Following in the Footsteps of - Part 1

Date: 2011-12-18 Author: Vishakhalila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

Srimad Bhagavatam is all about the glorification of the Supreme Lord and His exalted devotees. As we progress in our consciousness, we have to inevitably face many obstacles and challenges in our path of devotional service. As a sadhaka, we often times feel morose and hopeless in such conditions. Srimad Bhagavatam provides an invigorating source of hope and light for sincere devotees. Our only hope is to follow in the footsteps of the great Mahajanas who are guiding all of us on our path back home, back to Godhead. As the say, one should accept whatever progressive path the Mahajanas advocate. 'mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ' (CC Madhya 17.186). Mahajanas teach us how to surrender unto the Supreme Lord. We can achieve success in spiritual life by simply following great personalities. Only this will take us to the ultimate goal. We cannot understand transcendental subject matter simply by dry speculation and argument. The only way to understand these subject matters is by submissively following the bonafide authorities. In Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.20, Yamaraja quotes the twelve bonafide authorities who understand the transcendental religious principle.

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam

dvādaśaite vijānīmo dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute

Lord , , Lord , the , Lord [the son of Devahuti], Svayambhuva , Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather , Bali Maharaja, Sukadeva Goswami and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as -, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.

The glories of the Mahajanas are that they not only cross across the ocean of material existence but they are very merciful that they leave behind two things to help us cross across this ocean. They are

1. Vani (Instructions, books etc.) 2. Personal Example (Inspiring lives)

Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of SB 5.24.26, "It is said that for spiritual realization one must follow great personalities like Lord Brahma, Devarshi Narada, Lord Shiva and Prahlada Maharaja. The path of is not at all difficult if we follow in the footsteps of previous acaryas and authorities, but those who are too materially contaminated by the modes of material nature cannot follow them." As householders, often times we wonder how to balance our spiritual and family lives. As grhasthas, we are swamped with various responsibilities and duties and find it difficult to chant extra rounds and read the scriptures intensively. We start thinking that it will be easier to surrender if we are in the renounced order of life. Surprisingly, if we look at the Mahajanas, seven out of twelve are in the householder life and yet are pure devotees of the Lord. Therefore remembering these personalities and their activities and getting inspired by them is a very powerful method of remaining on the track on the royal road back to .

Following in the footsteps of the Mahajanas means to scrutinizingly study their lives and teachings and follow them sincerely. When we follow these great Mahajanas, Lord Krishna obliges to take us back. It is not because of our qualification but taking shelter of these great personalities, we get entrance into the spiritual world. It becomes hopeless otherwise.

Krishna willing, we will learn about the inspiring lives and the teachings of the twelve Mahajanas in the ensuing offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakhalila dasi Seattle, US Following the Mahajanas [Lord Brahma] - Part 2

Date: 2011-12-25 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

In the Padma Purana, Lord Siva tells :

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ samarcanam

O Devi, Of all forms of worship, worship is the highest. But higher than that is the worship of (tadiya) all the things belonging to Vishnu.

The easiest way to approach the Lord is by approaching His pure devotees. One of the Lord's dearmost devotees is Lord Brahma (svayambhu) who is glorified in Srimad Bhagavatam as the first in the list of Mahajanas. Lord Brahma is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakhsayi Vishnu, and therefore he is known as Aja. Being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahma is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahma by the Supreme Lord. Let us try to learn some of the primary teachings that Lord Brahma gives us through the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam.

1. Being Honest and Humble: Lord Brahma is the father of Sri Narada Muni and is in such an exalted position. He has the most important service of creating the entire universe and being the chief administrator of the affairs of the material universe and is a direct representative of Krishna. In the 2nd Canto 5th chapter, we see Narada muni asking Lord Brahma several questions about the creation of the universe and also glorifying him as the knower and controller of everything. If we hear such glorification about us from anyone, we happily take those credits even though we are not the true recipient of those credits. This is due to a lack of honesty and humility in us. However, Lord Brahma very humbly states his real position to Narada muni by comparing himself to the star in front of the Sun (Krishna) and glorifies the Lord as follows (SB 2.5.11):

yena sva-rociṣā viśvaṁ rocitaṁ rocayāmy yathārko ’gnir yathā somo yatharkṣa-graha-tārakāḥ

I create after the Lord's creation by His personal effulgence [known as the brahmajyoti], just as when the sun manifests its fire, the moon, the firmament, the influential planets and the twinkling stars also manifest their brightness.

Thus when instructing Narada Muni, he does not in any way boast about his own glories. He was not trying to prove how great he is but is rather glorifying the greatness of the Supreme Lord Krishna. He tells that the real creator is Krishna and he is only His servant. This is the symptom of the real spiritual master who always teaches his disciples of the absolute necessity of taking shelter of Krishna. We can also see this same magnificent quality in our founder acarya Srila Prabhupada who always gave all the credit to his spiritual master. This is a very important lesson for us to always remember that we are just instruments in the hands of and Krishna and be honest and humble about it.

2. Importance of Earnest Surrender: Lord Brahma answers all the intricate questions of Narada muni which are not normally known to any living entity within this world. However, while concluding his answers he tells beautifully how he got all those transcendental knowledge by earnestly catching hold of the Lord's lotus feet (SB 2.6.34). na bhāratī me ’ṅga mṛṣopalakṣyate na vai kvacin me manaso mṛṣā gatiḥ na me hṛṣīkāṇi patanty asat-pathe yan me hṛdautkaṇṭhyavatā dhṛto hariḥ

O Narada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been false. Nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred. Nor are my senses ever degraded by temporary attachment to matter.

Through this beautiful verse, Lord Brahma gives all the credit for his glories to the Supreme Lord and also reveals to us how he got such great prowess. In our case, our statements are often proved false either because of the changing situations, persons, or other external factors. What we say today does not hold true tomorrow. Our mind is always unsteady. Our senses very easily get distracted towards temporary subjects. However, Lord Brahma says that he perfected himself in all these three aspects because simply with great zeal and earnestness he caught hold of the lotus feet of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada says in his purport beautifully, "The devotees are especially protected by the Lord so that they may remain infallible...Anyone, therefore, who is earnestly serious in heart and soul about being in intimate touch with the Personality of Godhead in the relationship of transcendental loving service will always be infallible in words and action. The reason is that the Supreme Lord is Absolute Truth, and anything earnestly dovetailed with the Absolute Truth attains the same transcendental quality."

Let us follow in the footsteps of the great Mahajana Lord Brahma by earnestly surrendering to the Supreme Lord's lotus feet and succeed in all our endeavors. Krishna willing, we shall meditate on a few more teachings of Lord Brahma in the ensuing offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakhalila dasi Seattle, US. Following the Mahajans [Lord Brahma] - Part 3

Date: 2011-12-27 Author: Vishakhalila devi dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offering on the glories of Lord Brahma, the first Mahajana in the list as described in Srimad Bhagavatam. In this offering, we shall continue meditating on some of the wonderful qualities and teachings of Brahmaji.

3. Meditating on the transcendental form of the Lord: Lord Brahma, being a pure devotee of the Lord, meditates on the personal feature of the Lord. By acts of penance only was Lord Brahma able to see the Lord, and by realization only he could understand the Lord as He is. Brahmaji was extremely satisfied upon seeing the magnificent beauty and opulence of the Lord, and he admitted that nothing can be comparable to Him. Lord Brahma, therefore, condemns the impersonal conception of the Lord in SB 3.9.4 wherein he prays:

tad vā idaṁ bhuvana-maṅgala maṅgalāya dhyāne sma no darśitaṁ ta upāsakānām tasmai namo bhagavate ’nuvidhema tubhyaṁ yo ’nādṛto naraka-bhāgbhir asat-prasaṅgaiḥ

This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees meditate, I, therefore, offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.

The concept of impersonalism is therefore condemned by Brahmaji. Srila Prabhupada says, "The particular form of the Lord exhibited to a devotee is not mundane, even though the devotee may retain material desire, nor is it manifest under the influence of material energy, as is foolishly considered by the impersonalists. Impersonalists who consider the transcendental forms of the Lord to be products of the material world are surely destined for hell."

4. Determination in our Sadhana: Lord Brahma teaches the importance of determination that a sadhaka should have to achieve success in his spiritual life. In SB 2.9.7, Sri Sukadeva Goswami tells about Brahma's condition and how he was able to perform his sadhana successfully.

niśamya tad-vaktṛ-didṛkṣayā diśo vilokya tatrānyad apaśyamānaḥ svadhiṣṇyam āsthāya vimṛśya tad-dhitaṁ tapasy upādiṣṭa ivādadhe manaḥ

When he heard the sound, he tried to find the speaker, searching on all sides. But when he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to sit down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of penance, as he was instructed.

When Brahmaji was born from the navel of the Supreme Lord, he was the only living being at that time because there was no other creation and no one could be found except himself. Lord Brahma was anxious and perplexed about what to do next. At that time he heard the sound 'tapah' twice but was unable to see the speaker. And still he took the instruction as beneficial for him, and therefore he engaged himself in meditation for one thousand celestial years. He controlled his mind and senses and the penances he executed is a great lesson for all of us. As practicing devotees, we need to understand that the material energy is very strong. Therefore, our determination should be stronger to overcome the force of material energy. Otherwise, we will blame Krishna for all our problems. If our desire to serve Krishna is stronger, then Krishna will surely reciprocate. However weak we may be, we have to keep practicing. Then our spiritual capacity becomes greater. Krishna will definitely help us. Then, there will be more subtle challenges that may come up. But determination is, "whatever it takes", and with trust in Krishna, we have to keep going.

