Freedom from Material Contamination

Srila Prabhupada speaking from Vyasasana

…I wish everyone of my devotees may purify himself from all material contamination and thus be eligible for entering into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Material life means indulging in sense gratification which diverts our attention from spiritual importance and thus we remain captive under the bewilderment of Maya. This is the most dangerous of our condition of life. Intelligent persons therefore try to avoid it under the protection of Krsna and the Spiritual Master. (from a letter by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Aug.25 1970)

…A conditioned soul, entangled in material contamination, is sure to act in the material atmosphere, and yet he has to get out of such an environment. The process by which the conditioned soul can get out of the material atmosphere is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (purport Bg. 4.24)

…By acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even of the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Therefore, purified activities, which are generally called sadācāra, can be easily performed by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (purport Bg. 5.11)

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Transcendental Qualities of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī

Srimati Radharani

…Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has unlimited transcendental qualities, of which twenty-five qualities are principal. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is controlled by these transcendental qualities of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.(Cc. Madhya-lila 23.86)

Her transcendental qualities are as follows:

(1) She is sweetness personified

(2) She is a fresh young girl

(3) Her eyes are always moving

(4) She is always brightly smiling

(5) She possesses all auspicious marks on Her body

(6) She can agitate Kṛṣṇa by the flavor of Her person

(7) She is expert in the art of singing

(8) She can speak very nicely and sweetly

(9) She is expert in presenting feminine attractions

(10) She is modest and gentle

(11) She is always very merciful

(12) She is transcendentally cunning

(13) She knows how to dress nicely

(14) She is always shy

(15) She is always respectful

(16) She is always patient

(17) She is very grave

(18) She is enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa

(19) She is always situated on the highest devotional platform

(20) She is the abode of love of the residents of Gokula

(21) She can give shelter to all kinds of devotees

(22) She is always affectionate to superiors and inferiors

(23) She is always obliged by the dealings of Her associates

(24) She is the greatest amongst Kṛṣṇa’s girl friends

(25) She always keeps Kṛṣṇa under Her control.

Excerpted from; Teachings of Lord Caitanya

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Double Mercy; The River Ganges and the Pure Devotee

Brahmanda Ghat

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Here are two nice verses describing the glories of bathing in the river Ganges, and association with the pure devotee. How fortunate is this devotee who is helping the pure devotee Srila Prabhupada into the river.

O Sūta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use. (SB 1.1.15)

Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence? (SB 4.30.37)

…Pure devotees of the Lord are more powerful than the waters of the sacred river Ganges. One can derive spiritual benefit out of prolonged use of the Ganges waters. But one can be sanctified at once by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord.

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New Years Resolution

Srimad-Bhagavatam-1_1

This year I almost forgot to make a ‘New Years Resolution’. Typically my resolutions don’t even make it past the first week in January. But this year I hope it will go differently. This year my New Years Resolution is to read a chapter a day from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam. That’s it. I am not giving up anything, or vowing to jog a mile every day, or change my life in any drastic way…just to read a little more.

With this in mind I will introduce a new blog that I have been painstakenly working on for some time; The Srimad Bhagavatam. I can simply click on a chapter link and have the entire chapter in front of me on the same page. This I hope will help me to stay focused and keep a New Years Resolution. It is a work in progress and by years end hope to have some 365 chapters posted (LOL). Or at least a few more cantos.

click on link to visit site; Srimad Bhagavatam

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The Process of Meditation

Radha Raman

The process of meditation should begin from the lotus feet of the Lord and progress to His smiling face. The meditation should be concentrated upon the lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs, and in this way higher and higher. The more the mind becomes fixed upon the different parts of the limbs, one after another, the more the intelligence becomes purified. (SB 2.2.13)

…The process of meditation recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not to fix one’s attention on something impersonal or void. The meditation should concentrate on the person of the Supreme Godhead, either in His virāṭ-rūpa, the gigantic universal form, or in His sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], as described in the scriptures. There are authorized descriptions of Viṣṇu forms, and there are authorized representations of Deities in the temples. Thus one can practice meditating upon the Deity, concentrating his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually rising higher and higher, up to His smiling face.

