Vilasa Vigraha Prabhu Lecture

Today we have got association of vilasa vigraha prabhu in our hostel who has post graduated from IIT guwahati and worked for TEjas networks for two years, now for last five years he changed his job and is working as full time devotee for Iskcon Bangalore.
Last yesterday night and today morning we were very fortunate to have association of vilasa vigraha prabhu in folk hostel btm, we all are feeling enlightened to receive nectar of spiritual instructions coming out of prabhu's mouth and I am very fortunate to have this opportunity of posting it in whatever small amount my tiny mind could receive -
Prabhu talked about mainly two topics:
1. The difference in nature of material happiness and spiritual happiness using instructions given in BhagwadGita.
2. The two C that can only enable us to taste that transcendental happiness which is only possible to attain in human form of life only.
The following acronym prabhu used to explain material happiness- PARIS
P - pain. Material happiness have its side effects in form of pain. Like if we eat a palatable dish too much then we have to suffer from indigestion.
A - addictive . The more we indulge in material enjoyment the more we hanker for it and because of the P (pain) it results in a prolong misery.
R - Risky. Yes because we are spirit soul and body is simply a machine given by material nature based on our karma and desires so we should be very cautious to know what kind of body we are going to get in next life and then work towards achieving not simply wasting our time in animalistic life of sleeping, eating, mating and defending. So, because these fruitive activities create a different types of karma and hence it is simply enjoying materially is too risky as depending on the karma we may get different variety of bodies in next life which we may not like.
I- illusory. Actually material happiness is considered as a drop in terms of quantity in comparison to the ever increasing oceanic nature of spiritual happiness. But since we wanted to enjoy this drop only so god had to do some trick inside our mind to amplify our perception of that happiness. So it is out of illusion only we hope of being extremely happy we hanker for it and this chasing pleasure is what is running this material world.
S - stale. Material happiness has a beginning and an end but spiritual happiness or happiness in Krishna is like an ocean which is ever increasing in nature. eg. we purchase mobile phones or some new clothes but after sometimes the pleasure we were earlier getting in wearing it becomes stale.

Now , for explaining spiritual nature , prabhu used following acronym: SING
S- special. More than 99% of society is simply involved in four kind of things that is sleeping , eating, mating and defending but nobody is interested in finding out anything beyond it like our true nature, nature of god, his activities and what is our relationship with him. So, it is very unique  to have such curiosity ..athato brahma jigyasa and to endeavor for attaining this timeless knowledge and establishing the lost forgotten relationship is indeed very special in itself.
I - increasing. As explained earlier also, spiritual happiness is compared to an ocean which itself is big in comparison to droplike material happiness. But not only that, it is always increasing also..anandamayo 'bhyasat. So, once someone start relishing spiritual happiness and develops taste for it who will want to hanker for tiny material happiness.
N- non dependent. Material happiness always depend on some external sense object because material happiness develops by interaction of senses with sensory objects. Like, someone planned to watch movies while travelling full day via train and is thinking that he will be very happy in that way but when he opened his laptop he found that the battery is very less ..so this material happiness is always dependent on external things..and these external environment sometimes is favorable and sometimes not. But since the source of spiritual happiness is within the spirit soul and since its true nature is sat-chit-ananda ..so spiritual happiness is not dependent on any outside element.
G - generous. Spiritual happiness is always full of generosity and expanding/sharing as someone sees a person being very calm in all situations..people ask him to tell his secret and want to follow whatever it is. So, this way there is no competition but only sharing which enhances its blissfulness.

Now in 2nd topic..prabhu told about what is needed to start relishing this spiritual happiness that is all auspicious for us:
2 C's - conviction and commitment.
One has to be fully convinced first about the instructions given in scriptures to be cent percent true and then only when we have the answer of why we have to endeavor for it? We can only start doing it with commitment and that conviction can easily be attained by the strong association of devotees like today we had. So,once again we want to thank all the prabhus who have given us their valuable time in form of such a nice blissful association.

26 Qualities of Srila Prabhupada

Please read this post (I know it is long), but to tell you more about our beloved master Srila Prabhupada who is still present in our heart in form of his books, the subtile has been written down by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada (The video is among the one offered to"Thank you Srila Prabhupada" Jagruti '14).

The Vedic scriptures states that only one who is free from material bondage can posses these qualities in full. Such a great soul is very rarely found this material realms, and owing to his unparalleled purity and exalted status as an intimate associate of Lord Krishna, he is worship-able by the entire world.

The 26 qualities:
1. Merciful- "I have come to your country not to take anything, but to simple give."
2. Truthful- He spoke the truth about the BG.
3. Magnanimous- He gave us wonderful philosophy, holy name of Krishna, beautiful Deities. But in return never asked anything.
4. Desire-less- He was completely absorbed in the desire to please Krishna.
5. Indifferent to Material acquisitions- He always preached KC all over the world without settling in his ornate temples.

The lotus feet of our spiritual master are the only way by which we can attain pure devotional service. I bow to his lotus feet with great awe and reverence. By his grace one can cross the ocean of material suffering and obtain the mercy of Krsna.

