The Pursuit of Bliss

The following question was asked by a devotee and answered by Jagadaguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj Himself. God is omnipresent, yet why have we not found Him so far? You did not desire for Him. There are several levels of desiring. You may desire something so much that you are unable to survive without it; without it a moment may feel like a yug. This stage will come when you are totally and perfectly surrendered to God. Our mind is full of worldly attachments – “this is mine, that is mine.” In place of these worldly attachments, one should fully dedicate himself to the lotus feet of God. Look at God’s Grace! Out of His compassion He gave you this human form, He gave you inquisitiveness to know about God, He arranged for you to meet a Divine Saint. Our heart should melt if we sincerely feel how much God has Graced us. Mind alone is the reason for mayic bondage and liberation. Mind is attached in the world; it has to be attached to God. This is true devotion. By your own effo...

Naag Panchami Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj (Shri Maharaj Ji) explains the significance of Naag Panchami. Once, King Pareekshit was hunting in a forest. Tired and thirsty, he entered the ashram of a sage Semeeka with the hope to get some water to quench his thirst. The sage however was engrossed in deep meditation and could not hear the king repeatedly asking for water. Pareekshit, was the emperor of the entire Earth. Never in his life had he been so disrespectfully ignored. He misunderstood the sage’s silence to be a great insult to him. In a fit of fury, he picked up a dead snake and put it around the meditating sage’s neck (to insult him) and left the Ashram. As soon as he left, the sage’s sons came back after a bath in the river and were infuriated seeing a dead snake hanging around their father’s neck. One of his son, Shringi, went into meditation, to find the offender who had committed this unpardonable offense. Realizing that King Pareekshit was the offender, he p...

Actions of God and Saints Hari Guru karma divya Govinda Radhey, mayic budhi te agamya bate dey. (Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on December 29, 2010, in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse) The Vedas and scriptures and also Saints have said that there is no difference between God and His Saints. Tasminstajjaney-bhedabhavat . (Narad Bhakti Darshan) In some places in the scriptures, God has even regarded His devotee Saint as greater than Him. How astonishing! Nirapeksham munim shantam… (Bhagwatam, 11/14/16) Shri Krishna said to Uddhava, “When My Saints walk on the earth, I secretly walk behind them.” Uddhava wondered, “Why do You secretly follow them? It must be to protect them.” Shri Krishna said, “No, Uddhava, anubrajamyaham nityam puyeya , I do this so their footdust may fall on Me and purify Me. That is how loving My Saints are to Me.” After God realisation, God bestows all His powers on the bhakta Saint. Fo...

Importance of Human Life.............. Lecture by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj There are three things that are attained only through God’s grace and all three are very rare. Number one is human body. Human birth has been given to us through the grace of God. It is not our doing. Ramayan says – After millions of births; after revolving in 8.4 million forms of life, the individual soul is granted the rare human birth. God gives us a chance to attain the ultimate goal of our life. If we fail to attain the aim of life, then as the Vedas say – –we will be forced to revolve in 8.4 million species. But we did not listen to God. Therefore, we are going round and round. Then once again God took pity on us and gave us the human form. So, this human life is attained with God’s grace and it’s very rare. You may think, “I have attained the human birth as a result of virtuous actions of previous lifetimes, and therefore why should I consider this to be God’s grace?” But I ask you; do y...

HOLI POORNIMA AND HOLI CELEBRATION. Holi Poornima (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Jayanti) Holi Poornima is the full moon night before the Holi celebration day and is of extreme importance to mankind. On this auspicious full moon night, our supreme Divine Beloved Shri Radha -Krishna descended on this earth as the supreme embodiment of Love and Devotion in the form of Shri Chaitanyadev Gaurang Mahaprabhu.  In Shri Mahaprabhu Chaitanya is to be found, the culmination and fulfilment of the philosophy and religion of Love (Bhakti).  The essence of devotion is contained in his “Ashtapadi” (eight verses), like the ocean concentrated in a little pot. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the descension of Shri Radha Rani. He propounded the message of devotion to lord Krishna, by practicing devotion himself.  His lovelorn condition reached a climax in the last six years of his life, which were spent in intensive bhava (ecstatic feelings) of Shri Radha Rani. In those days, all the e...

Surrender to God (The most confidential of all knowledge!) Shri Krishna says to Arjun in the Gita: सर्वगुह् तमं भूयः श्रृणु मे परमं वचः (Gita) “Arjun! I have disclosed some confidential knowledge, and also some very confidential knowledge to you. Now listen to the most confidential of all knowledge.” After hearing about the paths of Karm, Gyan and Bhakti, Arjun had not yet reached the point where he would be ready to fight the Mahabharata war and kill everyone as per Shri Krishna’s instruction. Arjun did not have the courage to say, “I will fight not one but ten Mahabharata wars; I will kill them all.” So God said to him, “Because you are very dear to me, I will disclose to you the most confidential of all knowledge.” Shri Krishna said, सर्वधर्मान् परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं वज्र (Gita) Most acharyas have explained this verse to mean, “Renounce all dharma, or prescribed Vedic duties, and surrender to Me alone.” Only Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya has explained it as, धर्म अधर्म च...

(Synopsis of a lecture given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on November 17, 2009, in Bhatinda, India) In India and in the world, a lot of religious activity and fervor are seen nowadays. There are so many temples, mosques, gurudwaras, and every other kind of place of worship, and although people go to these every day, and practice devotion according to their religion, still we find that sinful tendencies are increasing everywhere. So much has changed in the last 100 years – what will happen in the future? So much spiritual practice wasn’t seen in the past as is seen nowadays. When so many things are being done in the name of religion, why are there so many wrong things happening in the world? This question is asked by those who don’t believe in any religion and their question is correct. Why do people follow a religion when so many contrary results are seen everywhere? You may say that you are doing this to receive a benefit after your death. But you will receive after death only...