Rays of The Harmonist
- To Refute Misconceptions is Guru-sevā
- Appropriate Renunciation
- Sannyasa-garb Won't Make It Easier
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝To refute misconceptions is guru-sevā. If, at any point, one can understand that someone is giving misleading teachings, one should, in a civil manner, refute them and establish the faultless siddhānta. Doing so is the ideal of conviction in service to guru. If, despite knowing and hearing the truth, one conceals it, hypocrisy finds its outlet, and that entails a lapse of duty. This (refuting someone’s views) is never contrary to humility or amānī-mānada-dharma.❞ ...
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝The renunciation by which the body becomes completely useless and which awakens impediments to hari-bhajana is not favourable for bhakti. You must accept bhagavat-prasāda appropriately. It is indeed proper to accept all the objects of the senses that are essential for one’s well-being, in a manner that is favourable for one’s kṛṣṇa-bhajana.❞ ...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
❝It is essential to have full confidence in Bhagavan. It is equally essential to have similar firm determination to perform hari-bhajana, the process of devotional service. I must receive His grace. I must not go astray. I must always go on chanting His name. God will undoubtedly help me if I am bona fide.❞ ...
Read MoreI have come for ISKCON
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Svamiji has arranged everything and Krsna is arranging everything as well. Without his mercy, I could not have come here. He has made a platform for me. Actually, he has given the seeds some water and nourished them. The plants are now dry. So, Svamiji told me, “You should go there and give water to the plants...
Gundica Mandira Marjana
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Today is the day of gundica-mandira-marjana, the cleansing of the Gundica Temple. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta states that the temple of Jagannatha represents Dvaraka, while the temple at Gundica is called Sundaracala and represents Vrndavana. All the gopis, such as Lalita, Visakha, and Srimati Radhika, are there in Vrndavana, and so are Nanda Baba, Yaçoda, and all the other Vrajavasis. Vasudeva, Devaki, Baladeva, Subhadra, and all the other Dvarakavasis reside in Dvaraka...
Don't Quarrel
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I am also not a court. You can go to court if you have any dispute. I have not told you to quarrel with your wife; and I have not told that wife to quarrel with her husband. I have not come from India to be like a court. I have come simply to help devotees-to teach you how you can advance...
Humility, the Heart, Bandhava
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The conditioned soul doesn’t have any activities now. The conditioned soul has forgotten himself. But when the mind of the conditioned soul becomes clear; when the soul starts to associate with the sadhus, then by this sat-sanga, the mind becomes pure and that soul becomes inclined towards Krsna l...
The Glories of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
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The glories of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are so great that even Lord Brahma, with his four mouths, cannot completely describe them. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a transcendental personality and we are not transcendental, so how then can we touch his glory? Only a transcendental person can expound on his glory...
To Hear Or Not To Hear
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Today I want to discuss the subject of Tenth Canto Srimad-Bhagavatam. There has been some confusion in this regard. A preacher from India came and told something that we don't agree with. What he told is not written anywhere in sastra. I think that you should wash away your doubts and be clear about this...
Krsna dances with the Gopis
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The pastimes that Krsna performs in Dvaraka and Mathura are filled with opulence. Krsna displays His Bhagavatta, His Godhood in these pastimes. Although opulence is prominent even in the pastimes of Vrndavana, there is so much sweetness that these pastimes seem human-like. Krsna killed Putana; He lifted Giriraja-Govardhana; He killed Aghasura; yet, He always remained a child and did not assume a huge form. Although He lifted the greatest of mountains, Giriraja-Govardhana; at that time He was a five year old child. Smiling, He lifted Giriraja on the little finger of His left hand. Why?
Make Plans Only for Sadhu Sanga
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There is no need to make worldly plans for the future. There is no need to think, "We don't know what will happen after Maharaja leaves this world. We should make a separate arrangement for our future so that we can be peaceful." Don't think like this...
Recitation of the Spotless Purana
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In India, there is a place called Naimisaranya. It is a very pure place. It is on the banks of the Gomati River. Thousands of years before, over 80,000 Rsis had assembled in that place. Kali Yuga was about to come; it had made its arrival immediately after Krsna left this world...
Attachments
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Try to give your attachment to Krsna, and in that way you will become happy forever. Other attachments will lead you to hell...
Personal Exchanges
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Transcendental greed is very sacred and exalted. It must therefore be kept concealed within the heart, as burning camphor is kept in a closed room so that its fragrance will not evaporate but instead become more and more condensed. If you have any realizations, it is best to conceal them. Do you understand the word yara-mata?
Why Bother Singing Bhajanas and Kirtanas?
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Why do we do so many kirtanas? Is it a waste of time? Why not always chant, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna…” When you will sing, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna,” and “Hari haraye namah krsna yadavaya namah,” and “Jaya radhe, jaya krsna,” other devotees think they should take their mala and sit behind, and they can chant, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna…”
Good Questions, Great Answers
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Devotee: Gurudeva, I am looking for a guru. What are the qualities of a good guru – a bona fide guru?
Srila Gurudeva: He knows all sastra – Vedas, Upanisads, and all other Vedic scriptures – and thus he can remove devotees' doubts. He has some realization of the Supreme Lord, and by that realization he is able to transfer Krsna from his own heart to his disciple...
The Bhakti-Lata-Bija
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Very good, thank you. From today on, you should all try to have the firm belief that by serving Krsna your lives will be successful, and that your maintenance and everything else will automatically be taken care of. With this firm belief, you will not need to do anything except chant and remember Krsna. I am repeating these very important topics again and again, in order that you may come to realize them. Try to realize this: if you are serving Krsna, your whole life will be successful; you will not need to do anything for your worldly necessities. In this way, instead of doing anything for your maintenance, you will perform all devotional activities: sravana kirtanam visnu smaranam pada sevana.
Srivasa Pandita’s Appearance Day
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Some of the neighbors complained about Srivasa to the Muslim Kazi. They told him "He thinks he is better than Muslims because he is a Hindu. He is a culprit. If he and the other Hindus have to sing so loudly, it must mean that their God is blind and deaf; He cannot hear well. They spend their entire nights creating disturbances. We cannot sleep. What should we do?"...
Vaidhi-bhakti or Raganuga-bhakti?
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The meaning of this sloka is that in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya the practices of vaidhi-bhakti take one to raganuga.
It is not raganuga at first. It begins from vaidhi-bhakti. If one in the line of Srila Rupa Gosvami follows vaidhi-bhakti, that vaidhi-bhakti is really the beginning of raganuga.
