[The following passages from “Four Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas and Gauḍīya Darśana”, published by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, illuminate, through the interaction between Prahlāda and Hiraṇyakaśipu, the potency of pure preaching and the resistance to it by those who are inimical to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. – The Editors]

The Vaiṣṇava ācāryas are not fearful of preaching the Truth even at the cost of their own life, nor, by staying exclusively submerged in the bliss of their own bhajana, do they remain indifferent to the eternal welfare of any soul, even one who is averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Rather, they follow the footsteps of Śrī Gaurasundara, who descended to spread and teach us the substance of His own bhajana. Hence, the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas display their activities to the inhabitants of this world just to bring about their eternal benefit, interacting with them in a natural way. But seeing this, ordinary, antagonistic people, who have envious and cri

Srila Vrindavan das Thakur, author of Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, narrates the marriage of Nityananda and Jahnava Devi in Antya Khanda, Chapter 12 of Sri Nityananda Charitamrita.

'All of a sudden, everyone heard crying inside the house. Something had happened to Jahnava. They rushed inside and picked up Jahnava. They put her on the front veranda. She was unconscious and her eyes rolled in their sockets. Her whole body was cold and her face perspired.

'A doctor came and diagnosed that she had epilepsy and there was no cure for it. Seldom does a person in such a case survive. He thus treated her according to the scripture. The doctor said, "Even after applying proper medication, there's no improvement. Now try to arrange for her spiritual rites. Take her to the bank of the Ganges for she is your eldest daughter.
...
'Suryadasa Pandita fell at the feet of Nityananda Prabhu and lamented, "You bewildered me completely. You're able to do anything, yet You never inspired me to give up my attac

SITA STUTI

Rama:

Oh! Divine Mother,

Consort of the supreme Brahma:,

You are the incarnation of the primordial sound OM,

You have indeed manifested with several names,

Aditi, Usha, Pusha, Wakk, Mahi, Saraswati (the Goddess of knowledge) …

MotherEarth,

‘Laxmi’, the Goddess of auspicious inspirations,

‘Gauri’, the consort of Lord Shiva,

‘Janaki’, the consort of Lord Rama,

Katyayini, Manasa, Durga, Kali,

Chandi, Vimala, Maheshwari

And many other powerful incarnations are but You.

Oh! Divine Mother,

Consort of the supreme Brahma,

You have infinite number of names,

You dwell in the several beautiful forms of all women,

You are endowed with all of nature’s wealth,

The cosmos is but Your expression.

Oh! Divine Mother, Consort of the supreme Brahma, The infinite space

And the countless stars it holds,

Are but Your sparkling ornaments.

You are indeed the Mother of The evolution of life on earth.

Oh! Divine Mother, Consort of the supreme Brahma,

Shakti (Energy), Bhakti (devotion), Mukti (liberation),

Are the three Gunas (

The transcendental pastimes of pure love and affection between Sri Radha and the gopis are also very beautiful and wonderful to hear. Not all of the gopis are situated in madhurya-rasa. Many consider themselves to be dear maidservants and loving friends to Sri Radha alone, and they have no desire to unite with Krsna in conjugal love. This is described in the Ujjvala-nilamani by Srila Rupa Goswami, wherein he discusses the nitya-sakhis as follows:

The sakhis [cowherd girlfriends] who are always satisfied by the friendship of the other sakhis and do not aspire to become nayikas or direct lovers of Krsna, are called nitya-sakhis.

There are also gopis who are equally affectionate to both Radha and Krsna, and these are called sama-sakhis:

The intimate, sweet and rare friendship existing among the sama-madhya-sakhis is very difficult to understand. Only those learned in the intricacies of transcendental love can understand it.

Describing the activities of Sasikala and Kamala (two friends of

Various Levels of Spiritual Love

In ujjvala-rasa (the topmost pinnacle of all devotional mellows), the permanent mellow is madhurya-rati (loving attachment for Krsna expressed in the mood of a lover). This madhurya-rati is of three kinds: (1) sadharani [attachment wherein one’s own personal enjoyment is present], (2) samanjasa [attachment wherein both one’s personal enjoyment and the desire to please Sri Krsna are equally present], and (3) samartha [attachment wherein only the desire to please Krsna is present]. The sadharani-madhurya-rati found in Kubja is like an ordinary gemstone. The royal queens of Dvaraka, beginning with Rukmini, are possessed of samanjasa-madhurya-rati. This is compared to cintamani or touchstone. The gopis of Vraja are possessed of samartha-madhurya-rati, and this is compared to the Kaustubha jewel.

That attachment which has of its design and intent one’s own personal enjoyment is called sadharani. That attachment, which has as its purpose the enjoyment that accr

"What benefit will you achieve from practicing the arduous and dreary yogic paths? Give them up because they are all useless! Instead I beg you to please try to plunder the treasure-house of pure devotional service constantly emanating from the Lotus Feet and Holy Names of Lord Gauranga-Krishna. This is the culmination of all achievements in life. If you really aspire to attain the supremely wonderful festival of this pure love for Lord Krishna, which even Shiva, Brahma and all the demigods cannot attain, then please become lovingly and fanatically devoted to the most fathomless and magnanimous Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu and His Holy Name."- Sri Chaitanya Chandramrita.

kim tavad bata durgameshu viphalam yogadi-margeshv aho
bhaktim krishna-padambuje vidadhatah sarvartham alunthata
asha prema-mahotsave yadi shiva-brahmady-alabhye’dbhute
gaure dhamani durvigaha-mahimodare tada rajyatam

