Lecture Series

Gita 01.08 We need to be calm-headed, not cold-blooded

Demons in krishna-lila 1 – How the metaphorical points to the transcendental and how Putana represents false guru

Gita 01.07 Be aware of how what we say to one person may be heard by others

Gita 01.06 Duryodhana diplomatically continues to incite Drona against the Pandava army

Gita 01.05 Our mode of description reflects our intention

Gita 01.04 Duryodhana tries to change Drona’s emotion for the opposite side from affection to anger

Gita 01.03 Context can convert compliment into criticism

Gita 01.02 Sanjaya addresses not just the content of Dhritarashtra’s question but also its intent

Gita 01.01 The Gita’s first word dharma conveys its essential, universal theme

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 55 -10.10.10-14 Narada curses not impulsively, but after deep reflection

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 54 – 10.10.1-9 The curse that takes us away from the things that take us away from Krishna is mercy

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 53 – 10.9.18-23 The kingdom of God is the kingdom of love

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 52 – 10.9.13-17 Krishna’s form appears finite but is infinite

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 51 – 10.9.7.12 Yashoda catches the Lord whom the yogis can’t catch

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 50 -10.9.1-6 Yashoda demonstrates the same bhakti perfection as does Arjuna

Overcoming negative emotions 2 – Acceptance, Aspiration, Analysis, Action

Overcoming negative emotions 1 – Explanation, Experimentation, Evaluation, Elevation

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 49 – 10.8.46-52 Transcendental and contextual explanations for the fortune of Nanda and Yashoda

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 48 – 10.8.42-45 Yashoda makes sense of the incomprehensible by taking shelter of the transcendental Lord

Understanding rasa-lila 8 – Appreciating Krishna’s mystifying reciprocation

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 47 – 10.8.32-41 Krishna shows the universe in his mouth once again

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 46 – 10.8.26-31 Vraja ladies complain about Krishna’s pranks cheerfully

Understanding Rasa-lila 7 – Gopi-gita 3

Understanding Rasa-lila 6 – Gopi-gita 2

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 45 – 10.8.20-25 Krishna’s childhood activities fill Vraja ladies with anxiety and ecstasy

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 44 – 10.8.13.19 Garga conceals and reveals Krishna’s identity

Understanding Rasa-lila 5 – Gopi-gita 1

Understanding Rasa-lila 4 – Radharani’s apparent pride expresses her selfless love

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 43 – 10.8.7-12 Religious celebration is meant for spiritual purification, not social congregation

Understanding rasa-lila 3 – Arrogance keeps us locked in ourselves, both apara-dharma and para-dharma get us out of ourselves

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 42 – 10.8.1-6 The saintly come to the worldly to expand the consciousness of the wordly

Understanding rasa-lila 2- How Bhagavatam establishes para-dharma without trivializing apara-dharma

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 41 – 10.7.31-37 Krishna’s first revelation of the universe in his mouth

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 40 – 10.7.27-30 Krishna silences Trinavarta to minimize anxiety for Vrajavasis

Understanding rasa-lila 1 – How the supreme Shelter (Ashraya) becomes sheltered (Ashrita)

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 39 – 10.7.19-26 Krishna protects Yashoda before tackling Trinavarta

Gita 18.78 The Gita’s purpose is not just to proclaim God’s position but primarily to transform man’s disposition

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 38 – 10.7.13-18 The potency of blessings increases with the purity of the blesser

Gita 18.77 Recollecting Krishnas universal form stimulates wonder in some and fear in others

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 37 – 10.7.7-12 Vrajavasis try to protect the one who protects everyone

Gita 18.76 The Gita’s conversation is memorable and relishable

Bringing out the best within us

Making healthy choices

Gita 18.75 Sanjaya appreciates the content, the source and the channel of the Gita’s wisdom

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 36 – 10.7.1-6 Krishna’s childhood pastimes are both entertaining and enlightening

Growing through adversities

What is destiny?

