Material and Spiritual worlds

S.B.2.10.6. (Achyuta Gauranga prabhu)

• This sloka confirms that actually 75% of the entire creation is spiritual and 25% is material

  75% of the living entities in the spiritual world are called nitya-muktas

  25% of the living entities in the material world are conditioned souls

  In America we see 4 seasons, in the fall everything is dissolved and in spring everything sprouts up. Material creation is a cycle like the seasons here everything in the material world is annihilated and recreated again.

  B.G chapter 9 explains this process really really well in several slokhas.

  B.G. 9.7 -- O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.

  So at the end of the millennium means the death of Brahma, as we know Brahmaji lives for 100 years – (1 day = 4.3 billion earth years)

  B.G 9.8 -- The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.

  Imagine that all this material creation is the inferior energy of the supreme lord, so if we think of superior energy of the Supreme Lord it is unimaginable.

  At the time creation the first Purusha incarnation Maha-Vishnu enters, he creates innumerable universes and into each universe he enters as a Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and this way each single universe is created. He still manifest himself as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and that Vishnu enters into everything.

  In terms of living, the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu impregnates himself, as a result of past deeds (Karmic reactions living entities’ take different positions), this way entire material creation is manifested.

  The activities of different species are began from the very movement of creation, it is not evolved or something like that… It just created.

  It is tough point for many people to understand, how can everything just created, if you look once again the spring season everything is manifested. It is the potency of the Lord.

  Our duty is not to keep in the three modes, we have to transcend them.

  One who engages in devotional service transcends the three modes of nature and comes to the level of Brahaman. So this is where ultimate thing is.

Sweetness of Transcendental Past time of the God

S.B.2.10.5 (Madhava Govinda Prabhu)

In this purport 3 important things we can think about. One is the term Chronological and the other one transcendental topics and the last one aural reception. This chronological term generally our fundamental knowledge is very poor. We can’t present the history of the present world more than 3000 yrs ago. But vedic literature presents the history of millions of years ago. Because we can’t present the history more than 3000 yrs that does not mean that there was no history earlier to that. The vedic evidence is very chrono-liged in Vedanta sutra (it means the summary of all vedic knowledge). The vedic knowledge is given in codes is called Braham sutra, Brahaman means the supreme absolute truth, sutra mean code. We can’t understand the code without the explanation. This knowledge is very important. Now a days no one is interested in reading these transcendental topic they think this is waste time, no one realizes the importance of these. Here the other word is transcendental topics, King Parikshit (KP) was listening to the past times of the Lord Krishna and Balaram from Sukadheva Goswami (SG). SG mentions to KP, my dear lord the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna is bestower of love of God and liberation simultaneously. Anyone who becomes devotee of automatically liberated because the Lord is unlimited and his past times in creating, maintaining and destroying are also unlimited.

(KP telling to SG): We are frustrated in searching out for the pleasures derived from sense gratification. Such desire for material sense gratification are always piercing the hearts of conditioned souls, but I am actually experiencing how the transcendental topics of the Lord Krishna’s past times can relieve one from such material desires. I think that no intelligent person can reject listening to these transcendental past times of the Lord again and again.

One should hear the transcendental topics with aural reception. If we want to know Krishna, first we should hear. People should be inquisitive about God. If we are serious to know God, we have spiritual masters to enquire submissively to know about God, and God is within our heart He will reveal.

teṣāḿ satata-yuktānāḿ

bhajatāḿ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaḿ taḿ

yena mām upayānti te

B.G (10.10) -- To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

Real Goal of Human Life

S.B.2.10.4 (Achyuta Gauranga prabhu)

Ultimate goal of life is to go back home, back to god head. If we look at it from an introspective aspect, we are also actually vision of the lord. We are also actually vision of the lord, he sees through our eyes, makes his work through our heart and brain. And if we don’t apply all these in actually making the Lord our prime goal of life that it in away means we are actually wasting our time. So many fames and wonderful personalities taken births who have dedicated their birth and their live for the service of the Lord. Parents will do anything for their kids for material education, but when it comes to vedic knowledge they think it is a big waste of time. As Radhnath swami Maharaj mentions in his lectures that life is a preparation death is an examination. It all depends on how we live our life. So, unless we control our senses, the whole body is taking to wrong direction. We have to really utilize this human form of life to go back home back to godhead. The easiest way in this Kaliyuga is literally to chant seriously the holy name of the lord. And really make sure we are literally inundating our body in the lord names. The Mantra given for this age is Hare Krishna Mahamantra, which is

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Primary and Seconary Creation

S.B. 2.10.3(Saci suta Prabhu)

Modern theory of evolution tells that the first living entity comes from non living entity.

When Darwin concluded his evolutionary theory he said the life may breathed in to one or two living entities by the creator. But the current theories eliminate the concept of creator.

In 19th century Louis Pasteur concluded that life comes only from life. Spontaneous generation theory explains that some how first life originated from matter. Based on evidences Spontaneous theory will fit in the science fiction rather than scientific.

According to Vedic truth, Lord Brahma being the first living entity in this material creation, the father of the living entities. Originally, creation has two aspects sarga and visarga. Sarga means creation (first creation by Vishnu). Then visarga is the secondary creation by Lord Brahma distinguishing into living and non living entities.

Vishnus function is more important than Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva although Lord Brahma is the creator, Lord Vishnu is the maintainer.

Maha vishnu did the first creation, sarga and from the naval of Garbodhaksyi Vishnu comes Lord Brahma who did the second creation, visarga. When we building a house, first we build the structure then house interior, then we will bring the furniture. Like that Brahma filled this creation with his sons, then their sons.... From there different species of live came into existence. Manus children are Manavas, so our great great.. grand father is Manu.

Srila Jiva Goswami, gives the break down of the topics covered in each canto. So the topics discussed

Sarga -- Canto 2,3
visarg - 2,3,4
Vrutti -- 3,7,11
Raksha -- through out
Manvantara - 8
Vamsha - 4, 9
vamshanucharita - 4,9
Samsta - 11,12
Hetu - 3,11
Apasray -10

We have to understand that this knowledge is from Amala puranam, Srimad Bhagavatam.

In B.G.9.10
mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram hetunanena kaunteya jagad viparivartate

This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and non-moving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

Ultimate Knowledge

S.B.2.10.1, S.B.2.10.2 (Krishna Kirtan Prabhu)

Bhagavatam is answer to all questions, In the chapter 8 MP puts several questions in front of SG. Beginning from the universal creation. In summary the questions are, how the spirit soul acquires different bodies? And what is the difference between the Lords Spiritual body and the body of common living entity. How the Lord transcendental to creation. How he is living in every living entity. How He is lord of all energies still untouched by his external energies. What is the actually positions of different planetary system in the virat purasa. What is time difference between creation, annihilation. How Narada presented this literature to his disciples and several other questions about universal creation.

All these questions are humanly impossible to answer. The answers depend on the qualification of the person who is going to explain. SG is highly qualified and most suitable person to answer these questions. By hearing MP questions, SG is very pleased because all these questions pertain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. To answer his questions SG replied, first this knowledge was spoke by Lord himself to Brahmaji. The Supreme Lord is very much pleased by lord Brahma’s austerities and devotional service and presented this eternal and transcendental form to lord Brahma. Lord Brahma is in ecstasy after seeing the Supreme Lords transcendental form. After that Krishna impregnated lord Brahma with the vedas and saying that the Ultimate benediction as the result of all penance is to see me by realization.

Brahama put forward several questions to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the first question was how in spite of your transcendental form you assumed this mundane form. Lord replied, I who existed before this is ultimate knowledge. Any knowledge that is not related to me is my material energy. I myself exist in the creation and at the same time I am outside of the creation.

Narda received this knowledge from Brahma, after receiving this Sri Narada enquired in detail. From where this supplementary knowledge S.B came into existence where in the 10 characters of the Supreme Lord are explained by lord Brahma. Then Sri Narada passed this knowledge to his disciples.

In the current chapter SG is answering the MP questions. In the S.B there are 10 divisions of statements.

1) The creation of the universe. 2) Sub creation. 3) Planetary system 4) Protection by the Lord 5) The creative impetus 6) The change of Manus 8) The science of God 8) Returning back to home, back to God head 9) Liberation 10) and the Samambhanam

Creation of the universe with sarga and visarga. The creation is with all the primary elemetns. Visarga means further creation. We will see the description about the creation in this chapter.

Devotional service (Love of God) is beyond Knowledge

S.B 2.9.46 (Nanda Niketan Pr)
Here SP explains two things one is about S.B, how great literature it is and the second thing is qualification of the speaker Sukadev Goswami.

S.B. is called Mahapuranam it is called Mahadakayanam. Akayanam is a narration, a history. Modern people make it is a mythology or fictitious. SP so many times mentions it is not mythology it is history. The activities of Kauravas, pandavas and many other activities were mentioned in S.B. , It includes Druva Maharaj, Amarish Maharaj and about many other devotees and their activities.

Purana means old history. For example, we keep the pictures of our grand fathers, great grand fathers, if some body might say they did not exist, but in truth the grand fathers.. existed. They existed and lived their life.

When we people talk about the Ramayan and Mahabarath the modern people will say it as mythology, but it is not true. S.B, is an amalam puranam as every body know malam means dirty things, S.B is amalam puranam -- without any material contamination. Because simply narration about Bhagavan and Bhaktha, dealings between devotees and Supreme Personality of God Head.

We can question our self why it is so great. S.B, declares that the supreme occupation of all humanity is -- which awakens the loving devotional service to the Supreme Personality of God Head. We are all looking for satisfaction, but S.B explains unless until our service to the God is unconditional, uninterrupted it will not bring happiness to the heart.

Love is beyond knowledge. S.B, explains that when one develops love for Krishna, Knowledge and renunciation are automatically achieved. This is clearly visible in the life of Srila Sukadhev Goswami, the speaker of S.B. When he was 16 year old and came to the assembly of most learned sages and rushis of the entire universe. They asked the Sukadhev Goswami to speak on S.B, because all sages, scholars in the assembly recognized that he has pure love. This is also exhibited by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He played the role of Nimai Pandit. As Nimai Pandit, he known as the greatest scholar of the whole world. He was defeating Digivijay pandit, Keshav Kashmir. Keshav Kashmir is a such scholar every time he opens his mouth the Goddess Sarswati actullay move his tongue. There is nothing he did not know. Little Nimai pandit defeated Keshav Pandit expertly without hurting his heart. After Nimai Pandit know as greatest scholar to the world he rejected all the fame and took loving service to the lord and chanted

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu got the instruction from his spiritual master to spread the glories of hari nam. The conclusion of all the scriptures, S.B. 12.3.51 says

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-sańgaḥ paraḿ vrajet

My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.

Lord Chaitanya stated that the success to endeavor is to the degree we please Krishna. Only when we please Krishna, who is Bhakthavathsala, does he reveal his mercy upon us, only that mercy will awaken love.

There are many goals of life, but the true goal of life is pure devotional service.

Brahma tapasya...

SB 2.9.8 (KP Prji):

* Here, we see Lord Brahma underwent penances for 1000 years by the calculations of the demigods
* Lord Brahma perfected himself by following the instructions of the spiritual master
* 6 months in our time is 1 day of the demigods, which implies 1 demigod years = 6*30*12*1000 our years
* The best way of understanding is to accept such divine instruction, and Brahmā, the prime spiritual master of
everyone, is the living example of this process of receiving transcendental knowledge
* The potency of transcendental sound is never minimized because the vibrator is apparently absent. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā or any revealed scripture in the world is never to be accepted as an ordinary mundane sound without transcendental potency
* Just because the person is not manifest in front of our eyes, we should not think that the Lord does not exist
* This applies to acharyas too. SP also said that he will always remain through his instructions and his instructions are in his books
* One has to receive the transcendental sound from the right source, accept it as a reality and prosecute the
direction without hesitation. The secret of success is to receive the sound from the right source of a bona fide
spiritual master
* Potency of the mantra received from a bona fide spiritual master is very important
* The same mantra got from just some person, comes to be known simply as mundane sound
* The disciple, however, must be ready to execute the order of the bona fide spiritual master as Lord Brahmā executed the instruction of his spiritual master, the Lord Himself. Following the order of the bona fide spiritual master is
the only duty of the disciple, and this completely faithful execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master
is the secret of success
* Lord Brahmā controlled his two grades of senses by means of sense perception and sense organs because he had to engage such senses in the execution of the order of the Lord. Therefore controlling the senses means engaging them in the transcendental service of the Lord

"Tapa", the wealth of the renounced order of life

SB 2.9.6 (Kp Prji):

* "While thus engaged in thinking, in the water, Brahmājī heard twice from nearby two syllables joined together. One of the syllables was taken from the sixteenth and the other from the twenty-first of the sparśa alphabets, and both joined to become the wealth of the renounced order of life."
* Here, Srila SG is answering MP's question
* The Lord, out of His own will, when He desires to create this whole world
 - Lord Brahma manifests from the right side of MahaVishnu
 - From MahaVishnu's navel, comes a lotus flower and in its flower, Lord Brahma is born
* When born, Brhma is perplexed as to how to construct the world, as he is the guna avatar
* Being inquisitive, he tries to find out what is the source of his creation
 - When Lord Brahma was perplexed about how to construct the material manifestations in the universe and went down within the water to find out the means and the source of his lotus seat, he heard the word tapa vibrated twice.
* Thus, he accepted that the goal of his life is tapa
 - and it is the beauty or power of the renounced order of life
* SP says: The animal does not know anything except sense gratification in the jurisdiction of eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. But the human being is made to undergo tapasya for going back to Godhead, back home.
* This tapasya we can learn from the top most being of this material creation, Lord Brahma
* "In the Brahma-saḿhitā Lord Brahmā has sung in every verse govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajmi". Thus Brahmā was initiated by the Krsna mantra, by Lord Krsna Himself, and thus he became a Vaisnava, or a devotee of the Lord, before he was able to construct the huge universe. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita that Lord Brahmā was initiated into the eighteen-letter Kṛṣṇa mantra, which is generally accepted by all the devotees of Lord Krsna."
* We follow the same principle because we belong to the Brahma sampradaya.
* One who is thus initiated in the disciplic succession is able to achieve the same result or power of creation. Chanting of this holy mantra is the only shelter of the desireless pure devotee of the Lord. Simply by such tapasya, or penance, the devotee of the Lord achieves all perfections like Lord Brahma.
* To perfect our life, we must also follow this path set by our acharya's

Clearing the misconceptions of I and Mine!

SB 2.9.3 (K Prji):

* SP has very clearly and elaborately explained the misconceptions of I and Mine, in this verse
* The fact that we are still hearing the philosophy of I and mine is due to the deep rooted misconception
* The true self is the pure spirit soul
* However, due to these misconceptions of I and Mine, all we are doing is eat, sleep, mate and defend, which the animals also do
 - so there is no difference between animals and humans
* But the purpose of human life is self-realization and to come back unto the shelter of the SPG
* SP establishes ISKCON primarily to bring people from this lower consciousness to the real consciousness of being an eternal servitor of the Lord and to be in the real consciousness of the true spirit soul
* The Supreme Lord comes always with us as super soul, in every life form, to help us to take the bhakti yoga process
* Eg: A man with 4 wife's, neglects the 4th wife always...he is dying now, the first 3 wifes do not agree to come with him, but 4th wife says she will accompany him
 - 1st wife is like body
 - 2nd wife is like name and fame
 - 3rd wife is relatives and friends
 - 4th wife is the Supersoul
* By hearing these good advises of the Supersoul, SP advises us to surrender unto the SPG, through bhaktiyoga 
- Process is: worshiping the Lord, glorifying the Lord, hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the right sources (not from the professional man but from a person who is Bhāgavatam in life) and being always in the association of pure devotees

United in serving the Lord!

