SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 10 Text 21
adityanam aham visnur
jyotisam ravir amsuman
maricir marutam asmi
naksatranam aham sasi

adityanam--of the Adityas; aham--I am; visnuh--the Supreme Lord; jyotisam--of all luminaries; ravih--the sun; amsu-man--radiant; maricih--Marici; marutam--of the Maruts; asmi--I am; naksatranam--of the stars; aham--I am; sasi--the moon.

TRANSLATION

Of the Adityas I am Visnu, of lights I am the radiant sun, of the Maruts I am Marici, and among the stars I am the moon.

JOURNAL:

There are some statements in Srila Prabhupada's purport that contradict the findings of modern science. These kinds of things have never really bothered me much. I feel one should take a philosophy as a whole and keep in mind that philosophy and science do not have to agree for each to be "true". This kind of thing happens in all religions as far as I know. As an example, in Christianity we find giants and talking donkeys appearing in the Old Testament, which means they appear in the Jewish faith also. So, try not to let a small thing like the moon being called a star bother you. It does not affect the results you will gain by chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!

Heavens to Betsy!

“Heavens to Betsy! I can’t slow
down enough to say I’m cold and the
stars are out. They never went to the moon–
even one star, although millions exist. How can
they say there is no life? I swam warm summers
in the canal behind my parents’ home in
Avalon and looked up into the immense distance
in the summer of ’66. O Swamiji,
I hear your voice even in my parental home,
I want no more LSD, and no more to identify with the
body. He had an oceanic smile, but
the Harvard grad student couldn’t see it.
No. We live in our own world of swami adulation. We couldn’t expect them
to follow us.”

Satsvarupa das Goswami - Last Days of the Year (December 1994)

SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 9 Text 30
api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah

api--even; cet--if; su-duracarah--one committing the most abominable actions; bhaiate--is engaged in devotional service; mam--unto Me; ananya-bhak--without deviation; sadhuh--a saint; eva--certainly; sah--he; mantavyah--is to be considered; samyak--completely; vyavasitah--situated in determination; hi--certainly; sah--he.

TRANSLATION

Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada writes at the end of his purport:
In the Nrsimha purana the following statement is given:

bhagavati ca harav ananya-ceta
bhrsa-malino 'pi virajate manusyah
na hi sasa-kalusa-cchabih kadacit
timira-parabhavatam upaiti candrah

The meaning is that even if one fully engaged in the devotional service of the Lord is sometimes found engaged in abominable activities, these activities should be considered to be like the spots that resemble the mark of a rabbit on the moon. Such spots do not become an impediment to the diffusion of moonlight. Similarly, the accidental falldown of a devotee from the path of saintly character does not make him abominable.

On the other hand, one should not misunderstand that a devotee in transcendental devotional service can act in all kinds of abominable ways; this verse only refers to an accident due to the strong power of material connections. Devotional service is more or less a declaration of war against the illusory energy. As long as one is not strong enough to fight the illusory energy, there may be accidental falldowns. But when one is strong enough, he is no longer subjected to such falldowns, as previously explained. No one should take advantage of this verse and commit nonsense and think that he is still a devotee. If he does not improve in his character by devotional service, then it is to be understood that he is not a high devotee.

There is not much else one can say about the meaning of this sloka that Srila Prabhupada does not cover in his purport, so I will speak on a side issue; the "rabbit in the moon".

Here in the west we grow up looking at the "man in the moon", but on the other side of the world they see a rabbit. The moon they see in India at the beginning of the evening can be seen here in the west in the morning. The rabbit sits in profile with his ears back along the top of his head. With a little imagination, he is not hard to see at all.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK (from Krishna.com):

Moon Rocks? - Artist Unknown

A Universe of Controversy

SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 8 Text 25
dhumo ratris tatha krsnah
san-masa daksinayanam
tatra candramasam jyotir
yogi prapya nivartate

dhumah--smoke; ratrih--night; tatha--also; krsnah--the fortnight of the dark moon; sat-masah--the six months; daksina-ayanam--when the sun passes on the southern side; tatra--there; candramasam--the moon planet; jyotih--the light; yogi--the mystic; prapya--achieving; nivartate--comes back.

TRANSLATION

The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the fortnight of the waning moon, or the six months when the sun passes to the south reaches the moon planet but again comes back.

PURPORT

In the Third Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam Kapila Muni mentions that those who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death. These elevated souls live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking soma-rasa. They eventually return to earth. This means that on the moon there are higher classes of living beings, though they may not be perceived by the gross senses.


JOURNAL:

This morning I listened to a lecture on this sloka by H.H.Devamrita Swami and he brought up the "moon controversy".

There is a famous interview that Srila Prabhupada did with the L.A.Times back on December 26, 1968, where he states that we would not be allowed to land on the moon in the same way that America does not let just anybody land on its shores. When asked about the possibility of a moon landing he brushes off the question by stating; "From the book (Srimad Bhagavatam), nobody can do that. That is impossible". He stuns the interviewer with these answers.

There is also a story of Srila Prabhupada watching the moon landing on TV with a few of the devotees. As soon as it was over he supposedly said that the TV was an idiot box and it had just made idiots of them. His personal secretary couldn't handle his spiritual master denying what they had seen and left shortly thereafter.

Where do I weigh in on this controversy? To answer that I have to give you some of my background.

Being born when I was (1959) I grew up loving the idea of space. It was the new frontier! My best friend and I watched the moon landing together. We were both in forth grade and, together, had a huge collection of "Major Matt Mason" action figures. We watched "Star Trek" and "2001 a Space Odyssey" and "Planet of the Apes" and believed that all our possible futures were possible.

When I first read the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam I didn't know of this controversy. I read it the same way I read the Old Testament, with a grain of sacred salt. It didn't bother me that the text described the universe as centered around the earth. It didn't bother me that stars were described as reflecting light instead of producing light. This was Krishna's universe and I believed in alternate realities.

So, if the worst one can say is that, as Krishna's representative, Srila Prabhupada upheld the Vedic reality as opposed to the one most of us live in I say, "Get over it!" I was attracted to this faith because it was an alternate to how I had been living. You might say it was just the reality I was looking for.

Does this mean I don't believe man landed on the moon? No it does not. Like I said, I have no problem with more than one reality overlapping another. Is this not what happens when we do our japa?

("Narada in Space" by Jadurani dasi)