Archive - 2008

The fourth verse of Upadesamrita,

"dadati pratigrhnati, guhyam
akhyati prcchati, bhunkte bhojayate caiva, sad-vidham
priti-laksanam

(Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable
gifts, revealing one's mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting
prasada and offering prasada are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee
and another)" is meant for devotees. Revealing one's mind is meant for
devotees, and those to whom we reveal our minds is also meant for devotees.

The influence of the age is so pervasive that even Krsna's own peers
suspected him 10. 57.41: "After the almighty Lord had shown the Syamantaka jewel
to His relatives, thus dispelling the false accusations against Him, He returned
it to Akrura."

PURPORT
For the second time, doubts about the Lord's
reputation occasioned by the Syamantaka jewel are dispelled by the jewel itself.
Indeed, for the second time the Lord brought the jewel to Dvaraka to establish
His integrity there. This amazing series of incidents demonstrates that even

It helps us remember the fragility of life when we realize that every time we
drive a car we're wielding a lethal weapon. A ten-inch wide painted line is
often all that separates us from oncoming cars. When we drive on these kinds of
roads we are only a few feet away from death. Padam padam yat vipadam ne
tesam.

Education always involves some guesswork, because we rarely know the full
propensities of any child in the early years, what to speak of the future and
how to prepare for it. This is a challenge for all Krishna consciousness
educators. The best scenario is to maintain traditions, yet ensure our systems
are always sensitive to time, place, and circumstance, and prioritize preaching
as frontline work, thus keeping compassion and our mission as the
yardsticks.

Through Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita we find reference to the
"heart" or hrdaya. In these references the heart is far from a central bodily
organ that pumps blood to the rest of human body. These 'affairs of the heart'
are addressed thousands of times in the Vedic literature in a very thorough way
- a way that comprehends feelings, emotions, psychology, viewpoints and visions.
This concept of the heart is more like a vision. It's a deep set of feelings
that can be material or spiritual. When the heart becomes attached to Krsna we

The 'mysterious' modes of nature are not always clearly distinguishable from
one another. One reason why is that they are almost always intertwined. For
example, the mode of goodness is always contaminated because there is a constant
onslaught by the modes of passion and ignorance. Metaphorically the modes or
"gunas" are compared to strands that make up a rope. The solution is to 'rise
above these modes' as Lord Krsna implores us: "The Vedas deal mainly with the
subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental

Krishna and the soul are 'invisible' to our materialistic eyes. Srila
Prabhupada has called the soul and God (jiva and iswavar)
"correlative" terms. In London on 29August 1975 he said, "Atheist means one who
does not believe in the soul and God. These are correlative terms. If you
understand what is soul, then you can understand what is God."

Sanjaya, a disciple of Vyasadeva, had spiritual vision. He could see the events
on the battlefield even though the engagement took place far beyond the range of
normal eyesight. This is another type of material mystic power, which is
obtainable now via live television, so Srila Prabhupada has told us.

Srila Prabhupada told us that recitation of mantras was important, even if we
didn't know the meaning of the words. He even taught a tune to the devotees in
Los Angeles during a lecture, saying it was "very nice." If you'd like a copy of
that melody, you can find out how to obtain it by contacting Lokadhyaksa dasa at lagarwal@yahoo.com

Regular reading of Srimad Bhagavatam (in verse) is like a regular shower,
cleansing the mind. Srimad Bhagavatam is for hearing and reading daily. It is
said therein (1.2.18): "By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and
by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the
heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of
Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an
irrevocable fact."