Potency of Devotional Service - Part 1 Date: 2014-08-28 Author: Sudarshana devi dasi Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. There is a famous quote in Bible which goes as follows - "There is no one without sin, no, not one". Initially I used to wonder how could this be, but over time I was able to realise the truth behind this statement. Of course it is only because of our sins, we have taken birth in this material world now and are enjoying/suffering the reactions of whatever good/bad things we have done in the past. We might have forgotten whatever we did in our past and present lives, but the Supreme Lord Krishna remembers them all and is sanctioning things accordingly in each of our lives. In the purport to verse 9.2 of Bhagavad Gita, Srila Prabhupada nicely explains how for every sin we perform, we are bound to face the reactions. He compares the sin to be the seed, which takes time to fructify. "There are sins which are still in the form of a seed, and there are others which are already fructified and are giving us fruit, which we are enjoying as distress and pain." So even if we have stopped the sinful action, we sometimes face the reactions little later, either in next lifetime or after some time in this life itself. Now let us introspect how we treat another sinner, in spite of the fact that we are also one. Indeed it is so difficult for us to even talk or smile to a person who does some sin against us, what to speak of loving and caring for them. But all merciful and infallible Supreme Lord Krishna is such a loving Supreme father that He is tolerating all our sins and yet is eager to take us back to His abode. He sends His dear representatives or sometimes even comes personally to teach us the way to come to His abode quickly. And that way is devotional service. The glories of devotional service is also nicely explained by Lord Krishna in several places in Bhagavad Gita. In verse 9.2 He says, rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. In the above verse pavitram means pure and uttamam means transcendental. In his purport to the above verse Srila Prabhupada says, "Therefore the purifying potency of devotional service is very strong, and it is called pavitram uttamam, the purest". Quoting the below verse from Padma Purana, His Divine Grace says, aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham krameṇaiva pralīyeta viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish. The process of bhakti is transcendentally pure so it is completely potent to purify our sinful nature and also makes us free of the reactions of the sins. Dirty room cannot be cleansed with dirty water. So we can imagine how potent and pure should be the process of bhakti that it is able to cleanse our contaminated hearts. Krishna willing we shall try to meditate on the purifying potency of devotional service through the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam in the subsequent offerings. Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Sudarshana devi dasi. Potency of Devotional Service - Part 2 Date: 2014-08-29 Author: Sudarshana devi dasi Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. This is in continuation of the previous topic titled, "Potency of Devotional Service", wherein we saw that devotional service is so potent that those who are engaged in bhakti or freed of all sinful reactions. Diti the wife of Kashyapa Muni was very upset over the death of her sons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. Since Lord Vishnu had killed her sons to help Indra, she was very angry with Indra and decided to beget a son to kill Indra. So she served her husband Kashyapa Muni with devotion and care and having captivated his mind, she got the benediction from him that he would fulfill her desires. When Diti expressed her desire to beget a son to kill Indra, Kashyapa Muni was very aggrieved. Apart from the fact that Indra was his son, Kashyapa Muni knew that it was not correct for Diti to have a revengeful attitude towards Indra. He knew that since he had promised to give her the benediction, it could not be revoked. So he decided to find a suitable win-win solution which will prove to be good for Diti as well as Indra. In purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 6.18.43, Srila Prabhupada very nicely explains the mood of Kashyapa Muni. ' Kashyapa Muni concluded, "Diti is eager to have a son who can kill Indra, since she is a woman, after all, and is not very intelligent. I shall train her in such a way that instead of always thinking of how to kill Indra, she will become a Vaishnava, a devotee of Krishna. If she agrees to follow the rules and regulations of the Vaishnava principles, the unclean core of her heart will certainly be cleansed." Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ [Cc. Antya 20.12]. This is the process of devotional service. Anyone can be purified by following the principles of devotional service in Krishna consciousness, for Krishna consciousness is so powerful that it can purify even the dirtiest class of men and transform them into the topmost Vaishnavas.' In Srimad Bhagavatam verse 6.18.45 Kashyapa Muni gives the following advice to Diti. śrī-kaśyapa uvāca putras te bhavitā bhadre indra-hādeva-bāndhavaḥ saṁvatsaraṁ vratam idaṁ yady añjo dhārayiṣyasi Kaśyapa Muni said: My dear gentle wife, if you follow my instructions regarding this vow for at least one year, you will surely get a son who will be able to kill Indra. However, if you deviate from this vow of following the Vaiṣṇava principles, you will get a son who will be favorable to Indra. One of the quality of Vaishnava is daksha and here we can see how Kashyapa Muni, being a great devotee of the Lord, tackled this difficult situation very expertly. If Diti follows the instructions sincerely for the whole year - then she will get a son, but by then both the consciousness of Diti and the child in the womb would be changed due to her following the Vaishnava principles and so the child will not kill Indra. And if for some reason she breaks the vow, then she will get a son favourable to Indra. By giving the above instruction, he ensured that Indra would not be killed in either case. Krishna willing we shall try to see the details of the vow given by Kashyapa Muni to Diti and how Diti followed them in the subsequent offering. Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Sudarshana devi dasi. Potency of Devotional Service - Part 3 Date: 2014-08-31 Author: Sudarshana devi dasi Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. This is in continuation of the previous topic titled, "Potency of Devotional Service", wherein we saw , the below points. 1. Bhakti is so potent that it frees the devotee from all sins and its reactions. 2. Kashyapa Muni expertly advises Diti to follow a vow by which she can get the child she desires. In this offering let us meditate on some of the instructions given by Kashyapa Muni. 3. Say No to Envy: Kashyapa Muni knew that if he tells Diti openly that she should give up the idea of killing Indra, she will not be able to accept it whole-heartedly. Her heart will not be pacified. But it will become more agitated and she would try to sort for some other ways and means to harm Indra. So just like how an expert doctor administers sweet-coated medicine to his patients, here the first instruction he gives to Diti is as follows. SB 6.18.47 śrī-kaśyapa uvāca na hiṁsyād bhūta-jātāni na śapen nānṛtaṁ vadet na chindyān nakha-romāṇi na spṛśed yad amaṅgalam Kashyapa Muni said: My dear wife, to follow this vow, do not be violent or cause harm to anyone. Do not curse anyone, and do not speak lies. Do not cut your nails and hair, and do not touch impure things like skulls and bones. In the above verse hiṁsyāt means violence and śapet means to curse. We behave violently and harm others or curse them only when we are envious of them. In his wonderful purport to above verse Srila Prabhupada says, "Kashyapa Muni's first instruction to his wife was not to be envious. The general tendency of anyone within this material world is to be envious, and therefore, to become a Krishna conscious person, one must curb this tendency, as stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (paramo nirmatsarānām [SB 1.1.2]). A Krishna conscious person is always non-envious, whereas others are always envious. Thus Kashyapa Muni's instruction that his wife not be envious indicates that this is the first stage of advancement in Krishna consciousness.