Sadhu's association...

Verse 1.13.29 (Srinivas Pendyala Pr):

* Thus Maharaja Dhrthrashtra, the scion of the family of Ajamīḍha, firmly convinced by introspective knowledge [prajñā], broke at once the strong network of familial affection by his resolute determination. Thus he immediately left home to set out on the path of liberation, as directed by his younger brother Vidura.
* We are in very similar position, we have so strong familial bonding to our family. Due to bodily
conception, we are so much attached to the family. Not about us, but about our family members we become so attached.
* Death is inevitable. It is right across the corner. It might appear to us in any moment. So many
examples in our lives we see that death can come any time. We never know when we will leave this body. Then whatever I am trying to attach to will be finished in one shot. All familial attachments will be gone in a moment.
* If we do not engage this tongue in chanting the holy names of the Lord, ultimately it will just be
useless.
* But our acharyas have given us Krishna Consciousness so nicely, we have to use it.
* Here also we see, Maharaj Dhrtrashtra so much attached to familial attachment, but with minutes of association with his brother Vidhura, quickly gave away everything and left.
* This is the effect of Sadhu's association. SP tells: sadhu is basically a pure devotee of the Lord.
* Further he says: We are not ashamed to admit that this fact was experienced in our practical life. Were we not favored by His Divine Grace Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, by our first meeting for a few minutes only, it would have been impossible for us to accept this mighty task of describing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in English.
* Devotion service must be executed under the instructions of a Guru. Attributing entire service in connection with the Spiritual master or the siksha guru.
* Under their instructions, we can observe in our own lives, that our life has changed. That is the power of pure devotee's/vaisnava's association.
* Only a vaisnava can give Krishna to others, no one else. Sadhu is one who cuts, our bonds to the material illusion.
* chant and engaging our selves in KC, aspire for Sadhu'a association, for us to achieve self
realization, the purpose of our lives.

Goal of life...

Verse 1.13.28 (Saci Suta Prji):

* SB is so wonderful. SP has given it so wonderfully, reading it even one page will greatly benefit us.
* Short pastime about a Krishna Balaram temple in Vrindavan, India. One sadhu took the BG As It Is book, went into the temple and then want back.
- He came back and told that your acharya has written the BG in such a way as though he directly got it from Arjuna and Krishna.
- Difference as to how one advances rapidly is attachment. and that is got by association with devotees.
* Theme of this chapter
- duties of a sadhu
- qualities of a sadhu
* The dhīra stage is attained after prolonged practice of the yoga system, but by the grace of Vidura one can attain the stage immediately simply by willing to adopt the means of the dhīra stage, which is the preparatory stage for sannyāsa.
* SBSST: this material world is not for a gentleman. Just use it as a restroom and get out of here.
* Our goal is to achieve perfection of the life by self realization.
* "Fake it until u make it". Idea is to realize that by faking we are requesting Krishna to give it genuinely to us.
* Seek the mercy of acharyas.
* We don't have anything with us, what can we renounce. Everything belongs to Him, whatever we have grabbed, that has to be renounced before death comes and forces us to renounce.
* solution to increasing material desires is constantly engaging in the service of the spiritual master.

Vidhura's instructions...

Verse 1.13.27 (Srinivas Acharya Pr):

* SP is mentioning here: One may live in the darkest jungle alone out of home, but a steadfast devotee knows very well that he is not alone. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is with him, and He can protect His sincere devotee in any awkward circumstance.
* Athato brhama jijnasa, as soon as we get the human form of life, our only duty is to inquire into the SPG
* In BG Krishna mentions: there are 4 types of ppl who search for Him
- distressed - wanting wealth - inquisitive - searching for the absolute truth
* ...
* ...
* End result is assured by Krishna. If devotee keeps on practising as in BG 8.56, man mana ..., then by the grace of the SPG, the devotee will fully remember him at death and he will return back to Godhead.
* Another place in BG: He who meditates on Me, undeviated, will surely return to Me.
* In BG, Krishna says that one who pursues the path of sense gratification is not to achieve the goal of life.
* Only one who has taken to devotional service and has attained prema bhakti is the highest of all yogi's. Gopi's are the prime example.
* So when one leaves home, one should not forget that the SPG as paramatma is always with him and will protect him come what may.


Verse 1.13.23 (Pooja Mji):

* We have seen so far that Vidhura attained transcendental knowlegde from Maitreya rishi and now he has come back to Hastinapura to give the same to Dhrtrashtra.
* SP comments that there are types of Pandus:
- one who will just flatter for the money
- one who actually speaks the naked truth, especially meant to take the person towards self realization
* Here vidhura especially talks to Dhrtrashta about he living at Bhima's house, who had actually killed both his favorite sons. (This is the power of Maya, the attachment)
* Actually, Dhrtrashtra is within of all us. And the goal is to attain self-realization otherwise we might not get this chance for many millions of lifetimes.
* Krishna says in BG: abrahma bhuvanal lokha....na vidyate
* We have set number of moments in our life, even if we miss one moment without Krishna, we will never get it back.
* We have to work sincerely therefore towards this preparation so that we are able to follow our supreme occupation. "sa vai pumsam paro dharmo....su prasidate", from SB Canto 1 Chapter 1.

Miseries of the world...

Verse 1.13.21 (Krishna Patro Pr):

* ...
* This material world is a place of death. Irrespective of whether it is Brahma or an insignificant insect, everyone is subject to this struggle for existence.
* We all at every point of time take shelter of the Lord's energy.
* Krishna says in BG: The body is sure to be destroyed. But due to attachment to body, we always take shelter of protecting temporary objects
- fear is the main reason, leading to so many insurances. Life, wealth, car etc.
* On the other hand, let us see Yukta-vairagya
- Eg: Draupadi, initially she thought her husbands or uncle or grandfather will protect her. No one did, so she finally took shelter of Krishna and she was saved immediately.
* This human form is meant to understand and come out of the bodily conception of life. That is the purpose of life.
* Sukadeva Goswami explains how to be free from all miseries:
- Hearing about the glories of the Lord
- To glorify the Lord, by chanting
* Krishna also says in the BG, it is very difficult to come out of the modes of material nature. The only way is when one takes the shelter of Me (Krishna).
* That is by following the guidance of the spiritual master and also serving.
* Every year, we are losing one year of our life. But we are only looking at how we will accumulate more and more wealth.
* Theoretically we know many things, but how to apply. We have wonderful examples: Parikshit Maharaj. How easily he let go everything and took complete shelter of Krishna.
* Pure devotees of the Lord are always satisfied by chanting the holy name of the Lord. And they reach forward so much to bring back conditioned souls of the world, back to Krishna. They carry the same compassion which the Lord has for his children.
* So that is why Vidhura came back, to deliver Dhritharashtra, who was still taking shelter of the material opulence's. So without the mercy of such pure devotees, we have no other go.

TIME is running, last dice any time...

Verse 1.13.20 (Mohan Pr):

* Important verse
* Story about a person who is an expert gambler. He lets the opponent win and lose, carefully watching him all the time, but finally wins everything away from him.
- this person is time and the opponent is none other than us.
- his two eyes are compared to day and night, watching us how we are winning and losing.
- With every dice, we sometimes win, but most likely all the money that we earned is lost in one or more losses. Everything we possess will be taken away.
- When time throws the last round of dice, we cannot save ourselves.
* Time is continuously passing away. New year is approaching. Just now Y2K problem went by, and already 2010 is coming by.
* The last round of dice can be thrown for us anytime - in 2010 or 2009 itself. So we should be thinking on this.
* We need to think how much of time we spent in doing Devotional service, developing the 26 qualities.
* Only these activities come with us, not our energies or efforts in going after land, money etc.

Depending on Krishna...

Verse 1.13.19 (Ramana Pr):

* In the last few verses, Vidhura is trying to make the same point to Dhristarashtra.
* Death will come surely at some point of time.
* Fear arises due to this.
* But knowledge of Krishna will help us go beyond this.
* If we depend on ourselves, we will never surrender. But if we depend on Krishna, surrender to Him, then surely He will protect us.
* Most effective remedy is to take shelter of Krishna.
* Another thing: taking association of wonderful Vaisnavas.
* Then will come abhaya (fearlessness) and bliss.
* One who desires abhaya must meditate on the holy name of the Lord.
* Constant remembrance of Krishna should be our goal.
* Thus Vidhura was trying advise Dhritarashtra.

Detachment and knowledge...

Verse 1.13.16 (Yugal Kishore Pr)

* Pure devotee mentality is given here. Maharaj Yudhistira is actually a pure devotee.
* In the war, he won the battle and started to rule of the world. Almost everyone other than the Pandavas were killed in the battle. But since he was a pure devotee, he continued under all the circumstances.
* In material world, always there is disturbance. "tams titiksva bharata"... Krishna says "tolerate".
* If we indulge in practicing Bhakti yoga, then what happens
- u will get Vairagyam (detachment) and gyanam (knowledge)
- like a wave, whether up or down, it continues towards the shore. Similarly, a devotee should always go towards Krishna.
* Because MY used his complete life as a service to Krishna, he acquired all the knowledge and detachment to not be affected by all the opulence's that he now enjoyed.
* Same with Maharaj Parikshit.
* If we do things in a very responsible way, then we are saved, if not the future is very uncertain.

Padam padam yat vipadam...

