Personal deity worship | 20 Aug 2023 | Detroit temple | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

On the bank of the river Bhima Rati is the Deity called Swami Kartikeya. After visiting Kartikeya, Lord Golram gradually proceeded towards Shailapur, a pilgrimage city in this province of Maharashtra. Shailapur is one of the biggest districts in the Maharashtra province. He then gradually proceeded towards Dharmī-dādiś. Southern India is divided into 5 parts called pañca-dharmīda. Northern India is also divided into 5 parts called pañca-gōda. And all the important ācāryas of the modern age, namely Śaṅkara Ācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Mādhva Ācārya, Viṣṇu Swāmi, and Nimbāraka, invented themselves in these dharmīda provinces. Lord Caitanya, however, appeared in Bengal, which is part of the five Gauḍa Deshas. The most important place of pilgrimage in southern India, or Dravida, is Venkatācāla, commonly known as Balaji. After visiting this place, Lord Bāla Rāma proceeded towards Viṣṇukānti. From there, He proceeded to the banks of the Kaveri. While going to Viṣṇukānti, He visited Śivakānti. Lord Balaram took His bath in River Kaveri and then gradually reached Rangaśetra. The biggest Viṣṇu temple in the world is in Rangaśetra, and the Viṣṇu Deity there is celebrated as Ranganātha. There is a similar temple of Ranganātha in Vrindāvana. Although not as big as the temple in Rangaśetra, it is the biggest in Vrindāvana. After visiting Rangasitra, Lord Balaram gradually proceeded towards Madura, commonly known as the Mathura of Southern India. After visiting this place, He gradually proceeded towards Setubandha, Setubandha, the place where Lord Ramchandra constructed the stone bridge from India to Lanka, Ceylon. In this particularly holy place, Lord Balaram distributed 10,000 cows to the local brahmana priests. It is the Vedic culture that when a rich visitor goes to any place of pilgrimage, he gives the local priests houses, cows, ornaments, and garments as gifts of charity.

There is a stand over there.

This system of visiting the place of pilgrimage and providing the local Brahmin priests with all necessities of life has greatly deteriorated in this age of Kali. The richer section of the population because of its degradation of Vedic culture, is no longer attracted by the places of pilgrimage. And the brahmana priests who depend on such visitors also have deteriorated in their professional duty of helping visitors. These brahmana priests in the places of pilgrimage are called panda or pandita. This means that they were formerly very learned brahmanas and used to guide visitors visitors in all the details of the purpose of coming there, and thus both the visitors and the priests benefited by mutual cooperation. It is clear from the description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that when Lord Balarama was visiting these different places of pilgrimage, He properly followed the Vedic system. After distributing cows at Setubandha, Lord Balarama proceeded towards Kṛtamāra. And the Tamtapanni rivers. These two rivers are celebrated as sacred, and Lord Balaram bathed in them both. He then proceeded towards the Malaya Hill, where the hill— this hill is very great and is said to be one of the seven peaks of the Malaya Hills. The great sage Agastya used to live here, and Lord Balaram visited and offered his respects by bowing down before him. After taking the sage's blessings, Lord Balarama, with the sage's permission, proceeded towards the Indian Ocean. At the point of the cape, today known as Cape Comorin, is a big temple of the goddess Durga, who is known there as Kanyakumari. This temple of Kanyakumari was also visited by Lord Ramchandra, and therefore it is to be understood that this temple has been existing for millions of years. From there, Lord Balaram went to visit the pilgrimage city known as Palgunathirtha, which is on the shore of the Indian Ocean, or the Southern Ocean. Palgunathirtha is celebrated because Lord Vishnu in His incarnation of Ananta is lying there. From Palgunathirtha, Lord Balaram went on to visit another pilgrimage spot known as Pancha Pharsana.

Parasa.

