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Thursday, March 27, 2014

BG 11.53-54 By HG Shyamsundar Prabhu

BG 11.53: The form you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am.

They make their visit, but they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa as He is. Kṛṣṇa can be understood only through the path of devotional service, as explained by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the next verse.

BG 11.54: My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.

Krsna is saying that one who can understand the mystery behind the mysteries of appearance, pasttimes and reason of his form that person can come to me. How to understand the mystery of his appearance, past times? By undivided devotional service. Why is he talking about devotional service in this chapter - universal form chapter as we can't perform devotional service to the Universal form? So how is this verse coming? Krsna is actually helping us to go deeper- the highest level of understanding Krsna.

Srirangam is the biggest temple in the world! We need to cross many layers and dooors to see the deity of the Lord. Same way one has to enter into so many doors of the supreme absolute truth. We are all searching for truth and happiness and anyone searching for happiness should also search for truth. The topmost trust in this world is called the absolute truth and that absolute truth is understood in various ways. 

The outer form of this understanding is Universal form- it's on the material platform, nothing spiritual about it.. Second door is spiritual platform - Spiritual is superior to matter and that is the impersonal brahman. That impersonal brahman is the absolute truth. Then he comes to the Paramatma realization. The lord is localized in every entity. And then the Lord shows the form to various devotees as and when the devotee has that feeling for Krsna -  for example Murari Gupta - varaha, Ram. Yashoda as Krsna; Ramananda raya - Radha and Krsna. Various forms in the bhagavan realization. One who enters that door, then we understand that the bhagavan feature, the 2 handed form in Goloka Vrindavan is actually the highest. He also says how we can reach that form of Krsna - that form of mine as I AM, can be understood only by undivided devotional service. When our divisional service is polluted or divided by other desires (karma, dhyana, ...) then we don't give importance to the 2 handed form of Krsna and this is what is taught by Srila Rupa Gosvami - anyabhilashita shunyam - there is no other asha only one asha to serve Krsna and please Krsna. Only to please Krsna. Gyanandi anavritam - not confused by gyana and karma and other such desires. When one has all other desires have gone and only one desire to please Krsna exclusively that is undivided devotional service and that devotional service is very pleasing to Krsna and that will help us to get to Krsna's 2 handed form. 

Beautiful story - Narad muni was travelling and he came to a place where Krsna was giving benedictions. He saw some were asking for beautiful home, beautiful wife, nice car, then one said I want only your bhakti - They were asked to stand on the side whearas others were given the benediction immediately. Why? These people who are asking for bhakti and I give them this benediction of bhakti to them then I'm purchased by that person and that is the power of bhakti and before I give them bhakti I really want to test them to make sure if they really want bhakti. Externally they might ask that bhakti but internally do they want bhakti? That is the power of a bhakta! In Mahabharat, Krsna was purchased by the pandavas. He was like a servant and he was completely purchased by them. That is the power of being a bhakta - the power of pure devotional service. Hence the only thing needed to attract Krsna is pure devotional service - do everything and anything for the pleasure of Krsna. That is the price to pay for going back to Krsna. We shouldn't be distracted by so many things by maya but we need to try coming out with flying colors. 

When one takes up to pure devotional service and surrenders to Krsna then for Krsna in a flick of a second he can owerpower and remove all the desires we have in our heart and will make us anya abhilasha. When he sees that we are very very sincere then he will help us. His external energy is very powerful and nobody can come out of their desires but one who surrenders to me he can very easily come out of these desires and Krsna can do it. Just reject things unfavorable and just accept things favorable to Krsna and only then you can get a very private, very deep experience of Krsna. Krsna here is hence revealing the secret of coming to him. The pleasure, joy is increasing many fold. But by the mercy of Mahaprabhu the process of breaking through has become very easy and even an unqualified person is given the chance to get on undivided devotional service. He is allowing anybody and everybody to get a touch of Krsna by his most pmerciful incarnation of Krsna as his HOLY NAME! Kali rupe naam avatara - only through his HOLY NAME! Hence the holy name is given so much emphasis. Veda vyasa is hence saying only if somebody chants your holy name can reach you. We have been given a million dollar opportunity to reach the topmost door of Krsna by chanting the holy name of the Lord without offence and sincerely. He may be a grahasta but if he chants the holy name sincerely and hence we can enter into the mysteries of Krsna;s past times just by chanting the maha mantra with no offences. 