Verse 1.13.14 (Saci suta Prj):

* From the purport of SP, significant points
* Saintly persons like Vidhura must be treated as denizens from heaven.
- We have to learn that Sannyasi's and senior Vaisnavas serving SP are also to be treated like denizens from heaven. Cause they are serving continously to please SP.
* Lesson from Dhritharashtra, who was too materially attached.
- Life teaches us so many lessons, but we do not realize still, cause that is due to conditioning.
- Padam padam yat vipadam, every step there is danger in this material world. R we realizing it.
* Message should be heard attentively, and when spoken by a realized soul, it will have effect on the dormant heart of a conditioned soul
- And by continuously hearing, one can attain the perfect stage of self-realization.
- But that is not the case today. Eg: TV is a major distraction in this disregard.
* But it is our fortune that we are introduced to this wonderful movement of Krishna Consciousness.
* BG 4.34
- Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master....truth.
* Conclusion is to chant very nicely every day!

Annihilation of the Yadu Dynasty...

Verse 1.13.12-13 (Srinivas Acharya Pr):

* Vidhura was received by the Pandavas nicely and then they were asking him about his travels.
* SP comments here that: Distress comes upon us in its own way by the laws of nature.
* Eg: Pandavas, Prahalad Maharaj etc, wonderful devotees were also in so many problems. But now that is standing as a wonderful example of how we can always depend on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
* Another such e.g. is Mahatma Vidhura. Full life, he was serving the Pandavas and Kauravas as their well-wisher.
* He came back only to take back his elder brother Yudhistira, so that he could leave his attachment to the material opulence (so was not following his varnashrama dharma).
* And also Vidhura could not stand to see the Pandavas distressed at any time. Therefore he did not disclose this unpalatable and unbearable incident of the Yadu dynasty being annihilated.
* Sri CM said: na dhanam, na janam, na sundarim... these are especially to be avoided if one has to follow the path of self-realization.

Everything you do...

Verse 1.13.11 (Ganeshan Pr):

* No matter what we do, we should always be meditating on the Lord.
* In BG Lord Krishna says: yat karosi yat asnasi.....mad arpanam.
* We tend to think that devotional service is other than office work or helping at home. But actually it is exactly opposite.
* Cause if u work to please the Supreme Lord, then everything is devotional service. And we will do it all more nicely then.
* And to do this, association with senior devotees is very much needed.
* With devotees and spiritual master, yatra etc, we can always remember Krishna.
* Arhtur Ash's story:"Why me?"
- always have faith in the Lord. Everything happens cause that is best for us.
* Many times we say, there is no time cause we have to take care of so many things.
- story about filling the jar with big and small stones. Similarly start everyday with chanting of the holy name, then everything else will fall in place naturally.

Sadhu sanga, Holy place and Parampara!

Verse 1.13.10 (Srinivas Pendyala Pr):
* Srila Prabhupada (SP) is explaining 3 aspects in this purport

- sadhu sanga
- what is a holy place
- importance of parampara and acharya

* Sadhu Sanga

- SP is telling about association, especially of pure devotees, sadhus. This is cause they always carry the SPG in their hear.
- We can feel it in their presence.
- What it means to take association of a person? Association means sharing Krishna, in the form of prasadam, katha, identifying relationships and respecting them.
- In the association of sadhus, because of their compassion, the SL in their heart is ready to transform from their heart to ours.

* Holy Place

- holy place is not just checking into a hotel, visiting the Lord once, eat in some hotel and come back.
- Visiting a holy dhama is actually finding a sadhu in the holy place and taking lessons from them.
- Holy dhama is revealed through the instructions of the sadhus. It has to be seen through our ears.
- If we see externally, we will not see the holy dham at all. It will not be revealed to us by our own efforts.
- In ISKCON, such a nice facility provided in the form of yatras, to visit the holy place in the association of the acharyas and sadhus.
- On our own, in today's world, where is the facility to search for sadhus and take association. Not there. Therefore, every year we should try to visit these holy dhams through the yatras.

* Importance of bona fide acharya

- Symptom of acharya: has unalloyed service attitude to the SPG and is a pure devotee
- Main service is that they are extremely inclined to chanting and hearing.
- Eg: Parikshit Maharaj hearing from Srila Vyasadeva.
- How strongly they are attached to chanting and hearing is the symptom of an acharya.
- Who is a Vaisnava? Answer by Sri CM
- Anyone who chants the holy name, HK Mahamantra
- Anyone who constantly chants
- Anyone who constantly chants and in his association everyone will be enthused to chant is a Vaisnava.
- And we receive their mercy only by listening and following their instructions.

* All the above 3 are nicely packaged for us in the form of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna Maha mantra. Srila Prabhupada ki Jay!

Plan our life...

Verse 1.13.9 (Yugal Kishore Prji):

* Here, MY is enquiring from Vidhura as to where all he visited, how he managed to eat, and what are the different holy places he visited and did service at.
* Not knowing Vidhura's exhalted position, Duryodhana insulted him and made him leave the house. But kind of Vidhura actually was happy with this. Why? Cause human life is meant for self-realization. We have to detach ourselves at least after 50 so that we can attach ourselves to Krishna. So Vanaprastha allows one to slowly get detached from house hold life and in some time become completely renounced.
* But in today's life, children are not taking care of mother, so Father cannot leave the house around 50. So they are continuing to work till 60-70. So we need to plan our life. If the children settle early, then parents get opportunity to serve nicely in the temple and hence detach theirselves from worldly matters.
* Here, SP is also telling: In the holy places of India, like Vṛndāvana, Hardwar, Jagannātha Purī, and Prayāga, there are many great devotees, and there are still free kitchen houses for persons who desire to advance spiritually. MY was inquisitive to learn whether Vidura maintained himself by the mercy of the free kitchen houses (chatras).
* Krishna provided kgs of food for the elephant, will not Krishna provide little prasad for His devotees. He will! We just need to have faith on Krishna!
* As we progress in our life, we need to become more and more internal, strong in our sadhana. Not just finishing our 16 rounds and done.
* Second priority to spiritual life is no priority at all.

Mahatma Vidhura...

Verse 1.13.8 (Surekha Mataji):

* From this verse, we can learn nice things about Mahatma Vidhura and his nice relationship with the Pandavas.
* Here Maharaj Yudhistira is thanking Vidhura for always protecting them from so many calamities.
* Vidhura was always equal to both Kauravas and Pandavas, though apparently slightly partial to the Pandavas.
* He protected them from the fire in Varnavata. He also used to chastise Dhritharastra for his intriguing plans.
* HH IDS: formula for any good relationship is to give more than you take. Eg: Gopi's always serving Krishna.
* We have to look everyone as a devotee of Krishna. Here Vidhura also saw everyone as a spirit soul, so was able to help the Pandavas all the time, cause they were devotees of Krishna.

Guests and Vedic Culture!

Verses 1.13.5-7 (Krishna Patro Prji):

* Vidhura had returned to the palace after his pilgrimage. He was the uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
* Vidhura was a great personality, even Lord Krishna accepted his service when He came to Hastinapura.
* Throughout their life, the Pandavas were always under the protection of their Uncle Vidhura.
* So when he came back, he was wonderfully received by the Kuru family.
* How to receive a guest is very wonderfully described here in by SP. When we receive a guest, we should actually see the supersoul in that person.
* Even if the guest is an enemy, we should receive a guest with all respect and treated so.
* " With great delight they all approached him, as if life had returned to their bodies. They exchanged obeisances and welcomed each other with embraces. After Vidura ate sumptuously and took sufficient rest, he was comfortably seated. Then the King began to speak to him, and all who were present there listened."
* A guest should be received as Krishna's representative.
* Athiti devo bhava: a thiti means equal to narayana, so we have treat like that. eg: Krishna meeting Sudhama vipra in Dvaraka.
* Vedic culture is serving guests very nicely. Actually guests also are very cultured.

About Mother Gandhari!

Verse 1.13.3-4 (Yugal Kishore Prji):

* Srila Prabhupada (SP) very nicely described the good qualities of Mother Gandhari.
* Saintly persons themselves are holy places. Wherever they go, it becomes a holy place. SP, wherever he went, there is a temple now. Because he carried Vrindavan in his heart.
* Same is the case with Vidhura.
* If we become a devotee, keep Krishna always in our heart, then we can also become like that.
* Bilvamangala thakur says: Krishna can slip off from my hands cause I am blind, can He slip off from my heart. That is love for Krishna. He is always present in the hearts of pure devotees.
* Mother Gandhari had many very good qualities, but had the natural frailties of a woman. SP is not speaking about a particular gender, but the nature of living entity. Whoever is envious, had frailties like a woman.
* You may have so many good qualities, but still at the end she came to curse Krishna, the SPG. So all the characteristics is a show if we don't recognize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the height of envy!
* Familiarity is a problem of this world.
* But Gandhari was very faithful to her husband and because of that Dhritharastra attained paramatma realization of the Lord. And she also passed away following her husband, in the himalayas.

Summom-bonum of knowledge...

Verse 1.13.2 (Shalini Mataji):

* Vidura was a pure devotee of the Lord. We see here that due to Duryodhana's insults, Vidhura was forced to go out of Hastinapura.
* Even in this distressed situation, he chose the right path of going on a pilgrimage.
* In there, he met Maitreya Muni and was enquiring about knowledge of the soul, the SPG.
* After posing many questions on creation etc, he enquired as to what is the topmost of all
* Finally Maitreya Muni says this to Vidhura: "Devotional Service is the ultimate means to remove all miserable life of material existence". "Vidura was successful in approaching such a spiritual master like Maitreya, and he got the ultimate goal of life: bhakti unto Govinda. Thus there was nothing to be known further about spiritual progress."
* Also we see that Vidhura approached a spiritual master to enquire from him. Similarly, we should also approach, serve and enquire from a bona fide spiritual master to achieve :bhakti unto Govinda.

Understanding the self...

