Kirtan with Srila Prabhupada

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Jaya Radha Madhava

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Herren Nrisimhadeva

Sri Nrisimha Pranama

namas te narasimhaya prahladahlada-dayine hiranyakashipor vakshah shila-tanka-nakhalaye

ito nshimhah parato nrisimho yato yato yami tato nrisimhah bahir nrisimho hridaye nrisimho nrisimham adim sharanam prapadye

I offer my obeisances to Lord Nrisimha-deva, who is always giving bliss to His devotees like Prahlada Maharaja and chiselling at the hearts of demons like Hiranyakashipu. The devotee always sees Lord Nrisimha everywhere. Lord Nrisimha is within and without. Therefore let us all take shelter of Lord Nrisimha.

Prayer to Lord Nrisimha

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-sringham dalita-hiranyakashipu-tanu-bhringam keshava dhrita-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisha hare

O my Lord Nrisimha, Your hands are very beautiful like the lotus flower, but with Your long nails You have ripped apart the wasp Hiranyakashipu. Unto You, Lord of the universe, I offer my humble obeisances.



Idag är det Nrisimha Caturdasi, Herren Nrisimhadevas uppenbarelsedag. Herren Nrisimhadeva är kanske den kraftfullaste av Guds uppenbarelseformer. I denna form uppvisar Herren hela Sin vrede emot dem som försöker skada Hans kära hängivna, och också Sin stora kärlek och önskan att beskydda Sina tjänare från allt ont. Vaisnavas frambär ovanstående böner till Honom varje morgon och kväll.

En gång för länge sedan fanns det en mycket mäktig demon vid namn Hiranyakasipu. Tack vare sin stränga självtukt hade han lyckats uppnå enorma krafter, som han missbrukade för att göra ont och sprida fruktan överallt i universum. Hans lika ondskefulle bror hade dödats av Herren, och därför hyste Hiranyakasipu ett outsläckligt hat emot Herren Visnu, Gud. Men ödet bereder även mäktiga personligheter sina överraskningar, och till sin fasa upptäckte Hiranyakasipu att hans egen son, Prahlada, var en mycket stor hängiven till Herren.

Man hör ofta talas om nuförtiden hur demoniska föräldrar torterar och kanske t om dödar sina egna barn. Fenomenet är inte nytt; när Hiranyakasipu förstod att hans egen son var hängiven Gud, så beslöt han att döda det lilla barnet. Inga metoder var för avskyvärda för detta, och utan att tveka utsatte Hiranyakasipu sin lille son för många olika former av tortyr, dock utan något resultat.

Prahlada hade nämligen en tilltro till Gudomens Högsta Personlighet som inget kunde rubba, och Herren gav honom också allt beskydd. Prahlada förblev vid liv och oskadad trots alla försök att döda honom. Eftersom Prahlada var ett stort helgon blev han aldrig arg på sin demoniske fader, tvärtom önskade han honom allt väl och försökte övertyga honom om att överge sin ondska och i stället överlämna sig till Herren Visnu.

Men det sägs att om man ger en orm mjölk så blir den ännu giftigare, och en avundsam person blir bara ännu argare om man försöker ge honom goda råd. Så Hiranyakasipu blev än en gång rasande på Prahlada och skrek: Om din Gud nu finns överallt så finns han väl i den här pelaren också?! Och i samma ögonblick slog Hiranyakasipu till en massiv pelare som fanns palatsets tronsal.

Då hördes ett kraftigt rytande inifrån pelaren, och ut steg Herren i en av Sina mest fantastiska former, som Herren Nrisimhadeva, till hälften man, till hälften lejon. En våldsam kamp följde mellan de båda, och den slutade med att Herren satte sig på Hiranyakasipus tron, med Hiranyakasipu utsträckt i Sitt knä, och med Sina kraftfulla klor slet Herren ut Hiranyakasipus tarmar och lindade dem som en girland runt Sin hals. Och så ändades den store demonen Hiranyakasipus liv.
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Herren Nrisimhadevas vrede var så oerhörd att även universums alla fromma halvgudar blev rädda för Honom. Inte ens Brahma, universums skapare, vågade gå fram till Honom för att frambära sina böner.