06. Without material acquisition- He used every penny in the service of Krishna.
07. Fixed- He fixed his determination to carry out his master's order diligently; to spread Krishna's message.
08. Without False Prestige- He considered his disciples to be representatives of his spiritual master, sent to him to assist him in his mission.
09. Grave-He was most vibrant personality abounded with Laughter yet he was always serious about KC.
10. Not Defiant-He was always surrendered to his spiritual master & never evinced even a hint of defiance in his character .

My only wish is to have my consciousness purified by the word emanating from his lotus mouth. Attachment to his lotus feet is the perfection that fulfills all desires.

11. Respectful- He treated everyone with the utmost respect, thus softening their hearts & rekindling their spiritual sentiments.
12. Equal to everyone- He was constantly immersed in distributing Chaitanya's mercy & love of Krishna to everyone
13. Clean- His hearts & mind were constantly submerged in the purifying waters of love of Godhead
14. Peaceful- Inspire of immense pressure, responsibility, & problems of ISKCON, He meted out love, guidance with full composure
15. Mild- He never displayed even a drop of false pride & always maintained a mildness due to which everyone felt at ease.

He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge He is my lord birth after birth., From him ecstatic prema emanated; by him ignorance is destroyed. The vedic scriptures sing of his character.

16. Poetic- His gesturing, walking, talking, singing, smiling, dancing & worship were all done with a natural poetic grace.
17. Sane- Never was there a moment I have not thought of Krishna in this life
18. Faultless- He sacrificed own bodily comforts for the service of mankind without having a tendency to cheat others
19. Surrendered to Krishna- He was constantly engaged in devotional service with mind, body and words.
20. Eats only as much as required- Although presented with opulent prasandam, he only took modest portions, distributing the remaining to devotees.
O Spiritual master, Ocean of mercy and friend of the fallen soul . You are the teacher of everyone and the life of all people. O master, Be merciful onto me,and give me the shade of your lotus feet. May your glories now be proclaimed in three world.

21. Completely controls the six bad qualities- Like a Vaidurya gem, he manifested many beautiful, transcendental qualities at every moment.
22. Performs welfare work for everyone- He offered a potent spiritual program , capable of eradicating the material existence of anyone who takes to it seriously
23. Expert- He miraculously ignited a spiritual explosion, whose vibrations are still resonating through out the world
24. Silent- His words are a river of nectar flowing mercifully into the hearts of the devotees
25. Compassionate- His words are a river of nectar flowing mercifully into the hearts of the devotees
26.Friend- The spiritual friendship of Srila Prabhupada is the rarest of gems, & intelligent persons will guard it as life's treasure.

It is due to your scintillating quality of exhibiting these 26 qualities that our path to back to godhead is illuminated. We don't have any words to show our gratitude unto you. The only thing which we can do is- serve your mission to the fullest.

Today's SB class 1.2.30

By His divine grace Srila PRabhupada in Vrindavan, 1972

1) Creation of this world- there must be a mind behind such beautiful systematic design. (BG, SB gives detail of everything about this design) . So, mind means a person. Means god is a person not any impersonal/void as many people say.
Just like there is government in a state , so it may seem to someone that this government is an impersonal entity but no someone is sitting there on top, some minister/king who is operating it.

2) Krishna doesn't accept material bodies like us when he descends on this world - Many foolish people think that when Krishna comes to this world he become contaminated by the 3 modes of material nature. Wrong.
He is pure spiritual (complete). His energy is also spiritual. And shakti, shaktiman (power and powerful) there is no difference. shakti-shaktimator abhedah. Means he is compete spiritual and his energy is also complete spiritual. So, he does not accept any material bodies but come with his transcendental spiritual body free from birth, death , old age, disease. Proof is there in SB (bhagvatam) after a certain age 16-17 years old , Krishna stopped aging . He lived for 125 years but even in his 125 year age he still looked same young man he was at the age sixteen . So, he did not become old like us. But because people have tendency to accept god in the way they actually are so they think god also accept material bodies and become one of us. That is the greatest offense.
ALso, it is given that Bhagwan was present before creation and remain present after the annihilation. So, how can he be subjected to 3 modes.

3) Creation happens by his energy. Janmady asya yatah.
So, a term of infinite can be taken as analogy for describing the unlimited energy of god.
Theory : if infinite is taken from infinite , it still remain infinite similarly god is unlimited in his energy and if that much amount is taken away from it , suppose used in creation of this world he still remain unlimited. That is god. God is great.

4) Modern civilization : No information fo spiritual world although it is there in BG 15.6, Krishna himself gives the proof
na tad bhāsayate sūryo
na śaśāńko na pāvakah
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramam mama
TRANSLATION

That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.

Here Krishna is taking about his abode (spiritual world) and informing people about its existence . So, its not some imaginary world. Its a fact, those believe in the words of Krishna can reach that place which full of knowledge, eternity and bliss (sat-chit-ananda) unlike this material world (asat- temporary, kuntha- miserable, darkness of ignorance). So, krishna's world is not life that there is no darkness and thus there is no need of sun or moon to light it .
That's why acharya/guru says, Tamso maa jyotirgamay.
Escape from this darkness of this material world and go towards the light of the spiritual world.

