Chapter 12...REVEALED SCRIPTURES (Part 2) In the Padma Purāṇa there is a statement that one should perform the ceremonies for the Lord according to ones financial position. Everyone should observe the different ceremonies and celebrations of the Lord by all means. One of the most important of these ceremonial functions is called Ūrja-vrata. Ūrja-vrata is observed in the month of Kārttika (October-November); especially in Vṛndāvana, there is a specific program for temple worship of the Lord in His Dāmodara form. Dāmodara refers to Kṛṣṇas being bound with rope by His mother, Yaśodā. It is said that just as Lord Dāmodara is very dear to His devotees so the month known as Dāmodara or Kārttika is also very dear to them. The execution of devotional service during Ūrja-vrata in the month of Kārttika is especially recommended to be performed at Mathurā. This system is still followed by many devotees. They go to Mathurā or Vṛndāvana and stay there during the month of Kārttika specifically to perform devotional services during this period. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said: The Lord may offer liberation or material happiness to a devotee, but after some devotional service has been executed, particularly in Mathurā during the month of Kārttika, the devotees want only to attain pure devotional service unto the Lord. The purport is that the Lord does not award devotional service to ordinary persons who are not serious about it. But even such unserious persons who execute devotional service according to the regulative principles during the month of Kārttika, and within the jurisdiction of Mathurā in India, are very easily awarded the Lords personal service. In the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa there is a statement about observing different ceremonies celebrating the Lords appearance (birthday) and other transcendental activities. It is said, My Lord Janārdana [Kṛṣṇa], please let us know the date when Your mother Devakī devī gave birth to You. If You kindly inform us about this, then we shall observe a great celebration on this date. O killer of Keśī, we are souls one hundred percent surrendered unto Your lotus feet, and we wish only to please You with our ceremonies. This statement of the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa gives evidence that by observing different functions in relationship with the Lord one is sure to become pleasing to the Lord. It is said in the Ādi Purāṇa: A person who is constantly engaged in chanting the holy name and who feels transcendental pleasure, being engaged in devotional service, is certainly awarded the facilities of devotional service, and is never given just mukti [liberation]. Mukti means liberation from material contamination; when liberated, one does not have to take birth again in the material world. The impersonalists desire to merge into the spiritual existence, to end their individual existence, but according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, mukti is only the beginning of ones becoming situated in his normal condition. The normal condition of every living entity is to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. From the statement of the Ādi Purāṇa it appears that a devotee is satisfied simply with being engaged in devotional service. He does not aspire for any liberation from material conditional life. In other words, anyone who is engaged in devotional service is not in the material condition of life, although he may appear so. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the desire-tree of Vedic wisdom. Veda itself means the aggregate of knowledge. And whatever knowledge is required for human society is perfectly presented in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are different branches of knowledge in the Vedic writings, including sociology, politics, medicine and military art. All these and other branches of knowledge are perfectly described in the Vedas. So, as far as spiritual knowledge is concerned, that is also perfectly described there, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is considered to be the ripened fruit of this desire-fulfilling tree of the Vedas. A tree is honored by the production of its fruit. For example, a mango tree is considered very valuable because it produces the king of all fruits, the mango. When the mango fruit becomes ripened it is the greatest gift of that tree, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is similarly held to be the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree. And, as ripened fruit becomes more relishable when first touched by the beak of a parrot, or śuka, so Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has become more relishable by being delivered through the transcendental mouth of Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 19:17:22 +0000
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