Weekly Sanga

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 147 te ca sarve ’tra vaikuṇṭhe śrī-nārāyaṇam īśvaram tat-tad-varṇādi-yuktātma- deva-rūpaṁ vicakṣate TRANSLATION In Vaikuṇṭha each devotee sees the Supreme Lord Śrī Nārāyaṇa in the form of the particular Lord he worships, with suitable complexion and other qualities.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 136 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca tataḥ kān api siddhāntān sva-prajñā-gocarān api aicchaṁ tad-ānanāc chrotuṁ śrotreṇa prerito haṭhāt TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: I then wanted to hear Nārada explain from his own mouth certain philosophical conclusions about which I was already thinking. My ears were forcing me to do this.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 125 śrī-bhagavan-nārada uvāca bho gopa-nandana śrīmad- vaikuṇṭheśānukampita mukha-mlāny-ādinā kiñcic TRANSLATION The great master Nārada said: My dear son of a cowherd, you have received the mercy of the divine Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Yet from signs like the paleness of your face you appear depressed, like someone suffering misfortune.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 111 tathāpy asyāṁ vraja-kṣmāyāṁ prabhuṁ sa-parivārakam viharantaṁ tathā nekṣe khidyate smeti man-manaḥ TRANSLATION Yet my mind would still feel sad because I couldn’t see the Lord and His companions play as they do here in the land of Vraja.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 107 kṛṣṇasya bhakta-vātsalyād yasya kasyāpi karmaṇaḥ saṅkīrtanaṁ mahān eva guṇaḥ śrī-prabhu-toṣaṇaḥ TRANSLATION “Kṛṣṇa is so kind to His devotees that saṅkīrtana of any of His activities is glorious and beneficial, and satisfying to our divine master.”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 91 yathā-kālaṁ tataḥ sarve niḥsaranto mahā-śriyaḥ ājñayā nirgamānicchuṁ yuktyā māṁ bahir ānayan TRANSLATION When the time came to stop, everyone, on the request of Lakṣmīdevī, started to leave, but I didn’t want to go. The devotees had to persuade me to let them escort me outside.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 78 utthāpya tair eva balāc cireṇa saṁjñāṁ praṇīto ’śru-nipāta-vighnam sammārjanenābhibhavan karābhyāṁ netre prayatnād udamīlayaṁ dve TRANSLATION With some effort, those attendants lifted me up, and after some time I regained consciousness. I wiped away with my hands the flood of tears that blocked my sight, and with difficulty I finally opened my eyes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 79 tāvad dayālu-pravareṇa tena snehena gambhīra-mṛdu-svareṇa svastho bhavāgaccha javena vatsety- ādy ucyamānaṁ śrutavān vaco ’ham TRANSLATION Then I heard the Lord, that best of merciful persons, tell me in a deep, gentle voice, “Please come back to your senses. Dear boy, come here quickly!”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 62-63 mahā-mahā-citra-vicitra-geha- dvāra-pradeśān atigamya vegāt śrīman-mahalla-pravarasya madhye prāsāda-vargaiḥ pariṣevitāṅghrim prāsādam ekaṁ vividhair mahattā- pūrair viśiṣṭaṁ para-sīma-yātaiḥ prāpto ’ham āditya-sudhāṁśu-koṭi- kāntiṁ mano-locana-vṛtti-coram TRANSLATION I passed rapidly through many districts, wonderfully splendid, with all kinds of houses and gates, and then I entered the most excellent transcendental neighborhood. There I came to one palace at whose feet many others stood in attendance, a palace distinct, overflowing in greatness, where excellence seemed to reach its highest limit. Radiant like millions of suns and moons, it captured my mind and my eyes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 56-57 itthaṁ harṣa-prakarṣeṇot- tiṣṭhann upaviśan bhṛśam gopure vartamāno ’haṁ tair javenaitya pārṣadaiḥ antaḥ praveśyamāno yad dṛṣṭavān adbhutādbhutam vaktuṁ tad dvi-parārdhena sahasrāsyo ’pi na kṣamaḥ TRANSLATION Thus I thrilled with delight as I waited in the gateway to Vaikuṇṭha. I excitedly stood up and sat down, stood up and sat down, till the associates of the Lord returned, rushing back, and escorted me inside. The amazing things I then saw, more wonderful than wonderful, even the thousand-headed Ananta Śeṣa would be unable to describe, even in a lifetime of Brahmā.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 42-43 tathāpi bhavato brahman prapañcāntar-gatasya hi prapañca-parivārāntar- dṛṣṭi-garbhita-cetasaḥ tad-dṛṣṭāntākulenaiva tat tat syād bodhitaṁ sukham tathety ucyeta yat kiñcit tad āgaḥ kṣamatāṁ hariḥ TRANSLATION Nonetheless, my dear brāhmaṇa, you are a resident of the material world, and your intelligence is confined because you can see only matter. Therefore I say “It is like this” so that by material examples you might understand various things more easily. May Lord Hari forgive this offense.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 28 ke ’py ekaśo dvandvaśo ’nye yugapad bahuśo ’pare pūrva-pūrvādhika-śrīkāḥ praviśanti purīṁ prabhoḥ TRANSLATION Many others came — some alone, others in pairs, and yet others together in larger groups — and all of them, each more splendid than the last, entered the city of the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 14 tad asvī-kṛtya tu svīyaṁ govardhana-bhuvaṁ vapuḥ teṣāṁ prabhāvatas tādṛg- guṇa-rūpādy alambhayam TRANSLATION But I refused their offer, and instead, by their influence, my own body born in Govardhana assumed qualities and beauty like theirs.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 10-11 tāvat taiḥ pārṣadair etya vaikuṇṭhaṁ netum ātmanaḥ yānam āropitaḥ sadyo vyutthāyācālayaṁ dṛśau sarvam anyādṛśaṁ dṛṣṭvā vismitaḥ svasthatāṁ gataḥ pārśve ’paśyaṁ purā dṛṣṭāṁs tān evātma-priyaṁ-karān TRANSLATION At that moment the associates of the Lord arrived in an airplane to take me to Vaikuṇṭha. They at once put me on that plane and carried me away, and when I opened my eyes I saw that everything was different. Shocked, I returned to full consciousness and saw them beside me, the same benefactors I had met before.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 184 śrīman-nāma prabhos tasya śrī-mūrter apy ati-priyam jagad-dhitaṁ sukhopāsyaṁ sa-rasaṁ tat-samaṁ na hi TRANSLATION Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 184 śrīman-nāma prabhos tasya śrī-mūrter apy ati-priyam jagad-dhitaṁ sukhopāsyaṁ sa-rasaṁ tat-samaṁ na hi TRANSLATION Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 168 vicitra-līlā-rasa-sāgarasya prabhor vicitrāt sphuritāt prasādāt vicitra-saṅkīrtana-mādhurī sā na tu sva-yatnād iti sādhu sidhyet TRANSLATION The wonderfully varied sweetness of saṅkīrtana emerges only by the mercy shown in various wonderful ways by the Lord, the wonderful ocean of the varied rasas of pastimes. This sweetness one can never truly achieve by one’s own endeavor.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 167 nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam ārti-bhārān meghaṁ vinā prāvṛṣi cātakānām rātrau viyogāt sva-pate rathāṅgī- vargasya cākrośana-vat pratīhi TRANSLATION Like the distressed crying of the cātaka birds on a cloudless day of the rainy season, or the lamenting of a flock of cakravākī birds when parted from their husbands at night, the saṅkīrtana of the Lord’s names arises when one is burdened by too much pain.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 162 ekasminn indriye prādur- bhūtaṁ nāmāmṛtaṁ rasaiḥ āplāvayati sarvāṇīn- driyāṇi madhurair nijaiḥ TRANSLATION When the nectar of the Lord’s name appears in just one sense, all the senses are flooded with their own sweet tastes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 157 ekākitvena tu dhyānaṁ vivikte khalu sidhyati saṅkīrtanaṁ vivikte ’pi bahūnāṁ saṅgato ’pi ca TRANSLATION Meditation one can successfully perform only in seclusion, but saṅkīrtana either in seclusion or in the company of many others.