Balarama - a glorious personality

ALTTEXT
Lord Balarāma dragged
the demon Balvala down with His plow

Facts about Balarāma

Family tree of Balarāma

Family Tree Legend: h = husband, w = wife, s = son, d = daughter

INTRODUCTION TEXT TO BE WRITTEN

   
 

HOME

Choose Another
Glorious Personality

   

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters reveal the qualities of this glorious personality as seen in the Vaniquotes Balarāma category. An introduction to Balarāma from Srila Prabhupada's teachings is given below in the following 10 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's teachings


vanipedia.org 		Baladeva was actually the son of Devakī, but He was transferred from Devakī's womb to that of Rohiṇī. This fact was not disclosed. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.12)



vanipedia.org 		According to expert opinion, Balarāma, as the chief of the original quadruple forms, is also the original Saṅkarṣaṇa. Balarāma, the first expansion of Kṛṣṇa, expands Himself in five forms: (1) Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa, (2) Kāraṇodakaśāyī, (3) Garbhodakaśāyī, (4) Kṣīrodakaśāyī, and (5) Śeṣa. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 5.10)



vanipedia.org 		After Kaṁsa's wrestlers expressed their determination, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the killer of Madhu, confronted Cāṇūra, and Lord Balarāma, the son of Rohiṇī, confronted Muṣṭika. Kṛṣṇa and Cāṇūra and then Balarāma and Muṣṭika locked themselves hand to hand, leg to leg, and each began to press against the other with a view to coming out victorious. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 44)



vanipedia.org 		A special feature of this pastime was that the mothers of the cowherd boys thus became more attached to their respective sons, and the cows became more attached to their calves. After nearly a year, Baladeva observed that all the cowherd boys and calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa. Thus He inquired from Kṛṣṇa and was informed of what had happened. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13 Summary)



vanipedia.org 		After seeing the deficiency of realization in Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, Lord Balarāma decided to chastise him for being puffed up. Lord Balarāma therefore said, "This man is liable to be awarded the death punishment because although he has the good qualification of being a disciple of Lord Vyāsadeva, and although he has studied all the Vedic literature from this exalted personality, he was not submissive in the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 78)



vanipedia.org 		After taking His bath in the river Godāvarī and performing the necessary ritualistic ceremonies, He gradually visited the other rivers—the Veṇā, Pampā and Bhīmarathī. On the bank of the river Bhīmarathī is the deity called Svāmī Kārttikeya. After visiting Kārttikeya, Lord Balarāma gradually proceeded to Śailapura, a pilgrimage city in the province of Mahārāṣṭra. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 79)



vanipedia.org 		Although Lord Baladeva appeared before the birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa and is therefore Kṛṣṇa's worshipable elder brother, He used to act as Kṛṣṇa's eternal servitor. In the spiritual sky all the Vaikuṇṭha planets are predominated by the quadruple expansions of Kṛṣṇa known as the catur-vyūha. They are direct expansions from Baladeva. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 6.76)



vanipedia.org 		Although Lord Balarāma knew very well that by slight provocation people are prepared to fight with one another in the Age of Kali, He did not like the idea that the two great dynasties, the Kuru dynasty and the Yadu dynasty, would fight amongst themselves, even though they were influenced by Kali-yuga. "Instead of fighting with them," He wisely thought, "let Me go there and see the situation, and let Me try to see if the fight can be settled by mutual understanding." (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 68)



vanipedia.org 		The funeral ceremony of Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, was performed by Him, as He was the maternal uncle. It was impossible to be performed by any one of the Pāṇḍavas, who were all overwhelmed with grief. At the last stage, He departed from this world by producing a great white snake from His mouth, and thus He was carried by Śeṣanāga in the shape of a serpent. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.11.16-17)



vanipedia.org 		Baladeva is an expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and from Baladeva the next expansion is Saṅkarṣaṇa; thus Saṅkarṣaṇa is kalā, but Baladeva is svāṁśa. There is no difference, however, among Them. This is very nicely explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.46): dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya. With one candle one may light a second candle, with the second a third and then a fourth, and in this way one can light up thousands of candles, and no candle is inferior to another in distributing light. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.21.32)


Balarāma - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 215 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's teachings under the series titled Glorious Personalities. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is an attractive personality for everyone.


Retrieved from "https://vanipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balarama_-_a_glorious_personality&oldid=118157"