GOVINDAM ADI PURUSAM TAM AHAM BHAJAMI

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Ganesha upon the pair of tumuli protruding from His elephant head in order to obtain power for His functions of destoying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.
Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of laksmis or gopis.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept at playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique lovliness charming millions of Cupids.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in the pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Syamasundara is eternally manifest.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal purusa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the yogis who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to pranayama by drilling the respiration; or by the jnanis who try to find out the nondifferentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.
I adore the same Govinda, the primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion, sing the mantra-suktas told by the vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness, thrones, conveyances and ornaments.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Radha, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidants (sakhis), embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who is Syamsundara, Krsna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krsna and the different avataras in the world in the form of Rama, Nrsimha, Vamama, tec., as His subjective portions.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferenciated Brahman mentioned in the Upanisads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless truth.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence, whose external potency embodies the threefold mundane qualities (satva, rajas and tamas) and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world by the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the mind of recollecting souls as the transcendental entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa.
Lowest of all is located Devi-dhama (mundane world), next above is Mahesa-dhama (abode of Shiva),above Mahesa-dhama is placed Hari-dhama (abode of Hari) and above them all is located in Krsna's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has alloted their respectful authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.
The external potency Maya who is of the nature of the shadow the cit potency, is worshipped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundance world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself.
Just as milk is transformed into curd by the actions of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither the same as, nor different from, its cause (milk), so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Sambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.
The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exibits Himself equally in the same mobile manner in His various manifestations.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, who bears the name of Sesa, replete with the all-accomodating potency, and reposing in the Causal Ocean with the inifinity of the worlds in the pores of His hair, enjoys creative sleep (yoganidra).

Brahma

The material cosmos begins with Brahma, demigod from the highest planet (Brahmaloka) in the cosmos. He is known as Pitamaha, the Grandfather, as he is the first created being as well as the original instructor (guru) of the sages. Brahma is also considered Lord’s manifestation (guna-avatar) who presides over the mode of passion. His passionate nature is put to work, and he is engaged in creation. Thus he is the creator god and the progenitor of mankind.
At the dawn of creation, Brahma takes birth on a lotus that sprouts from the divine navel of Vishnu. Finding himself in a new world, Brahma is ignorant of both his own identity and the purpose of life. In an attempt to understand his origin, he climbs down the stem of the spiritual lotus, but finds no answer to his dilemma. Finally he hears the voice of his Lord, Vishnu, call out two syllables: “ta-pa” (literally “austerity” or “penance”). These syllables are pregnant with meaning and Brahma obeys by performing austerity in the form of meditation for one thousand celestial years (billions of earth years). At the end of this period, Brahma is able to see the Lord’s abode and then the Supreme Lord Himself. The Lord recites for him the four seminal verses of the Shrimad Bhagavatam – the verses which formulate the meaning of life. The purification that comes from hearing His voice allows Brahma to create the material universe.
In his Brahma-samhita (5.24-29), Lord Brahma adds details to the version of his enlightenment. According to Brahma, at the beginning of time he is engulfed in total darkness and is bewildered about his service as creator of the universe. At that time, Sarasvati, the divine consort of the Lord, His feminine half, appears before Brahma. She instructs him to meditate upon the confidential Kama-bija-mantra, promising that by its recitation he will receive all that he needs. After meditating on this mantra for one hundred celestial years, Brahma hears the sound of Krishna’s flute. He tries to reproduce the sound with his own lips, but instead finds that he is uttering the esoteric Kama-gayatri-mantra. This mantra purifies him of all illusion, and he is able to proceed with his service of creating the material universes on Krishna’s behalf.
Brahma begins each day by meditating on the Supreme Lord. He prays that he may “engage in the Lord’s service in the creation of the material world,” and that he may not be materially affected by his works, for thus he “may be able to give up the false prestige of being the creator.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 3.9.23).

GOVINDAM ADI PURUSAM

The Brahma Samhita scripture was discovered by Lord Sri Caitanya during His pilgrimage to South India in the 15 th century. It is said to be the fifth chapter of the original hymns of Brahma in one hundred chapters, recited at the dawn of creation in praise of the Lord. The Brahma Samhita is considered essential among Vedic literatures, since it contains the gist of all Vaishnava conclusions.