The real purpose of having deities in the home is to have a relationship with them. Same way husband and wife need to have a relationship in their life and only then you have love for them. Same way we should have love for our deities and have that relationship with them. We should always keep thinking of our deities and feel let me bathe them, feed them, give them water - have that relationship with them. Only when you get that attraction with your deities that will help us get closer to bhakti and we become stronger on our bhakti platform. When we enter the house, we should feel that oh my Krsna, my deities are waiting for me home, they are standing there. let me take care of them. We shouldn't take them lightly. We should start getting a relationship with them and we should be consumed by their thought.  Very nice example is sakhi gopal - complete faith that deity of Krsna is non-different from Krsna. He feels no difference when he stands in front of the deity thinking that Krsna is standing in front of me because he's been so merciful. He then reciprocates as the supreme personality of Godhead. As we approach Krsna's deity as the supreme personality of Godhead he also reciprocates with us like that and hence we should start taking them very seriously. The deities will make us ready and their presence in our home will force their way in our heart. He is a thief, he steals away all the bad things and take his presence in our heart. Example is the story of Sakshi Gopal. 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

B.G 11.51- 52 Summary by HG Shyamsundar Prabhu

BG 11.51: When Arjuna thus saw Kṛṣṇa in His original form, he said: O Janārdana, seeing this humanlike form, so very beautiful, I am now composed in mind, and I am restored to my original nature.
So what do we mean by Original form? From SB and BG, Krsna is an avatari. Krsna is coming here in this original form - manusya roopam - 2 handed shyamsundar form residing in Goloka Vrindavan. How is God like me? Man is made in the image of God. We have this human form in the image of the Krsna's form which is the original Shyamsundar form. It looks like human like but it's not actually not human like. It is the Original form of Krsna. The divine nature of Krsna can';t be understood, but here we can clearly see how Krsna in the original form and is the source of everything is soo beautiful. Also, Krsna showed the universal form. Krsna showed the Narayan form and Krsna showed his original 2 handed form and it is Krsna who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It can be shown only to the pure devotees of the Lord and for them there is no confusion. 

The original verses of BG is as clear as sun. Our clouded intelligence is trying to see everything through a cloud. Krsna's beautiful Shyamsundar form is the original form. The devotee is just attached to this beautiful form of Krsna. All we want is beautiful relationships with the people around us and be devoted to Krsna. When we are on our death bed, nothing will be important - our wealth, our fame, name etc - all we need is a loving hug from our near and dear ones and that is what attracts the hearts of the devotees. Every feature of Krsna is full of potencies and is all in all. Mahaprabhu came to give us this connection to Krsna through the Holy name. My dear Lord you have put all your potencies in the holy name but our misfortune is because we have no taste - not the problem of the holy name but our clouded intelligence that we are not able to come to Holy name. 

So it all comes down to the loving relationship to Krsna and that is only experienced in the 2 handed shyamsundar form of Krsna.

BG 11.52: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, this form of Mine you are now seeing is very difficult to behold. Even the demigods are ever seeking the opportunity to see this form, which is so dear.

