Weekly Sanga

Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami continues his Japa and Prayer School classes. In today's class: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 12 Chapter 3 Text 51 kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet   TRANSLATION My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 28 vicitrotkṛṣṭa-vastūni sa niṣpādya mahā-manāḥ āvaśyakaṁ samāpyādau saṁskṛtya mahatīṁ sthalīm   TRANSLATION “Having collected all sorts of valuable items for worship of the Lord, the generous brāhmaṇa then saw to the preliminaries, first by purifying a large area on the ground.”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Texts 24-25 ekadā tīrtha-mūrdhanye prayāge muni-puṅgavāḥ māghe prātaḥ kṛta-snānāḥ śrī-mādhava-samīpataḥ upaviṣṭā mudāviṣṭā manyamānāḥ kṛtārthatām kṛṣṇasya dayito ’sīti ślāghante sma parasparam   TRANSLATION “Once a group of exalted sages were at Prayāga, the best of pilgrimage sites, during the month of Māgha. The sages had taken their bath and were happily seated before the Deity of Śrī Mādhava. Feeling satisfied, as if all their goals in life had been fulfilled, they were praising one another, saying, “You are the recipient of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 19 śrī-jaiminir uvāca uvāca sādaraṁ rājā parīkṣin mātṛ-vatsalaḥ śrutāty-adbhuta-govinda- kathākhyāna-rasotsukaḥ   TRANSLATION “Śrī Jaimini said: King Parīkṣit, feeling affection for his mother, answered her respectfully, eager to enjoy recounting the wonderful narrations he had just heard about Lord Govinda.”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 11 bhagavad-bhakti-śāstrāṇām ayaṁ sārasya saṅgrahaḥ anubhūtasya caitanya- deve tat-priya-rūpataḥ   TRANSLATION This book collects the essence of the scriptures teaching devotional service rendered to the Supreme Lord. These essential teachings I have personally realized under the shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I received them from His dear devotee Śrī Rūpa.

Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami continues his Japa and Prayer School classes. In today's class: Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 9 jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādi-yatnam katham api sakṛd āttaṁ mukti-daṁ prāṇināṁ yat paramam amṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me   TRANSLATION All glories, all glories to the all-ecstatic name of Lord Murāri. It makes one put aside such tasks as meditation, ritual worship, and social duties. If a living being even once takes the Lord’s holy name, the name will grant him liberation. That holy name is the greatest source of eternal pleasure and is my very life and ornament. Also mentioned in today's class is Sacinandana Swami's Meditations from the Living Name.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 9 jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādi-yatnam katham api sakṛd āttaṁ mukti-daṁ prāṇināṁ yat paramam amṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me   TRANSLATION All glories, all glories to the all-ecstatic name of Lord Murāri. It makes one put aside such tasks as meditation, ritual worship, and social duties. If a living being even once takes the Lord’s holy name, the name will grant him liberation. That holy name is the greatest source of eternal pleasure and is my very life and ornament.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 8 jayati jayati kṛṣṇa-prema-bhaktir yad-aṅghriṁ nikhila-nigama-tattvaṁ gūḍham ājñāya muktiḥ bhajati śaraṇa-kāmā vaiṣṇavais tyajyamānā japa-yajana-tapasyā-nyāsa-niṣṭhāṁ vihāya   TRANSLATION All glories, all glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa-prema-bhakti! Knowing that the feet of Prema-bhakti secretly comprise all the truths of the Vedas, Liberation herself has come to worship her. Indeed, Liberation, abandoned by the Vaiṣṇavas, has now given up her dependence on mantras, penance, sacrifice, and renunciation and is eager to have the shelter of Prema-bhakti.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 7 govardhano jayati śaila-kulādhirājo yo gopikābhir udito hari-dāsa-varyaḥ kṛṣṇena śakra-makha-bhaṅga-kṛtārcito yaḥ saptāham asya kara-padma-tale ’py avātsīt   TRANSLATION All glories to Govardhana, the emperor of lordly mountains! The Lord’s dear gopīs called him the best servant of Hari, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa disrupted the sacrifice for worship of Indra to worship Govardhana instead, and then the hill resided for a week on the Lord’s lotus palm.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 5 jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ priya-tamam ati-sādhu-svānta-vaikuṇṭha-vāsāt ramayati sa sadā gāḥ pālayan yatra gopīḥ svarita-madhura-veṇur vardhayan prema rāse   TRANSLATION All glories, all glories to this place where we are living, Lord Murāri’s Vṛndāvana forest! He prefers residing here to residing in Vaikuṇṭha or in the hearts of elevated saints. In Vṛndāvana, while always tending His cows, He gives pleasure to the gopīs, whose love for Him in the mood of the rāsa dance He increases by sweetly playing His flute.

