The Chief Function of the False Ego is Godlessness

SB 1.17.1 — Sūta Gosvāmī said: After reaching that place, Mahārāja Parīkṣit observed that a lower-caste śūdra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a bull with a club, as if they had no owner.

SB 1.17.2 — The bull was as white as a white lotus flower. He was terrified of the śūdra who was beating him, and he was so afraid that he was standing on one leg, trembling and urinating.

SB 1.17.3 — Although the cow is beneficial because one can draw religious principles from her, she was now rendered poor and calfless. Her legs were being beaten by a śūdra. There were tears in her eyes, and she was distressed and weak. She was hankering after some grass in the field.

From unveiling His Lotus Feet Pg 229:

1. It is a cornerstone of Kali's mission to undermine authority, for Krsna is the ultimate authority and Kali's job is to induce irreligion
2. Kali therefore corrupts authorities and then revelas them as inept and hypocritical.
3. Husband and Wife, parent and child, priest and congregation, government leader and citizen- these natural relationships that combine authorities with their dependents prove unreliable and untrustworthy in Kali Yuga.
4. Kali cries: "See how authorities exploit their dependents! Let there be independence for every man and woman! Think for yourself, care for yourself. Who else will care for you? Be your own authority!
5. Pet theory of evolution:
1. Kali also propagates his theory or evolution, because if people think they are ever evolving

The Lord's Causeless Mercy Gives One the Ability to Render Service - Part 2

Continued from

The Lord's Causeless Mercy Gives One the Ability to Render Service - Part 1

Further Srila Prabhupada's explains that in SB 4.9.8:

The Lord's mercy is beyond our estimation:

1. The devotee understands that the Lord’s causeless mercy is beyond his estimation; he cannot know how much he is benefited by the grace of the Lord.
2. The more a devotee engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord, the more encouragement is supplied by the energy of the Lord.
3. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that to those who are constantly engaged in devotional service with love and affection, the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives intelligence from within and thus they may make further progress.
4. Being so encouraged, the devotee can never forget, at any moment, the Personality of Godhead. He always feels obliged to Him for having achieved increased power in devotional service by His grace. 
5. Saintly persons like Sanaka, Sanātana and Lord Brahmā were able to see the entire universe, by the mercy of the Lord, through knowledge of the Lord. 
6. The example is given that a person may apparently abstain from sleep all day, but as long as he is not spiritually enlightened he is actually sleeping. He may sleep at night and perform his duties in the daytime, but as long as he does not come to the platform of working in spiritual enlightenment he is considered to be always sleeping.
7.  A devotee, therefore, never forgets the benefit derived from the Lord.

Inspite of hearing all this where is the ahankara and ego coming from that I am something :)

Lord please protect me from this tendency, help me understand that you are the cause of all causes, you are the ability in me, its your mercy that is acting. Help me become a servant of the servant of the servant.

If we do not surrender we are considered lacking in real knowledge:

1. The Māyāvādī philosopher, who does not surrender unto the Supreme Person, is understood to be lacking in real knowledge. 
2. The devotee in perfect knowledge cannot forget his obligation to the Lord at any moment.

The Lord's Causeless Mercy Gives One the Ability to Render Service - Part 1

Dhruva Maharaja patiently executed his spiritual master Narada Muni's instruction, by doing so he attained the Supreme Perfection of life which was to receive darshan of the Lord. When the Lord was standing before him, he was speechless and stunned. He was unable to offer prayers in glorification of the Lord. The Lord very mercifully blessed him by touching His conchshell on his head.

He was thus enabled by the causeless mercy of the Lord , to offer fitting prayers.

• The Lord's mercy is needed to render service:
• Srila Prabhupada states in the purport to the verse 4.9.5:"To glorify or offer prayers unto the Supreme, one needs the Lord’s mercy. One cannot write to glorify the Lord unless one is endowed with His causeless mercy."
• Dhruva Maharaja experiences difference in himself:
• Therefore when Dhruva Mahārāja found this difference within himself, he could immediately understand that it was because of the causeless mercy of the Lord. 
• Acknowledgement and Gratitude for the mercy received
• He offered obeisances to the Lord with great respect and reverence, completely understanding that the Lord’s favor was upon him. 

