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Pious activities (CC)

Expressions researched:
"activities may be either pious or impious" |"pious activities" |"pious activity" |"pious and impious activities"

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.56, Purport:

There are different grades and standards of prosperity. The standard of comfort and happiness conceived by a common man engaged in material labor is the lowest grade of happiness, for it is in relationship with the body. The highest standard of such bodily comfort is achieved by a fruitive worker who by pious activities reaches the plane of heaven, or the kingdom of the creative gods with their delegated powers. But the conception of comfortable life in heaven is insignificant in comparison to the happiness enjoyed in the impersonal Brahman, and this brahmānanda, the spiritual bliss derived from impersonal Brahman, is like the water in the hoofprint of a calf compared to the ocean of love of Godhead. When one develops pure love for the Lord, he derives an ocean of transcendental happiness from the association of the Personality of Godhead. To qualify oneself to reach this stage of life is the highest perfection.

CC Adi 1.56, Purport:

One should try to purchase a ticket to go back home, back to Godhead. The price of such a ticket is one's intense desire for it, which is not easily awakened, even if one continuously performs pious activities for thousands of lives. All mundane relationships are sure to be broken in the course of time, but once one establishes a relationship with the Personality of Godhead in a particular rasa, it is never to be broken, even after the annihilation of the material world.

CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

By contact with material nature the living entities exhibit varied symptoms of the disease of material consciousness. To cure this material disease is the supreme object of human life. The process that treats this disease is called bhāgavata-dharma, or sanātana-dharma-real religion. This is described in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore anyone who, because of his background of pious activities in previous lives, is anxious to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam immediately realizes the presence of the Supreme Lord within his heart and fulfills the mission of his life.

CC Adi 1.94, Purport:

The living entities are spiritual sparks, and their constitutional position is to render devotional service to the Supreme Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So-called pious activities and other ritualistic performances, pious or impious, as well as the desire to escape from material existence, are all considered to be coverings of these spiritual sparks. The living entities must get free from these superfluous coverings and fully engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

CC Adi 3.79, Purport:

In the list of the ten kinds of offenses in chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hare Kṛṣṇa, the eighth offense is dharma-vrata-tyāga-hutādi-sarva-śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ. One should never consider the chanting of the holy name of Godhead equal to pious activities like giving charity to brāhmaṇas or saintly persons, opening charitable educational institutions, distributing free food and so on. The results of pious activities do not equal the results of chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 3.79, Purport:

"Even if one distributes ten million cows in charity during an eclipse of the sun, lives at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunā for millions of years, or gives a mountain of gold in sacrifice to the brāhmaṇas, he does not earn one hundredth part of the merit derived from chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa." In other words, one who accepts the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa to be some kind of pious activity is completely misled. Of course, it is pious; but the real fact is that Kṛṣṇa and His name, being transcendental, are far above all mundane pious activity. Pious activity is on the material platform, but chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is completely on the spiritual plane. Therefore, although pāsaṇḍīs do not understand this, pious activity can never compare to the chanting of the holy name.

CC Adi 4.21-22, Purport:

For those grossly engaged in identifying the body as the self, pious activity, or karma-yoga, is recommended. For those who identify the mind with the self, philosophical speculation, or jñāna-yoga, is recommended. But devotees standing on the spiritual platform have no need of such material conceptions of adulterated devotion. Adulterated devotional service does not directly aim for love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore service performed strictly in conformity with the revealed scriptures is better than such viddha-bhakti because it is free from all kinds of material contamination.

CC Adi 5.36, Purport:

This verse is from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.278) of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who further discusses this same topic in his Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (Pūrva 5.41). There he refers to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (4.15.1), where Maitreya Muni asked Parāśara, in regard to Jaya and Vijaya, how it was that Hiraṇyakaśipu next became Rāvaṇa and enjoyed more material happiness than the demigods but did not attain salvation, although when he became Śiśupāla, quarreled with Kṛṣṇa and was killed, he attained salvation and merged into the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Parāśara replied that Hiraṇyakaśipu failed to recognize Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva as Lord Viṣṇu. He thought that Nṛsiṁhadeva was some living entity who had acquired such opulence by various pious activities. Being overcome by the mode of passion, he considered Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva an ordinary living entity, not understanding His form. Nevertheless, because Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed by the hands of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, in his next life he became Rāvaṇa and had proprietorship of unlimited opulence.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