SB 2.9.1 (A Prji):

* We have to come to a stage where we are all united in serving the Lord
* As in a musical concert, everyone is performing to the orchestra together, similarly, we should do everything for Krishna
* Keeping Krishna in the center
* Eg: A man, his 4 sons, asked to massage the 4 limbs of the father's body....
 - With this I and mine concept, we are also similarly giving suffering to our Supreme Father
* BG 15.15 Krishna is not only all pervading, but also is present as the Supersoul within everyone
* BG 15.16
 - 2 classes of beings. Fallible and infallible
 - Living entities are naturally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord
* ...
* As long as the living entity is conditioned, the suffering with matter will continue
* In the spiritual world, the body is transcendental, so no suffering
* ...

Way to inquire, way to receive Answers...

SB 2.8.29 (M Prji):

* Today, the chapter is ending by explaining how MP inquired all the questions and how they are going to be answered by SG.
* Diff types of questions were asked by MP
 - about the transcendental qualities of the Lord
 - narration considering the Lord, his qualities, potency
 - about different living beings in the planets
* SG answered in a systematic way as it was got from the disciplic succession
* So this chapter tells us what is the way to acquire knowledge and what is the proper way of anwering questions
* BG 4.34 also speaks something similar
 - if we want gyana, then we have to first of all find out a person who is tattvadarsinah
 - eg: if we want to purchase Gold, we must know where Gold is available. If we go to a grocery shop for it, we will surely be cheated
* If we are really in search of knowledge, then Krishna will surely help us
* Krishna will send the proper Guru in our direction
 - If we want a particular type of Guru, Krishna will send such a Guru
* In Katha upanishad also, it is mentioned
 - tat vijyanartham sa gurum eva bhi agachhet
* Also told in our samsaradava prayers
 - if one pleases Guru, then everything is possible,

Experimenting in the laboratory of Devotional Service...

SB 2.8.28 (SA Prji):

* "He began to reply to the inquiries of Mahārāja Parīkṣit by saying that the science of the Personality of Godhead was spoken first by the Lord Himself to Brahmā when he was first born. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the supplementary Vedic literature, and it is just in pursuance of the Vedas."
* SP says that Bhagavatam is a science of the personality of Godhead
 - it has two things then, theory and practical realizations of that theory. That is science
 - so it has gyanam and vigyanam
* Every single word in every single page of SB given by HDG SP is actually verifiable, realizable
* There are so many people actually who read the SB page to page, yet they don't understand its essence
* To verify, SB invites the person to the laboratory of devotional service
 - Here, student is encouraged to do the experiments and realize things which are beyond the sense perception
 - Here, things are perceived through sabda praman
* When one conducts such experiments, two things will surely happen
 - transformation of the heart
 - will have realizations
* SB gives us this chance of coming into the lab of DS
* Second thing SP is giving here
 - That it is a perfect answer to the impersonalists argument and basically shoots down all their points
* Through pastimes of the Lord and His pure devotees, it brings out the personality of the Lord
* Third point SP mentions
 - this SB is in pursuance to the Vedic scriptures
 - it is the nature commentary on the Vedanta Sutras
* One of the ten offenses to the holy name is rejecting the scriptures in pursuance to the Vedic literature
 - so the impersonalists who reject SB are actually committing this offense
* Only a Vaisnava can give Krishna to such impersonalists
 - cause a Vaisnava is a adhikari, one who has Krishna within his heart
* Forth point of SP
 - how can one learn this SB
 - By approaching a bona fide Spiritual master. Cause he simple repeats what his own SM has said. Does not do any concoctions (just like a postman), He must be a realized soul through disciplic succession
 - thus, this science of SB can be understood
* Guru, shastra and Sadhu should confirm with each other
* Interpreting the SB or concocting in our own way is the greatest offense to the lotus feet of the Lord

Attentively Hearing, Enthusiasm in Hearing!

SB 2.8.27 (K Prji):

* So far in this chapter, we saw that MP asked some questions to SG about the SPG
* Here we see that SG is very pleased with the inquisitiveness of MP and is happy narrate the glories of the SPG
* Similar thing, we saw in Chapter 5, between the discussions of Naradamuni and Brahmaji
* We have seen the same with our founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada. He was always intent on speaking about Krishna and also was very attentive in hearing about Krishna
 - Nice pastime in New Vrindavan, on Janmashtami night, SP was so absorbed in hearing from the Krishna book
 - So he was so enthusiastic in hearing about the SPG
* Similarly he we see in the shloka that SG is so pleased to talk about Krishna and MP is so interested in hearing more and more about Krishna
* MP was also very intelligent spiritually, cause he used his last 7 days (when he was cursed to die in 7 days) in hearing SB and absorbing himself in the pastimes of Sri Krishna
* We should aspire to always like the nectar of SB, and not be attracted to the mundane literature
 - then we can at the end of the body surely return back to home, back to godhead
* If not, it is like a frog shouting during the raining time. It will only attract the snake to come and eat the frog
 - Similarly, mundane topics will keep us busy and frog like death will come and finish everything for us
* Enthusiasm for hearing, listening attentively when hearing the topics of the SPG are the main points here
 - Eg: Maharaj Kulasekhar's pastime
* Likewise, in our daily chanting too, we should hear very clearly and attentively pronounce the holy name

Hearing from a bona fide Speaker!

SB 2.8.26 (N Prji):

* Here, SP is mentioning about the importance of disciplic succession
* Any other parampara is not valid because it does not have the Lord as its progenitor
* If the process is not genuine or if we are not hearing from a proper source, then we will not get any purification
* Only a bona fide process will purify us and the knowledge will become a part of our life
* For purification to happen
 - process must be genuine (we have to apply it too very sincerely in our life, eg sadhana)
* We have to be indebted to SP for establishing ISKCON, cause that is giving us this chance to hear from bona fide sources
* ....
* Mental speculators might be speaking well too, but because the process is not standard, transformation of heart does not happen
* All these philosophies are like the glow of a light worm. It will not last long and also does not provide any warmth
* Hearing from a pure devotee is not like that
* Theoretically hearing but not engaging in practically practicing it will not really help us
* It is important to take up the practical processes is effective in cleansing the mind and the heart
 - chanting the holy name for example cleanses the mirror of the mind
* In BG, Krishna says: those who are constantly trying to engage in DS for me, I will guide them personally from within their heart
* Teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was giving this knowledge to Sanatana Goswami
 - as to who am I etc
* If we engage our senses in service to Krishna, then our soul becomes very happy

4 Important Learnings...

SB 2.8.24 (R Prji):

* Four important topics in this verse
 - surrender
 - inquisitiveness
 - limited knowledge
 - mercy
* Surrender, we should do it to Krishna
 - again sincere and insincere surrender exist
 - Sincere devotee is one who surrenders to the instructions with full conviction
 - by being accountable to the representative of the Lord, we make progress
* Inquisitiveness
 - Different types exist
 - Being inquisitive about spiritual life for self realization is necessary
 - if it progresses in the right direction, we lose interest in material things
 - We won't take it cheaply
* Limited knowledge
 - How much can we inquire, because we have limited knowledge
 - If one tries to understand Krishna with his material mind, we can never understand Krishna cause mind cannot understand something that is infinitely increasing
 - SB 1.8.19
 - So we are very limited, that is why we should seek a spiritual master and know from him
 - Eg of HH Giriraj Maharaj (opportunity to get a donation from Birla)
 - So sincerely following Spiritual Master's words is essential
* Mercy
 - By Krishna's mercy, we get SM and by SM's mercy, we go back home back to godhead
 - By following the regulative principles, we can get the mercy of the Lord
 - Real glorification comes through sacrifice and surrender
 - Krishna is pleased when we glorify our spiritual master
 - We can go ahead only by Guru and Krishna's mercy
 - SBVT that is why sings, Gurudeva krpa bindu diya...

