Friendship with Krsna makes a devotee fearless

SB 10.13.13: When Krishna saw that His friends the cowherd boys were frightened, He, the fierce controller even of fear itself, said, just to mitigate their fear, "My dear friends, do not stop eating. I shall bring your calves back to this spot by personally going after them Myself."

Purport:
In the presence of Krishna's friendship, a devotee cannot have any fear. Krishna is the supreme controller, the controller of even death, which is supposed to be the ultimate fear in this material world. Bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat (Bhag. 11.2.37). This fear arises because of lack of Krishna consciousness; otherwise there cannot be any fear. For one who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna, this material world of fear becomes hardly dangerous at all.

bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesham

Bhavambudhih, the material ocean of fear, becomes very easy to cross by the mercy of the supreme controller. This material world, in which there is fear and danger at every step (padam padam yad vipadam), is not meant for those who have taken shelter at Krishna's lotus feet. Such persons are delivered from this fearful world.

samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesham

(Bhag. 10.14.58)

Everyone, therefore, should take shelter of the Supreme Person, who is the source of fearlessness, and thus be secure.

No Hope without the mercy of a devotee

In the Damodara Pastime after Mother Yashoda binds Krishna, Krishna went outside towards the twin trees of Yamala-arjuna who were Nalakuvera and Manigriva in their previous lifetime. Because of an offense they were cursed to become trees by Narada Muni and that they would be delievered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 10.10.24: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, to fulfill the truthfulness of the words of the greatest devotee, Narada, slowly went to that spot where the twin arjuna trees were standing.
SB 10.10.25: "Although these two young men are the sons of the very rich Kuvera and I have nothing to do with them, Devarshi Narada is My very dear and affectionate devotee, and therefore because he wanted Me to come face to face with them, I must do so for their deliverance."

SB 10.10.26: Having thus spoken, Krishna soon entered between the two arjuna trees, and thus the big mortar to which He was bound turned crosswise and stuck between them.

Because Narada Muni desired that Nalakuvera and Manigriva see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, the Lord fulfilled the words of His very dear Devotee Narada Muni.

Without the favor of a devotee one cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, what to speak of engaging in His service.

Narada Muni's curse was a benediction for Nalakuvera and Manigriva for it not only help them get purified of their propensities but by the curse

1. they became trees in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaj's home and were able to witness the Lord
2. see His beautiful pastimes with Mother Yashoda and the vrajavasis
3. come face to face with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and be delivered by Him.

They recd all this great fortune only by the mercy of Narada Muni a very devotee of the Lord.

Thus we must first take shelter of a Spiritual Master and the devotees - only then there is hope of any progress in spiritual life.When the spiritual master prays for us and gives us His mercy Lord looks upon us.

Mystery of the Rope being too short

From HG Gauranga Prabhu's notes:

Mother Yashoda tried to bind Krishna the rope was two fingers short. She got more rope and attached it to this rope but still the rope was two fingers short of binding Krsna. She got all the rope in the house and connected it but the rope was still two fingers short.

By not being bound by Krishna , Krishna showed another vibhuti - "Autocracy" . "

Unless I agree," Krsna desired to show, "you cannot bind Me." Thus mother Yashoda, in her attempt to bind Krsna, was a failure. When Krsna agreed, however, she was successful.In other words, one must be in transcendental love with Krsna, but that does not mean that one can control Krsna.

When Krsna is satisfied with one's devotional service, He does everything Himself. He reveals more and more to the devotee as the devotee advances in service. In competition between Krsna and His devotee, Krsna sometimes agrees to be defeated. Thus Krsna's internal energy, yogamäyä, was brought to work.

From Message 2947 from granthraj yahoogroup:

SB 10.9.18: Because of mother Yashoda’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Krishna saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound."

We see here that Krishna became merciful to mother Yashoda seeing her steady determination, endeavor and hard labor without getting bewildered. She did not stop trying with a few ropes to tie the child. In spite of repeated failures, she continued joining whatever ropes were available in the household. This is an important lesson for us to learn. While being engaged in devotional service, we may undergo difficult situations and situations that completely bewilder us.

Krsna can be bound by Love alone!

Kunti Devi speaks: SB 1.8.31: My dear Kṛṣṇa, Yaśodā took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is bewildering to me."
Yogis perform various difficult austerities and severe penances and still it is hard for them to enter the effulgence of Krsna. However Bhaktas can capture Krsna without difficulty by their love.

Mother Yashoda had to leave baby Krishna aside while feeding Him to attend to the milk that was boiling over. Baby Krishna became angry at this. He broke a pot of butter and left the room to distribute the butter amongst the monkeys and friends.Mother Yashoda started looking for Him and by tracing His buttery footsteps found Him stealing butter and feeding it to the monkeys.

Krsna became very scared to see Mother Yashoda with a stick and started running.Mother Yashoda had to run after Him and she finally caught Him.

Srila Prabhupada explains the depth of this Lila in His purports(from Hg Gauranga Prabhu's Study Guide):

1. A Bhakta subjugates Krsna: 
1. Yogis cannot reach Krsna even after many years of severe austerities. However here it is very easy for Mother Yashoda to capture Krsna. she was just following Him thinking that He was Her son.
2. bhaya- bhavanaya sthitasya : Even though Fear personified is afraid of Krsna, Krsna was afraid of Mother Yashoda and her stick. 
3. Destination: Bhaktas reach Krsna without any difficulty through the relationship of service in love.But the Yogis through their meditation can hardly reach Krsna's effulgence and even if they do they fall down from there.
4. Dealings: Dependent: This Krsna who is worshiped by all the demigods and who is feared by Yamaraj( who also fears the devotees of Krsna) became so dependent on Mother Yashoda, He admitted to being an offender and started to cry like an ordinary child.Mother Yashoda simply threw the stick away and desired to bind Him so that He would not commit any further naughty activities.
5. Attitude : Intimacy: Mother Yashoda’s logic: Krishna might leave the house in fear -Therefore, because of full affection - To stop Krsna from leaving the house - She wanted to bind Him with rope
   Mother Yashodä did not care to understand who Krsna was and how His power spreads everywhere. This is an example of pure love for Krsna
6. Krsna is immeasurable : He is the greatest, unlimited, the whole cosmos is in His mouth, he cannot be calculated by Vedic Knowledge and is all pervading in time and space, however Mother Yashoda still wanted to bind Him.

She could bind only on the basis of love and loving service towards Krishna.

Krishna can be controlled by His unalloyed devotee. Bhrtya-vasata does not mean that He is under the control of the servant; rather, He is under the control of the servant's pure love.

Following in the footsteps of Mother Yashoda

In the purports of the Damodara Pastime of the Lord Srila Prabhupada mentions at different places on how we must follow in the footsteps of the eternal servants of the Lord to become Krishna Conscious ourselves.

(Excerpts taken from Hg Gauranga Prabhu's notes and VCT's commentary)

While churning butter and carrying out her day to day activities Mother Yashoda:

• She never wanted to forget the activities of Krsna: She poeticized all of Krsna's activities such as the killing of Putana, Aghasura, Sakatasura and Trnavarta and while churning butter she would sing about these activities in poetical form.
• Srila VCT mentions that Yasoda personally churned the butter because she wanted to make special butter for her son. How could her servants who often burn the milk do this properly.She resolved that she would prepare all Krsna's butter, milk  and other eatables.They would be so tasty hat Krsna would no longer go to others houses to steal. the milk for this butter would come from 7 or 8 special cows from her husbands countless cows- they ate the most fragrant grass and gave the tastiest fragrant milk for th satisfaction of her son.

