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.

From Maharaj Citraketu to Vrtrasura

Pariksit Maharaj on hearing the great transcendental qualities of Vrtrsasura asks Sukadeva Goswami as to how a demon could act as an unalloyed devotee of the Lord completely satisfied and happy in engaging in the Lord's service. To that sukadeva Goswami mentions that Vrtrsasura was Maharaj Citraketu in his previous birth who has a great devotee of the Lord. He then narrates the story of Maharaj Citraketu and his path to greatness.
In the following Post we will read about Maharaj Citraketu's evolution to become a great devotee of the Lord.

Overcome by Lamentation for not having a son:
He married 1000000 queens and performed so many sacrifices but he could not have a son. He was the king of the planet and had everything in his dominion - all his subjects were happy under his rule and the earth also being happy with his rule gave nice produce sufficient for everyone. He had everything that anyone could dream of - but still he was so overcome by lamentation for not having a son- he was completely morose as if he did not possess anything.
Thus identification with the body and teh sense of being the controller was so strong because of his rule he could not accept the fact that he could not have a son. He was not able to understand that he cannot change the Lord's plan and he must accept it cheerfully. The conception of himself being the spirit soul and not this body was absent.

Was totally lost in grief when he lost his son:
He was so attached to the son who was born that when his son left his body- Citraketu Maharaj was completely lost, with his mind and intelligence completely blanked out owin to the very strong attachment resulting in grief

Submits himself to Angira muni and Narada Muni 
Citraketu even if initially bewildered at the loss of his son, regained his composure by hearing submissively from Angira Muni and Narada Muni. He followed their instructions sincerely.
Their three instructions in short were:

1. Contemplate on who you are - the body , mind or the soul, where you have come from ?and What is your purpose?
2. They would give him a mantra - if he chants in the right consciousness then he will see the Supreme Lord face to face
3. He must be patient in his practice

Being pleased with Citraketu's sincerity Narada Muni gives him the mantra.Citraketu chants the mantra very sincerely in the right consciousness and eventually comes face to face with the Lord- he is not attracted to the position of the leader of the Vidyadhara planet bestowed upon him as a side benefit, but he continues his meditation and eventually meets the Lord. He offers wonderful prayers to the Lord as he regains his composure.
Some important lessons from this:

1. SP has also repeatedly stressed that "You are not this Body, You are the Soul"
2. He has given us the Hare Krishna Maha mantra and promised us that we can go BTG is we take up the process sincerely.
3. So even if we are right now bewildered by the material energy- we can submissively follow SP's instructions patiently and eventually attain service at the Lotus Feet of Lord Hari
4. Pleasing the spiritual masterS is important for our progress.Only when we are able to please them with our sincereity that the deeper truths of Bhakti will be shared with us.I say Spiritual Masters here because Shiksha Gurus are equal to Diksha gurus and their blessings are very important in our spiritual progress.

Maharaj Citraketu's wonderful Prayers to the Lord

1. In verses 36 and 37 he glorifies the unlimited nature of the Lord, how he is the cause of the cosmic manifestation and how the Lord remains in His original potency even when the entire cosmic manifestation is annihilated.
2. In texts 38 and 39 Maharaj Citraketu expresses surpirse that even after knowing that the Lord is the cause of everything, He is unlimited and that He is Permanent, why do materially minded people worship the Demigods who along with their benedictions are temporary.
3. He further says that even if one has material desires one must worship the Lord, as by doing so one will be delivered from the Cycle of birth and Death
4. In texts 40 and 41 Maharaj Citraketu glorifes the bhagavata dharma (as has been given to us by SP) and says that such a princple of religion is universal and does not promote envy unlike other religious paths.

The line from the purport to text 6.16.36 - "The permanent reality is Kṛṣṇa, not this cosmic manifestation" and we discussed what this means to us individually. The Matajis shared their realizations - that if Krishna is the permanent reality then we must invest our energy in developing a relationship with Him and not with the material energy. To do so we must chant very nicely and deeply and seek shelter of Srimad Bhagavatam and the devotees.
We also discussed from the chapter 4 from the 12th canto - The Four categories of annihilation. This is a description given by Sukadeva Goswami to Maharaj Pariksit just before he would leave his body - thus of importance for us.

He explains the 4 material annihilations of which the annhilation of the false ego is the ultimate. More about that can be read in this post Death of the false ego - the Ultimate Annihilation...

The message of tolerance given by Suta Goswami after Maharaj Pariksit leaves his body

Identification with the body leads to despair

SB 12.6.32: Those who desire to give up all that is not essentially real move systematically, by negative discrimination of the extraneous, to the supreme position of Lord Viṣṇu. Giving up petty materialism, they offer their love exclusively to the Absolute Truth within their hearts and embrace that highest truth in fixed meditation.