• 

  Gauridasa Pandita

  Chapter 10. The Opulence of the Absolute
  TEXT 11
  
  tesam evanukampartham
  aham ajnana-jam tamah
  nasayamy atma-bhavastho
  jnana-dipena bhasvata
  
  SYNONYMS
  
  tesam--for them; eva--certainly; anukampa-artham--to show special mercy; aham--I; ajnana-jam--due to ignorance; tamah--darkness; nasayami--dispel; atma--within; bhavasthah--themselves; jnana--of knowledge; dipena--with the lamp; bhasvata--glowing.
  TRANSLATION
  
  Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.
  PURPORT
  
  When Lord Caitanya was in Benares promulgating the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, thousands of people were following Him. Prakasananda, a very influential and learned sch

"This is a conversation between Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, five thousand years ago he was the emperor of the whole world. Formerly, up to five thousand years ago, the whole world was being controlled and ruled over by kings whose capital was Hastināpura, New Delhi. There was only one flag, only one ruler, one scripture, Vedic scripture, and the Aryans, Arya, they were the civilized persons. You Europeans, Americans, you are also Aryans. Indo-European stock. Mahārāja Yayāti, grandson of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, he gave to his two sons the portion of eastern Europe, Greek and Roman. That is the history, Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means great India. So there was no different religion. One religion, Vedic religion. Vedic religion means to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the Supreme Person Absolute Truth. This is Vedic religion. Those who have read Bhagavad-gītā, it is said there in the Fifteenth Chapter, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bg. 15.15]. Ve

Nama Nishtha Das May 13, 1973, Los Angeles Morning Walk At Cheviot Hills Golf Course "They are exactly like cats and dogs. As soon as you enter some country, dog, watchdog: "Wowf! Wowf! Why you have come? What is your position?" ("Where is your visa?"?) This is dog's business."

http://youtu.be/IkInfTZrQ_I

Parshuram - The 6th incarnation of Shri Vishnu 

Today is Lord Parshuram Jayanti 

Sage Parshuram was the 6th incarnation of Shri Vishnu. The related stories of Sage Parshuram can be read in the great epic of Ramayan and Mahabharata. There is no separate Puran (ancient Holy scripture) like that of other previous incarnations of Shri Vishnu.

Parents
Sage Parshuram was born in the 19th Century of the Tretayuga to Devi Renuka (mother) and Bhrugukolatpan Rishi Jamadagni (father). 

Purpose of birth

Destruction of the evil-minded Kshatriya kings was the purpose of Parshuram's birth. The incarnations of great Sages, Rishis , Munis on our Motherland had always been preplanned to save humanity from the evil forces. So was the birth of Parshuram. Rishi Valmiki called it ‘Rajavimardhan’, instead of ’Kshatriyavimardhan’; which means that, Sage Parshuram's birth was destined to destroy not all Kshatriyas, but only the evil-minded Kshatriyas.
The story goes like this. Once Karthavirya, a Kshatriya king, stol

"Anything which can be engaged in the service of the Lord should not be given up. This is our philosophy. Should not be given up. We do not say, "Oh, money is material. I do not touch. My hand becomes turned up.'' No. We don't say all these nonsense philosophy. (laughs) We know that money, lakṣmī, is Krishna's property, so it should be engaged in Krishna's service. Why money should not be touched? Money is Krishna's. It must be touched and used for Krishna. We don't try to (indistinct) that pseudo renouncement. What I have got that I shall renouncement? Everything belongs to Krishna. Our renouncement means we renounce our personal sense gratification, that's all. That is renouncement. Materialism means personal sense gratification, and spiritual life means no personal sense gratification, all Krishna's sense gratification. That's all. The same teaching by Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna was thinking in terms of personal sense gratification: "I shall not fight. It is not good to kill my kinsmen,

Brahmana and Vaishnava Dāsyam (Servitorship)

BY: TATTVA DARSHINA DASA

Srila Prabhupada always said that one must first be aware and then Krishna consciousness will manifest. A conscious person is one who lives in the mode of goodness, for a person living in the mode of goodness has to live a sinless life and follow very strictly the four regulative principles:

1 - Do not eat meat, fish or eggs

2 - No gambling games

3 - No illicit sex-- just sex with your own wife to procreate and produce nice Krsna conscious children

4 - No intoxication-- no tea, no coffee, no snuff and alcohol.

And so that one can follow these four rules and regulations he/she must chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra as the primary method. Srila Prabhupada gives us the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and by chanting one obtains the strength and purification needed to lead a sinless life and follow the 4 rules and regulations mentioned above.

When Srila Prabhupada performed the first initiations in New York, He then put a paper

http://youtu.be/5OYkbnHCcS0

http://youtu.be/xlJugZ7s7E8

" Sit Properly ! "

One Who is Embraced by Sri Krsna

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura then comments, “Without being empowered by the direct potency of Lord Krsna to fulfill His desire and without being specifically favored by the Lord, no human being can become the spiritual master of the whole world. He certainly cannot succeed by mental concoction, which is not meant for devotees or religious people. Only an empowered personality can distribute the holy name of the Lord and enjoin all fallen souls to worship Krsna. By distributing the holy name of the Lord, he cleanses the hearts of the most fallen people; therefore he extinguishes the blazing fire of the material world. Not only that, he broadcasts the shining brightness of Krsna’s effulgence throughout the world. Such an acarya, or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Krsna—that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Krsna’s potency. Such a personality is krsnalingita-vigraha—that is, he is always embraced by th

Bhajans Audio Lecture by Gour Govinda Swami

http://youtu.be/GxChHwng7hc