In his Brahma-samhita (5.24-29), Lord Brahma adds details to the version of his enlightenment. According to Brahma, at the beginning of time he is engulfed in total darkness and is bewildered about his service as creator of the universe. At that time, Sarasvati, the divine consort of the Lord, His feminine half, appears before Brahma. She instructs him to meditate upon the confidential Kama-bija-mantra, promising that by its recitation he will receive all that he needs. After meditating on this mantra for one hundred celestial years, Brahma hears the sound of Krishna’s flute. He tries to reproduce the sound with his own lips, but instead finds that he is uttering the esoteric Kama-gayatri-mantra. This mantra purifies him of all illusion, and he is able to proceed with his service of creating the material universes on Krishna’s behalf.

Brahma begins each day by meditating on the Supreme Lord. He prays that he may “engage in the Lord’s service in the creation of the material world,” and that he may not be materially affected by his works, for thus he “may be able to give up the false prestige of being the creator.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 3.9.23).

This song consists of merely four verses of this important scripture.

cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great affection by hundreds of thousands of gopis.

venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam
barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam
kandarpa-koti-kamaniya-visesa-sobham
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock' s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.

alola-candraka-lasad-vanamalya-vamsi-
ratnangadam pranaya-keli-kala-vilasam
syamam tri-bhanga-lalitam niyata-prakasam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Syamasundara is eternally manifest.

angani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti
pasyanti panti kalayanti ciram jaganti
ananda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.

You can never escape from Death

A king possessed the rare gift of being able to understand the language of the birds. One fine morning, as he was strolling across the green and lush lawns of his palace, he saw a flock of birds eagerly chirping to one another. Quietly, he stopped under the tree on which they were perched, in order to listen to them.
One bird said to another, "Look at the king! He is so happy and relaxed now. Little does he know of the grief that awaits him. Tomorrow, by this time, he will be the unhappiest of men- for his favourite servant will be dead!"
Now, the servant in question was indeed greatly loved by the king. He was a faithful and devoted personal attendant to the king, who depended on his loving service. In fact, the king hardly ever stirred out without his faithful servant in attendance.
On hearing the birds' prophecy, the king was deeply saddened. "I cannot; indeed, I will not let my servant die," he thought to himself. "Forewarned is forearmed. I shall send him away from the palace, as far away from my kingdom as possible, so that death will not be able to touch him."
So the king summoned the servant and said to him, "Take the fastest steed from my stable. Ride away from here and go as far as you possibly can!"
Little did the king realise that the fastest horse would only help the servant keep his appointment with death! The servant did as he was told. He mounted the king's best horse and rode away as fast as he could. The horse literally seemed to fly on its feet until they reached a dead end overlooking a steep precipice. At this point, the horse stopped so abruptly that the poor servant fell off - slipping into the deep valley, to his death!
That evening, the king went into his garden for his customary stroll. He was happy and proud that he had managed to outwit nature and save his favourite servant from death. He heard the birds chattering, and stopped to listen to them.
"How foolish is the king! By putting the servant on his fastest steed, he has only made sure that the servant kept his appointment with death!"

Death is certainly cruel. At any moment death can stop all our activities. Nobody can protest. That is not possible. And nobody wants death. That is also fact. But nobody can stop death also.
A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. This life is a preparation for the next life. Without delay, we should immediately take to spiritual life and try to make our life perfect. That is real intelligence.

What Are Others Trying To Teach Me?

The people you meet are all here to teach you something. Perhaps the angry donor or disrespectful employee is here to teach you about patience.

Your job is to try to determine what the people in your life are trying to teach you. You'll find that if you do this, you'll be far less annoyed, bothered, and frustrated by the actions and imperfections of other people. You can actually get yourself in the habit of approaching life in this manner and, if you do, you'll be glad you did.

Often, once you discover what someone is trying to teach you, it's easy to let go of your frustration. For example, suppose you're in the post office and the postal clerk appears to be intentionally moving slowly. Rather than feeling frustrated, ask yourself the question, "What is he trying to teach me?" Maybe you need to learn about compassion—how hard it would be to have a job that you don't like. Or perhaps you could learn a little more about being patient. Standing in line is an excellent opportunity to break your habit of feeling impatient.

All you're really doing is changing your perception from "Why are they doing this?" to "What are they trying to teach me?"