On the auspicious day of Akṣaya-tṛtīya, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami gives his introductory class as part of his Japa and Prayer School. He begins this introductory class with Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 9. Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 9 jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādi-yatnam katham api sakṛd āttaṁ mukti-daṁ prāṇināṁ yat paramam amṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me   TRANSLATION All glories, all glories to the all-ecstatic name of Lord Murāri. It makes one put aside such tasks as meditation, ritual worship, and social duties. If a living being even once takes the Lord’s holy name, the name will grant him liberation. That holy name is the greatest source of eternal pleasure and is my very life and ornament.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 4 jayati mathurā-devī śreṣṭhā purīṣu mano-ramā parama-dayitā kaṁsārāter jani-sthiti-rañjitā durita-haraṇān mukter bhakter api pratipādanāj jagati mahitā tat-tat-krīḍā-kathāstu vidūrataḥ   TRANSLATION All glories to goddess Mathurā-devī, the best of holy cities! She enchants the mind, she is most dear to the enemy of Kaṁsa, and she is adorned with the Lord’s birthplace. The city of Mathurā is acclaimed throughout the world for dispelling misery and bestowing liberation and devotion, not to mention the various pastimes the Lord has played there.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 3 sva-dayita-nija-bhāvaṁ yo vibhāvya sva-bhāvāt su-madhuram avatīrṇo bhakta-rūpeṇa lobhāt jayati kanaka-dhāmā kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmā harir iha yati-veśaḥ śrī-śacī-sūnur eṣaḥ   TRANSLATION Realizing that the ecstasy of His beloved devotees is even sweeter than His own, out of greed the Lord descended to this world in the form of His own devotee. Dressed as a renunciant, golden in effulgence, He bears the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. All glories to that Lord Hari, who has appeared as the son of Mother Śacī!

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 2 śrī-rādhikā-prabhṛtayo nitarāṁ jayanti gopyo nitānta-bhagavat-priyatā-prasiddhāḥ yāsāṁ harau parama-sauhṛda-mādhurīṇāṁ nirvaktum īṣad api jātu na ko ’pi śaktaḥ   TRANSLATION All glories above all to the gopīs, headed by Śrī Rādhikā, who are famous as the Lord’s dearmost devotees. No one can even begin to properly describe the charm of their supreme affection for Śrī Hari.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 1 Chapter 1 Text 1 jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo vividha-madhurimābdhiḥ ko ’pi kaiśora-gandhiḥ gata-parama-daśāntaṁ yasya caitanya-rūpād anubhava-padam āptaṁ prema gopīṣu nityam   TRANSLATION All glories to that inconceivable Lord who descended to bestow the gift of perfect love for His own lotus feet. He is an ocean filled with many kinds of sweetness, and He always bears the fragrance of fresh youth. In His form as Śrī Caitanya He has realized the last extreme of transcendental experience, the love residing eternally in the gopīs.

In today's sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami shares his realizations from his recent travels and studies.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 25 Text 17 na hi sad-bhāva-yuktānāṁ surāṇām īśa-vismayaḥ matto ’satāṁ māna-bhaṅgaḥ praśamāyopakalpate   TRANSLATION Since the demigods are endowed with the mode of goodness, the false pride of considering oneself the Lord should certainly not affect them. When I break the false prestige of those bereft of goodness, My purpose is to bring them relief.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 25 Text 14 śilā-varṣāti-vātena hanyamānam acetanam nirīkṣya bhagavān mene kupitendra-kṛtaṁ hariḥ   TRANSLATION Seeing the inhabitants of His Gokula rendered practically unconscious by the onslaught of hail and blasting wind, the Supreme Lord Hari understood that this was the work of angry Indra.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 25 Text 7 ahaṁ cairāvataṁ nāgam āruhyānuvraje vrajam marud-gaṇair mahā-vegair nanda-goṣṭha-jighāṁsayā   TRANSLATION I will follow you to Vraja, riding on my elephant Airāvata and taking with me the swift and powerful wind-gods to decimate the cowherd village of Nanda Mahārāja.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10 Chapter 46 Text 4 tā man-manaskā mat-prāṇā mat-arthe tyakta-daihikāḥ mām eva dayitaṁ preṣṭham ātmānaṁ manasā gatāḥ ye tyakta-loka-dharmāś ca mad-arthe tān bibharmy aham   TRANSLATION The minds of those gopīs are always absorbed in Me, and their very lives are ever devoted to Me. For My sake they have abandoned everything related to their bodies, renouncing ordinary happiness in this life, as well as religious duties necessary for such happiness in the next life. I alone am their dearmost beloved and, indeed, their very Self. I personally sustain such devotees, who for My sake give up all worldly duties.