Srimad Bhavagavatham Class By HH HariVilas Maharaj

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.11

1. The Vedic hymns are generally meant for sacrifices performed by fruitive workers who also want to satisfy the demigods to achieve their fruitive result. 
2. But the Lord is the personified sacrifices and personified Vedic hymns. Therefore one who is directly a devotee of the Lord is a person who has automatically both served the purposes of sacrifices and pleased the demigods.
3. Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.
4. The Personality of Godhead cannot be understood simply by study of the Vedānta literature. Only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord can the Personality of the Supreme be known
5.  Impersonalists, therefore, not knowing the Supreme Truth, think Kṛṣṇa to be only the son of Devakī and Vasudeva, or a prince, or a powerful living entity.
6. “Only the fools regard Me as an ordinary person.” The fact is that no one can understand Kṛṣṇa without rendering devotional service and without developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
7. Non devotee impersonalists think that Kṛṣṇa has a body made of this material nature and that all His activities, His form and everything are māyā. These impersonalists are known as Māyāvādīs. They do not know the ultimate truth.
8. Modern demons think that there was no life in the beginning of creation, but from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we understand that the first living creature created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead was Lord Brahmā, who is full of Vedic understanding.
9. Whenever the Lord appears, whether as a fish, a tortoise, a hog or any other form, one should understand that He maintains His transcendental position and that His only business, as stated here, is hatvā — to kill the demons. 
10. The Lord appears in order to protect the devotees and kill the demons (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām). Since the demons are always ready to oppose Vedic civilization, they are sure to be killed by the transcendental form of the Lord.
11. As the Lord appeared just to maintain Lord Brahmā from the attack of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, He also appeared to protect the great devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja. Similarly, Lord Caitanya appeared in order to protect the fallen souls of Kali-yuga.
12.  The entire Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on the principles of the saṅkīrtana movement inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. 
13. Therefore one who tries to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of the saṅkīrtana movement knows everything perfectly. He is sumedhas, a person with substantial intelligence.
14. To cleanse the heart so that one may become sober and wise in this Age of Kali, there is no value to any method other than the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
15. Prahlāda further confirms that if one’s mind is always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa, that very qualification will purify one and keep one purified always.

SB 2.7.11

The Lord appeared as the Hayagrīva incarnation in a sacrifice performed by me [Brahmā]. He is the personified sacrifices, and the hue of His body is golden. He is the personified Vedas as well, and the Supersoul of all demigods. When He breathed, all the sweet sounds of the Vedic hymns came out of His nostrils.

The Vedic hymns are generally meant for sacrifices performed by fruitive workers who also want to satisfy the demigods to achieve their fruitive result. But the Lord is the personified sacrifices and personified Vedic hymns. Therefore one who is directly a devotee of the Lord is a person who has automatically both served the purposes of sacrifices and pleased the demigods. The devotees of the Lord may not perform any sacrifice or may not please the demigods as per Vedic injunctions, and still the devotees are on a higher level than the fruitive workers or the worshipers of different demigods.

This amazing appearance of Hayagriva incarnation of the lord is very significant for the devotees. We understand the greatness of the lord and how a mundane person cannot understand anything about Krsna. The supreme lord has such powers and incarnations of himself of such variety. The mayavadis are cancelling the lord and trying to make lord as an ordinary person like us. 

BG 7.24, BG 9.11

BG 7.24 

avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ

manyante mām abuddhayaḥ

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto

mamāvyayam anuttamam

Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.

Unintelligent men – mayavadis and devotees of the demigods

Those who are worshipers of demigods have been described as less intelligent persons, and here the impersonalists are similarly described. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His personal form is here speaking before Arjuna, and still, due to ignorance, impersonalists argue that the Supreme Lord ultimately has no form. Yāmunācārya, a great devotee of the Lord in the disciplic succession of Rāmānujācārya, has written a very appropriate verse in this connection. He says,

“My dear Lord, devotees like Vyāsadeva and Nārada know You to be the Personality of Godhead. By understanding different Vedic literatures, one can come to know Your characteristics, Your form and Your activities, and one can thus understand that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, the demons, the nondevotees, cannot understand You. They are unable to understand You. However expert such nondevotees may be in discussing Vedānta and the Upaniṣads and other Vedic literatures, it is not possible for them to understand the Personality of Godhead.” (Stotra-ratna 12)

Incredible amount of cancellation that Mayavadis are doing. They are cancelling Krsna as the supreme personality of God who is the source of all expansions and all incarnations. Absolute truth is not a person and is an impersonal light. They canclled all incarnations calling them human forms and illusion. They cancelled BG  by giving speculative interpretations and theories.. We might give them a lil credit but they have no credit at all.. They are the worst sinners by blaspheming Him 

In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that the Personality of Godhead cannot be understood simply by study of the Vedānta literature. Only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord can the Personality of the Supreme be known. Therefore in this verse it is clearly stated that not only are the worshipers of the demigods less intelligent, but those nondevotees who are engaged in Vedānta and speculation on Vedic literature without any tinge of true Kṛṣṇa consciousness are also less intelligent, and for them it is not possible to understand God’s personal nature. Persons who are under the impression that the Absolute Truth is impersonal are described as abuddhayaḥ, which means those who do not know the ultimate feature of the Absolute Truth. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 1.2.11)  it is stated that supreme realization begins from the impersonal Brahman and then rises to the localized Supersoul – but the ultimate word in the Absolute Truth is the Personality of Godhead.

SB 1.2.11- Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.

The Absolute Truth is both subject and object, and there is no qualitative difference there. Therefore, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān are qualitatively one and the same. The same substance is realized as impersonal Brahman by the students of the Upaniṣads, as localized Paramātmā by the Hiraṇyagarbhas or the yogīs, and as Bhagavān by the devotees. In other words, Bhagavān, or the Personality of Godhead, is the last word of the Absolute Truth.

As it is explained in the first śloka of the First Chapter of the Bhāgavatam, the Supreme Truth is self-sufficient, cognizant and free from the illusion of relativity. In the relative world the knower is different from the known, but in the Absolute Truth both the knower and the known are one and the same thing. In the relative world the knower is the living spirit or superior energy, whereas the known is inert matter or inferior energy. Therefore, there is a duality of inferior and superior energy, whereas in the absolute realm both the knower and the known are of the same superior energy. There are three kinds of energies of the supreme energetic. There is no difference between the energy and energetic, but there is a difference of quality of energies. The absolute realm and the living entities are of the same superior energy, but the material world is inferior energy. The living being in contact with the inferior energy is illusioned, thinking he belongs to the inferior energy. Therefore there is the sense of relativity in the material world. In the Absolute there is no such sense of difference between the knower and the known, and therefore everything there is absolute.

Krsna is the subject and the object… He is the origin and he is all pervading as paramatma.. It takes time to understand purports like this.. First time, second time, third time a little bit.. As jivas are limited, we are trying to understand simultaneously one and different… But we can get a general understanding.. In the absolute world everything is Krsna and everything is emanating from Krsna and everything exists in Krsna.. This is incomprehensible for people. Mayavadis say this is all illusion and everything for them is relative. For devotees everything is absolute.. 

Difference in the quality of energies – Material energy is sometimes manifest and sometimes not.. Spiritual energy is always manifest…

When soul takes birth their soul is covered by body they think they are body.. From that point everything is relative for them…matter is relative and not absolute and it depends on Krsna.. 

Modern impersonalists are still less intelligent, for they do not even follow their great predecessor Śaṅkarācārya, who has specifically stated that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonalists, therefore, not knowing the Supreme Truth, think Kṛṣṇa to be only the son of Devakī and Vasudeva, or a prince, or a powerful living entity. This is also condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11). Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: “Only the fools regard Me as an ordinary person.”

The fact is that no one can understand Kṛṣṇa without rendering devotional service and without developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Bhāgavatam (10.14.29) confirms this:

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-

prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi

jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno

na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan

“My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.” One cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or His form, quality or name simply by mental speculation or by discussing Vedic literature. One must understand Him by devotional service. When one is fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, beginning by chanting the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare – then only can one understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nondevotee impersonalists think that Kṛṣṇa has a body made of this material nature and that all His activities, His form and everything are māyā. These impersonalists are known as Māyāvādīs. They do not know the ultimate truth.

BG 9.11

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.

We see how thoroughly SP is defeating the mayavadi philosophy.. He is showcasing the lack of knowledge of mayavadis who cancelled everything except BJ. Why is that they cannot understand.. Because their goal is BJ and it is a place where there is no DS and therefore they are condemned to take birth over and over again and they do not understand who Krsna and BG gives that information and they misinterpret it… 

HAYAGRIVA is very interesting incarnation of the lord.. 

SB 7.9.37 

My dear Lord, when You appeared as Hayagrīva, with the head of a horse, You killed two demons known as Madhu and Kaiṭabha, who were full of the modes of passion and ignorance. Then You delivered the Vedic knowledge to Lord Brahmā. For this reason, all the great saints accept Your forms as transcendental, untinged by material qualities.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His transcendental form is always ready to give protection to His devotees. As mentioned herein, the Lord in the form of Hayagrīva killed two demons named Madhu and Kaiṭabha when they attacked Lord Brahmā. Modern demons think that there was no life in the beginning of creation, but from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we understand that the first living creature created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead was Lord Brahmā, who is full of Vedic understanding. Unfortunately, those entrusted with distributing Vedic knowledge, such as the devotees engaged in spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, may sometimes be attacked by demons, but they must rest assured that demoniac attacks will not be able to harm them, for the Lord is always prepared to give them protection. The Vedas provide the knowledge by which we can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). The devotees of the Lord are always ready to spread knowledge by which one may understand the Lord through Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but the demons, being unable to understand the Supreme Lord, are full of ignorance and passion. Thus the Lord, whose form is transcendental, is always ready to kill the demons. By culturing the mode of goodness, one can understand the position of the transcendental Lord and how the Lord is always prepared to remove all obstacles on the path of understanding Him.

