Sit Properly

For those new to the fray, I have a segment on my blog where I take a Gita verse or two and post the translations from four different Gaudia Vaisnava Bhagavad-gitas. I use Srila Prabhupada’s, Tripurari Swami’s, Narayana Maharaja’s and Garuda dasa’s. While all four are accepted by different Gaudia Vaisnavas, it’s really nice to see the harmony in them. It’s also nice to learn how they differ. Maybe it’s some of that “unity in diversity” jazz.

I don’t do this to say “this Bhagavad-gita is better than that Bhagavad-gita!” And I don’t do this to stir, create, tickle or otherwise agitate controversy.

The verse I’m picking today is Bhagavad-gita 10.34. Chapter 10 is a great chapter. The Opulence of the Absolute! The Yoga of Divine Manifestation! Viubhuti Yoga! The Sublime Presence of Divinity! Whatever you call it, Chapter 10 is a good bit of fun!

In Chapter 10, Krishna describes himself through use of smilies. A few months ago, I did a verse from Chapter 10. It was the “Of Secret Things I am Silence” verse. That’s one of my favorites.

But today is text 34. So let’s get on it with it!

Chapter 10, Text 34

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all thins yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.
-Srila Prabhupada

I am death, destroyer of all; I am the source of all things yet to be. Of women I am fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, fortitude, and forbearance.
-Tripurari Swami

I am all-devouring death, and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings, I am birth. Among women, I am fame, beauty, fine speech, memory, intelligence, forbearance and forgiveness.
-Narayana Maharaja

I am death, which
    takes away everything,
    and the rising into being
    of all that will be.
Of feminine attributes
    [and their presiding goddesses],
    I am fame, beauty, speech,
    remembrance, intelligence,
    constancy, and forbearance.
-Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)

The chapter 10 verses are difficult to do because basically, they’re lists. Lists are translated by item, so you don’t have a ton of variation here. But since Praveen mentioned this verse in one of the comments she left yesterday, I thought that I’d tackle this one today.

Both Srila Prabhupada and Naryana Maharaja use “I am all-devouring death.” Tripurari Swami uses “I am death, destroyer of all.” While Garuda dasa uses “I am death, which takes away everything.” While we don’t know Garuda dasa’s word-for-word, Both Prabhupada and Naryana Maharaja translate sarva-harah as “all-devouring” and Tripurari Swami translates it as “destroyer of all.”

Krishna is saying that “I am death, I take away everything, I destroy all.”

It continues in Srila Prabhupada’s as “I am the generator of all things yet to be.” Tripurari Swami’s pretty well agrees with that: “I am the source of all things yet to be.” Generator and source are basically the same. Prabhupada translates udbhavah as “generator” and Tripurari Swami translates it as “source.”

Garuda dasa’s has a slightly different twist on it with “[I am]… the rising into being of all that will be.” His is poetic (that’s the point of his translation). It clearly shows the cycle of death and birth. Krishna is death that takes away everything and he’s the rising into being of all that will be. Birth.

While Srila Prabhupada’s and Tripurari Swami’s say that Krishna is the generator/source, Garuda dasa’s hints that He’s not just the origin of this birth, but the activity itself. He “is the rising into being…” “rising” is a verb, while “generator” and “source” are nouns. I wish I could see his word-for-word. Was he literally translating it? Or was he taking a poetic license? I don’t think it really changes the meaning. After all, we do worship an absolute God.

But Narayana Maharaja’s is very different. “…and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings, I am birth.” The conclusion is the same: I am birth. But where does “…and of the six progressive transformations experienced by all living beings” come from?

He translates bhavisyatam as “of the progressive samskaras.” In contrast, Srila Prabhupada translates it as “of the future” and Tripurari Swami as “of future manifestations.”

Srila Prabhupada, in his purport, explains the “six basic changes” as “They are born, they grow, they remain for some time, they reproduce, they dwindle and finally vanish.” Those are the progressive transformations. I’m not sure why Narayana Maharaja translated them as “samskaras.” Maybe at one time, vedically, there were ceremonies for each stage.

All of the translations, except for Garuda dasa’s, translate “narinam” as “of (or ‘among’) women.” Garuda dasa’s translates it as “Of feminine attributes,” which is rather different, but same point. Again, we don’t have his word-for-word to see how he came to that conclusion.