There he also bathed according to the regular principles and observed the ritualistic ceremonies. This site is also celebrated as the shrine of Lord Vishnu because Lord Balaram distributed 10,000 cows to the local Brahmana priests. From Cape Comorin, Lord Balaram towards— turned towards Kerala. The country of Kerala is still existing in southern India under the name of South thereafter. After visiting this place, he came to, uh, he came to Gokarna Temple, where Lord Śiva is constantly worshiped. Balaram then visited the temple of Aryadeva, which is completely surrounded by water. From that island, he went on to a place known as Śurparaka. This— after this, he bathed in the rivers, uh, known as Tapi Prayoshni in Nirvit India. And then he came to the forest known as Dandakaranya. This is the same Dandakaranya forest where Lord Ramcharana lived in exile. Lord Balaram next came to the banks of the river Narmada, the biggest river in Central India. On the bank of this sacred Narmada is a pilgrimage place, spot known as Mahishmati purva. After bathing there according to regular principles, Lord Balaram returned to Prabhasa-kirta, where he began his journey. When Lord Balaram returned to Prabhasa-kirta, he heard from the brahmanas that most of the kshatriyas in the battle of Kurukshetra had been killed. Balaram felt relieved to hear that the burden of the world had been reduced. Lord Krishna and Dharam appeared on this earth to lessen the burden of military strength created by the ambitious satya kings. This is the way of material life. Not being satisfied by the absolute necessities of life, people ambitiously create extra demands, and their illegal desires are checked by the laws of nature or the laws of God, appearing as famine, war, pestilence and similar catastrophes. Lord Balaram heard that although most of the Shaktis had been killed, the Kurus were still engaged in fighting. Therefore, he returned to the battlefield just on the day Bhishma Sena and Duryodhana were engaged in a personal duel. As the well-wisher of both of them, Lord Balaram wanted to stop them, but they would not When Lord Balaram appeared on the scene, King Yudhishthira and his younger brothers Nakula and Sahadeva, as well as Lord Krishna and Arjuna, immediately offered him their respectful obeisances, but they did not speak at all. The reason they were silent was that Lord Balaram was somewhat affectionate toward Duryodhana, who had learned from Balaramji the art of fighting with a club. When the fighting was going on, King Yudhishthira and others thought that Balaram might have come there to say something in favor of Duryodhana, and therefore they remained silent. Both Duryodhana and Bhima-sena were enthusiastic, very enthusiastic in fighting with clubs, and in the midst of a large audience, each very skillfully tried to strike the other. While attempting to do so, they appeared to be dancing, but nonetheless it was clear that both of them were very angry. Lord Balaram, wanting to stop the fighting, said, "My dear King Duryodhan and Bhimsena, I know both of you are great fighters and are well known to the world as great heroes, but still I think that Bhima is superior to Duryodhan in bodily strength. On the other hand, Duryodhan is superior in the art of fighting with a club. Taking this into consideration, my opinion is that neither of you is inferior to the other in fighting." Under the circumstances, there is very little chance that one of you will be defeated by the other. Therefore, I suggest you not waste your time fighting in this way. I wish you to stop this unnecessary fight. The good instruction given by Lord Balaram to Bhima Sena and Duryodhana was intended for the equal benefit of both of them, but they were so enwrapped in anger against each other that they could only remember their long-standing personal enmity. Even though only the killing of the other— each thought only of a killing of the other, and they did not give much importance to the instruction of Lord Balaram. Both of them then became like madmen in remembering the strong accusations of ill-behavior they exchanged with each other. Lord Balaram, being able to understand the destiny awaiting them, was not eager to go further in the matter. Therefore, instead of staying, he decided to return to the city of Dwāraka. When he returned to Dwāraka, he was received with both great jubilation by relatives and friends headed by King Ugrasena and other elderly persons who all came forward to welcome him. After this, he again went to the holy place of pilgrimage and Nai-mishra-niya, and the sages, saintly persons, and brahmanas all stood up to receive him. They understood that Lord Balaram, although a kshatriya, was now retired from fighting business. The brahmanas and sages, who were always for peace and tranquillity, were very pleased with this. All of them embraced Balaram with great affection and induced him to perform various kinds of sacrifice in the sacred spot of Nai-mishra-niya.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Actually, Lord Balarama had no business performing the sacrifices recommended for ordinary human beings. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He Himself is the enjoyer of all sacrifices. As such, His exemplary action in performing activities was only to give a lesson to the common man to show how one should abide by the injunctions of the Vedas. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bāla, instructed the sages and saintly persons at Naimaśvaranya on the subject matter of the living entity's relationship with the cosmic creation and how one should regard this whole universe and how one should relate with the cosmos in order to achieve the highest goal of perfection. This supreme goal is the understanding that the whole cosmic manifestation rests on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also all-pervading, even within the minutest atoms, by the function of His paramātmā feature. Lord Bālaṁ then took His avabṛhṭa bath, which is taken after finishing sacrificial performances. After taking His bath, He dressed Himself in new silken garments and decorated Himself with beautiful jeweler. Amidst his relatives and friends, he appeared to be a shining full moon amidst the luminaries in the sky. Lord Balaram is the Personality of Godhead Ananta Himself. Therefore, He is beyond the scope of understanding by mind, intelligence, and body. He descended exactly like a human being and behaved in that way for His own purpose. We can only explain His activities activities as the Lord's pastimes. No one can estimate the extent of unlimited demonstrations of His pastimes because He is all-powerful. Lord Balarama is the original Viṣṇu. Therefore, anyone remembering these pastimes of Lord Balarama in the morning and the evening will certainly become a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus his life will become successful in all respects. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta Purport. So the 79th chapter of Krishna, the liberation of Balbala and the Lord Balaram's touring the sacred places.

