Thursday, August 18, 2016

WHEN KRISHNA IS THE CENTER OF THE FAMILY

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Just before this section (quoted below) Srila Prabhupada discusses how it is not necessary to live a life of renunciation in order to become Krishna conscious. How usually it is thought that performing penances and austerities in solitary in the forest or in Vrndavan is the only way to achieve transcendence. He makes the point that with Krishna the center of the family perfection can be achieved. Krishna appeared in the dynasty of the Yadus and exhibited family life to show how this is the case. Of course when Krishna does something it is extraordinary so the members of Krishna's family were so numerous we cannot even count for all practical purposes. 

But here in this section we see how when Krishna is the center how purifying the family itself becomes. The family members of Krishna's family were able to purify others even more so than the Ganges just by others coming into contact with them.

"Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam by pointing out five particular excellences of Lord Krsna. The first excellence is that before Lord Krsna's appearance in the Yadu family the River Ganges was known as the purest of all things; even impure things could be purified simply by touching the water of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water was due to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Vishnu. But when Lord Krishna, the Supreme Vishnu, appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty, He traveled personally throughout the kingdom of the Yadus, and by His intimate association with the Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only became very famous but also became more effective in purifying others than the water of the Ganges."KB 2.35

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