Bhagvatam Lord Krshna says Himself in Bhagavad-gitä (7.28)"Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination”, 21st Aug

Bhagvatam  Lord Krshna says Himself in Bhagavad-gitä (7.28)"Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination”

TRANSLATION

King Parikshit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvämi: O learned brähmana, demons are generally sinful, being obsessed with the modes of passion and ignorance. How, then, could Vrträsura have attained such exalted love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Näräyana?

PURPORT

In this material world, everyone is obsessed with the modes of passion and ignorance.

However, unless one conquers these modes and comes to the platform of goodness, there is no chance of one's becoming a pure devotee.

This is confirmed by Lord Krshna Himself in Bhagavad-gitä (7.28):

"Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.”

Since Vrträsura was among the demons, Mahäräja Parikshit wondered how it was possible for him to have become such an exalted devotee.

Demigods situated in the mode of goodness and great saints cleansed of the dirt of material enjoyment hardly ever render pure devotional service at the lotus feet of Mukunda.

[Therefore how could Vrträsura have become such a great devotee?]

In this material world there are as many living entities as atoms.

Among these living entities, a very few are human beings, and among them, few are interested in following religious principles.

Once you start repeating the name of the Lord, you would not see the Lord immediately but the way to the Lord shall start getting clearer #Blog0080

Once you start repeating the name of the Lord, you would not see the Lord immediately but the way to the Lord shall start getting clearer.

आप कृष्ण नाम कहना आरंभ कीजिए

 कृष्ण दिखाई दें ना दें

 कृष्ण की ओर ले जाने वाला मार्ग आपको उसी पल से दिखाई देना शुरू हो जाएगा

आपकी यात्रा सहज हो जाएगी, सुलभ हो जाएगी

भगवान की सब तरह की प्रतिमाओं में

कुछ स्थूल प्रतिमाएं होती है कुछ सूक्ष्म प्रतिमाएं होती है

 जब आप की चेतना साधारण स्तर से ऊपर उठती है जब आपकी चेतना सूक्ष्म लोक में प्रवेश करती है

 तब आप का आराध्य भी सूक्ष्म हो जाता है तब आप स्थूल उपासना नहीं कर सकते

आप की उपासना पद्यति भी सूक्ष्म हो जाती है

Once you start repeating the name of the Lord, you would not see the Lord immediately but the way to the Lord shall start getting clearer.

And your journey towards Him would get more pleasant gradually.

God is present in innumerable forms like the deity in temples as well as in transcendental form.

When your consciousness rises above the ordinary mortal level, then your worship also gets more subtle & finally transforms into a transcendental form

And then you are absorbed in bliss of worship in each breath of yours effortlessly.

Bhagvatam: Indra saw personified sinful reaction chasing him, appearing like a chandäla woman, a woman of the lowest class. Because she was afflicted with tuberculosis, her body and garments were covered with vomits of blood, 19th Aug

Bhagvatam: Indra saw personified sinful reaction chasing him, appearing like a chandäla woman, a woman of the lowest class. Because she was afflicted with tuberculosis, her body and garments were covered with vomits of blood. Breathing an unbearable fishy odor that polluted the entire street, she chased Indra to afflict him. 

TRANSLATION

Sri Sukadeva Gosvämi said: Encouraged by the words of the sages, Indra killed Vrträsura, and when he was killed the sinful reaction for killing a brähmana [brahma-hatyä] certainly took shelter of Indra.

PURPORT

After killing Vrträsura, Indra could not surpass the brahma-hatyä, the sinful reactions for killing a brähmana.

Formerly he had killed one brähmana, Vishvarüpa, out of circumstantial anger, but this time, following the advice of the sages, he killed another brähmana purposely.

Therefore the sinful reaction was greater than before.

Indra could not be relieved from the reaction simply by performing sacrifices for atonement.

He had to undergo a severe series of sinful reactions, and when he was freed by such suffering, the brähmanas allowed him to perform the horse sacrifice.

The planned execution of sinful deeds on the strength of chanting the holy name of the Lord or undergoing präyashchitta, atonement, cannot give relief to anyone, even to Indra or Nahusha.

Nahusha was officiating for Indra while Indra, absent from heaven, was going here and there to gain release from his sinful reactions.

TRANSLATION

Following the advice of the demigods, Indra killed Vrträsura, and he suffered because of this sinful killing. Although the other demigods were happy, he could not derive happiness from the killing of Vrträsura. Indra's other good qualities, such as tolerance and opulence, could not help him in his grief.

PURPORT

One cannot be happy by committing sinful acts, even if one is endowed with material opulence. Indra found this to be true. People began to blaspheme him, saying, "This person has killed a brähmana for the sake of enjoying heavenly material happiness." Therefore in spite of being King of heaven and enjoying material opulence, Indra was always unhappy because of the accusations of the populace.

TRANSLATION

Indra saw personified sinful reaction chasing him, appearing like a chandäla woman, a woman of the lowest class. She seemed very old, and all the limbs of her body trembled. Because she was afflicted with tuberculosis, her body and garments were covered with blood. Breathing an unbearable fishy odor that polluted the entire street, she called to Indra, "Wait! Wait!"

PURPORT

When a person is afflicted with tuberculosis, he often vomits blood, which makes his garments bloody.

TRANSLATION

O King, Indra first fled to the sky, but there also he saw the woman of personified sin chasing him. This witch followed him wherever he went. At last he very quickly went to the northeast and entered the Mänasa-sarovara Lake.