• Description of Mother Yasoda's form:

SB 10.9.3: Dressed in a saffron-yellow sari, with a belt tied about her full hips, mother Yasoda pulled on the churning rope, laboring considerably, her bangles and earrings moving and vibrating and her whole body shaking. Because of her intense love for her child, her breasts were wet with milk. Her face, with its very beautiful eyebrows, was wet with perspiration, and malati flowers were falling from her hair.

She was engaging her body(churning butter laboriosly, mind( cherishing sweet childhood activities of Krishna) and words(she composed songs about Krishna and enjoyed singing those songs to herself).

The bangles on mother Yasoda were vibrating and making sweet sounds celebrating their great fortune to be in contact with such an exalted devotee as mother Yasoda and assisting her. Its not that they were thinking of becoming mother Yasoda

• Similarly one should feel himself very fortunate if he gets an opportunity to be in close contact with a pure devotee of the Lord, assists and not try to be like him.
• We don’t want to be great, we want to be grateful. We don’t want to be great, we want to serve the great.
• Whatever Mother Yashoda did was only for Krishna because everything in her home was for Krishna.
• If we want to be Krishna Conscious 24 hours a day we must follow in the footsteps of Mother Yashoda.

The malati flowers on realizing the extremely exalted position of mother Yasoda fell down from her head on to her lotus feet.

• Similarly, if we realize the exalted position of another devotee then we should become subservient to him and assists him in his service, even though the other devotee might have come later in Krishna Consciousness.

 Why is the description of Mother Yashoda's form given here?

1. Contemplate: Anyone who desires to be Krsna conscious in motherly affection or parental affection should contemplate the bodily features of mother Yashoda.
2. Follow: We must follow in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vrindavan, not try to become like them. Therefore this description is provided here.
3. Cherish: Advanced devotees must cherish this description, always thinking of mother Yashoda's features—how she was dressed, how she was working and perspiring, how beautifully the flowers were arranged in her hair, and so on.
4. Take advantage: One should take advantage of the full description provided here by thinking of mother Yashoda in maternal affection for Krsna

Vrindavana-vasis,
a. Do not possess any bodily conception.
b. Fully dedicated to the service of the Lord in sublime affection, premä.
c. Mother Yashoda appears to be the topmost of devotees who have attained this perfection.

Unlike other exalted devotees who have some sense of being like Krsna - Like Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma are Guna Avatars and in their position have some sense of being like Krsna.

Securing ourselves in confusing situations

When Mother Yashoda sees the Universal Form in Baby Krsna's mouth she becomes worried and is not able to find out the real cause of that vision therefore out of maternal affection she simply offers obeisances to the Supreme Lord to protect Baby Krsna.

She says in 10.8.41:
Therefore let me surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offer my obeisances unto Him, who is beyond the conception of human speculation, the mind, activities, words and arguments, who is the original cause of this cosmic manifestation, by whom the entire cosmos is maintained, and by whom we can conceive of its existence. Let me simply offer my obeisances, for He is beyond my contemplation, speculation and meditation. He is beyond all of my material activities.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to this verse:
"It is said, acintyāh khalu ye bhāvā na tāḿs tarkena yojayet (Mahābhārata, Bhīsma parva 5.22). One should not try to understand the supreme cause by argument or reasoning. When we are beset by some problem for which we can find no reason, there is no alternative than to surrender to the Supreme Lord and offer Him our respectful obeisances. Then our position will be secure. This was the means adopted in this instance also by mother Yaśodā. Whatever happens, the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (sarva-kārana-kāranam [Bs. 5.1]). When the immediate cause cannot be ascertained, let us simply offer our obeisances at the lotus feet of the Lord."

From a lecture by HH Romapada Swami, on 'Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.24-25', India, Oct-Nov 2008
When we are down, we should not take it that "Krishna is being mean" or "I am being punished". It's just our material condition. From the disposition of a devotee, it's not so much important to understand why the down instead of up. We try to just accept our position instead, with the understanding that "I am dependent. So, let me try to serve the Master". It's quite simple.

What should one do when Krishna's plan is not clear?[Question Meditation 40:HH Romapadaswami]
There are many situations when everything is bewildering and its very hard to understand why certain things are happening in a certain way.The going gets very tough. Or sometimes there is no clarity of what the future will hold. In such situations based on the example showed by mother yashoda here we must simply surrender to the Lord's plan and offer obeisances to him."You are the controller, the cause of all causes. Your plans are not clear to me but I have faith in You that this is the right thing for me.Please help me be patient and give me strength to go through this gracefully in the right mood.Please give me strength so that I do not get bewildered and commit any offenses. Please give me the strength so that I can surrender to Your will, I do not understand Your purpose right now and am very confused. In due course of time You will reveal Your plan to me. Till then let me be patient and let me take shelter of You through the Holy Names. I tend to get weak in my chanting in difficult situations. Krsna give me the strength so that I can chant nicely and cry out for You and take Your shelter."


10.8.42:
It is by the influence of the Supreme Lord's māyā that I am wrongly thinking that Nanda Mahārāja is my husband, that Kṛṣṇa is my son, and that because I am the queen of Nanda Mahārāja, all the wealth of cows and calves are my possessions and all the cowherd men and their wives are my subjects. Actually, I also am eternally subordinate to the Supreme Lord. He is my ultimate shelter.

Because of what I possess I feel I can control situations to my favor.Even when things are very difficult and beyond my control, I feel I can control them and make things work in my favor. Howevere I must realize that I am eternally subordinate to the Lord and His will and He is my ultimate shelter. He has taken charge of me and has arranged such situations for my purification. This is the wonderful reciprocation of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport: " Nothing belongs to anyone but the Supreme Lord. Only because of illusion do we wrongly think, "I am existing" or "Everything belongs to me." Thus mother Yaśodā completely surrendered unto the Supreme Lord. For the moment, she was rather disappointed, thinking, "My endeavors to protect my son by charity and other auspicious activities are useless. The Supreme Lord has given me many things, but unless He takes charge of everything, there is no assurance of protection. I must therefore ultimately seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Hearing Krishna's pastimes

One who hears the childhood pastimes of Krsna attains attachment for Govinda -Sukadeva Goswami to Maharaj Pariksit after narrating the killing of Putana (SB 10.6.44)
Maharaj Pariksit elucidates the benefits of Krsna Katha and requests Sukadeva Goswami to recite more childhood pastimes of Krsna (SB 10.7.1-2)

Benefits of hearing Krishna Katha :

1. Pleasing to the ears
2. Removes any unattractiveness to hearing the Lord's pastimes.
3. Pleasing to the mind
4. Removes dirty things from the mind: Because Krsna's childhood activities are so attractive,hearing abt them removes the attraction to hear about material things which is the root cause of material existence
5. Devotional Service and attachment for the Lord develops
6. Friendship with devotees

Lessons from Killing of Putana

See Devotees from Krsna's point of view:
Krsna appreciates whatever little devotion one has and whatever service one does. Putana was pretending to serve Krsna but had the ulterior motive of harming Krsna.However Krsna only saw that she offered to feed Him milk and there fore granted her liberation and a permanent residence in Goloka Vrindavan.
Who am I to find fault with devotees who are so nicely and lovingly engaged in service to Krsna.

