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Lord Balarama carries a plough, used to prepare the ground for planting. Balarama is actually the one who prepares the heart. Krsna is the instructor, the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita, and He plants transcendental knowledge within the heart. “Bala” means strength and Balarama is the giver of spiritual strength. He has that strength because He is serving Krsna in unlimited ways: as His personal paraphernalia, His bed, His shoes and even the instruments we use in kirtana. Even the kartalas should

Every alternate Monday I am scheduled for a philosophy/family/friend session at Ramsden Park. Corry, my cousin, her hubby, Eric and young Victor come together. As I was making my way to the picnic spot a falcon swooped down and then swept up to perch on a convenient, substantial tree branch. He got our attention. If it was a hawk, it’s known to be a good omen. It represents focus and is regarded as a sign from the spirit world. Hopefully a falcon carries similar good fortune.

It was suggested th

प्रियजन की मृत्यु

देहिनोSस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ।13।

देहिनः– शरीर धारी की;अस्मिन्– इसमें;यथा– जिस प्रकार;देहे– शरीर में;कौमराम्– बाल्यावस्था;यौवनम्– यौवन, तारुण्य;जरा– वृद्धावस्था;तथा– उसी प्रकार;देह-अन्तर– शरीर के स्थानान्तरण की;प्राप्– उपलब्धि;धीरः– धीर व्यक्ति;तत्र– उस विषय में;न– कभी नहीं;मुह्यति– मोह को प्राप्त होता है।

तात्पर्य : प्रत्येक जीव एक व्यष्टि आत्मा है। वह प्रतिक्षण अपना शरीर बदलता रहता है – कभी बालक के रूप में, कभी युवा तथा कभी

आलस्य

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः।
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्धयेदकर्मणः । 8 ।

नियतम्– नियत;कुरु– करो;कर्म– कर्तव्य;तवम्– तुम;कर्म– कर्म करना;ज्यायः– श्रेष्ठ;हि– निश्चय ही;अकर्मणः– काम न करने की अपेक्षा;शरीर– शरीर का;यात्रा– पालन, निर्वाह;अपि– भी;च– भी;ते– तुम्हारा;न– कभी नहीं;प्रसिद्धयेत्– सिद्ध होता;अकर्मणः– बिना काम के।

भावार्थ अपना नियत कर्म करो, क्योंकि कर्म न करने की अपेक्षा कर्म करना श्रेष्ठ है। कर्म के बिना तो शरीर-निर्वाह भी नहीं हो सकता।

तात्पर्य ऐसे अनेक व्यक्ति हैं जो अप

 उम्मीद खो देना

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्।
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ।11।

ये– जो;यथा– जिस तरह;माम्– मेरी;प्रपद्यन्ते– शरण में जाते हैं;तान्– उनको;तथा– उसी तरह;एव– निश्चय ही;भजामि– फल देता हूँ;अहम्– मैं;मम– मेरे;वर्त्म– पथ का;अनुवर्तन्ते– अनुगमन करते हैं;मनुष्याः– सारे मनुष्य;पार्थ– हे पृथापुत्र;सर्वशः– सभी प्रकार से।

भावार्थ जिस भाव से सारे लोग मेरी शरण ग्रहण करते हैं, उसी के अनुरूप मैं उन्हें फल देता हूँ। हे पार्थ! प्रत्येक व्यक्ति सभी प्रकार से मेरे पथ का अनुगमन

जलन, ईर्ष्या क्या है

अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदु:खसुखः क्षमी ।13।

संतुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्र्चयः।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ।14।

अद्वेष्टा- ईर्ष्याविहीन;सर्व-भूतानाम्- समस्त जीवों के प्रति;मैत्रः- मैत्रीभाव वाला;करुणः- दयालु;एव- निश्चय ही;च- भी;निर्ममः- स्वामित्व की भावना से रहित;निरहंकार- मिथ्या अहंकार से रहित;सम- समभाव;दुःख- दुख;सुखः- तथा सुख में;क्षमी- क्षमावान;सन्तुष्टः- प्रसन्न, तुष्ट;सततम्- निरन्तर;योगी- भक्ति में निरत;यत-आत्मा-

कृपया मेरा विनम्र प्रणाम स्वीकार करें।

(Please accept my humble obeisances)

श्रील प्रभुपाद की जय हो !