5. Pridelessness: We need to be aware of the beast called 'pride'. Pride in the heart makes one fall down. Because we are so addicted to fruitive mentality, we carry that baggage of fruitive mentality with us into devotional service. In devotional service, we do some little nice things and immediately we want to take credit for it and be proud of it. Lord Brahma even though entrusted with the most exalted post of creating different grades of living entities, is prideless and is perfectly conscious of his position that he is neither the supreme controller nor the supremely powerful rather he is only a humble instrument in Lord's mission. Lord Brahmaji exemplifies pridelessness while he is glorifying the Lord who appeared in front of him (SB 2.9.30):

yāvat sakhā sakhyur iveśa te kṛtaḥ prajā-visarge vibhajāmi bho janam aviklavas te parikarmaṇi sthito mā me samunnaddha-mado ’ja mānina

O my Lord, the unborn, You have shaken hands with me just as a friend does with a friend [as if equal in position]. I shall be engaged in the creation of different types of living entities, and I shall be occupied in Your service. I shall have no perturbation, but I pray that all this may not give rise to pride, as if I were the Supreme.

The greatest fall in our spiritual life is when we become proud of doing devotional service. We learn this important lesson from Lord Brahma that when we are occupied in the service of the Lord and His servants, we stay humble and focus our time, thoughts, and energy on how to perform the service to please Them to the best of our ability. An antidote to pride is a humble and grateful heart demonstrated by Lord Brahma.

Learning and meditating on these wonderful qualities of Lord Brahma is very purifying to our consciousness. Krishna willing, we will meditate on some more glorious characteristics of Brahmaji in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Vishakhalila devi dasi, Seattle, US. Following the Mahajans [Lord Brahma] - Part 4

Date: 2011-12-29 Author: Vishakhalila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the glories of Lord Brahma and his wonderful teachings to help the conditioned souls develop loving devotion unto the Supreme Lord.

6. Art of praying: In the 3rd Canto, 9th chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam, we find the most beautiful prayers of Lord Brahma for creative energy. It is very purifying to recite these powerful prayers from Srimad Bhagavatam chanted by the exalted devotees of the Lord. By his prayers, Lord Brahma is disclosing his deep love for Krishna and his realization of Krishna's position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord, hearing these prayers, is very pleased with Lord Brahma and reveals the potency of chanting these prayers. In SB 3.9.40, the Supreme Lord says:

ya etena pumān nityaṁ stutvā stotreṇa māṁ bhajet tasyāśu samprasīdeyaṁsarva-kāma-vareśvaraḥ

Any human being who prays like Brahma, and who thus worships Me, shall very soon be blessed with the fulfillment of all his desires, for I am the Lord of all benediction.

Srila Prabhupada in his purport says: "The prayers offered by Brahma cannot be chanted by anyone who desires to fulfill his own sense gratification. Such prayers can be selected only by a person who wants to satisfy the Lord in His service. The Lord certainly fulfills all desires in regard to transcendental loving service, but He cannot fulfill the whims of non-devotees, even when such casual devotees offer Him the best of prayers." Lord Brahma is teaching us the art of praying by which we can obtain the boundless mercy of the Lord.

7. Dealing with reversals in life: One of the very important lesson that Brahmaji is teaching us is to learn to deal with unexpected reversals in life in a Krishna conscious way. We see that in the Brahma-vimohana lila, Lord Brahma in his attempt to bewilder the Supreme Lord Krishna, gets himself bewildered by the Lord. How is it that such an exalted devotee can fall into such an illusion and commit offense to the Lord? It is all by the mystic power of yogamaya and sweet will of the Supreme Lord. When we hear the commentaries of the previous acaryas, we can understand the exalted position of Lord Brahma. Lord Krishna had many many lessons to teach us through this wonderful pastime. He wanted to teach that any person in this material world, however powerful and great he may be, is insignificant compared to the Lord. Lord Brahma was willing to humble himself to such a low position just to reveal the glories of the Supreme Lord. One of the most glorious prayers in Srimad Bhagavatam is by Lord Brahma where he says (SB 10.14.8):

tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

Lord Brahma felt ashamed of his impudent attempt at deluding Lord Krishna, and he was therefore perfectly willing to be punished or forgiven by the Lord, according to His decision. Although Lord Brahma's character is exalted and glorious, he was willing to be the Lord's instrument to preach His supremacy by taking a menial and humble position. Through this pastime, Lord Brahma wanted to teach all of us that if Lord Krishna does not mercifully punish His devotees when they act improperly, their foolishness will simply increase and gradually completely overwhelm their devotional sentiments. Power and designations are always a hindrance in rendering humble devotional service. Therefore Lord Krishna kindly disciplines His devotees and maintains them on the progressive path back home, back to Godhead. Lord Brahma humbly prays: "I am so caught up in managing this universe. I have all the power and responsibility yet I was trapped into illusion. Therefore please give me the benediction that I may be born in a low family and be a menial servant of Your devotees and constantly chant Your holy names." Lord Krishna being pleased with his prayers granted him this benediction. Thus when the Lord incarnated as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Brahma came as Srila Haridas Thakur who is the personification of humility and glorified as the Namacharya even though born in a low caste family.

While reading Srimad Bhagavatam, we find that the prayers and instructions of Lord Brahmaji are always directed towards the glorification of the Supreme Lord. We should cultivate the habit of chanting those prayers that Lord Brahma chanted and follow in his footsteps. We should pay maximum attention to these instructions which give life to our life, and to that which can elevate us from this material existence, back into the realm of Sri Krishna.

Let us pray to Lord Brahma to give us the right consciousness while chanting these prayers and cultivate a humble mood of service. Krishna willing, we will see the glories and teachings of the other Mahajanas in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakhalila devi dasi Seattle, US. Following the Mahajanas [Lord Siva] - Part 5

Date: 2012-01-05 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

Wish you all a very happy Krishna Conscious New Year. May Their Lordships bless all of us with a taste for hearing and reading Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam and follow in the footsteps of the Lord's pure devotees and attain love for Godhead.

It was purifying to meditate on the glories to Lord Brahma. In the next few offerings, we will learn the exalted characteristics and glories of Lord Siva.

In Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.16, it is said: vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ - Lord Siva is the greatest of the Vaishnavas.Lord Siva exemplifies the perfect mood of a Vaishnava and is known for his spirit of compassion. After passing through the eight material coverings, and after crossing the Viraja (the river that divides the material world and the spiritual world) and the planet of Lord Brahma (the highest material planet), one comes to the planet of Siva. There he is known as Sadasiva, a manifestation of Lord Vishnu.

1. Lord Siva teaches pure devotional service: Many of Lord Siva's pastimes are described in Srimad Bhagavatam. It is the topmost scripture and discusses no subject other than Krishna and pure devotional service. These pastimes with Lord Siva show his true nature, or internal mood, as a great Vaishnava, a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. Lord Siva is constantly immersed in offering prayers and meditating on the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva is one of the four primary spiritual masters (the others being Brahma, Lakshmiji and the Kumaras) and teaches pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord Krishna. Therefore, factual service to Lord Siva is to follow his instructions to worship and chant the Holy names of Lord Krishna.

Lord Siva while instructing the Pracetas with the prayers to satisfy the Supreme Lord says in SB 4.24.44,

darśanaṁ no didṛkṣūṇāṁ dehi bhāgavatārcitam rūpaṁ priyatamaṁ svānāṁ sarvendriya-guṇāñjanam

My dear Lord, I wish to see You exactly in the form that Your very dear devotees worship. You have many other forms, but I wish to see Your form that is especially liked by the devotees. Please be merciful upon me and show me that form, for only that form worshiped by the devotees can perfectly satisfy all the demands of the senses.

Srila Prabhupada beautifully says in the purport: "Thus Lord Siva's desire is to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is described in this way - that is, he wants to see Him as He appears to the , the devotees. The conclusion is that Lord Siva wants to see Him in complete perfection and not in the impersonalist or voidist way. Although the Lord is one in His various forms (advaitam acyutam anaadim), still His form as the young enjoyer of the gopis and companion of the cowherd boys (kishora-murti) is the most perfect form. Thus Vaishnavas accept the form of the Lord in His Vrindavana pastimes as the chief form."

2. Vaishnavas are very dear to Lord Siva: Lord Siva says in SB 4.24.28,

yaḥ paraṁ raṁhasaḥ sākṣāt tri-guṇāj jīva-saṁjñitāt bhagavantaṁ vāsudevaṁ prapannaḥ sa priyo hi me Lord Siva continued: Any person who is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the controller of everything - material nature as well as the living entity - is actually very dear to me.

Srila Prabhupada in the purport to this verse says: "Because Lord Siva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva told the Pracetas that because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them very much. Lord Siva was not kind and merciful only to the Pracetas; anyone who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear to Lord Siva. Not only are the devotees dear to Lord Siva, but he respects them as much as he respects the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, devotees of the Supreme Lord also worship Lord Siva as the most dear devotee of Lord Krishna."