5) Krishna doesn't change his body: Proof BG 4.1. Krsna gives the proof of how old this knowledge of BG is. First he gave this to sun-god (suryadeva) and now since this knowledge is lost or the guru-shisya parampara is lost so he is creating a new line of teacher-disciple by making Arjuna as authority in this knowledge.
Arjuna asked how?
Krsna said " you were also present at that time when BG was told to sun-god. But you have forgotten but I have not". So, Krishna still has the same body now which he had when he gave BG to sun-god. He doesn't change his body and he can remember this but we cannot. After changing body we loose our moment of previous life (although there are cases some child remember about their past life- a youtube video is there)

6) Krsna is supreme controller- supreme god.
Difference between ordinary controller and supreme controller. Ordinary controller might be controlling someone but he himself gets controlled but supreme controller is not controller is not controlled by anyone. Like, my boss is controlling me but he is also getting controlled by his boss but not krishna , he is not being controlled by anyone. SO, he is supreme controller.
SB 5.11, Brahma says his prayer to Krishna and validates that he is the supreme lord/controller "Ishvarah paramah krishnah"
SB 11.5.33 : Brahma , shiva and other demigods paying obesiences to Lord Krishna. (proof - http://vedabase.net/sb/11/5/33/en)
dhyeyaḿ sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīṣṭa-dohaḿ
tīrthāspadaḿ śiva-viriñci-nutaḿ śaraṇyam
bhṛtyārti-haḿ praṇata-pāla bhavābdhi-potaḿ
vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṇāravindam
TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, You are the Mahā-puruṣa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I worship Your lotus feet, which are the only eternal object of meditation. Those feet destroy the embarrassing conditions of material life and freely award the greatest desire of the soul, the attainment of pure love of Godhead. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the shelter of all holy places and of all saintly authorities in the line of devotional service and are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. My Lord, You are so kind that You willingly protect all those who simply bow down to You with respect, and thus You mercifully relieve all the distress of Your servants. In conclusion, my Lord, Your lotus feet are actually the suitable boat for crossing over the ocean of birth and death, and therefore even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva seek shelter at Your lotus feet."

7) Krishna is vibhu (infinite), we are anu (infinitesimal).
Here, in this material world, everyone wants to become krishna, to control. Let me become big man, rich man, minister, prime minister, president, have so many servants then one is still not satisfied let me become equal to god (merge into god) but that is all maya (illusion- no one can become god, but can become of servant of god- that's our position, we are meant to give service to god, since we forgot out of jealousy, enviousness towards Krishna we have been sent to this material world to learn some lesson)

8) Our actual position : Chaintaya mahaprabhu said that "Jivera svarupa haya nitya-krsna dasa".
That is real knowledge- to understand out eternal position which we have forgotten and came under the clutches of maya, hence suffering here in this material world.
As soon as he becomes knowledgeable, not only aham-brahmasmi (I am brahman- spirit), that is first step.
After that Arjuna says, "Param bhahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavam" means krishna you are the supreme spirit , most pure and reaching you is the life's perfection.
Then, after understanding what is he, what is god then 3rd thing:
"Bahunam janmanam ante gyanvan mam prapadte, "Vasudeva sarvam iti""
SURRENDER- That is after many , many births one who becomes intelligent surrenders to me (Vasudeva-krishna).
"Brahma bhuta , prasanna atma , na sochati na kankshati,
Samah sarvesu bhutesu, mad bhaktim labhate param"
Then, life of devotion begins after surrendering to him and he becomes very much joyful by that devotional service. He neither worries neither laments (signs of materialistic person). He sees everyone with equal vision (samah-sarvesu bhutesu).

Then, when one becomes fixed in devotional service (bhakti) , krishna becomes very pleased and then all the knowledge is revealed in his heart. (BG 18.55 and SB 1.2.20), then one can understand what krishna is. So, knowing is although very difficult but when one becomes a devotee then he can understand very easily.
Krishna can not be known  by sense perception or mental speculation (like modern scientist tries to do), he can only be know by devotional service in submissive way (not challenging). He just wants our love (and he gets most pleased when we give that love without expecting anything in return i.e. pure love).

