Vishwamitra and Vashishtha are two of the most illustrious sages in Indian history and both play key roles in the Ramayana. Vashishtha was the spiritual preceptor of the Ikshvaku dynasty to which Lord Rama belonged. The famous Yog Vashishtha is a dialog between Lord Rama and Vashishtha, describing spiritual truths...
The Bhagavad Gita, a treasure trove of spiritual knowledge, is one of the most widely translated books around the world. It forms a portion of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharat, written by Sage Vyasa and captures the instruction of Shri Krishna to Arjun on the battle field of Kurukshetra....
Akrura’s Meeting with Sri Krishna With his heart full of excitement and anticipation, Akrura arrived in his chariot in Vrindavan to meet his darling Sri Krishna for the very first time. Even though Akrura was Krishna’s uncle by virtue of being Vasudeva’s cousin, he considered himself to...
The Ramayana, first written by Sage Valmiki, has withstood the test of time and proven itself one of the greatest epics ever written. The Ram Katha(story) appears as a series of dialogues – between Maharishi Yagyavalkya and Maharishi Bharadwaj, between Lord Shiv and Parvati, and finally between Kag Bhushundi and...
A Gopi’s Love for Shri Krishna Sharad Poornima is celebrated on the full moon night of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin. It was on this day that the Gopis of Vrindavan earned the grace of Lord Krishna by overlooking society’s disdain on them and offered their unalloyed...
Question: Lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride etc torment us despite our best efforts to eliminate them. Why is it so? Swamiji: The reason why they have us in their grip is because we souls are under Maya. These—lust, anger, greed, hatred, envy, illusion—are the generals of Maya. God...
Surrender is a key concept prescribed by all religions. Why? What is so important about it that all religions unanimously discuss it? And how exactly does one surrender? Is it a physical ritual to be done daily or twice a day? Can we do 10% just as we are taught...
Question: In one of your recent lectures you mentioned that pranayam is 20 times more beneficial than asanas and meditation is 20 times more beneficial than pranayam. Please illustrate since this sounds so incredible to most. Swamiji: The Yog Vasishtha describes a conversation between Lord Ram and Maharshi Vasishtha. Once...
Nirantar means continuous, always, constant. So nirantar bhakti, by definition, means constant remembrance of Guru and God. This is the third criteria to be maintained if we are to perfect our love for Radha Krishna. The easiest way to keep Guru and God in mind is to do roop dhyan...
