The Appearance of Lord Baladev
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 6:30 pm in Soquel
5:30 pm in San Jose
Please join us Thursday, August 2nd at six-thirty in the evening for a grand festival in celebration of Lord Baladev’s Divine Appearance Day. Since Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj is currently in Salt Lake City, Sripad Sarvabhavana Prabhu will lead the program. Please come for sankirtan and to honor a sumptuous feast prepared by our famous cooks with love and devotion for the satisfaction of Lord Baladev.
Yours in the Lord’s service,
Sushila Devi Dasi
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The following is an excerpt from one of Srila Janardan Maharaj’s morning classes last week at the Soquel Seva Ashram:
…That is why Nityananda Prabhu is also avadhut; Balaram is a little avadhut-ish. For instance, Krishna goes to fight on the side of the Pandavas. Well, Balaram is the guru who taught club fighting to Duryodhana. Duryodhana is his disciple so Balaram also has a little partiality to the Kurus. But he is not going to fight against Krishna. Instead he goes on pilgrimage rather than fighting in the battle of Kurukshetra. He is not going to take the side of the Kurus and he is not going to fight against Krishna.
…When Bhima fights agasint Duryodhana, Krishna gives some indication, He slaps his thigh. Bhima hits Duryodhana in the thigh and breaks his leg, more or less. Then the fight is over and Balaram is furious. He practically wants to kill Bhima, “You hit him below the waist, that’s not proper in ksatriya warfare.” He is furious. So Balaram, he is also a little avadhut. He is not considering, “Krishna is the Lord and these Kurus are unwanted. They are all being uprooted because they are actually usurpers and the Pandavas are the proper recipients of the throne. The world has to be cleared of the Kurus’ unlawful dynasty.” Balaram’s a little different…
Balaram, he’s unusual. He gets somewhat intoxicated with varuni and he talks to the Jamuna. His activities are not always completely sober. And Nityananda Prabhu has that quality of avadhut. So Guru Maharaj says the first 14 verses [of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita], in addition to offering prayers, they are expressing ontology so you can understand who is Mahaprabhu, who is Nityananda Prabhu, and who are all their followers. Who are all these personalities? So you can understand. Ontology is, if you understand the source then you’ll understand the qualities of the person.