 Srila Prabhupada's quote :
"But Krsna did not take that. Just like Pütanä. Pütanä wanted to kill Krsna. That was his (her) plan. But Krsna, because He sucked the breast of Pütanä, He took him (her) as His mother. This is Krsna. Krsna never takes the bad side. Krsna takes always the bright side. Pütanä, although she came to cheat Krsna, but how Krsna will cheat? Krsna thought that "I have sucked her breast, so she is My mother. She should go to the same place where Yashodamayi is going." This is Krsna."

Putana's disguise:
Putana disguised herself as a Gopi and pretended to perform the service of of nursing baby Krsna - however she did this to satisfy her ulterior motive. However Krsna exposed her reality very soon.
I maybe disguising myself as a pure devotee and performing so called devotional service to satisfy some of my ulterior motives. However over time if I don't set my consciousness on the right track Krsna being very merciful will expose me not only to myself but to the entire devotee community just like He exposed Putana's real motives and form to everyone- it will be very embarrassing and difficult mercy to take.
I must be mindful of my motivations and desires and correct them else Krsna will intervene and that purification will be difficult to take.

Hearing and chanting saves us from the danger of bad elements

SB 10.6.3: My dear King, wherever people in any position perform their occupational duties of devotional service by chanting and hearing [śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥ SB 7.5.23], there cannot be any danger from bad elements. Therefore there was no need for anxiety about Gokula while the Supreme Personality of Godhead was personally present.

How can Bhakti Yoga be practiced?

SB 10.2.37
"Even while engaged in various activities, devotees whose minds are completely absorbed at Your lotus feet, and who constantly hear, chant, contemplate and cause others to remember Your transcendental names and forms, are always on the transcendental platform, and thus they can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Purport:
How bhakti-yoga can be practiced is explained in this verse. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has said that anyone who has dedicated his life to the service of the Lord (īhā yasya harer dāsye) by his activities, his mind and his words (karmaṇā manasā girā) may stay in any condition of life (nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu) and yet is no longer actually conditioned but is liberated (jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate). Even though such a devotee is in a material body, he has nothing to do with this body, for he is transcendentally situated. Nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati: because a devotee is engaged in transcendental activities, he is not afraid of being materially embodied. (Bhāg. 6.17.28) Illustrating this liberated position, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu prayed, mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi: "All I want is Your causeless devotional service in My life, birth after birth." (Śikṣāṣṭaka 4) Even if a devotee, by the supreme will of the Lord, takes birth in this material world, he continues his devotional service. When King Bharata made a mistake and in his next life became a deer, his devotional s

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ervice did not stop, although some slight chastisement was given to him because of his negligence. Nārada Muni says that even if one falls from the platform of devotional service, he is not lost, whereas nondevotees are lost entirely because they are not engaged in service. Bhagavad-gītā (9.14) therefore recommends that one always engage at least in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra:
satataḿ kīrtayanto māḿ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māḿ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, the great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."
One should not give up the process of devotional service, which is performed in nine different ways (śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaḿ pāda-sevanam, etc. [SB 7.5.23]). The most important process is hearing (śravaṇam) from the guru, sādhu and śāstra — the spiritual master, the saintly ācāryas and the Vedic literature. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya. We should not hear the commentaries and explanations of nondevotees, for this is strictly forbidden by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, who quotes from the Padma Purāṇa:
avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaḿ

pūtaḿ hari-kathāmṛtam

śravaṇaḿ naiva kartavyaḿ

sarpocchiṣṭaḿ yathā payaḥ

We should strictly follow this injunction and never try to hear from Māyāvādīs, impersonalists, voidists, politicians or so-called scholars. Strictly avoiding such inauspicious association, we should simply hear from pure devotees. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī therefore recommends, śrī-guru-padāśrayaḥ: one must seek shelter at the lotus feet of a pure devotee who can be one's guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises that a guru is one who strictly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā: yare dekha, tare kaha, 'kṛṣṇa' — upadeśa (Cc. Madhya 7.128). A juggler, a magician or one who speaks nonsense as an academic career is not a guru. Rather, a guru is one who presents Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa's instructions, as it is. Śravaṇa is very important; one must hear from the Vaiṣṇava sādhu, guru and śāstra.
The word kriyāsu, meaning "by manual labor" or "by work," is important in this verse. One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, all our activities are concentrated upon distributing Kṛṣṇa literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Kṛṣṇa literature so that in the future he also may become a devotee. Such activities are recommended in this verse. Kriyāsu yas tvac-caraṇāravindayoḥ. Such activities will always remind the devotees of the Lord's lotus feet. By fully concentrating on distributing books for Kṛṣṇa, one is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. This is samādhi.

How does a devotee accept distress - sees it as an opportunity to grow

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 10.2.28:

Those who are truly vipaścit, learned, are those who have reached the platform of understanding and observing the Supreme Personality of Godhead in any condition of life. premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Brahma-saḿhitā 5.38). Learned devotees accept even conditions of distress as representing the presence of the Supreme Lord. When a devotee is in distress, he sees that the Lord has appeared as distress just to relieve or purify the devotee from the contamination of the material world. While one is within this material world, one is in various conditions, and therefore a devotee sees a condition of distress as but another feature of the Lord. Tat te'nukampāḿ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ (Bhāg. 10.14.8). A devotee, therefore, regards distress as a great favor of the Lord because he understands that he is being cleansed of contamination. Teṣām ahaḿ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saḿsāra-sāgarāt (Bg. 12.7). The appearance of distress is a negative process intended to give the devotee relief from this material world, which is called mṛtyu-saḿsāra, or the constant repetition of birth and death. To save a surrendered soul from repeated birth and death, the Lord purifies him of contamination by offering him a little distress. This cannot be understood by a nondevotee, but a devotee can see this because he is vipaścit, or learned. A nondevotee, therefore, is perturbed in distress, but a devotee welcomes distress as another feature of the Lord. Sarvaḿ khalv idaḿ brahma. A devotee can actually see that there is only the Supreme Personality of Godhead and no second entity. Ekam evādvitīyam. There is only the Lord, who presents Himself in different energies.

How to overcome envy?

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 9.11.23:


Here in this material world, everyone is envious of someone else. Even in religious life, it is sometimes found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritual activities, other devotees are envious of him. Such envious devotees are not completely freed from the bondage of birth and death. As long as one is not completely free from the cause of birth and death, one cannot enter the sanātana-dhāma or the eternal pastimes of the Lord. One becomes envious because of being influenced by the designations of the body, but the liberated devotee has nothing to do with the body, and therefore he is completely on the transcendental platform. A devotee is never envious of anyone, even his enemy. Because the devotee knows that the Lord is his supreme protector, he thinks, "What harm can the so-called enemy do?" Thus a devotee is confident about his protection. The Lord says, ye yathā māḿ prapadyante tāḿs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: [Bg. 4.11] "According to the proportion of one's surrender unto Me, I respond accordingly." A devotee must therefore be completely free from envy, especially of other devotees. To envy other devotees is a great offense, a vaiṣṇava-aparādha. A devotee who constantly engages in hearing and chanting (śravaṇa-kīrtana) is certainly freed from the disease of envy, and thus he becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead.

Qualities of Sita Devi

SB 9.10.55: Mother Sītā was very submissive, faithful, shy and chaste, always understanding the attitude of her husband. Thus by her character and her love and service she completely attracted the mind of the Lord.

Ambarisa Maharaj overlooks offenses by Durvasa Muni and forgives him

Ambarisa Maharaj prays to the Sudarshan Chakra to offer shelter and protection to Durvasa Muni - and because of his prayers the Sudarshan Chakra becomes peaceful and stops burning Durvasa Muni.