3. Cheating the cheaters: There is a nice discussion between Lord Siva and Sage Narada described in Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta. Once, the great sage Narada Muni traveled to the abode of Lord Siva and began to glorify him, saying, "You are very near and dear to the Supreme Lord Krishna. Not only that, you are Krishna's manifestation; you are non- different from Him. You can give liberation and also Krishna-prema, the rare jewel of transcendental love for Krishna."

Hearing Narada glorify him in numerous ways, Lord Siva became angry and said, "Your glorification of me is false. I am not at all dear to Sri Krishna." Lord Siva is actually most dear to Sri Krishna, and therefore Krishna can give him services which He cannot give anyone else.

Now, out of genuine humility, Lord Siva told Narada: "I want to be His beloved devotee, but actually I am not." Lord Siva expressed to Narada his regret in having given benedictions to Lord Krishna's enemies. To fulfill his Lord's desires, he had given benedictions to demons like , Vrkasura, Salva and Jayadratha, and thus he had performed many activities that were seemingly opposed to Krishna and Krishna-bhakti.

Narada Muni said, "Master, please don't try to mislead me. I know that whatever you do is to please Lord Krishna and to assist Him in His pastimes, for the benefit of all beings. You told me that you have many times given benedictions to His enemies. I know that His enemies, as well as the enemies of His devoted cousins, the Pandavas, worship you for ill- motivated benedictions. I also know that you grant them benedictions. But those benedictions are not foolproof; they always have some loophole. Actually, you cheat these beneficiaries in order to please Lord Krishna. You are undoubtedly His dearest friend."

Siva and Narada continued to discuss some historical incidents which, according to Siva, proved that he was not dear to Krishna, but according to Narada, proved the opposite.

Lord Siva's glories are unlimited. Krishna willing, we will further learn the glories of Lord Siva in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Lord Siva] - Part 6

Date: 2012-01-08 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation from the previous offering on the exalted glories of Lord Siva. We will meditate on few more wonderful qualities of Lord Siva in this offering and thus offer sincere prayers to cultivate it.

4. Clever bestower of benediction: Lord Siva is known as "Ashutosh" for he is easily pleased and gives benedictions to everyone who worships him. Sometimes he also gives benedictions to demons, but ultimately it is for the spiritual benefit of those demons. One time the demon Salva, being envious of Krishna and with a desire for the strength to destroy Him, took shelter of Lord Siva. He performed a severe type of austerity and ate no more than a handful of ashes daily. After one year, Lord Siva became pleased with him and asked him to beg for a boon. Salva begged from Lord Siva the gift of an airplane, which would be so strong that could not be destroyed by any demigod, demon, human-being, , Naga or even by . Moreover he desired that the airplane be able to fly anywhere and everywhere he would like to pilot it, and be specifically very dangerous and fearful to Yadus. Lord Siva knew that no one could win over Lord Krishna and he also knew that when someone is killed by Lord Krishna, then they would definitely be liberated. So he bestowed him the gift of the mystical airplane to Salva and indirectly gave him the most blessed benediction of being liberated by Lord Krishna. So even when demons who are inimical to Lord Krishna, approach him for benedictions, Lord Siva is extremely clever and grants them nice benedictions. But his inner motive is always to serve his Lord, Sri Krishna and help the demons to get liberated by Lord Krishna.

5. Ocean of compassion: We find in the eight canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the pastimes of "Churning the Milk Ocean ". In this story, which is so deeply instructive, the setting is that the had conquered the devatas and the devatas were in a helpless state having lost their wealth, positions and services. They were humiliated, embarrassed, cheated and wounded and they turned to the Lord for help. The Lord asked the demigods to make truce with the demons because they were more powerful at that time. He gave something that they all could agree on, "Churn the ocean of milk and you will get the nectar of immortality." Despite their differences, on a higher principle of getting nectar they were all willing to work together. As they started churning the milk ocean, they had to encounter so many obstacles and the all merciful Lord Krishna helped them in every situation. When they were churning, the whole ocean became turbulent. The first thing that came out was halahala (poison) which was a deadly poison. It was spreading instantly all over the entire universe. It was on the verge of extinguishing all life. So Lord Vishnu brought all the devatas to Lord Siva for shelter. Why should Lord Vishnu bring them all to Lord Siva for shelter? Srila Prabhupada explains this point very nicely by quoting Srila that Lord Vishnu was perfectly competent to rectify the situation but in order glorify and give credit to His dearmost devotee Lord Siva, He took them to Lord Siva for protection. Just like Krishna in His universal form showed how He could destroy the entire Kuru army but He wanted Arjuna to do it, to give the glory to Arjuna, His dear devotee, similarly, the Lord wanted to give the glories to Lord Siva, the topmost devotee. Thus the demigods approached Lord Siva and offered beautiful prayers to him. Lord Siva saw this horrible poison spreading in all directions and out of compassion, took the whole poison and drank it. In Srimad Bhagavatam verse 8.7.44 Sukadev Goswami glorifies Lord Siva very nicely as follows,

tapyante -tāpena sādhavaḥ prāyaśo janāḥ paramārādhanaṁ tad puruṣasyākhilātmanaḥ It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone's heart.

Srila Prabhupada in his wonderful purport to verse 8.7.39 of Srimad Bhagavatam says, "This is a quality of a devotee - para-dukha-dukhi. This means that the unhappiness of the other person is my unhappiness and the happiness of the other person is my happiness. This is what is the real meaning of being the servant of the servant, without ulterior motives to be even willing to endure difficulties to help others to be happy."

Lord Siva is an ocean of compassion. There is no greater service that pleases the Lord than to be willing to accept inconvenience and suffering for the benefit of others. And it is for this reason, it is said in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 12.13.16, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ - Lord Shambhu [Siva] is the greatest of Vaishnavas. According to our Vaishnava shastras, Caitanya Bhagavata especially explains how Sri Advaita Acarya was an expansion of as well as Sadasiva, the original form of the Lord in the spiritual world, expansion of Sankarshana. In a similar mood, Advaita Acarya saw the poison of the influence of yuga spreading throughout this world which was more dangerous than the poison that Lord Siva drank because it was destroying the propensity of the soul's loving devotion to Lord Krishna. So like Lord Siva, Advaita Acarya felt deep compassion and hence prayed to the Supreme Lord and cried from the core of his heart, "O Lord Krishna, please come to this world and save these people. The poison is spreading. There has to be some shelter. Only You can do it." Time and again Lord Caitanya would say, "It was because of Advaita's compassion and prayers that I appeared within this world to neutralize the effects of poison by giving nectar of the Holy names - Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare."

I pray unto the lotus feet of all the Vaishnavas that I follow in the footsteps of these exalted devotees and cultivate this ornament of compassion. Krishna willing we shall continue to meditate on some more qualities and teachings of Lord Siva in the subsequent offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Lord Siva] - Part 7

Date: 2012-01-11 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept by humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation from the previous offering on the glories and teachings of Lord Siva, the topmost Vaishnava. In this offering, we will meditate on some more wonderful qualities and teachings of this great Mahajan.

6. Wonderful Vaishnava qualities of Lord Siva: From the pastime of , which is discussed in the Fourth Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we can understand the exalted characteristics exhibited by Lord Siva. This is a very instructive pastime and a sadhaka can learn many lessons from it. In this pastime, we see that Daksha, the father- in-law, of Lord Siva feels offended seeing his son-in-law not showing him the due respect during a great sacrifice. He was offended by the fact that Lord Siva did not stand up to welcome him when he entered the sacrificial arena. Daksha became greatly angry and spoke very strongly against Lord Siva. Hearing this, Nandisvara, one of the principal associates of Lord Siva, became angry and started cursing Daksha. a. Tolerance: Srila Rupa Goswami mentions in 'Nectar of Devotion' that a Vaishnava should not give unnecessary trouble to anyone. This is a principle of Krishna consciousness that every Vaishnava should aspire to achieve. When Lord Siva heard the cursing and counter-cursing happening between Daksha and Nandisvara, he immediately left the place as it is mentioned in SB 4.2.33,

maitreya uvāca tasyaivaṁ vadataḥ śāpaṁ bhṛgoḥ sa bhagavān bhavaḥ niścakrāma tataḥ kiñcid vimanā iva sānugaḥ

The sage Maitreya said : When such cursing and counter-cursing was going on between Lord Siva’s followers and the parties of Daksha and Bhrgu, Lord Siva became very morose. Not saying anything, he left the arena of the sacrifice, followed by his disciples.

Srila Prabhupada in purport to this verse says: "Here Lord Siva's excellent character is described. In spite of the cursing and countercursing between the parties of Daksha and Siva, because he is the greatest Vaishnava he was so sober that he did not say anything. A Vaishnava is always tolerant, and Lord Siva is considered the topmost Vaishnava, so his character, as shown in this scene, is excellent. He became morose because he knew that these people, both his men and Daksha's, were unnecessarily cursing and countercursing one another, without any interest in spiritual life. From his point of view, he did not see anyone as lower or higher, because he is a Vaishnava."

