Podcasts about iskcon

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 42-43 tathāpi bhavato brahman prapañcāntar-gatasya hi prapañca-parivārāntar- dṛṣṭi-garbhita-cetasaḥ tad-dṛṣṭāntākulenaiva tat tat syād bodhitaṁ sukham tathety ucyeta yat kiñcit tad āgaḥ kṣamatāṁ hariḥ TRANSLATION Nonetheless, my dear brāhmaṇa, you are a resident of the material world, and your intelligence is confined because you can see only matter. Therefore I say “It is like this” so that by material examples you might understand various things more easily. May Lord Hari forgive this offense.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 28 ke 'py ekaśo dvandvaśo 'nye yugapad bahuśo 'pare pūrva-pūrvādhika-śrīkāḥ praviśanti purīṁ prabhoḥ TRANSLATION Many others came — some alone, others in pairs, and yet others together in larger groups — and all of them, each more splendid than the last, entered the city of the Lord.

Not only does the Supreme Personality of Godhead enjoy the company of His devotees, but because He is unlimited, He wants to increase His devotees unlimitedly. Thus, He descends to the material world to induce the non-devotees and rebellious living entities to return home, back to Godhead. He requests them to surrender unto Him, because, unlimited as He is, He wants to increase His devotees unlimitedly." The Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement is an attempt to increase the number of pure devotees of the Supreme Lord more and more. It is certain that a devotee who helps in this endeavor to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes indirectly a controller of the Supreme Lord. Although the Supreme Lord is full in six opulences, He does not feel transcendental bliss without His devotees. An example that may be cited in this regard is that if a very rich man does not have sons in a family, he does not feel happiness. Indeed, sometimes a rich man adopts a son to complete his happiness. The science of transcendental bliss is known to the pure devotee. Therefore, the pure devotee is always engaged in increasing the transcendental happiness of the Lord. (SB 9.4.64) In crafting the purposes of ISKCON, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in the seventh purpose: "By publishing books, magazines, booklets, and distributing them, we will fulfill the aforementioned seven purposes of ISKCON." There is a way in which saṅkīrtana gives life to an entire community, where we have growing numbers of devotees coming to sincerely hear, chant, and serve the Lord. When they are given the opportunity to participate—even in the smallest ways—in distributing books, reaching out to others, and presenting them, they become closer to Kṛṣṇa. It is an intimate service, and it brings life to the entire community. Without that experience, and without us inculcating in them the spirit of saṅkīrtana—and the spirit I have just expressed that Prabhupāda mentions in his purports—people remain in the basic condition of devotional service, kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, but they need to come to the madhyama-adhikārī platform by engaging in outreach and saṅkīrtana, and especially book distribution, it is the most practical. So for Bhādra, it is a perfect time to express that this is not a divisions of labor. There are some people who distribute books, there are some people who don't. It is a call to everyone to get involved. Everyone in the community can get involved—even if people have pets. The pets should be involved! They should sit down and preach to their poochie: "Dear poochie, you are going to come out with us for book distribution." Make them a backpack. Kids can go out, old people can go out, people in wheelchairs can go out. If you are blind, you can go out. If you are happy, unhappy—everyone should devise a means through which to expand the distribution of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is an outrageously fun activity. It brings life to the temple. It fulfills all the aforementioned principles, the six that Prabhupāda put forward. We are the lucky ones, because somehow or other this service has landed on our heads, and somehow or other, we have got this number of 100,008. I don't know how it happened. It just happened by chance, just like the universe all came together by chance. So, here we are, and this is it. And now it is go time, because we only have a few months left, and if we lean into this, it is going to happen. ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 14 tad asvī-kṛtya tu svīyaṁ govardhana-bhuvaṁ vapuḥ teṣāṁ prabhāvatas tādṛg- guṇa-rūpādy alambhayam TRANSLATION But I refused their offer, and instead, by their influence, my own body born in Govardhana assumed qualities and beauty like theirs.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 10-11 tāvat taiḥ pārṣadair etya vaikuṇṭhaṁ netum ātmanaḥ yānam āropitaḥ sadyo vyutthāyācālayaṁ dṛśau sarvam anyādṛśaṁ dṛṣṭvā vismitaḥ svasthatāṁ gataḥ pārśve 'paśyaṁ purā dṛṣṭāṁs tān evātma-priyaṁ-karān TRANSLATION At that moment the associates of the Lord arrived in an airplane to take me to Vaikuṇṭha. They at once put me on that plane and carried me away, and when I opened my eyes I saw that everything was different. Shocked, I returned to full consciousness and saw them beside me, the same benefactors I had met before.

