Srimad Bhagavatam lecture | The Hare Krishna Movement

Become Very Eager To See Krsna

24 Feb 2016 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lectures, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: 1.2.12, A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Govinda, Krsna, lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture

lord-krishna-and-cow

…The idea is that one gopī is advising another gopī, “My dear friend, there is one boy. His name is Govinda. He is standing on the bank of Yamunā near the Keśi-ghāṭa, and He’s playing on His flute. And He’s so beautiful that especially during full moon night, please do not go there.” [laughter] Why? “Now, because if you have got intention to enjoy in this material world with your family members, wife, children, husband, please do not go there.” Smerān bhaṅgī-traya-paricitāṁ sāci-vistīrṇa-dṛṣṭim. Bhaṅgī-traya. “Kṛṣṇa always stands in three-curved way with His flute. That is Kṛṣṇa’s tri-bhaṅga-murāri.” Tri-bhaṅga. Three places, He is bent. (Lecture 1.2.12)

Lecture on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
First Canto, Chapter 2, Text 12

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Bhagavata Dharma Discourses

07 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavata Dharma Discourses, Lord Krsna, New Vrindavan, New Vrindavan 1972, Pradyuma, SB 1.2.5, Srila Prabhupada lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, srimad bhagavatam lectures

Continuning with our “Bhagavata Dharma Discourses” series given at New Vrindavan, 1972.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Lecture
New Vrindaban, September 4, 1972
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Canto 1, Chapter Two, Text 5

Pradyumna: “O sages, I have been justly questioned by you. Your questions are worthy because they relate to Lord Kṛṣṇa and so are of relevance to the world’s welfare. Only questions of this sort are capable of completely satisfying the self.” [SB 1.2.5]

Prabhupāda: So there was a great meeting. Just like we are holding here meeting for a few days, a similar meeting was held thousands of years ago, at least four thousand years ago, in a place which is called Naimiṣāraṇya. The Naimiṣāraṇya is in India. It is near Lucknow. Here is Professor Shivasrava(?). He knows. The station is called now Nimsar. I think it is in Hardoi district? So still the place is there, and if you sometimes go to India you can visit this place. It is a very nice place for spiritual atmosphere. So formerly all the great sages used to assemble in that Naimiṣāraṇya. It is said that all the demigods used to visit that place. So in that great meeting, Bhāgavata was discussed.

A Perfect Guru

26 Sep 2013 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Guru & Disciple, guru-tattva, Lectures Tags: a perfect guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada varnasrama-dharma, audio link, brahmacari, class on the srimad bhagavatam, guru what is guru, hindu dharma, hinduism, human civilization, Indus region, prabhupada vani, Sanatana-kharma, Sanskrit, SB 7.12.2, Srila Prabhupada lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, Vaisnavas, Vedas

This is a very nice lecture given by Srila Prabhupada in Bombay April, 1976 and is a very good description of what is a guru. We have also included a link to the audio file so that you can listen to the lecture at the same time you are reading it. This is our first audio link that we have posted from this site, as an experiment.

In this lecture Srila Prabhupada begins “So the first training, how to create a brahmacari… This is human civilization…So we must come to the platform of varnasrama-dharma, not “Hindu dharma”. As he’s stated many times, the term “Hindu” is not a name that you find in the Vedas or in Sanskrit. Rather, it was a name given by the Muslims, who were referring to the people of the Indus region. The religion of the Vaisnavas is Sanatana-dharma, not Hinduism.

Also a very nice definition of what it means to be a guru is described; “A perfect guru is one who is speaking on behalf of Krsna – not on his own behalf.” “If you want to have a perfect guru, then you have to see whether he is speaking on behalf of Krsna or on his own behalf. One who speaks on his own behalf, manufactures, he is not guru. He’s a rascal. One who speaks on behalf of Krsna, he is guru.”

Class on the Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.12.02
Bombay, April 13, 1976
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Akṣauhiṇī

11 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Aksauhini, Lectures, Vaisnava Vocabulary Tags: 109, 21, 600 cavalry is called an akṣauhiṇī, 650 infantry and 65, 870 chariots, 870 elephants, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, aksauhini, bhakta, bhaktas, isvarah paramah, Krishna, mukti, solid phalanx of 21, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture

Here is a word for your vaisnava vocabulary: Aksauhini (akṣauhiṇī).