Verse 1.12.36 and 1.13.1 (Ashish Pr):

* Vidura received knowledge about the destination of the self, from sage Maitreya.
* In today's world, we really don't think on the questions of who am I, why am I here etc.
* We want to be happy and we keep doing things for that, but we are not. Why? Cause we are not what we think we are.
* To understand who I really am, I need to give up the bodily conception of life. I am a spirit soul, a part and parcel of Krishna.
* And in reality, nothing belongs to me, everything in this world belongs to Krishna. There is no thing in thinking, this belongs to me, that belongs to me.
* I am here simply to serve the Lord. And He has given the manual, it is all there in the BG.
* He is there within us all the time. In one step He can protect us completely. Eg: We know how big one step of Vamanadev was. So we have to take shelter of the Lord, to understand the self.

Twice-born Qualified Brahmanas

Verse 1.12.35 (Sacisuta Pr):
* As the ruler of the entire world, Maharaj Yudhistira was taking responsibility of all the things that happened to get him on the throne.
* SP says that everyone at every moment is actually committing many sins, even in walking.
* But the goal is not to abstain from walking, but to do everything for the satisfaction of the Personality of Godhead. Act according to the standard given in BG.
* In this verse
- The Lord is willing to act according to the orders of His devotees
- The once-born brahmanas are not qualified to do any Vedic sacrifices. Only a twice-born brahmana is qualified
Eg: SP made so many wonderful brahmanas based on qualification

Hare Krishna Mahamantra - best Sacrifice!

Verse 1.12.34 (Kavitha Mji):
* Here, Maharaj Yudhistira wanted to do the horse sacrifices to wash away the sins accrued due to the Kurukshetra war.
* Such sacrifices were done for either beggeting children or for washing away sins. And the animals sacrificed used to get human form of life. That was the power of the brahmanas who performed such sacrifices.
* But in further days, it was exploited and animal sacrifice became prominent, So Krishna came as Buddha to stop all this.
* In Kaliyuga, so many sins can be committed intentionally and unintentionally too. If MY was doing this sacrifice to cleanse us himself of the sins of war, for us also in this day, sacrifice is required. And that sacrifice is simply meant to please Vishnu.
* Since in kaliyuga we cannot performa yajna (since lot of wealth is required, lack of strong brahmanas), but fortunately for us, Sri CM has given us the best form of kirtan, the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamanta. This sacrifice is the best in this age!

Faith in Spiritual Master and Krishna!

Verse 1.12.33 (Yugal Kishore Prji):
* Maharaj Yudhistira wanted to conduct the horse sacrifice, but there was not enough wealth.
* In our devotional life, faith is very important. Implicit faith in the SPG and the words of the spiritual master has to be there to understand the Vedic knowledge, cause it is revealed from the heart.
* Eg: Prahalad Maharaj, immense faith in the words of the spiritual master.
* Eg: Srila Prabhupada, faith in the instruction of his spiritual master and with that faith, he made this whole movement of Krishna Consciousness.
* Eg: Disciples of Srila Prabhupada - Mother Malati and shyamsundar Pr establishing the movement in London for Srila Prabhupada.
* All we need is that we need to be receptive to the mercy that is flowing through from the spiritual master.
* Real humility means we need to know that nothing in the world can save us, except the SPG.

Parikshit = Examiner!

Verse 1.12.30 (Mohan Pr):
* Very instructive verse today.
* In this verse, the real meaning of the name of Maharaj Parikshit is being told. Parikshit means examiner, cause he was examining everyone to see if they were like the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
* Since the time he saw the SPG in the womb of his mother, he was immediately attracted and was always looking for that person whom he saw in the womb.
* But no one is equal to or more than the SPG, so he was unable to find anyone, but because he was always meditating on the SPG through this examination, he was engaged 24 hrs of the day in remembering the Lord.
* Opposite example is Kamsa, who was thinking of the Lord in an unfavorable way.
* SP is also giving hope to all parents here: Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmī remarks in this connection that every child, if given an impression of the Lord from his very childhood, certainly becomes a great devotee of the Lord like Mahārāja Parīksit. One may not be as fortunate as Mahārāja Parīksit to have the opportunity to see the Lord in the womb of his mother, but even if he is not so fortunate, he can be made so if the parents of the child desire him to be so.
- giving his life as an example as to how SP's father always was engaging him in some way or other in devotional service to Sri Sri Radha Krishna.

From material anxiety to spiritual...

Verse 1.12.28 (Ramana Prji):
* 3 key things
- proper knowledge of self
- losing material attachment
- fearlessness
* Proper knowledge of the self means self-realization.
* Best sadhana is chanting. 6 benefits of chanting (listed in ceto-darpana marjanam...)
* With that bhakti devi walks into our heart bringing, self-knowledge and attachment.
* And while chanting, watch for every word
* 3rd point: Fearlessness from Bhakti
- when there is no suspicousness, there is auspiciousness
* All we have to say is "I'm urs Krishna!", then He will protect us for sure.
* We need to change our anxiety for material consciousness, to spiritual anxiety. And SB gives us the opportunity to change our anxiety from matter to spirit.

Preparation for death...

Verse 1.12.27 (Krishna Patro Prji):
* Very imp verse. Useful for all human beings.
* Just as BG (700 verses) tells us how to live, SB (18000 verses) tells us how to prepare for death.
* It is so imp, as to how to die. Preparation of death is not easy.
* But Parikshit Maharaj so wonderfully prepared for his death. He was given 7 days notice and he made complete use of it to take shelter of the Lord completely.
* Everyone of us is also given the notice, But we are not even gauranteed of those 7 days.
* Material attachment and taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord go ill together. Material attachment means ignorance of transcendental happiness under the shelter of the Lord. And this attachment can be detached through the process that SP has given us: chanting, associating with devotees.

Wise Leaders...

Verse 1.12.26 (Siva Pr):
* It is a very powerful verse, especially for today.
* Maharaj Yudhistira and Maharaj PArikshit, were the wisest rulers, hence everyone was prospering.
* But today's leaders: not being wise enough look at short term gains for long term miseries. Liquor shops. slaughter houses are licensed, then how will mankind prosper?
* To create spiritually qualified leaders, SP established the Krishna Consciousness movement.
* Krishna says, we should always try to follow Guru and elders, then we can overcome all problems of life.
* Becoming wise through Krishna Consciousness, we could become leaders hence leading the general ppl towards a better living.
* Chanting and following the 4 regulative principles are the way to go for us.

Humility, Gratitude, Shelter of devotees...

Verse 1.12.25 (Yugal Kishore Prji):
* Here, the qualities of Maharaj Parikshit is being described here. This is how he is going to be. Imagine, how happy a pure devotee like Maharaj Yudhistira would have been.
* But today, parents are happy to know their children will excel irrespective of how they achieve it. The degradation is too much.
* In our example in today's verse
- Prahalad Maharaj is the best example of devotional service.
- Usually in our case, in tough circumstances, first thing that gets affected is our chanting.
- Prahalad Maharaj, when was being given a boon by Nrsimhadeva, he was asking for his father to be delivered.
- He exhibited so much humility and gratitude in that time. That is spiritual time.
* Another example: Bali Maharaj
- Guru is telling him how to reject to Vamanadeva, from all the scriptures. But Bali Maharaj did not want to go back on his words. That is integrity.
- How we go forward in our spiritual life is based on our integrity. Stopping ourselves from falling into temptations. And how do we overcome temptations, that is prayers. That makes us go forward.
* These are the qualities that Maharaj Parikshit is possessing. what a great soul!
* At the end, he took shelter of devotees, hence attained that treasure.
* 3rd hand appreciation is very important of devotees. Paramatma will be very pleased when we do that and then we make progress.
* Our prayers should be: My Lord please, allow me to overcome temptations, envy and my anarthas.

Association of Pure devotees...

Verse 1.12.24 (Deepthi Mji):
* Here Maharaj Parikshit is compared to 3 personalities
- To Krishna Himself
- to King Rantideva
- to Maharaj Yayati
* Importance of Vaisnava association is highlighted here. Only in their association, we receive the nectar of love of God.
* Another thing: Krishna will protect His devotees and never forgets their services. Eg: King Rantideva.
* Respecting devotees, not criticizing devotees and respecting the orders of the spiritual master is very important. Eg: Life of Maharaj Yayati
* We need both endeavor and mercy of the Lord for our spiritual progress. So we should try not to offend anyone and please all vaisnavas. And our sadhana completely depends on this.

Comparing to the trinity...

Verse 1.12.23 (Srinivas Acharya Pr):
* In this verse, the child PArikshit is being compared to 3 personalities
- Brahma and to Maharaj Yudhistira
- Lord Siva
- SPG, Lord Narayana
* First one: equanimity of mind, composed all the time
- Brahma was also criticized by the gopi's for giving eyelids, cause they were unable to see Krishna when they close
- MY was troubled by his brothers, but he was equanimous all the time
* The qualitiy is humility and helplessness. If a pure devotee prays for us, then the Lord will surely protect us.
- Mother Uttara praying to the SPG for PM.
* Second, PM being compared to Lord siva. He is pleased very easily.
- Eg: Lord Siva giving boon to Vratasura.
- When any devotee of Lord Siva tries to please Him, He will equally reciprocate with them, at all costs.
* Third, the goddess of fortune herself is in the shelter of Narayana. Similarly Maharaj Parikshit will be the shelter for many.
* Finally, it is concluded that by pleasing the SPG Narayana, everything is taken care of. The qualities of humility and selflessly chanting the holy name is the only way to please Lord Narayana.