In summary, whenever the Lord incarnates, He appears in His original transcendental form. As the Lord says in

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.” It is simply foolish to think of the Lord as being originally impersonal but accepting a material body when He appears as a personal incarnation. Whenever the Lord appears, He appears in His original transcendental form, which is spiritual and blissful. But unintelligent men, such as the Māyāvādīs, cannot understand the transcendental form of the Lord, and therefore the Lord chastises them by saying, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: “Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form.” Whenever the Lord appears, whether as a fish, a tortoise, a hog or any other form, one should understand that He maintains His transcendental position and that His only business, as stated here, is hatvā — to kill the demons. The Lord appears in order to protect the devotees and kill the demons (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām). Since the demons are always ready to oppose Vedic civilization, they are sure to be killed by the transcendental form of the Lord.

                We have to have full faith in this principle that lord will promises to protect his devotee.. Therefore the devotee can engage in DS without fear and anxiety.. Many people have post traumatic syndrome.. Something happened in their life and they have fear and axieyty.. Cant sleep.. They do not know that Krsna is promising to protect..and their future is certain and not uncertain.. If you chant sincerely without offenses you wiil be protected,.        

SB 7.9.8 

In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the Age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.                                         

As the Lord appeared just to maintain Lord Brahmā from the attack of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, He also appeared to protect the great devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja. Similarly, Lord Caitanya appeared in order to protect the fallen souls of Kali-yuga. There are four yugas, or millenniums — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali. In all the yugas but Kali-yuga, the Lord appears in various incarnations and asserts Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but although Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who appears in Kali-yuga, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He never asserted Himself as such. On the contrary, whenever Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was addressed as being as good as Kṛṣṇa, He blocked His ears with His hands, denying His identity with Kṛṣṇa, because He was playing the part of a devotee. Lord Caitanya knew that in Kali-yuga there would be many bogus incarnations pretending to be God, and therefore He avoided asserting Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, in many Vedic literatures, especially in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32):

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ

In Kali-yuga, intelligent men worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is always accompanied by His associates such as Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa. The entire Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on the principles of the saṅkīrtana movement inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore one who tries to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of the saṅkīrtana movement knows everything perfectly. He is sumedhas, a person with substantial intelligence.

SB 7.9.9

My dear Lord of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, where there is no anxiety, my mind is extremely sinful and lusty, being sometimes so-called happy and sometimes so-called distressed. My mind is full of lamentation and fear, and it always seeks more and more money. Thus it has become most polluted and is never satisfied in topics concerning You. I am therefore most fallen and poor. In such a status of life, how shall I be able to discuss Your activities?   

Here Prahlāda Mahārāja represents himself as a common man, although he actually has nothing to do with this material world. Prahlāda is always situated in the Vaikuṇṭha planets of the spiritual world, but on behalf of the fallen souls he asks how, when his mind is always disturbed by material things, he can discuss the transcendental position of the Lord. The mind becomes sinful because we are always engaged in sinful activities. Anything not connected with Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be understood to be sinful. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa demands in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66):

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” As soon as one surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa immediately relieves one of the reactions of sinful activities. Therefore one who is not surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord should be understood to be sinful, foolish, degraded among men and bereft of all real knowledge because of atheistic propensities. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.15):

Therefore, especially in this Age of Kali, the mind must be cleansed, and this is possible only by the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. In this age, the process of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the only method by which to cleanse the sinful mind. When the mind is completely cleansed of all sinful reactions, one can then understand his duty in the human form of life. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant to educate sinful men so that they may become pious simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.    

To cleanse the heart so that one may become sober and wise in this Age of Kali, there is no value to any method other than the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Prahlāda Mahārāja has confirmed this process in previous verses. Tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ. Prahlāda further confirms that if one’s mind is always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa, that very qualification will purify one and keep one purified always. To understand the Lord and His activities, one must free his mind from all contamination of the material world, and this one can achieve by simply chanting the Lord’s holy name. Thus one becomes free from all material bondage.

Even the devotees who are chanting are in anxiety and fear of things. Why? They are in anxiety because they do not come to class. We have to hear this everyday.. Our disease is forgetfulness. They have mental problems.. They get confused when they have difficulty.. that is why we get tested..severely… Haridas thakur was tested by a prostitute, maya devi.. The test gets more and more severe as you advance.. Nobody can advance  to the spiritual realm unless they are completely purified.. He was alone injured in Vrindavan.. He almost died several times.. Those are severe tests.. Heart attacks.. He was tested very severely. That is an acharya test.. But devotees have complete faith in Krsna.. In the same way He will save us, we have to have faith..  our faith will also be tested…   we should not be afraid we are coming closer to Krsna..   Materialistic people do not want to hear all this..   That you need to give up everything and give to the temple.. They are condemned because they are not hearing it.. They are condemned…This material world is a more severe, more severe, most severe place of tests and The only way to pass those tests is to hear..       

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.10

1. Out of many types of mystic performances for self-realization, the process of jaḍa-yoga is also one accepted by authorities. 
2. This jaḍa-yoga involves practicing becoming like a dumb stone and not being affected by material reactions.
3. At the last stage of his life, Emperor Ṛṣabhadeva wandered like a dumb madman, unaffected by all kinds of bodily mistreatment. Seeing him like a madman, wandering naked with long hair and a long beard, less intelligent children and men in the street used to spit on him and urinate on his body.
4. He used to lie in his own stool and never move. But the stool of his body was fragrant like the smell of fragrant flowers, and a saintly person would recognize him as a paramahaṁsa, one in the highest state of human perfection. One who is not able to make his stool fragrant should not, however, imitate Emperor Ṛṣabhadeva. a
5. The practice of jaḍa-yoga was possible for Ṛṣabhadeva and others on the same level of perfection, but such an uncommon practice is impossible for an ordinary man.
6. The real purpose of jaḍa-yoga, is praśānta-karaṇaḥ, or subduing the senses. 
7. The whole process of yoga, under whatever heading it may be, is to control the unbridled material senses and thus prepare oneself for self-realization. 
8. In this age specifically, this jaḍa-yoga cannot be of any practical value, but on the other hand the practice of bhakti-yoga is feasible because it is just suitable for this age. 
9. The simple method of hearing from the right source, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, will lead one to the highest perfectional stage of yoga.
10. One who is not self-controlled and whose mind is not undisturbed cannot practice meditation. 
11. Therefore, in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa it is said that in Kali-yuga when people in general are short-lived, slow in spiritual realization and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy name of the Lord.
12. One who has no program to realize this viṣṇu-mūrti is uselessly engaged in mock yoga practice and is certainly wasting his time. 
13. Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life, and the viṣṇu-mūrti situated in one’s heart is the object of yoga practice. To realize this viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart, one has to observe complete abstinence from sex life;
14. No one can perform correct yoga practice through sex indulgence. No one can make advancement in any yoga, whether it be dhyāna, jñāna or bhakti without abstaining from sex.
15. In the bhakti school, a householder brahmacārī is allowed controlled sex life because the cult of bhakti-yoga is so powerful that one automatically loses sexual attraction, being engaged in the superior service of the Lord.
16. Whereas others are forced to restrain themselves from sense gratification, a devotee of the Lord automatically refrains because of superior taste. Other than the devotee, no one has any information of that superior taste.
17. And because he is regulated in all his work, speech, sleep, wakefulness and all other bodily activities, there is no material misery for him.

SB 2.7.10 TRANSLATION:

The Lord appeared as the son of Sudevī, the wife of King Nābhi, and was known as Ṛṣabhadeva. He performed materialistic yoga to equibalance the mind. This stage is also accepted as the highest perfectional situation of liberation, wherein one is situated in one’s self and is completely satisfied.

Out of many types of mystic performances for self-realization, the process of jaḍa-yoga is also one accepted by authorities. This jaḍa-yoga involves practicing becoming like a dumb stone and not being affected by material reactions. Just as a stone is indifferent to all kinds of attacks and reattacks of external situations, similarly one practices jaḍa-yoga by tolerating voluntary infliction of pain upon the material body. Such yogīs, out of many self-infliction methods, practice plucking out the hairs on their heads, without shaving and without any instrumental help. But the real purpose of such jaḍa-yoga practice is to get free from all material affection and to be completely situated in the self. At the last stage of his life, Emperor Ṛṣabhadeva wandered like a dumb madman, unaffected by all kinds of bodily mistreatment. Seeing him like a madman, wandering naked with long hair and a long beard, less intelligent children and men in the street used to spit on him and urinate on his body. He used to lie in his own stool and never move. But the stool of his body was fragrant like the smell of fragrant flowers, and a saintly person would recognize him as a paramahaṁsa, one in the highest state of human perfection. One who is not able to make his stool fragrant should not, however, imitate Emperor Ṛṣabhadeva. The practice of jaḍa-yoga was possible for Ṛṣabhadeva and others on the same level of perfection, but such an uncommon practice is impossible for an ordinary man.

The real purpose of jaḍa-yoga, as mentioned here in this verse, is praśānta-karaṇaḥ, or subduing the senses. The whole process of yoga, under whatever heading it may be, is to control the unbridled material senses and thus prepare oneself for self-realization. In this age specifically, this jaḍa-yoga cannot be of any practical value, but on the other hand the practice of bhakti-yoga is feasible because it is just suitable for this age. The simple method of hearing from the right source, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, will lead one to the highest perfectional stage of yoga. Ṛṣabhadeva was the son of King Nābhi and the grandson of King Āgnīdhra, and he was the father of King Bharata, after whose name this planet earth was called Bhārata-varṣa. Ṛṣabhadeva’s mother was also known as Merudevī, although her name is mentioned here as Sudevī. It is sometimes proposed that Sudevī was another wife of King Nābhi, but since King Ṛṣabhadeva is mentioned elsewhere as the son of Merudevī, it is clear that Merudevī and Sudevī are the same person under different names.

So Jada yoga is not practical is not suited for Kali yoga. Bhakti yoga is. Basis of Bhakti yoga the beginning and sustenance of Bhakti yoga is Shravanam and Kirtanam is extremely important.  The practice of traditional yoga is mentioned in BG 6.11 -12 

BG 6.11-12

To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuśa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should be neither too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point.

