Sati begs Shiva to Attend her Father’s Grand Ceremony
→ The Enquirer

This enmity between the father-in-law, Dakṣa, and son-in-law, Śiva, remained constant even after a great deal of time had passed. Meanwhile, Dakṣa became the foremost of all Brahmaṇas and the leader of all the Prajāpatī. He expressed his pride by conducting a Soma ceremony more opulently than even the Veda prescribes. As required, he then prepared to follow up the Soma ceremony with a grand offering to Bṛhaspati – thus exhibiting his ability to execute Vedic rituals at the highest standard.

All the sages of the philosophical Brahmaṇas and divine Devas began assembling to attend that ceremony, along with the ancestral Pitṛ and the Gods. They came in pairs, as husband and wife, beautifully dressed and decorated.

Dakṣa’s daughter, goddess Satī, overheard the sky-creatures gossiping about her father’s great ceremonial festival. Just then, a host of minor divinities passed nearby in their ships, looking beautiful with their impeccable wives all dressed to the hilt with fine necklaces, glittering earrings, and eagerly brilliant eyes.

“Beautiful Lord,” she eagerly said to her husband, the master of ghosts, “Your father-in-law, the Prajāpatī, is about to begin a great ceremonial festival! All the wise Gods are attending. Certainly we are also welcome. Wouldn’t you like to go?”

“Why should we go?” Śiva asked. “What purpose would it serve?”

“My fortunate sisters will surely be there with their husbands,” Satī replied. “I miss them and want to go there to see them again.”

“Certainly, you should go.” Śiva said.

“I want you to come with me,” Satī replied. “Everyone attends as a couple, dressed and decorated very nicely.”

“If you just want to get dressed up,” Śiva suggested humorously, “we can do that right here.”

“No, no,” Satī replied, “I want to see my sisters with their husbands. I want to see my loving aunts and mother. It has been such a long time. I really want to see them again, under the auspicious ceremonial flags raised by great sages.”

Śiva looked at her calmly and carefully.

“You may not understand how I feel,” she said, “because you are an enlightened being without a father and mother. You see everyone and everything in this world as an amazing manifestation of spiritual energy interacting with nature’s three qualities. I am a simple young girl who hasn’t realized such things. Oh Bhava, my heart aches to see my birth-family again, and to visit my old home.”

He continued to look at her, compassionately yet calmly.

“Unborn Lord,” she said, “just look at all these other women beautifully dressed with their lovers and friends, all headed to that great ceremony in ships that look like great, white swans! Oh best of Gods, how could a daughter like me not go to a festival at her father’s house?”

“But he has not invited you.” Śiva reminded her.

“He does not need to,” she explained. “Intimate friends and family, husbands and gurus do not need to be invited to enter one’s house.”

Śiva was still, wisely, unsure.

“Oh Immortal, you are kind and compassionate so please have mercy on my desires. You see everything perfectly and know that I am half of your own self, so please be affectionate towards my requests.”

– Bhāgavatam 4.3.1~14

Vraja Kishor das

www.VrajaKishor.com

shiva_and_sati_by_rogner5th-d6ppubi


Tagged: Bhagavata Purana, Sati, Shiva, Srimad Bhagavatam

ISKCON Scarborough- Home Worship Seminar – Friday- April 3rd 2015 – Confirmed
→ ISKCON Scarborough



Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

The Home Worship seminar at ISKCON Scarborough is confirmed to take place coming Friday from 7 pm to 9 pm.

There is no re-registration required and all devotees are welcome to attend.

Please pass this message to others who will benefit from knowing the correct way of worship as per the shastras.

There is no fee to attend this seminar, however any donation towards covering prabhu's flight costs will be welcomed and a tax receipt will be given.


ISKCON Scarborough

3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,
Scarborough,Ontario,
Canada,M1V4C7

Email Address:
iskconscarborough@hotmail.com

website:
www.iskconscarborough.com

Realisations Of A Group Member
→ Japa Group

I received a very nice realisation from a Japa Group Subscriber. I will share it with you here.

Most often while we chant we hear other voices of our thoughts. Sometimes these other voices can become overpowering and the voice of chanting can become like background voice.
I found raising one's volume of chanting helps. This is analogous to raising the volume of car music system to tune out traffic noise. I could now relate to the recommendation of the acharyas on how chanting aloud can dispel Maya.

The key is however to become conscious of background voices taking over and to raise the voice of chanting to counteract it.

