bliss? Krsn na is answerin ng as followss: prasääde sarva-duùkhänäà häänir asyopajääyate prassanna-cetaso hy äçu budddhiù paryavattiñöhate TR RANSLATION N For one thus saatisfied [in Kååñëa consciou usness], the threefold t misseries of material ex xistence exist no longer; in i such satisffied consciou usness, one's iintelligence is i soon well established. Srila S Prabhup pada further explaining th he real satisfaaction is “A soul s connecteed to Kåñëa th hrough Kåñëaa consciousnesss is free from m material atttractions and d aversions an nd is fully sattisfied. He ex xperiences no o misery, m for his h intelligencce, being “weell-established d,” is fixed on n Kåñëa (matt-paraù). Witthout bhakti, regardless r off what one po ossesses or wh hat one does, no one is saatisfied.” He Gives G the exaample of Çrélaa Vyäsadeva, V who w compiled d the Vedas, added a the Pu uräëas and co omposed the Mahäbhärataa, yet becausee he had h not emphasized bhak kti, he remain ned dissatisfieed in mind.i What tak kes place wh hen one lackss satisfaction n in Kåñëa co onsciousness? Çréla Ç Prabhup päda giving the t practical example e of America, A where there is su ufficient prod duction of everything, yet y the youngg men is beco oming hippiess. They are dissatisfied, d co onfused. Man n is not mean nt simply s for eaating. He has mental necesssities, intelleectual necesssities, and spiiritual necesssities. A classless so ociety is posssible only when Kåñëa is in n the center. For the satissfaction of Kååñëa, the intellectual i c work in his can h own way, the administtrator can wo ork in his wayy, the merchaant can work k in his h way, and the laborer can c work in his h way—and d they can alll be perfectly satisfied in their t own position. p Thiis is truly a cllassless socieety. The T service which w we offeer to somebo ody, that som mebody is not satisfied; and d you are nott satisfied witth him. h This is called c mäyä. Just like in our o country Gandhi, G wholle life he engaaged himselff to the servicce of the country, but he was killed k by his countrymen. c This is called d mäyä, that you offer serrvice somebod dy— he h is not satisfied; you aree not satisfied d. Nobody is satisfied. Th herefore one sshould be inttelligent, thatt "Why I am wasting w my tim me in this waay, where theere is no satissfaction? Theerefore I must render servvice to Kåñëa. If I render service to Kåñëa, then Kåñëa w will be satisfieed and everyo one will be saatisfied. And I shall s be satisfied because I am also parrt and parcel of Kåñëa." The T same exam mple: If you supply foodsstuff to the stomacch, then stom mach is Kåñëaa. Then you aare satisfied. Suppose you u mean indiviidual parts. This T hand h is supp plying sweet balls b to the sttomach. So th his hand is saatisfied; this h hand also sattisfied. And th his head h is also satisfied; s the leg is also satisfied. You ssee? Similarlyy, anyone wh ho serves Kåñë ëa, Kåñëa, beeing satisfied... s tasmin tuññöe jagat tuñöam. Just J (like) I pour p water on n the root. Th he branches, the leaves, th he flowers, th he fruits and everything, they t will w immediaately... Pay taax to the goveernment, cen ntral governm ment. The tax is distributed d—the educaation department, d municipal deepartment, th his departmen nt, that deparrtment. Therrefore the peo ople are missiing

the center. They are trying to satisfy one another, but nobody is satisfied. And as soon as I am engaged in Kåñëa's service, then I will be satisfied, Kåñëa will be satisfied, and the whole world will be satisfied. But here we can see from the Gétä that Kåñëa was not satisfied when Arjuna wanted just to sit on the chariot. Although Kåñëa was Arjuna’s dear friend, Arjuna did not say, “Kåñëa, You are my friend, so You do the fighting while I sit here.” Instead, Kåñëa preached vigorously to Arjuna, inciting him to take action against the enemy. Arjuna satisfied Kåñëa, and the Lord was pleased to defeat the vast armies of Dhåtaräñöra. Kåñëa actually did the killing, but Arjuna got the credit, because he exerted his full will and effort in the service of the Lord. So one should take the mission of trying to satisfy the Supreme Lord as per the process mentioned by Lord Krsna Himself: yas tu ätma-ratir eva syät. “One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illumined in the self” Just like these Gosvämés at Våndävana who were actually mandala patih “leaders of great society” but living underneath a tree, one night, and next night another tree remain self satisfied because they were always absorbed in thoughts of Kåñëa, his name, form and pastimes.

