Sravanam Diaries

04/08/2025

📚 "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 612-831
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📱 sravanamdiaries.com

17/07/2025

📖 from "Sri Isopanisad” by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 126-146
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17/07/2025

📖 from "Sri Isopanisad” by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 126-146
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📱 sravanamdiaries.com

05/07/2025

💭 When we place all responsibility on God for the way we act, for the way we live, for everything that happens with us, and we think that makes us devotional... We could never be more wrong.

📖 The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramātmā, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it. Desire is a subtle form of conditioning for the living entity. The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes.

The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires. The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independent living entities.

However, when one desires Kṛṣṇa, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy. The Vedic hymns therefore declare, eṣa u hy eva sādhu karma kārayati taṁ yam ebhyo lokebhya unninīṣate. eṣa u evāsādhu karma kārayati yam adho ninīṣate: “The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so that he may be elevated. The Lord engages him in impious activities so that he may go to hell.”

Therefore the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Kṛṣṇa consciousness, causes his own bewilderment. Consequently, although he is constitutionally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the littleness of his existence he forgets his constitutional position of service to the Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience. And, under the spell of ignorance, the living entity claims that the Lord is responsible for his conditional existence.

The Vedānta-sūtras (2.1.34) also confirm this. Vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt tathā hi darśayati: “The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to.”

📚 "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 612-831
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and other platforms
📱 sravanamdiaries.com

26/06/2025

19/06/2025

“One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.” (Bhagavad-gītā 6.5)

The word ātmā denotes body, mind, and soul – depending on different circumstances. In the yoga system, the mind and the conditioned soul are especially important. Since the mind is the central point of yoga practice, ātmā refers here to the mind. The purpose of the yoga system is to control the mind and to draw it away from attachment to sense objects. It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the conditioned soul from the mire of nescience.

In the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, these eightfold yogas – dhyāna, dhāraṇā, etc. – are meant to control the mind. Śrī Kṛṣṇa explicitly states that a man must utilize his mind to elevate himself. Unless one can control the mind, there is no question of elevation. The body is like a chariot, and the mind is the driver. If you tell your driver, “Please take me to the Kṛṣṇa temple,” the driver will take you there, but if you tell him, “Please take me to that liquor house,” you will go there. It is the driver’s business to take you wherever you like. If you can control the driver, he will take you where you should go, but if not, he will ultimately take you wherever he likes. If you have no control over your driver, your driver is your enemy, but if he acts according to your orders, he is your friend.

The yoga system is meant to control the mind in such a way that the mind will act as your friend. Sometimes the mind acts as a friend and sometimes as an enemy. Because we are part and parcel of the Supreme, who has infinite independence, we have minute, or finite, independence. It is the mind that is controlling that independence, and therefore he may either take us to the Kṛṣṇa temple or to some nightclub.

📚 from "The Path of Perfection" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 210-239
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📱 sravanamdiaries.com

04/06/2025

What is this plan?

This cosmic manifestation is a chance for the conditioned souls to go back to Godhead, back to home.

As long as they have the domineering mentality which makes them try to lord it over material nature, they are conditioned. But anyone who can understand the plan of the Supreme Lord and cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness is most intelligent. The creation and destruction of the cosmic manifestation are under the superior guidance of God. Thus the Battle of Kurukṣetra was fought according to the plan of God. Arjuna was refusing to fight, but he was told that he should fight in accordance with the desire of the Supreme Lord. Then he would be happy. If one is in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness and his life is devoted to the Lord’s transcendental service, he is perfect.

Text 11.34
Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa and the other great warriors have already been destroyed by Me. Therefore, kill them and do not be disturbed. Simply fight, and you will vanquish your enemies in battle

Purport:

Every plan is made by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He is so kind and merciful to His devotees that He wants to give the credit to His devotees who carry out His plan according to His desire. Life should therefore move in such a way that everyone acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of a spiritual master. The plans of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are understood by His mercy, and the plans of the devotees are as good as His plans. One should follow such plans and be victorious in the struggle for existence.