A Vaishnava never brings disturbance to anybody. This is a very important Vaishnava quality. Even when criticized by others, a vaishnava does not react. He takes it as Krishna's arrangement and acts in such a way that the tensed situation is diffused. Lord Siva is an embodiment of tolerance and compassion and thus left the place immediately so that the people involved in the cursing and counter cursing will stop this heinous action. b. Compassion: Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva, expressed her desire to go for the ceremony of sacrifice performed by her father, Daksha. Lord Siva knowing well that she will be ill-treated if she goes to her father’s house stopped her from going. But Parvati due to her familial affection decided to go alone inspite of Lord Siva's warning. Even though Lord Siva was displeased, he still sent his followers to console and protect her. This shows the compassionate quality of Lord Siva. This is a very important quality of a Vaishnava – no matter how the other person hurts him, he will still try to help that person. c. Devoid of fault finding mentality: Mother Parvati was not welcomed appropriately by her father, Daksha when she entered the sacrificial arena. Daksha did not even talk to her or inquire about her welfare. This greatly angered Parvati and she started speaking strong words against her own father. In Srimad Bhagavatam 4.4.12, Mother Parvati glorifies the great quality of Lord Siva,

doṣān pareṣāṁ hi guṇeṣu sādhavo gṛhṇanti kecin na bhavādṛśo dvija guṇāṁś ca phalgūn bahulī-kariṣṇavo mahattamās teṣv avidad bhavān agham

Twice-born Daksha, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Siva however, not only finds no faults with others' qualities, but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly. Unfortunately, you have found fault with such a great soul.

One of the main reasons behind the fault finding mentality is Envy. The nature of envy is that it penetrates deep into the heart of the conditioned souls and strongly plants the seed of fault finding mentality. The root cause of this envy and competition is the conditioned soul's original envy towards Krishna Himself! That position of envy is absent in the heart of a Vaishnava who is always engaged in the loving service of the Supreme Lord. Since Lord Siva is constantly engaged in meditation of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, he is not envious and naturally devoid of the fault finding mentality. Another important quality of Lord Siva is that, he is not only devoid from fault finding but magnifies even a little good quality that he sees in others. In this context, Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport,For " example, once a devotee of Lord Siva wanted the benediction that whenever he touched someone on the head, that person's head would at once be separated from his trunk. Lord Siva agreed. Although the benediction asked was not very commendable because the devotee wanted to kill his enemy, Lord Siva considered the devotee's good quality in worshiping and satisfying him and granted the benediction. Thus Lord Siva accepted his bad qualities as magnificently good qualities." d. Not Tolerating the offences against the devotees: Mother Parvati after accusing her father Daksha for insulting her as well as her husband Lord Siva, prepared to give up her life because she considered her body which is received from Daksha to be unworthy since he blasphemed Lord Siva. She then quit her body in a blazing fire by meditation. When Lord Siva heard this news, he was very enraged. He also understood that Bhrgu Muni had created the Rbhudeva demigods by uttering the of the Yajur Veda and that these demigods had driven away all of his soldiers who were present in the arena of sacrifice.Therefore, he wanted to reply to this insult, and thus he decided to kill Daksha because he was the cause of the death of .

Lord Siva was personally insulted strongly by Daksha but he never lost his cool. He tolerated those insults and did not even counterattack Daksha. But when another devotee Parvati left her body due to the harsh treatment given to her by Daksha, he destroyed the entire sacrifice as well as Daksha and his supporters. This is another quality of a Vaishnava - he can tolerate all insults upon himself but not when Krishna and His devotees are offended.

These are a few wonderful qualities that we can learn from Lord Siva out of the unlimited transcendental qualities he possesses. It is important for a devotee to introspect on his/her qualities and try to give up the bad qualities and cultivate the Vaishnava qualities as exhibited by Lord Siva and other exalted devotees of the Lord. Krishna willing, we will meditate on more qualities of Lord Siva in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Lord Siva] - Part 8

Date: 2012-02-04 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

We have been meditating on the wonderful qualities and teachings of Lord Siva in the previous offerings. Let us continue to meditate on some wonderful characteristics of Lord Siva in this offering.

7. Good fortune personified: Since Lord Siva is always meditating on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Krishna, he is the symbol of all good fortune. He is glorified as 'loka-mangalam' in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 4.6.35 by Lord Brahma,

vidyā-tapo--patham āsthitaṁ tam adhīśvaram carantaṁ viśva-suhṛdaṁ vātsalyāl loka-maṅgalam

The demigods saw Lord Siva situated in his perfection as the master of the senses, knowledge, fruitive activities and the path of achieving perfection. He was the friend of the entire world, and by virtue of his full affection for everyone, he was very auspicious.

Srila Prabhupada says, "Lord Siva is described here as adhishvara. Ishvara means 'controller', and adhisvara means particularly 'controller of the senses'. Generally our materially contaminated senses are apt to engage in sense gratificatory activities, but when a person is elevated by wisdom and austerity, the senses then become purified, and they become engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Siva is the emblem of such perfection, and therefore in the scriptures it is said, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ: Lord Siva is a Vaishnava. Lord Siva, by his actions within this material world, teaches all conditioned souls how to engage in devotional service twenty-four hours a day. Therefore he is described here as loka-mangala, good fortune personified for all conditioned souls."

8. Directs his devotees to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna: Since Lord Siva is the greatest devotee of the Supreme Lord, when a person prays to Lord Siva sincerely, he directs him to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. In this context there is a wonderful story where by the mercy of Lord Siva, a brahmana became a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord. A brahmana in Kasi once prayed to Lord Siva for wealth and Lord Siva asked him to go and meet Sanatana Goswami in Vrindavan for the same. As instructed, the brahmana went to meet Sanatana Goswami. Santana Goswami did not have any money. Thinking of Lord Siva and contemplating further, Sanatana Goswami remembered a touchstone he had once discarded and then forgotten. He asked the brahmana to find the touchstone near the banks of the Yamuna river. The brahmana found the jewel, touched it to iron, and the iron turned into gold. He was very very happy that Lord Siva had told him to come to Vrindavana, and thanked him with gratitude. Then he thought, "Why had Sanatana Goswami thrown the touchstone in the sand? It had no use there. He must have still more valuable jewels." He asked Sanatana Goswami as to why he had discarded the touchstone. Srila Sanatana Goswami told him that he had an invaluable touchstone which he will give to him only when he threw the touchstone in the Yamuna. The brahmana did so and then Sanatana Goswami gave him the Mahamantra, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare" The brahmana received this transcendental jewel happily and followed his instruction and became a very elevated saint. Lord Siva knew that Sanatana Goswami will gift the brahmana with pure bhakti and so he mercifully directed the brahmana to him, although the brahmana had come to him for material benedictions. 9. Always absorbed in remembrance of Krishna: Lord Siva is always absorbed in remembrance of Supreme Lord Krishna. In Srimad Bhagavatam verse 4.3.23, he very nicely explains to Mother Parvati about the potency of such pure consciousness,

sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vasudeva-śabditaṁ yad īyate tatra pumān apāvṛtaḥ sattve ca tasmin bhagavān vāsudevo hy adhokṣajo me namasā vidhīyate

I am always engaged in offering obeisances to Lord Vasudeva in pure Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is always pure consciousness, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Vasudeva, is revealed without any covering.

Krishna is paramam pavitram - Supreme pure and to approach Him, we need to have pure consciousness or be in shuddha- stage. Our consciousness is purified when we always remember Krishna. In his wonderful purport to the above verse His Divine Grace says, "Therefore shuddha-sattva, as described in this verse, is the transcendental position, which is technically called vasudeva. Vasudeva is also the name of the person from whom Krishna appears. This verse explains that the pure state is called vasudeva because in that state Vaasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is revealed without any covering. To execute unadulterated devotional service, therefore, one must follow the rules and regulations of devotional service without desire to gain material profit by fruitive activities or mental speculation. In pure devotional service one simply serves the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a matter of duty, without reason and without being impeded by material conditions. That is called shuddha-sattva, or vasudeva, because in that stage the Supreme Person, Krishna, is revealed in the heart of the devotee."

By meditating on a glimpse of these wonderful qualities of Lord Siva, we can understand why Lord Siva is the greatest of all Vaishnavas – vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. The spirit of his love and attachment to Krishna and His devotees, the spirit of his humility and tolerance and most of all his spirit of his compassion, is what we must be cultivating if we actually want to make spiritual advancement and if we actually want to please Krishna. Meditating on these wonderful qualities of Lord Siva will purify us and by the mercy of the Lord, we can embody this spirit of compassion, which is the very essence of Krishna consciousness.

Krishna willing, we will meditate on the teachings of the next Mahajan in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Part 9] - Narada Muni

Date: 2012-02-07 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

We meditated on some of the wonderful qualities of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva in the previous offerings. Let us humbly pray to them to follow in their footsteps and attain pure devotional service. In the next few offerings, we will meditate on the teachings and qualities of Srila Narada Muni, the next Mahajan. Narada muni is an incarnation of the Lord, who is directly empowered with the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to carry out the Lord's will. The glories of Srila Narada Muni is unlimited and only by his grace and mercy can we understand even a drop of his glorious qualities. Srila Narada Muni is the spiritual master of the spiritual masters and by incorporating his instructions within our lives, we will definitely attain the Lord’s shelter, His eternal service and His eternal abode.