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Det fanns dock en som inte var det minsta rädd: Prahlada Maharaja, Hiranyakasipus lille son. Brahma bad honom försiktigt att gå fram och försöka blidka Herren Nrismhadeva, och Prahlada gick sakta fram till Herren och föll ned på marken för att betyga sin vördnad.

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"När Herren Nrisimhadeva såg den lille pojken Prahlada Maharaja utsträckt vid Hans lotusfötter, upprymdes Han av stor extatisk kärlek till Sin hängivne. Herren lyfte upp Prahlada och lade Sin lotushand på hans huvud, ty Hans hand är alltid beredd att orsaka frihet från fruktan hos alla Hans hängivna."(S.B 7.9.5)

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Prahladas hjärta fylldes av kärlek och hans ögon av tårar, och sedan började han frambära kärleksfulla böner till Herren. Några välsignelser för egen del ville han inte ta emot, däremot bad han för sin demoniske far. Detta är typiskt för gudshängivna; de är helt fria från all egoism. I stället tänker de alltid på andras välfärd, till och med sådanas som vill göra dem illa. En gudshängiven är alltid beredd att förlåta och ha överseende med andras misstag.

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A C Bhaktivedanta Swami förklarar i sin kommentar till den här berättelsen att för att kunna rädda sig själv så måste man ta sin tillflykt till sådana här rena gudshängivna. Om man önskar bli fri från den materiella naturens angrepp, vilka uppkommer på grund av den materiella kroppen, måste man bli Krishnamedveten och försöka att till fullo förstå Krishna.

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Man måste grundligt förstå att alla materiella tillgångar är förgängliga. Till och med våra kroppar, genom vilka vi försöker uppleva så många olika slags sinnliga njutningar, kan förgås vid vilket ögonblick som helst. Andesjälen är emellertid evig. Andesjälen förstörs inte ens när kroppen förintas. En intelligent människa bör därför intressera sig för andesjälens lycka och inte kroppens.

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http://www.krishna.com/en/node/1341
One of the most awe-inspiring of Lord Krishna’s forms is Sri Nrisimhadeva, His half-man, half-lion incarnation. Lord Nrisimha descended to protect His devotee Sri Prahlada Maharaja from the atheistic king Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada’s father.

The Boy Saint Prahlada

Sri Prahlada Maharaja was a devotee of Lord Krishna from birth, having acquired knowledge of devotional service in the womb. Once, during the absence of Hiranyakashipu, his enemies the demigods, servants of the Supreme Lord responsible for universal management, kidnapped his wife to kill her embryo. They feared that the embryo might later develop into another terrible enemy. Srila Narada Muni rescued the mother and child after convincing the demigods that the boy to be born was an exalted devotee of Lord Krishna.

While still in the womb during his mother’s stay at Narada Muni’s ashram, Prahlada overheard Narada’s transcendental discussions on the glories of the Lord and became fearless, fully surrendered to the infallible shelter of Lord Krishna. Later, though only a child of five years, he had firm faith in the Lord’s protection and invoked this same pure devotion to the Lord in the hearts of his schoolmates at the atheistic school of Sukracharya, the guru of the daityas, or atheistic descendents of Diti. Enraged at his son’s undeviating devotion to his worst enemy—Lord Vishnu, the four-handed form of Lord Krishna—Hiranyakashipu sentenced Prahlada to death. Hiranyakashipu’s henchmen tried everything to kill Prahlada. He was starved, poisoned, cursed by spells, beaten by fiends, stomped by elephants, encaged among virulent pythons, hurled from mountain peaks, and attacked with stones, fires, and blizzards. Despite all of Hiranyakashipu’s attempts, Prahlada remained untouched, and the evil king’s anger grew.

Hiranyakashipu’s Plans to Become God

Hiranyakashipu’s enmity toward Lord Vishnu had begun when the Lord in His form as a giant boar had slain Hiranyakashipu’s twin brother, Hiranyaksha, who had upset the earth’s equilibrium by greedily mining for gold. Upon the death of his brother, Hiranyakashipu had charged Lord Vishnu with partiality toward the demigods: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given up His natural tendency of equality toward the demons and demigods. Although He is the Supreme Person, now, influenced by maya [illusion], He has assumed the form of a boar to please His devotees, the demigods, just as a restless child leans toward someone.”