The living entities are supposed to be freed from material contamination by engaging in prolonged temple worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, reading Vedic literature and performing yoga and pious activities to attain the Supreme Lord. But if the living entities had been created from material nature at a certain point, they would be noneternal and would have no chance to be liberated and associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When a cause is nullified, its results are nullified. In the second chapter of the Vedānta-sūtra's second khaṇḍa, Ācārya Vedavyāsa has also refuted the conception that the living beings were ever born (nātmā śruter nityatvāc ca tābhyaḥ). Bec

CC Adi 5.206, Translation:

Anyone who hears my name loses the results of his pious activities. Anyone who utters my name becomes sinful.

CC Adi 7.65, Purport:

The respectful behavior of Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī toward Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very much to be appreciated. Such behavior is calculated to be ajñāta-sukṛti, or pious activities that one executes unknowingly. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very tactfully gave Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī an opportunity to advance in ajñāta-sukṛti so that in the future he might actually become a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī.

CC Adi 7.70, Purport:

Due to renunciation, Vedānta study, meditation and the strict regulative principles of their daily routine, Māyāvādī sannyāsīs are certainly in a position to execute pious activities. Thus Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, on account of his piety, could understand that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not an ordinary person but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sākṣāt nārāyaṇa: he considered Him to be Nārāyaṇa Himself.

CC Adi 8.17, Translation:

"By cultivating philosophical knowledge one can understand his spiritual position and thus be liberated, and by performing sacrifices and pious activities one can achieve sense gratification in a higher planetary system, but the devotional service of the Lord is so rare that even by executing hundreds and thousands of such sacrifices one cannot obtain it."

CC Adi 13.79, Purport:

There is a common saying in India that everyone goes to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead when he is in distress, but when a person is in an opulent position, he forgets God. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.16) this is confirmed:

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha

"If backed by pious activities in the past, four kinds of men—namely those who are distressed, those in need of money, those searching after knowledge and those who are inquisitive—become interested in devotional service."

CC Adi 17.111, Translation:

"In My last birth I was born in the family of cowherd men, and I gave protection to the calves and cows. Because of such pious activities, I have now become the son of a brāhmaṇa."

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.198, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has explained ku-viṣaya garta as follows: “Because of the activities of the senses, we become subjected to many sense gratificatory processes and are thus entangled by the laws of material nature. This entanglement is called viṣaya. When the sense gratificatory processes are executed by pious activity, they are called su-viṣaya. The word su means "good," and viṣaya means "sense objects." When the sense gratificatory activities are performed under sinful conditions, they are called ku-viṣaya, bad sense enjoyment. In either case, either ku-viṣaya or su-viṣaya, these are material activities. As such, they are compared to stool. In other words, such things are to be avoided. To become free from su-viṣaya and ku-viṣaya, one must engage himself in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

CC Madhya 1.198, Purport:

A man in material existence and attached to ku-viṣaya or su-viṣaya is in the same position as that of a worm in stool. After all, whether it be moist or dry, stool is stool. Similarly, material activities may be either pious or impious, but because they are all material, they are compared to stool. Worms cannot get out of stool by their own endeavor; similarly, those who are overly attached to material existence cannot get out of materialism and suddenly become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Attachment is there.

CC Madhya 3.28, Translation:

"O river Yamunā, you are the blissful spiritual water that gives love to the son of Nanda Mahārāja. You are the same as the water of the spiritual world, for you can vanquish all our offenses and the sinful reactions incurred in life. You are the creator of all auspicious things for the world. O daughter of the sun-god, kindly purify us by your pious activities."

CC Madhya 5.22, Purport:

Due to pious activities, one can be enriched by four opulences: one may obtain birth in an aristocratic family, become highly educated, become very beautiful or get a sufficient quantity of riches. These are symptoms of pious activities performed in one's past life.

CC Madhya 7.47, Translation:

"After many births, due to some pious activity I got Your association. Now providence is breaking this invaluable association."

CC Madhya 8.70, Translation and Purport:

"'Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price—that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.'"

