Invaluable Support
Thank you for Arcana-siddhi Devi Dasi's article "Dealing with Depression" [July/August]. The edition landed on my doorstep a week after my mother's brother died tragically. The entire family was, and is, in turmoil, but are thankfully taking some shelter of the holy name.
I have been a practicing devotee for eight years, and never before had the distress and temporary nature of the material world been so obvious to me. My mother's pain, and my own, is something I didn't know how deal with, and your article helped me understand this, and also be open to seeking help spiritually or professionally. The devotees' support and guidance is absolutely invaluable, especially in times of distress.
Nima Suchak
London, England
The Chanting Cure
I read the article "Dealing with Depression" in your recent issue of BTG. The article is very interesting and is indeed a motivator for all. In today's world, where all are hankering for possessions and the increase of material assets, there is bound to be depression. Chanting the maha-mantra not only takes the individual from the material to the spiritual platform, but also assists in identifying the self with the soul and not the body.
Ramnath Murali
Mumbai, India
Timely Invitation
I've always loved BTG. Over the years, while feeling separation from devotees, struggling at the university, BTG has been the window to the Krsna conscious realm. Now, in the intensity of separation from my spiritual master, Tamal Krishna Goswami, again BTG offers a helping hand.
Receiving the May/June BTG felt like receiving an invitation when I most needed it. Srila Prabhupada's words in his lecture "Come to My Eternal Place" and Kalakantha Prabhu's wonderful editorial felt like the blessings of Prabhupada and Tamal Krsna Goswami on us that we could all meet again in Tamal Krsna Goswami's room, relishing his association along with the sweetest kirtana. All this in a delightful magazine calledBack to Godhead!
The July/August BTG, with the feature article about the life of Srila Tamal Krsna Goswami, was also incredible. We are very grateful to Satyaraja Prabhu for writing such a touching, brilliant article. Tamal Krsna Goswami has been glorified in a dynamic way.
To everyone at BTG, including the Web site designers, thank you so very, very much. BTG is truly something out of this world.
Yasoda Dulala Dasa
Johannesburgh, South Africa
Top Notch
I just want to congratulate you all for the success you have had with Back to Godhead and the new Krsna Web site. Both are top notch in terms of quality and quantity. You are the empowered agents of the Lord, and I am glad that due to your hard work you have enlightened so many fallen souls, including myself and my brother Art.
Of course I also want to offer my respectful obeisances unto Prabhupada's lotus feet. Without his courage and determination there would be no ISKCON. Keep up the good work and keep on printing many beautiful pictures of naughty butter-stealing Krsna.
Greg Madej
Via the Internet
Truth Triumphs
I am writing to express my sincere blessings to this most extraordinary magazine. I become ever more indebted to everyone there after every article that I read, especially when I read an explanation of an aspect of the eternal faith that I may have not understood. I say with Lord Narayana in my heart that I wish the best for your magazine.
Kalyan namastu! (May you prosper.)
Vijay bhava! (May you be victorious.)
Satyam eva jayate! (Only truth triumphs.) Your magazine is the truth to this statement.
Jeremy Hewett
Via the Internet
First Humans
According to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the living entities are all created by the Pracetas. Who was the first human being on this planet? Science says that on this planet, there were first trees and animals and so forth. According to the Vedas, were humans created in some mystical way suddenly out of the dust, as Lord Brahma appeared mystically?
We know, according to Bhagavad-gita, that the Vedic science was passed down from Brahma to the sun-god, who again passed it down to Iksvaku, the king of the earth. Was he the first human being here? He can only be a king when there is population. Is there any information existing about this?
Hemasarira Dasa
Germany
Drutakarma Dasa Replies: "The rebirth of Prajapati Daksa as the son of the Pracetas, and the progeny of Daksa's daughters, who initiated the races of demigods, demons, human beings, animals, serpents, birds, and so on all this is described." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.12.17) This verse appears to give the proper sequence of events. Daksa is the son of the Pracetas, and Daksa's daughters, who were given in marriage to different demigods and sages, are the generators of the human population on earth and other planets.
This populating of the earth takes place after the end of each manvantara period in a day of Brahma. There are fourteen such manvantara periods, and the human population on earth is regenerated after the devastation that normally follows each one.
The humans and other species are the offspring of the reproductive processes of the daughters of Daksa. So it is not that God is creating the human beings from dust.
All the details of how exactly the demigods generate the human population, and who exactly the first human on earth was, I cannot say, based on what I currently know from the Vedic literature.
Human populations on earth are also generated after each night of Brahma and after each life of Brahma. I assume the process would be similar to that which takes places after the end of each manvantara, namely that demigods from the higher material regions of the universe produce the populations through their reproductive activities.
Please write to us at: BTG, P. O. Box 430, Alachua, FL 32616, USA. E-mail: editors@krishna.com.