i ii
SPIRITUALITY FOR THE MODERN YOUTH Series
DISCOVER
Your Self
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Compiled by :
Radheshyam Das M.Tech., IIT Mumbai
Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE)
ISKCON, 4, Tarapore Road
Next to Dastur Boys’ School, Pune – 411 001,
Phone: (020) 26332328, iyfpune@vsnl.com
Readers interested in the subject matter of this book are invited by
the Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) to
correspond with our Secretary at the following address:
Sales Manager: Krishnakishore das
A-102, Bharati Vihar, Katraj, Pune – 411 046
Phone: +91-020-24306330
Email: krishnakishoredas@gmail.com
Web: www.iskconpune.com
Edited by Chaitanya Charan das
Cover design by Jaigopal das
Layout by Vrajananda das
Previous Printing: 15,000 Copies
Revised Edition: October 2007 / 2000 Copies
© 2001, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education, Pune
All rights reserved.
VOICE Pune expresses its gratitude to the Bhaktivedanta Book
Trust (BBT) for the use of verses, purports and pictures from the
books of Srila Prabhupada. All such verses, purports and pictures
are © BBT.
COVER: Since time immemorial, eminent scientists have been
trying to discover the origin and purpose of life. Similarly anti-
material scientists - the great devotees of God - have discovered
their true identity as a servant of God by living according to the
Vedic scriptures. Having experienced boundless ecstasy in their
relationship with God, they dedicated their entire lives to preaching
and inspiring humanity to discover themselves.
Published by Radheshyam das for -
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
 iii
Eminent Personalities Say...
“This is a well illustrated, easy to understand book and I know the
author to have a genuine care for the well being of the young people
of India, making him the true representative of the ‘Best Friend’ of
youths today. Using his years of experience in this field
Radheshyam Prabhu, has managed to produce a systematic, highly
effective study of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.
I strongly recommend that a serious study of these books is done to
discover India’s ancient heritage and wealth of Vedic wisdom. I am
confident this study course will inspire and motivate many to delve
more deeply into the fathomless purports of Srila Prabhupad’s
books.”
His Holiness Lokanath Swami Maharaj,
ISKCON Padayatra Minister
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series is a lucid explanation
of the most profound Truths revealed to mankind through various
religions. An all-encompassing presentation written in a very
rational and scientific manner.”
Hrishikesh Mafatlal,
Chairman and Managing Director,
Mafatlal Group of Industries.
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series is an invaluable
contribution to the realm of higher dimensional science, which
directs the exploring spirit on an adventurous journey in the world
within… Every adherent of the scientific spirit of enquiry will relish
it.”
Dr Sudipto Ghosh, M. Tech. & Ph D, IIT Kanpur
Scientist, Tata Research Development and Design Center,
Pune – INDIA
iv
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series comes right down to
where the reader is - lost amidst a plethora of philosophies and
beliefs and elevates him step-by-step to the highest understanding of
the fundamental truths of life.”
Dr M. K. Patel, M.D., D.G.O., F.I.C.O.G.
Consulting Obstetrician and Gynecologist,
Coordinator, Dept. of Bio-Ethics,
Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mumbai.
“To present pristine spirituality to the modern scientific mind is no
easy task. Coming from a dynamic spiritualist with a distinguished
academic background, the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series
meets the challenge wonderfully.”
Dr Bhaskar Hosangodi,
Emeritus Prof and HoD,
Chemistry Dept., Bombay University
“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series uses the analytical
approach to present the profound philosophy of the Vedas in a way
appealing even to the skeptical youth of today. A must-read for
every scientifically-minded person with an interest in spirituality.”
Ganesh Ramkrishnan,
Ph D Student, Comp. Sc., IIT Mumbai.
v vi
Acknowledgements
The book has come out successfully by dint of the untiring efforts
of many VOICE members. Mr. Shekhar, Jai Gopal das and Shankar
Pandit das together conceived and designed the fascinating front
cover. Special thanks are due to Sankirtan Anand das, Sundar Var
das and Vrajanand das for their unflinching dedication to this
project by doing all the taxing computer work – formatting,
inserting pictures, taking printouts etc. Thanks to Chaitanya Charan
das for his valuable proofreading and editing. All these devotees
have toiled day and night to bring out this book.
I also express my heartfelt gratitude to the many other devotees
including Vrishabhanu das, Sriman Haresh Daswani, Akinchan
Krishna das, Vamshi Vadan das, Sundershyam das, Radha Madhav
das, Ram Nitai das, Aniruddha das, Sri Anant das and Sriman
Sharma who assisted us in bringing out this book. I also thank all
the VOICE sector and core-group members who encouraged me to
take up this task of bringing out the lessons in the form of a book.
Their encouragement is their practical surrender and dedication to
youth preaching and to using these lessons effectively.
Radheshyam Das,
Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education
(VOICE), Pune.
President, ISKCON, Pune.
Introduction
The Vedic texts are the panacea for all problems for all times; they
give a crystal clear understanding of all the fundamental and
essential truths of life including who we are, what the true goal of
life is and how we can attain permanent happiness.
Unfortunately however, in the modern times, the Vedas have
generally been misunderstood to be books of sentiment and blind
faith or a bunch of empty rituals. And due to such preconceived
misconceptions, the scientifically minded youth have reservations in
even approaching them. Also, these texts being in intricate Sanskrit
are not easily accessible to them.
With these considerations in mind, a need was felt for a systematic
and scientific presentation of the five essential themes of the
Bhagavad-gita: ishvara (the Lord), jiva (the living entity), prakriti
(nature), kala (time) and karma (activity). A humble attempt
towards making such a compilation was first made in 1994. Those
notes were based on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, who is
internationally acclaimed as an erudite Vedic scholar and as the
greatest exponent of Krishna consciousness in the modern times.
References were also taken from Back to Godhead magazine
articles and from discourses by senior devotees of ISKCON like His
Grace Devamrita Prabhu, His Grace Radha Gopinath Prabhu and
His Grace Krishna Smaran Prabhu. Those notes were refined over
the years as we came to know more about the nature of doubts and
questions that youths generally have.
Now we are presenting those refined notes in a handy form as a
series of five books, entitled the Spirituality for the Modern Youth
series. The books in this series are ‘Discover Your Self’, ‘Your Best
Friend’, ‘Your Secret Journey’, ‘Victory over Death’, ‘and ‘Yoga of
Love’.
vii viii

We have been using these notes for vigorous youth preaching in

Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE), Pune. Contents
VOICE, Pune was started and is being run by the divine inspiration
and blessings given by H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, H.H.
Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj, H.H. Lokanath Swami Maharaj, Foreword xix
H.G. Devamrita Prabhu, devotees of Shri Shri Radha Gopinath
Mandir, Chowpatty, Mumbai and Shri Shri Radha Kunjabihari
Chapter 1
Mandir, Pune.
Can A Scientist Believe In God? 1
The approach of having a systematic presentation of the Bhagavad-
gita has produced amazing results in effectively conveying the The Story of Isaac Newton 3
message to the youth and inspiring them to take to Krishna Order and Design 3
consciousness seriously. VOICE presently has hundreds of Tremendous Energy 7
engineering students, who are chanting Hare Krishna and leading a Organization and Craftsmanship 8
pure life free from all bad habits like meat-eating, intoxication, A Giant in a Tiny Package 9
illicit sex and gambling. Laws of Nature 10
Did Everything Start from a ‘Big Bang’ or ‘Big Brain’ 11
We hope that this book will therefore act as a beacon light for every A Charge Against Chance 14
sincere seeker of the truth, especially among the youth and the Do you know a machine which has no maker and with no 15
young at heart. It is our hope that the book will also serve as a purpose
useful guide for all preachers throughout the world in their attempts The Unseen Is Proven by the Seen 17
to take Krishna consciousness to the youth in particular and to the
The Spiritual Scientist 18
masses at large.

This book is nothing but a systematic presentation of the remnants Chapter 2 21

of the bold preacher, Srila Prabhupada, and my beloved spiritual Getting The Eyes To See God
master. It is therefore a humble offering at their lotus feet. We will
consider our humble efforts successful if this endeavor can assist in Blind Men and the Elephant 22
fulfilling their pure desire to flood the entire world with Krishna Pratyaksha Praman 23
consciousness. Imperfect Senses 24
Tendency to be Illusioned 25
Tendency to Commit Mistakes 27
Radheshyam Das Cheating 28
Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education
Anumana Praman 29
(VOICE), Pune.
President, ISKCON, Pune. Shabda Praman 31
See Through the Eyes of Scriptures 32
ix x

Chapter 3 35 The Soul is Eternal 74

Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege Of Humanity The Soul has a Form of Eternity (Sat) – Knowledge (Cit) 75
– Bliss (Ananda)
Human Life vs. Animal life 36 The Soul is Situated in the Region of the Heart 75
The Special Prerogative of the Human Body 38 The Size of the Soul 76
The Actual Destination of Life 39 Are we Gods or God’s ? 76
Cause of Suffering 44
Threefold Miseries 45 Chapter 5 79
Shun the Sinful Tendency and Surpass Suffering 47 Substance And Shadow
What is the Purpose of the Vedic Literature? 49
Is Accepting the Vedas not Blind Faith? 49 Where Does the Soul Come From? 81
Why are Vedas Considered the word of God? 52 Spiritual World vs. Material World 86
Two Systems of Knowledge 54 The Story of Liquid Beauty 87
The Vedic Process of Learning 55 All That Glitters Is Not Gold 88
The Goal of Life: Purification of Heart & Glorification of 90
57 Lord
Chapter 4
Mantra Meditation Technique 91
Science of the Soul
Chapter 6 93
The ABC of Bhagavad-gita 58
Scientific Proof of the Soul’s Existence 60 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions?
Common Sense 60
Intuitive Understanding
If God Is One, Then Why Do People Follow Different 94
61
Religion?
Awareness, Thinking, Feeling and Willing 61
Different Religions - Same message 97
Near Death Experience (NDE) 62
Ascending From Fear to Love 102
Past Life Memories 64
Serving simply out of love, with no motivation 106
Practical Benefits of the Knowledge about the Soul 65
Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions 107
A Clear Understanding of Life and Death 71
Worship According to Propensities 109
The Gross Body & the Subtle Body 71
Why is Krishna God? 110
The Nature of the Soul 73
The ABCD formula for a happy life 112
The Soul is Indestructible. 73
The Soul is Individual 73
The Soul has Form 73
Matter is Formless - Spirit Gives Form to Matter 74
xi xii

Appendix 1 Appendix 4
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education 153
Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 117 (VOICE)
What is the Theory of Evolution? 118 What is VOICE? 154
Dilemmas over Origin of Life 118 Objectives of VOICE 155
Theory of Spontaneous Generation 119 How Are The Students Trained in the VOICE? 156
The Primitive Atmosphere 120 Personality Development and Character Build Up 156
Formation of the Organic Soup 121 Yoga, Meditation and Nutritious Diet 157
Formation of Proteins 123 Topping in Academics 159
Formation of the Genetic Code 124 Public Speaking and Discussion (PSD) 159
Why Not Produce Life? 125 Team Playing and Synergising 160
Is it Scientific? 126 Devotional Qualifications 160
Not all Scientists Accept it 127 Personal Care And Counseling 161
Dilemmas over Origin of Complex Organs 128 Developing Interpersonal Relationships 161
Dilemmas over Fossils 129 Leadership Qualities 161
What Fossil Record Says about the Origin of Living 129 Preaching 162
Things VOICE Youth Centers managed by ISKCON, Pune 164
Record of the Rocks Contradicts Darwin’s Theory 130 Girls VOICE 167
Fossil Record is the Final Court of Appeal 134 For Social Cause 168
Creation or Evolution? 134 References 169
The Vedic Model for Evolution 135 VOICE Publications 170

Appendix 2 Appendix 5
The Universe: How did it Begin? 139 Courses Offered By VOICE 177
On the Role of Faith in Science 142
What the Vedas say… 146

Appendix 3
Srila Prabhupada - The Ambassador of the 149
Kingdom of God
xiii
Foreword
The modern times have seen remarkable discoveries in the
various sciences. These discoveries have revolutionized the
lifestyles of people all over the world, with sophisticated gadgets
being used for practically every activity. No wonder then that the
present age is said to be the age of technology.
Yet a disconcerting undercurrent of emptiness pervades the entire
society. Even individuals having the best of all that the modern
world can offer – wealth, fame, prestige, the latest technological
appliances, the maximum comforts – are prone to depression,
stress, hypertension and even suicide, as is evident from
statistical surveys in the prosperous Western countries, especially
the US.
Intelligent thinkers worldwide have concluded that this state of
affairs has resulted because man has neglected his inner self.
Man has been extremely enthusiastic in trying to discover the
world around him, but he has been almost equally averse to
trying to discover the world within him. This imbalance has lead
to a serious identity crisis; the modern man doesn’t know who he
is and what the actual goal of his life is. When the very
foundation of life – the individual’s understanding of his own
self - is so shaky, the collapse of the individual and the society at
large is natural and inevitable.
This has given rise to a new brand of self-help teachers, who
provide techniques for everything from making friends to earning
money, from becoming happy to tapping the subconscious. But
nothing works; one of the most popular of such teachers, who has
written best selling books on how to win friends, spent his life in
utter loneliness and ultimately committed suicide! The condition
of the other teachers is not much different. Instead of life being
xiv
‘a continuous discovery of joy’, the only discovery that everyone
– with no exception whatsoever - makes everyday is that misery
comes in ever new ways in life.
Is man condemned to live in the constant company of misery
throughout his life? Is there no higher dimension to life – one of
true love, real happiness and perfect peace? If there is, why is it
not universally accessible? Why do all our efforts to achieve such
a life invariably end in frustration?
“Try, try, but don’t cry”, the die-hards will tell you. But for how
long? Their unspoken reply, “Try, try, try, till you die.”
A blind man cannot see the world around him just by repeated
trying. He may diligently keep trying lifelong, but failure will
crown his efforts with equal diligence. That however does not
mean that he is cursed to be blind forever. In order to regain his
eyesight, he has to follow a bona fide remedial process – have a
surgical operation performed.
Similarly introspection, no matter how penetrating it may be, will
always fall short, if it is based on one’s own efforts. But if one
follows the right process – takes the help of the revealed
scriptures, one can get the vision to see both the world within and
the world without – in truth.
The Vedic scriptures address all living entities as ‘children of
immortality’. And they give a clarion call to all human beings:
uttisthata jagruta prapya varam nibodhata. “Awake, arise and
drink the nectar of immortality that is due to you as a human
being.” Only a human being is capable of the metaphysical quest
by which he can enquire into the higher truths of life. The Vedic
scriptures therefore exhort the human being not to waste his life
in the animalistic business of eating, sleeping, mating and
defending, but to pursue the ultimate business of self-realization.
xv
And as soon as the seeker steps onto the threshold of the house of
the Vedas, the most fascinating discovery of all awaits him. He
understands his identity to be that of an infinitesimal particle of
spirit, eternally cognizant and joyful. This atman is the invisible
driver and animator of the bodily machine.
And as the seeker steps forward on the path delineated by the
Vedas, his life becomes an exciting journey of self-discovery as
he realizes more and more his identity as a blissful, conscious
eternal being, distinct from the miserable, ignorant, perishable
body around him. Ultimately his real identity is proved to him by
the method beyond all doubts – by direct experience from within.
Self-discovery is not an exercise in selfish seclusion, with no
concern for anyone else. When the seeker understands his actual
identity as a part of the Supreme Spirit, as a son of the Supreme
Father, God, he also gets the eyes to see all living beings as his
dear brothers. Therefore he sees others suffering as his own
suffering and works for helping them in re-establishing their lost
relationship with the Supreme, as the well-wishing friend of all.
Thus universal brotherhood naturally follows for him as he has
accepted the Universal Father.
Hence today when ‘the world is divided into numerous fragments
by narrow domestic walls’, Discover Your Self will undoubtedly
be a invaluable guide for all thoughtful people throughout the
world; all the more so for the intelligent youth who are trying to
discover life. This first book in the Spirituality for the Modern
Youth series will help them extend their horizons to an hitherto
unexplored dimension –the discovery of their own selves.
His Grace Radheshyam Das has his creditable engineering side,
as a M.Tech. graduate from IIT Powai and a spiritual side of
being trained by able spiritual professors coming in the line of
xvi
Srila Prabhupada. Thus he is a living example of this spirit of
self-discovery. After working in prestigious positions in some of
the top multinational companies, his relentless quest for self-
discovery inspired him to dedicate his entire life to studying,
practicing and preaching the message of the Vedic scriptures. As
the Director of the Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and
Education (VOICE), in youth wing of VOICE, he has brought
substance and direction to the lives of hundreds of youths by
inspiring and guiding them to embark on journey to discover
their forgotten and forsaken inner selves. As a vigorous preacher
and author of several books, he is helping multitudes of people to
reach the wealth within their own hearts by taking to Krishna
consciousness. His books are unique in that he has adopted the
approach of systematic study standard in the academic world in
his presentations of the Vedic scriptures. Herein, one finds the
most profound philosophy explained in a cogent and lucid
manner perfectly suited for the modern mind.
Dr R. M. Jalnekar, PhD, Power Electronics,
Prof, Dept. of Electronics & Telecom. Engg.,
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune
 2 Discover Your Self

or thousands of years, people have marvelled at the starry

F heavens. On a clear night, the beautiful stars hang like
shining jewels against the darkness of space. A moonlit

Chapter 1 night bathes the earth with a beauty all of its own. Those who
think, often wonder : "Just what is out there in space? How is it
organized? Can we find out how it all got started? Who created
all these startling variety of things?" The human mind is
staggered by the immensity and complexity of the awesome
universe. As ‘National Geographic’ magazine commented what
man is now learning about the universe has "left him stunned."
Who will not appreciate and realize that all this artistry is the
work of an intelligent yet inconceivable designer and creator -
God?

If you want to see your face in the mirror you need the help of

Can A Scientist
sunlight. Similarly if one is interested in discovering oneself,
one needs to know God, the ultimate truth. Self-realization
comes automatically by God realization.

Believe In GOD? Group Work : Divide the class into groups of 3 each and ask them to
discuss the following question in about 5 minutes :

What gives you faith that there must be some God or Supreme
Being in this world? Write down as many reasons as possible
why you believe in the existence of God.

Once the groups are ready ask one representative from each group
to present all the points that came out from discussion and put it on a
flip chart. The same can be repeated with other groups. Overlapping
points can be left out. After this task the teacher can try to relate the
points obtained with the ones given below. Then discuss them after
the following story. When the points obtained from the students are
put on the board and discussed, that gives them more confidence
and faith than to ‘feed’ them without making them to think first.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ?
The Story of Isaac Newton
T here is a wonderful incident in the life of Sir Isaac Newton
that goes to show how he was a strong believer of God.
Newton had a small-scale model of the solar system, which, on
completion, was installed on a large table in his home. The artisan
had done a fine job, simulating not only the various sizes of planets
and their relative proximity, but also constructing the model in such a
manner that everything rotated and orbited when a crank was turned.
One day, one of Newton’s atheistic friends came by for a visit and
was naturally intrigued by the model. Having expressed his
admiration at the workmanship, he enquired about the artisan.
Newton replied in all seriousness that there was no artisan. The
model had just popped up by chance. Of course, the visitor was not
convinced. Finally, Newton explained, “You refuse to believe that
this puny contraption came about by chance and yet you are
convinced that the great original, the actual solar system, of which
this mechanism is only a model, has come into being without either a
designer or a maker. Now tell me, by what sort of reasoning do you
reach such an absurd conclusion?”
Thus Newton defeated his atheistic friend and made him realize
that behind this marvelous universe, there is the hand of God.
Order and design
W hen we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful
universe, we can see order and design at every level – in
the atoms, the molecules, the solar system and the universe.
Scientists continue to find new and astonishing aspects of this
order. The very word ‘cosmos’ means ‘an orderly, harmonious
systematic universe’.
3 4 Discover Your Self
At Atomic level : An atom includes a nucleus surrounded by
orbiting electrons. All matter is made up of these building
blocks. What makes one substance differ from another is the
number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the
arrangement of electrons revolving around it. This has an
exquisite order. We study about 14 types of crystal structure
arrangements like FCC, BCC, HCP, etc., of different elements.
Where did all this order come from?
At the molecular level, networks of atoms are so fantastically
arranged that even a slight change in the positions of a few
atoms or a little variation in the geometry of a molecule, can
cause the colour of a substance to change from orange to red, a
mild pleasing odour to become repellent and pungent, and a
flavour to change from sweet to bitter.
On one extreme, we find the smallest molecule, the hydrogen
molecule, which contains only two hydrogen atoms. On the
other extreme, we find giant molecules such as proteins and
nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) that contain innumerable atoms
made for a definite function. These atoms are arranged in
amazingly intricate and definite patterns, like the double helix
of the DNA molecule.
The molecular networks are so fantastically and delicately
arranged that chemists cannot but wonder about the most expert
hand and brain who is making all these wonderful artistic
arrangements. Science is only unfolding the existing truths
about nature. We have not created this order.
At best, scientists can only try to imitate the wonderful artistic
works of God. They cannot even do this properly, and most of
their attempts lead to failure and disappointment. Even when
they are partly successful, it is only with the greatest difficulty.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 5 6 Discover Your Self

For example, Prof. R.B. Woodward of Harvard, a Nobel Prize

winner in Chemistry (1965) and Prof. A. Eschenmoser of GOVERNMENT OF ANY
UNIVERSAL GOVERNMENT
COUNTRY
Zurich took eleven years to synthesize the vitamin B12
molecule. Altogether, 99 scientists from 19 different countries Law of Karma : For every
action, there is an opposite
were involved just to accomplish this one small task! reaction.
Illicit sex – AIDS,
At the level of Universe : From the infinitely large to the Home Ministry (Law and
1 Smoking-Cancer
order)
infinitesimally small, from galactic clusters to atoms, the Drinking-Liver problem,
universe is characterized by superb organization. Tobacco-bronchitis
Supplying medicines for
• ‘Discover’ magazine stated: “We perceived the order in 2
diseases
Ayurvedic herbs
surprise, and our cosmologists and physicists continue to Industrial and domestic
find new and astonishing aspects of the order… It is a 3 water needs supply by Rains
Municipality
miracle…” Ministry of Social Welfare Air, water, grains, milk – all
(Supply of food grains, supplied through mother
• Former astronaut John Glenn noted “the orderliness of the 4
vegetable, milk for the nature; God is father. Mother
whole universe… galaxies were all traveling in prescribed physical well being) cannot produce without father.
Ministry of Energy
orbits in relation to one another.” He therefore asked: 5
(Electricity and Lighting)
Sun and moon
“Could this have just happened? Was it an accident that a Finance Ministry Gold, silver, nava ratnas,
6
bunch of flotsam and jetsam suddenly started making these (Currency or wealth) diamonds etc
orbits of its own accord?” He concluded, “Some Power put Health Ministry (Hygiene
7 Sun and rain keep cleanliness
and sanitation)
all this into orbit and keeps it there.” Ozonosphere protects living
Defense Ministry
8 beings on earth, self defense
• Indeed, the universe is so precisely organized that man can (Protection from dangers)
immunity system
use the heavenly bodies as the basis for his timekeeping. A 9
Education Ministry
Vedas, Bible, Quran
(Education for citizens)
well-designed time piece is obviously the work of a Benefits of Yoga, Meditation
intelligent scientist. Then what about the far more complex etc who follow God’s laws and
10 Reward for best citizens
design and dependability that exists throughout the scriptures
universe?
Group Quiz: Make a comparison between the Government of your Oral Quiz: What do you learn after completing the table?
country and our Universe. Find out what are the duties of your Brainstorm the ideas from students and tell one of them to
government towards people and what you observe is happening in the
universe? You will see an amazing similarity. When you begin the write the points on the board.
task, hide the right side column named `Universal Government’. After
the group discussion, verify how many of your answers tally with the
answers given under the heading of `universal government’?
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ?
1. The universe we are living in is owned and controlled by the
Supreme Lord.
2. We are not living in a universe, but in a Universal
Government that is well managed, maintained and
supervised by superior agents whom we may not see with
our eyes. Just as there is a Prime Minister for any
government, similarly there is Supreme God, who is the
presiding authority of the whole universe.
3. When we ignore the laws of any government or Prime
minister, one invites punishment; similarly by ignoring God
and the laws of nature, modern man is inviting sufferings in
this world more and more.
4. The sufferings we undergo are a proof that we are going
against the will of God and some steps need to be taken to
rectify our wrong mentality. The reform is to give up
selfish, exploitative, enjoying, grabbing approach and to
adopt the selfless, extending, serving, giving nature.
5. We should hear from the manual of God – Bhagavad gita –
to know how can we again harmonize our lives according to
His will.
Tremendous Energy
Every day the sun supplies the solar system with a tremendous
amount of heat, light and energy. The very tiny fraction of the
sun’s energy that falls on the earth – estimated at about five
parts in a hundred million million – is about 100,000 times
greater than all the energy used in the world’s industries. Put in
a different way, the energy the sun emits in one second is
greater than the whole amount of energy human species has
consumed throughout its entire history! We have to find out
whether any of our scientists can try to make one sun for us in
their ‘most-advanced’ laboratories.
7 8 Discover Your Self
While God makes the sun, man can only poorly imitate it by
producing a mercury bulb. While God has made the moon,
man makes a Dome light. God makes vast oceans; man can
only create swimming pools. God puts huge planets in orbit
and sets them in motion; man can only put a small sputnik in
orbit. Thus God creates and man imitates, that too poorly.
Organization and Craftsmanship
There are many simple and graphic examples of the artistry of
the Lord’s creation. We see that among the lower forms of
living entities, social organization is very smoothly maintained.
• For example, in a bee colony the drones nicely take care of
the queen bee, while the workers collect a great amount of
honey from flowers all day long.
• Similarly, the loving relationship between a mother and her
baby is quite clearly visible even in very small forms of
living entities. During monsoon season in tropical countries,
when there are torrents of rain, the small ants run to find
shelter, carrying their eggs on their heads.
• The spider makes its wonderful webs with great architectural
skill to serve as a shelter and to catch its prey for survival.
• Silkworms spin hundreds of yards of fine threads to form
cocoons for their shelter during the pupa stage.
• Inside a tiny seed, smaller than the size of a mustard seed,
the whole potency of a big banyan tree is present.
• Seventy separate chemical reactions are involved in the
process of photosynthesis in a plant.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 9 10 Discover Your Self

its massive grandeur. Does it make sense to believe that the

In this way, we can see the shaping of the majestic giant and of the tiny seed that packages
wonderful organization and it was not by design?
arrangements made by God,
who is creating, maintaining Nobel-prize-winning physicist Robert A. Millikan, said at a
and guiding all living entities, meeting of the American Physical Society: “There’s a Divinity
small or big. that shapes our ends…A purely materialistic philosophy is to
me the height of unintelligence. Wise men in all the ages have
A Giant in a Tiny Package always seen enough to at least make them reverent.”
One of the smallest seeds has Laws of Nature
packaged within it the biggest
living thing on earth - the The development that has taken place in all the physical
giant sequoia tree. It grows sciences during the past hundred years has resulted chiefly from
over 300 feet high. Four feet the application of the ‘Scientific Method’ to the study of matter
above the ground its diameter and energy. In the experimental part of this study every effort
may be 36 feet. One tree may is made to eliminate every known possibility that the results
contain enough wood to build obtained are in any way due to mere chance. This study
50 six-room houses. The two- consistently has shown in the past, and still continues to show
foot-thick bark is flavored that the behaviour of even insensible matter is not at all
with tannin that repels insects, haphazard, but on the contrary obeys definite natural laws. The
and its spongy, fibrous texture arrangement of chemical elements by the great Russian
makes it almost as fireproof as chemist, Mendeleef, is called ‘The Periodic Law’ and not ‘The
asbestos. Its roots cover three Periodic Chance’.
or four acres. It lives over
3000 years. Also, the entire universe, from atoms to galaxies, is governed
by definite physical laws. There are laws for governing heat,
Yet the seeds that a sequoia light, sound and gravity, for example. As physicist Stephen W.
tree rains down by the millions Hawking said : “The more we examine the universe, we find it
are not much bigger than a is not arbitrary at all but obeys certain well-defined laws that
pinhead surrounded by tiny operate in different areas. It seems very reasonable to suppose
wings. A puny man standing that there may be some unifying principle.”
at a sequoia’s base can only
gaze upward in silent awe at
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 11
When we think of laws, we acknowledge that they come from a
lawmaker. A traffic sign that says “Stop” certainly has behind
it some person or group of persons who originated the law.
What, then, about the comprehensive laws that govern the
material universe? Such brilliantly conceived laws surely bear
witness to a brilliant Lawmaker.
Did everything start from
a ‘Big bang’ or a ‘Big brain’?
If you ask someone, how this universe began, people simply
murmur, ‘big bang’. Whenever there is a big bang due to some
atom bomb in your town or city, you can be sure of two things :
• people would be curious to know who created the
explosion-- any terrorists or soldiers?
• the explosion might have caused only damage and
destruction and nothing orderly must have come out of it.
The explosion usually is chaotic, like the explosion of a nuclear
bomb. But does this type of explosion result in better
organization? Do the bombs that fall on cities in wartime
produce superbly designed buildings, streets and signs with
traffic laws? On the contrary, such explosions cause wreckage,
disorder, chaos, disintegration. And when the explosive device
is nuclear the disorganization is total, as experienced by the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
No, a mere “explosion” could not create our awesome universe
with its amazing order, design and law. Only a mighty
organizer and lawmaker could direct the powerful forces at
work so that they would result in superb organization and law.
12 Discover Your Self
The universe we live in, is not some lump of floating material,
but a perfect residence (with arrangement for food, water, heat,
light, medicine etc) for all living beings to live in harmony. No
one would expect a beautiful multi-storeyed housing
appartment replete with all facilities for food, water supply,
lighting and electricity, hospital facility etc to spring up from a
‘big bang’ or a big explosion.
If someone is adament in arguing on ‘big bang’, he might be
suggested to start a ‘small bang construction company’ and
create housing appartments based on his ‘big bang’ belief.
Encyclopedia Britannica admits, “It should be emphasized that
no theory of the origin of the solar system has as yet won
general acceptance. All involve highly improbable
assumptions.” Thus, with such “highly improbable” theories
the atheists try to deny God as the origin and controller of the
universe.
According to big bang theory, everything began from ‘a point
of infinite temperature, infinite density, infinitesimal in size
that is physically indescribable, mathematically unverifiable,
beyond all conceptions of space and time.’ Does it sound like
a scientific theory? Now where did that ‘point’ come from?
Here the scientists face the same difficulty as the religionists
they taunt with the question, “Where did God come from?”
And just as the religionists respond with the answer that God is
the cause of all causes, the scientists are faced with the prospect
of declaring a mathematically indescribable, physically
unrealizable point of infinite density and temperature, of
infinitesimal size, existing before all conceptions of time and
space, as the cause of all causes. The choice is yours!
Whether you want to accept God or a ‘point’ as the Supreme
cause of all causes.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 13 14 Discover Your Self

