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Among the 64 limbs of devotional practices, there are five main limbs of that which can award one love of God. They are: associating with devotees, studying Srimad Bhagavatam, chanting the holy name of Sri Krishna, worshipping His form and residing in a holy place. The power of these five limbs cannot be estimated.

Srimad Bhagavatam says, “By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”

The Srimad Bhagavatam is considered to be the cream of the Vedic literatures. After composing the Vedas, the Vedantas, the Upanisads and many other literatures, Srila Vyasadev was still not satisfied. He felt incomplete although he had spent much time revealing everything. Then his spiritual master, Srila Narada Muni came to him and advised him to write something that would glorify exclusively Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

That’s when the Srimad Bhagavatam came. This literature is about the incarnations of the Lord and there is the tenth canto that is exclusively dedicated to the pastimes of Sri Krishna. As described in the verse above: loving service is obtained just by listening to the narration of this transcendental literature.

Deity worship helps establish the sambandha jnana, the relationship, with the Lord. From there one learns how to work in that relationship to please the Lord so that the goal can be reached, which is love of God.

Text 8 of the Nectar Of Instruction: “The essence of all advice is that one should utilize one’s full time - twenty-four hours a day - in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind. In this way one should reside in Vraja and serve Krishna under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to His devotional service.”

Living in a holy place is very auspicious. Not everyone can find a proper holy place outside India. In this case one can make the home a holy place. By deity worship and by making everything centered on the deity in the house, the residence becomes a holy place.

Associating with devotees: Unless one associates with those of the same mind frame or with those more advanced than him, he cannot make advancement in spiritual life. The scriptures emphasize so much on this principle. Association is what nourishes the bhakti of the aspirant. Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita 10.9, “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”

And the most important of all, the essence is chanting Hare Krishna. Lord Chaitanya appeared on this earth to inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name and through this chanting He distributed love of God indiscriminately to everyone. There are millions of verses from scriptures emphasizing the importance of the Holy Name.

Srila Rupa Goswami says in Nectar Of Instruction, text 8, “The essence of all advice is that one should utilize one’s full time - twenty-four hours a day - in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind” and in text 7 he says, “The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Krishna are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidya [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root.”

Therefore we should all endeavor to follow these five main principles very strictly to achieve the goal, love of God.

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In the words of the Lord, everything that is connected to Him is real whereas things acting independently of Him are unreal. Modern culture is also of the same nature since people are working independently and most of the people in this age are atheists. Such a culture is eventually leading us to destruction. There is nobody in this modern culture whom we can regard as an example to follow so that future generations can benefit from the activities of such a person.

An academic is seen as great when he defeats the philosophy or conclusion of another academic. Same with the politicians as they always bring changes or try to achieve something different from the others that were around before. There is no harmony. Therefore from whom do we learn? Whose path to follow? Socrates was ostracized for believing in the existence of God.

On the other hand we have the Vedic civilization. The western culture exerts a big influence on India. Even when the British were ruling they knew that unless they told the Indian that their culture were barbarian they would never be able to manipulate them. But 2500-5000 years ago the civilization was Vedic. When we read the scriptures, we see how the ancient people lived and then we apply it according to time, place and circumstance. It works because it has substance.

In some parts of India people still follow the rules and duties of the social and spiritual orders of living called the “varnashrama” system. The priests and councilors would follow the ways of the Brahmins, the rulers would follow the ways of the previous kshatriyas, the mercantile people and traders would follow the path of the vaishyas and the labourers would act like the sudras did. Somehow or other there is always a model to follow and all the information needed is found in the scriptures. Even the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians applied it to some extent while they ruled countries and it worked for them. The Aryans ruled the world perfectly according to scriptures and by following in the footsteps of their predecessors. In that way there was much advancement in civilization.

Nowadays the civilization can be compared to that of the cats and dogs, where there is a mess at every step. The world is definitely moving forward in terms of technology. Some important inventions are there such as medical apparatus; weather forecast systems, etc. While at the same time billions of dollars is being spent to send shuttles to space to take pictures and bring back dust from other planets. Billions of dollars is spent on military forces and war. Much better work could be done with such money. Not much is being done to preserve the world. How low can it go? There will be a point where the world will react in forms like tsunamis, heavy earthquake and other calamities.

If we just pause for a while and look around us, acknowledge our greed for power and enjoyment; and think how to make the world look positive and well, things would go on smoothly.

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The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan were the people who revived Vrindavan. Rupa and Sanatana were direct disciples of Sri Chaitanya and they compiled literatures based on the teachings they received from Him. The other goswamis also were disciples of Sri Chaitanya with the exception of Jiva who was initiated by his uncle, Rupa Goswami. Sanatana was accepted by the inhabitants of Vrindavan as their Guru.

The Goswamis are famous for their devotional literatures, their staunch practices and renunciation, their establishing of temples, and their discoveries of deities. They also spent a lot of time going around Vrindavan to find the lost places of pastimes connected with Radha, Krishna and the inhabitants of Vrindavan. They rediscovered those places according to the description in the Srimad Bhagavatam and as detailed by Sukadev Goswami, son of Vyasadev. Although they had renounced everything and had no material wealth in their possession, the Goswamis inspired rich people to build temples for the pleasure of the Lord. These temples are a major attraction to this day for pilgrims. The Goswamis had such spiritual power and influence in people’s lives that they were loved by everyone. They had no private lives. They gave themselves fully for the benefits of society.

In Srila Prabhupada’s words: “There were six great Gosvamis of Vrindavana–Srila Rupa, Sanatana, Bhatta Raghunatha, Sri Jiva, Gopala Bhatta and Dasa Raghunatha–and none of them inherited the title of gosvami. All the Gosvamis of Vrindavana were bona fide spiritual masters situated on the highest platform of devotional service, and for that reason they were called gosvamis. All the temples of Vrindavana were certainly started by the six Gosvamis. Later the worship in the temples was entrusted to some householder disciples of the Gosvamis, and since then the hereditary title of gosvami has been used. However, only one who is a bona fide spiritual master expanding the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Krishna consciousness movement, and who is in full control of his senses can be addressed as a gosvami. Unfortunately, the hereditary process is going on; therefore at the present moment, in most cases the title is being misused due to ignorance of the word’s etymology.

Those who have gone to Vrindavana have seen the temple of Radha-Madana-mohana. That was established by Sanatana Gosvami, the first disciple of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Rupa Gosvami established the Govindaji’s temple, and the Jiva Gosvami established Radha-Damodara temple. Gopal Bhatta Gosvami established Radha-Ramana temple. In this way, in Vrindavana there are seven temples believed to have been established by the Gaudiya-sampradaya, Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya.

Later on, many big kings and zamindars (landlords) also established many big temples. And altogether there are five thousand temples in a small city like Vrindavana, and thousands of men go to see the Deities in every temple almost every day, and especially during the four months Sravana, Bhadra, Asvina, and Karttika (July, August, September, and October). So Vrindavana is always crowded with lots and lots of pilgrims. Anyone who goes there will immediately feel spiritual consciousness.

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The Yamuna is a major tributary of the Ganga in northern India. Actually it is the main tributary. It is around 1400 kilometers long and therefore it is the longest tributary of the Ganga. According to sacred scriptures, the Yamuna is said to be the sister of the Ganga and that both of them descended from the spiritual world to purify the material creation. Like the Ganga, the Yamuna also has a personified form.

The source is found at a place called Saptarishi kund in the Himalayan glaciers. It is 12 kilometers above Yamunotri, on the mountains. Its course starts from Yamunotri and then it flows to Delhi, Vrindavan (the sacred land of Krishna), Mathura, Agra and finally merges with the Ganga and the invisible Saraswati at Prayag. Some say that its source is at Yamunotri, which is north of Haridwar in the Himalayan Mountains. The Yamuna is also a major “path” for transporting goods by boats to different parts of the northern parts of India.

The Yamuna came from the spiritual world to assist Lord Krishna in His pastimes 5000 years ago. During the several centuries, the Yamuna has been changing her course from time to time. Some say that she moves according to the will of the Lord. She is connected to many important pastimes of Lord Krishna. Many great sages and poets glorified her immensely for she is able to liberate one from the cycle of birth and death. Her water is considered to be the liquid form of the love of God.

The Yamuna and the Ganga are considered as the two most sacred rivers in India. We read in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.19.6): “As far as sanctity is concerned, the River Yamuna is more directly connected with Lord Krishna than the Ganga. The Lord sanctified the Yamuna from the beginning of His transcendental pastimes in the world. While His father Vasudeva was crossing the Yamuna with baby Lord Krishna for a safe place at Gokula on the other bank of the river from Mathura, the Lord fell down in the river, and by the dust of His lotus feet the river at once became sanctified.”

It is said that a dip in her waters is more purifying than in the Ganga. This is because the Ganga emanates from the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu whereas the Yamuna’s glories are far greater in the sense that she was the field for many pastimes of Lord Krishna. The Lord played in her water, drank her water and awarded her numerous benedictions. This is just a glimpse of her glories.

The Yamuna has been flowing by the Kesi Ghat since the ancient times. Kesi Ghat is the place where Krishna killed the Kesi demon. By coming in contact with her water, one is relieved of sinful reactions and the contamination of this world. In course of time, the person will attain the love of God and at the end of life he will go back to the spiritual kingdom, never to take birth again.

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Purana means stories or histories of ancient times. There are several subject matters in the puranas and they are classified into five sections. Their five sections are history, cosmology, secondary creation, genealogy of kings, and of Manvantaras or Manus. The Puranas are part of the Itihasas.

The Puranas were written to popularize the religion of the Vedas. They contain the essence of the Vedas. The aim of the Puranas is to impress on the minds of the masses the teachings of the Vedas and to generate in them devotion to God, through concrete examples, myths, stories, legends, lives of saints, kings and great men, allegories, and chronicles of great historical events. The sages made use of these things to illustrate the eternal principles of religion. The Puranas were meant, not for the scholars, but for the ordinary people who could not understand high philosophy and who could not study the Vedas.

Each purana gives prominence to a particular deity and therefore places all others on a subservient position. There are stories in the puranas to further explain the application of religion in life and to emphasize the importance of injunctions.

The Srimad Bhagavata Purana describes at length the appearance and activities of the ten main incarnations of Krishna. Other incarnations are also mentioned where necessary. The avatars appear to re-establish religious principles, to destroy those promoting irreligious life, and to enjoy pastimes with Their devotees. The ten Avatars are: Matsya (The Fish), Kurma (The Tortoise), Varaha (The Boar), Narasimha (The Man-Lion), Vamana (The Dwarf), Parasurama (Rama with the axe, the destroyer of the Kshatriya race), Ramachandra (the hero of the Ramayana who destroyed Ravana), Sri Balarama (brother of Sri Krishna), Buddha (the prince-ascetic, founder of Buddhism), and Kalki (the hero riding on a white horse, who is to come at the end of the Kali-Yuga).

Matsya saved Vaivasvata Manu and the Vedas when the waters of destruction overflowed the universe. Kurma used His shell as a pivot when the demigods and demons agreed to churn the ocean of milk to get the nectar of immortality. Varaha saved the world from the ocean below the universe by holding it on His tusk, when the world was thrown there by the demon Hiranyaksha. Narasimha appeared to save His devotee Prahlad from the oppression of his father, the demon Hiranyakashipu. Vamana appeared to trick King Bali by asking him some charity. Bali conquered the universe and Vamana restored it to the possession of the demigods.

Parasurama appeared to rid the world of the irreligious kshatriya kings. Parasurama destroyed the kshatriya race twenty-one times. Rama destroyed Ravana, who kidnapped His chaste wife Sita. Sri Balarama appeared to help Sri Krishna and removed the burden of the world by killing Kamsa and many other demons and kings. He also helped to re-establish religious principles and assisted Krishna to deliver the message of the Bhagavad Gita. Buddha taught compassion, vegetarianism and meditation to attain the Supreme Truth. Kalki will appear at the end of this age to destroy the sinful populace and to start again the golden age called Satya yuga.

The Jains have their separate Puranas. The most popular among them is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena. A major part of the Jain Puranas can be found in Kannada literature. The Buddhist Purana, called Swayambhu Purana, is a major source of the history of the Kathmandu valley.

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Vaastu is traditionally used in India for town planning and architecture. Vaastu comes from the Vedic literature and is found in the Atharvaveda. Vaastu is also known as Sthapathya Veda. It attracts good health conditions, happiness and prosperity.

There are four categories of Vaastu

1. The earth/ site - Bhoomi, on which everything stands
2. Structures on the earth - Prasada
3. Movable objects - Yaana
4. Furniture - Sayana

The Five Elements

Vaastu is the science of direction and architecture that puts together the five elements of nature and adjust them in harmony with the man and the material. Vaastu Shastra is creating a congenial settings or a place to live or work, taking advantage of the benefits bestowed by the five elements called “Paancha Maha Bhootas” of the nature thereby producing positive energy that enhances health, wealth, prosperity and happiness in a spiritual environment.

Each direction is ruled by a deity and they are as follows:

1. Northeast - Eeshanya or Eeshwara Siva - Ruled by Lord of all quarters
2. East - Aditya- Ruled by Sun God
3. Southeast - Agni- Ruled by Lord of Fire - Agni
4. South - Yama- Ruled by Lord of Death - Yama
5. Southwest - Pitru/Nairutya, Nairuthi- Ruled by ancestors
6. West - Varuna - Ruled by Lord of water
7. Northwest - Vayu - ruled by Lord Of Winds
8. North - Kubera - Ruled by Lord of Wealth
9. Center - Brahma - Ruled by Lord/Creator of the Universe

Vaastu in Building:

Vaastu Shastra prescribes favourable forms or shapes for sites and buildings based on flow of energy. Many of the rules are attributed in a way that they are in line with the cosmos creation - the sun’s path, the rotation of the earth, magnetic field, etc. The sunrise and morning sun is especially beneficial and purifying and hence the East is a treasured direction. The body is considered a magnet with the head, the heaviest and most important part, being considered the North Pole and the feet the South pole. Therefore sleeping with one’s head in the North is said to cause a repulsive force with the earth’s magnetic North and thus is harmful.

Vaastu in Health:

When we talk of Vaastu and health, we need to relate Vastu with Ayurveda. By intertwining the two subjects we will be in a position to understand the different diseases and health problems and how by certain Vaastu corrections we could treat the diseases or ailments better for giving faster relief to the patients.

The Air principle: created from ether and air. A Vata person can be prone to chronic constipation,back pain (normally lower back), paralysis, arthritis, etc.

The fire principle: Created from fire. A Pitta individual can be prone to rashes, itches and be susceptible to liver disorders.

The Water Principle: Created from water and earth. A Kapha individual can be prone to congestion of lungs, obesity, bronchitis, sinusitis and cold related ailments.

These three basic problems also called tridoshas, three bio-energies or biological humors, build and nurture the body and carry out the biological functions of an individual. The augmentation or decline of one or more of these doshas upsets the biological functions and disease sets in.

Disturbing Energies: Effects of vaastu on the environment

Studies reveal that the tsunami tidal waves moved along the Northwest -Southeast diagonal to hit India and Sri Lanka.

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