V e d i c S t o r i e s The King’s Finger Retold and Illustrated by Ananta Çakti Däsa

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a king and his minister. The king, though strong and

generous, possessed a short temper. His minister was wise, patient, and devoted to God. In everyday affairs the king usually thought he was the one making everything happen. The minister, however, saw the hand of God everywhere. Despite these differences, the king appreciated the minister, and they were firm friends. To protect his citizens from dangerous beasts, the king, armed with bow and arrow, would often ride into the forest with a small party of men. His minister would always go with them. One day while they were out hunting, the king proudly charged through a thicket on his fine steed. But a large cobra slithered in front of the horse, spitting poison from its fangs. The frightened horse kicked up violently, hurtling the king through the air. The king crashed to the ground beside the snake. The snake promptly sank its fangs into the king’s finger, and then slithered back into the undergrowth. The king realized that unless his finger was quickly removed, the poison would travel through his body, reach his heart, and kill him. Without hesitating, he unsheathed his sharp sword and chopped off his finger. The king’s minister bandaged his hand and tried to pacify him with wise words. “Take this as simply the mercy of the Lord. Accept it as part of His plan.” The king, shaken and upset, did not appreciate the minister’s view. “Be quiet!” he snapped. But the minister continued to speak of the Lord’s mercy. This enraged the king so much that he ordered his men, “Take this foolish minister back to the city and cast him in the dungeon.” Determined not to change his hunting plan for the day, the king, his hand neatly bandaged, continued alone through the forest searching for wild beasts. A short while later he was ambushed by a gang of bandits. They captured and bound him. Their leader, grinning broadly, spoke in a gruff voice. “This is your lucky day; I am going to sacrifice you to the Goddess Kälé.* It’s not every day she enjoys royal blood!” * Goddess Kälé, the controller of the material energy, neither wants nor accepts human sacrifices. Unfortunately, uncivilized, wicked persons sometimes concoct such a method of “worship.”

The king, however, considered himself most unlucky. Bound with ropes, he had no way of saving himself from a bloody death on Kälé’s altar. Pointing at the king, the leader ordered his men, “Our human offering should be stripped, washed, and wrapped in a new cloth.” As the men stripped him, one cried out, “Look, there’s a finger missing.” Inspecting the king’s hand, the leader of the gang was disappointed. “We cannot possibly offer an incomplete human to Kälé,” he grunted. “Release him, you fools, and find someone else.” Unexpectedly freed from his bonds, the king mounted his horse and sped back to the city. Going straight to the dungeons, he ordered the release of the minister. Embracing his friend, the king apologized. “By the mercy of the Lord I lost a finger. And as a result I had my life spared!” After explaining the incredible incident to his minister, the king paused thoughtfully. “I’m still a little puzzled. If everything that happens is the mercy of the Lord, what is the point in your being thrown in the dungeon?” With a knowing twinkle in his eye, the minister replied, “If you hadn’t ordered me to be thrown in the dungeon, I would have been with you when you were captured. Finding me with no parts missing, the gang would undoubtedly have used me as the human offering.” The king and his minister laughed loudly, tears streaming down their faces. Glad to be alive, they agreed that it certainly was all the mercy of the Lord.ii

