The following poem
was written when I was in Sri Vrindavan dham, India…
I was feeling deep appreciation for His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his translation and commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita As It Is,
which I’ve received much guidance from in my life.
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| ~Lisa Saraswati Devi Photography~ |
The Gita is
one of the most important scriptures of the Gaudiya Vaisnava, or Bhakti Yoga
tradition. It explains that there are 3 modes of material nature: goodness (sattva), passion (rajas), and ignorance (tamas),
and that we understand life according to whichever mode, or combination of
modes, may be influencing us at any given time.
I’ve found that when I make a thorough study of his Bhagavad-gita,
I feel myself beginning to expand my views on life, like a blossoming lotus, and understanding how to find true happiness and peace. For this
reason, the path outlined in the Gita is very attractive to me.
When I comprehend the importance of this ancient
scripture, I feel inspired to follow its wisdom.
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| ~Lisa Saraswati Devi Photography~ |
I am then able to
intelligently discriminate between which activities will benefit me, and which
ones won’t: which ones will cause me suffering and which ones will liberate me
from the entangling influence of these modes. When I am able to see things in
this way, I feel the helpful influence of the mode of goodness (sattva) in my life.
Conversely, when one cannot distinguish between what
is religion and irreligion or which actions should or should not be done, it is
then understood that that person is influenced by the mode of passion. Further,
when one understands religion to be irreligion and vice versa, who considers a
saintly person to be a common man, as well as the opposite, and who continually
goes in the wrong direction in life, then that person, according to the Gita,
is considered to be in the mode of ignorance.
This poem is based upon Chapter 18, verses 30-32
of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, translated by His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In this section, Lord Krishna explains to His
devotee and intimate friend, Arjuna, how and why everyone perceives things
differently. It was
originally published in my poetry book, Lotus Lyrics.
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| ~Lisa Saraswati Devi Photography~ |
Krishna Priya Dasi is a disciple of His Holiness Lokanath Swami, in the bhakti-yoga tradition under His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. She was born in Rajasthan, India and was raised in Jaipur. Although she encountered major structural and bone problems from the beginning of her life she was trained in traditional Rajasthani painting and one of her paintings ‘Rasa-Lila’, appears on the front cover of Graham Schweig’s book, Dance of Divine Love. She is also a talented henna body artist, and is the author and illustrator of a poetry book titled: “Lotus Lyrics”, based on Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Her first cookbook “The Art of Indian Sweets” has been well praised, so she is currently working on several more. She can be via e-mail krsnapriyad96@gmail.com or at her website here, or facebook here.
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
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