Thus, believing in an empirical (or physical) scientific theory A Charge against Chance
requires just as much faith as in believing that a personal God
creates and maintains the universe. Scientists generally claim
that nothing is accepted in the field of Science without proper
experimental evidence. We can challenge, “Where is the proof
S ome scientists are using the concept of chance in a way that
misleads the public. Being unable to explain the origin of
the universe by physical laws, they assert that it was somehow
that such a point existed? It is more wiser to assume that God, caused by chance. But such statements are meaningless.
a Supreme Truth, endowed with unlimited energies is the cause
of all causes, than to assume a ‘point’ as the Supreme Truth.” To make any statement about a chance event meaningful,
• Many repetitions of the event in question are required and
God is not an assumption, but a tangible • These must be observable.
reality. Dr.Albert Einstein said,“I believe
in God – who reveals himself in the For example, we can flip a
orderly harmony of the Universe. I coin many times and note the
believe that intelligence is manifested results. We can see that they
throughout all Nature. The basics of correspond to a statistical
scientific work is the conviction that the pattern indicating a 50%
world is an ordered and comprehensible probability that heads will
entity and not a thing of Chance. When I sit here and watch the turn up rather than tails. The
mighty ocean, I can imagine the treasures hidden below the bed word ‘chance’ therefore does
of the sea, when I see the clear blue sky above, I feel sky is the not actually refer to a cause -
limit. When I cast my eyes around I see the wonders and it refers only to a certain type
beauties of Nature. Science must learn to live in Harmony with of pattern in the results of an
all these magnificent gifts of God to Humanity." operation repeated a
sufficient number of times.
When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful
universe, we can see that everything is working under the Now imagine we could toss a
control of a supreme brain. There is a cause behind each action. given coin only once and it
A machine cannot run without an operator. Modern scientists came up heads. If someone
are very proud of automation, but there is a scientific brain asked why that result
behind automation also. happened, we might give a
causal explanation or say that
we don’t know, but it would not be meaningful to say it
happened by chance.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 15 16 Discover Your Self

So now what about the universe? It is not possible for us to

observe more than one appearance of a universe-- we can only
see the one we are in. The origin of the universe is thus a one-
time event, and statements about it that involve chance are
meaningless according to the rules of quantitative science.

Do you know a machine

which has no maker and with no purpose?

We have absolutely no experience of any object or system

coming about by chance. Why and how then can we assume
that the entire universe with all its harmony, order and
structured organization came about by itself, by chance?

Have you ever seen:

• A complicated machine coming by Chance?
• A complicated mechanism with no Purpose?

Suppose you go to the Strength of Materials laboratory and ask

the lab incharge, “Where does the Universal Testing Machine
(UTM) come from? And what is its purpose?” If he tells you
that the UTM came by chance and that it has no purpose, will
you not consider him to be a fool? This is what the so-called
scientists of today are saying about the origin and the purpose
of the most complicated mechanism - the universe. When a
blind man leads many blind men everyone falls into a ditch.
That is the condition of today’s society.
Any sane man can appreciate that a superb organization
requires a superb organizer. Nothing in our experience indicates
that anything organized happens by accident. Rather, our entire
experience shows that everything organized must have an
organizer. Every machine, computer, building, even a pen and
pencil had a maker, an organizer. Logically, the far more
complex and awesome organization in the universe must have
had an organizer too.
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 17
Those who advocate the ‘chance’ theory must put forward
some supportive evidence to back their viewpoint. If they
could find one, just one, wristwatch, computer or even a chapati
that happened without a maker or designer, that would be
something. But there is not a single such piece of evidence !
Not even one !
The Unseen Is Proven by the Seen
O ne may not know God for sometime, but sooner or later, an
intelligent person asks – “How is it that the material
universe from the submicroscopic realm of the atom to the
expanding reaches of the galactic objects is running like an
intricate well-oiled clock? If hundreds of scientists have to
break their heads to put a single satellite in orbit, how much
greater giant brain, capable of careful planning, would be
required to put millions of planets in orbit? Modern scientists
are proud of automation, but there is a scientific brain behind
automation also. What great intelligence has been able to
visualize the arrangement of innumerable planets, realize it and
put all the planets in motion?”
A clear principle is established: “The unseen is proved by the
seen. The creation reflects the creator at every point. God can
be easily seen in this creation just as an inventor can be easily
known by his invention.” The Bhagavad-gita explains that
everything rests upon God just as pearls are strung on a thread.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (7.7):
mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani gana iva
“O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me.
Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”
18 Discover Your Self
The analogy is clear. By superficial examination of a pearl
necklace, one cannot see what is keeping all the pearls together.
But we figure that there must be some binding factor, else the
pearls would have scattered. Similarly, God is the underlying
thread of Truth binding this entire cosmic manifestation
together in an orderly manner. It is He who put all the planets
and galaxies into precise orbits and it is He who maintains
them.
The Spiritual Scientist
L ord Kelvin, one of the world’s greatest physicists, has made
the following significant statement: “If you think strongly
enough, you will be forced by science to believe in God.” In
other words, Lord Kelvin answers the question, ‘Can a scientist
believe in God?’ in unambiguous terms: if a scientist does not
believe in God, he is not a scientist at all.
After commenting on all the special conditions of order and law
that are so obvious in the universe, ‘Science News’ observed:
“Contemplation of these things disturbs cosmologists because it
seems as if such particular and precise conditions could hardly
have arisen at random. One way to deal with the question is to
say the whole thing was contrived and lay it on Divine
Providence.” Many scientists have begun to acknowledge what
the evidence keeps insisting-- intelligence.
There are many true scientists who, being in the frontlines of
research in their fields, not only are keenly aware of the
marvelous powers and achievements of science, but also are
equally aware of its limitations – of the questions that science
alone can never answer and of the marvels of creation, of
wonder, and design in the universe that the atheist or agnostic is
 Can A Scientist Believe In God ? 19

powerless to account for. After years of research and study this

is what Sir Isaac had to say, “I do not know what may appear to
the world, but to myself I seem to have been like a boy playing
by the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding
a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the
great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Scientists of today have begun to realize that the knowledge

and ability they have is extremely limited and in fact quite
insignificant. Therefore, instead of denying and challenging
the existence of the Supreme Scientist, God, it should be the
prime duty of all scientists to appreciate the inconceivable brain
of God and His wonderful manifestations everywhere and
create a worldwide spiritual awareness among people. Then
there can be real peace in society.
* * * *
 22 Discover Your Self

Blind Men and the Elephant

Once six blind men came across an elephant for the first time in

Chapter 2 their lives. After touching different parts of the elephant, every
one of them started describing enthusiastically what they
thought the elephant was like.

One man who had touched the side of the elephant

exclaimed,“It is like a wall which appears that it may fall
anytime”. The second man who had touched the tusk said, “O!
It is so very round, smooth and sharp. The elephant is like a
spear”. The third man who had touched the trunk said,“Don’t
you understand that the elephant is like a snake?”

The fourth man who

Getting had grasped one of the

legs of the elephant
felt that the elephant
The Eyes was like a tree. The
fifth man had touched

To See GOD
one of the ears of the
elephant and stated
that it was like a fan.
The sixth man who
had caught hold of the
swinging tail of the elephant commented,“Why don’t you all
understand that the elephant is like a rope!”

In this way, they went on arguing until they resorted to the help
of a learned man with proper eyesight. The learned man felt
pity for them and told them the complete description of the
elephant and then all the six blind men felt satisfied.
 Getting the Eyes to See God 23
Quiz : What general principles can you draw from this drama?
What can we learn from it?
Just as the blind men could not understand the elephant
completely just by their endeavor because of their blindness,
we cannot understand the material world or the Absolute Truth
completely and correctly by any amount of endeavor because
our senses are defective and limited. Just as one of the blind
men grabbed on to the tail and called the elephant a rope,
sometimes we may grab on to a particular part of the truth and
our understanding may even be correct; still our limited
understanding does not give us the complete truth.
We have to approach a spiritual master whose (spiritual) eyes
are wide open and only such a person can deliver the truth to us
because he is perceiving the truth himself. Hearing from such a
bonafide authority with faith and putting what we hear into
practice will bring us to the point of perceiving and realizing all
the truths.
* * * *
F rom the previous lesson, we understood that there is some
super intelligence or super power or God who is the
‘Organizer’, ‘Controller’, ‘Designer’ – all these words indicate
a person. So God is the Supreme Person who creates,
maintains, enjoys and controls everything. Once we accept that
He exists, how can we acquire further knowledge about Him?
There are three ways for gaining knowledge:
1) Pratyaksha (Empirical Sensual Perception)
2) Anumana (Theories Based on Evidence)
3) Shabda (Hearing From a Bonafide Authority).
24 Discover Your Self
Pratyaksha Praman
T his is the knowledge obtained by direct perception.
Majority of scientific experiments and proofs are based on
this method. “Seeing is believing” is a popular slogan among
people arguing against God’s existence. But consider the
following examples to verify whether seeing is believing:
• Is the sun just a plate of half-a-meter diameter as we see it
with our eyes?
• A stick appears broken when we insert half of it into water
(Refraction). Is it?
• Even the most beautiful face looks highly distorted in a
concave mirror. (Is seeing believing (?!))
We understand that direct perception by our senses is not a very
reliable method because the sense organs themselves have only
a limited range. We cannot acquire absolute knowledge
through the material senses and mind, and any knowledge we
derive will be only relative. The very fact that the information
and theories in science are changed, updated and modified
everyday is a proof that we are attaining higher and higher
imperfect relative truths by the pursuit of our scientific
research. The Absolute Truth, or God however is fixed; it
never changes.
We cannot understand the Absolute Truth through our blunt
material senses because all of us have four defects:
1. Imperfect senses
2. Tendency to be illusioned
3. Tendency to commit mistakes
4. Tendency to cheat.
 Getting the Eyes to See God 25 26 Discover Your Self

2) Tendency to be illusioned
1) Imperfect Senses
All the senses have many known deceptions. Some examples

T he first problem we face when trying to get accurate

information about the external world is that our senses have
physiological limits, or ‘thresholds of perception’.
are given below:

Group work: Each picture has at least two ways to see

depending on what you choose to discard. Identify 4x2=8
Eyes: We can see only a tiny fraction of the total different interpretations, what do you learn from it. Form groups
electromagnetic spectrum. An electromagnetic wave can range to identify the different interpretations. What do you learn from
from one quadrillionth of a meter up to 100 million metres in this exercise?
length. And of this, we can see only the waves that are 400 to
700 millimicrons long. Anything outside this thin band is
invisible to us. Similarly, even if we draw 10000 lines within
0.1 mm, we will be able to see only a single line
.
Ears: Human hearing extends from 20 Hz upto 20,000 Hz .
We are deaf to any vibration above or below this range. That’s Four Combined pitures
why when you blow a dog’s whistle, all the street dogs will 1. old Women & Young Girl
come running to you on hearing it, although you cannot hear 2. Tringle
any sound at all! 3. ABC & 123
4. Glass & Face
So our senses are imperfect. But what about scientific
instruments? Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner
points out, “Even if we photograph the stars, we must
eventually ‘take in’ by our senses what the photograph shows.
Furthermore without our senses, we could not handle a
photographic camera. Clearly all knowledge comes to us
ultimately through our senses." So even if amplified/refined by
instruments, any knowledge based on sense perception is no
more perfect than our imperfect senses.
 Getting the Eyes to See God 27
Eyes:
Selective vision: We interpret physical reality according to
what we discard and at different times we give it different
interpretations. See Fig.1. Depending on which image you
choose to discard, the drawing is either a black vase or the
outline of two white faces looking toward each other. Both
images are present, but you can’t see them both at the same
time. Consciously or unconsciously, you select one and discard
the other. In Fig.2 the picture is either a young woman or an
old woman, depending on how you choose to interpret the data
before you.
Contextual Vision: The middle character in Fig.3 is either a
number or a letter depending on the context you choose to see.
Imaginative Vision: Our eyes also distort things and supply
information not given. In Fig.4 our eye imagines the lines that
form a white triangle.
So, we talk about reality as objective because of the high
degree of agreement we share in our individual realities.
From birth, we condition our senses to select and interpret
phenomena the same way others around us do. Thus we form a
Consensus Reality Illusion, many individuals sharing an
agreed-upon way of interpreting their environment. This poses
serious questions about the authority of physical sciences as
well, because our scientists are as much deluded by their senses
as everyone else.
28 Discover Your Self
3) Tendency to commit mistakes
Yet another difficulty with sense perception is that we all make
mistakes. Science, with all its dramatic successes, has from its
beginnings also generated wildly incorrect accounts: electricity
and heat as fluids, the brain as an organ to cool the blood, stars
as pinpricks in a crystal globe… These are dramatic deviations
from what we now see as truth; and when invented they were
deviations from what then appeared true. In another instance,
three astronomers recently discovered a significant mistake in
the Hubble Constant, a value used as a cosmic yardstick to
measure enormous distances in the universe. The Hubble
Constant – named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble – has
undergone so many corrections since he first formulated it that
many astronomers now laughingly call it the ‘Hubble
Variable’! Clearly, with our imperfect senses and our illusion-
prone mind, mistakes are inevitable. So advancement in science
means, defeating the old mistaken idea and proposing a new
mistake, which may need a revision sooner or later.
4) Cheating
To err is human, the saying goes. But unfortunately, humans
sometimes go beyond innocent error and deliberately propagate
untruths. Scientists are not immune to this shortcoming.
For many years, textbooks on evolution routinely cited the
Piltdown Man as evidence that human beings have descended
from an ape-like ancestor. In 1912, archaeologists excavated a
humanlike skull and an apelike jaw from a gravel pit at
Piltdown, in the British Isles. The bones were deemed parts of
the same creature, which was duly reconstructed in full and
placed in the British Museum as an example of a transitional
phase between the ancient ape and the modern man. In 1953,
 Getting the Eyes to See God 29
however, investigators discovered that the jawbone of the
Piltdown Man was actually of a very recent origin and had
simply been stained to look like a fossil. In addition, someone
had filed the teeth down to change their appearance. In other
words, the Piltdown Man was a fraud, apparently engineered by
one of the original discoverers.
William Fix, author of ‘The Bone Peddlers: Selling Evolution’
claims that while making a careful analysis of the more than
120 years of archaeological discoveries, he unearthed a
‘catalogue of fiascos’, findings recorded by researchers more
interested in publicity, funding, and reputation than in truth. To
protect their reputations, says Fix, researchers have deliberately
ignored or dismissed contrary evidence. ‘Forbidden
Archaelogy’ by Richard L Thomson and Micheal Cremo gives
a comprehensive list of fossil records, which categorically
disproves evolution.
Anumana Praman
T his is the process of inference, which is nothing but
hypothesizing on the knowledge acquired by direct
perception. Charles Darwin’s theories and much of archaeology
and anthropology rely upon such inductive conjecture (“It may
have been like this, or perhaps it was like this”).
Mechanistic science bluntly reduces everything to atoms and
molecules and rejects anything that does not fall in its scale of
observation. The key medical field of Microbiology was non-
existent till the 16th century when Antony Von Lewenhoek
discovered lenses, which could detect microbes. Similarly, the
state-of-art of present day science is that we have no
instruments to detect anti-matter.
30 Discover Your Self
A practical example of anumana praman or wild speculation is
Darwin’s theory that proposes the idea that human beings might
have evolved from apes. Darwin tried to find out how life
came in this universe. With all his researches, when he could
not make out, he admitted that he resorted to wild imaginative
speculation. In one of his letters to A.R. Wallace (December
22, 1857), Darwin wrote, "... I am a firm believer that without
speculation there is no good and original observation....'. How
his theory was developed is given in his own words: "…After
five years work I allowed myself to speculate on the subject,
and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844 into a
sketch of the conclusions, which seemed to me probable..”
(Origin of Species).
For instance, he proposed the idea how the sea whale
originated. He said how once upon a time, a bear entered into
water with wide-open mouth for catching some flies and he
stayed long in water and turned into a sea whale! Such
speculative theories are propagated by scientists, taught as
solemn truths in schools and universities and discarded later
like disposable napkins, only to put forward another speculative
theory. Thus Anumana praman is misleading and cannot assure
one of the actual truths.
Anumana praman is just guesswork; something like observing a
black box and imagining what could be inside it.
If you hear a loud noise coming from a room closed on all sides, it
could be caused by anything. You could make say three wild
guesses: may be a fight is going on, may be the TV is on, may be the
radio is on. When you open the room, you come to know that a
group of people is doing a rehearsal for a drama presentation.
Thus the actual reality can be totally different from what one may
guess. Hence Anumana praman is misleading and cannot assure
perfect knowledge.
 Getting the Eyes to See God 31
Shabda Praman
The Vedas assert that objects beyond matter cannot be known
experimentally. These objects are therefore called Acintya. That
which is Acintya cannot be known by speculation or by
argument but only by Shabda, the process of hearing from
Vedic literature. This method is considered more reliable than
perception or inference because it conveys knowledge free of
all defects. The Vedic texts are called Apaurusheya, meaning,
‘of divine origin’. There is no possibility for defects and
therefore we are required to accept scripture in toto, as it is,
without interpretation and modification. It is only in this way
that the deepest truths will be revealed.
One should hear perfect knowledge from the all-perfect person
God Himself directly (as Arjuna did), or one should hear
perfect knowledge from an authority who is coming in an
unbroken chain of disciplic succession which originates from
God. Just as Electricity comes from electric post, in turn from
Electricity board, in turn from Power station, in turn operated
by a man who generates electricity and sends it. In the same
way the knowledge is given by God Himself to Brahma, to
Narada, to Vyasa and today the disciplic succession is
continuing and is available for any seeker of Truth about God.
Connect yourself to power supply and then you can have light.
Connect yourself to parampara – disciplic succession from God
and then you can have perfect knowledge. That is the secret of
attaining perfect knowledge.
Thus, the process of ‘Shabda’ or hearing from a bonafide
authority is the most reliable and definite way of obtaining
knowledge of the truth. If a child wants to know who his father
is, he should ask his mother. He may make a survey of the
32 Discover Your Self
male population, but much more simply, he can ask his mother,
the natural authority. In other words, if a person can accept
information given by an authority he does not have to take the
trouble to research independently. Thus acceptance of genuine
spiritual authority is the way to attain true knowledge and bliss.
See Through the Eyes of Scriptures
By hearing the spiritual sound vibration of the scriptures, one
learns to see things according to the direction given in the
scriptures, then one can see the things as they are. This is
called ‘Sastra Cakshu’.
For example, a beautiful woman may be perceived by a tiger as
his lunch box, by a child as a mother who cares and loves him,
by a young man as an object of enjoyment and by a self
realized sage as display of the illusory energy. But how should
we see things of this world? For knowing this, we require the
spectacles of wisdom; then we will learn how to see things,
what to accept, what to reject, what to do and what to not do.
For instance the scriptures state that one should see every
woman except one’s wife as one’s own mother and see other
people’s property as garbage. If one hears such scriptural
instructions and abides by them, one will gradually achieve
ultimate happiness in this world and in the next.
Only one who hears from authoritative sources can know the
science of God. When one knows the science of God, he can
understand: Who am I? Why am I born into this world? Who
is God? What is the purpose of life? Why am I suffering?
How can I get out of all suffering? How is the material world
moving? What is the relationship of God with all living
beings? etc.
 Getting the Eyes to See God 33

If one has been an automobile specialist for twenty years and

knows the science of automobiles he can judge the condition of
a vehicle as soon as he drives it even for a minute. But one
who does not know the science of automobiles cannot
understand anything about the condition of a vehicle. Similarly
one who knows the science of God can immediately see the
hand of God in every single aspect of the cosmos – from the
microscopic to the macroscopic. But one who has no
knowledge of the science of God cannot understand anything
about the working of the world.

That is why hearing the science of God from great saintly

persons is called as ‘darshan’. ‘Darshan’ means ‘sight’ as well
as ‘philosophical insight’ or ‘discourse’. Thus by hearing from
great saintly persons who are devotees of God, we can come to
see and realize the ultimate truth.

If Mr. Bill Gates is sitting in a group meeting with you, you

will not know his greatness, until you hear from someone who
he is. Similarly, God’s greatness has to be heard from His pure
unalloyed devotees, who are not only preaching about Him, but
practicing a life in accord with His divine instructions. By
hearing Vedic knowledge from such great souls, we can get the
eyes to see God.

* * * *
 36 Discover Your Self

Group work: Make a list of the different species that you

Chapter 3 know of, for their special abilities (e.g. eagle- eye sight).
Find out what is the speciality of human species.

Human Life vs. Animal Life

H ave you ever wondered how a human being is superior to

an animal? The activities of human beings and animals are
similar - eating, sleeping, producing children, defending
themselves etc. In what way are humans superior to animals?

Someone may reply ‘Reasoning Power’ or ‘Rational Thinking’.

But reasoning power is there even in lower animals like dogs

Vedic Wisdom: and cats. Suppose a dog comes up to you, and if you say,
“Hut!” he will understand that you don’t want him. So, he has
some reasoning power. Similarly if a cat wants to steal some
The Privilege of milk from your kitchen, she has very nice reasoning power; she
is always looking to see when the master is out, so that she can

Humanity
steal and drink the milk.

So the four propensities of animal life – eating, sleeping,

mating and defending – indicate that there is reasoning power
even in the beasts. Then what is the special prerogative of the
human being over animals? The special reasoning power that
the human being has is the ability to inquire, “Why am I
suffering?” The animals are suffering, but they do not know
how to remedy their suffering.