What's the next chapter, Prasad Raaval?

The meeting of Lord Krishna with Sudama Prabhu. King Parikṣit was hearing the narration of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Bāla Rāma from Śrīdev Gosvāmī. These pastimes are all transcendentally pleasurable to hear. And Maharaj Pariksit addressed Subhadra Gosvāmī as follows: My dear Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa is the bestower of both liberation and love of God simultaneously. Anyone who becomes a devotee of the Lord automatically attains liberation without having to make a separate attempt. Because of Lord, Lord is unlimited. His pastimes and activity for creating, maintaining, and destroying the whole cosmic manifestation are also unlimited. I therefore wish to hear about other pastimes of His which you may not have described as yet. My dear Master, The conditioned souls within this material world are frustrated by searching out the pleasure of happiness derived from sense gratification. Such desires for material enjoyment are always piercing the hearts of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the transcendental topics of Lord Krishna's pastimes can relieve one from being affected by such material activity of sense gratification. I think that no intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the transcendental pastime of the Lord again and again. Simply by hearing, one can remain always steeped in transcendental pleasure. Thus one will not be attracted by material sense gratification. In this statement, Maharaj Parikshit has used two important words, vishanna and visheshudhuna. Vishanna means morals, and materialistic people invent many ways and means to become fully satisfied by actually— but they actually remain morose. I point many— I point maybe raise that sometimes transcendentalists also remain morose. Parikshit Maharaj, however, has used the word visheshagnah. These are two kinds of transcendentalists, namely the impersonalist and the personalist. Viśeṣa-gnāna refers to the personalists who are interested in transcendental very greatness. The devotee become jubilant by hearing the description of the personal activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalist who are actually more attracted by the personal feature of the Lord are only superficially attracted by the Lord's personal activity. As such, in spite of coming in contact with the pastime of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they become just as morose as the materialists do in pursuing their fruitive activities. King Parikṣit continued, the ability to talk can be perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The ability to work with one's hand can be successful only when one engages himself in the service of the Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can be peaceful only when one simply thinks of Kṛṣṇa in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This does not mean that one has to have very great thinking power. One has to understand simply that Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive by His localized aspect of Paramātmā. If one can simply think that Kṛṣṇa as a Paramātmā is everywhere, even within the atom, then one can perfect the thinking, feeling, and willing function of his mind. The perfect devotee does not see the material world as it appears to material eyes, for he sees everywhere the presence of his worshipful Lord in His Paramātmā feature. Mahārāja Parīkṣit continued by saying that the function of the ear can be perfected simply by engaging, engagement in hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord, and the function of the head can be fully utilized when the head is engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His representative, that the Lord is represented in everyone's heart in fact, and therefore the highly advanced devotees offer his respect to every living entity considering that the body is the temple of the Lord. But it is not possible for all men to become, to come to that stage of life immediately. Because that state is for first-class devotee. The second-class devotee can consider Vaishnava or the devotee of the Lord to be representative of Krishna. And the devotee who is just beginning, the neophyte or third-class devotee, can bow his head before the deities in the temple and before the spiritual master, who is the direct manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, in neophyte stage, in the intermediate stage, or in fully advanced, perfect stage, one can make the function of the head perfect by bowing down before the Lord or his representative. Similarly, one can perfect the function of the eyes by seeing the Lord and his representative. In this way, everyone can elevate the functions of the different part of his body to the highest perfection stage simply by engaging than in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one is able to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the Lord and His representative and drink the Charnamrita, the water which has washed the lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee. One, on hearing this statement At the end of Maharāja Parikṣit's sukhdeva-gosvāmī was overwhelmed with devotional ecstasy because of King Parikṣit's advanced understanding of the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Suḥdeva-gosvāmī was already engaged in describing the activities of the Lord, and when asked by Maharāja Parikṣit to describe them further, he continued: Please continue to narrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with great pleasure.

