SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 55
tat prāpya tad evāvalokayati tad eva śṛṇoti tad eva bhāṣayati tad eva cintayati

tat — it; prāpya — having obtained; tat — Him; eva — alone; avalokayati — one looks at; tat — Him; eva — alone; śṛṇoti — one hears about; tat — Him; eva — alone; bhāṣayati — one speaks about; tat — Him; eva — alone; cintayati — one thinks about.

TRANSLATION

Having obtained pure love of God, one looks only at the Lord, hears only about Him, speaks only of Him, and thinks only of Him.

JOURNAL:

Sri Satsvarupa das Goswami writes in his purport; This is samādhi, or trance, and whether one achieves it by the eightfold yoga system or by bhakti-yoga, it is the same. In the case of the bhakti-yogī, he is fixed in devotional service at all times, and whatever he sees contributes to his meditation on Kṛṣṇa. 

To help us understand pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the ācāryas give us examples of samādhi-like states, even in ordinary affairs. When a mother sees the shoes of her little child, she doesn't just perceive them as neutral objects: she feels protection and love for her child. Similarly, when a lover picks up his beloved's comb (especially if he is in separation from her) he may feel intense emotions of love. In the case of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is His energy. So wherever the bhakta goes or whatever he perceives throughout the universe, he is reminded of the Lord. Moreover, this recognition is not merely an intellectual habit but a total, overpowering state of love.

In his Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38), Lord Brahmā describes the devotional qualification for seeing Kṛṣṇa always and everywhere:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable, innumerable attributes, and whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."

In his purport, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī writes, "The eye of devotion is nothing but the eye of the pure unalloyed spiritual self of the jīva. The form of Kṛṣṇa is visible to that eye in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion."

What prevents most of us from seeing Kṛṣṇa with eyes of love? We have a "cataract" on our eyes that consists of our material attachments.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.10.2
tasyāpi bhagavān eṣa
sākṣād brahmamayo hariḥ
aḿśāḿśena caturdhāgāt
putratvaḿ prārthitaḥ suraiḥ
rāma-lakṣmaṇa-bharata-
śatrughnā iti saḿjñayā

tasya — of him, Mahārāja Daśaratha; api — also; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; eṣaḥ — all of them; sākṣāt — directly; brahma-mayaḥ — the Supreme Parabrahman, the Absolute Truth; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; aḿśa-aḿśena — by an expansion of a plenary portion; caturdhā — by fourfold expansions; agāt — accepted; putratvam — sonhood; prārthitaḥ — being prayed for; suraiḥ — by the demigods; rāma — Lord Rāmacandra; lakṣmaṇa — Lord Lakṣmaṇa; bharata — Lord Bharata; śatrughnāḥ — and Lord Śatrughna; iti — thus; saḿjñayā — by different names.

TRANSLATION

Being prayed for by the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth Himself, directly appeared with His expansion and expansions of the expansion. Their holy names were Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna. These celebrated incarnations thus appeared in four forms as the sons of Mahārāja Daśaratha.

PURPORT

Lord Rāmacandra and His brothers, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, are all viṣṇu-tattva, not jīva-tattva. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into many, many forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33]. Although they are one and the same, viṣṇu-tattva has many forms and incarnations. As confirmed in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.39), rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan. The Lord is situated in many forms, such as Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, and these forms may exist in any part of His creation. All these forms exist permanently, eternally, as individual Personalities of Godhead, and they resemble many candles, all equally powerful. Lord Rāmacandra, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, who, being viṣṇu-tattva, are all equally powerful, became the sons of Mahārāja Daśaratha in response to prayers by the demigods.

SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 4 Text 5
sri-bhagavan uvaca
bahuni me vyatitani
janmani tava carjuna
tany aham veda sarvani
na tvam vettha parantapa

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Personality of Godhead said; bahuni--many; me--of Mine; vyatitani--have passed; janmani--births; tava--of yours; ca--and also; arjuna--O Arjuna; tani--those; aham--I; veda--do know; sarvani--all; na--not; tvam--you; vettha--know; parantapa--O subduer of the enemy.

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada quotes these slokas from the Brahma-samhita in his purports:

I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person--absolute, infallible, without beginning. Although expanded into unlimited forms, He is still the same original, the oldest, and the person always appearing as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms of the Lord are usually understood by the best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to pure, unalloyed devotees. Brahma-samhita 5.33

I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rama, Nrsimha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Krsna, and who incarnates personally also. Brahma-samhita 5.39

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Śrī Brahma-saḿhitā 5.3
karnikāraḿ mahad yantraḿ
sat-konaḿ vajra-kīlakam
sad-ańga-sat-padī-sthānaḿ
prakrtyā purusena ca
premānanda-mahānanda-
rasenāvasthitaḿ hi yat
jyotī-rūpena manunā
kāma-bījena sańgatam

karnikāram — the whorl; mahat — great; yantram — figure; sat-koṇam — a hexagon; vajra — like a diamond; kīlakam — the central support; sat-ańga-sat-padī — of the eighteen-syllable mantra with sixfold divisions; sthānam — the place of manifestation; prakrtyā — along with the predominated aspect of the Absolute; purusena — along with the predominating aspect of the Absolute; ca — also; prema-ānanda — of the bliss of love of God; mahā-ānanda — of the great transcendental jubilations; rasena — with the rasa (mellow); avasthitam — situated; hi — certainly; yat — which; jyotih-rūpena — transcendental; manunā — with the mantra; kāma-bījena — with the kāma-bīja (klīḿ); sańgatam — joined.

TRANSLATION

The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krsna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krsna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with sixfold divisions.

SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 18 Text 65
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyamte
pratijane priyo 'si me

mat-manah--thinking of Me; bhava--just become; mat-bhaktah--My devotee; mat-yaji--My worshiper;mam--untoMe; namaskuru--offer your obeisances; mam--unto Me; eva--certainly; esyasi--you will come; satyam--truly; te--to you; pratijane--I promise; priyah--dear;asi--youare;me--to Me.

TRANSLATION

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada gives us specific instructions in his purport; These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon Krsna--the very form with two hands carrying a flute, the bluish boy with a beautiful face and peacock feathers in His hair. There are descriptions of Krsna found in the Brahma-samhita and other literatures. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Krsna. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiforms as Visnu, Narayana, Rama, Varaha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK
(from Krishna.com):

Sri Brahma Samhita, Text Four
tat-kinjalkam tad-amsanam
tat-patrani sriyam api










TRANSLATION

The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krishna. Its petals are the abodes of gopis who are part and parcel of Krishna to whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the gardenlike dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krishna.

JOURNAL:

As I said yesterday I have fallen behind on this blog. I will continue with Teachings of Queen Kunti next week after I have caught up on my reading.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK (from Krishna.com):

Sri Brahma Samita, Text 29
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-
lakshavriteshu surabhir abhipalayantam
lakshmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

TRANSLATION

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakshmis or gopis.