Factually the Lord is never partial to anyone: samo ‘ham sarva-bhuteshu na me dveshyo ‘sti na priyah (Bhagavad-gita 9.29). He simply reciprocates with every living entity in accordance with the living entities’ desires. Lord Sri Krishna instructs in the Bhagavad-gita (5.11):
ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy ahammama vartmanuvartante manushyam partha sarvashah

“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” Thus the Lord appears as death for the atheist and as the loving savior for His devotee. And He Himself is beyond any material affinity.

To take revenge for his brother’s death, the mighty daitya Hiranyakashipu vowed to satisfy his brother’s soul with Vishnu’s blood. In his quest for immortality and the power to defeat Vishnu, he performed humanly impossible penances through which he acquired boons from Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Hiranyakashipu thought he could become God by his own austerity and penance. He foolishly concluded that since Lord Vishnu was favoring the demigods, He must also be an ordinary conditioned living entity (influenced by partiality and hatred) who became God by austerities. This mentality is characteristic of Mayavadi philosophers, who maintain that every soul is God deluded by maya and that once the illusion is dispelled, the soul once again realizes its identity with God. This theory, however, is unacceptable when we consider the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna’s supremacy, as He states in the Bhagavad-gita (9.10):

mayadhyakshena prakritihsuyate sa-caracaramhetunanena kaunteyajagad viparivartate

“This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” The material energy, maya, is one of the many potencies of the Supreme Lord. Since maya is completely submissive to the Lord, there is no possibility of the Supreme Absolute Lord being overpowered by its influence. The living entities, however, being minute parts of the Lord, can be deluded. The Mayavada theory that after liberation the soul merges with God is refuted in the Bhagavad-gita (15.7, 2.12), where Krishna declares all jiva souls to be His parts eternally, remaining always distinct individuals.

The Mayavadis also assert that the highest conception of God is of the transcendental, impersonal, and all-pervading nirguna-brahma (Absolute Truth devoid of quality, attribute, or form), which assumes a material conditioned body like ours whenever it descends to this world. Thus for the Mayavadis, Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna are saguna-brahma, Brahman with attributes and form, which to them means material illusory entanglement, for they just cannot imagine transcendence with qualities and form.

Frustrated with the suffering caused by the material body, the impersonalist philosophers conceive of transcendence and liberation as free from qualities and attributes. The Lord, however, clearly defies this notion:

avyaktam vyaktim apannahmanyante mam abuddhayahparam bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam

“Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.24) Thus from the Bhagavad-gita we learn that Lord Krishna never worked to achieve Godhood. He is eternally the Supreme Absolute Truth, and the individual souls are eternally His parts.

Nrisimhadeva Kills Hiranyakashipu

Just as the Mayavadis maintain the false theory that by enough penance a soul can become God, Hiranyakashipu considered that he could achieve immortal dominance over all and vanquish Lord Vishnu with his own prowess. But Prahlada challenged his power.

The arrogant Hiranyakashipu cursed him and inquired, “Where do you obtain the power to defy my supremacy?”

“The source of my strength is Lord Vishnu,” replied the fearless Prahlada. “He is the source of everyone’s strength, including yours.”

To hear that his strength was the grace of Vishnu, his worst enemy, was the greatest insult for Hiranyakashipu, who challenged Prahlada, “O most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always described an all-pervading supreme controller beyond me. If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar? If he does not appear from this pillar, then today your head will be severed with my sword.”

With these words, Hiranyakashipu struck his fist at the pillar, from which emanated a sound that seemed to crack the covering of the universe.

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To prove true the statement of His devotee Prahlada, the Supreme Lord appeared from the pillar in a form never seen before, a form neither man nor lion, the form of Sri Nrisimhadeva.
Though Hiranyakashipu looked like a moth entering a fire when he attacked Lord Nrisimha, he ridiculously thought he would be able to defeat the Lord just as he had conquered all his other enemies. Long before, when his brother had been slain, this same Hiranyakashipu had angrily rushed to the Lord’s residence with a trident. The Lord had then disappeared and entered Hiranyakashipu’s nostril. Unable to find the Him, Hiranyakashipu had considered that God was dead.

