Prayers chanted before reading Srimad Bhagavatam

 Om namah bhagavate vasudevaya

I offer my obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva

narayanam namaskritya 

naram chaiva narottamam

devim sarasvatim vyasam

 tato jayam udirayet

 Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is the very means of conquest, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Narayana, unto Nara-narayana Rishi, the supermost human being, unto Mother Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and unto Srila Vyasadeva, the author. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.4)

śṛṇvatāḿ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ 

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.(1.2.17)

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu

nityaḿ bhāgavata-sevayā

bhagavaty uttama-śloke

bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.(1.2.18)

Prayers to Sri Guru

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him. 

mukam karoti vachalam

pangum langhayate girim

yat-kripa tam aham vande

shri-gurum dina-taranam

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, the deliverer of the fallen souls. His mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains."

The Supreme Occupation

One of the verses that attracted me to Krishna Consciousness was the verse that explained the Supreme Occupation of all humanity:

SB 1.2.6:The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.

Some very powerful lines from Srila Prabhupada's purport:

"One should, therefore, accept the superior quality of occupation in the form of the devotional service of the Lord without any tinge of unnecessary desire, fruitive action and philosophical speculation. This alone can lead one to perpetual solace in His service."

"We have purposely denoted dharma as occupation because the root meaning of the word dharma is "that which sustains one's existence." A living being's sustenance of existence is to coordinate his activities with his eternal relation with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa."

"The relation is one of the servant and the served. It is transcendental and is completely distinct from our experience in material existence. This relation of servant and the served is the most congenial form of intimacy. One can realize it as devotional service progresses. Everyone should engage himself in that transcendental loving service of the Lord, even in the present conditional state of material existence. That will gradually give one the clue to actual life and please him to complete satisfaction. "

Any dissatisfaction in the heart is only because of not being situated in our eternal identity of a servant of Lord Krishna. Matter can only leave us hankering and dissatisfied.If I am feeling dissatisfied in a relationship, in a conversation, in a service, in my life, etc it is because in those areas I am looking for satisfaction from matter, I am not acting from the position of my eternal identity- of a spirit soul who is a servant of Krishna. Anxiety, sadness and fear are material emotions- when I am feeling them I must remember those occur because of my identification with matter, the body. As an eternal soul - I am also sacidananda. Those emotions are not me , just like matter is not me- I must learn to not identify with those emotions and not act on them.

As a spirit soul part and parcel of Krishna I am also full of knowledge , eternity and bliss - I can experience that by following the devotional process and explicitly not identofying with matter.

Introspection Exercise

Concept	What I am doing well	Growth Areas for me
.Unmotivated
Uninterrupted
Completely satisfy the self

Follow in the Footsteps of the sages of Naimisaranya

In the purport to Text SB 1.1.22  Srila Prabhupada writes "Learned men, therefore, must be cautious of this age, and if they at all want to cross over the dangerous ocean of Kali, they must follow the footsteps of the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya and accept Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī or his bona fide representative as the captain of the ship. The ship is the message of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the shape of Bhagavad-gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."

Suta Goswami addressing the sages of Naimsisaranya

 The questions posted by the sages formed the basis of the entire narration of the Srimad Bhagavatm by Suta Goswami. Not only were the eager to hear themselves but they also desired that all the people in Kali Yuga maybe liberated by finding solace in Srimad Bhagavatam.

In the first chapter some of their qualities are evident as the qualifications of one who recieves Srimad Bhagavatam fully:

1. Eagerness(12,13):
2. Sincere(2,3,13)
3. Hearing from the right source(3)
4. Approaching with respect(5)
5. Submissive(2,3,5,13)
6. Hearing Step by step(2,3)
7. Hearing as an act of compassion(21)

Power of Association with Devotees

SB 1.1.15: O Sūta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use.

Purport:

Pure devotees of the Lord are more powerful than the waters of the sacred river Ganges. One can derive spiritual benefit out of prolonged use of the Ganges waters. But one can be sanctified at once by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that any person, regardless of birth as śūdra, woman, or merchant, can take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord and by so doing can return to Godhead. To take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord means to take shelter of the pure devotees. The pure devotees whose only business is serving are honored by the names Prabhupāda and Viṣṇupāda, which indicate such devotees to be representatives of the lotus feet of the Lord. Anyone, therefore, who takes shelter of the lotus feet of a pure devotee by accepting the pure devotee as his spiritual master can be at once purified. Such devotees of the Lord are honored equally with the Lord because they are engaged in the most confidential service of the Lord, for they deliver out of the material world the fallen souls whom the Lord wants to return home, back to Godhead. Such pure devotees are better known as vicelords according to revealed scriptures. The sincere disciple of the pure devotee considers the spiritual master equal to the Lord, but always considers himself to be a humble servant of the servant of the Lord. This is the pure devotional path.