If the holy names are transcendental and our language is material, then how is it possible for us to touch the holy names? God, His form and His names, everything in Him is transcendental. By the desire to serve Sri Hari and through His mercy, all the material senses of the devotee become “as it were” transcendental. First control your mind and then you can control your senses. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks Sri Krsna how to control his restless mind, and Sri Krsna responds:...
Discourses Translated into English 2023
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Mithlikhala 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023, Ke Jabi Ke Jabi Bhai, habits: bad habits, karma: previous life
16 Dec 2023 evening – How to Cross the Ocean of Material Existence (English translation) – Mithlikhala, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
About the installation of the Deities made at the site. The katha of Ajamila, where the glories of the holy names are described. This material world is called dunya (place of sadness) and everyone commits sins in some way, even if unconsciously. Song: Ke Jabi Ke Jabi Bhai Bhava Sindhu Para, by Locana Dasa Thakura. Krsna did not accept food from Duryodhana, as he was not His devotee, but He accepted banana peels from Vidurani (Description from Caitanya Bhagavata). A Vaisnava, be it Kanistha...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Taldi 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023
15 Dec 2023 afternoon – The Highest Donation is Mahaprasada (English translation) – Taldi, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
Mahaprasada is the food that was offered to the Lord. Maha-maha-prasada is the maha-prasada of the Lord that is offered to the pure devotee of the Lord. If one accepts the remnants of maha-prasada, the soul goes straight to the abode of the Lord. Pastime of Ramanuja Acarya’s maha-maha-prasada that transformed the lizard into a demigod after ingesting it. Even those who do not have sukrti (spiritual merit), do not have faith in the Deity, in the holy names and in the Vaisnavas, if they...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Taldi 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023, bhakti: bhakti's associates jnana and vairagya, renunciation, renunciation (vairagya), service: guru-seva
14 Dec 2023 afternoon – How We Can Develop Our Spiritual Life (English translation) – Taldi, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
– No one desires unhappiness, but in Bhagavatam, Kunti Devi considers her misfortunes as a great mercy. – Everyone is doing karma, but it is the Lord who bestows the fruits of all actions. – About Rupa, Sanatana and Locanatha Dasa Gosvamis. – Two types of bhajana: bhajananandi (practice to free yourself) and gosthyanandi (practice for all living beings to free themselves too). – Those who fry fish in boiling oil are cursed by the dying fish. Action and reaction...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Taldi 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023, ghosts, guru: bonafide guru
14 Dec 2023 morning – Listen to Harikatha and Receive Diksha from a Pure Devotee (English translation) – Taldi, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
The food of the soul is harinama and harikatha, without this the soul becomes sad and the meaning of being in a body disappears. Song: Gouranga Bolite Ha’be. Our heart only becomes clean when we hear harikatha from a pure devotee. Story of Tulasi Dasa and a ghost. Story of Srila Gurudeva BV Vamana Gosvami Maharaja and a ghost who wanted to drink the water that washed his lotus feet. Without the mercy of the pure devotee, one will never obtain the mercy/darsana of the Lord. There is no...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Jibantala 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023, morning: brahma-muhurta
13 Dec 2023 evening – The Essence of Human Life (English translation) – Jibantala, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
PART 1 – The essence of human life is bhajana of God. – God created a human being after His own image. – Human life is a doorway to bhajana. – Material life is a jail but we do not realise this. – The story of how Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada failed to meet with a rich and busy factory owner. – In the beautiful play of love, God hides Himself but His devotees seek to reveal His divine glory. Simultaneously, the devotees, humble, hide themselves...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Sahitnagar 2023, West Bengal 2023, India 2023, aparadhas (offences)
12 Dec 2023 evening – The importance of following Mahaprabhu’s teachings (English translation) – Sahitnagar, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
The glories of Bengal. We should teach the instructions of Mahaprabhu in every town and village. The rarity of taking human birth and doing haribhajan. Only by the mercy of God can we have sadhu-sanga. The holy name will extinguish this fire of material existence. The process of chanting the holy names. The importance of hearing harikatha from the mouth of pure sadhu. Third verse of Sri Siksastakam explained. Always put tilak otherwise there will be no fruits of the mantra, and we will go to...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Delhi 2023, India 2023
12 Dec 2023 morning – The mercy of Srimati Radhika (English translation) – Delhi, India | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
To please Krishna, Srimati Radhika manifests Herself into many forms. The many forms Radha and Krishna manifest Themselves for different spiritual planets. Prema becomes more and more condensed. The obstacles that arise when Srimati Radhika longs for Krishna’s darshan. The celebration that happens after the gopis have darshan of Krishna. The two types of tears. Harikatha of Srimati Radhika taking darshan of Krishna from Giriraja Govardhana. The reason we can’t see Krishna when we are asleep...