Bhakthi

Bhakti is all about Relationships
Either we get disappointed or we disappoint them; relationships are difficult because we invest our heart in them and therefore we are most vulnerable to the heart being broken. If two people have a superficial relationship and the other disappoints them; we can go on. But if we invest our faith and emotions in each other and that person disappoints you; it is devastating.

Reel VS Real Happyness

In the Mahabharata, Dronacharya was an important person. Before he became teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas, he was living in severe poverty. He approached his childhood friend Drupada (King of Panchala) for help. But he insulted Drona and refused to help him. So Drona's wife Kripi was unable to give their son Ashwatthama, cow's milk to drink. So she would mix water with white flour and give it as milk. Ashwatthama believed it to be real milk and was happy to take it and was satisfied. After Dronacharya became the teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas, one day Duryodhana took Ashwatthama to the palace and gave him some cow’s milk. Now only Ashwatthama  realized the true taste of milk and also realized that the milk he was taking so far was not the real milk. From next day onwards, he refused to take thereel (fake) milk given by his mother and was adamant to get real cow's milk.

In the same way, fallen souls like me think that material happiness is the ultimate happiness without realizing that it is mixed with sorrow and very contented with this happiness. But in the Bhagavad Gita the Lord explains the nature of real happiness, in verse 5.21 as follows.

               baahya sparseshu asaktaatma / vindati aatmani yat sukham

               sa brahma yoga yuktaatma / sukham akshyama ashnute

"Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance enjoying the pleasure within. In this way, the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness for he concentrates on the Supreme."

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport, "A person in brahma-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is so absorbed in the loving service of the Lord that he loses his taste for material sense pleasure altogether…A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is not attracted to any kind of sense pleasure, due to his being a liberated soul."

Srila Prabhupada, when he went to America for preaching, he first preached to the hippies who thought that by taking LSD drug they will be happy. But Srila Prabhupada gave them the taste of real happiness by introducing them to the chanting of Hare Krishna mahamantra, dancing and taking prasadam. By this they felt great spiritual happiness which they never experienced before and they also realized that the happiness they were experiencing from drugs so far was inferior. Thus he destroyed their taste for reel happiness and made them to strive for real happiness. One press person asked Srila Prabhupada, "Swamiji, You've not tasted the happiness derived from drugs and alcohol. Then how do you say that happiness derived from drugs and material pleasures is inferior to the spiritual happiness?." Srila Prabhupada said, "Yes I have not experienced. But my disciples have experienced both. You can ask them which is superior."

I pray at the lotus feet of all Vaishnavas, Srila Gurudeva and and Srila Prabhupada to destroy my taste for reel (fake) happiness and increase my taste for real happiness.

The power of selfless service -HG Gauranga prabhu

In Ramayan,after completeing d pastym,lord Rama is asking to hanumanji what do u pray for me?what is ur aspiration?we had dis terrible battle of lanka,
you hav killed many rakshasas.what u did practically nobody wld hsv donr.I m extremely pleased and greateful to you.
I m ready to offer you anything.whatever u ask I vll fullfill.

Hanuman expresses his aspirations through prayers
1)I pray that I hav love and affection at ur lotus feet.
2) I may have pure devotional
service at ur lotus feet eternally.
3)May my feelings towards ur lotus feet be so absorbed so that i couldnt be distracted by anything or any1.

another vry imp prayer he says,as long as ram katha is going on in this world,may i live in this world forever as long as the glories of lord Ram
is sung in dis wrld,i do not hav desire to go anywhere.I do not desire liberation.I do not desire to go even to ur spiritual abode becoz where ur glories are sung
dat plc become spiritual abode.

love is defined as d power to selflessly serve d beloved without considering any kind of inconveniences.
love is all about serving once beloved transcending all of these scarcity,impediments,discomfrts.

Love means where there is every reason for the relationship to be broken still d relationship is not broken.Why becz it is duty to serve nd please the beloved.
The inherent latent love which is there within every1 of us is love of soul and dat pleasure which we experience by seeing d pleasure of d master is d only pleasure which is birthright of every soul.