Thoughts

It is important to know that there is a relationship between your thinking and the way you feel. It’s important to realize that you are constantly thinking. Don’t be fooled into believing that you are already aware of this fact! Think, for a moment, about your breathing. Until this moment, when you are reading this sentence, you had certainly lost sight of the fact that you were doing it. The truth is, unless you are out of breath, you simply forget that it’s occurring.

Thinking works in the same way. Because you’re always doing it, it’s easy to forget that it’s happening, and it becomes invisible to you. Unlike breathing, however, forgetting that you are thinking can cause some serious problems in your life, such as unhappiness, anger, inner conflicts, and stress. The reason this is true is that your thinking will always come back to you as a feeling.

Try getting angry without first having angry thoughts! Okay, now try feeling stressed out without first having stressful thoughts – or jealous without thoughts of jealousy. You can’t do it – it’s impossible. The truth is, in order to experience a feeling; you must first have a thought that produces that feeling.

Unhappiness doesn’t and can’t exist on its own. Unhappiness is the feeling that accompanies negative thinking about your life. In the absence of that thinking, the unhappiness, or stress, or jealousy, can’t exist. There is nothing to hold your negative feelings in place other than your own thinking. The next time you’re feeling upset, notice your thinking – it will be negative.

Remind yourself that it’s your thinking that is negative, not your life. This simple awareness will be the first step in putting you back on the path toward happiness. It takes practice, but you can get to the point where you treat your negative thoughts in much the same way you would treat flies at a picnic: You shoo them away and get on with your day.

There is story in Jataka Katha of a Brahamin who was returning home. It was hot day of summer and almost noon time and he decide to rest under a banyan tree. Suddenly the thought came to his mind wish i can get cold fresh water to quench my thirst. Now the tree was actually wish fulfilling tree and would fulfill all desire of anybody who has taken shelter under it. Brahamin started thinking of various pleasure and all those thing started appearing infront of him. Suddenly he thought what will happen if some tiger comes now and boom tiger was there. This lead to thought tiger will kill me and unfortunately tiger pounce on him and actually killed him.
So this story also have other moral but it also establishes the power of thoughts. All our actions are based on thought. If I want to slap someone first a thought will come then it will convert into action. Ayurveda and other medicinal discipline also talks about how people with positive thinking get cured faster than those who never want to think that they can be cured. That why we always try to create positive healthy environment around deseased person.

Willing To Learn

Many of us are reluctant to learn from the people closest to us—our authorities, staff and friends. Rather than being open to learning, we close ourselves off out of embarrassment, fear, stubbornness, or pride. It's almost as if we say to ourselves, "I have already learned all that I can [or want to learn] from this person; there is nothing else I can [or need to] learn."

It's sad, because often the people closest to us know us the best. They are sometimes able to see ways in which we are acting in a self-defeating manner and can offer very simple solutions. If we are too proud or stubborn to learn, we lose out on some wonderful, simple ways to improve our lives.

Remain open to the suggestions of your authorities and other friends. Ask them, "What are some of my blind spots?" By this simple process you end up getting some good advice. It's such a simple shortcut for growth, yet almost no one uses it. All it takes is a little courage and humility, and the ability to let go of your ego. This is especially true if you are in the habit of ignoring suggestions, taking them as criticism.

Vedas mention that not only humans we can learn from animals and there is mention of 24 Gurus like honeybee, python, etc even from them we can learn. Remeber story of Napolean how he was totally burnt out and defeated in life after losing a major battle. And then he saw spider trying to climb up to the roof top and not giving up even after falling many times. This made Napolean realize his mistake and rest as all of us know is part of history.

Bhajan

Thanks to my better half she brought that CD Vrija Dham Mahima. Listening to Radhe Radhe Radhe Sri Radhe Radhe Radhe in morning is such a bliss outside this world. Yersterday was listen to some Bhajans by non-hindi, non-bangla speaking devotees who sang some of the Bangla vaishna geet by Bhakti Vinoda Thakur. I read it from Vaishnava songbook while listening as it was difficult to understand. Also read the meaning. It makes the listening more enjoyable.
Many people have strict rule to listen to authentic Vaishnava song, to me anything which contains name of Radha or Krishna or Rama is Bhajan.
When I was kid my mother used to play 33 rpm LP of Hari Om Sharan and sometimes Om Jaya Jagdish Hare sung by Mahendra Kapoor early morning while we were in sleep. I still remember those blissful line Tera Ram Ji karenge Beda par, Aarti Kunj Bihari Ki, Govind Jaya Jaya Gopal Jaya Jaya, Radha Raman Hari Govind Jaya Jaya.