Now Hiranyakashipu confronted the Lord, who played with him as a cat plays with a mouse. When the sun began to set, Lord Nrisimha lifted Hiranyakashipu onto His lap and dug His nails into Hiranyakashipu’s torso.

The daitya cried out, “Alas, my chest, which is being ripped open by Nrisimhadeva at this moment, is the same chest that broke the tusks of Airavata, Indra’s elephant. It is the same chest that stayed free of scars despite being struck by Lord Shiva’s ax.” (Nrisimha Purana 44.30)

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Nrisimhadeva ripped open the stonelike chest of Hiranyakashipu with His diamondlike nails. The Lord wore the intestines of the king as His victory garland, and to convince the demigods of Hiranyakashipu’s death, the Lord tore out the daitya’s heart. As another aspect of His divine play, the Lord was suddenly surprised to see that Hiranyakashipu’s body had disappeared. When He shook His hands, however, the torn pieces of Hiranyakashipu’s body fell out of His nails onto the ground. (Nrisimha Purana 44.32–35) From this we understand that Hiranyakashipu was an insignificant insect compared to the transcendental lion Lord Nrisimha. As Jayadeva Goswami confirms:

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-shringamdalita-hiranyakashipu-tanu-bhringamkeshava dhrita-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisha hare

“O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half man, half lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasplike demon Hiranyakashipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on Your beautiful lotus hands.”

Lord Nrisimha destroyed Hiranyakashipu without violating the boons granted by Lord Brahma, who had blessed Hiranyakashipu to not be killed:

inside or outside any residence (the Lord killed him in the doorway)
during the day or night (the Lord killed him at twilight)
on the ground or in the sky (the Lord killed him on His own lap)
by any human being or animal (Lord Nrisimha is half man, half lion)
by any demigod, demon, or great snake (the Lord is beyond any of these categories)
by any weapon or any entity, living or nonliving (Lord Nrisimha pierced the daitya with his nails, which are not considered weapons and are neither living nor dead)

Finally, Hiranyakashipu was not be killed by any living being created by Brahma or not created by Brahma. Hiranyakashipu was cautious to ensure that he would also not be killed by Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, and Lord Vishnu, the three presiding deities of the universe (the only three living entities within the universe not created by Brahma). Lord Nrisimha is a lila-avatara, or pastime incarnation of Lord Krishna, and is not of the category of Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu, who are the three guna-avataras, or deities in charge of the three modes of material nature.
Hiranyakashipu, the universal tyrant, wished to reverse the system of piety. He wanted the impious to be rewarded and the pious to be punished. Thus upon the death of Hiranyakashipu, all the demigods and inhabitants of various planets offered their prayers to Lord Nrisimha, expressing their gratitude for the Lord’s slaying the daitya, who had usurped all their riches, wives, and shares of sacrificial offerings. Only Prahlada Maharaja, however, could pacify with loving prayers the transcendental wrath of Lord Nrisimha, who is prepared to even appear as half-man, half-lion for the sake of His pure devotees.

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Lord Nrisimha was overjoyed upon beholding the firm faith of Prahlada, and He repeatedly requested him to ask for a boon. But the utmost compassionate Prahlada, who was more concerned for the welfare of others, only requested the Lord to liberate his demoniac father. The Supreme Lord guaranteed the liberation of twenty-one generations of Prahlada’s dynasty.
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I denna materiella värld är allas medvetanden fyllda av fruktan, och det enda sättet att bli fri från fruktan är att bli Krishnamedveten. När Herren Nrisimhadeva uppenbarade Sig befriades alla gudshängivna från fruktan. De gudshängivna blir fria från fruktan genom att sjunga Herren Nrismhadevas heliga namn: yato yato yami tato nrsimhah. "Varhelst vi går, måste vi alltid tänka på Herren Nrisimhadeva." På så sätt blir den gudshängivne fri från fruktan.

(S.B 7.9.5)

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Jag önskar alla en fin Nrisimha Caturdasi.

Mafuka

Lite mer från Brasilien...

Vaisnavas och den brasilianske artisten Nando Reis ger konsert 2005. Synd att man inte var där, tycks ha varit bra stämning....