Thanks
Your servant
Kishorinath Das

Documentary on the spectacular upsurge of visitors to Govardhan…
→ Dandavats.com



Documentary on the spectacular upsurge of visitors to Govardhan Hill
(3 min video)
This is a three-minute trailer to an upcoming feature-length documentary on the spectacular upsurge of visitors to Govardhan Hill, North India. For centuries, steady but modest numbers have kept to the practice of circumambulating the hill, which is regarded as the epicenter of Lord Krishna’s pastimes in ancient India? Today those numbers have suddenly soared to millions. Watching this in-depth presentation may find you joining a crowd of expectant pilgrims on the 21 KM trail around the hill. Be warned.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/7rA2Xb

Harinama in Prague (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: Muci…
→ Dandavats.com



Harinama in Prague (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Muci haya suci haya yadi krsna bhaje. It is said that even a cobbler or person born in the family of a cobbler can be elevated to the position of a brahmana (suci) if he takes to Krishna consciousness. Any person who is purely Krishna conscious and who engages in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the purest in the whole universe. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.12.37 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/MMd6NU

Ram Navami @ ISKCON, LUDHIANA Appearance Day of Lord Rama (Ram…
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Ram Navami @ ISKCON, LUDHIANA
Appearance Day of Lord Rama (Ram Navami) was celebrated at ISKCON Temple, Ludhiana with great enthusiasm and devotions. The festival starts at 6PM with ecstatic sankirtan by temple devotees. Very beautiful Phool Bangla was made in the temple. His Grace Narottamanand das, Temple President gave lecture on the past times of Lord RamChandra and said that Sri Ram Navami is dedicated to the memory of Lord Rama and this festival commemorates the birth of Lord Rama who is remembered for his prosperous and righteous reign.There was panchamrit Abhishek (Bathing) of Lord Ramcander by the temple devotees. Chhapan Bhog was offered to Their Lordship. A large number of congregations attend this grand festival. After aarti , full fasting prashadam was distributed to the people.

who do you serve?
→ everyday gita

Verse 4.38: In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.

The quest to figure out who were are and what we are meant to do is one that many have embarked on. Perhaps you are on this very quest yourself.

For some people, its a journey they've been on since childhood. For others it's one that they have embarked on later in life. Perhaps, like me, these questions started occupying your mind towards the end of high school when you felt pressured to choose a major in University.

The Gita provides the answer for all of us.

We are spiritual beings (having a material experience) and we are meant to serve.

The answer is so simple and elegant. Know what the best part is?

It is applicable to everyone regardless of gender, nature or culture.

Personally, I have always struggled with "what it is I'm meant to do". The Gita's answer that we are meant to serve is a powerful one for two reasons:

1. It isn't prescriptive. It takes into account that everyone has different natures and inclinations.

2. It indicates that consciousness behind an action is more important than the action itself.

When speaking about service, the Gita is defining it as a mood, intention and attitude. It's not the service we receive as part of a business transaction but rather the understanding that everything we do is in service of something or someone and is done with a particular intention/consciousness. Whether we realize it or not, the thing we serve most is often our own minds!

For this week's challenge, we invite you to stop once a day to ask the question "who am I serving?" before doing something. It's a powerful question and the answer might surprise you!

The Story of the Arrival of Our Deities!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

The presiding Deities of the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple are Sri Sri Radha Ksira-Chora Gopinatha (Radha Krishna), Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai and Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra.  Everything we do in our temple is a just a humble offering to the Lord and our Deities are the heart of our temple!  Below, you can find the latest pictures of our beautiful Deities, information about darshan times and even the stories about how our Deities arrived in Toronto!

We've recently updated the page on our website dedicated to our Deities and we've added stories about how our Deities arrived to our beautiful temple!  Check out our new "Our Deities" page by clicking here!

Canada Couple Try to Live Prabhupada’s “Simple Life” Gaura Nitai…
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Canada Couple Try to Live Prabhupada’s “Simple Life”
Gaura Nitai and Lala Gopi’s 100-acre “Govinda’s Farm” in King’s County, Eastern PEI overlooks the Northumberland Strait of Nova Scotia and includes a 140-year-old Victorian house, a barn and outbuildings. Today, the couple live in the house with their Gaura Nitai and Jagannath Deities and their 23-year-old son Rama, who moved back home to help out. “When we first came here, we paid cash for the land – we don’t take mortgages out,” says the likeably direct and plainspoken Lala Gopi. “After that, we only had $600 left to our name.”
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/QKhxR9