If this were my last post just before leaving my body...

[Kulapavana]

during his life, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was constantly on the move, always changing his jobs and places of residence (sometimes more than once per year), never quite happy about his current situation. I think his choice of bhajana kutir was ultimately deeply personal.

[krsna]

"This religion sees God’s kindness in terms of one’s enjoyment of a happy life in this material world."

[Guest guest]

Within myself

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail. [bG 8.6]

 

One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. [bG 4.9]

 

It is all about our moment to moment contemplation of Shastra Guru and Sadhu - we understand that the three states namely wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep - are born of activities within the modes of nature - that the soul is beyond that - I think that the realization is as practical as going around at every moment in 'wakefulness' affirming what we know to be the facts.

 

Also our goal isn't to become realized in practice of our seva - as noted here:

 

The Blessed Lord said: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active... [bG 4.22-25]

 

So really it is all in the mood we try to impress upon ourselves that accounts for the realization.

 

Our focus is on pleasing Krishna and His Servants - and realization comes from that.

 

In the Vani of Prabhupada there is much information to contemplate at each moment and if we do that we shall just 'wakeup one day' knowing...but we should not take information from too many gurus at once as this shall not keep us focused - there is nothing incomplete about the vani of Srila Prabhupada and the whole of it is online and available as a searchable database - the latter is very cool for one on one learning with Prabhupada.

 

YS,

 

BDM

[Guest guest]

To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led

by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world

ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.

 

-- Honore De Balzac (1799-1850) French Novelist

 

[krsna]

So there is no need of very, becoming very learned man, Vedantist and...

Simply these things are required: you become innocent, accept the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, and fall down at His lotus feet. Everything is

complete. This is wanted, simplicity. Simplicity. Believe in Krsna. As Krsna

said, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhanan... [bg. 7.7], believe it!

There is no more superior authority than Krsna.

And He says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [bg. 18.65].

This is the instruction. This is the substance of all instruction. Believe

Krsna, the Supreme Personality. Here is Krsna. Believe that there is Krsna.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.5 -- Mayapur, February 25, 1977

[Pankaja_Dasa]

jaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

[Guest guest]

 

The substance of all instruction. Believe Krsna,the Supreme Personality.Here is Krsna

 

No, the substance of all instruction is to realize Krsna as Supreme Personality of Godhead. Believing is less lower than That which is without realization. To realize Krsna as supreme you have to melt with Krsna. Just like a doll made of salt thrown to the ocean melts and does not find it's own identity except ocean, similarly a soul merges with Krsna becomes Krsna only. It never has any separate identity than Krsna there after it's liberation. That is the highest realization lord krsna had preached in Gita. You have to merge with Krsna to become Krsna.

 

And that is only possible by immersing in devotion of Hari.

[krsna]

Like Krsnadasa Kaviraja Maharaja:

 

"A devotee is naturally very humble, and even if he is highly elevated he does not consider himself to be so. A practical example is found in the life of the author of the Caitanya-caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. He was a vastly learned scholar and a first-class devotee, yet he still referred to himself as the lowest of mankind, lower than the bacteria in the stool. He wrote that he was so sinful that no one should even utter his name, lest that person fall down! Of course, when a great devotee speaks this way, we should not believe that he is actually in the lower status of life; we should rather take it as evidence that out of humility a pure devotee never thinks he is elevated. He always thinks he is in the lowest status of spiritual life."

[Guest guest]

For the same reason it is hard to find advanced sadhakas. Real spiritual humility comes to one who is advanced in bhakti - as they progress their dainya also progresses. Krsna dasa kaviraja's humility is not contrived, overspoken or some sort of feigned humility for shows sake. It is a true sign of his exalted position.

[krsna]

 

For the same reason it is hard to find advanced sadhakas. Real spiritual humility comes to one who is advanced in bhakti - as they progress their dainya also progresses. Krsna dasa kaviraja's humility is not contrived, overspoken or some sort of feigned humility for shows sake. It is a true sign of his exalted position.

