One benediction of worshipping Demigods...

SB 2.3.11 (Krishna Patro Prji):

* The nature of the jivas is always remain happy. Always seeking material happiness.
* But unfortunately, their contact with material nature, they try to enjoy independent of the Lord. Therefore, they continue to struggle to lord over the material nature.
* BG very nicely explains this.
* Spontaneously, we have so many needs for the material things. No end to this want, and it does not end our desire to enjoy.
* And based on their desires, they worship different demigods. Karma kanda portion of the Vedas.
* This world is full of such examples.
* In our own heart too, we can see how we are trying to lord over the material nature.
* In spite of trying so very much, we can never be happy, cause the path is guaranteed not to give full happiness. Cause the path of senses is an unsatisfiable path.
* This world is temporary only, so all the things are also temporary, therefore, we end up with the fear of losing them. So even after we acquire, we get the fear of losing them.
* But here, Sukadeva Goswami is giving one advantage of worshiping Demigods. That they have at least some faith in the Vedic version. The people worshiping the demigods are at least one step ahead of the atheistic people. So they can through their faith, get some association of a pure devotee of a Lord and hence can finally come to the highest benediction, of solving the problems of birth, death, old age and disease. They can attain spontaneous attraction to the SPG and attain bhava.

Everything comes from the Supreme...

SB 2.3.10 (Sacisuta Prji):

* Here SG is telling MP that: A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.
* Bhakti can be followed by all.
* Even a person wanting impersonal liberation must be dependent on Krishna in getting it.
* Akamah is one who has no material desire.
* Further, SP is explaining what pure bhakti means.
* Every demigod can give any boon only under the sanction of Vishnu. So whenever we worship any demigod, it always starts with prayer to Vishnu. So any intelligent man should understand that if it is Vishnu, then as well pray to Vishnu directly.
* BG 7.20: Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.
* All material desires are sanctioned by Lord Vishnu only.
* BG 9.25: those worship demigods will go to them....
- the difference between planets of the demigods and that of Krishna is that Goloka is a place where there is no birth, death, disease or old age
* Pure DS should be practised with enthusiasm, faith and sincerity.
* Proper results will not get be got without offenseless chanting
- Story of yogi in freezing water, King and Minister.

Description of the form of the Lord continues...

Verse 2.1.29 (Ashish Prji):

* It is said that one can neither see, hear the SPG so easily. But with loving devotional service, it is possible for us to see Him.
* Only by His mercy, He can reveal Himself to us.
* Upon mental speculation, it is not possible for us to see Him.
* Foolish ppl say that Krishna is different from His mind, heart etc. But actually, He is absolute, so every sense and limb of Him is absolute too.
* In BG it is given: whoever knows His appearance and activities, will not take birth again in this material world.
* This verse is expansion of BG 11th chapter.
* Arjuna saw the Viraat rupa and was afraid, but only after seeing Krishna back in His transcendental 2-armed form was he back to being fine.
* ...

Goal of Life...

Verse 2.1.14 (Krishna Patro Prji):

* The goal of life is self-realization.
* Unfortunately, we are caught up in the mire's of life and we keep working hard day and night, so we have no time for self realization.
* The highest perfection of life is to remember the SPG at the end of life.
* Here it is also said: Only liberated souls take interest in the SPG.
- So here, Maharaj Parikshit was interested, so he was already a liberated soul.
- Then for us, we have to follow the regulative principles of spiritual life under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master
* To develop taste for hearing, glorifying Krishna, we need to follow the regulative principles.
* When SP was asked by a reporter: How many pure devotees you have in the organization? He answered, the number of devotees in the organization. Cause he knew all of them are pure devotees, the process has started, only time is
separating.
* Goal of life: always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna
* Here, MP had 7 days to perfect himself. For us, we don't know how much time we have. But good thing is, we can perfect our life in a moment too. Eg: King Katwanga.
* Human life is very rare. One should not waste one's life.
- Alexander the great's story, malaria shortened his life
* Sukadeva Goswami's instruction therefore is, one should engage in self realization, by following the 4 regulative principles. And remembering the SPG all the time.

More about the first two offenses against the holy name!