The only qualification for sincerely approaching the Lord is that one is akiñcana, meaning that one feels, "I don't have any qualification." Helplessness is our main qualification. In Satya-yuga, because people have such acumen for meditation—they can remain in trance for hundreds, if not thousands of years without budging—they take shelter of that. Although the Holy Name is prominent always in every yuga, the denizens of Satya-yuga then, because of distraction by the mode of goodness, become self-reliant. As is mentioned in the purport here, in Kali-yuga, we have a great advantage, and that is our disadvantage. Kali-yuga, is mentioned in the very beginning of the Bhāgavatam (SB 1.1.10), as you all know: prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ sabhya kalāv asmin yuge janāḥ mandaḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ As mentioned by Sūta Goswāmī at the outset of the Bhāgavatam in discussion with the sages, Kali-yuga is a disadvantageous age for meditation or for performing proper sacrifice. After all, the Bhāgavatam mentions that the sages had tried to perform the sacrifice, but they were getting only smoke. I've seen that in some ISKCON fire yajñas! Not only that, they're addicted to scrolling in the age of Kali-yuga, it's the prediction given 5,000 years ago that everyone would have a crooked neck because they can only sit like that, or walk like that, or sleep like this. (22:44) Mandaḥ sumanda-matayo means they have really bad ideas—really bad, stupid stuff. Manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ—and they're unlucky; there is no good fortune for the people of Kali-yuga. So, the sages are gathered for that sacrifice to find out how to do the highest good for these people who are going to be assailed by all these distractions in the Kali-yuga. And this Jīva Goswāmī also points out in his Bhakti-sandarbha, is one of the qualifications for people in Kali-yuga: it is their disqualification. When somebody is so disadvantaged that they can't fend for themselves, oftentimes the government will give a dispensation. Kṛṣṇa also gives a dispensation for those who are wholly unqualified to take to any other process. So, in Satya-yuga people are self-reliant. As the ages progress—Tretā, Dvāpara—there are adjustments to the mode of worship. In Satya, they're self-reliant, they're all paramahaṁsas, and they're fully equipped to just meditate. Then in Tretā-yuga, we have the fire to meditate upon and put grains into the fire; at least it's a form people can look at. And then in Dvāpara-yuga, with the installation of Deities, you need a big temple as the main object of vision in the whole town, where you walk in and see the Deity. But in Kali-yuga, people are iconoclasts. They don't want the form of the Lord; they try to break the form of the Lord, and they deny the form of the Lord. So, Kṛṣṇa comes in the most accommodating form possible. This is mentioned in Rūpa Goswāmī's verses about the Holy Name, when he says, "vācyaṁ vācakam ity udeti bhavato nāma svarūpa-dvayaṁ." Vācyaṁ vācakam— there is the name and the named. The name of Kṛṣṇa and the word Kṛṣṇa that designates Kṛṣṇa. He said these are the same, right? No, that's not true. He says although we say they're one thing... ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ vatam #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 184 śrīman-nāma prabhos tasya śrī-mūrter apy ati-priyam jagad-dhitaṁ sukhopāsyaṁ sa-rasaṁ tat-samaṁ na hi TRANSLATION Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 184 śrīman-nāma prabhos tasya śrī-mūrter apy ati-priyam jagad-dhitaṁ sukhopāsyaṁ sa-rasaṁ tat-samaṁ na hi TRANSLATION Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 168 vicitra-līlā-rasa-sāgarasya prabhor vicitrāt sphuritāt prasādāt vicitra-saṅkīrtana-mādhurī sā na tu sva-yatnād iti sādhu sidhyet TRANSLATION The wonderfully varied sweetness of saṅkīrtana emerges only by the mercy shown in various wonderful ways by the Lord, the wonderful ocean of the varied rasas of pastimes. This sweetness one can never truly achieve by one's own endeavor.

