Bhagavad Gita Series

STRANGE ACTIVITES OF LORD (SB 7.8.32-40) | HG SREEHA GOVIND DAS

The activities of the Lord and His devotees are always wonderful and sometimes strange also. When Lord appears as Krishna, He descends in His original form as the enjoyer, and through His sweet pastimes captures the hearts of His devotees. However, many of Lord Krishna’s pastimes are confusing for ordinary persons because He acts in ways that ordinary persons should not. That is why one of the more interesting names for Krishna is Adhokshaja. This means “one who is beyond the measurement of blunt instruments.”Let us understand some of the strange pastimes of the Lord.

THE FINALE (SB 7.8.23-31) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

When a sinful man enjoys material facilities, foolish people sometimes think, "How is it that this sinful man is enjoying whereas a pious man is suffering?" By the will of the Supreme, a sinful man is sometimes given the chance to enjoy the material world as if he were not under the clutches of material nature, just so that he may be fooled. A sinful man who acts against the laws of nature must be punished, but sometimes he is given a chance to play and enjoy this material world.Indeed it is very difficult to understand this material world. What is the nature of this material world?Why we experience discrepancies?What is truth?Let us discuss this in our episode "THE FINALE"

THE MOST CLEVER LORD (SB 7.8.16-22) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

As stated in the Vedas, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyatesvābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca, the different potencies of the Lord are always working as an automatic exhibition of His knowledge. It is a fact that Supreme Lord is all-powerful. No one is equal to and greater than Him but still, a demon thinks otherwise. A demon has no experience of the inconceivable power for which the Supreme Lord is called "all-powerful." Lord is full in all six opulence. He is "All-Powerful" at the same time "Most Intelligent" also. Now Hiraṇyakaśipu is going to get bewildered by seeing the wonderful form of the Lord which defies all his logical understanding.
Let us understand this in our upcoming session of 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗱 𝗕𝗵𝗮𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.

THE FORTUNATE DEMON (SB 7.8.11-15) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

Demons always think that the God of the devotees is fictitious. They think that there is no God and that the so-called religious feeling of devotion to God is but an opiate, a kind of illusion, like the illusions derived from LSD and opium. Contrary to this a devotee who has developed a genuine love for Krishna can always see Him everywhere, whereas a demon, not having a clear understanding of the Supreme Lord, cannot see Him.Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was the greatest demon still he is addressed as "Fortunate".  Why?
Let us understand in this session. 

THE SIX ENEMIES (SB 7.8.6-10) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

In this material world, everyone thinks that he has conquered his enemies, without understanding who his real enemies are? Everyone is actually dependent on the reactions of material laws, but still, one thinks himself as independent and thinks that he has conquered all directions. Only a fool will think that I have conquered all my enemies.
 For a person who is victorious over the six enemies and is equipoised toward all living entities, there are no enemies. Enemies are merely imagined by one in ignorance. Let us understand who these six enemies are in this session.

BEGINNING OF END (SB 7.8.1-5) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

The relationship between a pure devotee and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is extremely relishable. A devotee never claims to be very powerful himself; instead, he fully surrenders to the lotus feet of Krishna, being confident that in all dangerous conditions Krishna will protect His devotee. A demon may think that he can harm a devotee but the fact is that nobody can harm a devotee because he is personally protected by the Lord himself.Being ignorant of the above fact now Hiraṇyakaśipu is going to start his end by rebuking Prahalad Maharaj.

IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE (SB 7.7.54-55 ) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

As per Vedic culture, one has to perform various kinds of Saṁskāra in order to purify himself. Saṁskāra means "Purificatory Method". There are ten different kinds of Saṁskāra which a human is supposed to perform in order to purify himself. One of the Saṁskāra is marriage which is called Paani Grahan Saṁskāra. Without understanding the importance of this sacred event some people have started calling it as "A waste of time" or "A useless custom imposed by our ancestors". What to speak of performing this Saṁskāra they have started openly criticizing it. They don't value it at all!
What is the importance of marriage?
What is the purpose of marriage?
Is it really required?
Let us understand this.

SERVING LORD FAVORABLY (SB 7.751-53) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

"Unless one is sufficiently protected by the Lord, he may fall down from his spiritual position; therefore one has to pray constantly to the Lord for protection and the blessing to carry out one's duty. Lord Caitanya also entrusted His missionary work to His devotees and assured them of His protection against the onslaught of material affection. The path of spiritual life is stated in the Vedas to be like the edge of a sharpened razor. A little inattentiveness may at once create havoc and bloodshed, but one who is a completely surrendered soul, always seeking protection from the Lord in the discharge of his entrusted duties, has no fear of falling into material contamination."
Let us understand more in this session.

OVERCOMING SIX MATERIAL WHIPS (SB 7.7.46-50) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

The dirty things in the heart of a conditioned soul are the root cause of all troubles for him. A conditioned soul is surrounded by the manifold miseries of material existence, but on account of his gross ignorance, he is unable to remove the troubles due to dirty things in the heart, accumulated during the long prison life in the material world. He is actually meant to serve the will of the Supreme Lord, but on account of the dirty things in the heart, he likes to serve his concocted desires. Because of the material body, every living entity in material existence is always disturbed by sad-guṇa, six whips.
Let us explore this deeply in this session.