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Disappearan​ce Day of Srila Jiva Goswami

JivaGoswami

As today marks the disappearan​ce of Srila Jiva Goswami, who was one the Six Goswami’s of Vrndavan, we honor this day with a short biography of his life.

Srila Jiva Goswami (1513–1598)

Jiva Goswami was the nephew of Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami. He received initiation from Rupa Goswami and became the acharya (spiritual master) after Rupa and Sanatana. Jiva Goswami was a Sanskrit scholar par excellence. Some contemporary Sanskritists call him the greatest philosopher and scholar who ever lived. The youngest among the six Goswami followers of Lord Chaitanya, Jiva Goswami was also the most prolific writer. He wrote some twenty-five books, including the Sat-sandarbha, Gopala-champu, and Hari-namamrita-vyakaranam. In 1542, Sri Jiva Goswami established the worship Shri-Sri Radha-Damodara in Seva Kunja, Vrindavana. His samadhi stands in the Temple compound.

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Saffron Particles

Lotus Feet

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This following verse reminds me of the importance of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books every day. Hearing from the pure devotee of the Lord, is so powerful that it can revive the living entity’s memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You. Devotees thus gradually come to the right conclusion about the value of life. My dear Lord, I therefore do not need any other benediction but the opportunity to hear from the mouth of Your pure devotee.

Reading the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is hearing from the mouth of the pure devotee.

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The Story of Saksi-Gopala

Back to Godhead - Volume 10, Number 11 - 1975

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This has always been one of my favorite stories, and has done much to increase my faith and understanding of deity worship in our temples.

…The brahmana youth returned to Vrndavana and began to pray to Gopala Krsna. “Dear Lord, You must come with me.” He was such a staunch devotee that he spoke to Krsna just as one would speak to a friend. He was not thinking that the Gopala was a mere statue or image, but he considered Him to be God Himself. Suddenly the Deity spoke to him:

“How do you think that I can go with you? I am a statue. I can’t go anywhere.”

“Well, if a statue can speak, he can also walk,” the boy replied.

The Story of Saksi-Gopala
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Gopinatha, Lord of the Gopis

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Gopinatha
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
translated from Bengali by Acyutananda Svami

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is one of the most important spiritual masters in the Krsna consciousness line of disciplic succession. His devotional songs and poems express the perfectional emotions of a pure devotee of Lord Krsna (Gopinatha).

O Gopinatha, Lord of the gopis, please hear my prayer. I am a materialistic rascal, always full of lust. I have no good qualifications.

O Gopinatha! You are my only resort. As Your eternal servant, I take shelter of Your lotus feet.

O Gopinatha! How can I uplift myself? I don’t know anything regarding devotional service. I am weak-minded and have fallen into a pit of illusion.

O Gopinatha! Everything here is but Your illusory energy. I have no power or pure knowledge, and and I am bound by a material body.

O Gopinatha! I desire to remain always at Your lotus feet. Please take this sinner, weeping and weeping, and show me Your mercy.

O Gopinatha! You can do anything. You have purified the most wicked by Your power, but who is more wicked than me?

O Gopinatha! You are the vessel of kindness. You enter into this mundane world and display Your sublime pastimes for the sake of the fallen souls.

O Gopinatha! I am the sinner of sinners. Yet I sit waiting for You to take me, for many demons have attained Your lotus feet.

O Gopinatha! Destroy the miseries of this world! I am strung on a necklace of births and deaths and cannot bear the kicking of maya.

O Gopinatha! I am a servant of lust, entangled in the net of material desire which has sprung up in my heart.

O Gopinatha! When will I wake up and cast this enemy of lust far from me? Then only will You be revealed to me in my heart.

O Gopinatha! I am Your own. By leaving Your lotus feet, forgetting Your treasures, I have served only maya.

O Gopinatha! You know everything. Take me to Your lotus feet and punish Your servant.

O Gopinatha! Is it to Your liking to reject me and not show me Your kindness?

O Gopinatha! I am the greatest fool. I don’t at all know what is good for me. I cannot understand anything. This is my fate.

O Gopinatha! You are the greatest intellect. Not considering that I am Your servant, judge me without bias.

O Gopinatha! I have no means of benefiting myself. By Your mercy and kindness, please pick me up from this miserable world and take me to You.

O Gopinatha! I have fallen into this dark world. Bound by wealth, wife and sons, I am feeling the pain of lust.

O Gopinatha! I am going mad! Never caring for spiritual practices, I am always unconscious and deeply sunk in the muck of sense gratification.

O Gopinatha! I surrender unto You. All my endeavors are a useless waste of time. Now I surrender unto You.

O Gopinatha! How shall I reach the goal? My mind is overwhelmed by the powerful senses. I cannot shake off attachment to worldly pleasures.

O Gopinatha! Please reside in my heart. Destroy these dangerous obstacles, correct my mind and guide me to Your own true path.

O Gopinatha! Please let Your glance fall on me. I am helpless, but You are Hrsikesa, the Lord of the senses. Please control my senses and pull me out of this world of dangers.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura prays: O Gopinatha! My voice is faltering. I must throw off these shackles and catch hold of Your mercy.

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Letters by Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada letters

In this letter to Mukunda dasa, Srila Prabhupada answers many relevant questions about the qualifications of a bona fide spiritual master.

My Dear Mukunda,

Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter of June 3, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully.

…The answer to your Istagosthi questions are as follows: Unless one is a resident of Krishna Loka, one cannot be a Spiritual Master. That is the first proposition. A layman cannot be a Spiritual Master, and if he becomes so then he will simply create disturbance. And who is a liberated person? One who knows Krishna.

…Your next question, whether the Spiritual Master was formerly a conditioned soul, actually a bona fide Spiritual Master is never a conditioned soul. There are three kinds of liberated persons. They are called 1) sadhan siddha, 2) kripa siddha, and 3) nitya siddha. Sadhan siddha means one who has attained perfection by executing the regulative principles of devotional service. Kripa siddha means one who has attained perfection by the special mercy of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, and nitya siddha means one who was never contaminated. The symptoms of nitya siddha is that from the beginning of his life he is attached to Krishna, and he is never tired of rendering service to Krishna. So we have to know what is what by these symptoms.

…You are correct when you say that when the Spiritual Master speaks it should be taken that Krishna is speaking. That is a fact. A Spiritual Master must be liberated. It does not matter if he has come from Krishna Loka or he is liberated from here. But he must be liberated. The science of how one is liberated is explained above, but when one is liberated, there is no need of distinction whether he has come directly from Krishna Loka or from the material world. But in the broader sense everyone comes from Krishna Loka. When one forgets Krishna he is conditioned, when one remembers Krishna he is liberated. I hope this will clear up these points. I hope this will meet you in good health.

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The Appearance of Śukadeva Gosvāmī

Srila Sukadeva Gosvami and Maharaja Pariksit

Some time ago I started to re-read the Srimad Bhagavatam from the beginning. This morning I finished the first canto. It is with great pleasure I post the final chapter in the First Canto entitled “The Appearance of Śukadeva Gosvāmī”

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto 1,Chapter Nineteen

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Seasons Greetings

Gaur Niti 2013 200

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Don’t Be A Crazy Fellow, Be Patient and Return Home

Srila Prabhupada

“Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence. You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued: “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta: Madhya-lila Chapter 16, Text 237-239)

I have always liked this verse, it is sage advise for anyone practicing spiritual life (self-realization), in this age. “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man.” It is not that everyone who is interested in practicing Krishna Consciousness must artificially renounce the world, shave their head, put on robes, become a nun or monk, and live in a temple. No the instruction is here; “enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.”

The peace and happiness for which we are all hankering for life after life, moment after moment, we will get when our desires become purified, and dovetailed with the Lord. One who desires sense gratification, the enjoyment of material satisfaction, will never be happy. That is not possible. If you want peace, if you want happiness, if you want perfection in your life, then just begin to dovetail your desires, activities, and potentials with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then you will see what real happiness is, and can tell who is really crazy.