SB 12.6.33: Such devotees come to understand the supreme transcendental situation of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, because they are no longer polluted by the concepts of "I" and "my," which are based on body and home.

SB 12.6.34: One should tolerate all insults and never fail to show proper respect to any person. Avoiding identification with the material body, one should not create enmity with anyone.

We just read about tolerance in the previous post Tolerate where Lord Krishna concludes the pastime of the Avanti Brahmana and mentions that one must just toleate the externals and remained fixed and safe in their spiritual position.

In the verses above we see a similar message being said by Suta Goswami. He says this after he narrates the pastime of Maharaj Pariksit leaving his body.Thus those who understand transcendental knowledge and the impermanence of the material retrain their minds very systematically and carefully giving up petty materialism and reposing their love in Lord Sri Krsna.

Once they are successful in giving up the concepts of "I" and "Mine" they can clearly understand the Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. They are not attracted to matter any more because of their careful cultivation. Also they do not entangle themselves in matter and thus tolerate all types of insults because they do not identify with the material body. They are not affected by the insults at all.

Since they are situated in the spiritual conception and act on the platform of the soul they offer respect to everyone around them as they see everyone as a part of parcel of their most lovable Lord.

Practical application:

I am not this body made of flesh, pus, stool, and urine.

• I am the soul - I am not this body
• I heard Jaya Jagannath Prabhu say in Chicago that our vision of the world and of people is autobiographical - we follow the principle " atmavan Manyate jagat".
• Thus if we consider ourselves as matter we will view others also as matter , but when we understand ourselves as a soul , as a part and parcel of Krishna then we will be able to see others also as parts and parcels of Krishna.

 Thus by careful cultivation we must try to situate ourselves in our eternal identity as a spirit soul and stop identifying with our body. Srila Prabhupada in most of his lectures emphasizes this very fact the application of which is fundamental to our Krishna Consciousness.

Tolerate

As an aspiring devotee when I am faced with a provoking situation or a material disturbance - I usually react as if it were an assault to my very existence and being. I take it very personally and react accordingly to stand up for myself or if its a material situation I try my best to bring things back on track.

However as I read Srimad Bhagavatam the message of tolerance is repeatedly stressed upon as the response to a difficult situation or a difficult person by one who is a devotee of the Lord acting on the platform of the soul.The Avadhuta Brahmana and the Avanti Brahmana also teach the same thing by their example.The message of tolerance is also given by Suta Goswami after Maharaj Pariksit leaves his body.You can read the post here.
The essence is that we must tolerate all types of difficult people and situations and not use in our energy in brooding or retaliating as that will keep us in the material conception of life.Instead we must use our intelligence to remain fixed on the Lotus Feet of the Lord fixed in Service to Him and his devotees.


Lord Krishna says in the 11th Canto:

SB 11.22.54-55: The soul's material life, his experience of sense gratification, is actually false, O descendant of Daśārha, just like trees' appearance of quivering when the trees are reflected in agitated water, or like the earth's appearance of spinning due to one's spinning his eyes around, or like the world of a fantasy or dream.

SB 11.22.56: For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.

SB 11.22.57: Therefore, O Uddhava, do not try to enjoy sense gratification with the material senses. See how illusion based on material dualities prevents one from realizing the self.

He says that illusion based on material dualities prevents us from realizing the self. The life that we think is ours is based on illusion, its based on a false reality - everything that we aspire for in the material world is temporary. If everything is temporary then why cry over something that we did not receive, over some respect that someone did not give us, over some pain someone inflicted upon us. If we identify with the body and the mind all these will seem very hurtful. Then our mind gets engrossed in the pain and in plans about retaliting to those who have caused us pain - thus taking time away from Krishna.

However if we realize that everything that is happening to me is my own karma coming back and everything that is happening to me is destroying the plans of enjoyment of my body and senses - if I waste time brooding over it- it is time away from Krishna.If I do not understand this and stay in the material conception I will further entangle myself in the material conception of life and go deeper in the material pool. Instead let me just tolerate these dualities like how I tolerate the summer and winter months without getting disturbed and let me keep my mind focussed on serving Lord Sri Krishna who is my eternal master and serving His servants just as Lord Sri Krishna instructs Uddhava in the following verse:

SB 11.22.58-59: Even though neglected, insulted, ridiculed or envied by bad men, or even though repeatedly agitated by being beaten, tied up or deprived of one's occupation, spat upon or polluted with urine by ignorant people, one who desires the highest goal in life should in spite of all these difficulties use his intelligence to keep himself safe on the spiritual platform.