Goura Vrindavana

Det var Srila Prabhupadas vision att de hängivna skulle vara självförsörjande och inte så beroende av industrisamhället. Nutidens konstlade ekonomi, som bygger på och är helt beroende av ohämmad konsumtion och rovdrift på naturens resurser, kan kollapsa när som helst. Då är det bra att kunna försörja sig själv så långt som möjligt. Vaisnavas har många gårdar och jordbrukskollektiv runt om i världen, och en av dessa är Goura Vrindavana i Brasilien.

Goura Vrindavana ligger någon mil utanför Paraty, en liten historisk kuststad söder om Rio de Janeiro. Landskapet omkring är helt fantastiskt, med många klippor som reser sig ute i havet, höga berg och delvis tät regnskog. Överallt finns en otrolig grönska och mängder av vackra blommor. Här växer det mesta, ananas, bananer, sockerrör, kokos för att bara nämna några få frukter. De hängivna i Goura Vrindavana producerar främst torkade bananer och sockerrörssirap till salu. Båda smakar sanslöst gott! :)

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Jag gjorde ett kort besök i Goura Vrindavana för några år sedan och skulle gärna åka tillbaka igen. Avstånden är enorma i Brasilien, men lyckligtvis så ligger Paraty inte så långt ifrån Rio de Janeiro. Först gjorde vi en ca fyra timmars bussresa från Rio de Janeiro, bussen kör längs med kusten söderut, det är en vacker resa med imponerande utsikt (fast mitt den tropiska grönskan vid havet reser sig plötsligt ett kärnkraftverk!!). I Paraty får man ta en taxi vidare ut någon mil på landsväg, och sedan in på en oasfalterad lerväg ut på fälten och vidare upp i skogen. Taxiföraren körde såpass långt han förmådde på den branta och ojämna vägen och sedan fick vi gå ca 20-30 min den sista biten. Vi fick sällskap av en stor hund som följde med oss hela vägen, de hängivna berättade att han verkade gilla att hänga runt Goura Vrindavana och ofta gör de hängivna sällskap när de är ute och vandrar.

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Det var lite svettigt att gå i den fuktiga värmen, men utsikten var fin. En hängiven mötte oss och visade oss runt och berättade lite, samt bjöd på färskpressad sockerrörssaft, det måste vara bland det godaste jag druckit, vilken skillnad från syntetisk och översockrad juice från snabbköpet! Hennes man höll på med att koka sockerör till sirap på traditionellt hantverkarsätt, utan maskiner.

Med en enkel livsstil och i ett sådant här klimat så blir livet okomplicerat. Vilken otrolig skillnad från det kaotiska och förslummade Rio de Janeiro! Några enkla timmerbyggnader och odlingar, och man klarar sig långt. Däremot så krävs det en hel del hårt arbete förstås, när vi var där så var det fortfarande ett ganska så nytt projekt med ett fåtal hängivna, men sedan dess tycks fler ha kommit till, och nu har man även en del skolundervisning och hälsovård för den lokala befolkningen.

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Här är en film från Goura Vrindavana:

Gopal Krishna

Yasomati nandana

Hare Krishna

Lycksalighet

Tatueringar

Jag får ju erkänna att när jag hör ordet "Krishna-medvetande", så inte är det tatueringar jag kommer att tänka på. Så jag blev lite förvånad när jag öppnade den senaste Back To Godhead och såg att tidningen inte ägnade mindre än tolv (!) sidor, med många fina foton, åt tatueringar med Krishna-medvetet tema.

Jag är inte tatuerad själv, och kommer troligen inte att bli det heller, men jag tycker att några av tatueringerna var fina.

Jag hittade artikeln on-line, tyvärr utan bilder, men jag hittade några andra på nätet istället, en del av de här hängivna var faktiskt med i artikeln:


http://btg.krishna.com/main.php?id=941


Inking with the Supreme
By Madhava Smullen

Tattoos have been inked permanently into modern culture. Walk down any busy city street and you’ll spot a vast number of tattooees, ranging all the way from the young female professional with a butterfly on her shoulder blade to the wild punk rocker with hardly any space left for his white skin to shine. For some reason, having an unremovable image of a two-headed dragon eating its own face sprawled across their chest until their dying breath is an idea that appeals to a lot of people. National Geographic News reported in April 2000 that fifteen per cent of Americans were tattooed. That’s around forty million people.
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Now, surely a Hare Krishna devotee would be the last person you’d expect to see among those forty million, right?

