Skip to main content

MY EXPERIENCE WITH SRIMAD-BHAGVATAM


 
Just completed a series of classes from the first canto of Srimad-Bhagvatam. We started these classes on April 15 and ended on September 28. Every day two classes of 30 minutes each, with few days gap in between. Total - 237 classes to be precise. My heart is filled with so much gratitude for being given this opportunity to speak from this great literature and complete the first canto. The experience is overwhelming. This will definitely be one my the biggest achievements, which I will cherish throughout my life. I am feeling so blessed that I feel, even if death comes to me at this point, there is no problem. My life has become perfect, that I have had the opportunity to read and speak from this great literature.

Srila Prabhupada always said, "My purports are my spiritual ecstasies". Reading and speaking everyday, from every word of his purport has made me appreciate the truth behind Srila Prabhupada's statement. If one wants to experience ecstasy, one need not go very far, one has to just open the pages of Srimad-Bhagvatam and dive into the nectar pouring out from the purports of Srila Prabhupada. It's that easy. Srila Prabhupada was such a genius, such a compassionate soul and such an empowered representative of Lord Krishna. You can genuinely feel his love and compassion in every word of his purport. My appreciation and love for Srila Prabhupada has grown a million times after completing discussing from Srimad-Bhagvatam.

As King Parikshit desires towards the end of the first canto, to keep hearing more and more of Srimad-Bhagvatam, my desire also towards the end of the first canto is to keep discussing from this great literature and thus complete the remaining 11 cantos. I will end this blog with the prayer of King Parikshit which appears in Srimad-Bhagvatam 1.19.15 -

tam mopayatam pratiyantu vipra
ganga ca devi dhrta-cittam ise
dvijopasrstah kuhakas taksako va
dasatv alam gayata visnu-gathah


"O brahmanas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snake-bird — or whatever magical thing the brahmana created — bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Visnu."

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GIVING UP PETTINESS to EXPERIENCE PRETTINESS

"The process of Krishna consciousness will empower us when we empower it." The other day as I was taking a bath, the plastic bucket I was using, slipped and cracked. A piece from the rim of the bucket broke off and cut my finger. As I was waiting for the bucket to refill with water, I noticed that even after a long time the bucket wasn't filling up. It's at that time, I noticed a "not so apparent" crack at the bottom of the bucket which was causing all the water to leak out. I drew a lesson from this incident which is applicable to my spiritual life. SEALING THE LEAKS The process of spiritual life or Krishna consciousness which includes the nine fold limbs beginning with Shravanam (hearing) and Kirtanam (chanting) is like filling the container - the vessel of our hearts. For the vessel of our hearts to fill up, it should be leak free. If the container is faulty and contains many holes, the best of content, in the best of quantity will not help it fill. Ana...

HOME BEYOND ALL OTHER HOMES

  I recently had the opportunity to visit the temple of Lord Gadagidu Veer Narayana in Gadag, Karnataka. After having darshan of the Lord, we sat under a shady tree to have our morning Srimad-bhagvatam class. While, we were having our class, I observed that few teenage, college going girls also sat nearby to have their breakfast together. I also observed that few elderly men were practising yoga asanas in one corner of the temple. There was one little puppy sleeping at the entrance of the temple without any fear. As I was giving the class, I heard so many birds who were chirping and flying around in the temple courtyard.  I was reflecting how so many different types of people and living entities were happily taking shelter of the temple of the Lord. And why not? After all, the Supreme Lord is the father of all and we are all His children. Our Supreme Father provides and gives shelter to us all and yes, the temple of the Lord is the home of our Father, t...

THE POWER OF QUESTIONS

The quality of answers in our life depends on quality of questions we ask. Special prerogative of the human mind is that it can think and ask questions. Given a problem, we have the ability to find solutions. The ability for making inquiries is in-built in us. That's why one of the most important medium of knowledge comes through questions and answers. It's not astonishing then to understand why both the most important Vedic scriptures - the Bhagvat-Gita and the Srimad-Bhagvatam are in a question-answer format. But not everyone is interested to ask questions and find solutions to problems that they face. Most people prefer to embrace a life of unthinking - "of playing dead", they prefer to run away from problems rather than find solutions to them. Why? For the simple fact that the answers - the truth may not always be palatable and the more difficult part is that, it may be demanding of us. We may have to leave our comfort zone and tread an unknown path. The e...