Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 42

For JANMASTAMIT: he all-attractive eternal form of all rasas

By His fullness of opulence, and on account of being the One without a second competitor and His being the Lord of all creatures, He is worshiped even by the supreme directors of the cosmic creation. He is attractive even by His personal decorative features. Lord Sri Krsna is observed to be always decorated with multi ornaments of apt position. His earrings, His crown, His bangles, His necklace, and belt etc., bedecked with most valuable jewels, His attractive smiling face smeared with the pulp of sandalwood on the forehead, and His yellowish silken garments all combine together to make His full attractive Personality. The whole Bhagavata Purana is practically a vivid description of His fullness of attraction, and in the beginning of the same, the Lord Sri Krsna is discriminated from all other plenary manifestations or incarnations with emphasis on His being the original form of Godhead and the Personality of Godhead as He is. And considering all these features of His personal and transcendental qualities as described in all the Vedic revealed scriptures, Lord Sri Krsna is undoubtedly the all-attractive eternal form of all rasas.

Srila Prabhupada, From Back to Godhead, Vol. 3, Part 17, April 15, 1960

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Krsna was God from the very beginning

You are searching after God. You are taxing your brain so much. But in spite of taxing your brain, you say sometimes that “There is no God,” or “God is dead,” or “Everyone is God,” and so on, so on. But our proposition is that why you are taxing your brain?

Here is God. Here is God, Krsna — by authorities, by Vedic version, by His activities. If we read life of Krsna, we can see that He’s Krsna, God, from the very beginning of His birth. God is not manufactured by some mystic power. God is God, and dog is dog. A dog cannot become God; God cannot become dog. That is the difference.

So Krsna was God from the very beginning. As soon as Krsna took birth, He appeared in four-handed visnu-murti. But when He was prayed by His mother to become an ordinary child, He became an ordinary child with two hands. So that is God, from the very beginning.

Srila Prabhupada/ Talk on Bhagavad-gita 2.13 — November 18, 1972, Hyderabad

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Unfortunately, we do not want Krsna

Krsna is so friendly that He always lives with us just to turn our face towards Krsna. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese arjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. What is His business? He is simply waiting for the time when we shall turn our face to Krsna. That is His business. But unfortunately, we do not want Krsna. We want something which is not Krsna. That is our disease.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.3-4 — March 29, 1977, Bombay

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Krsna accepts the attitude, sentiment

For a pure devotee, it is the same whether he materially constructs a path or constructs one within his mind. This is because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janardana, is bhava-grahi, or appreciative of the sentiment. For Him a path made with actual jewels and a path made of mental jewels are the same. Though subtle, mind is also matter, so any path—indeed, anything for the service of the Lord, whether in gross matter or in subtle matter-is accepted equally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord accepts the attitude of His devotee and sees how much he is prepared to serve Him. The devotee is at liberty to serve the Lord either in gross matter or in subtle
matter.

Srila Prabhupada — CC Madhya 1.161, purport

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Attachment extinguished by offenses to pure devotees

As attachment can be invoked by the association of pure devotees, so attachment can also be extinguished by committing offenses at the lotus feet of pure devotees… This extinguishing is like the waning moon, which gradually decreases and at last becomes darkness.

Srila Prabhupada NOD ch 18

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Farm communities to save time and chant Hare Krsna

I have seen in New Vrindaban how happily our devotees are living there with free air, fresh vegetables, and ample milk. Simple living in cottages. What you want more? We should not neglect the upkeep of the body, and we should save time to chant Hare Krsna. This mission should be propagated. Save time and chant Hare Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada, Letter, 7 Sep 1974

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A lifetime in preparation

When Prabhupada came to us in his seventieth year, he had already spent a lifetime preparing himself, not only by preaching, but by practicing self-discipline and the many other qualities of an advanced spiritualist. We joined him handicapped by our so-called hippie freedom and by so many other weaknesses in our characters. Prabhupada encouraged us simply to add the chanting of Hare Krsna to our lives, and our anarthas would fall away. But our anarthas remain. Even after many years of practice, we are still trying to throw them off. In Prabhupada’s case, nothing of his earlier life was extraneous or had to be thrown off. Everything was useful in his preaching — his business sense, his ability to size up a worldly situation, his courage in living in New York City, his fearlessness in the face of crime, noise, and dirt. He was able to maintain his integrity and go about his pure purpose even while living in Manhattan. He was trained by his years in India, and strengthened by all the renunciation and austerity he had to perform just by living there and trying to preach Krsna consciousness.