Shelter and forbearance

Verse 1.12.22 (Sacisuta Pr):
* This child will be as strong as a lion, and as worthy a shelter as the Himalaya Mountains. He will be forbearing like the earth, and as tolerant as his parents.
* Two aspects
- sheltering as Himalayas
- forbearing as parents
* Lord's arrangement is such that nature is providing everything that human's need for their existence. Similarly, Harinama cintamani says that the Holy name supplies everything, for even the materialists and spiritualists.
* Attentive chanting in the mood explained by Sri CM in Siksastakam - trnad api sunicena..., that chanting is required.
* Similarly, a devotee should be very tolerant. Tolerance and forgiveness go together. Eg: BG 2.14.
* Forbearance by Mother Earth is also exemplary. We are exploiting her like anything.
* Unless the heads of state become God conscious and respect the gifts of nature, we have to face the consequences of destroying the balance - tsunami, earth quakes, hurricanes etc.

Real Charity!!!

Verse 1.12.20 (Aashish Pr):
* Today's verse is around the word: dhanam, charity.
* But Charity also needs to be given with knowledge.
* Eg: Maharaja Sibi's life is described here.
* We can perform charity in different modes: in goodness, in passion and in ignorance. BG clearly explains all these 3 modes of charity.
* Many examples of these modes of charity were described.
* Charity is meant for householders. We have to make sure the recipient of charity is right. With knowledge, this can be done.

* Krishna says in BG: yajna dhana tapas chaiva: sacrifice, charity, austerity will purify even the sages. So Krishna encourages to do this. SP writes, help spread Krishna Consciousness. That is the real charity. Because charity in the 3 modes anyhow binds us somehow, but spreading Krishna Consciousness is an act of charity that is beyond all the 3 modes of material nature. It is transcendental.

Qualities comparison of Maharaj Parikshit!

Verse 1.12.19 (Kavitha Mji, Mohan Pr):
* The context, Maharaj Yudhistira is asking the brahmanas whether the child born will be good ideal king, taking care of the people.
* So the brahmanas are telling that the child will be like Iksvaku and also like Lord Rama Himself.
* Here SP is explaining about Manu, Iksvaku and Lord Rama more deeply.
* 1 day of Brahma there are 14 Manu's. And the current Manu is Vaivasvata Manu (so the person occupying this post of Manu is Vaivasvata). And even Indra is a post, current Indra is Purandara. Next one is Bali Maharaj.
* Above all, in today's context, Lord Krishna directly instructed the BG to the Sun God, who gave it to Vaivasvata Manu, who gave it to Iksvaku.
* Everyone like Rama-rajya. Bharata ruled the kingdom just in the mood of the servant of Lord Rama. And he gave the kingdom back to Lord Rama as soon as He came back after the 14 years were over.
* So the key is to please the SPG, He is the supreme enjoyer. So when one comes to the understanding that Krishna is the SPG, He is the only enjoyer, we will have peace and therefore happiness.
* So here, Maharaj Parikshit's very good qualities are being described.

Listen - purify - ponder - choices

Verse 1.12.18 (Yugal Kishore Prji):
* Small story: Father really worked very hard, wanted his son to become really great. .. son was killed.
Moral: If we want to see good qualities in children, then we must show it to them in ourselves.
* Here, Maharaj Yudhistira was inquiring to see if this new born child would become a pious king, as was his parents.
* We attend this call every day, but we should know that this SB. Just attend and listen. Automatically purification of our karma is taking place just by listening to this SB, depending upon our faith, sincerity. Just as darkness cannot counteract with light, maya cannot counteract with Krishna.
* Time is running out, we want to utilize our life for the pleasure of Guru and Krishna. Maya is so powerful, our batteries will discharge instantaneously, so we need to listen to this message daily.
* Listen - purify - ponder - make proper choices. Then life is perfect as Maharaj Parikshit.

3 levels of Devotees...

Verse 1.12.17 (Surekha Mji):
* In this purport, Srila Prabhupada concludes that since MP is a grand son of MY, and MY is a uttama adhikari, so MP also is a uttama adhikari.
* he family in which a mahā-bhāgavata takes his birth is fortunate because due to the birth of a first-grade devotee the members of the family, past, present and future up to one hundred generations, become liberated by the grace of the Lord, out of respect for His beloved devotee. Therefore, the highest benefit is done to one's family simply by becoming an unalloyed devotee of the Lord.
* There are three grades of devotees, namely the mahā-bhāgavata, madhyam-adhikārī and the kanisitha-adhikārī. We need to understand how to know about these 3 grades of devotees and serve them accordingly.
* From NOI, verses that highlight these grades.
* Respect devotees from the mind itself.
* Reason why we are learning all this is, to love God, we need to know Him, who His associates are. Cause through His associates, we can know Him. So we need to serve such devotees and aspire to reach the uttama adhikari platform.
* From HH sachinandana Swami Maharaj: birds flying in a V shape, devotees should not take it easy and hence fall down.

Spiritually qualified rulers...

Verse 1.12.15-16 (Yugal Kishore Pr):
* Dharma means the laws enunciated by the Lord. And what the Lord says is dharma.
* There needs to be a nice ruler to uphold these laws. The supreme Lord always wants a nice spiritual ruler. Since no one else was present, Lord Krishna wanted to protect Maharaj Parikshit.
* Vishnu is an expansion of Lord Krishna, for protecting the devotees. So here, to protect His devotee's heir, Lord Krishna took the form of Vishnu. It is His special mercy to His devotees.
"Lord Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead, does the work of protection and annihilation in His capacity of Visnu. Lord Visnu is the plenary expansion of Lord Krishna."
* Also, to make the future generation relish the pastimes of Krishna, He performs wonderful pastimes.
* In Kaliyuga, there are no such rulers to protect the laws of the Lord. Thats why lot of mercy is given. And that is given through chanting of the holy name. Every mantra, we should plead to the Lord through His holy name.
* We also need to develop a lot of patience also in chanting.

Charity, Samskaras...

Verse 1.12.14 (Krishna Patro Pr):
* First thing mentioned about is the purificatory processes, samskaras. For human birth etc, these samskaras are done.
* As soon as the navel pipe is cut to make the mother and child a separate body, then the samskara of jatakarman is done.
* This process is such that it will deliver the child so that the child will be able to cut away from the cycle of birth and death.
* Next point is Charity done with the proper knowledge of where, how and when. The brahmanas are the right class for receiving charity, just based on their spiritual enlightenment level. The head of the body is very important, so to take care of them is imp for society. If their needs are fulfilled, then they can study the sastras and educate the rest of the society.
* Concept of daridra narayana is no where mentioned in the sastras.
* This KC movement is creating so many brahmanas, due to the Srila Prabhupada's work. Also, grhasthas in this movement also have a big responsibility that they should serve in such a way that more people become Krishna conscious.

Pancharatriki Vidi...

Verse 1.12.13 (Pooja Mji):
* In this shloka, SP explains how needful is a purificatory process in this day and age of kaliyuga, especially for poor class of people like us.
* Our original spiritual senses can be revived through chanting the spiritual verses. By this sound vibration. This is mentioned in the Pancharatriki Vidi.
* This Pancharatriki system was given by Lord Caitanya and recommended by the Goswami's. More important than the vedanta also for this age.
* Pancha + ratra = knowledge thought in 5 nights, by the Lord to Brahma (when the vedas were stolen by the two demons from Brahma's mind).
* SP gave us Deity worship and chanting of the Holy name according to this vidhi's.

Stellar Influence...

Verse 1.12.12 (YK Pr):
* In today's verse, SB is teaching the stellar influences on each and every one's life. It is a science, hard to understand.
* The time a person is born, and this child is controlled by his karma. We might give birth, but the child's karma cannot be changed.
* For Maharaj Parikshit (MP), at this birth itself, by this stellar science, his life was foretold.
* Whatever is going to happen in our life, good or bad, it is just time which is separating us. We don't even have full control on our own body. But to make matter into spirit is our KC.
* But many times, we make spirit into matter because of our ignorance. So how we use the resources we have, how we utilize today our free will, will decide/alter our future tomorrow.
* MP was cursed to die in 7 days. But he sat down and listened to SB from Sukadeva Goswami, so this bad karma became the best good karma MP could ask for.
* Although this stellar science is a very good science, it is better to have faith on Krishna, chant 16 rounds then Krishna will protect us. Eg: SBSST, gave up his astrological science when he realized that Bhakti was much higher than this science.

The Lord is everywhere!

Verse 1.12.10-11 (Ganeshan Pr):
* Key points of these verses
- Supreme capabilities of the Lord
- how he is the protector of the righteous
- We can also see the Lord, if we are deserving
* Arjuna sees the universal form of the Lord, seeing all His capabilities
* Lord protects His devotees under any circumstances. He also is taking care of the atheists as well. He is giving sun, water, air for everyone.
* Also should be grateful to SP for giving us KC all around the world, giving us an opportunity to understand Krishna.
* To see Krishna, we need to become qualified.
* And follow the set path strictly, follow the instructions of the exalted acharya's.
* We should prepare for the death with complete faith, lot of preparation, hard work is required.

How to see Krishna?
A: We cannot perceive Krishna through our blunt senses. But by chanting, Krishna is non-different from His holy name, we can understand and see Krishna. Bhakti is the only process.

All Attractive Lord!

Verse 1.12.8-9 (Kasi Pr):
* As we can see here, Maharaj Parikshit is in the womb of Uttara.
* The Lord immediately expanded in the womb of Uttara to protect His devotee. Shows the Lord's anxiety to protect His devotees.
* Story of Akbar and Birbal, Akbar trying to save his son himself. Similarly the Lord Himself comes to save His devotees.
* SP: there is no difference between the thumblike Viṣṇu in the womb of Uttarā and the full-fledged Narayana in the Vaikuntha-dhama, the kingdom of Godhead.
* We need to have this faith in the Lord.
* Story of Guru, disciple, bamboo basket, filled with water.
* Another point: He accepts the form of arca-vigraha (worshipable Deity) just to accept service from His different incapable devotees.
* The Lord is all attractive. (If the creation of the Lord is so attractive, then how attractive the Lord Himself will be).
* Humbly taking shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, then one day we will come back to Him

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.12.1( Kasi Pr)

"The sage Śaunaka said: The womb of Uttarā, mother of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, was spoiled by the dreadful and invincible brahmāstra weapon released by Aśvatthāmā. But Mahārāja Parīkṣit was saved by the Supreme Lord"

* This Chapter describes How lord Krishna Saved Maharaj Prakshit in the womb of Uttara and how sages are hearing from Suta Goswami.

