What follows is a review of one reader of Gaura Book:

Here's the info of what it contains :

Vedic Cosmography

Your Best Friend
Grhasta Manual
Cookbooks (Yummy...)
Brahmacharya Section (Can’t miss this one…many original articles. Also has 2 fantastic books.)

And many other books are there ....you read and find out what else is there. (My incentive :-)

And many articles … almost all articles are from this section. The philosophical analysis and mention of whatever pure spiritual teachings available in all the religions of the world are really a revelation and a welcome addition. They include.

Modern Science (starter)
Anthropology and History (Hmmm...very interesting. It has some real revealing facts that support the Puranic conclusion and we see a lot of lies exposed in the name of writing history)
Astronomy and Cosmography (Vedic Cosomology is a very great science alright...)
Modern Scientific theories exposed (Prabhupada was fond of bashing these speculations on evolution, universe)
Introduction to Vedic Science (Baby Feeding...Karma, Soul, etc...good sources). Also nice magazine articles.
Important Lessons for devotees (Really important as it says)
Advanced Philosophy (You should read this in real detail very carefully ... it's quite involved with so much analysis of every major faith and philosophy in the world and it is a minefield of pure devotional revelations. Now-a-days we see so much hate and other problems, and this loving approach to appreciate everything good in others is characteristic of our paramahamsa acharyas.

So anyway, getting to the book list, it has :

All Prabhupada Books (by browsing links to Vedabase, Vanipedia, etc… These books are not available in this ebook. Includes links to Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Nectar of Devotion, Books on Reincarnation, Life comes from life etc...)
[Note : It has links to where you can download all Prabhupada's books posted by others on websites and even Internet Archive -- Sacred texts, so that is consolation for those who want to read offline]

Books directly available in this database are :

Special mention is needed as this is the Only place where you can download the full Chaitanya Bhagavatam.

Krishna Chaitanya Charita Mahakavya -- this is rare. I have yet to find this anywhere else.
Chaitanya Charita (Kavi Karnapura — rare)
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita By Acharyas (Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakura commentary (this HAS to be read, we haven't seen Gita in this flavour + Srila Prabhupada (only links to The BBT Vedabase)
Glories of Lord Nityananda Prabhu
Nityananda Charitamrita
Compilation of The Pastimes of Lord Nityananda

Chaitanya Bhagavata (Full 7 volumes — verses patchy, perhaps CHM botched up the diacritics, but the English is perfect. It is Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Commentary. For consolation, a separate book of only verses is available and it is perfectly done.)

Shrimad Bhagavatam (Links To Vedabase Given)
Chaitanya Charitamrta (Links To Vedabase)
Shri Chaitanya Chandramrita
Jaiva Dharma
Brahma Samhita
Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya
Shikshashtaka with Commentaries

The Holy Names of Nityanaanda and Gauraanga (A LOT of info from so many scriptures. I say this changed my spiritual life totally along with the Hare Krisha maha mantra. I have sworn allegiance to them)

Maha Mantra Yoga (Hare Krishna Mahamantra MUST READ)
Hari Naam Chintamani (By the Naamacharya Himself)
Divine Name Haridasa
Shri Namaamrita
Levels of Nityananda Gauranga and Hare Krishna Chanting
Nityananda Gauranga in Vedas, Puranas, Smritis and Shrutis
Additional Important Scriptures
Songs on Nityananda Gauranga
Bhaktivinoda Vani Vaibhava (All 3 volumes — Sambandha, Abhideya, Prayojana … All his writings in one book)
Glories of Lord Balarama
Glories of Lord Krishna
Glories of Shri Radha
Chaitanya Mangala
In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life (A very rare unpublished book of Prabhupada — very advanced)
Life of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Gaudiya Kanthahara (Essence of the Siddhanta)
Other books also include : Tattva Muktavali (Mayavada Shata Dushani – Madhva smashes imposters who claim to be Supreme)
Madhurya Kadambini (For the science of spiritual advancement)
Prakrita Rasa Shata Dushani
Unauthorized and Deviant sects
Hari Bhakti Kalpa Latika
Brihad Bhagavatamrita (Sooo sweet….)
The Path of Dedication
Tulasi Worship
Ekadashi Glories
Krishna Bhajanamrita
Sri Gayatri Mantrartha Dipika
Vaishnava Song Books (Infinite Bhajans for the Soul. Also contains poems -- Sharanagati & Kalyana Kalpataru)
Ramayana Mahabharata (Pure Devotional translation. No devotee’s collection is complete without these 2 greatest and most well known books.)
Ananda Vrindavana Champu
Vaishnava Siddhanta Mala QnA
Six Sandarbhas (Most advanced, for the real serious. These are really advanced)
Vedanta Sutra (Govinda Bhashya — the Ultimate Commentary on Vedanta. This is the only English translation made by pure devotees and is almost fully complete, except for some few odd verses and a smalls subsection. No one has fully translated it as of yet...)

