Page 24 - Conversations between a Philosopher and a Saint

word and when Brah- to him Lord. faith because authority Bali Lord who

The sacrifices dwarf the to of crisis 9.27) Pretenders

Sukracarya. all of However, Krishna appeared before Bali a as mana and asked for charity, forbade guru anything a caused Maharaja his guru contradicted himself scriptural of the Vedas which say: “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austeri es you perform – do that , O Arjuna, as an offer- (Bg Me.” coming originally from

was eficiary charity. Maharaja Bali’s give This Bali for the and to ing Krishna. by

guru

41 bona fide guru and a materially contaminated so-called guru. This was His sukra means semen, and acarya refers to a teacher or guru. Hereditary or family gurus are present everywhere. As soon as one is born in a religious family affiliated with a spiritual tradi on, the child comes in Sukracarya taught Bali Maharaja that Lord Krishna is the ul mate ben- Maharaja decided not to follow the instruc on of his guru because he advised a course of ac on that was contrary

Maharaja. given incapable of leading their disciples back to Godhead.

Bali contact with teachers of that lineage. teaching
of authen c disciplic succession of the
dilemma of

the authority. ample

sen mentalism,
yogic, religious, mys c, or scien fic processes, ie: philosophical specu-
there will not be any obstacle for one’s steady progress back to God-
Saint: The key to understanding this is the following: Religion with-
Krishna’s transcendental abode cannot be reached by any other pro-
a racted to the Lord, His service, and the associa on of pure devo-
cess of religion, even Hinduism, as long as there is even a nge of ma-

is
philosophy

through Bhagavatam Canto 1, chapter 1, verse 2 – abbreviated as SB 1.1.2) “Completely rejec ng all religious ac vi es which are materially mo -
24 tees. By chan ng the Hare Krishna Mahamantra one can approach the supreme des na on easily and happily. The supreme des na on of The super-excellence of devo onal is sublime. One need not engage in any other yoga process or mundane religious ac vity such as karma yoga, jnana yoga, astanga yoga, raja yoga, kriya yoga, etc. One who is devoted to Krishna can a ain all the benefits derived from all other la on, rituals, sacrifices, chari es, austeri es, or research work.

terialis c desire in one’s heart. head. (Bg 18.66) between them? understanding scien fic out