DESIRE AND DESTINY (SB 7.7.41-45) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

No one has ever achieved the results he desired from material activities. On the contrary, everyone has been frustrated again and again. Therefore one must not waste his time in such material activities for sensual pleasure, either in this life or in the next. So many nationalists, economists, and other ambitious persons have tried for happiness, individually or collectively, but history proves that they have all been frustrated. Although one is acting according to false ambitions, he thinks he can improve his material conditions by his activities. The Vedas enjoin that one should not try to increase happiness or decrease distress, for this is futile.
Let us explore this session.

RECOGNIZING LORD IN THE HEART (SB 7.5.37-40) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Supersoul feature always exists within the cores of the hearts of all living entities. Indeed, He is the well-wisher and friend of all living entities, and there is no difficulty in worshipping the Lord. This Lord in the heart is addressed as Paramātmā. Although the Paramātmā is aloof from the living entities, He knows their intentions, and He gives them facilities by which they can enjoy or suffer the results of their actions. The duty of the living entity is to recognize Paramātmā and establish a relationship with him.
Let us explore this deeply.
 

DISSIPATING IGNORANCE (SB 7.7.28) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (14.26)
"One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” 
By the practice of bhakti-yoga, one immediately comes to the spiritual platform, transcendental to the actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. The root of ignorance is material consciousness, which must be killed by spiritual consciousness, or Krsna consciousness.
Let us Dissipate this ignorance in this session.

SCIENCE OF PERCEIVING SOUL (SB 7.7.25-27) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

An expert geologist can understand where there is gold and by various processes can extract it from the gold ore. Similarly, a spiritually advanced person can understand how the spiritual particle exists within the body, and thus by cultivating spiritual knowledge he can attain perfection in spiritual life. However, as one who is not expert cannot understand where there is gold, a foolish person who has not cultivated spiritual knowledge cannot understand how the spirit exists within the body.

THE LION GURU | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

We have heard about Srila Prabhupada, this time let us discuss about his glorious spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, The Simha Guru.

ART OF DYING (SB 7.7.19-20) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

An intelligent man knows that death is born along with his own birth. He knows that he is dying at every second and that the final touch will be given as soon as his term of life is finished. He, therefore, prepares himself for the next life or for liberation from the disease of repeated birth and death. He would like to understand this phenomenon called "Death". 
A man who is not intelligent enough does not inquire about this transcendental life; instead, he inquires about many irrelevant matters which do not concern his eternal existence. We have heard a lot about The Art of Living let's understand now The Art of Dying.

THREE PURPOSES OF VEDAS (SB 7.6.19-24) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

Lord Krishna says in Gita : "Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this."
Vedic knowledge is vast. If not guided properly a person may get lost in details without knowing the purpose behind it. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has made it very clear. There are only three purposes in the Vedas.
What are these three purposes?
How to act in order to fulfil these purposes?
What is the ultimate necessity? 

CAUSE OF BONDAGE (SB7.6.9-13) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

In scriptures, living entities are addressed as _Baddha-jīva_, and this material world is addressed as "Prison House". _Baddha-jīva_ means entrapped living entity. Just like a prisoner is entrapped in a prison house, living entities are entrapped in this material world. These entrapped living entities are there in 84 Lacs different grades of life. It is not easy to escape this prison house. *There is a hard knot that keeps a living entity always binding to this world.* Even though theoretically one may understand the entire philosophy but because of this hard knot, he will *not* be able to fully apply this philosophy.  
What is this knot?
What are the effects? 
How to untie this knot?

TIMELINE OF LIFE (SB 7.6.6-8) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

Chankya Pandit, a great politician says in his moral instructions:
ā𝘺𝘶ṣ𝘢ḥ 𝘬ṣ𝘢ṇ𝘢 𝘦𝘬𝘰 ’𝘱𝘪, 𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘺𝘢ḥ 𝘴𝘷𝘢𝘳ṇ𝘢-𝘬𝘰ṭ𝘪𝘣𝘩𝘪ḥ,
Even a moment of one’s lifetime could not be returned in exchange for millions of dollars. Therefore one should consider how much loss one suffers if he wastes even a moment of his life for nothing. Living like an animal, not understanding the goal of life, one foolishly thinks that there is no eternity and that his life span of fifty, sixty, or, at the most, one hundred years, is everything. This is the greatest foolishness. Time is eternal, and in the material world, one passes through different phases of his eternal life. 

THE RIGHT AGE (SB 7.6.1) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

We often hear this statement "Spirituality is something which is meant for post-retirement study, now at young age we should work hard and enjoy our senses." Not realizing the utmost urgency of spiritual life most of the people waste their valuable time and energy in earning some temporary pleasure. They do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the missing point. Let's understand from *Prahalad Maharaj*:
When should we start our spiritual eductaion ?
What is too early and too late ?
Utmost urgency of spiritual life.

REMOVING MATERIAL CONTAMINATION (SB 7.5.32) | HG SREESHA GOVIND DAS

In Srimad Bhagavatam, it is mentioned _padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām_  This material world is a very dangerous place. There is a danger at every step. No matter how intelligent a person is, it will not be possible for him to save himself from contamination of the world. He is bound to commit sins, he is bound to get entangled, he is bound to get punished. Examples are many, exceptions are very few. Is there any solution? 
Yes, there is. Srimad Bhagavatam talks about an act which can save us from this contamination and place us under the shelter of Lotus feet of Krishna.
What is that Act?
Who is qualified?
Can I perform that Act?