bibliography - ramayana

3 months ago by hps in Special Category B

asa[e] - ramayana, bibliography


Sun, Jan 21 at 7:59 PM

1. Srila Prabhupada - BBT Publication

Based on Chapters 10 & 11 of Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 9

The Ramayana in Brief: Rescuing Sita, the Wife of Lord Rama


2. Vidwan Gauranga Dasa (JPS) - Rupa Raghunatha Vani Publications

With word for word and verse translations and purports

Sri Valmiki Ramayana: Canto 1 (3 Volumes)

Sri Valmiki Ramayana: Canto 2 (5 Volumes)


3. Bhakti Vikasa Swami - Bhakti Vikas Trust

Summary of Valmiki Ramayana (ancient and unchanged)

Ramayana: The Story of Lord Rama


4. Dr. Demian Martins - Jiva Institute

Word for word and verse translation in English and Hindi of Bala Kanda Chpater 1, 100 verses

Mula-ramayana: The Original Ramayana


5. Krishna Dharma Dasa - Mandala Publication

Novelized version of Ramayana

Ramayana: India's Immortal Tale of Adventure, Love, and Wisdom

HpS/ASA - Also available at www.vedavase.io.


6. Rancor Dasa - Mandala Publication

Summary of Ramayana w/BG Sharma illustrations

Ramayana: A Tale of Gods and Demons


7. Purnaprajna Dasa

https://blservices.com/product/ramayana-of-valmiki-purnaprajna-dasa/


HpS/ASA - Thank you Gopal! AgtSP. We read a paper copy of the "Gita Press" English edition while in Russia.

Also, Kirtananda published a copy with Sri Galim, that quoted an esteemed academic in the Preface that there here hundreds of translations of Ramayana around the world.

Radha-Krsna et al, like Rama-lila so much that they eternally play it in Kamyavan in Braja, no?

How does it fit in proportion to our Nitya seva?

Blind Faith

3 months, 4 weeks ago by hps in Special Category B

A Devotee and Scientist Asks:

Hare Krishna 


HH Hanumat Preshaka Swami had to leave immediately after his discourse today, and we couldn't get to ask a question


I'm hoping someone on this forum may be able to help


We learn that truth has the attributes of 


1. Being independent...whether majority believes or disagrees with it, truth remains the truth. It doesn't need anything like proof, etc. to exist


2. Being eternal... truth is unchanging. It stays the same irrespective of time, place, or circumstances 


3. Being universal... it is applicable to everyone, everything, everywhere 


4. Being inimitable....truth cannot be manufactured


With this in mind, why is something like faith required to understand/realize truth?


After all, faith can make one accept lies to be the truth & vice versa


There are more basal things like hunger, which doesn't require anything external like faith or person to tell us we're hungry.... so why is it that for something sublime like truth, which is independent anyway, we rely on a shaky thing like faith?


-0-0-0-


Hanumatpresaka Swami (Professor H. H. Robinson)

Such and excellent and also very fundamental question. We also have been attentive to this personally, and also in our dealings in science, even in discourses with even Nobel Laureattes.


Of course, this is the general area of Epistemology, How do we Know.

Ontology has been described as, What we can Know.

Praxiology as, What we do about It.


Yes, the word Faith has been denigrated by modern materialistic people as being Blind Faith, but this is condemned by Srila Prabhupada, and our Caitanya, Bengali, Vaisnava community. For example, it is directly declared in purport to BG As It Is 4.34.


"In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned."

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/34/


It is a big topic with lots written on the subject.

I would say the way Srila Prabhupada uses the word faith is a translation of the word "sraddha". In his sense he is using it like saying the Old Jeeves is a very faithful servant.

We may know something but we don't apply it. We are unfaithful.

In some ways it is the same as the word 'Bhakti' or 'Love'.


Then it becomes pretty easy, no?

If we say that the Truth cannot be known without Love, Respect, then it becomes easier approach the problem of faith and knowledge.


One class of "Scientists" take Science as dominating the material energy. Forcing her to reveal her confidential secrets and forcing her to gratify our masculine desires.

😟


In The Voice of Experience Dr. R. D. Laing gives some just astonishing quotations, statements, about this perspective in science.


Does reality have a moral and ethical component, or is it just impersonal truth that can be accessed equally by demons and atheists, or gods and heroes?


PhD means Teacher of Love of Wisdom. So if you are a PhD in physics you don't have to teach your students anything, no information or rational processes. You just have to teach them to LOVE Truth!!!


Does a prominent Research Scientist leading a large and respected team in some cutting edge area of science have'Faith' in the hypothesis they are now pursuing?