Now, Krsna is saying this original form of mine is very difficult to behold and even demigods are trying to seek the opportunity to see. So the question is - Krsna has been on the planet for 100 years and everybody has been able to see him but then why does Krsna now says it is very difficult to behold, or very difficult to see so why does Krsna say this?  The demigods have had an experience of seeing the Narayan form of Krsna but they haven't seen the two handed form of Krsna. SP is making a very imp point here - still 2 handed form is very very confidential.Unless and until one's eyes are annointed with the love, even though Krsna;s form is spiritual and his body isn't material - even though his body is present as the two handed form yet based of the level of bhakti you see/percieve Krsna's body as something else and hence they are yearning to see the personal 2 handed form of Krsna.So the only way to see Krsna is through BHAKTI - bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaḿ-vidho 'rjuna. Without bhakti, even Krsna's 2 handed form will appear as something else. When we see Krsna is our friend he appears as though he is our friend. If he is cruel, he will appear as cruel. So it is very very important on how we perceive Krsna, because he appears like that to us. So please approach Krsna as the all mighty loving father so then Krsna will appear as that. The whole point why Krsna says this, is because when we get something, we take it very cheaply - when we go to temple we look at the form of Krsna and take it cheaply - but this 2 handed form of Krsna is very difficult to behold and through SP's mercy we have got the opportunity to see Krsna's 2 handed form. Krsna is the deity!!!! That is Krsna standing in front of us to give us an opportunity to see him. He is the supreme Lord. We have got such a nice opportunity to see Krsna as he appears in his original form as in Goloka Vrindavan and hence we don't take it seriously and hence we are bereft of this great opportunity. 

This form of Krsna is the topmost form it is very diffcult to see. It is the most confidential form of Krsna is now available to us and we are so merciful that we are able to see him in his 2 handed form and YET we are not taking the opporutnity to see him in that mood because what we perceive of Krsna is how he reciprocates with us. Even Rupa Gosvami just closing his eyes could see Krsna's form and even though he would get darshan yet he would have the mood of separation with Krsna.

Ex - Mahaprabhu once jumped into the ganges during kirtan. The fact that I'm alive is becuase I have no love for Krsna because if I loved Krsna I would have died to go back to Krsna. Mahaprabhu and the Gosvamis are teaching us the mood of separation and simultaneously not take what is being offered to us lightly. We have the opportunity to take darshan of Krsna to be with Krsna so we shouldn't take it lightly. We should at the same time yearn for his mercy so we can always serve him. Hence, we should value any/every time to see Krsna and take his darshan. This opporunity to be with Krsna, to be with Krsna's devotees is very rare - once in a lifetime - hence we should really take lots of opportunity to see him again and again and get darshan of him because it is very difficult to behold (very difficult to see). Whenever we see Krsna we should try to keep collecting these new experiences whenever we see Krsna and that is KC. Hankering for newer and newer experiences everytime we read the same verse is known as KC. As soon as one gets the mood that we have been to Vrindavan, read the BG, and no need to read again - we have lost the mood of KC. Every time we read we should get newer and newer experiences. Hence Krsna says this form of mine is so difficult to behold. 

Hence. Krsna appeared as Mahaprabhu to teach us what is the process to enter into the confidential pastitimes of Krsna and what is it - trinad api sunichena......Humility, tolerance and being the servant of the servant of Krsna 3rd verse of Sistaskamam. This form of Krsna is not cheap. It is the best and that is being promised by BG. If we sincerely hold on to the teachings of BG we will get Krsna's origina form which is very very rare to get. 

In South India temples have very small doors and the reason was to make sure devotees don't take the form of Krsna cheaply, but because of SP's mercy we are able to get darshan unlimitedly and hence we shouldn't take this cheaply as Krsna is saying in this verse - this 2 handed form of Krsna is very rarely attained so please take the opportunity to pay our obeisances. 

Why did Arjuna request to see the 4 handed form from the Universal form - for our benefit so we can understand that Krsna is the source of everything. 

So from Gaura Poornima our New Year has started - so in this year lets take opportunity to make progress in our spiritual life and pray to Krsna's 2 handed shyamsundar form to allow us to get a mustard seed of mercy everyday to gradually make progress in our spiritual life.

Hare Krsna!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Glories of Mahaprabhu and being the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord - Why is it important?

The 8 prayers by Mahaprabhu are the most important instructions. These give us the progression to start from beginning to stage of love for Krsna.

http://www.harekrsna.de/Siksastaka/Siksastakam-E.htm

In these prayers Mahaprabhu says:

1. Krsna;s name can cleanse all the dust accumulated in the heart.
2. Second prayer: Even though he has mercifully given us all these names yet I am not taking full advantage.
3. Diamond of prayers - One who wants to take the advantage of the holy name become more humble than the blade of grass, become more lower than the straw in the street, tolerant than the tree.