How to travel in space, hearing stories from around the universe, appreciating Srila Prabhupada's genius & a lifetime's worth of timeless Vedic wisdom for us to relish. Just a handful of the topics from this episode. Gopala, Bhakta-rupa & Prema decide to pick up Srila Prabhupada's first book, "Easy Journey to Other Planets', and read through it on the podcast. Enjoy! Śrīla Prabhupāda: The yogī knows everything, and he can transfer himself to any planet he likes. He does not require the help of any spaceship.Feel free to send in a question you would like answered on the next episode of the podcast! All other platforms

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 167 nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam ārti-bhārān meghaṁ vinā prāvṛṣi cātakānām rātrau viyogāt sva-pate rathāṅgī- vargasya cākrośana-vat pratīhi TRANSLATION Like the distressed crying of the cātaka birds on a cloudless day of the rainy season, or the lamenting of a flock of cakravākī birds when parted from their husbands at night, the saṅkīrtana of the Lord's names arises when one is burdened by too much pain.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 162 ekasminn indriye prādur- bhūtaṁ nāmāmṛtaṁ rasaiḥ āplāvayati sarvāṇīn- driyāṇi madhurair nijaiḥ TRANSLATION When the nectar of the Lord's name appears in just one sense, all the senses are flooded with their own sweet tastes.

Living off the land, cultivating the creeper of love in our heart & the benefits of being connected with nature.  Bhaktin Kim, the manager for the Ty Krishna Cymru Farm Project, shares her story of she found spiritual life, as well as how she became more connected to Mother Earth. Other topics include:•⁠  ⁠Working with nature•⁠  ⁠Farming as a metaphor for spiritual practice•⁠  ⁠Protecting our “bhakti creeper” in the early stages•⁠  ⁠Life Lessons from soil, seasons, and cultivationŚrīla Prabhupāda: Now, we must take to agricultural work—produce food and give protection to the cows. And if we produce a surplus, we can trade. It is a simple thing that we must do. Our people should live peacefully in farming villages, produce grain and fruit and vegetables, protect the cows, and work hard. And if there is a surplus, we can start restaurants. Kṛṣṇa conscious people will never be losers by following the instructions of Kṛṣṇa. They will live comfortably, without any material want, and tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bhagavad-gītā 4.9]: After leaving this body they will go directly to God. This is our way of life.Feel free to send in a question you would like answered on the next episode of the podcast! All other platforms

