Inspiration Corner

"To become a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, two things are very much essential, namely having a chance to be born in the family of a devotee and having the blessings of a bona fide spiritual master. By the grace of Lord Krishna, Pariksit Maharaja had both opportunities. He was born in a family of such devotees as the Pandavas, and just to continue the dynasty of the Pandavas and show them special favor, the Lord specifically saved Maharaja Pariksit, who later on, by the arrangement of the Lord, was cursed by the boy of a brahmana and was able to get the association of such a spiritual master as Sukadeva Gosvami. In the Caitanya-caritamrita it is said that a fortunate person, by the mercy of the spiritual master and Lord Krishna achieves the path of devotional service. This was perfectly applicable in the case of Maharaja Pariksit. By way of being born in a family of devotees, he automatically came in touch with Krishna, and after being so contacted he constantly remembered Him. Consequently Lord Krishna gave the King a further chance for development in devotional service by introducing him to Sukadeva Gosvami, a stalwart devotee of the Lord with perfect knowledge in self-realization. And by hearing from a bona fide spiritual master, he was perfectly able to concentrate his chaste mind further upon Lord Krishna, as a matter of course."

1/10/04 Prabhupada's playful Dieties

SB 1.12.30 - Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedantanta Swami Prabhupada

Srila Jiva Gosvami remarks in this connection that every child, if given an impression of the Lord from his very childhood, certainly becomes a great devotee of the Lord like Maharaja Pariksit. One may not be as fortunate as Maharaja Pariksit to have the opportunity to see the Lord in the womb of his mother, but even if he is not so fortunate he can be made so if the parents of the child desire him to be so. There is a practical example in my personal life in this connection. My father was a pure devotee of the Lord, and when I was only four or five years old, my father gave me a couple of forms of Radha and Krishna. In a playful manner, I used to worship these Deities along with my sister, and I used to imitate the performances of a neighboring temple of Radha-Govinda. By constantly visiting this neighboring temple and copying the ceremonies in connection with my own Deities of play I developed a natural affinity for the Lord. My father used to observe all the ceremonies befitting my position.

Later on, these activities were suspended due to my association in the schools and colleges, and I became completely out of practice. But in my youthful days, when I met my spiritual master, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, again I revived my old habit, and the same playful Deities became my worshipful Deities in proper regulation. This was followed up until I left the family connection, and I am pleased that my generous father gave the first impression which was developed later into regulative devotional service by His Divine Grace. Maharaja Prahlada also advised that such impressions of a godly relation must be impregnated from the beginning of childhood, otherwise one may miss the opportunity of the human form of life, which is very valuable although it is temporary like others.

1/10/04 Protection of women, children and aged

SB 1.8.5 - Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedantanta Swami Prabhupada

The protection of women maintains the chastity of society, by which we can get a good generation for peace, tranquillity and progress of life.

The protection of children gives the human form of life its best chance to prepare the way of liberty from material bondage. Such protection of children begins from the very day of begetting a child by the purificatory process of garbhadhana-samskara, the beginning of pure life.

The protection of old men gives them a chance to prepare themselves for better life after death.

7/9/04 Uddhava's Childhood

SB 3.2.2 Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

"From his very birth, Uddhava was a natural devotee of Lord Krsna, or a nitya-siddha, a liberated soul. From natural instinct he used to serve Lord Krsna, even in his childhood. He used to play with dolls in the form of Krsna, he would serve the dolls by dressing, feeding and worshiping them, and thus he was constantly absorbed in the play of transcendental realization. These are the signs of an eternally liberated soul. An eternally liberated soul is a devotee of the Lord who never forgets Him. Human life is meant for reviving one's eternal relation with the Lord, and all religious injunctions are meant for awakening this dormant instinct of the living entity. The sooner this awakening is brought about, the quicker the mission of human life is fulfilled. In a good family of devotees, the child gets the opportunity to serve the Lord in many ways. A soul who is already advanced in devotional service has the opportunity to take birth in such an enlightened family. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (6.41): Sucinam srimatam gehe yoga-bhrasto'bhijayate: even the fallen devotee gets the opportunity to take his birth in the family of a well-situated brahmana or in a rich, well-to-do mercantile family. In both these families there is good opportunity to revive one's sense of God consciousness automatically because particularly in these families the worship of Lord Krsna is regularly performed and the child gets the opportunity to imitate the process of worship called arcana.

The pancaratrika formula for training persons in devotional service is temple worship, whereby the neophytes get the opportunity to learn devotional service to the Lord. Maharaja Pariksit also used to play with Krsna dolls in his childhood. In India the children of good families are still given dolls of the Lord like Rama and Krsna, or sometimes the demigods, so that they may develop the aptitude of service to the Lord. By the grace of the Lord we were given the same opportunity by our parents, and the beginning of our life was based on this principle."

Attitude

By Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.We cannot change the past… we cannot change the inevitable.The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

Editor's note: Of course, as Vaisnavas, the attitude we cultivate is one of humility and respect to all, because Lord Krishna is situated in everyone's heart as the Paramatma. As Lord Caitanya taught,

trinad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniya sada hari

"One should consider oneself to be lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all false prestige and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

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Date Last Modified: 09/09/06