Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu
Today we honor the appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, with a fast until sunset, followed by a nice vegetarian feast. We share with you the Seventh Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam-Part One which describes the pastimes of Pralada Maharaja and his Demonic father Hiranyakasipu. I have included in this post, the entire scanned copy of Canto 7, Vol. 1. You can download by following the link below (it will take a few moments to open).
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 7, Vol.1 “The Science of God” by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
click the following link to veiw or save the entire scanned copy of SB-07-01-1976
Srila Prahupada...” Therefore we should pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to sit in our hearts. We should pray, bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁhaḥ: “Let Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities. Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”
The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambudvipa : SB 5.18.9 : Srila Prabhupada’s purport
This morning as I was driving up our lane, I saw a hawk flying past me with a live squirrel in his talons. And I thought, ‘how fragile is this life’. One moment the squirrel was out collecting nuts to store in his home for the winter, and the next moment, he is being carried away to his sure death. I was reminded of the famous quote “Life takes Life”, and of how all of ours lives, hang in the balance.
There is a famous Quote from the Srimad Bhagavatam:
“Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was asked by Yamarāja, “What is the most wonderful thing in this world? Can you explain?” So Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira answered, “Yes. The most wonderful thing is that at every moment one can see that his friends, his fathers, and his relatives have died, but he is thinking, ‘I shall live forever.’”” (The Science of Self Realization)
This is the great illusion (maya)
So today, I am moved to post a chapter from the book “Beyond Birth & Death” by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Chapter One entitled “We Are Not These Bodies”.
Also for a Free PDF download of entire book click the link at bottom of post.
We are seeing everyday in the News, reports of flooding, tornadoes, forest fires, and other natural disasters. There is talk of climate change and global warming. You can blame gas emissions, fossil fuels like coal, over population, and problematic land-use practices etc. But in addition to the above mentioned causes, it can be blamed on an increase of sinful activity in our society. Animal slaughter, promiscuous sex, gambling, and intoxication. This is the opinion of great sages and Vedic scholars.
“When natural disturbances occur on a planet, one should understand that a demon must have taken birth there. In the present age the number of demoniac people is increasing; therefore natural disturbances are also increasing. There is no doubt about this, as we can understand from the statements of the Bhāgavatam.” – Srila Prabhupada purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.17.4
The next purport continues the theme:
“When there are natural disturbances like blowing cyclones, too much heat or snowfall, and uprooting of trees by hurricanes, it is to be understood that the demoniac population is increasing and so the natural disturbance is also taking place. There are many countries on the globe, even at the present moment, where all these disturbances are current. This is true all over the world. There is insufficient sunshine, and there are always clouds in the sky, snowfall and severe cold. These assure that such places are inhabited by demoniac people who are accustomed to all kinds of forbidden, sinful activity.”
The following is an older post dealing with the threefold miseries.
Here is a new word for your Vaisnava Vocabulary: Bhāva. In the Glossary in the back of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 1972 Edition, the word Bhāva is defined as; the preliminary stage of transcendental love of Godhead. Bhāva is a big word and has various meanings
…The last stage of the devotional life is called bhāva, or transcendental love of Godhead.
“In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization.…This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is matured in bhāva, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called premā, the highest perfectional stage of life.” In the premā stage there is constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. So, by the slow process of devotional service, under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, one can attain the highest stage, being freed from all material attachment, from the fearfulness of one’s individual spiritual personality, and from the frustrations resulting from void philosophy. Then one can ultimately attain to the abode of the Supreme Lord. (Bhagavad-gita 4.11)
So it seem that bhāva is not only the preliminary stage of transcendental love of Godhead but we find that this preliminary stage of transcendental love is also the path to the highest perfectional stage of life, pure love or premā. There are two ways to approach the Lord, one is with awe and reverence and the other is with affection; bhāva. One who approaches the Lord with affection, is sure to advance spiritually.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam we find many references to the word Bhāva and highlighted some of them here.
Srila Prabhupäda: No, this same verse. Practice it. In this way you practice one mantra daily. Each mantra will purify you hundred yards daily. Go forward. These mantras are very powerful, given by Vyäsadeva Gosvämi, vibrated…..So we should try to learn, get it by heart, at least one shloka, two shlokas in a week. And if we chant that… Just like you are chanting so many songs, similarly, if we chant one or two verses of Srimad-Bhägavatam, that will make you very quickly advanced for spiritual realisation.
We are therefore taking so much trouble to get this transliteration, the meaning, so that the reader may take advanced step, full advantage of the mantra. It is not that to show some scholarship, that ― I know so much Sanskrit. No. It is just offered with humility to learn the mantra because one who will chant the mantra… They are all transcendental vibration. Just Hare Krishna,mantra…
This is mahä-mantra, but they are also mantras, all the verses from Bhagavad-gitä, Srimad-Bhägavatam, spoken by Krishna, spoken by…. Bhägavata also, spoken by Krishna. Vyäsadeva is incarnation of Krishna. They‘re also mantras, infallible instructions. So try to get it by heart, chanting. Either you chant by seeing the book or get it by heart, it is all the same. But try to chant one, two shlokas daily. (Lecture, April 20, 1972).
Free Download of Second Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam
I always liked the original book covers on the Srimad Bhagavatam. We are sharing with you a free pdf download of the Original Second Canto, parts One and Two. Just click on the underlined links below to view or save. Hare Krishna!
Today marks the appearance day of Lord Balarama and we honor it with a short story from the Krsna Book.
Lord Balarāma prepared Himself to meet the demon Balvala. At the time when the demon usually attacked the sacred place, there appeared a great hailstorm, the whole sky became covered with dust and the atmosphere became surcharged with a filthy smell. Just after this, the mischievous demon Balvala began to shower torrents of stool and urine and other impure substances on the arena of sacrifice. After this onslaught, the demon himself appeared with a great trident in his hand. He was a gigantic person, and his black body was like a huge mass of carbon. His hair, his beard and his mustache appeared reddish, like copper, and because of his great beard and mustache, his mouth appeared to be very dangerous and fierce. As soon as He saw the demon, Lord Balarāma prepared to attack him. He first began to consider how He could smash the great demon to pieces. Lord Balarāma called for His plow and club, and they immediately appeared before Him. The demon Balvala was flying in the sky, and at the first opportunity Lord Balarāma dragged him down with His plow and angrily smashed the demon’s head with His club. By Balarama’s striking, the forehead of the demon became fractured. There was a profuse flow of blood from his forehead, and he began to scream loudly. In this way the demon, who had been such a great disturbance to the pious brāhmaṇas, fell to the ground. His falling was like a great mountain with a red oxide peak being struck by a thunderbolt and smashed to the ground. (Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 79, The Liberation of Balvala, and Lord Balarāma’s Touring the Sacred Places)
In honor of the appearance day of Lord Nrsimha, we are posting a beautiful verse and purport from the Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.8 glorifying the Lord and his devotees.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.
This morning I was out in the snow, feeding a little extra birdseed to my many feathered friends. But in addition to birds and ducks, the birdseed, sunflower seeds, ground corn and kitchen scraps also attract the deer, squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks. I enjoy watching all of this activity from my kitchen window.
I remembered this verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam;
One should treat animals such as deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies exactly like one’s own son. How little difference there actually is between children and these innocent animals. (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.14.9)
In the purport to this verse Srila Prabhupada begins to explain how we should treat the animals.
One who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness understands that there is no difference between the animals and the innocent children in one’s home. Even in ordinary life, it is our practical experience that a household dog or cat is regarded on the same level as one’s children, without any envy…