SB lecture 1

Today's lecture on srimad-bhagvatam that we had in our hostel.
SB canto 1 chapter 2 verse 26 (1.2.26) by Srila Prabhupada in Los-Angles (USA)-
Intelligent class of people like qualified brahmanas or vaishnavas desiring to be liberated deliberately reject worship of demigods like Indra, Brahma, Durga, Kali, Sheela, Shani, Shiva because they can only provide temporary things not the ultimate one (mukti or eternal life) although vaishnavas have no disrespect for these demigods.
Because first one should understand what is the aim of life? To become temporarily happy like for 10-20 years or 100 years suppose or become permanently happy beyond any measurement of time. Srila prabhupada said that the most ultimate or highest aim of life is to understand Radha-krishna.
Because if one can understand this, who is radha, who is krishna, what is the relationship between them then he surely will go to goloka vrindavan next life and enjoy in the rasa-lila dance of krishna and radha.
But, suppose if one is not able to understand this , then still he should be interested in some other form of relationship like Arjuna-krishna or yashoda-krishna or simply krishna of kurukshettra because all these understanding can only grant success in our life which is liberation from birth and death.
So, prabhupada ji was sharing his own experience that once he was called to talk on non-violence on the disappearance day of Gandhi. So, he went there and then he said that "Violence means suppose I have got some right and someone is taking away that right . That is violence. So, to take birth in bharatvarsa is very rare because it is the perfect place to become liberated as the culture inheritance is so strong that everybody here is god-conscious by nature. They are taught all the principle is morality and religion from childhood , the Americans, the Africans, the Europeans don't have this kind of privilege. But, if this right of me is not given to me then that is violence means if modern education or political leaders of India do not educate people about the ultimate goal of life then that is violence. Not simply physically/mentally hurting someone. So, this was the broad definition of non-violence that he taught everyone on that day."
Before coming to west prabhupada even tried in India to propogate this KC movement but he was not encouraged to do so. How?
He gives one instance that he asked one father who had four sons to give his one sons to him and he will make him a Brahman." On which the parent replied "Swamiji, what will he do by becoming a Brahman. We have to earn our livelihood.
So, people are so much misguided or ill-educated that they don't know the real aim of life. They just want to settle down here in this material world (which is temporary and full of miseries as krishna says dukhalayam asasvatam) by accumulating all the so-called material-comforts without knowing what they are going to become in their next life maybe cats or dogs.
So, this is violence that today nowhere in any university/school this science of transmigration of soul from one body to another body is taught that's why people are in complete darkness or ignorance and everyone is simply trying to improve their material conditions that is either going up or coming down. But the shastra (like Gita or SB) says get out of this material life in this human form you have got otherwise you don't know for how many life-cycles you have to wait for another opportunity to come. Now, you have got the human life , so try to understand what is god, who is krsna, who is radha and make your life successful and get out of this darkness (tamaso maa jyotir-gamay).
SO, two comparisons he put here:
Preaching KC in America (or foreign countries):
I presented "you all are searching for god". So, "here is god. This is his name, krishna. Here is his address, form, activity." Since it is all scientifically explained with logic and philosophy so people accepted. Not that we wanted to convert someone to become hindu. No, that's not our motive, we just want to inform them about god and their relationship with god. Otherwise people have kicked me out a long time ago if I was doing this conversion only Muslim to hindu, christian to hindu. No, that's not our motive. You just learn this science of god. So, we are not some religious movement who preached that our religion (hindu) is better than christian so you become hindu. No, KC means "you study the contributions of great sages and go outside and preach to everyone and make your life successful."
Preaching in India-
When prabhupada presented the same things if India, people will say "why Krishna, why not Kali is the supreme god. She has got such a long tongue, she is killing such big demons." So, they are envious as well as are in ignorance. They don;t know that Kali worship prescribed in Vedas are meant for meat-eaters to satisfy their desire of tasting meat.
Similarly, because there are different people who want to enjoy materially so different directions are given for those people. But, Krishna himself when came set the example of not worshiping such demigods because they cannot provide the liberation from birth-death cycle.
Like he stopped Vrindavan people from worshiping Indra instead he told them to worship govardhan hill.
Similarly, in Bhagvad-gita 7.20 he directly says that
kāmais tais tair hrita-jñānāh
prapadyante 'nya-devatāh
tam tam niyamam āsthāya
prakrityā niyatāh svayā
TRANSLATIONS : Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.

Todays bhagvatam lecture hostel

Iskcon hubli president lecture
Meaning of freedom- no matter what type of cage u r , u r still in cage. An animal might be in iron cage u r in golden cage but a cage is a cage so we should realize it. Like this body is a cage for soul and more we develop spiritual consciousness, more we will become free. Like narada muni, if we utilize our choice (free will) in proper way not breaking law of nature then our freedom will expand more and more and just see narada muni his whole body has become spiritualized and he can travel material, spiritual planets everywhere because he is actually free from the stringents law of nature. So, we should also realize that this option is available only in human form of life. Animal cannot be free from their inherent nature but we can by using our choice well in krishna consciousness like coming to temple, associating with devotees, reading books. These are the steps which will increase our freedom more and more.
So following the 4 regulative principles in not a restriction from enjoyment but it makes us free. For example, one disciple of prabhupada left and  wants to do sleeping and he is sleeping anywhere thinkjng that way he is free. Like in railway station he is today sleeping , but prabhupada said to him so suppose today a policeman came and then you have to leave forcefully and go to another station
So this is not a freedom only under illusion we think that it is freedom. Just like a person is drowning in an ocean gets out of water for some moment and started thinking ohh this life is so nice but again he started drowning. Similarly the miseries from material nature and its lawa are continously giving us so many miseries but we think that we are free. But nobody is free, even a poor man , a rich man everyone is troubled from anxiety so how can one think he is free. Like we as a living entity suffer so much in the womb of our mother thus we pray to free us and promise that we will become your devotee lord and thus we cry when we come out continously for many days but after pampering from our relatives we forget this pains and again this death, disease and old age give so much trouble from which we are not free. But a devotee who externally also undergoes same process of birth, death ,old age and disease but consciouswise he is free from all these because lord is there to protect him. How?
Just like example of cat carrying his kitten similarly without any anxiety devotee leaves his body because he know that krishna has come in form of death to take him to spiritual kingdom where he will enjoy actual freedom there in association with lord but for a nondevotee the situation is more like cat carrying a rat , always full of anxiety. Not only death actually even living here in this material worlda devotee is free from laws of nature, he is free from anxiety or bodily pains and pleasures. Because he knows that as long as he is in this material body he has to go through all this thus he tolerates everything. Even a materialistic person can train his mind to tolerate pain like one person who wanted to see how doctor operates did not took the anesthesia (lala lajpat rai) so a devotee can actually tolerate to an imaginable capacity because of his devotional activity and thus the knowledge revealed in his heart.

