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NOD 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Ecstatic Love By the process of executing regulated devotional service, one is actually elevated to the transcendental stage, beyond the material modes of nature. At that time one’s heart becomes illuminated like the sun. The sun is far above the planetary systems, and there is no possibility of its being covered by any kind of cloud; similarly, when a devotee is purified like the sun, from his pure heart there is a diffusion of ecstatic love which is more glorious than the sunshine. Only at that time is the attachment to Kṛṣṇa perfect. Spontaneously, the devotee becomes eager to serve the Lord in his ecstatic love. At this stage the devotee is on the platform of uttama-adhikārī, perfect devotion. Such a devotee has no agitation from material affections and is interested only in the service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. To clarify, in the previous chapters the symptoms of devotional service were explained along with instructions as to how we may execute devotional service with ...
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kunti 6

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 ...
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Sri Virbhadra appearance

   Shri Viracandra or Virabhadra Prabhu appeared on the ninth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Kartik. Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami has given this description of Him in the C.c. Adi 11.8-12:    “After Nityananda Prabhu, the greatest branch is Virabhadra Gosani, who also has innumerable branches and sub-branches. It is not possible to describe them all. Although Virabhadra Gosani was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He presented Himself as a great devotee. And although the Supreme Godhead is transcendental to all Vedic injunctions, He strictly followed the Vedic rituals. He is the main pillar in the hall of devotional service erected by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He knew within himself that He acted as the Supreme Lord Visnu, but externally He was prideless. It is by the mercy of Shri Virabhadra Gosani that people all over the world now have the chance to chant the names of Chaitanya and Nityananda. I there take shelter of the lotus feet of Virabhadra Gos...
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Srila Narottam Das Thakur

   Narottama Dasa Thakura also known as Thakura Mahasaya, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint who was responsible for spreading Vaishnava bhakti throughout Odisha in and outside of Bengal in India.[1] Narottama dasa was the son of King Krishnananda Datta and Narayani Devi who resided in Gopalpur Pargana of the Rajsahi district of Bangladesh. According to some, after the death of his father he entrusted his royal duties to the eldest paternal uncle's son and left for Vrindavan. Biography    Narottama Dasa Thakura was a lifelong brahmachari. He was born in a Kayastha caste family, the son of King Shri Krishnananda Datta, who ruled the area of Gopalpura in Rajashahi district of modern day Bangladesh, his capital being Khetri on the Padma River. Narottama's mother was Narayani Devi, and he was born on the purnima in the month of Magha (January) 1520 AD.    From Narottama's early childhood he was always attracted to Shri Chaitanya.When Narottama was born the astrologer...
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mahaprabhu teachings 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Conclusion of Teachings to Sanātana Gosvāmī Persons who cultivate knowledge for liberation are of three kinds: those who simply desire liberation, those who are liberated already, even while in this material existence, and those who are actually self-realized. There are many persons in this world who desire liberation, and sometimes they engage in devotional service for this purpose. It is corroborated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.26) that those who actually desire liberation give up all kinds of demigod worship and, without envy, concentrate their minds in the worship of Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When such persons come in contact with a pure devotee, they engage in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa and give up the idea of liberation. A verse in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya states: aho mahātman bahu-doṣa-duṣṭo   ’py ekena bhāty eṣa bhavo guṇena sat-saṅgamākhyena āsukhāvahena   kṛtādya no yena kṛśā mumukṣā “O great soul, although there are many flaws within t...
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perfect qna

FOUR The Three Modes of Nature Māyāpur, India – February 28, 1972 (continued) Bob: I have read that in life there are three guṇas – passion, ignorance, and goodness. I was wishing that you would explain this somewhat, especially what is meant by the mode of ignorance and the mode of goodness. Śrīla Prabhupāda: In goodness you can understand things – knowledge. You can know that there is God, that this world was created by Him, and so many things, actual things – the sun is this, the moon is this – perfect knowledge. If one has some knowledge, even though it may not be perfect, that is goodness. And in passion one identifies with his material body and tries to gratify his senses. That is passion. And ignorance is animal life – in ignorance, one does not know what is God, how to become happy, why we are in this world. For example, if you take an animal to the slaughterhouse, it will go willingly. This is ignorance. But a man will protest. If a goat is to be killed after five minutes but ...
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nectar of devotion 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Neutral Love of God Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī offers his respectful prayers to the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always so beautiful and for whom the pure devotees are always engaged in loving transcendental service. This third division of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu describes the five primary kinds of devotional service – namely, neutrality, servitude, fraternity, parenthood and conjugal love. These five items will be very elaborately explained here, and thus they have been figuratively described as the five waves on the western side of this ocean of the nectar of devotion. When one is actually able to maintain the transcendental position, his stage is called neutrality in devotional service. Some great sages have attained this neutral position by practicing austerity, penance and meditation to control the senses. Such sages are generally called mystic yogīs, and in most cases they are inclined to appreciate the spiritual pleasure of the impersonal feature...
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