Traditional yoga has to be performed in a sacred place. Usually in India they are holy places prayag…varndavan.. And in a place of solitude…. 

“Sacred place” refers to places of pilgrimage. In India the yogīs – the transcendentalists or the devotees – all leave home and reside in sacred places such as Prayāga, Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, Hṛṣīkeśa and Hardwar and in solitude practice yoga where the sacred rivers like the Yamunā and the Ganges flow. But often this is not possible, especially for Westerners. The so-called yoga societies in big cities may be successful in earning material benefit, but they are not at all suitable for the actual practice of yoga. One who is not self-controlled and whose mind is not undisturbed cannot practice meditation. Therefore, in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa it is said that in Kali-yuga (the present yuga, or age), when people in general are short-lived, slow in spiritual realization and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy name of the Lord.

“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”

The process in kali yuga is made very easy as explained by Caitanya mahaprabhu. There are benefits in kali yuga.. 

1. In other yugas even if you think doing something bad you will be subjected to sinful reactions. In Kali yuga unless you do the bad thing you are not affected. 
2. Just thinking about doing devotional service you get the benefit even if you dont do it in Kali yuga.. 

These two things are of great help to weak devotees like us. These are special favors. We should not exploit them. We should take shelter and make thorough progress in devotional service. 

BG 6.11-12 & 13-14  Explain the proper way of performing yoga.. 

BG 6.13-14

One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.

The goal of life is to know Kṛṣṇa, who is situated within the heart of every living being as Paramātmā, the four-handed Viṣṇu form. The yoga process is practiced in order to discover and see this localized form of Viṣṇu, and not for any other purpose. The localized viṣṇu-mūrti is the plenary representation of Kṛṣṇa dwelling within one’s heart. One who has no program to realize this viṣṇu-mūrti is uselessly engaged in mock yoga practice and is certainly wasting his time. Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life, and the viṣṇu-mūrti situated in one’s heart is the object of yoga practice. To realize this viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart, one has to observe complete abstinence from sex life; therefore one has to leave home and live alone in a secluded place, remaining seated as mentioned above. One cannot enjoy sex life daily at home or elsewhere and attend a so-called yoga class and thus become a yogī. One has to practice controlling the mind and avoiding all kinds of sense gratification, of which sex life is the chief. In the rules of celibacy written by the great sage Yājñavalkya it is said:

“The vow of brahmacarya is meant to help one completely abstain from sex indulgence in work, words and mind – at all times, under all circumstances and in all places.” No one can perform correct yoga practice through sex indulgence. Brahmacarya is taught, therefore, from childhood, when one has no knowledge of sex life. Children at the age of five are sent to the guru-kula, or the place of the spiritual master, and the master trains the young boys in the strict discipline of becoming brahmacārīs. Without such practice, no one can make advancement in any yoga, whether it be dhyāna, jñāna or bhakti. One who, however, follows the rules and regulations of married life, having a sexual relationship only with his wife (and that also under regulation – Once a month that too for ), is also called a brahmacārī. Such a restrained householder brahmacārī may be accepted in the bhakti school, but the jñāna and dhyāna schools do not even admit householder brahmacārīs. They require complete abstinence without compromise. In the bhakti school, a householder brahmacārī is allowed controlled sex life because the cult of bhakti-yoga is so powerful that one automatically loses sexual attraction, being engaged in the superior service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (2.59) it is said:

viṣayā vinivartante

nirāhārasya dehinaḥ

rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya

paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

Whereas others are forced to restrain themselves from sense gratification, a devotee of the Lord automatically refrains because of superior taste. Other than the devotee, no one has any information of that superior taste.

We cannot understand KC unless we follow it strictly as described in these verses. 

Vishnu expansion is the object of yoga.. But the ultimate goal is Krsna. This shows the clear difference between Vishnu and Krsna, But people ignore it especially few Sri Vaishnavas. 

Complete abstinence of sex is very important to go back to godhead. 

BG 3.13

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.

BG 6.16 

There is no possibility of one becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.

BG 6.17

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.

It is not only sex, we have to regulate everything to progress in spiritual life and go back to goghead. The real meaning of yoga is summarized in the following way – 

Extravagance in the matter of eating, sleeping, defending and mating – which are demands of the body – can block advancement in the practice of yoga. As far as eating is concerned, it can be regulated only when one is practiced to take and accept prasādam, sanctified food. Lord Kṛṣṇa is offered, according to the Bhagavad-gītā (9.26), vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains, milk, etc. In this way, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes automatically trained not to accept food not meant for human consumption, or not in the category of goodness. As far as sleeping is concerned, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always alert in the discharge of his duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and therefore any unnecessary time spent sleeping is considered a great loss. Avyartha-kālatvam: a Kṛṣṇa conscious person cannot bear to pass a minute of his life without being engaged in the service of the Lord. Therefore, his sleeping is kept to a minimum. His ideal in this respect is Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who was always engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa and who could not sleep more than two hours a day, and sometimes not even that. Ṭhākura Haridāsa would not even accept prasādam nor even sleep for a moment without finishing his daily routine of chanting with his beads three hundred thousand names. As far as work is concerned, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not do anything which is not connected with Kṛṣṇa’s interest, and thus his work is always regulated and is untainted by sense gratification. Since there is no question of sense gratification, there is no material leisure for a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And because he is regulated in all his work, speech, sleep, wakefulness and all other bodily activities, there is no material misery for him.

BG 18.58 – summary of the goal of yoga 

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.

BG 6.13-14

Mat chitta

Mat Para – Ultimate goal of life

Mat Samstam 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.9:

1. According to the system of varṇāśrama-dharma, the pious and learned brāhmaṇas were the natural guardians of society.
2. The kings or the kṣatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brāhmaṇas. They were never autocratic monarchs.
3. The scriptures like Manu-saṁhitā and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy.
4. The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-saṁhitā and other Vedic literatures. 
5. The learned brāhmaṇas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brāhmaṇas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures.
6. Mahārāja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brāhmaṇas. The broad-minded brāhmaṇas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.
7. Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul. 
8. One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior.
9. Actually, every living entity is intended to abide by the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone’s heart as Paramātmā
10.  One has to abide by superior dictation. When one’s mind is fixed on the superior nature, he has no alternative but to follow the dictation of the Supreme.
11. For one who takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.
12. One should act according to the order of Kṛṣṇa. This is a very important point. That order of Kṛṣṇa comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed.
13. Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramātmā) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master. 
14. Mahārāja Pṛthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brāhmaṇas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father (Vena) from hellish conditions.

SB 2.7.9 TRANSLATION:

Mahārāja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brāhmaṇas chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Pṛthu, delivered the condemned King Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as produce.

Brahmanas

According to the system of varṇāśrama-dharma, the pious and learned brāhmaṇas were the natural guardians of society. The brāhmaṇas, by their learned labor of love, would instruct the administrator-kings how to rule the country in complete righteousness, and thus the process would go on as a perfect welfare state. 

Ksatriyas

The kings or the kṣatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brāhmaṇas. They were never autocratic monarchs. The scriptures like Manu-saṁhitā and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy. The less intelligent mass of people have very little knowledge of their own welfare, as a child has very little knowledge of its future well-being. The experienced father guides the innocent child towards the path of progress, and the childlike mass of people need similar guidance. The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-saṁhitā and other Vedic literatures. The learned brāhmaṇas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brāhmaṇas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures. This system continued even up to the time of Mahārāja Candragupta, and the brāhmaṇa Cāṇakya was his unpaid prime minister.

We cannot openly speak the truth if we are employed by someone and are taking money from them.. One example of a brahmana who never took any money – Vidura – Begging, teaching scriptures,, going to the fields and harvesting… 

We have to be very careful in what we do in Krsna Consciousness. We cannot speculate.. We have to follow the maha jana yean gatha pantha.. The female guru initiation issue.. The solution is female gurus cannot initiate they can be the siksha gurus.. The truth of KC is hidden within the heart of  a pure devotee. The only way to understand is to follow the path of the pure devotee.. Neither Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur… Bhakti vinod thakur,, goswamis.. How can we do that today.. We cannot do anything that prabhupda did not do.. The issues should be resolved based on the principle – 

Dharmasya.. mahajan a yena gatha pantha.. 

Mahārāja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brāhmaṇas. The broad-minded brāhmaṇas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.

Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul. 

When we revolt against and refuse to follow the bonafide instruction.. We lose all the qualities we acquired this far, Whenever there is deviation. Then there is calamity. 

One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. Mahārāja Vena became a king, undoubtedly due to his past deeds of righteousness, but because he willfully neglected the great souls, he was punished by the loss of all the above-mentioned acquisitions. In the Vāmana Purāṇa the history of Mahārāja Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Mahārāja Pṛthu heard about the hellish condition of his father, Vena, who was suffering from leprosy in the family of a mleccha, he at once brought the former king to Kurukṣetra for his purification and relieved him of all sufferings.

These are possible things if we follow KC.. they are impossible if we do not follow KC> 

Mahārāja Pṛthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brāhmaṇas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father from hellish conditions. The word putra means one who delivers from hell, called put. That is a worthy son

Vedic system is the perfect way to organize the society and when it is organized properly it is called ideal welfare state. One time during a class someone said KC is not a welfare activity. SP corrected saying KC is the best welfare activity. Society organized according to Daivi Varnasrama dharma is the perfect society with all the welfare activities. All ashrams and varnas make spiritual progress without any distinction and will go back to godhead even in this life time  provided they follow the  dictates of the authorities and cooperate for Daivi varnasrama. That is what is called the constitutional position of the living entity,. It is explained in BG 6.6. 

BG 6.6 

bandhur ātmātmanas tasya

yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ

anātmanas tu śatrutve

vartetātmaiva śatru-vat

For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.

The purpose of practicing eightfold yoga is to control the mind in order to make it a friend in discharging the human mission. Unless the mind is controlled, the practice of yoga (for show) is simply a waste of time. One who cannot control his mind lives always with the greatest enemy, and thus his life and its mission are spoiled. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior. As long as one’s mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc. But when the mind is conquered, one voluntarily agrees to abide by the dictation of the Personality of Godhead, who is situated within the heart of everyone as Paramātmā. Real yoga practice entails meeting the Paramātmā within the heart and then following His dictation. For one who takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.

  How many times he used the word dictation in this purport… (4 times)

BG 6.7 

For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same.

Actually, every living entity is intended to abide by the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone’s heart as Paramātmā. When the mind is misled by the external, illusory energy, one becomes entangled in material activities. Therefore, as soon as one’s mind is controlled through one of the yoga systems, one should be considered to have already reached the destination. One has to abide by superior dictation. When one’s mind is fixed on the superior nature, he has no alternative but to follow the dictation of the Supreme. The mind must admit some superior dictation and follow it. The effect of controlling the mind is that one automatically follows the dictation of the Paramātmā, or Supersoul. Because this transcendental position is at once achieved by one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the devotee of the Lord is unaffected by the dualities of material existence, namely distress and happiness, cold and heat, etc. This state is practical samādhi, or absorption in the Supreme.      

Here dictation is used 5 times.. This was of course King Vena’s problem.. He voluntarily rejected the dictation of the brahmanas. The brahmanas are the leaders of the society, they dictate what the code and the ksatriyas have to follow. As he did not follow the dictation he was killed and then they produced a son as there was no one to rule.. The purity of the Brahmanas was respected and the instructions were followed. 

One has to follow the dictation of the super soul in his heart. How do we know if what we are hearing in our mind is bonafide or not. It is described in 18.57

BG 18.57 

One should act according to the order of Kṛṣṇa. This is a very important point. That order of Kṛṣṇa comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed.

Ofcourse there are siksha and diksha gurus and they are equal.. 

BG 18.58

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.

This is how we know if is actually the dictation of the super soul… has to be validated by the spiritual master 

One should note very carefully that one who is not active in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is losing himself in the material whirlpool, in the ocean of birth and death. No conditioned soul actually knows what is to be done and what is not to be done, but a person who acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is free to act because everything is prompted by Kṛṣṇa from within and confirmed by the spiritual master.

SB 1.7.5 

Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramātmā) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master. This is still more explicitly explained in the next śloka.

Our constitutional position is always to be dictated by the Supreme and the parampara. Now you know if there is a whimsical leader, who speculates who makes up things not based on things in scripture and insists people to follow, there is no reason to follow a person like that.  The reason Brahmans were able to dictate is they never accepted a penny. They had the vow of poverty.. They lived very simply, therefore they can speak the truth. 

There are  many people who control people with money..  That will not work. We train people by an example.. We can control people by the example of purity, generosity, affection.. .. by sastric evidence.. First become perfect and then preach.. We have to be very strict in following the rules and regulations.. Shravanam.. Kirtanam.. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.8:

1. Prince Dhruva inquired from his mother how he could sit on the royal throne of his father, and the poor queen replied that only the Lord could help him.
2. The boy inquired where the Lord could be seen, and the queen replied that it is said that the Lord is sometimes seen by great sages in the dense forest.
3. The child prince decided to go into the forest to perform severe penances in order to achieve his objective.
4. Prince Dhruva was initiated by Nārada into chanting the hymn composed of eighteen letters, namely oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, and Lord Vāsudeva incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha, the Personality of Godhead with four hands, and awarded the prince a specific planet above the seven stars.
5. Prince Dhruva, after achieving success in his undertakings, saw the Lord face to face, and he was satisfied that all his needs were fulfilled.
6. The planet awarded to Prince Dhruva Mahārāja is a fixed Vaikuṇṭha planet, installed in the material atmosphere by the will of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva.
7. This planet, although within the material world, will not be annihilated at the time of devastation, but will remain fixed in its place.
8. And because it is a Vaikuṇṭha planet never to be annihilated, it is worshiped even by the denizens of the seven stars situated below the Dhruva planet, as well as by the planets which are even above the Dhruva planet. Maharṣi Bhṛgu’s planet is situated above the Dhruva planet.
9. So the Lord incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha just to satisfy a pure devotee of the Lord. And Prince Dhruva achieved this perfection simply by chanting the hymn mentioned above, after being initiated by another pure devotee, Nārada.
10. A serious personality can thus achieve the highest perfection of meeting the Lord and attain his objective simply by being guided by a pure devotee, who automatically approaches by dint of one’s serious determination to meet the Lord by all means.
11. Based on this we need to learn that we have to double down in chanting the holy names when we are in the difficult times. If someone insulted us or abused us… One take should complete shelter of the lord and not get disturbed. One should not try to get revenge. Revenge business is very dangerous. Nothing can happen without the will of the lord. If we wait patiently and take the shelter of the lord and not act independently, the lord will take care of us. We sit down tightly and chant calmly and meditate on Krsna in our heart by chanting His names even though we are upset and disturbed.

SB 2.7.8 TRANSLATION

Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet, which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward.

When he was only five years old, Prince Dhruva, a great devotee and the son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, was sitting on the lap of his father. His stepmother did not like the King’s patting her stepson, so she dragged him out, saying that he could not claim to sit on the lap of the King because he was not born out of her womb. The little boy felt insulted by this act of his stepmother. Nor did his father make any protest, for he was too attached to his second wife. After this incident, Prince Dhruva went to his own mother and complained. His real mother also could not take any step against this insulting behavior, and so she wept. The boy inquired from his mother how he could sit on the royal throne of his father, and the poor queen replied that only the Lord could help him. The boy inquired where the Lord could be seen, and the queen replied that it is said that the Lord is sometimes seen by great sages in the dense forest. The child prince decided to go into the forest to perform severe penances in order to achieve his objective.

Prince Dhruva performed a stringent type of penance under the instruction of his spiritual master, Śrī Nārada Muni, who was specifically deputed for this purpose by the Personality of Godhead. Prince Dhruva was initiated by Nārada into chanting the hymn composed of eighteen letters, namely oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, and Lord Vāsudeva incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha, the Personality of Godhead with four hands, and awarded the prince a specific planet above the seven stars. Prince Dhruva, after achieving success in his undertakings, saw the Lord face to face, and he was satisfied that all his needs were fulfilled.

The planet awarded to Prince Dhruva Mahārāja is a fixed Vaikuṇṭha planet, installed in the material atmosphere by the will of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva. This planet, although within the material world, will not be annihilated at the time of devastation, but will remain fixed in its place. And because it is a Vaikuṇṭha planet never to be annihilated, it is worshiped even by the denizens of the seven stars situated below the Dhruva planet, as well as by the planets which are even above the Dhruva planet. Maharṣi Bhṛgu’s planet is situated above the Dhruva planet.

So the Lord incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha just to satisfy a pure devotee of the Lord. And Prince Dhruva achieved this perfection simply by chanting the hymn mentioned above, after being initiated by another pure devotee, Nārada. A serious personality can thus achieve the highest perfection of meeting the Lord and attain his objective simply by being guided by a pure devotee, who automatically approaches by dint of one’s serious determination to meet the Lord by all means.

The description of Prince Dhruva’s activities can be read in detail in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Based on this we need to learn that we have to double down in chanting the holy names when we are in the difficult times. If someone insulted us or abused us… One should complete shelter of the lord and not get disturbed. One should not try to get revenge. Revenge business is very dangerous. Nothing can happen without the will of the lord. If we wait patiently and take the shelter of the lord. We do not act independently.. We sit down tightly and chant calmly and meditate on Krsna in our heart by chanting His names even though we are upset and disturbed. 

Depiction of God as an old man in the old testament is wrong. 

Surichi derisively tells Dhruva to go to forest.. 

If you really want to see God, Krishna will send you a bonafide guru. 

I was wanting to actually know about God. I knew I had to understand about God if I have to know what is the purpose of life. Krishna has sent me Srila Prabhupada. 

Krishna sends Narada Muni. He instructed  Dhruva to gradually give up eating, drinking, stand on one leg and gradually give up breathing and meditate on the Lord. 

Dhruva maharaj sees the prsni garbh a form of the lord and the lord touches him. 

He immediately says the dhruva stotra,

We do not have to make up any prayers – Dhruva stotra, Prhalad maharaj prayers, Bhishma prayers, Kunti prayers… they are millions.. They are all bonafide and we do not have to make up any prayers. 

If you are willing to risk everything to serve the lord –  Example Srila Prabhupada.. 

We should not be afraid. We should not do something crazy… We should take advantage of the example of SP. We can do a lot now, but we should aim for doing what SP did eventually. Dhruva 5 years old was fearless. 70 year old SP was fearless. We should come to the stage of fearlessness. We should not buckle in the determination to serve Krsna no matter what.    

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.6:

1. The Lord, being the source of everything that be, is the origin of all austerities and penances also. Great vows of austerity are undertaken by sages to achieve success in self-realization.
2. Human life is meant for such tapasya, with the great vow of celibacy, or brahmacarya.
3. The system of sanātana-dharma or the school of four castes and four orders of life, prescribes rigid dissociation from woman in three stages of life.
4. If one wants to get freedom from the material bondage of conditional life, he must get free from the attraction for the form of woman. Woman, or the fair sex, is the enchanting principle for the living entities, and the male form, especially in the human being, is meant for self-realization.
5. The whole world is moving under the spell of womanly attraction, and as soon as a man becomes united with a woman, he at once becomes a victim of material bondage under a tight knot.
6. The desires for lording it over the material world, under the intoxication of a false sense of lordship, specifically begin just after the man’s unification with a woman.
7. The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like phantasmagoria or illusory dreams, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life.
8. One’s life may be divided into four divisions — celibacy, household life, retirement and renunciation.
9. Brahmacārī – During the first stage of life, up to twenty-five years of age, a man may be trained as a brahmacārī under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master just to understand that woman is the real binding force in material existence.
10. The brahmacārī is then allowed to go home and enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacārīs who do not go home to become householders but continue the life of naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, without any connection with women.
11. Grihastha – The householder who associates with woman under scriptural restrictions, after a thorough training of brahmacarya, cannot be a householder like cats and dogs.
    
