Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “In the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Five, it is stated that Sundarānanda was an ocean of love of Godhead and the chief associate of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. In the Gaura-gaṇ
Read more…The secret is that one must submissively listen to those who know perfectly the science of God, and one must begin the mode of service regulated by the preceptor. A devotee already attracted by the name, form, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Lord may
Read more…The following summary of Chapter Seven is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this chapter, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's meeting with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa is described. There was some joking behavior between these two per
Read more…Everyone is trying to be happy, and the process adopted to achieve that happiness is called self-interest. Unfortunately, the conditioned soul hovering within this material world does not know that his ultimate goal of self-interest is Vāsudeva. Saṁs
Read more…THE ceremony of diksha or initiation is that by which the spiritual Preceptor admits one to the status of a neophyte on the path of spiritual endeavour. The ceremony tends to confer spiritual enlightenment by abrogating sinfulness. Its actual effect
Read more…The material world, which is moving under the spell of the three modes of nature, is also a manifestation of His energy. parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: everything that we see is an interaction of His energies (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhy
Read more…Rāmānanda Rāya then replied, "Ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the essence of all perfection."
In his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura summarizes the conversation up to this point, where Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu
A Kṛṣṇa conscious yogī is the perfect seer because he sees Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, situated in everyone's heart as Supersoul (Paramātmā). Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati. The Lord in His Paramātmā feature is situated within both the heart
Read more…A Vaiṣṇava is described as para-duḥkha-duḥkhī because although he is never distressed in any condition of life, he is distressed to see others in a distressed condition. Vaiṣṇavas, therefore, should not try to kill by any action of the body or mind,
Read more…If one is seriously interested in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, he must be ready to follow the rules and regulations laid down by the ācāryas, and he must understand their conclusions. The śāstra says, dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahā-jano yena g
Read more…As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of
Read more…Out of the total manifestations of the sandhinī energy of the Lord, one fourth is displayed in the material world, and three fourths are displayed in the spiritual world. The Lord's energy is divided into three component parts, namely sandhinī, saṁvi
Read more…In this chapter of the epic Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has stressed that Lord Caitanya appeared for three principal purposes of His own. The first purpose was to relish the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the prime reciproc
Read more…During the rainy season, in the evening, there are many glowworms visible about the tops of trees, hither and thither, and they glitter just like lights. But the luminaries of the sky—the stars and the moon—are not visible. Similarly, in the Age of K
Read more…The word brahma-tejasā, used in this verse, is significant. In those days, brāhmaṇas were so powerful that simply by desiring and by chanting a Vedic mantra, they could accomplish very wonderful effects. But in the present age of degradation there ar
Read more…The vital force of a living entity includes the five kinds of air working within the body, which are known as prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, samāna and udāna. The vital force is compared to a serpent because a serpent can live by simply drinking air. The vital
Read more…The ultimate result of devotional service is to develop genuine love for the Supreme Personality. Love is a word which is often used in relation with man and woman. And love is the only word that can be properly used to indicate the relation between
Read more…A devotee therefore eats only prasāda, or foodstuffs offered to the Supreme Lord, and Kṛṣṇa says that when a devotee offers Him foodstuffs from the vegetablekingdom, with devotion, He eats that. A devotee is to offer to Kṛṣṇa foodstuffs prepared from
Read more…Although the living entity desires freedom from the contamination of matter, he is not given release. Actually, as soon as a living entity puts himself under the control of the modes of material nature, his acts are influenced by the qualities of mat
Read more…Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “One of the members of this family is living in Vṛndāvana and is named Sarojānanda Gosvāmī. One special characteristic of this family is that each of its members had only one son or no
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