Rays of The Harmonist
- Serving Śrī Guru with Heartfelt Affection (Part 2)
- The Incomparable Affection and Compassion of Śrī Guru and Vaiṣṇavas
- My Friend Renders More Intimate Service Than I Can
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
“Don’t think, “A better result will come from my sādhana-bhajana than by engaging in that guru-sevā.” One may think, “What special fruit will I get merely by sitting near gurujī and serving him?” Do not think like this. Consider what he wants and depend on him.” ...
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by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja
There is nothing equal to the Vaiṣṇavas’ transcendental affection and compassion. If a soul who wishes to perform bhajana can appreciate this compassion, then he will surely reap auspiciousness. It is indicative of great fortune to be able to comprehend the essence and substance of the chastisement and compassion of Guru and Vaiṣṇavas. ...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
I will be all more pleased if I find that another person competes in my line to serve my All-love in a better way perhaps than I can. ...
Read MoreFeatured: Damodarastakam
For thousands of years, devotees have sung Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam, especially in the revered month of Kārtika. These eight verses mark the profound blossoming of Śrī Satyavrata Muni's love for Śrī Dāmodara, as he prays, "Please appear before me in Your beautiful, eternal form as a young cowherd-boy, and grant me the perfection of life." The true meaning of this prayer remained mostly hidden until the late 1500s, when Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī wrote his elucidating commentary. Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja's lively and poignant supplementary commentary serves to make these essential meanings even more accessible.
With Greed In The Center
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Abhista-bhava-mayi: Whatever practices we execute at the time of our sadhana (the practice executed to attain our goal) will be the same at the time of sadhya (the goal of life, the stage of siddhi, perfection). Sadhakas remember Krsna, Govinda, now, at the time of their sadhana, and they will do so in siddha-sarira (spiritual form as a gopi-manjari) as well. Both remembrances are the same, but one is unripe and the other will be ripe. The subject of the mood will never change, just as kirtana will never be changed, whether in the stage of sadhana or siddha. The sadhakas' absorption in their constitutional mood is called abhista-bhava-mayi.
Sri Guru’s Spiritual Form
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This is the third of the three important slokas discussed by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Rag-vartma-candrika:
sravanotkirtanadini vaidhi-bhakty uditani tu
yany angani ca tanyatra vijneyani manisibhih
About Songs and So On
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Brahma told Narada, Narada told Vyasa, and Vyasa told Sukadeva Gosvami. The knowledge is coming in parampara. By this we can know the real explanation of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Upanisads, and that bhakti is the fruit of all the Upanisads, Vedanta, and so on. The guru-parampara has manifested this in this world, so you should know it. If you don't know all these things, then vraja-rasa-bhakti will not come to you...
Srila Sanatana Gosvami - Vilap Kusmanjali Verse 6
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I take shelter of my lord and master, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, who is an ocean of compassion and who always feels sorry for the suffering of others. Although I was unwilling and blinded by ignorance, he diligently made me drink the nectar of devotion laced with renunciation.
To Be Covered By Sweetness
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As Lalita trains Srimati Radhika in this way [for Radhika’s naocturnal meeting with Sri Krsna], Rupa Manjari watches, and our guru in this world, as sakhi-manjari in that world, also watches.
The Goal - Vilap-kusumanjali
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In this world we have a guru and we are his disciples, but in raganuga-bhakti (internally) the guru is like a friend. Visrambhena gurau seva. In the spiritual realm, there is no formal relation of guru and disciple as there is in this world. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to address Srila Rupa Gosvami as guru, and he respected him as such. Inwardly, however, he saw him as a sakhi, as Rupa-manjari, as he will further reveal in the third verse...
Illuminating the Path to Ragatmika-bhakti
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This surrender and complete dedication of the heart to guru is called tadatmya (oneness of heart) in Sanskrit. When an iron rod is placed in fire, the qualities of the fire enter the iron. When fire permeates an iron rod it is the fire that burns other objects; it is not that the iron rod burns other objects; The iron rod may ‘consider,’ “I am fire,” in the sense that the qualities of the iron have become one with the qualities of the fire; it now does the work of fire.
Manasi Ganga And The Secret Of Giriraja Govardhana
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We have come here to Manasi Ganga, which is like the mouth of Sri Giriraja Govardhana. His shape resembles that of a cow, or a peacock, and the lower extremity at Puchari (or Punchari) is like the raised tail of the peacock or the raised hindquarters of the cow. At this end are Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda, which are like the eyes of the peacock. Sometimes, when a peacock is dancing, it will raise its back very high and gracefully bend its long neck back towards the stomach...
Sri Vraja-Mandala Parikrama At Govardhana
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Today we are here at Govardhana. Giriraja Govardhana is very kind; he is causelessly merciful. I came here for the first time in 1947 with my Gurudeva, Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja. At that time we were engaged in the performance of Dvaraka parikrama, and we came here briefly while on that parikrama. Since then I have done Vrndavana Parikrama every year for the last fifty-five years...
On Raganuga-bhakti
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Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: What is a manjari? We have heard about kamala-manjaris and mango-manjaris. Any creeper or good flower has manjaris. Although the manjari appears first and then the flower, the manjari is always located above the flower. When a bee comes to sit on the flower and drink its honey, the manjaris tremble, being overjoyed.
Meeting About The Newly Published Raga Vartma Candrika
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But it is only in viraha (separation) that the gopis, and all the Vrajavasis, sometimes say, "Oh, He's God, the Supreme Lord." And how do they say this? They say, "Paurnamasi has told us this." Or, "Gargacarya has told us." Somehow they have heard from them, but they themselves have no realization that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead...
How to Enter Raganuga-bhakti
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In this Raga Vartma Candrika, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura tells us what he has realized about Sri Sri Radha-Krsna’s anuraga by the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Gosvami. Anuraga refers to that stage of prema which comes just before mahabhava. Within prema comes sneha, then mana, pranaya, raga, and then anuraga...
Holi
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This village, Ganthuli, is one mile from Gulala-kunda. In the month of Phalguna, February-March, at the time of Holi, all the gopis were present here, playing Holi with Sri Krsna and the gopas. This is where Holi took place. Sri Krsna and His friends were in one party and Srimati Radhika and Her sakhis were in the opposite party, and there were more gopis than there were gopas. Both the gopas and gopis held syringes which shot out many colors, and these colors were not easily removable...
A Darsana For Tamal Krsna Gosvami
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Yesterday I explained that there are two kinds of bhajana. The first is in vipralambha-lila, performed by chanting and remembering Krsna's pastimes of separation. The second is in sambhoga-lila, performed by remembering His pastimes of meeting. Although the gopis and Vrajavasis always like to meet Krsna, He plays in such a manner that they enjoy vipralambha-rasa...
Fulfillment is in Love
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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took shelter in the plane of jnana-sunya-bhakti. There our guardians will take care of us wholesale. To live under His guardianship is the best position for so many tiny souls. Give the responsibility of your own charge to the highest guardian. That is the most peaceful life, according to jnana-sunya-bhakti – surrender to such extremity, to such extent as forgetfulness of everything in the grace of the Almighty. To live there, in the automatic section of the world is the highest goal for living entities like us...
Heart and Halo
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We are far from the truth when we cannot see that everything, all waves, are flowing towards the satisfaction of one: Svayam Bhagavān. We are labouring under a deception. We are deceivers who are not just deceiving ourselves but the world also. We are guilty of misunderstanding everything and of carrying that false knowledge to others...
