Now-a-days literacy rate of the people in this world has increased to great rate compared to past couple of decades. So many people have graduated out of universities and colleges and we find almost hundreds of universities even in smaller cities. But have these really improved the quality of human life ?
We all have the experience that out of the four problems of material existence, namely food problem, shelter problem, fear problem and mating problem, thefear problem is the most prominent. We are always fearful due to the ignorance of the next problem.
"Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death."
Usually, in our fast-paced life, we tend to ignore the small things and some people in our life who have brought that smile on our face when we were unhappy.
Today/tomorrow being Diwali I thought of writing an auspicious note but by Krishna's mercy I was inspired to write the following verse which is more practical and particularly applicable to the current situation of the world - economy crisis.
Krsna is so attractive that if we only once fully applied our mind in thinking of Krsna and surrender, then we are immediately saved from all miserable conditions of this material life.
People are often puzzled why a soul who is situated in the spiritual world would trade his position of eternity, knowledge and bliss for temporality, ignorance and misery in this world of birth and death. The answer is quite simple. Every living being has the independence to act freely as he chooses.
"Devotees when they start criticizing each other they start losing interest in mangala arati, then they start losing interest in Bhagavatam then they start losing interest in chanting and one day they just go out of the door. Finish. This is how our thinking and has a very bad effect. Bad thinking will give a very bad face like Chimpanzee. Nobody likes to have a face of chimpanzee. Enough of chimpanzee face, now we should have a nice innocent face.
"Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet [Brahmaloka] down to the lowest planet [Patala]. As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them."
"Simply by receiving the glories of the Lord through purified transcendental ears, the devotees of the Lord are immediately freed from strong material desires and engagement in fruitive activities."
The priceless treasure for any man is the association with a pure devotee. Even half moment's association is very valuable (lava-mātra sādhu-sange, sarva-siddhi haya). This point, about a "moment's association" is not least exaggerated.
"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me, and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me."
After an exhausting day's work I came home and mumbled the reminder of my daily japa. Already frustrated with the day's exhaustion being absorbed in the mundane gymnastics, I was looking for some relief.
In order to build the bridge across Lanka, Lord Ramachandra reached the beach, he fasted for three days, awaiting the arrival of the ocean personified.
The scriptures are full of descriptions of the importance and value of chanting the Holy names of the Lord. But our materialistic mind does not get convinced and we start thinking as to how vibrating a certain combination of syllables can relieve us from the entanglement of the material world.
"By showing mercy to all living entities, being satisfied somehow or other and controlling the senses from sense enjoyment, one can very quickly satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janardana."
"Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them."
A few days back I was very fortunate to get hold of one of my early notebooks in which I had written a lot of notes from my study of Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrta and also some of the very valuable notes taken from our Guru Maharaj's lecture.
Our son, Arjun, who is a little over 2 years old, was playing with one of the kitchen equipments, a metal steamer plate with holes each just big enough to insert his finger.
Creation of energy of the Lord is also partially eternal, knowledge and beauty. The captivated conditioned souls under the influence of the external energy, maya, are therefore entrapped in the network of the material nature. They accept this as all in all, for they have no information of the Lord who is the primeval cause
Two months back, my eldest son met with a bike accident. A car coming on the opposite side hit his bike and he fell down. He was dragged a few yards away on the road. By Krishna's mercy he did'nt have much injury. Few days later I read a similar kind of accident in the news-paper.
We started the day at about 10 am with study of Bhagavatam Chapter 2 of Second Canto. Devotees had come from quite far away and were intensely involved in the serious study of Bhagavatam. Then we had wonderful kirtans and concluded the program with sumptuous prasadam.
We have engaged in Your worship with many things and have offered sacrifices unto You, but we think that there is no need for so many arrangements to please Your Lordship.