Some gita katha is here.

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Dear Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis,

 

Please accept my humble postrated obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to Sri Sri Radha Govinda arca-vigraha in the New York ISKCON

temple

 

Some gita katha is here.

 

Your insignificant servant,

Bh. Shrirang

 

Oh Lord Ganesa, the memory is your limb. 18 puranas are your jewels. The mind

of great sages like Vyasadeva is your girdle around the waist. The vedanta is

the sweet modaka laddu in your hand. One of your long tooth is broken. This

broken tooth indicates the broken Buddhist philosophy, which was smashed by

Lord Krsna's arrangement. Upanishads are the fragrant flowers which are

decorating your head and body. AUM syllable is made of three sounds 'A', 'U'

and 'M'. 'A' represents your feet, 'U' represents your big belly and 'M'

represents your gigantic mandala like head. I also bow down to Sarada devi

who attracts all the three worlds and who is the goddess of intelligence and

spiritual speech.

 

Let me bow down to my guru maharaja. Oh guru-deva, just like watering roots of

a tree, will nourish all the branches of the tree, by serving the guru I get

all the knowledge of all the rasas. Just by bathing in the ocean, you get the

credit of bathing in all the holy rivers, serving the guru you get the full

credit. Now please listen to this katha of Bhagavad Gita. Hearing this katha

will give rise to the oceans of nine devotional mellows in your heart. The

highest abode of Lord Krsna will be manifest in front of your eyes by the

power of great Bhagavad Gita. This Gita is the house of the religious

principles. This Gita is the heart of saintly people. This Gita is the

treasure of nice decorative diamonds of Sarada Devi.

 

This Gita has appeared in the Bharata varsa as a great scripture. However it

is well-known in the three worlds. Vyasa-deva has spoken it and Ganesa has

written it down. This is the beginning of the juice. Just like the sweetness

of Madhurya rasa and the beauty of Sringara rasa is easily manifest to the

saintly people, this Gita is manifest to the great souls. This Gita has

outshone the Sun. This Gita is like a seed which is sown in a fertile land.

This fertile land of Arjuna's heart has accepted this Gita. So the Gita has

nicely fructified and grown into a huge tree, because Arjuna's heart was very

fertile.

 

This katha is the remnant of Vyasadeva's mouth. This katha purified the heart

of the greatest King Janamejaya. This katha has manifest on the right time,

just like the beauty of a teenage girl reveals itself when the girl reaches

the mature age. This katha is the mother land of the param-artha ( the highest

benefit ). This katha is the whorl of the lotus of Mahabharata scripture, and

is explained to Arjuna who is like a bumble-bee ready suck out the honey from

this lotus.

 

Vyasadeva has extracted this butter from the milky ocean of the Vedas. This

has been made into delicious ghee by the heat of the divine knowledge imparted

by Lord Krishna. Just like Cakora bird drinks the moonlight, you should drink

this nectar. I am discussing this katha with you. My words are broken, like

the words spoken by the baby. But the parents still love the broken utterances

of the baby. Similarly, you should relish my broken words.

 

Lord Shiva tells Parvati devi, "Oh my dear wife Parvati, just like your beauty

appears new everyday, the beauty of the Gita is also new everyday." In front

of the Gita, even the vedas appear to be less luminous, so what to speak of a

fool like me. How can I describe this knowledge of Gita. How can a fly hold

the sky in its closed fist ? However my support is my guru maharaja. Though I

am a fool all the time, I have some mercy from the sages and saints. So by

your mercy I will talk. Just like the boat is shown the proper direction by

the magnetic needle, you saintly audience please guide me !

 

Dritarastra asked out of love from his sons, "Oh Sanjaya ! please tell me,

what is happening on the battlefield of Kuruksetra which is known as a place

of pilgrimage."

 

Sanjay said, "The Pandava army is like the ocean waters at the time of cosmic

devastation. The pandava army is like the ocean of poison that arose out of

Samudra Manthan ( the great churning of the ocean by devas and asuras ).

However the stubborn Duryodhana did not care for this big pandava army, just

like Lord Siva did not worry about the presence of Ganesa ( as a protector of

Parvati ) when she was taking bath. Duryodhana came to Drona and said,

"Gurudeva, please look at this ocean of soldiers. This army of pandavas is

arranged in many military arrangements by your disciple and son of Drupada (

Drishtadyumna ). The pandava army seems to me as if some mountains are

walking. The great warriors Kasi-raja, Cekitana, Kuntibhoja, Yudhmanyu etc are

fighting on the side of Pandavas. This Abhimanyu has manifested like a new

duplicate Arjuna. Also the sons of Draupadi are very powerful.

 

"On our side, we have your great-self, Ganga-putra Bhisma, Surya-putra Karna,

Vikarna, Aswatthama and Somadatta. They are very powerful and even Lord Brahma

does not know the extent of strength of my main commanders in chief. My

commanders are well versed in archery and they are themselves are like the

manifestations of different mantras used before releasing poweful arrows. The

heart of a chaste woman is never willing to embrace anybody else other than

her dearmost husband. Similarly, these great commanders of mine have given me

their heart and soul. They are loyal only to me and nobody else."

 

"Bhima is protecting the army of Pandavas. However Ganga-putra Bhisma-deva is

like the wind that accelerates the fire of cosmic destruction. This small army

of Pandavas will be disappear in no time."