The Lord's Independent Nature

SB 2.8.23 (Kp Prji):

* "The independent Personality of Godhead enjoys His pastimes by His internal potency and at the time of annihilation gives them up to the external potency, and He remains a witness to it all." - MP is asking
* Even though the Lord is the creator and maintain of all the 3 worlds, yet the Lord is aloof from all this
* Lord Śri Krsna, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and fountainhead of all other incarnations, is the only independent person. He enjoys His pastimes by creation as He desires and gives them up to the external energy at the time of annihilation.
* "Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and fountainhead of all other incarnations, is the only independent person. He enjoys His pastimes by creation as He desires and gives them up to the external energy at the time of annihilation."
* The only powerful Kings who were left, when Krishna was leaving the world, were the Yadus. They were so powerful that they could take the whole earth under their control
* So Krishna desired to take all of them with Him. So for this a pastime was enacted by the Lord
* So through the curse on Samba, the whole dynasty was finished, yet the Lord was independent of it all
* Further, "He is the witness of everything that is happening, and yet He has nothing to do with anything. He is independent in every respect. Maharaja Pariksit desired to know more perfectly, for a pure devotee ought to know well."
* This is one of the lilas of the Lord. As to how he enjoys his pastimes, completes them and also annihilates them and yet is completely different from it.

Perfecting the Human form!

SB 2.8.21 (Kp Prji):

* Maharaj Parikshit is continuing to ask wonderful questions to Srila Sukadeva Goswami
 - Please explain unto me how the living beings are generated, how they are maintained, and how they are annihilated. Tell me also of the advantages and disadvantages of discharging devotional service unto the Lord. What are the Vedic rituals and injunctions of the supplementary Vedic rites, and what are the procedures of religion, economic development and sense satisfaction?
* SP in his purport has given a lot of information
* First thing: Samplavaha, in the sense of "perfect means," is employed to denote the discharging of devotional
service, and pratisamplavaha means just the opposite, or that which destroys the progress of devotional service.
* SBVT is prime example of someone who can do perfect devotinal service, while executing the functional conditional life also very nicely
* Living the conditional life is just like plying a boat in the middle of the ocean. One is completely at the mercy of the ocean, and at every moment there is every chance of being drowned in the ocean by slight agitation. If the atmosphere is all right, the boat can ply very easily, undoubtedly, but if there is some storm, fog, wind or cloud, there is every possibility of being drowned in the ocean. No one can control the whims of the ocean, however one may be materially well equipped. One who has crossed the oceans by ship may have sufficient experience of such dependence upon the mercy of the ocean. But one can ply over the ocean of material existence by the grace of the Lord very easily, without any fear of storm or fog. It all depends on the will of the Lord; no one can help if there is some unfortunate danger in the state of conditional life.
* Everything is temporary, will get over at any point of time. A conditioned person will not know what step to take in this situation. That is why they are anxious all the time.
* But for the devotees, for him, his precaution is taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. The pure devotee is always protected by the Lord. So the instruction is that one should try to always be a pure devotee of the Lord
* Second thing is that one should hear about the pure DS from a bona fide spiritual master
* One should accept only the honest means of earning wealth for self-sustenance. Otherwise, one will easily lose devotional service.
* Third aspect is that pure devotee's duty is to discharge this sankirtana movement throughout the world.
* Our perfection comes by following the instructions of the acharyas
* Every devotee should be enthusiastic in the rituals, service too. Even if one fails in getting results, one should
not be disturbed, but keep continuing.
* We should be willing to serve the instructions of the Spiritual master, in extending the mercy of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu

Getting out of the 3 modes of material nature

SB 2.8.15 (P Mji):

* In this chapter, MP is inquiring about the modes of nature
* It is this inquiring behavior of his that took him back to Godhead
 - because of this, this SB was given to us
* The goal of life is to rise above the 3 modes and to reach the transcendental mode
* Everything that happens and everywhere it is all God's plan and in His power
 - it is all His arrangement through the modes of nature
* About the modes of nature
 - Spirit soul is pure. Just as rain water comes down and mixes with mud, it becomes dirty
 - Same with the soul, in material world, becomes mixed with goodness, passion and ignorance and so looses its pure state
 - because of this we surrender to the modes of material nature
 - every action has an equal and opposite action. It also creates a disposition in our heart according to our actions
 - The amount we pay, same type we get the body
 - Just as wind is pure. If it goes through a rose garden, it gets an aromatic fragrance, but the same wind passing through sewage carries a bad small
* The most important thing is to love Krishna, and that means to love every living entity similarly
* Laws of Karma will happen and they act all times, whether we believe it or not
* With that knowledge in mind, we should accept Krishna Consciousness. Then a window opens that can take us out of this cage of the 3 modes of material nature and get us out of this cycle of birth and death

Going beyond the 3 Modes is essential...

SB 2.8.13-14 (M Prji):

* Here, in this shloka the 3 different material natures are explained. Based on our nature, we are promoted to
different higher or lower planets
* SP although is emphasizing on the transcendental mode, beyond the 3 modes of material nature
* Unless we go to this transcendental mode, we cannot go back to Godhead
* BG. 9.25
* Actions of the different mode, SB 11.5.2-5
- Goodness: ...
 - Passion: ...
 - Ignorance: intolerant anger, stinginess, violent hatred, hypocrisy, quarrel, unhappiness, depression, sleeping too much, fear and laziness
* Results of these 3 modes, from SB 5.26.2
 - Goodness: religious and happy
 - Passion: mixed misery and happy
 - Ignorance: always unhappy and lives like an animal
* Based on these modes how people live, their destination is also decided
* But what is our aim here
 - Our aim is by listening to SB, to become transcendental
 - to go above the 3 modes, transcendental
* By chanting Hare Krishna, one comes to KC, then with reading Vedic scriptures like BG, SB, CC, our mind is cleansed
 - in this way one becomes more and more free from contaminations
* SB 1.1.22
 - regular hearing SB and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troubling to the heart is removed
* Then one gradually advances in KC

Krishna is everything, everything is not Krishna!

SB 2.8.11-12 (SA Prji, Boston):

* "O learned brahmana, it was formerly explained that all the planets of the universe with their respective governors are situated in the different parts of the gigantic body of the virat-purusa. I have also heard that the different planetary systems are supposed to be in the gigantic body of the virat-purusa. But what is their actual position ? Will you please explain that?"
* "Also please explain the duration of time between creation and annihilation, and that of other subsidiary creations, as well as the nature of time, indicated by the sound of past, present and future. Also, please explain the duration and measurement of life of the different living beings known as the demigods, the human beings, etc., in different planets of the universe."
* Parikshit Maharaj is inquiring from Srila SG on the topics of the SB
* Any Puranas (18)
 - Bhagavatha P has 18000 shlokas
 - Vishnu P had 23000 shlokas
 - more
* All of them have different contexts or lakshanas (sarga and prathi sarga)
* So here PM is asking about Sarga and prathisarga
* Krishna is saying, by me in my unmanifested form, this entire manifestation is being pervaded. All beings are in me, but I am not in them
* Since Vishnu is pervaded everywhere, some Mayawadi's say that Vishnu is everywhere so is impersonal. Cause anything with a shape must be limited
* But Krishna has wonderfully answered in BG, that He is in everything, but still He is not. He is the cause of all causes
* Krishna cannot be understood so easily
* Even one studies the Vedic scriptures completely, still Krishna cannot be easily found. But for a devotee, Krishna becomes easily accessible
* Eg: King is not there everywhere in the state, but still his authority exists everywhere and the Government runs well
* So Krishna is saying, I am infinite, yet have a spiritual form
* We have to carefully understand that Krishna is the source of everything, but everything is not Krishna. Hence Supreme Absolute Truth is simultaneously personal and impersonal

A real Spiritual Master...

SB 2.8.7 (R Prji):

* PM says: the transcendental spirit soul is different from the material body.
* This is the first instruction of Krishna to Arjuna in BG
 - dehinosmin yatha dehe..
 - nayanam chindanti....
 - antha vantha ime deha...
 - All of these instructions, start only when Arjuna says that I am a soul surrendered unto you
* Essence of BG is to surrender unto Sri Krishna
* Meaning of surrender: SBVT says, there are 6 ways
 - humility, dedication of self, -- , consciousness that Krishna will always protect me, doing favorable things, not doing things unfavorable to KC
 - Srila Rupa Goswami says the favorable and unfavorable things in NOI
* So doing these favorable and unfavorable things too, humility is required, as told by Sri CM
* And this process is clearly given to us by SP
* Now we come to the question of PM: Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause?
* So how did the jivas who were part and parcel of Krishna become conditioned
 - we will come to know of it as we read SB
* But some hint is given here
 - Karma ...
 - Serious students should ask relevant questions to the Spiritual master or to the self-realized souls
 - tadviddi pranipatena....
* SP also says: It is illegal to become a spiritual master if one is unable to deliver the disciple.
* So we can think how exhalted the Swami's of ISKCON are.