In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Narada Muni narrates about his previous life, when he was the son of a maidservant and how he received the association of great sages and was engaged in their service, when they were living together during the four months of the rainy season. With their permission, he took their remnants and at once became purified in heart. Also by their mercy, he sincerely heard them describe the attractive activities of Lord Krishna. His faith and devotion in the Supreme Personality of Godhead gradually increased. Seeing the submissive attitude of Srila Narada Muni, the bhakti-vedantas instructed him with the most confidential knowledge as instructed by the Supreme Lord Himself and then departed from there. Within a short time, his mother, who was his only support and caretaker was bit by a serpent and she died. Then he left the house and wandered through the forests meditating on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Seeing the determination of Narada Muni, Lord Krishna revealed Himself in Narada's heart and assured him that he will attain the spiritual abode after this lifetime. Srila Narada Muni feeling a sense of gratitude began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated recitation. Thus in his next life, he became Narada and by the grace of the Lord, he travelled all over the universe by constantly singing the transcendental message of the glories of the Lord.

1. Lessons from the past life of Narada Muni: We can learn many wonderful lessons from the previous life of Srila Narada Muni. Let us try to meditate some of the lessons and attempt to imbibe them in our lives. a. Self-discipline: In SB 1.5.24, Narada Muni explains how his preliminary character and traits helped him in his progress,

te mayy apetākhila-cāpale ’rbhake dānte ’dhṛta-krīḍanake ’nuvartini cakruḥ kṛpāṁ yadyapi tulya-darśanāḥ śuśrūṣamāṇe munayo ’lpa-bhāṣiṇi

Although they were impartial by nature, those followers of the blessed me with their causeless mercy. As far as I was concerned, I was self-controlled and had no attachment to sports, even though I was a boy. In addition, I was not naughty, and I did not speak more than required.

The highlighted traits and qualifications marking Narada Muni’s sojourn are most important for us to note very carefully. As for ourselves, we should value and attempt to gradually manifest such qualities for the purpose of attracting the mercy of elevated souls and Krishna Himself to shower their mercy upon us. Srila Prabhupada summarizes this in the purport of SB 1.5.25: "There are many things which hinder one from entering devotional service. But by the association of pure devotees all these obstacles are removed. The neophyte devotee becomes practically enriched with the transcendental qualities of the pure devotee, which means attraction for the Personality of Godhead's name, fame, quality, pastimes, etc. Infection of the qualities of the pure devotee means to imbibe the taste of pure devotion always in the transcendental activities of the Personality of Godhead ." Therefore self-discipline is a very essential quality of a sadhaka. b. Attachment to saintly persons: It is often said that the quality of faith which we have in the pure devotees of the Lord, and the consequent mood in which we render service unto them, are the foremost factors in making significant spiritual advancement in life. We see here that how Srila Narada Muni in the association of the bhakti-vedantas, sincerely and attentively heard the glories of the Supreme Lord as narrated by them. In SB 1.5.29, Srila Narada Muni explains this to Srila Vyasadeva,

tasyaivaṁ me ’nuraktasya praśritasya hatainasaḥ śraddadhānasya bālasya dāntasyānucarasya ca

I was very much attached to those sages. I was gentle in behavior, and my sins were eradicated in their service. In my heart I had strong faith in them. I had subjugated the senses, and I was strictly following them with body and mind.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: "These are the necessary qualifications of a prospective candidate who can expect to be elevated to the position of a pure unadulterated devotee. Such a candidate must always seek the association of pure devotees... A pure devotee is a completely surrendered soul unto the Personality of Godhead. He knows the Personality of Godhead as the supreme proprietor and all others as His servitors. And by the association of pure devotees only, one can get rid of all sins accumulated by mundane association. A neophyte devotee must faithfully serve the pure devotee, and he should be very much obedient and strictly follow the instructions. These are the signs of a devotee who is determined to achieve success even in the existing duration of life." c. Faithfully following the instructions of the pure devotees: We have seen in many pastimes in Srimad Bhagavatam that how by following the instructions of the saintly people, many have achieved spiritual perfection. Narada Muni was just a five year old boy and son of a simple maidservant. His only qualification was that he served the bhakti-vedantas sincerely, followed their instructions and achieved perfection. After the loss of his mother, Narada Muni, took the difficult moment to be a special mercy of the Lord and started traveling across the world. Being a mere little boy, Narada Muni could have been easily distracted and lost faith in the Supreme Lord. But he was sincere in following the instructions of the pure devotees even at the time of reversals. Krishna consciousness is a simple process and all that is required from a sadhaka is sincerely following the instructions of Guru and Krishna. When the Lord sees our sincerity and simplicity, He takes us back to Godhead.

Krishna willing, we will meditate on the wonderful characteristics, instructions and qualities of Srila Narada Muni in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Narada Muni] - Part 10

Date: 2012-02-10 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the glorious qualities and teachings of Srila Narada Muni. In the previous offering, we meditated on the past life of Srila Narada Muni and lessons that we must learn from it. "Narada" means the giver of wisdom. If we read the Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam purports scrutinizingly, we can find so many references to the wonderful characteristics of Srila Narada Muni and instructions on following his footsteps. Let us humbly pray to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev to bless us to receive this descending mercy in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam. In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we find that Srila Vyasadeva after compiling the felt very unsatisfied and despondent. The unique quality of Narada Muni is that he is always present at the right place at the right time. So seeing the despondency of his dear disciple, Narada Muni arrived at the cottage of Srila Vyasadeva. His instructions to Srila Vyasadeva is the root cause of Srimad Bhagavatam. In this offering, let us meditate on the wonderful teachings of Narada Muni to Srila Vyasadeva.

1. Glorification of the Supreme Lord only gives the ultimate satisfaction: Many of us as working professionals are expected to give presentations, tutorials, lectures at our workplace from time to time. The subject matter may be interesting, but still we do not feel the ultimate satisfaction from delivering such presentations. But the amount of satisfaction that a devotee feels while giving a Srimad Bhagavatam class or listening to the pastimes of the Lord is nothing in comparison to any material subject matter. Narada Muni is stressing the importance of broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord to Srila Vyasadeva. In SB 1.5.11, he explains the importance of reading the scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam and ,

tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api nāmāny anantasya yaśo ’ṅkitāni yat śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ

On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.

Srila Prabhupada in the purport explains, "The people in general want to read (that is a natural instinct), but because their minds are polluted they want such literatures. Under the circumstances, transcendental literature like Srimad Bhagavatam will not only diminish the activities of the corrupt mind of the people in general, but also it will supply food for their hankering after reading some interesting literature. In the beginning they may not like it because one suffering from jaundice is reluctant to take sugar candy, but we should know that sugar candy is the only remedy for jaundice. Similarly, let there be systematic propaganda for popularizing reading of the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, which will act like sugar candy for the jaundicelike condition of sense gratification. When men have a taste for this literature, the other literatures, which are catering poison to society, will then automatically cease."

2. Devotional service gives the ultimate success: Success is a relative term in this material world. The modern era is a rat race competition where people crush each other in order to be successful. And the so called success is not even permanent. We see how everyone is running behind this success which is temporary and only causes misery at the end. Narada Muni is explaining to Srila Vyasadeva that the ultimate success comes only by rendering devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. He explains this in SB 1.5.17,

tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ harer bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kiṁ ko vārtha āpto ’bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ

One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a nondevotee, though fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything.

It is explained in the purport by Srila Prabhupada: "But in spite of all this, the stress is given here to surrendering unto the lotus feet of the Lord, even if there is a chance of falling down, because even though one falls down from the prescribed duties of devotional service, he will never forget the lotus feet of the Lord. Once engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, one will continue the service in all circumstances. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is said that even a small quantity of devotional service can save one from the most dangerous position. There are many instances of such examples in history. Ajamila is one of them. Ajamila in his early life was a devotee, but in his youth he fell down. Still he was saved by the Lord at the end."

3. Hearing is the only remedial measure: Doctors and scientists are working hard to manufacture many remedial measures for removing the threefold miseries pertaining to the body and mind, pertaining to the natural disturbances and in relation with other living entities. But without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, no remedial measures can bring about the desired peace and tranquility. Only by hearing, chanting and dedicating one’s activities to the Supreme Lord can only get relief from the worldly miseries. This is explained by Srila Narada Muni in SB 1.5.32,

etat saṁsūcitaṁ brahmaṁs tāpa-traya-cikitsitam yad īśvare bhagavati brahmaṇi bhāvitam

O Brahmana Vyasadeva, it is decided by the learned that the best remedial measure for removing all troubles and miseries is to dedicate one's activities to the service of the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead [Sri Krsna].

His Divine Grace explains very nicely in the purport of the above verse that, "The best thing is, after all, to get relief from all material activities and engage oneself completely in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. But in case of the absence of such an opportunity, one should try to engage in the service of the Lord everything for which one has specific attraction, and that is the way of peace and prosperity. The word samsucitam in this stanza is also significant. One should not think for a moment that the realization of Narada,was childish imagination only. It is not like that. It is so realized by the expert and erudite scholars, and that is the real import of the word samsucitam."

Krishna willing, we will continue meditating on the wonderful qualities and instructions of Srila Narada Muni in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Narada Muni] - Part 11

Date: 2012-02-13 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the wonderful qualities and teachings of Srila Narada Muni. As we learnt in the last offering, Srila Narada muni is the root cause for the birth of Srimad Bhagavatam and majority of this great scripture is filled with his teachings and instructions which is the road map for us to attain love for God and go back to Goloka Vrindavan. Let us offer our sincere gratitude to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva for giving us access to these wonderful teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam.

When Vidura came back to Hastinapura after the battle of Kurukshetra, out of compassion, he instructed his brother, King Dhrtarastra, to give up his false attachment to his family members and engage in the meditation of the Supreme Lord. Maharaj Dhrtarastra firmly convinced by the words of Vidura, at once broke the strong network of familial affection and left home along with his wife and brother Vidura, to set out on the path of liberation without the knowledge of anyone. Maharaj Yudhisthira being unable to find his uncles and aunt in the palace became very anxious. Srila Narada Muni appeared on the scene carrying his veena and began to pacify the King by giving him valuable instructions. Let us meditate on these instructions in today's offering.

1. Everything is the under the control of the Supreme Lord: Beginning from Lord Brahma, the creator of this universe down to the insignificant ant, all are abiding by the order of the Supreme Lord. No one is independent. Sometimes we tend to forget this and try to act as the controllers. Srila Narada Muni is telling King Yudhisthira not to lament for everything is happening under the control of the Lord. He explains this in SB 1.13.41,

nārada uvāca mā kañcana śuco rājan yad īśvara-vaśaṁ jagat lokāḥ sapālā yasyeme vahanti balim īśituḥ sa saṁyunakti bhūtāni sa eva viyunakti ca

Sri Narada said: O pious King, do not lament for anyone, for everyone is under the control of the Supreme Lord. Therefore all living beings and their leaders carry on worship to be well protected. It is He only who brings them together and disperses them.

In his previous life, when his mother died, when he was just a small boy of 5 years, he saw the hands of Supreme Lord in that incident and said, 'īśasya hi vaśe loko yoṣā dārumayī yathā', "The world is under the full control of the Supreme Lord; therefore everyone is like a wooden doll in the hands of a puppet master." Now we can see here that in this life, Narada Muni is preaching what he had practiced in his previous life as well. So we must also learn from Narada Muni that we should practice what we preach.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: "Ordinarily one cannot change the course of one's due happiness and distress by plan. Everyone has to accept them as they come under the subtle arrangement of kaala, or invincible time. There is no use trying to counteract them. The best thing is, therefore, that one should endeavor to achieve salvation, and this prerogative is given only to man because of his developed condition of mental activities and intelligence. Only for man are there different Vedic instructions for attainment of salvation during the human form of existence. One who misuses this opportunity of advanced intelligence is verily condemned and put into different types of miseries, either in this present life or in the future. That is the way the Supreme controls everyone."

2. Men come together and separate by the Supreme will of the Lord: Srila Narada Muni is further explaining how that the particular position in which we are now set up is an arrangement of the Supreme will in terms of our own acts in the past. The Lord, being the Paramatma in our hearts, rewards the reactions of our actions by placing us in some particular place. This is explained in SB 1.13.43,

yathā krīḍopaskarāṇāṁ saṁyoga-vigamāv iha icchayā krīḍituḥ syātāṁ tathaiveśecchayā nṛṇām

As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them.

Our father, mother, spouse, children etc. are awarded to us based on our past reactions and in due course of time, they are taken away from us only by the Supreme will of the Lord. We do not have any control over such meetings or separation with other living entities. If we understand this higher principle, we will be free from the pangs of lamentation. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport, "Therefore, the example of the player cited in this verse is quite appropriate, for the Supreme Will is absolutely free to do whatever He likes, and because He is all-perfect, there is no mistake in any of His actions or reactions. These changes of resultant actions are especially rendered by the Lord when a pure devotee is involved. It is assured in the Bhagavad-Gita (9.30-31) that the Lord saves a pure devotee who has surrendered unto Him without reservation from all sorts of reactions of sins, and there is no doubt about this. There are hundreds of examples of reactions changed by the Lord in the history of the world. If the Lord is able to change the reactions of one's past deeds, then certainly He is not Himself bound by any action or reaction of His own deeds. He is perfect and transcendental to all laws."

3. We are not the protectors: Sometimes we think that other living entities are helpless and dependent on us and that it is our duty to protect them. King Yudhisthira is thinking in a similar way about his uncles and aunt. Srila Narada Muni explains that this is only due to ignorance. Everyone is allowed all protection by the order of the Supreme Lord in terms of each one's acquired position in the world. Ofcourse we should not give this as an excuse and not protect our dependents. We should rather consider ourselves as the Lord's humble instruments in maintaining our kith and kin. Therefore one should discharge his duties only, for no one but the Supreme Lord can give protection to anyone else.

By giving these philosophical instructions, Srila Narada Muni pacified Yudhisthira Maharaj and by his forseeing powers explained how King Dhrtarashtra and Queen Gandhari would engage in the meditation of the Supreme Lord and ascend to the spiritual sky. Yudhisthira kept these instructions in his heart and got rid of all lamentations.

Srila Prabhupada stresses the importance of following in the footsteps of Srila Narada Muni in SB 1.13.60 purport: " Sri Naradaji is an eternal spaceman, having been endowed with a spiritual body by the grace of the Lord. He can travel in the outer spaces of both the material and spiritual worlds without restriction and can approach any planet in unlimited space within no time. We have already discussed his previous life as the son of a maidservant. Because of his association with pure devotees, he was elevated to the position of an eternal spaceman and thus had freedom of movement. One should therefore try to follow in the footsteps of Narada Muni and not make a futile effort to reach other planets by mechanical means. Maharaja Yudhishtira was a pious king, and therefore he could see Narada Muni occasionally; anyone who desires to see Narada Muni must first be pious and follow in the footsteps of Narada Muni."

There are some more very beautiful instructions given by Srila Narada Muni to Maharaj Yudhisthira in Canto 7. Krishna willing, we will continue to meditate on these instructions in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Narada Muni] - Part 12

Date: 2012-02-17 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the glorious characteristics and teachings of Srila Narada Muni. In the previous offering, we meditated on the instructions of Srila Narada Muni to Yudhishtira Maharaj when King Dhrtarastra quit home and went to the forest. In this offering, we will meditate on the some of the most wonderful and important instructions of Narada Muni to Yudhishtira Maharaj as explained in the 7th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. These instructions are very essential for us to perfect our lives in Krishna consciousness. Let us humbly pray at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev and seek their blessings to be able to follow these instructions in our own lives.

At the Rajasuya sacrifice performed by the Pandavas, Yudhishtira Maharaj, seeing Sisupala merge into the body of the Supreme Lord Krishna, was struck with wonder and thus inquired about the reason for this from the great sage Narada. Yudhishtira Maharaj was perplexed by this because Sisupala repeatedly blasphemed the Lord and thus deserved to enter into the darkest region of hellish life but instead he attained sayuja-mukti, which is impossible to attain even for great transcendentalists. Narada Muni explained the reasons which are very essential for practising devotees.

1. The Lord is detached: The conditioned souls considers the body to be his self and everything in relationship with the body to be his. Because of this bodily conception of life, the living entities are subjected to dualities like honor and dishonor. But the Lord does not have the false conception of "I and Mine" and thus he is never subjected to the dualities of this material world. This is explained in SB 7.1.25,

yan-nibaddho ’bhimāno ’yaṁ tad-vadhāt prāṇināṁ vadhaḥ tathā na yasya kaivalyād abhimāno ’khilātmanaḥ parasya dama-kartur hi hiṁsā kenāsya kalpyate

Because of the bodily conception of life, the conditioned soul thinks that when the body is annihilated the living being is annihilated. Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme controller, the Supersoul of all living entities. Because He has no material body, He has no false conception of 'I and mine'. It is therefore incorrect to think that He feels pleasure or pain when blasphemed or offered prayers. This is impossible for Him. Thus He has no enemy and no friend. When He chastises the demons it is for their good, and when He accepts the prayers of the devotees it is for their good. He is affected neither by prayers nor by blasphemy.

Srila Prabhupada very beautifully explains in the purport the kindness of Krishna, "The conditioned soul, being envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may accuse Him, saying, "Krishna is bad, Krishna is a thief" and so on, but Krishna, being kind to all living entities, does not consider such accusations. Instead, He takes account of the conditioned soul's chanting of "Krishna, Krishna" so many times. He sometimes punishes such demons for one life by putting them in a lower species, but then, when they have stopped accusing Him, they are liberated in the next life because of chanting Krishna's name constantly. Blaspheming the Supreme Lord or His devotee is not at all good for the conditioned soul, but Krishna, being very kind, punishes the conditioned soul in one life for such sinful activities and then takes him back home, back to Godhead."

