Vishnu
August 27, 2018

The Avatāra

śhrī bhagavān uvācha bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava chārjuna tānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa ajo ’pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānām īśhvaro ’pi san prakṛitiṁ svām adhiṣhṭhāya sambhavāmyātma-māyayā yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge janma karma cha me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśhritāḥ bahavo jñāna-tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyaham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ - Bhagavad Gita Many are my lives that are past, and thine also, O…
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SadhanaVishnu
May 21, 2018

Yogis who don’t Succeed in One Lifetime

What happens to a Yogi who does not attain to the highest condition in one birth? We have the words of Sri Krshna in the Gita resolving this query from Arjuna. * * * अर्जुन उवाच: अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः । अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति ॥ Arjuna said: He who takes up Yoga with faith, but cannot control himself with the mind wandering away from Yoga, failing to attain perfection in Yoga, what is his end, O Krishna? कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति । अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि ॥ Does he not, O mighty-armed, lose both this life (of human activity…
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Saints
May 21, 2018

Bilvamaṅgala Thakura

The story goes that during 12th century in South India there lived a Brahmin by the name of Bilvamaṅgala Thakura who led an extremely debauched lifestyle and was very attracted to a prostitute named Cintamani. After the death of his father even before the period of mourning could get over, Bilvamaṅgala, his mind under the grip of instiable lust, walked through a storm, unknowingly using a dead floating corpse as a plank and a cobra as a rope to create a raft which he then used to cross the turbulent waters of a river to visit Cintamani's residence on the…
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Vishnu
May 21, 2018

Parikshit

The Varaha Purana mentions an interesting story about Raja Parikshit (परिक्षित्). Parikshit is popularly regarded as the posthumous son of Abhimanyu of the Kuru clan who inherited the throne of Hastinapur from Yudhisthira. At the end of the Mahabharata war, Aswathama, who was the son of Dronacharya and himself born from the blessings of Rudra, to avenge the killing of his relatives by the Pandava-s decided to wreck havoc on the next generation of the Pandava warriors. He entered into their camp at night slaughtering all the sleeping progeny of Pandavas and finally in anger fired his Brahmastra at the…
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Vishnu
April 22, 2018

kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam

In the later day Vaishnava schools Lord Krishna is considered the supreme form of the Lord. This idea is supported by a verse from the Srimad Bhagwatam. The Bhagwatam while describing 24 different Avatar-s of the Lord mentions, when it comes to Krishna, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge All the lists of the incarnations/Avatars mentioned herewith are parts or portions of the Supreme Godhead, but Kṛṣṇa is bhagavan Himself. All these amsas incarnate to protect when the earth is disturbed by the enemies of Indra, that is asuras. That half phrase - kṛṣṇas…
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