In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna also says that mind is the best of our friends if we control it and worst of our enemies when it controls us. Though it does not have any gross presence, it is capable of burning us down with anxieties and worries. It is invisible and subtle and still capable of mentally taking us to any corner of the world within seconds and like a time machine takes us to past or future thereby makes us become restless and anxious.

We are placed in an abominable position in the womb of the mother and with this situation also we are careless. We do not want to know about it. 'Alright, it may be, I will have another'. This is how we are attached and this raga must go away and the raga will only go if we know the real position.

If you are a beast, it will assume the beast body, may be a cow or dog or whatever it is. If you are human being, it will have the rough shape of human body.

Unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Lord with full love has to be started at some stage of our devotional life. In order to love the Supreme Lord, we should start loving His part and parcels first. In Kaliyuga people are hankering for this genuine love and compassion and that can be given only if we are genuine in our own devotional service.

Do not get attached too much. However much you try to amass wealth, however you try to amass any material things, they are not going to come with you. That is a fact.

If Krishna protects someone, no one can kill him, and if Krishna wants to kill someone, no one can save him.

The best way is to help the living entities till we are alive. We serve the living entities till our life. Living or death is not in our hand. It is always under the control and supervision of Krishna and whenever He wishes, we have to go. 

If we really study these prayers  and the actual movements of living entity within the womb, then we helplessly decide that come what may, I will not squeeze myself again into another womb. We are already born and by Krishna's arrangement we have forgotten the pains of birth.

"Can we see God?" is the question in the mind of everyone. In the case of the devotees this is a loving yearning from the heart and in the case of others it is a challenge. But we should also know the qualification required to see the Lord. This is very wonderfully revealed in the pastime of the deliverance of the yamala arjuna trees.

Therefore, one should remain in those places where the Supreme Lord is properly worshiped according to the Vedic standard. If everyone is dedicated to glorifying the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, there will not be any impediment in mutual association. However, in a place where people have many different purposes besides the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, social dealings will certainly be disrupted."

Srila Prabhupada always gives the example that the material scientists can manufacture the aeroplane. Our Lord is so wonderful that He can fly the mosquitoes. Mosquito is also aero plane. These material scientists cannot fly the mosquito. They can fly only big big things. Their capacities are limited. That is why our companies are called limited. We cannot manufacture. We cannot compete with the Lord and that is why He is always the winner. We are always the loser and we cannot accept this fact. As soon as we lose, we reject Him. The result is we are completely baffled.

It is a real treat and pleasure to listen to the singing of the verses by our beloved Guru Maharaj who sings them in complete devotion, purity and relish. Before Maharaj starts speaking on the verse for the day, he always sings a few slokas from Srimad Bhagavad Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam or some vedic literature and explains the same. One of Maharaj’s favorite verses is the Bhagavad gita verse 8.9 

There are five causes for any thing to take effect.The first cause is the place where the action has to take place, the second cause is actor or the man who will do the act, the third cause is the instrument by which the action has to be executed, the fourth cause is the endeavor which pushes the actor to do it and above all there is the fifth cause namely God's will and that is the ultimate sanction. Even if the first four causes are efficient and the fifth cause alone is not favorable, the effect cannot take place and therefore in every action the hand of God is there irrespective of the fact that whether we accept/appreciate it or not

The sanity in devotee population is that we don't have any enmity anywhere. We don't keep all these rubbish in our mind, because our whole mind is covered by Hari Katha. We don't have place for anybody else. This is our position and the more you try to do this, more you will be away from these waves and whirlpools.

In previous offering we heard from Maharaj that a) Everything related to Krishna is forced to be spiritual. As soon as something is connected to Krishna, it can never remain material. Thats why the devotees of the Lord, may be in the beginning they are neophytes.  b) It doesn't matter in which varna or ashram we are in. Everyone has to do their duty, without running away from it. c) Since everything comes from Him, duty also comes from Him and so understanding this when we do it immaculately well, Krishna is very pleased

The following is transcription of Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj on 29 June 2003 in Wellington, Newzealand on Srimad Bhagavatam verse 2.3.12.

