Category:God's Advice
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category focuses on the unparalleled value and absolute necessity of accepting the advice given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that in the bewildered and baffled condition of material life, where conditioned souls constantly struggle for happiness, the only sane course of action is to consult the supreme authority. The Lord gives His advice directly through the scriptures, such as the Bhagavad-gītā, where He counsels humanity to give up all varieties of material religion and surrender unto Him. He also advises through His incarnations, such as Lord Ṛṣabhadeva teaching the necessity of austerity, or Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advising the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Furthermore, the Lord provides intimate, personal advice from within the heart as the caitya-guru to those who are sincerely engaged in devotional service. Rejecting the Lord's advice leads to continued entanglement in the cycle of birth and death, while accepting it guarantees return to the spiritual world.
- The Supreme Counselor: In a society baffled by material miseries, the only true solution is to consult Kṛṣṇa. His advice is perfect, timeless, and completely free from the four defects of conditioned souls.
- Direct Scriptural Advice: Through texts like the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord explicitly advises humanity on how to act, what to eat, and how to surrender. He advises engaging all possessions in His service to avoid karmic reactions.
- Advice from Incarnations: The Lord descends to give practical counsel. Lord Ṛṣabhadeva advised His sons to perform austerity (tapasya) rather than live like animals, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised everyone to chant the holy names.
- The Inner Adviser: For the sincere devotee who follows the principles of the spiritual master, the Lord acts as the Paramātmā within the heart, providing direct, unwavering advice on how to progress back to Godhead.
- Following the Sadhu: Because we cannot physically see Kṛṣṇa to ask for advice, He advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master (sādhu), who transparently delivers the Lord's instructions.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God's Advice - The Supreme Counsel for Conditioned Souls.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
C
K
Pages in category "God's Advice"
The following 45 pages are in this category, out of 45 total.
A
- A devotee in this material world uses all material opulences for the service of the Lord because he is planning how to serve the Lord with these opulences, as advised by the Lord Himself
- Advised by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: seeing a materialist engaged in sense gratification and seeing a woman who is similarly interested is more abominable than drinking poison willingly
- Although we cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in our present darkness, our lack of knowledge, He is always present, seeing our activities. As the Paramatma, He is the witness and adviser (upadrasta and anumanta)
D
- Devotional service begins with sravanam kirtanam; (SB 7.5.23) therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised the beggars to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra for elevation to the transcendental position
- Dhrtarastra admitted that - I know that the advice has come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but I am so unfortunate, I cannot give up my this habit. Please excuse
I
- If he is a father instructing his sons, a spiritual master instructing his disciples, or a king instructing his citizens, he must instruct them as I have advised
- If one sticks to the principles enunciated by the spiritual master, somehow or other he is in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the Lord is in the heart, He can advise a sincere disciple from within
- In Bhagavad-gita (BG 4.34) the SPG advises: Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth
- In Kali-yuga, instead of drinking milk, people prefer to slaughter an animal and eat its flesh. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His instructions of Bhagavad-gita, advises go-raksya, which means cow protection
- In the winter we do not like taking a bath, but in the summer we wish to take a bath twice, thrice or more a day. Thus Krsna advises us not to be disturbed by such relativities and dualities when they come and go
- In this bewildered condition, baffled condition of the society, we should consult Krsna. Krsna is ready to give you advice, as He was ready five thousand years ago to give advice to Arjuna
K
- Kapiladeva has advised His mother, Devahuti, as follows, "My dear Mother, My pure devotees are charmed by seeing My different forms, the beauty of My face, the structure of My body so enchanting"
- Killing business is all right here for the enemies, not ordinarily. Then the next question is, "All right, enemies you can kill, admitted. But how You advise me to kill my gurus?" If for Krsna's sake, if there is need, you have to kill your guru also
