Rays of The Harmonist
- Nāma-bhajana and the Mercy of Śrī Hari, Guru & Vaiṣṇavas
- Śrī Nāma-sevā in Śrī Dhāma
- Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: The King of Devotional Literature
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝You must put all manner of worldly tasks aside and chant one lakh daily, perform pūjā and arcana of the deity, study various sacred texts, and go to the maṭha to take advantage of hearing śrī hari-kathā. This is the special purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s saṁsāra, Bhagavān’s saṁsāra. Many believe that one lakh (lakṣa) of nāma means setting one’s lakṣya (focus) and chanting. But that is a one-sided notion. Chanting a fixed amount of śrī nāma means chanting with a steady heart, crying and weeping anxiously. One must complete one’s fixed number of rounds in that manner [with absorption].❞ ...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
❝Within this world, only those who attend to Śrī Bhagavān’s holy name (nāma), His abode (dhāma) and His desires (kāma) are truly worthy of adoration. No being can extricate himself from misunderstanding, which arises from māyā, without serving śrī nāma. The result of serving śrī nāma is that one will be freed from all forms of prejudice and will become settled in serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s desires (kāma).❞ ...
Read Moreby Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝Only if one has a sense of attachment for Śrī Bhagavān is there significance and fulfillment in reading and writing. Nowhere is there a better perspective than that given by Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is why one must become thoroughly established in the conceptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the king of devotional literature, the essence of all Vedānta, and the natural commentary on the gāyatrī-mantra.❞ ...
Read MoreDivine Installation
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I have been traveling around the world, preaching Vedic culture. The Vedic teaching is that we are not this body. This body is made of bones and blood. We are eternal, but this body is perishable. All the world’s scientists and doctors cannot extend a person’s life for even one second. In the heart of this body, we souls reside along with Paramatma, the Lord’s localized four-armed expansion...
Sri Guru - More Intimate Than Our Atma
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First, we must think that guru is our atma. Being totally surrendered to him, we must depend solely on him. Tan abhajet. Tan means the Supreme Lord, Krsna. If we serve Krsna under the guidance of sad-guru, then certainly, like magic, we will be out of maya....
Is Srila Jiva Gosvami Different?
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Jiva Gosvami also means to say that since the svarupa of the jiva, which is in an unmanifest or seed-like state in the jiva's conditioned life, has everything in it in seed form (as a seed of a tree has the whole tree in it). Therefore, the planet on which we live, Vaikuntha, Vrndavana, etc., is also there in the soul. In this way the parsada, the spiritual body of the jiva that is presently in a latent position can also be explained....
Sri Krsna's Kartika Rasa-lila
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One year after Krsna made His promise to the gopis, on the full-moon night in autumn He looked at the moon and began to play His flute. He considered, "Our forefather, the moon, has a beloved other than his wife, Rohini. His beloved is Purva-disa, the eastern horizon...
Govardhana/Kartik Mornings Discourses
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During the first half of Kartika, Srila Maharaja gave discourses at Gopinatha Bhavan in Vrndavana each evening, and called upon others to speak as well. He discussed the life and precepts of the Savior of this Age of quarrel and hypocrisy, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, with reference to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. He also discussed the Lord’s divine pastime places visited by the devotees during the day. In the mornings he spoke on the abounding philosophy and sweetness of the pastime of Mother Yasoda binding Krsna – Sri Damodara-lila...
Last Day of Kartik
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By the causeless mercy of my Gurudeva, Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, my Gurupada-padma (siksa-gurus) and Gandharvika-Giridhari Sri Sri Radha-Vinoda-bihari, our Vraja-Mandala parikrama is very successful in all respects.
I am Inviting You All
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You have been following some rules and regulations during the four months of Catur-masya, and especially during this one month of Kartika. This is now completed. We have also given some “wind-up,” so that you will be able to go on for the next four months. Then, after four months another winding will be given in Navadvipa-dhama. I am inviting you all. Not only should you all come, but each of you should bring ten people from your country. I want at least 15-20,000 devotees to come and perform parikrama in Navadvipa...
The Disappearance Day of Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Gosvami Maharaja
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For the service of the brhad-mrdanga (book publication), Srila Puri Maharaja stayed in various places like Calcutta, Krsna Nagar, and Mayapura. For the sake of preaching gaura-vani, the message of Gaurasundara, he traveled not only throughout Bengal, but also to many places throughout India, and he met with great success...
Our Family Goal
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I think always, and I also tell my devotees, that we are in only one family – the family of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu. We should always be together and preach their mission throughout the world. If we are united again, we can preach throughout the world – as in the time of Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja...
To His Rope and His Belly
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Srila Sanatana Gosvami explained the mood of this prayer in Brhad-Bhagavatamrta. The devotee does not fear taking any birth. For example, although Vrtasura took birth as a demon, he was always glorifying Krsna's pastimes...
Srila Gaura-kishora dasa Babaji Maharaja
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We cannot touch Srila Gaura-kishora dasa Babaji Maharaja’s renounced lifestyle and high standard of bhajana, but we can at least accept and follow whatever lower principles that he established for us and practised in his own life. After making sufficient spiritual progress, we may be able to accept the higher things, but we should not desire to follow them in our present condition. Who can possibly follow his extreme renunciation...
We've Already Been Married
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Those who have attended this parikrama should think about why they have come. We have come here to earn bhakti, especially suddha-bhakti (pure devotion), and more especially vraja-bhakti - the very highest attainment. We have come to the best place in the world - Vraja. In Vraja, superior to Gokula is Nandagaon and Varsana, more superior is Vrndavana, more superior is Govardhana and most superior is Radha-kunda. You have come here, so we should not have any desire other than vraja-bhakti and radha-dasyam...
What to Pray For
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Lord Krsna became pleased when He heard Sri Damodarastakam - the prayer of Satyavrata Muni - and told him, "You may ask for any benediction." Satyavrata Muni replied, "You are the king of all gods and demigods. You have the power to give any benediction You like. But I don't desire any benediction of this world, within or outside the entire universe, or in Siva-loka...
After The Play - Varsana
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Similarly I am puzzled, thinking, "Should I continue to preach in Western countries about the goal of Krsna's service, or should I stop?" Those I believed in tried to cheat me. They should not try to cheat me. They have endeavored for sense gratification for so many lives, so why should they not give this human life to the lotus feet of Lord Krsna? My lady disciples should be determined and think, "Do or Die!" There are so many examples for ladies to follow, like Srimati Gangamata Thakurani...
Why Is Brahma Our Original Guru - Varsana
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Why is Brahma our original guru? Sri Krsna Himself, by His own Sarasvati (internal knowledge potency), gave Brahma initiation into the gopal-mantra, and with the sound of His flute, He gave him the kama-gayatri mantra...
Yuga-Acarya Award
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The program began with traditional and ancient songs sung by the Nandagaon and Varsana panditas. After that the various representatives of each village performed the puspa abhiseka ("bathing" with a shower of flowers) of Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. All the heads of the various communities representatives threw flowers on Srila Maharaja's divine body and honored him by placing garlands on him. Svami Shamaji, the head of the World Religions Parliament, gave Srila Maharaja an upper cloth, a special cloth for the Yuga Acarya. A certificate was then presented to Srila Maharaja by Deepak Raja Bhatta, who is the head of Vrajacarya Pith.