How does such spiritual enlivenment work?

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 4.9.6

• Action of the internal potency
• This spiritual enlivenment of Dhruva Mahārāja’s senses and mind was due to the action of the internal potency of the Lord.
• Connect with internal potency through chanting:
• Spiritual enlightenment is possible by the mercy of the spiritual energy of the Lord. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is first addressed to the spiritual energy of the Lord, Hare.
• When does the spiritual energy act:
•  This spiritual energy acts when a living entity fully surrenders and accepts his position as an eternal servitor. 
• When a person places himself at the disposal or order of the Supreme Lord, that is called sevonmukha; at that time the spiritual energy gradually reveals the Lord to him.
• Nothing is possible without the revelation by the spiritual energy
• Without revelation by the spiritual energy, one is unable to offer prayers glorifying the Lord.
•  Any amount of philosophical speculation or poetic expression by mundane persons is still considered to be the action and reaction of the material energy. 
• Action  of the spiritual energy:
• When one is actually enlivened by the spiritual energy, all his senses become purified, and he engages only in the service of the Lord. At that time his hands, legs, ears, tongue, mind, genitals — everything — engage in the service of the Lord. 
• Such an enlightened devotee no longer has any material activities, nor has he any interest in being materially engaged. This process of purifying the senses and engaging them in the service of the Lord is known as bhakti, or devotional service.
• "Mechanically Engaged" followed by "Engagement with spiritual understanding":
•  In the beginning, the senses are engaged by the direction of the spiritual master and śāstra, and after realization, when the same senses are purified, the engagement continues.
•  The difference is that in the beginning the senses are engaged in a mechanical way, but after realization they are engaged in spiritual understanding.

Further continued in 

The Lord's Causeless Mercy Gives One the Ability to Render Service - Part 2

Attain Perfection by following the instructions of the spiritual master

In the purport to SB 4.8.71 Dhruva Maharaja begins his worship as advised by Narada Muni Srila Prabhupada says:

1. "The significance of this particular verse is that Dhruva Mahārāja acted exactly according to the advice of his spiritual master, the great sage Nārada.
2. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also advises that if we want to be successful in our attempt to go back to Godhead, we must very seriously act according to the instruction of the spiritual master. That is the way of perfection.
3. There need be no anxiety over attaining perfection because if one follows the instruction given by the spiritual master he is sure to attain perfection.
4. Our only concern should be how to execute the order of the spiritual master. A spiritual master is expert in giving special instructions to each of his disciples, and if the disciple executes the order of the spiritual master, that is the way of his perfection."

In another purport SB 4.9.5 Srila Prabhupada says:

"Dhruva Mahārāja attained this perfection not by acting hastily, but by patiently executing the order of his spiritual master, and therefore he became so successful that he saw the Lord face to face. "

Some instructions recieved so far by us:

1. Become servant of servant of servant of the devotees of the Lord
2. Do not criticize devotees
3. Chant properly

To what extent are we following these?

Vaishnava Dealings: How to never be affected by the three fold miseries of the world

When Narada Muni sees Dhruva feeling insulted by the sharp words of his step mother, he instructs him in the aspect of tolerance and relationships in the following way:

1. SB 4.8.28: My dear Dhruva, if you feel that your sense of honor has been insulted, you still have no cause for dissatisfaction. This kind of dissatisfaction is another feature of the illusory energy; every living entity is controlled by his previous actions, and therefore there are different varieties of life for enjoying or suffering.
1. Purport 4.8.28: Nārada Ṛṣi first of all wanted to impress upon Dhruva Mahārāja that he was only a child; he should not have been affected by words of insult or honor. And if he were so developed as to understand honor and insult, then this understanding should have been applied in his own life. He should have known that honor and dishonor are both destined only by one’s previous actions; therefore one should not be sorry or happy under any circumstances.
2. Purport 4.8.27: Ordinarily if a child is rebuked as a rascal or fool, he smiles and does not take such insulting words very seriously. Similarly, if words of honor are offered, he does not appreciate them. But in the case of Dhruva Mahārāja, the kṣatriyaspirit was so strong that he could not tolerate a slight insult from his stepmother which injured his kṣatriya prestige.
2. Purport 4.8.29 Essence: 
1.  Everyone who is intelligent should know that because of our concept of bodily existence, we are subjected to suffering and enjoyment. One who is in the transcendental position, beyond the concept of bodily life, is considered to be intelligent.
3. SB 4.8.33: "One should try to keep himself satisfied in any condition of life — whether distress or happiness — which is offered by the supreme will. A person who endures in this way is able to cross over the darkness of nescience very easily."
1. Purport 4.8.33: Instead of being attached to the circumstantial happiness and distress resulting from pious or impious activities, if we want to get out of the clutches of this nescience, then whatever position we are put in by the will of the Lord we should accept. Thus if we simply surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we shall get out of the clutches of this material existence.
4. SB 4.8.34: Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world.
1. Purport: Generally when we find someone more qualified than
   
   ourselves, we become envious of him; when we find someone less qualified, we deride him; and when we find someone equal we become very proud of our activities. These are the causes of all material tribulations. 
2. The great sage Nārada therefore advised that a devotee should act perfectly. Instead of being envious of a more qualified man, one should be jolly to receive him.
3.  Instead of being oppressive to a less qualified man, one should be compassionate toward him just to raise him to the proper standard.
4.  And when one meets an equal, instead of being proud of one’s own activities before him, one should treat him as a friend. 
5. One should also have compassion for the people in general, who are suffering due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa. These important functions will make one happy within this material world.

Forgiveness: The Ornament of a Vaishnava

SB 4.6.48 :My dear lord, if in some places materialists, who are already bewildered by the insurmountable illusory energy of the Supreme Godhead, sometimes commit offenses, a saintly person, with compassion, does not take this seriously. Knowing that they commit offenses because they are overpowered by the illusory energy, he does not show his prowess to counteract them.

1. It is said that the beauty of a tapasvī, or saintly person, is forgiveness.
2. A Vaiṣṇava is personally tolerant for the benefit of others. When he does not show his prowess, this does not mean that he is lacking in strength; rather, it indicates that he is tolerant for the welfare of the entire human society.

SB 4.6.49 :My dear lord, you are never bewildered by the formidable influence of the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore you are omniscient and should be merciful and compassionate toward those who are bewildered by the same illusory energy and are very much attached to fruitive activities.

1. A Vaiṣṇava is never bewildered by the influence of the external energy because he is engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
2. A Vaiṣṇava should take care of those who are bewildered by this māyā instead of becoming angry with them, because without a Vaiṣṇava’s mercy they have no way to get out of the clutches of māyā. Those who have been condemned by māyā are rescued by the mercy of devotees:

Ten topics of Srimad Bhagavatam

From Hg Gauranga Prabhu's lecture:


Sthanam:
3rd topic of SB.

• Defn: sthitir vikuntha vijaya- right situation for the jivas to obey the laws of the Lord. Original creator and maintainer is Lord Vishnu. Creation comes into being it is the duty of the jivas to acknowledge the victory of the Lord in all situations.
• It means- soul has desires- sthanam means when the soul starts desiring to perform activities which will take him back to Godhead- the right position, the Lord is always protecting His devotees- sthitih- this protection of the Lord for His devotees is vaikuntha vijayah - that means the excellences/vijayah of the Lord of Vaikuntha. That means every jiva in the material world has to ultimately go to the spiritual world- how he will go is only based on the help which the Lord provides.
• vaikuntha vijay :means the Lord destroys the sufferings of the jivas . So the Lord is always wanting to protect the jivas in different ways - 3,4,5 cantos this aspect is highlighted of sthanam- protection which is offered by the Lord- if we simply express a desire to the Lord the Lord can offer appropriate protection.
• 3rd canto Kapila explains Bhakti in the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Based on that 4th canto first pastime- daksha prajapati second pastime is Dhruva third is Prthu . What the Lord can give no one can give(Dhruva Maharaja's pastime)