Lecture on Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Text 22 given by both Prahladananda Swami and Braja Bihari das titled “Krishna’s Grateful Love”.
Dallas, TX 2010-07-10
TRANSLATION
But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form — to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.
PURPORT
One who is unable to live for a moment without Krishna consciousness cannot but think of Krishna twenty-four hours a day, being engaged in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to the Lord. Such activities are all auspicious and full of spiritual potencies, which make the devotee perfect in self-realization, so that his only desire is to achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a devotee undoubtedly approaches the Lord without difficulty. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord, such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. Kshema refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Krishna consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Krishna conscious the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life.
TKG Academy hosted a summer camp for the children of the community. At the end they presented a Bhajan and a Drama. This is the drama “Pastimes of Lord Chaitanya”.
TKG Academy hosted a summer camp for the children of the community. At the end they presented a Bhajan and a Drama. This is the bhajan “Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu”.
Lecture on Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi Lila, Chapter 4, Texts 21-22 titled “Do Something Practical” by Prahladananda Swami.
Dallas, TX 2010-07-11
TRANSLATION
If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him.
PURPORT
In the Caitanya-caritamrita three kinds of devotional service are described — namely, bhakti (ordinary devotional service), suddha-bhakti (pure devotional service) and viddha-bhakti (mixed devotional service).
When devotional service is executed with some material purpose, involving fruitive activities, mental speculations or mystic yoga, it is called mixed or adulterated devotional service. Besides bhakti-yoga, the Bhagavad-gita also describes karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and dhyana-yoga. Yoga means linking with the Supreme Lord, which is possible only through devotion. Fruitive activities ending in devotional service, philosophical speculation ending in devotional service, and the practice of mysticism ending in devotional service are known respectively as karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and dhyana-yoga. But such devotional service is adulterated by the three kinds of material activities.
For those grossly engaged in identifying the body as the self, pious activity, or karma-yoga, is recommended. For those who identify the mind with the self, philosophical speculation, or jnana-yoga, is recommended. But devotees standing on the spiritual platform have no need of such material conceptions of adulterated devotion. Adulterated devotional service does not directly aim for love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore service performed strictly in conformity with the revealed scriptures is better than such viddha-bhakti because it is free from all kinds of material contamination. It is executed in Krishna consciousness, solely to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Those who are spontaneously devoted to the Lord and have no aims for material gain are called attracted devotees. They are spontaneously attracted to the service of the Lord, and they follow in the footsteps of self-realized souls. Their pure devotion (suddha-bhakti), manifested from pure love of Godhead, surpasses the regulative principles of the authoritative scriptures. Sometimes loving ecstasy transcends regulative principles; such ecstasy, however, is completely on the spiritual platform and cannot be imitated. The regulative principles help ordinary devotees rise to the stage of perfect love of Godhead. Pure love for Krishna is the perfection of pure devotion, and pure devotional service is identical with spontaneous devotional service.
Flawless execution of regulative principles is exhibited in the Vaikuntha planets. By strictly executing these principles one can be elevated to the Vaikuntha planets. But spontaneous pure loving service is found in Krishnaloka alone.