1000 Questions and Answers (Mixed bag. Some of them are not answered - deals with various topics at random but some of them have some really good realizations. Very fitting replies given too.) But there was this one set of 30-40 odd questions that was really botched up with questions and answers randomly scattered with no continuity. Hope they fix that.

Some Beautiful Realizations of devotees (I’ve seen this one before, taken from well known sources).
Beautiful and inspiring -- but if you're really serious, then read, or it might be too much to swallow.


The book is available from 2 links : http://www.be-pure.info/Vedic-Literature.html


Also the full review for the book is located here : http://nitaaiyoga.com/ebooks/#comment-2447GauraEbook.zip

Mittwoch, 28. November 2007

O my mind, just chant Nityananda Gauranga...

gaura-nitai3 In the following song His Divine Grace Seventh Goswami Shrila Shachidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes the glories of chanting the Holy Names of Nityananda Gauranga and the process of proper and effective  chanting of the Holy Names. His stresses the importance of chanting the Holy Names of Nityananda Gauranga prior to chanting the Holy Names of Lord Krishna in order to achieve the desired benefit. Furthermore He also underlines the supremely munificient nature of Shri Nityananda Prabhu, by whose mercy every soul can easily get access to the Holy Names of Lord Gauranga. Because only after having taken complete shelter of Lord Gauranga Holy Names and Pastimes can one effortlessly achieve the vision of Shri Shri Radha-Krishna, who appear in the combine Form and Name of Lord Gauranga (mahaprabhu shri chaitanya, radha-krishna nahe anya...).

Listen to the song here (performed by Bhudev dasa prabhu)

‘Dayala Nitai Caitanya’ Bole’
by Bhaktivinoda Thakura

‘dayala nitai caitanya’ bole’ nac re amara mana
nac re amara mana, nac re amara mana (1)

O my mind, chant “dayala (merciful) nitai caitanya*” and just dance! O my mind, dance!

(emana dayala to’ nai he, mara khe’ye prema deya)
(ore) aparadha dure ja’be, pa’be prema-dhana
(o name aparadha-vicara to’ nai he)
(takhana) krishna-name ruci ha’be, ghucibe bandhana (2)

Such a merciful personality as Nityananda Prabhu, who bestows prema (pure love of God) even after being beaten, is not to be found anywhere. Prema can come after offenses are overcome, but in chanting of the names Caitanya-Nitai*, there is no consideration of offenses. Once taste for krishna-nama comes, material bondage breaks.

(krishna-name anuraga to’ ha’be he)
(takhana) anayase saphala ha’be jivera jivana
(krishna-rati vina jivana to’ miche he)
(seðe) vrindavane radha-shyamera pa’be darashana
(gaura-kripa ho’le he) (3)

When there is deep love for krishna-nama, then easily one’s life becomes successful. Without attachment to Krishna, life is simply false. With the mercy of Gaurasundara one can obtain the vision of Radha-Shyama at the end of life.

* then Names 'Nitai-Chaitanya' or 'Chaitanya-Nitai' refers to the Holy Names of Nityananda Gauranga which have many variations such as the mentioned above, or 'Gaura-Nitaai', 'Nitaai-Gauranga', 'Gaura-Nityananda', and so on.

