By Gauranga Darshan Das
“A brief outline of the twelve cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam that represent the bodily limbs of Lord Sri Krsna and present ten transcendental topics.”
Of all the sacred Vaisnava scriptures, Srimad Bhagavatam is considered the topmost. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu hailed the Bhagavatam as the spotless authority (pramanam amalam) amongst the Vedic literatures. Srila Rupa Gosvami, in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu declared that hearing Srimad Bhagavatam is one of the five most po
Submitted by Nandini Radha Devi Dasi
Right Foot – 11 Signs
1) BARLEYCORN (Jon) – This mark signifies that His devotees receive all enjoyable opulences of prosperity by serving His lotus feet. It also means that once one finds shelter at His lotus feet, then the devotee’s former journey through many, many births and deaths is actually very tiny, just like a single grain of barley. It further demonstrates that just as the barley grains are sustenance of life for living beings, similarly it is wid
SB 1.1.2 … sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ‘tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat …As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.
Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.1.2
By the hearing process Krsna IMMEDIATELY (sadyo) is established in the heart.
Please note the word RAPT [attention, in the previous quote] – there is a consistency in the Bhagavatam methodology. One has to hear attentively.
The sadhana of hea
Srimad-Bhagavatam presents prayers by great devotees of the Lord that can guide us in our own life of prayer.
“Therefore, although I was born in a demoniac family, I may without a doubt offer prayers to the Lord with full endeavor, as far as my intelligence allows. Anyone who has been forced by ignorance to enter the material world may be purified of material life if he offers prayers to the Lord and hears the Lord’s glories.” (Sri Prahlada to Lord Narasimhadeva, Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.9.12
Hare Krishna,
In the last blog we read how there is a Television in our heart. Today we will read how to switch on that television and see God face to face as well in our heart.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name, fame, pastimes, etc., cannot be understood by material senses. Only to one who is engaged in pure devotional service under proper guidance is He revealed. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38) it is stated, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛda
The following account is related by Malika Mala Devi Dasi, a preacher in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Once, with Kirtirani Mataji, we performed at a festival in Astana, Kazakhstan. We did not have time to have dinner and rushed to the plane because we were going to be late for the flight. The local devotees handed us a big bag with prasadam.
I said, “Krishna! The flight from Astana to Alma-Ata is just an hour and a half. We don’t need anything, especially at night.”
But Kirtirani said, “I’m hungry!”
The Beatles taught us the mantra: “All You Need Is Love” and sang “Love me Do!” However, for the most part they didn’t tell us where to find lasting love. George Harrison was the exception. He gave us songs reminding us that the Lord is Sweet and that the Lord loves the one who loves the Lord! Let one of the most disturbing things currently being promoted as the pinnacle of spiritual wisdom is the concept of “Oneness.” While there is an aspect of similarity we all share, everyone merging togeth
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lord Krsna describes different yoga systems in the Bhagavad-gita,
but He clearly points to one as the best.
A lecture in Stockholm on September 10, 1973
sri-bhagavan uvaca
mayy asakta-manah partha
yogam yunjan mad-asrayah
asamsayam samagram mam
yatha jnasyasi tac chrnu
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: ‘Now hear, O son of Prtha [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in
Srila Prabhupada speaks about the qualifications to see God, who is all around us.
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, lecture given on April 9, 1971, in Bombay
Although Krishna is invisible to ordinary persons, He tells us how we can become extraordinary and thus able to see Him always.
“Srimati Kunti said: O Krishna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You a
When is a person Krsna Consciousness enough to preach? Srila Prabhupada encouraged us to preach immediately, regardless of our degree of realization. By preaching we cement our understanding. Hearing is the first step in devotional service, and the second step is chanting. Either privately or Congregationally. Preaching really means teaching.
It is commonly accepted that by teaching others your own understanding becomes enhanced. They also say your retention levels increase when you pass on to
Krsna is full with six kinds of opulences. So this is the opulence of Krsna’s beauty. Krsna wants everyone…we are offering obeisances to Krsna with awe and veneration. But nobody comes here to Krsna with a rope: “Krsna, You are an offender. I shall bind You.” Nobody comes.
