Brilliant As the Sun
Seeds from an ancient wisdom
The Bhaktivedanta perspective
Brilliant as the Sun
Seeds from an ancient wisdom
A book by Manonatha Dasa,
a disciple of
Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Editing by Bhaktin Divya
priyaḥ so ‘yaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ saha-cari kuru-kṣetra-militas
tathāhaṁ sā rādhā tad idam ubhayoḥ saṅgama-sukham
tathāpy antaḥ-khelan-madhura-muralī-pañcama-juṣe
mano me kālindī-pulina-vipināya spṛhayati
Padyavali (383), by Srila Rupa Gosvami.
Index
Pag. 9…. Introduction by the author
13…. Our philosophy in a nutshell
15…. You come from the spiritual world
17…. Namabhasa
18…. The Perfection of all Bhajana
20…. The messenger from Vaikuntha
22…. He gives personally
38…. The elephant Gajendra
45…. Boat pastimes at the Yamuna
50…. Boat pastime at Manasi Ganga
52…. Kali-santarana Upanisad
54…. The temple of Radha Damodara
63…. The qualities of a bonafide spiritual master
66…. Aksobhya Tirtha
75…. Narasimha story
98…. Ten subjects of Srimad-Bhagavatam
100…. Three types of Gurus
101…. On Knowledge and the Principle of Authority
120…. Did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta say that we do not need preachers?
124…. Should we preach even if we are not pure devotees?
126…. With what mental attitude should we chant the rounds?
127…. Is it offensive to have thoughts of wanting to finish them quickly?
129…. In your personal experience, does the pleasure of chanting them develop with time?
129…. One example of wrong translation of Sastras (holy books)
130…. Attraction to Krishna
131…. Hare Krishna, the second offense
134…. Vasudeva and Vaasudeva
134…. Why sometimes we fast in Dvadasi and not in Ekadasi
135…. Why the living entity gets angry when corrected
136…. Why in the jiva there is forgetfulness
136…. The jiva and the Maha-mantra Hare Krishna
136…. Why would Krsna not give mercy to someone struggling in bhakti-yoga?
138… Candravali: where is Kamsa?
139…. Is not it enough just to serve without having complete knowledge?
146…. Jumping to Raganuga
149…. Why 16 rounds and not another number?
151…. Why do terrible things happen in Vrndavana?
155…. Gurvastaka is not Prabhupada’s song?
159…. Karma Yoga, the science of action
161…. Purva-raga and the first meeting of Radha Krishna in Sanket
164…. What is pure love?
165…. Commemorating Jesus Christ
166…. How to transcend this material world
170…. Why don’t I appreciate the devotees enough?
172…. We are eternal
173…. The difference between Pradhana, Prakriti and Mahat-tattva
174…. What is a dimension?
178…. Faith is born of knowledge
185…. Is it appropriate to interrupt someone giving class or making comments at the end of the class?
187…. Vira Devi
190…. Vrinda Devi
195…. Sri Vrindadevyastaka
199… Kadacha Editions
Introduction
The subject of this book is the wisdom contained in the Vedas.
The word Veda means knowledge and that has been handed down through the ages by sages of spotless character.
One has to learn this immemorial wisdom by approaching a bonafide spiritual master. Since in many points this science may be of difficult comprehension, just reading the books will not be enough.
A real Guru must be erudite and holy.
Thanks to this setting of divine origin that we find in the Bhagavad-gita itself, a great spiritual master in 1965 came to the West and taught us the fundamentals of this philosophy.
His name is Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, also known as Srila Prabhupada. He stayed with us only twelve years and then departed.
Some of the disciples who studied under him, including me, the author of this books, continued his mission of spreading this culture. This can only be done by studying and practice what is found in his books and in texts of the same tradition that Srila Prabhupada unfortunately had not the time to translate and explain.
As far as I am concerned, I have had (and still have) the privilege and the pleasure of giving many public classes and receiving many questions by sincere and intelligent students. I thought that would be a pity if all these nice conversations were lost and thought that I should gradually publish them all in the form of books.
Except for a few articles written by Acaryas which I liked particularly, “Brilliant as the Sun” contains fifty-one original articles in English, mostly questions and answers.
I want to warn all readers that English is not my mother tongue and therefore it is possible that this book contains errors or simply expressions that could have been written better. I am sure that you will forgive me and that you will still appreciate the content.
I feel less guilty in giving you an imperfect work if I take shelter of this verse:
tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo
tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo
yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api
namany anantasya yaso ‘nkitani yat
srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah
“On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest .”
On this particularly auspicious day of Rukmini Devi’s appearance, Sri Krishna’s wife, I end this book and offer it to you. I am hopeful you’ll like it and that you will make good spiritual profit.
– Manonatha Dasa (ACBSP)
May 15, 2019
Website: www.isvara.org
Bookstore: www.kadachaeditions.com
Today is Rukmini Dvadasi. Also this morning the Sun entered into Taurus. This is called Vrisabha Sankranti.
My body may be somewhere else, but my mind and heart is in Sri Vrindavana Dhama.
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