On seeing this attitude of Ambarisa Maharaj wherein he protects Durvasa Muni from the Chakra even when Durvasa Muni had created a fiery demon to kill him, Durvasa Muni si amazed and thus able to fathom the greatness of the devotees of the Lord.

He says:


SB 9.5.14: Durvāsā Muni said: My dear King, today I have experienced the greatness of devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for although I have committed an offense, you have prayed for my good fortune.

SB 9.5.15: For those who have achieved the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the pure devotees, what is impossible to do, and what is impossible to give up?

SB 9.5.16: What is impossible for the servants of the Lord? By the very hearing of His holy name one is purified.

SB 9.5.17: O King, overlooking my offenses, you have saved my life. Thus I am very much obliged to you because you are so merciful.

SB 9.5.20: Durvāsā Muni said: I am very pleased with you, my dear King. At first I thought of you as an ordinary human being and accepted your hospitality, but later I could understand, by my own intelligence, that you are the most exalted devotee of the Lord. Therefore, simply by seeing you, touching your feet and talking with you, I have been pleased and have become obliged to you.

Forgiveness is one of the greatest quality of a devotee. Ambarisa Maharaj did not take offense even when Durvasa Muni created a fiery demon to kill him, then do I even have any right to feel offended in anmy situation.
 
If I can see everything as a mercy of the Lord and maintain the mood of service towards the Vaishnavas I would be protected from committing offenses to Vaishnavas and also never feel offended.

Devotees are special - The Lord is purchased by His devotees

In the pastime of Maharaj Ambarisha and Durvasa Muni - Durvasa Muni gets angry on Maharaj ambarisha for taking water to break his fast before offering Durvasa Muni any prasad to eat. He creates fiery demon to mill Ambarish Maharaj. However Ambarish Maharaj being an unalloyed devotee of the Lord does not get distrubed by the demon and the Lord's Sudarshana Chakra kills the fiery demon and then attacks Durvasa Muni.

To protect himself, Durvasa Muni starts running with the Sudarshan Chakra following him. He goes to Lord BRahma and Lord Shiva for protection but they say that they are also completely dependent upon Lord Vishnu and cannot do anything to stop the attack of the Sudarshan Chakra on him and they ask him to go to Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu also says that he cannot help him as nothing in the world is greater to Him than his devotee.In the verses SB 9.4.63-9.4.71 Lord Vishnu speaks very highly of the surrendered devotees and also about His love for them. Since the devotees are so selflessly engaged in loving service to the Lord , the Lord is purchased by them and offers complete protection to them. Since Durvasa Muni acted out of consideration for himself and pride the Lord did not offer him the same level of protection as He offers to Ambarisha Maharaj

1. I am under the control of My devotees SB 9.4.63  the Lord says :"I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me." - the Lord indicates to Durvasa Muni that Ambarisha Maharaj is a devotee and one who becomes a devotee of a devotee is also very special to him- the right thing for Durvasa Muni to do would be to honor and respect Ambarish Maharaj. Also Srila Prabhupada says in the purport "** if one very sincerely serves the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa certainly becomes favorable to such a devotee. Following the instructions of a devotee is more valuable than following the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly." So we must first learn to surrender to devotees if we can do that then we can surrender to the Spiritual Master and then Krishna.
2. I wish to be surrounded by saintly persons always SB 9.4.64 : "O best of the brāhmaṇas, without saintly persons for whom I am the only destination, I do not desire to enjoy My transcendental bliss and My supreme opulences." Krishna is so personal!
3. Since they are selflessly working for My pleasure- I must be with them SB 9.4.65: "Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time?" The Lord gives all protection to the devotees because they are trying to serve Him incessantly.How can the Lord then not give Ambarisa Maharaj protection?
4. I am in control of My devotees SB 9.4.66 : "As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control."
5. Do not hurt My devotees - it pains Me :SB 9.4.68: "The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them." - Srila Prabhupada says " The Lord's feelings are like those of a father, who feels pain when his child is in pain. Therefore, offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee are serious. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has very strongly recommended that one not commit any offense at the lotus feet of a devotee. "
6. I will forgive you, if you ask for forgiveness from Ambarisa Maharaj SB 9.4.69 : "O brāhmaṇa, let Me now advise you for your own protection. Please hear from Me. By offending Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, you have acted with self-envy. Therefore you should go to him immediately, without a moment's delay. One's so-called prowess, when employed against the devotee, certainly harms he who employs it. Thus it is the subject, not the object, who is harmed." Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport :"harmful activities directed against the devotee gradually become the ultimate cause of the performer's falldown. Even such a great brāhmaṇa and mystic yogī as Durvāsā was in a most dangerous situation because of his offense at the lotus feet of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, a pure devotee"

Devotional service includes Austerity

In the SB 9.4 Maharaj Ambarishes Qualities are described.In SB 9.4.27 it is described how by the performance of devotional service Maharaaj Ambarish thus also practiced severe austerities.

Srila Prabhupada's purport to this verse is very wondeful

SB 9.4.26: The king of this planet, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, thus performed devotional service to the Lord and in this endeavor practiced severe austerity. Always satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his constitutional activities, he gradually gave up all material desires."

Srila Prabhupada's purport:

"Severe austerities in the practice of devotional service are of many varieties. For example, in worshiping the Deity in the temple there are certainly laborious activities. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā śṛńgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau **. One must decorate the Deity, cleanse the temple, bring water from the Ganges and Yamunā, continue the routine work, perform ārati many times, prepare first-class food for the Deity, prepare dresses and so on. In this way, one must constantly be engaged in various activities, and the hard labor involved is certainly an austerity. Similarly, the hard labor involved in preaching, preparing literature, preaching to atheistic men and distributing literature door to door is of course an austerity (tapo-yuktena). Tapo divyaḿ putrakā. Such austerity is necessary. Yena sattvaḿ śuddhyet. By such austerity in devotional service, one is purified of material existence (kāmān śanair jahau). Indeed, such austerity leads one to the constitutional position of devotional service. In this way one can give up material desires, and as soon as one is freed from material desires, he is free from the repetition of birth and death, old age and disease."

Devotional service is about pleasing Lord Krishna.Performance of devotional service involves austeirities. If on just performs devotional service properly then he would also be performing austerities - activities which are pleasing to Krishna. Thus a devotee engaged nicely in devotional service does not have to separately perform austerities.

The Lord's favor to His devotees

Prahlada Maharaj tells Lord Vamana Dev in SB 8.23.8:

" O my Lord, Your pastimes are all wonderfully performed by Your inconceivable spiritual energy; and by her perverted reflection, the material energy, You have created all the universes. As the Supersoul of all living entities, You are aware of everything, and therefore You are certainly equal toward everyone. Nonetheless, You favor Your devotees. This is not partiality, however, for Your characteristic is just like that of a desire tree, which yields everything according to one's desire."

Srila Prabhupada writes in His purport:

There are two classes of men — the demons and the demigods. The demigods are fully aware of the Supreme Lord's position, and therefore they are obedient to Him, but even if demons know about the supremacy of the Lord they purposely defy His authority. Therefore, the Lord makes distinctions according to the mentality of the living being, but otherwise He is equal to everyone. Like a desire tree, the Lord fulfills the desires of one who takes shelter of Him, but one who does not take such shelter is distinct from the surrendered soul. One who takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord is favored by the Lord, regardless of whether such a person is a demon or a demigod.

Principle of happiness: Satisfaction in being Krishna's servant

When Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask for anything in charity Vamana Dev asks for only three steps of land. Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask from him as much land as will suffice to maintain Him according to His needs.