THE GLORIOUS NAME näma cintämaëiù kåñëaç caitanya-rasa-vigrahaù pürëaù çuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvän näma-näminoù The holy name of Kåñëa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kåñëa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kåñëa's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kåñëa Himself. Since Kåñëa's name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with mäyä. Kåñëa's name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kåñëa and Kåñëa Himself are identical. —Padma Puräëa n the material concept of life we are busy in the matter of sense gratification, as if we were in the lower, animal stage. A little elevated from this status of sense gratification, one is engaged in mental speculation for the purpose of getting out of the material clutches. A little elevated from this speculative status, when one is intelligent enough, one tries to find out the supreme cause of all causes-within and without. And when one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind, and intelligence, he is then on the transcendental plane. This chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mantra is enacted from the spiritual platform, and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousnessnamely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra, nor is there any need for mental speculation nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this mahä-mantra. It is automatic, coming from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in the chanting without any previous qualification. In a more advanced stage, of course, one is not expected to commit offenses on the grounds of spiritual understanding. But there is no doubt that chanting takes one immediately to the spiritual platform, and one shows the first symptom of this in the urge to dance along with the chanting of the mantra. The word Harä is the form of addressing the energy of the Lord, and the words Kåñëa and Räma are forms of addressing the Lord Himself. Both Kåñëa and Räma mean "the supreme pleasure," and Harä is the supreme pleasure energy of the Lord, changed to Hare in the vocative. The supreme pleasure energy of the Lord helps us to reach the Lord. Now that ätma-rati, self satisfaction Lord Caitanya introduced as chanting of the :

Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare Hare Räma Hare Räma Räma Räma Hare Hare

VAISNAVI Vedic society emphasizes the role of women in all spheres. The Vedas designate an ideal woman as Aditi - as she is not dependant Brhat - for she is large hearted Candra - for she is happy Devakama - since she is pious Ksama - for she is tolerant SarasvatI - for she is scholarly Sumangali - for she is auspicious Visruta - for she is glorious Yoga - for she is intermingled with man, she is not separate; she is the ardhanginu There are many more qualities imbibed in women mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. She is the core of the society; the pivot around whom the whole family revolves. Families form society, which form the nation and the nations join to form the world. She is the caretaker of the new generation. The coming generation lies completely in her hands, under her guidance. She is the first guru, a spiritual guide to her children. The Vedic scriptures inform about Dhruva Maharaja and Prahlada Maharaja, who followed the words of their mothers and became the most fortunate ones to have 'darsand1 of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, just at the tender age of five and seven respectively. Çréla Prabhupäda never intended his female disciples to be disparaged on the basis of their bodily forms. Rather, he clearly instructed us that women engaged in the practice of Kåñëa consciousness make equal advancement with male devotees. Women were involved in Kåñëa consciousness from the earliest days of the movement. A woman devotee named Janaki was one of the first initiates and was married shortly after in the first ISKCON marriage ceremony. With two other couples, she and her husband, Mukunda travelled to England to preach Kåñëa consciousness under instruction from ‘Swamiji’. Other early female disciples were given special responsibilities too, such as Yamuna who sang and cared for the Deities, and Visakha who received encouragement in her vocation as a photographer. Both men and women were enjoined to start centres for the movement: ‘Kåñëa does not make distinction—female dress or male dress ... Kåñëa gives intelligence’ (Satsvarupa, 1983a:147). Women participated actively in worship, cooking and serving Kåñëa and the spiritual master. Prabhupäda made the women responsible for more traditional feminine activities, but did not bar them from stepping out of these into other roles if those suited them better. After setting up the Governing Body Commission (GBC), Prabhupäda offered membership to one of his female disciples (although this was never taken up). Women also gave scripture classes. Like the men, they travelled freely with Prabhupäda and served him personally, even in India where Hindu women were generally denied equal participation in religious movements and close involvement with a spiritual teacher.iii

                                                             i  Ref: Srimad Bhägavatam -1.4.28–31  

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 Excerpted from Vedic Stories from Ancient India   Excperts from ISKCON COMMUNICATION  JOURNAL # 3.2 July/December 1995 

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