Moving on, here’s a quick little chart. They go, from top to bottom:
-Srila Prabhupada
-Tripurari Swami
-Naryana Maharaja
-Garuda dasa

fame    fortune        speech          memory            intelligence    faithfulness    patience
fame    prosperity    speech          memory            intelligence    fortitude        forbearance
fame    beauty        fine speech    memory             intelligence    forbearance    forgiveness
fame    beauty        speech           remembrance    intelligence    constancy     forbearance

1) kirttih – Fame. All agree.

2) srih – Prabhupada is the only one to translate “srih” as “fortune”. Tripurari Swami translates it as “prosperity” while Narayana Maharaja and Garuda dasa translate it as “beauty.” Fortune and prosperity are the same, of course. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura defines it as “beauty.” In his purport, Narayana Maharaja defines it again as “beauty or fortune.”

3) vak – Speech or “fine speech.” Same thing, really. In his purport, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura translates it as “cultured speech.” Tripurari Swami says that “Speech (vak) is also identified with the Sanskrit language, which is said to be capable of expressing all ideas.”

4) smrtih – Memory or remembrance. Also the same.

5) medha – Intelligence. All agree. This was the word that Praveen specifically mentioned in her comment. “Of women (or “Of feminine attributes”)… I am intelligence.” All translations agree. There’s also nothing in the purports about this.

6 & 7) dhrtih & ksama – This word and the next, ksama, seem to have very similar meanings. So much so that while Tripurari Swami used the word “forbearance” for dhrtih, Narayana Maharaja and Garuda dasa used it for ksama. The words: fortitude, forbearance and constancy are all very similar in meaning. Every translation, except for Srila Prabhupada’s uses them for one or both of the words. Srila Prabhupada uses “faithfulness” and “patience” respectively. I really like that. Faithfulness is a type of fortitude, but it’s softer and seems more spiritual. Patience is a virtue, similar to forbearance, but kinder, with more mercy. And speaking of mercy, Narayana Maharaja translates ksama as forgiveness, possibly taking that hint from Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Forgiveness is certainly one of the most wonderful things ever. To be forgiven is beautiful. I’m not sure why it is translated as such when others translate it as patience or forbearance, but I’m glad it’s there.

Interestingly enough, Srila Prabhupada translated “ksama” as “forgiveness” in Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto Seven and in many classes.

And that’s the verse.

The reason that this was picked was because of the last part. The “of women” part. Here, Krishna is saying that he is the good qualities of women. These qualities are actually the qualities of the seven wives of dharma (as noted in Tripurari Swami’s purport), though he doesn’t mention who they were (aside from their names clearly being the words above – Kirti, Sri, etc).

The Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 6, Chapter 6 is all about the Daughters of Daksa and their Progeny. However, from what I read, it doesn’t mention these daughters. Just that Prajapati Daksa has sixty daughters. Is it mentioned elsewhere in the Bhagavatam? I don’t know. I’m not a scholar, I’m a parrot.

Narayana Maharaja’s purport goes into more detail. They were the daughters of Prajapati Daksa. He was the one who cursed Narada Muni so that he (Narada) had to constantly travel (which seems to be why sanyasis must travel).

I’ve just spent the last half hour researching the daughters of Daksa. There are different accounts as to how many daughters he had (sixty, twenty-four, etc). And it’s rather confusing, so I stopped, thinking that I was probably taking it a bit too far.

And in that light, I leave you with the last bit of purport from Srila Prabhupada…

“The six opulences listed are considered to be feminine. If a woman possesses all of them or some of them she becomes glorious. Sanskrit is a perfect language and is therefore very glorious. After studying, if one can remember the subject matter, he is gifted with good memory, or smrti. One need not read many books on different subject matters; the ability to remember a few and quote them when necessary is also another opulence.”

A few years ago, I kept a blog on Live Journal. In fact, I still cross post many of my entries there. During that time, I posted many things I wrote for sitproperly.com, daily happenings and other realizations. I also posted a whole MESS of random weirdness. From Chant Hare Krishna reminders to messed up little comic strips. From recipes to wacky Ebay finds.

And in a pointless attempt to consolidate my online life, I present for you a new six(ish) part series: Random Stuff I Posted on LJ! During 2004 -2006, the ISKCON & Beyond on LJ was pretty big. It was a nice community where everyone generally got along. These folks were solely responsible for keeping me in practice. They were encouraging, supportive, helpful and just wonderful people.

In turn, I graced them with one of my only good qualities: Randomness.

I have a love for the surreal.

And so my first installment of RSIPLJ gives you… Chant Hare Krishna!

We all need to be reminded sometimes to chant. Our mind wanders, our life ebbs and flows like the tidal waters of tiny inlets near an ocean and generally we’re human (or mostly).

