Weekly Sanga

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Chapter 21 - The Gopīs Attracted by the Flute With the arrival of the beautiful autumn season, the waters in the lakes and rivers became as clear as crystal and filled with fragrant lotus flowers, and breezes blew very pleasantly. At that time Kṛṣṇa entered the forest of Vṛndāvana with the cows and cowherd boys. Kṛṣṇa was very much pleased with the atmosphere of the forest, where flowers bloomed and bees and drones hummed very jubilantly. While the birds, trees and plants were all looking very happy, Kṛṣṇa, tending the cows and accompanied by Śrī Balarāma and the cowherd boys, began to vibrate His transcendental flute. After hearing the vibration of the flute of Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs in Vṛndāvana remembered Him and began to talk amongst themselves about how nicely Kṛṣṇa was playing His flute. When the gopīs were describing the sweet vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, they also remembered their pastimes with Him; thus their minds became disturbed, and they were unable to describe completely the beautiful vibration. While discussing the transcendental vibration, they remembered also how Kṛṣṇa dressed, decorated with a peacock feather on His head, just like a dancing actor, and with blue flowers pushed over His ear. His garment glowed yellow-gold, and He was garlanded with a Vaijayantī necklace. Dressed in such an attractive way, Kṛṣṇa filled up the holes of His flute with the nectar emanating from His lips. So they remembered Him, entering the forest of Vṛndāvana, which is always glorified by the footprints of Kṛṣṇa and His companions.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 505 śuna vipra bhāgavate ei vākhānibā bhakti vinā āra kichu mukhe nā ānibā   TRANSLATION “Listen, O brāhmaṇa, while teaching Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you should not explain anything other than devotional service.”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 467 dekhibāra yogyatā āchaye punaḥ tāna tabe kene na dekhilā kṛṣṇa se pramāṇa   TRANSLATION Although he had the qualification to see the Lord, only Kṛṣṇa knows why he was unable.

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Chapter 30 - Kṛṣṇa’s Hiding from the Gopīs In this way all the gopīs were madly feeling the absence of Kṛṣṇa. They inquired about Him from the trees and plants. In some places they found the imprints of the marks on the soles of His feet – namely the flag, the lotus flower, the trident, the thunderbolt, etc. After seeing those footprints, they exclaimed, “Oh, here is the impression of the marks on the soles of Kṛṣṇa’s feet! All the marks, such as the flag, the lotus flower, the trident and the thunderbolt, are distinctly visible here.” They began to follow the footprints, and shortly they saw another set of footprints beside them, and immediately they became very sorry. “Dear friends, just see! Whose are these other footprints? They are beside the footprints of the son of Mahārāja Nanda. It is certainly Kṛṣṇa passing through, resting His hand on some other gopī, exactly as an elephant goes side by side with his beloved mate. We must, therefore, understand that this particular gopī served Kṛṣṇa with greater affectionate love than ourselves. Because of this, although He has left us, He could not leave Her company. He has taken Her along with Him. Dear friends, just imagine how the dust of this place is transcendentally glorious. The dust of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is worshiped even by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī. But at the same time, we are very sorry that this particular gopī has gone along with Kṛṣṇa, for She is sharing the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s kisses and leaving us aside to lament. O friends, just see! At this particular spot we do not see the footprints of that gopī. It appears that because there were some pinpricks from the dried grass, Kṛṣṇa took Rādhārāṇī on His shoulder. Oh, She is so dear to Him! Kṛṣṇa must have picked some flowers in this spot to satisfy Rādhārāṇī, because here, where He stood erect to get the flowers from the high branches of the tree, we find only half the impression of His feet. Dear friends, just see how Kṛṣṇa must have sat down here with Rādhārāṇī and tried to set flowers in Her hair. You can be certain that both of Them sat together here.” Kṛṣṇa is self-sufficient: He has nothing to enjoy from any other source. Yet just to satisfy His devotee, He treated Rādhārāṇī exactly as a lusty boy treats his girlfriend. Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He always tolerates the disturbances created by His girlfriends.

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Chapter 29 - The Rāsa Dance: Introduction In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the rāsa dance took place on the full-moon night of the śarat season. From the statements of previous chapters, it appears that the festival of Govardhana-pūjā was performed just after the dark-moon night of the month of Kārttika, and thereafter the ceremony of Bhrātṛ-dvitīyā was performed; then the wrath of Indra was exhibited in the shape of torrents of rain and hailstones, and Lord Kṛṣṇa held up Govardhana Hill for seven days, until the ninth day of the moon. Thereafter, on the tenth day, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were talking amongst themselves about the wonderful activities of Kṛṣṇa, and the next day Ekādaśī was observed by Nanda Mahārāja. On the next day, Dvādaśī, Nanda Mahārāja went to take a bath in the Ganges and was arrested by one of the men of Varuṇa; then he was released by Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then Nanda Mahārāja, along with the cowherd men, was shown the spiritual sky.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 464 viprere karite prabhu tattva-upadeśa kṣaṇeke paṇḍiṭa devānandera praveśa   TRANSLATION As the Lord was instructing the brāhmaṇa in spiritual knowledge, Devānanda Paṇḍiṭa arrived there.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Texts 446 ei prabhu sei pāpa-karma saṅarite anukṣaṇa citta mora dahe sarva-mate   TRANSLATION “O Lord, when I now remember those sinful activities my heart constantly burns with repentance.”

