Vaishnava Shiksha - post your quotes!

[Gaurapriya]

It would be nice if people can post Vaishnava teachings, quotes and inspirations in a thread. We can post a devotional picture, and/or a quotable from Vaishnava Scriptures, a Vaishnava guru or acharya, or saint. :)

Whether it be from a Vaishnava Purana, or from the Swaminarayan "Vachanamrut", it really doesn't matter!



http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/466858386_5bfa13ee88.jpg

"The abode of happiness is called the Abode of Absolute Love;
the Hindu calls it 'Krishna.'
Krishna means 'that which draws us to Itself;'
and what in the world draws all more powerfully than Love?
It is the 'gravitation' of the modern scientist.
It is the one source and substance of all magnetism, of all attraction;
and when that love is absolutely pure, its power to draw is absolute too."

-- Baba Premananda Bharati

[Viraja]

1. Where is this beautiful palace/shrine located, with such silvery mountains behind? A lifetime here as a pundit, having satsang of other like-minded pundits, in an atmosphere devoid of 'politics', serving the lord all the time, remembering his name, would all be what one would need to realize heaven on earth!

2. My favorite quote is when a Vaishnava acharya was once asked to describe the traits of a true Vaishnava: he said the true Vaishnava should be like a crane, a hen, salt and be endowed with patience. The following describe the reasons:

From a link (http://www.acharya.org/articles/aditlooa/bhattar/aditlooa-bh-029.html) I posted under the topic 'Sri Vaishnava Acharya's teachings' in the Dharma-related websites section:



(Notes on Anandazhvan's reply:
1. Just as a crane stays near water, a srivaishnava too would stay in the divyadesas which have divine waters. A crane is white - so too a srivaishnava would be white inside and out; that is, having only good qualities. A crane would ignore the little fish and wait for the large fish. A srivaishnava would ignore the simple goals and wait for the supreme goal of service to the Lord.

2. A hen would peck around in the dirt looking only for the food particles and eat them. It would then give the same to its chicks. A srivaishnava too would search through the Vedas and other works and look only for the meanings that are in line with what the Azhvars and Acharyas have said and set them in his mind. In turn, he would also give them out to others like him.

3. When salt is added in the right amount, it gives good flavor to the food. If the salt is missing, that food item becomes inedible. The salt once added to an item, melts itself and provides taste to that food. So, even though it is responsible for the food's good taste, it is never mentioned when the food is praised. Similarly, a srivaishnava would melt himself in a bhAgavata crowd and by doing service would bring greatness to that crowd while himself staying hidden. Just as the salt will be blamed if added in excess or added too little, so too a srivaishnava will be blamed if he does not follow exactly what is prescribed for him.

4. Anandazhvan said that a srivaishnava would be like the bhAgavata who visited him because the bhAgavata waited patiently without complaining when the food was being served to everyone except him. That is the correct behaviour for one bhAgavata in another's home.)

[philosoraptor]

One of the most important instructions I ever received (not me personally but at a discourse I listened to), was that whatever is our sAdhana, and whatever we are reading (be it upanishads, gita, etc), we should do it every day consistently. This was U.Ve Velukkudi Krishnan Swami, a wandering Sri Vaishnava pandit who came to USA twice in recent years, always very traditional in his presentation yet pragmatic.

Prior to that I used to read things more haphazardly, according to my whim. Since then, I have tried to focus on finishing individual books from start to finish, taking extensive notes as I read to make certain I retain what I have read.

[Gaurapriya]

That is really beautiful, Aspirant01!! The temple above is the ISKCON temple in Utah, actually. They also have a llama farm there, and every year they do a large Holi festival for the general public.

[Gaurapriya]

"From Krishna have we all come and Krishna-ward are we all tending.

And all our actions, good, bad or indifferent, are but feeble steps

with which we are all endeavouring to cover the journey back to Krishna

- our Home, Sweet Home! -

our ever-loved Home, from which we have come away as sorry truants

and to which the needle of our soul ever trembles, pointing to us the forgotten path;

by which we fled from and by which we are again to return to that Home."

-- Baba Premananda Bharati

http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/243244de12db11e2877122000a1fbc4f_6.jpg
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, main temple, India

[smaranam]

Hare KRshNa
praNAm

Do you like VishNusahastranAma? I love it. Also the pre and post verses (conversation betN Bhishma & Yudhishthir and later, Arjun-KRshNa saMvAd - dialogue)
(* Thousand is really sahastra in saMskRt, which has now mostly become sahasra).

sasurAsura gandharvam sayaksharagarAkshasam
jagadvashe vartatedam kRshNasya charAcharam ||

Devas (or the divine), asur i.e. demons (or the demoniac), gandharvas, yaksha, rAkshas (in short the entire material creation - 14 worlds), the moving and stationary living beings (char achar) ,
are under the control of Shri KRshNa / governed and lovingly maintained by KRshNa the All-Attractive attracter mesmerizing sweet beautiful Lord.
[Who attracts everything to Himself including attraction itself - with His transcendental Flute?]

