Year 3 Special Editions
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"O Sādhaka, Come To Know This In Your Life"
by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
...The moment we consider ourselves actually healthy, we in fact enter into a state of aversion to Kṛṣṇa. And as a result we begin to imagine that Vaiṣṇavas who are more advanced than we are, are actually inferior to us. On account of this, Kṛṣṇa keeps us in various states of distress... -
Amar-bhajan – ‘My Devotional Practice’
By Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja
Spiritually-inclined people saw that I was becoming indifferent to material affairs and that I was engaged in the cultivation of spiritual practices. They started to honour me, considering me a sadhu (saint), and thus I became respected. I had resolved to one-pointedly cultivate spiritual life by submitting myself for rectification as a disciple. Unfortunately, however, I once again started to hanker for the luxuries of this body and for worldly prestige, impelled by my previous bad samskaras (impressions)....
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Conceiving of Caste Distinctions in Vaiṣṇavas – Vaiṣṇave Jāti-buddhi
by Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
One who, by some good fortune, develops faith or confidence in exclusive devotional service to Śrī Bhagavān is indeed an absolute spiritualist. Neither his caste nor the duties and codes of conduct prescribed for him according to his varṇa play any role in his spiritual practices. Anyone who, absorbed in hypocrisy and faultfinding, busies himself declaring that a genuine spiritualist took birth in a low class family is extremely sinful.... -
Forever Indebted
by Sri Srimd Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
Neither you nor I have any selfish desire (kama). I only wanted to please you and you wanted to please Me. I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead and you are My divine energy known as hladini-sakti(the transcendental pleasure potency). Our meeting is niravadya,sacred and pure.... -
Offerings Unto the Lotus Feet of a Vaiṣṇava
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Bhakti Pramoda Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja also came and stayed in Mathurā Maṭha many times... and on many other special occasions I received the association of Śrīla Mahārāja. In this way, I had the great fortune to hear about the precious treasure of bhajana that I mentioned before, directly from the lips of the associates of Śrīla Prabhupāda, and to store the glory of this precious treasure in the core of my heart by virtue of rendering service to them and receiving their mercy.... -
One Must Correctly Identify a Vaisnava
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
If the qualities I detect in a Vaisnava, like affection and patience, do not inspire me to engage in the service of Sri Visnu and the Vaisnavas, and do not lead me to become attracted to his Vaisnavata, then it should be understood that I have been unable see their true aspect. In other words, I have simply been trying to satisfy my senses. -
Sad-guna and Bhakti – Good Qualities and Devotion
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Learned sages have described the meaning of auspiciousness as love for the entire creation, caring affection for all living entities, saintly character, happiness, and other such qualities. The person in whom bhakti has arisen gives affection to the whole world and becomes the object of attachment for everyone in the world. He effortlessly becomes the recipient of all saintly qualities and attains all types of pure happiness and auspiciousness....
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Self-Assessment On the Disappearance Day of Srila Gurupadapadma
by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja
Our faults and misfortune are the results of our forgetting Bhagavan and we will never be fortunate enough to remember Him as long as we are forgetful of sri guru and the Vaisnavas. Therefore, when we perform bhajana, it is imperative that we first remember sri guru and the Vaisnavas. First we must pray for their mercy; only then can we pray for service to Bhagavan Sri Hari. The scriptures describe this to be the one and only process for remembering Him.... -
Sri Hari, Guru and Vaisnavas Certainly Accept Our Offerings
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Entities of the same clan naturally unite with one another. As such, the unborn, eternal soul gradually attains proximity to Adhokṣaja Śrī Bhagavān by performing sādhana and becomes immersed in the bliss of pure service.... -
The Attitude of a Servant: Being the Seen, not the Seer
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Unless a Vaiṣṇava bestows his mercy upon us and reveals his svarūpa, there is no possibility of us knowing and understanding him. When the Vaiṣṇava mercifully reveals his svarūpa, the jīva remembers his previous mundane, sensual, worldly perception of that Vaiṣṇava and he naturally feels a deep anguish in his heart.... -
The Compassionate Avatāra of Kali-yuga
by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja
On the path of bhakti our sole sādhana is to follow with resolute intelligence the instruction we have received from Śrī Gurupādapadma. With fixed resolve we should endeavour to execute whatever order we have received from him regarding bhagavat-kīrtana. This is both our sādhana (practice) and our sādhya (goal), and our sole duty is to organise our entire life around trying to follow that instruction.... -
The Glories of Sri Purusottama Month
by Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Since life in this world is temporary, it is not proper to spend any part of one’s life meaninglessly. It is imperative for the jiva to remain continuously engaged in hari-bhajana at every moment....
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The Speciality of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s Dance at Ratha-yatra
by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja
Mahaprabhu moved with such speed, that He appeared to be simultaneously present at every point of His circumambulation. Such a sight is certainly astonishing, but our amazement should not stop there. What bhava was manifesting in Sriman Mahaprabhu at a given moment, and what internal transformations was He undergoing as a result? This was the foundation of His dance.