Vamana Dev beautifully responds to Bali Maharaj saying that :
SB 8.19.21 śrī-bhagavān uvāca

yāvanto viṣayāḥ preṣṭhās tri-lokyām ajitendriyam
na śaknuvanti te sarve pratipūrayituḿ nṛpa

The Personality of Godhead said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one's senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.

Uncontrolled senses is the reason for one's implication in the uneneding cycle of birth and death. The cycle is uneneding because one is not happy with what one has in this life.Happiness is based power, sense enjoyment, family and friends in the materialistic sense The unstatisfied desires create different bodies for fulfillment. Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport:

"Thus according to Ṛṣabhadeva the human beings in this material world are just like madmen engaged in activities which they should not perform but which they do perform only for sense gratification. Such activities are not good because in this way one creates another body for his next life, as punishment for his nefarious activities. And as soon as he gets another material body, he is put into repeated suffering in material existence. Therefore the Vedic culture or brahminical culture teaches one how to be satisfied with possessing the minimum necessities in life."

Satisfaction as the principle of happiness in Vedic Culture
Reading the last line of the above excerpt reminded me of an entire lecture by HG Bhurijana Prabhu on this very principle. The lecture which is a summary of  SB 7.15 : Instructions for Civilized Human Beings is like a purport to Srila Prabhupada's statement in bold above.

He states that the householders generally have a tendency to expand and therefore the principle of satisfaction was explained in SB 7.15. He says:"In contemporary society everyone looks for happiness naturally but how one looks depends upon the culture one is in.In western materialistic culture people search for happiness - not even in family and friends but in power and sense - enjoyment and even isvaro aham aham bhogi- When one can control with money and power the result of that is sense gratification as well.
Previously family was considered happiness even in a materialistic way, eating luxuriantly, having land was considered security. But now when people buy their land 300 sq mts and their house is on it - this makes them deal with water and earth and other natural things - they would rather deal with supermarkets and other unnatural things. This complete separation from what is natural causes difficulties in the consciousness of every human being. Rather than becoming happy in this standard of civilization - instantaneous sense gratification people become full of anxiety and practically become mad.
The Vedic system has something that is quite incredible as the cause of happiness which is quite unimaginable and unlikely today - that is satisfaction. If one is satisfied with what one has - this is my fate in life, this is God's grace - if one has this simple mentality then whatever one has one is happy.If one doesn't have that mentality one is unhappy and dissatisfied. Satisfaction is the cause of happiness and dissatisfaction is the cause of misery. "

As stated by Narada Muni to Yudhishtira Maharaj in the verse SB 7.15.17

sadā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sarvāḥ śivamayā diśaḥ
śarkarā-kaṇṭakādibhyo yathopānat-padaḥ śivam

For a person who has suitable shoes on his feet, there is no danger even when he walks on pebbles and thorns. For him, everything is auspicious. Similarly, for one who is always self-satisfied there is no distress; indeed, he feels happiness everywhere.

Why does Vedic Culture value satisfaction as the basis of happiness?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states in his lecture :"Culture is a medium in which particular entiites grow. What grows in the the vedic culture in each human being is some advancement in spiritual life, understanding the eternal. Vedic culture valued eternal life and although understanding every person in the world was not a great transcendentalist - but how to satisfy those desires within the culture in such way so that eternal life is not neglected rather it is cultivated - slow or fast depending on the individual and their advancement but everyone will move forward.

The wise person does not use his time and energy to be materially ambitious - becuse if consciousness is involved in advancement in the material world there will be no consciousness to advance spiritually.

The externals are not the causes of satisfaction anyway - they lead to disturbance. Real happiness comes from internal state of mind. Thats what Vedic culture cultivates. "

Removing impediments to applying the principle of satisfaction:
 HG Bhurijana Prabhu states: "One may apply the principle of satisfaction and not over endeavor for material things. However being satified with what one has can mean one is very attached to what one has. If those are things of those material world it will cause great difficulty at the time of death."

So what is the key to the successful application of the principle of satisfaction in our lives?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states "Thus one must be detached and one's satisfaction must come from inside and in one's relationship with Krsna."

• Satisfaction when correctly applied is being satisfied in becoming a servant of Krsna and satisfying Krsna through the service .When the principle of satisfaction is thus positioned one is raised to the spiriutual conception where happiness is boundless in serving Krsna in the true mood of a servant and not for position, fame, prestige of one's great abilities being showcased or used.
• When thus situated one becomes free from anxiety of safeguarding one's position in terms of riches, prestige, position and one's subtle sense gratification through the mind.One is only bothered about being a servant of Krsna and not about becoming a preacher or a congregation leader or being seen as a senior devotee and thus one gradually becomes non-envious. The agenda to perform service thus becomes only spiritual.
• The mindset truly becomes Krsna Consciousness: " I am completely satisfied being a servant of Krsna and doing whatever service that comes my way through the mercy of the devotees. I don't care about being seen as a rich person, as a beautiful person, as a famous person, as a nama hatta leader, as a congregation leader, or being seen as an advanced devotee. Those things do not fall in the scheme of my relationship with Krishna. They are not even a part of the color palette of my relationship with Krsna as his eternal servant"
• Another outcome of such a mindset is that since one feels so complete in the identity of being a servant of Krsna and His devotees that one doesn't try to fill the emptiness in the heart with deriving pleasure from one's job, one's children, one's spouse, etc. One relates with those relationships also through one's relationship with Krsna and develops a mood of service towards them and not one of enjoyment.One doesn't get as affected by any pains and tribulations that come through those relationships as one sees them as a part of Krsna's plan

Depending upon how much of this mood I carry I will be able to understand only so much of the Krsna Consciousness philosophy churned for our benefit by the various acaryas.I pray to Lord Krsna and the acaryas that I can develop such a mood of becoming Krsna's servant and doing services in that mood and not for personal aggrandizement. Real Peace, happiness and freedom from anxiety are present in the mood of becoming Krsna's servant and thus the servant of His devotees.

Sacrificial fire and brahamanas are considered to be the mouth of Vishnu

SB 8.16.9:
By worshiping the fire and the brāhmaṇas, a householder can achieve the desired goal of residing in the higher planets, for the sacrificial fire and the brāhmaṇas are to be considered the mouth of Lord Viṣṇu, who is the Supersoul of all the demigods

From Srila Prabhupada's purport:
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it." Therefore, all these items may be offered in the sacrificial fire, and Lord Viṣṇu will be satisfied. Similarly, brāhmaṇa-bhojana, feeding of the brāhmaṇas, is also recommended, for when the brāhmaṇas eat sumptuous remnants of food after yajña, this is another way that Lord Viṣṇu Himself eats. Therefore the Vedic principles recommend that in every festival or ceremony one offer oblations to the fire and give sumptuous food for the brāhmaṇas to eat. By such activities, a householder may be elevated to the heavenly planets and similar places in the higher planetary systems.


SB 5.5.23
O respectful brāhmaṇas, as far as I am concerned, no one is equal or superior to the brāhmaṇas in this world. I do not find anyone comparable to them. When people know My motive, after performing rituals according to the Vedic principles they offer food to Me with faith and love through the mouth of a brāhmaṇa. When food is thus offered unto Me, I eat it with full satisfaction. Indeed, I derive more pleasure from food offered in that way than from the food offered in the sacrificial fire.

One must carry out the order of the Spiritual master and serve the brahamanas nicely

In the sixth canto after Indra offends his Guru Brhaspati , the demigods were being rapidly defeated by the demons who took advantage of their weak condition.Being thus bewidered and weakened the demigoids approached Lord Brahma for help.