📚 from "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
🎙 Podcast Episodes 612-831
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📱 sravanamdiaries.com

28/05/2025

Prabhupāda: There is no material. Yes? If you continue Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there's nothing material. Just like when we offer this flower in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is it material?

Devotee: No.

Prabhupāda: You still can accept anything material? No. So how it becomes? It was material in the tree and it becomes spiritual? No. It is spiritual. So long I was thinking it is meant for my enjoyment, that is material. As soon as I take it for Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment, it is spiritual.

Paramahaṁsa: So actually this entire world is spiritual.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That we want, that engage everything engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. This will be spiritual world.

Paramahaṁsa: So we can also appreciate Kṛṣṇa's creation in that light? For example, this is very beautiful because it is Kṛṣṇa's.
Prabhupāda: Yes. We realize that. We don't say... Just like Māyāvādī philosophy says mithyā. Jagat mithyā: "This world is false." We don't say it. We don't say jagat mithyā.

Devotee: This material nature is just one energy of Kṛṣṇa acting in a certain way?

Prabhupāda: Why shall I say...? Kṛṣṇa has created so many nice things for His enjoyment, why shall I say mithyā? Suppose if you create nice house, very good apartment, and you call me, "Just see." And if I say, "It is all mithyā..."

Paramahaṁsa: It's also an offense. Because I can't enjoy it...

Prabhupāda: [laughing] Then how much depressed you'll be. Let's say I brought this friend, and this rascal is saying, "This is mithyā."

Karandhara: Sour grapes.

Prabhupāda: That is explained that asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te. Asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvara [Bg. 16.8]. These rascals, these demon,s they say like that, that "This is asatya, this is untruth. There is no cause. There is no īśvara." These are the demoniac declaration. If Kṛṣṇa is fact, His creation is fact. His energy is fact. Why shall I say false? We don't say it is false. The Māyāvādīs say it is false.

📖 "Life Comes From Life" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupa‌da
🎙 Podcast Episodes 193-209
📚 Episodes & Book links: sravanamdiaries.com
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21/05/2025

Kṛṣṇa is prepared to establish a loving relationship with all living entities. In actuality this relationship is already there because He is the supreme father and we are His parts and parcels. Because the son is part of the body of the father, the relationship between them cannot be broken; it may be forgotten for some time, but as soon as one recognizes his father or son, immediately affection develops.

Similarly, we are eternally related to Kṛṣṇa, but at the present moment this relationship is simply forgotten or suppressed. Consequently we think that we have no relationship with Kṛṣṇa, but this is not a fact. Because we are integral with Him, because we are part and parcel of Him, our relationship with Him is eternal. That relationship simply has to be revived, and that revival is this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

It is not that Kṛṣṇa is hungry and is begging food from us. The purpose of this offering is to create a loving transaction. Kṛṣṇa wants this transaction: “You love Me, and I’ll love you.” As God, Kṛṣṇa’s energy creates and sustains everything, so why should he beg a leaf, a fruit and a little water from us? He will be very pleased, however, if we offer him a piece of fruit, a leaf and water with love, saying, “Kṛṣṇa, I am so poor that I cannot secure anything. I have secured this fruit and a leaf. Kindly accept them.” Such an offering would make Kṛṣṇa very glad. If He eats what we offer, our life will be successful, for we will actually make friends with Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa is begging us: “Try to love Me. Learn how to love Me. Offer something to Me.”
“Sir,” we may say, “I have nothing to give You.”
“Oh, you cannot collect a piece of fruit, a flower, a leaf or a little water?”
“Oh yes, why not? Anyone can collect this.”

This then is the method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness which allows one to make friends with Kṛṣṇa.
We can enter into any number of relationships with Kṛṣṇa. We can become a direct servant of Kṛṣṇa, or in the highest stages we can become Kṛṣṇa’s father, mother or lover.

📖 from "Krishna Consciousness: The Matchless Gift” by Srila Prabhupa‌da
🎙 Podcast Episodes 001-013
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