Questions on today's Swami call:Does the book Prema-Samputa by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have a chronology that makes it especially suitable to read during the month of Kartika?What is the significance of all the dates related to the Rasa-lila, such as the ones at the beginning and end of Kartika? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu upon rediscovering Radha-kunda stated that Sri Sri Radha Krishna performed Rasa-lila on its banks every day.Tomorrow is the appearance day of Srila Sridhara Maharaja. Would you like to share some words about him to help us appreciate this auspicious day?Pranama, Guru Maharaja. Have you written anything on the pranama-mantra to Srila Sridhara Maharaja that could help us to delve deeper in our prayers to him?Is it helpful to Mother Earth and to pilgrims when a perfected sadhu is buried in a samadhi-tomb rather than being cremated?Did Mahaprabhu leave a legacy that will eventually purify the entire universe?

Questions on today's Swami call:How should we understand descriptions of Gopis in their highest state of love merging with Krsna from a devotional vs. monistic perspective?Radha is known as Kartika (born of Kirtida). Any reading to do this month on how Radha is connected to Radha?Recommendations for sadhana during Kartika to make spiritual advancement?Does one’s material psychology have any impact on how much one can surrender in Bhakti?What is a meditation to have going into marriage and grihasta ashram?How to understand a friend converting to Christianity after experiencing the divine light of the cross in his heart?

Questions on today's Swami call:Can one go directly from tamo-guna to suddha-sattva, or does one have to pass through rajas and sattva?What did Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura mean when he said that he saw his home turn into Goloka Vrindavan?If one has had a semblance of bhava (bhava-abhasa), will the memory of that be helpful for one’s progress afterwards?Dandavats, Guru Maharaja. Can you explain what Srila Madhvacarya’s relationship to Srila Vyasadeva is?Which autobiography of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura can help us to understand him closely?How should we see Lord Shiva?What edition of the Srimad Bhagavatam is the best to read?

Questions on today's Swami call:How can we follow Vedic culture in its essence while living in the modern western world? What is Vedic culture in essence?Is the mantra that Syamananda Pandit received from Subala the Subala gayatri?In the Laghu-bhagavatamrta, Srila Rupa Goswami gives many examples to show that Vraja Krishna is the source of all other forms of the Godhead. Some of them are difficult to understand, at least in the translation I am reading. For example, it says that was Lord Balarama manifested in the Aghasura-lila, that the milk ocean was produced from Sri Krishna’s cows, and that this ocean was churned by the cowherd boys. Can you comment on this?It seems that some Buddhist traditions embrace simultaneous form and formlessness. Could this be seen as an expression of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva from the perspective of perennialism?Is there a reason why Srila Sridhara Maharaja mentions Sridama and Sudama as examples of sakhya-rati in his commentary on the Brahma-gayatri?What does Sri Krishna and his friends do when it rains a lot?How come that even when the Vedic brahmanas in the Vraja-lila had understood that Sri Sri Krishna Balarama are God they were still afraid or King Kamsa?

Questions on today's Swami call:Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura stated that only those who have developed madhurya-rati (transcendental conjugal affection) are able to understand the madhurya-rasa pastimes. That makes sense to me. However, he also said that those who have developed vatsalya-rati (transcendental parental affection) are able to appreciate the sweetness of those pastimes. What did he mean by that?Would it be more effective to chant a mantra explicitly focused on Srimati Radharani in my sadhana rather than the maha-mantra if my aim is to worship the maha-shakti and connect with her?We hear that Devi Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma, but also that she is an expansion of Laksmi-devi. Does jiva-tattva and Vishnu-tattva combine in Lord Brahma (as Laksmi-devi is Lord Vishnu’s consort)?How should we understand the many heads of the different forms of Lord Brahma? It is said that some have millions of heads.Please accept my respectful obeisances, Guru Maharaja. My question is about the difference between the atma and the jiva. If atmas and jivas are separate categories, are there jivas without an atma?

Questions on today's Swami call:In what light should we see Lady Subhadra as she stands between Lord Baladeva and Lord Jagannatha?Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes in the niyamagraha section of Sri Bhaktyaloka that what is helpful for us at one stage maybe become an obstacle as we are advancing to the next stage. What are some examples of things that would be helpful in the stage of nistha but could become an obstacle as we advance to the stage of ruci?Can you explain the hierarchy of the different types of sakhis in Krishna-lila? Sometimes the parama-prestha-sakhis are said to be the highest, but in Gaudiya Vaishnavism we emphasize the manjaris.Is it possible for a jiva to alter the karmic reactions that were determined before one’s birth?How can one be an orthodox Gaudiya Vaishnava in the modern society?

