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!

Lord Vamanadeva and Bali Maharaj!

SB 2.7.17 (M Prji):

* Appearance of Lord Vamandeva is discussed here
* Bali Maharaj, is also the personification of atma nivedanam
* He is none other than the grandson of Prahlada Maharaj
* As a King, he conquered all the kingdoms and ruled everything
* Since he was pleasing the brahamanas, he acquired a lot of strength, he was able to win over heaven too
* Then the mother of the demigods, Aditi, to save her sons, performs austerities and asks for Vishnu's help
* (Story continues further....of Vamanadev being born of Aditi and then begging from Bali Maharaj)
* Our KC is never affected by our material possessions
 - if we are not KC now, then no material changes will affect it
* Bali Maharaj is always pleasing his spiritual master and hence gets all his strength
* He finally surrenders to the Lord by asking the Lord to place the third step on his head
* Another story
 - Karna's charity, but not for pleasing the Lord
 - no use of such charity
* Another story
 - Vibhishana's saranagati to Lord Rama, a real one
 - If we just say to Lord Rama: "My dear Lord, my senses are driving away from you. I am yours. I surrender unto you, please protect me". That way Lord Rama will surely save us!

Taking shelter through Holy Name of the Lord!

SB 2.7.15 (KP Prji):

* Lord Brahma is explaining the scheduled incarnations.
* Here, the story of Gajendra is being explained
* In the middle of the milk ocean, there is a big mountain called the Trikota Mountain. In that valley,
there is a forest, and there the King of elephants, Gajendra and his family of she-elephants enter a lake
to play
* This disturbed the inhabitants of the lake and the king of the crocodiles came and attacked the
Gajendra
* They fought for 1000 years. But slowly the crocodile became more stronger and Gajendra was becoming
weaker
* Then, what is Gajendra going to do?
* SP gives in his purport, this Gajendra in his previous life is a devotee of the Lord, King Indradyumna.
* Here, the aspect of accepting the Lord as one's sole shelter comes out very nicely
* In both stages, distress and happiness, remembering the Lord is so helpful.
* So being an elephant, Gajendra was still able to remember the Lord. Then he offered the Lord this
wonderful prayer: O original enjoyer, Lord of the universe! O deliverer, as famous as a place of
pilgrimage! All are purified simply by hearing Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted
* Developing dependence on the Lord is very strongly focussed on here
* He also says that the Lord is tirtha savaha, that hearing the holy name of Lord, all the sins are
eradicated
* Gajendra also is saying that one receives everything auspicious simply by hearing the holy name
* So Gajendra, by the dint of his past life was able to remember the Lord and hence get liberation

Gajendra Moksham!

SB 2.7.15 (SA Prji):

* The leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in a river by a crocodile of superior strength, was
much aggrieved. Taking a lotus flower in his trunk, he addressed the Lord, saying, "O original enjoyer,
Lord of the universe! O deliverer, as famous as a place of pilgrimage! All are purified simply by hearing
Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted."
* Here, Gajendra, the leader of elephants was distressed because his leg was caught by a crocodile in
water
* He was very strong and many animals were living freely in the forest just by being his friends
* History: This elephant in his previous life was, King Indradyumna
 - He gave up his kingdom (Pandya kindgom) and was living in the forest, always thinking about the Lord
 - he was following a mauna vrata, so somehow failed to give respect to his guest, Agastya muni
 - So Agastya muni cursed him that he becomes bodily conscious and to fall down into the material world
 - So King Indradyumna is born in the Tricota forest and is living with his family of elephants
 - He is enjoying, then maya strikes, in the form of a crocodile
 - This crocodile in his previous life was as Gandharva, Huhu. He was a king there and was enjoying the
damsels of heaven. Somehow he pulled the leg of Devalamuni and therefore he was cursed to become a
crocodile. He was also told that finally, the Supreme Lord will liberate him
* So when Gajendra was caught by the crocodile, he initially did not think about Krishna. He was in the
bodily consciousness and therefore he fought with the crocodile for 1000 years
* Then finally he got out of this consciousness and he remembered the Lord of his life
* He was then praying to the Lord and sincerely calling out to Him. He was addressing the Lord directly
by chanting the holy name of Hari and therefore, the Supreme Lord Himself came to help him
* This Gajendra could do, cause he was a devotee in his previous life. He therefore was able to remember
the Lord fully
* This made lord Vishnu rush to his help. The Lord cut off the head of the crocodile and saved Gajendra
* So in order to invoke the mercy of the Lord, we have to know the Supremacy of the Lord and take His
shelter. But until we think someone else will save us, the Lord will not come to our protection. Only
when we take complete shelter of the Lord, then the Lord will come to save us
* Imp Point: Here we see two living beings locked up in a battle. Both were kings in their previous life.
The Lord comes and liberated Gajendra (attains 4 armed sarupya mukti and goes back to Vaikunta). The
crocodile attains his previous material form and goes back to his kingdom
* The conclusion is that we can get out of the material world is to chant the holy names of the Lord and
always taking shelter of the Lord!