4. Na dhanam, na janam, na sundarim.. - don't hanker for any material things (money, power, women). But Mahaprabhu is looking for just one thing birth after birth - engage in your devotional service.

5. Somehow or other I've fallen in this material world and please pick me up and make me an atom at your lotus feet. This is the way to pray to Krsna. We have no energy, just cry out, just pray to Krsna - Please KRSNA pick me, just place me as an atom of your lotus feet. Step by step everything is given in the Sistastakam.

Today we will hear about his pasttimes and through our past times he demonstrated that by becoming dear to the devotees we will become dear to Krsna - I'm not a brahmana, I'm not a vaisya, I'm not a grahasta, vanaprasti or a sanyasi - I am simply gopi padakamalam - I'm the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord who is the servant of the lotus feet of the gopis. Greatest mercy received is by being the servant of the servant of Krsna.

In the prakasha lila, he showed to every devotee how the pure devotees were praying to him and he manifested into the heart of there's. Example - Srivas pandit wanted to hear SB but was thrown out and when he was praying to Mahaprabhu that he is not fortunate to listen to SB, Mahaprabhu manifest in his heart and gave him so much ecstacy that he had never experienced it. He was full in tears that how the Lord reciprocated with him. Similarly all the devotees were saying how the Lord reciprocated with them. Example - Dukhi (servant of Srivas) she was getting water for the devotees for abhishek - and Mahaprabhu called her and said you are sukhi and said anybody connected to Srivas (connected with any devotee) is very very dear to Krsna.

Another pasttime - Amogha son in law of Sarvabhoma bhattacharya was very envious of the Lord. Sarvabhoma always used to call Mahaprabhu home and they prepared about 150 preparations. And this day his wife said please don't have Amogha come to have prasad. When Mahaprabhu came, he noticed that lot of prasad has been prepared for Krsna and he requested to eat only a little bit, but Sarvabhoma said everything is for you. Just as he was about to honor prasad, Amogha came in and he said you are only a sanyasi and you are eating so much. As soon as he said this Sarvabhoma ran outside to beat him with a stick......Amoga got cholera....Mahaprabhu cured him by touching his head....Sarvabhoma ran to offer his prayers and said Mahaprabhu you could have let him die as he has always been envious. Then Mahaprabhu said that Sarvabhoma you are so dear to me that anyone connected to me can become very dear to me. Same way we need to become the servant of the servant of the devotee and as soon as we are connected to a devotee then we can become dear to Krsna.

Only when we become a devotee of Krsna, which means to become the servant of the servant of Krsna Ex - Kulashekar says - let me become the servant of the 7th order of your Krsna.

Always do these 3 which Mahaprabhu came to teach us- Krsna naam (Hare Krsna maha mantra), Vaisnava seva (Servant of the servant of servant of Krsna) and Jiva daya (display compassion to the jivas to all living entities. When he sees someone's suffering a Vaisnava also suffers). So on Gaura poornima please pray to Mahaprabhu that I can get the taste to chant the holy naam of the lord, engaging in seva, read a lot and intensly pray to Mahaprabhu to have his mercy on us so we can get the love for the divine couple.

The lord has come to deliver us and let us take the advantage of this Holy name. Time is ticking, running is quickly, we need to take immediate note by acting upon it by getting absorbed and praying to get as much mercy as we can from Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu is very merciful to the devotees who are connected to the devotees so we should pray to the Panca-tattva that we get devotee association.

Only thing needed is a pure prayer with a humble heart. Only when we feel we are needy then we get the mercy. When we feel we are so needy and we have no other hope, only then we get the mercy in the heart. Hence, we need to follow in the footsteps of Mahaprabhu to become humble and have no ego and feel very lowly. Just 24 hours we should meditate on the 3rd verse of Sistastakam so we feel very very low and feel we are so needy that Mahaprabhu has the mercy to give you the love for Krsna.