*Every one Should hear from a Pure devotee. When we hear from pure devotee progress in devotional service is Quick.

*Bhagvatam says that what ever activity we perform it should help us to increase our attraction towards Krishna.

*One should approach a bonafide representative of Lord and serve him submissively and inquire from him.

* Lord can be served by love of Devotees only.

* When lord appeared as Varaha Water of whole universe was not sufficient. But for Yashoda mai half bucket of water was sufficient to bathe Krishna.

* When Lord appeared was NrishmaDev he killed Hirankashepu with his nails. But Krishna was sacred of yashoda mai with a two inch stick.

By following instructions of previous acharyas we can be saved from the dangers of material world.

Lord has proved in the case of Parikshit maharaj ,Prahlad maharaj, Gajendra when they were in diffiulties.

Srimad bhagavatam(1.11.39)

"The simple and delicate women truly thought that Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa, their beloved husband, followed them and was dominated by them. They were unaware of the extent of the glories of their husband, as the atheists are unaware of Him as the supreme controller."

*Even transcendental wives of Lord of Sri Krishna did not know completely the glories of Lord.
This ignorance is not mundane because there is some action of the internal potency of the Lord in the exchange of feelings between Him and His eternal associates.

*The Lord exchanges transcendental relations in five ways, as proprietor, master, friend, son and lover, and in each of these pastimes He plays fully by the potency of yogamāyā, the internal potency.

*Lord is athmaram- No one can agitate lord.

*Lord is Purnam- He does not need any thing. From this we can say that exchanges between Krishna and Wives of Krihsna are trancendental.

*He reciprocates based on desires of Devotees.

*In order to clearly understand the Qualities of lord one should hear from pure devotees of Lord.

*Unless we hear from Pure devotees of Lord we will not be able to understand Krishna properly.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.38

"This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead: He is not affected by the qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them. Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord do not become influenced by the material qualities".

* Qualities of Krishna are transcendental because he is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

*Srila Prabhupada says that Krishna comes to this material world to perform his activities . Even though some of the activities of Krishna are considered to material but that is wrong.

*Krishna is so powerful that he is beyond the material nature.

*Devotees takes shelter of lord to become free from material nature.

*Who ever takes shelter of Lord they can cross the modes of material nature.

*Goswami's of Vrindavan are born in very rich aristocratic families even then they gave up every thing for sake of Krishna.

*Krishna will protect devotees who is under protection of Krishna.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.37

"The common materialistic conditioned souls speculate that the Lord is one of them. Out of their ignorance they think that the Lord is affected by matter, although He is unattached".

*Due to ignorance only, the foolish mundane wranglers misunderstand the Supreme Lord and spread their foolish imaginations amongst innocent persons by propaganda.

*Even lord Indra thought Krishna was small boy tried flood vrindavan with water but Krishna protected Gopas by lifting Govardhan. From which we can conclued that Krishna is not an ordinary being.

*When Krishna showed his universal form to Arjuna his universal form has unlimited mouths, hands and unlimited heads from which we can conclude Krishna is not ordinary being.

*The Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original primeval Personality of Godhead, and when He was personally present before the eyes of everyone, He displayed full-fledged divine potency in every field of activities.

*Krishna descends in the material world by His causeless mercy only.

*If we don't surrender to Krishna by love we will be forced to surrender to in the form of Death.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.36( Padma Mataji)

"Although the queens' beautiful smiles and furtive glances were all spotless and exciting, and although they could conquer Cupid himself by making him give up his bow in frustration, and although even the tolerant Śiva could fall victim to them, still, despite all their magical feats and attractions, they could not agitate the senses of the Lord"

*The path of salvation or the path going back to Godhead always forbids the association of women, and the complete sanātana-dharma orvarṇāśrama-dharma scheme forbids or restricts association with women

*Those who want to go back home back to Godhead, are especially advised by all scriptural instruction to become free from paraphernalia of material attraction. And that is possible only by the association of the devotees of the Lord.

* All the activities Krishna performed are transcendental. Activities of Krishna should never be thought as mundane activities.

*Krishna pleases devotees according to the devotion a devotee shows towards him.

*In Caitanya Carithamrutha it is said, even though a devotee practices devotional service with lust in his heart after some time his lust will vanquish.

*Supreme Personality of Godhead is called as adhokshaja means he beyond material sense of perception.

*As we are in fallen condition easiest way to approach lord is through chanting his holy names.

Causeless mercy of Krishna(Mohan Pr)

*That Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy, appeared on this planet by His internal potency and enjoyed Himself amongst competent women as if He were engaging in mundane affairs.

* One should never think that Krishna's activities as mundane activities. Because Krishna is supreme personality of Godhead who can expand into innumerable Krishna avtars. This is same with his activities with his wives also. Krishna has expanded into 16,108 forms. He is present with all his wives at same time.

*This can be understood from the past times of Narad muni who visits houses of Krishna. Krishna is present in all the houses with his wives doing his activities same time.

* For a material person to get a good wife or husband is very hard but to marry Krishna who is supreme personality of Godhead must not be considered as mundane.

*All the wives of Krishna have undergone lots of austerities in their previous lives to get Krishna as their husband.

* Any mundane person who doesn't know krishna as Supreme personality cannot understand that Krishna can expand himself into many forms of Krishna.

Devotees with out sufficiently getting purified should not directly read about the intimate relationship between Krishna and Gopis instead they should slowly follow the process of reading from 1 st canto and then reach to 10 canto.

The Lord comes...

Verse 1.11.34 (Balagovind Pr):
* Here it is told that the Lord was pacified after killing the demons. That is the purpose of the Lord coming to the material world - to establish religious principles.
* SP tells that the ruling demons were burden to the earth, because they were puffed up due to their material opulence. And in that they committed many sins, this causing the burden to this world.
* In the present condition also, same thing is going on. We as living beings are also puffed up, have our own small militaries (our body, that which is generated from this body - relations - called atmasainya), so we are also puffed up. And our actions are like that. We think that at the time of death, this army will save me, but it is not so.
* We are able to see, but not able to realize it. that is in our maddened condition, we are not able to understand our bad condition. So reading Srimad Bhagavatam, will help us realize this.
* But in Kaliyuga, devotees and demons are all living in the same place, so if the Lord wants to eliminate the miscreants, then no one will remain. So, the Lord incarnates in the form of the Holy name, so that through this chanting of the holy name, we can eliminate our anarthas, thus going towards God.
* Whoever surrenders to the Lord, chants His holy name, will be able to overcome the onslaught of the material world. That is Krishna Consciousness.

Taste for Padasevanam!

Verse 1.11.33 (Mohan Pr):
* In this chapter, we are seeing how Lord Krishna is entering into Dvaraka dham and how He is being received by the mothers and queens and citizens in general.
* We see that the SPG is the enjoyer here. Everyone is involved in serving Him, worshipping Him and taking care of Him.
* In comparison, in the Caitanya-lila, He is giving up all this and taking the position of a beggar to give the conditioned the Holy name, who have rejected Him totally. This will make us understand the mercy of the Lord who wants us so much to come back to Him.
* Very nice song by Vasudeva Ghosh: Jaya Jaya Jagannath sachitanandanana...
-how the Lord is worshipped as Lord Jagannath.
- he is holding the shanka, chakra, gada and padma, but in Caitanya lila, he is holding a danda for us
* Everything in the world belongs to Him, but in Caitanya lila, when Thakur Haridas left his body, CM begged on the streets for making prasadam, so that they give donation for a pure devotee, so they are all benefited.
* This comparison will allow us to appreciate how much the Lord as Sri CM comes down to help us get back.
* One of the 9 processes of Devotional Service: padasevanam, serving the Lotus feet of the Lord. This verse is directed towards this only.
* The goddess of fortune, who is so cancala, however she is serving the lotus feet of the Lord, all the time. Because of the taste of this service, she doesn't quit that service at all, even though her nature does not allow this at all. That is the taste of padasevanam.

Loving reciprocation of Krishna!

Verse 1.11.32 (Krishna Patro Pr):
* Here, Suta Goswami explains that the ecstacy of the queens is insuperable.
* For devotees, vipralamba bhava is a transcendental pain actually. But now the Lord has returned and all the queens are rejoicing in their heart.
* That is described in here: first embracing the Lord in their hearts and then shedding tears of joy.
* Crying for the Lord in ecstasy is very high and it is easy for the pure devotees of the Lord because of their closeness.
* Srila Narottama Das thakur also says this in his prayers: gauranga bolithe habe pulaka sharira....
* In siksastakam also, these steps are described step-by-step. But in order to attain that perfection, we have to chant the holy name of the Lord without any offenses.
* The exchanges of Krishna here with the queens might appear human like. But He is completely purnam. He does not need all this, but He does so just to satisfy His devotees. These queens have performed so many austerities to attain Krishna as their husband, so He is reciprocating.
* So we should try to perform our sadhana to attain this state.

Unlimited expansions of the Lord!

