Seva Ashram News of the Vaishnava Seva Society

Lectures from Sripad Tyagi Maharaj’s West Coast Tour

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Sushila Devi Dasi

Sripad Bhakti Kamal Tyagi Maharaj is always eager to speak about Krishna Consciousness. Here are many recordings from the first part of his summer preaching tour in California and Oregon. To follow the tour, see recent photos, and hear more talks, keep up with the tour’s Facebook page: Bhakti Connect. Cinmoy Dev Das 160430 Tyagi Maharaj San Jose Lecture by…

Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita – Daily Readings by Srila Janardan Maharaj

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Sushila Devi Dasi

His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj reads from the holy scripture Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita by Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami every day when he is at the Santa Cruz Seva Ashram. The recordings below include commentaries and stories throughout the readings. Listen to lecture…

Adi-lila Ch 1 The Spiritual Masters

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

The first chapter begins with fourteen Sanskrit verses giving ontology so that we can understand the pastimes and what is going to be presented in the Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. The first six verses describe Mahaprabhu, then the next five describe Nityananda Prabhu. The next two verses describe the truth of Adwaita Prabhu and the following verse describes the Pancha-tattva. Listen to lecture…

Informal Description of Vasant Panchami

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

After reading Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita this morning, Srila Janardan Maharaj gave an informal description of the the special appearance days that our Math is honoring today. Vasant Panchami is the first day of spring, it is also Saraswati Puja, and the divine appearance day of Sri Vishnu Priya Devi, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Raghunandan Thakur, and Pundarik Vidyanidhi. Today is also the disappearance day of Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur and two of Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s honorable godbrothers. Janardan Maharaj gives a brief description of the glories of these different divine personalities. Listen to audio…

Antya-lila Ch 18 Rescuing the Lord from the Sea

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

On an autumn evening when the moon was full, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu walked along the seashore near the Aitota temple. Mistaking the sea for the Yamuna River, He jumped into it, hoping to see the water pastimes Krishna enjoyed with Srimati Radharani and the other gopis. As He floated in the sea, however, He was washed away to the Konarka temple, where a fisherman, thinking that the Lord’s body was a big fish, caught Him in his net and brought Him ashore. Listen to lecture…

Antya-lila Ch 14 Mahaprabhu’s Feelings of Separation from Krishna

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“Sometimes all the transcendental ecstatic symptoms were manifest in Him. One night, Govinda and Swarup Damodar noticed that although the three doors to the Lord’s room were closed and locked, the Lord was not present inside. Seeing this, Swarup Damodar and the other devotees went outside and saw the Lord lying unconscious by the gate known as Simha-dwara.” Listen to lecture…

Bhakti Is Surrender In Love, Not Surrender By Force

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

We’re very fortunate to be able to come under his [Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj] divine shelter and that of Srila Govinda Maharaj. We really consider this will give success to our otherwise feeble attempts at gaining some entrance into the plane of dedication, the divine plane. Srila Govinda Maharaj once told me, “I am never hopeless. I am always hopeful.” It is very good to have the association of somebody like that who always is seeing the hopeful side of things and the intrinsic worth of everyone. Listen to lecture…

Looking for a Place in the Heart of a Saint

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“What I’ve found with our divine spiritual masters is they’re always interested in what will help us. I feel myself fortunate to have had and have that kind of association, because our best interest is in the heart of a saint. If you can find some place in a saint’s heart–it’s not enough just to think, ‘Who is the true qualified spiritual master?’ It’s not enough that you will accept a spiritual master, you must be accepted by the spiritual master. One thing is to find who is a sat guru, a true spiritual master; another thing is to find a place in the heart of a saint.”