 

"Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami also thinks of himself in such a humble way. I am a worse sinner than Jagai and Madhai, and I am even lower than the worms in stool.' A pure devotee always thinks himself more deficient than everyone else. If a devotee approaches Srimati Radharani to offer some service to Krsna, even Srimati Radharani thinks that the devotee is greater than she.":pray:

 

S.B. 7.1.27

 

 

 

"It should be concluded, therefore, that the description of Caitanya Caritamrta by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami manifests specific mercy bestowed upon the author, although he thought himself as the most fallen. We should not consider him fallen because he describes himself as such." C.C. Adi 13.1

[krsna]

Dainya, humility, 7 songs

 

1. bhuliya tomare, somsare asiya

peye nama-bidha byatha

tomara carana asiyachi ami,

bolobo duhkhera katha

 

2. janani-jathare, chilama jakhona,

bisama bandhana-pase

ek-bara prabhu! dekha diya more,

boncile e dina dase

 

3. takhona bhavinu, janama paiya,

koribo bhajana taba

janama hoilo, pori maya-jale

na hoilo jnana-laba

 

4. adarera chele, swajanera kole,

hasiya katanu kala

janaka-janani- snehete bhuliya,

somsara lagilo bhalo

 

5. krame dina dina, balaka hoiya,

khelinu balaka-saha

ara kichu dine, jnana upajilo,

patha pori ahar-ahah

 

6. bidyara gaurave, bhromi dese dese,

dhana uparjana kori

swajana palana, kori eka-mane,

bhulinu tomare, hari!

 

7.bardhakye ekhona, bhakativinoda

kandiya katara ati

na bhojiya tore, dina britha gelo,

ekhona ki habe gati!

 

Translation

 

I forsook You, O Lord,

and came to this world

of pain and sorrow.

Now I submit my tale of woe

at Your lotus feet.

 

While still in the unbearable fetters

of my mother’s womb,

I saw You before me

You revealed Yourself but briefly

and then abandoned this

poor servant of Yours.

 

At that moment

I swore to worship You

after taking birth;

but birth came,

and with it the network of wordly illusion

which robbed me of all good sense.

 

As a fondled son in the lap of relatives,

I passed my time smiling and laughing.

My parents’ affection helped me to forget

the pangs of birth,

and I thought the world was very nice.

 

Day by day I grew

and soon began playing with other boys.

Shortly my powers of understanding emerged.

I read and studied my lessons incessantly.

 

Travelling from place to place,

proud of my education,

I grew wealthy

and maintained my family with undivided attention.

O Lord Hari, I forgot You!

 

Now in old age,

Bhaktivinoda is sad.

He weeps.

I failed to worship You, O Lord,

and instead passed my life in vain.

What will be my fate now ?

[mawab]

having trouble finding a humble devotee? find the fellow who's cleaning the stoolroom

[krsna]

"When one hears or describes with great faith the pastimes of Lord Krsna,

such as His rasa dance with the gopis, the disease of lusty desires in his

heart and the agitation caused by the three modes of material nature are

immediately nullified, and he becomes sober and silent. Antya 5.45-46:deal:

 

"'A transcendentally sober person who, with faith and love, continually

hears from a realized soul about the activities of Lord Kr?s?n?a in His rasa

dance with the gopis, or one who describes such activities, can attain full

transcendental devotional service at the lotus feet of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. Thus lusty material desires, which are the heart

disease of all materialistic persons, are for him quickly and completely

vanquished.' Antya 5.48:deal:

 

 

"Certainly one who is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead should never,

even within his mind, imitate the activities of the transcendental rasa-lila

of Krsna. If out of ignorance one does so, he will be destroyed, just as if

he were to imitate Lord Siva, who drank poison produced from the ocean."

(10.33.30)

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

"Certainly one who is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead should never,

even within his mind, imitate the activities of the transcendental rasa-lila

of Krsna. If out of ignorance one does so, he will be destroyed, just as if

he were to imitate Lord Siva, who drank poison produced from the ocean."

(10.33.30)

 

Since we r all not supreme personalities r u suggesting we never try his rasa dance or even try to read his glorious past times?what is a rasa dance anyway,isnt it like a man dancing with n number of women he seduced with his personality?that sure can be imitated in the material world,isnt it?

[krsna]

8 types of Prajalpa

 

 

<!-- the main section of the post goes here -->

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Piyusa-varsini commentary on Sri Upedeshamrta.