In addition to today's class, Dhanurdhara Swami speaks on the passing of his mother, Doris Winiker. Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 434 ye prabhu dekhite sarva deve kāmya kare se prabhu nācaye sarva-gaṇera gocare   TRANSLATION All the demigods desire to see the Lord who was now dancing before the eyes of one and all.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Texts 418-419 brahmaloka-śivaloka-ādi yata loka ye sukhera kaṇā-leśe sabei aśoka yogīndra munīndra matta ye sukhera leśe pṛthivīte kṛṣṇa prakāśila nyāsi-veśe   TRANSLATION Even a particle of the happiness distributed in this world by Kṛṣṇa in the dress of a sannyāsi freed the inhabitants of planets headed by Brahmaloka and Śivaloka from all distress and intoxicated even the best of the yogīs and sages.

Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami is joined by His Grace Brahma Tirtha Prabhu as they share their realizations and remembrances of Śrīla Prabhupāda on his Vyāsa-pūjā.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 3 Texts 1-5 śrī-śuka uvāca atha sarva-guṇopetaḥ kālaḥ parama-śobhanaḥ yarhy evājana-janmarkṣaṁ śāntarkṣa-graha-tārakam diśaḥ prasedur gaganaṁ nirmaloḍu-gaṇodayam mahī maṅgala-bhūyiṣṭha- pura-grāma-vrajākarā nadyaḥ prasanna-salilā hradā jalaruha-śriyaḥ dvijāli-kula-sannāda- stavakā vana-rājayaḥ vavau vāyuḥ sukha-sparśaḥ puṇya-gandhavahaḥ śuciḥ agnayaś ca dvijātīnāṁ śāntās tatra samindhata manāṁsy āsan prasannāni sādhūnām asura-druhām jāyamāne ’jane tasmin nedur dundubhayaḥ samam   TRANSLATION Thereafter, at the auspicious time for the appearance of the Lord, the entire universe was surcharged with all the qualities of goodness, beauty and peace. The constellation Rohiṇī appeared, as did stars like Aśvinī. The sun, the moon and the other stars and planets were very peaceful. All directions appeared extremely pleasing, and the beautiful stars twinkled in the cloudless sky. Decorated with towns, villages, mines and pasturing grounds, the earth seemed all-auspicious. The rivers flowed with clear water, and the lakes and vast reservoirs, full of lilies and lotuses, were extraordinarily beautiful. In the trees and green plants, full of flowers and leaves, pleasing to the eyes, birds like cuckoos and swarms of bees began chanting with sweet voices for the sake of the demigods. A pure breeze began to blow, pleasing the sense of touch and bearing the aroma of flowers, and when the brāhmaṇas engaging in ritualistic ceremonies ignited their fires according to Vedic principles, the fires burned steadily, undisturbed by the breeze. Thus when the birthless Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was about to appear, the saints and brāhmaṇas, who had always been disturbed by demons like Kaṁsa and his men, felt peace within the core of their hearts, and kettledrums simultaneously vibrated from the upper planetary system.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 45 tamyāṁ tamovan naihāraṁ khadyotārcir ivāhani mahatītara-māyaiśyaṁ nihanty ātmani yuñjataḥ   TRANSLATION As the darkness of snow on a dark night and the light of a glowworm in the light of day have no value, the mystic power of an inferior person who tries to use it against a person of great power is unable to accomplish anything; instead, the power of that inferior person is diminished.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 403 viśārada-caraṇe āmāra namaskāra sārvabhauma vācaspati nandana yāṅhara   TRANSLATION I offer my humble obeisances at the feet of Viśārada, who had Sārvabhauma and Vācaspati as his sons.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 13 Text 35 vrajasya rāmaḥ premardher vīkṣyautkaṇṭhyam anukṣaṇam mukta-staneṣv apatyeṣv apy ahetu-vid acintayat   TRANSLATION Because of an increase of affection, the cows had constant attachment even to those calves that were grown up and had stopped sucking milk from their mothers. When Baladeva saw this attachment, He was unable to understand the reason for it, and thus He began to consider as follows.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa Chapter 3 Text 393 anata arbuda loka kare hari-dhvani bāhira nā haya gupte āche nyāsi-maṇi   TRANSLATION Unlimited millions of people chanted the name of Hari, yet the crest jewel of sannyāsīs stayed hidden and did not come out.