Victory Over Death

Foreword

“This is a well illustrated, easy to understand book and I know the author to have a genuine care for the well being of the young people of India, making him the true representative of the best friend of youths today. Using his years of experience in this field Radheshyam Prabhu, has managed to produce a systematic, highly effective study of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

I strongly recommend that a serious study of these books is done to discover India’s ancient heritage and wealth of Vedic wisdom. I am confident this study course will inspire and motivate many to delve more deeply into the fathomless purports of Srila Prabhupada’s books.”

Preface

We are pleased to see that the first three volumes of ‘The Spirituality for the Modem Youth’ series have been well received and appreciated by many. This gives us great enthusiasm to pursue this humble endeavour of ‘serving the devotees by continuing the series. ‘Discover Your Self dealt with the basics of knowledge of the soul and ‘Your Best Friend’ gave a systematic understanding about the Supreme Personality of Godhead: The third book was supposed to be ‘Pass the final exam’. But the work became so voluminous that we had to divide it into two books - ‘Your Secret Journey’ and ‘Victory Over Death’. In the book ‘Your Secret Journey’ we discussed about reincarnation, evolution, karma and material and spiritual nature. It presents the problems and this book ‘Victory Over Death’ presents the solution to the problems. You may see the chapter flow to appreciate how to use this book.

1. How a human being is remarkably different and more evolved in comparison to an animal, and how he can take initiative in understanding the sublime truths about one’s deliverance from suffering, is the beginning of this book.

2. Everyone in this world is shackled by three ropes, or modes, called goodness, passion and ignorance, which determine our behaviour and traits. Here we also explain the relevance of this subject in the lives of modem corporate leaders or managers.

3. Indeed our quest for truth or happiness will depend on the mode in which we are situated. Generally those in passion and ignorance invite trouble by uselessly searching for pleasure in temporary material things, but those in goodness can use this mode as a springboard to ascend to pure goodness. Only in pure goodness can one be totally free from the contaminations of this world.

4. Till one comes to that stage, one has to take support of Varnasrama dharma and perform prescribed duties. One should know how a Vaishnava devotee stands above all the varnas and ashrams.

5. and 6. Often there are misconceptions amongst people about which path is superior - jnana, yoga or bhakti. These two chapters clarify the position of bhakti in relation to other paths as well the destinations achieved by different types of practitioners.

7. Having understood the fact that the ultimate goal of life is to become a Vaishnava or a pure devotee of the Lord, this chapter gives practical tips about things favourable and unfavourable for a beginner in spiritual life.

8. The most essential aspect of a Vaishnava’s life is remembrance of Krishna. How to achieve that state of constant remembrance of Krishna is explained with many illustrations.

9. There is an art of preparing oneself for death. What we weave now we will wear later. This chapter speaks about facing death confidently by adequate preparation.

10. How should a devotee face death? Who is defeated at death? Who conquers death? All this is explained with many practical illustrations and pastimes from scriptures in the last two chapters that conclude with practical tips on chanting of holy names.

Thus, this book deals with prakriti, karma and kala in a lucid fashion, highlighting devotional service in the last four chapters. The book has been compiled with easy-to-understand information, still keeping in mind a logical minded reader.

We hope this book brings you abundant understanding about life’s ultimate purpose and takes you close to the lotus feet of the Lord.

Introduction

The Vedic texts are the panacea for all problems for all times; they give a crystal clear understanding of all the fundamental and essential truths of life including who we are, what the true goal of life is and how we can attain permanent happiness.

Unfortunately however, in the modem times, the Vedas have generally been misunderstood to be books of sentiment and blind faith or a bunch of empty rituals. And due to such preconceived misconceptions, the scientifically minded youth have reservations in even approaching them. Also, these texts being in intricate Sanskrit are not easily accessible to them.

With these considerations in mind, a need was felt for a systematic and scientific presentation of the five essential themes of the Bhagavad-gita: ishvara (the Lord), jiva (the living entity), prakriti (nature), kala (time) and karma (activity). A humble attempt towards making such a compilation was first made in 1994. Those notes were based on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, who is internationally acclaimed as an erudite Vedic scholar and as the greatest exponent of Krishna consciousness in the modem times. References were also taken from Back to Godhead magazine articles and from discourses by senior devotees of ISKCON like His Grace Devamrita Prabhu, His Grace Radha Gopinath Prabhu and His Grace Krishna Smaran Prabhu. Those notes were refined over the years as we came to know more about the nature of doubts and questions that youths generally have.

Now we are presenting those refined notes in a handy form as a series of five books, entitled the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series. The books in this series are ‘Discover Your Self’, ‘Your Best Friend’, ‘Your Secret Journey’, ‘Victory over Death “ and ‘Yoga of Love’.

We have been using these notes for vigorous youth preaching in Vedic Oasis for inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE), Pune. VOICE, Pune was started and is being run by the divine inspiration and blessings given by H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj, H.H. Lokanath Swami Maharaj, H.G. Devamrita Prabhu, devotees of Shri Shri Radha Gopinath Mandir, Chowpatty, Mumbai and Shri Shri Radha Kunjabihari Mandir, Pune.

The approach of having a systematic presentation of the Bhagavad-gita has produced amazing results in effectively conveying the message to the youth and inspiring them to take to Krishna consciousness seriously. VOICE presently has hundreds of engineering students, who are chanting Hare Krishna and leading a pure life free from all bad habits like meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling.

We hope that this book will therefore act as a beacon light for every sincere seeker of the truth, especially among the youth and the young at heart, It is our hope that the book will also serve as a useful guide for all preachers throughout the world in their attempts to take Krishna consciousness to the youth in particular and to the masses at large.

This book is nothing but a systematic presentation of the remnants of the bold preacher, Srila Prabhupada, and my beloved spiritual master. It is therefore a humble offering at their lotus feet. We will consider our humble efforts successful if this endeavour can assist in fulfilling their pure desire to flood the entire world with Krishna consciousness.