Author: Bhakti Vikasa Swami

  1. Cheating in the name of charity

    Swami Nikhilananda of Ramakrishna Mission, when I went to America, I met him. He said that "The Americans are asking that 'You take money from us for serving the poor. But when we go to India, we simply see poor men are lying on the footpath. So what you are doing with this money?'" You see? This is a plea for collection of money, "to serve the poor." I know in
  2. Humbleness is not all-in-all

    Humbleness is of course good qualification, but the humbleness you will find in animal also, very humble. If you cut his throat, he will not tell anything. If we forget the aim of life and simply become humble like ass, is that very good qualification? The ass is very humble. You load upon it tons of loads, it will not protest. Very humble. Srila Prabhupada, in
  3. Patience and confidence

    One should not be impatient in Krsna consciousness. Indeed, this Krsna consciousness movement was started single-handedly, and in the beginning there was no response, but because we continued to execute our devotional activities with patience, people gradually began to understand the importance of this movement, and now they are eagerly participating. One should not
  4. Krsna so kindly comes as Caitanya Mahaprabhu

    Krsna is coming as Caitanya Mahaprabhu to show us the way how to understand Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu means Krsna Himself, present to teach us how to understand Krsna. So Krsna is so kind: He is coming Himself. He's teaching Bhagavad-gita. Again He is coming as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as devotee, to become a devotee of Krsna. Krsna-prema-pradaya te [Cc. Madhya 19.53].
  5. Who is Lord Caitanya?

    Lord Caitanya is the ideal teacher of life's prime necessities. He is the most munificent bestower of love of Krsna. He is the complete reservoir of all mercies and good fortune. As confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Bhagavad-gita, the Mahabharata and the Upanisads, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself, and He is worshipable by everyone in this age
  6. Caitanya-caritamrta and simple truth

    TRANSLATION In this Caitanya-caritamrta there is no contradictory conclusion, nor is anyone else’s opinion accepted. I have written this book to describe the simple substance as I have heard it from superiors. If I become involved in someone’s likes and dislikes, I cannot possibly write the simple truth. PURPORT The simplest thing for human beings is to follow their
  7. A Vaisnava’s real qualification

    We are in one of the universes. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu has described, "As there are many multimillions of mustard seed within a bag." Just imagine. If you bring one bag of mustard seed, round, round, so that round, round seed, that each and every universe. So one devotee of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Vasudeva Datta, he prayed to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "Sir, You have come.
  8. Not by mundane scholarship can sastra be understood

    Many scholarly, learned scholars, Sanskrit scholars, they cannot understand Bhagavatam. I have seen many scholars, they cannot understand Bhagavata. Sanskrit scholars, they will read, but they will not be able to understand. Similarly, Bhagavad-gita also. If anyone studies Bhagavad-gita from scholarly point of view, a-b-c-d, he'll not understand. Krsna therefore says