Hare Krsna-Below are some very interesting statements from Krsna Book Vol 2 where different parts of our philosophy are explained nicely.
1.King Yudhisthira wanted to establish that Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not just some extra ordinary super human being.
2.One who satisfies Gods senses, then his own senses becomes satisfied.
3.Someone who is materially opulent (the western world compared to the eastern “underdeveloped” ones) if he does not use all that opulence in the service of the Lord, then his downfall is certain.
4.When one exists on the mental plane then he doesnt live on the transcendental plane but the on the material planes of wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep.
5.people who simply offer their obeisances to the Deity in the temple but do not see the Lord in everyone’s heart are unable to see the importance of devotees and sages in general. But when one is promoted to the next stage of transcendental understanding, then he or she tries to please the devotees.
6.All conditioned souls want to lord it over material resources and thus everyone wants riches, good spouse, children, position in society and be happy in this world. These things are the cause of our bondage.
7. Krsna is present throughout the universe in His diverse energies and if we cannot see or understand this fact, then we remain in the continuous chains of fruitive activities with no hope of release.
damaghosa das
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KB 2-17 / The Liberation of King Jarasandha :
King Yudhisthira prays:
“My dear Lord, those who are constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and who think of Your lotus feet or of Your shoes certainly become free from all contamination of material life. Persons who are engaged in Your service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who meditate upon You only or who offer prayers unto You, are purified souls. Being constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa conscious service, such persons become freed from the cycle of repeated birth and death. They do not even desire to become freed from this material existence or to enjoy material opulences; their desires are fulfilled by Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. As far as we are concerned, we are fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace we are so fortunate to see You personally. Therefore, naturally we have no desire for material opulences. The verdict of the Vedic wisdom is that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I want to establish this fact, and I also want to show the world the difference between accepting You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and accepting You as an ordinary powerful historical person. I wish to show the world that one can attain the highest perfection of life simply by taking shelter at Your lotus feet, exactly as one can satisfy the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers of an entire tree simply by watering the root. Thus, if one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his life becomes fulfilled both materially and spiritually.
Lord Kṛṣṇa told King Yudhiṣṭhira that He becomes conquered by the love of one who has conquered his senses. One who has not conquered his senses cannot conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of devotional service. To conquer the senses means to engage them constantly in the service of the Lord. The specific qualification of all the Pāṇḍava brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the service of the Lord. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with purified senses one can actually render service to the Lord. The Lord can thus be conquered by the devotee by loving transcendental service.
KB 2-18
…Dear Lord, Your name is Govinda, the reservoir of all pleasure. One who is engaged in satisfying Your senses automatically satisfies his own senses also, and therefore You are known as Govinda. Dear Lord, You are ever famous, for You can put an end to all the miseries of Your devotees. Please, therefore, accept us as Your surrendered servants.”
…I confirm that all you have spoken about Me in your prayers is factual. It is a fact that the materially opulent position of one who is not fully Kṛṣṇa conscious is the cause of his downfall and of his becoming a victim of the illusory energy.
…Therefore, no one should be attached to perishable things. As long as one is within this material body, he should be very cautious in worldly dealings. The most perfect way of life in this material world is simply to be devoted to My transcendental loving service and to honestly execute the prescribed duties of one’s particular position of life.
KB 2-29
“Since we are fully surrendered unto You and have no other shelter than Your lotus feet, we are always confident of our good fortune. My dear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited knowledge and transcendental bliss. The result of the action of mental concoction is to exist in the three temporary phases of material life–wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep. But these conditions cannot exist in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All such reactions are invalidated by practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
KB 2-29
Lord Kṛṣṇa spoke thus: “All glories to the assembled sages and ascetics! Today we are all feeling that our lives have become successful. Today we have achieved the desired goal of life, because we are now seeing face to face all the exalted liberated sages and ascetics whom even the great demigods in the heavens desire to see.Persons who are neophytes in devotional service and who simply offer their respectful obeisances to the Deity in the temple but cannot realize that the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, and those who simply worship different demigods for fulfillment of their own lusty desires, are unable to understand the importance of these sages. They cannot take advantage of receiving these sages by seeing them with their eyes, by touching their lotus feet, by inquiring about their welfare or by diligently worshiping them.”
Neophyte devotees or religionists cannot understand the importance of great mahātmās. They go to the temple as a matter of formality and pay their respectful obeisances unto the Deity. But when one is promoted to the next platform of transcendental consciousness, one can understand the importance of mahātmās and devotees, and in that stage the devotee tries to please them. Therefore, Lord Kṛṣṇa said that the neophyte cannot understand the importance of great sages, devotees or ascetics.
….Similarly, persons influenced by the senses and addicted to material enjoyment cannot have a clear vision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.“
…”All conditioned souls within this material world have deep-rooted desires to lord it over the resources of material nature. Everyone wants to accumulate riches, everyone wants to enjoy life to the greatest extent, everyone wants a wife, home and children, and everyone wants to become happy in this world and be elevated to the heavenly planets in the next life. But these desires are the causes of one’s material bondage.
KB 2-30
In the Bhagavad-gītā, this fact is very nicely explained in the Ninth Chapter, wherein the Lord says, “In My impersonal form I am spread all over the material energy; everything is resting in Me, but I am not there.”This very statement is also given by Vasudeva. To say He is not present everywhere means that He is aloof from everything, although His energy is acting everywhere. This can be understood by a crude example: In a big establishment, the energy, or the organization of the supreme boss, is working in every nook and corner of the business, but that does not mean that the original proprietor is present there, although in every department and every atmosphere the presence of the proprietor is felt by the worker. The physical presence of the proprietor in every department is formality only. Actually his energy is working everywhere. Similarly, the omnipresence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is felt in the action of His energies. Therefore the philosophy of inconceivable simultaneous oneness with and difference from the Supreme Lord is confirmed everywhere. The Lord is one, but His energies are diverse.
Vasudeva said, “This material world is like a great flowing river, and its waves are the three material modes of nature–goodness, passion and ignorance. This material body, as well as the senses, the faculties of thinking, feeling and willing and the stages of distress, happiness, attachment and lust–are all are different products of these three qualities of nature. The foolish person who cannot realize Your transcendental identity above all this material reaction continues to remain in the entanglement of fruitive activity and is subjected to the continuous process of birth and death without a chance of being freed.”
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Below is our greenhouse at present, filled with crimson clover plants(a winter cover crop) in all the 4 beds and clusters of pole beans drying to be readied to take inside for storage.
