Weekly Sanga

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 210 siddhiḥ syād bhagavad-dṛṣṭyā tṛṇa-sammānanād api sakṛd uccāraṇān nāmā- bhāsasya śravaṇāt tathā TRANSLATION One can reach perfection by honoring even a blade of grass — provided one sees within it the presence of the Supreme Lord — or by just once uttering or hearing even a faint semblance of the Lord’s name.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 193 tāratamyaṁ tu kalpyeta sva-sva-sevānusārataḥ tat-tad-rasa-sajātīya- sukha-vaicitry-apekṣayā TRANSLATION The hierarchy among devotees is only imagined according to their own forms of service and according to the happiness each devotee derives from his own relationship with the Lord.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 195 bhajanānanda-sāmye ’pi bhedaḥ kaścit prakalpyate bāhyāntarīṇa-bhāvena dūra-pārśva-sthatādinā TRANSLATION Although everyone equally enjoys the bliss of worshiping the Lord, certain differences are conceived. Devotees are considered relative outsiders or insiders, depending, for example, on whether they serve the Lord from afar or from nearby.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 187 nārāyaṇād apy avatāra-bhāve saṁvyajyamānair madhurair mano-jñaiḥ tat-prema-bhaktyārdra-hṛd-eka-vedyair māhātmya-vargair vividhair viśiṣṭaḥ TRANSLATION And Kṛṣṇa is different from Nārāyaṇa, for when Kṛṣṇa appears in His descent in the material world He fully manifests the many unique glories that distinguish Kṛṣṇa alone — charming, attractive glories that can be known only to hearts softened by prema-bhakti.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 185 evaṁ bhagavatā tena śrī-kṛṣṇenāvatāriṇāna bhidyante ’vatārās te nityāḥ satyāś ca tādṛśāḥ TRANSLATION The incarnations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead, are likewise not different from Him, their source. Just as He is eternal and real, so are they.

In today’s sanga, Śrīla Dhanurdhara Swami gives an overview of what has been cover in the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta thus far and also gives a preview of his Monday Morning Greetings article.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 165 durvitarkyā hi sā śaktir adbhutā pārameśvarī kintv asyaikānta-bhakteṣu gūḍhaṁ kiñcin na tiṣṭhati TRANSLATION Inconceivable indeed is the amazing energy of the supreme controller, but nothing can be hidden from His unalloyed devotees.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 148 pūrva-vad bhajanānandaṁ prāpnuvanti navaṁ navam sarvadāpy aparicchinnaṁ vaikuṇṭhe ’tra viśeṣataḥ TRANSLATION The same kind of ecstasy these devotees previously enjoyed in worshiping the Lord they continue to relish here in Vaikuṇṭha. They obtain it as a unique, uninterrupted, unceasing bliss, newer and newer at every moment.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 147 te ca sarve ’tra vaikuṇṭhe śrī-nārāyaṇam īśvaram tat-tad-varṇādi-yuktātma- deva-rūpaṁ vicakṣate TRANSLATION In Vaikuṇṭha each devotee sees the Supreme Lord Śrī Nārāyaṇa in the form of the particular Lord he worships, with suitable complexion and other qualities.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 136 śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca tataḥ kān api siddhāntān sva-prajñā-gocarān api aicchaṁ tad-ānanāc chrotuṁ śrotreṇa prerito haṭhāt TRANSLATION Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: I then wanted to hear Nārada explain from his own mouth certain philosophical conclusions about which I was already thinking. My ears were forcing me to do this.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 125 śrī-bhagavan-nārada uvāca bho gopa-nandana śrīmad- vaikuṇṭheśānukampita mukha-mlāny-ādinā kiñcic TRANSLATION The great master Nārada said: My dear son of a cowherd, you have received the mercy of the divine Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Yet from signs like the paleness of your face you appear depressed, like someone suffering misfortune.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 111 tathāpy asyāṁ vraja-kṣmāyāṁ prabhuṁ sa-parivārakam viharantaṁ tathā nekṣe khidyate smeti man-manaḥ TRANSLATION Yet my mind would still feel sad because I couldn’t see the Lord and His companions play as they do here in the land of Vraja.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 107 kṛṣṇasya bhakta-vātsalyād yasya kasyāpi karmaṇaḥ saṅkīrtanaṁ mahān eva guṇaḥ śrī-prabhu-toṣaṇaḥ TRANSLATION “Kṛṣṇa is so kind to His devotees that saṅkīrtana of any of His activities is glorious and beneficial, and satisfying to our divine master.”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 91 yathā-kālaṁ tataḥ sarve niḥsaranto mahā-śriyaḥ ājñayā nirgamānicchuṁ yuktyā māṁ bahir ānayan TRANSLATION When the time came to stop, everyone, on the request of Lakṣmīdevī, started to leave, but I didn’t want to go. The devotees had to persuade me to let them escort me outside.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 78 utthāpya tair eva balāc cireṇa saṁjñāṁ praṇīto ’śru-nipāta-vighnam sammārjanenābhibhavan karābhyāṁ netre prayatnād udamīlayaṁ dve TRANSLATION With some effort, those attendants lifted me up, and after some time I regained consciousness. I wiped away with my hands the flood of tears that blocked my sight, and with difficulty I finally opened my eyes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 79 tāvad dayālu-pravareṇa tena snehena gambhīra-mṛdu-svareṇa svastho bhavāgaccha javena vatsety- ādy ucyamānaṁ śrutavān vaco ’ham TRANSLATION Then I heard the Lord, that best of merciful persons, tell me in a deep, gentle voice, “Please come back to your senses. Dear boy, come here quickly!”