Wrong. The fact is that many devotees sport tattoos, and their number is increasing. Is this a purely whimsical fad, or do our ancient traditions and scriptures hold any foundations for devotional tattooing?

Take a magnifying glass to Indian tribal traditions, and you uncover the first clues. For instance, certain tribes believe that Lord Rama’s greatest devotee, Hanuman, can be tattooed on a recurring dislocating shoulder to relieve the pain. The women of the nomadic Ribari tribe of Kutch in northwest India, one of the places the Pandavas visited during their exile, have many extremely elaborate tattoos. And the Ramnami community, scattered across the Indian states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, began a painful custom in the nineteenth century: they had the name of Rama in Sanskrit tattooed on practically every inch of skin, even on their tongues and inside their lips. This practice was meant to protect them from bigoted caste-conscious
brahmanas they had angered by adopting brahminical customs, and is still carried on today.
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Of course, Caturatma concedes, the modern incarnation of tattooing wasn’t around during or before the birth of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, but there are close parallels. In the Prameya Ratnavali, the eighteenth-century Vaishnava commentator Baladeva Vidyabhushana cites five purificatory processes (panca-samskara) that, along with spiritual initiation, bring one direct perception of Lord Krishna: austerity, wearing tilaka, performing sacrifices, accepting a new name at initiation, and chanting mantras glorifying the Lord.
Baladeva’s elaboration is surprising: “In this verse, the word austerity means to accept the branded marks of Lord Vishnu: the disc, lotus, conch, and mace”—the very images Caturatma has tattooed on his arms.

Like tattooing, branding is permanent, and yes, very painful.

A tradition that goes back to at least A.D. 1017, it’s still practiced today by followers of both Madhvacharya and Ramanujacharya, mainly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. What’s more, for Sri Vaishnavas, Ramanuja’s followers, it’s an essential part of the initiation process.

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Kalpavriksha Dasa works at Ron’s Tattoos in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He got his first tattoo at fifteen, inspired by the Cro Mags, a Hare Krishna straightedge band and tattoo afficionados. A professional tattoo artist for over fifteen years, he’s tattooed close to one hundred devotees.
His first piece of advice is to-the-point straight talk.
“Whatever tattoo you’re getting, just make sure it’s something you’ll be happy living with. Because it’s gonna stay with your body longer than you will.”
When it comes to artwork, he is partial to that of Gujarati artist B.G. Sharma.
“His style practically already looks like tattoos. Everything has an outline, and his shading is similar to the way I’d shade or color a tattoo. It’s really easy to replicate.”
Besides Sharma’s devotional depictions of Krishna, Kalpavriksha has tattoed devotees with a variety of images, the most popular being the maha-mantra and Lord Nrisimhadeva.

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Kalpavriksha thinks that the best kind of tattoo a devotee can get is one with a built-in conversation starter.

.“I have the maha-mantra tattooed in Bengali all over both of my arms, which is unique and completely unfamiliar to the average person. When people see it, they never fail to ask what it is.”
This happens so often that Kalpa keeps a stack of Srila Prabhupada’s small books handy at all times.
“I’ll tell clients what my tattoo is and what it means. Then if they seem interested, I’ll explain the maha-mantra and a little about Krishna consciousness. And eventually, if their interest deepens, I’ll hand them a book. I try to build a rapport with people. You can’t just hit them with everything all at once.”

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“Modern Western tattooing has always had a heavy Asian influence, mainly from the two-hundred-year-old Japanese tradition. But in the past ten to twelve years, there’s been a huge rush of interest in Indian imagery. Yoga is really big these days, and students are often influenced to get tattoos of mantras and various symbols like the om sign. One girl walked into my tattoo shop sporting tattoos of different yogic asanas.”

