Life4krishna

Chapter 5 The Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva Although Kṛṣṇa was the real son of Vasudeva and Devakī, because of Kaṁsa’s atrocious activities Vasudeva could not enjoy the birth ceremony of his son. But Nanda Mahārāja, the foster father, celebrated the birth ceremony of Kṛṣṇa very joyfully. The next day, it was declared that a male child had been born to Yaśodā. According to Vedic custom, Nanda Mahārāja called for learned astrologers and brāhmaṇas to perform the birth ceremony. After the birth of a child, the astrologers calculate the moment of the birth and make a horoscope of the child’s future life.  Before the birth ceremony, the family members take baths, cleanse themselves and decorate themselves with ornaments and nice garments; then they come before the child and the astrologer to hear of the future life of the child. Nanda Mahārāja and other members of the family dressed and sat down in front of the birthplace. All the brāhmaṇas who were assembled there on this occasion chant...

2 The Way of Chanting and Knowing Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This is transcendental sound vibration. It will help us to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind. At the present moment we have accumulated so much material dust on the mirror of the mind, just as on Second Avenue (New York City) there is dust and soot over everything due to the heavy traffic. Due to our manipulation of material activities, a great deal of dust has collected over our mind’s clear mirror, and as a consequence we are unable to see things in perspective. This vibration of transcendental sound (the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra) will cleanse away this dust and enable us to see clearly our real constitutional position. As soon as we come to understand “I am not this body; I am spirit soul, and my symptom is consciousness,” we will be able to establish ourselves in real happiness. As our consciousness is purified by this process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇ...

All glories to Srila Prabhupada  Throughway to Happiness Every one of us is searching after happiness, but we do not know what real happiness is. We see so much advertised about happiness, but practically speaking we see so few happy people. This is because so few people know that the platform of real happiness is beyond temporary things. It is this real happiness that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. Happiness is generally perceived through our senses. A stone, for instance, has no senses and cannot perceive happiness and distress. Developed consciousness can perceive happiness and distress more intensely than undeveloped consciousness. Trees have consciousness, but it is not developed. Trees may stand for a long time in all kinds of weather, but they have no way of perceiving miseries. If a human being were asked to stand like a tree for only three days or even less, he would not be able to tolerate it. The conclusion is that every living being feels hap...

All glories to Srila Prabhupada  ### Essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 1, Texts 1–5 (The First Step in God Realization) These verses explain that the real purpose of human life is not simply to maintain the body, earn money, enjoy family life, and fulfill material desires, but to understand our eternal relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa and become free from the cycle of birth and death. Śukadeva Gosvāmī glorifies Mahārāja Parīkṣit's questions because they concern the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Questions about Kṛṣṇa are beneficial not only for the person asking but also for the speaker and everyone who hears the answers. Kṛṣṇa-kathā has the power to purify the heart and awaken our forgotten love for the Lord. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that people who are absorbed only in material life have countless subjects to hear and discuss, but they rarely inquire about the ultimate purpose of existence. Their days pass in earning money and maintaining their families, while their nig...

CHAPTER ONE Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, twenty-ninth chapter, verses 12 and 13, Śrīla Kapiladeva, while instructing His mother, has given the following characteristics of pure devotional service: “My dear mother, those who are My pure devotees, and who have no desire for material benefit or philosophical speculation, have their minds so much engaged in My service that they are never interested in asking Me for anything – except to be engaged in that service. They do not even beg to live in My abode with Me.” There are five kinds of liberation, namely, to become one with the Lord, to live with the Supreme Lord on the same planet, to have the same features as the Lord, to enjoy the same opulences as the Lord and to live as a companion of the Lord. A devotee, what to speak of rejecting material sense gratification, does not even want any of the five kinds of liberation. He is satisfied simply by discharging loving service to the Lord. ...