austerities | The Hare Krishna Movement

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Today I woke up thinking about Dhruva Maharaja. It was nothing specific, it was more just a visual picture of this small boy doing austerities in the forest and opening his eyes to discover the Lord standing directly in front of him. So I had to tax my mind…where is that picture? It was located in the Second Canto, Part Two of the original Srimad Bhagavatam. It became my morning meditation, and the following is from some of the reading I did on the life of Dhruva Mahārāja. For the full story on the life of Dhruva Mahārāja one can go to the Forth Canto, Chapter Eight of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Today we have posted the 25th Chapter from the Teachings of Queen Kunti, entitled Unalloyed Devotion.

…The incidents in the life of Dhruva Mahārāja are very attractive for devotees. From his pious actions, one can learn how one can detach himself from material possessions and how one can enhance one’s devotional service by severe austerities and penances. By hearing the activities of pious Dhruva, one can enhance one’s faith in God and can directly connect with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus one can very soon be elevated to the transcendental platform of devotional service. The example of Dhruva Mahārāja’s austerities can immediately generate a feeling of devotional service in the hearts of the hearers. (from purport to SB 4.8.8)

…When Dhruva Mahārāja was undergoing penance and meditating upon the form of Viṣṇu within his heart, the Viṣṇu form suddenly disappeared, and his meditation broke. Upon opening his eyes, Dhruva Mahārāja immediately saw Viṣṇu before him. Like Dhruva Mahārāja, we should always think of Kṛṣṇa, and when we attain perfection we shall see Kṛṣṇa before us. This is the process. We should not be too hasty. We should wait for the mature time. Of course, it is good to be eager to see Kṛṣṇa, but we should not become discouraged if we do not see Him immediately. (Teachings of Queen Kunti Chapter 25)

Mother Yaśodā Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa

In celebration of the month of Damodara (Kartika) we are focusing our attention on the pastimes of Krishna in Vrndavan. Especially Krishna’s childhood pastimes. So with this in mind we are posting the entire 9th chapter from the Tenth Canto of Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam entitled Mother Yaśodā Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa.

When caught by mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa became more and more afraid and admitted to being an offender. As she looked upon Him, she saw that He was crying, His tears mixing with the black ointment around His eyes, and as He rubbed His eyes with His hands, He smeared the ointment all over His face. Mother Yaśodā, catching her beautiful son by the hand, mildly began to chastise Him. (SB 10.9.11)

Yogīs, mystics, want to catch Kṛṣṇa as Paramātmā, and with great austerities and penances they try to approach Him, yet they cannot. Here we see, however, that Kṛṣṇa is going to be caught by Yaśodā and is running away in fear. This illustrates the difference between the bhakta and the yogī. Yogīs cannot reach Kṛṣṇa, but for pure devotees like mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa is already caught. (from purport to SB 10.9.9)

Srimad-Bhagavatam
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Tenth Canto, Chapter 9