Gita 18.74 The Gita describes a mahatama and makes its hearer into a mahatma

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 35 – 10.6.35-44 Bhagavatam highlights the extraordinariness of the Vrajavasis

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 34 – 10.6.24-34 Contact with Krishna is miraculously purifying

Gita 18.73 Harmony with the divine infuses our fleeting insignificant lives with lasting significance

Gita 18.72 A philosophical conversation amidst emotional tribulation testifies to Arjuna’s sincerity and Krishna’s potency

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 33 – 10.6.15-23 The Vrajavasis invoke God for the protection of God

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 32 – 10.6.7-14 Putana deceived the Vrajavasis, but Krishna deceived her

Gita 18.71 Krishna compassionately offers connections at decreasing levels of commitment

Appreciating Prabhupada’s sacrifice, wisdom and legacy

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 31 – 10.6.1-6 Sukadeva G reveals the spoiler to relieve Parikshit M anxiety

Gita 18.70 See the sanctity of Gita study in terms of intent, content and result

Janmashtami Krishna-katha 4 – How Krishna appears in Vrindavan

Janmashtami Krishna-katha 3 – How Krishna appears in Mathura

Gita 18.69 See the superlative as an exhortation to devotional action

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 30 – 10.5.26-32 Relationships are the foundational wealth that is essential for anything to be enjoyable

Janmashtami Krishna-katha 2 – How Krishna freed the princesses from Naraka

Janmashtami Krishna-katha 1 – How Krishna freed the kings from Jarasandha and how Krishna frees us

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 29 – 10.5.21-25 See adversities as actions of destiny to stay composed

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 28 – 10.5.15-20 When Krishna came to Vraja, so did the goddess of fortune

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 27 – 10.5.7-14 Krishna’s birth floods Vraja with joy

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 26 – 10.5.1-6 Let celebration center on purification, not gratification

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 25 – 10.4.38-46 Bad disposition with bad association is brutally bad

Gita 18.68 The bhakti cure cures more those who share the cure more

Gita 18.67 Though ultimately every heart longs for divine love, not every heart is presently ready for divine love

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 24 – 10.4.25-37 Kamsa’s change of heart doesn’t last for long

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 23 – 10.4.17.24 Others’ past bad karma doesn’t rationalize our present misdeeds towards them

Gita 18.66 The call to rise above dharma is not a call to slip below dharma

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 22 – 10.4.10-16 Kamsa’s self-recrimination is self-serving

Gita 18.65 Promises in a close relationship reflect and affect the closeness of the relationship

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 21 – 10.4.1-10 Heartless Kamsa rejects Devaki’s heartfelt plea

Gita 18.64 Krishna’s tone rises from informational analysis to impassioned advocacy

Gita 18.63 Knowledge guides our free will by showing us the consequences of our actions

Gita 18.62 The deepest peace comes by not an external serene situation but by an internal spiritual connection

Gita 18.61 Though we are controlled by material nature, we are still within the control of our Lord

Bhagavatam tenth canto study 20 -10.3.47-53 Just as the ocean gave way to Rama, Yamuna gave way to Krishna

Gita 18.60 How we act is determined by our material nature but for what purpose we act isnt

Gita 18.59 Ego means to think that we know better than God

Gita 18.58 The destructive voice can’t be tuned out unless we tune in to the divine voice

When spiritual life gives poison instead of nectar – PURE acronym – 2

Gita 18.57 Take shelter of the intelligence to convince yourself of the need to take Krishna’s shelter

When spiritual life gives poison instead of nectar – 1

Gita 18.56 The bhakti university takes seekers from any level to the summit of spiritual perfection

Gita 18.55 Don’t divorce the literal reading of one word from the overall context of the text

Gita 18.54 Devotion doesn’t culminate in liberation, liberation culminates in devotion

Gita 18.53 Determined disconnection from the material paves the way to the spiritual

Gita 18.52 Take shelter of renunciation to cultivate inner absorption

Karna character analysis – Are we doomed by destiny or by our own decisions?

Ashwatthama character analysis – Just because we are empowered doesn’t mean that we are right

Duryodhana character analysis 2 – If we don’t want help, even God can’t help

Duryodhana character analysis 1 – Are some people innately evil?

Gita 18.51 Use intelligence to counter the mind’s centrifugal force

Dhritarashtra character analysis 2 – Do we need to lose everything before we lose our attachments?

Dhritarashtra character analysis 1 – Attachment makes us stone-hearted