Lord hanuman was the one is fully absorbed and enthusistic simply to serve and serve nd serve inspire to serve and in return the incentive
is simply d smile and embrace of Lord.
In this material world today,the emphasis is growing more and more on incentives.We go for job based on incentives.
But Incentives kills the inspiration to serve selflessly.The whole idea of service inspired by love is based on selflessness.Hanumanji was serving fearlessy inspired to see d smile on lord Ram face and in response
lord jst profusely blessed him.The result was hanumanji was enthusiastic for more service.
so dats d difference between incentives and inspired selfless service.
Hanmunaji is demonstrating dat the only reward for service is more serve many.

Lord Ram expresses his gratitude and says,for each and every activity u hav performed for me,I m willing to give up my life to u and what to
speak of all other activities and service which you are going to perform for rest of eternity.I vll become completely indebted overwhelm by
debt for all those seva.I m no way of repaying them.The supreme lord experiences such feelings towards hanumanji.

We are all looking for happiness,satisfaction,joy.

success means to get what you like and happiness means to like what you get and Iskcon is trying to help you be happy.

The whole idea of education(educary) which means to bring out what is within.
Association creates aspiration.Association of devotees creates aspiration to serve and please krishna.

Hanumanji Birth:
A portion of sweet rice from which Ram and his brothers were born,that portion was carried by Vayu dev.That particular sweet rice was carried and taken by Hanumanji mother Anjana and she was impregnated by her husband kesari
So Hanumanji was born as son of kesari and also expansion of vayu dev.After his birth he felt hungry and when hanumanji was approaching suryadev which he thought to be fruit,Surya dev called Indra dev so
Indra dev thrw his vajra which hit hanumanji chin and he felt uncounsiusly.

Vayu dev was totally upset and in retaliation stop d air circulation of entire creation and every1 was forced to do only anilom..
Then all demigods offered prayers and unlimited benedition to hanumanji.

hanumanji real power is his humilty,his royalty and his service attitude.Hanumanji was submitted t sugreeva.

Sugreeva and Vali appearance:
There was 1 gr8 sage Ugratapas who wld perform ugra(powerful) tapasya.
He had wife named narayani.Sage ugratapas wld be carried by his wife narayani to different places on a masket.So once by mistake accidently ugratapas hit the head of sage
who were meditating nearby whose name was pushmanga.So sage Pushmanga becme angry and looked at narayani and cursed becoz ur husband touched me vth feet and insulted.i curse him dat when sunrises tomorow he vll die.Narayani said I m chaste women,I m chaste wife
I m trying to serve my husband loyally and by mistake his feet touches u and u pronounce d death sentence.Well u cursed dat when sun vll rise my husband vll die so my response to dat is if I m chaste lady all my life may d sun does not rise tomorow.

Surya dev travels on chariot and chariot wheels of surya dev never stops.His charioter name is Arunas and he finds dat suddenly d wheels have stop and looks at suryadev and ask my lord whats going on.
For d 1st time i m experiencing dat d wheels of our chairiot is not moving.
surya dev says there has been some problem in planet and we are some how involved in dat problem.Thats life.
So Arunas looked at surya and asks I have never got leave in life and dis chariot is not going to move for some time.So he asks surya dev can I take casual leave?
Suryadev says ohk make sure u come back soon.So arunas jump and immediately went indra loka club.So he took d form of beautiful form of apsara and stood at d entrance.He was standing behind d pillar.Suddenly indra's eye fell on Arunas and thought I have never seen such beautiful apsara before.
She is not local apsara
Then Indra started cming towards her.Arunas said i m not wat u r thinking.indra said I dnt mind and I dnt care.So in d form of lady got impregnated by indra.
Then Arunas cme back to surya dev.Surya dev said how was r vacation?Arunas said it was nightmare.Arunas explaiened everything.So Surya dev said I also want to see dat formArunas took dat form.So nw Surya gor inspired and he impregnated her.So d son who came
out of surya dev was sugreeva and son who came of Indra was vali.

