SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 9 Text 2
raja-vidya raja-guhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su-sukham kartum avyayam

raja-vidya--the king of education; raja-guhyam--the king of confidential knowledge; pavitram--the purest; idam--this; uttamam--transcendental; pratyaksa--by direct experience; avagamam--understood; dharmyam--the principle of religion; su-sukham--very happy; kartum--to execute; avyayam--everlasting.

TRANSLATION

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.

JOURNAL:

It looks like Yahoo has fixed their mail machine. And so, here we are, starting the ninth chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

There are two things that jump out at me in this sloka. The first is the phrase "direct perception". Srila Prabhupada in his purport writes; It is said that the execution of devotional service is so perfect that one can perceive the results directly. This direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical experience that any person who is chanting the holy names of Krsna (Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) in course of chanting without offenses feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination. This is actually seen. The method itself is so pure that by simply engaging in it one becomes pure.

The second is the phrase "joyfully performed". One should feel joyful when in contact with God. I know myself that the beginning of my japa can feel like a chore at times but after the first couple of rounds I almost always end up in a state of joyfulness, if not bliss itself.

These are my tests for any religious practice. 1) Do I receive enlightenment or feel spiritual progress? 2) Does it make me happy? If not, why am I wasting my time?