In the ordinary parlance, we all know that ‘self-sufficiency’ and ‘dependency’ are opposite terms. A person who is ‘self-sufficient’ does not depend upon any body and if a person is ‘dependent’, it means he is not self-sufficient.

"I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths."

"No one can understand Krishna as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him."

Sometimes a sincere devotee, is also puzzled by the powerful influence of material nature. The material nature is the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord has innumerable energies

Very often in our life we tend to share our material problems (problems which can be our work related or family related problems) with our working colleagues or our family members thinking that it will help to relieve our heavy heart. How greatly mistaken this soul is!

"As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature’s modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy."

Maharaj went on to explain the necessity of eating appropriate food as summarised below. We are all under the conception that ‘I am managing everything and everything is going on alright because of me.’ Maharaj completely thrashed this idea by his following powerful words.

In the present civilization we find that the majority of the population are completely fatigued in their endeavour to improve the so called standard of life and are full of restlessness. Peace and refreshment are very rare to find and Srimad Bhagavatam in the verse 4.26.11, describes this situation and Srila Prabhupada gives a brilliant purport to this verse.

Sometimes we see people committing so many sinful activities without even bothering about the after effects of the same. Such people might even florish nicely for sometime. We also observe certain people who are leading a saatvic life, but still facing so many problems.

We all expect perfection in life. We want to do everything perfectly and also expect others do behave perfectly. But none of us are perfect. We are all filled with imperfections.

"Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhishma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited."

One of the most dangerous thing that is spreading all over the world is the commercialisation of anything and everything. Even things such as Education, Relationship etc which determine and sustain the intrinsic nature of humans are heavily commercialized.

A few weeks back, I was fortunate enough to attend the Rukmini Sabha class along with my mother HG Manasi Radhika Devi Dasi. In the class the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.12 was discussed.

"If Yamaraj comes, you cannot say no to him by stretching your arms. This is because of our laziness that we are unable to wake up for mangala arati." Maharaj then told a story in this connection.

The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said: "I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree.

Many a times, we find people asking us why we should perform devotional service when we are young. Forget others asking us, sometimes out of our lazy nature, we prefer to procrastinate our duties, scriptural reading etc, thinking that we will do when we are free.

"A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace."

The king of elephants Gajendra was enjoying with his family members, the fascinating surroundings of the Trikuta mountain, the other animals gettingfrightened by him etc.

"Neither Lord Brahma, nor Lord Siva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from this material world, such mercy as received by mother Yashoda."

Few years ago, we went to a temple in India and took darshan of the deities, but somehow didn't experience any feeling of bhakti or anything else

The human soul says: "I take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in His various eternal forms and walks on the surface of the world. I take shelter of Him only, because He can give me relief from all fear and from Him I have received this condition of life, which is just befitting my impious activities."

Before taking up Krishna consciousness, I had been dabbling in various spiritual pursuits. One such activity was practice of hatha yoga and breathing exercises which required sitting alone in a room every day and spending half an hour practising sitting and standing postures, breathing exercises and meditation.

The modern day civilization is completely bereft of Vedic etiquettes which are most essential for our spiritual progress. Srimad Bhagavatam gives complete knowledge of everything required for our advancement. It is said ‘vidya bhagavathaavadhi’.

"One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me—such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me."

The most sought after news as on today is the presence of "Black man in the White House" which is the election of the presidential candidate of the United States of America.

It is important to understand what is most important in one's life. Depending on where we are, for some serving the self is important, for some serving the needs of their family is important and for some serving their nation is important.

Normally when we are asked a question, the tendency is to start to replying by saying " I think". On many occassions we are able to convince persons about our view point.

There is a lot of difference between wants and needs. But deluded by illusion, we consider whatever we want as our needs. Just like a child when taken to a toy-shop/sweet shop, craves to own all that he/she sees, we also crave whimsically. But a responsible father knows what is needed for the child.

Because in the end everything and everybody will give us up - our relatives, wealth, land, and even our own body. But due to unwanted attachment, we tend to latch on to these temporary posessions and lament when it is separated from us.

"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance."