Whosoever attains the stage of enthusiasm for these devotional practices will be supremely blissful wherever he may be.

Posted by dinesh

Song Name: Suddha Bhakata Carana Renu

Official Name: Bhakti Anukula Matra Karyera Svikara Song 3

Author: Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Book Name: Saranagati

Language: Bengali

LYRICS:

(1)
śuddha-bhakata-caraṇa-reṇu,
bhajana-anukūla
bhakata-sevā, parama-siddhi,
prema-latikāra mūla

(2)
mādhava-tithi, bhakti-jananī,
jetane pālana kori
kṛṣṇa-basati, basati boli',
parama ādare bori

(3)
gaur āmāra, je-saba sthāne,
koralo bhramaṇa rańge
se-saba sthāna, heribo āmi,
praṇayi-bhakata-sańge

(4)
mṛdańga-bādya, śunite mana,
abasara sadā jāce
gaura-bihita, kīrtana śuni',
ānande hṛdoya nāce

(5)
jugala-mūrti, dekhiyā mora,
parama-ānanda hoya
prasāda-sebā korite hoya,
sakala prapañca jaya

(6)
je-dina gṛhe, bhajana dekhi,
gṛhete goloka bhāya
caraṇa-sīdhu, dekhiyā gańgā,
sukha sā sīmā pāya

(7)
tulasī dekhi', jurāya prāṇa,
mādhava-toṣaṇī jāni'
gaura-priya, śāka-sevane,
jīvana sārthaka māni

(8)
bhakativinoda, kṛṣṇa-bhajane,
anakūla pāya jāhā
prati-dibase, parama-sukhe,
swīkāra koroye tāhā

TRANSLATION

1) The dust of the lotus feet of pure devotees, enthusiastic devotional service, and service to the pure devotees of the highest order are the roots of the creeper of devotion.

2) The holy days like Ekadasi and Janmastami are the mother of devotion for those devotees who respect them. Let the holy places of Krsna's pastimes be my places of worship, and bless me.

3) May I always visit all the holy places associated with the lila of Lord Caitanya and His devotees.

4) When I hear the sound of the mrdanga in my heart I always desire to join in kirtana; and when I hear the bonafide songs describing Lord Caitanya's pastimes, my heart dances in ecstasy.

5) Whenever I see the transcendental sri-vigrahas of Radha-Krsna I am in bliss, for by taking Their Lordships' prasada we can conquer over the material elements.

6) One day while performing devotional practices, I saw my house transformed into Goloka Vrndavana. When I take the caranamrta of the Deity, I see the holy Ganges waters that come from the feet of Lord Visnu, and my bliss knows no bounds.

7) By seeing the tulasi tree my heart feels joy and Lord Madhava (Krsna) is also satisfied. When I eat the prasada favored by Lord Caitanya it is a new life's experience. (Lord Caitanya was very fond of a green vegetable preparation called sak, and there is another song in this book that tells of the amazing effects of this type of prasada.)

8) Bhaktivinoda concludes by saying: "Whosoever attains the stage of enthusiasm for these devotional practices will be supremely blissful wherever he may be."

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

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The celestial godly beings in the mortal world!

Posted by dinesh

We see usually that young people and children are most interested in scientific fiction movies like the fantastic four,many such with magical fantasies.

But from the puranas, we find that these magical arts were in use since time immemorial. Mahabharata,the epic of Bharatha Bhumi is one such purana where we find interesting things that took place 5000 yrs ago. Fantastic four is kind of remake of the story of pandavas but with more speculation.

If you see the birth of these five great souls we can understand the difference between our real self and the material nature. The material body with which we feel the pain or pleasure is part of the material nature which is controlled by various demi-gods based on our past and present actions.

When we say a man and woman are uniting for begetting children,it means the material elements of material nature are in action. The soul sitting inside has nothing to do with these actions but to act on religious principles to continue the lineage according to the commands of material nature. This is why we find that yamunacharya challenging the poet in a debate in a kingdom, that the queen is unchaste and not faithful to the king. However when the poet accepts defeat, he proves that the demi-gods such as vayu,agni,varuna,indra(the controller of indriyas-senses) are actually involved in the process of procreation. Therefore we cannot say that the queen is chaste, because not only the king is responsible for that action but Demigods as well. So the queen is not faithful to only to the king in that sense.

But it doesnot mean we are not accountable for our actions. We are provided with the material elements-the senses which are centered about a particular type of mind,the intelligence,the body. How do we use these things and for what purpose we use matters. It's like a father giving money to children. Good children use it in productive ways, bad children uses it in a way that brings disaster to themselves and to all around them. We are monitored every moment like a CCTV camera by the yamatudas. There are beings who will immediately come to capture our actions when they hear minute little sound from our actions. Thats why it's said when we live our life in accordance with the religious principles, we'll be spared and we can live in harmony with the nature which is under the control of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.

Coming to the story of the Pandavas,we see that mother Kunti had a boon from Durvasa muni that by uttering mantras she could call the demi-gods anytime&get divine children from them. She served the muni so much that the muni got pleased and gave her such a boon.

It was before she got married to king pandu that she playfully tested the mantra to see if it works.For this mistake she feels the pain for her life. As soon as she called the sun-god,he came right in front of her to get a child. She protests that she's still a maiden and cannot have a child. The sungod gives her a child without uniting with her but in a magical way. The child is Karna who is left to float in a river. He was rescued,recieved and raised by a charioteer.

Later when mother Kunti wants to have children after her marriage,she talks about this boon to Pandu and they plan to have five strong children who could never be defeated by anyone in the 3 worlds.

One by one she calls the demigods by the mantra and begets children. One time when the baby slipped down a hill,she and pandu were surprised to see the child-Bhima alive down under the hill and also his body broke rocks into many pieces. Actually this is no wonder that by suitable practice anyone can attain these powers possessed by demigods. But these are temporary and causes pride and arrogance when in the hands of people who dont deserve it. This is why the saintly Kings who were well versed in this science only were allowed to rule over the country.

But today it's all sudras who are in the ruling position but exploiting the people by taxing them heavily and not working for the real welfare of the people. But the pandavas even though powerful did not misuse rather were so humble and working for the welfare of the whole world under the direction of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. It is because they are devotees of Lord Krishna, they were able to stand through countless difficulties that haunted them one after the other from the evil Duryodhana.

Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

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The friend within

Posted by dinesh

From: Bhakti Vikasa Swami

Krsna is within you. He is sitting within your heart as a friend, not as an
enemy. Krsna is always your friend. Suhrdam sarva-bhutanam [Bg. 5.29]. You
are searching out friends to talk with, to joke with, to love. Krsna is
sitting there for that purpose. If you love Krsna, if you make friendship
with Krsna, if you love Krsna, then your life will be successful. You
haven't got to search out any other friend. The friend is already there.
Either you are a boy or a girl, you will find a nice friend within yourself.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Lecture -- New Vrindaban, June 7, 1969

Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

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We will be kicked out of the body we are into!

Posted by dinesh

It's this bodily conception of life that binds the soul in the cycle of birth and death. Majority of the worldly beings are Dehatmi(one who considers the body to be the actual self)

To understand the difference between the sat(eternal)&the asat(temporary or impermanent) is very important for the human civilization. Human life is not meant for building huge material things like buildings,bridges. Big material elements such as mountains are already there available in the creation of the Lord and the caves in the mountains can be used for living.

Building many tall sky scrapers infer the egoism of materialists for their achievement. There is vast area of land available on earth. When we just go in train crossing the outskirts of the city,we could see so much of vacant area of land unused for cultivation or for living. Constructing a ground level apartment would be sufficient for accomodating all people. But modern city is an artificial arrangement that brings more misery to the modern man. To accomodate more people in small area and create an artificial demand is ignorance or under use of the natural resource-earth, in the creation of God. When Vedic civilization was prominent during the rule of saintly kings,city was still there but it was meant for selling and buying goods at one place where trade was considered the major cause. City was mainly used as a market place and majority of the people used to live in villages peacefully, happily and without anxiety.

All activities of a dehatmi are as though he's going to be permanent in the body in which he(soul) resides. But by living in harmony with nature in villages, we can increase the longevity of life and remain peaceful executing the devotional service.

We want to live together all the time with our near and dear ones. No matter how hard we try,material nature will kick us out of the body and we have to enter another body at death. The body is impermanent and those that are related to the body are temporary and miserable as well.

Quote begins :

THE MATERIAL WORLD IS A REFLECTION OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

THE YOGA OF THE SUPREME PERSON
15.1: THE SUPREME LORD SAID: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down; and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.
PURPORT
AFTER DISCUSSING THE importance of Bhaktiyoga, there may be some question: What about the Vedas? It will be explained in this chapter that the purpose of the Vedic study is to understand Krishna. Therefore, one who is in Krishna consciousness, engaged in devotional service, is already in knowledge of the Vedas. The entanglement of this material world is compared here to a banyan tree. For one who is engaged in fruitive activities, there is no end to the banyan tree. He wanders from one branch to another, to another, to another, to another: The tree of this material world has no end; and one who is attached to this tree has no possibility of liberation. The Vedic hymns, meant for elevating oneself, are called the leaves of this tree. This tree being root-upward means that it begins from where Brahma is located, which is the topmost planet of this universe. One should understand this indestructible tree of illusion, and then one can break away from it. This should be understood. In the previous chapters it has been explained that there are many processes to get out of the material entanglement. And, up to the Thirteenth Chapter, we have seen that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the best way. Now the basic principle of devotional service is detachment from the material activities and attachment to the transcendental service of the Lord. The root of this material existence is upward. This means that it begins from the total material substance, from the topmost planet of the universe. From there the whole universe is expanded, with so many branches, the various planetary systems. The fruits are the results of the living entities' activities. They include religiousness, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation. One should have a thorough understanding of this imperishable tree.
Now, we have no ready experience in this world of a tree situated with its branches down and its roots upward; but there is such a thing. That tree can be found when we go to a reservoir of water. We can see that the trees on the bank are reflected upon the water-branches down, roots up. In other words, the tree of this material world is only a reflection of the real tree. The real tree is the spiritual world. This reflection of the real tree is situated on desire, as the tree's reflection is situated on water. One who wants to get out of this material existence must know thoroughly, through analytical study, this tree. Then he can cut off the relationship with this material world.

Quote Ends!
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Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com