If you want to make advancement, then make friendship with a devotee who is superior to you in bhakti, who has love and affection for you, and who is svajatiya, like-minded. 'Like-minded' refers to one who is like-minded for paramartha (transcendental life) - not for worldly things. He should be an ocean of the type of prema for which you aspire. By hearing from him, you develop increased steadiness in bhakti, and you also develop all the stages beyond that...
There was a beautiful girl in East Bengal named Saci devi, and she was the daughter of the King of Putiya. From the beginning of her life she heard about Lord Krsna, and from that time onward she gave her entire heart to Him. From the time she was about five years old, she used to worship Krsna, sing to Krsna, play with Krsna, and do everything with Him. When she was about sixteen years old she became maddened for Him...
There are many lines on the earth, like the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In the Sanskrit language these lines are called rekhas. In Vedic Astronomy these rekhas are called Bhumadhya-rekha, Karka-rekha, and Makhara-rekha. In its travels, the Sun is always somewhere between these lines. The day on which it comes nearest...
Today is a very auspicious day. It is the disappearance day of Srila Jiva Gosvami. We don't observe the disappearance days of Lord Krsna, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Rama or any other incarnation of Bhagavan, but we observe the disappearance days of His associates. By such observance we learn many things about their worshipable Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, Sriman Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu...
Sometimes we are very worried. How will we maintain our family, also worried for ourselves? Very worried. What is the meaning of this? That you have no belief in Krishna. If we are worried for anything in this world, what is this? What will be of this? Then you have no strong belief in Krishna. Krishna has told, "Believe Me." If Krishna is our protector...
by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja
Our faults and misfortune are the results of our forgetting Bhagavan and we will never be fortunate enough to remember Him as long as we are forgetful of sri guru and the Vaisnavas. Therefore, when we perform bhajana, it is imperative that we first remember sri guru and the Vaisnavas. First we must pray for their mercy; only then can we pray for service to Bhagavan Sri Hari. The scriptures describe this to be the one and only process for remembering Him....
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝By the mercy of this mahāpuruṣa [Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja], in the time spanning the past twenty-six years, Kali has not yet been able to exert any influence over me. I offer my śraddhā-puṣpāñjali unto the lotus feet of this mahāpuruṣa.❞ ...
Remembrances of Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝Once, when I (Rasika-rañjana dāsādhikārī) was in Navadvīpa, I went to offer praṇāmas to pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja in his bhajana-kuṭīra. As we discussed various topics, pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja said, “Once, in a conversation with Vāmana Mahārāja, I said to him, ‘Mahārāja when I will grow old, who will take care of me and make efforts to help me? I am getting worried about this even now.’ Vāmana Mahārāja replied, ‘You should not worry about this. If nobody will be there, I will personally take care of you and will personally clean your urine and stool. In this regard you need have no worry or anxiety.’ The way Vāmana Mahārāja said this to me actually made me free from any anxiety or worry. And he did not speak mere words. He has actually been very conscientious about this.” While speaking this incident, tears began to roll down from the eyes of pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja.❞ ...
Memories of Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Once, the day before pūjyapāda Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja was to arrive in Kolkata from his first preaching tour abroad, Guru Mahārāja said to everyone, “Go and decorate the temple very nicely. Also nicely decorate the room that Śrīla Mahārāja will be staying in.” In the evening Guru Mahārāja went to the temple for darśana and saw that it had not been decorated. “If none of you have the time to do it, I will personally collect the flowers.” Hearing him say this, the brahmacārīs immediately went to the market and brought many kinds of flowers and other decorations. They nicely decorated Ṭhākurajī’s temple and then went to Guru Mahārāja’s room to decorate it. Guru Mahārāja said, “First ṭhākura-sevā, after that, vaiṣṇava-sevā, and after that, my sevā. Even though there is no need to decorate my room, if Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja sees it not decorated [but that his own room is decorated], it will make him feel uneasy. Our only aim is the pleasure and satisfaction of guru and Vaiṣṇavas, so decorate my room as well.” ...
I wish you all a happy New Year. The New Year we are now celebrating is according to Western calculation. This mainly affects our physical body and mind, because those in the Western world are very concerned about their physical health and mind – not more than that. Very few persons in the Western world know about the soul...
Any bogus guru who is himself falling down, fallen, how he can give me this knowledge? The sons of Sukracarya, Sanda and Amarka, they are bogus gurus. They are not qualified and bona fide guru. They are all engaged in sense gratification. These bogus gurus have no idea of real happiness and any good conception for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So these gurus should be given up at once, in a moment. They are like blind persons...
Today is Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ. In Europe and other countries, hardly anyone knows what Jesus Christ was doing in his youth, at around 15 years of age. Indian history shows that he was in India, where he visited Vrndavana, Ayodya, Jagannatha Puri, and other pilgrimage places...
If someone accepts such a great soul from the past – in this case Jesus Christ – as jagad-guru and wishes to follow in his footsteps in the present but considers that there is no need for any mahānta-guru, it is questionable to what extent he will be able to properly follow the views of Jesus...
It is my honor on behalf of the conference to invite you to attend the Sri Rupa Goswami Conference on Vaishnavism. An international assembly of distinguished scholars will be speaking and we welcome your participation. While we don’t expect a large crowd to the English morning sessions, we do promise a comfortable assembly of like-minded scholars and attentive listeners...
We are all very supremely fortunate to have come here to Purusottama-ksetra Jagannatha Puri-dhama, and stay so close to Purusottama-deva Sri Jagannatha Himself. We are especially fortunate to be here in this month called Purusottama-masa and to perform Purusottama-vrata (the auspicious vows taken on this month). We are even more fortunate to have the shelter of this particular place...
To fulfill the wish of our beloved guide and well-wisher nitya-lila om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayaṇa Gosvami Maharaja, we cordially invite you to Sri Vrndavana Dhama for Sri Vraja-mandala Parikrama this Kartika, 2023!
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