Somehow although this life is full of ups and down at least because of my inclination to music I am able to listen to names of Lord through Bhajans always.

Concept of Time in Srimad Bhagvatam as explained by Maitreya Muni to Vidura.

Summary

When MahaVishnu exhales the universes comes out (come in existence) of pores of his body along with mouth, nose. When he inhales all of them become non-existence and dissolve back in Him. One breathe of Maha-Vishnu is life span of universe along with Brahama and is equivalent to 311 trillions of human year. One day of brahma is 100 cycle of four-yuga which is (432000+4320000+43200000+432000000)*100. Same is night. Below discussion explains time starting with unit of time which is as small as1/1687.5 of sec to unit as large as Brahmas lifespan

Description

Maitreya said: 'The ultimate truth of what shows itself in the many as the indivisible, should always be seen as the atomic from which the oneness of men is misunderstood. Surely is, of the truth of physical bodies [of atoms] that keep the same form till the end of time, that which emancipates to the Supreme ever composed into unlimited forms. And thus, to the subtle as well as the gross forms, can time be measured, my best, by the motion of the combination of atoms of which the Supreme unmanifest Lord is the great force controlling all physical action. That eternal time of the atoms is ascertained by means of the entire aggregate of the space taken by the atoms in their non-dual existence [their expansion], which is the supreme or great of [cosmic] time.

Three times the double of two atoms becomes a hexatom of which one is reminded by what can be known to lighten up in the fluid of one's eye [as a dust-particle], seeing it go up when one looks in the sky. The time formed by the combination of three hexatoms [in their expanding to the space they take] is called a truthi [calculated as 1/1687.5 of a second] of which one hundred are called a vedha; the three of them happen to be called but a lava. The duration of three lavas is to be known as one nimesha [± 0.53 second] and the time of three of them is called a kshana [± 1.6 seconds], five of those should be known as a kâshthhâ [± 8 seconds] of which a laghu is the fifteen of them [± 2 minutes]. The exact of fifteen of those laghus is called a nâdikâ [or danda, ± 30 minutes] and two of them make a muhurta [about an hour] while six to seven of them form one yâma [a quarter of a lightday or night] depending on human calculation [the season, the latitude]. The measuring pot (water-clock) has the weight of six palas [14 ounces] and has a four mâsha [17 karats] golden probe four fingers long covering a hole through which it fills with water till next sunrise. Four yâmas form the duration of both the day and the night of the human being and fifteen days [of eight yâmas each] make one pakshah [fortnight] which measured is known as being either black or white [depending on whether there is a full moon or new moon in it]. The aggregate of such a 'day' and 'night' is called an ancestral [traditional and solar] month with two of them forming a season of which there are six [resp. 'cold' or hemanta, 'dew' or s'is'ira, 'spring' or vasanta, 'warm' or grîshma, 'rainy' or varshâs and 'autumn' or s'arad, counted from the 22 of dec.] according the movement of the sun going through the southern and the northern sky. This movement of the sun is said to form one day of the demigods and is called a vatsara [a tropical year] of twelve months. The duration of life of the human being is estimated to be of a great many [a hundred] of those years.

The planets, the heavenly bodies [like the moon] and the stars all rotate along with the atoms in the universe completing their orbits as being a year in the Almighty [or cyclic] of the eternal of time. The orbiting around the sun of the earth and of the other planets as well, the orbiting of our stars [in our galaxy around Sagittarius A in the sky] and also the orbiting moon is, o Vidura, thus spoken of as being one [but differently named] year [resp. a tropical year, a galactic year and a lunation]. The One [Lord of Time] who moves distinct from all the diversity by the name of Eternal Time [cyclic and linear time combined] and by His own energy in different ways brings to life the seeds of creation and dissipates the darkness of the living entities during the day, should be offered respect with attention for all His five different types of [dynamic] years [the solar year, the galactic year, the planetary year, the lunation or any aniversary year], so that one thus by offerings brings about quality in one's material existence.