Faith in the words of SB and Spiritual Master!

SB 2.8.6 (M Prji):

* "A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, for they fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey."
* The last few days we are nicely listening to the glories of SB, which Brhmaji is narrating
* Glories of SB, very current and most appropriate for us
* SP exhibits this, how much faith he has on SB
 - He comes to USA just with a few SB's
 - He expresses the glorification in his prayers on the ship
* First few verses in the first canto of SB, also very nicely describe
 - taking us from the modes of ignorance and passion to goodness
* He had faith on SB. He never had faith on his own capacity, but he has ultimate faith on SB
* We have to develop that aspect within us
* Today, we are hearing that the devotee of the Lord never looses faith and enthusiasm to serve the Lord
 - this is surrender. Doesn't matter what circumstances are, he will always execute his duty
* SP's life is a lifetime in preparation
* He was always working towards that goal of preaching KC in the western world
* Even at 70 years old, SP had the enthusiasm to come across 7 oceans to preach KC
 - We, being a little sick, try to excuse ourselves from services to the Lord
 - we can see dedication here in SP!
* "One should make the order of the Spiritual Master as life and soul"
* Two points we can learn from SP's life
 - how he took up the word of SM as life and soul
 - how he not lost faith in the words of the SM and SB!

Constantly engage in reading SB...you will attain Krishna!

SB 2.8.5 (A Prji):

* A very powerful verse
* Krishna says in BG: He who meditates on...sure to reach Me.
* We have to remember the Lord all the time and this is possible by chanting the holy name of the Lord
* Mystic yogic ways may be useful for a short time, but will not last long
* Whereas chanting Krishna's name will purify us slowly but permanently
* Constantly engage the mind in chanting the holy name of Krishna, then it is certain that at the end of our life we will have same bodily constitution as Krishna
* A pure devotee does not only save himself, but also saves everyone around him
* The Lord is always within the heart of the living being, but He becomes manifested by one's devotional service.

Hearing regularly the SB..reveal the Lord!!

SB 2.8.4 (Kp Prji):

* "Persons who hear Śrīmad-Bhagavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Śrī Krsna manifested in their hearts within a short time."
* So here how the Supreme Lord can be seen within the heart, is explained about
* Krishna does not reveal Himself to everyone
* Kuntidevi says, you are existing everywhere, but you cannot be seen by everyone. That is because he is covered by Yoga maya
* But here Parikshit Maharaj is saying that the Lord can be seen within the heart
* So it is the Lord's mercy that He reveals Himself within our heart, through pure devotional service
* Because the anarthas within our heart exist, we cannot see Krishna within our heart
* The process recommended is hearing SB regularly, from pure devotees. Then all obstacles, within and without, are eradicated
 - we become then situated in the pure mode of goodness
* But we have to follow the process of hearing must be followed
 - but simply hearing from the professional reciters will not do any help
* So PM is asking SG to please continue to narrate the pastimes of the Lord, so I can completely become absorbed in KC and cleanse my heart completely from material impurifications
* With complete faith and in earnestness, we should regularly hear from the SB. We have to take the matter very seriously too and then in due course of time, one will see the Lord with the heart. That is the realization of Parikshit Maharaj himself

The Disciplic Succession!

SB 2.8.1 (K Prji):

* In the last chapter, we saw Lord Brahma instructing the great sage Naradamuni about the incarnations of the Supreme Lord and also asked him to preach it all over
* Here, Parikshit Maharaj is now asking how did Naradamuni do this
* The Lord is aguna, has no material qualities
* Only pure devotees like Naradmuni can instruct on the qualities of the supreme Lord
* He is a great devotee of the Lord and also he heard from the right source, Brahmaji
* It is very important for us also, that where we hear from and how we hear
* Vedic knowledge is like a ripened fruit, if it falls down, it will be damaged. So it has to be passed from one hand to another, in disciplic succession
* Thus, the supreme science is received through a chain of disciplic succession
* Hence, hearing from the Supreme Lord, or Brahmaji or Naradamuni is the same, cause the messsage is maintained the same
 - Same is hearing from a bona fide spiritual master in this disciplic succession
* Caitanya Mahaprabhu too stresses on this same aspect
 - The brahmana in Kurmaksetra wants to join Sri CM. Then Sri CM tells him not to leave his position, but to stay and distribute this message to whomever we come across
* We also learn this from SP's life, as to how to distribute this message of love of Godhead to everyone
* Message: abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto the Supreme Lord Krishna
 - this is exactly what SP wanted all of us to distribute. And of course keep the message intact as it is coming in the disciplic succession
* Krishna says in BG, the greatest advantage of distributing this knowledge
 - pure devotional service is guaranteed
 - there is no servant more dear to me than he

Naradamuni ordered to spread the Message of the Glories of the Lord!

SB 2.7.52 (A Prji):

* In the verse we see that Brhmaji has asked Naradamuni to preach in all the directions
* Naradmuni is a brahmachari
 - one meaning is brahma mean the Lord, chari means one who goes around preaching. So Naradamuni true to his name was always going around preaching the message of the Lord
* In material concept
 - conception of the Supreme Lord as a person is tough to understand
 - impersonal void seems more easy for them to understand
 - But this is a fearful stage of life, without proper knowledge
* Such ppl are in the true diseased condition of life
* With so many types of philosophies about impersonal conception, many more are totally confused
* But by the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, one can come out of the confusions and follow devotional service in a most perfect way
* One must have desire for self-realization in the beginning
 - by execution of DS under guidance of SM will take one self-realization, slowly taking one krishna prema, the highest perfectional stage of life, being freed from all material attachments
* So Naradamuni was instructed by his SM, Brahmaji
 - then Naradamuni became a SM and continued to spread this message around for the purification of the entire material world

SB 2.7.51 (Ma Prji):

* Importance of hearing SB from a pure devotee and self realized soul is mentioned here
* The Bhagavata Puran?a is therefore the direct incarnation of the Lord in the form of transcendental sound, and one should receive this transcendental knowledge from the bona fide representative of the Lord in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmaji, from Brahmaji to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, from Vyasadeva to Sukadeva Gosvami, from Sukadeva Gosvami to Suta Gosvami.
* Simple hearing is not all, one must also realize the text by hearing with rapt attention. Then one can realize
Krishna in every page of SB
* The secret of knowing SB is mentioned here
 - no one can give rapt attention who is not pure in mind
 - no one can be pure in mind, who is not pure in action
 - no one can be pure in action who is not pure in eating, mating, sleeping and defending
* Nityam bhagavata sevaya
* Two kinds of bhagavata seva
 - serving the book bhagavata and serving the person bhagavata
 - we need to serve both
* Guru is the highest bhagavata devotee, who is a tattva darshina
* Guruvashtaka also, we sing daily
 - by service if we can satisfy him, then my path for self realization is gauranteed
* One should not associate with proefessional SB recitors, that is one who is not in disciplic succession and who is not in bhakti yoga
* According to Vedic injunctions, SB can only be recited by one who has unflinching faith in Krishna, basically a pure devotee, Guru
* Only through the process of devotional service, one should and can hear the SB
* It is very important to read daily SB. Why?
 - Because the glorification of the SPG is performed in the parmapara system
 - It is done by those who are no longer interested in the material world
 - by repeatedly hearing, it will get imbibed in us

Our true ever well-wisher!

