Rāmānanda Rāya then began to relate the confidential and transcendental activities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. These activities cannot be understood in the emotional relationship with the Supreme Lord as master and servant, friend and friend or parent and son. This confidential subject matter can be understood only in the association of the damsels of Vraja, for the confidential activities have arisen from the feelings and emotions of those damsels. Without the association of the damsels of Vraja, one cannot nourish or cherish such transcendental understanding. In other words, these confidential pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have expanded through the mercy of the damsels. Without their mercy, they cannot be understood. One has to follow in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja in order to understand.
Cherish
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 13 - 18
Unless one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his material consciousness will oblige him to transfer from one body to another because he has material desires since time immemorial. But he has to change that conception. That change can be effected only by hearing from authoritative sources. The best example is here: Arjuna is hearing the science of God from Kṛṣṇa. The living entity, if he submits to this hearing process, will lose his long-cherished desire to dominate material nature, and gradually and proportionately, as he reduces his long desire to dominate, he comes to enjoy spiritual happiness. In a Vedic mantra it is said that as he becomes learned in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he proportionately relishes his eternal blissful life.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
(Please tell me) whether the unconquerable Bhīma, who is like a cobra, has released his long-cherished anger upon the sinners? The field of battle could not tolerate even the wonderful playing of his club when he stepped on the path.
Vidura knew the strength of Bhīma. Whenever Bhīma was on the battlefield, his steps on the path and the wonderful playing of his club were unbearable for the enemy. Powerful Bhīma did not take steps against the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra for a long time. Vidura's inquiry was whether he had yet released his anger, which was like that of a suffering cobra. When a cobra releases its venom after long-cherished anger, its victim cannot survive.
SB Canto 4
Reunion with Dhruva Mahārāja fulfilled King Uttānapāda's long-cherished desire, and for this reason he smelled Dhruva's head again and again and bathed him with torrents of very cold tears.
SB Canto 8
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O mother of the demigods, I have already understood your long-cherished desires for the welfare of your sons, who have been deprived of all opulences and driven from their residence by their enemies.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
Anyone who desires to be Kṛṣṇa conscious in motherly affection or parental affection should contemplate the bodily features of mother Yaśodā. It is not that one should desire to become like Yaśodā, for this is Māyāvāda. Either in parental affection or conjugal love, friendship or servitorship—in any way—we must follow in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, not try to become like them. Therefore this description is provided here. Advanced devotees must cherish this description, always thinking of mother Yaśodā's features—how she was dressed, how she was working and perspiring, how beautifully the flowers were arranged in her hair, and so on. One should take advantage of the full description provided here by thinking of mother Yaśodā in maternal affection for Kṛṣṇa.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
Expert transcendentalists always direct their affection toward You because they recognize You as their true Self and eternal beloved. What use do we have for these husbands, children and relatives of ours, who simply give us trouble? Therefore, O supreme controller grant us Your mercy. O lotus-eyed one, please do not cut down our long-cherished hope to have Your association.
My dear Uddhava, for those women of Gokula I am the most cherished object of love. Thus when they remember Me, who am so far away, they are overwhelmed by the anxiety of separation.
(The residents of Dvārakā said:) Obeisances unto You, O Nārāyaṇa, O holder of the conch, disc and club, O lotus-eyed Dāmodara, O Govinda, O cherished descendant of Yadu!
Great sages, desiring the highest benefit in life, always cherish Your lotus feet within their hearts, which are melted by love for You. Similarly, Your self-controlled devotees, desiring to cross beyond the material kingdom of heaven to achieve opulence equal to Yours, worship Your lotus feet in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Thus, they meditate upon Your Lordship in Your quadruple expansion. Your lotus feet are just like a blazing fire that burns to ashes all the inauspicious desires for material sense gratification.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Servitude (dāsya), friendship (sakhya), parental affection (vātsalya) and conjugal love (śṛṅgāra) are the four transcendental mellows (rasas). By the devotees who cherish these four mellows, Lord Kṛṣṇa is subdued.
“If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him."
CC Madhya-lila
Due to their jealousy, Jaya and Vijaya would not allow the Kumāras entry, and consequently the Kumāras became angry and cursed Jaya and Vijaya, condemning them to take birth in a family of asuras in the material world. The omniscient Personality of Godhead could immediately understand the incident, and He came with His eternal consort, the goddess of fortune. The Catuḥsana Kumāras immediately offered their obeisances unto the Lord. Simply by seeing the Lord and smelling the aroma of tulasī and saffron from His lotus feet, the Kumāras became devotees and abandoned their long-cherished impersonalism. Thus the four Kumāras were turned into Vaiṣṇavas simply by smelling the aromatic tulasī mixed with saffron. Those who are actually on the platform of Brahman realization and who have not offended the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa can immediately become Vaiṣṇavas simply by smelling the aroma of the Lord's lotus feet.