There are more signs of this Vedic tattoo invasion everywhere. Pick up any modern tattoo magazine released within the past five to ten years, and you’ll find either an image directly related to Krishna, or something from the Vedic paradigm. The goddesses Kali, Durga, and Lakshmi flood tattoo parlours, as does Lord Siva. Lord Nrisimhadeva rears His fearsome head from the pages of tattoo magazines, and the friendly, easily identifiable face of Lord Jagannatha becomes more and more popular. Tattoo stores across the United States keep their own copy of the Krishna Art book. Krishna, in the form of art, is gradually infiltrating the tattoo-wearing public.

But for now, He still remains most popular with those who hold Him deep within their hearts.

Krishna i den indiska konsten

Berättelserna om Krishna har förstås under många århundranden utgjort en inspirationskälla för indiska konstnärer. Här är några få exempel på olika stilar inom måleri och skulptur.






P Banerjee skriver i sin bok The Life of Krishna in Indian Art:

The life of Krishna and his teachings have had a profound influence on the minds of the Indian people and as such the theme was popular not only with the saints and the poets, but also with the artists. Krishnaism pervades the whole Indian life, its religion, philosophy and art. The material for the study of the subject is enormous and diffused all over India in a varying degree.

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Moder Yasoda binder Krishna vid smörkärnaren. Detta är en mycket känd berättelse ur Srimad-Bhagavatam, som handlar om hur Krishna, universums Herre och alltings ägare och ursprung, låter sig behandlas som sin hängivnas lilla barn.

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Krishna kör Arjunas stridsvagn vid slaget vid Kuruksetra. Det är Krishnas och Arjunas samtal där som skildras i Bhagavad-gita, den mest kända och lästa boken av Indiens omfattande andliga litteratur.

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Det finns många berättelser om Krishnas olika gärningar, men till de mest populära hör de som skildrar Hans kärleksfulla mellanhavanden med Srimati Radharani, och Hans barndomslekar med Sin moder Yasoda.

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Skulpturer av Radha-Krishna. En mycket viktig uppgift för indiska skulptörer är tillverkningen av Gudsgestalter för templen. Gudsgestalten är en form som Krishna antar för att göra det lättare för oss att dyrka och tjäna Honom, och skall inte uppfattas som en vanlig staty. Gudsgestalten kan tillverkas av många olika material, såsom sten, trä, metall, färg m m, men det viktigaste är att den tillverkas helt enligt skrifternas beskrivningar av Krishna och inte efter konstnärens egna spekulationer. Helt avgörande är också att Gudsgestalten dyrkas med äkta hängivenhet och enligt fastställda regler. Uppfyller man de här villkoren så accepterar Krishna vår tjänst.

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Vanlig konst är avsedd att underhålla, vara dekorativ eller kanske provocera. Med andlig konst är avsikten en helt annan, och så mycket meningsfullare. Syftet med vedisk litteratur och konst är att attrahera oss till Krishna, och att få oss att inse att Han är en person med känslor, tankar och önskningar, en person som glädjer sig åt alla utbyten med Sina följeslagare och hängivna, och att vi vore så mycket lyckligare som Hans följeslagare, istället för att ruttna bort i detta materiella universum.

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Krishna är inte bara människornas utan även djurens beskyddare och välönskare, och i indisk konst framträder Han många gånger tillsammans med kor och kalvar. Kon anses vara det viktigaste av alla djur, eftersom hon skänker oss sin mjölk. Enligt vedisk tradition är mjölk det viktigaste av alla födoämnen, eftersom den sägs vara mycket viktig för hjärnan, och t o m förbättrar vår intelligens. I Indien finns det yogis som lever enbart på mjölk.

Konst, filosofi och poesi Del 2

Några fler utdrag från Light of the Bhagavata.


Verse 25

The Lord reciprocated the feelings of the inhabitants of the forest of Vrindavana. When there was rainfall, the Lord took shelter at the feet of the trees or in the caves and enjoyed the taste of different fruits with his eternal associates the cowherd boys. He played with them, sat with them, and ate fruits with them.

Verse 27

After good rains the grazing ground for the animals was full of green pasture, and both the bulls and the cows sat down on the grass fully satisfied. The cows, followed by their calves, appeared tired of grazing, because of full milk bags. Calmly and quietly the cows and calves rested and ruminated, chewing their cud.