Verse 2.1.12 (Sacisuta Prji):

* In the previous verses, we have seen how Jiva Goswami is mentioning about the offenses of the Lord.
* In this purport, the first and second verses are discussed again.
* One should neither blaspheme the devotee of the Lord nor indulge in hearing others who are engaged in belittling a devotee of the Lord
- better to leave the place where such belittling is happening.
* We have to be very very grateful to all the devotees.
* Vaisnava aparadha is dangerous.
* Eg: Jagai Madhai did offense to Nityananda Pr, Caitanya M almost killed them with his chakra
* This vaisnava aparadha is like a mad elephant disease.
* Eg: Saci mata and Advaita acharya, here Saci mata offended the later
- Another eg: Haridas thakur and Gopal Chakravarthy, the later here abused the former
* Another ef: Gopala chapala tried to do Vaisnava aparadha against Srivas thakur. Result of this, the former suffers severs leprosy.
* At community level also, offense to holy name or devotees affects
eg: Ramachandra khan sending a prostitute to Haridas thakur. Another time, he offended Nityananda Pr. Because of his offense, entire village suffered
* Then, the second offense is also discussed
* As far as distinguishing the Lord's holy name from the names of the demigods, the revealed scriptures disclose (Bg. 10.41) that all extraordinarily powerful beings are but parts and parcels of the supreme energetic, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Except for the Lord Himself, everyone is subordinate; no one is independent of the Lord. Since no one is more powerful than or equal to the energy of the Supreme Lord, no one's name can be as powerful as that of the Lord.
* Message is, we should develop proper consciousness while chanting the holy name.
* Never be involved in Vaisnava aparadha
* Be conscious of Krishna and cautious of Maya!

More glorification of the SB!

Verse 2.1.8 (Mohan Prji):

* Here, before Srila SG begins to speak the SB, his introduction is being given.
* We also saw before that Suta Goswami was glorifying the SB.
* 3 primary points come forward here
- This SB is the ripened fruit of all the Vedic literatures.
* Quoted verses
- nigama kalpa taror...
- nasta prayershu abadreshe...
- And today's verse too.
* SP writes the Introduction of the SB and he quotes extensively about the life and pastimes of Lord Sri CM. He tells that Lord CM is the SPG Himself.
- One of his purposes to come to material world is He accepts SB as the post graduate study of the knowledge of the SPG.
* How should one learn the SB?
- SP explains: You cannot just read it and know it. One has to read SB under the guidance of a Spiritual Master.
* It is stated here that SB was narrated at the beginning of Dvapara Yuga. But we might question that it was spoken at the end.
- Here Srila Jiva Goswami very nicely explains this to us, through the example of a tree. Some say beginning is the top, some say beginning is the root.
* The purports of SP therefore, explain this wonderful literature so nicely.

Continuing about the glories of Hearing...

Verse 2.1.7 (Kasi Prji):

* Here we see that Srila SG is mentioning that glories of the Lord are transcendental.
* The proof is that the great transcendentalists always takes great pleasure in discussing such glories of the Lord.
* SB 1.10.- atmaramascha munayo....
* We see that the 4 Kumaras were simply attracted by the fragrance of the Tulsi leaves at the Lotus feet of the Lord and they became unalloyed devotees.
* Sukadeva Goswami (SG) also was similarly attracted to the pastimes of the Lord, although he was brahman realized.
* SB 1.5.10, persons most of the time...
* SP: Those who are in the lowest side, pastimes of the Lord will not be attractive.
* Eg: The storefront in NY, Matchless Gifts, was Vaikunta, in the midst of New York. Not many could see this Vaikunta.
* So slowly hearing the glories of the SB and chanting will slowly purify our heart.
* Sri CM: anandambudi vardanam...
- So this chanting will help us get to the nectar!

At the end of life, remembering Krishna is the ultimate!

Verse 2.1.6 (Naresh Prji):

* SP is saying here, ultimately at the end of life we have to remember the Lord.
* Srvanam, Kirtanam and remembering the Lord will help us do this.
* So making the kingdom of God as our goal is our primary thing.
* But remembering Krishna in the usual time itself is difficult, so how can we remember Him at the moment of death, which is so tough circumstances.
* So the priority is hearing and chanting. Then remembering will follow.
* Chanting sincerely in the mood of goodness is essential. It should not be a background chanting. Attentively listening to the holy name will give positive results in anyone life.
* Coming to the verse, understanding the purpose of human life. We have only intelligence, that which can help us enquire our relationship with God.
* Eg: of the Cat carrying the kitten or the mouse. We should also feel safe as the kitten, that will happen with proper shelter.
* And Krishna gives the method too: engage urself in my devotion ... (man mana bhava madbhakto...)
* After so many lifetimes we have reached to this stage where we are getting the boat to cross the ocean of material existence, through the help of a spiritual master. So we should endeavor to make this happen.
* But we may have just begun, for us also, Krishna is giving a guarantee: BG 2.40 neha bikramo...
* Even if I don't make it to the final point, the goal should be to get on the boat and keep trying. So then it is guaranteed that we will be in the safe hands of Krishna!