Vidhi Sadhana Bhakti, Ragatmika Bhakti and Raganuga Bhakti

Trying to understand this concept myself, so please comment what you think. Hare Krsna!

Pure raga (greed) for the Lord takes shelter of only the pure soul, a sould liberated from material contamination. That pure raga is called ragatmika bhakti (inhabitants of Vrindavan). When conditioned souls with vaidhi sadhana bhakti, reading the scriptures develop the desire to follow after the inhabitants of Vraja who offer raghatmika bhakti to Krsna that bhakti is called raganuga. The inspiration is greed for its object not for rules or scriptural guidelines. For us, we should first follow vaidhi to come to the point of greed and then follow raga (greed) - completely intoxicated for Krsna's pleasure and doing things spontaneously for Krsna. Raganuga bhakti includes all the same angas as vaidhi bhakti, but the devotee of raganuga bhakti performs those activities with a spontaneous mood, rather than by rule.

Interest in raganuga may grow, but the angas of bhakti, such as hearing and chanting should not be given up.

”That person who is greedy for attaining a bhava similar to that
of the inhabitants of Vraja,who are fixed solely in ragatmika-bhakti
is qualified for raganuga-bhakti.” BRS.1.2.291 ‘’We must always remember, however, that such eagerness to
follow in the footsteps of the denizens of Vraja (Vṛndāvana) is not possible unless one is freed from material contamination. In following the regulative principles of devotional service, there is a stage called anartha-nivṛtti, which means the disappearance of all material contamination. ‘’
‘’Therefore, in the beginning, everyone should strictly follow the regulative principles of devotional service, according to the injunctions of the scriptures and the spiritual master. Only after the stage of liberation from material contamination can one actually aspire to follow in the footsteps of the devotees in Vṛndāvana.’’ NoD 16 Eligibility for Spontaneous Devotional Service

