Gita Jayanti

The fight with maya

"Gurudeva ki jaya ho!

Govindajiki jaya ho!

or

Tulasi-deviki jaya ho!

we are expressing our hope

that they will have victory.

The victory of one party automatically implies

defeat of the opposing party.

He who is conquered is captured and imprisoned by the victor

and,

having come under his full control,

is bound to carry out his every order.

The heart and mind of a conditioned soul

are in battle with Sri Hari, 

guru,

vaisnavas,

Vrnda-devi,

and all transcendental personalities.

A conditioned soul who aspires to be a devotee

laments his condition and prays,

'My uncontrolled heart and mind are like demons,

and therefore I have no desire to serve Krsna,

guru,

and Vaisnavas.'

Gurudeva ki jaya!

actually 

means,

'O Gurudeva, 

please conquer my rebellious heart and mind

so

that they have no choice but to obey your every command.

O Gurudeva,

having conquered my heart, do as you please with me.

Make me your servant;

make me yours.'"

from Gopi Gita - ch. 1

Special thanks to the boys at Bhaktabandhav.com who sang Gita so beautifully this morning!

OM - Online Meditations:

He lives in sound...

Bhakti-rasayana p. 71

"If a person is crying out from afar,

 is there any friend or relative who won't come to his aid?

  Even if there is a son who has given his mother great difficulty, even to the point of trying to kill her,

 when he calls out in pain,

 will his mother not come to his aid?

  Are there any parents anywhere who could possibly ignore the pleas of their offspring?

  Perhaps only if they don't hear them - 

but Krsna is always nearby,

 and if we call out to Him,

 will He not hear?

  He is much more merciful than mere worldly parents.

  There is no place where He is not;

 He is always very near us inside our hearts.

  If we call Him sincerely,

 is it possible that He won't hear us?

  Will Krsna not hear if we loudly call out to Him?

  At present we don't have sufficient faith,

 but when we pray from deep within our heart with great faith and tears falling from our eyes,

 'O master of the gopis, please hear my desperate prayer!'

 will He not hear it?

  Certainly He will;

 otherwise His name would have to be changed.

  When we have this mood,

 then what we are engaged in can really be called bhajana."

meditations on Srimad Bhagavatam Ch. 12 - In which Dhruva Maharaja attains the Pole Star

There are some amazing places in Bhagavatam that overlap with material knowledge...not too many places as Krsna keeps himself hidden to  the unbelievers...but one of those places is in this last chapter of the Dhruva story where he attains the pole star.

The pole star is also called Polaris or the North Star.  You can find it by locating the Big Dipper and aligning the top, right hand star of the Big Dipper with the handle of the Little Dipper.

Sailors could navigate to this star because it stays fixed in the north.

My father taught me to find the North Star when I was very young - in case I ever got lost...my Gurus taught me to take shelter of Srimad Bhagavatam  - so that I would never be lost.

In this last chapter of the Dhruva story there are many blessings to those who read it.
                           Here are some:

For persons desiring

wealth,

fame,

long life,

pious credits,

good fortune,

great position in heaven,

by hearing

repeatedly

with faith the praiseworthy activities of Dhruva,

dear to the Lord,

which allow one to attain Dhruvaloka,

and which are suitable even for the devatas

and destroy all sins, 

bhakti to the Lord,

which destroys all miseries, developes.

SB 4/12/45-46

...ps there's more but you have to read it!