For education kesari send hanumanji abroad for study to surya dev.
Surydev understands dat hanumanji is very powerful and intellegent he vll grasp everything fast.So suryadev puts conditions for the sets whole semester system.
within short duration of time hanumaji remember everything which is knwn as srutidhar.Then suryadev ask gurudakshina and says I m worried of my son sugreeva.i request u to serve him and protect him.
hanumaji agrees and he spents his entire life as humble menial subordinate servant to sugreeva as guru's order.
hanumaji is supremepersonality of culture.Hanumanji gurudakshina was based on sense of gratitude.

laxman approaches hanumanji and says My dear hanumanji The supreme personality of godhead lord Rama who is supreme personification of dharma,he aspires
to take shelter of sugreeva.
he is desiring to take shelter of sugreeva.
why shld supreme lod Ram take shelter of sugreeva?

sugreeva means beautiful throat and throat is source of sound vibration.Sound vibration flows in 4 direction para,pashyanti,madhyama and vaikheri.
what manifest and what you are hearing is called vaikheri
before that para sounds begans in nabhi sthal.From nabhi stal para it comes to the chest pashyanti.then it comes near the throat which is madhyama,then when you r hearing dat is called vaikheri.
That sound is carried through air.So vayu become the carrier of sound and dat sound dat shabd only makes sense when there is artha.So sugreeva is personification of shabda and hanumanji is personifiaction of artha.
therefore,sound only becomes useful when u hear it.when artha is heared.so sugreeva and hanumanji are assisting lords Ram mission to inspire the conditioned soul to come back to him.

The nature of mind is
M-magnifying d problem
I-imagine a pleasure
N-neglects d mercy availabe rite now
D-denies reality.
in such time one gets completely bewildered and dat time we need association.

Obstacles faced by Hanuman:
1)Mainaka mountain⛰-principle of complacancy
2)surasa-representing tendency of competing.
3)simhika-Nature of envy.Envy can only be crushed.It has to be eradicated.
4)lankini-represention doubts created by opposition.

Holy name story

Lady crossing river by chanting name of Hari!

There was a very learned brahmana pandit. He was very good in Vedic Rituals and a very respected man.

A young cowherd girl Lakshmi used to bring milk from the other side of the river. She woke early in the morning, bathed the cows and milked them.

She even cooked for her old father and set out to deliver milk. She used to pray that the boatman comes in time so that she can deliver the milk to the brahmana in time.

One day the boatman was late and the cowherd girl was late in bringing the milk. The brahmana requested her to bring the milk before sunrise.

But the next day when she reached the shore, the boatman was not there. Unfortunately she was late again.

The brahmana was very annoyed with her.

She explained that she cannot cross the river without the help of the boatman and she takes up the first boat to bring him the milk.

The brahmana proudly told “Do you know how much I have read, how much scholars respect me and now I am disregarded by a mere milk maid.

People cross the ocean of life by chanting the name of Hari and you can’t even cross a small river!” 

Lakshmi took this seriously in her heart and thought I wish Panditjii had told me this solution early.

Next day she reached very early and greeted panditji. He was pretty surprised to see her coming without a boat. He asked her, how she managed to come so early.

She innocently replied “The way you told me panditji, by chanting the name of Hari.” And walked back over the water and called him to follow.

Panditji followed her but was very careful of his silk dhoti rather than to chant the holy name. Eventually he fell down.

The cowherd girl remarked, “oh Panditji you were not thinking of Hari at all”. Now panditji realized that he was proud of learning and had no pure devotion towards the Lord.

Only by pure loving devotion one can achieve the mercy of the supreme Lord.

Moral of the story:

The weeds of Pratistha asha must be uprooted, otherwise it will be show bottle devotion as the Panditji ,who had full knowledge of shastras but his faith in the name of God was not there.

But this cowherd uneducated girl had full faith and devotion on the Holy Name and was able to cross the river. Her only aim was to do her duty sincerely and satisfy her master.

There is verse from Srimad Bhagwatam 11.14.22

dharmah satya-dayopeto/ vidyaa vaa tapasaanvitaa
mad-bhaktyaapetam aatmaanam/ na samyak prapunaati hiB

“Neither religious activities endowed with honesty and mercy nor knowledge obtained with great penance can completely purify one’s consciousness if they are bereft of loving service to Me.”

This verse is very apt, as whenever we are given a service, we feel that one must do an important service where we can come to limelight of devotees and be recognized.

But we do not understand that our devotional service is to please Krishna. But general tendency for a rascal is to want people to recognize the work and appreciate.