See more at: http://iskcon.us/dhanesvara-das/last-conversation-aindra-prabhu/

Thursday, March 6, 2014

B.G 11.49-50 Summary by HG Shyamsundar Prabhuji

BG 11.49: You have been perturbed and bewildered by seeing this horrible feature of Mine. Now let it be finished. My devotee, be free again from all disturbances. With a peaceful mind you can now see the form you desire.
BG 11.50Sañjaya said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, having spoken thus to Arjuna, displayed His real four-armed form and at last showed His two-armed form, thus encouraging the fearful Arjuna.
These verses are very interesting. These tell you the mood of Krsna and his personality. When we want to develop a relationship with a person, we try to understand the mood of the person. We want to learn how that person behaves. In these verses, we understand that Krsna cares for Arjuna, he wants to reciprocate with Arjuna's needs. He know what Arjuna desires. He is such a sweet Lord. He knew Arjuna is feeling disturbed, so let me finish this horrible form. 
He is a bhakta-vatsala - He doesn't like to see his devotees disturbed or troubled. He wants to take care of his devotees and want them to be free from all disturbances. He is more pained when his children are pained. He is atmaram but when the devotee is suffering, Krsna is also hurt. But why are we suffering or in pain, because of our own karma. Ex - when a child doesn't work hard and gets low marks even the parents are in pain, but they are not disturbed. Similarly, Krsna is feeling pain for all his children. 
Krsna;s desire is for all of us to become free from disturbances. He is wishing and praying like this. But unfortunately, we are creating trouble for all of us. SP is also explaining why he should this form to Arjuna - 1. Arjuna asked for it 2. Arjuna could see the future and understand that the people for whom he was worried that he will be killing them, he saw that all of them are already killed because of their negligence and hence will be punished. Now if Arjuna has to choose if he wants to be an instrument or somebody else to be the instrument. Hence he should not hesitate to do his duty.
A devotee isn't very interested in Universal form. Bhakta means, one who is doing bhakti. Dev service onto Krsna. Devotee wants to connect with some feature of the Lord. To reciprocate with a loving devotee he also shows a loving 2 handed form so he can have a relationship with them. The ultimate conclusion is - how to develop loving exchanging with Krsna.
3 features of Krsna are brahman, paramatma and bhagavan. We can only develop loving exchanges with the Bhagavan feature of the Lord. The moment you take the bhakti feature out, the loving exchange is lost. Hence the personal feature is so important. Bhakti yoga is the culmination of all the yogas. The lord is reciprocating at the deepest level in bhakti yoga. Loving exchanges with Krsna. So, we can say Krsna cares of his devotees and this verses give us so much FAITH. 
We should have so much faith that Krsna is actually receiving my chanting, my bhoga, my aarti offering, my service. We should break the barrier and become personal with Krsna. Ex- Shabri and berries she was personal to make sure berries are sweet - such a detail of bhakti. What is my Lord feeling, how do I reciprocate with my Lord. Ex - how when I feed Vivaan I take care of each bite before he eats. I eat first to make sure he's ok. That is Love, we need to develop pure transcendental love for Krsna. 
Us going through difficult situations in life just like Arjuna went through the difficult situation to see the Universal form, the purpose is to come closer to Krsna and that he';s a loving father he then get love for Krsna. Just like Brahmaji prayed - My dear Lord these difficult situations are coming but dear Lord you are so merciful that you are taking care of me inspite of these difficult situations. It is your LOVE which is saving me and because of your love you are taking care of me. A pure devotee is in this mood always. 
Saumya-Vapu means very beautiful. Krsna's form is soo beautiful that if once anyone sees that form, one forgets everything else. That is the power of Krsna's beauty. Yamuna at Kesi ghat - the beautiful form of Govinda is present there and that will make you lose taste of the material world. We can't see the beautiful form through our eyes, only can be seen through the heart. Example - parents of an ugly child think their child is so beautiful - because they are seeing him with different vision. Similarly, we need to get proper vision and that vision can be got by LOVE for Krsna. Devotees are always taking the darshan of Shyamsundar form because they are anointed by the pure love for Krsna. 
He can't tolerate the pain of his children. To rescue his children he comes personally in this age to help them come back home as Mahaprabhu. Seeing the horrible state in Kali, he comes as the most merciful incarnation (Audarya bhava) - Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. 
Mahaprabhu taught harinaam sankirtan. Just by this, one may be able to cross over the ocean of necissence. Actually every moment we are defeated by kama, krodha, lobha..... Hence we need to conquer these anarthas by following Mahaprabhu's and acaryas foottsteps.  Harinaam sankirtan will cleanse the heart of all the anarthas. 
One most important part of Harinaam Sankirtan comes in the 3rd verse of Sistastakam - be more humble than blade of tree ..... In that consciousness can somebody chant the holy name of the Lord constantly. That is the key for somebody to make progress in bhakti yoga. Hence, to take advantage of Harinaam sankirtan - we need to become humble and surrender at the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu and then chant with a pure heart and that's when we can progress in our spiritual life. Kirtaniya sada hari!

Penning down "Realizations"

As Sri Krsnadas Kaviraj Gosvami states in CC http://vedabase.net/cc/adi/9/5/en, that he is attempting to write the pastimes and qualities of Mahaprabhu by the mercy of the Vaisnavas and Gurus. Whether he knows it or not, it is for his self purification that he is writing this book.

So that is the essence - don't write for any credit but only for your self-purification. Also, SP states in Adi 8.73 qualifications to write - "One must first become a pure devotee by following the strict regulative principles and chanting sixteen rounds daily, and when one thinks that he is actually on the Vaiṣṇava platform, he must then take permission from the spiritual master, and that permission must also be confirmed by Kṛṣṇa from within his heart. Then, if one is very sincere and pure, he can write transcendental literature, either prose or poetry." Also, Krsnadas Kaviraj Gosvami says that he is only the instrument but actually Sri Sri Madan Mohan was dictating and he was writing like a parrot. So in essence, I'm not writing, it's Krsna who is in my heart is giving me the knowledge to write these realizations.

I asked for permission from my Gurudev and he so mercifully instructed - "Please write your realizations regularly, everyday if possible, and practice giving good support to your statements with sastra."

Thank you so much Gurudev, I'm going to work on your instruction. Haribol!