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 157 ekākitvena tu dhyānaṁ vivikte khalu sidhyati saṅkīrtanaṁ vivikte 'pi bahūnāṁ saṅgato 'pi ca TRANSLATION Meditation one can successfully perform only in seclusion, but saṅkīrtana either in seclusion or in the company of many others.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 150 evaṁ prabhor dhyāna-ratair mataś ced buddhyedṛśaṁ tatra vivecanīyam dhyānaṁ parisphūrti-viśeṣa-niṣṭhā sambandha-mātraṁ manasā smṛtir hi TRANSLATION If those attached to meditation on the Lord still insist that remembering is of greater importance, with their intelligence they should make the following distinction: In meditation the Lord reveals Himself fully with His particular qualities, but in remembrance the mind merely comes in contact with the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 146 premṇo 'ntar-aṅgaṁ kila sādhanottamaṁ manyeta kaiścit smaraṇaṁ na kīrtanam ekendriye vāci vicetane sukhaṁ bhaktiḥ sphuraty āśu hi kīrtanātmikā TRANSLATION Some think that remembering, rather than chanting, is the essential means of devotional practice, the means that most effectively leads to prema, for bhakti in the form of chanting appears quickly and easily, and in only one sense, that of speech, which is not itself alive and conscious.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 143 tvarā ced vidyate śrīmad- vaikuṇṭhālokane tava sarvābhīṣṭa-prada-śreṣṭhāṁ tāṁ śrī-vraja-bhuvaṁ vraja TRANSLATION If you are in a hurry to see the divine world of Vaikuṇṭha, then go to Śrī Vraja-bhūmi, the place that can best award the fulfillment of all your ambitions.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 133 nijendriya-manaḥ-kāya- ceṣṭā-rūpāṁ na viddhi tām nitya-satya-ghanānanda- rūpā sā hi guṇātigā TRANSLATION You should not consider devotional service merely an activity of the body, senses, and mind. It is in fact the eternal absolute reality, manifesting itself as the most intense ecstasy, beyond the material modes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 128 teṣāṁ kasmiṁścid ekasmiñ śraddhayānuṣṭhite sati svayam āvirbhavet premā śrīmat-kṛṣṇa-padābjayoḥ TRANSLATION When one engages with faith in even one of these forms of bhakti, pure love for the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa automatically arises.

It's nice to have everything lined up. My wife and I were just on a personal retreat recently—five days to step back and really look into what we're doing, how we're doing it, and what we plan on doing in the future. In the room I was staying in, I was trying to find enough surface area to line up everything that I wanted to look at and read while I was there staying in that Airbnb by the coast in California, and I found an ironing board inside the closet—you know, a complimentary ironing board. I put out the ironing board and I put out everything that I was going to read and chant the next day; I had it all lined up on the ironing board. Everyone should get one! Whenever I get up in the morning, I will have it all lined up—exactly what I'm going to do. I do that at home, also. You put out what you're going to do. This is what I call 'getting your bhajan on.' You should have your own individual bhajan—that's your thing you do every day. Of course, there's the chanting of rounds, and then what else do you want to do? Line it up! Because if it's there in front of you, you're going to be much less likely to do something else that's random. One of the techniques for controlling the mind is to say—when the mind says, "Well, why don't you randomly scroll so that your brain can be scrambled a little more?"—you can say, "Fine, I'll do that later. But first, I've got to do this, this, and this. These things come first." Put your phone at the very small end of the ironing board and say, "Okay, when I finish all these, then I'll get to that." By the time you're done with all that, you don't feel like scrolling anymore, right? So, this is one of the ways of really getting your bhajan on in your life. It's our own personal opportunity. Because we're humans, it's not 'time' anyway—it's 'taste.' In order to get a taste, you have to practice and the best kind of practice is methodical: you do it every day, you keep doing it, and it grows from there, right? ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose

In fact, the whole concept of the world given in the Vedas is called bhava. Bhava means that everything is morphing into something different, just like in a dream. You may be dreaming about something or someone, and all of a sudden, it changes. So, the whole world is like that; and the idea that "I'll contain it," or that "I'll hold on to it"—this is called māyā. Therefore, when you take the advice from this verse (BG 5.10) taught through this metaphor, then you become "super-māyā-phobic"—which means you can live in an illusory world that is always changing, but it will never affect you. That is the facility given by the practice that Kṛṣṇa mentions in the Bhagavad-gītā, and that we emulate and teach here in our International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness—Bhakti yoga. It is a way of changing the way we look at the world and our approach to the people in it, we look through a lens of service: "How may I be of service?" One way to enact this "super-māyā-phobic" superpower that you can attain this very night even before you walk out the door, you'll have this in mind—to ask this question: "How may I be of service?" When the idea comes that "I'm not being served enough," or if you ever feel uncomfortable or unfulfilled, you can ask this simple question: "How may I be of service?" It's a switch you can flip, and suddenly, you'll see the world through a different lens. https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/10/ ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 127 tathāpi tad-rasa-jñaiḥ sā bhaktir nava-vidhāñjasā sampādyate vicitraitad- rasa-mādhurya-labdhaye TRANSLATION Yet devotees who understand the rasas of devotional service may practice all nine forms of bhakti to easily obtain the sweetness of its diverse tastes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 120 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca nija-stutyā tayā tasmin hriyā tūṣṇīṁ sthite prabhau bhagavat-pārṣadās te mām āśliṣyocuḥ suhṛd-varāḥ TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: Abashed at hearing himself praised, Lord Śiva remained silent. Then the associates of Lord Viṣṇu, who were Lord Śiva's dearmost friends, embraced me and spoke.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 120 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca nija-stutyā tayā tasmin hriyā tūṣṇīṁ sthite prabhau bhagavat-pārṣadās te mām āśliṣyocuḥ suhṛd-varāḥ TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: Abashed at hearing himself praised, Lord Śiva remained silent. Then the associates of Lord Viṣṇu, who were Lord Śiva's dearmost friends, embraced me and spoke.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 113 atrāpi bhagavantaṁ yad dṛṣṭavān asi tādṛśam sad-guroḥ kṛpayā kṛṣṇa- didṛkṣā-bhara-kāritam TRANSLATION Yet even here you have seen the Supreme Lord in this form because your divine guru gave you his mercy. That mercy created in you the strong desire to see Kṛṣṇa, which impelled Kṛṣṇa to reveal Himself.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 107 athāpi govardhana-gopa-putras tam arhasi tvaṁ mathureśa-bhaktaḥ tad-eka-bhakti-priya-vipra-śiṣyas tadīya-tan-mantra-paro 'nuraktaḥ TRANSLATION But you deserve to go to Vaikuṇṭha, O son of a Govardhana cowherd, for you are a devotee of the Lord of Mathurā, a disciple of a brāhmaṇa attached only to the Lord's devotional service, a soul dedicated to the Lord's mantra given you by your guru, and one who is faithful in your service to the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 98 yady asya mat-pituḥ samyak karuṇā syān tadā tvayā śroṣyate mahimā tasya gatvā cānubhaviṣyate TRANSLATION If you receive the full mercy of my father, you will hear the glories of Vaikuṇṭha and go there to see them for yourself.

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

The Final Prayer | Sri Isopanisad 15 - 18 | ISKCON Pakistan | Svayam Bhagavan Keshava Maharaja by Wisdom That Breathes by Keshava Maharaja

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

Apr 21, 1994Govardhana-

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 100 vicāra-jātataḥ svasya sambhāvya tad-ayogyatām prarudañ śoka-vegena mohaṁ prāpyāpataṁ kṣaṇāt TRANSLATION From the many thoughts flashing through my mind I concluded I was unfit to go. I cried profusely, and the force of my sorrow made me faint and suddenly fall to the ground.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 93 vasanti ca tapo-loke prabhuṁ nārāyaṇaṁ vinā anāthānām iva kṣemaṁ vahantas tan-nivāsinām TRANSLATION They live on Tapoloka, where they give reassurance and security to the residents, who at times feel helpless in the absence of their Lord Nārāyaṇa.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 80 tad-darśana-svabhāvottha- praharṣākṛṣṭa-mānasaḥ nājñāsiṣaṁ kim apy antar bahiś cānyan nija-priyam TRANSLATION So attracted was my mind by the spontaneous joy of seeing them that I was aware of nothing but them, internally or externally, not even things most dear to me.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 70 abodhayaṁ mano 'nena maheśenaiva sā khalu līlā-viśeṣa-vaicitrī kṛtā mūrti-viśeṣataḥ TRANSLATION I told my mind that it is Lord Śiva himself who performs these wonderfully varied pastimes in the special form of Lord Gopāla.

