Therefore it should be understood that one is easily relieved from all sinful reactions by chanting the holy name of the Lord and chanting of His qualities and activities. This is the only process recommended for relief from sinful reactions. Even if one chants the holy name of the LordContinue Reading
Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society. As stated in the previous verse, dharmaṁ bhāgavatam, real religious principles, are bhāgavata-dharma, the principles described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself or in Bhagavad-gītā, the preliminary study of the Bhāgavatam. What are these principles? The Bhāgavatam says, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra: in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam thereContinue Reading
Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender untoContinue Reading
Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinaryContinue Reading
How one can become free from all sinful reactions simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord? Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s: Someone may say, “It may be accepted that by chanting the holy name of the Lord one becomes freed from all the reactions of sinful life. However, ifContinue Reading
In Bhagavad-gītā (2.45) Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna: traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān “The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, andContinue Reading
The most virulent type of offense surfaces when devotees harbor impersonalist views, especially the desire to become God. Svarupa Damodara Gosvami warned that in bad company even advanced devotees risk falling prey to the allurements of Mayavada philosophy. “The Mayavada philosophy presents such a jugglery of words that even a highly elevatedContinue Reading
By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari. Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reactions, it does not awaken devotional service, unlike the chanting of the Lord’s names, which remindsContinue Reading
Everyone engages in work with his hands, legs and other senses just to achieve a certain goal according to his concocted ideas. One tries to enjoy the five sense objects, namely form, sound, taste, aroma and touch, not knowing the actual goal of life, which is to satisfy the SupremeContinue Reading
A man engages in sinful activities because he does not know what he did in his past life to get his present materially conditioned body, which is subjected to the threefold miseries. As stated by Ṛṣabhadeva in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.4), nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma: a human being who is mad after sense gratification does notContinue Reading