Lord Narasimha's Appearance!

SB 2.7.14 (M Prji):

* Today's verse, the pastime of Narsimhadeva is described here
* 3 aspects stand out here
* 1) Hiranyakasipu is considered the best of the demons. He is an expert knower of the Vedas, but still in practical ways, he was envious of the Lord. So we can see here that theoretical knowledge of the vedas is not enough
...
* 2) Prahlada Maharaj, just 5 years old, his life was blissful, just in the shelter of the Lord
...
* 3) The Supreme Lord, He manifests as Narsimhadeva
* The Lord appears from the pillar to protect Prahlada Maharaj
...
...

Vedic Scriptures vs. Modern Science's Relative Truths!

SB 2.7.13 (SA Prji jr):

* "The primeval Lord then assumed the tortoise incarnation in order to serve as a resting place [pivot]
for the Mandara Mountain, which was acting as a churning rod. The demigods and demons were churning the
ocean of milk with the Mandara Mountain in order to extract nectar. The mountain moved back and forth,
scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was experiencing an itching
sensation."
* In this purport, SP is very nicely explaining how one should accept the absolute truth based on the
authorities of Vedic Scriptures
* Today's world, people don't believe in the existence of these vedic scriptures
* They tell it is all Grandmother stories
* However, those who are practicing this path of DS, they understand very clearly under the authority of
acharya's that these Vedic Scriptures are completely authentic. They have stood the test of time for many
 millenniums
* Absolute truth is truth, they have never been proven wrong, the vedic scriptures. Whereas on the
contrary, the modern scientific truths are always changing. One scientist proposes something, another
corrects it and it goes on
* DS is a very scientific process actually, which is very bona fide in nature
* Especially taking the shelter of sound vibrations is a tool given to us to practically very this
scientific process
* The morning program has to be strong (wake up early and complete all 16 rounds in one shot in front of
Tulsi devi), then one can see the strong results of this process
* SP further says: Although it is not in out experience, we cannot accept or deny the existence of a milk
ocean, just based on experimental analysis
* Because experimental analysis is based on sensory perception. Because senses are themselves limited,
simply accepting on experimental analysis is not completely valid.
* Hence, on the spiritual basis it needs to be accepted
* One has to take the aid of spiritual bona fide acharyas and the sound vibration to help us out here
* So many facts about this material world's creation etc is so very well explained already in the vedic
scriptures
* That's why SP stressed on book distribution and also college preaching
* We are not against these scientific inventions, but against the fact that God is completely removed
from their explanations
* When the Lord takes the form of a tortoise or fish for a particular purpose, a devotee can easily
understand this
* Only a pure devotee can understand who Krishna is!

About Sri Dhruva Maharaj!

SB 2.7.8 (P Mji):

* "Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet, which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward."
* This is a very instructional summary here
* Two aspects here
 - 1) Eyes completely blinded by the thick glasses of envy, pride, illusion etc
 - Krishna says in BG: kama esa krodha esa...
 - lust, anger and finally illusion follow one after another, just starting from lust alone
 - 2) Other aspect is the devotion and dedication of a pure devotee, Dhruva Maharaj, comes out here
 - just at 5 years, after being insulted by his step mother, he inquired from his own mother, set out to achieve his objective with strong determination
 - fulfilled his life's objective by seeking out the Supreme Lord, by following the words of his spiritual master
* As soon as the Lord, living in the heart of every living entity, as soon as He realizes that a living entity is
searching for Him, then the Lord Himself will send forward bona fide representative
* Our life is also so much affected, because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, gave us this Hare Krishna Maha mantra and giving us an opportunity to perfect our lives