Verse 1.11.31 (Sacisuta Pr):
* The scene is a long absence of Krishna from His wives.
* Cultural pt: how a woman should behave in the absence of the husband
- but what is the essence, it is attachment to the SPG.
* Just by seeing Him, the wives became completely ecstatic, but still tried to be in their womanly shyness.
* By shyness, a woman commands respect.
* We should never consider Krishna to be a ordinary human being. He expanded Himself into 16108 simultaneous forms, not like any common man
* Whatever Krishna does, it is wonderful.
* Way to approach the Lord's glories is not to try to understand them, but to appreciate them.

Opulences of the Lord!

Verse 1.11.30 (Puja Mji):
* In this chapter we see how all the ppl of Dvaraka are joyful in welcoming Lord Krishna.
* After giving obeisances to His mothers, He entered His palaces to meet His 16108 wifes who were waiting to see Him.
* he Personality of Godhead means one who is full with all power, all energy, all opulences, all beauties, all knowledge and all renunciation. Therefore, in the palaces of the Lord there was nothing wanting for fulfilling all desires of the Lord.
* Perfect to the fullest extent - is the Lord!
* Isopanishad - verse 1 - Complete whole
* BG Chapter 10 also the Lord's opulence is described.
* BG 10.16 - prominent splendourous opulences, a few limited were described by Krishna. It is not possible for us to comprehend the complete opulence of the Lord.
* The Supreme Personality can be realized in 3 aspects: Brahman, paramatma and Bhagavan.
* The essence can be got through devotional service only. And then His opulences can come to be known.

Basically, we need to understand the temp nature of this material body and nature too. We have to accept beyond doubt that Krishna is the SPG beyond doubt. Body is a machine, wear-tear will be there. Before we give up this temp body, if we can understand the realized truths, then we make lot of progress actually.
There is no doctors now who can cure us of our envy, lust, anger, pride. But if we take shelter of Krishna by chanting His holy name sincerely, then He will help for sure. If at all u want to do something, become a pure devotee, then automatically everything will follow. Only thing we need is to be sincere.

Krishna expects some qualities from us
- follow bhakti process with sense control, perseverance.

Vatsalya Rasa, Faith in the Lord!

Verse 1.11.29 (Kasi Pr):
* We know Krishna is all powerful. The pure devotees assembled there became ecstatic.
* Elevation to ecstatic sysmptoms
- constant association with pure devotees
- special mercy of Krishna or the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna.
* The second case is very rare.
* Ecstatic love of Godhead can be attained by following the rules and regulations, of DS.
* Attributes of devotees who can experience this ecstasy
- does not respect any material respect
- very much attached to chant the holy names of the Lord
- very much eager to describe the glories of the Lord
- ...

YK Pr:
* This shloka explains the Vatsalya rasa. Krishna is actually more than 100 years old here, but for the mothers, He is still a child.
* No one has exceeded Mother Yasoda in this rasa.
* Krishna is very tricky, if you make Krishna as your son, then He will become your son.
- Love the pure devotee, have faith on them. Because they have so much love for Krishna, that Krishna will help us.
* Narada muni also uses the same statement: Anybody who is attached to the temporary material pleasures of this material world, cannot see Me.
- Because NAradamuni saw Krishna once for a few minutes, he developed faith on Krishna. Without even worrying for the minimum necessities of life, he lived in the holy places. End of life, he thought of Krishna alone, then he got rid of material body and got the spiritual body.
- if we are sincere, it is our story also. Problem is we are not sincere.

Different mothers!

Verse 1.11.28 (YK Pr):
* Krishna is entering His house in this verse.
* Lord Krishna offered dandavat obeisances to everyone, all His mothers present there. (Dandavat means, like a stick, touching the whole body on the ground).
* To teach all the people, Krishna offered these obeisances to His parents, Brahmanas, even Vishnu.
* In His teachings with the 4 kumaras, He is telling that he is the servant of the Brahamanas.
* SP is writing that there are 7 mothers
-1) the real mother, (2) the wife of the spiritual master, (3) the wife of a brāhmaṇa, (4) the wife of the king, (5) the cow, (6) the nurse, and (7) the earth
* Today, cows are slaughtered but have the dog as a pet. Selective compassion.
* Krishna abode is surrounded by cows. Cow is the mother. But today no one follows it. At least 30-40 years ago, u have a cow, a bull and an acre of land, you can live life like a King. But today, all that is present is anxiety, why because people are away from Vedic culture.
* Cultivating these Vedic good qualities in children is good for them. Children cultivating the habit of paying dandavat obeisances to parents everyday, then we get blessings beyond our own power.
* We need blessings. Everyone needs it. Krishna bends His head asking for blessings to His parents.

Krishna's beauty ...

Verse 1.11.25 (Kavitha Mji):
* SP is describing the Lord's beauty. The Lord's beauty is described in so many scriptures and it is not easily understood by material beings. There is no satiation also in seeing the beauty of the Lord Krishna.
* Madhurashtakam, by Valabacharya.
* Out of 64 qualities, 4 are only in Krishna. And immeasurable beauty is one among them.
* Material beauty is very very brief. It will also differ based on how we look at it, our perspective. Another quality of material beauty is that it can never satisfy the soul.
* Whereas Krishna's beauty is spiritual and it never satiates one.
* In the beginning of our KC life, we might not have the faith, but we will develop the quality of admiring the beauty of the Lord.
* We have to understand and try to realize that this body is a source of suffering and it will perish one day. But if we genuinely pray to Krishna, since He is above maya, only He can get us out of this suffering. and that is done by sincere chanting only.
* HG Jananivas Pr: Focus on name first, then rupa, then guna and then lila. Otherwise, even chanting for 40 years, we will not realize this truth.
* And this is done through service and genuine chanting of the Holy name.

Seeing the Lord...

Verse 1.11.24 (Ashish Pr):
* The problem with the world today is that the sexes mix unrestrictedly, causing unnecessary progeny.
* In this verse, Lord Krishna is passing through the streets and all the ladies are going to the rooftops to see Him.
* Anything with Lord, His name, paraphernalia, is absolute.
* Actually Krishna is very real, we need to train our senses to really see and feel Him.
* Archa-vigraha form of the Lord is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord.
* BG 12.5
* Point of the day: Everyday we should yearn to see the Supreme Lord.
* Krishna is a reality. If we know and understand that, it will be awesome.
* Very difficult to comes to Krishna, when we are totally involved in sense gratification.
* But it is guaranteed, whoever is attending conference calls, chanting 16 rounds, following 4 regulative principles and preaching in some way, it is all an eternal credit, as we know nothing of tomorrow.

Reciprocation of the Lord!

Verse 1.11.21 (Mohan Pr):
* Lord Krishna is now reciprocating with each and every person who came to receive Him.
* Here SP is establishing the fact the Lord Krishna is personal and He reciprocates with all His feelings as it behooves.
* With how much ever love we show to Him, He will reciprocate accordingly.
* Pure devotees have no one else other than Him, similarly He is also always attentive to everything that they might need.
* On the other hand, there are other who think Him as impersonal, so the Lord does not take any personal interest in them.
* We have to develop the faith in the SPG that the Lord will take care of His devotees. Eg: Devotee mataji in FOI '09, accident, at the last moment had devotee association and Krishna made all arrangements for her nice departure.

Vasudeva, Akrura and Ugrasena!

Verse 1.11.16-17 (Padma Mji):
* Different personalities of the Yadu dynasty are being described here.
* Vasudeva's life and pastimes are described.
* Akrura: Uncle and great devotee of Krishna. Perfected his life by offering wonderful prayers to the Lord. He was also the one who was sent to bring Krishna and Balarama to Mathura for the first time. He was an close devotee of the Lord.
* Ugrasena: Grandfather of Krishna. Was imprisoned by son Kamsa, released by Lord Krishna. Was a very humble king in the Yadu dynasty.

Cleaning and then decorating!

verse 1.11.13 (Supriya Mji):
* This verse talks of how Dvaraka city was decorated.
* Krishna is giving an opportunity for His devotees to see Him.
* No one can see Krishna without having a relationship with Him. For that, we need to establish a relationship with one who has seen the absolute truth - Spiritual master or senior acharyas.
* If Krishna is coming to our heart, then we need to decorate our heart. Its imp to have a thorough cleansing has to be done. CM has said this in the first verse of siksastakam.
* And for maha cleaning for the heart, the Lord has given us this Mahamantra.
* This dirt is there in the heart, it has to be cleaned. It should be a priority. But if not, and another shows it, then only anger and frustration arises.
* Krishna will give an opportunity, if we want to do it for Him. And it will be a joyfull thing.
* Once cleaning is done, then decoration starts. That's where the 3rd verse of Mahaprabhu comes - trnad api sunicena. The Lord will decorate the devotee, it is His mercy only.

Dvaraka vs. modern civilizaiton!

Verse 1.11.12 (Harisha Mji):
* The fantastic beauty of the city of Dvaraka is given.
* In the purport, SP is comparing the current modern civilization with the civilization in Dvaraka.
* Perfection of human civilization is made possible by utilizing the gifts of nature in their own way.
* Both humans and animals are doing the same 4 things: eating, sleeping, mating and defending. But the human being is doing it in a sophisticated way. And even that humans are not doing well - fast foods are there because they don't have time, then so many ppl are sleepless these days, so much the modern man is afraid in these days.
* Whereas, in Dvaraka, there were hermitages, orchards, flower gardens, parks and reservoirs of water breeding lotus flowers all over. The description of Dvārakā-dhāma is the ideal of human civilization.
* ...

Faith in the Lord and the Process!

