SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 8 Text 11
yad aksaram veda-vido vadanti
visanti yad yatayo vita-ragah
yad icchanto brahmacaryam caranti
tat te padam sangrahena pravaksye

yat--that which; aksaram--syllable om; veda-vidah--persons conversant with the Vedas; vadanti--say; visanti--enter; yat--in which; yatayah--great sages; vita-ragah--in the renounced order of life; yat--that which; icchantah--desiring; brahmacaryam--celibacy; caranti--practice; tat--that; te--unto you; padam--situation; sangrahena--in summary; pravaksye--I shall explain.

TRANSLATION

Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the renounced order enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport; In the Vedic system of knowledge, students, from the very beginning, are taught to vibrate om and learn of the ultimate impersonal Brahman by living with the spiritual master in complete celibacy. He then goes on to say; The social construction of the world has changed so much that there is no possibility of one's practicing celibacy from the beginning of student life. He ends his purport by reminding us; Therefore Lord Caitanya has announced, according to the scriptural injunctions for this Age of Kali, that in this age no process of realizing the Supreme is possible except the chanting of the holy names of Lord Krsna: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada is so great! I cannot begin to explain the wonderful changes that have happened in my life because of this practice of chanting the Lord's holy names.