On looking at their pitiable condition Lord Brahma said :

SB 6.7.22: Because of your misbehavior toward Bṛhaspati, you have been defeated by the demons. My dear demigods, since the demons were weak, having been defeated by you several times, how else could you, who were so advanced in opulence, be defeated by them?

All the opulence we possess is thus a result of the blessings of Guru and the Guru Parampara. By ourselves without the mercy of the Spiritual Master and the Guru Paramapara we are insignificant. Any of our endeavors is successful only because if the mercy and the backing of the entire Guru Parampara.

Prior to devotional life every endeavor of mine was plagued with many hurdles and resulted in miniscule success. However in devotional life anything done under the direction of authority is always successful. Pleasing our authorities means we follow their directions properly.When we do so we are able to recieve their blessings and mercy to complete the endeavor.

However if we offend our authority we will find ourselves completely weakened like the demigods.The mercy will be withdrawn automatically.

Further in the 8th canto,in the fight between the demons and the demigods after the nectar from the churning of the milk ocean is consumed by the demigods, Bali was defeated, and he died in the fight, but by the grace of Śukrācārya he regained his life. Thus he engaged himself in the service of Śukrācārya, his spiritual master.
The descendants of Bhṛgu, being pleased with him, engaged him in the Viśvajit-yajña. When this yajña was performed, from the fire of yajña came a chariot, horses, a flag, a bow, armor and two quivers of arrows. Mahārāja Prahlāda, Bali Mahārāja's grandfather, gave Bali an eternal garland of flowers, and Śukrācārya gave him a conchshell. Bali Mahārāja, after offering obeisances to Prahlāda, the brāhmaṇas and his spiritual master, Śukrācārya, equipped himself to fight with Indra and went to Indrapurī with his soldiers.Blowing his conchshell, he attacked the outskirts of Indra's kingdom. When Indra saw Bali Mahārāja's prowess, he went to his own spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, told him about Bali's strength, and inquired about his duty. Bṛhaspati informed the demigods that because Bali had been endowed with extraordinary power by the brāhmaṇas, the demigods could not fight with him. Bali was endowed with the blessings of the descendents of Bhrgupati, the blessings of his spritual master Sukracarya because he had pleased him and also his forefathers.

Agaian we see that by the mercy of the spiritual master and the brahamanas Bali Maharaj becomes very powerful.
Srila Prabhupada writes in this regard in 8.15.28:
We sing in our daily prayers, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi **. By the pleasure of the spiritual master, one can get extraordinary power, especially in spiritual advancement. The blessings of the spiritual master are more powerful than one's personal endeavor for such advancement. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore says:


guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya,āra nā kariha mane āśā **

Especially for spiritual advancement, one should carry out the bona fide order of the spiritual master. By the paramparā system, one can thus be endowed with the original spiritual power coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead (evaḿ paramparā-prāptam imaḿ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg. 4.2]).

Lessons from Gajendra's pastime

False shelters are namesake, only Krishna is the ultimate protector and shelter:
Gajendra was the King of elephants and he enjoyed high influence over other animals, prestige, recreation and 5 Star enjoyment ( in the beautiful lake with his many wives), he was hardworking (sparying water on his wives and children) and also responsible as he maintained his large family. However inspite of such enjoyment and status when calamity struck none of his assets above could do anything to protect him.

Sukadeva Goswami narrates in SB 8.2.28:"Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in that grave condition, his wives felt very, very sorry and began to cry. The other elephants wanted to help Gajendra, but because of the crocodile's great strength, they could not rescue him by grasping him from behind"

None of the false shelters that give us a sense of security during the course of our life can do anything for us in our times of difficulties and also in our advancement in spiritual life. What are the false shelters: money, relationships, high education, position, etc. Only Lord Krishna's mercy can help us and is of true benefit. In Gajendra's case his false shelters could not help him, neither his own strength as he tried fighting on his own for 1000 years.Only when he remembered his past life and surrendered to the Lord that he was saved from the greatest calamity.

The false shelters are temporary. However I still find solace in these false shelters and derive my confidence from those and not from the surety of Krsna's protection. This is strong bodily identification. I Pray to Krishna that He situates me in the position of the spiritual identity of servant of the servant- only then will I be able to take shelter of Krishna only and none of these false shelters.

He desires full relase from material life and the present danger

Maya will attack us where we are the weakest: Gajendra was pulled into the water and he became drained of all his energy fighting in the water as he was not an animal of water.

SB 8.2.30: Thereafter, because of being pulled into the water and fighting for many long years, the elephant became diminished in his mental, physical and sensual strength. The crocodile, on the contrary, being an animal of the water, increased in enthusiasm, physical strength and sensual power.

Similarly Maya will lure us by attacking our weaknesses - we may have a weakness for power or fame. We might be doing our devotional service only for that purpose and not for pleasing Krishna. Maya will give us a service which satifies such weaknesses and gradually we will be blinded and fall down. So how can we become strong- there are so many areas we are weak?

Srila Prabhupada states in the purport to this verse "The soldiers in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must always possess physical strength, enthusiasm and sensual power. To keep themselves fit, they must therefore place themselves in a normal condition of life. What constitutes a normal condition will not be the same for everyone, and therefore there are divisions of varṇāśrama — brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa." By serving in the normal condition of life our weaknesses will also be dovetailed in Krishna's service and will eventaully become purified. By chanting Hare Krishna all the cleansing will happen. So we must chant sincerely and beg to Krishna for strength.

Sincere rigourous practice is very important:
Like Gajendra we may have all the material facilities and enjoyments and also some major troubles going on in our life. Gajendra atleast came to the understanding that You are the only shelter and he offered such beaitiful prayers to You. However I find that during miseries I am spending my energy only to counteract them. I only briefly realize that You are the Supreme controller and I am powerless and You are the only shelter. However I am mostly on the side of trying to control the situation adn not accept it as Your mercy upon me. I become callous towards You again. Please save me Oh Krishna. Gajendera offered such beautiful prayers even when he was in so much pain with his leg in the mouth of the crocodile and the struggle for 1000 years. Yet he offered such eloquent prayers to the lord. This was the result of very sincere and concentrated practice which pleased the Lord and the Lord reminded him of the prayers he had learned in His past life as we see in

SB 8.3.1: Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.

Because of the gratitude King Indradyumna had in recieving Agastya Muni's curse he got the rememberance of his past devotional activity by the grace of Krishna.Please bless me Oh Lord that some sincerity develops in my heart towards wanting to be with You. I am caught on and attracted to the false shelters and think they will carry me through. Please help me understand that You are the only true object of all affection and service and You are the only protector and benefactor. Please help me surrender to You.

Please bless me so that I can diligently carry out devotional service unto You very mindfully and attentively so that when I am bewilidered by the turn of events, You will remind  me all the lessons I learned in bhakti.