Generally, people are just like animals. They simply do not

know anything beyond the necessities of the body: how to eat,
how to sleep, how to mate and how to defend. An animal eats
filth and garbage in a street; we may eat in a five-star hotel. An
animal may sleep in a corner of a street; we may sleep on a
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 37 38 Discover Your Self

Dunlop pillow bed or on a water-bed. An animal may mate awarded in a human body? If we are proud of social
without shame in the middle of the street; we may have sex in a organization, even honey bees have a complex social set up
skyscraper building. An animal may defend with claws and where worker bees go for collecting honey (and they never go
teeth; we may defend with bombs, scuds and missiles. on strike like their human counterparts!) while the drones take
If human beings use scientific, philosophical, cultural and care of the queen who begets offspring.
religious advancement just to perform these four activities
better, then such a human civilization is in no way superior to The Special Prerogative of the Human Body
an animal civilization. The Mahabharata therefore says:
ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha,
samanyam etad pashubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho,
T he Bhagavad-gita says that, out of many thousands of
people, someone may develop this reasoning power: “Why
am I suffering?” We do not want to suffer, but suffering is
dharmena hina pashubhih samanah forced upon us. We do not want too much heat or cold, but too
much cold and too much heat are forced upon us. We do not
“The activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending are want thirst, hunger, old age, disease and death. The real
common in animals and human beings. The human beings are problems of life are birth, old age, disease and death. But
considered superior only when they inquire about the Absolute
nobody is free from all these sufferings in this world.
Truth, otherwise they are considered as good as animals.”
Everyone is full of anxiety despite increasing material
Majority of human beings are wasting their time in useless
comforts, economic development and scientific advancement.
activities imitating animals. People organize competitions to
The Western countries have reached the summit of material
award one who can eat maximum number of bananas or
civilization, but people are still dissatisfied. The government
gulabjamuns. But can we compete with an elephant in eating?
has difficulty controlling crime, drug addiction, adultery etc.
Can we compete with an eagle in seeing objects miles away?
When the civilization becomes godless and human beings are
Can we compete with a dog in smelling and detecting thieves?
geared towards a rat race for money and sex, life becomes
Can we imitate a pigeon who can have sex a dozen times in one
hellish.
hour? Can we compete with a kangaroo in high jump? Can we
compete with a horse in atheletics? If we are proud of
Only in human life are we endowed with the intelligence to
producing offspring, a dog can beget dozens of puppies and a
inquire, “What happens after death? What is the actual
mosquito can produce thousands of offspring.
destination of my life?” This is called ‘brahma jijnasa’,
enquiring about oneself and God. The first aphorism of the
Animals are better than humans in the aforementioned
Vedanta sutra says: athato brahma jijnasa “Now that you have
activities. In fact, these abilities are in-built in their system by
achieved a human body, you should inquire about the Absolute
the arrangement of God. If it is so, what is the special ability
Truth.”
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity
The human body is compared to a solid boat, which can help
one cross the ocean of the material world and take one to the
kingdom of God. The Vedic scriptures are compared to
favourable breezes. The spiritual master is compared to an
expert captain who can monitor the boat and take it to the
desired destination. A human being who does not take
advantage of this opportunity for achieving unending spiritual
bliss is cheating himself and is a killer of his own soul.
Thus the cause of suffering and the actual destination of life are
proper subjects of enquiry.
The actual Destination of Life
Drama: Ask a group of students to be prepared in advance to
put up a drama on the following story. After the drama, ask
students to speak out all the lessons they learnt from it.
Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy king. He had a big
kingdom, many queens, a lot of wealth and hundreds and thousands
of followers and soldiers. He was living a very happy life and he
became so attached to his property, position, prestige and status that
he completely forgot God, and his duty towards God.
One day a sadhu came to his court. Sadhus visit people to enlighten
them about God and the goal of life. The sadhu wanted to enlighten
the king, but the king was not at all interested. The sadhu
contemplated for a while and made a plan. He told the king, “My
dear king, you are so eager to wash my feet, and bow down to me,
and give me so much donation but you are not interested in hearing
about God. So, I have a request for you. If you fulfill that request,
then you will satisfy me.”
The king immediately agreed and asked, “What can I do for you,
39 40 Discover Your Self
Sir?” The sadhu told him, “My dear king, send out your men
throughout your country and find out the best among mad people
(murkha) in your country. Then call him over to your court, hand
over a stick to him and ask him to go around the city every single day
for the rest of his life. Pay him some salary every month for this
service.”
The king obeyed the sadhu’s order and got a ‘murkha’ to go around
the city carrying a stick in his hand. The ‘murkha’ continued his
service. Days, months and years passed by. The king spent all his
time in material enjoyment and gradually became old. In his old age,
he became afflicted by a fatal disease.
When the king was on his deathbed, he called all his relatives, friends
and near and dear ones. He met all of them one by one. All of them
were weeping as the king was very soon going to leave this world. In
this way while the king was meeting all his relatives one by one to
satisfy himself, in his mind, he had a feeling, “I have not met
somebody whom I know very well.” Then, the thought of the
‘murkha’ came to his mind and he called for the ‘murkha’.
When the ‘murkha’ came to see the king, the king told him, “My dear
fool, now I have to go to a very far off place. I am taking leave of
every one, so I thought I may call you and talk to you.” The ‘murkha’
immediately replied, “O king, you are going to a distant place. Please
why don’t you take me along with you?”
The king replied, “O fool, you cannot come with me. It is not
possible.”
The ‘murkha’ replied, “O, now I understand the secret. You want to
go with your queens. That is why you don’t want to take me with
you.”
The king said, ”O ‘murkha’, you are proving to be a fool. I cannot
take my queens with me, nor can I take my sons, nor any of my
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 41
relatives – it is not possible”. Then the ‘murkha’ said, “It is alright.
Whatever it is I will arrange for a strong horse and a chariot for you
so that you can go comfortably.” The king said, “O fool, I can’t take
a chariot and horses with me.”
Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, that means you will walk all the way?
Will your legs not pain? How long can you walk? My dear king, if it
is your desire to walk, at least carry some eatables and some money,
which you can use on the way. I will tell the minister to arrange for a
big amount of money from the treasury.” The king replied, “O fool,
you cannot understand. I cannot carry a single gold coin with me.
Although I have so much wealth amassed within my treasury, I can’t
carry anything with me. O fool, why don’t you understand?”
The ‘murkha’ asked, “My dear king, you can’t carry your
accumulated wealth, you can’t take your wives and your children
with you, nor can you take any property from your kingdom. It is a
great wonder for me.”
Then the king told the ‘murkha’, “Enough of all your talks. Now, I
will tell you something. You have done the service of being a fool,
going around the city for so many years, faithfully. So I would like
to reward you. You should now retire from your job. You will be
given pension and you need not work anymore. But before you
retire, find another fool just like yourself and hand over this stick to
him. Let him too go around the city and he will also be paid a salary
every month. Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, my dear king, do I have
to find a greater ‘murkha’ than me to hand over this stick?” The king
said, “Yes, that’s right.”
Immediately, the fool took the stick and handed it over to the king,
and said, “O ‘maha murkha’! Take this stick and keep it with you.”
The king was enraged. He shouted, “You fool, how dare you give
this stick to me. Do you mean I am a greater fool than you?”
The ‘murkha’ laughed and told the king, “Yes, My dear king, you are
42 Discover Your Self
right. You are certainly the ‘maha murkha’ in this world. Do you
know why? You just told me that throughout your life you amassed
so much of wealth in your treasury by conquering so many kings all
around the world, but you told me that you couldn’t carry a single
farthing with you.
You married so many beautiful queens and begot so many children
and you just now told me that you couldn’t take any of them with
you.
My dear king, you led such a lavish life full of luxuries and comfort.
Did you not know that death would come one day, and at the time of
death you would have to give up your wife, children, property and all
that you accumulated? And did you not know that even a useless
broken needle without a hole would not accompany you after death?
Did you not know these things when you were a king? You knew
them well; but you were such a big fool that you never inquired about
the goal of your life. You never inquired about where you would
have to go after death. You didn’t inquire: who is God? Why has He
put me in this world? What is my duty towards Him? You never
thought of these questions. You were completely infatuated in
enjoying all the material comforts and facilities of this world when
you were a king, and you were completely blind to the path of self-
realization. This was your greatest mistake and now, at the time of
death, you are lamenting and mourning that you have to leave
everything behind. So that is why you are considered the greatest
fool.”
When the king heard all this, he quickly realized that this fool was
not actually a fool; he was a great saintly person. The king
immediately fell at the feet of the so-called ‘murkha’, cried piteously
and begged him to reveal his identity. The king asked him, “My dear
great soul, please tell me who are you? How are you so
knowledgeable about all these things? We were considering you to be
a great fool. That was our foolishness. Please tell me how I can
become perfect at this last hour of my life.”
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 43 44 Discover Your Self

The ‘murkha’ told him, “Actually I am a disciple of that great sadhu time without giving even a moment for God, then we will also be
who had visited your court many years ago. At that time you didn’t considered like the foolish king, a ‘maha murkha’.
show any interest in spiritual life. So my guru asked me to play this
role so that I could deliver you at the right time. Hear attentively This is similar to the foolish lady who spent all her time polishing her
from me.” In this way the sadhu’s disciple started enlightening the golden cage, but neglected the bird within that was starving. Our
king about the knowledge of the soul and the relationship between body is like a cage and the soul within the body is like the bird in the
the soul and God. cage.
The body is compared to a shirt in Bhagavad-gita. We may wear one
The king understood how God loves every living being, and how the
shirt today and tomorrow-another one. Similarly the material body
ultimate goal of life is to purify one’s heart and achieve the kingdom
gradually grows from childhood to youth, to old age and perishes one
of God, and not just get entangled in worldly affairs. The king
day, while the eternal soul passes from one body to another. Foolish
became enlightened with this knowledge. He wholeheartedly
people pamper the material body ignoring the needs of the soul.
accepted the instructions of the sadhu’s disciple and started chanting
the Holy Names of God. In this way, by the association of the Surely a car needs petrol for functioning, but if one does not feed the
sadhu’s disciple he was able to perfect his life. driver of the car, then the driver cannot drive the car to the desired
destination. In the same way, we need to take care of the body, but
[T: Brainstorm] Q: So, what all lessons did we learn not indulge in such luxury that we forget the needs of the soul within
from this Drama (or Story)? the body. The soul or atma is the real driver of the body and the
body is like a vehicle for the soul. Everyone knows how to give food
Through the to the bodily vehicle, but one should know that studying Bhagavad-
story of the gita, applying the instructions of the Lord in our lives, and chanting
‘maha murkha’, the Lord’s holy names is the actual way of giving food to the soul.
we understand This can rekindle the dormant Krishna consciousness in our hearts,
that we all are which are now covered by impurities like lust, pride, anger etc.
living in this
world and all of Cause of Suffering
us are busy
performing
many activities
from morning to
A ll endeavours in the field of Science are to reduce the
miseries of man and to increase his comforts. A fan is used
to reduce the misery of sweating. A grinder is used to avoid the
night. We want
to do our misery of manual grinding. A motorcycle is used to avoid the
studies, we want misery of pedalling. These are simple examples. In a similar
to take up a way, all advances in Science, Technology and Medicine are
good job, we want to earn money, and we want to live a very happy aimed at reducing the miseries and, if possible, ending them
and luxurious life. But in this way, if we keep on spending all our altogether.
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 45
Threefold Miseries
Despite all this advancement, at every moment everyone is
suffering due to at least one of the following threefold miseries.
These are:
1) Miseries caused by one’s own mind and
body (adhyatmika klesha): The body and
the mind give rise to innumerable
problems. According to World Health
Organisation (WHO) statistics, in the year
2000, in America, 19 million youths were
suffering from mental related illness;
everyday 1200 youths were attempting to
commit suicide and one tenth of them were
successful. Thus sometimes people are driven to the point
of suicide due to mental frustration. In old age, the
deteriorating body gives varieties of problems. For
example, once a person grows beyond 80 years, generally
he can’t even sit or stand without back-pain.
2) Miseries caused by other
living entities (adhibhautika
klesha) : Even if you have a
healthy body and mind,
others will not let you live in
peace. Even if everything is
nicely arranged in your life,
some other living entity, such
as your enemy, boss,
colleague, relative, family member or friend, terrorists or, if
no one else, then a mosquito or a virus, is sure to make our
life miserable.
46 Discover Your Self
3) Miseries caused by nature
(adhidaivika klesha): Floods,
droughts, famines, earthquakes,
hurricanes etc are devastating
calamities imposed upon us
through the agency of nature. A
volcanic eruption at Pompeii
devoured 20,000 people under a
20 ft high lava layer. The recent tsunami tidal wave
disaster swallowed 3,80,000 lives in a few minutes. Even if
these come only occasionally, they wreak havoc whenever
they come. And moreover, we are being constantly
tormented by the changes in the weather such as scorching
heat, freezing cold and untimely rains.
Who can say that he is not being harassed constantly by one of
these problems? The very fact that more than a dozen
tranquilizers or painkillers are advertised on TV shows that
there must be some suffering. Each person spends every
moment preserving their life, belongings, kith and kin, job or
post, reputation etc. But the world we live in, takes all these
away eventually despite our efforts to hold on to them. Thus a
wise person should ponder, “Why should our lives be ridden
with the anxiety of facing and tackling one problem after
another? Is this all that life is meant for? Or is there a life of
eternal joy that is never inhibited by sufferings?”
Scientific advancement : ingenuous way of covering reality
Have we become successful in counteracting these sufferings or
real problems of life -- birth, old age, disease and death? We
have only become experts in covering up the reality. In fact,
‘advancement’ means ‘newer and more ingenuous ways of
covering up the reality’.
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity
Once a man became allured by the beauty of a girl; she was
tall, had long hair and wore a stylish cooling glass. He
followed her all the way to her house in order to get to know
more about her. When she entered her house, he peeped in
through the window. He found her removing her high heels
and her height reduced drastically. She removed her wig and
her bald head showed up. She removed her cooling glasses
and her sunken eyes within their sockets were exposed. She
removed her teeth set and her actual age stood exposed - not
16 but 60.
Similarly modern science has come up with many sophisticated
technological gadgets which give a superficial veneer of
comfort and advancement to life. But actually when one gets a
deeper vision, one understands that below this razzle-dazzle,
the problems of life still persist; we still have to suffer due to
old age, disease and death.
Shun the Sinful tendency and Surpass Suffering
All these technological advancements provide only some
temporary stop-gap solutions to man’s problems, but the
problems keep surfacing again and again in some other form.
Drama: Put up a drama on the following story. Cut a tomato
into half to use as boil on the body.
Once a man got a boil on his body. A doctor gave him an ointment to
apply on it. He applied it and got cured. He was happy. But after
some days, he got a similar boil in another part of his body. He again
went to the doctor. The doctor told him to keep applying the ointment
whenever the boil appeared. But the troubled man asked the doctor,
“That’s alright. But every time I get the boil, it lasts for a week and I
have to suffer enormous pain. Is there no way to put an end to this
problem altogether?” The doctor couldn’t give any permanent
solution.
47 48 Discover Your Self
The man went to another doctor, who could understand the root cause
of the problem to be the impurity in the blood. He treated the
patient’s blood and the patient was permanently cured. Now he
became happy and the boil never appered again.
What do we infer from this story? Originally we are all spirit
souls, obedient servants of God in the spiritual world. Now
having come to this material world, the soul is identifying with
the material body and polluted by enjoying mentality, thinks, “I
am Creator, I am enjoyer, I am Controller.” Just as the impure
blood caused the man repeated boils, the impure mentality of
the soul considering himself the master and enjoyer causes him
to take on millions of bodies one after another to fulfill his
impure desires. This leads him to suffering.
Science is offering some superficial temporary solutions. But
the problems keep repeating just as the patient kept getting
boils again and again due to impure blood. Unless the soul
gives up his impure desires that lead him to commit sin and
replaces them by pure spiritual desires that lead him to love of
God, he can not be happy. If an intelligent man can turn to the
Vedas they can teach him how to shun sin and surpass suffering
by realizing his loving relationship with God. Then by
performing activities in pure spiritual consciousness, he will
become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God, where there
is eternal life full of knowledge and bliss.
What is the Purpose of the Vedic Literature?
T he Vedas are compared to a desire tree because they
contain all things knowable by man. They deal with
mundane necessities as well as spiritual realization. The Vedas
contain regulated principles of knowledge covering social,
political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical,
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 49
physical, metaphysical subject matter and above all specific
directions for spiritual realization.
The real essence of Vedic literatures can be categorized into
three headings:
• Sambandha: Understanding the answers to the questions,
“Who am I? Who is God? What is my relation with God?”
• Abhideya: The process of reviving our relationship with
God
• Prayojana: The mature result: attainment of love of God.
Thus the three subject matters described in the Vedic literature
are: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the central point of
all relationships, acting in devotional service to Him is one’s
real occupation and attainment of love of God is the ultimate
goal of life.
Is Accepting the Vedas not Blind Faith?
S ometimes people argue, “Who knows whether what the
Vedas say is all true or not? Better to depend on Science.”
Those who are unaware of the limitations of the senses are
often proud of scientific advancement. Many examples show
how even in the field of Science many things, which have no
experimental proofs are accepted as axiomatic truths. Some of
them are:
• When an Astronomy book says, “This is the sun”, you
accept. When it talks of cosmic distances based on
calculations, you accept because it is ‘scientific’. When it
says there are 10 billion stars in the sky, you accept it,
although there is no foolproof method to verify it. You
agree blindly, because you’ve developed faith in what they
50 Discover Your Self
spoke previously. After sometime, whatever the Astronomy
book says you accept (even those things which cannot be
proved or perceived through senses). This is due to the
credibility of the book. Because the book has gained some
credibility in the eyes of the reader, the reader becomes
ready to believe everything that the book says even without
verifying it.
• Everyone in the scientific community knows that
mathematicians work with an imaginary number called ‘i’,
which is the square root of minus one. This number does
not figure among the natural numbers (1,2,3 etc.). However,
important branches of mathematics – for example, the
theory of analytical functions – are based on this imaginary
unit. Thus the existence of this number cannot be denied;
yet there is no experiment to prove it.
• Another scientific theory that is beyond the limit of
experimental science is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.
The statement of this principle is that it is impossible to
simultaneously determine the position and momentum of
any object. No experimental technique can prove this
principle. However, scientists all over the world accept this
statement as a fact, knowing that the experimental proof is
beyond their ability.
• There is no scientific experiment to prove the Third Law of
Thermodynamics. This law, as formulated by Plank, states
that the entropy of a perfect crystal at absolute zero degree
is equal to zero. Factually, there is no means available for
measuring degree Kelvin or for measuring directly the
absolute entropies. Therefore the proof of this law is
beyond the realm of experimental science.
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 51
All these examples show that, in every field of material science
– be it Mathematics or Physics, there are axioms, which are
impossible to verify experimentally, yet which must be
accepted to progress in studying that field.
If this is the case with Material Science, what then to speak of
Spiritual Science, which deals with subjects entirely beyond
sense perception?
The Vedas also present the truth as Axiomatic Truth, which if
accepted and practised, can gradually bring a faithful
practitioner to the platform of realization.
So the acceptance of Vedas is not blind faith. In fact, it is the
safest method of knowing the truth because the Vedas present
the Absolute Truth, which never changes. Accepting the so-
called truth based on scientific discovery is risky, because the
scientific truths are standing on a tottering platform; they are
seen to be revised, updated, and modified moment after
moment, day after day and year after year.
Why are Vedas Considered the Word of God ?
W hy should we accept the Shabda Praman (Vedas) to be
true? The Vedas are directly the word of God revealed at
the time of Creation. When you buy a motorcycle, you get an
instruction manual explaining how to use it.
52 Discover Your Self
Similarly, at the time of Creation, God gives us the Vedic
scriptures for direction on how to behave in this world, which is
like a complex machine.
There are many facts which were stated in the Vedas since time
immemorial, but which modern science has started discovering
only recently. Some of them are:
• Using a variety of complicated instruments, gynecologists
have gradually come to know how the embryo grows during
the period of pregnancy. But the Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3rd
Canto, 31st Chapter, gives a vivid description of the growth
of the embryo in the mother’s womb. If we compare the
information given therein with the information given in a
standard textbook such as the embryology section of Gray’s
Anatomy, there are striking similarities in the information
obtained from the two sources.
• The Vedas claim that there are living entities everywhere -
even in fire. Modern science, however, presumed that no life
could exist in fire. This presumption is, in fact, the basis for
the process of sterilization. But recent advancements in the
field of medicine have shown that microbes called ‘fire
bacteria’ survive even in fire.
• The Vedas state that cow dung, in spite of being the stool of
an animal, is pure. It was only in 1940 that the antiseptic
qualities of cow dung were discovered.
• The Vedas state that plants have life. But till Jagadish
Chandra Bose proved that plants have feelings, scientists
believed that they were inanimate.
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 53
The Vedas also make accurate predictions of incarnations or
great personalities who will appear in the future. Some of the
personalities predicted along with the text in which they are
predicted are given below:
• Buddha (Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24),
• Chanakya (Shrimad Bhagavatam 12.1.11),
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Mahabharata 127.92.75, Shrimad
Bhagavatam 11.5.32)
• Chandragupta and Emperor Ashoka (Shrimad Bhagavatam
12.1.12)
• Jesus & Mohammed (Bhavishya Purana, Atharva Veda,
Kanda 20, Shukta 127, 1-3)
If the Vedas are of mundane origin, how can they contain
advanced scientific knowledge? How can they predict
appearance of future personalities? Thus it can be understood
that the Vedas are the word of God. They carry Absolute
Knowledge. They are a very ancient body of knowledge
coming down the ages from the dawn of creation. Unlike
modern science, they never change with time.
Two Systems of Knowledge
B ecause Vedic knowledge is pure and authoritative, we
accept it. That saves much time. If we accept the right
authority or the right source of knowledge, then we save much
time. There are two systems of knowledge in the material world
- Inductive and Deductive.
The Inductive / Ascending method means not accepting any
authority and trying to find out truth by one’s own endeavour
or speculation. For example:
54 Discover Your Self
How do we know who our father is? By imagination or mental
speculation nobody can arrive at an answer. Someone may
suggest doing genetic finger printing. But just imagine the
sheer effort required. Assuming that only ten percent of the
world’s males would be capable of having fathered us, still we
have to do massive amount of testing of around 250 million
adults. Assuming a ridiculously low average test time of 100
seconds per individual, it would still take us a minimum of 800
years of non-stop testing. Just imagine the enormous expense
and the mind-boggling record keeping involved! Even if we
somehow managed to do it and assuming that we somehow
remained alive, still the people who might have fathered us
would be long dead by that time. The actual solution is simple:
just ask the mother; she will tell us. Even if 10,000,000 other
people were to contradict the words of our mother, still her
words have more weight for us than the words of all the others
put together. That is the power of proper authority
The Deductive / Descending method means to accept an
authority and to learn the truth by inquiring from him. For
example,
If we want to know who our father is, we have to accept our
mother’s authority. Similarly, if we want to know something
beyond our experience, beyond our experimental knowledge,
beyond the activities of our senses, then we have to accept the
Vedas.
One should intelligently choose to accept Vedic knowledge by
Deductive / Descending method. If we want to attain
knowledge by any personal endeavour, by exercising our
imperfect senses, we will never come to the right conclusions.
 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity 55 56 Discover Your Self

The Vedic Process of Learning things within the material universe, transcendental knowledge
pertains to things beyond this universe. The Vedas point to a
supreme original truth unknowable either by direct perception

E very field of science has got authoritative books that have

earned the credibility of the readers. For example, if two
students of Electrical Engineering have a difference of opinion
(Pratyaksha) or by inductive method (Anumana). The Vedic
philosophers proclaim that Shabda (hearing from an authority)
opens up a realm of knowledge beyond scientific methodology.
about solving an electrical They hold Shabda to be the only process by which we can
engineering problem, they know what is unknowable in our present conditioned state.
can come to a conclusion
by quoting or citing from If a person can learn from someone who has received perfect
B. L. Theraja’s electrical knowledge, he can become free from all misery. “Just try to
engineering book. learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master…” the
Similarly spiritual science Bhagavad-gita (4.34) enjoins, “Inquire from him submissively
has got authoritative and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart
Vedic texts like Bhagavad knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” In addition,
gita or Srimad Bhagavatam, which have been understood, the Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) enjoins that a sincere student
practiced and proven since time immemorial. has to approach the ideal guru to receive transcendental
knowledge and enlightenment.
In material science, we have professors to teach the subject and
these professors have learnt the subject from their teachers. * * * *
Similarly the knowledge of spiritual science has been coming
down in disciplic succession and all the Vedic professors or
acharyas have learnt the knowledge from their gurus.

In material science, we seek admission in an authorized reputed

college where we can be confident of gaining knowledge in the
subject. The same holds true for the Vedas.
So, if anybody genuinely wants to understand God and practice
religion, he should first know that there are Vedic textbooks,
teachers to teach these books and authorised schools called as
‘Sampradaya’ or ‘Parampara’ available.
Aural reception of transcendental knowledge from authority is
the Vedic standard. Whereas material knowledge pertains to
 58 Discover Your Self

The ABC of Bhagavad-gita

Chapter 4 The first and most fundamental knowledge that a disciple learns
from a guru is, “You are not the body; you are a spirit soul.”
This knowledge is the ABC of Bhagavad-gita and one of the
first instructions that Lord Krishna gave Arjuna, when Arjuna
surrendered to Him [BG 2.13]. Let us understand this
fundamental knowledge of the scriptures in this lesson.

Doctors dissect and study a dead body. What makes a living

body possess emotions and feelings like pain, pleasure,
happiness, distress, etc?
The soul is the spark of

Science of the soul life that makes the body

appear alive and when
the soul leaves the
body, we say the person
is dead.

According to the Vedic

knowledge, the body is
always dead. For
example, a microphone
is made of metal. When
electric energy passes
through the
microphone, the sound
is broadcast over
loudspeakers. But when
there is no electricity in
the system, nothing
happens. Whether the
microphone is working
 Science of the Soul 59
or not, it remains nothing more than an assembly of metal,
plastic, etc. Similarly, the human body works because of the
living force within. When this living force leaves the body, it is
said that the body is dead. But actually it is always dead. The
living force is the important element; its presence alone makes
the body appear to be alive. But “alive” or “dead,” the physical
body is nothing more than a collection of dead matter.
Direct experience, inference, logic, empiric observation and
religious faith all concur: some sort of conscious self-energy
exists within the body. The body is an instrument; the
conscious energy, soul is the user of that instrument. Say, I use
a bicycle to travel from one place to another. If my cycle is
destroyed, I will have to get another one to ride – or I will have
to stop using a bicycle altogether. But I exist apart from the
bicycle. Analogically, if my body is destroyed, I, the soul, am
not destroyed with it. I continue to exist as much as the bicycle
driver continues to exist after the destruction of the bicycle.
One bicycle may breakdown, but I can get a new one. One
body may grow from childhood to youth to old age and die one
day; but I can get another body. If one has a desire to drive a
scooter, then one might change from a bicycle to a scooter. If
one can pay a higher price and wants to drive a car to save
himself from the chasing dogs, then one may give up a scooter
and buy a car, etc. The vehicles may change, but the driver is
the same. Similarly, the soul, in order to satisfy his unfulfilled
desires, leaves the material body at death and acquires a new
material body – be it human or animal or demigod/devata –
depending on his karma and desires.
60 Discover Your Self
Scientific Proof of the Soul’s Existence
When people hear about the soul, the first thing they ask is,
“Can you show me the soul?” or “What is the proof of the
soul’s existence?” For gaining awareness of any knowledge
we need an appropriate instrument. For example, the ears
cannot see a picture, nor can the eyes hear the sound of music.
The soul is not made up of matter. It is beyond matter. Is it
possible to perceive the soul? A Physicist, or an Electronics
Engineer, cannot capture an electron with his fingers or hands,
nor can he see it with his eyes; but he can see the light
reflection coming from an electron on the CRT screen. This is
the proof of existence of the electron. You cannot see X-rays
with your eyes, but you can understand the presence of X-rays
by seeing the effect it produces on a X-ray photograph sheet,
when the X-rays are passed through a body. This is called
‘inferential logic’. Using the same logic the presence of the
soul in a living body can be easily proved. The following
points may help us better understand the presence of the soul
empirically.
Common Sense
Prof. Durckheim: Why does it appear to be so difficult to understand that
one is different from the body?
Srila Prabhupada: It is not difficult. You can experience it. It is only
because of foolishness that people think differently; but everyone really
knows, “I am not this body.” This is very easy to experience. I am existing. I
understand that I have existed in a baby’s body, I have existed in a child’s
body, and also in a boy’s body. I have existed in so many bodies, and now I
am in an old man’s body. Or, for example, say you have now put on a black
coat. The next moment you may put on a white coat. But you are not that
black or white coat; you have simply changed coats. If I call you “Mr. Black
Coat,” that is my foolishness. Similarly, in my lifetime I have changed bodies
many times, but I am not any of these bodies. This is real knowledge.
 Science of the Soul 61
When a person dies we say, “He has passed away.” Now who
has passed away? The body of the person still lies there. The
fact is that the source of life, the soul, has passed away from the
body and therefore the person is now called dead.
Intuitive Understanding
Prof. Durckheim: Consider this. One of your students might say, “I am
spirit,” but he might not be able to experience it.
Srila Prabhupada: How can he not experience it? He knows that he is the
active principle. Everyone ultimately knows that they are not the body. Even
a child knows it. We can observe this by examining the way we speak. We
say, “This is my finger.” We never say, “I finger.” So what is that “I”? This
is self-realization—“I am not this body.”
We have an intuitive understanding that the real self, the ‘I’, is
distinct from the body, mind and intelligence. We speak in
terms of ‘my hand’, ‘my head’, ‘my suitcase’, etc. This
indicates that these things – hand, head, suitcase – belong to
somebody, an owner. The eyes, ears and brain are merely
organs, through which we see, hear or think. These organs in
themselves cannot do any activity. There are eyes, ears and
brain even in a dead body. The activities have stopped because
the driver, the soul, has left the body.
Awareness, Thinking, Feeling and Willing
Someone may argue, “But the soul can’t be perceived in any
way or measured with any instrument. Why should we believe
in a hypothetical entity for which there is no evidence?”
Actually, you can see the soul; it is just a matter of training, just
as you must study in the university for many years to see how
an atom exists. The soul is like a spiritual atom. The symptom
of its presence is consciousness.
62 Discover Your Self
There is consciousness in a living body. Just like the sun
spreads heat and light all around, the soul spreads
consciousness all around the body, from the tip of the toes and
fingers to the top of the head. It is this consciousness that
enables us to think, feel, move and so on. Thus, consciousness
is the symptom of the soul. Consciousness is what distinguishes
a dead body from a living one.
By a combination of servomotors and microprocessor, you can
easily make a robotic machine perform aratik ceremony for
Lord Vishnu using incense sticks and a ghee lamp. You also
perform aratik for the Lord everyday. What is the difference?
You have loving feelings for the Lord in the heart, while a
robot has no consciousness or awareness of itself or the Lord.
When you appreciate a tape recorder for broadcasting a sweet
music, it feels no emotions; but when you appreciate your
friend who sings sweetly, you will find a smile on his/her face.
This is consciousness – the ability to be aware of one’s
existence, to think, to feel and to will. As Thomas Huxley
rightly said, “There is a third thing in the universe, to wit,
consciousness, which I cannot see to be matter or force.”
Consciousness gives the proof of the soul.
Near Death Experience (NDE)
NDEs, as the name suggests, involve
people who have a close call with
death. Many people having NDEs also
have Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs)
in which they report observing their
physical body and events relating to it
from a perspective outside the body
during severe illness or physical trauma
 Science of the Soul 63
resulting in unconsciousness. A typical case might involve a
person who is resuscitated from a heart attack and reports that
he observed, from a point outside his body, the medical
personnel endeavoring to revive him. At such times, according
to standard medical opinion, the normal functioning of the
brain, as indicated by certain brain waves, is impaired, and the
patient should be unconscious, if indeed consciousness is a
manifestation of the brain.
A real life NDE of a boy who had a brush with death can be presented as
an example. Once a boy sitting in a rickshaw was relaxing carefree
while a bullock cart carrying reinforced steel bars was ahead of the
rickshaw. Owing to the dark night, the rickshaw driver did not notice
one of the bars that was protruding. As he drove ahead, the rod entered
right into the abdomen of the boy in the rickshaw who screamed and
gasped for life as the rod pierced his stomach and came out from his
back. He was rushed to the emergency ward and to the operation
theatre. He was almost dead, while the nurses operated on his
abdomen. When he recovered, he could recollect each and every
instrument used by the nurses for operating on him, as well as the talks
that went on between the doctor and the nurses. The greatly surprised
hospital officials inquired from him as to how an unconscious person,
whose brain waves were flat, could remember everything that had
happened during the operation. In response the boy
said that he was out of his body, at a point four feet
above the body observing everything happening to
his own material body. This is a classical example of
an NDE case.
The book ‘Into the Unknown’ published by
‘The Readers Digest’ even gives evidences of
people who had OBEs or Out-of-Body
Experiences. Such people who could
perform OBE, were made to lie on a bed
closing their eyes, go out of the body,
64 Discover Your Self
observe the different types of objects like triangular prism,
rectangular, circular plates, etc., kept on a loft, again return into
the body and draw the objects that they saw on the loft on a
sheet of paper. Such drawings perfectly matched with the
objects kept high up on the loft that no one could observe from
the ground level. This is called OBE or Out-of-Body
Experience.
There is enough research work in NDE and OBE presented by
individuals with impeccable scientific credentials. For example,
Dr. Michael B.Sabom, a cardiologist and professor at the
Emory University Medical School, was openly skeptical of
NDEs but changed his mind after investigating them.
Past Life Memories
Rigorous, unbiased studies have been
carried out by serious researchers on past-
life memories. Ian Stevenson, Carlson
Professor of Psychiatry at the University of
Virginia, has extensively investigated
spontaneous reincarnation memories
recounted by children. In such cases he has
been able to positively corroborate what
the child has claimed by thoroughly
investigating details of the place and
people they describe, including the dead person they claim to
have been. Stevenson has assembled numerous accounts of
over 3000 cases of reincarnation and verified them, always
taking great care to screen out fabrications. His studies give
convincing evidence that the conscious self can travel from one
physical body to the next.
 Science of the Soul 65
Clearly, when one body dies, the contents of its brain are
destroyed, and there is no physical process by which they can
influence the contents of another brain. The logical
interpretation is that the conscious self must be an entity
distinct from the brain.
Practical Benefits of the knowledge about the soul
The knowledge and realization of the soul, as explained in
Bhagavad-gita by Lord Shri Krishna to Arjuna has several
practical benefits for one even in the modern age as outlined
below:
Acquiring Divine Assets and Freedom from Demoniac
nature: To live a life with the consciousness, ‘I am not this
material body; I am pure spirit soul’ directs one to cultivate
divine qualities as humility, contentment, tolerance, patience,
sweetness, equipoise, universal love, honesty, sincerity, etc.
Cultivation of such qualities brings peace and happiness now,
and at the same time leads one to the world of eternal joy. On
the other hand the qualities normally found in those leading a
life of bodily consciousness are selfishness, intolerance, craving
for flickering pleasures, arrogance, false pride, anger, etc.,
which take one away from harmony with nature and God.
People who think that everything is finished at death try to
selfishly accumulate as much as they can without caring for
others, like Duryodhana. Ignoring God, considering
themselves to be the ultimate controller and center of
everything, they consider everything as objects of their
enjoyment. If you draw millions of circles with a common
center, there will be no clash; similarly when one understands
God to be the center of the universe, then all living beings can
live without quarrel. When everyone considers, ‘I am the
66 Discover Your Self
center’ then it is like drawing multiple circles with different
centers all clashing with one another.
Freedom from Lamentation, Fear and Illusion: Everyone in
this world laments when some near and dear ones pass away.
We have seen once when the wife of a big government officer
died, he lamented like a child flapping his hands and legs on the
ground. When one knows the knowledge of the soul, one can
understand that the soul has passed away to the next body, and
that death is nothing but the transfer of the soul from one body
to another. When old age sets in, people fear that death may
come at anytime. But one who knows that he is different from
the body, does not fear death, rather prepares his consciousness
to achieve the blessings of God’s remembrance at the time of
leaving the body. When bombs were being dropped during the
second world war, Srila Prabhupada was making kachoris
singing Hare Krishna happily. A devotee has no fear, because
he chants God’s names when he is alive and returns with his
spiritual body to God’s kingdom when he dies.
One who thinks, ‘I am the body’ spends all the time in illusory
enjoyment like smoking, drinking and activities that degrade
the body, mind and soul. In modern times there are hundreds
of varieties of shoes, coats, suits, hairstyles, cosmetics, soaps,
hair oils, etc. – all meant for pampering the dying material
body. Such an attempt is compared to the efforts of the lady
who polished the cage, but forgot to feed the parrot within the
cage. Modern man is pampering the material body due to
illusion, forgetting the soul within. But one who knows that the
actual self is the soul, and that the body is like a mere dress,
acts on the spiritual platform according to the good instructions
of the scriptures. This leads to the benefit of body, mind and
soul.
 Science of the Soul
Universal Brotherhood: The above qualities bring about
universal brotherhood under the Fatherhood of one Supreme
God. A spiritualist endeavors to stabilize his awareness of the
soul and strengthen his loving relationship with God and all
other living beings. This leads to peace, happiness, purity,
knowledge for the welfare of everyone. In other words the
‘Vaikuntha’ (place of no anxiety) atmosphere can be created
even in this world when God is kept in the center of everyone’s
life, and the knowledge of the soul in relation to God is
understood and practiced by all.
Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in gas chambers,
considering them his enemy. The quarrel between whites and
blacks is simply based on superficial skin identity. All these
quarrels can be stopped at once as soon as one understands the
soul. Man against man, family against family, country against
country have quarrels simply on the basis of self-imposed,
demarcated, false superficial identities. When one understands
the real identity as the soul, then not only other humans, but
even animals, birds, trees all become our brothers under the
protective shelter of God. This can put an end to mass scale
slaughter of innocent cows and abortion of millions of children
in the womb.
Positive Outlook and Attitude to life: Understanding the
knowledge of the soul changes man’s outlook and attitudes, and
helps one act correctly while facing different situations in life.
The attitude transformation and spiritual upliftment that one
gains by the knowledge of the soul proves that there is
potentiality of goodness in man, and it can be awakened by
loving service to God and by removing the negativity of the
enjoying mentality. The transformation of heart leads to the
attitudes of goodwill, co-operation, sympathy, love and serving
others with humility.
67 68 Discover Your Self
When one understands the knowledge of the self, then one
gains self-awareness that can lead to self-management. We can
observe ourselves, our chemistry or nature, our right and wrong
behavior, our strengths and weaknesses and where we need to
improve. Just as we have the courage to direct others as to
what they should be doing, why they should be doing it and
how they should be doing it, similarly, we are able to direct our
sense organs with proper understanding of these aspects. For
example, the tongue has no bones, but it can break bones if not
managed properly. On most occasions, the information slips
through the tongue in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in
front of the wrong person, and one cannot avoid the
consequences that arise. This is the difficulty in managing
oneself. If I am not able to take the responsibility of managing
my own sense organs, how can I take up the responsibility of
managing my life, my family or my workplace, and maintain a
balance in all the different areas of my life ? In short, therefore,
we need the courage to manage our own selves. This is so
helpful in our practical life situations – both in the family and
in the office.
If I really want to improve my situation or relationship with a
partner, I can work on the one thing over which I have control –
myself. I can stop trying to shape up my
wife/subordinate/friend and work on my own weaknesses. I
can focus on being a great partner, and a source of
unconditional love and support. Hopefully, that person will
feel the power of my example and respond in kind. But
whether that person does or doesn’t, the most positive way I
can influence my situation is to work on myself, on my
BEING. There are so may ways to improve our life – to BE a
better listener, to BE a more loving marriage partner, to BE a
better student, to BE a more co-operative employee.
 Science of the Soul 69
Such a positive attitude is possible only with one who has a
high Spiritual Quotient (SQ). The knowledge of the soul can
help one conquer the problems of negative thinking that arise
from previous experiences stored in the mind, and help one live
a life happily as a detached witness or observer. This is a very
essential quality for the common people as well as for those in
high responsible positions. A lack of this attitude can lead to
stress, depression, revenge, grudge, boredom, defensiveness,
etc.
Art and Science of Mantra Meditation: One who studies the
soul also studies about the mind. The mind is a storehouse of
varieties of plans and desires for enjoyment. The mind
constantly keeps accepting and rejecting various desires and
this causes the individual to suffer from stress, tension,
depression, inferiority complex, etc. But the knowledge of the
soul as a non-material spiritual being combined with Mantra
Meditation, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare
Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare'’(see
Appendix for more information), can offer one freedom from
all mental problems to begin with and eventually pure love of
God.
Mantra Meditation is done with the understanding that as tiny
souls we are helpless; God being the Supreme father of the
living being is eager to help us. Chanting is a loud call from
the core of the heart to the Supreme Lord to kindly elevate us
from this suffering situation and to be placed in His loving
company. Thus the understanding of the soul offers one
complete protection from all dangers and worries of this world.
One can simply hand over the charge of one’s life to God by
such focused meditation on the Holy names of God. On the
other hand, there are those who consider themselves to be their
own body and avoid meditation, thinking of it as a waste of
70 Discover Your Self
time. They are made to run from pillar to post by their minds
that hanker for practically everything in the world from a
hamburger to the most costly independent bungalow.
Furthermore, they suffer from loneliness and boredom, with no
knowledge of the soul and its loving relationship with God.
Right use of resources: When people are conscious of the
soul, they are aware that the material body is temporary, and
that the material world is a temporary place of suffering
designed by God to reform and purify us and prepare us to
return to the eternal Kingdom of God. Thus they live a life
socially, politically, culturally and economically centered
around God. This brings purity, peace, and prosperity, health,
wealth and happiness, all aimed at pleasing the Supreme Lord.
Modern man absorbed in bodily consciousness believes in
‘survival of the fittest’, and thus does not worry how he harms
others in his rat race to ‘eat, drink and be merry’. Claiming his
forefathers to be apes, the origin of the universe to be a big
bang, modern man imagines himself to be no more than a
bunch of chemicals or atoms colliding with one another. Such
a blunt, blind, superficial material outlook to life renders life
meaningless, making the world purposeless, and is neither
useful to the individual nor beneficial to others in the world.
The Vedic life that centers around the awareness of the soul and
its loving relation with God and all fellow beings, teaches one
to consider another man’s wife as a mother, other people’s
wealth as garbage, and to warmly treat others in the same way
as one would want to be treated by others. Thus spiritual life is
based on the firm foundation of co-operation of all, welfare for
all, proper utilization of God-given resources, and freedom
from greed and selfishness.
 Science of the Soul 71
A Clear Understanding of Life and Death
The empirical evidences confirm that a conscious self is present
in the material body. But if one has to wait for science to
provide complete understanding of the nature of the soul, and
its qualities, one may probably have to wait a million years.
The attempt to understand reality by science, with its inherent
limitations, is like a child’s exploration of the vast expansive
universe around him. Vedic knowledge on the other hand is the
timeless mature voice of the Supreme Father, God, coming
since time immemorial. We can get clear information about
what is life and what is death from the scriptures directly
without any mental speculation.
The Gross Body and the Subtle Body
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (2.17):
avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam
vinasam avyayasyasya na kascit kartum arhati
“That which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one can
destroy the imperishable soul.”
The Lord also says in the Bhagavad-gita (7.4) :
bhumir apo nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir ashtadha
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego
are My eight separated inferior energies”.
These eight energies are always subject to change.
The gross body, also known as the ‘sthula sharira’ is made up
of five elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether – often known
as ‘pancha maha bhuta’. Earth represents all solids, water
72 Discover Your Self
represents all liquids, fire represents heat, air represents all
gases and ether represents space and sound in our body.
The Mind, Intelligence and False Ego constitute the subtle
body. The subtle body is also called as the ‘sukshma sharira’.
‘True Ego’ is to understand that ‘I am spirit soul, eternal
servant of God’. ‘False Ego’ is to think in illusion that, ‘I am
this body’. The subtle body and the gross body are coverings
upon the soul. Such a soul entrapped in these subtle and gross
bodies is called a ‘Conditioned Soul’. One who becomes free
from these coverings and attains spiritual consciousness is
called a ‘Liberated Soul’.
In the next verse, the Lord says:
apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param
jiva bhutam maha baho yayedam dharyate jagat
“Besides this inferior nature, there is a superior energy of Mine,
that are all living entities who are struggling with material
nature and are sustaining the universe” (Bhagavad-gita 7.5).
Both inferior energy (matter: gross and subtle) and superior
energy (spirit soul: sat-cit-ananda) are subordinate to the
Supreme Lord. The soul is life and the body is always dead.
Just as when you wear gloves on the hand and move the
fingers, the gloves may appear to have life, similarly the soul
moves the body. The body is always dead even when the spirit
soul is present in it, because the body is after all made up of
dead matter – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence
and false ego; which have no life in themselves.
 Science of the Soul 73 74 Discover Your Self

The Nature of the Soul Matter is formless – Spirit soul gives form to Matter

Matter in itself has no form. Matter acquires a form only when

The Soul is Indestructible
a spirit soul
As soon as scientists come to know of any substance they enters it. For
want to study its physical and chemical properties. Thus example, if
Lord Shri Krishna explains to Arjuna that the soul is not you take a
plain cloth it
made up of matter like solids, liquids, or gases.
may be
formless, but
“The soul cannot be cut to pieces by any weapons; it cannot be
if you put
burned by fire; it cannot be dried by wind; nor can it be
your finger
moistened by water.” [BG 2.23]
inside then it
assumes a
The Soul is an Individual
form. When
Each soul is a separate individual with separate consciousness. you remove
You are aware of your body, mind, intelligence and false ego. I your finger then it loses its form. Similarly, matter (the eight
cannot perceive your headache and you cannot know what I am elements that constitute the body) assumes a form when the
thinking. But God is aware of every particle of this creation. soul enters it. At death, when the soul leaves the body, the body
[Read purport to BG2.12, BG15.7] decomposes, disintegrates and loses its form. So matter is
formless, only the spirit gives form to matter. A table or chair
The Soul has form may have a form, although it is dead matter. Matter can assume
form only when a soul manipulates it. For example, a table has
The spirit soul is not some ‘impersonal light’ or ‘void’ as some been given a form by a soul (carpenter).
people wrongly think. The soul is a beautiful personality whose
body is made up of sat-cit-ananda (eternity-bliss-knowledge). The Soul Is Eternal

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor having once
been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-
existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body
is slain.” [BG 2.20]
 Science of the Soul 75 76 Discover Your Self

The Soul has a form of Eternity (sat)- Knowledge (cit)- Thus the soul, the owner of the body does not change when any
Bliss (ananda) transplant is done.

The soul comes from the Kingdom of God and he has a The Size of the Soul
spiritual body of eternity, knowledge and bliss to relate with the
Lord. But when the soul desires to become an independent The Upanishads and the Shrimad Bhagavatam describe the size
enjoyer, he is dispatched to the material world, where he is of the soul (seed form): “If you divide the tip of the hair into
entrapped in a material body. Why do we suffer? Because the 100 parts, and if you further divide one of those parts into 100
‘sat-cit-ananda’ soul is entrapped in an ‘asat-acit-nirananda’ parts - that 1/10,000 part of the tip of the hair is the size of the
(temporary-ignorant-miserable) body, there is a great amount of soul.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 5.9)
incompatibility that causes suffering. We all can easily see that This is the size of the soul in the seed form, in which he
we are seeking knowledge by going to schools and colleges. wanders in the material universe. But the soul has an original,
We want to live forever, and in order to do that we go to a beautiful, spiritual sat-cit-ananda form in the spiritual world,
doctor to set right the bodily problems, and also we always try which is known as svarupa (spiritual constitutional position).
to protect the body from all possible dangers. We want to The soul has an eternal sweet relationship with God in this
increase happiness unlimitedly and put a full stop to all pains. svarupa.
Our advancement in the use of modern comforts shows that we
want to make life always enjoyable and without any sufferings
or worries. These three aspirations can be fulfilled when one
Are we Gods or God’s?
realizes, “I am not the body, I am the soul.”
God, by definition, is supremely
The Soul is situated in the region of the Heart independent and is never
controlled; He is the supreme
The soul pervades the body with consciousness as a lamp fills a controller. In the Isopanisad, the
room with light. The lamp that gives light to the entire room word ‘isha’ is used to describe the
may be in one corner of the room. Similarly the soul is situated Supreme Personality of Godhead.
in the region of our heart. The soul is not removed during heart ‘isha’ means ‘controller’. Is there
transplantation, as he is spiritual. For example, when the any person anywhere within this
stepney / radiator of a car is changed, nothing happens to the universe who is not controlled?
driver. Can anyone say, “I am not
Similarly one heart (which is just like a radiator pumping controlled”? Nobody can say that.
blood) may be replaced by another, but that does not affect the None of us wants to grow old, get
soul. If somebody undergoes a heart transplant, do you see his diseased and die; yet it is
intrinsic behavior or nature change after the operation? No. happening to us all the time and we
 Science of the Soul 77 78 Discover Your Self

have no control over it whatsoever. No one wants to suffer, but

sufferings are constantly coming in our lives and we have no
control to stop them. Thus we are thoroughly controlled by the
stringent laws of nature. Mayavadi impersonalists claim, “I am
God, you are God, everyone is God.” But when they get a
toothache it controls them so much that they can do nothing about
it except moan in pain. So if they are controlled, how can they be
God? Does this make any sense? God is never controlled; He is
the supreme controller. So if somebody is controlled,
immediately we should know that he is not God.
Now, this is not to say that the living entities are not controllers
to some extent. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that the
living entities are His superior energy. The living entities are
superior because they are conscious, whereas material energy is
not conscious. Therefore the living entities can control the
material energy to some extent. For example, a scientist may
produce and pilot a plane to fly great heights, but when the fuel
is finished the aeroplane must come down. Thus living entities
have limited freedom to manipulate matter. But when they
manipulate matter for their own selfish enjoyment, then the
material energy dominates them and makes them suffer.
• A scientist, a tiny living entity, can put a satellite in orbit after
years of research; but God can float millions of huge planets in
orbit effortlessly.
• A human being, a tiny living entity, can create at best a 200
storied skyscraper building, but God can create millions of
universes (ananta koti brahmanda nayak).
• A human being can make a small swimming pool, but God
can make gigantic swimming pools, the vast oceans.
Thus the superior spiritual energy can have some control over the
inferior material energy. But we have forgotten that, although we
are superior to matter, we are still subordinate to God. And so
that superiority is being misused to exploit matter for sense
gratification. This is the cause of our suffering.
* * * * *

The following examples illustrate the relationship between matter

and spirit and the difference between the infinitesimal living
entity and the infinite Supersoul:
• A big airplane can fly nicely in the sky, but if the spiritual
energy – the pilot – is not there, it is useless. The jet plane may
be in the airport for thousands of years; it cannot budge an
inch, unless the small particle of spiritual energy, the pilot,
comes and operates it. Thus an ordinary living entity can
control an airplane, but God being the supreme controller can
control this gigantic manifestation of material energy, the
entire cosmic manifestation.
 80 Discover Your Self

T he Absolute Truth or God is so beautiful that many sages,

Chapter 5 saints and devotees have left everything for the sake of
attaining that Truth. Every one of us in this world is attracted
to someone very beautiful, e.g a cinema actor; or we are
attracted to someone who is very strong, e.g boxer Mike Tyson;
or someone who is very wealthy, e.g Bill Gates. Why are we
attracted? We are attracted because originally these opulences
are present in God, who is supremely attractive.

The great sage Parasara defines ‘Bhagavan’ as one who is full

in six opulences – Beauty, Wealth, Knowledge, Fame, Strength
and Renunciation. This makes God all attractive to everyone.
The word ‘Krishna’ means ‘all attractive’. Since Krishna

Substance
possesses all opulences in full, when He plays on His flute He
is attractive not only to humans but also to animals like deers,
monkeys, cows and birds like peacocks and rivers like Yamuna.

And All the living beings of this world possess a tiny fraction of
God’s opulences and thus if God’s potencies are compared to
sun, the living beings’ potencies are like that of tiny rays of
Shadow sun, namely the sunlight.

When the soul leaves the spiritual world and comes to material
world, He forgets his true identity as soul and foolishly thinks
himself to be the material body made up of flesh and bones.
Thus he becomes attracted to the glittering illusion of false
beauty of the objects of the material world which is simply a
poor imitation of the spiritual beauty. The bodies of beauty
queens, who in their youth make men go crazy, become dried
up in old age like grapes turned into raisins. Why can’t the
beauty of this world remain permanent? Why cannot the
beauty of this world give us happiness? Why does the
happiness obtained from the objects of this world vanish so
quickly? The answer is that we should know what is substance
 Substance and Shadow 81
and what is shadow or imitation of the real substance. The real
substance (spirit soul) is forgotten – the shadow (material body)
is given all importance. This is the root cause of all the
problems in the world today.
Where Does the Soul Come from?
T he Vedic scriptures explain that the soul is constitutionally
a resident of an eternal realm, the spiritual world. It is
explained in the Upanishads, nityo nityanam, cetanas
cetananam, eko bahunam, yo vidadati kaman “The Supreme
Personality of Godhead is one amongst many many souls who
are all subordinate to Him.” Every soul is endowed with a
minute independence either to choose to love and serve God
or to be independent of God and struggle for so-called
illusory enjoyment in this material world. The souls in this
world, that is, all of us, have chosen to be independent of God
to enjoy separate from Him.
Suppose a child adamently demands his mother who is cooking
in the kitchen, “Mom, you leave the kitchen; I will cook today.”
She may persuade the child to understand that he cannot deal
with fire carefully and he will not be able to manage the kitchen
himself. But if the child is adament, then the mother may
purchase a Leo Toyset of baby kitchen items to play and may
give it to her child to play. Now the boy may play with all the
toys till noon doing so-called cooking with sand and water.
Once it is noon and he becomes hungry, he will return to
mother, “Mom, I am hungry.” Mother may ask, “What about
all the cooking that you did?” The child may laugh and say,
“That was all a foolish game. Now I am really hungry. So you
give me food.”
82 Discover Your Self
In the same manner, the spirit souls in the spiritual world derive
great joy in the love and service of the Lord as we see in the
pastimes of Hanuman serving Lord Rama or the residents of
Vrindavan serving Sri Krishna. But when the soul wants to
leave the spiritual world and become an independent Lord and
master, then Lord creates this material world to satisfy the
whims of the foolish living entity. When the living entity is
frustrated here, then he turns to Lord and becomes His devotee
again. When he is completely purified of the wrong mentality,
he can again ascend to the spiritual world, his original home to
rejoin the eternal service to the Lord. Till the living being is
purified of all his independent desires for enjoyment he has to
wander in the cycle of birth and death taking on different types
of bodies as per his desire and karma.
We are constitutionally part-and-parcel servants of God and we
can become happy only by serving Him. This can be likened to
supplying food to the stomach. When the part serves the
whole, the part also becomes nourished.
Panca tantra Story : ‘When senses go on a strike’
Once all the senses of the body of a man came together for a meeting.
There was a big quarrel about which part of the body is the most valuable.
The eye said, “It is me who sees the food first. So I am the most
important.” The nose said, “O foolish eye! Don’t you realize that its me who
smells the food even before you see it?” The teeth said, “What is the use
of you people seeing and smelling. Without me doing the job of crushing, no
food can go to the stomach.” But the tongue said, “You may crush the food,
but if the taste is bad, I will reject what is passed by you. So I am the most
important.” The hands said, “It seems all of you people have forgotten me.
Am I not the one who picks up the food and puts it in the mouth?” The leg
spoke lastly, “I carry the whole trunk of the body from place to place where
food is kept. Without me all of you are useless.” The arguments went on for
 Substance and Shadow 83
a long time. At the end they all arrived at a consensus: “All of us are
important. But there is one useless person who does not do any work; but
we are all working so hard to please him – the stomach! Come let us all go
on a strike. Why should we please this person by feeding him when he is
just in one place sitting and enjoying?”
The stomach did not say anything. When they all went on strike and did not
supply food to the stomach, gradually the legs became weak; it started
trembling. The hand lost all power and potency to do any work. The eyes
were reeling. They all came together for a meeting and decided, “If we don’t
serve the stomach, then we only suffer. It is better that we serve him and
become nourished ourselves.” When all the parts of the body co-operated in
supplying food to stomach, then the whole body became nourished.
In the above Panchatantra story, the stomach is compared to
God; all the different senses are compared to the living entities,
which are parts and parcels of God. Constitutionally we are
servants of God and serving Him only can nourish us and keep
us happy; but if we try to selfishly serve ourselves with money,
resources and things of this world, we will only be led to
frustration.
The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord,
and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy.
The relation is also like that of master and servant or like husband
and wife. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied.
When the husband goes to office, the wife stays at home to do
the household chores. She keeps the house clean, washes his
clothes, dries them and keeps them pressed, cooks for him,
keeps the things in order etc. When the husband returns home,
he feels very happy to see his wife’s services and appreciates
her. Who becomes happy? Both the husband and wife become
happy. Similarly, when the soul renders service to God, he
becomes happy also. This is the only way the soul can attain
84 Discover Your Self
true happiness, not by trying to compete with God or act
independent of God. In the above example, if wife ignores her
services at home arguing with the husband, she only becomes
frustrated.
Those who are willing to surrender to God by following the
instructions of God mentioned in the revealed scriptures
through a bonafide spiritual master coming in parampara, are
called devotees and God personally takes charge of their
protection and maintenance. And for the other living entities
who want to try enjoying separate from God, Maya Devi –
God’s external energy – takes charge of punishing them for
breaking the laws of God.
The situation is like what we see in the state: good citizens are taken care of
by the government directly, while criminals are taken care of by the
government through the prison department. In the prison house, the
government takes care that the prisoners get sufficient food, clothing,
shelter and that they get even hospital treatment if they become diseased.
The government provides everything required by the prisoners – but under
punishment. Similarly, in this material world, God has arranged for our care,
but also for our punishment. If you commit this sin you get a slap. If you
commit that sin then a kick. This is going on in the form of the threefold
miseries – (i) those caused by our body & mind, (ii) those caused by other
living entities and (iii) those caused by natural calamities.
Individual Exercise: Fill up the blank with appropriate word
1. Jail = _________________
2. Jailkeeper = Mayadevi (sample answer)
3. Food = ______________
4. Medicine = ________________
5. Checked shirt = ______________
6. Whips = _____________
7. Release = ____________
 Substance and Shadow 85
8. Stay in state = ___________________
9. Laws of state = __________________
10. Prime minister of state = ______________
The soul being part and parcel of God can be happy only when
he is serving God with love and devotion and not otherwise.
The living being who desires to enjoy independent of God will
never get satisfaction exactly like a fish out of water can never
be satisfied with any amount of comforts. Only when the fish is
put back in its original position in the water will it become
completely happy. Similarly, the spirit soul can be happy only
in the spiritual world which is the original home of the living
being. The material realm of activities can never satisfy the
pure soul who is in search of eternal bliss.
We are all like the lost son of a millionaire. Having lost touch
with our eternal father, God, we are wandering in this material
world exactly like a helpless beggar, unaware of our true glory.
The Upanishads call the living beings as ‘Children of
Immortality’, who are now shackled in this material body. We
have to now revive our eternal relationship with our Supreme
Father to become truly happy.
Group work: Make two tables with one heading each ‘No God,
No Peace’, and another ‘Know God, Know Peace’. Now in the
first table fill up names of personalities who tried to enjoy
independently by denying God, but achieved no peace. In the
second table give examples of those who were great devotees of
God, who always achieved peace and happiness. Give
examples both from sastra and from your practical experience.
Be prepared to give explaination for each name that you have
written.
86 Discover Your Self
Spiritual World vs. Material World
I n the Bhagavad-gita (15.1), Krishna says that the material
world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. In the
material world we seek pleasure from friendly relationships,
parental affection and conjugal loving relationships. But such
relationships are terminated by time appearing as death as well
as by circumstances and situations brought about by destiny.
But in the spiritual world one can strike a relationship with God
as a friend, parent or a lover. These relationships are never
terminated, because neither the God nor the soul will ever die.
Their relationship is also eternal. Now that we have come to
the material world, we have temporarily forgotten that eternal
connection to God and are falsely seeking it in the temporary
relationships of this material world. This cannot give us true
satisfaction. It is like a mirage in the desert. In a desert there is
no water, there is only mirage. But that does not mean there is
no water anywhere in the creation. There is surely fresh,
cooling, crystal clear waters in reservoirs where pure swans
live. Similarly happiness is not to be found in the material
world, but real happiness is available unlimitedly in the
spiritual world.
The spiritual world is like a mango tree on the bank of a river.
The material world is like the perverted reflection of the mango
tree (upside down) in the river waters. If a fool dives into the
river in search of mangoes, can he obtain any mangoes? He
can only damage his head. In the same way, this material
world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. One
should not try to enjoy life through material sense gratification.
One can derive the best enjoyment by serving the master of the
senses, God. This spiritual pleasure is the real pleasure, which
is everlasting and worthy of seeking. One, who can get out of
 Substance and Shadow 87
bodily consciousness and be situated in the platform and
activity of the soul, is free from the disease of material
existence and can experience this spiritual pleasure.
Drama: Ask student to put up the following drama, please
note they should have made prior preparation.
The Story of Liquid Beauty
Once a man who was very powerful and strongly built but whose character
was very doubtful fell in love with a beautiful girl. The girl was not only
beautiful in appearance but also saintly in character, and as such she did not
like the man’s advances. The man, however, was insistent because of his
lustful desires, and therefore the girl requested him to wait only seven days,
and she set a time after that when he could meet her. The man agreed and
with high expectations he began waiting for the appointed time.
The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest the real beauty of absolute
truth, adopted a very instructive method. She took very strong doses of
laxatives and purgatives, and for seven days she continually passed loose
stool and vomited all that she ate. Moreover, she stored all the loose stool
and vomit in suitable pots. As a result of the purgatives, the so-called
beautiful girl became lean and thin like a skeleton, her complexion turned
blackish, and her beautiful eyes sank into the sockets of her skull. Thus at
the appointed hour she waited anxiously to receive the eager man.
The man appeared on the scene well dressed and well behaved and asked
the ugly girl he found waiting there about the beautiful girl he was to meet.
The man could not recognize the girl he saw as the same beautiful girl whom
he wish to meet; indeed, although she repeatedly asserted her identity,
because of her pitiable condition he was unable to recognize her.
At last the girl told the powerful man that she had separated the ingredients
of her beauty and stored them in pots. She also told him that he could enjoy
those juices of beauty.
88 Discover Your Self
When the mundane poetic man asked to see these juices of beauty, he was
directed to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating
an unbearably bad smell. Thus the whole story of the beauty-liquid was
disclosed to him. Finally, by the grace of the saintly girl, this man of low
character was able to distinguish between the shadow and the substance,
and thus he came to his senses.
This man’s position was similar to the position of every one of
us who is attracted by false, material beauty. The girl
mentioned above had a beautifully developed material body in
accordance with the desires of her mind, but in fact she was
apart from that temporary material body and mind. She was in
fact a spiritual spark, and so also was the lover who was
attracted by her false skin.
All that glitters is not gold
Once Srila Prabhupada showed a doll of a woman kept in a
cloth shop to some of his disciples and asked them, “Can you
enjoy that woman?” The disciples replied that it was after all a
doll with no life and thus cannot offer any happiness. Srila
Prabhupada said what makes a living body special is the
spiritual beauty or spiritual spark residing in the body. When
that spark of soul leaves the body, the body is no better than the
doll in the shop. Thus beauty is not in the material body which
is just a bag of bones and flesh, but in the spirit soul, a part and
parcel of Supremely attractive Personality of Godhead, Sri
Krishna. Because God, the Supreme whole is supremely
beautiful, His part and parcel, the spirit soul who is a minute
spark of God is also beautiful.
Mundane intellectuals and atheists are deluded by the outward
beauty and attraction of the relative truth, as seen in the
material world and are unaware of the spiritual spark, which is
 Substance and Shadow 89
both truth and beauty at the same time. The spiritual spark is so
beautiful that when it leaves the so-called beautiful body, which
in fact is full of stool and vomit, no one wants to touch that
body, even if it is decorated with a costly costume, even if it
happens to be the body of a most beautiful cinema star, or a
dear relative like husband or wife.
The beauty of the outer skin can be destroyed in only a few
hours merely by the dose of a strong purgative, but the beauty
of soul or God is indestructible and always the same.
Unfortunately, mundane artists and intellectuals are ignorant of
the Supreme Lord who is the source of all the spiritual sparks,
and they are ignorant of the relationships between the souls and
the Lord, which take the form of transcendental pastimes.
When those pastimes are displayed here by the grace of the
Almighty, foolish people who cannot see beyond their senses
confuse those pastimes of truth and beauty with the activites of
common man. For eg they think Krishna’s rasa dance to be like
activity between boys and girls.
When Lord Krishna or Lord Rama appear in this world and
perform pastimes with Their devotees, they are supremely
divine and enacted on a spiritual platform. The love exchanged
between the Lord and His devotees is pure and eternal because
the Lord and devotee will never die. But all our display of
affection and sorrow for our relatives and friends is a poor
imitation of Lord’s pastimes, because we are artificially
imagining ourselves to be the center of all relationships in this
world. Thus our divine relationship with Lord is like real gold
and our relationship with other people, namely, our family,
relatives, friends etc in material world is like imitation gold.
By awakening our love for God, we can put a fullstop to cycle
of birth and death and return back home back to Godhead.
90 Discover Your Self
The Goal of Life: Purification of Heart &
Glorification of Lord
I f you approach some one and ask him, “What is the goal of
your life? What do you want to achieve by all your
endeavors?” Generally people have plenty of materialistic plans
to fulfill with no idea of the soul. It may even take one’s entire
life to fulfill all those plans. But even if one achieves those goal
successfully, they all will have to be left aside at the time of
death.
The scriptures explain that one’s main goal in life must be
purification of one’s heart of all contaminating desires against
the will of the Lord. No one can become desireless. One
should only change the quality of desires from material to
spiritual. We must essentially purify ourselves of the six
primary misgivings (anarthas) in the heart – lust, anger, greed,
pride, envy and illusion. How to do this? One should always
act ONLY in relation to the Lord. One should transform the
lust into love for the Lord’s service. One should be angry
towards those who blaspheme the Lord or His devotees as
Hanuman burnt Sri Lanka. One should be greedy for chanting
the Lord’s names more and more. In this way one should
change the quality of his desires, by converting the material
desires into spiritual desires. This is made possible by hearing
Krishna-upadesh (instructions of Lord Krishna, viz, the
Bhagavad-gita) and Krishna-katha (pastimes of Lord Krishna,
viz, the Shrimad Bhagavatam). By regular hearing one can
become purified of all misgivings. We also should glorify God
with all our hearts, by chanting His Holy Names. One becomes
freed from all impurities of heart by chanting the holy names
and awakens love for God that is dormant in his heart.
 Substance and Shadow 91 92 Discover Your Self

Mantra Meditation Technique The Kali Santarana Upanishad assures that by chanting this
maha mantra regularly, one can destroy all that is undesirable
within one’s heart. The Upanishad further declares that there is
W hen human society forgets its prime duty of serving God,
it fails in its endeavour of happiness and peace. When we
do not serve God, we are forced to serve the misgivings in our
no other way of self-realization from the point of view of all the
revealed scriptures.
heart such as lust, anger etc. Presently, we have forgotten our
relation with God and hence we should learn the process of The effect of such spiritual sound vibration (as the Holy Name
of the Lord) is a universal principle. Anybody - young or old,
‘yoga’ as described in the Vedic texts by which we can revive
Indian or foreign, educated or uneducated, male or female - can
our loving relation with the Supreme Lord. There are various
chant this mantra and achieve benefit. In fact, His Divine
yogic processes for attaining the Supreme, but in this day and
Grace Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON,
age of Kali, which is described as the age of quarrel and
practically showed how this mahamantra brought about a
hypocrisy, there is only one way – the chanting of the Holy
Names of the Lord. This is confirmed in the Brhad-naradiya transformation of heart in thousands of Americans, Russians
Purana: and Europeans, and in fact people from all parts of the world.
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
If you keep a sheet of white paper in sunlight on your terrace,
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
the diffused sunrays can at best make the paper dull after a few
hours. But when you collect the diffused sunrays into a lens
“In this age of Kali Yuga the only process of self-realization is
and put the paper at the focal point, it can create a devastating
the chanting of the name of Lord Hari, the chanting of the name
fire, even in a few seconds. This is the power of concentration.
of Lord Hari, the chanting of the name of Lord Hari. There is
When one chants Hare Krishna, by focussing the mind on the
no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way.”
mantra by hearing attentively. This purges all the impurities in
the heart of the sincere chanter and offers many side benefits
There are hundreds and thousands of names of God and all of
like peace of mind, concentration, satisfaction, lowering of
them are very powerful. But the Kali Santarana Upanishad
greed, calm behaviour, reduction of anger, not losing temper
specifically mentions a maha-mantra or the great chanting for
etc. But the actual benefit that one gets by chanting Hare
deliverance, which is called the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:
Krishna mantra is love of God.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama,
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
 94 Discover Your Self

If God Is One, Why do people

Chapter 6 follow different Religions?

There are people who are not atheistic, but accept that there is
some Supreme God who is the Supreme Controller and
Proprietor. But they still have a difficulty as to which path to
follow? They wonder why God has created so many religions,
if He is only one? Which could be the right path? Are all paths
right? Do they all lead to the same destination? Do they lead to
different destinations? Why are there different names of God,
forms of God, worship of God, rituals and rites, customs and
etiquettes? Is there any path that is the synthesis of all these
religions? Is there one ultimate goal behind all these religions?

If God is one, then

These questions are genuine and have answers that will be
discussed here.

why so many Religions presented according to the ability of audience the

to digest the Truth

religions? God gives His message, directly or through His messenger,

according to the capacity of the individuals who receive it. If
the message is for the spiritually advanced, then it may be
given in an undiluted pure form. If the message is for the
morally and spiritually degraded it is suitably modified to
preclude rejection and yet help them to make limited spiritual
progress. Unawareness of this fundamental principle, which
underlies and unifies the diverse religions of the world, has
resulted in religious conflicts, confrontations, wars and so on
throughout history. An example will help in understanding this
better.

In elementary school Mathematics, a child is taught basic addition and

subtraction such as 5 - 2 = 3. But if he is asked, “What is 2 - 5 ?”, he will
say that it is not possible to subtract a bigger number from a smaller
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 95
number. But when he goes to high school, he learns 2 - 5 = -3. That is also
Mathematics. When he goes to college, he learns differential calculus,
integral calculus etc. which is also Mathematics. Although the knowledge he
has acquired at each level comes under the subject of Mathematics, still
there is a difference of standard between elementary school Maths and
M.Sc. Maths. The teacher may himself be a Ph.D. in Maths, but he teaches
according to the level of understanding of the student, depending on
whether he is in an elementary school, high school or college.
The prophets and messiahs have always given their message
after assessing the ability of their audience to digest and follow
the teachings. We can understand that when Prophet
Mohammed preached the message of the Koran as revealed to
him, his audience consisted of degraded people. This is
apparent from the nature of the instructions given in the Koran.
For example, in the 4th Surah, verse 23-24, the Koran says,
96 Discover Your Self
“Do not have sex with your mother and sister.” If Mohammed
had been speaking to civilized people, such an injunction would
have been unnecessary. Mohammed himself was a God realized
soul and had been selected by God to be a prophet. But since he
was speaking to perverted tribesmen of that desert land, who
were engaging in such sexual practices, he had to give such
instructions.
Jesus was preaching to fishermen whom he addressed as, “O ye
of little faith”. One of his intimate twelve apostles, Judas, sold
his master for thirty pieces of silver, and Peter denied that he
had ever seen him. Also, most religions first try to teach people
to go to God for bread and butter, or material assets, thereby
teaching obedience to the authority of God. Thus they use God
more or less as an order-supplier or problem-solver.
Real religion has nothing to do with making material demands
upon God in order to fulfill one’s own selfish desires. For
example, Lord Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, an
individual of spotless character and a product of Vedic
civilization when it was at its zenith. Bhagavad-gita teaches
absolute surrender to the will of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Shri Krishna, without any reservations. The audience
for the narration of Shrimad Bhagavatam consisted of the
greatly liberated sages of Naimisharanya, who sought the
welfare of all living beings in the world. Shrimad Bhagavatam
teaches the path of unmotivated, uninterrupted, pure love of
God, where a devotee rejoices remembering and reciting about
God twenty-four hours a day out of love for Him, without
expecting anything in return.
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions?
Depth of verifiable and inconceivable information in Vedas
Besides the loftiness of the quality of devotion to God, the
Vedic literatures also give vivid descriptions of all types of
information, whether it be material or spiritual. For example,
while the Bible teaches, “God said, ‘Let there be light’, and
there was light. God said, ‘Let there be earth’, and the earth
was created. Although this fact is true, such scriptures do not
give a detailed account of the Creation of the universe. Srimad
Bhagavatam on the other hand, gives step-by-step information
of how the Creation of the universe, as well as all living beings,
takes place. The sankhya (or ‘count’) philosophy of twenty-
four elements of the universe given in Vedic scriptures is
scientifically explainable and provable. Also many religions
say, “God is great” “God is love” “God is Almighty”, but they
hardly have information about HOW God is the strongest? How
He is the most knowledgeable? Etc. Vedic literatures explain
how by lifting Govardhan hill Lord Krishna displayed His
unlimited strength; by playing on His flute and attracting all
animals, birds, gopis and gopas God displays His unlimited
attractive feature. This is just a sample. The Vedas contain
information about Sociology, Politics, Psychology, Metallurgy,
History, Geography, Chemistry, Astrology, Astronomy and
tens of other fields. The Vedic literatures stand out from all
world religions when it comes to the depth of information in
hundreds of areas, as well as the loftiness of intimacy in
approaching God.
Different Religions, Same Message
Veda Vyasa, Jesus Christ and Mohammed were all divinely
empowered and inspired. Yet with divine discretion they
revealed only as much as their audience could digest. The
97 98 Discover Your Self
essence of all the major religious scriptures is the same as listed
below. Compare the following statements :
1. All scriptures recommend the chanting of the holy names of God.
• The Bible states: O Lord, Thou art in heaven, hallowed be Thy
name.
• Islam teaches the regular chanting of the 99 names of Allah.
• The Mahabharata recommends the chanting of 1000 names of
Vishnu (Vishnu-sahasra-nama).
2. All religions teach that love of God is the ultimate perfection.
• The Bible states: Love Thy God with all Thy soul and all Thy
heart.
• The very word ‘Islam’ means ‘complete surrender’.
• The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) states: sarva dharman parityajya
mam ekam sharanam vraja- “Abandon all varieties of religion and
just surrender unto Me.”
3. One can easily observe the amazing similarity of
descriptions given in different scriptures about various
subjects, for instance, regarding ‘Returning to the Kingdom
of God’, as shown below :
Christianity
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle,
neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and
they shall reign forever and ever. [Rev.:22.5]
Hinduism (as known to people) or Sanatana Dharma
That abode of mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by
electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material
world. [BG15.6]
There the sun does not shine, neither do the moon and the
stars; nor do these flashes of lightning shine. What to speak of
fire? He (Lord) shining, all these shine; through His luster all
these are variously illumined. [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:14]
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 99
I worship that transcendental seat, known as Svetadvipa where,
as loving consorts, the Laksmis in their unalloyed spiritual
essence practice the service of the All-Attractive Lord Krishna as
their only lover - where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is
nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is
the favorite attendant, effulgence is full of transcendental bliss
and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty,
where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans
of milk; where there is eternal existence of transcendental time,
who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not
subject to the quality of passing away even for the space of half
a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very few
self-realized souls in this world. [Brahma Samhita 5.56]
Islam
Every soul will have taste of death. The life of this world is but
comfort of illusion. But those who keep their duty to their Lord,
for them are Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein
they will be safe forever.
Sikhism
By one-pointed love and devotion to God, one attains to that place
which is eternal, changeless and where there is pure happiness.
There one enjoys the qualities and pastimes of the Lord. There
exists an eternal kingdom of the Lord. In that place there is no fear,
no illusion nor bewilderment, no miseries. And there, there is no birth
and death. There is only pure eternal spiritual bliss in that abode.
The devotees of the Lord in that abode subsist on the glories of the
Supreme Soul, God.
[GGS RagGaud Guarerei Mahala 5 Asatapadiaa 4]
Zoroastrianism
Vohuman says to that soul, “From the mortal world (you have come).
You are welcome here in this blissful eternal world”. Vohuman tells
the soul, “Oh Holy one! You are welcome in this world full of
happiness having come from the world of misery”. [A.G.Z.R., Ch.2
p.85]
100 Discover Your Self
An analysis of the various religious scriptures reveals the following
common essential principles:
1. There is only one God and He is the supreme object of our love.
2. Obedience to God is the ultimate religious principle.
3. Service to God is the nature of all living entities.
4. The Kingdom of God is the ultimate shelter for everyone.
5. To approach God, sinful activities must be given up.
6. Chanting the Holy Names of God is the easiest way of reviving
God consciousness.
7. One should renounce flickering material pleasure to experience
everlasting spiritual happiness.
8. One needs the guidance and the mercy of a bona fide spiritual
master to achieve God.
It is very interesting to note the commanality in all religions.
This gives us assurance that all religions are certainly aiming at
the Supreme Truth.
Let us now try to understand the seeming differences in the
various religious scriptures. For example, consider what
different religions say about meat-eating. In every religion there
are restrictions against meat eating. In Islam, all animals may
be eaten after ritual sacrifice except the pig and the dog. The
Roman Catholics used to take meat every day except Friday.
Today, because people are unwilling to follow even this
minimal restriction, it no longer exists. In Shrimad
Bhagavatam, on the other hand, it is clearly stated that meat-
eating is a pillar of sinful life, and that true spiritual life cannot
begin until we show mercy towards all the children of God.
How does one explain these differences? It is very simple.
Although all empowered messengers of God have the same
message, they restrict their teachings to what their audience can
digest. For the little that Mohammed taught, he had to flee
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 101
from Mecca due to threat to his life. For the three years that
Jesus preached, he was crucified. Little wonder therefore that in
the Bible, He says: "There is much that I have to tell you but
you cannot bear it now." But on the other hand, Lord Shri
Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita that He is giving him
complete knowledge: "I shall now declare unto you in full this
knowledge both phenomenal and numinous. This being known,
nothing further shall remain for you to know.” (BG 7.2)
Thus all religions are ultimately meant to gradually elevate the
follower to the highest platform of love of God. This higher
understanding of the common purpose of all religions – love
of God – resolves the superficial contradictions among them.
Consider two dictionaries – a small pocket dictionary and a big bulky
Chamber’s dictionary. Just as small words like ‘come’, ‘go’, ‘eat’,
etc. can be found in both the pocket and the Chamber’s dictionaries,
similarly basic instructions in the mode of goodness like ‘Do not
steal’, ‘Love everyone’, ‘Forgive your enemy’, ‘Always do good to
others’, may be found in all religious scriptures. And just as big
words like ‘cataclysm’, ‘corroborate’ will not be found in the pocket
dictionary, but can be found only in the Chamber’s dictionary,
similarly instructions in the mode of pure goodness, like ‘Surrender
to the will of the Lord out of unmotivated, uninterrupted love’,
‘Think of God and serve Him twenty-four hours a day’, and
‘Renounce all worldly pleasures and have a desire to serve God birth
after birth without desiring even liberation’ can be found only in the
most advanced scriptures. Therefore authorized religions like
Christianity, Islam, etc. are like pocket dictionaries (where there is a
partial revelation of the Truth according to the level of the audience),
and the scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and the Shrimad Bhagavatam
are like the Chamber’s dictionary (which give complete knowledge
after knowing which nothing further remains to be known).
102 Discover Your Self
Ascending from Fear to Love
Although we understand that God is one Supreme, still
different religions approach Him at different levels of intimacy
and depth of understanding. Understanding these levels will
help us to become more focused in our approach to God and
will reveal the highest goal that one should aspire for. At the
same time one will develop a respectful attitude and
appreciation towards the other religions that may take their
followers to a certain level of relationship with God.
Consider the example of the Prime Minister of a country. A
police constable works under the police department that is one
of the energies of the Prime Minister. That is the way he is
related to the Prime Minister. A Member of Parliament can
see the Prime Minister face to face, but has a relation in the
mood of awe and veneration. But a son, or wife, or mother of
the Prime Minister has the most intimate relation with the
Prime Minister. They are so intimately related to him, that they
do not even see him as a Prime Minister but as a very near and
dear lovable object. They know his likes and dislikes, interests
and concerns, moods and mission, etc. In the same way,
different religions take us to different levels of intimacy with
God. As long as the relationship is out of fear, desire, or duty it
cannot be considered intimate. When love for the Lord
awakens in one’s heart, one can experience the real sweetness
of the Lord’s reciprocation.
1) Bhaya (out of fear): The majority of religions teach
worship on the platform of fear. They portray God as the all
powerful, grave chastiser of wrongdoers, the one who casts the
atheists in the blazing fire of hell for eternal damnation. God
sits on a highly elevated chair and on the ‘Day of Judgement’,
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 103
often called by people as ‘Doomsday’, He hears the activities of
every living being and sends them to heaven or casts them in
eternal hell. In other religions there are very strict rules
regarding covering the body of women, and severe punishments
for those who act mischievously with women. These rules are
certainly to be appreciated as they help people to give up sinful
or prohibited behavior. But they are not enough in themselves.
In some countries, people who face such restrictions, go to the
neighboring country to enjoy whatever they want and come
back. Thus fear is not a great motivator for practicing religion.
Persons who worship the Lord out of stimulation of fear,
‘bhaya’, include those who are afraid of hell, poverty, pain, and
death. This understanding of God as a frightening person is not
a very advanced level of understanding because it focuses on
only one small aspect of God; but God is much more than that.
Still, we do not criticize such religions, as there is some kind of
subordination to the Supreme God. While respecting every
religion that teaches accepting the authority of God, we have to
also objectively view the methods of practice, the goal of the
practitioner, the depth of relationship and intimacy with God,
its practicability, the quality of realizations that it brings to the
practitioner, etc. By doing this, we can appreciate the finer
aspects of the ultimate religion on one hand, while treating all
people as children of God with different levels of understanding
and realization of the same Supreme God.
2) Asha (for satisfying material aspirations): At a higher
stage, a person begins to realize that all of his desires can be
fulfilled only by pleading from a higher authority. When he
understands that the sanction of the Lord is required to achieve
his desired end, he begins to follow the injunctions of the
scriptures by performing sacrifice, giving charity, taking to
104 Discover Your Self
strict vows and austerities for the fulfillment of one’s desires.
One may thus aspire for material benefits like bountiful harvest,
abundant wealth, progeny, or elevation to heavenly planets to
enjoy for a long duration. For example, Dhruva aspired for a
kingdom greater than his great-grandfather, Brahma, and thus
performed severe austerities at Madhuvan. After he achieved
the darshan of Lord Vishnu all his material desires were
vanquished. He lamented about himself, how foolish he had
been in going to the Lord with such petty material desires.
3) Kartavya buddhi (out of a sense of duty): There are those
who worship the Lord with feelings of gratitude arising from
conceiving of Him as God, the creator and supplier of
everything. The sense of duty makes them acknowledge the
authority of God and be grateful to Him for providing all the
necessities of life – food, grains, fruits, air, water, sunlight,
minerals, etc., so that we may live happily in this world. This
type of worship, out of a sense of duty, is certainly superior to
worship out of fear or desire because, on this duty-bound
platform, a person understands God to be a loving father who
provides him all that he needs for his sustenance and protection.
4) Raga (out of genuine attraction to the Lord): The real
platform of religion, however, is love of God where one
worships God only out of love for Him. Such a devotee does
not consider God to be an order-supplier; rather he offers
everything he has to God out of unmotivated and uninterrupted
love. It is immaterial whether one is a Hindu, Muslim or a
Christian, or belonging to any other religious denomination.
The ultimate goal of any true religion is to achieve pure love
for God.
This love is characterized by selflessness, for we are not
speaking of the love one feels toward someone who has
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 105
satisfied one’s senses or needs. It is actually the opposite; this
love is an expansion of oneself, an outward flow marked by
selflessness in action, speech and thought. It seeks no reward in
return; the devotee only desires to satisfy the senses of the
Lord. The more one practices this type of love for God, the
more one achieves complete freedom from all bondage and
develops an intimate relationship with God.
The spiritual bliss the devotee feels on this platform of love is
not because the Lord has satisfied his senses by offering him
the objects of enjoyment that he desired, but because the
devotee is given the opportunity for service to the Lord. Such a
devotee considers opportunity for service to the Lord as a great
privilege. A devotee does not care whether he may get his
next birth in heaven or hell. He only desires to go on rendering
service to the Lord birth after birth. Given a chance to become
Brahma, the greatest living entity in the whole universe, a
devotee will not accept it if that post will make him forget the
Lord. On the other hand, a devotee will gladly accept even the
body of a worm if in that body he could live in the house of a
devotee. Because in the house of a devotee he can get the dust
of the feet of the Lord’s devotees and eat the remnants of
prasadam, the sanctified food offered to the Lord. A devotee
has no ambitions in life that will not be pleasing to his guru and
Krishna. He never harbors desires or hankerings that will be
detrimental to his Krishna consciousness. Thus, making the
satisfaction of guru and Krishna to be the ultimate goal of his
life, the devotee can go on serving in this way, and be joyfully
situated perpetually.
We see this type of love exhibited by Bhakta Prahlad, Bhakta
Hanuman, the Gopis of Vrindavan, Arjuna and the Pandavas.
The love of the Lord for the devotees and the devotees
106 Discover Your Self
eagerness to love and serve the Lord is the ultimate platform of
religion. The divine reciprocation of Lord and the devotee in
the spiritual world is the ultimate attainment.
Serving simply out of love, with no motivation
Selflessness even on the material platform gives us some inner
joy, what to speak of selflessness on the spiritual platform!
Story : ‘The tender Feelings of Selfless Love’
Once a devotee from Bombay, Sriman Vakreshwar pandit prabhu was
traveling by car through a village. Suddenly one of the tyres of the car got
punctured. As the sun was about to set, and the repair would take
considerable time, the devotee started searching for a place to stay the
night. A passing farmer was friendly and kind enough to invite him to his
home. The farmer happily accommodated him and gave necessary
ingredients for cooking prasadam. The next morning, while taking leave, the
devotee, wanting to express his gratitude, took out a hundred-rupee note
and offered it to the farmer. The farmer smiled and politely refused to
accept it saying, “I should thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve a
guest like you. For us guests are like gods. Visit us again.” Saying this, he
did not accept the money. The devotee insisted, but the farmer with a
beaming smile on his face would not accept at all. At last the devotee asked
him, “Do you ever come to Bombay for any work?” The farmer in his rustic
language replied, “Yes, sometimes when my motor bearings are worn out, I
go to the city to buy new bearings.” The devotee felt some kind of intimacy
when he stared at the innocent, simple, child-like face of the farmer. The
devotee took out his visiting card and gave it to him saying, “Okay, when you
come to Bombay, please visit me. I will take the opportunity to host you”.
Then the devotee took leave of him, thanking him once again, and the farmer
waved his hands as a sign of a warm send-off, while the car, raising the dust
of the village, disappeared in the horizon.
Now ask yourself this simple question: If this devotee had gone
to a hotel, had his dinner there and paid the bill at the table, do
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 107
you think he would have offered his visiting card to the hotel
owner with such a loving exchange as seen above in the case of
the farmer? No. Because that transaction would have been
motivated, not by love, but by business.
In the same way, a pure devotee of the Lord does not expect
anything in return from the Lord for his loving service. This
makes him very close to the heart of the Lord. Ask yourself: Is
there not a difference between your mother serving you food
and a hotel waiter serving you food? Even if the hotel waiter
puts on a big smile while serving you, you know the reason
behind his smile. In the same way, the Lord has special
appreciation for the pure devotees who serve Him simply out of
love, without any other motivations.
Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions
T he Vedic texts are not sectarian Hindu scriptures, as is
commonly misunderstood. The Vedic literature is meant for
all mankind since time immemorial, whereas the word ‘Hindu’
has come up only a few centuries ago. When the Muslims
invaded Bharata-varsha (as India was known in those days),
they started calling the followers of the Vedic culture ‘Sindhus’
because they lived on the banks of the Sindhu river. However
due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing the initial ‘s’ in
the word ‘Sindhu’, they mispronounced it as ‘Hindu’. And
since then the followers of the Vedic religion have been known
as ‘Hindus’ and the Vedic religion as ‘Hinduism’, although the
people themselves did not use this term. So there is no
reference whatsoever to any ‘Hindu’ religion in the Vedic
scriptures, nor is the word found in the Vedic dictionary. The
proper term for the teachings of the Vedic scriptures, as
mentioned in these scriptures themselves, is ‘Sanatana
108 Discover Your Self
Dharma’, the eternal and universal religion, which is not
limited by time, place and circumstance.
And this Sanatana Dharma stands strong even today, despite all
kinds of onslaughts from all quarters. If we look back at the
history of the various religions of the world, Islam started about
1300 years ago, Christianity about 2000 years ago and
Buddhism about 2500 years ago. The Bhagavad-gita, on the
other hand, was spoken about 5000 years ago. And although
Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna 5000 years
ago, He explains in the Gita itself: “I instructed this
imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvan, and
Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and
Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku..... That very ancient
science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by
Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend;
therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this
science.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.1-3)
Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita was spoken
by the Lord to His disciple, Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that
the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in
human society it has been extant for two million years. It was
respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about 5000 years ago.
That is the estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the
Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri
Krishna.
Thus Sanatana Dharma being the oldest religion is the
supermarket of religions. This assortment of religions is
designed to suit the nature and the inclination of people who
range from the morally degraded to the spiritually exalted.
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 109
Worship according to Propensities
The Matsya Purana says that there are 18 Puranas
(supplementary Vedic literatures). Out of these, there are 6
Puranas each written for:
People in the mode of ignorance or tamo guna (These Puranas
glorify and recommend worship of Shiva and his consort,
Durga). Worshipers in ignorance (like Bhasmasura, Ravana)
may perform cruel penances and aspire for boons that harm
them and harm others. This variety in the modes of worship is
presented by the Vedic literature so that anyone and everyone
can worship according to their natural propensities.
• For example, the worshipers of Lord Shiva, sadhus smoke
charas. They will quote from Shaivite scripture to prove
that the devotees of Shiva must take intoxicants to worship
Him properly!
• According to tantric worship the worshipers of Durga are
required to have the five M's: maans (meat) , matsya (fish),
madira (liquor), maithuna (sex), and mura (parched rice) to
worship her properly.
These forms of (regulated) worship are the only means by
which degraded minds can be enticed to glorify God.
People in the mode of passion or rajo guna (These glorify and
recommend worship of Brahma and other demigods).
Worshipers in passion (like Hiranayakashipu) perform severe
austerities with the desire to become controllers, enjoyer and
exploit others. Thus they brings their own destruction.
People in the mode of goodness or sattva guna (These
recommend the worship of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna).
110 Discover Your Self
Worshiper in goodness or above three gunas worship Radha-
Krishna, Sita-Ram or Laxmi-Narayan. The basis of worship is
only Love. Even if a devotee goes to Lord with material desires
(like Dhruva who desired a kingdom), Lord purifies their heart,
and awakens the dormant love in their heart.
Why is Krishna God?
Lord Brahma says in Brahma Samhita, “Ishwara parama
Krishna, sac cid ananda vigraha” “Among all the controllers,
Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He
has a form made of eternity, knowledge and bliss.”
Lord Krishna is called ‘Poorna Purushottam’ which means He
is the complete manifestation of Godhead. There is no Truth
above Him according to Bhagavad gita. He proved it by
showing the Vishwarupa darshan (Universal form) explained in
Bhagavad gita 11th chapter. Both the Universal form as well as
the four handed form of Lord Vishnu emanate from Krishna’s
form. Arjuna also confirms Krishna’s supremacy by quoting
from the sages like Asita, Devala and Narada [BG 10.11]. In
Bhagavad gita, Krishna is addressed as, ‘Bhagavan’ which
means ‘the possessor of all six opulences’. Krishna perform
feats like lifting the Govardhan hill, marrying 16,108 gopis,
showing the whole cosmos in his mouth to mother Yashoda and
many more. These are not possible for any ordinary or
extraordinary humans to even comprehend.
The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in
Vrindavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri
Krishna was in Vrindavana, His activities with His cowherd
boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the other inhabitants
of Vrindavana and with the cows were all full of happiness.
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 111
The residents of Vrindavana knew nothing but Krishna. Even
the cows, deers, monkeys, birds, Yamuna, the cowherd boys,
cowherd girls, the parents – all were absorbed in constant
rememberance of Krishna in all their activities. The living
entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are
after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living
entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take
part in His association, they also become happy. For example if
someone puts his finger into the socket he will get an electric
shock. Anyone who touches that person will also experience a
shock. In the same manner, Lord is perpetually happy and
anyone who becomes His devotee will also share the Lord’s
happiness. The ultimate goal of the living entities is to return
back home, back to Godhead, to join the eternal service to the
Lord.
The Lord resides eternally in His abode, yet He can be
approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to
manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. When He
manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He
looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He
descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Shyamasundara.
Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He
comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But
because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us. It is
by His omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form
before us and displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those
pastimes found in His abode.
Bhakti rasa, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving
service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It
continues perpetually and is therefore called ‘amruta’ that
which does not die but exists eternally. The Bhagavad-gita
112 Discover Your Self
says that that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa can save the
devotee from the greatest danger – that of missing the
opportunity for human life. The rasas derived from our feelings
in social life, in family life or in the greater family life of
altruism, philanthropy, nationalism, socialism, communism,
etc., do not guarantee that one’s next life will be as a human
being. We prepare our next life by our actual activities in the
present life. A human being engaged in Krishna consciousness,
even if unable to complete the course of bhakti-yoga, takes
birth in the higher divisions of human society so that he can
automatically further his advancement in Krishna
consciousness. For instance, if one has completed 20%
purification of heart through bhaktiyoga, one will continue
from 21% in next life. Therefore, all bonafide activities in
Krishna consciousness are amruta, or permanent. Such a
practice of Krishna consciousness will immediately bring one
to an auspicious life free from anxieties and will bless one with
transcendental existence.
The ABCD formula for a happy life
Association………
“Birds of the same feather flock together” is a common saying. The
people whom we associate with will also have an influence on us. By
associating with devotees, we get strength and support to maintain
sustained interest in our progressive march back to Godhead.
There were two parrots brothers, who were sold in the market. A king
bought one. A butcher bought another one. Once a sadhu was passing
by butcher’s shop and happened to hear the parrot calling vulgar
words. Sadhu plugged his fingers into his ears and escaped from
there. He went to the king’s court where he heard the another parrot
speaking sweet words, “Hare Krishna ! Please come in sir ! would
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 113
you like to have some water ! Please take your seat. King will arrive
in a few minutes. Hare Krishna !” Hearing this, the sadhu expressed
his surprise : “How is it that your brother is speaking harsh words
and you are speaking nectarine words ?” The parrot spoke a verse :
gau aashanena vaakyam shrunoti aham ca rajan
vacananam muneenam
nasty asya dosho na ca mad guno va samsargajaa
dosha guna bhavanti
“My brother hears the words of the cow-eating butcher. I am hearing
the divine vibration of the sages visiting the king. My brother has no
fault, nor am I greater in any way. Its all a result of association that
one gets good or bad qualities”.
Thus by the association of sincere devotees we can also think, speak
and do Krishna conscious things and we can easily control our
senses. In ISKCON temples Srila Prabhupada has organized the early
morning program of Mangal aratik, Nrsimha arati, Tulasi arati,
Shringar darshan, Guru puja, Srimad Bhagavatam class and
Bhagavad gita class in the evening. Any one who regularly attends
these programs and discusses Krishna katha with devotees and
develops loving relationships in the devotional community will never
hanker for the false mirage love promised by the material world.
Books Reading……..
Srila Prabhupada mercifully has left behind a rich volume of
devotional literature that can keep us completely absorbed in Krishna
consciousness twenthyfour hours a day. By reading the scriptures like
Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, we learn about an eternal
blissful life awaiting us when we become purified. We come to know
that there is something much better than the high you can get from
drugs, sex or alcohol. This gives us an incentive to control our
senses.
114 Discover Your Self
Chanting………
Chanting the mahamantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna
Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
helps very much. Chanting Hare Krishna is the recommended method
in this age for self realisation. If we take to that process on a daily
basis, our material urges will subside. In fact the real key to spiritual
progress lies in chanting Hare Krishna attentively everyday. As one
progresses, one should focus attention on improving the quality of
utterence of the holy name. When quality improves, three things
happen – one gets taste for more chanting, one feels thoroughly
contended and satisfied, one feels powerful and eager to preach the
glories of the Lord and His divine name, exactly as a hungry man
who has eaten a plate full of mahaprasadam feels a great taste in the
tongue, satisfaction and strength to perform services.
Diet : eating Krishna prasadam…….
By accepting prasadam, food offered to Krishna, our desire to eat
meat and similar things goes away. Prasadam purifies one’s
consciousness and helps one to advance quickly.
In the Third Chapter, verse thirteen, Sri Krishna explains that only
the remains of sacrifice are purified and fit for consumption by those
who are seeking advancement in life and release from the clutches of
the material entanglement. Those who do not make an offering of
their food, He says in the same verse, are eating only sin. In other
words, their every mouthful is simply deepening their involvement in
the complexities of material nature. But preparing nice, simple
vegetable dishes, offering them before the picture or Deity of Lord
Krishna and bowing down and praying for Him to accept such a
humble offering enables one to advance steadily in life, to purify the
body, and to create fine brain tissues which will lead to clear
thinking. Above all, the offering should be made with an attitude of
love. Krishna has no need of food, since He already possesses
everything that be, yet He will accept the offering of one who desires
 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions? 115 116 Discover Your Self

to please Him in that way. The important element, in preparation, in

serving and in offering, is to act with love for Krishna.

Let us say YES to the ABCD of Krishna consciousness and

prepare our consciousness to return back to Godhead.

* * * *

In this book, you learnt about your self. If you liked this book,
please contact us for the next book in the same Spirituality for
the Modern Youth series, entitled Your Best Friend. Some of
the topics covered therein are:

• The Definition of God

• The qualifications of guru and disciple
• Worship – Divine and Mundane
• Your heart-to-heart friend and wellwisher
• Krishna’s rasa dance - Can we imitate?
• Lord Shiva’s position

And much much more.

H a r e K r i s h n a !
 117 118 Discover Your Self

What is the Theory of Evolution?

T he theory of Evolution teaches that the first living organism

Appendix 1 developed from non-living matter. Then, as it reproduced,

it is said to have changed into different kinds of living beings,
producing ultimately all forms of life that have ever existed on
earth, including humans. And all of this is believed to have
been accomplished without intelligent direction.

Creation as opposed to evolution is the conclusion that the

appearing of living things can only be explained by the
existence of an Almighty who designed and made the universe
and all the basic kinds of life in it.

In this chapter, we will study the scientific possibility of life

Evolution
emerging from inert matter. We will also analyze whether
simple living beings actually evolved into all the complex
variety of species seen today and specifically whether apes
Or Creation: evolved into humans.
Dilemmas over Origin of Life
Let the Data Speak
E xplaining how lifeless chemicals suddenly came alive has
been a formidable problem for all evolutionists. When
Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution he conceded
that life may have been “originally breathed by the creator into
a few forms or into one”. But present-day evolutionary theory
generally eliminates any mention of a Creator. Instead, the
theory of the spontaneous generation of life, once repudiated,
has been revived in a somewhat altered form.

Belief in a form of spontaneous generation can be traced back

for centuries. In the 17th century even respected men of
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 119
science, including Francis Bacon and William Harvey,
accepted the theory. However by the 19th century Louis
Pasteur and other scientists had seemingly dealt it a deathblow
having proved by experiments that life comes only from
previous life. Nevertheless, out of necessity, evolutionary
theory assumes that long ago microscopic life must somehow
have arisen spontaneously from nonliving matter. Let us see
how this is supposed to have happened.
The Theory of Spontaneous Generation
In his book, ‘The Selfish Gene’, Richard Dawkins speculates
that in the beginning, the Earth had an atmosphere composed of
carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and water. Through energy
supplied by sunlight, and perhaps by lightning and exploding
volcanoes, these simple compounds were broken apart and then
they reformed into amino acids, accumulated in the sea and
combined into protein-like compounds. Ultimately, he says, the
ocean became the “organic soup,” but still lifeless.
Then according to Dawkins’ description, “a particularly
remarkable molecule was formed by an accident” – a molecule
that had the ability to produce itself. Though admitting that
such an accident was exceedingly improbable, he maintains
that it must nevertheless have happened. Similar molecules
clustered together, and then, again by exceedingly improbable
accident, they wrapped a protective barrier of other protein
molecules around themselves as membrane. Thus it is claimed,
the first living cell generated itself.
At this point a reader may begin to understand Dawkins
comment in the preface to his book: “This book should be read
almost as though it were science fiction.” But readers on the
subject will find that his approach is not unique. Most other
120 Discover Your Self
books on evolution also skim over the staggering problem of
explaining the emergence of life from nonliving matter.
The recent explosive increase of knowledge has only served to
magnify the gulf between nonliving and living things. Even the
oldest known single-celled organisms have been found to be
incomprehensibly complex.
Nevertheless let us analyze the possibility of the occurrence of
the events as proposed by the spontaneous generation theory.
The principal steps involved are:
(1) Presence of the right primitive atmosphere
(2) Formation of an ‘organic soup’ i.e., concentration in the
oceans of ‘simple’ molecules necessary for life
(3) Emergence of proteins and nucleotides in the soup
(4) Combination of these and acquiring of a membrane to form
a cell
(5) Development of a genetic code and replication. Are these
steps possible?
The Primitive Atmosphere
Problem I: Was oxygen present in the earth’s primitive
atmosphere?
Explanation: With oxygen present, simple compounds
(originally present in the primitive atmosphere) wouldn’t
combine to form amino acids. Without oxygen, the amino
acids formed would be immediately decomposed by the
cosmic rays.
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 121 122 Discover Your Self

Solution: Oxygen is clearly necessary for amino acids to Amino acids have to be in water for reaction & further
be preserved for the next stage I spontaneous generation combination to occur. But that very water inhibits further
of life, yet the presence of oxygen prevents the formation combination. So the organic soup just can’t be formed.
of amino acids. There is no solution to this problem!
“In other words,” evolutionist Francis Hitching says, “the
Problem II: Was energy (supplied by sunlight or theoretical chances of getting through even this first and
lightning or volcanoes) present or not? relatively easy stage (getting amino acids) in the
evolution of life are forbidding.” This means there would
Explanation: If energy was not present, simple be no accumulation of organic soup! Biochemist George
compounds would not have split and no formation of Wald believes this to be “the most stubborn problem that
amino acids would take place. If energy was present, that confronts us (evolutionists)”. (Scientific American, ‘The
energy would immediately decompose any amino acids Origin of Life’, by George Wald, pp.49, 50).
formed into simpler compounds.
Problem IV: How did specific amino acids form in the
Solution: Amino acids just can’t be formed without organic soup?
energy and with energy they can’t survive. There is no
way spontaneous generation can proceed beyond this Explanation: There are
stage. over 100 amino acids, but
only 20 are needed for
Formation of the Organic Soup life’s proteins. Moreover,
Problem III: Did the amino acids stay inside the water they come in two shapes:
or outside it? some of the molecules are
“right-handed” and others
Explanation: After the amino acids formed in the are “left-handed”. Should
atmosphere it is assumed that they somehow managed to they be formed at random,
reach the ocean in the same area so as to form an organic in the theoretical organic
soup. Now if the amino acids stay inside the water they soup, it is most likely that
would not combine to form proteins because water favors they would be half right-
breaking up of big molecules (depolymerisation) and not handed and half left-
their formation (polymerization). But if they are outside handed. And there is no
the water, they would be immediately decomposed by the known reason why either
cosmic rays. shape should be preferred
in living things. Yet, of the
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak
20 amino acids used in producing life’s proteins, all are
left-handed! How is it that at random, only the
specifically required kinds would be united in the soup?
Solution: Physicist J.D. Bernal acknowledges, “We may
never be able to explain it.”
Formation of Proteins
Problem V: How did the right proteins form?
Explanation: The proteins needed for life have very
complex molecules. 20 specific left-handed amino acids
need to combine in a specific sequence to form a protein
useful for life. What chance is there that the correct
amino acids would come together to form a protein
molecule? It could be likened to having a big, thoroughly
mixed pile containing equal numbers of red beans and
white beans. Over 100 different varieties of beans. Now,
if you plunged a scoop into this pile, what do you think
you would get? To get the beans that represent the basic
components of a protein, you would have to scoop up
only red ones - no white ones at all! Also, your scoop
must contain only 20 varieties of the red beans and each
one must be in a specific, pre-assigned place in the scoop.
In the world of protein, a simple mistake in any one of
these requirements would cause the protein that is
produced to fail to function properly. Would any amount
of stirring and scooping in our hypothetical bean pile
have given the right combination? No. Then how could it
have been possible in the hypothetical organic soup?
What is the chance of even a simple protein molecule
forming at random in an organic soup? Evolutionists
123 124 Discover Your Self
acknowledge it to be only one in 10^113 (1 followed by
113 zeroes).
Some proteins serve as structural materials and others as
enzymes. The latter speed up needed chemical reactions
in the cell. Without such help the cell would die. Not just
a few, but 2,000 proteins serving as enzymes are needed
for the cells activity. What are the chances of obtaining
all of these at random? One chance in 10^40,000.
Solution: Any event that has one chance in just 10^50 is
dismissed by mathematicians as never happening. So
even the probability of one in 10^113 is a mathematical
impossibility. An idea of the odds, or probability
involved is seen in the fact that the number 10^113 is
larger that the estimated total number of all the atoms in
the universe!
And one chance in 10^40,000 is “an outrageously small
probability,” astronomer Fred Hoyle asserts, “that could
not be faced even if the whole universe consisted of
organic soup.”
Formation of the Genetic Code
Problem VI: Which came first - proteins or DNA?
Explanation: The old puzzle of ‘the chicken or the egg’
rears it’s head relative to proteins and DNA. Hitching
says: “Proteins depend on DNA for their formation. But
DNA cannot form without preexisting protein.” Which
came first: the protein or the DNA?
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 125
Solution: Hitching asserts “The answer must be: they
developed in parallel.” In effect, he is saying that ‘the
chicken’ and ‘the egg’ must have evolved
simultaneously, neither one coming from the other. Does
this strike you as reasonable?
This is just a sample of the kind of intractable problems
involved in the spontaneous generation theory. There are also
problems in the formation of the cell membrane, the emergence
of nucleotides and the replication mechanism, which are
equally, if not more, formidable.
Why Not Produce Life?
An easy way to lend some credibility to the theory of evolution
is to produce some form of life in the laboratory by chemical
reactions.
Practically speaking, at this stage of scientific knowledge most
of the important chemicals found in the living cell including the
126 Discover Your Self
gene can be synthesized in the chemical laboratory. And those
in the forefront of microbiology and biochemistry have made a
vigorous effort to put all the necessary chemicals together and
prepare the first synthetic life in the test tube.
Unfortunately there are no life symptoms visible when all these
chemicals are combined. Even without taking so much trouble
to synthesize all these chemicals, scientists can actually isolate
the necessary chemicals from an already living body and then
recombine them. If life were a chemical combination,
scientists could actually make life in the test tube by
assembling all these important chemicals. They cannot do this,
however.
Despite great scientific discoveries and achievements, the
bright hope for understanding life in molecular terms seem to
be losing ground and many prominent scientists in various
fields are beginning to doubt the validity of this concept. In the
‘Biology Today’, Nobel-prize-winning chemist Albert Szent
Gyorgyi remarked, “In my search for the secret of life, I ended
up with atoms and electrons, which have no life at all.
Somewhere along the line, life ran out through my fingers. So,
in my old age, I am now retracing my steps…”
Is It Scientific?
If a spontaneous beginning for life is to be accepted as
scientific fact, it should be established by the scientific method.
This has been described as follows: observe what happens;
based on those observations, form a theory as to what may be
true; test the theory by further observations and by
experiments; and watch to see if the predictions based on the
theory are fulfilled.
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 127
In an attempt to apply the scientific method, it has not been
possible to observe the spontaneous generation of life. There is
no evidence that it is happening now, and of course no human
observer was around when evolutionists say it was happening.
No theory concerning it has been verified by observation.
.Laboratory experiments have failed to repeat it. Predictions
based on the theory have not been fulfilled. With such an
inability to apply the scientific method, is it honest science to
elevate such a theory to the level of fact?
The well-known evolutionist Loren Eiseley conceded: “After
having chided the theologian for his reliance on myth and
miracle, science found itself in the unenviable position of
having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the
assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved to
take place today, had, in truth taken place in the primeval past.”
Based on the evidence, the spontaneous generation of life
theory appears better to fit the realm of science fiction than
scientific fact.
Not all Scientists Accept It
Biologist Edwin Conklin said, “The probability of life originating
from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged
dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.”
Astronomer Chandra Wickramsinghe said, “From my earliest
training as a scientist I was very strongly brainwashed to
believe that science cannot be consistent with any kind of
deliberate creation…. For life to have been a chemical accident
on earth is like looking for a particular grain of sand on all the
beaches in all the planets in the universe – and finding it.” In
other words, it is just not possible that life could have
originated from a chemical accident.
128 Discover Your Self
Hitching says, “To put it at its mildest, one may question an
evolutionary theory so beset by doubts among even those who
teach it.… It fails to explain some of the most basic questions
of all: how lifeless chemicals came alive?”
Dilemmas over Origin of Complex Organs
T he difficulty does not stop with the origin of life. Consider
such body organs as the eye, the ear, the brain. All are
staggering in their complexity far more than the most intricate
man-made device. A problem for evolution has been the fact
that all parts of such organs have to work together for sight,
hearing or thinking to take place. Such organs would have been
useless until all the individual parts were completed.
So the question arises: Could chance
that is thought to be a driving force of
evolution have brought all these parts
together at the right time to produce
such elaborate mechanisms? Darwin
acknowledged this as a problem, “To
suppose that the eye could have been
formed by evolution, seems, I freely
confess, absurd in the highest degree.” More than a century has
passed since then. Has the problem been solved? No. On the
contrary, since Darwin’s time what has been learned about the
eye shows that it is even more complex than he understood it to
be. Thus Jastrow said: “The eye appears to have been designed;
no designer of telescopes could have done better.”
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 129
Dilemmas over Fossils
What Fossil Record Says about the Origin of Living Things
On Insects:
“The fossil record does not give any information on the origin
of insects.” – Encyclopaedia Britannica
“There are no fossils known that show what the primitive
ancestral insects looked like.” – The Insects
On Fish:
“To our knowledge, no ‘link’ connected this new beast to any
previous form of life. The fish just appeared.” – Marvels and
Mysteries of Our Animal World
On Reptiles Becoming Mammals:
“There is no missing link (that connects) mammals and
reptiles.” – The Reptiles
On Apes:
“Modern Apes, for instance, seem to have sprung out of
130 Discover Your Self
nowhere. They have no yesterday, no fossil record.” – Science
Digest
From Ape to Man:
“No fossil or other physical evidence directly connect man to
ape.” – Science Digest
“The human family does not consist of a solitary line of descent
leading from an ape like form to our species.” – The New
Evolutionary Timetable
Record of the Rocks Contradict Darwin’s Theory
The date of origin of modern man according to Darwin is
40,000 years. But the record of the rocks show the origin of
modern man several million years ago. Anamolous evidence
concerning human remains raises major questions about the
evolution theory.
According to the conventional speculative view, hominids, or
manlike creatures, began to evolve from apelike ancestors in
Africa about 4 million years ago. The early hominids from this
period (4-2 million years ago) are known as
‘australopithecenes’, beings with manlike bodies and apelike
heads. There is further development of ‘australopithecenes’ to
‘homo habilis’, which appeared about 2 million years ago.
‘Homo erectus’ evolved from ‘homo habilis’ about 1.5 million
years ago and migrated to Europe and Asia.
About 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 years ago, the very first
representatives of ‘homo sapiens’ appear, but these are not
quite like modern human beings. From this species, about
100,000 years ago Neanderthal man develops and spreads
throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. About 40,000
years ago fully modern man is thought to have evolved in the
Near East or Asia. Called homo sapiens sapiens, the new
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 131 132 Discover Your Self

species then enter Europe and replaces Neanderthal man, who According to the standard accounts, this whole development
disappears from the scene. The rudiments of modern took place in the Old World. The only humans ever to have
civilisation begin 10,000 years ago. existed in the New World are fully modern men who migrated
there from Asia no earlier than 30,000 years ago.

This is the standard scenario, yet much evidence has turned up

that challenges it. We shall now review some of this evidence
and examine how scientists have responded to it.

At Border Cave in South Africa paleontologists have made

The picture of Monkeys & Human Being fossil discoveries. They have concluded, “anatomically modern
homo sapiens (homo sapiens sapiens) originated at some as yet
(The story of rocks) uncertain time prior to about 110,000 years before the present”
(South African Journal of Science, Vol.74). This differs
substantially from the standard version, with its date of 40,000
years ago for the origin of modern man in Asia or the Near
East.

In 1962, archaeologist Cynthia Irwin-Williams excavated stone

artifacts, including spearpoints, representative of a technology
usually associated with fully modern (Cro-Magnon) man in
Europe at an archaeological site at Valsequillo in Southern
Mexico. In 1972 and 1973 a team of dating experts, including
geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, using several
independent dating techniques, found that the layers in which
the artifacts were found were about 250,000 years old.

The Valsequillo artifacts thus present a far greater challenge to

the accepted view of human evolution than the Border Cave
finds. The date is twice as old.
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 133 134 Discover Your Self

There are numerous other controversial finds of ancient man in

gradually
2) No way to form complex
by Life comes only from previous 1) Life comes only from previous

Language evolved from simple Language contemporaneous with Language contemporaneous with
1) sudden appearance of complex

Mutations : net result beneficial; Mutations harmful to complex life; Small mutations harmful, large
varieties; no incompletely formed

ones lethal; never result in

2) each new kind separate from

were

animal sounds into complex man; ancient languages complex man; ancient ones often more
many

Civilisation appears with man;

the New World that are conspicuous by their absence from

previous kinds; no linking forms

standard accounts. Recent examples include the Calico Hills,

contemporary with civilisation

California, early man site (500,000 years old), the Flagstaff,

dwellers
Arizona find (100,000 – 170,000 years old) and the Mission

although
genetic code by chance

complex than modern

Valley find in San Diego, California (100,000 years old).

kinds
life in great variety;
(Jeffrey Goodman: American Genesis, p.112).
Facts as Found in

bones or organs
The Real World

Fossils show :

Fossil Record is the Final Court of Appeal

anything new

cave
new
appearing,
When we let the fossil record speak, its testimony is not
evolution-oriented. Instead, the testimony of the fossil record

man; any
life; originally created by an life

No
is creation-oriented. While there was great variety within each
kind, these had no links to evolutionary ancestors before them.
gradually
appearing; no incomplete bones
1) complex forms suddenly

or organs, but all parts completely

2) gaps separating major kinds;

Nor did they have any evolutionary links to different kinds of

do not result in anything new
living beings that came after them.
appearing in great variety;

with
Zoologist Coffin stated: “To secular scientists, the fossils,

complex to begin with

Fossils should show :

kinds

arising out of crude, brutish Contemporaneous evidences of the life of the past, constitute the ultimate and
intelligent Creator

no linking forms

final court of appeal, because the fossil record is the only

Creation Model
Predictions of

and complete
authentic history of life available to science. If this fossil
Origin of civilisation gradual, Civilisation
new

history does not agree with evolutionary theory — and we have

formed

seen that it does not — what does it teach? It tells us that

plants and animals were created in their basic forms. The basic
No

facts of the fossil record support creation, not evolution.”

and organs in various transitional
2) transitional forms linking
1) simple life forms originating

beginnings of incomplete bones

New kinds arising gradually;

Astronomer Carl Sagan candidly acknowledged in his book

Life evolved from nonlife

‘Cosmos’: “The fossil evidence could be consistent with the

chance chemical evolution

idea of a Great Designer.”

generate new features
Fossils should show :

Creation or Evolution ?
modern languages
Evolution Model

previous ones
Predictions of

W hen we compare what has been found in the real world to

beginnings
gradually;

what evolution predicted and to what creation predicted.

stages
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 135
It is apparent which model fits the facts and which one conflicts
with them. The evidence from the world of living things
around us, and from the fossil record of things that lived long
ago, testifies to the same conclusion: Life was created; it did
not evolve. Life did not get its start in some unknown primeval
“soup”. Humans did not get here by way of apelike ancestors.
Instead, living things were created in abundance as distinct
family types. Each could multiply in great variety within its
own “kind”, but could not cross the boundary separating
different kinds. That boundary, as can be clearly observed in
living things, is enforced by sterility. And the distinction
between kinds is protected by each one’s unique genetic
machinery.
However, there is much more that testifies to a Creator than
just the facts fitting the predictions of the creation model. Our
evidence is not just the bunch of bones dug from earth but the
marvels of the whole awesome Universe down to the intricate
designs in the microscopic world.
The Vedic Model for Evolution
D arwin speculated some type of evolution which involves
one type of body changing into another. In fact, there is
evolution, not of the body, but of the soul, the driver of the
body. The scriptures explain that the external body that we see
is just like a vehicle for the soul. Just as a man according to his
purchasing ability may purchase a cycle, scooter, car or plane,
in the same way the soul occupies a body according to his good
or bad deeds. Thus the soul goes from one body to another life
after life until he achieves complete purification.
136 Discover Your Self
The soul is an irreducible quantum of consciousness, which
cannot be cut into pieces by weapons, burned by fire,
moistened by water or dried by air. Thus the soul is a non-
material entity who belongs to a different world, the spiritual
world. In fact, the soul is not like dead unconscious matter,
rather the soul is a personality endowed with consciousness and
the qualities of sac-cid-ananda (meaning full of eternity,
knowledge and bliss). A deeper understanding of the soul can
be found in the fourth chapter of this book.
It is said in the Padma Purana:
asitim caturas caiva laksam tan jiva-jatisu
bhramadbhih purusaih prapyam manusyam janma-paryayat
tad apy aphalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam
varakanam anasritya govinda-caran-dvayam
“One attains the human form of life after transmigrating
through 8, 400, 000 species of life by the process of gradual
evolution. The human form of life is spoiled for those conceited
fools who do not take shelter of the lotus feet of Govinda
(Krishna).”
It is said in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana:
jala-ja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmaya rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksani
pasavas trimsa-laksani manusya catur-laksani
“There are 900, 000 species of aquatic life, 2, 000, 000 species
of plants and trees, 1, 100, 000 species of insects, 1, 000, 000
species of bird life, 3, 000, 000 species of beasts and 400, 000
species of human life.”
 Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak 137
The word ‘species’ is used in the Vedas in a sense different
from biology. A species is not categorized according to its
superficial morphological appearance. A cat and a tiger may
look alike and be treated as belonging to the same family; but
the Vedas categorize species according to their guna or
qualities. There are three qualities: sattva guna (mode of
goodness), rajo guna (mode of passion) and tamo guna (mode
of ignorance). These three are mixed together in various
permutations and combinations to arrive at 8.4 million species
with varied consciousness.
The Genesis account in Bible gives a basic and simple
understanding of how the creation has sprung up from God.
However, Shrimad Bhagavatam gives a detailed account of the
origin of the universe (3rd canto), the geometry of the universe
(5th canto), the creation of the various species like serpents,
aquatics, ferocious animals, mosquitoes, creepers, trees,
rakshasas, evil spirits etc. (6th canto).
From the Vedas, one can understand not only how life started,
but also the more important fact that the body is always dead
and soul gives life to the body. The soul can never die; he is
eternal, unchangeable, full of knowledge and bliss. The soul
comes from the spiritual sky, from another dimension, into this
material world due to misuse of his free will. And here he
wanders in various species of life. The soul undergoes varieties
of sufferings in different bodies until he comes to his senses by
reviving his God consciousness or Krishna consciousness.
Similar to the soul, God is also a soul, but He is the supreme
soul, who is the master of all souls. In fact, the spiritual world
– the kingdom of God - is the real world where there are
innumerable loving exchanges between infinite souls and one
supreme God. That is our original home.
138 Discover Your Self
Although the faithless have been rejecting these sublime truths
to be too fantastic to accept, those, who have faithfully heard
the scriptures given by God and lived by His instructions, have
swiftly achieved deeper insight into this wisdom and have
achieved practical realization and love for God.
That is why when the founder acharya of ISKCON, Srila
Prabhupada, went to the West and presented the profound
Vedic wisdom to the intelligent community there, hundreds of
graduates and doctarates from leading universities like Cornell,
Massachusettes, Illinois etc., embraced this knowledge
wholeheartedly and surrendered their lives to practising and
preaching it. Today ISKCON has millions of followers all over
the world. Majority of them coming from educated background
and are able to appreciate the presence of soul, God and their
divine relationship. They are leading a pure and happy life in
knowledge.
This knowledge is thus a science and can be practically
understood and realised. We invite all open-minded individuals
to pursue it further and thus achieve the highest meaning and
happiness in their lives.
 140 Discover Your Self

L ook up at the night sky, full of stars and planets. Where did

Appendix 2 it all come from? These days most scientists will answer
that question with some version of the big bang theory. In the
beginning (or before the beginning, if you will), you will hear,
all matter in the universe was concentrated into a single point at
an extremely high temperature, and then it exploded with
tremendous force. From an expanding superheated cloud of
sub-atomic particles, atoms gradually formed, then stars,
galaxies, planets and finally life. This litany, having assumed
the status of revealed truth, is elaborated in countless textbooks,
paperbacks, slick science magazines, television serials
complete with computer-generated effects.

As an exciting, mind grabbing story it certainly works. And the

The Universe:
big bang theory does seem to be based on factual observation,
and the scientific method. It seems to so many people more
reasonable than alternative anti-material accounts of creation.

How did it This big bang theory is, however, only the latest of a series of
attempts to explain the universe in a mechanistic way, a way
that sees the world - and man - solely as the products of matter

Begin? working according to materialistic laws.

One of the greatest problems faced by the big bang theorists is

that although they are attempting to explain the origin of the
universe, the origin they propose is mathematically
indescribable, and physically inadmissible. According to the
standard big bang theories, the initial condition of the universe
is a point of infinite density and temperature. Nothing can be
said about it. All calculations go haywire. It is like trying to
divide a number by zero. As of yet, the barrier of the dreaded
singularity has not been surmounted even by the greatest
exponents of the big bang theory. “Unfortunately,” Steven
Weinberg laments, “I cannot start the film at zero time and
 The Universe: How Did It Begin? 141
infinite temperature.” So we find that the big bang theory does
not predict the origin of the universe at all, because the initial
singularity is by definition indescribable. Quite literally,
therefore, the big bang theory is in trouble from the very start.
Thus Steven Hawking, Lucian
Professor of Mathematics at
Cambridge, and G.F.R. Ellis,
Professor of Mathematics at
the University of Cape Town,
aptly write in their book, The
Large Scale Structure of
Space-Time, “It seems to be a
good principle that the
prediction of a singularity by a
physical theory indicates that
the theory has broken down.”
The actual point of creation,
the singularity, is outside the
scope of presently known laws
of physics.
Encyclopedia Britannica admits, “It should be emphasized that
no theory of the origin of the solar system has as yet won
general acceptance. All involve highly improbable
assumptions. But the difficulty is in trying to find a theory with
any degree of probability at all.” Thus, with such “highly
improbable” theories the atheists try to deny God as the origin
and controller of the universe.
Any explanation of the origins of the universe that begins with
something physically indescribable is critically open to
question. And further there is a gnawing question: where did
142 Discover Your Self
the singularity come from? Here the scientists face the same
difficulty as the religionists they taunt with the question,
“Where did God come from?” And just as the religionists
respond with the answer that God is the cause of all causes, the
scientists are faced with the prospect of declaring a
mathematically indescribable, physically unrealizable point of
infinite density and temperature, of infinitesimal size, existing
before all conceptions of time and space, as the cause of all
causes. At this point, the hapless scientists stand convicted of
the same unforgivable intellectual crime that they have accused
the saints and mystics of committing - making physically
unverifiable supernatural claims. If the scientist is to know
anything at all about the origin of the universe, it would seem
he would now have to consider the possibility of accepting
methods of inquiry and experiment transcending the physical.
On the Role of Faith in Science
w e often hear, “In science, everything is empirically
verified; so there is no dogmatic faith in scientific
methodology.” Contrary to popular belief, we will consider
some salient examples of the “scientific” approach to show that
faith is an integral part of any strategy for acquiring knowledge.
The scientists’ attempt to understand the origin and functioning
of the universe (and life) in purely physical terms is based on
three assumptions:
(1) All phenomena can be completely explained by natural
laws expressed in the language of mathematics,
(2) These physical laws apply everywhere and at all times,
(3) The fundamental natural laws are simple.
 The Universe: How Did It Begin? 143
Most people have taken these assumptions as facts, but they
have not been proven to be facts - nor is it easily possible to
prove them. Being axiomatic principles, they are simply part of
one strategy for approaching reality, and the scientists have
implicit faith that these principles are correct. In essence this
approach consists of trying to reduce everything to
measurements and trying to explain them by simple, universal
physical laws. Indeed, there is no logical reason for ruling out,
in advance alternative strategies that might involve laws and
principles of irreducible complexity. Yet, many scientists insist
that their chosen strategy to explain the universe is the actual
nature of the universe!
One reason why the scientists feel compelled to adopt their
strategy of simplification is that, if the underlying reality of the
universe can be described by simple quantitative laws, then
they can understand the universe and (possibly) manipulate it,
even considering the limitations of the human mind. So they
assume it is so, and invent myriad theories to do this. If the
universe were infinitely complex, however, then their
reductionist method is doomed to fail at the outset.
The scientists’ belief that the physical laws discovered in the
laboratory experiments on earth apply at all time and space is
certainly open to question. Yet such assumptions are crucial to
the scientists’ attempts to explain such things as the origin of
the universe, and the nature of faraway objects such as quasars.
After all, we can’t really go back billions of years in time to the
origin of the universe, and we have practically no first hand
evidence, even cosmologists say, of anything beyond a limited
part of our own solar system.
144 Discover Your Self
Thus, believing in an empirical (or physical) scientific theory
requires just as much faith as in believing that a personal God
creates and maintains the universe. But when this point is
vocalized, many adherents of modern science raise loud
objections that in the scientific method, nothing is accepted
without proper experimental evidence. But has any experiment
been performed to prove that physical laws are valid at all time
and space? In the absence of this proof, we must deem that the
element of faith has only been given a new garb, not
eliminated.
In any scientific methodology, the scientist must make suitable
hypothesis, conduct experiments, and then conclude whether
the hypothesis is correct or wrong. In conducting experiments,
the experimenter must muster enough faith that his chosen
method of experimentation will be able to capture the essence
of his theory or hypothesis.
Quite apart from the scientists’ implicit faith in their chosen
methodology, there is another avenue where the principle of
faith asserts itself. How do we know what the scientists are
saying is true, or even that they truly portray what they find?
After all, we do not, in general, understand the complex
experimental or analytical procedures used to verify
hypotheses. In fact, most common people neither understand
the hypotheses, nor the chosen experimental method to verify
them. But they have implicit faith in scientists.
The question then is what is the basis of such faith? Our faith is
nurtured by the authorities in the particular field of concern. For
instance, even though we might never experience any of the
conclusions of relativity theory in our day-to-day life, because a
highly recognized physicist, Albert Einstein, is the chief
 The Universe: How Did It Begin? 145
proponent of such a theory, we tend to accept it. Our faith is
strengthened by the acceptance of such a theory by other
eminent personalities in the field. Furthermore, our faith is
strengthened by our factual experience of related events
proposed by our respectable authorities. For instance, our faith
in the modern scientists is enhanced by their many
technological innovations, which seemingly provide us a
greater degree of comfort in life.
Once again, we are caught in the predicament of having to
adopt double standards. We choose to accept the so-called
scientific method based on faith in our intelligentsia. However,
we reject callously the faithful teachings of some of the greatest
anti-material scientists like Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The followers of such scientists have
indeed experienced the truth of their “theories” by proper
experimentation. The element of faith is the same, whether you
accept the standard of the anti-material scientist or the
material scientists.
There is one big difference, however. The methods advocated
by the anti-material scientists like Shri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu can be followed by even a child, and the
appropriate results can be realized by him. But in order to
understand the universe in the line of the modern scientific
thought, one has to pretty much pursue high-level degrees, and
understand so much jargon and terminology. This makes the
process accessible only to a very few chosen “elite” members
of the society. The rest of the society? Well, they just have to
have faith that these elite (but, nonetheless, fallible) members
are not only perceiving but also portraying the truth as it is.
146 Discover Your Self
Indeed, there is one other big difference: the empirical method
of realizing the truth as advocated by the material scientists
precludes any possibility of perceiving the ultimate truth, in
case it is anti-material. Because, we cannot perceive anything
non-material with material senses or extensions of the material
senses.
Therefore, by accepting exclusively the authority of the
material scientist, we can never have access to the absolute
truth as perceived by the anti-material scientists.
The choice of faith is ours. We can have faith in the fallible
elite with their limited minds and senses, or the infallible
proponents of the absolute truth, who have actually seen the
truth, who are not merely speculating about it in so many
contrived ways.
What the Vedas Say…
T he Vedic literatures give a vivid description of God who is
the source of all creation. The Vedas also give details about
how the world has been created by God. Material Science has
tried to find the ultimate source of creation very insufficiently,
but it is a fact that there is one ultimate source of everything
that is.
This ultimate source is explained rationally and authoritatively
in the Shrimad Bhagavatam as follows: “The Lord, who is the
controller of all energies, thus creates, by His own potency,
eternal time, the fate of all living entities, and their particular
nature, for which they were created, and He again merges them
independently. After the incarnation of the first purusha
 The Universe: How Did It Begin? 147
(Karanarnavashayi Vishnu), the mahat-tattva, of the principles
of material creation, take place, and then time is manifested,
and in course of time the three qualities appear. Nature means
the three qualitative appearances. They transform into
activities. Material activities are caused by the mahat-tattva’s
being agitated. At first there is transformation of the modes of
goodness and passion, and later – due to the mode of ignorance
– matter, its knowledge, and different activities of material
knowledge come into play. (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.21-23)
“The self-centered materialistic ego, thus being transformed
into three features, becomes known as the modes of goodness,
passion and ignorance in three divisions, namely the powers
that evolve matter, knowledge of material creations, and the
intelligence that guides such materialistic activities. Narada,
you are quite competent to understand this. From the darkness
of false ego, the first of the five elements, namely the sky, is
generated. Its subtle form is the quality of sound, exactly as the
seer is in relationship with the seen.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam
2.5.24-25)
“Because the sky is transformed, the air is generated with the
quality of touch, and by previous succession the air is also full
of sound and the basic principles of duration of life: sense
perception, mental power and bodily strength. When the air is
transformed in course of time and nature’s course, fire is
generated, taking shape with the sense of touch and sound.
Since fire is also transformed, there is a manifestation of water,
full of juice and taste. As previously, it also has form and touch
and is also full of sound. And water, being transformed from all
variegatedness on earth, appears odorous and, as previously,
becomes qualitatively full of juice, touch, sound and form
respectively.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.26-29)
148 Discover Your Self
“From the mode of goodness the mind is generated and
becomes manifest, as also the ten demigods controlling the
bodily movements. Such demigods are known as the controller
of directions, the controller of air, the sun-god, the father of
Daksha Prajapati, the Ashwini-kumaras, the fire-god, the King
of heaven, the worshipable deity in heaven, the chief of the
Adityas, and Brahmaji, the Prajapati. All come into existence.
By the further transformation of the mode of passion, the sense
organs like ear, skin, nose, eyes, tongue, mouth, hands,
genitals, legs, and the outlet for evacuating, together with
intelligence and living energy, are all generated.” (Shrimad
Bhagavatam 2.5.30-31)
“O Narada, best of the transcendentalists, the forms of the body
cannot take place as long as these created parts, namely the
elements, senses, mind and modes of nature, are not assembled.
Thus when all these became assembled by force of the energy
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this universe certainly
came into being by accepting both the primary and secondary
causes of creation. Thus all the universes remained thousands
of aeons within the water (the Causal Ocean), and the Lord of
living beings, entering in each of them, caused them to be fully
animated.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.32-34)
What is given above is only a small section from the Maha
Purana, Shrimad Bhagavatam. There are detailed descriptions
in the Vedic literatures about the creation of the universe, its
maintenance and its destruction. In this manner the scriptures
give minutest details about things we see and even things which
we cannot see.
 150 Discover Your Self

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,

Founder Acharya of ISKCON, appeared in this world in

Appendix 3 Calcutta in 1896 on Nandotsav day, the day following

Janmastami. In his youth in 1922, he met his spiritual master,
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, who convinced him
to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge, especially in
the English language.
In 1944, he single-handedly
started Back to Godhead, an
English fortnightly magazine.
Though practically penniless,
his faith in the order of his
spiritual master took him to
New York in 1965 at the

Srila Prabhupada -
advanced age of 70. After a
year of intense struggle, in July
1966, he established the

The Ambassador of International

Krishna
Society for
Consciousness
(ISKCON) with its first centre
The Kingdom of in New York. During the next
eleven years, before his passing

GOD
away on November 14, 1977,
he undertook vigorous
preaching tours that took him round the globe fourteen times.
Under his guidance, he saw the society grow to over 108
centres. ISKCON continues to expand even now with over 600
centres all over the world. He taught the individual and the
congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna as
the topmost form of yoga and meditation and millions of people
all over the world have adopted this mantra meditation as an
integral part of their lives.
 Srila Prabhupada: The Ambassador of the Kingdom of God 151 152 Discover Your Self

In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrindavana, an

experimental Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia. In Srila Prabhupada preached that the chanting of the holy
1972 His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of names of God, especially the Hare Krishna maha mantra, is a
education in the West by founding a gurukula in Dallas, Texas. practical and powerful way to raise spiritual consciousness –
Srila Prabhupada inspired the establishment of a forum of individually and globally. He demonstrated the liberating
leading God-conscious scientists named, the Bhaktivedanta potency of mantra meditation by freeing hundreds of hippies
Institute (BI). He established international cultural centres in from self-destructive drug addictions during the period of the
Sridhama Mayapur, Vrindavana, Mumbai and other places. He counter-culture in USA in the 1960s and 1970s, a feat that was
also took India’s festivals, especially Rath-Yatra, to the West. recognized even by Western scholars and sociologists. Srila
Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution is his books - Prabhupada would stress, “Without the awakening of divine
70 authoritative renditions of ancient Indian classics, including consciousness, there is no use of crying for world peace.”
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, the most widely read edition of the Srila Prabhupada will always be remembered for the selfless
Bhagavad-Gita in English and a multi-volume commentated saintly compassion with which he gave the light of genuine
translation of the eighteen thousand verse Srimad Bhagavatam. spiritualism in the darkness of materialism. Thus he built a
Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica noted, “A C Bhaktivedanta house in which the whole world can live.
Swami astonished scholars by his prolific writing “
“Poverty means poverty of knowledge,” Srila Prabhupada
would often say. His conviction was that humanity was lacking
in spiritual knowledge, which was essential for achieving real
happiness in life. He vision therefore was that of a global East-
West synthesis, based on the proverbial blind man-lame man
story. India has the divine vision of spiritual wisdom, but is
financially crippled due to centuries of foreign exploitation and
so is like the lame man. USA has financial and technological
resources but is lacking in spiritual knowledge and so is like the
blind man. If the blind man and the lame man join forces, both
of them can reach the destination. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada
brought together Indian spiritual wisdom and American
technology to revive God consciousness all over the world
through ISKCON. With this in mind, he trained thousands of
disciples to live a life of pure spiritual principles in the modern
world.
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 154 Discover Your Self

What is VOICE?

Appendix 4 VOICE, the Vedic Oasis for the stressed mind of

modern age
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
touches the hearts and lives of children, teenagers, adolescent
youth, corporates, families. Its motto is rekindling wisdom and
reviving love.
VOICE represents 'Spiritual Sound of Vedas' 'Shabda
brahma' or 'Voicing concern'. Modern world is facing great
degradation of character, culture and values. For a sincere human
being to live a life of pure principles is a great challenge. The
'Vedic Oasis' conveys the idea that it is 'life-giving' centre in a
'stress-ridden fast-paced rat race society' that is like a desert.