SB 2.7.50 (Sa Prji Boston):

* "My dear son, I have now explained in brief the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is creator of the manifested worlds. Without Him, Hari, the Lord, there are no other causes of the phenomenal and noumenal existences."
* SP being a wonderful vaisnava, he is also a kavi, a poet
 - In this purport too, SP most wonderfully writes these statements
* Potencies of the Lord are classified as
 - internal energy (everything in the spiritual stratum)
 - external energy (temporary material world made of 5 gross elements and 3 subtle elements)
 - marginal potency (the jivas, the living entities)
* Krishna is however aloof from all these energies
* We are allowed to play around these energies, especially the external energy
 - so when we fall down from the spiritual world, Krishna gives us this material world to try and Lord it over
everything
 - everything around us is differentiation of the material elements given to us and a representation of our false ego
* BG 9.4
 - maya tatam idam sarvam....
 - the mayawadi's always say that everything is Krishna, u and I are Krishna. But to refute this, Krishna is clearly stating this previous verse of BG
 - everything comes from Krishna, but everything is not Krishna
 - All beings are in Krishna, but Krishna is not in them
* Krishna is the source of all causes
* Then SP gives one more important point:
 - One should not deprecate the Supreme Lord for the creation of this miserable world, just as one should not blame the king for creating a prisonhouse in the government
* If something goes wrong, then we keep pointing here and there, finally we blame God.
 - But that's exactly what SP is saying here, don't blame Krishna
* Actually we are responsible for messing up the material world
* It is we who forced Krishna to making this material world, similar to the creation of a prison house, where the Government makes it only because of the disobedient people
* When we say Krishna I don't want to serve you, I reject you. Then the most merciful Lord gives us this material world for us to play as pseudo-lord
* Of course, only by the mercy of Guru, Krishna, SP, we have been served
* Purpose of the prisonhouse is
 - to punish and reformation of the person
 - So in one sense, the creation of this material world is to reform us and claim us back to the spiritual world
* SP writes: "Since He has no direct attachment to this material world, He is not to be blamed for its creation."
* Our true ever well-wisher in this material world is Srila Prabhupada (SP)

Benefits of the knowledge of the Spirit Soul!

SB 2.7.49 (Ss Prji):

* Two fundamental concepts
 - basic concepts of soul and the SPG
 - the body being material
* Krishna says in BG
 - for the soul there is neither birth nor death...
 - two kinds of souls, anu atma and vibhuatma. These 2 are situated on the same tree of the material body. Soul is trying to enjoy and supersoul/vibhuatma is just observing
* Many benefits of having knowledge of the soul
 - changes man's attitude for life
* ...
* Drawing millions of circles with a common circle, there will be no clash
 - similarly, if Krishna is the center for all, then peace exists everywhere
* Death is basically transfer of soul from one body to another
* Devotee has no fear of death cause he knows he is not the body and is only interested in chanting the holy name of Krishna
* Modern man is associating himself with the body, so is just pampering the body without giving any food to the soul
* Only loving service to God can awaken the identification with the soul
* With knowledge of self, self awareness can come in leading to self realization
* We need the courage to manage our own self
* It will let us go away from negative thinking
* This attitude can lead to going away from stress, anxiety etc.

Indra does not have to dig a well!

SB 2.7.48 (Kp Prji):

* Previously, Lord Brahma told:
 - What is realized as the Absolute Brahman is full of unlimited bliss without grief. That is certainly the ultimate
phase of the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead. He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless. He is complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without distinctions, He is the principle primeval cause of all causes and effects, in whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory energy does not stand
* Now he is continuing to say:
 - In such a transcendental state there is no need of artificial control of the mind, mental speculation or
meditation, as performed by the jnanis and yogis. One gives up such processes, as the heavenly King, Indra, forgoes the trouble to dig a well
* Those who are engaged in DS, for them remembering the Lord is so easy that he heavenly King, Indra, forgoes the trouble to dig a well. Because for him, he is the controller of rain, what is there for him to dig a well then
* There is such a vast difference between yogic processes and devotional service
 - that is why the translation says: In such a transcendental state there is no need of artificial control of the
mind, mental speculation or meditation, as performed by the jnanis and the yogis

The Vedic Authorities..

SB 2.7.43-45 (A Prji):

* If we simply worship the original person, then we need not fear anything
* We can put an end to material life by one stroke
 - there is no need to follow all the difficult processes of hatha yoga etc
 - by accepting KC, we can immediately rise to the spiritual world
* Like a blacksmith, one big hammer stroke of bhakti will finish this material world for us
* If KC is not taken up, the hellish conditions of the world will continue like anything
* Surrender unto Krishna, will help reduce all the fog of material conditioning
* This can be done by chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
 - this will help us acquire the correct knowledge by which we can distinguish between what is essentially needed and what is just shown as needed for us
* Choice is ours

Prowess of Vishnu, not understood by Modern Scientists!

SB 2.7.40 (Ss Prji):

* Here, Brahmaji is explaining that no one can explain the prowess of Vishnu, not even the modern day scientists
* Personality of Godhead lives in each and every universe as Garbodakashayi Vishnu and Ksirodakashayi Vishnu
 - (more description given as we have heard before)
* Beyond this material nature, there is another spiritual nature
 - we do not know this material world itself, then how can we know the spiritual world
 - it can be known and understood only by hearing from the Supreme Lord Himself
* We cannot reach the Vaikunta planets with mechanical means
 - it can be reached only through the authentic descriptions given in the Vedas
* ...
* ...
* 7 layers of atmosphere
 - troposhpere,.., ionosphere
* This modern knowledge is like a witch who allures the common man initially, but finally inflicts all pain on the person
 - eg: Putana witch coming as a beautiful woman, but still trying to kill Krishna
* Modern amenities, technologies offer a lot of dazzle, but they somehow make us blind and we put blind faith into whatever is promoted by modern scientists
* It is only due to the deep rooted Vedic culture that a simple villager of India thinks not to commit any mistake due to the knowledge of Karma. But the modern man just goes ahead committing mistakes, without any knowledge that it will come back to him for sure

Guna Avatars of the Lord!

SB 2.7.39 (Kp Prji):

* At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahmā], and the Prajāpatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Śiva and the atheists full of anger,  etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.
* The guna avatars are being explained here by Lord Brahma
* Creation is done by Lord Brahma
* Maintainence is done by Lord Vishnu
* Destruction is done by Lord Siva of this material world
* Different kinds of pralay's (destruction) exist
* All these incarnations are actually of Lord Krishna Himself. The power of the demigods, the supremacy of the mighty beasts, actually the source of all these is Krishna Himself
* Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the
conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Visnu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaisnava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.

Kalki Avatar of the Lord!

SB 2.7.38 (K Prji):

* This chapter, we have seen Lord Brahmaji telling about all the scheduled incarnations of the Supreme Lord, to Naradamuni
* Lord Krishna when came to this earthly planet, gave his instructions in the form of the Bhagavad-gita
* But at the end of kaliyuga, the degradation is so much that the Lord comes as Kalki avatara and kills all to 
relieve them of their sins
* We can see now that Kaliyuga is already degraded so very much, just 5000 years into this yuga
* In SB, 12th Canto, Chapters 1, 2 and 3, more details are given about how the kaliyuga will exist
 - that kaliyuga will be ruled by meat-eaters and more
* SB 12.2.1, the qualities that will reduce are very clearly mentioned
 - all good qualities will slowly diminished
 - max duration of life for human beings will become 50 years
* But very imp and good quality of Kaliyuga is also mentioned in the 12th Canto of SB
 - just by chanting the Holy name of Krishna, the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, one can very easily get liberated
* Sri CM brought this forward and then Srila Prabhupada brought it to the whole world. We are very fortunate to be a part of the mercy of SP
* The supreme Lord coming as Kalki is also mentioned in other scriptures other than SB
 - Vishnu purana, Padma Purana, Agni Purana

Lord Buddha...