    
12. vānaprastha – Such a householder, after fifty years of age, would retire from the association of woman as a vānaprastha to be trained to live alone without the association of woman.
13. sannyāsī – When the practice is complete, the same retired householder becomes a sannyāsī, strictly separate from woman, even from his married wife. 
14. Studying the whole scheme of disassociation from women, it appears that a woman is a stumbling block for self-realization, and the Lord appeared as Nārāyaṇa to teach the principle of womanly disassociation with a vow in life.
15. The demigods, being envious of the austere life of the rigid brahmacārīs, would try to cause them to break their vows by dispatching soldiers of Cupid.
16. But in the case of the Lord, it became an unsuccessful attempt.The Lord, by His pleasure potency, can produce innumerable spiritual beauties and not be the least attracted by the false beauties of material creation. 
17. One who does not know alleges foolishly that Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed women in His rāsa-līlā in Vṛndāvana, or with His sixteen thousand married wives at Dvārakā.
18. The sense of an existence separate from Kṛṣṇa is called māyā (mā – not, yā – this). Some think that we have nothing to do with Kṛṣṇa, that Kṛṣṇa is only a great historical personality and that the Absolute is the impersonal Brahman. 
19. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. Even the millions of incarnations are only His different expansions. Similarly, the living entities are also expansions of Kṛṣṇa.
20. SB 1.2.7  By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.
21. BG 4.37 Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.

SB 2.7.6 TRANSLATION:

To exhibit His personal way of austerity and penance, He appeared in twin forms as Nārāyaṇa and Nara in the womb of Mūrti, the wife of Dharma and the daughter of Dakṣa. Celestial beauties, the companions of Cupid, went to try to break His vows, but they were unsuccessful, for they saw that many beauties like them were emanating from Him, the Personality of Godhead.

TAPASYA

The Lord, being the source of everything that be, is the origin of all austerities and penances also. Great vows of austerity are undertaken by sages to achieve success in self-realization. Human life is meant for such tapasya, with the great vow of celibacy, or brahmacarya. In the rigid life of tapasya, there is no place for the association of women. And because human life is meant for tapasya, for self-realization, factual human civilization, as conceived by the system of sanātana-dharma or the school of four castes and four orders of life, prescribes rigid dissociation from woman in three stages of life. In the order of gradual cultural development, one’s life may be divided into four divisions — celibacy, household life, retirement and renunciation. During the first stage of life, up to twenty-five years of age, a man may be trained as a brahmacārī under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master just to understand that woman is the real binding force in material existence.

woman is the real binding force in material existence.

If one wants to get freedom from the material bondage of conditional life, he must get free from the attraction for the form of woman. Woman, or the fair sex, is the enchanting principle for the living entities, and the male form, especially in the human being, is meant for self-realization. The whole world is moving under the spell of womanly attraction, and as soon as a man becomes united with a woman, he at once becomes a victim of material bondage under a tight knot. The desires for lording it over the material world, under the intoxication of a false sense of lordship, specifically begin just after the man’s unification with a woman. The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like phantasmagoria or illusory dreams, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life. 

BRAHMACARI

The brahmacārī, or a boy from the age of five years, especially from the higher castes, namely from the scholarly parents (the brāhmaṇas), the administrative parents (the kṣatriyas), or the mercantile or productive parents (the vaiśyas), is trained until twenty-five years of age under the care of a bona fide guru or teacher, and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life along with taking specific training for a livelihood. The brahmacārī is then allowed to go home and enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacārīs who do not go home to become householders but continue the life of naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, without any connection with women. They accept the order of sannyāsa, or the renounced order of life, knowing well that combination with women is an unnecessary burden that checks self-realization. Since sex desire is very strong at a certain stage of life, the guru may allow the brahmacārī to marry; this license is given to a brahmacārī who is unable to continue the way of naiṣṭhika-brahmacarya, and such discriminations are possible for the bona fide guru. 

HOUSEHOLDER

A program of so-called family planning is needed. The householder who associates with woman under scriptural restrictions, after a thorough training of brahmacarya, cannot be a householder like cats and dogs.

VANAPRASTHA

Such a householder, after fifty years of age, would retire from the association of woman as a vānaprastha to be trained to live alone without the association of woman.

SANYASI

When the practice is complete, the same retired householder becomes a sannyāsī, strictly separate from woman, even from his married wife. 

LORD NARAYANA APPEAR TO TEACH WOMANLY DISSOCIATION

Studying the whole scheme of disassociation from women, it appears that a woman is a stumbling block for self-realization, and the Lord appeared as Nārāyaṇa to teach the principle of womanly disassociation with a vow in life. The demigods, being envious of the austere life of the rigid brahmacārīs, would try to cause them to break their vows by dispatching soldiers of Cupid. But in the case of the Lord, it became an unsuccessful attempt when the celestial beauties saw that the Lord can produce innumerable such beauties by His mystic internal potency and that there was consequently no need to be attracted by others externally. 

There is a common proverb that a confectioner is never attracted by sweetmeats. The confectioner, who is always manufacturing sweetmeats, has very little desire to eat them; similarly, the Lord, by His pleasure potency, can produce innumerable spiritual beauties and not be the least attracted by the false beauties of material creation. One who does not know alleges foolishly that Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed women in His rāsa-līlā in Vṛndāvana, or with His sixteen thousand married wives at Dvārakā.

This purport explains the reality of material world. Men are put into illusion with the form of women and women are put into illusion with the form of men. If you go 1/8th inch below the skin of the body everything is horrible.  (Blood, bones…) Beauty is only skin deep. Even though people know this they are still put into illusion. Does that mean one should not get married. One should not be enamored by material body. This is incomprehensible for materialists. How will humanity continue they may say. It will in the purified state. It is possible. Whole spiritual world is carried in the purified state. What is incomprehensible to people is very easy to understand and execute for the devotees. 

What does it say the form of woman. It is something not attractive but appears attractive like an envelope.. We have gigantic sewer (intestines) in the body. What is that attractive… an illusory concept of the body.. By working out, pastic surgery, taking pills, by artificial means to become attractive… unless we disassociate ourselves from this type of false attraction, we remain in this world. If you want to go hiking you need to know the map… knowledge is absolutely important. It is acquired through hearing and repeating and engaging in devotionals service and fixing the knowledge. People were able to hear once and remember… that is because there was no illicit sex, TV, … 

Sanjaya did not need TV he was able to see and hear from thousands of miles.. They had such powers. SP his memory was so sharp, energetic, travelling the world 14 times, sleeping little, eating very little in that age. How is that possible – because of spiritual enlightenment. The body is a temp thing, the soul is not subjected to the same thing as the body due to age. The soul is independent of the body. The area of false ego.. Is where we suffer. The whole process of KC is to remove the attachment from the body of man and body of woman and get attached to the body of Krsna., This can be achieved by hearing from the Vaishnava acharyas great personalities. 

MAHAJANA YENA GATA

The truth is hidden in the heart of pure devotee therefore the only solution is to follow the path chalked by the mahajans. Follow their example of devotional service. There are so many tapes, video of SP. All this is for us to get the association of pure devotees. Lust angry greed illusion.. Diff type sof  conditionings under the modes of material nature all these are impediments to make progress in self realization.. 

BG 7.14

Daivy hesya guna mayi ..

This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.

One who surrenders unto Krsna for them it is easy to cross this material world. Most people do not get to the surrender they are covered with the illusion that they are the body and they are trying to squeeze the juice of the material body.. Sex life is chewing the chewed.. It is never satisfying… What begins like nectar ends up like poison. 

When you accept the spriritual master… he will test if you are sincere.. Then onwards you will make progress. 

BG 4.34 –

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from himsubmissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding. In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. Not only should one hear submissively from the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries. A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect.

BG 4.35 (Extremely important)

Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine.

How can you say that science is nonsense – you use cars aeroplanes… phones.. It is nonsense because it is all temporary and it is all going to disappear with time.. That is material life, ( Tennessee  floods — no more house, no more body) It is very precarious and tenuous. Therefore it says …

THE ONLY SAFETY OR INSURANCE WE NEED TO HAVE IS TO SURRENDER TO KRSNA. 

Draupadi she is destined to be stripped… how can she fight karna and Dussasena.. Krishna protected her.. Pandavas… went through so much struggle.. Krsna protected.. If you believe it, Krishna says na me bhaktya.. My devotee is never perished… 

Ramanujacharya – many times people tried killing but Krsna protected him. The curse of modern education – You believe what is not true and you disbelieve what is true. 

The result of receiving knowledge from a self-realized soul, or one who knows things as they are, is learning that all living beings are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The sense of an existence separate from Kṛṣṇa is called māyā (mā – not, yā – this). Some think that we have nothing to do with Kṛṣṇa, that Kṛṣṇa is only a great historical personality and that the Absolute is the impersonal Brahman. Factually, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, this impersonal Brahman is the personal effulgence of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of everything. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is clearly stated that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. Even the millions of incarnations are only His different expansions. Similarly, the living entities are also expansions of Kṛṣṇa. The Māyāvādī philosophers wrongly think that Kṛṣṇa loses His own separate existence in His many expansions. This thought is material in nature. We have experience in the material world that a thing, when fragmentally distributed, loses its own original identity. But the Māyāvādī philosophers fail to understand that absolute means that one plus one is equal to one, and that one minus one is also equal to one. This is the case in the absolute world.

ISO Invocation 

oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ

pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya

pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

Simply reading is not enough… have to engage in devotional service under the tutelage of a bonafide spiritual master.. To understand the real knowledge. 

Passing tests is not education.. People still engage in sense gratification and are subjected to negative effects and cause self destruction and also others.. 

Even though you are the greatest businessman, scientist, there is no guarantee that you can control the mind.

SB 1.2.7

vāsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.

