Vedic Wisdom Talks

  Remembrance & forgetfulness!   Sri Krsna said to Arjun: Rest assure that you will be able to kill Karna, just as Bhima will certainly kill Duryodhana. Now, just see how Drona is slaughtering the soldiers of our army. You must give up your grief & quickly go and attack the Preceptor Drona   Listening to this Dhritrāshtra enquired from Sanjay: Karna possessed Indra’s invincible dart. Why did he never use it to kill Arjun? This surely would have caused the defeat of the Pandavas. I think this must also have somehow been the arrangement of the supremely intelligent Sri Krsna. Kindly enlighten me on this matter if you are able to do so   Sanjay replied: Dear King! What you think is quite correct. Sri Krsna had ordered Ghatotkaca to fight with Karna, just so that he would be forced to waste Indra’s infallible dart   Dhritrāshtra asked: O Sanjay, from the very start, didn’t Duryodhana advisors urge Karna to challenge Arjun & then us the infallible dart to...

How one pure devotee of the Lord can change the world! The incredible journey & blessings of HDG A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada I offer my prostrated obeisances to his divine lotus feet, a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, on his 108th appearance day. He is a living example of how a single person can change entire world, spreading the instructions of the Supreme Lord, and in between making pure devotees, saving them from clutches of material world Born as Abhay Charan De on September 1, 1896, in Calcutta, he embarked on a remarkable journey. As a young man, he joined Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement. In 1922, a life-changing encounter with the prominent scholar & spiritual leader, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, altered the course of young Abhay’s life Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, a luminary in Gaudiya Vaishnava community, a monotheistic tradition within the broader Hindu culture, made an extraordinary request at their first meeting. He implored Abhay to ca...

  Saviour!   After Bhima’s son Ghatotkaca fell dead on battle ground, Sri Krsna loudly shouted with great joy & danced in ecstasy. Arjun, who was exceedingly morose said: O Krsna! Such an exhibition of happiness on this sad occasion doesn’t seem at all befitting. Still, there must be a very grave & inscrutable reason for Your jubilation & so I request You to kindly disclose it   Sri Krsna said: Dear Arjun! Please listen to Me, for I will immediately dispel your grief. The reason I’m so happy is because Karna wasted his infallible dart. Don’t you see? Now you’re free to fight with him without anxiety. Karna was the single greatest stumbling block on our path to victory. Indeed, if he were still in possession of his celestial armour & earrings, no one would have been able to vanquish him in battle-neither all demigods nor you with your Gandiva bow, nor I with My Sudarshan Cakra. Even now that Karna is bereft of his natural armour & earrings so that his p...

  Divine protection!   As Ghatotkaca attacked & Kaurav soldiers fled, Karna did not waver & continued sending steady strem of arrows into the sky while a new driver yoked fresh horses onto his chariot. Ghatotkaca then hurled a sataghni weapon having wheels that killed these horses. After getting down from his chariot, Karna attempted to dispel the Rāksasā’s illusions by means of his celestial weapons. This also proved to be futile, however, and so at last Karna fearfully began thinking about what to do next   Upon seeing how their leader had become vulnerable, while being assaulted by showers of weapons, the Kaurava warriors shouted: O Karna, now is the time for you to invoke Indra’s invincible dart! The Dhārtarāshtrās & our entire army are about to be completely consumed by this terrible Rāksasā! Pls kill Ghatotkaca immediately so that the survivors can contend with the Pāndavās tomorrow   When Karna heard these anxious pleas & saw Ghatot...

Bhakti-Yoga!   As Alayudha approached Ghatotkaca, Bhima came to his son’s aid & drove away Alayudha’s army. Still the Rāksasa fought so heroically that Bhima soon became greatly afflicted. Seeing this, his army rallied but Alayudha broke Bhima’s bow & killed his horses and driver   After getting down from his chariot, Bhima hurled a mace, but Alayudha counteracted it with its own. A fierce hand to hand duel then ensued, and as they continued battling one another, Bhima & Alayudha wielded broken chariot wheels, yokes & whatever else they could find lying around   Sri Krsna instructed Ghatotkaca to help Bhima. After leaving aside Karna, he rushed at Alayudha. This left Karna free to slaughter the Pāncāla warriors, however, and so, upon Ghatotkaca’s arrival, Bhima left off fighting with Alayudha so that he could check Karna   Sātyaki, Nakula & Sahadev had also been engaged in slaughtering Alayudha’s army & they also left off fight...

  Where we seek…..?   From above Ghatotkaca began showering his arrows upon Karna, but when these were all counteracted, he once again made himself invisible. He again suddenly appeared assuming the form of a gigantic mountain that poured forth streams of weapons. Karna was not the least agitated, however, and with a celestial weapon he quickly destroyed that terrible mountain   Ghatotkaca next became a dark cloud showering volley of stones. With a Vayavya weapon Karna dispersed that illusion. Then having become highly enraged, Ghatotkaca suddenly rushed at Karna & broke his bow. Picking up another bow, Karna proceeded to slaughter the Rāksasa army that supported Bhima’s son so that the survivors quickly fled, deserting their leader   Ghatotkaca then utilized his mystic power to create a chariot drawn by asses. After mounting it, he once again rushed at Karna & hurled a terrible Asani weapon of Lord Shiva. Putting aside his bow, Karna jumped from his chariot....