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 150 evaṁ prabhor dhyāna-ratair mataś ced buddhyedṛśaṁ tatra vivecanīyam dhyānaṁ parisphūrti-viśeṣa-niṣṭhā sambandha-mātraṁ manasā smṛtir hi TRANSLATION If those attached to meditation on the Lord still insist that remembering is of greater importance, with their intelligence they should make the following distinction: In meditation the Lord reveals Himself fully with His particular qualities, but in remembrance the mind merely comes in contact with the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 146 premṇo ’ntar-aṅgaṁ kila sādhanottamaṁ manyeta kaiścit smaraṇaṁ na kīrtanam ekendriye vāci vicetane sukhaṁ bhaktiḥ sphuraty āśu hi kīrtanātmikā TRANSLATION Some think that remembering, rather than chanting, is the essential means of devotional practice, the means that most effectively leads to prema, for bhakti in the form of chanting appears quickly and easily, and in only one sense, that of speech, which is not itself alive and conscious.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 143 tvarā ced vidyate śrīmad- vaikuṇṭhālokane tava sarvābhīṣṭa-prada-śreṣṭhāṁ tāṁ śrī-vraja-bhuvaṁ vraja TRANSLATION If you are in a hurry to see the divine world of Vaikuṇṭha, then go to Śrī Vraja-bhūmi, the place that can best award the fulfillment of all your ambitions.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 133 nijendriya-manaḥ-kāya- ceṣṭā-rūpāṁ na viddhi tām nitya-satya-ghanānanda- rūpā sā hi guṇātigā TRANSLATION You should not consider devotional service merely an activity of the body, senses, and mind. It is in fact the eternal absolute reality, manifesting itself as the most intense ecstasy, beyond the material modes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 128 teṣāṁ kasmiṁścid ekasmiñ śraddhayānuṣṭhite sati svayam āvirbhavet premā śrīmat-kṛṣṇa-padābjayoḥ TRANSLATION When one engages with faith in even one of these forms of bhakti, pure love for the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa automatically arises.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 127 tathāpi tad-rasa-jñaiḥ sā bhaktir nava-vidhāñjasā sampādyate vicitraitad- rasa-mādhurya-labdhaye TRANSLATION Yet devotees who understand the rasas of devotional service may practice all nine forms of bhakti to easily obtain the sweetness of its diverse tastes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 120 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca nija-stutyā tayā tasmin hriyā tūṣṇīṁ sthite prabhau bhagavat-pārṣadās te mām āśliṣyocuḥ suhṛd-varāḥ TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: Abashed at hearing himself praised, Lord Śiva remained silent. Then the associates of Lord Viṣṇu, who were Lord Śiva’s dearmost friends, embraced me and spoke.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 120 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca nija-stutyā tayā tasmin hriyā tūṣṇīṁ sthite prabhau bhagavat-pārṣadās te mām āśliṣyocuḥ suhṛd-varāḥ TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: Abashed at hearing himself praised, Lord Śiva remained silent. Then the associates of Lord Viṣṇu, who were Lord Śiva’s dearmost friends, embraced me and spoke.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 113 atrāpi bhagavantaṁ yad dṛṣṭavān asi tādṛśam sad-guroḥ kṛpayā kṛṣṇa- didṛkṣā-bhara-kāritam TRANSLATION Yet even here you have seen the Supreme Lord in this form because your divine guru gave you his mercy. That mercy created in you the strong desire to see Kṛṣṇa, which impelled Kṛṣṇa to reveal Himself.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 107 athāpi govardhana-gopa-putras tam arhasi tvaṁ mathureśa-bhaktaḥ tad-eka-bhakti-priya-vipra-śiṣyas tadīya-tan-mantra-paro ’nuraktaḥ TRANSLATION But you deserve to go to Vaikuṇṭha, O son of a Govardhana cowherd, for you are a devotee of the Lord of Mathurā, a disciple of a brāhmaṇa attached only to the Lord’s devotional service, a soul dedicated to the Lord’s mantra given you by your guru, and one who is faithful in your service to the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 98 yady asya mat-pituḥ samyak karuṇā syān tadā tvayā śroṣyate mahimā tasya gatvā cānubhaviṣyate TRANSLATION If you receive the full mercy of my father, you will hear the glories of Vaikuṇṭha and go there to see them for yourself.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 100 vicāra-jātataḥ svasya sambhāvya tad-ayogyatām prarudañ śoka-vegena mohaṁ prāpyāpataṁ kṣaṇāt TRANSLATION From the many thoughts flashing through my mind I concluded I was unfit to go. I cried profusely, and the force of my sorrow made me faint and suddenly fall to the ground.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 93 vasanti ca tapo-loke prabhuṁ nārāyaṇaṁ vinā anāthānām iva kṣemaṁ vahantas tan-nivāsinām TRANSLATION They live on Tapoloka, where they give reassurance and security to the residents, who at times feel helpless in the absence of their Lord Nārāyaṇa.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 80 tad-darśana-svabhāvottha- praharṣākṛṣṭa-mānasaḥ nājñāsiṣaṁ kim apy antar bahiś cānyan nija-priyam TRANSLATION So attracted was my mind by the spontaneous joy of seeing them that I was aware of nothing but them, internally or externally, not even things most dear to me.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 70 abodhayaṁ mano ’nena maheśenaiva sā khalu līlā-viśeṣa-vaicitrī kṛtā mūrti-viśeṣataḥ TRANSLATION I told my mind that it is Lord Śiva himself who performs these wonderfully varied pastimes in the special form of Lord Gopāla.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 70 abodhayaṁ mano ’nena maheśenaiva sā khalu līlā-viśeṣa-vaicitrī kṛtā mūrti-viśeṣataḥ TRANSLATION I told my mind that it is Lord Śiva himself who performs these wonderfully varied pastimes in the special form of Lord Gopāla.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 62 śrīman-madana-gopālān nija-prāṇeṣṭa-daivatāt abhinnaḥ śrī-maheśo ’yam uta tad-bhāva-vardhanaḥ TRANSLATION This Lord Śiva, I realized, is nondifferent from Madana-gopāla, the Deity I worship, the Lord more dear to me than life itself. Lord Śiva serves the cause of love for my Lord by promoting it everywhere.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 61 jñātvā bhagavatā tena dṛṣṭyādiṣṭasya nandinaḥ upadeśena śuddhena svayaṁ me ’sphurad añjasā TRANSLATION Lord Śiva, reading my thoughts, ordered Nandīśvara with a knowing glance, and through Nandīśvara’s pure guidance the facts easily revealed themselves to me.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 52 paramaṁ vismayaṁ prāpto harṣaṁ caitad acintayam ko nv ayaṁ pārivārāḍhyo bhāti mukti-padopari TRANSLATION Feeling the greatest surprise and delight, I thought, “Who is this, accompanied by such an entourage, and appearing from above the abode of liberation?”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 48 vraja-bhūmāv ihāgatya sādhaye ’haṁ sva-vāñchitam vimṛśann evam aśrauṣaṁ gīta-vādyādbhuta-dhvanim TRANSLATION I was thinking that if I returned to this Vraja-bhūmi I would fulfill my desires. And then I heard some wonderful singing and music.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 42 ittham ānanda-sandoham anuvindan nimagna-dhīḥ ātmārāma ivābhūvaṁ pūrṇa-kāma ivātha vā TRANSLATION The huge treasure of ecstasy I thus obtained inundated my mind. I became like a self-contented sage or like a man whose ambitions have all been fulfilled.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 48 vraja-bhūmāv ihāgatya sādhaye ’haṁ sva-vāñchitam vimṛśann evam aśrauṣaṁ gīta-vādyādbhuta-dhvanim TRANSLATION I was thinking that if I returned to this Vraja-bhūmi I would fulfill my desires. And then I heard some wonderful singing and music.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his Govardhan retreat.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations and kirtans from his Govardhan retreat.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his studies and travels.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations and kirtans from his Puri Yatra.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 3 Text 44 pada-svābhāvikānanda- taraṅga-kṣobha-vihvale citte tad-anya-sva-prāpya- jñānam antardadhāv iva TRANSLATION Tossed by the waves of ecstasy intrinsic to that abode, my mind was overwhelmed, as if the awareness of my goal had vanished.