That is another one of the prerogatives of the most perfect devotee. Yes. Krsna wants that. This privilege is especially given to Yasodamayi, because she’s such an advanced devotee that she has got the right to chastise the S
Prabhupāda: When death will come, nobody can check. Death is God. When Kṛṣṇa desires that “This man should be killed now,” or “He must die now,” nobody can check. Rākhe kṛṣṇa mare ke mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṇa desires to kill somebody, nobody can give him protection— no power. And if He wants to save somebody, nobody can kill him. This is Kṛṣṇa’s protection.
Therefore this big, big commander-in-chief Dronācārya and Bhīṣmadeva, Karṇa, they were very, very big, powerful commanders. Arjuna was
Many people say “By your mercy, I will surrender” or “Give me your blessings so that I will surrender” or “When Krishna wants”. Srila Prabhupada says these are spoken under “FALSE PRETENSE”–These are just “PLEA’S” Not to Surrender.
Srila Prabhupada: Surrender is willing. If you don’t like to surrender who can make you obliged to surrender? Surrender is voluntary. “Yes I surrender.” Determination, “Yes I surrender.” Who can make you obliged to surrender? Nobody can make. Even Krsna can not work.
It is now my service to stay here in Vrndavana. This service of mine is not the service of all of you – you all still have to carry on. You still have to go back to all the different places of the world where you come from and spread Krsna consciousness there. That has to be done! I was thinking of Srila Prabhupada’s lions, and how Prabhupada was known as the simha guru. His guru was also known as the simha guru – the lion amongst all spiritual masters. And it is clear that Bhaktisiddhanta Sara
I have been watching for some time the videos of devotees distributing Bhagavatam sets, so I vowed that I will also do a Bhagavatam set each week.
I adjusted my approach and applied two new principles to achieve this raised bar that I set for myself:
1. Actually carry a set with me on my weekly book tours.
(Previously, I’d leave the sets in the storehouse and take it with me only after someone had placed an order.)
2. Display the whole set to every person that shows even a half-hearted interest
By HH Sacinandana Swami
Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us.
As I sit here in Vrindavan, I sometimes ask myself, “Does Krishna see my efforts? Does He care for such an insignificant and useless person?” I’ve seen many sincere practitioners of bhakti ask this question.
The answer is: yes, Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us. The Brihad- bhagavatamrita describes this in the instance when Lord Narayana welcomes Gopa Kumar after a long jo
When Lord Brahma ordered Drona, the best of the Vasus, and his wife Dhara to increase progeny, they said unto him, “Dear father, we seek your benediction. Please let us be born on earth so that after our appearance the Supreme Lord will appear as our son and spread devotional service.
In this way those born in the material world may very easily be delivered from misery.” Brahma agreed, and thus when Drona and Dhara took birth in Vrndavana as Nanda Maharaja and mother Yasoda, Lord Krsna appeared
From Back to Godhead
No one besides you can understand your unique experience of the world. Well, almost no one.
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (13.2–3):
“This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.”
“O sc
It was with great satisfaction that I conducted a Kirtan Standards course along with the Bhakti Academy students. The feedback that I received from this three hour interactive workshop/presentation were words like “informative,” “educational” and “clarification on things.” It was felt that before these students develop some habits regarding Kirtan (chanting) that fall in the realm of divergent, why not get it right in the beginning?
It was the founder-acarya of the movement, Prabhupada, who est
By Srigarbha das
Hare Krishna, this year Janmastami festival was celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm in Bangladesh. Thousands of devotees gathered together for a huge extravaganza. Janmastami festival is celebrated as the holy appearance day of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. Srimad Bhagavatam told, Krishna is the only God and all others are his expansions. Various acharyas like Shankaracharya, Madhavacharya, Ramanujacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu have accepted Lord Sri
