Life4krishna

The Master of the Senses yathā hṛṣīkeśa khalena devakī  kaṁsena ruddhāti-ciraṁ śucārpitā  vimocitāhaṁ ca sahātmajā vibho  tvayaiva nāthena muhur vipad-gaṇāt O Hṛṣīkeśa, master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your mother, Devakī, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kaṁsa, and me and my children from a series of constant dangers. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.23 Devakī, the mother of Kṛṣṇa and sister of King Kaṁsa, was put into prison along with her husband, Vasudeva, because the envious King was afraid of being killed by Devakī’s eighth son (Kṛṣṇa). The King killed all the sons of Devakī who were born before Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa escaped the danger of child-slaughter because He was transferred to the house of Nanda Mahārāja, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s foster father. Kuntīdevī, along with her children, was also saved from a series of dangers. But Kuntīdevī was shown far more favor because Lord Kṛṣṇa did not save the other children of Devakī, whereas He saved ...

The Vision of Lotuses namaḥ paṅkaja-nābhāya  namaḥ paṅkaja-māline  namaḥ paṅkaja-netrāya  namas te paṅkajāṅghraye My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus, and whose feet are engraved with lotuses. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.22 Here are some of the specific symbolical marks on the spiritual body of the Personality of Godhead which distinguishes His body from the bodies of all others. They are all special features of the body of the Lord. The Lord may appear as one of us, but He is always distinct by His specific bodily features. Śrīmatī Kuntī claims herself unfit to see the Lord because of her being a woman. This is claimed because women, śūdras (the laborer class), and the dvija-bandhus, or the wretched descendants of the higher three classes, are unfit by intelligence to understand transcendental subject matter con...

CHAPTER ONE Questions by the Sages Text 1: O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abod...

CHAPTER 70 Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Daily Activities From the Vedic mantras we learn that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do: na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. But if the Supreme Lord has nothing to do, how can we speak of the activities of the Supreme Lord? From the previous chapter it is clear that no one can act the way Lord Kṛṣṇa does. We should clearly note this fact: the activities of the Lord should be followed, but they cannot be imitated. For example, Kṛṣṇa’s ideal life as a householder can be followed, but if one wants to imitate Kṛṣṇa by expanding into many forms, that is not possible. We should always remember, therefore, that Lord Kṛṣṇa, although playing the part of a human being, simultaneously maintains the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can follow Lord Kṛṣṇa’s dealings with His wives as an ordinary human being, but His dealings with more than sixteen thousand wives at one time cannot be imitated. The conclusion is that to become ideal househo...

CHAPTER 17 Extinguishing the Forest Fire King Parīkṣit, after hearing of the chastisement of Kāliya, inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī as to why Kāliya left his beautiful land and why Garuḍa was so antagonistic to him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed the king that the island known as Nāgālaya was inhabited by serpents and that Kāliya was one of the chief serpents there. Being accustomed to eating snakes, Garuḍa used to come to this island and kill many serpents at will. Some of them he actually ate, but some were unnecessarily killed. The reptile society became so disturbed that their leader, Vāsuki, appealed to Lord Brahmā for protection. Lord Brahmā made an arrangement by which Garuḍa would not create a disturbance: on each half-moon day, the reptile community would offer a serpent to Garuḍa. The serpent was to be kept underneath a tree as a sacrificial offering to Garuḍa. Garuḍa was satisfied with this offering, and therefore he did not disturb any other serpents. But gradually, Kāliya took ...

### Essence of Bhagavad-gītā Chapter 15 (Texts 1–5) This material world is compared to an upside-down banyan tree, with its roots upward and branches downward. It is only a temporary reflection of the eternal spiritual world. The branches represent different forms of life, the three modes of material nature nourish the tree, and the roots of attachment, desire and karma keep living beings bound to repeated birth and death. Because of material desires, we become attached to family, possessions, sense enjoyment and the false idea that we are the controllers and owners of everything. As long as we remain attached to these temporary things, we cannot become free from material bondage. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains that we must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. Real detachment means giving up the desire for material enjoyment and developing attachment to the loving devotional service of Kṛṣṇa. By hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting His holy names, associating with devotees and understanding...