Thank you!
Dear exalted Prabhu's,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I want to thank you all for your participation in the Prabhupada Marathon commemorating the 108th appearance of Srila Prabhupada. I'm sure there were many wonderful moments exchanged with the conditioned souls as well as some trying times. That we go on year after year during the hard times and the nectar times is a sign of love, and a sign that one is sure to receive the mercy of Krsna, as Prabhupada writes in a purport in the SB 2.9.24.
"In executing penance, one must be determined to return home, back to Godhead, and must decide to undergo all types of tribulations for that end. Even for material prosperity, name and fame, one has to undergo severe types of penance, otherwise no one can become an important figure in this material world. Why, then, are there severe types of penance for the perfection of devotional service? An easygoing life and attainment of perfection in transcendental realization cannot go together. The Lord is more clever than any living entity; therefore He wants to see how painstaking the devotee is in devotional service. The order is received from the Lord, either directly or through the bona fide spiritual master, and to execute that order, however painstaking, is the severe type of penance. One who follows the principle rigidly is sure to achieve success in attaining the Lord's mercy."
Now it is 2005, a time when millions of individuals will make new years resolutions. We also can make a resolution, but not just individually, but collectively also. Let's try as a society to increase the number of books distributed in the year 2005 than in 2004. Prabhupada was very much in favor of this increase of distribution so much so that when devotees would read the sankirtan results to him they would quite often hear him say, "Now double it!" To do this we have to regularly read Prabhuapda's books, Prabhupada said his books should be known like a lawyer knows his law books, this means we have to study every day. On this note I'll leave you with a beautiful verse spoken to Sukadeva Goswami by Pariksit Maharaja;
The sound incarnation of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Soul [i.e. Srimad-Bhagavatam], enters into the heart of a self-realized devotee, sits on the lotus flower of his loving relationship, and thus cleanses the dust of material association, such as lust, anger and hankering. Thus it acts like autumnal rains upon pools of muddy water.
SB 2.8.5
Yours in the service of the Vaisnavas,
Vijaya das
