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Sukracarya was rejected by Bali maharaja, as he did not give him the highest teachings of Full Surrender to Lord. At the same time Sukracarya has merits of his own:
a. Lord Vamana respects Sukracarya and asks him ‘What was the fault in Bali in his sacrifice?’ Lord is giving darshan to him and asking him is not ordinary… (SB-8.23.14)
b. Sukracarya seems to be aware about the glory of the lord. As he says – “if your holy name is chanted then all deficiences are made complete”. (SB-8.23.16)
c. He obeys the order of the Lord and makes for the deficiency in the sacrifice of Bali. (SB-8.23.16-17)
d. It seems that the wrong advise and the curse which Sukracarya gave to Bali was personally inspired by the lord and it was the plan of the lord to show the glory of Bali’s surrender and to show on him his special mercy. (SB-8.20.14) (SP also says in purport that Sukracarya was not inspired by the lord for devotional service…)
In the pastime of Bali mahraja, it is very clearly visible how he is showing full surrender to Krishna, how he is feeling lowly, how he is glorifying the lord for his mercy etc. One thing however seems to be quite strange… In SB-8.22.2 and 3 when Bali maharaja is asking Lord to place his lotus feet on his head, he is giving reason that Bali is ‘fearful of defamation’ or ‘he can not allow his promise to go false’. According to the teachings of our acaryas a vaisnava simply acts as a puppet in the hands of the lord; he does not fear his own defamation (ex. Bhisma, Gopis, brahmana patnis).
“There were two factors that combined to allow Mother Yasoda to bind Lord Krishna: one was her hard labor, and the other was Krishna’s mercy. The acharyas explain that when these two elements combine — the devotee’s hard labor and Krishna’s mercy — Krishna allows Himself to be bound by His devotee.”
In Dallas devotees are distributing full sets of Srila Prabhupada’s books and installing them in people’s homes with a ceremony that includes chanting mantras and offering flowers (puspanjali). On October 10, I was fortunate to participate in the installation in the new house of Sarvajaya Madhava dasa and his family, and I spoke on the following verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.40):
idam bhagavatam nama
puranam brahma-sammitam
uttama-sloka-caritam
cakara bhagavan rsih
nihsreyasaya lokasya
dhanyam svasty-ayanam mahat
“This scripture named Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful, and all-perfect.”
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains, “Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna and is therefore nondifferent from Him. Srimad-Bhagavatam should be worshiped as respectfully as we worship the Lord. Thereby we can derive the ultimate blessings of the Lord through its careful and patient study. As God is all light, all bliss, and all perfection, so also is Srimad-Bhagavatam. We can have all the transcendental light of the Supreme Brahman, Sri Krsna, from the recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam, provided it is received through the medium of the transparent spiritual master. Lord Caitanya’s private secretary Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami advised all intending visitors who came to see the Lord at Puri to make a study of the Bhagavatam from the person Bhagavatam. Person Bhagavatam is the self-realized bona fide spiritual master, and through him only can one understand the lessons of Bhagavatam in order to receive the desired result. One can derive from the study of the Bhagavatam all benefits that are possible to be derived from the personal presence of the Lord. It carries with it all the transcendental blessings of Lord Sri Krsna that we can expect from His personal contact.”
The blessings that one gets from the book Bhagavatam when received through the person Bhagavatam — Srila Prabhupada — can be compared only with Bhagavan Sri Krishna Himself. And so we worship the complete set of Srila Prabhupada’s books as we worship the Supreme Lord and His bona fide pure devotees.
Hare Krishna.
Your servant,
Giriraj Swami
Here is the fifth in the series of Kartik pieces. This one is about Vraja Mandala Parikrama, a barefoot, 128-mile pilgrimage walk around the sacred sites of Lord Krishna’s activities in northern India.
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday we took 21 boats down the Yamuna river to the asrama of Durvasa Muni. Under a gigantic banyan tree that gives shade to that great sage's dwelling we discussed his pastimes and had bhajan for many hours. Our parikrama seems to get sweeter day by day. Read more › 
Instead of actively taking part in politics, saintly persons should engage in the chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. By the grace of Lord Caitanya, by simply chanting this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the general populace can derive all benefits without political implications.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.14.12 Purport) Read more › 
ISKCON has seen considerable global expansion since its birth in 1966. To ensure that as ISKCON grows, its organizational systems and process remain relevant to a growing ISKCON, the Organizational Development Committee was established and mandated to thoroughly review ISKCON’s current leadership model.
The post Kartik in Mayapur appeared first on Mayapur.com.
We happily welcome this most miraculous month of Kartik! As was announced by HG Radha Jivana Prabhu, the TOVP fundraising team prepared lamps for offering to the Lord on behalf of the Golden Brick donors.
We made list with around 700 donor’s names and are expecting this to increase. Our two cheerful sisters, Mitra Vrinda Devi Dasi and Nirguna Devi Dasi, who restlessly accept and fix all donations according to required legal procedure, both said simultaneously in a lively mood, “Along with ‘Damodarashtaka’ we will chant ‘Donors Sahasra Nama’”.
Devotees explain that by offering lamps to the Lord, this means that we offer our eager desire for devotional service, which is the only thing that can conquer Krishna. So we offered lamps on behalf of our Golden donors first to Sri Sri Radha-Damodar, then to Sri Sri Radha-Mahhava and Ashta-sakhis, Lord Nrisimhadev, Sri Pancha-tattva, Tulasi Devi and finally to Srila Prabhupada. We have a sincere hope that all of Them will give us a rope of love, by which we tie Krishna in our hearts.
The post Kartik Offering appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
It is the practice of brahmanas conversant with the science to pronounce a Vedic mantra in the right accent. But even if the Hare Krishna mantra is not chanted properly, it still has so much potency that the chanter gains the effect. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.13.27 Purport) Read more › When it is perfection that is being pursued, there is nothing that can deter your success. There isn’t a dearth of corroborative examples and the following account is surely one such. As a representative of the team, Vilasini devi dasi, the Head Architect for ToVP arrived at Shanghai on 18th September. The purpose of this […]
The post In serach of the perfect metal appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Dear Devotees, Greetings from Sri Dhama Mayapur. The auspicious Kartika month is soon approaching, a favorite month of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas when we are always trying to do extra seva to make advancement and receive the mercy of the Lord. During this month devotional service is enhanced a thousand-fold and brings the devotee immense spiritual […]
The post Kartik for the ToVP appeared first on Mayapur.com.
GBC succession, GBC Educational Development College and praying for H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja’s health.
The post Organizational Development Meetings in Tirupati appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.