Verse 1.11.11 (Mohan Pr):
* Story from Panchatantra- sage going to village to beg for food. Mice, mouse eating the rice, raising the pot but still the mouse was able to jump into the pot
- moral: every person has some confidence, this depends on the strength he has, its his confidence. we put little faith on some reservoir that we have. most of the time it is the money. however sometimes, as this storage of the mouse, we lose it. then our life becomes weak. unless we increase our faith we will always be shaken up. first thing we need to do: increase our faith in the SPG.
* Unless we have faith there, we will have faith in material things and those will cause misery sometime or the other.
* Here, the residents of Dvaraka had so much faith in the SPG.
* Current examples: Srila Prabhupada, single handedly challenged the material world, because of his unflinching faith in the SPG. not even 1% less faith, complete surrender to the Lord that He will protect.
* Others: Vrindavan vasi's, Pandavas, so much surrender to the SPG, Sri Krishna. Arjuna killing Jayadratha, with the help of Sri Krishna.
* Second thing: understand the process and have faith in the process. Unless we have this, we will fall down. BG 2.40, nehabikramo....
Before Krishna speaks about Buddhi-yoga, He is glorifying it. That there is no loss in here. If we have little faith in DS and start off, we will definitely be pulled to success.
* So, we should have faith in the Lord and in the process, then we will surely be able to complete it up to the finish line.

Prayers to the Lord...

Verse 1.11.7 (Yugal Kishore Pr):
* Here the residents of Dvaraka are praying and praising the Lord.
* We should learn these prayers. SB is full of such prayers
- Maharaj Muchakunda prayers, Wives of Kaliya prayers, Prahalad Maharaj prayers etc.
* Importance of prayers
- we acknowledge the SPG
- we are part and parcel
- our inability
- our ingratitude
- His unconditioned love
- our inability to come out desire to enjoy
- to continue serving Him
* Glorification of devotees actually helps us overcome envy within us.
* Krishna also says in BG, I am father, mother, well wisher of all living entities.
* Imp pt: Krishna never leaves you. One thing we don't like is cheating, imagine how many times we have cheated Him, but He will never leave us. That shows His unlimited mercy on us, He never leaves us.
* If we follow Him in every respect, we will become successful. Any success that comes in our life, attribute it to Krishna.
* In bhakti, Srimati Radharani has been maintaining us.
* Symptom of advancement: don't criticize any Vaishnava, genuinely chant the rounds, not just completing it. Surrender to the process completely and follow 4 regulative prayers.
* Kulasekhar Alwar prayers also, so very beautiful, Srila Prabhupada recited it so many times.

Taking darshan and Prayers to the Lord....

Verse 1.11.6 (Yugal Kishore Pr):
* The residents of Dvaraka are now praising the Lord. They are telling that all the demigods, Brahma are worshipping you Krishna.
* In Vedas, they glorify You, eternally singing His glories.
* Actually, prayer is a very very powerful substance. We go to temple so that Krishna can see us. We go to temple for purification. Once we go there, we realize who we are.
- first say, how fallen we are
- second, thank you Krishna, despite being fallen, still You gave me Your mercy
- third, glorify Krishna and then ask for some boon in the form for unmotivated uninterrupted service, taste for the holy name, different spiritual benedictions we ask then we make a lot of progress.
* If we do not compose our own prayers, then we should recite the Acharya's prayers.
* Most beautiful form of Krishna's body is face, and in that smile is most beautiful. If we meditate on Krishna's eyebrows, then lust is gone. Genuinely pray like the residents of Dvaraka are praying.
* SB explains that if we take darshan this way, we get rid of lust, then the other things also go away.
* There are 3 types of prayers
- asking for perfection, can be done only by pure devotees
- explaining our pitiable condition and praying for the mercy and service of the Lord
-
* Hare Krishna Maha mantra is the best prayer for chanting, also chant Siksastakam prayers everyday. Because it has from the conditioned stage to the liberated stage.
* Bhaktivinoda thakur and Narottama das prayers, we have to read.

Only love is required to please Krishna!

Verse 1.11.4-5 (Aashish Pr):
* Eg: Father and son, if son gives him some gift something out of love, even if the father is completely rich, he will still feel happy. That is the same with Krishna. He is only looking for our love, with which we can offer Him anything and He will accept it.
* Krishna is also a desire tree, from Him everyone can have everything by His mercy.
* BG: one who engages in full devotional service, meditating on His form, for him Krishna carrier what he lacks and preserves what he has.
* In the worship of the sun, there is some sort of demand made by the worshiper, but in the case of devotional service to the Lord, there is no question of demand from either side. It is all a sign of pure love and affection between the Lord and the devotee.

Holy Name, then no fear!

Verse 1.11.3 (Sundari Mji):

* Life is so unpredictable, without taking the shelter of the Lord, there is no escape.
* The citizens of Dvaraka were so very much in melancholy
* Unless there is a problem, there is no serious surrender to the Lord. Eg: Chitraketu, he had everything but did not have a son. Ultimately he had a son, then no mood to listen to Narada muni about the goal of life. When son dies, then only he listens. Again, curse by Parvati, then again in this troubled situation, he surrenders more.
* Krishna, like this, sometimes takes away everything, just to help us surrender to the Lord.
* Fear problem always exists and it exists due to ignorance only. But once we know the ultimate goal of life, then this fear is not there.
* In this life, two things for sure
- one who takes birth, will surely die
- investment done in bhakti will always remain
* How to execute this bhakti
- lot of enthusiasam
- patience and gratitude
* Our heart must be fertile, unless it is fertile, the seed of bhakti sowed by Guru will not grow. So cultivate it with lot of humility.
* Chanting is like putting the water, but the soil needs to be fertile by humility.
* Krishna sees how sincerely we are performing all this.
* Holy name is the greatest savior from the biggest fears of this world. Holy name is everything. Eg: Gajendra moksha too, he remembered the holy name as an animal too.

No matter in the Spiritual World!

Verse 1.11.2 (Sachisuta Pr):

* The white and fat-boweled conchshell, being gripped by the hand of Lord Kṛṣṇa and sounded by Him, appeared to be reddened by the touch of His transcendental lips. It seemed that a white swan was playing in the stems of red lotus flowers.
* In various places in the Vedic literature, like BG, Brhama Samhita, SB, the form of Krishna is described and glorified.
* In the holy dham also, we will find the special presence of the Lord. Eg: Srila Prabhupada and his disciples, how they find so much energy in the dham's of the Lord.
* SP writes: the paramahaḿsa, or the supremely intelligent person, plays the part of the ducking swan in the water of spiritual bliss, eternally decorated by the lotus flower of the Lord's feet.
* Chanting being one of the foremost services, we need to sincerely chant.

Utilize this life now!

Verse 1.10.36 (YK Pr):
* Here we see that Krishna is travelling through various provinces to reach Dvaraka.
* Krishna is also doing His duties as a family man. In BG, Krishna said that He does not have to do anything, but He still does so only to set an example.
* Eg: Lord Ramachandra, He was committed husband, son, father, king.
* We have to do our duty actually, in a very Krishna Conscious way.
* Giving charity, performing sacrifices any one can do. But what everyone cannnot do is tolerance, self control, uphold the scriptural injunctions (our case 4 regulative principles). Very difficult to control/restrain the senses whereas very easy to do charity and philanthropy.
* Body is a machine given to us, before it is completely down, we should utilize every moment of this body to cleanse it up. We need to become fully Krishna Conscious, then we will not have another birth. But if we become victim to these other things, we will have to come back to this suffering again.
* Do ur duty given by Krishna.
* Sense control means no prajalpa. Don't take wrong about anybody. Realizations will not come because we are blinded by Maya, desire to enjoy.
* That's why Krishna comes to set an example as to how to live this life. So we have to utilize this opportunity to become strong in KC.
* Maya puts obstacles in the form of doubts, so we should not have any doubt about KC.
* Love everyone, serve everyone! Chant nicely!

Longing, mood for devotional service!

Verse 1.10.33-35 (YK Pr):
* Here Krishna has accomplished His job in the Kuru world and is now returning after a long time to His own dhama, Dvaraka.
* The residents of Hastinapura though could not stand the separation from the Lord.
* Two types of devotees- nitya siddha and nitya-baddha
* If you want to continue in KC, then SP explains, we need to develop the yearning, the longing, that when will the day come when I will develop the taste for the Holy name.
* The only way to come out of maya conditioning is geniune faith in the name of Krishna. Even if we are seeing death everyday, we don't realize the futility of material existence.
* Shelter of Guru and Krishna must be accepted to learn and apply them nicely. Take guidance and execute bhakti, devotional service. To the extent we are sincere in doing this, we will go forward.
* The mood is important, the melting of the heart. Unless we develop the mood of trnad api sunicena, we might be chanting for millions of years, we will not go forward.
* As neophyte devotees, we have lot of respect for everyone. We need to maintain the same mood, because if not, we will start developing the habit of judging others.
* We need to make sincere effort.

Krishna's causeless mercy...

Verse 1.10.31-32 (Vidya Mji):
* Here we see that Lord Krishna accepts the arrangement made by Maharaj Yudhistira.
* If required, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself was sufficient to defend Himself from the attack of others who counted the Lord as their enemy, but still He accepted all the arrangements made by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira because He could not disobey the King, who was His elder cousin. The Lord plays the part of a subordinate in His transcendental sporting, and thus sometimes He puts Himself in the care of Yaśodāmātā for His protection in His so-called helplessness of childhood. That is the transcendental līlā, or pastime of the Lord.
* Out of His causeless mercy, He takes up this role to give transcendental pleasure to His devotee.
* So Lord Krishna killed so many demons in His childhood, so why is He afraid of Mother Yasoda.
* All that is because of His love for His devotees. He can be controlled by the unconditioned love of His devotees.
* It is tough for us to understand this, because we are too busy with our own material affairs. We keep speculating the KC process all the time. The Lord's feelings cannot be understood by us so easily.
* These spiritual books like SB and BG cannot be understood by us as we do maths and science. They need to be understood only through the mercy of the Spiritual master.
* It is all Krishna's supreme mercy, that He comes down to hold our hand and take us back. So only submissive love, constant attentive chanting and loving service to devotees will help us get there.
* It is upto to us to drink water from the river. The acharya's show us the path and help us, but we have to make the step.
* Whether situations work or not, we should understand that everything is Krishna's work and He is doing things to help us. So then we will be happy otherwise, we are always finding fault with others and are in anxiety.
* Always keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to go back to Godhead. Just based on short time goals, we should not miss out our ultimate goal.
* It's hard to not think that it is all Krishna's plan, but we need to practise it. He comes out of His superior position and comes and helps us in our day to day activities. It is all His mercy.

