Hearing and Memorizing | The Hare Krishna Movement

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The following is a nice collection of Srila Prabhupada Quotes on the importance of reading and hearing, compiled by Sri Vrindavan das.

Touch Krishna Immediately by Sound Vibration
by Sri Vrindavan das

Lecture 13 January, 1969

Srila Prabhupada: “So although a physical body is not present, the vibration should be accepted as the presence of the Spiritual Master, vibration. What we have heard from the Spiritual Master, that is living.”

Paramahamsa: My question is, a pure devotee, when he comments on Bhagavad-gita, someone who never sees him physically, but he just comes in contact with the commentary, explanation, is this the same thing?

Srila Prabhupada: “Yes, you can associate with Krishna by reading Bhagavad-gita. And these saintly persons, they have given their explanations, comments. So where is the difficulty?”

Rightful Claim

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This morning as I was reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam, I was feeling the aches and pains of age, and I was reminded of one of my most favorite verses:

tat te ‘nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

“My dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim.” (SB 10.14.8)

…A devotee of the Lord never thinks that he is a paramahaṁsa or a liberated person. He always remains a humble servant of the Lord. In all reverse conditions, he agrees to suffer the results of his past life. He never accuses the Lord of putting him into a distressed condition. These are the signs of an exalted devotee. Tat te ‘nukampāṁ susamīkṣyamāṇaḥ. When suffering reversed conditions, the devotee always considers that the reverse conditions are the Lord’s concessions. He is never angry with his master; he is always satisfied with the position his master offers. In any case, he continues performing his duty in devotional service. Such a person is guaranteed promotion back home, back to Godhead. (from purport)

When I did a computer search on the phrase “rightful claim”, this of course brought me to the different references from the Srimad Bhagavatam (ie., SB 5.10.14, and SB 8.14.13) but also to the “Nectar of Devotion”, chapter ten. Reading from it was so nice, that I decided to post the entire chapter. More