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:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 54
guṇa-rahitaḿ kāmanā-rahitaḿ pratikṣaṇa-vardhamānam avicchinnaḿ sūkṣma-taram anubhava-rūpam

guṇa — material qualities; rahitam — devoid of; kāmanā — material desire; rahitam — devoid of; prati-kṣaṇa — at every moment; var — dhamānam — increasing; avicchinnam — uninterrupted; sūkṣma-taram — most subtle; anubhava — consciousness; rūpam — as its form.

TRANSLATION

Pure love of God manifests as the most subtle consciousness, devoid of material qualities and material desires, increasing at every moment, and never interrupted.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 35-36
tat tu viṣaya-tyāgāt sańga-tyāgāc ca
avyāvṛtta-bhajanāt

tat — that; tu — and; viṣaya — of sense gratification; tyāgāt — by rejection; sańga — of (material) association; tyāgāt — by rejection; ca — and.
avyāvṛtta — uninterrupted; bhajanāt — by worship.

TRANSLATION

One achieves bhakti by giving up sense gratification and mundane association.
One achieves bhakti by worshiping the Lord ceaselessly.

SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 3 Text 6
karmendriyani samyamya
ya aste manasa smaran
indriyarthan vimudhatma
mithyacarah sa ucyate

karma-indriyani--the five working sense organs; samyamya--controlling; yah--anyone who; aste--remains; manasa--by the mind; smaran--thinking of; indriya-arthan--sense objects; vimudha--foolish; atma--soul; mithya-acarah--pretender; sah--he; ucyate--is called.

TRANSLATION

One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.

JOURNAL:

Enlightenment's supposed to come with the prayer, not before it. -J.D. Salinger - "Franny and Zooey".

Fake it 'till you make it. -An AA saying.

One achieves bhakti by hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord's special qualities, even while engaged in the ordinary activities of life in this world. -Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 37.

This sloka seems to be a warning to us who have begun our walk with the Lord. I am not a big fan of the AA saying but, if it keeps one "coming back", then it is good.

Let us not use God's mercy as an excuse for our behaviors!

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 19
nāradas tu tad-arpitākhilācāratā tad-vismarane parama-vyākulateti

nāradah — Nārada; tu — but; tat — to Him; arpita — offered; akhila — all; ācāratā — having one's activities; tat — Him; vismarane — in forgetting; parama — supreme; vyākulatā — distress; iti — so.

TRANSLATION

Nārada, however, says that bhakti consists of offering one's every act to the Supreme Lord and feeling extreme distress in forgetting Him.

PURPORT (first paragraph)

Nārada previously gave three definitions of bhakti, according to three sages: (1) fondness for worshiping the Lord in various ways, (2) fondness for hearing narrations by or about the Lord, and (3) removing all obstacles to enjoying pleasure in the Self. Now Nārada gives his own opinion, which does not contradict these views but is their culmination.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 1
athāto bhaktim vyākhyāsyāmah

atha — now; atah — therefore; bhaktim — devotional service; vyākhyāsyāmah — we shall try to explain.

TRANSLATION

Now, therefore, I will try to explain the process of devotional service.

PURPORT (first paragraph)

Devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that a self-realized person is always in the transcendental state known as brahma-bhūta, which is characterized by joyfulness. When one is self-realized he becomes joyful. In other words, he is free from the material contamination of lamentation and hankering. As long as we are in material existence, we lament for the losses in our life and hanker for that which we do not have. A self-realized person is joyful because he is free from material lamentation and hankering.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 43-44
duḥsańgaḿ sarvathaiva tyājyaḥ
kāma-krodha-moha-smṛti-bhraḿśa-buddhi-nāśa-sarva-nāśa-kāraṇatvāt

duḥsańgam — bad association; sarvathā — in all its aspects; eva — indeed; tyājyaḥ — to be given up.
kāma — of lust; krodha — anger; moha — bewilderment; smṛti-bhraḿśa — failure of memory; buddhi-nāśa — loss of intelligence; sarva-nāśa — and total loss; kāraṇatvāt — because of being the cause.

TRANSLATION

One should give up all kinds of degrading association. Material association is the cause of lust, anger, confusion, forgetfulness, loss of intelligence, and total calamity.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 78
ahiḿsā-satya-śauca-dayāstikyādi-cāritryāṇi paripālanīyāni

ahiḿsā — of nonviolence; satya — truthfulness; śauca — cleanliness; dayā — compassion; āstikya — faith; ādi — and so on; cāritryāṇi — the characteristics; paripālanīyāni — should be cultivated.

TRANSLATION

One should cultivate such good qualities as nonviolence, truthfulness, cleanliness, compassion, and faith.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 81
tri-satyasya bhaktir eva garīyasī bhaktir eva garīyasī

tri — in three ways (by his mind, body, and words); satyasya — for one who is truthful; bhaktiḥ — devotional service; eva — alone; garīyasī — most dear; bhaktiḥ — devotional service; eva — alone; garīyasī — most dear.

TRANSLATION

Devotional service is the most precious possession of a person who honestly uses his mind, body, and words.

JOURNAL:

On the side bar of this blog I have added a link to a siminar by His Grace Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu on the history of crisis in ISKCON. I found it very interesting and I hope you will too.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 27
īśvarasyāpy abhimāni-dvesitvād dainya-priyatvāc ca

īśvarasya — of the Supreme Lord; api — also; abhimāni — of those who are proud; dvesitvāt — because of being one who dislikes; dainya — of humility; priyatvāt — because of being fond; ca — and.

