A SMALL MEMBER IN A HUGE FAMILY

"God is unlimited, so are the number of His devotees."

Every morning after the morning program in ISKCON temples and every time devotees offer their respects to the devotees of Lord Krishna, it is a custom to chant the phrase - "ananta koti vaishnava vrinda ki jai". It means - "all glories to the unlimited, countless devotees of the Lord". I got to witness a glimpse of this phrase in the recent annual Vrindavan Yatra. The Yatra itself had 7000 registered pilgrim devotees along side lakhs of other devotees who flock to Vrindavan to be in the holiest of holy months, the Karthik month. It was a crazy crowd filled with devotees crazy for Krishna, not minding inconvenience of any sort. In fact, one starts to realise that being surrounded by devotees on all sides is a bliss of a different sort. Vrindavan was filled to the brim. This is only the number of countless devotees in Vrindavan. Add to it the unlimited devotees in other holy places, Tirupati, Sri Rangam, Jagannath Puri, Pandharpura and hundreds of other holy places. Add to it further, all the devotees of Krishna all over the world. And you will get a glimpse of "the unlimited devotee" concept.

But the scriptures tell us that the number of devotees in the material world is very, very less compared to the number of devotees in the spiritual world. And mind you, there are countless planets in the spiritual world. We can't even imagine, the number of devotees that are present there. The only thing we can do is offer our humble obeisances to the countless devotees - those in this world and those beyond this world by chanting - "ananta koti vaishnava vrinda ki jai". Who said that the devotees are outnumbered by materialistic people! No one can outnumber the devotees of the Lord. The family of devotees is the biggest because it is the family of God. Let us feel happy, grateful and protected to a small member of such a huge family - God's family.
- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

CHANTING BEYOND REASONS

"Chanting attentively is not a matter of circumstance but a matter of choice." Everyday there is a different reason to not to be chant attentively. Someday, it's because someone hurt us and we keep thinking about it, someday our health is not good. Someday, it's simply because we are not in mood. Someday, it's because a plan of ours didn't work out....And the list goes on and on. Very rarely do we chant attentively. All these reasons are valid and true. But the question is "When will there be a day when the mind will stop offering reasons to not chant attentively?" Material world is a place of continuous drama and happenings and the mind knows how to perfectly en cash on it. Even if all our problems went away, the mind will not allow us to chant attentively.....a new set of problems will come or even if there are no further problems, the mind will make one. After all, it's expert at it - creating problems where none exists. CHANTING BEYOND

WEATHERING THE STORMY WEATHER

It is stormy, windy and rainy in Goa for the last few days. Seeing the wind and the heavy downpour, I started wondering, "What an experience it would be to be in such a storm and wind in a boat in the middle of the turbulent ocean". A crazy thought, I guess. But then I got this insight that, "Well, we are already in the middle of an ocean with violent winds around." The scriptures explain that, this material world is a huge ocean of birth and death, with turbulent winds and storm of problems and miseries all around us and we, tiny entities being caught in this terrible and powerful ocean are struggling helplessly to stay afloat and stable in the midst of all this drama. This material world is not so easy to overcome however powerful and expert one may be just as, even an expert swimmer is unable to swim across an ocean. Therefore Lord Krishna tells us in Bhagvat-gita 7.14 "daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā" "This divine energy o

THE VICTORY FLAG - Offering to H.H. Jayapataka Maharaj

Today is the Vyas Puja (Appearance Day) of one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen and definitely one of the biggest heroes in my life. Today is the Appearance Day of His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaj. "Jayapataka" means "Victory Flag" . As his name suggests, Maharaj has achieved victory over insurmountable and seemingly impossible obstacles. His life is an emblem of one-pointed dedication to Guru, selfless service to the Vaishnavas and unparalleled compassion to the common people. Even after going through a life-threatening brain hemorrhage, a liver and a kidney transplant, he still continues to preach the message of His Dear Lord Chaitanya with great vigour and zeal. For him the word "Impossible" means "I am possible". His life is a glaring example to the entire world that, if one is possessed by a burning desire to serve Guru and Gauranga, then anything, literally anything is possible. Srila Prabhupada, in

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog