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September 27, 2018 – Long Island Series, Week 18: Demigods [BG 4.12]

 

Who and what are the demigods and what is their role?

Topics include:

  • Worship of the demigods
  • How demigods differ from Krishna and his avatars

Additional topics include:

  • The intention behind service
  • Yogi scientist Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa)
  • The mysterious universe and yogic powers
  • Developing love of God [Nine Stages of Bhakti]

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Mentioned in this podcast

Abbreviations used in these notes: BG for Bhagavad Gita, CC for Caitanya Caritamrta

Books

People

Verses

BG 4.12

kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ
yajanta iha devatāḥ
kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke
siddhir bhavati karma-jā

Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.

CC Madhya 20.108

It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.

Vocabulary

atma – the non-material self, the source of consciousness in the body
kali yuga – the current and most problematic age in the cycle of four cosmic ages
prasadam – literally “mercy”; food that has become sanctified by first offering it to God

Other

Vaishnava Pranams

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namah
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

 

Test Your Knowledge

#1 The crevice at the crown of the head, by which a great mystic yogi can exit his body at will, is known as

#2 Who is depicted on the flag atop Arjuna’s chariot?

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Long Island Series Quizzes

This is a compilation of all of the quiz questions from the Gita Wisdom Long Island Podcast Series.

#1 The crevice at the crown of the head, by which a great mystic yogi can exit his body at will, is known as

#2 panditah sama-darsinah roughly translates to what?

#3 Realization of Brahman or Paramatma is incomplete. Which quality can be experienced only through realization of the Supreme Being?

#4 Jada Bharata, in his previous life as King Bharata, was thinking about what at the time of his death?

#5 Who is depicted on the flag atop Arjuna’s chariot?

#6 The Gita offers advice on how to give up material attachments with the phrase “param dristva navartate”, which can be interpreted to mean

#7 What type of karma is antithetical to one’s spiritual progress? One might call it “negative karma”.

Vikarma. Vikarma actions are contrary to the wisdom teachings: harm to others, harm to yourself, harm to the environment, harm to animals, etc. Anything that is not spiritually progressive, which is retrograde in our return back to a holy life, is vikarma.

#8 Which is not a category of avatar?

Most avatars fall into the Vishnu-tattva category — those directly descended from Vishnu, the Supreme Being. Rama and Parashurama are examples of Vishnu-tattva avatars. The other category of avatar is jiva-tattva. Jiva souls are like us: individual sparks from the fire that is the Supreme Being. An example of jiva-tattva avatars is the shaktyavesha avatar: beings empowered by Vishnu to carry out a mission. Jesus, Buddha, and the guru are examples of shaktyavesha avatars. Maha-tattva refers to the cosmic material manifestation—the total energy of the material world—and is not a category of avatars.

#9 The cycle of birth and death is known as

#10 The aspect of God seated in the hearts of all living beings is known as

Krishna is realized in three ways: Brahman, the impersonal realization that everything is God, is the origin of all energies. Everything is pervaded by and made up of Brahman energy. Paramatma is experienced as God within the heart. This is not an abstract idea. Krishna says in the Gita he is situated in everyone’s heart —  hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam [BG 13.18] and again in BG 15.15 sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto. The highest realization is Bhagavan, Krishna in personal form. Understanding Krishna in this form, we are able to engage in loving exchange with Krishna.

#11 The Vedic histories are known as the

#12 What type of guru is authorized to give formal initiation to a disciple?

We’ll talk about three types of gurus here. The vartma-pradarsaka guru is the person who first introduces you to devotional practices.

A shiksha guru is an instructing teacher, someone who offers guidance and is there to answer questions. One can have more than one shiksha guru.

A diksha guru is authorized to officially initiate disciples into their lineage. When one accepts initiation from a diksha guru, they are agreeing to follow vows and seriously pursue spiritual life. The guru agrees to guide the disciple through as many lifetimes as is needed for the disciple to become liberated.

It’s possible that these roles may all be filled by the same person, though this is generally not the case.

#13 The path of devotional yoga is known as

#14 Which is not one of the varnas?

Brahmacharya is the celibate, student stage of life and not one of the varnas. The fourth varna is vaishya.

#15 There are nine progressive stages of bhakti. The final stage, transcendental love for God, is known as:

#16 What does the word janma mean?

#17 When a disciple is initiated into a Vaishnava lineage they are given a new name ending in das or dasi. What does the word das mean?

Upon initiation, disciples are given a name of Krishna, Radha or some place or activity associated with them, followed by das for men or dasi for women. The word das means “servant of”. For example, Krishna das means “servant of Krishna” and Yogesvara das means “servant of Krishna, who is the master of mystic yoga”.

#18 Krishna insisted the inhabitants of Vrindavan should honor Govardhan Hill instead of a demigod. Out of anger, this demigod caused a torrential downpour. In response, Krishna lifted the Hill, sheltering the inhabitants from the rainfall. Which demigod caused the devastation?

#19 Caitanya Mahaprabhu is credited with what?

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wrote no books: that was done by his scholar-disciples known as the Six Goswamis. Nor did he open temples. He is remembered for, among other achievements, popularizing the Hare Krishna mantra as a form of public spiritual practice.

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Aug 30, 2018 – LI Series, Week 16, Interview with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Special Guest: Shaunaka Rishi Das (Timothy Kiernan), Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, stops by for an enlightening chat with Joshua about the Bhagavad Gita, interfaith communications, dogma, faith, and more. 

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Homework

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 11

 

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