suddhabhakti

  Once in Dvārakā a  brāhmaṇa’s  wife gave birth to a son who immediately died. The  brāhmaṇa  took his dead son to the court of King Ugrasena and berated the King: “This duplicitous, greedy enemy of  brāhmaṇas  has caused my son’s death by failing to execute his duties properly!” The same misfortune continued to befall the  brāhmaṇa,  and each time he would bring his dead infant’s body to the royal court and berate the King. When the ninth son died at birth, Arjuna happened to hear the  brāhmaṇa’s  complaint, and he said, “My lord, I will protect your progeny. And if I fail, I will enter fire to atone for my sin.” Some time later, the  brāhmaṇa’s  wife was about to give birth for the tenth time. When Arjuna learned of this, he went to the maternity house and enveloped it with a protective cage of arrows. Arjuna’s efforts were to no avail, however, for as soon as the child was born and began to cry, it disappeared into the...

  Once, long ago, on the shore of the river Sarasvatī, a discussion arose among a group of sages as to which of the three chief lords — Brahmā, Viṣṇu or Śiva — is the greatest. They deputed Bhṛgu Muni to investigate the matter. Bhṛgu decided to test the lords’ tolerance, for that quality is a sure sign of greatness. First he entered the court of Lord Brahmā, his father, without offering him any respect. This enraged Brahmā, who suppressed his anger because Bhṛgu was his son. Next Bhṛgu went to Lord Śiva, his older brother, who rose from his seat to embrace him. But Bhṛgu rejected the embrace, calling Śiva a deviant heretic. Just as Śiva was about to kill Bhṛgu with his trident, Goddess Pārvatī interceded and pacified her husband. Next Bhṛgu went to Vaikuṇṭha to test Lord Nārāyaṇa. Going up to the Lord, who was lying with His head on the lap of the goddess of fortune, Bhṛgu kicked His chest. But instead of becoming angry, both the Lord and His consort stood up and offered Bhṛgu resp...

  Excerpt from Krishna Book, Chapter 59: The Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumāsura When Lord Kṛṣṇa heard the prayers of mother earth, He immediately assured her of immunity from all fearful situations. He said to Bhagadatta, “Don’t be afraid.” Then He entered the palace of Bhaumāsura, which was equipped with all kinds of opulences. In the palace of Bhaumāsura, Lord Kṛṣṇa saw 16,100 young princesses, who had been kidnapped and held captive there. When the princesses saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, enter the palace, they immediately became captivated by the beauty of the Lord and prayed for His causeless mercy. Within their minds, they decided to accept Lord Kṛṣṇa as their husband without hesitation. Each one of them prayed to Providence that Kṛṣṇa might become her husband. Sincerely and seriously, they offered their hearts to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa with an unalloyed devotional attitude. As the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, Kṛṣṇa could understand their uncontaminated d...

  The Deliverance of the Yamala-arjuna Trees ( Srimad Bhagavatam 10 th Canto   Chapter 10)   This chapter describes how Kṛṣṇa broke the twin  arjuna  trees, from which Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, the sons of Kuvera, then came out. Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva were great devotees of Lord Śiva, but because of material opulence they became so extravagant and senseless that one day they were enjoying with naked girls in a lake and shamelessly walking here and there. Suddenly Nārada Muni passed by, but they were so maddened by their wealth and false prestige that even though they saw Nārada Muni present, they remained naked and were not even ashamed. In other words, because of opulence and false prestige, they lost their sense of common decency. Of course, it is the nature of the material qualities that when one becomes very much opulent in terms of wealth and a prestigious position, one loses one’s sense of etiquette and does not care about anyone, even a sage li...

  Mother Yaśodā Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa ( Srimad Bhagavatam 10 th Canto   Chapter 9)   While mother Yaśodā was allowing Kṛṣṇa to drink her breast milk, she was forced to stop because she saw the milk pan boiling over on the oven. The maidservants being engaged in other business, she stopped allowing Kṛṣṇa to drink from her breast and immediately attended to the overflowing milk pan. Kṛṣṇa became very angry because of His mother’s behavior and devised a means of breaking the pots of yogurt. Because He created this disturbance, mother Yaśodā decided to bind Him. These incidents are described in this chapter. One day, the maidservants being engaged in other work, mother Yaśodā was churning the yogurt into butter herself, and in the meantime Kṛṣṇa came and requested her to allow Him to suck her breast milk. Of course, mother Yaśodā immediately allowed Him to do so, but then she saw that the hot milk on the oven was boiling over, and therefore she immediately stopped allowing ...

  "When Sri Krsna was only three months old and was just trying to turn backside up, before He even attempted to crawl, mother Yasoda wanted to observe a ritualistic ceremony with her friends for the good fortune of the child. Such a ritualistic ceremony is generally performed with ladies who also have small children. When mother Yasoda saw that Krsna was falling asleep, because of other engagements she put the child underneath a household cart, called sakata, and while the child was sleeping, she engaged herself in other business pertaining to the auspicious ritualistic ceremony. Underneath the cart was a cradle, and mother Yasoda placed the child in that cradle. The child was sleeping, but suddenly He awakened and, as usual for a child, began to kick His small legs. This kicking shook the cart, which collapsed with a great sound, breaking completely and spilling all its contents. Children who were playing nearby immediately informed mother Yasoda that the cart had broken, and th...

  When  Nanda   Mahārāja , following the instructions of  Vasudeva , was returning home, he saw a great demoniac woman lying on the road, and then he heard about her death. While  Nanda   Mahārāja , the King of  Vraja , was thinking about Vasudeva’s words concerning disturbances in  Gokula , he was a little afraid and sought shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī  Hari . Meanwhile,  Kaṁsa  sent to the village of  Gokula  a  Rākṣasī  named  Pūtanā , who was wandering here and there killing small babies. Of course, wherever there is no  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness, there is the danger of such Rākṣasīs, but since the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself was in  Gokula ,  Pūtanā  could accept nothing there but her own death. One day,  Pūtanā  arrived from outer space in  Gokula , the home of  Nanda   Mahārāja , and by displaying her mystic power, she assumed the disguise of...