To help us understand that whatever Krishna is doing is for our good, our beloved Maharaj used to give us an example of a person boarding a train - "Consider a person with no baggage - when the train comes, he happily and easily gets into the train. Whereas a person who has lot of baggages has to struggle a lot to board the train." So if by Krishna's arrangement we have no family, still we are not at loss. When we throw away the baggage of anxieties, worries, honour, dishonour, reputation etc from our minds and fill it with Krishna, then we can easily go around happily like a child, glorifying the Supreme Lord until our final train comes to pick us back home, back to Godhead. 

We conveniently forget all the favors we have received from others and thus become ungrateful personalities who are condemned everywhere. Thus forgetfulness plays havoc in the lives of everyone without exception.

Our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says that when some things are repeatedly mentioned in scriptures, it means that it is very very important for us. So by hearing from these great souls, let us make a sincere endeavor to practise the same in our life.

"Here in this material world, everyone is envious of someone else. Even in religious life, it is sometimes found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritual activities, other devotees are envious of him. Such envious devotees are not completely freed from the bondage of birth and death. As long as one is not completely free from the cause of birth and death, one cannot enter the Sanatana-dhaama or the eternal pastimes of the Lord.

There are so many unlimited verses sung by Narada Muni, so many unlimited pastimes of the Lord is there in Bhagavatam. They are unlimited because He is Himself unlimited. See the beauty of sentence Srila Prabhupada has arranged - "On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation  full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization."

 If there is no glorification of Lord in your life, if there is no love for Lord, then its like pilgrimage of crows. Then life becomes complete rubbish. And all perfect persons, who glorify Supreme Lord, don't take pleasure in these things. We have to learn this first and then teach this to children.

There are 2 things to be understood here. One is we should chant Krishna's names daily. Chanting means associating with Lord. That is a must. Once you associate with Lord, next thing is how to lead this life? To understand this we have to go to Bhagavatam daily. We should not think that oswatnly one thing is enough. Mere chanting alone is not enough.

The lines "aashaa hi paramam duhkham / nairaashyam paramam sukham" is most beautiful in the above verse. All of us have some aashaa (material desire) or the other and so we are unhappy as those desires don't get fulfilled all the time. nairaashyam - freedom from desires is the cause of greatest happiness. This is the crux of the lesson that we need to learn from Pingala. When our mind is filled with desires, we will always be anxious about how to get them fulfilled. When they don't get fulfilled we lose our peace of mind.

Whenever devotees asked our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj as to how can we become sincere in chanting, how to become sober and serious in devotional service, Maharaj always told the following golden statement - "Remember your death". 

Pingala is comparing this material existence to a blind, dark well (samsaara kupe) and how all of us have fallen into it as we want to enjoy sense-gratificatory activities. (vishayair mushitekshanam). We are reminded of the below Mahabharath story which our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj used to tell us regarding how we fail to realise how much precarious our situation is even after falling into this well. 

That is why Srila Prabhupada and the scriptures insist that this is not one hour’s job. This is satatam kirtayanto maam yatantas ca drdha vrataah. Always you perform His kirtan and may be your tendencies will change, which are innate. From so many species of life you are carrying these tendencies. It is very difficult to change.

If you are taking interest in your own self, then definite result is you will be completely satisfied. And if you are satisfied, then there is no need of having any problems in your body, having any problems in your family or having any problems in your work field or in your society or country. There can’t be any problems. Because people are missing this point, all the problems are there. 

The following is the transcription of the wonderful class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj on Srimad Bhagavad Gita verse 3.17 in Singapore on 27 th march 1993. yas tv aatma-ratir eva syaad / aatma-trptas ca maanavah aatmany eva ca santushtas / tasya kaaryam na vidyate "But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated—for him there is no duty."

As soon as we do something, we expect the return and scriptures tell you not to repeat these things. Because if you are entangled into the fruitive activities, then you are creating the web around you and because of that web, you are forced to accept the bodies and there is no choice.