The previous two verses are included in the Padyāvalī (13, 14), an anthology compiled by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Verse 69 refers to devotional service in faith, and verse 70 refers to devotional service rendered out of intense greed.

CC Madhya 8.75, Translation:

"'Neither those engaged in the self-realization of appreciating the Brahman effulgence of the Lord, nor those engaged in devotional service while accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master, nor those under the clutches of Māyā, thinking the Lord an ordinary person, can understand that certain exalted personalities, after accumulating volumes of pious activities, are now playing with the Lord in friendship as cowherd boys.'"

CC Madhya 8.77, Translation:

Rāmānanda Rāya continued, "'O brāhmaṇa, what pious activities did Nanda Mahārāja perform by which he received the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa as his son? And what pious activities did mother Yaśodā perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa call her "Mother" and suck her breasts?'"

CC Madhya 8.257, Purport:

The last destination of the Buddhist philosophers is to become just like a stone, which is immovable and has neither material nor spiritual activity. As far as the hard-working karmīs are concerned, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states (11.10.23):

iṣṭveha devatā yajñaiḥ svar-lokaṁ yāti yājñikaḥ
bhuñjīta deva-vat tatra bhogān divyān nijārjitān

"After performing various sacrificial rituals for elevation to the heavenly planets, the karmīs go there and enjoy themselves with the demigods to the extent that they have obtained the results of pious activities."

CC Madhya 8.257, Purport:

"Those who study the Vedas and drink soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights. When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.."

Therefore after finishing the results of pious activities, the karmīs return to this planet in the form of rain, and they begin their life as grass and plants in the evolutionary process.

CC Madhya 9.49, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura states that according to the Buddhist cult there are two ways of understanding philosophy. One is called Hīnāyāna, and the other is called Mahāyāna. Along the Buddhist path there are nine principles: (1) The creation is eternal; therefore there is no need to accept a creator. (2) This cosmic manifestation is false. (3) "I am" is the truth. (4) There is repetition of birth and death. (5) Lord Buddha is the only source of understanding the truth. (6) The principle of nirvāṇa, or annihilation, is the ultimate goal. (7) The philosophy of Buddha is the only philosophical path. (8) The Vedas are compiled by human beings. (9) Pious activities, showing mercy to others and so on are advised.

CC Madhya 9.263, Purport:

One cannot be elevated to the highest platform of devotional service by karma-kāṇḍa or jñāna-kāṇḍa. Pure devotional service can be understood and attained only through the association of pure devotees. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that there are two types of karma-kāṇḍa activities—pious and impious. Pious activities are certainly better than impious activities, but even pious activities cannot bring about ecstatic love of God, Kṛṣṇa. Pious and impious activities can bring about material happiness and distress, but there is no possibility of one's becoming a pure devotee simply by acting piously or impiously. Bhakti, devotional service, means satisfying Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 15.110, Translation:

""The holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa is an attractive feature for many saintly, liberal people. It is the annihilator of all sinful reactions and is so powerful that, save for the dumb who cannot chant it, it is readily available to everyone, including the lowest type of man, the caṇḍāla. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the controller of the opulence of liberation, and it is identical with Kṛṣṇa. When a person simply chants the holy name with his tongue, immediate effects are produced. Chanting the holy name does not depend on initiation, pious activities or the puraścaryā regulative principles generally observed before initiation. The holy name does not wait for any of these activities. It is self-sufficient.""

CC Madhya 15.179, Purport:

Consequently they enjoy and suffer the results of karma. However, if a conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, the karma of his pious and impious activities is completely destroyed. Simply by becoming a devotee, one is freed of all the reactions of karma. Similarly, simply by the desire of a devotee, a conditioned soul can attain liberation and transcend the results of karma. Since everyone can be liberated in this way, one may conclude that it is according to the sweet will of the devotee whether the material world exists or does not exist. Ultimately, however, it is not the sweet will of the devotee but the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, if He so desires, can completely annihilate the material creation. There is no loss on His part. The owner of millions of cows does not consider the loss of one she-goat. Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of both the material and spiritual universes. The material world constitutes only one-fourth of His creative energy. If, according to the desire of the devotee, the Lord completely destroys the creation, He is so opulent that He will not mind the loss.