The word akṣauhiṇī refers to a military phalanx consisting of 21,870 chariots and elephants, 109,350 infantry soldiers and 65,610 horses. An exact description is given in the Mahābhārata, Ādi parva, Second Chapter, as follows:

“One chariot, one elephant, five infantry soldiers and three horses are called a patti by those who are learned in the science. The wise also know that a senāmukha is three times what a patti is. Three senāmukhas are known as one gulma, three gulmas are called a gaṇa, and three gaṇas are called a vāhinī. Three vāhinīs have been referred to by the learned as a pṛtanā, three pṛtanās equal one camū, and three camūs equal one anīkinī. The wise refer to ten anīkinīs as one akṣauhiṇī. The chariots of an akṣauhiṇī have been calculated at 21,870 by those who know the science of such calculations, O best of the twice-born, and the number of elephants is the same. The number of infantry soldiers is 109,350, and the number of horses is 65,610. This is called an akṣauhiṇī.” (SB 9.15.30)

A solid phalanx of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 109,650 infantry and 65,600 cavalry is called an akṣauhiṇī. (SB 1.8.48 purport)

What makes this word so noteworthy, is the fact that many akṣauhiṇīs were killed on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Such was the enormity of the battle.

Following is a lecture by His Divine Grace describing the lamentation of King Yudhisthira. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, as the most pious king of the world, takes for himself the responsibility for killing such a huge number of living beings because the battle was fought to reinstate him on the throne.

“God Only Cares How Much You Love Him”

13 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lectures, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavata, Christian, Hindu, Jesus Christ, love God, Prahlada Maharaja, religion, SB 7.9.12, Srila Prabhupada lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture

…Everyone will say that “My system of religion is better than yours.” That is quite natural. A Hindu will say, “Oh, I am better than the Christian.” Christian will say, “I am better than the Hindu.” But Bhagavata says that that is not the test of religion. Bhagavat says, sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje [SB 1.2.6]. That type of religion is the best by which one develops love of Godhead. That’s all. The test is how much you have developed love of Godhead. Bhava-grahi janardana. In Vedic literature it is said that God, Krsna, simply accepts your bhava or your situation, how much you have developed your attraction for God, or Krsna. That is taken into account. He does not take account that “Oh, you are very rich. You are very beautiful. You are very opulent,” or “You are very poor. You are not beautiful.” These considerations are not there. The only consideration is how much you love God. Then your life is successful. (Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture 7.9.12, Montreal)

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The Whole System of Human Civilization is to Guide the People to Become God Conscious

22 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Letters by Srila Prabhupada Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita, God conscious, Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, Maharaja Yudhisthira, SB 1.9.49, Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture

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…But this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice that even caṇḍālas can be also raised to the platform of brāhmaṇa. Even if a caṇḍāla is trained up as a devotee, he can be better than a qualified brāhmaṇa. These are the shastric injunctions. The yavanas’ names are there also. Yavana-mleccha means generally they are meat-eaters, especially cow meat, cow flesh eaters. They are called yavana-mlecchas. So the higher caste, they cannot become meat-eaters. Meat-eating is there. That is for the lower class, not for the higher class. If anyone gives up meat-eating or the bad habits of lower class, illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling, and if he’s trained how to become a qualified brāhmaṇa, then he can be accepted.

…So our this movement is not for the kṛpaṇas. It is meant for the brāhmaṇas. We want to become ourself brāhmaṇa, and we want to make others also brāhmaṇa. Because there is need of brāhmaṇa at the present moment. The whole human society is now running by the śūdras, all śūdras. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. In this Kali-yuga, everyone is a śūdra. Maybe born of a brāhmaṇa family, but because he has no culture… The first culture is garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. If garbhādhāna-saṁskāra is not observed even in a brāhmaṇa family, he becomes immediately śūdra. This is the statement of the śāstra. So nobody is observing garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. Therefore, according to śāstra, everyone is a śūdra. Now because everyone is śūdra, therefore he cannot be trained up as brāhmaṇa? No. He can be trained up. Caṇḍālo ‘pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ. If that śūdra or caṇḍāla can be turned into a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ, then under training he can become better than brāhmaṇa.

Lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Māyāpura, June 15, 1973 More