Morning Class SB 6.16.48 – HH Devamrita Swami – 4 October 2022
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śatroḥ prāṇānilāḥ pañca
vayaṁ daśa jayo ’tra kaḥ
iti kopād ivātāmrāḥ
pāntu vo nṛharer nakhāḥ
“May the fingernails of Narahari (Nrisimha), who are assuming a reddish color and are thinking, ‘The enemy has only five life-airs while we are ten in number, so how can the enemy win against us?” protect you all!’ ” — (Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāram)
Shri Madhvacharya appeared in 1238 A.D. near Udupi, Karnataka in South India. He was considered an incarnation of Vayu (wind god). He had an unusually strong physique and extraordinary intellectual power.
Once a fierce Bengali tiger attacked Madhvacharya’s sannyasa disciple, Satya Tirtha. Madhvacharya wrestled the tiger and sent him away with his tail between his legs. Madhvacharya took diksha at age five, sannyasa at twelve and left home.
He appeared with a mission to fight and defeat Sankara’s Mayavada (impersonal) philosophy. By giving a pure interpretation of Vedanta-sutra he promoted pure theism. He named his innovative shastric explanation dvaita-dvaita-vada (pure dualism).
After Shankaracharya, who had previously toured India spreading impersonalism, Madhvacarya also traveled the length and breadth of India preaching personaltheism and devotion to Lord Vishnu. He defeated innumerable Jains, Buddhists, Mayavadis, atheists, logicians, and agnostics.
With a hope of meeting Shrila Vyasadeva himself Madhvacharya walked up the Himalayas. Vyasadeva gave him a Shalagrama sila called Ashtamurti, approved his Bhagavad-gita commentary, and blessed Madhvacharya with deeper realizations of the sastras.
In Udupi, Madhvacharya installed a beautiful Deity of Gopala standing alone holding a cowherding stick. This Deity manifested from within a chunk of gopi-candana (sacred clay). He established eight mathas (Temples) to lovingly serve “Udupi Krishna.” The sannyasi leaders of each matha worship the Krishna Deity with a rigorous regimen of ceremonial ritual, punctuality, and impec-cable personal conduct. Every Ekadashi they observe nirjala (total fast all food and water).
The Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya originates with the Madhvas. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers thoroughly studied Madhva’s works before compiling their philosophy. For the Sat Sandarbhas Shri Jiva Goswami drew heavily from Madhva’s writings. Jiva Goswami found ‘the Gaudiya philosophy of acintya-bheda-abheda tattva in Madhva’s Bhagavat-parya. Shri Chaitanya Himself visited Udupi, the seat of Madhva’s sect. The Lord introduced Hari Nama sankirtana into their sect.
The Madhvas and Gaudiyas share many of the same philosophical points. Both consider it necessary to surrender to the lotus feet of the guru (gurupadashraya). In Sutra Bhasya, Madhvacharya cites the Brihat Tantra and Mahasamhita to show that a disciple may reject a “bogus guru” who proves to be useless. He may then accept another qualified self-realized person as his guru.
In Prameya-ratnavalli, Shri Baladeva Vidyabhushana summarized the nine principles common to both Shri Chaitanya’s and Madhva’s teachings. In Vaishnava Siddhanta Mala, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered all Gaudiya Vaishnavas to carefully observe the nine instructions of truth given by Shri Madhavacharya through our guru parampara.
Shri Madhvacharya’s Nine Teachings
(1) Bhagavan Shri Krishna alone is the Supreme Absolute Truth, one without a second.
(2) He is the object of knowledge in all the Vedas.
(3) The universe is real, satya.
(4) The differences between Ishvara (God), Jiva (soul) and Matter are real.
(5) Jiva souls are by nature the servants of the Supreme Lord Hari.
(6) There are two categories of jivas; liberated and illusioned.
(7) Liberation (moksha) means attainmg the lotus feet of Bhagavan Krishna, in other words, entering an eternal relationship of service to the Supreme Lord.
(8) Pure devotional service to Krishna is the only way to attain this liberation.
(9) The truth may be known by pratyaksha (direct perception), anuman (inference or logic), sabda (spiritual sound or Vedic authority.
Shri Madhvacharya serves as Madhavi-gopi in Radha-Govinda’s eternal Vrindavana pleasure pastimes.
Madhva further enumerates the difference between dependent and independent reality as a fivefold division (pancha-bheda) between God, souls and material things. These differences are: (1) Between material things; (2) Between material thing and soul; (3) Between material thing and God; (4) Between souls; and (5) Between soul and God.
After stealing butter one day, Krsna allowed mother Yasoda to catch Him and bind Him to a grinding mortar. Thus by His own arrangement He was then ready to fulfill the words of His great devotee Narada Muni. Narada had cursed the two brothers Nalakuvara and Manigriva to become twin arjuna trees in Nanda Maharaja’s courtyard, but Narada had also promised that one day they would see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, face to face.
We are pleased to present a collection of new TOVP Dome and Chatri photos by our main photographer, Thakur Saranga das. We hope this will instill confidence and inspiration in devotees that we are progressing towards the Grand Opening of the TOVP in 2024.
Please consider this time to continue to support our construction by contributing to the TOVP 2024 Marathon or the Give To Nrsimha 2023 Fundraiser to open Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Hall in the Fall of 2023.
Please see full gallery.
Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQqFCRU5H1xJA5PV2hXKrA
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
Dear Worldwide ISKCON Devotees and Congregation,
Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
We would like to wish you a happy Kartik month full of divine service to Lord Damodar, and hope you and your family are well and in blissful Krishna conscious spirits. This time of the year is always greeted with great anticipation and excitement by devotees eager to chant the Damodarastakam and remember the pastimes of the Lord with Mother Yashoda.
One important lesson to learn from this pastime is that Krishna responds to desire and effort in His service. These two elements, desire and effort, are essential in devotional service and play a key role in our progress towards love of God, Krishna prema. And therefore, it’s no wonder that the Lord tests us to see the extent of our strength of purpose and resolve in this regard, and rewards us accordingly. Krishna wants our love so we can join Him in His eternal lilas in the spiritual world and be happy, but He doesn’t force us to express it; it must come from our own heart. His job is to find ways to draw it out of us more and more as part of His lila.
The same principle applies to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. How much do we desire to build this for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas, to fulfill their hearts’ desire to spread Krishna consciousness? The intensity of our desire and willingness to sacrifice must be there for it to manifest. And this pleases Krishna more than even the temple itself, just as Mother Yashoda’s sweat and tears pleased Lord Damodar more than being bound with the rope. Rather, He was bound by Mother Yashoda’s love, which overwhelmed Him.
We are making an appeal for help again to continue construction and open the TOVP on time in 2024, to relocate our beloved Mayapur Deities into Their long-awaited new home. This is the TOVP 2024 Marathon: “We run, you win!”. Our part is to run the marathon and build the temple on time, and your part is to help facilitate that, in which case you win; and we also win. Our slogan has always been, “The Temple Built by the Hands of Every Devotee.”
Our humble request to each and every one of you is to continue to support the TOVP. Some of you made pledges, but at some point stopped making payments. Some never even started their payments. Some have just a little ways to go to complete their pledges. And some of you have completed those pledges, for which we are grateful. Please re-evaluate your commitment to this project, strengthen and renew your level of enthusiasm, and show Lord Damodar that you really want this temple opened in 2024.
Please, kindly consider the above and go to the TOVP website: www.tovp.org during this auspicious Kartik time. You can begin or complete your pledges there or sponsor one of the many new options we have available for the TOVP 2024 Marathon. You can also sponsor a Nrsimha Brick to be placed under the Lord’s altar at the opening of the Nrsimha Wing in the Fall of 2023. Kartik is the best time for this kind of seva.
Thank you again and may the Lord bless you and your loved ones with unlimited mercy.
Your servants,
Ambarisa das
Braja Vilasa das
Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQqFCRU5H1xJA5PV2hXKrA
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
Dear Worldwide ISKCON Devotees and Congregation,
Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
We would like to wish you a happy Kartik month full of divine service to Lord Damodar, and hope you and your family are well and in blissful Krishna conscious spirits. This time of the year is always greeted with great anticipation and excitement by devotees eager to chant the Damodarastakam and remember the pastimes of the Lord with Mother Yashoda.
One important lesson to learn from this pastime is that Krishna responds to desire and effort in His service. These two elements, desire and effort, are essential in devotional service and play a key role in our progress towards love of God, Krishna prema. And therefore, it’s no wonder that the Lord tests us to see the extent of our strength of purpose and resolve in this regard, and rewards us accordingly. Krishna wants our love so we can join Him in His eternal lilas in the spiritual world and be happy, but He doesn’t force us to express it; it must come from our own heart. His job is to find ways to draw it out of us more and more as part of His lila.
The same principle applies to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. How much do we desire to build this for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas, to fulfill their hearts’ desire to spread Krishna consciousness? The intensity of our desire and willingness to sacrifice must be there for it to manifest. And this pleases Krishna more than even the temple itself, just as Mother Yashoda’s sweat and tears pleased Lord Damodar more than being bound with the rope. Rather, He was bound by Mother Yashoda’s love, which overwhelmed Him.
We are making an appeal for help again to continue construction and open the TOVP on time in 2024, to relocate our beloved Mayapur Deities into Their long-awaited new home. This is the TOVP 2024 Marathon: “We run, you win!”. Our part is to run the marathon and build the temple on time, and your part is to help facilitate that, in which case you win; and we also win. Our slogan has always been, “The Temple Built by the Hands of Every Devotee.”
Our humble request to each and every one of you is to continue to support the TOVP. Some of you made pledges, but at some point stopped making payments. Some never even started their payments. Some have just a little ways to go to complete their pledges. And some of you have completed those pledges, for which we are grateful. Please re-evaluate your commitment to this project, strengthen and renew your level of enthusiasm, and show Lord Damodar that you really want this temple opened in 2024.
Please, kindly consider the above and go to the TOVP website: www.tovp.org during this auspicious Kartik time. You can begin or complete your pledges there or sponsor one of the many new options we have available for the TOVP 2024 Marathon. You can also sponsor a Nrsimha Brick to be placed under the Lord’s altar at the opening of the Nrsimha Wing in the Fall of 2023. Kartik is the best time for this kind of seva.
Thank you again and may the Lord bless you and your loved ones with unlimited mercy.
Your servants,
Ambarisa das
Braja Vilasa das
Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQqFCRU5H1xJA5PV2hXKrA
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/
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