“A pure devotee must not cherish any desire other than to serve Kṛṣṇa. He should not offer worship to the demigods or to mundane personalities. He should not cultivate artificial knowledge, which is devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he should not engage himself in anything other than Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. One must engage all one's purified senses in the service of the Lord. This is the favorable execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious activities."
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Nectar of Devotion
In the development of becoming either the father or friend of the Lord, there are two varieties. One method is that one may try to become the father of the Lord directly, and the other is that one may follow Nanda Mahārāja and cherish the ideal of being Kṛṣṇa's father. Out of these two, the attempt to directly become the father of Kṛṣṇa is not recommended. Such a development can become polluted with Māyāvāda (impersonal) philosophy. The Māyāvādīs, or monists, think that they themselves are Kṛṣṇa, and if one thinks that he himself has become Nanda Mahārāja, then his parental love will become contaminated with the Māyāvāda philosophy. The Māyāvāda philosophical way of thinking is offensive, and no offender can enter into the kingdom of God to associate with Kṛṣṇa.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Then the gopīs told lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, “Please do not discourage our long-cherished desires to have You as our husband. Any intelligent man who cares for his own self-interest reposes all his loving spirit in You. Persons who are simply misled by the external energy, who want to be satisfied by false concepts, try to enjoy themselves apart from You. The so-called husband, friend, son, daughter, father and mother are all simply sources of material misery. No one is made happy in this material world by having a so-called father, mother, husband, son, daughter and friend. Although the father and mother are expected to protect the children, there are many children who are suffering for want of food and shelter. There are many good physicians, but when a patient dies, no physician can revive him. There are many means of protection, but when one is doomed, none of the protective measures can help, and without Your protection the so-called sources of protection simply become sources of continued distress. We therefore appeal to You, dear Lord of all lords: please do not kill our long-cherished desires to have You as our supreme husband.
Most of the gopīs in their previous lives were great sages, expert in the study of the Vedas, and when Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as Lord Rāmacandra they wanted to enjoy with Him. Lord Rāmacandra gave them the benediction that their desires would be fulfilled when He would appear as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the desire of the gopīs to enjoy the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa was long cherished. So they approached goddess Kātyāyanī to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband. There are many other circumstances which also testify to the supreme authority of Kṛṣṇa and show that He is not bound by the rules and regulations of the material world. In special cases, He acts as He likes to favor His devotees. This is possible only for Him, because He is the supreme controller. People in general should follow the instructions of Lord Kṛṣṇa as given in the Bhagavad-gītā and should not even imagine imitating Lord Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance.
When Kṛṣṇa saw Kubjā hesitating to come before Him, He immediately caught hold of her hand, which was decorated with bangles. With great affection, He dragged her near Him and made her sit by His side. Simply by having previously supplied pulp of sandalwood to the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, Kubjā became free from all sinful reactions and eligible to enjoy with Him. She then took Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet and placed them on her breasts, which were burning with the blazing fire of lust. By smelling the fragrance of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, she was immediately relieved of all lusty desires. She was thus allowed to embrace Kṛṣṇa with her arms and mitigate her long-cherished desire to have Him as a visitor in her house.
When Satyā understood that Kṛṣṇa Himself had come to marry her, she was very much pleased that the husband of the goddess of fortune had so kindly come there to accept her. For a long time she had cherished the idea of marrying Kṛṣṇa and was following the principles of austerities to obtain her desired husband. She then began to think, "If I have performed any pious activities to the best of my ability, and if I have sincerely thought all along to have Kṛṣṇa as my husband, then Kṛṣṇa may be pleased to fulfill my long-cherished desire." She began to offer prayers to Kṛṣṇa mentally, thinking, “I do not know how the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be pleased with me. He is the master and Lord of everyone.
When the queens, with their heavy breasts and thin waists, moved within the palace and their ankle bells rang very melodiously with their movement, the whole palace appeared more opulent than the heavenly kingdom. Because a portion of their breasts was sprinkled with saffron powder, the pearl necklaces on their breasts appeared reddish. With their beautiful earrings and flowing hair, the queens appeared very attractive. After seeing such beauties in the palace of King Yudhiṣṭhira, Duryodhana was envious. He was especially envious and lustful upon seeing the beauty of Draupadī because he had cherished a special attraction for her from the very beginning of her marriage with the Pāṇḍavas. In the marriage selection assembly of Draupadī, Duryodhana had also been present, and along with other princes he had been very much captivated by the beauty of Draupadī, but he had failed to achieve her.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Thus the yogic process a surrendered servant of the Supreme Lord practices is altogether different form Patañjali's eightfold yoga system, beginning with sense control, yogic postures, and breath control. These practices are, in a sense, meant to increase physical prowess for better sense enjoyment. The devotee, on the other hand, follows the best yoga system of God-realization, which is enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. His activities are not selfishly motivated, aimed at realizing his own cherished dreams, but are directed toward fulfilling the will of God on earth. This yoga is known as buddhi-yoga, wherein lies the entire world's good fortune.
Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)
O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Rāmeśvara: So you'd write... You have to write "the late." I have to go over every one of these with you. He said that "It is a source of great pleasure for me that a long-cherished dream has materialized and is going to be materialized."
Prabhupāda: He was speaking to me that "Swamiji, I was thinking of presenting such Bhāgavatam, but I could not. But you have done." Therefore he said "cherished dream."
Rāmeśvara: "I thank the Lord that due to His grace this publication could see the light."
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
If you read Srimad-Bhagavatam from the beginning (which is absolutely necessary for a serious student) you will find what is spoken there in the 2nd sloka of the 1st chapter of the 1st Canto. It is clearly stated there that mundane religiosities, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately a frustrated man's desire to merge in the impersonal feature of Godhead and all similar other things are completely thrown away from the transcendental literature of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Sripada Sridhara Swami the most authorized commentator on the Bhagavatam has said that by the prefix of "PRA" in the sloka the desire of liberation (Moksa Vanohha) is also stopped herewith. A person who is not a pure Vaisnava cannot understand Srimad-Bhagavatam. A mayavadi may pretend to become a so-called Vaisnava but because he cherishes at heart to merge into the Supreme, he is unable to develop the devotional cult which is a necessary qualification for understanding Srimad-Bhagavatam. And to qualify the Mayavadis and other common men who indulge in the mental speculative transactions, Srimad-Bhagavatam gives them instructions from the 1st to the 9th canto about the transcendental nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
1968 Correspondence
Hayagriva has not yet replied my letter. Please ask him to write. He has many things to do in the library cases and I want his assistance greatly in this matter. I am planning to go to London in August. Srimati Annapurna's father. Mr. Louis Weble is trying to get a good house for us. I wish to go there with a party of not less than 6 and not more than 12 heads. I wish to establish a center there which is my long cherished ambition.
1969 Correspondence
I am in due receipt of your nice poetry. These words are very appropriate for my Guru Maharaj. Your sentiments and nice words are worthy to be offered to my Guru Maharaj. I am quite unfit for such words. Whatever I am doing, it is due to the work of my Guru Maharaj. Actually, He is the power behind me, and I am only instrument. But anyway, I very much appreciate your understanding of the Krishna Conscious Movement, and I wish to publish this poetry in Back To Godhead. I am also very glad to learn that now you have got a house also. It is all Krishna's Grace that so quickly you have established a center in Japan, which I cherished for a long time.
Regarding the World Sankirtana Party, that is my long-cherished idea, and I wish to see it fulfilled as soon as possible. But do not count on others. If somebody comes forward to help us, that is welcome. But if we at all take the job, we must take it on our own strength. For experimental sake, you can seek out for an agent who can arrange for our Sankirtana Party moving in all the states of America, and then we can think of touring all over the world.
1970 Correspondence
In London there are many Indians, especially Gujaratis and Punjabis. All of them were astonished to see how American boys and girls were preaching Hare Krishna Mantra. They were invited to many centers both by the Indians and Europeans, but it was very difficult to find out a suitable house there in the midst of the city. My Guru Maharaja liked to start centers in the busiest part of a city. So, forty years ago, my Guru Maharaja attempted to start a Temple there, but someway or other it was not possible. Still, I cherished a strong desire to start a Temple in the heart of the city, and by Lord Krishna's grace these boys and girls rented a five storied house in the busiest quarter of central London, at 7 Bury Place, which is near to the British Museum, London University, Great Russell Street, and Bloomsbury Square. The British Museum is just a few stones on the left side of our Temple. Our activities are going on regularly in London. There are about 35 English and American boys and girls.
1971 Correspondence
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters just now received by me here in Calcutta and describing your plans for travelling Sankirtana party, and it is very much encouraging news for me. Silavati Prabhu said that this was her long cherished dream. It has been mine also. If there were three or four such travelling parties, it would be a grand scale propaganda. So do it with great enthusiasm and surely you will have the blessings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And wherever you go, if there is good response you can try and open a center there. This is first class scheme and surely will be "The greatest show on earth."
1976 Correspondence
For so long I have wanted to have Rathayatra in New York and now at long last you have helped me fulfill this long-cherished dream. The Ratha-carts were very strong and attractive and I thank you and all of your assistants for working so hard to prepare such nice carts. May Krishna bless you all for your sincere service that you may all go on making more and more advancement in Krishna Consciousness.
| Page Title: | Cherish |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Serene |
| Created: | 21 of Sep, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=9, CC=4, OB=9, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=7 |
| No. of Quotes: | 31 |