Importance of eating Prasadam

From a lecture, I transcribed (wrote down) everything that I heard from the audio .
"Our dear friend who was here was saying that he tried to convince his friend to not eat meat because it is very sinful.
His friend replied "You are eating vegetables, they are like living being. So, eating them isn't sinful activity?"
Facts is that your friend is true, bcoz krsna says in BG 3.13
"ye pacanty ātma-kāranāt- One who cooks and eat for him selves is verily eating only sins."
bhuñjate te tv agham pāpā-
Not even paap, but agam paap.
Those who cook and eat for themselves they are eating grievest sins.
So, then we should stop eating ? NO.
Krsna says 3.13 BG
yajña-śishtāśinah santo
mucyante sarva-kilbishaih
Whatever we eat, if offered first for sacrifice to krishna, then the person is released from all kinds of sins.
So, the point is you eat vegetable food or non-veg both are sinful. Only they are different in the matter of degrees. If you eat non-veg food, it is far more sinful than eating vegetarian food. But, veg food is aolso sinful Please don't under this illusion that your are eating vegetarian food, so you are free from sins.
Only way to become free from sinful reaction is offer the food to krishna and then have it.
So, somebody may say, so I will ofer non-veg food and eat. Intelligent sharp fellow? somebody sharp will come this logic.
So, krishna is even more smart right, he is the smartest of all.
So, krishna has already covered that point also.
Krishna ways in BG 9.26
patram pushpam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati

he said only this much, patra- any leaf you can offer to me.
Pushpa- any flower you can offer to me.
Phalam- any fruit you can offer to me.
Toya- water and milk you can offer to me.

Beyond that you cannot offer anything else. Everything classified.
So, whatever you have, you offer that to krishna and then you eat. That way you will be really sin free.
But, it is better to eat veg food than to eat non-veg food because the amount of sinful reaction is less. Somebody may question how you are saying that?
The answer is " suppose you are driving a car on the road and you kill a pet dog. So, what will happen?
People will gather and say "oh, this poor dog is got killed".
But, suppose in place of dog, you kill the dog-owner, then what will happen
"You will go to Jail."
You may say, that when I killed the dog nobody did anything, they just ask "Oh why did you kill poor dog" so, now this dog-owner is killed why it is different and "why I am put into jail?".
So, when I kill the dog why did you not put me in jail bcoz there is a degree of sin involved. So, better is at least eat veg food if at all not able to eat krishna prasadam.
that way you saved from higher degree of sins.

Day 1 Temple 1

Temple 1- lakshmi authority worship done in temple (shri sampradaya)
1. On Right hand of lord- written "mam ekam sarnam vraja" : essence of BG

2. Authorized 12 alhwars - sanskrit meaning of alhwar : alha- means deep, so alhwars are deep in love of krsna.
One of the Namha alhwar- 6 month  unconscious to feel the pain of damodara lila where krsna's delicate belly was tied .

3. Makandrya pastime-
Great sage performed penance to have mahalakshmi as daughter.
Then Mahavisnu came to marry his daughter in old brahmana form.
Markendya did not know his real nature and he refused to marry her young daughter to lord in form of old brahmana.
So, old brahmana adamanat said if i dont marry ur daughter i ll die.
Then markendya said to other daughter bhudevi to marry him, she said no, if u marry me i will die here too.
So markendya(devotee) was put in difficulty and he surredered to lord asked for guidance, lord showed his form ,he became happy,and  happily agreed on marrying his daughterbut she doesnt know how to cook, no lord promised on request of sage to eat food without salt.
Thats why Uppu illa appan (illa means not, uppu means salt, appan means lord) is name of the lord hare -no salt food taste promise by supreme lord to devotee bcoz he was so much satisfied from his devotion. Still today , in prasadam, no salt is present but its has its transcendental taste.

3. Tulsi devi wanted to become lords consert (wife).
So lord told her to appear as tulasi plant. Then lord accepted her as garland on chest-personal place-lakshmis place
1 tulsi offer =1 ashvamegha.

Srirangam temple

CM (chaitnya mahaprabhu) once met a brahmana wjo told him that, my guru maharaj told me to read BG but i am not qualified.
1.but brahmana said When i hear ,that krsna took charioteer position in mahabharata, tears come in his  eyes, my lord so great but he took this position. CM hugged him this place, said u hv realized gita's essence, touched its spirit. So, although this man did not have educatn to read gita bt he touched its depth. Many ppl read bt dey do not have any feelings for krsna.

2. On the spot, that brahmana recited (in his own verses)1000 words glorification for lord's lotus feet (vedanta desika) ,so devotee glorified this place sahasra padka strotam, ranganath swami lotus feet.

3. Ramanujacharya , when he stayed here he also performed various pastimes, his spiritual body is kept there, bih diety is build on top of the transcendental body.

