Stay Alive to Hear Bhagvatam and Share It With Others | Prabhupada Picks#1 | 21 Aug 2025

So he (Lord Brahmā) says, "jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām." Jīvanti means "to live"—if all you do is somehow or other stay alive. Jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ, just so you can attend the Bhāgavatam class, that's all you do. What do you do? Just try to stay alive all day long so the next day I can go to the Bhāgavatam class. That's all you do. "Yeah, that's all I do." Brahma says, "That's alright, jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām," because by doing that—in whatever position you're in now—you don't have to change anything. It'll change from the inside out. "Sthāne sthitaḥ śruti-gataṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ," because if that's your dedication, just to hear about Krishna, then ajita—jito—the unconquerable Ajita, becomes conquered by that person, praṇaya-rasanayā. They begin to love Kṛṣṇa so much just by hearing about him. That was the case with Rukmiṇī Devī. She never saw Kṛṣṇa, but she wrote this letter, "yasyāṅghri-paṅkaja-rajaḥ-snapanaṁ mahānto vāñchanty umā-patir ivātma-tamo-’pahatyai yarhy ambujākṣa na labheya bhavat-prasādaṁ jahyām asūn vrata-kṛśān śata-janmabhiḥ syāt" (SB 10.52.43) She never met Kṛṣṇa, but she heard about him in the court of her father. She's a princess, so they were talking about Kṛṣṇa. It's said the more she heard about it, it was like, "That's who I'm going to marry. I'm going to marry him." And she was so determined that she wrote this note to Kṛṣṇa and sent it to him. It was like, "Look, you marry me, or I'm going to kill myself through austerities." That's what this verse says. "Yasyāṅghri-rajaḥ-snapanaṁ mahanto" says, "Great souls like Lord Shiva, they purify themselves by taking the dust of Your lotus feet and putting them on their heads." She said, "If I cannot attain your mercy, I'm going to perform such severe austerities that I'll be forced to give up my life. And then maybe, after many lifetimes of doing this, you'll give me your mercy and marry me." All she did was hear about it. And then the wives of the brāhmaṇas—all they did was hear about Kṛṣṇa from the marketplace. They went to the weekend market. What's that called? A farmers' market. They went to the farmers' market, and they were buying ingredients to assist their husbands in these yajñas. And there were some residents of Vṛndāvan there, and they were like, "Kṛṣṇa, this... Kṛṣṇa, that..."—Kṛṣṇa-kathā going on in the marketplace. They heard it. They overheard it. They discussed it. They fell in love with Kṛṣṇa, so much so that they're exalted way above their husbands. It's way above this so-called Brāhmaṇism, performing yajnas. It becomes a fact that one understands everything by Kṛṣṇa-kathā. ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #prabhupadapicks #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna