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ch 17

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 ...
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BG 15 eng

### 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...
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ch 1

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Lord Caitanya’s Childhood Pastimes Text 1 Translation Things that are very difficult to do become easy to execute if one somehow or other simply remembers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But if one does not remember Him, even easy things become very difficult. To this Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu I offer my respectful obeisances. Purport In his book Caitanya-candrāmṛta, Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says, “One who receives a little favor from the Lord becomes so exalted that he does not care even for liberation, which is sought after by many great scholars and philosophers. Similarly, a devotee of Lord Caitanya considers residence in the heavenly planets a will-o’-the-wisp. He surpasses the perfection of mystic yoga power because for him the senses are like snakes with broken fangs.” A snake is a very fearful and dangerous animal because of his poison fangs, but if these fangs are broken, the appearance of a snake is no cause for fear. The yoga principles are meant to control th...
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Ch 4

Approaching Kṛṣṇa, the All-pervading Truth kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya  devakī-nandanāya ca  nanda-gopa-kumārāya  govindāya namo namaḥ Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devakī, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.21 The Lord, being thus unapproachable by any material assets, out of unbounded and causeless mercy descends on the earth as He is in order to show His special mercy upon His unalloyed devotees and to diminish the upsurges of the demoniac persons. Queen Kuntī specifically adores the incarnation, or descent, of Lord Kṛṣṇa above all other incarnations because in this particular incarnation He is more approachable. In the Rāma incarnation He remained a king’s son from His very childhood, but in the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, although He was the son of a king, He at once left the shelter of His real father and mo...
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Ch 3

The Most Intelligent Woman tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ  munīnām amalātmanām  bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ  kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ You Yourself descend to propagate the transcendental science of devotional service unto the hearts of the advanced transcendentalists and mental speculators, who are purified by being able to discriminate between matter and spirit. How, then, can we women know You perfectly? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.20 Even the greatest philosophical speculators cannot have access to the region of the Lord. It is said in the Upaniṣads that the Supreme Truth, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is beyond the range of the thinking power of the greatest philosopher. He is unknowable by great learning or by the greatest brain. He is knowable only by one who has His mercy. Others may go on thinking about Him for years together, yet He is unknowable. This very fact is corroborated by the Queen, who is playing the part of an innocent woman. Women in general are unable to specul...
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Ch 2

Beyond the Senses māyā-javanikācchannam  ajñādhokṣajam avyayam  na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā  naṭo nāṭya-dharo yathā Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.19 In the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa affirms that less intelligent persons mistake Him to be an ordinary man like us, and thus they deride Him. The same is confirmed herein by Queen Kuntī. The less intelligent persons are those who rebel against the authority of the Lord. Such persons are known as asuras. The asuras cannot recognize the Lord’s authority. When the Lord Himself appears among us, as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, or in His original form as Kṛṣṇa, He performs many wonderful acts which are humanly impossible. As we shall find in the Tenth Canto of this great literature, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa exhibited His ...
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Teachings of queen kunti

The Original Person kunty uvāca  namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam  īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param  alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām  antar bahir avasthitam Śrīmatī Kuntī said: O Kṛṣṇa, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.18 Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī was quite aware that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, although He was playing the part of her nephew. Such an enlightened lady could not commit a mistake by offering obeisances unto her nephew. Therefore, she addressed Him as the original puruṣa, beyond the material cosmos. Although all living entities are also transcendental, they are neither original nor infallible. The living entities are apt to fall down under the clutches of material nature, but the Lord is never like that. In the Vedas, therefore, He is described as the chief among all livi...
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