 

Prajalpa which spoils bhakti is categorized by Bhaktivinoda Thakura into the

following 8 categories:

 

(1) Useless talks

(not about Lord Hari)

 

(2) Arguments

(godless quarrels like nyaya & vaisesika not based on the Vedas)

 

(3) Gossip

(talking about other people to establish one’s reputation)

 

(4) Debates

(desire for conquest)

 

(5) Fault-finding in others

(imposing one’s bad habits on others)

 

(6) Speaking falsehoods

(because of one’s self-interest)

 

(7)Blaspheming devotees

(the worst)

 

(8) Worldly talk

(devoid of God consciousness)

[krsna]

The Best Dancer:cool:

 

Krsna is number 1 in sporting pastimes eternally!

[krsna]

Bhaktivinode’s Commentary

The followers of this religion have no power to worship God selflessly. In general, their idea is that by cultivating fruitive work and speculative philosophy one should work to make improvements in the material world and thus please God. By building hospitals and schools and performing other philan-thropic works, they try to do good to the world and thus please God. Worship of God by performing fruitive work (the process of karma) and by acquiring knowledge (the process of jñāna) is very important to them. They have no power to understand pure devotional service (the pro-cess of suddha-bhakti), which is free of fruitive work and philosophical speculation.

Worship of God done out of a sense of duty is never natural or unselfish. “God has been kind to us, and therefore we should worship Him.” These are the thoughts of lesser minds. Why is this not a good way to worship God? Because as a consequence one may easily develop the mentality that, “If God is not kind to me then I will not worship Him.” One will have the impure, selfish desire to receive special favors from God in the future. If one desires only that God should kindly allow one to serve Him, that is fine. But the religion under discussion does not see things in that way. This religion sees God’s kindness in terms of one’s enjoyment of a happy life in this material world.

[krsna]

(reprinted from Back to Godhead Magazine Volume 35 Number 02, 2001

 

© BBT International; all rights reserved)

By Urmila Devi Dasi

 

DHARMA, religion personified, had taken on the form of a bull [as described in the pages of the Shrimad Bhagavatam 1th Canto]. Shaking in fear, he stood trembling on one leg, his other three legs broken. Kali, who personifies the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy, raised his club and swung it again and again, beating Dharma's legs.

 

Although a common laborer, Kali was falsely dressed as a king, just as a criminal might dress as a policeman to gain trust. It seemed Kali was ready to beat his victim to death. Then Parikshit, the real king, arrived.

After ordering Kali to stop, Parikshit asked the victim to say who had caused his broken legs and pitiable condition. Dharma answered that suffering comes from many causes and therefore he couldn't identify the real perpetrator. Besides, he said, the ultimate cause of everything is Lord Sri Krishna, and he didn't wish to blame the Lord, who acts only for everyone's good.

Parikshit praised the answer and declared Dharma to be the personification of religion.

 

"The destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts," Parikshit said, "is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator."

 

As part of his kingly duty, Parikshit then prepared to bring Kali to justice.

 

Several classes of philosophers try to explain suffering.

Some say that the cause is inscrutable and we simply have to bear grief without understanding its cause.

Others say that the laws of nature cause misery and, since those laws arise by chance, no one is responsible for suffering. These philosophers often seek to ease suffering through scientific advances that will, they hope, adjust nature to their own plan.

 

Other philosophers say that because all is spirit, Brahman, suffering is an illusion; it doesn't really exist. These philosophers wish to destroy grief by destroying individuality, either by dissolving the self or by merging it into the total spirit.

 

Philosophers who know something of reincarnation suggest that the reactions to our desires and actions cause suffering, that an automatic law metes out justice.

 

Some theistic philosophers explain that God, the supreme controller, arranges for suffering and we simply have to trust that His reasons are good and sensible.

 

The Full Picture

 

Each of these philosophies is incomplete. Each has part of the truth—like the blind men asked to describe an elephant. The man touching the tail said that an elephant was like a rope, the one touching an ear said that an elephant was like a fan, and the one touching the trunk said that an elephant was like a large snake.