*What marriage really signifies?*

With courtesy to the Vedic literatures which are the oldest manuals of Mankind and thus representative of absolute truth , we can know what actually marriage means,

Because marriage is a very sacred vow that is taken between a man and a woman. It is vow taken before God for the purpose of service to God. Because man and woman are not meant to enjoy one another. Animal civilisation is meant to enjoy one another. Therefore animals have no samskaras because what they do is not a sacrifice or devotion to God. It is simply for enjoyment. There is no marriage between two rats. There is no marriage between two dogs, or two hogs or two mosquitoes because their purpose is simply – that there is an urge and they are enjoy.And they find a beautiful partner to enjoy with. And then they have children. And then they raise their children to enjoy. And when their children get old enough they also find a partner and enjoy. And in this way the population of rats, dogs, hogs and mosquitoes increases day by day throughout the world.

Human population is also increasing day by day in the same way. Because people do not understand the meaning of the marriage samskara. athato brahma jignyasa. Human life is meant for self realization. It is not simply meant for sensual enjoyment. The marriage samskara is a sacred ceremony wherein the man and the woman come together and make a vow that they are not coming to enjoy one another. But they are coming to be enjoyed by God together. It is said that when two persons marry they become one person. That means they are completely united in the highest purpose of life which is devotion to God.

From a spiritual perspective one should feel that their partner is something more than just my husband or my wife. A husband should feel towards his wife that this is the daughter of God - this is God’s deeply beloved daughter that has been entrusted in my care.

How you treat her is how God will receive you. How you speak to her, how you act toward her, how you protect her are all important. Protection is said to be on three levels - physical, emotional and spiritual.

To give that protection, to be forgiving to each other and to honor your spouse as God's property, God's gift, is how you will make spiritual progress. And a wife should feel that her partner is not just her husband but he is God’s beloved child entrusted in her care to protect, to be faithful to, and to encourage. If you see each other in this light, marriage really is yoga. Your relationship will be yoga in essence and you will make great spiritual progress.
-H H Radhanath Swami

 Criticizing Vaishnavas/ others Good or Bad?

Once, some devotees were sent to establish a preaching center in Bengal. They worked day and night, equipping it as a beautiful temple. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati arrived to install the Deities, he was very pleased and asked about one brahmacari who had worked hard on the preparations. The disciples told him, "Master, he became entangled with a lady. We rebuked him so much for his behavior that he fled from this place."

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta replied, "I don't want to establish a preaching center here, nor do I want to install the Deities. In this world we spend hundreds of gallons of blood to bring a person out of the clutches of maya. If that person makes some mistake, it will be washed away by his serving Hari, Guru, and Vaisnavas, but you have chastised him and he has gone away. I don't want to make a center here. Search for him and bring him to me; otherwise I will go away."

The anxious disciples began to search for that brahmacari. Madhava Maharaja, who at that time was named Hayagriva Brahmacari, found the errant brahmacari, apologized, and asked him to return.

The brahmacari wept, saying, "I was serving here, in a watch company, but I was not really happy. I wanted to return, but I was thinking, 'How can I show my face?' So I did not return." He at once went running and weeping to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, thinking him more merciful than Krishna Himself, and all his anarthas were washed away in a moment.

Bhaktisiddhanta told his disciples, "The purport is that we should not criticize anyone, whether a devotee or a worldly person."

— From Life and teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur—

My Radha Gopivallabha

Radha Gopinath:

Nirjala Ekadasi ( 16/06/2016)

Prerana

Hare krishna Hare krishna krishna krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

All glories to Srila Gurudev

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

All glories to Srila Bhakthi Sidhantha Saraswathi thakura

All glories to Srila Gaura Kishore Dasa babaji

All glories to Srila Bhakthi vinoda thakura

All glories to Namacharya Srila Haridasa thakura

All Glories to six goswamis

All glories to panchatatvas

All glories to Nimai and Nithai

All glories to Narasimhadev

All glories to Jagannath Baladeva and Subhadra mayya

All glories to my dear lord Sri Sri Radha Gopivallabha

All glories to Ananta Koti vaishnava vrinda.

Thank you kanna for all your mercy, blessings, love and teachings.

Please keep me in Krishna consciousness every second. Please let me not forget u even for a moment.

THINK before you talk

T - Truthful

H - Helpful

I - Inspiring

N - Necessary

K - Kind

Eruvaka Poornima (20/06/2016) - GEV