There was a very nice brahmana friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa. As a perfect brahmana, he was very elevated in transcendental knowledge, and because of his advanced knowledge, he was not at all attached to material enjoyment. Therefore, he was very peaceful and had achieved supreme control over his senses. This means that the brahmana was a perfect devotee, because unless one is a perfect devotee, he cannot achieve the highest standard of knowledge. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that—

sorry—

a person who has come to the perfection of knowledge surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, any person who has surrendered his life for the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has come to the point of perfect knowledge. The result of perfect knowledge is that one come— becomes detached from materialistic way of life. This detachment means complete control of senses, which are always attracted by material enjoyments. Enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become purified, and in that state the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the complete field of devotional service. Although the brahmana friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa was a householder, he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living. Therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically it came to him according to his destiny. This is the sign of perfect knowledge. A man in perfect knowledge knows that one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In this material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount of distress and enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The amount of happiness and distress is already predestined for every living identity. No one can increase or decrease the happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brahmana therefore did not exert himself for more material happiness. Instead, he used his time for advancement of Krishna consciousness. Externally, he appeared very poor because he had no rich clothes and could not provide rich clothes to his— for his wife because their material conditions was not very opulent. They were not even eating sufficiently, and thus both he and his wife appeared very thin. The wife was not anxious for her personal comfort, but she felt concerned for her husband, who was such a pious Brahmana. She trembled due to her weak health, and although she did not like to dictate her husband's She spoke as follows: My dear Lord, I know that Lord Krishna, the husband of Goddess of Fortune, is Your personal friend. You are also a devotee of Lord Krishna, and He is always ready to help His devotee. Even if you think that you are not rendering any devotional service to the Lord, still you are surrendered to Him, and the Lord is protector of surrendered souls.

Soul.

