Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 24

Nityananda Prabhu breaks Gaura’s danda [see Cc Madhya 1.97]

Regarding Nityananda Prabhu breaking the sannyasi rod of Lord Caitanya, the explanation is that this was to show that Lord Caitanya was Krishna, so He had no necessity of taking sannyasa. In the higher sense the Vaisnavas are meant for being members of the family of Krishna to serve as friend, to serve as parent or to serve as lover. So for such elevated devotees sannyasa is superfluous. But still, Lord Caitanya took sannyasa just to prove it factually that so far as the material conditions are concerned, they must be given up. Without knowing this fact some so-called Vaisnavas have turned to be sahajiya. This means one who takes everything as very easy. All the acaryas, beginning from Lord Buddha, Sankaracarya, Ramanuja, etc., all of them renounced this world. So renunciation is required, but when one makes further progress after renunciation towards spiritual life and enters into the Pastimes of Krishna, then things become perfect. The summary is that sannyasa is renunciation, which is imperative for all. Nityananda’s breaking the sannyasi rod of Caitanya Mahaprabhu was with the purpose to show that Lord Caitanya is transcendental to all material conditions.

From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to: Kapiladev — Tittenhurst 24 October, 1969

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Pure Devotees are better than Ganga

Pure devotees of the Lord are more powerful than the waters of the sacred river Ganges. One can derive spiritual benefit out of prolonged use of the Ganges waters. But one can be sanctified at once by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada; Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.15, Purport

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Mudhas not taking to Krsna consciousness

Foolish persons accept the difficult path of karma-kanda for the sake of sense enjoyment, and those who are too much attached to sense enjoyment are called mudhas (rascals). It is very difficult for a mudha to understand the ultimate goal of life. In the propagation of the Krsna consciousness movement, we actually see that many people are not attracted because they are mudhas engaged in fruitive activity. It is said: upadeso hi murkhanam prakopaya na santaye. If good instructions are given to a foolish rascal, he simply becomes angry and turns against the instructions instead of taking advantage of them.

Srila Prabhupada, SB 4.25.9, ppt.

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Members of the Brahma-sampradaya try to reclaim the fallen souls

The creation of the material world is not blind or accidental. The living entities who are ever conditioned, or nitya-baddha, are thus given a chance for liberation under the guidance of His own representative like Brahma. The Lord instructs Brahma in Vedic knowledge in order to diffuse this knowledge to the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls are forgetful souls in their relationship with the Lord, and thus a period of creation and the process of dissemination of Vedic knowledge are necessary activities of the Lord. Lord Brahma has a great responsibility in delivering the conditioned souls, and therefore he is very dear to the Lord.

Brahma also does his duty very perfectly, not only by generating the living entities but also by spreading his party for reclaiming the fallen souls. The party is called the Brahma-sampradaya, and any member of this party to date is naturally engaged in reclaiming the fallen souls back to Godhead, back home. The Lord is very much anxious to get back His parts and parcels, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita. No one is more dear than the one who takes the task of reclaiming the fallen souls back to Godhead.

There are many renegades from the Brahma-sampradaya whose only business is to make men more forgetful of the Lord and thus entangle them more and more in material existence. Such persons are never dear to the Lord, and the Lord sends them deeper into the darkest region of matter so that such envious demons may not be able to know the Supreme Lord.

Anyone, however, preaching the mission of the Lord in the line of the Brahma-sampradaya is always dear to the Lord, and the Lord, being satisfied with such a preacher of the authorized bhakti cult, shakes hands with him in great satisfaction.

Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.19 purport

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Advaita Acarya, Haridasa Thakura, & overseas devotees

While Haridasa Thakura was staying under the care of Advaita Acarya, he was afraid of the behavior of the society in Santipura, Navadvipa, which was full of exceedingly aristocratic brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas. Haridasa Thakura was born in a Muslim family and was later recognized as a great Vaisnava, but nevertheless the brahmanas were very critical of him. Thus Haridasa Thakura was afraid that Advaita Acarya would be put into some difficulty because of His familiarity with Haridasa Thakura. Sri Advaita Acarya treated Haridasa Thakura as a most elevated Vaisnava, but others, like Ramacandra Khan, were envious of Haridasa Thakura. Of course, we have to follow in the footsteps of Advaita Acarya, not caring for people like Ramacandra Khan. At present, many Vaisnavas are coming to our Krsna consciousness movement from among the Europeans and Americans, and although men like Ramacandra Khan are always envious of such Vaisnavas, one should follow in the footsteps of Sri Advaita Acarya by treating all of them as Vaisnavas. Although they are not as exalted as Haridasa Thakura, such Americans and Europeans, having accepted the principles of Vaisnava philosophy and behavior, should never be excluded from Vaisnava society.

Srila Prabhupada, CC Antya 3.220, ppt.