BG 4.37

Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.4:

1. Transcendental relations between the Personality of Godhead and the living entities are eternally established in five different affectionate humors, which are known as śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. 
2. The sage Atri was related with the Lord in the affectionate vātsalya humor, and therefore, as a result of his devotional perfection, he was inclined to have the Personality of Godhead as his son. 
3. The Lord accepted his prayer, and He gave Himself as the son of Atri. Such a relation of sonhood between the Lord and His pure devotees can be cited in many instances. And because the Lord is unlimited, He has an unlimited number of father-devotees. 
4. Factually the Lord is the father of all living entities, but out of transcendental affection and love between the Lord and His devotees, the Lord takes more pleasure in becoming the son of a devotee than in becoming one’s father. 
5. The father actually serves the son, whereas the son only demands all sorts of services from the father; therefore a pure devotee who is always inclined to serve the Lord wants Him as the son, and not as the father. 
6. The Lord also accepts such service from the devotee, and thus the devotee becomes more than the Lord.
7. Parents and other relatives of the Lord achieve all mystic opulences automatically because of their intimate relationship with the Lord. Such opulences include all details of material enjoyment, salvation and mystic powers. 
8. Therefore, the devotee of the Lord does not seek them separately, wasting his valuable time in life. 
9. The valuable time of one’s life must therefore be fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Then other desirable achievements are automatically gained.
10. But even after obtaining such achievements, one should be on guard against the pitfall of offenses at the feet of the devotees. The vivid example is Haihaya, who achieved all such perfection in devotional service but, because of his offense at the feet of a devotee, was killed by Lord Paraśurāma. 
11. The Lord became the son of the great sage Atri and became known as Dattātreya.
12. The three sons born of Anasūyā — Dattātreya, Durvāsā and Soma — were born as partial representations of the three demigods Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.
13. Ātma is not in the category of the demigods or living entities because He is Viṣṇu; therefore He is described as vibhinnāṁśa-bhūtānām. The Supersoul, Viṣṇu, is the seed-giving father of all living entities, including Brahmā and Lord Śiva.
14. The manifestations of Viṣṇu and those of the ordinary living entities are certainly all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and no one is equal to Him, but among the parts and parcels there are different categories. 
15. In the Varāha Purāṇa it is nicely explained that some of the parts are svāṁśa and some are vibhinnāṁśa. Vibhinnāṁśa parts are called jīvas, and svāṁśa parts are in the Viṣṇu category.
16. The Viṣṇu svāṁśa expansions of the Supreme Lord in different Viṣṇu forms are like lamps, Lord Śiva is also like a lamp, and the supreme candlepower, or the one-hundred-percent light, is Kṛṣṇa. 
17. The viṣṇu-tattva has ninety-four percent, the śiva-tattva has eighty-four percent, Lord Brahmā has seventy-eight percent, and the living entities are also like Brahmā, but in the conditioned state their power is still more dim. 
18. There are gradations of Brahman, and no one can deny this fact. Therefore the words ātmeśa-brahma-sambhavān indicate that Dattātreya was directly part and parcel of Viṣṇu, whereas Durvāsā and Soma were parts and parcels of Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā.
19. The Vedic mantras give us information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so Atri Muni concentrated his mind upon that Supreme Personality of Godhead, even without knowing His name, just to beg from Him a child exactly on His level. This kind of devotional service, in which knowledge of God’s name is lacking, is also described in Bhagavad-gītā where the Lord says that four kinds of men with backgrounds of pious activities come to Him asking for what they need.
20. Thus Atri Muni cannot be counted among the pure devotees.

SB 2.7.4 TRANSLATION

The great sage Atri prayed for offspring, and the Lord, being satisfied with him, promised to incarnate as Atri’s son, Dattātreya [Datta, the son of Atri]. And by the grace of the lotus feet of the Lord, many Yadus, Haihayas, etc., became so purified that they obtained both material and spiritual blessings.

Transcendental relations between the Personality of Godhead and the living entities are eternally established in five different affectionate humors, which are known as śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. The sage Atri was related with the Lord in the affectionate vātsalya humor, and therefore, as a result of his devotional perfection, he was inclined to have the Personality of Godhead as his son. The Lord accepted his prayer, and He gave Himself as the son of Atri. Such a relation of sonhood between the Lord and His pure devotees can be cited in many instances. And because the Lord is unlimited, He has an unlimited number of father-devotees. Factually the Lord is the father of all living entities, but out of transcendental affection and love between the Lord and His devotees, the Lord takes more pleasure in becoming the son of a devotee than in becoming one’s father. The father actually serves the son, whereas the son only demands all sorts of services from the father; therefore a pure devotee who is always inclined to serve the Lord wants Him as the son, and not as the father. The Lord also accepts such service from the devotee, and thus the devotee becomes more than the Lord. The impersonalists desire to become one with the Supreme, but the devotee becomes more than the Lord, surpassing the desire of the greatest monist. Parents and other relatives of the Lord achieve all mystic opulences automatically because of their intimate relationship with the Lord. Such opulences include all details of material enjoyment, salvation and mystic powers. Therefore, the devotee of the Lord does not seek them separately, wasting his valuable time in life. The valuable time of one’s life must therefore be fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Then other desirable achievements are automatically gained. But even after obtaining such achievements, one should be on guard against the pitfall of offenses at the feet of the devotees. The vivid example is Haihaya, who achieved all such perfection in devotional service but, because of his offense at the feet of a devotee, was killed by Lord Paraśurāma. The Lord became the son of the great sage Atri and became known as Dattātreya.

This story of Atri muni is in the SB canto 4 

SB 4.1.15 

Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Muni, gave birth to three very famous sons — Soma, Dattātreya and Durvāsā — who were partial representations of Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Soma was a partial representation of Lord Brahmā, Dattātreya was a partial representation of Lord Viṣṇu, and Durvāsā was a partial representation of Lord Śiva.

In this verse we find the words ātma-īśa-brahma-sambhavān. Ātma means the Supersoul, or Viṣṇu, īśa means Lord Śiva, and brahma means the four-headed Lord Brahmā. The three sons born of Anasūyā — Dattātreya, Durvāsā and Soma — were born as partial representations of these three demigods. Ātma is not in the category of the demigods or living entities because He is Viṣṇu; therefore He is described as vibhinnāṁśa-bhūtānām. The Supersoul, Viṣṇu, is the seed-giving father of all living entities, including Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Another meaning of the word ātma may be accepted in this way: the principle who is the Supersoul in every ātmā — or, one may say, the soul of everyone — became manifested as Dattātreya, because the word aṁśa, “part and parcel,” is used here.

In Bhagavad-gītā the individual souls are also described as parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or Supersoul, so why not accept that Dattātreya was one of those parts? Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are also described here as parts, so why not accept all of them as ordinary individual souls? The answer is that the manifestations of Viṣṇu and those of the ordinary living entities are certainly all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and no one is equal to Him, but among the parts and parcels there are different categories. In the Varāha Purāṇa it is nicely explained that some of the parts are svāṁśa and some are vibhinnāṁśa. Vibhinnāṁśa parts are called jīvas, and svāṁśa parts are in the Viṣṇu category. 

Vibhinnamasa 

In the jīva category, the vibhinnāṁśa parts and parcels, there are also gradations. That is explained in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, where it is clearly stated that the individual parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord are subject to being covered by the external energy, called illusion, or māyā. Such individual parts and parcels, who can travel to any part of the Lord’s creation, are called sarva-gata and are suffering the pangs of material existence. They are proportionately freed from the coverings of ignorance under material existence according to different levels of work and under different influences of the modes of material nature. For example, the sufferings of jīvas situated in the mode of goodness are less than those of jīvas situated in the mode of ignorance. Pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is the birthright of all living entities because every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The consciousness of the Lord is also in the part and parcel, and according to the proportion to which that consciousness is cleared of material dirt, the living entities are differently situated. 

Different gradations of Vibhinnamsa (Jivas or living entities))

In the Vedānta-sūtra, the living entities of different gradations are compared to candles or lamps with different candlepower. For example, some electric bulbs have the power of one thousand candles, some have the power of five hundred candles, some the power of one hundred candles, some fifty candles, etc., but all electric bulbs have light. Light is present in every bulb, but the gradations of light are different. 

Gradations of the Svamsa expansions

Similarly, there are gradations of Brahman. The Viṣṇu svāṁśa expansions of the Supreme Lord in different Viṣṇu forms are like lamps, Lord Śiva is also like a lamp, and the supreme candlepower, or the one-hundred-percent light, is Kṛṣṇa. The viṣṇu-tattva has ninety-four percent, the śiva-tattva has eighty-four percent, Lord Brahmā has seventy-eight percent, and the living entities are also like Brahmā, but in the conditioned state their power is still more dim. There are gradations of Brahman, and no one can deny this fact. Therefore the words ātmeśa-brahma-sambhavān indicate that Dattātreya was directly part and parcel of Viṣṇu, whereas Durvāsā and Soma were parts and parcels of Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā.

Arti muni was somewhat an impersonalist. He had impersonal understanding. He wanted God to be his son. He does not know who is God,  therefore Dattatreya, soma and durvasa appeared. Why three appeared because he was not sure. He has 3 partial rrepresentations of Visnu, Brahma and Siva appeared. 

SB 4.1.16 

After hearing this, Vidura inquired from Maitreya: My dear master, how is it that the three deities Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, who are the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the whole creation, became the offspring of the wife of Atri Muni?

Purport

The inquisitiveness of Vidura was quite fitting, for he understood that when the Supersoul, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva all appeared through the person of Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Muni, there must have been some great purpose. Otherwise why should they have appeared in such a way?

SB 4.1.17

Maitreya said: When Lord Brahmā ordered Atri Muni to create generations after marrying Anasūyā, Atri Muni and his wife went to perform severe austerities in the valley of the mountain known as Ṛkṣa.

SB 4.1.18

In that mountain valley flows a river named Nirvindhyā. On the bank of the river are many aśoka trees and other plants full of palāśa flowers, and there is always the sweet sound of water flowing from a waterfall. The husband and wife reached that beautiful place.

SB 4.1.19 

There the great sage concentrated his mind by the yogic breathing exercises, and thereby controlling all attachment, he remained standing on one leg only, eating nothing but air, and stood there on one leg for one hundred years.

SB 4.1.20 (Why Arti muni is not a pure devotee and why three sons were born)

He was thinking: May the Lord of the universe, of whom I have taken shelter, kindly be pleased to offer me a son exactly like Him.