Vedic Oasis for

Thus VOICE will provide a facility like an Oasis in the middle of
desert to keep oneself surcharged in remembrance of the Supreme
Lord, Sri Krishna always. The inspiration is spiritual inspiration
Inspiration, to practice devotion to God with full enthusiasm.
We have different wings of VOICE catering to the needs of

Culture & Education

different sections of society :

Children VOICE (for children between 5 yrs to 12 years),

(VOICE) Teenage Boys VOICE (for teenage boys, Age group 13 to 19),
Teenage Girls VOICE (for teenage girls, Age group 13 to 19),
Boys VOICE (for the college students, Age group 19 and above ),
Girls VOICE (for the college girls, Age group 19 and above),
Corporate VOICE (for the company-going men and women),
Senior Citizens VOICE (for members above 50 years of age)
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 155
Our Motto
The motto of VOICE is ‘Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love’.
Intellectual education influences the head and value-based
education influences the heart. In fact, education that does not
train the heart can be dangerous. If we want to build character in
our offices, homes and society, we must have the wisdom to live a
principle-centered life based on honesty, compassion, courage,
responsibility etc. Steven Muller, President, Johns Hopkins
University said : “Universities are turning out highly skilled
barbarians because we don’t provide a framework of values to
young people, who more and more are searching for it.” Winston
Churchill said, “The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom,
not trade; character, not technicalities.” Educated persons are
those who can choose wisely and courageously under any
circumstances between good and bad, between virtuousness and
vulgarities regardless of the academic degrees they have. The
goal of VOICE is to rekindle the innate wisdom about meaning
and purpose of life.
Peter R.Schemm in his book entitled, ‘Love: Impact on
Physical and Mental Health’ explains that people who live in
relationships in which they do not feel loved, protected, happy or
secure are ten times more susceptible to chronic disease and five
time more susceptible to mental illness. Also studies prove that
love heals diseases. Community, security, protection, sharing,
care and concern for one another – all these are possible only
when people learn to lead a selfless God-centered life. Such a life
awakens the dormant love in our hearts that manifests as respect
for elders, compassion for the youngers, friendliness towards
equals, surrender to the laws of God that matures as love for God
and towards all.
156 Discover Your Self
Objectives
1. Creating a class of people of high character and competence.
2. Saving teenagers from self-destructive habits.
3. Creating communities for counseling and growth in self-
excellence skills as well as spirituality.
4. Use Arts, Culture, Music and Media to propagate the message
of Wisdom literatures.
5. Creating a class of people who respect, trust and love each
other, living as vehicles of wisdom.
6. Use talents for propagating love of God and love for all,
through the divine Voice of God.
7. Distributing spiritual literature at subsidized prices.
8. Training in Science of God, etiquettes and behaviour, prayer
and practices, practical services to God.
Specialised training for children, teenagers, youths
and corporates
Children VOICE
Advisors : Radheshyam das, Radhika devi dasi,
Hemangigopi devi dasi
Co-ordinators : Rasasundari devi dasi,
Krishnakishore das,
Assistant Co-ordinators : Ramananda das, Parthahari das,
Yashodarani devi dasi,
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 157 158 Discover Your Self

Children are trained craze ends in self-

in story telling, creative destructive addictions,
exercises, singing, depression, failure in
dancing, dramas, academics or social
painting, sloka responsibilities,
recitation, fancy dress psychological traumatic
competition, etc. There experiences often ending in
are books exclusively suicide. Our programs are
published for these oriented to train them in
children like ‘Getting to know Krishna’ ‘Wonderful Krishna’ etc patience, maturity, self
that are taught by expertly trained teachers to imbibe good control, clean habits, tolerance, respect for elders, meditation to
samskars -- character and values in children. There are quarterly calm the raging mind etc. The teenagers perform skits, sing, play
‘Balotsav’ programs where these children get opportunity to instruments, join the spiritual dance, meditate and go for spiritual
display their talents through drama, art, singing, dancing, picnics. They also learn public speaking, studying effectively,
performances, display booths – that is open for thousands of developing concentration and avoid bad habits.
visitors. During summer vacations, special children camps are
organized for fun and learning experience of the children. There Boys VOICE
are over ten children VOICEs all over Pune that operate once a
Director : Radheshyam das, M.Tech. IIT, Powai
week for a couple of hours, generally in the week end. Generally
Board of Co-ordinators :
about 25 children attend each of these programs. The course
AcharyaRatna das,B.E.Comp, 9434047299
registration generally starts from June.
Bal Govind das, B.E. Mech., 9325502474
Shyamrupa das, B.E. Mech. 9422079881
Teenage Boys VOICE Ram Priya das, MBBS, (MD), 9373322501

Publications and Sales

Advisors : Govinda prabhu (Chowpatty),
Manager :
Radheshyam das, Caitanya Charan das
Krishnakishore das, M.E.
Co-ordinators : Tulsi das, Varadaraj das
Comp., Asst Prof, VIT college.
09822451260
Modern teenagers are attacked by the money thirsty media
Boys VOICE has been
programs that impel them to buy costly mobiles, bikes, sports
preaching to youth community
shoes, pants and wears etc. The movies present perverted themes
since 1996 and over 10,000
and cause teenagers to indulge in drugs and drinks, smoking and
students have participated in
sex-partners – considering themselves ‘free birds’. But all this
different courses. Boys VOICE
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 159 160 Discover Your Self

also has over a dozen youth hostels across the country close to the Mantra Meditation
colleges like IITKGP, NITWarrangal, NITSuratkal, • Modern man filled with fear, tension, anger, defensive attitude
NITJamshedpur, BVPCOE, Pune, SIT, Pune etc for offering the etc leading to stress.
following training program to empower the modern youth. • The adrenaline hormone secretion leads to disorders like
Personality Development and Character Build Up indigestion, back pain, blood pressure rise etc.
• Training the students in the application of philosophy, values • Mantra Meditation is a powerful tool to alleviate stress and
and principles in their personal life. attain peace of mind.
• Rising early, sleeping early, morning mantra meditation, GD • It provides one inner strength, patience, tolerance, vigor,
and interactions confidence, power to make decisions etc.
• Training in etiquettes, manners and proper behavior to be • VOICE Students regularly perform mantra meditation and lead
followed while living in society. cheerful stress-free lives.
• Training in dealing with equals, juniors, seniors, elders in the Topping in Academics
family, parents, teachers. • Spirituality and Academics are given equal importance for
• Training in integrity, truthfulness, simplicity, trustworthiness, VOICE students.
non-envy, maturity, humility etc • During JAN/FEB/MAR and APR/MAY/JUN, the students
• Training in self-excellence skills like giving presentations, study 10-13-16 hours per week.
conflict resolution, empathic listening etc • They fill Study cards and report to their Counselors for perusal
Yoga, Meditation and Nutritious Diet and subsequent instruction.
• Vibrant health, peaceful mind, and satisfying loving • The alumni student or professor devotees help the younger
relationships are essential for a life of quality. students by coaching.
• People poison their digestive tract with meat, alcohol,drugs, • For a devotee student, his college studies are not material. It is
sleeping pills and junk-food. Krishna’s service.
• The purpose of food is to increase Public Speaking and Discussion (PSD)
the duration of life, purify the • Students are trained how to deliver lecture presentations.
mind and aid bodily strength. • They are taught to face challenges from the audience without
• At VOICE, the students get losing temper.
Prasadam, sanctified • They are assessed on the basis of ten criteria and room for
lactovegetarian sanctified diet. It improvements are offered to them.
is wholesome, nutritious, • A seasoned preacher gives clarifies all the lingering
satisfying and nourishing to body misconceptions.
and soul.
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Team Playing and Synergising
• Group Discussion Camps (GDC) teaches the students to work
cooperatively in a team.
• They learn to value others opinions, to pool up the talents of
many, to be confident etc.
• They prepare one of their team members to give a
presentation, make a display, put up a skit etc.
Devotional Qualifications
• They are trained in cooking, cleaning, washing, worshiping,
performing arati,
• singing, playing instruments like mridanga, kartals, harmonium,
• purchasing things from market, handling accounts, managing
different departments like kitchen, etc.
• This foundational training is greatly helpful now and in the
future.
Personal Care and Counseling
• Every VOICE student has a Counselor who acts in his life as a
Philosopher, Friend and Guide.
• He answers the student’s questions and shares his experiences.
• He helps him tackle physical, mental, and spiritual problems
and trains him to face future challenges.
• The counselees fill up a sadhana card that acts as a report card
filled up by the candidate.
• The Counselor-counselee meetings are held fortnightly or
monthly to bring about a family atmosphere..
• There are committees that extend their help — marriage
bureau, placement committee, etc.
Preaching Activities
One-time slide show seminars like ‘Stress Management’
‘Time Management’ for awareness.
161 162 Discover Your Self
Bring out THE LEADER in you’ Course trains the youth in
Character and Competence skills. It is meant to be a credit
course prescribed by any college for grooming their students
in values and ethics.
Six-session slide show course called ‘Discover Your Self’ for
learning basics of spirituality.
Weekly Study Circles Three courses each lasting for 4
months are offered for the Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE and
Corporate VOICE members -- ‘Spiritual scientist’, ‘Positive
Thinker’, ‘Self Manager’
Advanced courses : Those who complete the above can join
‘Proactive leader’ and ‘Personality Development’ courses.
Beyond this one is eligible to join the ‘Bhakti Sastri’ course.
Weekend meeting on Saturday evening is open for all boys
between 17 to 30 years of age. It is a gathering addressed by
special speakers on themes relating to modern world and
solution from Vedas.
Cultural Activities: Dramas, Nam rock, Debates, Music, Dance
and Spiritual Camps and picnics.
Prerana Youth Festival : The Boys VOICE organizes a monthly
special youth festival for girls called ‘PRERANA’ where over a
thousand boys participate in program consisting of a seminar,
kirtans, dancing and Prasadam. Special eminent speakers are
invited for this program.
(Teenage) Girls VOICE
Advisors : Radhika devi dasi, Vishaka devi dasi,
Kishori devi dasi (Mumbai),
Radheshyam das, Jaigopal prabhu
Co-ordinators : Anangamohini devi dasi, Vidya patham,
Brajavallabhi devi dasi Yugalapriya devi dasi.
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 163 164 Discover Your Self

The teenage boys Objectives of Girls VOICE

and girls are trained
Training girls to
separately by male and
• Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for
female teachers
chanting, hearing and seva
respectively. As the
• Values like Overcoming Greed, Anger, Depression, Fear,
psychology of boys and
Inferiority complex
girls are different their
training programs are • Perform devotional
also made suitable to activities like offering
their needs. Woman has puja, maintaining
a vital role to play in any family, in the life of her husband, deity, making garland,
children, and in laws and others. It is said that the hand that pure habits etc
moves the cradle can make or mar the world. Great leaders have • Cultural activities like
had great mothers. Keeping this in view, the girls are trained in singing, playing
various activities to become a ideal wife, a loving mother and a instruments, cooking,
chaste and exemplary housemaker to benefit home, nation and all put rangoli etc.
humanity. • Live a life of chastity, character, modesty, simplicity and
similar values
Objectives of Teenage Girls VOICE • Learn to be a ideal wife, mother, daughter-in-law, -in-law etc
Training girls to • Dealing with guests, elders, family members and others
• Learn Values like politeness, truthfulness, being prayerful, • Learn to celebrate festivals at home
love in action, positive attitude etc • Teaching Children VOICE students
• Learn Self-Excellence skills like Power of Habits etc
• Understand the importance of Dos and Don’ts The Girls VOICE organizes a quarterly special youth festival
• Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for for girls called ‘CHETANA’ where hundreds of girls participate in
chanting, hearing and seva program consisting of a seminar, kirtans, dancing and Prasadam.
• Learn the danger of free mixing, glamour, romance, blue film Special eminent speakers are invited for this program.
watching, internet and media etc. Their special activities are :
• Developing Good habits, behaviour, friendships with fellow • Seminars like ‘Role of woman in Vedic society’ by senior
devotees etc. ladies
• Sloka recitation from BG chapters 7, 9 and 12 • Group presentations on topic of “Six anarthas”,
• Assisting in Children VOICE teaching • Doing Arati to the Lord,
• Candle making and Pots decoration,
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 165 166 Discover Your Self

• Garland making to their health in personal life and leads to loss of efficiency,
• Singing Bhajans and Kirtans, cleavage in relationships, etc in professional life. Corporate
• Cooking recipes, VOICE offers seminars and courses to help them learn :
• Slide show presentations
• Outdoor spiritual picnics and camps • To bring balance between personal and professional life.
• How to achieve peace of mind to focus on their duties
One of the satellite centers of Pune Girls VOICE is at NIT properly.
Warrangal run by a devotee professor’s wife. • Unique techniques to eliminate stress and negativity.
• Simple tips to resolve inner conflicts and improve physical and
Corporate VOICE mental health.
• Changing attitude and outlook to life for converting distress to
Corporate Preaching Board members eustress.
Chairman - Radheshyam das • Meditation techniques to go beyond depression and avoid
Executive Chairman - Vamshi Vadan das hypertension
Executive Vice-Chairman (CFP) • Developing calm, clear and creative thinking.
- Anantashesh das (mobile: 9850 881105) • Secret of Happiness and improving performance.
Executive Vice-Chairman (CYP)
- Gopal Champu das (mobile: 9325 070111) We have three types of programs to cater to the needs of
Executive Secretary (CFP) - Amit Relkar corporate people :
Executive Secretary (CYP) - Revati Pati das
Lead Trainer - Bala Govinda das 1. Corporate Family Programs (CFP) - Age group: after marriage
2. Corporate Youth Programs (CYP) - Age group 22 to 30
In today’s fast 3. Company Seminars and Workshops (CSW)
paced and competitive organised by the company
corporate world, the
executives, managers 1. CFP (Corporate Family Program) – These weekly programs
and team leaders are conducted in the following areas: Range hills ( Atharva ),
usually have more Prabhat Road, Wanowrie, Wanowrie ( Sacred Heart Town ),
mental work than Camp, Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Wakad, Lullanagar,
physical which gives Salisbury Park, Kothrud, Aundh, Magarpatta city, Viman Nagar,
rise to many stress Pashan
born diseases like
hypertension, etc and
thus cause a great loss
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 167 168 Discover Your Self

2. CYP (Corporate Youth Program) – These programs are 11. Fate and Free will
intended for unmarried corporate youths. Over 20 such programs 12. Karma – the Law of Infallible justice
are held in the weekends, mostly at the temple. 13. Key to Real Happiness
14. Conflict Resolution
3. YOGA (Youth Of Gods Abode) are Corporate VOICE youth
15. Eight Qualities of an Effective Leader
hostels where working youths live together in software park areas
16. Managing our Anger
and practice Krishna consciousness. Contact Gopal Champu
17. Self Development (flowing of consciousness)
prabhu (9325 070111) for more details.
18. Personality development and Character buildup
4. Company Seminars and Workshops – Seminars such as 19. Proactive Leadership
‘Stress Management’ ‘Time Management’ involving 20. Art of Living and Leaving
presentations and activities lasting for about three hours are held
in various companies in and around Pune. We have already # All the seminars are designed for a duration of approx 3 hrs
conducted programs in Finolex (170 delegates), Tech Mahindra session, making it concise & convenient for corporates to squeeze
(Formerly know as MBT for 140 delegates), Concentric (top 12 in their working hours or to make it after office hrs also.
managers attended), Hotel Sagar Plaza (40 delegates) and Zensar ## These modules also offer great flexibility & could be
(20 delegates). “tailor-made” to suit an organization’s particular needs.
‘Bring out the LEADER in you’ Seminars on Leadership For more details you may contact our Executive Vice
For Corporates -- Overview Chairman, Mr.Anant (mobile: 9881401814).

VOICE offers seminars on topics given below. The pocket

books on all these topics is in pipe line and likely to be completed
before the end of this year.
Seminars :
1. Stress Management
2. Time Management
3. Art of Self Management
4. Power of Habits
5. Secret of Concentration
6. Mind your Mind
7. Positive mental attitude
8. Team playing and winning trust of others
9. Overcoming Inferiority complex
10. Constructive criticism – How to give it or take it?
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
References
1. Bhagavad-gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Ishopanishad and other
books by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivadanta Swami
Prabhupada.
2. Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness, H. H. Bhaktisvarupa
Damodar Maharaj.
3. Elements of Vedic Thought, H.H. Satsvarupa Das Goswami.
4. Consciousness the Missing Link, Bhaktivedanta Institute.
5. Enlightenment by the Natural Path, H.H. Hridayanand
Goswami.
6. Science and Nescience, Vol.1 No.1 February 1993, Dr. P.V.
Krishnan (Prof, Dept of Applied Mechanics, IIT, Delhi).
7. Life – How did it get here?, International Bible Students
Association.
8. Forbidden Archeology, Michael Cremo & Richard L
Thompson .
9. Origins – Higher Dimensions in Science, Bhaktivedanta
Institute, ISKCON, Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Bombay
10. Darwin’s Secret Identity, David Webb.
11. The Spiritual Scientist, No. 2 Vol. 3, Scientific Evidences for
the Existence of the Soul, ISKCON Youth Forum, Pune.
12. Scientific Evidence for the Existence of Soul, Benitto Rees.
169 170 Discover Your Self
VOICE Publications
Spirituality for the Modern Youth
This series explains systematically and scientifically how
spiritual life is for the truly intelligent - those who want the best in
life. An eye opener for those who think that spirituality is the
resort of sentimentalists, escapists and oldies.
Discover Your Self: Make the one discovery that
can fill your life with happiness forever: Who am
I?
57 pictures, soft bound, 192 pages
(For preachers who want to use Discover Your
Self as a course book for youth, we also have:
84 attractive colour slides - both hard & soft
copies
Audio tapes for all sessions)
Your Best Friend: Can you understand and
develop a relation with the one Supreme Truth that
stands eternally beyond all barriers of caste, creed,
colour, nationality and religion? Your Best Friend is
the key to a scientific understanding of God.
62 pictures, soft bound, 336 pages
Your Secret Journey: Modern scientists, humbled
in their attempts to create a humanoid robot, are
wondering how a human being is different from a
robot. Is there a spiritual paradigm to explain the
mystery of life? Scientific proof of past life
memories shows that we survive after death. In
fact, we go through a journey from one body to
another until we attain perfection. Your Secret
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
Journey explains the secret of action that can free us from all
problems.
86 pictures, soft bound, 322 pages
Victory Over Death: Everyone has to face death
one day. Although you cannot avoid death, you
can conquer it. Victory Over Death explains how
to cultivate life so that you can die triumphantly.
97 pictures, Soft bound, 532 pages
Yoga of Love: The highest form of yoga is
simultaneously simple, sublime and safe.
Moreover it is full of love and joy. Empower
yourself with the Yoga of Love (Coming soon)
Pocket Books
Stress Management : Stress is neither a germ
nor a bacteria to be treated by antibiotics. It is
your outlook to life, a problem of the mind that
needs a holistic solution at the level of body,
mind, intellect and soul. Read this book for
practical tips to tackle the stress problem.
How to Harness Mind Power?: What is the
mind? How does it operate? Can I use it to my
advantage to do positive things in life? Find out
in the Art of Mind Control. 19 pictures, 48 pages
Audio tape and colour slides (hard and soft
copies) also available
171 172 Discover Your Self
Practical Tips to Mind Control: What should
you do when the whole world appears to have
come to an end - everyone appears an enemy,
providence appears cruel, the future appears bleak
and life appears not worth living? Open the doors
to a new life full of joy by applying the Practical
Tips to Mind Control.
10 pictures, 88 pages
Can I Live Forever? A concise pocket book that
gives a scientific understanding of life and death.
It also explains an easy and effective way to end
all suffering and attain an eternal, happy life. Read
and empower yourself to control your present and
determine your future. 12 pictures, 54 pages
Misdirected Love: One out of every three love
marriages in the West ends in divorce within three
years of marriage. Why? Love - What exactly is it?
Love is an emotion that promises to bring the
highest happiness but often brings the greatest
pain. Read Misdirected Love and find new
direction to your love and life.
9 pictures, 48 pages
Other Books
Horizon: A compilation of selected Spiritual
Scientist articles. Contains scientific findings
about spirituality & health, systematic answers to
the fundamental questions of life and spiritual
solutions to contemporary problems. 100 pages,
soft bound
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)
The Spiritual Scientist - Selected Newspaper Articles:
Make your daily breaks spiritually refreshing!
During Tea break, Lunch break, Travel …
Browse these brief and Power-packed Articles
Published in
• Times of India, The Speaking Tree
• Maharashtra Herald, The Soul Curry
• Deccan Chronicle, Festival Message
And rediscover the missing spiritual dimension of
life. The memorable examples, the soothing
language, the eloquent words, the convincing
logic, all add spice to the refresher.
Essence of Bhagavad-gita: A condensed version
of the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series.
Now the same book is going to appear in a easy-to-
handle course book format in 5 Courses with the
following titles :
1. Spiritual Scientist (Discover Your Self)
2. Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad-gita)
3. Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad-gita)
4. Proactive Leader (Secret of Bhagavad-gita)
5. Personality development (Essence of Bhagavad-gita)
Bhagavad-gita 7-Day Course: Brief point-wise notes for
conducting 7 day course on the Bhagavad-gita. Spiral bound, 100
pages
Youth Preaching Manual: A practical and detailed guidebook on
how to present the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita to the youth.
13 colour photos, spiral bound, 127 pages
173 174 Discover Your Self
Value Education: Vital values for teenagers and children
explained lucidly through Vedic stories, modern anecdotes and
everyday examples.
Smiling Faces Crying Hearts: Concise Spiritual
Scientist articles exposing superficial modern
civilization & glorifying timeless Vedic wisdom.
Children’s Books
These books were conceived to help children understand and
appreciate the timeless wisdom and culture of Vedas. You will
find stories, songs, scripts for dramas and puppet shows, and art
and craft activities that thrill the children. The books offer
thought-provoking quizzes that relate to their practical day-to-day
life.
My first Krishna Book: The child's first
introduction to Krishna. Read-aloud rhymes and
attractive pictures to colour. 24 pictures, 22 pages
Getting to know Krishna: Children are naturally
curious. Their little minds want to explore the
world around them. Who is God? Why do we go
to the temple? Nurture your child's interest and
help him take his first steps in discovering Krishna
Consciousness. 124 pictures, 47 pages
 Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) 175 176 Discover Your Self

More about Krishna: Lead the child into the

amazing world of Krishna 's pastimes. Enjoyable
activities and thought provoking discussions
enliven the children and help them to inculcate
good values. 187 pictures, 85 pages

Devotees of Krishna: Packed with stories, dramas

and poems, this book will appeal to older children.
Many basic concepts are made clear through
games, discussions and activities. 86 pictures, 76
pages

Wonderful Krishna: Exciting adventures of

Krishna, the protector of His devotees. Group
projects and comprehension exercises suitable for
the growing child. Many fun filled activities add to
their enjoyment.
82 pictures, 76 pages.

Krishna's Childhood Pastimes: Sweet and

simple description of Krishna's childhood
pastimes. Plus exciting activity sheets important
Bhagavad-gita verses, prayers, Vaishnava songs
and Vaishnava etiquette.
 Course Offered by VOICE
Appendix
Courses offered by
VOICE
Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love
177 178 Discover Your Self
Courses offered by VOICE common to
5 Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE & Corporate
VOICE
Essence of Bhagavad gita
Five short-term Certificate courses
Through Weekly Study Circle
Course books:
1. ‘Essence of Bhagavad-gita’ five courses series, for
‘Siddhanta’ or philosophy
2. Vaishnava Etiquette Manual published by ISKCON,
Shri Shri Radha Gopinath mandir, Near Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, 7, K.M.Munshi marg, Chowpatty,
Mumbai-400 007 Phone: (022) 2369 7228,
rgsevaka@vsnl.net
3. ‘Devotional Practice’ and ‘Vaishnava Culture’,
Introductory Course Student Handbook, Contact:
Sita Rama prabhu, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Hilfield
Lane, Aldenham, Watford WD25 8EZ, U.K.
I. Spiritual scientist (Discover Your Self)
Duration: 3 weeks, weekly twice
The course helps one to scientifically discover
one’s real identity and one’s relationship with the
Supreme. A material scientist knows only the
atom; a spiritual scientist knows the soul, which is
spiritual. This knowledge helps him find goal,
mission and vision of life.
.
 Course Offered by VOICE 179 180 Discover Your Self

1. Introduction to Bhagavad gita

Sadhana and Sadachar topics
2. Material problems, Spiritual solutions
1. Practical Devotional Service
3. Getting the eyes of Knowledge 2. Etiquette within the Temple
4. Vedas – the privelege of Humanity 3. Habits and Behavior
5. Science of Soul 4. Four Regulative Principles
6. Different platforms of Worship 5. The Four Don’ts to Freedom

Sadhana and Sadachar topics
--------- NIL ------------
II. Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 4 months, weekly once
III. Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 6 months, weekly once
This course teaches not the art of managing men,
machine, material, market and money, but
managing ones own life by a holistic approach
that combines knowledge of God’s position and
practical application of mantra meditation.

This course helps one with the Positive spirit 1. Peace Formula
needed to tap the powerful message of Gita. It 2. Who should be the object of my worship?
helps one to identify a divine guide in your life 3. God and gods
and to obtain the necessary qualifications to 4. Is God Personal or impersonal ?
become a cheerful positive thinker in life by 5. The Art of Self Management
knowing the sublime truths.
Sadhana and Sadachar topics
1. Identifying my divine guide 1. Hearing and Chanting
2. Deity Worship
2. Spirit of Bhagavad gita 3. Tulasi Worship
3. Qualifications of an ideal Disciple 4. Learning Meaning of Morning program Songs
4. Reincarnation – fact or fiction? 5. Holy Days
5. Evolving towards Perfection 6. Serving and Honoring Prasadam
7. Dress and Appearance
8. Missionary Activities
9. Dealing with Parents, Relatives and Friends
 Course Offered by VOICE
IV. Proactive Leader
(Secret of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 6 months, weekly once
This course prepares one to become a Proactive
Leader. All of us at some moments or the other,
become victims to anger, lust and pride and feel
sorry for our un-exemplary behaviour. The
Proactive Leader is a thoughtful person who gives
a positive spiritual response, by knowing what is
illusion opposed to reality and the resultant effects
of all types of action.
1. The three ropes that bind us
2. Surpassing Maya
3. Our lost home – Kingdom of God
4. Karma – the law of infallible justice
Sadhana and Sadachar topics :
1. ISKCON’s Cultural Identity and its
connection to the Vedas
2. Varnasrama Dharma
3. Ethics and Morality
4. Sadhana
5. Position of women in Vedic culture
6. Relating to Devotees with Due
Respect
181 182 Discover Your Self
V. Personality Development
(Essence of Bhagavad gita)
Duration: 6 months, weekly once
Personality development is not a superficial
change. We are generally covered over
superficially by our acquired qualities like
Experiences, Abilities, Memories, Learning, Habits
and Beliefs etc. But the innate qualities of the
soul like Peace, Love, Truth, Happiness, Humility,
Tolerance are hidden. When we awaken the
innate qualities of the soul, they come out in the 4
R’s of our life-- in the various Roles that we have
to play, the different Routines that we go through,
the Responsibilities we have to shoulder, and the
various Relationships that we care for. The innate
qualities are brought out when one’s personality is
truly developed.
1. Essence of Bhagavad gita
2. Creation and Universal Time
3. Different types of Yoga system
4. Practical Application of Bhagavad gita
5. Passing the Final Exam
Sadhana and Sadachar topics :
1. Relating to Seniors, Juniors and Peers
2. Three levels of Devotees
3. Dealings with Guests
4. Offenses to the Vaishnava
5. Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee
 Course Offered by VOICE 183

Method of Evaluation and Reward

1) The marking will be done as follows :

• 50% weightage for the marks obtained from

EBG Course Quiz, BG As It Is Quiz, Story Quiz,
etc.
• 30% weightage for the Final Exam
• 20% for Practical lifestyle and behavior,
Attendance, Punctuality and Participation in the
weekly classes

2) Certificates could be issued based on the

following criteria:

Passing marks : 60%,

Distinction : 80% and above
Honors : 90% and above,
High Honors : 95% and above

Candidates who get 60% and above will

receive a Certificate of Recognition.

* * * * *