There are three degrees of covering of the living entity by which his pure consciousness is obscured. This covering is but lust under different manifestations like smoke in the fire, dust on the mirror, and the womb about the embryo. When lust is com
Human life is distinguished from animal life due to its heavy responsibilities. Those who are cognizant of these responsibilities and who work in that spirit are called suras (godly persons), and those who are neglectful of these responsibilities or
Citralekhā painted many pictures. Among those of the human beings were the members of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, including Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa; Śūrasena, the grandfather of Kṛṣṇa; Śrī Balarāmajī; Lord Kṛṣṇa; and many others. When Ūṣā saw the pictur
This philosophical truth of simultaneous oneness and difference was propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and it is known as acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. Brahmā, Nārada and all others are simultaneously one with the Lord and different from the Su
By the cooperation of material nature, which is considered to be prakṛti, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is considered the puruṣa, all the affairs of the universe are going on nicely in their proper order. prakṛti, material nature, is al
When situated in the transcendental position, one is freed from the two kinds of material diseases—hankering and lamentation. This is also stated in Bhagavad-gītā. After devotional life begins, we can achieve the full result of love of Godhead. Love
One who is intelligent understands that all the personal associates and devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are ever liberated. This means that because they are always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, they do not belong to this mat
An effeminate husband, simply being attracted by the external beauty of his wife, tries to become her most obedient servant. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has therefore advised that we not become attracted by a lump of flesh and blood. The story is told that
A systematic law of subsistence in the struggle for existence is there by the supreme will, and there is no escape for anyone by any amount of planning. The living beings who have come to the material world against the will of the Supreme Being are u
Only by the grace of Kṛṣṇa can one get out of the clutches of māyā. It is not possible to get out by mental speculation or other activities. When the living entity understands his real position by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, he keeps himself always fit in Kṛ
The false ego of identifying one's body as one's self and of claiming things possessed in relationship with this body is called māyā. In Bhagavad-gītā, Fifteenth Chapter, the Lord says, "I am sitting in everyone's heart, and from Me come everyone's r
The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifes
The word rati is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.3.41) as follows: vyaktaṁ masṛṇatevāntar-lakṣyate rati-lakṣaṇam mumukṣu-prabhṛtīnāṁ ced bhaved eṣā ratir na hi "When a tenderness of the heart is manifested, there is rati, or attachment. Bu
"And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this." (B.G.8:5) One who thinks of Kṛṣṇa at the time of his death goes to Kṛṣṇa. One must remember the form of Kṛṣṇa; if
Hāsya, adbhuta, vīra, karuṇa, raudra, bhaya and bībhatsa—the seven indirect mellows—are explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (4.1.6). The hāsya-bhakti-rasa, laughing devotion, is explained as follows: vakṣyamāṇair vibhāvādyaiḥ puṣṭiṁ hāsa-ratir ga
The description in the Vedas indicates that the Lord glanced over the prakṛti, or nature, and impregnated it with atomic individual souls. All these individuals are working in the material world for sense gratification, and under the spell of materia
"One who rejects things without knowledge of their relationship to Kṛṣṇa is incomplete in his renunciation." (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.256) When the body is engaged in the service of the Lord, one should not consider the body material. Sometimes th
This verse is from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.278) of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who further discusses this same topic in his Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (Pūrva 5.41). There he refers to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (4.15.1), where Maitreya Muni asked Parāśara, in regard
“When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana (hearing and chanting), t