TRANSLATION

Furthermore, the Lord dislikes the proud but is pleased with the humble.

JOURNAL:

Learning not to be self-relient has been the great lession of my life this last year. Living on the road, sometimes in Christian missions and sometimes under bushes because I had no place to sleep, there were days when I woundered if God had turned His back to me. Yet through it all, when I have turned my face to Krishna and chanted His holy names while humbly waiting for Him to act, He has shown me His mercy and brought me through the trials that I have faced.

In the purport to this sloka it is stated; Nārada's statement here — that the Supreme Lord is pleased with the humble and displeased with the proud — does not mean Krsna is partial. Lord Krsna does not withhold His love from anyone; rather, it is we who withhold our love from Him out of pride and ignorance and thus become unqualified to experience His presence and reciprocate His love. The sun shines for the benefit of all living beings, but creatures like owls hide themselves from its rays.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 5
yat prāpya na kiñcid vāñchati na śocati na dvesti na ramate notsāhī bhavati

yat — which; prāpya — having attained; na kiñcit — nothing; vāñchati — hankers for; na śocati — does not lament; na dvesti — does not hate; na ramate — does not rejoice; na — not; utsāhī — materially enthusiastic; bhavati — becomes.

TRANSLATION

A person engaged in such pure devotional service neither desires anything for sense gratification, nor laments for any loss, nor hates anything, nor enjoys anything on his personal account, nor becomes very enthusiastic in material activity.

PURPORT (excerpts)

According to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, there are six impediments to the discharge of devotional service, and also six activities favorable to progress in devotional service.

The first impediment is atyāhāra, overeating or accumulating more wealth than we need. The next impediment Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions is prayāsa, endeavoring very hard for material things. The next impediment to devotional service is prajalpa, talking of mundane subject matter. Nor is a devotee very strict in following ritualistic rules and regulations mentioned in the Vedas. Becoming enamored of these rituals is the next impediment, called niyamāgraha. Finally, a devotee should not be greedy (laulyam), nor should he mix with ordinary materialistic men (jana-sańga).

These are six negatives, or "do-nots," for the devotee; therefore one who wants to attain the perfectional stage of love of Godhead refrains from these things. Similarly, there are six positive items for advancing in devotional service.

First, while one should not be enthusiastic to attain material achievements, one should be very enthusiastic to attain the perfectional stage of devotional service. This enthusiasm is called utsāha. The next item favorable for devotional service is niścaya, confidence. The devotee should patiently follow the rules and regulations of devotional service so that the day will come when he will achieve, all of a sudden, all the perfection of devotional service. He should not lament for any loss or any reverse in his advancement in spiritual life. This patience (dhairya) is the third positive item for advancing in devotional service.

The last two items are sanga-tyāga, giving up the association of nondevotees, and sato-vrtti, following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These practices greatly help the devotee remain fixed on the path of devotional service and avoid the tendency to enjoy temporary, material things. Thus the activities of a devotee remain always pure and without any contamination of the material world.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 51
anirvacanīyam prema-svarūpam

anirvacanīyam — beyond description; prema — of mature love of God; svarūpam — the essential identity.


TRANSLATION

The true nature of pure love of God is beyond description.

JOURNAL:

Satsvarupa das Goswami writes in his purport; Although prema-bhakti is beyond words, whatever can be conveyed by authorized devotees is appreciated by those who are sincere and faithful. Krsnadāsa Kavirāja says, "Just try to hear these topics with faith, for there is great pleasure even in hearing them. That hearing will destroy all miseries pertaining to the body, mind, and other living entities, and the unhappiness of false arguments as well." [Cc. Antya 19.110]

(In case you don't know, the edition of this scripture that I am working with is the offical ISKCON edition. Here is a quote from the introduction by Satsvarupa das Goswami; In 1967, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda translated and wrote purports for thirteen of the eighty-four aphorisms (Śrīla Prabhupāda called them "codes") of the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra. In 1989, at their annual meeting, the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness suggested that I complete the book.)

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 6
yaj jñātvā matto bhavati stabdho bhavaty ātmārāmo bhavati

yat — which; jñātvā — having known; mattah — intoxicated; bhavati — becomes; stabdhah — stunned (in ecstasy); bhavati — becomes; ātma-ārāmah — self-content (because of being engaged in the service of the Lord); bhavati — becomes.

TRANSLATION

One who understands perfectly the process of devotional service in love of Godhead becomes intoxicated in its discharge. Sometimes he becomes stunned in ecstasy and thus enjoys his whole self, being engaged in the service of the Supreme Self.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada, in his purport to this verse, points out a supporting verse given in the Srimad Bagavatam, 11.2.40;

evam-vratah sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaih
hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty
unmāda-van nrtyati loka-bāhyah

"A person engaged in the devotional service of the Lord in full Krsna consciousness automatically becomes carried away by ecstasy when he chants and hears the holy name of Krsna. His heart becomes slackened while chanting the holy name, he becomes almost like a madman, and he does not care for any outward social conventions. Thus sometimes he laughs, sometimes he weeps, sometimes he cries out very loudly, sometimes he sings, and sometimes he dances and forgets himself."

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 37
loke 'pi bhagavad-guṇa-śravaṇa-kīrtanāt

loke — in the world; api — even; bhagavat — of the Supreme Lord; guṇa — about the qualities; śravaṇa — by hearing; kīrtanāt — and chanting.

TRANSLATION

One achieves bhakti by hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord's special qualities, even while engaged in the ordinary activities of life in this world.

(Artist - Sajan prabhu)