(All Glories to Sril Prabhupada)

ॐ श्री गुरु गौरांग जयतः

श्रीमद भगवद्गीता यथारूप — आमुख

1 भगवद्गीता यथारूप को प्रस्तुत करने का एकमात्र उद्देश्य बद्ध जिज्ञासुओं को उस उद्देश्य का मार्गदर्शन कराना है, जिसके लिए कृष्ण इस धरा पर ब्रह्मा के एक दिन में एक बार अर्थात प्रत्येक 8,60,00,00,000 (आठ अरब साठ करोड़) वर्ष बाद अवतार लेते हैं। भगवद्गीता में इस उद्देश्य का उल्लेख हुआ है और हमें उसे उसी रूप में ग्रहण कर

Throughout the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada emphasizes again and again the importance of retiring from family life around the age of fifty. He clearly gives this deadline – again and again.

In the purport to SB. 3.30.14. Srila Prabhupada explains: “Family attraction is so strong that even if one is neglected by family members in his old age, he cannot give up family affection, and he remains at home just like a dog. In the Vedic way of life one has to give up family life when he is strong

Just like children only want to eat sweets, we only want kirtan. But we must not forget about the philosophy in Krsna consciousness because without this philosophy, we have no anchor. Without philosophy, we are on the waves of the three modes of material nature. The three modes of material nature exist inside of us and they exist around us too. And the two are not always the same – sometimes externally everything is very peaceful, however, there is a storm within us. So in this way, we can see

We are celebrating Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, the Vrindaban on earth is as good as the spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says that underneath one of the desire trees of Vrindaban there is a nice throne decorated with valuable jewels on which Radharani and Krishna are seated. And H

We managed to sustain an evening mini-concert on our temple’s entrance steps. Three extra people joined us — Georgia from Mexico (her first time here) and two guys, both with the name, Victor.  The sarod and djembe were captivating.

For today, rather tonight, we set out walking in the Casa Loma area, entering a lush ravine, residential area and then the famous castle itself. It was definitely a leisurely walk, which included a peek at the castle’s old stables and examining flora and fauna.  As t

It was early afternoon on a beautiful monsoon day. The clouds were Syama-colored and rumbled gently, but no rain came. They simply shaded Rupa Gosvami from the heat of the sun and encouraged the limitless peacocks on the banks of Radha-kunda to dance exuberantly and call out loudly for the rain to fall. Despite this cacophony of sound, his heart was absorbed only in the beautiful, all attractive syllables of Harinama. In ecstasy, he thought:
“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables “Krs

Gauridas Pandit was a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya that lived in Ambika Kalna near Navadvipa in West Bengal. Gauridas Pandit was Subal in Krishna-lila. From Puri, Gauridas had settled in Ambika Kalna.

Tradition reveals that Sri Sri Gaur-Nitai Themselves came to Ambika Kalna to pose for the deities that are to this day housed in the little temple. Pilgrims may also see Bhagavad-gita on palm-leaf there—verses that are said to have been written by Mahaprabhu’s own hand; the oar with which Mahapr

If you love Krishna, you can love everybody. If you do not love Krishna, you cannot love anybody.- His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Achayya of International Society for Krishna Cosnciousness (ISKCON) 

The news of recent suicide by the Bollywood star, Sushant Singh Rajput has once again raised the issue of the diabolical existence of the devil named favouritism that had been hiding agelong under the carpet of the prowess of a group of influential people in the film i

A thief while committing crime knows he will be punished if caught. And when he is caught and punished, he promises to himself and to the judge in the court that henceforth he will never steal. But as soon as he is out of jail he again begins stealing.

A student knows if he does not study, he will fail. An employee knows if he does not work sincerely, he will be fired. Many times we take a vow to not indulge in an act which may negatively impact us. But still we do it and we suffer.

We may wonde

By Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)

When the spiritual master leaves the body and moves on, it is naturally the worst day of the disciple’s life. Many times we have become accustomed to thinking of our guru in a particular way, serving him in certain ways, listening to his classes, waiting and longing for him to visit our town or local temple, engaging in special exchanges with him or her, and then suddenly all such prospects are gone. The depth of our despair can be unfathomable. So wha

“What do you think about this scamdemic?” asked the cyclist who stopped upon seeing me.

Before I was to say something as a response I knew I was going to dialogue with a radical-thinker, who has his own views on Covid-19. I wanted to make sure to make a friend. That was the most important thing on my mind. After all I’m making some inroads toward pal-making on Bloor Street, mostly because of the fact that it’s the street I frequent as of late.

And so, for the dialogue, and my response:

“We are