Moreover, I know that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ideal personality of Vedic culture. He is always in favor of Brahminical culture and is very kind to the qualified brahmanas. You are the most fortunate person because you have as your friend the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only shelter for personalities like you because You are fully surrendered unto Him. You are saintly, learned, and fully in control of your senses. Under the circumstances, Lord Krishna is your only shelter. Please therefore go to Him. I'm sure that He will immediately understand your improvised position. You are a householder, therefore without money you are in distress. But as soon as He understands your position, he will certainly give you sufficient riches so that you can live very comfortably. Lord Krishna is now the king of Bhūjā, Bhrīṣṇī, and Kandaka dynasties, and I have heard that he never leaves his capital city, Dvāraka. He is living there without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal that he immediately gives everything, even if his, even his personal self, to any person who surrenders unto him. Since he is prepared to give himself personally to his devotees, there is nothing wonderful in giving some material riches. Of course, he doesn't give much material wealth to his devotee if devotee is not very much fixed, but I think in your case he knows perfectly well how how much you are fixed in devotional service. Therefore, He will not hesitate to award you some material benefit for the bare necessities of life. In this way, the wife of Brahmana again and again requested in great humility and submission that he go to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Brahmana thought that there was no need to ask any material benefit from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But he was induced by repeated requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, "If I go there, I shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from Him." When he had decided to go to Kṛṣṇa, he asked his wife if she had anything in the home that he could offer to Kṛṣṇa. Krishna because he must take some preparation, a presentation for his friend. The wife immediately collected 4 handfuls of chipped rice from her neighborhood friends and tied it in a small cloth like a handkerchief and gave it to her husband to present to Krishna. Without waiting any longer, the brahmana took the presentation and proceeded towards Dwarka to see his Lord. He was absorbed in the thought of how he would be able to see Lord Krishna. He had no thought within his heart other than Krishna. It was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of kings of Yadu dynasty, but brahmanas were allowed to visit. When the brahmana friend of Lord Krishna went there, he along with other brahmanas had to pass through 3 military encampments. In each camp there were very big gates and he also had to pass through them. After the gate and the camps there were 16,000 big palaces, the residential quarters of 16,000 queens of Lord Krishna. The brahmana entered one palace which was very gorgeously decorated. When he entered this beautiful palace, he felt that he was swimming in the ocean of transcendental pleasure. He felt himself constantly diving and surfacing in that transcendental ocean. At that time, Lord Krishna was sitting on the bedstead of Queen Rukmini. Even from a considerable In the distance, he could see the brahmana coming to his home, and he could recognize him as his friend. Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately left his seat and came forward to receive his brahmana friend, and upon reaching him, embraced the brahmana with his two arms. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure, yet He Himself felt great pleasure upon embracing the the poor brahmana, because he was meeting his very dear friend. Lord Kṛṣṇa had him seated on his own bedstead and personally brought all kinds of foods and drinks to offer him, as is proper in receiving a worshipable guest. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Pure, but because he was playing the role of an ordinary human being, he immediately washed the brahmana's feet, and for his own purification sprinkled the water onto his head. After this, the Lord smeared the body of Brahmana with different kinds of scented pulp such as sandalwood, aguru, and saffron. He immediately burned several kinds of scented incense and, as is usual, offered him archi with burning lamps. After thus offering him an adequate welcome, and after Brahmana had taken food and drink, Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "My dear friend, it is a great fortune that you have come here." The Brahmana, being very poor, was not dressed nicely. His clothing was torn and dirty, and his body was very lean and thin. He appeared not very clean, and because of his weak body, his bones were distinctly visible. The goddess of fortune, Rukmini Devi, personally began to fan him with the chamar fan, but the other women in the palace were astonished at Lord Krishna's behavior in receiving the brahmana in that way. They were surprised to see how eager Lord Krishna was to welcome this particular brahmana. They wondered how Lord Krishna could personally a brahmana who was poor, not very neat or clean, and poorly dressed. But at the same time, they could realize that the brahmana was not an ordinary living entity. They knew that he must have performed great fire sacrifices, otherwise why was Lord Krishna, the husband of Goddess of Fortune, taking care of him so much? They were still more surprised to to see that Brahmana was seated on the bedstead of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They were especially surprised to see that Lord Kṛṣṇa had embraced him exactly as He had embraced His elder brother Balaramji, because Lord Kṛṣṇa used to embrace only Rukmini or Balaram and no one else. After Brahmana had been received nicely and seated on the Lord Krishna's own cushion bed, he and Krishna took each other's hands and began to talk about their early life when they had both lived under the protection of Gurukula, a boarding school. Lord Krishna said, my dear Brahmana friend, you are a most intelligent personality and you know very well the principles of religious life. I believe that after you finished your education at the house of our teacher and after you sufficiently remunerated him, you must have gone back to your home and accepted a suitable wife. I know very well that from the beginning you were not at all attached to materialistic way of life, nor did you desire to be very opulent materially, and therefore you are in need of money. In this material world, a person who is not attached to material opulence are very rarely found. Such unattached persons haven't the least desire to accumulate wealth and prosperity for sense gratification, but sometimes they are found to collect money just to exhibit exemplary life of a householder. They show how by proper distribution of wealth One can become an ideal householder and at the same time a great devotee. Such ideal householders are to be considered followers of my footsteps. I hope, my dear Brahmana friend, that you remember all those days of our school life when you and I were living together at the boarding school. Actually, whatever knowledge you and I received in life was accumulated in our student life. If a man is sufficiently educated in student life under the guidance of a proper teacher, his life becomes successful in the future. He can very easily cross over the ocean of nuisance, and he is not subject to the influence of illusionary energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider, consider his father to be his first teacher because By the mercy of one's father, one gets this body. Father is therefore the natural spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he who initiates us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The spiritual master who instructs the disciple about spiritual matters is called the shiksha guru. Guru, and the spiritual master who initiates the disciple is called diksha guru. Both of them are my representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one. A human being who takes advantage of these spiritual masters and receiving proper knowledge from them crosses the ocean of material existence is to be is understood as having properly utilized his human form of life. He has practical knowledge that the ultimate interest of life, which is to be gained only in this human form, is to achieve spiritual perfection and thus be transferred back home, back to Godhead. My dear friend, I am Paramātmā, the Super Soul present in everyone's heart And it is my direct order that human society follow the principles of varna and ashrama. As I have stated in the Bhagavad Gita, human society should be divided into four varnas according to the quality and action. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into four parts. One should utilize the first part of life in becoming a bona fide student receiving adequate knowledge and keeping oneself in the womb of brahmacharya so that one may completely devote his life for service of the spiritual master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmachari is meant to lead the life of austerities and penance. The householder is meant to live a regulated life of sense gratification by that no one should remain a householder for the third stage of life. In that stage, one has to return to austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmata life and thus relieve himself of the attachment to household life. After being relieved of his attachments to the materialistic way of life, one may accept the order of sannyāsa. Prasad RAVAL] As the Supersoul of the living entities, I sit in everyone's heart and observe everyone's activities in every stage and order of life. Regardless of which stage one is in, when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely in discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master and is thus dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master, that person becomes more most dear to me. As far as the life of brahmacharya is considered, if one can continue the life of brahmachari under the direction of a spiritual master, that is extremely good. But if a brahmachari— but if in brahmachari's life one feels sex impulses, he should take leave of his— leave of his spiritual master, satisfying him according to guru's desire. According to Vedic system, a gift is offered to the spiritual master, which is called guru dakshina. Then the disciple should take a householder life and accept a wife according to religious rites. These instructions given by Lord Krishna while taking— while talking with his friend, the learned brahmana, are very good for the guidance of human society. A system of human civilization that does not does not promote varna and ashrama is nothing but a polished animal society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or woman living single is never acceptable in human society. A man should strictly follow the principles of brahmachari life or with the permission of the spiritual master should get married. Single life with illicit sex is animal life. For Animals have no such institution as marriage. Modern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human life, but which is to go back home, back to Godhead. To fulfill that, this mission, the system of varna and ashrama must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly and consciously, it fulfills this mission, but when followed indirectly without guidance of a spiritual authority, it simply creates a disturbing condition in the human society, and there is no peace and prosperity. Kṛṣṇa continued to talk to his brahmana friend: My dear friend, I think you remember our activities during the days when we were living as students. You may remember that once we went to collect fuel from the forest on the order of Guru's wife. While collecting the dry wood, we entered the dense forest and by chance became lost. There was an unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the sky and explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came and we were lost in the dark jungle. After this, there was severe rainfall. The whole ground was overflooded with water and we could not trace out the way to return to our Guru's ashrama. You may remember that heavy rainfall. It was not actually rainfall, but a sort of devastation. On account of the storm and heavy rain, we began to feel greatly a pain. And in whichever direction we turned, we were, we were bewildered. In that distressed condition, we took each other's hand and tried to find our way out. We passed the whole night in that way, and early in the morning, when our absence became known to our Gurudeva, he sent his other disciples to search us out. He also came with them, and when they reached us in the jungle, they found us very much distressed. With great compassion, our Gurudeva said, "My dear boys, it is very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts, you have taken You have taken so much trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona fide students like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born and I am greatly pleased by your acts and I bless you. May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within your memory so that every moment you can remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be disappointed in this life or the next. Prasad RAVAL. Krishna continued, "My dear friend, you may remember that many such incidents occurred while we were in the āśrama of our spiritual master. Both of us can realize that without the blessing of the spiritual master, no one can be happy. By the mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission of human life." On hearing this, the learned brahmana said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are the Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of everyone, and since I was fortunate enough to live with You in the house of our guru, I think I have nothing more to do in the matter of the prescribed Vedic duties. My dear Lord, the Vedic hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities, and all other necessities for the perfection of human life including economic development, sense gratification, and liberation, are all derived from one source, your Supreme Personality. All the different processes of life are ultimately meant for understanding your personality. In other words, they are the different parts of your transcendental form. And yet, Harumānṣuraṁ, you have played the role of a student and live with us in the house of the guru. This means that you adapted all these pastimes for your pleasure only. Otherwise there was no need for you playing the role of a human being. Thus ends Bhaktivedānta Purport of the 18th Chapter of Kṛṣṇa, the meeting of Lord Kṛṣṇa with Sudama Brahmana.

