Vidura was convinced by Maitreya Rsi that the summum bonum of life is to be finally situated in the transcendental loving service of Lord Sri Krsna, who is Govinda, or one who satisfies His devotees in all respects.

When Dhruva was only a boy of about 5 years of age, he was insulted by his father the King Utttanapada, when he allowed his favourite wife's son Uttama to sit on his lap and his favourite wife prevented little Dhruva from sitting on his father lap too.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world.

How to constantly engage in the service of the Lord especially when engaged in our daily occupational activities ? We will see that in the next posting.

In Minneapolis, we are blessed by the invaluable association of a nice senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada  - H G Janananda prabhu. He is so full of devotion, love and realizations.

Sanatan Goswami was the perfect example of the spiritual master for he imparted the real value of the devotional service to the living entities not only by his preaching but also by his actions.

My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Krsna.

In Bhagavad Gita, Krsna Himself warns us of the difficulty of overcome the modes of material nature which are part and parcel of His material energy.

Persons who worship You simply for the sense gratification of this bag of skin are certainly influenced by Your illusory energy. 

Thus Sukadeva Gosvami says, “How wonderful are these pastimes of material happiness transacted by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead!” In other words, materialistic persons want to commit all kinds of sinful activities, but without the sanction of the Supreme Personality of no one can do anything. 

The fact remains that just with the spiritual master being pleased or displeased, one's spiritual life can rise or fall deeper into the material modes of nature.

As the Lord is unlimited and His pastimes are unlimited..., His devotees are also unlimited and their activities are also unlimited. Continuing with Srila Narada Muni's glories, i am trying to quote important points from one of the most awesome chapter in the 6th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. 

A teacher instructs his students if the student is capable of taking more and more instructions. Otherwise, in spite of being instructed by the teacher, the student cannot make strides in his understanding. This has nothing to do with partiality.

This verse reminded me of another interesting verse in Citraketu prayer 6.16.34 (ajita jitah sama-matibhih), that Maharaj discussed at length with us for a few days and gave an astounding lecture at the Juhu pandal during Juhu temple Ratha-yatra this year.

These three verses have immense meaning in them and also shows the greatness of Srila Narada Muni. Srila Prabhupada's translation and purport are so absorbing! Infact, as Maharaj says, "He brought life to this dead language (English) by translating Srimad Bhagavat-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam"!!!

This verse reminded me of another interesting verse in Citraketu prayer 6.16.34 (ajita jitah sama-matibhih), that Maharaj discussed at length with us for a few days and gave an astounding lecture at the Juhu pandal during Juhu temple Ratha-yatra this year.

Lord Krishna's famous 'Panchajanya' conch, which he had used at the Mahabharat war, is believed to be at the Jagannath temple in Puri, The conch, like Krishna's conch, gives out rhythmic utterances of holy hymns when held close to the ears!

One interesting thing Maharaj said was to write the sanskrit equivalent for the important words in the translation. This will help us concentrate on the important aspect of the verse. I tried to do that for this verse and to my astonishment, all the sanskrit words got fit into the translation!

Krsna is non-different from His sound vibration, because the vibration is transcendental. 'Transcendental' word is very important.

If one is convinced that "I am part and parcel of Krsna," one is not disturbed even in the midst of the greatest difficulties, because one knows that Krsna will give protection.

Piety cannot consist of specific acts only such as prayers or rituals only but is bound up with all actions, concommitent with all doings, accompanying and shaping all life's businesses.

The great sage Narada was the spiritual master of Dhruva Maharaja. Certainly he was very glad to see Dhruva's glories.

The people in the material world are always in the grip of fear and anxieties , more so in the Kaliyuga. Lord Brahma while offering prayers to the Supreme Lord Krishna for creative energy, recites the following verse in SB - 3.9.6.

Now, Lord Krsna says that who are the mahatmas. The symptom of mahatma is that he knows that the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, is the original Personality of Godhead, and He is the fountainhead and source of all emanation

Even though Guru Maharaj was not feeling well, He still gave a class on Bhagavatam yesterday ( 8th July 2002 ) evening, it was extremely wonderful. 

Nalakuvara and Manigriva actually had nothing to do with devotional service or seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, for this is not an ordinary opportunity.

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brahmanas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning.

Mrigari the hunter was very sinful in his behaviour of killing animals by maiming them and making them die a slow death. But the powerful and  purifying association of a pure devotee like Narada Muni transformed him from a killer to a devotee.

Hare Krishna Prabhus and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev!

Srila Prabhupada gives a nice explanation of devotional service and how it should be rendered in the purport of 4.9.17:

What struck me is Prabhupada defining dharma as "that which sustains one's existence." Factually speaking, even the materialist does not work as a matter of duty even in this material world - he works because if he did not - he would perish! 

Hearing of the holy name gradually promotes one to the stage of hearing about His form, His attributes, His pastimes and so on, and thus the necessity of the chanting of His glories develops successively.