Vidura said: 'Given the traditional, divine and human of the final calculation in the measurement of the timeperiods of the lives of all the supreme living entities, what would be the calculation of the periods that take more than a millennium, o greatly learned one? O mighty one of the Spirit, by dint of the eyes of your yogic vision you are the one that in your self-realization does see of eternal time the movements of the Supreme Lord in the form of the entire universe.'

Maitreya said: 'The four yugas [ages or millennia] called Satya, Tretâ, Dvâpara and Kali take together approximately 12.000 years [or one mahâyuga] of the demigods [which are assigned 360 vatsaras each]. (19) The subsequent yugas starting with Satya-yuga each are respectively four, three, two and one time 1.200 demigod years long. Experts say that the transitional periods at the beginning and end of each yuga cover several hundreds of demigod years and that they are the millennia [like the millennia we live in now] wherein all kinds of religious activities take place. The complete sense of duty of mankind in its four principles of religion [of satya, dayâ, tapas, s'auca; truth, compassion, penance and cleanliness] was during Satya-yuga properly maintained, but certainly in the other yugas the principles gradually declined one by one with irreligion proportionately being more and more admitted. Apart from the one thousand [mahâ-]yugas for the three worlds [the heavenly, svarga; earthly, martya and lower, pâtâla ones] in the realm of the Absolute [Brahmaloka] that for sure make one day of Brahmâ [of 4.32 billion years], o dear one, there is also a night just as long wherein the Creator of the universe goes asleep. Following the end of the night with the beginning of another day of Lord Brahmâ the creation of the three worlds begins again in its totality covering the lives of fourteen Manus. Each Manu enjoys a time of living of a little more than seventy-one [mahâ- that is a set of four] yugas.

With the ending of each Manu, the next one follows along with the florishing of his descendants, the seven sages, the god-conscious and the demigods with all of the following after them. All these creations of the lower animals, the human beings, the ancestors and the demigods belonging to the one creation of a day of Brahmâ, are revolving through the three worlds appearing therein in the cycles of their own fruitive activities. With the change of each Manu, the Supreme Lord manifests His goodness in His different incarnations as the Manu Himself that maintains this universe for the unfolding of the divine potencies. At the end of the day [of Brahmâ] is by the Almighty Time all the power of manifestation taken in and stay, with the material world contracted in the darkness, all living entities silent in being merged. For sure are thereafter the realities of the three worlds that entered into the night of Brahmâ, just as it is with an ordinary night, without the glare of the sun and the moon. When the life-spheres of the three worlds are being set afire by the potency of the fire that emanates from the mouth of Lord Sankarshana, then the sage Bhrigu and others who are agitated by the heat move from the world of the saints [Maharloka, the fourth world] to the world of men [Janaloka, the next world]. Immediately after the beginning of the devastation of the three worlds all the seas overflow with the agitation of violent winds and hurricanes that are blowing the waves. In the water there is on the seat of Ananta the Lord in His mystic slumber with His eyes closed being glorified by the inhabitants of the worlds of man.

Thus in the course of time there is decline through these days and nights of ending His [Brahmâ's] life just like it is with our lives, although it takes a hundred years [to him: two parârdhas or 2 times155.5 trillion years]. The first half of the duration of His life called one parârdha has now passed and surely in this age we have begun with the second half. In the beginning of the superior first half there was a millennium named the Brâhma-kalpa in which the great was manifested whereupon Lord Brahmâ and the known sounds of the Veda appeared. And thereafter at the end of the Brâhma-millennium came into being what is called the Pâdma-kalpa in which from the Lord His navel the lotus of the universe sprouted. This current millennium at the beginning of the second half is factually celebrated, o descendant of Bharata, as the one of Vârâha in which the Lord appeared in the form alike that of a hog. This eternal time of the two halves of Brahmâ's life is but a second compared to the unchanging, unlimited and surely beginningless Soul of the universe. This eternal time which, beginning from the atom up to the final duration of two parârdhas, is the controller of the ones of body consciousness, is for sure never capable of controlling the Supreme. Along with the transformation of the elements the henceforth united manifestations expanded outside covering with a universe of half a billion. Enlarged up to ten times these units [or the secondary elements] that like atoms entered into it evidently came together and clustered with each other into huge universes [or galaxies]. That is said to be the infallible supreme cause of all causes, the supreme abode of the Maintainer and without doubt the original incarnation of the person of the Universal Mind [Mahâ-Vishnu].'

Obstacles in Life

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gone as far as it could and it could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.