“Because the water was so poisonous, the boys and cows became visibly affected immediately after drinking. They suddenly fell down on the ground, apparently dead. Then Krishna, who is the life of all lives, simply cast His merciful glance over them, and all the boys and cows regained consciousness and began to look at one another with great astonishment. They could understand that by drinking the water of Yamuna they had died and that the merciful glance of Krishna restored their life. Thus they appreciated the mystic power of Krishna, who is known as Yogeshvara, the master of all mystic yogis.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 15)

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Karma, jnana, and yoga. These are the three paths of life an intelligent person can follow. Basic enjoyment, bhoga, is not actually karma in the sense that the…

“When Krishna, Balarama and Their friends entered the village of Vrindavana, They played Their flutes, and the boys praised Their uncommon activities in the forest. Their faces were decorated with tilaka and smeared with the dust raised by the cows, and Krishna’s head was decorated with a peacock feather.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 15)

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All was now right again. The danger posed by Dhenukasura and his friends was no more. The cowherd boys could safely enter the forest area of Talavana and enjoy the fruits whose aroma had enticed them for so long.

Krishna and His elder brother Balarama were of uncommon activities. They were around the same age as their friends, but their strength extended beyond the material creation. Just as the tiny spirit soul can power an intelligent human being and a large elephant, so the…

“The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.12)

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युक्तः कर्म-फलं त्यक्त्वा
शान्तिम् आप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्
अयुक्तः काम-कारेण
फले सक्तो निबध्यते

yuktaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyaktvā
śāntim āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm
ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa
phale sakto nibadhyate

The duality featured in material life means that no matter the outcome, there will be some misery experienced. Moreover, no situation is universally auspicious. A simple example is rainfall. In a certain part of the world, the majority of the rainfall for the year occurs within two months. Everything necessary to eat arrives in a short span of time. Needless to say, this portion of the calendar is critical for the fields and the expected yield for the…

“In Krishna consciousness, there is no duality. All that exists is a product of Krishna’s energy, and Krishna is all good. Therefore, activities in Krishna consciousness are on the absolute plane; they are transcendental and have no material effect. One is, therefore, filled with peace in Krishna consciousness. One who is, however, entangled in profit calculation for sense gratification cannot have that peace.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 5.12 Purport)

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His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says that one of the benefits of following Krishna consciousness is that there is no anxiety in the purpose. Any outcome ends up being beneficial.

Shri Hanuman always thought of the Supreme Lord Rama throughout the time spent in Lanka looking for Sita Devi, the goddess of fortune. Arjuna was in pure consciousness of Bhagavan for the entire duration of the great war on the battlefield of Kurukshetra…

“We see materialistic persons busily engaged in economic development all day and all night, trying to increase their material opulence, but even if we suppose that they get some benefit from such endeavors, that does not solve the real problem of their lives. Nor do they know what the real problem of life is. This is due to a lack of spiritual education.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.6.4 Purport)

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The Sanskrit word is artha. This means “profit” or “interest.” The idea is that someone works to fulfill a specific desire. They want the effort to be saphala, or with fruit. Why waste time? Why go to so much trouble only to see failure? It would be something like taking a shower in the morning and then putting on the dirty clothes that were worn yesterday immediately after.

Prahlada Maharaja says that…

“In the Padma Purana Lord Shiva explains to his wife, Parvati, the goddess Durga, that the highest goal of life is to satisfy Lord Vishnu, who can be satisfied only when His servant is satisfied.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.6 Purport)

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The acharya has a project for you. Rather than have them speak for an hour or so, hoping that the people in attendance are paying attention, they want others to think for themselves. Let them reach the proper conclusion through deliberation, question and answer, and applied theory.

The assignment for today goes something like this:

“We have four different situations. They are relatable to your average adult. This is not like trying to imagine what it is like to be a billionaire or the leader of the free world. Take the student, the employee and the citizen. For each case tell me…

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

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दैवी ह्य् एषा गुण-मयी
मम माया दुरत्यया
माम् एव ये प्रपद्यन्ते
मायाम् एतां तरन्ति ते

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

1. Customer Service

You recently signed up for this streaming service. The monthly rate is good; about the same as a cup of coffee from a national retail chain. While there is a lot of programming offered, you are specifically interested in select games airing during the month of one of the major professional sports.

Everything was going well until one day you turned on the television to learn that the service was offline. This was after racing home to…

“Narada Muni continued: Lord Brahma was very much satisfied by Hiranyakashipu’s austerities, which were difficult to perform. Therefore, when solicited for benedictions, he indeed granted them, although they were rarely to be achieved.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.4.1)

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श्री-नारद उवाच
एवं वृतः शत-धृतिर्
हिरण्यकशिपोर् अथ
प्रादात् तत्-तपसा प्रीतो
वरांस् तस्य सुदुर्लभान्

śrī-nārada uvāca
evaṁ vṛtaḥ śata-dhṛtir
hiraṇyakaśipor atha
prādāt tat-tapasā prīto
varāṁs tasya sudurlabhān

An interesting juxtaposition. The before and after. The Daitya side against the saintly side, though in fact the competitor was from the same family. He was Daitya by ancestry due to the link to the woman named Diti, but he had qualities from the daivi side since birth. This is similar to the great bow-warrior named Arjuna, who received assurance of his nature from the judge with the most discerning eye, Shri Krishna.

दैवी सम्पद् विमोक्षाय
निबन्धायासुरी मता
मा शुचः सम्पदं…

“After consulting with his demonic ministers, Kamsa instructed a witch named Putana, who knew the black art of killing small children by ghastly sinful methods, to kill all kinds of children in the cities, villages and pasturing grounds. Such witches can play their black art only where there is no chanting or hearing of the holy name of Krishna.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 6)

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Relaxing one afternoon with a good friend, you decide to flip through an old photo album. Your friend looks quite different in these pictures from a previous age. They don’t appear to be happy. A constant frown on the face. Strange clothes; almost aggressive in a sense. Before you can ask, they feel the need to explain:

“That was a dark time in my life. I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. Friends…

“Some of Lord Krishna’s pastimes are mentioned in the Mahabharata as maushala-lila. These include the stories of the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, Krishna’s disappearance, His being pierced by a hunter’s arrow, the story of Krishna’s being an incarnation of a piece of hair (kesha-avatara) as well as mahishi-harana, the kidnapping of Krishna’s queens. Actually these are not factual but are related for the bewilderment of the asuras who want to prove that Krishna is an ordinary human being. They are false in the sense that these pastimes are not eternal, nor are they transcendental or spiritual.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Lila, 23.117-118 Purport)

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The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind. He does not force the bhakti way of life upon anyone, even though that is the original and constitutional position. It is what matches the dharma of the soul, i.e…