CC Madhya 15.261, Purport:

In a conversation between Mārkaṇḍeya and Bhagīratha, it is said, "My dear King, one who derides an exalted devotee loses the results of his pious activities, his opulence, his reputation and his sons. Vaiṣṇavas are all great souls. Whoever blasphemes them falls down to the hell known as Mahāraurava, accompanied by his forefathers. Whoever kills or blasphemes a Vaiṣṇava and whoever is envious of a Vaiṣṇava or angry with him, or whoever does not offer him obeisances or feel joy upon seeing him, certainly falls into a hellish condition."

CC Madhya 17.185, Purport:

The conclusion is that all pious activity, fruitive activity, religious principles and renunciation must ultimately lead to devotional service. There are different types of processes for rendering service. One may serve his country, people and society, the varṇāśrama-dharma system, the sick, the poor, the rich, women, demigods and so on. All this service comes under the heading of sense gratification, or enjoyment in the material world. It is most unfortunate that people are more or less attracted by such material activity and that the leaders of these activities are accepted as mahājanas, great ideal leaders. Actually they are only misleaders, but an ordinary man cannot understand how he is being misled.

CC Madhya 18.145, Purport:

"If one goes to Prayāga and bathes at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunā in the month of Māgha, he attains the result of giving hundreds and thousands of cows in charity. Simply by bathing for three days there, he attains the results of such a pious activity." Because of this, the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa was very eager to go to Prayāga and bathe. Generally karmīs (fruitive laborers) take advantage of bathing there during the month of Māgha, thinking that they will be rewarded in the future. Those who are situated in devotional service do not very strictly follow this karma-kāṇḍīya process.

CC Madhya 19.147, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that the word karma-niṣṭha refers to one who aspires to enjoy the results of his good work and pious activity. Some followers of Vedic principles offer everything to the Absolute Truth and do not aspire to enjoy the results of their pious actions. These are also considered among the karma-niṣṭhas. Sometimes we see pious men earn money with great hardship and then spend the money for some pious cause by opening public charities, schools and hospitals. Whether one earns money for himself or for the public benefit, he is called a karma-niṣṭha. Out of millions of karma-niṣṭhas there may be one who is wise.

CC Madhya 20.8, Translation:

"Here are five thousand gold coins. Please accept them. By releasing me, you will receive the results of pious activities and gain material profit as well. Thus you will profit in two ways simultaneously."

CC Madhya 20.31, Translation:

"I am very satisfied with your behavior. I shall not accept these gold coins, but I shall get you across that hilly tract of land simply to perform a pious activity."

CC Madhya 20.118, Purport:

From time immemorial the nitya-mukta living entity has always been a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, and his only attempt has been to serve Kṛṣṇa. Thus he never forgets his eternal servitorship to Kṛṣṇa. Any living entity who forgets his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa is under the sway of the material condition. Bereft of the Lord's transcendental loving service, he is subjected to the reactions of fruitive activity. When he is elevated to the higher planetary systems due to worldly pious activities, he considers himself well situated, but when he is subjected to punishment, he thinks himself improperly situated. Thus material nature awards and punishes the living entity. When the living entity is materially opulent, material nature is rewarding him. When he is materially embarrassed, material nature is punishing him.

CC Madhya 20.302, Translation:

“Because of his past pious activities mixed with devotional service, the first-class living entity is influenced by the mode of passion within his mind.

CC Madhya 20.303, Purport:

The Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu puruṣa-avatāra expansion of Lord Viṣṇu accepts the material modes—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa—and thus incarnates as Lord Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Śiva. These are incarnations of the material qualities. Among the many superior living entities qualified with pious activities and devotional service, one, called Lord Brahmā, is infused with the quality of passion by the supreme will of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Thus Lord Brahmā becomes the incarnation of the creative energy of the Lord.

CC Madhya 21.132, Translation:

“If by devotional service one gets the results of pious activities and sees Lord Kṛṣṇa's face, what can he relish with only two eyes? His greed and thirst increase twofold by seeing the nectarean face of Kṛṣṇa. Due to his inability to sufficiently drink that nectar, he becomes very unhappy and criticizes the creator for not having given more than two eyes.

CC Madhya 22 Summary:

The six symptoms of fully surrendered souls are also described in this chapter. Devotional service has been divided into two categories-regulative devotional service and spontaneous love. There are sixty-four items listed in regulative devotional service, and out of these sixty-four the last five are considered very important. By practicing even one of the nine processes of devotional service, one can become successful. Speculative knowledge and mystic yoga can never help one in devotional service. Pious activity, nonviolence, sense control and regulation are not separate from devotional service in its pure form. If one engages in devotional service, all good qualities follow. One does not have to cultivate them separately. Spontaneous devotional service arises when one follows a pure devotee who is awakened to spontaneous love of God. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu describes the symptoms of devotees who are already situated in spontaneous love of God. He also describes the devotees who are trying to follow in the footsteps of the pure devotees.

CC Madhya 22.45, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains this point. Is this bhāgya (fortune) the result of an accident or something else? In the scriptures, devotional service and pious activity are considered fortunate. Pious activities can be divided into three categories: pious activities that awaken one's dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness are called bhakty-unmukhī sukṛti, pious activities that bestow material opulence are called bhogonmukhī sukṛti, and pious activities that enable the living entity to merge into the existence of the Supreme are called mokṣonmukhī sukṛti. These last two awards of pious activity are not actually fortunate. Pious activities are fortunate when they help one become Kṛṣṇa conscious. The good fortune of bhakty-unmukhī is attainable only when one comes in contact with a devotee. By associating with a devotee willingly or unwillingly, one advances in devotional service, and thus one's dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened.

CC Madhya 22.51, Purport:

Pious activities bring about material opulence, but one cannot acquire devotional service by any amount of material pious activity—not by giving charity, opening big hospitals and schools or working philanthropically. Devotional service can be attained only by the mercy of a pure devotee. Without a pure devotee's mercy, one cannot even escape the bondage of material existence. The word mahat in this verse means "a pure devotee," as Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.13):

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

"O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible."

CC Madhya 22.62, Purport:

Firm faith and confidence are called śraddhā. When one engages in the Lord's devotional service, he is to be understood to have performed all his responsibilities in the material world. He has satisfied his forefathers, ordinary living entities, and demigods and is free from all responsibility. Such a person does not need to meet his responsibilities separately. It is automatically done. Fruitive activity (karma) is meant to satisfy the senses of the conditioned soul. However, when one awakens to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he does not have to work separately for pious activity. The best achievement of all fruitive activity is detachment from material life, and this detachment is spontaneously enjoyed by the devotee firmly engaged in the Lord's service.

CC Madhya 22.88-90, Purport:

These verses, quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.31.33–35), were spoken by Kapiladeva, an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His mother. Herein Kapiladeva discusses pious and impious activities and the symptoms of those who are devoid of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Generally people do not know about the miserable conditions within the womb of a mother in any species of life. Due to bad association, one gradually falls into lower species. Association with women is greatly stressed in this regard. When one becomes attached to women or to those who are attached to women, one falls down into the lower species.

CC Madhya 22.92, Translation:

“"One should not even see those who are bereft of devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and who are therefore devoid of pious activities."

CC Madhya 22.145, Purport:

Sometimes a neophyte devotee or ordinary person thinks highly of speculative knowledge, austerity, penances and renunciation, thinking them the only path for advancement in devotional service. Actually this is not a fact. The path of knowledge, mystic yoga and renunciation has nothing to do with the pure soul. When one is temporarily in the material world, such processes may help a little, but they are not necessary for a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. In the material world, such activities end in material enjoyment or merging into the effulgence of the Supreme. They have nothing to do with the eternal loving service of the Lord. If one abandons speculative knowledge and simply engages in devotional service, he has attained his perfection. The devotee has no need for speculative knowledge, pious activity or mystic yoga. All these are automatically present when one renders the Lord transcendental loving service.

CC Madhya 23.29, Translation:

“"O my Lord, I do not have any love for You, nor am I qualified for discharging devotional service by chanting and hearing. Nor do I possess the mystic power of a Vaiṣṇava, knowledge or pious activities. Nor do I belong to a very high-caste family. On the whole, I do not possess anything. Still, O beloved of the gopīs, because You bestow Your mercy on the most fallen, I have an unbreakable hope that is constantly in my heart. That hope is always giving me pain."

CC Madhya 23.109, Translation:

“‘A devotee who is not dependent on others but is dependent solely on Me, who is clean inwardly and outwardly, who is expert, indifferent to material things, without cares and free from all pains, and who rejects all pious and impious activities is very dear to Me.

CC Madhya 23.109, Purport:

The word anapekṣa means that one should not be concerned with mundane people and should not depend upon them. One should depend solely on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and be free from material desires. One should also be clean, within and without. To be outwardly clean, one should regularly bathe with soap and oil, and to be inwardly clean one should always be absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. The words sarvārambha-parityāgī indicate that one should not be interested in the so-called smārta-vidhi of pious and impious activities.

CC Madhya 23.116, Purport:

Thus Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma is situated above the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The spiritual sky containing all the Vaikuṇṭha planets is very small compared to Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma. The space occupied by Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma is called mahākāśa, or "the greatest sky of all." Lord Indra said, “We asked Lord Brahmā about Your eternal planet, but we could not understand it. Those fruitive actors who have controlled their senses and mind with pious activities can be elevated to the heavenly planets. Pure devotees who are always engaged in Lord Nārāyaṇa's service are promoted to the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. However, my Lord Kṛṣṇa, Your Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma is very difficult to attain. Yet both You and that supreme planetary system have descended here upon this earth. Unfortunately, I have disturbed You by my misdeeds, and that was due to my foolishness. I am therefore trying to satisfy You by my prayers.”

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.138, Translation:

“"The devotees now present are constantly thinking of the Supreme Lord and are therefore highly advanced. This work named Vidagdha-mādhava depicts the characteristic pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa with decorations of poetic ornaments. And the inner grounds of the forest of Vṛndāvana provide a suitable platform for the dancing of Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs. Therefore I think that the pious activities of persons like us, who have tried to advance in devotional service, have now attained maturity."

CC Antya 1.163, Translation:

“"My dear friend the flute, you are actually full of many holes or faults. You are light, hard, juiceless and full of knots. But what kind of pious activities have engaged you in the service of being kissed by the Lord and embraced by His hands?"

CC Antya 7.32, Translation:

“"Neither those who are engaged in self-realization, appreciating the Brahman effulgence of the Lord, nor those engaged in devotional service while accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master, nor those who are under the clutches of Māyā, thinking the Lord an ordinary person, can understand that certain exalted personalities, after accumulating volumes of pious activities, are now playing with the Lord in friendship as cowherd boys."

CC Antya 7.34, Translation:

“‘O brāhmaṇa, what pious activities did Nanda Mahārāja perform to receive the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa as his son? And what pious activities did mother Yaśodā perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa call her "Mother" and suck her breasts?’

CC Antya 16.96, Purport:

The remnants of Kṛṣṇa's food are mixed with His saliva. In the Mahābhārata and the Skanda Purāṇa it is stated:

mahā-prasāde govinde nāma-brahmaṇi vaiṣṇave
sv-alpa-puṇyavatāṁ rājan viśvāso naiva jāyate

"Persons who are not very highly elevated in pious activities cannot believe in the remnants of food (prasādam) of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor in Govinda, the holy name of the Lord, nor in the Vaiṣṇavas."

CC Antya 16.100, Translation:

“The word "sukṛti" refers to pious activities performed by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. One who is fortunate enough to obtain such mercy receives the remnants of the Lord's food and thus becomes glorious.”

CC Antya 16.114, Translation:

"This prasādam has been made available only as a result of many pious activities. Now taste it with great faith and devotion."

CC Antya 16.119, Translation:

""My dear friend, the all-surpassing nectar from the lips of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, can be obtained only after many, many pious activities. For the beautiful gopīs of Vṛndāvana, that nectar vanquishes the desire for all other tastes. Madana-mohana always chews pan that surpasses the nectar of heaven. He is certainly increasing the desires of My tongue.""

CC Antya 16.143, Translation:

“‘My dear gopīs, fully consider how many pious activities this flute performed in his past life. We do not know what places of pilgrimage he visited, what austerities he performed, or what perfect mantra he chanted.

Page Title:Pious activities (CC)
Compiler:Labangalatika, Mayapur
Created:09 of Apr, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=59, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:59