 

Each of the philosophies I listed fails to give as complete and satisfying an explanation of the cause of suffering as we find in the Vedic literature. The Vedas explain that each soul that enters the material world does so voluntarily, desiring to imitate God, Krishna. The soul by nature is a loving associate of the Lord, serving Him in unlimited activities of joy. But on entering this world, the soul develops desires and actions in disharmony with its very self. Just as eating something indigestible—such as plastic—will cause suffering, so thinking, feeling, and doing anything against our nature causes misery. The laws of nature, including what we term the "law of karma," bring us the reactions to our work, just as the "law of digestion" brings the plastic-eater stomach pain.

The misery karma brings does not really affect the self, or soul, in any way, as much as the suffering of the hero in a drama has no actual effect on the lives of the audience. They suffer by identification. The soul "suffers" by identifying with the body and mind acquired to fulfill artificial desires. Just as the staged drama is real (actually taking place) but not reality (eternal spiritual existence), so is one's suffering in this world.

This whole process—the soul's acting in disharmony with his constitution, the laws of nature then bringing suffering, the soul identifying that suffering as his own—takes place under Krishna's direction. But the process is not simply mechanical. Like a judge in this world, Krishna may choose to modify how the law is applied in a particular case.

The very complexity of the system makes the entire scheme inscrutable to a human mind. It involves the intertwining of many souls' reactions, the playing out of justice over many lifetimes, and the freedom to make new choices while suffering reactions to old ones.

The Place of Compassion

What about compassion for those who suffer? In our school we were studying the Native Americans known as the Cherokees. They fully adopted European-American culture and set up a Christian society with a government modeled after the American constitution. Completely assimilated, they were model citizens who legally owned their land and homes. When government officials tried to seize their land, they won their case in court—as far as the Supreme Court. Yet the President ignored the ruling and allowed local officials to arrest the Cherokees and give away their land. Finally, the Cherokees were forced to migrate from Georgia to a reservation in Oklahoma. So many died on the way that the route is called "The Trail of Tears."

As I study the suffering of the Cherokees, the injustice and greed of the perpetrators fill me with disgust. But does my pity for the law-abiding Cherokees who were robbed and exiled betray an ignorance of the laws of karma? After all, suffering doesn't truly affect the real spiritual self. And everything that happened to the Cherokees resulted from their past actions, either in this life or previous ones. Besides, the Lord supervised and approved the infliction of suffering.

Still, one rightly feels compassion for the powerful, effulgent, and wise soul who has sown seeds that yielded a thorny harvest. Do we not mourn a person born into wealth and education who through his own choices lies in his alcoholic vomit in the gutter? We know he got himself there, yet we do what we can to bring him back to his rightful place.

The Evildoers

What of those who do evil? Is the perpetrator of evil really to blame if the victims are truly only victims of their own past actions? Every religious system has a code for defining crimes and penalties. Therefore, Krishna, the ultimate designer of these codes, considers that an evildoer should be held responsible and accountable. The officers of the American government who stole the Cherokees' land, imprisoning and exiling the Cherokees, did not have any right to cause such pain. And, through the laws of karma, they suffer for their sinful actions.

After all, God doesn't need the evildoers' help. All-powerful, He can independently deliver someone's destiny. He can send a natural disaster or a disease that brings as much pain and destruction as any demonic person or group can invent. Or He can use the evildoer by bringing together the criminal and those whose karma merits their being the object of a crime. The evildoer does the Lord's will then, certainly. Ironically he does so as an act of disobedience to that very will. How wonderful Krishna is that He can bend the most wicked and cruel actions of men into His own plan. All serve Him, willing or not.

Evildoers only hurt themselves. By acting against codes of morality and religion, they exchange spiritual joy for bad karmic reactions.

Another question may arise: If people get what they deserve, why should the government get involved in administering justice? The Vedas teach that when a government punishes evil, it acts as Krishna's agent to deliver some or all of the evildoers' reactions. As a bona fide agent of God, the government incurs no reaction in its administration of proper justice.

Enlightened victims see those who perpetrate evil against them as messengers of karmic destiny, like postal workers delivering parcels they ordered. Persons in knowledge don't point to the perpetrator as the only or ultimate cause. Rather, they see the direct giver of pain as the messenger of their own karma and Krishna's will.