So when I came across this patch on Ebay, I was tickled to near leaving the body.

This came out of the punk scene in the waning years of the Krishnacore period. Isn’t is marvelous?

Now, some folks don’t get it. And that’s ok. We are all different, unique parts and parcels. However, it inspired me. A lot. I followed suit. I walked in the footsteps, so to speak. I did what I do best… I took it too far. But the key is – I did it randomly!

My first exercise into this fold was not a Chant Hare Krishna parody. It was a parody of “Andre the Giant Has a Posse.”

I’m not exactly sure where it came from. Again, it’s random. But I felt that while Andre the Giant may indeed have a posse, Srila Prabhupada’s was better.

Indeed.

And then I got to thinking of other parodies that I could do. But then I stopped thinking about that and started working on a short “comic strip” parody of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, aptly titled “Bhakta Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” (that’s coming soon, don’t you worry).

My parody of that involved Bhakta Cowboy Curtis, in the end… well, I don’t want to give away the exciting conclusion… but in the end, Bhakta Cowboy Curtis strikes a memorable pose from which anyone at all could derive “Chant Hare Krishna.”

But for those who couldn’t…

I wanted to do a bigger version, but I think I used this for my LJ Icon. Other icons followed…

The right one is from the famous Lost TV show. The left one is from the famous Christian Chick Tracts that feature God as a faceless dude in a robe sitting on a rather expensive toilet.

Then it hit me. We are fallen jivas. We fell down from the spiritual sky because we wanted to be Krishna. We wanted to be the meanest, the prettiest, the baddest mofo low downs around this town. In short… we wanted to be “da mastah.” And what better embodiment of that original sin than Shonuff the Shogun of Harlem?

Shonuff thought he was the meanest, the prettiest, the baddest mofo low down around this town. He thought *he* was Da Mastah! But, actually, it was not the famous Shonuff, the Shogun of Harlem who was Da Master. Oh no. Da Master is the Holy Name! So, dear Shonuff, please take this Holy Name and chant! Your life will be sublime!

Now, there was no way to really out do my Shonuff parody. And I’ll admit, my final few forays into this genre are weak and predictable. I thought I’d use a tried and true symbol of true randomness. Next up… the famous “Indian dude on a motorcycle.” Let’s give it up for him!

It didn’t go over as well as I had hoped. Too predictably random? I mean, who hasn’t used the old “Indian dude on a motorcycle” before?

And like everything that went on for far too long, there was a Christmas Special. I had reservations about doing it. I mean, a parody of my own parody? This could signal the end of the world. You know, real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from their graves. Cats and dog living together… mass hysteria!

But I digress to bring you the famous It’s a Very Chant Hare Krishna Christmas:

That is when I knew it was over. At that moment, I knew that parody had become parody. That random had become predictable.

And so with one final blow, one final kick in the crotch to all things keeping us from chanting the Holy Names of the Lord, I squeaked out one more… and “forever” hung up my sandals.

That’s right, I finished with an icon. Weren’t expecting that, huh? Didn’t think so.

And thank you for somehow making it to the end of the first installment of Random Stuff I Posted On LJ Part One. Stay in school, say “no” to drugs, Chant Hare Krishna and Staaaaaaaaaaaay Demented!

I’ve always been interested in the early vinyl recordings that Srila Prabhupada and the devotees did. I started collecting them about three or four years ago and I’ve done pretty well for myself here. I had NO idea that this many records were released! I couple of years ago, someone (maybe on Sampradaya Sun?) Did a couple of articles on Hare Krishna music. They included pretty much anything that was even influenced by devotees (like Alice Coltrain).

That’s not really my focus.

As a rule, I’m trying to stick to the more traditional bhajan and kirtan recordings. Releases like “Change of Heart,” the Michael Cassidy recordings and those wacky Hansadutta records wouldn’t make it into the list. This is all (or mostly) traditional.

Because there is no way to be sure if I have “everything,” I’m hoping that devotees will come out of the woodwork and give me a heads up on some of the pieces that I’ve missed.

I know that I don’t have everything. Heck, my entire collection won’t even fit in the above pic. So here’s a list of what I have, broken down by record label.

There is a reason I’m doing this, bare with me.

Apple Records
- 1810 – Hare Krsna Mantra (7″ Single)
- 1821 – Govinda (7″ Single)
- SKAO3376 – Radha Krishna Temple LP

Golden Avatar Productions
GAP 1001 – Every Town and Village
GAP 1002 – Gopinatha/Ohe Vaisnava Thakura (7″ Single)
Gopi-108 – Govinda

Hare Krsna Records
12″ LPs
- 1002 – Hare Krsna Festival Part II
- 1003 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 1004 – The Beautiful Hare Krsna People
7″ Singles
- 2001 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 2002 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 2003 – Hare Krsna Festival Amsterdam

Productions Parampara
- RPI 101 – Temple Radha Krishna
- RPI 102 – Vrindavana
- RPI 103 – Goddess of Fortune

Radha Govinda Productions
- 20072 – Radha Govinda Productions

Radha Krsna Productions
- 1001 – India
- 1003 – Krsna Meditation (Double LP)
- 1004 – Hare Krsna Festival
- 1005 – Krsna Meditation

Other records
- A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami – Krishna Consciousness
- Benediction Moon

And that’s my collection. So … what? Am I just bragging? Totally.
Ok, not really. I’m starting a new feature here on my blog. Each Ekadasi (I hope), I’ll feature a new recording. I wish to Krish that I could put up the entire record, but I don’t have nearly the band width for that. (Can anyone help me there?) I’ll pick a track or two and put them up in a low-fi MP3. Y’all can have a listen-to that-a way.

Each post about this will feature extensive pictures and a review/write up by yours truly. I won’t go in order and I probably won’t do “the famous George Harrison’s Radha Krishna Temple.” Because we all have that.

Also, if you know of other records that would fall into this category, please let me know. I am pretty sure I have everything that I know exists (except for the Visnujana Swami 7″ with the Dallas gurukula – must find that somehow). I know I’m missing things (like whatever Radha Krsna Productions #1002 was).

I’ll start this on the next Ekadasi, October 6th (here, anyway). I, of course, reserve the right to do it more often and also randomly.

It’s been about two or three months since I last posted any Bhagavad-gita verses. I think I’ll rectify that right now. But first an explanation or two.

Firstly, if you don’t know what the Bhagavad-gita is, think of it as (basically) the bible of the Hare Krishnas (also of many Hindu peoples). It was spoken by Krishna to Arjuna on an ancient battlefield. Krishna is God and Arjuna is Krishna’s friend and servant. Arjuna wanted to neglect his duty and Krishna not only talks to him about duty and responsibility, but of the true nature of soul and our relation to God and the universe. It’s some pretty intense stuff. Well worth a read.

What I’m doing here is comparing four different translations of the Bhagavad-gita. In order: Srila Prabhupada, Tripurari Swami, Narayana Maharaja and Garuda das (Graham Schweig). I don’t do this to say “this or that Bhagavad-gita is better!” I do it simply to compare. It’s interesting to me. Anyway, that’s what I’m doing here.

My selection for today is from the 18th chapter. I mentioned them in my last Gita post.

There are two verses, I’ll combine them into one chunk of words.

Chapter 18, Texts 61 – 62.

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. O scion of Bharata, surrender unto Him utterly. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode.
-Srila Prabhupada

O Arjuna, God resides in the hearts of all beings, directing their wandering by the magical power of maya, on which they are seated as if it were a machine. Take refuge in him alone with all your heart, O descendant of Bharata. By his grace you will attain the supreme peace and eternal abode.
-Tripurari Swami

O Arjuna, Sarvantaryami Paramatma is situated in the heart of all jivas and is causing them to wander in the cycle of birth and death by His maya, as if they are mounted on a machine. O Bharata, surrender exclusively to the Isvara in every respect. By His grace, you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme eternal abode.
-Narayana Maharaja

The supreme Lord
    of all beings, O Arjuna,
    is present within the inner
    region of the heart,
Causing all beings
    to move about like riders
    upon a mystical machine,
    by the divine power of Maya
In him alone take shelter
    with your whole being,
    O Bharata.
Through his grace
    you shall attain
    supreme peace,
    the eternal dwelling.
-Garuda dasa

You’ll see that Prabhupada’s, Tripurari Swamis and Garuda dasa’s are all fairly similar, especially when compared to Narayana Maharaja’s.

All start out basically the same, with Krishna addressing Arjuna. “God is in our hearts,” Krishna tells Arjuna. Arjuna, throughout the Gita, is basically us. The everyman. Sort of. Narayana Maharaja uses the sanskrit “Sarvantaryami Paramatma” to describe God in our hearts. It literally means “The Supreme person who dwells in the hearts of everybody.” He uses “jivas,” a sanskrit word for “souls.”