Today, I'm dedicating our Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class to His Holiness Badrinārāyaṇa Swāmi. Whether you knew or knew not, he was our GBC for many years although he never came here. He was dedicated to Śrīla Prabhupāda since he was a teenager, joined around 1971.He was known as a stalwart in practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout his life. He was a householder, took sannyāsa. I had the fortune of serving next to him in many meetings in North America and also on the GBC body. My last interactions with him were in Māyāpur. I gave a report to the GBC which included a proclamation that we would distribute this year, combinedly around the world, 108,000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets. After my presentation (which was a little more than that), I was interacting with some of the devotees, but he came to me immediately. He grabbed my hands and he said, "Vaiśeṣika, I'm really into this 108,000!" He looked at me with such a sincere expression, and I said, "Mahārāja, I feel like hugging you right now." And he goes, "Well, why don't you then?" I sat next to him during the BBT-GBC Relations Committee. The BBT is a trust—the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust—and a trust has a beneficiary. The beneficiary is ISKCON, and therefore there's a committee of GBCs and BBT directors and trustees that meet regularly, at least once a year for the whole day, or most of the day to go over various ways in which the BBT and GBC are cooperating in beneficial ways. At that meeting, I sat next to him in the meeting room, and I was marveling at how he was able to stay in the body he was in, because he was completely emaciated. Although he mentioned and it was obvious that his body had become very much degraded. Every warranty there is had run out, but he was still running that body and in that body as if his duty was higher and he had no lag time. Actually, before we went to Vṛndāvana from Māyāpur, I asked him where he was going next. He said, "Vṛndāvana." And I said, "Oh, great, I'll see you there." And he said, "Well, we'll see." Because he said, "I'm going there to... Link to the Srimad Bhagvatam class: https://youtu.be/AKrXvKkr--I?t=2793 ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 70 abodhayaṁ mano 'nena maheśenaiva sā khalu līlā-viśeṣa-vaicitrī kṛtā mūrti-viśeṣataḥ TRANSLATION I told my mind that it is Lord Śiva himself who performs these wonderfully varied pastimes in the special form of Lord Gopāla.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 62 śrīman-madana-gopālān nija-prāṇeṣṭa-daivatāt abhinnaḥ śrī-maheśo 'yam uta tad-bhāva-vardhanaḥ TRANSLATION This Lord Śiva, I realized, is nondifferent from Madana-gopāla, the Deity I worship, the Lord more dear to me than life itself. Lord Śiva serves the cause of love for my Lord by promoting it everywhere.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 61 jñātvā bhagavatā tena dṛṣṭyādiṣṭasya nandinaḥ upadeśena śuddhena svayaṁ me 'sphurad añjasā TRANSLATION Lord Śiva, reading my thoughts, ordered Nandīśvara with a knowing glance, and through Nandīśvara's pure guidance the facts easily revealed themselves to me.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 52 paramaṁ vismayaṁ prāpto harṣaṁ caitad acintayam ko nv ayaṁ pārivārāḍhyo bhāti mukti-padopari TRANSLATION Feeling the greatest surprise and delight, I thought, “Who is this, accompanied by such an entourage, and appearing from above the abode of liberation?”