 

Sanjaya continued, "Then Duryodhana told his armies to protect Bhisma-deva and

Bhisma-deva made the big sound of his conchshell. The echo of this sound of

the Bhisma's conchshell and the original sound mixed into each-other. This

mixture was very loud and deafening for the three worlds. Everybody felt as if

the sky was falling on their head. The sky was rolling, the ocean appeared

furious with the high-rising waves. All the living and non-living creatures

were trembling with fear due to the loud sound of Bhisma's conchshell. The

echo of this great sound arose from the valleys and the mountains."

 

Then so many conch-shells were blown by so many great Kaurava generals. Their

upper arms were expanding in size and dimension, due to their eagerness to

fight. Some cowards lost their life due to the humongous sounds of

conchshells. Some cowards had their upper and lower teeth sealed to each-other

due to fear. Some so-called powerful soldiers appeared to have caught malaria

and were shivering due to the tumultuous sound."

 

"On the side of Pandavas the scene was like this. The essence of all the

victory, the storehouse of the great effulgence and the master of Vaikuntha

planets the Supreme Lord - Krsna had become a charioteer. How can I describe

the glories of the great chariot driven by Lord Krsna. The flag was the bearer

of the great monkey who is non-different from Lord Siva. The carrier of the

Srnga bow had become the charioteer. I witnessed the great love of Lord Krsna

to his devotee. Lord Krsna stood ahead of Arjuna to face any difficulties on

behalf of Arjuna."

 

"Then Lord Krsna blew his conchshell. This sound of Pancajanya drowned all

other sounds, just like the Sunshine makes all the stars in the sky disappear.

Then Arjuna blew his conchshell also. The combined sounds of Lord's and

Arjuna's conchshells resonated in the entire Brahmanda. Then Bhima blew his

conchshell, and everybody felt as if the all-destroying time-factor has become

angry and is approaching to destroy everything."

 

"The sound of Yudhisthira's conchshell was so loud that everybody felt as if

the waters of cosmic submergence are approaching from all directions towards

them. Then other Kings on Pandavas' side also blew their conchshells. This

combined sound was so tumultuous, that the Sesa ( thousand hooded snake ) and

the Kurma ( tortoise ) who are upholding the earth on their head and back

respectively, wanted to give up the task of holding the earth and run away.

The three worlds started shaking and the ocean waves arrived close to Kailasa

mountain - the abode of Lord Siva."

 

"The earth wanted to become upside down. The sky was shaking and it felt as if

all the stars will be dislocated from the sky and fall down. In Satya Loka,

the residents started shouting, "The end of the creation has come." All the

three worlds become restless and said the cosmic devastation is coming. Then

Lord Krishna was surprised, and He said "Let this turmoil due to the heroic

conchshell blowing come to an end." Due to the intervention of Lord Krishna,

the worlds recovered. Otherwise the end was so near due to these conchshell

sounds of cosmic proportion."

 

"Though the sound of Pandavas' conch-shells receded due to Lord Krsna's

intervention, the echoes still kept coming. The echoes of these sounds

destroyed the peace of Kauravas' hearts just like the roar of the lion

destroys the peace of elephant's heart in the jungle. The Kauravas started

shouting and addressing each-other loudly - they were saying " Be alert ! Be

alert !" Though the Kauravas had completely lost the courage to the loud

conchshell blowing of Pandavas, they somehow put up a show of outward strength

due to their vanity."

 

Let us engage in this sense gratification of hearing the conversation between

Krishna and Arjuna. The truth that was not revealed by Lord Krsna to His

dearmost mother Devaki, to His father Vasudeva and even to His loving brother

Balabhadra, Lord Krsna is speaking out to Arjuna. Lord Krsna is always

merciful to His devotees. Goddess of fortune Laxmi-devi is very close to Lord

Krsna, but she does not witness the kind of affection Lord Krsna was showing

to Arjuna. What kind of pious activity Arjuna might have performed ? To show

His love to Arjuna, Lord Krsna who is unmanifest to the material eyes, has

become manifest. Lord Krsna who cannot be seen by even the greatest yogis has

become merciful and has manifested in front of Arjuna.

 

Lord Krsna says, "My dear Arjuna. This knowledge has come down by the

disciplic succession. I gave it to Ravi. Ravi gave it to Manu. Manu gave it to

Iskvaku. Other Kings also received this knowledge. But now this knowledge has

been lost. Those who are attached to material things cannot understand this

knowledge. Foxes cannot appreciate the beauty of the moon and the majesty of

galaxy of stars in the sky. The fools who are not renounced cannot see Me. The

people had so many material desires, hence so much time was wasted. Meanwhile

this yoga got lost. But Arjuna do not worry. I shall explain to you this

secret today. You are my dearmost friend, you have devotion in the heart and

you are very loving to me. Though we are in the middle of the war, I must take

away your ignorance today."

 

Arjuna said "My dear Lord, you are my mother. You are the shadow for those who

are suffering from the hot sun of material existence. You are the mother to

the orphans. However Lord I have one question. Please do not be angry upon me

after hearing this question. I do not believe that you gave this knowledge to

Vivasvan Ravi. The Sun exists for such a long time. However you are born

recently. How come You two have had any spiritual dialogue ?"

 

Lord Krsna said, "Arjuna, you think that I was not there to give knowledge to

Vivasvan ? I remember all your past lives. However you do not remember

anything in the past lives."

 

…. To be continued.

 

Please chant Hare Krishna.