Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 46 - Astonishment and Chivalry
Pages in category "The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 46 - Astonishment and Chivalry"
The following 83 pages are in this category, out of 83 total.
A
- A devotee once said, "My dear Lord Krsna, may Your challenger, Sridama, become glorious for his chivalrous activities, such as vibrating like a thunder cloud and roaring like a lion. May all glories go to Sridama's chivalrous activities!"
- A devotee once told Krsna: "My dear Krsna, O killer of all demons, Maharaj Yudhisthira, the eldest son of Maharaj Pandu, has performed all kinds of sacrifices just to please You"
- A friend once challenged Krsna thus: "My dear Madhava, You are very restless because You think that no one can defeat You. But if You do not flee from here, then I shall show You how I can defeat You. And my friends will be very satisfied to see this"
- A person who wants to give everything in charity to Krsna but does not want anything in return is considered the real renouncer. Thus, a devotee will refuse to accept any kind of liberation, even if it is offered by the Lord
- After a few seconds, he (Brahma) saw that Krsna was still present with all the cows, calves and cowherd boys, exactly in the same way as before
- Although the Personality of Godhead is so great that the goddess of fortune is always under His command for enjoyment, He still extended His hands to take charity from Maharaj Bali
- An instance of astonishment in devotional service by indirect perception occurred when Maharaj Pariksit heard from Sukadeva Gosvami about Krsna's killing Narakasura, who had been fighting Krsna with eleven divisions of aksauhini soldiers
- Any person who is always ready to satisfy Krsna and who is always dexterous in executing devotional service is called dharma-vira, or chivalrous in executing religious rituals
B
- Bhadrasena therefore left the party of Balarama & joined Krsna, and he agitated his friends as much as the Mandara Hill had agitated the whole ocean. By his roaring sounds he deafened all his friends, and he enthused Krsna with his chivalrous activities
- By performing chivalrous activities in fighting, one is called yuddha-vira. By charitable activities one is called dana-vira
- By showing extraordinary mercy one is called daya-vira. And when one is munificent in executing religious rites, he is called dharma-vira
C
- Chivalrous activities can be manifested in the acts of mock-fighting, giving charity, showing mercy and executing religious principles
- Chivalrous activities in the matter of fighting, charity, mercy and execution of religious rituals are called constitutional
- Chivalrous activities in the matter of fighting, the expression of pride, emotions, endurance, kindness, determination, jubilation, enthusiasm, jealousy and remembrance are called unconstitutional
D
- Dana-vira, or chivalry in the giving in charity, can be divided into two parts: munificence and renunciation. A person who can sacrifice everything for the satisfaction of Krsna is called munificent
- Dharma-viras are produced after going through the authoritative scriptures, following moral principles, being faithful and tolerant and controlling the senses
E
- Each division of aksauhini soldiers contained several thousand elephants, several thousand horses and chariots, and several hundreds of thousands of infantry soldiers
- Even very wonderful activities performed by a person who is not one's friend will not create any impression. It is because of love that one's wonderful activities create an impression in the mind
- Even while describing this incident, Brahma became almost overwhelmed. "And the most astonishing thing," he added, "was that many other Brahmas from many different universes had also come there to worship Krsna and His associates"
H
- He (Maharaj Yudhisthira) only desired to please Krsna and was therefore called the best of the devotees. He was always merged in the ocean of loving service
- He (Yudhisthira) began to give Him (Krsna) garments all embroidered with gold, he gave Him ornaments all bedecked with valuable jewels, and he gave Him many fully decorated elephants, chariots and horses
- He (Yudhisthira) has always invited the heavenly King, Indra, to take part in the yajnas (sacrifices). Because King Indra was thus absent so often from Sacidevi, she had to pass much of her time pining over Indra's absence, with her cheeks upon her hands
- He further wished to give Krsna in charity his kingdom, his family and his personal self also. After so desiring, when there was nothing to actually give in charity, Maharaj Yudhisthira became very perturbed and anxious
I
- In such chivalrous fighting between friends (like Krsna & Arjuna), there is sometimes bragging, self-complacence, pride, power, taking to weapons, challenging & standing as opponent. All of these symptoms become impetuses to chivalrous devotional service
- In such fighting between friends (as with Krsna and Subala), when the self-advertisement becomes personal, learned scholars say it is sub-ecstasy
- In these chivalrous activities, only Krsna's friends can be the opponents. Krsna's enemies can never actually be His opponents. Therefore, this challenging by Krsna's friends is called devotional service in chivalrous activities
K
- Krsna and Sridama were very intimate friends, yet Sridama, out of anger with Krsna, challenged Him. When both of them began to fight, all the friends on the bank of the Yamuna enjoyed the wonderful fighting of the two friends
- Krsna began to throw his arrows at Sridama. Sridama began to block these arrows by whirling his pole, and by Sridama's chivalrous activities, Krsna became very satisfied
- Krsna challenged all His friends, "My dear friends, just see - I am jumping with great chivalrous prowess. Please do not flee away." Upon hearing these challenging words, another friend named Varuthapa counter-challenged the Lord & struggled against Him
- Krsna continued to challenge him, and thus, in order to meet the challenge, Stokakrsna took his pole and began to display his dexterity by whirling it
M
- Maharaj Bali once told his priest, Sukracarya, "As far as this brahmana dwarf (the incarnation Vamanadeva) is concerned, if He is Lord Visnu, a simple brahmana, or even my enemy, I have decided to give to Him in charity all the land He has asked for"
- Maharaj Bali once told his priest, Sukracarya, "My dear sage, you are fully expert in knowledge of the Vedas, and as such you worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, by Vedic rituals"
- Maharaj Bali was so fortunate that the Lord extended before Him His hand, which was reddish from touching the breast of the goddess of fortune, who is always smeared with red kunkum powder
- Maharaj Dhruva says "My dear Lord, I have practiced austerities and penances because I was desiring to receive something from You, but in exchange You have allowed me to see You, who are never visible even to the great sages and saintly persons"
- Maharaj Dhruva says, "I had been searching out some pieces of broken glass, but instead I have found the most valuable jewel. I am therefore fully satisfied, my Lord. I do not wish to ask anything more from Your Lordship"
- Maharaj Yudhisthira had no such material desire; he executed all sacrifices under the direction of Krsna, and not to take any personal advantage from them
- Mayuradhvaja was very intelligent, and he could understand why Krsna came to him once, in the garb of a brahmana. Krsna demanded from him half of his body, to be sawed off by his wife and son, and King Mayuradhvaja agreed to this proposal
O
- On account of his intense feeling of devotional service, King Mayuradhvaja was always thinking of Krsna, and when he understood that Krsna had come in the garb of a brahmana, he did not hesitate to part with half of his body
- Once Sridama challenged Bhadrasena and said to him, "My dear friend, you needn't be afraid of me yet. I shall first of all defeat our brother Balarama, then I shall beat Krsna, and then I shall come to you"
- One devotee has described his feelings about the charity exhibited by King Mayuradhvaja: "I am faltering even to speak about the activities of Maharaj Mayuradhvaja, to whom I offer my respectful obeisances"
- One friend addressed Krsna, "My dear Madhusudana, You know my strength, yet You are encouraging Bhadrasena, and not me, to challenge mighty Baladeva. By this action You are simply insulting me because my arms are as strong as the bolts of the gate!"
- One friend challenged Krsna thus: "My dear friend Damodara, You are an expert only in eating. You have defeated Subala only because he is weak and You adopted cheating means"
- One of the friends of Mother Yasoda continues, "But still, just see how wonderful it is that this great Govardhan Hill is resting on the finger of your child's left hand, just as though it were a toy. Is this not very mysterious?"
- One of the friends of Mother Yasoda continues, "On the one hand, there is your child who is always captivated by sucking the milk from your breast, and on the other hand there is the great Govardhan Hill which can obstruct the passing of the clouds"
- One of the friends once remarked, "Sudama is trying his best to see Damodara defeated, and I think that if our powerful Subala joins him, they will be a very beautiful combination, like a valuable jewel bedecked with gold"
- Only advanced devotees performing religious ritualistic performances can come to this stage of dharma-vira
S
- Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows, "As such, why should persons with this knowledge (of Your transcendental position) be attracted by a post in the heavenly kingdom?"
- Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows, "Auspicious persons, who are fortunate enough to be engaged in glorifying Your attributes and who actually know what Your transcendental position is, do not even care to accept liberation offered by You"
- Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows, "Because they (auspicious persons) are so transcendentally enriched, they do not care to accept even the post of Indra, the heavenly King"
- Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows, "They know that the post of the King of heaven is also fearful, whereas for those who are engaged in glorifying Your transcendental qualities there is only joyfulness and freedom from all danger"
- Such mock-fighting (as with Krsna and Sridama) generally takes place amongst chivalrous persons and creates wonderful excitement for all viewers
T
- The 4 sages headed by Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows, "My dear SP of God, Your reputation is very attractive and free from all material contamination. Therefore You are worthy of being glorified & are actually the reservoir of all pilgrimages"
- The activities of a person, even if they are not very extraordinary, create an impression of wonder in the heart and mind of the person's friends
- The best example of a dharma-vira is Maharaj Yudhisthira
- The brahmanas were so satisfied by this charitable action (after Krsna's appearance) that they were obliged to say that the charity of Nanda Maharaj had excelled the charity of such past kings as Maharaj Prthu and Nrga
- The demigods are considered to be different parts of the universal body of the Lord, and therefore the ultimate purpose in worshiping them is to please the Lord by partially worshiping His different limbs
- The ecstasy of astonishment in devotional service is perceived in two ways: directly, by the experience of one's own eyes, and indirectly, by hearing from others
- The friend continued: "Don't advertise Yourself (Krsna) to be a great fighter by such action. You have advertised Yourself as a serpent, and I am the peacock who will now defeat You." The peacock is the ablest enemy of the serpent
- The performance of different yajnas for the demigods is considered to be worship of the limbs of the Supreme Lord
- Their bodily complexion was blackish, almost like Krsna's, and they (the cowherd boys) all had four arms. The same calves and cows were still present there, in the same original fashion
- There is a statement in the Hari-vamsa that sometimes Arjuna and Krsna fought in the presence of Kunti, and Arjuna would be defeated by Krsna
- There is another example of indirect astonishment. Trying to test Krsna to see if He were truly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Brahma stole all the cowherd boys and cows from Him
- They (Krsna and Sridama) prepared some arrows for mock-fighting
- They (Krsna's friends) began to perceive the wonder of the situation simply by guessing how Krsna had saved them. This is another instance of indirect perception causing astonishment in devotional service
- This is one of the examples of astonishment in devotional service by direct perception. One of the friends of Mother Yasoda says, "Yasoda, just see the fun"
- This sacrifice of Maharaj Mayuradhvaja for Krsna's sake is unique in the world, and we should offer our respectful obeisances to him. He had full knowledge of the SP of God in the garb of a brahmana, & he is known as the perfect dana-vira, or renouncer.
- This statement is another example of astonishment in devotional service by direct perception
W
- When a friend wants to satisfy Krsna by performing some chivalrous activities, the friend becomes the challenger, & Krsna Himself becomes the opponent; or else Krsna may give audience to the fighting, and by His desire another friend becomes the opponent
- When a person desires to make a sacrifice because of his seeing Krsna, Krsna is called the impetus of the munificent activity
- When a person knows the glories of the Lord completely and is prepared to sacrifice everything for the Lord, he is called sampradanaka, or one who gives everything in charity for the sake of Krsna
- When Krsna appeared as the son of Nanda Maharaj, in clear consciousness Nanda Maharaj desired all auspiciousness for his son and thus began to give in charity valuable cows to all the brahmanas
- When Krsna had extinguished the fire, the cowherd boys opened their eyes and saw that they had been relieved from the danger and that their cows and calves were all safe
- When Lord Brahma described this incident to his associates on the Satyaloka planet, they all became astonished. Brahma told them that after taking away all the boys, he saw Krsna again playing with the same boys in the same fashion
- When Maharaj Pariksit heard of this wonderful victory, he immediately rubbed the tears from his eyes and became overwhelmed with joy. This instance is an example of astonishment in devotional service by indirect perception through aural reception
- When Maharaj Yudhisthira went with Krsna in the arena of the raja-suya sacrifice, in his imagination he began to anoint the body of Krsna with pulp of sandalwood, he decorated Him with a garland hanging down to His knees
- When Narada came to see the activities of the Lord at Dvaraka and he saw that Krsna was present within every palace in the same body and was engaged in different activities, he was struck with wonder
- When on account of love and devotional service for the Lord there is special valorous enthusiasm, the resultant activities are called chivalrous
- When Stokakrsna, one of the many friends of Krsna, was fighting with Him, his father chastised him for fighting with Krsna, who was the life and soul of all residents of Vrndavana. Upon hearing these chastisements, Stokakrsna stopped his fighting
- When there is a roaring challenge, certain kinds of movement for fighting, enthusiasm, no weapons and assurance given to frightened witnesses - all these chivalrous activities are called sub-ecstasy
- When there was a forest fire in the Bhandiravana, Krsna instructed His friends to close their eyes tightly, and they all did this