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Cow Protection is Essential For Peace

Govinda with cows

O Kṛṣṇa, O friend of Arjuna, O chief among the descendants of Vṛṣṇi, You are the destroyer of those political parties which are disturbing elements on this earth. Your prowess never deteriorates. You are the proprietor of the transcendental abode, and You descend to relieve the distresses of the cows, the brāhmaṇas, and the devotees, You possess all mystic powers, and You are the preceptor of the entire universe. You are the almighty God, and I offer You my respectful obeisances.
(Prayers by Queen Kunti—Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.43)

…When Kuntī prays, go-dvija-surārti-harāvatāra, she indicates that Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, descends to this world especially to protect the cows, the brāhmaṇas, and the devotees. The demoniac in this world are the greatest enemies of the cows, for they maintain hundreds and thousands of slaughterhouses. Although the innocent cows give milk, the most important food, and although even after death the cows give their skin for shoes, people are such rascals that they kill the cows, but still they want to be happy in this world. How sinful they are.

…Why is cow protection so much advocated? Because the cow is the most important animal….Nonetheless, the present human society is so ungrateful that they needlessly kill these innocent cows.

Kṛṣṇa is worshiped with this prayer:

namo brahmaṇya-devāya
go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca
jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya
govindāya namo namaḥ

“My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brāhmaṇas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world.” For perfect human society there must be protection of go-dvija—the cows and the brāhmaṇas.

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First Day of Winter 2013: The Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice at Stonehenge1
3500 people attend the Sunrise of the Winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in Wiltshire England

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Today marks the beging of winter, or the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.

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Disappearance Day of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

Srila-Bhaktisiddhanta

Today we are honoring the disappearance of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura , the spiritual master of our Srila Prabhupada.
We honor him with a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada given on on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s disappearance day in 1969.

Lecture on the Disappearance Day of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, December 9, 1969 [691209DB.LA]

(Prabhupada leads kirtana)

Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. Come on. I was thinking of “Where is Jayananda?” now immediately he has come. (someone brings some kind of offering and Srila Prabhupada says to give it to his Guru Maharaja) Take care it may not fall down. (pause) All right.

So today is the disappearance day of my Guru Maharaja.

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Godly Men Endowed with Divine Nature

Vaikunta Man

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It is clear from the above photo, that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami is not of this world. He was a Vaikuntha Man. He was an extraordinary personality with all the divine qualities as described in following verse…

The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature. (Bg. 16.1-3)

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The Spiritual Sky

Universe

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…In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. This world consists of another nature which is sanātana, eternal. (from the Introduction to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is)

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The Holy Name of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Nectar of Instruction

Continuing with our series on the Nectar of Iststuction (Upadeśāmṛta), we are posting Text 7, the very important instructions given by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī on chanting the holy names of the Lord.

The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Kṛṣṇa are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidyā [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root.

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The Life of a Sincere Devotee of the Lord

Chanting  Hare Krishna

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The following is a nice verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam spoken by Narada Muni. As I was looking for an image for this post, I thought I should put up a picture of Him. But then it hit me, this verse could have just as easily been spoken by Srila Prabhupada! In fact it was.

Thus I began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated recitation, ignoring all the formalities of the material world. Such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are benedictory. So doing, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble and unenvious.

The life of a sincere devotee of the Lord is thus explained in a nutshell by Nārada Muni by his personal example. Such a devotee, after his initiation by the Lord or His bona fide representative, takes very seriously chanting of the glories of the Lord and traveling all over the world so that others may also hear the glories of the Lord. Such devotees have no desire for material gain. They are conducted by one single desire: to go back to Godhead. This awaits them in due course on quitting the material body. Because they have the highest aim of life, going back to Godhead, they are never envious of anyone, nor are they proud of being eligible to go back to Godhead. Their only business is to chant and remember the holy name, fame and pastimes of the Lord and, according to personal capacity, to distribute the message for others’ welfare without motive of material gain.

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108 Imporant Slokas from the 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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The Hare Krishna Cookbook

Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas

Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1972 Edition “Online”

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Raja-Vidya the King of Knowledge

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Important Slokas from the Brahma-samhita

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Slokas from the Sri Isopanisad

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Prayers By Queen Kunti (Slokas)

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Gajendra’s Prayers of Surrender (Slokas)

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A Short Statement of the Philosophy of Krishna Consciousness

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July 9th Letter

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The Hare Krishna Explosion

Reference Material/Study Guide

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