4. Kulashekara Alhwar(a king) incarnated from Kaustubha jewel which is on the chest of krsna. Eg, he heard ramayana, he felt its happening now, when he heard sita kidnapped by ravana, he immediately felt great pain, he called army to march on this rascal ravana, dandakaranya, so minister did some trick to pacify kulashekara that mother sita is saved.

5.. So, lots of pastimes happened in his presence. So, very difficult to keep him in present while recitation. So minister told reciters to tell only happy pastimes of ramayana, bhagvatam.

6. Eg rama worried to build bridge, so kulasekara again went into that alhwar consciousness, he ordered his army to go to remeshvaram to help rama building bridge.

afterwards Kulasekara handed over his kingdom to his son, he married his daughter (devotee) to lord ranganathan in this temple, then he left his kingdom and lived with ranganathan to glorify lord whole lives, wrote many devotional poems.

7. Tirumangala alhwar Used all decoits, theives all in service of lord, by using looted money to build temple. But he also delivered them in last stage of their lives.

So, ppl gathered when they knew dat this alhwar whom we were considering a devotee, our guru is chief of all looters, so, in their gathering ,lord ranganatha appeared and said whatever this alhwar does is all right to me.

8. Bhutaka alhwar- bhuta means haunted so he was haunted by KC. All 3 devotees were coming to tirukevellor, a dark place, cottage they entered .how?
Rainy dark night, 1 alhwar took shelter, then 2nd comes, 3rd came, all alhwars discussing ranganatha pastimes.
So, in dark room, since they could not see but they sense 4th person entered, he was none other than supreme personality of godhead.
Krsana said " i do not reside in vaikuntha, but wherever my devotees describe my pastimes i am personally present there."

9. One another pastimes, where lord who was sleeping came outside of the door to hear the beautiful recitation of bhagvatam from his great devotee.

10. Another pastime, where in a shiva temple of a village, a devotee reciting pastime from srimad bhgvatam :krishna teasking rukmini.

He finished the chapter and put the bookmarker on the last page of the chapter. But, continuously it happened that bookmarker comes to the start of the chapter then he has to recite that chapter again and it went on to 30 days (month).
He forgot his book there while he was going, so when he remembered he mediately came back to get his precious book.he was in shock to see lord shiva reciting same pastime of krsna teasing rukmini to all his kailash vasi and mother parvati, and sons ganesh, kartikeya. Everyone was in tears, shiva then asked after end of the pastime recitation, he asked mother parviti "how was the pastime?". She said, " yes indeed it is great, but it was much sweeter to hear from that devotee". The devotee could not control his tear hearing this from mother parvati.
So sb (bhagvatm) is so sweet, full of nectar that even self-realized souls feel attracted towards it like siva.

11. One reciprocation b/w ramanujacharya and ranganatha (lord)-
He came here to meet his guru but he passed away, so he felt so upset that ranganatha could not keep his guru till the time he could see hos master last time, get his last instruction. So in agony he went to vardharaja and left ranganatha.
Ranganatha felt great pain that ramanujacharya left so he wrote a letter to kanchi varadharaja temple to send his devotee back to him. So kanchi varadharaja wrote back, you have so many devotees but i do not have too many devotee so please let him be with him.
So, ranganatha did not felt satisfied so he planned how to get back ramanujacharya by making settlement with vardharaja. He sent some devotees to glorify, to please him sufficiently then when asked for benediction, they all asked ramanujacharya back.
So, he became more and more excited as ramanujacharya came closer,as he got the news of him coming step by step closer he became more and more excited, and the last step he came personally to recieve him.

12. Vaikuntja ekadashi pastime read- lord personally came to receive namha alhwar.

13. Then, last but not least jagannatha mahaprasadam ,we heard thag cc stayed there for 4turmasa (4 months) so he felt separation from lord jagannatha and thus a small temple of jagannatha is build there. 

Ramaswami temple, tanjavur

Nama ramayana we sang in temple.-mini version ramayana.
100 crore slokas in original ramayana, so glorius was lord rama's personality that it took that many slokas to describe fully .
Lord krsna comes in various incarnation.
There was one calculation on whose incarnation name, variius names put-
8000 village, city named after rama.
So, once again proof, god is great.

1.Eg varuna deva pastime happened, when rama has to cross ocean in rameshvaram.
Lord rama one glance evaporated entire ocean.

2. Either vibhishan conscious(get sita back to rama-original enjoyer) or ravan conscious (get sita for your enjoyment-sita means pleasure potency).

3. One pastime, ravana saw everywhere rama written in vibhisana's palace so ramana became angry, he asked furiously to vibhisana how dare u write this?
So, vibhisana (another sign of a devotee of lord, he is very intelligent and engages people in service) intelligently answered, meaning of rama as ra-ravan, ma-mandodari. So, ravana became happy, such a nice brother i have got, so he ordered to write rama everywhere in lanka. So holy name of rama entered before actually rama came.

Radha gopal gopal swami temple

Nice kirtan inside then outside morning program.
PASTIMES-
This place known as-champak vana.
Eg In bangalore-a dham-champaka dham-champakrai swami diety.