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Training must be there

Before entering household life, one should be trained as a brahmacari, living under the care of the guru, whose place is known as the gurukula. Brahmacari guru-kule vasan danto guror hitam (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.12.1). From the very beginning, a brahmacari is trained to sacrifice everything for the benefit of the guru. A brahmacari is advised to go begging alms door to door, addressing all women as mother, and whatever he collects goes to the benefit of the guru. In this way he learns how to control his senses and sacrifice everything for the guru.

Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.9 purport

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Queen Arci and Visnupriyadevi, ideal wives and widows

The words bhartur vrata-dharma-nisthaya indicate that a woman’s duty, or religious principle, is to serve her husband in all conditions. In Vedic civilization a man is taught from the beginning of his life to become a brahmacari, then an ideal grhastha, then vanaprastha, then sannyasi, and the wife is taught just to follow the husband strictly in all conditions of life. After the period of brahmacarya, a man accepts a householder’s life, and the woman is also taught by her parents to be a chaste wife. Thus when a girl and boy are united, both are trained for a life dedicated to a higher purpose. The boy is trained to execute his duty in accordance with the higher purpose of life, and the girl is trained to follow him. The chaste wife’s duty is to keep her husband pleased in householder life in all respects, and when the husband retires from family life, she is to go to the forest and adopt the life of vanaprastha, or vana-vasi. At that time the wife is to follow her husband and take care of him, just as she took care of him in householder life. But when the husband takes the renounced order of life, namely sannyasa, the wife is to return home and become a saintly woman, setting an example for her children and daughters-in-law and showing them how to live a life of austerity.

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, His wife, Visnupriyadevi, although only sixteen years old, also took the vow of austerity due to her husband’s leaving home. She chanted her beads, and after finishing one round, she collected one grain of rice. In this way, as many rounds as she chanted, she would receive the same number of rice grains and then cook them and so take prasada. This is called austerity. Even today in India, widows or women whose husbands have taken sannyasa follow the principles of austerity, even though they live with their children. Prthu Maharaja’s wife, Arci, was steadily determined to execute the duty of a wife, and while her husband was in the forest, she followed him in eating only fruits and leaves and lying down on the ground. Since a woman’s body is considerably more delicate than a man’s, Queen Arci became very frail and thin, parikarsita. When one engages in austerities, his body generally becomes lean and thin. Becoming fat is not a very good qualification in spiritual life because a person who is engaged in spiritual life must reduce the comforts of the body — namely eating, sleeping and mating — to a minimum. Although Queen Arci became very thin from living in the forest according to regulative principles, she was not unhappy, for she was enjoying the honor of serving her great husband.

Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 4.23.21

3 Feb 2025 is the anniversary of Srimati Visnupriya Devi’s Appearance

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Read Bhagavad-gita daily

In addition to our chanting our 16 rounds daily, we must all read at least one chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. Read one chapter one day then go on to the next chapter the next day and in this way, after 18 days, we will have completed one reading. After four or five such complete reading we will know Bhagavad-gita as it is and our questions and doubts will be answered. We are printing these books not for money but so that all devotees will read and understand.

Srila Prabhupada; letter, 24 Nov 1968

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Uncivilized civilization

At the present moment, the killing of cows and the killing of children is going on unrestrictedly, and therefore this civilization is not at all human, and those who are conducting this condemned civilization are uncivilized asuras. Such uncivilized men are not in favor of the Krsna consciousness movement. As public officers, they declare without hesitation that the chanting of the Hare Krsna movement is a nuisance, although Bhagavad-gita clearly says, satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah [Bg. 9.14]. According to this verse, it is the duty of the mahatmas to chant the Hare Krsna mantra and try to spread it all over the world to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, society is in such an uncivilized state that there are so-called mahatmas who are prepared to kill cows and children and stop the Hare Krsna movement. Such uncivilized activities were actually demonstrated in opposition to the Hare Krsna movement’s Bombay center, Hare Krsna Land. As Kamsa was not expected to kill the beautiful child of Devaki and Vasudeva, the uncivilized society, although unhappy about the advancement of the Krsna consciousness movement, cannot be expected to stop it. Yet we must face many difficulties in many different ways.

Srila Prabhupada SB 10.3.22, ppt.

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What we were; then and now

Those engaged in broadcasting the holy name of Narayana, Krsna, through the Krsna consciousness movement should always consider what our position was before we came and what it is now. We had fallen into abominable lives as meat-eaters, drunkards and woman hunters who performed all kinds of sinful activities, but now we have been given the opportunity to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Therefore we should always appreciate this opportunity. By the grace of the Lord we are opening many branches, and we should use this good fortune to chant the holy name of the Lord and serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. We must be conscious of the difference between our present and past conditions and should always be very careful not to fall from the most exalted life.

Srila Prabhupada, SB 6.2.34, ppt.

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