Before Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura departed for the spiritual world, he stayed in this place where he was engaged in bhajana. Nearby here is the area where Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chased after the sand dune, considering it to be Govardhana Hill—a very sacred place here in Jagannātha Purī. Two weeks before he left, his disciple, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, had written him a letter as a householder and asked, "What can I do for your mission?" Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura asked him to preach in English. He had also told him previously, and reconfirmed: "You should print books." In fact, he said at Rādhā-kuṇḍa, "If you ever get money, print books." Our Founder-Ācārya of ISKCON, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, followed those instructions with his heart, mind, and soul. To that end, he published hundreds of books that were distributed in the millions; and even today, we are increasing that number all over the world. For Bhādra Pūrṇimā 2026—the great festival that is now taken up by devotees on every continent of the world—we, in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, have the solemn goal to distribute at least 108,000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatams in the next several months leading up to the day of Bhādra. The full moon day, during which the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself says that the giving away of a Bhāgavatam on that lunar celebration qualifies one to go back home, back to Godhead. We pray to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, who instructed his dear disciple to spread this all over the world, that we may help by following the footsteps of Śrīla Prabhupāda. May we smash this goal together all over the world, uniting around the principle of spreading Krishna consciousness to all the poor people of the world who have no idea that the goal of life is to go back home, back to Godhead. Please, let us help them. Let us distribute the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: 108,000 sets. Please go out and do as many as you can! ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #pilgrimageoftheheart #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 48 vraja-bhūmāv ihāgatya sādhaye 'haṁ sva-vāñchitam vimṛśann evam aśrauṣaṁ gīta-vādyādbhuta-dhvanim TRANSLATION I was thinking that if I returned to this Vraja-bhūmi I would fulfill my desires. And then I heard some wonderful singing and music.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 42 ittham ānanda-sandoham anuvindan nimagna-dhīḥ ātmārāma ivābhūvaṁ pūrṇa-kāma ivātha vā TRANSLATION The huge treasure of ecstasy I thus obtained inundated my mind. I became like a self-contented sage or like a man whose ambitions have all been fulfilled.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 48 vraja-bhūmāv ihāgatya sādhaye 'haṁ sva-vāñchitam vimṛśann evam aśrauṣaṁ gīta-vādyādbhuta-dhvanim TRANSLATION I was thinking that if I returned to this Vraja-bhūmi I would fulfill my desires. And then I heard some wonderful singing and music.

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā ‘For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.' https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/adi/7/76/ ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #spiritualsongs #kirtan #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his Govardhan retreat.

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations and kirtans from his Govardhan retreat.

So what we have here is an institution meant to continually channel the water that Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, brought from the great ocean of mercy of Kṛṣṇa. We're kind of like civil engineers, right? Sometimes they cut channels like Mulholland; Los Angeles wouldn't be a name right now if Mulholland, a very expert engineer, hadn't figured out how to "steal" all the water from Northern California (you can tell where I'm from) and bring it down to Los Angeles to make the desert fertile. Economics, I learned from an economics book, is the science of managing scarce resources and thereafter the law of supply and demand; but we learn from the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta that there is no scarce resource in the spiritual world. The more we channel the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu to the world, the more the supply increases. That's a Haribol! That's a secret of success. Also, when we have an institution meant to distribute mercy, "the devil is in the details," but we can come out of the details by principles. And one of the principles that Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu exhibited and taught to the world is the principle of adoṣa-darśī. Everyone is envious in the material world—my brother gets a raise, and I think, "Darn"; somebody else leads a great kīrtana, it feels like ughh!! As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, this is the lingering disease in the material world. Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu represents the uttama-adhikārī who sees beyond the faults of all living entities, which are cataloged by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in the Fourth Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in his commentary, where he says there are four kinds of people that are highly expert at finding faults, some are better at it than others. And there are four kinds of saintly persons who are expert at following finding the good qualities in others. The first fault-finder sees that there are good qualities and bad qualities and then he only sees the bad; second, he's more advanced, he sees the good and bad qualities so he brings up the bad quality to make sure everybody knows about it; the third doesn't even see any good qualities, just sees the bad; and the fourth is so expert that even in those that only have good qualities, he finds some fault. Conversely, in those who represent Lord Nityānanda to one degree or another, the first sees good and bad qualities but chooses to see the good; the second one sees good and bad and brings up the good quality; the third doesn't see the bad quality, just the good; and the fourth, even in a person who is sudurācāra, who has no good qualities factually, a person who is a representative of Lord Nityānanda finds a good quality. To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.