Questions on today's Swami call:Dandavats pranams, Srila Guru Maharaja. Can you explain the divisions of devotees into kanistha, madhyama, and uttama and the further divisions into kanistha-kanistha, kanistha-madhyama, and kanistha-uttama and so forth? Would the illiterate brahmana that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu met in south India be an example of a blend of kanistha and uttama as he did not have much scriptural knowledge but had deep love for Sri Krishna?How are we to understand that Sri Haridas Thakura was an incarnation of Lord Brahma? Did Lord Brahma step down from his position to be in Gaura lila? Is Haridas Thakura a partial manifestation of Lord Brahma? Could it be that he is a manifestation of the Lord Brahma in Goloka, since it is said that there are devas in the eternal lila? Is it better to not be concerned with this at all?I can think of three motivations for chanting the maha-mantra, one being to end our suffering here, another being to attain happiness in Vrindavan, and the third being simply to please Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Can we direct our mind into any of these even if we are not on the level of the higher motivations?Dandavats. Good morning, Guru Maharaja. I have heard devotees reference Raga-Vartma-Candrika saying that there is a realm in Goloka with more apparent opulence for those who are attached to vaidhi. Can you explain this?What is the significance of the gopis being compared to elephants?What does Sri Nayanananda Thakura mean when he writes in his Preyo-Bhakti-Rasarnava that the priya-narma-sakhas serve Sri Krishna in sakhi-bhava?

If Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that service to Sri Krishna is the natural function of the jiva in the liberated state, how can we as Gaudiya Vaishnavas accept sayujya as a type of mukti?What did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura mean when he said that Vrindavana is for shallow thinkers and that the ideal place for bhajana is Kuruksetra?Should we make commitments based on how we feel or try to increase our feeling for Sri Krishna by making commitments?Srila Sridhara Maharaja said that Jesus may have progressed from where he was at when he taught his doctrine. Is it possible that Mahaprabhu could also have progressed since the time he taught his?You have many times said that faith is our deity. Can we conceive of our guru’s faith as a deity and worship it with the aim of getting out of the limiting world of our mind?What is the significance of the kunjas of the gopis being situated in certain directions around Radha Kunda?What source would you recommend to study to understand the concept of maha-shakti?

I have heard that some devotees enter both Gaura and Krishna lila, while others enter only Gaura or Krishna lila. How could a Gaudiya Vaishnava enter only Krishna lila when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is so central to our understanding of Krishna lila?How can a sadhaka engage sustainably in atma-nivedanam?Do you know whether Sri Krishna feels guilty about creating jivas that are susceptible to come under the material energy and suffer?I feel that my desire to have a close relationship with Krishna is self-centered, and self-centeredness leads to suffering. It would seem that this desire needs to be purified before it can bear fruit. What do I need to do to achieve balance in this pursuit?Pranama, Guru Maharaja. Is it true that Sri Madhavendra Puri was a wish-fulfilling tree in Vraja lila?In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta there is mention of a love-quarrel between Lord Jagannatha and Saksi-Gopala. Is this described further anywhere?One school of philosophy argues that reality is ultimately the sum of all emotions and qualitative experiences. They also acknowledge the force of time. Can you comment on this with regard to our view that identifies Krishna with time?Whose voice was it that spoke to Kamsa from the sky during Vasudeva’s and Devaki’s wedding ceremony?

How did demigod worship begin? Was Hinduism originally monotheistic or has polytheism always been there?Can you explain the term panentheism?Dandavats, Maharaja. Thank you for your kind mercy. What is the most effective way to receive Sri Nityananda’s mercy?Dear Guru Maharaja, what are the most important Vaishnava qualities that enable someone to truly change the hearts of others, rather than merely attracting them with worldly charm?How should we think of seniority when we see people who are supposed to be senior but who are lacking compassion and humility in their hearts?Is there an eternal/invisible (aprakat) form of Mahaprabhu’s sannyasa pastimes, for example in Jagannatha Puri?Can you explain what it means to see the synchronicity of everything in a devotional context? What is the relationship between karma and the svarupa-sakti in this regard?What would you suggest as a meditation for the days leading up to Sri Krishna Janmastami?Should one actively search for a guru or patiently wait for the guru to appear out of their own mercy?What is the significance of draping the brahmin thread around the right ear when going to the bathroom?