-----------

After VS, Arjun the compassionate, as usual, asks KRshNa if there is an easier way/alternative to VS just spoken by Bhishma PitAmaha (like he does in the Gita). This is the verse KRshNa tells Arjun - is a substitute for Vishnusahastranam for those who don't have time/memory:

namo anante sahastramUrtaye
sahstrapAdAkshashishirorubAhave
namo sahastranAmne purushAya shAswate
sahastrakoti yuga dhAriNe namah: || post-VS 25||

Salutations to the infinite Lord with thousand (figurative for infinite) forms, thousand feet, eyes, heads, arms, names,
Salutations to the eternal (shashwat) Being (Purush)
To the One who "holds the fort" for thousand koti (like crore) Yugas (eras) i.e. eternally.

BhagavAn Shri KRshNa continues:

namah: kamalanAbhAya namaste jalashAyine
namaste keshavAnanta vAsudeva namostute ||
Obeissances to the One with a Lotus navel (from where Lord BrahmA was born), the One lying in the transcendental milk-ocean / waters,
to the One with thick long flowing hair OR Lord Who is in the hearts of BrahmA and Shiva (Keshava), The Infinite endless One (ananta), the One present everywhere (vAsudev) , also son of vasudev. In fact vasudev is so named because the Lord Who is vAsudev will take birth as his son, and will also manifest in his heart (vasu).


vAsanAdvAsudevasya vAsitam bhavanatrayam
sarva bhUta niwAsosi vAsudeva namostute ||
Obeissances to that transcendental beautiful vAsudev Who resides in the three worlds (omnipresent), and within the [hearts of] all beings,
and Who also fulfills as well as extinguishes desires.

namo bhamhaNya devAya go, brAmhaN hitAya cha
jagaddhitAya kRshNAya govindAya namo namah: ||
Obeissances to the Lord Who holds and maintains the Universes (Jagaddhitaya), Who is Brahman (bramhaNya dev), Who always acts for the good of / is a well-wisher of brahmaNas (or knowers of Brahman), senses & cows (go),
the Primavial All-Attractive Lord (krshna),
Who gives pleasure to the cows and senses (Govind)

AkAshAt patitam toyam yathA gacchati sAgaram
sarva deva namaskArah: keshavam prati gacchhati
Just as all rain water ultimately reaches the ocean (from ponds, rivers, etc. water cycle),
Similarly, praNAm, namaskAr (salute/obeissances) to any deva Ultimately reaches KRshNa/NArAyaNa (Keshavam prati gacchati)

-----
Some more from post VS as info from Bhishma:

indriyANi mano buddhi: sattvam tejam balam dhrutih:
vAsudevAtmakAnyAhuh: kshetra kshetradnya eva cha ||
Senses, mind, intellect, mode of goodness, personal brightness, strength, enthusiasm,energy,inspiration, the entire field (body, kshetra) as well as knower of the field (jiva, kshetrajn~a)
all emanate from that One VAsudeva, Who is the AtmA of all.

---

vasudeva sutam devam kauMsa chANur mardanam
devaki paramAnandam kRshNam vande jagatgurum ||
I adore KRshNa, spiritual leader of the Universe, Who is the son of Vasudev, the highest bliss of Devaki (mother), slayer of the wicked KauMsa and ChANur. (Bhagavd Gita dhyAn/mahatmya)

_/\_

Om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ~

[smaranam]

SB 1.1.3 (http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/1/3/en)
O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad (http://srimadbhagavatam.com/s/srimad)-Bhāgavatam (http://srimadbhagavatam.com/b/bhagavatam), the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī (http://srimadbhagavatam.com/s/sri) Śukadeva (http://srimadbhagavatam.com/s/sukadeva) Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.

[Gaurapriya]

"A true devotee is the highest yogi, for he is filled with humility, and sincere, abject humility is the expression of the sublimest spiritual nature; it is 'the softened shadow' as the Lord says, 'that is cast by My love.' Sincere humility springs from the clear realisation of the Presence of God in everything, that the who universe is formed of the many forms of the One Form and its Radiance. And with that never-fading vision before the mind's eye, the devotee forgets himself and stoops low at the feet of every one and at everything he sees, for he sees in them all his Deity."

-- Baba Premananda Bharati