2. Smaranam - Constant remembrance of the Lord: Narada Muni then explains the power of remembering Krishna constantly and how one can receive Krishna's mercy simply by concentrating one's mind upon Him. It is said that a grass worm confined in a hole of a wall by a bee thinks of the bee in fear and enmity and later becomes a bee simply because of such remembrance. Similarly if the conditioned souls can somehow or the other think about Krishna, they will become free from sins and regain the spiritual bodies. Srila Narada Muni explains that gopis by their lusty desires, Kamsa by his fear, Sisupala and other kings by envy, the Yadus by their familial relationship with Krishna, the Pandavas by their great affection for Krishna, and great devotees by their devotional service have obtained the Lord's mercy. Lord Krishna also tells in Bhagavad Gita 8.8 that one who meditates on Him as the Supreme Lord and his mind constantly engaged in remembering the Lord will return back home back to Godhead. Narada Muni stresses the importance of remembering Krishna in SB 7.1.32,

katamo ’pi na venaḥ syāt pañcānāṁ puruṣaṁ prati tasmāt kenāpy upāyena manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet

Somehow or other, one must consider the form of Krishna very seriously. Then, by one of the five different processes mentioned above, one can return home, back to Godhead. Atheists like King Vena, however, being unable to think of Krishna's form in any of these five ways, cannot attain salvation. Therefore, one must somehow think of Krishna, whether in a friendly way or inimically.

Therefore a devotee should always think about Krishna. In Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.113, it is mentioned that all the regulative principles in the shastras are subservient to the basic principle, "That is, one should always remember Krishna and never forget him - smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur vismartavyo na jātucit." Srila Prabhupada stresses the importance of chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra in the purport, "This is possible when one chants the Hare Krishna . Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra twenty-four hours daily. One may have other duties to perform under the direction of the spiritual master, but he must first abide by the spiritual master's order to chant a certain number of rounds. In our Krishna consciousness movement, we have recommended that the neophyte chant at least sixteen rounds. This chanting of sixteen rounds is absolutely necessary if one wants to remember Krishna and not forget Him. Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master's order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential."

Narada Muni then explained the glories of Prahalad Maharaj and how he achieved perfection by constantly remembering the Lord. In the later chapters of Canto 7, by the request of Yudhishtira Maharaj, Srila Narada Muni instructs him about the religious principles, varnashrama-dharma and the perfection of life.

Krishna willing, we will meditate on these most valuable instructions in the subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Narada Muni] - Part 13

Date: 2012-02-23 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the exalted glories and teachings of Srila Narada Muni. The instructions of Narada Muni to Yudhisthira Maharaj at the end of 7th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam are very important lessons for everyone of us. After hearing about the activities and character of Prahalad Maharaj, Yudhisthira Maharaj inquired from Srila Narada Muni about the principles of religion by which one can attain the ultimate goal of life. He also inquired about the general occupational duties of human society and varnasrama system for the benefit of the human society. Srila Prabhupada says in his purport to SB 7.11.4, "To learn about religious principles and the perfection of life, one must take instruction from the disciplic succession of Narada Muni." With the mercy and blessings of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, let us meditate on some of these valuable instructions in this offering.

1. General principles for human beings: The great saint Narada recommends that every human being should follow the thirty qualifications as explained in SB 7.11.8-12. The general principles to be followed by all human beings are truthfulness, mercy, austerity (observing fasts on certain days of the month), bathing twice a day, tolerance, discrimination between right and wrong, control of the mind, control of the senses, nonviolence, celibacy, charity, reading of scripture, simplicity, satisfaction, rendering service to saintly persons, gradually taking leave of unnecessary engagements, observing the futility of the unnecessary activities of human society, remaining silent and grave and avoiding unnecessary talk, considering whether one is the body or the soul, distributing food equally to all living entities (both men and animals), seeing every soul (especially in the human form) as a part of the Supreme Lord, hearing about the activities and instructions given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (who is the shelter of the saintly persons), chanting about these activities and instructions, always remembering these activities and instructions, trying to render service, performing worship, offering obeisances, becoming a servant, becoming a friend, and surrendering one's whole self. These thirty qualifications must be acquired in the human form of life. Simply by acquiring these qualifications, one can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

2. Duties of a wife: Srila Narada Muni also explains the principles of religion to be followed by women by which spiritual advancement is made easy. Women play an important role in creating a spiritual atmosphere in the family where the husband and children can naturally be devoted and practice Krishna consciousness in a truthful way. Srila Narada Muni explains the four regulative principles to be followed by every women in SB 7.11.25,

trīṇāṁ ca pati-devānāṁ tac-chuśrūṣānukūlatā tad-bandhuṣv anuvṛttiś ca nityaṁ tad-vrata-dhāraṇam

To render service to the husband, to be always favorably disposed toward the husband, to be equally well disposed toward the husband's relatives and friends, and to follow the vows of the husband — these are the four principles to be followed by women described as chaste.

It is also explained in verse SB 7.11.29, the woman who engages in the service of her husband, following strictly in the footsteps of the goddess of fortune, surely returns home, back to Godhead, with her devotee husband, and lives very happily in the planets. A chaste woman should be satisfied in all circumstances, be truthful, clean and pure. Women should perform household duties with great care and attention and engage in the service of the husband with love. Therefore to make spiritual progress in Krishna consciousness, the husband should be a pure Vaishnava and a woman should be a chaste wife. 3. Glory of a preacher: In Srimad Bhagavatam verse 7.14.42, Narada Muni explains the glories of preacher to Maharaj Yudhishthira. He says,

nanv asya brāhmaṇā rājan kṛṣṇasya jagad-ātmanaḥ punantaḥ pāda-rajasā tri-lokīṁ daivataṁ mahat

My dear King Yudhishtira, the brahmanas, especially those engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord throughout the entire world, are recognized and worshiped by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the heart and soul of all creation. The brahmanas, by their preaching, sanctify the three worlds with the dust of their lotus feet, and thus they are worshipable even for Krishna.

Narada Muni himself was 100% preacher and very dear to Krishna. Following his footsteps, Srila Prabhupada also fulfilled the desire of Krishna, by preaching His glories all over the world. His preaching is so pure and potent that even now people take up devotional service seriously after reading his books and hearing his lectures. He is glorified continuously (24 hrs) all over the world.

The glories of Srila Narada Muni are unlimited and it is very purifying to meditate on these wonderful teachings. He is an ocean of compassion and is always eager to help sincere devotees in the path of Krishna consciousness. Krishna willing, we will meditate on one of the most wonderful pastimes from Srimad Bhagavatam which reveals some of the wonderful qualities and teachings of Srila Narada Muni in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Part 14] - Narada Muni

Date: 2012-03-02 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the exalted glories of Srila Narada Muni. Narada Muni is the perfect spiritual master for he travels all over the universe for the sole purpose of performing the best welfare activity for the entire universe by teaching everyone how to become a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is an ocean of compassion and his wonderful qualities are described at many places in Srimad Bhagavatam. In this offering, let us meditate one such pastime from Srimad Bhagavatam to appreciate and also imbibe his divine qualities.

In the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the pastimes of Dhruva Maharaj is beautifully described and filled with wonderful instructions for all of us. Dhruva being insulted by his stepmother was highly enraged and under the instruction of his mother Suniti, left to the forest in search of the Supreme Lord. Narada Muni being trikala-jna(knower of past, present and future), understanding Dhruva's determination came to help him. It is explained in Caitanya Caritamrita, 'guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja', CC Madhya 19.151, by the grace of the spiritual master and Krishna, one can enter into devotional service. Because of Dhruva Maharaj's determination, Krishna, the Surpersoul, immediately sent His representative, Narada, to initiate him.

1. Perfect Spiritual Master: Narada Muni wanted to impress upon Dhruva Maharaj that he was only a child and that he should not have been affected by the words of insult and honor. He instructed Dhruva Maharaja to be satisfied in all circumstances. He was testing Dhruva to see how determined he is to prosecute devotional service. This is the process of accepting a disciple. In this regard, Srila Prabhupada says in the purport of SB 4.8.32,Generally, " people think that childhood is meant for enjoying life by engaging oneself in sports and play, youth is meant for enjoying the company of young girls, and when one becomes old, at the time of death, then he may try to execute devotional service or a mystic yoga process. But this conclusion is not for devotees who are actually serious. The great sage Narada is instructing Dhruva Maharaja just to test him. Actually, the direct order is that from any point of life one should begin rendering devotional service. But it is the duty of the spiritual master to test the disciple to see how seriously he desires to execute devotional service. Then he may be initiated."

Dhruva was determined in his pursuit of attaining a kingdom greater than Lord Brahma and humbly refused the instructions of Narada Muni. Rather he inquired from him about the process to worship the Supreme Lord as directed by his mother. Even though Narada Muni could have fulfilled his desire, he did not so rather instructed him to engage in devotional service to the Lord as explained in SB 4.8.40,

nārada uvāca jananyābhihitaḥ panthāḥ sa vai niḥśreyasasya te bhagavān vāsudevas taṁ bhaja taṁ pravaṇātmanā

The great sage Narada told Dhruva Maharaja: The instruction given by your mother, Suniti, to follow the path of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is just suitable for you. You should therefore completely absorb yourself in the devotional service of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport, "Narada Muni is referred to here as bhagavan because he can bless any person just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead can. He was very pleased with Dhruva Maharaja, and he could have at once personally given whatever he wanted, but that is not the duty of the spiritual master. His duty is to engage the disciple in proper devotional service as prescribed in the shastras. Krishna was similarly present before Arjuna, and even though He could have given him all facilities for victory over the opposing party without a fight, He did not do so; instead He asked Arjuna to fight. In the same way, Narada Muni asked Dhruva Maharaja to undergo devotional discipline in order to achieve the desired result ." Narada Muni then explained the detailed process of worshiping the Supreme Lord and finally instructed Dhruva to stick to the process of transcendental loving service to the Lord as a means to achieve liberation.