See, we believe that we are not these bodies, that we are spirit souls. A lot of folks think that we have a soul. But really, we ARE the soul, we have a body. Get it?

From here, we learn that God is in us, directing (or causing) our wanderings (or movements) as if we were on a machine. “Machine” is interesting and I’ll come back to that in a second. All of the verses mention “maya” except for Srila Prabhupada’s. Maya is illusion. As defined in Srila Prabhupada’s Gita, maya is “an energy of Krishna’s which deludes the living entity into forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord.”

Prabhupada’s translation leaves out the word “maya,” but describes the machine as made of material energy (which is maya). When put that way, we can really see how this machine that is carrying us around is maya, illusion.

Narayana Maharaja doesn’t use the word “machine.” He describes the machine as the cycle of birth and death. Machines are cyclical. This machine, the machine that is carrying us around, the machine that is simply illusion is the cycle of birth and death. This cycle is everything that we think we know. Everything from our births to our deaths (since we believe in reincarnation), ad infinitum. And so everything we think we know is illusion, it’s not real.

It’s described as a dream. When we’re dreaming, we think it’s real. It seems real, no matter how wacky it is. That’s life in the material world. We think it’s real, but it’s not. It’s a real dream. But still a dream.

Tripurari Swami calls maya’s power “magical.” It’s like magicians (who are also called “illusionists”).

Then, moving onto the next verse, Arjuna, here addressed as the scion/descendant of Bharata (India), is being urged to surrender/take shelter/take refuge of this Supreme person, God, who is residing in our hearts. Narayana Maharaja uses the term “Isvara” which simply means “the Supreme controller.” In every translation, we’re not just being urged to surrender to Him, but to surrender “in every respect,” “utterly,” “exclusively,” and with our “whole being.”

Why? The last line covers it. We will attain transcendental and supreme peace as well as the eternal abode. Transcendental peace means eternal peace. Peace the transcends this material world. As we know, peace in this world is fleeting (if it ever comes at all), but transcendental peace is spiritual peace, the supreme peace. That is eternal.

The eternal abode, or eternal dwelling, is Vaikuntha, the “spiritual sky.” Or as Tripurari Swami put it in his purport “Give your heard to me [Krishna] and by my grace you will come to the end of all sorrow and attain my abode.” Meaning that we will be with Krishna in Krishna’s abode. Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

Now, as devotees, we shouldn’t be thinking of a reward for worshiping God. While we know that by this devotion we will come to Krishna’s abode (get to heaven), we shouldn’t think of God as a vending machine, here to meet our every whim.

To me, that almost seems like we need material proof of God’s existence. “God, if you’re there, show me a sign!” If a sign is shown, this may satisfy our very base spiritual desires, however, if a sign is not shown (as is often the case), our fragile faith is shattered. We have no capacity to see God with our material senses. It’s like looking for the sun with a flashlight. It’s pointless to try. Only through faith can we prove to ourselves that He is present.

But Krishna is so kind that He tells us the reward anyway. We just shouldn’t focus on that. We shouldn’t love God because we’re getting a reward out of it.

That’s sort of how I was raised, in the Baptist Church. Love God and accept Jesus as your savior or burn in hell for eternity. However, if you do accept Christ, you go to heaven. It’s two sides of the same coin. I was taught no devotion, no faith, no humility, only fear. I was told what hell would be like and how horrible it would be. I was told very literally nothing about heaven. “Streets of gold, mansions, etc.” But that’s it. And it didn’t matter, because even though I had no idea what heaven was like, it was definitely better than hell. So I got saved right quick.

But that taught me nothing about faith. It told me to love God or else. When I asked “why?” I was told “because otherwise, you’ll go to hell.” And who wants that?

In these two verses, Krishna tells us that He is in our hearts, but because of material illusion, we don’t know this. However, if we surrender to Him, we will have peace and be with God eternally.

There is no “and if you don’t do this, you’ll go to hell!” No condemnation or fear. The Bhagavad-gita isn’t about fear. What’s needed is there to scare people into believing something? If they are scared into believing it, it’s not that they really believe it, they’re just afraid to admit they don’t.

These two verses are the last of Krishna’s instructions in the Bhagavad-gita. This is the culmination of His teachings. Everything was leading up to this.

And what is “everything”? Well how about you pick up a copy of the Bhagavad-gita and find out? I personally recommend Bhagavad-gita: As It Is by Srila Prabhupada. You can buy that here.

This has been fun. If anyone’s got questions, I’ll do my best to answer. Hare Krishna!