The Momentous Hour of Need

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

Srutasrava Prabhu’s inspiring talk on Govinda Maharaj’s Divine Appearance day in 2007: “Everything transcendental is coming to us through Gurudev. He is the center, the center of everything, the center of our spiritual life, so everything has to be judged according to that.” Listen to lecture…

Madhya 20 Instructions to Sanatan Goswami – Expansions of the Lord

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

While discussing the Absolute Truth, the Lord analyzed Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, as well as the expansions of the Lord called svayam-rupa, tad-ekatma and avesha, which are divided into various branches known as vaibhava and prabhava. Listen to lecture…

Janardan Maharaj Talks About His Trip to China and Kartik Month

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

Having recently returned from a trip to China and India, Srila Janardan Maharaj shares his experiences and discusses the super auspicious month of Kartik. This lecture was recorded at the Saturday evening public program at our San Jose Seva Ashram. Listen to lecture…

Sri Mahabharata Audio Book Read by Sarvabhavana Das

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Sarvabhavana Das

Dear devotees and listeners of Mahabharata,
Please accept my dandavats at your feet. You can find here links to individual chapters of Sri Mahabharata recorded by me in the form of MP3 audio book files. Please feel free to download and distribute them as you feel inspired. View audio book…

The Appearance of Sri Vamanadev

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

In a Sunday feast class earlier this year Srila Janardan Maharaj recounted the pastimes of Bali Maharaj and Sri Vamanadev to illustrate the meaning of yukta vairagya, proper renunciation as well as sharanagati, surrender. Sri Vamanadev is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who appears to be a brahmin, bramachari dwarf. This is just a nine minute clip from that lecture that pertains to the pastimes of Sri Vamandev. Listen to lecture…

Bhakti Lalita Devi Dasi’s Lecture on Lalita Saptami in 2011

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“It’s a very exclusive day that we observe with care and attention. Some cautiousness…. We take our Gurudev’s lotus feet on our head and try to remember the glories he shared with us and pray not to make any offense in the attempt…. In Gurudev’s language she is the chief super-guardian of the service and the pastimes of Radha and Govinda.” Listen to lecture…

Accept the Guardianship of Higher Vaishnavas and Do Seva Now

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

It says in the Prapanna Jivanamrita that Krishna is our protector–our guardian–so we have to accept that He is sending guardians to help us…. We are not alone; we are protected in our spiritual life through the mercy of Gurudev. He is protecting us and he is giving us guidance through the vaishnavas. We are all very lucky, but we have to have some effort on our side. We have to go out of our way to try to find excuses to do service and we have to do it in a proper manner. Listen to lecture…

Bhakti is With Our Senses Serving Krishna

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“Krishna is giving so much love and as Srila Govinda Maharaj would say, the bhakta is depositing it in Krishna. He is not keeping it in the pocket because the liberated soul is not an enjoyer, the liberated soul is a servant–but not the way we think of service in this world, as being oppressive. In that [spiritual] world it is the most liberating eternal connection.” Listen to lecture…

Janardan Maharaj’s Lecture at Ponderosa Park in Sunnyvale, California

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“Everything about Krishna is eternal. Before our eyes He appears and disappears, but actually Krishna is existing eternally. For that matter, so are we. The living entity is always existing…. Of all the living entities who are nitya there is one who is supreme, nityo nityanam. Chetanash chetananam, and we are conscious but our consciousness is limited. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that we are kshetrajna; we have consciousness of this body. But the Lord is conscious of all living entities. Therefore He says, “I am maintaining all these living entities in this world and everywhere.” The Lord is maintaining everyone.” Listen to lecture…

Divine Disappearance Day of Srila Sridhar Maharaj

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

“It is described how all those present could see there was occurring what was termed a ‘power transmission,’ a transfer of the responsibility for the Sri Rupanuga Sampradaya from Srila Saraswati Thakur to Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Sridhar Maharaj acknowledged and said, ‘I considered that I was being posted as a gatekeeper.'”
Listen to lecture…

Morning Talk on the Disappearance Day of Srila Sridhar Maharaj

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

Today is the Divine Disappearance Day of Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. After leading mangal arotik, the morning kirtan, and the daily class on Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Janardan Maharaj spoke briefly to honor the pastimes and qualities of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Listen to lecture…

Even Liberated Souls are Attracted to Krishna

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Sushila Devi Dasi

In this wonderful Sunday Feast lecture, Srila Janardan Maharaj tells many stories from the Srimad Bhagavatam to explain the famous atmarama verse. The verse is generally understood to mean that even liberated souls are attracted to Sri Krishna but in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Lord Chaitanya explains the verse in myriad ways to show that everyone is attracted to Sri Krishna, even bees and birds. Listen to lecture…