SB 2.7.37 (S Prji):

* Lord Brahma is explaining these incarnations
* He creates this universe, but knows that this is kind of a thankless job
* Purpose of the universe is to frustrate us in spite of all our efforts to be happy away from Krishna
* Since the universe's creation, there have been several philosophies spoken on God realization
* At one point, the Brahmins were using Vedas to promote animal killing and other such vices
* Lord Buddha came to correct this mistake among people
 - so he taught the basic common sense principles like be good and do good to other
 - he also taught principles of karma, non violence etc
* People liked it so much that they started worshipping Buddha himself
* SP comments that the definition of non-violence must be understood really well
 - non violence must be based on the principles of compassion
* We should respect all living beings, this is real compassion
* Being humble, prideless, having compassion for all living beings are the basic common sense principles
* That will help us achieve the ultimate goal of life

Unlimited Desires...

SB 2.7.32 (Ss Prji):

* Lord Brahmaji is mentioning the Govardhan pastime here
* Two aspects come out here
 - transcendental body of Krishna
 - no need for demigod worship
* Krishna was never on the level of the ordinary man, and even in His advanced age He appeared a young boy 16 years old. These are the particular features of the transcendental body of the Lord.
* This is given in Brahmasamhita too
* There are 33 crores of demigods, but Krishna is the source of all of them
* Demigod worship is not forbidden but doing so only for material possessions is described in BG as being less intelligent
* Fact is that demigods themselves derive power from the Supreme Lord
* The proper method is to depend on the Supreme Lord
* A devotee always depends on the Supreme Lord, however, a devotee can also worship a demigod specifically to develop pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord
* Having material desires is no problem in approaching the Supreme Lord. In all these cases, Krishna will satisfy the desires and then also promote the person towards pure devotional service
* SB 1.2.12 to SB 1.2.22
* Example of Dhruva Maharaj is very much useful for us to learn from
* Krishna can easily fulfill all desires
* Story of King, the beggar, the begging bowl made of the human mind
 - our desires will never end, cause it is the manifestation of an unsatisfied mind
* Krishna might not give what we want, Krishna will give what we need
* Our only desire must be to serve the Supreme Lord

Real service mood...

SB 2.7.31 (M Prji):

* Brahmaji is spending a lot of verses to describe the glories of the SPG Krishna, although he only used 1-2 verses for all other incarnations
* After Govardhan lila pastime, the pastime of Nanda Maharaj being arrested by Varuna happens
* Residents of Vrindavan were totally dependent on Lord Krishna and Balaram
* Lord Krishna and Balaram then go to the palace of Varuna to rescue Nanda Maharaj. Varuna welcomes them and tells that by mistake his servant had arrested His father
* Varuna says that the Lord bestowed His mercy on him by coming there and glorifies Krishna over and over again
* Nanda Maharaj is stunned as to why Varuna is praising the Lord so much
* Krishna shows the Vrindavan people all the Vaikunta planets and tells them that they will also go back there soon
* SP emphasizes the aspect of training in the chapter 28 of the Krishna book
* Sri CM emphasizes the aspect of humility, which in turn needs training. The SM is also giving us training
* Spiritual world, everybody is naturally in the dasanudas mode. But unfortunately in the material world, there is competition to perform service, not the mood of being a servant of someone who is doing service
* Especially when the spiritual master comes, competition comes forward. But we should not do this, we should try to serve or be assistant to one who is serving
* Sri CM's Mahaprakash lila time
 - the pastime of Dukhi, the maid servant of Srivas's house
 - she was running to the Ganga and getting water for performing abhishek of Sri CM, she never wanted to go right in front of Sri CM to do this service
 - So Sri CM recognizes that and he initiates her and changes her name to be Sukhi
* By staying in the background, we see that we always will gain
* Another pastime of Sri CM, when he is planning to go to Vrindavan
 - this brahmana wants to serve, but cannot
 - So he meditates and in his meditation constructs a path and decorates it very nicely for the Lord
* So we should understand that serving the devotees serving the Lord or the Spiritual master, is the best service

Krishna subduing Kaliya !

SB 2.7.28 (SA Prji)

* Then also when the cowherd boys and their animals drank the poisoned water of the River Yamunā, and
after the Lord [in His childhood] revived them by His merciful glance, just to purify the water of the
River Yamunā He jumped into it as if playing and chastised the venomous Kāliya snake, which was lurking
there, its tongue emitting waves of poison. Who can perform such herculean tasks but the Supreme Lord ?
* Similar verse in SB 10.15.49-50
* These 2 verses are strikingly similar
* Pastime of "Subduing Kaliya" is described
* Kaliya was initially living in the Ramanaka Island (which in present day is Fiji)
* Kaliya was powerful, so it was thinking that it is Supremely powerful
 - that is the problem with material strength
* Garuda chastised Kaliya and because of him, Kaliya had to leave Ramanaka Island
* Separate from this, Saubari muni had cursed Garuda to not come to his area, a lake near River Yamuna
 - So Kaliya decided to come and stay in this place, which was now in Braja bhoomi
* Reason why Krishna decided to purify Kaliya
 - The lake where Kaliya stayed was full of poison
 - this poison spread to Yamuna river too
* This poison is compared to enviousness
 - Krishna comes down to the material world to purify us from this enviousness
* Similar pastime also happened during the churning of the milk ocean
 - The Supreme Lord explains why poison was present in the bed of the ocean
 - First thing that came out from the churning was poison, not nectar
 - Just because we became selfish, over a period of time people throw all junk into the ocean bed, this
poison was formed
 - Similar to us too, polluting environment is a big mistake we will have to pay for
* Krishna climbed the Kadamba tree and jumped into the lake
* This annoyed Kaliya and he bit the chest of Krishna
 - just by drinking the water in the nearby river, all the Gopa's had died
 - But here, even with a bite from this snake, nothing happened to KRishna. This shows us that Krishna's
body is completely spiritual
* The fight between Krishna and Kaliya started and continued
* Finally, Krishna decided to finish it off
* Krishna jumped onto the hoods of Kaliya and started dancing there
* Srila Sanatana Goswami explains
 - This Kaliya was so powerful, that he could built solid items under the water. He had prepared his own
city under the lake
 - But Krishna's dancing was so fierce that all this was destroyed
* Kaliya wad subdued and the he was sent back to the Ramanaka Island

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead

SB 2.7.27 (A Prji):

* The vedic scriptures give us perfect knowledge about the Personality of Godhead
* Lord Krishna is the Supreme Controller, as said in BS
* As told in BG, SB, Krishna is the God all in all
* It is also confirmed by all the great acharyas
* When we hear Bhagawan, we should have no doubt that He is the Supreme of all
* Krishna possesses all 64 qualities
 - Living entities have 50 qualities
 - Lord Brahma and Siva have 55 qualities
 - Lord Vishnu has 60 qualities
 - Lord Krishna is the swayam bhagawan, and has the complete 64 qualities
* This confirms that Lord Krishna is the SPG!

False Pride and Krishna's promise!

SB 2.7.25 (Ss Prji):

* Lord Brahma is continuing the narrations of the incarnations of the Lord, to Narada mahamuni
* 2 imp points
 - pride, false prestige
 - If Krishna wants to kill you, no one can save you. If Krishna wants to save you, no one can kill you
* On False prestige
 - Especially for educated people, pride comes in due to the scholarly achievements
 - Due to material achievements, one does not recognize Krishna as the Supreme
 - Even Lord Caitanya condemned austerities and gyana, that cause pride
 - Another thing of False pride is one wants to get name and fame
 - Some people want to get photo with imp people, just to make themselves proud
 - For devotees too, wealth, power can bring us into the enjoyment mode
 - Nothing is ours, it is God's service. Service means whatever makes God happy. And He reveals it
through Guru, Sadhu and Sastra
 - carefully guard against arrogance and pride
* In Ramayana, Rama faces Ravana with no armour at all, whereas Ravana comes with all his full
paraphernalia
 - But Ravana's pride covers him from seeing the beauty of the Lord
* We don't realize that the Lord always tries to save us from this pride, but we don't recognize it
* Krishna has said that in BG, that His devotee never perishes
* ....
* If Krishna wants to kill you, no one can save you. If Krishna wants to save you, no one can kill you
 - So many examples in the past
 - Prahlada Maharaj example
 - Queen Draupadi's example
 - The Lord incarnates to save His devotees and kill the miscreants
* "Make Srila Prabhupada's mission as your life and soul. To do that, take shelter sincerely of the Holy
name..."

