“Illuminations on bhakti“ is a series of short excerpts from Maharaja’s lectures, which bring inspiring points shedding light on our path of devotional service. They give valuable insights and practical guidance on how to advance in one’s practice and grow spiritually in developing our true nature, the nature of Krishna’s loving servants.
_om namo bhagavate narasimhaya namas tejas-tejase avir-avirbhava vajra-nakha vajra-damshtra karmashayan randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svaha abhayam abhayam atmani bhuyishtha om ksraum_ “I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrisimhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses…
The second of the seven benedictions of chanting the holy names of the Lord mentioned in the first verse of the _Siksastakam_ prayers is _bhava-maha-davagni_. _Davagni_ means forest fire, a blazing forest fire. Birth, death, disease, old age – miseries of the mind and body; miseries coming from other living…
Seven benedictions of chanting the holy names of the Lord are mentioned in the first verse of the _Siksastakam_ prayers. The first benediction is _ceto-darpana-marjanam_ – _ceto_ means mind; _darpana_ means mirror and _marjanam_ means to cleanse. So, the chanting of the Holy Name cleanses the…
There is a beautiful verse from the _Sri Caitanya-caritamrta_ (_Adi-lila_ 4.55): “The loving affairs of Sri Radha and Krishna are transcendental manifestations of the Lord's internal pleasure giving potency. Although Radha and Krishna are one in identity, They have separated Themselves eternally. Now, these two transcendental…
Srila Prabhupada described science as applying certain principals and getting a determined result. If you apply different principals, you get a different result. So Bhakti is the science of loving Krishna, taught by the spiritual master, according to time, place and candidate, following Vaisnava scripture. Krishna said something really interesting…
Everything material is easily, readily available, yet people are still suffering. Why? Because they don't have what they truly need - real knowledge. They're getting everything else. They're getting material facilities, they're getting material knowledge, they're getting opportunities to enjoy… still! People are suffering. I remember…
It is described in the 11th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that just before leaving the planet, Lord Sri Krishna gave personal instructions to Uddhava. Uddhava was a very very intimate and confidential servant of Lord Krishna. Sometimes it is said, his bhakti is almost - not quite - on the…
Every society is suffering. Sometimes we would see Srila Prabhupada show great emotions for the suffering of the conditioned souls. His heart would be in pain to see people suffer. That's a quality of great souls. They have love for Sri Krishna, therefore they have love for all living entities…
This material energy is compared to a vast ocean. No one can cross an ocean. But by the grace of the Supreme, through devotional service, that ocean becomes as small as a hoof print of a calf. Then one can easily walk over it. Otherwise, through one’s efforts alone it…
Material energy cannot give protection. Nothing in this material energy is stable. Only the spiritual energy can give protection because it is not under the influence of the changing three modes of material nature. So we need to connect to the spiritual energy. And what is the benefit of being…