Love:Lust:::Gold:Iron

Verse 1.10.28 (Mohan Pr):
* Queens of Hastinapur are glorifying the high position of the queens and girlfriends of Krishna. This is a very high topic and we are not qualified to speak on this topic.
* There is a lot of difference between love and lust. This is all love, the rishis in their previous births did many many penances to attain the conjugal relationship with the Lord.
* The wifes and girlfriends of the Lord, must have undergone vows, baths, fire sacrifices and perfect worship of the Lord of the universe.
* Srila Prabhupada here says: Attainment of this stage of pure spiritual life is the highest perfection, and this stage is called svarūpa, or the factual identity of the living being. Liberation means renovation of this stage of svarūpa. In that perfect stage of svarūpa, the living being is established in five phases of loving service, one of which is the stage of mādhurya-rasa, or the humor of conjugal love.
* Herein two classes of devotees of the Lord are mentioned in the stage of conjugal love. One is svakīya, and the other is parakīya. Both of them are in conjugal love with the Personality of Godhead Krsna.
* The kissing of the Lord, either by His wives or His young girl friends who aspired to have the Lord as their fiance, is not of any mundane perverted quality. Had such things been mundane, a liberated soul like Śukadeva would not have taken the trouble to relish them, nor would Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu have been inclined to participate in those subjects after renouncing worldly life. The stage is earned after many lives of penance.
* Mahaprabhu has displayed the same rasa lila in front of Lord Jagannath along with his associates and has brought reverance to it,

Make your heart Vrindavan!!!

Verse 1.10.27 (Supriya Mji):
* Residents of Hastinapur are glorifying the residents of Dwaraka.
* They says residents of Dwaraka are more glorious than even the residents of the heavens. Because Krishna Himself was present there.
* The Lord brings His associates with Him.
* This material world otherwise is a miserable place. Only Vrindavan, Mathura and Dvaraka are the most important places.
* Just following the sadhana bhakti process of going behind the acharyas.
* Make your house Vrindavan, our heart Vrindavan, and invite Krishna into our hearts. Purifying our heart through chanting of the holy name will help us.
* In USA itself, we have so many opportunities of service and bringing Krishna into our hearts.
* "Make your heart Vrindavan", by associating with devotee, by eating Krishna prasadam, by reading Srila Prabhupada's books, by chanting Krishna's holy name and by serving the devotees!!

Krishna's Appearance and Disappearance...

Verse 1.10.26 (Mohan Pr):
* As Lord Sri Krishna is departing hastinapur to go to Dwaraka, the ladies from the rooftops are now glorifying the Yadu dynasty and the place where He was born.
* In the BG also it is given that, if one truly understands the transcendental nature of the appearance and disappearance of the Lord, we will immediately be liberated.
* The appearance of the Lord is not something material, at least that much we much understand.
* The conditioned soul is forced to take a body when he comes to this material world, but for Krishna it is not so, He has a transcendental body, His birth is not like the conditioned souls.
* EG: Sun is always existing, it only appears in the east in the morning and disappears in the west in the evening. Very clear example of what it means Krishna appears and disappears. It only means that in our vision He appears and disappears.
* The Yadu dynasty is also being glorified here and the land of Mathura also. How glorious are the different places where the Lord performed His pastimes.
* Material world < Vaikunta planets < Goloka Vrindavana, similarly Mathura < Vrindanvan < Govardhan Hill < Radha kund
* So the Lord comes here to perform the pastimes, so that we can get attracted to Him.
* Through His holy name, we can purify ourselves, then we will be able to understand the pastimes of the Lord.
* This week, the World Holy Name Week, pls chant extra rounds just to glorify the Lord.

Verse 1.10.25 (Kasi Pr):
* Krishna appears whenever there is decline in religious principles. Even in BG, it is mentioned the same.
* SP states how wonderful activities the Lord performs when He comes here.
* Unfortunately, there are ppl who still do not believe that the SPG does come to this material world for our benefit. And Krishna says this also in the BG
* To understand the Lord's transcendental nature, in the Kaliyuga, chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the only way. With love and affection, if we chant, then Krishna will reveal Himself to us.
* We are conditioned souls, following devotional service is the only way for us to realize the Lord in our heart.
* Power of sense gratification is too much. It is very difficult to satisfy these senses. The only way we can control them is by reading the scriptures like BG, SB. We have to utilize the power of devotional service to overcome the attachments to sense gratification.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur!

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Appearance Day (Yugal Kishore Pr):
* After Visvanath chakravarthy thakur and Baladev Vidyabhushana, the Vaisnava sampradaya was being covered down because of apasampradaya's.
* Even Ganga changed its course and covered
* Famous in this lifetime: his Schedule, his writings, Bishakcshen's episode, his finding of Mahaprabhu's birthplace.
* Most efficient magistrate
* When he was coming home, he was seeing goloka vrindavan. He had 10 children, but who were they
- Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur, a ray of Vishnu, who chanted 192 rounds for 10 years, and then began the Gaudiya math for spreading the glories of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
* He was an ideal grhastha.
* Temple president of Jagannath Puri, corrected so many things there.
* Bishakschen's episode is also famous, where Srila Bhaktivinoda thakur deposed this false imposter of mystic powers.
- He imprisoned Bishakschen, and that guy caste a bad spell on the whole family of Bhaktivinoda thakur
- All the family became sick, except SBSST. But Bhaktivinoda thakur didn't care, he gave the right judgement anyway.
- That guy's head was shaved, he lost all his power
* Bhaktivinoda Thakur is Kamala Manjari in the spiritual world.
* His schedule is just amazing. Write, chant, work, sleep and eat a little, completely efficient. Never complained that he did not have time, he made the best use of time available.
* Another episode, position of Vaisnava higher than Brahmana. SBSST established how Vaisnavism is greater than Brahmanas.
* Bhaktivinoda thakur wanted Bimala Prasada (SBSST) to take initiation from Gaur Kisora Das Babaji Maharaj. He told him that don't come home without taking initiation. How wonderful.
* He found out Mahaprabhu's birthplace - Yoga-pita
* He wrote so many wonderful songs, bhajans for the pleasure of the Lord.
- sarvasya tomar tumitho thakur.....
- keno hare krishna naam ....
- Gaura arati
- so many songs in ISKCON all come from him.

Lucky we are, very very much!

Verse 1.10.23 (Mohan Pr):
* Krishna talks about all types of yoga in BG. And here it is told that bhakti yoga is the highest.
* Krishna also talks about the nature of the soul and He also talks about a person who is in samadhi.
* Control of senses is the first thing here. And He also explains in BG as to how one can control His senses. Eg: Tortoise, which withdraws its limbs.
* But one thing here is, that one cannot artificially hold off on the senses. Higher taste is imp here, by experiencing a higher taster, we can easily give up the lower tastes.
* Bhahunaam janmanaam ante....
- after many life times, there is nothing else but Vasudeva as my shelter
- whoever is introduced to bhakti yoga, how lucky we are that from the start itself we are introduced that Krishna is the SPG.
- because only after many many millions of birth one gets such an opportunity
- we are very very lucky that because of Srila Prabhupada's mercy, we know are introduced that Krishna is the SPG. Only when we know how lucky we are, then we can become serious in KC.

Subject is important, not the language...

Verse 1.10.20 (Aashish Pr):
* We can quote shlokas, but if we don't have the bhava then we are cheating ourselves.
* Here, the ladies of Hastinapura, were directly talking about Krishna, which was more pleasing than Vedic hymns.
* Biggest thing in KC, facing adversity with faith in Krishna.
* Sustaining enthusiasm is very important.
* No devotee better than Srimati Radharani
- 1.1.12 NOD - bhakti is engaging all our senses in service to the Lord
- free from all material attachments and purification of our senses are the two side affects.

Unwanted industrialization...

Verse 1.10.17 (Sacisuta Pr):
* In this verse, we see how the Lord, the SPG deals with His devotees.
* Here, we can see how Arjuna got the opportunity of rendering personal service to the Lord. Krishna was like millions of sun, surrounded by the many stars there. All the them present were wanting to serve the Lord in any way possible.
* Arjuna is addressed as a Gudakesa, one who has conquered sleep. Means one who has crossed all the 3 modes of material nature.
* He is holding up an umbrella for the Lord, and he is enjoying this service to the Lord. A devotee takes pleasure in performing some menial service to the Lord or His devotees.
* Another imp point: unnecessary industrialization, which is causing destruction to the planet. We are losing millions of farm land, because of all this.
* Processed food is also something that eats up this earth. 60% of America's land is only used for raising livestock, which are then killed for their meat, while only 4% of the land is used to produce food grains, fruits etc for human consumption. In USA, people used to spend 60% of their income on food, and now that has reduced to 15%. This imbalance is all due to unwanted industrialization.
* But as stated in the verse, if we use the resources naturally produced from the earth, so much of unnecessary industrialization can be avoided.
* When Krishna is not there in the center, our false ego, greed and nescience will be in the center.