In this vana, sages do tapasya.
A sage -vahini muni, 5000years ago, cery exalted tapasya.
2 sons-they also by guidnc of muni n lord -perfected in tapasya, they ibformed dat lord is in dwarka.
So they left to dwarka to take lords darshan. They took bath in many kundas,  worshiped many diety in their way, they met narada muni.
Narada muni informed them dat lord wound up his purpose here in this material world and went back.
Purpose-paritray sadhunam vinashaya ca duskritam, so all envious person arranged im one place-kurukhetra n den killed in battle of mahabharata + enough subject matter/pastimes performed by lord for devotees to remember.

So after hearing this from narada muni both sages (sons) they were heart broken. So narada muni told them to do devotional service nd promised that lord will manifest. So this vana they did severe tapasya and then lord manifested. Lord asked for benediction by being pleased, so they requested-
To witness all the pastimes of lord that he did in childhood and boyhood and youth, so krsna for pleasure of his devotees he rein-acted all those pastimes (pics are still there on the wall). So, they both witnessed all the pastimes. So they worried that after all pastimes lord will leave, so dey wanted lord to stay. So lord manifested and stayed here as radhagopala diety.
The two sons could always see all the pastimes by special mercy of lord (visions).

2. Similarly, devaki mother asked same benediction bcoz she did not got chance to witness all childhood pastimes. So krsna fulfilled her desire then she wanted to remember these pastimes always so krsna manifested as deity and told her to worship that deity it will fulfill all her desires to remember pastimes.

3. Similarly, rukmini saw devaki always ecstatic asked her how? then she got to know about her secret and she also desired to see all the pastimes of krsna in childhood, by lords mercy devaki told her the secret and she also got benediction from krsna.
Two dieties present here:
1. Navnita swami
2.Santanagopala (those wanted sons come to pray here)-so sampati prabhu prayed to lord that please bless us with many many krsna bhakta santana (sons).

4. Ramanujacharya did dandavat prikrama from his home to spiritual masters home, his spiritual master told him that you are not ready yet for instruction come later. So similarly, 17 times he did this.
Then guru told rahasya instruction, that  this will take you to spiritual world, but if u reveal this to anyone u will go to hell.
He went to top of the altar and told everyone of this village.The secret was to chant holy name of the lord.
His Guru could not digest this , he said stop !stop !!, how could you do this, u dont hv fear of going to hell.
So he replied, i see these people rotting here in this material world (dukhalayam ashashvatam) so i want them to go to spiritual world, let me go to hell.
Such was the heart of the great devotee ramanujacharya who was a great preached of his time (1000 years ago) , he had 10000 dedicated initiated disciples, 12000 householders disciples and more than 5000 sannyasi disciples. He preached krishna consciousness everywhere in india.
So, such things needed to be done to get the secret , ramanujacharya set this example, but our spiritual master so merciful freely he distributed, but if we still dont follow then how unfortunate we are.
Mercy freely available and given by compassionate guru but if we still not accept.

Kaliya nartana krsna temple

1. Kaliya nartana krsna temple is in fizi also.
Prabhupada told fizi island devotee to contruct such temple.
Satyasvarupa das, said to prabhupada (from his book on pastimes of prabhupada, nectar of devotion)-u think n write, no krishna instructs and then i write.

Bhaktirasamrta sindhu-diff b/w ordinary person speaks n pure devotee speaks..
Ordinary-simply words coming out.
Pure devotee- krsna prema comes out, penetrates n touches the consciousness, brings heart change.
Eg. Prabhupada touched our heart that's why we came here 100's of miles far taking austeriy  so much to have lords darshan, hear about lord, we did not came to talk about infrastructure although it is very nice.

So this kaliya nartana temple built here bcoz of pastimes

2.Kamdhenu's daughters (surabhi cows) became sad started crying after knowing how krsna was held tightly by kaliya naga, so kamdhenu requested krsna to pacify them, so krsna played flute and danced on kaliya (performed the pastime again here) so that way they pacified watching dat pastime.
Like materialistic people say i have watched this movie that many times, similarly daughters of kamdhenu relished krsna's pastimes so many times.
So how this kaliya so fortunate , krsna danced on him, so he received touch of krsna's lotus feets.

During mugals times, one devotee feeling very bad he could not participate in rathayatra. He was a tailor and job was stitching pillow for king. Very deeply meditating in his mind on whole rathayatra and saw lord's pillow broke out when he was pulled in his chariots so he offered that pillow in his mind, lord recieved.
So, when he saw no pillow he became jubilant that lord actually accepted his pillow, then king asked about where is his pillow. He said lord jagannatha took it, he not believed then he said what is the proof. So in the chariot of jagannatha king went to see amd found same pillow.

Sharangapani temple- krsna temple.
Pani means hand.
Podandapani temple- rama temple ,he holds podanda.

Mahavishnu big diety sharanagapani

Sharanagapani lord-sleeping 15 feet (almost)big mahavishnu diety, 2 devis lakshmi n bhudevi, jay vijaya.
Lord lie down here, rests here.