From Prabhupada Meditations by SDG, PM 4.4.15: “A lifetime in preparation”

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Krsna and Balarama, appearing exactly like village boys

The cows taken care of by Krsna had different names, and Krsna would call them with love. After hearing Krsna calling, the cows would immediately respond by mooing, and the boys would enjoy this exchange to their hearts’ content. They would all imitate the sound vibrations made by the different kinds of birds, especially the cakoras, peacocks, cuckoos and bharadvajas. Sometimes, when they would see the weaker animals fleeing out of fear of the sounds of tigers and lions, the boys, along with Krsna and Balarama, would imitate the animals and run away with them. When they felt some fatigue, they would sit down, and Balarama would put His head on the lap of one of the boys just to take rest, and Krsna would immediately come and begin massaging the legs of Balarama. And sometimes Krsna would take a palm fan and fan the body of Balarama, causing a pleasing breeze to relieve Him of His fatigue. Other boys would sometimes dance or sing while Balarama took rest, and sometimes they would wrestle amongst themselves or jump. When the boys were thus engaged, Krsna would immediately join them, and catching their hands, He would enjoy their company and laugh and praise their activities. When Krsna would feel tired and fatigued, He would sometimes take shelter of the root of a big tree or the lap of a cowherd boy and lie down. When He would lie down with a boy or a root as His pillow, some of the boys would come and massage His legs, and some would fan His body with a fan made from leaves. Some of the more talented boys would sing in very sweet voices to please Him. Thus very soon His fatigue would go away. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, whose legs are tended by the goddess of fortune, shared Himself with the cowherd boys as one of them, expanding His internal potency to appear exactly like a village boy.

From Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book ch. 15: The Killing of Dhenukasura

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The parents of Krsna and Balarama

Krsna’s mother, Devaki, and Balarama’s mother, Rohini, both embraced Mother Yasoda. They said, “Dear Queen Yasodadevi, you and Nanda Maharaja have been great friends to us, and when we remember you we are immediately overwhelmed by the thought of your friendly activities. We are so indebted to you that even if we were to return your benediction by giving you the opulence of the King of heaven, it would not be enough to repay you for your friendly behavior. We shall never forget your kindly behavior toward us. When Krsna and Balarama were born, before They even saw Their real father and mother, They were entrusted to your care, and you raised Them as your own children, fostering Them as birds take care of their offspring in the nest. You have nicely fed, nourished and loved Them and have performed many auspicious religious ceremonies for Their benefit.

“Actually They are not our sons; They belong to you. Nanda Maharaja and you are the real father and mother of Krsna and Balarama. As long as They were under your care They had not even a pinch of difficulty. Under your protection, They were completely out of the way of all kinds of fear. This most affectionate care which you have taken for Them is completely befitting your elevated position. The most noble personalities do not discriminate between their own sons and the sons of others, and there cannot be any personalities more noble than Nanda Maharaja and you.”

From Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book ch. 82: Lord Krsna and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana

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Rupa Gosvami instructs both the do’s and the don’t’s

Tamala Krsna: Sometimes the devotees question that the Kali-yuga is advancing, and in that sense the standards are deteriorating. Yet you are preaching that “Get everyone to the position where everyone is Krsna conscious.” How in the Kali-yuga advancing can everyone become Krsna conscious?

Prabhupada: They do not understand. If I say, “The epidemic is increasing. You take this injection, then you can be saved. If you don’t take vaccination, then you’ll suffer,” this is our propaganda. “You take this vaccination; you’ll be saved. The epidemic is very strong.” But if you think, “Now, because there is epidemic there is no other way. What is the use of taking vaccination? ” this is no argument. The epidemic is there; the vaccination is there. The disease is there; the medicine is there. So intelligent man should take the medicine, precaution, and then he’ll be saved. Two things are there. Kalau nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. In Kali-yuga, if you don’t take this, then there is no means of your save, safety. The two things are there. Why you are taking one thing? You take this thing or… [break] Everywhere two things are there: do’s and don’t’s. So in order to make the process of do’s you have to accept the process of don’t’s. That Nectar of Instruction, Rupa Gosvami? He’s instructing both the do’s and the don’t’s.

Conversation, 23 Jan, 1976

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