raghunaga (spontenous)

Imported quote 15481

One should be attracted by the beautiful vision of Krsna. His name is Krsna because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Krsna is fortunate. There are different kinds of transcendentalists-some of them are attached to the impersonal Brahman vision, some of them are attracted by the Supersoul feature, etc., but one who is attracted to the personal feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and, above all, one who is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Krsna Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words, devotional service to Krsna, in full consciousness, is the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole Bhagavad-gita. Karma-yogis, empiric philosophers, mystics, and devotees are all called transcendentalists, but one who is a pure devotee is the best of all. The particular words used here, ma sucaḥ, "Don't fear, don't hesitate, don't worry," are very significant. One may be perplexed as to how one can give up all kinds of religious forms and simply surrender unto Krsna, but such worry is useless. (More...)

According to Bhagavad-gita the characteristics of pure devotees are wonderful (Bg. 10.9). The complete functional activities of a pure devotee are always engaged in the service of the Lord, and thus they exchange feelings of ecstasy between themselves and relish transcendental bliss. This transcendental bliss is experienced even in the stage of devotional practice (sadhana-avastha), if properly undertaken under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. And in the mature stage the developed transcendental feeling culminates in realization of the particular relationship with the Lord by which a living entity is originally constituted (up to the relationship of conjugal love with the Lord, estimated as highest transcendental bliss). Thus bhakti-yoga, being the only means of God realization is called kaivalya. Srila Jiva Gosvami quotes the version (eko narayano devaḥ, paravaranam parama aste kaivalya-sangitaḥ) in this connection and establishes that Narayana, the Personality of Godhead, is known as kaivalya, and the means which enables one to approach the Lord is called the kaivalya-pantha, or the only means of attainment of Godhead. This kaivalya-pantha begins from sravana, or hearing those topics that relate to the Personality of Godhead, and the natural consequence of hearing such hari-katha is attainment of transcendental knowledge, which causes a detachment from all mundane topics, for which a devotee has no taste at all. For a devotee, all mundane activities, social and political, become unattractive, and in the mature state such a devotee becomes disinterested even in his own body, and what to speak of bodily relatives. In such a state of affairs one is not agitated by the waves of the material modes. There are different modes of material nature, and all mundane functions in which a common man is very much interested or takes part become unattractive for the devotee. This state of affairs is described herein as pratinivrtta-gunormi, and it is possible by atma-prasada, or complete self-satisfaction without any material connection. The first-class devotee of the Lord attains this stage by devotional service, but despite his loftiness, still, for the matter of the Lord's satisfaction, he may play the voluntary part of a preacher of the Lord's glory and dovetail all into devotional service, even mundane interest, just to give a chance to the neophytes to transform mundane interest into transcendental bliss. Srila Rūpa Gosvami has described this action of a pure devotee as "nirbandhaḥ krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate." Even mundane activities dovetailed with service of the Lord are also calculated to be transcendental or approved kaivalya affairs. (More...)

Who in this world does not want to possess wealth, beauty and the social respectability that come from these opulences? People generally desire material enjoyment, material opulence and the association of aristocratic family members (bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam). Material enjoyment entails money, beauty and the reputation they bring, which can all be achieved by the mercy of the goddess of fortune. The goddess of fortune, however, never remains alone. As indicated in the previous verse by the word bhagavat-para, she is the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is enjoyable only by Him. If one wants the favor of the goddess of fortune, mother Laksmi, because she is by nature bhagavat-para one must keep her with Narayana. The devotees who always engage in the service of Narayana (narayana-parayana) can easily achieve the favor of the goddess of fortune without a doubt, but materialists who try to get the favor of the goddess of fortune only to possess her for personal enjoyment are frustrated. Theirs is not a good policy. The celebrated demon Ravana, for example, wanted to deprive Ramacandra of Laksmi, Sita, and thus be victorious, but the result was just the opposite. Sita, of course, was taken by force by Lord Ramacandra, and Ravana and his entire material empire were vanquished. The goddess of fortune is desirable for everyone, including human beings, but one should understand that the goddess of fortune is the exclusive property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One cannot achieve the mercy of the goddess of fortune unless one prays both to her and to the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead. (More...)

After finishing their lunch, Krsna and His friends and calves began to return to their Vrajabhūmi homes. While passing, they enjoyed seeing the dead carcass of Aghasura in the shape of a gigantic serpent. When Krsna returned home to Vrajabhūmi, He was seen by all the inhabitants of Vrndavana. He was wearing a peacock feather in His helmet, which was also decorated with forest flowers. Krsna was also garlanded with flowers and painted with different colored minerals collected from the caves of Govardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is always famous for supplying natural red dyes, and Krsna and His friends painted their bodies with them. Each of them had a bugle made of buffalo horn and a stick and a flute, and each called his respective calves by their particular names. They were so proud of Krsna's wonderful activities that, while entering the village, they all sang His glories. All the gopis in Vrndavana saw beautiful Krsna entering the village. The boys composed nice songs describing how they were saved from being swallowed by the great serpent and how the serpent was killed. Some described Krsna as the son of Yasoda, and others as the son of Nanda Maharaja. "He is so wonderful that He saved us from the clutches of the great serpent and killed him," they said. But little did they know that one year had passed since the killing of Aghasura. (More...)

Devotional service with attachment can be executed in two ways: externally and internally. Externally, the devotee strictly follows the regulative principles, beginning with chanting and hearing and other regulations, while internally he always thinks of the attachment which attracts him to serve the Supreme Lord. He always thinks of his special devotional service and attachment. Such a real devotee's attachment docs not violate the regulative principles of devotional service, but he adheres to them strictly; and yet, within his mind, he always thinks of his particular attachment. (More...)

So these are called unwanted things. Adau sraddha tataḥ sadhu-sahgo [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu ]. By faith we make association with the devotees, and by association with devotees we become inclined to be initiated. And after actual discharging the duties of initiation, one becomes freed from things which are not wanted. We don't say that it is bad, but it is not wanted. It is not that we are not eating meat, it is not that we are dying. So it is not wanted. If I can live by eating fruit and grains and milk and so many nice things, why shall I cause the killing of another animal? This is God consciousness; this is Krsna consciousness. Anartha-nivrttiḥ syat [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu ]. So in this way, when we are freed from the bad elements of life, then we become fixed up in our Krsna consciousness. Nistha. Then ruci-taste. Nistha, ruci, then asakti-attachment; then bhava-ecstasy. Then the next stage is love of Godhead. (More...)

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