HDG AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Although there are many types of yoga practice, the Vedic literature explains that no matter which practice you choose, success is only achieved when bhakti is present.
What is bhakti-yoga, and how can you add it to your life or your current yoga practice? As bhakti is a pivotal element in any yogic or religious practice, it is known as the topmost yoga. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna explains bhakti-yoga to his dear friend Arjuna, and here Srila Prabhupada expands these concepts in this introductory text. On July 29, 1971, Srila Prabhupada spoke at the University of Florida in Gainesville on the meaning and goal of yoga. The lecture was transcribed, edited, and later published as Krishna Consciousness, the Topmost Yoga System.

The Sanskrit word yoga, he told the students, originally meant much more than physical exercise; it referred to a lifestyle focused on achieving direct experience of God. Practitioners would live far away from mainstream society, restrain their senses, and perform austere meditation with the aim of transcending the physical body entirely.

Such a lifestyle isn’t so practical now; very few people these days are prepared to live a secluded, austere, or sense-controlled life. But anyone can still attain yoga’s ultimate goal via the practical, effective method of Krishna consciousness, bhakti-yoga, the system of devotional service to the Supreme Person.

In bhakti, the mind and senses are fully engaged in spiritual activity, rather than controlled by rigorous gymnastics. Every aspect of our lives—working, playing, walking, talking, thinking, feeling, willing—can be yoga, when done in the right consciousness. Sweat, spandex, and expensive mats are optional.

The Vedic literature has prophesised about this present age of quarrel and hypocrisy or the Kali-yuga. The Kali-yuga means the fourth age. There are four different kinds of ages in the vedic timeline: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Ova para-yuga, and Kali-yuga. Just like there are six seasons, or four seasons in a year, similarly, in one day of Brahma there are one hundred cycles of four yugas. Four yugas means forty-three hundred thousands of years. It is a very long period. That is the duration of four yugas. When one thousand yugas pass, then one day of Brahma-twelve hours are finished. It is a big calculation. Anyway, there are four yugas-Satya-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, Treta-yuga, and Kali-yuga.
In Satya-yuga, the religious principles are followed strictly, cent percent. That is called Satya-yuga. And in Treta-yuga, twenty-five percent reduced. That means seventy-five percent religious principles and twenty-five percent irreligious. And in the Dvapara-yuga, fifty-fifty: fifty percent religious and fifty percent irreligious. And the Kali-yuga, seventy-five percent irreligious and twenty-five percent religious, gradually reducing to nil-no more religion. Then finished. Then there will be devastation. Again Satya-yuga will begin. This is the way of change of Satya-yuga-Satya, Trete, Dvapara, Kali. The duration of Satya-yuga is about eighteen hundred thousand of years. Eighteen hundred thousands of years. Similarly, Treta-yuga, about twelve hundred thousands of years. Similarly, Dvapara-yuga, eight hundred thousands of years. And Kali-yuga four hundred thousands of years. This is the beginning of Kali-yuga. Out of about four hundred thousands of years, we have passed only 5,000 years. Kali-yuga has begun just after the Battle of Kuruksetra. So we have passed

BOOK IS HARDCOVER AND NOT PAPERBACK. ORIGINAL UNEDITED 1972 VERSION “O Supreme Lord, I know that young girls have natural affection for young boys and that young boys have natural affection far young girls. I am praying at Your lotus feet that my mind may become attracted to You in the same spontaneous way.” The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 9. This book is especially intended for those who are engaged in the Krsna consciousness movement. The text is flooded with nectarean stories, philosophy and poetic verses about Krsna and His pure devotees—all taken directly from the Vedic literatures. It is a summary study of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, which was written in Sanskrit by Srila Rupa Gosvami, the chief of the six disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya, who appeared in India 500 years ago, is revealed by Vedic scriptures to be an incarnation of God in the role of His own devotee. He and His followers are thus most authorized to teach us how to become perfect in spiritual life. The subject matter is love of God. The basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general propensity to love someone. At the present moment the human society teaches one to love his country or family or his personal self, but there is no information where to repose the loving propensity so that everyone can become happy. That missing point is God, or Krsna. The Nectar of Devotion teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krsna and how to be situated in that position where we can enjoy our blissful life. The presentation of this authoritative information about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and our relationship to Him is simply the mercy of His pure devotee, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the acarya for the present age, who is coming in disciplic succession from Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Our unique personality manifests in our relationships with others. The Supreme Person is no exception; however, His personality is unlimited. The variety of spiritual relationships one can have with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the subject of Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, the spiritual masterpiece composed by Rupa Goswami, one of the prominent disciples of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Nectar of Devotion is Srila Prabhupada’s English translation and commentary on Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, presented in the form of a summary study. “Summary study,” Prabhupada once quipped, “means I can do what I want.”

Srila Prabhupada published Nectar of Devotion in 1969 to clearly describe for his students the variety of relationships (rasas) one can have with Krishna and the various stages of progress one can hope to reach on the spiritual path. For those on that path, he also wished to caution of the many pitfalls to be avoided. Of all the books Srila Prabhupada translated and commented on, Nectar of Devotion gives the most clear and concise presentation of the specific practices of Krishna consciousness.

He subtitled Nectar of Devotion “The Complete Science Of Bhakti-Yoga,” to stress the scientific nature of Krishna conscious practice. The bhakti-yoga practitioner regularly employs observation and experiment, not in Petri dishes or using electron microscopes, but on his own state of consciousness. Bhakti-yoga’s ultimate goal is pure love for the Supreme Person, minus any selfishness or agenda other than unceasing devotional service. To achieve that goal—as in any scientific experiment—there are things one should do and things one should not do.

Citing many, many case studies found in Vedic writings, as well as lists of principles to be observed and symptoms by which to evaluate ones progress, Nectar of Devotion guides the reader from the very beginnings of sadhana-bhakti—devotional service in practice—all the way to the highest limits of prema-bhakti, spontaneous devotional service in pure love of God.

ANCIENT WISDOM FOR MODERN LIVING

Queen Kunti, a tragic and heroic figure, emerges from an explosive era in the history of ancient India. She was a central figure in a complex political drama that led to a bloody fratricidal war for the Indian throne. Yet through all her sufferings she found an inner wisdom and strength that carried her people through the time of crisis.

Queen Kunti’s teachings are the simple and illuminating outpourings of the soul of a great and saintly woman, revealing the deepest philosophical and theological penetrations of the intellect.

Here the world’s most distinguished modern teacher of Vedic culture and philosophy, His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, presents the ‘Teachings of Queen Kunti’ with startling clarity and power.