The whole process of Krishna consciousness with the various practices of devotional services is all aimed at one thing and that is to attract the attention and mercy of the Lord. In Srimad Bhagavatam verses 6.2.9-10, the Vishnudutas give us the secret of attracting the attention of the Lord.
This is in continuation of the previous offering describing the attentive nature of the Lord who when someone chants His holy name considers, "Because this man has chanted My holy name, My duty is to give him protection." (tad vishayaa matih)
Glorification 25 - The Lord's personal presence confirms victory: It is mentioned in Bhagavad Gita verses 1.14 to 1.19 that various warriors on the side of Pandavas including Lord Krishna blew their respective conchshells.
Our spiritual master shared some simple but powerful realizations in one of his Bhagavatam classes on 1st Oct 2009 in Rajkot. I would like to share with you some of the salient points that I had noted down from that class.
But most of the time we forget that the Lord is the Supreme controller and Owner of everything. As a result we keep hankering for things which do not belong to us and make our lives miserable.
Sometimes people argue that hell does not exist and that there is no track of whatever sins we are doing. But 3rd Canto 30th Chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam clearly explains the existence of hell, how far it is from earth, how the living entity travels after he leaves his body, what are the various types of punishments he undergoes there.
The following is humble effort to conclude with partial transcription of the nectarean Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj on June 2, 2003 in Minneapolis.
"The highest devotion is attained by slow degrees by the method of constant endeavor for self-realization with the help of scriptural evidence, theistic conduct and perseverance in practice."
This is in conclusion of the previous offerings transcribing the class by HG Devakinandan prabhuji on Srimad Bhagavad Gita verse 14.26. Maharaj said if we neglect our devotional service, devotional service will neglect us.
One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman."
5. Royal practical way out of the modes: Maharaj said that the practical way to follow is to remember Srimad Bhagavatam verse 11.7.37. Maharaj liked this verse very much.
The below is one of the verses which our Maharaj cherished from Srimad Bhagavatam (verse 12.13.18) and hearing him recite this verse is a great blessing.
"Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly watches the activities of the world, no one sees Him. However, one should not think that because no one sees Him, He does not see, for His power to see is never diminished. Therefore, everyone should worship the Supersoul, who always stays with the individual soul as a friend."
In one of the classes in Rajkot, HG Devakinandan prabhuji shared some very valuable points spoken by Maharaj on Srimad Bhagavad Gita verse 14.26:
maam ca yo 'vyabhicaarena / bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunaan samatityaitaan / brahma-bhuyaaya kalpate
The Supreme Lord is everywhere and in everything. How close we are with Him is completely left with our devotional service. We can either see the hole in donut or the donut itself. We can see all problems around or see that Krishna is with us more closely when there are problems
The following is an instructive story told by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Once there lived a king who was very devoted to Supreme Lord Krishna. He was not very happy with the behaviour of his ministers.
In the previous offering on this topic we saw how the Supreme Lord even while waiting inside the pillar gave darshan to Prahlad Maharaj and encouraged him to be fearless and that He would save him from the wrath of his father.
In the Bhagavatam there is the story of Bhaumasura who was tormenting the earth and all its residents. In fact he was even tormenting the denizens of upper planetary system like Indra, Varuna, Agni and other demigods. He had captured 16,100 princess and held them captive in his palace.
We all do yearly checkups for our body, especially when we cross over 40, as the doctors advice yearly monitoring of our bodily parameters is very important for a healthy life. We are so much particular and religious about this perishable and temporary body.
Today I would like to share some beautiful moral/spiritual instructions from Mahabharata that I had noted down from our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj's diary.
Day in and day out we come across so many different kinds of people, different situations and thereby have different kinds of experiences. These experiences have a great impact on our life.
There is a general misconception that performing our occupational duties is material activity and we can avoid that to perform the higher duty, i.e., devotional service.
In the last offering on this topic we saw how Prahlad Maharaj took all the risk to preach the science of devotional service to his demoniac father Hiranyakashipu.
We have been meditating on glorifying the Lord in the offerings titled, "108 Ways of Glorifying the Lord". In the last few offerings, we were seeing few of the glories of the Lord mentioned in verse 16 of Isopanishad. We continue to explore verse 16 and will also move on to verse 17.
Verse 16:
The following is humble effort to partially transcribe the nectarean Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj on June 2 2003 in Minneapolis.
1. Duplicity and Grabbing Tendency: