Sound Bhakti

Every knowledge system requires axiomatic statements. Otherwise, you can't go anywhere. Axiomatic means they don't require investigation. They're just accepted. And if you don't have that, as Aristotle said, you get infinite regress. You can't go anywhere. It's like troops keep retreating and retreating and retreating, and they never stand and fight. And H. H. Hridayānanda Mahārāja gave the exampl...

When I see the verses that Lord Caitanya quoted from the Bhagavad Gita, whenever I quote him, I think Lord Caitanya quoted these so they have special, special place. (excerpt from an answer by HG Vaisesika Dasa) Verses discussed: Cc Madhya 6.145-171 ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-s...

Every knowledge system requires axiomatic statements. Otherwise, you can't go anywhere. Axiomatic means they don't require investigation. They're just accepted. And if you don't have that, as Aristotle said, you get infinite regress. You can't go anywhere. It's like troops keep retreating and retreating and retreating, and they never stand and fight. And H. H. Hridayānanda Mahārāja gave the exampl...

A devotee asked Prabhupāda, "what's the difference between mental speculation and philosophical speculation?" Prabhupada said, "If the conclusion is Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then it's philosophical speculation. If it is that there is no God or Kṛṣṇa is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then it's mental speculation." So, one of the main points here, in these three verses,...

If you are somebody approaching the Bhagavad Gītā as a devotee and accepts Kṛṣṇa, even if there is some fault, Kṛṣṇa says, api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ (BG 9.30) He said, “If somebody's rightly intentioned,” in other words, they want to be a devotee. They want to be pure, but they are not. They are actually horrible because they still...

Even while engaged in various activities, devotees whose minds are completely absorbed at Your lotus feet, and who constantly hear, chant, contemplate and cause others to remember Your transcendental names and forms, are always on the transcendental platform, and thus they can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (SB 10.2.37) https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/2/37/ -------------------...

So now we're going into 'Live to Give' campaign. For those of you who are moping around, feeling sad, 'What happened to Bhadra? It's over already? So fast! What am I going to do now with my life?' We've got Bhagavad-gītās, and now it seems easy, doesn't it? 'Oh, no problem!' So, what we are going for is a baseline of 5 million. A few years ago, when we talked about going for a million, everyone sa...

Congratulations to everybody! It's the driving force behind our ISKCON organization when we have something worthy to push for and to challenge ourselves. And this is what's happening through Bhadrā; we're rising to new levels. By fully concentrating on distributing books for Kṛṣṇa, one is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. This is Samādhi. It's a very special kind of Samādhi because it takes courage to pres...

When devotees are interacting with others, especially those who are not yet Kṛṣṇa conscious, they are very gentle and non-condescending, and that brings people closer. It's an attractive quality. People want to know more and more: who you are, what you know, and where you got to be where you are, because of your character. That's what happened with Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya....

A summary of the sixth chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya as follows. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the temple of Jagannātha, He immediately fainted. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya then took Him to his home. Meanwhile, Gopīnātha Ācārya, the brother-in-law of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, met Mukunda Datta and talked to him about Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s acceptance o...

It's hard to meet a famous person, but if that famous person writes a book, you get the best of that person, and you get to sit there in the comfort of your own home and that's like, 'How am I with this person that's telling me all their secrets?' They put everything in the book, and so Prabhupāda did the same thing. He said, 'If you want to know me and everything I had to say, read my books.' And...

The glories of Lord Gopāla, who is merciful to brāhmaṇas, are very great. The narration of Sākṣi-gopāla was spoken by Nityānanda Prabhu and heard by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Purport There are four points of instruction one should consider in the story of Sākṣi-gopāla. First, the Deity (arcā-vigraha) of Śrī Gopāla is eternally sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the transcendental form of the Lord. Second, the...

To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Face...

Mādhavendra Purī had no hesitation to go all the way back, just to be noted, whatever trouble he was taking. He took it as a burden of love, of course, but it did mention there that Gopāla wanted to spare His devotee any extra inconvenience, so he had him offer the sandwich locally. But your observation about "ye yathā māṁ prapadyante—that as one surrenders unto Me, I reward them accordingly"—is a...

(1) hari haraye namaḥ kṛṣṇa yādavāya namaḥ yādavāya mādhavāya keśavāya namaḥ (2) gopāla govinda rāma śrī-madhusūdana giridhārī gopīnātha madana-mohana (3) śrī-caitanya-nityānanda śrī-advaita-sītā hari guru vaiṣṇaba bhāgavata gītā (4) śrī-rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa-raghunātha śrī-jīva gopāla-bhaṭṭa dāsa-raghunātha (5) ei chay gosāir kori caraṇa vandan jāhā hoite bighna-nāś abhīṣṭa-pūraṇ (...

In the Pañcarātrik system of Deity worship, there are two standards. One is the standard for temple worship; the other standard is the standard for home worship of The Deity, and generally, they are very different. At the temple, one should worship Kṛṣṇa like a king, and every specific should be observed, and one should have ever-increasing opulence for The Deity. At home, the standard is not as s...

If you go on parikramā of Govardhana Hill, you'll find some sections that are smooth, easygoing. This is more in relationship to hearing sections—for instance, of the Bhāgavatam. Sometimes people get to the Ninth Canto and they say, "Do I have to read the entire lineage going all the way to Kṛṣṇa's appearance?" And it seems tedious. But we should remember that, as Sanātana Gosvāmī says, every word...

Whenever a kīrtana of pure devotees takes place, the Lord is immediately present. By chanting the holy names of the Lord, we associate with the Lord personally. Cc Madhya 1.126 purport To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection...

Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! he Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! he Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! rakṣa mām Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! pāhi mām That is, “O Lord Kṛṣṇa, please protect Me and maintain Me.” He also chanted: Rāma! Rāghava! Rāma! Rāghava! Rāma! Rāghava! rakṣa mām Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! Kṛṣṇa! Keśava! pāhi mām That is...

It's mentioned that in the progression of devotional service—which we heard about earlier, and maybe it was in the class this morning heard in the purport—'ādau śraddhā, tato sādhu-saṅga, atha bhajana-kriyā, tato anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt, tato niṣṭhā, tataḥ ruciḥ,' etc. This is the progression from śraddhā to prema, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura notes that this is anukrama—one step after another....

The remnants of food left by a pure Vaiṣṇava are called Mahā-mahā-prasādam. This is completely spiritual and is identical with Lord Viṣṇu. Such remnants are not ordinary. Spiritual masters who are to be considered on the stage of Paramahaṁsa and beyond the jurisdiction of the varṇāśrama institution. The remnants of food left by the spiritual master and similar paramahaṁsas, or pure Vaiṣṇavas, are...

I was appreciating how each one of those verses, one can enter into by singing it at appropriate times and places with appropriate rāga. And it's highly interactive, because each one of the verses really is not just expressing the emotion that's being described there, but it was also something that was written by someone with realization. And then it was consumed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself...

Just one note about reading through a whole section of Prabhupāda's books. It's kind of like going on parikramā. When you go around, go over, downhill; you'll find some places more accommodating to your feet. It may be soft sand. Other places, at least in the old days, used to be places people just dumped gravel and there was no way around it. You just have to walk over it. So, when we're reading...

Competition is always there, but it should be marked by appreciation for the person and wanting to follow in their footsteps and try to do as well as they're doing because they're setting such a good example, and try not to feel adverse to such a person, and certainly not try to impede their progress. And that can happen. So, it's extremely important that we remain non-envious—and we have every re...

To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Face...