The Vedas say that one who blames the evildoer as the ultimate cause is also guilty of the hate, anger, and other ignorant qualities that drove the perpetrator to perform evil. We can assign blame, but only to benefit the perpetrator through justice and, ideally, rectification.

Seeing the immediate cause of our suffering or enjoyment as the agent of God and our karma is easy when that cause delivers enjoyment. For example, we can sense the divine hand of Krishna when someone, without our asking, gives us something we desire. At the same time, we are grateful to the gift-giver, who, for the good deed, gets karmic credit and, if giving with the desire to serve the Lord, spiritual progress.

Similarly, whoever assails us with the unwanted is rightly punished, but we can see the suffering we receive as Krishna's mercy, just as when we are materially pleased. And the truly saintly persons, who see Krishna with love everywhere and in everything, feel connected with Him in both types of reciprocation.

What About Remedial Measures?

How does one who has developed this vision act? Scriptures such as the Shrimad-Bhagavatam describe saints who did nothing at all to remedy material suffering. They felt constant spiritual happiness and realized that the ultimate result of everything is good. They lived separate from society and sometimes seemed muddle-headed to common people.

Generally, however, even perfectly self-realized souls who always serve Krishna with love take up ordinary means to counteract suffering. For example, when sick, they take appropriate medicine and treatment. If a crime is committed against them, they report it to the authorities and try to bring the criminal to justice.

While attempting to remedy the difficulty, they are always aware that the results are in Krishna's hands, and do not consider that they are the ultimate "doer" of their actions. They act to show an example to those less spiritually advanced, who cannot gratefully embrace both joy and sorrow. And they act to preserve justice in the world. Since Krishna wants justice, such actions are also part of serving Him.

Those of us who aren't saintly and fully realized can turn to remedies while depending on Krishna. At least in theory we can understand that the Supreme Lord controls everything and that the efficacy of our cures depends on Him. Knowing that He is all good, we trust that if we continue to suffer despite remedies, the suffering is designed to assist us in coming to total spiritual joy. Life brings material happiness and suffering, just as it brings day and night or snowstorms and heat waves. When such changes no longer disturb us, inner, spiritual happiness begins.

 

Urmila Devi Dasi was initiated in 1973 and has been involved in ISKCON education since 1983. Urmila’s husband, three children and six grandchildren are all active in Krishna consciousness. She has a Masters of School Administration and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[krsna]

Sannyasa, or Sans Us?

 

 

BY: TAMOHARA DASA (ACBSP)

 

 

May 15, CALGARY, CANADA (SUN) —

 

About a year ago, I wrote to HH Prahladananda Swami to receive an application for sannyasa. I received the application, but a vow of allegiance to the GBC was a main feature. I wrote back, saying that I couldn't sign such a vow, that I was dedicated to Prabhupada's Iskcon, not to some questionable GBC body.

 

 

In response, he has refused to reply to my inquiries, and apparently also in what I perceive as a mood of political censorship, did not print an offering on my part to the Vaisnava health ministry publication about speech and language development among Iskcon infants, etc. despite saying he would do so before he received my denial of the GBC body as a body worthy of vowing one's sannyasa to. I am an audiologist by profession, and have a degree also in speech and language pathology, so I am well qualified. His change of mind and refusal to reply to me spoke volumes.

 

 

Srila Prabhupada specifically told all of us brahmanas to take sannyasa in later years. Iskcon has perverted that natural varna-ashrama function to instead be a rare annointing of "cardinals", a fact in opposition to the natural Vaisnava system. Instead of thousands of renounced preachers, we have a handful of "special" persons, and sannyasis handling daily management affairs. Gour Keshava Maharajah pointed this discrepancy out on Dandavats, near the begining of that website, in response to my question about how to go about taking sannyasa, saying that eventually Iskcon will have to rectify this strange arrangement.

 

On behalf of the many senior devotees who have been instructed by Prabhupada to take sannyasa in their old age, I am wondering how Iskcon GBC justifies demanding a vow of loyalty to their arguably corrupt system instead of to Sri Krsna Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada? Do they think that oppressing the truthful brahmanas will be good for their schemes?

[theist]

It is sad that anyone still takes these characters seriously.