Lord is the Supreme Benefactor and Supremely merciful:
In his prayers Gajendra offered wonderful prayers recognizing You as the Supreme Father(8.3.13), Supreme Director(8.3.14), supreme Cause(8.3.15),Supreme revealer of Knowledge(8.3.16) and supremely Merciful(8.3.17). He also said that he was covered by ignorance in an elephant's body and was attracted to material enjoyment.  Oh Krishna I am also covered by ignorance and I am attracted to material enjoyment.
Its amazing even before we offer our prayers You incessantly try to deliver us :
SB 8.3.17: .. Indeed, being extremely merciful, You incessantly try to deliver me. ... but I am unfortunate as I dont follow Your instructions and hear Your message because I am covered by the modes SB 8.3.16 : My Lord, as the fire in araṇi wood is covered, You and Your unlimited knowledge are covered by the material modes of nature. Your mind, however, is not attentive to the activities of the modes of nature. Those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge are not subject to the regulative principles directed in the Vedic literatures. Because such advanced souls are transcendental, You personally appear in their pure minds. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Please remove this covering so that I can hear Your instructions and desire to be with You.
Thus Gajendra very humbly accepted his condition : I am covered, I have material qualities but I am sure of your protection because you are always trying to protect us abut because we are covered we do not hear.
Only when one surrenders can one feel the Lord's protection.


Please protect me:

Gajendra says SB 8.3.20-21: Unalloyed devotees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. Thus they always merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. Such devotees never ask the Lord for any benediction. I, however, am in danger. Thus I pray to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally existing, who is invisible, who is the Lord of all great personalities, such as Brahmā, and who is available only by transcendental bhakti-yoga. Being extremely subtle, He is beyond the reach of my senses and transcendental to all external realization. He is unlimited, He is the original cause, and He is completely full in everything. I offer my obeisances unto Him.


Srila Prabhupada states in the purport:"Unalloyed devotees have nothing to ask from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Gajendra, the King of the elephants, was circumstantially asking for an immediate benediction because he had no other way to be rescued. Sometimes, when there is no alternative, a pure devotee, being fully dependent on the mercy of the Supreme Lord, prays for some benediction. But in such a prayer there is also regret. "

No Lamentation:
When in difficulty the devotees are not lamenting e.g Draupadi, Gajendra, Kunti devi rather the are beautifully glorifying the Lord and His energies and are offering themselves humbly for the Lord's shelter

When the Lord came to save him , Gajendra inspite of his pain was welcoming the Lord by saying :"O my Lord, Nārāyaṇa, master of the universe, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You." He wasnt comsumed in the thought of how his misery would go away but rather he was very happy to see the Lord. By offering the flower he is actually saying "I am yours" inspite of any condition I am in , I am yours.

Result of touching the Supreme Lord

SB 8.4.6:
gajendro bhagavat-sparśād
vimukto 'jñāna-bandhanāt
prāpto bhagavato rūpaḿ
pīta-vāsāś catur-bhujaḥ

Because Gajendra, King of the elephants, had been touched directly by the hands of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was immediately freed of all material ignorance and bondage. Thus he received the salvation of sārūpya-mukti, in which he achieved the same bodily features as the Lord, being dressed in yellow garments and possessing four hands.

Purport: If one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead by having his gross body touched by the Lord, his body turns into a spiritual body, and he can go back home, back to Godhead. Gajendra assumed a spiritual body when his body was touched by the Lord. Similarly, Dhruva Mahārāja assumed his spiritual body in this way. Arcanā-paddhati, daily worship of the Deity, provides an opportunity to touch the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus it enables one to be fortunate enough to get a spiritual body and go back to Godhead. Not only by touching the body of the Supreme Lord, but simply by hearing about His pastimes, chanting His glories, touching His feet and offering worship — in other words, by serving the Lord somehow or other — one is purified of material contamination. This is the result of touching the Supreme Lord. One who is a pure devotee (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]), who acts according to the śāstra and the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, certainly becomes purified. Like Gajendra, he assumes a spiritual body and returns home, back to Godhead.

Spiritual master helps us regain our spiritual identity

SB 7.15.43-44: In the conditioned stage, one's conceptions of life are sometimes polluted by passion and ignorance, which are exhibited by attachment, hostility, greed, lamentation, illusion, fear, madness, false prestige, insults, fault-finding, deception, envy, intolerance, passion, bewilderment, hunger and sleep. All of these are enemies. Sometimes one's conceptions are also polluted by goodness.
SB 7.15.45: As long as one has to accept a material body, with its different parts and paraphernalia, which are not fully under one's control, one must have the lotus feet of his superiors, namely his spiritual master and the spiritual master's predecessors. By their mercy, one can sharpen the sword of knowledge, and with the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's mercy one must then conquer the enemies mentioned above. In this way, the devotee should be able to merge into his own transcendental bliss, and then he may give up his body and resume his spiritual identity.
SB 7.15.46: Otherwise, if one does not take shelter of Acyuta and Baladeva, then the senses, acting as the horses, and the intelligence, acting as the driver, both being prone to material contamination, inattentively bring the body, which acts as the chariot, to the path of sense gratification. When one is thus attracted again by the rogues of viṣaya — eating, sleeping and mating — the horses and chariot driver are thrown into the blinding dark well of material existence, and one is again put into a dangerous and extremely fearful situation of repeated birth and death

The format for grhastha life should be dedication to the Lord

In the chapters 11,12 and 13 of the 7 th canto Narada Muni explains the duties and activities of Brahmacaris, Vanaprasthas, Sannyasis and women. All the three varnas mentioned are very important to achieve the goal of life.Also Narada Muni wanted to stress that sex life was not at all necessary and if one so desires it he can go enter grhastha ashram.
Yudhisthira Maharaj inquires for our benefit on what should the activities of a person in grhastha ashram be. How can one in the grhastha ashram without any knowledge of the goal of life attain liberation according to the instructions of the Vedas.The asrama is very difficult and offers many diversions , how can one in such an ashram also attain the success of life.

In this post the instructions given by Narada Muni in answer to the above question are presented:

• Work to earn the livelihood but offer the results to Krishna and satisfy Him
  

Srila Prabhupada states in 7.14.2 "The format of Grhastha life should be dedication to the Supreme Personality of Godhead". One must act only to satisfy the Lord.One must live a very simple life

• Through Association one learns the science of satisfying the Lord:

In 7.14.2 "saksad upasita maha-munim" - How to satisfy Vasudeva in this life can be perfectly understood through the association of great devotees of the Lord.
maha-muni refers to those who have not only studied the goal of life but who are actually engaged in satisfying the Lord.These persons are known as devotees. Unless one associates with devotees, one cannot learn the science of "vasudevarpana" -dedicating ones life to the Supreme.

• What is the recommended way of association: Hearing from saintly persons

In 7.14.3-4 Narada Muni says: "A gṛhastha must associate again and again with saintly persons, and with great respect he must hear the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Lord and His incarnations as these activities are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Purāṇas. Thus one should gradually become detached from affection for his wife and children, exactly like a man awakening from a dream."
By hearing from great souls on topics of SB and BG one gets purified of their sinful inclination.
One should hear repeatedly - again and again (abhiksanam) because bhagavat-katahare the words spoken by Krishna or about Krsna- thus they are amrtam. The more one drinks this amrtam one advances in his eternal life.
Srila Prabhupada says: "One should work eight hours at the most to earn his livelihood, and either in the afternoon or in the evening a householder should associate with devotees to hear about the incarnations of Kṛṣṇa and His activities and thus be gradually liberated from the clutches of māyā."
After hearing from the great souls one's detachment to material life reduces. Also the relationships within the family become based on a Krsna centric conception rather than the material conception of enjoyment.

• Simplicity(7.14.5-8) : Give up the sense of proprietorship
  

One should live unattached to family affairs even though one may look externally attached like others. Thus household life centered around Krsna may externally look like any other household but in consciousness and principle they are unattached to family affairs and are working on developing attachment towards Krishna.

Those in grhastha life should work enough to keep body and soul together and keep the focus in fulfilling the purpose of life.Even when others may give suggestions, the householder must agree externally but internally he should be fixed in the goal of life and keeping his activities centered around that.