Arjuna surrendered to Krsna in BG 2, but he had lots of doubts after that.


Diksa means that you don't bring up artificial doubts to try to avoid surrender.

Diksa means that we agree to go on asking practical questions as long as the Guru keeps on supplying practical answers from empirical, logical, mystical (intuitive), resources.

No blind faith is required.

We are approaching BG with a hypothesis and testing it.


One nice question for confirmed scientific materialists is:

Do you have axiomatic faith in the postulates of Euclid? 😠


Of course, they do.

We don't have faith in the postulates of Euclid because we can see red, blue and green, empirical knowledge.


As far a rational understand goes. In science it is synonimous with Mathematics.

You can't even have enumeration without Euclids postulates, what to speak of counting, arithmetric, geometry, calculus.


Its a broad topic.


I think it was Galileo whom when asked why they BELIEVED in the postulates of mathematics, responded that because they FELT right.


Vedas say that ultimately everything is RASA.


The final evidence is Rasa.

Science is based upon a fine taste that drives us on to being more and more committed.


O.K.

Some of our ideas.

AI and Lies

asa[e].. ug.. ai



Hare Krsna Guru Maharaja,

PAMHO, AGTSP.

Just wanted to share below insights of experts into the future world of Artificial Intelligence.


From a Linkedin Post:

Adolph Hitlers propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels purportedly said: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.” Gary Smith finds that “[large language models] can generate falsehoods faster than humans can correct them.”


Gary has been reporting on his humorous exchanges with ChatGPT for more than a year, sometimes asking the same questions to see if ChatGPT’s answers get better; they don’t. One of those questions involves how many bears the Russians have sent into space (correct answer is none) in which he shows that the answers are not getting logically better, but funnier.


Main article: https://mindmatters.ai/2024/01/internet-pollution-if-you-tell-a-lie-long-enough/?


Your servant

Srinivasacarya Dasa


HpS/ASA[UG] - Thank you!!! 🐻 We have learned how to do keystrokes to get the Emojis into the page. You know? .... you type ":" and then put the proper keyword afterwards eg ":bear" and you get the bear emoji.


🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻

🐻🐻🐻🐻🐦🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻

🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐦🐻🐻🐦🐻


We remember how Srila Prabhupada was saying that all these televisions were not useful. (We understand that traveling Puppet shows and local Puppet shows are better).

He said that in the whole world maybe two, three dozen televisions were needed.

One in Moscow. One in Beijing. One in the Vatican. One in...

... people develop memories! People talk with their neighbors. Brahmanas like Vyasa deva can give people like Sanjaya TV in their hearts.

WHTSTSPS (we heard they say that srila prabhupada said) that if you follow strictly and your children follow strictly then your grandchildren will be traveling on flying carpets.



🐻

🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🚀... 🚀... 🚀...

Letters to Our Brown Secretary.

4 months, 1 week ago by hps in Special Category B

asa[e] sankirtan; communicating with sannyasi partners


Tom Brown: Hare Krsna. AgtSP. HpSwami gets audio clips on WhatsApp sometimes. He has a hard time dealing with clips from H. H. Badri-Narayana Swami, Dr. Prof. Samaresh... everyone! 🙂 . . 😕 😕😕


The audio quality is not clear for his 40% diminished hearing, especially in high frequency hearing range.. They run too fast for him to understand them with Brother equally reduced short-term memory. They can't form concepts fast enough to really understand the concepts.

Reading and writing allows time for this.


Preview of geriatric psychology for some of our readers.

Statement of reality for older readers!

Old age is a good friend for a devotee.


Summarize stuff, especially for the Blog.

As, eg, several devotees are asking about working with NIOS: Land, money, men etc and HpS as old Sannyasi cannot give any perspective on these passionate, administrative, decisions without younger gentlemen sitting right in the conversations.


Thank you. 🐵🙏🐒

Diksa Guru

ASA[E] Guru-tattva.. Diksa guru retires.


Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

All Glories to your enormous service.


I hope you get much better health.


HpS - Our donkey's health is pretty good for 75-years old.

Had littel fever, probably just like you, but recovered quickly.

Hearing, sight, memory are like 40% gone. That won't come back in this life time. It is good. We want to stop watching the movie of mangos and pick real mangos for Krsna!


Would be nice if we died right after sending this letter and you died right after reading it and then we both took birth in Nabadvipa with Nimai, no!!!


We remain firm with all our vows and also with the service in the initiation committee, I wanted to apologize for my mistake in misunderstanding the words in English, I will strive to improve, in fact I am practicing English with a devotee of the Indian community 🙏.


HpS - Your English is better than my Spanish! 😄



In December we helped aspiring devotees for Hari nama initiation and brahminical initiation of Jayapataka Maharaja, we had a very good association with older devotees.


HpS/ASA - Such a nice service!


My letter is mainly addressed to you to tell you about Bhakta Carlos Rold, a devotee of many years who has always felt very enthusiastic about everything related to making your sankirtan grow.


I am a witness of how he has made an effort to qualify and prepare himself.


For a year now, he has been following the four regulative principles, maintaining his sadhana, connecting to FMP, doing practical service in the Iskcon Chile temple, singing its 16 rounds (he tells me that when he cannot finish them, he sings them the next day, adding to the corresponding ones),


he has also approved [passed] the Disciples course and is about to finish the Introduction to Bhakti yoga course.


Also Bhakta Lucciano Macchiavello would also like to formalize his entire process in a certain way, he tells me that he has known you for more than 17 years and that no one like you has understood it, he has never stopped following your institution of donating milk and butter for the deity.


Gurudeva an important question, do you think in the future granting formal Refuge and possible initiation to Bhakta Carlos Rold and perhaps formal refuge to Bhakta Lucciano Macchiavello?, Both devotees have been following his instructions for years.


Your would-be servant

Manjuali Devi Dasi


Santiago de Chile


HpS - Maybe even more than a year ago we decided that we are too old to give any more 1st initiation. The Diksa guru takes Karma. It is a job, and it is a job for a young man. Last time we did it. Few months ago. We felt really crushed.

🙂

However, that does not mean that we cannot be Guru's for Carlitos or Machaivelli.

In Srila Bhaktivinode's 'Jaiva Dharma' one fictional Sannyasi, saint, Babba Mahasai, is preaching, teaching, guiding a young man from Kolkata when he visits Nabadvipa.

Then Bobba Mahasaya tells him that he is ready for initiation, but that he, Bobba Mahasaya is 90-years old and that if he initiates him, he will die, so they should go and see Vaisnava Thakura Bobba who is only 75-years old.

Young man. 😃


VTB says that it is an honor to do the ritual if BM recommends The Young Man (35-years old).


So, that is what we feel.

Carlos and Machiavelli are our friends!

What more can we want!!?

It is an honor if we can be their friends and counselors always.

We are recommending Yadunandana Swami in Spain as a very nice Diksa guru. Radha Krsna Das in Houston.

O.K.


Jayanta Das Blog Content/Focus

4 months, 2 weeks ago by jayanta in Personal Sadhana Reports, Special Category B

Querido Gurudev: Pamho. Toda gloria a Srila Prabhupada y sus seguidores fieles.

Por favor acepte mis humildes reverencias. También mis reverencias a todos mis hermanos blogueros.

No le pregunto por su salud porque leo el blog de forma regular. Tampoco le deseo nada que no sea aumentar su relación con Krishna más y más.

La carta anterior parece ser que fue absorbida por la magia de internet. ¿fue un arreglo de Krishna para que nadie leyera lo que escribí? No lo sé, pero voy a volver a poner las cosas que recuerde.

En primer lugar, quería decir que cuando leo las cartas de mis hermanos espirituales, observo que la gran mayoría tienen un gran avance y entrega al guru. También veo que tienen cualidades devocionales de las que yo carezco y tengo que desarrollar. Gracias a todos por la inspiración.

También quiero decir que el blog es una gran aportación a la comunicación entre guru y discípulos y a la forma de desarrollar una familia espiritual con personalidad propia (aunque la familia “ISKCON” es muy grande y todos pertenecemos a ella); en el blog se desarrolla un humor especifico interesante.

He observado, posiblemente de forma subjetiva (u objetiva), que algunos temas desentonan un poco en el blog y deberían ser tratados en otros foros:

-. Los problemas mundanos matrimoniales o de pareja deberían tratarse en un foro exclusivamente de grihastas (o vanaprasthas ex grihastas). No es un tema para sannyasis ni brahmacaris. Tampoco es necesario debatirlos en foros amplios.

-. Los temas administrativos también pienso que se podrían tratar en otro foro, sobre todo cuando la pasión es muy resaltante y se acerca a la ignorancia. No aportan mucho al grupo de blogueros y generan mas ansiedad que paz, o más pasión que bondad.

Por supuesto que todos los temas deben ser abordados de alguna manera, pero en mi opinión, cada tema en su foro. El sannyasa (brahmana) debería centrarse mas en los temas puramente filosóficos y espirituales y dejar las cuestiones que son puramente administrativas a devotos con un nivel de pasión y de educación relevantes.