It appears that the great sage Atri Muni had no specific idea of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course, he must have been conversant with the Vedic information that there is a Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the creator of the universe, from whom everything emanated, who maintains this created manifestation, and in whom the entire manifestation is conserved after dissolution. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1.1). The Vedic mantras give us information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so Atri Muni concentrated his mind upon that Supreme Personality of Godhead, even without knowing His name, just to beg from Him a child exactly on His level. This kind of devotional service, in which knowledge of God’s name is lacking, is also described in Bhagavad-gītā where the Lord says that four kinds of men with backgrounds of pious activities come to Him asking for what they need. Atri Muni wanted a son exactly like the Lord, and therefore he is not supposed to have been a pure devotee, because he had a desire to be fulfilled, and that desire was material. Although he wanted a son exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this desire was material because he did not want the Personality of Godhead Himself, but only a child exactly like Him. If he had desired the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his child, he would have been completely free of material desires because he would have wanted the Supreme Absolute Truth, but because he wanted a similar child, his desire was material. Thus Atri Muni cannot be counted among the pure devotees.

Here we see the diff between Arti muni and Vasudeva. Vasudeva wanted supre personality of Godhead Krsna as Son, Whereas Arti muni wanted a child like GOD. 

SB 4.1.21

While Atri Muni was engaged in these severe austerities, a blazing fire came out of his head by virtue of his breathing exercise, and that fire was seen by the three principal deities of the three worlds.

According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the fire of prāṇāyāma is mental satisfaction. That fire was perceived by the Supersoul, Viṣṇu, and thereby Lord Brahmā and Śiva also perceived it. Atri Muni, by his breathing exercise, concentrated on the Supersoul, or the Lord of the universe. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord of the universe is Vāsudeva (vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti), and, by the direction of Vāsudeva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva work. Therefore, on the direction of Vāsudeva, both Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva perceived the severe penance adopted by Atri Muni, and thus they were pleased to come down, as stated in the next verse.

SB 4.1.22

At that time, the three deities approached the hermitage of Atri Muni, accompanied by the denizens of the heavenly planets, such as the celestial beauties, the Gandharvas, the Siddhas, the Vidyādharas and the Nāgas. Thus they entered the āśrama of the great sage, who had become famous by his austerities.

It is advised in the Vedic literatures that one should take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Lord of the universe and the master of creation, maintenance and dissolution. He is known as the Supersoul, and when one worships the Supersoul, all other deities, such as Brahmā and Śiva, appear with Lord Viṣṇu because they are directed by the Supersoul.

SB 4.1.23

The sage was standing on one leg, but as soon as he saw that the three deities had appeared before him, he was so pleased to see them all together that despite great difficulty he approached them on one leg.

SB 4.1.24

Thereafter he began to offer prayers to the three deities, who were seated on different carriers — a bull, a swan and Garuḍa — and who held in their hands a drum, kuśa grass and a discus. The sage offered them his respects by falling down like a stick.

Danadavats meaning – Daṇḍa means “a long rod,” and vat means “like.” Before a superior, one has to fall down on the ground just like a stick, and this sort of offering of respect is called daṇḍavat. 

Atri Ṛṣi offered his respect to the three deities in that way. They were identified by their different carriers and different symbolic representations. In that connection it is stated here that Lord Viṣṇu was sitting on Garuḍa, a big aquiline bird, and was carrying in His hand a disc, Brahmā was sitting on a swan and had in his hand kuśa grass, and Lord Śiva was sitting on a bull and carrying in his hand a small drum called a ḍamaru. Atri Ṛṣi recognized them by their symbolic representations and different carriers, and thus he offered them prayers and respects.

SB 4.1.25

Atri Muni was greatly pleased to see that the three devas were gracious towards him. His eyes were dazzled by the effulgence of their bodies, and therefore he closed his eyes for the time being.

Since the deities were smiling, he could understand that they were pleased with him. Their glaring bodily effulgence was intolerable to his eyes, so he closed them for the time being.

SB 4.1.26

But since his heart was already attracted by the deities, somehow or other he gathered his senses, and with folded hands and sweet words he began to offer prayers to the predominating deities of the universe. The great sage Atri said: O Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva, you have divided yourself into three bodies by accepting the three modes of material nature, as you do in every millennium for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all of you and beg to inquire whom of you three I have called by my prayer.

Atri Ṛṣi called for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, jagad-īśvara, the Lord of the universe. The Lord must exist before the creation; otherwise how could He be its Lord? If someone constructs a big building, this indicates that he must have existed before the building was constructed. Therefore the Supreme Lord, the creator of the universe, must be transcendental to the material modes of nature. But it is known that Viṣṇu takes charge of the mode of goodness, Brahmā takes charge of the mode of passion, and Lord Śiva takes charge of the mode of ignorance. Therefore Atri Muni said, “That jagad-īśvara, the Lord of the universe, must be one of you, but since three of you have appeared, I cannot recognize whom I have called. You are all so kind. Please let me know who is actually jagad-īśvara, the Lord of the universe.” In fact, Atri Ṛṣi was doubtful about the constitutional position of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, but he was quite certain that the Lord of the universe cannot be one of the creatures created by māyā. His very inquiry about whom he had called indicates that he was in doubt about the constitutional position of the Lord. Therefore he prayed to all three, “Kindly let me know who is the transcendental Lord of the universe.” He was certain, of course, that not all of them could be the Lord but that the Lord of the universe was one of the three.

SB 4.1.28

I called for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, desiring a son like Him, and I thought of Him only. But although He is far beyond the mental speculation of man, all three of you have come here. Kindly let me know how you have come, for I am greatly bewildered about this.

Purport

Atri Muni was confidently aware that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Lord of the universe, so he prayed for the one Supreme Lord. He was surprised, therefore, that three of them appeared.

SB 4.1.29

The great sage Maitreya continued: Upon hearing Atri Muni speak in that way, the three great deities smiled, and they replied in the following sweet words.

SB 4.1.30

The three deities told Atri Muni: Dear brāhmaṇa, you are perfect in your determination, and therefore as you have decided, so it will happen; it will not happen otherwise. We are all the same person upon whom you were meditating, and therefore we have all come to you.

Who is the lord of the universe

Atri Muni unspecifically thought of the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the universe, although he had no clear idea of the Lord of the universe nor of His specific form. Mahā-Viṣṇu, from whose breathing millions of universes emanate and into whom they are again withdrawn, may be accepted as the Lord of the universe. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose abdomen sprouted the lotus flower which is the birthplace of Brahmā, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Similarly, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is the Supersoul of all living entities, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Then, under the order of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇu form within this universe, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva may also be accepted as the Lords of the universe.

Viṣṇu is the Lord of the universe because He is its maintainer. Similarly, Brahmā creates the different planetary systems and the population, so he also may be considered the Lord of the universe. Or Lord Śiva, who is ultimately the destroyer of the universe, also may be considered its Lord. Therefore, since Atri Muni did not specifically mention whom he wanted, all three — Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva — came before him. They said, “Since you were thinking of having a son exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the universe, your determination will be fulfilled.” In other words, one’s determination is fulfilled according to the strength of one’s devotion. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25): yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ. If one is attached to a particular demigod, one is promoted to the abode of that demigod; if one is attached to the Pitās, or forefathers, one is promoted to their planet; and similarly if one is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, one is promoted to the abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Atri Muni had no clear conception of the Lord of the universe; therefore the three presiding deities who are actually the lords of the universe in the three departments of the modes of nature all came before him. Now, according to the strength of his determination for a son, his desire would be fulfilled by the grace of the Lord.

SB 4.1.31

You will have sons who will represent a partial manifestation of our potency, and because we desire all good fortune for you, those sons will glorify your reputation throughout the world.

The great sage Maitreya continued: Upon hearing Atri Muni speak in that way, the three great deities smiled, and they replied in the following sweet words.

SB 4.1.32

Thus, while the couple looked on, the three deities Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara disappeared from that place after bestowing upon Atri Muni the benediction.

SB 4.1.33

Thereafter, from the partial representation of Brahmā, the moon-god was born of them; from the partial representation of Viṣṇu, the great mystic Dattātreya was born; and from the partial representation of Śaṅkara [Lord Śiva], Durvāsā was born. Now you may hear from me of the many sons of Aṅgirā.

Wonderful past times, it shows that without knowing the name of the God and the qualities of the God. (Second canto great details about the lord are discussed, who He is, what his Qualities are, what He likes.. ) Atri muni did not know who the God is what His qualities are.. Hence three lords appear infront of Him. He wanted someone like Krsna but he did not know who Krsna is. He wanted a controllers of the world. Whereas Vasudeva and diwali specifically meditated on Krsna for thousands of years. 