Mittwoch, 7. November 2007

Harinam in Prague

Those, who have seen the movie Matrix will especially relish this video, i suppose. i did at least :)
Enjoy! Harinam ki jaya!

All Prayers in the Name

Post by His Holiness Shri Swami Gaurangapada:

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Jaya Shri Guru Parampara! Pranams! As I chant, I find myself spontaneously praying to the Lord with my innermost prayers. The prayers just arise without any effort and become one with the Name while chanting. There is no extra effort for this. And my eyes get filled with tears. O Naam, I realize that the process of Vandana or offering prayers is included in Thee! nava vidha bhakti naam haite haya…

Naam is the greatest prayer of all. It is the inspirer of all other prayers. One who does not chant, cannot pray properly to the Lord. I feel stunned in bliss when I chant with deep concentration. Prayer means to communicate with the Lord. The channel of communication of the soul with the Lord is opened by chanting of Nityananda, Gauranga and Hare Krishna Naam. The Lord does not listen to those who don’t chant His Name.

The great 5-year old devotee Dhruva Maharaja could compose and recite choicest prayers due to constantly chanting His Name for six months. When the pure nature of the soul is revealed by chanting the Names, then prayer to the Lord begins because prayer is a natural function of the soul.

Oh Naam Prabhu, my only prayer to you is, “You are the supreme prayer of all prayers. Please let me always float in Your bliss 24-hours!!! The time during which I forget Thee is eternally lost for my soul so I cry that I cannot chant Thee constantly. Please reside on my tongue constantly even though I am not qualified for Your presence.”

Daaso’smi, Swami Gaurangapada.

Dienstag, 6. November 2007

Are we simple the combination of letters?

pdqvd-letters Since time immemorial human society is meeting with various challenges. These challenges touch all the different aspects of human life and represent a major part of our concern. Be it the industrialization in the past, the information society in the present or the water scarcity in the future, all our activities center these bigger and smaller collective problems. But unfortunately, we are completely forgetting to meet the greatest challenge in the human society ever, for all time to come and that is the quest of finding one's own identity. 

The result of all our endevours in subduing the impacts of these challenges depends on our success in resolving the essential problem, our identity crisis. How to we actually dare to claim of having a great success in nearly all fields of scientific research, when we are not able to even sufficiently consider, what to speak of providing a sollution, to the central scientific objective of the mother of all science - philosophy, which is to know who we really are?

Who are we really? We are wasting gallons of blood throughout our lives to resolve all the existing collective and individual problems, as to make us happy. But who are we actually trying to make happy? Who are we indeed?

Are we the reflection of the object we see in the mirror? Every ten years we look in the mirror, we see a different person, which has changed due to the infuence of time and the laws of material nature, yet we always feel the same. Every single day, every single minute and every single second our body changes, yet we are not even able to notice this continuous change. So i question again, are we really the object we see in the mirror? Are we really simple this object which is actually nothing else than a collection of various, most of them stinky, chemical elements or are we something more?

And what about the names? Are we the names we receive from our parents? Or are we rather the nicknames we got from our friends? Or do we even more like to be the artistic names, under which we entertain the others? Are we simple the combination of some letters or are we something more?

Are we all the various combinations of letters, such as "American", "Slovakian", "Hindu", "Moslim", "Socialist", "Scientist", etc. which although appearing tp have some particular meaning are nothing more than just concepts, created by someone else influenced by the misidentification with another such concept, or in other words created by someone identifying himself with another such combination of letters? We were all born without such designations, then how is it, that suddenly we find ourselves under the cover of so many name-layers?

What happened to us?

Is it perhaps for this reason, that despite of continuous and sincere efforts of making ourselves happy, we do not really succeed? Could it be, that we missed something very important and essential in our lifes?

After so many years and lifetimes of self-deception, are we able to honestly and humbly admit the shining fact, that we indeed missed to consider some very crucial point of our own existence?

At least now, although a bit, but never too late: Are we able to make this utmost revolutionary step to break out for the challenging journey of finding our real selves?

Yes, we will have to, because we know from our own experience that only the "revolutionary way" had enough power and effect for setting up a new order of life for the dissapointed and suffering society. 

by Matus