one's spiritual life depends on his determination

7/24/2019 One's Spiritual Life Depends on His Determination

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Ones spiritual life depends on his determination(12-02-09)

It is said that, in the life of a progressive devotee, a devoteeshould give up all material desires and gradually come to depend

on Krsna more and more. or a devotee to come to depend on

Krsna it is not possi!le "ithout approaching the spiritual life "ith

a certain type of attitude, for eg, in the #hagavatam there is a

very huge description a!out dis$uali%cations and de%ciencies of

people !orn in Kaliyuga.

&Prayena alpa ayusah sabhya kalou asmin yuge janah /

Mandah sumandamatayao mandabhagya hi upadrutah'

o these inds of verses say ho" Kaliyuga "as dull for

spiritual life and ho" they have very short memories, they are not

srutidharas, they have very short memories and they are al"ays

distur!ed !y the on slaught of the di*erent types of miseries

"hich increase as Kaliyuga progresses and they are very

unfortunate and all that. o these inds of verses are not there to

discourage us or to %ll up our heart "ith negative feelings. In fact#hagavatam has more verses "hich glorify Kaliyuga !ecause in

al"ays in success one can !ecome into+icated. #ut "hen there

are pro!lems, then that !ecomes a good impetus for one to call

out the ords name. hat is "hy there are also verses in

#hagavatam lie &alen sa!ha acintya arya sarangeva sara

!hu/. It is said that there are verses "hich says &nama

sanirtanaenaiva tatra svardho!hila!hyate/ in aliyuga only !y

the nama sanirtan one can transcend all these short comings.

imilarly another advantage of Kaliyuga, it is said, "hat is that

verse

&nanu dveshti alin raan usalani asu siddhyante itarani ritani

yat'


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If you do "rong actions then they !ear fruit. #ut if one

contemplates on some service to the lord "ith some eagerness

then that also produces results. ood things even !y thining

they produces good results., !ut !ad actions produces results only

"hen "e do them contemplation on !ad is not e$ual to doing andin Kaliyuga so they say many advantages. ll these things in the

#hagavatam in order to help us on one hand to reali3e danger of

the age in "hich "e are living in at the same time and the

advantages of the age in "hich "e are living. o our approach to

the study of scriptures should !e such that in the !eginning "e

should assimilate no"ledge !ecause "ithout the no"ledge

there is no a"aening. #ut after "ards "e have to contemplate on

ho" that no"ledge is uplifting us. 4o" that no"ledge isa*ecting our life practically. ie I am reading %rst canto of

#hagavatam no", the section of 5arishit maharaa coming and

meeting aunaa rishi. o, that interaction is so vital so important

for the heart of a devotee for developing the $uality of proper

faith and consciousness so for the development of right

type of consciousness and attitude. 6o!ody can do for you other

than you yourself. thief for eg., has to !ecome convinced that I

"ill not steal any more. 7ther"ise in a group of hundred people ifthere is one thief "ho eeps on stealing little, little things from

di*erent people all the time, all ninety nine people "ill !e in

trou!le e+cept him. Isnt it8 o a thief has to !ecome convinced

that I "ill give up thievery. imilarly the mischievous living entity

has to !ecome convinced that I "ill give up mischief and I

surrender to Krsna in fact the success of a spiritual organi3ation is

ho" many peoples hearts got transformed to give up this

mischievous mentality and to achieve the surrendering mentality.his is the success. uccess of any spiritual organi3ation does not

go !y the num!er of follo"ers they have accumulated. ctually

"e can get millions of follo"ers. #ut the success is "hen the

transformation of heart taes place. o the transformation can

tae place only !y the individuals attempt. o the Kaliyugas


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de%ciencies to !e taen very seriously. If you tae them cheaply

there is no possi!ility of taing shelter. If you thin o many times

Ive heard a!out &manda sumanda matayo//..' "hat is so great

a!out it. e may even derive fun in speaing a!out it !ut "e do

not reali3e that "e are also victims. It is not to !e spoen thatKaliyuga is only su*ering and "e are great souls. e are also part

of Kaliyuga. e are victims and "e have to tae the solution a

very very seriously. nd so if the study of the scriptures is ust for

the sae of information or no"ledge, it does not touch the heart

at all. #ut if the study of the scriptures is done !y taing them

personally in ones life so there is relevance and relationship. o

then that is there, then the study of the scriptures also !ecomes

prayer so that prayer actually "ill a"aen our heart and "hen "eare chanting the holy name "e "ill understand the most valua!le

e"el of Kaliyuga is the chanting of the holy name. s the harer

nama verse says alau nasteva nasteva gatir anyatha. o unless

the patient reali3es the disease that Im su*ering, the medicine

"ill not !e of so much value. :ven if doctor gives the medicine "e

tend to forget. Isnt it8 Keep it in the cup!oard, loc it, dont tae

it. hy !ecause "e dont reali3e. ometimes for eg., "e feel

severe pain in the !ody , you run to the doctor. ;octor give mesome medicine,.


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the deities, the chanting of the holy name, the drining of the

charanamrita, the devotional activities all these things are

actually surrounding us in order to soften our heart. o "e have to

"ae up and allo" ourselves to !e a*ected !y this positive

medicine of the holy name and then there is progress. hat is "hyI "as telling that the thief has to change himself, the mischievous

person has to give up mischief himself, no!ody can help him. nd

the medicine is availa!le and it has !een there ever since "e met

devotees the holy name is there for us "aiting to cure us !ut "e

should "ant to !e cured.

4arinam pra!hu i ai.

one's spiritual life depends on his determination

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