Once all the demigods and rishis wanted to know who is the supreme lord.
Bhrigu muni was given the job to decide-brahma, visnu n mahadev, who is supreme .
Went to Brahma and he did not respect him bcoz he was busy in studying scriptures, so he was cursed that no deity worship for brahma. Then kailasha shiva was dancing with mother parviti (actually he was performing sankirtan with all the inhabitants of kailasha but bhrigu think of it as sense gratification) and thus since he did not give respect to bhrigu muni and so cursed him, only in linga form your worship will be done.
Then went to visnu who was intimately associating with lakshmi, again he did not get respect there so this time his pride became high and he kicked mahavishnu's chest. But visnu with full tolerance and not loosing his calm pacified bhrigu by saying did you felt pain in your leg because of my hard chest so let me massage, thus bcoz of humbleness of vishnu bhrigus pride burned thus. Mahalakshmi became angry so she cursed bhrigu also that she will not stay in brahmana's home so we see brahmana (true brahmana) actually remain poor their entire life and then since her position (lord's chest) is now kicked by this man, she left bcoz vishnu did not did anything.
Mahalakahmi came to this world, then vishnu came to marry her, he came as srinivasa, took loan from kubera for marrying and in tirupati temple , people donate so much money so that the debt took by lord vishnu is srinivasa govinda form to marry lakshmi can be settled.
When she (mahalakshmi as komalaballi) got to know all this, so she became angry, started searching for srinivasa. Srinivasa took form of balkumavalli baby form under bhrigu muni. One muni did penance so that lord mahavisnu can marry komalavalli taya and he did this on makar sankranti.
Komalavalli was very angry bcoz lord married padmavati devi before so to pacify her(mahalakshmi) he promised that in his next incarnation (he came as maryada purushottama rama in next incarntion) taking vow (ekpatni vrat) and thus he showed his dedication towards mahalakshmi.
So mahavishnu stayed here as sharangapani form lying form. Then mahalakshmi became pacified and she also took vow padidandapatni means not leave her husband ever, so she is always at his lotus feet. She said that Bcoz she left him, he married padmavati devi (a chaste lady).

Tirunavayyur ( plz check name it might be wrong)

After that we went to another temple which also comes under shri sampradaya (line of worship started from goddess lakshmi).
Pastimes related to this place-

1. Similar to markendya rishi one sage named Medhavi also a great devotee of lrd performed austerity to have lakshmi devi as daughter.
He then found Under a tree, very beautiful daughter, named her mannjunavalli, then once she came to marriageable age, lord mahavishnu split himself into 5 forms and came as guests to rishi.
The 5 forms (expansions of mahavishnu):
Sankarsna, pradyumana, sankarsana, vasudeva, purushottama (vishnu).
They all were served feast then as per some tradition they have to go for hand wash which must be done by a lady, since manjanavalli was the only lady there so she was waiting for washing their hands. One among the 5 guests Vasudeva caught her hand, manjunavalli acting as innocent girl, started shouting "leave me".
Brahmana rishi became angry went for cursing but then he saw 5 guests merge into 1 form as vishnu so knowing that he is none other than mavishnu he stopped his curse to happen, then mahavisnu begged for kanyadan to medhavi rishi.
Best opportunity for medhavi to ask for anything before offering his daughter ti lord, so he put 3 conditions-
1. Eternal life for me to glorify you always, free from 4 problems-birth, death,old age,disease.
2. Nature of vaishnava-para dukkha dukkhi..never satisfied for their liberation, so he asked that not only me whoever residing this place also get eternal liberation. People living-were actually disciple of his, they also offered food to lord and rishi's  daughter was like their daughter whom they offered as wife, so they also should recieve this benediction

3. My daughter should be given first priority, you never neglect her after marrying.
Then the lord agreed and fulfilled all the 3 demands.

2. So This temple is known as mahavishnu wife temple, like Madurai temple known as lord shiva's wife , minakshi temple.
In the main temple room where 5 guests are present  with lakshmi and medhavi rishi , Lakshmi is standing  1 step ahead, bcoz 1st priority, mahavisnu 1 step behind-bcoz begging for kanyadan.

3. Also garunadeva (vehicle of vishnu ji) special stone shaped diety -worshipped, it has wings n hairs -so circumblated each month around the temple.special pastime happens that us
Stone deity is carried out along with the lord while leaving rishi ashram after marrying her daughter lakshmi ji (form) then when garuna is carried by devotee on their shoulders
1 step when he comes outside-4 people needed to carry then as he goes more outer suddenly weight is increased and 8 ppl now required to lift, likewise weight goes on increasing and then 16, then 32, then 64 people are required same stone shaped deity of garudadeva.
On the reverse journey, opposite thing happens meana as he enters more inside the temple, the weight keep on decreasing and more closer he comes inside lesser ppl required so reverse order 64-32-16-8-4.
This is personally felt by the devotees who carry garudadeva.
Weight inc. n dec. Happens every-time here..no scientific explanation all lord's pastime.

4. Reason for weight shifts-
Lord sits on garunadeva-who is swift n fast moving.
But Lakshmidevi savari-hansa => who is graceful, beautiful,but slow.
Since lord promised to give lakshmi as first priority So, in order to give lakshmi devi 1st preference, he ordered garunadeva to become heavier n heavier as they proceed so that they can go slow and thus Lakshmi can go ahead on swan.
So, this pastime which happen even today (not any hypothetical story) proves that supreme lord is a person like us, we can have a direct relationship with him if we so desire like both the rishis had (markandeya n medhavi became lord's father-in-law), everything here true story which happened in history.
Ramanujacrya , great acharya of shri sampradaya established personal form of god and dismissed shankrachrya impersonal form.