You can see the new beds. Your program killed dentists. Chapter 15: The Killing of Dainukasura.

In this way, Sri Krishna along with his elder brother Balaram passed the childhood age known as kumara and stepped into the age of pauganda from the 6th year up to the 10th. At that time, all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their 5th year of 5th year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the cows, Krishna and Balarama traversed Vrindavana purifying the land with their lotus footprints. Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krishna brought forward the cows and played on his flute as he entered the forest of Vrindavana, which was was full of flowers, vegetables, and passioning grass. The Vrindavana forest was as sanctified as clear mind of a devotee and was full of bees, flowers, and fruits. There were chirping birds and clear water lakes with water that could relieve one of all fatigue. Sweet-smelling breezes, uh, breathe Breezes blew always, refreshing the mind and body. Krishna with his friends and Balaram entered the forest and seeing the favorable situation desired to enjoy the atmosphere to the fullest extent. Krishna saw all the trees overloaded with fruits and fresh twigs bending down to touch the ground as if welcoming him by touching His lotus feet. He was very pleased by the behavior of the trees, fruits, and flowers, and He began to smile, realizing their desires. Krishna then spoke to His elder brother Balaram as follows: My dear brother, You are superior to all of us, and Your lotus feet are worshiped by the demigods. Just see how these trees full of fruits and flowers have bent down to worship. You are lotus feet. It appears that they are trying to get out of the darkness that has obliged them to accept the form of trees. Actually, the trees born in the land of Vṛndāvana are not ordinary living entities. Having held the impersonal point of view in their past lives, they have been put into this stationary condition of life. But now they have the opportunity of seeing You in Vṛndāvana and they are praying for further advancement in spiritual life through your personal association. Generally, living entities in the mode of darkness obtain the bodies of the trees. This is our Gauranga Mahāprabhu. The impersonalist philosophers are in that darkness, but they eradicate it by taking full advantage of your presence. I think the drones that are buzzing all around, you must have been your devotees in their past life. They cannot leave your company because no one can be better, more affectionate master than you. You are the Supreme and Original Personality of Godhead, and the drones are just trying to spread your glories by chanting at every moment. I think some of them must be great sages, devotees of your Lordship, and they are disguising themselves in the form of crows because they are unable to give up your company even for a moment. My dear brother, you are the supreme worshipable God. Just see how the peacocks are dancing before you in great ecstasy. The deer, the deer whose behavior is just like that of gopis, are welcoming you with such, with same affection. And the cuckoos who are residing in the forest are welcoming You with their joyful sweet cries because they consider that You, Your appearance in their home is so auspicious. Even though they are trees and animals, these residents of Vrindavan are glorifying You. They prepare to welcome You to the best of their ability. As is the practice of great souls in receiving another great soul at home. As for the land, it is so pious and fortunate because the footprints of Your lotus feet are making its body. It is quite natural for these Vṛndāvana inhabitants to thus receive a great personality like You. The herbs, creepers, and plants are also so fortunate to touch Your lotus feet. And by Your touching the twigs with Your fingernails, these small plants are also made glorious. As for the hills and rivers, they too are now glorious because You are glancing at them. Above all, the damsels of Vraja, the gopīs are— Above all the damsels of Vraja, the gopīs are the most glorious because you embrace them with your strong arms, being attracted by their beauty. In this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarama began to enjoy the residence of Vṛndāvana. To their full—

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama.

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Hare Rama! Hare Rama!

In a minute— hold on. Ramarama!

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!

Hare Krishna!

Hare Rama! Hare Rama! Ramarama! Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Krishna. Krishna! Krishna! Hare! Hare! Hari Ram! Hari Ram! Rama! Rama! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Krishna! Krishna! Hare!

Hare!

Hare Rama!

Hare Rama!

Ramarama! Harihari! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Aye hari! Aye rama! Aye ramas! Ramarama! Hare Hai! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Hari Rama! Hari Rama! Ramarama! Harerama! Krishna Krishna! Krishna Krishna. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare Rama. Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna!

Stop.