Hearing and Glorifying the Lord!

Verse 2.1.5 (Krishna Patro Prji):

* Srila SG, after giving the nature of the grhamedhi, he is now talking about what is the best thing to do for one who is trying for self-realization.
- It is hearing, glorifying and chanting the names of the SPG.
* SG: one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.
* It is really difficult to understand that we are actually suffering in this material world. That's why we need the association of a sadhu. Sadhu is one who will remind us of this.
* By association of devotees and reading SP's books, we can realize the time we spend being grhamedi's. So in order to come out of these miseries, one must seize to work as karmi's.
* SP refers to BG 9.27: "One should not do anything, either good or bad, on his own account, but must execute everything on behalf of the Supreme Lord, the ultimate proprietor of everything that be. This process of doing work is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27) also, where instruction is given for working on the Lord's account."
* Simplest process is always hear, glorify the SPG.
* We can see in our own life, hearing has brought in so much transformation.
* Hearing from authorities is the best shreyas.
* Another verse supporting this one: srunvatam sva katha krishna...

Our relationship to this world is temporary!

Verse 2.1.4 (Mohan Prji):

* One thing coming to the mind is the answer that Maharaj Yudhistira gave to the question asked by Yamaraja. Everyone is dying, but we don't believe it.
* Same is the case with our wife, relatives etc. Our connections will sooner or later be cut.
* Another story of the person going through the forest
- tiger is following him (which is death in our case)
- the deep well (well of material ignorance)
- the honey which is dripping nearby (is the false pleasures of this world)
Moral is we forget the tiger and the deep well that is imminent on us, but we go after the dripping honey.
* Another story: A person gets hired by a wood merchant. He is given an axe and asked to cut a tree. He cuts down 10 trees to make the merchant happy. Next day he cuts 8, next day he cuts 6. Merchant asks: when was the last time he sharpened his axe.
Moral: Each one of us we forget in this world to sharpen our axe. We may be working hard, but unless we use the scriptures, read them and sharpen our axe, we will be wasting our time.

Grhamedhi's Characteristics explained...

Verse 2.1.3 (Puja Mataji):

* Yesterday, we learnt about Grhastha's and Grhamedhi's. Grhastha's are the best.
* Today, a little more about Grhamedhi's is being told: The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members.
* Eating, sleeping, defending and mating, even animals do this. So what makes the human different. It is our ability to use our intelligence to know the absolute truth and going back to Godhead, that makes us different.
* In BG, Krishna tells Arjuna that the senses are so strong, that they forcibly carry away the mind of even a person who is trying to control them.
* Krishna also says, a person who fixes his consciousness upon Krishna, is a man of steady intelligence. This is the highest conception of Yoga, which means to connect.
- Eg: Ambarisha Maharaj. Durvas Muni although a great yogi, could not check his anger, although AM could do so, as he was a devotee of the Lord. This he did cause he had fixed his consciousness on the lotus feet of the Lord.
* Again, Krishna says in BG, the time of awakening for a self controlled person is night for a materialistic person and vice-versa. When the materialistic person is actively engaged in sense gratification, the self-controlled person is inactive, meaning not engaged in such things.
* When a person is engaged in such deep consciousness of Krishna, at the moment of death, then one can enter into the spiritual world.

Canto 2 Begins!

Verse 2.1.1 (Mohan Prji):

* We are starting the 2nd Canto here, where Sukadeva Goswami is going to start to explaing the Srimad Bhagavatam to Maharaj Parikshit.
* In today's verse, SG is glorifying that the question of MP is so appropriate and good for all kinds of people.
* Because this question was about Krishna!
* Krishna says in BG: manusyanam sahasreshu...
* SP comments: One should understand that he is not the body, but a spirit soul. The next step is to understand the position of the Supreme Lord and our relationship to Him. There are very few ppl who understand this concept.
* Krishna also says: Devotees are always discussing among themselves about Krishna.
- SB is the right text, where these interactions of devotees are very nicely described.
* Now, SG is going to open the doors for us to understand how to know and understand the devotees of the Lord and their interactions.
* The natural extension of the SB is the Caitanya Caritamrita, which is basically putting all theory into action.

Sept 16 2010:

Canto 2.1 Invocation

oḿ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Srila Prabhupada's Translation: O my Lord, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Sri Radhashtami Today, End of Chapter 19, End of Canto 1

Verses 1.19.38-40 (Sacisuta Prji):

* MP is asking Srila SG: Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.
* We should meditate on this question so that we could also ask similar questions to acharya's.
* Also, the visit of saints and sages to our houses is very precious. It has to be utilized appropriately.
* Today is also Srimati Radharani's appearance day. So some pastimes.
* Mercy of the Supreme Lord cannot be obtained unless the mercy of His energy (internal), Srimati Radharani's mercy is on us.
* Pastimes: Raghunatha Goswami completely immersed in chanting, tiger comes, Krishna saves. Next time too, he was chanting in the sun. Srimati Radharani was herself protecting him from the sun using her saree palloo. Sanatana Goswami chastised him then for engaging the mother Herself in his service. But such is the causeless mercy of the Supreme Mother.
Another pastime: Srimati Radharani comes as a girl, cooks for Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami. That sweet rice she cooked is so transcendental. Her mercy is so great.
Another pastime: She even bestowed her mercy on a jackal, in the groves of Vrindavan. This jackal was half burnt and crying miserably. Seeing this miserable condition of the jackal, Lalita Sakhi brings her to Srimati Radharani. She places her feet on the jackal and the jackal gets its eternal form as her associate.
* We are also burning in the fire of material existence. Only she can save us.
* Only her mercy can elevate us to chant offenselessly, only her mercy can take us back to Godhead.
* Our prayer today should be: Prayer of gratitude to Sri CM, our acharya's, to SP and to all the Vaisnavas.

Spiritual Master and Disciple....

Verse 1.19.37 (Mohan Prji):

* We can see how MP is surrendering to SG and asking him the best question: "I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die."
* Since every man is actually someway or the other dying, this is a question meant for everyone.
* In today's purport, SP is telling us more on the relationship of a Guru and disciple.
* When we ask a group of people as to why they are going to the temple, we will get different answers, cause they don't really know why they go to a temple
- The primary purpose is to acquire knowledge about ourselves, the SPG and the relationship between the both.
* Here, SP is giving why one should approach a SM. It is to acquire that knowledge.
* It is very important for us a to approach a bona fide SM to seek out the absolute truth.
- Second, surrender unto the SM is definitely required.
* If we refer to the scriptures, including the Supreme Lord Himself, He sets example. Eg: Lord Krishna, Lord Sri CM all had spiritual masters, they surrendered and served them to acquire knowledge from them.
* Here too, MP assuming to be a totally ignorant person, in a humble mood is asking Srila SG.
* Another ex: Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami, although they were materially rich and intellectually scholars, they still with a blade of grass in their mouth, requested Sri CM to teach them about the purpose of life.
* Very imp to understand the mood of being a disciple: I am an ignorant fool and only my SM can show me the path.
* Also in BG, Krishna says of the qualities of a divine person: surrendering to a spiritual master.
* Anything we do is due to the mercy of a SM.
- SM is of two kinds: diksa and siksa Guru
- Instructions of siksa Guru is same as that of the diksa Guru
* The connection between the SM and the disciple is the INSTRUCTION. As long as the disciple executes the instruction, he is at the shelter of the Guru.

Power of association with Saintly people!

Verse 1.19.33 (Mohan Prji):

* In CC, Ch 22 of Madya lila, here, Sri CM is glorifying the process of devotional service and concludes that worshiping Lord Krishna is the highest.
* Then he continues that attachment of devotees is also very important.
* He says: sadhu sanga sadhu sanga sarva siddi hoya... "even a moment's association with a saintly person is so beneficial"
* Story of Vishnu and Narada muni, about benefit of associating with a devotee. Worm to calf --- to son of a King.
- moral: how important even a little association is.
* The meaning is receptiveness. That is association, not just going and sitting with devotees. Willing to take instructions from senior devotees, that is association.
* In this verse also, SP mentions, one has to go to a holy place not just for the place, but to take association of saintly people living there.
* SP: A householder who dishonors such holy orders is a great offender. It is enjoined, therefore, that a householder who does not bow down before a saint at once must undergo fasting for the day in order to neutralize the great offense.
* Even instruction of spiritual master, it might be painful, but we still need to follow it so our material contamination will be removed.