 

And why is this Tamoharadas sending in an application form to the GBC for permission to take sannyasa. He deserves what he gets or doesn't get in this case.

[krsna]

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.19.19

TRANSLATION

 

Therefore, I shall now give up all these desires and meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Free from the dualities of mental concoction and free from false prestige, I shall wander in the forest with the animals.

 

PURPORT

 

To go to the forest and live there with the animals, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the only means by which to give up lusty desires. Unless one gives up such desires, one's mind cannot be freed from material contamination. Therefore, if one is at all interested in being freed from the bondage of repeated birth, death, old age and disease, after a certain age one must go to the forest. pañcāśordhvaḿ vanaḿ vrajet. After fifty years of age, one should voluntarily give up family life and go to the forest. The best forest is Vṛndāvana, where one need not live with the animals but can associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who never leaves Vṛndāvana. Cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Vṛndāvana is the best means of being liberated from material bondage, for in Vṛndāvana one can automatically meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. Vṛndāvana has many temples, and in one or more of these temples one may see the form of the Supreme Lord as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma and meditate upon this form. As expressed here by the words brahmaṇy adhyāya, one should concentrate one's mind upon the Supreme Lord, Parabrahman. This Parabrahman is Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (paraḿ brahma paraḿ dhāma pavitraḿ paramaḿ bhavān [Bg. 10.12]). Kṛṣṇa and His abode, Vṛndāvana, are not different. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanam. Vṛndāvana is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, if one somehow or other gets the opportunity to live in Vṛndāvana, and if one is not a pretender but simply lives in Vṛndāvana and concentrates his mind upon Kṛṣṇa, one is liberated from material bondage. One's mind is not purified, however, even in Vṛndāvana, if one is agitated by lusty desires. One should not live in Vṛndāvana and commit offenses, for a life of offenses in Vṛndāvana is no better than the lives of the monkeys and hogs there. Many monkeys and hogs live in Vṛndāvana, and they are concerned with their sexual desires. Men who have gone to Vṛndāvana but who still hanker for sex should immediately leave Vṛndāvana and stop their grievous offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord. There are many misguided men who live in Vṛndāvana to satisfy their sexual desires, but they are certainly no better than the monkeys and hogs. Those who are under the control of māyā, and specifically under the control of lusty desires, are called māyā-mṛga. Indeed, everyone in the conditional stage of material life is a māyā-mṛga. It is said, māyā-mṛgaḿ dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad: [SB 11.5.34] Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa to show His causeless mercy to the māyā-mṛgas, the people of this material world, who suffer because of lusty desires. One should follow the principles of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and always think of Kṛṣṇa in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then one will be eligible to live in Vṛndāvana, and his life will be successful.

[krsna]

Lord Kapila explains Self Realization in the 3rd canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

3.26

The Personality of Godhead, Kapila, continued: My dear mother, now I shall describe unto you the different categories of the Absolute Truth, knowing which any person can be released from the influence of the modes of material nature.

Knowledge is the ultimate perfection of self-realization. I shall explain that knowledge unto you by which the knots of attachment to the material world are cut.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is maintained.

 

 

The material ego springs up from the mahat-tattva, which evolved from the Lord's own energy. The material ego is endowed predominantly with active power of three kinds — good, passionate and ignorant. It is from these three types of material ego that the mind, the senses of perception, the organs of action, and the gross elements evolve.

 

[krsna]

O Srila Prabhupada! You personally suffer

to see the suffering

of the fallen conditioned souls.

On this day of your separation

I am utterly despondent.

[krsna]

Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Piyusa-varsini commentary on Sri Upedeshamrta.

Prajalpa which spoils bhakti is categorized by Bhaktivinoda Thakura into the

following 8 categories:

(1) Useless talks

(not about Lord Hari)

(2) Arguments

(godless quarrels like nyaya & vaisesika not based on the Vedas)

(3) Gossip

(talking about other people to establish one’s reputation)

(4) Debates

(desire for conquest)

(5) Fault-finding in others

(imposing one’s bad habits on others)

(6) Speaking falsehoods

(because of one’s self-interest)

(7)Blaspheming devotees

(the worst)

(8) Worldly talk

(devoid of God consciousness)