Son of Lord Brahma

Brother of Shiva 

Devotee of Lord Vishnu…

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.3 TODAY (09/01/21):

1. The instructions of Lord Kapila to His mother Devahūti are fully described in the Third Canto (Chapters 25-32) of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and anyone who follows the instructions can achieve the same liberation obtained by Devahūti. 
2. The Lord spoke Bhagavad-gītā, and thereby Arjuna achieved self-realization, and even today anyone who follows the path of Arjuna can also attain the same benefit as Śrī Arjuna. The scriptures are meant for this purpose.
3. Simply by following the instructions imparted by Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Kapila, one can obtain the highest benefit, even today.
4. The word ātma-gatim is significant in the sense of perfect knowledge of the Supreme. One should not be satisfied simply by knowing the qualitative equality of the Lord and the living being.
5. One should know the Lord as much as can be known by our limited knowledge. It is impossible for the Lord to be known perfectly as He is, even by such liberated persons as Śiva or Brahmā, so what to speak of other demigods or men in this world. 
6. By following the principles of the great devotees and the instructions available in the scriptures, one can know to a considerable extent the features of the Lord.
7. His Lordship Kapila, the incarnation of the Lord, instructed His mother fully about the personal form of the Lord, and thereby she realized the personal form of the Lord and was able to achieve a place in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka where Lord Kapila predominates. 
8. Every incarnation of the Lord has His own abode in the spiritual sky.  Therefore Lord Kapila also has His separate Vaikuṇṭha planet. The spiritual sky is not void. There are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, and in each of them the Lord, by His innumerable expansions, predominates, and the pure devotees who are there also live in the same style as the Lord and His eternal associates.
9. The impersonal conception of the supreme truth is just a process of negation of the form of the Lord from the mundane conception of the supreme truth.
10. The living entities, by their very constitution, are spiritually as good as the Lord, and the only difference between them is that the Lord is always supreme and pure, without contamination by the modes of material nature, whereas the living entities are apt to be contaminated by association with the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. 
11. This contamination by the material modes can be washed off completely by knowledge, renunciation and devotional service. 
12. Devotional service to the Lord is the ultimate issue, and therefore those who are directly engaged in the devotional service of the Lord not only acquire the necessary knowledge in spiritual science, but also attain detachment from material connection and are thus promoted to the kingdom of God by complete liberation. 
13. Even in the nonliberated stage, a living entity can be directly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa or His plenary expansions like Rāma and Narasiṁha.  
14. Thus, with the proportionate improvement of such transcendental devotional service, the devotee makes definite progress toward brahma-gatim or ātma-gatim, and ultimately attains kapilasya gatim, or the abode of the Lord, without difficulty. 
15. Letter to Indrani – You are very fortunate to have found contact with Krsna through Krsna consciousness movement and, yes, peace is only to be found where there is Krsna consciousness.
16. Letter to Ekayani – All questions will be clarified if you simply read our books very thoroughly and follow the simple process of devotional service as we have given it to chant regularly and rigidly observe the rules and regulations.
17. This is our principle that the spiritual science becomes revealed to the devotee from within the heart according to the degree of his surrender to Krsna.  
18. The antiseptic potency of devotional service to the Lord is so great that it can neutralize the material infection even in the present life of a devotee. A devotee does not need to wait for his next birth for complete liberation.
    
    

SB 2.7.3

The Lord then appeared as the Kapila incarnation, being the son of the prajāpati brāhmaṇa Kardama and his wife, Devahūti, along with nine other women [sisters]. He spoke to His mother about self-realization, by which, in that very lifetime, she became fully cleansed of the mud of the material modes and thereby achieved liberation, the path of Kapila.

Purport

The instructions of Lord Kapila to His mother Devahūti are fully described in the Third Canto (Chapters 25-32) of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and anyone who follows the instructions can achieve the same liberation obtained by Devahūti. The Lord spoke Bhagavad-gītā, and thereby Arjuna achieved self-realization, and even today anyone who follows the path of Arjuna can also attain the same benefit as Śrī Arjuna. The scriptures are meant for this purpose. Foolish, unintelligent persons make their own interpretations by imagination and thus mislead their followers, causing them to remain in the dungeon of material existence. However, simply by following the instructions imparted by Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Kapila, one can obtain the highest benefit, even today.

The word ātma-gatim is significant in the sense of perfect knowledge of the Supreme. One should not be satisfied simply by knowing the qualitative equality of the Lord and the living being. One should know the Lord as much as can be known by our limited knowledge. It is impossible for the Lord to be known perfectly as He is, even by such liberated persons as Śiva or Brahmā, so what to speak of other demigods or men in this world. Still, by following the principles of the great devotees and the instructions available in the scriptures, one can know to a considerable extent the features of the Lord. His Lordship Kapila, the incarnation of the Lord, instructed His mother fully about the personal form of the Lord, and thereby she realized the personal form of the Lord and was able to achieve a place in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka where Lord Kapila predominates. Every incarnation of the Lord has His own abode in the spiritual sky. 

SP letter to Ekayani dasi – 25th july 1970 – (https://vedabase.io/en/library/letters/letter-to-ekayani-5/)

So far the Avataras are concerned there are two types. One is called nitya and the other is called naimittic. Nitya means eternal and namittic Avataras appear for some specific function in the material worlds. Nitya Avataras have their eternal abodes in the spiritual sky from which they may sometimes descend to the material worlds, but naimittic Avataras are expansions of Nitya Avataras for some timely purpose. So the non-human forms of Avataras do not have their planets in the spiritual sky.

Lord Brahma has an eternal planet, Lord Shiva has an eternal planet.. 

I am very glad to know that you are reading our literatures and you are very thoughtful about them. I am always happy to answer your questions, but you should practice to get the answers from your husband and try to find them out by reading further in our books. All questions will be clarified if you simply read our books very thoroughly and follow the simple process of devotional service as we have given it to chant regularly and rigidly observe the rules and regulations. This is our principle that the spiritual science becomes revealed to the devotee from within the heart according to the degree of his surrender to Krsna.  You are a very hopeful student and intelligent devotee, so you continue to pursue your devotional activities patiently and Krsna will open your path of Krsna consciousness so you will progress more and more.

BG 4.11 (ye yata mam… ), – As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.

SB Canto Intro page 17 – He responds to the proportion of the devotee’s affection for Him.

Letter to Teyijas May 20th 1970 (https://vedabase.io/en/library/letters/letter-to-tejiyas/)- The Lord He will reveal himself to you in proportion to your sincere efforts to satisfy Him only.

SB 1.8.17 – Lord reciprocates the dependence of the devotee 

It all depends on our surrender to Krsna. The ultimate verse of BG is saranam. Mama Ekam Saranam Vraja.. Surrender only to Krsna nothing else. 

Letter to Indrani (https://vedabase.io/en/library/letters/letter-to-indrani/)

My Dear Daughter Indrani,

Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to receive your letter dated Berlin, 13rd July, 1970, and I am so glad also to learn that you have nicely appreciated our Sankirtana movement and now you are married to one of our devotees, Krsna das.

You are very fortunate to have found contact with Krsna through Krsna consciousness movement and, yes, peace is only to be found where there is Krsna consciousness. I have been very happy to accept you as my initiated disciple and your spiritual name is Indrani devi Dasi. Indrani is the wife of Indra the king of the heavenly planet. I have received your beads and have duly chanted upon them. Now they are returned to you by separate air post.Please follow all the rules and regulations of Krsna consciousness and chant at least sixteen rounds of beads daily, chant Hare Krsna mantra always, go on Sankirtana as often as possible and be happy. I know that you are a very suitable match for Krsna das. You are both young, intelligent and sincere devotees. So please work combinedly with great enthusiasm to establish our branch of ISKCON in Berlin. That is my desire.

Regarding your question why does the moon appear in pictures of Krsna yet the abode of Krsna is described as having no need of sunlight or moonlight, the answer is that these pictures show Krsna as He appeared in Vrndavana 5,000 years ago. It may be understood therefore that it is the moon of this world which is seen along with Krsna in these pictures. Please try to read our literatures very carefully and try to understand the philosophy with the help of your good husband.

Therefore Lord Kapila also has His separate Vaikuṇṭha planet. The spiritual sky is not void. There are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, and in each of them the Lord, by His innumerable expansions, predominates, and the pure devotees who are there also live in the same style as the Lord and His eternal associates.

When the Lord descends personally or by His personal plenary expansions, such incarnations are called aṁśa, kalā, guṇa, yuga and manvantara incarnations, and when the Lord’s associates descend by the order of the Lord, such incarnations are called śaktyāveśa incarnations. But in all cases all the incarnations are supported by the invulnerable statements of the authorized scriptures, and not by any imagination of some self-interested propagandist. Such incarnations of the Lord, in either of the above categories, always declare the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be the ultimate truth. The impersonal conception of the supreme truth is just a process of negation of the form of the Lord from the mundane conception of the supreme truth.

Krishna’s form is not subjected to the mundane conception of the lord’s form. They put forward a straw man argument.. They say Krsna has a material body. The whole thing is false. A straw man (sometimes written as strawman) is a form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false one.^[1] One who engages in this fallacy is said to be “attacking a straw man”.

Maharaj sent a letter to GBC about the raging debate on female diksha gurus. CC ADI 1.35 & 47 – explains Siksha and diksha gurus are equal. One senior devotee said the shiksha guru is an informal position.. They set up a straw man argument. They make their own things up. “Informal fallacy” means if it is false it does not have any substance to it. BHakti Vinod Thakur accepted Jagannath Babaji is it informal? No it is not, BVT accepted him as his guru and depended on him to show where Caitanya Mahaprabhu was there… 

The real subject is Krsna’s body is not mundane material body &  Siksha guru is not informal. Tell where ins sastra it is said that siksha guru is informal. Srila Prabhupada is the siksha guru of everyone in this movement. Is our relationship with SP informal? Informal if you want to follow you follow or you do not follow. 

The mayavadis say Krsna has material world and is influenced by the modes. 

The living entities, by their very constitution, are spiritually as good as the Lord, and the only difference between them is that the Lord is always supreme and pure, without contamination by the modes of material nature, whereas the living entities are apt to be contaminated by association with the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. This contamination by the material modes can be washed off completely by knowledge, renunciation and devotional service. Devotional service to the Lord is the ultimate issue, 

We discussed yesterday that the purpose of hearing BG & SB and reading Srila Prabhupada purports is to get convinced that the rest of my life I live doing devotional service. All the spare time I have and eventually every minute I want to spend in doing devotional service. That is the purpose. Constant dev service, constant thinking about the service of the service of the lord.  

and therefore those who are directly engaged in the devotional service of the Lord not only acquire the necessary knowledge in spiritual science, but also attain detachment from material connection and are thus promoted to the kingdom of God by complete liberation, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

Even in the nonliberated stage, a living entity can be directly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa or His plenary expansions like Rāma and Narasiṁha.

This is the special mercy of Lord Caitanya, nowhere this is taught. 

 Thus, with the proportionate improvement of such transcendental devotional service, the devotee makes definite progress toward brahma-gatim or ātma-gatim, and ultimately attains kapilasya gatim, or the abode of the Lord, without difficulty. The antiseptic potency of devotional service to the Lord is so great that it can neutralize the material infection even in the present life of a devotee. A devotee does not need to wait for his next birth for complete liberation.

https://youtu.be/P4I2Hm6ZWgs?t=4186

https://youtu.be/EILR0jpohUc?t=4475

https://youtu.be/O0IzYdRr_es?t=4280