TRANSLATION

Always thinking of how he could be relieved from the sinful reaction for killing a brähmana, King Indra, invisible to everyone, lived in the lake for one thousand years in the subtle fibers of the stem of a lotus. The fire-god used to bring him his share of all yajnas, but because the fire-god was afraid to enter the water, Indra was practically starving.

It is your inner conscience, the voice of your own soul, that needs to guide and direct the mind that God is the only resort for eternal bliss. Then the mind will not run after anything else other than God #Blog0079

It is your inner conscience, the voice of your own soul, that needs to guide & direct the mind that God is the only resort for eternal bliss. Then the mind will not run after anything else other than God.

मन को तो वहीं जाना है जहां इसे सुख दिखाई पड़ता है

आप खूब संसार में रहिए   

मगर संसार में सुख बुद्धि ना रहे

और ऐसा कब होगा जब कोई आप को इशारा कर दे कि सुख असल में है क्या और कहाँ   

जैसे किसी ने सोना  हीरा ना देखा हो   

उसे एक हीरे के आभूषण की कल्पना करवाइए  

उसे समझ में नहीं आएगा  क्योंकि उसने कभी हीरा देखा ही नहीं  

ऐसे ही मन है  मन को मालूम नहीं कि भगवत सुख होता क्या है  

आप मन को आस्वादन करवाइए एक बार भगवत रस का  

फिर मन भगवत भजन रस को छोड़ेगा नहीं

Mind will go wherever it feels likelihood of pleasure

Be in the world but do not expect pleasures from this world because whatever seems to be sukh is actually dukh being the other side of the same coin.

Mind needs to be told where the eternal bliss is to be found. 

For example if somebody has not seen gold and diamond and you ask him to imagine the ornament made of diamond, he would not appreciate its value because he has never seen diamond. 

Similarly the mind does not know what is the level of pleasure offered by Lord.

 

It is your inner conscience on hearing the voice of your own soul that you need to you tell & direct the mind that God is the only resort for eternal bliss. 

Then the mind will not run after anything else other than God.

Once husk is removed from rice, it can never be combined with rice.

Bhagvatam: ONE MAY BE A BRÄHMANA IN TERMS OF HIS CULTURE AND FAMILY AND MAY BE EXPERT IN VEDIC KNOWLEDGE, BUT IF HE IS NOT A VAISHNAVA (PURE DEVOTEE OF LORD), HE CANNOT BE A GURU

Sri Sukadeva Gosvämi said: O King Parikshit, who are so charitably disposed, when Vrträsura (demon) was killed, all the presiding deities and everyone else in the three planetary systems was immediately pleased and free from trouble—everyone, that is, except Indra.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, the demigods, the great saintly persons, the inhabitants of Pitrloka and Bhütaloka, the demons, the followers of the demigods, and also Lord Brahmä, Lord Shiva and the demigods subordinate to Indra all returned to their respective homes. While departing, however, no one spoke to Indra.

PURPORT

In this connection Srila Vishvanätha Chakravarti Thäkura comments:

Lord Brahmä, Lord Shiva and the other demigods returned to their respective abodes, but Indra did not, for he was disturbed at having killed Vrträsura, who was actually a brähmana. 

After killing Vrträsura, Indra went to the Mänasa-sarovara Lake to become free from sinful reactions. When he left the lake, he performed an ashvamedha-yajna and then returned to his own abode.

TRANSLATION

Mahäräja Parikshit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvämi: O great sage, what was the reason for Indra's unhappiness? I wish to hear about this. When he killed Vrträsura, all the demigods were extremely happy. Why, then, was Indra himself unhappy?

PURPORT

This, of course, is a very intelligent question. 

When a demon is killed, certainly all the demigods are happy. In this case, however, when all the demigods were happy because of Vrträsura's having been killed, Indra was unhappy. Why? 

IT MAY BE SUGGESTED THAT INDRA WAS UNHAPPY BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT HE HAD KILLED A GREAT DEVOTEE AND BRÄHMANA. VRTRÄSURA OUTWARDLY APPEARED TO BE A DEMON, BUT INWARDLY HE WAS A GREAT DEVOTEE AND THEREFORE A GREAT BRÄHMANA.

HEREIN IT IS CLEARLY INDICATED THAT A PERSON WHO IS NOT AT ALL DEMONIAC, SUCH AS PRAHLÄDA MAHÄRÄJA AND BALI MAHÄRÄJA, MAY OUTWARDLY BE A DEMON OR BE BORN IN A FAMILY OF DEMONS. 

Therefore in terms of real culture one should not be considered a demigod or demon simply according to birth. In his dealings while fighting with Indra, Vrträsura proved himself a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

Furthermore, as soon as he finished fighting with Indra and was apparently killed, Vrträsura was transferred to Vaikunthaloka to become an associate of Sankarshana. Indra knew this, and therefore he was morose at having killed such a demon, who was actually a Vaishnava or brähmana.

A Vaishnava is already a brähmana, although a brähmana may not be a Vaishnava. The Padma Puräna says:

ONE MAY BE A BRÄHMANA IN TERMS OF HIS CULTURE AND FAMILY AND MAY BE EXPERT IN VEDIC KNOWLEDGE (MANTRA-TANTRA-VISHÄRADAM), BUT IF HE IS NOT A VAISHNAVA, HE CANNOT BE A GURU. 

This means that an expert brähmana may not be a Vaishnava, but a Vaishnava is already a brähmana. A millionaire may very easily possess hundreds and thousands of dollars, but a person with hundreds and thousands of dollars is not necessarily a millionaire. Vrträsura was a perfect Vaishnava, and therefore he was also a brähmana.