Claim proprietorship to only as much as needed to keep body and soul together. Anyone desiring more than that must be considered as a thief. If there is extra money it should be spent in furthering the Krsna Consciousness movement- building temples, books, etc.

• Non-envious and maintain others (7.14.9 and 7.14.11)
  

Animals like deers , asses, monkeys, mice, snakes etc should be treated exactly like one's own children. They are also innocent. They should be allowed to live peacefully and we should not disturb them. Infact if possible the householder can maintain them by giving them prasad. If he doesnt do that he is envious and does not like it that all other animals also have a claim to God's property.

One should give up the attachment to one's material life and pleasures and should engage in maintaining even dogs, fallen persons, untouchables, etc.

One should give up one's excessive attachment to one's wife - i.e. the idea of ownership towards family must also be abandoned.

• Give up excessive attachment to wife(family members)

We are eternal souls and any material attachments that we have will not be eternal.Only the Supreme Lord is eternal. Thus one must develop a stronger spiritual conception and base the relationships one the spiritual conception. Excessive material attachment towards family members will divert one from services. Instead basing the relationships on devotion to Krsna and thus engaging in service to Krsna is favorable.

Thus "offering even one's wife in reception of guests and people" means offering that material attachment as an oblation in the sacrifice of devotional service.Thus giving up any activities centered around that material relationship.If one does so one can direct one's energies towards devotional service.

The relationship between man and women based on sex is the strongest relationship - if that can be given up one can conquer the Supreme.

• Grhasthas should eat only prasad.
• Respect and worship all living entities:Worship the Supreme Lord everyday by worshiping the demigods, saintly persons, forefathers, other human beings and living entities.
• Offer sacrifices with wealth and knowledge : in this day and age chanting the Hare Krsna mahamantra and participating in Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement with one's wealth and knowledge is the recommendation.
• Service to vaishnavas by serving them nice prasad and distribute prasad to other living entities.
  

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the enjoyer of sacrificial offerings. Yet although His Lordship eats the oblations offered in the fire, my dear King, He is still more satisfied when nice food made of grains and ghee is offered to Him through the mouths of qualified brāhmaṇas.

• Offer oblations to forefathers

Idea is : In one's life shouldnt be restricted to selfishness
If cannot become great devotee, or give up one's life like a brahmacari, sannyasi or vanaprasthi, or live simply - atleast one should minimize one's selfishness by becoming charitable. Charity to be done atleast to one's family members and forefathers if one cannot perform the charity of maintaining other living entities and animals.
By acknowledging that the ceremony we do now will benefit the forefathers who have passed away one develops the consciousness of eternalness of the soul. One's self is benefited by this consciousness. One's heart expands a little bit.In grhastha life - one is usually very self-centered and thinks about his benefit and that of family members. This contracts the heart and makes it heard for giving charity. One develops envy and desires all enjoyment for oneself. The contraction of the heart by which one feels one needs more and more creates greater dissatisfaction and thus UNHAPPINESS.The oblations one performs towards one's forefathers and the charity and non-enviousness exhibited towards other living entities(7.14.9-7.14.11) helps one open their heart a little bit. Thus people gradually become less selfish and more charitable. This helps one give up the sense of proprietorship over all that pervades - it helps one recognize that all entities are God's creation and they have as much right to be maintained as much as oneself. So makes some advancement by this process it is eternal.

• Any place where there is a Vaishnava, or a temple of Lord Krishna ,etc are auspicious places to perform worship and purificatory rituals.
• Lord Krsna is the best person to whom everything must be given - He is the object of all our worship. e.g Rajasuya sacrifice all the assembled sages unanimously decided that Lord Krsna must be the first person to be worshiped.
• One must be respectful to all living entities as the Lord resides as the Supersoul in all of them.
• Deity worship is recommended to overcome envy and develop respectful dealings with everyone. Refer for further explanation:One who worships the deity must be non-envious and Engagement in deity worship encourages respectful dealings between Vaishnavas
  
• Brahmanas are to be considered the best because by practicing austerity, Vedic studies and satisfaction he becomes the counterpart body of the Lord.
  

Women's duties

View this label "chaste wife" for other excerpts of Texts and Srila Prabhupada's purports on this topic.

SB 7.11.25: To render service to the husband, to be always favorably disposed toward the husband, to be equally well disposed toward the husband's relatives and friends, and to follow the vows of the husband — these are the four principles to be followed by women described as chaste.

SB 7.11.26-27: A chaste woman must dress nicely and decorate herself with golden ornaments for the pleasure of her husband. Always wearing clean and attractive garments, she should sweep and clean the household with water and other liquids so that the entire house is always pure and clean. She should collect the household paraphernalia and keep the house always aromatic with incense and flowers and must be ready to execute the desires of her husband. Being modest and truthful, controlling her senses, and speaking in sweet words, a chaste woman should engage in the service of her husband with love, according to time and circumstances.

SB 7.11.28: A chaste woman should not be greedy, but satisfied in all circumstances. She must be very expert in handling household affairs and should be fully conversant with religious principles. She should speak pleasingly and truthfully and should be very careful and always clean and pure. Thus a chaste woman should engage with affection in the service of a husband who is not fallen.

SB 7.11.29: The woman who engages in the service of her husband, following strictly in the footsteps of the goddess of fortune, surely returns home, back to Godhead, with her devotee husband, and lives very happily in the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

One who worships the deity must be non-envious

7.14.40:
Sometimes a neophyte devotee offers all the paraphernalia for worshiping the Lord, and he factually worships the Lord as the Deity, but because he is envious of the authorized devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord is never satisfied with his devotional service.

From the purport:
Deity worship is especially meant for purifying the neophyte devotees. Actually, however, preaching is more important. In Bhagavad-gītā (18.69) it is said, na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ: if one wants to be recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he must preach the glories of the Lord. One who worships the Deity must therefore be extremely respectful to preachers; otherwise simply worshiping the Deity will keep one in the lower stage of devotion.

Engagement in deity worship encourages respectful dealings between Vaishnavas

SB 7.14.39: My dear King, when great sages and saintly persons saw mutually disrespectful dealings at the beginning of Tretā-yuga, Deity worship in the temple was introduced with all paraphernalia.

From Srila Prabhupada's purport:

"A powerful Vaiṣṇava who has converted others into Vaiṣṇavas is to be worshiped, but because of material contamination, sometimes such an exalted Vaiṣṇava is disrespected by other, minor Vaiṣṇavas. When great saintly persons saw this contamination, they introduced worship of the Deity in the temple. This began in Tretā-yuga and was especially prominent in Dvāpara-yuga (dvāpare paricaryāyāḿ). "

"A prākṛta devotee, or neophyte devotee, is still on the material platform. He certainly engages in worshiping the Deity, but he cannot appreciate the activities of a pure devotee. It has actually been seen that even an authorized devotee who is engaged in the service of the Lord by preaching the mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sometimes criticized by neophyte devotees. Such neophytes are described by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura: sarva-prāṇi-sammānanāsamarthānām avajñā spardhādimatāḿ tu bhagavat-pratimaiva pātram ity āha. For those who cannot properly appreciate the activities of authorized devotees, Deity worship is the only way for spiritual advancement. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya 7.11) it is clearly said, kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana: without being authorized by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot preach the holy name of the Lord throughout the entire world. Nevertheless, a devotee who does so is criticized by neophyte devotees, kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs, who are on the lower stages of devotional service. For them, Deity worship is strongly recommended."