We must remember that in whatever we do, we cannot even move an inch if we are neglected by the Lord. Not even a blade of grass can move without the sanction of the Lord, so what are we trying to achieve? Our main priority must always be our devotional service.
We see in Srimad Bhagavatam there are so many first class devotees of the Lord. One such devotee is Yudhisthira maharaj. His character and behaviour and his devotion is exceptional and worthy to mention and meditate. The way he was taking care of Dhrtarashtra and Gandhari after the Mahabharat war is worthy to meditate for neophyte like me.
In the case of Sabari, she was born of a very low family and she was old with little physical strength and she was not educated both in material science and in the Vedas and also she was very poor. When she was young, she went to the ashram of a great sage called Mathanga rishi who was a great devotee of the Lord
With our ever increasing engrossment in materialistic life, we fail to understand that we cannot carry anything along with us once we pass away. There is a very instructive incident involving the life of Alexander the great Greek King. Alexander after conquering many kingdoms was returning home.
Today is the most auspicious day of Rama Navami - The Appearance of Lord Ramacandra. His very name "Rama" means pleasing and all those who take shelter of Him, experience transcendental pleasure. Lord Ram appeared in the Raghu dynasty in the Tretha yuga, millions of years ago and performed so many inconceivable, glorious pastimes.
Srimad Bhagavatam is full of questions and answers. The questions are really worth meditating on because everyone of thosequestions are meant for the upliftment of our practical life and the attainment of self-realization.
Srila Prabhupada said in one of his lectures that faith (shraddha) means thinking that "The Lord will protect me". But being firmly fixed (nishta) in devotional service means thinking that "The Lord is already protecting me."
There is a common phrase, "As sure as death". Death is the only sure fact in this material world. But it is the most painful experience too. But the only way we can get rid of the pain is by facing it with courage rather than shying away from it.
The Lord's glories are unlimited. In so many slokas in Srimad Bhagavat-gita and Bhagavatam there are so many wonderful qualities of the Lord described in detail. Meditating on just a single quality of the Lord constantly purifies us completely, then what to speak of being constantly engaged in studying these scriptures and remembering the glorious qualities of the Lord?
Everyone wants to have a peaceful death with no pains. The general belief among people is that one who is pious and devoted to God will have a peaceful death and one who performs violent acts and harms others and earns money illegally will die in a pathetic way.
While glorifying the Lord's pastimes, we should actually feel the greatness of the Lord and enjoy it. I have experienced this with Srila Prabhupada's lectures and some of his genuine followers whom I have come across. When we hear Srila Prabhupada speaking, we can obviously see that he is enjoying every bit of his speech about the Lord.
How do we worship Srimad Bhagavatam? Just keep the book in the shelf or altar and keep doing puja just like how we do puja to the Lord's deity form? In doing so, many people do not take the Bhagavat-gita or Bhagavatam out of the altar and therefore never get to know what is inside these great source of transcendental knowledge
One may chant more than 16 rounds and donate liberally to temple and think that this alone could make them dear to Krishna. In Bhagavad-Gita 12th chapter titled Bhakti-yoga, from verse 13 to 20, Lord Krishna has very clearly stated the qualities which pleases Him.
We always keep telling we don't have time for study, but sincerely speaking we waste so much of our time in frivolous activities. If we introspect ourselves honestly, we can realize it. Therefore, It is high time that we rectify this shortcoming and not complaint that we do not have time for reading Bhagavat-gita and Bhagavatam.
We want to be happy in the material world, but this will never be possible until we direct our actions unto Supreme Lord. In our attempts to satisfy ourselves, we simply increase the blazing fire of desires which cannot be satisfied by illusory thoughts and plans.
n the Palace of Emperor Akbar The Great , there was a servant named Asif, who was considered very unlucky by all his colleagues. Nobody wanted to see his face as they thought that would bring them ill luck and misfortune. This word once reached the ears of Akbar. Akbar wanted to determine the truth in the belief.
When the patient is unable to move from his bed and is in a very serious condition, the doctor compassionately comes to the patient's house personally and administers the medicine. Since our material fever is very high and we are all in a seriously diseased condition in Kali yuga, The Lord has descended personally in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
For most of us, material opulence is very attractive. We are attracted by glamour. We like wealth and the comforts that accompany wealth. We like fast cars, good roads and infrastructure, water on demand, electricity whenever we need it, the best food, clothes, and shelter.
Who doesn't like to be praised by others? It's in our human blood that we feel so much pleased and puffed up when someone tries to praise us. We never think, "Are we really fit for that praise?". Everything happens by the grace of the Lord, a blade of grass also moves by Lord's mercy, so what is our position?
Our movement is a preaching movement and it is really wonderful to see that this preaching spirit is imbibed by almost all the souls who come in touch with ISKCON. In fact, to read Srila Prabhupada's books and not preach is almost impossible, we can say.
But 'attachment' is the most wrongly understood word in this world. As soon as we hear the phrase, "We should not be attached", we tend to think that we should leave everything, be callous to everyone and everything happening around us and so on.
The only solution to get out of the above entanglement is to develop a sincere desire to understand the most confidential knowledge from the scriptures like Bhagavat Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam in the association of the "devotees" of the lord. Here the word "devotees" is very significant.
Srila Prabhupada was always considering himself as a humble representative of his Guru and previous acharyas and always gave credit to them for all the success in Krishna consciousness preaching. One disciple of Srila Prabhupada was explaining an interesting incident in this regard.
By studying Bhagavad-gita, one can become a completely surrendered soul to the Supreme Lord and engage himself in pure devotional service. As the Lord takes charge, one becomes completely free from all kinds of materialistic endeavors.
From Uddhava, it can be learnt that if one serves the Lord continuously, from as early as possible, then even in old age, or senior age, that attitude and fire of service will never slacken and leave us.
Being from Singapore myself, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Devakinandan Prabhu for taking severe pains and sacrifices to bring up the Singapore congregation and he never made us feel that we are disciples of other Guru so we are not part and parcel, he always made us feel comfortable and was always there for us
The acarya is truly a real bonafide spiritual master showing his real humility and we need not wonder why so many souls took his shelter. We have to understand and realize our insignificant position as a disciple while engaging devotees in devotional service.
King Prataparudra wanted to have darshan of Mahaprabhu. But Mahaprabhu refused to meet him every time when the king requested for the same. But the king was not dejected or displeased. Though he was very eager to see the Lord, he accepted the authority of Mahaprabhu to refuse to meet him and continued with his devotional service sincerely.
Today is the most auspicious day of Sri Gaura Purnima, the Appearance day of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya is the most munificient incarnation of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. He came in this world 500 years ago to distribute the Love of Sri Krishna.
Many times we do not know how to pray to Krishna. We may have lot of things to ask Krishna, but we should approach the Lord with the proper mood. This we can learn from Srimad Bhagavatam where so many devotees offer their prayers to the Lord.
"Whoever acquires the brahminical qualificationswhose only wealth is good behavior, who is grateful and who takes shelter of experienced personsgets all the opulence of the world. I therefore wish that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His associates be pleased with the brahmana class, with the cows and with me."