durlabho mānuṣo deho
dehināḿ kṣaṇa-bhańguraḥ
tatrāpi durlabhaḿ manye
vaikuṇṭha-priya-darśanam
For the conditioned souls, the human body is most difficult to achieve, and it can be lost at any moment. But I think that even those who have achieved human life rarely gain the association of pure devotees, who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha.
SB 11.2.29
Hari Bhakti Kalpa Latika
TEXT 25
nindantu priya bāndhavā guru-janā-gañjantu muncañtu vādurvādaṁ parighoṣayantv api janā vaṁśe kalaṅko ‘stu vātādṛk prema navānurāga-madhunā mattāyamānaṁ tu mecittaṁ naiva nivarttate kṣaṇam api śrī-kṛṣṇa-pādāmbujāt
O dear friend! Let my friends criticize me! Let my elders chastise or reject me! Let people accuse me! Let my family become infamous! Still, my mind will not be distracted from the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa even for a moment, for it is intoxicated by the pride of being attached to Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 14
tanū rūpe netraṁ tava yaśasi nāmni śruti yugaṁsunir malye ghrāṇaṁ tvag api mahadāliṅghanavidhautvadīye nirmālye vasati rasanā cen mama sadātadā kṛṣṇāsmābhirjitaṣiha nitāntaṁ viṣayibhiḥ
O Śrī Kṛṣṇa! If we engage our eyes in seeing Your beautiful Deity form, our ears in hearing Your holy names and glories, our noses in smelling the flowers that have been offered to You, our bodies in embracing devotees, and our tongues in relishing food that has been offered to You, then You are always conquered by us even though we are engaged in pleasing our senses.
TEXT 15
bhavad dāsye kāmaḥ krudhapi tava nindākṛtijanetvaducchiṣṭe lobho yadi bhavati moho bhavati catvadīyatve mānas tava caraṇa pāthojam adhunāmadaś ced asmābhir niyata ṣaḍ-mitrair api jitam
O Lord! If we engage our lust in serving You, our anger against those who blaspheme You, our greed in honoring Your remnants, our illusion in trying to achieve Your Lordships, our ego in being Your devotees, and our pride in drinking the honey of Your lotus feet, then, we may easily defeat these six enemies of lust, anger, greed, illusion, false ego, and pride, which are always surrounding us.
TEXT 11
gṛhāsakto yuktaḥ svajana bharaṇe ‘mukta viṣayaḥprasaktaḥ ṣaḍvarge na
kṛtasukṛtaḥ sevita-khalaḥtathāpi tvad dāsyaṁ satata sad upāsyākhilaguroyad īhe
nirlajjastava tad anukampaiva śaraṇam
O worshipable Lord of the devotees, O spiritual master of the entire universe, O Śrī Hari, I am attached to family life. I am always engaged in maintaining my family members. I am attached to material enjoyments. I am decorated with six principles such as lust, anger etc. I am devoid of piety. And I am engaged in the service of sinful people. Still, O my Lord, knowing that Your causeless mercy is my only hope, I shamelessly pray for devotional service.
How can we become determined?
Hari-katha should be heard from Hari’s devotees.
By constantly hearing the powerful topics about Hari from the lotus mouths of those who always serve the Lord, we will be able to understand the Lord’s energies and glories. By faithfully and attentively hearing hari-katha from a living source or a powerful saintly person, we will become determined. Gradually, as we attain faith, attachment, and love of God, we will achieve perfection.
Then Maya’s prowess cannot defeat us.
Amrita Vani
Q&A by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakura Prabhupada
TEXT 23.22|| SB 11.29.22 ||
esa buddhimatam buddhir manisa ca manisinam yat satyam anrteneha martyenapnoti mamrtam
This process is the supreme intelligence of the intelligent and the cleverness of the cleverest, because by following it, one can make use of that which is temporary and illusory to achieve Me, the eternal reality.
COMMENTARY
Why do people often execute devotional service in the hopes of gaining fame, and other personal advantages? The reason is that they are not actually intelligent. This is the purport of this verse. One who poses as a great devotee to enjoy immense prestige is not actually intelligent. Simply to imagine oneself to be a great preacher of devotional service, or a great relisher of transcendental rasas, simply for enjoying fame and reputation, is also not the sign of good intelligence.
Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhar deva Goswami
deve varsati yajna-viplavarusa vajrasma-varsanilaih sidat-pala-pasu-striyatma-saranam drstvanukampy-utsmayam utpatyaika-karena sailamavalo lilocchilindhram yatha bibrad gosthamapan mahendram adabhit priyan na indro gavam
“May that lord of the cows be satisfied by us. Who is Indra when compared to Krishna? Krishna is the master of Indra. And yet he has appeared as the master of cows; the Supreme Absolute Truth has accepted a simple position as the keeper of cows. Superficially, he is a mere cowherd boy. But let that cowherd boy, who holds within him the power of controlling the whole universe, be satisfied with us. We want to worship that Lord who has taken the humble position of the king of the cows.”
The very gist of the Govardhana lila, the very substance of the pastime, is represented in this verse. The milkmen in Vrindavana used to observe a sacrifice to satisfy the king of heaven, Indra, at whose command the rain, clouds, and other subtle elementary powers move. The main wealth of the cowherd men is the cow, and the cow’s main food is grass. Only rain can produce grass, and so the cowherd men used to perform sacrifice to satisfy the subtle power who is supposed to be in command of natural substances like rain.
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A few verses from Garga Samhita, describing Giriraja’s glories.
Chapter 10
Text 14
The liberated soul said: Glorious Govardhana Hill, the king of mountains, is the personal form of Lord Krishna. Simply by seeing it, one attains the supreme goal of life.
Texts 18-19
Even though he has committed hundreds of sins, a person who on Mount Mangala gives gold in charity attains a spiritual form like Lord Visnu’s. That same result is attained simply by seeing Govardhana Hill. No other holy place is as sacred as Govardhana Hill.
Texts 20-21
O brahmana, simply by visiting Govardhana Hill one attains piety a hundred thousand times greater than the piety he would attain if on the sacred mountains
Rishabha, Kutaka, and Kolaka he had worshiped many brahmanas and given in charity ten million cows with golden horns.
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Uddhava-Gita
TEXT 17.56|| SB 11.23.56 ||
na kenacit kvapi kathancanasya dvandvoparagah paratah parasyayathahamah samsrti-rupinah syad evam prabuddho na bibheti bhutaih
The false ego, which manifests the visible material creation, is subjected to happiness and distress. The soul, however, who is transcendental to matter, can never actually be affected by material happiness and distress in any place, under any circumstance, or by the agency of any person. When one realizes this fact, he will no longer have any fear from any material condition.
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durgame pathi me ’ndhasya
skhalat-pāda-gater muhuḥ
sva-kṛpā-yaṣṭi-dānena
santaḥ santv avalambanam
Synonyms
durgame — very difficult; pathi — on the path; me — of me; andhasya — one who is blind; skhalat — slipping; pāda — on feet; gateḥ — whose manner of moving; muhuḥ — again and again; sva-kṛpā — of their own mercy; yaṣṭi — the stick; dānena — by giving; santaḥ — those saintly persons; santu — let that become; avalambanam — my support.
Translation
My path is very difficult. I am blind, and my feet are slipping again and again. Therefore, may the saints help me by granting me the stick of their mercy as my support.