Verse 28

The fully beautiful scenery after the rainy season was attractive to the eyes of everyone, including Sri Krishna, the cause of all causes.


Verse 35
When the small pools of water become too hot because of the scorching heat of the autumn sun, the poor, small creatures, with their many family members, suffer terribly, as poor householders with too many family members suffer economic strains and yet go on begetting children because of uncontrolled senses.

Verse 38

After the rainy season, the farmers begin to rebuild the partitioning walls of the paddy fields so that the water will be conserved, just as yogis try to use their conserved energy for self-realization.


Verse 40

In the clear autumn sky the twinkling stars appear brighter and brighter, just like a transcendentalist clear vision of the purpose of the Vedas.


Verse 41

In the clear sky of autumn, the beautiful moon among the beautiful stars becomes the cynosure of all eyes, just as Lord Sri Krishna is the central attraction in the Vrsni dynasty or in the family of Yadu.


Verse 44

In the autumn season all the reservoirs of water are full of lotus flowers. There are also flowers that resemble the lotus but are of a different class. Among them is a flower called kumuda. When the sun rises, all the flowers but the kumuda blossom beautifully. Similarly, lotuslike men take pleasure in the advent of a responsible king, but men who are like the kumuda do not like the existence of a king.

Verse 48

The moon, or Candraloka, is one of the four important places of residence for the demigods. Beyond Manasa Lake is Sumeru Mountain. On the eastern side of this mountain is the planet Devadhani, where Indra resides. On the southern side is the planet known as Saàyamani, where Yamaraja resides. On the western side is the planet known as Nimlocani, the residence of Vayu, the demigod who controls the wind. And on the northern side of the mountain is the moon, which is also known as Vibhavari.

Konst, filosofi och poesi

Denna poetisk-filosofiska lilla skrift, Light of the Bhagavata, författades av Srila Prabhupada inför en konferens i Japan år 1961. Skriften illustrerades 1978, av den kinesiska konstnärinnan Li Yun Sheng.

Här är några exempel, hela boken kan ses på http://www.iskcon.com/galleries/lob/1/index.htm

Verse 3

Attracted by electricity throughout the sky and driven by forceful winds, clouds gradually cover the surface of the earth to satisfy the needy people by supplying water, which is the substance of their life. The clouds bestow rains upon man as the mercy of the Lord, who is always kind to the needy living being.

Verse 7

The small rivulets that almost dried up during the months of May and June now begin to overflow their banks, like upstarts that suddenly overflow the limits of expenditure.

Verse 10

Just as a living being attains a transcendentally attractive form by rendering service to Lord Hari, similarly, all the in habitants of the land and the water assume beautiful forms by taking advantage of the newly fallen water.

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Verse 11

In the rainy season, when the rivers swell and rush to the ocean, and as the wind blows the waves about, the ocean appears to be agitated. Similarly, if a person engaged in the mystic yoga process is not very advanced in spiritual life, he can be affected by the modes of nature and thus will be agitated by the sex impulse.

Verse 13

In the rainy season some of the roads are not frequently used and become covered with long grasses, and thus it becomes very difficult to see the road. Similarly, in this age the transcendental scriptures are not properly studied by the brahmaëas. Being covered by the effects of time, the scriptures are practically lost, and it becomes very difficult to understand or follow them.

Verse 17

When the clouds appear in the sky the peacock begins to dance in ecstasy, as a sincere soul becomes overwhelmed with joy on the appearance of a saint at his house.

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Verse 20

Fierce torrents of rain break over the strands and the partition walls of the paddy field. These disturbances resemble those created by the seasonal opponents of the standard principles of the Vedas, who are influenced by the age of Kali.

Verse 21

The wind carries the clouds to different parts of the globe, and the clouds distribute rains, to the satisfaction of the people in general, just as rich kings and merchants distribute their accumulated wealth, inspired by religious priests.

Verse 24

When the Lord entered the forest of Vrindavana, all the inhabitants of the forest, both animate and inanimate, were eager to receive Him. He saw that the flowers of the forest, all fully blossoming, were weeping in ecstasy, honey flowing down their petals. The waterfalls on the hilly rocks were gladly flowing, and one could hear sweet sounds from the caves nearby.