Yesterday, we had HG Manu Dasa Prabhu from Vancouver, Canada visiting. He gave a wonderful class and some points which stuck with me were:

1. If you have knowledge but don't follow it - it's as good as not knowing. Ex- If you drive on the wrong side of the road even if you know that's wrong - what's the use it's as good as not knowing. And for your mistake you get a ticket or are in a collision.

2. Preaching is the essence. As SP has said - "Preaching is the essence, books are the basis, utility is the principle and purity is the force." HG Manu Dasa prabhu gave the example of a well. If the well's water isn't used it stagnates and if it's continuously used it depletes if it doesn't get new water coming in. Similarly, our knowledge in the subject matter is like water in the well - If we don't preach it stagnates and if we don't read then it depletes. Hence both are important - reading SP books, associate with devotees to keep getting knowledge and preaching to give to others.

3. We are greedy in this material world. Like a mirage maya keeps dangling the carrot in front of us. You buy a car, then you want another big car, then you want an SUV, then you want a .... keeps going on. We need to get out of this maya jaal and how can we come out?

4. Example of coming out of maya jaal was the fisherman's net. There was one fish who always escaped being caught in the maya jaal and the way he did it was to be at the feet of the fisherman and hence the jaal (net) never touched him. Similarly, we should always take the shelter of Krsna's lotus feet and if we do that then maya will never touch us.

5. We get what we deserve by Karma. So stop blaming anybody but yourself in the position you are.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

What is Surrender?

CC Madhya 22.100

ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ

prātikūlyasya varjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso
goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye
ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
Word for word: 
ānukūlyasya — of anything that assists devotional service to the Lord; saṅkalpaḥ — acceptance; prātikūlyasya — of anything that hinders devotional service; varjanam — complete rejection; rakṣiṣyati — He will protect; iti — thus;viśvāsaḥ — strong conviction; goptṛtve — in being the guardian, like the father or husband, master or maintainer;varaṇam — acceptance; tathā — as well as; ātma-nikṣepa — full self-surrender; kārpaṇye — and humility; ṣaṭ-vidhā — sixfold; śaraṇa-āgatiḥ — process of surrender.
Translation: 
“ ‘The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one’s guardian or master, full self-surrender, and humility.
Purport: 
One who is fully surrendered is qualified with the six following characteristics: (1) The devotee has to accept everything that is favorable for the rendering of transcendental loving service to the Lord. (2) He must reject everything unfavorable to the Lord’s service. This is also called renunciation. (3) A devotee must be firmly convinced that Kṛṣṇa will give him protection. No one else can actually give one protection, and being firmly convinced of this is called faith. This kind of faith is different from the faith of an impersonalist who wants to merge into the Brahman effulgence in order to benefit by cessation of repeated birth and death. A devotee wants to remain always in the Lord’s service. In this way, Kṛṣṇa is merciful to His devotee and gives him all protection from the dangers found on the path of devotional service. (4) The devotee should accept Kṛṣṇa as his supreme maintainer and master. He should not think that he is being protected by a demigod. He should depend only on Kṛṣṇa, considering Him the only protector. The devotee must be firmly convinced that within the three worlds he has no protector or maintainer other than Kṛṣṇa. (5) Self-surrender means remembering that one’s activities and desires are not independent. The devotee is completely dependent on Kṛṣṇa, and he acts and thinks as Kṛṣṇa desires. (6) The devotee is meek and humble.
Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15):
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo

mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” Situated in everyone’s heart, Kṛṣṇa deals differently according to the living entity’s position. The living entity’s position is to be under the protection of the illusory energy or under Kṛṣṇa’s personal protection. When a living entity is fully surrendered, he is under the direct protection of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa gives him all intelligence by which he can advance in spiritual realization. The nondevotee, however, being under the protection of the illusory energy, increasingly forgets his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes it is asked how Kṛṣṇa causes one to forget. Kṛṣṇa personally causes His devotee to forget material activities, and through the agency of māyā Kṛṣṇa causes the nondevotee to forget his devotional service to the Lord. This is called apohana.