- Krsna advises, Himself, how to become a sadhu, a saintly person. That is also only follow four principles: You simply think of Krsna. You just become devotee of Krsna, you simply worship Krsna. - You offer your obeisances unto Me
L
- Lord Nrsimhadeva advised Prahlada Maharaja to engage in his political duties so that people would become the Lord's devotees
- Lord Visnu advised him (Durvasa Muni), that if he wanted forgiveness he had to get it from Maharaja Ambarisa, not from Him. In this context Lord Visnu spoke this verse - CC Adi 1.62, SB 9.4.68
R
- Ravana was killed by Lord Ramacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Ramacandra's advice, Vibhisana, Ravana's brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus He was kind to Ravana even after Ravana's death
- Rsabhadeva advised that, - If you want eternal pleasure, eternal happiness, then you do not try to misuse your this valuable body simply for meeting the demands like cats and dogs
- Rsabhadeva gave this advice to his sons: My dear boys, just undergo austerity for transcendental realization
- Rsabhadeva is advising His other sons - that bharatam bhajadhvam - You just be obedient to Bharata. Don't try to rule independently, because if you follow the principles of Bharata Maharaja, that will satisfy the citizens, not ruling over independently
- Rsabhadeva suggested that His eldest son was superior, and He advised the others to serve him. All the brothers of Bharata Maharaja were advised by Rsabhadeva to adhere to Bharata's service
T
- The Bhagavad-gita confirms emphatically that the pure devotees, who are constantly engaged in the loving transcendental service of the Lord, are directly advised by the Lord, so much so that the devotee unwaveringly makes progress on the path to Godhead
- The characteristics of this age predicted by Srimad-Bhagavatam are already being experienced to some degree. Since Kali-yuga is a very miserable age, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Sri Krsna Himself, advises everyone simply to chant Hare Krsna
- The Fourteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita nicely explains how one can free oneself of contamination by the material modes. Now Kapiladeva advises, - Mother, if you want to get rid of the contamination of material nature, you should associate with a sadhu
- The greatly learned sage Maitreya said: O Vidura, Brahma thus engaged himself in penances for one hundred celestial years, as advised by the Personality of Godhead, and applied himself in devotional service to the Lord
- The Lord advised that Arjuna not be inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the result. BG 1972 purports
- The Lord advises in the Bhagavad-gita that one give up all so-called religious activities and completely engage in the devotional service of the Lord to become free from all anxieties due to the dangerous life of material existence
- The Lord gives good counsel and advises the living entity to abandon trying to become happy through material adjustment and instead turn his face toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrender unto Him
- The merciful Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has simply advised us to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam - CC Adi 17.21
- The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. BG 1972 purports
- The Supreme Lord advises in Bhagavad-gita (BG 9.27): O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me. This is bhakti
- The Supreme Lord was advising Bharata Maharaja to be the chief ruler of the planet. This is the real plan of the Supreme Lord
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead nonetheless advised Prahlada Maharaja to follow the regulative principles (even though he has fully surrendered to the lotus of the Lord), for since he was going to be the king, others would follow his example
- There are many spiritual masters, but Rsabhadeva advises that one should not become a spiritual master if he is unable to save his disciple from the path of birth and death
W
- We are hankering after perpetual happiness, continued happiness. So Rsabhadeva advised, "My dear boys, you take to austerity." Tapo divyam yena suddhyet sattvam. - After you are purified, then brahma-saukhyam anantam, then you get unlimited happiness
- We are taking advice from the Supreme Person. He says, "My dear Arjuna, you may be elevated to the highest planetary system, which is called Brahmaloka and is desirable because life there is very long."
- We cannot understand the functions of this material world and whether it is good for us or bad for us, in accordance with the advice of the supreme authority we must reject it and go back home, back to Godhead
- We may say, "I cannot find Krsna. How can I follow His order?" It is the role of the sadhu to impart Krsna's orders. Since Krsna's representative is the sadhu, Kapiladeva advises His mother to associate with sadhus
- When the chief lord of the universe, Lord Brahma, having been inspired by My energy, was attempting to create, he thought himself incapable. Therefore I gave him advice, and in accordance with My instructions he underwent extremely difficult austerities