 En cuanto a mi persona, solo puedo decir que mantengo intacto el deseo de volverme devoto y que sigo luchando (cada día) por permanecer a flote cantando las rondas mínimas prescritas por el acarya y siguiendo los principios básicos de la vida humana tal como él lo pidió. En Kali yuga nada es sencillo si no se está bien asociado y ese es nuestro reto: mantener un equilibrio entre la vida familiar responsable y buscar la asociación de buenos devotos que nos inspiren en la lucha por acabar con los deseos materiales para servir con pureza a Dios.

Sin mas y esperando las bendiciones de todos los blogueros para seguir avanzando en el camino de vuelta a Dios se despide

Vuestro sirviente

Jayanta das.

P.D. Espero que esta carta no sea anulada por la magia de internet.


-0-0-0-


Dear Gurudev, Pamho. All glory to Srila Prabhupada and his faithful followers.


ASA - 👍


Please accept my humble obeisances. Also my bows to all my blogging brothers.


ASA - 🐸 🐶 . . .😺 🐕 ... 👳


I don't ask about your health because I read the blog regularly. I also do not wish you anything other than to increase your relationship with Krishna more and more.


ASA - 🙏 📿


The previous letter seems to have been absorbed by the magic of the internet. Was it Krishna's arrangement so that no one would read what I wrote? I don't know, but I'm going to put back the things I remember.


First of all, I wanted to say that when I read the letters of my godbrothers, I observe that the vast majority have a great breakthrough and surrender to the guru. I also see that they have devotional qualities that I lack and have to develop. Thank you all for the inspiration.


I also want to say that the blog is a great contribution to the communication between guru and disciples and to the way of developing a spiritual family with its own personality (although the “ISKCON” family is very large and we all belong to it); An interesting specific humor develops in the blog.


ASA - 🐸 🌴 🌴


I have observed, possibly subjectively (or objectively), that some topics are a bit out of place on the blog and should be discussed in other forums:


-. Worldly marital or relationship problems should be discussed in a forum exclusively for grihastas (or ex-grihastas vanaprasthas). It is not a topic for sannyasis or brahmacaris. Nor is it necessary to debate them in broad forums.


ASA - Super! Thank you. We, HpS et al, try to follow the guidelines Srila Prabhupada uses in the pages of SB for these Grhastha and political issues as a Sannyasis. We try to follow his standard, no more, no less, but we need the perspective of Brahmanas from cultured places like Spain to refine our standard. Thank you.


-. I also think that administrative issues could be discussed in another forum, especially when the passion is very prominent and approaches ignorance. They do not contribute much to the group of bloggers and generate more anxiety than peace, or more passion than kindness.


ASA - Yes, again. We tried to transfer the Grhastha issues and Peru political issues to proper subgroups as much as possible. About 80% of the those discussions were in subgroups.

We hope our readers use your comments and skip over certain streams. Otherwise, some of our ASA community involved in the Peru issues felt relieved that the topics were dealt with in this forum in a public and much, much less passionate way.


Of course all topics must be addressed in some way, but in my opinion, each topic has its own forum. The sannyasa (brahmana) should focus more on purely philosophical and spiritual issues and leave matters that are purely administrative to devotees with a relevant level of passion and education.


HpS - So, so, nice. So nice. Thank you. We try to deal with politics like a Sannyasi. When dhanam, janam and sundarim are discussed it is always open for publich scrutiny. For example, Vidura gave straight political, family advice to Dhrtarastra even though he had taken sannyasa.

Pariravaka acharya should talk about these things from one level and a paramahamsa sannyasi from another level.

Basically we are 99.999% finished with politics and administration in ISKCON, after 10-years on the LA Regional GBC et al.

Hari bolo!


 As for myself, I can only say that I keep the desire to become a devotee intact and that I continue to fight (every day) to stay afloat by chanting the minimum rounds prescribed by the acharya and following the basic principles of human life as he said.


he asked. In Kali yuga nothing is simple if one is not well associated and that is our challenge: maintaining a balance between responsible family life and seeking the association of good devotees who inspire us in the struggle to end material desires to serve with purity. God.


Without further ado and waiting for the blessings of all the bloggers to continue advancing on the path back to God, he says goodbye


Your servant


Jayanta das.


P.S. I hope this letter is not canceled by the magic of the internet.


HpS/ASA - We see it very fine. 🔬

Thank you. We hope others make their comments on these topics also.

All glories. ALL GLORIES to Sri Sri Radha Govinda-candra!