Continuing Lord Ramachandra's Pastimes and Lessons for us!

SB 2.7.24 (M Prji):

* The pastimes of Lord Ramachandra are glorious and we recently celebrated the glorious festival of
Ramanavami
* Yesterday we saw how Mother Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and taken to Lanka
* In this verse: "The Personality of Godhead Rāmacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend
[Sītā], glanced over the city of the enemy Rāvaṇa with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to
burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family
members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry
red-hot eyes of the Lord."
* SP says in his purport, that all these sentiments exhibited by the Lord bring out the personal feature
of the Lord so perfectly.
* Continuing on the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra
* These pastimes of the Lord when we read sincerely, there is a lot of auspiciousness involved
* The benediction given by Sukadeva Goswami in the 9th Canto for a person listening to Ramayana is
 - ultimate freedom from the bondage of envy and fruitive activities
* We have lust, anger, greed, pride, envy and illusion as the 6 anarthas
 - all the 5 can be used in the service of Krishna, except envy
* So to remove this envy is very very important and only Lord Ramachandra has the weapon to do it
* When the living entity becomes envious of the Lord, he is sent down to this material world where he can try to enjoy the world and try to be the Lord
* But we know this world is a place of suffering only, so we have to make an effort to lose this envy
* By hearing the pastimes of the Lord, we not only lose envy but also develop love for the Lord
* So by developing love for the Lord, we slowly but automatically lose envy within our hearts
* Bhakti is the process of cultivating love for the Lord and for His devotees
* One pastime
 - When Mother Sita is kidnapped, Lord Rama and Lakshman go searing for her in the forest
 - They make friends with Sugriva and Hanuman
 - Sugriva forgets the promise that he will help Lord Ramachandra
 - That is the quality of the Lord, He gives free will to the living entity and never intervenes in what the living entity wants to do
 - Lakshmana however after 4 months goes in anger to remind Sugriva of his promise. The position of Lakshmana is the Spiritual Master. He intervenes and makes the living entity remember the Lord again
* Similar in our lives, it is the Spiritual Master and our siksa Guru's who help us in our path back to Godhead. We need to understand it and use their guidance accordingly
* Another wonderful pastime is of Hanumanji. Ramayan is incomplete without Hanumanji!

Lessons from Lord Ramachandra's Pastimes!

SB 2.7.23 (M Prji):

* 10-15 minutes are naturally very very less to speak about Lord Ramachandra. His pastimes are spoken
about for yuga's by various devotees, so we will just see one or two here.
* Lord Ramachandra in this incarnation comes as a human being, so we can relate to him closely here
* He also brings His expansions and all his entourage with Him
* Greatness of the Puranas or these incarnations, they instruct us indirectly
 - same here, through pastimes of the Lord, very nice instructions are given to us that we can follow in
our own life
* By hearing these pastimes again and again, we recognize that the bad qualities of Ravana etc are also
in me and therefore we will try to rectify them
* For example, materialistic man wants to run behind wealth without taking shelter of the Lord, which is
directly the thing of taking Sitaji without Lord Rama. This is Ravana mentality
* Three pastimes will be spoken about here
* 1) About mother Kaikeyi and Lord Ramachandra
 - by associating with Manthra, envy was invested into her and she lost all her intelligence
 - When we associate with envious persons, they infuse their envy into us
 - this is a great pastime of the Lord, which instructs us about association
* 2) About Ravana
 - Ravana had no desire to enjoy Sita at all. He was happy in Lanka totally ignorant of the presence of
Sitaji at all
 - However, Surpanaka, being envious of Sitaji, she goes to Ravana and infuses that envy into her. She is
the one who plants the seed of Material lust into her heart
 - Then Ravana started contemplating on Sitaji, then lust started to build, he wanted to enjoy
* 3) When Ravana kidnaps Mother Sita and is taking her away on his chariot, Jatayu see this
 - Despite his old age, he flies and starts to fight with Ravana. Although Mother Sita instructs him that
he is old and cannot fight Ravana, he still fought against Ravana
 - Both his wings are cut off by Ravana
 - by material perspective, Jatayu failed, but he actually pleased the Lord so much that he finally died
in the hands of the Lord Himself
 - key thing is not in the results of what is happening. It is all in how we please the Lord by how much
effort we put into our services
* So much inspiration is there in Ramayana, we can get so much shelter from these pastimes

Lord Parashurama!

SB 2.7.22 (A Prji):

* In this verse, we are talking about people who are miscreants and also foolish
* Krishna says in the BG
 - namam dushkritino mudah...
* Simply by surrendering oneself at the lotus feet of Krishna, we can overcome all problems
* Mukti is possible by this surrender, then why don't the leaders of society follow this simple path
* Even the great leaders like Brahma do this, but the leaders of this earth do not have any plans to
follow this path
* Material energy works closely with the Lord, since it is like the shadow of the Lord
* From the purport of the above BG verse, 4 different types of miscreants
 - foolish workers, who just work hard for sense gratification
 - naradhama
 - mayaya parta gyana (philosophers, scientists etc)
 - asuram bhavan ashritaha (grossly atheistic class)
* Yada yada hi dharmasya....sambhavami yuge yuge
* Higher principles of religion are attained through following the 4 orders of varnas and ashramas
* The Lord will come down anytime these religious principles are not upheld and destroy the miscreants
* Today's verse, Lord Parusharama's incarnation is for the same specific purpose

The Lord's Manu Avatar!

SB 2.7.20 (M Prji):

* One of the avatars of Krishna is Manu avatar
* "As the incarnation of Manu, the Lord became the descendant of the Manu dynasty and ruled over the miscreant kingly order, subduing them by His powerful wheel weapon. Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe."
* Our life is probably for 65-75 years, it is not even a sneeze time of a Manu
 - so in this short life time we get caught in connections with the body, unnecessarily
* In one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus, changing one after another. In that way there are 420 Manus in a month of Brahma and 5,040 Manus in one year of Brahmā. Brahmā lives for one hundred years according to his calculation, and as such there are 504,000 Manus in the jurisdiction of one Brahma.
* Right now, it is the 7th Manu called Vaivasvata Manu
* Krishna says in the 4th Chapter of BG: I instructed this yoga to Vivasvan, the Sun god, who then told it to Manu, the father of mankind...
* So this knowledge is coming from parampara, disciplic succession
* There are 2 ksatriya families in this world
 - one coming from the Sun God
 - one coming from the Moon God
* Manu, coming from the Sun God, is the father of mankind
 - man, word is coming from Manu
 - in sanskrit, it is manushya
 - And man is made in the same form as God
* Gradually if we go checking our lineage, we come to see that our supreme father is God
* First manu is Swayambuvamanu and Satarupa ...
 - (More details about the manu's are described here by Prabhuji....)

Learning from Bali Maharaj!

SB 2.7.18 (Ss Prji):

* In our life, when reversals happen, we either blame people around us or God
* In Bali Maharaj's case, the king of all the 3 worlds, when he was arrested by the Lord, it was really a
embarrassing situation. But his realizations at that time are so great that he became one of the Mahajanas
* He considered the punishment as most exalted because he considered the Lord the most worshippable
* He also considered the Lord the greatest welfare for him and also for the whole demoniac race
* The Lord is the greatest well wisher, the best protector. We just need to understand this and develop
this conviction by studying the shastras regularly and seriously
* Mere realizations is not enough, it has to be translated into action
* Reality is whatever we are blessed with in this life, are all gifts of God. So to use them in His
service is the best way for self-realization, the essence of our life
* When we misuse these gifts, we will face consequences as well
* Therefore, we have to use these gifts in the Lord's service
* Unlimited knowledge, worshipful for everyone, fearlessness in material existence, are the 3 things
which Bali Maharaja aimed to achieve, as did his grandfather Prahlada Maharaj
* Material opulence is temporary. DS to the lotus feet of the Lord is the only saving grace for us
* SB 2.2.3: every second of human life is important, any enlightened man should use every second for
developing his KC
* Civilization of soul is important finally!