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 62-63 mahā-mahā-citra-vicitra-geha- dvāra-pradeśān atigamya vegāt śrīman-mahalla-pravarasya madhye prāsāda-vargaiḥ pariṣevitāṅghrim prāsādam ekaṁ vividhair mahattā- pūrair viśiṣṭaṁ para-sīma-yātaiḥ prāpto ’ham āditya-sudhāṁśu-koṭi- kāntiṁ mano-locana-vṛtti-coram TRANSLATION I passed rapidly through many districts, wonderfully splendid, with all kinds of houses and gates, and then I entered the most excellent transcendental neighborhood. There I came to one palace at whose feet many others stood in attendance, a palace distinct, overflowing in greatness, where excellence seemed to reach its highest limit. Radiant like millions of suns and moons, it captured my mind and my eyes.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 56-57 itthaṁ harṣa-prakarṣeṇot- tiṣṭhann upaviśan bhṛśam gopure vartamāno ’haṁ tair javenaitya pārṣadaiḥ antaḥ praveśyamāno yad dṛṣṭavān adbhutādbhutam vaktuṁ tad dvi-parārdhena sahasrāsyo ’pi na kṣamaḥ TRANSLATION Thus I thrilled with delight as I waited in the gateway to Vaikuṇṭha. I excitedly stood up and sat down, stood up and sat down, till the associates of the Lord returned, rushing back, and escorted me inside. The amazing things I then saw, more wonderful than wonderful, even the thousand-headed Ananta Śeṣa would be unable to describe, even in a lifetime of Brahmā.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Texts 42-43 tathāpi bhavato brahman prapañcāntar-gatasya hi prapañca-parivārāntar- dṛṣṭi-garbhita-cetasaḥ tad-dṛṣṭāntākulenaiva tat tat syād bodhitaṁ sukham tathety ucyeta yat kiñcit tad āgaḥ kṣamatāṁ hariḥ TRANSLATION Nonetheless, my dear brāhmaṇa, you are a resident of the material world, and your intelligence is confined because you can see only matter. Therefore I say “It is like this” so that by material examples you might understand various things more easily. May Lord Hari forgive this offense.

Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta Part 2 Chapter 4 Text 28 ke ’py ekaśo dvandvaśo ’nye yugapad bahuśo ’pare pūrva-pūrvādhika-śrīkāḥ praviśanti purīṁ prabhoḥ TRANSLATION Many others came — some alone, others in pairs, and yet others together in larger groups — and all of them, each more splendid than the last, entered the city of the Lord.