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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
What to speak of those from the West, even the foremost members of the secular intelligentsia of India, who are well-known throughout the world as the greatest scholars of empiricism, are unable to appreciate the autocracy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa... The thicker sensual gratification becomes – through the evolution of empiric knowledge – the thicker atheism becomes...
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Bhakti is the mood, or language, of the heart. The presence of bhakti in a stanza or expression gives it success and meaning. Without devotion, any charming verse or composition is meaningless...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The transcendental form, qualities and pastimes (rūpa, guṇa and līlā) of the Supreme Lord are revealed, of their own accord, through Śrī Nāma alone. One should not endeavour artificially to meditate on the Lord’s rūpa, guṇa and līlā...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
But there is found neither a feeling of apathy nor one of attachment towards these secular moralities. Rather, all such moralities are like maids, standing behind spiritual moralities and waiting to become elevated, having received permission to serve the Lord of transcendental love...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
To be brief, the difference between the followers of Māyāvāda, or absolute monism, and the Vaiṣṇava Vedantists is that the former has a bias for the idea of nirviśeṣa, or non-distinction, whereas the latter accepts the eternality of Personal Godhead. The monists are atheists in disguise. On the other hand, the Vaiṣṇavas are sincere theists...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as defined in its third verse, is the succulent fruit of the kalpataru, or desire-fulfilling tree, known as the Vedas... Only those who have reached the stage of transcendental excellence are competent to taste this fruit... Having fully surpassed the stage of worldly perception, with hearts brightened by absolutely pure presence and being, they are fit to receive the sweet mellowness of love that exists far beyond the mundane...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
In his Vilāpa-kusumañjali (102), Raghunātha prays to Śrī Rādhā: “Somehow I have spent my life in high expectations of the ocean of nectar. If even You do not show kindness toward me, then what need is there for me to continue living? What, then, is the benefit of my residence in Vraja or even being with Kṛṣṇa?”
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Those who attend to the service of God’s name (nāma), His abode (dhāma) and His desire (kāma) are the only really adorable ones in the world. No being can extricate himself from wrong understandings due to māyā without engaging in service to śrī nāma. As the result of service to śrī nāma...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam must be read in the company of true Vaiṣṇavas. Śrīla Svarūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda said, “Go and read the Bhāgavatam with a Vaiṣṇava.” The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam cannot be chanted through the mouth of a person who is not himself a bhāgavata, or true devotee of God...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrta it has been declared: “One should first practice dharma before teaching it to another; unless you do it yourself, you cannot teach it.” Platform speakers or professional priests cannot claim to be gurus. If I were a professional discourser on the Bhāgavata and I happened upon an advertisement that the position of a sweeper had become vacant and that it carried an emolument higher than what I earn from my discourses...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The heart of one who is ever engaged in śrī nāma saṅkīrtana becomes illuminated with truly pure and virtuous spiritual goodness. And when the flower of śrī nāma fully opens within such a pure heart, the divine Couple appear there, , engaged in Their...
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti-prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Nowadays, many people in the sārasvata-bhaktivinoda-dhārā, or the line of thought of Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, stray from the line of thought following Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (rūpānuga-vicāra-dhārā), and licking the feet of the ‘īcaḍe-pākā’ sahajiyās, say, “What’s the use of preaching? What is there in performing kīrtana? Do bhajana, just do bhajana.”..