2. Ocean of Compassion: Narada Muni was not only compassionate to Dhruva Maharaj but also to his father. Out of compassion, after instructing Dhruva, he went to his father to solace him and also broadcasted the glories of his son. Dhruva's father was anxious about his son's safety and well-being and Narada Muni assured him that anyone who engages in devotional service wherever he may be in the universe will be protected by the Lord.

3. Non-envious at heart: After Dhruva Maharaj got the darshan of the Supreme Lord, he returned to his palace and was reunited with his father and mother. He also later became the King and was constantly engaged in loving devotional service to the Lord and was endowed with all godly qualities. And at the end of his lifetime, he was carried to Vaikunthaloka along with his mother Suniti. Narada Muni, being the spiritual master was very happy to see the glories of Dhruva Maharaj. A spiritual master is always transcendentally proud of his disciples. Narada Muni was the perfect spiritual master and Dhruva, the perfect disciple. Narada Muni then went to the sacrificial arena of the Pracetas and happily chanted the glories of Dhruva. This shows the 'non-envious' nature of Srila Narada Muni. When a Vaishnava sees that another Vaishnava is a recipient of the Lord's mercy, he becomes very happy. Devotees are always non-envious. Narada Muni says in SB 4.12.43:

yaḥ kṣatra-bandhur bhuvi tasyādhirūḍham anv ārurukṣed api varṣa-pūgaiḥ ṣaṭ-pañca-varṣo yad ahobhir alpaiḥ prasādya vaikuṇṭham avāpa tat-padam

Dhruva Maharaja attained an exalted position at the age of only five or six years, after undergoing austerity for six months. Alas, a great ksatriya cannot achieve such a position even after undergoing austerities for many, many years.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport, "The great sage Narada Muni was very proud of having a devotee-disciple like Dhruva Maharaja He had many other disciples, but he was very pleased with Dhruva Maharaja because in one lifetime, by dint of his severe penances and austerities, he had achieved Vaikuntha, which was never achieved by any other king's son or throughout the whole universe. The lesson from the life of Dhruva Maharaja is that if one likes, one can attain Vaikunthaloka in one life, without waiting for many other lives. My Guru Maharaja, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada, used to say that every one of his disciples could attain Vaikunthaloka in this life, without waiting for another life to execute devotional service. One simply has to become as serious and sincere as Dhruva Maharaja; then it is quite possible to attain Vaikunthaloka and go back home, back to Godhead, in one life."

Therefore with determination when one follows the instructions of the spiritual master sincerely, it is possible to reunite with Krishna after this very lifetime.

Krishna willing, we will continue meditating on the glorious qualities and teachings of Srila Narada Muni in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle. Following the Mahajans [Part 15] - Narada Muni

Date: 2012-03-15 Author: Vishakha Lila dasi

Dear Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offerings on the glories of Srila Narada Muni. He was the spiritual master of Prahlada Maharaj, Dhruva Maharaj, King Pracinabarhishat, Muni etc. and had such a unique sense of renunciation. Wherever he goes, he preaches the glories of chanting the Lord’s names and in this way so many great souls attained perfection of self-realization because the mantra was received from such a great personality as Narada Muni. In today’s offering we will meditate on some of the wonderful qualities exemplified by Srila Narada Muni in the various pastimes of Srimad Bhagavatam.

1. Tolerance and dealing with reversals the Krishna conscious way: The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful to all the living entities. These qualities were exemplified by Narada Muni who silently tolerated the curse of Daksha, to deliver him instead. The curse had come about in this manner. Prajapati Daksha was a very learned person in the Vedas. He performed varieties of austerities on the order of Lord Brahma, in order to undergo the creation of progeny. He produced many sons whom he sent to perform austerities to create more progeny but by their good fortune, they met Narada Muni who instructed them that only bhakti is essential. Hearing these instructions, they took sannyas and never returned home. Daksha became angry and produced another set of sons who also took sannyas hearing Narada Muni’s instructions. Prajapati Daksha became extremely angry and cursed Narada Muni that he may never stay in one place for more than a few seconds. He would be able to stay at a place for the duration of time it takes to milk a cow. He told Narada Muni, "I have given you this curse because everywhere you go, you give such instructions that destroy family life and household situations." Hearing this Narada Muni humbly accepted the curse because of his merciful nature as quoted in Srimad Bhagavatam 6.5.44,

śrī-śuka uvāca pratijagrāha tad bāḍhaṁ nāradaḥ sādhu-sammataḥ etāvān sādhu-vādo hi titikṣeteśvaraḥ svayam

Sri Sukadeva Goswami continued: My dear King, since Narada Muni is an approved saintly person, when cursed by Prajapati Daksha he replied, 'tad baadham: Yes, what you have said is good. I accept the curse.' He could have cursed Prajapati Daksha in return, but because he is a tolerant and merciful sadhu, he took no action.

Srila Prabhupada says in the purport, "Now, it may be asked why Narada Muni stayed in the presence of Prajapati Daksha and tolerated all his accusations and curses. Was that for Daksha's deliverance? The answer is yes. Srila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that after being insulted by Prajapati Daksha, Narada Muni should have left immediately, but he purposely stayed to hear all Daksha's strong words so that Daksha might be relieved of his anger. Daksha was not an ordinary man; he had accumulated the results of many pious activities. Therefore Narada Muni expected that after delivering his curse, Daksha, satisfied and freed from anger, would repent his misbehavior and thus get a chance to become a Vaishnava and be delivered."

From this wonderful pastime, we can learn how reversals even of the most difficult kind have the potential to be the greatest opportunities in our life. When faced with such unexpected reversals in life, Krishna advises us to tolerate. It is not easy, but this tolerance is a very important quality we need to cultivate in order to successfully chant the Holy names. We can learn this from Srila Narada Muni and the lives of so many great souls like Parikshit Maharaj, Prahlad Maharaj, Bali Maharaj etc. The beautiful verse in the Bhagavatam, prayers offered by Lord Brahma (SB 10.14.8) which states that when a devotee faces a condition of so-called distress or reversal, rather than seeing it as a stringent punishment or unsurpassable test, he considers it a gift or benediction from the Lord. What an instructive lesson imparted by Srila Narada Muni through this pastime!

2. Compassion: Nalakuvera and Manigriva, the sons of Kuvera were great devotees of Lord Siva, but because of material opulence they become so extravagant and senseless that they were enjoying with naked girls in without even noticing Srila Narada Muni who passed by. Because of opulence and false prestige, they lost their common sense of decency. Therefore Narada Muni, out of compassion, upon them cursed them to become dull and unconscious like trees. But a Vaishnava is always merciful and therefore the punishment given by Vaishnavas is always a blessing to receive Krishna's special mercy. So the sons of Kuvera became the twin arjuna trees in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaj's home in Vrindavan. During Damodar Lila, we find that the Lord breaks the butter pot, feeds the monkeys, allows Mother Yashoda to tie Him by ropes of love and also delivers the sons of Kuvera by breaking the Arjuna trees. Thus the curse of Narada Muni was ultimately auspicious and brilliant and cured their disease of material blindness. Another instructive lesson from this pastime is that if somehow or the other we get the blessing and the favor, sometimes the favor of a great Vaishnava comes in different forms, but if we get the favor of a great devotee, then only Krishna will recognize us.

3. Krishna smaranam – the highest aspiration of a devotee: After killing the demon Naraka, Lord Krishna had simultaneously married sixteen thousand maidens, and sage Narada wanted to observe the Lord’s diverse activities in this unique family situation. Thus he went to Dvaraka. Narada entered one of the sixteen thousand palaces and saw Goddess personally rendering menial service to Sri Krishna, despite her being in the company of thousands of maidservants. As soon as Lord Krishna noticed Narada, He got up from His bed, offered obeisances to the sage and seated him on his own His seat. Then the Lord bathed Narada’s feet and sprinkled the water on His own head. Such was the exemplary behavior of the Lord. Then Narada went to all of His other palaces and saw the Lord’s transcendental opulences and how the Lord in His same personal form was executing the principles of religion that purify those engaged in household affairs. Having seen all this, Narada addressed Lord Krishna, "Now I have seen Your feet, which grant liberation to Your devotees, which even Lord Brahma and other great personalities of unfathomable intelligence can only meditate upon their hearts, and which those who have fallen into the well of material existence resort to deliverance. Please favor me so that I may constantly think of You as I travel about. Please grant me the power to remember you." (SB 10.69.18). This reveals to us the inner mood of Srila Narada Muni. This is the nature of great souls; even though they are practising pure devotional service and perfectly situated in self-realization they do not get puffed up about their position. Rather they always humbly seek for the Lord’s mercy as exemplified by Srila Narada Muni here.

The glories of Srila Narada Muni are unlimited. By Krishna’s mercy we meditated on some of his wonderful qualities and teachings. Let us humble pray at the lotus feet of Srila Narada Muni to develop selfless compassion and beg for his blessings in order to be tiny preachers in the mission of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. Krishna willing, we meditate on the next Mahajan in subsequent offerings.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vishakha Lila dasi Seattle.